Another Mother is a 2022 short story written by Scott Sigler, published by Titan Books as part of the anthology Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey. It is a sequel to Sigler's earlier novel, Aliens: Phalanx.
Plot[]
Twenty years after the events of Aliens: Phalanx, Ataegina has slowly progressed into a steam-powered level civilization. Ahiliyah "Liyah" Cooper and Creen Dinashin are investigating the disappearence of a runner team, following a re-emergence of the "Demons". The group was part of a massive mobilization trying to locate the new lair of the Demon Mother. They find the mangled corpse of one of the runners, and are left with no clue as to the whereabouts of the other two. After discussing the cause of death of the runner, whose spine and head are missing, and after finding his spear covered in strange glowing blood. Creen theorizes the killer is not native to Ataegina, but from the stars, something the Ataeginians, including Liyah, don't fully understand. She urges the soldiers to resume their search and find the Demon Mother before it is too late.
Unbeknown to them, they were being watched by Yeh'kull, a young un-blooded Yautja female, sent by the elders to Ataegina to assess the planet's potential as a game reserve. Yah'kull lamented that the elders protected her from the queen, denying her participation in a hunt or even becoming Blooded. She had killed the group of runners and captured one of them, Miriam, to learn their language before the elders returned for her. Before she died, the prisoner managed to utter the word demon.
Yeh'kull was about to kill Liyah, when she noticed that the smaller human had the pharyngeal jaw of none other than a kainde amedha queen hanging from his neck. She realized the dee-mon these humans were looking for are the same. Yeh'kull then attacks Liyah to take the search map, but before she can kill her, she noticed not one but three of the trophies are being held by Creen. Creen, who is the first to notice Yeh'kull is in fact a female, tells Liyah to give her one of the tooth tongues, but Yeh'kull lets them know she wants to kill one by herself. After showing her the map and pointing at the probable location of the hive, Yeh'kull gives Creen a combistick before inviting the pair to join her quest.
The trio travels to the Pendaran Mountains onboard Yeh'kull's ship. Then the Yautja, followed by Liyah, who had been issued a bow, and Creen enter the cave that serves as a hive. Liyah is amazed at how easily Yeh'kull's plasmacaster takes down the demons. Soon, the queen's protectors attack, and Liyah manages to wound one before Creen lands the decisive blow. Yeh'kull kills the remaining Palatine with her spear.
In the egg chamber, Liyah notices that the queen is much smaller than the original demon mother. Yeh'kull prepares to confront the beast hand-to-hand, much to Green's dismay. The queen has the upper hand and is about to win the battle when Liyah intervenes. Instead of dealing the final blow, Liyah buys time for Yeh'kull to recover and kill the monster.
Having obtained the trophy from him, Yeh'kull destroys the nest with her self-destruct device before marking herself, Liyah and Creen. She boards her ship and rejoins the elders' mothership, knowing that from now on she is a true hunter.
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