"So what do we do now?" Seongwha asked the Star King. It had been nearly an hour since we finished barricading the door and was met with nothing but silence on the other side. The spider had yet to make an appearance after the Star king severed its leg. The leg in question sat curled on the floor where it fell. Even now it twitched occasionally as if the leg itself was a living thing.

The crew now all stood around the central station in command, light from the console casting eerie shadows over the men's faces. The Star King stood leaning on his arms over the table.

"First we need to know what exactly we're up against. Yeosang, pull up whatever you can find on it in the database."

"Sure." Yeosang responded before jogging over to his station.

Then the captain scanned over the crew. "Where's San and Wooyoung?"

Yunho cleared his throat. "Wherever San is he's probably with Cerber so he should be alright for now. And as for Wooyoung..." he trailed off looking apprehensive. He shot me a glance and stuck his hands in his pockets. "He had already taken off in one of the jets."

"What?" The captain asked. He brought a hand down over his face and then he looked over at me. "Hey you, did he ever show up for the simulations?"

I met the Star King's gaze and shook my head. He exhaled sharply, jaw tense. "Well wherever he went I hope he stays there. I'll be sure to have a talk with him later..." Then he looked around the room. "Where the hell did Mingi go?"

Everyone looked confused at the disappearance of the second-in-command and there was a moment panic. My eyes drifted around the room until I spotted him huddled in a corner. He was trembling clutching his knees to his chest. In the chaos of the chase he had somehow lost his towel. Other than parts of his body that were covered in green and blue scales he was nude.

"Aish Mingi," The Star King exclaimed. He grabbed the white blanket from his cot and wrapped the cowering man up. "You're going to get sick if you sit there naked."

Mingi looked up, face wet with tears. "It was so big Hongjoong.." He cried.

"It's alright now Mingi." The Star King hushed him patting the taller man's shoulders in consolation. Mingi clung to him and wept.

Seongwha shook his head at the sight. "Alright well what's the plan then?" Everyone quietly contemplated what to do while Yeosang tapped away at the screen continuing his research.

"I have a suggestion-" I began but the captain, who was struggling with a hysterical Mingi, interrupted.

"Absolutely not," He ordered. "We will figure out a strategy without sending you out in your own."

Right then I thought of the simulation. I thought of the deaths of all the crew around me and how helpless we were to stop it. The new emotion pierced through my heart and left a gaping hole behind.

I can't go through that again.

Yeosang cleared his throat gathering everyone's attention. "We've got a huge mess on our hands Hongjoong." He announced grimly. "According to what I've found it's going to be harder to kill than we've ever imagined."

"W-What do you m-mean by that?" Mingi stuttered. He pulled away from Hongjoong his eyes wide with fear.

The Star King placed his hands over Mingi's ears. "Better if you don't know. So what did you find Yeosang?"

Yeosang got up from his chair to stand in front of the crew. "It's an alien hybrid called the Matriarch Arachnid. It's called that because every spider is born female."

"So what's the deal with the eggs that Ten and I saw?" Yunho asked. He was sitting in a chair strumming his fingers over the table top. "How do they have offspring without a male to mate with?"

"They don't have offspring," Yeosang leaned over the console his face looking creepy in the dim light. "They have clones."

Everyone was quiet as we absorbed this new information. The captain extracted himself from Mingi's embrace and came to stand beside his navigator. He looked over his shoulder at the information on the screen. "What does that mean Yeosang?"

Yeosang continued in a low voice. "Because of that they have a hive mentality, meaning that those little spiders communicate with the Matriarch. Whatever they see so does she."

"Stars this is just getting worse!" Seongwha suddenly exclaimed throwing up his hands. Mingi went back to sobbing.

Yeosang scratched his head. "That's not the worst of it either. If the information I found is correct the Matriarch also has the ability to regenerate."

"Damn!" The Star King growled. He slammed a fist down on the table. "So you're saying that while we've been trapped in here she's been healing?" Yeosang nodded his head silver earrings glinting in the light.

Frustrated the Star King swept papers onto the floor and cursed loudly.

Yunho began pacing back and forth looking between the surveillance monitors. He pushed his dark hair back searching for something. "Do you think we could make it to the armory? We're going to need as much firepower as we can get."

"That sounds like a good idea but the armory is pretty far away and we have no way of knowing where that thing could be hiding. It's been too quiet for too long." The captain said.

"It's strong Hongjoong," Seongwha interjected. "You didn't see how that thing chased us. I don't know if we have the necessary weapons to kill it. I think we should send out a distress beacon to Wooyoung and have him bring back reinforcements."

Yunho fixed him with an incredulous look. "You can't be serious. Who's to say the military wouldn't intercept that? Then we will have to deal with soldiers on top of everything else."

All the suggestions flew over my head each one having lower and lower probability of success. I secretly accessed my blueprints of the ship and looked them over. There has to be something we're missing..

"If we go back out there it will be a bloodbath!" Seonghwa yelled at Yunho irate. "We can't even outrun that thing Yunho! Wooyoung could bring even more men with him to fight alongside us!"

"If we had weapons we wouldn't have to run!" Yunho retorted his face turning red. Both men were now arguing face to face. "San is still on the ship. What about his safety huh? If we hide in here the reinforcements could arrive too late!"

I looked over the schematics finding nothing of use. There were multiple heat signatures wandering in all parts of the ship. Everywhere from the mess hall down to the sleeping quarters and even in the ventilation system...

My eyes snapped open and I looked at a grate to my right. The Matriarch is far too large to fit in there. But a person squeeze through...

"Alright enough!" The Star King said as he put himself in between Yunho and Seongwha who were on the verge of becoming physical. "We have to get San to safety. Every second we stay in here puts his life in danger." Seonghwa cast his eyes to the floor under the Star King's hard gaze.

"What did I tell you Seongwha?" Yunho said triumphantly.

"Yunho," He continued whirling around to face him next. "It's true that we're defenseless but if we left command you'll put all of our lives at risk." Yunho's shoulders fell. "But Hongjoong-"

"Stop," The captain said raising his hand. "Both plans are too risky. There has to be something else we can do."

A screen flickered in my peripheral. It was the surveillance footage of the Star King's old ship that was still attached to the side of the ATEEZ.

It was large enough to entrap the Matriarch.

In the dark of the command the pieces slowly came together. A plan formed in my head.

But in order to carry it out I would have to go against the Star King's direct order. My eyes flitted up to the men who were busy conversing then came to the rest back on the grate.

It was the best chance we had.

                            ~Wooyoung's POV~

   I can't believe it! I thought accelerating in the fighter jet. The engine firing on full blast and burning bright as I sped towards home. I spotted the ATEEZ in the distance and tapped my foot against the floorboard. I was anxious to make it back as fast as possible so I could tell Hongjoong and the others the news. After weeks of chasing dead ends we finally had a solid lead. I thought of how excited they would be when I tell them that our search was finally over.

Just hold on a little longer Jongho, I thought as a smile broke out on my face. I promise we'll bring you home.

                                2 hours earlier...

  This place is a dive. I thought and tossed back another drink in a dirty glass. The galaxy was huge and filled with wonderful and exotic destinations, many of which I'd had the pleasure of visiting.

This place was not one of those.

The bar was quite literally falling apart around me. I set my glass down on the sticky counter and looked around at the shithole I found myself in. The windows were dirty with grime and only allowed a small amount of light to filter through. It was dark but I could still see the way the paint peeled off the walls revealing water damage beneath. The floor creaked with rot as I swiveled in my stool surveying the room. There were only a few other patrons other than myself seated at the tables.

They must be hard up for a drink if this is where they choose to go, I thought ruefully.

I came here to kill time before getting back to the ship. I knew it was immature of me to leave without a word but Hongjoong knew how I felt about that girl being on board.

And not only that but he wants me to spend time with her too?

It pissed me off just thinking about it and I waved the bartender down for another drink.

That's when a peculiar looking alien with blue skin and an extra pair of arms seated herself next to me. After a moment she positioned herself in her stool so she was facing me. At this point it was obvious she was trying to catch my attention. I purposefully avoided her gaze as the bartender set another amber colored drink down in front of me. After I shot it back she cleared her throat and spoke.

"Keep drinking like that and you won't be able to walk out of here." The language was quiet and lilting. She spoke in perfect Cerian. I was only familiar with it because of San's many lingual lessons.

Maybe if I pretend I don't know what she's saying she'll leave me alone.

I continued to ignore her and set down a few coins on the counter. I made to get up when I felt her grab my arm to stop me. "Leaving so soon handsome?"

I yanked my arm away and finally turned to look at her. Her clothes were plain so she wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. Other than the odd hue to her skin and having extra limbs there was nothing distinguishable about her appearance.

Either she has four arms or I'm a lot more drunk than I thought.

Her defining feature was a silver tattoo that covered one side of her face. A mark of a slave I realized.

I unconsciously adjusted my collar so my chest wasn't at all visible.

"A slave couldn't possibly have anything to say that I'd want to hear."

"Even when that slave is from Aquaceria? The place your friend went missing?" She asked. I was taken aback at how this stranger knew so much about me. How the hell did anyone find me out here? I wondered. My eyes narrowed and I leaned in close. "What are you getting at?"

"You're Wooyoung, a former slave of the planet Itharka, now one of the Star King's men," I clenched my jaw. "I have a message from my master concerning a friend of yours." She said with a smirk. Her face was really beginning to piss me off.

"Bullshit," I stated. "I don't believe you." Then I turned and began walking away from the bar no longer interested in hearing her out. I was nearly to the door when she called out. "Master Yuyaga told me that you'd say that." The name rung a bell and gave me pause mid step.

I peeked at her over my shoulder and she pulled a portable holographic device from her robes. "That's why I brought something to prove that I'm telling you the truth."

                                          ~

After watching the footage of Jongho being tortured in a cell I fixed the strange woman with an icy glare. Fists clenched and stomach twisted in knots. "When was this recorded?"

"Three days ago," She stated simply. "He's still alive but he's scheduled to be executed."

I spun to face her, fear making bile rise in my throat. "Where is Jongho?!" I demanded. She shrugged her shoulders and then cocked an eyebrow at my question. "You must've figured out by now that that information isn't going to be free."

I'm going to kill this bitch.

I grabbed her collar and pulled her close to me my breath blowing her bangs back. As if reading my thoughts she raised her hands up in surrender. "If you kill me you'll never get the information you need to save your friend."

I shook in anger but reluctantly released her, reason winning out over impulse. "What do you want?"

"Pay a visit to my Master Yuyaga on Aquaceria. That's where the terms will be set in exchange for the answers you seek." She said cryptically brushing off her clothes where I had touched her. She stood up and made her way towards the exit before saying over her shoulder. "Oh and don't keep him waiting, I don't think your friend can hold out much longer." And with that she disappeared through the curtains and into the night.

~

I could sense that something was wrong as soon as I pulled the ship into the dock. The ATEEZ had gone dark and sat immobile in the galaxy. I knew that Hongjoong always kept it running around the clock so something bad must've happened for it to be down. It felt deathly quiet and much too still. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

When the jet locked into place I unconsciously reached for the weapon at my side. I unclipped my pistol and made sure it was loaded and ready to fire.

Finger on the trigger I climbed out of the cockpit and looked around the hangar. Everything was so damn quiet and I couldn't make out any of the usual sounds of the crew.

Something is wrong.

Stealthily as I could I landed on the perch and, staying low, made my way to the stairs leading down.

Then the smell hit me.

It was strong and cloying as it invaded my nostrils. It smelled like animal shit and dirt. Eyes watering I buried my nose in my shoulder to try and stifle it but the stink was in my clothing too. I quickly made my way down to the main floor trying making as little noise as possible.

Then I saw it.

Well, whatever the hell it was. From what I could tell it was the thruster that Yunho was supposed to look over but something had ripped it up. Something big. And inside of it was the source of the smell.

God it looked like the inside of a dead animal.

Upon closer inspection I saw what looked like spider webs encasing the hellish sight within. The insides of the thruster were bent and ruined beyond repair. There were also objects that looked like eggs that had burst open, pinkish slime collecting and dripping to the floor.

"What the fu—"

Something small skittered out of my peripheral vision. I whirled around to try and catch a glimpse but it disappeared behind a pillar. I breathed in and began to stalk around to the other side. When it finally came into view my breathing hitched in my throat.

It was a spider as big as my face. A nasty son of a gun with dripping fangs and hairy legs. The ugly bastard even hissed at me when we made eye contact.

I'm too drunk to deal with this.

The thing fixed me with it's beady little eyes and waited for me to make the first move.

It didn't have to wait long.

I started rapidly squeezing the trigger missing shot after shot. It avoided the hail of plasma with lightning fast movements, leaving a trail of black marks where the plasma struck the ground behind. But the beast wasn't running away it was running towards me, it's feet tapping over the floor. I nearly had no time react until it was on me preparing to pounce.

I may or may not have squealed.

In a panic I lifted my boot and brought it straight down on top of it. It's body crunched then popped as it's guts erupted all over the floor. The sound was loud in the dead quiet of the hangar.

"Ugh this is so gross..." I hissed. I lifted my foot and gobs of sticky slime came up with my boot. My stomach lurched at the sight, the liquor I drank threatening to make a reappearance. I didn't have much time to feel disgusted though.

I wasn't alone.

I heard something move in the ventilation shaft off to my right and whatever it was sounded a lot bigger then the thing I just killed....

Really don't want to have to curb stomp another one of those bastards... I checked my gun and saw I still had some ammo left. I extended my arm up and aimed at the source of the noise ready for a fight.

I'm ready when you are.

My finger squeezed the trigger as whatever it was reached the end of the shaft.

Then I saw pale fingers grip the grate to open it.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as I moved the gun at the last second, blasting into the side of the wall next to the opening. The plasma blew a huge hole in the wall. The grate tumbled to the ground with a bang and a person peered up at me from the opening.

"What..." I began as the girl stood up and brushed off her clothes. "What the hell are you doing?! I could've killed you!" I demanded waving my gun in the air.

"I'd advise you to lower your weapon. You could set it off unintentionally." She replied coolly.

"Don't tell me what to do!" I yelled indignant. She looked at me with a blank expression on her face. After a second of awkward silence I holstered my weapon. I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Where is everybody? What happened?"

"The ATEEZ is currently in lockdown. We've been boarded by a highly dangerous alien arachnid. The crew is holed up in command and San and Cerber are somewhere else on the ship." At this explanation her eyes fell to the floor, her expression bleak. She gripped her hands in front of her.

I huffed again. "Okay so what are you doing wandering the ship alone?"

"I've come to destroy the nest to lure out the matriarch. If she gives chase I plan on trapping her on the Star King's vessel and destroying it." She explained with no inflection to her voice. As if she was talking about running an errand.

"So let me get this straight. You're going to lure and kill this huge spider all by yourself? You honestly don't expect me to believe that Hongjoong came up with this half baked idea..." It was reckless and Hongjoong didn't do reckless. I also found it hard to believe that the captain would put all of that on one person's shoulders. Especially if those shoulders belonged to someone he didn't fully trust.

"I do not know what you mean by half baked but this plan has a forty percent chance of success. Which is a much higher percentage than any other scenario."

So this was your plan all along. I sighed.

"Fine, but what if you factored me in to your plan?" I asked her.

She blinked and her blank expression was replaced by one of shock. "You plan on helping me?"

"Look I'm not doing this for you I'm doing this for the crew and myself," I said exasperated. "You really think I want these disgusting things running around the ship scaring us and shit?" I scooted my boot on the ground smearing more spider on the floor.

"The matriarch spider is much more of a threat. There is a one hundred percent chance she would kill us if given the opportunity."

I got chills thinking about squaring off against a beast even bigger than the one I killed. Massive, if its what tore up the thruster. How big is this spider exactly?

"If I help you carry out this plan, is it more likely to work?" I asked. She closed her eyes for a moment going completely still. Looking at her like this I noticed just how small she was. Cyborg or not, how powerful could she possibly be alone?

She's going to need all the help she can get.

"With your help there is a forty four percent chance of success." She stated matter of fact. Ouch that stung my pride a bit.

"Okay whatever stop with the percentage thing." The way she spoke was beginning to irritate me. I sighed for the millionth time and made my way to my locker. I spun in the combination and pulled out my duffle bag. It was heavy with ammunition and weapons. After loading my pistol and grabbing a second one I pushed a gun into her hands.

"You know how to use that thing right?" I asked. She clutched the gun in her hands looking unsure. As I began to wonder just how the hell we were going to survive I heard something chittering behind me.

I made to grab my pistol but before I could react the girl expertly gripped her gun, blue plasma crackling, and in one swift move shot over my shoulder.

A spider screeched and exploded in a hail of guts onto my back.

My mouth fell open and the girl lowered the gun, muzzle still smoking.

"I believe I received adequate training." She answered, nimbly chambering another round before tucking it into her pants.

Well shit, I thought. Maybe we do have a chance at surviving this after all.
       
                                     ***A/N***

So it's been a few chapters since I posted an authors note at the end! In this one I want to give a very special shout out to some of my loyal readers that read, comment, and vote on every single chapter I put out. :-) You guys are amazing!

HeatherPerigen Thank you so much for giving me my very first vote! Don't think I didn't notice!!

moonchildara Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement, the votes, and the comments! Our messages back and forth really makes my day.❤️

LissetteMiranda You left my very first comment and told me you loved where my story was going. It seriously gave me a burst of inspiration and spurred me on to putting out that chapter even faster. And ever since then you have read and voted on every chapter. I can't even express how great that makes me feel!

Thank you so much to my friends Valarie and Crystal. I'm glad that you guys are able to take time out of your day to read my updates and vote on my story. I hope I can continue to bring even a little happiness to your day.

And lastly but not least thank you so much to my most loyal reader that I've had in my life my little sister Kelli. I fell in love with storytelling because of you. Without you I would probably never have the courage to write. I hope I can make you proud when I finish this story.:)