Three World War (1)
Planet: KJ-147
Year: 2332
Sergeant Hadrick Schaefer looked out at the looming Mt. Avard raptly as the sun began to set below the horizon of the surrounding mountain range. He and a couple of his buddies, Sergeants Dale Gordon and Gus Cooperland, and Major Robby Anderson, had just finished leading a small army of colonial marines into the mountain to take down a rather large hive of xenomorphs that was threatening the nearby colony of Brackens.
The mission had been successful, the hive had been destroyed, and the colonists were safe. Another day saved by the UACM, and Hadrick smiled proudly at the thought. At least he would have had they not taken any survivors.
Accompanying the marines was the Weyland Yutani Research Retrieval Team. They'd been tasked with recapturing some of the assets that they'd lost when they escaped containment from one of Mr. Weyland's research facilities, which just so happened to be a couple miles away.
As he sat there and chewed on his cigar, Hadrick spied the retrieval team's camp that stood about a hundred yards away from where the marine's camp was. They were making sure that the locking clamps were secure on the containment units. There were four in total, three which housed a collection of drones and warriors, and a fourth larger one which held the hive's queen. Hadrick scowled as he watched them.
During their skirmish with the hive, the retrieval team took the opportunity to isolate the queen and push her into the containment unit using flamethrowers. Had it been up to Hadrick he would have had them torched, but given the circumstances he wasn't authorized to do so. Weyland wanted his assets back alive. Go fucking figure, Hadrick thought, still scowling as he blew an angry cloud of smoke from his lips.
He thought about the marines who'd died on the mission. There weren't as many casualties this time as there normally were, and although Hadrick was thankful for that, it still didn't make their sacrifice any less meaningless. Those marines died saving an unsuspecting colony, meanwhile the clean-up crew had taken advantage of their sacrifice in order to reclaim Weyland's precious pet monsters. As if he even needed them.
Weyland had three other queens, and a surplus of drones, warriors, and eggs stationed in several other facilities located around KJ-147, and even on a couple bases stationed on two of the planet's moons. Why Weyland wanted this queen back when he already had so many, Hadrick didn't know, nor did he really care, but it felt like such a damn waste. Every time there was an outbreak the marines were called in to clean up the mess, but let the recovery teams do their job and recapture assets. And if marines or personnel had to be offered up so the assets could be returned safely, then so be it.
"Casualties of war." Hadrick heard Weyland call them once. He wanted to put his size ten boot up his ass when he said that, but luckily he restrained himself from doing so.
Hadrick growled as he thought about it. The fact that the marines were being used to help coverup Weyland's mistakes, and to help rescue his assets infuriated him. Outside of that their lives were nothing but meaningless cannon fodder. So long as Weyland got what he wanted, what did it matter?
As he thought about the lives that'd been lost that day, Hadrick's thoughts were drawn to his wife, Julia. He took out a picture of her from his back pocket as he thought about the day he lost her. She died five years ago during an outbreak at one of Weyland's facilities. She'd sacrificed herself in order to save him and several other marines who'd been pinned by a swarm of xenomorphs. She'd meant the world to him, but to Weyland and the rest of his corporate lackeys she was just another statistic.
Hadrick rubbed at the scars on his face as he thought about her. Three jagged parallel lines that ran diagonally from the right side of his face down to the left. He'd sustained the wound during that same mission in which he'd lost his wife.
He missed her badly. He wanted to cry, but didn't. He was a very stoic man, much like those of his family who came before him.
Not only was Hadrick a marine, but he was also a Schaefer. His family had been filled with a long line of physically strapping human male specimens. Not only that, but his family had also gone up against the extra-terrestrial hunters, now called Predators, and each time they'd managed to kick their ugly asses back into outer space.
They were stories that had been passed down from family member to family member ever since Alan "Dutch" Schaefer first encountered one back on Earth in the jungles of Central America. He was never heard from again after the incident, however his brother ,John Schaefer, had found out about his brother's harrowing experience and passed the tale down. He'd also faced off with the monsters on three separate occasions as well.
Like his ancestors before him, Hadrick had also fought a Predator, and lived to tell the tale. He even had proof to back up his story, one of the hunter's disk weapons. He kept the story to himself however, purely out of family tradition and the fact that he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. Very few people outside of his family knew about their encounters with the Predators, and he wanted it to stay that way.
As Hadrick sat there by himself, his friends and most of the other marines were celebrating their victory with a couple of campfires, 1980s music and cheap beer. It wasn't much but it kept them happy nonetheless.
As the marines were sharing stories of some of their previous missions, Gordon noticed Hadrick sitting by himself and moved over to him.
"What's going on buddy?" Gordon asked cheerfully as he sat down beside Hadrick, not noticing the picture in his hand. It didn't have to take a sobriety test to tell he'd been having a few drinks.
"Nothing." Hadrick responded simply.
"Well you can't be doing nothin'. You do nothin' you stop livin'. You stop livin' you stop breathin'." Gordon joked.
Hadrick tried to chuckle for his friend but all that came out was a depressed grunt.
"Hey what do you say you come over to the fire with us? The guys and I are telling the newbies about our rookie years." Gordon invited.
"Not feeling it." Hadrick responded with a low voice.
Gordon stopped laughing after he noticed the picture in Hadrick's hands.
"Still thinking about Julia, aren't you?" Gordon sighed.
Hadrick huffed as he nodded his head.
"She was a damn good woman, she was… Helluva marine too."
"God I miss her..." Hadrick whispered as he gently moved his fingers along the precious photo.
"I know you do, buddy. I do too." Gordon said as he put a reassuring hand on Hadrick's shoulder.
For a few moments the two just stood there in silence, looking down at the picture in Hadrick's hands before finally Gordon stood up and spoke. "Hey man. The guys over there are havin' a good time. What's say you come over. I know you miss her. But thinkin' about it won't do any of you any good. Come on over and have a little fun with us."
Hadrick heaved another sigh. He didn't really want to, but Gordon wasn't wrong about what he said. Sitting around and mopping wasn't going to do him any good.
"You know what Dale, old buddy? You're right. I think I will." Hadrick said as he forced a short smile.
"That's the spirit." Gordon said encouragingly.
"Hey, hey, hey. Look over there." Gordon said, grabbing Hadrick's arm and pointing at the retrieval team's camp.
Hadrick turned to look at what he saw. Some of the personnel who were looking over the containment units were standing a little too close to them. One of them was even looking inside the poke holes.
"Oh, this should be good." Hadrick chuckled as they watched.
Suddenly a clawed arm tore out of the peak hole, reaching and swiping at the guy who looked inside. The thing had nearly taken his head off, but Hadrick and Gordon continued laughing all the same.
"Come on buddy, let's get outta here." Hadrick said as the two began moving towards the campfire.
As the two were just about to sit down with the rest of the marines, a loud ZAP tore through air, before a marine's torso exploded like a geyser, splatting everyone in front of him with gore.
"Jesus!" Cooperland roared as he jumped to his feet, grabbing his pulse rifle as he did so. The rest of them did the same stupidly pointing at the dead marines body as they looked at it in horror.
"Good Lord. What the hell happened to him?" Gordon asked as he looked at the smoking hole in the marine's chest. Whatever it was that killed him, it'd been so hot that it cauterized the wound.
"What the fuck was that!" One of the rookies screamed before another ZAP sounded behind him, and his head shattered into pieces. Another sound cut through the air immediately after and the dropships exploded into flames.
Hadrick, Dale, and some of the other marines ducked to the ground. Hadrick aimed his rifle at the surrounding forest as he looked for targets.
"What is this shit man! What the fuck is happening!?" Another one of the marines exclaimed. His question was answered almost immediately as a blue stream of light tore straight through his arm. The marine screamed in agony as he held his stumped appendage shortly before another blue beam cut through his abdomen ending his life.
Hadrick recognized what was attacking them as soon as he saw it.
"Predators!" He yelled as he and Gordon began lighting up the surrounding jungle with a barrage of bullets. The rest of the marines began following their lead shortly after. As they did that, a cascade of plasma projectiles came raining down the treeline.
Hadrick roared angrily as he unloaded the magazine in his pulse rifle before replacing it with a fresh one. He tried finding a target but the aliens had their damn cloaking devices on. The devices acted like a form of camouflage, allowing the hunters to blend into their surroundings, but it didn't make them completely invisible.
The monster's shimmering forms danced like shadowy ghosts in between blasts of blue energy, as they pounced and ran through the jungle.
As Hadrick continued spraying, one of his shots struck the alien, which was standing on a tree. The creature bellowed in pain as it held at the wound. Its bioluminescent green blood gave its position away to Hadrick allowing him to see it, despite the fact it's cloak was still on.
The alien attempted to shoot him with one of its plasma projectiles, but the creature missed by several inches. The blast sent Hadrick flying forward, but he was able to recover quickly enough to blast the hunter with a stream of bullets. The Predator screeched in anguish as it fell dead to the ground.
Gordon found one shortly after, by lobbing a grenade. The explosion illuminated the surrounding jungle in front of him, allowing him and Hadrick to catch a short glimpse of its shimmering camouflage. The both of them roared as they unloaded on the monster, killing it.
One of them stabbed a marine in the gut with its wrist blades, shortly before attempting to take his skull and spine as a trophy. Hadrick wouldn't allow it however and blew the monster to pieces with a grenade.
As they continued to fight, some of the hunters began blasting at the containment units, freeing the xenomorphs inside.
Unprepared for the sudden attack, some of the recovery personnel tried running away, while others tried to fight back and contain them. Both efforts were futile as the xenomorphs quickly dispatched most of the recovery personnel before turning their sights on the warring marines and Predators.
"Shit! The xenos are loose." Anderson said as he blasted one that attempted to rush him.
Cooperland and Gordon ,who were still fighting the Predators, were unaware that they'd escaped. Three of the spidery creatures began rushing at them from behind. The creatures managed to jump them from behind and pinned them to the ground. They struggled with the creatures momentarily before Hadrick killed one with his pulse rifle and forced the other two back with a flamethrower.
"Don't like fire, do you, you ugly sons-of-bitches!" Hadrick roared at them challengingly. One of the monsters hissed as it circled him, while the other attempted to sneak up on him from behind. Aware of the creature's ploy, Hadrick spun around and torched the one that tried to jump him from behind. The other attempted to rush him but he quickly put it down with the pulse rifle.
"You guys alright?" Hadrick asked as he helped Gordon and Cooperland back to their feet.
"Still breathin' thanks to you." Cooperland said gratefully.
"Thanks man," Gordon managed to get out before an explosion sent Hadrick flying.
The world spun as he flew until his back hit what felt like a tree trunk. His head spun dizzily as he attempted to get back up. There was a ringing in his ears as he attempted to recover but it quickly went away.
"Hadrick." he heard his friends call for him.
Hadrick attempted to call out to them but the wind had been knocked out of him after hitting that tree. Thankfully he managed to gasp for air just as the dizziness went away. He was about to thank the good Lord above that he was still alive, right up until he saw the xenomorphs in front of him. Not only that but he'd somehow managed to end up in the jungle away from everyone else. Hadrick tried to crawl away all while attempting to find his missing pistol. One of the monsters screeched as it leapt at him. Just when he thought he was done for, a blue plasma beam blew the monster's torso open.
As Hadrick got back to his feet, he looked up and saw the shimmering form of one of the Predators. The creature growled as it deactivated its camouflage and effortlessly killed the remaining aliens with its bladed gauntlet.
The creature turned to face him, allowing Hadrick to get a better look at it. It was difficult for him to make out in the dark, but he was able to see it from the flashes and explosions happening paces away from them. The hunter stood roughly eight feet tall, and wore reddish green armor that was held together by its fishnet meshing. Its long hair-like dreadlocks that hung down past its shoulders swayed from side to side as it moved, and the eyes on its smooth mask flashed with green light as they stared down at him. The monster splayed its arms wide as it roared at him in a challenging manner.
Hadrick saw his pistol lying a couple of paces away he attempted to reach for it, but the monster smacked him to the ground before stomping on his gun, shattering it. Hadrick looked back up at the hunter as it prepared its wrist blades.
Hadrick rolled away as the alien brought its bladed gauntlet down. He attempted to force it back with a kick but the monster caught his foot before it threw him away. As the creature stomped towards him, Hadrick reached for his knife that hung on his waist. Just as the creature threw its arm forward to stab him, he dove to the side and buried the knife in its arm. The Predator shrieked in pain as it tore its arm away. The hunter attempted to smack him with its other arm, but he ducked before driving the knife into its thigh.
The alien hissed angrily before kicking him away leaving the knife buried in its leg. The hunter growled as it removed the knife, before falling on its hands and knees. The creature grunted as if in pain as it held its stomach. Hadrick wondered what was wrong, but he didn't dwell on it long, as he reached for a large stick before charging at the monster. Hadrick growled as he swung at the alien's face repeatedly. The Predator retaliated by punching him in the gut before ripping the stick out of his hand and smacking away with it.
Hadrick felt blood begin to trickle from his lip as he landed on his face, but he ignored the pain and got back up as quickly as he could and readied himself. The hunter ,still holding its abdomen in pain, got up as well, and began stomping towards him.
Just as the two were about to clash, someone spoke. "Hey ugly!"
Hadrick turned and saw Dale, Cooperland, and Anderson.
"You aren't making a trophy outta him fucker!" Gordon roared as he and Anderson blasted the monster with their rifles. The Predator hissed as it tried to block the shots with its arms. As it tried to retreat Cooperland shot a grenade at it blowing it away.
"Come on Schaf, we need to go now! Something weird is happening!" Anderson told him.
Hadrick didn't need to be told twice that it was time to leave, but the last part left him puzzled. As he ran back to the camp with his friends he also noticed that there was no more gunfire or explosions.
Hadrick's mind began to race with questions as to what was happening. His questions were answered almost immediately after they arrived back at their camp. The marines had stopped fighting and thankfully nothing was attacking them, but that didn't mean the fight was over.
Everyone watched as the Predators fought the remaining xenomorphs, while some of them released the queen from her containment unit. After they finished prying the door off the hunter's immediately began to surround the queen. One of the aliens lept on the back of the queen's neck while the rest began restraining its arms with ropes and chains. The one riding on the queen held a blade to its neck. Seeing that their queen was in danger, the xenomorphs began to hold back and allow the Predators to do their work. Once the xenos were pacified the hunters brought up a net like object with two long bone-like arms attached to it, which they proceeded to throw at her. As they did so the arms began to move around the queen, tangling around its body before forming some sort of straightjacket that restrained her arms and tail to the rest of her body. The queen screeched in outrage as they began to pull her towards the jungle. As they did so the xenos followed them, but they didn't attack lest the one hunter kill their queen.
Before they completely disappeared into the jungle, one of the Predators looked back at the group of marines. The eyes on its mask flashed orange before it activated its cloak and retreated into the jungle.
/
"We need to get the queen back!" The leader of the recovery team screamed in Anderson's face angrily.
"Screw that, we're getting the hell outta here." Gordon said defiantly as he took a sip of his beer can.
Dale's right. We just lost over half our team against those things, and I'm not about to waste anymore lives to do so." Anderson told him.
"You guys are marines! You're suppose to do your fucking job!" The man continued to scream at Anderson to no effect.
"We're supposed to protect human lives, not your damn boss's assets. Besides you saw what those bastards could do. What makes you think we could take them on?" Hadrick told him.
"Just got in touch with base. They've sent a dropship our way, should be here in a couple of minutes." Cooperland told Anderson.
"Nice work, Cooperland." Anderson said to him before excusing him.
"You can't just leave! We have to get Mr. Weyland's assets back!"
"Oh, really pal? Watch us." Gordon said nonchalantly as he took another swig.
"Urgh, fine. We get the dropship and we can go after them. We'll still manage to..."
"The queen is gone and that's that! Now shut up and sit down! We're goin' home!" Hadrick told him as he blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth.
"Look if we..." The man tried to protest again when something that sounded like a rocket began to take off.
Everyone watched as a ship of some kind quickly began to ascend before rocketing into space.
"They made it." Cooperland said with a short smirk on his face.
"And there they go." Hadrick added.
"Bye-Bye." Gordon waved before finishing the rest of his can and crushing it.
"Dammit! This is all your fault, you stupid..." The man continued to complain before Hadrick shut him up.
"Hey, dumbass look around ya. Look at all this tech their boys left behind. Weyland's been trying to get his hands on this shit for years. The ugly motherfuckers practically gave it to us, just haul it back and he'll be happy."
The man paused looking down at the dead aliens. There were seven in total, and each one was strapped with weapons and technology. The man began to whisper. "Yeah... Yeah this'll work... This'll be amazing..."
"There now shut up, before we make you walk home." Hadrick threatened before putting his cigarette back in his mouth.
As they waited there, Hadrick looked down at one of the dead Predators. Despite the bloodbath that had just taken place, it somehow felt... easy. That and it felt like there was something he was forgetting almost overlooking. Hadrick didn't like that feeling one bit.
"Look. There she comes." Gordon said as the dropship came into view.
Everyone began to cheer happily when they saw it. As they did so, the Predator's arm computer began to beep.
"Uh, what the hell is that?" One of the marine's asked as everyone turned their attention to it.
Shortly afterward, the rest of them began to beep.
Hadrick's eyes widened when he finally realized what he'd forgotten. He remembered his father telling him about the wrist computer, and how the hunters used them as self-destruct devices. That and he also remembered how powerful they were. It only made sense that they wouldn't allow them to get their hands on their tech.
"Shit! We need to go now!" Hadrick jumped up as the dropship landed.
Dale, Anderson, Cooperland and the rest of the marines, all began to follow his lead and ran to the dropship as well.
"Get this bird up in the air now!" Hadrick told the pilot.
"What the hell is..." The pilot was about to ask before Anderson silenced him.
"You heard what he said! Get us out of here now!"
As Hadrick and the others all began to strap in, he said a quick prayer, asking, begging that they'd make it out alive. All he could do then was hope God was listening to him, and that the dropship was fast enough to get them out.
As they flew away, there was a sudden violent rocking as the dropship was hip by the shockwave of the Predator's wrist bomb explosion. The pilot's quickly managed to correct the disturbance and the ride became smooth again.
"Thank-you God." Hadrick whispered gratefully before taking out the picture of his wife. "Thank-you too babe." He smiled as he said that.
/
"Shit!" The leader of the recovery team cursed as he looked around at the devastation. The bombs had left a massive crater in the ground, and with the explosion being so close to one of the colonies, somebody should have been able to see or at least hear it. Weyland was going to have quite a bit of explaining to do, and from the look of the retrieval team leader's face it was going to cost him his job, or perhaps something worse.
"Should've known they wouldn't make it easy on us." Hadrick said.
"You said it man." Gordon said, astonished by the destruction around him.
"Hey guys! Come over here! You're gonna wanna see this!" One of the marines called to them.
As Hardick and the others came up they could all hear roaring and screeching. Once they got to the top of the ledge they could see what was causing it. One of the Predators had survived. Not only that but it was the same one that Hadrick had fought earlier, he could tell by the recognizable reddish green armor it wore.
The hunter had lost its mask, allowing everyone to see its disgusting crab-like face. The creature laid on its back and roared in anguish as it held its round stomach. Hadrick hadn't noticed that when he fought it, he also hadn't noticed the alien's breasts. Female. It also didn't take a doctor to see that the thing was also pregnant and that it was in labor.
As the hunter continued to write the creature noticed Harick. The monster glared angrily at him as its mandibles flared in a painful roar.
"Let's kill this ugly bitch!" Gordon said as he aimed his rifle at it.
"No! Let's bring it back alive." Hadrick suggested.
He didn't know why he did that. The thing had tried to kill him and his team earlier, but something felt wrong about it to him. He couldn't figure out why he felt that way. What felt even more weird though was that Anderson agreed with him.
"Get a med-unit over here now we're gonna need it." He ordered.
"Are you crazy?!" Cooperland blurted.
"You heard me! Get the damn med-unit over here now!" Anderson ordered.
"Looks like Weyland will have something to take back from this after all." Hadrick said gravely.