[michime]

"Your alien crops would kill us!"  Anger radiated off the words as the mantis paced the chamber.  "Many came before you, tried to make us their own!  They killed parts of us to make room for themselves!"  The nest shook as if the entire structure felt the same burning rage as the mantis.  "We are not murder ourselves so you may live!"  

The mantis calmed himself and the shaking stopped when his eyes fell on the swollen, bloated belly of the womb. His eggs were warm and safe inside the fertile womb.  He liked the look of the heavy belly, already hanging over the alien's nature hips.  He wasn't sure since this was his first clutch but perhaps it should be bigger.  Maybe he should fill the womb until the belly touched the floor.  The mantis approached the womb again; his mandibles opened again before the tongue unraveled.