Chapter Eleven: Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten
Isaac grunted as he fought with the controls as the shuttle dove. He tried to bring it out of the dangerously-steep dive, pushing buttons frantically, applying retro boosters and anything he could to slow himself. Isaac pulled as hard as he could, trying to even it out of the dive. He winced as the plasma outside flared red with the heat of re-entry. He pulled hard and long, managed to even it out enough at least he wasn't upside down. The engineer growled as he pulled the shuttle up just enough to not have the nose pointed at the ground. Isaac typed and tried to deploy any other measures, even a parachute. It helped, but not by much. He knew it was going to be a rough landing, no matter what he did. The shuttle rocked as he flew down through the rusty atmosphere. As he fought to keep the shuttle stable, he wondered what had happened. Was it something Mercer did? His cult members? Did Kendra plant one last surprise for him? Or did something else happen? Maybe another asteroid struck him. The ADS cannons only protected the Ishimura itself.
Alarms and warnings blared at Isaac all around, lights flashing red. Isaac narrowly avoided a tall, rocky outcrop, pulling up just enough to clear it. He could see the colony around the crater. He tried to slow it down as best he could, flying lower and lower, hoping he wouldn't crash into something heavy. Isaac finally touched down on the planet, the shuttle carving into the rock, Isaac trying to steer as best he could, saw the side of a colony building coming up. He braced for impact. The shuttle crashed through a rocky hill, before smashing right through the side of a colony building, where it came to stop, Isaac thrown in his seat, glad he wore his seatbelt. Isaac took a few moments to let his heartbeat and breathing return to normal, before he unbuckled himself and went to have a look. He checked, and the left shuttle door wouldn't open. He tried the right, and it swung open. Isaac looked around.
The shuttle had come to a stop after smashing through the side of a building, bits of steel, supports and debris laying everywhere. From what he could see, Isaac had some through the side of one of the habitation modules, judging by the large, open space. It seemed clear, but he could see some bloodstains. He glanced up, wondered what had cause the shuttle to fail. Isaac looked around, made sure the coast was clear, then climbed up. He looked around, at first not seeing anything odd. Then, he looked more closely at the Starboard booster, and saw it.
Melted metal.
He sighed. He wondered when that happened, but since it was no longer sizzling, he guessed it was older. Might have even been among the repairs it was needing. Too late to gripe about it now, anyway. Isaac looked around, saw some broken beams he could use to get down. He carefully slid down, grabbed one, slid down to another one, hung, climbed over, then down to another, then dropped to the ground.
It was quiet in the building. Now that he was down on the floor, Isaac could see signs of panic and people rushing to flee. He guessed he was in one of the lobbies. He also noticed how dark it was, and Isaac was not fond of it at all. Isaac looked around, saw at least the doors were working. Isaac carefully headed for the door, knowing that noise from the crash would get the attention of everything within a mile. Thankfully, the door opened without any issues. In the hallways beyond, Isaac saw familiar signs of fighting, bloodstains, acid holes. Red warning lights blinked on and off as Isaac kept his flamethrower ready. His steps were slow, soft and quiet. The longer he could go without alerting the Xenomorphs he was there, the better. Isaac knew, without a doubt, he was outnumbered. By what odds he couldn't guess at, but he knew taking them all on was impossible. Isaac skirted around an acid hole into the floor that went down to the next level, and two others below. He ducked under some conduits and dripping water pipes, the trickle of water the only sound. Isaac's eyes darted all around, looking for anything that could be an alien lying in wait. He got to the end of the hall, flattened himself against the wall, and pressed the hologram, opening the door. He checked to make sure the coast was clear, then moved through.
He was in another hallway, one of the halls that connected the apartments. His eyes darted around to any place aliens could be hiding, of which there were plenty. Isaac stayed against a wall, crouched low. He thought he heard a metallic creak, stopped and listened. The sound wasn't repeated, and he kept going, noting the devastation. There were clear signs of struggle. Some people had stacked up heavy crates in an attempt to barricade the hallway. Sadly, the aliens had punched through with seeming ease. Isaac glanced down, a hall, saw doors to apartments lay open, some looking as if they had been torn open and out by insanely-strong hands. Isaac saw some blood splatters, recognized a high-velocity spatter from someone having their neck cut or even their whole head. Isaac warily made his way down the side hall and glanced into an apartment.
Now that he was there in the colony, seemingly with no way back, he wanted answers. He had to know what happened, at the very least, for closure. It might also help him find a way to put an end to this plague of nightmares. He carefully peered into an apartment. It was a mess, people clearly having tried to hole up inside. He shined his light around, then checked another apartment. The same was repeated, signs of struggle, or that people had tried to barricade themselves inside. In one, Isaac found a Divet pistol, laying on the floor. The gun itself was empty, but there was a couple spare magazines, which he took. Isaac checked the next one, Apartment 23, but the number. The door was only slightly ajar. Isaac warily shined his light inside and around. It seemed clear, and looked like the people inside managed to escape, at least from their own home. Isaac gently pushed the door open, stepped inside. He saw medical charts and readouts, knew at least one of the people there was a doctor. Isaac stepped over to a table, saw a holopad, and picked it up to read, making sure his back was to a wall. They were all morgue and autopsy reports on people who were victims of the Xenomorphs. Some were people who had been implanted, but many more were of people who had been killed. Isaac set the pad down, looked for anything else of use. Finding nothing, he left the apartment and headed back down the hall. He came to a door, still functional. He pressed the hologram, weapon ready. The door opened, and Isaac couldn't help being surprised.
If Isaac thought he had seen it really bad on the Ishimura, that paled compared to the damage he now saw.
There were acid holes big enough for a man to crawl through, as well as what looked like explosive damage, probably from survey charges. The people had put up one hell of a fight. Metal beams had collapsed and fallen, there were more bloodstains than he could ever hope to count. It looked like a war zone. Isaac warily stepped into the large hall, trying to stay low. He knew the Xenomorphs would be around, somewhere. He had no idea if they slept or anything of the sort, but assumed they didn't. No sense in taking chances. Isaac made his way past some debris and glanced around from cover. First thing, was to get his bearings, find out where he was. If he had to hazard a guess, he was somewhere in the Living Quarters area.
Since most CEC mining colonies were more or less constructed with a similar layout, he should be able to find his way to Mission Square. Isaac looked around carefully. He saw a door, but the hologram was inactive. He checked his ion torch, still had plenty of fuel. Isaac carefully picked his way along, hunkered down, and brought out the torch. He began to cut the door, glancing around as he did. It was a thick, tough door, and not as easy as others, but the torch managed. Isaac's eyes darted around as he cut through the door, hoping he wasn't making enough noise for them to hear. The torch cut through, Isaac wincing as the door fell, but thankfully, it landed against some debris outside, standing ajar. Isaac squeezed through, into another dark hallway. He stayed in a low crouch, shined his light around. This one was even more destroyed than the others, if that was even possible. A large section of floor had been totally destroyed. Isaac guessed they had laid survey charges and maybe hydrazine tanks as a trap. Clearly it had worked, but maybe a bit too well. Acid from the killed aliens had burned down, through the floor, and all the ones below Isaac could see. For all he knew, it burned right into the core of the planet. He glanced around, saw to his left, while damaged, the hall was clear. Since Isaac really didn't like the idea of running and leaping over a gap like that, better to find a way around. He headed the other way, careful to stay low and out of sight as best he was able.
Isaac passed more scenes of carnage, apartments that had been attacked, signs of struggle, death. Just like on the Ishimura, Isaac also saw no bodies, either human or alien, and began to piece it together in his head. The Xenomorphs would mostly try to capture people alive to use as hosts in their nests, and likely only killed those who put up heavy resistance. Those they did kill, they either ate, or used their bodies in the nest as well to fuel its growth, recalling how the dead hosts seemed to slowly turn into more of that bizarre biomechanical nightmare. As for why no alien bodies, he wouldn't have been surprised if they were cannibals, and ate their own dead. Something that coldly ruthless likely would. Isaac was just thankful this was a mining colony, and thus no children present. He came to another junction, glanced around. The way directly ahead was still barricaded, but the way to the right was open. Isaac turned to his right, down the hall. He passed more bloodstains, more signs of fighting, seeing bullet holes in the walls and ceiling. He thought he heard a nose behind him, and ducked into an apartment. Isaac pressed himself hard against a wall as he hid.
It was a good move.
A Xenomorph moved into view soundlessly. His breathing hitched slightly. He noticed this one looked a little different. The head was not a smooth dome, but ridged, with pits and even what looked like serrations on the top. He had seen the skull of that dead one back in the Ishimura Morgue looked like that. Great. Was this a new strain? Isaac still remembered that monster that had been born from a dog, hoped nobody on the colony had any weird pets. What would an alien born from a snake look like? Or a big cat? Or something that flew? Isaac shivered at the thought. Even more reason to make sure they never reached inhabited areas. The Xenomorph prowled around, seeming to patrol. Isaac waited for a long while, before he peeked his head out, cautious and careful. There was no sign of it. He kept his flamethrower ready, made his way out and down the halls. It was even darker in there than it had been elsewhere. In fact, right where he was, Isaac's flashlight was the only source of light. Not even emergency lights were on. He glanced up, and saw the lights looked like they had been destroyed. He remembered what Kyne had said. The Xenomorphs had displayed enough intelligence to know destroying lights helped them. Likewise, they could learn that Stasis was a threat to them, and how to counter it. Isaac skirted a ceiling vent with large bloodstains around it and dried blood on the floor grates, hugging the wall as he carefully headed deeper into the ruined colony. He at last found another junction, headed right to head back the other way and pass by where that destroyed floor section was.
As he moved, he listened carefully. Every now and then he heard a creak, some water dripping, but nothing else. It made him even more nervous, as he knew these creatures were silent, deadly hunters. Every now and then, Isaac checked apartments for anything useful, but found only more scenes of horror. He passed by more makeshift barricades in the halls, torn apart like tinfoil. A few more holes from acid damage littered the area, but not very large. Isaac at last made it to a large door, and thankfully, the hologram was active. He opened the door, came out into another large lobby.
Once more, it was damaged and destroyed. Broken pipes trickled water, wires sparked and hissed, emergency lights blinked on and off. This area was a real mess, and Isaac could see small stories of horror, painted in blood, carved in steel and plastic, burned by acid. Blood handprints where someone had tried to crawl away, long bloodstains where someone had been dragged. Isaac pushed these thoughts aside, looked around carefully, checking any vents, any signs of the aliens. He kept a firm hold on the flamethrower, body tense and ready to run or dive for cover. Isaac took noticed of the fact that only the emergency lights were on, and several doors were clearly badly damaged. One looked like it had been forcibly pried open by insanely-strong hands, likely a team effort by the Xenomorphs. Another was partly ajar, hologram inactive. Isaac carefully made his way through the mess, winding around debris, avoiding wires and sparks. He glanced up at the downed wires, now realizing why the power was out in so many areas. He made his way to the door, which was slightly open. It was enough he could grab hold and pull. Isaac grunted with effort, the doors sliding open and Isaac stepped out into a large square.
Mission Square was a wreck.
Debris lay where it had fallen, scorch marks from fires charred some places, bloodstains littered the ground. Isaac saw a large sign had fallen, and judging by the red smear under it, someone was unfortunate enough to get caught under it. Windows for restaurants were shattered, the sign hanging by a cable. On the opposite side, Isaac saw the doors to a medical clinic, looking like someone had used a giant crowbar to twist them apart. Other doors looked like they had been hastily welded shut, the hologram and sign inactive. The red light of the sun shown down through the glass overhead, bathing the whole scene in bloody crimson. Isaac carefully walked down the steps, glanced around. Across from him, was P-Sec Headquarters, and it looked like it had been just as badly hit. The upper windows had been smashed, and it looked like a few of the shutters had been torn up. He could clearly see acid holes from even that distance. Isaac spared a careful glance around. If he was to find some answers, P-Sec HQ was his best bet.
Isaac carefully made his way down, darting to cover, glancing around. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw movement up above, but didn't see anything when he looked carefully. Isaac was jumpy, but rightly so. The Xenomorphs were crafty and cunning, and he knew these were older than the ones on the Ishimura, and likely had more time to learn and hone their hunting techniques for humans. Better to be jumpy and alive, than lazy and dead, Isaac thought as he carefully made his way over towards the looming northern building. Isaac noted how eerily quiet it was. While that could be helpful, it also could be a double-edged sword. In such a quiet colony, any noise he made would likely carry very far. Since he knew for a fact there were Xenomorphs patrolling within a hundred meters of where he was, he had to be very cautious, lest he alert them. Isaac could handle one or two, but a whole horde of them was out of the question. No. Here, stealth would be how he stayed alive.
Isaac made his way to the doors of the P-Sec HQ, and found them operable. He opened them, and saw evidence someone had riveted metal bars over the doors, only to later remove them. He had a pretty good idea why. Isaac warily stepped into the hall of P-Sec, playing his flashlight around. There was ample evidence of fighting, and rather heavy at that. Claw marks, bullet holes, some acid burns. Isaac cautiously opened a door, headed into another room. The door of the Armory was open, so he gave it a look. It had pretty much been emptied. All the Pulse Rifles, shotguns and pistols had been taken and likely passed out, as was the ammo. He could only imagine the shock and fear of even seasoned P-SEC officers to face the likes of these nightmares. Isaac turned to the elevator, found it thankfully working. He opened the doors, glanced around, and took the elevator up to the second floor. The doors opened to a bloodbath. It was clear the P-Sec officers had been boxed in and the aliens fell upon them like wolves on trapped sheep. The rest of the hall was almost as big a mess. Bullet holes decorated the walls, holes from acid made several large holes in the floor. Isaac turned to the door to the control room. There was evidence it had been welded closed, and someone had cut it back open. He pressed the hologram, and the door slid open. The inside of the control room was not any better than anywhere else. Desks and consoles had been wrecked, one melted by acid. Isaac could see blood where someone had been pulled through a hole in the shutters, likely not in one piece, if the size was any guide. The lights flickered in the room as he very cautiously made his way inside. Several consoles were still active. He headed to one in a corner. He tapped the screen, brought up the mainframe, had a look.
There were tons of reports, mostly of missing people. Isaac saw the long list, knew it would take him days to sift through it all. He saw an urgent call message, pressed the play button. An audio file began to play, Isaac able to hear people screaming.
"This is Sergeant Neumann, P-Sec! We've lost all the shuttles! One of them just took off, and came straight back down and crashed into the bay! Took a couple hundred people and all the remaining shuttles with it! If anyone can hear this, do not land! Do not land!" The audio log ended. Isaac frowned under his helmet, glanced around. He looked at the log database, and saw a report that caught his interest, since it was the first death mentioned.
Isaac brought it up, and was greeted with a crime scene photo of a man in a bed, chest bare, head thrown back in a scream, his chest torn open and ribs protruding. Isaac's stomach twisted as he read.
The man's name was Samuel Caldwell, an engineer. He had been the member of the team who went to the derelict alien ship, and was brought back with one of the spider-creatures attached to his face. Isaac remembered what Kyne said, how Carthusia had him let out against caution. Now Isaac was seeing how this mess all started. The young man had been in bed with his girlfriend when he started to convulse. It made Isaac sick to think about. That poor girl must have been traumatized. The reporting detective was a Nathan McNeil, who recorded findings, including that the vent was torn open and a blood trail leading inside. All the other deaths happened after that. There was plenty of other data, too. Disappearances and some deaths, but most of them were people that were never found. Isaac huffed as the pieces fell into place. Once that first alien grew into an adult, it likely started gathering humans to use as hosts, and the few who were killed it either was unable to capture, or just got in the way. The big question, though, was where the hell the eggs came from? Isaac browsed through, and by accident found a P-Sec report of a broken vent outside the colony. That got his attention.
He read the report, and a suggestion that the creature was now hiding in the surrounding rocks and hills. Subsequent patrols either didn't find anything, or went missing. Isaac paused as he thought. He remembered that chunk of rock from the tectonic load, with those carved tunnels and old, dusty eggs inside. It suddenly clicked in his head just what happened.
If the aliens also had a nest underground, laying dormant for who knows how long, the new Xenomorph would have sensed it, and could have crawled out and into the caverns, picked up eggs, and brought them back to the colony. Or, maybe even . . . A sudden thought came to Isaac. He brought up more records. He found the one he was looking for, and read. The alien ship was located close enough to the colony that first Xenomorph could have maybe gone out, found eggs inside, and taken them back as well. Isaac remembered that old research module, from inside that rock, and remembered that Kendra had said Earthgov had studied the aliens. Thinking of the Earthgov spy made him growl softly. He knew she had escaped to the planet from the shuttle. He silently hoped the aliens found her before he did. Isaac checked again. His mind kept going to that ship, that alien ship they had found the Xenomorphs on. Isaac brought up some files and checked. He smiled grimly when he saw vehicles were still registered in the Vehicle Bay in Sector 2 North. He copied the way to his RIG, checked his ammo and supplies, and headed out.
Back out in Mission Square, Isaac this time headed to his right, down a long, large passage strewn with debris. At another square, he saw the shuttle bay, totally destroyed. He gave a soft sigh, but wondered if the people who died quick and painlessly weren't the lucky ones, considering what the aliens did to those they caught alive. He wondered if the Xenomorphs were making another nest, down in the bowels of the colony. Most likely, since he had not seen any bodies, and now knew they used living humans as hosts, and their remains fueled the growth of their nightmarish Hive. He wondered if maybe that was why he also saw so few alien bodies as well. He wouldn't be surprised that something so ruthless and deadly would use their own kind for food and building material. Isaac passed more evidence of fighting, more bloodstains and acid holes. It seemed to him the Xenomorphs didn't as much like fighting out in the open, and knew their strength lay in ambushes and swarming in enclosed spaces. As such, Isaac tried to stay out in the open whenever he could, albeit with cover. Isaac rechecked his map several times, making sure he was heading in the right direction. The colony was such a mess, it was easy to get turned around. Isaac had to stoop to get under some crashed supports from a passage, and came out to another square. He checked, and his map indicated it was the building to his front. He glanced around, checked for any ambushes, and darted across. Nothing happened, nothing attacked, he didn't hear any hisses or screeches. It was quiet as a grave. How fitting.
Isaac kept his flamethrower up as he made his way through the door and into the north building. There was more evidence of heavy fighting, acid holes in the floor big enough for a man to jump down in several places. He carefully made his way through, weaving around carnage and damage. He came across a glowing security console, and pressed the button.
"This is Martin, Sector 2 North! We need Security here now! The damn things are trying to get in! We can hear them at the doors!" a male voice yelled into the pickup. Isaac could hear the sound of people yelling, and pounding on metal. "Do you hear that?! Those fucking things are at the pressure door right now! We need-" the man stopped as Isaac heard a low whir. "Oh my god . . . they cut the fucking power . . ." the man whispered, and the recording cut off. Isaac shivered. He knew the Xenomorphs were smart, but this seemed to hint to something far worse. If they were smart enough to know to cut power to areas, then they were even more dangerous than anyone could have ever dreamed. All the more reason to make sure he wiped this nightmare off the face of the map.
Isaac carefully made his way down the halls, careful to stay low and to the walls, avoid vents and be as quiet as possible. He was thankful to see the door to the Vehicle Bay was unlocked and active. He pressed the hologram and squeezed against a wall, just in case. The doors cycled open, and Isaac peeked inside. Several six-wheeled vehicles sat in the bay, untouched. He glanced up and around. A large crane overhead hung down slightly, the magnetic clamps ready for use. Cylinders of fuel and chemicals stood, some knocked over. Tools sat on top of chests or where they had been left. Isaac carefully edged out, craning his neck and glancing up and around, expecting them to be hiding on the ceiling like spiders waiting for a fly. There was nothing. He glanced back down, saw the bay outer doors were open. Likely more than a few people tried to flee. It would have been in vain. Isaac slowly and warily entered the vehicle bay, flamethrower at the ready. He carefully walked around one of the vehicles. It looked in good order. He pressed the button on the side, and the doors slid open. He climbed inside, and checked everywhere. In the back, under every seat, in any opening something could hide. After everything that had gone on, he wasn't taking any chances. Once he was sure it was safe, he sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. The vehicle roared to life, and Isaac engaged the drive, and rolled out of the bay.
The path was easy to follow, given the tracks from other vehicles. Isaac checked his map carefully. The site of the Derelict was about a ten minute drive, but the terrain was rocky. He had to be careful. He followed the ruts in the sand, up some rocks and the edge of a small canyon. Some parts made the vehicle tilt a bit more than Isaac was comfortable with, but he knew others had gone the same way without a crash. He just needed to take it slow. As he drove, Isaac kept his eyes peeled. Among all these rocks would be any number of ideal ambush points for the aliens, and he had no idea if there were any caves that might lead underground to their ancient tunnels. He was fairly confident he could outrun them in a vehicle, but on rocks and this terrain, not so much. He made sure his flamethrower was within easy reach. Minutes passed, and the vehicle rocked, rocks crackled, but Isaac made his way forward. Every now and then he glanced at the map, but otherwise kept his eyes forward. Isaac rounded a bend and the vehicle climbed up to the crest of a hill. It climbed up, sand and rock crunching under the tires. Isaac crested the hill and stopped, staring at the sight that he beheld.
In a small valley, across from where he was, sat a shape, crested upon another hill. Isaac couldn't help staring in awe, wonder and horror at what his eyes beheld. Even though he had seen pictures of it, they had been grainy and unclear. Now, in the ruddy light of Aegis VII, the Derelict loomed in full view, and Isaac wondered how anyone could have missed it. Two horn-like protrusions at the rear of the vessel extended back and upwards, two swooping, graceful curves of metallic glass. Indeed, the whole vessel had a strange, vitreous luster to it that the dust and harsh atmosphere of Aegis VII had not seemed to tarnish. Now able to see the details, Isaac could make out what almost looked like veins, rendered in metal, or whatever substance the vessel was made of. The massive vessel gave him the distinct impression of having been grown, rather than manufactured as humans would. Isaac sat for several long minutes, digesting the fact he was looking at proof of intelligent alien life beyond the Earth, confirmation that humans were not alone. He frowned softly, looked at the path, and drove the rover down the hill, following more tracks.
Isaac came to stop in a small gully of sand and rock, clearly where other vehicles had stopped and turned around before him, judging by the tracks. He also could see footprints leading up the sand towards the alien vessel. Isaac recognized the bootprints as from a normal Miner's RIG. Isaac checked his flame, and exited the vehicle, closing the door behind him. Isaac looked up at the huge arms of the Derelict as they loomed above him. While nowhere near as big as the Ishimura, it was far from small. Isaac wondered how it flew, shaped as it was. The only thing that would make sense to him, was the horns each were an engine, and the various holes at the rear were thrusters. Then again, he might have everything backwards. He warily climbed the rocks and followed footprints to the base of the craft, between the horns. Isaac was surprised to find not one, not even two, but three openings, side by side. Even more surprising, was their shape. Isaac glanced up and around at them. The openings were large, oval, and shaped, if he was honest, a little too similar to a human vulva. He could see ribbed protrusions on the walls inside, and he suppressed a shiver. Isaac saw footprints by the middle opening. He took a deep breath, checked his flamethrower, and headed into the middle opening.
Inside the Derelict, Isaac felt a new fear but it wasn't fear of having his head torn off, being eaten or even turned into a living womb for alien bugs. It was the oldest, and deepest fear humans had.
Fear of the unknown.
The walls of the Derelict looked even more alive that he could have imagined. Indeed, they reminded him so much of the Xenomorph nest, he at first wondered if they had done the same to the inside of the vessel. When he came closer and checked, though, it proved to be the same material as the outside of the vessel, but a different shade. Even this close, Isaac had no idea what it was made of. Was it metal? Plastic? Bone? Some bizarre combination? He had no idea. He was also struck by how big the passage was. He shined his light up, and the ceiling was about twenty feet above his head. His light shone on what looked like a huge rubbed tube that ran along the ceiling the whole length in one flowing, curved, unbroken line. Down the walls, huge rub-like structures protruded, along with more ribbed texture that almost looked more machine than alive. Isaac felt another shiver, didn't even try to suppress this one. His mind ran wild, wondering just what the beings who made such a vessel were like. He shoved this thought down as he ventured further in. He shined his light around, and couldn't ignore the similarity between the walls of the Derelict, and the structures the Xenomorphs built. Were they from the same world? If so, why were they here? He was determined to find out.
Isaac followed the path down, marking his map now and then. He saw no other doors or openings, but was aware the path curved. In fact, if he was correct, it was forming a spiral. Isaac followed the spiral passage, on and on, until he saw an opening at last. He kept his flamethrower ready, warily walking towards the huge doorway. As he rounded the corner at last, and saw what was inside, his jaw dropped.
The room was a huge sphere, great ribs on the walls thicker than he was tall stretched up to the ceiling where a transparent dome of some kind of alien glass let the red light of Aegis VII in. In the middle, was a raised circular platform, upon which was a huge form. Isaac could see the off-white of what looked like bone, flowing down into metal. At first, his mind couldn't process what he was looking at, slowly began to make observations. He saw arms, still gripping what looked to be handles of some sort. From there, Isaac saw what looked to be a head, a skull. From the face protruded what looked like a tube of some kind, flowing down into ribs that attached to the chest. Isaac drifted forward, almost in a trance. It almost looked as if the being had been looking into a giant telescope, which, most bizarrely, it seemed to actually be growing out of. Indeed, Isaac had a very difficult time determining where flesh ended and machine began. Was there even a difference? Isaac climbed up onto the platform, came closer. His head barely reached up to where the resting arm of this thing was, and he now better understood why the passages were so huge. If others of its kind were as big, and they were of human proportions, than it would have easily been fifteen feet tall when standing. Isaac looked the bizarre thing up and down, and realized, at least partially, what he was looking at.
"So . . . you were the pilot," he breathed. He looked at the huge construct, began to think.
Cybernetics were very much in use, and Isaac in fact was friends with a cybernetics engineer. If this species was older and more advanced than humans, it was not out of the question that they had combined them to such a degree a purely organic being like him would have a hard time distinguishing between the two. The engineer side of his mind was working, wondering if this being was a combination pilot, navigator and supercomputer all in one. It would make sense. Glancing around, it made Isaac wonder if, in some way, this whole ship was alive, and this being was the extension of it. Or was, at least. It clearly had been dead a very long time. Isaac was no biologist, but he thought he could make out the dried remains of a skin, but it looked to him like it had been exoskeletal. Even so, it looked like it was in the process of fossilization, which would mean it had likely been here longer than humans had even existed.
That was when Isaac's gaze fell on something. Warily, he climbed up onto the side of the machine, almost expecting the dead giant to open dead eyes and look at him. No such thing happened, thankfully. He likely would have had a heart attack if it did. What drew the engineer closer, was something familiar in this alien place. Something he had seen before. The ribs of the giant were bent outward, as if it exploded from inside. The hole was big enough Isaac could have put his whole head through. He looked up at the ancient skull. More pieces were beginning to fall into place. Kendra had said they thought the signal from the alien vessel was a distress signal, but found out it was a warning. Now he knew why. Isaac checked his RIG, and, sure enough, it was detecting a radio signal. He gave the command to play it, and was greeted with that same, strange wail he had first heard on the Kellion. He looked at the dead alien pilot. An automated distress beacon repurposed as a warning. One humans hadn't heeded. He wondered if he was actually hearing the voice of this being, and just what they were saying. His eyes drifted up and over the strange alien device it was seemingly growing out of.
They drifted down to the massive hands, nearly as big as he was. He saw a pad of buttons near to the hand and controls. What got his attention, was the fact the thick layer of dust on them was disturbed. The marks were far too small to have been made by the huge being, or even one of the Xenomorphs. Isaac reached his hand out, and realized they were human hand and fingerprints. "The survey team," he breathed. Isaac remembered that they had sent a team into the Derelict to investigate. Isaac hopped down, and saw bootprints in the dust. Isaac followed them through another large opening in the wall, down another of the organic hallways, curving around and then leading down, much to Isaac's surprise. He followed the prints, down and down, and saw another opening in the side of the hall. Isaac followed the bootprints down the side hall, curving further down. Isaac saw another door ahead, and a blue glow. He readied the flamethrower, and headed through. He stopped dead in his tracks at what he beheld.
If he thought the rest of the ship was big, this place was absolutely massive. The ceiling was at least seventy feet above him, hidden in darkness, the curved, organic walls even more grand here than anywhere else. Especially large ribs on the walls separated the area into various sections, doubtlessly reached from other sections. On the floor, was a blue glow. Isaac knew a Stasis field when he saw one, but this one was thin, like a laser in a fog, almost. In fact, the whole floor looked misty. It was clear enough, though, for Isaac to clearly see what was underneath. Leathery pods about three feet tall. Isaac's gazed drifted around. In the pit where he was, there must have been at least a hundred of them, likely more. He looked to the side from where he was up a curved incline, and saw more of the pits, fields of blue mist covering more of the eggs. They stretched off as far as he could see to both the left and right, seeming to curve. Isaac's head snapped back to the eggs. They were placed regularly, with a decent amount of space between them. He noticed some of the eggs were open. He saw the bootprints led down into the mist, and saw more disturbed dust. Like a body had been dragged. Isaac gave a soft growl.
The survey team from the colony had obviously explored further into the ship, and that poor sap Caldwell ended up sticking his nose in the worst possible place he could. Isaac looked up and around. Clearly the beings who made and crewed this ship were aware of the Xenomorphs, and were storing their eggs. They had seemingly gone to great lengths to not only keep them in Stasis, but also give them a warm, moist environment. His suit indicated that the temperature and humidity was almost tropical in the chamber. Isaac could think of only two reasons they would do something like this.
First, was they were studying the eggs and species. Maybe as part of some alien scientific or zoological project.
Second, and more disturbing, was they were using them as weapons. Isaac looked down at the Stasis field. Kendra had called the Xenomorphs "the ultimate weapon". If Earthgov had decoded the message, and knew it was a warning, they latter theory seemed more likely. Isaac turned and headed back the way he came. Isaac was more convinced he was right about how the first Xenomorph at the colony had gotten eggs and increased their numbers. He came back into the hall and followed it down, past where the bootprints ended in the dust. Now, Isaac kept his flamethrower up and ready. He truly had no idea what to expect, but was ready.
What he wasn't ready for, was the sight of something not organic, not alien. He stopped when he saw what it was. On the end of a long, metal rod, was a white metal and plastic pod, roughly oval in shape, tapered. It was a survey stick. Planetary surveyors would plant them at specified intervals, and use them to get a 3d map of the topography and geology of an area. This one, though, was an older, larger one. Isaac looked around, and saw several more, deeper in. He recalled that old human-made module from that rock chunk. Yes, if Earthgov was there a couple hundred years ago, as Kendra said, then they likely left their tools and research modules behind. Isaac followed he trail of survey sticks, leading down and through the curved corridors. Down twists and turns, along paths long disused, redolent of alien ghosts. He was a little surprised when the material of the Derelict ended, giving way to the red stone of Aegis VII once more. Isaac stepped down from the organic opening, turned and glanced up. The way the ship seemed to hook up to the hole didn't indicate to him that it had crashed. He turned, and noticed the shape of the tunnel was familiar. That same kidney-shaped section. Perhaps the Xenomorphs were not the ones who made the tunnels, after all. He kept his weapon ready as he followed the tunnel, down and around, curving into the rock deeper and deeper.
As his boots crunched in the dirt and loose rock, his mind raced with thoughts and theories. It was clear whatever the beings who made the Derelict ship were, they also had a presence below the planet. Why? All sorts of ideas ran through his head. Isolated and alone in those alien tunnels, he had no answers, even though that was what he sought. He rounded a bend, and stopped when he saw shapes that were familiar to him. White boxes stood, some open, others closed. They had a thick layer of dust on them. Isaac came forward and warily checked. Chests for gear and research tools, some large enough they would need several people or Kinesis to move. Isaac wiped the dust from one, and saw not the symbol of Earthgov, but the Sovereign Colonies.
Back before the formation of Earthgov, the various countries of the Earth still held sway, as did their colonies out in space. Isaac recalled school history classes, now fuzzy and vague, of distant times and wars, battles and treaties, ending with the formation of the United Systems of Earth, now known as Earthgov. It showed this was very old, as Kendra said, and he could see part of why Earthgov was in the dark, since this would have happened before they even came to be. Even so, they had some idea of the danger. The fact they were willing to send people out to investigate an alien lifeform, almost certainly hostile, boggled his mind. He suddenly stopped. It hit him then. "Send someone out . . ." he breathed. It hit him like a freighter to the head.
Why would Earthgov let CEC mine a quarantined world in a closed system? To let them uncover the alien, and see how deadly it was. Isaac felt his blood chill as the pieces began to fall into place. It was all a setup, likely from when they first surveyed Aegis VII. Heck, he wouldn't be surprised if someone in Earthgov gave them the coordinates of the alien ship for a survey site. Isaac looked at the old equipment boxes. At least the Sovereign Colonies had the brains to seal the system and destroy the records. The idiots in Earthgov wanted to actually bring these nightmares back! It was so beyond stupid, he could hardly fathom it. Isaac carefully checked the boxes, warily opening the larger one. Inside was just scanning equipment, likely for mapping the tunnels. Finding nothing else, Isaac moved on, making sure to make notes on the growing map of his RIG.
Isaac wound his way through the tunnels, further and further, until he came to a particularly large chamber. That was surprise enough, but it was the very large, white and gray research module that was sitting in the middle. It was a much larger version of the one Isaac had found in the chunk of rock back on the Ishimura. Just like in the modern day, such setups were modular in nature, with them able to drop premade modules, attach them, and make a whole command center or even colony with minimal effort. Isaac approached, still wary, and kept his flamethrower ready. He looked around, checked for any signs of the Xenomorphs. He approached the entrance of the module, and saw deep gashes and claw marks he was all too familiar with. Isaac grasped the handle and pulled the damaged door open. The depth of dust told him nothing had been there in a very long time, but he still was cautious. Inside of the module was a mess, instruments and gear strewn about. Clearly they had been panicked, and he didn't blame them. Isaac looked around, and saw something on a table in the center of the room. A cylinder about as long and thick as a flashlight. He picked it up, looked it over, and was surprised once again. It was a plastitype.
Back in the days before holograms dominated displays, small, paper-thin screens made of a type of plastic were the norm. In fact, they were also used to print out documents on, as by that time the wood and paper supply of the Earth was becoming far more limited. Isaac pressed the button on the side, pulled the two halves open, and looked at the screen. He couldn't help a bit of a smile in thinking it reminded of depictions of a Medieval scroll.
Emergency Purge Order: Research Site #426
Containment of lifeforms has been breached, unable to contain. Casualties mounting. Fatality rate at 76% and rising. Initiating emergency purge. All records to be destroyed, site to be cleared.
Modules 1, 4, 7 and 9 destroyed. Remaining modules overrun, unable to destroy them. Matriarch unrestrained. Origin vessel impervious to explosives, unable to destroy. Acoustical beacon deactivated. Signal negative. Security personnel eliminated, unable to destroy remaining modules. Shuttles 1, 5, 6 and 7 scuttled. Shuttles 2, 3, 4 destroyed by lifeforms. Insufficient explosives to scuttle shuttle 8, pulled and destroyed power cell.
Unable to fully comply with Purge Order. Recommend System Quarantine, orbital nuclear strike.
Isaac stared long and hard at the roll-up screen as he digested this information. His mind was racing. It was clear whoever wrote this was racing against time, and he could feel the desperation in it. When he saw they deactivated the beacon of the ship, it suddenly made sense why the CEC didn't pick it up, and after seeing the handprints, how it was now working again. He wasn't sure what a "matriarch" was, but what held his attention was there there was a remaining shuttle. If he could find that shuttle, and get it up and running, he could escape! However, that would leave a planet full of aliens, just waiting for Earthgov to come and find. Or anybody else who was unfortunate enough to stumble upon this ancient nightmare. He had to think of some way to destroy it all. First things first, though. He had to find that shuttle. Isaac set the plastitype back down on the table, and ventured further inside. He saw familiar signs of fighting, of claw marks, ancient bloodstains, bullet holes and acid damage. Sure enough, it looked like they had destroyed all their records. Isaac wound his way through, found similar scenes of aged carnage, and like before, no bodies. Likely, they were taken to the nest the Xenomorphs had made in the tunnels, either to be hosts, fuel for their nest, or even as food. He hoped for their sakes they had been able to end themselves before the black nightmare monsters could get to them.
Isaac wound his way through the modules until he saw directions printed on the wall. The words Flight field boldly displayed. Isaac smiled under his helmet, followed the directions, making notes on his map. After going through two more doors, Isaac came out into another large cavern. This one, though, had a ceiling open to the red skies of Aegis VII. Rock had crumbled in, or maybe even been blown up, but sitting in the shadow, was a white shuttle. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief. However, Isaac was not stupid, and was still wary. He kept his flamethrower ready as he approached, sticking to the walls and darting between cover. Isaac saw long-abandoned gear boxes left where they had been dumped, no almost covered in dunes of red sand. There were no bootprints to be seen anywhere, nor were alien footprints. Isaac warily approached the shuttle. He looked around, made sure it was safe, then approached the door. He looked around, grasped the handle, pulled and twisted. The door cycled with mechanisms that did not need power. The door slid open, and he stepped into the airlock. Inside was free from dust, indicating nothing had been inside likely since the last human had stepped inside about two hundred years prior. Isaac entered the shuttle proper, and a black pilot seat greeted him. Various consoles and gear sat where it had been left, but what surprised him was the presence of a large, long cryotube against one wall.
Back in the days before Shockpoint Drives enabled interstellar travel at more manageable timescales, trips could take months or even years. Crew of ships slept the entire duration in cryogenic sleep, then called "Hypersleep". While the technology was still around and used, it had largely been supplanted by Stasis, and even then, was more used in a medical sense, for putting people into either a healing coma, or to keep them dormant to prevent the spread of a disease until a cure could be found. He remembered it because of Nicole. Isaac almost jerked at the thought of her name, fought back the thoughts and memories. He couldn't fall apart. Not now. He still had a job to do, a promise to keep. He headed to the back of the vessel, and had a look. It was clearly of an older generation of technology, but, as luck would have it, Isaac had actually worked in a similar shuttle before.
Some people kept older models of spacecraft, much like some people kept and drove classic cars. He had worked on a shuttle not too dissimilar from this one. A Lockmart E66D, which was only a decade or so newer. He looked at the wires and plug for the power cell. He nodded. Yes, he was fairly certain he could rig a modern power cell to work with it, he just needed the cell. With that settled, Isaac noted the location on his RIG map, and thought. He would need to return to the colony, find a power cell, and bring it back. He was certain the ship would fly with a new power cell. Nothing else was damaged. That, though, left the issue of how to destroy the colony, the alien ship, and the tunnels and aliens within. Even the government researchers had said the ship was impervious to explosives. As he stepped out of the shuttle, he looked up into the sky, and saw the tectonic load, floating miles above. He had his answer.
If he could destroy the gravity tethers in the colony, the tectonic load would fall back into the planet. While tough, he doubted even the alien ship would survive being hit with a trillion tons of rock. With any luck, it would destroy the planet, and hopefully the Ishimura as well. Had it been a decade earlier, he could have overloaded the gravity tethers and created a black hole, but after the Wanat Disaster, they had implemented failsafes to prevent this from happening again. With a plan of action, Isaac headed back through the research modules and then back through the tunnels to the Derelict. As he did, Isaac thought on where he was.
With everything he saw, he was inclined to believe that this place, this whole planet, may have been one giant weapons testing facility. If the makers of the Derelict were using the Xenomorphs as weapons, then it would make sense they would do so out in some isolated, uninhabited world. They obviously were not stupid enough to make weapons of mass destruction on their own doorstep. They were smarter than humans, obviously. Isaac made it back to the vehicle without issue, much to his relief. Likewise, the drive back was uneventful. Isaac made sure to back the vehicle in, so he could jump in and hit the gas, as he would have little time before the tectonic load would hit the planet once he blew the gravity tethers. He warily ventured back through the colony, watching every shadow, nook and cranny, and avoiding vents like they were armed mines. He eventually found himself back in the square in front of the destroyed shuttle bay. There was an equipment lift that went down to Megavent 12, that ran under the colony. He also was certain he could find a power cell down there was well. Isaac hit the button, and took the lift down, hoping it wouldn't be the last time he saw the sky.
Isaac rode the lift down into the dark, and clutched the flamethrower tighter. He was liking this plan less and less.
The lift at last stopped. Isaac looked around, making sure he was low and as inconspicuous as possible. It was eerily quiet, even more down there, where wind couldn't blow. Isaac warily made his way forward, to a catwalk. He glanced down, making sure nothing was waiting in ambush. He felt vulnerable, walking on the catwalk, pretty much fully visible to anything that might be watching. There was pretty much no way to hide. His steps were careful and as quiet as he could make them as the engineer warily crossed the catwalk. Nothing but darkness could be seen below. Isaac noted the lights were not all on, and wondered if the Xenomorphs had destroyed these as well in order to better hide. He glanced around as he came to the end of the catwalk. Isaac glanced around from the platform he was on, noted it on his map. Once he blew the gravity tethers, he'd need to hoof it out of there, pronto. Good idea to have his escape route marked clearly on his map. Isaac headed over the next catwalk. He heard a freight tram, somewhere. Since they were automated, he had little hope of survivors. He came to another large platform, with large, white numbers for 63 boldly painted on the floor. He looked around, saw another catwalk to his right, and a ladder down. He glanced around, and checked the catwalk path first. Isaac found a supply room on the other side, but nothing of note, and headed back, then took the ladder down, and followed the catwalk to another platform. He was a bit surprised to find a holopad laying on top of a crate. Checking to make sure it was clear, Isaac picked it up and played the audio file.
"Parks, here. We got it all together. Me an' the guys scrounged up all the survey charges we could find, plus some detcord. Now we just gotta head down there and blow those slimy bastards to hell. Should be one hell of a fireworks show," said a gruff voice. Isaac looked, and saw the boxes and crates that stood empty read Danger! Explosives! One indicated it held detonation cord. All the boxes and crates were empty, every one. Isaac looked around. If all these crates gathered on the platform were explosives, Parks wasn't kidding. It would easily blow up half the colony. Sadly, Isaac knew their plan had not worked. He glanced to his left, saw another catwalk, and followed it. It led over and long the wall, and into another door. Isaac was gratified to read it led to the Gravity tethers. He opened the door and stepped into the hall. He looked one way, then the other. To his left was a store room. Down to the right, a long, dark hallway he normally wouldn't want a bar of. He checked the store room, but side from some odds and ends, it had been cleaned out. With a sigh, he headed the other way.
As Isaac made his way down the hall, he saw something familiar. He stopped as his flashlight shined on a very familiar nightmare, wetly glistening. Organic shapes lined the hall in tendrils and bone-like structures. His hunch had been right. The Xenomorphs had built another nest below the colony, likely around the power core and other machinery that produced heat. Isaac carefully made his way inside. His first goal was to find a power cell. He knew this would be the easier task. Finding a way to knock out the gravity tethers would be a taller order. The tendrils of alien substance grew thicker and more elaborate the further in he went. Pits in the walls and even floors resembled ribs and other organic formations. Isaac's stomach was twisting in knots as he once more ventured into the den of the most deadly predator the Universe knew. Isaac thought he heard a hiss, stayed hunkered down by the wall. When there was no repeat of the sound, he moved on, eyes darting around, flamethrower ready and full. Isaac's boots squished as he walked on the alien substance, lines of clear, viscous fluid dripping down in long strings from the ceiling and overhangs. More than once, Isaac had to check to make sure it wasn't a disguised Xenomorph. Isaac came to a larger room, a junction. What had likely once been a hub room was now a twisted forest of resin and biomechanical tendrils, twisting in incomprehensible shapes and lines. Isaac looked around, trying to find his way. He marked his map yet again. He looked up, and could see barely see a digital sign above a doorway. He came closer, looked, twisted. It was the way to Gravity Tether 12. He noted it on his map, checked the other way. Forward from where he entered was Reactor Maintenance. To the right was so heavily encrusted, he would have needed to be on his stomach to crawl through the narrow opening, the sign unreadable. Isaac checked his supply of ammo. He had plenty of ammo for the plasma cutter, Pulse Rifle and his flamethrower. Isaac headed towards Reactor Maintenance. He needed to find a power cell, first, and that was the most likely place.
Isaac headed deeper and deeper inside, wary and cautious. Isaac was almost startled out of his skin when he almost ran into a dangling foot. He stopped and looked up at the cocooned body of an unfortunate colonist. It was a man in an engineer's RIG, his chest torn open, white ribs exposed. His face was a mask of agony. Isaac glanced around, saw more bodies lining the walls. These had not yet started to absorb into the alien structure, and he surmised they had not been there as long as others. He pushed these thoughts down, kept his eyes peeled for any Xenomorphs. He knew they were in there, somewhere. He was grateful he had only thus far seen that one, but knew it was only a matter of time until he ran into them again. He hoped it was later rather than sooner. Isaac wound his way through the chamber, past several spent eggs and spider-creatures. He made his way further in, and came to a hallway that branched to the sides. He could see part of a sign through the resin, and the gravity tethers were to his left, and Gravity Tether Maintenance was just to his right. He hung a right, headed down the hall, crouched low, careful and slow. He found the door thankfully operable, and opened it. He peeked in, and smiled. There was plenty of power cells, glowing a soft blue. They were smaller than the one the shuttle would have used, but even more powerful. All he had to do was hook it up, jury rig it a little, and he was good to go. He picked one up, put it into a tool bag, and slung the bag around himself. He looked around, and noticed a few circuits, some semiconductors and put them in the bag as well. Better to have it and not need it. Now with that, he headed down the hall the other way to have a look at the nearest gravity tether, and see what he could do.
Isaac headed down the other way, carefully making his way down the hall and towards the nearest tether room. Isaac made it down to the door without incident, smiled, but then saw the door had been welded shut. He brought up his ion torch, unfolded the screen, and began to cut it open. Isaac had just about finished, when he heard a sound. A wet sound. He warily turned his head, and his heart leaped up into his throat.
Barely six feet away from him, nestled in among the resin, was a cluster of no less than four eggs. These, though, were closed, their surface dark, almost black, and shining wet. They looked . . . fresh. Even worse, the nearest one was opening, the top peeling open like a fleshy flower. Isaac snapped the torch off and yanked up the flamethrower. He saw movement, long, thin fingers covered in slime begin to peek over the side. Isaac doused all of the eggs with flaming fuel, quickly darting inside the door and hurried to weld it closed again. He did so not a second too soon, as the door almost buckled with the impact from the other side. Isaac flinched back, but managed to finish, then whirled and made sure the room was clear.
The gravity tethers still functioned, spinning long, glowing lines of gravitons as they did their job to keep the tectonic load up. What was unusual, was the body of a man in a Miner's RIG. He laid against a wall, his whole front bloody. The man had barely been able to hold his intestines in to get into the room. How he had managed to also weld the door shut with such a grievous wound was beyond Isaac. Isaac saw a device in the man's hand, and a trail of orange and black cord, leading up, over and coiling around and into the gravity tether, along with stacks of explosives. Isaac knelt, and saw the name on the uniform. Parks. Isaac looked at the man, his short black hair greasy and matted to his scalp. He looked down at what he realized as a detonator. He picked it up, and realized it was missing some parts. Isaac turned it over, opened the back. It was missing a semiconductor and some circuits. Isaac fished out some from his bag as he heard the aliens bang on the door again. Isaac hurried to restore the detonator. He could see the detonation cord led through ducts and to others. He had no idea how many, but if he was lucky, and he could take out even a third, it would release the payload. The only hitch, was this wasn't a remote detonator. The cord was long enough to reach out into the hall, but no way it would stretch out to the shuttle. Isaac soldered in the last circuit, snapped the back closed, and raised his flamethrower as the door gave way. If it came down to it, he'd take the vile things with him.
The door burst open, three of the Xenomorphs snarling at him as they tried to enter. Isaac doused them with flame, the three aliens screeching and retreating quite literally with their tails on fire. Isaac actually chased them out into the hall, keeping the flame on. He pressed himself against a wall, and pressed the button. The whole room exploded with so much force, Isaac felt his organs shake, a gout of fire blasting out of the door, the actual walls bending. He felt other explosions, the whole colony shaking. Alarms began to sound, emergency warning lights flashing red.
"Emergency. Geo-orbital gravity tethers offline. Tectonic load released. Impact imminent. All personnel evacuate immediately," the automated female voice of the colony announced. Isaac ran back down the hall, but saw a whole horde of Xenomorphs coming down the way he needed to go. He fired a gout of flame to slow them, ran past and down the hall. He knew it would loop back around, just had to hope they weren't smart enough to block off alternate escape routes. Isaac dashed down the hall with reckless abandon as alarms sounded and aliens screeched behind him. Steam blasted from pipes, wires sparked. He kept his flamethrower ready, blasted a few passages, just in case. "Attention. Emergency. All personnel must evacuate immediately. You now have twenty-five minutes to reach minimum safe distance," the colony computer announced. Isaac raced against the clock, down one way, turned, down another passage. Where the hell was he?! He turned, dashed down another hall, stumbled through some steam. He shook his head, wiped his faceplate, and froze.
Isaac was standing among an almost literal sea of alien eggs. His eyes grew wide. He looked around. They were everywhere, and like the others, they were not covered in dust, but looked fresh. Indeed, some were still very wet, glistening. He heard a wet sound, eyes following the sound. A long, muscular tube hung down, slowly depositing another egg onto the floor. His eyes moved up, saw the huge, wet mass that hung from gossamer strands like an endless length of intestines draped across the latticework of pipes and machinery. He followed the mass with his eyes, up to a looming, dark shape. He became aware of a sound he had thought was air scrubbers laboring to filter the Aegis VII air.
It was not. It was the sound of breathing.
The huge form moved, what he realized was a head tilted up. A massive head, as wide as he was tall. Elegantly shaped, almost like a crest, or crown. A face began to merge, sliding from within with a gruesome wet sound. An eyeless face, bigger than his whole upper body. Lips peeled back from teeth as long as his middle finger, almost clear as crustal. A sibilant hiss issued from the gargantuan form as he at long last understood where the eggs came from. Isaac felt a chill in his very soul. He saw movement, looked up, and saw smaller Xenomorphs slowly crawling into the room, on ceilings and walls. Isaac swung the flamethrower around, fired a gout. The mother alien gave a shriek the likes of which Isaac had never heard in his worst nightmares. He swore his ears were bleeding, it was so loud and shrill! He stumbled, flamethrower lowering. The huge alien froze, as did all the others. Isaac looked down, and saw his flamethrower was pointed at one of the eggs. His eyes grew wide as he looked up at her.
"No way . . ." he breathed, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He took a more aggressive stance, pointed the flamethrower at the nearest egg, pushed the nozzle against it. The mother alien lowered her head and hissed, baring her teeth, shaking almost literally with rage. Isaac now could better see his adversary, and she was terrifying.
She looked a good fifteen feet tall, if not more. She had four arms, two massive ones with hands as big as his whole torso, and two smaller arms curled against her chest. Two legs were curled up at her sides, seeming to clutch at her massive abdomen underneath, which churned and swelled with eggs. He vaguely could see a massive tail behind her, waving in the steam and mist. Isaac now realized what he was looking at, or, rather who.
The alien Queen turned her massive head and hissed at her brood to her right, who, much to Isaac's shock, backed off. She turned the other way, and the others did as well. Isaac's heart was pounding in his chest. He carefully backed away, glanced down at the map on his holographic projector at his chest. If he headed straight back, it should take him back out the way he came. He carefully backed away, but thought he saw some of the eggs twitch. His eyes flicked to the workers, and the Queen, who he knew wanted to tear him to shreds just from a single glance. He could hear alarms, knew he was on a time limit. He needed a diversion, and had just the one. He fished out a spare hydrazine fuel canister, held it and lit it from the nozzle of the flamethrower. "Hey, your Majesty! Here's your tribute!" Isaac yelled as he hurled the flaming canister towards the Queen's egg sac, the red cylinder rolling underneath as he turned and ran. The improvised bomb exploded a second later, tearing open the egg sac as the Queen screeched like a psychotic ancient locomotive.
Isaac Clarke ran as fast as his legs would carry him, not stopping for anything.
"Attention. Emergency. All personnel must evacuate immediately. You now have nineteen minutes to reach minimum safe distance," the colony announced. Isaac dashed back through the Hive, back through the door out into the Megavent, and nearly toppled over the edge. He dashed back the way he came, over the catwalks, then back up the ladder. He heard a boom echo, and heard a familiar, shrill, angered screech. His blood chilled as he scrambled up the ladder as fast as his limbs and joints would allow, now wishing he had kept in better shape. Isaac was panting as he dashed back the way to the elevator, heard more screeches, and knew now the whole brood and their Queen was after him, and he had no doubt they would tear him to shreds when they caught him. Isaac spared a single glance back, saw Xenomorphs glitter on the walls, saw them charging, and vaguely saw a huge shape behind them. Isaac doubled his efforts as he dashed to the equipment lift and hit the button. He whirled and brought up the flamethrower and fired a glob of flaming fuel to create a wall, then switched to the Pulse Rifle, not not at all caring if acid ate a hole through the floors, firing at the Xenomorphs as he rode the lift up. From where he was, rising above the chaos, he saw the Queen crawling on the wall just like her children did, larger, faster and orders of magnitude more aggressive than them. He glanced up, hoped and hoped the lift would reach the top before she did. He reloaded his flamethrower one last time, fired another fire wall, then followed it up with the Pulse Rifle. It didn't seem to even slow her down. He may as well have been using a BB gun. His heart was in his throat when he saw her reach the wall below and begin to climb, and knew he was as good as dead in a few scant seconds. He looked up, and the lift was just reaching the top. Isaac didn't wait for it to fully stop, instead dashing as fast as his legs would take him.
Isaac reached the square in front of the building where the vehicle bay was, dashed for the door. He was shocked when a gunshot rang out. He yelled as he felt the round impact his armored shoulder and knock him back. Thankfully, the Venture Rig stopped the bullet. He looked up, and shouldn't have been surprised to see Kendra pointing her pistol at him.
"All right, Isaac. Hand over the power cell. I'm not joking," she snarled. She was disheveled and dirty. How the mighty had fallen. Isaac knew if he tried to attack, she would shoot him in the face. At that close range, he wasn't sure his RIG would stand up to it. That was when he saw something move, on top of the building. He chuckled and shook his head. "What's so funny?" she growled. He chuckled again.
"Kendra, didn't you ever wonder where the eggs came from?" he said. Kendra raised an eyebrow at him. Isaac dove out of the way as the Queen stabbed her tail blade through Kendra's middle and lifted the screaming woman up into the sky. "Well, meet mama!" he yelled as he ran for the building as Kendra screamed and gargled, the Queen snarling as she stared at the dying woman, before opening her mouth and her massive tongue shot out and smashed Kendra's entire head like an egg. The Queen then turned as Isaac disappeared through the door. She screeched and dove after him. Isaac yelled in both fear, and shock as the massive Queen managed to squeeze down into the building and barrel after him. Isaac bounced off a wall and frantically ran for the vehicle bay, leaping into the truck, starting it and driving off as fast as he could.
"Attention. Emergency. All personnel must evacuate immediately. You now have twelve minutes to reach minimum safe distance," the colony computer announced through the radio. Isaac winced. It was going to be close. He put the pedal to the metal, tires screeching as the vehicle tore down the path. Isaac hardly dared to slow down, only doing so when absolutely necessary. He glanced at the rear camera, and felt his heart flip in his chest. The Queen was still after him, thundering after him, crawling on cliff walls, on top of rocks.
"Oh, fuck!" Isaac yelled as he gunned it. The Queen screeched behind him. He drove as fast as he dared, but the Queen was gaining on him. His heart was pounding as he drove over the rocks as fast as he dared. The Queen screeched again, and the vehicle rocked, a screech of metal tearing. Isaac glanced up, and saw her retracting her tail, readying for another strike. If she hit one of the tires, he was done for! He swerved, and her strike missed. She hissed in anger and Isaac growled. Isaac rounded a corner of rock, and saw the valley below, and the Derelict up ahead. He gunned it as fast as the vehicle could go, for now leaving the Queen in his dust. He drove as fast as he could, right up to the very edge of where the vehicle would make it, and then dove out of the vehicle and scrambled up the rocks and into the opening of the Derelict as the Queen screeched behind him, the sound echoing off all the rocks as Isaac ran like a madman. Down the curling hall, around and then past the petrified alien pilot. Isaac didn't stop to spare it a single glance, dashing back down the other hall, hoping he would confuse her Highness, at least for a little bit. As he dashed down the halls, he heard her thundering after him, and knew his hopes were in vain. Isaac blasted a flame wall down behind him, but knew it likely wouldn't do much more than make her angry. Isaac dashed down the halls, and into the stone tunnels, his legs burning, but he hoped his body would hold out just a tiny bit longer. He checked his RIG. He had five minutes until the tectonic load hit. It was going to be tight.
Isaac dashed out into the large cavern, saw the research modules, just as the Queen thundered in behind him. Isaac yelled as he dove inside the module just as the Queen lunged at him. He yelped as she hissed and snarled, trying to force her large head into the small door. What was most scary, was she was actually doing it! As if she was somehow able to fold down on herself and squeeze into smaller spaces. Isaac didn't stop to watch, dashed through the labs and modules, knocking things over in his mad dash. He heard her behind him, crashing through things, screeching, tearing the whole module to shreds. He almost threw himself out the last door, dashed for the shuttle, up into the doors, closed them and hurried in to connect the power cell. He tried not to panic, hurrying to connect loose wires, pull out parts he needed from the bag, solder, place. "There!" he gasped as he put the cell in and then hurried to the pilot seat.
He looked at his RIG and his time. He had exactly two minutes. He hit buttons, typed and flipped switches. The console lit up, he hit the thrusters and the shuttle began to lift into the sky. He was about fifty feet up, when the shuttle rocked violently. He looked around in alarm. He checked the outside cameras, and he was grateful the suit had a catheter system. The Queen was clinging onto the bottom of the shuttle like a giant black insect. Isaac swore as she screeched. Alarms sounded around the shuttle. Isaac typed as the shuttle dangerously swerved, higher, but also twisted in the air as they rose, human and alien. He saw the tectonic load coming down, the bottom glowing as it began to hit the atmosphere. He typed and hit the thrusters, swiveled them around. "Burn, bitch!" he growled as he focused the thrusters on the Queen. The massive alien screeched, snarled, tried to hang on. Isaac kept it up, hit the throttle more, and at last, the Queen fell from the shuttle with a screech, while Isaac shot up into the clouds and out from the atmosphere of Aegis VII. He turned the shuttle around and watched as the tectonic load plummeted into Aegis VII. He covered his face as a blinding flash lit up space. The planet cracked, and began to explode, a huge chunk tearing into the beleaguered Ishimura, tearing the ship in two. Isaac turned the shuttle and rocketed out for the edge of the solar system.
Isaac sighed as he unfastened the helmet and removed it, the suit hissing. He almost melted into the seat as relief flooded into him. He rubbed the side of his head, caked with dried blood from where the Runner's tail had cut his face, seemingly a lifetime ago. He rubbed his face, and his eyes. He stifled a sob, his back heaving. Alone, in the silence of the shuttle, Isaac Clarke wept. He wept for Nicole, he wept for Hammond, Chen, Johnston, Kyne. So many people, dead. For untold minutes he wept. After what felt like an eternity, Isaac wiped his eyes at last, then checked over readouts. He leaned back in the chair, flicked a switch, cleared his throat, and began to speak. "Final report of the USG Kellion. Engineer reporting. The other crew members, Hammond, Chen, Johnston . . . Daniels, are dead. Ship destroyed. The USG Ishimura is also destroyed, along with cargo and all members of crew and colony. If these readouts are right, I should reach the Core worlds in . . . about three years. If I'm lucky, they might pick me up sooner. This is Isaac Clarke, last survivor of the USG Kellion. Signing off." With that, he turned off the recording. He looked out at cold space, now knowing that humans were not alone out there.
He recalled some author once said "We are either alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." Whoever they were, their words were beyond prophetic. Isaac rose, groaning as he did, his body complaining now in earnest. As he looked at the cryosleep tube, a nice, long rest actually sounded nice. He removed the RIG, stripping down to his white t-shirt and shorts, got into the pod, and let it close. As his mind faded from consciousness, he closed his eyes and thought of Nicole.
"Goodnight, Niccy," he said as a single tear rolled down his face.
End
