This isn't a Bug Hunt(IC)

[TheFallOfitAll]

The sounds, the rush. The drop. The death, the screams of the fallen Marines. The explosion. It all was there, right in his face. The tears, the denial, the evacuation. Being a survivor, and the ranking marine.


". . . K.I.A. . . K.I.A. . ." He listed them in the report, every name, every fallen Marine. Deep in his memory. He never escaped it, and he knew he never would.





2 weeks after the incident.





Awakening


Mako would have bolted upwards from his nightmare, had he not been in the cryo-tube, hypersleep. His blues eyes slowly opened, as he slowly rose from the white, very cold bed. His was the first to open, as he had set it too. Rubbing his brown hair, he sat upright, and looked around.


The USS Moby was a the ship that he and the marines under his command were stationed upon. As he stood up, his feet touched the cool, metal floor. His vision still a little blurry, he walked slowly, and tiredly towards the showers. He didn't wish to be present in there with the rest of the marines, so he made his visit there fast, dressing in his uniform afterwards.


Dressed in his camouflage, uniform, Mako, otherwise known as Colonel Bridges to the others aboard, walked towards a blank screen near the sleep chambers. There were at least one hundred cryo-tubes, however, much to his disliking, not every one of them had a marine in it. He did not have as many men as he'd wanted for this mission.


Pressing some of the keys, the screen whirled to life. He stared at it, he already knew the mission details.


"Incoming Transmission from planet LV-854.


Two days ago, a group of youth came back from the jungle, some creature on one of the young women's face. We tried to remove it, only for it to either bleed blood that would destroy our tools, or wrap it's tail even tighter around her throat.


We left her in the medical ward overnight last night, and when we came back, she was laying on the floor, dead, in a grotesque manner.


-Silence.


-Some time later


U.S.C.M.C. Please send a rescue team to our planet. We are being over run by some creatures, they are, like nothing we have ever seen. They've already taken at least twenty of us, and more and more are coming, please, hurry."


Mako sighed. The transmission was simple, but he knew. He'd been in a similar situation.


Standing, he walked towards the now opening cryotubes, and shouted in that accent he had. "Alright Marines! Sleep time is over, no more dreams, it's time to enter the real nightmare, get showered, and dressed. You have twenty minutes. We are two hours away from Salvum. This isn't your normal combat drop, this is a rescue mission from Hell."


And with that, Colonel Bridges walked into the mess hall.


The Hunters


A ship. Not of human make. A creature sat upon his throne, his red eyes looking upon the three of his kind before him. Each unique, there was the pale one, the one who counts, and the one who wished to enjoy himself.


Red Eye was the clan leader of the Blood Moon clan, the rightful hunters of the planet that the humans referred to as Salvum. These three before him were there for a reason, this was not an ordinary hunt, but a hunt nonetheless.


He began, in the yautja language. "As you may know, one of our youngbloods was sent to Salvum to prove his worth, when he witnessed a batch of human youngbloods stumbling upon an ancient temple of ours. Going in to investigate the temple, a Serpent egg opened, and struck the youngblood. He was able to send a distress signal from his bio-mask before an Abomination was spawned from him. Surely, the humans on the planet have called for their own armed forces to rescue their survivors."


He paused, momentarily, looking at the three hunters. Then continued. "Your mission upon this hunt is to go there, remain undetected to the humans, and if not, my rules of letting the humans live apply no longer, but fight them in an honorable way. They must not find our technology upon this planet. They must not know of our existence. However, if worse comes to worse, and you feel you have no choice, then working with the humans is permitted. I do not expect this. I expect you to find the youngblood's body, and set his bracer to overload, and travel within the temple, and destroy it. If the humans have let a hive seed, then you may proceed into the hunt. Go, my brothers. Honor is yours!"

 

[StealthNinja115]

SSG Zachary Koontz (Marine)

​

Zachary sat up from his cryo-sleep chamber. He really had wished he could have gotten into the shower before the other marines, but apparently that right is reserved for Colonel Mako. He stood up, determined to be one of the first in the showers, and the first out. Suddenly, he realized how cold he was. He shivered slightly, looking around at the other marines.


"This adds a new definition to staying frosty, marines," he barely got out before chuckling lightly at his own joke. He walked over to the other marines of Bravo Squad, the squad in which he led. "Alright Bravo, off your asses and on your feet! You've got 10 minutes to walk out of the showers, if you have a speck of hyper-sleep on you, you'll have to take another, plus some push-ups!" Meaning the hyper-sleep part as a joke, but realizing he sounded a little more serious than he wanted. He didn't really feel like correcting himself, as he seemed that got them motivated. He was the third marine in the showers, which was the record.


He took a longer shower, and by the time he was done, he was wondering if there was a single marine on the Moby that wasn't in the showers. He barely squeezed through all the marines and came out, being fourth out, not including Col. Mako. After properly readied himself, he began a stroll towards the mess hall. Once he made it to the mess hall, he stopped and waited until he could find all four marines in his squad.

Counter (Predator)

​

Counter howled at the ending of his elders words. He had prepared himself for this hunt for all of the time since last year's blood moon. It is the first hunt he will lead, and he was proud to have such worthy comrades. Counter exited the room to get his equipment. He grabbed his bio-mask and his wrist gauntlet, attaching the wrist gauntlet first and staring at it for a while. He didn't put the bio-mask on quite yet, instead he grabbed both of his wrist blades first, and attached them. He extended both of the 12-inch anti-acidic, serrated blades, inspecting them for any flaws. After being satisfied, he retracted them and grabbed his Combi-Stick, doing to same to make sure it is correctly functioning. He got the remaining pieces of body armor he didn't have on already, and got them on. He checked to make sure all of his equipment was working, including is cloaking device, vocal mimicry, and self destruct device (no, he doesn't explode himself, he uses his wrist gauntlet to make sure it will function if he needs it, which he hopes he doesn't).


Counter, holding his bio-mask in his hand, walked to the scout ship, waiting for the one named 'Slark' and the one with the pale skin.

Lightscar (Xenomorph)

​

( Until my Xenomorph gets it's name, Lightscar, which should be the next post or two, I will refer to it as simply 'it' )


It heard the repetitive thumping of something beating, it soothed it. It also felt the shaking of the area around it, as if it's world was fighting to be freed. It heard the screeching of some... thing... it didn't like the noises or the shaking, so it slammed itself against the side. This helped nothing, the shaking intensified and the noises got louder, so it bit the wall. This made even more problems, instead of shaking, whatever it was in felt as if it was slamming against a wall, and the noises sounded as if they were going to damage it's hearing, and now it was no longer dark, there was a glimmer of light. It liked the light, actually, it felt attracted to it. It seemed more soothing than the shrieking and thumping of the world as it is now. It wanted to go towards the light, so it did as it pleased. It slammed it's head against the wall were the light was coming through. It heard a ripping sound, and the screaming got louder, the thumping harder, the light brighter. It heard a loud noise, but it wasn't sure what the noise was. The shrieking and the thumping stopped, but the soothing beat stopped as well. Everything was quiet, but it didn't like quiet. It slammed against the soft wall again, this time, the ripping noise was heard again, but the wall went through. It could sense things, but not through hearing, like before. It could visualize was it was sensing... It could see. It looked around, seeing multiple things standing on two legs. It looked at itself, it appeared to be coming out of one of them. It looked at the other things again, one was holding something, and the something was pointed at it. It vocalized a loud screeched and darted forwards, hearing a loud pop and a projectile whiz by it. It continued going, and ran into a wall, a wall that was harder than the other one. This wall was a different color, this wall had something on the other side, it was open, and there was cold air blowing out of it. It bit at the wall, and there was an opening now. It crawled through the opening and slid through the vent shaft as fast as it could, to get away from those thing.

 

[ninbinz]

Main Objective: Predator Temple, Bottom Floor.

​

​

My fetters keep me here in the darkness, the hunters locked me here spans ago, time is irrelevant, in the end we will consume all, no matter how long it takes. For such a long time, I slept. My children cold and patient for the moment of awakening. The hive hummed with perfect silence until finally it was cut short. I had seen it through the eyes of my child, I watched as it hatched to find a Hunter, I watched as it stalked it's prey and then when the moment was right, I saw as it pounced. Shivering with delight, never have I had a child born of the Hunters, it was a new experience, I could feel the strength of the hive burgeoning with this one offspring.


Then came the humans, they stumbled through the halls and corridors, they were killed by the traps the hunter's had set up years ago and they became incubators for my drones and warriors. Now I sit imprisoned while my children tend to the eggs. Now, more have come, more Hunters and humans, my children will spread and I will be free, we will devour this planet and move on to the next, it is our way, it is my will.


My children, the time is nigh, Drones split into groups, the first shall tend to the eggs, the second will scout the hall ways and the third group, move to disable the traps, the humans must come to us alive. Warriors; move out, lie in wait for them, for they will come and they will be hours. Hybrid, hunt the hunters, bring them to me and you shall have brethren like yourself and the will be stronger!!.


I could feel them; my children as they obeyed, it was euphoric but the best feeling of all was when one of my children burst to life, endorphins and pheromones flood my senses every time one of my babies is born and I spread my pleasure to the hive.

Pale Eye:

​

Their mission parameters were set, Pale Eye and his new companions would be released upon the planet to observe and if needed, to hunt. But for him the hunt was always and everywhere, his armor always equipped unless maintaining it, his weapons always at the ready and always functioning perfectly. Pale eye had respect for his clan leader, the elite Yautja bore the scars and trophies of many hunts; successful. Pale Eye himself had seen many hunts end well and in his favour. His trophies, he wore, not to be arrogant but to assure others of his skill and dissuade any qualms they might have.


He raised his fist to his chest and pounded it once to show his respect to the clan leader and once more to the clan elder before heading to the drop pods, the hunt leader prepared his equipment. Pale Eye thought this was good, he had long since learned that others were not like him and did not bear their armor and arms at all times but then they had not been hunted as he was, they did not know what it was to be prey, some might think it a weakness but to know how prey think is to know how to hunt them. Once again he pounded his chest in respect, this time to the clan leader.


Pale Eye went through one last round of systems and equipment testing, his smart blade hummed to life for a moment before he deactivated it. All implements were working to satisfaction, with everything now in order Pale Eye made his way to the Scout ship and began the systems diagnostics, it would take moments and would assure him that should something go wrong, the ship was still intact and useable, not as a means of escape but as backup plan should events precipitate unfavourably.

​

 

[Sol]

This would be the first time Mateo tasted cryo-sleep and he had no idea which sucked more, the fact that he was frozen stiff or that some long forgotten lunch wanted to leave his system. Moving his limbs would be the first order of business, everything else came afterward because everything else can't be done if his joint were still locked in place. Stepping out of the pod, he wondered about what happened to his hair during cryo-sleep would it be icy and thawing at this very moment? Apparently, "no" was the answer he got as he ran his hand through his hair. It didn't look like the other marines were used to cryo-sleep too from the way they acted after waking up, it gave Mateo comfort that he wasn't the only one who felt like stumbling when he really intended to walk.


Like the rest of the marines, he followed the flow of movement towards the showers and began washing his frozen body with equally frigid water. If he was to describe the water temperature it would be "liquid ice" or if he were to expound on the thought "Why don't you replace that bar of soap with an ice cube and rub yourself down with just that?" In any case, the rush of cold water woke him up from the grogginess he felt when he woke up.


Stepping out of the shower, he quickly found his fatigues and suited up them again. The next stop should be the mess hall whether Mateo liked it or not, his stomach was grumbling and it felt very empty. It was fairly simple to find the mess hall just follow the procession of marines headed toward it. It wasn't that the ship was very large, it was more because Mateo was still disoriented and needed a guide of sorts as his sense of direction was failing him despite the wake up call from both Col. Bridges and the frigid shower he just took. Mateo took comfort again that he wasn't part of bravo squad, he didn't want to be caught with a speck of hyper-sleep on him by SSgt. Koontz and Mateo wasn't exactly sure if it was just a speck of hyper-sleep on him.

 

[FungKu]

SLARK


Slark gave out a roar in agony to hear one of the young bloods of the blood moon clan was murdered. After the elder's speech, he gave out a nod and looked at the both of his comrades who will be going to the planet to hunt and find the body of the young blood. He did not expect to go out in a hunt after a recent one, he was both overjoyed and angry. He wanted to make the creatures pay for what they have done for the one that was about to prove his worth to the clan. He followed his comrade towards the armory, equipping the light armor, the wrist gauntlet on his left, and the blade gauntlet on his right. And finally, his mask, which was placed on the table like thing. He then immediately put it on as he attached the tubes in the mask, turning it on and allowing him to breath freely. With the mask, he could see the thermal energy of the ship and it's interior and other Yautjas. He then followed his comrade towards the scout ship.


He nodded at both of his comrade to show he was ready and waiting. Meaning any time now, they would go towards the planet with the ship and the hunt will soon begin. Slark's hands were trembling in excitement, he really wanted to go hunt more and collect more trophies. He heard the humans are tough and smart creatures, he hoped this was true so that he may be able to get some trophies with their heads. Slark looked down at his right arm and then tried the wrist blade as the moment he pressed a button, the blade came out of it. This was his favorite weapon, if those abominations had claws, the Yautjas has this.


MARK D2


It was waiting for it's moments. It didn't want to be bothered in it's slumber until it wants to kill and kill and kill. It wanted to feed, it was hungry as it started to open from it's curling position. It then stood up on it's two feet as it's tail idly wagged around, it was in the middle of the amazon and it doesn't know where to go. It wants to kill something, it killed a couple of fleshies and it wasn't satisfied with only so much to kill. It will kill again and again until it is satisfied. It started to crawl away from it's nest and started to hunt, it was hungry.

 

[StealthNinja115]

Counter (Predator)

​

Counter stood at the entrance to the scout ship, looking at the two brothers that would be accompannying him. He received a nod from the one whom was named Slark, and he returned the gesture. Assuming that both of his brothers were ready, he stepped onto the scout ship. He knew the custom of running a diagnostics can on all equipment before a hunt, and that included the ship. He walked to the bridge and began the diagnostics scan, once it was complete and showed no malfunctions, they would begin their way to the planet.

Lightscar (Xenomorph)




​

It finally stopped, feeling extremely confined. It trashed at it's own skin, which was already partially ripped. It ripped the soft, fleshy outer layer off of itself, and felt better instantly. It was still soft and fleshy, but it felt more free. It suddenly realized it's rubbing against the top of the long corridor, and quickly moved along until it found a more open area, where it stayed while it quickly developed a larger size.

 

[Dino]

This wasn't the first time Jefferson cyro-sleep but it still didn't change the fact he still hadn't gotten use to the time it took to be able to feel your limbs once you had woken up, He was cold as hell and certainly didn't like it. He doubted he'd be the first to get to showers so he might as well. Most of his squad had already been to the showers, He stepped out of his "Bed" if you could call it that and made his way to the shower rooms. Once he reached the shower rooms he turned on the shower to be welcomed by the all too common freezing water of the showers, He guessed it did the trick though seeing as he felt awake instead of wanting to get back into a bed even if it was just as cold in his so called bed.


After he dried himself off he got changed into his off duty clothing and made his way to the mess hall telling anyone in the shower room to hurry up and get a move on before they miss Breakfast. He made his own way to the mess hall by now well acquainted with the way to the mess hall. He spotted one of his new squad members his name was Mateo? Yes he knew it was Mateo. He walked up to his squad member who still seemed to be a bit on the tired side,


"Still not wide awake,eh? Better not like Bridges or Koontz see you like that otherwise you'll probably in for trouble."


"Im guessing it was your first time in Cyro-sleep, I've been in it plenty of times and im still not used to it. Just stay in the shower a little longer next time and you should be good."


Jefferson left to go get his food and sat down at a fairly empty Charlie squad table except for 2 other marines he didn't know the names, these must be his two other new recruits. He left them to their conversation and began to eat what was on his plate.

 

[StealthNinja115]

SSG Zachary Koontz (Marine)


( I'm going to refer to my characters by <rank> <last name> or just <last name> from now on for marines, as I have 2. )

​

Ssg Koontz, having gathered up his squad and gathered around Bravo Squad table and began eating, observed as the remaining numbers of the marines were still making their way into the mess hall.

CPL Demitri Leight (Marine)




​

Cpl Leight entered the mess hall after his dragged on shower, finding the Alpha Squad table and starting to eat.

Counter (Predator)




​

Counter waited until the diagnostic scan was complete. Showing that there was no problems with the scout ship, he began prepping it to head to the planet. He turned around and looked at both of the others that were coming with him, to assure himself that they were ready.

Lightscar (Xenomorph)




​

It extended it's new legs and looked around. It was much, MUCH, larger now... It's once soft and fleshy skin was now harder than the walls that now contained it. It let out a short, high-pitched screeching noise and busted out to top of the duct. It climbed through into the hallway, sensing the presence of it's brethren... and it's mother... It didn't know why, but it seemed like it needed those life-forms from before, it needed to take it to it's mother, it's queen, to make more of things like it. It was eager to fulfill this mission, it felt as though this is what it was meant to do.

 

[TheFallOfitAll]

The Mission


After roughly forty five minutes of eating, and getting back to normal, the Colonel's footsteps echoed throughout the mess hall. The Marines who had served with him before knew how much he cared for the colonists, and the vacationers. He was himself when his father was slain in front of him.


"Alright Marines. We have had one mission since our founding. That mission is to be a guard for our colonies on planets away from Earth. That mission is to be the heroes at the end of the day that the civilians look to and know they are safe. As a Marine, we are the saviors, the heroes," He paused, looking at the Marines. His eyes glanced from Alpha Squad, Wolf, Dimitri, to Bravo Squad, Sergeant Koontz, his Marines, to Charlie Squad, Sergeant Romare, de Vera, and the rest of the Squad, to Delta Squad, then Echo, and lastly Foxtrot.


He paced, his the sounds of his boots the only sound. He then continued. "Marines, the vacationers upon planet LV-854 have requested that a battalion of Marines be sent in to the rescue, at the hands of a possible Xenomorph infestation. Now, I know not all of you have been on a combat drop, not all of you know what a Xenomorph is. And some of you know all too well that these creatures are perfectly able to take out a squad with only one of them dying. That's why I am here, in charge."


Again, the Colonel paused, his eyes glancing at his Marines, HIS men. He took a breath. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, lads. Not all of us are going to make it. I've seen these creatures splay people with little effort. There is no true way to prepare. They come from any direction, they think like guerillas, guerilla warfare, their strategy. Once they know we are there, they will not stop. They will come at us in ways you cannot imagine. Check everywhere you see, as the floor underneath you may not be as you think.


"However, Marines. We are the United States Colonial Marines. I fear no evil, and neither should you. We will take these xenomorph bastards and send them right back where they came. We will shove those xenomorph eggs right back up the Queen's ass! We will take those acid blooded @#$!s and show them that our firepower will destroy them.


"We are here, however, for a rescue mission. I know the sound of combat is what most of you may be here for. Our true mission is to rescue any and all survivors upon this rock. We will go to the ends of that planet to bring back anyone who even has a chance at survival," The Colonel paused, walking forward more, his posture perfect, his tone may come off harsh, but not mean. "Marines, I will not dare give you an order I'd never follow myself. If I see a civilian in the arms of one of those extraterrestrial mother(bleep)ers, I will charge that beastie and give it a thrashing so bad that it will regret even coming out of its egg.


"Marines. I have a few simple questions. Are you lean!? Are you mean!? Are you killing machines of the United States Colonial Marines who fear no creature, be it man, wolf, or alien!?" He yelled, waiting for the rest of the Marines to answer him in the calls for the war that was fast approaching. "I want you to move your asses faster than you have ever moved before! Our drop-ship leaves in less than thirty minutes! You heard me, why are you still sitting!? This isn't no god damned couch potatoes job, this is the job of the most badass military force ever to have been known! Semper Fi!"


And with that, he watched as the men yelled with excitement, and thrill. This was to be a drop that he'd hope would go well.


~~


Sergeant Major Silent Wolf would have yelled, and cheered with the rest of the men, but he had not spoken a word in years. He rose from his table, walking calmly to his locker. Hearing off in the distance "Get your equipment! Start the A.P.C.s and get the Dropships ready for take off! On the double Marines!"


He smiled as he opened his locker, grabbing his M4A1 Pulse rifle, strapping ammo to his chest. He quickly paced to the table where his, and all the other Marine smart gunner's weapons lay. He strapped on the aiming mechanism, to the side of his face, grabbed ammo, and the brace. His expression calm, cool. Collected. The Wolf raised his gun, testing the mechanism, lowered it, and spun. His movement was well.


He walked to his spot. Alpha Squad.


~~


The Colonel watched as the rest of the men grabbed their gear, even shouting more orders at them whilst placing his own armor on. Grabbing his twin revolvers, he spun them around his fingers like some cowboy, then holstered them. Raising his M4A1, he checked the sights, then reloaded it, before placing the safety on.


He looked back at his men, though he remained without expression, he was smiling on the inside. He was impressed by the Marines. The very same Marines his father had served in, and now he, himself, a Colonel.

 

[StealthNinja115]

Zachary Koontz (Marine)


Ssg Koontz didn’t roar like the rest, though he did let out a loud “Hoorah!” before going completely silent. He was one of the first to leave the mess hall to fetch his equipment, narrowly behind Alpha Squad in their entirety. It didn’t take long for him to find his Pulse Rifle and Pistol, the weapons he’s most comfortable with. After retrieving everything he needed, he made sure the rest of his squad was adequately prepared for the task, though he knew nothing could truly 100% prepare them for it. He knew that this was one’s first combat drop, and another’s first Xenomorph extermination, so it would probably be tough for them… If they were to survive…


Koontz tried to pull his mind away from that, for he knew that under his strict command, rules, and plan, they should be fine, but only if they follow his rules, and plan.


Demitri Leight (Marine)


Demitri joined the rest of the marines in the yelling. He realized that he was going to be nervous, but yelling would get his adrenaline pumping, and as long as his adrenaline was pumping through his veins, he would be more alert and more able and willing to do what must be done in the coming drop.


He followed Wolf, as their loadouts would be in the same general area. Once Wolf had picked up his Smart Gun, Demitri found his flamethrower. He grabbed his flamethrower and shook it in his hands, testing the weight. He would be the only one with a flamethrower, and he didn't know how effectieve it would be. He grabbed his sidearm as well, just in case his flamethrower didn't do the job, but he was confident it would.


Lightscar (Xenomorph)


It walked down the corridor, looking for those beings that it had seen earlier. It somehow knew that those should be taken to its Queen. It walked down many hallways, he could smell the beings, and it was following the scent. It approached a small, closed door. The scent was strong here, it knew that the beings were on the other side of the door. It looked for a way around the door, it couldn’t get through. It spotted a vent, like it had been in before, but this one was much larger. It reached up towards the vent and ripped it off, and climbed into the duct. It saw light coming from ahead, and it climbed silently towards it.


There was another vent, and through the vent it could see one of those beings, wearing something over its face and holding a container of oddly-colored liquids in its hand. It saw an opportunity to attack. It smashed the vent down on top of the being’s head, and jumped out of the duct. The being fell from the blow, spilling the liquids across the ground. There were more beings there, three. Two of them tried to get the door open, and did so. The third one ran towards the container that still harbored liquids, and flung the container towards it. The container hit it in the head and spilt the liquids over its dome. A sound was made, that sounded like steaming. Its dome become extremely hot and it didn’t like what the being had done to it. It pounced on the being and shot a hole through its head, some of the liquids dripping off of its dome and onto the beings face, where they seemed to corrode a hole into the being. It shook off the remaining liquids, its dome hot but not penetrated by the liquids. It turned around and saw another being, but this one looked like itself. It walked towards the other being, the being mimicked its movements, looking like it was trying to annoy it. This made it angry, it charged at the other being, the other being charging as well, but they both slammed against an invisible wall. It looked up, seeing the invisible wall cracked and now the other being was on the floor as well. That was when it realized, it could see itself through this wall. It had a large, white streak on its dome, where it was searing hot. It was angry at the other beings from before, but that would have to wait. It grabbed the foot of the being it had hit with the vent, and began to drag it towards where it felt the Queen of its kind was.


(From now on, I will refer to ‘it’ as Lightscar.)

​

 

[Sol]

When Mateo found the rest of Charlie squad, he sat down with the rest of them and began eating whatever was on his tray. As he ate with the rest of Charlie squad, their staff sergeant had slipped in with the rest of them without being noticed, it was either that or Mateo was still too disoriented to notice SSgt. Jefferson arrive. Sitting down beside him, Jefferson offered him advice regarding what he could do to shake off more hypersleep. Unlike Col. Bridges and SSgt. Koontz, Jefferson had a different approach with regards to interacting with the marines, if what they say about him is real. At the very least, he'd be hearing the order "go die" in a different tune.


Everyone was given ample time to recover and by the time Col. Bridges gave his speech and a run down on the mission everyone seemed to be alert enough with relatively full bellies. The mess hall grew quiet as Bridges paced around within a small area of the mess hall after he had taken everyone's attention. Not a single bit of noise could be heard save for Col. Mako Bridges' voice encouraging the men and reinforcing what they had to do and what they were there for. Mateo couldn't help but feel a sense of awe to be hearing the voice and be under the command of a legend among the ranks of the USCM, he could feel the words echo throughout himself, the reason they were there and what they were up against. The speech ended with a load roar from the crowd of marines gathered in the mess hall, Mateo hadn't realized he was lending his voice to the roaring crowd as well. And just for a moment, he thought that things might actually go smoothly despite all he's known about the xenomorphs.


Mateo followed the rest of Charlie squad to the armory to gear up. Everyone was heading to their respective lockers to don their personal armor tricked out with whatever designs they decided to add on it. Mateo himself was slightly apprehensive though, feeling the weight of personal armor on him made him feel a little bit better but he could not shake the feeling that this will never be enough to stop a xenomorph attack. He strapped on the helmet over his head and went to pick out his pistol and pulse rifle. A habit that he developed during his basic training in the Marine corps. and the reservist training back on UCPB-10, was that he was always doing a diagnostic check of his current weaponry. It didn't matter if the armor was faulty as long as the weapon worked and spat bullets it would be enough he just had to be careful. The rest of Charlie squad finished gearing up and everyone was waiting on whatever SSgt. Jefferson wanted to say, if he wanted to say anything.

 

[ninbinz]

The Queen:


Waiting........


The darkness was everywhere, and in that darkness was the cold hiss of the Hunters' temple. It was not like the Queen's hiss nor was it similar to the primal hiss of her children, no. It was the hiss of cold stone and metal, it was the hiss of an eternal prison, it was the hiss of a hive coming to life. All their thoughts and senses were her own, all but one. The 'Hunter Spawn', it was not like the others, it was smarter, stronger and better but it had a volition all its own. The Queen could feel it on the periphery of her mind, it still maintained some of its base instincts but it had acquired new ones, in some ways it was like the hunters and she could not understand it but she knew that the hive would be stronger with it. She did not shun it. Shed did hiss in aggravation when it refused her, no. She waited.


Pale Eye:


Final preparations.....


He sat in his seat and overlooked the systems as they went through the final rounds of their diagnostics, then he looked at his pack, they would hunt together but he knew nothing of them. Though the elder and clan chief accepted him, the clan did not. He was an outcast now more than ever and it made no difference to him. What did matter was that he had never hunted with these two before, it troubled him only a little and he would s soon enough how good these two truly were. It would be an honour for all of them to hunt together as they were.


As soon as the diagnostic run was completed he initiated the ship's engines and began plotting their course, they had to land in the most advantageous place, somewhere near to the temple, somewhere that would provide natural cover for the ship despite their camouflage technology, somewhere that was easy enough to escape should the situation require it or if necessary a position that would allow maximum visibility in order to make the temple a giant tomb. There were several areas that would provide ideal cover. However, they did not provide every necessary advantage. One spot was well covered but did not allow for easy escape or provide much visibility, there was another with no cover, easy access and high visibility or there was one with both cover, easy access but lacked the needed visibility.


Pale Eye turned to the others after placing the landing area information on the central screen, they would have to choose the best place to land.