Me: Chapter 2 of "Rise of the Necromorphs" is here.
Him: And in it, my schemes go further. Nothing will stop my brethren!
Darken: Except plasma cutters, link guns, good old-fashioned punches...
Him: It was meant metaphoricaly.
Me: Sure. Enjoy.
Aboard the USG Pantheon, a civilian repair vessel, everyone was minding their own business. The crew, consisting of over 400 humans, was either busy making repairs to the ship, or just relaxed.
Except for a few people on the bridge. They had picked up a distress signal coming from the USG Ishimura. The strange thing was that the ship was located near a planet on which mining was forbidden. Probably an illegal mining operation.
But why a distress call? What kind of problem had they encountered, that they can't fix it themselves? They had enough spare parts on it to build a whole new ship. Standard protocol for planet-crackers. Pirates? No. This was too far from any large inhabited planet. They just wouldn't bother.
So, what in the name of Michael Altman are they facing? Only one way to find out.
"Set course for Aegis 7. We're going to help the Ishimura." the captain yelled.
Everyone fulfilled the order. Whatever was on the ship, they would face it.
Distress calls are a strange thing. Meant to potentially save human lives with external help. And yet, a distress call was now helping him destroy the entire human race.
He hatched another flawless scheme. And he will make it happen personally this time. This would need the subtle touch of a schemer at first. The pure muscle of his brethren will be used later.
The monitor in front of him flashed. An incoming call. He turned to the two morphs behind him.
"Do as you've been told."
Both nodded and then went out of the room. He accepted the call. To hide his mutated face, he wore a black hood. It masked his face perfectly. A man in a blue and yellow uniform and brown hair showed up on the monitor. A new game had started.
"This is captain Jacobo Alexander. What is the pro..."
"Thank god! Someone found the signal!"
"Yes, but wha..."
"I have no time! They are coming! Their numbers are infinite! Please, get me out of here!"
A terrible roar sounded. All according to plan. He swiftly turned away from the monitor.
"Oh god! I have to go! I will be in the docking bay. Please, hurry!"
He then swiftly ran out of the room and shot a few times with a gun he had found on the ship. He deliberately missed, of course. He then ran opposite from the two morphs. One of the two entered the room and looked at the monitor.
"Dear lord! What IS that thing?!"
The morph roared and smashed the monitor, cancelling the transmission. He returned to the room. It was like a play in a theatre. And it worked perfectly. It was now only a matter of time. He patted the morph on its head.
"You did well, my brother."
The morph growled.
4 hours later:
"Shuttle detected. Will dock within thirty minutes." announced the dock computer.
"Excellent. Open bay doors."
"Bay doors opening."
He grinned and went out of the control room. About twenty morphs waited outside. He didn't want to harm them, but it was necessary for the ruse to work.
"Let's go over the plan one more time. When they dock, I will run to them. You have to look like you're chasing me. You will probably not survive, but you will open a door for our race. Understand?"
A joint growl was heard in the docking bay.
"Good. Now, get ready."
"Docking sequence intiated. Standby."
"You boys have your weapons ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
What little security personnel the Pantheon had was sent here. Thirty men along with him and their pilot. Malcolm Reeves would've felt better if he knew what he was facing. He asked the pilot:
"How long 'till we dock?"
The woman looked at some gadgetry. The only machine he trusted was his rifle.
"Four minutes. Hope the guy we're going to pick up is still alive."
"If he won't be in the stupid bay, we're leaving."
"Yes. We're entering... oh my god!"
He wanted to say 'WHAT?!', but he wanted to see for himself. He looked out of the cockpit. A man in armour was running from a large group of the most disgusting creatures he had ever seen. He had a gun, but it seemed to have little effect.
"Docked!"
"Okay boys! Give 'em hell!"
The shuttle's side-hatch opened and the soldiers opened fire. The things were sturdy, but the fire soon turned them into heaps of burning flesh. The man immediately got on.
"We have to go! More are coming!"
"We can take them. How bad could it be?"
"Trust me, you don't have enough ammo."
Malcolm frowned. Not enough ammo? How many of these things were there?
The hatch closed. The man sat close to the front. He was shaking.
"I have a few questions for you."
"Sure, it's not like I can say no after you got me from hell."
"What were those things? How did they get there?"
"Those? The crew."
"What?! How?"
"Where should I start?"
He told them about the events. The colony, which was now destroyed, the finding of the marker, the first outbreaks. He didn't mention Isaac or the Hive Mind, of course. That would be suspicious.
"So, these things... were humans?"
"Weren't you listening?! They are NOT humans! They are an alien race bent on our annihilation! They merely took our bodies."
Which was not entirely true. They were a product of human failure to replicate the ultimate secret. But that would seem like too much info for a mere survivor.
"Autopilot engaged." he heard from the cockpit. A woman came into view.
It was the first female he had seen in a while. Not transformed, of course. There was the government agent, but she was long dead.
She had long brown hair. Her skin was light-brown. Her eyes were green. She was quite tall and slim. She wore a white suit. She was quite attractive by human standards. Another scheme hatched in his head. It would have to wait, however.
The leader siad:
"Good. Now we just have to wait four hours."
"Indeed, Malcolm."
Ah, so his name was Malcolm. He seemed like a strong man. Tall, in black military armour. His hair was already white here and there, though. His eyes were brown.
"Oh, sorry. My name is Kathryn. What is yours?"
Damn. The one thing he hadn't thought about. He was the new Hive Mind... but he had no name which enemies would fear. He couldn't use is human name. What could he...?
"Kalish." he said after a slight pause.
"Kalish? That is an interesting name."
"Yes, my parents were a bit weird."
The name was perfectly logical. Kali was a forgotten religion's goddess of death and destruction. He had read that somewhere. So, Kalish will be the Necromorph lord and god of the same two aspects.
She smiled at him.
"Why don't you take off your hood?"
For that question, he WAS prepared.
"One of the things left its mark on me. I'd rather not show it."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I..."
"No need to apologise."
She was polite and kind. Rare traits these days.
4 hours later:
For those four hours he just sat in silence, perfecting his scheme. Get on the ship, use 'it' and the rest will practically finish itself. He asked a seemingly normal question:
"Are there many deaths on the ship?"
The soldiers around him weren't surprised. It was only logical for someone who sees so much of it to ask, no?
"Not generally, no. But last week was horrible."
"Why?"
"Something happened with the cooling system. Our boys went to its core to fix it. It blew up. Over thirty dead. We had a spare one, but nothing can replace lives."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Excellent. The morgue has plenty to offer then. Heheheheh.
"Docking in four minutes."
"Okay, Kathryn." Malcolm shouted.
They docked. When he got off, he started another ruse.
"Ah, sweet, blood-less air! How I missed it!"
He made his hand shake to fake some horrible memories.
He heard her.
"Are you alright? Your hand is shaking."
She really was kind.
"It's nothing. It just does that when I relax. On the Ishimura, I had to be aware of my surroundings all the time. It just shows I feel safe for a change."
"Oh. It must have been horrible."
"You can't imagine."
Captain Jacobo came into view. He whispered something to Malcolm, who nodded and went somewhere. Jacobo then came closer.
"Welcome, Kalish. Malcolm will fill me in. I suppose you wish to rest."
"Yes, that would be great."
"Good. Kathryn, could you take him to his quarters? It's number 223."
"Of course. Let's go."
They headed out of the bay. He asked:
"How come the captain personally knows you? I understand that he knows Malcolm, but..."
"I sometimes pilot his personal shuttle. He claims that I am the best pilot on the ship"
"Oh."
They went to block C. He noted every little detail about the corridors. Ambush places, dead ends for traps and other things, like how much noise his steps did. They stopped at a door.
"This is it, number 223. Do get some rest."
"Thank you. I will try."
She smiled and then went her way. He entered.
It was a simple cabin. One bed, one wardrobe, one armour-holder, one light. A camera was in the corner, watching his bed. No luxury, but he didn't expect it anyway. As a morph, he needed no sleep. But he would have to fake it. He just lied down with his armour and hood still on.
"How's Kalish?" Malcolm asked the surveillance expert.
"The new guy? Let me check... he's asleep."
Malcolm looked at the computer screen. Kalish just laid there, his body twitched now and then.
"Why is he in his armour?" asked the expert.
"I think he is too afraid to take it off. After fighting the things we saw, I'm not surprised."
"Oh."
Malcolm left the room. He needed some sleep too.
Exactly five hours had passed. He twitched his body at irregular intervals, so it seemed like he was having a nightmare. He abruptly sat up, as if waking from the said nightmare. He then left the room and went to find the morgue.
He met one of the soldiers in the halls.
"Hmm? What are you doing here?"
"Can't sleep. Keep dreaming about them."
He just went forward, didn't look back.
After half-an-hour of searching, he still hadn't found it. On the other hand, he found the other quarter blocks, the mess hall, the engineering bay and the entrance to the bridge. He met no one else. Then he finally saw the door above which 'Morgue' was written in red letters. He grinned.
He went in and spotted a camera. His hand changed. He shot a spike at the camera, which was destroyed. He then took a strange vial out of a compartment in his armour. He got to one of the bodies and poured the contents onto it. It immediately changed. Most of the flash was gone, replaced with strong wings. Its insides were clearly visible. He stroked the new Necromorph.
"Hey there, little Infector. Now, make more brethren."
The Infector soon got to work. It wouldn't take long.
He couldn't believe it. He gets distracted for five stupid minutes and one of the cameras goes offline in the meantime. The one in the morgue, too. He hated that place. Too much dead bodies for him. He go near the door and opened it. His head was almost instantly cut off by a Slasher. The Infector had a new body to start with. A soldier heard the noise. As soon as he came around a corner, he raised his weapon. Before he could even aim, something caught him by the throat. He dropped the rifle he was carrying and looked into a dark hood.
"Y-you?! Why?"
He let light illuminate his face. The soldier was instantly pale.
"Because I am Kalish! Lord of the Necromorphs!"
His hand then changed into a sword-like appendage and he impaled the soldier. Another new host. He looked at the morphs behind him. They were ready to kill.
"Go now, my brethren. But remember, I want her ALIVE!"
They growled and went their way. He went to the docking bay to prevent any means of escape.
Taking over the whole ship took less than two hours. Most resistance was either asleep, or caught unawares. He had lost about ten Necromorphs, but he gained almost 400. The last seven humans were hiding at the bridge. A bad choice, since the bridge had only one entrance. They were trapped.
He tapped the console next to the door, one used for requesting permission to enter. He saw captain Jacobo. His expression was furious, yet his face was pale.
"You!"
"Yes, me, captain."
"Disgusting alien scum!"
"I wouldn't be so rude. After all, we outnumber you considerably. Open the door."
"Why should we?"
He sent a mental message to a three of his morphs. They immediately went.
"Because you are only delaying the inevitable. The ship is ours."
The captain was illuminated by a red light.
"I see your friends are trying to get in through the ventilation tunnels. Sorry, but we have some surprises for them."
Terrible roars of pain were heard. That made him furious.
"That was your last mistake, captain."
He readied his fist. He then punched straight through the durasteel door that lead to the bridge and opened it. His morphs went in and the slaughter started. Six lost, seven gained. How wonderful.
He then entered the bridge. He sat down at the main control panel and plotted course for Aegis 7. The Ishimura needed repairs. He pressed 'Execute' and then went to the dock.
There, four Necromorphs guarded her. When he approached, she screamed:
"You monster!"
"Monster? Me?"
"How could you? Why did you?"
"I am merely making an evolutionary jump! The Necromorphs are superior to humans. It is natural for evolution to take place."
"Evolution? More like annihilation."
"You will understand, in time."
"In time?"
"Yes, I have plans for you."
Her eyes grew wide. He had great plans for her. After all, every king needs a queen.
Me: You know, this is my first serious fanfic that isn't Sonic-related.
Darken: That is true.
Kalish: My experiment will be a success. I just know it.
Me: Perhaps. Review and wait.