CHAPTER 3
"THE SCOUT"
"Gorman: Hicks, meet me at the south lock. We're coming in.
Hicks: Roger.
Hudson: [to Vasquez] He's comin' in. I feel safer already."
- James Cameron; "Aliens"
The Xenomorph Scout watched in silence from the darkness of the ceiling fifty feet above as the abomination consumed the human. The undulating flesh shuddered and writhed. The Xeno saw none of the gore in the black vacuum of it's mind though. Only the fading of the blue electrical light of the man.
And all around him the unnatural electrical crimson crackling bolts of the monstrosity that was consuming him. The man made one last noise that was a cross between a gasp and a whimper. Then he was still. Soon there would be a man and an abomination. But the man would no longer be a man. It would be an abomination as well. It did not know how it knew this. It did not matter.
It's first thought was one of rage. That such a thing could exist. And it's first instinct was to drop the fifty feet from the ceiling and pounce on the monstrosity with bone crushing weight. To attack with tooth, and claw, and acid. To tear this undulating fleshy thing to shreds. But something held it back. This abomination was neither fit for breeding nor consumption. And it was dangerously close to the hive.
It stayed there in the shadows a while and weighed its options. It knew that soon the abomination would finish its work. And given enough time the monstrosity would spot the Scout, despite the darkness and distance. The Xeno knew that this thing had more than just eyes with which to see. And it knew the monstrosity could use the weapons of man if it wished. Again it did not know how it knew this, but it did not matter.
Another moment passed. The Scout noticed another man. He was on the ground not far away. Cowering behind a large wooden crate. He was a big man, and cradled in his shaky hands a weapon that spit little balls of fire. But judging from his aura the Scout thought the man unlikely to attack.
The man's color suggested that he was ripe for the hive. And under different circumstances the Scout would have claimed him. But all thoughts of food or reproduction were uncharacteristically put on hold in the face of this new threat.
All was silent save for the drip of cold rusty water and the wet, sucking sounds of the undulating flesh below. Something unnatural was happening between the dead man and the Thing. The Scout could sense it. And the Xeno came as close as possible to being unnerved.
It suddenly sprang into action. Darting silently across the ceiling faster than any man could run. A moment later it was rocketing through the air ducts it had used to access the facility. Then it was outside. Moving quickly across the huge roof of the complex.
The Xeno darted in a blur through the deep shadows. The two moons glowed brightly in the cloudless sky, but did little to illuminate the rooftop. Mostly because of the foliage that pressed tightly around all sides of the towering building.
The surrounding trees were monolithic. Looming high over the massive hulking complex that was comprised wholly of the non-reflective slate gray metal provided by the Yutani Corporation, that was the staple material on every single Colony World. Even if any men had been patrolling the area, they would have been hard pressed to catch a glimpse of the Xeno as it darted silently toward the roof edge.
A few seconds later the Scout reached the edge of the rooftop and launched itself out into the darkness one hundred feet above the ground. The moonlight reflected off it's outstretched body, outlining it's divine ebony exo-skeleton in a ghostly light that made it look like an angel of death.
Any of its brethren would have hesitated at the roof edge, but the Scout had been to this building many times. It had long ago concluded that leaping out into the canopy of giant trees was a much faster way to exit the premise.
The Xeno came as close to the feeling of exhilaration as it possibly could as it sailed through the cold night air. Then it was passing with a "swoosh" through the first gigantic leaves of the jungle canopy that towered over the complex. One of which stood about twenty feet out from the complex roof edge. A half second later its claws found the bark of the massive tree it had been aiming for.
It lost only a minute amount of momentum as it changed direction and scrambled down the trunk. Then it was streaking across the jungle floor. The nighted wood was ripe with the sounds of life. Dominated by the chirp of giant crickets, and the chatter of the large blue tinged primates that made their homes in the upper canopy of the forest.
The Xeno elected to take the most direct route to the hive. This was also the most perilous, but urgency dictated haste. The Scout knew that it would have to pass through a territory heavily populated by the large primates. And as of late the savage beasts had started becoming aggressive. Several times they had attacked the Scout's brethren.
Though the primates were savage and strong, they feared the Xenos and did not ever come near the hive. But they had begun to strike at the Xenos when they traveled abroad. Their attacks had begun occurring with increasing frequency and violence.
Physically powerful, they were a match for the Xenos in both strength and ferocity. Most were larger than the Hive Warriors, whom were larger and stronger than the Scout. Since the Queen had not yet commanded their destruction, as a rule the denizens of the hive simply stayed out of the ape's little plot of forest.
Coming from the South this route was drier than any other one. The valley that lay before the hive was bordered in many places by marshlands. The marshlands offered up a host of perils to any would be traveler. Quicksand. Black pools and twisting rivers that teemed with voracious reptilian wildlife. And poisonous plants. Some of which moved with a life that suggested that the plantlike appearance was more of a guise, and that they were in fact closer in relation to the animal kingdom.
Just then there was a stealthy movement in the trees, and the Scout whom had been moving at lightening speed came to a grinding halt. Kicking up chunks of dirt and rock just as a large ape dropped down from out of the darkness above. The primate towered over the little scout, breathing heavily. It's massive muscled chest heaving, and a large primitive club clutched tightly in a large fist.
The look in it's wide purplish eyes suggested hatred, fear, and imminent bloodshed. The Scout of course saw none of this. But the electrical aura of the ape more or less conveyed the same notion to the Xeno. The Scout did not have to look up to know that there were more of them gathering in the trees above.
They began dropping from the darkness of the canopy, and within seconds the Xeno was surrounded. Most were carrying primitive weapons. Clubs of wood and knives of stone. The largest one. The ape who had first dropped in front of the scout was clearly their leader. The electrical auras of the Troop were easy to read and told the Scout much. None of this was relevant to the Xeno however. All that mattered was that they were food. And they were in the Scout's way.
The Xeno hissed. It's lips pulling back. Revealing it's deadly sharp teeth. The Troop Leader answered back by lunging at the Scout with a deafening roar that would have shaken most other creatures to the core. But the Scout was deaf to the war cry. All was silence and the electricity of movement.
The massive ape swung it's club, but the Xeno dodged the lumbering strike, and darted around the beast's side. Before the ape could recover the Scout was already on it's back. The ape howled and spun around violently. But the Scout held on tightly. Digging it's razor sharp claws into the primate's hide. In one blinding fluid motion it grabbed the ape's head in it's clawed hands and wrenched it backward.
The ape only had time to gurgle once before the Xeno sent it's second mouth through the top of it's skull. The Scout's mouth easily punched through the skull, shattering bone and blasting through the primitive brain. Tissue tore, and synapses shredded as the Scout's mouth punched through the roof of the ape's mouth. The jaw shattered. Teeth and chunks of bone fell softly onto the dark jungle floor. There was blood in the night air now.
The Scout saw the electricity of the ape's brain flair brilliantly for a half second, then go out. The Scout let go and let the dead Troop Leader fall heavily to the ground. The other ape's shrieked at the sight of their dead brethren, and all at once they attacked. In the space of a heartbeat a half dozen clubs were descending on the Scout. Thrown off balance the Xeno backpedaled with it's arms raised.
The Xeno took a blow to the side, and with a deafening crack went to the ground on all fours. The Scout darted away, keeping low to the ground. It was faster than the apes, but they were larger and in a terrible rage. And the nighted jungle was alive with the raging electric auras of the primitive beings.
The primate's had become increasingly weary of the Xenos. Their rule had always gone unchallenged in this land, and they feared these jet black, eyeless creatures that had come to their forest. But their leader's son had inspired them into this conflict. And upon seeing his brutal death at the Scout's hands, the ape's were now in a primal rage that only death could quell. They would see the blood of this black, eyeless monster, if indeed such a thing had blood.
An ape not much smaller than the dead Troop Leader grabbed the Xeno from behind and lifted it up off it's feet. The Scout thrashed about violently but the ape held fast. Trapping the Xeno in a bear hug that would have crushed the life out of a buffalo. Another ape came howling at the struggling alien, it's club raised high over it's head.
The Scout flexed it's upper chest cavity, and spit a glob of acid into the rapidly approaching ape's face. It shrieked and fell backward. Clutching it's smoking face, even as it's flesh began to run in rivulets between it's big fingers.
An ape shrieked and hurled a large stone at the Scout. But the shot missed it's mark and instead hit the ape that was holding the Scout square in the face. The Xeno was released as it's captor crumpled to the ground.
Others. Many others were coming now. Charging with their weapons raised. A few large stones slammed into the ground around the crouched Scout. The primate's not having the best aim. The Scout resumed it's efforts at flight. Scrabbling over the writhing body of the Primate who's smoking face was melting off, the Xeno made use of it's superior speed and agility to outmaneuver it's attackers.
The Scout managed to put a few feet between itself and the Troop and leapt high into the air. Landing about eight feet up on the trunk of the tree, it began to dart upward. It's ascent however was cut short after about six more feet when a howling ape swooped in from a nearby branch and smashed the Scout across the face with a club.
Another deafening crack, and for a moment the Xeno's shadowy perception of the world exploded in a blinding electric light. The Xeno was falling, and a second later it landed on the wet dirt of the forest floor. It's deceptively heavy body shaking the ground a little.
A half second later there was another heavy impact that shook the ground even more. And then a savage roar came from vocal chords and lungs whose fury was so great that the Xeno heard it through the black vacuum of it's mind. It looked up and saw a huge blue tinged Cyclopean Ape. It towered over any of the apes that the Scout had seen before. It's aura was like a monsoon of raging electricity. The King had comeā¦
"Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment and critique. And please check out the updated Chapter 4!"
