Vir Vaughn

-The Beginning-

It is said that every great journey begins with a single step. For one man this is that step. What follows is the first couple hours of his story. One that began some years ago, when he was involved in the Vir project. He now finds himself stationed on a remote desert planet, a place were things will happen to set in motion a series of events that will reshape his life forever...

Chapter 1: And came the Hero…

He was about a mile from the outpost when he tried to radio back to base. He couldn't get a signal, but he wasn't that surprised. For the last couple of days communications with the outpost had been down. They had said that it must have been some kind of electrical interference in the area. Possibly the one that had made their radar detect a ship that wasn't there. After all, that was about the same time that they lost contact with the outpost a day ago. Under normal circumstances a drop ship full of USCM (United States Colonial Marines) would have been at the outpost within an hour of losing contact, but these were not normal circumstances.

This was a tiny planet, almost devoid of life and on the fringes of known space. Most of the personnel at the base were scientists and researchers. There were a couple of mercenaries there to make sure everything was being done in Weyland Yutani's best interest also. Most of the mercs were at the outpost. Rotating into the base every little while. This was an important mission, but scouting of the area previous to the missions launch had shone no threats to be apparent. So very few soldiers were sent, a handful of marines and him. The mercenaries were there primarily to watch the others. They didn't like the marines, and the feeling was mutual. They weren't exactly cooperative in most of their intrusions at the base, not that his own men were fine gentlemen, but they didn't give the scientists a hard time.

His dislike of the mercs faded from his mind as he approached their outpost. As he came up over a ridge in his jeep, it was apparent that this situation had nothing to do with an electrical interference. As he drove closer to the bunker-like building, he noticed large burn marks on the walls, bodies lay strewn about on the sandy ground. He stopped and got out. Crouching down next to one of the mangled corpses.

"Looks like he was blown apart" he said as he further examined the corpse.

"But I dunno no nade that would do this".

The wound on what was left of the man's chest was burnt to a crisp. He stood back up and leaned into the vehicle and tried to radio the base again.

"Base, this is Vaughn, copy, over" he waited a few seconds until he tried again "Base, this is Vaughn, do you copy? Over" nothing but static answered his call "Dammit"

He put the receiver back down and walked around to the back of his vehicle. Vaughn pulled the dark green cover aside and exposed the rack of guns mounted inside the back. He pulled off the pulse rifle and attached some ammo punches to his belt. He checked the pistol already at his side. Then the 12 inch long blade sheathed on the back of his belt, it wasn't regulation, but that was the point. He then set off towards the battered outpost. He reached the doors, which were already open, and stepped inside.

Chapter 2: The Outpost

The blazing desert sun drifting in from the open door was the only light in this place. The marine was standing in a small room, with a desk on one wall, and a set of doors on the other. Another body lied in here, this one slashed apart by some unknown blade.

He pushed threw the double doors and found himself in a large barracks.

"Jesus" Vaughn said to himself as he surveyed the room.

Beds lay a strewn about the room, flipped, some burning. Blood lined the walls and as did more burn marks. He stood, staring in horror at the worst thing of all, eight bodies, skinless and hanging upside down from the ceiling. He could feel their stench upon him, but he could not smell them. One of the downsides of being partially synthetic, but in this case, he was glad. The room was only lit by flickering ceiling lamps, most of which, used to hang the bodies from. He clicked on his shoulder lamp and walked forward. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Vaughn walked over to one of the flipped beds. He crouched to examine the small splatter of fluorescent green on the floor.

"What happened here?"

He stood back up and walked out the door on the far wall.

Soon he entered what appeared to be a dining hall. Tables were tipped over in what appeared to be an attempt at cover. Most of the tables had large burnt holes in them, with dead mercs on the other side. The synthetic man then noticed a bloody mess on the far wall, but couldn't make out what it was, or had been. He approached it, and to his horror, found it to be some sort of razor net. Some poor soul had been pinned up against the wall with it, and now there wasn't much left.

"I've never seen anything like this before"

Vaughn examined the net closer and could not determine what it was made of or who could have used it, but he know whatever it was, wasn't human.

He continued through the building trying to figure out what had happened.

"This just doesn't make sense. What could have done this? This isn't like those damn bugs, and they aren't supposed to be here anyway…"

The marine continued threw the kitchen, the rec room, and the showers, but found nothing but more death. He walked on until he heard a noise. He than rushed down a corridor to see a man, suspended about a foot off of the ground, and stuck to a wall. Vaughn recognized him as the mercenary commander. As he approached, the man gazed up at him.

"You… you damn…"

The man cut short and began sputtering up blood. He was holding his wound, which was also what was pinning him against the wall, a serrated spear. About a foot long stuck out of the man's chest.

"What the hell happened here!" Vaughn cried at the dieing man.

"mon… monsters… huge… monsters… they killed everyone… they… couldn't see them… but I did… they let me see them… and they laughed… they laughed and left me here to die…" he struggled to talk between coughing fits.

"How long ago... how long!" Vaughn shouted at the man, but he was already dead.

His head slumped down and the rest of his body went limp, and he just hung there.

Vaughn searched the few remaining rooms of the outpost. Finding no new clue as to what had happened here. Although, one thing did strike him as peculiar, all of the mercenaries were trained soldiers at one time or another, and now had made their living as soldiers of fortune. So how was it that all of them were dead? Without one enemy fatality? It just didn't make any sense. And what did that man mean by monsters? He thought that the merc commander had just been a delirious dying man, he had no idea how soon he would find out.

Chapter 3: Ambush

Vaughn stood beside his jeep, radio in hand.

"Dammit! Respond!"

He had been trying to contact the base for the last ten minutes. His orders were to investigate, and if something was wrong, to radio in and wait for backup. He couldn't radio in and whatever that had caused this mayhem was gone now. Not long gone, but gone nonetheless. He climbed back into the jeep and started it. The engine rumbled to life, but he quickly shut it back off. He looked upward out of the corner of his eye, trying not to give away his discovery, a large silhouette, humanoid in shape. At first he disregarded it as heat rising from the buildings roof, but then realized that that was not the case, when a small red light glared from towards the top of the shape.

Three red dots scanned across the hood of the jeep, but he didn't notice them, his eyes were now fixated on the figure, no longer trying to hide his interest. Vaughn was frozen with fear and confusion. All of his training and preparation meant nothing, every instinct told him to move... to attack but he couldn't. What happened after, Vaughn saw in slow motion. Still frozen to his seat. A blue light flared directly across from the red one, growing in size in a split second. He still looked on helplessly as the ball of light left its source at an amazing speed, streaking for its target. At the last second his body unfroze, and his mind kicked back in. He leaped from the vehicle through the open top. The ball struck the jeep while he was in mid air. The following explosion threw him far from the jeep like a rag doll.

Vaughn slammed into the ground with a force that would have seriously injured a normal man. Dazed and shaky, he got to his feet. He looked back to the burning jeep and then up to the roof top, he now saw nothing. The ammo left in the jeep started going off, first the bullets, then the grenades. He shielded himself from the explosions as they went up one after another. The man felt something behind him and turned, just in time to see a large fist come across the right side of his face. It had caught him off guard and the sheer force of it knocked him off of his feet and onto the ground. His head spun and he could feel the irony taste of blood in his mouth as he looked at the thing that hit him. He heard it laugh and heard the sound of blades extending.

"I'm not about to go out like this!"

He slid onto his side and kicked the creature's feet out from under it and it hit the ground with a loud thud. He could hear the surprised gasp it let out, clearly not anticipating the man's desperate attack. Vaughn quickly rose to his feet, as did his combatant. He stood waiting for its next move in awe. He studied it as it seemed to do to him. It was big, lanky, and muscular at the same time. It had small bits of armor placed about its body. The pieces were obviously not meant to be used together; all of them being different shapes and designs. Under the armor was a mesh that seemed to be made out of some kind of metal. A metal mask covered the creature's face. A small area on the right side of the mask, just above the eye, housed three red lights. A device on its left shoulder, now seemingly inactive, was what had fired the devastating projectile. Leathery dreadlocks hung from its head. Long slender blades stuck out from its right gauntlet, a predator. Vaughn reached for his pistol and pulled it out. The pred tapped the wrist comp on his left gauntlet. Vaughn kept the pistol trained on the predator's head as the eyes of the mask glimmered with each tap, and was followed by a "voum" sound, all the while ignoring the man's weapon. The predator showed a confused gesture at a few of the different vision modes.

"What's the matter? Not quite what you expected?"

Vaughn smirked as the pred cocked its head to the side and made a clicking sound. It hit the wrist comp one last time, and then focused in on the synthetic marine. It raised its wrist blades and Vaughn stepped back and braced himself for what he could only imagine, would be a fight to the death.

Chapter 4: Desert Battle

Vaughn leapt back as the predator slashed with it's deadly blades. Vaughn's pistol was straight out. He attempted to fire off a shot but, he had underestimated the length of the pred's wrist blades. The pistol was knocked from his hand and it shot in the air as the claws nipped the front of it. Startled, Vaughn stumbled back and looked at the predator. He couldn't see its face under the mask but can tell that it is amused by this. He knew that he probably didn't stand much of a chance at fighting it at close combat, but it was his only option since he had sat his pulse rifle in the jeep when he exited the outpost. He unclicked the latch holding his blade in place and slid it out of its sheath. Vaughn had been in many fights before, and had almost won them all, but never had he challenged an alien species. He hadn't even known of their existence until a few minutes ago. The predator seemed pleased and lunged forward, slicing back and forth, with both sides of the claws. Vaughn dodged three of the slashes, the fourth catching him across the stomach, but luckily only cutting his shirt. He followed with an attack of his own, a quick stab at the pred's chest, but it knocked him away with relative ease. Vaughn again stumbled back, again caught off guard. The predator thrust his wrist blades straight for the mans head, but he ducked, dashing in close to the predator. Vaughn brought his blade up in an uppercut, but was stopped short when the beast simply grabbed the man's arm and held it in mid swing. It's right arm came in and clubbed Vaughn in the back of his head with the under side of his gauntlet. Vaughn felt himself falling but was held up by the predator still holding onto his arm. He was looking down, trying to stop his head from spinning, when he saw the armored knee rushing up at him, it caught him in the forehead, sending him flying back as the pred let go of his arm. He hit the ground and rolled down a sandy dune. He laid on his back, feeling the heat beating down on him, a small trickle of blood rushed down his forehead, some of it clumped by sand. He felt the lack of weapon in his hand and scrambled for his knife that was close by. He arose to his feet just in time to see the predator coming over the dune. He decided that it would be better to not fight it on an incline, and waits cautiously. It reaches him as it picked up its pace to a trot. The predator is upon him faster than Vaughn anticipated and it bashed him backwards with a lowered shoulder. He struggled to keep his balance, and did. It again rushed him, this time he used its own momentum against it, and dove at its feet, tripping it to the ground, and getting trampled in the process. The predator landed on its stomach awkwardly, and Vaughn leapt onto its back. He grabbed a handful of its large dreadlocks and pulled its head back, attempting to slit its throat, but before he could get his blade across its neck, one of the pred's massive arms swung around as it flips over, launching him from it, and several feet away. He was stunned by this amazing display of strength and attempts to think of a new strategy, but he didn't have much time. The predator arose to his feet and now it didn't look as pleased with itself as before.

Chapter 5: Desperation

Vaughn and the predator slowly circled each other, each waiting for the other to attack. Vaughn wasn't winning this fight and both of them knew it. He had fought this alien with everything he had and it had only slowed the inevitable. If he could escape, he could heal himself. It wouldn't take long with the advanced level of technology powering him. He had been badly injured before, and it had healed him, but all he needed was time, and he didn't have that. He began to think of his options. One, keep fighting this beast and probably get killed, or two, attempt to run. The first didn't seem like much of an idea, so far, he had been beaten and battered. His enhanced cybernetic strength was no match for the predators own natural power. The second option was almost certain death, considering the fire power that the pred had already displayed. Before he could ponder his situation more, the predator struck. It dashed forward, slashing once across his chest, leaving two long, shallow cuts. He winced at the pain, but plunged his own blade strait forward and deep into the predator's stomach. It roared with pain as Vaughn pushed hard to break the leathery skin. Green blood gushed out through the wound as he pulled his knife back out. The predator seized Vaughn's surprise at his successful attack, and took the opportunity to head-butt its shorter combatant in the top of the head. The man once again lay on the ground and once again stumbled to his feet. The predator wasn't even holding the wound. Vaughn's head spun and his vision blurred from the previous attack. He saw the predator coming at him, and as it swung its mighty blades down upon him. He reacted through pure instinct and attempted to block them. When the two weapons met, the human steel was no match for the alien metal, and the knife was snapped like a twig. Vaughn again fell to the ground and felt himself begin to lose consciousness. He saw the predator closing in for the kill as the world faded to black.

DANGER, RELEASING COMBAT LOCK, ACTIVATING FULL SYSTEMS NOW… DANGER RELEASING COMBAT LOCK, ACTIVATING FULL SYSTEMS NOW... The words played over and over again in his head. He had no idea what was going on, and he feared that he was dead, and that this was purgatory, never going to heaven or hell after death because he was no longer natural. He than felt himself standing up. He slowly opened his eyes, and the predator was still there, still standing like when he had blacked out, and it became obvious that he was only out for a second or two. He could tell he was standing, but he couldn't feel his body. He looked down at his arms hanging limply, he couldn't move them or his legs but, he was standing none the less. While he was lost in the sheer confusion of what was happening, something in him snapped. The message stopped playing in his head, and was replaced by one that was said only once. FULL SYSTEM ACTIVATION COMPLETE, ALL COMBAT LOCKS ARE NOW DISSOLVED… He felt his body tingle as if it were asleep. His feeling came back to him as the predator stared on in curiosity. That was when he felt it, a voice inside of him, different than the first.

"Do it now! NOW's your chance you idiot!" it was his own voice.

Then he understood, this was his chance to attack. He knew that he had no weapons, but he had no other choice. He sprang forward towards the motionless predator. It still looked straight forward as if the man hadn't moved at all. Vaughn felt strange as he flew through the air, and he notice why. The pred really wasn't moving and he was moving at a very slow speed, like time had slowed down, and gravity had less of an effect on him. He could feel the pressure around him had changed. It felt like he was in water. The sounds that he could hear also sounded like those you would hear from under water. His vision blurred around the edges and an almost overwhelming calm swept over him. He struck the predator right under its mask, his outstretched elbow slamming into its neck. He could feel its tough skin bending under his attack. Then he kicked off of the predator and flew backwards, the imprint was still on its neck. He landed on his feet about ten feet away from the still unmoving pred. He felt a sudden heaviness, and it felt as if an invisible liquid had gushed out of his every pore. He dropped down to one knee from being so overwhelmed. He now felt normal, he could see normal again, and hear, mostly the sounds of a confused predator, grasping and choking for air, and holding its hands up to its throat. Vaughn stood and watched the predator gasping. There had been but a few moments between his desperation, and its. He approached the predator but, it swung its blades wildly as it tried to catch its breath. As it seemed to do so, he watched it, appearing to be thinking things over. Before he could strike again, it pulled out a small circular object with two curved blades sticking out from either side. Vaughn knew nothing of this, but was cautious at the new weapon. The pred threw it at Vaughn's feet, and he only had stepped back about another foot when it exploded.

When Vaughn came back to consciousness, the pred was gone; it obviously hadn't wanted to attack the man in his "sleep" again. Vaughn looked around, at his broken knife and broken pistol. Then he examined his torn clothing. His jeep was destroyed. He didn't know what had just happened, but he knew that he was very lucky. He set back towards the outpost, in hopes of finding another vehicle.

Chapter 6: Unlocked

Vaughn stumbled across the sand towards the battered outpost. His head spun and there was a ringing in his ears. The hot sun blazed like it never had before, the hottest day he could remember. He walked around the back of the outpost, towards the garage. The wide low door was open, and several hundred feet out from the base, was what was left of a jeep. Someone had tried to escape, and had failed.

He stepped inside of the dark garage; it took a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. When he could finally see again, he gazed around the room and found the only viable source of transportation was a small all terrain vehicle. Vaughn slumped down against a wall to rest, he was tired. He had to rest and give his wounds time to heal. After only a few minutes he examined himself, and was stunned to find that all of his wounds were healed. Never had his healing process been so fast. He didn't know why it had happened, but he thought it might have something to do with the voice he had heard in his head earlier, and the strange condition he was in shortly after. Vaughn had not questioned it until now, he had been losing, and then he had won, he was grateful. He recalled the events in his head, and he knew that the tide of the battle had been shifted in a split second.

Then it came to him, years ago, after his "accident" he was put into an experimental treatment program. The program had consisted of synthetic enhancement to replace his damaged tissue, and after he had healed, a series of tests that ended in "failure" according to the scientists. Vaughn didn't understand at the time, he had felt better than he ever had. He could jump higher, run faster, and hit harder than any person he had ever seen, but they still called him a failure. They said that the combat portion of the treatment was "locked" in some way, and they couldn't figure out how to "unlock" it. He thought that perhaps what had happened a short while ago was the "unlocking" they had spoke of. In any case, he thought that he should head back to the base.

Then it dawned on him, the base! Why hadn't he thought about it before? That creature was going to kill everyone there! And the merc commander had said "monsters" not monster, so there had to be more. Vaughn jumped to his feet and scrambled to the ATV. He was happy to find that the gas tank was full, the trip back would take less than that, but it was there if he needed it. The ATV barreled across the desert as the sun blazed in the sky, still hours away from setting.

Chapter 7: Home bloody home

The air blew by Vaughn's head as he raced towards the base, as fast as he was going, he was made only slightly cooler because of the intense heat. It was around six o clock, and on earth, that would mean that is was cooling down substantially, but this wasn't earth, and the days here had thirty two hours before the almost un-noticeable three hour night. This was the reason for an entire planet of desert. He came up over the final hill and was once again horrified by the sights of a disaster. The building was much in the same condition as the outpost, bodies lay about outside, and burn marks littered the area. But there was one difference here, he could still here the screams of men and women, and he could also hear the sounds of the predator's plasma weapon. This siege was not over.

The ATV didn't even have time to stop as the marine jumped from it and ran full tilt into the front doors of the base. More bodies lay around in the hallway in front of him, blood smeared the walls, and there appeared to be no survivors. Vaughn slowly and cautiously walked down the hall. He was startled by a gurgling noise from behind him, and quickly spun to see one of the head medical officers reaching desperately for him. He rushed to the man's side and started to care for his wounds, a gash on the side of his neck, and one of the predator's small spears through his left thigh. The officer dismissed his attempts with a wave of his hand. "Don't... bother" he said choking up a mouth full of blood. "But your hurt bad, I can fix you up, you just wait, I can..." Vaughn was cut off by the officer. " I'm the medic here kid... so don't tell me about fixing someone up." More blood. "You just get those things, okay kid?" "Your damn right I will, you just wait here, ill be back in a minute and..." But the officer had slumped down. Vaughn felt for a pulse and could find none. He rose to his feet and said a prayer under his breath for the man. He had never been a religious man, but he thought it couldn't hurt now.

He continued down the hallway, stepping around bodies, bodies of those that he had come to know in his time at the base. He stopped at the end of the hall as a girl's scream echoed through the base. He quickly reached down and picked up a pulse rifle that was lying beside a fallen marine, since he had foolishly forgotten to arm himself after his first encounter. Down the corridors he rushed as more screams echoed off of the white walls. Vaughn turned a corner and found himself in the cafeteria. He stopped suddenly at the sight that was before him. The scene was much like that of the cafeteria at the merc outpost, tables tuned over at a failed attempt at shielding, and more dead lined the walls. But there was one thing that set it horribly apart from the outpost. Right there, in the middle of the large room, was the predator. Facing the opposite direction from him. And in his hands, was the head of a young girl. Her body lying limply at his feet in a pool of blood.

Chapter 8: Retreat

Vaughn sat against the wall of the showering room, breathing heavily. He could hear the heavy footsteps of the predator walking outside of the room, up and down the hallways, searching for him. Every once in a while he could hear doors being kicked in, steel doors. His mind raced as he tried desperately to think of something to do, anything.

Just minutes before he had been in command, he was the one that held the predator's fate, not the other way around. He had stood behind it, staring in horror. But then he realized his the opportunity before him, there was a predator standing with his back to him, and he had a loaded pulse rifle aimed at it... loaded? He had been in too much of a panic to check the ammo of the gun, and that had been a near fatal mistake. The predator spun around, dropping the severed head. Vaughn noticed a wound on the monster's side, a knife wound. The predator also immediately noticed his former combatant. Vaughn pulled the trigger of the weapon in his hand, and squeezed off three rounds before it stopped firing. All of which sparked off of the metal shoulder pad of the predator. At first the pred seemed shocked, and then very amused as Vaughn struggled with the weapon. But he couldn't get any more shots off, and it was his own fault for not checking the ammo. In the few seconds afterwards he had tried to once again bring forth the feeling of calm and weightlessness, but he hadn't known how he had done it before, and could not do it now. So he took the only option available to him, he ran. He was good at it too, most synthetics are very strong and very slow, but he wasn't most synthetics, and he was very fast as well as strong. He rushed down the halls as fast as he could. But for the predator's size, he was also very quick. Vaughn had run into this shower room, hoping to buy himself some time, but he had made another mistake, he had run into a dead end. The hallway had five rooms in it, and the shower was at the end.

Vaughn sat, listening to the sounds of the doors being kicked in, two, three, four... there was only one door left, and he sat in the room it opened into. He looked around, searching for something to use as a weapon, but unless he wanted to soap the predator to death, then he was on his own.

The predator laughed to himself as he approached the final door, he had seen the man run into this hallway, and he had checked the other rooms here, there was only one place the ooman could be, and it was time to take a trophy.

Vaughn heard a laugh from the other side of the door and franticly tried to think of how he had done the impossible before. Suddenly the door buckled with a loud thud. The synthetic man desperately tried to think, but the door came flying in and bounced off of on pillar that he was hiding behind. The predator took his sweet time in searching the room; he walked slowly towards the fist of three pillars in the room, then suddenly a blur whizzed by him. He stood, still looking at the pillar, knowing that he had seen something, but not quite sure what it had been. Then he heard a sound behind him, and spun to see the ooman standing in front of the doorway, with his own ceremonial dagger in hand. The predator reached for his dagger, but found only the sheath. A roar of rage escaped the monster's throat. Vaughn stood, dagger in hand, pleased that he had figured out the secret to his strange power. The predator charged him as it's serrated claws jutted form their gauntlet sheath.

Chapter 9: Death dual

As the man and monster clashed, Vaughn was surprised to find that he could keep up, in both strength and speed, were as in their previous fight he had not been able to. Perhaps the "unlocking" had given him more than just his amazing time slowing power, but enhanced abilities all around. (And it occurred to him later that that was the reason for his enhanced healing as well.) Again and again they both swung their blades, the sounds of metal on metal clanging through the room. The predator slashed a thin cut across Vaughn's chest, adding another cut to the man's shirt, and a small wound on his flesh. Vaughn staggered back, and out into the hall. The predator followed, and it was not until now that Vaughn realized just how big it was. The predator's head almost touched the ceiling of the hallway, and he took up just under half of it in width. The beast came at Vaughn again, and Vaughn stabbed forwards and caught the predator just under the metal chest plate it wore. It was a good shot, the blade went in deep, and the predator roared with pain. But while the two were close, the predator slammed his fist into the side of the man's head. Vaughn flew against the wall, hitting his head on it, and now it hurt on both sides. He stayed on his feet, and suffered another crushing blow from the fist of the predator, but again the man managed to stay on his feet. The third strike came from not the fist of the monster, but the claws that it had on it's arm. The two blades ripped into Vaughn's stomach as he was lifted from the ground. He could feel his insides being cut, organs being ruptured, and ribs being cracked. He just hung there for what seemed like an eternity, the pain shooting through his body. The predator's bicep rippled with power at he held the man up with one arm. Vaughn could hardily breathe and his lungs burned like they had been set aflame. The blade still stuck out of the predator's flesh; the monster had no problem ignoring the pain to inflict more on his enemy. Vaughn grabbed for the blade with desperation. He shoved the blade the full possible length into the predator's flesh. The claws immediately retracted from Vaughn's stomach, and he fell to the ground, pulling the serrated dagger out with as he fell. The predator stumbled back, holding his wound. Vaughn struggled to get up to one knee and was quickly met with a knee to the face, sending him flying back down the hallway. He rolled onto his side, coughing up blood all over the floor. The predator walked towards the downed man, sheathing his wrist blades and pulling out a bladed spear from behind his back. Vaughn tried to get up but failed. He rolled over to his other side and the predator reached down and grabbed him by the face. The man was pulled to his feet and without hesitation, was repeatedly bashed from wall to wall. Blood splattered from the man's body and stained the walls and he struggled to keep a hold of the dagger in his hand. The predator stopped bashing the man up against the walls and held him in place. The monster raised his spear and stabbed it forward at the body of the unmoving man. Vaughn pulled every ounce of his strength into one last action, he raised that underwater feeling one more time, every time he had done it, he had felt exhausted, but this was do or die. He wrenched his head from the predator's grasp and slowly fell to the ground. His feet hit and he was off, he sprang forward and shoved the dagger deep into the flesh right under the pred's neck. Slicing it left until he hit the inside of the predator's mask, then all the way back to the right, and the other side of the mask. He stepped back, and as the pred began to fall, Vaughn let the feeling of weightlessness leave him, and caught the end of the predator's spear across the back. He screamed with pain and fell to his knees as the predator fell to his back without a sound, and landed with a heavy thud. Vaughn crawled to a wall and sat up against it, while bleeding heavily. He smiled to himself, the monster was dead, and as the world faded to black, Vaughn was satisfied with dieing...

Chapter 10: The Beast Unmasked

Vaughn's eyes were still closed, but he had been awake for several minutes. He could feel the pool of blood that had formed around him, the knife still clutched in his grasp, and the he could still feel the heat as well. He hadn't opened his eyes because he didn't want it to be real. He didn't want to wake up and live on in this place with no inhabitants, he didn't want to wake up and bury all of the dead. But then it dawned on him, one word that sprang up in his memory, monsters. There were more of these things, more predators. There was at least one more, and for all he knew, there could have been a hundred. His eyes snapped open at the thought of more predators, and he felt for his wounds, all gone now. He slowly stood and shifted uncomfortably in his now blood soaked pants. He walked over to the near by fallen predator. The beast was lying on its back, spear still in hand. Its glowing green blood pooled around its head, having spilled from the mutilated gash across its upper neck. Vaughn wiped the bloody knife off on his pants and stuck it in a pocket at his side. He crouched down and pried the spear from the predator's hands, hands that dwarfed his. He got up and started to walk away, when curiosity got the better of him. He turned and set the spear against the wall.

Vaughn once again crouched down over the predator's lifeless body. He examined the metal mask that covered the creature's face. A symmetrical pattern, almost without detail except for multiple ridges along either cheek. He attempted to remove the mask, but could not budge it. He moved over to the predator's side and found a small circular button towards the bottom of the left jaw. Upon pushing the button, gases rushed out of tubes on the right side, and it appeared to de-suction from the predator's face. Vaughn slowly pulled at the mask, and it came off with a sucking sound. He was horrified at what he saw. He had assumed that the predator was fairly human, since its body had been similar. What had appeared to be dreadlocks before, now were obviously not hair, but some kind of leathery tentacles. A very large brow hung above the eyes, which still stood open wide with a shocked expression. But there was something else, something that made this monster stand out as not even remotely human, the mouth. The mouth looked somewhat like a person's, although with less teeth, and those teeth were all sharp. Four on the top six on the bottom, and no molars. But were the cheeks should have been, jutted slender mandibles, two on either side of the mouth. Between the top and bottom mandibles was a thin flap of skin that acted as the cheek. It's face reminded Vaughn of a crab. He stood, and with the predator's mask still in his hand, he picked the spear back up and began down the hallway.

Chapter 11: Lock and load

This hall was dark. The only light spilled out from a slightly cracked open door. The sign on the door read: Armory. In the room the predators mask and spear lay on the large table near the door. Vaughn walked back and forth across the room and between some of the several rows of shelves, shelves full of guns. The shelves were holding all kinds of guns. Three different kinds of pistols, one automatic, the other two semi-autos. Shotguns, pulse rifles, grenade launchers, flame throwers, and flares as well. There were three big cabinets at the back of the room. In the one on the left lay a minigun. A true weapon of destruction, a chain gun like none other. On the center cabinet sat a brand new SADAR rocket launcher. One shot from this and just about anything would be a smear on the wall. And on the right cabinet sat one of the most powerful weapons known to man. A smart gun. A weapon like this fired so many rounds per second that it could literally cut a man in half. But that had nothing to do with how the grizzly weapon got its name. It was called a smart gun because every single round fired from its barrel could track you down. Vaughn didn't know how it worked, but he didn't need to. He had used one before, when he and a few others (all dead now) had fought off a bug swarm back on his home colony shortly after he had undergone his surgery. He had seen as the bullets flew to their xenomorphic targets, splattering acid all over the tunnels they were in. he hadn't even had to aim, the gun did it all, he just pulled the trigger. Vaughn raced back and forth collecting ammo and guns. He snatched a holster off of a shelf and put one of the automatic pistols in it after loading it. He loaded a shotgun with slugs and put more ammo on the table. He unhooked the strap of the minigun and used it to strap the alien spear to his back. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and criss-crossed it with the spear. He walked over to the smart gun and picked up the monstrous weapon. Most men would need to use special belt and robotic arm attachment to use it, but he would be fine. The predators mask now hung from this belt on his side, he had kept is as a trophy. Vaughn walked into the darkened hallway, the huge smart gun resting on his shoulder. He headed off down the hallway whistling, he had snapped. And he had one thing on his mind, finding the other monsters.

Chapter 12: the second beast

The predator was large, even for his race. It stood in the cafeteria, around the body of a dead girl. One of his allies had stopped reporting in about an hour ago. He had come to check it out. He walked slowly out of the room and into one of the white halls. His ally was this way. He wondered what had happened to him, he didn't think that he could have been dead, but he had no other idea what the problem could be. He wasn't very smart, but he made up for it in size. He came upon the body of the dead predator a few minutes later. He stood over it; shocked that someone here had killed his friend. They had not had any problems with the oomans here, so what had killed him? He tapped a few buttons on his wrist computer and opened a communications channel. Some gurgled clicking predator language came though and he replied to it. Then he picked up the body and headed back the way he had came.

He was at about the ninth floor in the stairwell minutes later. He was almost to the roof, and he was already thinking about what he was going to do later. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a strange tune. A tune that was being whistled. The predator sat down the body of his fallen comrade and listened.

Vaughn stopped whistling and readied the smart gun. He had head a thump, like that of a body hitting the floor. This hallway was already lined with the dead. He had become almost indifferent to it though. He had already seen so many dead on this day, what was a few more? Suddenly the door to the stairwell flew right off of its hinges and straight at Vaughn. He ducked and fell to one knee to avoid the door, which left large gashes in the walls right above his head. The predator lunged out of the stairwell and bolted at his startled opponent. Vaughn quickly stumbled to his feet and jumped back a few steps. The predator rushed at his with a primal roar, and a set of wrist blades twice as long as the other predators. It charged on, shoulder lowered and blades high, and that's when Vaughn decided to pull the trigger.

A cloud of bullets filled the hall as the smart gun let out its signature screeching. Sparks flew from multiple parts of the predator. Every were there was armor, there were sparks. The bullets left small chunks of armor missing were ever they hit. But unfortunately for the predator, he was not covered in armor from head to toe. Green splattered against the walls like a neon sprinkler. Flesh tore from the beast's body as he struggled forwards. Soon his forward momentum stopped all together and he began to stumble back. Chunks of flesh fell from bone and the now pitted and scared armor fell in pieces. The predator continued to stumble backward towards the stairwell. Fire shot from the end of the gun, steaming hot shells bounced around the hallway and fell to the floor, the gun shook from the power and there were more sparks and more green blood. The hall was filled with the blood of the predator, the walls were covered, the floor was covered, and even the ceiling had a splash of green every couple of feet. Smoke rolled out of the barrel of the smart gun and Vaughn finally stopped pulling the trigger after he realized that his weapon was empty. He stopped screaming also, which he had been doing the whole time but hadn't noticed. He dropped the smart gun to the ground and dropped to his knees. He caught back a hold on reality and stood back up. He couldn't even walk over to the body; he just stood there for a full minute before flinching. He stepped over the dead to reach the one that he had killed, the second beast. He looked over the predator, or at least what was left of it. It was now a bloody hump of flesh with pieces of armor mixed in. and as mutilated as the body was, the mask had only three bullet holes in it. It wasn't until then that he noticed how much ammo he had used. The gun was empty now, that was seven hundred and fifty rounds. All had hit their target. The predator was dead before it ever hit the ground, but the sheer force of the gun had driven it back ten feet. Vaughn spit on the mangled corpse of the predator. "Son of a bitch, you wont be hurting anyone else now will ya?" He once again reached down and removed the predators mask. Placing it with the other one at his side. Vaughn pulled the shotgun off of his back and made his way to the stairwell, and to the roof.

Chapter 13: The crimson beast

Vaughn kicked open the door to the roof. The heat enveloped him as soon as the door crashed open. The beating sun was as hot as ever, and he was not alone on the roof. The door he came out of was on one corner of the roof, and on the far, opposite corner, stood a figure. A large figure. Standing at least nine feet tall, it was a beast, it was a predator. This one was not like the other though; they had had pieces of random armor strewn across them. This one had all matching armor. Two spiked shoulder pads, a chest plate that covered all of its chest, full leg armor and knee pads, gauntlets and mask, all of the same pair. All a deep copper color, going well with the predator's dark tan skin, and dark red dreadlocks. It wore a red kilt type garment that looked almost Egyptian, and a black sash across its chest. The dreadlocks went down to the middle of its back, and were covered with black and copper beads. The predator looked Vaughn up and down and cocked his head to the side. The clicking noise escaped its throat and two huge blades jutted out from under its gauntlets. It slowly walked towards Vaughn and he pumped his shotgun. He raised the gun and was about to fire when the predator raised his left arm and fired a small dart like projectile at him. Sparks flew from the barrel of the shotgun and he instinctively threw it aside. He took a step back and removed the automatic pistol from his holster. "Last one huh?" Vaughn stammered with less confidence than he had had before. There was something about this being that made his blood run cold, something that actually made him afraid. It laughed. It continued to walk closer and closer at a slow pace. He raised his gun, but suddenly it was upon him. In a blur of movement, the red predator has closed almost 30 yards in a matter of seconds. Vaughn leaped back and fired, he was so stunned by the quick movement that he didn't even aim. The shots rang out and sprayed into the sky. The predator laughed again. And suddenly, in another blur of movement, it was gone. Vaughn was at first confused, but then saw that his shadow had grown considerably. He spun around and the predator was standing there. Vaughn fell to the ground and scrambled back. The dropped the gun and pulled the spear from behind his back. The red predator looked pleased through its mask. Vaughn decided that he was going to even the odds. He held the spear tight and let the dreamy feeling wash over him again. Sounds distorted and he felt lighter. His vision blurred around the edges, and everything moved in slow motion. And then the worst happened. The predator was still moving, he moved through the air as Vaughn did, and the synthetic felt a cold grip on his heart. Vaughn was weak. He had used his ability to many times, and he could no longer sustain it. Unlike the previous times, it left him without warning. The invisible liquid was scalding hot this time, seeming to sear through his flesh. He screamed and dropped to the ground as if he weighed a hundred tons. He felt dizzy and he threw up. He collapsed and heard the predator laughing. Then he heard a beep, some predator talk, and the predator left him. Vaughn was confused, the power that had saved his life had left him, and it wasn't even unique to him apparently. He blacked out. Vaughn awoke slowly to the face of a predator. He tried to jump up, but could not move. He started to panic. The predator saw that he was awake and rushed away. He finally got the strength to sit up, and he was even more confused. He was in a relatively dark room. He was on a cot of some kind, and was hooked up to several machines. Red blinking symbols were displayed on their screens. He was in a kind of hospital room. The predator re entered through a sliding door, followed by two others. Vaughn was unarmed and facing three of the beasts that had taken his friends and his concept of reality from him. Vaughn saw no future but death, but this had only been the beginning.