Xai'an stood on the ground as he watched Warark's ship take off under the cloaking. Daruum ended up going with him to make sure the Queen stayed sedated. Her rapid growth was also working the drugs out of her system faster which would be a problem since until you've hit lightspeed you need to be at your control center. Someone had to keep the Queen adequately sedated until then. Daruum offered, leaving only he and Baaul.

"The oomans are near. They are cloaking their thermals." Baaul growled excitedly. He seemed to think even less of them than Bad Bloods, which was saying something.

Xai'an turned to look into the darkened trees, switching his mask to detect light sources. He saw fifteen of them. This number of oomans wouldn't be a problem for him alone. With Baaul it would be hardly worth getting excited about.

The fact that they were cloaking their thermals though was unusual. That did somewhat peak his interest. Did that mean they were trying to hunt them?

They were closer now. Close enough for Xai'an to switch over to his night vision and see that they were wearing suits of some sort. It was what blocked their heat from view. They are armed and looking up into the trees. Yes, he thought, they were being hunted.

"They know we are here, Baaul. Be cautious." Xai'an warned as he slowly began to make another noose from the metal twine. The ooman's seemed to be following the first who was looking at a large computer device in his hands. Though he had weapons on him, he was the only one unarmed.

He watched the ooman's point in their direction and it made Xai'an uneasy. Did that device track them? To be sure he reached for his calf, pulling out two small rounded daggers and tossed them, aiming for the last oomans of the group. The blades didn't fly straight ahead. They circled the air around the group and took them out at the sides. The blades being not much larger than his hand easily sliced the oomans in half.

Their screams of panic had them all aiming their weapons behind them and away from him and Baaul. A few even fired which allowed Baaul to begin his slow movements around them.

The male ooman in front screamed at them to stop. He pointed at his computer and motioned ahead toward Xai'an, confirming his suspicions that whatever that ooman had was somehow tracking them. Though it may be a bit behind in it's data if he hadn't realized Baaul had moved. The ooman had to die.

Baaul surprised him by launching his spear straight through the male leading the team, earning them more screams and firing of their weapons at the area where Baaul had been. He hadn't expected the male to be able to figure out anything more complicated than 'point and kill' due to his aggressive temperment.

Xai'an shook his head at the stupid oomans. One inched back toward the tree he was in, not even seeing the noose that he set down there for him. Just like the ooman who had been hunting his mate, this one was taken up quickly and quietly. His hands fell from his weapon the moment his oxygen supply was at risk, giving Xai'an the means to sink his dual wrist blades into the soft stomach. He let the body drop with a thud.

More screams had him looking down to see that Baaul had captured five oomans in his constricting netting, slicing them into little squares of meat. Too bad oomans tasted awful. Too much iron in their blood.

He thought about joining Baaul in the hunt of the ooman's, but he just didn't seem to care much. The idea simply bored him and Baaul seemed like he had it covered. His instincts of needing caution had apparently been an exaggeration.

More screams were further out. Baaul had given chase to them as they tried to retreat back the way they came. He could hear one of their small communication devices from the dead oomans at his feet shouting, "ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!"

He landed on the ground next to the ooman he gutted, ignoring the sound of his boots sloshing in the pooling blood. Xai'an wanted to look at the computer the ooman who led them had. It was still lit up when he walked up and pried it out of the oomans stiff hand. Thanks to the suit he wore, it prevented the blood from splashing all over the screen.

Xai'an ran his claws over the screen and saw it moved with his hand. The technology was a little like what he was familiar with, though they still needed to advance the projections for it to be completely familiar. The screen showed a map of the area with several dots moving and steadily vanishing. One triangle was moving with the dots while the other was immobile. He realized that the dots were the oomans and he and Baaul were the triangles. This troubled him. How were the oomans able to track them with this?

As far as he knew there was no biological data left of his species on Earth. Only small pieces of tech. Had they somehow managed to get their hands on trace amounts of Yautja DNA? This was not good. Something else he'd likely have to investigate. For now he sent the images to Anak to await his orders on what he'd want him to do. It would be a while before he got back to him. As clan leader, he had many responsibilities.

Xai'an was about to toss the thin computer onto the ground when something caught his eye. A small red icon popped up. Ooman letters spelled out "URGENT". He clicked on it and felt shock at the image of his mate's face. The ooman file under her photo read:

Name: Zena Reyes

Age: 23

Sex: F

Believed to have close connections with the Predator species since she has trace elements of Predator DNA found in her bloodstream. Undetermined how it was administered to secure a successful bond as prior attempts for hybridization have failed.

Subject had a weapon of unknown origin on her person. The weapon must be proceeded with caution. Retractable blades severely injured Dr. Gale.

Will need to conduct multiple bodily samples after routine vaginal swab performed and detected unknown sources of semen. Believed to be Predator.

Subject has proven noncooperative and must be sedated. Will begin further testing upon Dr. Killon's return to lab. Currently on tracking mission to obtain live Predator specimen.

Reroute to…"

Xai'an knew his mask downloaded the data, but he was in such a rage that he ended up crushing the computer in his hand as he let out a lung stopping roar. He had never felt such rage in his life before! Not even when his brother's insulted his tainted blood did he feel such intense all consuming fury! The ooman's had his mate against her will and were doing experiments on her! He would kill them all!

"Xai'an?" Baaul's voice came to him. Apparently, he had heard the war cry Xai'an bellowed. Every living thing within a ten mile radius would have heard it.

"The oomans have her!" Was all he said before he was in motion, his mask already showing him the coordinates to the facility they had her in. He would get her out of there! He NEVER should have trusted her oomam friends to keep her safe!

"Wait for me, Xai'an! I shall join you!" The other Yautja said, but Xai'an barely heard it. His mind was only focused on one thing and one thing only. He would get her back and then he was going to kill that ooman that betrayed her and display his corpse at her feet. STUPID PAUKING OOMAN!

"Xai'an! Wait!"

He could hear his brother behind him now, but he didn't slow down. The facility would take him too long to get to. According to his mask, it would take him several ooman hours. He had to get to her! He had to-

"XAI'AN!" Baaul's hand jerked his shoulder back, making him stumble and effectively pissing him off. Going with the momentum, Xai'an thrust his arm back, striking Baaul in the chest and tossing him back.

"Do NOT get in my way, Baaul!" He roared at the smaller Yautja getting up slowly to his feet, growling his own warning, even though he had no hopes in besting Xai'an.

"I am not trying to! Going with you promises me more ooman blood, but let's think for a moment! We can reach her faster by taking my ship!" Baaul's words were rational. He knew that, but he was just so furious!

"We can get more weapons. Potions for her." Baaul seemed to think reasoning with Xai'an by using Z as a focus point and he'd be right.

Xai'an finally gave a jerky nod and watched Baaul call his ship on his wrist device. It took everything in him to wait there in that spot instead of running, but he knew that the ship would get them there in minutes opposed to hours. He could wait.

"If this is what an ooman female does to a Yautja, I want no part in it." Baaul finally commented as his ship started to hover down to them.

"What?" Xai'an was taken aback at the statement. Had Baaul honestly considered mating an ooman despite his hatred for them?

"I've never seen you be consumed by the bloodlust before, Xai'an. You may be a filthy breed, but you are our finest warrior. Our best hunter. You do not get lost in the bloodlust. Not until you mated the ooman. If that's what they do to you then I want no part in it." Baaul climbed up the ramp just as it opened. It left Xai'an a bit speechless. Baaul had never complimented him before.

His brother's words did calm the bloodlust he felt. He hadn't even realized that was what consumed him. Baaul was right though, he had never been consumed by it before. After he mated Z, his attachment to her grew without him even realizing it. Pauk!

He followed Baaul onto his ship, which was quite a bit smaller than his. Not surprising. Baaul was an honored warrior but he was not Elite. The higher the rank you had, the more you were rewarded by the clan leader. Xai'an had only wanted a larger ship because he spent the majority of his life being the Enforcer for Anak.

Baaul's armory may have been small, but he had more than enough for Xai'an to clean the weapons he had and replace his daggers he lost. Something else caught his attention. Two small circular boxes.

"Take them. Just make sure to place them opposing each other and it will form a laser cage. Anything that touches it will be cut." Baaul said behind him.

Xai'an nodded and added them to his belt. No thanks were meant, because if Baaul hadn't intended to give them to him, he wouldn't have offered.

After they both were finished with their weapons, Xai'an followed Baaul to his control room. He input the coordinates from his mask and clicked his mandibles when the time of arrival showed less than half an ooman hour.

Half an ooman hour before he bathed in ooman blood to get her safely back at his side.

His nails clicked the metal arm of the chair as he anxiously waited for the time to pass.