“You alien motherfuckers came to our planet, infected us with a high-tech plague, killed millions, including my entire family, and you have the nerve to say we’re the animals?” Bulco spat at the floor in disgust.

The Scout didn’t seem to register the words. “You cut him open ... you butchered him … you … you …”

“Yes, me,” the Engineer cut him off. “Your pal’s arrival was just the thing we needed to turn things around here. We were trying to fight off the Warped, but more and more of us died every day. Then the pod crashed and we found him. We used your technology to power our own. We experimented on your friends’ body and learned some interesting things. For example, did you know that with the right mixture of your people’s blue juice and a bit of Warped gland, you can make quite an effective performance-enhancing serum? Was really helpful in battle, let me tell you that, gave us the edge we needed.”

“You kept his body so you could extract his essence? Animal is too good a word for you. You’re nothing more than a more coherent variant of Warped.”

“And you’re all just a bunch of murderous scum for all I care. I have no problem ending all of you. We could use a new source of blue juice.”

“Bulco,” Nori said. “You have to stop, you’re making matters worse.”

The two males ignored her.

“And how are you planning on accomplishing that?” the alien asked, waving his weapon. You're about to become just another dead human in a world full of dead humans.”

Bulco grinned and lifted a bloody syringe. “The Warped glands we harvested had varied potency, you see. The higher-level ones had a stronger effect. And I just mixed up a batch using a Broodmother’s gland.” Without waiting for a reply, he plunged the needle into his neck.

The alien looked at him in bewilderment.

Bulco’s eyes instantly turned bright red and his muscles bulged and swelled to grotesque proportions. He punched the ground, rising to his feet, leaving cracks on the floor. Fle'gak recovered and his Talon fired once. The dark beam hit the Engineer and burrowed a shallow hole in the center of his chest. With two huge steps, Bulco closed the distance between them. His arm lashed out and grabbed the alien’s hand, crushing his bones and the weapons he was holding, while his other hand grabbed at his neck. With hardly any effort, the beefed-up man lifted the blue alien from the floor and started to squeeze.