Dead Effect

Chapter Twenty Nine


"If I hadn't seen these, things for myself, I'd call you crazy." Jackson said slowly, his eyes shifting between Tali and Isaac as they finished explaining what had happened so far. "Hell, even seeing those creatures first hand, I still find it hard to believe."

"You're not alone there. This whole ship is like a bad, twisted dream." Isaac agreed, cringing slightly as memories of the past few hours (or was it days? He'd lost track of time by this point) filtered through his mind, the dismembered corpses, the twisted creatures that hunted them. The insanity that seemed to have overtaken some members of the crew, the few that were still alive at least.

How he wished he could just wake up from it all, find it was just some crazy nightmare. But if that were possible, he would have a long time ago, right?

Shaking the thought off, Isaac turned his attention back to the Valor survivors. "That's our side of the story. What exactly happened to the Valor anyway? You said the Ishimura attacked you?"

Jackson frowned. "I don't rightly know, we were answering the distress signal the ship sent out, trying to raise someone on the communications. That's when we," he paused to wave a hand towards the soldiers behind him. "Were put on alert, told to gear up in preparation to board the Ishimura to find out what was going on.

"There was an announcement over the comms, something about escape pods being launched." Tali and Isaac shared a glance. "Next thing I know, the ships on full alert, people are screaming, dying. Our CO got dragged off by, something…Then the ship crashed. We just took off running when those things started hunting us, wound up down here in the maintenance passages in hopes of finding a more defensible position."

"The necromorphs must have figured out how to use the pods." Tali suggested, no one bothered to argue, the implication that these creatures were actually growing smarter and learning to operate escape pods was a troubling thought.

"Nothing we can do about it now." Isaac pitched in, waving a hand towards the corridor behind them. "For now its best we head for the food storage and hydroponics deck The rest of Tali's squad is there, we can make plans to get off this ship once were there."

A small string of agreements followed as the three marines checked over their weapons, ensuring the power cells were fresh and they were ready to move. Tali swiftly took the lead and started back the way they'd come.

Before Isaac could follow, a hand coiled around his wrist and lightly yanked him back a step. "Are you sure we can trust her?" One of the marines hissed in his ear. The engineer frowned, Jackson was the only one to provide a name so far, the others remaining quiet and keeping their helmets on the entire time. It unnerved him to say the least, sure it was easy to say they didn't want to lower their guard, but it still rubbed Isaac the wrong way.

He stared into the glowing visor for a long moment, as though hoping he could see through the emotionless metal and meet the marines gaze. When that failed, he simply nodded. "She hasn't tried to kill me yet…so that's something." He stated simply, before turning away, the soldier simply grumbled under his breath, to low for Isaac to hear, before falling into step behind him.

The engineer didn't want to admit it, but he had more trust and faith in Tali, then the soldiers right now. Though he couldn't explain why.


"I repeat, the filtration system is back on line, were on our way back to the main food storage unit." Shepard said into her comm. unit. Only static greeted her words, as it had done for the past three attempts. "Damn it!"

"Something must be blocking communications, still." Garrus growled as he checked his own radio, finding a similar result. "Must be something blocking communications."

"Or no ones around to pick up the phone," Jacob pitched in, earning a glare from the turian sniper. "It's a possibility."

"I'd rather not think about that." Shepard responded, her voice weak and almost unheard, her eyes dipped downwards and focused on the floor. She really didn't want to think about that possibility.

"If their dead, then its all your fault." A voice droned in her ear, she ignored it. "They would follow you to the end, which they did. They trusted you!" She winced as a cold chill struck the back of her neck, a chill breath that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Your fault! A pair of hands suddenly gripped her shoulders, and she instinctively jolted, one hand diving for her pistol, the other closing into a fist and preparing to lash out.

"Commander! You okay?" She blinked, her head snapping upwards to focus on Garrus and Jacob, both staring at her with a mix of concern and confusion. She vaguely realized her pistol was in her hand, her thumb on the safety ready to click it off.

The commander blinked again, her heart pounding in her chest for reasons she didn't understand. Finally, she simply nodded. "Fine, just, fine." She responded quickly. For a moment she considered mentioning the, whatever that had been, but quickly dismissed it. The last thing she needed was her squad thinking she was losing her mind…

"Let's keep moving, need to get back, find the others." Garrus and Jacob shared a glance, before the turian responded slowly, his voice laced with concern.

"You sure you're okay Shepard?"

"No." She growled a scowl forming as she pushed past the pair and started down the corridor. "Let's get moving!" She repeated more forcefully. Within a few steps she heard the faint clanking of footsteps behind her.

"She's still rattled from the poison." Jacob whispered softly, though his voice still echoed off the bulkheads and reached the commanders ears. She ignored him.

"I don't know, you saw how she reacted when I spoke to her. Something's got her spooked." Garrus responded just as quietly, Shepard felt her hands clench into fists, maybe she was losing it. But she really didn't need her squadmates doubting her leadership skills; she was doing that enough on her own.

Instead of speaking up, she activated her Omni-tool and brought up the map of the ship. It was a rather straight path back through the ship, provided none of the doors were locked like earlier.

She let the thought sink in for a moment. Finally things were turning around for them, they'd actually managed to get the filtration systems working again, they weren't dead and if her estimate was correct they'd be back at the storage chamber in a few minutes.

So why did was that familiar 'something horrible is about to happen' foreboding feeling slowly settling into the pit of her stomach?

She didn't have time to dwell on it, as a sudden crackle from her comm. caused her to jump and swiftly press two fingers to her ear. "Say again?"

"-ard? Commander Shepard? Good, comms working again it seems. Was worried when filters reactivated but couldn't raise you." Mordin's voice filled her ears, and a relieved sigh left her lips.

"Am I glad to hear a familiar voice." Shepard responded quickly. "Where are you?"

"Not far from food storage, was waiting, but. Situation changed when power failed. Decided to try and locate you when comms failed. Not far from your position." Shepard nodded along with the report, her Omni-tool lighting up a second time as she checked the map and with a few taps located Mordin's comm. signal. They were only a few corridors away!

"Sit tight, were almost too you." She started moving again, her squadmates in tow. Finally they were starting to regroup; with luck they could get the hell off this ship soon.

Despite the flash of hope however, Melina kept waiting for the inevitable 'twist' that would pop up. So far whenever something seemed to be going their way, the ship threw something new at them. Any second now the new horror or locked door would cut off their progress…she was sure of it.


45 Minutes Earlier

The minutes had ticked by slowly, the 'Valor' having attempted several times to raise someone on the Ishimura, and failed.

For the past fifteen minutes, silence had dominated the bridge of the Normandy while Joker and EDI waited for the new arrival to make the first move. They couldn't move to help Shepard with it watching over the ship like a hawk, not without revealing themselves. And if the Valor turned out to be hostile, then that might be the last mistake they ever make.

"Were wasting time just standing here," a low voice growled from behind Jokers chair. "Our battlemaster is in danger and your just sitting doing nothing!" Grunt complained for the seventh time since he'd arrived on the bridge to find out why they weren't moving.

"Hey, you wanna jump out the airlock and go punch the ship be my guest. I have orders." Joker stated with a sigh, having said a similar variation on the line each time the krogan had protested waiting for orders.

"We can't just sit here!" Grunt snarled, his hands closing more tightly around his shotgun that he refused to holster. Joker doubted he would actually use it, but he kept one wary eye on the krogan, just to be safe.

"Well once Shepard calls us we'll be right there to help. But unti-"

He was cut short by a new message from the formerly silent ship. "Ishimura, We've detected your escape pods. Were moving to recover them."

Checking the scanners again, the pilot noted several new signals, no doubt the pods the Valor was planning to collect.

Escape pods? Had Shepard abandoned the ship, or had they found survivors and weer evacuating them? One of the pilot's hands strayed to the comm. but swiftly withdrew. Opening a channel might reveal the ship, who knew how good their scanning systems were.

Tense seconds ticked by as the Valor drifted closer, picking up various pods as it closed the gap between it and the Ishimura. Joker's hands rested on the controls, ready to spring into action. The signals began to vanish as they were brought aboard the ship.

However it continued at a rapid speed towards the opposite ship, in fact according to sensors it wasn't slowing or altering course. "What the hell?" Joker whispered, leaning forward in his seat, watching intently as the Valor drew nearer to its target.

Still it wasn't showing any signs of slowing or stopping, the scanners showed the kilometres between the two ships was rapidly bleeding away going from thousands, to hundreds and lower still.

The bridge was silent as they watched; even Grunt kept his mouth shut as the tiny (by comparison) ship simply kept on course. The distance counter finally struck zero, and with a bright flash, the Valor vanished off the long range sensors.

"What the, hell just happened?" Joker finally broke the silence, a full minute having ticked by after the crash.

"I thought you humans knew how to fly." The krogan behind him commented, the pilot didn't respond, still staring blankly at out the bridge window at the Ishimura. From here they couldn't see the extent of the damage, however given the size difference between the two vessels; it probably hadn't made that much of an impact.

Finally shaking off his shock, Joker began punching in commands, and the Normandy began moving. "Screw this, were going back for Shepard and the others."

"Our orders were-"EDI tried to remind him, but was swiftly cut off.

"Screw orders, something's going on, and I'm starting to get the feeling the commander can't handle it alone."

Grunt simply grinned; finally, they were getting back into the fight! All this standing around and watching was tiresome. Finally he could shed some more blood.


"You hear that?" One of the marines whispered, his assault rifle snapping up as he whipped around, scanning the corridor behind them. The group halted a moment later, each listening intently.

A faint groaning of metal reverberated throughout the passageways. "It's the ship creaking, don't worry about it." Jackson said after a moment, turning away. He barely made it halfway when a new sound greeted them, a distant screech of tortured metal. As though something was trying to carve through the bulkhead.

"Or not…"

"Move, quick!" Isaac hissed, giving the lead marine a nudge to get him moving again. "Best we don't stick around to find out what that is." No one bothered to argue, quickly focusing back on the tunnel ahead and pressing onwards.

They hadn't gone far before the sound came again, louder, more clearly heard then a third time, louder, and almost right on top of them. Isaac could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he snapped around again and watched the path behind them.

His flashlight panned over the empty corridor, revealing nothing out of the ordinary, though given the amount of side passages and hatches that led to different parts of the ship, whatever was out there could literally be right on top of them and he wouldn't even know it.

A subtle movement drew his attention, and his eyes fixated on a pair of dots peering out of the dark at him, tiny blue orbs that lurked just on the edge of his flashlight beam. Despite his helmet, he could swear they were eyes, staring straight into his own.

He flicked his light over the foot it needed to land on the target, just in time to catch something vanishing down a side passage, a faint flash of white.

Isaac shivered slightly before risking a glance over his shoulder. The lights off his companion's guns were barely noticeable, vanishing around a corner ahead. "Damn it." He grumbled, glancing back the way they had come one final time, whatever it was hadn't come back it seemed, the corridor was deserted.

Spinning on his heel, he rushed to catch up to the rest of the group. They were almost out of here, just a few more twists and turns. Best not to start falling behind now.


"How did I know that was going to happen?" Shepard growled as she slammed a hand down on the door control, slamming it shut behind her squad, a second later a loud bang sounded as the necromorph pursing them slammed head first into the newly sealed entrance. The faint snarls and scratches as it tried to pry the door open again was ignored as the trio shuffled away from the immediate area.

Shortly after they'd contacted Mordin, Shepard's unease had proven correct as a fresh batch of the creatures had popped out of the preverbal woodwork and tried to cut them down.

Luckily they'd been able to retreat to the door and lock it, cutting the necromorphs off for a few moments. "Life's just getting predictable?" Jacob offered, earning a weak smile from the commander.

"We need a vacation." Shepard responded, her eyes dipping to the ammo gauge on her rifle, seven rounds, damn. With a huff, she opened the weapon and ejected the spent power cell, upon reaching for a new one, she found the slots on her armour were bare. Much fumbling later she found a power cell, her last one, and reloaded her weapon. "…Great, almost out, Garrus? Jacob?"

The pair stopped to check their own supplies. "Two clips." Jacob responded after a moment in a grim tone.

"…One round." Garrus responded slowly, shaking his head as he finished checking for any stray power packs of his line rifle.

"Great…" Shepard sighed, her attention shifting to her Omni-tool display. "Mordin's team should be through the next door. Signals weak but it hasn't moved." She paused for a moment, as her squadmates nodded.

They were about to start moving again, when another deafening bang sounded from behind them, the trio whipped around, weapons jumping to their shoulders. A heartbeat later, another bang sent vibrations through the floor and walls, and the newly locked door buckled inwards by several inches.

A third impact caused it to crack and buckle further. "I don't think I want to know what's comin' through there." Jacob said, already backing away from the rapidly weakening door.

"Screw this." Shepard agreed, spinning on her heel and bolting, Garrus and Jacob not wasting any time to follow. They only made it a few paces before a fourth bang sounded, closely followed by a screeching as the door was forcefully ripped in half by whatever was following them.

Darting around a corner and through the next door, the squad halted long enough to slam the door shut and trigger the lockdown behind them. Luckily for them, Mordin and Hammond were waiting, weapons at the ready and pointing in their direction.

"Shepard! Good to see you." Mordin stated cheerfully, his gun still firmly directed towards the newly locked door. As was every other weapon they had by this point.

"Good to see you made it." Shepard responded with a weak smile, her eyes leaving the door for a second to take in the squad, Mordin was looking a little battered, and Hammond was favouring one leg, but they didn't look to worse for wear.

Her eyes narrowed a touch as she realized they were one short. "Where's Miranda?"

Any response she received was drowned out by yet another deafening clang as something slammed into the door. Much like the first, it buckled inwards several inches. "The hell is doing that?" Hammond asked, no one responded, they didn't get a chance.

A second later the door shattered as something struck it, sending shards of metal everywhere, bouncing off armour and shields. Shepard steadied her aim, expecting something like they'd faced on the bridge, a huge monstrosity, after all what else could rip through solid metal doors like that?

The squad was naturally surprised when the first shadow to step through the ruined door, was mostly human in size and shape, tall and slender. Despite her instincts telling her to shoot, Shepard hesitated.

The creature still retained most of its human appearance, cold blue eyes glared back at the team, eyes framed by long, raven black hair and a face that most would consider beautiful, or would have if not for the fact its mouth was split into a wide snarl, teeth unnaturally long and far sharper then normal, reddened by blood gleamed as the commanders flashlight played across the face.

Hands had been transformed into malformed claws, warped into razor sharp talons that would shred flesh, bone and likely metal alike with equal ease.

Despite the changes, Melina still recognized the, creature. "Miranda…?" She whispered, her hands trembling and her weapon dropping several inches as she stared, horrified at the monster that had been her squad member.

The moments hesitation was shared by everyone it seemed, as no one fired a shot as Miranda glared at them, a cold hunger evident in her gaze. The necromorph however, had no such reservations anymore.

A brilliant blue glow enveloped the creature, and finally jolted Shepard out of her daze. However as her weapon snapped up and her finger closed around the trigger, the glow suddenly burst outwards, slamming into the squad and sending them all flying backwards, slamming into the walls and floors.

The commander winced as she heard a loud snapping sound upon hitting the ground, blinding pain flared up in her side, but it went ignored as a sense of weightlessness signalled the attack wasn't over yet.

Before she could react, she was pulled several feet off the ground, and abruptly slammed back down, the pain doubled. Rolling onto her back, she fought to catch her breath, each gasp sending fresh flashes of pain through her chest.

A second later what little breath she had was knocked out of her as something slammed into her, pinning her to the floor, Miranda's cold, dead eyes met her own as the creatures talons closed around her throat and cut off her airway.

Discarding her rifle, Shepard tried to pry the hands off her neck, but it was stronger and simply squeezed harder. "M-Miranda, stop!" She choked out desperately as the corners of her vision began to darken.

Surprisingly, the necromorph halted, its creep relenting just a tiny fraction, the barest hint of recognition entering its eyes. A second later a shot broke the brief silence, a bullet struck Miranda's shoulder. And with a snarl it suddenly let go, leaping aside to attack the new threat, and left Melina gasping and coughing on the floor.

Another flash of blue, followed by a cry of pain was the only sound to reach her ears over her own ragged breaths.


SURPRISE! :D I'm back!

Okay first off, huge, huge, HUGE apologies are in order. I'm sorry this took so long, there really is no excuse or long explanation. I had writers block, I gave up for a couple of weeks, and pretty must just stopped writing all together for a while there :/ I got lazy, simple as that...

I've been trying to get things back in order, get my writing back on track and such. So hopefully I can get my updates back to a semi regular fashion. I'll try at any rate lol.

Second, I'm apologize for the chapter, honestly I think it could be WAY better . Maybe I'm just being negative again, but I think the story falls short in a couple of places and feels a bit rushed at times. Maybe its just me though, I'll let you be the judge like normal :P Hopefully its a good read regardless.

And, yeah I've been toying with what to do about Miranda for a while, keeping her out of the story seemed a bit unfair, but at the same time I wasn't sure bringing her back as a necromorph would work out well either...so in the end I decided, 'screw it' and just went with her being pretty much Hunter 2.0. An unkillible, biotic monster. Good idea? No? I'm not sure lol, I just decided to write and hope for the best...

Anyway, enough outta me :D