Disclaimer: BioWare owns Mass Effect. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien franchise.
LV-426, November 16, 2176
"Aw'right! Let's go, people!" Gunnery Sergeant Apone's voice rang out through the colony's garage, the M577 GRZLY parked near the entrance that would lead to the colony complex. "They ain't paying us by the hour! Let's go, let's head 'em out! Frost? You're driving!" The Marines of the 343 Mobile Infantry clamored into the APC through the crew door, grim but ready, weapons in hand or stored on them in carrying configurations as Private Ricco Frost went through the hellhole of the APC to reach the driver's hole. 2nd Lieutenant Jane Shepard waited by the crew door, letting the Marines in first as she did a quick head count, satisfied that everyone was there. She wasn't happy taking Carter Burke, Ellen Ripley, and Rebecca Jorden onto the APC on what could potentially be a firefight, but the APC really was the safest place for them. Marines and civilians loaded, Shepard nodded to Apone, who grimly nodded back at her, the man's dark face a quiet exhibit of lethal intent. Shepard climbed through the crew door, entering the APC before the Gunny, sliding in with the second squad as Alliance Science Officer Lance Bishop sat in the Mobile Tactical Operations Bay chair, giving a quick glance at the monitors to see that everything was on-line and functioning properly, turning to her and giving her a quick nod.
"Frost? Let's move out." Shepard ordered through her radio.
"Roger, El-Tee. Shake and bake." The Private responded as the APC spun to life, gunning its way out of the garage a few moments later, and Shepard looked at one of the monitors on the TacOps, seeing the Stygian landscape passing by them on the monitor as the atmospheric station loomed in the hazy distance some two klicks away. The APC rocked and rattled over the craggy landscape of LV 426, Frost having to swerve at times to avoid the worse of the dips and rises that might have injured the occupants, keeping the atmospheric station more or less in view as the GRZLY traversed the distopian environment of the moon. "El-Tee? ETA to Station access lock less than 5 mikes."
"Good work, Frost." Shepard told him, nodding to Apone. "Marines, stand-by for deployment. First squad is taking point, second squad flanking. Ripley? You're secondary driver in case we need the APC scooted. Bishop, you've got TOC duties." Her orders were easily understood as she looked to the monitor that showed the front view of the APC, and she saw an access ramp come into view, blocked by an access door. "One minute, people! Look sharp, look alive!" The APC's jostling ended as it drove onto the access ramp, and the sound of the access door opening, the hum of machinery and hydraulics overcame the rumbling of the APC's engine for a moment before they proceeded to move in. The GRZLY drove in easily enough, heading into the complex for about a hundred or so meters before stopping at a maintenance access point that would gain them entry though a majority of the complex, discovered by PFC Hudson on the schematic of the station. The crew door opened, and so unlike their usual bravado, the Marines were grim and silent as they filed out of the APC, their weapons at the ready as they lined up by the access hatch that would have them entering into the the atmospheric station's maintenance walkways.
"Alright." Shepard called out as she pointed towards Hudson, and then to the door, indicating that she wanted him to open it, the squad's technician accessing his Omnitool and plugging it into the hatch's access computer. The hatch opened easily enough, the door sliding open to reveal the base of the station, a maze of catwalks and pipes, illuminated by dim lights and amber strobes. "I want a straight B-deployment. Second squad, we'll take left flank. Advance on axial six-six-four. Trackers on-line. Set the V-gain to filter out RF ambient. First squad, move out!"
"Al'right, Hudson. Tracker on-line." Apone called out quietly, Hudson first through the door as the rest of first squad followed behind him. "Left and right, little buddy." The Gunny's voice came over the radio as first squad disappeared into the hatch, walking on a metal-rigged platform that was lined with piped handrails and floored with grating.
"Second squad, move in." Shepard told her team, taking the lead as Hicks, Vasquez, and Dietrich followed behind her. "Vaz? You've got rear-watch. Hicks? Tracker. Dietrich, high-watch. Wierzbowski, you're behind me." Her boots hit grating, the sound of metal accompanying every foot fall she and her Marines made as she scanned what was in front of her with her M7 Lancer, seeing first squad's rear guard, Private Crowe, in front of her by about ten meters. "Apone? Forty meters in, bearing two-two-one, there should be a stairwell heading downward…"
"Check. Got it." Apone's voice came back to her.
"We want Sub-Level 3. Should be five flights down." Shepard replied over the throat-mike, seeing the first squad disappearing down a metal staircase framed with rails, leading deeper into the industrial complex, a rotating amber light only making the gloom of the ill-lit walkway barely tolerable.
"Let's go, people. Hudson, you got point." The Gunny's voice called up, even and quiet. "Nice and easy, and check those corners…"
"Here's the staircase." Shepard called out to her squad, checking further into the complex before taking a right onto the metal grating steps that would lead her downward, a illuminated sign indicating that they were on Level 2.
"Check those corners!" Apone snapped as Shepard took the point for her squad, her Lancer dancing from shadow to shadow, her Assault Rifle's light illuminating everything she pointed it at, destroying the darkness and clearing the dead zones. Her feet glided from step to step without her having to look down, clearing a corner of the stairwell before going around it, taking the next flight down to another walkway, made of metal plating this time, the level seemingly more solid than the catwalk they were on before, suspended above air. They were on ground level of the moon, now. "Watch your spacing!" The Gunny warned, the Senior NCO on top of his game; leading men while ensuring their maximum proficiency. "Don't bunch up. Stay loose."
"We're starting to show a lot of interference." Alliance Science Officer Lance Bishop called out over the radio from his post on the M577 APC. "I'm getting a lot of break-up on your transmission."
"Probably getting some interference from the structure itself, plus the operational machinery." Shepard replied as she passed by a pump that looked to be connected to a water main. She passed by a sign that labeled the floor 'Sub-Level 1'. "Apone, you should be reaching Sub-Level 3. Proceed on a two-one-six when you do so."
"Roger, El-Tee. Just arrived, going on a two-one-six." The Gunny confirmed. "Watch your lights, people. Hudson, shine your light on…" The radio transmission died out, from interference or Apone's halted words, Shepard couldn't say.
"Jesus Christ." Someone said over the radio; Crowe, perhaps. The static was making it hard to tell. Had they found something?
"Gunny? Report." Shepard called out.
"El-Tee? You're going to want to see this shit."
It was a cave.
It was the only thing that 2nd Lieutenant Jane Shepard could think of when she found first squad standing in a defensive position outside what appeared to be a cave. Honestly, she had no explanation as to what she was looking at, and her human brain just used the closest comparison she could come up with. It honestly didn't look too different from what one would see on earth, a hole in a mountain.
Except this wasn't any cave.
Sitting in front of the 343 Mobile Infantry was a gateway to hell.
The corridor that was in front of the had a concrete floor, framed with pipes, supports, and various mechanical components that kept the structures' machinery running at optimal performance. Yet ten meter into Sub-Level 3, just off the junction where the stairway had deposited the Marines, was a… Shepard could only describe it as 'gunk'; some sort of strange solidified substance coating everything. Her eyes traced a pipe that ran towards the direction that they were heading, terminating at the beginning of the gunk, which seemed to coat everything, turning the corridor into some sort of tunnel made of a hardened resin that was blackish in color, and without any dimension. It looked as if the hallway had been dipped into black hot wax, and stood out to let dry, coming up with a strange sort of Salvador Dali-like landscape; melted plateaus, dripping walls, stalagmites and stalactites, and a cave-like appearance frozen in time by the strange substance. It had completely cover up the refinery-like lattice pipes and conduits, laid over the the concrete flooring, and even seeped through the upper part of piping and support pieces that would make a roof, turning the corridor into… well, a cave. That it wasn't natural was obvious. No human hands had made this. Nor had any natural event.
"I'm not making that out too well." Lance Bishop said over the radio, undoubtedly recording everything. "What are we looking at?"
"You tell me man, I only work here." Hudson muttered, his eyes wide on the hole, as most of theirs were. Shepard took a few tentative steps forward, shining her light on the wax-like cave structure, seeing if the illumination would reveal anything else to her. She looked over to Drake and Vasquez, the Squad Automatic Gunners pointing their deadly M56 Marshal Light Machine Guns right at the hole while the other Marines had set a short perimeter, though most were having a hard time keeping their eyes off the hole.
"Drake, Vaz? Cover us." Shepard told the Gunners, slapping Hudson on the arm, and pointing her hand forward, tapping his tracker to indicate what she wanted. Hudson nodded, his face a little pale, but he did what she asked. He held his left arm forward as Shepard held her Lancer out, ready to fire as Drake stood to Shepard's left and Vasquez to Hudson's right, their M56's pointing out and ready as Hudson set the pace, slow and deliberate. Shepard could hear the rhythmic 'thumping' of Hudson's Omnitool tracker, pulsing out twice a second without any contacts as they approached the cave-like entrance.
Twenty meters and closing. Fifteen. Ten. Five.
"Apone, we're in the clear." Shepard whispered into her throat-mike as the four of them stood in front of the entrance to the strange structure, the hole itself taller than Drake, though only wide enough for one of them to fit through comfortably at any point of time. "No signal, no sight of anything." The bright beams of Vasquez's and Drake's Marshals illuminated the passageway well, but not very deep; Shepard could probably only see seven to ten meters in, but no further. "Ripley? Do you know what this stuff is?"
"I… I don't know." Ripley replied, her voice low and worried. It wasn't helping the mood.
"Bishop? Pull up the complex schematics? Find us another route to the colonists. This thing's a Godsdamn choke point and a fatal funnel."
"Wait one while I find an alternate route." Lance Bishop's voice came over the radio, and she heard Hudson breath out a sigh of relief beside her. Shepard looked to the squad's technician, who looked a little panicky at the thought of walking in through the unnatural opening. Shepard noted that the man hadn't made one wisecrack in a few minutes; something to note. "Lieutenant? I've pulled up the schematic with Mr. Burke." The Science Officer replied a few minutes later, the four of them having held their position at the cave's entrance. "There really isn't another path that we can find from that end of the structure. The only other access is on the complete other side of the facility, which will require you coming back to the APC, driving around the complex, and entering in from the other direction. I don't think that a likely course of action, as you might find the very same thing on the other side, or it may be completely blocked off."
"Shit." Shepard breathed out, knowing that Bishop had a very valid point. "Apone? I'm going need someone to scout this out, see how deep it goes and where it leads. Someone with brains."
"Hicks. You're up." The Gunny identified immediately, and a few moments later, Corporal Hicks came up to them, pulling out his M23 Katana Express off the hard point on his back after stowing his M7 Lancer.
"Yeah, I like to keep this handy…" Hicks informed her with a cocky grin, racking the heat-sink's action, "…for close encounters." Hicks slipped the pump onto his wrist of his left arm, keeping his Omnitool pointed forward for the tracker while at the same time being able to aim his shotgun at a potential threat. Shepard approved. "One tunnel rat, goin' in. See you guys next week." The Corporal drawled out with his accent, making Vasquez snort. Hicks slowly made his way into the pseudo-cave's entrance, testing the substance with a foot, finding it to be more than solid enough to stand on. He then walked into the tunnel, the light of his shotgun illuminating the path in front of him as his worked his way in deeper, a silhouette in the pitch blackness of the tunnel as Drake and Vasquez pointed their Marshals elsewhere to avoid flagging the Corporal with their weapons, Hudson turning off his tracker so it wouldn't read Hick's movement. Shepard had her own Lancer's buttstock planted on her hip as she watched Hick's disappear into the tunnel, feeling dread seeping into her. She really hoped that she wasn't sending the man into a death trap or an ambush, but that's why she had asked for a scout; better one man than a squad or the entire platoon. They stood by the entrance for what seemed to be a quite a long time, but Shepard's chronometer stated was only five minutes before Hick's voice came back onto the radio.
"I'm through." The sound of his drawl had Shepard sigh in relief. "No contacts. Tunnel only has a few bends, but no twists or turns. Dumps off at fifty meters into what appears to be the main maintenance floor of this facility. Probably where most of the work was done. Big and open." That had the Lieutenant relieved. "But… I'm not sure how to describe what I'm seein'. Looks like I walked onto the set of a horror movie or somethin'."
"Alright. We're coming in." Shepard snapped her fingers, calling the attention of the rest of the Marines, circling her finger and point it at the spot right in front of her; hand-and-arm signal for everyone to rally to her. "Vaz and Drake are first through the tunnel, with Hicks as the tracker. Apone? You lead the rest of your squad behind them, and I'll follow up with my squad, and I'll take Hudson as a replacement. As soon as we're through, Frost and Crowe will be door guard on this tunnel. You two will protect our exit in case we need to do a hasty exfil." She didn't like having to split them off, but Shepard didn't want to leave the only route they cleared unguarded. "Apone? Move them out."
"Let's go, heavies." The Gunny, looked to Drake and Vasquez, nodding to them as Vasquez went in first with her Marshal pointing in, Drake hot on her heals with his held higher so he could fire it over her shoulder if needed. Apone went in next with Frost and Crowe following.
Shepard nodded to Wierzbowski, having him go in first as she pointed to Hudson, pointed at her own eyes, and then pointed behind her; she wanted him to keep eyes on their backs. Hudson nodded in the affirmative as she went in next, the Corpsman Dietrich right behind her as Hudson took rear guard, the rhythmic 'thumping' of his tracker accompanying him.
And they proceeded to walk into hell.
The 343 Mobile Infantry walked down the cave-like corridor in a broken line, their feet treading upon the strange solidified substance that made the tunnel they were in, as hard as steel, yet looking like a melted wax structure. Water pooled in some places on the floor from where the liquid dripped from holes along the 'ceiling' of the tunnel, or running down the walls. The black tunnel was a choke point, filled with stalagmites from the ground, as well as stalactites from the ceiling, forcing the Marines to either move around the ground obstructions, or to duck under the ceiling protrusions. 2nd Lieutenant Jane Shepard walked with slow deliberation, the back of Private Wierzbowski in front of her as she fought not to wipe at the sweat that seemed to have sprung on her brow. It was humid and hot in the tunnel; it felt like an oven and a sauna at the same time.
"Watch your firing and check your targets." The sound of Gunnery Sergeant Al Apone's voice came over her earpiece for the whole platoon to hear, his voice authoritative yet reassuring. "Remember, we're looking for civvies in here."
"Tightening it up, Ski." Shepard told the Private in front of her, unable to see Crowe anymore in front of Wierzbowski. "We're getting a little thin."
"Nice and easy, people." Apone reiterated.
"Looks like some sort of secreted resin." Corporal Dietrich said to no one in particular behind her, and Shepard turned to see that the Navy Corpsman had a small piece of stalactite in her hand, snapped off.
"Yeah, but secreted from what?" Weirzbowski asked, mystified.
"Nobody touch nothing." Shepard relayed to the man and woman right next to her, as well as the whole platoon.
"Man, hot as hell in here." Frost said, and Shepard agreed. She was soaked in sweat.
"Yeah, man, but it's a dry heat." Hudson hooted, somehow able to find his sense of humor despite feeling as if they were being cooked alive. Where did he find the time during sweating to tease, Shepard thought to herself, wiping away a sheen of sweat.
"Knock it off, Hudson." Apone growled over the radio.
Shepard saw that ahead the tunnel finally ended, and felt her eyes open and her jaw drop as she exited the tunnel herself, taking a few steps out and taking a slow spin, taking it all in what she was seeing. She could see why Hicks would have a hard time describe what he was seeing; it did look like the set of some cheap sci-fi horror flick. The bones of the industrial complex were apparent, pipes and grating were seen, along with the cheap industrial lighting for illumination that seemed too weak for such a setting. Rails and pipes surrounded the sides of the catwalks and grating to keep people from accidentally falling off or backing off a platform and falling, while large tanks and mechanical apparatus were stationed in various portions of the large complex, undoubtedly a part of the atmospheric station's terraforming plant. Yet that wasn't the only thing she was seeing. Coating perhaps half of the surfaces was the same sickly resin secretion that the tunnel had been composed of, though nowhere near as complete or as thick-looking. It looked like someone had melted wax and dripped over a good half of the interior structure.
Then there were the pods.
Coming out of some of the larger apparatuses and support beams for the superstructure were large cocoon-like pods hanging from their perches, almost looking like grub cocoons or moth cocoons. They seemed almost made of the same substances that was secreted on the walls and pipes of the superstructure, except slimier and stickier looking.
Shepard noticed that she could see hundreds of them.
"Lieutenant?" Ripley's voice came over the radio, the transmission coming in crackled and broken. "What do those Lancers fire?" Seriously? She was asking what their weapons fired? Shepard had to remind herself that Ripley had been in hypersleep since before the founding of the Prothean Archives on Mars.
"The ammo comes from a standard block of high-tensile steel," Shepard answered, "shavings the size of a grain of sand that's hyper-accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light through the means of a mass effect field and a mass-accelerating electromagnetic rail. It's standard for all weapons. Why?"
"Well, look where your platoon is." The woman replied, the static not enough to interfere with her conversation, though it was getting close. "They're right underneath the primary heat exchangers of that atmospheric processor."
"Okay… so?" Shepard looked up, and all she saw were pipes and pumps, some covered in the resin.
"So… if you fire your weapons, you'll rupture the cooling system." Ripley finished.
"Shit… she's right." Burke jumped in, and Shepard found herself looking at Apone, who was looking right back at her. "Look, this whole station is basically a big fusion reactor that creates anti-matter from the means of particle accelerator, and uses the matter/anti-matter detonations to fuel it. We're talking a potential containment breach of the anti-matter fuel, or a breakdown of the coolant system in the fusion reactor. Either way, we're talking about a thermonuclear explosion and… adios, muchachos."
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me." Shepard swore under her breath as the Marines began to look around at one another. "You're asking us to… what? Use harsh language? We've got potential hostiles in here and you want me to have my men sling rifles?" She snorted, looked around at the men and women with the 343, seeing their eyes on her. "Yeah, fuck that. Marines? Fire on direct contact only. No suppression fire, and no grenades unless we need to retreat. If we hit something bad, immediate evac and dust-off. Copy?" There were a choir of Roger, El-Tee from the platoon, and Shepard saw Apone nod his head in approval. What, did they think she was going to have everyone eject ammo blocks? Only the truly righteously stupid would do that in a potentially hostile situation! "Apone? Let's head them out. The moment I see any evidence that there's no one here to save, we're exfil'ing and getting the fuck outta dodge. Fuck this place." Hudson replied with a hearty hoo-rah, and most of the others were smiling and nodding their heads in agreement. "But we need that proof. Gunny?"
"Aw'right, people, we still got a job to do. You heard the lady!" Apone called out, nodding his head. "Hicks, take point with Drake and Vasquez at your wings. Everyone else, keep it close and tight, and keep your eyes open. Hudson? Cover our asses!" Corporal Hicks took the lead with his tracker, both Gunners at his side as they moved at a slow pace, their feet clanking softly against the metal grating of the platform they were on as the first squad moved behind them. Shepard let them get several meters forward before indicating for Wierzbowski to move forward as well, taking her own position behind the Private. Frost and Crowe had already peeled off from the first squad, taking defensive positions by the tunnel's entrance. The platoon moved forward for about another three hundred meters, the lights of their guns sweeping over everything that they were looking at, shining on the industrial complex with its resin-coated addition, sometimes thicker in some places than others. Shepard's Lancer illuminated a Corporate sign on one of the walls, reading 'Axis Chemicals', half covered in the strange substance at one junction, making her snort.
"Madre de Dios…" Vasquez spoke over the radio, her voice disturbed. "Gunny? El-Tee? You guys need to see this shit."
"Moving up." Shepard called out, moving forward through the group, passing by Wierzbowski and taking a turn on the platform, the other ways clogged by the secreted resin substance from ceiling to floor. She walked into another part of the complex…
…And found herself looking at a wall of living horror.
Space. Though she never admitted to it, any viewport that contained the blackness of space and the points of lights of stars absolutely terrified her. Men had nightmares of strange creatures and the boogieman, while others feared what went bump in the night. For 2nd Lieutenant Jane Shepard, it was space itself; the great inky void. Whenever she was on a ship, she would always avoid looking at any available viewport, and make sure that if any were present in her cabin, that they were covered securely enough that she couldn't even accidentally pull it down. She had, after all, spent over five days in a one-man life pod with only the great black to look out into through a view port, the fragments of the Iwo Jima to accompany her… along with the floating bodies of those who hadn't made it.
Her mother having been one of them.
Now she had a new nightmare.
2nd Lieutenant Jane Shepard found herself looking at something that was beyond horrifying, beyond description. What she was looking at… was simply beyond even the worst descriptors that Hell could have ever been. She felt herself gulping, her eyes wide as she slowly scanned the depths of the complex she had walked into, Gunnery Sergeant Al Apone next to her, profusely sweating and cursing softly. Corporal Hicks, along with PFC Vasquez and Private Drake, stood within feet of them, none of them saying a word as they all stared at the sight that was unfolded before them.
"Gods…" Shepard breathed out slowly, her voice quaking as she felt fear stabbing into her like a cold, sharp knife. She had suspected something, but what she was seeing was beyond the worst thing she could have possibly imagined. She had thought of Rebecca's father, lying on a gurney with a facehugger gripping his skull. That she had expected. That was what she thought they would be finding.
Russel Jorden had no idea how lucky he had been.
All along every wall and metal beam large enough to support them were the hanging bodies of the colonists of Hadley's Hope, suspended at various heights from just a few feet from the grated platform to some twenty feet in the air. What secured them there was something akin to the secretions they had been seeing through the complex, but different. A snotty sort of mucus covered each of the colonists, entombing them in strange positions, their bodies twisted and contorted. The mucus was mostly translucent, a clearish white substance that seemed more an epoxy than anything, though it held the colonists' bodies well enough to suggest its tensile strength. It was obviously strong enough to withstand the struggles and panicked throes of the colonists had they woken up to find themselves situated so, securing them in place despite their struggles. It reminded Shepard of certain spider's webs, and she wondered if struggling against it would alert anything.
That wasn't the worst.
Along the grating of the platform of Sub-Level 3 were strange egg-like shells planted along the flooring, their leathery shells thick as they stood like sentinels along the grating, silent and unmoving. Shepard could see that the eggs were… hatched, for lack of a better term. The tops were split open into four even sections, peeled away, exposing the interior of the eggs. She looked at the closest one, only a few feet from her, and saw a white membrane lining, but nothing inside to indicate what it had hatched. Hicks answered the question by dipping down and picking up with his shotgun barrel something that caught his eye, rotating to show them his find. It was the corpse of a facehugger, like they had seen in the Med Lab, brown and dried-out looking. Shepard sucked in her breath as he tossed the corpse aside.
That wasn't the worst.
The colonists on the walls, they easily numbered in the hundreds. Seven hundred and forty-three signals had been located using the colony's mainframe, and though the section they were in was large and labyrinthine, it was easy to see that they were looking at a majority of them, and the rest were probably there as well, just not within eyesight. All were covered in the apoxy-like membrane that contained them all over the Sub-Level's walls and riggings, entombed. Yet what she noticed from the nearest once she could see were the wounds they had. Each one that she looked at, well over a dozen, all had their rib cages burst outwards, exploded from within. The gaping maws that were in the center of their chests were easily large enough for her to fit her fist through, painful and lethal. The colonists had been brought here, entombed on the walls where the eggs were, brought as hosts for the facehuggers. Then they had been impregnated with the embryos which grew within them until they reached a certain size, and then burst out of them, killing the colonists, and giving birth to Ripley's creature.
Hundreds of them.
"Apone? Mission complete." Shepard whispered quietly, the Gunny looking over to her. "There ain't nothing we can do here for them but go back on the Sulaco and orbital strike this place until its glassed. We exfil. Now. Quietly."
"You won't have to tell me twice." The Gunnery Sergeant's eyes went back to the macabre sight before them, shuddering. "Shit. Shanxi wasn't this bad. Marines? Quietly fall back, center peel. Don't engage nothing unless we see a squidy." His orders came with a voice that, normally loud, was strangely quiet. Gunny was as frightened as a hardcore veteran allowed himself to be.
"As soon as we're back on the APC, we're getting dust-off, and we're getting the fuck off this rock." Shepard told Apone. "A descent missile down the cooling tower should disrupt the system enough to induce a melt down or chain reaction. Either way, nothing comes out of this motherfucker alive."
"Fucking A, El-Tee." The Gunny replied, his tone approving. He looked to the dead colonists for a moment. "Poor bastards. Hicks, Vasquez, Drake, prepare to fall back and peel. El-Tee? You're first."
A moan from their left caught their attention.
Shepard and Apone exchanged a glance, looking to the direction of the moan, the lights of their Lancers pointing right at the the source of the noise. Shepard took two steps forward, seeing that her light connected with a entombed colonists who was hanging at ground level, head bowed down, suspended in a crucifixion position. She approached the colonist, pulling the head upward, and found herself looking at a teenaged woman, her face pale and gaunt, seemingly dead.
Then her eyes snapped open.
"Shit! We got a live one!" Shepard called out, shocked that anyone was still alive from the colony. Her eyes touched the colonists' eyes, seeing the pleading look in them.
"Please… kill me." The teenager begged, startling Shepard, taken aback by the request. She found herself looking downward at the egg that she had stepped around unconsciously to reach the woman at first, seeing that it was peeled back like a blooming flower. In front of the woman's cocoon was the corpse of a dried-out facehugger.
It's already too late for her, Shepard realized, her heart torn.
"Please? Kill me?" The teenager begged again, coughing, her weak voice pleading as Shepard looked to Apone, the Gunny seeing the same things she was. Holding her Lancer in her right hand, she pulled out her M3 Predator Heavy Pistol with her left, putting the barrel of the sidearm just below where the woman's sternum should have been, where she had seen the bulge in Rus Jorden's picture when he had given birth. The teenager nodded, her face never changing, even when her eyes looked at the pistol pointed right at her chest.
"Go with the Gods." Shepard spoke quietly before she pulled the trigger three times. The gunshots were loud in the complex, breaking through the silent reverie among the bodies and industrial equipment. Three bloody holes punched their way into the woman's chest, the speck of metal that the Predator fired expanding on contact with the intent to cause as much internal damage as possible as soon as it hit flesh or armor. The woman looked at her one last time with closing eyes, her breath gurgling out from her mouth and chest as her head slumped downward, death claiming her. Shepard's Predator was still at the woman, and she realized that she was hyperventilating.
"El-Tee?" Hick's touched her left forearm, and it startled her as her eyes locked onto his, breaking her out of her reverie. "You did good, Jane. I would ask for and expect the same thing."
"I… thank you." She probably didn't have to tell anyone that it was the first time she had ever shot someone, ever killed someone. Yet what Hicks said calmed her a little bit; she saved a woman already dead. "Let's get out of here."
And throughout the cavernous space of the complex, the sounds of shrilling hisses were heard by the Marines, a noise they didn't understand, a noise they would come to fear. And it was accompanied by the 'ping' of Hick's tracker reading contacts.
A/N: Question: where was Bishop during the Sub-Level 3 attack? Burke, Ripley, and Gorman were on the APC, and in the movie, it shows Ripley taking over the driving duties to rescue the Marines. Was he left behind at the complex? What would happen if they needed a quick extraction? In this, everyone is brought, including Bishop. I put him in charge of the monitors where Gorman was.
Axis Chemicals was the facility from the original Batman movie where Jack Nicholson did a stage dive into the acid bath, turning him into the Joker. This facility was the same movie set that Aliens was filmed in three years prior, and had been mostly untouched when Tim Burton took it over. The 'Axis Chemical's sign was an ode to the set's movie companion.
I did change some of the things in the Sub-Level 3 sequence, like leaving a rear guard (which is a simple military tactical standard) and rearranging the platoon somewhat. Sadly, most of the Marines in the movie were rather forgettable; Crowe and Wierzbowski I don't believe have any lines, and probably have, on total, maybe thirty seconds camera time all told. Spunkmeyer and Frost fare a little better with lines and probably 3 minutes between the both of them, and Ferro does decent being the drop-ship flyer with several lines and some solos. Drake had the most as a minor character with the most lines and screen time, probably close to thirty/forty lines and about 5 minutes. I wanted to give the 'minor' characters a little more time in, perhaps a few lines, like Crowe possibly puking in Ferro's bird, Wierzbowski being on TOC duty and such.
Shepard: 1 - Aliens: 0
