Ambush
The trail of blood had ended abruptly, not surprising either Harry or Homer, aliens were meant to survive in anything, therefore their cuts tended to heal rather quickly. For the past twenty minutes they had been wander the halls, their steps echoing strangely throughout the dark empty corridors. They took each corner cautiously, preparing themselves for anything, alert for any sign that might betray the Predalien's location. In his mask Harry smiled like a child on Christmas morning, he was back in his power armor, on a hunt for the most dangerous beast on the planet, ah the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline, the thrill was like a drug. To make him physically on par with Yautja a suit had been specially constructed for him, tiny fiber bundles enhancing his physical ability, the suite also gave him a hefty amount of protection as well, although against a Predalien it really wasn't of much use. Needless to say he loved being in the suit, with it he could fall from dizzying heights, just like a Yautja, and lift things far above his normal capacity, that and the wide array of sensors at his disposal really enhanced his natural senses.
One time after coming back very late from a sparing session with Homer and Raj, Harry had found Hermione well…
Harry made his way into the head common room, infrared vision coupled with a form of probing sonar allowed him to have a form of x-ray infrared vision, useful for doing quickly scanning rooms, caves, etc. When he looked at his room he found something rather interesting on his bed, and it was only when he focused the audio in on the room that he fully appreciated what it was. There was Hermione lying on their bed, her hand moving in slow rhythms, and his name escaping her lips so softly that he could pick the noise up.
Opening the door and then quickly closing it behind him Harry decided to play mad. "What is the meaning of this Miss. Granger?" He asked in mock anger.
"Well I had been watching you make your way up on the Maurader's map, and you just took too long. So I figured that I might as well get started by myself. Care to finish me off, or should I just continue?" She asked in an ever so teasing tone.
Suddenly a thought struck him. "Homer, I got it!" He exclaimed.
"What!" Homer visibly tensed.
"I know how we can find this thing. My dad and his friends made a map of Hogwarts that shows everyone on the map, and it should show the Predalien as well." He explained, taking off at sprint towards his room. Although he had no idea whether this would actually work he sincerely hoped it would.
They reached the room momentarily, the alien-tech vision mode turning the pitch black interior of Hogwarts into a bright redish sort of tinge, the best thing about it though was that aliens appeared in a shinning white, silver color, even the slightest sliver would give them away. They ran into the head common room, always careful, always alert. In a practiced manner Homer covered Harry as he rummaged through his things.
After a quick minute Harry had found the map and began scanning it for the Predalien. "I've got the map Homer, just give me a couple minutes to find this…" His voice stopped, a cold, primal fear that was easily picked up by his partner. One thought went through his head before all hell broke loose. "How?"
Whatever consciousness, or `self' the Predalien had were pushed far back to the recesses of its mind, instead its mind was dominated by something far more powerful then it. Something that should never have been, controlled the Predalien, He was directing it now. Potter, you always have been a little slow, it took you long enough to get to the map. Oh well, time to die. Although Hogwarts had changed considerably in order to allow a much larger number of students to reside within it, it was still in essence the same. Even when He was mortal, in a weak, human body, He could make his way around Hogwarts with his eyes closed. But with the body and senses of a Predalien at his disposal it made things far too easy.
The roof above Homer exploded, his quick reflexes saving him from the mass of masonry that came down, but something came down amidst the shower of rubble. As Homer jumped back an immensely powerful hand caught him by the front of his armor, cutting through it like butter, before he could even realize what was happening he was thrown violently through a pair of solid brick walls, before finally crumpling against a third. At the same time Harry lunged at the mass of rubble, wrist blades slicing effortlessly through the bricks and stone, his right arm poised for one quick strike. Using the momentum of throwing Homer through two walls the Predalien spun around, narrowly avoiding Harry's strike. As it finished its spin it brought its left arm out and grabbed onto Harry's right shoulder, and then brought its right arm out and ripped through the shoulder, removing it in a welter of gore, sparks, and armor. Meanwhile Harry spun around as well, using the force of the impact to help bring his left arm around and cut through the Predalien's neck.
As the head fell away Harry could have sworn that he saw two glowing red eyes on the alien…funny, aliens didn't have eyes on their head.. Before he could think any more blackness consumed him and Harry fell into deep unconsciousness.
---Calth Sector---
"Majaa are you sure this is such a good idea?" Majaa's wife asked worriedly, something just didn't sit well with her about this expedition.
"Yes yes, I'm sure. We have a group of fully trained warriors with us here, plasma guns and all, they know what they're doing if we get into trouble. Besides I've read the logs on the system, a blooding party has just cleared the hive out, at worst we have a drone or two scurrying about." He explained.
"They're from the Fou clan, they're Mercs for crying out loud, they could have anywhere from a standard weeks worth of training, to years, they'll tell you anything to get the contract. If they win or not doesn't matter, they get the opportunity to go on a hunt, with the latest gear and weaponry for which you are forking over the bill."
"Honey please listen, the Fou clan has a long standing history in…less then legal activities, they have all been in the military, fought in countless wars, there is a reason they cost so much. Besides you've heard about that one human who became a fully blooded warrior, apparently he took on a Queen by himself, I mean, how hard can a few stray drones really be?" He said trying to sooth his wife.
Giving her husband a cold glare she left the bridge in a fuss, why was she worried, she just couldn't figure it out. Majaa was right of course, he always was, they had a heavily armed carrier, he had bought some of the fiercest looking warriors she had ever seen, and everything else had been calculated down to the last grain of sand. The expedition itself was simple enough. They're just going to go planet side, find those plants and then come back up. At worst they'll be a few kilometers away from the hive. But no matter what she told herself something still felt horribly wrong.
The sleek, newly polished shuttle didn't even flinch as it went through the turbulent atmosphere. Majaa had money, lots of it, and he always showed it off in every way possible, from buying a fully loaded military carrier, to hiring some of the best mercs available. He even went on an extremely dangerous expedition just to pick what were said to be the most beautiful flowers in the universe, all for his lovely wife, and just because he wanted to.
Standing at the bridge of one of the finest shuttles available he looked rather silly in full combat gear. He was a little pudgy, didn't really know how to use any of the equipment that he wore, much less how to properly hold a gun.
"Um, sir?" A young but fierce looking soldier asked beside him.
"Yes lad what would you like?" He asked cheerfully.
"You might not want to keep your left hand on that part of the gun, that's where the cooling systems lets off the extra energy. If you fired the gun it would pretty much melt your hand off." He explained.
"Oh, alright, so where do I put my hand then?" He asked looking over the gun.
"Just over here sir." Replied the soldier, motioning to the top mounted handle.
"Why thank you lad, that is much better." Majaa thanked with a wide sort of smile.
"Who had the bright idea of giving this guy a heavy weapon?" Came an anonymous question over the squad comms.
"He did." Replied the same soldier who had helped Majaa.
"Thought so." Came the slightly worried reply.
The shuttle landed in a small dirt clearing, kicking up dust and small rocks as it gently settled into place.
As the main door opened Majaa ran out first, making a valiant yet completely unsuccessful attempt at looking like a true soldier. But to him it was one of the most exciting things he had ever done.
"Its clear." He reported in. The squad leader had finally given Majaa permission to run out first after carefully scanning the area for any signs of hostile life.
The squad of mercs impressively made their way out, the mission was unofficially deemed Play Pretend.
"Alright lads lets make our way out." Majaa ordered, heading off into the forest.
"Sound off men." Ordered the Sergeant.
"One set."
"Two set."
"Three set."
The rest of the men repeated signing off all through nine, and then the sergeant being ten signed off as well.
"One through three take arrow formation, four and five the flanks, six you got the rear." The sergeant's orders were immediately followed
After an hours walk, and a couple stops the group had found exactly what Majaa was looking for, flowers so beautiful and so dangerous to get they were some of the most prized plants in all of Yautja society. The funny thing was though that there didn't appear to be any of the fire lizards around, a fact that made the sergeant rather nervous.
"Ah don't ol' chap, the hunting party that came by earlier probably cleared this place out already." Majaa said clapping the sergeant on the back.
The Sergeant grunted, something didn't feel right, it was all too easy, all too quiet, but his instincts were telling him that something was out there; it was as if they were walking into an ambush.
Suddenly there was a very brief flash of yellow from Eight's location.
"Eight report. Do you have contact?" The sergeant immediately asked.
"You guys should come see this." He responded.
Being the closest seven sprinted over as well, another brief flash. Nine came, another flash. The rest of the team came over and flashes came as well. At this point every sense in his body was telling the sergeant to not go over, but like a little schoolboy Majaa ran over to the scene. The sergeant made to lunge for him, to stop him from going over but couldn't in time and so he ran after him, rifle raised and ready.
A flash of yellow, then a second later the Sergeant was through the foliage as well, and then another flash from a giant hole in the ground. His body suddenly stopped, he couldn't control it, all he could do was look out through his own eyes as his body bowed down before It. If he had ever been truly terrified in his life it was at that moment in time…
A few minutes later Majaa radioed the carrier that was locked in orbit around the planet, requesting that a large cargo shuttle be brought down. The operator aboard the carrier found it funny how Majaa hadn't given any explanation, he always had been known for over explaining and being excited about the smallest of things. But his paycheck told him not to argue or ask questions and so he didn't. A large cargo shuttle was momentarily on its way down to the planet, to Majaa's exact location beside the hive's main entrance way. During this time their own shuttle flew the short distance over to the spot as well. Upon arrival both pilots from both shuttles were ordered to come out, and within seconds of coming out both pilots lost control of their bodies, and were thusly incorporated into His hive.
On the first trip back to the carrier only He and the facehuggers fit into the large shuttle, Majaa and the squad of mercs followed in their smaller personal one.
Aboard the carrier the cargo shuttle settled down with a heavy thud, its cargo weighing it down considerably. On the way to the carrier Majaa had requested that everyone come in to hanger bay four, not giving any other explanation.
"What did you find now?" Majaa's wife asked as he climbed out of his craft, followed by the squad of mercs.
"Something very impressive my dear, something extraordinary." He replied.
"Oh, dear what's wrong with your eyes?" She asked, noticing that they looked a little glazed over.
"Nothing, nothing. Come see this." He motioned over to the cargo shuttle. Inside his mind he kept screaming for her to leave, he kept trying to take control of his body once again, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't.
By this time most of the hundred strong crew had made their way over to the hanger and had gathered around the cargo shuttle's main access ramp. Just as the ramp began to slowly open the lights within the hanger shut off, casting everything into pure pitch-blackness. As the ramp hit the floor with a small clang there was the sound like that of a hundred scurrying fingers, and the muffled gasps and moans of victims as the facehuggers did what they were designed to do.
The facehuggers impregnated all of the crew, during this time all of them were put under a form of the Imperius curse by Him. Later when they woke up they made their way down to the medical ward where the infant alien was surgically removed, and the host was treated and allowed to live. Those that were strong enough, mainly the mercs, had this process done to them numerous times over the following weeks. Naturally the hive from the planet was brought up, the queen along with them. Interestingly those aliens whose hosts had been deatheaters redeveloped most of their magical powers, with some help from Him of course. They were also the ones who became His royal guard. The ship itself was quickly transformed into a hive, thick resin coating the walls. A heavily fortified chamber had been made for Him and the Queen, who immediately set it upon herself to lay hundreds of eggs.
Majaa was the only one who hadn't been impregnated, He saw it fit to keep Majaa looking as natural as possible, the perfect puppet. Over the following couple weeks the Hive lazily made its way towards a Merc held world…
Homer groggily came back to consciousness, his body was hurting all over, painfully he looked down at his chest, seeing his blood mixed with dust and shredded armor. Taking a long breath he realized that one of his lungs had been punctured, one shoulder broken, the other slightly dislocated and that his suits power system was past broken. His head throbbed like never before, probably a concussion or two he thought. Noticing that he had gone through two very thick and solid walls, that were probably enchanted as well, he realized that he was pretty lucky to have not broken his back. Slowly, painfully, he got up, giving a loud grunt as he popped his dislocated shoulder back into place with a sickening snap. He immediately injected himself with a full dose of morphine, the pain in his body numbing. Surprisingly his helmet was still functioning, and he used it to check on the status of the other two members of his team. Switching to his brother he found his vital signs to be at "Busted but moving." He smiled; at least Raj was okay, that big brute. But when he switched to Harry his smile disappeared just as quickly as it had come, the vital signs read. "Coma - 2%."
Forgetting about everything else, he sprinted over to where they had been ambushed and found Harry lying in a deep red pool of blood, a headless Predalien less then an arms length away.
The Burrow was packed to bursting with people, the Weasleys, the Grangers, some teachers, Hagrid, Madam Maxim, the DeLacour's, all of them somehow managed to fit into the house. There were two separate dinner tables filled with food, everyone was talking about what was happening, each person having their own opinion on things, as well as guesses and optimisms of varying kinds. Ron, who had gone through some serious thinking, apologized to the family and everyone whom he had hurt, a big reason for the change in heart had probably been Luna, whom he was now dating. Throughout all of the talking all eyes were constantly traveling to the old grandfather clock and to a newly added hand, Harry's that was now pointed at Mortal Peril.
Hermione had barely touched her food, constantly looking over to the clock, praying that Harry would be all right, that they would catch those things and kill them, and then her darkest of fears became a reality. Slowly, almost teasingly, Harry's hand began to move, the clock began to toll, drawing everyone's attention to it as the hand moved ever so slowly, stopping a hair's width away from Dead. The house went deathly quiet, no one making a sound as they simply stared, too shocked to move.
The receiver that stood just beside Dumbledore's cup crackled into life, breaking the silence like the crack of thunder in the night. "This is Homer. We need immediate medical attention; we are up in the head common room. Please there is not much time, we need serious medical help now. The Predalien threat has been neutralized."
Before Dumbledore could respond Raj quickly responded. "The Carnifex is down, I'll be there momentarily."
"We'll be there in a few seconds." Dumbledore responded. Then he turned to everyone in the house. "Poppy apparate to the head common room after me, I'll take down all the anti-apparating wards. Minerva you go to St. Mungos and bring along as many mediwitchs and wizards as you can. Arthur get into contact with the Yautja here, see if there is anyone that can help us. The rest of you stay here." He ordered, immediately apparating to the head common room at Hogwarts.
As soon as he had called in for help Homer went to work on stabilizing Harry's condition with the meager medical supplies he had. Dumbledore appeared at his side just as he had finished pumping Harry full of Morphine and another concoction of last resort drugs. Dumbledore quickly removed all anti-apparting wards and opened up all of the windows and started up the fireplace, conjuring a ball of light that illuminated the room and the bloody mess in it. It was the first time that Dumbledore got to see everything clearly, and it horrified him, even though he knew that the Predalien was dead he nevertheless felt frightened by the creature at his feet.
"Careful." Homer warned. "Don't step in the blood, its highly acidic."
"I see." Dumbledore said noticing the hole in the floor that the blood had made.
Within minutes the room was bustling with hurried activity, Madam Pomphrey had arrived with an assortment of medical supplies, followed shortly after by a team of medi-witches and wizards from St. Mungos. All of them immediately went to work on Harry, thankfully they were able to stop the bleeding, and after having to jump start Harry's heart twice they were ready to move him down to the hospital wing where an operating room was made ready for him.
The wizards and witches worked surprisingly well, given the situation and the horrifying nature of the scene. A couple went to work on Homer and after some assurance from Dumbledore that Raj wouldn't harm them they healed him up too. Raj had unintentionally scared the living crap out of most people in the room when barged in, bloodied, battered, and with a set of very fine looking new trophies, however to most people he looked like a daemon from hell made manifest. Therefore their hesitation to go near him was rather acceptable.
Homer took the glorious liberty of fixing the Predalien's head into a wonderful trophy, a task that he took great care in doing since it was Harry's trophy. Even though both Raj and Homer knew that the witches and wizards were doing the best job they could, the two brothers instinctively watched over what they were doing, as was part of the hunter's code. They also made it clear that only Dumbledore had the right to levitate Harry to the hospital wing, although they fully trusted those working on Harry they were nevertheless not going to take any chances at such a precarious time.
At the hospital wing Arthur Weasley and a surprise but highly welcome guest greeted them, Borkan's younger brother Umos, who held the title of high Priest within the Paagiro clan, and although he never boasted about it was also one of the most recognized Priests within their whole sector.
"Uncle Umos!" Exclaimed Homer walking up and shaking hands with his uncle "You always seem to show up at the most desperate of times."
"Or on scheduled ones, such as your yearly check up." He said simply. Greeting Raj as well.
"So you've come with your whole team then?" He asked anxiously.
"Yes as always."
"Good, because that Predalien really made a mess of Harry, although Harry did take manage to kill it somehow."
"Ah, Harry, your father really pushed him hard during training."
"As did you." Raj commented.
"That is true, but now then lets see what we can do here."
Upon entering the hospital wing they found that Umos had already begun to make himself at home, his team of expert doctors, physicians, technicians, and the like, setting up the area to their liking.
"Who is the head Priest here?" Umos questioned the group of witches and wizards, it was obvious that he had just had the knowledge of how to speak English imbedded in his brain because the words came out a little gruff.
"That would be Madam Pomphrey." Dumbledore answered for the group.
"Dumbledore, good to see you again. My apologies but we do not have time for ceremonial greetings, this Warrior's life is in the balance right now. If I could please have Madam Pomphrey stay here, and all other humans, except yourself, leave." Umos instructed, taking charge of the situation.
With a nod from Dumbledore the medi-witches and wizards all left, except for a couple senior specialists who stayed.
Umos had a quick look over Harry, analyzing his situation, then he had a few words with madam Pomphrey and the other witches and wizards, after which he consulted some of his own staff who were not too busy setting things up.
Satisfied that Harry was in a stable condition and that he wasn't about to die on them he took a few moments outside by himself to think, this was a perfect opportunity to fully test out a new technology, it had been tested in parts, but never on a full scale. In parts it worked flawlessly, but when combined, party of him didn't want to risk it on a person such as Harry, but part of him knew that Harry was also the perfect candidate. The age was right, his body was at its best, although at the moment he was missing part of his shoulder and an arm, but still he was in the perfect condition for this new biotechnology.
With a nod of determination he went back into the room, to deliver his idea.
"I need to speak with those closest to Harry." He informed Dumbledore. "I wish to try a new biotechnology process on Harry, it has been tested in separate parts, but never combined all together. If we go through with this I need the support from everyone who is closest to Harry."
"Come we all meet in my office. Madam Pomphrey please look after Harry while we are gone." Said Dumbledore.
And so they left to Dumbledore's office, leaving Harry in a coma, in a room that was quickly being reorganized and restructured.
As Umos, and his two nephews waited for everyone to arrive at Dumbledore's office thoughts raced around in Homer's head, what could Umos want to do that he needed the approval of those that Harry trusted the most? Unless it was… "Umos, are you about to propose what I think you are about to propose?" He asked, looking at his uncle with bewilderment.
"Yes, I am."
"But I thought you had scrapped that idea?"
"Not entirely, I had always been working on it bit by bit, improving it throughout the years. And then after playing around with some of Harry's tissue sample I found that what doesn't work on one of us, Yautja, works on a human." He said with a glint in his eye.
"But are you sure that it works?"
"Yes, I've run hundreds of samples, and well, I've already introduced one of the stages into Harry."
"Which one?"
"The Occulobe. His eye surgery was no normal procedure." Umos confessed.
"What are you guys talking about?" Raj finally asked.
"We're simply talking about making Harry faster then me, with better reflexes and coordination, we're talking about making him stronger, tougher and more resilient then you. We're talking about allowing Harry to face a Predalien completely unarmed, and win." Homer said simply.
Seeing the dead serious expression on his brother's face Raj simply sat there and stared.
A/N. I'll admit that this chapter was written mostly within the last three days, and that I haven't been able to get into contact with any beta readers and so hope that my own proof reading is good enough. The next chapter should hopefully come out a lot sooner, mainly because I've got some really good ideas going right now.
I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing; I have taken suggestions, and have improved as much as I can, I do read every review and do take things into consideration. For the next part I'll be taking votes on the type of alien you want to see, and before I get into this I have something to add/admit about this story. As some of you may have noticed I am now throwing in a little more then a pinch of Warhammer 40,000 in to this - google it if you're interested, the fifth link down will get you right to the official site. Because of that I'm also developing a lot of my own fluff/cannon, to make sure that everything fits in well. For those of you freaking out a bit about Harry, I am not going to be giving him the black carapace but I might introduce the bolter weapons at some point. So if you guys want to see a form of Ravener, Lictor, Biovore, etc, put that into a reply or email me and we'll see what happens. Remember if you guys have some ideas or things that you want to see in this story tell me and you never know I might not think its so crazy after all.
Yautja society uses a sort of parliamentary monarchy. People can still vote on laws, taxes, there are planetary governors, city mayors, things like that, and then there is one guy who rules over anywhere between one or six systems. The ruler of systems is like the king or monarch. I hope that explains Yautja society a bit better. And of course you have mercenaries, and really big corporations that form their own domains.
Well I guess that's it for now, stay cool guys.
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