Predator: Young Blood

The heat of the planet was unbearable. The Hish-qu-Ten were used to this dense heat and arid planet. Agile Blade was not, she was human. Under these extreme temperatures she'd easily collapse and die on the ground of a heat stroke. Thankfully her thermal netting cooled her body down and kept her body from failing her. It was her bio-mask that bothered her more than anything. Her sweat was building up inside and made it hard for her to keep her eyes open.

She stood at the top of a tree, hiding herself with the active camouflage, inspecting her prey. It was another Yautja, a Young Blood just like her. Looking at him she could already tell what mistakes he had done. He didn't use his eyes to see the trap he was about to step on, didn't properly disappear into the background, and most importantly, he didn't look up.

All those small things would become his downfall. The giant hunk looked down at the ground and came to a sudden stop. He knelt down and brushed aside the foliage and revealed a small trip wire. If he had stepped on it, dozens of spiked pieces of wood would rain down on him. Agile Blade heard him cackle as he stepped over her trap. She cursed under her breath and jumped to the nearest tree, making sure to keep up with the other Young Blood.

As she followed, she cycled through her armament. A small knife with a recurve blade made from a metal that came from her home planet -- to this day it has never dulled -- her combistick, and a pair of wristblades. It was the knife that had given her the name. Agile Blade may be smaller than her brethren, barely making it to their shoulders, but she was faster. She could cut them open before their brain could tell their mouth to beg for mercy. During training she almost did, had her teacher not stopped her.

She came to a sudden halt just as the other Young Blood did. It looked like he was finally starting to realize that he'd been tricked. He looked all around him, pulled out his combistick, and assumed a fighting stance. She smiled to herself, the idiot still wasn't bothering to look up. Using the high ground as an advantage was basic knowledge even for a newborn.

Agile Blade pulled out her combistick and extended it. She carefully estimated the distance of the Young Blood, the wind, the height at she was in, until finally she threw the spear.

The weapon barely grazed the Yautja. He followed its trail and he finally spotted her. The Young Blood roared at her, challenging her to fight him. She would take up the challenge if she were physically able to. She was fast, but she wasn't sure if her opponent would even let her get close enough to attack him. Instead she turned and started leaping from branch to branch. She took a quick glance and saw the other Yautja chasing her down.

Her blood was pumping and it felt like her heart was going to explode. Agile Blade looked at the ground until she found a small opening and crash landed onto it. Her legs hurt and she could barely handle the pain. Human bodies were not made like Yautja's. They could jump from the highest point in any world and come out seemingly unscathed. She ignored the pain and turned to face the Young Blood.

"S'yuit-de." he said. It meant "pathetic" or "idiot" -- either way it was an insult. She extended her left wristblade and pulled the recurve blade with her right hand. Agile Blade assumed a fighting stance and so did her opponent. They both circled around the small area, never taking their eyes off each other. Both of them were patiently waiting for the other to attack first. He knew that if he got close she'd attack before he could even see her move. Agile Blade didn't want to risk striking first either, she was too far and she only specialized in close quarters combat. As long as he had the spear, he had the advantage.

They circled and circled until she finally heard that satisfying click. What the Young Blood hadn't seen was that she led him straight into another one of her traps. She knew that she wouldn't be able to trick him so easily, so she placed a very obvious trap -- that gave him confidence. Since one of the rules for this exercise prohibited her from killing, she deliberately missed when she threw her combistick -- that made him cocky. His overconfidence blinded him from the second obvious trap she brought him to.

The Yautja lifted his foot to see what he had tripped and proceeded to frantically look where the trap was coming from. There was no trap, just one very big distraction. Agile Blade rushed towards her opponent. When he finally realized what was going on, it was already too late. She was within striking range now and he'd be too slow to stop her.

Agile Blade wasn't permitted to kill, but she could wound. She slid on the dirt and stabbed his right thigh with her wristblade. As she passed under him she violently pulled it out, all while the Young Blood screeched in pain. He turned, limping, and attempted to stab her with his spear. She easily dodged the attack. She ducked on his next attack and, with all her might, punched the wound on his thigh. This brought him down to his knees. Before he even hit the floor, she already had the knife at his throat. The Young Blood raised both his arms in the air -- he had admitted defeat.

---

Colony Ship: Stalwart

Time: 23:47, Earth time

Date: June 16, 2104

Location: Orbiting unknown planet outside the Galaksio System

Dr. Ortega coughed up the liquid violently. Waking from hypersleep was always a pain. Every time she got out of it she had to re-learn how to use her own body. The liquid was always the worst part. It tasted like vomit, if vomit could rot and she was forced to eat it.

"Nyx." she called out.

"Yes, Dr.?" asked the automated voice.

"How long?" The Dr. forced herself out of her capsule and sat on its edge. Her legs and arms were shaking. If she were to step out now she'd surely fall to the ground.

"If what you ask is how long you've been in suspended animation? Eight years. If what you meant was how long we've been traveling? It's been 10 years since we left Earth."

"Where is everyone?" she asked. The first lesson she was taught to recover motor functions; touch her fingertips with her thumbs. She did the exercise over and over until she executed it flawlessly. Now came the real challenge. She braced herself onto the capsule and dropped down.

"Dr. Kovacs and his wife have been awake for a few days now. The rest of the colony is still in hibernation. And your security escorts are barely waking." explained the A.I.

Dr. Ortega's legs were still shaking, they were refusing to cooperate.

"Come on, Evie. It's just walking." she told herself.

"Pardon?" asked Nyx.

"Wasn't talking to you Nyx. Just trying to hype myself up."

"I see. I'll leave you to it then." replied the A.I.

"God-damn-son-of-a-bitch-stupid-fucking-legs!" she shouted in anger.

"Easy there doc. Can't force your body to do something it's not used to." she turned to see one of the security escorts waking up from hypersleep. The black man sat up and began doing the same exercise she did. Unlike her though, he did it on the first try.

"How do you soldiers do it?" she asked. Her right leg finally started to respond and she planted it on the floor.

"Do what?" he asked. He sat on the edge of the capsule and started moving his toes, followed by his ankles, and then the knees.

"Waking up from hypersleep and being able to move almost immediately?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said with cockiness. He placed both his feet on the ground and stood up like nothing. He assumed a running stance and started to run in place. Evelyn rolled her eyes at the sight.

"Showoff." she said with a cold voice, but there was a hint of jealousy behind it. The man smiled and stopped what he was doing and approached the doctor.

"Here." He offered her a hand and she reluctantly took it. "Ok. Now, start small. Try moving your toes, then move on to your ankle, and then your knee. You were trying to get your body to do all of them at once that's why you ended up on the floor."

"Su puta madre!" They both turned in the direction from where the enraged voice came from.

"Aparicio?" the man called out. A woman came out of the lockers. Evelyn instinctively turned away when she saw the woman was in her birthday suit. "What happened?"

"Forgot to pack my rosary."

"Can't you just make one? Just get two sticks and a string and voila." he mocked. "Put some clothes on you're scaring the lady."

"What's up, doc? Can't handle nudity or something?"

"I-I..." she struggled to bring out the words.

"Just change." he suggested.

"Fine." she said sarcastically. The woman left the two of them alone once again.

"Can you stand now?" he asked her.

"I think." He pulled her arm and she struggled to make her legs straighten themselves.

"There we go." he said.

"God I hate hypersleep." she complained.

"I noticed. I'm Marcus by the way." Evelyn's entire body was shaking and she almost lost her balance.

"Evelyn." she replied.

"Dr. Ortega, Dr. Kovacs is requesting your presence." said the A.I.

"Tell him I'm on my way." Evelyn finally straightened up and her body was responding the way she wanted. "I'll see you later then." she told Marcus as she walked away.

"See you later doc."

---

A job well done. Agile Blade had proven her worth to her teacher. She took off her bio-mask and saluted the Yautja in front of her. He was taller than most, standing at nearly 8 feet tall. One of his tusks was missing, stories were always told as to how it happened. The most popular being about the day he cleared out a serpent nest; beasts that went from quadrupedal to bipedal and had acid for blood, the Yautja called them "R'ka". She had only ever seen one in person and the Yautja considered them to be the greatest prey.

Her teacher slightly bowed his head and non-verbally congratulated her. He motioned for her to follow and she did. They walked down an open area that provided no protection from the sun and its heat. The Yautja weren't very vocal, but they did speak when it mattered. Her teacher, Naithei, was the one who brought her into their homeworld when she was a child.

Back when she was young, he had been in charge of overseeing the blooding ceremony of a trio of Young Bloods. They released several r'ka in order for them to hunt. Unfortunately, the situation worsened. The Young Bloods died and he went down to exterminate the infestation. It was his actions on that planet that gave him the nickname "Blood Berserker".

During the battle, her colony was caught in the crossfire. Her father died protecting her from a r'ka. When she ended up alone and defenseless, she had chosen to give up and let them kill her. It was then that Naithei arrived and killed them. When he first laid eyes on her, she was crying and he simply walked away. Out of desperation she followed the alien because, in spite of it all, she felt safer with him. To this day she didn't know what went through his mind in that moment, but she was grateful that he took her in.

"Kwei." he said. "Sly". She permitted herself to smile. Learning the Yautja language was hard but she eventually got it down. She couldn't speak it fluently, but there were a few words that could come out. Agile Blade spent so much time learning it she couldn't even remember her native tongue.

"Setg'in." she said jokingly. She saw his mandibles clicking rapidly, their version of laughter.

Over time, she and her teacher mostly communicated through hand motions. They were sometimes hard to understand but they eventually got the handle of it. Nowadays they probably didn't even need that either, they've used it so much they can probably guess what the other is going to say.

As they walked in between the dirty and sand-filled buildings her teacher told her that her actions impressed their clan leader. Because of that, now she'd be able to go to a hunt and earn her blooded status. She looked down in disappointment, disappointed that even if she were to be blooded she still wouldn't be accepted. He saw this and placed his hand on her shoulder, comforting her even for a little bit.

He reminded her of why she was ready and why it was possible for her to stand above her brethren. Naithei told her about humans that, through cunning and sheer tenacity, bested other Yautja. In the world humans called "Earth", one man defeated a Hunter. One other man defeated a Hunter in a concrete jungle. And last but not least, a small group of humans killed a group of Bad Bloods. There were many more stories of humans who defeated even the best of the Yautja.

Instead of cheering her up though it only made her more worried. She brushed him off and questioned whether or not she could ever be as deadly as those humans. He told her that she wouldn't know unless she tried.

Before they kept walking towards their destination, she asked him where the Hunt was going to take place. Naithei replied by reminding her of the humans that killed the Bad Bloods. The Hunt would take place in the game preserve planet.