The Reaper Wars - The Nest Ch. 01-05

This shocked her. Normally he wouldn't listen to anyone else's suggestion on 'his project'. He must really be desperate to keep her alive. I could use this.

Soon the beginnings of a plan began to form in her mind. Clearing her thought she looked him in the eye. "Put quite simply. We need to find and bring more of her children here."

***

Back at the colony Alex sat on the couch with his arms crossed. "Okay so let me get this strait, You are called the 'Zen' not Reaper?"

"Right." his Reaper confirmed.

"Now, for some reason nether of us can explain I can hear your thoughts."

She nodded and let him continue. "Now, you can't hear or even feel your mother only me which shouldn't be possible. So you don't have a family or even a name."

"Yep, that about sums it up." she answered with a sad tone.

Alex looked at the Zen. It was obvious to him that even for such deadly creature, her kinds normal way of life had been disrupted and she had been drawn to him for some reason. It was a bit odd, but it wasn't like he had much human company before all this. She had yet to make any attempts to harm him and on the contrary, she seemed to be treating him better then most of his own species did. He felt bad for her and wanted to do something to cheer her up.

"Well that just won't do, let's find you a name." Alex said with a smile.

"You are a female right?" He asked. He was pretty sure she was, but it couldn't hurt to ask. To this she nodded, but it was obvious she was holding back laughter.

Alex sat down and started to think. For some reason one name kept popping into his head. After thinking it over he smiled. "How about... Rika?"

Leaning back, Alex looked at her as the names seemed to sink in. Without warning, she jumped at him. Startled, all he could do was sit there." Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

But then a thought occurred to her. Looking up at Alex she asked "Alex who is Rika?"

Alex was shocked by the question. "What do you mean?"

She tilted her head. "Well after you collapsed you said that name in your sleep."

Alex looked away with a distant look. "She... she was my mother. And like yours she disappered."

Rika knew this was about as sensitive a subject with him as it was with her. Deciding to change the subject she asked "So what now?"

Shaking his head to clear it he said "Well I thing we should head to Operations and see where to go from there."

After getting some food, a raw stake for Rika and a sandwich for Alex, He packed his backpack with extra cloths and food. Looking at Rika he nodded then they left the apartment.

Thirty minuets later they came to a dead end. This had been the third time they had found themselves at one. With a sigh Alex looked at the alien to his left. She was looking back at him and he swore if she had eyebrows one would be raised.

"Oh like you could do any better. I've only been in this part of the colony once." he grumbled.

Shaking her head she said "No, but I'd still probably do better than you."

"Well if I hadn't left my jacket in the med-lab we would have a map, but we don't."

Looking around he was about to suggest they try a corridor they had passed when Rika asked "med-lab? Was that where I was removed?"

Alex nodded not sure where she was going with this. Nodding she said "Stay here. I'll be right back." And with that she jumped into a vent and diapered.

Not sure what just happened he sat down. Reaching into the bag he pulled out a bottle of water and opened it. A minuet later the sound of something hopping out of the vent had him looking up right into the face of a Reaper. He at first assumed it was Rika but when he didn't see the blue markings he started to become afraid.

When it took a step toward him he let out a squeak of fear and pressed his back against the wall. When he tried to move away the creature gave a confused hiss. Startled by the noise, Alex froze afraid it was going to attack him. However, the Reaper made no move to hurt him, instead it moved slowly closer. When it reached him it sniffed him then laid down right beside him. Alex was unsure what to do so he just sat there.

Being this close to this Reaper he couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't doing anything to hurt him, but instead was snuggling up against him. Rika he could understand not hurting him but not this one. When a Reaper found a human they usually did one of two things. It ether killed or cocooned them, but it was cuddling which was a little too weird. 'Well this is great, just great. I'm a cuddle toy to one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe. Why wont it kill me? I wonder...'

Deciding to take a chance he gently laid his hand on its head like he did with Rika. When it didn't move or hiss he started to slowly move his hand along its alien started to purr in response. Looking closer he saw it looked a lot like Rika. While it did have blue running along its head it was a darker color, Rika's were bright blue while this ones was cobalt.

Just then another Reaper hopped out of the vent. Startled, it dropped a jacket, his jacket! It had to be Rika. Alex almost sighed with relief. Crouching low she hissed, at who he wasn't entirely sure. But the hissing coming from beside him reminded him that he had forgotten his new guest.

With a whoosh something small and black went flying past Alex and slammed into Rika.

Standing he said "Rika!"

The sound of fighting soon filled the air. Startled Alex watched his Reaper throw the other across the room. The alien hit the wall with a thump and collapsed to the floor. Suspecting he was the cause of the fight he decided to do something stupid. Rushing forward he stood in between both of the Zens. Rika stopped walking but was still in a attack stance.

Raising his hands and looked at her with calm eyes. In a voice with more confidence than he actually felt he said "Stop, it didn't hurt me so stop attacking."

She dropped to the floor in a crouch. "But..."

He cut his hand through the air cutting her off. "No buts."

On the floor behind him a small voice said. "Ugh, ouch."

Hearing that he glanced back and sighed. "Great, now I can hear two of you."

Shaking her head she looked down at the other zen and asked with an angry hiss, "What are you doing here?"

The new zen looked up at her with a sad look, "I was alone and I smelled another Zen so I followed it here and found him."

Looking at this small zen she realized she was just young, alone, and afraid. Just like she had been. Softly she asked "What is your name little one?"

She looked at the floor. "I don't have one."

"Alright, would you like to stay here with us?"

The young zen looked up with a happy expression. "R-really?"

She nodded. "Only if he says you can."

Turning they both looked at him. Alex was momentarily stunned. They were waiting on his approval?

He blinked confused. "Why are you asking me?"

Both zen looked at each other before looking at him. Shrugging, Rika said "I don't know. We just feel we need to ask your permission."

Sighing he scratched the back of his head. "Fine. But you need a name too."

Tapping his chin he asked "Your a female?" She nodded "How about Sophie?"

With an happy hiss she said "Thank you Big brother!"

Alex was taken aback. He had never had any siblings, and now an alien was calling him Big brother. He slowly shook his head at the absurdity of his life at the moment. Turning to Rika he said "Alright, hand me my jacket."

After she handed it over he fished around in a pocket for his PDA. Pulling it out he flipped it on and found a message. Glancing at the display he frowned.

In a voice barely above a whisper he said "What the?"

Tilting her head Rika asked "Whats wrong Alex?"

Blinking he shook his head. "Ah, nothing just some problems around the colony."

Flipping through the PDA to the map he said "Now lets get to Operations."

Rika knew he was lying but let it go for now. Turning to her new sister she said "Come on."

Twenty minuets later they were walking down the hall leading to Operations. Stopping before a pair or large steel blast doors he said "It's just past this door. Once were there I can find out if there is a way off this rock. If we can get it open that is."

Stepping over to the door control he sighed and shook his head. The keypad had been completely destroyed. It looked like someone had smashed it with a tool of some sort.

Looking at Rika he got an idea. "Rika, can you do something for me?"

Nodding she asked "Sure, what do you need?"

Pointing to the door he said "This thing is locked up tight, And with the door control destroyed that's not gonna change any time soon. But I think I can short out the lock, but only for a minuet. In that time I need you two to pull the doors apart."

Kneeling by a panel beside the door he popped it open and looked at Rika who nodded. Reaching in he pulled out some wires and started working. A minuet later Alex cursed when the wire sparked and he received a shock. A second later the door clicked and both zen pulled with all there strength. With a groan of protest the doors slid open.

Alex gasped in shock at the destruction behind the door. Large sections of the wall and floor were completely melted. Fifteen feet ahead was some sort of barricade. It had served little to no purpose as it too was half melted. Shaking his head he carefully made his way down the hall. The zen followed by crawling on the walls and ceiling.

When they reached Operations Alex shook his head. The door had been ripped open in jagged pieces. But the worst part was the blood that covered it and the floor surrounding it. Careful not to touch the door he slipped in.

The room itself didn't look much better than the hall. Blood covered the floor in random places. There were holes all along one wall reaching up to ceiling. One of the florescent lights hung flickering from its fixture. Walking up to a bank of computers he found most of them were damaged. Thankfully the main control terminal was still functional. Plugging his PDA into the slot he brought up the landing bay manifest.

As it turns out, There had been one shuttle docked in bay three, but it was registered to have taken off not long after the attack. Given the current situation he couldn't blame them. The problem was after ten minuets of scrolling through the logs he couldn't find the one that said they made orbit.

Typing a few keys he brought up a schematic of the colony. Alex let out a low whistle. Whatever had driven the zen into a frenzy made them do a number on the whole colony. with a sigh he sat in the only char that remarkably had been untouched.

Slowly Rika, who had been sitting with Sophie by the door, stepped over to Alex. Bumping his leg she asked "Alex, you ok?"

Turning to her he smiled. "Yea, just a little disappointed. I was hoping for a way off this rock."

Standing he grabbed his PDA and said "Well I guess were gonna need a place to stay since were gonna be here a while."

They had just gotten to the door when a voice crackled over the PA system. "Hello are... there... Colony Nimbus 564..."

Dashing to the console he pressed the transmit button. "Hello! Hello! This is Alex Jones, Engineer for colony on Nimbus 564 ID 1456233. Anyone receiving me."

After a minuet the voice replied. "Yes... receiving you... Are... safe?"

Alex snorted. "Yes."

"Good... be there... hour. Hold tight... we get there..."

After that the transmission dissolved into static. Alex cursed. "Where is a com specialist when you need one."

Shaking his head he turned to the girls. "Well I spoke to soon. Come on lets find a place to hide until they get here."

***

At the research stations com center. The tech sat back in his char. "Well Commander Frost how was that?"

One figure stepped out of the shadows behind the man leaving the other to stand alone. He looked to be a man in his mid thirties with short spiky white hair, a lean, muscular build. He was wearing standard marine combat vest over his gray military shirt, dark green military pants with metallic knee pads, and combat boots.

He looked at the tech and responded. "Yes very good."

Turning to the door he said "Now back to work. I need to inform of this interesting new development. Don't you agree Miss. Knight?"

***

Will Continue in Chapter 6 - 10...