-Author's Notes-

Finally it's here! Ladies and Gentlemen I present Chapter 2 of Left Behind, it took alot longer then others because I wanted to really capture all of the emotions and character buidling and because this was the first contact it had to be meaningful. This chapter might not have alot of action like the others but it still turned out great I think! Remember to show your support if you liked it. Enjoy Chapter 2 – Before the D-Day of Left Behind!

-End Author's Notes-

Screeeeee...

Aliens, they're still aliens on board the Goliath. All this time I thought I was safe but the entire time I was still in grave danger. This wasn't a medibay...I heard about these rooms from the reports that came back from the USM Auriga, the very ship that tried to put an xenomorph queen embryo into the famous Ellen Ripley. On the Auriga they would literally kidnap people in stasis and put them in these tiny chambers where Facehuggers would come right out of the egg and attatch directly to the trapped people. Then they would take the xeno's out and put them into small prison-like cells where they would study them. If they didn't behave the observer would press a red button instantly shooting tanks full of Nitrogen into the cell. It was torture for both the aliens and the people who were kidnapped, the government knew about it and chose to abandon them. Now before me was the same exact situation but on a different ship. The red button was even sitting in the exact same place, it made me sick to think that they were still conducting these disgusting experiments.

I slowly stood up making sure not to bend my leg, I knew what had to be done...if I was to survive this mess then they would have to be eliminated meaning I would have to be the one to do it. Silently I crept towards the smeared viewing glass to get a better look. I was imediately met face to face with one of them, the instant it saw me it bared it's jagged butcher knife like teeth at me. I watched as it's second jaw slowly inched forward, I guessed it was going to strike at the glass but I held my ground and braced myself. Like I predicted it's jaw struck the glass at a speed I couldn't see with my eyes, the glass made a prompt Thud! and shook for a moment before resting in place again. The alien cocked it's head as if in surprise at the lack of movement from my side of the glass. They obviously were still a threat and had to be put down as soon as possible.

The alien which had attempted to frighten me was now watching my every movement, I knew what had to be done. I slowly reached for a small key lying on the table, this key if put into the ignition slot under the button would transfer Mrillian Gas instead of Nitrogen which will instantly freeze anything in its proximity instantly killing it. They wouldn't feel it and I could get on with contacting my superiors along with stopping the ship from exploding. It was funny, the sight of the alien made me forget about the self-destruct sequence which was probably more of a threat then the xeno inside. I turned back and checked the monitor, underneath the warning a small timer appeared giving me 72 hours or three days to remove the contamination or enter the clearence codes. This had to be done or else I was a dead man walking, I took the key firmly in my palm and reached for the slot which caused the Alien inside to hiss and jump backwards. I inserted the key and turned it as far right as it would go, several small startup beeps emitted from a speaker before the button turned from red to green. The alien inside was now screeching which brought two more into the light. I stopped in surprise and removed my hand, it seems that there were more then just one Alien. Hastily I swet towards the glass and peered inside, their were three xenos which seemed to be the same size and color...charcoal black. Something inside caught my attention though, something was lying on the ground in the back part of the cell. I tried wiping the last of the dirt away and there it was, it looked to be an xeno but it was a little smaller then the other ones but still had the usual black skin color like every other xeno ever. It seemed like it wasn't hostile and active like the others, small droplets of yellow blood were dripping from an unseen wound...someone had shot this one before they left the ship. One of the xenos noticed that I was looking and immediately stepped in front of the wounded one blocking any view that I had. It hissed in anger, it seemed to be protecting me from its friend.

I moved away from the screen in thought, we were told that xeno's were heartless killing machines and here I was face to face with one that showed some sort of compassion for another one of its species...sure it wasn't toward me but even still it was a sign of morallity. I was dumbfounded, we were told in the academy that their one and only instinct and functionality was to kill and here right in front of me was one acting intelligently...had they lied to us? I looked back, the minute I did the one which had blocked my sight began to hiss again showing it's drooling jaws. I sat down in the chair near the blinking computer monitor, maybe the staff had documentation on the species...perhaps a video archive of the tests they completed. As much as I hated it maybe they had valueable information which could help me now...for the sake of an entire species it was worth looking for.

Within a minute of searching I found a data packet which had been hidden in the back of one of the desk drawers. If I was going to find out more about these xenos then I had to watch whatever was on this drive. Slowly and carefully I plugged the drive into the monitor, my heart began to beat faster and faster...what the hell was going on in these rooms? The screen flashed and auto opened the drive, three video files were located in a folder named "Test Subject X121". Hesitently I opened the oldest one and leaned back in the chair. Here goes nothing I thought to myself as the video began.

The video opened with the small room in focus...the same room I was in, the camera appeared to be on the center of the room located on a ceiling panel. At first it was just a minute of the room, no other people were in focus and the viewing glass was covered with a metal hatch. Then a small female voice was picked up walking into the room. This mystery women walked up to the monitor and began typing, possibly a medical diary or maybe she was typing to a relative...whatever she was tying she finished within a few seconds and was now facing the camera. I almost fell backwards in my chair, it was the same blonde women whom I had saved from the xeno during the military operation. She straightened her white labcoat before speaking,

"Currently I am the acting scientist in charge of the Retame Project, my name is Charlotte Walker, today I will be continueing my research on taming the species known as the xenomorph or "Nigra Exterius Osseus" or the "Black Exo-skeleton". The species appears to only consist of female drones who reproduce through an egg system such as snakes or fowl also known as a Oviparous classification. the subject X121 was recently brought in from the Goliath's incubation labs after incubating for a matter of hours. The host of this perticular specimen died within a few seconds of the alien leaving the body through the upper chest cavity. So far this subject hasn't undergone the treatment which therefore the results should be fresh and clear of any inconsistencies. I will begin the session now." She stood for a moment before heading to the viewing screen, all you could see now was the top of her head and the viewing glass slowly appearing from behind the metal protection hatch. After the hatch had completely cleared away a very angry xenomorph began to pound and stab at the glass, the women simply stood watching as the creature tried desperately to escape the cell then with a simple motion she reached to her left and pressed the red button releasing the nitrogen into the room. The alien began to shriek in agony and then all at once it stopped, the doctor continued to watch while the alien which was now covered in white ice stared with it's mouth wide open in a threatening tone. The doctor reached to her right and pressed a small button, it looked to be a microphone swtich,

"As you can see it is hopeless to struggle, we are here only to help you but if you fight then I will have no other choice but to cause pain towards you." The xeno upon hearing her voice began to hiss but stopped after she moved her hand over the button only this time she hadn't pressed it. "Very good" she said in a monotoned voice almost like a robot. She wrote a few things down before continueing but the camera stopped recording suddenly. I turned back and was greeted by one of the xenos staring through the glass at the monitor, the funny thing was that it wasn't threatening it was more out of curiosity. I nodded which was funny on my part as there was know need but I felt like I should acknowledge her presence. I skipped through a few files until I found the second recording which had been conducted a few weeks ago. I pressed play and leaned back once again, things were starting to come together. The video opened but it appeared to be damaged, it seemed as if someone wanted to erase some of the footage and had failed to do so in certain parts. I ran the program through a data recovery system and tried to play it again, this time it opened. The video opened showing the same female scientist only this time it started after she was a halfway into the experiment, she was speaking to the creature again,

"Hello X121, thank you for cooperating. I will send some extra food in the next time you are to be fed. Now if you will excuse me I must be heading to the restroom, I will leave the video feed on in case you want to show the camera something you haven't yet shown me. I'll be right back." With that the scientist turned and walked out of the room leaving the xeno inside the cell alone, it seemed calmed as it stood staring after her. After a minute or so the xeno turned to walk away but stopped halfway as the door opened again. A different scientist came in, this one was a man with a bald spot showing on the camera. As he walked in he checked behind him to make sure he wasn't seen and continued to the viewing screen. He seemed to be carrying a small container with a blanket draped over it, after setting the container down on the desk he grabbed a chair and brought it over to the view glass where he hopped onto it backwards with his legs hanging over the back rest portion. He gave a phony wave and turned the microphone on, the xeno inside stepped close to the view glass as if it recognized the man. As the man began to speak the alien hissed through its teeth in anger,

"Hello bug, how are you doing today? Not good I hope!" he said in a sarcastic tone, "Well I thought since you've been so good that you deserved a present and since the bitch just left now would be a good time to show it to you." The scientest grabbed a rolling table and brought it between himself and the glass making sure it was closer to him then the xeno on the other side. The man laughed snidely and grabbed the container from the desk, he held it up to the xeno for a brief second before setting it down on he tray. "I know your gonna love this pressent, since it has so much in common to you." He laughed once again before removing the white cloth, I moved closer to the screen to get a better look. It was a glass jar with an infant xeno inside, it looks like it was just born and was very much alive and moving albeit slowly. Upon the cloth being removed the xeno inside the cell shrieked and began to claw furiosuly at the glass, the man chuckled and pressed the red button causing the alien to scream in pain only this time he held it down longer then the women did. "Don't get too excited, you haven't even seen the best part about your gift!" The man released the button and then began to laugh again although this time it wasn't sarcastic, he was actually laughing beause he thought it was funny however the xeno did not. It immediately began to show its teeth with the usual drooling associated with the species although this time it was snarling at the man. "Well I can see that you really want your present, I'll give it to you but only after I get it ready." The scientist got up and walked off camera, the sound of rummaging and drawers opening and shutting continued before the man was back and instantly I knew what he had. "Here it wouldn't be nice for me to hold out any longer." he grabbed the container with the infant and held it to the screen, the xeno inside the jar began to whimper as it tried to slowly move toward the xeno on the other side of the screen. The xeno behind the glass lurched forward trying to grab the jar through the screen but was stopped after the man pressed the red button again. The alien began to shriek even higher them before but stopped as the man let go and began to speak again,

"Well now, I go to all this trouble to get you one of your sisters and you never even say thanks, this is why all bugs like you must be exterminated starting with this one." The scientist picked up the object he had grabbed off camera onto the table and put the jar inside of it. "Have you ever seen one of these before, it's a device that crushes small garbage and trash so it can be ejected out into space it also makes for a good pancakes, here I'll make you one now!" The man, with his eyes set on the xeno behind the viewing screen, pressed a button which caused the machine to slowly crush the jar. I couldn't see the process but I could hear the infant inside the jar whimpering for help, I muted the sound and stood up walking away from the screen almost forgetting my wounded leg. I turned and looked, in the video there was a brief second of nothing and then the subject behind the glass began to shake and scream while the man laughed before taking the trash compactor out with him.

I just stood their, I didn't know how to act or what to say. What that scientist did was unspeakable and inhumane. I looked over at the alien, it was staring right at me giving me a sad blank look and this time the one of the others were doing the same. I scratched the back of my neck in thought...what this station was doing should be illegal, even the female scientist herself was using torture as a means for cooperation. I looked into the eyesless faces of the two xenos before making my way to the microphone button on the right side of the screen. I wasn't sure why I was doing this, maybe because I felt like I owed them due to the scientist's actions. I cleared my throat before speaking although it probably wouldn't make a difference,

"I'm sorry this happened to you...all of you, what those people did isn't right and although I can't go back to stop it at least you know that you have sympathy from one human at least." I released the button feeling like I should have said more but I didn't. I was half expecting more hissing from the other side but none of them did. I sat back down and opened the third file, this wasn't corrupt like the second one but it was shorter.

The video opened with the same male scientist, only this time he was pressing the red button over and over again in rapid succession. The xenomorphs behind the glass hissed at this section of the video, I ingored it and continued watching. The man stopped for a second and then an alarm went off causing him to shoot out of the chair "Warning...Warning...Warning...A test subject has escaped from its hold cell... all military personel proceed to deck 21! This is not a drill!" The man began to gather his things before running out of the room leaving the alien cold and alone. The footage ended after another xeno crawled out of the ventilation duct inside the room.

I sat for a minute, I knew what I had to do. I stood up from the chair and walked right in front of the viewing screen. The now three xenos were enraged by the last clip and were openly showing it with their teeth bared at me with their accustomed liquids dripping from their mouth. I reached over for the microphone button and waited for a moment as I collected my thoughts. This was it, Do or Die time...D-Day. I cleared my throat, I had no idea where to begin since this was my second time communicating with them so I just started talking.

"I know what your going through..." I said sadly, this caused them to stop and listen, "I had a wife once, a beautiful women I met on a colony awhile back...she was the love of my life...my everything and one day she was taken from me. People were rounded up for experimentation aboard that ship, the USM Auriga...a dreaded ship that never should have existed and much like you she was tested on and thrown into a cell. She used to be human...once...and now she is probably dead, I know you hate the human race for what we've done in the past but I ask you to put aside your differences for your sake. I know your friend was shot and is on the verge of death, I can help save her but only if you allow me. I don't have much left in this world, without my wife and my squad I have no one...death would be welcomed with open arms which is where you three come in. If you feel the need to kill me out of hatred or out of protection then so be it but I can't stand by while a species is slowly killed off to the point of extinction and especially now that I know your torment." I moved closer to the glass and slowly put my hand against the screen, I wasn't sure if they had understood a word I had said or if they understood why my hand was up but I had to trust they did. I pressed the button once again, "I will be opening the door to your cell, you may leave I won't stop you..." I grabbed the pulse rifle which had been strung across my chest for the last hour and held it out to my right. I knew that they wouldn't understand what I was doing here either but if they were intelligent then there was hope, I released my grip allowing the foliate rifle to fall almost as if in slow motion. The xenos at this point were watching quietly from the other side, they followed the rifle as it dropped and once it made contact they looked back up at me. The metalic impact echoed throughout the steel room and out into the corridor through cracks in the sliding door. I limped over to the screen one more time and pressed the black button,

"You are free..." I said almost poeticly before exiting the room and making a left into the hallway closest to the room. A huge sign hung on both the left and right side of the door, "Warning Specimen Holding Cell, do not Open Without Proper Authorization." I put my hand on the release button and waited, this was it...Do...or Die...

-Author's Notes-

Damn, that was one long chapter but this was mainly due to the character development of both the Goliath crew and the aliens with a little teaser at Jack's past. If you like the lengthened chapter then let me know and I might make all of them this big but other then that any support whether it's Follows, Reviews, or Favorites is hugely appreciated as I check my email everyday for these things and Views are also welcomed, this I check everyday aswell! Chapter 3 is in the works already as I you are reading this and it should be up within a month or hopefully less if I get the free time. Now for something which will always appear from here on out, I would like to personally thank everyone who has supported me by naming their usernames here. If I don't get yours I will in the next chapter!

Thanks to the following Supporters!

Follows: BrightShadowWalker, Burn Shadow, Ddragon21, Windtalkers1, ghostkiller12, xgodxsendx

Favorites: Burn Shadow, tempast, xgodxsendx

Reviews: Ddragon21 (My First Reviewer, you rock!)

Thanks for all the support you have given me and this isn't a bribe get support so please don't do these things just to get your name out this is just a way to say thanks to those who are helping me by supporting my work, this series started small and now it's going to become a full fledged story once it's done! You guys rock and stay tuned for Chapter 3 – First Contact!