Wow! I didn't think I would get 7 reviews. Thanks you guys, I'm very happy to hear you are enjoying this story! Here's the second chapter, enjoy!
Captain Jason Montelbetti peered down the barrel of his shot gun to make sure it was clean. He took a rag and wiped a bit of dirt away from the rim, then snapped the rifle back into place. He layed his gun down on the table beside his assortment of weapons. The captain had almost every weapon known to man; automatic, sniper, laser, plasma, hand guns, throwing knives, swords. You name it, he had it. Jason ran a hand over his black military cut, his mud coloured eyes showing boredom. The tall, heavily build man straightened his black muscle shirt, adjusted the belt that held up his camouflage pants and walked to his cot, his heavy boats clomping loudly on the floor of his quarters. As he sat down, he fingered the dog tags around his neck.
Jason was one of the few Marines who had signed up for the most dangerous job in the Space Core. The Xenomorph Containment Team, or "The Bug Catchers" as it was nicknamed. It promised everything the captain wanted, high pay and none stop action. He had spent ten years of his military life as part of the Army, taking on the most dangerous missions and shockingly coming out every single one of them alive. "What doesn't kill yah, makes yah stronger!" that was his motto. But towards the end of the decade, he had become bored and sought something new to fuel his ambition for action and adventure; and thus lead him to join the Bug Catchers. The Xenomorph Containment Team was started and funded by the Extraterrestrial Science Department, when the demand to capture and study Xenos grew higher. Only the strongest, bravest and possibly the most crazy soldiers signed themselves up for the job.
Jason leaned back in his cot. The captain lead a team of the most skilled soldiers to contain and transport Xenos from the nearby nest, to the science centre. So far, very few lives from his team had been lost, but with the new head scientist it wasn't going to stay that way for long. Jason groaned, he hated Dr. Jensen with a passion! Recently, the scientist received a promotion for his latest research on Xenomorph body structure and internal functions; something he had spent twenty years of his life on. Dr. Jensen's immense brain matched his power and Jason knew the man would use it to satisfy his own greed. The captain was not some dumb brute as the doctor took him for, he knew the scientist would risk a hundred soldier's lives just to get the bugs he wanted for his experiments! There was a knock at the door and it startled the captain's thoughts.
"It's open."
Another tall, lighter muscled man, wearing the same boots, camouflage pants and a light yellow t-shirt walked into the room, giving a quick salute. His head and face was shaved of all hair, his eyes were piercing green and many scars decorated his cheeks, neck and arms. The most noticeable was a long acid burn that down the length of his right arm and his hand was missing the pinkie and ring finger. The man's name was Cameron More, second in command to Captain Jason's team. He smiled a crooked smile to his commander.
"Hey Monty, keepin' busy?" he asked in a low voice.
Jason smiled back, glad that his friend was here to lighten his mood, "Cameron you son of a bitch! What brings you here?"
The two grabbed each other's forearm in a vice grip and let go. Both of them had met each other during their first bug hunt on a temperate forest planet, some light years from Earth. Cameron was caught off guard by a Xenomorph that had lunged at him from the tree tops. Even though he had killed the bug with his pulse rifle, he could not avoid the falling body and it landed right on top of him. Unable to move from the large weight, acid blood had begun to drip over Cameron's right arm, burning away his skin and fingers. Jason came to his rescue and threw off the bug with his colossal strength, before the acid could to more damage to his arm. After that mission, the two became as close as brothers. With their combined force and friendship, no mission stood a chance at failing.
"As much as I hate to ruin your good mood, I got a video message from Dr. Jensen. He wants to talk to you about another bug hunt."
The captain groaned and turned away, feeling his eyes begin to prickle as they often did when he was angry, "That dumbass got nothin' better to do! I swear there's nothin' that'll satisfy his greed!"
Jason's eyes stung even more and he rubbed them.
"You alright Monty?"
"Yeah I'll be fine."
"What do you want me to tell Jensen?"
"I'll talk to the bastard myself!"
Jason blinked away his pain and stomped around his friend to the enclosed hallway. He passed by a few soldiers and technicians before he turned to the communications room and sat down in front of a small screen with a keyboard. Cameron followed his steamed commander, stopped at the door and watched him tap a code on the keyboard to contact the doctor's office. After a few minutes the screen displayed a man, who seemed to be in his mid forties, had a noticeable gray colour in his finely cut black hair and wore round glasses on his pudgy face. The man stared at Jason with menacing brown eyes.
"What is it, I'm busy!" Dr. Jensen barked.
Jason lowered his eyebrows, "This is Captain Jason Montelbetti responding to your message."
The scientist's features softened slightly, "Ah yes Captain, I've been waiting for your call—"
"Just tell me why you want more bugs. My soldiers gave you three last week."
Dr. Jensen felt a twinge of annoyance from being interrupted, but he pushed it aside and smiled with fake sincere, "I'm afraid that information is classified Captain, you understand."
The Marines of the centre were never told about what was done with the Xenomorphs. As far as they knew they were life forms of study, but Jason had a strong feeling they were going to be used for something much more. When bugs were involved, every piece of information about them was classified and covered with lies. Jason had heard many rumours; the disaster of the Nostromo, the massacre of LV426 and some prison planet called Fiorina 161, the destruction science ship Auriga that tried to find a way to control the bugs and later harness them into bio–weaponry; yada, yada, yada. These "claimed" events happened so long ago, that they were dubbed as made up stories to try and shutdown the ESD and other deparments. However, there were people like the captain who knew better than to believe that.
Jason's eyes stung with anger, "That's not how I work doctor, you can forget it!"
"You don't have a choice Captain, I am your superior."
"I am not some pansy assistant you can order around doctor! I've lost five men on the last hunt because of the increase of drones around the nest and I will not risk any more on another one of your suicide missions! Until you start wearing my general's badges, you kiss my ass and rot in hell!"
Cameron's eyebrows rose, he never knew his friend's hate for the scientist went this deep. He saw Jason reach for the switch to end the communication when the scientist spoke.
"Do this job for me and I'll double your pay."
Jason's hand stopped and he turned at the screen with a confused look. Dr. Jensen was sitting back comfortably in his chair with his hands folded over his lap. He smiled.
"I have your interest, then."
The Captain narrowed his eyes, "For a scientist, you really are stupid for believing I can be bought off!"
"Alright, then I'll triple your pay. If necessary I'll quadruple it."
Jason just stared at the screen. What was on this devious man's mind? Why was he was so desperate to get more Xenos? A million things ran through his mind about why he should not take this offer. On the one hand, there were people on his team that needed the money. On the other, it wasn't like he needed it; he had enough stashed away in a private account to live off comfortably for the rest of his life. A man throwing out this much money for a mission made him concerned and suspicious. Jason glanced back at Cameron who was still standing at the door, expressionless but listening. The captain turned and glared at the doctor.
"You will only triple my team's pay. If you don't comply, then find someone else to do your damn chore!"
Dr. Jensen raised his eyebrow, "Very commendable Captain. Fine, it will be done. Anyone on your team who comes back alive will have the money wired to their account. I can even gift wrap it for them."
Jason waved his hand dismissively, "Spare me the sarcasm dipshit, just tell me what the plan is."
Dr. Jensen was losing his patience fast with this military brute. He inwardly wished for him to die in the mission.
"Your team shall be briefed tomorrow morning at eight hundred hours in the video room at the central base. Good evening to you Captain."
The scientist said the last words with distain and he pressed a button to end the communication. Jason was left with a blank screen and he scrunched his face when his eyes flared in pain. He put his hands to his face and massaged his eyelids and temples.
"Hey Monty, yah gonna be alright? Don't wanna blow your eyes."
The captain sighed, "Don't worry Cam, I'll be alright. It'll take a lot more to blow these eyes. Relay all this to the team, tell them to rest well tonight and be prepared."
"Yes sir," Cameron saluted and left the room.
Jason blinked a few times before sitting back in the chair, feeling a great weight press on his shoulders. Very few people in the space core knew that he was once blind. He had been born legally blind and the doctors could never figure out what caused such a thing to happen. Jason was able to see colours, moving blotches of people and writing if it was a few centimetres in front of his face. But it was a constant struggle for him to fit in with the crowd when he was growing up. He had lived in a rough part of the city and was often an easy target for bullies. Jason had attempted to follow the example of his favourite comic book character, the Dare Devil, by using his hearing to overcome his opponents. However, no matter how many times he had tried, he could not defend himself, much less fight against a gang of bullies, without the use of his eyes.
There were times when he had been attacked and beaten in back allies, had his walking stick ripped from his hands and was forced to crawl in the mud until he found it and he once had bags of rotten meat thrown at him from a speeding car. His aggressors knew he would have a hard time identifying them and sometimes they would disguise their voices so they couldn't be recognised. Even though his parents and teachers had tried to help him through the abuse, the crafty bullies still found ways to pick on him without getting caught. It came to a point where Jason couldn't stand any more of the abuse and tried to commit suicide when he was sixteen. He had swallowed a bottle full of adult Tylenol, but his mother and father found him before he passed out and they rushed him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. The damage to his liver and kidneys was not server enough to give him permanent damage and he later recovered with proper medicine and counselling.
One day, Jason's mother and father thought out a solution in the hopes that the bullying would stop. They had saved every penny to give Jason a special kind of surgery that would give back his eyesight. The whole process involved repairing the rods and cones, replacing the retina and choroid and putting in new optic nerves. The doctors had said that the operation would take five days to perform, followed by a three month recovery. But there was a twenty percent chance that the surgy would be unsuccessful, as it varied with different types of people and blindness. Jason went for the surgery regardless of the risks; anything was worth his sight. Five days and three months later, the bandages were removed from his eyes and for the first time in his life, he saw the world around him in perfect detail! The bullies now thought twice before attacking him and slowly the abuse came to a halt. Never had Jason been more thankful to have amazing parents like them and he swore not forget the wonderful miracle they gave him. With his renewed sight, his ambition for action, adventure and exploration lead him to join the Army and later the Marines; fighting in the honour of his family.
The captain felt his eyes begin to calm down. They only hurt when he was angry, probably because the new nerves weren't use to handling too much stress. He figured he would have to be really pissed off to allow even one of the nerves blow. Jason let out a long sigh and stood up from his seat, his large boots clunking the metal floor as he walked back to his quarters, wanting to make final checks to the rest of his weaponry and equipment before retiring to bed. Some unknown feeling told him he was going to be in for the fight of his life.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Ptar'mus clung onto the restraining straps that held him in his seat as the drop ship jerked upon entering the atmosphere of the planet. The hunters planned to arrive during the night to avoid being easily detected. Ptar'mus was dressed in his full awu'asa, or armour. Black, heating mesh covered his entire body under his chest plate, thigh armour and his finely decorated shin and knee guards. The shoulder guards he wore were carved to look like Kainde Amedha teeth and each detail was outlined in bright silver. Around his hips hung a scaled, metal loin cloth and holding it in place was his utility belt. Three shuriken blades, a smart disk, four hand held daggers and his h'sai–de— a scythe like sword—hung proudly on his swath. His mask was also clipped to his belt, but unlike other Yautja masks his was not equipt with the many different modes of sight. Instead his mask was made amplify sounds and smells and held no lenses. Ptar'mus heard the steady breathing come from Jin, who was sitting beside him and he could smell the nervousness and excitement in the un–blood's musks. All the younglings were dressed from head to toe with their awu'asa and weapons, squirming in their seats while fidgeting with their small masks. The pilot slowed the descend and turned on the small vessel's cloaking device as he guided it through an opening in the dense canopy of trees. The second drop ship that held the other group of un–bloods set down in another location not far from them.
The pilot touch downed in the small clearing and signalled the two Leaders the all clear with a grunt. Ptar'mus and Jin unbuckled from their seats and roared at their group to evacuate. The un–bloods quickly ran out into the jungle and waited silently for their Leaders. Ptar'mus was overwhelmed by the moist, night air on his skin as he stepped out from the ship. He could smell the wetness of the earth and plants around him, he could hear the creaking of bark from the tall, thick trees and the animalistic noises of the local wildlife. He put his foot on the ground and felt it give way, hearing it squish on the soft, muddy soil. Ptar'mus gave a small smile as the familiar smells, sounds and feelings reminded him of his home. When he sensed Jin came up beside them he faced the un–bloods.
"Listen well younglings! You all have the co–ordinates to the Hard Meat nest on your wrist computers. Stick to the trees, keep cloaked and use caution. The Hard Meat will have many scouts and guards around the nest since the oomans are close by. Remember, only kill the oomans if they interfere and stick to the codes. May Paya watch over you."
He heard the thump of the un–bloods' fists on their protected chests as they bowed.
"And also with you Leader."
The crackling of the un–bloods' cloaking devices reverberated through the air as they disappeared into the jungle. Ptar'mus felt a nudge come from his friend.
"Shall we see if we can find some oomans?"
Ptar'mus grinned, trust Jin to want to hunt.
"If it'll pass the time, the younglings should be back after the sun rises."
"Race you to the trees!"
He heard Jin connect the breathing tubs to his mask while he activated his cloaking device and scuttled up a tall tree. Ptar'mus shook his head at his friend's childish behaviour as he too turned on his body cloak and activated his mask. While the sightless male was not as agile in the trees as most Yautja, he was still able to manoeuver through them well enough. It had taken Ptar'mus many years to safely judge the distance between the trees and the size of the branches with their sounds. Ptar'mus leapt expertly from branch to branch, steadying himself and listening carefully before he followed the thumps his friend made ahead of him.
There, yet another chapter done with our second main character introduced. This will probably be the last chapter to the story for a while, finals are coming up and I have one more assignment and essay to finish before then. Thanks for reading and remember to review!