Slayer stood, anxious, on the top of a medium height building near the edge of the city. He was still as a statue, so as not to alert the marines' tracking systems. The foolish creatures seemed to be under the impression that the yautja were prepairing to attack their base.

No...if it was a simple matter of eradicating the pathetic creatures then he would have the clanship rain a nuclear death down on everything in a 100 mile radius. But that was not the predator way.

'We are here to hunt, not to massacre.'

Someone was bound to slip up. One of the humans was inevitably going to be stupid enough to come back into the city. Death seemed to call to these beings and slayer was eager to be the it's voice when that call was answered.

Vevaa looked around. He had just finished his chow, so now he had some time to get a good overview of the situation.

Apparently their so called allies Alpha Draconis were making a fuzz about the WY having lunch at a “time like this†He laughed to himself as he thought of the poor solders that were going hungry into battle. Well, their loss he mumbled to a private sitting across him. The private agreed with everything V said. And to be honest V didn’t like all that ass-licking at all, but everyone else was out doing something else…

The last thing V had heard was that they had made contact with DBO but he didn’t have a clue how it went.
Then he heard Malus giving him the order to burn down the forest. He sighed. Destroying even more of the ecosystem here, well, better that than dying here in a sudden.

The Waffle was already ready to fire when he walked up the ramp and up towards the cockpit. All he had to do was to switch the locking system over to ‘Manual’ and add the targets himself. Vevlaa looked down at the little red knot on the stick.

Fire in the hole he said over the radio, and gently tapped the button once. A barrage of missiles flew away towards the forest hitting their predestined targets burning them to ashes, and lighting up the forest in a massive fireball. He knew that route in would now be suicide. But he left the motion tracker still on.

Order complete, awaiting new orders, sir he said into the com as he lighted up a cigarette

Malus Jay Darkblade, ex-marine, the infamous Traitor of Alpha Draconis, and now Commander of the Weyland-Yutani Military, now the largest Human fighting force left in existence, surveyed the no-man's land coldly. He didn't bother using the scope of his rifle. His own eyes, completely mechanical in nature, did all the tricks that the scope had. And then some. As he increased the magnification he switched the spectrum of his eyes from standard sight to infra-red. The Xenomorphs were completely invisible to Infra-Red, generating little to no heat at all thanks to their insectoid nature. However, the Sentry Guns could see them. They could also detect Yautja to some degree, but a skilled hunter would be able to get past the turrets and mines, whereas a Xenomorph could not.

And from his studies of his enemy, he had learned one vital fact- Predator Cloaking did not render them invisible to infra-red. The cloaking generators actually produced heat, instead of dissipating it. And, he was at an advantage in that the standard uniform of Weyland-Yutani Troops was IR treated, so that the camouflage pattern was even there when viewing them through infra-red. That technology had existed in the early 21st Century. It meant that W-Y soldiers were camouflaged even to the enemy's Infra-Red vision. The technology had fallen out of favour in the space-race, but Malus had brought it back for his boys. He didn't know if the Marines had it, but he doubted it. Whilst his employers had unlimited funds, the Government did not.

He'd have to outfit the marines with IR uniforms when they got back. He didn't pause to let when become if, he wasn't going to let his mind go down that defeatist path. The marines were tough. They would make it alive. They had to. They were to damned stupid to realize they didn't have a chance in hell, and that'd save them. Malus had been like that, once. Sadly, where dumb luck and stubbornness failed him, he had been forced to rely on cold strategy. And now here he was, watching intently for any sign of the enemy...or of his friends. He knew Winter pretty well, they'd been in Acheron Company before he'd even joined Alpha Draconis. Carmine was another matter, though. Still, he showed talent.

And there were the Marines. Some of them Malus had known personally. Some of them he had fought beside. Some he had fought against. All of them, however, he had abandoned during Lost Souls. Peterson had run like a coward, and Nikkie...well, everyone knew what had happened to Nikkie. He'd taken what soldiers he could and bailed them out. The Chain of Command had collapsed, and thier leaders had left them to die. Of course, only those whom had left with Malus knew the full extent of this. Everyone saw it as him betraying the Marines. But no. The Marines had betrayed him, they'd betrayed his comrades. They'd betrayed the very thing that made them heroes. And now they called HIM the Traitor? He couldn't help but spit into the trench he was in with disgust.

Kidd had not been there for Lost Souls. No-one knew where he had been. Some said he'd retired months before. Some said he'd done a runner like Peterson. Some even said he'd died. Malus was as clueless to this as the rest. Still, Kidd was a honourable man. If he had been there, Malus and his men would not have been left to die. He thought of Kidd as a friend, but now he was on his own, along with TDN. He had his own soldiers to look out for. That was why people joined W-Y. They wanted an officer that put them first. They deserved an officer that put them first. And now he was staying true to that. He was putting his men first. And besides, there were now civvies in the refugee tent. He reached for his radio and clicked it on.

"Kidd. TDN. Be advised that the Xenomorphs are starting to get active, and the Yautja from that forest have moved into the city. You're right at ground Zero. Pull your men the fuck out of there. I'm pulling my men back to the base. I expect to see you here, too. Going down like a hero may sound nice in the stories, but in the end there is no hero left to stop all the other villains out there. Plus, instead of thinking of the refugees left in the city, start thinking about the ones you left with us to babysit. You can't save everyone. I learned that early on. But we can save these people. So get back here and let's give them the time they need to evacuate." But where would the civvies go?

Then Carmine distracted him by running towards him, waving his arms and shouting. That was good, Malus had almost shot him. With all the heavy armour on, he looked a bit like a pred over the infrared. A lot like one, in fact. Malus stopped looking at him and started looking around the new recruit, scanning for any possible threats. Especially the windows and rooftops of the nearby buildings. Well, not exactly nearby. He had to increase the magnification of his eyes to maximum to see ém clearly. Of course, it was at that point that he could make out a shadow on one of the rooftops. It kinda looked like Carmine. Ah. Yautja He thought to himself as he took aim with the Railgun, the scope's magnification combining with that of his eyes to give a clear shot.

The WY-102 Railgun was extremely powerful, and had an almost unlimited range. It's Magnetic Accelerator Technology made it extremely potent over extreme ranges. It could even be fired further than the human eye could see, and the bullet would reach the target long before the sound of the shot did. The range didn't matter, the bullet drop wouldn't be anything over that range. Not for the Railgun. It took sniping to the next level. "Be advised, I am firing my weapon." He warned those nearby before he let the crosshair rest on the creature's head, and pulled the trigger.

The recoil was massive, but Malus took it easily. He'd trained extensively with the overpowered weapon the moment he'd joined the Corporation. He liked it a lot. And as the small, hyperkinetic round tore from the weapon and flew at a respectable fraction of lightspeed towards the target, Malus could not help but grin. By the time that the round reached it's target with almost unerring accuracy, the sound of the shot had barely even reached Malus's own ears, let alone the target's. Sadly, his aim was a little off and the target didn't lose it's head or explode in a deluge of blood and gore. The bullet ripped through the concrete that was over it's legs. This was a railgun shot, so concrete was nothing to a weapon that knocked over tanks. Sadly, though, it missed it's mark completely and flew harmlessly off into the distance.

Malus swore to himself at the botched shot, and shook his head. He was getting old. "Gotta get my eyes checked." He said to himself, before lowering the weapon and nodding to Carmine as he jumped into the trench. "Good. You made it. I was a little worried there, mate. Bring me back anything nice?" He asked the man as he saw the figure topple out of sight. Probably ducked behind the concrete that surrounded the lip of the roof. Expecting a reprisal, even though he knew Preds didn't have the range to attack from this far off, he ducked his head into the trench and grinned. "Almost nailed one in the leg for ya. Railguns 0, inhuman S.O.B's, 1." He crowed quietly, before checking Carmine for injuries.

That was when Vevlaa's report crackled in over the radio. One firestorm. He didn't seem too happy about it, but now the threat of a pincer attack had been diverted, which was all that mattered to Malus. He hunkered down in the trench and signaled to Vevlaa. "Good work. If it's clear we ain't gunna survive this, I want you to take the civvies and get them off of this planet. Take them to the place I told you about after we left the Clanship." Malus told him. Vevlaa didn't know anything about the planet in question. Just a set of co-ordinates. Acid Reign. Now the safest place in the galaxy.

Carmine was glad he had made the warning when he had the chance. It turned out that his Commander was one of the people waiting there, who probably wouldn't have taken a second look otherwise. When he asked him if he brought back anything, Carmine took it as a question in a both serious and joking way.

"Sorry, Commander. I tried, but couldn't locate any of the Alpha Draconis members. They're deep in the city. Real deep. And with it being dark, they really need to get their asses out of there," he said, really meaning his apology. He hadn't completed his objective, so he felt as if he'd let his Commander down. He took a peek over the cover, visor down, when the noise hit his ears, and he watched the dreadlocked freak flinch. He chuckled a little, then turned to face Malus, who looked like he was looking him over for any hints of an injury. He wouldn't find any, that was for sure, apart from him being out of breath. "I wouldn't march in there if I had a hundred men behind me, if I were them. Not at night. That place is a wreck."

As he sat there grinning, he pulled something out of his combat webbing pouch, keeping it just out of sight. His grin widened a bit, behind the helmet. "I did bring this back, though. Did you know that some of our guys were in dirty magazines?" he asked with an actually serious tone. He was trying to keep himself from cracking up. He then held up the object, which was revealed to be a magazine advertising for the military, talking about the weapons and benefits from it.

First of which was not being dead as fast as the civvies.

"Found it under some chunks of concrete. Looks old. Probably published about a week before this place fell to the bugs." He knew it was no time for jokes, but he was trying to lighten the load a bit before the real fight began. That was how he coped. Making sarcastic remarks or jokes. He crammed it back into the pouch, deciding that they could look it over more clearly and laugh about it when death wasn't stepping on their toes.

He found it funny how he could be in a situation where death was likely, and yet still found the time to make a joke. Maybe he was stupid. Maybe he was desperate. He didn't know. It was the calm before the storm, so he figured they may as well be enjoying the small time. But now the storm clouds were rolling in, so he'd cut the chatter. He wasn't going to be the one who screwed everything up, no. He was just waiting for the enemy to come out and screw themselves over now.

That was when he thought of something. "While the dropship's still up there, you think maybe he ought to do a recce? Sweep the area and find out exact locations?" he suggested. He wasn't a combat veteran, so he didn't know if that was a good idea or not. It seemed odd, since he was the recruit and making suggestions. But it seemed like a potential advantage, since the ship could give exact status and numbers. It beat sitting on their asses and waiting.

Hearing Malus's orders Saysell began to grimace. He was torn, he was not more than 15 minutes away from TDN and his men now, but if the base fell it meant any chance of getting the survivors off this rock fell with it.
"God dam it Malus, I aint one of you soldiers." Saysell muttered to himself. Saysell quickly realised that the base would surly fall, it was outnumbered by Xenomorphs and out gunned by Yautja. His mind going back and forth between hopeless scenarios, what ifs and maybes being thrown around. Until he decided to press on for TDN, and allegiance he had with the human was with the marines and not Malus.

Picking his radio up Saysell spoke quickly and firmly. "I told you I am getting TDN out before I come back, you survival chances might just be enough with all the humans in one place. Well that or it will be a very quick and easy slaughter for the Xenomorphs and Yautja."

Saysell began to run towards the scent of the Marines once more. They where close, but they where hiding. Coming to a derelict building he could fell human presences, as well as Xenomorph ones.
"TDN? Marines? Sound off!" Saysell yelled into the darkness.
Saysell took in as much scent as he could to try and pinpoint their location, he wasn’t brilliant at this, but he was just about good enough.
Stumbling onto the held out marines Saysell stood static as he heard the loading of pulse rifles and could see the Marines all take aim in his direction.
"Wait!" He pleaded quickly
"I am on your side, I am here to get you back to the main base..." Saysell spoke in a monotone voice now, holding no enthusiasm to his words
"Or to help search for anymore survivors?" His voice now filled with enthusiasm, the prospect of working with the man he had only ever heard of in legends excited him. Only a little, but excited him non-the less.
"So are you going to keep those rifles aimed at me or do have a plan?" The arrogance was now resurfacing in his voice, as much as he tried to hold it back. But it was his nature.

Shadowatching Wore knee length cloth that had no real pictures or anything on it, but the mixture of her chameleon color and the Balatu colors made it gorgeous. The top looked only like a piece of cloth to be draped over her neck, with it hanging down over her breasts and tied to the small belt like thing on her loincloth. The same beautiful chameleon color was radiating like it was glowing! It had a well defined bridge of the hair line, it even curled a few centimeters back. At first glace it looked like just a normal mask that one would place on, and it covered nothing but their features, but as Shadowatching silently and slowly walks up to it, she noticed that it indeed covered her ears! Making the whole thing look uniform and like she didn’t even have them. Well, the Yautja didn’t have ear on the outside, so she would look even more weird if she had her ears sticking out. The part that covered her nose and mouth looked like all the other masks, it stuck out a few inches, with distinct lines come from it to show her cheeks. But on the side that would (where) be her right was her mark of becoming an Young Blood, a mark was here, worn and old looking. Trailing the eyes down her armor, she couldn’t help but gasp as on the stand, right where her neck would be, was a Hard Mead head made out of her chameleon color metal that would perfectly shape around her scar, guarding it from anyone or anything. Shapely shoulder guards came next into her eyes, subtle but seen lines for where the metal could move when she did made her think of an armadillos armor. From there each arm had only a small price of metal along the outside of her arm and then one for her forearm. On her right one however was a mechanisms for where her wrist computer would be placed, and on her left, her wrist blades. But there was something that rested just beyond that that made any ones eyes widen. Just beyond both the wrist guards, were what could be seen as gloves. But these gloves were not the normal. If they looked like anything, they looked like a Yautja hand. Tipped with razor sharp claws, the tops of Shadowatching's hands would be covered by her chameleon-like metal to make her hand like that of a true Yautja, giving her the same advantage as them.

Her chest was protected by a simple but beautifully sculpted piece of her chameleon-like metal that cupped her breasts completely, to Shadowatching's old orders, and it even covered lower onto her abdomen to reach the base of her rib bones. From there on was nothing, her stomach and such out be exposed. She was as strong as the Yautja and needed extra protection. The belt that would be wrapped around Shadowatching's waist tightly already had spots made for her weapons, but they were all lose so that they could tighten them as to what she would have on her. Just below that was a mid-thigh length loincloth, made from her chameleon-like metal of course, that was also layered for movement. What made Shadowatching used to grimace a bit was that it only covered about six or seven inches of her front! While Shadowatching understood that she would need as much movement as possible, she didn’t want to give her pray a peep show. She wore black boots that held blades one in each of them. Her mask, was a plain yautja (predator mask). 2 swords crossed her back, throwing knives on her body, with the wrist blade, shirkins, smart disk, combistick All chameleon in color. "I am here" She said in a quite whisper. The plain chameleon color, yautja mask on her face looked menacing on her small 5'2 figure. She placed the last item, two last items on her body, a whip and a dagger from her family.not much, just something the fingers danced across the cool metal and the other side danced across the metallic leather. A grin held her lips and was gone in the next second. She never kept a smile long, unless it was after a kill, enjoying the thrill of the hunt, more then her own life at times. She missed a lot of things, and wished to understand more of it. But those thoughts are for another time.

Shadow, stood on a branch watching the pods fall to the ground, she smiled and shook her head. This one, she is alone in, she won't receive nor help any yautja, or any men at all. This was her's and her's alone. No, she won't fight any of the yautja', unless they attack her first. She shook her head, the dreads swayed back and forth slowly. The finger's danced on her stomach touching the scarring on her body. She jumped down, the cloaking device on, as she stalked one of the Xeno's.


Fire hunter.

TDN sat inside the shelter, taking rest along with his men after their last ordeal. As he listened to Malus' words, he couldn't help it but grinned. Malus had said that they weren't that much different. At first TDN had felt a bit of anger, but after a while somehow he couldn't help it but agree. "Maybe we aren't that much different after all" he thought "after all, we're both men who had seen more than any man should ever see in their lifetime".

TDN then suddenly said "Malus, do you wish to know what I've seen when I've left Alpha Draconis, when I traveled to the outer galaxies?". For some reason, he suddenly felt the need to share this, even if the memories were painful, and his men were listening as well. "After I left, I was a man without a team, without purpose. I traveled to the edge of the Draconis system, and joined up with a rag tag gorup of marines. At first I thought we had one purpose, to conduct rescue operations when needed" he continued "during one of those operations, we were to rescue scientists as well as WY mercenaries, your kind from a lab that had been destroyed by a hybrid and was burning down. The only problem when we got there was that the dropships wouldn't be able to hold everyone. As soon as those mercs got on board, they told us to go and leave the scientists behind. I had insisted on letting them on board. Next thing I know, I was on the ground with a bullet in my arm and in the middle of the burning flame. You guessed it, those mercenaries that I came to rescue had betrayed me, shot me and left me for dead. Others who tried to get on were also shot and thrown into the fire".

"Ah but here's the kicker" he continued "My badly burned body was repaired using synthetic parts...by the company. See turns out that group of marines was actually funded by the company, and I was only a tool used to get the research data from the lab back to them. They repaired me only because I was too useful to let go. So I guess for a short time I was one of you". At this, he could feel his anger rising again. "You think it was only from indoctrination that I hate the company and their hired guns? No, I've seen what you guys are capable of. The epitome of human evil". "But I guess I'll admit one thing" TDN said as he subdued his anger "that your care for your men seems genuine. You seem to be like me, someone who had become disillusioned by their experiences. That's why I agreed that we're not that much different".

As TDN sat there silent for quite a while, hearing no comments from anyone, Malus suddenly called him with an emergency order to retreat. "So those things are raking the offensive now have they?" he said "Alright, I guess I have no choice but to head back". His only worry now, was that they were quite far away from the base, and anything could ambush them on their trip back. As he stood trying to think of his next action, one of his men detected movements outside their shelter. Along with his men, they all went out to see what was coming. "Be on the alert, we don't know what's coming".

What they saw was a human figure approaching them. As his men raised their gun at the figure, it tried to convince them that it was there to help them get back to base. TDN made a sudden dash at it, and although the figure reacted quickly, he was able to cut it a bit on the hand. He looked at his blade and could see that the metal was slowly dissolving. "Acidic blood" he said "you're another hybrid. What does Xeuss mean to you?". As soon as he said that he could see that those words had an impact on the hybrid.

"You don't need to answer, because your reaction said it all. You know him, and I'd say you know him pretty well" he said "and judging by your strengths you're the weaker one. So he's your leader is it?". TDN ordered his men to keep their aim on the hybrid. "Well, better explain yourself. Your commander kills a bunch of my men and you're trying to convince me you're on my side? A bit hard don't you think?".

Gaunt had continued to follow Saysell, To his dissapointment the large area that he had seen up ahead was a marine base.
He had desided to stay low and monitor the base, He had been watching for sometime now when he suddenly heard something, It was the queen, She was giving new orders to aliens that had got back to the Hive, He couldn't here the orders very well because he was very far away so he didn't pay much attention to them.
He then saw Saysell runnig down the pathway from the base, This time with no group.
This was the perfect opertunity to get anoughter fight with Saysell, Gaunt followed him all the way to a human shelter, Gaunt could see it, Through the remains of a window he could see humans, They looked normal for a second then chestbursters came out of them.
Gaunt looked over the edge of the roof top and saw Saysell losing it, obviously he like some humans couldn't handel the sound of over humans dying Or he was having a guilt driven breakdown.
Then Saysell ran inside the building, The perfect place for a battle.
Gaunt jumped into the ruined window and went inside the building, He quickly climbed onto the west wall and looked around the room 25ft down, Looking for Saysell.

Kirby had started eatting the human when War called him back.the large predalien with a some spine missing made the grate look like ripping papper into halves...kirby started to go in but War called him to "Stop!"kirby looked back then looked forward seeing some strange lumps on the walls that shoulden't be there."kirby hissed "Mines!"kirby then came back from the sewers.

Suddenly the Marine Saysell had been sent to save was attacking him. Cutting his hand and taking hold of him and asking questions. The blood trickled down Saysell's hand and onto the floor, as the blood seeped from his hand his head began to hurt. It burned with an intense fire and pain. She was trying to talk to him, he had blocked it out for so long with minimal effort, but now this Marine had unleashed something in him.

Saysell's face quickly turned form its usual joking composer, to a fierce glare. The Xenomorph in him was screaming to come out and tear these men apart, but he was resisting it the best he could.

"I came here to save your sorry arse! I know Xeuss yea, I know him very well. You usually do when you have travelled with someone for as long as we travelled, but he abandoned me here. He left me to make my own fate, so I decided I would lend a hand in regaining Earth and saving as many of you stupid monkeys as I could. But you cut the hand I was willing to lend. So you brought this upon yourself." At that Saysell quickly slammed his bare bleeding palm onto TDN's face. His blood was just as potent as any full Xenomorphs.

As the marine tried to pull away from the burning pain Saysell smashed his other hand to the other side of his head holding it in place, he began to push from both directions, directly onto the Marine's temples. Quickly turning both of their bodies so that TDN now had his back to his Marines as they began to open fire.
A total of six rounds hit TDN, of course they barley grazed the marine through his armour, in fact only one when into his body, through his left shoulder cutting through the muscle and ligaments that controled the arm that still had hold of Saysell. The damage to TDN's shoulder caused his grasp to losen giving Saysell the chance he needed. Saysell let go and used the time he had just bought himself to run back the way he came, firing at the marines as he ran. He knew he had no chance of hitting but it kept them down at least while he escaped.

Running back out into the night Saysell realised what he had just done. His animalistic side had just came out to terrible effect, now his only ally was in a Xenomorph hive and soon enough the Marines would be on his arse.
Then it dawned on him the Melanie was here, and if she was here that is the only ally any hunted hybrid could ask for. Twice as tough as the Waffle and armed like it was about to fly into the jaws of hell intent on coming back out. She was his only chance now.

"Sir?" spoke Young as he stopped dead in his tracks, and he continues,"Do you hear that?" Causing the team to stop, Kidd turns to face the marine and then to look away only to start to listen into the night. Faint screeches were heard from the darkness and it slowly starts to get louder and louder. "Aw, darn it! Deb, have you reached TDN yet?" asked Kidd as he lifted his rifle up and aims it into the blackness. "No sir."The marine answered, "But, those Weyland boys are ordering a general retreat." DeBenardo continued as he puts the radio away only to raise his rifle up. "From the sound of it, I don't doubt it, but I am not going to leave TDN out there." said Kidd. No sooner when the AD leader finished his sentence, the sound of a manhole cover moving is heard and the sound of loud screeches followed. "Get out of here!" yelled Kidd as he and his squad starts to retreat. Armed with only pulse rifles with underslung grenade launchers, the small marine squad was at a severe disadvantage. Not taking any chances, they ran as fast as they can back to base, only to be stopped by several xenos appearing through the manhole infront of them. Dark serphents crawled out from the hole with tails whipping and claws slashing, the marines slowed their retreat to combat these monsters.

The marines advanced towards the manhole with rifles blazing. Killing the first several serphents who emerged from the hole, the marines surrounds the hole. Out in the open street and soon going to be engulfed by the insect swarm that is amassing from the city center, the marines attempt to hold the xenomorph monsters coming from their bughole as they retreat. Getting enough safe distance away from the manhole, a marine jumps out from the group only to shoot his grenade launcher at the hole. An explosion follows as well as the screams from the dying xenos come from within it. "Come on, lets hurry!" ordered Kidd as he snaps his fingers just before he turned to resume his retreat. The squad run for their very lives towards the base, having a large force of serphents following them in the darkness, only to appear and disappear when they enter the illuminated area from which several fires made. Soon, a scream from one of the squad members was heard. Yelling out loud and reaching for the nearest marine close by, he was swallowed by the darkness, not to be seen again. "Sir! They got DeBenardo!" yelled out a marine and soon, he too was taken by the darkness. "What the hell!? Are they on top of us?" ,Kidd asked himself as he ran. Just then, he spots a sturdy building and starts to run for it. Knowing that his team will follow him, Kidd rushes for the building. A standard door with nothing special, Kidd kicks the door open and waves for his soldiers to enter,"Get in here guys! Oh shi...!" Kidd raises his rifle and fires his pulse rifle at the incoming serphent who was about to take Valk. The team enters the building with Kidd being the last one in, turning and bracing the door, the marines hold the xenomorphs back outside while the two other marines hold their rifles at the ready. "Guys! Seems like this is it! I'll see ya fellas in hell." said Kidd yelled out as he holds the door back with all his might with two others. Chase then spoke up from behind the two marines as he lowers his rifle,"Oh, we're not going to die here. Hell no!" ,he turns away and starting to search the place. "Chase! Get back here!" ordered Kidd as he propped his knee against the door, to brace the door better. Just then, an unknown person yells out to the marines,"Quick! Get down here!" Turning to see who this person is, the marines see that is was a survivor, a survivor with a way to keep them from becoming hosts to the insects. One by one, the marines retreat down into the floor basement of the building. The hinges to the door begins to loosen from its brace and Kidd fins himself to be in a very difficult position to get to the basement. Having no other way to make it with his men, Kidd yells out for them to hear him, "I'm sorry guys, I can't do it! You all know what to do. Just continue with the mission; find and rescue as many survivors as you can and destroy the hive." "Oh no you don't sir!" said Chase as he slams himself against the door to hold it in place. "You continue with the mission! We need you to lead us to victory, and the only way you can do that is for you to live. Go! Just go on and get out of here sir!" Chase yelled out, pleading to his commanding officer to escape. Shaking his head, Kidd lifts off from the door and rushes toward the basement. When he makes it there, he turns to look back at Chase who just turned to press his back against the failing door. Taking a grenade and pulling the pin, he sees the marine turn look up at him, and on his face, he spoke bravely with a smile,"Told you I was going to regret it." That was then when the marines pulled Kidd down into the basement with the civilian close behind them, closing the door above them. Hearing a loud explosion going off above them, the inhabitants of the basement all fall to the ground from the vibration of the explosion made into the ground.

The marines and the civilian slowly regain their bearings as most sat up while one other stood up. All were looking up at the door hatch above them, Kidd, sitting on the ground, shook his head only to say, "You bastard." Now stuck under the building with no way up to the surface, the marines have no choice but to come up with a plan to make it back up to the surface. "Sir?" asked Valk as he crawls over to his squad leader to grab his shoulder, "There was nothing you could have done to save him. Chase was a good man, and a loyal marine, although he did follow his own beliefs, he died like any other marine would." "Valk..." ,Kidd started as he looks back at the marine, "We're screwed. We lost three marines and the only radio we had to contact the rest of the unit. On top of that, we lost alot of our equipment to those darn insects!"Listening in to the marines' conversation, the civilian shyly spoke up,"Uh, I-I-I have some, fl-flashlights here. Mayb-be you can use them, of-of course?" Staring at the civilian, the marines could not help themselves but stare at the man beyond belief. "How did you survive this long down here?" ,asked Young as he approaches the survivor. "N-not just me, b-b-but me and an-another down here t-too." "Show us." ordered Kidd as he gets up onto his feet. Holding his rifle, the AD leader follows the civilian with Young, to see the other survivor. Valk, getting up to his feet as well, just remains where he is at. Turning to look up at the door above him, he shakes his head and spoke softly, "I'll see you again, brotha." The marine then turns to follow the trio to see the second survivor.

The air was thick with the sound of war. It seemed like the whole area had erupted all at once with gunfire and the screams of the dieing. Slayer breathed in the cool night and stood up from his crouched position on the roof.

In the distance he could make out the lights of the marine base, barely visible through the buildings. He stared at it with hatred. The scornful monstrosity that was the Weyland Yutani military collective had dug it's roots into the earth and taken hold.

Suddenly, slayer detected a change in the air temperature. It was slight, but his fine tuned senses picked it up. It meant only one thing, someone was about to fire a very powerful weapon.

He was right. The blinding beam of a railgun shot smashed into the building that Slayer was standing on, missing him...but barely.

It came right from the WY base. Without missing a beat, slayer turned and jumped from the roof. He caught a window ledge that was jutting out of the face of the next building over, and pulled his weight up inside.

He took a second to collect himself, and looked around. The room was bleak. There was a burned corpse of a human lying on a bed in one corner, it looked like it had been placed there, because there was no sign of fire damage anywhere else.

'Must have been the survivors...' thought slayer. He walked out of the room and into an empty hallway. The whole building smelled like rotting flesh, clearly horrible things had happened here.

'Time to leave'

He ran to the end of the hall where there was another window. Tearing it open, he swung himself onto the outside ledge and climbed down onto the street below.

Making sure to stay well hidden, he made his way along the streets...there was no one around...only the sounds of death everywhere.

'Soon' he thought.

FireHunter prowled through the jungle, he was fully aware of everything...well, nearly everything.
He missed the dark shape in the tree, he missed the scent of her, a strange scent between a human and yautja. He was growling, something was telling him that he was being stalked, was it that bizarre feeling of someone staring at you, or was it the fact that a twig snapped just as he was pondering this in his animal-minded head. He whipped around and snarled.
At nothing.
He was getting paranoid, he was experiencing his most felt emotion, fury.
Fury at the being who would not show itself, fury at the coward who must stalk before killing, fury at the sudden hint of movement in the corner of his vision.
He lashed out at it.
he grabbed the struggling creature and raised it to eye level.
A dog.
FireHunter's second jaw flew out as quick as lightning, and disappeared just as quick.
There was no noise but the crunch of bone and blood splattering and breaking beneath the jaws of death, and the final yelp of the dog.
Something else twitched in his vision, a larger, more threatening shape than the dog, and only recognizable as Shadowatching.
He lunged at her.

TDN held his hand to his face, where the pain from the acid wound had been. Once again, he had been overpowered by these hybrids, and once again they had fled before he could've had a chance to attack back. "Damnit, I hate it when they hit and run" he thought. But somehow he felt that he had made a mistake. This hybrid did not seemed to have wanted to kill them like the previous one. It had even claimed to have came here to help them return to base. Although he could not fully trust the words from that hybrid, he sensed that there was a certain amount of thruth behind it. "No point thinking about it now" he thought.

His thoughts suddenly were back on Xeuss, the hybrid that had killed his men with his own weapon. "Xeuss huh" he said to himself "I'll remember you until I die. And until then I'll try my best to see to it that you're dead. I may have underestimated you before, but not this time. Next time I will not make the same mistake". Turning to his men, he decided that it was time to return to the base. While finding the survivors was a top priority, if the base was to fall then everything would've been for naught. "Come on men, let's begin the march back" he told his men.

TDN remember that Kidd had went into the city just as he did to search for survivors. He had the make sure that Kidd got the message to return. "Kidd, it's probably a good idea for us to return to base right now" he said through his radio. There was no response. "Hey Kidd, lieutenant Kidd are you there? Respond!". Still no answer came. He was getting a bit anxious. Calling to the marines back in the base he asked "Where is Lt Kidd? I am not able to communicate with him". "We lost contact with the lieutenant some tiem ago" was the reply "we have not heard from him since he went deeper into the city". "Looks like he had gotten himself into trouble" TDN thought "it also looks like I'm not going to be able to go back to base yet.

Calling on Malus, TDN said "Malus? I know this is a bad time for this, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay here a while longer and search for Kidd. I know the base is very important to us right now, but we can't lose our leader. It's like losing your backbone, it will destroy the marine's morale". He decided for the next message he wanted the marines who are in the base to hear as well "All marines inside the main base, since we have lost contact with Lt Kidd, I am the next in command. And as of now, I am giving the command of you guys to officer Malus of Weyland Yutani". He could hear the disapproval in their voices. "I know it's not something you agree with, but because I will not be there nore will Kidd be there to take command of you guys, you will need a leader, or you will become an uncoordinated mess. I don't like it either but it has to be done" he said, and their voices seems to have calmed down, even if there are still many who don't agree.

"You surprised, Malus?" TDN said "I still don't know if I can fully trust you with my men yet. But I do know that you know how to judge the situation and you know that any loss of my men would be disadvantagous to you guys as well. This is purely out of necessity that I'm giving you command. Lead them well, and make sure there is the least amount of casualties as possible. Or you're going to have to answer to me".

And with that he turned to his men and said "Come on men, let's go save our comrades".

Carmine curled his right hand into a fist, the sound of the material being forced to stretch coming clearly. That was a habit he got when he felt like he was under extreme pressure, because usually it meant he was about to have to punch something's head in. But he also did it when he was thinking about risky things.

He had no military experience. He had no teamwork experience. But he had spent long enough alone to become a decent strategist. He had a plan to get AD out of there. He knew they'd need them in the near future, because otherwise everything would go to shit. It was in no way simple, or safe. But since nobody else was stepping up to bat, he'd step up to his first good suggestion.

"Commander, you want them out of there, right? TDN and those other guys?" he asked. It was a hypothetical question, but Carmine had a tone to his voice that hinted bad things. He took a look over his shoulder to see where the others were... Everybody but the AD leaders, their troops, and DBO was here. And they had three motorbikes and one dropship to work with, in terms of transport. "I got a plan." An APC would have been nice.

"After we cut down their numbers, four of us can take the two motorbikes in there, two and two. And we can go find the AD with known locations. When we find 'em, we ditch the motorbikes, and find the tallest building in the area, probably somewhere close to the base. When we get there, we'll get up to the roof and call in the dropship for pickup," he said in that same tone. He didn't sound too happy about the idea, but his bloodlust kept his enthusiasm up. He had wanted to use the term if, and not when, but he wasn't going to let it become that. Even if AD was to die, he had no plans to let it happen.

"It'll be a suicide mission, I know that. And I know one squad isn't much. But we need people here to defend the place. And we'll have support from AD. I don't think there's any other way to do it," he continued, thinking about who would go on such a mission. It was definitely a suicide mission. It'd also be wasting the motorbikes. But he wasn't taking any chances by saying that they'd walk through the streets. He had fallen into accidentally sounding like he was giving orders again, so he stopped talking.

First step was to survive the attack.

As Xeuss decended further into the hive the Queen's voice was getting louder, a feeling of pride and loialty for his Queen filled him more and more. He was moving very fast, the pain in his shoulder kept coming back as he ran but he ignored it. It was unusul for the pain to return, but it was unusual for him to use a hurt limb so intensely. However the Queen's voice was taking his mind. He ran as fast as he could until he got to a relatively circular room where a drone was guarding two people stuck in a wall of resin.

He stopped to look at them. "OUT!" he screeched at the drone and it moved away with a disapproving hiss. Xeuss stpped closer to the two humans. A man and a woman. The man's chest was shattered and a dead facehugger lay at his feet. But the woman was still alive, barely. "Leave her... it is too late for her... she will die soon... to soon for us to grow inside her... leave her to die..." The Queen was whispering this to his mind but... it did not sem right... to leave innocent people to die...

Xeuss had known many honourable Yautja in his life and picked up some sense of honour... and at that moment, leaving a defenseless person to die of starvation for no purpose din't quite seem right, no matter what the Queen said. Plus, no matter how devoted the xenomorph in him was, the human was still human enough to judge this as wrong. Blocking the mind of the Queen he took his knife and carefully removed the resin that was holding the woman on the wall. She was unconscious, barely breathing, she needed help fast. With the woman on his still healthy shoulder he started walking back twards the entrance. But this was too slow.

Xeuss picked up the radio, pressed a few buttons and started talking and he was heard loud and clear on the Corporation's end.

"I am speaking on a frequency that i recently got a message on, the message was not for me, but because of it i assume that i am talking to the Weyland-Yutani. This is Xeuss of the Dark Blood Organization, i have a woman here in need of urgent medical attention, i am extracting her from the hive right now, but the Queen may not be happy about it. I also may have pissed the marines off a little bit and i expect someone to tell them not to shoot on sight because i am carrying a survivor. You will need to have something to transport her with fast if you choose to help me, otherwise i will find my own means of getting her to safety."

It was unlikely for him to be left alone after having killed a bunch of marines, so he needed some backup plan. Of what Xeuss knew, Saysell was somewhere around the Corporation's headquarters, but he expected he would get somewhere out of sight when he heard his voice anyway. So the next message was to be for him alone.

"Saysell, did you hear that? I have a survivor and i requested the Corporation's aid in taking her to safety. If they don't do something then we'll have to get her to the Melanie. But i've killed some marines so now they'll be after me, i need you to stand by and help me if needed."

He whispered the message to make it less likely that it was heard by anyone else. The line was completely secure. In situations like this, the radio waves were sent to the Melanie in an encrypted form, then she sent them back only to the one it was addressed to. The ship jammed everything around one straight, relatively thin line from her to Saysell, making it impossible for anyone else to message eachother for the duration of the messge. Sure it had a delay of a few seconds while the Melanie starte the necessary systms but in this case it was not so important.

Vevlaa was in rage. He had listened to the chatter on the radio, and was getting mad by each word spoken. â€ÂTo all Troops, This is Vevlaa. I’m organizing a rescue mission, and I need all available men at the ‘Waffle’ YESTERDAY!†He grinned into the multi-frequency radio within the ‘Waffle’. He knew he would probably be held at trial for this, but that didn’t matter now. All that counted now, was the safety of the humans still alive.

He didn’t have to wait long before the first troopers jumped in, soon followed by a whole medic’s team.
â€ÂGood, now buckle up men, we are going in hostile territory , be ready for anything! He said to the speakers onboard.
The ‘Waffle’ took off with a roar, knocking over a nearby tent, and flew into the darkness. Vevlaa turned off all exterior lights and as far as he could tell, there was no way to see the pitch black ship flying toward the city in an alarming speed.

Vevlaa shook his head, before he picked up the radio he then turned on the loudspeakers aswell: This is Whiskey One, Calling anyone still alive in the City. If there is anyone still alive, proceed to LZ at the center of the city on top of the 30floor building for immediate extraction. Out He repeated the message a couple of times before flying to a height of 20.000ft. At that point, he would even be safe from a predator Plasmacaster….

Lone Hunter had headed west but remained in the deep part of the Forest, to see how far the hard meat had spread, there where signs of battle in the area that he had just entered…human gun fire, Xenomorph bodies and acid burns on the ground and some trees that had been cut down from the battle and….â€Âthere we are†LH had spotted what he was looking for, he climbed down the tree then picked up the knife that was clearly of Yautja design and inspected, it was definitely a bad blood clan knife, Lone Hunter looked around, changing his vision modes as he did looking for any survivors. He saw nothing at first…he looked over the spot again and spotted what he was looking for, a faint heat signature of a yautja foot, LH jumped down from the trees and inspected it more closely, 6-7 hours old hardly any heat left but just enough for a trail as he followed the direction by looking up, growling lone Hunter jumped back up into a tree and silently began to follow the trail….

A few hours later and Lone Hunter had followed the trail all the way west, at the edge of the forest, staring at the camp of the bad bloods, Lone Hunter watched as they were celebrating their latest kills, getting drunker with every minute. LH inspected their camp; they had around 12 plasma turrets set up in a circle around them twenty metres out and 15 metres from each other, leaving only a small and mined entrance to the forest. Lone hunter switched to his tech vision mode and after a little while found the path trough the mines, a plan formulating in his head he switched back to his heat vision and continued to watch the rouges. They continued to drink until the leader barked an order and one of the rouges walked to a cage that was near the back of the encampment and brought out a human survivor, a young boy no older than twelve, LH stared both in horror and fury as the rouges had their “fun†in killing the young boy, Lone Hunter looked back at the cage to find a single survivor left, a young girl between 13-14, LH clenched his muscles as he added he rescue in his plan and eliminating his first objective and plan for killing the rouges. They didn’t bring out the girl; instead they continued to drink and eat until they passed out and feel asleep leaving only one sober Yautja to stand guard… “Far too easy†he thought.

Climbing down quietly Lone Hunter walked through the mine fields only entrance and slowly walked up to the Rouge who’s back was still turned to him, silently LH removes one of his knives from his leg sheaths and stabs the sentry through the neck and snapping it LH dragged the body to the cage and upon opening it I throw the body and take the girl out placing my spare wrist comp on her and activating the cloaking system, I then pick her up and make my way to the forest placing four plasma minds around the camp silently, all of which are cloaked and set to maximum damage set to go off via remote detonation from his wrist comp.

10 mins later Lone Hunter was deep in the forest when he activated the plasma bombs, killing the rouges in the camp. LH then turns to stare at the girl; she was 14, not in between 13 and half as he originally thought, Lone Hunter thought for awhile as the girl who had been scarred mute just stared back….LH then removed the same knife that he stabbed the rouge sentry with along with its scarab and gave to the girl, then he took his spare plasma gun and equipped it in the hand held variant equipment and after demonstrating on how it worked gave it to her as well. The human girl continues to stare at both the gun and the alien of the same species that had killed her friends and family as well as the other ones that did the same to her, wondering why this one helped her. Suddenly the ground began to shake, picking up the girl Lone Hunter jumps up climbs the highest tree nearby, looking through the canopy to see his clan’s ship de-cloaked and deploying its drop pods, “It’s okay, I’m with them†LH said in plain yet slightly disgruntled English jumping down to the next tree as Xeno Slayers message played though his mask, LH began moving towards the pods. Suddenly the forest was lighted up with flames. Lone hunter quickly escaped the flames with the girl unscathed, moving around the far west edge of the marine camp.

a few hours later after hearing all the commotions that had happened Lone hunter was on top of a 20 story building that had yet to be infested by the hard meat which kept the girl safe from any face huggers…for the time being. LH stared at the marine camp and watched as the human drop ship began to take and speed through night and rapidly climb. Lone Hunter turned his attention back at the camp…rolling his shoulders that had began to hurt…

(sorry for taking so long with this post.)

The three marines followed the survivor to the back of the room in which he stops in the middle of the room. "I thought you said there is another survivor down here." said Young as he looks around the room and seeing nothing but supplies to sustain a group of people for a couple of months. "Looks more like a dead end to me." ,the marine finished as he looks back at the civilian who is now making his way to the fuse box panel. Openning the panel and revealing a keypad inside, the man punches in several numbers as he answers the marine's question,"Th-there is another person d-d-down here, and h-he is waiting." Pressing the 'pound' button on the keypad, the console's beeps in acceptance of the code that he entered. Directly in front of the marines, the wall begins to split to reveal another room which looks more like a small underground lab than an ordinary basement. "You got to be kidding me!" Kidd spoke up in astonishment. "The c-corporation has built several of these labs under b-b-buildings like the one you j-just entered. I-it helps the company-ny with their research b-by not having th-the military hampering their p-progress." ,answered the civilian as he walks into the small room. "Then why are you helpings us?" asked Valk as he and the other two marines follow the survivor inside. As soon as they entered, the door behind them starts to close. "I-I'm not. J-just try-trying to save th-the earth." answered the man.

Following the man within the small underground lab, the marines were stopped by the sound of another voice within the room. Holding their rifles up and aiming at the person who is walking out to be seen. Dressed like a scientist, the man looks at the three, battle-scarred marines with his icy blue eyes which are peering through the pair of glasses on his face,"I'm sorry to have dragged you and your soldiers down here, lieutenant, but I need your help." said the man as he approaches the three marines and the survivor. "Thank you Sixteen." said the scientist as he looks over at the man, "Now return to your post, if you hear any more people out there, let them in." he continued only to have Sixteen nod his head and turn back around to head back towards the door.

Surprised, and lowering his rifle as well as the other marines, Kidd frowns at the scientist and orders the man to indentify himself,"Who the hell are you!?" The scientist folds his arms across his chest and calmly answers the marine's question,"I am Dr. Manning. I am a xenobiologist for the Corporation. The guy who saved you is my synth, Sixteen. I'm sorry about his speech programming. I found him down here collecting dust. Of course, I activated him and when he started to talk to me, he was a mute. With little knowledge of synthetics I have, I did my best to fix him. As you can see, he can talk very well, except for the stuttering part." "So why does he think independently, because he told us he was not helping us but trying to save the earth." asked Young, being curious about Sixteen. "I needed someone who can tell me his or her's beliefs without being so logical to the questions I ask. Sixteen, I removed as much of the blocks I can from him so that he can think for himself and to keep me sane down in this prison that I have been trapped in for weeks." "Enough of this!" Kidd cried out as he approaches Manning only to tower over the scientist,"You tell me why you have dragged us down here in this basement with you!?" "Calm down, calm down, sir. I know you have been through alot, because I could hear all the commotion above me." said Manning as he steps away from the approaching marine. Clearing his throat, the scientist answers the question,"I need military assistance, you see? I have been monitoring your calls back and forth between you guys, so I knew it was only going to be time when one of you guys will show up down here. Now, I can't call out to people, but I can get updates on the current situation that we are in." Kidd looks at the scientist and over at the radio in which he is pointing to. Unsure to trust a corporate, Kidd looks back at the scientist and asks,"What sort of assistance are you looking for, from us?" "That sir, I will explain, but first, come with me." said Dr. Manning as he turns to walk away from the marines, only to hope to have them follow him.

Following the scientist in the room only to come across a dug up side of a large, metal pipe, the marines look down at the bare side only to look over at the scientist who only begun to speak,"This is a pipe to the city sewers. After hearing talks about the city sewers from you marines, I had Sixteen dig up this pipe. As you can see, he has cleared a good portion of the side and the metal should be thin enough to use your little gadgets to cut a piece out so you can enter in. If it isn't, then the only known way to do it is use a satchel charge or something, but that is a risk that I don't want to take. This room is more secured than that basement which you guys entered into." Well then..." said Kidd, pondering on the situation that is before him,"I guess we have no choice but to go into this pipe, fellas." Stepping back away from the hole and shaking his head, Young speaks against Kidd, "No sir! We finally got out of that mess that we were in, and now you want us to get back into it again? I will not comply, not only that, we have no explosives to blow that thing open just so we can enter it, so sir, no!" Staring at the marine and then looking over at the scientist who just lowered his head with an expression that he somehow made a miscalculation in his math, Kidd walks over to Young and raises his voice at him, "Young! Of course I made several bad calls, but we have to take the infestation out by its source. The only way we can do that is enter the hive. Just please, follow me just this one last time in attempt to keep earth in human hands." Darn sir!" replied Young as he looks back into his commanding officer's dark brown eyes. Reluctantly to follow, Young continues to shake his head and still reluctant to go back into that horrible bad dream. "Guess I should have stayed back in base and accepted Malus' offer for a good hot meal..." Kidd thought, remembering Malus' offer which not only could fill the marines' stomach of the much needed nutrients for the body, but also to increase the troopers' morale as well. "Well then, I guess we are just stuck here, uh?" Kidd spoke up as he got down on a knee and then fell back to land on his rear onto the ground. Laying the rifle down at his side, he leans forward to grab his knees and rest his head on the caps of his knees.

The group remained silent in their silent, underground tomb. Having nothing but the voices of the marines who are talking at the surface. Kidd was now laying down on the ground where he was sitting at. Not having any good ideas to come to his mind, he just practically threw up his hands and gave up.
Young, still reluctant to go, took a seat by the desk in which the radio is on. Listening in to all the chatter, his appearance seems to be getting better as he continues to hear other voices besides his own team's.
Dr. Manning however went back to his research. Going back to his table and to continue his research on the xenomorph specimens.
Taking in his surroundings, Valk put two and two together and jumps up to his feet, only to yell out,"I got it!" Causing everyone to jump up from what they are doing, the look back at the marine who was walking over to Dr. Manning and asking him,"Hey, do you have any of their blood lying around here?" "Who's blood?" Manning asked in a very puzzled tone, unsure in what the marine is asking for. "The acidic blood! Do you have any around here?" said the marine as he turns away to look around the room. Kidd, now standing from where he was laying at, approaches the two individuals. "Valk, are you talking about..." ,spoke Kidd just before he was interupted by Valk, "Yes! Use the acidic blood to eat at the metal just so we can infiltrate the hive." "No! I will not allow that. I have survived this long and the next thing I need is for those things to come in here and take me." stammered Dr. Manning as he steps back away from the marines. "Oh, you're coming with us doctor, if you like it or not." said Kidd as he approaches the man. Not being too lucky as he was caught by Young who stood up and grabbed the scientist from behind. "Doctor, you needed us and so we are offering our help. All we need is your cooperation so that we can do what you are wanting us to do." said Kidd as he stood before the man.

Dr. Manning was reluctant to comply but he gave the marines the information where the acidic blood is being kept. Aquiring the blood, the scientist offers his service to the marines as they were ill-equipped with the nessesary equipment to combat the xenomorphs. "Here! you guys are going to need these incinerators. They are Corporate made, but I'm sure you guys will figure out how to use them effectively. Also, I have the ointment that can treat the acidic burns that we might recieve from those monsters. Now... I don't know what will become of me, but I'm going to help you with this problem. Sixteen will be coming too. We will be needing his synthetic attributes to help us against the xenomorph infestation. The last thing that we need is my radio. Yes, it is busted, but we will be needing the information on these serphents' movements." Kidd agrees with the scientist and accepts his help as well as his synth. Gearing up with the WY incinerators, Kidd had Valk take the radio from the desk and Young to aquire the blood. Approaching the pipe, Young takes the small vials and throws them at the side of the pipe. Hearing the sound of the acid eating away at the metal, a small hole appears and it begins to grow bigger and bigger in size. Valk and Kidd, with rifles slung over their shoulders and incinerators at the ready, they prepare themselves to combat any stray xenomorph who is traveling the sewer pipes alone. As the hole slowly starts to stop growing, the group enters the sewer in search for the hive in the darkness of the sewers.

Closing in on the Melanie’s one way isolated radio signal was mad allot easier by Xeuss’s new message to Saysell. He had now broadened the signal allowing Saysell to pin point the ships position.
As Xeuss spoke Saysell began to smile. "So there is at least some humanity in there after all" Saysell had always thought of Xeuss as rather ruthless and he knew fine well in a situation that involved humans and Xenomorphs Xeuss would side with the Xenomorphs nine times out of ten. Unless the humans where hot young marines, of the female variety.
Then it came across the transmission "her" Saysell laughed like he wasn’t in any kind of desperate situation at all.

Picking up his transmitter he relished that he could only bounce a message back from the Melanie. So he began to make haste, quickening each step with a sudden urgency. Saysell knew fine well that Xeuss would most likely be cut down on sight, survivor or not. Malus was ruthless and he cared very little for these people, but revenge was a totally different matter.

Then he saw it, his salvation, his light in the dark. The Melanie. She was beautiful, a true sight for sore eyes.
"Ohh I have missed you" Saysell was now running full out towards the Melanie. So much that when he came to her he could stop himself and ran flat into the side panel.
"Ow" he sighed, lying on his back with a slight headache rousing him. An idea was born.

Saysell had always kept human vehicles in the hold, more as a collection than anything. Xeuss had mocked him for it, claiming it was ridicules and too "human". But Saysell would have the last laugh.
AS he hoped the Melanie had kept at least one of the APCs. They where not up to the current standard but they where enough to get in get Xeuss and his female friend out and maybe take some supplies with them.

Opening the hanger door with his activation code an artificial voice echoed through out the ship.
"You really are alive." The Melanie had missed him, he knew that much. But he didn’t have time.

"I am sorry Mel but I need to get Xeuss out before he gets butchered, what vehicles do we have on board" Saysell had an urgency in his voice that held back the Melanie’s artificial need to yell at him for running back off.
"You will come back wont you?" The artificial intelligence now seemed more alive than ever, her voice shaking with a longing Saysell had forgotten about in his exile.
"I will try." Saysell and Melanie both knew that Saysell would probably die out there, but Xeuss needed his help.
"We have two motorbikes one light jeep, with turret and a nice fully armoured APC. Might I suggest the APC, seen as it will most likely bring you back in one piece."
"I can't take the APC there isn’t enough time. I will take the jeep." With that Melanie’s hologramic form appeared in front of Saysell. "Follow me then." She led him to the area where all of his old equipment had been stored.
Vehicles, weapons, armour and his personals. Then something struck his eye, a thin silver chain with a crucifix hung upon it. Saysell had given it to Xeuss the last time he had seen him, telling him it would keep him safe. It had obviously been successful; he had made it home safe enough to keep his cross in storage for Saysell. Taking it up and wrapping it around his neck for maybe the last time.
"I could do with some divine intervention where I am going" Saysell smiled at his reflection feeling a new sense of place on board the Melanie once more.
Laying his firearms down on the storage crates he began to search for his old equipment.

The third crate he searched contained everything he could want to find. His pride and joy two acid proofed combat knives, "Slice and Dice" he called them. They where as perfect as knives got. A silver USP pistol, with laser sight and 12 round clip it also had a higher stopping power because of a modified firing mechanism. Then finally his primary fire arm, a black pulse rifle he affectionately called "black beauty" with it's reduced firing stock swapped for less recoil, it's grenade launcher swapped for a highly powered shotgun system that could punch through heavy armour as close range. This was his equipment; he was ready for anything now.

Jumping into the Jeep he started the engine, then quickly driving out of the Melanie into the waste. Flicking the modified radio on he sent his message to Xeuss: "Don’t worry, I am coming for you and your friend just hold time. ETA: no more than 30 minutes depending on hospitality in the area. So just stay alive and keep her alive."