Extermination

Chapter 6: New Threat

Weyland Yutani Colony World LV-312

Population: 2

Hive: 40-50

Time: 1745

Incident: 6 Weeks

The whir of the minigun's barrels became steady repeating shots as Jones ripped the corridor ahead of them apart with hundreds of small lead pellets. At first, Harris had no idea what his friend was shooting at, but then the bright green fluorescent blood began to coat the walls and he realised that Jones had seen what he could not: They were about to walk into a group of predators. Swinging his Pulse Rifle around, Harris prepped the gun's secondary function and lobbed a grenade down the hall. The explosion caused by this grenade was relatively weak, as the team had not been cleared to use standard rifle grenades within the compound.

The weak explosion was still sufficient to end the fight, as three tall predators came into view strewn on the floor. As he peered at the bodies, Harris look sideways at Jones, "How's your ammo coming?" Jones looked down at the gun and made a quick survey,

"Still got plenty. Rigby always overstocked ammo." He gave a weak laugh.

"Yeah...We better stay on guard, might be more of these things..." Harris had never been able to work out the predator's hunting pattern. Sometimes they worked alone, and sometimes they almost outnumbered the Aliens.

The two men stepped around the bodies and continued walking. As the men walked, Harris thought about what they were going to find out. He doubted the W-Y scientists would leave potentially illegal research out in the open, but maybe they'd find a clue in the "people friendly" labs.

It was an hour and a half long walk, and another half an hour to search the area and force their way into the locked down portion of the research centre. It was here that Weyland-Yutani researched the Xenomorph project, among other less-than-legal topics. Jones moved immediately over to a computer terminal and began trying to hack his way into the system, while Harris had a good look around.

The room was large and rectangular, with computer terminals and empty containment chambers lining the walls and set in the middle of the room. It was dimly lit by various lamps set around the rooms and the green phosphorescent glow of the tanks. The only sounds were Jones tapping keys as he attempted to access the system and an unidentifiable humming which seemed to emanate from one of the tanks.

It was towards this tank which Harris moved, as it did not appear to be empty. He had expected a Facehugger alien, or perhaps a Chestburster. The creature within the tank certainly resembled a facehugger, though it was slightly larger, had no tail and its strong legs more closely resembled weapons. He surmised that this creature could rip through skin with ease. As Harris circled around the tank he noticed that the creature's underbelly was unlike the facehugger as well. While the Facehugger had an extendable tube with which it would keep its victim breathing, the creature in the tank had three fanged 'mouths', which also appeared extendable.

As Harris was about to move in for a closer look, he was called back by Jones' soft curse. Harris moved quickly to his friend's side and leaned over his shoulder the see what he had found out. On the screen was a diagram showing the creature Harris had seen in the tank leaping at a human and attaching itself to his chest. The diagram was rendered helpless and quickly mutated into the creature the Marines had seen Freeman become. Under the diagram was a report, of which only one paragraph interested Harris:

THE PARASITE LATCHES ON TO THE HOST AND RELEASES SOME FORM OF SPORE OR BIOLOGICAL TOXIN WHICH QUICKLY TRAVELS THROUGH THE BLOODSTREAM AND AFFECTS A RADICAL TRANSFORMATION. THE TEST SUBJECT MUTATED VISIBLY OVER THE DURATION OF HALF AN HOUR, AND AWOKE FROM HIS COMA IN A STATE OF VIOLENT INSANITY. WE HAVE YET TO DISCOVER HOW THE CREATURE REPRODUCES, AND THE TEST SUBJECT WILL REMAIN UNDER OBSERVATION...

Harris looked back at the tank, scowling, "So...This is a new alien?"

Jones shook his head, "Just some Weyland-Yutani fuckheads playing god. The report keeps going, saying how this test subject became almost unstoppable, and useless shit like that. Look, we gotta get outta here and blow this fucking base to smithereens."

Harris nodded, responding with a dazed, "Yeah..." He could have sworn the creature in the tank had moved...