Danny Phantom: Perfect Host

Chapter 13

Far above the atmosphere of the planet, a ship of marines was steadily growing closer. They were on a mission to uncover why the communications stopped working at the colony. None of them really believed Ripley when she told them about the alien lifeforms she had encountered on the planet before. Even the Weyland-Yutani representative, Carter Burke thought she was making things up. The group of marines consisted of Sergeant Apone, Corporal Hicks, Privates Hudson and Vasquez, Lieutenant Gorman, and an android named Bishop. Because of the android going "Rouge" on the Nostromo, Ripley didn't trust him very much, which didn't help gain the trust of the marines at all, but she hoped with time that they would see that she was only trying to help.

After several hours, they finally made landfall on the surface of LV-426. Slowly and methodically, they made it to the main outpost of the colony, unaware of the watching eyes from the darkness.

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Danny had heard the engines from below and wanted to investigate while the creatures continued to slumber near the queen in the nest. Sliver looked up at him as he stood.

"I'll be back. Go back to sleep." Danny crooned softly, his voice mimicking the raspy rumble of the creatures slightly. The large creature rumbled back and went into a light sleep, while the ghost boy went invisible and intangible and flew up past the ceiling. Once he reached the surface, he watched as a small ship descended from the cloudy sky, the wind making a good cover as it blew large amounts of dust across the surface. He watched as several humans in army clothes left the ship and traversed the rocky ground. Silently he followed them, eyes narrowing slightly as he recognized one of the women.

She walked with a purpose, brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. he followed her silently and invisibly, paying no mind to the soldiers that she was with. the wind blew wildly, allowing him to enter the building with out them noticing on their motion trackers. He wasn't sure if they would be able to track him if he was invisible, but he didn't want to chance it. As he hovered inside the building, he noticed a small girl peering out of a vent, watching the doors as the marines yelled behind the doors. She ducked under cover as they finally manage to get them open.

Danny froze in place, allowing the marines to walk past, checking the corridors for any movement. They kept their steps light and quiet, but Danny was sure that even the creatures far below already knew they were there. He followed behind them, wanting to see what they were up to. The girl he had seen earlier was following underneath their feet in the vents below, watching. The marines were getting wary, as nothing showed up on any of their instruments.

"Looks like they barricaded all of the entrances into the station. Looks like they were trying to keep something out. Lets hope we don't run into any of Ripley's monsters." Apone snorted, pushing his way into the corridor. Ripley rolled her eyes, but continued to look around cautiously for any sign of the creatures. Vasquez and Hudson took point, leading the way for the others as they entered a room further down the hall. They all stopped in the doorway, shock and disgust on their faces as they looked inside the scientists lab. Broken containers littered the floor, while some were left on the counters. Burke entered the room, followed by the others warily.

Burke noticed two odd creatures in a couple of the containers and leaned closer for a better look, only to leap back in fear as one of them lunged at him. Ripley tugged him back even as the marines drew closer, weapons trained on the two creatures that were now rocking the containers slightly. Bishop appeared from the side, papers in hand.

"It says here that they found these creatures in an odd abandoned spaceship not too far from here. Upon returning, it appears that a couple of these creatures had latched onto their faces, before falling off dead. They had tried to remove one, and were successful, but the colonist died during the process. It looks like these two are the only ones still alive." He stated monotonously. Ripley was pale, and turned away from the creatures that plagued her nightmares.

"Well shit. Ripley was right about her monsters." Hudson stated, peering at the creature. Danny hovered over their shoulders, concern on his face for the creatures. Before he could do anything however, Vasquez spoke up rapidly, her motion detector beeping quickly.

"Movement in the corridor!" She shouted. they all scrambled out of the lab, and pointed their weapons up and down the hall, trying to find the source of the movements. Ripley caught a flash of dirty blonde hair as a child ducked under the floor. Ripley stopped Hudson from firing, and took off after the frightened girl. She ducked under the panels, and followed the girl down into a garbage shoot. Ripley grabbed the girl and held her close, whispering to her that everything would be alright. As this was going on, Danny disappeared into the lab to let the creatures go, only to stop in bewilderment, as the containers were already empty.