The pyramid's entrance loomed like a cosmic haunted house, its stonework pristine despite eons under ice.
Raja, Alexa, Weyland, Maxwell, and the merc squad stepped inside, jaws dropping at the intricate hieroglyphs and carvings glowing under their flashlights. "This place is an architect's wet dream," Raja whistled, running a hand over a wall.
Sebastian, the nerdy archaeologist, stammered, "These designs… they're impossibly preserved!"
Adele, the female merc, muttered, "Feels like we're trespassing in Area 51."
Raja, squinting at a hieroglyph, translated, "Only the chosen ones may enter. Well, that's not creepy at all—like a galactic 'keep out' sign!"
Alexa, eyeing a slab showing a Predator duking it out with a Xenomorph, raised an eyebrow.
Raja chuckled, "Looks like these two have serious beef—cosmic cage match vibes!"
MAYA: "Master, you're narrating a sci-fi soap opera!"
Silently, Raja released a swarm of bee-sized drones, crafted in Elysium with magic-tech, linked to his Chaos Watch, buzzing off to map the pyramid without anyone noticing them.
The team ventured deeper, hitting the sacrificial chambers, where stone beds formed a grim circle, human skeletons sprawled on them, chest cavities blown open.
Raja crouched, "Aztecs and Egyptians were big on human sacrifice—chosen ones offered to gods. No restraints, so they volunteered. Men, women, all saw it as an honor."
Alexa twitched, "Lucky them—sign me up for the not dying club."
Raja, deciphering carvings, added, "They gave their lives to kickstart the hunt. Talk about a shitty retirement plan."
Adele, poking a corpse, yelped, "Raja, check this—it seems like something crawled out of this guy!"
Raja peered at the ribcage murmured, "Yup, that's Xenomorph daycare—chestburster style."
Down in the central chamber, the Xenomorph Queen, fully awake, hissed, laying eggs like a nightmarish vending machine, ready for the ritual hunt.
Maxwell, scouting ahead, tossed a glow stick down a stairwell, "Another floor below!" He split the team—half stayed to catalog the chambers, half followed him down, including Raja, Alexa, Adele, Weyland, and two mercs, Connors and Stone.
They found a massive stone chest, dials gleaming. Raja grinned, "Well, hello, Stone Age sarcophagus—fancy meeting you here!"
Alexa, eyeing the dials, asked, "What are these, Raja? You're the glyph guy."
Raja smirked, "Aztec calendar combo lock—days, months, years. Lex, what year did the whaling station folks vanish?"
Alexa blinked, "1904, why?"
Raja's grin turned evil, "The year dial's set to 1904. Guess what that means?"
Alexa's eyes widened, "Someone opened this century ago, do you think this is the reason people of the town disappeared."
Raja, chuckling, said, "Let's try today's date," spinning the dials to 2004.
The chest hissed open like a sci-fi vault, gas billowing, sending everyone scrambling back. "Subtle," Adele coughed.
Raja peeked inside, spotting three Predator shoulder cannons, their alien design unmistakable to him.
The others gawked, clueless. "What are these, sci-fi paperweights?" Connors asked.
Raja shrugged, "Beats me—Weyland's problem now." Weyland, buzzing with excitement, coughed, grabbing his inhaler.
Alexa, worried, said, "Boss, you're wheezing like a busted accordion—let's rest and hit this tomorrow."
Weyland nodded, "Fine, but I'm taking one cannon to study."
As Connors grabbed it, the pyramid rumbled, sealing the sacrificial chamber above and opening a tiny entrance in their room.
Raja's Telepathy pinged—Scar, chopper and Celtic (predator's name), cloaked, were sprinting to reclaim their guns before Xenomorphs swarmed.
Upstairs, eggs hatched, facehuggers leaping onto the catalog team, their screams echoing as parasites latched on.
The cries hit Raja's team, and he barked, "We gotta reach them—through that entrance!"
Leading with Telepathy at max, he guided Alexa, Adele, Weyland, Maxwell, Connors, and Stone into a room with towering Predator statues, their shoulder mounts eerily familiar. "Lex, check the statues' shoulders—ring any bells?"
Raja asked. Alexa gasped, "They're like the chest gadgets! What are they?"
Raja, reading wall glyphs, said, "Weapons for gods to hunt serpent creatures—aka Xenomorphs." His Telepathy pinged Scar and Celtic hiding, cloaked, among the statues, ready to pounce.
Raja smirked, "Ladies, stand behind me and the gun guys. When I say 'now,' blast the statues—till then, act cool."
Adele gripped her rifle, muttering, "You're nuts, but I'm in." The team crept forward, Raja whistling casually.
At the room's center, he yelled, "Now!" unloading his Desert Eagles at the statues. The mercs opened fire, bullets chipping stone.
Scar and Celtic decloaked, leaping to dodge, hiding behind other statues as the pyramid shifted, walls sliding like a deadly Rubik's Cube.
Raja grabbed Alexa and Adele's hands, shouting, "Maxwell, grab Weyland and move! This place is a hunting maze for those creatures!"
The maze split them—Raja, Alexa, Adele, Weyland, and Maxwell in one group, Connors and Stone trapped elsewhere.
Raja checked his Chaos Watch, "We wait ten minutes—Aztec calendars run on a metric clock. Every ten, the pyramid reshuffles."
Ten minutes later, the walls groaned, revealing a new door.
Alexa, stressed, kissed him hard, "You're a damn genius, Raja!" MAYA: "Master, you're getting smooches in a death trap—new low!"
They entered a massive room, Weyland wheezing, dropping the laser cannon. Alexa snapped, "Boss, that thing's slowing you down!"
Weyland, stubborn, rasped, "Lost too much today—keeping it." Alexa stuffed it in her backpack, unaware Raja had telekinetically and telepathically swiped the other two cannons from other mercs before they lost, storing them in his inventory like a cosmic pickpocket.
Scar and Celtic, cloaked, spotted the cannon in Alexa's pack and charged.
Maxwell, catching a shimmer, aimed, but Scar fired a wire net, pinning him to the floor, tightening until it sliced him to bits.
Raja, unfazed, whipped out his enchanted Arnold knife, cutting the wire like it was string, freeing Maxwell's remains, shocking Scar.
Alexa, Adele, and Weyland rallied behind Raja as Celtic lunged, fist raised.
Raja caught its arm, grinning, "Nice try, ugly!" and Spartan-kicked it into a wall with a crunch.
He slipped Alexa an earpiece, swapping her cannon for a mini-BFG blaster. "Lex, listen to the earpiece voice—Red Queen'll guide you out. Escape the whaling station, no questions. I'll explain on the ship."
Alexa, seeing the chaos, kissed him, "You better not die, asshole."
As Scar neared, Raja grabbed its gauntlet, shouting, "Hurry, Lex, follow Red Queen's orders!"
Alexa, dragging Weyland, Adele, and Maxwell, bolted, the pyramid shifting, locking Raja with Scar and Celtic in a stone cage.
Alexa's earpiece crackled, Red Queen's voice crisp, "Miss Woods, follow my directions to avoid Black Serpents—Xenomorphs. That BFG can punch holes in walls, so aim carefully."
Alexa, panting, said, "I've got a million questions, but survival's first. Guide us!"
Red Queen, using Raja's Bee-drone feeds, gave precise shortcuts, "Turn left, then right." A Xenomorph stalked them, its hiss echoing.
Red Queen barked, "Alexa, at the corner, shoot your 6 o'clock when I say!"
Alexa nodded, turning, and at Red Queen's "Now!" fired the BFG, vaporizing the Xenomorph into goo.
"Holy shit!" Alexa gasped, "I'm keeping this bad boy!"
The team, jaws dropped, sprinted for the exit, reaching the drilled hole and climbing to the surface, finding the drill crew cowering in the panic room.
Red Queen urged, "Alexa, get everyone to the ship—Raja's nuking the area, it's not safe!"
Alexa freaked, "Nani?! Nuking?! What about Raja? He promised he'd come back! Who are you?"
Red Queen, channeling Raja's BS flair, said, "We're a classified unit handling extraterrestrial threats. Raja's our top agent, genetically enhanced—guy's a tank. Get to the ship, pronto!"
Alexa, mind blown, rallied the team, "Guys, they're nuking this place! We gotta haul ass to the ship to survive!"
The word "nuke" lit a fire under them, everyone piling into snowcats, peeling out like it was a Mad Max sequel.
MAYA: "Master, you've got them running like roaches in a raid!"
In the pyramid, Raja dodged Scar's blade and Celtic's spear, Red Queen confirming the team's escape. With a backflip, he distanced himself, landing with a grin, "Now, boys, I can focus. Who's ready for a world-class ass-whooping?"
Scar roared, mandibles flaring, and Celtic charged, the room shaking as Raja's evil laugh echoed, promising a beatdown of legendary proportions.
To Be Continued…