I stand near the counter, watching Amanda as she gets to work. The repair job is a rover that looks like it's been left on Mars for about a hundred years, and neither of us notice that we have company.

'RIPLEY!' A man calls out, taking us by surprise.

I put my cup down, and walk over to the man, codenamed C. Samuels. Amanda looks up.

'I'm Samuels! I work for the company.' Samuels says as he shoots a look at Amanda. 'It's about your mother!'

This is what catches Amanda's attention, as her mother is – well, was – Ellen Ripley. Searches have failed to locate her, although the news that the Nostromo flight recorder has been found by way of a ship called the Anesidora seems to get her hopes up.

Unfortunately, the next bit lowers mine.

'Where?' Amanda asks as she becomes hopeful.

'Zeta Reticula.' Samuels replies as we all start walking.

Amanda immediately asks for information, to which Samuels makes it known that he doesn't know. I can tell that the next bit of news is going to be bad, and when he announces that it's been taken to Sevastopol, my hands magically clench into a fist.

'Is everything okay, sir?' Samuels asks me as he notices my fists.

'Everything's fine.' I silently lie.

I am part of the Waits family. Well, technically, I'm not, although I am the younger half-brother of the dipshit Marshall that is supposed to be in charge of protecting the place. As a former Marshall myself on Pandora (supply depot in Tau Cetian space), I knew how to take care of people, although it seemed that the person who shared a mother with me had different ideas in that department.

'Well transit's arranged.' Samuels announces, catching us by surprise. 'There's a courier ship – The Torrens – leaving in two days. We're going to travel out.'

'We?' Amanda asks, visibly confused.

'Me, and another exec… and both of you, if you're both willing.' Samuels confirms as I start to smirk.

This is my chance to shine, to ask my fucker of a half-brother why he has started acting strange. There are a few possible scenarios running through my head, with the main one being the recent rise in xenomorph-related incidents.

'Then we'll both go.' I vow as I shoot a look at Amanda. 'That way, we'll both get what we want.'

'And what if we fail?' Amanda asks me out of worry.

I look at Samuels, who promptly leaves. Amanda pours herself a cup of coffee, and I sit back down.

'We won't know unless we try.' I reply as I take another sip from my own cup.

'And what's your reason for going?' Amanda inquires as she holds her cup.

'My brother, as Sevastopol is being decommissioned, and thanks to that and a few other things, he's been… well… I'll just say that he's behaving oddly.' I reply with a sigh. 'It's not a safe place, so I would advise that upon our arrival, we stick together.'

Before Amanda opens her mouth, I put my cup down again, and pick up a flamethrower.

'You ever used one of these?' I ask Amanda as she looks at me like I've got three heads.

'No.' Amanda confirms as she finally regains composure.

'Well a wise man once told me to keep one on me at all fucking times.' I confirm with a smirk. 'Keeps unwanted fuckers at bay, sends out a clear message. You have a shoelace untied.'

Amanda looks at me in confusion, and using my free hand, I point to her right shoe. There is a minimum of twenty-five years between us, but when you're in space with the possibility of never making it back to Earth with an intact ribcage, such things do not matter, as your main goal is to be one of the lucky few, and two pairs of hands is always better than one when it comes to fighting the very thing that will give you a fucked ribcage and take your DNA as payment.

After about an hour of talking, we decide to go through with the mission. I contact Samuels, letting him know the answer, and within about half an hour, we are given our keycards and ID tags. I am wearing all blue aswell as a baseball cap, and my flamethrower – which will give the receiver a rather nasty burn if used – is as ready as ever. I also carry a bag on me, containing a revolver, a shotgun, a stun baton, and a bolt gun, although I do know that Amanda is going to need a few of her own in the event that we end up meeting some enemies.

Little do we know, that's about to happen.

I finish my cup of coffee, and wait for Amanda to finish hers. It's not the best cup of coffee, but given the circumstances that are about to be forced upon us, it has to do. My sandwich isn't that much better, and when we make our way to the docking station, we do so nervously.

'First mission?' Amanda asks me as she notices that I'm somewhat nervous.

'Not at all.' I reply nervously.

I am a little nervous, although not for the reason that's about to happen, as Amanda's replacement comes in. His name is Derek, and he is about thirty-ish, with dirty blonde hair and green eyes, and an attitude that leaves a fair bit to be desired. Amanda and I walk past him, trying to keep any and all forms of conversation to the bare minimum, and we eventually succeed.

'I see you have made it.' Samuels says as he walks up to us.

'We did.' I reply as I adjust my flamethrower and bag. 'You got any more info?'

'It seems that Sevastopol is having a few problems.' Samuels confirms with a sigh. 'However, that shouldn't be much of an issue. I see you have a few weapons on you. That's not really appropriate.'

'It is given what could happen, as we don't want to get there only to find out that the place has been wrecked by one of those bastards.'

Samuels nods, and we head on our way. Amanda is pretty hopeful, although thanks to how her life has been, I can tell that she's somewhat nervous, as she's never seen a xenomorph before, although her life has been forever changed because some guy called Kane couldn't keep his face away from one of the eggs on that planet. He then gets pregnant with one of "those" things, and about twenty-four hours later during dinner, he gives a very violent birth to it, and it rips the fuck out of all but one of the crew.

Ellen Ripley.

And Jones the cat, but as someone who isn't a huge fan of cats (but doesn't hate them), I am leaving that part of the story out. The same goes for Amanda, as even though we have only known each other for a short time, I have heard all of the stories. Nobody can blame her, and if I were in that situation, I would've done the same thing. We then make our way over to the shuttle, which is equipped with stasis pods, and upon climbing into them, it's eyes closed.

Waking up on the Torrens, I start to feel a little woozy. Amanda fares a little better, and as luck would have it, I am still dressed.

'You awake, Paul?' Amanda asks me as she sits up.

'Only just.' I admit as my head spins. 'God, I don't miss being in stasis. What about you?'

'I'm okay with it.' Amanda smiles as she stands up.

Amanda is somewhat naked (thanks to Weyland-Yutani's somewhat sexist rules), and when she walks over to the terminal, she logs herself in. I follow suit, and we both walk into the closet area to get dressed.

'You never seen a naked woman before?' Amanda asks me out of curiosity.

'It's just… uhm… this is the least appropriate time for me to be aroused.' I admit as I try to not think specific thoughts.

At that moment, my toe makes contact with an open drawer. I let out a few curse words, before regaining my composure. Amanda gets herself ready, giving me the signal, and I follow suit. My clothes are still crease-free, and I happily put them on. My head is still fuzzy from being in a dreamless hypersleep, and I also feel like my body needs to eat something. Amanda sees this, and we make our way through to the social area.

'Good morning, Taylor.' Amanda says as she spots the woman in front of her.

The woman is Nina Taylor. She's the WY exec that is coming with us, and she's in a foul-as-fuck mood. However, she does have a point with the doubting that it's morning part, as in space, time can work a little differently.

'Hope your mood gets better.' I whisper as I walk over to a wall-mounted cupboard.

'I don't feel too good.' Taylor admits as she just sits there looking pathetic-as-fuck.

'Neither do I, but seriously, you need to stop acting like you're the only one with a hypersleep-related hangover.' I sigh as I fish out a few bars.

Amanda walks over, and lets me know that we need to go and talk to Samuels. I am relieved, as I don't want to be standing there spending god-knows-how-long talking to a moody bitch who sounds like she just got given the wrong color bracelet. I unwrap one of the bars, and start eating as we make our way down some small corridors. The bars are only slightly better than the sandwich, although what I've picked up isn't enough, so I make a mental note to nab a few more when I get the chance.

'Ahhh! Guys, have you seen Taylor? Hypersleep may have been punishing for her.' Samuels asks as we walk through the door.

'We talked.' I confirm on Amanda's behalf. 'She seems a little nervous.'

'I hadn't noticed.' Samuels admits as he looks my way.

'You been up a while?' I ask out of curiosity.

'I don't require as much hypersleep.' Samuels admits as he continues to look at me. 'What about you? You look like you have a hangover.'

'Hypersleep and me don't go well together.' I admit as I take another bite out of my bar.

At that moment, a female voice calls for us to enter the bridge. My flamethrower is safely turned off inside my bag, located on my back which is angry at me for being in hypersleep for as long as this trip has required. This old ship is an M-Class, and like Samuels and Amanda have just said, it's similar to the Nostromo. I can't help but agree, as all M-Class ships look almost identical. It's for practical reasons, and I cannot help but smile as I take everything in. I also manage to grab as many bars – and equally as many drinks containers – as possible, and we walk through to the bridge.

'See that you've managed to make it.' Verlaine says to us as she looks at us.

'The Torrens is a very good ship. It's similar in design to the Nostromo.' Samuels mentions as he stands in his spot.

I jump up onto the small wall, and maneuver myself so that I am comfortable. I hold onto the wall with my right hand, making sure that I don't fall onto the floor.

'She was a wreck when I first bought her.' Verlaine replies with a smile. 'Took a few years, some contracts. Pays for herself now.'

'Are we approaching Sevastopol?' Taylor asks, hopeful.

'I see that your contact is Marshal Waits.' Verlaine says as she shoots a look at Taylor. 'I'll arrange boarding with him. How are we doing, Connor?'

Connor's reply includes tech-speak about approach vectors being locked. I am used to it, although I cannot seem to remember the words. I then notice what appears to be a Dead Space comic next to the briefing documents, and I immediately smile.

'Someone here likes Dead Space.' I smile as I look around.

'That would be me.' Verlaine replies happily. 'Been collecting them since I was a child. Have the games too, although they're about a hundred years old now. Took a bit of reconfiguring, although they are now playable on our systems.'

'Has everybody collected their briefing documents?' Samuels asks out of the blue, catching us by surprise.

I nod in a "no" fashion, and upon jumping off of the wall, I walk over to the table containing the briefing documents, and Amanda and I both pick up our folders. They have our names on the front, and they contain information about our reasons for heading to Sevastopol.

'Briefing documents collected.' I announce happily.

'Good.' Verlaine smiles as she gets into her seat. 'How are you faring?'

'A little better now that I've had something to eat.' I admit as I take my seat. 'Taking my bag with me, in the event that it's needed. You? It's been about fifteen years since we last saw each other.'

'Same old shit.' Verlaine admits with a sigh. 'How has family life been for you?'

Now that's one question that I'm happy to answer, as my half-brother aside, my family life has been good. However, as one can expect, there have been a few blips along the way, as my dad died at seventy-five (Waits's dad died before he was born), and then mom died about three years ago.

'And now I'm here, because Waits is acting odd, and I want answers.' I sigh as Amanda sits down next to me.

'Of course you do, as he's your brother after all.' Verlaine confirms as we enter the system. 'Looks like we're making our final approach.'

I know what that means, and I go over a few things that I want to say to Waits. Ten minutes later, we (Samuels, Taylor, Amanda, and myself) stand up, and watch on the monitor as we approach Sevastopol. Connor punches in the co-ordinates, and Verlaine contacts Waits. The signal is fuzzy, although the words "serious" and "situation" come through.

'Two words I do not want to hear.' I whisper as I put my bag on my back.

'Will your bag fit inside an EVA suit?' Amanda asks out of curiosity.

'It will go inside a small container.' I reply happily.

Little do I know, my happiness is about to be cut short. Fortunately, I am pretty good with my hands, so I know how to keep trouble at bay even when I'm unarmed.

But that won't help when there are eight xenomorphs to deal with.

And that's at the minimum, as if this was a game and the modes were novice, easy, medium, hard, or nightmare, this one would be nightmare but times a hundred, as there are eight xenomorphs waiting for us, androids that will make Ash look like a teddy bear, humans that will one-shot kill us, hidden facehuggers.

When the time arrives, Samuels, Taylor, Amanda, and I, get into our EVA suits. Taylor is still giving it loads, and if there's one thing that we don't need, it's a moody bitch complaining about money-related issues.

'I've fitted Samuels' suit with a radio booster. Can only keep the Torrens in transit for twenty-four hours.' Verlaine says as we prepare for our spacewalk.

'You'll have heard from us by then.' Samuels confirms as we start walking.

And with that, we enter the airlock. Taylor is moaning about how her contract doesn't cover spacewalks, and Amanda – who is in front of me – lets us all know that it's perfectly safe. The container holding my bag is on my bag, and the moment the outer airlock door opens, we commence spacewalking.

'Will be a few minutes before we arrive.' Samuels announces through the radio booster.

'Good luck.' Verlaine says as we all listen in. 'Don't do anything stupid.'

That's gonna happen, albeit the other way around. We are more than halfway through the spacewalk, and that's when shit happens. Of course, it's just after Amanda has told Taylor that she's doing great, and before we know it, Taylor and Samuels have flown off, leaving just myself and Amanda. We manage to climb up to the airlock, and upon pulling the lever, I pull us both in, getting us as far away from the door as it quickly closes. The artificial gravity then comes online, and we fall to the ground.

'Jesus fuck that hurts!' I moan as I force myself up.

'We need to find Taylor and Samuels.' Amanda sighs as she starts to take her suit off.

'We'll worry about that later.' I reply as I do the same thing. 'Top priority is making sure everything still works.'

Fortunately, my weapons still work. My bag is pretty small, and I place it on my back. My legs are somewhat sore from hitting the ground, and I now have a slight concussion, although I know that it will get better. The snacks and drinks are also good, and we start walking.

'Looks like Waits has stopped giving a fuck about this place.' I sigh as we walk down a small corridor.

'What do you mean?' Amanda asks out of confusion.

I stop, and whip out my motion tracker. It doesn't work as well as it used to, but it still does its job.

'I'm keeping this out in case we find ourselves in a tight spot.' I announce with a sigh. 'Also, kudos to the maintenance team for not repairing the lights.'

At that moment, we walk over to an open pipe. It immediately explodes, forcing us to climb into the vent. Amanda goes first, and I climb in behind, covering for her in the event that something decides to attack. Now, some people might hate vents, but I don't, as back on Pandora, I used them quite a lot. It was an easier way to keep track of everything without raising alarm bells, and I know a good vent when I see one. Only negative being the size, as one has to be in an awkward position, and from what I can see, it's also a maintenance vent, with lights and wires. There are a few touchscreen monitors, although they have been powered down. I know what that means, as it means that there must be something going on. Fortunately, we make it through to the other end, and I immediately notice a flare on the ground.

'This should come in useful.' I smile as I pick up the flare.

'What's that?' Amanda asks out of curiosity.

'It's a flare.' I reply happily. 'Will distract anything that tries to kill us, although it does have a short timer, as the sparks don't last that long. However, it will buy us enough time to escape.'

The flare is quite chunky, but I am able to fit it into my bag. My motion tracker is picking up nothing, although I know that as soon as we start walking, something's gonna happen. It picks up absolutely everything that moves, and thanks to a modification that I had made shortly before Samuels came into the picture, it can detect whether things are above us or below us. However, like all gadgets, it can be misleading, so I have to keep one eye open at all times.

'Looks like someone forgot to do floor repairs.' Amanda pipes up, catching me by surprise.

I look up, and see that I am about to walk into my most certain death. Amanda yanks me backwards, and with a sigh, I follow her as she starts to walk on the wooden planks. The first one seems to be okay, but the second? Well, you know the drill, as the second plank looks like it is about to break. We start walking on it, and sure enough, it breaks, causing us to fall gracefully and gently land on our backs.

'If this were Pandora, someone would've had that fixed by now.' I moan as I force myself up.

'Jesus fuck!' Amanda screams as she follows suit.

I can see that the fall has caused Amanda's ankle to sprain slightly. As for me, I'm mostly okay, although my back is going to pay for it in the morning. My head is slightly better, and due to some expert on-the-spot planning, the contents of my bag are in one piece.

'Found my own flare.' Amanda announces as she walks over to a yellow box.

I nod with a smile, and we explore what is obviously the baggage area. It looks like something that one would find at an airport on Earth, with various different conveyor belts taking cases wherever they need to be. The overhead monitors are miraculously still on, although they are fixated on what appears to be the spaceflight terminal. It's a pretty normal thing to have, as on stations as big as this, there's always bound to be somebody wanting to do the wrong thing. As a result, CCTV monitors are found in all public places. They are connected to two-way microphones, so if need be, the person watching and the person who is being watched can talk without needing to be face to face.

Unfortunately, that can lead to problems.

The spaceflight terminal seems to be deserted. I quickly shift my focus, as Amanda pushes a red button, bringing a small platform down. It is a noisy fuck, and it immediately starts to draw attention from an unknown source, but thankfully, the "attention" runs off, allowing us to ascend and climb the ladder that is also in front of us. I ascend first, hoicking my bag over the edge as I gain my footing on what I'm guessing is not the second level. Using my free hand, I help Amanda do the same, and we grab some of the items that I have a feeling we are going to be needing.

'Sensor, compound b, bonding agent, blasting cap, some scj injectors, and scrap.' Amanda announces as a confused look forms on her face.

'Got room for them in my bag.' I reply happily. 'If need be, we can craft a few things.'

Little do I know, we're going to be fucked in that department, as craft supplies are going to be almost impossible to find, and with eight xenomorphs coming up, we're going to have to be careful not just in the keeping alive department but also in the scaring them off department. We then walk through a door, and as luck would have it, some fucker has turned the lights off. With Amanda in tow, I run up the stairs, and motion for her to power up the generator. It is a button-based affair, and she has to press the button thrice. She does so, and that immediately powers up the computer terminal.

'Maybe this will help turn the lights back on.' Amanda sighs as she looks at the monitor.

After searching, she locates the utility folder, and taps the "on" button with her finger. Seconds later, the lights come back on.

'Let's go!' A voice calls from below.

'Shit!' I silently cuss.

'What?' Amanda asks, becoming confused.

'They could've seen us… hey, what was that passcode that we just saw?' I reply and ask out of curiosity.

Amanda brings up the first folder, and looks at the passcode. It is for the door that is right in front of us, and she reads it out aloud. I remember it, and upon walking out of the room, I walk down a flight of stairs, and enter the code. The door immediately opens, and I notice that there is a blueprint for a medikit. It is useful stuff, as blueprints are basically instruction manuals, and medikits contain all the ingredients that one needs in order to regain their health after being injured. However, like all first aid packs, it does have its limitations, as it needs to be made just right, or else the chemical cocktail will cause death to the injectee. It is also injected subcutaneously, so no need to any IV injections of any type. I smile, and when Amanda walks up behind me, I let her know what I've found.

'Spaceflight terminal is open.' Amanda announces as we resume walking.

'Thanks for letting me know.' I say as I unknowingly bang my elbow. 'Any updates in the Verlaine department?'

'Nothing but static.' Amanda admits as we enter the spaceflight terminal. 'What the hell happened here?'

I take a look around, and see that it is not only deserted but a fucking ghost town. Absolutely nothing is open, and there is graffiti on the walls.

'Pick a flight, any flight.' Amanda giggles as she notices the overhead monitor.

'I'll take the flight to Bernard's Star for 6000 please, Jack.' I laugh as I notice another flight of stairs. 'Fancy going up in the world?'

Amanda looks at me, and I point at the flight of stairs. We both walk up them, and as luck would have it, the Torrens pops into view.

'WE'RE RIGHT HERE VERLAINE!' Amanda yells out loud.

I roll my eyes; Verlaine isn't going to hear us.

'And now for touchdown.' I say as I notice another flight of stairs. My tracker is full of activity, and when the shutters start to close, I jump. Fortunately, as we start to make our descent, an arcade comes into view. The gamestations are all fubar (fucked up beyond all recognition), and as luck would have it, there's another generator. Cue pressing the button thrice, and it immediately unlocks the door to the Chinese takeaway.

'Show yourselves.' I order as I draw my gun.

There's a light on the other end of the doorway, and I immediately know that somebody is watching us. I can't say who, but I know that somebody is watching our every move. I cautiously walk closer to the doorway, with Amanda following behind. Seconds later, I enter the doorway, and see nobody there.

'False a-fucking-larm.' I sigh as I put my gun back in its place.

'Someone was there, though.' Amanda protests as she shoots a look at me.

'But they manage to fuck off… hey, look at this.' I mention as I notice a floor vent.

Amanda nods, and takes a look. I open it, and we both climb in.

'These floor vents are far safer than the other vents.' I mention as we start crawling. 'Security is a little tighter, and these are also the perfect hiding spots for monitors and levers that you want to keep out of harm's way.'

'Have you ever used one before?' Amanda curiously asks.

'Many times.' I reply happily. 'However, being safer doesn't mean that we won't run into trouble, as we're still vulnerable on all sides.'

Amanda nods. I am right in front, and upon locating another opening, I open it, and we climb out. Despite my age and physical appearance, I am still pretty strong, and my former Marine training means that I can pull myself up onto ledges with ease. There are no free wires anywhere, although judging by what's now in front of me, I can see that somebody – or something – has been having a lot of fun.

'If we can make our way to comms, we should be good.' Amanda says as we walk over to the little vacuum.

'Yeah, but first, we need to find a way to get through here.' I mention as I start to look around.

Amanda presses a yellow button on the little vacuum, and it immediately moves out of the way, revealing a pathway that is very obviously an ex-vent. She is in front this time, and we both make it through unscathed.

And then the person who has been watching us makes himself visible.

'SHOW YOURSELF, ASSHOLE!' I scream as I draw my gun for the second time.

Amanda walks over to the dark hallway, and looks around. Again, there is nobody there, although she is now as worried as I am. I follow, and upon turning a corner, we see that the spaceflight terminal has been turned into a makeshift morgue.

'There's a rig on the door up ahead.' Amanda says as she shoots a look at me.

'Add to that the fact that the power is also out.' I mention as I start to look around.

I immediately notice a door, and walk through it. In the distance, I can hear both a cat and a non-human screeching sound. I then notice another generator, and after repeating the process, I turn everything back on.

'You finished in there?' Amanda asks me, causing me to jump.

Without replying, I walk out of the room, and into the makeshift morgue again.

'There's a room up above. Maybe that's got a maintenance jack.' I reply and suggest as I head for the flight of stairs. 'Hopefully, whilst we're up there, I can find some documents telling me about what Waits has gotten the fuck upto.'

Little do I know, Waits is responsible for the shit that we are about to be in. I then notice another recording device, and upon pressing play, Amanda and I both listen to what's being said. I let out a sigh, and we continue walking.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I take a hard right into a corridor. It is pretty dark, but there is an open door at the end. Amanda follows, and upon walking in, we notice a dead guy in what appears to be the evidence lock-up area.

'Oh… fuck!' Amanda whispers as a chill runs down her spine.

The guy is very obviously dead, and in his hand is a maintenance jack. The door is locked, so there's no way of getting in that way. However, there is a vent, and on my signal, Amanda climbs in, climbs the ladder, navigates her way through the vent, and drops down into the area. She then walks over to the dead guy, and removes the maintenance jack from his still-flexible hands.

'Have you ever used a maintenance jack before?' I ask Amanda as she breaks the rig lock.

'A few times.' Amanda replies happily. 'Pretty easy too.'

I nod, and watch with a smile as Amanda removes the rig from the door. It immediately opens, and she walks through.

'Now we can try that thing on that door downstairs.' I announce with a smile.

And with that, we make our way downstairs. Amanda breaks the rig lock, and it's at that moment that our friend appears.

'Turn around!' The man whisper-shouts as he points his gun at the back of Amanda's head. 'COME ON!'

Amanda turns around.

'We were boarding with two colleagues. EVA. We got separated during the blast.' Amanda says as she shivers.

The man notices me with my gun drawn and ready to shoot him dead.

'Ripley and Carter, from the Torrens.' I mention as I keep my gun on the man.

'There's no ship here!' The man whisper-shouts as he keeps his gun drawn.

'There is now… Axel.' I reply as I keep my hand on the trigger.

All crew members are required to have a name badge. That way, we can tell who they are without directly having to ask them. They are also on the bodies, and it makes them easier to identify.

'Well that's good news… something just flew here.' Axel mentions as he starts to walk around like a madman.

'Like what?' I ask as I become suspicious.

Axel mentions that there is a killer on Sevastopol. He is obviously worried, holding onto the maintenance jack as if it were a teddy bear. If I had my way, the guy would be dead (I have dealt with him before, and I'll just say that he got transferred over to Sevastopol for something pretty serious), but thanks to Amanda promising him a place on the ship, he decides that today will be "her lucky day". She grabs the maintenance jack, and with my gun still drawn and ready to shoot, she removes the rig, and we – she, me, and Axel – walk through.

'So what brings you here?' Axel asks me as I walk with my gun pointed at him.

'I need answers.' I reply as I walk behind. 'Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did, as it may have been years, but my memory is still fresh.'

'I wouldn't expect anything else, as I deserve all the shit I get as a result.' Axel confirms with a sigh. 'If you want to shoot me, do so now, although I am crucial if you are to get to the systech spire without being killed, so you might need me around for a little while.'

At that moment, we come across a young man and woman in an elevator. I crouch down alongside Amanda, and we both watch as Axel chats with them. We are given Beatles-related names, and when Amanda asks them for instructions on how to get to comms, her request is immediately denied. Good thing too, as not everybody who lives on Sevastopol knows everything about the place.

After a somewhat tense elevator ride featuring talk about monsters, we finally make it to yet another level. I immediately notice a pair of guys with shotguns in their hand, and that's when it starts to click in my head that something is really not right. Axel opens up a wall vent, and we all climb through, reaching what he says has been his home for a week. It resembles a bunker, and in the corner, I see a touchscreen monitor that is still working. It is playing what appears to be banjo music, which those who know me know that I absolutely love, and when Axel mentions the flashlights, we pick them up. They are earmounted, and look like earphones, but only they have a built-in microphone aswell as a flashlight. The batteries are replaceable, and as luck would have it, there are a few battery packs lying around, so I pick them up. Axel then opens up another vent, and we climb through.

And that's when shit starts to hit the fan.

We catch some of what our pals are saying, not wanting to make ourselves heard. Their shotguns will kill with just one hit, and upon leaving the vent, Axel lets us know that there is another one but that he can't find it.

'We'll go look for the fucking thing.' I say as Amanda and I turn our flashlights on.

This part of the station – what I'm guessing is part of the cargo area – looks like Axel has used it quite a few times. It takes a bit of time, but we are finally able to locate the vent which has been painted as if it were a door in ancient Egypt when King Herod wanted all of the firstborn males to be killed and those who wanted to be saved had to paint a red mark over their door using the blood of a lamb. That ended up being proven to be bullshit, and when Axel walked over, he opened the vent.

'That's about ten vents since we got ashore.' I sigh as I start crawling.

'You got a problem with that?' Axel asks as he leads the way.

'No, but it is predictable.' I sigh as we finally come close to the exit.

The exit opens up, and we all spill out. Amanda's ankle looks like it is on the mend, and when we come across an open doorway, Axel motions for us to crouch down.

'There's too many to take on.' Axel whispers as he looks around.

'Take on?' Amanda asks out of confusion.

'If the generator went down, they'd have to check it out.' Axel replies as he keeps his voice down. 'You're smaller than us, so you'll make less noise.'

I shoot a look at Amanda, and nod as she makes her way over to the generator. There are three guys and a girl, and I know for a fact that we'll be dead if they see us. Seconds later, the generator "mysteriously dies", and that's when we make our move.

'Nice work there, Rip.' I beam as I pat Amanda's shoulder.

'Should keep them occupied for a while.' Amanda replies happily.

We then enter a room that has a pair of consoles. Both of them are powered down, and my motion tracker is picking up some rather suspicious activity coming from behind and seemingly from a high-up wall vent.

'Assholes have cut us off!' Axel sighs as he looks at the door-side console. 'You'll both have to go to the one on the other side.'

Amanda and I obey the order.

'One of you will have to press the button at the same time as me.' Axel mentions as we get into position. 'One… two… three.'

I press the button, and immediately, the door opens. Axel is grabbed from behind, and Amanda and I start running.

'You bums think you can take what you want?' The man asks Axel as they fight.

'GET THE FUCK OFF ME!' Axel screams back.

Amanda whacks the man in the spine. The man keels over, and Axel lands a shot in his head, killing him. That attracts our pals, and when they spot us, we are forced to run.

'You killed that guy!' Amanda cries as she looks at Axel.

'Because he was going to kill me!' Axel not-so-silently whispers. 'You and Carter saved my life.'

At that moment, I can hear chains being rustled. Axel walks backwards, and immediately, drool starts dripping onto his arm.

'The fuck have I got on me?' Axel asks as he becomes worried.

Seconds later, a sharp object pierces through Axel's stomach. He screams in agony, although it is short-lived, as he is dragged into the vent.

'We need to keep moving.' Amanda pants as we start to make our way to the transit station.

I pull out my flamethrower, and immediately notice a xenomorph crouching down about the transit car slot. I shoot some bursts of fire at it, and it immediately flees. It is just one of the eight xenomorphs, and I have a feeling that we might be meeting up with the others soon. I press the button to call for the transit car, and upon noticing that company was again headed our way, I motion for Amanda to crouch down behind the crate, whilst I stay out in the open, eagerly waiting to serve some more fire to xenomorph faces.

'Transit car here yet?' I ask Amanda as I remain on xenomorph watch.

'Not yet.' Amanda replies as she starts to get worried.

By that point, it has been almost a minute since I pressed the button. I swear to God that Waits is gonna be in even more trouble when I meet him, and as luck would have it, there is an android nearby. I keep my focus on the vent whilst walking over, and upon seeing the android, I access its mainframe, and program it so that it turns violent when it sees Waits. Only one person will be spared during the frenzy, and his name is Ricardo, as he is a decent guy, and I want him to return home to his family.

The transit car arrives seconds later, and Amanda and I make our way in. I walk over to the console, and order the car to send us to the systech spire. Seconds later, the door closes, right as a xenomorph proceeds to jump down from the vent.

'We got lucky just then.' Amanda smiles as she sits down.

'Those bastards are fucking lethal.' I sigh as I do the same thing. 'If you're lucky, they'll just flat-out kill you, but that doesn't always happen, as they take survivors, imprison them using resin, place an egg in front of them, facehugger attacks, ribcage gone. What's even worse, is that they can turn viable tissue into more eggs.'

'Shit!' Amanda cussed as we went under a speedbump.

'Shit doesn't cover it, as I'm no theist, but if a devil existed, those bastards are his work.' I reply as I hold onto the rail.

Amanda nods in agreement. I can see she is still worried, as even a smile can't hide the fact that we are now in deep shit. There are monitors inside the car, tuned into Shit TV, and my bag is right in front of me. Amanda has one aswell, and when we finally arrive at the systech spire, the transit car door opens, and we make our way out. I immediately notice a power unit, and upon walking over, I touch the screen, and redirect the power to the unstable system. Amanda takes care of the door that's behind us, and as if by luck, the dead guy that's right there is carrying a medikit. She puts it into her bag, and she walks over.

'If we head up to the lobby area, we might be able to find a route that will take us to comms.' I announce as I shoot a look at Amanda. 'How's your ankle?'

'Sore but not making me limp.' Amanda replies as we start walking. 'Your head?'

'Better, although the rest of my body is a little sore from all the falls we've had.' I admit as we make our way up the flight of stairs.

The lobby area is through the large door and to the left. Amanda walks through first, with me covering in case our friend decides to pop up. When it does, I shoot a few bursts of fire at it.

'Work damn you!' A female voice says as we enter the lobby.

At that moment, the xenomorph runs off. Amanda and I walk over to the seating area, and the female notices us, warns us to stay back, and starts shooting at us. We narrowly escape, but unfortunately, it brings some unwanted attention, as the woman runs up a flight of stairs, to alert her companions of our presence.

'Go… now!' I whisper as Amanda starts to make her way over to the elevator.

Amanda creeps over to the elevator, and picks up an access tuner. It is the only old-school piece of tech on the station, as some areas still require a fair bit of hacking. She then creeps back over, and we make our way up the stairs.

'Give me a flare.' I order once we are at the top of the stairs.

Amanda passes me a flare, and upon activating it, I throw it away from the direction that we have to go in. Unfortunately, it also attracts some of the xenomorphs, and we end up having to hide as we wait for them to pass. When they finally do, we make our move, and head towards a stairwell. We make our way down, and upon reaching the desired level, we make our way over to the control room, and Amanda picks up both a gun and a keycard.

'Something tells me we're gonna set off some alarms here.' I sigh as I look around.

I just know that something is going to happen, and when Amanda uses the keycard, we enter what is obviously some sort of computer lab. It is pretty state-of-the-art, and I take a look around.

'Looks like this guy's had a bad time.' I announce, catching Amanda by surprise.

Amanda walks over, and upon taking a look at the dead guy in the chair, says the exact phrase that is on my mind. We both walk over, and surprise surprise, there are more blueprints. I pick them up – three in total now – and we both make our way over to the safe room. Amanda walks in first, her eyes full of hope when she sees the flight recorder. She presses a few buttons, and if surprise-to-anger had a look, her face would be it, as she throws the flight recorder like there's no tomorrow.

And the alarm goes off.

The whole place is in lockdown. Amanda freaks out, and it is then that I notice that there is a data cell behind some of the secure units. I move them out of the way, and upon taking the access tuner, I insert the new data cell.

'One working access tuner.' I sigh as Amanda tries to figure out what's going on.

Amanda looks up at me, and we head back over to the door. It is now a hacking job, and upon tuning in, I click on the symbols that match the hacking code, and I open the door. We are now somewhat free, although upon leaving the control room, we notice that the entire area is in lockdown.

'Looks like we've got to disable security lockdown.' Amanda sighs as she looks at me.

'Pretty easy job.' I reply with a look of determination on my face.

And with that, we make our way down the corridor. There's another computer lab to the right, and upon hacking the door, I let us both in. We gather whatever craft items we can find, and I manage to locate a console that looks like it is still working.

'Watch the vent.' I order as Amanda stands right next to me.

Amanda nods, and I press a few buttons, disabling the lockdown. Immediately, a xenomorph jumps out of the vent, causing us both to duck behind the desk. Its tail is huge, and when it finally leaves the room, we make our move. I get out my tracker, and mentally pray to the cosmos as we try to keep as quiet as possible whilst making our way back to the stairwell, knowing that we are vulnerable even with all of my weapons.

We make our way up the stairwell without any hitches, and Amanda hacks the door that leads back into the lobby. At first, it is relatively quiet, but then we hear gunshots and screeching, and it is then that I realise that there is a party going on down below.

'Looks like they're having fun down there.' Amanda sighs as she keeps hold of her new gun.

I nod, and we make our way over to the rail. My body immediately freezes, as I see eight xenomorphs and four dead bodies.

'I think we're in trouble.' I whisper as I get my flamethrower out for the third time.

Amanda takes a look, and sure enough, her body also freezes. We then start moving; staying still will just put us at risk of being killed, and when the xenomorphs all fuck, we head down the stairs, and I hack the elevator. Doors open seconds later, and we make our way in. I press the button, and the doors close again, taking us up.

'I really hope that we don't run into more trouble.' Amanda sighs as we stand still.

'Oh we will.' I reply sadly.

The door then opens, and we walk over to the control room. It is locked from the outside, but there is a working joe in there. Its eyes are red, and it just stands there, watching us as if it wants to kill us.

And it does want to kill us.

We make our way down the steps, and head into a very long and very dark corridor. There are floodlights, but they seem to either be on the fritz or completely dead. We continue walking, though, and I spot another joe. It's eyes are also red, and without a second thought, I pull out my shotgun.

And that's when the weapons issues start.

My shotgun jams, rendering it unusable. I shoot a look at Amanda, and we both immediately come to the conclusion that we are either going to either kill or be killed. We decide to kill, and we run straight for the joe, ambushing it before it can even turn around.

'We need to get out of here!' I announce as my motion tracker suddenly beeps.

We are royally fucked, as the joe is merely stunned instead of killed. Fortunately, there is a door up ahead, so we make our way over as fast as possible. That's when I notice that there is another motion tracker on the table, and I motion for Amanda to pick it up. Unfortunately, it's already given up the ghost, as even though it still works, the picture is incredibly fuzzy, and it keeps spazzing out. I then notice a terminal, and upon seeing that it is in just as bad a condition as the tracker, I kick it with my steel-toecapped right boot, bringing it back to life.

'Maybe this will give us door access.' Amanda says as she looks through the folders.

I nod as I keep on lookout, and sure enough, Amanda finds the right folder. She clicks on "select", and within seconds, the door opens. However, it is only open for about a second, before it comes crashing back down.

'SHIT!' I cuss as I jump.

Whilst jumping, I manage to fall over. Amanda helps me up, and we set about looking for an alternative route. It's then that I remember that there a elevator in the transit station, so we make a run for it.

'Are you sure this will lead to comms?' Amanda asks me once we are back in the lobby.

'No, but I do feel lucky.' I reply with a smile. 'Thanks for helping me up, by the way. Saved me from breaking something that I didn't want to break.'

Amanda nods with a smile, and we make our way over to the elevator. I press the button, and sure enough, it takes us to comms.

'Gonna have to blow the door up.' I announce out of nowhere. 'Give me that pipe bomb that's over there.'

Amanda walks over to the dead body that is lying on the ground, and picks up the pipe bomb. She carefully hands it to me, and once we are a safe distance away, I throw the pipe bomb, causing the door to burst open. Its shockwaves also cause the door downstairs to fall onto the floor, and we immediately have to run for cover, as the sound has attracted the xenomorphs. I hurriedly get out my flamethrower, and we back up onto another flight of stairs.

'You are entering a restricted area! Please leave!' The joe in the control room says to us as it sits at the desk.

I look up, and give the joe the middle finger right as it tells us that we have been logged with Sevastopol.

'There's gotta be another way in.' Amanda sighs as she shakes her head.

I immediately place my hand over Amanda's mouth, as there are still xenomorphs walking around. We wait for them to enter the vent, before going about the task that is now at hand. However, our task is temporarily thrown off course, when I remember that there is a small hallway that has a door which has been locked with a rig. Amanda hands me the maintenance jack, and I make my way over to the door, open it, run in, pick up what's needed, run to the other door, pull the lever, run out, and run over to the door that needs to be hacked. It is a different type of hacking job, as it involves precision. Fortunately, I have that on my side, so I am able to hack the door on the first attempt.

Right as I hear footsteps.

Amanda taps me on the shoulder, and I shoot some more bursts of fire at the two xenomorphs that seem to have returned. I manage to scare them off, and I follow Amanda into the small room, where there is another vent. We proceed to enter said vent, and we immediately watch as the joe is confronted by a guy whose surname is Hughes.

'Good day.' The joe says after killing Hughes.

I recoil in horror, and with Amanda leading, I make my way out of the vent. The security cameras are on, but as luck would have it, I hear a power unit nearby. I make my way through the door, and upon accessing the power unit, I turn the camera feed off, so as not to attract company of any kind. Amanda presses the button to call the elevator, and when it arrives, she calls for me.

'Hmmmm.' A joe says from up above.

I bolt the fuck out of there, and dash into the elevator, right as both joes make their way out.

'This could require my attention.' The first joe announces as it starts walking towards us.

Amanda hits the button, and the elevator door closes. I sit down, examining my hands which seem to be okay despite a few areas looking blistered.

'Thanks for saving my ass just then.' Amanda smiles as she crouches down in front of me.

'Heard them coming, and I knew I had to act. Gonna need to get my shotgun out soon, as there might be joes there, and we don't want to risk being killed by them.' I reply as I look at my hands. 'Flamethrowers always do this, as they get quite hot, and even though mine automatically refills, it still packs a punch.'

'Like I noticed.' Amanda smiles as she takes hold of my hand.

'When all of this is over, we can go for a drink somewhere.' I add as the elevator starts to slow down.

'Whiskey and coke.' Amanda happily replies.

Before I can say anything, the door opens. We are now in comms, and I notice a door leading to a stairwell that will take us to the upper unit. Amanda walks next to me, and upon reaching the upper unit, we make our way over to the terminal, and I try my luck with it, only to find that only internal communications are online.

'That's just great.' Amanda whisper-sighs as she scratches her head.

'Looks like we're gonna be here for quite a while longer.' I sigh as I start walking.

Amanda nods, and we make our way downstairs. There is a corridor over to the right in the large comms unit, but there is also a joe-sized problem. Fortunately, there is a floor vent there, and we decide to make good use of it. It is somewhat larger than the other one, but that's a bonus, and it has doors on the side, allowing for easy exit where and when need be.

Little do I know, trouble is about to go down big-time.

We make our way out of the vent, managing to avoid detection. I pull out my shotgun just to be on he safe side, and when the joe does finally notice me, I pull the trigger. It still comes my way, so I shoot more shells into it, until my shotgun finally runs out.

'Fucker still after us?' Amanda asks as we run through the corridor.

'Fuckers, yes.' I reply as more joes start to follow.

There are at least five of them, and when we finally enter a small room, I see one on the floor. It looks battered, so I jack it a few times in the neck, completely fucking up its internal systems. However, that alerts the joes, although thankfully, there are no xenomorphs to deal with in this area, as anti-xenomorph security measures have been put in place by a survivor whose ID name tag says that his name is Mike Tanaka. I sigh; he's likely dead by now, although the current problem is much more important, as we try to make our way over to where we hear Samuels speaking on repeat. It's a message of urgency, as it appears that he and Taylor managed to get ashore, although judging by his use of words, some rather nasty shit has happened.

'We need to lose them… NOW!' Amanda whisper-yells as she looks over her shoulder.

I pull out my bolt gun, and immediately start firing bolts into the joes. They only graze the joes, who by this point are right on our asses.

'THEY'RE NOT GOING DOWN!' I yell as I fire the last bolt.

'You're gonna have to get physical with them!' Amanda whisper-yells whilst walking into what looks like another computer lab.

Fortunately, I do have one last trick up my sleeve, as I have a noisemaker that I thankfully found enough items to craft during our unexpected detour when heading to comms. I throw it, and thankfully, the joes manage to divert their attention to the bloody thing, giving Amanda and myself enough time to walk over to the console and talk to Samuels.

'Samuels… you're alive… it's Ripley.' Amanda says as she looks at the screen.

'We thought we had lost you both.' Samuels replies as he looks up.

'Same here, pal.' I confirm with a sigh. 'Ran into a bit of trouble.'

'The Seegson androids are killing people.' Amanda chips in, catching Samuels by surprise.

'But that's contrary to synthetic programming.' Samuels protests, obviously having not seen what we've seen.

'We think Seegson has a different idea about programming.' Amanda replies as she lowers her tone. 'And there's something else here… alien organisms.'

'Alien organisms?' Samuels inquires, becoming confused.

'There are alien creatures here, Samuels.' I reply as I stand guard. 'They're big and they're lethal. You and Taylor need to find a safe place.'

'Taylor is hurt, guys.' Samuels protests as he looks away.

I become worried.

'How bad?' I ask Samuels, hoping for an okay answer.

'Pretty bad.' Samuels replies solemnly. 'We need medical supplies, or else the injury will kill her. I will send a transit car to you.'

So now we're on medical duties, which means that we have to run through comms again, use the elevator again, and hope that the cosmos doesn't give us any more shit to deal with.

'You've gotta be shitting me!' Amanda sighs as the alarm sounds.

I pick up the EMP blueprint, and we run out of the room. We have company, but because of the amount of adrenaline running through me, I manage to force them out of the way, making sure that they harm neither me nor Amanda.

But there is a surprise waiting for us.

A joe is standing in front of the elevator. Fortunately, there is a vent nearby, so we climb in, climb up the ladder, climb out on the upper level, run down the stairs, and get into the elevator without them looking.

'Shotgun and bolt gun are out of bullets.' I announce with a sigh as I sit back down.

'We must find a way to kill them.' Amanda mentions as she starts to walk around.

'There is one way, as I jacked that joe that was on the floor to death.' I reply as the elevator starts to slow down.

We reach the lower comms area about a minute later, and upon seeing the joes, we sprint into the corridor, make our way into the stairwell, and sprint down the stairs, praying to the cosmos that the xenomorphs will not hear us.

We are wrong.

The moment we leave the stairwell, a xenomorph comes running towards us, knocking over the joe. I shoot some bursts of fire at it, walking towards it as I do so, and when it fucks off, I turn my attention to the one that is hovering above the vent, shooting a burst of fire directly into its face.

'YOU DON'T LIKE THAT NOW, DO YA?' I yell as the xenomorph runs away.

Amanda taps me on the shoulder, alerting me to the fact that the joe has stood up and is now walking towards us with the intent to kill. We immediately start running, playing dodge with at least two more joes as we head to the elevator that will take us back to the lobby. It's a pretty short ride, and upon re-entering the lobby, I elegantly jack the pretend-dead joe that is lying there waiting to internally decapitate me.

But it brings some unwanted attention.

Amanda and I both run out of the lobby, me shooting bursts of fire at the xenomorphs as they chase us like madmen. The transit car is already there for us, and upon making our entrance, the doors close, and we head off to the medical tower.

'Did anybody ever tell you that you look like an old bluegrass musician?' Amanda asks me as I sit down next to her.

'Never.' I admit with a smile. 'Who did you have in mind?'

'A guy called Stephen Lind.' Amanda replies as she examines her gun. 'His nickname was Sammy, and he died in the 2050s. You look and sound exactly like him.'

I take that as a compliment.

'You, however, are even better, and the fact that you've saved my ass about a hundred times since we got here just goes to show that.' Amanda happily adds.

Before I can reply, we reach the medical tower. Its official name is San Christabel, although some call it scimed. The door opens, and we walk over to Samuels, who is standing there waiting for us.

'Good to see that you finally made it.' Samuels says to us as we all walk over to where Taylor is lying.

'How is she?' Amanda asks, wanting to know the answer.

'She's getting worse.' Samuels admits as we all crouch down.

Taylor asks about us, but Samuels tells her to rest, and that we are going to find help.

'What if these creatures show up?' Samuels asks as he looks up at me.

Amanda wants to tell them to hide, but I have a better idea, so I give Samuels my flamethrower. Amanda shoots a worried look at me, but I let her know that there's always one to be found in the hospital area. Besides, Samuels and Taylor are far more vulnerable than we are, and we say goodbye to them.

'Are you sure there's gonna be one there?' Amanda asks me as we head towards the upper medical floor.

'There should be.' I reply, hopeful.

Little do we know, we're out of luck. My stun baton is going to be useless against the xenomorphs, and my gun will just attract them if I pull the trigger. I send a quick message to Samuels, letting him know that I will need the flamethrower back once we have returned with supplies.

'Hello.' A voice says, catching us by surprise.

'Ripley and Carter here, and we need a doctor.' Amanda replies as she looks around.

'Then get into the elevator!' The voice replies in a somewhat frantic tone. 'There's no time to lose!'

As if our day can't get any worse, the elevator cuts out.

'We're going to have to go the long way, sir!' I announce as I walk over to the control room.

'You haven't got much time!' The voice replies as the person owning it becomes even more frantic.

I throw a chair against the glass, breaking it completely. There is a keycard there, and without cutting myself, I manage to climb in, and retrieve it. Amanda holds my motion tracker, and when she sees a dot appear on the other side of the door that's behind me, she motions for me to jump out. I immediately do so, and walk back over to the elevator, which has a keycard slot.

'Elevator going down.' The female voice announces as the doors close.

'What was behind that door?' I ask Amanda as I adjust my bag.

'Not sure, but I think it might've been one of them.' Amanda replies as she hands my motion tracker back to me.

We arrive at the room where the service vent is, and I search for the flamethrower. To my dismay, there isn't one, which means that we have to come up with another plan that doesn't involve distracting xenomorphs.

'If you need a flamethrower, it's up here.' The voice says as we climb into the vent. 'Am closing the vent behind both of you, just to be safe.'

And now we are unfucked, as we are about to meet Dr Kuhlmann, and he has got a flamethrower waiting for us. We drop into the psych ward with a thud, and after regaining balance, Amanda leads me up the small flight of stairs, and into the waiting room. I immediately see the flamethrower, and I pick it up, knowing that it has enough fuel to see us through scimed.

'I'm Kuhlmann.' Kuhlmann says to us from behind a pane of glass.

'I'm Paul Carter, and this is Amanda Ripley.' I reply as I walk over. 'Our colleague is injured, and we need a doctor.'

'I'm a doctor.' Kuhlmann replies with a cough.

I can tell he's been "using", as he has those eyes on him. He is also hyperventilating, and when he tells us that we must go and find a keycard from some fuck whose surname is Morley, I can't help but silently curse, as it means that we are going to be vulnerable, and if the xenomorphs decide to pay a visit, we'll be on our own.

And that's exactly what we have waiting for us.

I press the override button on the door, and Amanda leads the way. The wall-mounted monitors are completely broken save for a few sparks of electricity, and from what we can see, there are at least three dead bodies. I also see a few dead facehuggers, and upon locating Morley's office, Amanda hacks the door, and we both walk in. I log into the terminal, and look for the passcode which is seventeen-zero-two (the previous one being zero-three-four-zero).

'We've found the passcode, Kuhlmann.' I announce via microphone.

'We'll need the physical keycard too. Find it.' Kuhlmann orders as red warning lights come on.

At that moment, we start to panic. We're not alone in this area, and upon walking out of the room, we get into a crouching position. We slowly but surely creep our way over to one of the beds, and I pull Amanda underneath as a xenomorph proceeds to drop down from the vent.

'This seems to be a very small area, so we need to be extra careful.' I whisper as I grab Amanda's arm.

'Copy that.' Amanda whispers back.

The day room has been blasted to kingdom come, so we know that we are unable to go through there. I know that this means trouble, and when another xenomorph drops down nearby, I immediately see red.

We're in trouble.

The first xenomorph starts walking, and when it gets to a safe distance, I creep out from under the bed, and immediately creep over to the nearest doorway. Amanda follows, and we slowly start to make our way towards where the day room should be, careful so as not to alert the xenomorphs to our presence. I keep my motion tracker out, and when it beeps, I quickly make my way over to a nearby "shelter" which looks like it has been just recently deserted.

'I think there's one right here.' Amanda whispers as she cowers under a bed on the other side of the hallway.

I don't need to check my motion tracker; there is a xenomorph walking around nearby. It hisses, and its friend hisses in reply, signalling that both of them know something is here with them. Seconds later, a third one enters from stage left. I take a look through a hole in the side of the "shelter", and see that the third xenomorph is right in front of the door that we need to use.

'I'm gonna have to throw something.' I signal as I pick up a discarded sheet of metal.

Amanda nods, and I throw the piece of metal down the hallway right behind me. It is located next to the short-term psychiatric ward, and the xenomorphs capitalize on it, giving myself and Amanda enough time to creep over to the door and enter the passcode. Once the door opens, we both creep in, and I press the emergency override button, buying us some more time before the xenomorphs realise that we have magically vanished into thin air. I know it won't be for long, though, as these bastards are pretty fucking clever, and they will soon start to sense that we are still around. I press the emergency override once again, right as one of them spots us. Amanda freezes, and I grab hold of the flamethrower, before we run down a small corridor that has a room to the right, complete with a few tables and another blueprint. We immediately crouch under the tables, right as the xenomorphs jump down from the vent and start running towards us. I slowly make my way out from under the table, and shoot some bursts of fire, making them all back off, before running down the corridor again, and entering the long-term psychiatric unit. Amanda quietly followed me, and we crept around, scanning every room. There were a few gates up, although they were part of the psychiatric intensive care unit, which was closed-off from the rest of the floor and only accessible using fingerprint detection.

'Shit!' Amanda cusses out loud.

I turn around, and see a xenomorph crawling out from a wall vent. It is one of the more mature ones, and I shoot bursts of fire at it. It immediately crawls back into the vent, but not before the others come rushing in, forcing us to back into one of the rooms and press the emergency override button to lock the door so that they can't come in.

And as luck would have it, there is a dead body in the room.

I rummage through it's pockets, and smile upon locating the needed keycard. I also locate a power station, and upon activating the emergency alarm, I open the door, and Amanda and I both run out. We make our way towards the door leading from the long-term unit to the waiting area, and I unlock it, allowing us to get through without causing any trouble. We then make our way back into the seated area, and over to the control room.

'DAMN YOU KUHLMANN! YOU KNEW THOSE THINGS WERE HERE!' Amanda yells as she looks at Kuhlmann.

'Now that's unfair! I thought they might be there! There's a difference! Give me the passcode!' Kuhlmann whisper-yells as he magically regains his energy.

'Seventeen-zero-two!' I not-so-quietly reply. 'Now, get us down to the dispensary, or else I'm gonna light a flare and shove it right up your ass!'

Without hesitation, Kuhlmann walks into the other room. We somewhat follow him, and we watch as he punches in the passcode. He thinks he's coming with us, but as soon as I see a dot appear behind the door, I smile, as he's fucked beyond repair. He then makes his way to said door, and upon the door opening, he is grabbed by one of the xenomorphs.

'We need to get out of here before they detect that we're still here.' I say to Amanda as we make our way towards the lift.

Amanda nods, and I insert the keycard, before pressing the button. I feel a sense of relief wash over me, knowing that I have just managed to fend off a few of the xenomorphs. However, our troubles are not over, as there's noise in the vents above us, meaning that they are following us.

We arrive at the morgue about a minute later. I can tell that's what it is, as the lovely smell of decaying corpses is in the air.

'Looks like shit has gone down here.' Amanda whispers as we make our way to the middle door.

'Enough for someone to jam a stun baton into the door.' I mention with a wink.

Amanda grabs the stun baton, and yanks it out, forcing the door to reopen. The room is obviously a control room, and on both sides are what appear to be room-sized freezers that each have two coolant tanks assigned to them.

'One of the tanks is missing.' Amanda announces as she gets to work.

I curse in my head, as that means that one of us is going to have to go and locate the missing coolant tank. I know it will be me, so I look in both rooms. As luck would have it, the one on the left has what appears to be a spare coolant tank, so I motion to Amanda, and she motions for me to come through with it. However, my plans are thwarted, when a joe appears out of nowhere. I run through, melee the joe with the coolant tank (bursting said coolant tank), and immediately attract some company of the xenomorph kind. I let them know who is boss around here, and upon seeing that the coolant tank is fucked, I hack into the terminal, and find a backdoor that allows me to get into the room on the right. I immediately activate it, and upon locating another power station, I open it up, and redirect the power to the vent. Amanda is busy rewiring her motion tracker, bringing it back online so that it can help cover both of our asses in the motion department. I then motion for her to follow me, and we make our way over to the vent. It's another one with a ladder inside, and it doesn't help that there is a junction right above the ladder, meaning that we could be being watched.

Fortunately, that is not the case.

But unfortunately, that does mean jumping out of the vent again. I am in front of Amanda, who I can see is watching over her shoulder. We then make the drop, and I moan slightly as I force myself up.

'Never thought I'd have to do that more than once.' I moan as I grab onto the nearest grabbable object.

'Did you have to do it on Pandora?' Amanda inquires out of curiosity.

'Quite a few times, but not like that.' I moan as I regain my composure. 'How are you holding up?'

'Motion tracker is somewhat working again.' Amanda replies as she crouches down. 'We're not alone.'

'Well I know that, as mine's been showing at least a hundred dots all over the place.' I add as I follow suit.

At that moment, I hear an explosion. My instinct is to go and check it out, but I know for a fact that there might be company, so I wait it out.

'What do you think that was?' Amanda asks me, becoming worried.

'I don't know, but it sounds close by.' I confirm with a sigh.

And that's the truth. Once all forms of activity have somewhat died down, we make our move.

'Looks like we won't need a fucking keycard.' I sigh as we enter what is obviously the general medical area. 'Gone to hell, though, and we're more vulnerable than we think we are… oh fuck, there's humans here too. Not friendly from what I can guess.'

'How can you tell?' Amanda asks out of curiosity.

'Their tone of voice, as they're fixated on survival. Sadly for them, a few of our friends have decided to drop down, so they're gonna be fucked.' I reply right as a joe starts to come alive. It is a hazmat joe, from what I can tell, and it is harder to melee-kill than the other joes. Fortunately, there's a live wire at joe-face-level, and I shake my head as it unknowingly walks into it, bursting into flames and then dying like a complete and utter tit.

'At least we know that the joes are also fucking stupid.' I sigh with a giggle.

'Maybe we should use that to our advantage.' Amanda mentions as a xenomorph drops down.

I pull Amanda underneath a bed. One of the humans notices us, and runs our way, attracting the xenomorph. I count to three in my head, and we immediately make a run for it, not caring that the xenomorph is chasing us. We eventually manage to break its line of sight, and I let out a sigh of relief when we see that the operating theater is nearby.

'The meds that Taylor needs should be in there.' I whisper as the xenomorph continues to walk around.

At that second, another gunshot is heard, and the xenomorph runs off, causing some of the machines to fall over and completely break. I creep over to the theater entrance, and upon giving the door a good kick, I manage to open it, and Amanda follows as I walk in. She grabs the box of meds, which is pretty large given the circumstances, and we both hide behind some cabinets. It is one of those theaters that has an automated surgery table, which is going to come in handy for both myself and Amanda later on (no spoilers, but we're gonna run into some deep shit that almost ends our lives).

'We need to move.' Amanda whispers into my ear, catching me by surprise.

I heed Amanda's warning, and we make our move.

'The hospital exit has been blocked off. You need to find a way to open it back up.' Samuels says through internal comms.

'How are you holding up on your end?' Amanda asks out of curiosity.

'We've had to build a shelter, as we've heard gunshots. They will alert the creatures, so be careful out there.' Samuels mentions with a sigh.

'We know.' Amanda sighs as she shoots a look at me.

We continue making our way down the corridor. There is a large room at the end, with a floor-to-ceiling window that shows part of the gas giant and the parent star. I'm guessing that it must be the medical version of a server farm, as a closer look reveals two generators. I motion for Amanda to go to the one on the right, whilst I go to the one on the left. On the count of three, we both press the buttons. Repeat the process twice more, and the central hub comes online. I see a joe walk out from stasis, and without a second thought, I run over, and initiate full on melee mode on the fucker, killing it before it sees Amanda. I then hack into the terminal, and open all doors.

Chase sequence is initiated.

Amanda and I run through the hospital as fast as we can, dodging human survivors and throwing objects to distract the xenomorphs. Upon finally entering what appears to be a waiting room, we are hit using remote charges, but it doesn't stop us from salmon-laddering up into the ceiling vent. Neither Amanda nor I mind, as all we are thinking about aside from trying not to get killed by xenomorphs is trying not to fall into a literal lake of fire. We succeed, making it into the vent with only a few temporary sore spots from having to heave ourselves up using our arms. We then crawl through the vent, flaming more than a few xenomorphs as they decide to pay us a visit.