Fernandez knew better than to be worried about his boss. Fuck, that asshole faced down ZEUS and didn't back off.
Still, this kind of situation sat wrong in his stomach. The boss and the others went down into a nest of God-damn parasites, and then there was this huge tremor, and then all contact was lost.
Logically, he knew that maybe they should put together a rescue team and check things out, but orders were orders. And the orders were to stay up here, freeze his ass off, and wait for things he could shoot.
But the things he was supposed to shoot didn't turn up. Mercer had been pretty sure the Bugs were going to leave the nest, yet they didn't.
So, without anything to do, he started thinking.
"Mind sharing what's on your mind?"
The man turned around, and had to tilt his head back to see the speaker's face. "Oh. Hi, Rick. Nah. No problem there." He shrugged briefly. "Just being kind of miffed Ian's down there and I'm not."
"You're the communications specialist", the Supersoldier reminded him.
The man threw his hands up. "Yeah. And Ian is a pilot. What's he doing down there?"
The big man shook his head. "Jeez, Rod. Don't go around getting all pissy because you're jealous. Next big monster threat you get to be at the front row."
Fernandez grumbled under his breath, but turned his attention on the Hive exit. Or better, what Mercer told them was a Hive exit. He didn't see much more than a good-sized air vent. But then he looked a second time and saw the blueish-black strands of bio-matter peeking out from the inside of the thing.
He sighed, remembering the few reports they had gotten before they set out. There wasn't much to go by, except that these things were apparently hard to put down. "Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"You think the boss is dead?"
"Nah."
"Right. He's got Mercer. But what about the others?"
The giant man's face twitched. "We are Blackwatch."
It wasn't an answer, still, Fernandez nodded along. They were Blackwatch. They were going to burn their own to hold the Red Line.
"Sir?" One of the Marines questioned. The Supersoldier turned to eye him. The man swallowed. "Sir, the Motion Detector...it's getting active."
Fernandez noticed the frantic beeping of the thing, and slowly turned to face the tunnel exits. He could hear shrieks from there.
With a grim expression, Fernandez cocked his M4. "Guys", he began, "I know you are not Blackwatch, but for today, this is all you're going to be." When the first of the Bugs dashed out of the opening, he cut it down in a hail of bullets. "We'll hold the Red Line! It is the last Line to ever hold!"
Cross ducked behind a support pillar when a spray of bullets ripped into the wall besides him, and immediately had to tuck in and use his momentum to roll as close to the ground as possible because one of those Bugs leaped at him. It was one of the brown ones, so it didn't have the reach needed to nail him, but it was a damn close thing anyways.
The Bears were scrambling- half of them were on that ladder, though several of them hung themselves from the steps by their elbows in order to shoot at the swarm below. Well, that was some kind of routine he could introduce the Wisemen to, he thought and aimed at one of the Bears that tried to climb the ladder. The man fell with a solid thud towards the ground, and the Specialist earned another shower of bullets for his troubles.
This was getting ridiculous- he'd expected that baiting the Bugs would take their focus off him so he could pick these assholes off for trafficking Bioweapons, but he'd underestimated them just as they underestimated Blackwatch. His shoulder pinched when he moved it wrong, reminding him that the Bears were still dangerous.
A black creature collapsed right next to his hiding place, spraying acid. Cross swore when the stuff splattered against his grenade launcher and he had to yank it off in order to protect himself.
He. Was. Offended.
With a scowl, he launched himself from behind the pillar and towards a Bear to seize the man and duck behind him. The man cursed, wriggling to get free and pulling on his bad shoulder in the process. The Specialist immediately snatched the other's knife and slashed it across his throat, and dove behind a piece of jutting concrete before the body dropped. Rykov was barking orders again, his voice somehow carrying over the racket around them.
Then he turned and dashed down one of the tunnels, closely followed by several Bugs. Cross's eyes narrowed. Asshole wasn't running away- he was luring him away from the other Bears. In order to protect them, because that was exactly what he'd done back in that Hive.
A grim smirk tugged at his lips. Well, he thought he could protect his team by trying to bait him away from them?
Fine. He was going to follow, and he was going to take him down.
The Specialist threw one last glance at the remaining Bears, then fired the General's service gun at a particularly large Bug. Not a fully grown Royal Guard, but on the way there. It spun around and lunged at him, though Cross dodged and rushed down the wide open area at the last second. The thing charged after him, just as the Bears swung around to aim at him.
The Bug died in a shower of bullets meant for him, while Cross ducked behind a metal crate to briefly catch his breath. The second the shots petered out, he darted behind another corner, eying the tunnel Rykov fled through. He didn't know what to expect, but given that this tunnel seemed a lot more fortified than the others, he figured it used to be one of the Bears' original passages.
Meaning, the General was probably going to have not only an advantage of familiarity, but also ammunition. At the same time Cross had the advantage of being a mean old bastard, making them about evenly matched.
The Specialist snorted, and glanced back at the Bears. Most of them had ascended by now, with only the woman left behind. The swarm had dispersed, or had been killed- countless corpses littered the ground, though the only Bear bodies he saw were those he'd picked off. They had experience with those things, after all.
With a small hiss when his shoulder screeched at him, Cross got up and dashed towards the tunnel entrance. Several shots echoed behind him, and bullets slammed into the walls and floor just besides him, missing him by mere inches. So either the Bears didn't know how to target humans, or they didn't try shooting him because they were going to leave that particular job to their General.
Well, their mistake- if they thought that Rykov would be able to protect their secrets, then tough luck, because Cross wasn't just going to kill the General. He was going to hobble him, and leave him to the mercy of a Biological weapon far more dangerous than the Bugs.
Hopefully, Mercer was working up an appetite.
Cross couldn't help but actually laugh to himself about that one. Of course he was going to consume that bastard- Blacklight was always hungry for memories, especially memories that would prevent another Manhattan. (For somebody who claimed he didn't care, the Runner cared a lot)
He just had to catch that bastard first.
His heavy footfall echoed loudly in the derelict-looking tunnel system as he jogged down the length of the construction, keeping his ears and eyes open for any surprise Rykov may have left behind. So far he seemed to be in luck- no traps- though he heard the distinct sound of claws on walls, and they were closing in.
These things really didn't give up easily, did they?
His radio cackled to life, stopping him in his tracks when the distinct rough growl of the General came through. "Colonel. You should have taken your chance with my men."
Cross snorted. Tapped to reply. "I've never been one to play the odds."
Rykov clicked his tongue. "Your loss, Colonel."
The contact was cut off, and three Bugs surged towards him. For a second he suspected that the Bears worked with these things, though it was more likely they've gotten some of this pheromone crap on him during their brief scuffle.
He sighed- this was going to complicate things- and ducked under the swing of one of the Bugs. He instantly tucked into a roll and got out of their reach when the other two closed in as well.
The things screeched and whirled around, claws blazing. Cross leaned to the side as far as he could and kicked his leg out. He caught the closest thing in the chest and threw it off balance, sending it tumbling into its siblings.
Once they were off his back, the Specialist got some distance between him and them, and spun on his heel to fire several short bursts. One died instantly, the other two fell back injured. Cross finished them off the next moment, preventing them from getting back up. Without turning back to them, he ejected the now empty magazine and slid in a new one with a scowl.
During the ceiling collapse he'd lost most of his equipment, and was already running low. If he had to take down more Bugs, then he'd have to strangle Rykov once he caught up with him.
Or...He stopped and turned, to eye the dead things. Two had smooth skulls and a small barb at the end of their tails. The third had a ridged skull, and a huge-ass blade.
Cross targeted his rifle straight down, and squeezed the trigger to cut through the chitinous black armor. Acid immediately started oozing- not spraying, since the thing had some big holes in its chest now, and the Specialist waited for another minute or two before picking the blade up, weighing it in his hand. Well, he got an acid-resistant knife now.
Let's see about the Russian.
She was furious as she bore down on him, shrieking in one continuous tone. Her wild swing missed him by mere inches and turned a concrete support pillar into rubble.
Alex easily flipped over her back, then had to air-dash to the side to avoid a brutal swipe of her tail. The chamber they were in wasn't ideal for his taste- it was too cramped, too small for him to successfully employ his usually style of Hit and Run.
Not that he was doing any hitting at the moment- for now, he was content to just dodge, get a feeling for his opponent. The Queen was massive- not only tall, but heavy too, he figured she'd be clocking close to ten tons at least- but she was fast. Extremely so, capable of striking at him from one angle and then strike again before he got back to the floor.
If he were anybody else, like a D-Code, Alex had to admit that it might be a tad problematic. But he'd already killed bigger. The speed was the only thing the Queen had going for her, which set her apart from the likes of Mother or the Behemoth.
But the latter two had been the size of houses. The former one was barely as large as a tank.
And Alex had devastated tanks.
He avoided another claw strike, landing against the wall to perch there. Without using his tendrils for fastening- apparently the Bugs' climbing abilities translated well to Blacklight. Well, he figured, could be fun to lurk on a wall or the ceiling without leaving his tendrils' tell-tale holes in the plaster.
Predictably, the Queen instantly came at him again, leaping upwards with the speed of a freight train. Alex kicked off the wall to avoid her, and she shattered the wall structure with a single blow. The next second, she was already off and after him again, her weight shaking the room when she hit the floor and pounced at him relentlessly.
He avoided the blow by kicking off the air and throwing himself to the side- and went careening into a wall. The blow that took him by surprise or the collision with the wall barely hurt- he'd long since stopped feeling blunt force trauma- but it was surprising all the same. Even more so when the Queen suddenly whirled and jabbed the bladed end of her tail right into his chest with so much force, Alex was pretty sure it also ruined the wall behind him.
It pinned him against the floor too, and that was about the last thing he wanted to happen when fighting an enemy.
Alex slammed his hand against the ground and shoved himself to the side, loosing his own cohesion in the process to free himself from the biological weapon currently impaling him. Above him, the Queen made a confused noise, though quickly caught herself and slashed her giant claws down.
His hand jerked upwards and met her paw just inches over his body, fingers and tendrils locking her much larger talons in place in an unbreakable vice grip. She snarled and swung her second arm at him, which he caught in a similar manner.
A set of thick tentacles snapped from his shoulders and snatched at her secondary pair of arms as she surged to the front and tried to claw his face off. Forced into a stalemate for a moment, the Queen quickly changed her tactic and snapped her head to the front, intent on just biting him.
Alex smirked and threw his legs up, kicking the massive thing square in the chin with enough force to crash her head right through the wall. In the same second, he scrambled off the floor and away from the Queen, whirling to face her again as she struggled to get back upright.
With an angry snarl, she shook her crested head and worked her now crooked jaw until it slid back into place.
Alex grinned, lazily cracking his knuckles. "Well then, your majesty" His arms rippled and twisted to Musclemass, and his expression became downright unhinged. "Let's finish this."
The Queen roared and lunged at him immediately, claws and tail stirring up the dust from the previous destruction.
This time, the Runner didn't dodge. He just dug his feet into the ground and braced himself. When the Queen collided with him, it was like she ran into a wall. Alex's teeth were bared in amusement. It was easy to grab her by her bony wrists and flip her over his head, crashing her hard into the floor. She screeched and kicked out, her thrashing tail ripping through his chest, though he hardly noticed it.
And anyways, that injury had already closed up when he jumped straight upwards, then kicked against the air to hurl himself back downwards with his knees angled. The Queen managed to scramble off the floor and out of his way when he impacted into the floor with so much force, he caved in a good portion of the area.
His opponent shrieked and dove at him again, intent on tearing him limb from limb. He could hear her rage inside his head.
Usually, making his opponent furious was one of the tactics he resorted to- they were less likely to think straight then, but the Queen's fury seemed...off somehow.
Like it wasn't real.
The second he dodged several violent swipes, it finally clicked.
She didn't call for backup even though he knew there were several Bugs outside. She was always using the same attacks, and never pulled back once, didn't let up in her assault. She wanted to prevent him from going away.
The Queen was stalling him.
He couldn't stop the manic grin that bared his teeth. Her attempts at getting him off her children was amusing. A mother sacrificing herself so her children could live, how wholesome.
It was just a shame that her children were monsters, and this world only had enough space for one.
His grin turned into a sneer. "Don't worry, your majesty, I will find and take care of your brood too."
The Queen jerked back for a short second, startled. Alex used that short moment to lunge at her, colliding with her much larger body to send her crashing into the ground. The giant creature thrashed and swiped her claws at him, but the Runner instantly kicked off her chest, crumbling her ribcage like an empty soda can. Her screech was immediately cut off, and her struggling stilled for a second-
Then she was back to her feet and in his face again. He didn't see the blow before it connected, giant claws tearing out a good portion of his stomach and sending him into the wall. The injury closed up the next second, and Alex instantly rolled to the side when she followed him and pulverized the concrete with a headbutt.
She spun around to pounce at him again. The Runner easily twisted away, and his arm rippled when the shape of his Blade formed to settle in along with his Musclemass. He rarely did this, using two transformations at the same time- he always thought he didn't need it.
He was wrong on that one.
His Blade, boosted as it was, whistled through the Queen's lower leg like she wasn't there in the first place, and the monster keeled over with a startled shriek. With a gleeful smirk, Alex reached up and seized her flailing wrist, only to yank her entire arm off like children ripping out an insect's legs.
Acid sprayed, and the pained screeches ruptured his eardrums. Alex hummed to himself as he casually caught the flailing tail and pinned it under his foot. A shift of his heel, and thick tentacles erupted from the floor to restrain her entire body in unbreakable bonds.
He turned to face her, snatching the Queen's chin and forcing her head around towards him. She hissed and jabbed her secondary jaws towards him, but her reach wasn't enough to actually touch him.
"You've lost", Alex purred at her. "Don't worry, though, your children will be joining you soon."
He slammed his fist deep into her maw, angling his hand so he could smash his way through her palate and into her brain, where his arm lost cohesion and let Blacklight flood her tissues.
Throughout the entire Hive, every single Bug collapsed screaming.
The Good News was, Cross finally managed to catch up to Rykov.
The Bad News was, it was right in the middle of a storage room turned nursery. (luckily, he didn't see any adult Bugs, or possible hosts, just a shitload of eggs)
The Worse News was, while Cross was lacking in ammunition, Rykov wasn't.
He'd been right when he guessed that the Bears had some weapon stashes down here, because the last time he'd seen the General he hadn't been packing that much heat. (shit, he should've looked closer to find some too, to even the odds)
A stream of bullets ripped into the wall he'd been in front of just a second ago, and Cross ducked behind a heavy metal crate. Too close to the eggs for his taste, but at least, he would have a chance against the parasites, should they decide to hatch and jump him.
A machine gun that fired hollow point bullets however wasn't something he could survive. His vest would maybe slow down one projectile, but he was facing a whole volley here.
He needed some backup, if only to distract the General.
And the eggs were right there. Looks like your friends want to come out to play.
Cross pulled himself as far to the side of the crate as he could, keeping one ear out for Rykov, and fired three times at the closest egg. It splattered open, though the Specialist didn't wait for the retaliation, just threw himself to the side and into the open. The General had approached predictably, and startled back for a second. A second he didn't shoot, which Cross used to dash across the room and towards a rickety ladder leading to a catwalk above.
Rykov recovered quickly and fired two short bursts at the Specialist, but missed him thanks to the six or seven Bugs that lunged out of an air vent in the ceiling to assault the man, drawing his attention away from the Specialist.
On that thought, the bullets only mostly missed him, Cross corrected his previous statement when he pulled himself up on the catwalk and his leg buckled under his weight. Great. A hole in his calf wasn't something he really needed right now, even if it was in the meat part and hadn't hit any blood vessels. Didn't even bleed that much.
Oh well. Couldn't be helped then. The mission had to be finished.
Another burst of gunfire followed by screeches drew his attention, and he peered down to see Rykov shred the last of the Bugs. No wonder, they have been just drones, and the rifle was one of the sort that Cross would have used to take down a Hunter.
It cut through the hard-shelled black snakes like butter, but left Rykov exposed for a moment. Cross aimed the M4, fired twice at the man from above. Rykov stumbled back, swearing, and yanked his rifle up to spray the catwalk with projectiles. Only, Cross instantly lunged over the safety rail and down towards the floor, well out of range of the man.
This is going to hurt flitted through his mind the second he hit the floor with a thud and a roll, using the momentum to launch himself into Rykov's side in a violent tackle to overbalance the man. The General had to drop his weapon in order to try and stay on his feet, and from there on it was basically a brawl.
Only...Blackwatch cheats.
The Bug tail blade's been in his hand ever since he'd dropped off the catwalk, held in such a way it was pressed flat against the dark material of his gauntlet and not visible from a quick glance. Now he flicked it to the front and swiped low, slicing through the General's lower leg in one swift motion. An eye for an eye, as they say, and since this guy went to put holes into his calf, it was just fair he'd put one in his. Only, he aimed lower, slicing through tendons and causing the man to fall backwards. At the same moment, the Specialist ducked back and got out of Rykov's reach to avoid being dragged along.
The General hit the ground hard, but his hand clenching another revolver snapped up. The shot would have taken his damn head off, though Cross managed to twist away just in time, though the bullet still clipped his forehead.
White exploded across his vision, but instead of staggering, he forced himself to bite the pain and disorientation back in favor of stomping down on the General's arm to snap his wrist like a twig. The old man's face twitched once, and he surged up with his free arm. A knife was in his hand. Cross instantly dropped down, smashing his knee into the man's chest and cracking at least two ribs while also catching the blow with his already injured leg.
Another scar to add to his collection. Didn't matter.
He grabbed the tail blade hard and jabbed it down into the General's free hand, pinning it to the ground with a pained snarl of the man. In one motion, he also snatched the dropped revolver up and put a bullet into each shoulder joint, then the knees before he flung it away. Rykov hissed, and fell still underneath him. "Kill me then, Specialist", he bit out. "You have won."
Cross leaned down, scowl on his face. "Believe me, I'd love to. Trafficking of Biological Weapons, attempted murder on several of my men and me, and being a major pain in my ass- that's more than enough. But I won't."
The old man furrowed his heavy eyebrows, then suddenly laughed out, wheezing slightly from the way the Specialist was restraining his chest. "You still think I would be betraying my men? Where is that Blackwatch mentality of yours? You know I won't do anything to endanger my team."
Cross didn't reply immediately, just turned his attention on the surrounding hive. The eggs were unmoving, and there were no other Bugs. Secure for the moment. Satisfied for now, he turned back to his captive. "You will betray the Bears in the end", he told him simply. "Every asshole we've taken down has done so."
Rykov snorted. "You have never fought men like me, Specialist."
"That doesn't matter." Somewhere something heavy shook the area. He tilted his head, listening to countless screeches and shrieks somewhere in the nest.
Then, something started thumping. Like something heavy slamming into something unyielding, coming closer fast.
His lips quirked upwards, and he turned back to his captive. "You don't need to tell me anything. I will know anyways."
Rykov's brows came down, his head twisted to the side when the heavy echoes were basically right on top of them. Before he could form a word, however, the wall closest to them shattered inwards, with Hive Material tearing like wet paper. Dust and rubble was pushed apart when an armored figure stepped through towards them, plated feet cracking the ground beneath.
Cross just leaned back and eyed the thing. Gestured towards Rykov. "Welcome back Mercer. I got you your favorite."
Her memories were...different. He'd consumed animals. Dogs, cats, rats, pigeons, crows. He expected her memories were like theirs. They weren't. (he didn't know how an ape remembers, had never consumed one. Maybe he'd have to...visit a zoo to figure this one out?)
He had thought she'd be more like Greene, disjointed bits and pieces of memories and blurry images, suffocating by the virus.
She wasn't either. She could remember every moment in her life, from hatching from her host's body to her long captivity, to breaking free during the solar flare, to finding the old energy plant. To finally giving in to what her body had demanded of her for such a long time, to molt and grow and lay eggs. Alex remembered the pure agony that the Queen had went through, the tests, the experiments, the feeling of her own skin becoming too tight, too restricting. Because she'd been the only of her kind in the area, she had to grow into a Queen and establish a nest. But because she'd been trapped, she never did.
He felt a little bit jealous of her ability to restrict her own instincts for such a long time until she was free again.
Hadn't helped her in the end, though, and now she was just another set of memories and abilities in Blacklight's self.
Though, her mind was strange- besides her voice, there was something else. In the metaphorical background. It was fuzzy, harder to decipher, but unmistakably.
Memories from before her birth.
Alex dropped down to sit on a piece of rubble, frowning. He didn't really know what he saw. He had never seen the like of it before, but he could guess what it was- the few months before he came to Asheville he'd encountered something similar, even if he never experienced it himself.
Genetic memory.
Memories the Queen's mother collected until the moment she laid the egg that would later hatch the thing he just killed.
And beyond those, the memories of her mother's mother. And the mother before that. The further back he went, the fuzzier it became. It was insane.
...No wonder Dana's idiot was going mad like he did. Alex was having problems telling apart the different layers, the different generations, and he was made for it and had the Queen's brain absorbed- that dumbass with his self-sacrificial streak was just human and just couldn't deal with several other lifetimes forced into his skull.
He'd have to apologize to him the next time he'd saw him. (if his brain hadn't leaked from his ears until then)
The Runner snorted and slowly climbed back to his feet, shaking his head once the memories settled. He still had a lot of work left to do before he could even think of returning to Dana.
With the Queen's access to the Hive Mind, he knew where each of her children was. It were fewer than he expected- they've killed a lot on their little excursion, but there were still enough left alive. Partly catatonic at the moment from the shock of her death, sure, but he knew it wasn't going to stay that way.
He had to hurry to wipe them out before they managed to escape and grow into new Queens.
After that, he'd have to convince Cross to let him jet across the entire goddamn globe to find the eggs the Bears had shipped out that he could still hear, even if they were far, far away.
First step though: Find Cross.
His gut told him he was still alive, and if he listened to the Bugs' Hive Mind, he could see the last memories of some drones that ambushed the Iron Bears General because he'd destroyed some of the eggs. (Alex recognized that the angle was all wrong- it had been Cross, who he noticed in some corner, who did the deed and just ducked out of sight)
He knew where he'd been, and he had so much energy and mass now, he had to do something about it.
He summoned his Armor, encased himself with a pitch black shell, and pivoted on his heel. Without sparing the mangled remains of the Queen another glance, he started running straight at the wall. The Hive and concrete gave in easily, not even slowing him down as he plowed his way through the tunnels and rooms.
It didn't take him long to close in on the Specialist's voice. One last wall was left, and he bashed his way through, spraying rubble and dust everywhere.
He found Cross bleeding from several bullet holes, crouching on top of General Rykov. Restraining one of his arms with a boot, the other with a Bug's tail blade, and his knee buried into his chest. The Specialist only bobbed his head slightly, eyes never leaving his target, as he spoke up. "Welcome back Mercer. I got you your favorite."
Alex snorted, the sound distorted through his protective shell, and approached them. "I can see that", he commented easily. "Enemy Military Leader. A rare treat since Randall."
Rykov blinked several times, eyes flitting between the two of them. Alex placed his foot on the man's shoulder to restrain him, and Cross heaved himself upright. He had to take hold of his Armor for balance, but stumbled off anyways and went to lean against a metal crate.
The Russian glanced at the new figure, brows drawn together. "What are you?"
Alex shrugged. "Not entirely sure myself, but that isn't exactly necessary to know." He cocked his head. "What is important is that I'm the one Cross waited for. Let's not delay this any longer."
The man snorted. "So, are you the interrogator now? The one trying to pry my secrets out of me?" He eyed Cross. "The Specialist told me he'd know them."
The Runner nodded. "Yeah, he's right about that one. Because I'll tell him." He leaned down far enough so Rykov could see his own reflection in his shiny black carapace. "Don't worry though, when I use whatever I learn from you to find and destroy your men and your organization, it won't be because you told me anything. I'm just really good at picking a brain apart bit by bit."
To give him credit, the old man didn't scream or swear or beg when Alex's tendrils grabbed his body, he just accepted his fate with dull resignation.
Absorbing his identity was a lot easier than the Queen's, and settled in nicely along with the others, closing a few more gaps inside the ever growing tangle of his Web of Intrigue.
His shell melted back into his normal getup of leather jacket and jeans, and he brushed himself off.
"So?" Cross had his arms folded over his chest and was watching the Runner. "Anything?"
"Well, I know where they have safehouses, and I know where they are most likely going to go. You'll just tell me when, and I'll give you the Bears on a silver platter."
"As soon we got out of here, got stitched back together, and cleaned out the last of these things", the Specialist decided. He pushed off the crate and started limping towards the exit. "Now, let's get out of here."
Alex didn't move. "Don't you want to know where these things came from?"
Cross stopped, eyes narrow. "I thought Eisenberg didn't know?"
"Arnaud didn't know", the other agreed. "His father, however, did. As did Rykov."
The Colonel furrowed his brows. "Fine. I'll bite. Where did they find them?"
"Antarctica."
Cross blinked. "What."
Mercer grinned. "Near an old Whaling Station. Discovered a kind of cave in the '50s. Found several eggs, only one viable."
The man furrowed his brows. "Guess then we'll have to get you a coat, if we want to make sure these things are all dead."
"We can do that once we wiped out the others the Bears already sold."
"Right", Cross tapped his foot. "What about these things in themselves?"
Alex's smirk turned into a grimace. "I'm...not entirely sure."
"About what?"
"Their origin." He furrowed his brows. "I've never seen anything like them before. Not their genetic makeup, not the extreme reproduction rate, not the horizontal gene transfer, not the acid blood. No living creature I know of has all this."
"They are Bioweapons", Cross reminded him. "Was our first idea, and looks like it is the right one."
"Yeah, but if they are, they are not local", the Runner admitted. "Not even conduits can make things like those. And get this: They have a genetic memory."
"So?" Cross was interested now.
"I can trace the memories back to, like, the great-grandmother of the Queen I killed. More are possible, but I get a headache trying to do that. But I know that her mother had been caught and imprisoned a very long time ago."
"...So?" The Specialist was now very interested.
Alex grimaced. "The thing is. The guys that caught her mother and took her to Antarctica? Definitely not human. Like absolutely not human." He inhaled and shook himself. Dana would love what he was going to tell him now. "Cross, I think those things- they are Aliens."
Finally, we got the confirmation that we're dealing with Aliens.
Bonus points to everybody who can figure out who Dana's idiot is. Well. Not really. Isn't so much of a question when you read my other stories.
One more chapter to go, let's hope I get this one together in under a month.