*short fic, done on the spot....ever wonder how Klingons fare against a
Predator?  :)

                        One must fall
                        -------------

        Dachande flared his mandibles and roared his challenge to the pyode
amedha encircling him, their knives weaving in amateurish patterns. 
        Yes!  Come, and dance the Thgra'har with me!  We shall see who comes
out alive!!

        A rush of motion behind him and Dachande twisted aside with the
fluid grace of a Hunter.  One of the aliens had lunged at him and it was now
off balance, stumbling and trying to regain its battle posture.  A downward
stroke of his skryla severed its head and the thwei gushed forth. The corpse
fell to the floor with a dull thud and Dachande hissed.

        Without even looking over his shoulder, he suddenly crouched low and
spun his skryla in a circular motion.  He felt the sharp spear point slash
through pyode amedha meat and he heard the death cries of those who had
tried to attack him from behind.  Now there were only six left.

        One of the aliens threw its knife at him and Dachande contemptuously
knocked it out of the air with his wristblades.  He reared up and heaved the
skryla into the alien.  It blasted through its soft flesh and embedded
itself in the wall.  Pauk!  He wasn't expecting for penetration on that scale.

        He heard a movement at his side and he blocked the thrust of a knife
blade with his left forearm gauntlet.  A quick stab of his wristblades
dispatched the pyode amedha.  Then, the battle rage beginning to overcome
him, Dachande threw himself at the four remaining opponents.

        To their credit, the sight of a charging yautja warrior, weighing
well in excess of 100 ghis of pure muscle, didn't unnerve them in the
slightest.  They will die an honorable warrior's death!! 

        He swung his wristblades at one of them and it moved to block with
its forearm.  Its form was perfect, and its technique superb.  Its strength,
however, was lacking.  Dachande's massive forearm blasted through its
defenses and took its head off.  Without pausing, he immediately spun into a
roundhouse kick and it connected with the upper torso of the alien next to
him.  It cried out in pain as the force of Dachande's kick blasted it, with
broken ribs, onto the floor.  

        His sixth sense warned him of an incoming attack and he trapped the
blade with his wristblades, and twisted the puny weapon out of the alien's
hand.  He gutted the fifth remaining alien with a roar of satisfaction, and
he whirled on the last remaining alien.

        It faced him with teeth bared, clutching a knife in each hand.  It
began to weave them in a well-trained fashion, its battle stance defensive.
This must be the Leader of the pack, Dachande thought, and he roared his
challenge to the pyode amedha.  It snarled back through clenched teeth, and
suddenly lunged.

        The tip of a knife sliced through his left thigh and his thwei began
to ooze from the wound.  It was fast....perhaps nearly as fast as he was.
Dachande fell into a defensive battle stance.  First blood in this duel went
to the warrior, but Dachande intended to draw the last.

        He flicked his wristblades out at the warrior in a feint.  If it
blocked the blades with its own, all Dachande had to do was to launch
himself into a leaping roundhouse.  But it didn't take the bait and it bared
its teeth anew.

        This one was smarter than the rest, thought Dachande.  He took an
experimental swipe and the alien hopped out of range.  Now that the battle
rage had died down, he could examine the alien at leisure.  It had a ridge
of bone running from its nose and up on its head.  Its hair was done up in
dreadlocks, just like Dachande's, and it wore a black suit of some sort.

        Alarms began to ring and the alien began to back towards a door in
the chamber.  Dachande lunged and swiped his wrist blades at it, and it
rolled to one side, just as he expected.  

        "Pyu'saa!!", roared Dachande at the alien.  Coward!!  Dachande fumed
inside at the pyode amedha.  You would try to escape the Black Warrior?  The
Black Warrior takes his toll on the chosen - there is no escaping him.  He
is the dark presence behind you as you go on Hunts, silently reminding you
that even yautja are not immortal.

        "Pyu'saa bhe pyode amedha!!  Hgreth'ka na'bhe yasla!"  Cowardly Soft
Meat!!  Honor is not yours should you run!!

        The alien suddenly lunged at Dachande, and he sidestepped the charge
and brought his wristblades down.  The alien hit the floor and rolled
towards Dachande, then it sprang up and stabbed a knife into his thigh.
Roaring in anger more than pain, Dachande backhanded the alien and it flew
off him, dropping its two blades as it did so.  It seemed to transcribe a
lazy arc in the air, then it crashed to the floor in a heap.  It got up and
bared its teeth at Dachande, who pulled the knife out of his leg and tossed
it away.  Yes.  This one's head he must have as a trophy.

        He advanced on the alien but stopped short when it stood up and
presented an unarmed combat stance.  Dachande looked down at his
wristblades, then back to the alien.  He unlatched the weapon from his
forearm and let it fall to the floor.  It would not be honorable to take a
trophy on unequal terms.  He advanced, his massive hands bunched up into
sledgehammer-like fists.  A growled command to his wus'lya set the plasma
cannon into a locked position.  It would not do to have the cannon
interfering in the hand to hand fight.

        Dachande stalked the pyode amedha slowly, all his senses wary.
Pyode amedha, even this variation on the species, are notoriously tricky and
usually have a hidden weapon secreted somewhere in the boots or inside
sleeves.  

        It lunged with a punch and he blocked it, responding with a swing of
his right fist.  It ducked the punch, probably knowing that it couldn't
compete with Dachande's superior strength, and rolled away.  Dachande gave
it no quarter as he attacked anew, this time launching a sidekick at it.  It
twisted aside at the last moment and his foot slammed into the wall.  It
backhanded Dachande across the face, but it clutched its hand in pain
immediately after.  Dachande's bony ridges and sharp mandibles had hurt the
alien's fist.  He flared his mandibles anew and lunged at the alien.

        His sixth sense saved his life once more as he instinctively stopped
his forward rush and threw himself backwards.  A red beam of energy struck
the wall at the spot where he was and vaporized a section of it.  Pauk!!
More of these pyode amedha!  They were like a swarm of pests!

        Another blast of energy struck the floor not three zgiths from his
feet and he rolled backwards, shouting commands to his wus'lya.  The plasma
cannon unlatched itself from its locked position and positioned itself
forward.  He turned and fired a charge from it.

        The blue bolt of plasma lanced out and struck the floor in front of
the approaching aliens, and splashed outwards in a destructive burst of
energy.  More beams of energy, three in total, lashed back in response and
Dachande decided to retreat.  He ducked behind a pillar and glanced back at
his opponent, who glared back with wary eyes.

        He'll return for that one, but right now he had to get out before he
got killed by others.  The only reasons a Hunter should get killed are
either by the trophy or by unforeseen circumstances.  His invisibility unit
came online and Dachande dashed out, the trophy's eyes tracking his blurred
outline.  Dachande scooped up his wristblades and quickly pulled his skryla
from the wall.  They melted into his invisibility field and he took his
leave, the anti-gravity unit of his armor assisting in his leaps to safety.
He'll be back...and the prey had better be ready.  Such was the way of the Hunt.

--------------


        -WebDragon