Alternative Stories

 _ _Leader Of The Night's Hands pov_ _

"What is going on down there?"

"How the fuck are we supposed to know."

(This is a complete bloody mess...) I thought to myself as I listened to the idiots that were bickering amongst themselves.

It had all been going so well for me until just recently, suddenly before I had the time to even fully realize it things had become far more complicated. Dozens upon dozens of what we at first believed to be invaders had begun to pour out from below screaming like lunatics about monsters and demons that were spreading unchecked in the tunnels under our feet. A lot of us just laughed them off at first but slowly, as more and more came screaming to the surface everything began to change, the fools continued to laugh but the smart ones started to get anxious, and god forbid I wasn't a fool.

"It's a load of shit if you ask me." One of my men growled out.

In response one of our very few female members simply hissed and rolled her eyes. "And what the hell do you know?"

"You got a problem with me bitch!"

(I'm surrounded by idiots...) I thought while letting out a low huff.

"Would you lot just shut up already!" I had finally had enough with their constant back and forth. "We're moving out of here and that's my final decision, understood?"

"Come on boss, you can't really be telling me that you seriously think there are actual monsters down there, right?" One of them asked with a somewhat mocking glint in his eyes which quickly vanished once I stood up and glared at him.

"I couldn't give a damn if there are monsters down there or not!" I roared in annoyance and continued before anyone could interrupt me. "I don't care if it survivors from the crash, I don't care if it's just a new kind of animal like those flying bastards that harass us every night, I don't give a single shit what it is! In fact for all I care it could literally be your ugly ass fucking mother down there and I still wouldn't give a crap, at least that would explain why everyone is so damn traumatised." 

"I really couldn't care less about whatever is truly going on down there, all I know is that some of the most ruthless men I've ever met came running out of those holes in the ground screaming for their lives like wailing children." I explained with a tired expression on my face.

"Come on boss, they are nothing but fools who went underground because they were too scared of their own shadows to stay topside." Someone tried to argue but I was rather quick to counter that little comment.

"Just the other day I watched as the leader of the Bloodied Path, one of the most vicious and gruesome gangs on the entire planet clawed his own eyes out while gibbering and laughing to himself like a maddened lunatic. And let me remind you, we are talking about a man that literally bathes in the blood of the people he tortured to death while he murdered and or raped everyone they loved in front of them." That shut them all up real quick.

"So yes, we are getting the FUCK out of here."

                _ _Carmen Pov_ _

[That's quite the horde you've gathered there.] Goldy said with a slight whistle 

(Yeah...) I muttered while looking at the small mountain of junk and weaponry that had piled up in a kind of storage room I had ordered to be dug out.

This was all the stuff I was able to take from those I slaughtered, captured and hunted. What I was going to use all of this stuff for, well, I have no idea to be honest but maybe it would be useful once I left this world. Either way however I had also taken this moment to gear up all the thugs that I had indoctrinated, the ones that were still alive anyway which was about thirty or so. Of course I hadn't much in the armour department but they all at the very least were now carrying a gun or two, rather shity and rusted guns but guns nonetheless.

(At least with this my fighting force has a way of fighting at long range now.) I muttered with a slight shake of my head.

[I must say, you have quite the good amount of management skills.]

If I could roll my eyes I would have. (It's nothing all that great to be honest, I'm just doing the best I can with what I have.)

[Well, I'm impressed at the very least, most candidates I observe take at least a week or two to fully come to terms with everything happening around them, let alone do what you have so far. In fact quite a few of them would have probably gone insane by now.] That wasn't as comforting as he probably meant it to be.

(Errm...thanks?)

During the war I had also been massively improving my own territory, blocking off entrances and exits, making key choke points, I even made various rooms and areas which would be used for different purposes down the line. Overall it was hard to keep track of everything but I did manage, my skills from my old life coming in handy to say the least.

I had also taken the time to create an area free of hive resin where the old prisoners could stay. I had provided them with what I could, all from the stuff that I had taken from the gangs. Water and food weren't much of an issue as the gangs had stock piled a lot of that kind of thing, of course I checked it before giving it to them, just to make sure it was actually safe to drink and eat. I had also put the indoctrinated scientists and researchers in charge of looking after them just in case they needed it.

The real main problem that I was facing while accommodating them was their overall living environment. In the end I just didn't want the kids and wounded to have to keep wearing dirty rags, let alone having them continue to sleep on mouldy mattresses with rusty frames that could fall apart at any moment. Unlike gathering food and water most of the prisoners and other assholes who were dumped here had no real idea on how to make things like beds, chairs, cooking equipment and so on, as such they could only use what they could find littered around. Thankfully I was able to annoy Goldy into giving me some much needed necessities of life, mostly because it didn't really affect my trial at all and because I promised to play Uno with him, a fact that I quickly regretted ever agreeing to.

(Anyway, now that the war is almost over, if you can actually call a mostly one sided slaughter a war, I need to focus on some more important things that I've been putting off for a while now.) 

[What "things" are you referring to exactly?] Goldy asked and I answered while turning my attention elsewhere.

(First I'd like to get some more xenomorph variants, Alpha is currently my only praetorian but that should change soon.) I wasn't all that focused on the conversation as I continued. (If possible I'd like to get my hands on something that can fly if at all possible, having an aerial scout would significantly increase my overall efficiency.)

(As for the second thing, well, I need to focus a little more on my thralls, the ones from the station that is. I haven't really been paying attention to them all that much and I probably should start getting some more use out of them.) I mused, listing off my current goals to him.

(Finally, I have to find the other hive before their numbers grow too large for me to deal with.) That was the main issue, the longer I waited the more they had time to grow their numbers. (One of the reasons I want flyers is to speed up my search for them.)

[I'm guessing that it's time then?] Goldy chuckled with a somewhat giddy glee in his voice. [I've always wanted to be a poacher that mercilessly slaughters various animals for my own personal gain.] He joked in a morbid tone that I was all too familiar with at this point.

(Yep...great...) I sighed, feeling very uncomfortable.

[Onward! To animal cruelty and beyond.]

(This is gonna be a long day...) I sighed as I opened up a link to one of the thugs.

<<Hear me my servant.>> Talking like this would have probably made me blush from embarrassment if I was physically capable of such a thing.

<<Yes my queen?>>

<<Tell me, do you know of any interesting species, creatures that I may be able to use to expand my swarm.>> 

[Nice voice, your royal highness.] Goldy commented and I could only groan in response.

(Would you just shut up, I'm in the middle of something.) I growled while turning my attention back to my thrall.

<<There are three types of creatures I believe would be useful to you my queen, most of the larger species don't enter the city because of the cramped spaces and all of the gangs that constantly try to kill them for food.>> He answered, getting my full attention.

<<Oh?>>

<<The first is a creature that looks like a massive dark red rhino mixed with one of those dinosaurs, you know, the one that is covered in armour and has that club-like thing at the end of their tail. The damn things are like walking tanks but they only travel in groups of three or two and apparently they don't attack so long as you don't piss them off.>> 

(That could be useful...) I hummed as he continued.

<<In fact they seem to have formed a kind of symbiotic relationship with some of the still living livestock that the old colonist brought along with them all that time ago.>>

(I'm surprised any of them are still alive.) I muttered in thought.

[Animals are surprisingly far better at surviving in a new environment compared to most humans.] Goldy added his input, not that I actually wanted it but that hadn't stopped him from speaking up before so why would it now.

(I feel like I should take a fence to that.)

[What can I say, you mortals aren't exactly known for your intelligence, although you have created one thing in the entirety of your history that does capture my interest to some degree.] That actually got me curious.

(And what would that be?)

His answer was enough to make me want to facepalm in irritation. [Twitter.]

(God...of course YOU of all people would think that is the peak of human accomplishment...) I grumbled as I returned my focus back to my thrall who was still speaking to me through the link we shared.

<<The second one looks like a mixture between a snake, a centipede and a maggot.>> The mental image I got from that description was not pleasant. <<It doesn't sound all that bothersome but most people leave it the fuck alone, only the truly stupid have enough blind confidence in themselves to try and mess with them.>> 

<<The damn things are pretty rare all things considered, however they can shoot out this kind of pure white fluid from their mouths, the stuff isn't just sticky but it also hardens to the point that it's almost like concrete. And that's not even mentioning the fact that the fucking stuff also explodes when exposed to an open flame.>> To say that surprised me would be an understatement.

<<It does what?!>>

<<This one time an old friend of mine got some of that crap on himself, unfortunately for him a spark from the torch he was holding landed on the stuff. The poor bastard was blown to pieces before I even realized it.>>

[I knew that would be an interesting addition to spice things up a bit.] Goldy laughed in amusement.

(You added this to the world didn't you, just for the shits and giggles?) I sighed knowing full well this was all his doing.

[I live for the shits and giggles thank you very much.] He scoffed in mock offense.

(Of course you do...)

<<The last one is...well, it's the reason most people fled underground.>> My thrall continued on without waiting for us to finish, he was completely unable to hear my conversation with Goldy after all. <<Blood Wraiths, Banshees, Night Terrors, Flesh Leeches and so on, there are a lot of names for them out there. Despite this however all that you really need to know is that they come out at night, they fly in massive flocks, they also kill anything they can find by biting and dissolving living creatures alive before literally drinking them once they are nothing more than a puddle on the ground.>>

(Well, isn't that interesting...)