New Replies (Page 66)

Great news! I hope to see more of David.

And I also hope it will be set in space, not on earth.

I get the feeling thanks to Disney this will be a more straight forward Alien movie especially considering Alvarez's body of work. Evil Dead is a fast paced horror movie and Don't Breathe is a fast paced thriller. Even the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre he produced was fast paced and straight forward.

As long as they don't radically change the lore, then it will be fine. I love the Queen and the hybridization aspects of the creature from previous films

Agreed. I really hope we see the inclusion and exploration of the Engineers again, but part of me thinks we'll be moving away from that angle with this new standalone film... 

Fear of the unknown is probably a big reason why it works, or worked. The more you know about it the less terrifying it gets, unfortunately by giving it a background the prequels made it a disservice. Maybe Alien Covenant made the lore worse by implying that David made it. It makes it less alien than to make the Engineers responsible.  

You could say that Alien R and the AVP's made the monsters less scary, but the prequels are official (AR can be seen as a joke, maybe), that's worse even though they're better as movies. Perhaps you could bring back the terror of the Xenomorph in some way and undo the problems of the prequels, but I'm not sure how.

They can have some about androids, but that shouldn't be the main-focus. Give me something about the Engineers. Even though the prequels included many disappointments, at least they gave us the Engineers.

As well as Blade Runner. I want to say Outland too

It's good to se that it won't be a David-adventure. Get someone that can write characters and focus on the humans (capital H). Please give me more about the Engineers in some way

Hulu? I don't have it so I won't be able to watch

Both Alien and Star Wars? He did a good job it seems

I agree. I'm sad David seems to be abandoned. Regardless of the flaws with the prequels, I'm a big fan of David 8 and wanted to see his story concluded. Though I will I'm happy it's a stand alone story and not a nostalgia bait sequel that brings Ripley back just because money.

Been very busy tonight finally got this news front paged! I'm sad it won't continue on from Covenant... but I am curious about how they plan to approach this standalone film.

I remain cautiously optimistic until further news is shed on the project

Rest in peace, buddy. Thank you for green lighting two of the best Sci-Fi movies ever made.

Ah, I am half way through ALIENS Novelization. So I will download these scripts tonight

"I disagree, for example: why is it that we make the same mistakes again and again when we should have learned by now? This is one of the things that seems to be brought up in the franchise, I find that to be interesting. You could say it's because humans are flawed, too much corporate power, or what ever. It makes for some exciting discussion, but then you got to have it about the human condition, otherwise it might be difficult for some to relate. "

I hate the human condition, its so human-centric. Animals make mistakes too, all life makes mistakes, humans are just so blindly arrogant that they think they are special but really we are not. The only thing humans did differently than our fellow animals is achieve space travel. Lifeforms can talk, lifeforms wage war, lifeforms can build structures. 

Spam has been deleted from the face of this topic.
There's no need to reply to those kinds of comments because they will be deleted as if they was never there.

You know I figured when I got notified for this it was more than likely a spammer. It seems I was correct 

looks interesting, don't forget to share it when it's finished

cool I'll listen to it right away, thank you!

Speaking of shadows, one of the creepiest (and perfectly executed) shots is where the alien creeps up behind Lambert as she's unloading bottles of coolant, and you see its other-worldly silhouette projected onto her. Utterly scary, since you can see the beast's deadly intention unfolding before your eyes. And, yet, you still truly don't know what it looks like.

A few moments later we see it in its full glory as it dispatches Parker and then slowly advances on the stricken Lambert.

Perfectly done.

“Humans are boring, every story like ever is about the human journey. I really like ALIEN and ALIENS, they are my favorite alien movies, but I would like if an ALIEN movie or rather an AVP movie (the previous AVP movies were massive heaps of disappointment, although I liked aspects of Requiem) focus on a Yautja or Engineer protagonist instead of a human one.”

I disagree, for example: why is it that we make the same mistakes again and again when we should have learned by now? This is one of the things that seems to be brought up in the franchise, I find that to be interesting. You could say it's because humans are flawed, too much corporate power, or what ever. It makes for some exciting discussion, but then you got to have it about the human condition, otherwise it might be difficult for some to relate. 

Alien 3 is my favorite, I like how it's bleak in its tone, although I like Alien and Aliens too. AVP was alright as entertainment, although AVPR is massive crap. I’ve watched AVPR twice, but I doubt that I'll do so again. 

“I think that Humans are Interesting as they are Characters we can CONNECT with more than say ALIEN Races or A.I/Robots..…"

 This sums up my attitude towards it 

The Main Reason is that with ALIEN and IF this was the FIRST of the Series you saw.... then it was our FIRST encounter with the Cosmic Horror.

The Xenomorph is a KILLING MACHINE... once you have seen the Gruesome Life-Cycle a number of Times then after you have seen Xenomorphs over and over then they BECOME something thats NOT that Scary!

Unless you are Easily Scared and Especially by Gore.

i have said the Xenomorph is kinda like a Friday the 13th in Space.... you see JASON was a Killing Machine.. you could NOT try and Reason with him.... he was a Silent Killing Machine.... like the Xenomorph.

Yes Aesthetically the Xenomorph is more Horrific, and YES you have the Brutal Life Cycle... but JASON can KILL you in a all Manner of Ways.... the Xenomorph is Teeth, Claws and Tail.

What i am saying is that JASON was Scary.. but after a Number of Movies then HE LOSES that Horror!  It then becomes a Case of having Great Characters we CARE about who we FEAR for their Lives to PULL OFF a Friday 13th Movie and some of the had FAILED with this and they was well... NOT GOOD...  The Same thing can Happen with the Xenomorph and we ONLY have to go look at AVPR as a Example.

I just DONT think you will EVER go and Replicate the Effect that ALIEN had.... Unless say you watched ALIEN 3 First...

So EVEN if we get a NEW MOVIE/TV SHOW that tries to BRING the Horror of ALIEN... it will ONLY work... IF this New Project is the ONLY one you have seen...  If you watch the others Prior then you would become Accustomed to the Xenomorph and it would NOT be that Scary anymore.

Certainly what made ALIEN so Special was a Number of Factors, these Applied more if you watched it for the First Time in 1979-1989

*We had NEVER seen any ALIEN Lifeform Quite like the Xenomorph, and its Life-Cycle, the First Time you see its kinda Unique (Especially if you saw it in the 80's or at Release.

*The Face Hugger was a Jump-Scare Moment but Nasty but the Chest Buster Scene was Graphic and Bloody for the First Time you ever saw it.

But the MOST effective Reason why it was a HORROR was due to how you DONT see the Xenomorph much until its TOO LATE... the keeping it to the Shadows is what WORKED and Especially on a Confined Ship.

But Bigger than that was that you had a Handful of Humans who had to DEAL with this Deadly Alien Life-Form and they HAD NO MEANS to Really Defend themselves... so when combined with the Claustrophobic Environment and Darkness and HOW WELL the Characters were made for a TENSE Movie and its that sense of TENSION that made the Movie Stand Out.

ALIEN 3 was similar.... for similar Reasons....

The other Movies including the AVP Movies where NOT SO MUCH.... well NOT at all really for the Following Reasons.

*The Humans were better Experienced/Equipped to Deal with the Xenomorph (or there was another Aspect to deal with them.. i.e Predators).

*We had seen the Xenomorph over and over and so the Shock/Horror Value had worn out (does not apply so much to ALIENS).

So what i am saying is if we look at say a LION they are Dangerous, a Typical Human would NOT go and Survive a Attack with a LION if they was Unarmed and say the LION had intended to KILL.

Lets say you have a LION that has Rabies... thats going to be Scary to Deal with!

Now Imagine you have a Handful of Humans who have LOCKED themselves in a Super Market/Shopping Mall to Escape but the LION or say a PAIR get inside and the Humans have NO ESCAPE for some Reason (Exits become Blocked) and well the Humans have NO weapons...

This would make for a Scary and Tense Survival Encounter.. the Lions with their Superior Speed and Power and Senses (Smell) could HUNT the Humans... imagine being Stalked/Hunted through the Aisles of a Super Market!

Now Imagine if its NIGHT and the LIGHTS FAIL!  Another Advantage to the LIONS and well if this was a Movie then the Dark Scenes will add to the Tension.

Now lets CHANGE the Plot a Little... a Small Platoon of say 5 Military Guys Turn up with all sorts of Guns, Stun Grenades, Night Vision Googles.... then it becomes LESS SCARY as its less TENSE..

Now if the Setting was in the OPEN... outside with Military Types and in the DAY then it would be LESS of a Horror as the Humans would Dispatch the LION with Ease.. compared to the First Scenario.

So THIS is what made ALIEN be so much more of a Horror than the other Movies (Alien 3 a Exception to a Degree).

ALIENS had some Aspect of this due to some of the Dark Areas and Confined Areas... but a Marines vs Xenomorphs in a OPEN SPACE would not be Horrific well only as FAR as say a Star Ship Troopers is.

AVP could have been more Horror than ALIENS and ALIEN R etc if say the Predators were taken out of the Equation... the Traps and Confines of the  Pyramid would make a Tense Survival for the Humans.

Those Images if you Enlarge or Download them have the Relevant Parts in regards to WHERE could ADF had drawn any Conclusion to the Xenomorph just being Found by David on Planet 4.  If you Download the Drafts then its Pages 36-40 and 80-82 Mark that you would get to those Scenes.

I get what your saying and it does seem a BIT of a Cliche that WHEN we have ALIEN RACES in Sci-Fi they can appear to be TOO HUMAN and we also can Speak English to them etc lol

I think when looking at a Franchise and Explore the Universe it can be Different from Franchise to Franchise, we have some Movies where our ALIENS are TOTALLY different..... WAR OF THE WORLDS for a Example... I think the PROBLEM when you Explore Races that are FAR from HUMAN and have NO MEANS to Communicate with us..... your going to NEED some Humans who are Under Threat as our Proxy... a Movie with NO HUMAN or HUMAN looking Races that ONLY has like Very ALIEN looking ones i just CANT see working.

Independence Day Aliens VS War of the Worlds for a Example... Especially if there are NO HUMANS in it.

I think that YES there is in Reality the Potential for other Intelligent LIFE in the Universe but i think its Crazy to ASSUME they would be anywhere NEAR like Human or Humanoid....  The ALIEN Franchise can GET AWAY with this via the Engineers Plot as a Ancient Humanoid Race.... that SURELY have Seeded Many Worlds and so the Potential is there for other Worlds to be kind of Human, but have some Differences.

I think another MAJOR Problem with NONE-HUMANOID looking ALIENS who we cant Communicate with would be that IF they are WAY WAY more Advanced then this does-not SPELL too well for Mankind.....

The Xenomorphs are NOT too Human looking, but with them they are NOT a Massive Threat unless you OBTAIN a Xenomorph or some other way they END UP on a Ship etc..... I dont think it would be WISE to have the Xenomorphs being able to Create Ships and Traverse the Cosmos we would get like a STARSHIP TROOPERS with Xenomorphs.... it would be a BIT LIKE the Warhammer 40K Tyranids.

I think in Context to the Franchise... its a Question of do you NOT go and introduce too many Alien Species, do you LIMIT it to what we already have?

Looking at the Movies we have indications that as well as Humans, and Robots we have Human looking Synthetics.... but as FAR as ALIENS we have Xenomorphs, the Space Jockey and.... Arcturians (we have not seen what they look like).  The Space Jockey looked a bit ALIEN if we assumed it was a Skeleton but what we have is the Human looking Engineers.

But i think i know what you MEAN... in that we should have Humanoid Aliens who are NOT too Human and the Yautja are Humanoids who are NOT that Human looking, and so YES i think you could have Various Races who look LESS HUMAN than we do.  Like you have the Prawns from District 9.

But who is to say ALIEN Species would FIT that Humanoid 2 Arms, Torso, 2 Legs and a Head Anatomy?

" they have some freaky powers (either physical or mental)"

Yeah like they Belong to some MARVEL Super Hero Flick ;) lets HOPE the TV Series does-not do this with the Meta-Humans!

Cool, I'll have to check them out

I would rather that HUMANS only homeworld should be Earth, the idea of HUMANS transplanted across the galaxy reminds me too much of STARGATE.

Me personally, I just want a species of sapient aliens that look closer to a yautja than a human. I am just tired of human aliens. I want Birdman aliens, I want batman aliens, I want sapient space whales, I want sapient colonies of worms, I want lizardmen, etc.. Basically I want more Mass Effect aliens and less Star Trek TOS/Comic Book/Generic Sci-fi TV show aliens.

Now I don't mind rubber foreheaded aliens or humanoid aliens, but carbon copy human aliens I just loathe because the only thing that makes them alien is because they have some freaky powers (either physical or mental) or their organs are arranged differently. 

In Context to WHERE we go Next......

We have seen the Company Angle Explored....we have seen Xenomorphs Galore....we have had our Fill of Ripley.

The A.I Threat is to me Part of History for Humanity, i think it could be Interesting but then IF its Centered around A.I too much, maybe Fans wont see that as being Worthy of being in the ALIEN Franchise?

For me i FELT that Exploring the Engineers and other Worlds they had Interacted and Seeded would have been the WAY to GO... but its IF any Fans would Accept this as a ALIEN Franchise as well NO XENO... then NO ALIEN to some.

But what we are getting is a TV Show.... that WILL go and give us the Xenomorph at some POINT.... and in Context to the OT if this is to be CANON then SET like 25 Years (ish) before ALIEN this will TOTALLY go and Discredit Alien Covenant/David.

The BIG QUESTIONS are.... if we are SET some 25 Years prior to ALIEN then WHEN/WHERE and HOW do we get our Xenomorph?

*Do Humans go and Discover it on LV-223 or LV-426 and bring it back to Earth?

When looking  at the PLOT about Enhanced Meta-Humans and Technological Advancements then SURELY LV-223 has more Rewards in Everything else BUT the Xenomorph.  To go to LV-223/LV-426 and ONLY go to bring Xeno-Eggs back seems Silly, as far as WHY and WHAT do they Intend to gain when LV-223 has more to OFFER.

*Do Humans go Discover the Xenomorph on Earth? and then its a Case of HOW did the Eggs get to Earth in the Ancient Past?

That then raises the Question of WHY do they NEED to bother with LV-426, unless the Discovered Xenomorphs on Earth are ALL DESTROYED and some Humans then Discover there is ANOTHER SHIP on LV-426!

I think the TV Show (if its NOT a Alternative Canon) is asking for TROUBLE.

Will the TV Show go and Explore the Engineers/Space Jockey? or maybe make it that there is ANOTHER RACE who is the Space Jockey?

Again i think this would Conflict the Prequels and Cause Trouble if we have Engineers/Space Jockeys involved before the TIME of ALIEN.

The Engineers/Space Jockey must be SURELY LONG GONE... as FAR as within the LOCAL AREA of Space even by 2180 and so this does-not mean they cant be some LEFT but in FAR FAR reaches of the Galaxy beyond where Humans have Explored even in 2180.

GOD HELP US... if they Discover a Engineer/Space Jockey Ship on Earth and we have at some point some Engineers/Space Jockey awakened or ALERTED (so they come to Earth from FAR AWAY)....

THIS say between 2200-2300.... Yeah OK.... BUT prior to ALIEN... NO NO NO! LOL

I Understand what your saying ;)

What i was referring to is in CONTEXT to a ALIEN Movie/TV Show then WHILE you dont have to have LOADS of Human Characters you would Typically have to have SOME to PLAY as Main Characters, such as STAR WARS if we replaced ALL the Humans with other Races who look NOT-SO Human would MOST People be able to Connect with them?

In Context to the ALIEN Franchise.... then INDEED we could have seen a "different sapient lifeform's culture" do we ASSUME that the Earth is the ONLY place the Engineers had Seeded Life etc?

Do we Assume that as of say Present Day within the Franchise (2022) and thus 100 Years before ALIEN.... that the Earth is the ONLY place were their are HUMANS?

I think you have to LOOK at the BIGGER Picture and place yourself in the Engineers Shoes..... And EVEN IF the Engineers had ONLY seeded Humans on Earth, it seems a LOT of Effort and Time... would they just WRITE US OFF when its Knowledge/Upbringing and Free-Will that Corrupts us?

You would ASK... WHY did the Engineers not just Return to Earth even to some more Secluded Culture of Humans and take some AWAY or even just the CHILDREN (so you take say 10 Boys and 10 Girls) IF these are YOUNG (under 5 Years) the Engineers could TAKE them to another World.... Teach them the WAY the Engineers want them to Behave etc... Learn from Mistakes on Earth by having a Group of Engineers to STAY and WATCH/RULE over these Children and then you can have Humanity begin again... but with more Control.

IF such a thing had been DONE then you have another World with Humans.... what IF this World also has OTHER RACES the Engineers have Created lets say another 3/4 and they ALL are Found on a Planet where they are Living together but are WATCHED/RULED over by a Smaller Number of Engineers?

You have Humans but then other "different sapient lifeform's" and well THIS was the IDEA as to where i would have taken David and Dr Shaw.... a World some 16'000 Light Years away and not 40-50LY or so (Planet 4)

Ridley Scott had mentioned a FEW times that he Felt the ALIEN Franchise had the Potential to be like STAR WARS and STAR TREK... seemed Bonkers for him to Suggest... but i do-not think he meant as BIG as in SUCCESS.... but in Terms of World Building/Exploration, Different Races and Conflicts.

"I basically want a xenofiction"

In context to my Paragraph Prior.... i think RS was looking to EXPAND to Beyond the Xenomorph, the Xenomorph as of 2013 was merely either (A) a Engineered Killing Machine by the Engineers, or (B) a Contamination/Evolution of something that had came into Contact with the Black Goo Bio-Weapon.

And so IF the Xenomorph is merely as such... its ONCE you Explain/Show this its then WHATS NEXT?  So they FELT maybe you DONT even have to Explain the Origins and to STEER AWAY from ALIEN... but this means its NOT quite ALIEN... but then with Prometheus it was SET-UP to Offer a A SPIN-OFF thats SET in the same Universe/Canon... just they would look at WHAT ELSE the Engineers/Space Jockey have been UP TO....

But the POWERS that BE had determined the FANS wanted to see something more ALIEN and to INTRODUCE the Xenomorph and its Origins.... which is WHEN we had July 2015 the Change in this Direction.... just with a CURVE-BALL.... that David Created them.....

Here are the Extracts from Davids Workshop and Egg Room

Paradise

Alien Covenant

Links to the TWO Drafts i have referenced, i cant seem to FIND the other ONE i Read but in Regards to Davids Lab and Eggs etc... Nothing Changes really.

I only managed to come across TWO..... i have Read in the Past 3 Drafts but i believe there are Four that Surfaced. Ive heard that there was about 6/7 in Total from July 2015 to December 2015 then the Shooting Draft was Early 2016

The Three i have Read do-not DIFFER really in Terms of Content as FAR as the Neomorphs and Xenomorph. Regarding as to HOW they came to be.  Did ADF have one of the other DRAFTS that left it more Ambiguous for him?

These are some Extracts relating to Hallet his Infection and Neomorph Birth Scene.  The other Draft which i cant seem to Find, did Describe things more closer to the MOVIE as in the Eggs on the Juggernaught were referred to as Sacks and Spore Motes.  And Regarding David/Eggs it was very similar to the November 2015 Draft.

I would BET that ADF either used that Draft or the December one.  And then Fleshed it Out/Changed things.

Ah, I haven't read of the Alien Covenant scripts

Yeah, I sure hope this information is simply not true. I found this on reddit. I really don't want an AINO movie

I mean sure we can related to humans because we are humans but I don't find that interesting because I am a human, I know how we are and what we will do. But there are times were we can't relate to humans either because they have different morals to us.

I think it would be INTERESTING exploring a different sapient lifeform's culture. I basically want a xenofiction

That would EXPLAIN it... thanks...

looking at the Drafts i have read, then its NOT so OPEN.. it indicates to me that DAVID had Created the Xenomorph.

Just seems to me that ADF was NOT that Happy with the Xenomorph Creation by a Robot (sure most would agree) and so thought he would CHANGE/ADD something to the NOVEL that would Contradict this Notion/Idea

The drafts indicate the Juggernaught has Eggs but these are Described as Varied but Covered in BLACK FUR and this FUR is what Darts from the Eggs to Infect a Host with the NEOMORPH.

Near these Eggs are Broken Urns and so the indication is that the Black Goo has come into Contact with something to CREATE these Eggs.  The Latter Drafts these Eggs become Small Spores instead.  Also the Latter Drafts the TINY HAIRS/FUR are replaced with Tiny Midges.

The Face Hugger/Egg scenes we see David explain what the Eggs on the Ship Produced... that then Evolved into Insect like Parasites....  and David says he had Experimented with them, saying Evolution only takes you so FAR and he implies he had been doing some Genetic Experiments...

To which he indicates the EGGS are his Perfection, his Creation.  The Result of his Experiments.

Thanks for that News

This is Concerning to me.... so NOW it seems we are going to have Meta-Humans.... Enhanced Humanoids who may NOT only have Superior Strength/Speed but also maybe some Psychic Abilities?  This sounds a BIT MARVEL to me...

If this Information is Correct.... what we are Basically getting is like a Ripley 8 with Newts Consciousness inside....  a Enhanced Human with Child's Soul who is Raised/Taught by a Synthetic... where its likely the WENDY (Meta-Human) with likely Marcy being the Consciousness inside.  Will gain some Sympathy for the Synthetics and maybe Meta-Humans and LEAD a Rebellion?

Again i just CANT see HOW the Xenomorph Fits?

It could be we WONT even see Weyland/Yutani!

The Premise does seem VERY ALIEN to ALIEN....

The BIG QUESTION.... is HOW/WHEN/WHY and WHERE do we see the Xenomorphs?

The SHOW is SET on Earth...... and it seems its SET after Prometheus and so MAYBE we see some Company has GONE to LV-223 to get the Black Goo to USE to Enhance Humans? well Create a Hybrid/Enhanced Race?

What IF the Company also Creates the Xenomorph?

However.... looking at what was said before it seems the Show will have a Slower Build Up before we get the Xenomorphs....  they are also what is the Parasitic Threat from our Past..... which indicates the Xenomorph would be Ancient in this TV Show and looking at the Promotion Images it seems they are Discovered on a somewhat Submerged, Ship or Facility that LIKELY is Discovered on Earth at Sea or another Large Body of Water?

The other Aspect is the Threat from the FUTURE (A.I) and we know we will have Synthetics.... but also the Meta-Humans... are BOTH a Threat?  Or just the ONE KIND?

The Meta-Humans being Created likely for Military Purposes, so we looking at a Replicants meets Universal Soldiers with maybe some SUPER-HUMAN Abilities thrown in... Crikey hope this does not END UP like the Necromancers from Raised by Wolves but just Organic Versions...

And are we going to see the Synthetics go to USE/PROGRAM them to Overthrow Humanity?

I think the PLOT could be Interesting as a STAND ALONE like TV Show... i dont see WHY it would NEED to have the Xenomorphs and become Connected to ALIEN etc

I think that Humans are Interesting as they are Characters we can CONNECT with more than say ALIEN Races or A.I/Robots.....

I dont think you have to have Xenomorphs to have a ALIEN MOVIE!

But you have to have something that has a Thread of Connection, with Prometheus this CONNECTION was the Engineers via them being the Space Jockey and thus Implied had a HAND in the Creation or USE of the Xenomorph.

I think the Problem with having the Xenomorph Origins indicated as via David is that it makes its ORIGIN much less ALIEN... but also the Time-Frame would mean the Eggs on LV-426 are NOT there some 17 Years before ALIEN.

As i had said there could be a Few Ways to FIX things... but its UNLIKELY we shall see that.

I think you have to have Human Characters to make a Movie Work, but you only NEED a Few if you have other Humanoid Characters...... i have said before the IDEA i had for a Prometheus 3 (prior to Alien Covenant) would have seen David and Dr Shaw arrive at a World that has a Handful of Engineers or so... like 6 with HUMANS (did we Originate on Earth? is the Earth the ONLY place to have Humans?).  But also some other Races too.

I think you have to have the Balance of Humans and Xenomorphs, but with A.I  i do think the Prequels had GIVEN too MUCH of a Emphasis on David.

Regarding the OT... i think that IF the TV Series is to be CANON to the MOVIES then it would in EFFECT mean that David could NOT have Created the Xenomorph but i also think the TV Series could CAUSE a WHOLE LOT of other Conflicts too.

CHAPTER 15: THE CITY

Date: January 7th, 2231. 1:25 AM

Locale: LV-1201, Primary Operations Complex. White Team Operation Zone

Harrison and Tomiko arrived at a broken door with fresh blood splattered all over the floor. The marine and corporate spy see the bodies of Iron Bear Mercs and Colonial Marines lying side by side. A shootout had happened. As the two traverse through the corridors, they eventually find themselves outside again. Two colonial marine smart gunners and three grunts were gunning down several xenomorphs. A Praetorian escaped from their sight. The marines and the corporate agent retreated inside the communication center, sealing the doors behind themselves.

“Harrison,” they called out his name. Harrison knew of these marines but not very well. Scott, Cameron, Fincher, Strauss and Pierre.

“If we override the security system, I can contact your ship” Tomiko suggested.

“Do it,” Harrison nodded.

“Harrison, you know this lady?” Cameron asked.

“She’s a friend,” Harrison replied.

“If you want to get to communications, take the elevator up and you should find the comm center” Cameron added.

“Thanks,” Harrison replied.

“Harrison, the signal’s fluctuating. Find the comm center and get it online,” Tomiko added. The marines and the corporate agent take the elevator up before reaching the comm center. Tomiko runs over to the Comm center, “I’m contacting the Verloc now” she taps at the console rapidly. “There’s a dropship inbound from the Verloc. ETA 15 minutes. Make sure that landing bay is clear of xenomorphs”

“We're going to need weapons,” Harrison added.

“Got you covered, Harrison” Tomiko replied, “Unlocking armory now”

Harrison walks over to an adjacent chamber, guns of all sorts aligned the walls. M41A Pulse Rifles, Smartguns, Minigun, a Weyland-Yutani Railgun, Flamethrower, and Missile Launcher. The marines grab as many guns as they can. The xenomorphs began gathering outside looking for a way into the communication center.

“Ready?” Harrison asked his fellow marines. They nodded. He nods to the Fincher to unseal the doors. The doors then slide open, the marines rush out to confront the xenomorph horde. They opened fire on the biomechanical horrors. The bullets tear open their black armor, acid blood spewed onto the floor. A praetorian roared angrily as she arrived too late to save her sisters. She bites off Pierre’s head before impaling Strauss. Fincher attempts to regroup with Scott and Cameron but the Praetorian trampled the fleeing marine. Cameron unloaded his minigun into the praetorians' hide. The minigun began to click, he was out of ammo. Cameron drops the minigun as he switches over to his Pulse Rifle. Harrison and Tomiko fired their sniper railguns into the hulking xenomorph’s center of mass, toppling the large xenomorph over to its death.

Johnson’s dropship flies overhead, its landing gear crushes the praetorian’s skull.

“Harrison, I need you to head for the Forward Pods. There is someone that needs our help. She is a friend of mine, several months back she got implanted with a xenomorph embryo. She is currently in cryo hibernation and I can’t leave her in that state”

“Johnson, head for the Forward Pods” Harrison ordered. The dropship changes course as it soars above the rocky canyon. The Forward Observation Pods come into view.

“I’ll keep in contact” Tomiko added

“Be careful, Tomiko” Harrison replied.

Date: January 7th, 2231. 1:50 AM

Locale: Tunnels leading from abandoned landing to the Zeta Ruins.

“Ivan has not reported?” General Rykov asked.

“No sir,” replied Chekov, an Iron Bear Mercenary, 

“He was a good man,” Rykov responded mournfully.

“He may not be dead, sir,” Chekov said hopefully.

Rykov’s body contorts and twists in pain, his arms and legs freezing up on him. How he manages to remain standing and holding the royal yautja biomask in his hand is through sheer will power. “Damn it. My medicine! Cheating black market. The latest stuff is shit. Each batch is worse than the last” Rykov growls to himself.

“It is the adrenaline, General. It breaks down the doses. I will get another,” Chekov replied.

“No. It will dull me. I must be sharp” Rykov insisted.

“General! I have a signal, but not one of yours. The frequencies and modulations are all wrong. It could be encrypted, sir” Chekov reported.

“Pull out the team. I will buy you as much time as I can,” Rykov ordered. He then raises the prince’s biomask up in the air, with a crooked smile Rykov then added, “They will find me.”

Paya’kan’di arrives into one of the oomen prefab structures crudely built within the mala’kak tunnel. He overhears the guards speaking, “The Excavation is still a go?” asked one of the Mercs.

“That’s the orders. If anything, they seem to be in more of a rush” replied the other Merc.

“I thought I heard something about a large-scale collection op. I saw combat-synths”

“The Doctor runs a big operation”

“There’s rumors of casualties. Explosions in the Pods,”

“You been here all day, right?”

“Yeah,”

“So don’t ask so many questions. You’ll feel better”

Paya’kan’di cloaks as he enters the room, he quickly thrashes the mercs throats out with his wristblades. He drags both of the merc’s bodies away.

Meanwhile Eisenberg and the remains of his team were traversing through an underground tunnel that lay just beneath the massive biomechanical city with its towering biomechanical skyscrapers and grand statues of the Space Jockey and their Engineer subjects. Eisenberg looks up nervously at the driver, “Patch me through to security team Zebra”

Locale: LV-1201, Near Hive Access tunnel and neighboring archeological dig site, Outer Engineer City.

“Zebra team, has the Verloc’s dropship arrived?” Eisenberg asked the synthetic guard. He is standing in a starport surrounded by thick walls topped with electrical fences. Behind him a UACMC dropship towers above him.

“Yes, sir” replied the combat synthetic. 

“I have changed the plan. We will not be taking the Empress back to the pods. Instead, we will proceed directly to the Verloc. Secure the dropship for lift off” Eisenberg demanded.

“Already done, sir” said the Combat Synthetic standing over the corpse of a colonial marine officer. His fellow combat synths line up the remaining captured marines before disposing of them; execution style.

“Excellent. Prep for cargo. I am bringing a guest” Eisenberg chuckles.

The Imperial Praetorian roars furiously as her hulking form slowly materializes from the shadows. Thick beads of saliva slog off her large metallic fangs. Her smaller sisters slowly crawl out from the shadows, drooling profusely. The xenomorphs swarm the tunnels within minutes of their arrival. No one was spared from their wrath.

Paya’kan’di wanders around the prephab structure, ignoring the oomen scientists poking and prodding the mala’kak structures. He stumbles upon an old mala’kak maintenance shaft. Its interior reminds him of a kainde amedha hive; except more uniformed and refined. He reached towards the tunnel’s end which opens into a massive hall. The Mala'kak had to be gigantic in size to construct a hall wall this large. The oomens had since constructed a monorail system that traverses the vast network of these grand corridors. The monorail train departs from its station.

Paya’kan’di leapt onto the ancient floor. His sensors were not picking up any oomens in sight. He shifted his vision to see if there was any kainde amedha present and there was something that caught his attention. It registers on the electric-vision but it wasn’t a kainde amedha but yet it was as well. 

The silhouette of the creature gave a distinct xenomorph profile but its head was more bulbous at its face while the apex of its skull was far more narrower than a typical xenomorph. It lacked the hard dark carapace of a typical xenomorph instead it was pale white and fleshy. It lacked the tubes of the drone/warrior variant on its back instead it had a series of fleshy looking spines adoring its spine. The Neomorph grabs something slithering along the hall floor. It too has the same signature as the Neomorph. The slithering worm-like creature’s body was smooth-like a snake. Its head was round and fat, but looks can be deceiving as the round head unfolds into a hammer head. The neomorph drops the hammerpede as it curiously approaches the yautja. Its face was more featureless than that of a xenomorph with only a small orifice in place of where its mouth should be. The hammerpede slithers back into a small acid burned hole littering the ancient city corridors.

The Neomorph lunges at the yautja, the small orifice widens in size as a pair of pink goblin shark-like jaws shoot out from it. Paya’kan’di reactively impaled the kainde amedha-like pyode amedha (soft meat) with his naginata. The creature hissed before falling to the floor dead. Paya’kan’di continues his trek down the ancient halls.

He spots another creature but different from the neomorph he had encountered earlier. This one resembled a neomorph but it was covered in a hard carapace like a xenomorph. However unlike the neomorph, this creature had a defined snout and lacked a tail and back spikes. It reminded Paya’kan’di of the Earth’s frogs. The Deacon opens its jaws, flashing its tiny teeth before shooting out its neomorph-like inner jaws as it growls territorially at Paya’kan’di. A loud groan echoed within the halls, the Deacon quickly retracted its inner jaws before fleeing down the corridor.

Paya’kan’di followed the fleeing diminutive kainde amedha. Another Neomorph leaps down from the monorail tracks on top of Paya’kan’di. He shoves it off, before decapitating it with the naginata. A hammerpede slithers out from its burrow, it unfolds its head into a hammer. It opens its mouth, Paya’kan’di impales the hammerhead snake creature with his naginata’s rear blade before tossing it into the air. The loud groan was heard again. A large fetus-like creature trekked down the halls, its head was even more bulbous than a neomorph and it has eyes. Its legs were small, almost vestigial, its arms were large and well developed…for walking and supporting its weight. 

Accompanying it was another set of creatures, they resembled oomens however they were picked up on the electro-vision like the other strange creatures. The abominations were no longer like the oomens, Paya’kan’di has encountered, they behave like the kainde amedha. Their features were twisted and their behavior feral. Some of them walked like a normal oomen while the others who sported more kainde amedha traits walked like them.

Paya’kan’di targeted the abominations, the tridot lasers marked the creatures. A loud humming resonated from the beam, the plasma caster screams as bolts of plasma rain down on the deformed oomens. The less humanoid ones bolted away from the plasma bolts as they charged at Paya’kan’di like deranged rabid baboons. The Prince turns his plasma caster on one, it explodes into a shower of acid. But he missed the other one. The abomination leapt onto the Prince, it tears off his biomask. The hoses spray compressed air everywhere. Paya’kan’di sees the abomination with his naked eyes, the creature was even more ugly than he thought. Despite only seeing monochrome red, the details of the creature’s face were more visible. The creature’s face was barely even oomen-like, eyes were sunken, nose had dissolved into small nostrils and its teeth were metallic. 

The deacon came back with more of its kind, the abomination looked up only to be swarmed by the diminutive creatures. Paya’kan’di quickly rolls out of the way as he quickly adorns his biomask. He looks back to see despite their shared appearance, the different morphs of creatures hold no loyalty to one another unlike the kainde amedha. The large creature groans as it attacks the Deacon swarm. The deacons quickly swarm the Beluga-head; it joins its fellow abominations in death.

Paya’kan’di quickly bolts down the hallway. The reclamation of his biomask was more important than engaging these new creatures.

Meanwhile back in the tunnels, “Are the sentry guns online yet?” shouts a nervous security guard. A predalien bursts from a grate above, twisting the guards head off. She pounces on the fleeing guard before implanting her sharp mandibles into the base of his skull. The very same predalien that escaped from Pod 5; She had since developed a praetorian crest on the back of her head.

The Imperial Praetorian senses her Predalien sister nearby. She had done her job disabling the annoying power currents the humans rely on for their very survival. The Imperial Praetorian orders her sisters to continue spreading across the tunnels, capturing the less resistant and killing off the most resistant. The Imperial Praetorian and her subordinates continue to follow the intangible connection to their Empress. 

“The dropship is en route, ETA 5 minutes” declared the truck guards. The Imperial Praetorian unleashed a bone chilling hiss, alerting the guards to her presence but they couldn’t see her. But they could hear her footsteps as they shook the ground. Her massive head gleaned from the dim overhead lights as she approached the grated fence. She tears the chain linked fence to pieces with her claws. The guards activate the massive lift to ascendant. Despite her weight and size the imperial praetorian stabs her claws into the metal paneling as she climbs up the shaft accompanied by her sisters. She directs her smaller sisters into the vents. 

“Kill it” the security guard screams

“It's in the vents!” the technician replied.

“Aghhhhhhhh!!!” Their screams echoed throughout the tunnels.

“Attention all personnel. There are xenomorphs loose beneath the landing pad. Do not let them near the control room,” the announcer's words fall on deaf ears as the xenomorphs swarm their way through. The xenomorphs began to cut off the hydraulic pistons that supply the facility with power.

“Hydraulic #2 disabled. What’s going on down there?” echoed a soon to be dead man. A xenomorph spitter vomited up a gallon of specialized digestive enzymes all over the guard’s face. 

Meanwhile the Imperial Praetorian arrives at a massive turn-around bridge. A xenomorph warrior stood alone on the bridge. She had metallic armor grafted onto her exoskeleton. The Praetorian calls out to her for assistance but the metallic-clad warrior ignores her commands; She was a Gen 2 Xenoborg, she only obeyed the humans. The xenoborg growls at her, for she stood between Praetorian and the Empress. The xenoborg locked its targeting laser on the Imperial Praetorian. 

The xenoborg raised a pulse rifle at the Praetorian, she began opening fire. Her thick exoskeleton absorbed most of the bullets. She charges into the xenoborg. The xenoborg is sent flying, the pulse rifle tumbles off the bridge. The xenoborg sprang back. She then swiped at the Imperial Praetorian’s face with her claws. Acidotic blood sprayed the bridge’s metallic surface. The Praetorian swipes at the xenoborg. 

The xenoborg dodges the hulking praetorian’;s advances. The xenoborg scurried like a monkey across the bridge searching for its pulse rifle. Once the xenoborg arrives towards the edge of the bridge, The Imperial Praetorian impales the distracted xenoborg. The Imperial Praetorian pulls her tail back, dragging the tratorious xenomorph along with it. She places both of her large claws on to its shoulder while pushing the rest of her tail through the xenoborg.

Eisenberg climbs out of the truck. He quickly arms himself with the WY-Railgun as he takes aim at the Praetorian. He then aims at the damaged xenoborg. The xenoborg head-case explodes but not from Eisenberg’s rifle but from a two yautja leaping down from the towering electric poles. The Praetorian tosses the lifeless xenoborg at the smaller predator, its acid blood burns the inexperience unblood. The more experienced blooded yautja aims his combi-stick for the praetorian’s neck. The Imperial Praetorian collapses her crown on her neck, the combi-stick scraps across the chitinous crown. The yautja loses his footing as the Praetorian bucks him off. She turns her attention to the injured yautja. She beheads the unblood with her inner jaws. 

The experienced blood quickly hurrles his smart disk into the Imperial Praetorian’s ribcage. The disk slices into her black chitinous armor, acid blood spots all over the ground but the disk then falls flat on the ground. She collapses onto the floor. Eisenberg smiled at the alien predator’s handiwork but they too are a threat to his goals. He must finish them off quickly. The yautja confidently walks over to the hulking xenomorph. The Praetorian waited for the yautja to get closer. He reaches over for the smart disk. The yautja he places it back on its holster before re-deploying his combi-stick. A bullet knicks his shoulder cannon’s power supply. The yautja turned his attention towards eisenberg. The Praetorian impales the yautja through the belly. 

She rises to her feet, she gives Eisenberg a glance before head biting the yautja. He drops his combi-stick. The Praetorian releases the dead blooded warrior onto the floor. 

“Security. Backup to the control room” Eisenberg’s entourage screamed into their mics, “Prepare the cargo trick for evacuation” Eisenberg quickly retreats back into the Cargo Truck. 

A voice booms over the Doctor’s radio, “Banking for final descent. Doctor, landing has not been extended. Recommend abort landing. Recommend alternative routing”

“Your advice is noted. And Ignored. Land” Eisenberg demands as he signals the truck to leave immediately. He glances at the Praetorian out from his window port.

The Imperial Praetorian spots the cargo truck leaving through the next tunnel corridor. She must free the Empress, she commands it. 

The Praetorian turns to see her sisters finally rendezvous with her. The Praetorian hisses to her sisters to follow her and the cargo truck.

“Warning landing beacon offline” the facility’s MUTHUR warning booms over the intercom. The landing beacon was mysteriously fried by an outside source.

Eisenberg orders his men to park the cargo truck, “Destroy the Empress. She will not gloat over me” he growls.

“Where’s the landing beacon?” The colonial marine dropship flies over the landing bay confused on where to land, “Pull up! PULL UP!!!” The dropship diverts from the landing bay, abandoning Doctor Arnaud Eisenberg to his fate.

“Not the dropship! No! No!” Eisenberg runs out to curse the fleeing dropship. The Imperial Praetorian was known by many names throughout her short life, The Ovomorph, The Chestburster, The Drone, The Warrior, and The Alpha Warrior. She orders her sister to surround the cargo truck. She could smell Eisernberg’s fear. Though he may be synthetic in body but he retained a human consciousness and brain. The Doctor raised his railgun at the Praetorian but she shiftly disarmed him, the railgun was sent flying across the landing pad. She swiped at him with her claws. Taking off one of his arms. She grabs him by the legs and raises him up like a doll. She bites off his other arm. She then grabs him by the torso as she then pulls off his pelvis along with his legs before discarding them. The shock from his synthetic body being torn apart renders Eisenberg unconscious.

The Imperial Praetorian holding the doctor carefully within her grasp walks over to the cargo truck. Eisenberg’s men are subdued as they are taken back to the hive. With her free hand, the Praetorian frees the Empress. The Empress roars in gratitude. The xenomorphs slowly retreat to the ancient malanuhm city.

Eisenberg slowly awakens, he is glued to the hive wall in thick scretid resin. His screams echoed the under chambers of the ancient city of the malanuhm. The stone faces of Shaw’s Engineers glare down at Eisenberg, as if they were gloating of his failures. He was surrounded by eggs and the various xenomorph breeds. The Imperial Praetorian gives Eisernberg a final glance before heading off deeper into the ancient city’s bowels as the Empress stood on top of her newly constructed “throne” looking down at the terrified cyborg as he continued to scream. She hisses gloatingly. 

Date: January 7th, 2231. 2:36 AM

Meanwhile deep within the Engineer city in a lone Weyland-Yutani research post. Rykov groans in pain. Without the medication, his synthetic spine will cease to function.

“Sir, your medication” Chekov was very concerned, wishing his general would give him the order so he can administer the general his medication.

“It is nothing. Watch the tracker” Rykov ordered as he continues to groan in agonizing pain.

“Where are they?” Chekov asked.

“They are sadistic. Like children hunting insects” Rykov added.

“Motion” Chekov reported.

“Go now,” Rykov dismissed his mercenaries.

“No sir, we will not leave you to die,” Chekov insisted.

Rykov was now piloting the latest Weyland-Yutani MOX power armor. He now towers over his subordinates like a giant. He approaches Chekov,

“Don’t worry Chekov, I have my own battle to fight. Be well. My friend” he dismisses them again.

Chekov sighs heavily, “Yes, general” he obeys as he gathers the remaining Iron Bears to depart from the outpost station. Rykov turns around as he proceeds further into the ancient city looking for his archnemesis.

“I have something that belongs to you” Rykov announces to his longtime enemy. Paya’kan’di taps at his wristcomputer, filtering through the recorded voice clips he had gathered over the decades.

“I WANT ANSWERS,” Paya’kan’di plays back Lt. Rodriguez’s voice, “Come on, Vassili, come on!” He then plays back a younger Rykov voice. The voice clips fill General Vassili Rykov with renewed anger. 

“I’ve met your kind before. You could not kill me. I have seen you without your mask. I am not afraid of you!” Rykov’s voice booms from the MOX’s amplified speakers. “Come, Hunter. Let’s finish this”

Rykov’s MOX was standing on top of a dead xenomorph queen. Paya’kan’di clicks his mandibles, “Lerrtss… Finish… thisrrrr…” he growls in the language of the oomen. He charges towards Rykov’s MOX. Rykov smacks the yautja across the chamber with his MOX’s mechanical arm. He readies his plasma caster, he locks on to the MOX. He repeatedly fires at the large mecha-suit. Rykov dodges the plasma bolts as they collide into the resin walls.

Paya’kan’di grabs his naginata as he bolts towards a large resin pillar. A xenomorph runner leaps on him but Paya’kan’di  grabs the alien by the leg and throws it at the MOX. Rykov blasts the xenomorph apart with the MOX’s railguns. Paya’kan’di quickly climbs up the resin pillar, he spots the MOX. He leaps down from above, Rykov fires his railgun. Paya’kan’di spins around the railgun slug punctures his plasma caster's power supply. He throws his naginata into the MOX’s left mechanical shoulder. Disabling the railgun systems.

Paya’kan’di pulls out his disruptor pistol, he unloads what charge he had left in the pistol into the MOX. Disabling the machine. The power armor falls forwards. Rykov crawls out from his defeated MOX unit. The general crawls to the Prince’s biomask but his body fails him as his synthetic spine shuts down. There Paya’kan’di stood to claim what was rightfully his, he buried his wrist blade into Rykov’s back before pulling the general’s synthetic spine along with his very natural skull along with it. Prince Paya’kan’di roars in triumph as he reclaims his biomask from his prey.

Date: January 7th, 2231. 2:40 AM

Locale: Airbourne.

“I’ve got her signal, Frosty, but it’s weak,” Johnson reported.

“Tomiko?” Harrison called for her.

“About your unit, I’ve done a little research. I’ll feed you the coordinates of a viable entry site. It’s your best bet for finding your team” Tomiko told Harrison as she typed away on the computer console.

“We are heading for the emergency landing bay. Can you get there with your friend?”

“I’m still processing Dr. Betheny Clements’ transfer. Get your team. Then get me” Tomiko replied.

“I’m coming back for you, Tomiko,” Harrison declared.

“You better,” Tomiko added, “You should have a visual in a few minutes”

“You’ve got an escape plan, right?” Harrison asked as the dropship was slowly encroaching the massive alien city.

“Yeah. Down the main lifts, across the canyon floor, through a gate and up an elevator to the auxiliary landing bay. I can get there in ten minutes” Tomiko explained.

“Ten minutes?” Harrison asked.

“Easy,” Tomiko replied.

Harrison felt the dropship land at one of the established Observation Bases within the ancient city. He looks at the UACMC variant of the MOX, called ALICE. He climbs inside the “cockpit” located in the MOX’s chest region. He wraps himself in its harness belts before pulling the armored chestpiece down. The armament makes a locking sound. The interior of the chest comes to life with a HUD display on its interior monitors.

“Once you start down, I’m taking her up to a safe altitude. I’ll be circling above, and come back for you when you make it topside again. Tomiko is going to feed you information as long as the signal holds” Johnson added.

“Understood,” Harrison replied to her. Harrison directs the ALICE off the dropship. The dropship slowly departs from the biomechanical city. Harrison motions the ALICE down into a massive chasm. The suit’s hydraulic legs absorb the shock from the distant height. The ALICE landed on a man made bridge. He turns around and notices the natural cave formation transitions into an artificial structure. The Malanuhm’s tunnel system. 

The ancient tunnel system was smoothed in comparison to the cave outside . Blue glowing lights adorn the tunnel’s ribs. Harrison remembered his high school history teacher speaking of an ancient ship being discovered on a backwater planet. A woman named Ellen Ripley exposed the truth of its existence. However the ICC ignored her warnings, if they hadn’t then maybe the outbreaks on LV-426, BG-386, Rim, Earth, Fiorina 161, Ryushi, among many other worlds. 

Something moved in the distance, Harrison steered himself as he traversed the alien halls. It was just a damaged sentry gun placement. Harrison looked over the edge of the human-made bridge down at the bottom of the malanuhm tunnel floor. The floor was covered in a series of tiny fungal pods. The bodies of weyland yutani security and iron bear mercs were piled on top of each other; consistently they all had the signature chestburster death however where the bursting originated was inconsistent. Harrison could hear what sounded like bugs chirping followed by a series of random clicks.

A man-sized white creature emerged from around the bend. The neomorph wasn’t alone, more followed in its wake. Harrison uses the ALICE’s flamethrower to scare away the sickly pale creatures. They retreated down the suspended walkway. Harrison founded several more bodies of corporate personnel. Cat-sized worms with insectoid wings quickly flutter away as the ALICE unit approaches. The Neomorphs must have been feeding on their remains. Harrison turned his attention to where the creatures had fled. The hall opened into a chamber. Man-made structure of yellow girder beams holding an elevator was built over a deep shaft. The neomorphs watched from the dark corners as Harrison approached the elevator. 

The neomorphs lept from the corners at the ALICE unit. Harrison blasted one out of the air with the ALICE’s railgun gun, it fell dead onto the floor. The flamethrower burned four others unfortunate enough to approach. Harrison tapped at the elevator door control, closing the elevator gate behind himself as it descended to the lower level.

“This is an old survey site. They abandoned it after the POC went down. These ruins are ancient. Tens of thousands of years old. They’re powered by geothermal energy using incredibly sophisticated reactors. We haven’t even begun to understand this technology. We know for sure that the xenos aren’t indigenous to this planet, the Engineers have been breeding them,” Tomiko explained.

The elevator arrived at the bottom, the elevator gate slid open. The elevator was situated in a large chamber. Just beyond the elevator gate, Harrison could see a large mural depicting several images. At the top of the mural was a ringed planet. Below it was a strange humanoid creature that resembled a woman with two pairs of horns: one bending up and the other bending down. Her head was elongated like a deacon but ribbed like a xenomorph warrior. Her arms flared out in an almost crucified way.

Below her was the space jockey wearing its elephantine snorkel apparatus. Below it were biomechanical humanoids fighting the space jockey. Below the war between the two species was several children species gathering around the large snorkel men, below them was the derelict ship with an engineer ordering a bird-headed creature seen carrying a xenomorph egg below it.

“I’ve read the theories from various archeologists. They theorized that the Engineers were part of a greater species known as the Malanuhm. The Malanuhm once ruled the known galaxy for billions of years. But according to some of the archeologists they found evidence of another race of beings more ancient than the Malanuhm, most of the archeologists called them the Starbeasts but some use the Malanuhm name for them; the Stratonuhm,”

“Looks like they didn’t play didn’t nice” Harrison examined the mural. 

“No, they didn’t. According to archeologists they believed the Malanuhm fought Stratonuhm for galactic supremacy,” Tomiko stated matter-of-factly. 

“So where do the xenomorphs fit in all this?” Harrison asked.

“That's the odd part. The Malanuhm didn’t possess biomechanical technology back then; The Stratonuhm did. The archeologists believed the malanuhm acquired biomechanical technology after they overthrew the stratonuhm. However the xenomorphs were not created by the stratonuhm, according to what archeological studies were conducted on planet G-435. The xenomorphs are the stratonuhm. More likely an off-shoot given what we have seen of the modern xenomorph.”

“I don’t think the xenomorphs were their only creation, I killed a few albino xenos earlier and they didn’t bleed acid” Harrison added.

“You are correct. According to Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, the malanuhm seeded life on numerous planets and even created humanity. As for the albino xenomorphs, according to various geneticists the Neomorph may represent an earlier evolution of the xenomorph,” Tomiko speculated.

Harrison traversed the biomechanical tunnels, a loud hiss resonated from one of the side tunnels. Followed by a series of crunching noises. Harrison slowly peeked into the adjacent tunnel. He caught a glimpse of a large white creature feeding on a juvenile neomorph. Though the larger creature resembled a neomorph with its teardrop shaped head, the soft pale skin and its lack of visible eyes. However this creature was more akin to a xenomorph. The spikes on its back were arranged in two rows instead of the single row of a neomorph. The beluga xenomorph spun its body around to face Harrison. It dropped the half-eaten remains of the neomorph as it slowly approached Harrison. It peeled back its lips flashing its malformed teeth at Harrison. A sharp hiss called its attention away from Harrison. 

“What the hell was that?” Tomiko asked.

“It looks like the white xenos have a bigger brother” Harrison replied, “My question is why is it hunting the smaller ones?”

“Some animals resort to cannibalism in an environment lacking prey animals” Tomiko speculated, “The creature looked like a neomorph but it was slightly different”

“Different how? Other than being bigger?” Harrison asked.

“If we weren’t pressed for time I would have liked to study it… right” Tomiko remembered the mission.

The ALICE leaves the black tunnels. Harrison entered a large corridor, blue lights alline the ribs of the corridors once more. There he saw a  Weyland-Yutani security guard run past his ALICE unit alongside his combat synthetic companion. A large mutated creature followed after them. Its head resembled that of the beluga xenomorph from earlier except its had eyes, it also walked hunched forward on its front legs with its short back legs tucked under it.

The combat synthetic is smacked across the chamber down into a deep ravine. The creature cornered the guard, its featureless mouth opened as a pair of extendable jaws lunged out from the creature’s face over the guard's head. Its jaws retract, pulling the guard's head off. The creature began approaching Harrison when a swarm of xenomorphs crawled out from the ravine. They were not a sight for sore eyes but their intervention allowed Harrison to retreat into the next tunnels. A flood of xenomorphs came charging at him. Harrison blasted them apart with his ALICE Unit’s guns.

“Should be just ahead now. You’re close… Great now what. Harrison? The signal’s cutting out” Tomiko informed.

A praetorian charged into Harrison’s ALICE unit. This xenomorph was larger than any xenomorphs Harrison had fought up until now, including the predalien. Fortunately he was in the ALICE. Harrison shoves the queen-like xenomorph backwards, he aims the railgun at the xenomorph. Its body is blasted apart with a few consecutive hits to the torso and head. He now arrived at one of the Hive’s entrances. Secreted resin aligned the engineer tunnels. A swarm of xenomorph warriors charged from behind and knocked the ALICE unit down into a deep dark resin tunnel. The ALICE crashes through several layers of resin webs before crashing into a pool of water. The ALICE was now rendered unusable, Harrison had to abandon it.

“You hear that?” asked Jones.

“That’s an exosuit. Frosty, is that you?” asked Morrison.

“Yes, it's me, Duke,” Harrison replied.

“Frosty, watch out, something big is coming your way” warned Jones.

“Good to see you, Frosty. We’re in a bit of a tight spot” reported Morrison.

“They’re still coming!” Jones' voice booms over the mic, “God damn it!”

“Stay focused, marines” McCain ordered, “Pull out”

“Ahhhhh” screamed Blackwell as he got his head crushed by an Ultramorph’s claws. The marines open fire on the massive xenomorph. The others quickly retreated down the tunnel. Shugi attempts to run but the ultramorph’s club-like tail splits open as it grapples a hold of his head. Harrison begins firing on the massive creature as he leaps down into the open chamber, he glances over at the dead malanuhm-major growing out of his seat. The Ultramorph was a queen sized xenomorph drone; it glared at her host’s fossilized remains before turning her attention back to Harrison.

The Imperial Praetorian shedded her praetorian shell as she molts into a Xenomorph Queen. The Queen gains a new awareness in her new form. She felt the Ultramorph growing irritated from playing cat and mouse with its prey. The Queen turned her attention back to the Empress, the Empress hissed to her an order. The Queen roars to her underlings to aid the ultramorph. Harrison gets cornered by the Ultramorph, its club tail splits open into an ovomorph-like fashion. Tiny spindley jointed legs shoot out of the opening like a facehugger. A loud hiss booms overhead, the beluga xenomorph slips out from the small crevice like a squashed boneless chicken before inflating itself back into portion. It leaps on top of the Ultramorph’s back. The beluga xenomorph bites into the Ultramorph’s neck, acidotic blood melts away the white creature’s teeth and mouth. The ultramorph pulls the beluga xenomorph over its shoulder before finishing the albino creature off with its inner jaws. 

Harrison had since retreated up the tunnel leading to the outside port. The tunnel bent and due to its biomechanical nature, it reminded Harrison of crawling out of someone’s throat.  He could see his fellow marines up ahead. Jones, McCain, Morrison, and the others. Johnson flew her dropship overhead as she lowered the bay doors. Tomiko walked out armed with her WY-Sniper Railgun. She welcomed the marines aboard the dropship as she waited for Harrison. Harrison came running out of the mouth-like port. He slid down the slope onto the tongue shaped-platform as he sprinted towards the dropship. The Ultramorph emerged from the porthole. Johnson fires a volley of rockets from her dropship into the Ultramorph, it howled before exploding into shards of biomechanical chitin and acid. Harrison was thrown off balance by the explosion’s shockwave as he fell from the platform. His hands grab a hold of the bay platform for dear life. Tomiko grabs Harrison by the arm and with the assistance of the other marines pulls Harrison’s ass back into the dropship. 

“Frosty is onboard, raise the platform, Johnson!” Morrison shouted excitingly.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Duke!” Johnson growled as she closed the landing bay. The dropship flies over the tongue-shaped peer. Xenomorphs now swarmed all over it. The creatures clattered their teeth threateningly at the dropship. The dropship flew off to its next destination, indifferent to them. The Queen roars furiously as the dropship grows smaller in the distance. “I’m reading power spikes off the scale. Hold on everyone” Johnson warns.

The Forward Observation Pods suddenly explode into a nuclear explosion in the canyons below. The dropship barely makes it back into orbit.

Date: January 8th, 2231.

Weyland-Yutani Debriefing. The Incident. Appendix A - Summary

UACM Emergency Dispatch

McCain reporting

Lv-1201 abandoned. Casualties extreme. One Dropship still missing. Evacuation failed. Recommend scrubbing further evac by the 6th Battalion. Primary Operations Complex has been overrun. Forward Observation Pods appear unsalvageable. Sensors indicate a massive rupture of the fusion reactor cells in the Pods. Likelihood of finding additional survivors: negligible. Requesting medical intercept ASAP.

Weyland-Yutani Debriefing. The Incident. Appendix A -conclusion.

Our satellites at LV-1201 confirm that the hive is alive, nevertheless the Forward Pods are clearly inoperable without considerable investment. Given that need for expedient progress on Research Project X11, we are recommending immediate reallocation resources to Site #3.

The Verloc departs from LV-1201 orbit as it continues on to its next destination. New orders for a new mission.

Remote transmission acquired. Boosting for outgoing dispatch. Routing Now. 

…

…

…

The mule has been acquired. Package is en route.

…

ETA. Unknown.

…

Mission Complete

…

Extraction required. Priority status.

The Verloc’s MU/TH/UR mainframe transmitted.

The Marines aboard the Verloc get ready for hypersleep as the ship’s computers make the preparations to enter hyperspace. Unbeknownst to the marines was the yautja clanship slowly following their ship’s trail.

Date: July 12th, 2231.

Weyland-Yutani Security Alert.

Yesterday morning our top WY biological weapons scientist was abducted from his quarters on Gateway. Thirty minutes later. The wife of our division lead at the New Brazil WD plat reported that her husband had not returned from his dailey golfing. By the end of the day, WY confirmed three abductions and two missing person reports.

By all accounts, this sudden activity is not a coincidence but a highly organized operation. Intel experts match the MO to that of the Iron Bears - However, it is well known that Vassili Rykov, the Iron Bear leader, died during the Incident on LV-1201. Besides, at least one onlooker to the Gateway incident describes the team’s leader as a young, dark haired woman.

As we have yet to receive ransom demands, the motivation for these attacks remains hazy.

Date: January 10th, 2231

Locale: LV-1201, former Forward Observation Pods site.

The Pod’s reactor meltdown blast has scorched the local valley of all life. The irriaradate crater was now left barren. However, something stirred beneath the cooked radioactive soil. First the soil hummed softly before growing louder. The soil began to take a glowing blue hue before exploding upwards. A Disk-shaped device escapes into the air. It releases a blue energy wave across the canyons. The xenomorphs stared up at the device that once was their jailor so many millions of years ago. They watched curiously at the device, it seemed harmless at its distance. A massive U shaped ship manifests above the canyons. Instinctively the xenomorphs retreated back into their hives or took cover in the vast cave network. As for the device it flew towards the center of the juggernaut. The bay doors slowly open to allow the artifact to enter the ship.

                                      THE END

CHAPTER 14: HIVE

“What the hell is the hive?” Harrison asked her.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Tomiko replied.

“Is that where my team’s headed?” Harrison asked her.

“Looks that way. But why?” Tomiko replied.

“Just get me into the tunnels. I have to warn them” Harrison urged her.

“The tunnels are sealed. There’s no way in from here” Tomiko argued.

“All right. Then get me back to the POC. White Team is there. I bet eight heavily armed Marines and a Dropship can find a way inside” Harrison counter-argued.

They both board the APC as they head back to the Primary Operations Complex. The Alpha Warrior watches the APC from a safe distance before resuming her trek back to the home Hive. A smoke cloud was growing in the distance. The Lander had crashed deep in the mountains.

Back in the pods, General Rykov injects himself with his medication. The synthetic spine of his begins working again at full capacity. He is saddened by the loss of Ivan, saddened and enraged. The lights turn on, Major Dunya enters the private quarters.

“He’s through the net. Out of the pods” Dunya informed the General. She was equally saddened and enraged by the loss of both Ivan and Dimitri; she wanted Harrison’s head.

“Forgive me. It is weak, disgusting” Rykov apologized, “Perhaps this is punishment. So many lives”

“It was my responsibility. I should have taken greater precautions with the egg,” Dunya apologized as well.

“You were only following orders,” Rykov replied.

“Okay… So why here? Seems like a funny place for an Assemblyman’s daughter to take a summer internship” Harrison asked Tomiko while he drives the APC through the access tunnels. He noticed the lack of xenomorphs in the tunnels was certainly refreshing.

“My Brother… He died while he was stationed here. Accidental death, according to the report. Eisenberg signed it himself” Tomiko rested her rifle in a gun holster. While she laid back in the leather seat.

“I’m sorry,” Harrison wanted to turn back to look at her but he had to keep his eyes on the road.

“My brother was a very meticulous man. He didn’t make mistakes” Tomiko replied.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Harrison countered.

“Maybe so, but he was murdered. I have proof,” Tomiko replied.

“Is that what I am carrying?” Harrison asked.

“Among other things. Kenji’s research centered on genetic modification: human genetics. They used convicts mainly. Pretty sick stuff. It’s this place. It brings out the worst in you. I should have stopped him from ever coming here,” Tomiko continued.

“Sometimes you just can’t hold on tight enough,” Harrison added.

“You okay?” Tomiko asked.

“Huh? Oh, just remembering something” Harrison replied.

Date: January 6th, 2231. 11:10 PM

Locale: Primary Operations Complex

The APC drove past a glowing light stick. The ground and surrounding buildings were covered in black resin. Xenomorphs dwell in the building’s shadows and darkened alleyways. Xenomorphs blending in within the walls and ceilings. The APC doors slide open. Harrison and Tomiko glance at their motion trackers. They got movement. The xenomorphs slowly began encroaching on the APC. The APC onboard A.I began spinning the double cannons and positioning the main turret to its battle station. 

A runner bolts from the rest, three tiny dots are painted on its cranium. A flash briefly illuminates the night sky as a ball of plasma engulfs the runner. Yellow acid blood and copper carapace is sent flying from the smoking crater where it once stood. The APC began opening fire on the encroaching xenomorphs. The xenomorphs reversed their advances on the APC as they fled to a safe distance. The APC ceased fire. Harrison and Tomiko bolted from the UACMC armored vehicle down a manhole. Once they reached the bottom, the sewer was claimed by the hive. Skeletal human remains barely stick out of the resin walls. They traverse the sewer, so far no sign of the xenomorphs. Harrison couldn’t help but think of that ball of light, it reminded him of his arrival here. Two convicts were vaporized by the same ball of light.

They opened yet another sewer hatch, the proceeding room was filled with eggs. Tomiko aimed her sniper railgun at the eggs, she picked them off so Harrison could reach the door. The two bolted up a ladder leading to a platform where they saw the large powered double doors. The door won’t budge due to low power.

“Harrison, looks like we’re going to have to reset the power relay to get this door open,” Tomiko attempts to open the door, “It should be directly under our position” she looks desperately but the resin has covered every inch of wall to point this room was no longer recognizable to her. “Wait, let's look for a stairwell…” A xenomorph sentinel leaps down from the ceiling on top of her. Harrison kicked the sentinel off the platform. Tomiko was helped on her feet by the marine. They both head down a ramp leading to the power unit.

“There it is. Let’s get the power online and get the hell out of here; cover me” Tomiko runs to the power relay. 

She opens the box and begins to pull down the lever. The power hums which awakens more xenomorphs. Red low powered lights flicker on. Harrison finds a smart gun, it once belonged to a marine from Hall’s squad. Harrison took point as he began opening fire on the runners and sentinels that dared get in his way. Once they made it back to the double doors, a drone leapt out of nowhere. It's blown backwards by Tomiko. The drone falls onto its side, its acid blood profusely pours from its wound. 

“Let’s move Harrison!” Tomiko and Harrison bolted to the double doors, they quickly slapped the door terminal to open. The doors slide open. The room was clean, devoid of resin. Once inside they quickly close the doors.

“Harrison. There’s a hall off the second floor that should take us to a security station. If we can get there and we can get the sentry guns back online. That should make things a little easier for us,” Tomiko explained. The two entered a maintenance room. Tomiko made her way to the grate fence area, she pulled out a key to unlock the dial lock. She opened the power box to pull the system charge handle. The door down the hall door terminal flickers on. They proceed down a corridor from the door beyond.

“I think I can override this door for you. Just give me a few seconds” Tomiko bolted ahead of him, she pulled out a small device. She hooks it into the door terminal. “What the hell is that?” she heard a loud roar, “Almost there” she continued to hack into the door’s locked terminal. The two enter the room, Harrison attempts to power up the security systems, Tomiko walks over to the power unit. She pulls down the lever to supply power to the computer systems. The sentry guns were now activated. The guns quickly began thinning the xenomorph’s numbers. The door to the outside slides open.

Harrison and Tomiko bolted down the spiraling staircase until they reached the bottom, then they turned left into a supply depot. “Left” she points. Harrison taps the door terminal, it shocks him. The terminal screen falls off. “Harrison, hurry!” Tomiko cried as her motion tracker began picking up multiple xenomorphs. 

“Give me a second,” Harrison bypasses the damaged door terminal. The door opens, they squeeze down a narrow hall. Another strange roar booms from outside then comes a whistling noise. They spot an elevator lift. The two take the elevator. Xenomorphs could be seen crawling along the walls. Harrison and Tomiko remained silent as the creatures appear to not notice their presence yet. One of the xenomorph warriors turns its gaze towards Harrison and Tomiko before the whistling noise turns its attention back topside.

They waited for the xenomorphs to leave. They could hear faint explosions and the aliens dying screams following them. Harrison and Tomiko make it topside. The cold Lv-1201 winds batters them with a sharp chill. They moved along a curved chain-link fence, then came a bug-like clicking noise.  

In the distance a man-like silhouette fires a ball of plasma at them. Harrison and the agent took cover as it exploded in front of a supply crate.

Harrison and Tomiko leapt from behind cover, ready to engage the creature but they saw nothing but dead xenomorphs. All missing their heads. Harrison directs his companion into one of the buildings, red lights barely illuminating the hallway.

“We’ve gotta get out of there before that thing finds us. The landing bay isn’t far. Should be just up ahead! Hurry!” Tomiko urges. “Up the stairs on the right…” Tomiko directs, she then glances at her motion tracker. A single incoming beep moves at a rapid pace across the LED screen, “Oh God, let’s get out of here, Harrison!”

Both Harrison and Tomiko bolt up the stairway, they could hear heavy footsteps clanking against the metal grate floors. They reach the upper corridor, they pass into a security room. The bodies of security personnel were hanging upside down, their skin stripped from their bodies. A large double window looked out over the streets. “Oh my God,” Tomiko’s eyes widened from the gruesome sight, the security terminal was in shambles too.

“Looks like the console’s fried too,” Harrison added.

“We’re going to have to get to landing bay 3” Tomiko urged. A flash of light flies across from the street. Harrison grabs Tomiko by her arm before throwing themselves to the floor. The large windows explode, throwing shards of glass everywhere. Harrison and Tomiko quickly darted towards the hallway. “We need to go through the landing bay” Tomiko ordered, “Then head for the APC doors below us”

“Harrison, I’m picking up an energy surge just ahead. Be Careful!” Harrison and Tomiko entered through the APC garage from the landing bay. The Heavy Predator watches their movements. He treks across the roofs of the metal and concrete buildings. He spots Harrison and Tomiko leaving the other side of the APC garage. He fires his plasma caster at Harrison but the marine and agent took cover behind the building. The Heavy Predator bolts across the roofs as the two oomens begin to make a run for it. The Heavy Predator leaps over them, crossing the large gap between the two buildings. Harrison and Tomiko reach the end of the valley, the Heavy Predator leaps down from the roof armed with a naginata. A swarm of xenomorphs crawled over the depowered electrical fence as they swarmed the alley. 

The Heavy Predator heard the kainde amedha arriving from the south wall. He quickly switched his biomask vision to the red vision. He spots a praetorian among the kainde amedha, He then bolts past the two oomens to engage the kainde amedha. Allowing them to escape.

Date: January 6th, 2231. 11:25 PM

Locale: LV-1201, Zeta Region, Shelter.

Paya’kan’di woke up from being rendered unconscious. The remains of the Lander were scattered everywhere. He ended up in a shelter of somesorts. He carefully opened a grate door. There was a manhole, he jumped down the hole. He ends up in a pool of water. He slowly climbs out, he is in a dark cave. He heard movement coming from within the cave, so he switched his biomask’s vision mode to electrovision. His vision turns monochromatic red. 

He spotted the kainde amedha gathering freshly captured Venoraptors. They were paralizyed by the kainde amedha’s venom and were being taken out from the cave system. Paya’kan’di decided to follow them. This we lead him to the hive.

He slowly made it across a dark yellow river of acid over a rusty catwalk. The kainde amedha continued to ignore Paya’kan’di as they made their retreat deeper into the mountains. They lead the hunter to a vast network of massive caves. Massive fossils of burrowing whale-like creatures dotted the massive tunnels. He eventually lost the xenomorph's tracks. He spots an oomen made structure; It was an elevator. Paya’kan’di activates the elevator control panel. The cage lift holding the Predator Pince began to ascend to the surface. A damaged Power Loader laid on its side. A Weyland-Yutani lander flies overhead. Its destination was unknown to the Prince.

Date: January 6th, 2231. 11:35 PM

Locale: LV-1201, Zeta Region, Empress Chamber

A massive chamber covered in hardened scretid resin cakes the walls, floors, and ceiling. There the combat synthetics laid their optics on what could be described as a xenomorph queen but she was far larger than any xeno-queen on record with the sole exception of one. The Queen Mother. Fortunately for the combat synthetics, this one was an Empress, a transitory phase between Queen and Queen Mother. The Empress stares down at the combat synthetics from her “throne”, a mass of bone-like structures constructed from resin to hoist the queen above to support her massive egg sack. The synthetics had placed bright cylindrical lights in key corners of the hive. The combat synthetics turn to see a flatbed truck arriving with a MOX power armored suit. Dr. Eisenberg disembarks from the truck with a man in an APE suit as they join the synthetics.

“Advance, soldier. Let us make the situation clear” Eisenberg ordered the APE suit trooper.

“You sure this is safe? The APE suit trooper asked.

“She understands survival. Squad four. Report” Eisenberg ordered.

The combat synthetics in one of the hive’s tunnels continue laying down suppressive fire on the stage IV and V xenomorphs. “Heavy resistance, Doctor. We are ready to seal, however” the combat synthetic reported.

“If I am correct that will not be necessary. The Flame” He orders the APE trooper. 

“Yes, sir” The APE suit trooper begins to spray near the Empress with napalm. The Empress tries her best to avoid getting hit by the napalm. She broadcasts her distress to her children.

“Squad four. Report please,” Eisenberg orders.

“Doctor. We are experiencing something unusual here. The Xenomorphs are pulling back” the combat synthetic reports. The xenomorphs are forced to abandon their mother on her orders.

“You see. Survival” Eisenberg smirks smuggly.

Meanwhile, Major Mccain and his marines arrive at the zeta ruins. The science team has  long been dead; their sternums exploded outward. Jones looked up at the dead scientists. Accompanying him are Duke Morrison, Blackwell, and Shugi. 

“I set those charges right?” Jones asked, “I don’t like this one bit,” 

“It wasn’t an accident, man. Rykov’s leaving us to die” Morrison replied.

“You picked a hell of a time to be right about something,” Jones added.

The newly matured Alpha Warrior returns to the hive with reinforcements. She directed several of her sisters to break from her main pack to flank the androids. Though they couldn’t smell the androids pheromones, they could still detect their movements. The many breeds of Stage IV and Stage V xenomorphs overwhelmed the synthetics through sheer numbers. All that was left between the xenomorphs and the empress was the Combat Synthetics of Squad Four .

The Squad Four synthetics began picking up a surging flood of xenomorphs. “Reports of renewed fighting, sir. Shouldn’t the drones be pulling back now?” asked the APE suit Trooper.

“Something’s wrong,” Dr. Eisenberg was surprised.

“Sir, we’ve gotta get out of here now” the APE suit Trooper suggested.

“Stun her,” Dr. Eisenberg commanded.

 Eisenberg's team begins to cut the Empress down from her resin throne. They destroy her egg sack to prevent her from laying more eggs. She exhales a sharp hiss at the cruel machines. Several power loaders assist keeping the empresses on the flatbed truck as the synthetics strap her down. The truck drives off with the Empress.

The Alpha Warrior arrives at the empress’s chamber too late. She directs her sisters to finish off the straggling weyland-yutani security and APE suit troopers. The Alpha Warrior growled in bitter sorrow for failing her mission. She caught the scent of royal jelly in a chamber nearby. She slipped past the ribbed floor into the lower chamber. Several pools of thick viscous fluid filled the lower chamber like scattered ponds. Sensing the usual royal guards were destroyed by the intruders. The Alpha Warrior threw herself into the royal jelly. She submerged herself in the golden jelly. The jelly triggered a genetic metamorphosis within her, she arose from the jelly sporting a newly formed crown. The royal jelly had accelerated her development into a praetorian. The Praetorian roared as she flung the royal jelly from her developing crown. She hisses to the alpha warriors, alpha sentries, alpha acidspitters and to the predaliens to follow her command.

CHAPTER 13: CHAOS

The Warrior crawls in through the air vent. She slowly sneaks up on Dr. Stiles. He was investigating the source of these unauthorized transmissions. He heard a hiss, he looked up from his monitor at his assistant who was screaming at him before everything went red then faded to black. Stiles collapses to the floor dead. The Warrior retracts her inner jaws back into her mouth. Red human blood dripped from her metallic teeth. She now has to deal with the assistant, she would more than likely alert her kin. A security guard bolts into the room, The Warrior fires her inner jaws into the man’s face killing him on the spot. She stings his comrade before doing the same thing to him. The assistant huddles in a corner, fearing she is next. The warrior stings her, paralyzing her body. She will be useful later.

The Warrior observed the rest of the room, there was a large rectangular table surrounded by eight triangular chairs. She encroached on the open door, the room was messy almost as if someone was trying to barricade it from her and her sisters. She took off towards the stairs leading up.

“Two teams still haven’t reported in” says a security guard.

“If we don’t isolate this bitch quick. I’m gonna give the evacuation order” the higher ranking security guard added.

“I don’t think Eisenberg will go for that,” said the grunt Security Guard.

“I’m not gonna ask him,” the Ranking Guard replied.

The two guards heard a noise but it was all over, the xenomorph moved in so quickly neither of them could get a shot on her. The guards lay on the ground paralized like the assistant. The Warrior catches the scent of more hosts coming from the air vent above, she quickly leaps to the vent. She squeezes herself as she traverses its tunnels.

“First the good news,” said the chief scientist, an elderly scientist among his peers in a large open room. Several scientists are looking at a large screen, a map of the zeta hive. The humans are planning something big. 

“Four hours ago, a Marine rescue team arrived at the Forward Pods. Despite their inadvertent disruption of our security grid. We are now safer than ever. In fact, even as we speak, our six weeks of isolation is coming to an end. The Marines have restored our landline to the Primary Complex and thus a link to their mother ship and the universe at large,” the chief scientists praised the marines for their efforts, who are absent in the chamber, “Now the bad news,”

“As you may have heard, one of our archeological teams has become trapped near the Hive. To extricate the team, the Doctor feels we must neutralize the Hive. That means capturing and controlling the Empress,” the chief scientist finishes. The scientists in the room all began whispering amongst themselves of the implications.

“Yes, I understand your concern, but we have studied this eventuality. Next,” The projection changes to another image of the Hive. “As you know, the majority of the Hive extends above the Empress’s chamber. Our people are trapped near the outer edge. Next,” The projection image changes again.

“The operation begins with a surface assault on the Hive as a diversion. No humans are involved in this initial action. We’ll be relying on a strike team of combat synthetics. Yet, as I have said, this is only a feint. As the Hive responds to the surface attack, two things will occur. First, a Marine team will penetrate the Hive here to rescue our comrades” he pauses, “Second, an extraction team will break through from the tunnel system here, at the base of the Hive”

He stares hard at the other scientists in the room, “Our probes have mapped this area extensively. By tunneling in here, we breach a large horizontal shaft that runs directly into the Empress chamber. This shaft will serve as our roadway for extracting her. We expect the Hive to respond aggressively to the human threats. Particularly that on the Empress. By destroying the tunnels of the Hive, the combat synths will cut off the Empress from any assistance, allowing a quick and bloodless escape back to the tunnels below. Meanwhile, our Marine allies easily and safely extract our comrades. Any questions?” The chief scientist concludes with a question.

“Based on what you’ve described, it would seem our defense would be considerably diminished after the attack. What if the Hive retaliates?” a female scientist asked.

“The sympathetic theory of pheromone relationships as put forward by Dr. Eisenberg is quite clear on this point. The Hive will respond to the command of the Empress and the Empress will respond to her own instinctive drive for survival. Once we have the Empress as hostage, we will be protected from the Hive,” the chief Scientist explains.

“Protected during the extraction or protected long term? Are you saying we would then have safe access to the entire hive and to the engineer technology there?” asked a younger male scientist.

“We believe that we are looking at a long-term insurance policy. For those of you whose projects have been frustrated due to incomplete archeologist or biological data, this would present something of an unprecedented opportunity,” the chief scientists also explains.

“Chin's theory of competitive discourse clearly indicates that the Hive will react violently to the loss of the Empress. At a minimum, the Young Queens will struggle to determine a new ascendant ruler. More likely, the Hive will come after us,” said Dr. Mencus. 

“Who is that? Is that you, Mencus? Well, as you can see, Dr. Chin is not with us to discuss his theory. A rather good indication of its staying power” the chief scientist refuted.

“Where is he, anyway?” asked Dr. Mencus.

“Yes, well. To continue with the briefing, we may expect some injuries during such an ambitious enterprise. I’m asking anyone with medical training to assist with any potential triage. Any other questions?” The chief scientist concludes this discussion.

The Warrior finishes her trek through the vents as she slips out of the floor from an open panel. “Implantation sequence set. Data recording commence on my mark. Mark.” The technician looks out from his perched, glass pane wall into an open chamber below where a Yautja is contained in a cyropod. He catches a glance at the Xenomorph Warrior approaching him. The security guards grab him as they retreat to the elevators. The Warrior hisses but is then distracted by the sound of a vent panel falling. 

She moves back to the glass pane windows, she spots another human sliding off the yautja’s pod. To her, he is just like the rest of them. Food. He resembles the convicts she had hunted when she was just a drone. The convict randomly pressed buttons trying to escape the room. The yaut’ja crypod slowly elevated until the pod was vertical.

Paya’kan’di, slowly awakens from his sleep. He spots the kainde amedha staring down at him menacingly yet curiously. The kainde amedha loses interest in him and the oomen. Paya’kan’di glances over at the oomen, he was passing around, lost, looking for a way out. 

Harrison walks past the cryopod once more, he turns to thoroughly get a look at the creature. He was an ugly bastard, he vaguely resembled the creature that was stalking him earlier. Now Harrison understood where the creature had originated from however he knows next to nothing on what this creature is nor where he came from. He walks over to the PDA, he begins reading it “Date: December 10, 2230.

Surgery to remove forearm device has failed. Hard to explain Medically, the specimen was very strong. Then, as the device was removed, pulmonary arrest occurred. Considerable evidence of tamper-proofing within the machinery, but what kind of society would prefer its soldiers to die instead of being disarmed?”

Harrison growing frustrated notices a space between the pod and the floor, there was an opening. He crawls down into the crawlspace. He was in a small room, surrounded by two panes of glass on both sides, a solid wall behind him and a door in front of him. He opens the door.

“There!” shouted a muffled radio voice, “He is in animal storage! Be Careful, looks like he's armed” Harrison quickly crawled into the vent ducts to escape the guards.

“Containment team report to specimen area 4,” the security guard ordered, “Attention, all personnel. A convict laborer has escaped from Detention Cellblock 4. He has killed several guards and one Marine,” The security guard announces. Harrison cuts through a deadbolt with his blow torch as he traverses through the ducts. “All other convict laborers have been recalled to detention. Any convict caught outside detention will be considered armed and dangerous” The security guard continues to announce.

Paya’kan’di is released from his sleeping coffin prison. He extends his wrist blades as he ascends to the upper level. 

“I can’t raise Morris?” said a security guard.

“He’s dead,” said another security guard.

Paya’kan’di leaps into a whole above the door unit, overhearing the guard’s conversation. He understood a little of the oomen’s language but not a whole lot.

“God damn it! It’s one friggin contaminant for god’s sake!” the guard curses.

“Yeah, and it's headed this way. Let’s check in here” replied the other guard. The two guards pass under the whole in the ceiling. Paya’kan’di leaps down from his hiding spot and proceeds to rip their spines out. He then proceeds through the hallways until he slips into a service tunnel.

“Anything?” a guard asks some ways away from the yautja.

“Not yet,” the other guard replied, waiting for something to happen.

“Just stay alert”, Paya’kan’di leaps down from the service shaft behind the guards. “Don’t worry…” he is silenced by Paya’kan’di’s wristblades.

“I’ve limited all communications with the rescue teams to our secured protocol. The Marines can talk only to those you wish” says Ivan to General Rykov. Unaware of the yautja, staring at them from behind the pane glass.

“They accepted your explanation?” Rykov asked.

“They take orders like good soldiers,” Ivan replied.

“Then it is time. Contact the Verloc. Get a dropship down to the auxiliary landing pad. They’ll need telemetry, but otherwise say as little as possible,” Rykov ordered.

“Understood,” Ivan complied.

Paya’kan’di leaped up to hide from their gaze, he smashed a control unit before rewiring its circuitry to his needs. The door to the alien artifact room is now open. Paya’kan’di finds a disk bomb laying on a small table. He grabs them. The disk bomb resembles a gold fat disk with two prong-like razors sticking out from its sides. He enters the room, where the biomask of the hunting captain is laid on a table along with his netgun. Paya’kan’di picks up the mask, he growls mournfully before attaching the biomask to his power cables. A security guard walks in on him, “ah!” the guard shout. Paya’kan’di spuns around and aims the netgun at the guard who is raising his rifle. A net shoots out first as it pins the guard to the wall. The net begins to cut into his rifle before shattering, now the net cuts into the guards armor, uniform, and then skin. Paya’kan’di turns away leaving the guard to his fate. The yautja leaps onto a ladder before arriving in a massive ventilation tunnel. 

The facehugger containment chamber.

“You’re trembling,” says a female voice.

“I don’t like these things,” says a man’s voice.

Harrison was now approaching a grate, a dial lock is seen grafted to it. Harrison removes it with his blow torch, he then kicks the grate hatch outwards. One of the Guards attempts to shoot at him, Harrison falls off the tall holding unit. The guard shoots one of the units, the cylinder pushes itself open, releasing a facehugger. The facehugger leaps onto the floor, the spider-like xenomorph bolts towards the closest body it could find, the security guard, scurrying up the guard’s leg until he latches itself onto his face.

Harrison climbs up a ladder into the control room, “Fuck, a dead end” harrison curses.

“Soldier, in thirty seconds you’ll be dead” a deep voice spoke through the surveillance camera.

“What?” Harrison asked.

“See that security camera over the door? I’ve rerouted the feed so only I can see you, but if I keep it this way for very long, someone’s bound to notice” the voice continues.

“Who are you?” Harrison asked.

“I need you to get me a package,” the voice orders.

“I’m a Marine, not a delivery boy. Why me?” Harrison asked.

“Because you have half a chance of getting it. I had to ditch it where I knew they wouldn’t look, but I can’t get back there. So you’re going. Once you have my package, we’ll talk about your team,” the voice ordered.

“I don’t negotiate with corporate spies,” Harrison retorts.

“I'm not negotiating. Implantation lab number two. Down the belt, buddy” the voice demanded. Harrison flips the switch to open the belt hatch as he proceeds past the panicked scientists. 

“Hey you don’t want to go in there,” One of the scientists tries to stop him but he aims a gun in his face.

“I need out of here, you should better run, I hear these things are parasitic” Harrison growled. The scientist nods his head as he takes his colleagues out of the room. Harrison crawls on the conveyor belt into the egg chamber.

The Warrior was hiding in the rafters above one of the scientists, “I don’t mind research on the drones, but I think we’re crossing an ethical line with this. Those things are clearly intelligent” the Warrior bursts out of the rafters as she attacks the scientists below, she paralyzes them as she heads to the specimen room next door.

“Secure those samples…” the scientist turns around in horror as The Warrior stings them too. The Warrior spots three tanks containing her sisters. She smashes her head against each of the glass containers, cracking the fragile transparency before shattering. Three more xenomorphs join her side. The guards are quickly overwhelmed allowing The Warrior to continue her trek across the pod. She reaches a room where a chamber lies behind a pane of glass. It was a hive, her sisters were trapped in this small room. The Warrior damaged the human’s computer consoles, freeing her sisters from captivity. The xenomorphs began their assault as they lay claim to Pod 4. The xenomorphs arrive at the egg storage chamber where they free their facehugger young. The xenomorphs were seen building nests in the prison facility. The Predalien resided there.

“Electrical security systems have failed.. Doctor the specimens are escaping” The xenomorphs were crawling over the elevator shafts.

“It doesn’t matter,” said one of the scientists.

“They’ve broken free,” screams a security guard.

“True. Our prison was weak. It is time to build a stronger prison”

The Warrior leads a group of her sisters outside of Pod 2. Once outside she began to feel a chemical change coursing her body, the ridges on her cranium grew more pronounced as she gained some size compared to her sisters; she has now matured into an Alpha Warrior. 

Harrison finally leaves the elaborate egg holding facility. He slowly makes his way to the door. “Check the crew quarters. There’s an emergency panel at the end of the hall. Override it and you can gain access. Beyond this point there is an elevator” the voice instructs.

Harrison snuck past the security guards and slowly made his way to the confiscation room. He briefly hears xenomorph hisses, he seals the door behind him. He spots his uniform, body armor and equipment. He grabs his bypass unit, he quickly changes out of his inmate attire back into his uniform, he puts on his body armor, discards the security guard pistol for his standard issued marine variant and then he grabs his Pulse Rifle. He hears the guards screaming in the adjacent rooms. He slowly made his way down into the lower quarters, he could hear the guards were busy containing the alien threat. Harrison ran a bypass to gain access to Dunya’s room. He takes a security clearance off her bed, before leaving the quarters.

“Now take that elevator down to the implantation lab” the voice commands.

Harrison eventually finds himself in a hall looking down at a familiar chamber. The pod containing the weird man-spider face creature looking thing was gone.

“The disk is on the table. Pick it up” Harrison obeys the voice on his comm unit, “Okay, now meet me near the exit lift. Once we make the trade, I’ll help you find your friends. All right, looks like the elevators are back online. Hurry!”

Harrison makes it to the elevators while continuing to evade the guards, security seems to be appearing less frequently. He takes the elevator to the elevator lift shaft of Pod 2. Harrison could see the chaos spreading through the pods like wildfire, the xenomorphs were loose.

“Damn it, they locked up the elevators. Can you bypass that panel?” the voice commanded. Harrison runs a bypass to the elevator doors. They slide open. There a service hatch appeared instead of a hallway. He opens the service hatch.

“Uh oh. Something’s wrong. You’ve got to get out of there” the voice panicked. Harrison continued through the service tunnels.

“So if I turn those two valves, boom?” the guards' voice echoed into the massive tunnel above them. Paya’kan’di begins listening.

“That’s right,” said another guard.

“I don’t believe you,” replied the first guard.

“It's true. I’m going to make that shit up?” the second guard felt insulted.

“Come on, who would design something that stupid?” the first guard asked.

“It’s a jury-rigged system we salvaged from pod 5. Turn one. Fine. Turn the other? Fine. You turn both? Blammo” the second security guard explains.

“Man,” replied the first guard.

Paya’kan’di  drops down from above, he stabs the second guard in the spine before throwing him across the room. The first guard begins opening fire but Paya’kan’di hides behind a crate before leaping on top of said crate, he jumps on the wall before pouncing on the first guard. He skins them both before tying them up in the rafters. He turns the two handles, a beeping sound now emanates from the two units, Paya’kan’di trots over to a safe distance. The explosion can be felt across all of Pod 2. He enters the next room to find his cloaking generator and spears lying on a long table. The oomen scientists' notes were laying next to them. He rips the paper to shreds as he claims his items. He shoves the cloaking device into his gauntlet. He taps at his wrist computer, he is now a shimmer. He now approaches three guards with stronger confidence. Their screens could be heard for a few meters down the hall.

The powered doors open as a shimmer bolts into a room filled with scientists and the dead bodies of his clanmates. Paya’kan’di glanced at the bodies of his clanmates, they were like his brothers and sisters. Paya’kan’di  mourns with a blood curdling roar, the scientists all turn around their heads darting to find the sound’s origin. Paya’kan’di uncloaks, he deploys his combi-stick, he will take no prisoners. The scientists were all slaughtered, Paya’kan’di removed his dead clanmates from the tables and laid them to the ground. He searches the room for more tech they have stolen from them. He finds his medicomp, his plasma caster, smart disk, speargun and his recharger box, then finds the wrist gauntlets of his comrades. He returns their gauntlets back onto their arms, he pops open their wrist computer to activate their self destruction device.

Two guards walk in on him, he targets them with his biomask, and soon the guards are reduced to swiss cheese from the hot plasma fired from the plasma caster. The Honor of his fallen clanmates must be restored.

The lights flickered as Harrison dropped into a storage room. A voice booms on the intercom,“Medical teams please report. Operation Savior is now at yellow status. All Marine personnel report to major McCain for rescue briefings,” Harrison opens the door, he sees personnel fleeing. “Security breach on Implantation Deck 3. Containment teams to their stations. This is not a drill. Security Omega is now in effect,”

“There’s a maintenance passage behind those consoles. See if you can pry one open” the voice commanded. Harrison obeyed, he pulled one of the consoles open and pulled down a lever in the center of the room. The bl;ast shields are pulled away from the windows. He could see the other pods from here and a long walkway to said pods. He briefly sees xenomorphs crawling over the pods. A xenomorph crawls over the glass window, it begins to smash its head against the glass. Harrison doubled back to the console he opened, it was a hidden passageway. He attempts to pull the door close as the xenomorph smashes its way through the window. The door finally closes shut as the drone leaps at Harrison. The xenomorph hissed angrily at its failure.

“You’ve got to get out of that Pod. Fast!” the voice demanded.

Harrison moved around the cramped room, he realized it wasn’t a hidden passage but a service chamber to the Pod’s defense system. He activates the Sentry Gun with his bypass mechanism. The sounds of gunfire can be heard through the wall. Harrison opens a hidden hatch leading back inside a hallway. A dead guard was laying on the ground full of bullet holes. Harrison bolts to Pod 4 across the caged skyway. He spots a dropship departing. He briefly enters Pod 4 after making a turn he is on his way to the skyway to Pod 3. He climbs up a ladder through a service hatch.

“Head back across the skyway,” the voice ordered.

The xenomorphs hiss at Harrison from across the ravine. They attempt to leap onto the skyway from Pod 2 to Pod 4 but are swept away by the strong winds. Harrison double times it across to Pod 3 but struggles against the winds.

“Be careful. The Wind’s pretty strong out there” the voice reminds him. He tries to enter the skyway service hatch but it wouldn’t budge. The guards began alerting the others from within the skyway. Harrison slowly made his way on a thin ledge around Pod 3. The xenomorphs were slowly making their way to him from Pod 4.

General Rykov was knocking on a door to one of the personnel living quarters as Dr. Eisenberg approached the Merc General. Esieberg tries to hold back his sneer as he power angrily towards the Iron Bear Leader. “Your teams still aren’t in position. I won’t stand for insubordination, General Rykov. Or Perhaps you didn’t understand my orders?” 

“I understood,” Rykov growls.

“The news nets would be very interested in your dossier. Don’t you think?” Eisenberg threatens.

“Blackmail can buy my silence, but not the lives of my men. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to,” Rykov snorts.

“Try not to look down,” the voice warns, Harrison ignores the voice. He finally makes it to a large platform with a service hatch. “There should be a hatch there. It’ll drop you down into a backup lift. You can get to the surface from there” Harrison drops into Pod 3, he treks through a few empty corridors while sneaking past the guards. He finally made it to an elevator. He heard a thud coming from on top.

Paya’kan’di felt the elevator moving. The guards below look up at the approaching elevator. They hear a noise come from atop of the elevator.

“Something’s moving!” the first Mercenary calls out.

“What is that?” The Mercenary caught a glimpse of something moving.

“Hurry up and get this APC refueled and rearmed!” demanded another Mercenary. The yautja leaps out and imaples the mercenaries before firing his plasma caster at the combat synthetic. Paya’kan’di jumps down onto the next platform, he briefly looks up seeing the elevator still coming down. Fearing the oomens will bring more reinforcements and the self-destruct mechanism he had activated could explode at any minute, he had to escape. He fired his plasma caster at fueling tanks near the APC. It explodes taking a huge chunk of the Pod wall and APC along with it. Now it was his chance to escape.

Harrison felt the elevator shake, was that an explosion?

“This is Lander One. What the hell is going in there?” a modified version of an old 2099 model Lander craft flies near the hole now visible from the pod’s exterior.

“Lander One, annihilate the Cargo hold” demanded one of the Iron bear commanders

“Please repeat over" the lander pilot replied.

“Destroy the cargo hold” the Iron Bear commander repeats.

“But sir..” said the lander pilot

“Now!” Demands the Iron Bear Commander.

Paya’kan’di cloaks before bolting towards the massive hole in the wall. Harrison just arrives on the top platform. Harrison hears an all too familiar clicking sound, could they be responsible for the POC? Paya’kan’di leaps onto the Lander.

“What the hell is that!” screams the lander pilot. Paya’kan’di glares at the oomen pilots. “Something is on the roof,” cried a female voice. “Holy shit” said the Lander Pilot. Paya’kan’di smashes through the windshield attempt to grab the pilot.

“Lander One, pull up immediately. Lander One, report over” an older female voice booms across the cargo hold. Three Iron bear Mercenaries spot Harrison making it down the ladder. He slowly grabs a shotgun, the three Iron bears turn around. “Hey, it's that marine, shoot him!”

Harrison ducks behind a large crate, “This is for Dimitri, you sorry son of a bitch!” screams one of the Mercs. Harrison rolls out the way and shoots the Merc dead center with his shotgun. Harrison puts away his shotgun as he begins shooting them with his Pulse Rifle. The two remaining mercs fall over dead. The floor began to open up beneath him. He ran over to the crates, the Merc commander was out fitted with power armor, it resembled the ALICE unit on board the Verloc. “Not good,” Harrison commented.

“Come little marine, come out and face me like a man!” the Iron bear Commander Ivan demanded. Harrison attempts to shoot at him with his Pulse Rifle, hoping a stray bullet would hit him in the cockpit. It was no use, this model was given a few armor upgrades. “Cute, cute, you think your puny weapons have an effect on my Misha!”

“Marine, In one of the crates is a missile launcher. Use it!” the voice demanded.

“Alright, get off my back geeze” Harrison dodges the Misha’s hail of bullets while attempting to locate the crate with the missile launcher. 

“Found it,” He pulls the missile launcher out of the crate. He now has to find a safe place to load the thing.

“Quite hiding, little american soldier! I have a kill quota to uphold. You want to know what they called me? They call me Ivan, the destroyer! I am the second most feared man in the Union of Progressive People!” Ivan boasted.

“Second? Who is the first?” Harrison humored him.

“That would be General Vassili Rykov. Pray that it is me who kills you and not the General!”

“Where does the girl fit into all of this?”

“You speak of Major Dunya? You are no match to her, you are but a fly to our boots”

“Marine. Shoot him!” the voice demanded.

“I found you, american!” Ivan screams with murderous intent.

“Goodnight, Rusky!” Harrison fires a missile straight into the MISHA. The Exo-suit explodes into a great ball of fire. Harrison drops the missile launcher as he proceeds to the elevator lift. Ivan limps to Harrison, he fires his pistol but misses.

“It's not over, yet. Little marine!” Ivan’s blonde hair is soaked with blood, half of his uniform is all torn up, blood and shrapnel coating his body. BANG! Ivan’s head comes apart as bone and brain matter splats on the crates, his body falls to the ground dead. A powered door closes. A figure completely encased in black armor from head to toe approaches Harrison. “Didn’t I tell you to shoot him? Now follow me I’ll help you to find your friends” this mysterious spoke with the same deep voice that has been talking to him this entire time. Harrison and this mysterious sniper take the elevator down.

The elevator lift lowers the two to ground level. Pod 3 began to explode, the ravine shook. The pod was torn from its hinges and began to collapse. Harrison and the mysterious agent both run for cover as the Pod collapses into the ground. A piece of debris flies onto the agent, damaging part of their suit. Harrison quickly ran over to his mysterious ally, he quickly removed the debris. He lends them his shoulder, he lifts the agent up onto their feet. He spots an APC, he quickly hauls them to the APC.

“Hey, Harrison. Slow down. I’ve got a plan” the voice modulator was no longer functioning, revealing the agent’s true gender.

“You’re a girl?” Harrison asked, a little surprised.

“Oh crap,” the agent looked away from him, “Shitty software”

“Well, hello there,” Harrison attempts to reacquaint himself with her.

“Don’t even start with me,” she removes her helmet, revealing short brown hair and dark eyes. She is of japanese-descent. Pretty too.