Ok, I'm gonna try to pace this one a little better...

Extermination

Chapter 2: Entrance

Weyland-Yutani Colony World LV-312

Population: Unknown

Hive: Unknown

Time: 1200

Incident: 6 Weeks

Ghost dropped into a crouch almost as soon as he set foot on the planet. With the image-intensifying scope of his WY-102 Sniper Rifle to his eye, Ghost quickly scanned the landing site. Seeing nothing, he rose and leant on his rifle, watching the other marines deploy.

"See anything, Ghost?" Ghost turned to see Jones beside him, studying the landing beacon.

"No, nothing. It's quiet." Ghost looked around the landing beacon himself.

The landing beacon was a courtyard style area, with a landing pad in the middle surrounded by blinking red lights. Doors lead off to other parts of the facility, while a small pit off to the side lead to a power generator.

Jones frowned, "Too quiet..."

Further conversation was cut off when Lieutenant Freeman strode out of the Dropship. Once the marines had assembled around him, he began issuing orders, "All right, Marines. The first thing we need to do is secure the Primary Operations complex. Harris, take Jones and Rigby and do that. Steve, you and Arnold make sure nothing reaches this ship. It's our only way off this rock. Anderson, take Hawkins and activate the automatic security systems. Everyone got that?" A chorus of "Sir, yes sir!" rang out, "Very well, Move out!"

Ghost's eyes flitted from one shadow to another, watching for any signs of movement. He knew that Jones' motion tracker would pick movement up long before he did, but it was a habit he'd picked up some time earlier, and he found himself doing it unconsciously. They'd been walking for about five minutes, following the signs leading to the POC, and they hadn't seen so much as a bug. The corridor wasn't very wide, so they had Rigby and Jones walking side-by-side, with Ghost behind.

After about ten minutes, Rigby frowned, "It's as quiet as the grave out here..."

Jones shivered, "Damn it, man, don't talk about graves. I have a horrible feeling they'll be digging ours soon."

Ghost rolled his eyes, "Lighten up, Jones. We've faced bugs before, remember? This is just another notch on our belt."

Jones let out a sigh, "I hope you're right, man..."

Anderson clutched his grenade launcher nervously. He and Hawkins had reached the security control room without incident, and were now simply waiting for the systems to activate. He couldn't explain it, but he knew they were being watched. He turned to Hawkins, who was standing by the door watching the shadows, "I've got a bad feeling about this, Hawkins..."

Hawkins turned a grin on him, "You've got a bad feeling about everything."

Anderson shook his head and glanced at the activation countdown. 10 seconds. He looked back at Hawkins, "I'm serious man. We're being watched."

Hawkins laughed at him, "Yeah, whatever man. You're just para-" His grin disappeared as he swung his Smartgun toward Anderson.

Anderson swallowed, "Wh-what is it, Hawkins?"

Hawkins thumbed the trigger lightly, "Move, Anderson."

Anderson, frozen with fear, looked up just in time to see a Xenomorph's second set of jaws darting for his skull.

He didn't have time to scream.

As soon as he saw the blood, Hawkins let out a yell and opened fire. The Alien's head and torso burst from the sheer amount of bullets being slammed into it. He didn't stop shooting or screaming until his friend's murderer was nothing more then a lump of black flesh. When he was satisfied he looked down at his friends body, his voice breaking slightly, "I told you to fucking move, you asshole."

Ghost jumped a little as Hawkins' voice came over the radio, "Anderson's dead. A bug."

He was quick to reply, "Where?"

Ghost could of sworn Hawkins' voice was cracking, "Security Control Room. The fucker's dead now, though."

Freeman's voice chimed in, "Hawkins, I want you to rendezvous with Harris' team. Everyone stay on your toes, where there's one there's usually others. Hawkins, can you tell us what type it is?"

Hawkins sounded uncertain, "Uh, I think it was a Drone, sir. The report said the new one's tan, right? It's not this one."

"Alright. Harris, how are things with your team?" Harris looked around quickly. They had successfully secured the main control room of the POC, and he had Jones and Rigby guarding the entrance, "It's all good, sir. The POC is secure."

Freeman seemed to consider for a minute, "Ok, the Landing beacon's auto guns are active. We're coming up. Freeman out."

An hour later, the marines gathered around a large digital map of the complex, searching for signs of the colonists. Rigby frowned, watching as Ghost moved the map, "So what are we looking for?"

Arnold looked up at him, "Each colonist had a chip surgically implanted. If they're alive, they'll show up on this map."

Steve suddenly pointed at a spot on the edge of the map, "Stop! Go back. Look, is that them?" Ghost zoomed in on the hundreds of flashing dots on the map.

Hawkins frowned, "Looks like a fucking town meeting."

Freeman shook his head, "It's a hive. Those colonists are as good as dead. We might as well return to the Verlanis and request an air strike." He began to turn away when Jones suddenly shouted, "Wait, Look! Who's that?" He was pointing at a flashing dot about three hundred meters from the hive, "He's moving..."

Ghost finished, "Right towards the hive," He turned to Freeman, "Sir, we have to try and save him."

Freeman considered a moment, "...Alright. Harris, you, Jones and Hawkins go find him. He's in the main area of the science complex. We'll keep you posted on his movements."

The three marines saluted and moved off to get ready.

As the prepped their gear, Jones looked over at Ghost, "We'll be heading pretty close to the Hive..."

Ghost just nodded, "Yeah. Don't worry about it, man. I've got your back."

Jones nodded a little, "Yeah, you're right. We'll be fine...But..."

Ghost looked at him, "But what?"

"I don't want to end up like those colonists, man. Make sure I'm dead before they get me, ok?"

Ghost laughed at him, despite his own gnawing worry, "We go through this every time, man. Yes, if it comes to that I'll kill us both. In case you hadn't noticed it's never come to that. We'll be fine."

Jones chuckled despite himself, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go kick some ass, eh?"

Ghost grinned at him as they turned to the waiting Hawkins and stepped out into the corridor.