7 Safety in our grasp?

I watch as the sun fades in the distance and the shadows grow longer until they eventually take over the whole landscape, however I'm sure that the aliens won't attack us yet, they still need to travel here so we have people taking short naps in shifts until they hit the first turrets. During this brief time before the storm the guy I headbutt woke up, but I didn't talk to him, the medic was enough to deal with him. Right now I wanted to enjoy the last few minutes before the chaos happened.

I leaned back in one of the chairs we had and closed my eyes, I need to keep myself calm. It has been so long since I've actually been in a military situation like this that the stress is getting to me quite a bit, even more so because well, I'm in a horror/action movie where these well trained, or at least they're supposed to be well trained, maybe they're just well equipped, people get slaughtered. In fact the sad truth of the matter is I think the colonists actually lasted longer than these guys did in the movie. Alright well, I just need to go and focus on the goals I have at the moment, right now it's just to finish this movie off which should be when I go and get everyone onto that damned ship.

How much longer do we have anyways? I pulled up my watch and sighed seeing that we still had to get past 12 hours of these bastards, 11 of which will be during the night. After that though we should have free reign to get the spare ship down here then bring everyone back up to the main ship.

For the next hour there was no sign of the xenomorph bastards while most of us tried to get even half an hour of sleep, we knew that we'd need it based on the fact we'd probably be fighting all night and any sleep would be precious. It wasn't easy though considering every single thing made us jump, in fact one such thing that scared us was apparently there was a cat here. We didn't notice it during our sweep earlier but it's a cat so it's not like it was moving that much.

Aside from that, the whole hour was relatively peaceful, that is when the turrets began unloading their clips though. For around half an hour the first line of turrets kept firing and firing till they ran out of ammo. I have no clue how many died, but I'm willing to bet it's not enough, my assumption was later confirmed by more turrets firing. It continued like this for another hour until we were down to our last 2 turrets. Their numbers must have dwindled down by now though given the fact that the last two guns have been firing less and less as time goes by. Now it's currently hour 5 at night and the last contact was an hour ago.

If I remember right, what ended up happening next in the movie was them coming from above, but we blocked it off so we shouldn't have to worry about that. I began talking with everyone about our plan and to see if there was any progress on the weather. To my surprise when they checked they actually said that it had moved out of the way and that they could start piloting the plane down here! I told the pilot to get on that, and she told me it can be down here in an hour, hour and a half maybe if the wind picks up too much.

For around 30 minutes there was nothing happening, then the turrets suddenly began firing nonstop, we couldn't even see what it was they were firing at from their camera's so we all picked up our rifles and aimed it at the door when we heard them run out of ammo. To our surprise though nothing came through the door, however the lights were suddenly shut off with only red lights oscillating every so often. "They are smart enough to try and blind us... do they realize what we're trying to do?"

Every marine and person in the room turned to look at me as I said that, "You head me, I think they know what we're trying to do somehow, not just that we're trying to hold off until morning anymore. These things, I think they can think..."

Some scoffed at what I said and called me a dumbass and that these were nothing but animals. They claimed that every single thing that was happening with that was just coincidence, I can't blame them since, for the last who knows how long, they've been walking into out bullets without stopping. I just shook my head at these people as we all turned on various lights that we had with us, some flashlights, some lanterns, and some forgoing anything but night vision.

This time we had around 20 minutes of peace before the guns fired the last of their ammunition and we were greeted by silence that terrified every single one of us. Nobody dared make a sound as a pair of marines continued checking the movement sensors for any sign that the Aliens were moving. I watched silently as sweat formed on my forehead, I was able to hear all the beeps from a meter or 2 away, so I could tell that they were swarming this room with how much each device was beeping.

I closed my eyes and focused on getting a grasp on my senses like I was taught in basics, however it took me too long to be able to finally make myself stop worrying about the approaching threat since I don't remember any rules or ideas about what to do in a situation like this. Thinking about that made me shudder unexpectedly, what would the military do if they had to deal with these things back when I came from? It would be a slaughter, the military to my knowledge does not have the capability of defending against these things, especially given how stubborn some of the higher ups are to change and people saying anything.

Like back in my old unit, if I tried to do anything like I've done here then even if I was a mercenary I would've had the shit beaten out of me, and it has before... however sometimes people have to change once they see something that shouldn't be. I've always have been fast to adapt to change, it's probably the only reason that I can handle so well, but given the fact that I can probably die at any moment my defenses are crumbling.

Suddenly the beeping stopped the sound that it was getting closer, I craned my neck so that I could see the screen of the motion tracker, and found all the moving entities were behind the door that leads to this room. When I was getting ready to slowly walk over to the trackers I heard a highly audible sizzle coming from the left of me, someone else must have heard it as well because I saw someones flashlight shined right on it, showing a creatures dead body on a hole in the door with another climbing over it.

Not wanting to take a chance I immediately raised the rifle that I had and shot a burst of rounds into it, making its large head be torn to pieces. Before I could pull back though another began climbing through so I started shooting at its head as well. "They know we're here! Shoot them but make sure you don't waste ammo!" I call out to the marines, the last thing we need is a battle of attrition in this mess so its infinitely better to just be patient with our shots until we are sure we can hit them. In fact that's the largest flaw with the turrets that we had deployed previously, they just kept throwing ammo at a moving enemy whether it is alive or dead.

After killing 5 of them I heard the marines holding the scanners shout out, "The scanners show they're right next to us! Someone search for them!" I knew that the only chance that they would have gotten through the door was if it was right after/during when the creature died, or they are above/below us. I am more inclined to believe that they're above us given how to story went before, especially given the fact that I wasn't even the first person to be looking at the hole in the door and I had happened to look at it pretty fast as well.

I started sweeping the roof above us when I suddenly heard a shriek. I turned and saw Newt was pointing above her, and when I looked at what it was it was quite obviously a growing hole for the alien to enter from. I rushed over since the door was being watched pretty decently, when I got close by I grabbed newt and the young boy and made sure that they were behind me while I kept the rifle trained at the hole. Against my expectations however the hole didn't stop growing, in fact I think that they were dragging a dead aliens body along the vents since the acid started taking out large swaths of the ceiling. In fact, it is getting much harder for me to feel safe, like the Alien will stab me through with its tail at any time.

I picked the 2 kids up and called out, "How are they looking on the trackers?! We won't be able to hold out here much longer!"

I then got a response, "They're everywhere around us! What do you mean we can't hold for long?"

I called out to everyone and told them the situation and that we need to push through to get outside to by the APC since we can set up a solid defense around it. Someone didn't like what I said and started mouthing off, but another marine quickly shut the man down. He then called for everyone to go and grab what you can, heavy troopers were to clear out a path, everyone else was to watch their backs.

I was already holding the 2 children so I quickly grabbed my backpack with minor readjustments. Within 5 minutes we were all ready to set out, however they had started to climb from the ceiling in their many paths to get to us. We were trying our best to hold them off, but we just didn't know where they could come from next unlike the door, if this situation right here doesn't prove that they're smart then I don't really know what does.

In the next instant we all left quickly through the melted door as we killed the last few creatures that weren't above us, I had to quickly hop out of the way at one point because there was an alien right above me and the kids, and when it was killed the acid almost drenched us. It took us a total of 10 minutes to get out of the place due to how far it was from the main entrance and how many aliens were blocking the way, however from when I asked the pilot it seemed the ship was on it's way down now, it may be about 20 minutes now, possibly more since she is trying her best to pilot while running. If I didn't know how much of a plane nut she was I would tell her to hand it over to bishop, but knowing how she is I am likely to get slapped.

After an additional 5 minutes we got to the APC where we quickly set up a defensive circle once we checked its internals for any creatures that may be laying a trap. However we didn't see a single alien anywhere near us until the plane was just about to drop down, that is when all of them began rushing at us quickly, making it so that we couldn't get to the plane that was less than 30 meters away from us as fast as we would like. After holding for a few seconds one of the marine leaders called out, "APC begin salvo!"

I would have looked up to see what it was that the salvo was, but had to hold the line or else I'd compromise the circle for everyone else, however I didn't need to be curious about it for long as explosions began targeting some of the thickest clusters of the Aliens, lessening our burdens by a bit, but not enough that it didn't feel that I was living in hell and fighting off a relentless horde of demons like Doom Guy.

After firing for around 5 steady minutes my head was pounding, I had been trained to withstand the fire of rifles and distant explosions whether my eardrums liked it or not, but I wasn't ready for a cannon to be fired basically right next to me. I had to fight the pain and continue holding, in fact I didn't even notice that someone had called out the order to circle to the plane until Bishop when and patted my shoulder and pointed to the plane. I was so out of it that I couldn't even hear him talking, however I was able to barely understand his message and began the shuffle towards it.

I don't even know how long it took at this point, all my training had seemed to go out the window after that salvo they launched, I could feel my vision getting blurry like I hit my head really hard and got a concussion. I think Bishop was sticking close to me because throughout the whole thing he was guiding me where to walk while I continued shooting, he even made it so that I was one of the first ones onto the ship, he tried to get me to sit down, but no matter how out of it I was I could still see black, so I continued firing until the pilot got the ship in the air, which is when everyone collapsed on their asses.

I tried calling for some sort of pain killer since my head was pounding, however I couldn't hear myself call out at all, making me very worried- can the crossroads place cure deafness? I began getting more and more worried until, in the blurs I felt a hand go onto mine and drop a pill. I smiled and tried to say thank you, not knowing if they could hear me at all. I was about to dry swallow the pill when they grabbed my hand again and handed me a canteen of water, thankfully not liquor based on the smell.

I took the pill and leaned my head against the wall until we got to the ship, maybe about 30 minutes, and since this is a future/sciencey pill I should be feeling better within that time, at least that's what I hope.

For the next 30 minutes I lived in a world of silence which made me fall asleep from the lack of stimulation, when I woke up I was happy that I no longer had a headache as well as my vision being fine, I was quite disappointed however when I discovered that I still was unable to hear myself talk. I couldn't be too frightened however as when I looked down I saw not just Newt but the little boy going and cuddling in my lap while I slept, I also saw a couple other Marines sleeping, and another Marine locked eyes with me.

She was the Medic so she ran over with her bag and tried talking to me, however as I said before I couldn't hear. I think I now know what deaf people go through, I have no fucking clue what she's saying, I want to assume it's something that I'm handsome since she doesn't look all that bad, but I'm really certain it's more so that she's wondering if I'm okay. I tell her out loud that I can't hear anything to which she types out on a little wrist PDA, 'Okay, how about your head, vision, anything else hurting?'

I shake my head and tell her other than lack of hearing I'm doing great, she then types out again, 'Just letting you know then, since I know you can't hear your voice to correct it, you are quite loud, not screaming, but well up there. We're going to be there in 5 minutes so go ahead and get a little more rest.'

I nod my head and lean back thinking about what to do when I get back, first things first I want to go and get my hearing working, maybe also get my head checked out since even though the symptoms may not be there anymore, the underlying problem may very well exist still. After that I think I've earned a vacation for at least a while, I just hope that damn place has entertainment or I'll have to resort to going to another world as a vacation or spending my days watching the iron giant make pancakes...

This was an F-ranked world right? God, what is an A-rank world like I wonder if this is already this difficult for me to go and deal with. Are there even worlds beyond A? I don't remember any mention of it, but given my memory I don't know.

While I was in the middle of my thoughts I felt a tap on my shoulder, when I looked up it was bishop, and behind him were the marines unloading themselves. I nodded and stood up while still holding the children, I then followed bishop to take them back to the area where all the pods for us to sleep in were, thankfully there were a lot extra even without including the ones that belonged to the fallen marines. I set them each down into their own pod and made sure they were sleeping alright, bishop lagged behind me a bit but it didn't matter too much to me, I knew where the locker was. All I wanted was to set my stuff down as I could feel the stress and exhaustion leaving me taking with it all the adrenaline that I had.

Right when I was about to turn to set my stuff down I heard a very loud high pitched noise, proving that I could still hear a little bit, but not in the way I'd have liked to learn. My headache instantly started coming back, and with it the blurry vision. When I turned around I saw a black object which if it wasn't for me having seen them before would likely have not realized it was an alien. I reached for the rifle but paled when I realized I handed it over as well as the rifle, though I don't feel too safe trying to hit the alien from 2 meters meters away let alone the 10 or so I am most likely at.

Pushing through my headache I placed my left hand on the wall as I sprinted as fast as I could, keeping my eyes on it the whole time. I got close to it when it was on the larger object, most likely bishop. I would be very worried about him normally, but if I remember right in the movies, the aliens don't care too much about androids once they learn what they are, well plus I could see the brown blob moving underneath it. I wasn't going to let this chance slip though, especially with it's tail caught in the floor, that or a hand of its, either way I stomped down hard onto the appendage and then twisted my boot. I then jumped away quickly since I could barely see the black swing towards me, I must have been a bit too late though as I felt stinging sensations across my chest.

I grimaced as I saw it slowly stalk towards me, the only consolation was that Bishop (or whatever the brown blob was) had gotten up and grabbed the smaller blobs and took off running. The creature turned around quickly, however I wasn't going to take this chance for granted, I leaped onto it and started bashing it whichever which way I saw black, especially spots that I found were squishy in it's exoskeleton (if this is what I'm punching). The only way I can tell if it's working at hurting it is the pain that I'm feeling course through my hands, in fact at one point I stop feeling pain which is both a blessing and a curse because I legitimately can't feel my hands which I think means I lost them or I'm slapping the creature.

It was shortly after this point that the alien flung me over and I'm pretty sure was pounced over me ready to use its tongue given by the saliva it was dripping. Thinking about it, being near blind is a blessing right now since I'd be shitting my pants otherwise I'm sure, however I can't worry about that too much since I may very well die right now.

I turn my body quickly to the side in hopes that it was about to fire its tongue thing, and the next instant I felt a stab in my shoulder. Not being one to lose this opportunity either though, I flexed my muscle which made the pain much worse but kept it stuck there, and then chopped at it with my arm since I didn't even know if I had hands anymore. It seems I was successful because I felt stinging around my shoulder and the creature quickly backed up away from me. I really want to go and rip this thing out of my shoulder, but if I try to, that's how I know that I do or don't have hands, and I can't worry about that right now. Mental breakdowns are for when I have time for one.

I dashed quickly towards the blur in my vision and ducked low to the ground, making it jump upward, however I was hoping for this. As smart as it is, it still has survival instincts, especially since I'm sure it can tell I can barely see, so I jumped to intercept it, catching my legs around its chest while my arms were around what is either its arm or its neck, I am hoping for the latter rather than the former. I then used whatever strength I had while it ripped into my back to yank upward. After what felt like an eternity, I felt a pop and saw a notification pop up as I felt a burning pain cover my whole body, making me collapse into darkness.

[

Mission completed!

Teleportation in progress!

]