Karmac as Staff Sargent Garth Pawolski
Martzin as Private Murdoch Machowicz
KiroKing as Squad Marksmen Sargent Zack Micken
Amaxin as Combat Medic Corporal Asher McMillian
Lance Corporal Brian Levibm as Himself
Kneez as Private Ryan Steelburg
Jusa297 as Engineering Synthetic John "Tin Hands"
Kavlo as Smart Gunner Lance Corporal Lochlann Healy
Average Joe as Itself
Garrison as Smart Gunner Lance Corporal Raul Garrison
Sarah_U as the Alien Queen
Casany as our Gracious Game Master & Narrator
► Show Spoiler
The pod crashes into the ground, John moves to push the button to open the doors, the door begins to open, then Zack decides to bash the button with the butt of his rifle. The button and its panel smashes into pieces, making the door freeze in place. Raul stares at Zack, clearly unimpressed.
Garth: "Zack you sonnova bitch"
John begins to pry the doors fully open, but his limbs malfunction from the previous skirmish, causing his hands to push the door closed instead of pulling them open.
Raul: "lets give him a hand guys"
Garth: "Step aside, I got this"
John steps aside as Garth begins to pull the doors open, Raul and Lochlann step up to lend a hand. The doors collapse open, the Squad emerges and surveys their surroundings. They are in what appears to be a Boreal forest with a temperate climate. It is midday, sounds of wildlife echo throughout the wilderness.
Garth: "Give me a second to figure out where we actually are."
Raul: "Least we crash landed in a comfy environment... no burning jungles, no ice colony, or airless moons."
John: "Airless moons.. hahahaha"
Raul: "by the way.. did anyone see where the colony was before we landed?"
John points North East, pointing out a large wall on the horizon. He suggests that the squad should head in that direction.
John: "Before we leave, we should salvage the pod for supplies."
Garth: "Sure thing"
John climbs back into the escape pod, Raul digs into his pack.
Raul: "Oh. Hey, Lochlann, catch" Raul lobs a Smart Gun ammo drum at Lochlann, he catches it with style"
Lochlann: "Thanks"
Raul: "Got more then I need after looting that Bravo Gunner back on the ship."
As Raul begins to unload his Smart Gun to inspect it. John emerges with emergency MRE's and a first aid kit from the pod's supply cabinet.
John: "I recommend we take these rations, you guys require nourishment."
Everyone stashes what they can carry, and Garth leads the squad west, in search of the other escape pods. In record time, the squad soon stumbles upon one of the escape pods. One side of the pods doors has been jammed open, Garth proceeds to move inside as the rest of the squad inspects the surrounding area. When Garth suddenly feels the barrel of a gun on the back of his head.
Garth: "Well then... Isn't this a fine predicament."
Most of the squad is too focused on the outskirts to realize that they have been infiltrated. Except for John, he manages to sneak up on the unknown gunman, disarming him as he is pinned to the ground.
As John proceeds to subdue the Gunman, Garth works his way into the pod, finding two marines latched to their seats, they appear to be unconscious. The rest of the squad notices whats going on and groups up. Raul points to the downed man.
Raul: "Who the heck is that?
Garth: "Tried to pull a gun on me, Robot got him sorted"
Raul inspects the man.. "His uniform is USCM, minus the armor."
John: "I don't recognize this person, please, identify."
Brian: "OKAY! OKAY! just ease up, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. Name's Brain, Lance Corporal Brian Levibm, I was standing watch for my comrades till they decided to wake up."
A voice grumbles amongst some snoring from inside the pod
Voice: "Yes...
Displeased.. Garth begins to march into the pod.
Garth: "Somebody help me get these Bravo maggots up."
Raul volunteers and follows Garth inside. "I bet these guys were in the Garrison"
Lochlann begins to light a cigarette as Zack scans the perimeter through his rifle.
Garth and Raul try getting the two Bravo's awake. But from shaking to slapping, nothing works. Garth resorts to more dramatic measures, drawing both his pistol and rifle, he whacks both Bravo's on the head.
Garth: "Wakey wakey motherfuckers."
Bravo 1: "AHH!"
Bravo 2: "WHAT THE FUCK!?"
The First Bravo jumps out of his seat, pulling out his knife. The Second tries to unholster a Revolver.
Bravo 1: "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"
Garth: "Sargent Pawolski, Alpha Squad Leader" *points at Bravo 2* "put the gun down."
Bravo 1: "WHAT?! ALPHA?!"
Zack: "Alpha"
Garth: "That's us"
Raul: "Were the Alpha's that you guys thought were dead."
Bravo 2: "What the fuck happened up there?"
Garth: "Uhh.. it's best not to question that stuff. You Bravo's got any more folks around or is this the last of you?"
Bravo 1: "No... we're the only fucking ones.. WE"RE THE ONLY ONES LEFT MAN! I SAW IT ALL HAPPEN MAN!"
Garth walks out and inspects Brian's pulse rifle... it's empty.
Garth: "Hey, where's your damn ammo Corporal?"
Brian: "Oh.. yeah.. I didn't really have any bullets for it.. I was a Smart Gunner but I had to ditch my Armor, harness and all, it was weighing me down and I would of ended up like the others with it. At least I was intimidating.. right? Can you let me go now please?"
As John releases Brian, Lochlann leans over to Raul, whispering to him
Lochlann: "Fuck.. I think you looted his buddy"
Raul: "Probably"
Bravo 1: "I can still hear them...their screeching...they were in the vents, they grabbed Finley by the ankle and fucking pulled him into the ground. We found him later..."
Garth: "Alright look, shit's fucked but we ditched those lizard monsters when we escaped the ship. So were gonna do just fine."
Asher: "Alright, what do we do now then, Sarge?"
The remaining Bravo's march out of the pod, the second one sits on the ground, staring at his feet. The first introduces himself as Private Murdoch Machowicz, the second as Private Ryan Steelburg.
Garth: "Let's get into this colony and see what looks securable, we're gonna be here a long time is my best guess"
Ryan: "God I need a smoke after this. Did anyone bother to grab some cigarettes?"
John: "Cigarettes were not a priority."
Something ticks in Rauls brain, he looks at Murdoch
Raul: "Hey.. have we met before?"
Murdoch stares in confusion "What?..I..don't know?"
Raul: "ah never mind, you look like someone I fought with in the Garrison."
Ryan: "What happened to us.... Fucking, they came out of no where. And shut the hell up John, I want my cigarettes!
John: "Addiction patterns detected. Please consult with your nearest Doctor.
Asher: "Diagnosis: shut the hell up. Colony will have cigs, most likely."
Zack: "Tough, If it makes you feel better, I put a round in that fucking big one. and it went from charging us down to running away."
The sun begins to set, Garth decides a course of action, and makes an announcement.
Garth: "There's no point in dwelling on that shit, we're going to the colony. Fuck sitting out here all night."
John: "I recommend we make a camp, we won't make it in time."
Raul: "Hm, do we stand a chance out here? Odds are those Xeno fuckers are here."
Garth: "Well we better hustle it shouldn't we Tin Hands?"
Lochlann: "Alright let's just be clear on this, those lizard monster we ran into on that cargo ship, the cargo ship came from this planet, MAYBE not this colony since, I dunno how many colonies there are here, but all I'm saying is we should be careful."
Raul: "It's probably safe to say they came from here."
John: "Remember the note? the lizards are on the planet."
Garth: "Ah shit, yeah, forgot about that... Eyes open lads"
Garth leads the squad northeast at a steady pace, they make it to the Colony gates without incident. The solid concrete walls span down each side. Although the tree's block out a good portion of the evening sun, it is still bright enough to see without much difficulty.
Ryan: "Fuck its dark out here. Anyone here have some engineering training?"
Raul: "That would be Tin hands over there" pointing in John's direction
John: "I do, what is required?"
Ryan: "Lets see if we can find some sort of power box whatever the fuck they're called. Get power up so we can see em coming and get inside."
An inspection of the gate reveals no sort of electronics to tinker with, but they find one way glass windows within arms length on the Gate house. Zack walks up and tries to smash the window with the butt of his rifle, with an audible slam, Zacks rifle bounces off, not even making a fracture in the glass.
Raul: "Reinforced glass eh?"
Garth: "Reinforced, yeah"
Garth then notices that the left gate has been pried open slightly, it's a gate that opens upwards. However, the crawl space was too narrow for anyone to squeeze through... but perhaps...
Garth: "I need three people on that side, everybody else over this side, we're forcing this."
Everyone holsters their weapons, except for Zack, whose taking up a position to survey the area.
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, get to the front, you should be stronger then me."
Everyone squats down and attempt to pry the door up with their hands. At first, the door barely moves, but then Raul and Lochlann heave with a burst of primeval strength, causing the door to rapidly rise with the squads combined efforts.
Garth: "Alright, everyone get through as fast as you can"
Murdoch moves to crawl through the enlarged opening, but suddenly, the door creaks with metallic groans. Everyone steps back, fearing for the worst. The door shifts down slightly, but seems to jam at the brief sound of metal crunching metal.
Raul: "Looks like it'll stay still.."
Without saying a word, Raul holsters his Smart Gun and crawls under the door. The minute he's through, he rises to his feet, hand on his pistol, he scans the immediate vicinity while the rest of the team works there way through the gate. Past the gate house, there appears to be two security checkpoints, both equipped with what seems to be a Garage for storing or sheltering land vehicles.
Zack is the last one in, followed by Garth.
John: "We don't want those bugs back here again"
Garth: "Help me drop this thing back down."
Once again, the group lines up, trying to push the gate back down, but it refuses to budge. Whatever jammed it, jammed it for good.
John: It seems we can't close it. I recommend we keep moving and seek shelter."
Garth: "Well just have to remember to sort this out some other time.."
John: "I concur"
The team forms up and begins to properly scout the area. As they close in on the left checkpoint. Raul makes an observation as he inspects the walls and security.
Raul: "Hey guys... I've been on guard duty for several colonies in the past.. and this one.. seems rather fortified for a typical facility.. Has to mean there was something about this place that was worth defending..."
Garth: "It's too late to question this shit. Just deal with it as we go at this point."
Raul: "Whatever you say Sarge."
Garth: "...We'll keep an eye out for sure, you make a good point."
The team reaches the leftward Security Checkpoint, Murdoch cautiously opens the door, Incinerator at the ready. Lochlann and Ryan follow him inside as the rest of the team enter through the open Garage door. From the looks of the place, the Garage seems to be a place for Security Officers to inspect inbound vehicles for contraband before letting them into the colony. Nothing seems out of the ordinary... until a pool of dried blood is discovered on the floor.
Raul: "Yup, definitely ground zero here."
Lochlann: "So fair to say we'll find contacts here soon."
Lochlann: "Unless they all thought it was a good idea to all leave on the ship"
Garth: "I'd hope so, but I have personal doubts."
Raul: "The crew manifest for the ship said it had twenty seven crew, right?"
Lochlann: "Yea, something like that."
John: "One of them being a criminal, yes"
Zack: "Think it was thirty."
Asher: "Multiplied by ten considering the local alien population."
Raul looks out a window with the colony domes in view, trying to gauge just how many people they could be home too. Zack begins to move out to check the rightward Checkpoint, John moves to follow him as the others continue their search.
Garth: "Hurry it up, we need to secure an FOB"
Zack and John enter the rightward checkpoint, weapons ready, they find a similar Garage, except they find something odd at the desk near the corner of the room.
John leans his head out the door "SARGENT!"
Garth and the others drop what their doing and head over. they find an overturned chair, with a bloodied bloated corpse still sitting in it.
Raul: "Deja vu.."
Didn't take a coroner to realize something pounced on him and proceeded to claw his head and body until there was nothing recognizable left. In addition, its left arm and right leg were severed off, lying about nearby. The stench of decay is palpable, causing Ryan to gag and the others trying their best not to be phased by it.
Zack: "Fuck... that smells..that's weeks, maybe even a month old."
Raul: "Holy hell this guy has seen better days.."
Garth: "hmm... Shit, you might be right Raul.. Ground zero's sounding more and more like what this place is.."
Raul: "Well, whaddya know? I was right for a change. Those guys on LV-934 got nothing on me now."
Murdoch ponders, his hand on his chin, lost in thought. Lochlann steps past the body and flips the desk, its contents slide onto the floor.
Lochlann: "Hey Asher, give me a hand moving this desk to block that Gate."
Asher: "Alrighty"
Asher and Lochlann haul the desk outside towards the gate.
John: "We should attempt to make contact with any survivors or even the USCM."
Garth: "We need an FOB up before we try to contact anyone. Otherwise they'll be sending ships with coffins."
John: "I'll take guard duty for the night, but I'll need someone else to do it with me."
Raul: "We should see if we can get inside the main facility."
Without a word, Garth begins to march outside, the team being unoccupied with anymore tasks, follow him outside without question, only to see that there is barely any natural light left.
Garth:"Alright, we're outta time, we're securing this checkpoint for tonight, preferably the one without the weeks old corpse stinking up the place."
Raul: "If you say so.."
John: "Roger"
Zack: "That's a shitty idea"
Everyone follows Garth back into the leftward checkpoint, doing their best to fortify the Garage as the colony lights slowly begin to come on for the night shift. As Ryan is barricading a side door, he notices a Storeroom that they had missed in their previous search.
Ryan: "Sargent! mind if I dick around looking in the storage area looking for some wood and shit to fortify with Tin Can?"
Garth: "Sure"
Ryan gestures over to John, "cmon Tin Can"
John nods and walks over to the storeroom with Ryan as Raul pulls up a chair, Smart Gun in hand.
Asher: "Hol` up, I'm coming with."
With that, Zack and Lochlann grab their weapons and begin to follow Asher outside.
Garth: "Medic, you're staying here. I have a wounded toe."
Asher: "Here, alone?
Garth: "I'm with you"
John: "It's unnecessary, me and Ryan can take care of any situation we find there."
Asher:" Alright, fair enough. I'm staying."
Lochlann: "I'll still come incase you run into trouble."
Ryan: "Me, Tin Can, and the Smart Gunner should go"
Everyone agrees and the assigned group move up to the sturdy metal door leading to the storeroom. Garth and Raul are watching from the Garage as Lochlann tries to kick the door down, but ends up horribly stubbing his toe. Then John reaches for the handle, with a turn, the door slides open. Raul gives a slow clap, clearly unimpressed.. Garth just stares dumbfounded.
Garth: "Sometimes I wonder who's coffee I pissed in to deserve you people."
Asher: "You probably pissed in the coffee I tried to drink earlier, it tasted like shit."
Garth: "I told you not to drink the fuckin' coffee, that was your own fault."
Asher: "It was worth a try."
The group outside enters the storeroom, a light clicks on as the team searches the crates inside. There are surplus building supplies, such as wooden planks and metal sheets. There is also a crate of confiscated weaponry, with ammunition stored in a separate box, in addition to bottles of prescription painkillers and a first aid kit. In the corner of the room, there is a pile of trimmed tree branches. On a shelf above them, there are two crates, both have a large bio-hazard symbol on them.
Before anyone can carry anything out, something moves in a darkened corner of a room, a human looking figure slowly shambles out of the shadows.
Lochlann: "Oh hey It's an Average Joe."
The outdated Synesthetic walks over to the closet person (Ryan) at a very slow pace.
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
John: "Quarantine?"
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, this thing freaks me out and its making noise, we should shut it up."
John: "Negative."
Lochlann begins stepping back towards the door shouting "Overrided!"
Raul and Garth are still watching from the Garage as the encounter comes into view through the Storage door. They turn on their radios to talk to them.
Raul: "That thing isn't gonna turn into a murder machine now is it..?"
John: "No, it won't"
Garth: "Well it's no use to us in this state so take it out if it's in the way."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch seems unusually shaken by the robot: "SH-SHOOT IT MAN! JUST END IT!"
John: "This is private property. We can't simply break it Just ignore it."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "IT'S MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE!" Murdoch pull out his pistol
Raul: "Just walk around it..Save the ammo for a fucking Xeno."
Garth: "Don't waste your damn bullets on it."
Murdoch: "FUCKING WASTE IT!!!"
John: "Murdoch, you're acting hysterical"
Zack: "Cool it Private."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "THEY"LL HEAR IT! WE GOTTA KILL IT!"
John: "Robot Murderers aren't a thing"
Asher: "Shooting's even louder, shut your trap"
The Working Joe grabs Ryan's Shoulder it's grip becoming inhumanely strong. Ryan isn't too worried until it starts to lift hm off the ground, he starts screaming.
Murdoch: "THE FUCKING THINGS ARE GONNA COME FOR US! OH GOD--!"
Raul jumps too attention at the sound of Ryan's screaming, gripping his smart gun, he dashes out of the garage to the Storeroom to get a better idea of what the hell is going on.
Garth: "Mother of god you useless pieces of shit.."
Asher looks up at Garth "Just another day in the corps, huh?"
Murdoch: OH JESUS! RYAN!! Murdoch cocks his pistol, pointing at the Synthetic, who is still carrying Ryan off the ground, slowly moving him with unknown intent.
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "WHERE DO WE GO?!"
John: "There's probably some biological agent we don't know about."
Ryan screams again, in a panic, he takes out his Revolver and shoots at the Robots head. It comes clean off, it's voice box becomes garbled, but it still carry's out its task undeterred.
Headless Joe: "Quar.baagr.tfecte...Kar..enstinbgd...Blarsghbigl...Plarghgbl.."
Everyone can't help but be intimidated by the sight
Zack: "Jesus.."
John: "For the love of god! Stop it!"
Ryan: "Shut the fuck up Tin Can! Its hurti- FUCK!"
Garth sighs with a face palm... "It's like hearing a train crash. You want to know what happened, but you don't want to know what happened."
John: "Come on, let's just get out of here."
Raul: "We gotta get the Bravo free--"
Before Raul can finish his sentence, the Headless Joe has made its way into the middle of the arguing marines and puts Ryan down near the door. Before slowly turning around and shambling back to the corner it came from.
Raul: "Oh..."
John: "You see? It just wants us out."
Lochlann walks out: "Alright fuck"
Ryan and Murdoch walk back into the storeroom, the Robot once again turns around and shambles towards them
Headless Joe: "Buar.justine.ni inftfecte...tuar.enstinbgd...Ef-ef-effect...Plarghgbl vaaaca-ca-ca-ca-cate.."
Garth(Radio): "Did you guys find anything?"
Lochlann(Radio): "We found a killer robot"
John(Radio): "We found a robot that doesn't want us in the room"
Lochlann(Radio): "How about we make this a tomorrow problem after we sleep?"
Garth(Radio): "...And all four of you were defeated by this robot?
Lochlann: "This day so far has been us going onto a mission onto a cargo ship and getting destroyed."
John: "Let's just grab what we can and exit."
As the Headless Joe once again painfully carries Ryan outside, the squad takes the chance to haul back everything of value out of the storeroom. John taking the metal, Lochlann and Murdoch taking the wood and Medical supplies. Murdoch finds a large box of rations.
Lochlann: "Asher I hurt my big toe on a wall can you heal it?"
Asher: "Come out and I might be able to do something with it."
Raul: "I got a bad foot from that fuckin claymore.. deal with it"
Lochlann: "You have no feet."
After placing Ryan back at the door. Ryan pulls out his Revolver and fires a burst of bullets into it. John quickly stands between him and the Joe.
Headless Joe: "bou.dfas..Hysterical...qua...adgadf...Hysterical...You are being Hysterical."
John: "Unnecessary risk"
Lochlann: "Well Sarge if there was ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING hostile on this colony it knows we're here now."
Raul: "JUST OUT WALK IT YOU FREAKING PANSY!"
Garth: "You know. I didn't think this job would be so bad when they offered me the promotion... And now I know the truth."
Ryan: "I fucking hate that bot, why does it only bother with me."
John: "Because you shot it"
Garth & Asher "You're the only one that shot it/stupid enough to shoot it""
Ryan: "It grabbed me first! It man handled me! not a nice feeling"
Asher: "He gave you a free ride, and you gave him some lead medicine, that's rude"
Garth: "Be more careful then"
Everyone finally starts carrying the boxes out of the storeroom and into the Checkpoint. Lochlann puts down his box and presents his bruise to Asher, Ryan smacks the bruise, Lochlann retaliates with a punch. The two glare at each other, then pick up their boxes, carrying them inside. Lochlann sets his box down and lights a cigarette.
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, do you have a welder and mask or something? There was a vent in there I don't trust. Lost a good man that way."
John: "I can weld it without a mask, the welders have their own shields"
As everyone heads back to the Garage to drop off their cargo, Raul decides to grab the Contraband weapons and ammo boxes, hauling them on his arms he carries them through the door. Until something makes him feel uneasy, his senses put on alert.. he can hear something rattling. He looks back, seeing a vent on one side of the room. He see's something black and shimmery moving behind the grille. Raul's stomach sinks as fear sets in.
Garth & Lochlann: "What?"
Garth: "What is it"
Lochlann: "Hey Sarge, great minds think alike"
Garth: "Heh"
Raul: "OH SHIT! THERE'S ONE IN THE VENTS! ITS IN THE VENTS!"
Lochlann: "Oh no"
Zack: "FUCKING VENTS AGAIN!"
Garth: "Hold on I got this"
Raul runs out with the boxes still in his arms as Garth stumbles for his flamer, rushing for the store room. By the time he gets inside, the Xeno has already burst from the vent, getting ready to strike at it's incoming target. Garth torches the Xeno, coating it in burning fuel as it writhes and screams in pain. Raul, Ryan and John run in, hand guns at the ready. They arrive in time to see the Xeno fall to the ground trying to put itself out, but it ends up bursting as the boiling acidic blood explodes from its body. Garth and John duck behind a empty box, Raul and Ryan hide outside the doorway, evading the massive splatter of blood and gibs. The Headless Joe however, falls to the ground as portions of it's body boil and dissolve into a puddle of sludge. Raul and Ryan peer inside, seeing the aftermath.
Raul: "Well shit"
Ryan: "Good riddance. Fucking Bot."
Lochlann: "You know, it probably wouldn't of found us if you didn't blast that Robot."
Before anyone has a chance to bicker. Rattling and banging can be heard from the vent that the Xeno emerged from.
Ryan: "God dammit! There could be more!
Garth: "I immediately regret shooting that thing... GET THAT VENT SHUT!"
John: "One Second!"
John quickly welds the mangled grille into a solid sheet of metal, nothing would be getting through it anytime soon. However, the banging doesn't stop, in fact.. it could now be heard through the walls of the building.
Raul: "where is that coming from?"
Lochlann backs out of the building, "Let's back the fuck out."
As they search the room trying to find the origins of the noise.. Garth spots a vent on the Ceiling, he fires a burst of flame into it, but nothing happens. John gets to work on sealing the vent on the ceiling while Ryan covers him.
John:"Done"
Lochlann yells inside "You should all get out of there! They know we're here!
John: "This isn't a secure spot. There's another one of them here.. We don't know how many more"
Garth: "Everybody back to the Checkpoint!"
Raul: "Don't have to tell me twice"
John: "Do I weld the door Sargent?"
Garth: "If you can do it quickly go for it."
John acknowledges Garths words, he shuts the door and begins to weld it shut. Lochlann reaches for another cigarette, hastily lighting it.
Ryan: "Lochlann, toss me a cigarette. I'm shaky as hell."
Lochlann: "No fuck off, get your own. Shouldn't of shot that robot."
Ryan: "Selfish bastard.."
Raul anxiously watches the door with his Smart Gun as John finishes the weld. Ryan peers around the side of the building and notices a side door, he directs John to it and he begins to seal that one too. With the storage building sealed, everyone hurries back inside the checkpoint.
This music started playing in game if you want the atmosphere.
With their new found building materials, the Squad gets to work on turning the Checkpoint into a fortress. The Garage doors leading to the colony were inoperable. Garth, Lochlann and Ryan work to cover the large opening with two by fours fortified with some sheet metal. Raul and Brian are holding metal sheets to the windows as John welds them in place. While Murdoch and Asher are barricading the few side doors they can find. Although there was a skylight on the ceiling near the Garage doors, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Garth swings his hammer, but the nail's go in poorly.
Garth: "okay, maybe I skipped a little PT.. Don't judge."
John: "Allow me, I know how to do this."
John hammers the nails into the wood and door frame with mechanical precision. Then goes back to his welding.
Ryan: "Good work Tin Can, might actually be worth the cost USCM had to pay."
Raul: "Tin Hands has saved our ass back on that ship Ryan. He's one of us."
Zack: "That bot saved my life."
John: "I am of extreme use."
Ryan: "Whatever you say."
John: "They wouldn't make units like me if we weren't good enough."
Soon, all possible entry points are sealed or barricaded. Some of the marines set down their shoulder lamps to illuminate the room.
Raul goes through the crate of contraband. "Lets check out these guns.." he pulls out a double barrel shotgun, a Scorpion Sub machine gun, an automatic .45 caliber handgun, and a Spazz-Seventeen Combat Shotg--
A single shriek echoes in the distance from the colony.
Raul: "...."
Lochlann: "Oh Fuck.."
Ryan: "What the hell was that!?"
Zacl: "God dammit, another one?
Another shriek echoes from another direction
John: "Sounds like Xenomorphs."
Raul: "Yup.. There's Xeno's out there..
Murdoch: "It's THEM!
Murdoch frantically primes the fuel igniter on his Flame thrower while Lochlann nervously checks his Smart Gun.
Raul: "Stay calm folks, they don't sound like they are on top of us yet."
Ryan: "Give me a cigarette Lochlann, please. It will help me keep my cool."
Lochlann doesn't answer as Garth stares at the skylight. He takes out an assembly kit, opening it to reveal parts for a UA Sentry gun. He assembles the sentry, placing it to cover the Garage Doors and the sky light. He then places down the Command laptop, establishing a connection to the Sentry Guns systems.
Garth: "Brian, stick near this thing. And keep an eye on those skies."
John: "Garth, orders?"
Garth: "If you can't reinforce what we've got any further, just keep your eyes open for hostiles."
With most of the area fortified, everyone sits or stands around anxiously as the occasional shriek echoes in the distance. Lochlann drums his fingers on his Smart Gun. Raul then notices a button near the desk.
Raul: "Oh hey! Emergency Shutters!"
Ryan: "Don't hit the button yet. Wait until we know they're coming."
Raul: "Well with the windows already fortified, it would be better to keep them as a back up plan."
As the tension begins to relax, the fatigue of approximately 22 hours of combat operations begins to take it's toll. Raul yawns as he stares at the light creeping in through the windows. Asher sits down in a corner attempting to take a tactical nap.
Ryan: "Yaknow what, some of you should try to get some sleep. I had my rest in that pod."
Lochlann: "I volunteer Ryan and Murdoch to take first watch since th-"
The sentry gun suddenly beeps and fires a burst of bullets at an opening in the wooden barricade
Lochlann: "FUCKING HELL!"
Ryan: "SHIT!"
Raul: "Oh fuck"
Asher wakes with a startle "JESUS FUCK!"
Zack:"God fucking dammnit"
John: "Curious"
Despite everyone's expectations, nothing happens after the Sentry Guns barrage. Zack lets out a sigh as everyone begins to lower their weapons.
Murdoch: "ARE THEY GONE?"
Ryan: "Hm, I think we scared them off."
Garth: "Alright, show of hands, first two guards?"
Ryan and Raul raise their hand
Raul: "Just like Guard Duty back in the Garrison."
Ryan: "Garrison, you should rest."
John: "I don't have to sleep."
Asher: "Fuck that, I really wanna nap."
Ryan: "Me and Murdoch already slept, us and Tin Can will keep watch"
Murdoch and Ryan take up the first watch as everyone begins to settle in to catch whatever rest they can. The Sentry gun occasionally beeps, its turret veering sporadically, like its trying to track something.
Murdoch: "The sentry keeps moving Ryan... there's something out there.. watching.. .waiting...
Ryan: "Nothing will pass that thing."
Time passes by, Raul swaps out Ryan on the second watch, Murdoch is too on edge to sleep and keeps going. The sentry gun turns and veers with the rare occasion of shooting. Although Xeno's can be heard outside. They make no attempt to assault the Checkpoint. Ryan and Asher take over the third rotation, with Murdoch finally succumbing to fatigue and dozing off. The remainder of the night is uneventful as the morning rises. All the marines slowly come too, their injuries feeling less severe then before. Garth is one of the first up. He walks past Ryan and Murdoch as he goes to inspect the Sentry Gun. (Music stops)
Garth: "43 rounds remaining..." (Out of 250)
Murdoch: "it..it kept moving Garth. It kept moving through the WHOLE NIGHT!! Sometimes it would fire at something. But we couldn't see it..."
Garth: "Just be glad I've got spare ammo for this thing."
Murdoch: "I'm telling you. Those things are plotting. They're gonna find us and they're gonna.. THEY"RE GONNA KILL US ALL!"
Garth: "Look Murdoch, the only time you need to be worried is when it stops shooting. Alright?"
Murdoch: "They'll find a way Garth! They always do!"
John: "Okay, it's fairly obvious this place isn't fully secured. We can't hold it forever."
John: "Chances of us getting killed if we stay here: Around eighty percent"
Asher: "Chances of us getting killed if we move - several thousand"
Ryan: "Tin Can, I don't want to hear the chances of my demise..."
John: "We will lose the battle of attrition"
Lochlann: "Tin Hands" Where is your mute button?"
John: "A reminder that we only have food for about 15 days."
Asher: "You're a mobile calculator, let the big head Sarge think about the plan. We're still alive."
Garth begins to reload the sentry gun, only to find way more bullets still in the drum then he thought. He reinserts the drum and enters a few keystrokes into the Laptop.
Garth: "Never mind, 196 rounds left, I was reading it wrong"
Ryan: "So we lost 56 rounds so far"
John: "I"m here to make sure you are all in top condition and according to the current situation. Contacting the USCM should be the top priority."
Garth: "Alright, five of you go scout for a more secure dome for us to camp in. After that look for some kind of communications array."
Ryan: "I'll go."
Raul: "How about the Sargent decides?"
Ryan: "Hm, fair point."
Lochlann: "I don't mind staying if no one else wants to."
Garth thinks for a minute, then makes a decision
Garth: "Kavlo, Me and Brian will stay here."
John:"So it's Ryan, Me, Murdoch, Zack, Asher, and Raul."
Garth: "Tin Hands can do basic logic. Good"
Ryan: "I wouldn't mind some Z's"
Garth: "Too bad Ryan."
Asher: "I kinda want to take another nap myself, coffee deprivation's horrible"
Garth: "Go find some damn coffee then Asher."
Ryan: "Am I going or not? me and Asher had last watch. And I watched the first post too."
Lochlann: "Sarge if he wants to sleep, I'm up for going."
Pawolski gives an annoyed grumble
Garth: "Alright if you're gonna be so whiny about it. Healy will replace Ryan."
Raul goes through the contraband weapons again. "Anyone want a shotgun?" Ryan volunteers, Raul gives the double barrel shotgun along with a somewhat plentiful supply of shells. He then reaches for a random gun, offering it to John.
Raul: "Hey Tin Hands, you should have a gun too."
John: "I have my USCM regulated pistol. Being honest, it's of last resort. But I appreciate the offer."
Zack: "John, better first resort then last resort"
Despite the suggestions, John declines to take an additional weapon. Ryan pulls up a small box and gets comfy as the Expedition team begins to gear up.
John: "So who is in charge of the expedition, Sargent?"
Garth: "Sargent Micken will be in charge, Lochlann will be second in command. Not that I don't trust you Raul, I just picked Healy at random."
Raul: "Yes sir."
Lochlann: "Raul you've done a lot of good work for this expedition, I'm promoting you to third in command."
Raul: "Heh, thanks."
The Expedition team begins to head out, John proposes that they head for the Engineering dome for additional building materials and in hopes of finding a way to send a message to the USCM. Murdoch agrees, and hopes that they'll find something to get them out of this damned rock.
Garth(Radio): "If you guys find any electronics and doodads bring 'em back, I could use them for a project."
John(Radio): "We'll make sure that's done Sargent"
The team closes in on the Engineering dome, the hangar being close by since it is conjoined to the engineering dome. As the team moves to get the doors open, sounds of discharging electricity can be faintly heard from the Hangar.
Raul: "Sounds like somethings going on in the Hangar..."
John: "As it sounds, danger is near. I recommend we prepare for a possible fight."
Raul and Lochlann prep their Smart Guns and march down a gentle slope towards the Hangar with John and Murdoch in tow, Zack sticks back on the hill for a good vantage point. A inhuman primeval roar echos throughout the Hangar.
Raul: "HOLY FUCK! what is that?"
John: "Local Fauna, perhaps?
Raul: "Fauna? That's plants."
John: "Flora is plants, Fauna is animals."
Raul: "Oh..." awkwardly stops talking and stares forward, ready to fight
Zack: "Local fauna, might be something we can shoot and cookup"
As the team gets closer, they can make the familiar trail of resin oozing from the Hangar doors and into the surrounding environment. Lochlann tunes on his radio
Lochlann(Radio):Garth we're seeing some of that weed shit around the place near Engineering and the hangar. We're heading into the hangar.
John(Radio): "We also heard what sounds like a big animal. Perhaps local."
Garth(Radio): "Keep your shit together and get the job done. Over and out."
Another primeval roar rings out, more discharging sounds are heard when a wall from the hangar explodes. A blue ball of light comes flying towards the team, exploding on the ground near them. Murdoch stumbles backwards."
Murdoch: "AOOHH SHIT! WHAT WAS THAT!?"
Raul: "WHAT KIND OF CREATURE THROWS EXPLODING BALLS OF LIGHT!?"
John's optical sensors are overloaded from the flash. "Be advised, I'm unable to see."
The Marines are shaken, but they manage to keep themselves composed as they decide to investigate the origins of this paranormal destruction. Murdoch staggers to get back on his feet, holding his flamer forward.
----Back at the Checkpoint---- Garth keeps his motion tracker at the ready as he tinkers with the Sentry gun and his flame thrower. Ryan's lying comfortably against a box while Asher is curled up in a corner, both sound asleep. He takes some Engineering tape he found in a nearby tool box. Attaching his motion sensor to the top of his flame thrower. He smirks, but then his inventing is interrupted when static begins to crackle from his radio
Lochlann(Radio):Garth we're seeing some of that weed shit around the place near Engineering and the hangar. We're heading into the hangar.
John(Radio): "We also heard what sounds like a big animal. Perhaps local."
Garth(Radio): "Keep your shit together and get the job done. Over and out."
Ryan wakes up briefly since he is tuned into the same radio frequency, he take's off his earpiece and sets it aside, dozing off after a few minutes of silence. Asher presumably had his radio turned off since he was still quietly passed out in the corner, drooling in his sleep.
Garth looks at his flame thrower again, and ponders how well it would be if he could jury rig the flame thrower to work with the sentry gun. Then what the expedition team said about an animal came to mind.
Garth: "...wait a minute.." He flicks on his radio again.
Garth(Radio): "Say again, you've got contacts at the hangar?"
Lochlann(Radio): "FUCKERS BROKE MY SMART GUN!"
Garth(Radio): "Well see if you can get it back, the robot might be able to patch it later."
Garth places a hand on his head, what was supposed to be a simple recon mission seems to have gone FUBAR in almost an instant. Although he has faith they'll get back alive.. he ponders if it'll be in one piece.
With the radio being unbearably silent, Garth tries to get the expedition team back on the line.
Garth(Radio): "Report in, what's going on out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "A piece of metal fell off the hangar and crushed my SmartGun!"
Garth(Radio): "I already heard that! but somebody said something about hostiles?"
Raul(Radio): "Things are going to hel- OH SHIT! A SHIP!"
Before Garth can respond, an explosion over the comms blasts out his ear
John(Radio): "Excessive amount of Xenomorphs detected."
Garth's expression turns dire, trying to keep a level head, he responds.
Garth(Radio): "Stay calm and keep you're guns ready, as long as you can see them they aren't too much of a threat."
Ryan stirs into consciousness, he looks amazingly refreshed.
Ryan: "What the hells going on Garth?"
Garth: "I'm hearing something about a battle going on at the hangar, we lost a Smart Gun, but the men are fine." He then see's Ryan's headset on the floor. "Get your damn headset back on".
Ryan gets his headset back on his ear "Damn, no injuries, right?"
Ryan(Radio):"Whats going on over there? None of you said anything recently"
Garth:"They've reported in already you idiot! You just slept through it"
Ryan:"Well fuck, sorry, I just wanted to be somewhat informed. And I want to make sure they're STILL fine"
Garth: "Then don't sleep in so damn long next time"
Garth reaches into a box and pulls out an MRE, opening it reveals a bag of dried banana's, a few large pieces of Beef Jerky, a biscuit, and a bag of skittles. As he begins to chow down, he looks at the bag of skittles.
Garth: "Huh.. and I thought they stopped making these.."
Before he can enjoy his food any further, Lochlann is heard screaming through his radio.
Lochlann(Radio): "Synth just ran into the hangar! TOWARDS THE XENOMORPHS!"
Garth(Radio): "Jesus fucking Christ, don't get yourselves killed rescuing him then!"
Ryan: "God dammit Tin Can! Permission to haul ass there sir."
Garth: "Take Brian with you and reinforce them"
Ryan quickly gets to his feet, he shakes Asher trying to wake him up, but no response. Not wanting to waste time, He and Brain grab their rifles and rush out towards Engineering.
Ryan(Radio): "I'm on my way! Me and Brian! Be there soon."
----At the Expedition---- Another explosion rings out from the Hangar. Debris is seen flying straight off the roof due to an unknown blast. The team doesn't heed the danger until pieces of scrap metal come crashing down. Lochlann looks up to see the remnants of a girder flying down towards him. He barely manages to get out of the way, narrowly avoiding being impaled. However, his Smart Gun ends up getting impaled instead. Pinning him to the ground. John and Raul move to try to get him free by prying the girder free from the Smart Gun, John ends up bending it, but Raul is able to use that bend as leverage to force the girder loose. The Smart Gun jaggedly clips back into Lochlann's harness"
Lochlann: "Thanks Lads."
Garth(Radio): "Say again, you've got contacts at the hangar?"
Lochlann(Radio): "FUCKERS BROKE MY SMART GUN!"
Garth(Radio): "Well see if you can get it back, the robot might be able to patch it later."
John: "Hey Lochlann, catch!"
John lobs his pistol into Lochlanns hand, but as he catches it, he tosses it back. He pulls out his own pistol.
Lochlann: "I got more guns."
The team closes in on the hole in the Hangar wall, the sight is something to behold. There are random flashes of blue light, electrical sounds ring out through the hangar, followed by shrieks. Then they notice that the floor and walls are crawling with Xenomorphs, both alive and dead, as if they are desperately hunting something or someone inside.
Garth(Radio): "Report in, what's going on out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "A piece of metal fell off the hangar and crushed my SmartGun!"
Garth(Radio): "I already heard that! but somebody said something about hostiles?"
As Garth is talking, Raul notices something beyond the carnage, which appears to be a small sized Cargo ship.
Raul(Radio): "Things are going to hel- OH SHIT! A SHIP!"
Another ball of light flies out of the hole in the wall exploding nearby the Marines, John notices the sheer number of Xeno's inside the Hangar, but the threat is hard to judge since it is hard to make out whats dead and whats alive.
John(Radio): "Excessive amount of Xenomorphs detected."
Garth(Radio): "Stay calm and keep you're guns ready, as long as you can see them they aren't too much of a threat."
Raul: "I really wanna know what's going on in there."
Zack clearly disagrees with this course of action, stating that it would be suicide to walk into a room with an army of Xeno's and god knows what else is in there. Raul hesitantly agrees and begins to head back. Then John notices something.
John: "Oh my! ZACK! There's someone in there!"
Zack peers through his Sniper scope
Zack:"What the hell?"
Zack see's someone tinkering with the Cargo ships engines, it appears to be some sort of humanoid wearing tribal armor and weapons. Although it has a resemblance, it clearly is not human.
Ryan(Radio): "What's going on over there? None of you have said anything recently."
Zack speaks, but accidentally forgets to activate the transmitter on his radio
Zack: "There is a heavily armed alien fighting those things in there. And its firing those blue balls of light at them."
Raul: "What the fuck? So we are dealing with some Sci-Fi Martian man?"
John: "I'll try to help it! It might be an asset later on!"
Tin Hands bursts forward at a surprising pace.
Raul: "TIN HANDS! WAIT! OH GOD DAMMIT! ZACK! COVER US!"
Raul sprints trying to catch up to John, rest of the squad follows a short distance but is hesitant to advance further. With the weight of his gear and the power of his organic limbs. Raul is unable to catch up to John as he jumps through the hole into the Hangar.
Lochlann(Radio): "Synth just ran into the hangar! TOWARDS THE XENOMORPHS!"
Garth(Radio): "Jesus fucking Christ!, don't get yourselves killed rescuing him then!"
Zack watches Raul rushing forward as John marches through corpses of Xeno's
Zack: "God damn it, help the Synth"
Ryan(Radio): "I'm on my way! Me and Brian! Be there soon."
Raul makes his way to the hole in the wall, Zack is watching him through his scope. They both see John in the middle of the Hangar making his way to the ship. His boots sizzle and melt from stepping in puddles of acid blood or piles of Xeno gibs. Suddenly, John is shot in the back by a ball of light. His circuits are showing, but he marches on undeterred, reaching the ship. Zack scans the ship, trying to find out where the Tribal alien disappeared too, but cannot find a trace. As John walks onto the loading ramp something begins to phase into existence, it swings a blade at John's head, he narrowly dodges it, but is then impaled by its wrist blades, as he is lifted off the ground. White blood leaks out of John and onto the ground."
John: "Creature... Do you understand me?"
The Predator (were just calling it that now cause its obvious by this point) curiously tilts it's head, examining Johns face. It speaks in a really odd language.. then it repeats what John say's in broken English.
At this point, Ryan and Brian have arrived and grouped up with the other marines. Zack begins to take aim for a shot at the Predator. Ryan steadies the sights on his revolver and fires a single shot. The high caliber bullet whizzes past Raul, and strikes John in the back, his body sparks and spazzes and suddenly goes limp.
Raul: "TIN HANDS! NOOOO!!!"
Zack fires his Sniper Rifle, the bullet crashing through the Predator's leg. The Predator screams as it furiously throws John's lifeless body into the Xeno corpses below. His body begins to melt amongst all the acid blood. It fires off a barrage of Energy blasts in Zack's general direction. One of the blasts nails Raul square in the chest. Lochlann ducks and covers, getting lightly pelted with shrapnel from the explosion.
Raul "OOOF!"
Raul's armor protects him from fatal injury as he is sent flying back, crashing into the ground.
The rest of the blasts miss Zack, thanks to his Ghillie suit concealing his exact location.
Murdoch: "OH JESUS CHRIST! RUN! RUN RUN RUN!"
Raul frantically holsters his Smart Gun and desperately sprints up the hill trying to get as much distance as possible. Zack tries to get another shot on the Predator, but just as he's about to fire, the Predator vanishes into thin air under a small haze of electricity.
Garth(Radio): "How're we doing out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "We're running!"
Garth(Radio): "If you need to lose the heat, drag anything following you back to the barricades"
Ryan(Radio): "Tin Can Succumbed to his wounds!"
Raul(Radio): "BULL FUCKING SHIT! HE WAS SHOT!"
Garth(Radio): "Look, now's not the time to lose our collective shit, we'll discuss it later, for now, you need to make sure nobody else turns into a casualty."
The team flees from the Engineering dome as the Predator uncloaks again, it takes out an odd looking hand gun and it begins to shoot a burst of spikes at the Marines, only one hits, striking Zack in the heel, fortunately, his boot was able to stop the spike entirely as it sticks out of it, The expedition team makes it back to the Security checkpoint, Raul collapses on the floor, winded with a large scorch blast on the front of his armor. Ryan sits against the wall as everyone catches their breath. Zack sits down and reloads his rifle.
Lochlann: "MEDIC!"
Raul: "medic....."
Garth gets the extra first aid kit "I gotcha Healy". Asher inspects Raul's injuries.
Ryan: "Tin Can is dead... Fuck.... God dammnit... Tin Can, I didn't like the bastard.. but it wasn't my fault. The fucking thing gave me the creeps... It was an accident, I tried to help him."
Garth and Asher tend to the Expedition teams wounds, Raul and Lochlann had some severe bruising and minor burns, but nothing some pain killers and salve couldn't fix.
Raul: "Dang, I feel good as new, thanks Doc."
Asher: "I remember saying something about not playing god. I ain't gonna, since I doubt he exists on this planet."
Raul: "He does not..."
Garth: "Alright, whatever happened, happened, it's in the past now, we're in no situation to court Marshall anyone."
Something inside the checkpoint begins to repeatedly beep. Ryan notices it's coming from the spike embedded in Zack's boot.
Ryan: "Take your boot off dammnit, toss that thing outside. Beeping means no no."
Raul: "What is beeping for that matter?"
A louder, familiar beep, begins to ring out from Garth's flame thrower. It was the motion tracker, a single signature was closing in, extremely fast.
Ryan: "Garth, what's beeping on that thing?"
All of a sudden, the sentry gun points straight upward, after a brief delay, it unleashes a barrage of bullets up into the skylight, glass rains down as it continues to shoot.
Raul: "HOW MANY XENOS?!"
Garth: "Whatever it is, I can't see it. And It ain't a bug, moves too fast."
Everyone watches the Skylight as the Sentry Gun stops shooting, all of a sudden a large blur falls down. Everyone fires by reflex. But make no hits, it lands near Zack and quickly grabs him, haphazardly using his body as a shield. Lochlann and Raul hesitate, worried that they are more likely to shoot Zack. Garth takes the initiative and fires a stream of flame at the blur. It partially ignites as well as setting Zack's back on fire. The blur phases into existence revealing a Predator, a gun emerges from it's shoulder and it fires an energy blast. It explodes to create a hole in the wall, the Predator was attempting to escape with Zack. Garth tackles the Predator, to no visible effect as he bounces off. The fire on the Predator's arm dies out, with no noticeable burns. Before the Predator can escape, something disorients it as it places a hand over its mask. In a sudden fit of rage, it draws out its wrist blade and stabs Zack in the leg before hurling him with tremendous force at the opposing wall. Zack loudly slams into the concrete wall, leaving cracks in it as he falls to the floor. The Predator runs out of the hole it made and leaps out of sight. A brief struggle and a bunch of shrieks are heard nearby.
Lochlann: "Woo.. Fuck.."
Raul: "FIRST XENOMORPHS! NOW WE GOT A FREAKING INVISIBLE MAN WITH SUPER POWERS!"
Zack struggles to his knees, he is clearly in great pain.
Zack: "Fuck.... Medic"
Garth: "I gotcha Zack"
Garth and Asher begin to inspect Zack's torso, he's definitely got some fractures. Garth begins to work on helping Asher set up some splints to keep his rib-cage in place. But Asher misjudges where the fractures are and accidentally breaks one of Zack's ribs while applying the splint"
Zack: "Than- ARRGHH! FUCK!"
Asher: "Fucking hell, sorry man."
Raul cautiously approaches the hole in the wall and peeks outside, Smart Gun at the ready. There is no sign of the Predator, the only trace that can be found are two recently killed Xenomorphs outside the Checkpoint.
Raul: "So... what the hell is this things angle? It kills Tin Hands, and tries to kill Zack, then it saves us from a couple of stalking Xenos."
Garth: "We gotta get this wall patched yesterday! Healy, give me a hand"
Lochlann: "Uh.. that a good idea? I think our position is fucked Sarge. It may be a waste of resources."
Raul: "We should probably pack up and find a new position."
Garth:"We will Raul. Just waiting for Zack to be able to walk. Are you lot in a position to move?"
Zack grumbles in pain struggling to stay on his feet. "Fucking..."
Ryan: "God dammit, what kind of cereal box did you get that training from Asher?"
Asher: "From the fucking cheez-its, Ryan. All you guys do is treat like a personal healslut, how about you listen for once?"
Raul: "Alright Asher, lets hear it."
Asher: "Let's hear what, you know what I'm say. Less dying, more getting off of this fucking planet."
Ryan: "Get on your soap box Asher, make it quick, were leaving soon. Even if we get a signal out, it could take weeks for another USCM ship to arrive here."
Garth: "Alright, let's move it to the Security Dome and see if it lives up to its name"
Raul: "Roger that"
Zack angrily shambles over to the hole in the wall, he takes up a position and scans the surrounding area.
Ryan: "Zack, get off your high horse and lets get on the move. It nearly killed you."
Zack: "Gonna kill the fucking thing..."
Ryan: "No you're not. Quit being a hero. We need to move or we all could die."
Raul: "Not only did that thing kill an army of those Xeno things, it killed Tin Hands and almost kills you.. lets get the fuck out."
Ryan: "Actually, I killed Tin Can."
Asher: "You-- well, shit happens, I guess. But he's right, stop being a damn hero."
Ryan walks over to Zack and pulls the sniper rifle out of his hands, he's too weak to put up any sort of resistance. He slings the sniper rifle over his shoulder.
Ryan: "Lets go, I'll give it back to you whenever we get to where were going. Lean on my shoulder, lets move."
Zack stubbornly refuses at first, but sighs. With no other choice, he leans on Ryan as he helps him outside.
The rest of the marines gather up what supplies they can. Before they leave, Garth gets out his personal welder, along with some tools nearby, he manages to repair the damage to Lochlann`s Smart Gun. Although it is able to fire again, something is wrong with the internal motor operating the feed mechanism. Causing the gun to shoot slower then it normally would. Raul takes the Spazz 17 Shotgun and .45 Automatic Handgun, taking ammo for both. With no more space left in his pack, he leaves the Scorpion SMG behind. The Squad arrives inside the colony Nexus, they fortify a few rooms in the dorms so Zack can rest as Garth devises a plan for getting into the Security dome.
End of Chapter 2, to be continued July 21st.
Garth: "Zack you sonnova bitch"
John begins to pry the doors fully open, but his limbs malfunction from the previous skirmish, causing his hands to push the door closed instead of pulling them open.
Raul: "lets give him a hand guys"
Garth: "Step aside, I got this"
John steps aside as Garth begins to pull the doors open, Raul and Lochlann step up to lend a hand. The doors collapse open, the Squad emerges and surveys their surroundings. They are in what appears to be a Boreal forest with a temperate climate. It is midday, sounds of wildlife echo throughout the wilderness.
Garth: "Give me a second to figure out where we actually are."
Raul: "Least we crash landed in a comfy environment... no burning jungles, no ice colony, or airless moons."
John: "Airless moons.. hahahaha"
Raul: "by the way.. did anyone see where the colony was before we landed?"
John points North East, pointing out a large wall on the horizon. He suggests that the squad should head in that direction.
John: "Before we leave, we should salvage the pod for supplies."
Garth: "Sure thing"
John climbs back into the escape pod, Raul digs into his pack.
Raul: "Oh. Hey, Lochlann, catch" Raul lobs a Smart Gun ammo drum at Lochlann, he catches it with style"
Lochlann: "Thanks"
Raul: "Got more then I need after looting that Bravo Gunner back on the ship."
As Raul begins to unload his Smart Gun to inspect it. John emerges with emergency MRE's and a first aid kit from the pod's supply cabinet.
John: "I recommend we take these rations, you guys require nourishment."
Everyone stashes what they can carry, and Garth leads the squad west, in search of the other escape pods. In record time, the squad soon stumbles upon one of the escape pods. One side of the pods doors has been jammed open, Garth proceeds to move inside as the rest of the squad inspects the surrounding area. When Garth suddenly feels the barrel of a gun on the back of his head.
Garth: "Well then... Isn't this a fine predicament."
Most of the squad is too focused on the outskirts to realize that they have been infiltrated. Except for John, he manages to sneak up on the unknown gunman, disarming him as he is pinned to the ground.
As John proceeds to subdue the Gunman, Garth works his way into the pod, finding two marines latched to their seats, they appear to be unconscious. The rest of the squad notices whats going on and groups up. Raul points to the downed man.
Raul: "Who the heck is that?
Garth: "Tried to pull a gun on me, Robot got him sorted"
Raul inspects the man.. "His uniform is USCM, minus the armor."
John: "I don't recognize this person, please, identify."
Brian: "OKAY! OKAY! just ease up, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. Name's Brain, Lance Corporal Brian Levibm, I was standing watch for my comrades till they decided to wake up."
A voice grumbles amongst some snoring from inside the pod
Voice: "Yes...
Displeased.. Garth begins to march into the pod.
Garth: "Somebody help me get these Bravo maggots up."
Raul volunteers and follows Garth inside. "I bet these guys were in the Garrison"
Lochlann begins to light a cigarette as Zack scans the perimeter through his rifle.
Garth and Raul try getting the two Bravo's awake. But from shaking to slapping, nothing works. Garth resorts to more dramatic measures, drawing both his pistol and rifle, he whacks both Bravo's on the head.
Garth: "Wakey wakey motherfuckers."
Bravo 1: "AHH!"
Bravo 2: "WHAT THE FUCK!?"
The First Bravo jumps out of his seat, pulling out his knife. The Second tries to unholster a Revolver.
Bravo 1: "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"
Garth: "Sargent Pawolski, Alpha Squad Leader" *points at Bravo 2* "put the gun down."
Bravo 1: "WHAT?! ALPHA?!"
Zack: "Alpha"
Garth: "That's us"
Raul: "Were the Alpha's that you guys thought were dead."
Bravo 2: "What the fuck happened up there?"
Garth: "Uhh.. it's best not to question that stuff. You Bravo's got any more folks around or is this the last of you?"
Bravo 1: "No... we're the only fucking ones.. WE"RE THE ONLY ONES LEFT MAN! I SAW IT ALL HAPPEN MAN!"
Garth walks out and inspects Brian's pulse rifle... it's empty.
Garth: "Hey, where's your damn ammo Corporal?"
Brian: "Oh.. yeah.. I didn't really have any bullets for it.. I was a Smart Gunner but I had to ditch my Armor, harness and all, it was weighing me down and I would of ended up like the others with it. At least I was intimidating.. right? Can you let me go now please?"
As John releases Brian, Lochlann leans over to Raul, whispering to him
Lochlann: "Fuck.. I think you looted his buddy"
Raul: "Probably"
Bravo 1: "I can still hear them...their screeching...they were in the vents, they grabbed Finley by the ankle and fucking pulled him into the ground. We found him later..."
Garth: "Alright look, shit's fucked but we ditched those lizard monsters when we escaped the ship. So were gonna do just fine."
Asher: "Alright, what do we do now then, Sarge?"
The remaining Bravo's march out of the pod, the second one sits on the ground, staring at his feet. The first introduces himself as Private Murdoch Machowicz, the second as Private Ryan Steelburg.
Garth: "Let's get into this colony and see what looks securable, we're gonna be here a long time is my best guess"
Ryan: "God I need a smoke after this. Did anyone bother to grab some cigarettes?"
John: "Cigarettes were not a priority."
Something ticks in Rauls brain, he looks at Murdoch
Raul: "Hey.. have we met before?"
Murdoch stares in confusion "What?..I..don't know?"
Raul: "ah never mind, you look like someone I fought with in the Garrison."
Ryan: "What happened to us.... Fucking, they came out of no where. And shut the hell up John, I want my cigarettes!
John: "Addiction patterns detected. Please consult with your nearest Doctor.
Asher: "Diagnosis: shut the hell up. Colony will have cigs, most likely."
Zack: "Tough, If it makes you feel better, I put a round in that fucking big one. and it went from charging us down to running away."
The sun begins to set, Garth decides a course of action, and makes an announcement.
Garth: "There's no point in dwelling on that shit, we're going to the colony. Fuck sitting out here all night."
John: "I recommend we make a camp, we won't make it in time."
Raul: "Hm, do we stand a chance out here? Odds are those Xeno fuckers are here."
Garth: "Well we better hustle it shouldn't we Tin Hands?"
Lochlann: "Alright let's just be clear on this, those lizard monster we ran into on that cargo ship, the cargo ship came from this planet, MAYBE not this colony since, I dunno how many colonies there are here, but all I'm saying is we should be careful."
Raul: "It's probably safe to say they came from here."
John: "Remember the note? the lizards are on the planet."
Garth: "Ah shit, yeah, forgot about that... Eyes open lads"
Garth leads the squad northeast at a steady pace, they make it to the Colony gates without incident. The solid concrete walls span down each side. Although the tree's block out a good portion of the evening sun, it is still bright enough to see without much difficulty.
Ryan: "Fuck its dark out here. Anyone here have some engineering training?"
Raul: "That would be Tin hands over there" pointing in John's direction
John: "I do, what is required?"
Ryan: "Lets see if we can find some sort of power box whatever the fuck they're called. Get power up so we can see em coming and get inside."
An inspection of the gate reveals no sort of electronics to tinker with, but they find one way glass windows within arms length on the Gate house. Zack walks up and tries to smash the window with the butt of his rifle, with an audible slam, Zacks rifle bounces off, not even making a fracture in the glass.
Raul: "Reinforced glass eh?"
Garth: "Reinforced, yeah"
Garth then notices that the left gate has been pried open slightly, it's a gate that opens upwards. However, the crawl space was too narrow for anyone to squeeze through... but perhaps...
Garth: "I need three people on that side, everybody else over this side, we're forcing this."
Everyone holsters their weapons, except for Zack, whose taking up a position to survey the area.
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, get to the front, you should be stronger then me."
Everyone squats down and attempt to pry the door up with their hands. At first, the door barely moves, but then Raul and Lochlann heave with a burst of primeval strength, causing the door to rapidly rise with the squads combined efforts.
Garth: "Alright, everyone get through as fast as you can"
Murdoch moves to crawl through the enlarged opening, but suddenly, the door creaks with metallic groans. Everyone steps back, fearing for the worst. The door shifts down slightly, but seems to jam at the brief sound of metal crunching metal.
Raul: "Looks like it'll stay still.."
Without saying a word, Raul holsters his Smart Gun and crawls under the door. The minute he's through, he rises to his feet, hand on his pistol, he scans the immediate vicinity while the rest of the team works there way through the gate. Past the gate house, there appears to be two security checkpoints, both equipped with what seems to be a Garage for storing or sheltering land vehicles.
Zack is the last one in, followed by Garth.
John: "We don't want those bugs back here again"
Garth: "Help me drop this thing back down."
Once again, the group lines up, trying to push the gate back down, but it refuses to budge. Whatever jammed it, jammed it for good.
John: It seems we can't close it. I recommend we keep moving and seek shelter."
Garth: "Well just have to remember to sort this out some other time.."
John: "I concur"
The team forms up and begins to properly scout the area. As they close in on the left checkpoint. Raul makes an observation as he inspects the walls and security.
Raul: "Hey guys... I've been on guard duty for several colonies in the past.. and this one.. seems rather fortified for a typical facility.. Has to mean there was something about this place that was worth defending..."
Garth: "It's too late to question this shit. Just deal with it as we go at this point."
Raul: "Whatever you say Sarge."
Garth: "...We'll keep an eye out for sure, you make a good point."
The team reaches the leftward Security Checkpoint, Murdoch cautiously opens the door, Incinerator at the ready. Lochlann and Ryan follow him inside as the rest of the team enter through the open Garage door. From the looks of the place, the Garage seems to be a place for Security Officers to inspect inbound vehicles for contraband before letting them into the colony. Nothing seems out of the ordinary... until a pool of dried blood is discovered on the floor.
Raul: "Yup, definitely ground zero here."
Lochlann: "So fair to say we'll find contacts here soon."
Lochlann: "Unless they all thought it was a good idea to all leave on the ship"
Garth: "I'd hope so, but I have personal doubts."
Raul: "The crew manifest for the ship said it had twenty seven crew, right?"
Lochlann: "Yea, something like that."
John: "One of them being a criminal, yes"
Zack: "Think it was thirty."
Asher: "Multiplied by ten considering the local alien population."
Raul looks out a window with the colony domes in view, trying to gauge just how many people they could be home too. Zack begins to move out to check the rightward Checkpoint, John moves to follow him as the others continue their search.
Garth: "Hurry it up, we need to secure an FOB"
Zack and John enter the rightward checkpoint, weapons ready, they find a similar Garage, except they find something odd at the desk near the corner of the room.
John leans his head out the door "SARGENT!"
Garth and the others drop what their doing and head over. they find an overturned chair, with a bloodied bloated corpse still sitting in it.
Raul: "Deja vu.."
Didn't take a coroner to realize something pounced on him and proceeded to claw his head and body until there was nothing recognizable left. In addition, its left arm and right leg were severed off, lying about nearby. The stench of decay is palpable, causing Ryan to gag and the others trying their best not to be phased by it.
Zack: "Fuck... that smells..that's weeks, maybe even a month old."
Raul: "Holy hell this guy has seen better days.."
Garth: "hmm... Shit, you might be right Raul.. Ground zero's sounding more and more like what this place is.."
Raul: "Well, whaddya know? I was right for a change. Those guys on LV-934 got nothing on me now."
Murdoch ponders, his hand on his chin, lost in thought. Lochlann steps past the body and flips the desk, its contents slide onto the floor.
Lochlann: "Hey Asher, give me a hand moving this desk to block that Gate."
Asher: "Alrighty"
Asher and Lochlann haul the desk outside towards the gate.
John: "We should attempt to make contact with any survivors or even the USCM."
Garth: "We need an FOB up before we try to contact anyone. Otherwise they'll be sending ships with coffins."
John: "I'll take guard duty for the night, but I'll need someone else to do it with me."
Raul: "We should see if we can get inside the main facility."
Without a word, Garth begins to march outside, the team being unoccupied with anymore tasks, follow him outside without question, only to see that there is barely any natural light left.
Garth:"Alright, we're outta time, we're securing this checkpoint for tonight, preferably the one without the weeks old corpse stinking up the place."
Raul: "If you say so.."
John: "Roger"
Zack: "That's a shitty idea"
Everyone follows Garth back into the leftward checkpoint, doing their best to fortify the Garage as the colony lights slowly begin to come on for the night shift. As Ryan is barricading a side door, he notices a Storeroom that they had missed in their previous search.
Ryan: "Sargent! mind if I dick around looking in the storage area looking for some wood and shit to fortify with Tin Can?"
Garth: "Sure"
Ryan gestures over to John, "cmon Tin Can"
John nods and walks over to the storeroom with Ryan as Raul pulls up a chair, Smart Gun in hand.
Asher: "Hol` up, I'm coming with."
With that, Zack and Lochlann grab their weapons and begin to follow Asher outside.
Garth: "Medic, you're staying here. I have a wounded toe."
Asher: "Here, alone?
Garth: "I'm with you"
John: "It's unnecessary, me and Ryan can take care of any situation we find there."
Asher:" Alright, fair enough. I'm staying."
Lochlann: "I'll still come incase you run into trouble."
Ryan: "Me, Tin Can, and the Smart Gunner should go"
Everyone agrees and the assigned group move up to the sturdy metal door leading to the storeroom. Garth and Raul are watching from the Garage as Lochlann tries to kick the door down, but ends up horribly stubbing his toe. Then John reaches for the handle, with a turn, the door slides open. Raul gives a slow clap, clearly unimpressed.. Garth just stares dumbfounded.
Garth: "Sometimes I wonder who's coffee I pissed in to deserve you people."
Asher: "You probably pissed in the coffee I tried to drink earlier, it tasted like shit."
Garth: "I told you not to drink the fuckin' coffee, that was your own fault."
Asher: "It was worth a try."
The group outside enters the storeroom, a light clicks on as the team searches the crates inside. There are surplus building supplies, such as wooden planks and metal sheets. There is also a crate of confiscated weaponry, with ammunition stored in a separate box, in addition to bottles of prescription painkillers and a first aid kit. In the corner of the room, there is a pile of trimmed tree branches. On a shelf above them, there are two crates, both have a large bio-hazard symbol on them.
Before anyone can carry anything out, something moves in a darkened corner of a room, a human looking figure slowly shambles out of the shadows.
Lochlann: "Oh hey It's an Average Joe."
The outdated Synesthetic walks over to the closet person (Ryan) at a very slow pace.
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
John: "Quarantine?"
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, this thing freaks me out and its making noise, we should shut it up."
John: "Negative."
Lochlann begins stepping back towards the door shouting "Overrided!"
Raul and Garth are still watching from the Garage as the encounter comes into view through the Storage door. They turn on their radios to talk to them.
Raul: "That thing isn't gonna turn into a murder machine now is it..?"
John: "No, it won't"
Garth: "Well it's no use to us in this state so take it out if it's in the way."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch seems unusually shaken by the robot: "SH-SHOOT IT MAN! JUST END IT!"
John: "This is private property. We can't simply break it Just ignore it."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "IT'S MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE!" Murdoch pull out his pistol
Raul: "Just walk around it..Save the ammo for a fucking Xeno."
Garth: "Don't waste your damn bullets on it."
Murdoch: "FUCKING WASTE IT!!!"
John: "Murdoch, you're acting hysterical"
Zack: "Cool it Private."
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "THEY"LL HEAR IT! WE GOTTA KILL IT!"
John: "Robot Murderers aren't a thing"
Asher: "Shooting's even louder, shut your trap"
The Working Joe grabs Ryan's Shoulder it's grip becoming inhumanely strong. Ryan isn't too worried until it starts to lift hm off the ground, he starts screaming.
Murdoch: "THE FUCKING THINGS ARE GONNA COME FOR US! OH GOD--!"
Raul jumps too attention at the sound of Ryan's screaming, gripping his smart gun, he dashes out of the garage to the Storeroom to get a better idea of what the hell is going on.
Garth: "Mother of god you useless pieces of shit.."
Asher looks up at Garth "Just another day in the corps, huh?"
Murdoch: OH JESUS! RYAN!! Murdoch cocks his pistol, pointing at the Synthetic, who is still carrying Ryan off the ground, slowly moving him with unknown intent.
Working Joe: "Quarantine in Effect.. Quarantine in Effect.. Please vacate the area."
Murdoch: "WHERE DO WE GO?!"
John: "There's probably some biological agent we don't know about."
Ryan screams again, in a panic, he takes out his Revolver and shoots at the Robots head. It comes clean off, it's voice box becomes garbled, but it still carry's out its task undeterred.
Headless Joe: "Quar.baagr.tfecte...Kar..enstinbgd...Blarsghbigl...Plarghgbl.."
Everyone can't help but be intimidated by the sight
Zack: "Jesus.."
John: "For the love of god! Stop it!"
Ryan: "Shut the fuck up Tin Can! Its hurti- FUCK!"
Garth sighs with a face palm... "It's like hearing a train crash. You want to know what happened, but you don't want to know what happened."
John: "Come on, let's just get out of here."
Raul: "We gotta get the Bravo free--"
Before Raul can finish his sentence, the Headless Joe has made its way into the middle of the arguing marines and puts Ryan down near the door. Before slowly turning around and shambling back to the corner it came from.
Raul: "Oh..."
John: "You see? It just wants us out."
Lochlann walks out: "Alright fuck"
Ryan and Murdoch walk back into the storeroom, the Robot once again turns around and shambles towards them
Headless Joe: "Buar.justine.ni inftfecte...tuar.enstinbgd...Ef-ef-effect...Plarghgbl vaaaca-ca-ca-ca-cate.."
Garth(Radio): "Did you guys find anything?"
Lochlann(Radio): "We found a killer robot"
John(Radio): "We found a robot that doesn't want us in the room"
Lochlann(Radio): "How about we make this a tomorrow problem after we sleep?"
Garth(Radio): "...And all four of you were defeated by this robot?
Lochlann: "This day so far has been us going onto a mission onto a cargo ship and getting destroyed."
John: "Let's just grab what we can and exit."
As the Headless Joe once again painfully carries Ryan outside, the squad takes the chance to haul back everything of value out of the storeroom. John taking the metal, Lochlann and Murdoch taking the wood and Medical supplies. Murdoch finds a large box of rations.
Lochlann: "Asher I hurt my big toe on a wall can you heal it?"
Asher: "Come out and I might be able to do something with it."
Raul: "I got a bad foot from that fuckin claymore.. deal with it"
Lochlann: "You have no feet."
After placing Ryan back at the door. Ryan pulls out his Revolver and fires a burst of bullets into it. John quickly stands between him and the Joe.
Headless Joe: "bou.dfas..Hysterical...qua...adgadf...Hysterical...You are being Hysterical."
John: "Unnecessary risk"
Lochlann: "Well Sarge if there was ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING hostile on this colony it knows we're here now."
Raul: "JUST OUT WALK IT YOU FREAKING PANSY!"
Garth: "You know. I didn't think this job would be so bad when they offered me the promotion... And now I know the truth."
Ryan: "I fucking hate that bot, why does it only bother with me."
John: "Because you shot it"
Garth & Asher "You're the only one that shot it/stupid enough to shoot it""
Ryan: "It grabbed me first! It man handled me! not a nice feeling"
Asher: "He gave you a free ride, and you gave him some lead medicine, that's rude"
Garth: "Be more careful then"
Everyone finally starts carrying the boxes out of the storeroom and into the Checkpoint. Lochlann puts down his box and presents his bruise to Asher, Ryan smacks the bruise, Lochlann retaliates with a punch. The two glare at each other, then pick up their boxes, carrying them inside. Lochlann sets his box down and lights a cigarette.
Ryan: "Hey Tin Can, do you have a welder and mask or something? There was a vent in there I don't trust. Lost a good man that way."
John: "I can weld it without a mask, the welders have their own shields"
As everyone heads back to the Garage to drop off their cargo, Raul decides to grab the Contraband weapons and ammo boxes, hauling them on his arms he carries them through the door. Until something makes him feel uneasy, his senses put on alert.. he can hear something rattling. He looks back, seeing a vent on one side of the room. He see's something black and shimmery moving behind the grille. Raul's stomach sinks as fear sets in.
Garth & Lochlann: "What?"
Garth: "What is it"
Lochlann: "Hey Sarge, great minds think alike"
Garth: "Heh"
Raul: "OH SHIT! THERE'S ONE IN THE VENTS! ITS IN THE VENTS!"
Lochlann: "Oh no"
Zack: "FUCKING VENTS AGAIN!"
Garth: "Hold on I got this"
Raul runs out with the boxes still in his arms as Garth stumbles for his flamer, rushing for the store room. By the time he gets inside, the Xeno has already burst from the vent, getting ready to strike at it's incoming target. Garth torches the Xeno, coating it in burning fuel as it writhes and screams in pain. Raul, Ryan and John run in, hand guns at the ready. They arrive in time to see the Xeno fall to the ground trying to put itself out, but it ends up bursting as the boiling acidic blood explodes from its body. Garth and John duck behind a empty box, Raul and Ryan hide outside the doorway, evading the massive splatter of blood and gibs. The Headless Joe however, falls to the ground as portions of it's body boil and dissolve into a puddle of sludge. Raul and Ryan peer inside, seeing the aftermath.
Raul: "Well shit"
Ryan: "Good riddance. Fucking Bot."
Lochlann: "You know, it probably wouldn't of found us if you didn't blast that Robot."
Before anyone has a chance to bicker. Rattling and banging can be heard from the vent that the Xeno emerged from.
Ryan: "God dammit! There could be more!
Garth: "I immediately regret shooting that thing... GET THAT VENT SHUT!"
John: "One Second!"
John quickly welds the mangled grille into a solid sheet of metal, nothing would be getting through it anytime soon. However, the banging doesn't stop, in fact.. it could now be heard through the walls of the building.
Raul: "where is that coming from?"
Lochlann backs out of the building, "Let's back the fuck out."
As they search the room trying to find the origins of the noise.. Garth spots a vent on the Ceiling, he fires a burst of flame into it, but nothing happens. John gets to work on sealing the vent on the ceiling while Ryan covers him.
John:"Done"
Lochlann yells inside "You should all get out of there! They know we're here!
John: "This isn't a secure spot. There's another one of them here.. We don't know how many more"
Garth: "Everybody back to the Checkpoint!"
Raul: "Don't have to tell me twice"
John: "Do I weld the door Sargent?"
Garth: "If you can do it quickly go for it."
John acknowledges Garths words, he shuts the door and begins to weld it shut. Lochlann reaches for another cigarette, hastily lighting it.
Ryan: "Lochlann, toss me a cigarette. I'm shaky as hell."
Lochlann: "No fuck off, get your own. Shouldn't of shot that robot."
Ryan: "Selfish bastard.."
Raul anxiously watches the door with his Smart Gun as John finishes the weld. Ryan peers around the side of the building and notices a side door, he directs John to it and he begins to seal that one too. With the storage building sealed, everyone hurries back inside the checkpoint.
This music started playing in game if you want the atmosphere.
With their new found building materials, the Squad gets to work on turning the Checkpoint into a fortress. The Garage doors leading to the colony were inoperable. Garth, Lochlann and Ryan work to cover the large opening with two by fours fortified with some sheet metal. Raul and Brian are holding metal sheets to the windows as John welds them in place. While Murdoch and Asher are barricading the few side doors they can find. Although there was a skylight on the ceiling near the Garage doors, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Garth swings his hammer, but the nail's go in poorly.
Garth: "okay, maybe I skipped a little PT.. Don't judge."
John: "Allow me, I know how to do this."
John hammers the nails into the wood and door frame with mechanical precision. Then goes back to his welding.
Ryan: "Good work Tin Can, might actually be worth the cost USCM had to pay."
Raul: "Tin Hands has saved our ass back on that ship Ryan. He's one of us."
Zack: "That bot saved my life."
John: "I am of extreme use."
Ryan: "Whatever you say."
John: "They wouldn't make units like me if we weren't good enough."
Soon, all possible entry points are sealed or barricaded. Some of the marines set down their shoulder lamps to illuminate the room.
Raul goes through the crate of contraband. "Lets check out these guns.." he pulls out a double barrel shotgun, a Scorpion Sub machine gun, an automatic .45 caliber handgun, and a Spazz-Seventeen Combat Shotg--
A single shriek echoes in the distance from the colony.
Raul: "...."
Lochlann: "Oh Fuck.."
Ryan: "What the hell was that!?"
Zacl: "God dammit, another one?
Another shriek echoes from another direction
John: "Sounds like Xenomorphs."
Raul: "Yup.. There's Xeno's out there..
Murdoch: "It's THEM!
Murdoch frantically primes the fuel igniter on his Flame thrower while Lochlann nervously checks his Smart Gun.
Raul: "Stay calm folks, they don't sound like they are on top of us yet."
Ryan: "Give me a cigarette Lochlann, please. It will help me keep my cool."
Lochlann doesn't answer as Garth stares at the skylight. He takes out an assembly kit, opening it to reveal parts for a UA Sentry gun. He assembles the sentry, placing it to cover the Garage Doors and the sky light. He then places down the Command laptop, establishing a connection to the Sentry Guns systems.
Garth: "Brian, stick near this thing. And keep an eye on those skies."
John: "Garth, orders?"
Garth: "If you can't reinforce what we've got any further, just keep your eyes open for hostiles."
With most of the area fortified, everyone sits or stands around anxiously as the occasional shriek echoes in the distance. Lochlann drums his fingers on his Smart Gun. Raul then notices a button near the desk.
Raul: "Oh hey! Emergency Shutters!"
Ryan: "Don't hit the button yet. Wait until we know they're coming."
Raul: "Well with the windows already fortified, it would be better to keep them as a back up plan."
As the tension begins to relax, the fatigue of approximately 22 hours of combat operations begins to take it's toll. Raul yawns as he stares at the light creeping in through the windows. Asher sits down in a corner attempting to take a tactical nap.
Ryan: "Yaknow what, some of you should try to get some sleep. I had my rest in that pod."
Lochlann: "I volunteer Ryan and Murdoch to take first watch since th-"
The sentry gun suddenly beeps and fires a burst of bullets at an opening in the wooden barricade
Lochlann: "FUCKING HELL!"
Ryan: "SHIT!"
Raul: "Oh fuck"
Asher wakes with a startle "JESUS FUCK!"
Zack:"God fucking dammnit"
John: "Curious"
Despite everyone's expectations, nothing happens after the Sentry Guns barrage. Zack lets out a sigh as everyone begins to lower their weapons.
Murdoch: "ARE THEY GONE?"
Ryan: "Hm, I think we scared them off."
Garth: "Alright, show of hands, first two guards?"
Ryan and Raul raise their hand
Raul: "Just like Guard Duty back in the Garrison."
Ryan: "Garrison, you should rest."
John: "I don't have to sleep."
Asher: "Fuck that, I really wanna nap."
Ryan: "Me and Murdoch already slept, us and Tin Can will keep watch"
Murdoch and Ryan take up the first watch as everyone begins to settle in to catch whatever rest they can. The Sentry gun occasionally beeps, its turret veering sporadically, like its trying to track something.
Murdoch: "The sentry keeps moving Ryan... there's something out there.. watching.. .waiting...
Ryan: "Nothing will pass that thing."
Time passes by, Raul swaps out Ryan on the second watch, Murdoch is too on edge to sleep and keeps going. The sentry gun turns and veers with the rare occasion of shooting. Although Xeno's can be heard outside. They make no attempt to assault the Checkpoint. Ryan and Asher take over the third rotation, with Murdoch finally succumbing to fatigue and dozing off. The remainder of the night is uneventful as the morning rises. All the marines slowly come too, their injuries feeling less severe then before. Garth is one of the first up. He walks past Ryan and Murdoch as he goes to inspect the Sentry Gun. (Music stops)
Garth: "43 rounds remaining..." (Out of 250)
Murdoch: "it..it kept moving Garth. It kept moving through the WHOLE NIGHT!! Sometimes it would fire at something. But we couldn't see it..."
Garth: "Just be glad I've got spare ammo for this thing."
Murdoch: "I'm telling you. Those things are plotting. They're gonna find us and they're gonna.. THEY"RE GONNA KILL US ALL!"
Garth: "Look Murdoch, the only time you need to be worried is when it stops shooting. Alright?"
Murdoch: "They'll find a way Garth! They always do!"
John: "Okay, it's fairly obvious this place isn't fully secured. We can't hold it forever."
John: "Chances of us getting killed if we stay here: Around eighty percent"
Asher: "Chances of us getting killed if we move - several thousand"
Ryan: "Tin Can, I don't want to hear the chances of my demise..."
John: "We will lose the battle of attrition"
Lochlann: "Tin Hands" Where is your mute button?"
John: "A reminder that we only have food for about 15 days."
Asher: "You're a mobile calculator, let the big head Sarge think about the plan. We're still alive."
Garth begins to reload the sentry gun, only to find way more bullets still in the drum then he thought. He reinserts the drum and enters a few keystrokes into the Laptop.
Garth: "Never mind, 196 rounds left, I was reading it wrong"
Ryan: "So we lost 56 rounds so far"
John: "I"m here to make sure you are all in top condition and according to the current situation. Contacting the USCM should be the top priority."
Garth: "Alright, five of you go scout for a more secure dome for us to camp in. After that look for some kind of communications array."
Ryan: "I'll go."
Raul: "How about the Sargent decides?"
Ryan: "Hm, fair point."
Lochlann: "I don't mind staying if no one else wants to."
Garth thinks for a minute, then makes a decision
Garth: "Kavlo, Me and Brian will stay here."
John:"So it's Ryan, Me, Murdoch, Zack, Asher, and Raul."
Garth: "Tin Hands can do basic logic. Good"
Ryan: "I wouldn't mind some Z's"
Garth: "Too bad Ryan."
Asher: "I kinda want to take another nap myself, coffee deprivation's horrible"
Garth: "Go find some damn coffee then Asher."
Ryan: "Am I going or not? me and Asher had last watch. And I watched the first post too."
Lochlann: "Sarge if he wants to sleep, I'm up for going."
Pawolski gives an annoyed grumble
Garth: "Alright if you're gonna be so whiny about it. Healy will replace Ryan."
Raul goes through the contraband weapons again. "Anyone want a shotgun?" Ryan volunteers, Raul gives the double barrel shotgun along with a somewhat plentiful supply of shells. He then reaches for a random gun, offering it to John.
Raul: "Hey Tin Hands, you should have a gun too."
John: "I have my USCM regulated pistol. Being honest, it's of last resort. But I appreciate the offer."
Zack: "John, better first resort then last resort"
Despite the suggestions, John declines to take an additional weapon. Ryan pulls up a small box and gets comfy as the Expedition team begins to gear up.
John: "So who is in charge of the expedition, Sargent?"
Garth: "Sargent Micken will be in charge, Lochlann will be second in command. Not that I don't trust you Raul, I just picked Healy at random."
Raul: "Yes sir."
Lochlann: "Raul you've done a lot of good work for this expedition, I'm promoting you to third in command."
Raul: "Heh, thanks."
The Expedition team begins to head out, John proposes that they head for the Engineering dome for additional building materials and in hopes of finding a way to send a message to the USCM. Murdoch agrees, and hopes that they'll find something to get them out of this damned rock.
Garth(Radio): "If you guys find any electronics and doodads bring 'em back, I could use them for a project."
John(Radio): "We'll make sure that's done Sargent"
The team closes in on the Engineering dome, the hangar being close by since it is conjoined to the engineering dome. As the team moves to get the doors open, sounds of discharging electricity can be faintly heard from the Hangar.
Raul: "Sounds like somethings going on in the Hangar..."
John: "As it sounds, danger is near. I recommend we prepare for a possible fight."
Raul and Lochlann prep their Smart Guns and march down a gentle slope towards the Hangar with John and Murdoch in tow, Zack sticks back on the hill for a good vantage point. A inhuman primeval roar echos throughout the Hangar.
Raul: "HOLY FUCK! what is that?"
John: "Local Fauna, perhaps?
Raul: "Fauna? That's plants."
John: "Flora is plants, Fauna is animals."
Raul: "Oh..." awkwardly stops talking and stares forward, ready to fight
Zack: "Local fauna, might be something we can shoot and cookup"
As the team gets closer, they can make the familiar trail of resin oozing from the Hangar doors and into the surrounding environment. Lochlann tunes on his radio
Lochlann(Radio):Garth we're seeing some of that weed shit around the place near Engineering and the hangar. We're heading into the hangar.
John(Radio): "We also heard what sounds like a big animal. Perhaps local."
Garth(Radio): "Keep your shit together and get the job done. Over and out."
Another primeval roar rings out, more discharging sounds are heard when a wall from the hangar explodes. A blue ball of light comes flying towards the team, exploding on the ground near them. Murdoch stumbles backwards."
Murdoch: "AOOHH SHIT! WHAT WAS THAT!?"
Raul: "WHAT KIND OF CREATURE THROWS EXPLODING BALLS OF LIGHT!?"
John's optical sensors are overloaded from the flash. "Be advised, I'm unable to see."
The Marines are shaken, but they manage to keep themselves composed as they decide to investigate the origins of this paranormal destruction. Murdoch staggers to get back on his feet, holding his flamer forward.
----Back at the Checkpoint---- Garth keeps his motion tracker at the ready as he tinkers with the Sentry gun and his flame thrower. Ryan's lying comfortably against a box while Asher is curled up in a corner, both sound asleep. He takes some Engineering tape he found in a nearby tool box. Attaching his motion sensor to the top of his flame thrower. He smirks, but then his inventing is interrupted when static begins to crackle from his radio
Lochlann(Radio):Garth we're seeing some of that weed shit around the place near Engineering and the hangar. We're heading into the hangar.
John(Radio): "We also heard what sounds like a big animal. Perhaps local."
Garth(Radio): "Keep your shit together and get the job done. Over and out."
Ryan wakes up briefly since he is tuned into the same radio frequency, he take's off his earpiece and sets it aside, dozing off after a few minutes of silence. Asher presumably had his radio turned off since he was still quietly passed out in the corner, drooling in his sleep.
Garth looks at his flame thrower again, and ponders how well it would be if he could jury rig the flame thrower to work with the sentry gun. Then what the expedition team said about an animal came to mind.
Garth: "...wait a minute.." He flicks on his radio again.
Garth(Radio): "Say again, you've got contacts at the hangar?"
Lochlann(Radio): "FUCKERS BROKE MY SMART GUN!"
Garth(Radio): "Well see if you can get it back, the robot might be able to patch it later."
Garth places a hand on his head, what was supposed to be a simple recon mission seems to have gone FUBAR in almost an instant. Although he has faith they'll get back alive.. he ponders if it'll be in one piece.
With the radio being unbearably silent, Garth tries to get the expedition team back on the line.
Garth(Radio): "Report in, what's going on out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "A piece of metal fell off the hangar and crushed my SmartGun!"
Garth(Radio): "I already heard that! but somebody said something about hostiles?"
Raul(Radio): "Things are going to hel- OH SHIT! A SHIP!"
Before Garth can respond, an explosion over the comms blasts out his ear
John(Radio): "Excessive amount of Xenomorphs detected."
Garth's expression turns dire, trying to keep a level head, he responds.
Garth(Radio): "Stay calm and keep you're guns ready, as long as you can see them they aren't too much of a threat."
Ryan stirs into consciousness, he looks amazingly refreshed.
Ryan: "What the hells going on Garth?"
Garth: "I'm hearing something about a battle going on at the hangar, we lost a Smart Gun, but the men are fine." He then see's Ryan's headset on the floor. "Get your damn headset back on".
Ryan gets his headset back on his ear "Damn, no injuries, right?"
Ryan(Radio):"Whats going on over there? None of you said anything recently"
Garth:"They've reported in already you idiot! You just slept through it"
Ryan:"Well fuck, sorry, I just wanted to be somewhat informed. And I want to make sure they're STILL fine"
Garth: "Then don't sleep in so damn long next time"
Garth reaches into a box and pulls out an MRE, opening it reveals a bag of dried banana's, a few large pieces of Beef Jerky, a biscuit, and a bag of skittles. As he begins to chow down, he looks at the bag of skittles.
Garth: "Huh.. and I thought they stopped making these.."
Before he can enjoy his food any further, Lochlann is heard screaming through his radio.
Lochlann(Radio): "Synth just ran into the hangar! TOWARDS THE XENOMORPHS!"
Garth(Radio): "Jesus fucking Christ, don't get yourselves killed rescuing him then!"
Ryan: "God dammit Tin Can! Permission to haul ass there sir."
Garth: "Take Brian with you and reinforce them"
Ryan quickly gets to his feet, he shakes Asher trying to wake him up, but no response. Not wanting to waste time, He and Brain grab their rifles and rush out towards Engineering.
Ryan(Radio): "I'm on my way! Me and Brian! Be there soon."
----At the Expedition---- Another explosion rings out from the Hangar. Debris is seen flying straight off the roof due to an unknown blast. The team doesn't heed the danger until pieces of scrap metal come crashing down. Lochlann looks up to see the remnants of a girder flying down towards him. He barely manages to get out of the way, narrowly avoiding being impaled. However, his Smart Gun ends up getting impaled instead. Pinning him to the ground. John and Raul move to try to get him free by prying the girder free from the Smart Gun, John ends up bending it, but Raul is able to use that bend as leverage to force the girder loose. The Smart Gun jaggedly clips back into Lochlann's harness"
Lochlann: "Thanks Lads."
Garth(Radio): "Say again, you've got contacts at the hangar?"
Lochlann(Radio): "FUCKERS BROKE MY SMART GUN!"
Garth(Radio): "Well see if you can get it back, the robot might be able to patch it later."
John: "Hey Lochlann, catch!"
John lobs his pistol into Lochlanns hand, but as he catches it, he tosses it back. He pulls out his own pistol.
Lochlann: "I got more guns."
The team closes in on the hole in the Hangar wall, the sight is something to behold. There are random flashes of blue light, electrical sounds ring out through the hangar, followed by shrieks. Then they notice that the floor and walls are crawling with Xenomorphs, both alive and dead, as if they are desperately hunting something or someone inside.
Garth(Radio): "Report in, what's going on out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "A piece of metal fell off the hangar and crushed my SmartGun!"
Garth(Radio): "I already heard that! but somebody said something about hostiles?"
As Garth is talking, Raul notices something beyond the carnage, which appears to be a small sized Cargo ship.
Raul(Radio): "Things are going to hel- OH SHIT! A SHIP!"
Another ball of light flies out of the hole in the wall exploding nearby the Marines, John notices the sheer number of Xeno's inside the Hangar, but the threat is hard to judge since it is hard to make out whats dead and whats alive.
John(Radio): "Excessive amount of Xenomorphs detected."
Garth(Radio): "Stay calm and keep you're guns ready, as long as you can see them they aren't too much of a threat."
Raul: "I really wanna know what's going on in there."
Zack clearly disagrees with this course of action, stating that it would be suicide to walk into a room with an army of Xeno's and god knows what else is in there. Raul hesitantly agrees and begins to head back. Then John notices something.
John: "Oh my! ZACK! There's someone in there!"
Zack peers through his Sniper scope
Zack:"What the hell?"
Zack see's someone tinkering with the Cargo ships engines, it appears to be some sort of humanoid wearing tribal armor and weapons. Although it has a resemblance, it clearly is not human.
Ryan(Radio): "What's going on over there? None of you have said anything recently."
Zack speaks, but accidentally forgets to activate the transmitter on his radio
Zack: "There is a heavily armed alien fighting those things in there. And its firing those blue balls of light at them."
Raul: "What the fuck? So we are dealing with some Sci-Fi Martian man?"
John: "I'll try to help it! It might be an asset later on!"
Tin Hands bursts forward at a surprising pace.
Raul: "TIN HANDS! WAIT! OH GOD DAMMIT! ZACK! COVER US!"
Raul sprints trying to catch up to John, rest of the squad follows a short distance but is hesitant to advance further. With the weight of his gear and the power of his organic limbs. Raul is unable to catch up to John as he jumps through the hole into the Hangar.
Lochlann(Radio): "Synth just ran into the hangar! TOWARDS THE XENOMORPHS!"
Garth(Radio): "Jesus fucking Christ!, don't get yourselves killed rescuing him then!"
Zack watches Raul rushing forward as John marches through corpses of Xeno's
Zack: "God damn it, help the Synth"
Ryan(Radio): "I'm on my way! Me and Brian! Be there soon."
Raul makes his way to the hole in the wall, Zack is watching him through his scope. They both see John in the middle of the Hangar making his way to the ship. His boots sizzle and melt from stepping in puddles of acid blood or piles of Xeno gibs. Suddenly, John is shot in the back by a ball of light. His circuits are showing, but he marches on undeterred, reaching the ship. Zack scans the ship, trying to find out where the Tribal alien disappeared too, but cannot find a trace. As John walks onto the loading ramp something begins to phase into existence, it swings a blade at John's head, he narrowly dodges it, but is then impaled by its wrist blades, as he is lifted off the ground. White blood leaks out of John and onto the ground."
John: "Creature... Do you understand me?"
The Predator (were just calling it that now cause its obvious by this point) curiously tilts it's head, examining Johns face. It speaks in a really odd language.. then it repeats what John say's in broken English.
At this point, Ryan and Brian have arrived and grouped up with the other marines. Zack begins to take aim for a shot at the Predator. Ryan steadies the sights on his revolver and fires a single shot. The high caliber bullet whizzes past Raul, and strikes John in the back, his body sparks and spazzes and suddenly goes limp.
Raul: "TIN HANDS! NOOOO!!!"
Zack fires his Sniper Rifle, the bullet crashing through the Predator's leg. The Predator screams as it furiously throws John's lifeless body into the Xeno corpses below. His body begins to melt amongst all the acid blood. It fires off a barrage of Energy blasts in Zack's general direction. One of the blasts nails Raul square in the chest. Lochlann ducks and covers, getting lightly pelted with shrapnel from the explosion.
Raul "OOOF!"
Raul's armor protects him from fatal injury as he is sent flying back, crashing into the ground.
The rest of the blasts miss Zack, thanks to his Ghillie suit concealing his exact location.
Murdoch: "OH JESUS CHRIST! RUN! RUN RUN RUN!"
Raul frantically holsters his Smart Gun and desperately sprints up the hill trying to get as much distance as possible. Zack tries to get another shot on the Predator, but just as he's about to fire, the Predator vanishes into thin air under a small haze of electricity.
Garth(Radio): "How're we doing out there?"
Lochlann(Radio): "We're running!"
Garth(Radio): "If you need to lose the heat, drag anything following you back to the barricades"
Ryan(Radio): "Tin Can Succumbed to his wounds!"
Raul(Radio): "BULL FUCKING SHIT! HE WAS SHOT!"
Garth(Radio): "Look, now's not the time to lose our collective shit, we'll discuss it later, for now, you need to make sure nobody else turns into a casualty."
The team flees from the Engineering dome as the Predator uncloaks again, it takes out an odd looking hand gun and it begins to shoot a burst of spikes at the Marines, only one hits, striking Zack in the heel, fortunately, his boot was able to stop the spike entirely as it sticks out of it, The expedition team makes it back to the Security checkpoint, Raul collapses on the floor, winded with a large scorch blast on the front of his armor. Ryan sits against the wall as everyone catches their breath. Zack sits down and reloads his rifle.
Lochlann: "MEDIC!"
Raul: "medic....."
Garth gets the extra first aid kit "I gotcha Healy". Asher inspects Raul's injuries.
Ryan: "Tin Can is dead... Fuck.... God dammnit... Tin Can, I didn't like the bastard.. but it wasn't my fault. The fucking thing gave me the creeps... It was an accident, I tried to help him."
Garth and Asher tend to the Expedition teams wounds, Raul and Lochlann had some severe bruising and minor burns, but nothing some pain killers and salve couldn't fix.
Raul: "Dang, I feel good as new, thanks Doc."
Asher: "I remember saying something about not playing god. I ain't gonna, since I doubt he exists on this planet."
Raul: "He does not..."
Garth: "Alright, whatever happened, happened, it's in the past now, we're in no situation to court Marshall anyone."
Something inside the checkpoint begins to repeatedly beep. Ryan notices it's coming from the spike embedded in Zack's boot.
Ryan: "Take your boot off dammnit, toss that thing outside. Beeping means no no."
Raul: "What is beeping for that matter?"
A louder, familiar beep, begins to ring out from Garth's flame thrower. It was the motion tracker, a single signature was closing in, extremely fast.
Ryan: "Garth, what's beeping on that thing?"
All of a sudden, the sentry gun points straight upward, after a brief delay, it unleashes a barrage of bullets up into the skylight, glass rains down as it continues to shoot.
Raul: "HOW MANY XENOS?!"
Garth: "Whatever it is, I can't see it. And It ain't a bug, moves too fast."
Everyone watches the Skylight as the Sentry Gun stops shooting, all of a sudden a large blur falls down. Everyone fires by reflex. But make no hits, it lands near Zack and quickly grabs him, haphazardly using his body as a shield. Lochlann and Raul hesitate, worried that they are more likely to shoot Zack. Garth takes the initiative and fires a stream of flame at the blur. It partially ignites as well as setting Zack's back on fire. The blur phases into existence revealing a Predator, a gun emerges from it's shoulder and it fires an energy blast. It explodes to create a hole in the wall, the Predator was attempting to escape with Zack. Garth tackles the Predator, to no visible effect as he bounces off. The fire on the Predator's arm dies out, with no noticeable burns. Before the Predator can escape, something disorients it as it places a hand over its mask. In a sudden fit of rage, it draws out its wrist blade and stabs Zack in the leg before hurling him with tremendous force at the opposing wall. Zack loudly slams into the concrete wall, leaving cracks in it as he falls to the floor. The Predator runs out of the hole it made and leaps out of sight. A brief struggle and a bunch of shrieks are heard nearby.
Lochlann: "Woo.. Fuck.."
Raul: "FIRST XENOMORPHS! NOW WE GOT A FREAKING INVISIBLE MAN WITH SUPER POWERS!"
Zack struggles to his knees, he is clearly in great pain.
Zack: "Fuck.... Medic"
Garth: "I gotcha Zack"
Garth and Asher begin to inspect Zack's torso, he's definitely got some fractures. Garth begins to work on helping Asher set up some splints to keep his rib-cage in place. But Asher misjudges where the fractures are and accidentally breaks one of Zack's ribs while applying the splint"
Zack: "Than- ARRGHH! FUCK!"
Asher: "Fucking hell, sorry man."
Raul cautiously approaches the hole in the wall and peeks outside, Smart Gun at the ready. There is no sign of the Predator, the only trace that can be found are two recently killed Xenomorphs outside the Checkpoint.
Raul: "So... what the hell is this things angle? It kills Tin Hands, and tries to kill Zack, then it saves us from a couple of stalking Xenos."
Garth: "We gotta get this wall patched yesterday! Healy, give me a hand"
Lochlann: "Uh.. that a good idea? I think our position is fucked Sarge. It may be a waste of resources."
Raul: "We should probably pack up and find a new position."
Garth:"We will Raul. Just waiting for Zack to be able to walk. Are you lot in a position to move?"
Zack grumbles in pain struggling to stay on his feet. "Fucking..."
Ryan: "God dammit, what kind of cereal box did you get that training from Asher?"
Asher: "From the fucking cheez-its, Ryan. All you guys do is treat like a personal healslut, how about you listen for once?"
Raul: "Alright Asher, lets hear it."
Asher: "Let's hear what, you know what I'm say. Less dying, more getting off of this fucking planet."
Ryan: "Get on your soap box Asher, make it quick, were leaving soon. Even if we get a signal out, it could take weeks for another USCM ship to arrive here."
Garth: "Alright, let's move it to the Security Dome and see if it lives up to its name"
Raul: "Roger that"
Zack angrily shambles over to the hole in the wall, he takes up a position and scans the surrounding area.
Ryan: "Zack, get off your high horse and lets get on the move. It nearly killed you."
Zack: "Gonna kill the fucking thing..."
Ryan: "No you're not. Quit being a hero. We need to move or we all could die."
Raul: "Not only did that thing kill an army of those Xeno things, it killed Tin Hands and almost kills you.. lets get the fuck out."
Ryan: "Actually, I killed Tin Can."
Asher: "You-- well, shit happens, I guess. But he's right, stop being a damn hero."
Ryan walks over to Zack and pulls the sniper rifle out of his hands, he's too weak to put up any sort of resistance. He slings the sniper rifle over his shoulder.
Ryan: "Lets go, I'll give it back to you whenever we get to where were going. Lean on my shoulder, lets move."
Zack stubbornly refuses at first, but sighs. With no other choice, he leans on Ryan as he helps him outside.
The rest of the marines gather up what supplies they can. Before they leave, Garth gets out his personal welder, along with some tools nearby, he manages to repair the damage to Lochlann`s Smart Gun. Although it is able to fire again, something is wrong with the internal motor operating the feed mechanism. Causing the gun to shoot slower then it normally would. Raul takes the Spazz 17 Shotgun and .45 Automatic Handgun, taking ammo for both. With no more space left in his pack, he leaves the Scorpion SMG behind. The Squad arrives inside the colony Nexus, they fortify a few rooms in the dorms so Zack can rest as Garth devises a plan for getting into the Security dome.
End of Chapter 2, to be continued July 21st.
