Aliens: Brood War

DOOMED

Now on the bridge, Walter helped Shaw to sit.

Rembrandt and Wolfgang immediately began to look for something.

"May I ask what is troubling you?" Walter asked.

"That thing," Shaw replied. "It was like the one that killed Kai. Bullets didn't even slow it down. Even when we take off. What hope do I have against a thing like that?"

"We can only hope to take none up with us," Walter answered. "That creature was one of ours, much stronger and more durable than the others here on this planet. It can be killed, just not as easily as the others. Even if we do take one or two with us, it will be fine."

Shaw gave Walter a worried look. "What," she asked. "How can you say that? Whoever doesn't have one of those rifles that shoot electricity is screwed."

Walter smiled as he explained. "As I said. It will be fine. We have more rifles we can give you."

Shaw felt a wave of relief wash over her.

Rembrandt then yelled something to Wolfgang, then to Walter.

"Oh dear," Walter said. "It seems we lost the key. That or one of the creatures possessed the cleverness to take it. We may be stuck here."

Shaw shook her head. That wave of relief began to sink."What," she asked in disbelief. "No way, we can't stay here. Not with those things. Rifle or no rifle. Key? Since when the hell does someone use a key to fly a starship?"

"It is not a key per se," Walter explained. "It is more of a flute."

Shaw immediately jumped up and began looking around with the others. "A flute," she said. "Why do you need a flute to start this thing? I thought they were advanced or something."

"It is quite ingenious actually," Walter said. "No other race would think to use it to start a ship. It keeps them from getting lucky by randomly pushing a button. David figured it out by watching a ship's holographic black box of sorts."

"I suppose that makes a little sense," Shaw replied. "Why wouldn't they take it with them or keep a spare? Please tell me they got one of those."

Walter shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "They had not planned on coming back here so soon and assumed it would remain in place. As far as keeping a spare, it has always been their policy to keep only one onboard each ship."

Right then, a terramorph jumped out of a vent and landed some distance from the group. Another emerged from a corridor on the opposite side of the room. Shaw and Wolfgang stood back to back in the middle, aiming their weapons.

Shaw spoke in a normal tone when she said. "You might want to tell them to rethink that policy."

The battle outside hadn't changed as far as who held the advantage. The terramorphs were smart enough to swarm the invaders and use their numbers. It helped in some cases, in others, it didn't seem to matter. The geneomorphs tore through the enemy like a professional football team against a high school varsity squad.

A geneomorph easily pulled the arms off a terramorph that had jumped at it. There was another terramorph trying to wrap up its legs and another latched on its upper torso biting at what it could. The geneo pulled the one on its torso away while using its tail to stab the terra around its legs.

The stab was, fortunately, or unfortunately, a non-lethal one. Out of some form of desperation, the terra grabbed onto the tail while it was still impaled. As the geneo struggled with a terra, yet another jumped on.

With a fierceness that only a geneomorph could muster, it threw the terramorph in hand a few yards away. Its attention then went to the one that had jumped on. Grabbing the terra's head and then using both hands to crush its dome.