Same time
The power fizzed, a whirring followed by high-pitched beeping only A'luet could hear. Far off there was a boom.
He stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Jessie asked.
The power died, auxiliary lights blinking on. An alarm sounded.
The four soldiers all looked at each other.
"What's happening?" Jessie demanded.
"Something's breached security."
A'luet jabbed his gauntlet. "Well. Your boss is screwed."
There was still an odd air about the four young men, like they couldn't believe their eyes and ears an alien could be so articulate. Wait until they got a load of P'sy….
"Why?" The one named Stein demanded. He fidgeted. "Not that I care really. The woman is fucking psycho."
A'luet glanced at Jessie. "P'sy is here."
"Oh."
Their companions' eyes bounced between girl and alien, waiting for clarity.
Jessie bobbed her head, just for dramatic effect.
"She is screwed."
"Whose that?"
"My friend. Let's keep moving.
They followed the hall, twists and turns spiking Jessie's adrenaline each time, wondering who would meet them with big guns. No one, luckily.
Booker ran a card through an electronic reader, a door popping open, pressurized air hissing.
The room beyond was shadowed and enormous, a hangar of sorts.
In the middle with ladders leaning against it, was P'sy's ship.
A'luet didn't waste time with the stairs, instead free falling over the side, the twenty foot drop nothing to him as he landed gracefully. There was some noise of disbelief above him but he ignored it, his attention only on the ship. Everything looked intact on the outside, he hoped the same went for inside.
He boarded it-
-And breathed a sigh of relief when everything was untouched, though the stink of humans clung to the metal. He could only imagine what P'sy would have to say about that.
He quickly sat, flipping switches. A computerized handprint blinked on screen, he pushed his palm against it. In response, the board lit up, its AI brain awakening and calibrating, identifying everything in its sight.
He pulled a wire loose, clicking it into the side of his gauntlet.
Soft footfalls.
It was an odd sight, even to him, seeing an ooman walking towards him, her demeanor like she was in a museum. Curious, knowing not to touch anything.
"It's so metal."
He snorted a laugh. "Yeah, needs to be sturdy enough for long distance travel."
She gave a small smile. "Through space."
He nodded.
"How far away from home are you?"
"5 billion noks." He paused. "Four-million lightyears."
There was a beep, signaling the end of the sync between his gauntlet and the plane.
"And you can make it there and still be alive?"
He stood and closed the distance, noting the soldiers loitering outside the ship, clearly interested but hesitant to follow her into the ship.
"We use a form of warp. Makes the trip a lot quicker."
Her eyes roamed, landing on what she could see of the cockpit. "Too bad you can't give me lessons on how to fly…not fair humans are only saddled with toys…." Her smile faded, as she glanced back out the way she entered. "Though maybe it's a good thing we're so primitive."
"You don't want to live in my world." A'luet brushed by her.
"It'd be better than the one I'm currently in."
He heard her, the sadness. She said at the cabin she lost her family in the Gunnison blast. All she had was Dallas, Ricky, Kelly and her daughter, and them.
He waited for her at the bottom of the ramp.
When she appeared, the sadness was replaced with determination.
"Where are they keeping Ricky?"
There was hesitance to answer.
"Close by?"
Perreca nodded.
Jessie grew irritated.
"Am I talking to myself? Where?"
"Probably the research infirmary."
"Research infirmary?" A'luet repeated. "What the hell is that?"
Stein scoffed. "What do you think? He was caught in your company. They'll be having their scientists studying to see if he picked up any anomalies or anything from being around you."
Jessie got in Stein's face.
"And where is that?"
…..
They made a better team than P'sy would have thought.
He took point. Kelly had her new favorite weapon and Dallas next to her. And they left a trail of bodies behind them.
He felt some of his pent-up angst dissipating, not having to feel guilty about the corpses as the oomans made the mistake of shooting at him first; took the worry of Bad Blood status right out of the equation in his mind.
Unfortunately, the array of victims grew smarter and harder to kill the deeper into the facility they went.
There was a feminine yell.
P'sy's concentration deviated in time to see Kelly disappear down a flight of stairs.
"Kelly!"
Dallas tried to go after her but a well-placed punch from his assailant sent him doubled over. The ooman male went down, but was resourceful in tackling the thick soldier at the knees.
P'sy could leave the man for a moment.
He booted his own attacker backwards and was lucky the man's aim sucked as a bullet ricocheted off his gauntlet when he brought his arm up to block.
He growled and grabbed the soldier, headbutting him, the man's helmet no match for his biomask.
Maybe he didn't kill him, P'sy didn't care.
…..
Same time
Kelly hit the floor hard, her elbows jamming into the stairs and her face making impact with the curvature of the wall.
She cried out, thankful the Kevlar held up. At least she could cross broken ribs off her list of possible injuries after taking a header down the stairs.
Fingers fisted her ponytail, hauling her up.
She flailed, managing a well-placed punch to the guy's eye.
"You fucking bitch!"
She hit the opposite wall, his grip making sure to bounce her forehead off the unforgiving concrete.
There was an explosion of stars and pain, followed by disorientation as she felt herself fall.
She struggled to sit up and saw the black tactical boot coming for her face. It'd be a direct hit and it wasn't going to be a pretty aftermath. Shit.
There was an inhuman wail. A scream of agony and red.
Lots of red.
She lost her balance, falling back on her ass.
Reptilian skin splotched yellowish-green stood in front of her.
A second swing of his combi-stick and the soldier's screams ended in gurgles. She squeaked as the head rolled from the yautja's momentum. Then the body was gone, swept down the rest of the stairs by his kick.
"You okay?"
P'sy pulled her up, his calloused hand sweeping her temple.
"I think so." She reached out for the wall for support. "Maybe not…"
His strong grip kept her upright. Fuck the wall. She grasped his arm like it was the last thing keeping her standing. Maybe he was the last thing.
Dallas took the steps two at a time.
"Take her back." P'sy ordered. "You don't have anyone to worry about, coming at you-"
"No." Kelly pulled away, staggering to pick up her fallen gun and managed to shake some of the fog away. "We're finishing this."
"Kel."
P'sy cut Dallas off.
"I admire your resolve but you probably have a concussion, there's no way you don't."
"Not the first time I've slammed into something hard. I'll walk it off."
She didn't wait for them as she climbed the stairs, feeling the predator's irritation with her simmering. Or was it exasperation?
She didn't have long to contemplate the evolution of their relationship with the yautja before she reached the top of the stairs and saw three people with a gurney. A gurney with Ricky strapped to it.
"-The hell?"
The three labcoats saw her and hurried away.
"Hey! Stop!" She darted after them.
On the stairs, Dallas and P'sy paused long enough to look at each other before running up the remaining steps.
"I said stop!" Kelly's voice was already distant.
Dallas skidded to a stop. "Where did she go? Which way?"
The hall split four ways, each one empty.
"What the f-?"
"Quiet!" P'sy snapped.
BANG.
"Left."
Dallas didn't wait.
Around the corner, Kelly was hauling a body off a gurney. "I told you to fucking stop, you ass… HOLES." She shoved off the rest of the weight with her boot, the labcoat comically sliding into a heap next to his two buddies.
Dallas stopped listening.
"Ricky!?" He started undoing the straps. "Can you hear me? Ricky?"
"He's drugged. They gave him something." Kelly bent to help.
P'sy slid an eyelid back. "He's definitely not going to hear your hysterical yelling of his name."
"He's my brother!"
"Dallas, focus!" Kelly hissed. "Can you carry him?"
"Got no choice. I can't leave him." Dallas did a quick check. "What is all this shit?"
"Looking to see if he was contaminated by alien lifeform."
Kelly slowed.
"What? Like what? Seeing if he'll metamorphize into your species or something?"
P'sy gave a jerked nod. "I've heard of it."
"…Can that happen?"
For a moment, P'sy wished his mask was off so Dallas could see the glare shot at him.
"No."
There was a brief second of validation when Kelly sent Dallas an equally unimpressed glower.
"Get him up. We need to go." P'sy spared a second to read the information scrolling across his biomask screen. "A'luet is close by."
…..
Hangar E
Shots chipped the doorjamb, prompting a squeak as Jessie let go of the handle. A'luet jerked her back, seeing soldiers running their way through the window.
"Pauk!"
Pelt. Pelt. Pelt. Tiny shattered circles bloomed across the glass as the bulletproof held up. Just barely.
"You afraid of heights?"
"Wha-? Heights?"
A'luet didn't wait for her answer as he grabbed her around the waist and leapt off the landing. She let out a strangled scream, abruptly cutting off when they hit the ground and he rolled to his feet under the ship.
"There another way out!"
"They locked us in!" Jimenez was yelling. "Shit!"
More bullets spit around the plane as A'luet moved Jessie back under it. "C'mon." He growled.
The hangar door opened, commandos spilling onto the steps he and Jessie were just on.
A superior laser lit up in triangular format, a white plasma shot popping the men like cherries. But there were more.
Air whooshed as Jessie squealed. A'luet shoved her back, knocking the gun away, his gauntlet denting the barrel beyond use. The soldier improvised, using it as a bat.
Time froze as A'luet's head went with the slam.
Slowly, he looked back at the ooman, before grabbing the man by the neck and smashing him into the landing gear. He kicked the body away like garbage.
Nearby, their four comrades were holding their own, taking aim with what guns they had, until two went down. A moment A'luet had misgivings, a strange pull to go see if they were salvageable. Deep down he knew they weren't.
Humans were lucky to survive the big bullets currently using the hangar as an out-of-control shooting range.
His loyalty first-and-foremost was to the girl next to him.
"A'luet!"
His combi-stick slid across the floor towards him. He grabbed it and swung it in an arc, severing the closest head.
Across the way, P'sy had appeared with Kelly and Dallas, where, A'luet had no idea. The Elder was using his own snapped combi-stick as a melee weapon, the sharp end lethal and the handle just as deadly.
A'luet grabbed Jessie, his grip bruising. "Get on the ship."
"But-"
"Go!"
She stumbled away, as A'luet covered her, his caster finding its mark with every shooter who turned their attention on the teenage girl.
He hit a command on his gauntlet, twin engines roaring to life.
"It's missing its battery missile!" He had to yell over the noise of shots and engines.
"I know where it is!" P'sy yanked Kelly towards him. "Move! Follow the girl!"
The Elder's back pressed against his as on either side of the hangar, reinforcements were coming. Yautja were hardy, but even they had limits.
"We want to go we need to go now!"
P'sy might have nodded, A'luet wasn't sure.
"Now!" The Elder shoved his student ahead of him, beelining it to the ramp, camouflaging as they went.
Shouts of alarm sounded. Where did the aliens go? And fucks, lots of fucks.
P'sy hit the toggle for the ramp, gears grinding as it pulled up and closed; he paid no heed to the four humans as he went straight to the cockpit. A'luet was already there.
"Wall or roof?"
"Roof." P'sy answered without hesitation. "It can handle it."
A'luet thrust the thrusters forward and up, the ship shaking but its size and weight not impeded as it shot to the ceiling.
"Cloak A'luet!" P'sy turned to their charges. "Hold on to something."
The plane rocked hard as the roof buckled and caved, no doubt showering whoever was left alive in the hangar with boulder sized concrete.
…
Building A
Classified: Unspecified office
There was yelling. Lots of it. But Yutani Furuta paid little attention as she watched researchers scurry like ants around a large cylinder in the test courtyard outside her office window. What secrets that technology could offer.
"Yutani! Yutani Furuta!" Her right hand man, Greg Bass, burst in. "The aliens! He escaped! There's been a breach!"
Across the base, in the E building, a roof exploded. She merely tilted her head as if she was studying a peculiar art.
"Did you hear me!"
The ants below were becoming frantic. Scurrying faster. Her eyes left the vague outline of the ship rising out of Hangar E and down to the cylinder in her courtyard. Something was blinking.
She couldn't help the smile.
"Perfect."
The explosion was fast. White. And deadly.