Drone - Breaks own body to escape being stuck

The poly grenade hits its target squarely in the chest, splattering bright orange chemical strands against the animal’s jet-black ribcage. The alien goes flailing backward, rolling through the dirt, and jumps up covered in pumice. Hissing and spitting, it tries to tear the rocks free.

Instead, its own palm sticks to its ribs, and it begins frantically jerking its arm. Leger doesn’t let up, racking the slide and putting a few more shots into the animal’s limbs and open mouth. The rest of Becker’s fireteam joins in, cocooning it with their specialized ammunition.

It rises, hands stuck down and tail glued to the side of its face. Its lips are sealed shut and, to Becker’s horror, it breaks its jawbone to force them open, tearing off part of its skin. Stone smokes around its feet as drops of acidic blood strike the earth. It centers up on Becker, mouth flopping open at an awkward angle, and looses a battle cry. He knows in that moment that it will never be tamed, never be broken, and never give up.

It charges him again.

***

Alien: Into Charybdis, Chapter 14