Albatraous versus Aliens

John woke up. He was onboard his ship, the "white pony", set it to autopilot, and instructed to bring him out of hypersleep should it detect any life readings or mysterious artefacts. It had found both. John walked over to the sensor readout, his head still a little groggy from hypersleep. He tapped a few buttons and the readings came up on the screen. Planet XP#396.

The planet was once inhabited by humans, but just so happened to be an alien test facility, trying to make xenomorphs into pets. Like all attempts, it failed, and the aliens overran the planet, claiming it as their own.

"Bug hunt, not had one of those in a while" he said gruffly to himself. He looked at the artefact the sensors had found. Made of a metal from another planet; maybe even another dimension, but definitely of unknown origin; it seemed to be sword shaped. "Could be worth a lot of moola at the market!" he thought. He tapped at the screen again, and programmed to console to set the ship down near to the artefact.

Whilst the ship zoomed towards the planet, he decided to get ready. He picked up his 20kg weights and did a couple, just to keep trim. He put them down with a 'thump' that echoed throughout the ship. "Must remember not to drop them so heavily!" he muttered to himself. He walked over to his wardrobe, or at least what could pass for a wardrobe, and pulled out his combat gear. Black combat trousers, black t-shirt, leather boots, plus utility belt. After putting his stuff on, he walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His face was covered in scars, all from previous trips like this. But the one scar that he minded was the scar in his heart. Done by his last girlfriend. She literally stabbed him with a dagger for breaking her favourite vase. Nearly killed him too, if it wasn't for his genetic enhancements from the black market.

Still that was his past and this is the present. He didn't bother to shave, since he liked to save it until after a mission, always made him feel better. His hair was dark and styled into the typical army crux cut.

He went to the weapons cache and opened the lid. First thing he grabbed was his wrist Nav-System. Next were his guns; since this was a bug only planet, he didn't need to worry about harming civilians, so he could pull out the big ones. He picked up his trusty pistol; complete with armour piercing rounds (for praetorians) his shotgun, with explosive ammo as extra, assault rifle with standard grenade launcher and not so standard "airfist", and finally his modified minigun (modifications include: twice the rate of fire, half the heat, instant spin-up, and alkaline rounds to neutralise the aliens acid blood, since a blast from this gun will send acid everywhere). He was just about to walk away when he remembered the most important piece of kit…. cigars. He put one into his pocket for when the mission started.

He wandered over to the cockpit, checking the destination on one of the many dials. The ship was going to land at the bottom of a hill, dangerous to land, but easier to get to in a hasty retreat. The landing co-ordinates were half of a kilometre from the artefact co-ordinates, so not far to go. He tapped the panel above him, and a female computer voice said "ETA: 63 minutes, 37 seconds"

"Good!" he replied "Computer stick on playlist 5 with enough tracks for ETA time?"

"Affirmative!" coldly replied the computer. Cold like his ex he thought. He closed his eyes, breathed in, and reached for a bottle of whiskey. He took a large swig and put it back, and listened to his music for the next 61 minutes 23 seconds.

"Destination reached!" the computer said. He picked up his guns, and made for the airlock. He pressed the combinations and waited for the door to open. He closed his eyes & held his breath, since other planets always smell bad for the first few seconds. Something to do with the air cleansers on space ships he heard somewhere.

John stepped out, and was surprised at what he saw; the ship had landed outside a large cave, but the cave walls were covered in that weird alien hive crap. He turned to look at the ship "so this is safe co-ordinates eh? Last time I buy from Safety world!" he looked at the sky. It was bright red, with an orange glow coming from behind the cave. Even though he rarely took care in such things, it looked beautiful, and was a same that the aliens had clamed it. He told himself to shut up and stop being sentimental, and to get on with the task at hand.

He started to walk into the cave, lighting his cigar as he progressed, since the smell of even a cheap cigar was better than the hive smell, and these were quality cigars.

John made his way deeper into the hive, checking his Nav-System every couple of metres to check he wasn't walking in the opposite direction to his goal. The hive walls were looking even more complicated than the previous walls, so he changed the settings on his Nav-System, making it check for movement and high acid levels. Thirty blips came up, all motionless. Then he noticed that one of the blips was his position. He thought it could be a malfunction, so he tapped it a few times. Now it said he was moving. Then the thought suddenly occurred to him.

He reached for his assault rifle and spun around, facing upwards. He was right, and alien was slowly making its way on top of him. Since the blast from the bullets would send acid blood in his direction at this range, he pulled the trigger on the airfist. The alien let out a hiss before being flown out towards the cave opening, where it landed in a heap. It managed to get to its feet in a split second, and dived right for John. Before it could get within striking distance, John let rip with the bullet mode of this gun, sending the alien collapsing to the floor again, though this time it didn't get back to his feet. All it managed to do was bleed lots. "No ones gonna jump on me when I am on the job" he paused "That's a contradiction ain't it?" he laughed at his attempt at a joke.

Since John was facing out of the cave to deal with that alien, he failed to notice the others who had sprung to life behind him. They all charged towards him at once, not giving him a chance to retaliate, since he had invaded the hive, and must be destroyed.

John heard the tapping of clawed feet behind him, and spun around to face his attackers. There were five of them, all within twenty metres. Safe enough for a grenade he thought. He pulled the launcher, sending the explosive round towards the center target. The other aliens dived to either side, but this alien tried to leap into the air, but failed. The blast landed dead center, and caught two of the others. Two left.

John checked his assault rifle ammo, 23 bullets, no grenades, and 5 airfists. The two aliens launched themselves at him at blinding speed, but his reactions were too fast for them. He let loose with a volley of bullets, hitting the nearest alien right in its face, and capping off the others tail. He was out of bullets, and this alien was coming up fast, but he couldn't select another weapon in time. He only had one option…. the airfist.

He had to let the alien get close enough to use it, but if he was a second too late, then he was a dodo, extinct. The alien was two meters away now, and he had one chance. He squeezed the trigger, pointing the barrel at the aliens face. The blast of air impacted right into its skull, sending its head flying off towards the ceiling, its body collapsing to the floor.

"That'll teach y'all to try and get a guy from behind!" he remarked. 24 blips left on his Nav-System, and he was still 300 meters away. He holstered his assault rifle, and armed himself with his shotgun and put his pistol in a more handy position. Just in time too, since four more showed up, all hissing wildly at him. Both sides waiting for the moment to strike. What was two seconds felt like a minute to John, who was observing the alien positions, and thought he may have to use his pistol and shotgun at the same time.

He was right, since the alien most to his left dived from the ceiling at him, whilst the most right one did the same. John aimed his shotgun at the left alien and fired, blasting it to the wall, sending acidic entrails everywhere. It was just at this mo moment that he noticed the alien on his over side, but he knew he couldn't turn in time, so he pulled out his pistol with his left hand, and unleashed four rounds into the aliens nerve stem. It managed one last thought before it died, and reached out with its claws towards John. Both claws caught him in his right thigh, sending him toppling to the ground. John grimaced in pain. He landed with this alien corpse over his leg, and knew the acid blood would start to get on him if he didn't act quickly, plus the other two aliens were starting to close in. He reached for his rifle, pushed it underneath the alien's body and pulled the airfist trigger, thus sending the alien into the air. He grimaced again as the claws were ripped out of his leg. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw the two aliens were even nearer, so aimed the gun in their direction, but behind the now-airborne alien corpse. The blast sent the corpse right into the two aliens, knocking them over.

John pulled out a syringe containing a yellow liquid. He braced for the pain, and thrust it into his leg. After a moment his leg was fully healed, apart from the tear in his trousers. He stood to his feet again, whipped his shotgun into his hands, switched to explosive rounds, and let out a mahousive war cry. He fired into pile of aliens; the explosive rounds sending charred remains everywhere. He ran down the hive blasting any aliens that he saw, bodies falling all around him. He was all fired up from the syringe he put into his leg just seconds ago, since it was filled with a chemical that gives a hundred times a rush of adrenaline, increasing healing time, and making the mind enraged.

He ran out of ammo for the shotgun, so he threw it into one of the aliens. It sliced the alien in two. He started to calm down now, as the adrenaline was wearing off. He pulled out his pistol and blasted the last two aliens he could see. Out of ammo again. He really should be carrying more, but he likes variety and quality than quantity.

He pulled out the minigun, ready to take on the 4 praetorian guards that came to fight him. They all stood tall, hissing wildly at him. He felt like saying something witty, but the adrenaline stopped him from thinking straight. Plus the aliens wouldn't really get it. So instead he just quoted "Time for the ol' painless!"

He pulled the trigger, and the sound reverberated around the hive, the sound of metal tearing flesh and alien screams filled the air. The bodies shattered under the force of the blast, being shredded to tiny scraps of acidic body parts, indistinguishable from each other as to what each piece was part of originally.

The other good thing John noticed was that he had only used a quarter of his ammo for the minigun in the fight, so he had some left if there was a queen in the nest; which was highly probable.

John checked his Nav-System again, which was pointless really, as the artefact was 5 meters in front of him. "Leave that detail out when telling the ladies back home!" he thought. He walked towards it.

The earlier scans were right, it was sword shaped. It was a sword, a broadsword. It was massive, easily the size of himself. How would he get it back to the ship, particularly if there was a queen chasing him? He reached out to pick it up. A thought went into his head as he went closer. It knocked him to the floor, and made in lose his cigar. "Damn, those don't come cheap ya stupid sword"

He didn't know what the thought was, but he was determined to get that sword. He ran towards it, reached out for the handle, grabbed it, and fell to the floor with it still holding it. He felt it, not in a physical way but in a spiritual way. Other thoughts kept creeping into his head.

A red-black liquid came from the sword and covered him. He tried to let go of the handle, but it was no use, it had a hold of him. Once he was covered in the liquid, he realised that the thought he had earlier was of a demon trapped inside. And now it needed a body to live in, since a sword probably wouldn't have much room inside.

He was no longer John. He was Albatraous, reborn into the world by some greedy pirate. He wasn't complaining, this body was perfect. Strong, fast, and even had a few genetic enhancements. After a few seconds his mind would turn this body into what he would need.

Armour grew all over his body, dark steel in look, but organic in shape, similar to the alien surroundings. A helmet grew over his head, in the shape of a grotesque human skull, though he was able to move the jaw when he talked. In his eyes were pools of glowing red energy. The sword changed too, and became similar to the tail of the aliens he fought (or rather, John, had thought), but wider and sharper. He was ready to face a queen should he encounter one, and if there were any hidden aliens he would easier dispose of them.

He concentrated for a moment, using his mind to search for any nearby aliens. Rather than them find him, he would get them first. But before he could finish his search, his senses all picked up something big and powerful coming around the corner; a queen alien. He readied himself for battle.

The queen was twice as tall as him, and her long crown head was nearly the same length as her height. She had six arms, two more than usual than most queens, even though the extras were just small ones on her chest. Her tail was twice the length of her crown, and ended in a blade shape similar to that of Albatraous's sword, and similar size too.

When the queen made it around the corner, she sensed Albatraous there as he had her. They both stared at each other for a moment, both trying to probe each other's thoughts. They both failed, as they were as strong mentally as each other. But who was stronger physically? The queen sent out a mental command to all her minions (the ones that were left) to come to her aid. Albatraous had heard this command and was ready for it. He put the minigun on the ground; he wanted to show the queen that he was better at close combat than even her aliens.

There was a stampede of dark black, surrounding the hive walls completely. There must have been at least fifty alien warriors surrounding him. But he didn't panic. He had never been defeated before in close combat, and if he was, the regenerative powers he possessed were able to heal him in an instant. He just didn't have the magical powers of his last body like being able to summon fire or shape shift. But he still had his sword, the Albatorac. It was created when he was, and so is an extension of his soul, and of his power. Without it, he wouldn't even be alive (if that is the right word). The sword used to send out fire whenever it killed someone back in his over life, and he was curious to see if it still could.

Albatraous turned towards the closest alien. It hissed at him, and knew what was coming, since it tried to fight him even though it knew it was going to die. It dived right into his swinging arc. Foolish. A fraction of a second later, the alien lay in two pieces, wounds cauterised by the heat of the sword.

"So the sword can still burn, but only at the current target? Still… better than naut!" he remarked to himself, and to the queen, who was screaming at all her warriors to attack. He fought back.

Albatraous dived right into the center of the horde, sending aliens flying everywhere. He started to swing his sword at his attackers, slicing them left right and center. The more he killed, the faster, stronger, and more skilful he became. Ten of them were already down, and he still had a lot more fight left in him.

A brave alien they are all emotionless, so it wasn't really brave; but that just me being pedantic – author ;) made a leap for his shoulders, and made it. Albatraous was busy swinging his sword into the crowd to be able to do anything.

The alien opened its mouth and bared its inner jaws. Then faster than the springs on a Spaniard's honeymoon bed it launched its inner jaw into Albatraous's shoulder. Albatraous barely noticed, since his armour healed over instantly, trapping the inner jaw of his attacker buried in his shoulder. Albatraous thrust his fist into the alien's face, sending it flying into its buddies, and leaving its inner jaw buried in his armour. He yanked it out, and with the same momentum, threw it into the head of another alien, whilst simultaneously kicking another in the face with his right foot, and thrusting his sword into a third. After that he kept slicing and dicing the masses of aliens, kicking, punching, biting, head butting, doing whatever he could to kill the aliens.

Ten more left. He observed his prey, waiting for them to come nearer. They did, and Albatraous carried out his plan. He raised the sword above his head and leaped high into the air, seeming like he was floating.

He came down to earth with an almighty crash, thrusting his sword into the ground, sending out shockwaves of energy, causing the aliens to reel backwards. He looked up at them all and said "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

He raised his hand in the air, signalled it backwards. As he did so, all ten of the alien warriors came flying back towards him. As each one came near, he readied his blade. The first was a slice down the middle of its skull. Second was a power kick to the torso, shattering its ribcage. The third a simple decapitation, whilst the fourth and fifth were the ol' two heads smashed together. The acid started to burn his hands to which Albatraous said "Burn…baby…. burn, DISCO INFERNOOOOOOO!" then his healing factor cut in. He head butted the sixth, smashing its skull completely, looking like an unwrapped Easter egg when thrown against a wall.

He went overboard on the seventh, slicing all of its limbs off before finally kicking its head off its shoulders. The eighth was harsh, mainly because he went for a kick to the crouch, but went all the way through to its head, effectively kicking it in half. The ninth he thrust his sword into, and spun the sword around inside it so fast, it shattered to pieces. The tenth he gave a taste of its own medicine, because he held it still, opened his mouth, and thrust his tongue (elongated like an aliens) into its head. He then dropped the body on the floor in front of the queen.

The queen simply stared at him. This startled him, since a queen is more intelligent than any alien, maybe even most humans, but would still attack anyone who threatened her unborn young.

But by hesitating, he realised that the queen had been probing his mind throughout the fight with her warriors, and knew his weakness. Or rather, the weakness of his current body…. love. The person he had possessed was affected by love easily, and the queen knew how to use this against him, since Albatraous's soul is enhanced by all of his host's soul, weakness and strengths. Even though he was able to fight better than any previous 'incarnation', he was weak when it came to matters of the heart.

The queen called up all the bad memories of love he had into his mind, effectively overloading him. Albatraous let out a scream of pain whilst he struggled with his mind. He certainly wasn't sane, but he was far from insane. This pain was hurting him though, and the only way to stop it was to stop the queen.

The mental pain was overbearing. He kept getting images of his host's ex stabbing him in the heart, of all the times he was rejected, of all the times he was hurt. Albatraous would have to do something soon, since he cannot fight mentally as well as he can physically. The queen was right inside him.

"Hang on a second…." he thought "…. She is inside me, what about getting inside her" and with that thought, he concentrated on his powers. His body started to glow, a purple haze surrounding him. The queen didn't notice because she was too busy trying to find the one thought that would make him a gibbering wreck.

The power he had used was the one of teleportation. He could have simply teleported out of the hive and back to the ship. But he wanted to show how much more powerful than the queen he was, plus he needed to get his revenge.

The queen had lost her hold on his mind, and couldn't sense where he was. She scanned the area for a trace of him. Nothing. Since she knew that nothing could just disappear into thin air like that, she thought he must have found a way to hind himself from her mind scans. She started to make her way back to the egg chamber, when she felt a sharp pain in her 'stomach'. It was at that moment that she knew what Albatraous had done. He had teleported inside her, like the queen's children do to their hosts.

He erupted out of her chest, sending acid and guts everywhere. He landed on his feet, staring at the injured queen. He read her mind, her last thoughts. She begged him to leave her unborn eggs alone, as a last request. He said he would, since he already had his revenge, and he wouldn't be able to clear the entire planet of aliens, so there was no point in killing a few eggs, they would be replaced in a couple of days by another queen anyway.

He knelt down beside the queen, and sensed her life force fading. Since she had a unique mind, unlike all of the mindless drones and warriors she creates, Albatraous thought she may have a soul he could absorb. He put his hand on her crown, and concentrated. A blue glow appeared around her, and after a short while, was sucked into Albatraous. A blue flame glowed behind his eyes, eventually turning into purple, a combination of the two souls.

He felt the presence of her soul inside him, felt her power. Even more important, we felt he could hold the aliens back. That was the gift he got from her.

Albatraous had walked outside the hive, sword in his hand, and made his way towards the ship. There to great him were a horde of aliens, and a large horde at that. They all hiss and snarled at him, ready to attack. He raised his free hand into the air and sent out a metal command to all the aliens… "Stay away". The entire horde backed down, and cleared away from his ship. He walked towards it and opened the airlock. As he did so the aliens started to move towards him. Not in a threatening way, but inquisitive, wanting to know what he was doing and where he was going. Obviously the queen's soul was what they were homing in on, especially since he commanded them to back down, only a queen can do that.

One of the aliens got quite close. But instead of carving it up like he had all the other aliens that day, he decided to let this one follow him on board the ship. He could easily kill it, although he didn't think it would harm him, and would be better company than a computer voice and 60 hours of dance music.

"Come on Shep." He said "Let's get out of this hell hole!" and the ship blasted off into space, leaving behind all the lost aliens, all the dead bodies. All the unborn aliens, waiting for a new queen to rise and command them again.