The Bear and the Bees [Aliens oneshot]

1. It had been more then forty years since Acheron when they finally found the Bug Homeworld.
   
   
   Captain Kane Hodder III of the USMC mourned the loss of his glorious beard as he finished suiting up into a metallic suit of armor like a knight of old. Nevertheless, shaving was a requirement for the acid resistant “Apesuit 2.0” lest you get a hair stuck in it. This mission was a joint WY/USMC act, and he could at least admit that after Acheron, no one from either faction was planning to go in half-assed. They didn’t need this to turn into another Hadley’s Hope.
   
   
   Three Conestoga-class ships were being sent in. One belonged to the Company, the other two to the marines. Hodder buckled on the last strap to his armor before waking forwards, taking some deep breaths. In the suits filters, they came off as echoes. His helmet lie tucked under his arm; he and the rest of the marines wouldn’t be putting those on until they reached close to the surface. Looking around the hangar, he stopped by many notable sights.
   
   
   Squads of marines headed to their drop ships in the stone colored hangar. Pulse rifles, smart guns, cobalt flamers, rocket launchers, electronic gel cannons and more were held in the arms of heavily armed men and women as they entered into Cheyenne dropships. He knew that his platoon was part of an assault unit. On the other Conestoga's, larger research ships far bigger then the dropships were being staffed with scientists and Company personnel. They were meant for transporting specimens and carrying out experiments while the dropship fleet protected them.
   
   
   Camouflaged exosuits armed with miniguns on one claw and flamers on the next marched forwards, synthetic combatants sitting stiffly in the seats. They would be deployed in special drop pods, but only in the event of an “Emergency”. Hodder expected to see them within less then a week.
   
   
   Walking to the ramp, rifle and shotgun sheathed behind his back like swords, he couldn't help but think back to an earlier event.
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   A day after exiting hypersleep, Hodder took a seat in a large auditorium, one surrounded by many other seats. Other soldiers, along with company men and other officials, took seats around him.
   
   
   On stage, an excitable scientist in an honest to god lab coat and Einstein haircut was rattling on in front of a projection. Scenes from Acheron body cameras, of footage and accounts taken from Ryuushi, Bunda, Zeevan and other planet’s where the bugs had popped up. There was one slideshow featuring the ancient looking ruins of an ET city where fossilized bug’s had been found. Even colonies that had been around for years were on alert, as if those things could appear if you thought about them too much.
   
   
   Back to the lecture, the scientist introduced himself as one Gary Savini, Bioscience division.
   
   
   Most of the lecture was your typical spiel about “potential” use of the creatures and their biology, the benefits that would be given to anyone who makes a sufficient live capture, how everyone needed to work together to succeed.
   
   
   Hodder wasn’t the only one starting to nod off. Other Marines, even those hairy Arcturian recruits, were visibly looking ready to sleep. Hodder just pulled a cap over his bald head and prepared to drift off for the next hour, at least before the next words from the scientist.
   
   
   “After much study, we have concluded that the Xenomorph XX121 species may actually be a prey species in its natural environment.”
   
   
   That got Hodder awake, the marine cautiously lifting up his cap a smidge. Savini continued.
   
   
   “It’s extremely high reproductive rate, it’s habit of preferring enclosed, dark spaces that members of the hive can easily hunt in, it’s habit of throwing bodies against en masse, and it’s ability to blend in or change nearby scenery to hide itself all point to a race that is used to losing numbers and hiding from potential threats. Its acidic blood not only acts as a power source when prey is lacking, but as a defense that could injure or at the very least make it taste unpleasant to a larger predator.” The scientist had paused, clearly proud of what he was saying. Or it could have been how his statement had just managed to get some attention from the silent audience.
   
   
   “This would explain much about it’s rapid spread wherever the species goes. On its home planet, the Xenomorph likely fits into a harmonic balance with the other races in its ecosystem. Take a species out of that ecosystem, and without it’s natural predators and competitors it will spread very quickly. The grain worm infestation on Rim come to mind, and the same can be said for the Xenomorph. It is likely not the apex species of it’s homeworld. I’d say the closest equivalent to them on our world-” Savini paused to stroke his small goatee. “-could likely be a bee or other social insects.”
   
   
   Now that was a thought. If the bogeymen of Acheron were insects on their home turf, what were the actual apex predator’s like? Evidently, Hodder wasn’t the only one to think this. One marine further down-Lieutenant Roger Siskel he recognized-, raised a hand after the doctor paused. “If the Xeno’s are the bee’s, what are the bears like down there?” He asked, his Italian accent leaking through. Savini smiled and nodded eagerly. “Truthfully, we don’t know. While a lot of thought has been put into our hypotheses, we can’t truly confirm anything until we touch down on the surface.” As the man began to take more questions (Mostly finance considerations and armor weaponry requests), Hodder once again began to doze off, but with disturbing thoughts on his mind.
   
   
   
   Would anyone be ready to fight something that eats xenomorph’s for a living?
   
   
   Only one way to find out. Landing operations would begin a month later.
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   “Welcome to Paradise boys and girls! Hold onto your seats!” The pilot of the dropship’s voice crackled over a loudspeaker inside as it slowly began to lift up the drop-ramp, each ship going one at a time. Hodder secure himself in place, and he looked at the seats around him. He knew some of these people before the mission, other’s he didn’t.
   
   
   Across from him sat an Arcturian wearing a visor. A sniper rifle lay folded up in a case above the hairy Arcturian, whom wore a visor over his or her face where the eyes would be on a human. It was likely to assist with the Arcturians natural sonar abilities. Dressed in standard M3 patterned armor, the hairy alien could easily pass for a human at a distance. Hodder didn’t know this one’s name or gender, but in due time he would likely know the former.
   
   
   The latter would depend on how successful the mission and ensuing victory celebration were, provided any of them lived long enough to see it happen.
   
   
   Next to the Arcturian was a German explosives specialist he recognized, one Khaleesi Baur. Rumor has it that her first name was based off of a character from a TV serial that had been famous a few centuries ago. Having put her helmet on beforehand, she was carefully inserting and reinserting cylinders into her grenade launcher. Grenades and mines hung from two separate belts across her chest. Checking her ammo repeatedly was her way of calming herself before a mission. It was no real trouble to the others, they’d seen stranger things in the corps.
   
   
   Next to him lay a man he’d worked with for multiple missions in the corps. Gregor Paulo was born on Luna just like him, with South American ancestry on both of his parents side. Unlike Hodder, Paulo wore his hair long, but for this mission he too made the sacrifice to wear the Apesuit. He nevertheless was frowning as he checked his SAW, belt strung across his legs. Tinkering with the special armor piercing ammunition was his way of coping with the loss of his mane.
   
   
   Recognizing a few others, Hodder leaned back. Adamantly, he only knew Baur and Paulo. The rest of the crew were outliers to him. Looking around, he saw three women with snake like tattoos in the back, each wearing a necklace with both bug fingers and teeth strewn on them. A man to the side of them had already added a list of tally marks under various names-likely planet’s and stations-to his armor. Hodder nodded approvingly. His only experience with the Xenomorph’s was in a VR Acheron-simulation that had become a mandatory course for search and rescue volunteers; it was good to have someone with first hand experience that wasn’t a scientist hiding behind a wall.
   
   
   The ground below them began to buckle; it was time for the drop.
   
   
   Everyone inside immediately thrust their heavy helmets on.
   
   
   Hodder gritted his teeth and held on for dear life.
   
   
   There was no going back.
   
   
   The Xenomorph homeworld was right below them.
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   They had all seen a view of the planet from above after hypersleep, both in a holo display and on a big window made for the purpose of viewing.
   
   
   Through the port view, the planet was half-covered in what looked to be a red gas, The other half had visible, blackened areas that he assumed were continents. Light occasionally flashes in the gas.
   
   
   He would later learn that the gas was actually a massive storm over half the planet, one that shorted out electronics at close range. Took out the first drones they sent. It also ruled out just nuking the place from orbit. Best case the bomb would short out, worst case it would be reflected back at them.
   
   
   A minor loss, all things considered. Sending an expedition before knowing just how powerful the storms were could have killed a good majority of the away crew.
   
   
   This set back the expedition slightly, as a new plan had to be made to get past the storms. Special alloys were added to dropships and science vessels, and scientific instruments and workers went into overdrive trying to find a hole.
   
   
   Finally, the window of opportunity arrived. A single space between the storm clouds above the planet, one that they would close in four hours.
   
   
   Luckily, when that day and month passed, the marines proved that they could move fast.
   
   
   The Company could move just as fast if their pockets were in danger.
   
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   Hodder’s dropship and the other’s descended down through the red hurricane, wind pounding the sides.
   
   
   Then all of a sudden, the pounding stopped as the dropship settled and steadied.
   
   
   “-In the pipe, five by five.”
   
   
   Hodder signed in relief as the dropship began its descent, cheers echoing inside of it.
   
   
   Now that they had made the descent, it was time to land.
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   The dropship clanked down onto solid, if clunky ground. Helmet’s sealed, Hodder and the rest of the fifteen passengers exited the dropship, guns raised preemptively.
   
   
   They seemed to have landed in a canyon. Rocky outcroppings surrounded them, and black webbing was either splayed across the ground or stretched between formations and walls sporadically. Under his helmet, Hodder raised an eyebrow. He honestly expected there to be way more of the hive material, but so far most of the area was solid red and browns. Above them, the storms raged. Thankfully, it wasn’t very close to them, the storms only reached the top of the atmosphere. Looking up, Hodder could see more dropships and large science vessels landing around the area and beyond.
   
   
   Hodder and the group cautiously advanced. The commander, a man by the name of James Paxton, shouted for the squad to prepare for the formation of a perimeter.
   
   
   At the moment, they heard the telltale hum of a speeder. Turning around with the rest of the squad, Hodder found five speeder’s hovering towards them. Four of them were being driven by men in Apesuit’s with WY labels on their shoulders.
   
   
   Mercenaries. Not fellow marines.
   
   
   At the head of the fifth speeder was a man in a silver hazmat suit. No armor could be seen on it, but he doubted a scientist would personally be going into the field for specimen retrieval.
   
   
   “Ah, nice to see a unit so soon.” The voice of Gary Savini came from the man in hazmat gear. “Mind if we start making base now?”
   
   
   ---XXX
   
   
   
   By dusk or the equivalent of it on this planet, they had made a passable camp. A laser lined fence surrounded an area the size of an old Superbowl field in the middle of the canyon. Hodder didn't like it, they were too close to the cliffs for his liking. He could at least hope the five auto turrets placed around the area by power loaders would manage to serve as an early warning if they started coming out of the canyon walls.
   
   Power loaders began to excavate the area around them with claw attachments. Five tents had been set up, while a nearby Helidas-class research vessel has settled itself down beyond the cliffs. From it, a large RT series tow truck would pull prefabricated structures like a small laboratory and an atmos processor into the area. The latter was the most important; it filtered out dangerous materials and created a sort of invisible breathable dome around the area.
   
   Only in these areas and in filtered structures were the marines and scientists allowed to pull their helmets off. Instructions, on paper and given in speeches, strongly recommended against taking their helmets off at all outside of processor filtered zones, even if they were to find an area with perfectly breathable air on the planet.
   
   The Prometheus Expedition had long ago shown the results of such an action.
   
   With camp mostly set up, a few more scientists and armed men and women had joined them.
   
   Hodder stood near the fences perimeter as the nearby sun's light began to fade. Pulse rifle in hand, he stood at the ready. The atmosphere in this canyon was surprisingly cool, so he didn't sweat in the heavy armor as much as he'd have expected.
   
   He was getting ready to see who'd get the evening patrol when he heard it.
   
   A cacophony of hisses and skittering in the distance. His eyes widened just as his nearby motion detector began to go off.
   
   He unclipped it from his belt and began to take deep breaths as the bottom of the screen lit up with white dots.
   
   The tracker pinged in alarm.
   
   Similar pings were heard all across the camp.
   
   -XXX
   
   Everyone immediately headed to the South side of the fence. Rifles and heavy weapons were hoisted over sandbags (Were the bugs shooting plasma from their asses now?) as scientists and other personnel ran into the nearby metal structures, doors locking behind them.
   
   First contact had begun.
   
   They were going to be the first men and women in history to see Xenomorph's in their home environment.
   
   By now the sun had almost completely sunk, and the stars could be seen in the sky.
   
   A man in a hazmat suit walked right up next to them, two WY Mercenaries at his side. Holding a camera on a stand, he planted the stand into the ground before tinkering with the recording device. Hodder frowned and turned to him. "Doctor, it may be a good idea to get inside while we-" The voice of Gary Savini interrupted him.
   
   "No." Savini stated with an unseen firmness. "I must see what happens next. For the duration." He sounded hesitant, but only for a moment.
   
   The man was brave and foolish. Slowly turning his head, Hodder simply seemed down his rifle's sights and prepared for what would come next.
   
   The creatures emerged.
   
   Around the corner of a nearby cliff in the canyon, a black tide surged through the night. Some of them seemed to physically emerge from the shadows, other's burst from the sand and joined the tide. The tide began to separate, and he finally got a good luck at individual members of the swarm.
   
   Some were a solid black, others a light blue. Smooth domed heads contrasting with bumpy, ridged skulls between the drones. But all else was there as he imagined it.
   
   The drooling mouths, gleaming teeth, and the bladed tails. All of it and more.
   
   Hodder grimaced as he waited for the horde to get closer. Behind the camera, Savini gasped out, "Variance among individual specimens in a natural environment! The ones on Origae-6 were outliers after all-" Whatever Savini was about to say next stopped as the entire horde surged forwards towards the fence, metallic screams and spittle flying from it.
   
   Hodder and all the other marines shouted in defiance as they opened fire-
   
   
   
   And the tide parted. "WHAT!" Hodder shouted in surprise as the creatures immediately began to split off less then five seconds after the marines began firing. Left and right, the creatures began rapidly climbing the nearby walls of the canyon. They crawled the wall's rapidly, some swinging on strands of hive webbing like apes. The auto turrets got a few of them in bursts of yellow blood and black chitin, but otherwise they kept on moving.
   
   
   There were no attacks from above. The horde did not attack the humans.
   
   They simply focused on crossing as fast as they could. More then a few of the soldiers began to lower their weapons in shock, jaws dropped under their helmets. Still, most of them kept their weapons trained on them. Savini rapidly turned his recorder around, watching with rapt attention as the swarm flooded left and right through the canyon.
   
   And then they were gone, hisses in the distance and claw prints in the sand being the only indication they were there. Silence reigned briefly before turning into shouts. Some began to holler in triumph at the complete lack of casualties, others more or less yelling out and firing randomly at shadows. Hodder kept calm, turning to the Arcturian sniper he had seen earlier. Both Marines looked one another in the eye before cautiously looking to Savini, who's arms and legs were shaking in the hazmat suit.
   
   Hodder frowned. It was almost as if the Xenomorphs were running away from something-
   
   
   
   
   
   It is likely not the apex species of it's homeworld.
   
   
   
   
   Hodder went deathly still as the implications grew in his mind. Savini did the same, pausing in place as he was about to pull his camera out of the sand. Slowly, the men turned to one another.
   
   "Doctor," Hodder said in a surprisingly calm tone. "Remember what you said about the bugs possibly not being the main predator on their home planet?" The doctor mutely nodded.
   
   Hodder slowly turned away. "I think we're about to find out."
   
   "What" it was that they were about to find out did not need to be said.
   
   A thump could then be heard, small stones slightly shaking.
   
   
   THUMP
   
   Hodder could feel his spare ammo clips shaking.
   
   
   THUMP
   
   By now all celebration had stopped.
   
   
   THUMP
   
   Hodder held on tight to his rifle as what he realized were footsteps became louder and closer.
   
   THUMP
   
   
   A scaly, almost metallic foot stomped down near an opening, just where the horde had come.
   
   Another foot came forwards, and then they all saw it.
   
   Powerful arms hunched over the ground like a Gorilla's. The five fingered limbs looked big enough to hold an old Huey gunship in one hand each. It's heavy muscles, thick limbs, and torso were covered by gleaming silver scales, strange organic tubing running down its throat to it's arms. Between it's large shoulders lay a head like that of some short-faced reptile, four pairs of blue eyes balefully glaring down at the tiny humans below as it slowly stalked forwards on its arms. Yellow fluid stained its lower jaw.
   
   
   "Royal Jelly." He heard Savini gasp in awe or horror. "Only found in a Queen's chambers…"
   
   
   
   It's legs had six clawed toes, and almost resembles a large tree's trunks from this distance. Walking tree trunks with knives embedded in them.
   
   
   It's chest was covered in old, blackened scars that contrasted with the silver scales. Strange patterns of tubing in the chest, almost like a tattoo, notably glowed with blue light as it approached. It opened its mouth, revealing no tongue. Nothing except two layers of gleaming red teeth that stretched far back into its mouth. A low, croaking noise like some demented yawn could be heard.
   
   Was it tired after chasing the survivors of the hive it has just plundered, or was this a challenge to the expedition?
   
   
   
   As it reached out to it's left and right, grasping at the sides of the canyon, it reared up to its full height.
   
   
   
   At this moment, Hodder could fully realize just how fucking big this thing was.
   
   
   
   
   If the bugs were the bees of their world, this was the bear.
   
   
   
   The brief period of awed silence passed as one of the heavy weapons marines panicked, screaming "Kaiju!" in her native language as she raised a rocket launcher. Hodder and all the marines near to her barely had time to widen their eyes before she fired.
   
   
   The munition exploded against its shoulder.
   
   
   If the creature was hurt, it didn't show it.
   
   A roar burst forwards as it shook its head from side to side in a rage.
   
   The creature raised its arms. From between each of the five fingers on it's left hand, a bony black spike burst forwards.
   
   
   This action repeated with it's right hand, and then it was stomping forwards, claws extended.
   
   Hodder cursed and raised his rifle, pressing a switch to activate the underslung grenade launcher.
   
   It took six seconds for it to reach their camp.
   
   -XXX
   
   By the time daylight broke, very little of the camp remained. Patches rolling in the sand and scrap were all that remained of the buildings and defense.
   
   Massive footprints followed by a trail of glowing blue blood lead North out of the camp.
   
   Hodder did not see any of this, groaning under a large pile of...something. He felt himself being pulled out of what he realized was sand, and he began to sag in relief.
   
   Can't believe I nearly drowned in dirt after surviving all of that…
   
   As he watched under the cracked lenses of his helmet, long dark fingers began to reach for the faceplate-
   
   
   Waitaminute-
   
   
   
   When his rescuer pulled the helmet off, Hodder found himself staring at a blank dark face and a pair of gleaming jaws.
   
   
   
   The Xenomorph tossed the silver helmet to the side as if in contempt. Hodder heard a hiss behind his ears, and he didn't need to turn around to see the insectoid shadow behind his own.
   
   
   In front of him, he could see Savini and others being pulled out of the sand by more bugs.
   
   
   "Oh fuck me"
   
   
   He hoarsely whispered, blood draining from his skin.
   
   
   His "rescuers" slowly turned their domed heads towards his direction.
   
   Saliva dripped onto his shoulder as eight fingers crawled up his back.
   
   -END​

 

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If something as horrifically hostile and deadly as the xeno presents as a prey species — and Savini did make a very good case for that premise, even before they got where they were going — anyone with any skerrick of logic or sanity would follow that thought to its logical conclusion and not EVER try to find the predator(s)!

I mean, my sympathies do go out to the poor grunt bastards who got munched down there; they were just following orders, going where and doing what they were told. But idiots like Savini and his masters, the knuckleheads who decided the possible rewards from this expedition outweighed the (insane) risks it entailed? They needed their goddamn heads read!

 

They did manage to at least make it bleed.

But considering how a much larger science vessel is nearby, and how the giant creature basically raids hives for jelly like a bear searching for honey...