"Repeat, this is Weyland-Yutani Crusier 21012. Repeat, this is Weyland-Yutani Crusier 21012. EEV-Unit 786512, please give some sign of acknowledgment if you recieve this." Seated in front of the wide viewscreens of the crusier, Corporal Grant Enrikson sighed as he again tried to raise the Emergency Escape Vechicle floating in the void outside the massive crusier.
"Repeat, this is Weyland-Yutani Crusier...."
"hissss *crackle*...God, we *crackle* ...Weyland-Yutani... hissss... need immediate... *crackle* -vac rescue. Repeat... crackle ...immediate med- hissss rescue.
"Confirm that EEV-Unit 786512? Immediate med-vac rescue?" Enrikson questioned.
"hhhhissssss.... yes, immediate med-vac *crackle* "
"Acknowledged, EEV-Unit 786512. Med-vac team will meet you at the dock. Prepare for boarding," Enrikson said as switched over to the Crusier's intercom.
"Teams one and two, proceed to dock twelve and await further instructions from Med-vac team. Team three, stay with the cargo, and keep it secure."
Turning about on his heels, Enrikson strode out into the corridor as he finished strapping on his body armor, slinging his pulse rifle up over his shoulder. His mind raced, thinking of the consequences of his actions. Their cargo was highly unstable with unlimited potential for outbreak, but one of the first rules of the Marines Academy was that all emergency beakons must be answered, no matter the cargo or the delays of stopping.
Weyland-Yutani Crusier 21012 had been out in the void for over a month, on a top-secret run from some obscure colony world and then back to Earth. Enrikson had not been told what the cargo was, but he had seen it come on to the ship.
Whatever it was, they were holding it in cages... big cages... big cages surrounded by stasis feilds. Enrikson had only seen the cargo as it was brought on to the ship, and not again since, but his men had told him some very strange tales. Tales of strange hisses and screams coming out of the cages, of massive thumps and sounds of claws against metal coming from within.
Enrikson could have cared less, and had adviced his men to do the same thing. He was a straight flying solider, never crossing a superior officer, and never ever questioning them. He had not rose this far in the ranks by getting curious and asking uncomfortable questions of his superiors. He did not intend to start getting curious now. The cages were top secret, and to him, they would stay that way.
The signs on the corridor walls around him said that he was nearing his destination. He unconsciously sped up as he rounded the corner, finding teams one and two already waiting for him. Behind him, he heard the approaching med-vac team.
"What is the status of the EEV-Unit?" Enrikson asked as he stared out the docking bays doors, trying to peer downwards for a glimpse of the craft.
The nearest deck engineer looked up from a flashing console and turned to respond. "1000 meters, Colonel. Will be docked in five minutes."
Inside the confines of the cramped EEV, pleading cries echoed louder and louder. They became more franctic as the click of bullets being loaded into the chamber of pulse rifles mixed with the cries, and then someone started chanting, praying in some unholy toungue, calling to false gods and horrible monsters.
"You will have died for the cause, my brothers," The man holding the pulse rifle soothed coolly. "You will have served a greater purpose, and will be remembered eternally for your role in this. The Queen Mother smilies upon you."
Looking on from in front of the EEV's main veiwport, Garet grimaced slightly and turned away from the man with the pulse rifle and the Brothers on their knees in front of him. He reached up and pulled at the collar of the tight, unfamiliar clothes he wore as the pulse rifle spoke, bullets tearing into the backs of those kneeling. As Brother Garet adjusted the green vest, he took his mind off the sounds of the bullets tearing through flesh and the soft thumps of bodies hitting the ground.
He instead stood looking out the viewpost at the massive Wyland-Yutani cruiser they were approaching, and he wished that he were back in his comfortable robes, at the monestary back on Earth, reading passages to the brothers at the daily sermon, preaching of the mighty power of the Xenomorphs.
But instead, he continued to stare at the massive gray crusier, docking towers ablaze with flashing lights as the crippled EEV slowly floated closer and closer. He silently said a prayer for those fallen for the cause, the brothers on the floor behind him, lying in pools of their own blood. Without turning away from the approaching crusier, he spoke to the man with the pulse rifle.
"Brother Hein, pick up the shells, and make sure that you are ready when the doors open. We need only to step foot inside the crusier, then it will be ours."
"Yes, Brother Garet. What of the fallen?"
"Place their bodies in the cryo tubes. A med-vac will be waiting to look after them."
"But they will not find them alive. What do you wish for the other brothers?" Hein said, gesturing at the group of people in the far back.
"Tell them to prepare. The time has arrived."
Turning Hein grinned wickedly at the men. "You heard the man, Brothers. Get up! Get UP! Get your weapons ready and get in place!"
Light from the stars outside fell over Garet's wickedly gleaming eyes. Soon, the monestary would have a god to worship.
The head Medical officer peered through the docking bay window, trying to get a glimpse of the occupants of the EEV. Startled, he jumped back as a disheveled man in green and black civilian clothes, ran to the window.
His eyes tracked ceaselessly about as he pounded on the window of the EEV.
"Help us please. Some of the passengers are hurt."
The Med-vac team stepped towards the door, the Head Medical Officer shouting, "Step Back, we'll bypass the hatch."
One of the marines hustled forward, already pulling out keypads and bypass cables from his toolkit. He hunkered down in front of the EEV's hatch, plugging and unplugging various cables, occasionally tapping in a series of numbers on the keypad. "Door opening," he shouted as he stepped back.
Around him, the marines all raised their pulse rifles, training them on the opening hatch, peering through scopes as the mist cleared from within. Then the first survivor stumbled out, followed by ten others.
"Oh, thank God you found us. We've been adrift for ten days, all fifteen of us trapped in that small EEV."
Enrikson lowered his pulse rifle and stepped forward. He looked over the eleven standing survirors. "Fifteen? were are the rest?"
The man that had appeared at the window earlier stepped forward, looking quesy and nervous around all the guns. "They're inside, in the cryo tubes."
The Med-vac team rushed forward into the EEV, heading for the injured crew. Just outside the hatch, the imposters fell into action. Suddenly, the lead man fell to the ground, clutching at his chest and gasping. Enrikson jumped back, calling out for a medic. Around him, the marines all trained their weapons on the seizuring man on the floor.
In a whirl of action, the rest of the survivors drew pulse rifles and handguns from undreneath jackets and inside boots. Clicking filled the air as gun after gun was readied and aimed at the marines, now caught off gaurd and astonished. Enrikson glanced around at the survivors in horror, then heard a click below him and glanced to see the once seizuring survivor pull a pulse rifle from beneath his trenchcoat.
Enrikson last thought was how he should have checked them before letting them on the ship. Then his world turned red as his head was pummeled at close range by explosive tipped bullets. With a cry, the marines were cut down in a hail of gun fire, chests and arms and legs shattered in a gory explosion of fire.
The smoke cleared, and inside the EEV, the weaponless med-vac team cowered behind the cryp tubes. Garet stood up looked at the bodies strewn across the floor, nodding his head and giving praise to his fellow men. He turned to Hien, who stood over the scene with a grin of pure evil on his face. "Deal with the med-vac team," he ordered, then stalked off down the corridor, followed by the rest of his men.
Turning to the open hatch, Hien pulled a gernade from somewhere on his body, pulled the pin, and threw it into the EEV, shutting the hatch as the gernade bounced across the floor towards the Med-vac team. He grinned wickedly at the men now pressing and pounding on the door of the EEV, pleading with Hien to let them live.
Hien's grin grew larger as he held the pin to the window for all to see and pressed the detonator.
Garet Jax and his men jogged down the corridor, following a memorized map inside their brains to the cargo bay. The cargo bay was massive, the size of a football fiebld. For all it's size though, it only held one thing. In it's exact center, the crate stood, surrounded by a stasis field and again surrounded by another squad of marines.
Alerted by the gun fight and unable to raise the other teams, team three stood gaurding all entrances, pulse rifles and smart guns primed and ready as they stood gaurds at the blast doors leading into the docking bay.
The smart gun operator, Sanchez, bit down harder on the cigar in his mouth, swearing out loud as the seriousness of the situation sank in on him. He hoisted his smart gun as the harness slipped down his sweaty shoulders and turned to the grunt next to him. "Can you belive this, man? What is going on? I can't believe this, man!"
"Sanchez, cut that out! You worry like my mother!" The second marine joked.
"Sorry man. It's just freakin me out, man!"
"Well, deal with it, cause I can't deal with your whining!"
"I'm not whining, I'm just saying," Sanchez said as he glanced from the ammo counter on his gun to the door and back again. "Think I'll have enough ammo?"
"You worry to much, man. Lighten up!"
"Sure, that's easy enough coming from you, the person who wet himself the first time he was in real combat."
The second man stopped grinning as he reached over and tryed to smack Sanchez upside the head. "I was sick, I told you," he spat, cursing Sanchez.
Sanchez grinned. "Lighten up," he said in a mocking tone. He looked back at the door, then again back to his ammo counter as he hefted the smart gun. He reached up and wiped the sweat beading on his dark forehead, still grinning. The second marine, Jones, had promptly shut his mouth and was silently fuming as he stood gaurd next to the door.
Sanchez nearly jumped a foot as the massive blast door began to open. It had barely open three inches when two round gernades rolled through the opening. The flood lights from the ceiling of the hanger glint madly off the round surface of them as the bounced and rolled closer to Sanchez and Jones.
Then they went off. Suddenly, smoked billowed up from the floor, and with an arc of electricity, Sanchez's Smart gun frame fried out. "Oh crap, EMP gernade!" he shouted out as he ripped the bulky frame off his chest, dropping it to the floor. Then his eyes started to swell shut.
"It's the gas!" Jones yelled as he stumbled through the smoke, choking and gasping as he tried to peer through his swollen eyelids. His pulse rifle swung uselessly side to side as he tried to see through the smoke and his swollen eyes. "CRAP! We are DEAD!" he shouted and fell to the floor, crying as he curled into a fetal position.
The doors were open enough to admit Garet and his men, now clad in gas masks, and they swarmed in, guns at ready, covering the two blinded gaurds. Across the hanger, the rest of the team ran forward, seeing the commotion.
Garet pointed and shouted, and two of his men dropped to their knees, pumping gernades into their pulse rifles. With hollow thumps, they flew across the hanger, landing among the approaching marines, sending them flying into the air as the sound of the explosions reverberated through the air.
"Fan out, tie up these two, throw them in front of the cage. Lets move, Brothers! I want that stasis feild prepped to be taken down when we get off the ship. Now move! The eggs are in the science lab."
"Yes, Brother Garet!" They cried as they set to work, removing their gas masks and tossing them aside. Two of the men went to work on the stasis feild, setting EMP gernades linked to remote detonators along the field's base.
"EMP's in place!"
"Good, let's get that egg!" he shouted to his men as they turned and strood out of the hanger.
The corridors were hushed as Garet jogged down them, turning right as he followed the layout in his head. "Almost there. Give me the clamp," he called out behind him as one of his men passed up the pronged clamp. Taking it, Garet gave it a visual check, making sure it would work correctly, then slipped it into a pocket in his jacket.
They turned left at the end of a long corridor, and they were there. Straight ahead was a door with a red cross. The Med lab. Their silence was not enforced, but reverently followed. All these years of the Brotherhood, all the wasted money spent trying to buy an egg, and it was there, just behind that door.
Garet slowly stepped foward, and triggered the door release of the door, sending it swinging upwards with a wisp of smoke and cold air. Garet shivered along with the rest of his men as they stepped into the cool air of the med lab. Then they saw it, across the room. In a solitary stasis tube, stood the single most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen.
The egg was a greenish black, the edge of it's pronged lips a brownish color. It throbbed slowly, with a life of it's own, each pulsating throb sending a fresh layer of clear slime cascading over it. It would give them what they had longed for. Give them what they had needed for decades now. This single lump of obscene flesh would give Garet and the rest of the monastary to which he belonged everything, this one oval shaped monstrosity would give them their God! All these years, and it finally only took them a matter of 20 minutes.
Behind him, Hien silenced the men for Garet as they began to murmer amongst themselves. Again, silence filled the room. Garet pulled at the confining collar of his green vest and rubbed the sweat off his forehead.
He finally broke their reverant silence. "Hien, bring down the stasis field and quickly move away. We need to get the clamp on before it opens." Hien stepped forward, the heels of his boots echoing through the room. Stopping next to the stasis feild, the sterile lights of the medical lab reflected off Hien's glasses as he pressed in a combination of commands on the computer screen next to the egg.
Quickly he stepped back as the field flickered and died, and then Garet stepped up and swiftly locked the clamp onto the top of the egg, sealing the creature within. He reverently carressed the top of the egg, marveling at it's feel and texture. As he touched it, a strange feeling swept through his body. Power! This was power! This was God!
"Find something to carry this in," Garet rasped softly as he marveled at the egg's throbbing movements. "It is time we left."
Ouside, the massive Cruiser's quiet exterior burst to life. On the bottom of the massive ship, the outer air lock hatches opened, and the ship dropped a solitary dropship out of it's umderside. It floated for the briefest of seconds, and then dropped nose first away from the ship, picking up speed until it could level out and glide on intersteller currents.
It's green hull glowed briefly from the reflected light of it's afterburners as the ship rocketed away, altering its course towards far-off Earth. Inside, seated at the front of the controls of the dropship, Garet paused in his manipulation of the controls long enough to reach into his pocket and activate the EMP grenades back on the cruiser. He smilied briefly at the thought of what would happen now that the Xenomorph was set loose, then his concentration returned to the controls in front of him.
Back in the cargo bay of the ship, Sanchez lay sprawled out on the floor next to the cage, whimpering softly to himself as he tried to see through swollen eyes. Inside the cage, unkown to Sanchez, the blackness stirred and hissed softly. The darkness suddenly rushed forward, slamming into the cage with a scream of rage.
Sanchez heard that, and his whimpering turned into crying. Next to him, Jones started laughing to himself. It was an insane laugh, and Sanchez knew that Jones was gone, cracked under the pressure. Sanchez didn't care, for he was almost cracked himself. Behind him, the stasis field suddenly gave out with a loud electrical snap. Sanchez cried out even louder.
The darkness inside the cage stirred again, again charged foward and slammed into the metal of cage, this time leaving a dent in the metal. Outside, Sanchez struggled at his bonds, trying to free himself. He only succeed in flipping himself around until he faced the cage. He peered through swollen eyes, but still could see nothing.
The beating grew more intense from inside of the cage, and suddenly the sound of tearing metal filled the room. Sanchez's crying changed into screaming, and tears began to leak out from the narrow slits of his swollen, red eyelids. He heard hissing above him, and somthing wet and thick dripped down onto his upturned face, slie mixing with his tears. He screamed louder, one keening and wailing note, then the darkness had him.
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Marines... we are LEAVING!
