This is my first Alien/Predator fanfiction. I was able to make it after collaborating with Burke23 and have a lot more words written down of this story thanks to Burke23. Warning, action in this fanfiction are slow. It's mostly character dialogue. I hope you enjoy this fanfiction.
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Space. It was a clutter of clouds and a vessel filled sky where a team were picking a place to land. A crew of four androids, fifteen scientists, and fifty marines; one solider wanted to be alone with his fake ribs and peas. There once was a time this boy complained about this exact food but it was made by his mother and it was his favorite food. Amazing how food like this could be on a vessel when the cafeteria was crowded earlier.
No one dreamed in hypersleep; it makes it feel like the trip took seconds, and not years. All of the hypersleep chambers opened at the same time, but Ian Gipper stirred first. He slowly sat up and rubbed his temples, he had a splitting headache.
" It could be worse," he said to himself out loud because headaches made it hard for him to think. " I could have lost a limb, obtained a virus, or hear bad news about what horrible things happening to my sisters."
"Aw," the woman who was in the chamber next to him sat up slowly "you DO think about us."
If the boy knew this woman would be listening he would have...well he still would have said on his mind.
"Shut up," he told the woman, who turned out to be his sister, "I have a headache."
A Marine sat up on the other side of him, "They get better after a while Gipper."
"That doesn't make this one less painful," Gipper said standing up.
"Come on," the marine said hitting Gipper on the shoulder "let's get dressed up and head too the basketball court, a little one-on-one to get our blood pumping again."
"Sweet," Gipper turned toward his sister "wanna watch Maryanne?"
"Sure," she stood up "I could spare five minutes, but I have to get dressed and so do you."
Gipper pulled on his shirt. He didn't know his shirt was so sticky until he touched it again.
"Why is my shirt all sticky?" He asked himself.
He could change his shirt but it would have to be after he went to the basketball court. Five minutes wasn't enough time to change.
"Hey Gipper," the Marine was dribbling the basketball "ready to lose?"
He ran to the court, "Ready when you are Decaf."
David Kaffee, better known by his nickname 'Decaf', was one of Gipper's childhood friends. He was also one of Gipper's only friends on the ship other than his sisters, who were both on the ship with him. After five minutes of basketball, a voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Crew of the USCSS Spectrum," the captain said "head down to the mess hall, it's time for breakfast."
Some of the men shouted so the whole hall could hear they were glad it was breakfast time, and even some of the women were doing it.
"Wow," Gipper said "they really like breakfast."
"Every meal is treated like a banquet in the Corps," Decaf stated.
Maryanne stood up and stretched, "It feels like I haven't eaten in years."
Gipper chuckled, "That's because we haven't. Come on, let's reunite with Julia."
"Right behind you Ian," she said.
While Maryanne was Ian's older sister, Julia was his little sister, and she was one of the scientists among the crew. It was a proud day when the youngest family member became a scientist and Julia's brother and sister were proud of her.
The food that was prepared was make several minutes before we woke up by the androids. Ian never liked androids, he always felt like he could never trust something that did not have a tell when he or she told a lie. One of Ian's hobbies on Earth was poker, as such he learned how to tell that people were lying by their facial expressions, and androids almost never had facial expressions.
The androids served the fake ribs, peas, and mashed potatoes to everyone, and then they sat down and ate their own food. Julia took the seat next to me.
"Jeez," she said "I hate hyper-sleep."
"Headache?" Ian asked.
"Headache," She answered.
" That's too bad but in space our bodies need hyper sleep or else bad things would happen to us."
" Well at least I don't have to be a power-loader like Maryanne. She works longer then me because no one matches her engineering skills."
"That's too bad, but in space our bodies need hyper sleep or else bad things would happen to us," Decaf said taking a seat right next to Julia.
"Well at least I don't have to be a power-loader like Maryanne," Julia stated. "She works longer then me because no one matches her engineering skills."
Julia was smart, but Maryanne was strong and liked to get her hands dirty, that's why she volunteered to work in Grease Town. Grease Town is what everyone called the section of the ship where all of the engineers worked and lived.
His sisters both worked very hard to be here and Ian was lucky to be related to them.
Julia was smart, but Maryanne was strong and liked to get her hands dirty, that's why she volunteered to work in Grease Town. Grease Town is what everyone called the section of the ship where all of the engineers worked and lived. Maryanne specifically worked and maintained a Power Loader.
His sisters both worked very hard to be here and Ian was lucky to be related to them. However, they did not come without sacrifices. Maryanne got hurt almost every day on the job, and Julia was constantly sexually harassed by one of the sergeants on board.
Under stress people could see what their bosses were really like. It was all honey and such upon their first interaction but getting down to it a boss must feel stress and act normally.
"Alright ladies," Ian turned his head to see SFC Santiago "After breakfast we have an hour of free time and then head to Grease Town for the briefing."
" My free time is going to be nothing but weights and basketball," one of the marines said.
"I second that," Decaf said raising his hand.
"I'll go to Grease Town," Maryanne said "I need to move supplies onto the drop-ships."
"I'll head to the medical center to check our stock," Julia said.
Ian thought to himself and decided that he wanted to spend some time with his young sister Julia. He didn't like being on drop-ships. When the Spectrum would get into orbit, the Marines would pile onto the drop-ships, and then the ships would literally drop into atmosphere. The very thought of that made Ian feel queasy.
The medical center was one of the cleanest places on the ship, everything was sterile and white. An android was one of the head doctors, everyone called him 'Hal', Ian didn't like him. It wasn't fear, it wasn't disrespect, it wasn't bad experience, and it wasn't the look of them. He just felt that he could never see them as anything other than future disasters.
"How're you holding up, Julia?" Ian asked.
"I've been better," she answered. "I mean, this job is great, but Sargent Brown keeps harassing me."
"I forbade him to come in unless he's injured," Hal stated "and if he's in for a medical reason I make sure that he sees a different nurse."
Ian turned toward him and said, "This is the only time I am going to say this...but thank you android for keeping my sister safe."
"I do my best," Hal said with an emotionless face.
"I'm safe here, you should check on Maryanne," she said. "After that you need to change clothes, 'cause you stink."
Ian raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"I would say I put deodorant on but you'll just tell me there needs to be some rubbed on your balls as well," she stated trying to hold back her laughter.
Ian was too low rank of a marine to try any smart ass comments because he didn't have the experience to make them stick, but that would change that day. In the Corps there is a saying, 'When you face action, at the end of the day you're either a veteran or dead', this would be the day he would earn his stripes, and he wasn't just going to try getting away from the danger before it could swallow him.
Grease Town was abuzz with noise and sparks. I went to the senior engineer and asked, "Where can I find Maryanne Gipper?"
"She's over there moving the missile onto the drop-ship," he said pointing toward a Power Loader.
The Power Loader was basically a giant yellow suit of armor with the Power Loader was basically a giant yellow suit of armor with lobster crushers that could lift five hundred pounds each. A beginner of this machine could learn how to use it in one day.
"Hey Ian," Maryanne said behind me.
Ian turned and saw that Maryanne was cut on her cheek. "What happened?" He asked.
"A cable snapped and scratched my cheek," she explained.
"Oh my god. Whatever happened you need to tell your boss so he can put safety measures on that cable," Ian said.
"Taken care of," she said "currently I'm working on my Power Loader. Wanna see?"
"Sure," Ian said.
When they were young, Maryanne and Ian were inseparable. It was like they were married only they never kiss or have sex but they use to want to run together to find something. The pair would always get into trouble. They never wanted it, but they always looked for it. Ian once stole a necklace from a jewelry store and gave it to her for her birthday, she wore it every day ever since. Ian was awakened from those fun memories by a gas feeling in his nostrils.
"There she is," Maryanne stated with pride "my personal power loader."
"What's that smell?" Ian asked.
"That, my brother, is the smell of an engineer like myself," she stated "but specifically I was fueling one of the drop-ships and I spilled some on me."
"Well," Ian said "I've got fifteen minutes before the briefing, I need to change into my uniform and get ready."
Ian went to the locker room ans changed into my Marines attire, Ian did not change into my armor because it would be too uncomfortable.
One hangar was set up to house all of the Marines. There was one other person there when Ian walked in and it was Decaf.
"You know what the mission's about?" Ian asked sitting next to him.
"Something about a raid on a colony on Gita 32-11," he said.
"Isn't that a prison planet?" Ian asked.
"Hence why they called us," Decaf described.
Ian sat down nice and quiet trying to listen and understand the man he was talking to. Little was known about the Marine's background to everyone except the sergeant. Ian had met him in boot camp and they were the best of friends ever since. Thirty minutes passed and it was time to begin.
"Listen up chicks and dicks of the USCSS Spectrum," SFC Santiago stated from his platform "there's been a change. We're heading to Romulan 351."
One of the marines thought the sergeant was joking and he whispered how insane that sounded to his friend which Ian heard.
"The ship's AI changed course after they received a distress beacon from the colony Genesis Ascending," Santiago said. It wasn't everyday the ship receives a distress signal. This was actually an exciting meeting. "I have reviewed the distress signal thoroughly, and it would seem that there is an alien infestation in the area, and... xenomorphs may be involved."
"Another bug hunt," Decaf said disappointed "I was looking forward to liberating a colony on Gita."
The Sergeant heard Decaf but he wasn't going to talk to him after what he just said.
"We're taking a group of thirteen, including myself, planet-side to do recon. Now recent thermal scans show signs of living people scattered throughout the colony," he said.
"Living or not what makes you think the xenomorphs aren't keeping them alive for their own reasons?" I asked.
"We can't take that chance," General Santiago replied "if they are alive, we have to save them." That was something a dedicated Marine would say.
They were dismissed to put on their M3 Pattern Personal Armor and our M10 Pattern Ballistic Helmets. Thirty minutes after they were dismissed, they were back in the hanger loading onto a drop-ship.
" We shall bring terrors to those little disgusting things. I want them all dead," a marine said.
"Does anyone here care about the survivors?" Ian asked.
"Gipper, there are thirteen of us on this ship and thirteen of us are on the way, including your sisters," Decaf stated, "I'm sure that a few of us care about the people."
Ian looked at the Marine explaining this to him in a positive light, "Thanks Decaf."
"You ladies strapped in?" General Santiago asked.
"Sir, yes sir!" Everyone shouted.
"Just another day in the field," the General said.
"Oorah!" Everyone shouted.
Classic marine battle cry. It meant they were going to go straight at the enemy with everything they got. At that moment, the hangar door below us opened and as soon as the general strapped in, the pilot counted down.
"You know," Ian said "I haven't had any combat drops before."
"It's just like the simulations," Decaf said, "walk in the park."
"Or falling from the sky," Ian stated and then they dropped.
Yep it really was falling from the sky. Ian was right, it was just like falling from the sky. If Ian really was falling like this he would be toast, but after a while, the drop-ship leveled off. Ian now had the time to wonder what made him think he would fall to his death. He had always had a fear of falling from heights after he broke his arm falling from a tree. That was a story for later, for now he was wondering if he was at risk of being eaten by an alien life-form. When the drop-ship landed and the Armored Personnel Carrier containing the Marines started to roll into the nearly abandoned colony, Ian lost any sense of fear, and it was replaced with determination.
It turned out the planet was a little cold and it wasn't helping that his armor wasn't built to warm him up. Ian had the least dangerous job in the recon force, the Motion Tracker operator. It really was time for Ian to work and his memories would help him exterminate every alien he sees.
"Alright ladies," General Santiago yelled, "shut up, clock in, and load up."
"Yes sir!" Everyone yelled back.
"You know the drill," he said, "groups of two or more, every inch of this place has to be searched for survivors."
The motion tracker was heavy, and it hindered Ian's ability to carry a pulse rifle, he only had his sidearm. He was with Decaf and General Santiago. They almost cleared every room of the first building within the first hour. The last room that Ian would check was right in front of him. The general kicked the door in and Decaf jumped through, and he froze in his tracks.
"Decaf," the general whispered, "what do you see?" Decaf was silent.
"David," Ian whispered, "what is it?" Decaf pointed his rifle, and the mounted flashlight illuminated an open xenomorph egg.
"Gipper," Santiago stated, "motion tracker, now!"
Ian turned on the motion tracker, but nothing was illuminated on the screen, nothing was moving.
"David," Ian said, "back up slowly, we'll throw an incendiary grenade in the room and lock the door behind us and move onto the next room."
General Santiago knew what Ian was doing, he was using his personal connection with Decaf to keep him calm. Decaf backed up, and then he was behind Ian. Ian turned and smiled at Decaf, and then the motion tracker beeped. He looked into the room just in time to see a facehugger jump at him. It would be the last thing he would see in a while.
++Minutes Later on the Spectrum++
"General Santiago to Captain Avery of the Spectrum, come in," the general's voice came over the radio.
"I read you General," Avery said.
"First compound cleared," he said "we found three survivors and have one casualty, Ian Dwayne Gipper. Damn parasite latched onto his face. Request drop-ship with medical supplies, doctors, and more troops."
"I read you loud and clear, expect the next drop in less than thirty minutes. Over and out," Captain Avery disconnected and went to break the news to Maryanne and Julia, they were not going to be happy about the status of their brother.
Captain Avery walked to the sisters holding his military cap off. It was always hard for a family member to learn their loved one wasn't coming home. Maryanne and Julia were talking to each other, and when they saw the captain of the ship approaching them, they knew that it was about Ian.
They both took a step back. The closer he got to them the more the inescapable truth that Ian has been killed or infected started to wind their strength.
"Maryanne and Julia Gipper?" The captain asked. Both of them nodded. "I have some bad news, your brother Ian has a xenomorph parasite attached to his face. He's alive, but his chances are slim to none. I'm sorry."
They each reacted to the bad news differently, Maryanne quietly sobbed next to her power loader, and Julia...she didn't waste her time trying to get to her brother before a xenomorph jumped out of his gut.
Later, she talked to a woman piloting the drop-ship. "I'm going planetside to perform surgery on my brother."
She said, "You can come if you want, I have no authority to stop you."
Melissa was following Julia and she was followed by the military officer who told them what happened to Julia.
"Look here," he put a hand on her shoulder, "you can go, but you can't perform the surgery, you're emotionally compromised."
She was indeed emotionally compromise but she didn't stop knowing her brothers condition.
Meanwhile, Maryanne was still crying by her power loader, and then a female Marine walked up to her. This Marine was of course just as pretty as Maryanne despite having her hair shaved off.
"Yo," she said, "what size are you?"
Maryanne looked up, "I'm a thirteen."
"Good," the Marine smiled, "you can fit in my armor and get onto the shuttle to be with your brother."
That was a surprise and yet she trusted the marine to switch armor with her.
"Thank you," Maryanne hugged the female Marine.
"I'm not a hugger," she said back.
Maryanne gave a small apology and backed away from hugging her. Minutes later, Julia, and the now armored Maryanne were loaded onto the drop-ship. No one but Julia knew it was her, but that would change when they landed.
"If so much as a scar is made on Ian I'll blow up this whole base," she mumbled to herself. As soon as the ship landed, she switched into her engineer outfit and found the room where they held her brother. His helmet was on a table, which Maryanne knew was his because it had a peace sign painted on the side. And she knew from the parasite on his face that his chances are slim.
"Hey," a marine grabbed her arm, "you're not supposed to be here."
A hand grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him away, "She's family," it as Decaf, "she has every right to be here."
That was enough reason for her to push the hand away.
"Maryanne," he said, "what the hell are you doing here? Engineers are not supposed to go planetside during a mission."
"I know and it doesn't bother me as long as I can keep my brother from becoming another gut busted corpse," she said.
"Point taken," he said.
After a while, she reunited with Julia. She was dressed up in her medical uniform and her hands were covered in blood. It was a good thing that she had gloves on.
"My God," Maryanne said, "did you do the surgery on Ian?"
"No," she answered "some moron bet that he could jump off of the drop-ship and land on his feet. He did, and he broke both of his legs. I re-set and mended the bones, it was pretty messy." She took off her gloves.
"It's strange your not doing the surgery on Ian right now. They must be blocking you from doing it because your emotionally compromised," Maryanne stated.
Julia was shocked, "How did you..."
"Ian is our brother," Maryanne interrupted, "do you really think that they'll let siblings perform surgery on each other. Also, you were crying on the way over here."
"I've never been in a drop-ship before," she argued, "I was nervous."
Maryanne was surprisingly less nervous about all of this than her sister Julia.
"Ladies," the general approached them, "the parasite is off of his face, if you want to say your goodbyes, now's the time."
"I won't say any goodbye's," Maryanne brushed his shoulder as she left the room, "because he's going to live."
The general was a good man. Any other man would snort because an infected person living was beyond hilarious. It was time for the surgery. At the request of Ian, no androids were in the room.
Maryanne, Julia, and Decaf were watching from behind a window, and on the other side three men in hazmat suits performing the surgery.
They first put something in Ian's mouth through a tube, and when Ian was unconscious, they began the surgery. They shaved off all his chest hair and injected him with an anesthetic. They coated his chest with an antiseptic solution, and then they cut open his chest just below the rib-cage with a laser cutter. Then they used retracters to pull the skin back and reveal the inside of his chest.
"Here's where it get's tricky," one of the doctors stated, "we need to grab the... foreign object... with the tongs."
"Why can't they just open his rib-cage?" Maryanne asked from behind the glass, "We have the technology to mend bones instantly."
"But they can't open the chest or they could damage his spine," Julia answered, "or worse it could kill him."
The doctor attached a small camera to the tongs, and then he went in. It took a few seconds, but then the doctor said, "Found it."
"Grab it," a female doctor stated.
"Three, two..." he didn't have time to get to three, because the xenomorph grabbed the tongs with its teeth.
"Dammit," the doctor said struggling with the tongs. Julia, Maryanne, and Decaf all held their breath on the other side of the glass. At one point, the xenomorph almost pulled the tongs into Ian but the female doctor helped him. Together, they both pulled the xenomorph out of Ian. The third doctor grabbed the container and put the snake-like alien into it along with the tongs. After they checked the heart monitor and doing several chest scans, they confirmed that he was going to live.
The doctors looked at the baby xenomorph while Maryanne and Julia nearly cried their eyes off seeing their brother was now fine.
Several minutes later, Maryanne, Julia, and Decaf went to talk to him. Ian was in a twenty-four hour quarantine, so they all had to wear hazmat suits, and they brought with them a picture of the xenomorph.
"Congratulations," Decaf said handing him the picture, "you're a father."
"She has your eyes," Maryanne teased, "what'll you name her?"
" How about instead of naming if you throw it in the incinerator before it escapes and kills us all," Julia suggested.
Ian clutched his chest, "I can still feel it, squirming inside of me."
"It's probably just phantom pain," Julia stated, "but as I was saying, why don't they just kill it?"
"Science probably," Decaf answered, "Gipper is the first man in recorded history to get a parasite removed without killing him."