The basement had been torn apart. The liquids that had kept the aliens aloft in the cells had spread itself across the floor, and fragments of the screen were equally spread out. The wires and pipes that had been attached to the specimens dangled aimlessly from the ceiling.

The marines waited for the aliens to attack. They had only survived due to the distance between them and their attackers and the fact that it was too far for them to cross before the marines could retreat. If the remainder were to attack now, they would be overrun in seconds.

But they were spared. 7 blips on the motion tracker became 4 which became 2. The xenomorphs seemed unwilling to assault the marine postion.

Finally, Hudson spoke "We gotta get outta here..." Silence. "Any ideas?" asked the LT. "We have to get to the main door, back up on the top floor" said Fuzzpuff. "That door is shut" said Dirty "and we won't be able to reopen it until the system reboots...who knows when." "Well then, can we weld it open?" asked Fuzzpuff. "Maybe..." said Dirty. "We'll try. So how are we going to get there?" "We can't go back up the main hall" said Blackhawk "too much open ground". "No way in hell we'd be able to run up there before they were all over us" said Alley. "Can we go up the vents, the way the aliens bypassed us to get to the techs?" asked Blasty. "Now there's an idea" said Dirty. "But before we leave, I say we demolish the facility. We can't let those things get out" he added. The two squads silently accepted Dirty's latest remark.

Dirty gave the orders. "Alright, SGT take your men and get thru the vents CPL Blasty found in the red room. I'll take Smoke squad and go up the vent at the top of the ramp. We'll stay in communication and find out where the 2 lead. Then we can go from there. Move like you got a purpose, marines".

Fuzzpuff lead his squad up the entry ramp to the cell room. Cautiously they walked up, expecting to be ambushed at any moment. But, they reached the ramp entrance unmolested. Once Fuzzpuff and his squad were in position, Dirtywallace took his squad into a forced-entry position around the secondary vent. Fuzzpuff began the countdown on his fingers.
5.4.3.2

On 2, with no direction from the SGT, CPL Blasty launched a timed grenade into the room. In something that was between a whisper and a scream, Fuzzpuff exasperated "HOLD WITH THE FUKCING NADES!". As the nade detonated, the two squads waited with held breath for the alien assault. "God damnit mate" said Alley under his breath. After severeal minutes with nothing heard and no additional blips on Hudson's motion detector, Dirtywallace nodded and smoke squad crawled into the secondary vent. As the last marine entered the vent, SGT Fuzzpuff went thru the door and exited the ramp. He checked right. An unseen xenomorph to the left pounced into him. Any screams that may have come from the doomed marine were drowned out by the screeching of his assailant. The squad rushed in to help their SGT, but were only managed to fire a fleeting burst at the xenomorph before it turned the corner and left them behind. The SGT's body had been thrown severeal feet, with a great streak of blood the last few. Blasty then realized that he now had to lead the squad thru the vents. "Follow me" he ordered as he ran for the red room.

Not 15 seconds had passed, and yet Dirtywallace had severeal new problems to consider. The vent hadn't gone 20 feet before a shear increase of 10 feet, and CPL Blasty informed him that his SGT was dead. Hudson picked up Fuzzpuff's killer retreating down the main hall on his motion tracker. They could only keep moving thru the vent.

The squad entered the red room and came to the vent entrance. Blasty pointed at Alley, then down at the vent. Alley turned on his shoulder lamp and went down, pulse rifle at the ready. He reached the bottom and, deeming it clear, signalled for Blasty and Gracie to come down. The 3 marines croutched and inspected their surroundings. Alley checked the ammo reader on his M-41A pulse rifle. Gracie checked the condition of his scope and barrel of his sniper rifle. Blasty observed and said "Alright, if we're going to do this let's do it quick. Help each other. Cover yourself and your buddy. Above all, keep moving and don't go back. GO".


PVT Hudson groped for the ledge above him, pulling himself up. He arose, and on his new platform vent he saw 2 openings, each opposite the other, and a dead end. "What do you see up there PVT?" asked the LT. Hudson looked out opening and said "I'm above the main hall. The vent's a dead end. Not much we can do here" Gracie noticed Turmoiltechs body, still where it lay. "Set a charge and get back down here" Dirty ordered.

Blasty pushed Alley up and onto the next vent platform. They then brought up Gracie.

As Hudson set the charge, a triplet of xenomorphs entered the hall from the monitor room. Hudson set the charge and fired a pulse naded. 2 of the creatures dissapeared in the ensueing blast. He then jumped back down to his squad, who broke his fall.

As Alley pulled Blasty up, an alien dropped from behind. Gracie leveled a sniper round into it, causing the left half of it's torso to shear off. An alien then came from the lower vent they had left. Gracie croutched and fired. The attacker was blown apart, with acid blood spraying onto the vent walls. Gracie backed up and leaned against the wall below the next vent platform. He looked at his fellow marines, grinned, and yelled "DAMN STRAIGHT! I am the ULTIMATE-" an alien jumped and landed on Gracie from the vent above. It began to tear into his chest. "GRACIE!" Alley yelled, as he lay the AP rounds from his rifle into the two forms.

Dirty's squad quickly rose to it's feet. "RUN!"the LT yelled. The marines ran back the way they had come from. Hudson looked back and realized he had dropped his motion tracker, just as the third alien dropped upon it. Dirtywallace put a bullet from his sniper rifle into the alien. "KEEP GOING" he yelled. They jumped out of the vent. Blackhawk fired a rocket into the vent they had left. It struck an alien just as it turned the corner. "GO" Wallace ordered. They ran for the red room.

Alley's fire had killed Gracie's attacker, but Gracie also felt the bullets. The creature had begun to tear into Gracie's chest and stomach, but the AP rounds had decimated nearly every part of his body. Alley blankly stared at what was left of his DTP as his CPL fired a timed grenade into the vent. "PRIVATE" Alley was taken back into reality. Blasty pointed up as the nade exploded. Blasty cupped his hands, and Alley launched himself up to the next vent platform. He rolled, and came up in a croutched position. Two aliens turned the corner 30 feet ahead of him. He fired a pulse nade. The front alien croutched, evading the nade, but the second was hit head-on. An explosion rocked the vent. The first alien continued on. He layed the AP rounds into it. It fell, sprawled upon the ground. The PVT reloaded and waited.

Wallace's squad noted Fuzzpuff's body as they came towards the red room. They entered the steel-incased area. "BLACKHAWK COVER THE ENTRANCE; HUDSON SET A DEMO CHARGE". Blackhawk set himself up with his rocket launcher at the entrance to the room. Hudson began setting the charge. Wallace radioed the other squad.

"Archangels, you there?"

Blasty's voice cut in.

"Yeah"

"We're coming in"

"Roger"

The charge set, Hudson ran for the vent. An alien came from the main hall. The LT jumped into the vent. Blackhawk fired a rocket. Hudson prepared to jump into the vent. The creature leaped, evading the rocket. Hudson jumped into the vent. The creature landed upon Blackhawk, knocking his weapon from his hands and proceeding into him. Hudson and Dirtywallace reached the other end of the vent. Blasty pulled PVT Hudson up. An alien appeared in the vent, coming from the red room they had left. Dirtywallace fired. The round went high. The alien walked on the wall. Dirtywallace fired again. This time the bullet struck where the alien had been walking moments ago. The alien was halfway to the LT. He pulled the trigger. *click* . His gun had jammed. He dropped it, croutched, and reached for his pistol. Blasty fired his pulse rifle into it, ripping it apart. Blasty pulled up the LT. As they moved to go up with Blasty, they noticed Gracie's bullet-stricken body. Alley pulled the 3 marines onto his level of the vents.