"We've finally caught one alive. Let's take it back and interrogate it properly... find out exactly what this race is made of!"
On a living world pockmarked with craters, a bone-chilling cold hung in the air.
Four Frost Giants had gone to considerable effort to cripple a single Xenomorph.
On a planet engulfed in constant warfare, trying to outmaneuver these creatures without magic or advanced technology was no easy task.
Xenomorphs excelled at using complex environments to their advantage. Any one of them possessed terrifying patience and an uncanny ability to seize fleeting opportunities. Since the war began, countless unlucky Frost Giants had fallen to their ambushes.
Even when Frost Giants managed to win, capturing one alive was extremely difficult. These creatures were too savage. As long as there was even the slightest chance of victory, they rejected every form of threat, bribe, or surrender. Once they determined they were doomed, they would pour every last ounce of strength into a suicidal charge... willing to die if it meant drenching their enemies in corrosive blood and dragging them down together.
Over these past days, the Frost Giants had come to truly understand the madness and terror of this species.
They were also undeniably powerful. In the first few days of the war, they had traded at a three-to-one ratio, killing or capturing hundreds of Frost Giants.
"Heh, we've figured out their patterns now. Their casualties are mounting. Soon ten of them won't be enough to trade for even one of us. They'll die in even greater numbers and eventually break," one Frost Giant said, looking down at the captured Xenomorph. "A race this extreme and fanatical... I refuse to believe they have many members."
The more skilled a species was at reckless warfare, the higher their casualties and the lower their total population. That was simple logic.
Besides, the Xenomorphs fighting on the front lines were fanatical. Surely their civilian counterparts back home weren't this unhinged?
Impossible. No Frost Giant would believe it.
"Idiot! Even a twenty-to-one trade is still a defeat for us Frost Giants! We're about to crush the Aesir and rule the Nine Realms. How can we suffer heavy losses against some unknown race?"
"Enough. All of you, shut your mouths!"
A Frost Giant in long robes pulled back his hood and gave the others a cold look. This one clearly wielded divine power and magic. "The higher-ups are very interested in these creatures. They want to bring them into the fold as a vassal race, so watch your tongues."
"But these things still refuse to communicate with us. If I hadn't confirmed they possess high intelligence and a structured society with clear hierarchies, I'd suspect they were primitive savages," the first Frost Giant grumbled.
His mouth was instantly sealed shut by fearsome magic.
"Even if they were primitives, they would still hold extraordinary value and fully deserve a place among us... let alone the fact that they aren't!"
The lead Frost Giant maintained a powerful surge of divine energy, ensuring the Xenomorph on the ground stayed frozen.
They had already learned the hard way that these creatures had incredible resistance to temperature... strong enough to shock even Frost Giants.
Take the bipedal Xenomorphs, for example. By Frost Giant assessments, these ranked near the bottom of Xenomorph society... only one tier above the ones that moved on all fours.
Yet even these could withstand temperatures of minus one hundred degrees.
And that was among the weakest of the second-lowest tier. There were others at the same level that were far more robust, immensely strong, and in some cases more powerful than weaker specimens from the tier above.
It was horrifying.
They had heard that someone higher up had tried attacking one with fire magic. It took temperatures of eighteen hundred degrees before the weakest second-lowest-tier Xenomorph even began to show signs of melting.
This meant Xenomorphs could conduct landing operations on the vast majority of planets across the universe, with only extreme temperatures slightly reducing their combat effectiveness.
No wonder the Frost Giants were tempted. A race that was fanatical, highly disciplined, willing to self-mutilate and die together, adaptable, and capable of tactical thinking... who wouldn't want them? Even the gods would gladly accept the Xenomorphs as vassals.
Moreover, there were clearly powerful individuals among them... towering, muscular specimens that could brawl with Frost Giants toe-to-toe. Even a few hundred of those were impressive, showing that the species had a high ceiling and could produce true powerhouses.
Several Frost Giants worked together to pin the creature down.
"Hey! I've got its inner jaws... don't worry about it suiciding on us," one said cheerfully, prying open the Xenomorph's mouth so another could secure it.
Similar scenes were becoming more common across various battlefields.
Everything should have gone smoothly, except they weren't only facing Xenomorphs.
Whoosh!
Fandral's arrow dropped a Frost Giant from afar.
A small craft descended from the sky. Thor, clad in heavy armor, leaped down and sent another opponent flying with a swing of his axe.
Dozens more Xenomorphs jumped out after him.
"Damn it! How did Asgardians get here?!"
The remaining Frost Giants fell into chaos, staring helplessly at the swarm of Xenomorphs surrounding them.
Without Thor and his team, they could have used their ice powers or magic to freeze the creatures, kill a few, and withdraw in good order.
If they were lucky enough not to encounter any stronger Xenomorphs, they could have wiped out the entire group of dozens.
A wave of Xenomorphs surged forward. Thor's blood boiled with excitement... he hadn't seen much action since the war began. He raised his weapon to charge in, only to be slammed to the ground by a powerful Xenomorph that pinned him firmly in place.
Once the Frost Giants had been beaten into crippled, unconscious wrecks…
"We've only been fighting for a little over a week and the Xenomorphs have already lost more than two thousand seven hundred. If this continues, given how fearlessly they throw themselves into battle, I'm worried they'll all die for Asgard!" Fandral said, stunned by their ferocity and reliability yet deeply troubled by the staggering losses.
So many had died. Who knew how their master, Adam, would react when he learned of it?
Would he fly into a rage and accuse the Asgardians of deliberately sending them to their deaths?
It was entirely possible. Even setting aside what the Xenomorphs' leader might think, Fandral felt a pang of heartache just imagining it. If he had warriors like these under his command... fighting so fiercely and desperately... he would be devastated.
Thor hesitated as well.
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. He scratched at his scalp, feeling like he might actually need to grow a brain.
"I only mentioned borrowing troops. I originally planned to take a small team, but Adam generously lent me an entire legion without once telling me how to command them…"
Thor looked down at the Xenomorph that had thawed from the ice but was now badly damaged by divine power and magical particles. Guilt weighed heavily on him.
Xenomorphs usually operated in squads of thirty to fifty. This particular group had clearly been wiped down to its last survivor.
Asgardians had always praised and supported bold, generous, and courageous behavior. Now, faced with the Xenomorphs, they realized that every noble Asgardian quality fit these creatures perfectly... and the Xenomorphs even raised the bar higher, spurring the Asgardians themselves to fight with greater ferocity.
Look at them... foreign warriors charging to the front lines for your territory and your people, fighting without fear and embracing sacrifice. You Asgardians who pride yourselves on bravery and boldness... do you dare fall short?
"The casualties really are too high. Adam kept his promise and sent a full five thousand soldiers a few days ago, but I can't keep leading them like this. I've decided to pull the Xenomorphs back to Asgard for rest and recovery. If possible, I'll have them formally withdraw from this… Eh?"
Thor was overcome with shame. The more he valued such noble qualities, the deeper his guilt. Before he could finish speaking, a powerful Xenomorph stepped forward, gripped his face, and silenced him.
If anyone else had dared treat Thor this way... even a depowered Thor... he would have fought to the death, and the other Asgardians would have drawn their weapons in fury.
But no one here thought it was wrong. The act was certainly "presumptuous" and "disrespectful" toward Odin's son, but coming from a loyal and reliable comrade, it was completely acceptable.
The Warriors Three and Thor had done far worse... drunkenly slinging arms around each other and trading insults... while drinking together. This was nothing.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The powerful Xenomorph shook its head in clear refusal.
Everyone looked at Thor.
Thor studied the creature's tone and gestures, doing his best to interpret. "I think… it's saying they will not withdraw before the war ends. The Xenomorph Expeditionary Force will give everything here. This is Adam's order…"
"Not bad, Thor! You managed to read all that from just two syllables! Though… are you sure you're not just doing a reading comprehension exercise?"
"Damn it, I said it's a guess! A guess!! The Xenomorph language course is still incomplete... no, it's barely even started. Our scholars are so inspired they've gone to the front lines themselves. Developing a whole new language course is the last thing on anyone's mind! The fact that I can piece together their meaning from context is already impressive!!" Thor roared.
Just like the floral colossus race of Planet X... those humanoid tree-people who seemed to repeat the same sentence over and over. Outsiders might think they were endlessly introducing themselves.
Yet when combined with context, expressions, body language, and mental fluctuations, those repeated words could convey countless meanings. Those who had studied the language could understand what the beings were expressing.
Right now, research into the Xenomorph language had barely begun. Most Asgardians couldn't understand them at all.
The group fell silent, staring at the Xenomorphs, unsure what to say.
"But still… this insane death rate… The war has only just started…" Thor stammered.
"Without the Xenomorphs' help, Asgardian casualties would have at least doubled! And that's only on paper. The morale boost they've given our people and the way they've helped us move past Odin's death... these things are immeasurable. Without them our situation would be far worse. Laufey might have already abandoned the border worlds and launched a direct assault on Asgard after seeing our weakness."
Prolonged wars were normal for advanced civilizations. The Kree and Skrulls, for example, had been locked in bloody conflict for over a hundred million years with no end in sight. That was possible because both empires had enormous populations... the Kree alone numbered over thirty billion.
But they were still mortal bodies. Without high-tech equipment, exposure to the vacuum of space killed them instantly.
The World Tree gods were more powerful than those interstellar empires but far fewer in number. Ending a war of this scale in just a few days was unrealistic.
Unless a Celestial-level being entered the fray from the start and ended it through absolute dominance.
But now, with Odin seemingly dead and Laufey hesitant to commit, the war would drag on.
The more the Asgardians witnessed the Xenomorph Legion's bravery and sacrifice, the more inspired... and guilt-ridden... they became.
"Back home, the public debate is growing louder. Many of our people are openly complaining, questioning why our distant relatives the Vanir haven't sent troops immediately, while a race from Midgard has given their precious lives and made such staggering sacrifices…" Fandral said quietly to Thor.
Thor remained silent as he led the Xenomorphs aboard the ship.
He was truly torn. The Xenomorphs were incredibly effective and had helped Asgard tremendously, but this style of fighting was essentially sending them to their deaths.
These troops were borrowed. If they all died, how could he ever repay that debt?!
Adam had trusted him completely, sending no overseers and leaving full command to him.
Deep down, Thor also understood that these Xenomorphs came from facehugger implantation of various hosts. Having been implanted himself, he knew exactly how the species reproduced, which was why he had deliberately turned over all captives to the Xenomorphs.
They had barely boarded the ship when an encrypted message came through from the rear.
"Heimdall? Is there a problem with the Bifrost, or has something major happened in the Nine Realms?" Thor's expression turned serious.
"It is something major. I thought you should know… I've seen Adam assembling a new batch of troops. He's calling for me to open the Bifrost."
The usually stoic Heimdall showed a rare flicker of emotion. His eyes could see across most of the Nine Realms, so he had witnessed the Xenomorphs' reproduction methods, but moral and philosophical concerns were not his business.
Yet after Adam had sent five thousand troops in two waves, paused for a couple of days, and then... seemingly sensing the war was going poorly... immediately began building a new legion and called across the void to send more expeditionary forces…
It was like watching a warmonger, a World Tree arms dealer, and a cosmic mercenary wholesaler all rolled into one.
Heimdall didn't understand it, but he was deeply shaken.
What could he say? That he was shocked Adam kept sending his people to die on a divine battlefield for Asgard?
When he thought about it, every single Xenomorph on the battlefield fought with such ferocity. It made sense that their leader would be extremely warlike. Otherwise, how could Adam have earned their loyalty?
Upon hearing the news, a warm surge rushed through Thor's chest and straight to his eyes, leaving them red.
"Adam, my good brother… I never imagined that when I was in trouble, the one helping me without regard for cost or loss would be you! I'll acknowledge you as my brother for life! The entire Aesir people will remember this forever!"
Thor swore that from now on, if any Xenomorph ever found itself in danger on some distant world and sent out a call for help that reached passing Asgardians, they would do everything in their power to rescue it.
This… this was true friendship!
^^^
If you'd like to read up to 50 chapters ahead, feel free to visit our patron: pat reon . com/XElenea