Chapter Eleven
The room was dark, sealed away from light long ago, silent as a grave. Nothing moved, nor stirred, nor had anything for an eon or more.
The silence and darkness, for the first time in thousands of years, was broken as panels stirred to life. Light softly glowed as holograms flickered into existence, their light softly reflected in the shiny eyes of a pair of helmets, sitting where their long-dead owners had left them an epoch ago.
These helmets, though, were unlike those a human would make or wear. Almost skeletal, with a nose on the front, to which was once attached an air-hose. These silent sentinels watched as the holograms flickered and danced, panels lighting and dimming as information was displayed.
There was a hiss of static as the holograms changed, displaying a fuzzy, white object, seeming to move towards a camera. The static hissed again, harsher, and garbled voices echoed:
" . . .Ich habe gerade . . . Energie-Welle . . . fremden Planeten . . ."
"Gehen. Beginnen . . . Landevorgangs . . ." As the long object moved closer, the hologram displayed a white circle on the side, inside the circle was a bent, black cross.
XXX
The bare hand gently touched the long strand of hard resin, curious. Another hand felt the other side of the resin, feeling the texture of the substance. The first hand tapped the resin, lightly jerking away as it felt the vibrations that traveled through the alien substance.
Sam stared at the resin, awed.
"It's vibrating." She looked up from where she knelt at Kyle and Sophie, who both smiled. Sophie bobbed her head in a nod. Sam returned her attention to the resin as she studied it.
After the unsettling things they had discovered in the Creators' science room, they were more than glad to just explore the hallways of the pyramid. Seth touched the vibrating resin as Lissa nuzzled his side. He smiled as he looked at Kyle and Sophie.
"It's like a spider's web. It's acting like an alarm," he said in realization as Sophie trilled. Kyle nodded.
"Yes. But that's only one of its functions. It also is an insulation, camouflage, barrier and so many other uses." Sophie purred as she wrapped her arms around Kyle, softly nuzzling him. "It also can work as a bandage." Sophie gave a soft whine as she cuddled her beloved mate against her, stroking his soft hair. "When we were attacked by Serrex, back home, she used resin and Life-Jelly to bandage my leg up," he explained as Sophie placed a soft, gentle kiss on his cheek.
Sam smiled at both the information, and the cute display. A-Mos looked up at the patches of resin that lined the wall and part of the ceiling.
"Looks like it helps to conduct sounds, with those holes and wedges in it," A-Mos observed.
"And scents, too," Kyle added as Terry tapped the resin himself.
"Neat. Like a telegraph," said the tech. Strangely enough, the group of humans felt safer where there was resin than in the bare hallways. MacReady smiled as he leaned against a wall, his arms crossed. Sergei was studying his datapad, the information he had managed to transfer.
"This all is very fascinating, but very unsettling, to say the least," Sergei mumbled as he read the alien text. Victor and Hugo were looking at one of the control panels for a door, destroyed in a fight long ago.
"Say, anybody else notice that there's no broads here?" Victor asked. Sam slowly turned her head, her eyes narrowed.
"You do remember that Sophie's kind are all female, right?" she growled. Hugo looked at her.
"I mean Creator chicks. All the ones we've seen look like guys," Hugo stated. MacReady looked at his mechanics and grinned.
"How do you know they are male?" he joked. The two jokers shivered at the thought and Mac gave a soft laugh, as did A-Mos. Seth sighed from where he stood, looking thoughtful.
"I've been thinking on that, and I have a theory," Seth said in his usual, cool tone. They all looked at him. "Humans were an experiment of theirs. Stands to reason that they may have somehow wiped all their females out." This was met with a few confused murmurs. Terry scratched his head as he spoke.
"Um, what would humans have to do with that?" Terry asked. Sam sighed as she stood up.
"I think Seth is right." She looked at the group. "The limbic system also controls mating urges. They might also have lost the urge to mate, and, as such, either their females died out, or were no longer of use, and were . . . disposed of." This shocked everyone.
"Uh, then how would they-?" Terry began, then stopped, not sure if he wanted to ask. Seth looked at him with his piercing blue eyes.
"Human egg cells," Seth bluntly stated. "They likely were using human egg cells to breed their own race without the need for females." Sam frowned deeply as she nodded.
"It makes sense. I doubt that's the sole reason they made us, but it's likely one of the major ones," Sam said, sighing as she brushed a strand of raven-black hair from her face.
As they discussed the details, Terry looked at another door that was covered in resin. He ran his hand over the resin as he looked at the control panel next to it.
"Hey, what's in here?" he asked. The others looked at him and the door. Kyle put his hands on his hips as he approached.
"Not sure, but it was someplace they wanted to make sure the Creators couldn't get into," replied Kyle as Sophie gave a soft, curious hiss. Sophie and Lissa pulled the resin away until the door was clear. Sergei tapped the symbols on the control panel and the door slid open.
The air inside was stale, old. The smell of ghosts. As Sergei tapped the panel, the lights slowly came on, revealing the grand scale of the room they were in. It was huge, as big as the bridge of the derelict ship on HS-90. Large cylinders stood from the floor, consoles of some type. A pair of Creator helmets sat where they had been placed, thousands of years ago, their shiny, dark eyes staring lifelessly.
"Whoa, what is this place?" Victor wondered aloud as he stared at the bizarre alien machinery.
"My best guess is some kind of security room or something of that sort," Mac said as he looked at the side of one of the cylinders, and the array of soft, egg-shaped buttons on the side. Sergei looked even more excited as he looked around.
"I think he's right! These look like holographic projectors," murmured the linguist as he looked over one of them. A few of the consoles looked like they had been damaged, the sides broken open and wires and optic fibers laying where they had been pulled out. Oddly, the room didn't look like it had sustained any damage from fighting. Sergei smiled as he sat in one of the oversized chairs and began to translate and type in the alien script. Holograms shimmered into existence as Sergei typed in commands, mumbling and translating as he went.
The giant hologram in the middle of the room showed the pyramid in amazing detail. As Sergei typed, the hologram turned transparent and showed the structure of the pyramid. Hugo blinked as he looked at the image.
"That's a map," observed the mechanic. Sergei nodded.
"Absolutely correct. This isn't just a security room: it's the control room for the whole pyramid," said the linguist. Everyone stared in awe as they saw just how big the pyramid actually was.
Sergei smiled as he stood and walked over to point at the holographic map. "See these red markers? That's us." They looked at the small red dots. Seth looked closer, his eyes narrowing as he saw other dots, green ones, here and there in the pyramid. When he saw one of the green dots was in the room with them, he realized what they were.
"And the green dots are Sophie's people," he said with a soft smile. Sergei nodded. They noticed, watching the map, that the rest of the Xenomorphs seemed to be leaving the pyramid. Sam looked at Kyle and Sophie.
"Kyle, why are they leaving?" Sam asked. Kyle smiled and Sophie purred gently.
"Don't worry, they're just going out to explore the city and see how it's changed since they've been hibernating," Kyle comforted. Seth was still looking at the holographic map of the pyramid.
"This even shows the areas where the resin is. Even the main hive." They all looked where Seth pointed. Sure enough, under ground level, it clearly displayed the hive, the Great Mother showing as a large, green dot on the map. What got their attention, was a room behind the Great Mother's chamber, filled with so many small green dots, it made the whole room green.
"That must be where the Cradles are stored," Sam said as she smiled. Sophie purred as she nuzzled Kyle happily. Kyle was all smiles as he looked at Sam.
"Yes. They're all safe. When the others outside are sure it's safe, they'll open up the nursery and take some of them down to the beach to Bond to the Mer-Gels." This brought a round of happy murmurs from the group. A-Mos looked at one of the damaged consoles, fingering the exposed and broken wires.
"Hmm, looks like somebody deliberately pulled this apart. It wasn't damaged in fighting," A-Mos confirmed. Victor frowned as he scratched his head.
"Maybe they needed spare parts?" offered Victor. A-Mos frowned.
"Maybe, but it looks to me like they just pulled it apart to disable it," replied A-Mos. Terry walked over and looked at the damaged console.
"I think I can repair it. Give me some time, and I'm pretty sure I can get it running again." This was met with appreciative murmurs. Mac nodded from where he stood.
"If you can, do it. It might help us to fill in more of the blanks about what happened here and why." Mac looked over at Sergei as he tapped his datapad. "What did you find out from accessing their main computer?" Sergei tilted his head slightly as he read over the translated files.
"It'll take me some time to piece it together, but from what I'm seeing, it looks like the Creators didn't come from this world," said Sergei, stopping everyone. "It looks like they settled on this world a very long time ago. What they were doing before that, I haven't yet translated, and some of the files look corrupted. I may not be able to retrieve that information. But, I did find an interesting tidbit of information, purely by accident."
He looked at the group and smiled. "The name of this planet is "Ossia", which appears to be not a word from the Creators' language, but from that strange race we saw carved into the cliffs." This amazing revelation stunned the group. "It's a little hard to translate, as it doesn't have a direct English equivalent, but the best translation would be "paradise", or "utopia"." The room was silent as the digested this new information. Seth was the first to break the silence.
"Is there more on this older race, these . . . Ossians?" Seth asked. Sergei frowned as he looked at his datapad.
"Um, it seems so, but it will take me time to make sense of it, as the Creators themselves were translating it from an apparently dead language," Sergei muttered as he typed. Sophie trilled, curious at this new information. Kyle blinked in slight confusion as he looked at Sergei.
"So, the Creators migrated here from someplace else. Does that mean the Ossians were the real natives?" Kyle asked. Sergei frowned as he lightly shook his head.
"I'm not sure if even the Creators themselves knew the answer to that one, I'm afraid. And, it looks to me like they weren't that interested in the first place. Pity." Sergei sounded disappointed as he spoke. A-Mos sighed and shook his head at that.
"Sadly, that's often the case with cultures obsessed with war. They often have a distinctive contempt for learning and intellectuals," said the former soldier. Terry frowned as he brought out his tools and began to repair one of the damaged terminals.
"Well, if I can repair this console, we might get lucky and find something," Terry muttered as he soldered two broken wires back together.
Before anyone could reply, Sophie suddenly screeched louder than any of them had ever heard, the group covering their ears at the painful sound. Sophie suddenly bolted out of the room and down the hallways, Kyle running to catch up. By the time they were out of the door, Kyle had already disappeared around the corner. Mac panted as he tapped his headset.
"Kyle, what the hell's going on?!" barked MacReady.
"Somebody shot one of the Mer-Gels during birth!" Kyle frantically replied. Everyone was stunned. Mac's mind was reeling as he tried to think as he ran.
"Terry, you stay and see what you can do about repairs! Seth, you stay and keep an eye on the hive! Everyone else, follow Kyle and Sophie!" he ordered as they frantically ran to catch up with their friends.
XXX
The beach was peaceful as the waves ebbed and flowed, the various creatures lounging and feeding. The silence was broken by splashing as strange, alien forms seemed to appear from out of the surf. Frightened creatures scrambled away from these strange, new creatures that stood upright on two legs. The bizarre new arrivals slowly waded out of the water. They were all black, except for a small circle of white on the shoulders. Inside the circle was a black, cross-shape that was bent. The group of dark figures stood and surveyed the beach.
As they looked around, one of them noticed a brownish-gray creature trying to pull itself away from them, towards the water. One of the figures raised the long device it carried and pointed it at the fleeing Mer-Gel. There was a fierce crack and a brief flash of blue. The Mer-Gel moaned as a hole exploded in its upper chest. The wounded and dying creature moaned as it rolled onto its back.
As it moaned, its chest bulged. A white, worm-like creature ruptured through the soft, gelatinous flesh and screeched loudly. There were three more cracks, and the Mer-Gel, and the newborn, both died.
"Nice shot," said one of the invaders as the executioner lowered his weapon. They were startled when the surrounding cliffs erupted into frantic screeching as small black creatures with long heads came out from where they had been hiding and began to frantically screech and hiss. The figure that had fired again raised his weapon, but it was forcibly lowered by the hand of his commander.
"Stop shooting at the animals, you fool. Don't waste ammunition," ordered the commander of the group.
"Jawhol," the group replied as they walked ashore and began to trek towards the strange alien city of pyramids.
XXX
MacReady and the others all were almost out of breath as they finally caught up with Kyle and Sophie at the beach. There were other Xenomorphs there, too. When they arrived, Sam covered her mouth in horror as her eyes welled with tears.
One of the Mer-Gels lay where it had been killed, its chest opened and the small, white, worm-like infant dead, along with its Bonded. Sophie gave a shuddering moan as she stroked the dead bodies. Tears streamed down Kyle's face as he tried to comfort his mate. All around, Sophie's natural cousins were screeching and squealing in anger and sorrow. Kyle looked at MacReady as the older man approached. Kyle's emerald-green eyes shimmered with tears. Mac frowned as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
A-Mos sighed as he bowed his head and softly said a prayer in an alien language before approaching, kneeling beside the bodies. A-Mos frowned deeply as he studied the wounds. He growled as he stood up and looked at the group.
"This wasn't some alien weapon. These wounds were made by a mag-rail rifle, I'd know them anywhere," said A-Mos. The group was startled. Mac growled as he looked around.
"We're not alone," said Mac as he looked at the group. He looked at Kyle as he stroked Sophie's head. "Kyle, tell the rest of the hive that there's other humans here and they're not friendly."
Sophie growled as her tail swished. Kyle looked at MacReady, his eyes cold.
"They know, and trust me, they won't be kind to who did it." Sophie hissed, her lips curling back, revealing silver teeth.
Murderers! They'll pay for this! Sophie mentally hissed as Kyle stroked her.
Right you are, my lovely lady of the night. Whoever they are, they won't get away with this, Kyle replied. MacReady looked back into the city, then to the group.
"Let's get back to the pyramid, ASAP!" barked Mac. With that order, the group quickly headed back for the pyramid.
XXX
The group of Nazis shined the lights of their rifles around the alien hallways as they walked through the building. Thankfully, they had not encountered anything else on their way into the city, nor once they entered the largest building. Their black uniforms were the perfect camouflage in the dark halls of the alien pyramid. Not a single bit of flesh showed on any of them. They were completely covered from head to toe. Their faces were covered by masks with tubes that ran under their arms to small tanks on their backs. They didn't even look human. Not that anyone would consider them such, anyway. One of them studied the strange ribs on the walls.
"What a strange way to build," he murmured in German.
"Got that right. Makes you wonder what the freaks who built it looked like," said another.
"Be quiet!" their commander ordered sharply. Their commander raised his hand, stopping the group as he shined his light on an open doorway. The group cautiously moved towards the doorway, their weapons ready.
The chamber was huge, the ceiling vanishing into the dark above their heads. The lights from their weapons playing across odd shapes as they entered the room. The group slowly filed into the room, sweeping their weapons around to make sure there was no threat. The leader slowly looked around with the light of his weapon. He stopped when the light fell on a strangely familiar shape against a wall. He cautiously walked closer, his weapon aimed at the shiny shape.
It was long and oblong, looking glassy and transparent. As he came close enough to see within, he almost dropped his weapon in sheer awe. He walked up until he was standing right next to the large, alien cryotube. He reached up with a trembling hand and tapped his radio. "Eagle, this is Fox, do you copy?"
"This is Eagle. What have you found?" asked the voice through the radio.
"You're not going to believe this, but we found them. We found the Aryan Fathers. Repeat: we found the Aryan Fathers!" the commander of the team was unable to hide his excitement and awe as he stared at the face of Aryan perfection.
"Fox, this is Eagle, excellent work! Bring them back to the transport if you can," replied the eager voice. The rest of the team gathered to stare in awe at the image of human perfection.
The being slumbering within was perfect, without blemish or flaw, nor the individuality of hair. He was the perfect Aryan. One of the Nazis touched the metal of the top of the cryotube, his gloved hand running over it in awe.
"Real Aryan writing. The real Runes. They're so beautiful . . .," he murmured as his fingers brushed the glyphs. They were startled when the cryotube hissed and suddenly opened. They backed away. For a long moment, the giant inside didn't move, not did the Nazis. Slowly, the sleeping being sat up, tubes attached to the suit he was wearing detaching and sliding into slots in the cryotube. With a groan, the pale being pulled the mask off of his face. They stared with wonder as the pale giant stood up to his impressive full height.
The group quickly got on their knees and bowed their heads low, almost touching the floor. The dark eyes of the giant gazed down at them. The being tilted his head as he watched them. He then looked up at the doorway and walked forward, shoving several of the Nazis aside, much to their surprise. They turned and watched, bewildered as the pale giant disappeared through the doorway.
"Where is he going?" asked one of them.
"To fulfill his destiny, as we must," said the commander as he looked back at the other cryotube that sat beside the open one. As he stared at the other pale giant inside the second tube, he raised his hand in the Nazi salute, as did the others. "For the glory of the Reich, we shall bring the Aryan Fathers home! Zig Heil!" he declared.
"Zig Heil!" replied the others.
XXX
"Ah, so purple is negative here. Well, that makes it easier," Terry mumbled from where he was half-buried in one of the consoles in the control room. Once he got into the heart of the alien console, he was able to find the similarities and was able to solder and reroute wires and cables with relative ease. He still had no idea what had happened, but he was inclined to agree with A-Mos that somebody had deliberately dismantled and damaged the console. He would only know why once he got it working, and Sergei was back to translate.
With a light crack, a hologram glittered to life above the console and Terry grinned. The hologram displayed the whole planet and the rings around it, along with lines of incomprehensible alien glyphs that Terry knew he had no chance of translating. He stood back and smiled as he admired his handiwork. Even alien technology was no match for Terry Lambert, expert technician and hacker! With a satisfied nod, he wiped his nose, turning it black from the dust and grease. Now that he had one of the damaged consoles online, he could focus on the one that was less damaged.
Terry had always liked a challenge, and that was why he had tackled the hardest one first. As he began to work on the second console, he happened to glance at the holographic map of the pyramid in the center of the room. He frowned as he noticed a blue dot on the map. Terry blinked in confusion as he scratched the back of his neck with a long, thin wrench. The blue dot seemed to be moving. What was it Sergei had said? Red dots were humans, and green for Xenomorphs? Then, what were the blue dots?
When he saw the blue dot approaching where the only red dot was, Terry's eyes grew wide as he quickly hid behind one of the consoles. Terry peeked out, and felt his blood run cold when he saw one of the smaller Creators walk into the room.
It was as tall as Sophie was. The being had no hair, not even eyebrows, which in itself was frightening. The fact he was so close to human, yet so alien was terrifying in a way Terry had never thought possible. As he saw the Creator begin to turn towards his position, Terry hid, covering his mouth as he trembled. He hoped and prayed that he hadn't been spotted. He heard the Creator coming closer and held his breath. He heard something being picked up and jangling. Terry chanced a peek and saw the Creator strapping a strange belt of some sort around his waist.
There were odd, egg-shaped things attached to the belt. What they were for, Terry couldn't begin to guess, but he doubted they were anything good. Terry thought about radioing Mac and the others, but he couldn't risk being heard by the Creator. He glanced at the door. Neither could he run, as the Creator would spot him for sure. Terry leaned back against the console, thinking on what to do. He leaned around and peeked again as the Creator tapped the map with his fingers, zooming in on one particular section.
Terry frowned, then his eyes grew wide when he saw the place the Creator was looking. "The hive! He's going after the hive!" Terry mentally screamed. As he watched, the Creator walked over to the far side of the room and tapped the glyphs on the panel, opening another door. Terry was almost panting as he tried to think. His hand slid across the small survival pistol at his side. Terry trembled from head to toe as he contemplated what to do.
Survival pistols were only for just that, and barely had enough stopping power to kill a squirrel. Against something that huge, it would be next to useless. Terry frowned as he pulled the pistol out of the holster as quietly as he could, his heart pounding in his throat. The only chance he had was to be sneaky and shoot him in the head when his back was turned. It might be cowardly, but it was the only chance he had. He had to do something! Terry carefully and quickly scampered from one hiding place to another as he followed the Creator.
He gasped as he looked up and saw that the door was closing. He gritted his teeth and rolled under the closing door. He looked to his left and saw the Creator walking away, towards a hall that was covered with resin. Terry leveled the pistol with shaking hands as he lined up the sights with the back of the white, bald head. Terry had hardly ever fired a gun before, and was scared out of his wits. He tried as best he could to steady his aim. He swallowed as he squeezed the trigger.
The round went low and to the right, hitting the Creator in the back of the right shoulder, impacting the suit he wore. The tall being whirled and Terry froze. He trembled as those dark eyes bored into him, seeming to look right through him. The Creator picked one of the egg-shaped devices from his belt and pushed something that clicked in the side as Terry tried not to panic and get his body to move. The Creator lobbed the device at Terry, almost casually.
Terry regained function of his arms in the nick of time as he batted the device into the wall, it clanking down the hall behind him as Terry knelt and flipped up the small holographic sight on the pistol and lined up another shot, right between the Creator's eyes. Just as Terry's finger tensed on the trigger, the alien grenade exploded behind him, throwing him across the hall and against a wall. He landed in a heap, upside down as blood flowed from his nose, ears and mouth. He watched, unable to move, as the Creator smiled and turned and walked away. Terry managed to raise his middle finger in final defiance of the bald bastard before he lost consciousness.
XXX
Mac and the others hurried as they rushed back into the pyramid. They had no idea who had shot the Mer-Gel, but the fact that there were other humans present had all of them nervous at the very least.
"Who the hell could it be out here?" hissed Hugo as he tried to keep up.
"Ya got me. Could be pirates, for all we know," replied Victor. Sam frowned as she ran with the others.
"Who could do this? The Mer-Gels can't defend themselves! They aren't a threat to anybody!" Sam cried. Mac growled as he tapped his headset.
"Terry, Seth, do you read me?" Static hissed. "Terry, Seth, answer me!" Mac barked, but all he received was static. "Damn it! The walls are interfering with the signal!"
As they rounder a corner, Sergei noticed something.
"Wait, stop!" he yelled as he stopped next to a blinking panel on a wall.
"Sergei, this isn't the time to stop and translate!" Mac said as the linguist looked at the blinking glyphs.
"It is when the letters say "intruder alert"," Sergei replied sharply. Sergei tapped the symbols and brought up a hologram of another hallway. Everyone stared as they watched a group of Nazi Stormtroopers carrying a large, long case of some sort. Eight were carrying the case, while another four were walking with their weapons, keeping guard. Mac growled at the sight.
"Damn it! It's the Krauts!" Mac swore. Sophie snarled as Kyle stared, his face going ashen.
"That's not our biggest problem. That's a Creator cryotube they're carrying," Kyle thickly croaked, his voice low and soft. Everyone stared at him.
"What? You mean one of them is still alive?" Hugo squawked. Kyle nodded. A-Mos growled as he tightened his grip on his rifle.
"Oh, we've got to stop this," he breathed. Mac nodded as he looked at Kyle and Sophie.
"Lead the way!" Mac ordered. Kyle and Sophie took off down the halls, the others close behind.
Through his link with Sophie, Kyle could feel that Diana and Artemis were the closest to where the Nazis and Creator were, and relayed the situation. The reply was swift, succinct and cold.
They will not survive . . .
XXX
"Boy, this thing weighs a ton!" grumbled one of the Nazis as the group carried the large cryotube.
"Quit your griping!" snapped one of the others. The whole group was tense as they walked back through the dark hallways.
They came to another large room, dark as midnight. The lights from their rifles revealed a circle of pillars in the middle of the room. As they passed between the pillars, they heard a sound somewhere. Their commander stopped them.
"What was that?" asked one of them as they set the cryotube down. It was a strange, soft sound. Like the fluttering of curtains, but even softer. The leader shined his light up at the top of one of the pillars. Suddenly, there was a flash of movement, lightning-quick. The group yelled as their leader fired his automatic rifle, the flash revealing that his head was gone as his body toppled to the ground, the weapon still firing, the flash briefly illuminating the form of something huge gliding out of sight. The Nazis quickly aimed at where they had seen the form and fired, lighting up the darkness with the flashes from their weapons.
There was another flash of movement, and one of the Nazis fell to the ground in two halves as something long and serpentine shot past almost quicker than the eye could follow. Again, they turned their fire to where they had seen the ghostly creature go, and again, another quick attack out of the darkness claimed the lives of two more of their comrades. The group formed a circle, backs to each other as they aimed at the darkness. They were caught off guard when their attacker swooped in from directly overhead, killing one and taking one with it, screaming into the darkness as they fired in almost every direction.
They were even more startled when the completely dismembered corpse of their comrade was tossed at them from out of the darkness, knocking several of them down. Before they could get up, a new attack came with the crack of gunfire from behind them, the burst of automatic fire killing two of them before they could turn.
"Nazi bastards!" bellowed a deep voice as one of the mortally wounded Nazis fell against the alien cryotube, hitting one of the markings, which began to glow.
Kyle panted as he brought up his pistol and fired at the group of Nazis as A-Mos yelled and fired, drawing their attention. Kyle ducked behind a pillar, as did A-Mos, MacReady was behind, doing the same as he aimed around the corner with his own pistol and fired. Kyle lunged around the pillar and fired, hitting one of the Nazis in the one place no male ever wants to be shot. Kyle winced as the Nazi toppled to the ground, face first, holding his groin. Kyle could feel Sophie's satisfaction through their link as she climbed along the ceiling.
Excellent shot. I may not be male, or human, but that looked painful. Kyle tried not to pay it any mind as he aimed again, but stopped when he saw the cryotube of the Creator begin to float.
"Damn it! Somebody get that thing!" MacReady yelled as he fired. One of the Nazis saw the floating cryotube slowly drifting away from them and lunged, only to have one of his wounded comrades fall on top of him, the first Nazi's head colliding with the edge of the cryotube, sending it flying across the room to collide loudly with one of the pillars. The distinctive sound of glass cracking was almost deafening in the room as the hissing of air could be heard.
"Oh my god," Kyle breathed, just as the cryotube exploded open and the Creator inside stood up. A-Mos aimed for the center of the chest and fired a burst, hitting the Creator and knocking him back a step or two, but that was about it.
"He's wearing armor!" A-Mos snarled as he dropped out the empty magazine of his rifle. As he was reloading, the Creator picked up his damaged, empty cryotube and hurled it at A-Mos. Just then, Sophie dropped from the ceiling and absorbed part of the impact as she crossed her arms and curled her tail in front of her and A-Mos like a shield. Both Sophie and A-Mos were knocked down and across the room.
"Sophie!" Kyle yelled.
I'm all right. But A-Mos is unconscious, Sophie said through their link.
Cruel one! Now is your death day arrived! roared Artemis as she lunged. The Creator leaped back and ducked as Diana swooped down at him, missing by only inches with her sharp talons. The Creator grabbed her tail, stopping her and flung her into Artemis, knocking them both down, the two of them landing in a twisted pile of confused limbs, wings and tails as they both screeched. The Creator drew one of the deadly wands from his side as he approached them. Kyle aimed and fired as fast as he could, hitting the Creator in the chest and shoulders as he rapidly emptied his pistol.
"Hey! Over here!" Kyle screamed. The Creator turned his attention to Kyle, just as Sophie collided with the Creator, knocking him down, the wand flaying out of his hand and sliding across the floor. Sophie tried to kill the Creator with her tongue, but he managed to place his feet against her ribs and fling her off before she could strike. The Creator turned over and saw the wand and lunged, only for the wand to disappear around the corner of the pillar. He got to his feet and lunged after, right into the waiting end of the wand as Kyle held it out like a sword in a thrust.
The wand met the Creator right in his open mouth, instantly turning his head and shoulders to ash as his headless body continued to lunge forward and crashed to the ground a few feet away. Kyle trembled as he dropped to his knees.
Sophie? Kyle reached out to her.
I'm all right. So are the others, she replied. Kyle sighed with relief as he managed to pull himself to his feet. It was Artemis who gently helped him to his feet.
"Kyle, you okay?" MacReady asked. Kyle nodded as Sophie wrapped her arms around him and purred. That was when Sam, Victor, Hugo and Sergei came in from where they had been hiding in the hallway. Sam went over to A-Mos as he sat up with a groan.
"Anybody catch the number of that freighter that hit me?" he groaned as he held his head with his mechanical hand. Sam quickly checked him to make sure he didn't have a concussion.
Suddenly, Sophie's head snapped around and she hissed. Kyle followed as she stalked over to where one of the Nazis was wounded, but not dead, and trying to get to the rifle of one of his fallen comrades. Sophie stepped on his back, and none too gently, stopping him.
"I'd stay still if I were you," Sergei warned in German. Sophie hissed as she ripped the Nazi's helmet and mask off, the air hissing as his pale face was exposed. The tip of Sophie's tail curled under his chin, the razor-sharp edge of her tail-blade just grazing his neck. Kyle stood back and watched as MacReady kept his pistol out, watching the Nazi tremble under Sophie's foot as she hovered over him like an angel of death.
"Sergei, ask him why they were here," said Mac as A-Mos cracked his neck and reloaded his rifle. Sergei did as Mac asked. At first, the Nazi was silent, but Sophie wrapping her long fingers around his head and beginning to pull made him answer very swiftly.
"He says they were here to explore and confirm that the Xenomorphs existed here, as well as investigate for any other useful information or equipment," Sergei translated. Mac frowned deeply at this.
"Ask him how they found this place," Mac ordered. Sergei asked Mac's question in German, the Nazi wisely replying quickly. Sergei sighed as he looked at Mac.
"They followed us," Sergei replied gravely. The group was silent. Kyle looked down at the Nazi, kneeling as he spoke.
"Do you speak English?" Kyle asked.
"Ja. I do," answered the Nazi, the fear clear in his voice. The others watched as Kyle spoke.
"How did you find the Creator?" Kyle asked. The Nazi blinked as he looked at Kyle. Kyle frowned as he pointed to the headless body of the Creator. "The one that was asleep, how did you find him?" Kyle clarified. To their surprise, the Nazi gave a soft laugh.
"They are the Aryan Fathers. We found them, as it was foretold." He looked at Kyle, those pale, ice-blue eyes speaking of untold cruelty and evil. "They will return and lead us to glory and purge the impure filth from humanity. The great Aryan Fathers will kill you all," the Nazi chuckled.
Sophie hissed in anger. Kyle closed his eyes as Sophie gave the Nazi a quick and painless death, severing his brain stem with her claw. Mac sighed as Sophie stood up and backed away.
"There's one less bastard to deal with," A-Mos muttered as he lowered his rifle. MacReady tapped his headset.
"Terry, Seth, do you read me?" Mac asked, again receiving static, as he had the last few times they had tried to contact Terry and Seth. When they had stopped at the control room, Terry was nowhere to be found. Now, knowing that the Nazis were there, Mac was worried. "Damn it! I still can't get Terry or Seth on the horn," Mac growled. Sam sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair with worry.
"I can't believe it. The Nazis are here. And they think the Creators are gods," Sam said as she shook her head. Hugo frowned.
"Hey, wait a minute. He said "Aryan Fathers". Plural, as in more than one," Hugo pointed out. The group was silent. Kyle and Sophie were the first to move, dashing back down the hallway.
"We've got to get back to the hive!" Kyle shouted as the group made a mad dash back down the twisting, turning hallways of the Creators' complex.
XXX
Seth looked at the resin that covered the walls as he kept watch. Currently, he was in the main chamber with the Great Mother, who seemed to watch his every move. Despite that, he never felt threatened by her. She seemed more curious, than anything. He looked at her and smiled very softly.
"This feels like hardened silk. Nice way to decorate," he said softly. The Great Mother's lips turned upwards into a soft smile of her own as she gave a soft, deep purr. Seth wished that Kyle had been there to tell him what she was saying. For some reason, Seth liked the Great Mother and her kind. There was something about them that appealed to him. They had a beauty and elegance that he had never seen in a living being before. The Great Mother especially. She tilted her head as she watched him. Seth sighed lightly as he sat on one of the spine-like tubes of resin that came down from the wall and out onto the floor. He tapped his headset.
"Mac? Kyle? Anybody read me?" Only static answered him. He frowned as he dropped his hand to his lap. Since the hive was underground, their radio signals couldn't reach very far. He looked at the Great Mother, who moaned. He gave a small, half-smile. "I'm sure they'll be back in no time," he said, trying to be positive. He breathed deeply as he remembered what Kyle had said when he and Sophie tore out of the control room like their tails were on fire. Who or what would shoot one of the Mer-Gels? Seth frowned deeper as he thought of the possibilities.
There was the chance that one of the Creators, or their robots was still skulking around. The thought was far from comforting to Seth, but they had A-Mos with them, and that would be enough to take out a small army. Seth chuckled.
He was startled when the Great Mother's head snapped up, a deep, rumbling growl emanating from her. "What is it?" Seth asked. He was surprised when he felt a very slight vibration through the resin. The Great Mother stood from where she had been laying on her bed of silk and moved to the very back of the chamber, turning and stuffing herself into a small crevice, a hole in the resin that looked like it had at one point been a door or hallway that was now blocked by resin. She looked at Seth and crooned, motioning with her hands for him to come to her.
Seth blinked as he felt more vibrations through the resin. The Great Mother moaned, again motioning for him to come to her. He stood and placed his hand on the resin, feeling the vibrations again. He frowned deeply as he realized that an intruder was in the hive. He looked at the Great Mother as she implored him to come to the safety of her arms. He looked down the hallway, then back to her. Seth felt something cool wash through him as old images rushed through his mind. He stood firmly as he looked at the Great Mother.
"Don't you worry, I'll keep take care of it," he said as he turned and ran down the hallway, even as the Great Mother screeched after him.
Seth kept his breathing as even and quiet as he could as he ducked into one of the side passages and waited. He didn't have to wait long. He tensed as the Creator walked into view. The tall, pale being looked around, then down the hallway Seth had come from. Seth looked around and saw a piece of resin that looked sturdy and thin, like a pipe. He picked it up. It was heavy enough to make a perfect club. Seth took a deep, silent breath as he tightened his grip on it. Seth only had a knife with him, which would not be much use against an enemy like this in a one-on-one, face-to-face fight.
If Seth could club him and disable him, that might give him the chance to slit his throat or stab a vital spot, but he had to be quick and have good aim. Seth tensed every muscle as the Creator began to walk down the hall, towards where the Great Mother was guarding the Cradles. This was it. Seth leaped up, silently as he raised the club and brought it down, aiming for the back of the Creator's bald head.
The Creator raised his arm, the resin breaking across it harmlessly as Seth landed. Seth stared at the broken resin, then looked up as the Creator looked at him with his dark eyes. "Bad idea," Seth managed before he was backhanded. Seth just barely managed to throw himself backwards and go limp, so the blow didn't deal as much damage, but he still was sent sprawling. He was pretty sure he saw a few stars as he groaned. Seth managed to sit up, fully expecting the Creator to be right on top of him, but instead, the tall, pale being was walking down the hallway, as if he'd just batted a harmless fly away.
Seth growled, wiping the blood from his lip as he picked up a piece of broken rock or resin from the floor as he ran forward, cocked his arm back and threw it with all his might at the back of the Creator's head. "Come on, Baldilocks! We're not through yet!" Seth yelled as the rock collided with the Creator's head. The being groaned, holding his head as he turned back, his teeth bared in anger as Seth mirrored the gesture. "What's the matter, princess? Scared?!" Seth taunted. The Creator seemed to sneer at Seth as the Creator reached for one of the egg-shaped objects on his belt.
Seth immediately knew what they were. They both were startled when a loud screech echoed through the hive from deep within. The Creator looked down the hall, over his shoulder, and that was all the opportunity Seth needed.
Quick as he could, Seth leaped forward, reaching for one of the egg-shaped grenades on the alien being's belt. The Creator was faster, grabbing Seth's wrist in an iron grip. Seth smiled darkly as he brought out something from his belt. The switchblade clicked open as Seth stabbed the Creator in the right wrist, piercing it right through. The Creator growled, throwing Seth across the room to collide with a fractured wall of resin, which shattered with the impact.
Seth didn't even have the time to groan, as the Creator stalked over and grabbed him by the head with both hands, lifting him helplessly into the air. The Creator sneered into Seth's face as he began to squeeze. Seth's ears began to ring to the point that he couldn't hear anything. As the pressure mounted and the pain increased, he could only give a tired whimper as his sight began to blur and go dark. Suddenly there was a wet crack, and he felt hot blood pour over his face before he suddenly felt weightless. As his minded faded away into nothingness, he felt a feeling of deep sorrow and regret.
He had failed his friends.
What a way to die.