**Away Team – South Facility**
The dropship landed and was towed into the hangar. The away team quickly entered the facility, where they began barricading the access tunnel leading toward their location to buy time until the dropship repairs were complete.
By the time Ferro, Vasquez, and Hudson arrived, a perimeter had already been established, leaving only the task of setting up automated turrets on the other side of the access doors.
Hudson and Vasquez volunteered for the turret setup while Kris combed through the colony's database, searching for any acquisition requests for the type of thrusters they needed, or something similar. Meanwhile, the rest of the team discussed their terrifying encounter with the Xenomorphs and the fate of the colonists.
Ripley took the lead, asking, "So why did they set up directly under the main terraforming facility?"
Bishop explained the facility's functions and processes clinically, but Ripley urged him to break it down further.
"So, the Xenomorph drones capture the colonists, drag them through the tunnel beneath the cooling systems, and cocoon them so these parasites can… implant them and create more Xenomorphs. That's about 150 more of these things. And these things come from eggs, right? So, who's laying them?" Ripley asked.
"Maybe it's something we haven't seen yet," Bishop speculated.
"Like an ant hive," Hudson suggested.
"It's bees that have hives, not ants," Vasquez corrected.
"Fine, bees, ants—whatever. There's gotta be a big mama ant," Hudson insisted.
"They're not ants, stupido," Vasquez shot back.
Bishop finally concluded, "Yes, a queen."
Their conversation was interrupted by Kris, who'd found information on the thruster. "Bad news, everyone. I found the part, but it was installed in one of the crafts that crashed looking for the first missing colonists."
Ripley turned to Hicks. "How long after we're declared overdue can we expect a rescue?"
"Seventeen days," Hicks replied.
Hudson reacted instantly. "Seventeen *days*? We're not gonna last seventeen hours! Those things are gonna come back in here, just like before! They're gonna get us!"
Kris cut him off. "Hudson, pipe down!"
Ripley snapped, "Hudson! This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training," pointing to Newt.
Hudson scoffed, "Why don't you put *her* in charge?"
Zheng looked at Kris, asking if it was okay to nudge the cast toward a solution.
Kris thought about it for a second and gave Zheng a nod; it seemed Kris had already cemented his image as a reliable individual.
Zheng didn't miss a beat after Kris gave him the confirmation. "Since the dropship's busted, why not call the others to pick us up?"
Ferro interjected, "With that storm outside? Comms won't work in this weather."
Bishop chimed in, "The comms might not, but the guidance system runs on a different patch. If we can use the dish on-site to boost the signal, we might be able to activate the retrieval directive remotely."
Ripley nodded. "Someone needs to go out, take a portable terminal, and patch in manually."
Hudson protested, "With those things out there? Count me out!"
Corporal Hicks shot back, "I guess we can count you out of everything, Hudson."
"I'll go," Bishop said, but no one heard him amid the argument.
Finally, Ripley heard him. "What?"
Everyone turned to Bishop as he repeated, "I'll go. I'm the only one qualified to remote-pilot the ship anyway."
"Believe me," he added, "I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid."
Kris snorted. "For an artificial person, you've got spunk."
Suddenly, alarms blared. Bishop checked the console. "The fission reactors are overheating. The firefight under the cooling system must have damaged them. We're looking at a meltdown in four hours."
Hudson muttered, "We'll be out of here by then. What's the worst that could happen?"
Then, the lights went out.
"They cut the power," Ripley said quietly.
Hudson began to panic. "What do you mean *they* cut the power? How could they cut the power? They're animals!"
Kris ordered, "Everyone stay calm and shoulder your weapons." The team instinctively obeyed, forming a protective circle around Ripley, Newt, and the unconscious lieutenant.
"Bishop, how fast can you prep the dropship for retrieval?" Kris asked.
"Two hours, if I leave now."
Hudson lost his composure entirely. "Now what are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shyte now, man!"
Hicks grabbed him. "Are you finished?"
Newt tugged at Ripley's shirt. "We're not leaving now, right?"
Ripley knelt, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, Newt. Just a while longer."
Newt nodded. "It's not your fault."
Biscuit approached her. "Don't worry, kid. We'll protect you."
The perimeter alarms went off again, and the automatic turrets armed themselves. Hudson screamed, "Game over, man! Game over! What the hell are we gonna do now?"
Burke snapped, "Maybe we can build a fire, sing a couple of songs? Why don't we try that?"
Xuan and Hicks rushed to monitor the turrets. They watched the bullet count plummet as the rounds fired rapidly.
When the gunfire stopped, Zheng asked, "Are they out of ammo, or are the aliens gone?"
Hudson snorted, "Maybe we got 'em demoralized," while checking the life signs detector.
With only their own signals showing, everyone relaxed slightly but remained vigilant.
"Bishop, can you reach the transceiver dish?" Kris asked.
Zheng suggested, "Why not use the air vents? Newt used them before."
"I've seen the facility plans. I can navigate the vents," Bishop confirmed.
"Good. Hudson and Vasquez, keep watch here. The rest of you, let's reinforce our defenses. We'll need a few things from the dropship."
After retrieving their supplies, Hicks took stock of their remaining weapons. "We've got four M-41A pulse rifles, 50 rounds each. Not ideal, but we've got some M-40 grenades and a half-full flamethrower."
Ripley pointed. "Is that the only flamethrower?"
Hicks nodded. "The other one's damaged. But we've got two sentry clips with 500 rounds each. They'll come in handy."
Kris and the others returned, reporting, "We've barricaded as much as we could. Reload the turrets, and we'll be ready. Some of you should try to rest while we rotate guards."
---
In the lull of the impending alien assault, Kris took the chance to talk to the players individually. He approached Xuan first, who was going through the data packet he had downloaded using a spare datapad he found.
"I've noticed that you've been awfully quiet ever since we left the mothership."
Xuan looked up from his datapad and said, "I have just been contemplating what I have observed thus far..."
"Which are?" Kris urged the man to elaborate.
"I have just been wondering about the things that have been going on. For example, you..."
That statement lingered in the air for a while as Xuan gauged Kris's reaction.
"What about me?" Kris finally asked.
"You are not quite what they say you are. After that briefing we had on the ship, I asked around about you—mainly from Xiaoyi and Lan. I tried to ask Jie too, but the man just flipped me off."
Xuan continued, "You suddenly becoming *competent*, and just a while ago, how were you able to know how to access the facility's database? From what I heard, you were a mechanic."
"That's when I noticed this about myself as well. I was able to know things I shouldn't have. Earlier, I thought it was my high intellect showing, but I was just being a narcissistic fool, fooling myself."
"My doubts deepened when I was with Zheng and we encountered those aliens. He gave commands and performed team dynamics—that's not normal for a salaryman with no military training whatsoever."
"Then I had to wonder... where did it all come from? And then just now, I realized how the Sergeant introduced you... Tech Engineer."
"Do you see where I'm getting with this? God, the system—whoever brought us here—changed us, not by much, but nonetheless, changed us to fit our roles in this movie."
With Xuan's revelation, Kris just now noticed as well. It was like glass shattering, and every little nuance Kris had just revealed itself.
He could only say, "Huh, I'd be damned!"
"Now the question is, is this a good thing or a bad thing? What do you think, Xuan?"
Xuan responded by shaking his head. "So far, God has given us these small skills, some other changes. Makes you think—can He take away things as well?"
Kris left that question hanging as he gave the man some space. Looking to the side, he saw Master Biscuit leaning against the wall. She surely heard their conversation because she was also wearing a pondering look.
Putting a pin in this thought, Kris went over to Zheng to see how the man was holding up.
With all the excitement going on, Kris was still determined to delay Zheng's unlocking of the genetic constraint.
He even went out of his way to prevent Xuan from talking about this topic.
By the end of their small talk, he found no signs that Zheng would unlock it anytime soon.
He wanted to be ready before they entered a team battle, and that included the team he was building as well.