Chapter six

Weyland-Yutani Facility
Rachel, Nevada
Off Hwy 375
November 31st, 2008

"How did Lex convince you guys to help find me," Elaina asked as if she already had a point in mind, to the random question.

"She reminded us how you two helped us survive the invasion. Dallas and I know we both owe you two so much, without your help we would have been wiped out- Molly," at last her expression crumbled and she looked away as she struggled to keep the tears at bay.

Elaina nodded, sympathizing with the woman, but then drove in the reason behind her initial question and winning Kelly over onto the idea at last. "There were three Yautjas in Gunnison too. Without them, we all would have died. They gave their lives to fight the infestation and gave us the chance to escape. We must save these two. For Wolf- for Scar," her emotions choked her up, her voice cracking as she forced herself to say his name. "For Celtic."

"You named them," Kelly asked, her look was one of bewilderment. "They're not pets." She shook her head because she could not be having this conversation right now. They were talking about aliens, monstrous aliens that would kill them without a second thought.

Elaina gave her a look that clearly said, duh. "Of course not. It's too hard to say their names, at least not when you are terrified for your life and being hunted in the dark. I came up with closest thing I could easily say while running for my life." She waved a hand between them when Kelly went to argue with her. "Obviously they're not pets." She swallowed thickly, able to wrap her mind onto an easier topic than on Celtic and Wolf. "Their names require clicking, with their mandibles, we don't have the necessary parts to properly pronounce their language," she explained as Kelly continued to stare at her.

The conversation was getting more absurd, Kelly realized as she stared at the shorter woman. While the height difference was minimal, an inch or two that had her looking down just enough to see Elaina as still just a kid. Barely a young woman, and she felt her maternal instincts roar to the surface.

"You talk about them like you care about them," Kelly mused mostly to herself. She was staring at Elaina intently, her brain working out a puzzle she only seemed to have the middle pieces to, and none of the edges to give the full picture shape. "You called that thing on the roof, Wolf." The pieces clicked into shape finally and she could just barely make it out as a whole, at last.

"I only met Wolf in Gunnison," Elaina finally relented. "He helped Lex and I hunt the bigger one, the uh Predalien. Whatever you want to call it."

"The one on the roof, and you said there was more of them?"

Elaina nodded. "Celtic and Scar were there. They helped us get to you guys. Without them, that Predalien would have impregnated all of us. Celtic and Scar they-" her voice trailed off as she thought about them. What they really meant to her.

Kelly stared at her for a long moment, and her lips twisted into a frown. Her experience in Iraq had hardened her, aged her beyond her actual age. She barely knew Elaina, and yet her maternal instincts were roaring to the surface wanting to shield the other woman from the harsh reality they were in. Kelly knew that look on Elaina's face, she recognized it for what it was.

"Alright," she relented at last.

Elaina looked up sharply at the woman, her brows furrowing as she tried to understand what that one word really entailed.

"Lead the way," Kelly muttered, her resolve completely gone.

"Thank you," Elaina said with relief, her tense frame sagging with relief and turned back to the doorway leading to the stairs.

"Hold on," Kelly said, stopping her from disappearing into the dark opening. She handed the other woman a flashlight, watching as she switched hands so that she carried it in her offhand, with her main hand gripping a tool. "I sure hope you know how to use that screwdriver in a fight."

Elaina nodded, "You bet, let's go."

She pushed the door open further and switched the flashlight on with a click before heading into the stairwell. She took off down the flights of stairs, Kelly close at her heels. They had barely made it halfway down when a door above them opened and then closed.

Kelly flipped her goggles back down over her eyes and twisted around, aiming up the flight of stairs. She waited silently, with Elaina behind her. She silently drew in a deep breath, held it, and then slowly exhaled, allowing a calmness to settle her nerves. Two armed guards came around the turn in the next moment and she pulled the trigger twice without warning. Stealth was key, in this kind of mission and she watched as the guard barely had a moment to grab at the tranquilizer that hit them in the chest, before dropping.

Elaina stared at the bodies after they hit the stairs like a sack of potatoes. This was why there weren't guards all over the place. Elaina looked at Kelly's gun while the woman went to take point and belatedly noticed the silencer equipped on the end. The facility probably wasn't even aware they were under attack and were probably still trying to figure out why the power was down. These two guards hadn't even been prepared for any kind of ambush as they both had been carrying their handguns in their holsters, and their automatics were slung loose over their shoulders, when they came around the stairwell.

Elaina thought about grabbing one of their weapons, but with their lacking a suppresser felt like it would be pointless to have it. She debated for a solid minute, allowing some distance to build between her and Kelly, who had moved on to clear the stairwell. What was that saying? It was better to have one and not need it, then need it and not have one? Mind made up, Elaina snagged one of the automatic rifles from the closest guard and slung the strap over her shoulder. For now, she would work with her screwdriver, which she flexed her finger's grip on the handle of. She padded the guard down, finding a key card on him and quickly lifted it.

Next, she eyed their shoes, however both appeared to be several sizes too big for her, and she didn't dare compromise her footing for comfort. Instead, she left the two sleeping beauties behind and joined the other women on the next landing in between levels.

They were halted again when another door above them opened. Sharing a look, they peered up, listening intently. However, the sound of several people entering the stairway had them freezing.

"We're entering the stairwell now," one of the guards above them said into their radio. From the echo, they seemed to be two floors up, not from the level Elaina had been held captive in. "We sent a team to check on HTS11, over."

Kelly held a hand up that clearly indicated silence as they listened in on the conversation.

"Copy that Delta 1," a voice crackled through on the radio. "Head to sublevel 4 to check on ATS1 and ATS2, over."

Kelly started backing up then, her free arm out beside her to help push Elaina in that direction. Overhead they could hear what sounded like at least a dozen guards in the stairwell. Only one had spoken aloud, the rest having remained silent as they awaited order.

"Copy," the guard said into the radio, and it clicked off. "You heard the man; Delta 1 move out."

"Move now," Kelly hissed to her urgently, using the cover of their synced footfalls on the stair above them as cover.

Elaina whirled around and started down the stairs with Kelly hot on their heels. They moved as silent and fast as the stairs would allow. The only thing going for them was that the guards seemed to be in no hurry and had been at least two floors above them, allowed for them to put more distance between them.

Elaina hit the floor she was sure the Yautja's were being kept and went to reach for the door to escape, but Kelly grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back. She shook her head vehemently and urged her to go one more level down.

Gritting her teeth and with no way to argue, did as she was told. She booked it around to the next set of stairs, and as they made their way down, Elaina wondered just how far this building went. Sublevels explained that their seedier part of this company was kept underground. But just how deep and dark did those secrets go?

A shout came from above, saying that the guards had found the two unconscious ones in the stairwell.

"Go-go-go," Kelly was pushing her now and they raced to the next landing, finally reaching that last level this set of stairs went to. Elaina scrabbled for the doorhandle, struggling in the darkened stairwell.

"We need reinforcements sent to the East stairwell-" the guard called into his radio as Elaina finally got the door open. They pushed through, Kelly helping her as they slipped into the hallway and the door was silently shut behind them.

"That was-" Elaina said on a gasp, her heart lurching to her throat as she went to sag against the closed door. Sweat beaded along her forehead, showing just how out of shape she was from being confined to a cell all this time. Elaina yelped as a dark blur had her ducking to avoid having her head smashed in by a fist, "Close!"

Kelly spun on her heels, having missed the threat with her night vision goggles having fogged up in the humid stairwell. Without power, the AC that kept the facility relatively cool was also off. She raised her weapon, firing off a single round at their attacker. The dart struck home but the guard grabbed it and pulled it out of what looked like a bullet proof jacket.

Elaina scrabbled across the floor, narrowly avoiding as the guard tried to stomp down on her to keep her from escaping. Kelly fired another round, aiming for the slim peak of skin at his neck, but the man was a blur and the dark pinged off his helmet. Cursing, she spun the weapon around and tried using the butt end of the stock as a blunt weapon instead.

She dropped down, striking out at the back side of his knees, aiming to stun or cripple him. It was like hitting a wall and the gun shook in her hands from the solid impact she made against what should have been a weak spot.

Elaina lashed out with her screwdriver, stabbing his calf, under the shin guard he wore over a gray bodysuit. The attack didn't even seem to faze him as he reached down grabbing her by her hair. She cried out as he wrenched her up and, in the process, tore the screwdriver out of his leg.

A milky white substance dripped from the weapon she clutched tightly in her hand. The wound in his leg seeped with the same substance as it was soaked up by the pants leg. Elaina knew she had driven that screwdriver at least a couple inches into his leg.

"What the fuck are you!" she gritted her teeth as he dragged her to her feet by her hair, his grip unrelenting.

Blindly she struck him with the weapon, stabbing aimlessly in hoping of hitting something vital. Unfortunately, with his armor, most of her blows glanced off and made little impact.

Kelly eyed the wound, her eyes moving from it to Elaina and back to the man that was a serious threat. It wasn't like they were being quiet. It was only a matter of time before the guards in the stairwell found them. The only thing working for them was that the guard had opted to attack instead of calling in their location with the radio clipped to his person.

Taking the butt end of her gun she hopped up and slammed it into the back of his neck once, twice, three times. He turned his head just slightly, looking back at her with the most menacingly calm expression on his face.

Elaina, seeing her opportunity, slammed the sharp end of her screwdriver up into his jaw until she hilted it, as it was the only slim exposed skin she saw on him, between his full facial helmet and collar of the grey suit he wore.

He threw her to the ground, his gloved hand finally releasing her, and she dropped like a sack of potatoes. She laid there sprawled before him, her scalp smarting from his rough treatment. Above her, the guard reached for the screwdriver and pulled it out. Her eyes widened in horror as more of that milky white substance spurted from the wound like a mock-up of an arterial spray. His body twitched, almost robotically, but yet he took a menacing step in her direction.

Elaina scrambled backwards, as he reached down to grab her, and she kicked out at him. Her foot connected with the side of his helmet and the cover flew off when her bared heel made purchase.

Seeing her opening, Kelly swung her gun at his exposed head like a baseball bat. The blow hit and he staggered, the skin over his face tearing as his head jerked to the side. She swung again and he fell into the wall to his right. He dropped the screwdriver and Elaina dove for it, taking a blow to the ribs as he kicked out at her.

Kelly swung again and the guard dropped to the ground. She took the gun and swung it down over and over at his head, finally seeing that he was at least susceptible to that attack. Elaina panted against the wall; one arm curled around her middle as she watched Kelly turn the guard's head into a milky white pulp.

"I-I think it's dead," Elaina said between gulps of air.

Panting, Kelly wilted, dropping the gun as she staggered a step back. The two women stared at the body, their brains trying to comprehend the sight before them.

"Have- you- ever," Kelly asked between each lungful of breaths.

Elaina shook her head. "I don't even know what It is," she said. She shifted to her knees and crawled forward for a better look.

"Careful," Kelly warned, not trusting that it was really dead.

Elaina nodded and kept her distance. She had experienced enough horror scenes to know better. There was nothing left of its head. It hadn't even made any noise while it attacked them or while it was being pulverized. There was strange tubing coming up out of his neck to where its head used to be, and weird looking sacks. The white milky substance looked like it was its' version of blood.

"Something Yutani must be working on, some super soldier thing," she mused.

"Like Captain America," Kelly asked skeptically.

Elaina looked up at the woman sharply, her brows furrowed. "You read comics?"

Kelly gave her a look before rolling her eyes. "I was a kid once too, you know," she muttered. Seeing how Elaina was cradling her middle, she nodded her head. "We should check you out, make sure nothing is broken."

Elaina grimaced. "It doesn't feel broken, maybe just bruised," she offered, her fingers gently touching the area. "Whatever the hell it is, it packs a punch."

"Come on," Kelly said and reached out a hand toward her. Elaina took the offer and allowed the other woman to help her up to her feet. They stepped around the guard and made their way to the junction. Much like the layout of the floor she was kept on, the hallway was shaped much like an I. Kelly led them to a door and she indicated for Elaina to rest against the wall.

Reluctant, but in no condition to argue, she looked back at the way they came and grabbed her screwdriver in her dominate hand. It might have been useless against that thing, but she was pretty sure the other guards were at least human. Thinking along those lines, she wondered if the guards who escorted her to the labs and her room had been more of that thing. They had always given off the impression of not being human.

Kelly checked the door handle. Finding it unlocked, she eased the door open and peered inside. She had fixed her night vision goggles before attempting entry and relied on them now to check out the room.

"Clear," she whispered and moved to enter the room.

Elaina followed close at her heels. She let the door close behind them. By now, Elaina's eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness that she didn't have to strain so much to see. She stepped into the room and navigated around desks and examination tables. The layout was similar to the lab she was used to visiting regularly, back on the level her room had been. However, this one seemed to be mostly used to work on projects. She approached one table and stared at the device that had been left out.

She'd recognized that netting anywhere. Looking to the next table, she spied more of the Yautja's armor. This must be where they studied the equipment, they had gotten from the Yautja's they had captured. She still couldn't fathom how they had managed such a feat.

Yautja's were fierce. They were dangerous, and she could not comprehend how a human could capture one alive. Let alone several.

"Elaina," Kelly called to her, and Elaina looked up to find the other woman staring at her with a worried expression.

"I'm fine," she said, waving off the other woman's concern. "Do you see a bag or something I can put this stuff in."

Kelly frowned at her flippant remark at her wellbeing. "You don't always have to be tough you know," she said instead. "What happened back there was pretty traumatic."

Elaina laughed, the sound coming out hallow with little to no mirth to it. "That's calling the kettle black, don't you think?" She tipped her head to look at Kelly, her lips twisted into a sarcastic smile for the other woman's benefit.

"I'm a soldier," Kelly said to explain why their situations weren't the same. "I was trained to battle, you're…" she trailed off with a wave of a hand as if indicating to Elaina as a whole explained what she was trying to get at.

"I'm what?" Elaina asked her, defensive. "I'm Elaina Ann Weyland, the heiress of Weyland Industries, so I can't possibly understand what a war is like." She made a scoffing noise. "You make it sound like I hadn't just been in Gunnison too. Or that I hadn't survived Antarctica."

"Antarctica?" Kelly asked. She had moved further into the room, and found herself standing next to the table, Elaina hovered next to. She glanced at the armor that had held the other woman's attention, before giving Elaina a hard look. "You were out there with the Expedition team?"

Elaina forgot that that information wasn't common knowledge. The government, and Weyland Industries, as well as her own mom had wanted to keep that information low key. "Yea I was there," she whispered.

"But you- you were just a kid," Kelly protested, her motherly instincts kicking in, yet again.

Elaina chuckled cruelly at being considered a kid. She had been a kid. Maybe not in age, but in the naïve sense. "I was eighteen actually, the first time I ran into a war between two alien species," she said out loud for the first time. Lex had been adamant that they do not say a thing when they reached civilization. The fear of being committed had been a real fear then.

She walked around the table and sank into the chair that had been left there. Sitting back against the cushions, she turned her gaze to Kelly who was staring at her in horror. At some point the other woman had removed the goggles and she gripped then in one hand, while the other hand gripped the useless gun, she had used moments earlier as a baseball bat. The gun was warped from hitting the guard so many times.

"I was a spoiled brat, who got lost in a pyramid deep under the ice. I wasn't supposed to go in, I was supposed to stay in the truck with Term-uh-" her lips twisted at the slip. She would never forget her personal bodyguard's sacrifice. However, she only knew him as Terminator, and calling him anything else seemed like an insult, since he had seemed to enjoy being called by the name. However, mentioning him as such only seemed to confuse people who were not in on the joke. "Erm- my personal bodyguard."

Elaina reached out, her fingers ghosting across the marred piece of metal. There was a familiarity to it, and she just couldn't fathom why, other than that she knew it belonged to one of the Yautja's. Perhaps it was one of those things where everything would remind her of him. "Celtic saved me in that pyramid. The black aliens wanted to wipe us all out or impregnate us to make more of them. Celtic and his kind hunt those things. I still don't understand why he and Scar spared us, but they did and without them, none of us would be alive." She pulled her hand away then and wiped her fingers over the tops of her thighs, as if it might wipe away the ghost of Celtic from her skin.

Kelly nodded, her eyes staring at the piece of armor in serious contemplation. "You care very much about him," she finally said after a beat, the words coming out harder than she intended. She had said them slowly as if tasting them and found herself slightly disgusted by the idea. "You two are comrades, forged from battle."

"We were," Elaina said so softly, Kelly nearly missed it.

The pain there was raw and aching and Kelly knew not to push the subject any further. She moved from the table then, searching the room for supplies. "We need to get going, how's your ribs," she asked. She opened and closed drawers, on the hunt for things they could use.

She managed to find a backpack that a scientist must have been using to hold all of their worldly possessions in near the back of the room under one of the desks. She dumped out the contents and searched through them for anything useful.

"They're fine," Elaina said and stood up from the chair she had been resting in. "Only bruised like I figured."

Kelly nodded, slipping into a soldier mindset. She couldn't mother the woman; it wasn't her place. She tossed Elaina the bag, who caught it easily enough and she nodded her head again and took that at face value. "Grab what you need and let's go," she said.

She continued to search the room, finding very little to be useful.

Elaina went to work on collecting all of the alien technology that had been strewn about in the room. It was only armor though, no masks or weapons of any kind. She found 2 sets of netting and pieces of plating the Yautja's must have used to cover their shins and chests. She didn't even find any gauntlets.

Not finding anything else, she turned to Kelly then, who had moved to stand and wait by the door.

"Ready," she said simply and shrugged the bag onto her back. She still had the gun she had pilfered from the guard in the stairwell, as well as her stolen keycard and screwdriver.

Kelly nodded to her once, before reaching for the door handle. "Let's move out," she muttered before pulling the door open. She pulled the goggles back down over her eyes and edged out into the empty hallway.

AN: Hey everyone hope this chapter finds you all well. Things have been crazy, like I got a new job. After 18 years of working with one company I finally left and now do something entirely different. Its been pretty cool. For once the grass is greener on the other side.^^ Let me know if you like/love/hate the chapter. I just reread through it, and was like dang the fight scene was kind of intense! I'm pretty proud of it myself.

Inky out!