"For god sake Cormack of all the women you could fall for why the hell did it have to be her?"
"She was the only one who sees me for who I am Kellan. Not what I've done."
"That's called infatuation you dumb English prick."
"I don't care what it is, all I know is when I'm with her... all the hate. All the anger in me goes away."
"Nothing will come of it man! She's going to toss you aside when she's had her fun."
"Anna's not like that. She's nothing like what people make her out to be. She saw everything ugly in me and didn't run."
"She'll be the death of you brother."
"I don't care. Because of her I can finally live with myself."
Cormack discussing his feelings about Annabelle Weyland to his second in command Kellan before their deployment to the Shanghai Facility.
December 24th 1500 Shanghai Facility, the Enclosure
Darkness engulfed the enclosure leaving no single space illuminated, a tomb for whoever entered the alien creature's blinding, foreboding lair. Not simply an absence of light but an oppressive atmosphere like no other as Mendez wandered through it with hesitant steps. The clinging dark made breathing near impossible as tension replaced oxygen. Death itself laying his cold skeletal hand upon his back, sending the cold shiver of doom through to the private's heart. The dark angel faded away to observe as his ancient servant powered towards Mendez's back from the darkness.
As soon as he aimed his light in the direction of the oncoming creature he could see nothing and more importantly hear nothing, it had simply disappeared. He fought for control over his unbearable fear, his entire body trembling with it, his pistol shaking uncontrollably in his sweating palms. The laser sight darted without precision into the unknown, his aim painting towards imaginary targets in the faintly visible distance at the edge of his light.
His stricken mind only held comfort in what Charles had said before he had condemned Mendez to this hell. If he killed the specimen and he would live, he didn't care for what came after though only surviving. It was easier said than done though when he couldn't see anything in this pit and he only held a pistol now thanks to his attack on Charles Weyland.
He walked at a snail's pace through the enclosure, every step silenced so as to hear any signs of the alien approaching, his sight was hindered but this only helped to heighten his other senses. He checked all angles around him with his light. Repeating it in a steady cycle to help his bearings and his wavering courage. Distance travelled could only be recognized by the giant pillars that stretched across the length of the massive enclosure, holding the weight of the sea above him, a thankful anchor among the black abyss.
He wasn't to know though that the cycle only served to heighten the alien's deadly curiosity as it stood mesmerized in the distance watching the spinning lightshow. It watched its prey ever since the others had left it alone within its domain, only attempting to show itself once. Other times it crawled across the roof resting mere feet from the potential host's head. His movements intrigued it so it held back the desperate urge to drop down upon him, ripping the soft, pale flesh apart with its claws and to sink tooth and tail deep into him. This one though had to be taken alive to be the surrogate for the courier growing from it's former womb. It wouldn't fail in this task. It was curious to watch the intruder's actions; it had never seen a live one before only the dead womb from whence it came. It sensed danger from the figure but only of warning and not retreat. So it inched forward patiently watching for when Mendez had his back turned towards it, watching his rotational cycle, learning the routine and when he stood vulnerable the alien rushed forward.
Swiftly Mendez heard a scuttling movement come at him from behind, instantly spinning on his heel to take aim. No sooner than his light reached the origin of the sound he saw the end of a skeletal, barbed tail shoot towards the roof to climb straight over him, the creature slipped away into the distance behind him once more without further sight. Fighting the thundering drumbeat in his chest and throat he slowly headed into that direction.
Silence and solitude dominated for the next few moments, his mind was a tumult; the concussion along with the fear creating imaginary sights of something swiftly moving in the distance of his light's reach. His frustration arose to fight these two siblings of perceived insanity and his pace quickened. He knew he wasn't hidden, that this thing was watching him from the safety of the darkness so he discarded discretion, it was useless in this fight.
He only wished he could discard the terror he felt as easily as a long, haunting hiss crawled across every surface towards him. A creeping, growing sheet of ice that crept up his legs to close in on his heart, gripping it with a tight fist. The icy fear though was met with a heart boiling with the shield of rage.
"Come on then you son of a bitch! I aint got all day!" he shouted as he discharged one round downrange, the sound deafening among the silence, the muzzle flash creating a brief flash of comforting, encompassing illumination. The sound echoed through the enclosure only to be answered with haunting silence as no reaction came from the creature.
Moving aggressively forward a disgusting scent became apparent as it drifted to fill his nostrils; a scent of rotting meat and eggs. His erratic breathing only helped in making the sick aroma cling to the back of his throat, filling his mouth with an unbearable taste. Mendez stopped in his tracks for a moment; forcing bile back down his throat as he fought the urge to vomit for such an action would leave him vulnerable to attack. The further forward he walked the more revolting the scent became signalling he was closing in on the source. Oddly there was no sign of the creature since he discovered the smell. The enclosure seemed more silent than ever before, a comfort to his rattled senses but his training told him otherwise. Moments like this appeared when contact with the enemy was close.
So focused on sound, sight and smell he was startled when he felt his boots pressed onto something other than the hard steel of the floor below. It felt wet and soft underneath the thick soles of his boots, a faint heat emanating beneath him barely kissed his cold hands, holding the pistol grip tightly. It felt to him like he was walking across freshly spilled guts, hesitant to take the valuable time to look but curiosity eventually won him over.
Pointing his pistol downwards his eyes lay upon the alien floor; black intestinal pipes stretched all around him, with pieces of a more hardened construction that looked startlingly closed to bones but felt as strong as the steel it grew above. The pipes resembled ridged organic hoses, veins pulsing with an unknown fluid to feed the growth of this alien habitat. Instinctively he lifted one boot only to see it still attached to the floor by a sticky, transparent lubricant.
A faint sound of dripping triggered him into action as the pistol was lunged upwards, ready to engage. He gazed upwards to recognize one of the pillars covered in the same grotesque material as the floor beneath him. Nothing was distinguishable among the black organic chaos apart from the large orb growing out of the material, the upper area of the object appeared open. What was positioned at the opening though was terrifyingly human; a man's face only familiar by the bone structure of the skull. The egg appeared to be consuming the body; melting bone and tissue as drop by drop something once human was sinking into the sick cauldron brewing a monstrous recipe.
Mendez didn't know who the victim was, the face of the man was gone but he knew if he lingered immobile any longer he would be next. Holding his pistol close to his chest he turned and in the briefest of seconds a black, spiny tail hammered towards him. Before his reflexes kicked in his hands were struck away, knocking the pistol out his hands to land on the floor with the dooming crack of the light bulb being broken.
He stood frozen as a wet, gargling breathing sounded right in front of him, growing in intensity as the creature pressed forward slowly. It took all his willpower just to step backwards slowly, the invisible horror matching his steps exactly, its weight was undeniable as the sound of its movement masked his own. He continued back until he felt his back press against the moist, sticky surface of the pillar. He could see nothing but he heard its breathing hasten in anticipation, feeling the damp heat of its breath on his chest and the warm presence of its hands pressing onto the pillar on both sides of his head, enshrouding him in its deadly embrace. Panic flared within him as his end approached; any moment now it would strike and snuff out the light of his life out amongst the darkness.
But it didn't attack, merely pressed its unseen face closer until they were centimetres apart as it examined him with an unnerving curiosity. He could do nothing but whimper shamelessly, twisting his head away to the side until he felt the kiss of death. Its lips pressed against the side of his head, its breath filled Mendez's world as he let out a silent scream. He felt his bladder lose control as urine streamed down his leg. Mendez could only assume that what he felt next was the creature's tail as a sharp blade tenderly dragged up his soiled trouser leg briefly before withdrawing. As a last intrusion he could feel thick saliva drip down the neck of his uniform. Lips parted along his neck as a toothed tongue pressed its fangs gently onto his carotid artery. He stopped breathing altogether and closed his eyes tightly waiting again for death. His life didn't flash before his eyes, he didn't think or regret, his mind felt as invaded as his body until the beast pulled back.
He opened his eyes to see a faint red glimmer of hope, the pistol's laser sight beamed across the floor to his right, the source of it was only a few feet from where he stood with the giant creature. His paralyzing fear was replaced by a wavering determination not to go down without a fight, his training saving him from a surrendering end. Swiftly he ducked under the alien's arms and dived for the pistol, something swung not inches from his head to slam into the pillar loudly as he felt the satisfying grip of the pistol. A shrieking roar sounded behind him as he shot upwards then hastily retreated. Distancing himself from the alien he fired one shot where the devil had cried out.
It struck home only to anger it as he could hear it charge towards him, panicking now he discharged wildly; every shot missing as he could see brief glimpses of the alien closing in with every muzzle flash. His nerve was shattered by the sight of finally laying eyes on such a monstrosity ; every flashing glimpse more terrifying as it grew closer with impossible speed. The last gunshot and its accompanying flash saw it glance off the creature's carapace harmlessly; Mendez's last sight was of teeth and claws bared before being hit by such force it toppled him. In his last conscious moments he could feel himself being dragged forward swiftly into the abyss, he screamed loudly as the creature's grip of his shoulder grew so tight it shattered the bones inside the joint before he was stung by something sharp. Gratefully darkness and oblivion soon followed.
December 24th 1510 Shanghai Airspace
The Prison Transport Ship sailed across the skies of the great city of Shanghai on a bleak sky, torrential rain lashed down on the streets below as well as the hulking ship. Masking the craft with dark grey clouds as it closed in on its destination. The weather was harshened by the frequent lightning strikes hitting the coastline as the storm slowly approached the city. Pedestrian activity could still be seen from above, the many occupants of the metropolis filled the streets in their droves, both rich and poor oblivious to the dangers so close to their home.
What couldn't be seen by the ship's pilots though were the two Harpy attack gunships flying above the clouds, ready to sweep down to intercept any suspicious aircraft that flew too close to the precious cargo. The formation's journey was without incident, raising no suspicions as to its intended purpose to deliver the convicts inside for productive slaughter.
Cages and chains couldn't detain the maelstrom of verbal and emotional violence within the secured shuttle. Limbs were locked in place but the convicts' voices raged on; screaming in defiant anger with their thoughts of selfish unfairness and undeserving needs. These men though were already sentenced to the death penalty; fear of further punishment was devoid since their lives were on a set clock.
One prisoner was different though, silent as the grave while being separated from the group and locked in place more securely than most safes. Every convict on the ship had committed violent and despicable crimes but this single man had shocked the world with his sinister actions. Ozra Dean was crucified in chains against the wall closest to the tail of the ship, each limb completely rendered immobile. His portable fortified cell personally designed to contain what could only be described as the devil incarnate. His head lay sagged forward, long greasy black hair covered the muzzle fastened to his face, another precaution for the man was a known cannibal and had killed one of his guards before by ripping his throat out with his teeth.
A guard walked lazily passed the rows of cages without thoughts to the raging criminals beside him, his fleeting curiosity lay sighted on Ozra. He closed in on the cage with an arrogant sense of control; everyone was locked up tight so why should he have felt any fear.
"I wouldn't get too close if I were you Terry." The guard standing on the opposite end of the gangway shouted to him.
"Relax, the sick bastard looks asleep anyway." After a moment he began to slam the stock of his riot gun against the thick metal bars, the pitched sounds echoed through the deck, silencing the other raging animals that now focused on the emerging drama. "Oz! Naptimes over so wake up you fuck!"
He was only answered with silence, Ozra didn't flinch or move which only served to anger Terry. He needed some entertainment on this pathetic detail, baiting the most notorious criminal in modern history seemed like a good option. He began to walk away until a voice stabbed into him from the monster behind him.
"You ruined a wonderful daydream… Terry" Ozra's voice ripped through the air, grated from a lack of use from his time incarcerated.
Terry walked back confidently to press his face against the cold steel of the bars separating him from something more evil than human. "Oh god I'm so sorry Oz…" Sarcasm coated his apology. "…but I really couldn't give a shit. Besides I'm glad I ruined it, probably reminiscing on making some poor kid eat his own parents."
Silence followed once more, even the other convicts fell quiet in awe as they heard this evil celebrity speak once more. "I dreamt something satisfying but bittersweet Terry." The continued use of his name unsettled the guard. "I lifted from the decaying Earth a delicious dish, something so tantalizing I couldn't quite believe it. Not for its freshness but the carcass I had ripped it from." His voice continued to crawl through the deck, a priest delivering his sermon that travelled through his flock of the damned in a forsaken, airborne church.
"I struck the beast in the spine to disable it but not kill it; meat goes foul too quickly you know. It still screamed though as I cut open its belly, eventually dying as I ripped out the beautiful intestines. It's amazing how such a large organ can fit within such a compact area. I cooked them obviously, releasing the impurities and sins of its previous owner to the winds."
He was about to continue until he was abruptly cut off as Terry slammed his rifle against the bars again. "Change the station Ozra you're starting to bore me. Can't be like the rest of these scumbags and just daydream about the last time you fucked someone. No you have to be the centre of attention just like you always have." He pulled back his camouflaged sleeve to reveal his chronometer, still ten minutes till they arrived at the facility. It couldn't come quick enough, he hated to admit it even to himself but he wanted to be far away from this psychopath as quickly as possible now, regretting his reckless desire to converse with a monster.
"What's so funny asshole?" Terry asked as annoyed as Ozra began to laugh loudly, still not raising his head to reveal his face.
"The animal I dreamed of eating was you." Ozra growled as his head erupted upwards, his muscles visibly straining against the many locks entombing him as he locked eyes with Terry. He took extreme pleasure in seeing Terry's eyes flash open to attention, he fed on the fear like a former addict tasting his addiction once more. Storm grey bloodshot eyes glared beneath the oily curtain of his hair to focus his hunger on the guard. "You were dead of course but once the intestines were cooked in a delicious sauce I began to consume you, never breaking eye contact with your last expression of agony just like I am now. It was satisfactory but paled in comparison to the feast that involved your wife, which was delicious both to the tongue and the loins.
Terry face fell pale as snow, stepping back in horror. He quickly found his retreating courage and charged back to the cage. "You shut your fucking mouth or I'll put a bullet in you right now!" He unholstered his pistol loaded with lethal ammunition, sighting down the barrel straight into Ozra's eyes.
Ozra only smiled devilishly as he stared back into the barrel of the gun, and then focused on the hand stabilizing it. "You have been touching that ring with true love for the whole flight Terry she must be something else, that purity is hard to find, makes it so much more exhilarating to destroy. You got kids?"
"I said keep your mouth shut you fucking psycho!"
"Yeah of course you do, two I'm guessing. Don't worry they were included too; I made them watch everything I did with you and your wife."
A tear slowly crawled down Terry's contorted face, leaking from the crack in his emotional armor as he held the rifle still aimed at Ozra with trembling hands. His emotions ran amok within him, a battle of indescribable despair and volcanic rage. He wanted to be back home with the comforting sounds of his family around him, at the same time though he wanted to unload the entire pistol clip into those monstrous eyes staring into him.
"You don't think I will do it do you!" He screamed, fighting desperately to not pull the trigger.
"Don't do it Terry." Stratton, the other guard said gently beside him, laying a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder while using the other to lower the pistol. "You know he's dead no matter what. Just go sit in the cockpit, we're landing in a couple minutes, and I'll keep watch over the scumbags."
Terry turned to him, every inch of torment visible in his eyes and began to walk away before Ozra decided to twist the knife once more. "A lesson in life young man, don't ever bait someone who takes the utmost pleasure in the pain of others. You will thank me in the end you know, you will never cherish your family more than you do now after this experience. I have cursed you though, when you picture them you will imagine my daydreams, all those things I could have done to them, it will become your ultimate nightmare."
Without warning Stratton emptied two stun rounds into Ozra's abdomen, silencing him briefly. As Terry walked away, passing the now roaring convicts feeling defeated beyond words. Ozra gritted through the pain of two heavyweight punches to the gut. Still winded he released a howling, maniacal laughter that followed Terry like a wraith, enshrouding him in its nefarious aura.
Minutes later it descended into the confines of the facility, arousing no suspicion and how could it; the public believed it a harmless research station. They didn't feel it impact on their daily lives so they didn't venture to investigate and any who strayed to close were gently turned back by the kind security staff. The Sulaco still lay in the dry dock, a grey featureless ship, its name scrubbed out of existence for convenience just like the histories of its lost, brave crew.
Cormack truly believed his day couldn't be any worse. Benedict Weyland's fate reached him as he was reading the morning report on the surface level of what was now codenamed: Deep Shrine. Everything was going to plan; exterior security hadn't reported anything suspicious and all logged communications were clear of leaked information. No problems apart from the fact that the most powerful man in the world was being killed by his own discovery downstairs.
He rushed to the elevator, wondering on the journey down why the hell had they ventured into that cursed ship without even a single man as a security detail, his only comfort was that Anna was safe… physically at least. He had been buzzed into the elevator by one of his lieutenants Kellan which confused him; where was the young kid assigned to the elevator? He had enough problems without some private leaving his post for god knows what.
Kellan was waiting for him as he exited, as always the Derelict cast a dark looming shadow over everything in the hanger, darkening perceived light as well as his mood. "Well give it to me straight, what's the report from Monroe?"
Kellan shuffled his posture uncomfortably. "A shit show, Weyland is unconscious with one of those things attached to his face though Monroe thinks he can surgically remove the embryo once the parasite dies. It's all theory right now though so we will just have to wait on the outcome but at the very least Weyland's droid is leading the surgery so no worries about shaky hands fucking it up."
"Fucking perfect… where's Anna?" He asked hastily.
"Found her in a pretty bad state outside Medical so I took her to your quarters and left her with Navek. Better hurry up and get over there because she won't speak a word to any of us and she was killing it with your scotch when I left her.
"Okay keep me posted on anything and find out where the damn elevator security is!" He growled.
"Sure thing I'll find him and don't worry I'll be kicking seven shits outta him when I do."
When Cormack eventually made it to his quarters he found Navek standing guard at the door silently watching Anna as she stared into the distance; a cigarette in her hand clearly absent of attention as the ash slowly collapsed from sheer gravity alone. The scotch however had been shown plenty of attention as he could tell from the empty bottle and her dark demeanor.
"It's okay Navek I got this. The prisoners are coming in so I'll need you to pass them all through" Cormack leaned towards him speaking quietly.
"Okay boss, don't worry about it and just let me know if you need anything." Navek said before leaving the room to leave the couple in a torturous silence.
Cormack sat opposite her, staring directly at her without a glance being pointed back towards him, he stole what remained of the cigarette she held without protest. She truly was in a world all her own.
"From what I've been told love there was nothing you could have done. All we can do now is wait for the surgery and your dads got the best doctors money can buy, Monroe's idea should work and Andrew is leading the surgery." He commented, wishing his words inwardly for the sake of current events.
"Andrew knows everything…" She murmured still partially locked in her own mind.
"You wanna run that by me again, he knows what?" He enquired.
"He knows all about Charles, about me, about what I did to my mother."
"Oh. Fuck. How the hell does he know that?"
"He has access to all our medical records, told me when he came to see my father. Said we need to prepare for what might happen with the company in case of the worst, tried to press into me that Charles can't take over from my father."
"Well I'm starting to warm to that synth… he is right you know though someone needs to put that psycho down before he does something really dangerous. Though I think your dad has trumped that card with bringing that damn ship here." Once again they sat in silence while Cormack sieved through his words. "Well you can't prepare to take over a corporation sitting here drinking yourself to death feeling sorry for yourself." He tried to boost her into action but to no avail.
"Whatever James, just go and play soldier somewhere else remember to not fuck your men over this time like you did in the Marines."
That cut way too deeply for Cormack, his mistakes were his own and he had his reasons. He decided he needed to be more brutal in his words to snap her out this gloom, inside though he wished he shouldn't need to say them. "You can shut the fuck up about that girl until you're in a similar situation until then listen up. You might make everyone think you are a cold stonehearted bitch and sometimes you manage to pull it off but you and I both know how it really is. You're still that scared little girl from years ago when your brother tormented you for what happened with you and your mother and you have never evolved from then but Charles has and he has gotten a lot worse. Get over it okay so your mum died giving birth to you, whoopdee fucking doo it happens to a lot of people…"
She launched up from her seat and punched him hard on the jaw, he stood up visually enraged but he remained still as him as she rushed around the desk, grabbing him with one hand to punch him with the other, he let her hit him again before throwing her against the wall holding her arms to stop further strikes.
"Good you've finally grown some real attitude now get ready to start using it because no matter what happens with your dad you and Charles are gonna eventually fight it out over all this shit and you need to be ready for it."
She shrugged his grasp off and walked away from him to lean against the desk panting with absolute rage. "I fucking hate you, you piece of shit! That's it we are done I want you gone! Out of this goddamn place, today!" She said before storming out of the room.
Before Cormack could process her words his earpiece flared into life as Kellan's voice came through, he sounded nervous, which served only in making Cormack more nervous.
"Boss its Kellan, found out from some of the guys that Charles took Mendez down into the enclosure level. They overheard him saying he needed the kid for something down there."
He was irritated by the intrusion into his mental privacy for such a trivial subject. "So what I got bigger problems right now."
"I got a bad feeling about this though James, Charles just walked out the lift and I swear to god he's got the creepiest fucking smile I've ever seen. I'm gonna go down and see what's going on."
A mental alarm tripped in Cormack's brain, it might have been shear paranoia but he felt that something was horribly wrong. "Grab some of the men and make sure they're armed, I'll meet you at the lift in a minute. Try not to attract any attention." He subconsciously checked the magazine in his sidearm before rushing out the door.
He rushed through the halls of the barracks catching up to the walking tempest that was Annabelle, she must have recognized his distress though and threw her anger aside for a moment.
"What's wrong?" Even through all that was happening, he was still grateful to hear her speak to him without anger sharpening her words.
He stopped midstride. "I think your brother just done something to one of my men c'mon!" He said clearly worried.
Even with the whiskey numbing her she joined him in his frantic sprint through the remainder of the barracks once they exited they slowed to a powered walk, clearing the facility floor within a few minutes to arrive at the entrance to the cargo lift. Kellan was waiting for them with three heavily armed men holding two pulse rifles, one of which he handed to Cormack.
"I think we've attracted some attention sir." Taylor one of the security staff said nodding his head towards the hangar floor behind them. The usual noise of activity and voices from the personnel should have been soaring as he saw the volatile prisoners being shipped into the facility. He could even see notorious Ozra Dean, encumbered by his restraints and surrounded by four armed security. The expected throng though fell silent as the grave as they saw the head of security ready to enter the lower sublevel with a gun in hand.
"Fuck them lets go" Cormack grunted as they all entered the lift to descend into the unknown.
The descent below was filled only with the sound of equipment being ready. Weapons being double checked and primed for use, the subtle sounds of hands bouncing off pouches, checking their equipment not because it wasn't ready but merely for comfort. These sounds were all too familiar to each of the soldiers, just a relaxing caress of the nerves before entering into a dangerous unknown.
"This might all be a harmless misunderstanding sir." Daniels another one of the renegade team spoke, standing ready for war.
"Nothing involving my brother is ever harmless." Anna wished she had a gun just for reassurance.
"Remember lads that the security down here isn't part of our outfit, they were hired by Weyland himself and won't listen to any orders we give them." Cormack warned, already knowing that they would be their first hurdle.
"Well that hasn't stopped us before has it brother? Remember the Takran Fields?" He smiled, ever the joker and keeping the morale up just before it plummeted.
The memory couldn't help but raise a chuckle from Cormack "I'll never forget it, you and Emmett forcing that lieutenant and his team off the artillery piece just because you were both bored waiting for our orders. I think the fact that Emmett still had dry blood all over his kit at the time really helped persuade them."
They marched through the long tunnel leading to the enclosure; their pace hastened by worry for being too late to help their comrade. They didn't fail to notice the elongated killzone that they marched through without incident however.
"Holy shit." One of the other soldiers exclaimed in surprise as he gazed upon row and row of sentry guns. "How dangerous is this thing that's being kept down here?"
"More than you can imagine soldier." Anna said blankly, she felt like an outsider among them, unsure on her use to the situation they were entering.
Her words sunk them into silence until they ventured inside the enclosure's control room. Contrasting to the tension they felt all appeared like business as usual when they entered, in fact not one person looked up to see who had arrived. The security staff did though and when they saw that their guests were armed they rose up, discreetly forming a blockade to the airlock behind them. Their defensive stature along with the ignorant silence from the science personnel only heightened suspicion.
"Everyone stop what you're doing. Right fucking now please!" Cormack's volume along with his choice of words raised them from their research. "I've been informed that Mr. Weyland brought one of my men down here for something and he hasn't been seen since so… where the hell is he?"
Making use of herself Anna scanned everyone's faces for signs of deception and to answer her suspicions more than enough faces fell pale when confronted with Cormack's question. The security staff though held their composure well with grim, fake smiles.
One holding a pulse rifle stepped forward. "This is clearly a misunderstanding Major, Private Mendez left with Charles a not fifteen minutes ago."
The soldiers picked up on one crucial detail of the scene that Anna had failed to notice, not because she couldn't see it but because she was a civilian and didn't know of the daily toils of a soldier. Each of the men facing them were already equipped with their weapons, even the smartgunners. These including the pulse rifles were heavy weapons, not overbearing but holding them for hours at a time without the support of fear and adrenaline took its toll, so any chance to relieve the weight was always welcome. These men were already holding the weapons upon their arrival like they were waiting for something. Now though they stood in a discreet firing line, their hands appeared bone white as they tightly held their instruments of death and pain.
Kellan slowly pressed the stock of his rifle against his shoulder, achieving a lowered firing pose without raising notice. "Nice try dumbasses but we didn't mention his name and I saw Charles leave this level alone so let's try the question again; where the fuck is Mendez?"
More ignorant silence followed, they clearly knew the game was up but they still played denial none the less. Anna wasn't quite sure if it was the stress from today's events, the alcohol coursing through her or how bullshit their alibi was but something clearly snapped. Her hand shot towards Cormack's hip, pulling clear his black, custom sidearm to step swiftly across the room, pressing the muzzle against the head of a male scientist. Such a frantic action raised a swift reply from one of the accused soldiers as his rifle's sights bored down on her. The others launched their weapons upwards to take aim at Cormack and his men. Threat was met with threat as both parties stood at the ready for bloodshed, when they weren't focusing on headshots everyone was staring into their target's eyes. The tension was crushing in the coming moments, one wrong move or one wrong look and the room would descend into a sudden, brutal firefight.
"Everybody just take it easy… okay. No need for this to get ugly if you just answer the question." Cormack voiced gently, never taking his eyes off the targets in front of him.
"Put the guns down! All of You!" Barked the soldier who had his sights trained on Anna's skull.
"You even think about it kid and your dead so just lower your weapons and answer the fucking question!" The words burst from Cormack's mouth before thought had time to process, his attempt of diplomacy crushed under the beast that threatened to overcome him. His target was on the left hand side of the group; they stood only a few paces from each other so if things escalated to violence all he would have to do is just pull the trigger and pull right, it was that simple.
"Shut the fuck up Cormack we don't work for your damn company, we work for Weyland so drop the guns before this goes bad and we all die!" He said aloud, his confidence was backed up by the fact that they all wore heavy armour and two were equipped the deadly accurate smartguns that could turn the team into mincemeat without effort.
Anna stared into the dark hole of the muzzle pointing into her eyes, she felt fear but it was quickly swamped with a reckless, lashing rage that showed no signs of fading. "You're gonna shoot me you little fucking weasel?" She laughed loudly never breaking eye contact with her potential killer. "Even if you make it out alive I'd love to see what my brother would do to the man that gunned down his sister, especially in the mood he is in right now with the state of my father. You go ahead though fucking shoot me, go on sign your death sentence with my life!"
Cormack couldn't believe what he was seeing; most civilians in these situations crumpled under the pressure but Anna was dominating the situation now, forcing all eyes on her for she was the imminent unpredictable danger. Even Cormack had to admit to himself he was slightly terrified by her outburst but his concentration still bore on her possible killer and his intent.
"You shut the fuck…" Cormack didn't like the way the man's trigger closed in slightly, it wasn't a decision merely years of training, experience and instinct. His own finger squeezed gently on the thin metal trigger instantly and before he could feel the dampened recoil or see the explosion of blood and brains he pulled to the right, never letting go of the trigger. It took only milliseconds for the violence to pass and for their lives to end in a flash of gunfire, none of the victims though were of Cormack's team. Their training and skill showcased splattered against the inner airlock, pieces of brain matter stained the door, coated with their owners' blood as gravity slowly dragged it downward marring the sterile white with quick but clean deaths and not one of them fired a shot in response.
The room fell quiet as quiet as the grave for but a second before screams arose from the terrified science staff, glued to their seats, afraid they would meet the same end if movement was seen. Anna held her hostage down with her free hand as she waved the gun towards the rest of the sheep among wolves. "Everyone get out of here now!" She ordered, her voice ringing with authority.
They obeyed swiftly stopping for nothing in their desperate bid to escape the scene of bloodshed as Kellan and the others dragged the bodies aside to the wall, their decimated skulls leaking blood all the way creating four trails of blood on the floor like an artist's brushstrokes. Seeing his colleagues leave the slim built man underneath Anna's gun began to rise from his seat. Anna objected to his freedom and pressed him back down, cocking back the firing hammer to quell further thoughts of escape.
"Where do you think you're going friend? You didn't answer my question and no one's here to stop you from telling me what I want to know."
He held his hands upwards; they trembled uncontrollably as he pointed one towards the bloodied airlock. "Your brother ordered the soldiers…" He stopped as he gazed at the ruined corpses lying against the wall, of one's face only a jaw remained from the explosive ammunition used and the white teeth stood a stark contrast to the gore surrounding it. "…they put him in the enclosure with the creature."
Cormack's fears were confirmed. "Is he alive?" He moved towards him, leaning down on one knee, lifting the barrel of the pulse rifle under the scientist's chin with the smell of cordite fresh on the muzzle. "You must know, there are cameras all around that place so you would have seen what happened in there." He growled knowing full well these people watched with interest as his man was condemned to danger.
"We don't know… the alien destroyed all the lights in the enclosure so the cameras are useless, we just saw gunfire."
Cormack shot upwards to stomp towards the door. "Ready up lads if we're lucky he might still be alive! Daniels you're staying here with Anna to operate the door and be ready for a hot exit, you got that?"
"Roger that sir." Daniels replied as he stood by the airlock controls.
Kellan pressed a hand on Cormack's chest to stop him from walking further to the airlock. "James you sure about this? If we go in there we risk breaking quarantine and exposing the entire facility for just one man who might already be dead. I don't like this one bit but we need to think about the bigger picture here."
"To hell with quarantine if it gets past us the sentry turrets will shred it. I aint leaving that poor kid in there as some alien's chew toy." Cormack growled as he threw Kellan's hand away.
"At the very least let's send for reinforcements, four on one still doesn't guarantee us even finding him in that maze with the lights off." Kellan attempted to hammer reason home but he knew his friend and his mind too much to think he would listen.
"No time." Cormack stated as he ripped two bulky devices from the dead riflemen before throwing one to one of the privates. "For all we know he's minutes away from dying on the other side of that airlock and we're wasting his chances standing here debating. We got two trackers so when we find a signal its either gonna be Mendez or that thing it's that simple now are you guys coming with me or am I going in there myself cause you know I damn well will!"
"Course I'm coming with you." Kellan said readying himself in body and mind for further combat. "If we die in there though I swear to god I'm never gonna stop beating the shit out of you when we reach hell. Boys?" The last word was merely a question to the two privates Taylor and Murray who merely nodded without question.
Cormack looked towards Anna who was walking back from throwing the scientist out. "Anna stay with Daniel, we won't be long okay."
"Don't worry I'm not leaving here till you're all back, this thing needs live hosts to breed so Mendez is alive I know it. Just please be careful… this thing isn't just some bug." She mentioned with concern already coating her face, dripping a tear onto the floor to mix with the blood giving the surface a new paint.
"I know, okay let's get this done." He ordered as the four walked into the airlock, the door slowly lowered down to separate the four from safety and the world they knew.
The decontamination protocols worked their cycle leaving everyone to their own thoughts for but a brief moment as anything audible was snuffed out as they were sprayed. They had battled against indigenous species on other planets before but these species were considered nothing more than an irritating obstacle, natives of wanted land that had to be exterminated for corporate workers to operate safely. This race of aliens though were being better guarded and secured more than anything Cormack had ever seen in his military career. The price of this facility alone was a testament to the value placed on that ship and its cargo. His steady nerve was shook to its core by these thoughts as decontamination finished.
"Remember this thing bleeds acid so don't let it get close to us okay, other than that it's like any other animal so just keep your cool." Cormack assured, trying to comfort his own thoughts more than the men around him."
"And what if this thing bleeds all over the floor and causes a breach, we are deep under water right now remember?" Kellan said, as always knew how to make his superior feel better.
"Oh for fuck sake! Well just fire warning shots then if you see it I don't have any better ideas." Cormack confessed with frustration.
"You don't have any bright ideas… how did you get this job?" Kellan jabbed with light hearted sarcasm.
It raised a quiet grin from each of them; it was one of the rare qualities soldiers had that separated them from civilians. Only soldiers would laugh and joke moments before throwing themselves in harm's way. The outer airlock raised upwards, the enclosure greeting the men with a pressuring darkness that forced their bodies still to remain in the safety of the light.
"We can't leave that poor kid in this; light up lads. Kellan keep on my right, Murray take the left and Taylor you cover our six with your tracker." Cormack commanded gravely as they took their first steps into the abyss. Assuming formation their lights illuminated every angle, allowing none to step close without swift, deadly reply as they marched slowly forward. No words were uttered to gain them better perception of anything moving around them but all they could hear was their own hastily drawn breaths and the faint beeping of the two motion trackers as they revealed nothing.
As they ventured deeper and deeper into the lair, they found no sign of Mendez or the alien. Unbeknownst to them their every movement was being watched by the creature, not from the distant shadows but from their only blind spot… right above them as it creeped silently across the roof. None of them were sure how long the enclosure was but they knew they would find something just hopefully not the alien.
Through uncertainty and fear they quickened their pace, never breaking formation as mere paces separated their backs as Cormack led them on.
"Mendez!" Cormack roared, his voice travelling far to echo from unseen, distant walls. Only silence returned for a minute until a distant moan could be heard from ahead of them. Something hissed sharply from directly above them on the ceiling.
Everyone raised their rifles upwards to briefly illuminating the nightmarish creature before it sped along the ceiling, disappearing from light's reach to head swiftly to the source of the wailing, and its signal disappeared from Cormack's tracker within a second.
"Jesus it's fucking huge! No one mentioned it could get on the roof!" Taylor, one of the other soldiers exclaimed.
"Can it boy that was Mendez we just heard let's move!" Kellan ordered as they ran at a steady pace, breaking formation but maintaining movement discipline as their weapons' aim proceeded their steps. "Taylor keep checking our back; don't want it doubling back on us! Everyone keep an eye above too!" Kellan panted, his heart raced as they pushed onwards, unable to shake the unsettling knowledge that this felt like a trap.
Soon their lights finally reached the source as Mendez could be seen cocooned to the pillar coated in the alien's grotesque construction. The growing egg loomed beside him, the body that seeded it no longer recognizable as human so the men took no notice in their rush to save their comrade. His body was wrapped in a more recent transparent addition; its tensile strength was still visible as it held the fully grown man over a meter high above the ground.
"What the fuck is this shit?" Murray, the other soldier wondered aloud.
"We aint got time to play scientist Murray!" Cormack shouted as he raced towards Mendez. He felt the skin under the trouser leg of Mendez' exposed leg; there was still body heat but he was obviously paralyzed by something. Another concern was the gory shoulder wound only visible by its swollen malformed shape and the clothing around it still wet with seeping blood. "Somebody gimme a lift we need to get him out of this!" It was more a plea than an order; he felt that they had already used up all their luck just finding him in this labyrinth of shadow.
The tense silence was broken by a grunt of pain that disappeared as soon as the sound as produced, Kellan and Murray immediately ceased their attempt to raise Cormack to turn with their weapons extended. "Where's Taylor!" Kellan screamed as he and Murray scanned the distance behind them; they didn't know how he disappeared he just simply vanished. There was not a single trace of the soldier's whereabouts but the light from his pulse rifle that beamed from the floor not thirty paces away from them, his tracker lay beside it pulsing away uselessly as it resembled a heart no longer beating. Slowly Murray wandered forward vainly.
"Don't you dare son!" Cormack shouted. "He's already dead, Kellan get me up here, Murray watch our angles." Cormack ordered desperately as he tossed him his tracker. He didn't want to believe his words but the time for thought was over, they were being hunted by the alien and time was running out. Kellan crouched low as Cormack placed his booted feet on his shoulders to get him level with Mendez' torso. With his rifle slung around his shoulder he desperately grabbed at any groove in the newly applied resin, his hands swiftly became wet with its sticky coating. Eventually with considerable strength and effort the organic restraints began to give way as he wildly tore pieces apart to slowly unravel the creature's first prey. Once he was done with the torso he stepped off Kellan's shoulders much to his comrade's relief to begin on the resin around the legs while his Kellan supported the disabled soldiers sagging torso.
Cormack heard a short burst of gunfire from behind, he feared their back being exposed if Murray was no more but he was comforted by the young soldier's unstable words.
"Just passed right in front of me… twenty yards away… flanked left!" Murray panted.
"Control your breathing lad you're doing great!" Cormack gritted as he continued on releasing Mendez, only a few more seconds and he would be free.
"Christ this shit stinks. How the fuck did Taylor not see that thing on the tracker" Kellan muttered as he stopped Mendez from slouching forward, his immobility and heavy breathing making the disgusting odour more apparent among the rush of their situation.
"Hell if I know, maybe it blindsided him, couldn't have been four feet from us when it happened." On that note he shouted towards Taylor. "Scan every angle lad! Okay he's free let him down." Cormack said as he and Kellan lowered Mendez down from his organic coffin. They quickly swung his arms around both their shoulders to carry him forward, heaving their rifles with their free hands to illuminate and cover their front. "C'mon Murray cover our rear and stay close, we're getting the fuck outta here!"
Their pace was dangerously slow as they struggled on towards the dim light above the airlock encumbered with the dead weight of their objective. The light was a beacon of hope, it became their finish line and their only hope of survival from this hell. Their rescue however didn't go unnoticed as the creature clung camouflaged among its constructed habitat on the opposite side of where Mendez was cocooned. For a moment Cormack stood a mere few feet from death as he rescued him. What separated him from a brutal end though wasn't luck but the pillar and the alien's rapidly adapting intelligence.
It hadn't attacked at that moment; over the two encounters with the strange beings it had learned of their reliance on the objects they held in their hands. These constructs were their weapons, unlike its limbs these weapons were far reaching and if it were struck by them could prove potentially fatal. It had taken a risk killing the intruder at their rear but it succeeded without fault, throwing the weak creature down silently, sinking its inner jaw into its skull before dragging it away swiftly before discovery. Returning to the other intruders immediately after with an unnatural speed.
The moment of their theft of the host would have seemed a perfect opportunity to attack the rest if it had been newly born and unaware of their capabilities but slowly it was learning their ways, adapting its approach. The alien felt the absence of the host's body from the resin coated pillar, felt every touch along its reach. Every inch of contacted secretion sent sensations travelling through a complex network of nerves to reach its skin. Such a rush of movement was pleasure to its need to reproduce, more bodies for more hosts.
Their movement was tantalizingly slow but once darkness shielded the alien once more it lowered itself from the pillar to stalk forward. They were more exposed than ever now as the weaker one covered their rear, settling on its next target it rushed ahead of them stealthily to wait for opportunity.
Kellan's neck and upper shoulders protested in agony from carrying Mendez and aiming his pulse rifle with separate hands. On two occasions they stopped to completely check their angles because when moving it proved too difficult to aim the rifles to their far flanks. Murray was more than making up for it but one man can only be spread so far before exposing a blind spot. "You're doing great kid, we're almost there just keep it up." Kellan panted. Murray didn't reply but thankfully Kellan could still hear the private's footsteps behind them along with the still silent motion tracker, he was concentrating too much to speak which was a good sign.
Sweat began to drip into his eyes, the salty liquid jabbing an irritating sting into his sight. He had no doubt Cormack was facing the same problem, rapidly he tried to blink it away as they passed one of the thick pillars. Kellan was so desperate to clear his eyes of the sting sweat he smacked his arm off the pillar. He grunted in pain and stumbled, taking a few moments to collect himself before growling in effort and anger to raise himself up and continue.
"C'mon lads we're almost there." Cormack ushered his men on. They were getting closer to the airlock only roughly a hundred yards from their salvation.
A swift salvo of gunfire blared from behind them, as quickly as their exhausted shoulders would allow it they dropped Mendez unforgivingly onto the hard floor, twisting swiftly to assist Murray but it was too late. As their eyes met Murray they saw a sinister grin reflected from their light as a black, skeletal tail whipped out from underneath the monstrosity half-hidden on the pillar above them to strike Murray in the skull. The young private's head blew apart from the sheer force of the barb's impact, blood sprayed across their faces as his body crumbled downwards just as swiftly as his hope of leaving this hell alive vanished.
Wiping blood from their eyes they hastily fired upon the pillar and the creature that cowered behind it, the explosive ammunition shattering the outer layer as shards of concrete peppered their view of the already fleeing target. They moved without thought as they surrounded the pillar on both sides attempting to flank the alien only to find it gone. Without speech they rushed back to Mendez for Kellan to drag him alone by his uniform while Cormack followed twisting his firing angle constantly in the event of it making another attempt for them. If only Cormack remembered in their hasty retreat to pick up the tracker that now lay in a pool of Murray's blood, the spattered screen uselessly showed the creature's signal as it headed back in their direction
"Daniels we have Mendez but Taylor and Murray are dead, get ready to open the door on my command!" Cormack shouted into his headset, not caring for a reply, his mind too focused on target acquisition.
After what seemed like a fearful eternity they reached the airlock, grateful for being embraced by its bright light offering a fragile sanctuary from the hell they had narrowly escaped from.
"Open it!" Cormack screamed and within seconds the door began its slow ascent, once fully opened they rushed inside the airlock with Mendez in tow. Before they even made it in the door began to lower itself as Daniels saw their haste for escape. Both commanders stood with rifles aimed towards the closing gap but all they could see was what initially greeted them when they first entered; darkness.
As the airlock door passed its halfway mark they lowered their weapons in relief and leaned against the walls of the airlock heavily. Their momentary weakness was exposed though as a demonic hand lunged underneath the door to wrap its clawed digits around Mendez' ankle and before they could scramble to save him and complete their rescue Mendez was pulled underneath the closing gap. His face disappeared from Cormack's sight only to cement the memory and drive deep the level of this failure; Murray and Taylor had died for nothing.
His blood boiled as the airlock's decontamination protocol filled both their ears with encompassing noise, barely masking his roar of pent up fear and rage while Kellan merely stood in a defeated silence watching his friend suffer through the guilt. As the inner hatch opened Cormack stormed through to throw his pulse rifle across the room, oblivious to Daniels or Anna as he began to strike the metal wall with his fists. Not caring as his skin was peeled away from the knuckles as they left not a single dent in the wall, blood dripped from his hands, adding to the growing reservoir that this level of the facility contained.
"Fuck!" He screamed to no one as his mind toiled with rage, regret and the unknowing of what unspeakable horrors were being conducted by that creature on his three dead men. He thought nothing though of the consequences they would face as a result from the four piled, headless corpses that were laid unceremoniously beside him.
