Chapter 14

Artorus opened his eyes and looked around. He checked his watch and saw that there was still about an hour till they were to wake. He looked to his side and noticed that Rita was still sleeping.

Leaving the girl to herself, he gently stood up and left the room to go check on the others.

.o.o.o.

Harmon looked up from his seat and watched as the familiar form of his ally entered the room.

"How did you sleep?" Harmon asked his comrade and friend.

The wolf turned and acknowledged him. "Well enough," He began, briefly thinking back to his night next to Rita. He then looked at tall blond marine. "And I see you're also awake." He added.

Harmon nodded. "I'm too revved to sleep anymore." He answered.

"In about fifty minutes, we'll have to wake the others and assess the situation... pre-op." Artorus looked at the other man and observed that he was wearing his armor and his equipment was carefully packed. "I see you're ready."

"A good soldier knows the importance of being prepared." He replied coolly. "You should be gearing up as well." He continued in his usual deep voice.

.o.o.o.

Rita awoke to the site of Artorus looking at her. He was sitting on the floor, a few meters away. He had his camouflage jacket on- complete with the tare on his sleeve- and had donned his armor. He was smiling and had a thoughtful look on his face; his yellow eyes seemed darker in the room's reduced light.

"I see you're awake now." He remarked.

She smiled at him flatteringly. "Hello." She said to him softly.

Artorus stood up and walked over to where she sat, still rapped up in the blanket they had shared. He kneeled down in front of her and slipped his hand gently under her chin and looked into her eyes. Rita's lips parted for him in anticipation as he kissed her softly. She sighed into his open mouth as she returned the gesture.

He leaned back and then reached down and hoisted her up onto her feet, causing her to giggle slightly. "Suit up, girl." He mock instructed her.

"Yes sir." She replied with a smile.

The whole situation had been so strange for her so far. Friends were dead and they were stuck in a hostile environment with an uncertain destination ahead of them. However, she had met a man that she shared something with. Rita had never felt anything as intense as when he had practically engulfed her with his larger frame. That moment had left her with a strange longing that she was unfamiliar with, but she wanted more of it.

Rita blushed slightly at the thought of sharing her body so intimately with another person.

.o.o.o.

Jackson activated the display of the complex. He pointed at a spot of the graph. "This is our current location." He explained. "Thirty meters down this corridor will lead us to a junction where we can take a right towards the service lift." He added. "The lift will take us to the basement level were can access the underground railway." He finished.

"What kind of resistance are we looking at?" Artorus asked.

"As of yet, the motion sensors have detected no activity, and based on their previous actions, the xenomorphs seem to have little interest in the area where we are headed." Jackson replied.

"Are they guarding something in the western area, perhaps their hive?" Einrich asked.

"That is an interesting question," Jackson began. "I checked all of the security footage and have yet to find anything that would suggest a hive."

"That doesn't surprise me." Clement interjected. "These xenomorphs never behaved in a way that was conducive with past data." He explained. "I'm not yet aware of how they have been sustaining such high numbers, but I do know that they are not acting on the instructions of a 'Queen'." He finished.

"How do you know this?" Rita asked.

The scientist regarded her. "Geraldy had the Queen moved out of this facility to a suspension chamber in the north building. He designed a type of casing to suppress her psychic outcries to the drones." He finished.

"Shit!" Salazar exclaimed. "You mean that you guys have the 'momma' in the place were we're trying to escape to?" He exclaimed.

"The queen is frozen in a special cryogenic chamber, and I would imagine that no one here among us has any reason to wish to even go near her." Clement replied.

"So what you're saying is that there is a queen, but that the aliens are acting without direct orders from her?" Artorus asked.

The scientist nodded.

"Wait, all information on previous cases indicated the creatures had very specific hive mentalities- and that they would become aimless without the guidance of the Queen." Jackson replied.

"Or, some other sort of leader." Clement replied.

"You wouldn't happen to have any theories about this, Doctor?" Artorus asked, facing the man.

"Geraldy believed he could alter the neurophysiology of the beasts to make them follow a new leader." He began. "It was never confirmed, but the other researchers felt that the aliens had actually been modified in some way."

"Then Geradly must still be alive." Artorus replied.

"And he's attacking us with the monsters he created." Einrich remarked.

"This changes nothing, we're still getting out of here." Artorus inserted as he stood. "Marines, gear up and get ready to move out, we're getting out of this place."

.o.o.o.

MISSION DATA LOG

Upload data...

USCM Marines Unit

Primary Objective: Recover all available data on xenomorph research (Completed)

Secondary Objective: Search for any survivors and return them safely (Completed)

Mission Status: Incomplete

M.Frame/COM: Assess...

Problem: Mission halted by unforeseen interference by unknown agents.

Solution: Deployment of Search and Rescue Team for immediate evacuation of all existing personnel.

...Acceptable

Revive Special Para-Military Forces...

Update Mission Objective as needed...

.o.o.o.

I'll talk more in the next chapte.

-Bojack727