_ _ _ _3rd Person POV_ _ _ _
The prey wandered through the ruins of what had once been, their malformed appearance occasionally illuminated by the flickering lights above. Their feet clattered against the metal, occasionally splashing through shallow puddles of salt-filled seawater that had somehow leaked in from the outside.
They walked until suddenly, and seemingly for no reason, they spun around and aimed a crude weapon up at the ceiling. For a moment they stared, swearing to themselves that they had seen something, although considering their mental state extreme paranoia wasn't exactly something foreign to them. Anyway, they stood there for several long fleeting seconds, scanning their surroundings before slowly lowering their weapon, and then, with a shake of their head, they turned and continued down the path that had become all too familiar to them at this point. Unbeknownst to them however, they had indeed seen something, something that had been stalking them, hunting them.
The shadows moved, joints cracking ever so slightly, claws silently scraping against rusted metal as it weaved through the darkness completely unhindered. Every movement it made, every sound the hunter allowed to reach its prey's ears, was perfectly calculated, controlled masterfully down to the smallest twitch of its tail. The hunter could strike now, rip its victim apart before they had any chance to escape, but it was patient.
It followed, listening as they mumbled and rambled to themselves incoherently, feeling the pulse of energy rippling through their very nervous system. Every twitch, every step, every movement of the lips, the hunter felt them all. Even when they were out of sight, it knew exactly where they were, and yet it waited, it followed, and eventually its persistence paid off.
The prey met with others of its kind, in a sectioned-off room they had made into their den. It watched them as they snapped at each other in greeting; they seemed to only begrudgingly tolerate each other's presence, hostility clear across their faces. Slipping inside was easy; there was a hole above the entrance, a crumbling section of wall that allowed for easy infiltration.
This was what it had been waiting for. The hunter had followed the prey for hours, trailing them all the way back here to their hideout, their so-called nest. And now? Now it would take them present, drag them kicking and screaming all the way back to the queen, to the mother it had yet to meet. The hunter readied itself, positioned just outside of their sight when the atmosphere abruptly shifted. The prey turned suddenly, their bodies rigid with alarm as they went completely still.
The hunter froze. Had they seen it? No, this was something else, something new. Its senses flared to life as it searched while remaining completely motionless, sinking deeper into the shadows. It turned its attention away, scanning the surroundings. It wasn't long before the hunter found the source of the disturbance.
In the end the hunter had been too focused on the prey; it hadn't noticed the signs, it hadn't noticed the vibrations, the slight tremors that hummed through the metal. The ground was shaking, something was coming, the hunter could feel it. Footsteps, that was what it was: footsteps that resonated from something large, heavy, and powerful, each step growing louder and louder. The hunter narrowed in on the source; however, it wasn't long before the hunter saw exactly what it was that had intruded upon its hunt.
The new arrival was heralded by a green glow, one that flowed into the confined space as if announcing its arrival. Then it entered; it stood just over two metres tall, a shimmering yet somewhat rusted and blood-stained drill attached to its left arm. It was clad in a pressurised diving suit that clung to its massive frame, eight circular glass panels built into the bulky faceplate, the glow emanating from within. It stared at the prey for a moment, the lights emanating from beneath its helmet switching from an emerald green to a vibrant yellow.
From above the hunter continued to observe, and as it did something echoed from within, something deep inside its mind whispered from the depths of its consciousness; feelings became words and those words became understanding. A protector, a guardian, a threat, that's what this being was. This hulking thing was not prey but an enemy, a danger to it, a danger to the hive, a danger to the queen. Immediately, the hunter's attention shifted from the prey to this so-called protector; its form remaining utterly still as it watched and waited.
Below, the prey panicked. Nowhere to run, they backed up until their bodies pressed against the far back wall as the behemoth fully entered. The yellow light emitting from the protector seemed to fill the once-dark room completely, the sound of the beast's footsteps echoing through the crumbling ruins were like booming war drums. For a moment everything fell still as the great protector scanned the room, looking for something.
Maybe they could have survived; maybe the guardian would have left them be, but their panic clouded their already manic judgement. They raised their weapons and fired. The protector immediately turned, the light that emanated from it turning a blood red as the hulking giant charged forward without even a moment of hesitation. Steam poured from it as the beast moved with a speed that shouldn't have been possible for something of the protector's size.
The prey attempted to get out of the way, to flee; however, the guardian would not allow them the chance. The first was run through, their chest carved open in a gruesome display by the beast's roaring drill before being tossed aside. The second, was snatched up by the open palm of the protector as they attempted to run past them. Their body lifted up into the air; their eyes popping out of their sockets as their head was slowly crushed into paste by the large hand that began tightening around it.
The third, their mind clouded by panic, simply stood there firing sporadically at the beast, the bullets having barely any effect whatsoever. Their life was soon ended when the behemoth swung its drill, slamming into their side and sending them flying as the sound of their spine and rib cage shattering apart under the force filled the air. And finally, the fourth, they had just about reached the only exit of the room accessible to them when the guardian charged. The beast reached out and grabbed their leg, its grip strengths immediately splintering their fibula and tibia with ease. Once it had a firm grip it pulled back its arm in one swift motion, and then, before the prey even had time to process what was happening, they had fallen face-first onto the metal flooring. They had just enough time to turn and look up before an armoured foot slammed down on their head.
For a moment there was stillness. The guardian seemed to watch the crimson pooling around its foot before the light shifted back to a glowing, humming green. But the protector's fight was not over; something fell from above behind it, colliding with the ground, a sharp hiss signalling its intent.
The hunter's form, illuminated by the now-yellow glow of the protector that had turned to face it, rose to its full height. It had no eyes and was covered in a biomechanical exoskeleton that shimmered a dark violet in colour. Its form was slim and lanky to the point that it looked almost skeletal, yet it was still tall and imposing to behold; it stood a little under three metres tall and was over eight metres long. Its tail was a grim sight, made of dozens of jagged segments that ended in a gruesome-looking blade. Finally, and most disturbing, were the sickly white colour mutations that plagued its form, mainly horrific growths that swelled across its body as well as the misshapen tendrils growing from the back of its head and along its spine.
The hunter stepped forward, talon-like claws digging into metal as its tail whipped behind it. The protector's drill roared to life as a guttural sound bellowed from deep within its casing; the hunter, of course, returned the gesture in kind with a deafening screech of challenge...