Aliens: Beyond Time and Space

Hicks began firing at what seemed to be like a surface-to-air missile. In a series of ricochet noise, the 25mm rounds bounced harmlessly off the missile's armored shell.

"Ha!" Seryu taunted from below, grinning with pure malice as she sees the flying object try to fly away, with her missile in close pursuit

"It's futile! You can't harm Justice!"

Suddenly, in a swift graceful motion, the flying object somersaults over the missile and levels behind it. Several appendages unfold from its body, each one holding weapon pods brimming with munitions.

"It's tough…" Hicks selects a Headlock air to air missile "Let's see how it holds up against this."

Right when the targeting HUD shows it's locked on target, the Corporal presses the launch trigger

"Eat This!"

Shrrsshh!

The Headlock missile shoots out of its launch pod and rockets towards the giant missile, ramming itself into the larger missile's rocket propulsion and detonates violently. Without its means of flight, the missile falls to the ground in a resounding crash and explodes.

Kaboom!

Seryu looks in disbelief

"Impossible! How can it destroy a reinforced armor weapon!?"

"Bring us in close…" Hicks directed "I want these twits kept in our sights."

Esdeath makes a sinister grin, while the other Jaegers watch in determined readiness as the Dropship descends towards them in a slow hovering motion.

"Are you sure about this, Hicks? They did just shoot at us" Bishop inquired, as he followed his orders to lower the ship down to face their assailants.

"I know." Hicks rebutted "But, we all need answers, and we got to try and reason with these folks.. They might at least know where we can find Ripley. You have instant reflexes, Bishop. If any of them make a move, gun the ship and make for orbit."

With its weapon pods still deployed, the Dropship levels into view, about a stone's throw away from where the Jaegers stood.

"Captain! Run is right! I see three people inside that thing's head" Informed Seryu, as she offered her commander a pair of binoculars she was using.

Esdeath refuses the offer, and instead, conjures a scope made of ice and takes a look

"Interesting. It seems the object they're in is some sort of flying vehicle."

She studies the three men inside. The one sitting in front had brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a blue jumpsuit. The one sitting behind him had longer and more curled hair and brown eyes and wore a winter coat. The other one had short brown hair and green eyes with a large bandage on the side of his face, and wore green combat fatigues.

"Tatsumi?" she wondered out loud, but corrected herself. This man resembles her love interest, but had notable differences. The man looked older and more rugged, a different hairstyle and a confident attitude.

The man puts on a headset and speaks into the microphone. Even his voice sounded different, as it blared electronically from the vehicle.

"You should know, it's bad manners for you to attack us like that. Why don't we talk this out? Like civilized adults. This doesn't have to get any uglier."

"How dare you make demands with us!" Seryu called out "You think Justice will negotiate with Villains like you!?"

The other Jaegers look at their leader, waiting for her to decide the next move.

Intrigued, Esdeath signals her team to stand down. "Yes." she replied "I think we can have a conversation. I hope you'll forgive us for our actions. We thought you were in league with our enemies. But now it seems, not to be the case. So tell me, who are you? And why are you here?"

"Since you shot at us just now, I think we're entitled to some answers first." The bandaged man responds, and the General nods her consent.

He continues "Who are YOU. And why were you trying to kill us?"

Esdeath shrugs and answers "Like I said before, We thought you were someone else, an enemy we've been tracking." She then adds "And, I wanted to see how strong you are."

MacReady was ticked off enough by her response that he immediately snatched the headset from Hicks. The latter was clearly confused, but seeing him with his fuse blown made it clear that he was fuming mad

"Hey lady dipshit! I hope you're paying attention, because where I come from. We usually give each other names and warnings, before shooting at one another."

Hicks heard enough of MacReady's rantings, realizing he's just a few sentences away from being planted a death flag on themselves. He immediately snatched back the headset from him, but kept his feelings of contempt towards the woman

"If you're part of some army or any kind of military organization, I'd make a formal complaint to your Commanding Officer." The blue eyed woman chuckled

"I AM this Army's commanding officer. My name is Esdeath. GENERAL Esdeath. I'm the strongest in the Empire and one of the top military leaders of the Imperial Army. These…" she points to her subordinates "Are my specialized fighting group, the Jaegers. We defend the Empire against its enemies, whoever they may be." Then, she smugly adds "And where I come from, only the strong get to have a say in how they conduct themselves in battle. The weak stay downtrodden and die off. Now you have my name, and here's my warning. Answer what I asked earlier, or suffer and die."

Bishop glances at his flight HUD "Corporal. The thermometer just spiked below zero degrees for an instant. Not sure if that was a glitch or not."

"That's no glitch, something's off with her. We need to leave" MacReady worriedly voiced his concern

"No, not yet" Hicks eyed his weapons control console thoughtfully but decided to let it go for now. He still needs more answers from these people. But somehow, someway this woman is extremely dangerous, and he's not sure why. So, he decides to provoke her further

"My name is Huckleberry Finn. And these are my two good friends, Tom Sawyer and Marco. We're adventurers, looking for fame and fortune in the world." This time he felt a chill.

Bishop looks again at his HUD "Hicks. The thermometer spiked down again. Seems deliberate, not a glitch."

That confirms that the woman was the cause, and Hicks realized why he felt that chill for another reason beside the loss in temperature.

It was Killing Intent. The woman, Esdeath just stood there with her face frowned and her eyes narrowed

"You're lying. I know enough about sarcasm, to know if you're using it. Now speak truthfully! Last Warning!"

Hicks spoke with an innocent tone "Sorry! Sorry about that. Just a joke to liven up the mood. You'll get the truth from here on out. I promise, no bullshit."

Esdeath was not amused, but decided not to attack

I still need more information. But afterwards, I'll show you my idea of a joke to liven up the mood. In the Torture Chamber she thought.

She finally responds "Talk!"

"My name is Hicks. CORPORAL Dwayne Hicks. I'm with the United States Colonial Marines Corps. And this guy here is Science Officer, Lance Bishop. We're part of a military expedition to investigate and eradicate a possible Xenomorph infestation on Planet LV-426. But something happened and we found ourselves in this place, with no idea how we got here or where our teammates went."

Hicks explained, and all of the Jaegers looked at each other confused. MacReady was also confused as well.

Colonial Marines Corps? Xenomorphs? Planet? Who the hell are these people?

"That's one hell of a story you're talking about, but I believe you're speaking honestly" Esdeath spoke "Why don't you land your vehicle and come on out? We'd like to discuss this tale in person. And I would personally love to hear every detail of your story."

Then she spoke quietly to herself

...In the Torture Chamber.

Hicks looks at the Jaegers, suspiciously "You mind, sharing the names of your subordinates? There's no need to be strangers here. We can help each other."

The auburn haired girl, who fired the giant missile at them, stepped forward and waved her only remaining arm at them

"My name is Seryu Ubiquitous! I'm an Ally of Justice! And this is my Imperial Arm, Koro."

The small dog-like creature stood next to Seryu, and held up a spare metal arm, offering it to her. She looks down, takes the arm and attaches it to her shoulder. After moving it around to make sure it's set right, she uses it to form a salute. Koro mimics her, and salutes too.

She made no threat or indication of hostility, as if she had completely forgotten that she tried to kill them a moment ago.

"Great, she's a justice-obsessed psychopath" MacReady scoffed at the thought of her behavior

The other Jaegers introduced themselves more formally. The big man in the mask raised his hand in greetings "My name is Bols. Nice to meet you."

The man with wings lands on the ground, and bows "My name is Run. It's a pleasure."

The young man in black armor dematerialized the suit, and waves his hand "I'm Wave. Let's get along."

And lastly, was the teenage girl, who sheaths her sword and speaks plainly. "Kurome" was all she said, before picking a small bag, and began eating its contents.

"Now that we all know each other's names, can you please come down from there?" asked a smiling Esdeath, stepping forward.

"Stand By." Hicks called back "I'm bringing this Ship down to land-"

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a missile fires from one of the weapon pods, and Esdeath instantly creates a large wall of ice to protect herself and the Jaegers. Instead of coming at them, the missile strikes the ground in front of them.

It explodes and covers the entire area with a cloud of thick, black smoke. The Jaegers start coughing and look around, unable to see anything.

"Run! Clear this smoke!" ordered Esdeath, and her personal aide flapped his wings and dispelled the smoke cloud. She looks around to find the ship, and sees it gone. Then, she looks up along with everyone else and sees the dropship shrinking to the size of an insect as it rockets its way into the sky and disappears into the clouds.

"Cowards!" Seryu shrieked "How dare you trick us with such lowly tactics!"

The other Jaegers began gathering their horses.

"We'll deal with them later, Seryu." Esdeath commanded "For now, get back on your horse. We're moving to our next objective, rendezvous with the Expeditionary Force."

She climbs back on her horse and takes one last look at the sky.

"We will meet again, Corporal Hicks."

She promised, and smiles at the thought of reuniting with such a worthy opponent.

The Jaegers' leader looks at her subordinates, to see them ready and waiting. "Let's go!" she orders, and the Jaegers ride south towards the Empire's southern border.