After yet another sift through the shit that life throws at me, from the ashes comes a brand-new chapter! I hope you all like it!
"Seriously... how long do we have to wait out here?" Baldwin asked.
"Again, patience..." Meyers said. "...Rome wasn't built in a day. And when you've escaped from prison, you need to learn how to be patient to get help!"
Soon enough, the door to the small building they were waiting outside of, in the alleyway, opened, and a woman wearing a business blazer and skirt, along with high heels, stepped out.
"So..." Meyers said. "...how did it go?"
"All went well. I have managed to pull a few strings and have the system prepared for the CEO's unveiling of WY OS-Omicron." the woman spoke in a German accent.
"You managed to upload the execution code I wrote in place of the one that will transmit OS-Omicron worldwide?" Meyers asked.
The woman nodded. "Indeed."
Meyers nodded approving.
"Well done, Margret." he said. "Once all this is over, I'll be sure to let you stay in the Weyland presidential bunker with us, and all the accommodations we'll need! Free from the filth and vermin that still live on this world today... but will not see the light of day again soon! Now that Ms. Sykes and Mr. Ripley have lost their abominable companions to the authorities... there's nothing that they can do to interfere!"
Margret smirked in a satisfied manner as she was stepping back inside.
"I'll be sure to rendezvous with you later, after my shift." she said. "There is something else I would like to show you as well, that will only make your victory even more decisive!"
She went back inside, closing the door behind her.
(XXXX)
"...Uh...Unnnggghhh..." Star moaned, slowly beginning to regain her senses.
"Star?" Kira asked. "Star, are you okay?"
"...A-ah... Mom...? What... happened...?" Star asked, rubbing her head.
"Some corrupt, vengeful Xenos tricked you into consuming royal jelly, which put you into a hibernation state. We killed the Xenos and pumped your stomach, though." Kai answered.
Star was trying to recollect what happened... and very slowly, it all came back to her. She managed to overcome her post-sleep drowsiness and sit upright, slouching over in shame.
"Mom... Kai... I'm so sorry..." she said.
Kira placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"It's okay, Star." she said. "We're gonna get out of here now."
Star buried her "face" into her hands.
"But still... what is there for you and me now? Now that... D-Daddy's...!" the young Xeno girl trailed off.
Kira was struck by a pang of sorrow once more... hearing Star call Aster by "Daddy" was something that really brought tears to her eyes... especially since Star had not called him that since she was very little. She let out a sigh before looking up at Star again.
"...He's not gone, Star..." Kira said, despite tears filling her eyes. "...he'll never be gone... he'll always be w-watching over us... fr-from the great beyond..."
"U-uh... Kira...!" Kai suddenly said. "...Watch out!"
Kira glanced back to see Kai and Sugarcube hastily stepping backwards away from something small making its way into the chamber. Looking closely, Kira saw that it was a facehugger. It must have escaped from a breached chamber... but before she had any time to move...
"AAAH...!" Kira shouted as the small creature lunged at her.
It grappled its limbs around her head, and whipped its tail around her neck. She tried to fight it off, but it was far too strong despite its thin legs and tail. It had fully covered her face, preventing her from breathing. Kai, Sugarcube, Chase, and especially, Star watched all of this in sheer terror.
"MOM, NO!" Star said. "I'm not gonna lose you, too!"
Immediately, the young female Drone jumped into action, leaping for her mother, and began to pry the rock-solid hold of the Facehugger's limbs and tail apart. Eventually, with much straining, she was able to get the creature off of her mother's face, a fleshly tube emerging from Kira's throat, as well as two smaller ones from her nostrils, causing her to gag a bit, before it slipped out and she took heavy breaths.
Star, meanwhile, held the struggling Facehugger above her head… and pulled apart with all of her strength. After a little while of doing this… the Facehugger split in half, showering Star with its acid blood. It did nothing to the Xeno… but it melted the floor between her feet. As she stood there, Kai, Sugarcube, and Chase all stared in both shock and awe.
"Woah... didn't think you had that in you!" Chase said.
Star dropped the two halves of the now-dead facehugger. Again, she slumped over, ashamed.
"I-I'm really, really sorry...!" Star said. "...It's j-just... Mom... is my only... f-f-family now..."
Chase tilted his head. "Why are you saying sorry? That was actually amazing!" he said.
Star lifted herself back upright, leveling her head in Chase's direction.
"...You... you really think so...?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Chase said.
With a bit of struggling, Kira managed to get back on her feet, with the help of Kai.
"Anyway," Kai spoke. "we'd better split before the security team disables the security system!"
With that, they all quickly took off back the way they came. They ascended the steel chain back out to the roof of the lab, where they carefully examined the surroundings to see that the WY security squad still had their focus directed more to the front of the complex. This allowed for them to descend from the ladder and make it out of sight... and just in the nick of time, too; more security vehicles were coming in fast.
The heroes had made it to a fairly deep gorge in the area, which they decided to cross in order to take a long, not-so-obvious way back to their residential region. The only means of crossing was by a fairly old rope bridge that spanned the crevasse, where there was still a heavy fog that had formed overnight.
"Oh, jeez..." Chase said, peering over the rope railing. "...I don't wanna fall!"
"Just don't look down, Chase! It'll be fine!" Kai said.
With the three Xenos leading, all five of them crossed the bridge a few at a time, just to avoid risking the bridge collapsing under too much weight. Once all of the Xenos made it across, Kira and Kai crossed together... however, their progress was halted by a sudden laughing sound coming from behind them.
They looked back to see that two very familiar men had followed them...
"It's Meyers and Baldwin!" Kira said.
"Sugarcube!" Kai called ahead. "Get Star and Chase to safety!"
Just as requested, Sugarcube, Star, and Chase all made a break back for their homes. Right as Kira and Kai were about to make a run for it, they were halted by a sudden shout.
"STOP!" Meyers shouted.
The two looked back to see that he had a handgun pointed at them. They both froze and held up their hands. What was he going to do to them?
"So... you brats have managed to dodge every single obstacle we've thrown at you!" Baldwin said.
"Well... not this time!" Meyers said. "No, this time... it's going to be one hell of a sealed fate for the pair of you!"
With that, Meyers turned his gun to the rope holding up the guardrail on one side of the bridge and fired, breaking the rope, and making the bridge very unsteady. Kira and Kai both held out their arms, flailing them and trying to maintain footing. However, Meyers made it worse by shooting out the support for the beams on the same side.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH...!" both young adults screamed.
The bridge tipped sideways at a ninety-degree angle, and Kira and Kai both began to fall. They were saved by a stray bit of rope that they both latched onto.
Meyers could not help but chuckle, and neither did Baldwin. The former holstered his weapon and folded his arms arrogantly as the two college students held on for dear life.
"How's it feel to be on the other end of the gun!?" Baldwin taunted.
"Let's just leave these brats to a watery grave, shall we? In the meantime, we'll go after their specimens that they stole back from Weyland!" Meyers said.
With that, the two madman were off, leaving Kira and Kai totally helpless. Kira, being the one closer to the top, tried to climb up the rope... but she had never been a skilled climber, even on a rock wall. At one point, a weak spot on one of the upper ropes snapped.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH...!" Kira and Kai both shouted as they dropped a few meters, both of them still holding tightly to the rope.
They stopped with a jolt... and noticed that there was another spot weakening and tearing... on the rope they were holding onto! Kira looked down at Kai.
"Kai...!" she said. "...Just try to hold on! I'll keep trying to climb up, and you do the same!"
Kai closed his eyes and jaw, and hung his head down.
"...I have to let go of the rope, Kira. It's not gonna hold!" he said.
"WHAT...!?" Kira exclaimed. "...Don't talk like that! It will hold, Kai...!"
However, this was proving to be untrue... the rope was still slowly ripping, threatening to drop them into the obscured chasm...
"Both of us are too heavy; one has to let go." Kai said.
"...P-pleasedon'tdothis, pleasedon'tdothis, pleasedon'tdothis, pleasedon'tdothis..." Kira said over and over.
After hanging his head down for a good, long while, the young man looked up at his female friend.
"...Take care, Kira..." Kai said, tears filling his eyes. "...tell Sugarcube... th-that I... l-l-love her..."
"K-Kai... don't do—" Kira spoke.
Within two seconds... Kai released his hold on the rope, and began to plunge into the fog-laden valley below. Kira's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.
"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII...! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!" She shouted.
It was no use. Kai had disappeared completely from sight into the fog. Kira hung where she was, utterly shocked and immobilized by what had just happened. One of her first college friends... and the one to have known her the longest throughout her time in college... he had sacrificed himself to save her.
Despite the rope no longer ripping... the one thing that was torn apart was Kira's hope.
(XXXX)
Kira had blacked out for some time after that. She did not even know how she managed to climb the rope to safety and make it as far back home as she did on foot. Despite this, she had been crying for a good half-hour.
"I-I don't believe this... I c-c-can't believe this...!" Kira stammered. "...First Aster... and now... K-Kai...!"
She continued to walk through the obscure road... until she heard some people talking. Curious, she went in the direction that the sound was coming from. Staying hidden among the foliage, she found none other than...
"Meyers...!" Kira whispered in fury.
It was indeed Meyers and Baldwin... but there was a woman with them. She was dressed in business attire, and was leaning against a fairly luxurious coupe car. In front of the car was a flat, round holoprojector, which she was controlling with a remote. It was projecting an image of what looked like a high-rise building.
Did Meyers have yet another partner!? Kira was beginning to wonder exactly how many connections he still had with Weyland-Yutani. Regardless, she got closer to overhear their conversation, staying among the bushes and small trees all the while.
"Now," the woman, who was Margret, spoke in her German accent. "from the work that I have done in addition to what you asked, I have managed to evade security and calibrate the transmitter atop Bishop Tower to send out a worldwide signal when the primary terminal is used under your company profile, Dr. Meyers... and to access your profile, you, of course, need only utilize the backdoor you implemented unbeknownst to Weyland to perform a manual override of the system."
Meyers nodded approvingly at the layout of the tower hologram, which was zoomed in on the bizarre-looking, massive transmitter mounted on top of the building, which began to flash red on the circle-part in the center (the transmitter was built in the shape of the Alien: Covenent WY logo that looks like a wingspan) as it began to emit expanding circles outward, indicating wireless signal.
The woman continued to speak: "Now, if all goes according to plan, then you would not have any need to use this means of transmitting the program to its destinations... however, it will make for an effective backup if anything goes wrong with the plan."
"Well done, Margret!" Meyers complimented. "You've done quite well! It really pays to help out for a cause of true justice, right?"
"Indeed," Margret responded. "it is especially in order after they refused to promote me to the company board over some lazy slacker who slept his way to the top!"
A worldwide transmitter? A backup plan? What was going to happen? What did Meyers have planned? Know him, Kira definitely assumed that it was no good. Especially with what he said back in Virax about obtaining data and access to nuclear weaponry...
Kira remained in hiding until she was sure they had left the area following their brief meeting, and then proceeded to continue home herself.
I hope this long chapter will help you all catch up on the story for the time being. I'll be working on the next chapter real soon! So, until then... Keep holding on...