Chapter 14 Kill Or Be Killed

(Almost there.) I muttered as I clawed my way forward.

[It won't hold you much longer.] Goldy hummed in amusement as the vent I was in creaked slightly.

(It will hold.) I sighed at him as I continued to move towards my destination.

[No it won't.]

(It will be fin-oh crap!)

At that moment the station shook once more causing the weakened ventilation shaft I was in to fall apart dropping me onto the floor below with a loud thud. Disoriented for a second I looked around, I was in a slightly familiar hallway that was much more destroyed then I remember it being but considering the situation that actually made sense now that I thought of it.

(Don't you dare.) I growled, predicting a joke about my weight in the near future.

[I would never disrespect a lady.] Goldy chuckled sarcastically.

That caused me to scoff. (When have you ever shown respect to me?)

[I said "a lady" you're a xenomorph so you don't count.] He explained mockingly. [Now get up fat ass, we have work to do.]

(Your a fucking dick head you know that...)

[I don't know what you're talking about.] I could feel him grinning like the bastard he was, however I tried my very best to just ignore him for now...even though I really did want to punch him in the face at that moment.

(Where the hell am I?) I asked myself as I looked around not seeing much other than a few chard bodies, thankfully I was able to figure out where exactly I was after a moment of quick thought and reflection. (Okay...errm...it should be just around here, right?)

With that I got ready to move but was quickly and rather rudely interrupted by some unwanted idiots who decided to come over and investigate. "The noise came from over her-!"

"Shit, it's one of the specimens!" One of the three marines yelled in panic when they laid eyes on me.

"Kill it!"

(Fuck me...) I growled as I grabbed two nearby corpses and flung them at the group.

"What the hel-!" One of the marines, the only female of the group, tried to yell but was cut off when one of the bodies hit her dead on in the chest.

The second marine managed to duck out of the way just as the body passed over their head, they then looked back up just in time to see my tail tear its way through the upper torso of the other standing marine who was currently gagging on their own blood. I had moved mostly on instinct and nothing else, so I didn't really realize what exactly I had done until they literally coughed up a large amount of crimson liquid onto my face and I watched as their eyes turned hollow.

Their companion however didn't give me time to really process this as his scream of rage snapped me out of my thoughts. "No!" Was the only thing I heard before their voice was drowned out by their own frantic gun fire. 

Moving on instinct once again I used the now dead marine as a meat shield as I rushed forward with a very clear goal in mind. Once close enough I tossed my rather gruesome protection aside and grabbed ahold of his arms stopping him from firing at me any further, unfortunately for him I didn't stop there. 

Even I myself was a little surprised with what happened next, it happened mostly because I had severely underestimated my own strengths. I pulled my hands in opposite directions with the intention of restraining him more effectively but that's definitely not what happened in the end, not even close. I had surprisingly pulled with enough force to actually rip both of his arms off with a sickening and painful sound that echoed through the hallway. For his part though he could only really scream in agony while collapsing to the ground, his screams however were sadly answered by only silence as I just watched the event play out before me.

I watched his face turn completely pale, I watched his blue eyes lose any kind of focus, I watched as a large amount of blood poured from what remained of his arms and finally, finally I watched as his life slowly faded from him by the second. Now able to fully realize what exactly it was that I had just done everything just slowed down, my mind, the world around me, everything just seemed to freeze becoming completely still for the most part.

I was frankly horrified, terrified even. Not because of my actions or the crimson fluid that stained my hands, tail and chest, no, I was horrified because I felt nothing, no guilt, no pity, no remorse, no regret. I felt absolutely nothing at all in the face of any of this. Unfortunately that small moment of unawareness and mental turmoil left me rather vulnerable, for this crucial mistake several bullets to the back was my just reward.

The one who had been knocked over at the start had finally gotten back up and was currently laying into me with a pistol. I think xenomorphs are actually far more resistant to pain than humans but damn did it still hurt like a bitch. Thankfully my exoskeleton was tough enough to block most of the bullets that were shot at me but a few of them did manage to get through and spill my acidic blood across the ground.

The pain from the bullets lodged in my back caused a sudden and strange shift in my mind however, a feeling of frustration and rage washed over me like boiling water splashing across my form. I whipped around before leaping forward and grabbing on to her head with a frightening amount of force while screeching into her face. 

I then tore the gun from her hand and pointed it directly at one of her eyes, all so she could see it clearly, and honestly, well,  it must have been quite the surprise if her reaction was any indication. In fact her face had just enough time to change from an expression of confusion to one of horror and shock before I abruptly pulled the trigger. The process was not an easy one considering the fact that my fingers were a little too big for the trigger but the result was the same either way, a very lifeless corpse.

(Damn it...) I hissed sharply as I came back to my senses and dropped the body to the hard metal ground.

[You should get moving if you wish to live.] Goldy said flatly.

I lightly gritted my teeth at that. (No reaction to any of this at all?)

[Only the strong, the mighty and the influential have the right to feel any kind of regret or remorse.] He answered with what I think was a shrug before continuing. [You currently do not have the luxury to dwell on such sentimental feelings, in fact they'll just end up getting you killed. So yes, kill or be killed, that is the path you must walk in this life, at least until you have the strength and power to afford not to kill.] Goldy could be rather light-hearted at times but I had started to truly learn just how cold he really could be.

(You make it sound so simple...) I sighed after a second of thought 

[Because it is.]

I decided to just drop the whole conversation there and focus back on the task at hand, however if I was being honest with myself I just wanted to get the hell away from this place and off this station. Thankfully though I was already rather close to my destination already, so I didn't have to crawl my way back into the vents in order to get there. In fact after walking down a few more hallways I came to one that had a row of what appeared to be launch tubes for escape pods built into the side of the left wall, most of them however were completely empty except for one that had yet to be ejected.

Fortunately I didn't have to worry about my acidic blood damaging anything important, mostly because the wounds that I had been dealt were already healed enough to stop most of the bleeding. As for the bullets that had actually managed to pierce into my flesh, well, they vanished inside of me not long after they entered, and so I had to admit that having acid for blood was rather useful.

(Found it.) Thankfully no one was around allowing me to move forward unhindered. What I found within the pod however was a little surprising to me, even if I had somewhat seen it coming beforehand.

Inside were thirteen individuals, however only two of which were conscious at the moment. (Errrm...I wasn't expecting them to capture so many.)

There was a woman who was obviously a marine given her outfit, she was holding a rather interesting looking shotgun with a knife and pistol strap to her waist. As for the other one, he was a gruff looking man who was wielding a rifle of some kind and wearing a standard mechanic uniform, I recognized him as one of the two maintenance workers I had taken control of.

The woman had light brown hair tied into a bun at the back of her head, emerald eyes and appeared to be around her late twenties. She also appeared to be the rash and impulsive type when compared to the man who seemed the much calmer of the two. Speaking of the man in question, he was far older around his late forties or early fifties and had short grayish black hair, dark coal like eyes as well as several deep scars around his arms and neck.

"We have awaited your arrival my queen."  The man said with a bow of respect and a look of eerie devotion in his eyes.

"They have all been subdued as ordered, my queen." The female marine smiled with twisted glee as she waved at the eleven knocked out and tied up individuals strapped into their seats, all of which were unarmed workers and researchers.

<<Good. >> 

I had ordered some of my thralls to split up and subdue anyone possible without being caught or putting themselves at risk, a task that they took to immediately and without hesitation. If it wasn't possible for them to accomplish this however they were simply to continue acting as if everything was normal and to blend into the human forces. Although if they were actually successful in their mission they were to try and regroup with me as soon as possible, after all I needed potential hosts for future implantation and those subdued individuals would do perfectly.

Of course the idea was not pleasant to me and neither did it bring me any kind of happiness or joy but I...I wanted to live plain and simple. I didn't want to die in this damn universe and the only way for me to succeed was for them to suffer so that I didn't have to. And sure, some may call me selfish or evil for my actions and I'd honestly have to agree with them wholeheartedly but it wasn't that black and white. 

These people, they, well, they had basically tortured and tormented me, all because they wished to control me like a puppet, a weapon that they could use however they wished and desired. I knew this, I really did and as such I couldn't bring myself to feel pity for them, I didn't hate them per say but I couldn't find it in myself to care about their pain as much as I probably should have. And on top of all of this the mixture of my new bodies instincts didn't help at all, as even though I was once human myself I was finding it harder and harder to see them as anything other than just hosts to be used.

<<Let's just leave this place already.>> I sighed, not really in the mood at the moment.

"As you so wish my queen." The female marine quickly responded, she was already at the controls by the time that I had finished speaking. "Launching now." The marine hummed, the pod then soon ejected toward the planet but I wasn't really paying attention to any of that.

(I really have become a monster haven't I...)

My depressing thoughts were thankfully interrupted by Goldy however. [Look out the window.]

(What are...you...oh.) I squeezed my way forward and looked outside only to be met with quite the sight, the station was slowly drifting towards the planet below as pieces of it rained down around us. 

[Those explosives did really well...] 

(So many people falling to their doom.) I muttered in morbid wonder as I watched the scene before me...of course this moment was completely ruined when the lyrics to "It's Raining Men" started playing in my head. (What the?)

[I am attempting to "lighten the mood" as some would say.]

(I would tell you that you're being rather insensitive and cruel...that is if it wasn't a little funny...)