Thinking Sideways: Chapter 1 – Indigenous valor
"This is Corporal John Hanner, Reporting from the USM Valor, The operation has went FUBAR, we received an escape pod from the USG Ishimura, as expected, what we didn't expect was for the fuckin thing to have one of those... things inside it. Me and Private Curats were ordered to inspect the lifepod as the first point of contact, in case it was a one of the Ishimura's engineers or doctors, especially Mercer or Kyne. What we didn't expect was for Curats to have his face slashed off. From there, I had to back off, call for backup, and lock down the pod. Once the security team got there, they sent me back to 'cool off'. As I left, I could hear gunfire of Pulse Rifles and various screams of various different tones. I knew I had to get out of there... So during the fucking slaughter of my brethren, I made a dash for the Armory, I grabbed as many pulse rounds as I could, but I also grabbed something else, a Contact Energy Destructive Antimatter Retaliator, or CEDAR for short, basically a Contact Beam, except it's a shotgun, this'll come in handy. As the highest ranking remaining officer on the USM Valor, I hereby declare a mission abort. I'm gonna make an attempt to get onto the Ishimura, surely whoever launched the escape pod is still kickin, and hopefully there's a way to escape... end log."
Cocking my Pulse Rifle, and attaching the CEDAR to the waist-strap of my Advanced Military RIG, the door to the hallway I hadn't seen for over an hour slid open with a hiss, as I prepared for what appears to be armageddon. Blood strewn all over the walls, the corpses of soldiers, or at least bits and pieces of them scattered in a non-linear fashion, the quarantine alarm blaring as the final warning for our death, It all combined into a menagerie of my deepest nightmares. From one beast, to everyone on the ship.
I have two options, immediately enter the Ishimura, or head to RIG Profiling, check to see if there's anyone left but me... well, it's on the way out, might as well. It truly was revolting and horrifying to see my brethren reduced to a red splatter, but I suppose it's better than becoming one of those fuckers, we had been alerted to a mutation-based threat, mutating humans into something... else. We didn't know exactly what we were getting into.
I took a few laboured steps forward, Pulse Rifle at the ready. Not a sound. A few more steps... and then a rattle from the vents. Immediately directing the barrel of the weapon towards the vent above me, I shuddered at what I saw through the metal chains. Military armour of my friends, mixed with an unholy, inhumane growth covering all of the flesh shown, two large appendages peering from the shoulders, giant, blunted spikes on the ends... that's what my brothers have become. They must be eliminated. I let loose a torrent of rounds into the vent, enough to behead the fucker, and knock one of it's shoulder-blades off. Great. Or at least it was until it fell out of the vent, landed next to my leg, and proceeded to stand up... How's this fucker not dead? Either way, I unleashed another few rounds into its chest, which was enough to put it down. My worries were eased. Or at least they were until I heard vents rattling from all directions... there are twelve vent openings in this corridor...shit.
Immediately a swarm of them rushed me from all sides. Luckily the Pulse Rifle has an alternative fire for situations such as this one. Getting down onto my laboured right knee, I raised the barrel of the rifle above my head, and pulled on the second trigger. The sound of monstrous screams was drowned out by the hell-fire being launched, the sound of metal meeting metal, and flesh being torn apart was but a whisper in comparison. Eventually this was replaced by the sound of a gun clicking at the emptied magazine, and a hollow silence. I stood, but winced as my right hand complained in pain, looking at my off-hand, there was a nasty gash across it... good thing I'm left handed.
The RIG Profiling station was only a room away, so it wasn't exactly a trek to get there, although what was rather disturbing was the lack of blood in this room, still in pristine condition. I guess it's safe for now. Heading over to the terminal, I had a look at the rig trackers... evert soldier is dead, except for me... and I am at 7 of 8 on my rig. Well at least I'm not in the red. There are two unrecognised RIGs, both heading for the engine room, perhaps they are from the Ishimura? No matter, I must find them. Sprinting towards the nearest elevator, I trekked down to the cargo hold, hopefully they wouldn't meet something worse than anything I've faced so far. Entering the engine room after a seemingly vacant few corridors and rooms, I am greeted with the sight of two men conversing on either side of the resistance glass, a man in standard CEC military fatigues, and the other in an Advanced Engineering RIG. This must be Hammond and Clarke of the Kellion, our bait for the Ishimura, I'm glad somebody survived. However that number was soon cleaved in two as Hammond was smashed to pieces by the biggest fucking thing I had ever seen, it looked like an organism-based tank, made of flesh and sinew, using bone as an armour, coating it's body, It also happened to be the size of an escape pod, but that's besides the point. It brutalised Hammond, then smashed the resistance glass and made a dash for Clarke, who began firing what appeared to be a Plasma Cutter at it. I was still in the background, I don't think it knows I'm here yet, perhaps the element of surprise can end it quickly. Sneaking up behind the raging beast through a cramped space behind an engine was not enjoyable, however if it meant killing this monstrosity, I would gladly do it again. The beast had pinned Clarke to the floor, now's my chance to act. Dropping the Pulse Rifle, and pulling out the CEDAR, I readied a shot... and applied pressure to the trigger. A mass of bright light, followed by an explosion, seemed to be more than enough to wipe the entire back half of the beast away. Clarke rolled away from the beast before the now limp corpse could get close to falling on him, but not before kicking it for good measure. He turned to me.
"Isaac Clarke, of the Kellion, right?"
He nodded.
"Good, Look, you are here for the singularity core, right?"
He nods again.
"Right, I assume you have an escape plan on the Ishimura then."
He nods.
"Well, count me in, we need to get as many people as possible out of here, fuck the mission, fuck the marker, fuck EarthGov, and fuck these fuckers!"
He nods once more, and motions for me to follow.
And so I did, he was talking to Kendra Daniels, a Government mole, but while she is most definitely not on our side, but while she's still useful, I suppose I should leave her be, until she's a credible threat.
We managed to escape the Valor after retrieving the singularity core, whilst the place exploded. We now had to get to the executive shuttle in the crew decks, and after slaughtering many of the 'necromorphs' as Isaac called them, I told him to split off and get the other Nav cards we needed for the shuttle, whilst I acquired the third, which was the furthest away in the mess hall. I made a blind sprint, firing at everything that moved as I barrelled down the corridor, I made it to a corridor near the mess hall, and there sat a face, one I wished was already dead. Challus fucking Mercer. He had a couple tied to chairs, gagged by tape. They were behind glass windows, normal windows, not resistance glass. He started muttering about sacrifices to the marker, clearly he's as mental as anyone else here. Readying the CEDAR for fire, I fired through the glass, and while the CEDAR is a shotgun, there's a central beam for accuracy's sake. The main beam punctured Mercer's skull, causing it to pop like a confetti cannon into tiny pink and red chunks. The couple on the chairs remained intact, thankfully. Vaulting over the now damaged windowsill, I removed the gags from the two, and then the ropes attaching them to the chairs.
"Oh thank god, you cut that real close." Said the man.
"Thanks for the save." Said the woman.
"No Problem, Mercer needed to die anyway... are you two alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, We're good." The male replied.
They introduced themselves as Jacob Temple, and Elizabeth Cross.
"We have an escape route, a shuttle, we need Nav cards to fix it, a friend of mine is getting the other two, we need to get the last one and meet up with him. Can either of you use a weapon?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I can." Jacob replied.
"You know how to use this?" I questioned, handing the Pulse Rifle to him handle-first.
"Yeah, just point and shoot."
I nod, and turn to walk, gesturing for them to follow.
We managed to get the final Nav card, with Jacob watching over Cross like a hawk, guess they must have a "Special" relationship.
We reconvened with Clarke, who managed to get us to talk to the other major doctor of the Ishimura, Kyne.
Kyne was mad, that was for sure, he kept talking to this "Amelia", who was most certainly not present, I had to keep Temple and Cross from talking. He wanted us to return the marker to the surface, to contain this "Hive Mind" he showed us.
"Hey, there's a chunk of rock hovering above it, right? Couldn't we just drop that onto the Hive Mind, and kill the fucker?" I asked.
"That won't guarantee it stays dead... we have to be sure." Replied Kyne.
I didn't question it, they both seemed equally difficult to pull off, and both required us to go to the surface of Aegis VII.
We managed to get to the shuttle, Isaac went to fix the ship and replace the parts, until a massive roar, alongside the sound of a vent smashing open echoed from the hangar.
"Jacob, protect the others, Clarke, get that ship working, I'll deal with our friends." I said.
Readying the CEDAR, I prepared for the worst.
A necromorph significantly taller than the others, began to strut towards me, a feral confidence seemed to follow this beast, shame some contact energy can reduce it to nothing but dust.
It was when the beasts limbs began to regrow after having them all knocked of that I began to panic, how the fuck was that possible? Either way, I'm not letting anyone get hurt by this fucker. I baited the fucker to the back of the ship, directly in the firing line of the shuttles engines. I fired another torrent of energy into the beast, collapsing it's entire structure, it would take a while for it to lick it's wounds this time. I turned towards the testing room, where the engines could be test-fired, although my path was blocked by several morphed soldiers, the fastest thing the necromorph forces had to offer. I fired off two rounds from the CEDAR's muzzle, tearing through most of them, however the few that were left managed to gash my right shoulder, and another managed to land a rather large gash across my helmet, a cut spanning from the top of my forehead above my right eye-slit and stretching down towards my obscured nostrils, before being dealt with by yet another swift delivery of contact energy. Barging through the window to the testing room with my already torn and bleeding shoulder, figuring I couldn't do any more damage to it than the necromorphs already did, I mashed the button designated for engine test fire, and watched a spire of blue and yellow reduced the burly beast to a mere bloodstain, like all the rest of it's fleshlings.
Eventually Kyne showed up, and boarded the shuttle alongside me.
The others were unharmed.
"Right, you lot stay in the shuttle, I'll head down to the Hangars and direct you, then I'll move the marker to you, I can't risk your lives."
They all swiftly agreed, they were afraid for their lives, as expected, I just didn't care about mine, my self-confidence is a mere speck of what it should be.
"Listen... Don't trust Kendra, she's with EarthGov, this whole thing is their operation, they want to have the marker all to themselves, take it back to earth and cause this all over again in our home, do not let her on the ship, kill her if it comes down to it... I trust you'll make the right decision.
I left the others on the shuttle, as I launched it into the cold atmosphere, and headed back through the now vacant crew deck, and onto the tram, as I headed for the Hangers where the remains of the Kellion sat.
Arriving at the Hangers, the place was teeming with necromorphs, thankfully they were no match for the combined brutality of the CEDAR, and my steel-tipped Right boot.
I managed to move the marker from storage, and direct it using my kinesis module, perhaps the most handy tool to ever exist, and into the shuttles cargo hold.
I sprinted back up to the hangar, but went further above, just to make sure a certain possibility wouldn't occur.
I headed up to flight control, where I found Kendra. She was prepared to use the shuttle recall to stop our descent, thankfully my insight had saved our asses this time.
She had yet to notice my entrance.
"Kendra Daniels, of the EarthGov Infiltration Unit, you will not be having the marker, I assure you."
She staggers at my presence, clearly not expecting me to show up.
She pulls a Plasma Pistol from her belt, and prepares to fire.
Not happening.
I spear her to the ground, take the pistol from her loosened grip, and point it directly between her eyes.
"Goodbye Kendra... I don't think anyone will be missing you."
I look away, and pull the trigger.
And she's gone.
I run back to the shuttle, and we leave for the deathtrap that is Aegis VII, where Temple, Clarke, and I, will have to defeat an ancient beast known as the Hive Mind, the source of this mess.
We passed the colossal chunk of rock tied up by gravity tethers on the way down, it was probably what contained the Hive Mind in the first place, besides the marker.
On the way down, Cross bandaged my shoulder, stopping the bleeding. I told her I was fine, but she informed me that I was on 2 of 8 on my RIG, shit.
I shook her off.
Isaac pulled me into the cockpit.
"Did you see Kendra?" He asked.
"Yeah, she was ready to recall the ship back to Ishimura when we left."
"Did you..."
"...Yeah, I'm sorry, but we were fucked otherwise."
He nodded solemnly, and continued to fly down.
When we landed, I took a look at the land as I left the brief respite of the shuttle, Looking out, I saw a planet devoid of life, a world that consisted entirely of hardened rock. The only thing of interest out here was the man-made structures.
I told Kyne, Cross, and Temple to stay in the shuttle, whilst Isaac and I dealt with the marker.
As we moved the marker while simultaneously fighting off a miasma of necromorphs, I noticed that Isaac wasn't all there, similarly to Kyne, he seemed to keep focusing on blank spaces, as if someone was there.
We moved the marker into position, and returned to the shuttle.
However we were stopped by a tentacle slamming down on the walkway next to the shuttle, followed by an echoed screech. The Hive Mind had risen from it's home to attack us, in a final attempt for freedom.
Isaac was horrified, but I didn't give much of a shit, my military training had hardened me, alongside all of the other shit that has occurred in my life.
It had five yellow blisters surrounding it's mouth, which I quickly destroyed with the CEDAR, while Isaac regained his mental capabilities, and assisted by firing his Plasma Cutter at the beast.
Eventually, we destroyed the blisters, and it's ribcage opened, to reveal a giant yellow growth.
We fire on it as much as we can, and the yellowed growth darkens, as the beast collapses, and lets out a final breath. It's corpse slides back down into the depths below, but not before knocking the gravity tether control system off.
That hunk of rock above us was now barrelling towards us.
Shit.
"TEMPLE, START UP THE SHIP, ISAAC, MOVE." I barked at the top of my lungs.
Temple seems to have heard me, as the engines fired up, and the side door opened. Isaac and I stumbled into the shuttle as the ground below shuddered as the very air around us collapsed.
I got into the cockpit, and into the co-pilot seat next to Temple.
We raise up, and manage to escape just in time, rising once more into the dead space of Aegis VII.
I pat Temple on the shoulder, and turn back to the others.
"We did it, this shit is over."
They all look extremely relieved, all except for Isaac, who removes his helmet, and lets out a tired sigh. His short ashen hair and slightly receded hairline marred with bloodstains and bruises.
"However, we have a new problem. EarthGov will want us dead, or they will use Kyne to rebuild the marker."
"NO NO NO NO NO NO."
"I know Kyne, that's why we are gonna stop it, okay."
Kyne nods.
"Look, we have a lot of fuel, I'm gonna try something, and if it works, we might be able to find ourselves a new home, without EarthGov."
They all nod.
"Right, now get some rest you lot, you are probably a lot more tired than I am."
Temple leaves the pilot seat, and goes to sit with Cross.
I sit in the pilot's seat, and look to the console on my left.
*PLEASE ENTER COORDINATES FOR LIGHT_JUMP*
I input some coordinates, specifically the ones of my fathers homeland.
A planet so far out of EarthGov jurisdiction, they aren't going to meet with Remnant for several millennia, let alone in my lifetime.
Humans are there, as well as other things, but they are nothing compared to the feral beasts which now writhed aboard the Ishimura, those bastardising necromorphs.
"Enter log, Corporal Hanner speaking, I have managed to escape the inordinately large threat of the necromorphs, the beasts which have overrun the scarce remains of the USM Valor, as well as the USG Ishimura. I am currently onboard the executive escape shuttle of the USG Ishimura, we managed to make it out of there, I and several other survivors, CEC Engineer Isaac Clarke of the USG Kellion is one such example, and while his mental stability is... questionable, he is definitely someone to keep on my good side, surprisingly adept in ranged combat, for an have all seen horrible things today, things that I already just want to forget, although... that isn't gonna happen... We are currently in the process of jumping to light-speed, but we can't return to EarthGov, they'll have us all killed for being part of this mess, after all, what's a government mess without a cover story? We are heading to a place, my original birthplace, it's not under EarthGov's reign of iron, but it's still got it's fair share of problems, both between humans, and between beasts... However, it's gotta be better than the mess we are supposed to go home to... I don't think any of the crew have anyone left to return to, so I see no flaws. All Kyne had was this Amelia, his wife I think, Temple has Cross, I think that's enough for the two of them, I don't know about Isaac, I think he lost someone on the Ishimura, but i don't think there's anyone else, as for me, Well, they were listed KIA in Operation: Crackdown... End log."
We were headed for the planet of Remnant.
To Be Contined...
Well, that took a while to write, and I must say I rather enjoyed it. I hope somebody else does as well.