And I'm back with Chapter 3 of First Contact. I'm sorry for how long the wait is, but I'm busy quiet often and unable to work on chapters.
On the subject of the Panther-esque creature mentioned last chapter, a guest suggested the name Oldolon, which had been chosen.
Also, I am looking for a beta reader, if anyone is interested, and has the spare time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alien, Predator, or Aliens/Predator.
XXX
They day dawned on John's fourteenth day on Phanes Alpha, two weeks after he landed. Roughly four days after his last encounter with an unknown being, the very one he discovered using X-Rays, although it was very disorienting to work with that activated.
Today, he was planning to examine, in depth, the animal that had attacked him a few days ago. He planned to record his observation and transmit then back to ISEA.
He went about his morning business of getting dressed, relieving himself, eating breakfast, donning his Settler Suit, and grabbing and attaching his weapons.
He then opened the door to the ship and walked outside, then started walking towards the TerraDome which held the creatures body.
As he neared the entrance, he stopped and activated the suit's built in X-Ray. While originally intended to allow others to determine the extent of an individual's injuries without removing the suit, it allowed John to keep track of the being that watched him.
The being, honestly, confused John. After he had discovered how to keep track of it, it had ran away after it noticed he was looking at it. It stayed gone for two days, before coming back.
When it did, he found it with X-Ray before checking it with thermal. It had coated itself in even more mud, or another substance, as before it had blended in with the foliage, but now stood out as a cold spot.
Then it had watched him, running away any time he neared. He soon began to ignore it and focus on his work. Not long after it would stay longer and closer, becoming more bold.
This was the source of John's confusion. The being's actions seemed to suggest a form of intelligence, possibly even sentience. If so, how intelligent was it? As intelligent as a monkey, or maybe more like a human.
As he looked around, he saw the being staying around fifteen meters back, staying perfectly still and watching him.
He smiled, although he knew it couldn't see his face. He entered the Dome before taking his suit off. He stood it next to the entrance. He then put a crisp white lab coat over his clothing.
Inside the building, there were various scientific equipment scattered throughout the room, near the walls. In the center of the room was two operating tables, along with various other tables of instruments.
One of the tables was completely empty. The other held a odd body, one which had been opened up and surgically examined.
The body was rather long, with a black, oily hide. No fur was anywhere on it's body. It had four legs meant for speed, but not endurance. Each leg ended in a paw that held three toes facing backward and one facing forward.
Coming from it's hind end was a long, segmented black tail. The tail was separated into three sections, the last of which, the tip, was covered in small black spines.
This specimen was not the same that attacked John earlier that month, but rather was another he found, one that had died of natural causes.
He walked over to a table and grabbed a video camera and set it up facing the body. He then set it to record after ten seconds and then activated it.
While the timer counted down, he walked over to the table and donned a pair of sterilized plastic gloves. The camera lit up with a red dot and he began speaking.
"This is Jonathan Calligan, sole pilot of the Unto the Horizon. I am reporting on one of the native species of Phanes Alpha, the moon containing lifeforms."
John then gestured towards the body on the table.
"Next to me is an example of a hunter species that lives within the massive forest I find as my residence. I have named it currens silvarum as it's scientific name, and the Oldolon as it's common name."
John walked around the table to stand next to the Oldolon's head.
"Let's start at the head. With my current equipment, I can only examine so deeply, but what I have found amazes me."
"The Oldolon's eyes are multifaceted, similar to a flies, giving an incredible sense of movement. It is also capable of seeing in the ultraviolet spectrum."
"It's nose is extremely powerful, able to smell blood in the air, even if the prey isn't bleeding. It's mouth has two rows of serrated teeth, and houses two tounges, one on top and one on bottom."
"For all intent and purposes, the bottom tounge is rather average. The top tounge, however, is coated in an acidic substance similar to stomach acid."
"The acid massively speeds up the digestive process. The Oldolon's body seems to be completely immune to the acid."
John continued to walk near the section of the body he was speaking about.
"Next comes it's main body. It it covered in a black hide that is remarkably tough, able to resist an impressive amount of force from hits both blunt and sharp."
"It's entire body is coated in an oil that is mildly poisonous, and likely unappetizing. The oil also serves to regulate the Oldolon's temperature as the beast has no sweat glands."
"Inside the body are somewhat familiar organs. The heart has six chambers, not four. It has three lungs, and it's stomach is much smaller than you'd expect, likely due to the faster digestive system."
"The two kidneys are far more powerful than a human's, and the liver as well. It's intestines are shorter than normal."
"The most interesting aspect of the organs is that there are four I can not identify. I will continue to research these organs, and report them at a later date."
"Next are the legs, which are built for speed. However, the creature's endurance is rather lacking. Each limb ends in a paw. Each paw holds four toes, all of which end with a claw."
"Three toes are facing backward and one forward. All four claws are constantly coated in a special chemical, which the being produces in it's own body."
"This chemical has absolutely no effect. on the human body, which after verifying it, I tested it. However, this chemical is massively acidic to the native flora of this planet. It has a slightly weaker effect on the various insect species of this world. I have been unable to acquire specimens of any other complex lifeforms so far."
"Finally comes the tail. It seems to be rather powerfully built, theoretically able to crush iron and crude steel. It it segmented into three sections, with the first two covered in a type of hide even harder than normal."
"The final segment is covered in a weaker hide that is bristling with small spines. Analysis suggests that the spines are capable of being launched out of the tail with a series of muscle movements, although I will have to verify that at a later date."
"Overall the currens silvarum is a fascinating species. I will continue to research both this and any other species I come across, and report then at a later date."
"On another subject, another being had been watching me since I touched down. It has coated itself in mud to escape thermal, and attempted to cover itself on more mud to escape X-Ray, It even attempted to open the door to the ship using the panel, although It is unknown whether or not it was simply mimicking me. I will do what I can to learn more of this creature." John finishes, before deactivating the camera.
He then used a cord to transfer the video onto an SD card and placed it into a storage compartment in his suit.
He then covered the body with a sheet and took off the gloves and coat. He walked over to the Settler Suit and put it back on. He exited the building soon after and activated X-Ray once again.
He then looked around and saw that the being had moved closer, now on the very edge of the clearing, just barely out of the edge of unaided sight.
He looked at the sun and saw that it was nearing midday and decided to go inside the ship and eat lunch before heading out and mapping more of his surroundings.
He walked to the ship's interface panel and type in the code- 089416. When the door was raised he walked inside and closed it behind him. He exited the Settler Suit.
It is getting tiring constantly entering and exiting the suit, but it's better than risking if those unknown gasses are poisonous, or risking being mauled by an Oldolon or another creature.
He walked into the ship's kitchen and looked into the fridge, and sighed at the fact that it was nearly empty.
I'm going to need to make a supply run soon.
He grabbed a eggs, cheese, jalapenos, and tomatoes, then began to create an omelette.
I know it's breakfast food, but it's good and I'm hungry.
After the omelette was done, he sat down and began eating. Lunch passed quickly and he entered the ship's cockpit and powered the engines and began taking off.
He soon left the world's atmosphere and headed towards the main ship, planning on resupplying the ship.
He was awed, as always, by the sheer size of the ship. It also amazed him that it could sustain and entire town indefinitely. The ship had UV lights, water supplies, and an oxygen cycle to allow farms and farm animals.
It was literally a self-sustaining ecosystem.
John docked in the same hangar he left from and pulled himself to the airlock. He then entered it and allowed the room to be pressurized and the Artificial Gravity to activate. He made his way to the storage room and instructed three bots to resupply his ship.
The bots, unlike Androids, had no form of A.I. They were programmed to perform a specific task after being command, and would return to a type of sleep mode when finished.
He then walked to the Control Room and took the SD card containing the video of the Oldolon research out of his suit and plugged it into the computer. He then used the Relay to send it back to HQ.
He turned around and was startled to see Madison standing behind him.
She smirked. "Startled you, didn't I?"
John opened the visor to his helmet and spoke. "Honestly? Yeah, you did. I didn't hear you enter."
"A.I.s can be quiet- when we want to be, at least."
"I noticed."
Madison noticed the transmitter light was blinking after a pause. "What did you send?"
John smiled. "A video of my research of the Oldolon."
"Ah, so you finally settled on a name for it?" Madison asked, intrigued.
"Yep. Oldolon as its common name and its scientific name is currens silvarum."
Madison nodded. "You came back for a resupply?"
"Yeah, I started to run low on food. After the bots finish resupplying my ship, I'll return."
Madison shifted slightly. "John, may I come with you when you return down there?"
John smiled and nodded. "Of course you can, I'm sure it gets rather boring up here. It'd be nice to have an extra set of hands anyway."
"Thank you, John."
He smiled at her and nodded again. "You're welcome."
At that moment, a bot walked in.
"John, your ship is fully restocked." It said in a mechanical voice.
"Thank You. Dismissed." John said, and the bot turned and walked away, presumably to return to the storage room and enter sleep mode.
"You ready?" John asked the A.I.
"Yes. Let's go." Came the reply.
They both walked towards the hangar and waited for the air lock to depressurize. They then entered the Explorer and John started the engine and piloted the ship out of the hangar and towards Phanes Alpha.
It wasn't long before they touched down and they both disembarked the ship, John in his Settler Suit and Madison in her normal clothes.
"This place is amazing!" Madison, understandably, was awed at the flora of the alien planet.
"Madison, go ahead and explore the place. I'm going to map some more of our surroundings."
Madison nodded, distracted by her surroundings.
"Go ahead. I'll be here." She said, her voice distracted.
John smiled and walked off, polarizing his helmet.
"Computer, activate MMS."
"Mobile Mapping System Active."
John then returned to the place where he had stopped and continued walking. He was mapping the surroundings by walking in ever-increasing circles around his base.
He walked and as he did, he thought to himself.
I love exploring this world. It is amazing to be the first human on a new world. It isn't without it's share of dangers, though. There is no telling what kinds of creatures are in this world.
I wonder if there are any intelligent species. Once I set up fully, I should explore those other regions and see if there is anything there.
I'll need to set up a farm down here and being a few bots to take care of it. A fence may be good to keep animals out.
As John walked, he heard a scream come from his right, away from his base. He immediately stopped, activated thermal, and looked around.
"John, what was that?" Madison'svoice came over the internal speakers, his suit and her computer being linked.
"Madison, stay at the base. Grab a gun out of the ship and lock the doors. I'm going to see what that was. I've never heard of an animal screaming."John said, quickly.
"Very well. Keep your gun armed at all times and be prepared for anything." Her voice came again, before the speakers cut off.
John pulled the ERG off of his back and armed It, watching as the blue lights on the side lit up. Once it was fully armed and ready to fire, he took off in the direction of the scream.
In the distance, the thermal showed a cold being being chased by an Oldolon.
Holy shit! Its the being that had been watching me!
As he neared, he heard another scream, obviously coming from the being. He heard something that nearly made him trip.
"Kee'lan te de-na!"
"Madison, I found the source of the scream." John said as he continued to run, slowly gaining on the two beings.
"It is the being that has been stalking me. Its being chased by an Oldolon."
"Madison, you won't fucking believe this, but it spoke. I didn't understand what it said, probably something along the lines of, 'Someone help me.' Sending the audio file now."
John continued gaining for a few seconds before a reply came. "Okay, I'm going to search around the base for anything else."
"Got it. Don't let anything sneak up on you. Keep thermal active."
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." She said, right before she deactivated the speakers.
John was extremely close at this point, close enough to see that only two things were keeping the beast from catching the strange being."
The first was that the Oldolon was not built for endurance, so it's energy wad beginning to flag. The second was that it wwas able to dodge in between trees and change direction, forcing the Oldolon to lose speed, therefore lose ground. It would catch back up in clearings, though.
However, its luck ran out when it came across a massive clearing. The Oldolon caught up and pounced on the being. It issue another scream and from this distance, John could tell that the scream was feminine, so he assumed it was female. On this new world, anything was possible, though.
The being fell and the Oldolon bit into it's shoulder. The possibly female being kicked the animal off, before being batted into a tree, where is was presumably knocked unconscious, as it did not get back up.
As the Oldolon stalked towards the downed bipedal being, John burst into the clearing, his gun already swinging to aim at the beast.
Kra-thoom! Came the report as the gun fired its payload, a massive slug of partially molten metal flying at three times the speed of sound. It hit the Oldolon just before the middle of it's back, blowing a massive chunk out of the beast and killing it instantly.
John lowered his gun and looked around with thermal. Once he saw that it was all clear, he deactivated thermal and turned his attention back to the being.
The moment his eyes settled on the being, his face went absolutely deadpan. If his face could have been seen through his polarized visor, they would have seen no expression at all, rather reminiscent of a certain creepypasta.
"Are you fucking kidding me. Hundreds of years of searching for life, of theorizing what intelligent life would look like, and I finally found it. AND IT IS A FUCKING FURRY!" John raged.
'Furry' was a rather appripriate term. The being was bipedal, and coated in a thin layer of fur. Her main color was black, and where her joints were, the fur was an orange color. On closer examination, her paws were the same.
She was, mercifully, wearing clothing. The color was rather indiscernible due to a heavy layer of mud coating the entire being. Her form was somewhat feminine- in the sense that she was thin at the waist and had a curvy chest.
John could not determine whether her stomach was a different color, due to both the mud and the clothing.
Her shoulder was bleeding heavily with a large wound, the spot where she was bitten.
"The being was injured. I'm bringing her, I think, back to the ship for medical attention."
"Got it, and I found something as well, some kind of egg."
"Bring it back and place it in a box in the TerraDome."
"Alright."
John bent down and grabbed the female and carried her bridal style to the ship, sprinting the entire way.
He soon reached the ship and was thankful that the door was already opened. He ran inside and placed the being on an operation table and grabbed a medical kit off of the wall.
He poured water on it's shoulder to flush the wound and clean the mud off the surround shoulder. he grabbed a suture and thread and stitched the wound shut, taking care not to injure her more than she already was. Lastly, he disinfected the wound and bandaged it.
After he was finished, he sat down and retracted his helmet's visor just as Madison walked in.
She stopped at the sight of the being on the table before walking in fully.
"That's 'her?'" She asked.
"Yep. She was running from an Oldolon. It bit her before I killed it."
"Will she survive?"
"Maybe. I cleaned the wound, but an Oldolon's saliva is acidic. We'll have to wait and see."
Madison nodded and they continued to watch the rise and fall of the being's breathing, a single thought in both of their minds.
Who is she and will she live?
XXX
A few people have asked me via PM the difference between polarizing and retracting John's visor.
John's visor it curved, just enough that when he retracts it, it slides into his helmet, leaving the front of his helmet open to the outside.
When his visor is polarized, it becomes adjusted to all light levels, allowing him to see in pitch black as well as blindingly bright. This has the effect of his visor be coming pitch black, and not transparent.
Also, the first mention of what makes this an Alien/Predator story finally happens...It only took three chapters.