Chapter 13

Log entry #2, 9th of August, 2136.

Found a small group of survivors two days ago. They were heavily armed. And they shot at me, of course. But meeting them made me discover a massive group of survivors, all men, women and children alike. Probably from the sub-colonies a few miles away from this colony.

Everything eventually broke out in mass hysteria, and soon the small but armed group I ran into we're the ones scavenging for supplies AND protecting the survivors. I was shot at, and even almost burned alive by a modified flamethrower.

But that's a good thing. It means that there's hope. They have weapons, food, clothes, and just about everything they need, provided they ration whatever they have with care. But most importantly, they have each other. And it is because of that they are surviving TOGETHER. At least they feel like they can survive this outbreak. It's funny though.

I'm alone. Yet I'm still here.

I went back out yesterday, and just wandered down the halls. It was quiet. Even my thoughts were almost non-existent. No human nor Xenomorph around me. It was just me.

I didn't explore much. It felt like the further I go away from this room, the more everything just goes… Blank. Even now I feel that I need to go SOMEWHERE. Not further away, but rather, closer.

Sometimes, when I hear the other Xenomorphs that may be lurking, I am more at ease. I don't know if this is just a natural characteristic of a Xenomorphs instincts, or just me finding comfort in knowing SOMETHING is there, and that I was not alone.

I stopped many times while I was out. Sometimes when I stopped moving, I would just freeze up and stop breathing, straining my ears to hear a noise. ANY noise. Even if it was just someone breathing I would've felt better.

But worst of all, the voices. They never fucking stop.

It was only then when I wandered through the halls, when I was truly alone, the voices were silenced. But even then, the silence seems to hurt me in some way. I would feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's Depressing.

And when I hear them, it feels as if they're eating at me. From the inside. There is no way I can put it into words. It just degrades me, and I don't know how or why. Sometimes I try to listen in, to make clear of what words were being formed. But it's all gibberish to me. I don't understand any of it. I CAN'T understand any of it.

Am I losing my mind? Is this what happens when someone is injected with a xenomorph embryo? Do they retain some sort of humanity until they mature? WILL I lose my fucking mind when I grow? Will I slowly turn into the monster that we've all locked into a cage and poked it with a fucking stick?

How long will it be until I fucking lose my mind?

0–0–0–0–0

I turned the terminal off, without deleting anything. I didn't give a shit, to be honest. The only way one can come into this room is if they were a xenomorph (or rather, someone with really good climbing skills). I slept for almost two full days,save for a few hours. I don't know how that's even possible. Either the clock on my PDA is broken or I actually slept for forty-one hours. After saving the document onto the tablet, I placed it in a drawer on my worn desk and left my room through the bathroom.

It was weird. Everything was weird. One would think that after spending quite some time in a different body, they'd get used to it. I still haven't. venturing far from this room, the silence becomes unbearable. With every step i took down that hallway, it felt like i was going out of bounds. Almost like i was stretching a rubber band to its limit, risking some sort of horrible, painful snap.

With another annoyed hiss, I scratched another itch I had, this time on my leg. I don't know why I get itchy. I thought it was because of dry skin. In my bathroom I was a half-empty bottle of lotion, of which I had to dump the rest of it to attempt to lather the watery fluids on my arms, legs and chest. Didn't work, as it felt as if it made the itching worse. I don't know why. Of all the xenomorphs I had studied, this was not a common side-effect. I've only seen it twice, when I have witnessed a Xeno in distress while it was continuously rubbing its side and back against the wall. I never got to study it though, as I heard that those particular Xenomorphs were always transported to a different lab, one I wasn't allowed to even talk about.

I never got to look into the behavior that xeno was exhibiting, same with the second one I witnessed. I was always curious on what the problem was with them, or why they were acting so strange. Now I myself will be able to experience it now. And I hate it. Sometimes the itch gets so bad that I even cut myself with my own claws scratching at invisible mosquito bites. I ignore it as best I could.

I did discover something about myself, however. The bleeding in my shoulder had stopped a while ago, even before I found that freezer containing all that... food. When I woke up after that long sleep, I found that the wound no longer hurt. what was more surprising was that all that remained of the wound was just a somewhat obvious scar. It was almost as if... It healed completely in just less than two days. This led me to believe that Xenomorphs had regeneration far more advanced than most reptiles back on earth. Cut the tail off a lizard, it'll just regrow it within two months. Shoot a gator in the thigh and the wound would disappear in as little as than less than a month. Seems that xenomorphs have reptilian traits as well. Someone probably already knows this, I'm just discovering it myself for the first time.

For the next several minutes i began to wander in a random direction. Surprisingly, I wasn't hungry. I think i was still full from earlier, which i found VERY odd. I didn't question it though. It honestly felt very good to feel full. Like all animals, Xenomorphs too find avid satisfaction in being full of whatever goodies they hunted or found. That much I didn't mind. I felt... good!

But that also leads me to a different discovery. My drooling. It has doubled in volume. But what startled me about it... was the COLOR. It was BLACK, almost like someone took my thick saliva and mixed ashes into it. What makes it completely bizarre for me is that it seems thicker. Like a somewhat watery honey. because of this, my entire pillow was soaking wet with this blackened muck. However, I also took note that if I kept my face slack and my lips still, my saliva turned back into the familiar slimy, clear spit I was still trying to get used to. But if I opened my maw and attempted to spit a little, this black muck would return. It was tasteless with very little smell, thankfully. But still... This means that my body is maturing. I don't know if that's a good thing.

I shook my head and continued to venture forth. The halls were beginning to feel familiar now. I recognized the cracks on the wall, especially the placement of benches in certain areas. Here I felt so... safe. Like I have no worries in the world at all. Made me feel kind of excited, to be honest, like a little kid going to a birthday party. In some dark, and creepy way.

I reached the end of the hall. but of course, it was not really the end of the hall, rather it was a dead end created by massive boulders and debris. no doors to the side or anything. all there was is just a little, narrow hole located within the debris towards the ceiling. There were deep claw marks that littered around the hole. looked like there was an abnormally large cat crawling through the hole. Xenomorphs seem to travel using vents and holes almost exclusively, through places like these. Maybe…?

Ignoring my body's strange functions, I prepared myself for a jump in front of the narrow hole before me. In no time at all, I made a slight squat and leapt towards the mysterious entrance with minimal force. I already learned that trying to jump with all my might would most likely have me end up with another smack into the ceiling. My legs, they're more powerful than i anticipated. Thus I do not underestimate my abilities, whatever the majority of them might be.

Perfect fit, I thought to myself as I squeezed my sides into the hole. The inner walls of the little tunnel were scratched to hell and back. It feels as if this tunnel was artificial. In all of honesty, it wouldn't be a surprise if Xenomorphs themselves burrowed through for better transportation.

Another surprise to me was how comfortable I was. I thought claustrophobia was going to be a problem. Luckily I was wrong. What other surprises does this body hold? I wondered. Minor regeneration, enhanced senses, better strength and agility… I can only imagine the amount of damage I can do if I went beserk.

But nonetheless, I need to keep going. I must. The… the munitions key… Yes. I crawled through the tunnel with great ease, seemingly slithering through like a serpent through mud. I… need to take advantage of this body. I can help those survivors to… more supplies. Yeah. I thought to myself. One crawling step after the other brought me through the tunnel, almost as if it was enticing me to. I felt strange here. Not a bad sort of strange. Just a soothing one… I began to feel… something. Around me. Close. Very…

I froze as the intruding Xenomorph somehow materialized from my right crawled right under me. I did not make a single fucking move… I just stood there. I felt the Xenomorph slide under me, then slowing before she passed me completely. I didn't make a single noise nor twitch. I just waited. For her. For something…

She pulled herself up until her back was nearly scraping the rounded ceiling. Within moments she was squeezing into a standing position, standing like how I was. I felt her ribbed side scrape heavily over my arm, making me feel every indentation it could give. Because of this, the left side of her face came so close to mine, I could feel her cool breath splash onto my chin and shoulders. I shuddered at the feeling… and she purred softly.

She shoved herself into me as snugly as possible, pinning me into the little wall I had. What is she doing...? I thought, now beginning to feel confused. She dragged the entirety of her left side onto me, then snorting when finishing. She then continued forward, leaving me in a state of bewilderment.

Just like that… I thought. Disappears just as soon as it has appeared in the first place. Is this… how Xenomorphs behave when stumbling upon one another? She just… nuzzled me. Ugh… Did that really just happen? I shook my head, and continued forth, heading towards what looks to be an entrance to another large, empty room. I dug my claws onto the lip of the hole, preparing myself to pull myself out.

I stopped again after spotting the xenomorph in the center of the room. I didn't move back or anything. I just stared at her. I could only assume that it was the same one from just a few moments ago. It glanced at me for a few seconds, then snapped its head in a different direction. I sunk back into the hole, now beginning to feel anxious.

What… what's that smell? I thought. The alerted xenomorph sniffed the air, then froze. I gave the air a little sniff as well, and I felt my nostrils flood with an oily scent. That smell… It was hard to identify. Its almost like scorched metal, but… Another moment passed, yet nothing happened. Despite this, the Xenomorph stood up in its legs, scanning an area. I wasn't able to see much from the hole I was in, but part of me just didn't feel right.

I heard something shift in the room, and the alien spun around, snarling at an unknown entity. The moment the creature twitched, a terrible, bright white light flooded the entire room, nearly blinding me from where I was. With a gasp I shoved my face into my arms and waited.

S-S-SHBOOF!

After my vision began to somewhat clear, I heard the Xenomorph screech in alarm, as well as some sort of launcher sounding at the same time. I looked up, holding my breath at the sight my gaze had fallen upon. I saw the xenomorph struggle with all its might against the metallic net that was shot over it. In a heartbeat, several men all bearing darkly decorated armored uniforms came upon the alien. The Xenomorph, with a single swipe of its claws broke free and charged towards the one who dared trap her.

A massive fight immediately broke out as a struggle between the shouting attackers and the rage-filled monster before them. In a blink of an eye, the warrior pounced onto the man holding the net-launcher and ripped out his throat with her teeth. The other mysterious soldiers stepped in and stabbed at it with long, thick cattle-prods. The Xenomorph screamed and hailed, spinning in a one-eighty degree fashion, lopping off the head of one of its attackers.

My heart jumped and I resisted the urge to jump out of the tunnel and fight. I felt a MASSIVE surge of adrenaline course through my entire being. It left me wanting… To get out of hiding to… to help. My head… my body… everything went cold… But I stayed hidden, clenching the fangs in my mouth. What...

I felt the tunnel I was in quake a little as something thundered down the hall. All of the men continued to shout and advanced on the lone alien, some even sticking what looked to be large cattle prods onto the confused Xenomorph. With every prod one made, a loud SHTACK! would echo throughout the entire area.

KER-THUMP!

The sound thundered once more, now much louder from before. The sound made both me AND the other Xenomorph visibly flinch.

KER-THUMP! KER-THUMP

Blood stained the floor as the warrior fought on. I counted only two corpses on the ground, with possible third i cannot see.

KER-THUMP KER-THUMP KER-THUMP KER-THUMP

Now within my sight, I could see most of the fight in detail, and from where I was, the Xenomorph looked to be in a rage-filled fren-

A large figure charged at the alien, and knocked her several feet away. I held my breath and continued to watch as the alien quickly recovered and charged back at it's new attacker. The men that once circled the warrior quickly changed positions and spread out while one of the snagged the NET-launcher from one of their deceased and began loading a new net into the device. When i looked upon the newest member of this attack, i felt my heart clench.

The man towered above the warrior, sporting armor that would put a juggernauts suit to shame. From his shoulders down to the very tip of his toes, he bore what looked to be a thick set of armor that was just as darkly decorated as his comrades. On the suit were scratches and nicks everywhere, though that seemed hardly the problem. From where I was, I could swear that he didn't have a head, but looking at the front of his being I saw a clear, glass shielding that protected his face. Even with that gruff face of his, I spotted a sickening smile on his lips.

The moment the xenomorph came upon the man housed in an Exo-suit, the man only sidestepped and grabbed the alie by its dorsal tubes and threw her against the wall close to the lip of the tunnel. The armored assailant began walking towards us, making me sink back into the hole just a little…

"Heeeeyyyyy there sweetheart," His voice came from a little speaker from the front of his suit, indicating that he needed a microphone to speak out loud. "Can you guess how much you're worth?"

The warrior bolted to my left, most likely to try to escape. But the man only grabbed her by the tail with his metallic fingers and yanked her back towards the center of the room. He came upon her once more and stomped on her tail. Her blood-curdling screech made me quietly whine and shiver. I felt an immense, hot white rage once more, and I struggled to keep it under control.

"The fuck you think you're going?" He taunted. The alien snarled at him attempted to gnaw at his foot. With a chuckle, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up a bit only to slam her down onto the ground. All I heard was a yelp from her before the wind was knocked out of her lungs. I felt my lips pull back and my teeth drip with slimy saliva. My head began to spin… God… It's like… Like I can feel her…

"Ready Mick?" He shouted over his shoulder, forcing the helpless alien onto the ground. "Hurry yer' ass up, were on a schedule." The one holding the launcher nodded and stepped forward. The armored assailant let go of the warrior and stepped back, shrugging his large, metallic shoulders for comfort. The alien curled up and trembled as the new designated catcher came closer. She made no sudden movements, and instead let out a weak hiss at the stranger before her. Within seconds, a new net was shot onto her, while another one of her attackers jogged up close and stabbed her in the neck with…

"Alright, that's it." Said the hunter. "She should be down for a while." The Xenomorph twitched and softly snarled at the man, too weak to even lift a tail. Two others came bearing some tools that I couldn't quite see. The one in the mech suit turned away and slowly thundered towards the Two bloodied corpses that were once his squad mates. Around the one missing his head had now large pool of blood that began to grow around his torso in an oddly shaped circle. The second body laid not too far from the other, giving me a great view of the insides of his throat from the hole the warrior tore open not too long ago. His eyes were still open. Staring up at the ceiling. Those still, lifeless eyes…

But worst of all the scent. Below my chin was now a decent size puddle of saliva, growing more and more with each drop as my mouth salivated at the sickly metallic aroma. The whole fucking tunnel was now beginning to smell like it now. I wasn't hungry but…

I pressed my chest and belly onto the rocky surface under me. Just ignore it… I thought. Just ignore it… I instead just watched the hunters drag the drugged warrior away while two others pulled the carcasses out of my view. They began to chat to one another, though nothing they said sounded useful. I couldn't see much other than the severed head and blood on the ground. I doubted anyone wanted to touch the head. I didn't blame them.

"WELL! At least you all know what happens when you try to be a fucking hero." Shouted the armored hunter. "I've said it once, and I'll say it again: DON'T JUST FUCKING RUN UP TO IT. It can and WILL rip you a new asshole." I heard a few of them shuffle a little.

"I'll call in the casualties to Cormick…" One of them said. "And captain?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to speak to you about Aaron, back at B-2," Said the hunter. "He's uhh... In the sick bay but… one of those THINGS got on his face."

"Shit." Was all the armored captain said. "When?"

"Just got word back from Dr. Church. He's looking into trying to remove… you know." He explained. "Said he needed to speak to you."

"All right, send him an PDM and tell him I'll be back at NINETEEN HUNDRED hours," The captain said. "After, you and James will escort Mr. Hendrick to the third floor of C-1. The smart gun needs a new guidance chip. We're food without it."

"Yes sir."

"Alright! You know the drill, we gotta set up again. And DONT make the mistake these two did." The armored captain said. "I'll send word for some extra hands, shouldn't take long. Change the batteries in the cattle prods, I don't want to take any chances on the next one."

Within minutes, I began to hear less and less commotion all around. Eventually the voices, clinking of metal lessened, and their thundering boots eventually died. Holding my breath, I inched my head out through the hole. The smell never left. Instead, it merely intensified. Only I no longer felt hungry for it. No… I do but… There's something else…

I gripped the lip of the hole lightly and slid my head out. The cool, humid air stung my nostrils with gunsmoke and blood. I plopped lightly onto the ground and stayed low. Straining my ears, i hear the distant sounds of chatter and thumping coming from the path the hunters took continuing to fade. I… felt like I needed to follow them but… No.

The tunnel led me to a large Hallway. Or what was left of it. Instead of a two-way wallway, one of the wall looked to be ripped open from the outside, which lead to an even larger cavern. The hole was so large that I didn't even KNOW that the tunnel entrance was in a hallway. The blood on the rocky ground still continued to spread over a larger area, though very slowly. I could see bloody footprints leading into the deeper part of the cavern.

I took a few steps towards the trail and I bent down. I need to leave. If I get caught and they ever find out about me… I crawled over to the blood spatter. I'd be put Into a cage and poked with a stick. I bent down and drank in the musk it radiated. But I need to find that munitions key. With it… I could have food that would last me a long time. With it I could...

"HHHHSSSHHHHAAAAAHHH..." I hissed.

Standing, I looked towards the direction of the footprints and sniffed at the air. The blood… It was everywhere. I can smell it. It's coming from everywhere, but it feels like it's coming from deeper in the cave. So many smells on the ground, in the blood, on the walls, chemicals, oils and blood are everywhere.

My vision began to strain itself. My chest tightened and my own lungs forced me to draw only shallow, quiet breaths. With every beat of my heart, the very edges of my vision blurred, and dulled to a near pitch black tint. There was no pain, no pressure, not even any warmth. Instead, it felt as if an icicle had pierced my spine. I wanted to leave but...

I continued deeper into the cavern and sniffed again. All of the smells grew slightly more intense. I walked a few more steps. My foot hit something and I nearly tripped. I stared down at the object in question. The now pale head stared back at me with its two, lifeless eyes. My saliva dripped down from my chin and plopped itself onto the heads face, only for it to slide across its nose and lips, eventually reaching the floor.

What am I doing?

I found myself walking towards the direction the hunters went. I can… The smells. The smells are coming from them. I can smell all of them. Sweat, gunpowder, oil, cologne, food… So this is what the Xenomorphs smell. The biologists in my old sector already knew about some of the enhanced senses. The aliens sense of vision has always been a tricky one. We knew they had several Olfactory bulbs with many, MANY olfactory nerves to support each and every single one of them, more than what humans have. Scientists knew because we could actually see them, by sticking a camera in their nasal cavity.

Turns out those nerves are more exposed than a human's, allowing for amplified input for their noses. However, according to the skeletal structure of their skulls, two slightly elongated sockets, where their eyes would most likely be. Couldn't ever actually SEE their eyes, as they are somehow masked by a severely thick and opaque membrane. Dissection rarely gave results, as most metals and equipment are nearly destroyed by the specimens acidic blood.

I turned around and went back to the breached hallway. Looking at the hole, I decided to make a left. Going towards the right wouldn't help; most of the way seemed to be blocked by rubble. There was an entry point where I could easily fit without a problem, but I didn't want to be in a confined amount of space again. Can't say that I would mind but… I felt better walking.

Within seconds, I heard something loud crash behind me. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I spun around to see what the noise was. A moment of silence passed, and all I could see was the rubble I planned to leave behind. Looking at the hole… It was…

What the fuck? I thought. The massive hole that I came from was blocked off by a large, metal sheet. There were scratches on the metal wall, both deep and shallow that almost covered its entirety. I tried to push the wall. It didn't move. Using both my bony hands, I attempted to shove the barrier open into the cave entrance. Didn't budge.

My heart was in my throat now. Where the fuck did it come from? I thought in alarm. Is this one of the hunters traps? How come I didn't see it? How come the other xenomorph didn't trigger it?I backed up and peered down the hall. I saw a few closed off and inactive doors on either side of the hallway, leading into a little bend towards the left. I didn't know where it lead...

Fuck it. I thought to myself. I climbed straight on top of the rubble and attempted to squeeze in. It wasn't possible. The entire way was blocked off by too much rubble, as well as quite a few rusted and fat broken pipes that occasionally leaked from its cracks and dents. Another dead end. Fuck… I climbed off and began walking down the hall. It's either this, or back into the hole. I said to myself. This or the hole. This or the hole…

It didn't take long to reach the end. Within just minutes I came to a complete halt at an open doorway. It was an old automatic sliding door. Still widely used in most of the colony, though these are old when compared to the ones installed in the labs of the Lhamboda outpost miles away. The new doors boasted a newer and improved gliding coil, reducing its opening and closing speed. Not to mention that the new doors opened by sliding two vertical halves off to the side, as opposed to the old "door slides up" gimmick we were all used to. A great model, though mostly used by the rich assholes that used to write my checks.

What was strange about this door was not the model. It didn't seem to be in any damage, which is actually quite a surprise. The door was wide open and i could see pretty well the contents of the large room before me. There looked to be some equipment covered by large and thickly-weaved blankets of cloth, along with a few old floodlights littering the room. As usual, there were cracks on the wall, broken iron beams hung from the ceiling, and even a few light fixtures were completely missing. Though oddly enough, this particular room seems to get a good deal amount of power, seeing as how any lights remaining seemed to illuminate what they can.

I took my gaze back onto the door. Something was… off. It shouldn't be a surprise that the door was powered, given the room it was connected to. But something wasn't right. The door was opened. Why is a powered automatic door open?

The door… It was undamaged. I tried looking for the maintenance panel connected to the door, but it was nonexistent. Its most likely on the other side. These fucking doors… The newer models had a maintenance hatch on either side of the door, on the bottom right where people would normally walk on. Made it easier for engineers to fix the door if there were any problems, allowing them to be on either side. But this is an old model. Which means if I want to look at the panel, I have to enter the room.

As cautiously as possible, I extended my head through the doorway and sniffed the air. Mold… musk… scorched metals… blood… mildew… Oil... Gas... And pepper. This another kitchen? I thought. Or maybe storage? With an annoyed grunt, I brought up my right hand and scratched another itch on my forearm. God its like Im a heroin addict or something… So itchy…

I stepped in and checked the side panel. The metal covering was clean and scratchless. Even the keypad above it seemed to be fully functional, without even a slight trace of wear and tear on the letters. I pulled the little handle with a claw and was greeted with a well protected motion chip. Not only that, but instead of a huge mess of wires, the technician actually organized the circuitry instead of half-assing it. I looked at the inspection sticker, to see when it was installed.

08/07/2136

What? I thought. That's not poss… That was…

VSSS-BAM!

The thick plated door slammed shut and indicator on the top of the door glowed bright red. Oh god… I thought. I looked at the keypad. The screen turned dark. I looked back at the panel. A thick plate of steel slid up and covered the panels circuitry. Oh my god…

I turned around, and I was immediately blinded by a hot white explosion. My ears rung and I felt myself flail around. Within seconds, I felt something jab at my side and I Screeched as loudly as my lungs would allow. I dropped to the ground jumped forward, crashing into anything that stood in my path. I heard shouting… stomping… cackling of electricity…

I looked down. Under me was a darkly dressed man wearing a worn helmet. His eyes went wide and he let out a broken yelp. To his side was the cattle prod he was holding. Hunters… I jumped up and ran ahead on all fours, attempting to run from my assailants.

KER-THUMP KER-THUMP KER-THUM-

Something jumped out in front of me and my face smashed right into the obstacle with a loud metallic BANG! Before I could get up, I felt my feet leave the ground and a great pressure around my throat. The captain looked me dead in my invisible eyes... and smiled.

"Heeeyyyyy there sweetie!" The captain said. His exo-suit easily towered me, beating my height by another foot or two. Looking at his arm, i spotted a single cable connecting from the suits forearm to his shoulder... "My, you look expensive, don't you-" With a single swipe of my claw, I sliced the cable in half. Murky hydraulic fluid sprayed all over me and his robotic fingers, and i felt his grip almost immediately loosen.

"My arm! YOU FUCKING CUNT-BAGGED SHIT-" He roared. In a mere instant, my body went hot and my blood began to boil. The moment I dropped to the ground, I darted under through his legs and climbed onto his back. There were more cables, though caged behind an exhaust panel. There was a large glowing fuel core centered onto his back, with exhaust pipes almost hidden in his arms and legs. I grabbed the little panel with my claws and heaved, slowly tearing the cage off while ignoring the slippery fluid over my chest and arms. The hunters gathered around, but kept their distance, all shouting and running around their surprised leader without knowing exactly what to do.

"SHOOT IT FUCKING SHOOT THISFUCKINTHING!" The captain barked. With a vicious snarl, I grabbed his left shoulder and yanked him to the right as hard as I could, forcing him to stagger towards his squad mates. With my right, I pulled hard and growled loudly at the effort.

PING!

Successful, I raised the torn panel and roared in an adrenaline fueled rage. I immediately threw the broken panel at one of the hunters, knocking him out instantly. The hunters all began shooting at me, and in response I gripped the captain's right shoulder and yanked him to the left.

The edges of my vision blurred, and all I could see was what was directly in front of me. The floodlights around the room were almost blinding, but it didn't hinder me. Instead, It only made me… angrier.

With an animalistic hiss, I dropped lower onto his back and stuck my face close to the circuitry. The captain shook, spun and attempted to grab me with his good arm from behind, but failed. With one more snarl, I jammed my maw into the the little hatch and attempted to tear it out with my teeth. Instead… I felt my "tongue" harden and open its jaws. And in a mere instant, i felt my inner jaws pierce something hard and electrocute me. The exo-suit went ballistic, and the captain's shouting turned into screams of shock and fear. Hearing this, I felt my chest tighten and my throat rumble vigorously.

"SCREEEEK!" I shrieked. The hunters jumped in and all began jamming their cattle prods at me, all at once. I lunged forward and grabbed the nearest hunter by the shoulders and threw him at another, knocking both of them down to the ground. I felt something blunt and large whack at my side and the wind was nearly knocked out of my lungs. I spun around and jumped right on top of him, pinning his legs and shoulders to the ground.

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" I roared. The man below me screamed and it made my blood churn hotly. I couldn't stop. The lights… the pain… my heart was racing… my lips were pulled so far back that the muscles in my face began to strain. I bent down and opened my mouth. My saliva dripped onto his face as i aimed right for his forehead…

I felt something smack into the side of my head and I fell off of the hunter. I looked up, only to have my face bludgeoned again.

S-S-SHBOOF!

I felt something cover my arms and legs and tighten around my entire being. All of the hunters gathered around and continued to stab at my sides with their tasers and cattle prods. My vision returned, and I saw the captain approach me quickly with something silver and shiny in his hand. Before I could react, he jammed the object in question into my throat and step back. I felt a growing warmth in my neck, and I immediately felt tired.

My arms, legs, shoulders, even my tail now felt sore. I trembled as my vision began to darken, trying desperately to fight off the tranquilizer fluid that he injected into me.

"FUCKING CHRIST!" The captain shouted. My body slowly began to go limp, though I twitched madly as two hunters continued to shock me periodically. I laid my head down, now too weak to keep it up. "God damn it all. That fucker destroyed my damn suit!" He walked over to me and kicked me in the gut with his steel-toed boot.

"FUCK! That suit was fucking EXPENSIVE!" I shouted, walking away. "Ugh… All right, you know the drill…" My breaths turned shallow, and my vision was now beginning to fade.

Oh no… I thought weakly. No… god… Just… stay awake… just… stay...

Hey guys! I know its been a LONG time since the last update. I know it's been frustrating, and I don't think an apology will cut it. It's sad to say that updates won't be as quick as I hoped since my graduation, not to mention that I lost this chapter TWICE (Once when my PC's HDD died, and another when my Ipad finally decided to stop working). BUT! I did get a replacement SSD as well as a new PSU and Graphics card, so I'm back in business! I will also like to state that I won't EVER post another stupid "update" again, as I believe that it is unfair to make a promise that I can't guarantee. But as I said before, This story is NOT dead. It'll be hard to continue it, no doubt due to life and work and all that, But I WILL finish this story, even if it takes another 4 years!

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review if you like!