The Cygnus System.
USG Ishimura.
Medical's Cargo Depot.
The Medical Depot's double door, located near the far back of the tiny storage facility that was meant to house The Ishimura's excess Medical supplies, lazily slid open while the faint echo of multiple gears shifting into a new configuration could be heard from the doorway's metallic frame. A moment later, two beams of white light, originating from beyond the now unsealed Depot entrance, cautiously swept across the small room in search for any signs of Necromorphs or possible survivors of the Ishimura's crew.
At the same time, a pair of Zerg Homunculi darted into the Cargo Depot. Their pitch-black, inhuman eyes aggressively searched the storage facility for prey that might've escaped the notice of the twin beams of light. The Zerg duo's insectoid mandibles clicked in irritation as the coppery scent of blood filled their nostrils, the source of which was the splatters of crimson liquid that decorated the cold metallic floor. Obviously, some of the ship's crew had the misfortune of encountering Necromorphs while attempting to move through the Depot.
Fortunately, whatever type of Necromorph that'd murdered the crew inside the Cargo area appeared to have long since left this small area of the Ishimura. However, the Homunculi, bone blades held ready to engage any hostiles, still kept a constant vigilance as their current enemy might attempt to use the ventilation ducts to set up a potential ambush. The Zerg had learned from the events that'd led to The USG Kellion's destruction and were determined not to fall for similar traps.
Meanwhile, after performing a secondary perimeter scan, the twin flashlight beams were deactivated after their wielders acknowledged that the Depot was safe. A minute later, Issac, signature Plasma Cutter held at the ready to slice and dice any reanimated corpses, walked through the metallic threshold. Shortly followed by a slightly limping Corporal Hailey Johnson, the other three Homunculi were behind her, acting as rearguards in case any Necromorphs attempted to sneak up from the back.
The double door slid shut once they fully crossed into the Depot. Johnson, Pulse Rifle ready to send any unwelcome guests to the afterlife, limped over to a nearby workstation whilst flanked by the Homunculi that'd rushed head first into the tiny medical storage facility. The heavy weapons specialist grimaced at the sight of several limbs and other assorted body parts scattered amongst the supplies. It appeared that survivors had tried to fight off the reanimated monsters but failed in the end.
"Damn, I'd hoped somebody would be alive down here," Hailey sadly muttered whilst searching the workstation for anything useful. "Instead, all that's left are a bunch of corpses." Some of whom she recognised as the ship's Security, thanks to the tattered remains of their darkish grey uniforms. The former pilot grunted in disappointment when she found nothing besides low-tier medical supplies and workshop tools meant to help maintain some spare parts for various medical equipment onboard The Ishimura.
"I'm just grateful these guys are kind enough to stay dead," Isaac replied in a relieved tone as he analysed the barricade comprised of multiple stacked cargo containers. "Trust me, the guys down in Maintenance weren't that accommodating." The Engineer quietly kneeled next to the barricade, where he saw several drag marks along the metallic flooring, hinting that the ship's crew must've employed a kinesis module to move these heavy medical containers into a proper defensive position.
A quick search for the module, assisted by the rearguard Homunculi, revealed it was attached to the shredded remains of an Ishimura Engineer. The unlucky soul, at least what little remained of his upper body, was slumped atop a workbench pressed against the far left wall and was utterly covered in drying blood. Without delay, Isaac carefully retrieved the grill-styled gravity manipulation device from its former owner's arm. He successfully integrated the kinesis module into his suit's Rig system within a few minutes.
"Alright, the kinesis module appears to be fully integrated with my suit," Although it was hidden behind his helmet, he smiled in satisfaction as his Rig's computer systems reported that all systems were green across the board. "Now all that's left to do is remove the barricade blocking our way to Medical." Ethereal blue energy momentarily danced between the Engineer's fingers as the kinesis module underwent its final safety checks to ensure nothing had accidentally been overlooked during the integration process.
"Hey, Issac!" The aforementioned Engineer didn't even flinch when the former Kellion pilot, escorted by her Homunculi bodyguards, suddenly came into view. Isaac knew Johnson was returning thanks to his psionic connection with The Zerg Swarm. "I see you found a new toy while I was busy scavenging for supplies." The heavy weapons specialist curiously eyed the grill-styled module while pocketing the last of the scavenged supplies she'd found during her search near the workstation.
"This 'toy' is our ticket past the makeshift blockade." Issac retorted whilst activating the kinesis module, thus enveloping his hand in ethereal light. A moment later, he telekinetically grabbed ahold of the closest cargo containers and, without delay, pushed the heavy objects backwards. However, Issac was forced to release the kinesis field when something huge dropped from the ceiling. A curse escaped his lips whilst Hailey shined her Pulse Rifle's built-in flashlight at the floor, which revealed a torn-up Slasher torso.
"Jesus, that scared the shit out of me." Hailey's tone held a mixture of annoyance and utter relief. Meanwhile, several Homunculi took ahold of the dismembered Slasher torso. They dragged the remains out of sight so Isaac could rearrange the stacked medical containers in relative peace.
"Yeah, the Ishimura does seem to love its jump scares." He should know since the bloody ship seemed to send one after another at him at the worst possible time. At any rate, after rearranging the last heavy stack of containers, Isaac cautiously examined the new accessible section of the Depot for any hostiles. Unsurprisingly, he saw splatters of drying blood covering most available surfaces. Yet, no bodies could be found, leaving him to suspect that the corpses had undergone the transformation into Necromorphs.
The trail of bloody footprints going up a nearby ramp to the exit certainly added some weight to the theory. The Engineer, Plasma Cutter, fully loaded and aimed towards the exit atop the ramp, studied the bloodstained room for a few more seconds before heading for the door leading to this ship section's Tram Station. At the same time, Johnson, careful to not aggravate her injured ankle, dutifully limped behind Isaac whilst the five Homunculi kept an overwatch from the rearguard position.
Thankfully, the short walk up the metallic ramp went by without encountering any of the Ishimura's Necromorph inhabitants. However, the small group paused before the exit when they heard a faint sound from behind the Depot's secondary access point.
"Don't let them out….don't let them out….."
Isaac frowned in concern as he could barely make out the words echoing from beyond the entrance to the Tram Station. The Zerg Overmind silently glanced back towards Hailey, who gave a short nod since she also suspected a possible survivor was waiting just behind the metal door. Understanding that time was of the essence, Isaac immediately activated the mechanism responsible for automatically unsealing the exit; gears groaned as metal slid away, revealing the gruesome scene that awaited them.
Medical's Tram Station.
"Don't let them out…can't….let…them…cough…out."
"Ah, shit…" Isaac knew what might await him behind the exit was potentially bad. Yet, reality was far worse than The Engineer's imagination. A female Security Officer, somehow still breathing despite the serrated bone blade that'd pierced right through her chest cavity, was lazily slumped against a wall entirely made of glass. The badly wounded Officer, a standard issue Pulse Rifle was resting against her left shoulder, was surrounded by the mutilated remains of various Slashers that'd failed to overrun Medical's Tram Station.
The gruesome scene became even worse after Isaac spotted several non-reanimated human corpses, each one sealed inside government-approved body bags, that'd been unceremoniously piled within a small walled-off room, which was obviously a waiting area meant for crew members who wished to wait for the Tram in order to board the Ishimura's monorail system. However, nobody was going to be using the monorail since the Station was cut off from the system via the closed heavy shutters.
The Engineer, Plasma Cutter, aimed at the body bags in case they suddenly decided to revive as the undead. He wasn't entirely sure if those bodies were former Security Officers who'd died while protecting the Tram Station from the Necromorph outbreak or simply deceased crew that'd been on their way to the ship's morgue. Either way, he'd need to destroy the remains, and preferably before whatever had transformed the Ishimura's deceased crew into the soulless Necromorphs found its way to their location.
"Don't let them out….can't let….them…out…" The blonde Security Officer, violently hacking up small rivers of blood with every wheezed breath, weakly repeats, thus returning Isaac's attention to the main problem. She was obviously employing what little remained of her willpower to stay awake. Yet, it became increasingly clear she wasn't going to last much longer. Hell, it was a miracle the unnamed Officer was still alive since she'd already lost and was continuing to lose with every breath a lot of blood.
The pierced heart certainly wasn't doing her any favours.
"Gotta….hold….the….line…" The dying blonde roughly coughed whilst Isaac took the opportunity to move aside so Hailey could finally move past the Medical Depot's exit. The heavy weapons specialist, trying her best not to puke as the scent of blood and decaying meat wafted through the air, wore a horrified expression as she surveyed the gruesome scenery. Meanwhile, the five Homunculi stealthily remained in the shadows of the Depot exit, claws outstretched and ready to tear apart any hostiles which might appear.
"Dear god," Hailey sorrowfully muttered under her breath whilst carefully limping over to the mortally wounded blonde's side; the former Kellion pilot felt nauseous after examining the full extent of the damage. "She should've bled out by now, so why isn't she dead?" Johnson's past experience as a security officer onboard planetary stations had taught her much about what kind of punishment a human body could take before shutting down, and this woman had long since passed the known limit that a person could survive.
"I'm guessing adrenaline mixed with pure spite," Isaac half-heartedly answers as he knelt in front of the dying blonde Security Officer. "Either way, it's obvious that she's not gonna make it even with medical aid." The Engineer grimly notes while slowly waving a hand in front of the wounded woman's face, only to receive no visible response in return, which hinted to the possibility that the blonde wasn't even registering their existence due to the severity of the blood loss combined with the blade through the heart.
Hailey watched the interaction with a resigned expression while her fellow Officer coughed up more blood while muttering more of the same sentences. "Yeah, she's done enough fighting for this ship's crew," Johnson felt utterly useless as the light slowly began to leave the blonde woman's eyes. "Now it's time for her to rest." The pilot gave the fallen warrior a respectful salute before limping over to a security terminal; with any luck, she could override the shutters' protocols and open up the Station for the Tram.
"Yeah, it is." Isaac solemnly agreed. However, unbeknownst to the Overmind, a Homunculi chose to peek into the Tram Station just as the blonde Security Officer employed the last of her strength to lift her head. A broken sob escaped bloodstained lips as the dying woman's mind conjured a familiar enemy in place of the Zerg entity.
"Gotta…hold..the…line…" The Officer tried to aim her Pulse Rifle at The Homunculi, who hissed threateningly at the dying human, only to barely lift the weapon off her shoulder. "They….sob….all….came…back…." She wheezed a final time before death finally took its prize. Isaac pulled down the dead woman's eyes so that they were closed, making it almost appear as if she was merely asleep. After a moment to pay his respects, the Engineer retrieved the Pulse Rifle since its former owner would no longer have a use for it.
A quick click of a button caused the Rifle's ammo clip to pop out from the back while the triple gun barrels unfolded like a common flower. Issac examined the pulse weapon for a minute before reinserting the clip back into the Rifle, thus causing the barrels to snap into their regular position at the front. This Pulse Rifle and many of its brethren also came with a proximity mine feature, which would be very useful when dealing with large groups of enemies or simply setting up traps in tight corridors or even walkways.
The Engineer glanced one final time at the dead Officer. "Don't worry, I'll put this weapon to good use." He silently promised while gently removing a slightly blood-covered Stasis module from the recently deceased blonde's arm that Hailey would definitely benefit from the ability to stasis Necromorphs. Issac then proceeded to walk over to Johnson whilst the Homunculi stalked their way out of the darkness. The Zerg organisms chirped amongst themselves as they took up guard positions at every available entrance.
"How are the shutters coming along?" The Overmind inquired about the status of the heavy shutters while his comrade typed a few commands into the holographic terminal. As she reported on the shutter situation, the heavy weapons specialist never once took her eyes away from the hologram interface.
"I've already overridden most of the security protocols," Hailey reported whilst continuing to type more commands into the computer system. "Give me another few minutes, and I'll open those shutters so the Tram can enter the Station."
The former Kellion Engineer gave a slight nod, pleased that their method of fast travel through the Ishimura was soon to be unlocked for the ship's Medical section. "Good. We'll need to leave for The Bridge as soon as we find Captain Mathius's Rig." Hopefully, this should still be on the Captain's corpse, and the morgue wasn't too far from their current location as the route was just through Medical's primary security checkpoint that happened to be past the double doors within this Tram Station.
"By the way, I found a Stasis module on the Security Officer's body." Isaac lifted the mentioned item up so Hailey could see it properly. "Figured she'd want a fellow Officer to have it." Johnson, momentarily pausing on her work with the shutters, gently took the module from Isaac's hands. The heavy weapons specialist then attached the Stasis device to her right arm. With some minor help from the Engineer, she activated the module, causing ethereal energy to enclose the limb for a split second before disappearing.
Hailey nodded appreciatively after nothing unusual happened with the device. "Thanks, Isaac; that'll certainly come in handy if we encounter any more of those undead freaks." The former pilot gratefully says while secretly hoping to actually run into a few Necromorphs so she could both test the module and get some sweet revenge for the fallen crew of the Ishimura.
"No problem," Issac replies as the Station's heavy shutters slowly pull downwards; once fully unclosed, the Tram should automatically arrive at Medical. "So, I've been meaning to ask, how you've been holding up with all this crazy shit?" He cautiously inquires while observing a broken ventilation shaft that the Necromorphs must've used to sneak up on the Security team that'd tried to defend the Station. Another pile of bodies was located underneath the shaft and would need to be moved to the waiting room.
Johnson pondered the question for a moment before answering. "Honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't had a panic attack yet," she confessed while in the background, a Homunculi could be seen moving the corpses near the ventilation shaft to the pile in the waiting area. "I mean, the dead are returning to life as monsters; Hammond's alone on the bridge with Kendra, and to make matters even weirder, your body is undergoing some kind of strange mutation." Hailey winced at how bad that last bit sounded, but luckily, Isaac wasn't offended by the remark.
"Yeah, I get it; this whole mess isn't exactly what I'd imagined would happen when I signed on for this repair mission," Issac admitted while the Ishimura's Tram, which was easily reachable thanks to the downed shutters acting like an extension ramp towards the transport vehicle, came screaming into the Station. The duo then proceeded to the waiting room's sole entrance where the gathered bodies, even The Officer who'd held the line to her last breath, awaited for Isaac to convert them into Zerg biomass.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" Hailey hesitantly asked while Isaac removed his helmet, allowing his crimson orbs to shine ominously within the Station's low light. "I mean, isn't there already a lot of that Creep stuff back on the Flight Deck." Isaac had told her about the Creep, though he hadn't said anything about The Voice within his head during their journey to the Medical Station. From the sound of things, the Creep had spread far on Flight Deck and was at the moment growing more Homunculi for her crew mate.
The Engineer negatively nodded his head. "Not enough to handle the areas they aren't growing within," Even now, The Overmind felt how the Creep had stopped spreading after a certain point and was now busily gestating new Homunculi for The Zerg Swarm. "Besides, I'd rather not risk these guys coming back as Necromorphs and ambushing us on our way back to the Tram." Plus, the new Creep would give Isaac's gradually expanding brood the beginnings of a foothold within this section of the Ishimura.
Hailey reluctantly nodded at her friend's answer. "I guess it'd be better to remove the potential threat now rather than wait for them to attack us later," brown eyes observed Isaac as he prepared to unleash the Creep held within his body. "But, this still feels kind of disrespectful to the dead." The Necromorphs were one thing; the soulless monsters were trying to murder them after all, but to willingly turn human remains into food for an organic carpet, even if the act was from somebody she trusted, still felt wrong on so many levels.
"Hey, I'm not a fan of this either," Isaac assured her while The Creep began to build within the bottom of his throat. "But desperate times call for desperate measures, and our situation is really desperate at the moment." With his piece said, Isaac puked Creep upon the corpse pile. The purple super-organism immediately ripped its way through the bodies, absorbing flesh, blood, bone, and other valuable materials that would assist with its growth. A few seconds later, a thick carpet of Creep had spread underneath their feet.
Meanwhile, Johnson's eyes widened in fright upon witnessing how fast the Creep had torn apart and greedily absorbed its biomass supply. Isaac had warned her of the purplish carpet's capabilities. Yet, seeing it for herself was far more disturbing than The Engineer's description of the first two times he'd done this while repairing the Tram. The living carpet was even starting to spawn several tiny egg sacs that'd eventually grow to the necessary size to both gestate and then birth a Zerg organism.
It had disturbing implications regarding what these Zerg were capable of and the destruction they could cause if Isaac wasn't around to control The Swarm.
"Alright, that should do it," Isaac, utterly unaware of Hailey's current train of thought, says with relief while putting his helmet back on. "Now, let's go find the command codes Kendra needs for the ship's computer." The Engineer, flanked by Homunculi bodyguards, headed over to the main entrance to Medical. At the same time, Hailey took a final towards the ever-expanding flesh carpet before dutifully following Isaac; as she limped, two of the Homunculi broke away from the others to take up rearguard positions.
The doors to Medical opened with an ominous groan.
Medical's Main Security Checkpoint.
"Well, this place sure has seen better days." Issac, who'd just removed another makeshift barrier from their path, frowned as he observed the utterly wrecked security checkpoint. The entire room was covered with dried splatters of crimson liquid, some of which might've been from either survivors fleeing from Necromorphs or possibly the security teams sent to defend the area. A reception desk, an evacuation sign written in blood pinned on the window could be seen on the left-hand side of the highly damaged room.
Upon the ceiling was a massive hole that occasionally let out electrical sparks at random, though strangely, the Engineer couldn't quite tell what had caused that kind of structural damage. A meteorite would've left an impact site in the room's metallic floor, so it wasn't likely the cause of the damage. The checkpoint was deep enough within the Ishimura to make it difficult for any meteorite to reach this location. An explosion was also possible since there was a distinctive lack of blast marks around the site.
To Isaac's trained eyes, it almost appeared like sheer brute strength had torn the metal apart. This was alarming as areas meant for ship security were usually reinforced during the initial construction period. The Engineer knew none of the Necromorphs he'd encountered thus far had the physical strength necessary to cause structural damage to the ceiling. However, it was entirely possible that an unknown Necromorph was responsible and was now aimlessly wandering the Ishimura.
If true, then Isaac was gonna need a lot more firepower to deal with the threat. Fortunately, he'd found quite a few Power Nodes during his journey through Flight Deck, some of which The Engineer could use to enhance his, not to mention Hailey's, weapons and the capabilities of their suites. However, Isaac will need to find an engineer's bench in order to perform the necessary upgrades to the equipment, but that should be easy since the Ishimura had multiple benches scattered throughout every ship section.
Pushing ideas for weapon enhancements to the back of his mind, Isaac turned his attention to the most troubling issue: the barricade blocking access to the morgue. The Overmind's inner Engineer screamed in anguish at the terrible construction work. He mentally refused to call it anything even remotely related to engineering. It was a mishmash of torn-up floor plates, chairs, metallic wall panels and many other pieces of junk sloppily welded together to create the barricade.
"Seriously, who the hell made this thing?" Isaac, who ignored Johnson as she moved to investigate the reception desk, knelt before the construct, brushing a hand against a badly set weld. "Dear god, my old teachers would've had an aneurysm just by looking at it!" They'd also immediately expelled whoever built this monstrosity, and Isaac wouldn't have blamed them for the decision as this mishmash lump of metal insulted his sensibilities as an engineer. Plus, it was blocking his way to the morgue!
"Dammit, there's got to be a way through this barricade," The Engineer stood up while mentally going over every possible solution to this problem. "A well-placed explosive could theoretically blast through the steel, but that comes with the risk of the explosion generating a bunch of red-hot shrapnel." Before Isaac completely lost himself to his thoughts, a burst of static suddenly rang within his helmet. A moment later, the communication screen materialised with an image of Hammond on Ishimura's Bridge.
"Isaac! Come in, Isaac, are you receiving me?!" Hammond hurriedly says while pacing on the view screen. The aforementioned Engineer was overjoyed to see that Hammond was okay and, without delay, employed his limited skills with computers to strengthen the signal so they could properly communicate.
"Hammond! I'm getting your signal, loud and clear," Isaac replies with a relieved tone while the view screen's static clears up. "And I've got to say it's a relief knowing you're okay." Hailey must've heard him talk over the communication systems as the former pilot chose to hurriedly limp out of reception; a relieved smile graced her features when she saw that Hammond was alive and appeared to be unharmed. Which was good as she'd feared that thing wearing Chen's face had gotten to him.
"Yeah, and the same goes for you and Hailey," The former Kellion Captain was beyond glad that his two crew mates had managed to arrive at Medical without receiving much in the way of injuries. "Anyway, have either of you seen or heard from Daniels?" His tone was filled with worry as he questioned both the Engineer and heavy weapons specialist about Kendra. "She ran off somewhere as soon as that thing with Chen's face attacked us." Hammond felt slightly frustrated since they needed Kendra's technical skills to unlock Ishimura's central computer.
Isaac shared a glance with Hailey before answering. "No. Nothing." He regretfully informs that Kendra hadn't tried contacting them since the last transmission between their two groups. "Medical's a slaughterhouse, and to make matters worse, they barricaded access to the morgue."
"The morgue?" Hammond questions while shaking his head as yet another problem has suddenly popped up to halt their progress.
Isaac nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, but the barricade appears to have been put together in a hurry," crimson orbs momentarily glanced back at the metallic insult of engineering. "A hydrazine tank might blow the whole thing open; I'd also need a detonator, like a shock pad." He theorised that the two items combined could generate the necessary force to destroy the barricade without the risk of red-hot shrapnel flying in every direction. Hammond frowned as he thought about the proposal.
"Hammond, I need to get inside the morgue," Isaac says after a moment of silence, his crimson orbs blazed with desperation and the utmost determination. "Nicole could be beyond that door, and if so, then I need to find her." The Overmind would tear this whole goddamn ship apart if it meant saving Nicole from the Necromorphs, and if he failed, then those undead freaks shall face a hell beyond their rotting brains' imagination. When he finds it, the source of this madness will get a thousand times worse.
"Isaac," Hammond began to say before sighing with resignation since he knew Isaac wouldn't be talked down from finding his girlfriend. "Just be careful, alright? I've lost Chen and don't want to lose anyone else to those things." The Kellion's crew nodded in understanding as neither Isaac nor Johnson wanted to see another friend be killed off by the Necromorphs. As for Kendra, they could only hope she found a safe place to hold up inside while they built the explosive that'd get them into the morgue.
"Don't worry, I've no intentions of dying here," Isaac assures while subtly gesturing for Hailey to secure whatever items she'd savaged from reception; the heavy weapons specialist gave a quick nod before limping away to gather up the supplies. "Plus, I think Johnson wants to teach our undead friends a lesson on why it's a bad idea to fuck with the Kellion's crew." It was true since he'd noticed how Hailey sometimes toyed with her weapons while eyeing the ventilation shafts, almost as if she wanted an enemy to come out simply so she could kill it.
"Well, now I almost feel sorry for them," Hammond said with a slight chuckle, as he personally knew how vindictive Johnson could be, especially when she had access to her guns. "But seriously, stay alert, Isaac; if they barricaded the morgue, it's because the Ishimura survivors probably wanted to keep something in." He warned, as nobody went through the trouble of sealing off a morgue of all things without having a damn good reason. Hell, for all they knew, the morgue was where the first bodies turned into Necromorphs.
Isaac grunted in agreement. "A lot of Necormorphs, most likely," he speculated on the subject, as the morgue was the perfect breeding ground for the reanimated monstrosities. Though, if they're lucky, many of the undead had moved onto other vessel sections. "By the way, has Chen been dealt with?" The Engineer inquired as he'd rather not fight what remained of his fellow crew mate, but given their track record, Isaac suspected the answer Hammond was about to give would be a negative one.
The answer Hammond gave confirmed his suspicions. "No. That monstrosity with Chen's face ran soon after I shot it through a leg," he suspiciously glanced around the Bridge as if waiting for the Slasher to come back for a second round. "It might've gone after Kendra, or it's possibly still in here just waiting for another chance to strike at me; either way, I'll handle it." The Kellion Captain promised, since Chen was his responsibility that he'd end the monster one way or another, even if it meant dying to stop the threat.
"Right, then I'll leave it to you." Isaac had little choice since he was in Medical while Hammond was on the Bridge with Chen. "And Hammond," crimson eyes shifted to the Homunculi busily assisting Hailrey with the supplies. "There's something I need to tell you." The Overmind hesitantly says as he doesn't quite know how Hammond will take the news about the Zerg. Hopefully, he'll be able to convince his Captain that the Swarm is on their side and will help them survive the Ishimura.
However, fate seemed to have other plans as a monstrous growl suddenly echoed on Hammond's side of the communication screen. The aforementioned man swiftly swept the Bridge's perimeter with his Pulse Rifle. A series of creative curses left Hammond's lips as the growls grew louder with each passing heartbeat.
"Fuck, I think Chen's come back for round two," Hammond's eyes darted around in search of the deadman with little success. "Sorry, Isaac, whatever you want to say can wait until I've dealt with Chen." Without waiting for a response, he disconnected the call, leaving Isaac to stare at a screen full of static. The Engineer inwardly cursed at the situation while hurriedly heading towards the door that'd lead to Medical Diagnostics labs, which should have the hydrazine tanks they'd need to create the explosive device.
"Hailey! We need to go now!" Isaac urgently yelled whilst the security scanners on the door began the process of identifying the Engineer and scanning his biology for any signs of injury or infection. Meanwhile, the Homunculi immediately dropped the supplies they'd been gathering for Johnson and, without hesitation, rushed over to form an honour guard around their Overmind. The former pilot limped over a few seconds later while pocketing a few small med packs and some Pulse clips for her Pulse Rifle.
"I'm here, so what's the emergency?" She asked as the scanners took her biometrics. Johnson had been too focused on scavenging for supplies to hear what'd happened during Issac's conversation with Hammond, so she was effectively in the dark in regards to Chen's second attack on the Bridge.
"Hammond's in trouble," Isaac bluntly informs while the scanners pause to analyse the received data. "We need to double-time it to the morgue and get those command codes back on the Bridge before Chen can do any serious harm." A part of Isaac wanted to send Homunculi to assist Hammond. Yet, logic told The Engineer that his Captain would likely mistake his Zerg for the enemy, and with the current situation, a momentary distraction could be all the Chen Necromorph needs to kill off Hammond.
"Shit, are you sure we can't just go back and assist Hammond?" Hailey glanced back towards the way they entered Medical. Yet, she refrained from hurrying to the Tram Station as she wanted to hear what Isaac had to say on the subject.
The Overmind didn't even look away from the doors as he gave an answer. "If we leave now, then we'll have to waste even more precious time coming back for the codes," and time wasn't exactly a luxury they could afford onboard the Ishimura. "Diagnostics also has the medical equipment that'll patch up your ankle." The small med packs they've managed to scavenge so far could, along with their more significant variants, handle minor wounds, but for Johnson, they'll need more specialised equipment to heal her ankle.
"It would be nice not to limp everywhere," Hailey reluctantly admitted, as the ability to run correctly would be a big help when it came to surviving Necromorph encounters. "And we need the hydrazine tanks, so it's knocking out two objectives simultaneously." Granted, Hammond would still be in a lot of danger during that timeframe, but getting herself patched up would benefit the whole team. Retrieving Captain Mathius's Rig from the morgue will also open up many options for dealing with this undead outbreak.
"That's exactly why we should focus on our mission," Isaac says with mild relief as Hailey sees the bigger picture regarding their situation. "Don't worry too much about Hammond; he's a fighter, and none of those undead freaks will take him down." He tried to reassure his crew mate while trying not to show his own doubts as Hammond was alone on the Bridge with who knows how many Necromorphs. No matter how skilled a fighter, the Captain was still human and thus had a natural limit to how long he could last in a fight.
"Right; Hammond wouldn't let that Chen imposter get the better of him." Hailey tightly held the Pulse Rifle whilst the double doors finished analysing their scans of the ragtag group; the entrance slid aside, thus granting them access to Medical's diagnostics labs. Without exchanging another word, the duo, guarded by the Homunculi who constantly looked for possible enemy movement, cautiously headed through the doorframe, their weapons held at the ready to dismember any Necromorphs dumb enough to show their faces.
The scavenger hunt for the explosive components was now on.
Meanwhile, Within The Ishimura's Computer Core.
"Dammit! Even the bloody core's main systems are locked out!"
Kendra, who'd locked herself within the ship's central computer core, felt beyond frustrated as she failed yet another attempt to access the core's systems. Captain Mathius had been rather paranoid during the journey to Aegis VII. They had linked all primary computer systems to his own set of command codes stored within his personal Rig. The bastard had rigged everything up so he could effectively take the entire mining vessel hostage should the non-church crew attempt a mutiny over the Red Marker.
"If this wasn't fucking over my mission at the moment, I'd actually be impressed by the amount of paranoid that went into this whole setup." Daniels slumped into the chair that was located in front of the core's access terminal. The few systems that weren't affected by the lockout were surveillance, communications and a couple of other minor ones that Ishimura's dead Captain either didn't have the time to properly subvert into his override system or were considered too unimportant to be worth the trouble to add to it.
"Well, at least with surveillance, I can keep track of everyone's progress." Kendra conceded as she turned on the cameras located within both Medical and Flight Decks. The ability to spy on her crew would definitely be useful when retrieving the Red Marker from the Ishimura. Though sneaking the oversized piece of rock past Hammond would be challenging, the former Kellion Captain would not allow something so dangerous as The Marker to leave the system, especially not when he learns of its capabilities to spawn Necromorphs.
"If necessary, I'll leave the guys here," Kendra slightly frowned at the idea yet knew that it might be necessary in the end to complete her mission. "After all, it's better to be stranded onboard the Ishimura than be potentially gunned down by a bunch of trigger-happy marines." The USM Valor, a destroyer class vassal lurking within a nearby system that'd been assigned to assist with the retrieval of the Red Marker, whose marine company wouldn't hesitate to murder her crew should they perceive them as a threat to the mission.
Daniels was well aware of The Destroyer's arsenal of nuclear weapons that were fully capable of blasting CEC's pride and joy back to the Stone Age. Hopefully, they won't need to deploy such firepower once The Marker is secure and ready to be transported to a new secret EarthGov facility. The Secret Agent would try to convince the Valor's Captain to leave the Ishimura alone since Hammond's crew should be a non-issue and quickly contained when reinforcements quarantine the system.
"Now let's see what's happening on Flight Deck," Kendra quietly muttered, as she didn't want to attract any of the Necromorph's attention. It wasn't worth the risk, even in a secure room. Daniels pulled up every security camera within Flight Deck with nimble fingers and analysed the video feeds. However, they paused when the surveillance for Tram repair came into view. The Government Agent leaned forward as she watched the pulsing acid-green sacs take up much of the repair room's space.
'Those aren't Necromorphs." Kendra softly mutters under her breath while trying to zoom in with the cameras for a closer look. After a moment of her tying different commands, the surveillance cameras pull closer, allowing Daniels to see the humanoid bodies floating within the massive eggs. The classified reports she'd been allowed to read had clearly stated that Necromorphs and the Marker didn't reproduce via eggs. Instead, the reanimated monsters hunted humans to turn their corpses into more of them.
"Yep, definitely not Necromorphs," she confirmed after a moment of observation. Plus, a Slasher just tried to move across the Creep, only to be brutally eaten alive for its efforts. "Which begs the question, what are you?" Kendra leaned back into the chair while watching over the Tram Repair Bay; her patience was soon rewarded as several eggs suddenly burst open, thus granting the newly born Homunculi the freedom to move about the room.
Kendra's eyes widened at the sight of new alien life. The debrief had never mentioned the possibility of her having to deal with two hostile lifeforms and one that's a complete unknown. The Necromorphs were terrible enough, but at least her superiors had tactical information on the Marker's capabilities and those of its evil spawn. These newcomers might endanger the mission and even unintentionally deliver the Marker to those who wish to use it against the established government.
"I need more intel," Kendra concluded while the Homunculi on screen played with some random items that hadn't yet been devoured by the Creep. "Something to give me an edge should the need arise." Typing a few commands into the terminal, Daniels summoned a smaller secondary screen which she could use to analyse the Ishimura's video logs; with any luck, Kendra might find the source of this alien outbreak and, with it, a clue as to control the Homunculi long enough to escape the vessel with her objective.
"Alright, I'll start with the earliest ship-wide Necromorph outbreak and see if I can find anything from there." Daniels pressed start on the recording, unaware of how the Homunculi stopped 'playing' with the surviving equipment and had gathered around the stasis recharge station. The Zerg quietly chirped amongst each other, almost as if they didn't want Kendra to catch on to something being amiss; when their seemingly private conversation ended, a Homunculi slashed at the stasis unit, causing it to be enveloped in stasis energy.
The unaffected Homunculi hissed at the results. Yet, they refused to move away from their slowed-down kin, who appeared to be concentrating on how it felt to be trapped within stasis energy. Once the effects wore off, he chirped something to the others, who stared at each other before immediately obeying the first Zerg by slashing the stasis recharge station. The stasis Homunculi then slow-motioned around the repair bay, performing different actions while psionically communicating their results.
The Homunculi that'd tested the recharge station growled with approval as information was shared and analysed at speeds most humans would find astonishing. The Zerg subtly glanced at the surveillance cameras where it felt someone watching through the spy equipment. A bestial hiss past its mandibles as the Homunculi didn't like the idea of someone saying on the Swarm. However, the humanoid Zerg was smart enough to acknowledge that it couldn't handle the threat, at least for the moment.
It'll stay focused on assimilating this strange stasis power into the Swarm. The Overmind already had a firm grasp of the technical knowledge of the energy. However, he could not incorporate stasis into organic beings, so the Homunculi are exposing themselves to the energy field to force evolutionary adaptation in the Zerg. The Swarm have assimilated countless worlds and their genetic diversity into itself; this stasis energy won't be any different and shall add to the Zerg's perfection.
It was only a matter of time before all became a part of The Overmind's Swarm, either willingly or through death; the Zerg shall never stop until all possible threats to their existence are eliminated. The Little Spy, hidden away somewhere like a rat in a maze, will eventually learn that lesson. Several Homunculi, recently born from Tram Control, were hunting through their territory for the spy, and when found, the intruder would be devoured or brought into the Swarm, where their essence would improve the Zerg.
In time, the Swarm shall emerge from this conflict as the victor and become more potent for the experience. After all, it was their greatest strength to consume, adapt, evolve, and grow until their endless numbers utterly devoured the skies on every world in the galaxy.
In the end, this vessel and everything on it will be consumed! And the rest of the universe shall shortly follow the same fate as the Ishimura and that of Aegis VII.