Chapter Two

As the group proceeded to the tiny area of the ship which served as the meeting room, Gaimen explained. "River is part of a top secret military project. She's got tech crammed inside of her that even I'm not cleared to know about. She'll help us out planet-side.

River inclined her head. "Thank you, gay-men."

The group of marines fought valiantly to stifle laughter, though a few chuckles emerged while Gaimen coughed and corrected her. "It's uhhh... guy-mun."

Bowing slightly, the synthetic woman seemed to crack a very slight smile before answering. "I apologize."

Somewhat anxious to move on, Gaimen continued. "Anyway... as I said, River will be assisting us in this mission."

From the back of the group, Dean spoke up. "What's she gonna do, man... carry the batteries?"

Without looking at him, Gaimen began to reply. "Well, gentlemen... and lady--"

Before he could finish, Dean cut him off once more. "Hey lieutenant, why you gotta keep separating Jan out from the rest of us guys?" In retaliation, Kevin chucked a piece of cornbread at the back of his head.

The booming voice of Mars filled the small area. "Stow that shit, both of you!"

Chance agreed, somewhat more calmly. "I'm sure we have more important things for River to do. We couldn't take away the kid's only job anyways, could we Private Marshal."

After the short silence, River spoke reasonably. "Actually, I am not a pack mule. On the contrary, I am a fully capable combatant."

"Miss... errrr... River is correct. She's part of a new group of synthetics, as I said. Those limitations on violence normally placed on synthetics... she doesn't have them." Gaimen said as he ushered the group into the briefing room.

Once everyone had found a seat, he continued. "You gentlemen are the first to hear about this outside of the very top portions of the command structure. You see, you are about to enter what we call a hot combat zone. As of this time, we are entering the field under the assumption that the colony on LV426 has been wiped out, and the entire marine force sent in to rescue them was also... destroyed."

As the group looked on quizzically, Gaimen turned slightly and aimed a pointer at a blank wall. Immediately, an image appeared. It was of a being that was quite obviously not from earth. Everything from it's oversized head to its wicked looking tail seemed to say that this being was evil. After giving them a chance to react to this image, Gaimen spoke quietly. "They were destroyed by these."

Chance leaned away from the image, visibly repulsed. "The... hell is that..."

Grimly, Gaimen answered him. "This is what we call a Xenomorph. This is the fully grown version. Take a close look, people. Strong enough to knock through steel doors... its blood is acidic... claws, teeth, and a wicked tail. They can survive in the void of space. In short, they seem to be able to adapt to any environment. They do not show up on infrared, and their coloring allows them to blend into the shadows quite well. We haven't been able to locate any eyes, so we don't know how they see, or if they even do."

After peering at it idly for a moment, Chance spoke. "But they can be killed right?"

Nodding, Gaimen looked to him. "Oh yes. They can be killed. The problem isn't killing them. It's killing enough of them. They have a hive society, from what we can tell.

Chance nodded, while tapping his fingers on the tabletop "So... what scale is that?"

Gaimen answered him while looking at the image. "That is one half full size." After a slight pause, he continued. "The interesting part, is in how they breed. They need one thing to breed..." He pointed to the table. "You."

Kevin looked mortified: "Sir, I didn't do anything... I... I don't know anything about these things... I..."

Gaimen sighed. "Not you personally, Private."

Troubled, Chance crossed his arms and coughed, then leaned back with an uncomfortable sigh "Sir, If they knew about these... why did they only send 6 soldiers, a pilot, and a single synthetic?"

Gaimen answered carefully. "That's because we're not here to destroy the threat. We're here to establish a forward command structure. We'll land, send the call out, and within one standard day, this place will be crawling with the Corp."

Dean smirked and shook his head. "Situation normal... Fubar."

With a frown, Chance asked, "Is it possible that there are any survivors from the colony or the remains from the infantry?"

Gaimen nodded. "It's possible. We'll keep an eye out for them."

Nodding, Chance considered before speaking again. "Sir, permission to speak in informalities?"

After the slightest pause, Gaimen nodded. "Go ahead, Corporal. We're all friendly here."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Chance asked, "What do you mean by them needing us to breed with?"

"Right..." Gaimen coughed again. "This is for all of you. The Xenomorphs seem to be a hive society, like I said. There is a queen, who ahhh... lays the eggs. When these eggs hatch, we have something that looks like this." He aimed the remote at the wall and the image changed to that of what looked like a small, mutated squid.

"This...thing... attaches to the ahhh... face of a human being... that tail...thing... wraps around the neck. The thing seems to implant some sort of egg... because a few hours later it drops off and

dies... the subject appears fine until..." He changed the image once more, and the group was gifted with the sight of a brief video of a hospital room with a man in it... who seconds later convulsed and spasmed as some… creature burst forth from his chest.

The marines were silent for several moments. Chance stood there with his mouth half open and blinked "...You're not shitting us..."

Gaimen shook his head. "I'm afraid not. That's what we assume happened to everyone on station. The plan is simply to land, far away from the ahhh... target... and set up a base. We should have no contact with the... enemy."