We had a few dropouts this installment.
Casany as our Gracious Game Master & Narrator
Karmac as Staff Sargent Garth Pawolski
KiroKing as Squad Marksman Sargent Zack Micken
Levi as himself
Norman as themself
Lance Corporal Brian Levibm as himself
Amaxin as Combat Medic Corporal Asher McMillian
Private Ryan Steelburg as himself
Private Murdoch Machowicz as himself
Garrison as Smart Gunner Lance Corporal Raul Garrison
Kavlo as Smart Gunner Lance Corporal Lochlann Healy
Sarah_U as the Alien Queen
► Show Spoiler
Garth suddenly collapses to the ground with a sudden case of Space Sleep disorder. Unsure how long they'll go without his leadership, everyone looks to Zack, who is next in the chain of command. Zack gathers everyone in one of the rooms as he explains a plan he has devised. He suggests that using the sentry to cover both hallways, they all go down to Cybernetics through the recreational area, which has a much larger field of view compared to the Staff Quarters corridor. After they get Brian, they nab a vehicle from one of the garages and they speed over to Security.
Zack: "Any questions?"
Lochlann: "Yeah.. uh.. how do we know if Brian isn't gonna end up like that one guy who had a snake in his chest?"
Asher: "I might be able to remove it, I know how to do surgery."
Lochlann and Zack agree to take a detour to the Medical dome if the marines are able to rescue Brian. Since the barricades are going to be undermanned, they reposition the sentry gun in order to cover both hallways. However it is in an awkward position, leaving it vulnerable to ranged fire. Zack orders Raul to follow him as he vaults over the eastern barricades to scout out their planned attack route. They walk down to the main entrance, dried green blood stains and massive dents from the previous fight litter the area. Zack kneels down and peers through his scope, scanning the northern hallway leading into recreation.
Raul: "Hey Zack, why we doing a recon of the place? we already have an idea of what to expect."
Zack ignores Raul's question as he suddenly freezes, and fires off a single shot. An unknown death cry can be heard far off in the distance.
Zack: "That, is why."
Raul squints down the hallway but can't make out anything. past recreation. Zack's night vision scope however, reveals that resin layers the end of the hallway.
Zack: "It's clear."
Raul: "Right then.."
Raul begins to nervously march down the hall, but Zack stops him. "Hold it Marine."
Raul:'Huh?"
Zack(Radio): "Alright, everyone, the hall is clear, get over here."
The rest of the marines. except for Garth and Asher, meet up with Zack and prepare to advance.
Zack(Radio): "Brian, come in, are you there?"
Brian(Radio): static, followed by a few coughs and rustling noises
Zack: "Mhmm, not sure if that means he's still alive."
Raul: "Well there's definitely human noises on the radi- what the heck?"
Everyone notices resin flowing out from an airlock in front of them. It spreads like rapidly growing moss.
Raul: "Oh god that resin shit spreads like weeds.. this just gets better and better."
Zack: "Sounds can be misleading, he could be bleeding out for all we know. Didn't he catch a bullet?"
Raul: "Er.... yyeeah. But we ain't just gonna leave him... are we?"
Zack: "Might not have a choice."
Zack leads the way as he scans down the hall through his scope. They approach the door where the resin is coming from.
Zack: "Check that maintenance hatch."
Raul inspects the hatch, it slides open revealing a silent dark corridor. He turns on his shoulder lamp, but aside from resin covering every inch of the corridor, there is nothing of interest except for another hatch at the end of the pathway.
The rest of the marines proceed forward, Zack notices that the wall to their left looks suspiciously malleable, he gestures the marines to halt. Through the silence, Zack can make out a rapid sizzling sound coming from behind the wall.
Zack: "Back up... and watch that wall"
Raul inspects his Smart Gun, it has two hundred and seventy nine rounds and is set to burst fire.
Raul: "Nothing in the hatch, but something could rush us from there."
There is a long anxiety inducing pause as Zack ponders what to do, with a low growl he gives the order to retreat, not wanting to walk the squad into a probable trap.
Lochlann: "Back to the barricades... wooooh.."
Back in the barricades, resin can be seen starting to creep out from the doors leading to the pool area.
Raul: "Shit's slowly going to hell here.. I dunno if we can hold this position for much longer.. If were gonna abandon the guy, lets at least get a vehicle so we can transport all our shit."
Zack approves, stating that with a vehicle they could probably use it as a mobile base, or even retreat into the wilderness. Lochlann punches a hole in this idea when he reminds everyone that not only is the planet mostly dense forest, the colony itself is completely walled off with an entrance that is now completely inoperable. Zack takes a look outside, it is currently mid-day.
Zack(Radio): "Brian come in."
Raul: "Dammit man we know he's out.."
Zack: "I know, lets just try at least."
Brian(Radio) Static, followed by a muffled voice and more rustling.
With that, Zack calls for opinions on if they should keep trying to save Brian. Lochlann and Murdoc give a definite "Fuck Brian", Raul is the only one to oppose as everyone else abstains. Zack then announces that they are going to exit the Nexus and enter the garage from the outside. Once that is taken care of, they will look for the morgue-
Raul: "Wait, why the morgue?"
Zack: "Body bags, not only can they hold a lot, they are really strong. I've heard stories back in the Vietnam war how soldiers would load them with guns and ammunition and drop them from helicopters."
Interruptions aside, then they would pack up everything and head for Telecom's to send out a transmission, and begin planning their next move.
No one objects, before they depart, Zack walks into each of the rooms to inspect the vents, making sure they aren't melting. Everything seems secure, all the Marines pack up all essential supplies and make for the main entrance. As they head into the parking lot, a quick sweep of the area shows that all the vehicles in the lot seem to have been either wrecked or smashed. They begin to circle the eastern perimeter of the Nexus, although most of the forest within the colony was clear cut, most of the vegetation in the area looks severely neglected and is overtaking anything not paved over. Raul peers into the Atrium windows as they pass by, the place looks unusually normal and undisturbed, guess enjoying the sights wasn't on anyone's priority.
The Marines turn the corner to find a large hole in the wall, patches of resin are occasionally seen permeating from the Nexus windows as they eventually discover a garage. As they move to open the garage door, they hear a snarl from behind them, they turn around but can't find where it came from. The Marines take up defensive positions as Lochlann begins to grab the handles on the garage door.
Raul: "Be ready, anything could be beyond that door."
Lochlann's glistening muscles flex and he throws the door up with a fair amount of effort. Revealing several vehicles that resemble four wheeler ATV's, all of which have been flipped over, wrecked and/or smouldering black from fire. Any vehicle that hasn't been out right destroyed seems to have been salvaged for parts, a few rest on cinder blocks with their tires missing.
Raul: "Well shit..."
Asher walks around, trying to find a vehicle that's not fifty shades of fucked up. He soon eyes a vehicle that looks more pristine and intact compared to the others, he rushes over to get a closer look, only to find disappointment as the other side of the vehicle is completely missing. He turns to head back, but then slips head over heels on an oil slick.
Asher: "Ah, shitdicks. This oil's slippery."
Lochlann: "Like oil."
The Marines begin to move to the other side of the Nexus to check for another garage. As they turn the North East corner, Raul catches a quick movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly turns his head, finding some shrubbery swaying in the wind. Raul stops and squints at the bushes in suspicion, unsure if something is in them or if he was just seeing things. The rest of the squad holds position wondering whats going on, Zack looks through his scope, trying to pick anything out from the tall grass surrounding them.
Zack: "We've got some sorta movement in the grass, might be the wind.."
Everyone grips their weapons as they steel themselves for the possibility of an ambush. Ryan lights his flame thrower and stares in the general direction Raul is looking. He fails to spot anything unusual. The Marines push on and soon they find the northern entrance to the Nexus, the pathway is paved, putting the marines at ease as the vegetation begins to thin out. The doors and windows they find are completely covered in resin. As they pass by a patch of shrubbery, Raul casually glances into it, he suddenly panics and leaps back, falling onto the ground. "WAH-AMBUSH!!!!"
A Hunter suddenly lunges out of the shrubs, crashing where Raul should have been, Raul hastily grips his Smart Gun and manages to gun the Xeno down. As if a signal was given, two resin blockages tear open as a Hunter emerges from each of them. One of the Hunters emerges right in front of Asher, he recoils back and swats the Hunter out of reflex, but accidentally winds his arm too far back and ends up jabbing his throat. As Asher struggles to regain his breath, the Hunter brandishes its claws and slashes Asher. With a loud clash, the Hunters claws leave two long gashes across Asher's Armored Vest.
Lochlann moves to provide covering fire, but he is suddenly pelted from the side by some burning glob, he turns to find a Spitter has emerged from a door beside him. He returns fire and unleashes a barrage at the Spitter, it steps back behind the door frame for cover as the bullets rip chunks off the concrete wall.
The other Hunter pounces on Zack, trying to cut him apart. Zack is able to protect himself with his bracers and manages to kick the Xeno off him, bullets from Raul and Murdoch's guns harmlessly fly above the Hunter as Zack clambers backwards desperately shooting his submachine gun into it.
Zack:"AMBUSH!! THE OUTLAWS ARE ATTACKING!!"
His shots are wide, but as he manages to compensate for recoil, the bullets start impacting the Hunter until his gun clicks empty. The Xenomorph is badly wounded but still rapidly crawls towards Zack with murderous intent.
Asher stumbles backwards trying to keep his distance from the Hunter. He finally manages to collect his wits and fires his Pulse rifle dead center. The Hunter dies almost instantly as the bullets pierce through its torso. As the Hunter collapses, Asher immediately see's another one crawling towards Zack as he desperately tries to reload. He quickly fires another burst of bullets, finishing off Zack's pursuer.
Asher: "Oh man, just like on the shooting range, except here we can actually die!"
Lochlann turns to fire at the Spitter, but it has vanished without a trace. Another Hunter is seen in the tall grass behind the Marines, but it is also retreating. Zack gets out his sniper rifle and puts a bullet in the Hunters back as it collapses into the grass, dead and lifeless. The battle is concluded almost as fast as it began.
Everyone takes a moment to catch their breath. Everyone notices the gashes in Asher's armor. They then inspect their own armor. Everyone has their body armor layered in scratches, dents, shrapnel, and partially dissolved bits here and there. The M3 Battle Armor was designed by sandwiching several layers of various materials together into a protective shell, and it was designed to stop bullets and explosions rather then claws and acid. Repairing the armor would be near impossible by conventional means. It became clear to the Marines that they would sooner or later have to find replacement armor to protect themselves before their armor gave out completely.
The Marines continue to circle the Nexus in search of an additional garage. Until Zack catches movement in the grass some distance in front of him, the movement is oddly familiar, not resembling an animal. Zack gestures the Marines to hold their ground, he points at Lochlann and Raul to follow him as they close in on the grass, weapons ready. As Zack begins to step into the tall grass, he is suddenly smacked in the face with an object. As he falls to the ground stunned, he gets out his Sub machine gun, he then sees a man standing over him, pointing a shotgun right at his face. The man is wearing a hunter green hoodie, but the rest of his clothes are ragged and indistinguishable.
Man: "Who the heck are you?"
Zack lowers his gun and removes the hood off his ghille suit, deactivating the reactive camo from his armor.
Zack:"Colonial Marines. Sargent Hunter."
The man lowers the aim of his double barrel shotgun to Zack's chest
Man: "How do I know you aren't bullshitting me! Like the prison gang?"
Lochlann approaches trying to assure him. But the man takes an aggressive stance and points the gun at Lochlann.
Man: "NOBODY MOVE!" He stomps Zack in the chest as he stands with one foot on him.
Despite the threat, many of the Marines raise their weapons.
Raul: "Look pal, we aren't those fuckin Xeno fuckers!"
Asher: "What did you find over there, Zack? We good?"
Zack: "Working on it, and get your damned foot off me."
Man: "Tell them to lower their weapons then."
Zack: "Alright look, we are Colonial Marines, I am Sargent Hunter, that is Lance Corporal Lochlann, now put down the gun, get off me and we will do the same. We aren't here to hurt you."
Raul: "It's us or them, let's work together here"
Man: "..Fine."
Everyone lowers their weapons. As the man takes his foot off Zack, he gets on his feet, holding his submachine gun to the side.
Zack: "Alright, good" Zack then puts his hood back on. "Now, what's your name?"
Levi: "The names Levi"
Getting a better look at Levi, he seems to be in his late teens or early twenties. He has some bloodied bandages around his wrist but it's dried out.
Zack: "Alright Levi, We've got four more guys that are gonna come over here, and a corpsman who wants to check you out."
Asher: "It's gonna be alright bud.. are you hurt?"
Levi: "I ain't injured, nah. I came over here to see what all the shootin` was about..."
Raul: "Is there anyone else still alive out there?"
Levi: "Well, big guy, there are people alive out there still. See we got two groups that I know of. The Prison gang, which is a collection of prisoners, dirty cops, and psychopaths who wanna kill everyone and anyone. They care about no one, not even themselves.
Zack: "Great.."
Raul: "Just like in the movies.."
Levi: "And we got the eggheads over in the water-purification center, who've set up some sorta electric force field kinda shit, fries anything that gets too close."
Zack: "Where are the prison gangsters?"
Levi: "Where do ya think ya moron!? Security, of course! I thought Marines were supposed to be smart.
Asher: "Smart enough not to talk back to seven folk with armor and guns on their own.."
Raul: "Well... with all the bodies we found.. we thought everyone was dead. Your the only living person we've seen so far."
Levi: "The bodies in the pool? The prisoners did that.."
Ryan: "Jesus.."
Music plays
Levi: "The Nexus was holding well for some time, until the prisoners attacked while those lizard freaks were attacking."
Zack: "There anyone like you out there? Just trying to make it?"
Levi: "Nah, not really. I mainly move around. Originally I was with the Nexus guys, until shit went down and we got pincered in by some freaks with guns and some freaks with swords for tails... Used to roam with a group of five. Now it's just me."
Raul: "How long has this been going for?"
Levi: "The outpost was attacked by the lizard freaks two months ago. Nexus fell four weeks ago. See, we really don't know where they came from. But we do know it has something to do with some ship that crashed nearby three months ago.
Raul: "Our platoon arrived four days ago, responding to the distress call.. but the mission went bad when we stopped to investigate a derelict cargo ship in orbit."
Levi: "So the engineers actually made it out eh? Well, at least they had solace for a while up there in space. Yeah, we saw that launch off about two weeks ago."
The wind begins to pick up as the sun sets, Zack calmly surveys the surrounding area.
Zack: "Alright, as much as talking out here in the open is great. We need to get back to what were doing before nightfall, and from the looks of it before this storm comes. Now Levi, you've got two options...."
Levi: "If ya wanna go somewhere safe, follow me. The prisoners recently abandoned Security, barricades and all."
Raul: "Where did they go..?"
Levi: "The prisoners? No clue. One day they were there, taking potshots at passing lizards, the next they just vanished. Heard a bit of shooting, but not a lot."
Zack: "Alright... that's tempting but we can't leave our turret and supplies behind."
Levi: "Well, I ain't goin' back to Nexus man. Those fuckin` lizards are everywhere. I gotta secure base not so far from here. I'll see y`all in the morning..."
Zack: "We've been in Nexus for the past three days."
Raul: "Yeah, we've been fighting them all day."
Levi turns around and begins to walk away. He zips up his hoodie and pulls the hood over his head.
Zack: "You sure you want to leave kid?"
Levi: "Oh, and before I go, the only reason y`all aren't dead yet is because the lizards got more important things to do as of recently..."
Levi walks into the underbrush, out of sight, shotgun in hand. Raul nervously looks back at the Nexus.
Zack: "Yeah, we know."
Raul: "We do?"
Zack: "Remember the hangar Raul, where we lost Tin hands?
Raul: "OOooh.. right.. them..."
Raul: "Still man.. how the fuck are we supposed to survive if they are just toying with us right now? I mean.. whats gonna happen to us when they go after us for real!?"
Zack: "Yeah.. they're willing to throw themselves at that thing. Alright, Let's get back to our defenses for one last night, we will head out to Security tomorrow."
Raul: "I..I can't go back in there.. Not after what I know now."
Zack: "They aren't toying with us Raul, they haven't even really even made a big attempt on us.
Raul: "They're melting the walls, that position ain't safe!"
Zack: "It's safe for one more night Raul, I checked the walls before we left. There fine, one more night and we leave here for good."
Raul hesitates, but then sighs with a defeated look.
Raul:"..Yes sir."
Zack: "I don't like it that much either Marine."
Zack adjusts his hood as he begins to walk towards the Nexus
Zack: "I'm thinking we try and find those scientists at the water purifier as well. Might have an idea on how to get off this planet"
Raul: "Aside from that kid, they seem to be the only sane people around."
Zack looks back at Raul "and that's the priority Raul. We leave before they can focus on us."
Asher: "Well, if I may intrude... Scientists might be difficult to get to, but since they have that fence, they can have some high-tech toys. That is one. Two, colonist seemed alright, although kinda spooked. Hell, I'd be the same if I was in his pants, if not worse. Three, we really need to get off this planet, we just keep losing more people, and resources."
Zack: "Agreed, and that fence won't be bad if they let us in."
Asher: "That's an if. IF we walk there, if they won't let us in - we are stuck outside for the night."
Raul: "Thing is, if we can even communicate with them for that matter."
Zack: "My bet is we can either signal that we are USMC or radio them."
Raul: "We'd need to know what frequency the colony uses for that I believe.. recalling what the techies usually say about that."
Zack: "We could try broadcasting over an open channel and hope they pickup."
Asher: "We can always give the colonists a visit and ask them about a way of communicating with the eggheads."
Zack: "Sounds good, now lets get back inside."
A shotgun blast echos in the distance, Zack sighs.
Zack: "Fucking..."
Raul: "Shit..."
The sounds seem to be coming from over a hill in the distance to the west.
Zack: "Shouldn't have let him leave.... dammit.."
Another blast sounds off, along with an alien scream.
Zack: "Alright, lets split up, Raul, Asher, come with me, everyone else head back to our defensive position and make sure the place isn't gone."
Asher: "Let's just hope it won't end badly."
Raul: "Time to do our jobs."
Zack: "Radio in if there's any issues and if the place is destroyed. If it is... then fuck I guess were all hiking to Security."
Zack, Raul and Asher sprint into the underbrush that Levi had disappeared into. After ducking and jumping over branches and shrubs, the hill turns downward into a field. In the distance, Levi can be seen, he is beset by twelve Xenomorphs, five of which are already dead. Zack begins to set up his sniper rifle.
Zack: "Element of surprise people, don't give us away yet."
One of the Xeno's spits something at Levi, he suddenly collapses to the ground. Another one moves to grab Levi. It suddenly looks in the marines direction, then puts a claw over Levi's neck.
Raul: "Sir.. Am I seeing that..?
Zack: "Yeah... you are..."
The Xenomorph has several healed injuries, some of which appears to be slash marks that have healed and some others that appear to be burn scars that healed themselves with time. Levi begins to move again and struggles fiercely against the Xenos grip. He manages to partially free himself, struggling to keep the Xenos claw away from his neck he quickly pulls out a revolver and crams it into the side of the Xeno's head.
Levi: "Hey Norman... How about you fuck off?"
Levi pulls the trigger, blowing a hole through Normans skull. However, it manages to survive as it recoils back. It uses its tail to smack the revolver out of Levi's hands as it takes a defensive stance with the rest of the Xenomorphs. The Xeno's hesitantly step back as they see Raul and Asher charging towards them to get in the fight.
Garth(Radio): "So how's it going back there lads?"
Raul(Radio): "The kids in trouble, they got him surrounded!"
Garth(Radio): "You guys took hostage rescue classes right?"
Raul(Radio): "Yes.. but they had NOTHING that covered this, sir!"
Garth(Radio): "Good point, do your best marines."
Asher(Radio): "Implying I ever listened to the instructors during the basics!"
Garth(Radio): "Well, just yell out if you need us to come back and help, nothing`s come up on our side yet."
Zack gets set up and surveys the situation.
Zack(Radio): "I count seven contacts around the survivor."
Zack begins to aim at Norman, it feels as though it's staring at him. Norman quickly leaps away, but compared to its companions, it actually leaps two or three times edging left and right balancing its mass to throw off the aim of whomever may be aiming at it. Zack fires, but his shot goes wide as it ricochets off a nearby tree and nearly hits Levi's arm. Norman rushes off into the underbrush, leaving a trail of acid. The other Xenos seem undecided, as if they are edging between pouncing or fleeing. One of them seems more cunning and immediately roars, the Xeno's begin to retreat in unison.
Levi hears the bullet zoom past him, he looks in Zack's direction, noticing the Marines approaching him in the distance.
Zack: "defective round..."
Levi: "I"M A BETTER FUCKIN` SHOT THEN YOU! AND I"M A FUCKIN` MECHANIC!"
Zack: "SURE FUCKING LOOKS LIKE IT!"
Levi: "HA HA! You try shooting with this shit at long range!"
Zack fires off another bullet.
Zack: "I JUST FUCKING DID! LOOK AT THE ONE BEHIND YOU!"
Levi turns to see one of the larger Xeno's collapsing to the ground bleeding profusely, it shrivels up and and shivers, looking rather dead. The Xeno's next to it grab it and drag it into the underbrush.
Levi: "OH! SO YOU USED A SHITTY COLONIAL MARSHALL'S REVOLVER?"
Raul gets within firing range for his Smart Gun, he flips on the eye piece for the Smart Gun's sights, taking a moment to line them up. He fires off a burst of bullets. The Smart Gun's systems guide his arm to help stay on target as he mow's down two Xeno's with a single burst. The remaining Xenos flee into the thicket.
Levi: "See, guys, I can handle my fuckin` self out here. Now run back to your turret protected safe-spaces."
Raul: "Your welcome..."
Levi: "alright-alright. Thanks for the help, but I really gotta get back to my base."
Levi grabs his revolver and shotgun. He begins to reload them as he walks into a different portion of the thicket.
Raul: "How will we be able to find you again?"
Levi: "I know where y`all are, I'll find you."
Zack fellow's Levi's movements through his scope, resisting the temptation to shoot his smug attitude in the back. As Levi disappears out of sight, Zack leads Asher and Raul back into the Nexus through the hole near Staff Quarters. They get back to the dorms without incident as they settle down for the night. Explosions can be heard in the distance. A few hours later, the Sentry gun fires off a few rounds a couple of times.
Zack: "fucking scouts..."
Those are the only noteworthy events as the Marines sleep the night away.
The morning rises as Garth assembles the troops. They notice that there are patches of resin in the halls, there are even blockages of the stuff halfway down the halls.
Zack: "Well...Shit..
Raul: "Orders sir?"
Garth lets the marines carry on as they were. Zack tears open a ration pack and drinks some Chi tea brewed from the coffee machine. He checks the vents one last time after he finishes eating. Raul sits down in one of the rooms and begins to pull out ammo belts from one of his Ammo Drums, then begins the laborious process of refilling the other two. Smart Gunners are usually given only two drums of ammunition, each holds five hundred rounds. Raul had looted two more drums off the Bravo Smart Gunner, one of which he gave to Lochlann.
Garth: "Alright, so we're gonna need to get the fuck out of here sooner or later because the neighborhood's getting less and less friendly. And we still need to get a communication out to call for pickup."
Several bangs can be heard from the Northern hallway. Zack, Murdoch and Lochlann take up positions on the northern barricade.
Garth: "Who the hell is banging? Givin` me a damn headache."
Zack: "Colonist maybe?"
The resin blockage slices open as a shoe steps through. Levi emerges as the Resin wall partially collapses.
Garth: "Oh hey you were right."
Zack: "Great.."
Levi: "So, y`all see what I was talkin` about last night? They`re swarmin` in here."
Zack: "That they are, hence why were checking out today."
Garth: "Agreed, can you tell me about T-Comms on this planet, how's it look?"
Levi: "T-comms? T-comms is a fuckin` hole in the ground now. T-comms got bombed by the prisoners so everyone was stuck down here. We got off a distress signal beforehand, but shit man, it's nothin` but rubble."
Garth: "Fuck, you got any other place with a radio strong enough to contact the outside world?"
Zack: "Water purification plant, maybe?
Raul: "Those Scientist guys might have something."
Levi: "The eggheads in Science were workin` on somethin` before this started. It's probably still there."
Raul: "If T-Comms did get blown up, how did the USCM manage to send us here to begin with?"
Zack: "Distress beacon Raul.."
Garth: "Like he said, they got a distress call out fast. Sadly were the only responders."
Raul: "I see."
Levi: "Those Scientists in the water-purification plant won't let you get even within one thousand feet or they'll blow your head off with microwaves."
Garth: "Oh goodie... Any way around that? Or we're just fucked?"
Zack: "They that paranoid that they won't let the USCM come in to help?"
Levi: "No, they're just paranoid that you've come to steal their tech. They got this wild idea that Weyland is gonna save them. Fuckin` idiots."
Zack:"Great, well check them off the list then."
Raul: "Doubt we can do anything about that unless they got a radio or we had an egg head of our own."
Garth: "How about that prisoner gang I've heard you talk about, they got anything? Worst case scenario we lose nothing by cutting down their numbers."
Levi: "They just went away one day, as I explained earlier. And even if they hadn't..
Raul: "Maybe we can even fight something we are famlier with.."
Levi: "They're fucking insane, all of `em."
Garth: "God damn, well we're shit out of luck and I'm shit out of ideas, you got any advice for where we should move?"
Levi: "As I said, the best bet to get another communications console would be Security or Science, and Science was overrun by both the big fuckers and the lizard fuckers."
Zack: "Well, seems like Security it is then."
Raul: "Big fuckers?"
Garth: "Maybe those cloaked bastards we saw."
Levi: "The crazy armored fellas. Shoot bolts of blue light."
Zack: "Yeah, we've met em."
Garth: "Yeah, we watched one die painfully."
Zack: "And I crippled another."
Levi: "Oh, for real? That's sweet. Except they were the ones who saved my life yesterday and from the Nexus days before... You've made a fuckin` enemy out our only strong allies here."
Garth: "God fucking damn, all we seem to attract is enemies."
Zack: "Not exactly."
Raul: "Well.. they kinda killed one our own, albeit he was asking for it.
Garth:"Thanks for the help my man, we're gonna pack up and go for Security, see if it's any use."
Levi: "I'm coming with. Oh, and you there *points at Raul* what did the one look like? See, there are a few different fellas down here."
Zack: "Yeah, had no problem with em till they killed one of ours. And then tried to kill me."
Raul: "I wasn't there for the one that died, but the one I saw was tinkering with a ship in the Hangar."
Levi: "Was your friend armed?"
Zack & Raul: "No."
Raul: "Shot him in the back and then another one tried to decapitate him."
Levi: "Did he get too close?"
Raul: "Er.. yea."
Garth: "I didn't see to much of the dead guy, he was covered in his own blood by the time we saw him, a big lizard made a pancake out of the fella."
Zack: "Also worth mentioning, if there was a prime suspect for who took out our ship, it would be them."
Garth:"We WATCHED them shoot our ship"
Raul: "Oh yea I forgot about that, they blew up the fucking Alexandria."
Levi: "Well, heres the thing. There are two types of those fellas as I am aware."
Raul: "What? the good and the bad?"
Levi: "The ones that kill their own kind, and kill anything they see."
Garth: "Well fuck"
Levi: "And the ones who just wanna kill the Lizards and those guys. I'm willing to bet you saw the former."
Garth: "So just, don't bother them unless they start tryna shoot us with lasers?"
Levi: "That'd be the best bet."
Zack: "Noted."
Garth: "Alright well, let's get this shit packed and out."
Raul: "Roger that"
Levi: "Y`all do that, I'll be waitin` here."
Zack: "You do that, your standing right out of our sentry's range."
Levi: "(Levi) Nah, I can walk into the sentries range and be fine"
Zack: "Yeah, do us a favor and dont try it."
Levi walks over and flashes a USCM ID card. The cards name doesn't match his.
Levi: "See, there were Marines stationed here. They had the same shit as you."
Raul: "Makes sense, this place looks like it would of had a USCM garrison of some sort."
Garth: "Didn't last too long then?"
Levi: "All of `em are dead, so, yeah."
Zack: "Well those were garrison troops, no offense Raul."
Garth: "You know where they kept their shit?"
Raul: "A good question, our ammo ain't gonna last forever."
Levi: "Security, the Armory, and Science. Those were where they were supposed to protect. The Security guards managed the rest."
Garth: "Alright, maybe we'll find some good stuff in Security then."
Raul: "Assuming the savages haven't looted it all."
A Xenomorph shriek echos down the hall.
Levi: "Kinda odd the lizard bastards haven't attacked eh?"
Garth: "Maybe they're just glad we aren't shitting up their carpet anymore"
Zack: "Lot of acid blood has stained these halls Levi, all under the resin. It wasn't as quiet while we were staying here."
Everyone except Levi grabs everything they can carry and marches out of the Nexus, heading towards the Security building. After half an hour of walking, they see a heavily reinforced building, landing pads can be seen near the main gates, but all that remains is the burnt out husk of an unknown air transport. As they onto a large Weyland Yutani logo painted in the pavement, they inspect the two gates that separate the towering walls surrounding the facility. The gates appear to be an entrance and an exit respectively.
Garth: "Alright, we'll hit the high-security area first, see if we can get access to the Armory, see if it'll be any good to stay there for a while. Keep an eye out for a communications console of any sort."
Raul: "Yes sir."
The entrance is locked, the marines try to use their ID cards, but are rejected. However, the door accepts Garth's ID card and the door opens as a dim red light illuminates him.
Garth: "This way lads."
As soon as Garth steps through the doorway, the light goes off and the door closes. He opens the door again and stands in the doorway, keeping it open.
Garth: "EVERYONE LEGGIT IN! IT MIGHT CRUSH ME!"
Everyone hastily gets through the gate, as soon Garth steps out, the gate slams shut in an instant. Everyone drops the supplies they were carrying and draw their weapons. They are in a parking lot for the facility, There is a building with a gate designed for land vehicles to their right. The panel for the gate appears to have been tampered with, the circuitry is exposed and wires have been yanked out or replaced. Garth swipes his ID card through the card reader. "Access Denied"
Music Plays, and it loops for a while.
Garth tries his luck with a few of the other doors. Many of them have been bolted shut or are too damaged to operate. A peculiar detail, many of the damaged doors are dented outward, as though something, or someone was desperately trying to get out.
Garth: "I'll be able to open the doors that ain't fucked with. Dunno about the Armory ones though."
Zack: "Levi, you know the way around here?"
Levi: "I got no fuckin` clue how to navigate this area, I ain't never been here!"
Garth: "Damn, alright."
Zack: "How about hacking the doors then?"
Garth walks up to the gate, digs his fingers in between the sliding doors and shoves, the gate budges slightly.
Garth: "Somebody else help me out here!"
Raul and Murdoc help Garth push the sliding doors open, the motors resist they're efforts, but can't seem to force themselves closed with the marines pulling against them.
Garth: "Everyone in again"
Levi is the last one to walk through, the marines slide away from the door as it shuts behind them. They look ahead to see puddles of drying blood and several guns and bullet casings littered across the entire area, many of them are shattered or split in half. The guns appear to be military grade weaponry, some resemble high powered or experimental weapons.
Garth: "Somebody stash that lot."
Zack casually walks forward, looking around as the other Marines go through the weapons, looking for something salvageable. Something drips on his shoulder, he steps to the side. Noticing the drips are red, he looks above him, his face completely perplexed.
Zack: "Well shit..."
Everyone notices Zack looking up, and follows his gaze, they see 30 flayed human corpses dangling from the ceiling of the warehouse. All their heads and spinal cords have been cleanly ripped off. Although some are rotting away, there are a few that are rather fresh. Countless bullet holes can also be seen in the ceiling, as though someone was deliberately firing above them.
Garth: "That'll be the Garrison then."
Raul: "Hoooolly shit...."
Some of marines keep their composure, others begin to step back, gripped in terror. Raul looks as though he is about to panic.
Garth: "Keep your shit together Raul, just focus on not being skinned alive."
Zack: "Note to self... don't get taken alive.."
Raul nods and takes a breath, he picks up a stray M4A1 Pulse rifle and begins to inspect it.
Further inspection of the weaponry reveals that all the ammunition has been removed from them, or they were empty to begin with. Levi looks at the flayed corpses with an expressionless stare as his eyes begin to scan the room.
Garth picks up an M4A1, it is bloodied and battered.
Garth: "Grab a gun if you've got ammo for it, always good to keep a spare. Most of these look fucked though..."
Garth manages to pick out some Tactical auto shotguns that are still in once piece. The one he picks up seems to be jammed, he unscrews the shotgun open to find two shells forcefully jammed backwards into the receiver. Using some pliers, he is able to pry the shells free, allowing the gun to be loaded again.
Zack notices a long bent rifle barrel underneath some parts. He pulls it free and inspects it, he recognizes that it is a private military variant of the M42A Sniper Rifle. It could be salvaged if he sawed the barrel off.
Garth: "I could fix that sniper up for you if you want to be able to shoot it. My shotgun's looking fine just now."
However, although the rifle has a superior build, it was designed for urban environments only. Meaning the slightest bit of dirt or water inside the machinery could damage or jam the rifle. He tosses it aside, it wasn't worth the risk.
Zack: "Mind trying to fix me up one of those tactical shotguns?"
Garth: "I'll see if there's another not so busted one here.
The other marines continue to comb through the arsenal, they begin to find tattered orange uniforms, likely belonging to the prisoners. Then they start finding padded balaclavas, white berets and pieces of military uniforms.
Raul: "Huh... PMC's were here"
Raul see's Zack picking up a shotgun by the barrel, it still has a hand attached to the grip. He pries it off. Garth is tinkering with a bloodied tactical shotgun. Raul unslings his forgotten Spazz-17.
Raul: "Anymore shotguns still work?"
Garth: "I see one more busted one I could fix if you want."
Raul: "See if you can fix it, if not I'll give the shells to somebody else."
Garth inspects the final tactical shotgun. The receiver seems to be dented or bent out of place, although he is able to fix it, it still won't completely fit back into place, blocking room for a shell to fit in its place."
Garth:"Alright here you go Raul."
Raul: "Cool."
Garth: "Receiver's kinda fucked so it's got one less shell storage."
Raul pumps the shells out of the Spazz-17 and begins to load them into the combat shotgun. He keeps it in hand as he regroups with the rest of the Marines.
Garth: "I've had about enough of this place."
Garth slings his shotgun over his back and looks for a route to the Armory. They come across another door, large dents protrude outward. Raul peers into a window near another vehicle gate. It's hard to make out since a spray of blood coats the window, but he can make out a complete mess of blood and gore in what vaguely resembles a control room. Corpses line the floor and are stacked upon one another, several have been butchered apart.
Raul: "Good god.. someone turned this room into a fucking slaughter house.."
Raul walks away disgusted. "Fucking animals.. savages.." Zack shrugs trying not to think of the prospect. Garth takes his flame thrower and bashes it against the window, trying to break it. The window doesn't even fracture. Raul moves Garth aside and fires a shotgun slug at the window. The window soaks the blast and fractures in multiple places, but manages to hold its integrity. Raul grunts as he lowers the shotgun and turns to the door.
Raul: "Reminds me of a time I was on guard duty for another colony.. Place was raided by marauders one day. I was off shift in the barracks when it happened. We gunned them down eventually.. but they butchered the first responders like they were cattle.."
Garth: "Alright, less depresso, more expresso. Help me with this door."
Raul: "Okay okay"
Raul slings his new shotgun and helps Garth pull open another vehicle gate across from the one they entered from. The gate slowly slides open and the squad quickly moves through as the gate closes behind them. the room is a sort of checkpoint to inspect vehicles before they depart through the exit gate. There is an over turned military van, it has the Weyland logo painted on the sides. Corpses of dead private military soldiers are scattered from the wreckage, the driver is dead at the wheel, his head is missing. Beside the gate they see another dead soldier, impaled to a door by a bloodied spear, leaving a large inward dent.
Raul: "A spear..?"
Zack: "Yeah..."
Zack shoulders his shotgun before moving to inspect the spear. Garth begins to walk between the dead soldiers, and finds what he is looking for, a decapitated military officer. He goes through his belongings and takes out his ID tag. He inspects the pistol in its hands, it is a VP-80, a high quality pistol usually only found in the hands of high ranking mercenaries. However, Garth searches through the officers pockets and finds two additional mags for it, taking them and the pistol.
Zack: "Might be a good idea to strip their armor, its closer to ours then anything else out here."
The Marine armor comes in modular components, making replacement of broken pieces an easy task. Garth notices that a bracer and leg guard from the Officers armor are in good shape, he detaches them and stores them in his pack for later use. As Garth attempts to get a door open with the new ID. Zack wipes some red and green blood off the spear, the spear is entirely made of metal and has a futuristic design.
Raul: "A fancy spear... and who else uses weapons like spears or swords..?"
Zack tries to pull the spear free, as it starts to budge, the full unexpected weight of the spear pushes Zack to the ground.
Zack: "Fucking christ that's heavy."
Garth: "Stand aside."
Garth walks over and tries to pull the spear up, but he fails to pull it free.
Garth: "Okay so maybe the spear is a bit heavy."
Raul silently walks up and takes hold of the spear, his hand pushes on a button and the spear snaps and retracts into a small portable rod.
Zack: "Well... Raul gets it."
Raul: "I don't see myself fighting close and personal.. but.. who knows?
Zack: "If anything, you have a memento"
Music Plays.
Raul attaches the compacted spear onto his belt. Garth goes back to the door he is trying to open. He has removed the control panel and has exposed the circuitry, trying to hack the door bolts.
Garth: "Fucking... buttons."
Garth jabs a wire into a circuit, sparks fly as the ID reader on the door goes dead. Ryan steps beside him and helps him tinker with the electronics. The bolts click open, but the door powers down. Garth tries to pull the door open, but his muscles give out.
Garth: "I don't...Shit, Somebody else try this thing, I need to take a damn break..."
Raul once again moves to help out.
Raul: "HHHGGGRRHH!"
Raul manages to push the door open by himself.
Zack: "Good work Raul."
The squad enters into the Maximum Security wing of the building. They find a dead prisoner slumped over the window beside the door, he is missing a leg. Garth's ID is no longer accepted by the doors, but the ID tag he took off the dead military officer has clearance. The door beeps and opens, revealing bodies of both prisoners and soldiers piled onto each other in a small lobby. Blood stains and a few pulse rifles litter the floor.
Garth: "Oh boy, more dead people."
Raul: "Ten bucks everything is looted."
The squad cautiously moves to check the two doors that can be found forward and to they're right. Levi wonders nonchalantly behind the marines as he keeps his shotgun in hand. Garth and Zack open the door on the right, it seems to be a bathroom, the place is empty and uninteresting, they move up and as they pass a bathroom stall, they find a private soldier dead on the toilet, a shotgun with a few unspent shells lie beside him. Zack takes the two shells and opens the door, revealing a janitors closet. The Sargent's regroup with the Marines, they then open the door across from the entrance to find an inspection room, several prisoners along with a few dead soldiers are stacked to the side. Oddly enough, not many of them seem to have bullet holes in them.
Raul: "So much for High Security."
Garth: "Something ain't right here..."
Raul: "What do you mean? That Prisoners are in here?"
Zack: "I think were in high security.."
Raul: "We are, these airlocks are heavy duty, these prisoners shouldn't have gotten in here."
The Marines open a door labeled "Interrogation", inside is a desk with several chairs. A few more dead prisoners are found inside. To the side is another door, leading into a break room. A coffee machine sits near the back of the room. Zack and Asher walk up to it and turn it on. Garth kicks it over, smashing it into pieces as water splashes everywhere.
Garth: "NO GOD DAMNED COFFEE! Fucking useless piece of shit.."
There is another door in the break room, but it is bolted shut. The Marines back out and open the next available door. It looks like some sort of decontamination room, sprinklers hang overhead, but what is more terrifying is the alarming amount of dead prisoners and private soldiers piled around them.
Zack: "Disgusting..."
The airlock at the end of the hallway is not only bolted, but welded shut and boarded up. Someone did not want what was beyond that door getting out or someone getting in. Garth begins to pry off the wooden boards.
[Music stops]
Raul: "Do... we really wanna open that...?"
Garth: "He who dares, lives. Lets open'er up."
The Marines help Garth remove the boards, he manages to unweld the door and undo the lock down placed on the door as the bolts click open. He scans the officers ID as the airlock opens with a groan.
Raul: "Alright, lets do this..."
The Squad marches in, weapons ready, minds prepared.They quickly sweep the area, blood stains paint the floors and walls, there is another large pile of dead and butchered prisoners in the center of the room, but the place seems clear. Garth then notices a haze on top of the bodies. The haze begins to shimmer as a Predator phases into existence. The marines do not hesitate and turn to rush for the exit, they look on in disbelief as they see Levi closing the outer airlock behind them.
Garth: "OH YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
The door clicks as the bolts slide into place. Sparking sounds can be heard behind it, Raul runs up to the door, banging it fiercely.
Raul: "LEVI! YOU SON OF A BITCH!! WHY!!!!"
The only reply they get is Levi's laughter as the airlock powers down.
The Predator makes a creepy human chuckle as it jumps off the pile of corpses walking towards the Marines. Before anyone has a chance to react, it push kicks Garth, sending him flying into Decontamination as he smashes into Raul.
Zack raises his shotgun and threatens the Predator. The Predator looks at him and simply laughs. Zack fires, many of the shotgun pellets ricochet off its armor, but the Predator seems to have been injured as it recoils back from the blast. It lets out a war cry and charges at Zack, hitting him with a straight punch in the chest. It happens so fast and with so much strength, Zack doesn't even have a chance to try to dodge as he is sent crashing through an office window, and keeps going as he smashes through a bullet proof window and disappears in a reinforced room. The Predator turns to Garth and charges at him as he begins to fire his pistols at it.
Garth: "DIE YOU UGLY SONNOVA BITCH! I GOT A BULLET WITH YOUR NAME ON IT IN ONE OF THESE MAGAZINES, IT"S ONLY A MATTER OF GOD DAMN TIME!!!"
Garth is able to land his shots as the Predator closes in on him. A shotgun blast rings out as Raul attempts to shoot it, but misses. The Predator catches up to Garth and punches him, sending both him and Raul slamming into the outer decontamination airlock.
Murdoch, Lochlann, Ryan and Asher raise their weapons and open fire. The Predator dodges Ryan's flame thrower and the flames almost hit Murdoch. It manages to side step Lochlann's Smart Gun fire as Lochlann accidentally shoots Garth instead. Asher and Murdoch fire their Pulse rifles, but narrowly miss as the Predator rushes Murdoch. It crushes Murdoch with a three inch punch as Murdoch crashes into the broken window frame, he struggles to get free, but loses consciousness.
Zack groans as his senses come back too him, he looks around to find himself inside the Armory. He can feel broken ribs moving around in his chest. Doing his best to ignore the pain, he quickly looks around him. Aside from a secure door to his left, the armory has been completely looted. He looks out the window he crashed in from to see the Predator punching Lochlann, it then grabs him and throws him into another office. Lochlann crashes through the window and bounces off a concrete wall onto the floor. Zack begins to climb out and make his way back into the fight.
As Lochlann disappears into an office. Garth gets back on his feet and fires his pistols.
Garth: "Come on you bastard, show me what you got, SHOW ME THE MOTHERFUCKER THAT KILLED ALL THESE DAMNED MEN!"
The Predator turns its gaze toward Garth as pistol bullets ricochet off its armor. Suddenly a portion of it's chest armor shatters as pistol bullets penetrate into its chest. The Predator recoils back as Raul follows up with a burst of shotgun blasts, it jumps for cover behind a corner. The Predator emerges as Raul stops to reload. It looks increasingly furious as notable amounts of green blood bleed from it's injuries. The Predator roars with fury as it charges with lightning speed towards Garth.
Garth: "Oh this one's gonna hur-"
The Predator shoves Garth into the Outer decontamination airlock, knocking the air out of him as the Predator grabs him and lifts him up by the neck. Garth coughs up blood as he struggles to break free. A blade slides our from the Predators gauntlets as it stabs Garth in the leg and swings him at Raul as they both again crash into a wall. Ryan and Asher move into the doorway to open fire, before they can get in position, Zack leaps out of the office window, he rolls onto his knees as he braces his sniper rifle on his elbow for a snapshot. Taking a second to aim, Zack fires, but misses the Predator as the sniper bullet rips a chunk out of the wall in Decontamination.
Ryan fires a stream of flame, but he shoots before taking aim and accidentally torches Asher instead, Asher manages to get a burst of bullets off before he is hit by the flames, he stumbles backwards desperately trying to put himself out. Asher's bullets hit the Predator in the back, it turns around to find who had the guts to shoot it.
Garth struggles to catch his breath as Raul shoves him off. Seeing the Predator's back turned towards him, he reaches for the spear he took and pushes the button to extend it. Raul wasn't prepared for the massive increase in weight and stumbles as the spear pulls him to the ground. The Predator ignores the sounds behind it and charges at Ryan and Asher. It punches Asher as he flies backwards, he falls to the ground dazed, it then immediately round house kicks Ryan's head. Ryan spins in the air as he crashes into Zack and loses consciousnesses.
As Garth rises to his feet, he quickly loads a new magazine and shoots at the Predator. The Predator turns around to engage Garth but takes one bullet too many as it falls to it's knees, succumbing to it's injuries. In one final act, it forces itself up, pointing its arms at Raul as it's wrist blades suddenly shoot off its Gauntlets. One of them nails Raul in the knee.
Raul: "AAARRRAGGHHH! MY LEG!! SON OF A BITCH!!!"
Raul screams in pain. The Predator collapses to the ground, and begins to do something with one of it's gauntlets. Garth walks up to the Predator he leans down and yanks the Predators mask off. Revealing a hideous face with mandibles where it's jaw should be. Garth takes no time to remark as he puts a bullet in the Predators exposed head.
Any Marine that can still walk gets closer to inspect what the heck was trying to kill them. Then a beeping sound comes from the Predators armor, it gradually becomes faster and louder. It soon dawns on the Marines what is about to happen as Garth and Asher quickly leap into an office. Zack follows Garth, but not before tossing Ryan inside, he leaps over and grabs Murdoch, pulling him into cover. Raul slowly hobbles towards the window as he is unable to run. Electricity begins to zap from the Predators body.
Raul: Come on.. come on...
He lunges forward and grabs the window frame, jumping as hard as he can as he barely manages to pull himself into the office. As he crashes to the ground, the blade drives deeper into his knee, with a sickening crack, his knee cap shatters completely. But his screams are blocked out by a deafening explosion and flash of bright light.
As the dust settles, the lights begin to flicker back to life. Raul turns onto his back.
Raul: "GGGHHHH...HHhh..hhh..FUCK! IT HURTS!"
Garth slowly climbs out of the office to check the aftermath. The Predators body is completely gone, all that's left is it's mask. The explosion has completely blown out the walls in Decontamination, the airlocks are dented, but still intact.
Garth: "When we get outta here, me and my boys are having a little chat with that Levi fellow..."
Garth picks up the mask and inspects the blown out walls, one side seems to have revealed a jail cell. The other leads into the break room. He limps into the break room and tries the door leading outside, it's bolted and powerless. Looks like Levi made sure all his bases were covered."
Zack inspects Murdoch, although he has broken glass embedded in his injuries, it looks like he'll live. Ryan's neck is horribly bruised, he's having trouble breathing.
Zack heads over to a door without a window. Seems fate has given them mercy as the door reveals an infirmary. An operating room can be seen behind a windowed door in the back. Asher and Zack shove the bodies off some stretchers and both begin to painfully carry anyone who can't move into the infirmary. Asher inspects the two remaining rooms, the first is a medical storage area, although a dead soldier is slumped over, bleeding blood onto a few crates. The contents reveal various types of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, as well as sterile medical scrubs and surplus surgical equipment. Zack barricades the door leading into the infirmary as Asher begins to prep the operating room. It was going to be a long and stressful day.
End of Chapter 4.
Zack: "Any questions?"
Lochlann: "Yeah.. uh.. how do we know if Brian isn't gonna end up like that one guy who had a snake in his chest?"
Asher: "I might be able to remove it, I know how to do surgery."
Lochlann and Zack agree to take a detour to the Medical dome if the marines are able to rescue Brian. Since the barricades are going to be undermanned, they reposition the sentry gun in order to cover both hallways. However it is in an awkward position, leaving it vulnerable to ranged fire. Zack orders Raul to follow him as he vaults over the eastern barricades to scout out their planned attack route. They walk down to the main entrance, dried green blood stains and massive dents from the previous fight litter the area. Zack kneels down and peers through his scope, scanning the northern hallway leading into recreation.
Raul: "Hey Zack, why we doing a recon of the place? we already have an idea of what to expect."
Zack ignores Raul's question as he suddenly freezes, and fires off a single shot. An unknown death cry can be heard far off in the distance.
Zack: "That, is why."
Raul squints down the hallway but can't make out anything. past recreation. Zack's night vision scope however, reveals that resin layers the end of the hallway.
Zack: "It's clear."
Raul: "Right then.."
Raul begins to nervously march down the hall, but Zack stops him. "Hold it Marine."
Raul:'Huh?"
Zack(Radio): "Alright, everyone, the hall is clear, get over here."
The rest of the marines. except for Garth and Asher, meet up with Zack and prepare to advance.
Zack(Radio): "Brian, come in, are you there?"
Brian(Radio): static, followed by a few coughs and rustling noises
Zack: "Mhmm, not sure if that means he's still alive."
Raul: "Well there's definitely human noises on the radi- what the heck?"
Everyone notices resin flowing out from an airlock in front of them. It spreads like rapidly growing moss.
Raul: "Oh god that resin shit spreads like weeds.. this just gets better and better."
Zack: "Sounds can be misleading, he could be bleeding out for all we know. Didn't he catch a bullet?"
Raul: "Er.... yyeeah. But we ain't just gonna leave him... are we?"
Zack: "Might not have a choice."
Zack leads the way as he scans down the hall through his scope. They approach the door where the resin is coming from.
Zack: "Check that maintenance hatch."
Raul inspects the hatch, it slides open revealing a silent dark corridor. He turns on his shoulder lamp, but aside from resin covering every inch of the corridor, there is nothing of interest except for another hatch at the end of the pathway.
The rest of the marines proceed forward, Zack notices that the wall to their left looks suspiciously malleable, he gestures the marines to halt. Through the silence, Zack can make out a rapid sizzling sound coming from behind the wall.
Zack: "Back up... and watch that wall"
Raul inspects his Smart Gun, it has two hundred and seventy nine rounds and is set to burst fire.
Raul: "Nothing in the hatch, but something could rush us from there."
There is a long anxiety inducing pause as Zack ponders what to do, with a low growl he gives the order to retreat, not wanting to walk the squad into a probable trap.
Lochlann: "Back to the barricades... wooooh.."
Back in the barricades, resin can be seen starting to creep out from the doors leading to the pool area.
Raul: "Shit's slowly going to hell here.. I dunno if we can hold this position for much longer.. If were gonna abandon the guy, lets at least get a vehicle so we can transport all our shit."
Zack approves, stating that with a vehicle they could probably use it as a mobile base, or even retreat into the wilderness. Lochlann punches a hole in this idea when he reminds everyone that not only is the planet mostly dense forest, the colony itself is completely walled off with an entrance that is now completely inoperable. Zack takes a look outside, it is currently mid-day.
Zack(Radio): "Brian come in."
Raul: "Dammit man we know he's out.."
Zack: "I know, lets just try at least."
Brian(Radio) Static, followed by a muffled voice and more rustling.
With that, Zack calls for opinions on if they should keep trying to save Brian. Lochlann and Murdoc give a definite "Fuck Brian", Raul is the only one to oppose as everyone else abstains. Zack then announces that they are going to exit the Nexus and enter the garage from the outside. Once that is taken care of, they will look for the morgue-
Raul: "Wait, why the morgue?"
Zack: "Body bags, not only can they hold a lot, they are really strong. I've heard stories back in the Vietnam war how soldiers would load them with guns and ammunition and drop them from helicopters."
Interruptions aside, then they would pack up everything and head for Telecom's to send out a transmission, and begin planning their next move.
No one objects, before they depart, Zack walks into each of the rooms to inspect the vents, making sure they aren't melting. Everything seems secure, all the Marines pack up all essential supplies and make for the main entrance. As they head into the parking lot, a quick sweep of the area shows that all the vehicles in the lot seem to have been either wrecked or smashed. They begin to circle the eastern perimeter of the Nexus, although most of the forest within the colony was clear cut, most of the vegetation in the area looks severely neglected and is overtaking anything not paved over. Raul peers into the Atrium windows as they pass by, the place looks unusually normal and undisturbed, guess enjoying the sights wasn't on anyone's priority.
The Marines turn the corner to find a large hole in the wall, patches of resin are occasionally seen permeating from the Nexus windows as they eventually discover a garage. As they move to open the garage door, they hear a snarl from behind them, they turn around but can't find where it came from. The Marines take up defensive positions as Lochlann begins to grab the handles on the garage door.
Raul: "Be ready, anything could be beyond that door."
Lochlann's glistening muscles flex and he throws the door up with a fair amount of effort. Revealing several vehicles that resemble four wheeler ATV's, all of which have been flipped over, wrecked and/or smouldering black from fire. Any vehicle that hasn't been out right destroyed seems to have been salvaged for parts, a few rest on cinder blocks with their tires missing.
Raul: "Well shit..."
Asher walks around, trying to find a vehicle that's not fifty shades of fucked up. He soon eyes a vehicle that looks more pristine and intact compared to the others, he rushes over to get a closer look, only to find disappointment as the other side of the vehicle is completely missing. He turns to head back, but then slips head over heels on an oil slick.
Asher: "Ah, shitdicks. This oil's slippery."
Lochlann: "Like oil."
The Marines begin to move to the other side of the Nexus to check for another garage. As they turn the North East corner, Raul catches a quick movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly turns his head, finding some shrubbery swaying in the wind. Raul stops and squints at the bushes in suspicion, unsure if something is in them or if he was just seeing things. The rest of the squad holds position wondering whats going on, Zack looks through his scope, trying to pick anything out from the tall grass surrounding them.
Zack: "We've got some sorta movement in the grass, might be the wind.."
Everyone grips their weapons as they steel themselves for the possibility of an ambush. Ryan lights his flame thrower and stares in the general direction Raul is looking. He fails to spot anything unusual. The Marines push on and soon they find the northern entrance to the Nexus, the pathway is paved, putting the marines at ease as the vegetation begins to thin out. The doors and windows they find are completely covered in resin. As they pass by a patch of shrubbery, Raul casually glances into it, he suddenly panics and leaps back, falling onto the ground. "WAH-AMBUSH!!!!"
A Hunter suddenly lunges out of the shrubs, crashing where Raul should have been, Raul hastily grips his Smart Gun and manages to gun the Xeno down. As if a signal was given, two resin blockages tear open as a Hunter emerges from each of them. One of the Hunters emerges right in front of Asher, he recoils back and swats the Hunter out of reflex, but accidentally winds his arm too far back and ends up jabbing his throat. As Asher struggles to regain his breath, the Hunter brandishes its claws and slashes Asher. With a loud clash, the Hunters claws leave two long gashes across Asher's Armored Vest.
Lochlann moves to provide covering fire, but he is suddenly pelted from the side by some burning glob, he turns to find a Spitter has emerged from a door beside him. He returns fire and unleashes a barrage at the Spitter, it steps back behind the door frame for cover as the bullets rip chunks off the concrete wall.
The other Hunter pounces on Zack, trying to cut him apart. Zack is able to protect himself with his bracers and manages to kick the Xeno off him, bullets from Raul and Murdoch's guns harmlessly fly above the Hunter as Zack clambers backwards desperately shooting his submachine gun into it.
Zack:"AMBUSH!! THE OUTLAWS ARE ATTACKING!!"
His shots are wide, but as he manages to compensate for recoil, the bullets start impacting the Hunter until his gun clicks empty. The Xenomorph is badly wounded but still rapidly crawls towards Zack with murderous intent.
Asher stumbles backwards trying to keep his distance from the Hunter. He finally manages to collect his wits and fires his Pulse rifle dead center. The Hunter dies almost instantly as the bullets pierce through its torso. As the Hunter collapses, Asher immediately see's another one crawling towards Zack as he desperately tries to reload. He quickly fires another burst of bullets, finishing off Zack's pursuer.
Asher: "Oh man, just like on the shooting range, except here we can actually die!"
Lochlann turns to fire at the Spitter, but it has vanished without a trace. Another Hunter is seen in the tall grass behind the Marines, but it is also retreating. Zack gets out his sniper rifle and puts a bullet in the Hunters back as it collapses into the grass, dead and lifeless. The battle is concluded almost as fast as it began.
Everyone takes a moment to catch their breath. Everyone notices the gashes in Asher's armor. They then inspect their own armor. Everyone has their body armor layered in scratches, dents, shrapnel, and partially dissolved bits here and there. The M3 Battle Armor was designed by sandwiching several layers of various materials together into a protective shell, and it was designed to stop bullets and explosions rather then claws and acid. Repairing the armor would be near impossible by conventional means. It became clear to the Marines that they would sooner or later have to find replacement armor to protect themselves before their armor gave out completely.
The Marines continue to circle the Nexus in search of an additional garage. Until Zack catches movement in the grass some distance in front of him, the movement is oddly familiar, not resembling an animal. Zack gestures the Marines to hold their ground, he points at Lochlann and Raul to follow him as they close in on the grass, weapons ready. As Zack begins to step into the tall grass, he is suddenly smacked in the face with an object. As he falls to the ground stunned, he gets out his Sub machine gun, he then sees a man standing over him, pointing a shotgun right at his face. The man is wearing a hunter green hoodie, but the rest of his clothes are ragged and indistinguishable.
Man: "Who the heck are you?"
Zack lowers his gun and removes the hood off his ghille suit, deactivating the reactive camo from his armor.
Zack:"Colonial Marines. Sargent Hunter."
The man lowers the aim of his double barrel shotgun to Zack's chest
Man: "How do I know you aren't bullshitting me! Like the prison gang?"
Lochlann approaches trying to assure him. But the man takes an aggressive stance and points the gun at Lochlann.
Man: "NOBODY MOVE!" He stomps Zack in the chest as he stands with one foot on him.
Despite the threat, many of the Marines raise their weapons.
Raul: "Look pal, we aren't those fuckin Xeno fuckers!"
Asher: "What did you find over there, Zack? We good?"
Zack: "Working on it, and get your damned foot off me."
Man: "Tell them to lower their weapons then."
Zack: "Alright look, we are Colonial Marines, I am Sargent Hunter, that is Lance Corporal Lochlann, now put down the gun, get off me and we will do the same. We aren't here to hurt you."
Raul: "It's us or them, let's work together here"
Man: "..Fine."
Everyone lowers their weapons. As the man takes his foot off Zack, he gets on his feet, holding his submachine gun to the side.
Zack: "Alright, good" Zack then puts his hood back on. "Now, what's your name?"
Levi: "The names Levi"
Getting a better look at Levi, he seems to be in his late teens or early twenties. He has some bloodied bandages around his wrist but it's dried out.
Zack: "Alright Levi, We've got four more guys that are gonna come over here, and a corpsman who wants to check you out."
Asher: "It's gonna be alright bud.. are you hurt?"
Levi: "I ain't injured, nah. I came over here to see what all the shootin` was about..."
Raul: "Is there anyone else still alive out there?"
Levi: "Well, big guy, there are people alive out there still. See we got two groups that I know of. The Prison gang, which is a collection of prisoners, dirty cops, and psychopaths who wanna kill everyone and anyone. They care about no one, not even themselves.
Zack: "Great.."
Raul: "Just like in the movies.."
Levi: "And we got the eggheads over in the water-purification center, who've set up some sorta electric force field kinda shit, fries anything that gets too close."
Zack: "Where are the prison gangsters?"
Levi: "Where do ya think ya moron!? Security, of course! I thought Marines were supposed to be smart.
Asher: "Smart enough not to talk back to seven folk with armor and guns on their own.."
Raul: "Well... with all the bodies we found.. we thought everyone was dead. Your the only living person we've seen so far."
Levi: "The bodies in the pool? The prisoners did that.."
Ryan: "Jesus.."
Music plays
Levi: "The Nexus was holding well for some time, until the prisoners attacked while those lizard freaks were attacking."
Zack: "There anyone like you out there? Just trying to make it?"
Levi: "Nah, not really. I mainly move around. Originally I was with the Nexus guys, until shit went down and we got pincered in by some freaks with guns and some freaks with swords for tails... Used to roam with a group of five. Now it's just me."
Raul: "How long has this been going for?"
Levi: "The outpost was attacked by the lizard freaks two months ago. Nexus fell four weeks ago. See, we really don't know where they came from. But we do know it has something to do with some ship that crashed nearby three months ago.
Raul: "Our platoon arrived four days ago, responding to the distress call.. but the mission went bad when we stopped to investigate a derelict cargo ship in orbit."
Levi: "So the engineers actually made it out eh? Well, at least they had solace for a while up there in space. Yeah, we saw that launch off about two weeks ago."
The wind begins to pick up as the sun sets, Zack calmly surveys the surrounding area.
Zack: "Alright, as much as talking out here in the open is great. We need to get back to what were doing before nightfall, and from the looks of it before this storm comes. Now Levi, you've got two options...."
Levi: "If ya wanna go somewhere safe, follow me. The prisoners recently abandoned Security, barricades and all."
Raul: "Where did they go..?"
Levi: "The prisoners? No clue. One day they were there, taking potshots at passing lizards, the next they just vanished. Heard a bit of shooting, but not a lot."
Zack: "Alright... that's tempting but we can't leave our turret and supplies behind."
Levi: "Well, I ain't goin' back to Nexus man. Those fuckin` lizards are everywhere. I gotta secure base not so far from here. I'll see y`all in the morning..."
Zack: "We've been in Nexus for the past three days."
Raul: "Yeah, we've been fighting them all day."
Levi turns around and begins to walk away. He zips up his hoodie and pulls the hood over his head.
Zack: "You sure you want to leave kid?"
Levi: "Oh, and before I go, the only reason y`all aren't dead yet is because the lizards got more important things to do as of recently..."
Levi walks into the underbrush, out of sight, shotgun in hand. Raul nervously looks back at the Nexus.
Zack: "Yeah, we know."
Raul: "We do?"
Zack: "Remember the hangar Raul, where we lost Tin hands?
Raul: "OOooh.. right.. them..."
Raul: "Still man.. how the fuck are we supposed to survive if they are just toying with us right now? I mean.. whats gonna happen to us when they go after us for real!?"
Zack: "Yeah.. they're willing to throw themselves at that thing. Alright, Let's get back to our defenses for one last night, we will head out to Security tomorrow."
Raul: "I..I can't go back in there.. Not after what I know now."
Zack: "They aren't toying with us Raul, they haven't even really even made a big attempt on us.
Raul: "They're melting the walls, that position ain't safe!"
Zack: "It's safe for one more night Raul, I checked the walls before we left. There fine, one more night and we leave here for good."
Raul hesitates, but then sighs with a defeated look.
Raul:"..Yes sir."
Zack: "I don't like it that much either Marine."
Zack adjusts his hood as he begins to walk towards the Nexus
Zack: "I'm thinking we try and find those scientists at the water purifier as well. Might have an idea on how to get off this planet"
Raul: "Aside from that kid, they seem to be the only sane people around."
Zack looks back at Raul "and that's the priority Raul. We leave before they can focus on us."
Asher: "Well, if I may intrude... Scientists might be difficult to get to, but since they have that fence, they can have some high-tech toys. That is one. Two, colonist seemed alright, although kinda spooked. Hell, I'd be the same if I was in his pants, if not worse. Three, we really need to get off this planet, we just keep losing more people, and resources."
Zack: "Agreed, and that fence won't be bad if they let us in."
Asher: "That's an if. IF we walk there, if they won't let us in - we are stuck outside for the night."
Raul: "Thing is, if we can even communicate with them for that matter."
Zack: "My bet is we can either signal that we are USMC or radio them."
Raul: "We'd need to know what frequency the colony uses for that I believe.. recalling what the techies usually say about that."
Zack: "We could try broadcasting over an open channel and hope they pickup."
Asher: "We can always give the colonists a visit and ask them about a way of communicating with the eggheads."
Zack: "Sounds good, now lets get back inside."
A shotgun blast echos in the distance, Zack sighs.
Zack: "Fucking..."
Raul: "Shit..."
The sounds seem to be coming from over a hill in the distance to the west.
Zack: "Shouldn't have let him leave.... dammit.."
Another blast sounds off, along with an alien scream.
Zack: "Alright, lets split up, Raul, Asher, come with me, everyone else head back to our defensive position and make sure the place isn't gone."
Asher: "Let's just hope it won't end badly."
Raul: "Time to do our jobs."
Zack: "Radio in if there's any issues and if the place is destroyed. If it is... then fuck I guess were all hiking to Security."
Zack, Raul and Asher sprint into the underbrush that Levi had disappeared into. After ducking and jumping over branches and shrubs, the hill turns downward into a field. In the distance, Levi can be seen, he is beset by twelve Xenomorphs, five of which are already dead. Zack begins to set up his sniper rifle.
Zack: "Element of surprise people, don't give us away yet."
One of the Xeno's spits something at Levi, he suddenly collapses to the ground. Another one moves to grab Levi. It suddenly looks in the marines direction, then puts a claw over Levi's neck.
Raul: "Sir.. Am I seeing that..?
Zack: "Yeah... you are..."
The Xenomorph has several healed injuries, some of which appears to be slash marks that have healed and some others that appear to be burn scars that healed themselves with time. Levi begins to move again and struggles fiercely against the Xenos grip. He manages to partially free himself, struggling to keep the Xenos claw away from his neck he quickly pulls out a revolver and crams it into the side of the Xeno's head.
Levi: "Hey Norman... How about you fuck off?"
Levi pulls the trigger, blowing a hole through Normans skull. However, it manages to survive as it recoils back. It uses its tail to smack the revolver out of Levi's hands as it takes a defensive stance with the rest of the Xenomorphs. The Xeno's hesitantly step back as they see Raul and Asher charging towards them to get in the fight.
Garth(Radio): "So how's it going back there lads?"
Raul(Radio): "The kids in trouble, they got him surrounded!"
Garth(Radio): "You guys took hostage rescue classes right?"
Raul(Radio): "Yes.. but they had NOTHING that covered this, sir!"
Garth(Radio): "Good point, do your best marines."
Asher(Radio): "Implying I ever listened to the instructors during the basics!"
Garth(Radio): "Well, just yell out if you need us to come back and help, nothing`s come up on our side yet."
Zack gets set up and surveys the situation.
Zack(Radio): "I count seven contacts around the survivor."
Zack begins to aim at Norman, it feels as though it's staring at him. Norman quickly leaps away, but compared to its companions, it actually leaps two or three times edging left and right balancing its mass to throw off the aim of whomever may be aiming at it. Zack fires, but his shot goes wide as it ricochets off a nearby tree and nearly hits Levi's arm. Norman rushes off into the underbrush, leaving a trail of acid. The other Xenos seem undecided, as if they are edging between pouncing or fleeing. One of them seems more cunning and immediately roars, the Xeno's begin to retreat in unison.
Levi hears the bullet zoom past him, he looks in Zack's direction, noticing the Marines approaching him in the distance.
Zack: "defective round..."
Levi: "I"M A BETTER FUCKIN` SHOT THEN YOU! AND I"M A FUCKIN` MECHANIC!"
Zack: "SURE FUCKING LOOKS LIKE IT!"
Levi: "HA HA! You try shooting with this shit at long range!"
Zack fires off another bullet.
Zack: "I JUST FUCKING DID! LOOK AT THE ONE BEHIND YOU!"
Levi turns to see one of the larger Xeno's collapsing to the ground bleeding profusely, it shrivels up and and shivers, looking rather dead. The Xeno's next to it grab it and drag it into the underbrush.
Levi: "OH! SO YOU USED A SHITTY COLONIAL MARSHALL'S REVOLVER?"
Raul gets within firing range for his Smart Gun, he flips on the eye piece for the Smart Gun's sights, taking a moment to line them up. He fires off a burst of bullets. The Smart Gun's systems guide his arm to help stay on target as he mow's down two Xeno's with a single burst. The remaining Xenos flee into the thicket.
Levi: "See, guys, I can handle my fuckin` self out here. Now run back to your turret protected safe-spaces."
Raul: "Your welcome..."
Levi: "alright-alright. Thanks for the help, but I really gotta get back to my base."
Levi grabs his revolver and shotgun. He begins to reload them as he walks into a different portion of the thicket.
Raul: "How will we be able to find you again?"
Levi: "I know where y`all are, I'll find you."
Zack fellow's Levi's movements through his scope, resisting the temptation to shoot his smug attitude in the back. As Levi disappears out of sight, Zack leads Asher and Raul back into the Nexus through the hole near Staff Quarters. They get back to the dorms without incident as they settle down for the night. Explosions can be heard in the distance. A few hours later, the Sentry gun fires off a few rounds a couple of times.
Zack: "fucking scouts..."
Those are the only noteworthy events as the Marines sleep the night away.
The morning rises as Garth assembles the troops. They notice that there are patches of resin in the halls, there are even blockages of the stuff halfway down the halls.
Zack: "Well...Shit..
Raul: "Orders sir?"
Garth lets the marines carry on as they were. Zack tears open a ration pack and drinks some Chi tea brewed from the coffee machine. He checks the vents one last time after he finishes eating. Raul sits down in one of the rooms and begins to pull out ammo belts from one of his Ammo Drums, then begins the laborious process of refilling the other two. Smart Gunners are usually given only two drums of ammunition, each holds five hundred rounds. Raul had looted two more drums off the Bravo Smart Gunner, one of which he gave to Lochlann.
Garth: "Alright, so we're gonna need to get the fuck out of here sooner or later because the neighborhood's getting less and less friendly. And we still need to get a communication out to call for pickup."
Several bangs can be heard from the Northern hallway. Zack, Murdoch and Lochlann take up positions on the northern barricade.
Garth: "Who the hell is banging? Givin` me a damn headache."
Zack: "Colonist maybe?"
The resin blockage slices open as a shoe steps through. Levi emerges as the Resin wall partially collapses.
Garth: "Oh hey you were right."
Zack: "Great.."
Levi: "So, y`all see what I was talkin` about last night? They`re swarmin` in here."
Zack: "That they are, hence why were checking out today."
Garth: "Agreed, can you tell me about T-Comms on this planet, how's it look?"
Levi: "T-comms? T-comms is a fuckin` hole in the ground now. T-comms got bombed by the prisoners so everyone was stuck down here. We got off a distress signal beforehand, but shit man, it's nothin` but rubble."
Garth: "Fuck, you got any other place with a radio strong enough to contact the outside world?"
Zack: "Water purification plant, maybe?
Raul: "Those Scientist guys might have something."
Levi: "The eggheads in Science were workin` on somethin` before this started. It's probably still there."
Raul: "If T-Comms did get blown up, how did the USCM manage to send us here to begin with?"
Zack: "Distress beacon Raul.."
Garth: "Like he said, they got a distress call out fast. Sadly were the only responders."
Raul: "I see."
Levi: "Those Scientists in the water-purification plant won't let you get even within one thousand feet or they'll blow your head off with microwaves."
Garth: "Oh goodie... Any way around that? Or we're just fucked?"
Zack: "They that paranoid that they won't let the USCM come in to help?"
Levi: "No, they're just paranoid that you've come to steal their tech. They got this wild idea that Weyland is gonna save them. Fuckin` idiots."
Zack:"Great, well check them off the list then."
Raul: "Doubt we can do anything about that unless they got a radio or we had an egg head of our own."
Garth: "How about that prisoner gang I've heard you talk about, they got anything? Worst case scenario we lose nothing by cutting down their numbers."
Levi: "They just went away one day, as I explained earlier. And even if they hadn't..
Raul: "Maybe we can even fight something we are famlier with.."
Levi: "They're fucking insane, all of `em."
Garth: "God damn, well we're shit out of luck and I'm shit out of ideas, you got any advice for where we should move?"
Levi: "As I said, the best bet to get another communications console would be Security or Science, and Science was overrun by both the big fuckers and the lizard fuckers."
Zack: "Well, seems like Security it is then."
Raul: "Big fuckers?"
Garth: "Maybe those cloaked bastards we saw."
Levi: "The crazy armored fellas. Shoot bolts of blue light."
Zack: "Yeah, we've met em."
Garth: "Yeah, we watched one die painfully."
Zack: "And I crippled another."
Levi: "Oh, for real? That's sweet. Except they were the ones who saved my life yesterday and from the Nexus days before... You've made a fuckin` enemy out our only strong allies here."
Garth: "God fucking damn, all we seem to attract is enemies."
Zack: "Not exactly."
Raul: "Well.. they kinda killed one our own, albeit he was asking for it.
Garth:"Thanks for the help my man, we're gonna pack up and go for Security, see if it's any use."
Levi: "I'm coming with. Oh, and you there *points at Raul* what did the one look like? See, there are a few different fellas down here."
Zack: "Yeah, had no problem with em till they killed one of ours. And then tried to kill me."
Raul: "I wasn't there for the one that died, but the one I saw was tinkering with a ship in the Hangar."
Levi: "Was your friend armed?"
Zack & Raul: "No."
Raul: "Shot him in the back and then another one tried to decapitate him."
Levi: "Did he get too close?"
Raul: "Er.. yea."
Garth: "I didn't see to much of the dead guy, he was covered in his own blood by the time we saw him, a big lizard made a pancake out of the fella."
Zack: "Also worth mentioning, if there was a prime suspect for who took out our ship, it would be them."
Garth:"We WATCHED them shoot our ship"
Raul: "Oh yea I forgot about that, they blew up the fucking Alexandria."
Levi: "Well, heres the thing. There are two types of those fellas as I am aware."
Raul: "What? the good and the bad?"
Levi: "The ones that kill their own kind, and kill anything they see."
Garth: "Well fuck"
Levi: "And the ones who just wanna kill the Lizards and those guys. I'm willing to bet you saw the former."
Garth: "So just, don't bother them unless they start tryna shoot us with lasers?"
Levi: "That'd be the best bet."
Zack: "Noted."
Garth: "Alright well, let's get this shit packed and out."
Raul: "Roger that"
Levi: "Y`all do that, I'll be waitin` here."
Zack: "You do that, your standing right out of our sentry's range."
Levi: "(Levi) Nah, I can walk into the sentries range and be fine"
Zack: "Yeah, do us a favor and dont try it."
Levi walks over and flashes a USCM ID card. The cards name doesn't match his.
Levi: "See, there were Marines stationed here. They had the same shit as you."
Raul: "Makes sense, this place looks like it would of had a USCM garrison of some sort."
Garth: "Didn't last too long then?"
Levi: "All of `em are dead, so, yeah."
Zack: "Well those were garrison troops, no offense Raul."
Garth: "You know where they kept their shit?"
Raul: "A good question, our ammo ain't gonna last forever."
Levi: "Security, the Armory, and Science. Those were where they were supposed to protect. The Security guards managed the rest."
Garth: "Alright, maybe we'll find some good stuff in Security then."
Raul: "Assuming the savages haven't looted it all."
A Xenomorph shriek echos down the hall.
Levi: "Kinda odd the lizard bastards haven't attacked eh?"
Garth: "Maybe they're just glad we aren't shitting up their carpet anymore"
Zack: "Lot of acid blood has stained these halls Levi, all under the resin. It wasn't as quiet while we were staying here."
Everyone except Levi grabs everything they can carry and marches out of the Nexus, heading towards the Security building. After half an hour of walking, they see a heavily reinforced building, landing pads can be seen near the main gates, but all that remains is the burnt out husk of an unknown air transport. As they onto a large Weyland Yutani logo painted in the pavement, they inspect the two gates that separate the towering walls surrounding the facility. The gates appear to be an entrance and an exit respectively.
Garth: "Alright, we'll hit the high-security area first, see if we can get access to the Armory, see if it'll be any good to stay there for a while. Keep an eye out for a communications console of any sort."
Raul: "Yes sir."
The entrance is locked, the marines try to use their ID cards, but are rejected. However, the door accepts Garth's ID card and the door opens as a dim red light illuminates him.
Garth: "This way lads."
As soon as Garth steps through the doorway, the light goes off and the door closes. He opens the door again and stands in the doorway, keeping it open.
Garth: "EVERYONE LEGGIT IN! IT MIGHT CRUSH ME!"
Everyone hastily gets through the gate, as soon Garth steps out, the gate slams shut in an instant. Everyone drops the supplies they were carrying and draw their weapons. They are in a parking lot for the facility, There is a building with a gate designed for land vehicles to their right. The panel for the gate appears to have been tampered with, the circuitry is exposed and wires have been yanked out or replaced. Garth swipes his ID card through the card reader. "Access Denied"
Music Plays, and it loops for a while.
Garth tries his luck with a few of the other doors. Many of them have been bolted shut or are too damaged to operate. A peculiar detail, many of the damaged doors are dented outward, as though something, or someone was desperately trying to get out.
Garth: "I'll be able to open the doors that ain't fucked with. Dunno about the Armory ones though."
Zack: "Levi, you know the way around here?"
Levi: "I got no fuckin` clue how to navigate this area, I ain't never been here!"
Garth: "Damn, alright."
Zack: "How about hacking the doors then?"
Garth walks up to the gate, digs his fingers in between the sliding doors and shoves, the gate budges slightly.
Garth: "Somebody else help me out here!"
Raul and Murdoc help Garth push the sliding doors open, the motors resist they're efforts, but can't seem to force themselves closed with the marines pulling against them.
Garth: "Everyone in again"
Levi is the last one to walk through, the marines slide away from the door as it shuts behind them. They look ahead to see puddles of drying blood and several guns and bullet casings littered across the entire area, many of them are shattered or split in half. The guns appear to be military grade weaponry, some resemble high powered or experimental weapons.
Garth: "Somebody stash that lot."
Zack casually walks forward, looking around as the other Marines go through the weapons, looking for something salvageable. Something drips on his shoulder, he steps to the side. Noticing the drips are red, he looks above him, his face completely perplexed.
Zack: "Well shit..."
Everyone notices Zack looking up, and follows his gaze, they see 30 flayed human corpses dangling from the ceiling of the warehouse. All their heads and spinal cords have been cleanly ripped off. Although some are rotting away, there are a few that are rather fresh. Countless bullet holes can also be seen in the ceiling, as though someone was deliberately firing above them.
Garth: "That'll be the Garrison then."
Raul: "Hoooolly shit...."
Some of marines keep their composure, others begin to step back, gripped in terror. Raul looks as though he is about to panic.
Garth: "Keep your shit together Raul, just focus on not being skinned alive."
Zack: "Note to self... don't get taken alive.."
Raul nods and takes a breath, he picks up a stray M4A1 Pulse rifle and begins to inspect it.
Further inspection of the weaponry reveals that all the ammunition has been removed from them, or they were empty to begin with. Levi looks at the flayed corpses with an expressionless stare as his eyes begin to scan the room.
Garth picks up an M4A1, it is bloodied and battered.
Garth: "Grab a gun if you've got ammo for it, always good to keep a spare. Most of these look fucked though..."
Garth manages to pick out some Tactical auto shotguns that are still in once piece. The one he picks up seems to be jammed, he unscrews the shotgun open to find two shells forcefully jammed backwards into the receiver. Using some pliers, he is able to pry the shells free, allowing the gun to be loaded again.
Zack notices a long bent rifle barrel underneath some parts. He pulls it free and inspects it, he recognizes that it is a private military variant of the M42A Sniper Rifle. It could be salvaged if he sawed the barrel off.
Garth: "I could fix that sniper up for you if you want to be able to shoot it. My shotgun's looking fine just now."
However, although the rifle has a superior build, it was designed for urban environments only. Meaning the slightest bit of dirt or water inside the machinery could damage or jam the rifle. He tosses it aside, it wasn't worth the risk.
Zack: "Mind trying to fix me up one of those tactical shotguns?"
Garth: "I'll see if there's another not so busted one here.
The other marines continue to comb through the arsenal, they begin to find tattered orange uniforms, likely belonging to the prisoners. Then they start finding padded balaclavas, white berets and pieces of military uniforms.
Raul: "Huh... PMC's were here"
Raul see's Zack picking up a shotgun by the barrel, it still has a hand attached to the grip. He pries it off. Garth is tinkering with a bloodied tactical shotgun. Raul unslings his forgotten Spazz-17.
Raul: "Anymore shotguns still work?"
Garth: "I see one more busted one I could fix if you want."
Raul: "See if you can fix it, if not I'll give the shells to somebody else."
Garth inspects the final tactical shotgun. The receiver seems to be dented or bent out of place, although he is able to fix it, it still won't completely fit back into place, blocking room for a shell to fit in its place."
Garth:"Alright here you go Raul."
Raul: "Cool."
Garth: "Receiver's kinda fucked so it's got one less shell storage."
Raul pumps the shells out of the Spazz-17 and begins to load them into the combat shotgun. He keeps it in hand as he regroups with the rest of the Marines.
Garth: "I've had about enough of this place."
Garth slings his shotgun over his back and looks for a route to the Armory. They come across another door, large dents protrude outward. Raul peers into a window near another vehicle gate. It's hard to make out since a spray of blood coats the window, but he can make out a complete mess of blood and gore in what vaguely resembles a control room. Corpses line the floor and are stacked upon one another, several have been butchered apart.
Raul: "Good god.. someone turned this room into a fucking slaughter house.."
Raul walks away disgusted. "Fucking animals.. savages.." Zack shrugs trying not to think of the prospect. Garth takes his flame thrower and bashes it against the window, trying to break it. The window doesn't even fracture. Raul moves Garth aside and fires a shotgun slug at the window. The window soaks the blast and fractures in multiple places, but manages to hold its integrity. Raul grunts as he lowers the shotgun and turns to the door.
Raul: "Reminds me of a time I was on guard duty for another colony.. Place was raided by marauders one day. I was off shift in the barracks when it happened. We gunned them down eventually.. but they butchered the first responders like they were cattle.."
Garth: "Alright, less depresso, more expresso. Help me with this door."
Raul: "Okay okay"
Raul slings his new shotgun and helps Garth pull open another vehicle gate across from the one they entered from. The gate slowly slides open and the squad quickly moves through as the gate closes behind them. the room is a sort of checkpoint to inspect vehicles before they depart through the exit gate. There is an over turned military van, it has the Weyland logo painted on the sides. Corpses of dead private military soldiers are scattered from the wreckage, the driver is dead at the wheel, his head is missing. Beside the gate they see another dead soldier, impaled to a door by a bloodied spear, leaving a large inward dent.
Raul: "A spear..?"
Zack: "Yeah..."
Zack shoulders his shotgun before moving to inspect the spear. Garth begins to walk between the dead soldiers, and finds what he is looking for, a decapitated military officer. He goes through his belongings and takes out his ID tag. He inspects the pistol in its hands, it is a VP-80, a high quality pistol usually only found in the hands of high ranking mercenaries. However, Garth searches through the officers pockets and finds two additional mags for it, taking them and the pistol.
Zack: "Might be a good idea to strip their armor, its closer to ours then anything else out here."
The Marine armor comes in modular components, making replacement of broken pieces an easy task. Garth notices that a bracer and leg guard from the Officers armor are in good shape, he detaches them and stores them in his pack for later use. As Garth attempts to get a door open with the new ID. Zack wipes some red and green blood off the spear, the spear is entirely made of metal and has a futuristic design.
Raul: "A fancy spear... and who else uses weapons like spears or swords..?"
Zack tries to pull the spear free, as it starts to budge, the full unexpected weight of the spear pushes Zack to the ground.
Zack: "Fucking christ that's heavy."
Garth: "Stand aside."
Garth walks over and tries to pull the spear up, but he fails to pull it free.
Garth: "Okay so maybe the spear is a bit heavy."
Raul silently walks up and takes hold of the spear, his hand pushes on a button and the spear snaps and retracts into a small portable rod.
Zack: "Well... Raul gets it."
Raul: "I don't see myself fighting close and personal.. but.. who knows?
Zack: "If anything, you have a memento"
Music Plays.
Raul attaches the compacted spear onto his belt. Garth goes back to the door he is trying to open. He has removed the control panel and has exposed the circuitry, trying to hack the door bolts.
Garth: "Fucking... buttons."
Garth jabs a wire into a circuit, sparks fly as the ID reader on the door goes dead. Ryan steps beside him and helps him tinker with the electronics. The bolts click open, but the door powers down. Garth tries to pull the door open, but his muscles give out.
Garth: "I don't...Shit, Somebody else try this thing, I need to take a damn break..."
Raul once again moves to help out.
Raul: "HHHGGGRRHH!"
Raul manages to push the door open by himself.
Zack: "Good work Raul."
The squad enters into the Maximum Security wing of the building. They find a dead prisoner slumped over the window beside the door, he is missing a leg. Garth's ID is no longer accepted by the doors, but the ID tag he took off the dead military officer has clearance. The door beeps and opens, revealing bodies of both prisoners and soldiers piled onto each other in a small lobby. Blood stains and a few pulse rifles litter the floor.
Garth: "Oh boy, more dead people."
Raul: "Ten bucks everything is looted."
The squad cautiously moves to check the two doors that can be found forward and to they're right. Levi wonders nonchalantly behind the marines as he keeps his shotgun in hand. Garth and Zack open the door on the right, it seems to be a bathroom, the place is empty and uninteresting, they move up and as they pass a bathroom stall, they find a private soldier dead on the toilet, a shotgun with a few unspent shells lie beside him. Zack takes the two shells and opens the door, revealing a janitors closet. The Sargent's regroup with the Marines, they then open the door across from the entrance to find an inspection room, several prisoners along with a few dead soldiers are stacked to the side. Oddly enough, not many of them seem to have bullet holes in them.
Raul: "So much for High Security."
Garth: "Something ain't right here..."
Raul: "What do you mean? That Prisoners are in here?"
Zack: "I think were in high security.."
Raul: "We are, these airlocks are heavy duty, these prisoners shouldn't have gotten in here."
The Marines open a door labeled "Interrogation", inside is a desk with several chairs. A few more dead prisoners are found inside. To the side is another door, leading into a break room. A coffee machine sits near the back of the room. Zack and Asher walk up to it and turn it on. Garth kicks it over, smashing it into pieces as water splashes everywhere.
Garth: "NO GOD DAMNED COFFEE! Fucking useless piece of shit.."
There is another door in the break room, but it is bolted shut. The Marines back out and open the next available door. It looks like some sort of decontamination room, sprinklers hang overhead, but what is more terrifying is the alarming amount of dead prisoners and private soldiers piled around them.
Zack: "Disgusting..."
The airlock at the end of the hallway is not only bolted, but welded shut and boarded up. Someone did not want what was beyond that door getting out or someone getting in. Garth begins to pry off the wooden boards.
[Music stops]
Raul: "Do... we really wanna open that...?"
Garth: "He who dares, lives. Lets open'er up."
The Marines help Garth remove the boards, he manages to unweld the door and undo the lock down placed on the door as the bolts click open. He scans the officers ID as the airlock opens with a groan.
Raul: "Alright, lets do this..."
The Squad marches in, weapons ready, minds prepared.They quickly sweep the area, blood stains paint the floors and walls, there is another large pile of dead and butchered prisoners in the center of the room, but the place seems clear. Garth then notices a haze on top of the bodies. The haze begins to shimmer as a Predator phases into existence. The marines do not hesitate and turn to rush for the exit, they look on in disbelief as they see Levi closing the outer airlock behind them.
Garth: "OH YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
The door clicks as the bolts slide into place. Sparking sounds can be heard behind it, Raul runs up to the door, banging it fiercely.
Raul: "LEVI! YOU SON OF A BITCH!! WHY!!!!"
The only reply they get is Levi's laughter as the airlock powers down.
The Predator makes a creepy human chuckle as it jumps off the pile of corpses walking towards the Marines. Before anyone has a chance to react, it push kicks Garth, sending him flying into Decontamination as he smashes into Raul.
Zack raises his shotgun and threatens the Predator. The Predator looks at him and simply laughs. Zack fires, many of the shotgun pellets ricochet off its armor, but the Predator seems to have been injured as it recoils back from the blast. It lets out a war cry and charges at Zack, hitting him with a straight punch in the chest. It happens so fast and with so much strength, Zack doesn't even have a chance to try to dodge as he is sent crashing through an office window, and keeps going as he smashes through a bullet proof window and disappears in a reinforced room. The Predator turns to Garth and charges at him as he begins to fire his pistols at it.
Garth: "DIE YOU UGLY SONNOVA BITCH! I GOT A BULLET WITH YOUR NAME ON IT IN ONE OF THESE MAGAZINES, IT"S ONLY A MATTER OF GOD DAMN TIME!!!"
Garth is able to land his shots as the Predator closes in on him. A shotgun blast rings out as Raul attempts to shoot it, but misses. The Predator catches up to Garth and punches him, sending both him and Raul slamming into the outer decontamination airlock.
Murdoch, Lochlann, Ryan and Asher raise their weapons and open fire. The Predator dodges Ryan's flame thrower and the flames almost hit Murdoch. It manages to side step Lochlann's Smart Gun fire as Lochlann accidentally shoots Garth instead. Asher and Murdoch fire their Pulse rifles, but narrowly miss as the Predator rushes Murdoch. It crushes Murdoch with a three inch punch as Murdoch crashes into the broken window frame, he struggles to get free, but loses consciousness.
Zack groans as his senses come back too him, he looks around to find himself inside the Armory. He can feel broken ribs moving around in his chest. Doing his best to ignore the pain, he quickly looks around him. Aside from a secure door to his left, the armory has been completely looted. He looks out the window he crashed in from to see the Predator punching Lochlann, it then grabs him and throws him into another office. Lochlann crashes through the window and bounces off a concrete wall onto the floor. Zack begins to climb out and make his way back into the fight.
As Lochlann disappears into an office. Garth gets back on his feet and fires his pistols.
Garth: "Come on you bastard, show me what you got, SHOW ME THE MOTHERFUCKER THAT KILLED ALL THESE DAMNED MEN!"
The Predator turns its gaze toward Garth as pistol bullets ricochet off its armor. Suddenly a portion of it's chest armor shatters as pistol bullets penetrate into its chest. The Predator recoils back as Raul follows up with a burst of shotgun blasts, it jumps for cover behind a corner. The Predator emerges as Raul stops to reload. It looks increasingly furious as notable amounts of green blood bleed from it's injuries. The Predator roars with fury as it charges with lightning speed towards Garth.
Garth: "Oh this one's gonna hur-"
The Predator shoves Garth into the Outer decontamination airlock, knocking the air out of him as the Predator grabs him and lifts him up by the neck. Garth coughs up blood as he struggles to break free. A blade slides our from the Predators gauntlets as it stabs Garth in the leg and swings him at Raul as they both again crash into a wall. Ryan and Asher move into the doorway to open fire, before they can get in position, Zack leaps out of the office window, he rolls onto his knees as he braces his sniper rifle on his elbow for a snapshot. Taking a second to aim, Zack fires, but misses the Predator as the sniper bullet rips a chunk out of the wall in Decontamination.
Ryan fires a stream of flame, but he shoots before taking aim and accidentally torches Asher instead, Asher manages to get a burst of bullets off before he is hit by the flames, he stumbles backwards desperately trying to put himself out. Asher's bullets hit the Predator in the back, it turns around to find who had the guts to shoot it.
Garth struggles to catch his breath as Raul shoves him off. Seeing the Predator's back turned towards him, he reaches for the spear he took and pushes the button to extend it. Raul wasn't prepared for the massive increase in weight and stumbles as the spear pulls him to the ground. The Predator ignores the sounds behind it and charges at Ryan and Asher. It punches Asher as he flies backwards, he falls to the ground dazed, it then immediately round house kicks Ryan's head. Ryan spins in the air as he crashes into Zack and loses consciousnesses.
As Garth rises to his feet, he quickly loads a new magazine and shoots at the Predator. The Predator turns around to engage Garth but takes one bullet too many as it falls to it's knees, succumbing to it's injuries. In one final act, it forces itself up, pointing its arms at Raul as it's wrist blades suddenly shoot off its Gauntlets. One of them nails Raul in the knee.
Raul: "AAARRRAGGHHH! MY LEG!! SON OF A BITCH!!!"
Raul screams in pain. The Predator collapses to the ground, and begins to do something with one of it's gauntlets. Garth walks up to the Predator he leans down and yanks the Predators mask off. Revealing a hideous face with mandibles where it's jaw should be. Garth takes no time to remark as he puts a bullet in the Predators exposed head.
Any Marine that can still walk gets closer to inspect what the heck was trying to kill them. Then a beeping sound comes from the Predators armor, it gradually becomes faster and louder. It soon dawns on the Marines what is about to happen as Garth and Asher quickly leap into an office. Zack follows Garth, but not before tossing Ryan inside, he leaps over and grabs Murdoch, pulling him into cover. Raul slowly hobbles towards the window as he is unable to run. Electricity begins to zap from the Predators body.
Raul: Come on.. come on...
He lunges forward and grabs the window frame, jumping as hard as he can as he barely manages to pull himself into the office. As he crashes to the ground, the blade drives deeper into his knee, with a sickening crack, his knee cap shatters completely. But his screams are blocked out by a deafening explosion and flash of bright light.
As the dust settles, the lights begin to flicker back to life. Raul turns onto his back.
Raul: "GGGHHHH...HHhh..hhh..FUCK! IT HURTS!"
Garth slowly climbs out of the office to check the aftermath. The Predators body is completely gone, all that's left is it's mask. The explosion has completely blown out the walls in Decontamination, the airlocks are dented, but still intact.
Garth: "When we get outta here, me and my boys are having a little chat with that Levi fellow..."
Garth picks up the mask and inspects the blown out walls, one side seems to have revealed a jail cell. The other leads into the break room. He limps into the break room and tries the door leading outside, it's bolted and powerless. Looks like Levi made sure all his bases were covered."
Zack inspects Murdoch, although he has broken glass embedded in his injuries, it looks like he'll live. Ryan's neck is horribly bruised, he's having trouble breathing.
Zack heads over to a door without a window. Seems fate has given them mercy as the door reveals an infirmary. An operating room can be seen behind a windowed door in the back. Asher and Zack shove the bodies off some stretchers and both begin to painfully carry anyone who can't move into the infirmary. Asher inspects the two remaining rooms, the first is a medical storage area, although a dead soldier is slumped over, bleeding blood onto a few crates. The contents reveal various types of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, as well as sterile medical scrubs and surplus surgical equipment. Zack barricades the door leading into the infirmary as Asher begins to prep the operating room. It was going to be a long and stressful day.
End of Chapter 4.
