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A loving ripoff, er, I mean homage of the classic sci-fi\horror film, Alien. With Anthros. |
| [Introduction]
In the far future, human technology has evolved to the point of perfecting space travel, to the point of establishing colonies on other planets. Genetic modification and cloning have also been developed, leading to the creation of beings known as Anthroids, half animal, half human creatures created by corporations and sold to the highest bidders as servants. The story begins on the Titan, a massive ship currently headed back from an expedition to a newly discovered planet. The crew discovered a strange sort of egg, and are bringing it back to headquarters for examination and experimentation. Bad idea, as the egg soon hatches, releasing a terrifying monster unknown to science, which proceeds to pick off the crew one by one. Can they defeat this ungodly horror before returning home? Or will the creature make it back to earth, where it can spread it's terror across the globe?
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| 5025 A.D. The depths of space The gigantic ship Titan drifted through the vacuum of the solar system, having passed numerous planets and various stars over the course of it's long journey. Having already achieved it's primary mission, it was currently making it's return trip to Earth. Said mission, was to arrive and a newly discovered, as of yet un named planet, and to send out a reconassianse crew to explore the world's surface. The crew in question, discovered something they were sure their empolyng company would want to see. A large, leathery black egg they had discovered deep within a cave. After bringing the egg back to the ship, it was brought to the science bay onboard the Titan for further examination. Watching through a nearby view window, Captain Bryce, a human male in his early 40's, and Tara, a black cat anthroid, stood side by side, staring intently at the egg. "What do you think is inside?" The captain asked Tara, who could only shrug in response. "Your guess is as good as mine, sir." Legally, Tara was the captain's personal servant, having been provided to him by his employers at the Zanatex Corporation. But in private, Bryce considered her a friend. "Tara, I've told you before. You don't have to call me "Sir". "I know. But still, you are the captain of this ship and my legal owner, so I feel it's only appropriate to address you as such." Bryce chuckled "Whatever." He spoke to the scientists in the adjacent room through the intercom. "When you're done with your poking and prodding, take this egg, or whatever it is, and seal in a cryolock chamber until we get back to earth." |
| The Scientist Eugene Savage was a Human with Cybernetic enhancements to his right eye he felt disgusted by the Captains fondness for that genetically enhanced feline, Savage came from a long line of Humans who believed the Anthroids were a danger to Humanity that should never have been created! |
| Regardless of how he felt about the captain and the company he kept, Savage was still under Bryce's command on the ship, and had to obey any orders received. He and his team loaded up the egg, and prepared to transport it the croyogenics deck. Meanwhile, Tara was in her private chambers, which were directly across from Captain Bryce's quarters. She lay on her bed, deep in thought. The captain had always been respectful and kind to her, even treating her as an equal. Unlike her previous owner, who constantly berated and abused her whenever she made even the tiniest of mistakes. Most of the human crew members of the Titan thought it was rather strange that the captain was so find of what was essentially a slave, some of them were even downright disgusted by it. But even so, she couldn't deny she had been harboring feelings for him for quite some time. She longed to confess to him how she really felt, but if it were to get out he was romantically involved with an anthroid, who knows what the consequences would be? In the lower decks of the ship, Eugene Savage and two other scientists had just sealed the egg in a cryo chamber and were preparing to initiate the teasing process. Suddenly, the egg began to violently vibrate, then it looked as though whatever was inside was thrashing about, trying to escape. One of the scientists took notice and alerted Dr. Savage to what was happening. |
| George Lobo was a wolf Anthroid. His task was a mixture of sanitation, and very low level security - in that he has to report any suspicious behaviors to the Captain, or someone higher up if need be. At the moment though, a number of instincts were telling him that trouble, beyond the usual sort, was on board. He was near the laboratory at the time. Something was telling him to prepare to possibly fight, or run. |
| Another one of the Scientists was simply named Aquarius he came from a planet more ocean than land so his people had been genetically modified for an aquatic environment this included hairless bodies and webbed fingers and toes he was the one who was struck by what emerged from the egg... |
| Aquarius didn't even have time to scream, as two clawed hands grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. The next thing he knew, he was violently yanked backwards into a dark corner of the room, and there was a sickening crunch, followed by a loud ripping noise. A puddle of blood slowly spread across the floor from the shadows, then silence. "I'm telling you, I saw it moving!" One of the other scientists had left to get Dr. Savage, having now returned to where the egg was stored. When they reached the spot where the egg had been, they found only the split, leathery shell, and the grizzly remains of what had been their colleague, Aquarius. "Send word to the captain immediately!" Said Dr. Savage "We have a code 5 threat onboard the ship!" "But where did it go?" Asked the other scientist. They both looked up to see a gaping hole above them in the ships ventilation system. |
| George looked into the lab's window, and saw the scene. It didn't take much for him to figure out the issue. "Well, I don't know what that thing is, but if it likes to hide and sneak around, then let's at least make things difficult." George walked to a computer, and using his maintenance credentials, turned on all the lights. "Should make locating that thing easier." At this point, a security officer showed up by the lab's door, and looked at him. "Do you know what's going on?" "Someone was so smart that they stupidly brought a dangerous organism on board, which killed one of the scientists," said George. "Near as I can tell, it likes to hide, so I turned on all the lights. Should make finding it easier." "Good," the officer said. "Let's hope it's not one of those chameleon things. Where is it now?" "Ventilation system I think," said George. "Unless it's already escaped from it. Might be a good idea to move folks to somewhere safer." |
| They brought in a Medic Anthroid to handle Aquarius Remains, a Female Brown Snake Anthroid named Sasha whose design was Naga-Like with a Human-Like Torso and arms but a Snake's head and a snake's lower body. In the Medical Community their are a variety of Anthroids common, Apes and Monkeys are well known for their dexterous fingers thus are common as surgeons, Domestic Animal Anthroids and Herbivore Anthroids are common as Nurses because of their ability to soothe people with their benign appearances particularly children and the mentally ill, the titan didn't have either of those so what they had was a Snake Anthroid, many Anthroids can detect things humans can not with their sense of smell but Snakes with their forked tongues can diagnose with near pinpoint accuracy plus Medical Snakes can manufacture their own Anti-Venom. |
| Sasha examine what remained of Aquarius laid out on the table before her. "So, any idea what exactly did this?" Asked Dr. Savage, and Sasha could only shake her head. "I've never seen anything do thing kind of damage." She replied. "All I can tell is that it's obviously very physically strong, if it can rip someone apart so easily,. And it's also quick, judging by the state of decay of the remains and your story of how soon after they were found. Lastly, it's also intelligent, using the vents of the ship to escape it's cell. You know what this means, don't you?" Dr. Savage nodded grimly. "We've got a killing machine loose on the ship, and it could be anywhere." Meanwhile, Captain Bryce had just received the message of the threat the creature that was now running wild across his ship posed to his crew. He had orderedall crew members to gather in the ship"s mess hall. "For those of you who don't know, I must be honest with you. There is an extremely dangerous alien lifeform loose on the ship." The moment he said this, minute of worry and concern filled the room. Now, everybody remain calm." Said Bryce in a soothing yet authorative voice. "While we know almost both my about whatever this thing is or what it's capable of, we do know that it's strong, fast and smart. Also, the ship's sanitation officer, George Lobo, has informed me that it seems to lurk in dark places to ambush victims, so as long as everyone stays in this room together, they should be safe. I've already informed Security of the truest and they are preparing to deal with the situation as we speak." Just then, every light in the ship went out at once, plunging the entire crew into darkness. There was a chorus of screams from the staff for several moments before Bryce managed to regain everyone's attention once again after activating an emergency laser flare . "Calm down, everybody! It's probably just a power failure. I know, I know, really bad timing. But I'm sure we'll have light again any..." The Captain was interrupted by the communicator on his wrist. "Captain Bryce, sir, Bad news. Looks like this thing is smarter than we thought. I'm at the main generator for the ship, it's been totally destroyed! The team and I are awaiting your command." "Roger that, Sergeant. Find this thing and terminate it by any means necessary." "Wait!" Said Dr. Dreyfus, a human woman and the head of the science division on the Titan. "This creature should be captured alive! There's no telling what we might be able to discover from it!" "Are you mad, woman!?" Said Bryce "This thing has already killed a member of the crew, and destroyed the ship's power source. It's too much of a threat to be left alive! Furthermore...wait, why do you want it alive so badly anyway?" Everybody turned towards Dr. Dreyfus, who could only stammer in response. "It was your idea to bring this creature onto the ship in the first place, wasn't it?" Said Bryce. At this, everyone began to advance towards Dreyfus with fury in their eyes. |
| George Lobo walked over to a terminal, and tapped on a few buttons. "And God said 'Let there be Light!'" In a moment, the lighting was back on. "Tough luck getting to the Emergency Power Generator, bastard," he muttered. He looked at the rest of the crew. "What moron thought that the ship only had one source of power? There's at least five backups all over the ship, in case of damage." Some of the others began to laugh nervously. "Also, while I'm at it, let's look at the security cameras, and see if we can find this thing," George said, as he brought up a few screens, showing what the cameras were seeing. "Not a bad idea," said Bryce. "This thing can run, but hiding will be tricky," said George, as he pressed one button after another, changing the footage being shown. "Maintenance and Security has to know this ship inside and out, and know where all the blind spots are. I doubt this thing knows them. Even the ventilation system has cameras and sensors." "Those ship builders think of a lot of things," said Bryce. "Except for when someone is stupid," said George. His eyes soon widened "Um, is anyone carrying a phaser that can be used in a hurry?" "Is it close?" Bryce asked, as he checked his personal sidearm. George nodded. He pointed at the vents. |
| Sasha was flexing her jaw, preparing for a possible bite. "Sasha..." Tara warned quietly "...We have no idea if this thing will be affected by Earth Venoms! Or if its hide can even be penetrated!" |
| The room went deathly silent, as everyone stared at the vent in the ceiling, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly, all hell broke loose as the silence was shattered when... |
| A vent grate fell to the floor. "What's it doing?" Bryce asked, as things quieted down. "Looks like the age old 'Throw something as a distraction' type of trick," George said, still watching the monitors. "On plus side, got an idea." He grabbed a bucket of mop water, and threw the contents into the opening. There was a loud screech, and banging as something moved. George looked at the camera, as the figure scurried away. "Must not be a fan of citrus-scented cleaners, or getting splashed with water at any rate." "What do you think?" Bryce asked. George chuckled. "I'm just maintenance and very low-key security. Not my job to think. I leave that to idiots who think it's a great idea to bring such things on board. Worst comes to Worst though, might want to see to it that anyone can activate, or deactivate, the Self-Destruct, regardless of rank, providing that they are a member of the ship at any rate." "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Bryce. "Better Safe than Sorry," said George. |
| Sasha and Tara breathed a sigh of relief "George is really clever isn't he?" Sasha said to Tara |
| Just then, Tara noticed that Dr. Dreyfus was inexplicably gone. She glanced at the security monitors to see that the doctor was currently making her way toward the escape pods. "That dirty, rotten little..." She cursed under her breath. Her first instinct was to go and bring her back, by force if necessary. Then she remembered there was some alien horror wandering the ship, and decided it wasn't such a good a idea. Speaking of Dr. Dreyfus, she was climbing into an escape pod when she remembered that they couldn't be launched unless the emergency alarm was activated. Swearing at her own stupidity, she was climbing out when she heard a low hiss from behind her, and a hot breath against the back of her neck. "Oh fu-" was all she had time to say, before the creature struck. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew had decided their best chance at survival was to make the hunter into the hunted, so to speak. As a single group, they went to the ship's armory, and loaded up on whatever weapons they could carry. "Alright, everyone form groups of five." Captain Bryce ordered. "Everybody stay alert at all times. George, do you see where this thing is?" Bryce asked through his wrist-com. "Not at the moment." Replied George, who had stayed with the monitors to keep an eye out for the creature. Bryce, Tara, Sasha, Dr. Savage and one of the security squad's officers went to search the storage bay, whole the other groups searched the rest of the ship. |
| "Rule number one for searching for intruders is to not split up," said George, over the communication system. "Someone hears something, check together." He got out a compact mirror, and set it up, so that he could see behind himself. To his personal annoyance, he was alone. On the plus side, he was alone. He walked over to his mop, held it carefully, twisted in opposite directions, and pulled out a sword blade, looking similar to a rapier. "I'll be ready for you." He replaced the sword blade, but did not twist it shut. The material the mop handle was made from helped to hide the blade from security scanners. Also, the handle itself made for a decent off-hand weapon. He checked the cameras. He then got on the communications system. "Good news and bad news. Good news is, found Dr. Dreyfus at Escape Pod 13. Bad news is, the creature's already found her. If you hurry, you might save her. This thing's toying with her." |
| "Crud..." Said Sasha "I need to hurry!" When Sasha got to Dr. Dryfuss it was it was even hard for a Snake to stomach! |
| All that remained of Dreyfus was , quite literally, a bloody mess. "I was too late." Sasha told the group over her communicator. "I can't even tell what is what from what's left of her." The reply Sahsa received next caused her entire body to freeze in fear. "Sasha!" George said "Get out of there now! It's headed straight for you!" |
| "Sasha, get to Corridor L4-26," said George. "Sargent Ripley and her squad are there already!" All George could do was watch the screen. |
| Fortunately Sasha's serpentine flexibility saved her she moved her longer than average neck backwards dodging a flesh colored tentacle |
| Back with the group, Tara found herself alone for the moment with Bryce. Despite the situation on the ship, there was a small voice in the back of her mind saying "Do it now! Tell him how you feel! You might not get another chance!" She approached the Captain and said "Sir, there's something you should know." Bryce turned to face her. "What is it?" "It's just...well, I wanted to...I mean, you've been so kind to me since we've known each other and...I just wanted to say..." |
| "Watch out for the vents!" came George's voice. "This thing is back in them again!" Bryce glanced at the vents, and then back at Tara. "I can make a good guess as to what you want to say." He then kissed her lips. "I've read more than a few dumb romance books to know about this sort of conversation." Tara blushed. "Um, thanks for understanding." "We'll talk about the rest of your feelings towards me later," said Bryce. "If there is a later for us." "Remind me to edit that part out," said George. "If we get a chance." |
| Sasha was sticking close to George as it seemed the best survival strategy for the time being... Times like this I really wish I was a spitting cobra..." She sighed |
| Unbeknownst to the crew, the creature had had it's fill for the time being, and was now looking for a dark, warm place to take it's future victims. For you see, the creature can reproduce asexually, and it instinctively knows that in the near future, it will begin gestating and laying eggs of it's own, and once those eggs hatch, it's offspring will be very, VERY hungry. Fortunately for it, this place had a bountiful food supply. It just needed to find a safe place to store them until it was time... |
| George was watching the cameras, making sure that the lights were working, and that nothing was hidden from him. He was even checking the personal quarters of the crew. "Why do they have cameras in the crewmen's rooms?" Sasha asked. "Just in case someone is planning a mutiny or some such thing," said George. "Sounds like you know a lot about this stuff," said Sasha. "More than your typical sanitation engineer, or low-level security." George chuckled. "Can I trust you to keep a secret?" "Yes," said Sasha. "Good, so can I," said George. "That being said, I'm sure you've heard stories about how the government has been putting special secret agents on ships in order to save the day in case things go wrong." "Who hasn't heard about them?" Sasha asked. "Someone among the crew turns out to be so badass, they can take out entire pirate fleets by themselves." "A little exaggerated, but let's just say that those stories aren't too far off from the truth," said George. "You have access to my medical history Doc, and you know that before I came to work here, I was assigned to the military for a few years. I can't tell you much, but I will say this, it wasn't mopping hallways." "Tell me, are you still working for the military, or is this ship a career change?" Sasha asked. "If we get out of this, I'll tell you," said George. "Until then, let's stay alive." Sasha looked at the camera screens. The creature was on one of them. "So, what do you think this thing is up to?" "Well, if I were on a ship with hostile lifeforms, I'd find a place to hide, long-term if possible," said George. "Lighting makes that tricky. Also, one needs to keep in mind access to food, and this thing seems to think we're lunch, but we're armed, and trying to hunt it down. It also needs a place it thinks is comfortable." "What else have you noticed?" Sasha asked. George grinned. "This thing seems to be similar to a reptile, in that it likes warm places." He pointed at the screen. "About 75 Fahrenheit right there. Watch what happens when I drop it to 65." George pressed a button. On screen, the creature began moving in a hurry. "It mustn't like to cold too much," said Sasha. "And that gives me an idea," said George. "Escape pod 13." "What about it?" Sasha asked. "Make it dark and warm, make it think it has a hidey-hole, only to seal it shut, and decouple it from the ship, without any life support, or anything of the like," said George. "Afterwards, tag it as dangerous and hazardous, and not to be approached." "What about bait?" Sasha asked. "This thing might want food." "Sad to say, we do have two bodies," said George. |
| George nodded. "We may have to draw straws to decide who gets the job of loading the remains into the escape pod." |
| "That being said, let's wait until everyone else is back here," said George. "I don't feel like going out alone myself." |
| As they waited for everyone to arrive Sasha noticed Tara and the Captain were more lovey dovey than usual |
| Sasha was somewhat suspicious that something was going on between them romantically, which actually was rather touching to her. While George didn't really care one way or the other. |
| "Alright, you mentioned something about an idea that might get rid of this thing?" said Captain Bryce. "It's a bit sacrilegious, but I got one," said George. "It involves placing the bodies of Dr. Aquarius and Dr. Dreyfus into Escape Pod 13. On the plus side, Dr. Dreyfus is practically there." "And what is this supposed to do?" Captain Bryce asked. "Make Escape Pod 13 seem like a cozy den to our intruder," said George. "Complete with food, warmth, and darkness away from prying eyes. Once this thing enters the pod, we seal it shut, and eject the pod from the ship. We then tag it as hazardous and whatnot, and hopefully no one will be bothered by this thing again." "Simple, boring, and hopefully low risk, right?" Bryce asked. George nodded. "Best ideas usual are the simple ones." |
| "Well let's get to it!" Said the Captain Sasha followed the crew hoping the creature would do as they hoped it would |
| The creature, meanwhile, had just finished laying the last of it's eggs. After knocking out all lights in the storage bay, it had laid at least a dozen of them in the corner of the room, behind some cargo crates away from view of the security cameras. Afterwards, it was feeling rather hungry from all the effort, and went on the hunt again. Smelling the scent of blood, it followed the intoxicating aroma to find the remains of it's two previous victims. It's animalistic brain deciding that leftovers were better than having to hunt fresh prey again, it crawled into the escape pod and began to feed. The instant it was inside, the pod sealed shut, and an alarm began to sound throughout the ship. "Warning! Warning! Escape pods deployed!" In the control room, George pushed the release button, sending the escape pod and the creature hurtling into the void of space. The crew let out sighs of relief mixed with cheers of triumph. Bryce shook George's hand, promising to have hm promoted when the ship reached Earth. "Alright everyone, now that that's all behind us, everybody back to their posts. We still have a long voyage ahead of us." After the room had cleared out, Bryce turned to Tara. "He whispered for her to meet him in his quarters before leaving, as Tara stood there blushing beneath her fur. George just chuckled at the sight, before returning to his regular duties. |
| However, before resuming his duties, George double checked something. "Oh shit." He called the captain. "What is it?" Bryce asked, on his communicator. "I hate to interrupt you and Tara, and whatever you're about to do, but the lights are not functioning in the storage bay," said George. "In light of recent events, it would be a good idea to send a couple of squads to check things out, and to search everything." "Why is that?" Bryce asked. "I just checked the cameras, and it seems that our uninvited guest was spending a lot of time in there," said George. "If I were a betting man, I'd wager that this thing used that darkness to its advantage to do something important." "Like what?" Bryce asked. "Well, it wasn't to eat, it wasn't to mate, so I think it was the other thing," said George. "I think it might have given birth down there." "You do know that there was only one, right?" Bryce said. "There are creatures that reproduce asexually," said George. "I'd rather be wrong than right in this case." "I see what you mean," said Bryce. "That being said, I can understand if you want the Sergeant to take the lead on the sweep," said George. "You could take a twenty minute break, as it were." "Why do you say that?" Bryce asked. "What you and Tara do is not my business," said George. "I'll scrap that footage." Bryce grinned. "I see what you mean." "It should be enough time," said George. "But, just in case, keep your gun nearby." "Right," said Bryce. He pressed a button. "Sergeant. Get a couple of squads and do a through search of the storage bay. George says that something's off down there. Move everything if you have to. We don't need any unexpected surprises." "Understood," said the Sergeant. "Full sweep of the storage bay coming up." "Start without me," said Bryce. I have other business to deal with." "Understood," the Sergeant said, with a chuckle. |
| Sorry I haven't been adding much I just don't know that much about Alien beyond the basic premise |
| (That's alright, Twiga. Whatever you can think of, We'll just roll with it.) Captain Bryce sat back on his bed beside Tara. "You sure you want this?" He asks. It was easy to see that Tara was sort of nervous. She hesitated before nodding. "I've wanted to show you just how I feel for a long time, I was just afraid your reputation would be ruined, you know? If it got out that you were involved with an Anthroid." Bryce smiled and placed a reassuring hand on her thigh. "To hell with what anyone else thinks. Why do you think I've always treated you like an equal? Even if you were made in a lab, you're still a living, thinking being. Personally, I think it's wrong how your kind is basically slave labor for humans. I may not be able to do so for all Anthroids, but you'll always be as good, if not better than a human to me." Tara's heart leapt with joy at those words, as she embraced the captain in a tight hug before planting a loving kiss on his cheek. Then she seductively whispered "Get ready for the ride of your life." In his ear before removing her clothes. There was no need for protection. Anthroids were engineered to be immune to diseases and unable to reproduce, due to a sterility gene spliced into their DNA. In a few moments, Tata stood before bryce completely exposed, with only her ebony fur covering her body. ""Just be careful with your claws." Said the captain as he finished undressing himself and the two of them began a passionate lovemaking session. Meanwhile, the Sergeant and the rest of the ship security team were sweeping the storage bag with night vision goggles, weapons at the ready. But they soon discovered they were already too late. They found the remains of twelve hatched eggs in a corner of the room, and a nearby shredded air vent. The Sergeant called George on their communicator. "Initiate Security Code Red, level ten." |
| George groaned at the news. "I hate being right." He got on the Communication system. "Sorry to wake everyone up, but the Emergency is not over yet! Head to Mess Hall, now!" He then began checking the cameras. "Where are you sons of bitches at?" Sasha got out of her room by him. "So tell me - you still a Special Operative, or was this ship a career move?" The wolfman looked at the snakewoman. He pulled the sword blade out of the mop handle a bit, before reclosing it. "I guess that answers my question," said Sasha. "Still an Operative." "Can't say yes or no," said George. "Still, the skills I learned might come in handy for our survival. Now, let's get to the Mess Hall." "Did you find them?" Sasha asked. George's eyes widened. "Yep! Run!" |
| And the run to the mess hall was extremely quick and would have been better if it was punctuated by The Benny Hill Show Theme |
| Once again, for the second time in the last couple hours, the whole crew found itself gathered in the mess hall. Bryce and Tara, both slightly miffed that their private moment had been interupted, spoke with George as the rest of the crew chattered amongst themselves on what to do next. After getting everyone's attention, George announced "I won't lie, the current situation is much worse than the last one. The bad news is, the sergeant has informed me there are now twelve of these things running loose on the ship. But there is some good news. About ten minutes ago, the ship crossed out of uncharted territory. If we send out a distress signal, there's a chance another ship will pick up on it and help us." Then Tara spoke up. "Or there's also the Emergency Escape Shuttle. We can use it to get back to Earth, and set the ship to self destruct. That would be sure to destroy these creatures." "And anyone who had to stay behind." George countered "We can't all fit in the shuttle." "But there's no guarantee anyone would hear your distress signal either." Tara shot back. They looked to Bryce "Captain, it's your ship, so it's your call. What should we do?" |
| "Of course, there's still the other escape pods, like the one we launched the first one out of," said George. "Still got twelve of them. They don't release unless someone is in them." "How many do you think can fit in them?" Bryce asked. "Two apiece in ideal situations, but three-four can fit in a pinch," said George. "As for the shuttle - twenty ideally, but at least five more could be made to squeeze in, possibly an extra ten. Then there's the External Repair Support Unit. Two people might be able to squeeze into that." "Would that fit everyone?" Bryce asked. "Be standing room only, and no non-essential equipment, and everyone will be uncomfortable, but it should hold everyone," said George. "Still, I will say that this violates long standing law wherein each ship should have enough lifeboats for everyone." "Someone was a money pincher there," said Bryce. "That, and I think that they had different ideas about who was to be saved." A glare appeared in the eyes of the Anthroids of the crew at the implications of those words. "If we don't make it, do us a favor and find the asshole who made that calculation, and drop them on that planet," said George. He looked at the sensors. "Alright. Send a distress signal. State that the ship is badly damaged. Crew forced to evacuate. We get to the shuttle, remaining escape pods, and ERSU, and set the Self-Destruct to go off twenty minutes after we escape, so that we can get out of range of the blast." "Sounds like a good plan to me," said Bryce. "Let's just hope that there's no other surprises," said George. |
| Following through with the plan, George activated the ship's self destruct countdown. "Warning! Self destruct mechanism has been activated. All staff evacuate immediately. Ship will self destruct in T-Minus twenty minutes and counting." Every crew member took whatever weapons they could, and proceeded to the escape shingle and pods. Bryce and Tara, of course, stuck together along the way, moving back to back down the hallways, their phasers at the ready. "Doesn't the Captain traditionally go down with his ship?" Tara said, trying to lighten the mood. Bryce chuckled. "Maybe some of them do. But personally, I was never really one for tradition." The reached the escape pods, but as Tara climbed in, Bryce suddenly found himself grabbed by two long, gnarled arms coming from a vent above him. "Bryce!" Cried Tara as she heard her lover being dragged through the ventilation system. "They got Bryce!" She said to her wrist com. "Dammit!" Said George on the other side. "I'm going after him!" Tara declared as she began to follow the vent shaft. "There's no time!" Said George "The ship's gonna blow in fifteen minutes!" Tara ignored him. Bryce was the only human who had ever seen her as another person, not just a slave or a freak. Come hell or high water, she would save him or die trying! |
| "Damn it," George muttered. The one saving grace was that George noticed that Sasha was still on board, and that a couple of crewmen had jammed themselves into the ERSU instead of the last escape pod. "Sasha, don't board the escape pod just yet," said George over the wrist com. "We're going to help Tara get Bryce back." "Understood," said Sasha, as she slithered after Tara. "I just hope we ain't committing suicide," George said, as he dashed out into the hallway, which was rather quiet, in spite of the alarm and lights, holding onto hid sword-mop. "Would have preferred pirates!" |
| Meanwhile Bryce was sensing something in his head...Which he realized was telepathic communications in a language he didn't understand....These things were intelligent! |
| Bryce opened his eyes to see he was now stuck to a wall, covered in some sort of slime that was hard as cement. He saw three of the things in front of him, finally getting a good look at them. Each was around seven feet tall, their bodies almost skeletal in appearance. They had no eyes or lips, leaving their chattering teeth exposed. The sight reminded him of those toy wind up teeth they use to sell in joke shops. Their bodies were covered in a thin, almost transparent skin, and six long tentacles wriggled and writhed on each of their backs.From their backsides sprouted long, bony tails ending with a sharp sting. By the way they hissed and chattered, they seemed to be communicating with each other. He of course, couldn't tell what was being said, but he had a sort of feeling that he was being used as bait to lure anyone who would come after him into a trap. Otherwise they would have killed him already. |
| Tara felt something grab her, and pull her into a hallway. It was George and Sasha. "How did you get here?" she asked. "Cameras," said George. "Also, located the area where the captain might be." The maintenance wolf removed the mop head from his mop, and attached it to his belt. He then pulled the sword from the handle. "Have you been carrying that this whole time?" Tara asked. George grinned. "Yes." He then flipped the handle. "Sword and club. If stabbing and slicing don't work, bashing tends to do the job." |
| Immediately, Tara ran in that direction, George and Sasha behind her. When they reached the door to the storage bay, they were hit by a foul odor in the air, like a mix of death and rotting eggs. The three anthroids readied their weapons. "For all we know, all twelve of those things could be in their right now." Said Tara "So I say we should do this as quick and quiet as possible. Find Bryce and get out before they even know we're there." "Agreed." Said George and Sasha. "Sounds like a good plan, considering we have twelve minutes until the ship explodes." George added. "You guys really didn't need to come with me." Said Tara as she put on a night vision visor. "You could have gone with the crew." "Maybe." Said Sasha " But you know the old saying, Nobody left behind. Now let's rescue your boyfriend and get out of here." |
| "Can't abandon someone I know to be alive," said George. "If I knew that the captain was dead, I'd say to leave. But, since you're still here, can't leave you." "Do you know if the captain is alive?" Tara asked. "Not sure, but it feels like a trap anyways," said George. "Let's turn the tables." He pointed at a loader. "I can pilot those things. Nice piece of machinery to move things around. Makes for a nice distraction while you sneak around." |
| (I think I'm just going to wrap this up now, since I think this story is close to ending anyway, and I really want get on with other projects. I hope you have enjoyed reading this work, and a sincere thank you to my co-writers on this piece. Now, the grand finale!) In their savage minds, the creatures had been expecting their prey to come waking blindly into their trap to rescue their victim. So to say they were surprised when a big machine came busting into their lair instead, would be a rather huge understatement. "Come on, you ugly sons of bitches!" George shouted as he piloted the loader "Who's hungry!?" With piercing screeches, the creatures attacked. Using the loader's robotic arm, he grabbed one in midair as it leapt towards him, and threw it hard against a nearby wall, causing it to splatter into a large black stain. Then George brought the loader's foot crashing down on top another one of the monsters, crushing it with a loud squelch sound. While this was going on, with the creatures distracted, Tara and Sasha snuck along the back of the room, finding Bryce glued to wall by some strange substance. Tara activated the laser function of her weapon, using it like a blowtorch to cut the captain free. The instant he touched the ground, she hugged him as hard as she could before giving him a rather long kiss on the lips. "I hate to interrupt your moment." Said Sasha "But we're running out of time here!" They made it back to the storage bay entrance, and turned to see that the creatures had managed to disable the loader, but not before he had managed to kill another six of them. Now George was fighting them with his sword-mop, stabbing one though the chest and full on decapitating another. Now only two remained. George saw them standing in the entrance, and shouted "Go! Don't worry about me! Get out of here before the ship blows!" Heeding his words, the trio reluctantly left George behind to deal with the remaining beasts and made their way to the last escape pod. "Five minutes until self destruction." The ship's AI announced. "Can we get far away enough from the blast in time?" Asked Tara as they crammed themselves in the pod. "If we're lucky." Sasha replied. To make a long story short... They were. As the Titan detonated, the three survivors watched from the viewport of the escape pod. They each have a salute as they watched, in honor of George who sacrificed himself to save them. "So what now?" Asked Sasha "We catch up with the rest of the crew. Another ship should have picked up the distress signal by now, and they're probably waiting for us. Personally, after all this, I think I'm going to retire when we get back home." The Captain said, turning to Tara. "Care to join me?" Tara replied with another tight embrace and kiss. "That's all I've really wanted for a long time. Maybe to someplace sunny?" Bryce chuckled "Definitely." Our heroes eventually did find the rest of the crew, who had been picked up by a passing tanker ship. Upon arriving back on Earth, they told their employers what had happened, and the planet that the egg had been found on was declared too hazardous to colonize. Bryce retired as he said, taking Tara with him. Though officially Tara was still considered his property, in the privacy of their home he treated her like a wife. At corporate headquarters, a memorial was erected in honor of George, officially a ship's janitor, but in actuality a hero. |
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