Predator: Badlands

On Yautja Prime, Dek and Kwei clash as their father Njhorr orders Kwei to kill Dek for weakness. Kwei fights his father but loses an arm and helps Dek escape onto a ship bound for Genna. Njhorr decapitates Kwei as the ship departs, leaving Dek to plot his own path.

Dek crash-lands on Genna, a dangerous world where the environment seems alive with lethal plants. Vines lash out and try to grab him, but he hacks through them to press onward. He also fights off explosive worm creatures as he continues his trek.

Dek encounters Thia, a Weyland-Yutani Synthetic whose legs were severed by the Kalisk. She adjusts her language so he can understand her and warns him about carnivorous plants that can paralyze with thorns. Thia explains her mission to locate the Kalisk, while Dek begins to see her as a tool rather than a companion.

A small blue alien-monkey with impenetrable skin helps them bypass a field of razor-sharp grass, guiding Dek and Thia to safety. The creature, whom Thia nicknames Bud, marks Dek and begins to build a quiet bond. Dek resists forming attachments, still grieving Kwei and viewing allies as means to an end.

Tessa's body is recovered by Wey-Yu and repaired, and MU/TH/UR reports that the Kalisk mission has failed. Dek is identified as a potential threat to the mission, changing the dynamic of the pursuit.

The Kalisk arrives on Genna and engages Dek in a brutal battle. Dek manages to sever the Kalisk's head, but the beast regenerates and continues the fight. As Dek is pinned, the Kalisk smells Bud on him, halting its attack and drawing it closer to Thia and Dek.

Tessa arrives with other Synthetics, freezes Dek and the Kalisk, and hauls them aboard the Kalisk vessel along with Thia's recovered legs. She begins to torture Dek as part of interrogation, while Thia pleads and tries to stop the machine.

Dek reaches a Kalisk footprint and discovers Bud standing there, realizing the Kalisk is Bud's mother. He marks Bud as part of his clan, signaling an alliance beyond mere survival.

Dek, Bud, and Thia reach the Wey-Yu base ahead of the Kalisk forces and work to disable the Synthetics, destroy most of the threats, and free Thia's legs. The trio joins the defense, combining their abilities to combat the Kalisk and her captors.

The Kalisk escapes and tears through the Synthetics, eventually devouring Tessa before she can kill Thia. Inside the Kalisk, Tessa activates weapons that cause it to freeze and explode, killing Tessa. Dek impales Tessa, and Bud tears the head and spine from Tessa, delivering the fatal blow.

Dek returns to Yautja Prime to deliver Tessa's skull as his trophy, signaling completion of the hunt and his claim to his father's cloak.

Njhorr refuses to accept Dek and tries to maintain authority, but Dek exposes him with a bold, ship-assisted move. Bud emerges as a fully grown predator and tears Njhorr's head off, ending the old leadership.

Thia declares that Dek is officially Yautja, cementing his status within the new clan after the brutal succession.

As the story closes, other Yautja arm themselves when another ship descends onto the planet, and Dek recognizes it as his mother's ship, signaling new alliances and further challenges.