Explorers of the Universe
Chapter: Survive Together; Night of the Ishimura pt 4
Elsewhere in the Ishimura
Inside the halls of the ship, the group with Isaac in the lead with his weapons at the ready, Misty behind him with a digital display of the map on her wrist device, with Pinky, Ben, and Genji following from behind, and Sphere above the group scanning for any unusual movement. As they moved through the empty halls, they kept their guard up due to the chance of attack from all over. The only sounds were the low hum of the lights above them, the sound of their footsteps, and their quiet breathing as they tried to stay calm except for Genji who remained silent. With each step, Isaac continued to keep an eye out for any Xenocromorphs in the shadows of the hall as he tightly held his gun. He could feel the dampness of sweat all over the handle along with the sweat going down his face.
At another corner, Isaac checked around it for enemies before signaling that it was clear. They made the turn and at the end of the hall was a closed door and one open door on the wall to the left of the teens. As they made their way towards the door, Isaac glanced behind him at Misty who was looking at the map. "Misty, are you sure this is the way to hydroponics," Isaac asked her.
"Of course I am," Misty whispered back while glaring at him, "Hydroponics is through that door," she said as she pointed at the door they were heading towards, "After we go through there, we'll reach the elevator that will take us to the bridge. Then we can find your imaginary- Wait," she started to say when she noticed something on the map. "Something's wrong," she said getting everyone's attention, "There are supposed to be two doors before Hydroponics, but there's only one."
"What? You mean we took a wrong turn," Pinkie asked in alarm at this news, "Where are we," she asked as her voice became louder while Misty studied the map.
Before Misty could answer, the sound of flesh being torn apart got everyone's attention as they froze in fear aside from Genji who maintained his composure. Despite their better judgement, the teens look into the room with the open door to see the source of the sound, and what they say left all but Genji in silent fear.
It was a large room filled with prison cells going all the way down to the end. Each cell had a bed, faucet with mirror, and a toilet like a standard cell at Earth prisons. All over the room though were blood stains, corpses of inmates placed for breaking protocol, and more of the flesh growing all over like cob webs. In the cells closest to the doors, there was the source of the sound that caught the explorers' attention. In the cells were more Slasher Xenocromorphs ripping the bodies of inmates apart for infection and transformation into more Xenocromorphs.
It was horrible sight to behold for the teens. The tearing of flesh from fellow living things, organs torn out and lying on the floor, and blood stains all over the bodies, and the floor. It was as if they were watching a documentary on predators, but it had the parts where the predators eat their prey instead of being edited out. Isaac however noticed something odd about one of the Slashers.
It appeared just as human as the other Slashers, as well as colored deathly pale and blackened with machine parts fused to its body, but with major differences. Its forearms and hands had been enlarged and had claws on its fingers used for propping or climbing, while its feet had been split with a bone/metal heel protruding to keep its balance much like the Slashers. Though its stomach now was heavily protruding outward like a water sack with dark vein-like coils connected to it, fused organically. Its neck was elongated about two times its normal length, giving it a cobra-like appearance with tubes and wires connected to its jaw and back. Its jaw had been removed along with its lips and nose, giving it a vaginal appearance with teeth forming on the flesh of the opening, and with dead white and gray eyes looking at survivors.
As they begged for their lives, its stomach inflated as fluids pressurized up to his neck, which was a similar film tube made from the stomach. And out of its mouth spewed out a yellowish green stomach acid-like substance, that coated the survivors. They screamed as their bodies began to burn, and then break down, as one female's face burned to the bone, making low guttural moans until they final collapsed to the floor, spewing out the substance and melting along with the rest.
After moments of watching, Isaac finally whispered, "Nobody make a sound," he said as he slowly backed away from the door, "Just carefully make for the other door and-"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Before he could finish, the sound of metal banging and screaming filled the hallway. The teens turned in the direction of the sounds to see a horrified Pinkie had accidentally stumbled over a set of wires, and fell on the floor when she backed away in fear. Misty went to help her friend up but before she could say anything, the familiar roar of the Xenocromorphs filled the hallway. The teens looked to see the Slashers leaving their cells and charging for the meat before them. Just as Ben, Genji, and Sphere ran from the door, the odd-looking Slasher and spat out a blast of liquid straight towards Misty and Pinky.
Misty braced herself for the liquid's impact while Pinky cowered in fear of her impending death. However, as the liquid was flying in an arc towards the girls, it stops in mid-air, and is contained in a field of blue energy. It was Isaac and his new Kinesis module that saved them from acidic liquidation. Then, Isaac thrusted his hand forward, shooting the slime back at the attacking Xenocromorphs, and covered them in it.
The Xenocromorphs cried out in pain as a burning sound became mixed with their cries of pain. The parts where the slime landed on the monsters melted their skin like molecular acid. They cried as their arms fell off and their heads melted exposing the brains and muscles. As the two creatures melted, more Slashers charged through as they stepped into puddles of the slime, and their feet burned from it but not enough to stop it.
Isaac turned to face the girls on the floor, "Time to go girls," he said as he tried to snap them out of it. However, the girls remained still as Misty could only stare in horror at the real-life gore scene before her, and Pinky was still frozen in fear. Isaac got in front of Misty, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. "Snap out of it, Misty! We have to go NOW," he yelled at Misty.
The shaking and yelling finally snapped Misty out of it. She ignored the anger at being ordered by Isaac, grabbed Pinky, and ran with Isaac to the door where the others were at. "What's the hold up," Misty yelled out just as they arrived at the door to see Ben pressing random buttons on the console next to the door.
"The door's locked and it needs a code to open it," Ben exclaimed as he continued to press buttons in a random order hoping to get the right sequence of numbers. Despite his attempts, he continued to get the red error screen.
"Out of the way," Misty said as she pushed him aside and punched in her code just as the Xenocromorphs ran out into the hallway roaring and ready to kill. The screen turned green and the door opened. "Everyone in! NOW," Misty exclaimed as they ran in with Misty in last as the alien attackers were almost to the door. Misty punched in the code again on the terminal and the door started to close.
But before it could finish, one of the Slasher's tried to force his way into the room. It pushed the door back enough to squeeze halfway through. The teens backed away in fear with Isaac aiming his weapons at it, but the door immediately slammed shut killing the Slasher in the process, and smashing its body apart. The body and limbs flew all over the room. Misty then punched her code in sealing the door from the inside as the roaring of the other Xenocromorphs could be heard from outside as they banged and slashed on the door.
For a moment, the group was silent as the teens were trying to find their thoughts as the noise outside continued. "Well that's... One way to kill them," Sphere said trying to lighten the mood.
Misty simply growled as she turned her attention to Isaac, "What the hell, Shepard," she exclaimed in an angry tone of voice and an equally angry glare on her face, "Some wannabe leader you are! How could you lead us to the brig of all places!?"
"Me? This is the first time I've ever been on this ship," Isaac replied while keeping his cool, "I was following your directions. You were trying to lead us to hydroponics. Remember?"
"Oh, so you're saying this is all my fault," she shot back, "You're the one who handled this crap on the rock!"
"Only for a day or two. A week later, we find this stuff is going beyond to hell over at the mining colony down on Aegis 7. Plus, you did have the map which led us down here," Isaac continued starting to lose his cool as his tone of voice rose a bit, "You even said yourself that we made a wrong turn."
"I was following the map," Misty argued back, "You were the one in the lead! Why the hell did I even follow you in-"
Sphere floated between the two before Misty could finish. "For the record," Sphere spoke up, "This is actually Misty's fault."
"Oh well there's a surprise. The floating eyeball taking the side of his master," Misty shot back as she glared at Sphere.
Sphere's eye turned red from her words but he kept his cool, "First off, I'm cube shaped on an exo-skeleton, only the inside part is spherical. Second, I'm taking Isaac's side because in this situation, he is correct. The entire ship is malfunctioning thanks to interference from the planet. That includes the navigational systems such as the maps and the communication systems," Sphere pointed out, "Meaning that the digital maps might be changing or corrupted. It would probably also explain why we haven't bene able to get a transmission to anyone." Misty just stood there with her angry expression but knew that Sphere made a valid point. Even though she didn't want to admit it.
As the three continued to argue, Ben stood there watching the three argue. "We're stuck in a real-life Walking Dead episode and all she can do is start fights," Ben said out loud talking to the others. He turned his head to look at Pinky, "You know her. How are we supposed to calm her-" Ben stopped when he saw that Pinky wasn't standing next to him.
"We're trapped! They're after us! What are we gonna do!? What are we gonna do!?"
Ben turned around to see Pinky huddled in a corner as she spoke out showing she was breaking down. She held her head as she shook in fear. "Why not just let them in and get it over with," she exclaimed seeing no way out.
'Well she's gone,' Ben thought to himself as he felt he gravity of their situation. "Maybe we are doomed."
"If one's mind is calm, the answers will be shown much quicker."
Everyone except Pinky heard the voice as they looked around the room. "Who said that," Isaac asked what was on everyone's mind, "Is there someone else in here?"
"I don't see anyone," Ben said, "Only Pinky and... Genji," Ben said as he looked at Genji who was sitting on his knees in a calming pose. "You can talk," Ben asked in surprise at this new development.
"Who knew," Sphere said who was also surprised, along with a now calmed Isaac and Misty.
"Well I don't see how being calm is going to... help," Ben said but then started to look around the room along with the others.
They found themselves in a room filled with military grade weapons. There were different guns, armor, ammo, and even a SIG suit station. Ben started to look around the room at all the weapons and equipment, "Okay, now we have a chance," he said as he looked over at Genji, "Thanks, Genji."
Genji simply nodded.
Isaac also looked around the room as he examined all the weapons, "These will help, but the SIG suit was a really good find," he pointed out.
"Yeah right," Misty said not believing it, as she thumb-pointed at Isaac, "If these are so useful, those monsters would have been killed by now! How is any of this going to help us when the Sheep here is the only one with weapons that can kill these things?!"
Isaac ignored the sheep comment as he opened a crate, looked in, and smiled. "What was that about me being the only one with weapons," he asked as he pointed out the crate. Misty walked over along with Ben as they looked in and saw the contents which left them wide eyed. It was full of plasma cutters like the one Isaac had and was now modified to his pistol.
"Okay... Now we might have a chance," Misty admitted, as she cracked a small half-smile.
"I call dibs on two of them," Ben said with a smile on his face.
"First off, the four of you need to suit up," Isaac said getting everyone's attention leaving them confused, "The SIG suits will give you better chances of surviving with armor and enhancements."
"Awesome," Ben exclaimed as he went for one that was hanging on the wall, "I've always wanted to wear one of these."
"Hold on a minute," Misty said stopping everyone except for Pinky who was still panicking in the corner, "In order to put on SIG suits, we have to be naked, and there are no changing rooms in here!"
"Well... Genji, Ben, Sphere, and I will keep our backs turned while you and Pinky change," Isaac responded to that complaint, "You two can let us know when it's safe to turn around. Then when it's our turn, we reverse roles."
Misty was silent but maintained her glare for a moment, "If you peek for even a second, Shepard, you'll be seeing stars for the rest of your life," Misty threatened as she headed over to Pinky.
Isaac shrugged, "Wasn't gonna." He sighed, as he looked away at the wall, ignoring the banging, "She hasn't changed in the past two years of this travel."
Boys Changing Section
After the boys had entered the SIG chamber and changed into their suits, they were standing by the plasma cutter crate as the girls started to take their clothing off. 'That weak little punk,' Misty thought as she took her top off, 'He sees a little action and all of a sudden he thinks he's Rambo or Dutch fighting off Predators. If he didn't have his big shot weapons, he'd be crying in a corner,' she thought as she started to take her pants and panties off.
Suddenly her eyes shot open as something began to play before her eyes. Before her eyes was Isaac standing before her wearing only his pants with an exposed chest showing off his never-before-seen muscles. He was holding his gun while also having a confident smile on his face.
"Isaac? What the hell are you doing," Misty exclaimed as he approached her, "I told you to-" she is interrupted by him grabbing her waist and bringing her close to his chest, "Isaac! You better let go or you'll be begging for those monsters to-"
"No matter what, I'll protect you baby," Isaac said in a dreamy and heroic voice which caused Misty to blush and gain a dreamy look on her face. Suddenly the two began to approach each other as they drew in for a kiss...
Misty blinked as the daydream shattered before her eyes as she snapped back into reality. 'What- Where the hell did that come-' she started to think as she blushed. She took a step forward and lost her balance causing her to stumble backwards.
"WWWWWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA," she yelled out as she continued to trip over random junk on the floor until she collided with Isaac from behind, and the two fell over.
After a minute, Misty picked herself up from the floor, "Stupid junk," she said as she rubbed the sore spot on her head, and looked down.
Her face went completely red at what she saw. There was Isaac on the floor with his back on the floor and his face blushing red. At the moment, Isaac saw Misty sitting on top of him with her legs between his waist and completely naked leaving no room for imagination on Isaac's part. He could see her well-toned stomach, her hourglass figure, her large C cup breasts, and her blushing face free of anger. To Isaac, it felt like he was looking at just another girl rather than the bully from his school days.
Misty stared in shock for a second at the position she was in and who she was on, 'Oh man... I'm on top of him and naked... I'm on top and... On top and...' She finally snapped out it and regained her train of thought as her blush turned into an angry face. "You JACK HOLE," she yelled out as she got up, covered herself, and ran to the other end of the room.
Ben moved over to Isaac and helped him up and resumed their positions. "Well that was something," Ben admitted as he only saw her from behind before shutting his eyes again, "Is she always like that," he asked him.
"Yeah, as long as I've known her," Isaac responded, 'Although her blushing like that was a new one for me. Heck I didn't even know she could look like that,' he thought to himself.
"Yeah... Hey," Ben suddenly realized, "Genji, if you could speak, how come you never spoke before," he asked Genji, only for silence to be his answer. "Oh, now you have nothing to say."
After a few minutes, the group was now fully equipped with plasma cutters and SIG suits.
Ben's SIG suit had him covered from neck to toe in a black skin suit. His armor was a cyan blue vest that clung to his chest, a collar around the collar bone of his neck, with two shoulder guards that were circular with white in the inside and cyan blue trim on the outside. His forearms were shielded in cyan blue forearm guards and while elbow pads, and his hands were in fingerless cyan blue gloves with cuffs around his wrists, and white fingers. He wore a white utility belt and a pair of slacks armor with the inner thighs and crotch exposed, with white trip on the inside. Two circular cyan blue and white trimmed kneepads were in place and large cyan blue and white boots with mini rockets on the ankles were placed on. And to complete his armor, an oval diamond shaped backpack was linked onto him, with a blue gauge on the back, and a green circular gauge shown as well. Before his helmet folded out, it revealed to be similar in design of Isaac's but with the eyes being goggles with green slits for sensors.
For Pinky, her SIG suit was designed similar to Rei's only it was pink with a grill mouth piece and a black visor for the eyes with a blue slit sensor for its optic, and an antennae on the right ear.
Genji's armor was similar to Isaac's but in place of orange, it was silver white with the white parts silver gray. The helmet was a smooth mouth piece with a V-shaped visor in place of the eyes with a green lit optic instead of blue. His left arm was stylized as a samurai's arm guard, and his SIG pack was equipped to hold his newly plasma modified spear.
And finally, Misty was suited up as she stepped out of the chamber. Her body was covered head to toe in the black film under armor suit, but now she had green and brown armor pieces, for an Engineer class. The armor seemed more tough and durable compared to the explorer suits that Isaac was familiar with. Her chest plate were two squares on the outer part of the breasts; a kind of open front bikini/bra, with the back armored green with the SIG pack in place, colored green, and a green hood guard, with a green rectangle knob on the collar bone. She had green slacks that exposed her upper inner thighs and pelvic region, but had brown armor padding on the outside thighs, with green and brown trimmed knee guards. Her boots were green and brown, with the back part exposed for ports, with the same ankle mini rockets, and green and brown bottoms for the boots. She had a brown utility belt around her sides. Her left forearm had green forearm guard that ended exposed the middle part of her forearm, and on the outer part was a brown spot, while her elbow had a brown elbow guard, with her left shoulder had a simple green and brown tripped shoulder guard. Her right arm had a green Samurai-like shoulder and bicep guard, with the shoulder being brown and armor trimmed, going down the center of her bicep to the end of her elbow, and her right forearm had a green forearm guard that completely covered the outer part of her arm, with a brown piece at the elbow area, and both hands had black fingered green gauntlets with brown trim bands. Her helmet looked like a space helmet colored brown but with the green face armor looking like a welding mask with a blue visor for the eye.
"We must look so cool," Ben said as struck a heroic pose.
"Just out of curiosity but how are we going to find the bridge now," Misty asked, "If what the 8 Ball says is true, all the maps I have are worthless."
"Not anymore," Sphere said as he floated next to Isaac, "While you were changing, I accessed your wrist device, copied your maps, and restored them."
Misty grabbed Sphere and shot him her glare, "That means you snuck a peek you perverted little cube," she growled at him ready to break him.
"I did it via your human term for Wi-Fi," Sphere said as he slowly lost his cool, "As if I'm interested in looking at human biology." Misty simply glared as she threw him to the side and headed for the door.
"Misty... about earlier," Isaac started to say. But he was stopped when Misty grabbed Isaac by his suit and held him in front of her glaring.
"I'm letting that go one go because it was my fault. But next time you sneak a peek, I'll punch your eyes out so hard your grand kids will have black eyes," she told Isaac while shaking her free fist making sure he got the message.
She then let go, as she headed for the door, as Isaac cleared his throat, "I can respect that."
Sphere flew next to him, as he replied, "She's not exactly very lady-like. Nothing like Kori, Rei, or your cousin."
Isaac sighed, as he confessed, "In honesty, there was a time when she was sweeter and friendly to me."
The little bobble blinked, and asked credulously, "Are you sure?"
Before anything else could be replied, they heard the doors trying to be hacked into. The kids stood together, with Misty going back to Isaac's left, as she grabbed a plasma cutter, as the sounds were hastening, "Is it one of those things?"
"Hacking the door," Isaac replied.
Ben blinked, "They can hack doors now?"
"They're not that smart, Ben," Isaac replied, as he steadied his gun, ready for the long-range attacks.
As they readied their weapons, the tension nearly filled the air, as the door finally hissed open, as it slowly opened only for a shadow to nearly loom over them over what or who it was that opened the door.
Meanwhile
A Deck
Mess Hall
At that moment, Vincent, her team, and the others were currently making their way to the mess deck. The captain had told them there was a huge commotion on the mess deck on A Deck. From what the captain's voice spoke out, it wasn't gonna be a walk on the park. As the doors, opened, and the Security team was sweeping in with Kori in the center along with DRU, the others followed in and saw with the flashlights how bad the situation was. There was blood stains on the walls, as far as their flashlights shined on to. Even Gwen wasn't especially thrilled as everyone had the look of fear and disgust written all over their faces. Even as Kori flew overhead, and shined her sunbolt light, she nearly gasped at what she saw. Bodies littered all around, barely hanging on tables and scattered around the floors. It was almost as if a wild animal had rushed in and tore them apart without even bothering to eat anything off of them. It was a full-blown blood bath of an extermination.
And not everyone could stomach it, as Chen lost her lunch. Ramirez and Jeff were nearby as the former cringed, "Ah jeez, Chen."
She immediately recovered, as she got back to her feet, following with Gwen and Rei from the rear. As they went further, Kori's bolt light shined in a direction, as she spotted movement, and a low guttural growl. As soon as she saw it, the figure disappeared, but she called it as she pointed out, "Over there."
She flew in first, as the others followed, only to see her stop as they saw she was horrified. Though unanswered as she was silent, they all saw what was happening that made her silent in terror. The Slasher Xenecromorphs were gathering all the dead bodies together in a big heaping pile of flesh and carcasses, and began slashing and stabbing at the corpses, but not as they were killing those that survived. It was almost as if they were mincing them together for something big.
Vincent got front, as she managed to push back her disgust and fear, and aimed her gun, "Get ready to fire at my command."
But suddenly, before they could get ready, a door hissed open from the other side of the mess deck. And out stumbled four new individuals in the frey to come.
One of them was a seventeen year old Caucasian with light tanned skin, a slender frame, and a head of dark blonde hair swept to the right with bouncy bangs on his head, the biggest one framed to his right side, and blue eyes. He was dressed in the standard security team outfit with his jacket tied around his waist and wearing a black long-sleeve shirt underneath his white turtleneck T-shirt. He was currently holding a shotgun with his sidearm on his holster.
The second was a seventeen year old tanned Pakistani female with a pixie cut periwinkle hairstyle, and crystal blue eyes. She was a bit taller than the guy with her, and the other guy in the back, small muscle build but with a DD cup chest. She also wore the standard security team uniform but also like Chen, had one of her sleeves on but it was the right one than the left, and had two pistols at the ready.
The third guy was a seventeen year old dark tanned Puerto Rican/Mexican young man with dark brown hair with his right side flaring bangs against his calm left side, with brown eyes. He was dressed in partial remains of a SIG suit Engineer Class with in his right hand a security team gatling gun. And his left arm… was missing and bandaged up.
The fourth and final individual was a sixteen-year-old Asian female with short pixie cut blonde hair and green eyes. She had a slender but athletic figure with a modest bust size. She was wearing a standard nurse light blue and white uniform, with a medipack strapped to her back. She looked in fright the most as they stumbled right in.
The blonde suddenly screamed at the Xenecromorph killing ground, catching their attention as they stopped what they were doing, and turned to the four.
Jeff shook his head, as he replied, "Ah screw it!"
"You're not hearing arguments from me," Vincent shouted, as she shot, "FIRE!"
And just like that, Vincent and Gwen's group fired at the Xenecromorphs when they got distracted by the four newcomers. Despite the bullets not doing much, it did do some damage, but there were too many. The four newcomers saw it, and the three armed chimed in with the medical officer behind them to treat any injured that would come. Jeff's plasma rifle and Kori's sunbolts were doing moderate damage, blowing off limbs and then heads, downing as much as they could. The four joined with Vincent and Gwen's group as they retreated, allowing the Xenecromorphs to chase after them. They jumped over a barrier of tables, as Pendelton and Ramirez pushed it upward for the Xenecromorphs to crash into. Vincent hopped over a table, as Kori threw hers into a pile, smashing them in a wall. But even so, they still headed towards them.
The blonde nurse was running towards the group, but she tripped and fell from a wet spot of blood on the floor. As she got up, two of the slashers pounced at her, as she screamed, "AAAAH!"
SCHNIKT! SLASH!
To the girl's shock, the Xenecromorphs fell into pieces, as a pair of sickle blades of silver and green slashed at them, while a silver green tendril wrapped around and pulled her in close to him. She blinked, as she was chest-to-chest with the strange metallic android-like being, as he asked, "Have you sustained any injuries?"
The girl, blushing from this, snapped out of it, as she shook her head, "I'm fine, but Ernesto…!"
DRU looked and saw the one-armed young man trying to get to them. DRU shot his arm out, stretching it out ot him, as his hand morphed into a grappling hand, and latched on. Ernesto blinked, as he was suddenly yanked back to the group.
Ernesto was set down, as he was a bit in shock, "Um, thanks?"
"Don't mention it," DRU replied, "Just fight back!"
However, one of the Slashers got in the center, and swatted Chen and Gwen back. It tried to take a slash out of Pendelton, but the bigger man dodged it and punched it across the face. Jeff suddenly shot its arm off as it roared out, but the bigger man took the severed appendage and stabbed it into the beast's head as it stumbled. Jeff and Pendleton then threw the stumbled Slasher back into three of them, while Kori unleashed a barrage of blasts. Vincent and Gwen shot at the legs, with Rei's help as they tried to think the ranks as best they all could, but more were still coming.
Even with the two new rookies, they were being outnumbered, no matter how much firepower they all had. However, Pendelton noticed more were flanking on their left, and ran over to block them. Jeff saw the bigger man taking on a group, as he called out, "Pendelton!"
"Don't worry about me," Pendelton roared out, as he fought them back with strength, despite getting minor slashes and stabs. "Help the others! I'll hold these asses off!"
Vincent saw the scene and was about to draw her fire on them, but suddenly, the Xenecromorphs were piling up on each other and about to crash onto them like a wave. The action caused their phalanx group to scatter, as the undead monsters were swarming at them. Though at most a gang of Xenecromorphs and dogpiled on Pendelton, as one of them jabbed a blade into his shoulder; he still fought on despite the injury and pain he was going through. Ramirez and Gwen were firing together, until Pendelton accidentally slammed into them, causing them both to stumble. Hanson was currently fighting off a Xenecromorph that had lunged at him, but had lost both of its arms. In retaliation, it was biting on his hand. The man was fervently and frantically hitting and kicking at it, all the white gritting his teeth and crying out for it to let him go or get off him. Chen had stumbled and lost her clip, all the while trying to get her head back with a legless Xenecromorph chasing after her using its front arms and stomach arms to propel itself like a quadruped.
The blonde and periwinkle cadets were firing as best they could, but felt someone at their backs. It was Vicent and the strange orange-skinned girl. Despite the situation, they dealt with it and watched each others backs. DRU was protecting the nurse while the one named Ernesto was firing his rifle at the Xenecromorphs. He was getting better with DRU acting as a left arm for him; balancing himself and reloading. He watched the silver green droid go for the limbs and it seemed like they were going down. Ernesto did the same, and blinked as he saw that three of them had died after losing their legs and head.
"Holy shit, it worked," he whispered to himself, amazed that bodily dismemberment was working on these things.
Pendelton managed to shake off the Xenecros, but just as he was about to aim and fire… one of the slashers got lucky and took his gun hand off. The shock and pain of losing a limb caused him to scream out in pain. Though it also made him forget his situation, as another Xenecromorph tore his lower jaw off. His gluttoral groans were barely audible, as the trauma was too much for Pendelton, as he fell over, going into shock. The Xenecromorphs saw their chance and swarmed the bigger man, stabbing and slashing at his body until there was barely movement at all.
Nearby, Ramirez was being helped up by Gwen, who had seen the whole thing and was terrified by it. But one of the Slashers spotted her and charged at her. Resolving herself, she fired at the beast's leg as it stumbled, catching itself on its claws to right itself up, but not before Gwen shot its head, effectively killing it. However, two more were coming at them… only to have one kicked by Vincent and the other blown away by Kori as they went over to help. All three girls fired at the Xenecromorphs while Gwen and Vincent dragged Ramirez's unconscious body to safety. However, they were all knocked back by the swarming Xenecros, even while Hanson was trying to knock the one gnawing at his hand.
One of the Xenecromorphs shot intestine tendrils that latched onto Kori and Ramirez, pulling them towards it. Kori was fighting back, even as Ramirez was coming to again. Kori grabbed the shoulders, even as its tendrils were wrapping around her, as she saw it about to stab her. She closed her eyes as she screamed, feeling as defeat was about to overtake her.
Then suddenly, a plasma bolt shot blew both its arms off, as it swung with nothing but air, as it screeched. Both Kori and Ramirez saw an orange-armed SIG suited individual standing there, while using a Kinesis module on his left arm to throw a few tables at the Xenecromorphs to let them both be. They gave up on the two and chased right at him… only for a green and brown armored female to slash one, while a big Native American in his forties or fifties, heavy built with an aged wise face, black hair graying on the sides and tied into a braided ponytail that rested on his left shoulder. He was wearing the same kind of Engineering SIG minus the right arm, chest, and helmet, but also wielded his own plasma cutter.
The trio then got to work on the rest of the Xenecromorphs, while others followed to help.
Vincent and the other saw four SIG-armored kids with plasma cutters with an engineer, slashing and hacking off the remaining Xenecromorphs. The Plasma cutters were doing the trick, along with the orange-armored guy with a modified pistol with plasma castor features and a kinesis module, with a strange floating silver orb at his side. Those who knew him knew it was Isaac, as they all finished up the Xenecromorphs once and for all. As soon as the last Xenocromorphs fell, the room fell silent other than the sounds of heavy breathing from the two groups and the humming of hardware held by the new face in the group.
As Ramirez recovered and saw the ending of the carnage, he blinked, "Oh shit." But then noticed the dismembered and bloody corpse of his former teammate, "Pendelton…"
Isaac was catching his breath while sighing as he put his weapons away as his helmet retracted back, allowing him to take a deep breath. Suddenly, he found himself in the feminine but strong embrace of someone. He looked down to see Kori hugging him as she pulled away. The sight of her hugging him caused his face to go red and his heartbeat to increase.
'Why can't I get used to this,' he asked himself, 'I mean, I slept next to her last night yet I still feel nervous!'
"I am thankful that you are alright, Isaac," Kori said as she pulled away and gave him a warm smile, "You do not seem have any injuries from when we were separated."
"N-No, no injuries to speak of," Isaac answered quickly, "I'm glad you're okay too despite our situation." He looked at the others who walked up to him, "Same goes for all of you."
Jeff grabbed Isaac's shoulder with a smile in a supportive big brother sort of way. "Thanks, man," Jeff said, "Knew you'd be okay. Your tough like your cousin." Gwen shot him a playful but stern eye before hugging her cousin.
"Glad you're alright, Isaac," Gwen told him, "I've had enough family die already to this nightmare of a mission."
Isaac returned the hug, "You too, Gwen," Isaac replied as he looked at Rei and DRU, "You two as well."
Dru and Rei nodded each with a small smile. They may look human but they were still adjusting to human emotions. But the two androids could tell that Isaac was happy to see them.
"Hey, what am I? Scrap metal," Sphere asked as he floated next to Isaac annoyed at being left out, "I'm kidding! But seriously, this ship is getting worse by the second! Any idea how to end this faster?"
"I am afraid we're nowhere close to leaving, Sphere," Rei answered, "We haven't been able to reach the bridge of the ship, even with the help of the security forces here. But with our crew breaking into the ship and the crisis that is going on, I doubt the captain will be in a mood to listen to us. Let along help with the repairing the Falcon."
"Same here," Isaac said to the group, "Sphere, other crew members, and I haven't had much luck finding the bridge as well. The Xenocromophs have been doing whatever they can to damage the ship along with killing anyone they see."
As Isaac's group continued talking, the newcomers to both groups, Ben, Misty, Genji, and the group that had stumbled into the mess decks at the wrong time were looking at the teens in amazement. Not only did they manage to fight off the monsters that seemed to be unstoppable and wanted everyone dead, but how they could still smile and support each other despite their situation. It was awe inspiring, scary, and joyful at the same time for the younger crew members of the Ishimura. All except for one.
Misty was left in shock at what she saw, not only was Isaac's cousin here, there were two other girls with him, he had more friends, one of the girls hugged him. 'A girl hugged him,' Misty thought to herself as a mixture of anger, annoyance, and a hint of jealousy filled her entire being, 'A hot girl hugged that wimp of a boy! That doesn't make sense! No girl should want anything to do with him!'
"Misty Vascuez..."
The sound of a voice in a disapproving tone of voice brought Misty out of her train of thought when she saw Gwen glaring at her. "It must be some sort of cosmic coincidence that you're all the way out here," Gwen said still not happy to see her.
"Believe me, Tenalds," Misty said in a challenging voice, "I'm just as surprised to see you and your wimp of a cousin here. Even though he's been able to somewhat helpful for once."
"Millions of stellar miles from the Milky Way Galaxy and you're still the same," Gwen replied with a glare.
The two girls continued to glare at each other as metaphorical sparks of electricity of anger sparked between the two girls. It was no secret that Gwen disliked Misty for how she would bully her cousin and Misty didn't like Gwen for opposing her. For Isaac and the others who were watching, it was as though they were watching two huge lightning storms about to collide and devastate the land below them.
Before the two could say anything else, Kori got between the two of them. "Stop," Kori exclaimed as she pulled them apart, "No more mean talking!"
"Kori's right. We are wasting time just standing around," DRU said.
While the teens were talking, the security forces were mourning the loss of one their own. Vincent however approached the man that came in at the last minute to save them. "Who are you," she asked him.
The man turned to face her. "Samuel Irons, Mechanics Division," he answered.
"Thanks for the assist, Irons," Vincent said while putting her gun away.
"No problem," Irons replied, but then motioned to the kids. "Though to be honest, when I found them, I merely joined in to help. They also seemed to figure out a way to beat these things." He then gestured at the fallen Xenecromorphs as the others were walking in. "These things seem to handle bullets just fine," he said as he turned off his plasma saw as the other security forces listened in on the conversation, "But a couple rips from plasma cutters like this bad boy or the one that's modified to Shepard's pistol, and they don't get up."
"We noticed," Ramirez said.
"Guess those kids were right after all," Hanson said as he looked at the intruders, "Aiming for the limbs and hacking them does work."
"Where'd you get that," Vincent asked as she pointed to the plasma saw in Irons' hands.
"There's a store room down the hall. That's where I found Isaac and his group armoring up. We all busted open a crate and took what we needed," Irons explained as held a strange-shaped pendent in his hand, "To be honest, it was a divine discovery at a time like this, don't you think?"
"Ah shit. You another Unitologist," Ramirez asked in annoyance at the thought of another preacher going on about their religion.
"Shut it," Vincent ordered.
Though Irons half-smirked, "I think after this, I might consider reconverting to my former religion: Spirit-walking."
The groups all gathered together as Vincent asked the newcomers, "Who are you guys? Two of you seem to be security officers."
The dark blonde saluted, "Theodore Linkin, or Teo to everyone. I'm with the 3rd squad on B Deck."
The periwinkle-colored hair girl stepped up, "Jonie Graham. 5th squad. B Deck."
Ernesto leaned on his gun, as he introduced, "Ernesto Borjeas. Gravimetric Controller and Engineer of the Mechanics Division."
Then the blonde stepped in, as she meekly responded, while shying from DRU for some reason, "Kera Tanaka. Nurse and Medic, but I'm not a real doctor. Y-yet."
"Jonie, Chen, go grab weapons for everyone. Kera, treat the wounded as best you can," she ordered. As the two officer cadets went to retrieve more plasma saws for the others, Kera began to treat the wounded as best as she could. Vincent activated her communicator making a screen appear, "Bridge, this is Vincent. Come in, over," Vincent said as the screen simply showed static and no reply came, "Shit! Com is down," she said as she turned hers off.
"You too," Isaac asked, as he got Vincent's attention, as he held his comlink out, "We've been trying to contact the bridge. Even with Sphere's help, something's jamming or scrambling the system. It's almost as if something's trying to cut off communications just to isolate everyone."
"I think we should consider abandoning ship," Hanson said as he approached Vincent, "If these Xenocor- whatever have spread, there's no stopping them!"
"Our job is the safety of the crew," Vincent told him as Chen and Jonie returned with saws for everyone, "The way I see it, we have two options. Fight or die. We don't have the luxury of running."
Hanson looked down not liking those options. But he also knew that was the job. Defending the crew despite the odds. That didn't mean he had to like it.
As everyone regrouped, Jonie and Chen had finished passing out saws for everyone that needed them.
"I've lost contact with the bridge. Once Kera finishes tending the wounded, we're going to head there now and come up with a new plan," Vincent told everyone, "Our main priorities are killing as many of those things as we can and saving everyone on the way. That means looking out for survivors and each other on our way to the trolly rails."
"The trollies are a bad idea," Ernesto told them, "We're better off finding another way."
"Are you sure," Isaac asked, "The rails would be faster."
"He's right," Kera said as she finished treating Ramirez's injuries, "On our way here, whatever trollies we found were destroyed, damaged, or filled with those monsters."
Teo nods, as he replies, "And that was back when there was 14 of us." And then pointed at Ernesto, "And when Ernesto had two hands."
"New plan then," Vincent said, "We'll go the long way through the botanical labs. It will take longer, but it's the faster way to the bridge other than the trollies." She stepped forward looking at the remaining security forces, personal, and intruders turned allies, "Anything gets in our way, cut or blast first, ask questions later," Vincent told them as she armed her plasma saw, "Got it?"
"Got it."
"Got it."
"Affirmative."
Everyone said as they mentally prepared themselves and followed Vincent deeper into the alien infested ship in the hopes of surviving this nightmare.
Minutes Later
Corridor
The now-larger and well-armed group was making their way through, as they watched each other's backs. So far, they hadn't come across any of the Xenecromorphs or even a larger group of them. So far, the corridors were quiet with Misty and Irons leading the way. Apparently, the two worked alongside each other, with Irons being something of a mentor to her as well as Ernesto. As they made their way, Ramirez had to break the ice, as he and Isaac were side-by-side with Sphere and Kori not leaving him.
"I just hope that there is a bridge," Ramirez sighed.
"Well, there'd better be," Isaac poked out. "Otherwise we're just sitting bait out here in the open."
But suddenly, the group stopped as they heard roaring up ahead, and saw a flood of Xenecromorphs making way to their direction. Irons and Misty looked to the right them, as they both nodded in agreement. Misty ran up ahead and opened the door, as Irons explained, "There's a utility lift ahead. We can take that to Hydroponics and make our way to the bridge from there."
"Sounds like a plan," Isaac replied, as he followed after them.
The others ran through to the corridor, and once everyone was safely there, Irons closed the door. And just in time, as a Xenecromorph had made itself halfway through but was decapitated before it made it. Everyone took a breather, but it didn't last long, as banging and dents were being made on the door. Gwen pointed out, "We should keep moving."
As they pushed forward, Pinky stopped for a moment, as she held her head. A wave of something clashed with her, as she stumbled a bit. Misty and Gwen saw this, as they rushed back to help her, only to see the door forced open, and a wave of Xenecromorphs were chasing after them. As the trio caught up, Irons was frantically typing in the codes for the door, while everyone was on standby for trouble.
"Some time today would be nice," Vincent pointed out, getting her plasma saw at the ready.
Isaac looked to Vincent and said, "Jeff and I'll slow them down as much as we can."
"On it," Jeff replied, as he moved with him.
Isaac and Jeff held and pointed their modified weapons for the ready as the girls caught up and were being chased by the Xenecros following them. Jeff and Isaac fired, hitting the legs and causing the Xenecromorphs to stumble and trip over each other, giving the girls the chance to catch up as the door opened.
"Inside, quick, everyone," Irons advised, as everyone rushed in.
But just as they did, Kori noticed Pinky standing and facing the Xenecromorphs that were trying to catch up on them. She flew over to her, as she saw she was in some kind of trance, as she shook her, "Pinky? Miss Pinky?"
Everyone was confused as they saw the girl frozen and unresponsive, but Isaac and Jeff fired, giving time, as they downed more Xenecromorphs. Not waiting much longer, Kori grabbed Pinky, as she flew them both into the elevator with Jeff and Isaac following in, just in time as the doors closed. They immediately moved upward, as Kori set Pinky down on her feet. The girl immediately returned to normal, as she blinked, "Huh, wha…?"
But then Vincent walked over and asked, sternly, "What happened back there?"
Pinky saw that all eyes were on her now, as she asked, "What do you mean?"
"You suddenly froze up before you got in here," Jeff answered, not liking what happened.
"She seems to be at normal room temperature," Kori replied, causing a few to look at her, as she explained, "You said she was frozen, but she is not cold."
Isaac shook his head, as he explained, "Froze up means she wasn't moving, Kori. This wasn't the literal kind of freezing."
"Do I have to worry about you too, Pinky," Vincent asked, only for Misty to get in her way.
"Hey, give her a break," Misty defended. "She's just had it rough like the rest of us. Only she lost both her parents during this whole mess. Who wouldn't be rattled?"
"Well, she has been freaking out more than usual," Ben replied.
Misty looked to him, and replied, "Shut it, Twenerd."
"I'll be fine! Shut up," Pinky nearly screamed.
Though at the moment, everyone's attention was turned to the elevator, as it stopped, and the doors hissed open. Once they exited the elevator, they saw the area they were in now.
Hydroponics
The Hydroponics Deck was the Ishimura's internal farm which produced the food needed to feed the many workers aboard the ship as well as providing a sustainable production of oxygen. A massive area, it spanned the entire top portion of the Ishimura's two cargo towers and was divided into 2 primary sections: the multi-level Vegetation Grow Chambers and the Centrally located Cylindrical Food Storage Chamber. Directly before Food storage was the air quality control and ventilation system. The crew were currently going through one of the Grow Chambers that held pillars of plants in rows, much like a grow bed, as they made their way through. Vincent and Isaac shined their lights, with Kori brightening hers to see if there were any enemies nearby. So far, no movement, but merely the sounds of the air ventilation and the dripping of water.
"I do not see any enemies nor hear them," Kori replied as she swept.
Vincent nodded, "Seems quiet enough."
"Too quiet," Isaac politely and calmly argued.
Ramirez and Jeff shook their head, as they both replied, "Famous last words."
Isaac shrugged, "Well, there's only one way to find out."
Vincent nodded, "Let's move out."
And all moved forward, all the while watching each other's backs. Though the quiet should have given them peace of mind, in truth dt did little to ease them into the situation. AS they traversed through the hydroponics chamber, all of them were a bit on edge of this. They weren't naïve enough to believe they escaped the undead monsters that were now plaguing the ship. They could busted through the ventilation shafts or were in the next rooms over. Though they did know they had to stay on alert the entire time, or they'd be dead. Now it was just tension and nerves wrestling into their fears.
Though it didn't stop Misty from gently walking over to the flying girl, as she approached Kori, while whispering, "So you're from deep space. And how you ended up here?"
Wanting to make friends, and knowing full aware of Gwen's argument and hearing about Misty's past, would have ignored her. But it seemed like a good way to clear tensions, as she replied, "I was… prize and prisoner… to the Creators. They are all dead now. But their experiments escaped from what I have understood… from another installation on this world."
"And Shepard was the first person you met? Boy is he lucky," Misty replied.
"Is it because of his fear of women," Kori asked, and answered before Misty asked, "Gwen had told me. She also said you were in part responsible."
Misty sighed, as she replied, "I was trying to toughen him up. He was just so wimpy back when I knew him."
Kori looked to see Isaac with Jeff and Vincent, guarding point, as she replied, "He does not seem Rutha to me." Misty arched an eyebrow, as the Zamaranian looked to her, as she replied, "It means 'weak' on my world. He does seem… nice." Misty was about to say something, possibly agree with her, but both stopped their conversation, as they looked to see Pinky. She was fidgeting and almost on edge, even whispering to herself. She looked half-crazed at the moment. Kori looked to Misty and whispered, "Does she seem, as you put it, tipping on a ledge?"
Misty figured she meant over the edge, and shrugged, "She's been a bundle of nerves since all this. I guess she's more of watching horror movies instead of living in them."
However, the moment of silence was ruined, as a barrel fell out of place and rolled over, gently knocking into a wall. Though instead of startled gasps, Pinky finally lost it as she dropped her plasma saw and screamed, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Everyone ran to her, but Gwen got to her as she covered her mouth, "You have to keep quiet. We don't want to draw attention to our…"
But before she finished, Pinky pushed her off, as she screamed, "FUCK ALL OF YOU! WE'RE FUCKIN' DEAD!" She then pulled out a spare revolver, as she aimed it at Gwen, then Isaac and Vincent to were closer, as she hysterically cried out , "JUST FUCKIN' DIE ALREADY! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"Pinky! Shut yer mouth," Jeff shouted, as she aimed his rifle at her to get her to back off.
However, she didn't seem to falter, as she still aimed her pistol at them, while looking half-crazed. Until both Hanson and Genji ran over pinned her to the ground, as the former scolded, "Keep it together, kid. We get to the bridge, we'll all be safe and you can do whatever you want or blame whoever you want."
Though Pinky looked nuts, as she simply cackled, "They need bodies to turn. They want our bodies. And no matter what they're gonna get 'em.."
Both men blinked, as they looked to see a trail of black sludge drops near them. Gwen shined her light to see what it was, and she and everyone else where shocked to see it as well. Wobbling in their direction were three Xenecromorphs, but they seemed different from the Slashers they ran into. Their skull's lower jaw was gone and what was in place of it were coiled metallic tentacles dripping with the black ooze. Its arms were now long and massive with black metallic muscles tearing out of the grey flesh, the arms coming out of the back, with each ending in a large metallic bone-like scythe, which was used to slash and rend an opponent in the same manner as a Slasher would. The human arms appeared to be fused into what was a massive balloon-like sac that developed on the torso, and out of its back were four pipe-like structures. In accommodating for their weight, the legs had become shorter in order to balance the creature by lowering its center of mass, and the leg structure was altered with four toes and hind joints.
The three were lumbering at them, but three of the party weren't about to take any chances. Chen attacked first, beheading the first of what would be described as a Pregnant, slashing the top of its head, while Jonie jumped out, and slashed the arms off the 2nd one. The third was about to come out, but DRU beat them all to it, by transforming his arms into multiple thin tentacles and tearing up all its limbs and its head, leaving just the sac. Though in a fit of finishing it off, Chen sliced the upper torso, as it fell over… but not before strange little bulbs with tripod legs and quadruped mouths, all looking mechanically chemical green as they hopped at them.
Isaac and Jeff fired, while everyone else slashed at the little buggers. Ernesto was almost swarmed until Kori shot at them, backing him up, while Gwen and Vincent helped Hanson and Genji while Pinky just sat there, staring off into space.
Though the moment snapped them back, as they heard the familiar gluttorial growls of the Slashers, and accompanying them were Pukers as well.
Isaac sighed, "Here we go again."
"Never ends," Vincent replied, as the two and the others charged in to deal with this.
As everyone was dealing with the swarm, a panicked Pinky tried to crawl away, but was brought back to reality when she heard high-pitched squealing heading right for her.
Running at her, or crawling at her, was a new type of Xenecromorph. It was a baby, or used to be one, which had been extensively mutated. Its body now grey and dead, its covering more leathery than soft, and sticking out of its thoracic cavity were coiled wire tentacles that acted as its legs. Grown out of its back was a kind of shell dome, and sticking out of it were three long, ropy tentacles, whipping around, and at the end drill barbs of sorts.
It jumped right at her, latching onto her face, as she rolled over, screaming. She finally knocked it off, as she cleared her vison, seeing the Plasma saw close by, as she bolted for it… only to get tackled again by the Baby monster. It attempted to stab at her, but then suddenly Genji showed up, yanking it off of her, as he threw it aside again. It righted himself up, as it charged again.. but then Genji slashed it downwards, cutting it in half as it fell to the floor.
He sighed, as he looked to see the others taking care of the Xenecromorphs, as he replied, "We might survive this yet."
However, he didn't see the shadow looming behind him, holding the plasma cutter.
As the others finished off the Xenecromorphs, Isaac sighed in relief, as he looked to Chen, finishing off the last one, as he asked, "You okay, Officer?"
Chen chuckled as she half-smirked, "Meh, these things ain't so tough."
"GAAAAAH!"
The sound of a pained cry caught their attention, as they saw Genji, holding a bleeding and smoking side to the floor. There, hunched over like a madwoman, was Pinky. And she was smiling with blood on her face. Hanson ran over as he interrogated, "Kid! What the…?"
SCHNIKT!
Everyone who had finished fighting heard and saw what happened. As they did, they saw Hanson's body fall to the floor with Pinky still hacking at it, and his head still with a look of surprise rolling to Misty's feet, as she looked and saw Genji down and Hanson too, "Genji! Hanson!" She ran over as she looked at Pinky, "Wh-What are you doing, Pinky?!"
"I told you, they need bodies to turn. They want us," Pinky replied, as she slowly looked up, as she had a look of insanity and finally screamed, "IT WANTS YOU ALL DEAD!" And lunged at Misty.
The two were pushing at each other, plasma blades and all, but Pinky managed to get Misty on the ground, trying to cut her vertically down the center of her head. Misty was trying not to fight back, but also to stay alive; this girl had trusted her to keep her alive. But now Pinky had killed two of her friends, and was now attempting to kill her, even as she cackled at her.
Misty, while still struggling, begged her, "Pinky! Don't do this!"
"I have to, Misty! It wants me to kill! It needs me to kill," Pinky replied, as someone was running over, "They want this! They want us all dead! They need us to turn! WE SHALL ALL BE MADE WHOLE!"
ZE-BLAM!
The rest of the sounds of battle were gone for the two teens after Pinky's corpse crashed onto the floor. She now had a hole in her face from Isaac's gunshot as blood gushed out of her head and parts of her face were scattered on the floor. Isaac stood over the corpse with an unnerved expression while his gun shook in his hand until he dropped it. Misty still sat on the floor with a look of horror on her face at the sight of her dead friend. She was filled with fear from her near death and sadness from her friend's death.
'Pinky... How could you,' Misty thought in sadness at her friend snapping like that, 'You could never hurt anyone... But you were ready to kill me?' Thoughts of confusion ran through her mind like an out of control locomotive.
'I... Killed her... I killed someone again,' Isaac thought in horror as he recalled his father's transformation and death, 'This isn't like last time when my dad was transformed! She was still human!'
Suddenly, the rest of the group found the two teens as they remained in silence at the corpse on the floor. Kori, and Gwen ran over to Isaac while Vincent and Kera went to help Misty.
"What happened," Vincent asked Misty who just sat there.
"Pinky, she... She started to crack," Misty said in a shaky voice, "I- I tried to snap her out of it. But she attacked me and was about to kill me when..." Misty lost her voice when she realized what Isaac did. He did something that saved her life but also killed her friend. Anger began to burn within her body.
"Oh no," Kera said in sadness as she stared and Pinky's corpse, "Not Pinky too..."
"They turn us on ourselves," Irons said in a sad and foreboding tone of voice, "If they don't kill us all... We will kill ourselves."
Those words hung in the air as the reality of their situation became worse for the crew. The stress of the Xenocromorphs attacking and the fear of death was enough to drive some mad. They were in a situation where not only the humans physically turned into monsters were out to kill them, but humans mentally changed into monsters were among them as well. Making every ally a possible enemy.
"Isaac, are you alright," Kori asked him with concern in her voice for her friend.
Isaac looked at Kori along with Gwen who was equally concerned for her cousin. The sight of their faces was too much for the guilt filling his being.
"Pinky, she... she snapped and was going to kill Misty," Isaac answered in a voice filled with horror, "I had to stop her... But I ended up... I'm a murderer..." The horror was too much for Isaac as his mind felt as though it was about to snap into millions of pieces. His vision filled with images of Pinky and his parents' corpses before him and their blood all over his hands.
Suddenly, the feeling of warmth on his hands caused the horror to shattered rather than his mind as his vision cleared to see his hands clasped by another set of hands. He looked up to see Kori with a comforting expression holding his left hand while Rei was holding his right while maintaining her stoic expression. Gwen was in front of her cousin with a sympathetic expression.
"Isaac, it is all right," Kori said in a supportive way as she tried to help him before he drove himself mad with guilt.
"Despite the cruelty of the situation," Rei told him in her regular tone of voice, "Under the circumstances, what you did was the most logical choice. I apologize if my words do not carry the same support as the others."
Isaac became surprised by the girls' words, but his mind returned to the pain he was feeling from taking a human life. "But I still killed someone," Isaac argued with a poor statement out of emotional irrationality, "I could've done something to save her if I had more time! I don't deserve any-"
His words came to a halt when Gwen grabbed his shoulders and looked at him in the eyes.
"Listen to me Isaac Abraham Shepard," Gwen said in a stern voice, "I know you would never hurt someone intentionally and so do Jeff, Kori, Rei, Dru, and Sphere. You had little time to act and acted on defending a life rather than taking on." Isaac looks shocked and was about to make another excuse, but was stopped when Gwen hugged her cousin, "No matter what happens, we are family, they are your friends, and none of us will abandon you or treat you any differently," Gwen finished as she was desperate not to lose another family member to this madness as she was in pain at seeing her only family in this condition.
Isaac looked stunned by his cousin's words as his friends smiled to show their support. The fact that they still saw him as a friend and not a murder caused the weight of the guilt to decrease by the warmth of happiness. "Thank you," he quietly said.
"Well that's all great and all," Misty exclaimed as she stood up with a glare on her face, "But don't think for a second I'll forgive you!" She stomped forward pushing Dru and Rei aside to get to Isaac. "I could've stopped Pinky if you hadn't butted in like that," Misty yelled out in anger, "She could've made it if it wasn't for you!"
Isaac just stood there taking the abuse in. While the reminder of what he did stung, the verbal abuse from Misty wasn't anything new for him. Back on Earth, Misty always brought Alex down with her words. Eventually, he realized it was better to ignore it and wait for her to get tired of talking.
"¡No necesitaba tu ayuda, cobarde! ¡Y nunca lo haré! ¡Mantente alejado de mí antes de matar a más amigos," Misty said as she started to speak in Spanish out of habit, "¡Cobarde! ¡Alfeñique! Nerd!"
Hearing this, Vincent had enough, even though she knew Misty was just acting out of irrational anger. But she knew Misty was now going too far. Just as she was about to step in, Kori suddenly kissed Misty in the middle of her insults.
Misty's eyes shot open in shock at this girl comforting Isaac was now kissing her out of the blue.
The rest of the Ishimura Crew were just as confused as they watched the spectacle before them not sure what was happening. Isaac and the others however knew what Kori was doing.
Misty pushed herself away, glared at Kori while covering her mouth, and hiding a blush on her face. "¿¡Qué estas loco!? ¿¡Solo besas a quien quieras," Misty exclaimed in anger.
Kori had a neutral expression on her face, "I am not crazy," Kori answered simply, "And calling him those things is not a nice way to show your appreciation for saving your life."
Misty's eyes went wide at the fact that Kori understood everything that Kori just said while everyone else didn't. "How- How do you know what I said to him," Misty said not believing a thing Kori said, "You don't know what I said to him or you!"
"You told Isaac you did not require his assistance while calling him a wimp, that you never would need require it," Kori said in her regular tone of voice, "You then told him to stay away from you before he killed more of your friends and then you began to insult him with names related to his lack of physical strength."
Misty once again became shocked that Kori somehow knew exactly what Misty had said despite speaking English a moment again.
"That's... That's exactly right," Vincent said having known Spanish herself, "But why did you kiss Vascuez in order to calm her down?"
"That's it! I don't care if you cooked your brain while sunbathing for so long," Misty exclaimed while assuming Kori's complexion was from tanning in the sun, "You're not going to make a fool out of me!" Misty was about to deck Kori in the face, but was stopped by Isaac who stepped in front of Misty.
"Kori wasn't trying to insult you Misty," Isaac exclaimed, "She kisses people to learn information from people."
"Yeah right," Misty retorted in anger, "Like I'm going to believe that load of horse crap!"
"It's true," Gwen countered while joining Isaac in Kori's defense, "Kori did the same thing to Isaac when we found her on Aegis 7 in cryo-stasis."
"You should've seen the it," Jeff said remembering the scene, "The moment we woke her up, she went on a rampage speaking her language until she locked lips with Isaac here. His reaction was something else. Wish I recorded."
Misty's face tensed up the moment she heard that this girl also kissed Isaac. "She… kissed him," Misty asked while pointing to Isaac, "Yeah right? What kind of girl would want to lock lips with him!?" This earned her a glare from Gwen and Kori who disliked the idea of this girl not only showing no appreciation for saving her life, but for insulting Isaac.
Then, Rei stepped forward towards Misty. "Miss And'rz here is a Zamaranian," she explained, "An extraterrestrial we are still learning about. Her complexion is due to her ability to absorb solar energy and convert it into strength and energy bolts. The act of lip contact she performed on you and Isaac allows her people to learn the languages of said people."
"So, you're saying if she kissed someone who spoke French," Kera said trying to understand what Rei was saying, "She could speak and understand French just like that?"
"Huh... That's handy," Ben said while sounding impressed, "That would make language classes a whole lot easier."
"Amazing... Such a harmonious way to exchanging cultures," Irons said while sounding enlightened, "A true sign of peaceful information exchange must be a sign of life joining the universe."
"There he goes again," Ramirez in a dead panned tone of voice.
Irons corrected, "I meant as a means of the Great Spirit connecting us all. Cherokee, remember?"
"Alright. Show and tell is over," Vincent ordered, "We need to get to the bridge before more of those Xenocromorphs find us. Everyone, stay sharp, and keep calm. Let's go."
Suddenly, more Xenecromorphs were being heard as they were charging right at them. They managed to break their squabble and mourning ready to take them on. With there being Slasher Xenecromorphs and what appeared to be, and appalling to the group, babies turned into Xenecropmorphs. Just as they were going to attack a flash of light and multiple Xenecromorphs were bisected. The closest Xenecromorphs, and Vincent's group looked and saw three men, two of them were wearing metal armor over their SIG Undersuits with a man that's just over seven feet tall and in his hands was a sword that almost as long as his body and the and about an inch thick blade. The other two men had swords as well but they were a variation of broad swords. The two of them even activated what looked like plasma shields in the shape of Tower shields. And from the two, they spoke,
"I cursed my stars, bitter grief and woe."
Rei thought, 'Poetry?'
Everyone of the group turned for the source of the voice as more of the Xenecromorphs were killed by the same way until a young man with graying red hair, pale skin, and fiery crimson eyes floated down with ease as his hand was raised as he continued,
"That made my love so high, and me so low."
He flexed his hand and the remains of the Xenecromorphs shot out impaling or knocking down the ones behind them. Angelo smiled under his helmet as he said, "Good of you to join us."
"The pleasure is all mine, my friend." The greying redhead said, greeting the giant sword wielding Warrior.
Ben had stars in his eyes as he said, "I don't believe it we have another of the W-Organization's Big Three with us. Genus!"
Gwen remembered seeing an image of the red head and noticed his lack of usual pigment as she asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Genus remained silent as he answered, vaguely, "I have a condition…"
"Genus, maybe you should sit this one out?" Angelo asked, concerned.
Genus smiled back at Angelo, "Thanks for the concern but I'm still able to fight."
Alissa narrowed her eyes annoyed by seeing the redhead as she snapped "Hey! Enough with the bromance already, you going to fight or what?"
The man's smile became a glare at her before he drew his sword, it, like Angelo's was much longer and the blade was wider than it should be. Yet he was able to wield it with no problem before stating, looking at the creatures before him. He then recited, smirking at the prospect of a fighting,
"He who desires but acts not, breeds ignorance."
He held his sword forward in a stance with both hands on the hilt and said, "…so it is written."
Angelo ran forward as he swung his large sword impressively, severing up to six of the Xenecromorphs with ease, since he was in a battle, his precognition power was activated as he leaned forward as another tried to attack him from behind before he ran it through before swinging upwards and cleaving it from the chest upwards in two.
The other Warrior moved with a grace and technique as he swung his rapier like sword around him, cutting all Xenecromorphs getting close into pieces before he jumped up into the air, and remained there before running his hand along his sword, a red aura flowing from his body, as runes appeared on the face of his blade before he released himself and dropped, sending out blades like shockwaves around him, cutting more Xenecromorphs down.
"Whoa… Ben said, surprised by how amazing two of the strongest Warriors are to take out more of the Xenecromorphs than all of them could alone.
Kori was especially wide eyed at the prowess of the two Warriors, as she said, "They are amazing."
"Don't forget there're more," Jeff said as everyone who wasn't a part of the W-Organization, went to fight the approaching Xenecromorphs.
The greying redhead finished the last of the Xenecromorphs with his telekinesis before noticing Genji. He was scooted over to a hydroponic pillar, holding a still bleeding side, as he was slowly bleeding to death. He held his sword as he approached the injured teenager. He then recited,
"O Rose, thou art sick:
The invisible worm,
Drawing his pistol from under his coat, a modern version of an old flintlock, he got closer to Genji and continued,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm,"
Everyone around turned to him and noticed the weapons in his hands. Angelo, hearing that poem before turned.
"Has found thy bed.
Of crimson Joy;"
Seeing the gun and sword in his best friend's hands hurried forward to shout, "Genus, don't!"
"And Dark secret love
Does thy life destroy."
Genji knew what would come, and looked at Genus in defiance, as he muttered in Japanese, "Fumeiyo no mae no shi."
When he got close he aimed for Genji's head and fired before anyone could stop him. Misty and Ben were horrified by what happened while Isaac was angry before shouting, "Why'd you do that!? He could've been saved!"
"We don't know how exactly these creatures are infecting the corpses, I needed to take precaution to ensure this brave young man did not suffer the same desecration as the others have…" Genus explained, holstering his gun.
Angelo dropped his sword which made a deep and loud thud before grabbing his fellow Spartan by the coat collar and said, "YOU didn't have to kill him!"
Genus remained silent as he pointed out, "What would you have done, Angelo? Would you carry him and deprive us of your considerable fighting skill? Or would you leave him here and hope one of the remaining Legionaries or Celtics came to retrieve him before he turned?"
"HE WAS A CHILD!" Angelo shouted, scaring Alissa as she never seen the man she knew so angry before.
Genus, unfazed by this said, "So were many of those turned by this infection." Meaning the ones who were once babies.
"Especially the girl and yet the hypocrite killed her to save another's life." Genus gestured to the lifeless body of Pinky, and pointed at Isaac. He looked down at Isaac with disdain, as he replied, "Yes. I know of what you did. And yet you feel guilt over something so pointless."
Genus' expression became darker as he stated, "You cannot save everyone, Angelo. You're a soldier, you should know this by know. I only did what a hero should do, like he would've."
"Adam wouldn't do this!" Angelo shouted pointing at the dead body of Genji. Genus remained silent before Angelo said, "You're condition's getting worse."
"I know." Genus admitted, while still be secretive about why his conditioning was worsening.
Gwen though, walked over and shoved at him, "I don't care what your reasoning was, the rest of us could have saved him! And my cousin Isaac only did what was necessary! And from what I saw, he didn't make it an art or take pleasure in it!"
Even DRU replied, "I have to concur with Gwen. Your thinking in your actions are rather… dubious."
Genus looked unconvinced as he walked away, his sword still in hand as he recited, moving in a tired like manner, just as Angelo last saw him on earth before enter cryosleep.
"Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return…"
Everyone began to walk head for the exit of the Botanical room. But not before looking back at Pinky's corpse one last time in sadness. Misty was still standing over her friend's body as the others began to leave. Conflicting feelings of anger and embarrassment continued to go through her as she stared at her deceased friend turned attempted murderer.
'Why Pinky,' Misty thought in sadness, 'Why did you have to crack? And why did Shepard of all people have to save me!'
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder making her jump. She saw Vincent with a stern look on her face. "Moaning a deceased friend is one thing," Vincent began to say, "But lashing out on your rescuer is another thing. You need to realize that before you lose the trust of others."
Misty looked in surprise at the Security Chief's words. Her face hardened as she looked away. "I didn't need his help," Misty defiantly said before she stared to head for the others, "I could've handled myself just fine."
"The sooner you're honest with your feelings, the better you'll feel," Vincent told Misty who stopped in her tracks, "If you wait too long, you'll be too late to make things right." Vincent said as she walked past Misty. "Trust me. You'll regret it for the rest of your life," Vincent finished as she headed for the door.
Misty stood there for a moment in thought from Vincent's words. "Honest... Yeah right," Misty said to herself, "It's already too late for that," she finished as she was about to catch up, but saw Irons walk towards her.
"You do realize he was only trying to protect you, Vasquez," he advised her, tyring to help curb her anger.
She sighed, "Yeah, I um… I know…"
But then the two looked at Pinky's corpse, as well as Hanson's and Genji's as Irons replied, "Whatever this force that's causing all this… it's making us turn on each other. If these Xenecromorphs don't kill us, then we'll end up killing each other."
And with that, the two caught up with the others, leaving the bloody mess in the Hydroponics room behind.
Next Chapter: Destroy the Monolith and Survive; Night of the Ishimura pt.5
Also, for those who don't know Spanish or Japanese, here's the translation:
Misty Spanish Ideas
¡No necesitaba tu ayuda, cobarde! ¡Y nunca lo haré! ¡Mantente alejado de mí antes de matar a más amigos!
¡Cobarde! ¡Alfeñique! - Nerd! (I didn't need your help you wimp! And I never will! You stay the hell away from me before you kill more of my friends! You wuss! Weakling! Nerd!)
Japanese
Fumeiyo no mae no shi – Death before Dishonor
Also, I say thanks to Sideways865 and Twilightnite for helping me to finish this chapter for so long.