The ooman arrived before the others. They had bred in her an eagerness for the hunt that mirrored their own. Sobik set the coordinates for the Drop-Pod and got in. The same coordinated automatically went to the other Pods so that when the others finally decided to get their lazy asses moving they could join them on the planet below in roughly the same area.

The drop was quick. Or maybe it just felt that way because of the anticipation he felt. The ooman colony seemed deserted and ill-repair, which meant this Kiande Amade infestation was highly advanced. Which meant tons and tons of the ultimate prey.

Once Ugly arrived he spoke to her in guttural snarls that her helmet would pick up so he didn't give away their arrival by speaking too loud. "The Kiande Amade is our priority. Any oomans are to be ignored unless they strike first. Infected oomans are killed on sight."
The ooman-born Kiande Amade usually made for interesting and intelligent prey, especially the Queens. And if there was more than one colony here they might have more than one Queen, along with countless Praetorians. This would be an amazing hunt. One that he doubted all in the hunting group would survive.
He glanced at Ugly. She better not screw up because he was NOT about to face his lifemate should the little female warrior die.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lyra entered one of the kitchen areas. The bodies of several people lay sprawled around, covered in blood and with bursted chests, but the child barely noticed them anymore. She stepped over them and headed for the ice box. There were several things of water left, but most were iced over. She one of the jagged pieces of ice from the box and broke it into pieces, sucking on the chunks of ice. It wasn't much but it was something. There were food tins but she couldn't get them open. Ed usually crushed the tops and opened them for her. The motorized can-opener wasn't working and she couldn't find a manual one. Sitting on the floor behind the counter she propped up her elbows on her knees, placing her fists to her cheeks and glaring at the can as though she could will it open with her glare. Her little stomach grumbled and pained her. She hadn't eaten since the evening before when she and ED had become separated.

She had just started to let her mind drift back to other times when she heard a slight noise. Anyone else might have dismissed it but she had learned to fear all sound. Moving like lightning, she darted into an empty cabinet just big enough for her to slide into and shut the door. In the dark, she waited and listened and prayed to a God she wasn't sure existed anymore that the sound had been Ed.