The Rage War: A three part Alien / Predator epic by Tim Lebbon

[Corporal Hicks]

Yep. Prequel to Rage Wars in the anthology.

[Ultramorph]

Nice! Maybe we'll get a xenomorph-centric prequel in the Alien anthology.

[The Alien Predator]

Yep. Prequel to Rage Wars in the anthology.

Hicks, please, I can only handle so much excitement before my chest bursts! 

*Starts spasming like Kane*

[R Lar]

Just finished Alien Invasion and all I have to say is...

Spoiler

JOHNNY MAINS!?!?!

[close]

Great reads. Can't wait for part 3.

[The Alien Predator]

Just finished Alien Invasion and all I have to say is...

Spoiler

JOHNNY MAINS!?!?!

[close]

Great reads. Can't wait for part 3.

I know the feels man...

[Corporal Hicks]

To be fair, I was surprised he

Spoiler

made it into the second book at all.  I'm hoping he is actually dead for Armageddon!

[close]

[The Alien Predator]

To be fair, I was surprised he

Spoiler

made it into the second book at all.  I'm hoping he is actually dead for Armageddon!

[close]

And then Blomkamp will write a book in between Invasion and Armageddon reviving them two as older characters. 

[j0w]

No miracles this time. Besides it allows us get to see how badass a certain female character in uniform can be

perching

[Ultramorph]

To be fair, I was surprised he

Spoiler

made it into the second book at all.  I'm hoping he is actually dead for Armageddon!

[close]

And then Blomkamp will write a book in between Invasion and Armageddon reviving them two as older characters. 

JUSTCE FOR MAINS AND LIEDER!!!!! 

[The Alien Predator]

To be fair, I was surprised he

Spoiler

made it into the second book at all.  I'm hoping he is actually dead for Armageddon!

[close]

JUSTCE FOR MAINS AND LIEDER!!!!! 

And then Blomkamp will write a book in between Invasion and Armageddon reviving them two as older characters. 

I am actually scared for Hashori, Liliya, Isa Palant and Elder Kalakta... I know Lebbon warned us not to get too attached, but damn... 

[j0w]

They might be okay. It is the soldiers who always die in that universe and stories

perching

[The Alien Predator]

They might be okay. It is the soldiers who always die in that universe and stories

perching

Spoiler

Mcllveen wasn't a soldier.

[close]

But those characters are in dangerous situations and already with soldiers (such as Palant.) Liliya and Hashori are headed straight for Weyland-Yutani which doesn't really bode well for them.

The safest one is probably Elder Kalakta as we haven't had an Elder die yet in the franchise.

[Ultramorph]

If you have iTunes, there's a sample now available in the iBooks app! Looking at the table of contents

Spoiler

I can confirm that Mains appears to be well and truly dead. The only new name I'm seeing is Major Sergei Budanov.

[close]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/alien-vs.-predator-armageddon/id1137435004?mt=11

[j0w]

They might be okay. It is the soldiers who always die in that universe and stories

perching

Spoiler

Mcllveen wasn't a soldier.

[close]

[emoji14]

But those characters are in dangerous situations and already with soldiers (such as Palant.) Liliya and Hashori are headed straight for Weyland-Yutani which doesn't really bode well for them.

The safest one is probably Elder Kalakta as we haven't had an Elder die yet in the franchise.

Pallant has some scary minders, human or otherwise so she is fine

perching

[The Alien Predator]

Here's a Google Books sample for AvP Armageddon.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vsLLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT35&lpg=PT35&dq=alien+vs+predator+armageddon+sample&source=bl&ots=CLkwCcnbzT&sig=YSdK3ta4RPhoQnlYDn24LM5bwMU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLnLmOwoDPAhVfF8AKHXiVBLkQ6AEIQzAM#v=onepage&q=alien%20vs%20predator%20armageddon%20sample&f=false

Wow... the Predators are such freaking badasses in this! So much ass is being kicked in the first chapter alone!

The preview also confirms that

Spoiler

Yautja borrow technology from other civilizations and adapt it into their own while also making their own things too. Isa Palant finds lots of familiar looking features inside the Yautja research station and in the lab itself this is where it's confirmed. One Yautja is seen carrying an old Marine Pulse Rifle trophy.

[close]

We also hear another Yautja named

Spoiler

"Yaquita" who has no legs (likely due to being wounded) and sits on a mechanical wheelchair that eschews hover technology, has one mechanical eye that makes whirring noises as it moves, has long dreadlocks that trail across the floor and is a scientist who is fascinated with her experiments.

[close]

We also learn of a new alien creature called a

Spoiler

Fire Spite which can bite a human's head off in one sweep, the teeth leak fire and it is possibly a space borne creature. Humans only encountered them three times so far, so rarely that even Palant had no idea they existed. The Fire Spite is located in the Yautja lab, being held in a suspension field and experimented on.

[close]

It is interesting from what I have gathered above, we see Lebbon's Yautja are pretty much

Spoiler

a blend of Yautja and Hish-qu-Ten. Like the Hish, they steal tech but also come up with their own, like the Yautja they are warriors but also like the Hish they are sadistic and it's hard to tell the genders apart.

One thing I noticed according to some online sources, Yautja in older fictions treated their invalids like utter crap, they were called the "untouchables." I don't know much about it.

But here, looking at Yaquita who seems quite happy with herself, it seems like invalids and disabled Predators are given other roles to fulfil. Palant speculates Yaquita is either old and worn, or young and wounded, either way Yaquita is a brilliant scientist so the clan lets her do research for them. This reminds me of when Shane Black mentioned possibly showing us other Predators besides just hunters.

[close]