Kjon's Audio Diary Log
July 18, 2621
I'll be honest, I don't know how I was even able to make it out of the facility, let alone the testing chamber full of androids. If I had to guess, I'd say Charles left me just enough room to escape. Like he'd told me, he wanted to watch me suffer. He'd found what made me tick, and wanted to watch me squirm helplessly until there was nothing left for me to do but let him kill me. I thought about that as I ran, but I thought about Jenny even more so.
She'd become so precious to me since I first met her. Like I'd said before, she hadn't just given me a reason to live, but had become that very reason. She loved me, and did all she could for me to make me happy, and because of that I tried to do the same for her. Memories of the two of us replayed over and over in my mind, as did the thought of what had just happened moments ago. We were happy until that moment. I wanted to make her my life-mate. But after what her father had done... what he'd told her... that wasn't possible now.
Charles held onto the flow of information that went on around this planet with an iron grasp, and could mold any bit of evidence that could be used against him into mere hearsay. With that he had the whole planet under his control. He was practically God here.
Once I was a reasonable distance away from the facility I angrily scratched at my bio-mask in an attempt to scrape off that damn projector Weyland had put on it. I think I succeeded, but in doing so I ended up scratching off some of the spray paint on it. I sat there and cried for what felt like hours, praying, asking God what I'd done to deserve this. To my horror, no response came. I continued to pray over and over again, but the voice that had given me hope was gone now. I was alone. I had nothing now. I had been like this before, but now I was weaker. I didn't know what to do, I didn't think there was anything I could do. I had nobody to turn to for help, and those I could were out of reach. I even tried contacting Ch'ris and Rachelle for help with a wristbracer they'd given me before they'd left. My calls were met with no answer. I didn't know why they weren't answering, but I assumed that whatever the reason was they weren't doing it to me intentionally. Everything I'd earned these past four months had been taken from me, and there was nothing I could do to get it back. That was the most helpless and scared I'd truly felt in a long long time.
Eventually I managed to get up and continue a short distance further where I was able to set up camp for the night, fix my injuries to the point where I didn't need my rebreather, and cried myself to sleep.
I continued living out in the jungle for about a week or two. I used the wristbracer to patch myself into one of the Weyland Yutani satellites. I know I may have been giving away my position to Weyland, but after what I went through, I was pretty sure he was already watching me. Besides I wanted to listen to the news networks and hear what they had to say. I'll be honest I think the media are all a bunch of liars, just like Weyland is. All those pretty faced reporters, and news anchors; stupid people telling everybody around them what's going on, like they actually know what's really happening outside the colonies... Then again, I shouldn't say they're liars, they're as ignorant as all the other colonists who buy into Weyland's lies are. The news they spread is a bunch of lies ,most of it anyway, but I can't hold anything against the Oomans because they're being lied to and they believe it, nor can I hold any resentment towards them for spreading those lies. They didn't know they were lies. How could they have known? I'm sure plenty of marines like myself have tried telling everyone of what we've been through and what we've seen, but like I said, it's all just hearsay.
During one of my "listenings" I heard that the truth about us marines as lazy gunheads, and xenomorph cultists were actually lies. This was on a public broadcasting network by the way, so you could imagine my amazement when I heard this. Weyland was literally telling everyone they were being lied to. Of course Charles shifted the blame off on some guy named Michael Wilcox, a xeno cultist I'm sure he must have simply thought up on the spot. Why he was doing this or felt that he needed to do this, I don't know, but knowing Weyland I'm sure he had a reason. The broadcast continued with a public statement from Charles himself also declaring he had kept shadows for experimental purposes all this time. Naturally he put a spin on it that made his intentions look pure ,no doubt to add sympathy for his cause, but still you could imagine the disbelief I was in when I heard this. The story went on to include Jenny and that she had set aside a large portion of her funds to the construction of this new colony for the marines called Sulaco, named after the Conestoga class assault ship that the team from the LV-426 incident used. The media called it a quote "apology act, and a gift of gratitude to those who fearlessly served to protect the colonies." Yeah, I thought that part was a bunch of artsy fartsy bullshit too. I could see that Jenny had at least listened to what I'd told her, and was trying to help the marines.
I still loved her, even after what she did. I couldn't blame her for it really. Pyode had been lied to by her father. He and I had been telling different stories, and she wanted to find the truth, but because of him she couldn't. She was just doing what she thought was right. I know she'd tried her best to be as neutral between me and her father and the information we'd given her. How could she choose between the two of us, when she loved the both of us, and didn't know anything about what was going on. I would've likely done the same thing if I was in her position. At least she was helping the marines out. I knew they needed it badly.
Like I said before the news is mostly all a bunch of lies, but the more I thought about what I'd heard, the more I asked myself if any of it was true. Truth be told I still thought a lot of it was bullshit, but after they said what they said about the marines, and after Weyland publicly made that statement of his, I honestly though there might be a safe haven for us to go to finally. Not that I didn't think Jenny wasn't doing any of this, but given the way her father was, need I say more. After about another week or so, I decided to give it a look, and see if it was legit. I still held some doubts, but at the time it seemed like a better idea than continuing to live out in the woods waiting for Weyland to find me, and do whatever he felt like doing to me.
I went to the area I heard about on the news, filled out my retirement paperwork, and hitched a ride on an subway train car with a bunch of other marines. I mostly kept myself hidden under a dirty hood, and some gloves during the whole thing, not unlike a bunch of other guys I saw. There was no cheering, celebration, or even a light and hopeful "Oorah!" as you'd expect there to be, it was actually very dark and gloomy. Yes, we were finally getting some peace, quiet, and a place to stay, but at what cost had it all come? We'd seen family, and friends whom we'd loved as family, die in unspeakably horrible ways. We'd lived through the hell that took their lives, but had come out with so many scars it was hard to tell if we were any luckier than our friends were, and I don't just mean the physical scars either. All around me there were marines who looked like living proof of life after death. Some looked better than others, but their physical appearances couldn't hide the awful experiences they'd been through. I knew exactly how they all felt, and it brought tears to my eyes knowing just how many more of us there were who'd lived through the same things I'd lived through. I'd loved the Corps like it was my clan. We'd sacrificed so much for the colonists, and for the longest time they'd mistreated us. Still as I said before, what did they know. But to have waited so long for something like this to come was outrageous, insulting even. Then again after everything we'd been through, we were just glad it had come. The trip was suppose to take 72 hours, but really none of us cared how long it took or how much farther we had to go.
It came as a surprise to me when I heard a familiar voice calling me by name. "Kjon Schaefer?" Came a feminine voice I recognized almost instantly. I looked up and to my complete astonishment I saw Stacy sitting in front of me. She was still alive. It came as a pleasant surprise to me when I saw her face. It was nice to see that someone else from the Talco mission was still alive. Ironically enough though it was the one who'd flashed her unmentionables during the mission, but that was years ago.
"Stacy?" I replied hopefully.
"Mother fucker, you're still alive!" She said with an astonished smile as she went to sit beside me. The other marines just ignored us. "Let me see you." She requested removing the hood from around my head. Obviously, that caused a bit of a commotion amongst many of the marines, many of whom reached for their carry weapons. Stacy managed to talk them down though. Although I wasn't exactly a welcome sight for them, they weren't in the mood to fight ,especially with a Predator, so they put their service weapons away and went back to what they were doing. Once the short disturbance was resolved Stacy and I continued. "How you doing ,Kj. I see you've grown into your body since the last time I saw you." She said to me with a smile. It was kind of awkward watching the other marines in our car stare at me as I talked to her.
"I could be better Stacy, but then again I could be a whole lot worse right now. Nice to know you're still around at least. Hope you learned your lesson and haven't been flashing your tits to anyone during a mission." I reminded her with a short smile of my own. She responded by giving me a smart assed glare. Stacy wasn't looking to bad, actually she was looking pretty good. She wasn't the gorgeous model she used to be, but all things considered she was still beautiful. Honestly, she looked like the best one out of all of us physically speaking. She had a few scratches here and there and had even had her left hand replaced with a prosthetic one, but still. Obviously I didn't need to ask to know how that one happened.
"So how've things been for you big guy?" She asked.
"What's that? I'm sorry ,Stacy, I'm deaf in this ear could you say that again please?" I asked turning my head so I could hear her with my other ear.
"I said how have you been?" She repeated this time a little slower and louder.
"Like I said, I could be doing worse right now." I replied. "The good Lord has been pretty fair to me all things considered though. So how've you been?"
"Not much better really. I just lost a... a good friend of mine you could call him..." Stacy told me in a disheartened voice. I could tell whoever it was she lost was more than just a friend to her. Probably her boyfriend or even her fiance if I had to guess.
"I'm sorry." I apologized.
"It's not your fault ,Kj. It happens to us all." She told me trying unsuccessfully to form a smile on he scratched lips.
"I know how you feel." I told her. We sat there in a short moment of silence before we continued.
"So I see you've seen plenty of action yourself." Stacy said referencing her arm, before pointing to the cut between my mandibles.
"This isn't from a shadow ,Stacy." I told her.
"Android give it to you, maybe one of those asshole Task Force fucks?" She guessed.
"No, it came from... someone else. I don't want to talk about it though, it's too painful to discuss." I told her as I rubbed the wound.
"Oh, I see." Stacy said with a sigh. "At least it's nice to know though you're still kicking." She told me. We weren't really friends, but we knew each other well enough that it didn't really matter. Personally after what I just went through, just the fact that we recognized each other and were being friendly was enough for me to call her my friend.
We continued to get caught up on how we'd been since the Talco mission. We shared our best moments with one another even shared some of our more painful ones, and even talked about our ambitions. Truth be told, all I've ever really wanted was to live a normal life, one that I could spend with the friends and family I love, that was if I even still had any family. Stacy had a younger brother who was a construction worker who was apparently coming to Sulaco to help with construction as were many other colonists doing so. Stacy hoped to find some work with him so she could be closer to her family and hopefully even be able to start a new life with someone else. She even offered me something if she was able to find any work for me, and I graciously accepted her generous offer. Eventually our conversation began to carry over with a couple of the other marines until they all became social, many of whom even talked to us. I felt a spark of optimistic hope begin to swell inside me as I saw these slouching, teary-eyed, downcast marines all become more active, open, and friendly with each other. As the talking intensified, so did that hopeful and communal atmosphere. It was something present you could feel with the marines. It's something I can't really describe, the only way you'd know what I was talking about is if you were a colonial marine yourself. Because of that many of the marines with us even talked to me. It'd been a long time since I had an actual conversation with another marine. Hell we even shared some of our food with each other, that part I tell you was great, really it was. Eventually I dozed off during the ride, as did many of the other marines.
We awoke abruptly to the sound of the subway car's automated voice telling us we'd reached our destination. I looked over at the clock and the mileage marker and saw that we weren't even half way to the Sulaco colony. The other marines had seen what I had and began asking what was going on, and if something was wrong. I had this weird feeling in my gut that was telling me something was wrong. Very very wrong. I could tell the rest of us could feel it too, but by that time there was nothing we could do for what happened next. The subway car doors opened suddenly and with it came a flood of angry colonists and Task Force operatives.
They dragged us out into the subway station and it was there that we discovered we weren't at Sulaco at all. This was New Hadley's Hope. I couldn't understand it. Why? Why were they attacking us? The "supposed" truth had been revealed about us? We weren't cultists, or lazy hired guns anymore? Why was this happening to us now? I asked as I was dragged out into the station with all of my fellow colonial marines. I had my hood over my face the whole time I was being drug out, so none of the colonists made an uproar when they saw me.
After we were all dragged out of the subway car I looked up and saw Markus Massey. He was overseeing whatever was happening right now, and although he made a good attempt to hide it, I could see there was satisfaction in his eyes for what was about to come. "Yep these are Wilcox men alright, every last one of them." He said. I couldn't believe it. They were making us out to be part of this made up cultist group. The hearing in my good ear was muffled by the sound of roaring colonists. "Take those three in for questioning. The rest, have at them." Massey said. After three of us were taken by the operatives, and after Massey gave the word, the colonists and the remainder of the Task Force descended upon us.
The sight was gruesome and heartbreaking. I watched as the colonists and the operatives all ganged up on us, holding us in place for them to beat, or just forcing us to the ground and stomped us to death. I watched as one of the colonists tore the hood off of this one poor guy. Even with all of his scars I could see the resemblance between him and the older man standing over him menacingly. The colonist had a pipe in his hand. At least it was quick. There were a few others who were beaten down by people who used to be there loved ones. My ears were filled with the dying cries of my fellow marines and the angry voices of the colonists as well as a few of the operatives, many of whom called us names that are to painful for me to even repeat aloud. I must mention not all of the operatives partook in the violence, a few of them I could see were actually very upset by this. Those few operatives knew that this was wrong. It just goes to show that not all of them are bad. The carnage carried on for what felt to me like hours, when in reality it couldn't have gone on any longer than three or four minutes. I'd heard this was happening to us but words couldn't describe what it felt like when I experienced it.
I was on the ground being kicked and stomped on by several colonists and operatives. They briefly stopped barraging me with kicks and stomps, and held me up to tear my hood away. It was then the crowds erupted into panic. Everywhere I heard "What the fuck is that thing?!" "It's one of them! It's one of them! It's one of the Hunters!" "Where the hell did it come from?!" "Kill it man! Fucking kill it!" Their panicking provided me with a brief moment to react. I kicked away some of my attackers before tearing my arms away from the ones who were holding me, and swatted them away. I then got up, and ran over to Stacy, who by that time was the only other marine still alive. Although she was still breathing, she was having difficulty doing so. Her ribs had been crushed and one of her lungs had been punctured and collapsed. If I didn't get her out of there soon and treat her wounds she would die from the collection of air building up inside her chest, and if that didn't do it I knew the internal bleeding would.
I managed to make it over to her and escape. I retreated into the tunnels and managed to briefly escape our attackers through the sewer system that was connected to the subway tunnels. Once I was a reasonable distance away, I broke my medicomp out, and began began to perform surgery on my dying friend. After I began draining the air that had built up inside her chest I gave her my rebreather to help her breath, before I began trying to heal her internal bleeding.
"K-K-Kjo-o-on." Stacy's gasped as she held my wrist weakly in her hand.
"It's okay ,Stacy. You're going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here." I tried to reassure her while also doing my best to stay calm. Once I found my anesthetic and a health shard I turned over to administer them to her. When I did so though I was already too late. In my panic I hadn't felt her grip on my arm weaken. "Stacy? Stacy?! Stacy!" I yelled, desperately trying to get a response from her. The only response she gave was the unsettling look in her dead eyes. "No." I whispered in trepidation. I felt my eyes begin to water, and my chest begin to swell painfully. "No, No, No, No. Not you too ,Stacy. Please No." I begged helplessly. All of my tearful pleading and praying did nothing to help her though. I softly closed her eyes with my clawed fingers, before gently cradling her body in my arms. "Dear... Dear Merciful God... Why? Why did it have to be them? Why Dear Lord? What did they do?" I asked tearfully as I held Stacy's corpse gently and began to weep over it.
It felt like even He was abandoning us for some reason. I knew He hadn't left us behind, but in that moment, I couldn't help but feel like He had. Why though? What had I done... What had they done to deserve this? What had Stacy done to deserve to die? Why was He leaving us to the mercy of our enemies like this? Deep down I knew there was a reason for it, and I knew that He was still there. There's always a reason for the things He does, and the things He allows to happen, but I couldn't see what it was though. Despite this I refused to let my faith in Him die.
My moment of sorrow was then interrupted by the voices of the colonists and the Task Force operatives who were still after us. My sadness began to turn to anger which I shifted towards them.
None of this was His fault, it was theirs, all of them! Weyland wasn't just the one persecuting us, but it was also his sheep who were blindly following him too! We've sacrificed everything, our friends, our family, our lives, even our very being to protect them from the wolves outside, yet even after the truth is revealed to them they continue to treat us like we're the problem! They disown us, bastardize us, and even kill us! I thought angrily
I tried my best to ignore them though. I didn't want to kindle my anger towards them. Like I said they were just blind sheep who were following a crooked shepherd. I'd still made a promise to God not to kill them, but to do everything I could to protect them.
"There it is!" "There's the monster!" "Shoot it!" I heard the operatives say as they brought their M4A4 service pistols. I felt the anti personnel .45 ACP rounds as they impacted with my back. My back plate had managed to protect me from most of the shots, but for the few fragmentation cases they couldn't though... They didn't do all that much to me really, they only grazed my muscle tissue, but you'd better believe they stung like a bitch. Those bullets changed my mind. I felt my claws grip Stacy harder and harder, my mandibles flared wide with unholy aggression.
That had done it! I'd had it! I was tired of all of the persecution, the lying, everything! I didn't deserve this! None of them deserved this either! Those marines had protected them, and this is how they repaid them?! They called us cultists, killers, lazy unobservant fucks! Who were they to throw those insults in our faces! They weren't there when we sacrificed everything we had for them! Everything!
As my mind absorbed everything that was happening around me, I was reminded of every horrible memory I'd endured over the past 27 years. It began to trigger my PTSD, but unlike before where I'd run and try to suppress it for the safety of others, I embraced it. Before I did so though, I dug the rage shards out of my pack, and jabbed them into my arm.
Weyland, the Task Force, the colonists, they should all know how it feels to be persecuted! They'd hurt us for far too long! It was about time they knew what pain felt like!
I don't remember what happened after that. All that I do remember was the aftermath of my episode. I was out on the streets, surrounded by fleeing people and Task Force operatives. I'd done quite a bit of damage to the area, and from what I found out later on, I actually killed no one in the sewers. I'd beaten the operatives within an inch of their lives, and the colonists were smart enough to run the fuck away. As I regained consciousness and saw the colonists and operatives around me, I thought about the promises I'd just broken, the oaths I'd sworn to uphold. Then again though I was doing this out of self defense, that and they deserved it. All of them deserved it. I kept it in myself not to kill any of the operatives or colonists, but that didn't mean I wouldn't hurt them either.
For the next four days I unleashed every last bit of hell I could muster onto New Hadley's Hope. I fought long and hard against the Task Force using ambush tactics, to dispose of them, but other times I simply relied on my equipment and ferocity to beat them. During the few short moments I had time to breath, I stole their armor, some of their firearms, ammunition, medical supplies, food, I even hijacked an M577 Armored Personnel Carrier. I shot, burned, and blew up everything in sight. I even demolished whole buildings. It was a warzone I tell you. By the end of day one, I'd caused so much damage the colonist in the surrounding area had to be evacuated. That disposed the Task Force long enough to give me the time I needed to do some real damage to the colony. After that the Task Force went after me with everything they had in their armory, from M41A Pulse Rifles to UA 571-C Sentry Turrets to M83A2 SADAR Missile launchers, hell it was so bad APCs were roaming the streets almost everywhere you looked, and UD-4C gunships swarmed the sky day and night looking for me. These assholes even brought P-5000 Powered Work Loaders! Fucking Power Loaders!
By the end of my rampage the center of New Hadley's Hope was in ruins, you could say the scene even looked apocalyptic. I knew I couldn't keep this up forever though. Weyland and his Task Force would eventually get me, but until that happened I wanted to sent him a message, one that that would last in his memory for the remainder of his days.
At the end of day four I had about fought myself to complete exhaustion. I'd ran out of munitions, medical supplies, food, and energy. I was tired and I was hungry. Despite my fatigue, I pushed on as far as my hardened will could take me. I was held up in a crumbling Task Force armory. Most of the ammo and firearms there had been ransacked, with the exception of a few carbines, service pistols, and shotguns that'd been left behind. It was small, but it was still something I could work with, so I took it, and began to prepare myself.
"Corporal Kjon Schaefer, United States Colonial Marine Corps Unit 019870, Fifth Battalion, First Division! My name is Gunnery Sergeant Alexander Douglas! We have the perimeter completely surrounded! Come out with your weapons on the ground and your hands behind your head! If you comply, I promise my men and I will not use lethal force against you!" One of the operatives said through a megaphone. I knew their promise was bullshit. That however told me I still spooked them, since none of them went into the building to get me, although who would've thought that was a good idea. I didn't know why they didn't just bother to shoot the armory to hell, but I didn't care to ask questions. I knew that no matter what I did I was dead. I fixed my wounds, tightened all of my body armor, and began to load what little ammunition I had left in my firearms. If I was going to die, I was going to die fighting.
Before I could finish loading preparing for my last stand however, I heard a voice speak to me. "It's been a long time ,Kjon." My eyes went wide as I heard my old drill instructor speak.
"Dad?"
This has by far been the bleakest thing I've done in this series thus far, and I have to say I came pretty close to shedding some tears during it. Believe me NeverNeverGirl when I tell you I'm not having any fun with this part of the series either. But I've still got about another twenty chapters left before I'm finished with it. And again NeverNeverGirl I am sorry for the way things are going in the story, but I promise you things do get better, and all of the protagonists will have a happy ending. You may not see how that will happen, and personally Kjon can't really see it that way either, but he's still holding strong. Also I read the questions you had with the last entry, and here are my answers for them. 1.) I know I MAY HAVE said Kjon killed Beth, but she didn't actually die, yes she was torn in half (that I did say) but if you look back on the earlier entries of the story when I introduced her character, Jenny mentioned that Beth was a synthetic (an android) so even though she was cut in half, she was able to be repaired. 2.) I mentioned earlier I made some edits to the earlier entries of the story, and those edits included getting rid of the podcaster Eliot, and any signs that the story had a happy ending which included any mention of Kjon and Jenny being a couple. I did this because I thought it made for better story telling since it adds tension to the story. Think about it. How impactful would all these moments be if you already knew that the characters had a happy ending from the start. There would be no suspense since you know they'll be alright in the end. 3.) Charles Bishop Weyland is not the same one as the one from Alien 3, since that movie takes place several hundred year before this story. He is the descendant of that Weyland, as well as the descendant from the 2010 Alien vs Predator video game, and yes this Weyland is also played by Lance Henriksen. 4.) Yes, I will stop making you upset, after the next chapter at least. And yes Jon will get the payback he rightfully deserves, as will all the other colonial marines. Also please don't be to hard on Jenny. She just realized she lost some of her best friends, and she thinks Kjon was the one who did it. She tried to clear his name as best she could, since she didn't understand why he would do that. She was lied to by her father and she doesn't know what he's actually up to. It's Charles who's the slimeball, and he isn't the only one, but I'll leave that little plot thread unanswered until after the next few chapters, trust me IT GETS GOOD. But as for Kjon just remember "The night is always darkest before the dawn." and thankyou for sticking around as long as you have NeverNeverGirl. I really appreciate it. (Also I hope you had a Happy Easter.)