Time passed in pulses.
The Hive's breathing slowed. The walls quieted.
It was as if the death of Unit 001 had plunged the structure into mourning. Mo felt it in his bones—not defeat, but a wound. One that could only be healed with blood.
He stood before the Hive Node, half-lit by bio-luminescent strands of muscle tissue winding across the chamber.
His voice was low. Controlled.
"You were just the first. I remember you. You'll be the root."
[Adaptive Template Editor – OPEN][Base Form: Swarmling (001)][Genetic Variants Available: Human (Engineer, Technician), Swarmling Lv.1][Total Biomass Available: 87][Construct New Swarm Unit?]
Mo nodded slowly.
"Let's build a killer."
[SWARM CREATION INTERFACE]
Chassis Base: Swarmling
Enhancements:
Reinforced Bone-Plate Carapace (+10 Biomass)
Human Tactile Dexterity (+5 Biomass)
Internal Acid Gland (Spit Variant) (+8 Biomass)
Enhanced Sensory Node – Thermal (+7 Biomass)
Ambush Tendon Springs (Wall Leap) (+6 Biomass)
Size Class: Small
Cognitive Link: Semi-Sentient – Tactical Learning Capable (+12 Biomass)
Total Biomass Cost: 48
Proceed?[Y/N]
"Yes."
The Hive shuddered.
Flesh curled open like a flower blooming in reverse, revealing the Incubation Chamber. Mo stepped back, eyes gleaming.
This time, he didn't force the creature from his body.
This one formed on its own.
The Hive obeyed.
A wet mass rose from the egg-pool, convulsing, forming legs, arms—claws. Its head was more angular than Unit 001, lined with calcified plating. Its back twitched with growing spines.
It opened its eyes.
Six of them.
They glowed.
[Unit 002: ACTIVE – Swarmling "Stalker Variant"][Cognitive Link Established][Combat Capable]
Mo knelt before it.
"Can you feel me?"
The creature tilted its head, then slowly, deliberately, tapped its chest with one claw, then Mo's own.
"Good."
Then Mo looked toward the shadows of the tunnel beyond the Hive.
"Let's prepare the field."
Terraforming Sub-Tunnels – Network Control Junction
It was old tech. Human-made. Rusted. But the systems were still partially functional.
Mo had seen the map in his head, built it out piece by piece as he consumed engineers and corpses.
[SWARM MALL – Building Available: Neural Trap Node – 25 Biomass][Function: Sensory trigger. Tethers invading minds. 3-second paralysis on non-swarm.]
He planted one.
Then another.
Three more down the tunnel.
Stalker-002 watched silently, shifting from floor to ceiling, gripping with its clawed feet like a spider made of razors.
This wasn't war yet.
It was ritual.
Elsewhere – Colony Communications Hub
Six humans huddled inside a temporary barricade of crates, pulse rifles clutched to their chests. Engineers, security, a single field medic. Their eyes were sunken, bloodshot.
Corpses lay outside the door. One had half a head.
"Did you see it? That thing in the cameras? Crawled up the walls like—like a man-sized centipede—"
"Shut up!" barked Commander Lora. "We don't panic. Whatever's out there—it's not just Xenos. It's different. Tactical."
One of the engineers whispered, "I think it's building something…"
That silence stretched.
Far across the darkened colony, a camera feed blinked and died.
Hive Perimeter – Later That Night
The Predator returned.
He walked through the tunnels with practiced silence, body flickering in and out of view behind his cloaking.
Mo watched from the shadows, standing perfectly still inside a dead wall.
He didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
Stalker-002 clung to the ceiling above the traps.
The Predator paused, as if sensing it. He raised his shoulder cannon.
Then—click.
The Neural Trap Node burst open, spraying pheromonal mist.
The Yautja froze, muscles locking.
[Paralysis Triggered – 3 seconds]
"Now!" Mo roared.
Stalker-002 dropped like a knife.
Its claws raked across the Predator's shoulder, slicing deep—but not enough. Acidic green blood hissed onto the ground. The Yautja let out a pained roar as the paralysis broke.
It backhanded the creature across the tunnel—slamming it into a wall.
Mo launched forward next, claws drawn.
The Yautja caught him mid-air.
Slammed him down.
Everything exploded in stars.
Pain lanced through Mo's side.
[Severe Damage Sustained – -34 HP][Structural Fracture: Rib Node 3]
He coughed up black ichor.
The Predator lifted him, ready to stab—
But Stalker-002 moved again.
It bit down on the Predator's arm—acid glands igniting, burning through armor.
The Yautja screamed and dropped Mo.
"RUN!" Mo ordered.
They fled.
Both injured.
Both alive.
Back in the Hive
They collapsed beside the Node.
Stalker-002's side was torn open. One leg dragged. But it lived.
Mo smiled through broken ribs.
"Good… you lived."
[Unit 002: Critical Condition – Hive Regeneration Required][Skill Unlock: Hive Repair Field Lv.1 – 15 Biomass]
Purchased.
The Hive responded, tendrils wrapping around Stalker-002, repairing.
Mo slumped against the wall.
Blood everywhere.
But they had drawn first blood from the hunter.
And survived.
Just barely.
Yautja's Personal Quarters – Deep Jungle Perimeter
The Predator removed his helmet.
Half of his face was burned.
He roared at the night sky.
Shame. Rage. Excitement.
This prey was evolving.
He would come back.
Stronger.
And he would finish it.
[HIVE NODE – DEEP SUBTERRANEAN LEVELS, LV-732]
Mo lay against the warm curve of the Hive Node, feeling every beat of its life pulsing through his chitinous back. The walls sweated with thick, nutrient-rich gel. The faint glow of hive-blood cast long, warped shadows. He could hear the healing, like slow chewing just beneath the surface.
[Stalker-002 Status: Stable – Healing (Projected Time: 8 hours)][Mo Status: Injured – HP: 36/100 | Regeneration Active | Broken Bone: Rib Node 3 (Healing)]
A memory stirred.
Unit 001's death.
The searing flash. The sound. The emptiness after.
Mo grit his teeth. His claws curled into the wall, puncturing hive tissue. It didn't react. It welcomed his rage.
He whispered into the dark, "This place… this entire colony… will burn. And from the ashes, I'll build a swarm that will blot out stars."
The Hive Node responded—not with words, but with a low, organic vibration that echoed up through his bones.
Agreement.
[ABOVE – COLONY HAB ZONE: SURVIVORS]
"Do we have any idea what it is?"
"Something new. Fast. Smart."
The surviving humans—four now—huddled inside a reinforced habitation pod. Motion sensors blinked red. Automated defenses were fried from the inside. It was clear: they were being herded.
Commander Lora paced near the bulkhead, pulse rifle gripped tight.
"We're caught between the Xenos and something else. Something worse. Something that learns."
A monitor flickered.
It showed thermal footage from earlier: the Swarmling's acid glands melting into the Predator's arm. The humanoid insect creature—Mo—dodging plasma. Evading. Leading.
The techs called it "The King Bug."
They didn't know how right they were.
[MO'S MIND – HIVELINK DREAMSPACE]
The Hive slept.
But Mo's mind drifted within the Hivelink—a psychic neural mesh interlaced with the living structure. Here, in the pulsating, liquid dream, he saw possibilities: evolutions yet to come, hybrid forms waiting for biomass and time.
[SYSTEM UNLOCK: Pheromone Relay Lv.1 – 20 Biomass][Function: Broadcast limited psychic command to non-swarm organic targets (Humanoid only)]
"Psychic relay…" he whispered. "Control. Influence. Even fear. The human mind—if I can touch it... I can break it."
[LATER – NEW TUNNELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
Mo limped through the growing catacombs. His injuries were knitting. Pain was becoming memory.
Stalker-002 remained asleep in the Hive Core.
But Mo had plans.
He'd mapped the tunnels leading to the Colony's water recycling plant—a major artery for human life support. It was time for a message.
[Biomass Remaining: 39][Swarm Mall – TRAP EVOLUTION Unlocked]
Tendon Snare (10 Biomass)
Digestive Sludge Pit (15 Biomass)
Neural Spike Root (20 Biomass)
He planted all three.
By the time the humans came for water… they'd find something else waiting.
[COLONY – NIGHT RAID]
The humans moved in a group, flashlights flicking against rusted metal. Their boots splashed through puddles. Steam hissed from broken vents.
Lora signaled halt.
Movement ahead.
"Shhh… did you hear—"
Snap.
The first man vanished down a hidden pit. Screams turned to gurgles.
Sludge devoured him.
"TRAP—"
Another soldier was yanked upward, screaming, as a Neural Spike Root punched through his spine.
His body twitched like a puppet. Eyes rolled back. Dead.
Mo watched from the ceiling, invisible, his body melded into Hive-grown camouflage.
One human left. A technician. Frozen. Shaking.
Perfect.
He dropped silently behind her.
She turned—eyes wide.
"Wh-what are you—?"
A burst of green mist engulfed her.
[Pheromone Relay Activated][Human Mind Detected – Weak Neural Resistance][Command: Run. Scream. Speak of the Hive.]
She did.
She fled through the tunnels, gibbering nonsense, eyes wild.
[SURVIVOR CAMP – LATER]
She burst through the barricades, clawing at her face.
"They're under the ground—they're growing—watching us! The walls—they're alive!"
Lora grabbed her. "What happened?! Who did this?!"
"They let me live. To WARN you."
Blood leaked from the tech's nose.
Something was growing inside her skull.
[BACK IN THE HIVE]
[New Biomass Available: +42][Pheromone Infection Successful]
Mo returned to the Hive, stronger now. He placed a hand on the wall.
Stalker-002 opened its eyes again, purring low, healed but changed. Its carapace was darker now—tinted with bio-metal from scavenged tunnels.
It stood taller.
[Stalker-002: Level Up – Lv.2 Achieved][Skill Acquired: Wall Ambush]
Mo looked out at the tunnels beyond.
He could feel new signals now. Egg chambers. Cocooned prey. Xenomorphs.
And not far behind… the return of the Predator.
He smiled.
"Good. Let them all come. I'm ready."