The Titans is a 2022 short story written by Tim Lebbon, published as part of the anthology novel Predator: Eyes of the Demon.
Plot
Seventy-year-old Jeremiah Beck lives his life as a librarian at Hamilton Station, a base on the surface of Titan, a small moon being terraformed by Weyland-Yutani. For sixteen years, he managed the terraforming base's library in order to provide a "safe haven" for two hundred Weyland-Yutani working personnel, giving them a chance to relax from dangerous and demanding ten-day shifts.
But life hasn't always been like that for Jeremiah. As a young man, he was a Corporal with the United States Colonial Marines, serving for the 13th Spaceborn regiment. His platoon unit, called "The Unluckies", were ordered to investigate an incident at Rankin Station, encountering a hunting party of Predators who had set up a base at the abandoned station. The marines fought the Predators, but were ultimately slaughtered, Jeremiah being the sole survivor of this encounter. He managed to reach an escape pod after setting the station to self-destruct, heavily wounded and being chased by a similarly wounded female Yautja, which he nicknamed "Luna". Beck was rescued, but suffers from nightmares about the incident, his fallen comrades and Luna ever since.
One day, he is greeted in front of the library's entrance by a newly arrived woman named "Bindy". She starts to ask Jeremiah questions about the Rankin Station incident, bringing back bad memories almost immediately. Suddenly an explosion rips through Hamilton Base. Rushing to a window and taking a view outside, Jeremiah's worst nightmare has come true. An old and battered Predator ship sets down on the landing pad; Beck knows immediately that Luna has finally found him, wanting to take her revenge on him.
Sensing that the Predator will create havoc and inflict heavy civilian casualties to get her revenge on Jeremiah, he finds his strength and determination, willing to protect the civilians. Amidst the chaos, Beck moves toward the Predator's entry point, arming himself with a pistol and a long-bladed knife in the process. He is able to locate Luna, get her attention and move to hangar bay two, being informed by the station's chef engineer about a readied vehicle he could use to lure the Predator away from the station. The Predator is hot on Jeremiahs tail, but he manages to get into the "Sandbug" vehicle, start it up, and escape through the bay doors outside; Luna gives chase and fires her shoulder-mounted plasma caster constantly, damaging the vehicle. Finally, at the edge of a dried-out methane lake, the vehicle breaks down and Jeremiah is forced to make his last stand, confronting the Predator face to face.
Instead of starting the fight he throws away his pistol, angering Luna, who anticipated a hand-to-hand fight to settle the score with him once and for all. She slams a glaive into Beck's chest, piercing him, and lifts him above her head. Enjoying her moment of triumph, Jeremiah is able to slash her throat with his knife, mortally wounding Luna. The Predator tries to activate her self-destruct failsafe but is unable to do so because of her mangled hand. Finally, the two enemies lie close together and stare at each other, awaiting certain death.
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