Prologue
This was not the Hive.
"Get that stuff unloaded immediately!"
This was not home.
"Yes sir!"
This was somewhere else.
"Get the containment team in here immediately. We do not move the subject until they show up!"
It had all happened so quickly. Its birth had been a whirlwind of noise and blood. The womb had screamed it into the world in a fantastic explosion of gore. It had fed and grown as all of its kind did. Then its instincts changed, it heard the call of its mother, and it understood its purpose with enviable clarity.
Serve and protect the hive!
There was no greater purpose.
But then then the men in the white suits had come. It had chased with intent to bring them back to the Hive. It killed many of them. Then they came with jolting rods and metal nets, it had expected them to kill.
Instead they had thrown it into a metal box, leaving it captured and helpless. It had tried to bleed itself, well aware that its blood was capable of melting through even stone. But the box did not yield to its blood and thus it was left trapped inside.
The call of the Hive, of the Queen, had felt so far then.
"Containment team is here!"
Now as it sat in this box with a million new scents, none of which were familiar, the call was nonexistent. It could not hear its brothers and sisters, it could not hear its Queen. The Hive was silent and it was alone.
"Oh my!"
A man lowered his eyes to the grate that served as its only window to the outside world. He stared at it as though appraising a fine piece of work, carefully taking into account every aspect from its prehensile tail to the second pair of teeth inside its mouth.
"Aren't you simply beautiful, I can tell we're going to have a lot of fun you and I."
"Dr. Dufour, please keep away from the containment unit. This specimen is particularly dangerous."
"Oh I am quite aware soldier. That is why I want to begin observation as soon as possible."
It hissed at the man, an act that had put fear into many a heart. But from the other side of the box the man simply chuckled in benign amusement.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that won't work on me."
"Doctor please step back, were going to start transportation of the specimen to your lab."
"So much fun you and I, can't wait to see your little brothers and sisters."
#
Three days after arrival
Bio-Lab 01
Dr. Dufour meticulously ran the silk handkerchief over his spectacles, once he was satisfied with their stainless condition he carefully balanced them back upon his nose.
"Dr. Dufour, we are ready to begin the test sir," said one of his assistants.
"Ah yes, very good, very good. To your places everyone!" he ordered with a grand gesture of his hands. How he envied his assistants, all of them so young and full of life. Buzzing around the laboratory like the little bees he'd kept as a child back in France.
"Everyone ready?" A chorus of affirmatives responded and Dufour pressed the activation button on the command console.
He then turned to the unmanned camera drone hovering just over his shoulder.
"This is Experiment 001: Impregnation," he began, "for the record I am Doctor Felipe Dufour, Head Scientist of Cerberus directing the progress of Project: Hive. For this test we shall be observing the impregnation process brought upon by the larval stage of species XX121 or as Major Vilmos lovingly refers to it, the 'Facehugger'."
With a quick command from his Omni-tool the Doctor directed the drone towards the ballistic glass beyond which the experiment was being performed.
The experiment room held six aliens of different species and gender had been tied down to a medical gurney and placed into a circle with their heads in the center. They were all unconscious, something the Doctor was glad for he hated hearing the constant whining of test subjects.
"As you can see, we have number of test subjects ready for impregnation." He turned to one of his assistants, "bring out the specimens!" The assistant tapped a series of commands on her console. From out of the floor at the center of the test subjects, six pedestals rose each carrying large fleshy sack like ovals.
"The ovomorph or…" Dufour snorted, "egg if you prefer, has been shown to be quite delicate and possibly dangerous. As such we have delegated the handling of them to mechanical drones. The larvae inside of the eggs seems to be able to sense one a potential host is nearby…" As if on cue each of the eggs cracked open and bloomed, spreading their tops into four petals.
"Look!" Dufour had the drone zoom in on the hatching eggs. A small flicker of movement from the inside and the doctor was practically giddy with delight. "You see?! You see?! They sense the nearby hosts! Here come the larve!" Six pale spider like creatures resembling a pair of skeletal hands fused together and given a spine like tail crawled out of the eggs, steaming with the heat of their birth.
"Now, if the reports are correct. The larvae shall seek their host out and begin impregnation." True to the doctor's predictions the Facehuggers leapt from their eggs and began to make their way towards the provided hosts.
One of the aliens, a Batarian, unexpectedly began to stir.
"Oh my, it seems one of the test subjects was not given quite enough sedative."
"Should we stop the experiment Doctor?" asked one of the assistants. The Doctor shook his head, "no, this might actually be quite the opportunity to observe the process in a more natural setting."
"What the fuck?" The Batarian coughed violently as he vainly tried to shake off his restraints. "What is this? Where the fuck am I? HEY! WHERE AM I?!"
"Quite noisy isn't he?"
The Facehugger leapt onto the Batarian's chest.
"What the fuck?! What the fuck is this?! What the fuck is this?!" The Batarian's struggles increased, so much so that he actually shook the gurney, "GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! GET ME THE-"
The Facehugger leapt and as its name suggested, hugged itself onto the Batarian's face. The alien screamed but those screams were soon muffled as the Facehugger inserted its proboscis down the Batarian's throat.
"Ah! How fascinating," said the Doctor as he watched the implantation process with awe. He turned back to the camera drone and spoke, "the larvae shall supply the hosts with suitable atmosphere for breathing as it implants the beginnings of the next life stage into their oesophagus. The process shall take several hours so…" He brought out the archaic watch he wore on his wrist, "best set your timers."
#
Grafin had been cooking up a pot of red sand when suddenly those Cerberus assholes had burst into his apartment and grabbed him. Now as a drug dealer who…occasionally used his own product, Grafin was used to waking up with headaches.
But this, this was a whole other level. Blinking through his blurry vision he was legitimately worried that his head had been split open.
"Ah, motherfucker," he spat. He tried to raise his hands but found that he couldn't, then he remembered.
"Shit!" He'd been tied down and used in some weird experiment! There had been some sort of weird spider looking thing. It had jumped and…and, he couldn't remember what had happened after that.
Grafin coughed. Gods above it felt like there was a stone in his gut. He tried to cough some more and remove it but to no avail. Now that he thought about it he was damn thirsty as well. His coughing intensified, it felt like that damn rock was getting bigger.
That rock suddenly moved, straight up against Grafin's ribcage. He could hear his own bones start to crack as he let out a strangled gurgle of pain.
"What the hell did you people do to me!" he demanded, the rock kicked again, "what the hell did you do to me!"
#
"It seems we are going to have our first birth!" cheered Dufour, "the process has been reported by Major Vilmos as 'chestbursting', in which the infant form of species XX121 breaks out of its host, through the chest. The process is of course fatal for the host."
The Batarian screamed again and a blotch of blood appeared on his shirt.
"Batarian's natural skeletal structure is 22% stronger than the average human's. The young infant is most likely having a bit of difficulty breaking through."
The Batarian test subject screamed as his chest finally broke open in a gout of blood. Out came the tiny worm like infant, screaming its way into the world amidst a pool of blood.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Dufour clapped with glee, "send in the medical drones and retrieve the specimen!"
Two converted LOKI mech's were sent in, they retrieved the wriggling worm and placed it in a specimen container. They returned it inside the lab and handed the container to Dr. Dufour. The infant xenomorph screamed inside at the much larger beings surrounding it defiantly.
"Hello little one, this is your first day. You're designation shall be Specimen 1," Dufour giggled and tapped his finger against the glass container. The infant screeched and flashed its tiny inner jaws at him in response.
It only served to elate Dufour even further.
"We expect great things from you and your siblings."
#
Twelve Days after Arrival
Bio-Lab 03
As he cleaned his glasses, as he often did before beginning his work, Specimen 0 screeched loudly. Placing his glasses back on his nose, Dufour often found himself awed at just how tenacious species XX121.
Specimen 0, the original Xenomorph brought to Cerberus never ceased struggling against its restraints. Even now, after it had been in incarceration for over a week.
"Hello Specimen 0," spoke Dufour, "today is you're lucky day. We're letting you get some exercise." He turned to his assistants and nodded, "please bring in today's test subject."
The assistant brought up his Omni-tool and entered in a few commands. The door to the lab pneumatically hissed open and in stepped a Turian being led at gunpoint by a Cerberus Trooper. "Fucking humans," the Turian hissed, "what is this?"
The Trooper smacked the alien with the butt of his rifle. "Shut up!" ordered the soldier.
"Now Trooper, you mustn't harm the subject. We need it quite healthy for what is to come." Dufour turned to his assistant again, "Turn the lights off in Specimen 0's habitat, let's see how well it performs in the dark."
"Yes Doctor."
"Now then Trooper, if you'll please."
The Trooper nodded and prodded the Turian in the back with his rifle. "Get moving alien." The Turian resisted at first but eventually relented until the Trooper pushed him into an isolated room before sealing the doors.
"Hey! What am I supposed to do in here?" asked the Turian. A second set of doors opened.
"Please step through the doors," ordered Dr. Dufour.
With little choice the Turian complied and unknowingly stepped into a monster's den.
"What am I supposed to do here?" he asked.
HHHIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"Spirits! What the hell was-ARGH!" The Turian's sentence was fatally interrupted as Specimen 0's barbed tail burst out of his chest.
"Amazing," whispered Dr. Dufour. "No hesitation, no remorse, a perfect organism. Unexpectedly the Turian's body suddenly came sailing out of the dark and collided with the ballistic observation glass. The assistant and even the Trooper startled but Dufour didn't even blink.
The alien's body slid off the glass, leaving a trail of blue blood in the process.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Specimen 0, now you're just being childish." The Doctor turned to his assistant, "activate the gas."
There was an audible rush of wind as the test chamber filled with enough tranquilizer gas to knock out five full grown Krogan. Specimen 0 screeched in rage and threw itself at the observation glass.
The Trooper moved forward, his rifle aimed at the enraged specimen.
"There's no need for that soldier," assured Dufour, "that glass is strong enough to stop an anti-material rifle. Specimen 0 has no chance of breaking it."
He suspected that on some level even Specimen 0 was aware that its efforts were in vain. But still it continued to throw itself at the window until finally the gas took affect and it dropped to the floor.
Dufour smiled and turned to his camera drone.
"And that concludes Experiment 32."
#
Twenty Six Days after Arrival
Trial-Lab 08
"Hello," Dr. Dufour spoke to his ever present camera drone, "This is Experiment 83, this is the first time we shall study Specimen XX121 against multiple armed combatants."
The Doctor stepped towards the edge of the lab's observation deck to allow the drone a better view of the testing grounds.
"This shall be the environment that Specimen 0 will be conducting the exercise."
The environment was in actuality a maze with obstacle course like traps and secrets. Built on the foundation of one of Omega's old gladiatorial pits, it was circular and nearly thirty feet wide in diameter. The maze itself was nearly impossible to navigate if you didn't have VI support or a map.
"The purpose of this exercise is to test species XX121's ability to locate prey and…deal with them. The test subjects in this particular exercise shall be a squad of six alien mercenaries. They are under the impression that we are testing a new combat mech."
The hiss of the door leading into the testing grounds caught Dufour's attention. "Ah! That would be the test subjects." Six aliens armed with assault rifles and shotguns entered the grounds. Three were Batarians, two Vorcha, and one Krogan.
"Release Specimen 0."
The door on the opposite end of the testing grounds opened. Though the lighting was dim, Dufour spotted a flicker of a shadow slip in.
"Specimen 0 has entered the testing grounds Doctor."
"Excellent," Dufour leaned over the command console and activated the testing grounds microphone. "Gentlemen, your task is simple. Defeat our…new security mech and you'll be paid generously, be warned however, if our mech is set to kill intruders and will not spare you."
Below the Krogan, the leader of the mercenary band chuckled. "This is my kind of job." He turned to his men and ordered them to move out.
"And so the test begins," smiled Dufour.
Given the size of the grounds the mercenaries understandably split into two of the Batarians split off with the Krogan while the remaining four eyed alien led the Vorcha. They entered the maze, unaware of the terror they face.
"Specimen 0's status?" the Doctor inquired.
"Moving into the maze and towards the alien's sir."
"Good, very good." Dufour stepped closer to the observation glass, "you are outnumber my little killing machine, how will you proceed?"
#
Darkness, darkness was it's ally.
It used the darkness to hide, to remain unseen as its prey stumbled by obliviously.
Through its senses it saw everything. Even through the walls it saw the forms of its prey. Two groups, each with three forms.
Instinctively it moved towards the one comprised of smaller beings. Like a shadow it swiftly navigated its way through tunnels and along walls until finally it found itself below the unsuspecting prey.
"Keep moving and watch your corners."
They did not know what terror lay beneath their very feet.
"Me think me saw something!"
The other form hissed. "Stupid! That nothing! Just you stupid imagination!"
"Quite! Both of you!"
They continued forward and silently it followed beneath them. It watched, it waited, and eventually it saw its opportunity. One of the Vorcha placed its foot too close to the tunnel's grating.
In an instant it pounced forward. It's claws sprang forward and grabbed the victim by the ankle. The Vorcha managed to let out a scream before it pulled him down. The grating was a bit too narrow to truly accommodate the screaming alien's body, but it pulled just a bit harder and the necessary bones broke.
"Help!" The Vorcha managed to scream before he finally disappeared through the grating.
The Vorcha was now in the dark and with it, the Vorcha screamed for only a little longer before it used its claws to rip out the Vorcha's throat.
"What the hell was that?! Fire! Fire!"
The Batarian and remaining Vorcha fired their rifles down into the grating. But it was already gone, disappeared into the dark awaiting another chance to strike.
"Hey! What the hell was that?! That wasn't a fucking mech!"
"Nasty! Nasty! Killed brother! Want revenge!"
HHHIIIISSSSSSSSSS!
"Nasty! Nasty! I find you! I find you and kill you!"
"Wait come back!"
The Vorcha screamed and charged into the darkness while wildly firing its rifle. "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kil-ARGH!" The Vorcha's final words were ended by its barbed tail puncturing the Vorcha's skull. The Vorcha's body hit the floor with a wet thud.
It slipped away into the darkness just as the Batarian discovered the Vorcha's body.
"Shit! Shit!" the Batarian frantically searched the shadows with his rifle, flashlight dancing from corner to corner trying to find it.
The Batarian heard a scuffle of movement and he immediately fired a sustained burst, hitting nothing. Another scuffle and he fired again.
"Come out and fight! Come out! Come out right now!"
The Batarian heard a low hiss and felt a warm breath touch the back of his neck.
Mech's didn't breath.
A pair of black claws wrapped around his throat and dug out a sizable chunk of meat. The Batarian died gurgling his own blood.
#
"Fascinating," nodded Dufour, "hypothesis: without a hive, without a queen, species XX121 has reverted strictly to hunting instincts. So far not attempts have been made by Specimen 0 to subdue the mercenaries, instead it moves only to kill."
Dufour paused and watched Specimen 0's tracking signal move across the holo-map of the test site towards the three remaining mercenaries.
"I am curious to see how it handles this next test. Turn on the lights."
#
All of a sudden the darkness was gone, its ally had abandoned it. Lights across the training ground had suddenly appeared, most were dim at best but they still banished its most valuable advantage.
This could not be allowed to continue. It saw its prey father ahead and it knew that the prey always gravitated towards the light. It would move to correct this.
#
If it was possible, Dufour's smile somehow became even wider than it had already been. One by one the lights scattered across the training grounds began to flicker out.
"Interesting, it knows that darkness is its ally. It's purposefully taking down the lights. Those mercenaries will be walking into a dark zone."
#
Crux and his men had taken this job because it had seemed like easy credits. Now three of his men weren't responding and judging by the sounds he heard he they wouldn't be responding to anything any time soon.
On one hand, fewer splits to the payoff. On the other hand, this job was starting to be more trouble than it was worth.
The lights had suddenly come on but now, which made him feel a little more comfortable but now they were heading into an area where there weren't as many.
"Flashlights on," he ordered.
All three mercenaries activated the lights strapped to their weapons.
"Keep it tight, you see anything you shoot it."
Though the dark was back it wasn't as bad as it was before and Crux found his eyes adjusting better to the low light. Now it was just a matter of finding this stupid mech and-.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Crux whipped around just in time to see one of the Batarians get dragged over the maze wall, his rifle firing uncontrolled into the air.
"Holy shit! This job is fucked!" The last Batarian's voice quivered. "I'm getting the fuck out of here!"
"Wait don't-!" Too late, the Batarian sprinted off back the way they'd come. It took only a few moments before Crux heard his screams.
He was alone now.
"Damn it! Whatever you are! You aren't killing me! You hear me? You're aren't going to kill me!"
HHHHIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Without warning a blur of black collided into Crux. Even with all his Krogan bulk, Crux was sent sprawling to the floor. Something large and screeching was digging its claws into his face.
He tried to bring up his shotgun but he had lost it in all the chaos. That was okay, he was a Krogan, his fists were much deadlier.
With all the strength he could muster Crux landed a strike on his attack and sent the screeching thing tumbling away. Blood was dribbling down his face, seeping into his eyes, but now he saw his enemy.
It was some sort of bug, but not like the Rachnai, no this thing was vaguely humanoid and possessed no apparent eyes. Its body structure seemed like an unholy cross between organic and mechanical.
That tail on its back looked dangerous and its claws were soaked in blood. Crux didn't have his shotgun on him, it looked like things were headed towards a melee finish.
The thing hissed at him through silvery teeth.
"Come on! Bring it!"
HHHIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS!
Like a proper Krogan, Crux charged head first with the intent to pummel his opponent into a thin gooey paste. Few beings in the galaxy could match a full grown Krogan's strength in combat, this creature was not one of them.
But it didn't need to. It had speed and pure primal ferocity on its side.
Like a black bullet it pounced forward and tore Crux right off the ground. The Krogan was now flat on his back and Specimen 0 was on top. Before the Krogan could even try to retaliate, Specimen 0 became a frenzy of claws and teeth.
Its claws ripped through Crux's armor like it was paper and its inner teeth easily tore through the Krogan's hardened crest. Before long, Crux the Krogan mercenary was just another dead piece of meat lying on the floor.
With all its enemies eliminated Specimen 0 let loose an ear piercing screech.
Its victory was the Hive's victory.
#
The screech did not go unheard.
Not far away Specimen 0's voice carried itself into the containment units of its brothers and sisters. They heard their sibling and they responded with voices of their own. Every specimen, every xenomorph suddenly began to struggle against their restraints and shriek at the top of their lungs.
Their victory was the Hive's victory.
They were the Hive and they would have victory.
#
"Sir! We're getting reports from all the bio-labs. The specimens, they've become…restless."
"Amazing, even from here they can hear your voice. Administer gas sedatives immediately, wouldn't want our little friend to think we're going soft."
#
Forty Eight Days after Arrival
Bio-Lab 03
Dr. Dufour stared at the puddle of liquid blue metal on the floor of the testing chamber with disdain. He ordered his assistants to salvage the remains then turned to his camera drone to record the events.
"As with all previous experiments involving the grafting of Reaper technology to species XX121, Experiment 98 is a failure. The reason for this is quite clear. The integration of Reaper technology to a biological organism involves a bonding between the organism and technology on a near cellular level."
"The bones are reinforced, the tissue is enhanced, the brain is rewired, and the blood…the blood is used to continue the circulation of energy. However it is in the blood that the problem lies. Species XX121's blood has displayed amazing corrosive properties. Just a single drop managed to melt its way through three decks of 5 foot thick reinforced metal."
"I fear that I must soon conclude that the control of Species XX121 through the use of Reaper technology is…impossible. It seems the only thing that can control Species XX121 is the Hive Queen." The Doctor stared at his hands for a few moments, his face synonymous with defeat. But then his brows furrowed and his mind began to work. "Yes…" He began, "yes…only a Queen can control the Hive. Only a Queen."
#
Seventy Eight Days after Arrival
Omega E-Deck, Slums District
Major Vilmos sat in the Command Shuttle watching the live feeds coming from his men. Usually Vilmos liked to lead from the front lines but for this particular operation he was delegated to TOC duty.
Thankfully Vilmos's squad was the best of the best, they were the Shadow Hounds. Cerberus's elite team sent in to deal with problems the average Spec Ops soldier could not.
Their ops were darker than black. None of the operatives even knew each other's names, just each other's given designations. As leader of the team, Vilmos was Shadow Lead.
"This is Shadow Lead," he spoke into the Team Com, "everyone in position?"
"This is Shadow Eleven, I'm in position over the target area and have overwatch," spoke the Shadow Hound's designated sniper.
"This is Shadow One, Alpha Team is in position near the loading dock, ready for your go to breach," spoke the Shadow Hound's second in command.
"This is Shadow Two, Beta Team is in position at the front entrance, ready on your go Shadow Lead."
"Alright people, thermal imaging shows that our friends are inside this slaughter house. We took down one already, but this'll be twice as hard. Remember, your armor will hid your heat signatures but intelligence suggests that the targets can see in spectrums beyond heat."
Vilmos paused for a moment and cursed for the second time that he was unable to lead things from the front.
"Quiet breach on my mark, ready? Three…two…one…mark!"
Silently the Shadow Hounds entered the slaughter house.
"Alpha Team, you are closing in on the targets. They should be ten meters from your current position."
"This is Shadow One, I see them. Shadow Three and Shadow Five, flank left. Shadow Seven and Nine flank right."
"This is Shadow Two, we have eyes on the targets. Jesus," she said, "these fuckers are big, what the hell are they doing?"
"Looks like they're…having lunch?" suggested Shadow Four.
"Hey! Focus people," Vilmos barked, "we have a job to do, let's get it done and then you can stare at the ugly aliens."
"Yes sir!" said Shadow Two, "Shadow Four and Shadow Six, stay with me. We'll provide high ground overwatch. Shadow Eight and Shadow Ten, you two head down those stairs."
The targets were surrounded, now it was time to put their plan into action.
"Alright let's do this. Beta team, time to flush them out…open fire."
"Roger, engaging!"
Vilmos saw and heard Beta team open fire on the three targets. The "Hunters" were startled and moved predictably. As expected they were unused to being the ones ambushed and as a result ran to break Beta team's lines of fire where they would undoubtedly cloak and return to hunt down their attackers from the shadows.
Just one problem, they were running right into Alpha Team.
"Alpha, the targets are rabbiting your way. Engage at will."
"Roger that Shadow Lead, Open Fire!"
Vilmos heard a primal roar of defiance as Alpha Team sprung the trap.
"Shit they won't go down!" cried Shadow Five,
"Beta team, move to assist Alpha. The targets aren't going down!"
"Keep firing!" ordered Shadow One, "Keep firing!"
"Oh Jesus! No-ARGH!"
"Shadow Five is down! Repeat! Shadow Five is down!"
"Keep up the pressure people! Do not let them get away! Drive them out into the open! Shadow Eleven, get ready to provide sniper support!"
"Roger, preparing to fire."
Vilmos heard another roar, this one of distress.
"We got one! Repeat one of the targets is down!" Shadow One reported,
"Good, put two in its chest just to be sure then continue on the others!"
From the helmet feed Vilmos saw Shadow One carry fire twice into the fallen Hunter's chest. "Alright people let's keep the pressure on them-SHIT!"
Vilmos watched as an invisible shimmer suddenly skewered Shadow One. The man was lifted right off the floor and tossed away as though he were nothing more than a rag doll.
"This is Shadow Three! Shadow One is down! Repeat, Alpha Team leader is down. Shadow Lead, how-GRAH!"
Shadow Three looked down to see a pair of blades stick out of his chest.
"God damnit!" cursed Vilmos, though he knew he shouldn't expect any less from these targets. "All Shadow Hounds, you are now cleared for use of explosives! Repeat, grenades and concussive rounds are now authorized!"
"Roger that!" said Shadow Two, "Beta team, Concussive volley!"
Every soldier in Beta Team fired off a single high-powered explosive round. One of the Hunters managed to leap out of the volley but the other was caught in the volley of explosions.
But where a human or even a Krogan would have succumbed, the Hunter kept going though it was missing one arm now. That hardly seem to matter to it however, it simply roared and charged forward waving its blade like a mad man.
"Look out!" warned Shadow Two,
Too late the one armed Hunter tossed its weapon. The Shadow hounds ducked and allowed the deadly weapon to sail over their heads, but then the Hunter was upon them. With its one remaining hand it grabbed Shadow Ten.
"Help!" he cried out, "It's got me! It's got me!"
"Shoot it!"
"No!"
Beta team opened fire and the Hunter tossed Shadow Ten into their bullets. The Cerberus agent was shredded to pieces while the Hunter slipped away in the confusion.
"Shit! Shadow Ten is dead!"
"Targets are making a break for the exit!"
"Shit! Shadow Eleven, you're about to be busy!"
"Acknowledged," the sniper replied coolie.
Vilmos grabbed his helmet, slid it on, and sealed it with a satisfying hiss. "All Shadow Hound operatives be advised. Shadow Lead is entering the field."
The two remaining Hunters exited the slaughter house by smashing through a window, telegraphing their position to the Shadow Hound's sniper.
"I have the targets in sight."
"Fire at will!"
Vilmos heard the unmistakable CRACK of Shadow Eleven's Widow rifle, followed by a dismayed roar. Rushing out of the Command vehicle he almost immediately saw the targets.
The injured one armed one had been the victim of Shadow Eleven's first shot. Vilmos heard another booming report from the rifle. Unfortunately the last remaining Hunter had moved at the last possible second, causing the round to wing it in the shoulder.
Now aware of the sniper, the Hunter activated his plasma cannon and fired it at Shadow Eleven's position.
"Shit!" Vilmos heard Shadow Eleven say.
There was no time to check if the sniper was still alive. Vilmos had to make sure the mission was a success.
"CROSS! Activate the M-52!"
"Activating M-52"
CROSS was Vilmos's onboard VI. One of the perks of being part of the Shadow Hounds was that you got all the best toys. But with all that fancy tech came the burden of being able to actually run all of it. Most of Vilmos's armor systems and weapons could be run manually but with an onboard VI to help them run, Vilmos could use all of them with a mere command.
The M-52 was one of those fancy toys. It was a brand new dual purpose weapons system. Unlike regular weapons, the M-52 was mounted onto Vilmos's forearm so that he could never lose it. The M-52 capitalized on weapon collapsing technology.
Up until now collapsing technology had simply been a cool gimmick that had allowed soldiers to fit more weapons onto their bodies without the added problem of having a barrel or stock accidentally hit a door way during a breach maneuver.
The M-52 took it to the next level. In addition to being a fully functional arm mounted assault rifle, it utilized collapsing technology to turn itself into a fully functional arm mounted rapid fire grenade launcher.
Vilmos made fully use of both modes.
With CROSS assisting his aim, Vilmos sighted down the Hunter and fired a sustained burst of mass accelerator rounds. The bullets were dead on but as always the Hunter proved its species durability by simply shrugging off the round and uttering a challenging roar at the Shadow Hound.
It was a challenge Vilmos was all too eager to accept.
With a roar of his own he charged the Hunter, it must have been surprised because instead of charging as well it stood its ground. Undoubtedly it wondered how a human could be so bold as to believe he could survive a close-quarters engagement.
Vilmos was prepared for that as well. With his free hand he brandished a standard issue Humbler Stun Baton capable of delivering 60,000 volts into a target. Against a regular man it was enough to cause temporary paralysis.
The Hunter took a fully charged jab right in the gut. It was like striking a brick wall but Vilmos kept the device jammed against the Hunter's flesh. It roared in pain and surprise, with blinding speed it back handed Vilmos and sent him tumbling to the ground.
Now the Hunter was wary of the human.
Vilmos stood up and spat a glob of blood onto the deck. "Is that the hardest you can hit?" he asked. He wasn't sure if the Hunter could understand English or not, but it seemed to understand the meaning in Vilmos's words.
From its wrist a pair of jagged razor sharp blades unsheathed themselves.
Vilmos lowered his baton and took aim with the M-52.
Close quarters combat with a prepared Hunter was nearly the equivalent to suicide. Vilmos had gotten that one hit in because the Hunter had been unprepared. Now however he needed to play it safe. He fired a sustained stream of mass accelerator rounds at the Hunter.
The Hunter pounced out of the way and sprinted towards Vilmos's left. The Cerberus Major kept up his fire and retreated to the right as he did. Seeing that the assault rifle wasn't doing the job, Vilmos ordered CROSS to switch the M-52 to Grenade Launcher mode.
The transition took only 8 seconds.
Vilmos fired two HE rounds at the Hunter, the first was dodged the second appeared to land at the Hunter's feet, consuming it in a fiery explosion. No luck, a second later the Hunter came roaring out of the flames, wrist blades drawn back for a killing strike.
On pure reflexive instinct, Vilmos threw himself back just far enough so that the Hunter's Wrist blades only gouged deep cuts into his armor and not his flesh. As he fell backwards Vilmos struck out with his baton and scored a strong hit to the Hunter's temple.
The voltage of the weapon coupled with the area of the strike was enough to daze even the Hunter. With his opponent stunned, Vilmos switched his grenades to Cryo. He fired one, catching the Hunter square in the chest.
The shell released an explosion of fast acting cryogenic mist. The Hunter roared in surprise as its limbs gradually succumbed to the frost. But as always the Hunter refused to give up.
With a roar and a roll of its shoulders the Hunter broke off the ice and charged.
"Shit!" cursed Vilmos,
"Shadow lead get down!"
Vilmos hit the deck just as the remaining six members of Alpha and Beta opened fire. Not even the Hunter could stand under that kind of fire power. Green blood erupted from its chest as round after struck its body.
"Cease fire!" Ordered Vilmos,
All at once the sound of gunfire died out and it was quiet. The Hunter was on its knees now, just barely alive.
Cautiously Vilmos edged his way towards the target.
"Keep me covered," he ordered. The Shadow Hounds moved to surround the Hunter.
Vilmos was now standing above the Hunter. With what little strength it had left it used to look up at him. Vilmos stuck the end of his baton under the Hunter's chin.
"You've never hunted anything like us before."
He activated his baton and the Hunter's world went dark.
#
Seventy Nine Days after Arrival
Bio-Lab 04
"Hello!" Dr. Dufour spoke into his faithful camera drone, "Today is a very special day! A new species has been discovered, very advanced and very hostile! Oh I can't wait to see what it is capable of."
Dufour turned away from his drone and walked towards the specimen currently being restrained to a medical gurney meant for a Krogan.
"Now then, my big ugly friend. Shall we find out what makes you and your kind tick?"
#
Eighty Five Days after Arrival
Omega Deck B – Generator Room A7
"Target on the move! Target on the move!"
"After it Shadow Hounds! Go! Go! Go!"
A new Hunter had arrived in Omega and it had made quite a mess in the five days it had spent here. As expected the Shadow Hounds had been deployed to deal with the situation. They had spent the last eight hours chasing it through out Omega and lost Shadow Six and the new Shadow Five.
Now they finally had it corned in one of Omega's generators. The only way it was getting out of here was through them.
The catwalks beneath them shuddered under the weight of the Hunter and Shadow Hound.
"Shadow Eleven, do you have visual on the target?"
"Roger Shadow Lead, I've got him."
"Take the shot!"
Vilmos heard the familiar report of Shadow Eleven's rifle and the Hunter ahead of them suddenly stumbled as a mass accelerator round tore through its abdomen.
"Good effect Eleven, keep on him but do not fire. We've got this."
"Roger Shadow lead, good hunting."
Vilmos whipped out his stun baton. To his side Shadow One and Shadow Two, both possessing Phantom class training, unsheathed their swords.
"Rules of engagement Shadow Lead?" asked Shadow One,
"Capture if possible but put down the bastard with extreme prejudice if it comes to it."
Shadow One nodded. "Copy Shadow Lead," he said.
"Look!" Shadow Two pointed. The Hunter had come to a complete step in front of one of the generators. "He's got nowhere left to run," she said hungrily.
"You know the drill Shadow Hounds, surround it!"
Vilmos and Shadow One and Two moved to engage.
Meanwhile Shadow Three and Four, flanked it with heavy duty Cerberus Guardian shields.
Seeing that it was surrounded, the Hunter activated its telescopic spear. It lunged out with a wide sweeping strike. Vilmos, One, and Two were fast enough to leap back out of its way, but Three and Four took the strike head on with their shields.
Even though the shields held, the sheer force behind the Hunter's strike was enough to put both Shadow Hounds flat on their back.
"Engage! Engage!" Vilmos Ordered.
One and Two moved forward, their deadly monomolecular blades flashing under the dim Omega light. The Predator matched their blades with his own. It blocked both their initial strikes then struck Shadow Two with a backhand strong enough to send her reeling against the catwalk rails.
One fired at it with his pistol. The Hunter accepted the bullets, shrugging them off like a minor irritation, and then smacked the weapon out of Shadow One's hand with its spear, before grabbing the man by the throat and slamming him into the catwalk.
Before the Hunter could finish off the Hounds, Vilmos intercepted it with his baton. He landed a light strike to its ribs then shot it twice in the foot with the M-52.
The Hunter barely registered the damage to its limbs and used its injured foot to deliver a bone cracking kick to Vilmos's chest.
Wind rushed out of Major's lungs as he landed on the catwalk with an audible rattle. There was no doubt in his mind that if it had not been for his armor, the Hunter would have caved his chest with that kick.
Even after seeing it before, Vilmos still marveled at the Hunter's abilities. It was the perfect combination of speed and strength.
Strong as a Krogan but just as quick and agile as a Drell, the perfect Predator.
It was then that Shadow Eight, Nine and Ten arrived. They leveled their rifles at the Hunter and opened fire with a volley of cryo rounds.
The frost bullets struck the Hunter dead on and frost immediately began to develop along the affected areas. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to stop the Hunter.
Shrugging off the ice it charged the Cerberus troopers. It would have torn them apart had Shadow Two not suddenly thrust her sword through the back of its knee.
The Hunter moved to retaliated but then Shadow One came up from behind and ran it through with his sword. The Hunter roared defiantly, it attempted to stand but even it could not bear so many injuries and continue on.
Vilmos stood back up. As he moved to examine the Hunter, he noticed it weakly tapping at the buttons on its wrist gauntlet. Without hesitation Vilmos put two rounds into the gauntlet.
"We'll have none of that now." Cerberus had discovered early on, the miniature nuke each Hunter wore on their wrist. Disabling it was a top priority so that the Hunters didn't take them out along with itself.
The Hunter glared at Vilmos.
"You aren't getting off that easy ugly."
It growled at him. Unexpectedly it leapt back to its feet.
"Look out! It's still active!"
The Hunter's shoulder cannon sprang to life and the red targeting laser on its mask lit up. At this range it could have taken out any one of the Shadow Hounds. Instead it turned its cannon upon the generators and let loose a single bolt of plasma before Shadow Eleven shot it in the heart.
"Hunter down sir!" the sniper reported.
"Good work," said Vilmos, "the Doc is going to be pissed we didn't get it alive but as long as-"
"Shadow Lead! Shadow Lead come in!"
"Shadow Lead to Shadow Control, this is Shadow Lead, how copy?"
"Shadow Lead, you and your team need to get back here now! Over!"
Vilmos furrowed his brows in confusion. "Shadow Control, clarify? Over."
"Species XX121 has broken free! Repeat the bugs are loose!"
#
10 minutes ago
Bio-Lab 03
"Hello Zero, you did not think I had forgotten about you did you?"
It raised its head to "stare" at the human in front of it.
"Don't worry, just because I have something new to play with, doesn't mean I will forget about you or your siblings. Specimen 1, the one born from a Batarian, performed quite well yesterday in the training grounds. Not quite as well as you though."
It hissed at the annoying human, always spouting out words and mocking it.
"You know, I think you've grown Zero."
Dufour brought up his Omni-tool and performed a quick scan. "Yes! Yes you have! Fascinating! You are exactly 10% larger than you were when you arrived on the station. A sign of metamorphosis perhaps?"
HHHHIIISSSSSSSS
"I wonder, why have these Hunters come to Omega? If it were merely for the sport there would have been reports years ago. No…perhaps it is you Zero?" Dufour placed a hand on its phallic dome and softly caressed it. "Are they here for you?"
"Sir, we're ready to begin the testing," said an assistant.
"Yes of course, begin-", Dufour received a chirp on his Omni-tool, "yes? What is it?"
"Sir, the Shadow Hounds have secured another Hunter. General Petrovsky requests that you join the cleanup team to provide on sight examination."
"Ah! Another one, brilliant! Is it alive?"
"Unfortunately not sir."
"Hmm…a shame. Very well, inform the General I shall be there shortly." Dufour hung up the call and instructed the assistant to continue the testing without him. "Another time Zero, another time."
The Doctor exited the lab and the assistant went about beginning the tests.
"Whacko, I don't know what he sees in you," said the assistant, "nothing more than a big ugly-"
Suddenly the room and its inhabitabts were placed into complete darkness.
"What the-! What happened to the lights?!"
"Security Alert. Power failure has occurred in this sector. Please remain calm."
"Power failure? What could have caused-"
HHHHIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS
The assistant turned to Specimen Zero and watched in horror as the clamps keeping it restrained were suddenly thrown off.
"Oh no! No! No! No! No! Stay back!"
#
It was free.
The human was the first victim of that freedom and there would be many more. It sensed its siblings nearby, its instincts screamed at it to free them.
It knew that more humans would come and that it had no hope to kill them all alone. The safety of the Hive had to come first.
It leapt into the ventilation system and followed the scent of its siblings.
"All security staff are required to report to their posts. This is not a drill."
It navigated the ventilation system with speed and soon it discovered its siblings bellow. The humans in their haste to escape had simply left them there with no guard.
It dropped down from the ceiling and was greeted by the shrieks of its siblings. It knew that the human's machines were what held them in place. It did not know why it had been freed and they had not been. But that did not matter now.
It destroyed the human's machines.
It freed its siblings.
They listened to its commands and followed it, escaping the human's facility and disappearing deep into the depths of the station.
This was not home.
This was not the Hive.
But soon it would be.
End
Author's Note:
And that is the prologue for my new story AVP: Omega.
I'm sorry that it took so long to get to you guys but I really wanted to do this right. I can't guarantee anything in the way of when chapters will be posted but I will try my best to get them to you.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll put this story on alert so you can read each chapter as soon as I post them.
Just a few things I'd like to touch on.
Whenever I wrote from the perspective of the Specimen 0, you might have noticed that I always referred to itself as "It". That is because technically Xenomorphs have no gender, sure you could call them all female due to the similarities between the alien and bees but that would be incorrect since no aliens beyond the queen actually have the female organ.
Yeah, Cerberus is taking down Predators. You might be wondering, how is that possible? It will be explained later on, just wait for me to update the story.
Vilmos is back! You might remember Vilmos from my other story Aliens: Bane of the Reapers. At first he was just a random Cerberus officer I made up for the sake of the story. But as time went on he kind of grew on me. Now in this story he is a full-fledged evil badass.
That's all for now.
Please leave a review telling me what you thought and favorite the story!