Author's Notes:

To those of you who have already read this, and new readers that have found this story. I will be editing over the older ones and adding some what new content. Hope you guys enjoy these new adjustments.

Everything was silent, as the moon radiated its pale and gentle light upon the world below. Trails of smoke rose into the air with towering skyscrapers ascending from the ground and over the buildings. On the ground rested cars in disrepair. Glass from windows was scattered across the ground. All was in ruin as a result of some unknown force that ran rampant through these once-busy streets. A hologram emitted a static noise as the image faded on the three-dimensional screen from time to time, showing a picture of a facility with the initials “W-Y” painted on its side.

The headline below the holographic photo read “Weyland-Yutani: Building Better Worlds.” After the quote came a report stating that the company was transporting some form of cargo while keeping the public eye concealed to its origins. Rumors began to spread as people began disappearing one by one, although it was never noticeable due to the fact of the population on this planet that the article described, known as “Erebus,” was so vast.

Blood painted the streets of the city and spattered all over cars and walls of the buildings. Bodies of the deceased lay thick in the urban jungle, all hideously mangled and mauled, some with holes in their heads, necks ripped open or chests torn apart with their innards sprawled out. Flies buzzed around as they landed on each carcass, the stench of death overwhelming the air that was once filled with the echoes of people and machines.

The sound of gunfire echoed in the air as flashes of light resonated down one of the many alleyways. More gunshots went off, the light of muzzle fire flickered on and off in the darkened alleys, and the screams of unknown creatures accompanied the symphony of unsettling sounds. People wearing heavy armor and helmets ran out from the alley as they fired their weapons off into passage, quickly backing up as they hurried out into the open.

“Let’s move, let’s move!” The person that yelled backpedaled ahead everyone else, turning around and sprinting down the street with the others following close behind, a couple stragglers keeping their rear guarded while still firing at the unknown enemy.

Everyone grouped together around a man with a white labcoat, keeping the formation rigid as they turned to the left, moving down another crimson painted desolate street.

“What the fuck were those things!?” one of the male soldiers yelled, panting heavily as his eyes searched over every dark corridor they passed.

“Shut up, Ramirez!” the leading soldier yelled, looking back over to the panicking marine as they ran. “Just keep your focus on the rendezvous point and we’ll make it!” He switched his gaze back to the front before putting the rifle in his left hand, reaching up for the radio near his right ear. “Marlow, Marlow come in! Where’s that fucking dropship at!? Over!”

The radio buzzed to life a moment after the lead marine spoke. “Lieutenant Miller, this is the Marlow. The dropship you requested is currently landing over at the southeastern quadrant near the capitol building on Newt’s Avenue about one hundred meters from your position. The ship we've supplied is a carrier, plenty of room for you and the rest of the group.”

“Newt’s Avenue, confirmed, Marlow. Over and out!” Miller shut the radio off before looking over to one of the female soldiers. “O’neal! Where’s Newt’s Avenue!?”

She looked down at the scanner as the cursor above quickly moved down to the left side of the screen. “Lieutenant Miller, Newt’s Avenue is to our northwest behind that building with the name ‘Fiorina’ over there!” She pointed over to where a building stood a couple twenty meters out, a three story building with a wide frame expanding in a cramped alleyway, inches next to a few other smaller buildings.

“Alright, people! We’re almost there! Just keep on running!” Miller shouted as loud as he could, the constant firing of the rifles ringing around the buildings as the screams of the creatures kept coming from their backside.

A screech reverberated in the alleyway next to them as one of the nightmarish monsters barreled into the group. The soldiers scattered, falling to the ground while one soldier fell on top of the scientist, shielding him from any physical harm. Most of them got back up and kept running forward, while O’neal and a few got up at a slower pace. Screams of pain resonated in the air, causing her to dart her gaze to the right. One of the terrible creatures was over top of a soldier, clawing, biting and stabbing the man as he yowled in pain. The marine tried to fight back but was overwhelmed by the strength of the being above him.

“Mason, no!” she shouted. Feeling one of the other soldiers grab her and pull her away, she struggled to free herself.

“Forget him, O’neal! He’s gone! We can’t help him!” Ramirez said, pulling her away and joining back up with the others, much to her dismay. The wails of the soldier died down, drowned out by the screeching of the monsters that continued to give chase.

There was a loud roar, as the soldiers rounded the corner. Dust and wind blasted the group as the dropship’s engines ignited on, a blue light blinding the group. The ramp lowered, and the lieutenant waved to the others.

“Everybody get on the ship! We are leaving!” The group of soldiers filed in, with the scientist rushed into the ship. O’neal rushed in, the lights inside the ship flickering on. She slowly walked into the seating area, leaning against the wall before sliding down onto the floor. Breathing heavily, she slammed her fist into the ground, the image of her best friend being mauled by that monster repeating over and over in her head.

The sound of a sliding door broke her train of thought, as she looked to see the captain entering the pilot’s cabin. “Truman. Get us out of here right now.” Miller ordered, resting his arm against the wall as she heard the echoes of buttons being pressed and switches flipping on.

“O’neal!” Truman yelled, seeing him turn to face her. “I need you up here on the second seat right now.”

She didn’t move, shaking as the words went through one ear yet going out the other end. Footsteps shook her out of her paralyzed state as the lieutenant moved over top of her, grabbing her and shaking her out of her shock.

“O’neal, get up and sit your behind on that seat right now so we can leave!” Miller yelled, ceasing in his shaking as she blinked her eyes repeatedly. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and spoke again in a softer tone. “Listen, I know how you feel about Mason right now, but we need to leave. If more of those bugs surround our ship, then we’ll be in some really deep shit.”

O’neal hesitated, shaking herself before nodding. She felt his grasp leave her arms, quickly walking up to the seat on the right of Truman and sitting down. Strapping herself in, she pressed an array of buttons, the ship shaking as it slowly lifted off the ground. She looked out the window, watching the remaining fellow marines outside shoot at the horde of nightmarish creatures. They backpedaled towards the ship, watching on as she kept the ship’s ramp open.

One soldier hopped on, the creatures jumping on the remaining soldiers. Cries and wails of pain resonated outside as the others were overwhelmed. She slammed her fist on the dashboard, closing the hatch as the ship lifted higher into the air.

She looked to her left, seeing Truman press a few more buttons. Pushing the controls forward, the ship slowly sped up, wind rushing past the ship’s exterior and picking up as it flew faster. The dark and moonlit sky grew brighter, as the stars became more apparent as the ship escaped the atmosphere of the planet. In a quick flash of movement, the stars moved past them as Truman turned the hyperspace drive on.

O’neal sighed, letting the throttle down on the ship. A crash echoed behind her, hearing a body hit a wall. She unbuckled herself, looking over to her fellow pilot. “Excuse me for a moment. I need to go and see what's going on.” He nodded, stood up, and moved over to the door.

As the door opened, she saw one of the marines holding the scientist up to the wall. "Okay, Mr. Scientist, what the fuck were those things that took out everyone of my friends on that piece of shit rock? Huh!? What were those things!?" he said, forcefully slamming the scientist against the wall again.

“Chill the fuck out, Tyler,” Miller ordered, leaning back onto the wall with his arms crossed. “Shoving him into the wall looks like fun, but that won’t get him talking.”

Tyler looked back, scowling, but he nodded his head anyways. Turning to face the scientist, he frowned before throwing him onto the wall again, backing off and watching the guy fall down. Grabbing a hold of his head, the scientist rubbed his neck, coughing as he regained his breath. O’neal watched the lieutenant walk up to the man on the floor, his fists resting on his hips.

“Now… what the hell were those things? I lost ten good men out there because of those monsters, not to mention the five other squads.” He kneeled down, tilting his head as he frowned. “So how about you start talking? Or I’ll let Tyler over there have another go at yah.”

The scientist lowered his eyes, glaring as he continued rubbing his neck before answering, "Those ‘things’ you are referring to are a species of alien called Xenomorph. They are not monsters; they're creatures of high intelligence and ingenuity that require our study--"

O’neal noticed a rush of movement to her right, seeing Tyler move past Miller and grab his neck again putting him against a wall once more, knocking the breath out of the scientist this time. Miller struggling to rip Tyler away from scientist. "Not a monster? You better believe me that thing is more than a monster, it's a fucking freak of nature! Your little pet science project multiplied into basically a million of those fucking things running around, killing innocent civilians! Your company's nothing but a fucking joke!"

“Get the hell off him, Tyler!” Miller shoved back, glaring at the soldier. “Enough is enough! We’ll deal with him when we’re back at HQ, alright!?”

The marine glared at the lieutenant, panting heavily before storming off, the sound of his footsteps echoing down the hallway. The lieutenant shook his head, looking over to the scientist.

“Brutes… always using for--” Miller shoved him against the wall before the scientist could go further in his speech. Hearing the man grunt, O’neal watched as her lieutenant held him against the wall.

“Listen here, you piece of shit!” He spoke in a low and menacing tone. “You should be grateful that we found your sorry ass in that bunker. Funny that you were coincidentally all alone. I know what you did. That shelter could have held hundreds of people, yet you locked them all out so you could save your own skin!” He threw him against the wall, spitting on the floor right next to him. He glanced at O’neal, murmuring as he pointed to the scientist before walking down the opposite hallway. “Take this guy to the brig.”

She walked back up to the cockpit, peeking around the corner and looking at Truman. “You going to be alright while I take this douchebag to the cell?” She asked

He turned to face her, smiling as he pressed a sequence of buttons. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep the ship flying.”

O’neal nodded, walking back into the room with the scientist brushing himself off. “These marines are so unreasonable. They can’t seem to value the monetary worth this amazing creature would have.”

Ignoring his remark, O'neal moved to his left side. “Alright, you, let’s get going.” She grabbed his left shoulder and pulled a pistol from her left side, pointing it to his back and guiding him down the hallway. He proved to show no resistance, calmly letting her escort him to the stockade room. On the way, O’neal saw a screen as she passed by showing the names of the marines heartbeats. Out of all of them, only five were alive while other ten in her squad had no pulses on the monitors.

She cursed to herself silently before moving away from the monitors. As she walked, she noticed the remaining survivors sitting against the wall, a couple with their heads down on the table as they talked to each other. A door opened as she pushed the scientist in, pressing a sequence of buttons with the door closing behind the man. He turned around, looking at her until he moved towards the bench and calmly sat down.

O’neal shook her head, walking away and putting the pistol back into its holster. Walking back to the bridge, she heard something crash in the room to her right. “Hello? Is anybody there?” Pulling her gun out again, she slowly approached the area where the noise resonated. Cautiously, she looked to the left and right, scanning the room. Nothing seemed out of place, nor did it look like anything had moved. “Hello? Whoever this is, now is not the time for games.”

She peered from behind the corner of the open door, slowly walking in and moving the gun in each direction. Inside the room were crates and other types of equipment. There were two objects on the floor to her right; she tilted her head as she wondered what they were. Looking over the crates that blocked her view, she gasped, covering her mouth before rushing over to the object. “Captain Miller!” O'neal yelled, gazing at the horrible thing attached to his face as its tail tightened around his neck. Grabbing the grotesque fleshy creature, she tried to pull it off, but the tail coiled around his neck even more, refusing to let go of its host.

Falling onto her rump after letting go of the creature, she breathed slightly, trying to figure out the best course of action. Grasping her mouth, her breath quickened in pace as panic set in. Gulping slowly, she crouched down, wrapping an arm around his shoulders before standing up and supporting him on her own. Gradually moving into the hallway, she turned to her left and began making her way down the corridor. O’neal looked up, hearing footsteps walking further up the hallway, before seeing Tyler round the corner.

She watched as his eyes narrowed, a frown forming on his face before he spoke. “What the hell happened to Lieutenant Miller?”

“Something’s attached itself to the Lieutenant. I found him lying in the storage room with this ‘thing’ wrapped around his neck,” said April. Tyler ran to her left side, aiding her with the unconscious marine as they dragged him to the medical bay. Once there, they put him on a table, Tyler moving over to an intercom on the wall. He pressed a few buttons before speaking.

“Hey Paine, get your ass up here, the Lieutenant’s got something on his face.” He released the button before moving back over to the table.

Moments passed, and then another marine’s footsteps resonated from the hall they came through. A box swung in his right hand, placing it next to Miller’s chest and opening it up. O’neal watched as he stared at the creature on his face, digging through the box of medical items before asking, “What the hell is on the Lieutenant’s face?”

“We don’t know. It was there when I found him in the storage room,” she said, looking over the unconscious lieutenant, seeing his body twitch slightly.

Paine lifted out a knife, bringing it to the spider-like creature. He slowly cut into its leg, the blood shooting out onto the knife and floor. The marine dropped his dagger, the blade sizzling as the metal was melted away. The small amount of blood that dripped to the floor ate away at the metal, making a small hole. “What kind of blood is that?” Paine murmured, moving closer to his knife and inspecting the damage.

“What the hell is this? A creature that bleeds acid? That’s some fucked-up shit right there. How are we supposed to get this damn thing off his face now?” Tyler said, throwing his arms in the air as he spoke.

“We’re not. We’ll get this thing surgically taken off when we get back to headquarters. The Marlow should be waiting for us when we get there, so it shouldn’t be long before we reach the ship,” April murmured, looking up to both of the marines.

“O’neal.” Truman’s voice sounded over the comms. “I need you up here. Something’s up on the radar.”

She sighed, turning to face Tyler. “Put Miller in a stasis pod for the time being. We’ll bring him out for surgery when we get back to the Marlow.” The marine nodded, taking the lieutenant and supporting him over his shoulder as he dragged him away. “Paine, go back to the others and tell them what’s happened. I’ll go help Truman with whatever he picked up.”

Paine nodded before rushing down the opposite hallway. She ran down the other corridor, reaching the bridge in a short time. She opened the cabin door and sat down in her seat. “What’s going on, what did you find?”

“There’s a blip on the radar over there,” Truman said, pointing to the sonar in the middle of the consoles. O’neal looked closely, seeing the blip go on and off. “I think something followed us in the jump to hyperspace.”

O’neal peered over to the right, before seeing a large object out in the distance, the sun shining behind it. “Hey Truman, I think that might be another ship.”

“Seriously? Who would be way out here?” He flipped a few switches before slightly turning the controls. “Hang on, let’s get a better look.” A loud explosion shook the ship, O’neal rocking back and forth in her seat as the blast echoed underneath the floor. “What the hell was that!?” Truman yelled, glancing back at the cabin door.

O’neal reached for a switch, flipping it before speaking. “Someone respond! What the hell happened down there!?”

One of the marines responded back; she recognized Tyler’s voice. “The fucking engine is damaged! That freak’s blood dripped onto the engine, and it’s all on fire, with part of the engine blown to bits!”

“Shit!” She slammed her fist onto the right armrest, pressing the button again. “Listen, do whatever you can to at least fix it and get back up onto the floor above. We’re already going into hyperspace. Hurry!” Buttons and switches echoed around the cabin as O’neal and Truman quickly did everything they could to prepare themselves for the worst. She reached over to the comms again and spoke once more. “All remaining marines, buckle up tight, we’re in for a bumpy ride!”. O’neal glanced over to Truman before yelling. “What do you think the odds of survival are at this point!?”

He turned to face her for a brief moment, moving his wide-eyed gaze to the stars outside the ship. “Right now… I’d give us like a thirty percent chance of making through this. The engines can’t sustain faster-than-light travel. We need to get out of hyperspace and hope there’s a planet nearby.”

She didn’t like hearing those odds; she realized that the engines could explode any second. She gulped, preparing herself for the worse as she gripped the armrests tightly.

The advanced dropship pulled out of hyperspace in an unknown region of space, and O’neal’s heart leaped within her chest with delight as she saw a planet in the distance orbiting a star; it was their only hope. The cabin shook violently as an explosion rocked the ship and sent it careened down towards the planet. The exterior of the ship heated up as it entered the atmosphere.

Parts of the ship broke off, echoing outside. In a sudden moment, she saw the sky of the world brightly lit with a forest down below. She lurched forward as the ship crashed into the ground, screaming as the windows darkened with dirt. O’neal heard a crash to her left, closing her eyes and feeling herself only tighten up even more.

All the sounds of the ship tearing apart echoed around her, filling her ears with a dreadful noise as the ship tumbled and crashed through the trees. She felt something hit her, but didn’t fully acknowledge it and brushed it off as just debris. It was a moment before everything went quiet around her. She opened her eyes and took the scenery around her slowly. Parts of the cockpit was damaged, with a large hole to her right that the sun’s natural light seeped through. Sparks of electricity shot from the console in front of her, with wires hanging around her.

She tried to move but felt something hold her back. With an uneasy glance, she gasped as the saw a metallic rod inside her chest, feeling the immense pain begin to take hold of her. O’neal grabbed the pole and tried to pull it forward, gasping at the effort while feeling her limbs go numb as she pushed with all her might. The taste of her blood welled up in her mouth, pouring onto her lips as she coughed the vile liquid up. She looked at the control panel and saw a recording device. She reached forward with a trembling hand to press it, the device turning on as she said her last words.

After giving her final report, everything slowly went dark as she lost all feeling in her body. She let out one last whimper before closing her eyes and feeling nothing as the darkness of sleep took her in its hold. Her head rested to the left side as her arms fell to both sides of her body and the warmth left her body.

Time had passed since the ship crashed, fires slowly beginning to disperse with smoke hovering over the crash site. The ship had torn through the forest with a trail of destruction that went on for a few hundred feet, leaving trees broken and the dirt upturned. Sparks lit up the inside of the ship, most of it was in disarray. Wires were torn out and in the open, parts of the interior coming off the walls with other items scattered across the ground. The stench of blood filled the air as the bodies of the travelers laid on the ground, most being ripped from their seats and thrown around the ship. Inside the cockpit, the two pilots were dead--Truman’s head had been smashed to pieces.

Down farther into the ship lay one of the only cryochambers intact. Electricity shot off from it, static noise echoing from a speaker next to it before words were spoken. “Power output at five percent. Nominal option to open the cryochamber has been overridden. Putting energy reserves into distress beacon… error, error, error, long range radio has been damaged beyond repair. Unable to authorize ability to signal for help, putting all power to maintaining the ship at its current capacity. Will power down in three… two… one…”

The chamber opened slowly, whirring as the top hatch leisurely unlocked from the chamber. Some time later, a hand grasped the side of the wall as the lieutenant opened his eyes. He looked to his side, flinching as he saw the fleshy spider laying down to his right, curled up on its back. Miller stared at it for a moment longer, cautiously turning his gaze to his surroundings. Everything was torn apart; the interior was damaged beyond repair. He coughed as he slipped out of the stasis pod, taking in his surroundings with a wary nature. “H-hello? Anybody there?” He called out, tilting his head as he looked down the hallway.

Sparks of electricity made the lieutenant flinch slightly, taking his time as he moved down the hallway. He moved a hand up to his eyes as the sun’s light blinded him, everything going dark for a brief moment as he gazed at the alien environment, finding it to be similar to the climate of Earth’s. A pain in his chest slowly rose up, but he didn’t bother paying any attention to it. He stepped out a few feet from the ship, gazing at the surroundings around him. Facing forward, he noticed a building slightly hidden behind foliage, made from what appeared to be stone. “Is that a… castle? Where the hell are we?”

He lurched forward, the sudden pain in his chest worsening. “What the… f-fuck?” Miller howled in pain as he landed on his stomach, rolling around and clenching his chest as he felt something trying to burst its way out. He got on his hands, bending backwards as something exploded from his chest. He gasped in pain, hearing the screeching of an unknown creature coming from a hole in his torso.

The last thing he saw was a creature writhing about as it slithered out of his chest. Miller fell back onto the ground dead as the bloodsoaked creature observed its new surrounding. It resembled an eyeless, flesh-colored snake with metallic teeth. It screeched into the air before it headed towards the castle, away from prying eyes as it set out to explore this new world.