Author's Note: Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story, "Xenophobia!" This story is a Metroid/Aliens crossover, and I just wanted to mention a couple of things before the story starts. Yes, this is technically part three to the series that started with "Human" and "Spawn", but it is a different sort of genre. While those two stories are human dramas, this is a sci-fi horror story and can be read on its own without having read the rest of the series. I do recommend reading the other two if you are interested because it will give background information on the world and the characters, but it is not 100% necessary, particularly if dramas are not your thing. Although, bare in mind, this story will have spoilers for the other two.

This story takes place in a blended version of the Metroid and Alien universes, as was introduced in "Spawn". The Galactic Federation is the main governing body, although Earth and other planets do have their own smaller governments and militias. Time-wise, this story takes place as a sort of AU during the events of Aliens and a few months after the events of Super Metroid. And yes, a big part of why I'm writing this story is because I want to have Samus Aran fight Xenomorphs.

So, without further ado, I present to you "Xenophobia."

Xenophobia

Prologue

The control room of the "Kitty Hawk" was quiet as planet Calpamos and its moon, LV-426, came into view. The planet did not look any different than most did, especially not at this distance. A thin ring encircled its mass, and grays and browns swirled together on its surface in a fashion that made it look almost like a marble. Almost. Its little moon looked even more serene, a cool grey-ish blue sphere close to the size of Earth.

As the General stood with his hands resting behind his back, he stared out at the moon through the forward window of the spacecraft. He was a tall, intimidating figure in a long, blue General's coat and hat. His grey eyes fit well with his almost coal-colored hair and cold, serious demeanor. He knew the moon may have looked peaceful from a distance, but so did everything else in the galaxy if one was far enough away. He also knew, though, that the serene atmosphere was merely a façade, and all hell raged loose on its surface. Some sort of unknown, sentient creature had destroyed an entire Earth Colony and may have even killed the small battalion of Colonial Marines that had been sent to investigate the sudden radio silence.

It had been a long time since Adam Malkovich had actually seen combat. Though he had been a prominent figure through most of the Space Pirate War, he was now fifty years old, and it showed around his eyes and in the grey streaks through his hair. When he had been promoted to General eight years back, he had taken a sort of back seat, commanding troops from a distance and strategizing from afar with the Galactic Federation's Secretary of Defense and other Generals. So it was strange when, two days ago, he received a message from General Harper that he was to lead the expedition of Federation Army Special Forces on the LV-426 investigation. Very strange, particularly in a time of relative peace now that the Space Pirates were no more. But after thirty-two years in the service, he was not about to disobey a direct order that had come down from the Chairman and the Secretary of Defense.

In some ways it felt good to be back in the action, he mused as he sat down to the controls and pulled up a violet holoscreen charting the ship's course to the moon. There had always been something unsettling to him about sitting in a safe control chamber while those under his command risked their lives on the battlefield. He understood why things were the way they were even if he didn't always like it.

According to the screen's readout, the ship would be entering the atmosphere of LV-426 within the hour. It was simulated night aboard the ship at the moment, and the troops were asleep, but that would change soon. For now, the General would enjoy the last few moments of relative silence before they touched down on the moon's surface and the expedition truly began. He took his time reading over the charts and mission instructions as he nursed a steaming cup of coffee.

It was not long, however, before a hatch opened behind him and a woman stepped into the room. She was a very tall and thin young woman with long brown hair that fell below her waste. Her pale complexion suggested she never stayed planet-side very long, and her white lab coat spoke to her role in the mission.

"Good morning, General, Malkovich," she greeted as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Dr. Grey," he replied gruffly, not looking up from his holoscreen charts. "Something I can help you with?"

The young woman shrugged. "Not really. I suppose I'm just up earlier than the others. I was a little nervous and didn't sleep particularly well."

Adam nodded, looking up at her finally as he gestured for her to take a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "I suppose you don't get deployed into hostile terrain very often."

Sitting down, Dr. Grey shook her head. "No, this is my first time. But when I was asked to join this mission, I didn't think I should turn it down." She shifted uncomfortably. "I've never heard of a species like the ones described by that former flight officer. I know the Weyland-Yutani Corporation had a contract to check it out, but if they didn't survive…"

The General didn't know what to say to that. It went without saying that at this point, the likelihood of finding survivors on LV-426 was low. Having survived almost 30 years of war against the Space Pirates, such things had simply become commonalities he quietly accepted, occasionally haunted by how numb he had become to them. Dr. Grey, on the other hand, had only been with the Federation Army for a short while, and she had never seen combat.

Her presence on this mission was simply as a scientist and a doctor. While she was a skilled physician for human patients, she also specialized in studying newly discovered sentient species. Though the "xenomorphs" they had been sent to investigate were hostile entities that had likely destroyed a colony of terraformers and possibly killed a group of colonial marines, Dr. Grey normally specialized in studying new species who had the potential to become citizens of the Galactic Federation.

"I'm sorry," she said after a prolonged silence, "I didn't mean to be so pessimistic… I suppose it's nerves talking."

The General shook his head and sighed as he continued to stare at the screen. "You're being realistic. It's been days since we've had contact. We need to expect the worst, Dr. Grey."

"Portia… please." She looked up at him with round brown eyes that possessed too much innocence. "Just call me, Portia."

Adam glanced over at her sideways and grunted. "Noted."

He tried to ignore the Doctor's presence for the remainder of the flight, even after the overhead lights brightened, signifying the switch into simulated day. It was not that he disliked the young doctor, but she kept glancing nervously around, looking back at the hatch and then over to him again. It made it very difficult to focus on the task at hand. As they pulled into LV-426's atmosphere, he could feel her stiffen beside him. First deployments into hostile territory made a lot of people nervous, and while the General had gotten used to it a long time ago, her novice anxiety was affecting him as well.

He knew the troops were awake by the time landing was imminent, but as he switched the ship's mode to prepare for touchdown, a sudden blast jolted the ship. The General was thrown forward into the controls, barely having enough time to brace himself with his arms to protect his face and chest. He heard a snap as the violet holoscreens turned a bright red and alarm bells began blaring throughout the ship.

Adam turned to Portia just in time to reach out and grab her before another explosion rocked the ship and they were both thrown from their chairs. As warnings flashed that the engines had become disabled, the bottom-heavy ship shifted midair air so that both the doctor and the General were thrown away from the controls as they collided with the back wall. Portia screamed as Adam threw himself between her and the wall, taking the brunt of the impact.

They had barely a moment to breathe before the ship entered a free fall and both bodies were flung into the control panel and explosions erupted on the other side of the hatch. Only one wall stood between them and the inferno that raged in the main part of the ship.

The force of impact against the control panel was painful, and Portia screamed again and Adam struggled to breathe. The impact had knocked the wind out of him, and as the ship plunged to the ground below, he felt his whole body being forced into the hard surface. He tried to yell for the doctor, but he could not even hear himself over the blasts and the cacophony of loose objects flying toward them from elsewhere in the control room. The only thing that saved him was that he was able to roll behind the protection of the pilot's seat. Portia, on the other hand, was less fortunate as a tablet flew forward and struck her in the side of the head, rendering her unconscious.

Alone in the dying ship, the General knew he only had a few seconds to act before they would all collide with the surface of the moon. In a last ditch effort to save himself and anyone else he could, he reached forward as far as he could to the main controls and entered the code to detach the control room and sleeping chambers from the main portion of the ship.

As she watched the ship enter the atmosphere, Ellen Ripley felt something she had not felt at all in the days she had been stranded on the godforsaken rock of LV-426. Hope. True hope that someone from the government or from the Company had finally responded to their distress calls. She was not sure how long she and the others had been trapped in the remains of the desolated Earth colony, but it felt like weeks with how frequently the sun rose and set. More likely, it had not been more than a couple of days by Federation Standard Time.

However, just as any sliver of hope had been since they had landed on the moon, her hope at seeing the ship was short-lived. Within minutes of entering the atmosphere, the ship had exploded and gone up into a fireball as it hurdled down to the surface. She could feel her stomach turning and thought she might be sick as more blasts rocked the ship even as it fell. Though she wanted to turn away, she found her eyes glued to the sight.

It was not until just before it hit the surface, however, that something amazing happened. At the very last moment, instead of fully making impact, two pieces of the ship jettisoned away from the conflagration just in time before it struck the ground and blew up into a great mushroom cloud. The two pieces that escaped flew off in opposite directions, but she could see even from her distance that the flames had not affected them.

The brown-haired woman smiled turned to a small blonde girl who stood beside her.

"Newt," she said quietly, "there may be more survivors."