Author's Note: I'll be re-posting the cinematic poll later today, so let's get those votes in folks. Remember, it's for an animated film.
Review Responses
Blackwing8: Lol. "Game over man!" is one of my favorite phrases. As for Vine, meh. To each their own. Like who you like.
SulliMike23- If I were to write a "Back to the Future" segment, it would most likely be in the one-shot fic. Same thing for "Star Trek". I like your casting suggestions, so I'll keep them in mind.
Pharamine: Unfortunately, no. The survivors won't escape so easily. I fixed the errors. But what do you mean I haven't lasted for long?
Memnon45: Lol, no I wouldn't say it's a bad thing. Honestly, I was grinning a little myself when I wrote that part. And, yes, it'll be terrifying for the audience when they realize the Xenomorphs are smarter than they think.
Xenozip: Hmmm, that's a very good, and terrifying, question. If they could indeed gain an aura by "impregnating" someone from Remnant, that would create an even more dangerous and resilient Xenomorph.
Poiesis Elemen: Absolutely, but not for this fic. Most likely, I'll write a "Hot Fuzz" adaptation for my one-shot fic. That one is my favorite.
VirusChris: Well, altogether, there were only ten marines sent to investigate the colony, plus two dropship pilots and one android. They were definitely understrength against the aliens.
BTW, I've noticed you haven't updated your multiverse fic for a while. I hope you continue it. I'm really looking forward to it.
As for your other suggestions, I'm planning on doing "Alien: Isolation" in my one-shot adaptation fic. I know that the one-shot fic, in itself, is an alternate reality apart from the cinematic multiverse fic, but I can write it so that the audience from the latter fic watch "Alien: Isolation" in the former fic. That's the only way I can think of.
Finally, I'm gonna have a blast writing the final battle between Summer and the Alien Queen. And the audience is gonna love it as much as you readers do :)
060896: What do you mean? Have I written a viewing by Sun Wukong for the Alien films?
HunterPrimeAW5M3: I love that film. It'll definitely be added to an action film poll in the future.
LoamyCoffee: I agree. I feel a lot of characters in Volume 7 and 8 were cut down before their prime. As for Ironwood's incompetence here, it makes sense that Jacques would pull some strings to have a green and/or inept officer that he could easily control so he could procure an alien and bring it back to Remnant.
MarioCatjr: Indeed. Nobody deserves such a horrible fate. Except maybe Jacques.
GojiraRWBYSW18: Indeed. Poor Robyn. Luckily, she wasn't there to watch that scene. As for waking up the dragons, I agree one hundred percent.
Eliphas-Chaos: Lol. I watched the alien films in order from earliest to latest. The first two were by far the best. As for requests: for this fic, I only accept suggestions for full-length feature films. But, I'll take full-length and one-shot suggestions via PM if you have any.
Hawks nest427: I agree, my friend. Quality over quantity. As for your suggestions, I love all of those Vietnam War films. But, if I were to add one of them to a voting poll for either of my reactions fics, I'd choose "Apocalypse Now".
Inspiration: Aliens
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit story for entertainment purposes only. "RWBY" is the property of director and animator Monty Oum (RIP) and production company Rooster Teeth, and "Aliens" is the property of director James Cameron, production company Brandywine Pictures, and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Outside the now inactive APC, the surviving marines were heading for a suitable patch of land for the dropship to pick them up. Strong wind howled all around them as they carried the unconscious Ironwood on a stretcher.
"Let's go. Pick it up, Amin," Taiyang instructed. "Pick it up, baby."
"Wait, where am I?" Penny asked with a hint of concern.
"Don't worry, Penny. I'm sure they'll pick you up at the colony after they pick up the others," Ruby assured her friend.
"They better," Winter said under her breath, hoping Penny wouldn't be left behind because she was just an "expendable android". [1]
"All right. Set him down here," Taiyang ordered as he found an acceptable landing zone.
The team gently laid Ironwood down while Taiyang lit a flare and threw it to signal the dropship.
"Move it, Soleil. We're rolling," Elm instructed from the dropships cockpit as she fired up the engines.
Ciel rushed across the tarmac to the gunship and stepped onto the ramp. She grabbed the handrail of the short staircase leading upwards…and then withdrew it as she felt a sticky substance on it. It looked like slime of some kind.
"Oh no…" Ruby muttered as she instantly realizing what the slime indicated.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Nora shook her head.
"Why the hell did they leave the ramp open?!" Qrow asked loudly.
"Hold on a second. There's something-" Ciel tried to warn Elm.
"Just get up here!" Elm said impatiently.
Ciel hit a switch to shut the ramp. "I'm in. Ramp closing," she said as she examined her hand.
"No, Ciel! Don't!" Penny cried as she reached toward the screen.
Marrow facepalmed. "Oh, this is not going to end well!" he moaned.
"Should have known it wouldn't be that easy," Oscar sighed, dreading what was about to happen.
Elm gazed down at the ground as she took off from the landing pad and flew the dropship toward the marine's position.
Back at the drop zone, Taiyang lit another flare and threw it while Summer gazed out across the barren landscape. She spotted the dropship, now about three hundred yards away, making its approach.
Inside the cockpit, Ciel still hadn't arrived yet, much to Elm's puzzlement.
Elm tapped her mic. "Soleil?" she beckoned but got no answer. "Goddamn it."
Penny sniffled. "Soleil…" she wept, knowing her old friend was already dead while Winter patted her shoulder for comfort.
"Eject, Elm! Get out of there!" Harriet yelled, not wanting to see another one of her teammates perish.
Behind Elm, the cockpit door slid open.
Elm turned. "Well, where the fuck-" her eyes widened.
A snarling alien was right there, preparing a headbite from its dripping jaws. Thinking fast, Elm swiftly reached over to grab her sidearm, but it was too late. The creature shrieked and lunged forward.
From outside, Elm's blood splashed the cockpit's glass canopy as she thrashed about.
Elm recoiled with wide-eyes at the death of her counterpart while everyone else became saddened and angry, especially the Ace-Ops.
"No!" Harriet slammed her fist down on her armrest.
"That's three of our counterparts gone, so far," Vine grieved. "And eight marines altogether."
"They're dropping like flies," Blake said darkly.
Now, from only a hundred yards away, the group watched as the dropship began to fly and veer around erratically. Summer looked alarmed, quickly realizing something was wrong. The dropship clipped a rock formation as it accelerated towards the assembled survivors with alarming speed.
"Run!" Summer warned loudly.
The group quickly dove for cover behind rocky outcroppings as the dropship hit the ground, it's hull cracking open and bursting into flame as it tumbled and flew over them.
A dislodged piece of the dropship's engine struck the disabled APC, destroying it in a burst of flame.
Finally, the flaming dropship crashed into the station and exploded in a massive, bright-orange fireball, spraying dirt and debris everywhere.
For a few seconds, the audience could only sit in stunned silence at the onscreen group's chances of escaping LV-426 literally go up in flames.
Finally, Harriet threw up her hands. "That's perfect. Just fucking perfect!" she shouted in exasperation.
"Now their stranded on that rock with those Goddamned aliens," Qrow groused, wondering just how the group would ever survive.
"And since everybody aboard the Sulaco went down to the planet, there won't be any help coming. Not for a while at least," Penny concluded in dismay.
After the explosion dissipated, the bewildered marines got up. Taiyang quickly made his way over to the unconscious Ironwood and lifted away a dangerously close piece of flaming debris.
A befuddled Marrow picked up a smoldering piece of debris. "Well, that's great. That's just fuckin great, man!" he said hysterically, tossing the debris down. "Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?! We're in some real pretty shit now, man!"
Annoyed, Taiyang yanked Marrow close. "Are you finished?" he shouted, shutting Marrow up.
A few people snickered at Taiyangs irritation with Marrow, despite the predicament onscreen.
"Honestly, that would be most people in that situation," Blake commented, sadly reminded of Velvet's counterpart in Alien and her own emotional breakdowns.
"But Marrow is a trained soldier. He's supposed to stay calm under pressure," Winter retorted with a bit of criticism.
"You all right?" Taiyang asked Summer, the latter nodding.
Yang climbed up an outcropping. "I guess we're not gonna be leaving now, right?" she asked Summer, surprisingly calm as if she'd expected the crash.
"I'm sorry, Yang," Summer said in honest comfort.
"You don't have to be sorry. It wasn't your fault," Yang replied with equal comfort.
"That's it, man. Game over, man! Game over!" Marrow despaired, his voice breaking. [2] "What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?!"
"Maybe we could build a fire. Sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don't we try that?" Jacques suggested sarcastically.
"Wow. That's a good line," Marrow admitted about his counterparts 'game over' line.
"And it fits their situation perfectly," Jaune added with a frown.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure. That'll really help, Jacques," she said acidly.
"We'd better get back 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night, mostly," Yang warned Summer, speaking from her extensive experience with the aliens.
"They should listen to her," Ironwood recommended, acknowledging that Yang knew the aliens even better than Summer.
"Yeah. Other me knows how those things behave only too well after what she's been through," Yang said with pride in her counterpart.
Back inside the colony's control center, the marines were going over a limited assortment of weapons laden on a table.
"That's everything, right?" Taiyang asked Harriet, who nodded. "All right. This is absolutely everything that we could salvage out of the A.P.C. wreckage."
"We got four pulse rifles with about 50 rounds each. That ain't so good," Taiyang grimly stated.
"No, it isn't, considering how many aliens they're up against," Vine agreed with Taiyang.
"So, if they can't fight them all, what are they supposed to do?" Harriet asked.
"Maybe they can contact Remnant somehow and call for help," Ruby proposed an idea.
Maria shook her head. "I don't think so. Remember, the colonies' communications were destroyed during the infestation. They're on their own down there," Maria reminded, causing a few people to deflate.
Harriet loaded one of the pulse rifles while Marrow began to sulk again with his back turned.
"We got, uh…15 of these M-40 grenades," Taiyang continued.
Curious, Yang reached for one of the grenades.
"Don't touch that. Dangerous, honey," Taiyang warned softly, stopping Yang.
"Awww," Team RWBY cooed at Taiyangs counterpart calling Yang "honey", even though he wasn't her father in this universe.
"Thanks for the safety tip, dad," Yang said gratefully.
"Is that the only flamethrower?" Summer asked.
"Yeah. It's only half full, but it's functional," Taiyang answered.
Meanwhile, Yang tried on Taiyang's helmet, which looked comically large on her.
"Got another one, it's damaged. I don't know about that one," Taiyang finished.
Summer paused for a few seconds, before asking the big question: "How long after we're declared overdue can we expect a rescue?"
There was another uncomfortable pause as everyone stared at Taiyang, dreading his response.
"...seventeen days," Taiyang answered.
Nearly everybody groaned, sighed, or slumped in their chairs at Taiyangs unfortunate revelation.
"Seventeen days?!" Qrow exclaimed. "How the hell are they gonna last that long?"
"Is there even enough supplies left over in the colony?" Weiss questioned, knowing there could only be so much supplies left in the colony.
"Don't despair. It's not over yet," Jaune tried to lift everyone's spirits.
Marrow whirled on Taiyang. "Seventeen days?!" he said in disbelief. "Hey, man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last seventeen hours!"
Taiyang lowered his gaze while Summer shot Marrow a fed-up look.
Clover pursed his lips. "You're starting to lose it again, Marrow."
"You're not gonna survive long if you can't keep your composure," Elm warned her teammate.
Marrow looked a little ashamed of his counterpart, but he could hardly blame him for breaking down under the circumstances.
"Those things are gonna come in here like they did before!" Marrow rambled on. "They're gonna come in here-"
"Amin!" Summer shouted.
"They're gonna come in here and they're gonna get us!"
"Amin!"
Marrow finally shut up, but his sweaty face still belied his despair.
"This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training," Summer looked down at Yang. "Right?"
Yang looked at Amin and gave him a little salute.
A few people chuckled or snickered while the women cooed at how cute Yang looked.
"Yang your so cute in this universe," Blake giggled while Yang looked a little embarrassed.
"Summer's right though. Yang's counterpart has even more experience with the Xenomorphs than Summer," Ozpin reminded, believing Yang would contribute to the groups survival.
"Ms. Schnee is correct. That should give them hope for survival. Their morale is hanging by a thread," Ironwood advised
"So why don't you put her in charge?" Marrow asked with bitter sarcasm.
"You'd better just start dealing with it, Amin!" Summer shouted, silencing the discouraged marine. "Listen to me. Amin, just deal with it because we need you. And I'm sick of your bullshit."
Jaune shrugged. "Firm but fair. She's criticizing him, yet acknowledging they need his help," he commented.
Qrow nodded. "She behaved the same back during STRQ. Summer didn't tolerate any bullshit," he reminisced.
"And she's not the only one getting sick of him," Harriet said with an aggravated look.
"Now, I want you to get on a terminal and call up some kind of floor plan file. Do you understand?" Summer instructed Marrow. "Construction blueprints. I don't care. Anything that shows the layout of this place. Are you listening?"
"Yeah...yeah," Marrow mumbled, as he relaxed a bit.
"I need to see air ducts. I need to see electrical access tunnels, subbasements, every possible way into this complex," Summer requested calmy. "We don't have much time."
"Well done, mom," Ruby praised her mother's leadership and defense plan.
"Good thinking. With the way those things like to sneak around, it would be wise to close off any way inside the complex," Vine noted.
"With Summer and Taiyang calling the shots, they just might make it out of this," Ironwood said, knowing full well his counterpart was completely out of his depth.
"Okay. Okay, I'm on it," Marrow said finally, though he still sounded tense.
"Amin! Just relax," Summer implored.
Breathing out heavily, Marrow finally gathered himself and left the room to get to work.
Penny stepped forward. "I'll be in med lab. I'll check on Ironwood, continue my analysis," she said.
"Fine. You do that," Summer said simply, still wanting minimal contact with Penny as she suspiciously watched the android leave the room.
Penny looked saddened. "I understand she's wary of androids after what happened last time...but even so…" she trailed off.
Ruby frowned, hoping that Summer would overcome her distrust of androids and become friends with Penny.
Sometime later, Amins efforts had paid off. The group was gathered at an electronic display table showing a schematic of the complex. The schematic was controlled by a remote held by Summer.
"So, this service tunnel must be how they're moving back and forth," Summer said, trailing her finger across aforementioned tunnel.
Marrow nodded. "That's right. It moves from the processing station... right into the sublevel here," he confirmed.
"Looks like you managed to collect yourself," Clover
"That's good. They need my tech skills to get that schematic up and running," Marrow
"And the sooner they find and seal off all the ways into the complex, the better,"
Behind the marines, Yang tried to hop up to peak over their shoulders, but she was too short.
"Come down on that. Okay, come over," Marrow instructed as he placed his finger on a section of the service tunnel. "Hold. Go back. Okay, punch that in right there."
Taiyang lifted Yang up so she could sit on the edge of the table.
"Thanks for the lift, dad," Yang joked, prompting a few soft groans. "Oh come on. It's a very tense situation. A little humor can't hurt."
"No. It's back here. Okay," Marrow continued guiding Summer as she navigated the schematic and zoomed in on a certain section.
"Well, there's a pressure door at this end," Summer pointed out.
"Yeah, that'll work, but we gotta figure on them getting into the complex," Taiyang said.
Yang yawned silently as she listened to the adults going over their survival plan.
"You look like you could use some sleep," Weiss suggested.
"I don't blame her. Anyone would be frazzled after an ordeal like that," Yang admitted. "Maybe I'll be able to get some shut eye."
"A hot shower and some clean clothes wouldn't hurt her either," Elm finished.
"That's right, so we repair the barricades at these two intersections," Summer proposed an idea. "Right. And weld plate steel over these ducts here and here and here," she pointed to each location of the ducts. "That should seal off med-lab and operations."
Taiyang pondered Summer's plan. "Right. Outstanding," he said in satisfaction. "Now all we need is a deck of cards."
"All right, people. Let's move like we got a purpose," Taiyang ordered.
"Affirmative," Marrow acknowledged.
"Affirmative," Yang parroted softly while Taiyang helped her down.
"D'awww!" Ruby gushed at Yang's counterpart.
"Did I say cute? Because I meant adorable!" Blake teased again as she pinched Yang cheek.
Yang turned red. "S-shut up!" she stammered as she pushed Blake's hand away.
Sometime later, Marrow and Harriet had just finished scouting out a tunnel leading into the complex.
"Come on, Bree. Let's get the hell outta here," he beckoned his squad mate. "We're sealing the tunnel. Come on, baby."
With that, the two marines shut the thick metal door behind them, planning to weld it shut and barricade it.
Elsewhere, Summer and Taiyang were welding a vent shaft shut while Jacques and Yang carried boxes of food rations on a hand truck to stockpile in the operations room.
Taiyang finished welding together the barricades. "For what it's worth," he said as he gave it a light pound with his fist.
"Let's hope those barricades hold long enough for a rescue team to arrive," Clover wished his surviving comrades the best of luck.
"They'll also need a substantial amount of food, water, and other necessities for all of them to survive. Otherwise, if the aliens don't get them, hunger or dehydration will," Vine fretted
"Well, there were over a hundred people living there. Even weeks after the colonies collapse, there should be enough for all of them. Assuming they can access it,"
Finished with the barricade, Summer unfolded a paper schematic while Taiyang fished out a watch-like device from his pocket.
"Here. I want you to put this on," Taiyang said as he handed the watch to Summer.
Summer looked at Taiyang quizzically. "What's it for?" she asked.
"It's a locator. Then I can find you anywhere in the complex on this," Taiyang explained as he then took out a small cylindrical device that emitted a beeping sound.
Summer cocked her brow at Taiyang. "It's just a precaution," he claimed.
"Thanks," Summer said as she slipped on the tracker.
"Doesn't mean we're engaged or anything," Taiyang joked with a chuckle.
Summer chuckled as well, appreciating Taiyangs levity.
"All right, what's next?" Taiyang asked as Summer held up a paper schematic.
Yang held up a finger. "Correction. You guys aren't engaged yet," she grinned.
Elm cocked her brow. "Is he really trying to make a little move at a time like this?" she asked, amused.
"That takes me back to his attempts to trying to impress Summer and Raven back at Beacon when they were students," Ozpin reminisced on happier times.
"Oh yeah. I remember those days," Qrow chuckled mirthfully.
Later still, Summer entered a small room in the med-lab carrying an exhausted Yang in her arms. She approached a bed on the far side.
"Last stop. Get in," Summer said in a soft, soothing voice as she set Yang down next to a bed.
Ruby and Yang looked wistful as they were reminded of brighter days from their youth when Summer would tuck them into bed or read them a bedtime story.
"She's lucky she'll be able to get any sleep during this whole mess," Maria sipped a cup of tea.
"Scoot down. That's good," Summer said as Yang climbed into the bed. "Now, you lie here and have a nap. You're very tired."
"I don't want to. I have scary dreams," Yang refused as she sat up slightly.
Summer feigned cheerfulness, having suffered the same thing.
"I'm not surprised. Grown men would have nightmares after encountering those things," Marrow said, expecting his counterpart to be as traumatized as Summers if he somehow survived.
"There's something else you and mom have in common here, besides losing loved ones," Ruby identified with a warm smile, happy for the bond forming between Yang and Summer.
Yang nodded, then felt her heart melt as she pictured Summer's counterpart adopting her and taking her back to Remnant. In fact, she hoped she did.
"Well, I bet Casey doesn't have scary dreams," Summer said as she looked inside the doll's head. "Let's take a look. Nope. Nothing bad in there. See? Maybe you could just try to be like her, hmm?"
"Summer, she doesn't have bad dreams...because she's just a piece of plastic," Yang said in a matter-of-fact way.
Summer smiled. "Right. I'm sorry, Yang," she chuckled.
"Jeez. This whole alien infestation really helped you grow up," Blake remarked.
Yang crossed her arms. "Yeah. Don't try that five-year old crap with me, mom. I'm eight here," she defended her counterpart.
Summer then pulled over a heater activated it and pointed it towards Yang. The girl relaxed a bit as she felt its warmth on her.
"My mommy always said there were no monsters- no real ones- but there are," Yang declared, accepting the cold heard truth.
"Yes, there are, aren't there?" Summer said soberly.
"Why do they tell little kids that?" Yang questioned with a sense of betrayal in her tone.
"Most of the time it's true," Summer admitted.
"Oh yeah, there are," Jaune muttered with a nod.
"And some monsters are more obvious than others," Oscar said wisely, referring to his android counterpart and any ruthless SDC executives.
"Hey, Gold-Sith. I'm afraid to ask...but what happened to my other self's family?" Yang asked hesitantly.
Gold-Sith paused before answering. "If you really want to know, your counterparts' parents were prospectors and the first colonists to discover the alien derelict. Your father was brought back with a Facehugger attached to him. From that point on, the situation snowballed until the colony eventually fell to the aliens," he summarized.
"Oh…I see…" Yang said softly, grateful that at least she didn't have to witness her alternate self's family perish.
"Did one of those things grow inside her?" Yang asked in grief and curiosity.
"I don't know, Yang. That's the truth," Summer said honestly.
"Isn't that how babies come? I mean, people babies?" Yang asked with a bit of innocence. "They grow inside you."
"No, it's very different," Summer chuckled.
Disgusted looks crossed the faces of a few people at the mere thought of chestbursters gestating inside human victims.
"I don't think ever want to know how those things develop," Oscar shuddered.
"I believe we can all agree on that," Ozpin concurred, eliciting nods from the others.
"Did you ever have a baby?" Yang asked, unaware it was a sore spot for Summer. [3]
Summer's smile faded. "Yes, I did. I had a little girl," she replied.
"Where is she?"
"She's gone," Summer answered quietly.
"You mean dead?" Yang clarified.
Summer didn't answer, but her solemn expression was enough.
"Don't remind us," Weiss mourned Ruby's counterpart.
"Here," Summer removed her locator watch. "Take this. For luck," she said as she gingerly slipped it around Yangs wrist. "How's that?"
"Good idea. Something tells me she'll need it more than Summer,"
Summer reached up and switched off a lamp as she prepared to leave but Yang grabbed her arm. "Don't go, please," she begged.
"Don't leave me alone there, mom," Yang pleaded, feeling it wasn't safe.
"Don't sweat it, sis. They've sealed off all the vent shafts leading inside the complex," Ruby assured her sister.
"Even so, it seems too dangerous to leave Yang there alone, even under surveillance," Clover agreed with Yang.
"Yang, I'm gonna be right in the next room," Summer placated before pointing at a nearby security camera. "And you see that camera right up there? I can see you right through that camera, all the time to see if you're safe."
Yang followed Summer's finger to the camera but still looked nervous about being left alone.
"I'm not gonna leave you, Yang," Summer assured. "I mean that. That's a promise."
"You promise?" Yang asked with hope.
"I cross my heart."
"And hope to die?
"And hope to die," Summer repeated with soft earnest.
Yang sat up and gave Summer a hug. Summer immediately returned it and gave the girl a kiss on the forehead before setting Yang back down.
The scene made everyone feel mushy inside, especially the women. Yang would have given anything to feel Summer's embrace one more time.
"Oh," Yang cooed softly as a single tear of joy trickled down her cheek.
"This is so touching," Elm said softly as she began to feel her heart melt.
"You girls were lucky to have Summer for a mother," Vine remarked positively.
"I know," Ruby sniffled as she dabbed at her eyes with a napkin.
"Now go to sleep, and don't dream," Summer whispered.
Yang then pointed down at Summer's shirt. When the latter looked down, the former flicked her on the nose with a smirk.
Summer giggled at Yangs little prank. "Sneak," she smiled before finally leaving the room.
"Oldest trick in the book," Marrow grinned at Yangs antics.
"You were always a little joker, even back then," Qrow chuckled.
Cut to med-lab. An unconscious Ironwood lay on an operating table with a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. Standing over him was Summer smoking a cigarette.
"The molecular acid oxidizes after the creature's death, completely neutralizing it," Penny finished explaining offscreen.
"Penny, you know, that's very interesting, but it doesn't really get us anywhere, does it?" Summer sighed. "We're trying to figure out what we're dealing with here.
"What does that mean?" Ruby asked curiously.
"I think my counterpart means the alien's corrosive blood becomes neutral once they're killed," Penny answered succinctly.
Summer walked across the room. "Let's go through it again: They grab the colonists, they move them over there...and they immobilize them to be hosts for more of these," she summarized, gesturing to one of the dead facehuggers inside its tube. "Which would mean that there would have to be a lot of these parasites, right? One for each colonist. That's over 100, at least."
"Yes. That follows," Penny confirmed.
"But each one of these things comes from an egg, right?" Summer said before turning to Penny. "So, who's laying these eggs?"
"I'm not sure," Penny shrugged. "It must be something we haven't seen yet."
"I've been thinking about that myself. Just what has been had to producing all those eggs," Ozpin mused,
A thought occurred to Marrow. "Hey, maybe it's like an ant hive," he theorized. [4]
"Bees, Marrow. Bees have hives," Harriet corrected irritably.
Marrow shot a look at Harriet. "You know what I mean. There's, like, one female that runs the whole show," he went on.
Peny nodded. "Yes, the queen. She's responsible for laying eggs and ensuring the colony's survival and growth," she supplied her extensive knowledge.
"True. And these things are very insect like, so it stands to reason," Maria concluded suddenly feeling very concerned at the prospect of the survivors encountering the speculated Alien queen.
"Penny, I want these specimens destroyed as soon as you're finished with them. Is that clear?" Summer commanded.
"Mr. Gele gave instructions that they were to be kept alive in stasis for return to the company labs,"
Summer gaped at Penny, dumbfounded by her words.
"He was very specific about it," Penny added.
Surly looks filled the theater at that revelation.
Yang blinked. "Excuse me?" she said in a low but dangerous tone.
"Well, isn't that a surprise," Elm snarked with a sip of soda.
In an adjoining room, Summer was confronting Jacques, her arms crossed.
"Look. Those two specimens are worth millions to the bio-weapon division, right? Now, if you're smart, we can both come out of these heroes, and we will be set up for life," Jacques attempted to persuade Summer to go along with his scheme.
Winter scoffed at the screen. "It makes perfect sense. He's part of the special weapons division for the SDC after all," she recalled what Gold-Sith told her.
"I knew that greedy bastard wouldn't give up on trying to obtain an alien," Qrow scowled.
"You'd have to be out of your mind to try and bring those things to Remnant and use them as bioweapons. They're just too dangerous," Ironwood said wisely, knowing the aliens would be uncontrollable.
"You're crazy, Jacques. Do you know that?" Summer said amazement. "Do you really think you can get a dangerous organism like that past I.C.C. quarantine?"
"How can they impound it if they don't know about it?" Jacques asked smugly.
"Oh, but they will know about it, Jacques, from me," Summer refuted. "Just like they'll know that you were responsible for the deaths of 157 colonists."
Looks of horror and shock crossed the face of the entire audience at Summer's words.
"He's…what?!" Ruby cried, not understanding at first.
Jacques quickly stood up. "Wait a second…" he began to protest.
"You sent them to that ship!" Summer accused, her tone rising.
"You're wrong!" Jacques denied.
"I just checked the colony log. Directive dated 6-1 2-79, signed Gele, Jacques J.," Summer revealed the dirt she had dug up. "You sent them out there, and you didn't even warn them."
Jacques began to fidget nervously. There was no doubt that he was guilty as charged.
If the revelation that Jacques wanted the Facehuggers brought back to Remnant didn't anger the audience, the fact he caused the infestation in the first place certainly did. Enraged looks marred everyone's faces, especially Yangs.
"I knew something was suspicious about this whole thing!" Weiss shouted, realizing Jacques played Summer from the very beginning.
"That slimy corporate bastard was behind everything! He got all those people killed!" Marrow yelled with outrage.
Yang trembled with rage. "Including my alternate self's family!" she clenched her fists tightly, her eyes glowing red.
"And most of the marines as well," Ironwood concluded with a deep scowl.
"Why didn't you warn them, Jacques?!" Summer demanded with barely controlled anger.
"Okay, look. What if that ship didn't even exist? Do you ever think about that? I didn't know," Jacques babbled out a pathetic excuse. "So now if I went and made a major security situation out of it, everybody steps in, administration steps in, and there's no exclusive rights for anybody. Nobody wins."
"Is he fucking serious?!" Yang said incredulously. "All of those people are dead he's blabbing about administration problems?!"
"You know, out of all the villains we've seen in the multiverse so far, I think I hate Jacques here the most," Maria stated, her cybernetic eyes narrowed with fury.
"I second that notion," Yang snarled, even Roman Torchwick in "Robocop" didn't enrage her as much, since Taiyang survived to become the titular hero.
"So, I made a decision, and it was wrong. It was a bad call, Summer. It was a bad call," Jacques finished dismissively as he held his hands out.
"Bad call?!" Summer snarled.
"Right," Jacques simply nodded his head, like it was no big deal.
Summer finally snapped. She seized Jacques by his collar and slammed him against a wall, startling him.
"These people are dead, Jacques! Don't you have any idea what you've done here?!" Summer roared.
Most the audience hoped that Summer would kick Jacques' ass then and there.
"Well, I'm gonna make sure that they nail you right to the wall for this! You're not gonna sleaze your way out of this one. Right to the wall!" Summer declared before releasing Jacques and storming towards the door.
"Oh, yeah. She has the evidence she needs to put his ass behind bars!" Nora said eagerly.
"And the surviving marines will be more than happy to testify on her behalf. I know I would," Elm smirked, wanting justice for her deceased comrades.
"Speaking of marines, it makes sense now why they sent an inexperienced and easily controlled officer to command the squad," Ironwood realized, feeling another twinge of shame for his counterpart.
"So that son of a bitch pulled a few strings, didn't he?" Clover deducted.
"Summer. I-," Jacques stammered a bit, stopping Summer. "You know, I expected more from you. I thought you'd be smarter than this," he said in resignation.
"Well, I'm happy to disappoint you," Summer smiled before leaving.
Jacques put a hand to his forehead, as if struggling to think of a new plan.
"Oh, she is smart. Bringing those things to Remnant is a recipe for disaster," Maria stated, fighting the urge to imagine an alien infestation on Earth.
"He better not try to scheme anything else. He's caused more than enough already," Ren said.
"I have a feeling he isn't going to give up that easily," Weiss as she studied Jacques expression.
Meanwhile, back in the control room, Taiyang received a transmission from Penny.
"Penny here. I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"Well, that's a switch," Marrow said sarcastically as the group headed out to see what the bad news was.
"Ugh. Now what's wrong," Harriet rolled her eyes.
Through an open window in the control room, the group peered out at the massive atmospheric processor.
"It's very pretty, Penny, but what are we looking for?" Summer asked impatiently.
As if in answer, a brilliant blue jet of flame shot out from the atmospheric processor near the base of the structure.
Penny pointed at the jet of flame. "That's it. Emergency venting."
Blake blinked. "Emergency venting? Why would that be going-" then paused in mid-sentence as the realization hit her like a bullet.
"The battle inside the processor," Clover realized just what Summer and Jacques counterparts were afraid of.
"Oops…" Harriet rubbed the back of her neck.
"Oh, that's beautiful, man. Oh, man, that-that just beats it all," Marrow muttered to himself in exasperation.
"How long till it blows?" Taiyang sighed.
"Four hours." Penny answered bluntly. "With a blast radius of 30 kilometers, equal to about 40 megatons."
"40…megatons? What's a megaton?" Ruby asked hesitantly, knowing it couldn't be good.
"Well, a megaton is one-million tons of fire dust being detonated. So, the processor explosion will be equivalent to forty-million tons of fire-dust detonated at once," Gold-Sith answered.
Gasps and shocked muttering filled the theater at the sheer destructiveness of nuclear fusion.
"Holy shit! That's unbelievable," Qrow mumbled in horror.
"We got problems," Taiyang said in a frustrated, sing-song voice.
"I don't believe this. I don't fucking believe this!" Marrow exclaimed as his panic returned.
"Bree, close the shutters," Taiyang ordered.
Harriet quietly complied and closed off the reactor from view.
"Why can't we shut it down from here?" Summer asked Penny.
"I'm sorry. The crash caused too much damage. An overload is inevitable at this point."
"Oh, man, and I was getting short," Marrow moaned. "Four more weeks and out. Now I'm gonna buy it on this rock.
Deep groans of frustration filled the theater as things went from bad to worse for the survivors.
"As if the aliens weren't bad enough. They're sitting right next to a gigantic time bomb," Oscar accurately described the crisis.
"Indeed. And this particular time bomb can't be defused," Ozpin added.
"It ain't half fair, man!" Marrow continued his rant.
"Amin, give us a break!" Harriet yelled.
But Marrow ignored her. "Four more weeks. Oh, man."
"We've got to get the other drop ship from the Sulaco," Summer voiced the only possibility of escape. "I mean, there must be some way of bringing it down on remote."
"How? The transmitter was on the A.P.C. It's wasted!" Marrow revealed, his face beaded with sweat again.
"Well, I don't care how, but we'd better think of something. We'd better think of a way."
"Think of what?! We're fucked!" Marrow cried in renewed panic.
"Shut up!" Taiyang snapped.
"We're doomed!"
"Shut up!"
Ruby and Yang both flinched at Taiyangs shouting, reminded of childhood days when he'd scold them whenever they misbehaved.
"Thank you, Taiyang," Harriet said, getting tired of Marrows complaining.
"Come on, other me. Keep it together!" Marrow urged his counterpart.
"What about the colony transmitters?" Taiyang asked, keeping his cool. "The uplink tower down at the other end. Why can't we use that?
"No, I checked," Penny informed. "The hardware in between here and there was damaged. We can't align the dish,"
"Well, somebody's gonna have to go out there," Summer gave the only apparent solution. "Take a portable terminal, go out there and patch in manually.
"Oh, yeah, sure. With those things running around? You can count me out," Marrow refused immediately.
"Guess we can just count you out of everything," Taiyang suggested sarcastically, getting sick of Marrow's disposition.
"I'll go," Penny volunteered quietly.
"That's right, man. Why don't you go, man?" Marrow shot back at Taiyang.
"I'll go," Penny repeated a bit louder.
Summer turned to Penny, puzzled. "What?"
Everybody turned to Penny with dumbstruck looks, as if her counterpart was very brave or very foolish. Penny herself stared perplexed at the screen
"What? Why you, Penny?" Ruby asked out of curiosity and concern.
Penny shrugged. "I don't know."
"I'll go. I mean, I'm the only one qualified to remote pilot the ship anyway," Penny reasoned.
"Yeah, right, man. Penny should go. Good idea," Marrow agreed with wide eyes.
"Believe me, I'd prefer not to," Penny said with a slight smile. "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid.
"That makes sense if she's the only one who can pull it off," Vine said.
"But how is she even going to get outside if the complex is sealed off?" Ren asked.
Cut to the interior of an air-vent. Sparks rained down from a hole being cut into the roof of the vent, sending a piece of it falling with a metallic thud. Then Penny reached down, retrieved the piece, and poked her head inside to shine her flashlight down the long, narrow vent before stepping inside.
"That's how," Nora answered simply.
"This is a very dangerous move your making, Penny," Winter warned Penny.
Penny nodded. "Yes, but it would seem there aren't any other options," she said glumly.
Up above, Summer and Harriet were present and handed her the portable terminal and tools necessary for her task.
"How long?" Summer asked.
"This conduit runs almost to the up-link assembly. One hundred eighty meters," Penny answered as she placed her equipment inside the vent. "Say, forty minutes to crawl down there, an hour to patch in and align the antenna, thirty minutes to prep the ship, and about fifty minutes flight time."
Penny quickly did the math in her head. "Then my counterpart will need at least three hours to pull this off," she stated.
"Then there's no time for them to waste if they only have four hours,"
Penny just managed to slip inside the narrow vent.
"It's going to be close," Summer said uncertainly.
Harriet drew her handgun, cocked it, and handed it to Penny to defend herself, but the android simply handed it to Summer.
Penny blinked. "Why didn't she accept the weapon?"
"It may be the case of lacking combat programming, thus, logically, believes the weapon is best left with one of the marines," Vine reasoned.
"But then how will she defend herself if she encounters any aliens?" Winter fretted for Penny.
"Well, if she does, then let's just pray they can distinguish human from android," Ozpin
"What makes you say that?"
"Because, theoretically, an android wouldn't make a suitable host for the facehuggers. So, if Penny were to encounter one, it wouldn't harm her," Ozpin hypothesized. [5]
A few people felt relaxed by Ozpins words, even though it was merely guess work.
"Are you sure, Ozpin?" Oscar asked tentatively.
"…Relatively."
"Good luck," Summer said with a sincere smile at Penny as she and Harriet placed the metal plate back over the hole.
"See you soon. Watch your fingers," Penny returned the smile as the vent hole was closed.
Inside the long, dark vent, there was just barely enough room for Penny to fit inside, the only light source emitting from her flashlight. Grunting with effort, she began her long crawl towards the other side. Two hundred yards up ahead, the light at the end of the vent shaft was barely visible.
"Brothers be with you, girl," Harriet bid Penny good luck as she began to seal the vent shaft.
A few people shivered with claustrophobia as they remembered Jaune in the Nostromo's vents in the first movie. They could only hope Ozpin's theory was correct and that Penny wouldn't meet a similar fate.
"Good luck, Penny," Ruby wished her friend luck.
"Thank you, Ruby. And don't worry. My counterpart is dropship ready!" Penny proclaimed with a salute.
Author's Points
[1]- I don't know if the marines planned to disregard Bishop as "expendable hardware" and leave him behind. I really hope not though, he was one of my favorite characters in that film :(
[2]- This is one of my all-time favorite movie lines and I've said it a few times myself in real life, lol.
[3]- Here's some more deleted footage to strengthen the bond between Summer and Yang's counterparts.
[4]- For those of you who didn't see the director's cut of "Aliens", this is derived from a deleted scene where the marines discuss the possibility of the Xenomorphs functioning like an ant colony with a queen that lays facehugger eggs.
[5]- This is a reference to "Alien Isolation". The Xenomorph was shown to be intelligent enough to tell the difference between a human and an android, realize the latter cannot be used as a Facehugger host, and thus ignored them. There was even a part in the novel by Alan Dean Foster where Bishop encountered an alien warrior, but it ignored him. The Queen on the other hand…