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"Squad, form up on me." Ashley muttered "Owen, you and Glenn take point. Miller, sniper position." Miller nodded and moved behind an alcove in the wall, her Seeker Rifle charged and ready.
"Moving up." Owen said. Glenn ran to one side of the door. Owen moved to the other. They glanced at each other and nodded. Glenn tapped the door control. It hissed open. "Go!" Owen and Glenn rushed into the darkness. The flashlights on their rifles projected beams through the gloom, illuminating scattered chairs and tables. Blood splattered the walls and the ground. A few severed hands lay here and there, and a couple of heads. There were no bodies. The vent coverings had been destroyed. A body was still hanging out of one of the wall vents.
"Clear." Owen called back. Glenn grunted and brought out a few grenades.
"Can't be too sure." He removed the pins and lobbed them through each of the wall vents. After a few seconds, fire and smoke erupted from each of them, along with a few severed Necromorph limbs. There was also the sound of bodies moving rapidly through confined spaces.
"Here they come." A few half-burned Necromorphs dropped down from the ceiling, screeching as they ran at Owen. Glenn blasted them with his Plasma Rifle's Contact Beam secondary fire. Owen pocketed the Plasma Energy clips that they still had on their tattered uniforms.
"This room is clear." Ashley and Miller moved into the room. "Next room is a…commons area. Two levels. Open space. There's an emergency access terminal there." Miller reported. Ashley nodded and motioned towards the door. They opened the door and moved in as one.
The commons area still had bodies in it. A pile of them lay in the center. A few more were slumped over in their chairs, their poker cards scattered around them. "I'll access that terminal." Owen said. Ashley nodded. "You guys cover the entrance." He moved over to the large terminal, its holographic display sputtering and sparking. There was a marine's body slumped over it, probably the last one to use it. Wordlessly, Owen removed a large hollow metal rectangle from his backpack. Attaching a cable in the side to a port on the terminal, he gently removed the marine's body and placed the rectangle over the broken holo-projector. The empty space of the rectangle's interior glowed and became a holographic screen. A second screen appeared above the rectangle, angled so it faced Owen, and two smaller screens popped up on either side of that one.
"Accessing system…" Owen reported. Data began scrolling across the upper screen while video footage appeared on the four smaller screens. "Looks like our dead friend here was trying to activate the security lockdown before he died. Managed to shut out some key systems. It's going to take a while to completely connect to this terminal, so take a look around. See if you can find any supplies." They searched storage lockers and broke open containers. There wasn't much left, but they still found a few clips of Seeker Shells, Hydrazine fuel, Pulse Rounds, Plasma Energy, and a couple high-value credit chits.
Miller walked up to Owen, who was tapping his fingers against the terminal, watching the upload percentage increase slowly. "So…Jerusalem. Nice ship. Heard you guys were field-testing Project AEGIS?"
"Classified special ops." Owen replied "That's our job. Anything the horn-rims up top feel could blow up or malfunction, just call the good ol' crew of the USM Jerusalem! We'll happily put on the possibly radioactive two-ton tank suits! Aaannnndd…95% sync. Almost there." Miller chuckled. Ashley grinned and continued raiding the lockers. Corporal Glenn moved over to the large pile of corpses.
"Why were they piling the bodies in the center like this?" Glenn asked. He poked the pile with his rifle "It's almost as if…EAARRGHHH!" A Slasher leaped out of the pile and jumped on top of him, knocking his rifle aside. It began ripping at his armor as he struggled to break free from its grasp.
"Glenn!" Miller raised her rifle, only to shoulder it in frustration as the pair writhed around on the floor. She ran to help him, drawing her combat knife. Ashley was one step ahead of her, bashing the Slasher with her rifle butt. The Necromorph stumbled back, enough time for Ashley to aim her rifle and blast off its left arm. Miller came in and sliced through its right shoulder with her knife. The Slasher hit the floor, dead.
"What the hell?" Glenn coughed. He took out a small medpac and applied it to the laceration on his shoulder.
"Come on, we better-…" Ashley's voice trailed off as a long deep growl echoed through the common area.
"What was that?" Owen asked. He eyed the display. 98.7% sync. Ashley turned this way and that, her rifle casting eerie shadows on the terrace above.
"I don't know…it sounded close though." Another deep growl reached their ears. Then there was the sound of tearing metal and something heavy and metallic hitting the floor.
"It came from upstairs!" Miller warned just before an ear-splitting roar caused them all to wince. A trio of flashlights illuminated the terrace. A large Necromorph, resembling a gorilla and covered with large greyish armor-like plates was clutching the edge of the terrace. It had massive forearms with spiked 'gauntlet' plates. Its mouth was a maw full of long thin fangs and two large prongs. Behind the main arms, two smaller unarmored arms with double hooked talons at the end clutched the railing.
The behemoth glared at the marines through tiny beady eyes. For a few tense seconds, nothing happened. Then the display chimed BING as it reached 100%. Just like that, the creature's eyes became alert and it crouched. Then it roared and bashed its fists against its chest before leaping down, creating a miniature crater on the floor below.
"…open fire…" Ashley's voice was little more than a faint whimper "Open fire! Kill it!" They unleashed a barrage of weaponsfire that would have decimated any normal Necromorph. However, when they stopped firing, the thing seemed to have taken only minor damage. That, and it looked REALLY mad. The Necromorph roared again and charged them. Ashley and Miller managed to dive aside, but Glenn, hampered by his injury, was grabbed by the creature. The hapless marine screamed as he was shaken like a ragdoll. Then the Necromorph tossed him aside. As Glenn tried to crawl away, the creature grabbed him by the legs with one arm, and then his neck with the other. After several tense seconds of Glenn's muffled screams, the beast managed to rip him in two. Glenn's legs twitched for a few seconds before going still. His RIG flatlined.
"Shit…" Owen checked the display. The lockdown program that the marine had been running had reactivated, triggering an automatic startup of systems, and the room was suddenly illuminated as the overhead lights kicked on. The sound of hissing air told them that the ventilation system had been activated. Which meant that it was basically a big smoke signal to any Necromorphs in the area that there were people alive in there.
"Owen! Look out!" Owen glanced behind him to see a second one of the monsters glaring down at him from the ceiling. It released its hold and dropped down, landing a few meters away from him.
"FUCK!" Owen charged up his Contact Beam secondary fire and blasted the creature's right shoulder, hitting a gap between the armor plating. The Necromorph roared and retreated, minus its arm.
"Gaps between the armor!" Owen advised the others "Try to-oh fuck, that's not fair!" Dozens of Slashers, Pukers, and Leapers appeared on the terrace. More dropped from vents on the ceiling, cutting Owen off from the other two.
[WARNING: SECURITY LOCKDOWN INITIATED. INTERNAL SECURITY HAS BEEN BREACHED.]
The lights dimmed as the orange alarm beacons began flashing and the warning klaxons blared. Large emergency bulkheads began closing over the doors. Miller cursed. Her image popped up on Owen's RIG.
"Private Haines, we can't reach you!" Owen hesitated for a split second. Then he and motioned towards the door.
"Just get out of here. I'll find another exit!" He glanced around wildly. There was a Detonator mine launcher lying next to the marine's body. He strapped it to his belt. Maybe he could…no, those bulkheads were meant to trap explosions. No way he could blow his way out.
"No!" Ashley protested "There has to be some other way!"
"Ash, you got to get out of here before those bulkheads seal us all in!" Cursing, Ash and Miller ran for the bulkhead. They slid underneath the metal slab. The last thing Owen saw was Ashley's tearful face.
"Okay…" Owen's helmet popped back over his face "How do I find another exit-OH FUCK!" The Slasher began charging him. He lobbed two grenades in their direction, blowing a few apart. Owen couldn't help but wince as the movement sent pain through his ribs. The painkillers in the medpack he applied earlier seemed to be wearing off.
"Fuck, fuck! Diediedie!" Owen screamed as he let loose with his Plasma Rifle in one hand and his Pulse Rifle in the other. Limbs went flying as Plasma and Pulse rounds chewed through them. His Pulse Rifle clicked empty. He slung it over his back and began concentrating with the Plasma Rifle. The fact that it was semi-automatic forced him to make every shot count. But they were still coming.
Owen used his Kinesis module to tear a stasis refill station out of the wall and hurl it into the midst of the Necromorphs. The effects of its spread through their ranks, allowing Owen some easy shots before he threw a couple more grenades into the Stasis-frozen Necromorphs.
The first of the gorilla-like giants had finished ripping apart Glenn's body. It turned and faced Owen. "Shit…" Roaring, the beast prepared to charge. Owen fired off a stasis blast at the Brute mid-charge, slowing it down. He dived to the side, letting the beast's momentum carry it past him. Its back was unarmored. Owen took immediate advantage of this and charged up his Contact Beam before blasting the Necromorph in the right shoulder and then the left. Both arms went flying. It screamed and hit the floor, dead.
The second one growled and eyed Owen from the shadows on the far side of the room. Then it curled up into a ball. The next thing Owen knew, a large glowing yellow ball was flying at him. He dived aside as it impacted. The ground where it had been hissed and melted. Some sort of organic bomb. This gave Owen an idea. The second bomb it sent hurling at him, he grabbed with Kinesis and tossed it into the midst of the other Necromorphs. The third bomb he sent back at the monster. It exploded all over the wounded beast and killed it.
Owen glanced towards the four score Necromorphs that were still advancing on him. He checked his weapons. His stasis module was out of charge, and he had seventeen shots left in the Plasma Rifle. He had two more clips to reload the Pulse Rifle, but the amount of ammo required to sever one limb still wasn't enough to take them all on.
Suddenly, there was a rumble. Remembering the two brute Necromorphs he had just killed, Owen gulped and briefly considered just ending it there and then before realizing that his sidearm was still in the possession of Rebecca fucking-Bell-Marcus. Damn that girl! It would take too long to position either rifle to blast his head off. The Necromorphs would reach him first. Then the bulkhead blocking the door to his right groaned as someone lifted it up.
"Well? Private, we don't have all day!" Owen must have been hallucinating, because he could have sworn that that was Lance Corporal John Allen standing there holding the door up with one hand. The LCPL was wielding a hip-mounted heavy assault rifle that he used to blast apart Necromorphs. He held the bulkhead above his head with the other hand.
"Haines, pull your balls out of your purse and get over here! I can't hold this door open forever!" Owen was shaken out of his stupor. As John cleared a path through the Necromorphs, Owen charged through it. He dived through the door as John let out a mighty battle cry and stepped back. The bulkhead slammed down, crushing a Leaper about to grab Owen's leg.
"YEAH BABY!" John whooped. He vented the heat from the cannon and stomped his foot on the Leaper's head. "Dear God, that combat adrenaline rush!"
"Lance Corporal Allen?" Owen asked in amazement. John turned to him and grinned. His AEGIS suit looked like someone had tried and failed to put it through a woodchipper, with scuff marks over every single inch of it and dents in the armor. His left gauntlet had been welded shut and reinforced with what looked to be parts of a food tray. The right gauntlet, with its Gauss beam cannon, had several power cells and their chargers welded onto the cannon base. "What…how did…didn't you…you're here?"
"Well, not the answer I was expecting." John reloaded the hip cannon and slung it over his back. Owen walked over to him and gave him a bear hug.
"I thought you were dead." John smiled and chuckled.
"Dead? Who, me? Who was the one who pulled your ass out of the fire back on Hera VI? I am built like a motherfucking truck!" John's face became serious. He was like that, able to joke one moment but turn serious just like that. "Situation report, Private." Owen nodded and snapped to attention.
"The Jerusalem was destroyed. So far as we know, our squads and a handful of crewmembers are the only survivors left." John nodded solemnly.
"I thought as much. I tried contacting Squad Two. Managed to talk to Lauren. They ambushed them shortly after all contact with the ship was lost. They lost Eric. Squad One hasn't answered any of my calls. I guess the only thing left to do is find a way off this ship."
[PERSONAL LOG]
[KELLER, J.]
[TYPE: VISUAL]
[NOW WHAT?]
[Keller sits in front of camera. He is covered with sweat, blood, and dirt. His hair is matted and singed on one side.]
[KELLER: We managed to get out of the Concourse…Zoe didn't make it. Those things grabbed her just before we reached the elevators. Government Sector's locked down. There's plenty of armed guards there. We managed to retrieve a dead marine's RIG. There was still some radio chatter. They mentioned 'elimination of the key subjects' and 'Convergence Protocol'. I think Governor Menshikov is trying to make a run for it.]
[Sound of footsteps behind the camera… Evelyn Marcus walks into view.]
[MARCUS: Jack, the Major thinks there might still be some civilian freighters by the Triton Docks.]
[KELLER: Alright. Stands up and walks over to hatch in wall. Help me…get this…service duct…open!]
[Hatch retracts, revealing electrical systems service tunnel entrance. Sergeant Quinn walks over, a Plasma Cutter in hand. He climbs in first. Keller turns back to camera.]
[KELLER: This tunnel should take us to the maintenance tunnels. We'll have access to the docks from them. Keller out.]
[LOG ENDS]
Owen glanced around the corner. John stood behind him, covering their flanks. Despite the Lance Corporal's reassurances that he was fine, when he had removed his helmet, John's face was sweaty and pale. The Slasher blade wound in his left forearm had punctured muscle. Owen managed to bandage it as well as he could, but the LCPL also had several bruised ribs and heavy bruising around his thighs, making it difficult for him to run. That said, the AEGIS suit's gelfoam interior was designed for situations like that, and had molded to the contours of his body, taking care not to apply too much pressure on his wounds. John had acquired a large medpack, and Owen's ribs were now securely held in a kinesis splint-patch placed on his chest armor, and while his shoulder still hurt, it wasn't as bad.
"Three Slashers, and maybe five…marines? They're piling bodies in the center."
"Marines?" John asked. Owen checked. They were hunched over, facing away from him, and minus helmets, but they lacked any of the blades or mutations of the Necromorphs. And they had Soldier RIGS on.
"Maybe whatever caused half the crew to go crazy affected them as well." John suggested. Owen frowned. There was something odd about them.
"Look, the tram station's just across this room. We can't double back now, especially after what happened before." Indeed. They had run across what could only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Its skin was mottled and covered with Unitologist symbols, and its arms had been completely transformed into two huge slashing scythes. What was more, every time they blasted its limbs off, they regenerated. The pair had resorted to shooting out a window and blasting it into space.
"Fine."
The Slashers piled the bodies on top of each other. "Hey!" The Necromorphs turned around. Through their reddened and blurred vision, they saw. Glowing figure. One not made whole. Rush him.
The first Slasher was blown to bits as it ran right over the first Detonator mine. The second Slasher suffered the same fate. The third was dismembered by an overwhelming amount of bullets from John's assault cannon.
"Where'd you get the FANG?" Owen muttered as John's rotating weapon powered down. The FANG, or Fully-Automatic Needle Gatling. The weapon featured an eight-barreled machine gun and a long sharp 'needle at the front. It could be utilized as a tripod-mounted turret or a hip-mounted weapon, generally for large RIG suits like the AEGIS due to the large ammo consumption and weight. It fired Pulse Rounds.
"Someone set up a barricade in one of the corridors. There were a few hands and guns lying around. This baby was still sitting on its turret. Thought it shouldn't go to waste."
"Hey!" Owen said to the hunched over marines "Are you guys…" They turned to stare at him "…alright?"
They might have been marines in life, but they were something different. The bodies remained the same, but the heads were pale and corpse-like with glowing eyes and a rotted nasal cavity. They were still clutching their Pulse Rifles.
"That's just not right." John growled. The Shamblers screamed as one and raised their rifles.
"Shit!" Owen dived aside to avoid the hail of bullets. Most of them went wild; the Necromorphs were firing blindly. John roared and brought up his FANG gun. He blasted them to bits. The heads detached and crawled on little feelers towards him.
"Die you motherfuckers!" John blasted one, then two, and finally three heads, but the last two jumped and landed on his chest.
"Gerroffme!" The two Necromorph heads began jabbing at his armored neck joint with their barbed tentacles. John snarled, but he couldn't dislodge the Creepers. "Owen, get them off me!"
Owen ran over, only for one of the Creepers to latch itself onto his head. He grabbed it with his hands, barely keeping it from spearing his neck with its barbs. After a few seconds of struggling, he succeeded in tossing it on the floor before stomping on it several times. The head made a horrible squishing noise as it caved in. Meanwhile, John had grabbed his attacker in one hand and blasted it with his arm cannon.
"Man, how many types of these things are there?" John grumbled. Owen shuddered. He walked over to the marines' bodies and bent down to examine them. The sight confirmed his suspicions.
"They weren't the heads of these guys." He indicated the marine he was examining "Lieutenant Tills here isn't even a guy. She's also African-American, and none of those heads, even with rot, match her skin color. Almost as if they attached themselves to the bodies." He rummaged through her vest pockets "Looks like they were in the middle of carrying out orders before they got attacked."
"What is it?" Owen glanced at the display. John walked over "What is it?"
"My god…" Owen stood up and began walking towards the doors to the tram station "The others need to see it."
"Sarge, door." Acker stopped chewing on her ration bar and stood up. Jackson and Roland charged up their Gauss cannons and aimed at the door. Lindsey continued to tend to Lena.
The doors opened. Two flashlights were shined directly in their faces "Sarge, that you?" Haines. Of course; who else would wait until AFTER the door was open to verify identification. There was a reason why they had infrared telescopic vision on their RIGs.
"Private, you ever heard of calling ahead?" Roland chuckled, walking over to give Lance Corporal Allen a fist-bump.
"Sorry sir." Haines glanced around before turning to Acker. "Did Corporals Chen and Miller arrive?"
"Negative. What happened to them, Private?" Acker glanced over at Allen. He nodded to her "Thought you were dead, Johnny boy." Owen nodded.
"So did I. Chen, a couple of marines, and I left Cargo Hold One together. We ran into a bunch of those creatures. One of the marines was killed. I got separated from Chen and the other one. Allen showed up and rescued me." Acker nodded.
"Jackson, raise Corporal Chen on your RIG."
Jackson nodded and activated a RIG link. An image fluttered into existence. It was Chen, but the image was grainy.
"Corporal, status report."
"En route to your position, Sergeant. Had to take a detour. It might take a while. Ran into a few…" Her next words were garbled and static-filled.
"Repeat, Corporal?"
"I said, we ran into a few...[static]…shit…-us…jamming…" The signal cut out.
"What happened?" Acker asked. Jackson typed furiously before shaking his head.
"Someone cut the link remotely."
"The same someone who's been hacking systems throughout the ship." Haines pondered. Acker cursed and tried to raise Sergeant Dawes. The screen was just a static mess. Nothing.
"Damn it." She turned to her almost-complete squad "Okay. I'm assuming none of you know how to operate a cruiser of this type?" The shaking of heads answered her "Okay. Here's my plan. We take a tram to the captain's personnel shuttlebay. We use that shuttle to get to Perseus Station. We grab a transport. We get back here and pick up Squads One and Two and Dawes and the other survivors. Then we bust our asses out of here." Everyone nodded at this. Acker walked over to a wall console and keyed in a command. After a few minutes, an interdeck tram car came rolling into the station.
"It doesn't add up." Acker said as the tram sped down the tunnel "Who is trying to keep us on this ship?" Roland raised a hand.
"Unitologists? We know they boarded the vessel."
"No, whoever did this was able to block comm channels and activate key systems. That's a high-ranking officer."
"The bridge crew got killed in a scuffle." Haines said "You aren't going to like what I'm going to say next. We found a marine's RIG. There was a set of orders on it. They were…we're decelerating." The tram slammed to a halt.
[WARNING: OBSTRUCTION AHEAD. PLEASE WAIT UNTIL A MAINTENANCE TEAM ARRIVES TO FACILITATE REPAIRS OF THE PROBLEM.]
"Figures." Acker pressed the emergency release on the tram door. She brought out her climbing line and harness. "Kaufman, Fields, come with me. Let's see what the obstruction is." Roland and Lindsey nodded and clipped their harnesses to the side of the tram.
The trio descended from the car before unclipping themselves from their lines. "Flashlights." Beams of light illuminated the area ahead. There was a large pile of rubble blocking the rail ahead.
"Damn." Acker began rummaging in her bag "We'll need to place explosives at strategic…" Her voice trailed off as a loud rumbling growl filled the tram tunnel.
"What was that?" Fields asked nervously. Acker narrowed her eyes and activated her suit's night vision. As she zoomed in, she saw two glowing dots staring at her from within the rubble.
With a roar, an obscenely-large Necromorph, with black armoring and yellow joints exploded from the rubble pile, sending chunks of metal and bodies flying.
"Open fi-" Acker was cut off as the Tormentor grabbed her in one hand. With a single squeeze, she felt an overwhelming pain as her insides burst and then everything went black.
The squad watched in horror as Acker's body was tossed through a hole in the wall. Roland blasted at the creature with his Contact Beam. It severed a small limb, but that didn't stop the creature from slamming its fist onto him, flattening him to a pulp. Lindsey suffered a worst fate, grabbed by four pincers and pulled apart like a ragdoll, her arms and legs going off in separate directions.
"Back up." Owen whispered. Jackson just stood there, frozen, his hand unmoving on the control pad "BACK US UP, NOW!" Jackson snapped out of his shock and hastily punched the commands. The two-car tram began to slowly accelerate in the opposite direction. It made a screeching noise as the gears reversed. The Tormentor stopped ripping apart Lindsey's body.
"Faster." The Tormentor glanced up at them.
"I'm trying." The Tormentor growled.
"Faster." The Tormentor's eyes narrowed.
"I'm pushing this thing past its operational limit." The Tormentor roared and prepared to charge.
"FASTER WOULD BE BETTER!" The Tormentor sprang forward and thundered towards the receding tram.
"Retreat to the other car. Move it!" With Owen and John dragging Lena between them, the four made their way to the far car. They were just in time, as the Tormentor succeeded in ripping the first car, plus the far end wall of their car off the track. It was gaining on them.
"Shit." Owen and John ran up to the ragged opening in the end of the car and began pouring weaponsfire at the beast.
"Aim for the yellow spots!" John suggested. He let loose with his FANG gun, ripping off one of the pincer limbs. The Tormentor roared and fell back for a moment. The tram pulled into a station.
"Everyone off, nownownow!" John ordered. The other three quickly exited the tram, with John bringing up the rear. Just before he left, he tossed his entire satchel of explosives over his shoulder as well as two of the power cells he had slaved onto his Gauss cannon.
The Tormentor ripped the tram off the tracks and brought it close to its face, peering inside. "Bon voyage." John chuckled, pressing the detonator in his hand. The tram exploded, engulfing the Tormentor in a fiery ball and splattering pieces of it all over the large tunnel.
"Well, there goes our ride." Lena muttered darkly.
"Where are we?" Owen asked. Jackson pointed at the sign on the wall.
"Deck 4. Crew Deck. We're three levels below the executive shuttlebay." He accessed his RIG map "There's no one way to get there. We'd have to cover a LOT of ground in any direction."
"If there's one that has plenty of ship stores, I'm fine with that one. More locations to load on more gear." Jackson nodded and typed in the commands.
"I've sent the data to each of your Locators. That way, if we get separated, we'll still know which way to go."
"Right." John accessed the map "There's an armory down the hall. Owen, go down there and grab as many weapons as you can. We may need them. Lena, how's your leg?" She tested it before nodding "Okay, go with Roland in the opposite direction to the security office. We may need the on-duty officer's clearance codes. I'm going to check the deck officer's logs and then I'll join up with Owen. Meet back here in ten minutes."
Owen nodded and left through the tram station door. The corridor was dimly lit, and the few lights that were on flickered eerily. He activated his Locator. The blue holographic line led down the hall. The vent grates rattled. He sincerely hoped that was just air rushing. He turned a corner and began checking the doors.
"Right…weapons maintenance...maintenance supplies…janitorial closet…storage room…laundry room…Crew Supplies and Armory, here we go." He opened the door and peered cautiously inside. The dozens of rows of shelves were still stocked with weapons. There was a wall lined with Benches and explosives. Another wall was lined with layers of blueprint wafer disks. And there was still at least a few hundred meters of wall hidden by the large storage shelves.
"Okay…slicing capabilities." Owen began sweeping the first row of shelves. Stasis coating…acid coating…plasma coating…no, not here. He rounded the corner and started on the next row. There were a few Pulse Rounds that someone had lazily tucked amongst the rifle scopes, which Owen pocketed, as well as a AC-200 Colt Serpent to replace the one stolen from him by Rebecca Bell-Marcus. The next two shelves were cabinets full of assault rifles. Finally he found them: Energized combat swords. They were in racks lining the walls. There were also a couple dozen combat knives and bayonets, not to mention a score of military-grade Plasma Saws, used for cutting through tanks or bulkheads to retrieve trapped soldiers. They would work well against flesh then. As Owen climbed the ladder to retrieve a few of them, he heard a sound. A few seconds later, a can rolled into view at the other end of the row. Suddenly conscious that he was in the glare of the bulb illuminating the row, he climbed all the way up the ladder to the top of the shelf, taking time to grab a few weapons, clambering onto the top and pushing the ladder down its track to the other end.
Peering over the edge, Owen suddenly inhaled sharply and cursed. There was something peering from around the corner of the shelf down the row. The head reminded Owen of that of an animal, with a think skullcap and bony protrusions that brought to mind that of a rhino's horn.
Quickly, Owen activated his RIG and began capturing footage of the creature.
[PERSONAL LOG]
[HAINES, OWEN (PVT)]
[TYPE: VIDEO]
[ANOTHER ONE]
[HAINES: Okay, this one is weird. I'm not sure if you can hear my whispers, but the image speaks well enough.
[Creature glances around the corner before disappearing]
[HAINES: I'm in Armory 4-A. There are a lot of aisles formed by these shelves, and if there's more, then most likely they'd be-]
[There is the sound of something hard smashing against a body. A scream rends the air.]
[HAINES: Shit…guess there are more survivors than we thought. I'm going to go check this out. Haines out.]
[LOG ENDS]
Owen glanced over the other side of the shelf. Another brightly-lit space. Cautiously, he opened up a Pulse Round clip and removed a bullet before tossing it on the ground. The sound seemed to echo through the room, adding to that of the groaning person's cries of pain. There was the sound of feet brushing against other fallen objects.
"Right…might want to get moving…" He was about to climb down the ladder when he heard a burst of gunfire, followed by another scream. That sounded close. Cursing, Owen stood up. Stepping back, he ran forward and leaped over the edge of the shelf. He slammed into the shelf opposite him, barely grabbing the ledge. His legs slammed into a glass-covered display of shotguns, shattering it. Owen began to climb, his speed increasing when he heard a half-animal/half-human chirp and another one of the weird Necromorphs stuck its head around the corner. Owen barely rolled himself onto the ledge before the Necromorph saw him. It ran up to the shower of glass littering the floor before screeching and running off again.
Brushing the glass shards off his legs, Owen glanced up to find himself staring directly into the gaping maw of a Leaper. Going into autopilot, Owen whipped out his sidearm and blasted the Leaper's head off with a high-powered round from the Colt. The Leaper, headless, recoiled but followed up on its confusion by grabbing onto Owen's shoulders with its arms and slamming its tail repeatedly into Owen's helmet until it retracted into its holding plate. They struggled briefly for a moment before the Leaper knocked Owen off the ledge. Owen collided with the light fixture, shattering it and sending both falling. He landed painfully on the hard metal floor.
Gasping in pain, Owen saw the Necromorph falling towards him. He fumbled with the straps holding one of the Plasma Saws to his belt, and pressed the activation button on one of them. A brilliant blue energy saw blade shot out from the grip, and he bisected the Leaper as its teeth were mere inches from his face.
Breathing heavily, Owen stood up, only to drop back down as his ankle erupted in searing pain. He tested it. It was definitely sprained, if not broken. He tried his helmet, but it retracted after extending a few inches. A few sparks hissed from his RIG, which was glowing in the yellow zone. The strange clicking noise brought him out of his haze of pain. Squinting in the darkness, he activated his Plasma Rifle's flashlight.
Staring at him from the end of the row was one of the strange animal-like Necromorphs. Its eyes glowed yellow in the light of his weapon. Then it ducked out of side before charging him.
"Shit!" Owen charged his rifle before firing it, blasting one leg off the charging Necromorph. It fell but continued to drag itself forward at an alarming rate with its clawed talons.
"Fuckfuckfuck!" Owen fired off three more shots, blasting the creature apart. He lowered his rifle, panting. Suddenly, he heard a screech and then he was on the ground, his rifle sliding from his grasp, his RIG in the red.
"Dammit…" Owen turned just in time to see another one of the creatures retreating behind the shelf. It peered out at him again. Panicking, Owen reached for his sidearm, only to see it still lying on the top of the shelf. His rifle was out of the question; it was too far away. Desperate, he grabbed the Plasma Saw, only to realize that it had shorted out. He ripped off one side of the outer casing and began rummaging inside. The main circuit had been destroyed, and he would have to reroute it through the auxiliary circuits. Placing his fingers inside the delicate wiring, he began disconnecting and connecting wires. The Stalker screeched. It would charge any second now.
"Come on…come on!" Three circuits connected. One more to go. The Stalker disappeared behind the corner and jumped out from behind it, rushing him. Owen dropped the wire, and wasted a few seconds fumbling to pick it up again. He managed to jam the wire into its receptor just as the Stalker lowered its head to charge him. The Plasma Saw roared to life and the Stalker continued forward, running over Owen before hitting the ground in two separate pieces.
"Agh…" Owen brushed off the gore that had splattered him and examined the strange Necromorph. Stalker was an apt name for it, seeing as how the pair had stalked him. The rib cage had been ripped open, and there was little evidence that it had been a human. In fact, the closer he examined the body, the more he was sure that the skull was an animal skull. There was still a name tag on the tattered maintenance outfit, WALSH, K. The other had an ID bar code. He scanned it with his RIG. It belonged to a custodian named Esther Walsh. He searched their names in his Earthgov database. With a shudder, Owen realized that they were siblings, twins.
Owen tested his leg. Still smarting. He removed the armor plating and examined his ankle. Swollen and red. Grunting, he applied a small medpack to the wound. The swelling went down, but he didn't think that he would be able to run a marathon anytime soon.
Owen used the Plasma Saw and sliced two rungs off the ladder. He tied them around his ankle with strips of his bedcloth. The splint held. Chuckling, Owen slung the Pulse and Plasma Rifles over his shoulders. He roped a few of the Plasma Saws together and tied them to his belt. He grabbed two more Colt Serpents and their holsters and attached them to his hip. He slung three of the swords diagonally over his other weapons.
"LCPL? I've got the weapons." Owen said into his RIG "LCPL? Lance Corporal Allen, do you copy? John, talk to me here." Static. His signal was being jammed. Cursing, Owen grabbed his Plasma rifle and began making his way towards where he thought the entrance was. He turned a corner and realized he was completely lost. Activating his Locator, he followed the blue line until he reached a dead end. Examining the wall of debris blocking his way, Owen shined his flashlight up towards the ceiling.
Every single panel above the blockage had fallen, along with several dozen ventilation and maintenance pipes. With a jolt, Owen realized that something, probably a great number of 'something' had fallen through the roof and was now in the room with him. There were several dismembered bodies sticking out of the rubble. Owen was so spooked that he jumped when he heard a burst of gunfire behind him. There was the sound of someone shouting. It sounded like…
"Ashley?" Owen ran as fast as his injured leg would let him towards the shouting. He rounded a corner and backpedaled. Two Slashers were standing there. Raising his rifle, Owen blasted the legs off one of them and Stasised the other. He then blasted one of the arms off the downed Slasher, and impaled the second one with it before severing that one's arms.
"Ashley, hang on, I'm coming!" Owen rounded the corner and blasted a Puker to bits. There was a body on the floor. "Ash!" Owen turned it over and stumbled back. The acid-burned face of Corporal Samantha Miller was visible through her eaten-through helmet. Her eyes opened. Half of it had been burned beyond recognition. One was milky, the other was clear blue. Tears were streaming out of the blue eye.
"P-private…" She opened her fist. There was a radio in it. Owen picked it up. Another stream of expletives poured forth from it, along with gunfire. Ashley's voice.
"Ambushed…betrayed…they…don't trust…" Her eyes rolled up into her skull and her pained expression disappeared. She was dead. Owen reached to close her eyes when he noticed something. Lifting her head, he found a shiv made from a piece of broken pipe jutting from between her shoulder-blades. There was also a hole blown through her gun hand. He glanced around and saw her Plasma Rifle lying several feet away, the trigger and surrounding part of the weapon blasted apart.
Owen linked the radio to his RIG. Hopefully, since it was separate from the RIG network, it wouldn't be blocked. "Corporal Chen…Ashley…do you copy?" After a few seconds of static-laced expletives, she responded.
"Owen?! Is that you? I can barely…*static*…you. How's Miller?"
"Dead. What happened?"
"Damn…I'm not completely sure. We lost your RIG signal and realized that someone was jamming us. Miller suggested…*static*…armory to retrieve a couple of hand-helds. She walked down one aisle and the next thing I…*static*…separated by a bunch of the creatures."
"Someone stabbed her with a piece of pipe. There's a bullet hole in her hand. My guess is whoever stabbed her first shot her gun out of her hand and moved in for the kill. Where are you?"
"…*static*...vehicle storage and maintenance. I've locked myself inside one of the containers. There are a bunch of Slashers outside, plus a few of those Pukers. I'm low on ammo, and they're breaking through the door."
"I'm on my way."
[PERSONAL LOG]
[KELLER, J.]
[TYPE: VISUAL]
[THINGS CAN'T GET WORSE]
[Keller appears onscreen. His Contact Beam has been disassembled and fused with his Plasma Saw onto his right gauntlet. His RIG has been upgraded to a Class 3 Technician.]
[KELLER: We headed to P-Sec offices. Sergeant Douglas was there. I knew him back when Dad and I still lived here. Those creatures, Necromorphs as they were referred to in the data file I hacked, are in control of the Lower City. The Upper City and the Spire are relatively safe; Douglas set up barricades at the cluster of lifts that connect the Upper and Lower City, and initiated a no-flight order. All intra-city turrets are programmed to open fire on any vessel coming from the Lower City. The Mines are cut off, and Douglas has a few hundred men trapped down there, along with thousands of miners.
[Sergeant Hiro Douglas drops into view. He is wearing a Security Suit and is wielding a Pulse Rifle and Divet pistol.]
[DOUGLAS: They've set up barricades, and have shut down the space elevator to the colony. The Cluster is secure for now, but we don't know for how long.]
[LOG ENDS]
Enjoy this chapter! Next Chapter is done and will be up soon.