We began moving swiftly down the tunnel. Our helmet lights danced across the mottled walls providing us with the only available light. Nothing on the motion tracker yet. As we continued down the hall I spotted a hole in the ceiling cut straight through the resin. It didn't look too secure.
"Hey Harper, hold up. I see something in the ceiling" I said.
"I see it, what do you want me to do about it. Closing fast." He replied
"Forget about it, I've got a signal from behind us." Said bill
A hideous shriek filled the air as Kai turned around in time to see the second predator thing go tumbling over backwards. As it hit the ground it began to struggle and shake violently, grasping at its face. The other two fell to their knees to assist. But before long the stricken creature stopped shaking and the other two stood up, revealing its face, covered by the body of some small pulsating spider like creature.
"That the fuck is that?" snapped Vince in shock, as the big one pulled out a long spear like thing that unfolded into some sort of gun. He bowed his head clicked for a moment then aimed the weapon at his comrade's head. Blood splattered everywhere, bright neon green colors lit up the corridor as they roared out in anguish, but the sound didn't even echo in this place.
We had barely gotten our whits about us when the high pitched beep of the motion detector went off again.
"I've got another signal in front, closing fast." Said bill coldly.
"Damnit!" yelled Harper as he turned around as a small hemisphere pop out of the hole in the ceiling and shot several powerful shots at the ground opposite us, eliciting another high pitched shriek before retracting back into the ceiling."
"Now what?" Asked Riley angrily.
"Looks like a 15 millimeter rotating fixed defense pod." Answered Vince in awe "They're only used in high security installations. They've got 3 inch composite armor and a motion, heat, and ultraviolet tracking system."
"Looks like we'll have to go around." Said Kai, but as we turned around the predator creatures blocked our way. After making some harsh clicking he pressed some buttons on his arm and a bright ball of glowing energy shot out from his shoulder and tore into the fixture. Sparks flew in all directions and the low moan of protesting metal indicated that the sentry was indeed destroyed.
"I guess not!" quipped Kai as we proceeded down the hallway.
We must have been getting really deep, because it was getting unbelievable hot in there coupled with a faint pulsing noise that frightened me deeply. The black resin substance never just kept on going. Suddenly the Main creature stopped us, and motioned for us to separate ourselves. We split up, and held our positions ready for anything as the predators looked about on the ceiling. Just then I felt something wrap around my stomach and lift me off my feet as the motion detector let off its warning a fraction of a second too late. I tried to scream but the thing squeezed my stomach tightly forcing all the air out of my lungs. Everything was getting fuzzy. I tried to struggle but its grip was like steel. It began crawling across the ceiling with incredible speed.
"Hobbes!" I heard Vince cry out "After him marines!" I heard him yell as the predators roared in enjoyment. Hounds to the hunters I thought to myself as I lost consciousness.
I awoke with a jolt as I was pressed against a wall. My insides felt like they were turning inside out, and I felt pain everywhere. When I opened my eyes I saw the face of a creature I'd not seen before, and yet, very similar at the same time. It was shiny and black and shaped just like the others, except for its head, which was considerably larger. It began slathering some gooey substance on me, I tried to resist, but it held me immobile against the wall as the goo hardened into the same type of resin that covered the walls. Then it was gone. The pulsing noise was even louder now, with a more defined rhythm.
"Come in? This is Hobbes, someone please answer!" I said into my headset.
"Hobbes! Are you injured?" Asked Hector excitedly between puffs of breath.
"Thank god you're still alive!" Said Vince with relief. "Where are you?" "I don't know, I'm restrained me to the wall with this black resin substance. And I dropped my pulse rifle." I said
"Just holler. We'll follow the sound of your voice." Said Kai reassuringly.
If only I could get my arm free I thought as I began yelling, only to remember I had lost my handgun in the drop ship accident. The only thing I could do now was hang there and yell while waiting for my squad to come and save me. As I struggled to free myself, I knew instinctively knew my life depended on it. It wasn't long before my restraints began to buckle, that's when the creature came back. It was carrying a tan colored orb of mottled flesh that looked like an egg. Which it cemented to the ground in front of me. It looked at me and saw that I had been struggling and let out an angry clacking noise. I looked at it as it stood there glare at me as I yelled.
"I hear him!" I heard Harper say over the intercom.
"I've got some movement on the tracker." Said bill methodically as the alien suddenly turned around. I don't know how it knew, but it grabbed the egg like thing and bolted, while several other aliens dashed back and fourth in front of me. Then one crawled right above me and suddenly they all froze in their tracks, blending almost flawlessly into the surroundings. My heart was beating like a freight train, it almost blended in with the pulsing noise that went on endlessly.
"The contacts have disappeared." I heard bill say over the comm.
"Be careful!" I said with concern into the headset. "I think they are planing an ambush."
"OK, we'll be on the lookout." Replied Vince as I began yelling again.
I began struggling again, and by then it wasn't long before I saw the helmet lights flit through the intersection to my right.
"I see you." I stopped yelling, and spoke into the headset. "I'm down the hallway to your right."
"All right! We're there man!" said Hector enthusiastically as Harper stuck his smart gun around the corner.
"I think there's one right above me." I said into the headset.
"Do you need some help?" Asked Riley with concern.
"I think I can get out myself." I said as the strand that was across my right arm began to give way.
"Kai, you take right flank, Harper take point, Hector you take left flank, Riley, give him a hand." Said Vince impatiently.
As Riley moved in to get me out, I saw a slight bit of movement above him.
"Shit!" I blurted as I pushed with all my might, breaking free from the web of ceramic like crust.
I managed to push Riley out of the way before I was pinned to the ground by something of incredible weight landing on my shoulders. Surprisingly my chest plate withstood the pressure.
"Movement, all around us." Said Bill like ice.
The thing on top of me shifted its balance and lashed out with its arms raking Riley across the chest and tearing his armor to shreds. Little splinters of hardened steel flew everywhere. Riley fell back against the wall and fired his pulse rifle. I was stuck between a large, now leaking container of acid, and the ground. As the weight on my back was lifted I rolled to my left to avoid falling debris. The hiss and nauseous smell of burning metal attacked my nose as the drops of acid burned through the ground beside me.
"It's an ambush!" Hector shouted.
"AAAAH!" Riley cried out as a fine mist of acid fell on him. I heard the sound of pulse rifle fire, and I jumped to my feet. Riley was lying on the floor, face down with acid burns all over his back, once again unconscious. Kai was shooting down the hallway to the right while Harper put an end to a shadow that was sprinting across the ceiling.
"Damnit Hobbes! I thought I told you to watch your back more carefully."
"I need a gun!" I said urgently.
"Here take mine." Said Hector as he handed me his pulse rifle and unslung his sniper rifle.
"Kick ass!" I yelled as I felt the adrenaline course through my veins. I started firing down the hall where Kai was firing, while the shrieks and howls rose up and faded and rose up again. We were shooting at shadows, there wasn't even enough light to confirm a single target.
Bill bandaged Riley as we fired into the darkness. The rest of the group crowded behind us, while bill held Riley up, using Bill's shoulder as a support he was able to limp along slowly. I could hear the soft pulsing noise now, louder than before. It was loud enough to hear while the guns where firing.
"Damnit! They're right in our path." Vince yelled over the comm.
We continued firing in intervals, just as we were about to say all clear and move on another one would charge at us. Finally they stopped coming and the pulsing noise faded slightly, but just as we were about to move forward a large shadow rushed towards. We were about to start firing again when I was almost knocked over face first from behind. I heard the sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard as the smaller of the predators pushed past me and ran to meet the attacker. As the shadow came into view I recognized it as the creature I had seen earlier, it was the one that grabbed me.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Harper asked as the two met each other at high speed.
The alien lashed out with its barbed tail, but the Predator ducked and swung it's fist upper-cutting the alien below the jaw. Acid sprayed everywhere and the Predator roared in pain as it flung the alien off its feet. The alien fell to the floor with a thud, but quickly recovered and swiped the predator in the leg with its dagger like fingers. Neon blood splattered the wall, but the predator creature kept its balance. The alien swung again, but this time he was ready and intercepted the alien at the arms, severing them. The alien cried out in pain with a ghostly wail, and desperately snapped its tail at its attacker, but it was in vain. The predator simply ducked out of the way and chopped the end of its tail off, spraying another cloud of corrosive mist into the air. The Predator roared out again, but it was different this time. I think this time it was in rage. It grabbed the wounded creature by its crest and brutally ripped its head off at the socket, the sound was like that of ice cubes snapping in a glass of warm water. It lifted the now dead creature's head up over its head and bellowed for all it was worth, before walking back to the end of the formation and clicking excitedly with the big one.
The pulsing noise became louder still as we proceeded. The thick black lining around the walls was getting thicker, and was beginning to impede our movement. In some places we had to proceed single file through the tunnel, but that didn't matter because we weren't encountering any more aliens.
"Do you think that was their last stand back there?" Asked Riley hopefully "There's still all of those ones back at the research laboratories." I replied
"I've got movement." Said bill as the familiar beep of the motion detector sounded again.
"I see a large chamber ahead." I whispered.
"OK marines I want you to go in by." Vince started, but was interrupted by the predators as they once again pushed by us.
The one was still carrying the aliens head in one hand as it pulled out its pistol. As I got back to my feet I was able to see into the chamber. It wasn't the fact that it was filled with those egg like things that frightened me, or the fact that in the center of it all was a gigantic yellow sack filled with what I now believed to be eggs. What really frightened me was the ten-foot tall alien that hung above it. It was huge, its crested head alone must have been 7 feet long. As the predator creatures burst into the room, they let fly with a barrage of energy fire. They managed to lay waste to every egg in the room within a matter of seconds. The alien wailed a scream that could have raised the dead, as it fought frantically struggled against its restraints.
Just as the behemoth of a creature broke free the predators were on top of it. It lashed and clawed, with much more precision than the other creature they had attacked hand to hand. Dispute the fact that it was clawing at them relentlessly they continued to stab, slice and claw it with their strange gauntlet things. We had the luxury of sitting back and watching as nothing was showing up on the motion detector from behind, all we could do was sit and hope the predator things finished it off and let us leave.
"What the fuck are they doing?" whined Harper "why don't they just blow it to pieces with those guns and get us out of here?"
"Damnit! We can't just sit here!" I cursed under my breath.
Just as it looked as if the predators were winning, the alien turned the tables with a quick well-placed whip of its tail. The tail pierced through the large predator's armor and cut straight through its chest before flinging it across the room. It wasn't dead yet though, it managed to sit up and press some buttons on its wrist piece before roaring out once more and collapsing to the ground, dead.
The other predator quickly disengaged quickly and began running towards us. The large alien tried to follow but collapsed on the ground, perhaps mortally wounded, but perhaps just without enough strength to give chase. Regardless the predator creature was running from something, and I decided we probably should too.
"Lets get the hell out of here!" I yelled into the headset as the predator thing dropped its trophy and almost bowled us over.
"What an ass! He's not going to leave us behind so easily!" Yelled Vince angrily as we gave chase.
We were barely able to keep up, with all of the strands of resin in the way. To make things worse, Kai was forced to help Bill carry Riley just to stay within site of the rest of us. I slowed down slightly to fill in the gap, but things were chaotic. Nobody knew what we were running from, but if for any reason we lost the creature, we lost our ticket out of this hellhole. Just ahead I could see the now reassuring blue light of the security fields.
As we fled back into the corridors, the predator thing slowed down and allowed us to catch up, but just barely. It was still running quite fast, and we were running out of breath. I had lost all track of time, but what happened next sent me spinning back into reality.
"Time limit expired. Defense fields off-line." The chilling voice echoed through the halls once more as the energy fields disappeared. "Internal sentries off-line. External sentries off-line, all systems normal." Within seconds we heard the ghostly screeches float through the corridors again. As we ran up the stairwell a gigantic explosion shook the entire complex. Pieces of loose metal flew like bullets through the air, bouncing painfully off any exposed skin.
"What the hell was that?" Harper said, beginning to loose it.
"Forget it! Were on the home stretch, but stay focused." Said Vince with determination.
"Yeah! If anyone dies, I'll kill em!" said Hector with a chuckle, attempting to lighten the situaton.
"We've been through this before now." Said Kai angrily "Don't start crying now."
"I don't think that." I started, but more pressing matters showed themselves.
"I've got movement." Said Bill, still deadly serious.
As I looked over my shoulder at bill I saw a shadow flit across the hallway behind us.
I spun around in mid leap and fired a grenade, which exploded about 20 meters behind us. Before I twisted back around and took my next step I saw the hallway illuminated by the explosion. The black creatures were either writhing in pain, or crawling with lighting speed at our rears.
"Leave me." Said Bill without emotion, as he grabbed Kai's pulse rifle from her hands and the belt of grenades off her waist.
"What are you doing?" was all she could manage before he let go of Riley and stopped in his tracks. The sound of pulse rifle fire rang throughout the halls as aliens dropped to the floor in furious agony. He threw off his helmet and began to counter the alien's advance.
"Let me give you a hand." I yelled as I lifted Riley up by his other arm supporting it across my shoulders.
As the sounds of the pulse rifle got farther and farther away the predator thing in front began blasting at things with his gun, and we were forced to begin dodging holes cut in the floor by the acid.
"One more flight of stairs and then we're on the roof!" Hector exclaimed with hope.
We were up the stairs in seconds, bursting through to the rooftop we saw the alien ship. My lungs were on fire as I was trying to keep up this sprinter's pace. As I once again was drenched in rain I looked over my shoulder at the area of the building where we were. In its place was a crater the exact size and shape of the one in the research laboratory. As the ramp opened, the predator was the first one in, followed by Harper who once inside collapsed in exhaustion
"Shit! They're climbing up the walls!" I shouted as I saw them pour over the edge of the roof.
Hector was the next one in. As soon as he got up the ramp he spun around and crouched to the ground with his sniper gun. Bullets began to fly past us as he took aim and shot round after round at the approaching aliens. The moment we stepped onto the ramp it began to close and we all fell to the floor. Kai was asleep in moments. And I was too tired to move, even If I wanted to I couldn't. As I looked over my shoulder I noticed the predator. Still bleeding its neon blood, sink to the floor and rest. Its breath was laborious, but it lived. The others came in and began sewing its wounds, but it just sat there. Barely moving until they finished. I felt the adrenaline fade from my body as I relaxed against the cold hard floor.
I had been too tired to notice the ship lift off but the next thing that happened was the ship was rocked by the sound of clanging metal. As the ramp opened I saw the familiar face of airlock #2 staring right back at me.
"Come on, let's get out of here before they change their minds." Vince said painfully.
"I've got Riley this time." Said Hector with a chuckle as he lifted him off the ground.
"You always did have a sense of humor." Harper said nervously as we approached the airlock.
We entered the safety of our ship and sealed the door behind us. That would be the end of our problems for the meanwhile. We all knew the consequences, we knew nobody would believe what we saw. But in the back of my mind I had to except the fact that there were more people than I knew, who must know about what was going on.
"Hello?" I heard Tom call out feverishly as we walked down the corridor. "It's us, we're all right!" I said with a sigh.
Tom came out from behind the corner holding a pulse rifle nervously in his hands.
"Put that thing away before you hurt someone!" Yelled Vince as he snatched it from tom's hands.
"Don't mind him, his nerves are just a little shot." I heard Kai whisper to Tom as she walked by.
"Oh, by the way Tom, we're going to nuke the site from orbit, if you don't have a problem with that." Said Vince menacingly as he began walking to the control room. The explosions were visible from orbit, just two little bright flashes of light ended the madness.
"By the way." I said to Vince as we were getting ready to enter hyper-sleep. "Why didn't you want me pressing any buttons on that wrist computer?"
"Did you see the little red one that had the glass cover on it?" he asked back.
"Yeah." Was all I could reply.
"Well. That was some sort of suicide device. It gives the user a lethal injection of poison." He explained.
"Oh." Was all I replied, the most pressing thing on my mind was how much I hated going into hyper-sleep.
"Not quite as flashy as the aliens self-destruct mechanism eh?" chirped Kai, as everone just looked at her in confusion. How she figured that out I'll never know I thought to myself as the lid on the hyper-sleep couch closed.
