For refusing to play ball, Kara exiled Alex to Acheron, a moon around the gas planet, Calpamos, approximately 39 light-years from Earth. Alex was sent with several other human Space Marines to explore the surface. In reality, it was just a way to keep Alex from getting into trouble, make her miserable and homesick, and get her to see reason. The moon was covered in snow with some high mountain peaks. Also on the planet was a Winathian settlement of ten men.
After many uneventful days, a Winathian fighter flew over the snowy plains and appeared to be targeting a dog. The Winathians fired electrical weapons at the dog. The dog managed to evade lighting strikes in the snow with a zig-zag pattern. The Winathians circled still unable to get a hit on the dog. The dog made its way toward the human Space Marine outpost.
Inside the post, the Space Marines were bored silly playing ping-pong, playing guitar, and getting drunk. Alex, for her part, went back to drinking hard liquor and playing chess on the computer. She would lose every time greatly pissing her off. Eventually, the Winathian fighter and the shooting alerted the Space Marines. They went outside as the Winathian fighter circled them for another pass.
Alex went outside with a beer bottle and gave a WTF expression as the Winathian fighter tried to take down the dog once more. "Can't shoot for shit," she remarked.
As the dog came closer to the Space Marine post, the Winathian fighter landed in the snow. The two Winathians got out of their fighter and pursued the dog. The dog ran to the Space Marines and gratefully licked their faces.
The Winathian pilot threw a grenade at the dog and the Space Marines but ended up throwing it behind him like a dumbass. "Oh, fuck!" he realized his mistake and went to go look for it in the snow. He was too late as the grenade blew him up along with his fighter, which was also full of grenades.
The Winathian shooter shouted in his own language a bunch of nonsense and tried to shoot the dog. He fired an electrical strike that hit one of the Space Marines in the leg, George, dropping him. The Space Marines took cover as the crazed Winathian fired electrical shocks at the retreating dog. Finally, Garry, from inside the post, fired his pistol into the Winathian's head killing him. The Winathian shook violently from static discharge before he stopped moving.
"George, you, okay?" Alex asked as she looked over the wound.
The rest of the Space Marines headed to the fighter and tried to put out the fire with the snow and fire extinguishers. "The fuck are you guys doing? Just let it burn itself out. Here you are wasting our precious fire extinguishers and getting yourself nearly burned when the wreck is safely outside our post," Garry lectured his men.
"But Sarge, we just wanted something to do," Palmer said. "Yeah, Sarge," Windows said bored.
"Get George inside," Garry ordered, rolling his eyes.
"That's a good boy. Who's a good boy? You're a good boy," Clark reassured the freaked-out dog.
Inside the post, Alex tended to George's electrical burn on his leg. He was hissing and wiggling around in pain. "George, don't be a bitch," Alex scolded him.
"Why were they shooting at that dog, at us?" George wondered.
"Who the fuck knows, George. They're fucking aliens," Alex reminded him.
"Are you drunk?" George asked concernedly.
"I'm an alcoholic. That makes it okay," Alex said as she finished bandaging him up. Alex then went over to the communications center. "We should report this," she said obviously.
"Yeah, no shit. I can't reach anyone," Windows complained.
"Windows, you're supposed...to be a window...to the galaxy. It's in your name," Alex pointed out.
"I haven't been able to reach anyone on this God-forsaken moon since we got here. I didn't even know the Winathians were even here. And you want me to reach someone? I'm about to go insane, man," Windows said wide-eyed.
In the next room, the body of the Winathian was being inspected and prepared for burial. "Are we now at war with Winath? Oh my God!" Nauls asked eccentrically while wearing roller skates.
"No, and why the fuck are you wearing roller skates?" Garry asked displeased.
"I bet Captain Garry was just waiting for the moment to use his pistol," Palmer mocked.
"Talking shit?" Garry asked fiercely. "How long were they on this moon?"
"Only eight weeks," Fuchs said as he read the Winathian datapad left behind.
"Only eight weeks, sheeeit," Garry rolled his eyes.
"Five minutes is enough to know this place is wack," Nauls remarked.
"Damn straight. It only took one day of this place for me to be fucked up," Palmer agreed.
"You were fucked up before your enlistment. I don't blame you though. I blame your recruiter," Garry told him off. "How many are in his party?"
"They started with ten. Now, only eight are left," Fuchs assumed.
"How do we know that? They could all be dead if they're that crazy," Alex said.
"Yeah, but who gives a shit?" Garry asked.
"It would take an hour to get there, an hour back," George said, also wanting to see some action.
"Yeah, I'll go," Palmer volunteered.
"The fuck you will," Garry refused. "I need a responsible adult with some medical knowledge, urban warfare tactics, and balls. Alex, search the Winathian camp," Garry ordered.
Alex and George took a snow-speeder aircraft across the snowy plains and mountain ranges and came across the Winathian post. Upon landing, they found it a wreck. The place was burnt out, the structure had numerous holes in the walls, and was exposed to ice. "Anyone here?" Alex asked holding a plasma rifle.
Alex and George ventured down the halls and found an ax with some blood on it sliced into the wall. "It's fresh," Alex said of the blood. The two barged their way into the communications room and found the radio operator. He was frozen stiff dead in his chair. His throat had been slashed open as well as his wrists. There was a knife in his hand.
"The hell happened here," George asked spooked.
"Let's keep moving," Alex said and entered the lab. There, she found equipment and laptops frozen and damaged by the fire. "Take everything you can carry. It could be important," Alex ordered George. "I'm going into the next few rooms."
In the garage was a large chunk of ice only there was a large hole in the center. It looked as if something had been encased in the ice and violently tore through it into the ceiling. "George, come here," Alex called him over.
"What the fuck?" he said of the scene. "Some kind of animal escaped?"
"Yeah, maybe," Alex considered and went outside. There, they found fuel canisters and burnt-up bodies that looked fucked-up-looking.
Alex and George returned with the burnt-up body in a body bag. It was brought into the medical wing for examination. Garry, Alex, Norris, George, and Fuchs were present for the autopsy. "I found this," Alex said nonchalantly.
The body was recently burned, a bloody mess, and contorted. The body appeared to be two bodies merged with two heads and several limbs. At the time, the Space Marines figured two dead bodies had melted into each other by the heat of the fire. "Alex, get me an autopsy report," Garry ordered.
Garry then pestered Windows who was asleep in the radio room. "The fuck you doing? Radio someone," Garry ordered impatiently.
"Radio who, Sir? We're ten light-years from the nearest Imperial system," Windows complained.
"Stick with it," Garry lectured.
Alex and Fuchs worked together on the autopsy. "Nothing wrong with this Winathian, no drugs, no alcohol, nothing," Alex determined referring to the radio officer.
Fuchs examined the other one. "All of the organs appear to be normal and intact, just two sets of them," he shrugged.
At the same time, the newly adopted dog was brought into the kennel with the other dogs by Clark, the dog trainer. He then walked out. At first, the dog was chill but then the other dogs started barking at it. Not taking this kindly, the newly adopted dog burst its head open revealing a large tentacle, tentacles sprouted all over its body, legs tore through its body, and it quickly resembled a bloody weird-ass spider.
Clark returned to the kennel after hearing all the barking. He opened the door and immediately two dogs ran out. He then saw the Thing. "Holy shit," Clark realized and then closed the kennel door before the tentacles could get to him. The other dogs in the kennel had already been slaughtered.
After a relaxing autopsy and shower, Alex went to the kitchen to get herself a beer. She then got the sense something was wrong as she heard a commotion in the kennel. She turned the alarm on and went into the kennel with her rifle. The Space Marines followed her quickly behind. "What is it?" Alex asked Clark.
"It's queer, it's pissed off, whatever it is," Clark said spooked.
"Get Childs," Alex said to the others. Childs was the designated flamethrower of the group.
The Space Marines advanced on the Thing and found it in the kennel. It was now a bloody monstrosity with a monster-dog head growing from its back. Immediately, they opened fire on the Thing, including the surviving dogs.
"No, man, not my dogs," Clark protested.
"They could be infected or something," Alex shoved him aside.
The Thing seemed resistant to the Space Marine firepower as it grew more limbs. It grew two large, clawed arms and reached for the ceiling to escape. Unable to do so, it hung on the ceiling. "Childs, get your ass over here!" Alex shouted urgently.
"Alright, alright, I'm here...oh, fuck!" he realized and just stared at the weird-ass Thing.
"Shoot the Thing," Alex yelled at him as he froze up.
"Yeah, right," Childs said and fired his flamethrower at it just before he could be hit by a tentacle. The Thing screeched and fell to the floor where it continued to burn.
Palmer then came in with a fire extinguisher to put it out. "Palmer, what the fuck did I tell you about fire extinguishers?" Garry asked annoyed. "God damn," he said as the smoke filled the area.
The next morning, Alex did another autopsy with Fuchs with the rest of the Space Marines present. Alex calmly sliced through the husk of the Thing and found a mutated dog-looking thing inside. "It's an organism that imitates other lifeforms. When it attacked our dogs, it tried to digest them, absorb them, and, in the process, transform its cells to look like them."
Alex then pointed to something that resembled a dog inside the husk. "This, right here, is not a dog. It's an imitation. We killed it before it had time to finish."
"Finish what?" Norris asked obliviously.
"Really, Norris?" Garry scolded.
"What?" Norris asked cluelessly.
"Finish imitating the dogs, you, dumb fuck," Garry told him off.
Alex turned to Clark. "I need a blood sample of the surviving dogs."
In the kennel, Alex took blood from each of the dogs for testing. It then occurred to her that Clark could be infected. "Clark, did you notice anything strange about the dog? Anything at all?"
"I don't know. He didn't particularly like you taking his blood," Clark shrugged.
"No, the fucking alien dog?" Alex asked losing patience.
"Oh, no. It was just wandering around, collecting intel on the post, our mannerisms, and security protocols," Clark figured.
"And why didn't you put the dog in the kennel immediately?" Alex asked.
"It was a cool dog," Clark said defensively.
"How long were you with that dog?" Alex asked seriously.
"Maybe an hour, hour and a half," Clark said. There was a long awkward silence between them. "Look, I didn't fuck it if that's what you're implying."
"I'll get back to you," Alex said and walked off.
Being proactive, Alex looked over the Winathian files. She watched their videos for several hours. As she did, the Space Marines would come in and scowl that she was using the only monitor on the post. "Boo, this isn't funny," one of them said. "This is crap," another said.
"Shut the fuck up. I'm the one having to watch nine hours of this," Alex told them off. The video then got interesting as the Winathians found something buried under the ice. They attempted to drill into it and then used explosives to blow the ice away revealing the large saucer-shaped ship underneath.
Alex got out a map of the moon and located the Winathian camp. "The site must be here," she said to the others.
Alex took the snow-speeder with Norris and found a large crater in the ice. The two found the crater to be a few stories deep requiring them to use rope cables to repel down. Upon landing on the ship, itself, Alex looked around in amazement. "How long do you think it's been trapped in the ice?" she wondered.
"I'd say...one hundred thousand years," Norris judged.
Alex simply stared at him. "Did you pull that stat out of your ass?" she asked. He merely shrugged.
The two went back up and found a rectangular hole in the ice, the same size as the ice cube they found at the Winathian outpost.
At the Space Marine post, Childs was an unbeliever. "You're saying this thing crash landed on this moon thousands of years ago, crawled out, froze in the ice, and then the Winathians thawed it out, and now this Thing became a dog. That sounds like bullshit."
"It happens all the time, Childs. They keep falling out of the sky like flies. The government keeps it all secret. Aliens invented the pyramids, birds are surveillance drones, chemtrails are intentionally poisoning the people, the moon landing was faked...," Palmer listed off.
"Are you listening to yourself, Palmer? We're on a fucking moon, on another planet, in another solar system, no less," Childs scolded.
"Are we, Childs? Are we?" Palmer challenged.
"Who put their shit-stained underwear in my kitchen trash can?" Nauls complained as he entered the room. He then threw it on the table.
"Nauls, what the fuck?" Alex asked him. "Put that away."
"How could this motherfucker wake up and turn into a dog?" Childs doubted.
"It's diverse, it's queer," Alex rolled her eyes. "How about it's a fucking alien and they do queer things occasionally. I shared a bathroom with one."
Alex took a sample of the Thing's blood along with the blood sample from the dog. She then noticed the Thing's blood cells actively attacking the dog's cells, absorbing them, and then imitating them within seconds. The imitating cells then took over other cells and did the same thing to them. After the discovery, Alex called Fuchs into the lab.
"Listen, this Thing could have imitated a million lifeforms on a million planets. It could change into any lifeform it contacts. It needs to be alone and in close proximity to be absorbed. There's still cellular activity in these burnt remains. They're not dead yet," Alex told him.
"So?" he wondered.
"We burn everything," Alex said seriously.
Meanwhile, Windows went looking for George inside the outpost but only found his clothes covered in blood in the storage room. Looking around, he saw George half-naked being strangled by tentacles from the remains of the body with two heads. "Shit," he realized.
Windows took off and found Alex and Fuchs. "It's George," he called over. The three entered the storage room but found no one. "He was right there. The corpse had a hold on him."
Alex turned the outpost's alarm on and the three went outside where they found George stumbling about. The three caught up with George as he fell in the snow. Alex ignited a flare revealing that George's arms were bloodied and clawed. The rest of the Space Marines came out and surrounded George. "It isn't George," Alex said to them.
The Thing imitating George gave an inhuman scream. Alex tipped over a canister of fuel and ignited it with the flare. George was then engulfed in flames. The Thing screamed until it stopped moving in the flames.
Afterward, Alex had a chat with Garry. "What the fuck is going on?" Garry demanded.
"Before I came to this time, I was the Director of the DEO. I've seen a lot of weird shit including this. I know how to handle this...Sir. We have to burn the bodies," Alex told him.
"Well, okay then," Garry agreed.
The Space Marines used the bulldozer to clear the ice for a mass grave. They then took all the collected bodies and put them in a pile, drenched them all in fuel, and lit them on fire. "You sure that's all of them?" Garry asked Alex.
"We cleared out the storage, the lab, everywhere," Alex assured him. "We have to disable the snow-speeder and the radio until everyone is clear. If this Thing gets off the planet, no planet is safe including Earth. Not even the Vindicators will be able to stop it."
Garry nodded in agreement. "Do what she says," he ordered.
"Wait, how can we know who is human? If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know?" Childs asked Alex.
"That's something an imitator would ask," Norris said suspiciously.
"Shut the fuck up, God damn," Childs yelled at him. "Well?"
"We test your blood with regular blood in storage," Alex said simply. "And where is Clark?"
Alex and Fuchs went over to the blood bank and found it already ruined. All the packs had been punctured and the safe was leaking blood onto the floor. "What the fuck?" Alex sighed. The rest of the Space Marines were called over. "Where's Clark?"
"Right here," Clark said.
"Was this broken into?" Garry demanded.
"No, the lock is undamaged," Fuchs pointed out. "Somebody opened it, closed it, and then opened it."
"Who's got access to it?" Childs asked.
"I do," Alex admitted.
"And I have the only key," Garry said pissed off. "Would the test have worked?" he asked Alex.
"Definitely," Alex nodded.
"Somebody else sure as hell thought so, too," Norris said obviously.
"Who else could have used the key?" Childs asked.
"Nobody. I give to Alex whenever she needs it," Garry answered.
"So, is it possible someone took it off you, Doc?" Childs asked Alex.
"No, when I'm done with it, I turn the key in," Alex replied.
"When was the last time you used it?" Fuchs asked Alex.
"Yesterday," Alex replied.
"Could someone have lifted the key from you, Sir?" Childs asked.
"The key is always hooked to my belt," Garry told him off.
The room exploded in shouting, pushing, and shoving. "Stop accusing everyone...stop it...it's not worth it," Fuchs shouted, about to cry.
"Alex is the only one who has any business with the blood," Garry said definitively.
"Full of shit, Sir. You've been here on several occasions, and it was Doc who came up with the test," Clark pointed out.
"Is that supposed to clear her?" Childs asked incredulously. "Fuck, if I was that Thing, I would come up with a bullshit test."
"And then destroy the blood needed to do the test?" Norris asked.
Windows then took off down the hall. "Windows!" Fuchs shouted after him.
The Space Marines chased after Windows as he went to the armory and got himself a plasma rifle. Garry was immediately on him with his pistol. "Put that down!" Garry ordered.
"No, I'm not gonna," Windows said apprehensively.
"I'll shoot you through the head," Garry threatened.
"You guys going to listen to him? Take his orders? He could be one of those Things," Windows said freaked out.
"Take it easy, Windows. Put the gun down. I have another test we can do," Alex assured him.
"Okay," Windows said lamely and put the gun down. Garry still had his pistol on him.
"Sir, put the gun down. We're good now," Alex said softly.
"I give you my word, I did not go near that blood. But, I also admit I'm out of my depth. I'm just a simple Space Marine. Doc, you're in charge," Garry told Alex and handed his pistol over to her.
"Take the blood packs and everyone goes outside for accountability," Alex ordered.
In the cold darkness, Alex brought everyone outside and had the ruined blood packets burned. "Alright, I know I'm human. And if you were all these Things, you would attack me all at once. So, some of you are still human and some of you may be the Thing. The Thing doesn't want to show itself. It wants to hide in one or more of you. It'll fight if it has to but then it's vulnerable alone. If it takes us over, it has no more enemies, no one left to fight it. And then it's won," Alex said to them all.
"The stakes could not be higher. If this Thing manages to get back to Earth, the entire human race and all living things could be turned into a Thing. My best guess is that it's a biological weapon, a virus. So, we're going to do this by the book. My authority is absolute. If you cross me, I'll kill you," Alex said seriously. "Alright, Garry and Clark, move over there."
The two reluctantly moved off to the side. Alex turned to Childs and Norris. "Shoot them up with morphine, tie them up in the rec room," Alex ordered.
Inside the rec room, Garry and Clark were tied up to chairs in the rec room. Norris then shot them up with morphine. "Alex, I've been thinking. If only a small particle of this Thing is enough to take over an organism, we should prepare our own meals with the cans," Fuchs suggested.
"Yeah, sure," Alex agreed and then went back to the rec room. "Anybody see Fuchs? Cuz, somebody blew out the fuse in the lab." Alex looked over the blank faces of the Space Marines. "So...fuck me, right?" Alex asked dismayed.
"You want us to go looking for him?" Palmer asked.
"No, fortify this this position. I want it a fucking fortress," Alex ordered.
"What about Fuchs?" Childs asked argumentatively.
"Fuck'em," Alex shook her head.
"That's cold," Nauls protested.
"Grow up, he's already dead," Alex told him.
"What about no leaving a fallen comrade behind?" Childs mocked.
"Cut the bullshit!" Alex shouted at them all.
Palmer and Childs pointed their flame throwers at her in resistance. Alex took out some dynamite explosives and ignited a flare. "Anyone fucks with me, the whole camp goes," she warned them.
"Oh, shit, that is wack," Nauls remarked.
"Come on, Childs, burn me. See what happens," Alex taunted.
"White bitches be crazy," Childs shook his head dismayed.
"Put the torches on the floor and back off. Back off!" Alex ordered.
"Don't argue with her," Norris recommended.
"I fucking mean it," Alex said to Childs and Palmer. They eventually put their flame thrower equipment on the floor and backed away.
"It's cool, Alex, it's cool," Nauls told her.
"Yeah, just relax, calm down," Palmer added.
"Your condescension is really pissing me off. Anybody touches me, and we go," Alex said as she put the flame thrower equipment on her back and pointed the nuzzle at the dynamite.
Norris then collapsed on the floor, supposedly due to all the excitement, and passed out. "He not breathing. He dead!" Nauls said shocked and appalled.
"Bring him to the medical room. From now on, no one leaves my sight," Alex ordered.
Norris's body was dragged into the medical room and placed on the table. "Do we do CPR?" Nauls asked Alex.
"Stay away from the body. After ten minutes, if he doesn't recover, move the body outside and burn it," Alex ordered.
"We should at least give him a fighting chance," Childs objected.
"Be my guest. If he starts acting weird, I'll fry you both," Alex said to him.
Childs remained away from the body, and no one moved. Alex waited patiently for Norris to expire. "Okay, we're all going outside to burn him."
Norris wasn't too keen with that. He started acting up, his chest erupted into a giant jaw, tentacles sprouted from his chest, and then a neck and head rose from his chest cavity. The head vaguely looked like Norris with spider legs coming out of his neck. He was howling and snarling at them. Alex blasted the Thing with fire. The body on the table screamed in pain as well as the monstrosity coming from the chest cavity. The head from the body detached from the rest of the body, grew some spider legs, and scurried off to escape.
"Can I use a fire extinguisher now?" Palmer asked as the room was in flames.
"Yeah, now you can," Alex let him.
Palmer and Nauls extinguished the fire in the room but then they noticed the Thing head scurrying off. "What the fuck?" Palmer wondered. Alex then noticed the head and fired the flame thrower at it. The head screeched as it burned in the flames.
Alex brought Childs, Palmer, Nauls into the rec room where Garry and Clark were still tied up. "Anything queer happen?" Garry asked curiously.
"Just an average DEO weekend," Alex sighed. "Childs, Windows, Palmer, and Nauls, tie yourself up as well," she ordered.
"You ain't tying me up," Childs refused.
"Then, I'll have to kill you," Alex said seriously.
"Then, kill me," Childs challenged.
"I mean it," Alex said pointing Garry's pistol at him.
"I guess you do," Childs said defiantly.
Suddenly, Clark broke free of his ties and rushed Alex. Instantly, Alex shot him in the head, dropping him. Alex was initially shocked but then turned to the others with the pistol. "You're all fucking Space Marines. I was put in charge. That means I'm God. You follow my orders, all of them. Now, we're going to do a little test and if anyone fucks with me, they're dead. And if you get the drop on me, guess what, you're all dead," Alex said to them.
The Space Marines reluctantly tied themselves up to chairs. Alex checked the binds and then conducted her test. "Watching Norris over there, I think every little piece of the Thing is an animal with a built-in desire to save itself. When one of us bleeds, it's just tissue. For the Thing, the blood will try to survive and crawl away from a hot needle. You get it?" Alex explained.
"No," Childs said argumentatively.
"Fuck you, Childs. I'm doing you last," Alex shook her head dismayed. Alex tested Window's blood first by heating up a needle with her flame thrower and then putting the needle in the blood. When nothing happened, Alex untied him. "Put it on," she told him referring to the second flame thrower.
"Now, we'll test what I already know," Alex said.
"Croc of shit," Childs doubted.
Alex tested her own blood and nothing happened. Alex then tested Clark's blood. "Then Clark was human, huh? And that makes you a murderer," Childs said victoriously.
"Spare me," Alex rolled her eyes but internally felt grieved.
"Just go along with it," Garry told his men.
Alex nodded appreciatively and then tested Palmer's blood. Immediately, it freaked out as it tried to escape the dish. The blood fell to the floor and took off. Palmer, tied to the chair, began to shake and act queer. "Holy shit!" the others still tied up said as Palmer was acting up. His eyes were bulging and bleeding. His face became a bloody mess and his hands turned to claws.
"Stupid thing," Alex said as her flame thrower malfunctioned at exactly the wrong time.
Palmer jumped to the ceiling and tried to crawl away. "Windows, do something," Alex yelled at him. Palmer jumped down, his head opened into claws, and a tentacle wrapped around Window's neck. Palmer's head jaw then bit down on Window's head. Palmer then threw Window around like a ragdoll as Alex continued to struggle with her flame thrower. Eventually, the Thing that was once Palmer threw Windows across the room. Alex finally fired on the Thing lighting it on fire. The Thing tried to approach Alex while on fire and got more flames. The Thing then tore through the wall to the outside, fell into the snow, and exploded. Alex burned all the remains and then quickly went back inside. She turned the flame thrower on Window's body and blasted him as well. Window's body Thing or not writhed in pain and then stopped moving.
"Alright...let's continue," Alex said slightly overwhelmed. She tested Nauls' blood and nothing happened. Alex then handed him the second flame thrower. Alex then tested Childs' blood as she suspected Garry was the Thing from earlier. Childs was also negative.
"Get me outta here. Cut me loose!" Childs demanded.
"Chill the fuck out," Alex scolded him and then untied him. Alex then focused on Garry.
"I know you've all been through a lot, but I would appreciate it if I didn't spend the entire tour tied to this couch," Garry said dryly.
Alex tested his blood and nothing happened. She then untied him. "Fortify this position with everything you can find," she ordered.
The remaining Space Marines got themselves some plywood and nailed them to all the doors except one. "What's the plan?" Nauls asked after they were done.
"We hold up here and pray for a drone rescue," Alex told them.
The generator then went offline taking away their light and heat. "Well...shit," Alex muttered. "In six hours, it will be a hundred below zero."
"That's suicide," Garry said incredulously.
"Not for that Thing. It will freeze out here and wait for the rescue team," Alex figured.
"What do you recommend?" Garry asked.
"We blow shit up and hope the Galactic Federation is paying attention. It will keep us warm and won't let the Thing freeze," Alex said.
"What stops the Thing from freezing itself away from the base?" Nauls asked confused.
"It could but then it would be far from us and the rescue party that comes. It would be stuck here. We can always nuke the moon from orbit," Alex said.
"Fuck yeah," Nauls nodded in agreement.
"What is the contingency plan?" Childs doubted.
"We use the snow-speeder for shelter," Alex shrugged. "Childs, guard the shuttle," she ordered giving him the flame thrower. "Everyone else, let's blow shit up."
Alex, Garry, and Nauls ventured outside in a tight T-formation and made their way to the sheds outside the post. Kicking their way in, the three looked around for anything suspicious. Alex stomped her boot on the floor and found the sound to be odd. "Something's there," she said.
Nauls tore the floorboards away revealing a hole in the ground. "Somebody was busy," Alex mused as they went down. At the bottom of the ice-cave was an unfinished saucer-shaped ship. "What is it?" Nauls asked obliviously.
"It's a ship of some kind, stolen parts from the shuttle. The smart son-of-a-bitch put it together piece by piece," Alex considered.
"Where's he trying to go?" Garry wondered.
"His ship, maybe," Alex figured.
The three went back and prepared dynamite sticks. "Well, Childs just left the snow-speeder and took off," Nauls reported from the shed.
"Piece of shit," Alex said annoyed. She lit the dynamite and dropped it down the shaft to the unfinished spacecraft. The explosion destroyed the ship and the shed with it in a hot fireball.
The three then went to town on the post lighting fires with the remaining fuel and throwing explosives. Like total pyromaniacs, the post was on fire everywhere with no resistance. Alex was tossing Molotov cocktails like a pro into each room. "Generator room," Alex said as they were finished with the surface.
Going downstairs, Garry noted that the generator had been destroyed as suspected. "Generator is fucked."
"The detonator and the explosives have to be in two different places. Garry, put the explosives where they need to be. Nauls, guard me and the detonator," Alex said.
"No one is surviving the detonation," Garry judged.
"Right, once you, two, are clear, I will detonate the explosives," Alex said sacrificially.
"As your commanding officer, I can't allow that," Garry resisted.
"You relieved yourself, Sir, and made me in charge. Now, I am giving you an order," Alex told him.
Garry and Nauls gave each other a look and then agreed with the plan. Garry went about putting explosives in various spots all connected by a wire. Suddenly, Fuchs appeared out of nowhere. "You?" Garry realized.
"Yes, me, me, me," Fuchs smiled and then placed his fingers into Garry's face taking hold of him. After brutally killing him, Fuchs dragged Garry's body away by pulling on his face with his fingers on the snowy floor.
Nauls looked around in all directions spooked by the dimly lit generator room. Suddenly the floor erupted and tentacles threw out around his feet and legs. He was dragged under the floor instantly. The Thing then revealed itself with grotesque jaws. Its torso cavity opened up revealing a monstrous dog-looking creature. It looked like a kangaroo from hell. On the side of its jaws was the face of Fuchs looking seriously distorted.
"Fuck you, Fuchs," Alex said and pushed down on the detonator.
The generator room exploded roasting the Thing and its two victims. The explosion destroyed what was left of the post. Like a badass, Alex emerged from the flames and smoke. Hurt and overwhelmed, Alex got herself a resting spot among the flaming wreckage. It was then that Childs snuck up on her with a flame thrower. Alex showed him her last stick of dynamite. If he roasted her on the spot, he would be killed, too.
"You, the only one left?" he asked.
"Not the only one," Alex said dryly.
"Did you kill it?" Childs asked.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't...maybe...go fuck yourself. Where were you, Childs?" Alex asked pissed off.
"Thought I saw Fuchs, so I went after him and got lost in the storm," Childs shrugged.
"Sounds like bullshit," Alex remarked.
"Fires got the temperature up all over the camp. It won't last long," Childs judged.
"Neither will we," Alex figured.
"How will we make it?" Childs asked.
"Maybe we shouldn't," Alex said suspiciously. "If we got any more surprises for each other, I don't think we're in any condition to do anything about it."
"True...true," Childs agreed. "Well, what should we do?"
"How about a drink?" Alex asked giving him a bottle.
Childs smelled the liquid, it was gasoline. "You, trying to poison me?" he asked accusingly.
"If you were the Thing, maybe you wouldn't know not to drink it," Alex figured.
"But if I'm a perfect imitation with all of my memories, I would know not to drink it," Childs said.
"You want to prove to me you're human? Drink it. The Thing wouldn't do it out of self-preservation," Alex pressed.
"What if you're the Thing and you put your lips to it already and this is a trick?" Childs asked.
"What if we're both the Thing?" Alex asked conversationally.
"But I know I'm not," Childs objected.
"What if you don't know you're the Thing even if you are the Thing?" Alex asked wide-eyed.
"Damn, I'm having an existential crisis right now," Childs admitted.
"Welcome to my world," Alex smirked. "Let's just see what happens."
The next day, a Gaia-class colony ship and three Athena-class destroyers arrived at Acheron. The Gaia colony ships were massive, the size of cities. They were fitted with a Kryptonian-designed World Engine. Hermes probe droids were sent out to investigate the planet and came back with odd readings. One of the probes discovered the destroyed Winathian and Human camps and then detected a life sign. Immediately, shuttles arrived at the human camp. Alex and Childs were found frozen among the wreckage.
"Battle Brother Childs, deceased," the medic said as he was positively frozen. He then looked over to Alex's body. "Imperial Princess Alexandra Olsen. I have brain activity, a pulse," he reported. "Be very careful handling her," he said to the other medics as they gently took her into a shuttle.
The World Engine dropped down on the planet with a loud thud and began its work of terraforming the moon. The Gaia colony ship then landed on the surface. Alex was taken to one of the Athena destroyers. "Begin quarantine protocol," the ship's doctor ordered.
"She's clean," the nurses informed him.
"Place her in the rehab tank and inform Imperial Command we have the Imperial Princess in a coma but in stable condition," the doctor ordered. Alex was placed in a healing tank with a respirator on her mouth.
"What happened to her?" a nurse asked the doctor.
"When and if she wakes up, she can brief Imperial Command. In the meantime, see that she's comfortable," the doctor ordered.