Aliens vs Marvel Universe 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Battle for Ryker's Island.

He raised his left arm to shield his eyes from the kicked-up dust. He felt the rest of the platoon gather beside him and moved forward, ducking down as he did. Fury stepped out first, followed by another platoon. At the other end of the roof, another chopper landed and another group stepped out as the first killed its motor. War Machine took off to greet the second chopper. He lowered his arm as Fury walked toward him, cigar-in-mouth and gun-in-hand.

“Glad to see you still alive, Castle.”

“Same to you.”

He heard the second helicopter power down and saw War Machine lead the half-dozen soldiers over. Fury led he and War Machine into an open spot away from the others before speaking.

“Alright, let’s get down to it, gentlemen. Here’s the situation: At the bottom of this prison is a secret submarine launch platform. This sub has one destination and one only: the Raft. Our objective is to reach that sub and take it.”

War Machine spoke up.

“Why can’t we just fly everyone over?”

“The Raft has state-of-the-art defenses that stop any boat, plane, or any other object that approaches. The only things that get in are submarines under S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol. Once we’re in, we can disable those defenses.”

He spoke up too. Something smelled fishy since they had gotten this detail.

“Sounds too easy. What’s the catch?”

“We need two access cards to open the door. I have one.”

Fury flashed his access card. He was probably suspicious that he’d decide to use that
secret exit on his next trip to Ryker’s. Couldn’t blame him. He would.

“The other one resides with the Warden. Both have to be used at the exact same time, or the sub is set to blow.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“We’re splitting up. Each take eight soldiers. How many wounded?”

Pierce came to mind.

“Just one of mine. A bad leg, but he can move now.”

“War Machine, you take him. You’ve got enough firepower to pick up the slack. My unit will take the Administration Wing. War Machine, you’ll take the Regular Security Wing. Castle, you’ll take the Maximum Security Wing. I’m sure you’re more than familiar with it.”

He would have said something if it weren’t so true. He knew that place inside-and-out.

“Okay boys, dismissed.”
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He moved slowly and silently through the administration offices. The lights were out for the most part. Some still flickered, but most were covered in slime, along with the walls. That only made the narrow hallways even smaller. Thankfully the Warden hadn’t had time to initiate lockdown, as the windows were the main source of light.
He poked his head out over the little wooden wall between offices and looked through the window with his one eye. All clear. He signaled with his hand for the troops to move forward, clutching his newly acquired gun. Thankfully the soldiers had salvaged an extra S.H.I.E.L.D. Assault Weapon from HQ. He had taken eight of the soldiers that escaped with him. Castle and War Machine had split the rest.
They kept moving. Thankfully they hadn’t found any aliens yet. He wanted to keep things quiet and easy. They found plenty of mutilated corpses, though. Along with plenty of bloody trails down the halls. He was following the trails. They all seemed to go in one direction. He didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that they hadn’t found Warden Statler yet. But they were bound to soon. They never got a distress signal from the prison. So when the invasion went public, he sent a patrol & found the island swarmed over. That meant nobody got out in time. SOP was to evacuate the staff, lock everything down, and blow the bridges. Whoever was left didn’t deserve to get out. And it looked like nobody did.
He came to another doorway and stepped inside, keeping low beneath the glass windows. He peeked over and saw that the next few offices formed a hallway. He looked back at the soldiers. The office was just big enough to hold all of them, with two just outside the doorway as lookouts. He held up one finger, followed by pointing at his eyes and motioning forward. One of the soldiers nodded and moved out the doorway into the next office. He watched as the soldier looked around, checking for signs, before turning back toward him. The soldier raised a hand and motioned “all clear.” He was about to move, when he saw a tail come from the ceiling and remove the solder’s arm. The boy screamed as he looked down at his hemorrhaging limb. He could only look on as the Xenomorph fell to the ground and began to devour the soldier. He shook himself out of it and began firing through the window.

“Fall back and fire at will!”

The beast screeched as the huge shells tore it apart. But even as he backed toward the opposite office wall, he heard screaming through the glass behind. He looked back through the glass to see another soldier lifted into the air and impaled by the small inner jaw. He fired straight through the blood-covered glass. The monster was down, but the soldiers were firing in all directions to the sound of screeches coming from all directions. Damn it all! He stood up to get a better view, and saw a Xenomorph burst through the glass in the next office. He let off a burst, but it leaped at him and nailed him to the floor. He used his rifle to hold the monster’s head up; keep that jaw away from him. He lifted a boot and kicked it between the legs, but no luck. Shit.
He held his right arm up to hold the gun & used his left to reach for the combat knife in his left boot. It reached its right claw up to slash at him, but he impaled the hand on the knife and held it back. It screamed, lifting its head into the air. He saw his chance. He aimed his rifle at its throat, put his right cheek to the floor, and fired. As he did so, he used his left leg to kick the beast off. It flew into the doorway and tried to screech through its perforated throat, but all that came out was gurgling and blood. He could feel and hear burning on the left side of his face and rushed for the water cooler. He fired a few rounds, blowing the top off the plastic jug, and dunked his head in. Fucking acidic blood! He shook his head around until the burning lessened before lifting out and rubbing his suited arm over the area until it stopped entirely. He looked back at the jug and saw his burned eye-patch floating to the bottom. He could hear screeching coming from down the next hallway & gunfire coming from the doorway. One of the soldiers poured a dozen rounds in the dead alien’s head. Fuck it. There was no point in keeping quiet now. Damn, he wished he had a cigar.
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He reached the bottom of the stairway; his metal boots patting the concrete floor as he went, and occasional squish as he stepped in bits of slime. Castle was right behind him as he moved forward to the intersection. The soldiers were picking up the rear. The walls and most of the ceiling were covered in the alien goo, blocking the lights. There was one heavy, black, steel door leading forward & two regular doors leading in opposite directions. Over the left door in black painted letters was written “Blocks A & B: Maximum Security.” And over the right door in the same writing was “Blocks C & D: Normal Security.” He turned to Castle, who stood just beside him.

“The black door leads to Solitary and Death Row. Looks like we split up here.”

They both looked back to the soldiers. They were looking around, checking their weapons, and talking to one another. Castle stepped forward.

“Line up!”

They silently and immediately did so. He stepped forward too, looking over the new soldiers Fury had brought in.

“Okay. Seers & Pierce come with me.”

Like games on the playground. Castle who looked over them as well.

“Mayfield, and Corvich can come with me. And you’ve got Seers, so Kaufman too. Reese, you go with War Machine.”

They had left Corporal Beeche with the choppers on the roof. The rest of the soldiers were Fury’s troop.

“Okay, we don’t have time to nitpick. Half of you go with Castle, the other half with me.”

The group shuffled a bit, clearly unsure of which of the two soldiers they trusted. Castle made the choice easier.

“If you’ve got the guts to go into the Maximum Security Wing, come with me.”

That did it. The group split neatly in half. He looked over his new troops before looking at Castle again.

“Okay, so what’s the layout?”

“There’s a hallway about twenty feet long beyond the door. Then a guard station on the
side just before you walk out into the first cell block. After the cell block there should be an intersection. The door in front of you leads into the exercise yard. Beyond that is the next cell block. The left hallway leads to the cafeteria and kitchen. The right leads to the showers and laundry.”

“Okay, thanks. Good luck.”

“We’re all gonna need it.”

He gave one last look at the old soldier before heading through the steel door. He led the group down the long hallway, staying tight to the slime-covered walls. He saw the guard station and held a fist in the air to signal “stop.” He pointed one finger forward, and Reese moved toward slightly open door. Reese nudged it open with the tip of his gun and stepped inside.

“Aw, Jesus.”

He moved into the room to find a mutilated guard sprawled out in the corner. Damn those things. He looked out through the window at the cell block. The large windows covering the right wall lit up the bluish-silver slime covering most of the cell block. He looked at the computer screen and saw that all of the cells were closed. But he was taking no chances with these monsters. Not this time. The window was tall enough to see both floors of the block.

“Stay here in case we need help with the doors. And watch our backs.”

Reese saluted, and he stepped out of the room and motioned forward, leading the rest of the platoon into the cell block.

“Alright, three go up, three stay down. Slow and easy. We don’t need any surprises.”

He watched three soldiers run up the stairs on this end, so he engaged the rockets in his boots and flew up to the second floor at the other end. He began moving down the line of cells. Most were empty. Some were covered in blood and gore. He saw the other three moving toward him as they checked the cells. The next few were empty. One of the others called to him.

“War Machine! Here.”

He walked over to the center cell. The soldier who had called became green in the face and leaned over the guard rail. The cell bars had been ripped apart. One inmate was lying on the lower bunk; intestines splattered and flesh burned. The other man was slimed to the wall with a face-hugger on him. The egg lay crushed in the corner. They must have tried to squish it, but died of the burns. Jesus. He trained his mini-gun on the victim and fired, making sure there was nothing left of the creatures. He turned back around to the soldiers. Two were helping the third keep his lunch down. He stood next to the green soldier and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t get much worse than that. You’re doing good.”

The boy suddenly stood up straight, swallowed, and sighed.

“Thank you sir.”

“What’s your last name?”

“Norman, sir.”

“Head back downstairs, Norman. We’re moving on.”

“Yes sir.”

He spoke into his mic to the rest of the group.

“Put down any infected. Make sure the monsters are dead. On the face AND in the chest.”

As he powered up his boots he heard bursts of gunfire below. He landed and saw several cells in the same state: torn open with infected inmates. He looked back and saw Reese rejoining the group. He moved forward, leading the group down the concrete hallway. Things were going well so far. But he wasn’t about to get cocky. Not this time.
He came to the intersection. One door, and two hallways; just like Castle said. These things didn’t like to work in the light, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to be in the yard. And he didn’t feel like splitting up, so it was either the kitchen or the showers. He had a good feeling about going left. Kitchen. He motioned with his hand, and the troop followed him down the hallway. The light from the barred windows leaked in, giving him a view into the empty yard.
He finally came to the double doors, and eased one open enough to see. Again, the lighting was dim due to the slime. When he saw no movement, he signaled and moved in. Silverware and food trays lay scattered over the room. He moved forward slowly and made a stirring motion in the air. The group spread out between the tables. The sensors in his visor picked up nothing. He heard a surprised yelp over the mic and looked around, holding his hands out with repulsers ready. He saw one of the soldiers silently wave a hand over the tables and he moved toward them. It was one of Norman’s friends. He stood over two dead aliens. Well, at least some of the people fought back before they died. He was about to call over the mics when he heard something move in the kitchen. He whirled back around and ducked down, holding up one hand and pointing toward the kitchen.
He ducked down just under the tray line and found another dead monster. He hoped it hadn’t been a slow death as he sneered through the mask. He heard more movement through the kitchen door, followed by chattering and hissing. He looked around the corner through the doorway and saw two of the creatures rummaging through the food. They hissed and threw the food around in disappointment. He was about to feed them a meal they wouldn’t forget. He pointed through the door, followed by clenching his fist: code for “take ‘em down.”
He stood up and let loose with the mini-gun. The two beasts were stunned, but not dead. Marauders. One moved to the furthest corner, and the other attacked. He moved out of the way as gunfire came form the soldiers behind him, dropping the beast. He looked up in time to see the other one crawling along the ceiling toward him. He fired a repulser blast and sent it sprawling into the corner. He moved to the next row of ovens and found another monster waiting for him. Its tail missed his shoulder by inches as he dodged, and grabbed the extremity before firing another repulser blast. The creature flew back and crashed into a cart of trays. He moved to the row of sinks at the back wall. Nothing. He looked back to see the soldiers spreading through the kitchen. One lifted the metal serving door, causing the steel to screech.
He suddenly heard a bump and looked back to the sinks. Still nothing. He heard a second bump and looked down the rows of sinks to a small metal closet. He moved in front of it and trained his mini-gun on the door before yanking it open. Inside was a man. Judging by his uniform, he was a guard. He was cowering; holding a butcher knife up for protection. He stood up and smiled. At least he thought it was a smile. The man’s face was so scarred, it looked like a grimace. He helped the man stand up.

“Oh, shit. Thank goodness you guys came. I thought I wasn’t gonna make it. I killed a couple of ‘em, but whatever the fuck they bled chewed through all my weapons.”

His accent proved he was a New Yorker. The dead ones must have been his handiwork. But apparently no good deed went unpunished.

“What happened to your face? Did they do that?”

The man’s eyes widened and his upper lip twitched before he answered.

“Uh, y-yeah. Fuckers scratched me up pretty good. But I found some thread and was able to stitch myself up.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ji… uh… Jimmy.”

“Okay, Jimmy. Just stick with us and we’ll get you out of here.”

Jimmy smiled his twisted smile again. Poor guy.
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As he looked over the last of the cells in this block, a thought crossed his mind. He never thought he’d ever come back here willingly. At least, not twice. He waved a hand for the rest of the group to follow him. Last time he came to get Jigsaw before his gang busted him out. He didn’t get to kill him, but made sure Saint stayed here. Now that he thought about it, Saint should still be here. Hmm. Maybe today was his day.
He forgot about Jigsaw as he approached the double doors to the cafeteria and met up with the three he had sent ahead. They were supposed to check the café and kitchen, and block the way into the next block’s café. They were all back in on piece, and they looked calm. Apparently it was good news.

“All clear, sir. We blocked it up with everything we could find.”

Good. He didn’t want any surprises. This was going to be quick and easy. He radioed for everyone to converge on the showers. He marched down the hallway. The lights were slimed, but the windows let in some light. He had checked the yard already: all sealed up. And that barricade should hold up okay in the café. Keep them from coming around on their asses. He could smell the shower from a distance. Almost as bad as the meat plant. He looked back and saw the rest of the group gathered behind him.

“Spread even. Eyes open. No sound.”

He turned back to the doorway and pushed it open. The locker room. The cold white tile squeaked uncomfortably against their boots. He saw the group spread among the locker rows. Slime was everywhere. The floor was covered in some spots. He saw Mayfield behind him watching his back. He moved forward through the short hall into the showers. Columns on either side. He saw the other troops move in through the entrances on either side against the wall. Nothing. Not a sound. They moved past the walls into the next set of shower columns. Still nothing. No eggs; no drones; nothing but slime and mist.
Everyone converged on the next hallway. It led to the laundry/boiler room. He waved forward and led them down the hall. A guard station sat on the right side. He motioned two fingers toward it as he passed. Two soldiers stopped and checked inside. They came back out and shook their heads. What the Hell was going on? He was expecting to walk straight into the lion’s den. He moved around a corner. No luck was better than bad luck, he supposed. He moved down a short stairway to the door to the laundry/boiler room and again waited for the rest before pushing through the door.
The air was thick and warm. Slime covered the walls and floor, along with the mist. The lights were almost completely blocked out by the slime giving the room a haunting glow. The light on his S.H.I.E.L.D. Special clicked on, as did the lights on the other Specials. He moved forward into the huge hallway that was the room. There was another guard station on his right, and catwalk above it. Piping and vents covered the ceiling. The boilers sat against the right wall, with the washers and dryers on the left wall. Carts and bags full of clothes were everywhere. But he couldn’t see the other end of the room. It curved around to meet the showers in the other cell block.
He looked around. Shifting shadows. He could hear their chirping and screeching around them, but he couldn’t see them. He looked back and saw the other soldiers reacting to the tactic as well. Their lights caught them every so often, but they kept running away. He heard movement on the catwalk above them and looked up to see nothing. Why weren’t they attacking? They weren’t even closing in. They could still make it to the door if they had to escape. If they weren’t going to strike, he certainly was. He whispered behind him.

“Flash bang grenade.”

He held his hand backward and soon felt the cold metal of a grenade in his hand. He pulled the pin.

“Fire in the hole!”

He threw it forward and covered his eyes. The fluorescent reaction lit up the room even after the flash. Some of the creatures stared at the grenade while other scurried away.

“Fire at will!”

The room lit up with gunfire. Two fell to his gun, and several more to the others’ before the rest of them scurried around the corner.

“Corvich! Mayfield! On the catwalk!”

He led to the two soldiers to the guard station and climbed up the ladder inside, leading up to the catwalk. He ran above the other four soldiers.

“Use the flash bangs, and kill ‘em all. Move!”

He saw Corvich and Mayfield come up behind him and charged forward. He saw someone below throw another flash bang and light up more of the curving room. More aliens came into the view of his gun sight and fell. The acidic blood ate through the pipes and let steam into the room. He finally rounded the corner and felt the steel fall from beneath his feet. He quickly reached out for the guard rail and caught it, but his gloved hand slid down it the length of it. The rest of the catwalk had been torn down. He put his right arm on the catwalk and tried to lift himself up. He quickly felt Corvich and Mayfield help him. He looked back and saw a huge black mass only ten feet away, where the other doorway was supposed to be. Another flash bang rolled on the ground in front of it and lit up. The back mass moved. It stood up, and an ugly toothed maw came out from the giant crown-like head. A Queen. Full-grown. Holy shit. He backed up with Corvich and Mayfield while the four below fired away at the screeching drones. The Queen’s roar echoed back and forth down the curved hallway/room. He heard Kaufman’s mini-gun come to life and riddle the eggs at the Queen’s feet with hot lead. He let loose on the giant monster. Mayfield and Corvich soon joined in. Corvich shouted curses in Spanish as he fired. But the beast just shrugged off their gunfire and charge forward.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

The sound of screaming from below confirmed that his orders hadn’t come soon enough. The she-beast screamed and screeched as she crushed the soldiers below. The steam from the pipes soon clouded his vision of the monster as he led Corvich and Mayfield back toward the guard station. He heard steel snapping as the walkway was being torn away behind them. Corvich stopped and turned around, going full auto into the mist and steam.

“Corvich, no!”

He could barely be heard over the gunfire, screaming, and screeching. He saw a massive tail fly forward and impale Corvich into the catwalk, which folded under the pressure and fell to the ground. The bitch’s head appeared through the fog. Mayfield opened up with his M-60 as they backed up to the guard station. Nowhere to go. He fired into the creature’s face as best he could, and even chipped a big chunk off of that big crown. Mayfield turned to him as they fired.

“What do we do Captain?”

He couldn’t think of a response. The tail came again and slammed into the pipes just a few feet in front of them before retracting. He saw the big pipe above them had been cut open, but nothing came out. The air vent. If he ever smiled, this would be one.

“We’ve got to get in that air duct!”

They fired full auto as they ran forward toward the hole in the steel vent. He pulled a fragmentation grenade from his belt and threw it forward into the mist before pulling back for cover. He heard the blast and saw the outline of the beast through the fog. Now was the time.

“Give me some cover!”

“Yes Sir!”

He reached up and grabbed the edge of the giant circular vent before throwing his gun in. He pulled himself most of the way up before he felt Mayfield push him. There was little condensation. This hadn’t been used in a while. Probably since the attack. He looked back down through the hole to see Mayfield spreading heavy fire back and forth. He flipped himself on his back and fired the gun at the monster in the mist. There was no way Mayfield was getting up here with that gun. He reached his left hand down.

“Mayfield!”

The soldier looked up and handed his gun up, which he placed next to him in the vent. He could tell he was running low on ammo, so he let off short bursts as covering fire. He flipped himself over again and threw another grenade toward the beast. He waited for the sound of the blast before reaching down for Mayfield.

“I’m not gonna make it, Captain!”

“Mayfield, shut up! That’s an order!”

As Mayfield got his grip on the vent, he helped him up and into it. They had to crawl toward the guard station and upward a bit. It would carry them all the way back to the cell block. He hated to admit it, but going forward and staying here were not options. And he wasn’t about to die fighting a battle he couldn’t win. He crawled down the vent as quickly as he could; just like moving through the underbrush in the ‘Nam. He heard the creature screeching below. The echo of the horrible sound was the only thing keeping the memories from clouding his mind. He reached the upturn and secured the straps on both guns around his shoulders. He flipped himself over again and pulled himself up. Thankfully it was only five feet up to the next level. He pushed his feet and hands against the wall as hard as he could, moving up a bit at a time, using two combat knives to dig into the vent. He heard Mayfield from below/behind him.

“I’m coming up! She’s right behind us!”

He finally reached the top of the graciously-sized vent and turned around as best he could to help Mayfield up. He heard the creature screech again. Mayfield was almost up. He reached his hand down and grabbed his wrist. He was about to pull when he heard metal screeching, followed by flesh tearing and bone cracking. Mayfield looked up at him. Blood dripped from his mouth, and his eyes were going blank. The kid grabbed his hand and saluted one more time, before letting go. He fell back down the vent, through the new hole made by the creature’s tail, and past the catwalk. He didn’t look, but he heard the smack of his body hitting the concrete. Damn it all. He kept his eyes closed in a solid grimace as he turned around and headed down the air shaft. Damn these things. Damn them all.