Seeing Trench's flushed, excited expression as he eagerly agreed, William burst into hearty laughter, paying no mind to his earlier frown. Such hesitation was natural.
Mercenaries, seasoned by years of dangerous assignments, were sensitive to potential risks. Asking about the specifics of a mission was entirely reasonable. After all, anyone who lived by the gun wouldn't last long without caution.
Still, Trench was overthinking it. Whether he could join Barney and the others in William's inner circle remained to be seen.
Luckily, William didn't need to explain the trip to the alien planet. He could simply have them sleep through the journey, wake them up to fight, and then send them back to sleep on the return trip—ensuring they'd never realize they'd left Earth to battle Xenomorphs alongside the Yautja.
At that moment, Sunday reported, "Sir, I've detected seven Facehuggers emerging from the pyramid. Based on their route, they appear to be climbing the ice tunnel to the surface. Should I deploy drones to eliminate them?"
"Aren't these creatures supposed to fear extreme cold? Wouldn't they freeze solid in such low temperatures? Why are they climbing the ice layers directly?"
Was this a suicide mission, or were the Facehuggers being used as expendable scouts by the Queen?
Turning to the Yautja leader, William asked, "How many warriors did you send into the pyramid?"
"Six."
"Not enough," William said, shaking his head. "If the Queen escapes, your warriors will be in danger."
Hearing William's assessment, some of the Yautja bristled with dissatisfaction. However, upon realizing that his concern was specifically about the Queen, they turned their attention to their leader.
"The Queen is bound by metal chains as thick as an arm," the Yautja leader assured him. "The metal is resistant to the corrosive effects of her blood. She can't escape."
"No," William countered, shaking his head. According to the storyline, this Queen eventually breaks free. He was about to reveal this knowledge but paused, a sly smile forming. "Why don't we make a little wager?"
Perhaps due to their instinctual passion for the hunt, the Yautja were particularly fond of gambling. The leader nodded. "What's the bet?"
"I'll wager 200 talismans for all the technical data on your micro-ships under 30 meters. The bet is whether the Queen escapes."
"No, at least 500 talismans," the leader countered. "If you don't need the micro-ship to perform space jumps, 200 talismans is fine."
Damn cunning old fox.
These long-lived Yautja weren't easy to fool. Furthermore, since the storyline had already deviated, if the wager were agreed upon, the six Yautja warriors could regroup, split into two teams, and directly attack the Queen's chamber. They might even successfully eliminate her.
Just as he was about to refuse, Sunday's voice came through his earpiece:
"Sir, I must warn you. In the 49 minutes since the spider drones began monitoring the Queen, she has been laying eggs at an average rate of one every ten seconds. That amounts to 294 Facehuggers.
Considering the time elapsed since Charles Weyland's team entered the pyramid and activated the Queen—103 minutes in total—there are now an estimated 600 Facehuggers and 14 Xenomorphs. After accounting for the mercenaries killing one, there will ultimately be 22 Xenomorphs in the pyramid."
Damn it. After hearing this, William cursed under his breath and turned to the Yautja leader. "Deal."
Covering his earpiece, he instructed Sunday, "Deploy ten Red Mercury nuclear drones into the pyramid and the surrounding underground tunnels. Calculate the explosion's power and resulting heat carefully. I want everything inside—down to the rock—vitrified."
After several seconds of calculations, Sunday responded, "Sir, only six Red Mercury bombs are needed to achieve this. Using ten could trigger a volcanic eruption beneath the pyramid."
"Let it erupt. Bury everything in magma."
"Understood, Sir."
Several kilometers away, a snow truck parked on the ice layers opened a portal. The truck's compartment door automatically slid open, and ten Red Mercury nuclear drones floated out. Within moments, they navigated through the ice tunnels carved by the Yautja and entered the pyramid.
"Is this necessary?" the Yautja leader asked in surprise.
Although he had overheard William's earlier statements, the Yautja didn't understand Sunday's report, which made William realize something. The Yautja seemed to rely heavily on experience, their long lifespans likely leading to mental rigidity.
While their capabilities in interstellar warfare were undoubtedly formidable—their survival over millennia of spacefaring proved that—in close combat, their tactics seemed rooted in centuries-old methods.
"Don't underestimate the learning ability of these creatures," William said sternly. "With trials every hundred years, after ten or twenty cycles, it's entirely possible that the Queen's blood has evolved to dissolve the metal confining her."
"But this is Antarctica. Xenomorphs can't withstand extreme cold. Even if she escapes, she won't get far before freezing solid."
"That might immobilize her, but cold won't kill her," William said, looking at the Yautja leader as if he were an idiot. "What if the Queen jumps into the ocean and drifts away with the currents?"
"This…" Stumped by the question, the Yautja leader quickly ordered his second-in-command, "Have the spaceship in orbit ready to deploy energy weapons to neutralize this area if necessary."
After issuing the command, he turned back to William. "Your weapon's heat and vibrations will severely damage the ice layer. If the Antarctic ice shelf collapses, the resulting impact will be catastrophic."
That was a valid point. Since the Yautja seemed so concerned about Earth's well-being, William kindly warned, "If the Facehuggers are climbing the tunnel to the surface, doesn't that suggest the Queen can already control them and that their numbers are so vast she's using them as cannon fodder?
In that case, the warriors inside the pyramid will face not just Xenomorphs but potentially hundreds of Facehuggers as well."
At that moment, Barney shouted, "Boss, the bugs are coming up fast! What do we do?"
After only a moment's thought, William replied, "Step back. Let them come up. I want to see what these bugs are trying to do."
As Barney and Trench obediently retreated, their backs turned, William extended one hand into the air and conjured a mirrored dimension at the tunnel's entrance. The dimension extended down the tunnel to a cliffside overhanging a frozen sea.
Seconds later, seven Facehuggers, unaware of the trap, scrambled into the mirrored dimension and rushed toward the cliff, leaping in an attempt to reach the ice-covered sea.
Through Sunday, William disabled Barney and Trench's visual feeds in their helmets and reassured them to remain calm and still.
With a wave of his hand, William altered the dimension's scenery. The Facehuggers believed they had reached the ice, but instead turned on each other in a frenzy, leaving the mirrored space littered with ochre blood.
With a snap of his fingers, William levitated their corpses and summoned flames from thin air, incinerating them.
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