Yeh'kull breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the red characters floating in front of her.
The most challenging part of the mission was completed when she, R'ka, and Ku‘dlak, following the instructions of the tribal elders, successfully retrieved the Alien Queen and several surviving alien eggs from the testing grounds on this planet. They were now ready to return to the mother ship. The Queen, who had been underwater for four years, was in hibernation. R'ka and Ku‘dlak placed it in a stasis field. They would later send the Queen and the eggs to a testing ground in another galaxy. After that, she could take her "blood test" and become a proud hunter. She wanted her peers to know that she was not just a fertility machine, but a warrior like them.
No, she was a stronger warrior than they were.
This planet was once a tribal testing ground, and for thousands of years, hundreds of young Yautja warriors came here to undergo their tests.
Kill or be killed. It's that simple.
She recalled an experience from less than thirty years ago. At that time, she was ordered to retrieve a scout vessel that had crashed into a rainforest on this planet. During the search, warriors from two local tribes happened to be fighting. They spoke different languages but wore similar green outfits with red markings and used essentially the same primitive projectile weapons.
At that time, Yeh'kull was young and eager to prove herself, and she wanted to claim spoils. At first, everything went well. However, things took a turn for the worse when the hunter became the prey and narrowly escaped death at the hands of one of the primitive yet fierce warriors. Yeh'kull was seriously injured during the fight. Fortunately, she managed to cut off one hand of her opponent before escaping back to the ship. She also kept the three-edged bayonet stuck in her back. From that day on, she carried this crude yet deadly weapon with her to remind herself of the constant danger in hunting.
* * *
Suddenly, the hovering characters changed rapidly. The dim cockpit was illuminated by an orange light that flashed from above. Without hesitation, Yeh'kull put on her biochemical mask and connected to the ship's main computer.
"Proximity Alert! Proximity Alert!”
Before she could react, the ship started to shake violently.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Thruster damaged, partial power loss; flight control system failure. Prepare for crash landing."
Yeh'kull opened the communication link and immediately reported the situation to the mother ship. She then instructed her two companions to keep watch over the Queen and her eggs. Then, she raised her hand and moved the floating character left and right. Out of thin air, several circles and topographic maps appeared, revealing the approximate landing area. Coincidentally, this area fell within the boundaries of one of the tribes that she had encountered during her previous mission here, years ago. With her wrist computer, she accessed the alien language database and selected the language of the tribe. As she skimmed through the limited information, she realized that the language and written letters of the tribe had changed only slightly, making it easy to communicate when necessary.
Yeh'kull did not go into a fight unprepared.
After that, she stared at the rapidly approaching ground and contemplated, "This is no accident. They must have been ambushed by someone. Could the inhabitants of this planet do that? Did they already have that capability?"
The spacecraft, still in stealth mode, crashed into the ground of an abandoned steel factory.
With a loud boom, Yeh'kull fell into nothingness.
* * *
Yeh'kull, who regained her senses, did not have time to examine her injury. She had to assess the situation promptly before making any plans. Fortunately, she attempted to land in a sparsely populated area. The mother ship received the coordinates, and the elders instructed her to remain inside the spacecraft. Rescue was en route, and her mission had not yet failed.
She checked the ship's computer and found that the overall condition was not that bad, actually. However, there was a hull breach in the cargo area, and her fellow warriors didn't respond to her calls. Yeh'kull discovered a large hole in the cargo bay, with ominous orange warning lights flashing. Good news was that the Queen was still in stasis, however after the crash, it seemed to show signs of recovery. The bad news was that R'ka and Ku‘dlak had both passed out in their seats, with dead face-huggers dropped on their backs nearby. This meant that some of the alien eggs had resumed activity.
Fortunately, Yeh'kull had experience in dealing with these situations. She put her two companions into a medical hibernation chamber to suppress the growth of the Xenomorph, so they could wait until they were back on the mother ship.
These two were foolish and suffered the consequences of their actions. One should always wear biochemical mask when transporting alien eggs. This was Safety Protocol 101.
She felt a sudden movement behind her and instantly turned around. Her wrist blades thrust out, impaling a face-hugger in midair. With a shake of her hand, the horrifying creature with eight legs flew away, leaving a trail of corrosive blood in its wake.
Yeh'kull adjusted her mask and checked around for signs of these creatures.
She had to clean up the mess, or the elders would send her back to Yautja. There, she would be responsible for taking care of the younglings, feeding them, and changing their diapers. She would never have the opportunity to become a real hunter.