boxofmystery | This is Alien

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This is Alien

Things were usually quiet out here in the middle of nowhere, and that was how Ralph liked it. The Marines had built a base on a little forest planet that was home to no sentient life, but plenty of critters.

After the disaster of a mission he had recently been on, he was glad to have a chance for a more relaxing mission. Most of the other surviving Marines from that mission had been stationed here as well. This place was good for young Marines just starting out, and older ones who needed some calm in between.

There were plenty of other staff stationed here, in case of accidents and emergencies. There was a full medical staff and multiple robotics experts for androids and cyborgs.

However, there had been a small bump of excitement lately, a ship carrying 4 traumatized passengers had entered the sector and the Marines had intercepted it.

A fellow Marine was one of the passengers on the ship, and with information from him and the rest of the passengers, it painted a gruesome tale.

Ralph didn't know much about all of that, just what he had heard from the others. His specialties weren't needed, so he hadn't been on scene.

But, once the group had gotten settled and all the excitement of newcomers was over, everything had settled right back down into routine once more.

Ralph's routine involved a morning jog through the forest, and that's where he's at now. He had grown up on a heavily-forested planet, so he felt like the trees gave him a little taste of home.

As he jogs through the forest, he hears something rustling nearby and he pauses, looking around to see if he could spot it. Maybe it was a bird or a fox or something.

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"Most of us used to move around a lot, but now we're stationed here. Sometimes they shuffle us around, but this is our home for now," Ralph replied.

This post was sort of a retirement station for traumatized Marines, ones who had been on missions that they had troubles recovering from. There were quite a few other similar posts scattered around the outskirts, quiet places that needed an eye kept on them.

Some people handled their traumas better, and after they had recovered, they were put back on combat duty, others spent the rest of their time with the Marines on quiet bases such as these.

"Oh, do you like it here?"

Newt is curious. She knows they're here to get Hicks better and Bishop too but that was easier.

Also being with Marines was safer then dealing with the company. She'd overheard Ripley and Bishop agreeing on this during a discussion one night, when they thought she'd been asleep.

That was an unexpected question, Ralph pauses with a neutral expression on his face as he thinks the question over, then nods with a smile, "Yeah, I do. It's got th' nice forest and it's not too stressful here." It wasn't quite like where he had come from, but it was close. It was better than the planet the Cy-Bugs had been on, that was for sure.

"How are you likin' it here so far?"

She shrugs.

"Anything is better then where we were. It's okay. I have nightmares of everyone here dying, but m-Ripley and Bishop and Hicks say that's normal."

Ralph's face falls and he looks down for a moment. He gently reaches out a hand to put on Newt's shoulder, "They're right...it is normal. Bad stuff that happens sticks with ya, and it's hard to shake. But, friends, family, they all help to make things not so bad." He was talking from experience, he still had nightmares from his time on the planet of the Cy-Bugs.

"Yeah. I guess so. .....I wish I didn't have them though. It's over. Why do I still have to think about it?"

Ralph sighs as he looks back down again, trying to remember something he had been told. This is hard, it breaks his heart to see someone so young dealing with the same kind of things he had.

"If I remember right, I think the doctor told me it's 'cause your brain's upset and trying to figure out how to deal with what happened, an' the only way it can do that is by thinkin' about it over and over again."

Newt folds her arms.

"That's stupid. I thought brains were supposed to be smart."

Ralph chuckles softly, "Brains can be smart, but they can be sick, too. They just get sick differently than the rest of ya does."

She thinks over this for a moment.

"Then they should have medicine for them."

Ralph smiles wistfully, "Yeah, that'd be nice... They've got some medicines that help different parts of yer brain, but they're still workin' on some stuff."

Newt remains quiet for a moment then stares at the table.

"No, they just work on stupid things. Like dangerous potential military bio-weapons that kill everyone, instead of anything useful."

And there's a bitterness there that's half hers, though the words, especially the longer words, might sound like they were taken from someone else. As though she overheard someone else very angry about the same thing, but was able to put it into words better.

Ralph tilts his head slightly as Newt responds. He's not quite sure what to think about what she's saying, after all, there's a large amount of truth in it. That, and, there's just something odd about the whole statement.

He's quiet for a few moments as he thinks this through, after all, he's had his own run-in with military-grade murderous weapons.

Once he's got his thoughts in order, he sighs softly, "That might be true, but...it's a big universe out there. For every weapons factory out there, there's somebody somewhere else workin' on somethin' that's gonna do a lot of good. Maybe they don't have th' funding the military weapons do, an' maybe it's gonna take a little longer, but there's a lotta good out there to fight th' bad."

Newt seems to think over that for a moment. But then shakes her head.

"There's good but then they all die because the monsters are stronger. The marines all said they were going to save us and then they died because that's what happens. The company said they were there to help but they were lying. The marines let us stay here because Hicks is a marine but after he's better we'll have to go into hiding from the company.....probably."

Someone needs to stop listening in on adult conversations.

".....you can't tell anyone that, it's a secret. They think we're going back and that Hicks is staying. But we're not. ....I'm going wherever Ripley and the rest of them go but we have to go before the company decides to send people to kill us. Or to find out what we know about the aliens and does something worse."

The more Newt talks, the deeper Ralph frowns. It's not just her pessimism, that's expected given her trauma, but she speaks of something dangerous brewing. He doesn't know all the details, but from what he knows and what she's telling him now, it's adding up to something very bad that's coming in just a matter of time.

He nods to himself, grunting slightly as he makes a decision, "I'm not gonna let that happen. Hicks is one of us an' so are you an' Ripley an' Bishop. If this company is playin' with monsters an' gonna come after ya 'cause of it, then we're just gonna hafta stop 'em. Nobody messes with family."

Newt looks a bit surprised for a moment then shakes her head. However she seems less certain.

"I don't think it'll be that easy. The Company....has a lot of power and people trust them. They'll probably try and....cover up everything. I think Ripley said that's what they did to her when she met the monsters and they killed everyone but her on her ship."

Ralph sighs ever so softly, "Never said it was gonna be easy. The company might've built some trust, but so've we. The Marines have helped take care of a lotta problems on a lotta planets. At least some of those people'll be on our side. Some of 'em have dealt with similar monsters, they aren't gonna want to deal with somethin' like that again."

He shakes his head, "It's a big universe out there, there's gotta be places where th' Company doesn't have any power."

"Maybe....but I think that's why we were going to go and find a place like that and stay there."

They might be tired of fighting and death.

"I think Ripley wants to get her cat back though."

She's not sure how that will work....

Ralph nods, "That's probably the best thing you can do for now." He wasn't a fan of fighting and death, either, but he had signed up to protect people and he was going to hold to that promise no matter what.

He smiles softly at that, here he was talking about half the universe taking on a corrupt company, but there were still matters of home that needed to be taken care of.

"That might be a little tricky, but if that cat's as resourceful as she is, it's probably waitin' for her to come an' find it."

Newt nods.

"She told me all about her cat. He was with her first crew when they found the alien the first time. Ripley and the Jonesy were the only ones to survive. She left him at home so he'd be safe. I really want to meet him. I've never met a cat."

Ralph nods thoughtfully, "That must be some cat, to survive that first round." It was a pretty impressive track record.

He thinks for a moment, "You know, I don't think I've really met a regular cat, either." He had encountered catlike aliens, but he hadn't owned a cat as a kid and hadn't really known anybody that had one, either.

Ralph grins, "Maybe we can meet a cat together sometime."

"Yeah. I'm glad she didn't bring him to the colony though. They only had one alien on the ship. We had lots."

She saw enough death.

"Really? Have you seen any other animals?"

Ralph nods, "I'm glad he didn't come along, either, that might've been too much for 'im."

He smiles, "Yep! There were a buncha critters in the forest where I grew up, an' I've seen a lotta different ones on the planets I've been to." He had a soft spot for small animals, some days they were his only childhood companions.

"What animals have you seen?"

"Oh wow."

That's pretty exciting.

"Um....I've only seen pictures. We didn't have any animals on the colony. I think there were lab mice but we weren't allowed in there and it wasn't a fun place to sneak into. We learned about some in school though."

Ralph frowns lightly at this, "That stinks that ya didn't have many animals there, but now that yer away from that planet, you should be able to see a lot of 'em."

He thinks for a moment, "Maybe we could go back to the forest later an' see what we can find." There at least had to be critters similar to birds and squirrels, right?

I'm so sorry for the delay!

np

Thanks!

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I'm so sorry for the delay!

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Sorry for the delay!

np, always worth it. :)

Awww, thanks! :D I always look forward to your posts!

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I'm so, so sorry for the huge delay!

np

Thanks!

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Sorry for the delay!

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Sorry again for the delay!

np

Thanks and sorry again.