The Perks of Being the Boss

The three men with old, black dreadlocks were Yautja Youths about to undergo their trial.

"Thud! Thud!"

The strongest of the three Yautja Youths, wearing a mask in the style of Celtic warriors, slowly approached the D-Class Security guard who was still struggling on the brink of death.

Celtic was the leader of the three Yautja Youths. He was strong, agile, and possessed seasoned combat skills.

But this had also made Celtic arrogant and complacent. During his first battle against a Xeno, he had plenty of chances to kill it instantly, but carelessly overlooked its acidic blood and got his head blown off in a counterattack.

At that moment.

"Gah... gah..."

Celtic looked down at the D-Class Security guard and made the Yautja Clan's distinctive sound, as if he were observing his prey's struggles with interest.

"Cough... cough... You son of a... Ptooey!"

The D-Class Security guard, pinned to the ice by an invisible spear, realized he was being treated like a plaything. He summoned the last of his strength and spat a thick glob of bloody phlegm at Celtic.

"Splurt." The phlegm stuck to the skin on Celtic's thigh, beneath his fishnet-like garment.

Celtic stared at him, stunned.

"Ha! Ha... cough, cough... Hahaha!" This time, the D-Class Security guard laughed with amusement instead.

"ROAR—!" Celtic threw his head back and let out a deafening roar.

Still roaring, Celtic gripped his spear in his left hand and pulled it free. He bent down, grabbed the D-Class Security guard by the neck with his right hand, and lifted him with little effort.

"Fu...ck... you..." Even with Celtic's hand clamped around his neck, the tough security guard kept swearing.

"Roar!" Though Celtic had yet to learn human language, he could tell it wasn't anything nice.

"Crack!" Then he squeezed hard with his right hand, killing the guard outright.

Celtic still didn't seem satisfied.

He retracted his extendable spear, freeing his left hand. Then, with both hands, he gave a sharp yank and tore the D-Class Security guard's spine and skull right out of his body.

He tossed the headless corpse aside, hung the skull from his waist as a trophy, and only then walked toward the cave leading beneath the ice, apparently satisfied.

The remaining Chopper Predator (who had only appeared briefly in the movie before being easily ambushed by a Xeno) hurried after Leader Celtic into the cave.

Scar Predator, whose mask had yet to be marked with a scar (the movie's main Predator, who had his mask removed and was impregnated by a Facehugger), silently glanced at the D-Class Security guard before turning and walking away.

At the same time.

Inside the Poseidon's combat command room.

Red Queen operated the projector, displaying the chest-camera footage from Chris and the D-Class Personnel on the screen at the front of the room.

Sui Bian sat in the center of the room, an earpiece in his left ear. He watched the screen, his right hand resting against his chin.

"Sir, I've saved the footage of the firefight between the D-Class Personnel and the Yautja Clan so our researchers can study their customs and technology."

"Mm." Sui Bian gave a quiet acknowledgment as Red Queen's report came through his earpiece.

After watching the six D-Class Personnel sacrifice themselves in the experiment, Sui Bian had once again witnessed just how powerful the Yautja were.

Special effects, props, plot, and dramatic license had made the Predators seem powerful in the movies, but not outrageously so.

But the footage Sui Bian was watching now was an unedited livestream. The six D-Class Personnel hadn't lasted even ten seconds.

And these three Predators were only young Yautja, just over a hundred years old. They were inferior to adult Yautja in every way. If Wolf from the second movie had been there...

Sui Bian really would have had to worry about Chris.

After a brief pause.

Sui Bian said to Red Queen, "Red Queen, tell Chris to proceed according to the original plan."

"Yes, sir."

Beneath the ice.

Chris and his team had reached the top of the Pyramid and entered the passageway leading inside.

The passage was extremely wide. Every five meters along either side stood a statue of a Predator, while murals and inscriptions on the walls explained the relationship between humans, Xenos, and the Yautja.

The passage was also filled with traps.

A D-Class researcher walked with the group, taking pictures of the statues and murals on either side. As he went, his left foot stepped on an unusual floor tile.

Shortly after the D-Class researcher moved on, the tile slowly sank.

The trap had been triggered, thawing the Xenomorph Queen imprisoned in the lowest level of the Pyramid.

Then, stimulated by an electric current from Yautja technology, the Xenomorph Queen fully revived and began producing Facehugger eggs through an external pouch.

The Xenomorph Queen laid the eggs on a conveyor belt. Sensing their weight, the belt began carrying them upward.

Before long, Chris and his team arrived at the Sacrificial Chamber from the movie.

Following Sui Bian's instructions, Chris claimed he needed to study the writing and murals, and had the six D-Class Personnel in Team C stay behind in the chamber.

Team C consisted entirely of researchers, and they readily followed his orders, staying behind to focus on their studies.

Leaving Team C behind, Chris led Teams A and D farther down. It wasn't long before they reached the level directly beneath the Sacrificial Chamber.

The Plasma Shoulder Cannons prepared for the three Yautja Youths were stored there.

In the movie, the human protagonist's knowledge of ancient writing had allowed him to unlock the combination lock and retrieve the three Shoulder Cannons sealed inside. This prematurely triggered the start of the coming-of-age ritual, forcing the three young Yautja to fight the Xenos at a disadvantage, without their Shoulder Cannons.

But among the research team Sui Bian had brought, there wasn't a single researcher who was an expert in ancient cultures or languages.

But he had Red Queen.

Having watched the movie several times, Sui Bian remembered that the combination for the lock was the year, month, and day when the humans triggered the Pyramid's mechanism.

He had Chris point his chest camera at the top of the coffin-like weapons case. As Red Queen examined the lock, he also gave her a hint about the key to cracking the combination.

As the most advanced artificial intelligence, Red Queen's "brain" processed information far faster than the human protagonist's had in the movie.

There was no suspense. Red Queen easily cracked the combination and told Chris how to unlock the case through his earpiece.

The lock opened.

The weapons case unfolded.

The instant they removed all the Shoulder Cannons, they prematurely triggered the start of the coming-of-age ritual, just as in the movie. The entire Pyramid began shifting and rearranging like a Rubik's Cube.

At that moment, seven eggs appeared in the Sacrificial Chamber.

As Umbrella researchers, the six members of Team C didn't just stand around like the scientists in the movie. They all pulled out their pistols to defend themselves.

However...

The Facehuggers moved too fast, and the researchers weren't elite security. Just as before, all of them ended up with Facehuggers wrapped around their faces, getting "impregnated."

And so, everything went according to Sui Bian's plan: the Yautja Youths would first face the Xenos at a disadvantage. The rest depended on how Chris performed in the moment.

He needed two of the young Yautja to die, to find a way to preserve their bodies, and to earn the respect of the surviving Yautja.

In any case... it was a pretty demanding mission.

But he was the boss. He had given his employee all the instructions and a walkthrough before handing over the task. The rest was up to the employee.

Besides, Sui Bian trusted that Chris, an excellent employee, was capable of handling it.