Chapter 8: Search and Rescue
"You know, it's a little ironic what our mission is now…." Isaac comments as the Tram approaches the Bridge. Sora and Kairi look at him inquisitively, asking what he means. "Repairing the Communication Array. It was actually what we were sent here to do in the first place."
"Meaning that we are finally doing the job you were tasked to do. After making sure we weren't going to die first immediately." Kairi replies, to which Isaac nods at. It was a long roundabout way to their original mission, but now they are. Soon the tram slowed, and the door opened to the bridge. Isaac pokes his head out along with his cutter, glancing around and making sure there are no creatures around. Sora and Kairi slowly followed him, Keyblades ready and magic ready to be cast. Soon, their comms flared to life.
"Things are looking up, you three." Kendra says with relief in her eyes. "A military ship just shocked in, the USM Valor… Dunno why it's out there, but it must have found our distress call."
"That's all well and good, Kendra, but we can't talk to them while the Communication Array is down. So where do we need to go?" Isaac asks as the three begin to walk towards the bridge. Kendra rolls her eyes at Isaac before bringing up a screen on her end.
"Head to the central lift and take it back to the floor you took to the ADS. I'll work on my end to hack the door leading to the Comm Control Center." She then looks at the three as sadness fills her eyes. "Be safe, you three." She whispers before ending the call. On that cheerful note, the three continue, grimly noting that the blood from last time was still here, yet the bodies were not. However, one worrying addition was the numerous holes in the walls around them, which Isaac identified as marks made by a Pulse Rifle, the kind that Hammond uses. It made them wonder if Hammond managed to fight his way back here after Hydroponics or if they were from when he first arrived on the bridge. Either way, they couldn't stay to ponder.
Entering the bridge atrium proper, Sora and Kairi took a moment to gaze at the stars shining from the outside as Isaac walked over to the lift controls before the quarantine alarm sounded.
"Not again!" Sora cries as several Exploders shamble towards them from the stairs leading to the 'Crow's Nest', explosive pods bulging and ready to explode. Isaac instantly took note of the arrivals, blasting the arm pods and shredding the Exploders before they could leave the stairs. Yet as more shambled up, several more came from behind, dropping in through the vents above. Sora and Kairi spun on their feet at the sound, summoning a torrent of wind to blow the Exploders towards the wall, detonating them harmlessly away.
But then came two enhanced Slashers and an enhanced Leaper, their pitch-black bodies and gleaming eyes making the couple flinch at sight. If it wasn't due for them not having yellow eyes, they could easily be a mistake for Heartless. While the Slashers showed how much durability they had, easily withstanding the pull of gravity magic far longer than a normal Slasher, the Leaper showed off faster speed than its typical variety.
Thankfully, Isaac's stasis brought its most significant advantage to a grinding halt as he soon removed the Leaper of its limbs after spending several extra shots in turn. The enhanced Slashers soon succumbed to the pull of gravity magic, but still, Sora and Kairi could feel the drain on their magic was far more significant than average. Lucky it was the final wave, as the quarantine was soon lifted as the Slashers ceased moving.
"Those things were tougher than normal…." Kairi commented between breaths as she and Sora regrouped with Isaac. "We're going to have to keep an eye out for those in the future. We spent way more magic on them than we felt was necessary."
"Not only that, but they are getting smart as well." Sora worryingly says as he looks around. "They waited for us to reach the centre of the room before attacking. And they did so first with Exploders to weaken us for those 'enhanced' versions. So we should expect similar ambushes coming at us."
"I hate to admit it, but you are right. These things are getting way too smart for my liking." Isaac replies before glancing at the central lift. "Well, one of the lifts is out of use. That growth we have been seeing has made its way here and taken over one of the elevator shafts."
"What about the other one?" Kairi points towards the said lift, untouched and online. "Would that one still work?"
"It should be. And a good thing for us, since it's the lift, we need to take." Isaac comments while walking towards and activating the lift. No sign of growth could be seen in the lift, a good sign for now. Kendra contacts the three as they start the lift, who says the door to Communications is open, yet she has been picking up on strange frequencies coming from it. She says it is possibly Mercer listening in on them and warns them to be careful.
Stepping off the lift as it arrives on the third deck, the three walk through the empty room before turning into the corridor leading to the Ship Exterior access along with access to the Comms Array. But getting in would not be easy, as two Guardians had been grafted to the walls next to the door, their unwilling hosts crying in agony as the tentacles shot out of their bodies. Grimacing behind their helmets, Sora and Kairi unleash fire spells on the poor souls, freeing them of their fate.
After giving a silent prayer to the deceased crewmembers, the three open the door to the Comms Array. Entering the corridor, the three see another crewmember dragging himself around the corner towards them, the RiG on his back in the deep red, before going out as the man collapses to the ground. However, they didn't have time to morn him as soon a new variant shuffled around the corner. It was thin and tall, with elongated arms, legs and spine, while its head looked like a skull with no flesh. It even had the remains of what looked to be a long coat on its back and shoulders. The moment its face looked at them, three tentacles shot out from its chest and wrapped around their necks, choking them while pulling them towards it.
Grunting while feeling the whip tighten around his neck, Sora aimed Kingdom Key at the creature before firing a blast of ice, hitting it directly in the chest and releasing their necks. But no sooner did they get a chance to breathe did the creature begging to fall to pieces before them, dividing into smaller parts as they sliver towards them, the head among them. Not taking any chances, Kairi brought down a torrent of thunder on them, as Isaac opened up on the head with a vengeance, payback for when one tried to crush his neck the last time they were here. Isaac only stopped shooting when he was sure it was no longer moving.
"Are you guys alright?" Sora asks while rubbing his neck. It felt like a metal clamp was tightening around his neck! Kairi and Isaac nod at Sora as they, too, massage their necks. Isaac commented on the quick thinking from Sora, who admits that it was more of a hunch than anything else. He just wanted to stop the choking feeling around his neck. Kairi giggled at Sora before they followed Isaac past the remains of the newly named 'Divider' before heading into a small room with a service lift. Taking the lift up and passing through another corridor, they come across another gondola, this one designed to hold more than three people.
With no other choice open, the three step onto the gondola as Isaac activates it and begins its travel through the dark tunnel. Compared to the last two they had been on, this one was moving much faster than the others, but considering how far they were going, it wasn't that much of a surprise. At least until the gondola hit a body hanging from the ceiling in its path, half of which landed in the gondola itself, scaring Sora and Kairi in shock.
"Must have been someone who was told to fix the comms array." Isaac sadly comments before grabbing a works I.D that landed next to him, identifying the corpse as First Comms officer Bailey. "He was a good man…." Isaac sighs sadly at seeing another person he knew from the Ishimura dead before him. Soon the gondola comes to a stop, and the trio steps off into the Comms Array office, lined with desks and computer screens. And through a glass window, they could see the Comms array. A large dish with a central pole running towards the roof, several smaller dishes surrounding it, three circles of six dishes. And behind it was a computer screen, showing two empty slots, six green slots, and the rest red.
"Okay, so how do we repair it? Kairi and I aren't great when it comes to electronics…." Sora asks Isaac as the engineer looks over the situation. Humming to himself, Isaac soon snaps his things before looking at Sora.
"Well, in this case, it's straightforward." Isaac points toward one of the green dots on the screen. "We don't need all of them to be green, and just one ring will be enough to get in contact with the Valour. We just need to use our Kinesis to move the damaged, 'red' dishes out and replace them with the 'green' dishes."
"That's easy enough to follow. And also, Sora, we are not so bad with electronics as we were a year ago." Kairi reprimands her boyfriend, who rubs the back of his helmet. Admitting they weren't that bad anymore, but they still had a LONG way to go. Chuckling to himself, Isaac leads the two to the airlock leading to the comms array. They split up to each deal with a separate array entering the Z-G area. It didn't take long before they removed the faulty devices and replaced them with working ones, but all the while, Isaac couldn't help but worry about the growth above them. He comments to the couple, saying that it could prevent any transmission or be received with growth like that.
"This is the last one!" Sora calls as he uses Kinesis to place the final array into the hole. The moment he did, the circle around the pole lit up in a calming blue as lights turned to full and the antenna hummed to life. The onboard A.I.'s announcement told them what they already knew.
Communication array re-aligned. Messages can now be received.
"Alight. Now that it's back online, even if it's 33% range, we can now get in contact with the Valor." Isaac comments while launching himself toward the exit, Sora and Kairi close behind. Then, exiting the Z-G and re-entering the comm array office, Isaac walks over to the central terminal before activating the array correctly. Instantly, several bolts of electricity beam from the central pole and onto the active arrays, all the while a loud boom could be heard echoing throughout the ship. All the while, the fleshy growth along the ceiling ebbs and flows from the force of the array before finally giving way and tearing apart from the force.
The moment the growth vanishes, Isaac's video comm springs to life. On it was not Kendra or Mercer but a heavily armoured man. Dressed in plated armour like Isaac, yet in brilliant white over a black bodysuit, and with a helmet with only two glowing eyes like Sora and Kairi's helmets, but boxier rather than the circular shape they had.
"This is USM Valor, widecasting on all frequencies to USG Ishimura in response to your SOS." The man talks in a dull, monotone voice, almost boarding on boredom. "We've picked up your escape pod number 47 and are en route to your location. This message will repeat every thirty seconds until you respond." The calls ended soon after, but there was already something that caught their attention.
"Escape pod? Didn't Hammond eject one earlier?" Sora asks.
"Yes, Hammond did." Kairi confirms with a nod. "Hammond did so because it had a…. Slasher….in it…." No sooner had Kairi finished speaking did their blood run cold. In a panic, Isaac immediately called Kendra and alerted her o the situation. And she was not happy.
"WHAT!? They picked up the pod that Hammond ejected earlier?! I won't let this happen!" She cried in anger before furious typing could be heard over the comm. "USM Valor! Come in, Valor! Argh, shit. The signal is too weak; I'm going to open up the blast doors to boost the signal."
The sounds of metal screeching against itself could be heard in the control room, yet they suddenly stopped no sooner than they had begun. Before Isaac could ask what was happening, an A.I. voice on Kendra's side alerts her to a blockage on the blast doors.
"Damn it! Isaac, something organic is sitting right on top of the communication array!"
"We heard over the comm. But never mind that, how do we get rid of it? Is there an ADS cannon we can use?" Isaac asks, masking his annoyance and building dread at the situation. Kendra runs through the files before confirming one, ADS cannon 48. "Got it. We'll have that cleared in no time!" Isaac then ends the call before turning to the Keyblade couple. They don't say anything, only giving Isaac a determined nod. In reply, by nodding in response, Isaac led the two back to the gondola and activated it.
Thankfully there were no creatures in the tunnel as they returned to the service lift, but they were surprised by seeing a Slasher using it as a person. However, it didn't have time to brag about it to the three, as Sora and Kairi used their Keyblades to chop off its limbs. Then, to add insult to the re-dead body, Isaac kicked it off the lift, saying it put it over the weight limit.
After the dry humour, the trio entered the hallway where they previously encountered the Divider before turning right and entering into a cargo lift, riding it toward the ADS Cannon. Exiting the lift and walking through a small hallway, they pass through an airlock before arriving at the cannon. The couple gave smile breaths of relief that they didn't have to spacewalk, but then again, their gliders would have made it easy before taking up the same positions they did the last time they were on an ADS. Isaac nods to the both of them before seating himself in the cannon, mentally preparing himself before switching it onto manual. Like before, the hull integrity for this part of the ship appeared, registering at 100%. They were lucky it was one of the ADS that was online. But they had no time to ponder as the shutters flew up, revealing the monstrous form.
It looked like a solid ball of flesh, with what looked to be crab legs pinning it to the ship's surface. What was strange, though, was how docile it looked. It didn't even seem to register them being here—the three looked bewildered. Isaac shrugs, firing several shots at the creature as Sora and Kairi coat the guns with water magic again. What followed next formed pits in all of their stomachs.
"FIVE TENTACLES!?" Kairi screams in shock as the invasive limbs erupt from the creature's back, the vulnerable spots glowing against the backdrop of space. "You mean it wasn't JUST the Leviathan that had those things!?"
"We can worry about getting dragged by those things another time, Kairi!" Sora exclaims, his eyes not moving from the sight before them. "Isaac, think we can force it off the ship by taking those things out?"
"I'm not seeing any other way, Sora!" Isaac replies before opening up on the creature. His first few shots slam into one of the tentacles, decimating the pod in its arm and obliterating it. The other four, sensing their weakness, retreat into the budging mass for protection. Soon, two shoot out from it before diving straight into the Ishimura's hull, ripping pieces off and throwing it at them. Isaac's eyes widen behind his visor as he turns the guns on the debris, blasting them before they hit the ship.
Taking advantage of one of the tentacles trying to rip the hull apart, Isaac blasts at its pod, decimating it and removing another offending appendage from the creature. The beast, in return, retaliates by firing pods at them, distracting Isaac as the limbs tear up more of the hull and fling the pieces at them, several passing through and impacting around them. Sora and Kairi take numerous glances outside, pondering about calling down bolts of thunder on the beast, but decide against doing so, focusing their mana on maintaining the orbs of water around the guns, keeping them cool and allowing Isaac to fire with wild abandon.
The results spoke for themselves as Isaac removed two more of the appendages, leaving one remaining as it hides in the creature. Eventually, it shoots out with blinding speed onto the hull, ripping parts with explosive canisters before chucking it at them. But, thankfully, Isaac was quicker on the draw, blasting at the rubble while also catching the tentacle in the same blast, eliminating it and destroying the last of the tentacles. The change was instant.
The beast's grip instantly was lost as the remaining crab legs failed to keep their grip, as the hulking mass of flesh was gently pulled away by the weightlessness of space. If sound could travel, they would have likely heard a 'pop' as the part of the beast blocking the comms array was dragged out of it. But there was no time for cheering from the three. Instead, the moment the creature was cleared, Isaac called Kendra and let her know the doors could be opened, which they saw happen from their vantage point. Not long after, a video call with Kendra opened up as Sora and Kairi gathered around Isaac, the water magic dissipating into harmless crystals of ice.
"USM Valor, this is Kendra Daniels of the USG Ishimura, come in! Do NOT open the pod! I say again, do NOT open the pod!" Yet all they got was silence, as the feeling of dread became heavier on them. Eventually, a video from the Valor did appear, but no one was in the chair. Eventually, a soldier appeared, but he seemed to be struggling to rise while a looming shadow lurked over him in the background. The soldier didn't even have a chance to speak before the shadow took a swing at him, destroying the camera and ending the call.
"The Valor is lost…." Isaac says grimly as he hangs his head. They failed. Kairi sheared his pain when she placed a hand on his shoulder and was about to say something before a worried tap from Sora drew their attention.
"I think we have bigger problems, Isaac…." Sora says in an apprehensive tone and with what sounded like fear. The two followed his gaze before they two felt their blood run stone cold. It was the Valor, its hull ablaze with fire. And it was aiming straight towards them. "GET BEHIND ME!" Sora yells at the top of his lungs as the ship barrelled straight towards them. Wasting no time to argue, Kairi and Isaac group around Sora as he raised his hand in front of him, a motion Kairi mirrored as they chanted the one spell that would save them.
"REFLECT!" As before, the hexagonal barrier formed around them, the image of a fox and leopard briefly seen again. And not a moment too soon, for the Valor crashed into the Ishimura with enough force to send the three to the floor despite the barrier up. All around them, a bit of metal flew as spouts of flame erupted from the turret and walls. All the while, the roar of metal screeching against metal, breaking and giving way as a titanic force collided with the Ishimura, roared all around them in a scream. Then, before they knew it, everything went blank.
By the time they came around, a message was playing for Isaac. A message from Nicole. But it didn't stay for long, for soon, it was interrupted by none other than Hammond.
"Isaac! Sora! Kairi! You three alright?" he asks through spurts of coughing. The three breaths sigh of relief at seeing him alive, stating that they had been worried when they couldn't get in touch with him. "Well, I've been trying to reach all of you as well! But, unfortunately, someone has been blocking my RiG. It must be that crazed person you mentioned back on Hydroponics. Anyway, I managed to find some med packs and healed myself up in cleaner air." He then breathes a big sigh before turning his eyes back to Isaac, steel behind his eyes.
"Listen, guys, and I know you can hear me to Kendra. I'm calling an abort on the mission. Fuck the CEC and fuck the chain of command. We NEED to get out of here. Luckily, I found us a ride on the crew deck. It's a shuttle, probably the same one used to get the Marker off the colony. Unfortunately, it's missing a singularity core, but we can get a new one from the Valor. I'll meet you three over there, okay? Hammond out."
"Alright, so where did the Valor get stuck?" Sora asks as Isaac opens up the shipboard map. After scanning over the alerts, one area stood out to him, but he couldn't help but groan.
"The Valor crashed right into the Ore Storage Deck, right at the back of the ship near Engineering and underneath Hydroponics." Sora and Kairi let out a groan at the location's name. Why couldn't it have crashed somewhere closer? "Well, no use complaining about it. Let's head back to the Tram Station. If Hammond is right about this, we will soon be off this dead ship. And maybe, you will be able to head back home." The mention of home brought smiles to the couple, but they soon turned to look at each other. Even though they couldn't see their faces, they could tell what others were thinking.
"Isaac, why don't you, Hammond, Kendra and Nicole come back to our reality?" Sora offers. Isaac turns to look at him, stunned at the offer. "You don't have to take it if you want to; it's just, we don't want to leave you guys here. I'm sure our Master would understand if we told him what was happening in this place." Isaac was glad he was wearing a helmet, for if they saw him now, they could see a single tear going down his cheek. There was nothing for him and Nicole in this reality. Even if they made it through this, what was stopping some other nutjob from finding the Marker and repeating the same thing in a different place? What if it wasn't a ship next time but a fully colonised planate like Earth? The choice was clear.
"I'll have to talk to Hammond, Kendra and Nicole about it, but honestly, I think all of us will take the offer. This place no longer feels like home anymore. Although for me, that was when my mom took away my future." Isaac mumbles the last part to himself as he leads the two back to the Tram Station. A lone Divider tried to ambush them in the atrium but was quickly brought down by a blast of gravity magic, the spell doing wonders on the dividing beast. Along the way, Isaac decided to give an idea to his friends.
"Say guys; I thought of a name to call the creatures in general, just so that we can identify them better when they come at us in a large group." Sora and Kairi look at Isaac, wondering what the Engineer has on his mind as he activates the Tram's systems.
"I'm thinking of calling them, Necromorphs."