Authors Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, 20th Century Fox, Nintendo, etc.
So uh... I heard the people who made Lollipop Chainsaw are making an Aliens game. Still can't be worse than Colonial Marines, thanks Randy.
The Aagtekerke Incident
Chapter 2: All Along the Watchtower
Looking up, Samus saw that one of the side doors to the Bridge was sparking strangely, and the Bounty Hunter stepped back from the console. Raising her arm cannon, Aran moved to cover the door noting how the sparks were moving around the edge of the door. Feeling a sense of unease, Samus stepped back, mindful of her surroundings as she watched the sparks continue their prgress. The sparks went out, prompting Samus to come to a halt and steady her weapon, mind racing as she took in short, sharp breaths behind her helmet.
The door fell, metallic impact loud enough to trigger her helmet's auditory filters, and the Bounty Hunter took a step forward to peer through the new opening when something came flying back. Her cannon then shifted to track a ball that bounced off the fallen door and then rolled across the floor towards her before it came to a sudden stop, red light flashing.
Curious about this device, the Bounty Hunter took a tentative step forwards and was about to call out when she saw the ball move. The sphere jumped upwards, a bright flash polarizing her visor a split-second before lightning sparked against her Power Suit. Warning flickered angrily on her HUD for a moment, fading as the Chozo Powered armor shook. Samus attempted to react, only to find her movements slow and weighty as her suit started to shut down, causing the Bounty Hunter to lose her balance and tumble backwards, her head and shoulders slamming into a console.
As Aran shook her head and attempted to regain her bearings, she heard shouts of "COLONIAL MARINES! COLONIAL MARINES!" Looking up, Samus saw four figures, human figures, in the room, all wearing armor of a make she had never before seen and brandishing unknown items in their hands, but Samus' instincts judged them to be weapons. Two of the humans stopped, their weapons trained on her as the others continued past.
"Stay down, don't move!" shouted one, the smaller of the two, but they were both large men, the smaller of fair skin and as tall as Samus was outside the Power Suit, but he was dwarfed by his companion. This second man might not have been as tall as the Bounty Hunter, but he was far larger, and in his armor, he was an imposing sight that was complemented by his weapon, which was larger than the others Samus saw these strangers carrying. After flickering her eyes between them, Samus did not fancy her odds, besides, her objective was information, not a fight.
"Clear!" shouted one of the unseen 'Marines.'
That call was immediately followed by the other unseen human, a woman, yelling, "Clear!" Samus' face tightened, the time it had taken them was not much slower than her time to clear this same room. This was a group that had trained together, not just a motley crew of Space Pirates, yet their uniforms were not those of the Galactic Federation. Looking through her visor, Samus pursed her lips at how long the Power Suit was taking to reboot, whatever had hit her was effective. All the evidence added up to suggest that this group was dangerous, and the Bounty Hunter soon saw the other two figures appear alongside their comrades. These two were smaller than the first pair, but still wore similar armor and carried weapons of their own. "Who the hell are you?" asked the woman.
At that moment, the Bounty Hunter saw the message on her HUD that her system was rebooting, and so, hoping to buy time in case she did have to defend herself, she answered. "Samus," she replied simply, the filter in her helmet obscuring her voice.
"Samus?" asked one, the smallest of the three men, "What kinda name is that amigo? Chinese?"
Unsure what an amigo was, or who the Chinese were, Samus elected to shake her head.
This prompted the woman to speak again. "Wey Yu?" Not familiar with whatever that was, Samus elected to shake her head again, only to see more confused looks on these 'Marines.' There was a moment of silence, with Samus willing her suit to come back online before the woman spoke to her again. "What's your affiliation, Samus?"
Ignoring the slight mispronunciation of her name, Aran answered truthfully, "Independent Bounty Hunter, currently fulfilling a bounty for the Galactic Federation." The response from the Marines took her by surprise.
"You ever heard of a 'Galactic Federation,' Sarge?" asked the tall, fair skinned Marine.
Samus then looked and saw the woman, 'Sarge,' shake her head, "No Sandy, never." There was a pause, "Thoughts El Tee?" There was a moment of quiet as Samus waited for someone to answer, only to hear nothing before the same woman spoke to her again. "Samus, have you ever herd of the United Americas?" The Bounty Hunter raised an eyebrow behind her helmet and shook her head. "What about the Three World Empire? Weyland-Yutani? Union of Progressive Peoples?" With each name listed, Samus shook her head, noticing the way the Marines frowned and relaxed, lowering their weapons slightly. "Damn," cursed the woman, "First Contact?" she asked.
"Aw shit, I didn't bring my Dress Blues," rumbled the biggest man, with his dark complexion broken up by a toothy grin.
"Lock it down Tiny," snapped the woman as she turned her head and pressed a hand to the headset's earpiece. After a moment, the woman then squared up to Samus and spoke to the Bounty Hunter, "I am Sergeant Khai Minh Dao of the United States Colonial Marines, greeting you on behalf of the United Americas and her colonies. We serve as peacekeepers in UA space, providing security from threats foreign and domestic. That said, we have no desire for conflict with you or the Galactic Federation, and hope for peaceful relations between our peoples." It was clear to Samus that the woman was no diplomat, the words were forced, her speech stilted, and it seemed like she was repeating what was said to her over the headset.
Similarly, Samus was no diplomat, she was a bounty hunter, and had no idea how to react, so her answer was a silent nod. That seemed to confound the Marines, "Watch out Tiny, we got ourselves a chatterbox to keep you company," quipped the only Marine who had not yet spoken, this one had a tan complexion and dark hair poking out from under his helmet. The biggest man, 'Tiny,' merely growled lowly without paying much attention to his comrade.
"We wish to know your intentions, Samus. If you are not aware of us, why are you here?" asked the Sergeant, ignoring the chatter.
The Bounty Hunter spoke once again, the modulator in her helmet continuing to obscure her voice. "This ship is broadcasting a distress signal, and is near the border of Federation Space. I was dispatched to investigate the nature of distress and of this vessel."
"That's why we're here, we have it under control, and since this ship is…" began the woman before trailing off. Samus' eyes flashed from one Marine to the next, watching as their expressions betrayed their thoughts, eyes rolling and shoulder sagging, they were clearly disheartened by whatever was being said over their radios. Finally, through clenched teeth, the Sergeant spoke said to the Bounty Hunter, "In the interest of cooperation, we suggest a joint effort as we examine and secure the ship before she is taken back into possession by Weyland Yutani. Will you accompany us and work together?"
Samus saw no reasonable alternative, "I accept," she said just as her suit started to come fully online. The Bounty Hunter then slowly stood to her full height, taking care to not appear threatening, but that was a tall task for her, clad in the Power Suit an with the muzzle of her Arm Cannon glowing softly. The Marines took cautious steps back, clearly tense, even if their weapons were not pointed at Samus. Aran raised her left arm and pointed at the wall, "I tried to access those consoles, but am not familiar with these systems. You may be able to glean information from them that I could not."
A tense silence filled the bridge as the Marines exchanged looks before 'Sarge' nodded, "Okay then, fall in with my boys, provide security, I'll see what there is to see."
Despite the orders given to the Marines, Clyde, Santiago, and Garrison were in a tight group, and were keeping their difference from the imposing stranger. Dao was still working the console, occasionally letting out low, muffled curses, and while the rest of the squad was supposed to be watching her back, each of them had one eye on this oddly named stranger. "You know," hummed Ricky, the Latin Sharpshooter drawing the eyes of the other two Marines, "Whoever this guy is, he's almost as big as you, Tiny."
The Smart Gunner was not amused, "Yeah, almost," he grunted, M56 sweeping across the room towards this 'Samus.' "What d'ya think Sandy?" asked the big man.
"Dunno," answered the Corporal with a grimace, "First contact that's never heard of the UA or anyone else, but the guy speaks English and emotes like a human?" Shaking his head, Jacob looked back at the stoic stranger, who hadn't said a word after the initial exchange, "But that armor, never even heard of anything like that. It's serious tech, but the lines, that weapon… the color scheme. That is not a tactical choice fellas, even the 3WE doesn't have shit that crazy." Most of the suit was yellow, with a red chest piece, bulky orange shoulder pauldrons, topped with a red helmet and green visor, none of it was subtle. Even on the dimly lit bridge of the Aagtekerke it seemed to reflect every bit of available light.
"Trust 'im amgios?" asked Santiago, the Sharpshooter rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
"Not as much as my baby," rumbled the Smart Gunner.
Clyde frowned but had a different thought, "Something's off, but I don't think it's this guy. Keep your eyes down range and fingers on your triggers."
"Fuckin 'rah," answered Santiago. Garrison bobbed his head in agreement, the three Marines now left with little to do but wait for Dao to finish looking through the computers.
But before 1st Squad grew bored of their silent watch, Sergeant Dao slammed her fist into the console, "Most of the logs have been wiped," she announced turning to face the rest of the squad, Samus joining them. "But I think we can rule out pirates, there are no indications that visitors arrived until just before we did, and I presume that was you?" asked Dao, looking towards Samus. The red helmet bobbed once, but no further reply emerged. "So maybe there was a technical problem?"
"What kind? Ships in good shape, still has atmo," noted Sandy, still feeling some sense of unease he couldn't quite place. The Corporal turned to the Bounty Hunter and asked, "You see anything? Bodies?" This time the red helmet shook. "And yet the door was welded shut. What do you make of that?"
Silence was his only answer, and even Sandy didn't have an answer for his own question. "We're not going to find out staying here, get ready to move it out," Dao then looked to Samus, "You're coming with us." The helmet nodded, but, as was becoming standard, the man inside said nothing. Dao then keyed her radio, "El Tee, we've found all we could here, it's not much. We're going to search the rest of the ship, how copy?"
"Solid copy, I'm going through the data you found, I don't see anything either," replied Lieutenant O'Keefe. "We need to secure the reactor, head through the upper cargo bay, it seems clear, but stay frosty. Cleared to proceed at your discretion Sergeant Dao, remain in contact, report anything of note. Out."
"You heard the lady people, form up, Sandy, you have point, Samus, stick with him. Ricky, Tiny, cover our flanks," instructed Dao as she prepped the Motion Tracker. The rest of the squad formed up, with Sandy now shoulder to shoulder the heavily armored stranger. "Move it out Corporal."
"'Rah," replied Clyde as the Colonial Marine raised his Pulse Rifle and led the squad out the door Dao had cut down. Moving as he usually did, Sandy kept his eyes forward, but could still feel the looming presence of the armored Samus beside him, even if the man moved silently, or at least near enough that the Marine couldn't her his footsteps over the Motion Tracker. Reading the directions on the bulkheads towards the cargo bay, Clyde rounded a corner before coming to a sudden stop and raising a closed fist, prompting the rest of the squad to halt. "Body," announced the Corporal, M41A1 pulled tight into his shoulder, eye peering through the holographic sight to look for anything else amiss.
"Check it, we'll cover," answered Dao, prompting the squad to resume its advance until Sandy arrived at the corpse, taking a knee and grimacing at what he saw. It was the words of his Sergeant that shook him from his stupor. "What d'ya got there Sandy?"
"Guy's dead Sarge," he answered, "Lots of blood on the ground, gash marks, like he was clawed by something." Seeing a badge on what was left of the man's coat, Clyde flipped it over and wiped the blood off, "Looks like his name was Doctor Elijah Wilks, according to this, no way to confirm that. His face is… gone, like it's been melted off, can't imagine what mighta done that. Gun in his hand," rattled off Clyde, tentatively removing the pistol from the dead crewman's hand. Noting the blood that covered the weapon, Jacob pulled the slide back to see a round in the chamber and then dropped the magazine to see it was about half full. "Looks like he went down fighting."
"But didn't get the pendejo that got him," noted Santiago, "No other bodies around, and this place certainly ain't been cleaned." There was a momentary silence as Sandy swallowed that thought, that whatever did this was still on the ship somewhere before Ricardo spoke again. "Yo Sam, can I call you Sam?" asked the Sharpshooter, getting only a shrug from the oversized shoulder pauldrons in return, "You ever seen anything like this where you come from?"
This time the red helmet shook, a more definitive answer at least. Frowning, Clyde noted a trail, only it was a trail of deformed deck plating, like it too had been melted, just like the crewman's face. Following it, the Marine didn't have to go far, "Whatever it was, looks like it went in there," suggested Jacob, gesturing towards a dislodged grate with the muzzle.
That comment prompted an array of weapons to be pointed at the air vent, "Nothing on the tracker. Whatever it was, it's gone," announced Dao. That prompted a slight bit of relaxation from everyone else, but the silence was still haunting. "El Tee, we got a body here, scientist, Doctor Elijah Wilks, tore up pretty bad, like some wild animal got to him. Was Wey-Yu hauling exhibits for a zoo? Over."
"Negative Sergeant, I don't see anything like that on the manifest, and that name isn't on the crew list," replied O'Keefe. "I'll log it, but leave it behind. The cargo bay is about 40 meters ahead of you. Search it thoroughly, see if you can't turn up anything that isn't on the manifest."
"That's a rog," replied Dao, circling her hand to prompt 1st Squad to form back up.
"Keep me posted, out," finished the Lieutenant before another gesture from Dao got the Marines moving forward again.
Rounding the next corner, Clyde saw the door at the end of the way labeled 'Cargo Hold A' and led the group to it. "Panel's shot out, someone tried to seal the door, was in a hurry," Noted Dao as the Sergeant came forward and examined the electronics, "Tiny, on my signal, pull the door. Rest of you, stack up."
Clyde complied, taking his position up front next to the cracked open door, a stench prompted the Corporal to scrunch his nose. "Smell that?" he asked, "Bodies, I think."
"Get ready then, check your targets, that goes for you too Samus. No killing non-combatants, understood?" asked Dao. The helmet bobbed, but the arm cannon hummed and glowed menacingly, though Clyde looked over his shoulder and was thankful Samus had the good sense to point it upwards. Looking back at Dao, Sandy could see the unease on the Sergeant's face as she looked back to the wrecked control panel and fished out two wires, "On my mark Tiny. 3… 2… 1… mark!" she called as she pressed the wires together.
With a grunt, the big man heaved the door open, allowing the others to rush into the cargo bay and face first into that horrific stench of death. Helmet lights scanned over the truly cavernous space, seeing the dozens of cargo containers all neatly arrayed on the floor below and in some cases were stacked three or four high, going halfway to the 40 foot ceilings. "Oh, yeah, something definitely died in here," rumbled Tiny as he barged his way through the door and joined the others on the catwalk.
"Lock it down, I want us to keep it tight, two-meter spread, three hundred sixty degrees coverage. We're gonna do a quick and dirty sweep of this place. Ooorah?" barked Dao.
"Ooorah," chorused back the three Marines as the group descended a stairwell and onto the deck of the hold. Once there, the group formed up and pushed into the stacks, the Marines all struggling with the smell that only got worse the further they pressed on. The sweep took them through the massive cargo bay until the Smart Gunner called out, "I was wrong, looks like a lot of somethings died."
The others turned to look at what Tiny's helmet light was illuminating and saw one of the containers broken open, its insides containing nothing short of a slaughterhouse. There were animals, but Sandy couldn't tell what kind because they had been mauled so badly, blood pooled around the open entrance, and chunks of flesh and bone covered the interior. Dao then spun around, eyes planted on the screen of her Motion Tracker before announcing, "We're still clear, keep moving."
Taking a breath, only to feel his nostrils sting at the smell, Clyde led the group onward, but it didn't take long for them to find another gruesome sight. Undaunted, Jacob led the group into a vaguely open space, occupied only by a few steel tables, each filled with another corpse. "This is some creepy shit amigos," intoned Santiago as the trailing Sharpshooter saw, "Who would do something like this?"
"Someone who doesn't like dogs, Ricky," quipped Garrison, since every one of the corpses around the squad was a canine, with several different breeds and sizes making up the casualties. The only thing they had in common was their injuries, their chests had all been torn open, some had their ribs sticking out, all laying in a pool of blood. "Might've been something they ate," joked Garrison, Sandy noting that it looked like their chests had been burst open, all two dozen of them.
"I'm calling this in," announced Dao as she keyed her radio, "El Tee? We got something here. Looks like the ship was carrying animals, and a lot of them wound up dead, might be whatever got our scientist type from earlier, over."
"Copy. Be advised, manifest doesn't say anything about any animals as cargo. Looking at your feeds, I don't know what to make of that either," answered O'Keefe.
That last part earned snorts of derision from the grunts, "Of course she doesn't," muttered Garrison, prompting the others to nod in agreement.
"Keep looking, it seems like we've got a bug hunt on our hands. You see anything that isn't human, you are clear to engage. Out," finished the Lieutenant, getting a better reception from 1st Squad. Weapons were checked by the squad before they got moving again, all of them with their fingers a fraction of an inch closer to their triggers.
Continuing through the cargo bay, another cracked open container drew their eye. "I'll check it out," called Clyde as the Corporal eased the door further, keeping his Pulse Rifle trained on the inside. Stepping into the metal box, Clyde's helmet light passed over the only thing inside, a series of clear cases, all seemed to be sealed, and all contained bizarre, alien contents. "Got something here!" Dao appeared in the doorway, and Sandy gestured towards one case, "Looks like we found our bugs."
Inside was a beige creature that vaguely resembled an Earth scorpion, with eight long legs and an even longer tail. "It's Xeno, that's for damn sure," replied Dao as she looked over the containers, "Quite the collection of 'em they got here." Clyde silently agreed, there had to be maybe a hundred of the things in here, all neatly arranged. "Tiny!" called the Sergeant before the big man's head poked through the door, "Crack open another one of these containers, see if you find any more of those things."
"Rah," answered the Smart Gunner before he disappeared, leaving the Sergeant and Corporal to examine the bugs. A minute later, Tiny reappeared, "Lots more in the next one Sarge, like Wey-Yu was breading the damn things, gotta be another hundred, at least."
Grimacing, Clyde looked to the squad leader, whose face bore a similar expression, but before anything else could be said, a high pitched 'ping!' echoed around the container. Dao snapped her motion tracker up and moved outside, "Contact!" she called, moving into the open and spinning around, "Multiple contacts on multiple bearings! 20 meters out. Everyone circle up!" The pings continued, grating on the ears of the Marines as they fell into formation. Samus joined them, the Bounty Hunter's armored bulk and arm mounted cannon better to have than not. "15 meters! Lots of contacts!"
Feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline in her veins, Samus Aran's eyes scanned the surroundings, still trying to process everything she had seen. Whatever had been happening on this ship was unlike anything the Bounty Hunter had ever encountered before, the amount of carnage and savagery was beyond Space Pirates. Those thoughts perished upon seeing the reaction of the Marines to the shrill tone emanating from the Sergeant's gadget, and Samus joined the Marines in their defensive formation as she heard the calls of approaching enemies.
"12 meters!" called the Sergeant as Aran raised her Arm Cannon and sought a target, yet the corridors between the containers remained clear. A shout of "10 meters!" elicited a sharp intake of breath from the Bounty Hunter. "Anyone have eyes on?"
"Negative!" shouted back the soldier next to her, 'Sandy,' who seemed to be holding his nerves better than the others. "Where the fuck are they?"
Shifting her feet, Samus swept her Arm Cannon across the space in front of her, still seeing nothing, when she felt a pull at the back of her mind that prompted the Bounty Hunter to tilt her head up and look at the top of the containers. Narrowing her eyes, Samus spied something that looked off, an unnatural shape that extended over the edge of the container, a smooth topped dome of reddish-brown color that suddenly moved. The lower part dropped down, revealing a mouth of sharp canine teeth as a shrill, hissing roar echoed through the monolithic cargo bay before it was joined by more similar creatures. "Above us!" warned Samus as the creature leapt off its perch and landed in the space between the humans and the container, the six-foot-long creature staying on all four digitigrade legs as a long tail flicked from side to side behind the creature.
A quick scan with the visor of her Power Suit compared the creature to the database of species known to the Chozo, but before she could read what was available, it began to barrel towards her. Acting on instinct, Samus leveled her Arm Cannon and fired a ball of blue hot plasma from her Power Beam, eliciting a pained shriek from the creature as it stumbled and slid to a stop, only to be replaced by the arrival of more of these monsters.
"Let's ROCK!" one of the Marines hollered before they all opened fire simultaneously. Their weapons reports matched the roars of the alien monsters, a deep, guttural electronic growl as their muzzles flashed, lighting up the dim cargo bay. Aran's Arm Cannon punctuated the cacophony, spitting out deadly beams of plasma at another of the oncoming creatures as it crawled over the top of the containers. When it fell to the floor, dead, another pair of the agile monsters dodged and skittered across the containers before coming down to advance on the group only to be gunned down by the Marine next to Samus.
The Bounty Hunter watched as the hole ridden corpses seeped green blood that smoked and bubbled when it hit the floor, almost as if it was chemically reacting to the metal. Yet that didn't affect the next creature as it charged through the corpses before it got a blast from Samus' Arm Cannon, removing its head before the Bounty Hunter was forced to change targets. Samus caught a glimpse of the monster stand up on its hind legs before leaping towards her, razor sharp claws extended from its forward hands before putting a pair of shots through the body of the red-brown monster. With that one dead, the Arm Cannon swung up as Samus saw the side of one of the containers was covered in half a dozen of the creatures, all crawling along the side of it in a tight cluster. The Bounty Hunter readied a missile and took aim before loosing the weapon, watching as the rocket motor lit up the cargo bay before the explosion blasted apart the creatures, flesh and green acidic blood raining down.
Yet the creatures kept coming, and turning to look over her shoulder, Samus saw that it was the same all around her. Each Marine was firing single shots or short bursts, efficiently chewing up the incoming beasts, yet still under pressure. "We must leave!" shouted the Bounty Hunter, before hearing a high pitched screeching roar and blasting the offending creature off the top of a container, "Before we are overrun!"
There was a pause, "Aw fu…" shouted back Dao before she was drowned out by a sustained burst from the colossal weapon carried by 'Tiny.' Punctuating the dire situation, Samus looked back and fired a string of Arm Cannon shots, killing two more before she heard the Sergeant shout, "C'mon Marines! We are leaving! Sandy, take point and…"
"No!" cut off the Bounty Hunter, "Follow me!" she shouted, the speakers in her helmet amplifying her voice over the raucousness of the shootout. A quick scan of her surroundings, and the Bounty Hunter chose the path of least resistance, bulling her way past the Marines as she leveled her Arm Cannon and blasted the pair of creatures blocking the path. Without hesitation, the Bounty Hunter barreled forwards, the muzzle of her weapon swinging from side to side as she gunned down any more of the creatures that came at the group.
Taking a second, Samus looked over her shoulder to see the Marines following, the four of them covering the flanks and rear as their weapons barked and shrieked at any of the creatures. With her unexpected allies at her back, the Bounty Hunter rounded the corner and came face to face with an already leaping monster, its full weight slamming into Aran mid-step. The attack came with such surprise and force that the woman wearing the Power Suit slammed into the metal deck. Before Samus could regain her bearings, she found herself pinned beneath the beast, its black skin and reddish markings covered a ridged head as it opened its mouth, only for an armored fist to slam into the side of its head. A pained shriek emanated from the beast as its tail lashed down, narrowly missing Samus' arm and driving into the floor by her head. Eyes snapping back up to look at the monster, Aran saw its wide-open jaw from which emerged a second snapping jaw and yet more teeth.
Jamming the Arm Cannon into the monster's ribcage, Samus pulled the trigger and sent a bolt of blue plasma through the creature. An ear-piercing shriek echoed through the bay as it leapt off the Bounty Hunter before it was perforated by a withering barrage of fire from the Marines. Pushing herself to her feet, Aran was forced to duck as a ball of green acid flew overhead, raising her Arm Cannon as she returned to her full height and fired, the shot slamming into the creature, causing it to collapse.
"They're still fucking comin!" shouted one of the Marines before he fired his weapon, only it made a dull 'thunk' before the shot exploded on impact amongst a group of the smaller Runners. "Where are they all coming from? God damnit!" he roared as he fired a burst from his weapon, only for it to abruptly stop shooting. He set about messing with it, changing some part as one of his companions covered him.
Samus looked and saw a way out, a door on the upper level, "There!" she shouted, pointing up at it.
"Go! Sandy, Santiago, up the stairs!" shouted the Sergeant before she turned back to the big man, "Tiny, covering fire!" The man answered by leveling his weapon and unleashing a long burst, Samus watching as a swarm of the creatures were turned to mincemeat while the other Marines tore off for a small staircase.
Not wasting time, Samus flexed her knees and activated her High Jump boots, leaping atop one of the containers and sprinting towards the catwalk. Jumping once more, she arrived at the door and turned back just as the other Marines arrived. "Move your ass Big Man!" called one of them as the lone Marine at the bottom of the stairs turned and ran.
The creatures seemed to sense his vulnerability and emerged from their nooks and crannies in an attempt to strike done the sole man. When they did, they were met with a concentrated stream of fire from the rest of the group, successfully holding them back as Tiny made it up the stairs. "Hold them back! I'll get the door!" snapped the Sergeant. The woman darted to the control panel and jammed her thumb into a button, only for a red light to blink back angrily. "Shit! I have to run a bypass, cover me!"
"Reload and dig in Devil Dogs!" called 'Sandy,' warbling shrieks of the creatures echoed back at them. The Corporal kept barking out orders to the others, "Short, controlled bursts! Ricky, get the PUPS up!" Samus watched as one of the men produced a small spherical object and tossed it up into the air. The device floated in the air just off the catwalk, red lasers shooting off it in every direction seemingly at random. A second look revealed to the Bounty Hunter that the red lasers were pointing at a different, skittering creature, no matter if they were hopping across the top of the crates, crawling along the sides, or clinging to the ceiling, and all of them were coming towards them. There was a moment where one could hear a pin drop on the metal floor as the group took in the enormity of their foe. "Let 'em have it!"
For the next thirty seconds, it was a battle between the Marines weapons and the screams of the Aliens for which was louder. Samus added in her own Arm Cannon as they tried to hold back the oncoming tide of flesh and bone and blood. "Come on, pendejos, is that the best you can do?" shouted one before he fired his rifle, a deep, reverberating crack that briefly overpowered the rest of the noise.
The sound of twisting and shearing metal prompted Samus to spin around and spy a piece of the catwalk as it was pushed up, twisted and ripped before a massive, black creature slunk up through the gap. This creature was clearly related to those they'd seen thus far, but was far larger, towering over all of them as it stood on its hind legs. Its head had the same smooth elongated dome that stretched well back. Cylindrical protrusions extended from its back, but were not as long as the segmented and spear tipped tail that swung from side to side as the creature turned to face the group, pausing to let out a roar before charging at the Marines.
Samus reacted first, squaring up to this new threat and putting her Power Suited bulk between the Marines and this Alien Warrior. The Bounty Hunter only had a second to brace herself before the creature rammed her with every ounce of force it could muster, physically pushing Aran back as she struggled just to remain upright. Muscles straining, the Bounty Hunter dug in her heels and held her ground, hand wrapped around one of the bony arms of the creature as its claws extended towards her visor while her arm cannon was pressed into the beast's shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Samus fired her weapon, blowing the Warrior's shoulder apart, acidic green blood spurting liberally as it shrieked and retaliated, slashing at Samus' Arm Cannon with its tail, tearing chunks off the Power Suit.
Hissing through clenched teeth, the Bounty Hunter lowered her Arm Cannon and fired again, the shot of blue-white plasma obliterating the creature's knee and very nearly severing its leg. A throaty screech emanated from the beast as it became unbalanced and toppled forwards, crashing into Aran as it wrapped a claw around her shoulder and tail around her waist to drag her to the ground, but not before Samus was able to twist and contort herself to come down such that both combatants were on their sides, facing each other. With one good arm clinging onto the Bounty Hunter, the Alien creature thrashed wildly, teeth snapping as it tried to gnaw off the Power Suit while Aran desperately tried to bring her Arm Cannon to bear, though neither could gain the upper hand.
"Door's Open!" called the Sergeant as a pair of flashing yellow lights cast an ominous glow over the cargo bay, "Everybody, let's go!"
Filled with a second wind, Samus swung her Arm Cannon like a club, clobbering the creature on the head as she wrenched her shoulders of its grip. Letting out a cry, Samus tried to get herself free of the Warriors tail, yanking on it with her gloved hand as she tucked a knee up to her gut and pressed the bottom of the boot against her foes pelvis. Finally, in a fit of desperation, the Bounty Hunter pushed herself up onto a knee, pressing her full weight onto the spindly bone, hearing it crack until it finally went slack around her waist.
Throwing it off, Samus stumbled backwards, tripping over the broken remains of the Alien and scrambling away before she heard the distinct report of one of the Marine's weapons in her ear and saw the large Warrior get blasted apart in an explosion of limbs and green blood. A pair of arms wrapped around her gloved hand and yanked her up as the Marine Corporal shouted out her, "On your feet! We are leaving!" before the panting Bounty Hunter was half led, half dragged through the door while the rest of the squad covered them, their weapons flickering brightly before they too passed through the threshold and the massive doors began to close, bodies of creatures piling up on the other side before the doors sealed shut and the group found themselves in silence.
"Puta Madre! What the hell were those things?" snapped Santiago, breaking the silence that the Marines found themselves in, everyone trying to come to grips with what they had just seen. Everyone exchanged looks, and the face of every single member of 1st squad bore variations of a theme, shock, uncertainty, fear.
A violent thunk against the door caused them all to snap and face the metal, white knuckle grips on their weapons as each expected their brief respite to be brought to a violent end. When the door held, Sandy felt himself sigh in relief before he turned to Dao and said, "What now, Sarge?"
"We still have a job," she said, shaken but still holding herself together. "Wey-Yu wants their boat back, we clear these things out and give it back to them."
"No," intoned their tag along, the warbling, filtered voice as firm as it had been on the bridge. "Those creatures cannot be allowed any chance at survival. We must exterminate them."
"You hear okay inside that bucket amigo?" asked Ricky, puffing himself up as he stood in front of the armored Bounty Hunter, "Dao said we're gonna clear the boat, which means we exterminate them. Though I'm assuming she has a good fucking idea how to do that." Eyes swung to the Sergeant, who remained silent, "Well that's just great, marvelous, spectacular…."
"That's enough Ricardo," interjected Sandy, fighting to keep his voice steady, "We're gonna figure this out. Stay cool man," he suggested. The Latin Sharpshooter turned to stare daggers at the Grenadier, who held the smaller man's gaze before he turned away, "Ideas people, let's have 'em," offered Clyde when it seemed the Sergeant wasn't in the mood to take the lead.
"Detonate the reactor core," answered Samus instantly, drawing everyone's focus once more. "I have never seen those creatures before, but I scanned one and ran a search on it against the database in the Power Suit." Armored fingers tapped against the weapon on her right arm as Sandy saw the damage her suit had sustained repair itself before his very eyes. A quick exchange of looks told the Corporal the others saw this too, and once again were left wondering who exactly this 'Samus' was when a hologram was projected from the suit. "They are called 'Xenomorphs,'" the Bounty Hunter continued, "Highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrials, the Chozo considered them to be incredibly dangerous, this is not a species with which to trifle. This ship, and every Xenomorph aboard, must be destroyed beyond any hope of recovery."
"I… I have to ask," answered Dao, still breathing heavily as she keyed her radio, "El Tee? Dao here, did you get… any of the last ten minutes?"
"I did and… fuck it, I agree with Samus. Blow this fucking hulk to kingdom come. I'm sending you a route to the reactor, set it to overload and haul ass back to the dropship. If Wey-Yu wants this boat, they can sift through the fucking ashes. Oorah?" asked O'Keefe, more fire in her voice than Sandy could recall her ever having.
"Oorah," answered the Marines together, each one checking and reloading their weapons.
"Okay then, I'm sending you a waypoint now, your path will take you through the staterooms and mess, then some sort of workspace, it should keep you out of large areas, hopefully that means no big groups," explained O'Keefe over the radio while the squad reformed. "Once you get to the reactor, I'll walk you through the overload sequence. Out."
"Alright Sam, we're going with your plan," announced the Sergeant, "Stick with us, and we'll get to the reactor core. I won't bullshit you; we could use your help." The visored helmet bobbed an affirmative. "Thank you," said Dao, voice quiet but sincere as she looked down at her Motion Tracker. "Let's move it out Marines, stay frosty."
The group stacked up on the next door and moved through, flashlights sweeping around for any sign of the creatures they had just encountered, these Xenomorphs. Clyde noticed that the muzzle of his pulse rifle was shaking ever so slightly, and he took a breath as he turned to check another corridor. "Hang a right up here," instructed Dao, the Sergeant looking around before glancing back down at her Motion Tracker.
Proceeding in silence, the squad moved through the mammoth sip towards the staterooms, where the crew and officers of the ship would have slept. Sandy wasn't sure what they would find there, but he hoped there might be some answers to just what the fuck had happened on this ship. The unexplained scientist, the animals in the cargo bay, what looked like examining tables in amongst all the cages, in the Corporal's mind, this wasn't some freighter, it was a science ship, experiments were being done, experiments Wey-Yu wanted to keep hidden.
Before he could ponder that question further, the group came to an abrupt halt, "Contact!" snapped Santiago, the Sharpshooter training his rifle down a corridor. "I saw something move down there."
The squad reoriented; a lot of firepower poised to be sent down the hallway. Dao looked down at the gadget in her hand, "Got nothing on the Tracker," she informed before pausing, "Keep moving, stay sharp and check your corners. Don't let those fuckers sneak up on us." Still tense, the group didn't respond, simply resuming their movement through the halls until they arrived at a jarred open door that was labeled 'Staterooms,' their destination. "Tiny, door."
With a grumble, the big man moved up and pulled on the damaged door, the sound of metal grinding on metal filling the hallway, grating on ears and eliciting winces from the other Marines. Sandy hoped that these Xenos didn't have good hearing, otherwise they might come crashing down on them.
That hope was dashed when the Motion Tracker emitted a high pitched 'ping!' that caused Clyde to rest a finger on the trigger of his M41A1. "What's the hold up?" asked Dao through clenched teeth.
"Won't fuckin' budge Sarge," growled back the Smart Gunner, "Gears are stuck good, it's not just off its track."
Before any other Marine could respond, Samus turned and placed his one gloved hand against the exposed edge of the sliding door and pushed, with immediate results. There was a violent sound as the door slammed against its stops, but the path was clear, and not a moment too soon as the Tracker pinged again. "Get inside!" snapped Dao as the Squad pushed in, Tiny covering the rear, Smart Gun searching for targets as Clyde, Santiago, and Samus charged inside, sweeping what looked like a common area before Tiny stepped through the door after Dao and pulled it back shut so the Sergeant could weld it shut. "Alright, we should be good," she declared as she looked down at the Motion Tracker, "Sweep through here, clear it and see if we can find out what the fuck is going on."
Taking a breath, Sandy watched the group disperse before he picked a stateroom and went inside. Sweeping his rifle over the space, Clyde could tell something had happened, the room was in clear disarray. A shelf had been knocked over spilling its contents across the floor, the bed sheets were torn, or perhaps slashed, and there were distinct stains on the bed and floor, yet Sandy muttered one question: "Where's the body?"
A further look revealed nothing else of note, and so the Corporal returned to the Common Area, finding Samus standing there, the Bounty Hunter as still as a statue in the imposing armor. "Find anything?" asked the Colonial Marine, getting a simple shake of the head in return. "Yeah, me neither."
"Nothing here, ain't nobody neither," confirmed Tiny in his deep baritone.
"It seems this was the area where the ships crew stayed," interjected Dao as she returned, "Wherever the extra personnel, the science types were, it wasn't here." A frown tugged down on the corners of Sandy's lips, unhappy about the lack of answers but knowing there was precious little he could do about it. "Anyone seen Ricky?"
Before there could be an answer from the others, the Motion Tracker on Dao's hip let out a ping! That was immediately followed by the sound of a crash that echoed through the corridors and the sound of a muffled shout that was drowned out by the crack-snap of a rifle shot. Without hesitation, the other Marines turned and barreled towards the source with reckless abandon, the long legged and lighter loaded Clyde reaching the door second after the impossibly fast Samus. The Corporal was hot on the heels of the Bounty Hunter as they entered a large communal bathroom and saw one of the towering eight-foot tall Xenomorphs slink through a hole in the wall with its tail impaling the Marine Sharpshooter, dragging him across the floor as a trail of blood was left in its wake.
Shoving his way past the Bounty Hunter, Clyde pursued the Alien, charging across the twenty yards to arrive at the gap in the wall and step inside, finding a large shaft, or pipe of some kind. Sandy stepped inside, following the trail of blood for teen feet before he let out a curse. "Fuck!" he shouted, staring up at the shaft, it seemed that the Xeno had climbed up, and there was no way for him to follow. A low, snarling, vulgar noise that wasn't quite a word, just sort of several jumbled together, emerged from the back of his throat as he sullenly turned back and exited the shaft, shaking his head upon seeing Dao and Tiny. "That… thing," snarled Clyde, "Took him somewhere. I guess they've been doing that a lot, explains why we haven't seen many bodies."
"What for?" asked the Bounty Hunter in his modulated voice.
That was a question that Clyde wasn't sure he wanted an answer to.
Closing Notes: I had a fun time writing this first encounter with the Aliens, even if I struggled a bit with it, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it so I can make the next fights better. Yes, there will be more Alien types in the future, so I'll see y'all in a month for those.
Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.