Crewmate Log - Recovered from the USS Mirage Desole.

Company Date: 21801609

Crewmate: Lucy Hadfield

Position: Chief Scientist

Begin Neural Record Log:

Entry 1:

About a week ago we departed from Zvezdnayyatochka[1] Station and set a course for the Weyland-Yutani outpost on Solaris Ridge, to see why their communications have gone dark. We'll be arriving in 20 minutes.

I am accompanied by the other two members of staff, our surgeon Doctor Luther Sullivan, and our pilot, Jack Winslow.

[1](How do you even pronounce that..?)

Entry 2:

We've landed on Solaris Ridge. There's a massive blizzard hindering our vision, which is to be expected on a planet with an average temperature of -50*C. Not entirely sure why there's an outpost on this planet to begin with.

The place is... barren. There's no sign of any life. Nothing appears damaged, and there's still an aircraft in one of the hangars, the door is open, unused. There's no sign the crew has left, and yet.. there's no crew that we can see.

Winslow and Sull- Doctor Sullivan have both gone aboard the aircraft to investigate. I remain outside, observing.

Entry 3:

There was a sound. I'm not sure what it was. I think someone may still be here. I couldn't find the source, so I'm informing the others.

We're hiding out in the ship? I'm not sure, really. Was Jack's request.

E3-b:

Despite the apparently fully functional shuttle lights, the doors do not actually close.

Pilot Winslow appears to be a little jumpy, supposing the idea that we may actually be attacked. The base has no defenses, clearly this planet has nothing to worry about.

I proposed the sound was structural damage. Sullivan backed this up by saying the walls are, in fact, being broken apart by expanding ice glaciers in the area which had to be more than a week old. Troubling.

The sound is something to worry about, though whether it's remaining life or structural damage is beyond me.

-----

Doctor Sullivan indicated to me a trail of light brown liquid by the right-side exit of the aircraft.

A quick examination informed me it was the ship's fuel.

We still have yet to descend below the bay's ground, to the main base. There is a ladder on the north side of the hangar but we haven't traversed it yet. I'm not sure any of us are eager to, with how silent this place is, though it seems that is our only investigated route at this stage.

-/-

The fuel line was damaged. Dug into by some.. object of some sort.

I'm not sure what's-

We've heard a loud clang deep in the hangar.

Jack wants to return to the ship.

To be honest, I do too. I don't want a hangar coming down on me today. But without the pay on this job, we won't eat. And without a result on this job, we may not eat for a while.

-/-

The nerves are slightly getting to them. They descended the ladder instead of going deeper into the hangar. Had to remind them.

-/-

We've found a colonist. He says the base went silent after some unmarked cargo arrived. Like some sort of curse or something.

Since it arrived, comms went down, people went missing.

I've confiscated his mechanics tool belt.

He claims to be the General Mechanical Assistant.

Treating him as hostile until I see other signs of life.

Apparently all individuals in this station have disappeared one by one. First from company, then vanished off the life support tracker.

We have him leading us to the comms equipment.

PS: Honestly, he seems a nice enough lad. And if this all turns out to be a bunch of nothing, I owe him an apology.

But until that comes to be true, I'm not letting my guard down.

---

Daniel has opened the Comms for us, though the time apparently emptied the battery on his chest light.

--/--

There's something on the ceiling.

I've immediately fled the room, endeavoring to warn them.

Some strange creature with massive jaws and claws has dropped from there.

I do not know what it is and I do not like it.

I'm standing just outside, in the snow. Everyone else is still inside.

If any of us, especially the pilot die here, it'll be another week before we can hope for rescue.

If a whole outpost of people has vanished due to this,

what hope do three of us have for a whole week?

-

Winslow fired at it, but I think he missed. It's hard to see from outside the darkened room, but he ran out.

I grabbed the Doctor and pulled him out. We can't re-seal the door, it doesn't have enough power to close.

We're trying to retreat.

The bloody creature leapt at Jack, but he kicked it off before it could get a bite in!

Took another shot at it, miss.

He's been stung by that bloody thing!

I couldn't drag him, I've left him behind.

I left Jack behind.

I left...

I'm running.

Sullivan cried out: "Blast it, what do we do?!"

"RUN!"

"Without him?!"

"It's either him, or all of us! You saw how quick it moved!"

Sullivan drank something strange, and we're booking it to the ship.

Jack fought the alien off, and is running back to us!

I hope we get out of here, I hope we get out of here...!

A disagreement.

Our only hope is the ship.

He believes we need to hide.

I think we need to run.

I bend. We're hiding, running back towards the hangar.

We both get inside, but I see Jack getting dragged off.

-/-

We're hiding behind the plane in the hangar. We seem to be safe, for the time being.

We snuck forward-

There was an explosion. Certain ships are being detonated.

There's a figure approaching the ship-

It's Daniel?!

I grab him from behind when me and Sullivan approach, the creature appearing from under the ship.

I shove Daniel right into it, and Sullivan hits the switch to lower the ramp.

The creature is furious, it smashes Daniel-

Who... is a robot.

Great.

Like this day couldn't get any weirder.

I hurridly climb up onto the ramp, followed by Sullivan.

Daniel brokenly pulls himself up, 

He's digusting, he's broken, it's freaky.

I can't kick him off yet.

The creature climbs up the other side and Daniel tries to shove me off and shoot me, both which fail.

The creature bites into Sullivan's helmet, breaking holes in it but leaving him alive, but it stings him with it's tail.

He in his last efforts, shoved the creature off before collapsing inside,

I removed the bolt gun from Daniel which I tossed off the ramp as it closed, before I threw a few things at him, breaking his dismembered frame.

FINALLY I got us to take off, and revived Sullivan with a medkit, and now... the two of us can finally go home.

[END_LOG]

[Recoverers Note]

This was found aboard the USS Mirage Desole, found sold off at a yard on a far-off star system. Records indicate that a practice owned by one Luther Sullivan, Dr, does indeed exist on this planet quite well off in medical care.

I don't imagine we need to report any more than the recovered ship, eh Matt?

- Julian