Chapter 18
A/N: Pitter Patter, let's get at 'er! Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to another chapter in my steadily expanding universe. As some of you may have already guessed, this chapter involves the Doom Slayer infiltrating the Dead Space, and he's about to liven things up a little bit. The USG Ishimura is about to turn into a warzone! Remember that I own neither of these franchises, and enjoy!
The woman's slight giggles echoed throughout the otherwise silent halls. Each cackle bounced down the metal hallways until they faded from hearing. The woman herself was seated on the floor, propped up with her back against a metal crate and her legs spread out in front of her. Her long blonde hair was done up neatly in a bun, and her uniform was clean with the exception of a few bloodstains. Relatively speaking, she was well kempt.
The scene around her told a different story. Blood splatters covered the walls and floor in copious amounts, including the puddle she was currently sitting in. The blood had been supplied by the various other bodies that littered the room, all of which were dead. Though most of the blood was spilt in a haphazard pattern, some had been used to scribble phrases and drawings on any available surface. Some phrases could be made out, relaying cryptic messages of reckoning and despair, while some may as well have been written in another language. Even further, some scribbles appeared to hold no more meaning than what their name implied. They had only been scribbled for scribbles' sake. A few lit candles sat around the room as well, casting the already haunting scene into an even more horrific filter.
The woman took all of this in with half-lidded eyes, her giggling now evolving into whole-hearted laughter. She became louder, and her body shook with each laugh she let out. It was as though she had heard the funniest joke in all her life. Absentmindedly, she reached out with her right hand and fumbled for the object that she had laid on the floor next to her. Wrapping her fingers around the object, the woman's cackling grew to a fever pitch. She snorted due to the intensity of the laughter now, but it only seemed to make her laugh more as she placed the object under her chin.
Her laughter abruptly cut out as her head exploded. The object clattered to the floor as she went limp, but it was no concern of her's anymore. She no longer needed it, as it had served its final purpose to her.
Isaac had watched the scene unfold with horror, and now, he stood frozen in shock and despair at the woman's headless corpse as it slumped to the floor. He had tried to reach out and stop her when she picked up the gun, but he had not reacted quickly enough. Now, she was just another corpse on the USG Ishimura, and unfortunately for Isaac, there was only one thing he could do to help her now.
Taking out his plasma-cutter-now-turned-Necromorph-dismemberer, Isaac expended four rounds to remove the deceased woman's limbs from her body. He did the same to the other bodies in the room. Doing so may have been considered desecrating the corpses, but Isaac knew that if he left them as they were, he would condemn them to a fate far worse than death and dismemberment. These flying "Infector" forms, as Isaac had learned to call them, would attempt to turn a corpse into a Necromorph as long as it at least had one limb still remained, no matter if the head was still attached or not.
Isaac stepped back as he finished cutting the limbs from the corpses, honored the dead with a brief moment of silence, then leaned down and picked up a small Nav card from a puddle of blood. That was the last one, and Isaac sighed from inside his helmet as he inspected the card in his hand.
He turned to leave, tucking the Nav card safely into his suit with the other two, but he was stopped short as someone opened up a communications link with his RIG. Isaac was expecting Kendra with a status report, but the voice that came through was a far less welcome one. It belonged to Dr. Challus Mercer, one of the few surviving members of the Ishimura's Crew, and the one who had been trying to kill Isaac ever since he stepped on board.
"This time there will be no escape for you, my friend. You have been most resourceful up until now, but my creation is free, reborn in the fierce heat of life itself! Now it's time to play your part..."
His creation? Oh shi…
Isaac instinctively ran as the air vent above him burst open. Isaac did not need to turn around, as he already knew from its distinctive roar what had come through. It was a Necromorph, but not just any Necromorph. No, this one was a personal creation of Dr. Mercer himself, a Necromorph with a regenerative ability that canceled out any damage Isaac could do to it.
The Hunter.
Standing at least a head taller than Isaac, the beast was a frightening sight even without its regenerative abilities. Like most Necromorph variants, two absurdly long arms sprouted from its shoulder blades, each one turning into a sharp blade made of bone at the end. The blades themselves were ideal for cutting through humans, and that made them rather bothersome for Isaac. Like all Necromorphs, the Hunter too had once been human, but it was difficult to realize that truth when Isaac saw its form. It had been mutated beyond recognizability, and the only characteristic that it shared with humans now was that it walked on two legs.
Accessing the door in front of him, Isaac frantically ducked into the lounge. A place that the residents of Block C must have once used to relax after a long day.
If only…
As Isaac ran into the room, his RIG comms opened up again, and he was thankful to hear Kendra's voice.
"Isaac, that son of a bitch just overrode the door lock! Hang on, I'll try to run a bypass!"
Perfect.
That meant that Isaac was now stuck in the lounge with the Hunter, and from the screeching he could hear from the vents, they were about to have company. Isaac danced backward as the Hunter made to slash at him, and he took out his plasma cutter again. With an aim that had grown steadily better during his time on this god-forsaken ship, Isaac placed two shots directly into the monster's right leg, severing the limb and causing the Hunter to crash to the ground. For good measure, Isaac emptied two more shots into its left leg, crippling it even further. Without any wasted time, Isaac then activated his stasis module and cast it onto the already regenerating creature. A blue glow enshrouded the beast, slowing its personal time to a crawl. Now not only did it now move at the speed of a snail, but its regeneration did as well, giving Isaac time to deal with the oncoming Necromorphs before it healed.
As Isaac turned, a Slasher jumped down from the vents above, immediately followed by a Lurker, a smaller but no less annoying Necromorph variant. Isaac immediately switched to his line gun, another mining tool-turned-weapon, and fired at the Lurker as three ropy tentacles sprouted from its back. His timing had been perfect, and the long plasma bolt cut through all three tentacles at once, killing the Lurker in the process.
With no time to feel good about his efficient kill, Isaac jumped out of the way as the slasher charged at him. He switched weapons once more, pulling out the RC-DS. Short for Remote Control Disk Saw, this was yet another mining tool that Isaac had used his engineering skills to mold into a Necromorph killing machine. However, this weapon was different from the plasma cutter and line gun, as it was originally designed to saw through tough rock at a somewhat safe distance. Basic operation involved pointing the RC-DS at the rock you intended to cut through and pulling the trigger. A disk saw would then extend from the main body and spin at roughly 17,000 RPM at a set distance away, which was maintained by a miniature gravity tether outfitted to the main body of the tool. Despite the distance between the user and the rock that needed cut, the RC-DS was still an unsafe machine for beginners to handle, as the speed of the blade combined with its relatively few safety features made it all too easy for young miners to lose fingers or even entire limbs while operating it.
Isaac, however, was anything but inexperienced, and he had quickly discovered that the RC-DS cut through Necromorphs with great ease compared to rock and minerals. This had earned it a spot as one of his go-to weapons for close range, as a few seconds of contact with the saw once it was fired would render all but the toughest Necromorphs into a pile of ground meat.
Which is exactly what it did. The Slasher that had charged Isaac fell into a bloody pulp on the floor, and only when it stopped twitching did Isaac cease his intense saw-cutting. Looking over his shoulder, Isaac saw that the stasis effect on the Hunter was wearing off, and the beast had almost completely regenerated severed legs. Isaac spared a glance at the door to see that Kendra still had yet to bypass the door lock. He was still trapped with the Hunter, and he could hear more Necromorphs moving through the vents.
With a grunt of disdain, Isaac fired another sawblade and sliced through all four limbs of the Hunter, which roared in pain and fell again. Isaac held the blade steady as he continued slicing and lacerating he monster's body as it regrew. It was quickly turning into a competition as Isaac struggled to keep the limbs from regenerating with the saw. They were regrowing almost as fast as he could cut them off, and he knew that he would either have to run or use his stasis module again when the RC-DS needed to be reloaded. Or if he had to turn and contend with more Necromorphs.
Suddenly, his RIG comms opened again, and Kendra's voice came through.
"Okay, I bypassed the lock! Get out of there!"
Isaac didn't need to be told twice. Turning on his heel, he bolted for the door to the cargo lift as it slid open. He punched the button, and the doors slid closed just as the Necromorphs began poured from the vents.
Isaac breathed a sigh of relief but was instantly back on alert as another voice came through his comms.
"Excellent work Mr. Clarke! Now…come and meet me in the Executive area. The door is unlocked. Be quick."
That voice belonged to none other than Dr. Kyne, who was a survivor from the ship like Dr. Mercer. But unlike Mercer, Dr. Kyne seemed more willing to help Isaac than his devout counterpart. Despite that, the doctor seemed to be obsessed with the artifact, the…Marker that Isaac kept hearing about. He had said that he wanted to return it, and he desperately had implored Isaac to help him. Isaac wasn't sure as to whether he could trust Dr. Kyne or not, and Kendra echoed his concerns as she contacted him through his RIG.
"Isaac, be careful with Dr. Kyne. A lot of what I have discovered so far has come from his records…the man has clearly gone insane. He might be unstable, maybe even violent…"
Isaac recalled the video log he had seen earlier. Dr. Kyne had attempted to sedate the captain but had ended up piercing his cranium with the syringe instead. Whether or not he had meant to, the blood of the Ishimura's captain was on Kyne's hands.
"And Isaac, I'm not sure what it is, but something is happening on the other side of the ship. I can hear it from here. Whatever it is, it's making a lot of noise and drawing the Necromorphs to it. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but just be careful."
Isaac frowned and thought about what she had said.
Something is drawing the Necromorphs away? Was it another survivor? Or were the monsters planning something?
Isaac's thoughts immediately drifted to Nicole, who was still somewhere on board the ship. He had seen her with his own eyes, but he could not reach her. They had parted ways reluctantly, but Isaac knew that if she had survived that long, then she could survive just a little bit longer. She was tough.
Isaac smiled fondly.
The doors to the lift opened, and Isaac stepped into the Executive area. As he walked in, he saw a man standing with his back to him, too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice the sound of Isaac entering the room. As Isaac drew closer, the man began to pace, and his muttering grew louder.
"Amelia, I knew that you would know what to do, I knew…I love you so…"
The man stopped his pacing and seemingly noticed Isaac for the first time. The man turned toward Isaac, relief flooding his features, and Isaac gazed upon Dr. Kyne in person for the first time.
"You made it!" Dr. Kyne said, relief dripping from his words. "Thank god, you made it…"
The doctor took a few breaths to steady himself, then continued.
"I've been following your progress. I know you want to repair the Executive shuttle and leave this place, but…escape is impossible at this point. The shuttle's shockpoint drive is destroyed!"
Son of a…
"No no no no no! Don't lose hope!" Dr. Kyne quickly added, throwing his hands out in what Isaac supposed was an attempt at a soothing gesture.
"Don't…lose hope. At first…at first I lost hope…"
The doctor began to pace again, speaking almost more to himself than Isaac, who watched him quietly. Isaac doubted he could get a word in even if he wanted to.
"I tried to scuttle the ship, sabotage the systems…but Amelia…she changed things."
Isaac had no idea who this Amelia person was supposed to be, but he let the mad doctor continue his ramblings.
"The church!" Dr. Kyne suddenly cried out, anger creeping into his voice. "They think the Marker is divine, but they don't know what's happened here! What's been released! Look, look, look…look at this…"
Dr. Kyne fumbled with his RIG for a moment before a holo-vid sprung to life between the two of them. At first, all Isaac could see was a man on the screen, then suddenly, the man ran as the camera focused on a massive creature that had appeared over the horizon. Isaac couldn't get the best estimate from the video, but the monster must have been at least as tall as a skyscraper. Maybe even bigger…
Isaac was glad that he had his helmet to cover his shocked expression.
"That is what we found…" Dr. Kyne said as the video disappeared. "…in the core of the planet…Mercer calls it the Hive Mind. It's the source…controlling the Necromorphs telepathically. We were so STUPID! But Amelia, she knew! She knew it could be stopped…by returning the Marker to the planet! The Marker was containing it within the planet. Return the Marker, and we seal the Hive Mind!"
Dr. Kyne's voice then dropped to a whisper. Isaac could barely hear him. It was as though the doctor had suddenly lost all of his strength. He began to pace again.
"Please…I'm sorry Amelia…I bear much of the responsibility for this tragedy. Now, I must take responsibility for ending it, and atone for my sins. But you can help me…"
Doctor Kyne weakly pointed to Isaac.
"If you repair the shuttle and bring the Marker back on board…We can end this. Forever."
Dr. Kyne then gestured to a door at the back of the room. Isaac followed his finger, then wordlessly strode away, leaving the doctor behind.
Kendra was right, the doctor was clearly insane. But if what he said was true, if they could truly end this threat by returning the Marker to the planet. Then Isaac had no choice but to try. He knew that if this infestation somehow made it to Earth…he didn't even want to think about it.
The door led to another cargo lift, which Isaac took to the shuttle bay. He encountered no Necromophs along the way, and he again wondered if he should be relieved or worried. Either way, Isaac made sure to make the most of the time he had now. Rushing into the shuttle, Isaac inserted the Nav cards and began programming the preflight sequence.
Suddenly, he began to hear noises coming from the way he came. He instantly recognized the sounds of Necromorph screams from the cargo lift, and he immediately raised his plasma cutter, all three lasers pointing at the door. There were a few loud bangs from behind the door, then everything fell silent.
Then, the door opened. And out stepped a humanoid figure in a green suit of armor. The lift behind the figure showed signs of a Necromorph massacre, and the figure itself was covered with Necromorph blood.
The figure locked its gaze on Isaac immediately, and Isaac got a sudden shiver as the suit stared him down. The sights of the plasma cutter were still focused intently on its chest, and Isaac breathed for a moment before slowly lowering his weapon.
Just who is this? Did one of the personnel onboard the Valor survive after all? No…that can't be right…the armor doesn't match. Is this the person that the Necromorphs were drawn to?
Isaac had been so rattled by the stranger's appearance that he failed to notice that the stranger too had a weapon, which it held close by its side. Isaac leaned to get a closer look and saw with surprise that though it looked like an ordinary bullet rifle, it appeared to have a chainsaw in place of a bayonet. Isaac's surprise quickly turned into thoughtfulness, however, as he quickly pictured how useful a chainsaw bayonet could be. The effectiveness of it could be argued however, as that weapon most likely weighed a ton. Not only was it a large automatic rifle, but it also had a chainsaw integrated into its chassis, meaning that the wielder was carrying the weight of a rifle and a chainsaw at the same time. That would make you tire quickly.
As the stranger approached Isaac, however, he noted that this mysterious person appeared to have no issues with handling the weapon's above average weight.
The stranger stopped just a few feet from Isaac, and they both sized each other up. Isaac supposed they were both roughly the same height, but in terms of gear, Isaac couldn't help but feel outclassed. They both wore helmets that obstructed their views of each other's faces, but the stranger's armor almost seemed to radiate indestructibility. It clearly wasn't like the RIG that Isaac was wearing, as it carried no health indicator on the back, and was of an entirely different make and model than anything Isaac had ever seen.
Neither of them felt the need to speak, and Isaac was surprisingly okay with that. They both seemed to understand the situation that they were in, and though Isaac doubted that the stranger knew about the Marker or their plan to return it, he was sure that Dr. Kyne would be more than happy to explain it again.
Looking over the figure again, Isaac decided for simplicity's sake to just assume that there was a man under that suit. If his guess was incorrect, he or she could beat him up for it later. Either way, it still didn't change the fact that the figure seemed to impose badassery onto Isaac as he continued his work on the shuttle. He couldn't quite explain it, but he just knew that this stranger didn't take shit from anyone, and if anyone crossed his path, they would not live to regret it. Isaac was now 99 percent sure that this guy was the thing that all the Necromorphs had been drawn to. They seemed to sense living aura, and this guy's was overwhelming. Isaac imagined with some humor that the two of them together probably stood out like a beacon to the undead swarming throughout the ship.
Wait a second…
Isaac jumped up just as the first Necromorph scream came from the vents. Then in the span of a second, the screams were all around as Necromorph after Necromorph surged from every possible entrance to the hanger. Isaac had never seen so many in one place.
Switching to his line gun again, Isaac instinctively stood back to back against the stranger, and before the two of them could exchange a look, the Necromorphs were upon them.
What happened next could only be described as the goriest minutes of Isaac's life. The stranger had turned into nothing short of a whirlwind of destruction. Using the rifle in combination with the chainsaw bayonet to drop the Necromorphs as quickly as they came. Isaac didn't know wheather the stranger knew to target the limbs or not, but it didn't matter. The stranger ripped most of the Necromorphs apart anyway. It seemed to be his fighting style. Whatever the Necromorphs dished out, the stranger gave back tenfold. It was as though it was personal for the stranger, and even though it looked as though he had declared war on the Necromorphs, Isaac saw it more as one-sided extermination.
That was not to say that Isaac stood idly by. No, the Necromorphs were pressing in on all sides, and that meant that Isaac was dead if he didn't fight back. He himself kept himself alive by switching weapons when one ran out of ammo. It was far quicker than reloading, as he knew that if he stopped to reload, the Necromorphs would overwhelm him. The stranger gauged Isaac's abilities well, and always seemed to know when to come to his aid when it seemed like the monsters were going to breach his defense.
Before Isaac new it, the Necromorphs stopped pouring in, and the two of them were cleaning up any survivors among the bodies. Arms, legs, and torsos littered the floor from the bloodshed they had both imparted, even though Isaac knew that most of the bodies had been the stranger's doing, not his. It was like the stranger was made to kill Necromorphs, and his passion when doing so was unparalleled.
Isaac suddenly heard an all-to-familiar roar from the other end of the hanger. The Hunter had returned.
The beast was lurching toward them, not running but approaching fast enough. Isaac could see its glowing eyes, and he wondered if even the stranger would be able to keep it at bay for long…
Isaac's eyes widened as the stranger suddenly pulled another weapon out. It was more modern in its design over the previous one, as it glowed with a vibrant red energy. Isaac realized that the weapon closely resembled the schematics for a mass-driver, which were the weapons used by ADS systems on ships such as these to blast apart incoming asteroids.
The stranger fired the weapon, and a bright red beam burst forth, blasting the Hunter in half down the middle.
Holy shit, it IS a miniature mass driver.
There could be no other explanation as to how a weapon of that design worked. But Isaac was even more surprised as he stared at the two pieces of the Hunter. Instead of beginning to reform, the Hunter's body was now undergoing a disintegration. Starting from the point of severance, the organic mass that constituted the Hunter was decaying into a fine red dust. The rate of decay was far greater than the Hunter's rate of regeneration, and the beast cried out as its entire body was consumed by ash.
Within a few seconds, only dust remained of the Hunter. Isaac could hardly believe it.
That specific Necromorph had been stalking him nearly the entire time that he had been on this damn ship, and not once had he ever come close to killing it. The best thing he could do was freeze it in the hopes of incapacitating it, but even then, it had been set free again by Dr. Mercer, and Isaac had always wondered if the next time he met that thing would be his last.
And yet, the stranger had killed it with one shot. The stranger probably considered it to be no more hassle than swatting a fly. Isaac looked at the stranger, and finally realized just what he was looking at.
This guy wasn't a mere man, or machine or monster or whatever was under that armor. Maybe he was in reality, but to Isaac, to the Necromorphs, to anyone that encountered him, he was more comparable to a force. Or maybe a law. Or a universal constant, even.
In actuality, Isaac knew that he probably was not infinitely indestructible, but he may as well have been.
When no one can oppose you, who is to say that you are not God?
…
Isaac was still pondering the stranger's strength when Dr. Kyne entered the hangar. Isaac watched as he approached.
Dr. Kyne spared the stranger a curious glance.
"Who is this...? Nevermind. It doesn't matter…the more help we can get the better."
Kyne turned and examined the shuttle.
"It works? Yes, this will work! There's still time to make things right! The shuttle needs to be released before launch…The Control Platform…there!"
Dr. Kyne gestured to the main console of to the side of the hangar.
"I need you to guide the undocking procedure while I start the shuttle's engines. This will make us whole again…"
Isaac frowned at those words. Nicole had said something similar…
Make us whole again…what did that mean?
One glance at the stranger showed that he knew just as much as Isaac did about it, and Isaac decided to shrug it off for now. It wasn't important.
"Hurry!" Dr. Kyne said as he rushed into the shuttle, disappearing from sight. "I'll take the shuttle up to the Flight Deck. That's where the Marker is being held!"
Isaac turned and went to the console. Setting his weapon aside, he began typing commands for the shuttle's movement. In just a few short moments, an alarm sounded, and the shuttle slowly began descending through the floor. The two of them watched it go. Dr. Kyne's voice came through Isaac's RIG.
"I'm en route to the Flight Deck. Meet me there, and we can load the Marker on board. Yes, Amelia. Soon, we'll take it home…"
Isaac had no idea how it was happening, but he could tell that the stranger was receiving the exact same messages as he was. It should not have been possible without a RIG uplink, but then again, this guy was redefining the border between possible and impossible.
Hell, even Necromorphs had seemed impossible a few hours ago. And now look around…
Kendra's voice came through next.
"I don't know if Kyne is crazy or not, but we need that shuttle. Let's keep him on our side…for now. And uh…I see you've made a new friend, Isaac. Very nice."
Isaac nodded wordlessly, even though he knew Kendra couldn't see the motion.
It was very nice indeed.
All of a sudden, Kendra' voice cut out, and a video transmission abruptly forced its way up from Isaac's RIG. They both stopped and examined the transmission. Dr. Mercer's face started back at them.
"Your time has come, my friends. No need to be frightened! No reason to fight! Many have gone before us, and now it's time for us to take the voyage together, transcend death… and let the future take its course. Join me, as I gaze upon the face of God!"
Just what was he getting at this time?
The screen zoomed out slightly as Dr. Mercer fell to his knees with is arms open wide in an accepting gesture. Isaac saw an Infector form fly into view towards Dr. Mercer—
The transmission cut out.
But Isaac and the stranger both knew what was happening. Mercer had taken his 'grand step' to enlightenment. He had finally achieved that 'true freedom' that he had so been looking forward to. Isaac shook his head as the two of them walked to the exit, and that's when he heard it. He had thought he had recognized the background of the video transmission.
Isaac shared a glance with the stranger, then opened the door.
The scene that greeted them was Dr. Mercer, if he could still be called that. The Infector form was latched on top of his head, and though neither of them could see his face, they both knew that the transformation had already begun.
The stranger reached out and separated the Infector form from Dr. Mercer. There was a wet ripping noise, then the stranger tore both of the wings off of the flying beast. The trauma killed the Necromorph instantly, but Dr. Mercer's half transformed corpse writhed on the ground, gasping and screeching violently. Isaac silenced him with his plasma cutter, ending the fanatic's life. After all that had happened, Dr. Mercer was finally dead.
Isaac supposed he should have felt elated at the fact, as the man had attempted to kill him numerous times today. But all Isaac could feel was remorse.
Remorse for a man who had believed so strongly in something that he could never achieve. A man that was so blinded by his ideals that he could not fathom the atrocities that he had committed. And now, a man that had died never knowing that it had all been a lie. A man as blissfully ignorant in death as he had been in life.
Sparing a glance to the stranger, Isaac saw that he was looking at the corpse of Dr. Mercer as well. Isaac couldn't see his face, but he thought he could see a hint recognition in his posture. It almost seemed as though the stranger had seen a similar scenario unfold before and was annoyed and dejected to see it happen again. After a brief moment of silence, the two of them boarded the lift and went down to the Hangar Bay.
…
The two of them emerged onto the flight deck just as Dr. Kyne opened a transmission.
"Gentlemen, I'm approaching the hangar, the Marker itself is being stored in the Cargo Bay. There is a lift you can use to deliver it to the shuttle. I…thank you for your help…this is the only way…"
Isaac and the stranger wordlessly went to where the Marker was being held. The door to the Cargo Bay opened, and the hey both froze when the saw the artifact for the first time.
The bright red Marker was shaped like a double-helix. Two twin spires that wound together with grooves and symbols that certainly seemed to be of alien origin. Isaac felt uneasy looking at the Marker, but the stranger seemed angry. Somehow, Isaac knew that the stranger wanted to destroy it on sight, but he held out his arm and shook his head. The stranger looked from him to the Marker for a few moments, then shook his head and relaxed slightly.
Kendra's voice came on over the comms.
"I'm heading up to the flight deck now. Oh god…I'm just going to run for it…wish me luck."
Good luck.
The stranger nodded, then the two of them moved the cart containing the Marker along the track back to the Hangar Bay. The stranger had wordlessly offered to push the cart, but Isaac had insisted, choosing to use his Kinesis module instead to transport the load.
The stranger seemed greatly intrigued by the Kinesis module, which gave Isaac a hint of satisfaction. With the stranger's overwhelming strength and brutality, Isaac thought it was nice to have a super power of his own to show off.
Soon the two of them had positioned the Marker right underneath the shuttle dock. No Necromorphs had attacked during their transportation of the artifact, which was likely due to the massacre that had thinned their numbers in the shuttle bay.
Shortly after Isaac pushed it into place, the Hangar Bay doors opened, and the shuttle came through.
"Well done," came Dr. Kyne's voice over the comms. "All that's left to do now is to let the automatic loading process do its work."
Finally, something seemed to be going right.
Isaac was then forced to eat his words as a series of roars and screeches came from the other end of the Hangar Bay.
Necromorphs, and lots of them.
The stranger caught Isaac's eye and gestured to the shuttle. Isaac understood immediately.
Got it, you protect the marker, and I'll look after the doctor.
Isaac turned and ran up to the shuttle dock as the stranger opened fire on the Necromorphs below. There were not as many as last time, but Isaac knew better than to let his guard down now, not when they were so close.
As Isaac ran to the shuttle, he saw Dr. Kyne standing on the dock. The ramp to the shuttle was ready, and all that was left to do was to board and go down to the planet.
"Over here!" Dr. Kyne waved his arms as Isaac approached. "Hurry! There's no time to waste, we must do it—"
A shot rang out, and Dr. Kyne staggered as his chest erupted with blood. Isaac's eyes opened wide in surprise as Dr. Kyne fell to his knees on the dock, choking on his own fluids. Isaac picked up his speed, but the shuttle was already taking off. Someone was leaving, and they were taking the Marker with them.
Isaac reached Dr. Kyne, who was focused on the hole that had appeared in his chest. Isaac didn't even have to examine the wound to know that Dr. Kyne wasn't going to make it. The bullet had pierced his heart, and the doctor's life force was fading fast.
"Wait…" Dr. Kyne said weakly. Isaac leaned down to hear him speak, but it seemed as though the doctor was addressing neither him nor the person leaving with the shuttle.
"Amelia…where…where are you going…wait…
The doctor reached out with one hand, attempting to grasp for something that Isaac could not see, then finally breathed his last. Dr. Kyne fell onto his side and moved no more. Isaac watched helplessly as his only ticket home took off, leaving him and the stranger behind in the hanger bay.
The stranger ran up beside him. The Necromorphs down below were all dead, and the stranger looked from Isaac to the shuttle to Dr. Kyne's body in confusion. Isaac had no answers. Someone had just hijacked their ride.
A video transmission opened up on Isaac's RIG. Kendra's face appeared from the bridge of the shuttle.
"Sorry, boys. I couldn't let him go through with it. I suppose I should thank him for finding the Marker. We even managed without help from the USM Valor. Thank you for helping me find it, by the way. My department's been looking for this place for a long time. See, what Kyne didn't know was, it was the government's mess to begin with. This whole planet is one big experiment."
The two of them watched silently, it was all they could do.
"The Marker?" Kendra continued. "This 'divine relic'? Made by man. They reverse-engineered it a couple of hundred years ago from the real Marker, a true alien artifact recovered on Earth. They dug it up, studied it, and made it their own. Then they brought it to Aegis-7 and activated it. And you both have seen the result."
Isaac heard the stranger tighten his grip on his weapon. It didn't take a genius to see that he was furious.
"The stuff of nightmares," Kendra said with a nod, as if she could read the stranger's expression. "They sealed the system, and no one would have been the wiser. But then the CEC blunders in and starts tearing the planet apart. The experiment was still alive. Kyne was right about the Hive Mind. The Marker would contain it…but that doesn't matter now, does it? I have the Marker, and this entire system can go to hell."
There was a pause.
"For what it's worth, you two did a great job. See you around…Or maybe not."
The comm went dead.
Isaac shook his head. Their only ticket off this ship was gone. There was nothing left. They were stuck. Isaac jumped and turned his head as the stranger slammed his fist into the metal wall beside them. It left a sizable hole, but Isaac didn't care anymore. This was their grave now.
Isaac jumped again when his RIG comms opened up. Nicole's face appeared. God, she looked beautiful. But her voice was frantic.
"Isaac! It's Nicole! I need you to help me, help us! Now! I'm…I'm in the flight control room! Please, Isaac hurry! Please…I love you…"
Isaac looked at the stranger who looked back in confusion. Isaac made a gesture with his head and ran back to the control room. The stranger watched him for a second, then followed closely behind.
…
Isaac ran into the control room, breathing hard. Looking around frantically, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. She looked back at him, relief painting her angelic features.
"Isaac! Is that really you? I never thought we'd be together again! God, I'm…I'm so sorry for what I did…I never wanted to hurt you…"
Isaac shook his head as he approached her. None of that mattered now. They had found each other again, and that was what was important. He stopped and embraced Nicole, finally feeling her warmth after so long. It was so good to hold her again. She felt like a lifeline among the sea of dead and zombified carnage that was the Ishimura. Isaac didn't want to let go.
"You need to get it back now, Isaac," Nicole said from his shoulder. Isaac reluctantly stepped back and tilted his head questioningly.
"You can pilot the shuttle remotely from here! Make us whole again! Make us whole again…"
Isaac wanted to ask what she meant by that, but the stranger suddenly entered the control room. He had stayed behind to deal with a few Necromorphs while Isaac had charged ahead to see Nicole.
Now Isaac watched as the stranger approached, but he didn't even seem to notice Nicole, so Isaac figured introductions were taking a back seat. Approaching the console, Isaac initiated the recall sequence to the shuttle, sending out a gravity tether to bring the shuttle back to the Ishimura.
Isaac's RIG opened a comm line, as the gravity tether activated.
"Isaac, what the hell are you doing?!" came Kendra's enraged voice. "You're making a big mistake! This is not over!"
A notification arrived from the console. Kendra had just used an escape pod to leave the shuttle. She was getting away.
"It doesn't matter," said Nicole from Isaac's side. "She can't escape her fate…None of us can."
Isaac ignored the fact that what she said was rather cryptic, as he was still just relieved to have found her again. The hangar bay doors opened, and in came the shuttle. It was running on autopilot.
"Here it comes! I'll reprogram the shuttle so we can fly down to the colony. We're so close, Isaac. Now go! Get on the shuttle! I'll meet you there!"
Isaac spared Nicole one last glance, then turned to the stranger, who nodded in understanding. Isaac nodded back. It was time to finish this.
Together, Isaac and the stranger cleared out any and all Necromorphs on the way to the shuttle, and before long, the three of them had boarded and initiated the takeoff sequence.
Isaac and Nicole took their seats in the pilot and co-pilot's chair, and the stranger stood close behind them.
"You're doing the right thing, Isaac," Nicole said. She reached out her hand, and Isaac grasped it from beside her. "We're together now, the way it always should have been. I knew you would come back for me. Nothing can stop us now…"
Isaac looked over to her, taking in her features yet again, then spared another glance back to the stranger, who was looking at him with a confused posture. The silent figure kept looking from Isaac to Nicole, seemingly not understanding what was going on.
I'll explain it all later. Hopefully we'll all be alive to talk about it then…
The stranger seemed to get the message, and then focused on maintaining his weaponry while Isaac began to pilot the shuttle. Soon, they had left the Ishimura and were making their way down to the colony, Marker in tow. They were close now.
…
Isaac stretched his limbs as he stepped off the shuttle and onto the planet. Gazing upon the landscape for the first time, Isaac almost preferred the Ishimura. Almost…
The land around him was reminiscent of a barren wasteland. Nothing but sand and rock could be seen for miles. All that was here was the colony, the giant metal compound which supplied the landside gravity tether to hold the massive weight of rock that the Ishimura was mining. Carrying the trillions of tons of rock took quite a bit of power, and that meant that there needed to be two sets of gravity tethers to hold it in place above the planet. One set came from the Ishimura herself, and the other set came from the colony. If either one of those failed…
Isaac shook those thoughts from his head as he began the process of unloading the Marker onto a cargo cart. The stranger stood by, scanning the area. Nicole was to stay behind and wait for them to put the Marker back on its pedestal. Once that happened, they were to hurry back to the shuttle and get away from this hellhole. The only problem was that the Marker pedestal was on the other side of the colony, meaning that the two of them had to take it through an area that no doubt had a great number of Necromorphs.
Isaac took a deep breath as he activated his Kinesis module and began to pull the Marker along the track and deeper into the colony. The stranger walked ahead of him, standing as his first line of defense.
…
Over the course of the next hour, the two of them battled their way through the colony of Aegis-7. Isaac used one hand on the Kinesis module and the other on his plasma cutter as support, but the stranger was the one that culled most of the horde. The going was slow, but considering that there was only two of them and a seemingly infinite number of Necromorphs, Isaac was sure that this was at least par for the course.
At one point, the two of them had to stop so that Isaac could repair a few bridges that were blocking their way. That meant that the two of them had to leave the Marker for a moment to go to the bridge control room. When they had returned, a Necromorph Brute had been waiting for them. The heavily armored beast had charged at the two of them, but the stranger had easily overpowered the monster, ripping its arms from its body as though it were tissue paper. Isaac was once again awestruck by the sheer power that this man wielded, and was once again thankful that they were on the same side.
Soon, the two of them had arrived at the pedestal, which seemed to be constructed of the same material as the Marker. This was it. After everything they had been through, they could finally stop the Necromorph attacks and go home. Isaac slumped his shoulders, he hadn't realized just how exhausted he was. This day had asked more out of him than every day of his life combined. How could he just return home after this? How would anyone ever believe him and Nicole if they told them all that had happened?
Shaking those thoughts from his head, Isaac pulled the cart up to the pedestal and activated the return sequence. A pair of metal arms reached out, and carefully grasping the Marker, lifted it back onto the pedestal.
There was a pause, then the Marker suddenly burst to life, coating itself in a bright red energy and firing a thick red beam into the sky. Isaac shielded his eyes from the sight, but looked back when he heard a voice from next to the Marker. It was Nicole's voice.
She was standing next to the Marker as it hummed with energy. Her face seemed to be at peace, but Isaac stared back at her with confusion.
Did she follow us here? What's happening?
"Thank you, Isaac. I always believed in you. I knew you would return to me."
Isaac stared at Nicole, dumbfounded.
"We are whole again, Isaac."
"We are whole…"
Nicole…wait!
But she was gone. She disappeared in a flash of red light, then the bright red energy dissipated, leaving only the Marker. Smoke arose from the artifact, and Isaac didn't know what to think. His eyes desperately searched for Nicole's form, but she was nowhere to be found.
In the back of his head, he heard the alarm over the colony's emergency systems.
"EMERGENCY: GEO-ORBITAL GRAVITY TETHERS OFFLINE. TECTONIC LOAD RELEASED. IMPACT IMMINENT. EVACUATE THIS AREA IMMEDIATELY.
Isaac's mind was in a daze, and he hardly noticed as the stranger grabbed him by his shoulder and hauled him into a nearby decontamination chamber. The metal shutters closed over the glass, and the decontamination sequence began. Isaac stood there, trying to make sense of things, but a voice pulled him from his stupor.
"Isaac, Isaac…"
The shutters opened, and through the glass stood Kendra. Her hand was on her hip, and she was smirking at the two of them.
"You really didn't think I was just going to walk away, did you? I can't do that."
Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac saw the Marker being removed from its pedestal and placed back on the cart. Once it was loaded, the cart began moving, back the way they had come from. Back to the shuttle. Kendra gestured with her head.
"The Marker is coming with me. It's a shame…I was starting to like you. Even if you are insane."
Isaac shook his head at her.
What the hell is she talking about?
"What? You don't believe me? Take a look for yourself. Better yet, take a look at that video from Nicole. And this time…watch it right until the end."
Isaac frowned, but he hesitantly pulled up the video that he had watched countless times by now. Nicole's beautiful face appeared on the screen.
"Isaac, It's me. I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just…talk to someone. It's all falling apart here. I can't believe what's happening…It's strange…such a little thing…"
Isaac expected it to end there, just like it always did. But it didn't. Nicole stayed on the screen, and Isaac felt his chest constrict as he saw the rest of her message for the first time.
"In the end, it all comes down to this one little thing…"
Nicole raised her hand in the video, and Isaac stared in horror as he saw a syringe in her hand.
No…please no…
"I didn't want it to end like this. I really wanted to see you again, just once. I loved you. I always loved you."
Isaac stared, unable to tear his eyes away from the screen as Nicole plunged the syringe into her arm. Her body went limp, and the transmission ended.
Isaac fell to one knee. His head in his hand. He shook his head violently, desperately trying to wake up from this nightmare.
No…Nicole…I tried; I really did! I tried to save you!
Isaac was frantic, hopelessly trying to rationalize the situation he was in. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and there stood the stranger. With a start, Isaac realized that everything he had seen, every time he thought Nicole was with him…All a fluke…all an apparition. That was why the stranger had been so confused when Isaac had been with her. Why he had never paid Nicole any attention…
It was because she had never been there. Isaac had been living a lie, but the stranger had been the one seeing the truth. Nicole was never there.
"See?" Kendra said through the glass. "You're insane. Just like Kyne, just like the Captain. Nicole has been dead this whole time. Whatever you were seeing…It was caused by that."
Kendra gestured to the Marker.
"You were its pawn, Isaac. But don't worry. It will be in good hands, now. Far away from this damned place."
The stranger punched the glass with his armored gauntlet, causing cracks to spider-web out from the point of impact. On the other side, Isaac saw Kendra flinch backward a step, but she smirked when the glass held.
"Nice try, tough guy. But that glass is designed to stop—"
Kendra's head exploded as the stranger's miniature mass driver fired through the glass. Her body dropped to the floor, and immediately began disintegrating like anything else that had been shot by that weapon. Isaac stared for a moment, then shook it off as the stranger hauled him to his feet. It was just them now. The last two survivors of the USG Ishimura.
The stranger grasped Isaac by his shoulder and tilted its head questioningly. Isaac knew what he was asking. And he nodded back.
I'll be alright. I'm ok.
The stranger seemed satisfied, and Isaac quickly remembered that over a trillion tons of rock was about to crush them from space. Without another word, the two of them bolted from the decontamination room and hauled ass back to the shuttle. They ignored any straggling Necromorphs, as their only plan to get off this rock as quickly as possible.
A few doors later, the shuttle came into view. The two of them ran towards it, but immediately stopped short as a massive tentacle appeared from the abyss and slammed itself down in front of them, blocking the way. Isaac followed the tentacle with his gaze, and suddenly stumbled as a seismic rumbling shuddered throughout the colony. The stranger caught his arm and helped him steady himself, but the rumbling continued.
It's here…
With an ear-shattering roar, a gargantuan biomass emerged from the chasm below. Tentacles sprouted like bus-sized tree branches from its main mass, and Isaac could see a grotesque mouth at the creature's head.
It was the Hive Mind. The same Hive Mind that Dr. Kyne had showed Isaac back on the ship. It was even bigger than Isaac had expected.
The stranger immediately opened fire with his mass driver, but the massive bulk of the Hive Mind seemed hardly affected by the beam's effects. Isaac followed suit with his plasma cutter, but the two of them were quickly forced to duck out of the way as a massive tentacle slammed into the ground where they had been standing.
The stranger then pulled out a rocket launcher and began bombarding the creature with rockets, drawing its attention momentarily. Isaac switched to his RC-DS, and immediately got to work trying to saw through the tentacle that blocked their access to the shuttle.
Unfortunately, his back was turned to the Hive Mind, and Isaac failed to notice as another tentacle set upon him. By the time he turned around, it was too late. The tentacle knocked the wind out of him as it slapped him in the chest, and Isaac flew a few feet before tumbling to the ground. The tentacle wrapped around his ankle, and Isaac grunted in pain as the tight grip caused something to snap.
The tentacle hoisted him high into the air, Isaac desperately dropping his RC-DS and reaching for his plasma cutter. Before he could fire off a shot, however, another shot from the stranger's mass driver severed the tentacle and sent Isaac tumbling back to the ground. His ankle screamed at him when he landed, and Isaac was fairly certain that something was broken.
The stranger ran over as Isaac struggled to stand. It could have been a trick of the light, but Isaac thought he saw the stranger's gauntlet spark as he leaned down to help him up. The stranger noticed it too, and Isaac saw him freeze for a moment, almost in apprehension as the gauntlet sparked again. The stranger looked at Isaac, then at the Hive Mind, which was quickly recovering from its severed tentacle, then up to the giant landmass crashing through the atmosphere towards them, then back to Isaac.
Seemingly making up his mind, the stranger hoisted Isaac in his arms and threw him like a rag doll. Isaac sailed through the air for a few moments, the weightlessness almost pleasant given the circumstances. The moment ended quickly however as Isaac crashed hard through the open doors of the shuttle, landing just a few feet from the cockpit. His ankle seared in pain, but Isaac quickly scrambled to his feet. Using the walls for support, Isaac looked out of the shuttle doors to the stranger, who gestured to the cockpit with his arm.
He wanted Isaac to leave him behind while he took care of the Hive Mind.
No…not you too.
Isaac shook his head in defiance, he refused to let another person die here. The stranger shook his head in response and pointed to his gauntlet, which was sparking more erratically now. Isaac was still hesitant, but he decided that he trusted the stranger enough to follow his orders.
Still using the wall for support, Isaac staggered into the cockpit and began the ignition sequence. The engines roared to life, and Isaac quickly pressed the throttle to get the shuttle into the air. He had to escape orbit before the meteor hit.
An explosion from nearby shook the shuttle and nearly threw Isaac from the pilot's seat. A flash of green light engulfed his vision, and his ears hurt from the noise that followed.
What the hell was that?
Isaac squinted as he revved to full throttle. The shuttle immediately responded and rocketed upward into the atmosphere, leaving the Hive Mind, the Marker, and the stranger behind.
The sky grew darker, and Isaac lurched sideways as a small asteroid struck the hull of the shuttle. The shuttle fell into a spin, and as Isaac righted it, the planet of Aegis-7 fell into view from the cockpit. From space, it looked almost peaceful if you ignored the massive meteor about to slam into it. As if on cue, the multi-trillion-ton rock crashed into the planet, and Isaac covered his eyes as everything went white.
…
The void of space was silent as Isaac worked the controls. His hands danced over the console for a brief moment, then he relaxed. All systems were green, and Isaac had just set in the coordinates for Earth. All he had to do now was let the autopilot take him home.
Isaac slowly reached up and undid the clasps on his helmet. The airtight seal broke for the first time since setting foot on the Ishimura, and Isaac took a deep breath as he the cool air filled his lungs. He closed his eyes and let his shoulders slump. His helmet dropped to the floor beside him.
Now that Isaac had a brief moment to relax, the events of the day came crashing down on him all at once.
Hammond.
Kendra.
Dr. Mercer.
Dr. Kyne.
…
…Nicole.
They were all gone. Everyone was dead now, except for Isaac. All for what, for some government experiment? Isaac shook his head solemnly.
His thoughts drifted back to the stranger, who must have still been on Aegis-7 when the tectonic load had hit. The Hive Mind had likely been destroyed by the impact, but Isaac had doubts about the stranger. He had seen firsthand just how durable the man in the green armor had been, and Isaac knew that if there existed anyone that could have survived that impact, it was him. Just where had he come from, anyway? Certainly, he wasn't one Kendra's men onboard the USM Valor?
Isaac shook his head, he supposed it didn't matter now. If the stranger was still alive, he was stranded on the planet, or what was left of it. Or maybe he was floating through space. Isaac wasn't sure, but he doubted the stranger would be stranded for long. He'd find a way out.
A video log sprung to life on the console, and Nicole's face appeared once more.
"Isaac, it's me. I wish I could talk to you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just…"
Isaac shook his head and ended the video, casting the shuttle into darkness again. Nicole was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing at all. No matter how much Isaac wished she was here now, he knew that it was impossible.
Isaac heard a soft rustling to his right, and from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something moving behind the co-pilot's seat…
A/N: Aaaaaand...scene! Whew! That one went a bit long, didn't it? I've counted the words, and this one is only a hair shorter than the Halo chapter, but only by a hair. That partly stems from just how well the universes intermingle with each other. I mean come on, two silent protagonists against endless hordes of monsters? It's perfect. I also wasn't quite sure where to put the Slayer into the story, as no spot really seemed to click in my head, so I put him a little bit further back into the story. As always, please be sure to tell me just how much you loathe or don't loathe the chapter, as I'm always eager to hear back from you guys! Until next time!
-ImpulsiveWeaver