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AvP: Desiderata	By : Subtext Category: M through R > Predator Views: 2375 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Predator movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: No, I don�t own AvP. I don�t own Machiko, Broken Tusk, or even the names of most characters they interact with. Sam Stewart and the Uchida family are my OC�s.

Okay, so here�s the first chapter! Not much to say; I just wanted to attempt to make a good ending for AvP: Prey. I don�t know if I can accomplish that or not, but I�ll sure try. Please R&R!

Desiderata

by

Quietharm

Chapter One:

Excerpt from Desiderata:

�Nurture the strength of spirit

to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars:

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.�

-Max Erhmann

xXx
�I�ll remember you.�
Her own words played back to her mind like a haunting mantra. She felt something prick at the corners of her eyes, and immediately her head turned sharply to regard the vastness of space through a portal to her right. A few free clumps of space dust drifted by about a kilometer from her position inside the Luther, and she stared as her vision swam with the unwanted threat of tears.
Machiko Noguchi shook her head roughly to clear it.
She didn�t need to be remembering this, not now. She was returning to Earth after a long and perilous time away, and in some far recess of her mind she was amazed that she had survived it all at all.
Unbidden, the memories coalesced into something tangible and still horribly recent, despite the fact that the event had been more than three months ago.
She had named him Broken Tusk, a creature not of her world. The name came from the fact that he had a broken lower mandible on his crab-like face. In turn, he had named her Dahtoudi when it proved difficult for him to pronounce her human name. He and his powerful kin had come to the planet owned by the company she worked for to Hunt the black creatures - bugs, as she later called them - when it all went horribly wrong.
Granted, had Broken Tusk�s people never planted the eggs of the onyx aliens she would have never had to deal with the problem in the first place. It warred with her now, that knowledge. She could have been promoted if the chaos on Ryushi had never erupted, possibly climbing her way to a more comfortable position on Chigusa�s corporate ladder.
On the other hand, she would have never met Broken Tusk.
She oversaw the business operations on Ryushi before the predators ever came. It was a desert planet, full of ranchers and their families who would keep great herds of Rhynth. When compared to the creatures of Earth, Rhynth best resembled ridable rhinoceros. It was her function in the company to make sure everything ran smoothly - and at that she failed horribly. She could attest the same to Broken Tusk. He too was a leader, but things had gotten out of hand for them both once his ship landed on Ryushi. Broken Tusk was injured on the initial landing of his ship, and the hunters he was supposed to be in charge of went wild.
They began hunting not only the black aliens they had planted there beforehand, but Machiko�s employees as well. In the meantime, Broken Tusk was found and brought back to the medical lab in the colony where he was revived.
Against all odds, the two paired up in a desperate race to win back the world from both Broken Tusk�s errant underlings and the lethal bugs.
It was Broken Tusk who killed the former student who had assumed a leadership role and misdirected his kind in attacking the ranchers and their families. It was Dahtoudi who had beheaded the alien queen by closing the escape hatch to their small ship as they attempted an escape. The queen had been trying to kill them still, sticking her head into the escape pod. It was her last mistake.
Machiko sighed, feeling bone-settling weariness seep into her shoulders. She was aboard the Luther now, a ship owned by Chigusa�s company. The old man was powerful and owned many planets. His evacuation of Ryushi immediately after the disturbance had been settled was merely a tax write-off, while her own executive contract had been bought out. She was still an employee of Chigusa, but after she saw Broken Tusk breathe his last she had the sudden desire to find operations Earthside.
It was odd, and still troubled her. Broken Tusk had suffered mortal wounds in his battle with the black queen before she could reach him. He had been dying after she beheaded the alien and took to the air in the escape pod, but by the time she had landed in a safe spot he was barely conscious. In a move that surprised her, he had used the last of his strength in marking her on the forehead with the alien queen�s acidic finger. It was a mark that mirrored the one adorning his own temple, alien though it was. It seemed important to him at the time, and she was not one to refuse him last rites. He had saved her life and he his, and there was a definite respect there.
After the initial pain of the acid upon her skin, Broken Tusk�s hand fell back helplessly and he played a loop on his translator that he had recorded from her earlier.
�I�ll remember you.�
He looked at her then, poignantly. She didn�t know what his expression meant or how to take it, for she was crying openly for him. When an explosion hit the ranching community of Prosperity Wells behind her, her attention was momentarily redirected. The town was shrouded in flames and smoke, and she knew she was needed there immediately.
Her head rotated back to Broken Tusk, to regard him one last time. There was nothing she could do to save him, all medical equipment they had now was not advanced enough to perform such a feat.
Besides, he was gone.
With her lashes coated in tears and blurred vision, she swore vehemently to return for his body before she took off for the explosion that had created a mushroom cloud on the horizon. The shockwave blew across the desert, blasting the woman and her fallen comrade with a breath of heated air. Dahtoudi�s arms pumped at the sides of her already exhausted body, giving her an adrenaline she would need to reach the colony. Hopping into the escape pod, she turned on the engines and zipped away to Prosperity Wells - or what remained of it. She helped the ranchers save who they could, and they salvaged whatever supplies was left to them on the outskirts of the burning inferno.
Eight hours later, she returned for Broken Tusk�s body. It had vanished.
She scouted the area for many days after that, but nothing could be found. No hint, clue, or material possession of his turned up. It was almost like he had never existed, save for the telltale sign of his mark on her forehead. It sat with her badly that she could not even give him a proper burial, after all he had done for them. Furthermore, there was the heavy guilt upon her heart that some scavengers of the planet had found him before she could return, which was the most likely scenario. Ryushi was a hard place to live, and an even harder place to forget.
She would never forget Broken Tusk. Never.
She needed a cigarette, and not because it gave her some sense of rebelliousness due to her father�s disapproval of the habit. Reaching out to the glass coffee table before her, she opened a pack and pulled the ashtray closer to her person with her freehand. Trembling fingers brought one end of a lone wrap of tobacco to her full lips, and she inhaled deeply after lighting the opposite end.
Hazy smoke circled overhead, and her weariness multiplied tenfold as a pleasant feeling overtook her. It temporarily drove away her demons, real and imagined. A second puff and cursory glance about her quarters made her sigh again.
Earth. She was headed home. Two months following the disaster on Ryushi, Chigusa had sent a passenger ship to take the survivors to a new location in the Rigel system. Some opted out entirely of that option, preferring instead to return to Earth as quickly as possible. At first, the prospect of returning to Tokyo filled Machiko with joy. She could leave the desert, leave Ryushi�s God-forsaken landscape and memories behind. At the same time, she was filled with the need to remain there. Broken Tusk had marked her, and she had no small doubt that the rest of his people were coming to find out what happened to he and his group at some point in time. Broken Tusk�s bravery, skill and loyalty inspired something in Dahtoudi that went beyond the mark she bore on her forehead. If there were more like Broken Tusk, then she could tell his story. It was the least she could do to honor his memory.
However, that was not to be the case. Broken Tusk�s body had disappeared and it had been her fault. She dishonored him by leaving him to rot, even though her colony needed her. Even though the story of their bravery in battle was great, her abandonment of his person was not. She blamed herself for this, and that wound ran deep. She no longer deserved the name Dahtoudi. She was now Machiko Noguchi, a Japanese woman and native of Tokyo. Never had she been more than that.

Coward. You�re running away. That�s even fucking worse.

Machiko ignored the voice and the hand holding the cigarette snuffed it out in the ashtray with perhaps even more force than was necessary.
After those ranchers that had wanted to start anew in the Rigel system had been unloaded with extra supplies, she had stayed aboard with those who wanted nothing but a quick route back to Earth. They had tarried on the new planet for a few weeks, getting everything ready for the new colonists. Only a week ago now had they departed, which brought her up to her present situation aboard the Luther.
The air was a bit more cloudy now because of the lingering fog left by the cigarette. Machiko stood, left the low couch in the living area and crossed a short distance to a kitchen unit in the same room. She removed a glass from one of the overhead compartments, and bid the computer a quick command to execute a stream of ice-cold liquid into the glass via a dispenser located on the wall. As she sipped the water thoughtfully, a small smile pulled her lips ever upward.
In another week she would finally see her parents again. It had been quite some time since she last saw them in person, and it would be a relief to them to see her whole. She would begin again, just as the colonists did in the Rigel system. Chigusa hadn�t completely dropped her from his employee base after the investigation into the deaths of his employees on Ryushi was cleared. She could live with her parents until she was on her feet again, and buy an apartment close to the offices where she was being reassigned. She wouldn�t be an executive anymore, but she was thankful to have a job at all.
There would be shopping to do, relatives to see, walks in the park - things normal humans did. Normal humans did not blow out the brains of black XT�s. They certainly did not ally themselves with them, either.
It abruptly struck her then how she had done both.
More somber now, Machiko set her emptied glass down on the stainless steel counter of the kitchen island, and headed for the small bedroom just off the main living quarters. She was exhausted again, tired of thinking about things she could change and couldn�t. She undressed, slipped into her nightwear and crawled beneath the thin sheets of the single bed. The computer took her command to cut the lights, and then she slowly closed her eyes.
Dimly, like a long-suppressed echo in the back of her brain, she thought she heard a series of resonating clicks that faded from cognizance once sleep found her.

xXx
�Machiko.�
The addressee turned at the sound of her mother calling her name. �I am in here, Okaa-san.�
Mrs. Noguchi turned the corner, poking her head into the family�s den to focus her eyes critically on her only daughter. The older woman�s pale hands were encased in padded oven mitts, and she held a metal pan of fresh brownies that still radiated with heat. Machiko�s mother was a small woman to many, but rather average for a Japanese female. Her five foot frame was rather plump, and decidedly matronly upon first impressions.
�You need to get out and do more. All you do every night is watch the news before going to sleep.� Mrs. Noguchi�s tone was admonishing, but clearly worried. It was just unhealthy to develop such a robotic routine as her daughter had.
�I�m fine, Okaa-san. You and Otou-san took me to meet everyone the first week since I�ve arrived. I�m just a little burned out.� The woman on the couch ran a hand through her shaggy blue-black hair and gave the woman in the doorway a look that was meant to convey reassurance.
Unfortunately, her mother was not buying it.
�Machiko�� her mother drawled, blatantly nonplussed by her daughter�s refusal to see her point. �Come into the kitchen and shut that thing off. These brownies are nearly cooled.�
From her position on the couch, Machiko raised a dark eyebrow but finally sighed in resignation. �Exit program,� she said regretfully, loud and clear. The large flat screen before her flickered to black, throwing the newscaster into a non-existent void.
As she entered the kitchen, the smell of brownies assaulted her nose. It was much stronger here than in the adjoining den. Her mother had her back to Machiko, and was busily employed in the process of cutting up her final product. �I�m not that hungry,� she grumbled.
�You don�t need to eat them, Machi-chan. Your father will undoubtedly do that when he gets home from work. Talk to me instead. I�m worried about you.�
Inwardly, Machiko groaned. Her mother was resorting to an old nickname that she had been appointed as a young child. When would she finally come to accept that Noguchi Machiko was a grown woman? �There is nothing to discuss, Okaa-san. I told you, I�m perfectly fine� just a bit tired.�
The older Noguchi woman turned to appraise the younger most skeptically, but at last allowed the matter to drop. Stepping around the table, Machiko�s mother went to retrieve some forks and dessert plates. Machiko rolled her eyes at the sight of two plates and forks while Mrs. Noguchi�s back was once more presented to her line of sight, but once again fell back into her carefully blank expression when her mother turned and started back for the table.
Busying herself with placing the squares of brownie on the two separate plates now, Mrs. Noguchi changed gears and broached her daughter with a new topic. �Do you remember Mr. and Mrs. Uchida down the street?�
Vague recollections of names and faces returned to Machiko from a time before XT�s of any kind factored into her life. Frowning slightly she replied, �Your old jogging partner?�
�Right. Kouhei�s mother.�
Machiko nearly dropped the fork she had accepted from her mother a moment prior. She paled, and then her eyebrows drew together as storm clouds gathered in her eyes. �Okaa-san�� she trailed warningly.
Mrs. Noguchi raised her eyes, brows lifted. She appeared ignorant of the forbidden territory in which she was treading, but the opposite was actually true. She knew what she was doing. �What? He�s a nice boy, and graduated University only a year before you. I thought you two got along quite nicely. He is still unmarried, did you know that? Uchida Mai says it�s because he�s a workaholic like you, but I�m sure some time could be found��
Machiko could hear no more. Raising one hand to quell her meddlesome mother�s further comments, she shook her head quickly. �I can�t believe you��
�Machiko, look at me.� Her mother interrupted her swiftly, in a tone that was meant to brook no argument.
Machiko sighed and acquiesced to Mrs. Noguchi�s orders. She looked up defiantly.
Noguchi Kaede glared back at her willful and only child. �You nearly died for your work not too long ago. You couldn�t go down the street without people talking about what happened on Ryushi. Your father and I worried each and every day of it. Will there ever come a time when you will think about something besides your career? It�s just not right. You�re losing your humanity with how closed off you�ve become.�

Great. First the ranchers, and now my own mother is calling me a cold bitch.

�It�s not that easy!� Machiko cried, standing bolt upright and forgetting about the cooling brownie on the plate before her. �You can�t just��

�Noguchi Machiko, do not speak to me in that tone!� her mother countered severely. Tucking a graying wisp of dark hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck, Mrs. Noguchi shook her head and turned away from Machiko with a dismissive wave of her freehand.

�I sincerely hope you do not come to a point in your life when you realize that you missed out on the best parts.� It was her mother�s parting barb as Machiko swung on her heel and stiffly left the kitchen for her old bedroom.

It was much like she had left it when she attended Gakushuin Girls� High School before University, and she found it strangely comforting that her parents had left it intact. Her father was a CEO of Ashiga Corp., a sister company to Chigusa Corp. Both companies prided themselves on their quantities of obtained planets for research, agriculture and ranching. As such, Machiko had grown up the daughter of a wealthy businessman who easily found her a position in Chigusa once she graduated University. After the mess on Ryushi, however, she had no doubt that it was her father�s influence that had kept her with Chigusa at all.
She had been home for nearly two weeks and tomorrow she was required to return to work tomorrow at six a.m.
Like she used to do when she was a teen, Machiko stood at the foot of her bed with her back to it. Her arms went out to her sides, and she flopped backwards. As her body hit the bed heavily, she was left staring blankly up at the ceiling. Was this what she really wanted? Why did something tell her that coming back was the wrong decision? What if she had waited for the predators to return for Broken Tusk�
�and where would she be now if Broken Tusk had lived?

Probably no where you�d want to be, Machi-chan, her mind mocked.
Rolling over on her stomach to stare at the digital interface of the clock beside her bed, she couldn�t help but wonder why Earth was suddenly the last place she wanted to be.
�Visual, please.�
The large screen on the wall before her bed popped to life, and she was left staring at the same anchorman she had left in the den when her mother had called her away. He appeared much the same, but at the same time remarkably different.
The lone news anchor stared at the camera like a drowning man. He was noticeably paler than usual, despite the fact that the studio lights in his location usually brightened his complexion on any given day. Machiko noticed the frenzied fidgeting of his fingers as they took hold of papers on his desk, before dropping the sheets and steepling his digits together in various formations.
�We�re on aga�� he muttered, his head turned sideways in profile. At once he broke off, whipped his head forward, and forced a thin smile to the camera. �Welcome back, this is Nobunaga Yuu. We have breaking news at this point, if everyone would be stay tuned to this channel��
Machiko was suddenly motionless, the proverbial deer in headlights.
�It appears there are several foreign bodies� they appear to be ships� orbiting in close to our solar system. Envoys have been deployed to investigate the matter, but they lost contact with the fourteen cruisers just off Triton, near Neptune. All contact was severed at the same time, which only adds to the oddity of this matter. At this point we have word that as many as fifty of these foreign� ships have been accounted for, although there may be more.� At this point, Nobunaga Yuu swiped at his forehead with the back of his hand, causing a shock of hair to fall over his face. He appeared more than unnerved, but then so did Machiko.
That annoying voice was back, chanting. Not again, not again, not again...
�The United Nations has called for all countries to work together in the face of this new event. Each nation will be working with each other to treat this matter in such a way that will lead to the best outcome for all. We�ll keep you updated should we receive new information as this story unfolds. Until then, we�ll cut to a commercial break. Thank you for listening.�
Just as promised, an ad for ramen noodles filled her bedroom. Shaken to the core, Machiko merely remained frozen in time and space. She did not move, nor call out for Mrs. Noguchi.
Instead, she closed her eyes and forced a breath she hadn�t known she was holding out of her lungs.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
If it was who she suspected it to be, there was little time to waste. She would have waited for them in the vastness of Ryushi, but not the populous Earth. Large numbers of them showing up at once on the edge of the Milky Way was just too ominous. She had to leave - now.
Leaping from her bed, Machiko whipped around the room to collect her belongings and prayed to God she had enough time. She didn�t know what she would do, or where she would go, but she wasn�t dragging her parents into this. They deserved better, despite their quirks.
Tossing a duffel bag she had acquired from her walk-in closet upon the bed, she became increasingly jerky with her motions as she crammed in clothes, toiletries and other miscellaneous items.
Once the bag was full, she turned to her closet for another�
�and saw an unmistakable distortion of air directly before her.
She didn�t even have time to scream.
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AvP: Desiderata