+AMTH+
(Hadley's Hope)
Ripley couldn't help but let out a breath as they reached Operations, it was at least a secure area and the entire unit was now present. She couldn't help but feel exposed in those hallways, it took everything for her to focus on the mission and not allow her fear to overcome her. She wondered just what the surviving colonists would say once Gorman started questioning them, she had a sneaking suspicion it would validate her belief the Company was behind this disaster. She watched as the marines began to relax as well placing their weapons against a wall before separating to do various tasks, Gorman led the survivors to a secluded cubicle with Burke and she quickly followed.
"Crowe, grab your bag and check these survivors over will you" Gorman ordered as he spotted the med-tech talking to Frost. The woman glanced back at them in surprise before quickly grabbing the medical kit and moving to join them.
"We could really do with something to eat and drink if you don't mind" Tessaa requested keeping a close eye on the marines uncertain whether any of them were trustworthy, hell she could already tell the Company rep was bad news and she still wasn't sure what to make of the woman who called herself Ripley. "Especially Rebecca, we've all but run out of any supplies we had with us" she added.
"Of course, Hudson grab some food and drink from our supplies for these people" Gorman shouted at Hudson who sat near one of the work stations which he was clearly focused on using at the moment. "Er… forget that Hudson continue scanning for those PDTs, Frost you do it" he stated once he realised he was interrupting the man best equipped to hopefully find the missing colonists.
Hudson didn't even look up or even acknowledge his commanders orders as he continued to use the map station to search for the colonists, he wanted off this planet because it gave him the damn creeps. Something wasn't right here and for the first time in his life he was suddenly uneasy, maybe it was Hicks's certainty that this mission was not going to be as easy as they had first believed or maybe it was the fact that nearly ever colonist was missing without any real proof of how or where. He glanced up only briefly so as to crack his neck which was becoming uncomfortable been bent for so long, as he did so his eyes caught those of the female survivor called Tessa as Crowe checked her out. He found himself suddenly lost in her gaze for the few seconds they stared at each other, then she looked away and he wondered just why she had such an effect on him. Running a hand over his face he turned his attention back to the map station, but thoughts of Tessa continued to run in the back of his mind.
"They all check out fine sir except for signs of fatigue and malnutrition especially the kid but other than that I think they'll live" Crowe finally said as she finished checking the four survivors just as Frost returned and handed out some food packs and a drink to each.
"Good return to your duties Crowe" Gorman said with a nod. "Ok I think it's time you told us exactly what happened here and where your fellow colonists are?" he inquired trying but failing to sound confident because it was clear to Ripley that he was uneasy and he was not the only one from some of the looks of his fellow marines.
"It is quite simple Lieutenant a couple of weeks ago we received a top level order from the company to check out a grid reference that was far from the Colony or where we had explored so far in the time we've been here" Kara stated coldly. "It came with no warning of the danger we would encounter, no information on any hostile organisms we may face and thus we sent one team out who just happened to be Rebecca's parents along with Rebecca herself and her brother Timmy" she informed them. "An hour after reaching the co-ordinates we received a highly panicked distress call from Haley, Rebecca's mother and two more teams rushed out to help" here Kara paused as she turned slightly pale as she recalled the events that followed.
"Take deep breaths and when you feel like you please continue" Ripley said before Gorman or Burke could say anything to anger any of the colonists. The very fact that the young girl had been to the derelict ship that had housed the eggs that began her nightmares chilled her to the bone. "You are not the first to find that ship, I know what it contains" she added.
"How, I thought no one but us had found it?" Carl demanded to know.
"My name is Ripley and I was on this planet fifty seven years ago with my ship the Nostromo, we were ordered here by the Company to check out a beacon my ship had detected on the way home after our last cargo run" Ripley answered quickly before Gorman or Burke could stop her. "We found the derelict, my captain led a search party containing my first officer and environment officer all went inside to explore it and during that exploration my first officer was attacked by the face hugging parasite inside and incapacitated" she explained. "I tried to stop them bringing him back onto our ship due to quarantine protocols but the android posing as our new science officer overrode the door lock and let them inside, what we didn't know at the time was the Company had given him secret orders to obtain a specimen of the alien lifeforms that you were forced to find now" she went on.
"You have no proof of that Ripley need I remind you" Burke cut in only to be met by glares from Ripley and the surviving colonists.
"Save it Burke, anyway we headed home and after a day the face hugger fell off and my first officer woke up seeming fine and we settled in for a last meal before going back into cryosleep when he suddenly started convulsing and an alien burst from his chest and fled" Ripley shot back and quickly continued with her story. "That was only the first death from my crew in time the rest would follow including an attempt by the android to kill three of us to ensure the survival of the alien, eventually I escaped on the ships escape shuttle and after ejecting the alien into space I blew the ship and put myself into cryosleep and somehow drifted far afield for the next fifty seven years until my shuttle was found by a salvage ship and brought home" she finished.
"I take it you were questioned about what happened to you?" Tessa inquired warily.
"Yes and I told them the whole horrid story and I am afraid that by doing so I dammed you all to this nightmare, that by telling them about the ship they would be interested in it and the alien eggs it contained even though I never gave out any co-ordinates" Ripley answered with a nod of her head still unsure if that is what had led to this horror. "But it can't be a coincidence that they only located the derelict just after my shuttle was found, maybe there was something in the logs that showed them where to send your team" she pointed out.
"Son of a bitch I knew it" Carl spat. "So it's thanks to you we had to go to hell" he cursed.
"Back off Carl she didn't know the Company would be so stupid as to send only a couple of colonists without any real warning or backup to check out the ship once she reported it" Kara urged him back away from Ripley. "If she told them everything she knew it should have told them enough to send a proper scientific and military search team" she added.
"I told them everything this alien lifeform was capable off believe me, but they didn't believe me and basically called me crazy" Ripley snorted in disgust as she recalled the ending of her debriefing. "They revoked my flight status and threatened me with jail and having to pay for the destruction of the Nostromo, they ignored everything I said" she snarled glaring at Burke as he was the only rep of the Company here to which he frowned in response.
"Can we please move back to the topic at hand as to what happened here?" Gorman said hoping to move things back to a less hostile subject.
"William was brought back with one of those damn face hugging creatures attached to his face as was John Marachuk and Milo Jennings who also went into the ship, we tried to cut them off but they bled acid and seemed to tighten their holds on their victims" Kara took up the story again without any more prompting even though Carl continued to glare at Ripley and then Burke. "John and Milo both died during our attempts to remove it, William died when the creature it had implanted within him exploded out of his chest and then from there more and more of the things appeared and we started vanishing or dying in equal measure" she told them with a shiver. "We sent a distress call a week after we realised just how much danger we were in, but there was no response and two weeks in the comm system was heavily damaged and we despaired of any help coming but we didn't give up" she stated.
"We tried to fight with what little weapons we had which wasn't much but it was no good, they were too fast and to dangerous and more of us died trying to fight than anything else" Tessaa put in as Kara took a breath. "We tried barricading every possible entrance into the Colony but they somehow bypassed every one we put up, eventually only a few of us remained and we decided to hide as our best bet" she added. "Rebecca thankfully was an expert in the best places to hide in the duct system and also to our good fortune she was still alive to show us" she went on.
"What happened to her Mother?" Ripley couldn't help but ask.
"Haley was taken four weeks into our struggle saving Rebecca from the fate that befell Timmy who got taken in the second week" Kara answered as Rebecca buried her face into Kara's side.
"Newt, don't' call me Rebecca it is just Newt" the young girl managed to say after composing herself.
"So now you know what happened, the Company screwed us" Carl spat. "It sent us into a situation without fare warning and with crappy resources and their stupidity in doing that killed our Colony and more importantly our friends and family" he ranted and this time neither Kara nor Tessa felt compelled to stop him.
"Is it possible there are any more survivors?" Gorman inquired wincing at the very bleak picture they had painted with their story. He knew he had already asked this question when they first met but he wanted to be damn sure of the answer before they left the planet.
"Not that we know of" Kara answered darkly hating been asked this particular question again. "We've been on our own for several days and seen and heard from none of the others who were left when we began to hide" she added. "The last attack split us up badly though so it is slightly possible there are others hiding elsewhere but we've seen no signs of them" she added with a depressive shrug.
"Burke, how come neither Gateway nor anywhere else picked up their distress signal?" Ripley inquired turning to the Company rep as did Gorman.
"That is a good question, nowhere in the report does it say anything about a distress signal been received before we were dispatched to the planet to investigate" Gorman couldn't help but agree.
"I don't know what to tell you but as far as I know there was no distress signal received about any attack on the Colony, if there had been I would have known about it I assure you Ripley" Burke replied as calmly as he could.
"We sent the damn thing or are you calling us liars?" Carl snarled as he tried to move towards Burke only for Gorman to step in his way and push him back.
"Not at all I am just stating that none of my superiors mentioned receiving a distress signal form Hadley's Hope" Burke quickly responded with his hands raised. "If they did get one it was not relayed to me or to anyone else assigned to this mission" he added.
"That you know of" Ripley couldn't help but say as she tried to see any signs of lying from Burke but sadly she couldn't see any at least not yet but she'd keep an eye on him.
"Then we have to make sure we do an extensive search before we leave as we cannot leave anyone behind" Gorman decided after thinking over his options. "Hudson how is that search going?" he shouted to the comm tech.
"Nothing yet sir, but I'll give a yell when I find something" Hudson shouted back without looking up and remained focused on the screen in front of him.
"I suggest you rest and try and recover now you are safe" Gorman suggested to the survivors.
"Safe, we won't be safe until we are off this god damn rock" Tessa sneered as she went and sat down in one of the chairs and began to eat some of the food Frost had brought her.
Kara and Carl did the same leaving Ripley with the newly christened Newt who continued to stare vacantly; she frowned wondering just what horrors she had born witness to. Finally remembering how she used to coax her daughter to eat when she was young she knelt down and began to try and get Newt to do the same, it took some time to convince Newt she was someone to trust but finally the little girl began to eat.
"So how did you survive the alien on your ship?" Kara inquired once she finished eating.
"Luck, we had barely any weapons on board and no way of tracking it until the android came up with a simple motion scanner which was limited in range" Ripley answered knowing they would want better details than she just blew it out of an airlock. "We manged to cobble together some flame units but they did little but keep it off our backs from a short while, it got Dallas my captain in the duct system as we tried to flush it out and then we had to destroy the android after it tried to kill the last of us we decided to abandon ship" she explained. "We needed extra oxygen tanks for three of us and so we split up, I went to set the ships self-destruct as well as capture my cat who was still loose on the ship whilst Parker and Lambert went for the tanks and it attacked them there, Parker couldn't use him flame unit as it got to close to Lambert and he tried to force it backwards by hand and it killed him and then got Lambert who from the sounds of it froze in terror" she added recalling the terrible screams Lambert had admitted over the comm system as she ran to try and help. Those screams still sometimes kept her awake at night, the terror evoked in them still chilled her today, "I got there too late and thus I fled with just my cat to the shuttle" she paused as she remembered the total desolation she felt been the last one alive as she boarded the shuttle.
"You are telling me you took your cat on a deep space haul and it somehow survived contact with this fucking creature?" Carl asked in complete shock his mind baffled by the idea as he had seen up close and personal what these things were capable of doing to full grown humans so the idea of a little cat surviving stunned him.
"He did actually, somehow Jones managed to keep out of the things way long enough for me to capture him and get him into his carryall and escape to the shuttle but somehow the thing got on board with us and I had to eject it into space using the spear gun we had on board and luckily I succeeded and just after that the Nostromo exploded before me and Jonesy went into cryosleep" she finished.
"Unbelievable, a cat survived when we got annihilated, hell even the small marine detachment assigned to the colony was wiped out in the first real engagement before we sent the distress signal" Carl grumbled.
"You had a marine detachment here?" Ripley inquired with interest.
"We did, Al Simpson the colony's head went with them back to the ship after the first few casualties on a mission to destroy the ship but they clearly failed and none of them ever came back" Kara explained with a helpless shrug. "Al never forgave himself for sending William and Haley on their own to the ship, that he never questioned the orders from the Company when they came and he paid the ultimate price for his guilt by going on that mission" she added.
"He would have died anyway just like the others Kara you damn well know that, but at least had he stayed we would have had a better leader than Lydecker who was so overwhelmed once Al was dead it made it easier for us to be overwhelmed" Tessa countered fatalistically.
"No one was prepared for what happened to us, blaming Lydecker is just pointless he did the best he could" Kara shot back. "We all did what we could, it just wasn't enough or maybe there was nothing we could have done differently to stop what happened except not gone to that damn ship" she stated darkly.
"You would never have known about it had I not been found, this is possibly my fault or maybe I didn't slip up and give them co-ordinates to the ship and just reinterested the company in the alien and the ship full of their eggs" Ripley admitted. "My daughter and I tried so hard to keep them away from messing with these things, yet every time they find some evidence of them they keep trying to gain samples of them as if they can be domesticated and are not the most dangerous things in existence" she cursed aloud as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Your daughter encountered these things?" Carl inquired leaning forward.
"She did, when they found the flight recorder from my ship and started fucking around with the things but she took care of it and destroyed any evidence that could have led them here" Ripley answered feeling the swell of pride of what Amanda had managed to accomplish. "I should have stayed floating out in the deep end of space asleep for all time, it would have been better for us all" she concluded.
"You couldn't know what would happen once you were found, hell having been asleep for fifty seven years everything would have been different and maybe you wanted to believe people were better than they used to be" Kara offered weakly.
Before Ripley could answer a loud voice echoed through the room making them all turn to where Hudson was grinning at the map reader. "Yo stop your grinnin and drop your linen! I found them sir" he reported causing Gorman and Burke to quickly join him, Hicks and Apone at the map reader.
"About god damn time Hudson, where are they?" Gorman demanded to know beginning to grow slightly uneasy about the whole mission and his ability to command his people through it.
"Looks like they are all over at the atmospheric processing plant sir, level 3 if I am reading this right" Hudson answered not looking up at his superior officer.
"Looks like a god damn town meeting is going on considering those readings" Hicks noted sarcastically as he blew the smoke from his cigarette out of his mouth.
"Why would they be there?" Ripley inquired moving over to the reader with the other survivors following.
"Maybe the aliens don't like the heat" Burke offered even though he knew from Ripley's report that more than likely the alien species did like hot places to hide in.
That to him mind told him this was where the main nest of the creatures was and he wanted to see what it looked like not that he would be going in there, no that was what the marines were for and their handy shoulder cams. More than likely the PDT'S from the colonists were located there because they had all been dragged to the nest by the creatures to be made hosts, more than likely they were already dead but he wasn't going to bring that up if he could help it.
"No they like hot places Burke I already told you that the alien on my ship made its nest near the primary heating exchange" Ripley countered swiftly. "I don't like the looks of this, I'd say this is where their nest is" she speculated.
"Thought that was back on the derelict ship Ripley?" Hudson inquired glancing at her.
"The primary nest would have been but considering the journey they would have to make to get the captured colonists to it would be way to long, they would have made a secondary nest closer to their prey" Ripley answered. "This has to be it, Gorman if you send the team in you better plan their descent inside carefully" she warned turning to Gorman who turned to glance at her. "More than likely it will be dark, dank and much closed in with little real room to manoeuvre" she went on. "Also these things can climb walls and blend in easily in the dark, your people will be walking into a tomb will only one way out and if they are attacked they could get cut off from that exit" she finished.
"I have to agree with her sir, this area where the PDT'S are has no other exit bar the one leading to the stairs leading to the exit level" Apone stated having joined them at the reader. "If an attack happens the closed off nature of the level will cause us to be fighting almost back to back, with little ability to move and if needs be withdraw" he added.
"Whilst I won't try and advise on military matters or strategy Lieutenant I will make a point that we are expected to check out even a remote possibility of survivors, now Ripley maybe right and this is the nest but it is also possible that this was a fall back point for the colonists or perhaps somewhere they got cut off from the main point of attack" Burke spoke up needed to ensure the team went into the nest.
"It is not a fall back point we made Mr. Burke I can assure you of that" Tessa stated. "And there are way too many signals for this to be a bunch of us cut off somewhere especially at the processing plant which is one place we wouldn't try and hide in as it is way too hot in there to stay for any length of time" she pointed out.
"Be that as it may miss, we still need to ensure some of your fellow colonists may not be dead and seen as there are so many signals well that would account for the majority of the colony bar those who you have stated have already died" Burke countered quickly not willing to allow the nest to be ignored. He needed to see what these creatures had done to the colonists, needed to see just how powerful they truly were.
The camera evidence would be a big help in selling these things to the biological weapons department, who he knew had tried to gain access to these things before quite a few times but because of Ripley, her damnable daughter Amanda and some others they had always been stopped from attaining any specimens. He however would succeed and he would do it using Ripley herself without her even knowing it, all he had to do was play it smart.
"He's right we have to check it out just in case any of them might be alive, still I take Ripley's and my Sergeants advice to heart that we cannot just march in their without a plan" Gorman finally decided cutting off any more discussion. "Apone I want you and Hicks to come up with a way in, something that keeps our way out open in case our field of view is as narrow and dark as Ripley fears" he ordered.
"Understood sir" Apone nodded pleased that the man had listened to him and to Ripley. Going in without a plan would have been suicide. "Do you have any mobile lighting?" he inquired turning to the colonists.
"We may still have some in the cargo bay, we still have access to it thankfully even with the barricades we put up" Carl answered not sure whether he wanted to see this marines take a chance to see if anyone was still alive or just to get off this damn planet and damn any possibility of the others surviving.
"Ok Marks, Jackson, Shepard, Evans and Cameron go gets those lights from the cargo bay, you show them where they are" Apone decided quickly and pointing at Carl who grimaced at been picked but decided not to argue as the quicker they got this done the quicker they could leave the planet. "We can use the mobile lights to light up this nest if it is there, should make shooting anything easier, Hicks you and Hudson find us a plan of the plant's third level and mark every corner and nook there is so we know what to keep an eye out for and plan us an exit strategy" he continued to order and the two nodded in agreement. "Sir we should be ready to go in ten minutes top" he added glancing at Gorman who nodded and left them to it.
"Bishop, power up the APC we'll be heading out soon" Gorman ordered as he passed the synthetic.
"Of course Lieutenant, should I drive?" Bishop inquired.
"No, you stay here and start studying those dead parasites and see if you can find us anything useful to help kill them" Gorman decided as Bishop was not needed to drive the APC as most of the marines were rated to do it.
"What about us?" Kara inquired not really wanting to go with them but also unwilling to be left here without their protection now it was here.
"You will accompany us as you know this entire colony better than any of us and can help advise along aside Ripley, especially as you like her know what these things are capable of" Gorman answered as he went to make a report before moving out.
"Don't worry mam we'll protect you" Alexander promised as he passed with the others headed to the cargo bay. "After all that is why we are here" he added with a smile he directed only to her.
"It's Kara not mam" she shot back instantly not liking been called mam.
Kara locked her eyes on the dark haired marine as he looked at her and strangely found herself smiling back, she didn't know why she was returning his smile as she had only just met him but something about him made her feel she could trust him. She watched as he paused and turned and faced her.
"The name is Alexander, pleased to meet you Kara" Alexander replied with another smile. He then turned and exited the room with Carl and the other marines and wondered just what they would in the processing plant.
Burke left the marines to their planning happy to know they were heading to the nest, as he found an office to sit in and wait he wondered what he would need to do to get the two live specimens home past quarantine to the bio labs. It would be no easy task that was for sure, a lot of risk involved as anyone caught trying to get anything past quarantine would end up in prison especially something as dangerous as these creatures. Still he was certain with careful planning he could pull it off, in his rush to plan his next few moves he forgot about wiping the colony logs of his transmission to the colony ordering them to check out the derelict ship as he had planned to do once he arrived.
Ripley rubbed her forehead uneasy about heading for the processing plant but at least Gorman wasn't sending his men in a blind rush and had listened to her advice alongside that of Apone's, the extra light from the mobile lighting platforms the colony used to light dark passageways would help a lot in the nest if it was there.
"Don't worry Ripley we'll take it slowly in there" Hick's assured her gaining her attention to find him watching her with clear concern. "If it is the nest I assure you none of will be taking things lightly, we all listened to your briefing we know the dangers we might face" he added.
"I hope so Hicks I really do, but one thing to take into account I've only faced one of these things, if this is the nest then there could be a dozen inside I suggest talking to Kara and Tessaa about their encounters with more than one" Ripley advised him and Apone who was still close by.
"Good advice, if you two wouldn't mind?" Apone agreed and turning to the two women who glanced at each other before complying after Apone called the rest of his people over except for those who had headed for the cargo bay.
+AMTH+
(APC)
Ripley sat in the armoured APC as it headed to the processing plant, yet even though she should have felt safe she felt completely exposed because if she was right they were heading straight for the aliens nest. She had only ever encountered one of these things the idea of going up against more than one terrified her but she kept a tight rein on her emotions. Amanda had managed to survive against multiple aliens and she vowed she would do the same, as she could do no less than her daughter in combating these nightmares. The APC felt cramped with the marines, the survivors and the portable lights all crammed inside, but hopefully it would be worth it to ensure they were not ambushed inside the nest.
"This is not a good idea" Carl muttered.
"Probably not Carl but I have to admit there is a slim chance some of the others could still be alive" Kara replied beside him. "If they are we have to help them even if it is just to put them out of their misery" she added darkly.
"Ok people I want this deployment to go smoothly and calmly, if as suspected this is the nest for these creatures it will more than likely be dangerous once you are in" Gorman stated through the comms they all wore. "Keep sight of each other and do not get separated, those with trackers keep your eyes peeled for movement but remember allow the lights to be set up before the entire unit enter and Jackson and Marks remember you hold position at the entrance point just in case things turn sour and we need to make a fast exit" he ordered. "We cannot allow ourselves to be cut off from our exit point under any circumstances" he stated.
"Coming up on the Atmospheric processing plant sir" Alexander said as he pulled the APC up to the doors which quickly opened once it detected the signal the APC was sending to its control port. "Ok sir we are in the plant structure, I am going to park us near the stair way leading down unless you want me to take it down the ramp to level 3?" he inquired.
"No Marks we hold here, I don't want to risk the APC been damaged thus making a withdraw even harder" Gorman shot back.
"Roger that sir, powering down" Alexander replied as he began to shut the APC down into standby mode just in case a fast getaway was needed.
"Ok people gear up and be ready to go in two, we keep in radio contact at all times" Apone ordered as he grabbed his pulse rifle and moved to open the door.