Darkness, it was something I had come to enjoy, it made me feel safe, comfortable, relaxed. Currently I had deactivated my Minimize Gift and was exploring the underground hive network in my full Xenomorph Queen form. Why had I come down here? Simple, because I hadn't truly had the time to see what my xenos had done to the place and I also wanted a bit of time to myself.
It had been about two or so weeks in my Sanctuary's time since I indoctrinated the people from the Perseus, they were settling in well overall. Edward was helping to manage the growing town with Ophelia and Elliott as well as Harper. Eno had apparently started helping with Jonas's and Roseanne's experiments, they were working to further improve the pathogen overall. And finally Eric was focused on getting the last few repairs to the Perseus done with Connors help.
As for what I and everyone else had been doing, well, I had been spending most of my time converting large amounts of electricity into Warped Ether, all so I could turn it into a lot of Fragments. I would probably need quite a few for the coming field trip, in fact I should be getting a call about that sometime later today. Speaking of which, I had actually already made nearly half a million Fragments during that time, I still didn't know if that was a lot or not though.
Anyway, everyone else was mostly just helping around, getting everything up and running as well as using the 3D printer like Artifacts I had given them sometime back. They had been using them to rapidly make various mechanical devices like computers, tools and so on.
Even the Yautjas had also been up to something, I had told them about my little field trip and that I would look to see if I could find any more of their kind to bring back with me. In response the group of five hunters had begun setting up a more permanent camp in their not so little forest, they probably wouldn't get much done before I got back but they should have something prepared at the very least. I had even lent them some of the Synthetics to speed things along, something they seemed to appreciate.
(When was the last time I took a second to just relax?) I yawned. (Damn, I really need a nap...)
"Still, it's nice to get down here every now and then." I mused to myself while my tail lazily swished behind me as I moved.
Making my way through the winding tunnel system I took the time to just enjoy the scenery, I was mainly focused on the hive resin that surrounded me. The way that it covered the walls, the way it was designed, it was actually quite artistic looking in a way, add in the strange bluish mist that lingered close to the ground and the scene was almost beautiful in a way.
Moving deeper into the hive I came across rooms filled with hundreds of Ovomorphs, there were also massive chambers with dozens upon dozens of Xenomorphs of varying types sleeping in a kind of hibernation-like state. Of course not everyone was asleep, many were awake and patrolling through the darkness, be that drones, warriors or even the occasional Facehugger or two.
Finally though, I reached the deepest part of the nest, a place where large numbers of praetorians could be found, as well as one of my most vocal daughters. Navara, the only Xenomorphs Queen currently under my command, was hanging at the far back end of the room, her ovipositor producing Ovomorph after Ovomorph.
She wasn't alone either, the rather spacious cavern she had set up in was filled with a variety of Xenomorphs. Some were dragging the previously mentioned Ovomorphs off to be placed in various egg chambers throughout the nest while others were simply standing guard.
However, those weren't the things that really got my attention, in fact what had truly pulled my focus was the two dozen Praetorians that were all encased in large amounts of hive resin that was holding them in place. I, of course, knew what was going on here, I had ordered it after all, these Praetorians were currently going through the evolution into Ravagers as well as another variant known as Carriers.
I had used a Ravager in the final stages of my Trial to put an end to my so-called mother, so yeah, they were useful to say the least. Ravagers were created for a simple purpose, to kill and eradicate, they were not made for gathering hosts. In fact almost anyone they may end up fighting would more than likely be too damaged afterwards to be used as such, after all, their scythe-like arms can cut through the armoured hull of military grade vehicles.
Carriers on the other hand are the complete opposite, they are around the same size as the Ravagers but are built for the specific task of transporting facehuggers. They resemble large drones with elongated dorsal spines, these spines are capable of supplying facehuggers attached to them with nutrients, allowing the smaller creatures to survive outside of their Ovomorphs for a much longer period of time.
Additionally, despite not being created for combat Carriers are able to defend themselves to some extent, while they are relatively slow they are quite durable and have several means to defend themselves. Despite all of this however, fighting is not their true purpose, in fact they usually stay out of direct combat if possible so as to not damage potential hosts. In the end their mission is simple, they were to transport large numbers of facehuggers to the front lines where the smaller xenos can jump from their back toward nearby enemies.
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She seemed to think for a moment before answering. <
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(Considering where I'm going next the Ravagers probably won't be of much help any time soon.) I thought to myself. (The Carriers on the other hand may prove useful...)
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(She's my daughter and yet I have no idea how to have a normal conversation with her.) I sighed internally.
(Can I even have a normal conversation with her? I mean what would be considered "normal conversation" for a Xenomorph?)
Honestly, with Alpha and the others it was easier, almost like talking to a very intelligent animal in a way, however with Navara it was different. Mainly it just boiled down to us not really having much to talk about, after all, she was a Xenomorph Queen and all they really did was sit around while laying eggs.
(I really need to find something we can both talk about...) I was honestly somewhat disappointed in myself that I couldn't think of anything at all.
Just a second later though a familiar holographic screen suddenly popped up in front of my face. "Hmmmm?"
(Is it that time already?) I thought as I realized Decker was calling me.
"Decker? What's up?" I asked as his big grumpy mug appeared on the screen.
"Do you want to go to the Outpost or not brat?" He huffed
"Are you on your way or are you already here?" I muttered as I sent my goodbyes to Navara through the hive mind while promising myself to find some way to bond with her later.
"I'm already outside the Inn waiting for you." He said, causing me to quickly respond.
"Alright, I'm on my way."