Yautja Encyclopedia: Hard Meat

Kiande Amedha - Hard Meat (Aliens)

Also called by human scientists linguafoeda acheronsis

Sometimes called Black Death, the Kiande Amedha are more-than-worthy prey for many reasons. They are the Finger of the Gods, pointing out the weak and undeserving. Only a great Warrior can defeat one in combat. The skull of a Kiande Amedha is a hunter's prize trophy, and he is well respected among his peers.

Apparently, the Yautja and Aliens have a connected evolution and the Yautja consider them to be the ultimate prey. Yautja folklore indicated that they became spread across the galaxy by simultaneous evolution.

"Stupid but deadly, the Hard Meat would teach the main lesson one needs to know: move well or die."

(From Aliens vs. Predator: Prey)

To fight them properly, the beast had to be aware of the Yautja's presence. Upon the Kiande Amedha the youth cut their tusks, the inexperienced learn the truth of the Path, turn experience into valor, come of age, become a true Yautja and could father younglings with pride and pass on the courage and honor that separate Beings of Will from the dross of mere instinctual life.

These are the different stages in a kiande amedha's life, from least honorable kill to most --

Egg, the first stage, which are made mostly by a queen. A ritual the Yautja have had for the last few hundred years is the seeding of planets with eggs, in preparation for the Rite of Passage. The eggs are about three feet tall, and kept in a large chamber of the hive with the queen.
Inside the egg is a creature (with eight legs and a strong prehensile tale) which serves as carrier for the embryo of a new kiande amedha. It latches onto a victim's face, then implants the embryo down the throat. The embryo grows inside the host, until it is big enough to survive on its own. During this time, it gathers information from the host's DNA to better adapt to the host's environment. It uses the information to alter its growth, and inherits certain key traits that the host possessed. This way, the deadlier the host, all the deadlier the kiande amedha.
When the embryo is ready to leave the host, it punches through it's host's chest, killing the host. This is known as z'skvy-de. It is against the rules to kill a carrier attempting to impregnate a host, otherwise they are simply an annoyance.
This, the final stage of the Xenomorph's development, is undoubtedly the most hostile stage -- both structurally and in temperament. It stands about 2 meters tall, is generally bipedal, possesses a strong tail that extends to a length equal to that of the body, and has an impressive physical strength considering its body size. "The Hard Meat, save for the queens, were no smarter than dogs, but they were fierce and deadly game. Good prey upon which to train the young warriors..." (From Aliens vs. Predator: Prey)
The queen. She makes the eggs, manages the hive, and cares for her young. Her primary concern is the lives of future young, whom she will protect at the cost of the lives of her brood. The skull of one, achieved honorably, makes a Yautja very high in the eyes of the rest of the clan. "Tall she was, the queen, twice his own height, probably four times his weight. Black as a nestcleaner's hands, gleaming dully under the lights, the queen looked like a giant zabin bug, with the addition of a long segmented tail and smaller supplemental arms jutting from her torso. Her comb rose high like antlers, flat and flaring, and she had two sets of needle-toothed jaws, one nesting inside the other and able to extrude a span from her mouth to grab like pincers ... she would be a formidable opponent, fast, powerful, intelligent." (From Aliens vs. Predator: Prey)

For more extensive information about the Kiande Amedha consult the Anchorpoint Essays for a site map for the Anchorpoint Essays. It is the most explorative web page for Aliens ever.