Here is the start of it, folks. The formatting doesn't hold up from final draft; any ideas on that?
INT. - DARK TUNNELS, ALIEN HIVE
Montage of aliens in the hive.
Aliens flash by, scurrying about their daily tasks. They carry eggs and hosts throughout the dense, cramped network of tunnels. There is little sense of up or down, and they climb on all surfaces much like in an anthill.
BEGIN OPENING CREDITS
The credits are interspersed with the activity within the hive. The view pans through tunnels and passageways and makes its way eventually to
INT. - ENTRY TUNNEL, ALIEN HIVE, DAY
This is a larger tunnel, and the view spirals upward to focus on what resembles a cave entrance, dull orange light shining down.
ENTER CLOAKED PREDATORS (YAUTJA)
The group of Yautja file by, far from the alien activity within the hive. The warped-light shapes pick slowly down the rocky slope of the entryway, barely visible against the glare of the light behind. The natural stone of this cave's mouth gives way to the black, seemingly random-textured superstructure of the alien hive. This material covers every surface and is a mysteriously secreted resin: hard and rough, and inlaid with patterns that appear random but resemble the exoskeletons of the aliens themselves. The Yautja turn off their cloaking devices as they enter the cavernous hive.
SUPER - (MAIN TITLE) PREDATOR: BLOOD HARVEST
Over a dozen Yautja finish uncloaking. They are decked out in full armor and extensive protection against the acid-blood of the aliens. A black, leather-like material that may be synthetic covers their bodies to an extensive degree (as far as the usually lightly-equipped Yautja are concerned). They are clearly prepared for combat, as none of them even wear trophies save a few trinkets braided into their dreadlocks. The three in front step forward. They are ZAZINZEI, GUANKWEI, and SETSEI. ZAZINZEI is the leader, and his subordinates follow his every command. The two subordinates are equipped with dual shoulder cannons which are larger and more formidable than regular cannons, and their backpacks are larger to accommodate.
FADE TO:
INT. - USED HOST CHAMBER, ALIEN HIVE
The host chamber is a now empty room where the aliens' victims had hosted their young. Now the various corpses within, of the unidentified planet's native lifeforms, are withered and dried out, their bodies long since having provided nutrition for the fledgling brood birthed therein.
ENTER YAUTJA TEAM
The group files in slowly, spreading cautiously throughout the room. They examine the bodies and the empty eggs, which are scattered around at odd angles, emphasizing the cave-like structure of the hive. To the aliens, which crawl on the walls and ceiling as easily as on the ground, gravity does not dictate their hive's fabrication.
CLOSE ON ZAZINZEI
ZAZINZEI
(clicking curiously and cocking head to one side)
(NOTE THAT ALL DIALOGUE APPEARS AS SUBTITLES AND ACTUAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CHARACTERS OCCURS IN THE YAUTJAN LANGUAGE: A COMBINATION OF CLICKS, BARKS, AND OTHER SOUNDS)
This is a travesty. The brood has defeated one of our own.
ZAZINZEI points at one wall, where a corpse is suspended in the black resin.
CLOSE ON DEAD YAUTJA
We see the body of a dead Yautja. His chest has been punched open from the inside, and his mandibles hang in an eternal roar. ZAZINZEI looks at one of the Yautja, then indicates the body with a quick nod of his head. The warrior approaches the body and produces a handheld device which shoots out a small laser. He cuts through the resin near the dead Yautja's arm, then pries back a layer of the thick secretion -- which despite the considerable strength of the Yautja is still difficult for him.
He steps back, and ZAZINZEI approaches. He manipulates the wrist computer of the dead predator, and its panel flips open. He presses a few buttons, and then it ejects a small memory core. He takes the unit and turns away from the body, then attaches it to his own computer.
CUT TO:
P.O.V. - ZAZINZEI, VISION MODE: ELECTROMAGNETIC
We see what ZAZINZEI sees. His fellow Yautja are barely visible around him, noticeable mostly due to the energy sources powering their gear. This particular spectrum illuminates any source of electromagnetic energy, which, along with the acidic blood of the aliens, includes the predators' equipment. Cannons, gauntlets, the viewports of their bio-helmets, and some of their weaponry all shine brightly against the dark background of the hive.
ZAZINZEI looks down and presses a button, and a panel containing several symbols opens up along the side of his vision. One is highlighted and blinks, and then a recording appears onscreen.
SWIPE TO:
P.O.V. - DEAD HUNTER, VISION MODE: THERMAL
The dead Yautja's mask recorded his hunt on this planet. The images of his landing play in a panel in ZAZINZEI's mask, with some data superimposed along the side. This includes a clan symbol which identifies the predator's origin, as well as other indecipherable information, likely the date and locational details.
The hunter is walking through the hall of his shuttle, a single-Yautja craft. He drops down through a hole in the floor and lands in a crouch on the surface of a canyon floor, somewhere on this planet. He slowly surveys his surroundings, then looks down and manipulates his computer. We see his bodyheat dissipate as the cloaking field envelops him.
CUT TO:
INT. - USED HOST CHAMBER, ALIEN HIVE
CLOSE ON ZAZINZEI
ZAZINZEI
(while watching recording)
He was a member of the Shattered Dagger Clan. He was hunting alone.
CUT TO:
P.O.V. - DEAD HUNTER, VISION MODE: THERMAL
ZAZINZEI skips the recording forward, stopping every few moments and then advancing. The hunter runs along an open desert, crouches atop a rocky outcropping. Observes a cooling scorpion in his hand and then looks up to see a scorpion-like creature the size of a car advancing toward him. His targeting laser comes online and he fires. Skipping again, and he is cutting his trophy from his prey. Again, and he is peering down a cliff face. He leaps down and lands at the mouth of a cave; the rock walls around him are darker blue and cool, obviously shaded unlike the open desert above.
The hunter turns slowly and observes the environment, but there are no lifeforms showing up. Suddenly, we see movement and he is thrown onto his back; we see the sky above and then his forearm come into frame, his wristblades extending. Something is moving on top of him, and he struggles with it a moment before flinging it off. He quickly climbs to his feet, then frantically punches his wrist computer. His vision spectrum swipes to ALIEN ORGANIC, and we see dozens of aliens pouring from the cave entrance, hissing and screeching at him.
CUT TO:
INT. - USED HOST CHAMBER, ALIEN HIVE
CLOSE ON ZAZINZEI
We hear alien shrieks and then a predator roar as ZAZINZEI watches the recording. The sounds fade to silence, and after a moment ZAZINZEI slowly lowers his head in a prayerful bow. He removes the data core and puts it away, then signals to the corpse again.
ON YAUTJA PARTY
Four Yautja move to the body and begin to cut it away from the wall. The others watch in silence. Once they have exhumed the dead hunter, they lay it on the floor of the chamber. Three step back, and one produces a flask of blue liquid. He pours it on the body, and what's left of the fallen Yautja disintegrates with a sizzling hiss.
GUANKWEI
(angrily)
Damned serpents! We will show no mercy to this hard meat. We will destroy every one.
SETSEI
You should show some reverence, brother. The serpents are our most formidable opponents.
GUANKWEI
And you should mind your elders, young blood.
SETSEI
I have been a blooded warrior for several hunts now, Crazy Night. Certainly long enough to know that the hard meat is not a foe to be taken lightly.
ZAZINZEI
(barking quietly)
Enough.
They fall silent. ZAZINZEI turns and leads the clan deeper into the hive.
CUT TO:
INT. - ANTECHAMBER, ALIEN HIVE
The Yautja progress through the hive. As they march silently by we see the cave from their perspectives. Though it is difficult, to us, to make out detail, especially because of the resin coating the walls, it is clear that there is not yet any alien activity.
The Yautja's natural vision is actually relatively poor, by human standards. It operates by a combination of movement- and heat-detection, with warm, organic lifeforms contrasting against the blurry background. Motion flares brightly but leaves behind a disorienting afterimage.
The bio-helmet's visor augments the Yautja's natural eyesight by offering focus and detail, and although even augmented it can still seem blurry or difficult to interpret for us, the mask's ability to allow Yautja to see in several different spectra makes them very efficient hunters.
The predator's available views include the rainbow-heat colored thermal, another more basic infra-red, electromagnetic (for detecting energy sources like full-grown aliens and other technology), a green-tinted organic view which detects aliens specifically (alien exoskeletons, eggs, chestbursters, facehuggers, and even the resin coating the walls all show up brightly in this view, which is why it is not ideal for use in the hive), ultraviolet, and more.
The antechamber is a dead-end. The predators calmly examine the walls and ceiling, and SETSEI notices a hole in one wall. He peers inside. Using his vision modes he sees that it leads to the core of the hive and is teeming with life. He rears back and signals silently to ZAZINZEI.
With a wave and a nod ZAZINZEI instructs another warrior to plant explosive limpet mines on the wall. The Yautja quietly adheres the devices to the cave wall and sets them. Throughout the antechamber shoulder cannons rise and targeting lasers come online.
CUT TO:
INT. - EGG ROOM, ALIEN HIVE
Aliens scuttle through the room, seemingly unaware of the Yautja presence in the hive -- a testament to the predators' stealth skills, or perhaps an indication of one of the aliens' most dangerous tendencies: to wait until intruders are deep within the hive before striking.
Suddenly, a fireball of blue plasma rips through one side of the wall, tearing a gaping hole through which the Yautja enter.
The four massive shoulder cannons worn by SETSEI and GUANKWEI begin spewing arcs of plasma, the lasers streams of fire that cut through the aliens and burn anything they touch.
Swiftly, the Yautja cut a swath through the aliens. What one misses, another quickly attends to. In a matter of seconds, around two-dozen aliens are dead and everything falls silent.
CLOSE ON ZAZINZEI
ZAZINZEI crouches and peers down the length of the egg room. It is a gently sloping tunnel section whose high end tapers and spirals upward about fifteen feet away. He examines the descent for a moment and then stands.
ZAZINZEI
This way.
(turning to indicate the smaller tunnel)
Leave a barrier so the hard meat may not surround us.
At this command, two Yautja move to where the passageway begins to taper. They throw mines similar to the limpet charges on the hive wall, and after a moment these devices produce dozens of beams of light that spread across the opening as though through a prism. The crisscrossing lasers from the two projectors form a grid through which no alien could pass.
The Yautja exit, heading deeper still into the hive.
FADE TO:
INT. - QUEEN'S CHAMBER, ALIEN HIVE
The matriarch of the alien hive can be seen in the hive's deepest chamber. Her massive body is suspended by the black resin to rocky pillars, and her giant, leathery egg-sac hangs from the ceiling and trails away. She is in her egg-laying state, a kind of hibernation. Her heavy breathing can be heard. All around her, dozens of eggs lay waiting. Drones, the workers of the alien hive, tend to the young and to their mother, scuttling about the room busily.
ON CHAMBER ENTRANCE
We hear a clicking sound emanating from the tunnel beyond the chamber as the Yautja approach. A warrior alien unfolds from a large pillar and darts along the ceiling to greet the encroaching intruders.
GUANKWEI
(O.S.)
A pure victory, brothers!
The warrior on the ceiling explodes in a burst of acid and plasma fired from within the tunnel. GUANKWEI roars, a furious battle cry that is marked by the alien counterattack as warriors and drones leap toward the tunnel. GUANKWEI's howl is echoed by others as he comes bounding into the room, firing almost blindly.
SETSEI is steps behind him, joining in the fray with his own cannons. Following them are the rest of the hunters. Because of the very low light in the chamber, the battle is illuminated in brilliant blue flashes as the predators fire their plasma casters and punctuated by bursts of white as GUANKWEI and SETSEI release sustained arcs of energy from their heavy cannons.
