This is my third story which as I continue to hopefully get better at writing, will be of course better than my previous work. Gamov beta-read for me which was a great help. For those who have been on my profile recently, you would have noticed that I said that more chapters and what not will have been done over the Summer. Unfortunately, for the month of July, I have had a scarcity of interwebs and camping in the Alleghanies or the Rockies is usually not the greatest time to be writing fanfics. For those who haven't read my other work check out my profile and please do that whole review thing that Anons do so very well.
Well, do what you do best. Read.
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Smells and sights only coveted by the Flood covered the main room of the High Charity. The Hive mind's entrails now covered what was once the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Various Flood carried in what looked like a demonic monolith. Its two main structures spiraled together with intricate glowing red markings along its eight faces. As the monolith was being set upward, tentacles adorned with the flesh of its meals protruded across the squishy floor.
"So this is the monolith that the 'humans' fear yet worship so much," the Hive mind's gravelly and deep voice regurgitated the words precisely within the minds of its servants.
A similar guttural voice ruptured the faint yet ominous background noise, "This is the synthetic model that the humans made, known as the 'Red Marker' found on Aegis 7. The original 'Black Marker's' location is still unknown."
"What purpose does this, 'Marker' have?"
"'It seems that through research and experiments, they are able to construct an artificial chromosome capable of creating a highly infectious virus known as a Necromorph. They already have a sentient Hive-mind of their own located on Aegis 7."
"Would you happen to know if any of their acquired hosts or even their Hive-mind is capable of reason?"
"To our knowledge, not so. They all seem to be entranced by their monolith. Even more so with the synthetic model. This could most likely be deemed a problem if we hold onto this any longer."
"No, no. If they want this 'Red Marker' back so much, then they'll have to take it from me," and with that, the tentacles which seemed to reach out from the bowels of Gluttony, receded back to their squelching depths.
ONE WEEK BEFORE:
Isaac Clark wheeled in the Red Marker to its final destination on Aegis 7. After the planet cracking began, the atmosphere became hostile and what seemed to be clouds turned to a slickly orange hue. The terrain that laid waste just outside of the docking station was devastating. What were once mountains were now piles of fine dust particles ready to be separated into useful minerals for the overpopulated planet known as Earth. Valleys were now endless pits with random machinery to a fro.
Just as Isaac began to drag in the Red Marker to the final docking station, what seemed to be an earthquake fissured the land he walked upon, Rocks of considerable size fell from their respective holding and crushed the bridge that connected the separating cliff. The tether that secured the monolith to the transporting plate gave way letting the Marker fall into the dusty abyss.
Isaac was granted the same fate as the former and fell alongside. His armor plates withstood the force applied when he jammed his right hand into one of the many cracks along the cliff. What he did feel was the titanium alloy plate dent in and the heat soak through to his scarred yet sensitive flesh. He roared at the pain he was given and through the blood soaked helm, he witnessed all that he worked for, all the horror, blood, and guts he had to go through, disappear into nothing.
What caused the earthquake soon erupted from the fog. The gargantuan grotesque figure resembling a worm erected itself and peered towards Isaac. Even through the high grade filters his helmet provided, the awful stench of putrefying bodies would easily make anyone vomit. Twice. It wrapped one of its smaller tentacles around Isaac's leg and wrenched him until his armor plated vambrace gave way revealing a crushed, burnt, and mangled hand. It raised the nearly dismembered body and brought closer to the gaping tunnel Isaac considered to be its mouth. Encircling Isaac's eminent doom were five yellow bulbs resembling gelatinous orbs wrapped in pulsing blood vessels. It's needle covered maw drew closer to Isaac when out of the blue, or rather the sickly orange, a UNSC Pelican swooped in and fired hundreds of rounds into one of the Hive mind's many appendages. The Hive mind squealed and roared at the injury and released the mauled body from its grasp. Isaac heard the gunshot but never associated it with something that might save him from his certain death. Isaac felt the emptiness in his stomach as he fell oh-so-many feet to the rocky below. The sound of wind began to increasingly rush through his helmet and against open hand. He accepted his fate and closed his eyes. He hoped that whatever Gods that commandeered his sails would grant him a death much less painful than those to choose from aboard the USG Ishimura. For what seemed to be an eternity was actually seconds as Isaac for a second time, was grappled and reeled in to his safety inside the Pelican. He heard the hatch close and the whooshing stop, except for the faint noise of the ship's engine. He was tired and every bruise, break, and cut ached as he was set down on a one of the rows of seats. His helmet was depressurized and white smoke came out of the leak. The ODST soldiers placed his helmet off to the side as he was given for the first time in a while, the time to sleep.
Isaac awoke from his slumber upon the Pelican. His head was throbbing and every movement made him wince. His armor had been completely taken off and a plethora of surgical equipment had been applied to his body. His right hand was covered in a light sepia colored foam and bandages. Although the wound still hurt incredibly, the foam absorbed most of the heat and discomfort. His steel grey eyes scanned the small hull of the ship. At first he noticed none, but with a keen eye and some actual thought, found one soldier sitting adjacent to him. They still had their unique helmet on, so it was almost impossible to distinguish between male or female. The thick layers of armor were yet again covered by ammunition, grenades, and other useful equipment necessary for the fight against hostile alien forces. Their head was down for the time until the silence was broken.
"Where are we?" Isaac said hoarsely. His voice cracked from never using it in so long.
The soldier lifted their head and said, "We're on our way to the Pillar of Autumn, which is right now in orbit around Aegis 7. We heard the distress call from the USG Ishimura that you or someone else put out. Although you and your crew went to investigate, there was a second distress call. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get here on time," the voice was from a woman giving Isaac a warm feeling. She stood up and began talking gain, "For now, you should rest. It'll be a couple of hours or so till we land on the Pillar."
Isaac sighed with relief. For now, he wouldn't have to fight necromorphs or protect hallucinations from being ripped apart or repair enormous ships, while having a necromorph trying to bite his ass. He rested his head back on the makeshift pillow and tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. He rotated his head towards his new acquaintance and asked, "What's your name?" he inquired blatantly and without much thought. He wondered if he should have reworded his question but before he could correct himself, she responded.
"The name's Miranda Schiffer, but my friends call me Mira," she carefully lifted the helmet off her head revealing a beautiful complexion. Her cheeks had reddened from the cushions and the heat. Her skin looked almost sickly pale from the lack of exposure to the sun, but he soon recognized that she was already an albino, not making much of a difference. Her silky black hair remained tied in a tight knot at the back of her head. Her eyes sparkled with bright gold flecks and for a fraction of a second, Isaac would have sworn he noticed a fluctuation of light within her radiant eyes.
"Artificial eyes," Isaac smirked at his comment. He had never seen a prosthetic set of eyes. Because of how fragile the connections are, he assumed that such operations were deemed impossible. Or at least requiring insurmountable amounts of money that even the military's spending would have seemed like child's play.
Mira closed her eyes tightly before opening them up again, "As you might be wondering, I was born blind and for the first ten years of my life, I couldn't see. And because of that, I don't remember much. My father was a high military official so with some 'bribing', I got some damn good eyes. So because of these eyes and my father wanting me to help with the war effort, I joined the UNSC and then was put in with the ODST. But the last thing I wanted was men ogling over me just because of some shiny stuff in my eyes."
Isaac looked away with half embarrassment. He replied with a shrug and a "sorry." He thought of other things that might interest his new acquaintance but failed to come up with anything of interest.
She walked over to Isaac with what looked like an epi-pen and quickly stabbed his arm injecting the clear viscous fluid, "This is a sedative so you'll be out like a light soon. You've also lost a lot of blood. I won't complain about what you've been through. Those, things, what do you call them again?"
"Necromorphs."
"Right! Necromorphs, those things are fuckin' scary. I'll give you kudos for being able to withstand this much," she backed away from Isaac slightly, "By the way, you've any family back on Earth?"
Isaac thought for a moment. The wasn't anyone in particular closely related to him. He thought about his deceased parents and how they died back on Aegis 7 with the extraction of the Black Marker. He was an only child with nothing much to do other than tinker around with motors and random electronics. He dug deeper into his memory to find if there really was someone even remotely important to him. His mind wandered and he thought about the USG Ishimura. There was someone he wanted to meet very badly on that ship, but who was it? Isaac's eyes widened, "Nicole is back on the USG Ishimura!" He got up from the assortment of seats and began to painfully trudge over to the cockpit, "Redirect for the USG Ishimura!" Isaac roared towards the pilots. His eyesight began to fade and become hazy, "I- I- need- to find- Nicole…" Something snapped in his left leg and he plummeted to the ground connecting his head with the steel plated walls. Even without the use of the sedatives, he lay on the cold, grooved floor, unconscious, on the Pelican with a leg that looked slightly bent out of shape.
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So, how'd you like te first chapter? The second chapter is already in production so with some luck, this'll go along smoothly. For those who want a Miranda and Isaac pairing, it probably won't happen. This is horror, not some Twilight or Naruto shit involving romance and happy endings.
If this wasn't scary enough, which it most likely wasn't, please do give me some pointers on the subject; I'm trying to master the art of the Clive Barker. And as usual, give me some reviews. I like reviews. A lot.