Outside the structure, the wind howled mournfully around the metal building, dry and cold. One of the remaining solider raised the storm windows.
The weary and demoralized group were gathered to stock their grim options. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie brought in boxes of equipment and placed them on the table.
Applejack looked at the equipment; she then looked at the two ponies that brought them in, “that’s everything, right?”
“Yeah,” replied Rainbow Dash.
Applejack looked back at the equipment on the table, “alright! This is absolutely everything that we could salvage out of the APC wreckage. We’ve got four pulse-rifles, with about fifty rounds each. That ain’t so good, you got...uh fifteen of the M-40 grenades.
She sets a grenade down on the table, Applebloom looked and it, she then reaches over to pick it up, but Applejack stops her, “don’t touch, dangerous sugarcube.”
“Is that the only flamethrower?” asked Twilight as she looked at it.
Applejack nodded, “yeah, it’s only half full, but it’s functional...” Applebloom pick up Pinkie’s helmet and puts it on, her head disappears into it. “...and another one’s damaged, I don’t know about that one. But the good news is that we’ve got four of these robot-
sentries...with display and scanners intact, they really kickass. I think they’ll come in handy.”
“How long after we’re declared overdue and expect a rescue?” asked Twilight.
Applejack looks at Rainbow Dash. She then gazed back with a look at loss, but underlying strength as she holds her weapon. “Seventeen days,” said Applejack as she stares at the ground.
Pinkie pie turns to the group, “seventeen days? Hey...I don’t want to rain on your parade. But we’re not going to last seventeen hours! Those things are going to come in here, just like they did before and they’re going to come in here...”
“Pinkie!” spoke Twilight as she was trying to get her attention.
“...and they’re going to come in here and there going to kill us!” finished Pinkie as she hysterically panicked.
“Pinkie, This little girl survives longer than that with no weapons and no training, right?”
Applebloom looked up at Pinkie Pie while wearing her helmet and saluted. She smiled and her mane suddenly pop up and curled again, “Okie, dokie, lokie.”
Pinkie then got up from the table and bounced out of the room and away from the group. Bishop moved up from the table aswell, “I’ll be in the med-Lab, checking on Rarity and continuing my analysis.”
“Fine, you do that,” said Twilight as she watches him leave while still unnerved by his presence.
*** *** ***
Outside of the station, the giant metal volcano rumbles away, unaware of the happenings of both inside and outside itself. Inside the structure in the operations, Filthy Rich, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were all bent over at a large horizontal video screen. On the screen it illuminated a complex series of charts and mechanical drawings.
“So, this service tunnel must how they’re moving back and forth,” Said Twilight as she traced her hoof down on the map.
“Yeah, that’s right, it moves from the processing station right into the sub-level here.” Said Applejack as she paused to tell Twilight to
zoom in on the schismatic of the station, “come down on that, okay come over. Hold it, go back, and punch that right there.”
She touches a spot on the screen, while Applebloom moves around up next to Applejack. She picks her up and sets her on the corner of the table, Applejack watches closely as the blueprint was moving around.
“Well, there’s a pressure door at this end, couldn’t we put a remote sentry unit in the tunnel and then seal that door,” said Twilight as she studied the blueprint.
“yeah, that’ll work, but we gotta’ figure on them getting into the complex,” said Applejack.
“That’s right, so we repair the barricades at these intersections...” said Twilight as she pointed to the area of barricades. “...and weld plate-steel over these ducts here and here and...Here. That way, they can only come at us from these two corridors.” She tapped the locations, her hoof clicking on the hard surface of the illuminated screen. “Of course, they can always tear the roof off, but I think that’d take them a while. By then our relief should arrive, and we’ll be out of here.”
Applejack nodded in agreement, “alright then, we put the other sentry units here and here right?” she then stood up satisfied. “Alright ponies, let’s move like we’ve got a purpose.”
All the ponies in the group got up from the table moved without hesitation, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash grabbed two sentry guns and walked down to the service tunnel. Applejack open up small computers and placed them on a desk. She turned them all on and typed up the commands and highlighted the units to ‘SEARCH’ and ‘AUTO.’
In the long straight service tunnel, it was lined with conduit and seemed to go on forever. At the end of the tunnel there was nothing but darkness, they wouldn’t be surprised if one of those things were waiting in the shadows, waiting for the chance to attack.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie finished setting up the two robot sentry guns on a tripod, “do your thing, come on, come on, Dashie. Let’s get the hell out of here.” She then tapped her headset to contact Applejack, “Pinkie here, A and B sentries are in place and keyed.”
Applejacks’ voice came over the mike, “Right.” she then looked on the computer and sets sentry A and B to be armed. “Stand-by, arming now, tests it, Pinkie.”
Pinkie nod as she looked at Rainbow Dash, “do it!”
“Fire in the hold!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she hurls a wastebasket down the tunnel, into the automatic field of fire. The sentry guns swivel smoothly, as the wastebasket bounce once...and was riddled by two quick bursts.
“Okay! Let’s get the hell out of here!” nodded Pinkie as they retreated behind, a heavy steel door, which slide down closed on its tracks.
On the second level in the corridors Filthy Rich and Applebloom were moving back and forth with cartons of food on a hoof truck, and in their arms. They stack the food and cartons inside the operations centre. While behind them, Applejack and Twilight was covering an air duct opening with a metal plate, welding it in place.
As Applejack welded the plate to the duct, sparks showered in the semi-dark corridor. She then sets down the welder and hits the plate, “for what it’s worth. Now, what’s next?” said Applejack as she consults to the printout of the floor plan.
*** *** ***
The wind was utterly died and in the eerie stillness, a diffuse mist had rolled in to shroud the complex. Everything looked like it was underwater...there was no movement.
In the corridor by the barricade was sentry guns C and D, waiting, swivelling on their tripods, there was a light flashing green that said, ‘ARMED’.
Twilight carried Applebloom who was exhausted from helping out her sister and the others; she carried her though the inner connection rooms of the medical wing.
Twilight reached an operating room, which was small, but very high-tech...Vault-like metal walls, strange equipment, and a cot were set up, displacing O.R. equipment, which was pushed into the corner.
“Last stop, get in,” said Twilight as she rested Applebloom head on to a pillow of the bed. “Now, you lie here and have a nap, you’re very tired.”
Twilight then turns, reaching for a portable space heater which was sitting nearby. She switched it on and slides it closer to her bed. It hummed and emitted a cosy orange glow.
She looked at the tired filly, “now go to sleep...and don’t dream.” Twilight slowly got up from the bed and walked up to the door, only to stop and look back at the sleepy filly, Twilight gave her smile and walked out of the door.
She walked over to the Med-Lab and stood over Lieutenant Rarity, who was lying motionless on a gurney, her head was bandaged. Bishop was beside her, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were nearby, and their weapons were cradled.
“The molecular acid oxidizes after the creature stops, completely neutralizing It.” said Bishop as he was explaining the death of the aliens.
“Bishop...that’s very interesting, but that doesn’t really get us anywhere, does it? We’re trying to figure out what we’re dealing with here. Let’s go through it again. They grabbed the colonists, they move them over there, and immobilized them to be hosts for more of these...” Twilight stops and looks at the stasis cylinders containing the face-hugger specimens. “...Which would mean that there would have to be lot of these parasites, right? One for each colonist...that’s over a hundred at least.” said Twilight as she calculated the amount of colonist and face-huggers.
“Yes. That follows,” agreed Bishop.
“Each one of these things comes from an egg, right? So, who’s laying these eggs?” said Twilight as she started to think of the circle of life.
“I’m not sure, it must be something we haven’t seen yet.” said Bishop as he didn’t have any data of where the eggs came from.
Pinkie suddenly thought of something, “Hey, maybe it’s like an ant hive.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eye and corrected Pinkie, “Bees, Pinkie, Bees have hives.”
“You know what I mean, these’s like...one female that runs the whole show.” said Pinkie as she speaking her mind.
“Yes, the queen,” agreed Bishop.
“Yeah, the momma, she’s badass, I mean BIG!” said Pinkie as she stretched her arm across the room.
Rainbow Dash then hoofed herself in the face and looked at Pinkie, “these things ain’t ants.”
“Well durrr, everypony knows that there are not ants,” said Pinkie as she was in her crazy moment.
Twilight pocked Bishop in the arm to get his attention, “Bishop, I want these specimens destroyed as soon as you’re finished with them, is that clear?”
Bishop glanced at the creature, pulsing malevolently in their cylinder and then looked at Twilight, “Mr. Rich gave instructions that they were to be kept alive in stasis for return to the company labs.” Bishop paused for a second, “he was very spastic about it.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and walked out of the med-lab and into a small observation chamber, which was separated from the Med-Lab by a glass partition; Twilight saw Filthy Rich and court up to confronted him. “This better be important. I think I was onto something, and we may not have much time left, Mrs Sparkle.”
“You may not have any time left,” said Twilight. He started to protest, and she cut him off with a gesture. “No, in there,” she gestured at the operating theatre.
It was soundproofed inside, and she could scream at him to her heart’s content without drawing everypony else’s attention.
“Bishop tells me you have intentions of taking the live parasites home in your pocket. That true?” asked Twilight.
“Look, those two specimens are worth millions to the bio-weapons division, right? Now, if you’re smart...we both can come out of this like heroes and we will be set up for life, “said Filthy Rich as he wanted to get more money.
“You’re crazy, Filthy Rich, do you know that? Do you really think you can get a dangerous organism like that past ICC quarantine?” said Twilight.
“How can they impound it if they don’t know about it,” said Filthy as he just stood looking at Twilight with a bribing smile.
“But they WILL know about it, Filthy, from Me.” replied Twilight, “Just like they’ll know that you were responsible for the deaths of one hundreds and fifty-seven colonists here...”
Filthy Rich’s eyes widen as Twilight levitated a log book with his name on it, “Wait a second...”
“YOU sent them to that ship.”
Filthy shock his head disbelief, “you’re wrong.”
Twilight suddenly throw the log book across the room, “I just checked the colony log...directive dated six-twelve-seventy-nine, signed Filthy Rich.” her fury was peaking and her frustration and rage was more focused on Filthy then the Xenomorphs. “You sent them out there and you didn’t even warn them. Why didn’t you warn them, Filthy?”
Filthy Rich sighed in frustration, “okay, look. What if that ship didn’t even exist? Did you ever think about that?” question Filthy, as he was trying to crawl his way out of the situation. “I didn’t know, so now, if I went and made a major security situation out of it, everypony steps in. I’m talking, Administration steps in and there are no exclusive rights for everypony. So nopony wins.
Twilight shacks her head to him, as she didn’t want to hear his false story, “and so I made a decision and it was...wrong, it was a bad call, Twilight. It was a bad call.”
She stares at him with the most annoyed look, “bad call?!” she suddenly snapped as she grabs him by the collar and slams him against the wall. “These ponies are DEAD, Filthy! Don’t you have any idea what you have done here?” She then let’s him go, and takes a step back, “Well, I’m going to make sure that Celestia and Luna knows about this! You’re not going to sleaze your way out of this one!”
She looks at him with utter loathing, as if the depths of the pony’s greed were as far more horrific, she then turns away and began to head for the door.
“Twilight...” said Filthy getting her attention, “... you know, I expected more of you; I thought...you would be smarter than this, of all the ponies.”
She stared at him with the most evil look, “I’m happy to disappoint you.” Twilight then strides out of the door, while Filthy Rich stares back at her.
She walked to operations, as exited the door behind her, all of a sudden, a strident alarm begin to sound, she then breaks into a run passing through door in a quick second. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash came from behind Twilight while running behind her.
Applejack slaps a switch that killed the alarm, “What it is? What going on?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“They’re coming,” replied Applejack as she sat in a chair and look at the tactical console, which she had on the table.
“Where?” asked Twilight.
Applejack looked at the Twilight, “in the tunnel.”
They heard the sound of the sentry guns beginning to fire in the background. Their loud bursts of fire echoed around the complex.
“Here we go,” said Applejack, to the others as they looked at the consoles.
They all gathered around the monitors and the sentry units’ display. The echoing crash of the gun fire and aliens screams could be heard everywhere. The sound vibrated through the flooring.
“A and B guns, tracking and firing,” Applejack looked at the tracker, “multiple targets.”
The RSS guns pounded away, while echoing through the area. Their separate bursts overlap on an irregular rhythm. A counter on the sentry displays’ counted down the number of rounds which was being fired.
The sentry guns barrels smoked as they slowly heated up, “look at those ammo counters go,” said Pinkie.
On the screen the B-sentry’s ammo counted decreased rapidly, as the units kept blasting everything in sight. Not one creature got by them. Applejack looked at the counter, “B-gun’s down to fifty percent.”
“Man, it’s a shooting gallery down there,” said Rainbow Dash, as she was impressed.
Suddenly a warning started to beep emitting from the control terminal as the ammo began to run out.
Applejack stares at the ammo counter, “Sixty rounds left on B, Forty...twenty...ten...B-guns’ dry.” she then looks at A-gun’s counter. “Twenty on A, Ten...five...” the ammo counted suddenly reached zero and Applejack leaned back to looks at Twilight, “That’s it.”
“Sweet Celestia, they’re wall to wall in there,” said Rainbow Dash.
They all stared at the monitors in silence, but then there was a sudden knocking sound that echoed eerily up from the sub-level.
“They’re at the pressure door,” said Applejack.
“Man, listen to that,” said Pinkie.
Suddenly Bishops voice came over the intercom, “Bishop here, I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
“Well that a switch,” said Rainbow Dash.