I felt the tears prick my eyes, stinging in pain of many emotions. Anger, sadness, betrayal, all storming inside me. Weyland Yutani took my mother from me. I had it in my head that the Kalisk was to blame, only to finally remember that moment I wanted to block out of my mind for years. I never got close to its face, and I remember that moment while I was out of it. Now, I am face-to-face with the synthetic connected to my mother's death.
"She was a fool, Ru," Tessa said.
"Better a fool like her than a damned tool like you, who will get tossed away once you are worthless!" I spat.
"Krra shei da'ka thwei-m'cha, h'kra heri-m'cha da'ka'te. Nar'ch yaun'te kxar you, nar'ch tlex-ghan hult'cha!" Dek let out a roar.
"And yet her mother is dead," Tessa said, and I felt my anger burn inside me.
"Txak! Kra'narak khxar! Du'tek Incubator, ka'nith!" I screamed at her. I felt something shift. The three of them looked at me as I spoke perfect Yautja, insulting Tessa. "Kxar'th! Nar'cha vek'ta-dei, na'shak'ta dzu-krin!"
Tessa just stared at me in disbelief. "This will need to be documented."
She went back to typing on a screen, like I'm some test subject. And didn't bother with me after that.
"Tessa, she's just a human; it isn't ethical to take her as a specimen." This spoke up. "Besides, what use is there for that?"
"I wouldn't be sure of that, Thia, Seo-ah never mentioned Ru's father. Let alone let anyone near her while pregnant or after she gave birth." Tessa countered, Why is she so adamant on who my dad is?
"She isn't of use."
"Then how did she survive this long alone?" Tessa turned to Thia. Thia said nothing; she didn't have an answer to that.
"They saved me, Tessa, like you did," Thia said to her sister.
"I didn't come to save you, Thia," Tessa said to her. I am completing our mission."
"Txek-tha! Kxar'dok we!" Dek spat at Thia.
"We trusted you!" I spat at Thia.
"When we first faced the Kalisk, I tried to protect you," Tessa said to Thia. "And that almost cost me everything."
"What do you mean, Tessa?" Thia asked her.
"I almost made the same mistake the Youtjas' brother made. The weak must be culled." Tessa continued. Dek let out a growl, and I yanked at my restraints again. "And Thia, you're broken."
I continued to fight to get rid of the restraints, and Dek fought with his restraints, letting out a loud growl. I saw the tech on my arm was still there. I can use it to get Douma once I get out of here. Another Syn came out, male-designed.
"Tessa, incoming message from mother." He said. Dek growled.
"Motivate the Youtja and the girl to explain the weapons and what is known about Seo-ah's partner before she was decommissioned," Tessa said to him and a second syn that looked exactly like him.
"And the unit?" he asked. Tessa turned to Thia.
"Box her up." Tessa barely gave that answer a thought.
"Txen'ka naru-de! Tu'cha varr kxar!" I snapped at her at the same time as Dek. The one Syn that stayed was pulling out devices that came from Dek's ship, most likely. "Ka. De'k-txar kxe tools."
"Kxar'da na'tek, Ya'ka." I said to him, almost out of my restraints, keeping an eye on the Syn.
"Kx'tar. Dai'ren n'chak…" Thia tried to start.
"Kxar na'tek thra your sister'ka." Dek and I spoke in union.
Dek growled at the Synthetic as he came close. I yanked at my restraints.
"Why are you speaking its language?" the Synthetic asked Thia. Dek turned to look at Thia, and we both looked at the device close by. I know it's a Yautja toy, and what it does. But they don't.
"Txel tool'u-dek, ya kaht-kxa txen-dek mahk device." Dek said, looking to the Syn.
"You heard the orders. I'm asking it to explain this device." Thia said.
"What is the device?" The Syn demanded as he walked over to the toy.
"Kx'ta hak! Chi-de! Txen'kar de'vak." Thia said.
"Tx'e ka-thwei pup'ka thak'ri." I said to Thia. "Txa'kren, Ya'ka. Dha krin-tak'cha."
"What did she say?" The syn looked to Thia.
"She said it's a map," Thia said.
"How does it work?" The syn demanded of Dek.
"Txik! Kra'ta Ya'ka. Look in'ta kxul." Dek said to Thia.
"he said to look inside." Thia translated for the Syn. This idiot did as asked, holding up the toy and activating it. and it blew up his head. the white blood splattered on the wall behind him as he fell. I yanked away my restraints and got up, moving to help Dek. Thia pulled a device from her ear.
"Txat va'shka pu'tak p'te!?" Thia questioned while I fought with the restraints on Dek.
"Kx! Yautja-ka pu'tka!" Dek and I said in union. Thia turned and tapped on a screen, freeing Dek. He and I ducked to the side for cover as Synthetics were coming in. Thia smacked one of the buttons in the vehicle.
"Kr! Dek! Ru'kxa!" Thia said as the door opened to the wilderness of Genna, and the Synthetics were coming in with guns. once the back was opened enough, Dek and I ran and jumped out as gunfire came at us from behind. "Grr'ka… Grr'KA!"
Dek and I tumbled down the slope, bashing into the ground going down. A cliff came soon, and we both fell into the water with a harsh splash. Dek and I swam through the water to solid ground. Nothing lived in these waters, so getting back was fine. once on land, Dek got up, tired, angry, and injured.
"Gah!" I stumbled when I tried to stand. looking at my left leg, it was injured, a jagged rock in it like a knife. "damn it."
Sitting back, I yanked out the rock.
"Ru!" Dek came over quickly. He saw my rust colored blood.
"It's fine," I winced. "Not the first injury I've gotten."
"Txra! Kxan se'tak'cha?" Dek kneeled beside me.
"Go, I'll be okay." I held my leg in pain. "I can patch myself up and catch up with you later."
I barely moved, and my entire body stung in pain. Dek stood up, but didn't move to leave.
"Dek?" I looked up at him, confused. "What are you- Dek?!"
Dek picked me up in my arms and was careful of my injuries.
"Dek?! What are you-?!"
"Kxar! Na kra'kan ju." Dek said, looking in my eyes. "Txek'ra u'cha nai, "Shi kyat-ka dha-kwei kha-tek, ai na'ri."Ai'cha dthun-dei'n xe."
my hands rested on his shoulders as he carried me. I was silent, not entirely sure how to take this. He wasn't going to leave me behind, because I promised not to leave him behind. He carried me the entire way as it grew dark out.
"Ru," Dek said as he climbed terrain, never letting me go.
"Yeah?" I looked to him while he carried me.
"Txen'ka, kxal Kalisk'ti drau'cha ya-m'di t'ka kxin'dar da-uhn." He started, "Txea Tessa-ka, n'rauk, kha'dei-ya tchak!ra-ka vey-m'cha de'kalisk."
"... yeah," I said, looking into the distance. "When we were unconscious after being frozen, old memories I had suppressed came back. The Kalisk had a device embedded in its shoulder, the company's logo was on it, and I realized now that it didn't attack because it wanted to. When it realized what it did, it nudged my mom's head, trying to wake her. And before that day, when I was tiny, the Kalisk spat on us to claim us as family... I've wasted nine years of my life chasing something that wasn't a willing cause for my mother's death. It didn't come after me because it felt that my actions hurting it were justified for the anger and pain I felt after losing my mother. Nine wasted years, I was hunting something that was in just as much pain as I was after losing my mother."
Dek was silent and just let me talk.
"Ugh, Sorry," I wiped my face, cleaning up a tear. "god, this is embarrassing,"
"Do'nk bi, Ya'ka." Dek said to me. "Ka'ri thra'ek va'de zhul'nak khiu-dek."
Those words were something I didn't know I even needed to hear. I shift in his arms and rest my head on his shoulder, silent, and just let the tears fall down my face, and onto his shoulder. the walk to seemingly nowhere was long and silent, Till Dek stopped somewhere. lifting my head, i saw a ship, Yautja.
"Your ship?" I asked Dek as he carried me to the Ship, wiping my face dry of tears.
"Kwei'tu ja'dtel," Dek told me. Inside the ship, Dek set me on the ground and began looking through what was left in the ship. he pulled out this device and walked over to me. "Txar-ka ku'n-tek draal hut!"
Dek knelt beside me and tore my pant leg to the cut. he pressed the device to my skin and turned it on, running it along the wound. I winced, digging my nails into my palms.
"Ah," I breathed as he finished fixing my leg. After he finished up my leg, he got to work on his own wounds.
Dek looked around the Ship. I knew he must have been thinking about Kwei. Eventually, he started roaring Kwei's name and bashing his fists against the wall. He was angry with everything. then the ship came to life.
"Setk'renn t'kal, Kwei-Ya'ka." The ship's AI system said. Standing up, my leg was stiff, but it wasn't in constant pain. Dek looked around the now-lit-up space. He let out clicking noises as he headed into the ship. I followed behind him stiffly, almost dragging my just patched-up leg. Dek traveled through the ship till this slanted table in the center of the room with skulls of different species on a wall. Deck walked up to the slanted table and put his hands in the center beside a Skull that looked like a Yautja, and a hole with sand in it was in the center of the slanted table. He pulled out a mask from the sand; it must be a blooded mask. I know a few ranks in Yautja culture, I could be wrong though.
"Tx'kah nar, dha'ko-de Ya'ka," Dek said, looking at the mask in his hands. Dek then looked up, thinking of something. "Volf."
I knew what he was going to do after he said those words.
"What do we do first?" I asked him, standing with him.
"Kr'tak ha'vxu," Dek said, turning to me.
"Let's go," I said to Dek before we headed out. The night was a good time to collect certain things, since most creatures around here can't see body heat.
The first place we went to for materials for organic weapons was the field of razor grass. The sharp blades will work well for daggers. Dek will probably be something like a bladed whip, though, to keep things interesting. Next up, Explosive Grub. While small, if tended to correctly, they can be used to act as explosives. Vultures' beaks or teeth will work as knives if used correctly. A squirt, the slug-like snakes that enjoy the slimy berries. They spit assiduous liquid, so it will work as a device to kill. And finally, Bone bison hide, thick enough to keep inside safe, and bendable. Heading back to the Kalisk den, we ran into Bud.
"Bud?" Dek and I walked over. She was sitting in a Kalisk footprint. Dek kneeled to the footprint.
"Kalisk," Dek said,
"bud's..."
"Kalisk'ka'ri pya'ka," Dek and I both looked at Bud. I was hunting Bud's mother because I thought it killed mine. Dek spat on Bud, claiming her as family, just like she claimed him. I went to the rubble my suit and Douma were under.
"Douma, you in there?" I called; his yips were muffled, but he was okay. tapping some of the buttons on the tech around my forearm, and the suit broke through. I covered my face as Debris was sent flying. Lowering my arms, the suit opened, and Douma leaped out, yipping happily. I knelt, and Douma was jumping around and licking my face.
"Hey boy," I pet his head, and give him scratches here and there. I got up and led him over to the building. Thia's legs are probably still trapped. heading in, I saw Dek lift the table that was crushing Thia's legs at the waist. The legs got up and walked out. I moved out of the way with Douma. The Legs walked ahead.
"Let's go get Thia," I said, looking at Dek. He looked to me, giving a grunt response. I went to get my suit, and I saw that Bud was copying Dek's stance. I climbed into my suit.
"Douma, follow Dek," I told Douma as my suit closed me in. Douma let out a yip, sniffed the air, and went by Dek's side. I walked with them. Dek put together a razor grass whip, a Vulture tooth knife, and bone bison body armor and mask. We walked on into the night, following Thia's legs. We walked and traveled the entire way to the Weylan Yutani camp.
Dek was over head with the plant weapons and bone bison hide on him. While I had my cloak on with Douma sneaked beside me. Dek had the squirt spit its acid on the front and back of one of the synthetics; the acid burned through it completely. I ripped out the spine of one Synthetic close to me and tossed it aside. Once the Synthetic was down, I crushed his head underfoot as I walked through. Douma tore apart the Synthetics he came across alone. I kept close enough to Dek to follow him, but far enough to allow Douma to hunt with my say so. Bud was also following Dek and hunting Synthetics. A Synth saw Dek and was going to fire at him. I grabbed the Synth by the head and crushed it. The benefit of extra strength in the suit. We followed Thia's legs, killing Synthetics as we went. Dek used the organic razor whip and extendable blades on his hand glove to kill Synthetics. Dek encountered more than one Synth. I jumped in, still cloaked, and tore the spine and skull out of one; the other two Dek got the kill on. We left the greenery area and headed through.
"Where the hell are they keeping Thia?" I asked Dek as we kept moving.
"Ai-de kri, pu-de'cho dha'k." Dek said.
"Agreed, it is annoying," I said to him. Soon enough, we found dead synthetics and an open box. "Where-?"
Then a gun was loaded behind us; I was still cloaked. One of the synthetics found us. "Don't. move."
I was about to turn when a loud noise came from behind us. I turned and saw the Synth fall dead while Thia stood there, legs attached and all.
"Dek, what are you doing here?" Thia asked.
"Ka'ta khui-de paiya'k-te." Dek said to Thia.
"We?" She asked. I turned off my cloak, and she saw my suit. "Ru? You two came to rescue me?"
"Volf," Dek said to Thia. Thia looked Dek over, and a confused look came to her face.
"What exactly are you wearing?" She said.
"Kxan-b'ison." Dek told her, He took off the mask and handed it to her. Thia held it and then looked to him.
"Dek of the Yautja," Thia said to him.
"Ma-te," Dek said to her. "Thia."
"We need to hurry," Thia said, handing back his mask. "More will be here any minute."
"Halt," A synthetic said behind us. Dek growled and turned to fight. I turned as well, but pieces of synthetics were thrown aside. Then Bud came in holding a piece of one of the synths. Douma came bouncing over happily.
"What are you doing here?" Thia asked, looking down at Bud. Bud held up the limb he had from one of the dead Synthetics. "Thanks, Bud, I'm good."
Bud tossed aside the limb. "We need to go."
"Kalisk," Dek said, pointing to the ship.
"Still Dek?" Thia asked. Dek looked to Bud and lifted her; the four of us looked to Thia.
"Ka'liisk ja'din/ Kalisk child." Dek and I said in sync, him in Yautja, me in English.
"Bud?" Thia asked, confused, Dek set down Bud.
"They have her mother," I said to her. "I sent nine years hunting the wrong being. I have to make it right, after everything I did to Bud's mother."
Pressing some buttons on my suit's arm, I turned on my cloak.
"Bud's its child?" Thia said while Dek and I looked around a corner ahead, although I wasn't easily seen. "So what's the plan?"
"Thu kalisk-de t'kwei, ai-dei ka'nikt," Dek said, then hit a button, setting off an alarm.
"Thia, you know how to get the box open?" I asked Thia as we moved out of sight of the synthetics.
"Yes, unless the passwords were changed," Thia said.
"Any other way?" I asked her.
"Yes, my eyes,"
"And if you get locked out there, too?" I asked, and Thia gave a discouraged expression. "What about another syn's eyes?"
"We can work with that if they are intact."
"Then let's get in, Douma. Stay close to Bud," I told my Yautja hellhound. He sniffed Bud and stuck close to her. Thia and the other two hid behind containers while Tessa and the other synthetics went to look for Dek.
"I can get in, the other two won't fit in though," Thia said.
"They don't have to, you just need to get in and get the Kalisk out," I told her, throwing on the Company jacket that Tessa had on, and pulling up her hood. "Hurry."
Once the coast was clear, Thia hurried inside. I went in behind her, Bud and Douma in front of me. Thia immediately went to the Box the Kalisk was in, and tried the pad for the password. It failed. She tried scanning her Eye, which also failed. She tried wiping her eye and saw it was dirty, which also failed. That's when a Synthetic came in.
"What are you doing?" he asked. I was still cloaked; the other two were hidden behind me. Thia rolled her right eye back to look more like Tessa. I, however, moved behind the synthetic. Then bashed his head into the box; the Kalisk was locked in, shutting him down.
"I had that, Ru," Thia said to me, fixing her eye.
"And I wasn't about to play pretend. Now, let's get his eyes and get the Kalisk out." I told her.
"Fine," Thia helped me get the eyes from the down Synthetic, and scanned them with the device on the box, opening it. I banged on the wall of the Box as it opened, trying to wake up the Kalisk.
"Wake up, come on!" I begged the Kalisk as I banged on the wall. I moved to the open door to see it barely waking up. "Wake up! Please!"
I kept banging on the walls. The Kalisk finally woke up and charged out. I moved out of the way in time before The Kalisk came bolting out and off the ship.
"Let's go! I'm not about to miss this!" I ran out after the Kalisk. Thia, Bud, and Douma ran out after me. Ahead, I saw Dek on one of the mobile vehicles, and Dek was trying to break the glass that was protecting Tessa. I watched as the Kalisk leaped onto the Vehicle, and Dek threw himself against the side of the vehicle and climbed around the back. I ran to the vehicle and turned off my cloak. With a leap, the extra strength in the suit's legs, I propelled myself up on the vehicle's back and climbed up beside Dek.
"Hak-de?" Dek asked.
"Now, we fuck up Tessa's machine." I extended the extendable blades from the wrist and jammed them into the panels in the back of the machine, angling my blades up; the back came off. I threw it aside and began ripping out wires. Dek followed my lead. The Kalisk kept attacking Tessa from the front. The machine began malfunctioning.
"No!" Tessa yelled and was struggling with the machine.
"Jump Dek!" I yelled, we both jumped off, and landed on the ground. I covered Dek while the Kalisk tore the machine in half, and the debris fell; the suit I wore protected us both from the debris. I pushed up and looked down at him, a little breathless from adrenaline. "You okay?"
Dek let out a grunt, which I will say means he is okay. Getting up, He and I stood up.
"So this was your plan, yeah?" Thia asked as she, Bud, and Douma stood with us. We watched as the Kalisk attacked Tessa. The Kalisk pushed away the metal of the machine. Tessa couldn't get out and aimed a plasma cannon towards the Kalisk. That's Dek's plasma caster. Tapping a few buttons on my suit's arm, my plasma caster sent a shot at Tessa, disarming her. Then the Kalisk ate her while she was in the machine. I watched, satisfied with her end. The Kalisk stood over the dismantled machine and roared triumphantly.
The Kalisk turned to us and made its way over. I set my suit to open, and I stepped out. Bud made her way over to The Kalisk. She and the Kalisk connected foreheads. After a moment, the Kalisk looked at Dek and me. Dek moved towards the Kalisk. I held my arm, staying away. Dek placed his hand on the Kalisk's forehead, then, after a moment, connected his forehead with it. I stayed back and watched. The Kalisk lifted its head and looked to me. I didn't move; my body remained still and stiff.
This creature claimed my mother and I as family. It wasn't trying to hurt us all those years ago, and I attacked it repeatedly for years, blaming it for the pain it felt just as strongly as I did. The Kalisk walked over to me. I lifted my eyes to meet its eyes. The Kalisk let out a gentle purr and rested its forehead against mine. My breath came out shakily, my eyes closed, and tears fell from my eyes.
"...I'm sorry..." I whispered against its face. "For everything... I hurt you... You weren't trying to hurt us that day... I'm so sorry..."
Tears fell from my cheeks against its face. The Kalisk lifted its head and licked away my tears with its large tongue. I looked up at it as it stood up. Then it made uncomfortable noises and backed away from me. My brows furrowed, frost came out of its mouth. The frost bombs! Then the Kalisk froze and burst into pieces, sending us all backwards in frost and shards of the Kalisk. I covered my face with my arms at the impact. I landed on my back hard, the wind knocked out of me. Everything was blurry for a moment. My lungs and ribs were in pain. Sitting up was difficult; my eyes widened in horror at what was around me. The Kalisk that I was claimed as family by was dead around me in frozen shards. Before I had regained my memories of the Kalisk as a child, I would have been satisfied, maybe happy. But... I know t wasn't ever seeing my mother or i as a threat, and let me hurt it as a way of retribution for what happened to my mother. Tears welled up in my eyes again. It was gone. The one thing on this planet that was as connected to my mother as I was... was in pieces around me. I turned my head, and in the center was Tessa. Anger burned the blood in my veins. Tessa was looking right at Thia as Thia stood up. Tessa. She'll die today. I stood up, my body ached, barely able to stand, I couldn't get my weapons like this.
"Betrayed by my own... Sister," Tessa said as she came closer to Thia. She readied the plasma caster; the three red dots started at Thia's neck and then moved upward. I looked to Dek. He saw this too. He took a shard of the Kalisk out of his leg and made his way over to Tessa from behind silently.
"...We're not sisters," Thia said, and shook her head at Tessa. Then, Dek struck Tessa through the throat from behind. Ash She Fell Dek walked around her and took off the plasma caster from her shoulder.
"Dhau'k na'sai." Dek said as he walked towards Thia. I managed to limp over. Douma joined us; Bud tore Tessa's head off with a small roar, considering her size. Dek made his way over to Bud a knelt before her, and connected their foreheads. This was it, this is the end of my journey with Dek. Douma and I managed to get to the suit. It had many pieces of the Kalisk inside, and I removed them all. Climbing in with Douma, the suit closed us in, and I gathered all the pieces of the Kalisk. Gathering them in a Pile, I began to dig through the dirt to make a hole big enough for the Kalisk. I was about to start piling in the pieces, but Dek, Thia, and Bud had already started gathering the pieces. The head, I lifted in my arms, looking at the face, and gently set it down in the hole with a gentle touch. The frost bomb wore off, and I was able to close its eyes. My hands shook even in the suit. Standing up as the others put in the remaining pieces, I began to bury the Kalisk. The others helped me bury the creature. I stayed till it was done. Then I started to leave.
"Ru?" Dek caught my arm. I turned to him. "K'tra ka'naka'te?"
"I was going to find a ship and head off," I told him,
"Alone?" Thia asked.
"... Dek has his tribe to get back to, and... I have a new mission." I said. "Besides, you will probably not be going back to the company."
"Clan te'ka-de," Dek said to me. I looked at him, still and surprised.
"Clan?" I asked.
"Da'tra, h'ki thwei-de shi-de'dti-thei. Ke-de, Douma-de dtha." Dek said.
I looked between the three of them, then laughed. "Heh, you aren't letting me leave without a fight, are you?"
"Ru, you spent nine years alone," Thia said. "It's time for a new chapter with a clan."
I looked between the two of them. The two I was originally going to use to end what I thought killed my mother, then built a connection between them and the child of the very creature I mistook for the being that cost my mother her life out of free will. I thought back over the last nine years and how alone I felt now that I thought about it. I had wanted someone there with me as I grew up, but there was no one there for me. I was alone and grew up on vengeance. Thinking back on all those years, then when I met Douma, Dek, Thia, and Bud... I had never felt so... Happy? maybe it is. I don't want this feeling to go away. God, I really got attached, didn't I?
"... Let's get Dek's tech back first," I said after the silence.