High above the jungle planet of Verda, the New Columbus remained in geostationary orbit. The science vessel had been sent on an exploratory operation by Central Command with the goal of assessing the planet of its viability as a potential colony world.
Though much data had been gathered in the few months since the mission had started, most of it focusing on the local plant life of certain regions and non-threatening life forms, little information had been gained regarding the predators that lurked on the surface of the planet. Numerous away teams had been dispatched to the surface, tasked with finding a subject representative of the types of deadly creatures a colony could find themselves encountering.
Almost every attempt at a successful capture had ended in failure, with troops either requesting emergency escapes or ending up torn to shreds before backup could assist. With deadlines failing to be met, Central Command resorted to recruiting the best scientists they could afford to send on extended missions, hopeful that a more tactical approach could result in the capture of specimens.
Dr. Emily Rinshel was among those recruited. Just in her early thirties, Emily had more than made a name for herself in the field of extraterrestrial biological studies. Hailing from a background of deprivation, Emily used every method she could to rise to such prestigious heights, sexual favours were never out of the question if the reward was worth it.
In spite of her academic background and penchant for remaining locked in laboratories for extended periods of time, Emily was far from a typical frumpy scientist. Long, flowing brunette hair draped down her back, a pare of rectangular glasses sat on the bridge of her dainty nose, beautifully framing her green eyes. Most of her usual labwear was far removed from the norm. Her labcoat was deliberately tightened around the waist, complimenting the short black skirts she knew attracted the wandering eyes of the crewmen, along with a pair of white stilettos that clicked satisfyingly against the cold metal floor of the halls.
From the moment she stepped aboard the New Columbus she went to work creating a method of guaranteed entrapment for a particularly violent species usually responsible for attacking the previous away teams. Using footage recovered from the landing parties, she went to work producing accurate counter measures to the attacks utilised by the alien creatures. Rage drove them, but Emily deduced that there was a limited intelligence in them, allowing them to assess their prey and carry out a successful ambush.
With the necessary data, Emily designed and created a trap. She supplied it to the next away team prepared to travel to the surface and gave them precise instructions for how they would go about using it. Sure enough, within hours of the team landing the colonel in charge sent back confirmation of a capture, this time without resulting in any fatalities.
The creature was subdued and placed into a secure hovering containment unit, built to withstand a generous amount of brute force. It did little good to placate the guards transporting it however, the threats to shoot on sight heard over the comms sent Emily running frantically towards the loading bay.
As she approached the assembled guards, each with their plasma rifles pointed directly at the transparent face of the unit, fingers dangerously close to the triggers, Emily held her hands up towards the guards. she shot a glare towards the colonel.
"I won't tell any of you again, I have complete control over the creature. Don't even think about firing upon it!" Emily warned. "Colonel Davies, tell your grunts to stop aiming at my subject."
She stepped over to a small control panel and activated a mechanism with the container which sent a cloudy sedative through the sealed crate. Within seconds the occupant's crashing and primal roaring slowly died down, eventually stopping all together.
"See?" Emily asked, sweeping a hand through her silky brunette hair. "Every possible dilemma has been thought out. Can we proceed?"
Colonel Davies stepped forth and nodded to the guards, motioning for them to step back into their positions. "Have it your way, Dr Rinshel. But that's the final warning, if that thing plays up again there'll be enough holes through it to make it unrecognizable."
Emily sniffed and turned on her heel, reactivating the hover platform beneath the container. With the up most caution, she and the guards slowly escorted the package back to her laboratory. Once the unit was secured in her personal lab she excused the guards, reluctant to risk anyone with an itchy trigger finger undoing weeks of preparation within a second.
Finally alone, she activated her personal diary and approached the unit, taking the opportunity to gaze at the slumbering alien up close.
"Dr. Rinshel's diary, June Fifteenth. Today marks the first day of personal experimentation with the alien lifeform designated Alpha-One," Emily adjusted her glasses and folded her arms as she stood directly in front of the transparent face. Her eyes ran over the naked form of Alpha-One, searching for the most distinctive physical features that made it such a threat to even the most well trained ground forces.
"Alpha-One is a biped, possessing a number of physical traits remarkably similar to that of the human body. But the aside from the powerful muscles, the head displays the most significant differences," Emily tapped the side of her glasses which brought up a small display on the lenses, further enhancing her ability to scan the alien before her. "Three sets of eyes allow for improved spatial awareness, exposed sets of teeth indicate that Alpha-One's species are more suited for ripping their prey apart, their heightened vision allowing them to take the unsuspecting meal by surprise."
Her eyes travelled downwards towards its powerful legs, but stopped short at its groin, causing her to bite her lip slightly as she caught sight of its manhood. "Alpha-One is undoubtedly male, quite a blessed one if I might add. Could this be an explanation for his species consistent attacks of the landing parties? High levels of testosterone could play a part, possibly driving a form of competitiveness."
Emily spent hours carrying out visuals documentations of Alpha-One, determining both its strengths and its theorized weaknesses. Eventually, she knew a physical examination would be required, simply looking wouldn't be enough. She put the necessary security protocols in place, sealing the lab and activating a system that would fill the room with a hallucinogenic gas should she need it.
Confident that everything was in place, Emily unsealed the containment unit, allowing the lid to open with a hiss and slide away. Emily snapped on a pair of gloves and began running her hands across the muscular form of Alpha-One, cataloguing anything of interest.
"The subject is certainly a powerful specimen, his skin seems to be capable of withstanding a reasonable amount of force," Emily stated to her diary recorder as she pinched the reddish skin of Alpha-One, "that would explain the lack of effectiveness of the ground team's weapons. Hand to hand combat is obviously out of the question."
Emily reached over to a tray containing a variety of medical utensils and picked up a syringe. Attaching a sterile needle, she injected it into the thick arm of Alpha-One and withdrew a small blood sample. With her eyes focussed on the green blood flowing into the tube, she failed to notice as the eyes of the alien creature snapped open and locked onto her much smaller form.
