Alenia kept staring up at the vent where Ashley had been dragged away. Now she was alone. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong. Hearing more aliens approaching, she scrambled into one of the escape pods.
Repeatedly Alenia hit the 'door close' button. Finally the hatch slid down with a light clank. A small window allowed her to peer out into the hallway. Several aliens crawled by stopping now and then to examine their surroundings. Fearing being seen she ducked down behind the hatch.
Drawing her knees up, Alenia held her breath waiting for them to pass. Rocking slowly back and forth she began to cry quietly. The stress swallowed her up emotionally. Heavy use of her biotic powers during the mission left her feeling drained and hungry. An audible rumble radiated from her stomach. Reaching into a small pocket she produced an energy bar. Eating it quickly; she leaned back against the hatch closing her eyes. Before doing anything else she just needed to rest for a moment.
/
Ashley opened her eyes to darkness. A nauseous sensation caused her head to swim. Slowly her eyes began to adjust, seeing strange abstract objects within the surrounding area. Attempting to stand up she realized she was actually already upright against a wall. Something hard and sticky held her in place.
A human figure was plastered to the wall next to her. Squinting in the darkness she read 'Giles' on the uniform's name patch. Relieved to finally have found the missing marine, she whispered, "Giles, what happened to you? Where are we? Wha..."
With her eyes fully adjusted to the light she could see something attached to his face. A crab like creature held firmly onto his face with its tail wrapped around his neck. The shocking realization nearly caused her to scream. Frantically looking around she spotted an open egg sack in front of Giles. A second, unopened egg, was in front of her.
"Who... are, you?" asked a weak female voice from across the room.
"Chief Williams," answered Ashley. On the opposite wall she could see the woman stuck halfway up. "I'm part of a rescue team. Are you one of the Madison's crew?"
"Yes... you shouldn't, have... come here," said the woman before going into a violent coughing fit.
"Are you sick?" asked Ashley, "Do the creatures have some sort of disease?"
"No, it's..." the woman began wretching. Shortly after, the sound of cracking bones resounded across the room.
"Oh my God," gasped Ashley as she watched an infant alien burst through the woman's chest. Blood sprayed across the floor as her eyes rolled back. The alien screeched as it wriggled out of the corpse onto the floor.
Overcome with panic, Ashley struggled to free herself from the hard residue. Wrenching one hand free she brought up her omni-tool. Turning on the flashlight she looked around the room to see dozens of the Madison's crew. All of them had horrific contorted faces with bloody holes in their chests.
The light caught the attention of several aliens who started to crawl across the walls towards Ashley. There was no way she would be able to free herself before they reached her. Before being knocked unconscious earlier, she knew Alenia had been alive and still might be. Activating the comms device she shouted, "Alenia! Are you still on the ship? Alenia! Answer me!"
/
Alenia awoke to the sound of Ashley's voice. At first she thought she was dreaming. There was no way the chief could be alive. Yet the voice persisted. Then reality hit Alenia and she answered the call frantically, "Yes I'm here! What happened?"
"I'm trapped! You have to get me out of here!" Ashley pleaded.
"Where are you?" asked Alenia getting up on her feet.
"I don't know, I think I'm in the hangar, everything is covered with some weird substance." Ashley's signal became distorted before shutting down completely.
"Just hold on! I'm coming for you!" Alenia wasn't sure if Ashley got her last message. Looking at the clock on her omni-tool she realized that she had slept for nearly an hour.
Picking up her assault rifle with renewed purpose, Alenia opened the escape pod's hatch. Running out into the hallway, she stopped to pick up Wilcox's makeshift bomb. From there she started making her way further down. The hangar would naturally be on the lowest deck in the center of the ship.
Finding another stairwell, Alenia quickly raced down the steps nearly tripping over herself. She had no idea of exactly how to reach Ashley; knowing only to head downward. There were plenty of signs on the walls pointing her towards the hangar. That all started to change, however, once she got closer to her destination.
"What in the name of the Goddess?" murmured Alenia.
The rest of the passageway was covered in a thick black mold. It didn't look like anything she'd seen before. Sections of the mold seemed to resemble the aliens' bodies. For one of them to hide against this mold would be easy. Further in all of the lights were either broken or molded over. Turning on her flashlight, she proceeded inside. The mold even covered the floor making each step uneven. Hopefully she wouldn't have to run on it.
Moving at steady pace Alenia kept a look out for any aliens hiding in the shadows. The heat increased the closer she got to the hangar. Sweat began to bead down her forehead when something started to move along the wall. Putting the flashlight directly on the shadowy figure, she realized it was an alien. It hissed in anger and flashed its pointed teeth at Alenia. A few bursts from her assault rifle dropped the alien easily.
"Not bad," Alenia breathed; feeling more confident in her combat skills.
Just as she was about to continue; two clawed hands grabbed her arms from behind. Startled by the attacking creature, Alenia screamed in terror. Its claws dug into her arms as it clamped down on her shoulder. The alien's razor teeth punctured through the suit and into the skin. Warm blood began to ooze creating a wet patch under her armor. Agonizing pain radiated from her shoulder causing her to drop the assault rifle. Alenia clenched her jaw and managed to wrench her hand around pressing it to the alien's abdomen. A quick biotic throw sent the alien flying backward.
"Just die!" yelled Alenia. Using the 'slam' technique, she lifted the creature then sent it crashing to the ground smashing its head in.
Picking up the rifle Alenia continued on at a faster pace. Getting bogged down by these creatures in such a small space would be disasterous. Trying her best to ignore the stabbing pain in her shoulder; Alenia searched for any clues as to where she was going. A half covered sign pointed right indicating the hangar. Jogging down the corridor she saw the entrance not far ahead.
Approaching carefully, Alenia shined her light around the hangar and gasped in horror. The entire Madison crew was stuck to the walls. Each and every one of them had an expression of pain; a testament to their last moments. The gaping holes in their chests made her nausiated.
"Alenia!" cried Ashley from across the room. Only recently had she regained consciousness. The aliens had reinforced the residue to hold her in place. The sticky substance was heavily applied around her arms and neck.
"Ashley," sighed Alenia out of relief. Running over to the confined chief, she examined the material holding her in place. "How did you get here?"
"I don't know. They did this to me," explained Ashley. She struggled to free herself but made little progress. "Listen, you need to free me right now. This place is like a hatchery of some kind."
Alenia went to work pulling apart the material holding the chief in place. While doing that, she asked, "How do you know this?"
"Somehow the crew was infected or implanted by these aliens. When they're ready to hatch they burst out of the host. That's why the crew has those holes in them. I saw one hatch earlier. It was horrible," Ashley explained.
"Okay, I'll have you out in no time," said Alenia as she pulled a large piece of residue from Ashley's body. The substance made a sickening crunch noise leaving behind ropes of what looked like saliva. "This is disgusting."
"At least you're not covered in it," grumbled Ashley. Once her arms were free she helped in removing herself from the wall. After getting off of the wall she asked, "I don't suppose you brought another weapon with you?"
"Here." Alenia handed Ashley the assault rifle. "I think you'll make better use of it than me. I've got a pistol and my biotics of course."
"Thanks I... watch out!" Ashley pointed her rifle at the egg that had been located in front of her.
The top opened up like a flower. Something inside began to move. A creature slowly emerged; the same kind attached to Giles' face. Its long boney legs stretched outward over the top of the egg. Pulling itself up and over, the creature fell to the floor and began to scramble towards them. Its speed was shocking and the way it scurried resembled a large spider.
"Ewe! It's gross! Kill it, kill it!" cried Alenia, hiding behind Ashley.
Aiming down the sights Ashley tried to hit the alien but it was too fast. It darted around closing the gap between them quickly. Ashley gave up on short bursts and began to spray the floor just hoping to knick the damn thing. The creature lept into the air with its legs open wide heading for her face. In a knee-jerk reaction she brought up the rifle and fired a continuous burst. Finally, several rounds pierced the body of the alien spraying acid all over the floor.
"What the hell was that thing?" asked Alenia still cowering behind Ashley.
"You tell me, you're the scientist," said Ashley kicking at the smoldering alien corpse.
"What do we do about Giles?" asked Alenia pointing her flashlight at the trapped marine. The alien still had a firm grip on his face.
"I don't know. He probably has one of those things inside of him now. Captain Briggs would never allow us to board the Isandlwana with it attached to him," explained Ashley. Her thoughts turned to Virmire when Shepard left Kaiden behind to die to save the mission. This was one of those moments. "We have to leave him."
"We should..." Alenia began to protest but faltered. It was easier to simply believe the chief knew what she was doing. If the Alliance questioned her about it would at least fall on Ashley's shoulders. Although, considering the situation, she wouldn't hesitate to defend the chief in a court martial.
Muffled noises and hisses filled the air. The abrupt firefight had disturbed the remaining aliens in the room. Both women fantically scanned the walls with their flashlights to see a dozen full sized aliens crawling down the walls. Many of them seemed to be looking directly at them.
"What's our plan?" asked Alenia. She waved her pistol around unsure of which target to focus on.
"Fight," stated Ashley in a smooth tone. Gripping the rifle tightly, she began firing at the closest target. Alenia followed suit putting her biotic powers to good use.
The aliens descended upon them attacking with ferocious tenacity. Two of them charged Ashley at once. The first went in swiping its tail trying to sting her with the wicked looking barb on the end. Instead it only recieved several high velocity rounds to the face. The second leapt into the air preparing to tackle her. Ashley rolled across the ground dodging the attack. Spinning on her heels she managed to put the alien down with the rifle.
Alenia was holding her own. She managed to capture three of the creatures in a singularity. They screeched in anguish as their bodies twisted around the sphere of dark energy. Another alien rushed her but a few carefully placed shots to the head brought it down. Spotting two more running at her; Alenia smashed them with a biotic slam.
"I have the bomb with me," mentioned Alenia while killing another alien.
"Good work," said Ashley. "I think we can get to the engine room from here."
Ashley led the way toward a large set of doors on the opposite side of the room. Most ships had the same basic layout. The hangar usually wasn't far from engineering. Reaching the door she half expected to come across a hack module. Instead the doors appeared to have been forced open. The alien residue continued inside covering the wide passageway. Unfortunately, the whole passage was littered with eggs. Around fifty or so sat scattered around the floor. Each had an omnious aura about them.
Seeing them gave Alenia a cold shiver. She asked, "Can't we find another way?"
"Maybe, but I'm not willing to go running around the ship looking for another door," muttered Ashley. She wasn't eager to go in either. Especially after seeing how hard it was to hit just one of those crab bastards. "C'mon, stay close to me and don't touch anything."
Alenia hovered close to the chief keeping one hand on her shoulder. They proceeded carefully trying not to brush against the eggs. Neither were sure if touching the eggs activated them but they weren't taking any chances. Tip-toeing to the end of the passageway they came upon a disturbing sight.
"Oh shit," whispered Ashley raising her assault rifle.
Alenia gasped, "By the Goddess."
A large 'queen' alien sat in the middle of the engineering deck. Its large body seemed suspended by several long arms of thick residue. Its large body easily towered over them having the same sinister dark exoskeleton as its minions. The queen sat on the tip of an enormous sac which seemed to be producing the eggs in the passageway. The queen's heavy breathing was clearly audible. Its jaws were lined with sharp dagger-like teeth. Once it realized intruders were in its lair; the queen let out a menacing hiss.
"W-what... what d-do we, do now?" stammered Alenia barely able to contain her fear.
"Give me the bomb," said Ashley without taking her eyes off the queen.
Alenia unhooked the bomb from her belt and handed it over. "What are you going to do?"
Ashley ignored Alenia and slowly stepped into the engine room. The drive core was just behind the queen. If she could toss the bomb near the drive core then they could just run back to the escape pods.
"No, wait," protested Alenia. She stayed by the passageway not daring to enter the chamber.
The queen's head turned toward Ashley watching her every move. The chief stared back; wary of provoking the looming monster. Edging around the wall Ashley made small steps toward the reactor while keeping her distance from the queen. With one hand she flung the bomb toward the reactor.
It landed with a loud 'clank'. The force of the landing busted apart the wiring holding the grenades together. The explosive discs scattered along the ground in all directions. Disturbed by the noise, the queen let out a deafening scream.
"Fuck," stated Ashley as the queen became increasingly agitated by the intruders.
"What happened?" shouted Alenia.
"I broke the bomb!"
Enraged, the queen detached itself from the sac. Now free, it began whipping its tail around trying to strike Alenia. The asari stayed low moving around to the opposite side of the room. Ashley fired into the queen until the thermal clip on her rifle popped. Switching targets, the queen successfully gashed Ashley across the thigh with its barbed tail.
Falling to the floor Ashley cried out while gripping the wound. Blood trickled down the broken plate of armor covering her thigh. The pain was intense. Standing on it was unthinkable. Alenia rushed over to attend to the chief and saw how serious the wound was.
"Get out of here!" Ashley grit her teeth still holding her leg.
"I didn't come all this way just to let you die," said Alenia desperately trying to pick up Ashley.
What little damage Ashley inflicted on the queen did not seem to phase it. However, acid from a bullet hole on its tail dripped down onto the reactor. Steel sizzled as the acid formed a tiny hole just enough to damage the reactor's integrity. A warning alarm abruptly went off as yellow emergency lights began to flash.
"At least the queen will die with us," grunted Ashley.
The queen moved into position ready to make the kill. It's tail raised up preparing to make one sweeping strike. Just as all seemed lost, the reactor went critical. Pressurized pipes exploded; spewing steam and eezo all over the room. The ship shook violently as the core destabilized. This caused the queen to lose its balance sending it stumbling backward. All of its limbs thrashed around in frustration.
"C'mon!" Alenia grabbed Ashley by the arm hauling her up. "We don't have much time!"
"You're a damned fool," said Ashley. The gash in her leg was deep and nearly impossible to walk on. The distance to the escape pods felt as though they were light years away.
Alenia held Ashley close bracing her as they limped their way back to the hangar. The queen could be heard trying to squeeze its way through the passageway. Glancing back, Alenia saw that the queen was closing in on them. Urging Ashley on she yelled, "Keep going!"
Some of the eggs in the passageway began to open but only after they passed them. There was no time to fight. They had to keep moving. If the aliens didn't kill them, then the explosion from the reactor certainly would. Reaching the hangar, Alenia urged Ashley on. The door she originally came through was far too small for the queen to chase them down.
Halfway across the hangar Ashley's leg gave out. She crumpled to the floor holding her thigh with both hands. Sharp pain darted up and down her leg. "I can't, I just can't."
"Let's go marine!" shouted Alenia hoping to incite Ashley's military bearing. It seemed to work. Ashley cried out, forcing herself to stand up with Alenia's help.
The queen emerged from the passageway. In the wide open space of the hangar it could easily run. After spotting its prey trying to get away, it charged after them. The weight of the queen could be felt by each thud its legs produced in every step.
"It's gaining on us!" screamed Alenia pulling Ashley along. Just a few more yards and they would be safe. Panic and adrenalin pumped through her veins as the door came within a foot.
Finally they made it through the door. Just when Alenia was about to sigh in relief, something ripped Ashley from her arms. The queen had pressed itself against the door reaching inside with one of it's long boney arms snatching Ashley by the foot.
"No!" yelled Ashley as she was dragged back toward the hangar.
Alenia fell to the ground grabbing Ashley by the hands. Pulling back with all of her might she was able to keep the chief from being dragged away. The queen's one arm was evenly matched with the asari's entire body strength. Slowly however, the queen started to win the tug of war.
Giving up was not an option. All of the stress had reached a boiling point with Alenia. Firmly wrapping one arm around Ashley's torso she reached for her pistol with the other. When the queen pulled them out into the open Alenia took aim at the head.
"Let go of her you fucking bitch!" she screamed before emptying the thermal clip into the side of the queen's large head.
It reared up screeching and let go of Ashley. Alenia tossed the pistol aside and hit the queen with a one-handed biotic push knocking the mighty beast over. She shook Ashley's shoulder realizig she had become unconscious during the exchange. Most likely from blood loss.
"They won't have you," whispered Alenia picking the chief up in a fireman's carry. Under the extra weight, her legs burned with exhaustion. All that mattered now was getting to the escape pods. Putting one foot in front of the other she gradually picked up speed until she was jogging through the corridors back the way she came.
Time was running out. Blaring alarms and flashing lights made Alenia disoriented. Going up the stairwells while carrying another person became excrutiating. Quietly she made a promise to herself to start working out when this was over. She kept a weary eye out for any more aliens but encountered none. The ship shook and snapped as the systems overloaded. Support structures fell apart. Some areas of the ship lost atmosphere.
At last Alenia found the passage that held the escape pods. An explosion knocked her off her feet. Ashley tumbled to the ground like a rag doll. Alenia got back up and grabbed Ashley by the ankles dragging her into the pod. This wasn't a time to be gentle. She closed the door before jumping into the pilot's seat. Alenia slammed the launch button with her fist seconds before the Madison blew apart.
A/N: Just one more chapter to go. I moved this to the main Mass Effect catagory because I'm only using the creatures from the Aliens series and not actually including the Aliens' universe.