Chapter 2: A Small Hope

Iain's body couldn't keep going, after sprinting from the medical facility in a frenzied rush he was finally at the end of his already hampered physical limits. He had lost all feeling in his legs, his breathing was coming out as a ragged gasp, his heart felt like it had been lodged firmly in his throat and to top it all off his chest felt like it was about to rip in half. Despite all that pain he had kept running, the fear of whatever that thing was that took Desiree outweighing the significant strain his body was under. But adrenaline and fear could only take him so far and so with a violent gasp Iain darted left into an open doorway collapsing on the hard steel floor.

Gasping for air Iain lied on the ground waiting for the moment when the creature that took Desiree would come for him. As the minutes passed and his breathing settled he realised that nothing had come to claim him. It was now completely silent save for his own heart, which sounded like it was about to burst out of his chest.

Slowly opening his eyes that he had kept scrunched together in fear, Iain was met with almost complete darkness. Looking around Iain spotted the way he entered the darkened room, the doorway itself stood out due to the emergency lights in the hallway beyond but the room he was in was complete and utter blackness.

Miraculously finding strength in his worn out legs Iain got to his feet, though he did almost lose his balance and topple over in the process. Looking around the worn out freighter pilot's eyes steadily adjusted to the darkness, bit by bit he began registering the details of the room. It looked like it was only half the size that his room in the medical facility had been. Wall to wall the confined space was filled with shelving units all of which were laden with various objects he couldn't make out in the darkness.

"Dark as dicks in here" Iain mumbled, his voice strained from his mad dash from the medical facility. Groping around in the darkness Iain hoped to find a source of light to illuminate his surroundings. After another minute of flailing in the dark Iain's hand brushed up against a switch which he promptly flicked more out of desperation than anything.

By no means was the light blinding but the single florescent bulb fixed to the ceiling was a welcome comfort from the darkness and dull orange emergency lights. It took a moment for Iain's eyesight to adjust to the new light and it took another moment for him to realise the room he had dived into. Wall to wall the shelving he had noticed on his first inspection looked to be lined with various tools and machines, most of which he had no clue what they did but they still provided a somewhat comforting presence.

"Well, a janitor's closet's not the worst place in the universe I guess" Iain chuckled humourlessly, he had stopped finding the situation amusing a long time ago. He still held hope that this was just a very elaborate prank show, but at this point it seemed pretty obvious this wasn't a joke.

As if in response to his thought a long drawn out screech echoed through the corridors. Iain's entire body tensed at the inhuman sound and he could feel his heart rate picking back up. Usually on a station like this the corridors were so crowded with people that sound was usually drowned out by the ambient noise of a few hundred people crammed together. But now with the hallways deserted sound had a tendency to echo off the metallic surfaces.

Pressing himself against the wall beside the doorway Iain quickly flicked off the light switch bathing himself in darkness once more and he waited. For a few tense minutes nothing happened and just as the freighter pilot began to think the coast was clear he heard it. A loud thumping that echoed through the halls that turned Iain's blood to ice. Iain waited in utter silence trying to keep his erratic heartbeat under control as the thumping drew closer. It sounded like it was approaching from the left side of the doorway and Iain wished in that moment he would have taken the time to close it.

As the thumping drew near Iain began holding his breath, the sound was so loud it sounded like it was right outside his door. Suddenly the rhythmic thumping stopped and Iain felt his heartrate skyrocket at the sudden silence that followed. The nerve racking seconds passed and Iain's legs felt like they were about to give out at any moment. Just when Iain felt like it might be safe to move once more a low hissing pierced the silence. At first Iain thought it was simply steam being released from a valve close by, just a harmless pressure release.

His hopes were quickly dashed as the hissing transitioned into a threatening growl, the animalistic noise was horrible, oozing with menace and hunger. Whatever it was that had grabbed Desiree had found him and any second now it would rush in and claim him as well. Not enjoying the idea of going down without a fight Iain slowly ran his hand along the tools closest to him. His hand gripped the handle of something metallic and he braced himself for what was about to come next.

Without warning the menacing growl intensified into a roaring shriek and whatever was in the hallway outside pounded down the corridor roaring at the top of its lungs. Petrified by the latest sound from his mystery creature Iain slowly dropped to his knees. In the distance he could just make out the echo of gunfire followed by the drawn out, horrified yell of a man before the universe was once again consumed by silence. The shocked freighter pilot barely registered the gunfire and the last sounds of a doomed man as what just happened began to sink in.

He hadn't even seen the damn thing and it had him completely terrified. It was, without doubt, the same creature from the medical facility but that just raised more questions for the terrified sandy haired pilot. Had it followed him out of the medical facility? Or were there more than one prowling through the station? What did it do to Desiree and whoever the poor soul was that it chased down? So many questions and Iain would have been happy to never get an answer for any of them.

"Damn thing sounded massive" Iain whispered to himself. Those echoing footsteps made it sound huge, heavier than any person Iain had ever come across. Then there were the sounds the creature made, the hissing, the growl, the screech all of them animalistic, predatory. Whatever that thing was it was beyond dangerous and Iain wanted nothing to do with it. The problem was he had no way of knowing if the creature would come back or if it would move on to a different location.

Come on man you gotta nut up, can't stay hiding in a broom closet for the rest of your life. The voice in Iain's head sounded far more self-assured than he felt. In truth he was completely terrified, nothing in his relatively quiet life had prepared him for this day, he was a freighter pilot who delivered supplies to fringe colonies, crap like this shouldn't be happening to him.

Steeling his resolve Iain quickly turned the light to his temporary hiding place back on, once again blinding himself with the sudden illumination. Once his vision had returned Iain began looking around, first thing he found was the controls to the door to his brief sanctuary. The door mercifully closed with only a small hiss giving Iain at least a marginal sense of protection.

Next Iain began scouring the shelves for anything of use. His eyes first fell upon the metal bar he had grasped earlier. The bar in question was actually a standard maintenance jack. On one side of the tool was a multipurpose wrench while the other side had a standard hammer with metal pick. It was completely standard issue save for the name Dave T. hastily engraved into the handle. "Sorry Dave but I think I can use this more than you can" Iain murmured as he hooked the large tool onto one of the belt loops on his jeans. In all honesty Iain wasn't too cut up about stealing, it may have sounded a tad corny but desperate times did indeed call for desperate measures.

Looking around Iain felt a growing sense of anxiety settle within him, there were quite a few tools but most of their functions were unknown to him. On top of that many of the machines he was looking at were far too heavy to carry and if that wasn't enough there wasn't a bag in sight to store anything. "So I got to get by with whatever I can cram into my pockets… lovely" Iain grumbled in irritation.

"There's so much crap around here but I can't use any of it!" Iain hissed trying to keep his voice down. "Dammit I'm a pilot not an engineer, I can't just MacGyver my way out of this" Iain groaned as he swiped a pair of flashlights sitting alone on the shelf along with a pack of batteries for said flashlights. With his pockets now almost completely full and nothing of note save for cleaning chemicals remaining, Iain had just enough room to grab a roll of electrical tape before turning to face the still sealed door.

"Alright it's just me, an oversized wrench, a couple flashlights, some tape and my wit… I'm so fucked" Iain sighed as he mentally prepped himself to open the door before him. You can do this! What are the odds that you'll run into that thing a third time right? Somehow Iain's mind's attempt at rationalising the situation didn't help to alleviate his stress but it did give him the push he needed to hit the switch to the door.

Opening just as silently as it had closed Iain was once again greeted with the deserted hallway illuminated only by the slowly spinning emergency lights. It took all his resolve not to hit the switch again and go back to hiding in the janitor's room but after a minute of staring almost transfixed at the hallways beyond Iain took his first step forward. That first step was horrible and had every fiber of Iain's being screamed at him to turn back, the second wasn't much better and the third wasn't anything to write home about but once he started moving at a steady pace down the hall Iain felt each step becoming easier.

Using every ounce of finesse in his worn out body Iain crept through the darkened halls as quietly as he could. By no means was he a ninja, his footsteps echoed lightly off the walls of the deserted hallway traveling god knows how far. On two occasions he bumped into a wall with a resounding smack that almost stopped Iain's heart and at one point the maintenance jack at his waist bounced off a cart that generated a cacophony of metallic crashes. Despite those few moments Iain's walk was completely uneventful, no sign of whatever that thing was… at the same time there was also no sign of anyone else… no physical signs at least.

Despite not seeing anyone Iain was positive he was being watched, it may very well have been his own paranoia but under the circumstances he felt as if it was justified. Twice he could have sworn he heard light footsteps echoing down a side passage, at one point he saw a dim light emanating from a room up ahead but as he approached the light it suddenly went out accompanied with the sound of shattering glass prompting Iain to turn on the spot and head down a new path. Apart from those two instances there was just a sense of general unease everywhere he went, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing straight up and he had the sense of someone's gaze boring into him but every time he turned to check his back there was nothing but dimly lit, empty corridors.

After creeping through the deserted halls for what felt like an eternity Iain came to a large junction. It was a circular room that opened up into six different paths, including the one he just came through. "Shit" Iain sighed as he leant up against the blank wall beside him. "Five ways to go and not a damn map in this whole place" Iain pinched the bridge of his nose in exacerbation. As if on cue the wall Iain had leant up against glowed blue and gave a welcoming jingle as it came to life. Despite the distinctly non-threatening introduction Iain nearly jumped out of his skin in shock.

"Welcome to the Weyland-Yutani research station Hyperion, MPP-001, how may I be of assistance?" Said a familiar cool voice.

"Jesus! You scared the shit outta me" Iain exclaimed before remembering the situation he was in. "Can you turn down the volume a bit? Kinda want to keep quiet" Iain whispered to the glowing blue screen.

"Very well Mr. MacRury, audio volume has been decreased to minimum levels" the screen stated in a much quieter voice.

"Thanks, wait what are you even doing here I thought you were just a VI for that hospital?" Iain asked in a hushed voice as he looked back to make sure nothing was coming down the hall behind him.

"It appears you were under a false assumption, I am not a simple VI. I am a Station-wide Assisted Living Intelligence, you may call me SALI for short" the waveform on the screen representing SALI's voice waivered as it spoke giving it a more organic feel.

"So you're actually an AI?" Iain asked hesitantly, sophisticated AI's were generally given a synthetic body they tended to prefer the freedom of movement.

"That is affirmative, my programming has been modified to adjust to being used as a station-wide intelligence. Whereas I was once constrained to my physical body I am now spread out across most of Hyperion" SALI responded coolly.

Iain was taken aback by this revelation. Standard AI's weren't that uncommon and tended to run space stations like this all the time, but from what SALI had just told him it sounded like she once had a synthetic body of her own and they essentially ripped her mind from her body, warped it and shoved it into the station to run things.

"So you went from having your own body to being spread through this whole station?" Iain asked. The whole situation, while bordering on very unethical, was interesting to say the least. If SALI really was spread through the whole station and was constantly monitoring it would explain why he felt like he was being watched earlier.

"Almost, my programming has been situated to the recreational, residential and standard business areas. My primary function was to act as an assistant to the residents of Hyperion and make day to day activities more manageable" SALI stated with a hint of pride in her voice. "However there are several locations across the station that are designated classified and therefor I have been given no access to them" SALI continued keeping her voice low as per Iain's request.

"Cool I don't care about those places I just want off this tub, do you think you can help with that?" Iain grinned at his luck. He had no business being here, hell he still didn't know how he had arrived in the first place. Heading into classified or restricted areas of a Weyland-Yutani research station was not high on his list of priorities.

"That may be difficult, Station Director Michael J. Blanchette has issued a no fly order and had all hangar doors sealed and escape pods jettisoned" SALI replied sounding somewhat disheartened.

"So there's no way off?" Iain asked dejectedly.

"Well there is, if you are able to open the doors to the hangar and commandeer a spacecraft you should have no trouble leaving Hyperion" SALI replied.

"What about the no fly order?" Iain pressed.

"The no fly order was only a designation by the Station Director there are no physical restraints keeping spacecraft grounded" SALI stated as her screen transitioned to showing displays of the various hangar bays spread across the station.

"So there's six of them" Iain said leaning in closer to inspect each one. With only the angle of the camera feed to go off of Iain could see that there were several ships docked ranging from short range fighters to bulky freight transports. Looking at the larger transports reminded Iain of his own ship which didn't appear to be in any of the hangars.

"Hey SALI, do you know what happened with my ship?" Iain asked the AI eagerly.

"I do apologize but as far as I can tell your ship, The Xiao-Long, never made it to the station. It appears that you were brought aboard via a long range freighter, The Winchester, which is currently docked in hangar four" SALI reported back crushing Iain's hopes at seeing his beloved ship again.

"Damn it" Iain sighed dejectedly. Looking back to the AI before him Iain was reminded of the whole reason he wanted off the station in the first place. "SALI, there's a creature on the station I think it's the thing responsible for this whole place going to shit, do you know anything about it?" Iain asked hurriedly double checking over his shoulder again, he could have sworn he heard something earlier but there was nothing.

"Currently I have no access to scans of the station but I did detect an unknown life form just prior to most systems going dark" SALI stated before pausing for several seconds. "It also appears that I have large gaps in video footage across the station, what I do have though depicts no signs of the unknown life form" SALI replied. Iain thought he could detect a hint of sadness in her voice, it was always difficult to pick up on these things with AIs.

Nodding at her response Iain thought about this whole mess. While yes chances were he was screwed but now he at least had a shot if not a half-assed plan, all he had to do was get to a hangar open the airlock doors, hop in a ship and get the hell off this godforsaken station. "Alright SALI can-"

*Click*

Iain's blood ran cold at the sharp noise coming from behind him he knew the sound of a gun when he heard it, cursing his negligence Iain stood perfectly still his hand slipping down to the maintenance jack at his waist. "If I were you I'd put your hands up where I can see them bub" a gravelly voice growled behind the freighter pilot. Slowly lifting his hands into the air above his head Iain made sure to turn around deliberately so as to not startle this new arrival.

Turning around brought him face to muzzle with a rusty revolver aimed right between his eyes. Deliberately glancing to the side of the weapon Iain spotted its wielder. Over six feet tall, with dark matted hair, a full length beard that looked like it hadn't been trimmed in weeks and deep sunken eyes the man standing before him was a gaunt shell of what he must have been at one point.

The seconds stretched by as both men stared each other down, Iain's heart was pounding in his chest like a jackhammer, he'd never looked down the barrel of a gun before much less had one pointed directly at his face. Taking a chance Iain tried addressing the dangerous man "hey there… would you mind putting the gun down?"

"No" the man's response was immediate and his gravelly voice made it perfectly clear that it wasn't up for negotiations. Before Iain could open his mouth to reply the man took a sudden step forward startling the freighter pilot with the sudden advance. "I'm gonna keep this gun right here, and you're going to answer each and every one of my questions bub" the gunman growled in Iain's face giving him a good whiff of the filthy man's breath.

"Ok fine just… can you not breathe on me you really stink" Iain gasped for air.

"You try staying alive in this hell hole for weeks on end, bet you wouldn't smell like roses either, which brings me to my first question" the man growled taking a small step back. "Who are you? I knew almost everyone on this scrap heap and I ain't never seen you before" he growled his gun never leaving Iain's face.

"The name's Iain, Iain MacRury I'm a freighter pilot" Iain said hastily not wanting to test the man's trigger finger.

"Alright Iain good start now tell me how the hell were you speaking to that damn AI?" The man demanded pointing to SALI with his free hand.

"I-I just spoke to her what do you mean?" Iain stammered trying to figure out what the man's intentions were.

"Bullshit, that damn AI hasn't spoken to a damn soul since everything went tits up" the gunman growled taking another step closer to Iain who backed up in response.

"I'm telling you she just spoke to me when I asked where I was, look I don't know what's going on here I just woke up like two hours ago" Iain said as fast as he could. He already got punched by one of the residents when they got hysterical he didn't need to get shot by another one.

The gunman's eyes narrowed dangerously as he took another step closer. As he approached, the pale blue light emanating from SALI illuminated his blood stained jacket revealing the name Russel stitched into his left shoulder. Noticing Iain's eyes fix on his name Russel gave him a dirty smirk revealing the yellowed teeth he had kept hidden from before. "Yeah the name's Russel" he said before turning his attention back to SALI. "Alright SALI you feel like talking to me?" Russel asked with a small grunt.

As the seconds passed and SALI gave no response Iain could feel the beads of sweat make their way down his face. Why wasn't SALI speaking to him, sure he wasn't exactly a pleasant guy but she didn't even cut him off or tell him she wouldn't speak to him. Looking back to the glowing screen Iain cleared his throat hoping that SALI hadn't simply glitched out on them.

"Hey…umm SALI what's with the silent treatment?" Iain asked nervously feeling Russel's heavily lidded eyes fall back on him.

"I apologize Mr. MacRury but just before most of the systems aboard Hyperion went down Station Director Michael J. Blanchette gave me an order to cease all communication with all residents, faculty as well as anyone else living aboard Hyperion" SALI stated once again sounding depressed by her orders.

"Ok so you've been ordered not to speak to anyone but how are you able to speak to me?" Iain asked hoping this answer would alleviate Russel's scrutiny.

"Normally it would be because you are not an actual Weyland-Yutani resident or employee, however the Director's order was quite specific to anyone living aboard the station meaning I should not be able to speak to you" SALI stated leaving Iain wondering where she was going with her explanation. "However…" this got both men's attention before SALI continued "due to your official status as being deceased I had come to the conclusion that you were not technically 'living' aboard the station and therefore deemed it acceptable to speak to you" SALI stated with a small hint of amusement in her synthesized voice.

"So you found a loop hole in your programming and decided to speak to me?" Iain asked, shocked that an AI he had never met would go to such lengths.

"That is correct… It has been a long time since I've been able to speak to anyone… these halls have become quite lonely" SALI stated dejectedly. Iain had to keep reminding himself that SALI was a full-fledged AI and not a run of the mill VI. Her personality was almost completely like that of a real person she was basically a synthetic that had been forcibly crammed into the station.

"Yeah yeah the glorified GPS is lonely whatever, ask her how we get out of here!" Russel hissed jabbing Iain with the muzzle of his pistol angrily. Iain noticed his eyes were darting left to right madly, clearly he was just as on edge as he was, if not more.

"She already told me all the escape pods were launched and the hangars have been closed down" Iain said with a shrug.

"I heard about the no fly order already, but the doors are just closed right? We get those open and we can fly a ship right out of here right?" Russel pressed, a small glint in his eye and the growing smile put Iain on edge, clearly this guy wasn't all there.

"Well you're right but what's with this 'we' crap?" Iain scowled as Russel smile broke into a dark grin.

"Ain't it obvious? I need to get off this hunk of junk and you said you're a pilot" Russel continued pressing his muzzle up against Iain's chest. "The way I see it we're partners from here on out" Russel chuckled as he looked back to SALI. "Now ask her if she can send out any SOS signals" he demanded waving his pistol from Iain to SALI.

"Right…" Iain replied woodenly before turning around to face SALI. "I assume you heard that?" Iain asked the AI.

"Affirmative Mr. MacRury, unfortunately I am unable to send out any forms of communication it was one of the many orders the Station Director provided to me" SALI replied coolly. Iain could just make hear Russel cursing under his breath behind him as well as the small rattle of the pistol he was carrying, no doubt still pointed at his back.

"Thanks anyways SALI I know your hands are kinda tied" Iain sighed, he was going to turn back around when SALI's screen suddenly flashed catching both human's attention.

"I believe I have found another loop hole for you Mr. MacRury" SALI stated excitedly. "I may not be allowed to release communications but you can. I have just released the locks for the communications sector where you can send out a signal manually" SALI stated proudly, the AI seemed to take great joy in finding ways around her own restrictive programming. "I couldn't release the locks for anyone aboard the station however, much like my ability to speak to you, you are not technically on the station" the AI stated slyly.

"Right I'm dead" Iain chuckled darkly at the thought.

"Fan-tucking-fastic" Russel declared before smashing SALI's screen with the butt of his pistol plunging the pair back into the darkness of the barely lit facility.

"Are you fucking insane!" Iain hissed before Russel turned around to train his gun back to the freighter pilot's face. "Woah ok calm down man, remember what you said, partners right?" Iain said taking a small step back.

"Yeah that's right… partners" Russel grunted as he eyed up Iain. "That AI's Weyland-Yutani property, they're responsible for this whole damn mess, you want to trust their shit then good for you it's your funeral" Russel growled giving Iain a shove towards the hallway over to their right.

"Alright what's your problem?" Iain glowered at the gunman as he walked up to him. Why Iain felt the need to challenge the gun toting, possibly unstable, man was well beyond him. This whole situation had him on edge as it was and Russel's abrasive attitude just ate away at Iain and brought forth his confrontational side.

"My problem is I want to live through this shit, I got a wife and kid back home and I'll be damned if I let some pansy ass freighter pilot get in my way, now get moving!" Russel growled jabbing his gun into the small of Iain's back again forcing him further down the darkened corridor.

"Look asshole, do you mind telling me what's going on? Like where are we going?" Iain asked doing his best to keep his voice low.

"We're heading to comms, it's on the way to one of the hangars, so if the ships don't work or the doors are sealed and we can't open them then we can at least get a damn signal out for someone to rescue us" Russel growled as they crept through the darkened corridors.

Rather than argue further Iain decided to keep quiet and keep going in silence. As the minutes dragged on Iain could have sworn he heard a small scratching noise coming from behind them but every time he looked back all he saw was Russel with his gun still trained on Iain's back. Whenever they would come to a branching path in the corridors Russel would always thrust Iain down the correct path. The first time this happened Iain was able to shrug it off, the second got under his skin and by the third he was about ready to spin around and clock Russel with his maintenance jack, gun be damned.

Several times Russel would come to a sudden halt and strained his ears for a noise he thought he heard, but every time he did there was nothing around. Iain would have called him paranoid but the freighter pilot was just as on edge keeping his ears peeled for the tiniest out of place sound. As the minutes stretched into an hour Iain looked back to see Russel still behind him with the same haunted look as that he always had. "Are you sure this is the right way?" Iain asked as they passed by a bloodstained wall.

"Positive we just have a bit more to go then we can head to the hangar, with the trams down we don't exactly have a choice" Russel grunted as he took a hasty look behind him.

"Have you seen it?" Iain asked trying to keep the conversation going, Russel wasn't exactly the best company but he was better than nothing.

"Yeah… yeah I've seen it" Russel whispered, his eyes glazing over as he ran his hand through his dishevelled hair.

"Care to share?" Iain asked glancing back towards the withdrawn gunman. Clearly it was a sore subject for the guy but Iain needed to know as much as he could about what they were dealing with, SALI had next to no information and he still hadn't actually seen the thing yet. Then again Iain could live with never seeing the creature if he could make it off the station in one piece.

"It's a fucking monster, what more do you want?" Russel hissed, phlegm spouting from his mouth. Iain didn't think it was possible but his request seemed to have agitated Russel even further than before.

"Look I just want to know as much about what we're dealing with as I can so we can make it the hell out of this place" Iain replied angrily, his voice echoing off the metallic walls. Lowering his voice once more Iain addressed the man to his rear with a frown "so you gonna tell me what this thing is or what?"

"Fine just keep your yap shut bub" Russel muttered also trying to keep his voice as low as possible. He took a few seconds to compose himself, during that time he signaled for Iain to take a right turn and wiped his brow with the hem of his jacket. The man was a mess and all he was doing was remembering what he saw. "Me and my buddy were holed up with a bunch of other survivors in the hydroponics section of the station. Seemed like a good idea there was only one way in and we could just grow any of the food we needed" Russel said double checking his pistol in the process, Iain noticed he had a habit of doing it, almost like a nervous tick.

"We lasted about a week, had no clue what was going on outside but everything was going well enough for us, all we knew was that there was something out there and it was killing people" Russel continued Iain noticed his hand was shaking ever so slightly as he recalled the past. "One day kid goes missing and his mother gets hysterical, why you would bring your kid onto a station like this is beyond me but whatever" Russel shrugged before pointing down another hallway for Iain to head through.

"Anyways she runs to the door to go out and look for him, what little security we had with us stopped her at first. Crazy broad decks one of them and sacks the other then hits the door controls…" Russel trailed off into silence the shaking in his hands was getting worse Iain could hear the rattle of his pistol. "Corridor's pitch fucking black and outta that darkness two giant clawed hands reach out and grab her pulling her out of the room" Russel said pausing to grab his shaking hand. Iain was surprised that Russel was still talking but it seemed like the disturbed man couldn't stop.

"Takes a second for us to react but suddenly it's a damn mad dash to the door to close it. Security was there first… poor Reggie gets speared by the thing's tail in the process but manages to hit the door controls and it starts to close…" Russel trailed off once more, Iain had a pretty good idea what happened next and was going to say he didn't have to continue but Russel pressed on with a vein starting to bulge in his forehead. "The damn monster made it through just as the door shut behind it trapping us with it" Russel hissed, his gravelly voice getting louder as he recalled that fateful day.

"All shit breaks loose, everyone's screaming and that thing's just screeching at us, security moves to stop it… at least they went down fighting. Let me tell you something bub you ain't never seen shit like this before, nothing but claws and teeth and teeth inside its teeth, fucker cut down everyone!" Russel exclaimed his voice bouncing off the walls Iain instantly regretted his decision to probe the man but it was too late Russel was on autopilot.

"Somehow I got around it and picked up this here gun off of what's left of Reggie" Russel waved his gun around frantically his voice still far too loud for Iain's liking.

"Look man you need to keep your voice dow-" Iain began before being cut off by the hyperventilating man.

"I'm at the door controls and hit them, door takes for fucking ever to open!" Russel exclaims ignoring Iain's earlier plea. "Then I hear it growl behind me and it's just there staring me down, don't know with what cause the thing's got no damn eyes in the first place!" Russel chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm fumbling with the gun and I just know I'm dead…" Russel drifts off into another silence as he rotates the chamber of his gun absentmindedly. That's when Dave, salt of the earth, rushes it with a crowbar, only thing he could grab from his workstation before the lockdown happened" Russel chuckled again and Iain's eyes drifted down to the maintenance jack at his waist.

"Crazy bastard yells at me to shut the door, locking him and a good two dozen other people in there with that monster… and I did it" Russel sniffed before looking back into Iain's eyes. "The last thing I saw before those doors closed was my best friend having his throat torn out by that beast!" Russel practically yelled as he slammed his fist against the panelling at his side. The crash of fist on metal seemed to echo on forever, probably alerting everything in the whole station to their presence.

"Look man I'm sorry that happened but you need to turn it down a notch" Iain hissed straining his ears for any approaching sounds. Luckily there didn't appear to be anything approaching them despite Russel's outburst.

"How about I turn you down a notch?" Russel growled pressing his pistol underneath Iain's chin. The man was shaking like a leaf with sweat pouring from his brow. Glancing ahead he gave a quick nod before pulling away from the startled freighter pilot "there's comms looks like the GPS wasn't shitting us, it's open" Russel sighed before looking back to Iain who was staring at him apprehensively. "Look you wanted to fucking know so I told you, now get moving not much farther now."

The pair resumed their earlier pace with Iain still on point and Russel bringing up the rear. They moved in complete silence as they approached the opened doors at the end of the hallway. Iain was actually surprised Russel was capable of keeping quiet, the man had even managed to cease the rattle in his pistol. At the same time Iain did feel terrible about the situation he basically made the guy relive one of the most traumatic moments of his life and then told him to shut up about it. Gritting his teeth Iain realised he needed to apologize if for no other reason than to clear his own conscious. "Look man I'm sorry about… Russel?" Iain looked around in confusion, he was completely alone Russel was nowhere in sight. Against his better judgement, which Iain realised he had been disregarding all day, Iain retraced his steps but there wasn't a single sign of his companion.

As he crept further down the hall he felt his foot brush up against something on the floor. Looking down Iain felt his heart lodge itself firmly in his throat. Sitting at his feet, alongside a massive puddle of blood, was Russel's rusty pistol. Slowly reaching down Iain grasped the weapon only to immediately jerk his hand back in disgust. The pistol was coated in a thick layer of slime that looked like it had sealed the weapon to the floor. As Iain tried to wipe off the slime from his hand he could hear a faint hissing emanating from the darkness. Looking around Iain realised he was in a four way intersection with paths branching in different directions.

Wherever the sound was coming from didn't matter as it reverberated off the walls making it sound like Iain was surrounded on all sides. Not taking any further chances Iain rushed down the hall as quickly and quietly as he could towards the comm center. Passing the door he quickly slammed down the emergency locking mechanism which shut the door behind him with a grinding slam that echoed in the dimly lit area.

Moving forward Iain did his best to look around for what he needed. Time was of the essence and while sending out an emergency signal wasn't exactly his idea he couldn't deny that it couldn't hurt his chances of survival. The comm center itself was large area with banks of computers lining the tightly packed area. The ceiling above him was angled down towards the center of the room where the main walkway was situated. Looking around Iain quickly spotted his target, a raised platform sealed in transparisteel that gave it protection while simultaneously allowed whoever was in it to overlook the area below.

Rushing to the ladder Iain made his way up, despite his tired limbs Iain pressed on ignoring the strain his body was undergoing. "Man I'm gonna be ripped when this shit's over" Iain chuckled as he reached the top of the ladder. Turning to face the primary command console Iain's hopes were instantly dashed when he saw what was left of it. The entire primary console was riddled with bullet holes and sparking gently due to the power still coursing through it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Iain hissed at what he was seeing, what asshole would shoot up the stations main link to the rest of the galaxy? Leaning against the wall to his left Iain slid down in a slump letting the maintenance jack at his waist clink against the floor. Sending out a distress signal may not have been his plan but it was still discouraging to know that there was now one less option to leave the station.

As Iain sat against the wall collecting his thoughts and letting his tired body rest he noticed a faint, pale blue glow over his shoulder. "Hey SALI" Iain chuckled before the AI could perform her usual greeting.

"Good evening Mr. MacRury I am glad that you were able to make it to communications" SALI stated cheerfully. The statement while harmless enough brought a dejected sigh to Iain as he sat against the AI's display panel. "Is something troubling you Mr. MacRury?" SALI asked.

Pointing over to the ruined console Iain felt a growing weight in the pit of his stomach. "Console's fucked and whatever's out there got Russel so I'm back to being alone" Iain sighed feeling the weight of the situation weigh him down further. Surprisingly even the company of a barely sane gun-toting asshole was better than nothing.

"That's not true Mr. MacRury" SALI stated kindly from behind him getting his attention. "I am still here after all and… oh my, it would appear that there are several other people entering the comm center right now" SALI replied happily.

"What?!" Iain barked leaping to his feet and staring down from the viewport of his command station. True to SALI's words a door across the wide open area slid open revealing a cramped room filled with several men carrying equipment that Iain couldn't make out from this distance. "What the shit, the elevators are working?" Iain hissed as the group of five made their way down the tight pathway that ran down the center of the room.

As they made their way closer to Iain's position the group of people below became easier to see once the emergency lights brought them into the light. They were all wearing thick padded armour the kind you would see riot police wearing and each one carried a different piece of equipment. Some had guns while the others had devices Iain couldn't really make out, they looked vaguely gun-like but with the limited visibility it was difficult to be certain.

Iain leaned in closer to the glass as the group of five came to a sudden halt in the center of the room. As Iain tried to discern why they had stopped they suddenly turned their weapons up to his position in the command center the flashlights on their guns temporarily blinding Iain.

Iain could hear them shouting up to him but with how far away they were and how thick the glass in front of him was he could just barely make out what they were saying. "Put the guns down assholes I'm sick of…" Iain trailed off as he looked back to the group below or more specifically what was slowly descending from a lowered vent behind them. A long segmented tail crept down from above, Iain wouldn't have seen it if not for the steadily spinning orange emergency lights. None of the group on the ground seemed to notice it though as their attention was locked on him.

"Come on guys look behind you!" Iain called out pointing at the danger behind them. The freighter pilot's efforts were wasted however as none of the group noticed what he was doing or could discern what he was saying from their spot. Iain looked on in horror as the razor sharp tail reeled back and struck at its first victim. As the man's screams filled the comm center Iain watched on transfixed by what was unfolding before him.

"We're so fucked…"

Author's Notes: Hello everyone sorry about the long wait but it's been a busy couple weeks. I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I was able to have a little more person to person dialogue. Main point of this chapter was establishing atmosphere and show that the Xenomorph is out hunting. Next chapter's gonna have a bit more action to it so that should be a lot of fun.

Hope everyone's doing well until next time folks take it easy!