Harry woke up from cryosleep with a start. He climbed out of the pod, groggy from his time in suspended animation. The rows of pods around him already empty, he made his way to an silent meal room. Obviously his cohort had been here, the marks and remains of a marine force were evident wherever they moved in numbers.
He began to hungrily eat, his sleep leaving him hungry and under-nourished. The food was very poor quality, but Harry paid no mind. He was a large man, and found himself constantly eating. He had even been approved for double rations, he required so much to eat.
He finished quickly and moved to his vendor, he acquired the majority of his kit. Fatigues, armour, rifle, first-aid supplies, and food. He was missing a few key items. Namely his machinegun, but he would pick that up in time.
He glanced at his watch, the operation had been ongoing for some time now, but comms were nearly silent. He heard an announcement blare out through the ship, from this he gathered that the marines had encountered xenomorphs, fierce insectoid aliens that killed and consumed humans without prejudice.
Harry had been deployed to fight them three times now, and they were fiercesome foes. Massive blade appendages and chitinous armour, he had heard whisperings of them reproducing by forcefully âinfectingâ a living host and the creatures larvae bursting out of the chest of the infectee. Harry was usually fairly unshakeable. He had been a marine for some time now, he had fought and killed upwards of hundreds of people, by his estimate. Terrorists, criminals, insurgents, conscripts, guerillas, PMCs. He had faced many opponents and found himself atop. He was a career marine, made to kill and he was bound to do it till he died.
Before joining the Corps he had been a petty criminal, a thug for some mid-level crimeboss. He was taught to maim and kill. He learnt to be remorseless and most crucially, he learnt to think simply. To Harry, thinking simply meant that the answer was usually violence.
Today, Harry had absolutely no doubts in his mind that the answer was violence.
Now almost fully prepared, he grabbed 4 rifle magazines and made his way to the Req bay. The technician handed Harry his unwieldy machinegun, the other large man chuckled as he initially failed to initially fit the monstrous weapon through the window. Harry slung the weapon over his back, then looked up. The motion detector hanging off his belt had sounded out. Strange⌠The technician looked at his scanner with a slight look of panic. He spoke to Harry, âT-there shouldnât be anyone else up here, ri-â Harry looked up from his detector as the poor man was cut off. A green reptilian tail had wrapped itself around his neck. Harry blinked. The man disappeared upwards. Harry had retrieved his rifle, he fired off a few bursts, 3 rounds hit the target with a satisfying screech. Luminous blood spattered out of the beast and sizzled against the deckhead. The green abomination slithered into the shadows of the cargo bay with the man, Harry could not get closer due to the window⌠He gristled with frustration, baring his teeth now.
Comms was still dead. He sprinted towards the hangar, cutting through the med lobby, half of it was covered in a strange green mat, he had seen this around xenos before, the seemed to use it to built crude insectile structures. It stank of death and hazardous chemicals. He passed an operating room, there was a a pile of alien corpses. He made his way into the lobby, his motion detector went off, behind him. The doors to the hangar had been broken⌠Harry shouldered his rifle and fired a few cycles behind his. Hissing from the dark put a smile on his face. He turned back around, wedging the knife blade at the end of his rifle inbetween the ruined doors. He put some might into it and they easily parted. He whipped back around. Some kind of strange green creature with massive claws was bounding out of the shadows towards his on all fours. He didnât hesitate to fire, the punchy 10x24 rounds landed score on itâs chest as it leapt towards him, throwing the assailant away from Harry. As it fell to the ground he fired a barrage into itâs centre mass, keeping it at bay. Still firing he walked up to the quivering body and drew his machete, finishing the abomination off. His motion detector went off still. He ran for the hangar.
Oh no ahahah but frankly this is so fitting for a late join.
His shoulder light cut a small pocket out of the shadowy hangar. Harry felt strange seeing the normally bustling flight deck now seemingly empty. But the relentless beeping on his motion detector wouldnât leave him. He continue hurriedly to the second dropship pad, also empty. Harry continued, his face contorted into a wicked snarl. He was ready to kill. He climbed up a ladder and made his way to the command centre, the walls and floor were covered in the same disgusting green masses. He spied what seemed to be two bodies on a wall across from him. He checked the corners of the room and then rushed over. They both seemed to be comatose but breathing, they were stuck to the walls. He grimaced, and cut them down with a machete. One was one of the young Staff Officers, Harry couldnât remember his name. The other was a Doctor. He shook them awake, the Lieutenant woke up first, he gasped loudly. Harry spoke to him, âGet up sir, we need to move now.â
The officer nodded, a distant look in his eyes. He was unarmoured and lightly armed. The officer hoisted the unconscious doctor onto his back, the group scuttled into a nearby maintenance tunnel. The doctor woke up shortly. The young officer spoke, he was obviously trying to mask the fear in his voice. âThe Commander, he went down to the planet with the nuke⌠Have you heard anything? Last I remember were people screaming over comms that something was loose on the ship. And then something reptilian snatched me and did something to me while I was trying to talk to groundsideâŚâ
Harry frowned deeply, his face was stone cold behind his sunglasses. He responded, âHmm, I see. I havenât heard anything from the groundside, the ship seems dead and the hangar is empty.â The Doctor, who had previously been quietly mumbling to himself, now spoke up, âOne of those things⌠Those spider things, that the marines were killing⌠A green one, attached itself to me. I donât remember what happened since then.â Harry was not pleased to hear this. They needed a plan, and they needed to act fast. There was no telling what these creatures mightâve done to these two.
The three stood in silence before the crushing weight of reality was set in by a familiar beep sounding off of Harryâs motion detector. He scowled, âWe need to move now. We should go to medical, and we need to find out what happened to the nukeâŚâ
With this, the three quickly retraced Harryâs path through the hangar and back into medical. Whatever had been there, was gone now. The doctor set to work scanning the officer, and then prepared to perform surgery on him. Fortunately, whatever was down here, wasnât anymore. Harry stood guard, peering suspiciously into the inky blackness.
He perked up to the sound of machinery moving, he recognised that sound. The hangar doors were opening, the Alamo landed gracefully on itâs pad. The doors opened. A large group of marines and their injured spewed forth into the Almayer.