The next morning, Jake made breakfast as usual. He decided to see if he could remember the recipe for pancakes. Ultimately, it was a success, though they were a bit misshapen and crumbly. He stroked Advena’s dome-like head as he sat next to her and dug into his own food.

“You know, it’s a shame we can’t have children,” Advena stated out of the blue. Jake forced himself to swallow his food after choking on it for a bit.

“You know, sometimes I’m glad that only I can hear you,” Jake replied.

“Oh, but you’re not. Any Xenomorph or anyone who shares your blood may listen in if we let them – as long as they’re within a certain distance that is.” She paused and cocked her head at him. “Do you have any family?” Jake shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know. I stopped talking to my parents a few years back and last time I checked, my brother was still alive, but he’s a Colonial Marine too so, who knows.” Jake seemed kind of glum after that, and Advena could tell why. She herself had a massive family, but almost all of them had been left behind on the planet. She had one or two siblings on this research station, but they had been born long before her and she had never spoken to them before. She had tried to communicate with them, but they were tired and weary after who-knows-how-long of being locked up. She suddenly realised she had been thinking incredibly loudly, and that Jake had heard her entire train of thought. “You know what? We’re not going to take this!” Jake growled suddenly, standing up.

“Jake, what are you doing?” Jake pulled the finger at the camera in the room, finally revealing that he knew where it was and that it existed to those watching.

“We’re locked up here! Everyone is! No longer!” Jake grabbed a knife from the kitchen and kicked the door open before the guard could lock it. The impact of the door had knocked the guard out cold, so Jake snatched up his Pulse Rifle and rested the barrel on his shoulder blade as he stormed down the corridor. “I know what you’re up to Weyland!” he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at a nearby camera. “You want to weponise the Xenomorphs? Well guess what! I’m tired of playing the fool! Your plan ends here!” Advena growled and ran her hand across the wall, leaving a large trail of claw marks in her wake. She was starting to get into this whole revolution thing. And man, her mate was feisty! Two soldiers stopped in front of them and raised their rifles.

“Put your weapon on the ground!” one of them screamed, shaking his gun for emphasis. Jake let his rifle swing loose by the trigger guard, which he kept his finger in, and outstretched his arms in a peaceful manner.

“You two must know what Weyland is planning. Join us, and put a stop to it!”

“PUT YOUR WEAPON ON THE GROUND!!” Jake sighed and dropped his rifle. One of the guards produced a pair of handcuffs and cuffed his hands together with them, while the other kept his gun trained on Advena. “Come with us quietly and no one gets hurt!” Jake shrugged indifferently and followed them down the corridors.

“You’re letting them take us?” Advena protested.

“Letting them take us straight to their leader? The one who owns this whole operation? The one who controls this unholy experiment? Yes, yes I am letting them take us to him.” Advena grinned slowly as she caught on. They stayed silent for the duration of the journey. Finally, a large door opened and they stepped into a control room. Camera screens for the entire part of the station lined the walls. Standing in the middle of the room was the man in the business suit (Weyland), Glover and some other general (Corey). Jake whipped his knife into the nearest guard’s throat, leaving Advena to stab the other one. She then snapped the chain linking Jake’s cuffs. They stood side-by-side in fighting stances, ready to take on the occupants of the room.

“Corey,” Weyland ordered with a smirk. No one moved. “Corey!” he snapped. The general whose name Jake did not know slowly lifted up a small remote Jake instantly recognised. Corey gulped and just held the remote in his hands. Glover snarled at him and snatched the remote out of his hands. He then slammed a button on it. Advena leaped at him, but screamed in pain as an electric current was sent through her body, making her spasm on the floor. Corey slapped the remote out of Glover’s hand, and Jake barely managed to catch it. He quickly pressed the release button, and Advena’s collar clattered to the floor, but she was already unconscious. Glover grabbed Corey by the neck and threw him into a nearby wall, shattering many screens in the process. Jake hurled his knife at Glover, but the large man caught it, managing to slice his finger as he did so. A drop of his neon green blood dropped to the floor, sizzling as it touched the ground.

“No,” Jake muttered. “That’s not possible.”

“Oh but it is,” Glover taunted him. “You see, we’ve already weponised the Xenomorphs, and I am the prototype. Soon, every single Colonial Marine will be like me. Acid for blood, incredible strength, advanced mental abilities, acute senses and all the rest. I am the soldier of the future Jake. And guess what? This is my favourite part: we don’t need you anymore, so I can crush your puny body all I like.” Jake gulped and raised his fists. “Oh, you want a rematch? This is too good. I will make you beg for your life, Jake. Then I will end it.” Glover closed the distance between them and swung a fist at Jake with a mean glint in his eye. Jake ducked and rolled away as a vicious kick followed, barely managing to avoid the attacks. Jake pulled a dangling monitor from the wall and threw it at Glover. Glover caught it and crushed it like a soda can, grinning evilly with his razor-sharp teeth. Jake realised this was probably not the first time the man had been experimented on, as he had had those teeth when they had first met. And his eyes were always that neon green, like Xenomorph blood. Jake backed into the wall. He was trapped. Glover backed up slightly, preparing to charge and pummel the life out of Jake. Jake shut his eyes, wishing that he’d died in Advena’s arms. Suddenly, he heard Pulse Rifle fire. The fire didn’t cease until the entire ninety-nine caseless-round clip was empty. Glover’s head was completely missing, and his body was slowly sinking into the floor in a pile of acid. Jeica stepped into the doorway and dropped her empty gun. She pulled out a pistol, an old Desert Eagle by the looks of it, and aimed it at Weyland.

“Any last words?” she muttered. Weyland opened his mouth to speak, but Jeica lodged a bullet in his skull. “Too bad, I ain’t listening.” Jake turned to thank her, but she held a hand out to him. “Save it, I’ve done too many monstrous things in my life to be thanked. Come with me and I’ll take you to where the Xenomorphs are.” Jake glanced over to Advena’s unconscious body uncertainly. “Scratch that. You stay here with yer pet and I’ll go free the rest of ‘em.” Jake nodded and rushed to his wife’s side.

Jeica jogged over to the control room inside the giant warehouse of Xenomorph cages. They all hissed and screeched at her, but she just lay her new Pulse Rifle she’d stolen from a dead guard on the ground and started typing things into the consol. She highly doubted Weyland had had the time to erase her passcodes, and was right. Seconds later, every single electronic lock in the warehouse was released, letting loose dozens of Xenomorphs of every variety. She sighed in acceptance and plopped herself down on the floor, waiting for them to kill her for what she’d done. Instead, they all went past her and out the door. That is, except for one. It approached her cautiously, then gave her a sniff. It leapt at her. She screwed her eyes shut and waited. Their bodies collided, slamming her onto the floor with the Xenomorph on top.

“Jeica!” it hissed happily. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Wh-what?” she stammered. The Xenomorph hugged her, then hoisted her onto his back.

“Hang on tight, you’re about to find out how fast Stalkers can run,” he said. Jeica could tell it was a he because its voice was really deep, and she had heard that voice before in her dreams. The Xenomorph started sprinting down corridor after corridor.

“Brother, it is good to see you at last! Perhaps now that you’re free and you have your Bonded you will talk to me.” This voice sounded considerably more feminine, further proving Jeica’s theory that the Xenomorph she was riding now was male.

“Yes Jeica, the Xenomorph that hatches out of you will always be the opposite gender to you; it helps with the bonding process for those who want to... take it further...” A second Xenomorph rounded the corner, this one just a regular Warrior. It prodded the Stalker in annoyance.

“You’re just jealous,” she pouted. Jake laughed and patted her head.

“I see you’ve made a new friend,” he observed. Jeica nodded as the Xenomorph bent down to let her off.

“Yeah. This is weird... how do you get used to it?”

“Are you referring to the fact my wife’s twice my height or that she only talks inside my head?” Jake chuckled.

“What are you talking about? How else would I manage an entire hive if not by telepathy?” a Queen grumbled as she stomped past them, a convoy of Drones trailing along behind her. Jake shook his head in bemusement.

“So, what are you going to name him?” Jeica gave him a questioning look. “You’re his host. You get to name him,” Jake elaborated.

“I’m... his host?” Jeica gasped. “But... I never... there’s no scar!”

“You were one of Weyland’s trusty generals. He didn’t want you to find out that he’d been playing you from the beginning.” Jeica ran a hand down the Stalker’s face, making him purr and shuffle slightly closer. “Trust me, he knows who his host is.” Jeica smiled softly.

“Mozart,” she decided. “His music was beautiful, much like this species.” The lights snapped off and the room was filled with a menacing red glow. Seconds later, alarms sounded everywhere. A scared Drone leapt out of the control room and sprinted away from the chaos he’d caused.

“That’s the self-destruct...” Jake whispered. “Everybody! The hangar bay! Now!” he mentally shouted. He also flashed an image of what a hangar looked like for the Xenomorphs that didn’t know.

“Humans, get on our backs, it’ll be quicker,” Advena advised. She and Mozart crouched down to allow their hosts onto their backs. They quickly clambered up, allowing the Xenomorphs to shoot off to the hangar. The artificial gravity shut off halfway there, but this was easily overcome by the Xenomorphs leaping from wall to wall, and eventually they made it. Jake chose the biggest ship he could find and ordered everyone aboard. He and Jeica climbed into the cockpit.

“Can you fly one of these things?” Jeica asked.

“We’re about to find out,” Jake responded as he tapped a few buttons and prepped the ship for take-off