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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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?

"Really?" She pauses and thinks for a moment. Seriously, because important question coming up.

"....Do you think they have newts here?"

Such a serious question.

Ralph treats the question as important as she asks it, he thinks it over, "I think I saw some lizards in th' forest, I dunno if they're newts, but they could be." He didn't have a lot of knowledge of specific animals, it didn't matter to him, a critter was a critter, unless it was dangerous.

"I did a project on newts once. Maybe if I saw them I'd know."

Ralph grins, "Hey, that's pretty neat! You wanna go lookin' for 'em to see if we can find any?"

Any excuse to go back in the forest was a good one by him.

She thinks about this for a moment.

"Well...I am done my cards... And I don't have to go back yet...Okay!"

Ralph gives her a smile, "Let's go!" He was looking forward to going back to the forest, they could clean up here later.

He opens the door and holds it for Newt, looking out the door, she might be able to see some of the trees just a short walk away.

The forest was a fairly large one and mostly undeveloped, but there were some markers to show people the way back if they got lost.

Sounds like a great plan.

She'll gather her important things together and put them in pockets before going over to the door.

"How big is the forest?"

Ralph thinks for a moment, "It's pretty big, I've never been all the way to the other end. I think somebody said it'd take a day or two to get from one side to th' other."

"Oh....I don't think I can be away that long. So I guess we'll have to explore a part of it."

Ralph nods, that made sense, and her family would probably start looking for her if they were gone too long.

He checks the time before replying, "What if we did just a short walk now, an' got back before lunch? Then, if you want, we can go for a little longer after an' be back before dark?"

Ralph didn't know what was in the forest, it probably wasn't too dangerous, but it was still a bad idea to be out in an unfamiliar place after dark.

Her family would be very worried if she was gone too long.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be places when it's dark."

You never knew after all.

Ralph nods, "Yeah, things look a lot different in th' dark, it's easier to get lost." His armor had a few light functions, but not really enough to travel by.

He leads the way towards the forest, "We'll just do a quick trip, an' after lunch, we can decide which way looked the most interesting for our longer walk."

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.

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I am so, so sorry for the delay

it happens, np :)

Thanks! :) And, sorry again!