mole xenomorphs

Ahiliyah saw her torch on the floor , flickering flame lighting up the floating dust . She snatched it up , held it toward the black thing . It was a demon , yes , but different from the ones she’d seen on the surface . Thin , lethal , but … small , only a bit bigger than she was . The long black head looked thin , pointy . No backsticks . The tail was a squat black stub . The beast slowly rose to all fours . Arched back , narrow hips and shoulders . Its hands — no , its paws — were larger and thicker than any Ahiliyah had seen before , and the talons looked less like claws and more like a shovel blade sliced lengthwise into four parts .

***

Ahiliyah final realized what she was looking at — a demonic vootervert . In that instant , she understood how the beasts had got into Keflan , into Jantal , into Dakatera . And , now , into Lemeth . They had dug their way in .

***

The vootervert demon turned , started digging mindlessly at the wall , its entire body contracting and convulsing with the effort . Another shovel - claw snapped off as rocks tore free . Burning blood sizzled on stone and dirt . Whatever force had held Ahiliyah in place , that force vanished .

***

Aliens: Phalanx, Chapter 36