Alien 3 is owned by Disney/20th Century Fox.
Novelisation owned by Alan Dean Foster and Titan Books.
Original characters are owned by me.
Beta'd by AlphaLima1980
Gamma'd by DarthTenebrus
Alien 3: Not Alone
Chapter 7: Derelict Disaster Pt. 2
Kaufman's heartbeat increased exponentially as the horrific thoughts of near coming disaster enter her brain.
"Shit..." She said, as she ran over to Denney's side with lightning speed.
"We've got a problem!" She announced.
"Problem...I just blasted the problem" Strouman stated as behind him a massive black object prepared to attack.
"Strouman...behind you!" Denney borderline screamed as everyone turned to look at Strouman.
Strouman didn't have long to ponder why everyone was staring at him as before he knew it, he felt a shockingly sharp, painful feeling enter his back, piercing his spine, his organs, and muscles. It felt like a massive knife had been forced through every part of his body, in shock he looked as the lower half of his chest armor appeared to stretch forward as something burst through it.
Finally, the object emerged, the razor sharp point of a tail burst through his abdomen covered in blood, tissue, and bone fragments. Unlike other xenomorphic tails, it had two sharp points forming a shape of a U. All Strouman could do was yell in immersive pain as his throat and mouth flooded with his own blood, which exited his mouth like water from a drowned animal.
He tried to see what did this to him only for his eyes to roll back in his head, as the biggest man in the Sharkpack's head fell limp with death.
"HOLY FUCK!" Bonang yelled as the team looked on in horror as a massive Xenomorph emerged from the wall, it's tail still holding Strouman's flopping body, it dwarfed the other xenomorph by far, doubling in height, it landed on the ground with a massive thud, causing Denney to fall down in shock, Kaufman herself couldn't believe her eyes, unsure if she wanted to or not. Akula utilized his quick thinking, aiming his rifle at the head of the beast, intent on ending its life quickly.
He fired a single shot, one that would pierce the armor of a car with ease.
However, when he did so the bullet merely flicked off the armored dome of the beast.
"No way." Akula said as the beast roared in anger at the insulting form of offense, as the xenomorph uses its two large, muscular arms to grasp Strouman's now limp, broad shoulders. It retracts its tail and with little effort rips Strouman's body cleanly in half, sending both ends in separate directions like a discarded android.
"No fucking way!" Knight yelled in disbelief.
Blood, organs, and other bodily items go spraying in all directions, Denney and Kaufman who are closest are hit with an ample amount of blood.
"Oh fuck!" Kaufman screamed as she looked down at her blood-covered hands and face, Denney just looked in shock as the beast bellowed out another cry of anger and rage. The young scientist was in a state of shock, unsure if she could survive this endeavor, which now had turned into a gory one, she didn't have time to finish her thought as the sound of gunfire emitted from behind her.
"Pour it on Sharkpack, let's go!" Douglass yelled as his team laid a fury of fire onto the xenomorph. However, it didn't seem to be affected by every bullet but rather treated the ammo as ironically a bug bite. It yelled in pain though eventually as it seemed to begin to feel the bullets' impact on its unarmored parts.
"That's it boys we got this bastard!" Jacobson yelled with a big grin; Denney took this as a sign to move as she grabbed Kaufman by the arm to help move her back to the group.
"Come on Lexi, I've got you!"
"Don't let me go!"
"Wasn't planning on it!"
The xenomorph than did something totally unexpected, utilizing something in its throat it sprayed an acidic stream towards the team, who all dodged the lethal liquid, however some of it landed on the box containing the unassembled charges, Knight in particular (who was closest to the box) saw this and in a panicked breath yelled a warning to his team.
"Fire in the..." Knight yelled before the box's components exploded sending him flying across the room landing on the other side of the team, who had all dove to take cover in their respective manners, the huge explosion had also given the xenomorph time to hide nearby above where the two eggs were located. After the chaotic explosion, the team rallied trying to pinpoint the location of the large xeno.
"Everyone alright?! Dev you good?" Bonang asked hoping his friend was okay, luckily, he was right next to him still laying down in cover, he gave Bonang a thumbs up. Bonang quickly ran past everyone he could see; checking on them as he went, Akula was close behind.
"Stay down, that thing might be out there!" Sears yelled.
"That's one king-sized motherfucker!" Jacobson yelled as Bonang and Akula checked on Denney and Kaufman.
"Denney! Hey Abby! You okay?!" Bonang asked as he helped the young blonde stand.
"Yeah, just a little woozy...and covered in someone's blood." Denney said with disgust in her voice. Akula helped Kaufman stand, letting her use him as a crutch, though her injuries were minor, a few bruises on her arm from falling had already started to form.
"You good?" he asked.
"I've been better..." Kaufman admitted as she noticed a trickle of blood coming from her left arm.
"You've looked better..." Akula stated, taking in her blood-stained face.
"Thanks dickhead!" Kaufman stated angrily pushing him away, the bickering was interrupted when Banks shrill yell for help was heard from across the room.
"RIGGS!"
Riggs came running as fast as could from his prone position with Douglass, who himself was still dealing with coming to terms with the situation at hand. Riggs finally arrived at Banks' location, she was kneeling over a wounded Knight who was barely conscious, Banks looked lost and in a state of emotional consternation, she was trying to get her boyfriend to wake up, to show any sign of being alive.
Knight himself was out of it, the explosion had blown both of his legs off below the thigh, he was bleeding profusely from both shattered ends of his legs and had burn damage on his torso as well.
Riggs looked down in horror, his medical training was revving up like an engine in his mind, ready to burst onto the situation. He made eye contact with Banks, the daughter of the don wouldn't admit it, but she was terrified.
"Riggs! I….I don't know what to do..." She admitted as she held Knight's unconscious head in her arms. Riggs went to work professionally and quickly.
"Keep his head still, give me some room. Oh god, Abby!" Riggs yelled as he went to work attending to Knight's wounds, Denney came running over as fast as she could, sliding into the scene of medical emergency.
"What do you need me to do?" She asked.
"SAVE HIM!" Banks yelled angrily.
"Put pressure on his legs... use this!" Riggs said as he handed Denney a roll of bandage, Denney went to work applying pressure on the bloody stubs. Knight begins to come to at this moment, gasping for breath as he stares up at the metallic ceiling of the alien ship, and then to the blue hair of his girl.
"'Cedes?" Knight stuttered out of his mouth in a gasp filled breath, Banks looked down at him, immediately trying to calm him down.
"Hey, Hey Jordan...you're okay, just keep looking at me... keep your eyes open." Banks stated as she tried to sway Knight's attention from the work that was being done on his legs. He however couldn't help but look down at where his legs used to be, he immediately began hyperventilating upon seeing the bloody ends of his shattered kneecaps.
"HEY! Don't look at that, just keep looking at me!" Banks yelled taking her hand and moving his head back towards her face.
Back at Knight's lower regions, Denney and Riggs try to stop the massive blood loss, the rest of the team took a semi-circle formation around the scene, all of them preparing to engage once more against the large xenomorph.
"Be ready team, Boss! Boss!" Jacobson yelled trying to get Douglass' attention, the leader of the Sharkpack was stunned, his beret on the ground covered in Strouman's blood, his gaze also fell to Strouman's bloody upper body, whose dead eyes were still staring at him from his pale face. Jacobson runs over to his commander.
"DT! What do you want us to do here? Pull out?" Jacobson asked, worried as his commander began walking back towards the makeshift surgery of his explosive expert.
"Take up defensive positions, Kaufman tell me when we get movement. Short, controlled bursts people!" Douglass replied getting his bearings back. He approached his medic and xeno-expert.
"Riggs?"
"I can save him; I need to get him back to the ship... we need to keep pressure on..." Riggs begins to say, but Knight stops him, speaking remarkably clearly.
"No...no way Riggs...I've been through this once before with my hands, I barely survived that shitty situation, I've got shrapnel all over my body, plus unless you find a way to cauterize what used to be legs, I think I'm gonna bleed out... already feel weak... that bastard Strouman beat me to it already, asshole." Knight said with remorse in his eyes, as they closed.
"Don't say that Babe, we'll get you out of here... we will." Banks said as she rubbed his brown-haired head.
"You're not dying on my watch... Abby help me get the bandages around this leg..." Riggs said, but Knight's body had already gone limp and his eyes had closed, getting everyone's attention except Riggs.
"Riggs? Riggs!" Denney stated tapping Riggs on the shoulder, Riggs looks up with regret, and sorrow in his eyes. The team's explosive expert had passed, his life ended by the thing he had worked with his whole life.
"I'm sorry..." Riggs said under his breath.
"Babe...Jordan? No...no, no... damnit, you asshole you didn't even say goodbye!" Banks said in anger before she finally placed a final kiss on her boyfriend's pale, cold forehead. The blue-haired young lady went numb at that point, after a few tense silence moments, Douglass started.
"Riggs? Call it, Banks when you're up to it contact Al, let him know we're two sharks down and are hunting one big bug!" Douglass said as Banks stood up laying Knight's body down gently, everyone gave her as much space as possible, Kaufman walked up and crotched down, tearing Knight's dog tags off, offering them to Banks who took them, rubbing her thumb against his name.
"When we're done here...I'll buy another man..." Banks said with a cold stare as she contacted Loera back on the ship.
"Al? We are two sharks down! We're commencing a search and destroy on a massive xenomorph." Banks monotonly replied.
"Damn it, I noticed... Banks? I'm sorry."
"We can mourn the dead later Al, let's get moving Sharkpack!" Douglass stated, as the group prepared to fight the xenomorph one more.
"Copy! Awaiting your arrival." Loera stated as the yell of the xenomorph is heard from nearby.
"Fuck! We're gonna have company!" Sears said preparing his pulse rifle, Kaufman looked down at her wrist console, which was screaming loud with contact signals, this time multiple red dots appear to be heading right towards them, all from the causeway.
"FUCK! Boss, we've got multiple targets incoming, and they're coming fast!" Kaufman yelled her voice filled with controlled fear.
"Get ready everyone!" Sears stated as the remaining mercenaries all prepared for their close encounter of the violent kind. After a few tense moments, several xenomorphs of similar origin exited the causeway all moving faster than the praetorian they encountered before.
"OPEN FIRE!" Jacobson yells as the team opens fire on the approaching squads of xenomorphs. They drop like bugs in a zapper at first, but after the first couple fall the rest take notice of their targets' strategy and now begin to move more elusively, spreading out making it harder for the mercenaries to spray and pray.
"Shit! Pick your targets!" Bonang yelled as he turned his secondary fire option on his assault rifle, to utilize his flamethrower on the underbarrel, spreading a wall of flame in front of him, a xenomorph jumps over the flame, too fast for Bonang to react. Akula saves his ass, as he shoots a high caliber armor-piercing round into the Xenomorph's doomed head killing it instantly.
"Thanks mate!"
"Don't mention it, just keep that flame on!" Akula yelled back, another xenomorph however scales the walls nearby, its head is extended long with green sacks of acidic liquid showing from his cranium. It rears its head back and spits a spray of acid towards Bonang's weapon, it hits barrel of the rifle, which begins to melt in his grasp.
"What the fuck?! Bastard's spitting acid at us again!" Bonang stated as he throws his weapon into the flame allowing the remaining fuel left in the tank to burst.
"They just keep coming!" Denney yelled, as she loaded another magazine into her submachine gun.
"Then we'll keep dropping them!" Douglass stated as he lit one of his cigars in his mouth, signaling he was in the zone. After what felt like an eternity, the firefight ended, with the group all surprised by the huge smoking pile of xenomorph corpses.
"Damn, that was a frigging turkey shoot!" Jacobson said reapplying a toothpick to his mouth.
"Yeah, but why would they come at us like that, I mean why? It doesn't make sense... to throw themselves at us like that!" Sears worriedly theorized.
"Don't try to overthink it Sears! I mean they are bugs after all..." Bonang cockily said whipping his brow with his forearm.
"They should've ambushed us instead of attacked straight on. Anything Kaufman?" Denney asked as she took notice of the scene in front of her.
"No, nothing... I think we got them all..." Kaufman stated as she checked her console one more time.
"Good, let's get going then...feels like we've been here for a couple of years." Banks said moving back towards the doorway they had come in hours earlier.
"Indeed!" Riggs added.
"Well, let's just hurry team...I don't wanna wait for that big mother..." Douglass said, but was cut off as the battle cry of the mammoth xeno was heard from nearby, the team looked up in horror as dropping from the darkness came the scared, but healed King-sized Xeno, it landed with a shaking thud amongst its dead brethren.
"Shit!" Sears yelled as he fell to the ground, the xenomorph roared in anger and rage, now revamped to tear the mercs to shreds.
"Fuck me... fall back team fall back!" Douglass yelled as he ran through the tight doorway, one by one the team joined him. Akula, Bonang, Jacobson and Sears all staying behind to hold the line.
"Get back there boys! Go!" Jacobson ordered as Akula and Bonang regrettably moved through the tight doorway, not wanting to leave their teammates behind.
"Get back come on!" Sears yelled as he threw a grenade at the beast which dodged the grenade as it exploded harmlessly nearby, Sears shoved Jacobson through the tight doorway as he laid all of his magazine into the beast, he then beat it towards the tight doorway.
Jacobson looked back once he reached the other side of the doorway, waiting for Sears to join him. He did, however the awkward way he rushed into the doorway made him get stuck.
"Shit! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!" Sears yelled in panic as the xenomorph came closer.
"Jesus Sears! I need help back here!" Jacobson yelled as the rest of the team minus Douglass, rushed to help. However, it wasn't fast enough as the xenomorph's arms grasped around Sears' leg lifting him up vertically across the doorway's edges. Jacobson grabbed his friend's arms holding him as best he could, Bonang did the same not letting go as his teammate was drug up and down the doorway, screaming in pain as the creature's sharp claws dug into his legs.
"Jesus Christ! Shoot it, SHOOT IT!" Jacobson yelled as Akula tried to get a shot at the beast, but in the bloody struggle all he managed to do was fire blindly towards it, even he was unsure if he hit his target though he heard it cry in what he perceived as pain.
Sears' panicked murmurings were then turned into blood-filled screams as he spits up a large quantity of blood before he fell back to the ground with a thud.
"Sears! Marcus!" Jacobson yelled using his friend's first name to try to coerce a reaction from him.
"Come on Pull!" Bonang yelled as he grabbed one of Sears' arms while Jacobson grabbed his other when they did so however he revealed Sears' gruesome fate, as they only pulled his upper body away from the tight doorway, his entrails sticking out of his now torn abdomen. Jacobson and Bonang looked on in shock, as Kaufman turned her head away in disgust as she held back the urge to vomit, Denney just covered her mouth, shocked at how bad things had gone, Riggs just held his head down in sorrow, as Banks just stood stiff, still numb from the experience of the last several minutes.
Their period of mourning is interrupted as the doorway appears to move with a bang, it was clear to them at that moment that the xenomorph was now pursuing them, as it headbutted the huge metallic slabs, which buckled at the weight and force the xenomorph was putting forward.
"We gotta go! Come on!" Bonang yelled as the rest of the team fell back to where they had originally descended into the world of hurt that was the cargo hold of the alien ship.
"Come on we gotta move! Faster!" Kaufman yelled as she spotted something up near the wired line, they had used to descend into the confines of the alien ship, she saw with disbelief Douglass hooking himself up to the auto-line harness.
"BOSS?! What the hell are you doing?!" Kaufman yelled at her commander.
"I'm going up to secure the objectives, stay here I'll slide the harness back down to you... now hold the line and stay alive, that's an order." He said unconsciously pointing his pulse-rifle at the group, he flipped a switch and ascended back up towards the entrance to the hold.
"Shit bad enough we've got that thing coming after us, but we can't even take cover...if we touch any of those eggs, we're dead!" Banks yelled in anger stating the obvious.
"Relax 'Cedes, we just need to hold on, I think if we aim for the creature's joints, we could slow it down," Jacobson suggested as he checked his ammo.
"Correct, the limbs might be less lightly armored..." Denney added.
"I don't know, I mean we only have so much ammo... I'm all for killing this thing...but we might not have the luxury of time here." Akula stated.
"Whatcha thinking Dev?" Bonang asked.
"We just need to wound this thing, or at least make it think twice about coming after us." Akula responded, Bonang thought for a second before an idea come into his head.
"Clyde Park Special?" Bonang asked.
"Clyde Park Special...use the HE." Akula added as he prepared himself, Bonang pulled one of his grenades off his chest holster, a high explosive, thermal grenade, loaded with white phosphorous. It wouldn't kill the xenomorph, but it might give it a little incentive to stay away. Bonang nodded to Akula as he began to walk forward a few feet, looking back at the team.
"Just be ready if this doesn't work, don't wait on me," Bonang said with a gulp, Denney, in particular, felt something in her heart at that moment, concern for Bonang, though she wouldn't admit it, not to Bonang directly, she had a feeling he would never let her live it down, she wanted to stop him from taking such a huge risk, but if it saved the team it was worth it, and she knew it too.
"Dev, you ready?" Bonang asked as Akula got down prone, to set up the perfect shooting stance, he took a few breaths in mentally knowing that he didn't have to worry about wind in the near vacuum-like surroundings. He prepared as the rest of the team mentally prepped themselves for the creature's arrival.
"Come on you bastard... come get me!" Bonang said under his breath, remaining as still as he could as the ground shook with every headbutt the xenomorph laid upon the doorway, its metallic slabs bending slightly with every relative cranium collision. With one final headbutt, the doorway gives away enough room for the xenomorph to force its way through the now dented doorway. It eventually noticed the tall man standing on the path in front of him, it yells in anger as it approaches Bonang, who grips the grenade as tightly as he can like a pitcher about to deliver the fastball of his life.
The xenomorph goes to grab Bonang, but instead Bonang ducks and dives to the ground, throwing the grenade which Akula easily spots as he fires a pinpoint, accurate round into the grenade detonating it, spraying the white phosphorus chemical onto the xenomorph's face. The creature screams in pain as it retreats back towards its home in the previous room, however the white phosphorus also ends up landing on several eggs which begins to thaw.
"Hell yeah, that will show that king-sized fucker!" Kaufman yelled with happiness and glee.
"Nice shot Akula!" Riggs said with equal joy, Denney however saw where some of the white phosphorus landed.
"Shit! Ian! Get out of there!" Denney yelled running towards the taller merc, who is still getting his bearings after the confrontation. She even spots a newly hatched facehugger going right for him, she pulls out her submachine gun aiming it at the approaching parasite, but she notices she's out of ammo.
"Shit!" Denney said as she charges towards Bonang, wanting to grab him out of the way. She slides down fast gripping his broad arms and shoulders, trying to drag him away. The facehugger goes to launch but is shot out of the air by Akula who hadn't taken his eyes out of his sights.
"Denney let's go!" Akula yelled as Denney helped Bonang stand as the pair ran. Akula noticed several more facehuggers following them. He guns down another as Bonang turns around, utilizing his athletic training to backpedal away from the parasites, as he shoots with his modified shotgun, shattering the parasitic bodies with his slug rounds.
"Keep moving! Don't stop!" Bonang yelled back.
"No shit Sherlock!" Denney yelled back as the pair ran as fast as they could back to their teammates. Who all aim their weapons ready to cover their comrades, as the smoking bodies of the facehuggers litter the walkway behind them.
"Okay, I think we're good. We need to get back up there." Jacobson stated as the auto-line harness slid back down towards the team.
"Akula we're gonna need covering fire! Get back up there!" Jacobson yelled.
"I can cover you from here..." Akula argued.
"Kaufman you're the smallest one of us... get up there! Tell the Boss we're right behind you!" Bonang suggested.
"Okay! I'll move fast, you guys better be right behind me..." Kaufman stated as she strapped herself in, flipping the switch and sliding up the line at a relatively quick due to her petite figure. She eventually made it up to the top, and what she saw shocked her. There wasn't a sign of Douglass or the containers holding the team's "objectives".
"What the hell? Boss? Boss? You here?!" Kaufman said as she slid the harness off and aimed her submachine gun around the area, waiting for the perfect alien ambushers to do their thing. She quickly and sleekly moved to the winch; double-checking to see if there was any sign of xenomorph activity. She ran to take a defensive position near the edge as the harness descended back down towards the team.
"Denney you're next!" Bonang stated, she was reluctant at first.
"But Bonang..."
"Don't argue with me, Abby...I'll be right behind you." Bonang said reassuredly, Denney reluctantly attached herself to the auto-line before she ascended the line. Denney arrived at the edge of the hole, she immediately noticed the lack of containers and Douglass.
"Where's Douglass?"
"I don't know, he ain't here that much I do know... he took your bugs too!" Kaufman pointed out as she helped Denney out of her harness.
"What about the rovers, could he take one?"
"They don't need keys last I checked..." Kaufman stated as the auto line slid back down.
"Dev! Get your ass back there!" Jacobson yelled as Akula reluctantly moved to the rear, attaching himself to the harness as the sniper rose swiftly towards the edge, he was helped by Kaufman and Denney.
"Thanks...any movement up here?" Akula asked.
"Only movement there's been is the Boss, running away from this ship!" Denney said with anger in her voice.
"Had a feeling..." Akula started.
"Don't start on your bad feelings again, I think things have already gone to shit..." Kaufman pointed out. Bonang joined them eventually, Jacobson, Banks, and Riggs remained below.
"Who's next?" Riggs asked.
"You need to get the rover ready Jacobson! Me and Riggs can pop a few eggs while we wait, payback time for me..." Banks stated, holding up her pulse rifle.
"Sounds good, don't wait up Boys and Girls," Jacobson stated as he hooked himself in, ascending the massive gap towards the surface. He's helped by Bonang who hoisted him to the surface.
"DT better be sick or dead somewhere I shit you not, I'll skin him myself if he leaves us!" Jacobson stated gritting his teeth.
"Don't you worry, we're gonna get out of here!" Bonang stated, but Kaufman soon felt a familiar, somehow painful feeling in her arm. She looked down at the tablet, whipping the blood and grim off the screen, what she saw sent a shiver down her spine. Akula makes eye contact with her, immediately thinking the same thing, Kaufman ran towards the edge with lightning speed.
"Guys! Get up here now! That big bastard is on the way." Kaufman borderline screamed down the alien rabbit hole. Riggs and Banks look at each other with worry.
"Banks, get up that line, safe yourself... don't wait up for me." Riggs yelled as Banks looked back one more time, she handed him her pulse rifle.
"I'll see you on the other side Riggs." Banks stated.
"Gerrit, Mercedes...my name is Gerrit...you just keep the drinks on ice for our party on the ship..." Riggs said as he gripped the second pulse rifle tightly to his chest, Banks quickly flipped the button as she rose slowly, as the now-familiar battle cry of the beast that had tormented and torn apart the elite strike team filled the halls of the hold, it didn't come walking out but instead came charging out towards Riggs.
"Come on, you big stupid bug!" Riggs yelled as he fired both of his weapons as the beast charged at him, Banks turned to look and saw with her own eyes Riggs get decapitated, by the large xenomorph, his head falling to his limp body's side.
"No! Fuck! Get me up!" Banks yelled as Jacobson slid to reach for Banks. However the xenomorph spots the weight used to guide the line. It even starts to yank at it. Causing Banks to shake on the wire, she even slides down another couple of feet.
"Oh God!"
"Come on Banks! You can make it, climb!" Jacobson yelled, holding out his hand, she reaches for it but slips away when the line shakes again, as the xenomorph begins to climb the massive wall of the egg chamber.
"I can't get a shot!" Bonang yelled over his shoulder, as the winch buckled and shook with every movement the xenomorph made against the metallic line, Banks kept climbing with everything left in her body to reach Jacobson's outstretched hand.
"Come on Girl!" he yelled as he tried to grasp her smaller hand, he succeeds, Bonang grabs her other hand and they begin pulling her up, however the xenomorph reaches with its elongated, slightly burned jaw.
It chomped down on her legs, as the pain spread throughout Banks' body, fresh blood ran down onto the xeno's burned face.
She didn't have a chance to scream, not right away.
"Banks!" Bonang yelled, gripping her hand tightly, as she looked at both of them with pain, panic and terror as with a massive yank by the xenomorph she is pulled out of their grasps into the darkness, her screams fill the air, as her life comes to bloody end, the xenomorph even yells with its own yell.
"Sonavabitch!" Jacobson yelled in anger as he slammed his fist down, another sound arrived soon after one that brought equal concern. As they both turned around to see in surprise the strong wire being pulled at fast speed.
"Oh no..." Bonang muttered under his breath, as the winch itself began to give way to the strength of the xenomorph, it shook for several moments, before finally, it ran out of line to give, and last thread of the wire gave way snapping off the winch.
Akula saw this, and also noticed that the line was heading right for Kaufman, which at the very least could drag Kaufman down into the pit below. He jumped into action.
"Lexi! Get down!" He yelled as he shoved her away, but in doing so caused the line ricochet off his face, lashing a deep cut across his right cheek, the force produced knocked him down with a thud, as Kaufman fell nearby.
The wire continued on its path of destruction, it made contact with Denney's boots sweeping her off her feet literally, she landed with a thud, her head bouncing off the hard metallic floor as fresh blood emerged from her nose. She tried to get her bearings around her. The line had also cut a hole in her boot, acting almost as a fishhook. The line itself stopped being pulled on one end allowing the team to come to grips with the last few moments, they didn't have to wait long as Denney's semi-conscious body was moved towards the hole.
"No, you don't!" Bonang yelled as he dove to untangle the wire from Denney's boot, once done the line falls back into the hole of darkness, he immediately went to check on his fallen comrade, he checked her pulse, it was there but it wasn't the strongest.
"Denney? Abby! Abby! Shit...Rattlesnake?!" Bonang yelled, not hearing anything from his teammates, Jacobson came running up, pulling Denney's mask from her backpack.
"She'll be okay, we just need to get back to the ship." Jacobson stated as he helped put Denney's mask on her with Bonang's assistance. The larger of the two than picked Denney up bridal style, keeping her close behind.
Kaufman rose herself up from her fallen position, she held her head from the whiplash of being pushed down by Akula, who laid next to her on his side, a small pool of blood coming from his face.
"Oh...this day just sucks major di... Dev? Dev!" Kaufman said concerned as she turned her friend over, she gasped audibly at seeing the handsome face of Devon Akula now scared with a bloody cut across his cheek, producing a steady stream of blood. He slowly comes to, and immediately notices Kaufman's concerned face.
"It's bad isn't it?" Akula asked, barely getting to words out as talking was incredibly...discomforting.
"Naw, it's just little...prick." Kaufman responded.
"It feels like a big prick! Now quit looking at me like that." Akula said as Kaufman helped him stand.
"Hey, at least now you've got a hot new scar... I've got you don't worry." Kaufman said letting Akula lean on her smaller frame.
"Listen up! We gotta get going! That King-sized bastard is probably gonna be on our tail any minute, we need to make a break for it, Dev can you walk?" Jacobson asked, Akula nodded as his cheek fell into a cold, numb feeling.
"He's not much for talking right now." Kaufman added as she put her mask on, she walked over to Denney in Bonang's arms.
"Is she okay?" Kaufman asked in a rare showing of concern.
"She'll be fine, she'll have one hell of a headache, but with a little of that miracle mix, she'll be okay." Bonang said nodding.
"Alright, Sharkpack! Stick together and we'll get through this!" Jacobson stated as he placed his mask on, Akula put his on and then helped Bonang dawn himself in his protective mask.
"Ready?" Jacobson asked everyone.
"As I'll ever be." Kaufman stated under her breath, the team was about to take off when they heard a little form of incentive come from the hole, as the King-sized Xenomorph once more appeared to be coming for them. The team understood that they had overstayed their welcome and jumped off the platform, rushing through the tall hallways as behind them the pursuing xenomorph, rose from the large, melted hole. It pulled itself up effortlessly, it examined the area around it, sniffing the air and taking notice of the smell of fresh blood, it growled and began to follow the smell of the blood with speed and primal rage.
Meanwhile, the remnants of the strike team all ran as fast as they could as they exited the same corridor, they had entered not a few hours earlier. The only thing that they focused on was getting back to the rovers, which in turn meant getting back to safety.
Their filtered breaths filled their ears, as their legs became sore and lungs ached for fresh recycled air. They ran past the old colony rovers and within a few moments spotted Shark 1 and Shark 2. Perhaps, even more importantly they spotted Douglass loading the two containers containing their alien friends into the back trunk of Shark 2.
"Look!" Bonang yelled.
"Boss! Boss! Hold up!" Kaufman yelled, Douglass turned around, surprised at what he saw.
"Can't be..." he said in shock. He quickly hurried to the driver's seat of Shark 2 as what was left of his team arrived nearby.
"DT! Boss?! What are you doing?!" Jacobson asked in shock.
"The mission comes first Rattlesnake! You know that, now I've got the objectives...and I'm going back to the ship! I suggest you do the same unless you wanna be left on this shithole with the radiation and the bugs! Take Shark 1 and hurry up!" Douglass stated as he started the engine to Shark 2 and reversed it fast away from his team.
"What the fuck just happened?" Kaufman asked no one in particular.
"We just got left for dead, it's Dayton all over again," Akula said shaking his head. Their shock and anger was interrupted by the battle cry of their pursuer. Who they spot at the top of the hill, the large creature comes running towards the team, though it's weight and size will most likely make it a slow run.
"Shit! Let's go!" Bonang yelled as the team all load into Shark 1, Bonang careful with Denney as he places her in the backseat.
"I've got her." Kaufman stated helping strap her blonde colleague in, as Bonang got in the front seat next to Jacobson who is in the driver's seat.
"For God sakes! Back it up!" Bonang yelled.
"No shit!" Jacobson yelled as he reversed Shark 1 as fast as he could, maneuvering the rover as fast as he could as the xenomorph charged after them. Jacobson eventually got it controlled enough to turn the rover around, as everyone shifted with the violent twist and turns. They speed off as fast as the rover could, the xenomorph now unable to catch up to the mechanical speed of the rover.
Shark 2 soon arrives at the Costaguana's, Douglass hops out of the rover and grabs the two containers, running up the large ramp as fast as he could. Close behind, Shark 1 arrives on scene as well. They park next to it, and immediately get out. Kaufman and Akula help with Denney handing her over to Bonang, the group run up the ramp, just as a massive yell is heard from their xeno-fiend.
"This guy just doesn't get the meaning of the word quit." Jacobson stated as they moved up the ramp more, taking off his mask once they were in the safety of the ship.
"He's close, too close!" Akula stated taking his mask off, wincing as the fabric and plastic made contact with his still wounded cheek.
"We're gonna have to kill this thing, once and for all." Bonang added, Jacobson thought of a plan. He walked over to a nearby weapons locker, and picked up several detonator explosive charges, as well as some flares.
"Whatcha thinking, rig the rovers?" Kaufman asked.
"No way, it's not attracted to those bucket of bolts. I've got a plan though, so don't you worry..." Jacobson reassured.
"Fill us in then, we're all ears!" Bonang stated.
"You're not gonna like this, but that thing is like any other animal, it's attracted to heat. I'm gonna attract it, using these and then I'm gonna let it take me, once that happens, you'll detonate the charges!" Jacobson stated as he attached the charges to his chest armor.
"What the fuck did I just hear?!" Kaufman said in shock
"You can't be serious?" Akula stated.
"Come on Rattlesnake, we don't throw away lives, not like this anyway!" Bonang argued.
"Listen boys, I understand what you're trying to do, but if we don't kill this thing, and it ends up on the ship...that's it, game over. We all signed contracts, in the end we're all expendable. Now I'm gonna kill this sonavabitch, and that's the bottom line, cause the rattlesnake said so!" Jacobson said as he smacked Bonang hard on the chest.
"Bonang, you're a good man. Now you take care of Denney and don't screw it up. Kaufman take care of my boys, and Dev shoot straight sniper boy!" Jacobson said as he handed the detonator to Bonang. He marched down towards the end of the ramp, he turned nodding at his three teammates as he lit the first flare, the ramp itself began to rise slowly as Jacobson disappeared from sight.
"You there Bonang?" Jacobson said into his radio.
"Yeah, I read you! Loud and clear!" Bonang answered as Jacobson saw the xenomorph march over the ridge, he was amazed on how fast the bastard was.
"Alright, you bastard... come and get me! Over here!" Jacobson yelled getting the bug's attention. It charged at him with full speed and vigor.
"Here we go boys! I'll see you on the far side...wait for it!" Jacobson said, as Bonang's hands shook nervously. Finally, the xenomorph chomped towards Jacobson.
"NOW...ARGH!" Jacobson yelled as a muffled scream was heard, Bonang pressed hard on the detonator as the explosions were heard from inside the ship and felt with a slight vibration.
The survivors of the Sharkpack all look at each other in reserved sadness, as the static from Jacobson's radio filled the airwaves of the much emptier ship.