It was one of the many assigned to go through as reinforcement. It didn't know it was a reinforcement that wasn't meant to go back. Heck, it didn't even know its name or how to think. It wasn't supposed to; the Controllers bred it for this. It was never meant to have intelligence, just an instinct...
Darkness, at least to one pair of eyes. I'd been in this crate for several days, with no sign of getting out. Hope looked dim of ever escaping or even getting away from these creatures. Had those relentless slaves not outnumbered me, I wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place. Not long ago I was traveling in the forest with the rest of my pack searching for small prey to serve as the last meal before the moons rose. But half way into the hunt, larger but thin creatures with collars surrounded out pack and captured most of us. Some who struggled too much were killed, so we decided to play it safe and try an escape plan later. We were all placed in small crates, barely large enough to crouch in. It was then that a larger creature similar to the slave-like ones earlier, but more muscular and armored, approached the crates and started to babble on in a foreign language. A slave near the larger creature was frantically trying to translate for the master's speech, but was not doing a very good job. Fortunately enough got through to get the idea; unfortunately I didn't really want to hear what they wanted to say. The larger creature needed a stronger, swifter race of creatures to act as an offensive in the attack on the other-siders, whomever they may be. We would have collars put on us when the time was right, and if we did not obey the collars could be set to various levels of electric-shock ranging from annoyance to fatal. Since then nothing had happened for a while. The larger creatures, I'm dubbing the 'masters', were shouting out commands at the smaller slaves who were in turn opening the crates and slapping collars onto every creature. I watched as the line progressed towards my crate and prepared for my 'nothing-to-lose' attack. As the front of the crate was removed, I leaped out and bit the slave. I didn't want to do any serious damage to it since it wasn't operating under full control, but it was enough to make a run for it. A few other slaves leaped towards me, but I sped towards the 'master' and started attacking him. It was only in vain, as I was no match for it, and was picked up and thrown. As I waited for the impact, I only felt a cool breeze and the odd absence of sound. Swirling lights surrounded me as I floated through space, but then the expected impact came all to quickly, although the floor was unnaturally smooth, almost like an underwater stone. Many very odd-looking creatures were standing around me, but backed away quickly when I staggered up. They were very unusual, having strange patterns of fibers on their heads, some sort of loose armor which did not look like it would hold up to any attack, and the strangest part being, they had no apparent natural defensive claws or teeth. This must be a relatively safe planet for these types of creatures to survive.
When I arose from my short daze, I looked around at each creature, and they looked back. I stepped forward, and they stepped back. Two of the creatures were talking in an unknown language to each other and I saw them head towards a leash. Well, I was not going to be another minion for some 'other' cause, so I headed out the door that was so carelessly left ajar. Most of the creatures looked like they wanted to stop me but lacked the courage to try. I didn't bother with any form of attack, since they didn't look like they would hold up to it or even that they could stop me. As I ran out, I heard a loud crash, so I slid into a corner and looked back. The master, slaves, and my pack were all spilling out of a glowing entanglement of electricity. The master crashed into the middle of the floor and then stood up, yelling command. The slaves ran around slaughtering the weak creatures of this land, while my pack stayed back and refused to participate. The master looked back at the pack and shouted a command. The pack remained motionless. The command was yelled louder, but still no reaction. A small device was then pulled out, and the pack shuddered in pain. This was repeated a few times until the pack grew restless and finally jumped on the master. One was flung through an ice-like wall towards me.
"Avgid ui dioght..."
"Avenge my death..." it whispered. I would. The remainder of the pack was overcome and shocked to death by the master. The master was somewhat weak from the attack, so I chose this as my moment of revenge. I sped up behind the creature, and grabbing a shard of warm ice, stabbed one of its eyes. The master staggered back and I finished it off with an electricity filled box. The slaves stood around not knowing what to do. They seemed too unintelligent to do anything on their own. I tried yelling commands, but they just stared, while others sat down and looked at the wall. The glowing electric passageway, from which I came, faded in and out of existence. I would have to find another way back. I headed out, hoping that this wouldn't be too hard...
Its journey began with the Controllers. They herded it through its pen, along with the others, to the portal. They were forced through and felt the deathly chill of subspace as they were shot to some unknown area on some unknown planet...It was overwhelmed as it entered the small room. There were many smells present, those of fellow species and those of species unknown. This created for a strange combination, so it scanned the area with its large red eye. Machinery was present, but mostly destroyed. Sparks flew from monitors and scared some of the smaller creatures away. Bodies lied strewn about the room, many from the alien species, and a group of the weaker home species. It noticed that a Controller lied dead on the floor. That hardly ever happened; this species must have some strength. The aroma of blood matched the appearance of the bodies. Many were bludgeoned to death; it was evident by the large areas of crushed bone and blood pooling from their helmets. The first wave of attackers had done their job. It growled at the others to leave it be with the bodies. After some chattering from the scavengers, the other species left the room and it concentrated on getting some food and a clear scent. It tried to eat many of the objects in the room; it found that the only things worth eating were parts of the bodies and the blood so readily available. It tried to eat the other things, but stopped after it bit on a magnum and the gun almost took part of its head off with the resulting gunshot. It wanted to go back to its homeland where it could hunt and eat good food, but the portal disappeared. It knew there was no turning back, so it decided to at least have some fun.
It wanted to hunt one of the aliens. It was not a scavenger; it enjoyed the hunt. It got its chance when it heard gunshots and screams from the aliens off in the distance. It shot down the hallway with the agility of a cheetah, barely trying to look in the various offices and hallways it passed by at lightning speed. The noises were coming closer. A sudden end of the hallway and start of a large room made it skid and stop at the corner of the room. It peeked into the room...
I headed out down the hallways, looking for other rooms that might serve the same purpose as the one I had been in before, but to no luck. I came to an opening that led into a box. Curious as to what this was, I went inside, and as I did, two shiny stone-like structures, moved together and closed me in. Not sure what to do, I pressed a small glowing circle on the wall which caused the ground to move. The stones moved apart, and I was in a different place. It seemed lighter, so I assumed that I must be on higher ground within this cave. I wandered around for a while hoping to see some signs of life. I did. A pack of the local houndeyes ran by, chasing one of the weak creatures. Then I heard the sonic attack followed by screams. I ran up and pounced on the hounds since they were few in numbers. The creature died, but I didn't know if it would help me or not anyway. To my right was an opening with a strong light source coming out from behind it. I walked over to it and looked out. Once my light-sensitive eyes adjusted to the sharp contrast, I saw what more of the weak creatures, only these had heavier armor and carried a third, darker arm. They were using this arm, which made a loud noise and ripped holes in what it was aimed at, to attack the other non-armored weak creatures and the inhabitants of my world. I couldn't figure out which sides were which with all this cross killing. I decided to trust no one, unless it helped me first. Then I felt a sharp pain in my leg. The dark arm from the armored weak creature had attacked me. I hobbled away as fast as I could; the enemies followed close behind. A small rock-like object was thrown in front of me, and I grabbed and threw it back instinctively thinking it was dangerous. It was; as it bounced several times, it turned into a bright ball of fire. I surely would have died if I was next to that. Another came bouncing across the walls. I grabbed this one and returned it to the sender. Screams followed by the fire sound were heard, then nothing. I scurried back to see what I had done, and saw only the remains of the attackers. I picked up two of the dark arms, and tested them out. It pushed back a little when used, but would prove useful later. After strapping on a few additional fire stones, I set off...
Two scientists were standing behind a security officer as he fired at the headcrabs rapidly approaching. No, no, no, this would not do. It leaped into the room and devoured the first headcrab in one bloody gulp. The 3 others turned on it and jumped. It dodged the first 2, and the 3rd misjudged its jump, sliding under its large leg. A quick movement of its paw, and the headcrab became one with the floor, splashing blood on the security guard. The aliens just stood there and embodied an overall stupid look on their faces, so it continued with the headcrabs. The other 2 tried to escape, but it ran over and ripped them apart with its sharp teeth. The security guard was happy with its actions. We've found a guard dog to help us through the facility, he thought. He motioned to it to come closer, and pulled a half-eaten sandwich in a plastic bag out of his pocket. He waved the sandwich at it, and it came closer. Let the hunt begin. It walked up and looked at the security guard. The sandwich was quickly devoured along with the rest of the security guard's arm, leaving a bloody stump of veins and nerves. The guard screamed in agony and tried to pull his gun out. It wouldn't let that happen, and rammed into his stomach, knocking him into a desk. It pounced on him, but not before he got a shot off and hit its leg. It became enraged and took a chunk out of his neck with its powerful jaws. The guard continued to scream as best he could, considering his voice box was lying on the floor next to him. It then raised its paw and came down hard, exploding his head and leaving the room quite messy. That wasn't a very tasty part anyway.
Solid flames found on the ceiling lit the halls. They weren't as bright as the light before the invasion of their world, and I could not decide whether to use my light-eyes or heat-sensors. Most of this part of the cave was not destroyed, compared to where I had come in, but there were no signs of life present. I wandered around for a long while hoping to find an exit, or room where I could transport back to my world. On a wall there was some writing that I could not read, but an arrow pointed towards an opening similar to the box that moved the ground. I entered the opening and climbed the inclination found within...
The hunt turned focus on the scientists. It didn't see them leave the room, but they weren't here. It looked up at the ceiling. An air duct was opened; that is where they are. This fact was further solidified by the sounds of scraping and sliding above it in the ceiling. It leaped onto the desk, and launched itself as hard as it could into the ceiling. It hit the mark, and the air duct was blown open. One of the scientists slid backwards and was hanging out of the hole in the ceiling. The other was trying to help pull him back in. It jumped up and bit down into the scientist's leg. It hung off his leg, and the weight was too much. Either his leg comes off, or they fall. It thought it would be his leg as blood started to run from his knee and down onto its face. Eventually, after what seemed to be an eternity of hanging off his leg, the scientists tired and fell out of the hole. It quickly pounced on the healthy one and bit into his chest. He was pinned down, so his death didn't take long. The other one was limping to the door at the end of the room. It rammed into him at full speed, and it heard a large snap and scream of pain. It appeared it had snapped his back in half. He was still alive, and continued to fly towards the door. He could do nothing as he slammed into the door, full force. The doorknob happened to be in the way of his head, and it silenced his screams as it came out the back of his skull. This force broke the door off its frame, and it slid out of the room, with the body stuck to the back of it. It watched as the door slid down the access stairs, creating a twisted sled, with the corpse driving the thing. It could only watch as its dessert slid away, but felt content in the knowledge that there were more places to go, and more aliens to eat...
I was almost knocked off my feet by a door that came sliding down the inclination. One of the weaker creatures was attached to the back of the door. Following this odd display I heard a howl of rage somewhere above me. I decided to avoid that creature follow the inclination up to its highest point. At the top, there was another opening, which I went through and was blinded by the intensity of the light. I figured I must have gotten outside. This was only the second time I had seen outdoor light since I had been hunting so the shock was somewhat difficult to adjust to. This world was truly strange to me. High cliffs and blue skies, all were almost pleasant to look at but I was eager to leave. A little farther away, I saw a large bird that looked like it was made of the stone that many things in this world were made of. It must be sleeping, so I approached it, cautiously nonetheless. I had almost reached the bird when I heard voices behind me, so I quickly ran behind its tail. There were a few poorly armored weak creatures and a few slightly better armored ones. A few had dark arms with them. They ran right into the bird, or actually inside it rather. Shortly after they did this, I heard a loud noise; the bird must have woken up. It did, and started to fly away. The wings above itself spun around, and before it was out of reach, I jumped on. Hanging on with one hand, dark arms tucked under the other, I had no idea where I was going.
It uttered a howl of rage as it double-checked the offices on the floor. Nothing was here; it seemed. It was getting hungry again and had nothing to eat. It found nothing; save some old corpses that tasted terrible. It saw the access stairs and decided to see if its kill was still waiting for it.
It emerged at the bottom of the access stairs. It pushed the door open and looked out. Some kind of tunnel lied before it. A train was starting off down the tunnel. It saw a few scientists and a driver at the front of the train. That corpse is useless now; it has live prey. Within seconds it closed the distance and leaped onto the back train car. Ahead was the meat. It jogged through the cars until it could see the scientists through the window on the door. They noticed it as well, and began to yell at it and barricade the door with anything they had. The quick barricading job didn't bother it as it slammed into the door and blew it off its hinges. The door slammed into a scientist, along with most of the barricading objects and landed on top of him as he lied on the floor. He tried to squirm out, but the weight was too much. It heard him scream as the weight gradually broke his shoulder. He won't be going anywhere for a while. It focused its eye on the scientist to its right. He screamed at it and tried to kick it, but it rammed straight into his stomach. This sent him rolling out the door and onto the tracks. It ran to the side to see if it could salvage any meat, but all it saw was a blinding flash as the scientist was electrocuted and lied, twitching, on the track. It felt a pang of hunger when it realized it let a meal get away, but it was snapped back to reality by the screaming of the scientist under the broken door. In a flash, it leaped on the door and started jumping up and down. A sudden stop of the screaming and a sickening crunch followed this act. It pushed the debris off the scientist and had the best parts for itself, but wasn't totally satisfied. Something must be driving this thing. It raced towards the front car, and pushed open the door."Ray? It's about time you checked in! How's Ed doing?"
It replied with a growl, and the driver spun around. It pounced on his chest and used its jaws to grab hold of him. It started to ram him against the control panel as fast as it could. Sparks lit up the control panel as it was quickly destroyed, along with the driver. He died quickly, and it enjoyed its meal, but it felt the train start to go faster. It couldn't see what was happening because blood covered the front window. This was too fast. The train suddenly whipped around a corner and tilted to its side. It ran to jump out the door, but the train flipped on its side, and it was thrown in between some seats. The train slid some more, and slammed into the side of the tunnel. It was thrown back across the train and hit the floor (or the wall, it was unable to tell at this point). It tried to get back up, but lost its balance and fell back down. It started to black out...
The surrounding scenery was much more visible from this altitude, but there was more on my mind. It seemed to take forever for the bird to reach its destination. But it finally did, and before it landed, I jumped off and hid. From where I was, I could see the weak creatures get out of the bird and head towards another cave. I followed them inside, and watched them walked around. They seemed less tense then before, and then one of them spoke."Jim, let's head down to the sub way, it leads straight out of this entire area."
I couldn't understand what this meant, but they seemed to be called 'Jim' and started to leave the room and follow a downward declination. I stayed far enough behind them not to be noticed but close enough to keep them within my site. I'm not too sure why I followed them, but it just seemed to be the thing to do. Spiraling downwards into blackness, I had to watch my speed since I could apparently see much better than these Jim's. At long last the transportation area was finally reached. But as soon as we had gotten there a loud grinding noise was heard and a large stone caterpillar slid across the ground spitting out a local panther eye.
Nearby scientists and security guards rushed over to the wreckage and started searching for survivors. They found enough pieces to conclude that two people had ridden that train, but even coming to that decision was tough for them. "Great our only mode if transportation is shot, now what." said one guard.
"How should I know, this whole night is just getting worse by the minute" replied another.
As they walked on down a hallway, a fastwalker, lurking in the shadows started following them, but stopped near some rubble, smelling food that it so longed for since days earlier. Being denied vital nutrition had made it somewhat desperate, and it started rummaging through the rubble. It found the panthereye unconscious and pulled it out. Ready to have its first meal in days, it looked closely at the face of the beast. An enormous eyelid flickered open, and a red glassy emotionless eye stared straight back.
The Jim's looked through the wreckage and found nothing. After they had seen enough, they walked away down a hallway. I started following them, but smelled food; something I hadn't had for days. I rummaged through the rubble and found a panthereye. As I was about to finally have a meal, its one giant eye opened, causing me to leap back a few steps. The panthereye growled and ran full speed towards me. I, in turn, ran towards the opposite wall and hopped against it, flipping myself over and landing behind the panthereye. Using the dark arms for only the second time, I covered the room in holes, only managing to hi the panthereye a few times. But this didn't matter anyway since the dark arms had no effect. Then using primitive instinct, I smashed the panthereye in the head with the arm. This shattered it but caused the panthereye to become distorted for a few seconds. Using this opportunity, I went on the offensive.
It charged at the fastwalker full speed and rammed it into the wall. After a moment of confusion, the panthereye swung its huge weight off the wall and back into the fastwalker. It rolled across the floor and fired its gun wildly, and by this time the aliens heard the commotion and came running. The panthereye was about to pounce on the fastwalker and end it, but sensed that the aliens were near. One of the aliens jumped on it and stuck something into its thick hide. It howled in rage and tossed the alien off. Another alien did the same to the fastwalker, and it passed out for some reason. The panthereye leaped at the group and rammed one of the aliens. Another stabbed it again, and it spun quickly to pounce. As it spun, it suddenly felt the room tilting and swayed sideways. It fell over and started to black out again... It could faintly hear the aliens gibbering to each other.
"Why didn't you just kill it Jim! Are you giving it an invitation to wake back up and eat us ?!"
"Look, we're not getting out of here anytime soon with the tunnel destroyed, and we don't have enough fuel in the helicopter to get away from here! Maybe we can learn something from these things and figure out how to kill them without the risk!"
"We both know that's bull Jim! You are too attached to your experiments to let these things die!"
"Maybe so, but they're going to wake up soon, so let's at least make sure they can't get away, and then see what we can do with them, ok?"
"Fine, fine... But if that thing looks at me cross, I'm killing it!"...
I slowly came to and looked around. I was back where I started, stuck in a box. Some of the Jim's were in the room and studied me from across the room. I didn't know what they were afraid of; they took my dark arms and fire stones away from me. I realized why they were so scared when I heard a growl and rattling behind me. I spun around and looked into the panthereye's large red eye from the safety of the bars. This time it didn't try to kill me. It just sat there and growled. I didn't know anything about it, whether or not it could communicate, how smart it was... All I knew was it was a pure killer. And maybe it wants to get out of here too. I'd help it, provided it didn't try to eat me. It rattled its bars again, and I knew... Well, I felt, it just wanted to get out now. I decided to try and get out of my cage, but the Jim's would kill me. I knew then, after reviewing my options, that the most horrible, yet most rational answer lied in the panthereye. Like it or not, I was going to need it, at least for now. And it was going to need me to help it get out.