Chapter 9: Dead on Arrival
"Necromorphs? Why that name?" Kairi asks as he and Sora sit on one of the benches in the Tram, Isaac leaning on the wall near the consol. Isaac chuckles at Kairi's question before explaining why he chose that particular name.
"Well, for several reasons. It's mainly referencing how they are reanimated corpses, as well as other things. Besides, having a blanket name for them will give us better responses when we get ambushed, rather than saying them all by name."
"I can understand that, Isaac." Sora complements. "Remember how we told you about the Heartless in our reality? It's the same with them. All the individual ones have names, but we call them by the broader term for speed."
"That was my reasoning behind it." Isaac replies as they feel the Tram slowing down. "Looks like we have arrived. Time to move." The couple nod at him as Isaac walks off the Tram and into the station, which had the same basic layout as all the others. Sora comments that he was getting bored of the same design choices for the Tram Stations, which Isaac agreed to. They didn't have time to move, though, for soon enough, a video call opened up, with Hammond calling them.
"You guys doing alright?" He asks before receiving three nods. "That's good. Listen, guys, I found a munitions log for the Valor, but it paints a suspicious light on the presence of this ship."
"How so Hammond? What's wrong?" Sora asks. How can a ship coming to their rescue be suspicious?
"That's the thing, Sora. The Valor is prepped for war." That drew wides eyes from all three. "This ship was not on reconnaissance or patrol. They are on a seek and destroy mission! The Valor's-" before he could finish, his call cut out, and all that was left was a blank screen. Frustrated, Isaac switches over to Kendra, asking if she still had his RiG, to which she sadly shakes her head before telling the three to find the core before ending the call. Yet something was off.
"Is it just me, or did Kendra seem 'off' to you two?" Kairi asks as they walk down a dark corridor to one of the storage rooms. "She didn't seem all that worried about Hammond. Even if the two have been at each other's throats, you would think she would be a little bit more active in trying to get in contact with him again. Even back in Hydroponics…."
"Something tells me we are going to have a LONG chat when we see her face to face again. But until then, keep all this to ourselves, alright?" Isaac suggests that the two mimic zipping their mouths shut with their hands. Then, nodding at them, Isaac leads the two towards another airlock, opening the first door before readying the second.
As soon as the door opened, the three were greeted by the sight of the Valor, its hull taking up what used to be an ample storage space, an airlock port easily viewable from where they were standing. But between them lay a field of glowing green orbs that seemed to glow and spark with electricity. Before Sora and Kairi could ask Isaac about them, an A.I. announcement sounded over their comms, a militaristic masculine one, likely from the Valor, compared to the humbler and more feminine one of the Ishimura.
Radioactive Materials Detected. Safety Lock Engaged.
"Radioactive!? Just what is the Valor carrying?" Isaac exclaims in shock at the A.I. announcement while the couple looks at him bewildered. Isaac seemingly notices the looks he was getting or what he thought they were giving him before he trued around to explain. "Radioactive materials are hazardous. Prolonged exposure to them can cause serious harms to any forms of life, including death." Sora and Kairi seemed to recoil in shock at the description, but Isaac was not finished. "And that is not all. Radioactive materials can be refined into weapons that we call Atomic or Nuclear. They have enough firepower to level entire cities and leave the surrounding land uninhabitable for several generations, even centuries depending on the blast."
"Seriously?" Sora asks, scared and afraid of the terrifying orbs floating before them, numbering around five. Kairi holds onto Sora as the two of them feel shivers down their spines, fear at what one of these could do to Radiant Garden, Destiny Islands, Twilight Town or even Disney Castle. "Then, what do we do with these?"
"For one thing, we get rid of them. We can't enter the Valor while these orbs are floating about here." Isaac replies before glancing at a hatch below them, large enough for a small ship to pass through or several orbs to get expelled. "And we have just the answer for us down there. Follow me." Isaac pushes himself off the platform and down to the hatch, with the couple following him closely behind before landing at the escape hatch. "We will use this to open the room to the vastness of space. Then, when all the air is sucked out, it should also drag the orbs along. The only problem is that they need to be near the door; otherwise, they won't move at all."
"Oh, we can handle that." Sora replies before he and Kairi raise their Keyblades together, calling forth a join Magnet spell and drawing all the orbs over to them. Nodding at the two, Isaac turns his cutter on the controls keeping the door shut before blasting it apart.
The effect was instant. The moment the controls were destroyed, the storage door opened, rapidly drawing all air out, along with anything not tied down. The three were lucky that their boots were magnetized to the ground, as well as their onboard air supply, while the radioactive orbs were pulled out into the vastness of space, safe and harmless. A situation the Valor's A.I. agreed with.
Radiation Hazard Cleared. Safety Lock Released.
Not needing to be told, the three jumped towards the entrance of the Valor, noting the small puddle of dried blood at their feet at the door. They could already tell what was waiting for them. With deep sighs, the three enter the air lock and the ship proper. What greeted them was an interior the same as the Ishimura, but with hardly any lights working and fires erupting from the floor. And standing in shadows, its back illuminated by a broken screen, was a Necromorph. It looked like a Slasher, and yet its arms were not broken up above its head. Its body was also twitching and jumping erratically, as its head vibrated constantly. It soon notices the three, but instead of charging at them, it turns and runs, its grey skin briefly illuminated by a barely working light.
"Was that…" Kairi begins, only for Sora and Isaac to nod their heads. A new variant of the Slasher. With equal parts of trepidation and unwillingness, the three press on, passing through the ruined corridors as smoke and gas leak out of burst pipes and vents while avoiding malfunctioning gravity plates. Eventually, they came across a room littered with bodies, floor, and walls painted in blood, while before them lay the escape pod that housed the Slasher. "A single Necromorph did all of this?" Sora and Isaac couldn't answer Kairi's question, disgusted at the destruction before them. Their pondering didn't last forever, though, as the variant they say before shambled towards them from behind some loaded crates, which were stacked on movable plates across the room.
The Necromorph twitches wildly before suddenly rushing toward the three and an insane speed. Isaac opens fire with his cutter, and yet the thing dodged it like it was nothing. Sora and Kairi unleashed their fire spells on it, and yet it dodged them easily as well. Having enough, Isaac shot a blast of stasis at the creature, slowing it down considerably, before the couple unleashed a storm of thunder on it, finally bringing it down.
"What on Kingdom Hearts was that? How did it move so fast?" Sora asks as the three walk over to dead Necromorph. Isaac hums to himself before noticing something on the back of the creature. It was a Stasis unit. That's when it hit him.
"These soldiers all had built-in Stasis Units in their suits. So when they were infected, the process must have mingled with the Stasis unit. But instead of slowing them down, it sped them up."
"Meaning we are now dealing with a variant who can react fast enough to avoid our strikes." Kairi summarises for Sora, who lets out a pained groan. At this point, he would instead go up against an army of Large Bodies that deal with these. "We'll just have to keep our eyes out for these, 'Twitchers', as we move out then." Deciding not to dwell on it anymore, the three move through the storage room, using Kinesis to move some of the crates around via the floor plates. Eventually, they manage to create a path through the maze of containers to the other side of the room before another Twitcher charges at them. Learning from their last encounter, Sora hits the Twitcher with a shot of Stasis as Kairi throws her Keyblade at it like a buzzsaw, removing its arms and head. Another Twitcher soon rushes at them from behind a stack of crates as two more burst out from vents at the far end of the room.
Not taking any chance, all three hit the creatures with Stasis before removing them of their limbs. Sora thought about using Stop on them more than once but hesitated at the last moment. Finally, deciding to stick with the Stasis and conserve magic for when they most need it.
After the last Twitcher falls, the three head over to the nearby door, thankfully free of debris. Unfortunately, some containers on the other side had been left there due to the impact, but a quick bout of Kinesis had the offending containers moved in no time. Walking into the room, Isaac spied a working battery still in its hold before pulling it out with Kinesis, saying it was better to have it than leave it. Deciding not to comment on the acquisition, Sora and Kairi followed Isaac across the destroyed room, fires raging below as sparks fell from above until a comm call activated.
"Isaac, Sora, Kairi. Do you hear me?" Hammond asks over the comm. Sora replies to him, saying they can hear him loud and clear. "That's good. This ship is a mess. I can barely keep this call alive. The impact almost tore the ship clean in half. Anyway, I'm tracking you guys from on the bridge, and I should be able to open any locks between you and the engine room. It's a mess up here, though. Poor bastards never stood a chance. I'll meet you guys at the engine room."
"Copy that, Hammond, and stay safe. These Twitchers can sneak up on you before you know it." Sora says before the call dies. Moving past a bulkhead door, the trio continues on down the blood-soaked halls, corpses strewn about at their feet—victims of the lone Slasher. Eventually, after turning a corner, the three find an elevator, only for its battery to explode, killing all power going to it. "Guess that battery is coming in sooner rather than later, Isaac." Isaac smirks under his helmet before placing the battery into the power socked, bringing the lift back to life. Stepping into it, Isaac activates the lift, sending them up into the Valor before a sudden video call opens up, startling them.
And on the video was Dr. Kyne.
"Dr. Kyne? I'm surprised you're still alive." Isaac says in shock at seeing the former Unitologist on the video screen. Kyne gives Isaac a small smile before nodding his head.
"It has not been easy, I assure you, but I haven't much time. I overheard your comm calls, and I know how you plan to escape, but I have an idea that can help end this outbreak."
"What are you talking about?" Sora asks, slightly suspicious. True, this guy tried to set things right, but he WAS also part of a cult, according to Isaac. So how can they be sure he is still in the right of mind?
"I can understand your doubts, Mr. Sora. But I assure you my intentions are genuine. You three must understand there are forces at work here, greater than we can ever understand. If you leave now, then all of humanity will be condemned. The church is wrong. This has all been a trap!" Sora and Kairi look at each other conflicted. No matter what they did, things looked doomed anyway. And so far, the only person they sensed to have a heart has been Isaac. No one else, not even Nicole, gave the impression they had one. So maybe this reality was doomed from the start?
"Look, I'm not the greatest fan of Unitology. As a matter of fact, I hate them with every fibre of my being." Isaac says at Kyne before letting out a deep breath. "But it is clear to me that you are probably the only one left who knows how to stop this. So go ahead, Kyne, what is it we need to do." Kyne seems to visibly relax at Isaac's trust before his face becomes serious.
"Thank you, Mr Clarke. However, to stop this outbreak, we need to return the very same object that started this. We must return the Marker to its rightful place back on the planet." Kyne looked ready to continue before his eyes widened in fright. "Confound it; they know I'm here. I will get in touch with you again." He then abruptly ends the call just as the lift ends. Exiting the lift, the three share concerned looks.
"What do you think he means the 'Marker must be returned'?" Kairi asks as Sora glances around them, eyes peeled for any ambushes. The corridor before them had collapsed on itself, leaving them a small hall to the right to take. Although according to the records, Isaac begins giving a thoughtful hum, he theorises that the entire outbreak started on the planet when the Marker was dug up. Meaning that if they brought it back to where t was taken, it should stop it. At least, that's the weak theory presented to them. Still, it was better than nothing. But until Kyne could contact them again, they had a core to obtain.
Walking down the only blocked corridor, the three soon enter the armoury. However, no weapons were waiting for them, only a large empty room with some support structures and several faulty gravity plates. At least that was what they thought was here until a Divider shambled past one of the support pillars. At the same time, two Exploders jumped down from the vents in the ceiling, corning the three. At least, that is what the Necromorphs thought. Unfortunately for the Divider, but fortunate for the trio, it was walking right next to a gravity plate, and with a quick burst of Aero from Kairi, it was soon permanently glued to the ceiling by said plate.
The Exploders faired little better, quickly picked off by Isaac with precise shots from his Cutter. Then, with several congratulatory nods around, the three leave the armoury and enter another corridor, all the while small explosions could be heard around them. But when they turned the corner, they found a soldier holding onto his severed leg, blood spilling from his wound.
"Hey! Hold on!" Sora says as he and Kairi rush over to him, but it is no use. No sooner do they reach him, the soldier drops down dead. Sora and Kairi clench their hands in pain at seeing another person die, while Isaac gently pats them on the shoulders.
"There was nothing we could do." He says sadly to them before continuing, shoulders slumped. Sora and Kairi take a moment to look at the soldier before following Isaac in an operation room. Inside is a lone table with a corpse on it, to no one surprise. But what had Isaac worried about were the operation beams shooting off it in a random direction, sparking leaving trails across the room. A Twitch bursts out of a vent from the other side before charging at them, only to be cut to pieces by the beams as they spiral randomly over the room.
While Isaac shakes his head at the Twitcher, Kairi glances at the operation device before noticing that the seemingly random pattern was not so random. Instead, it was scaring parts of the room in chunks, the left side, central, then the right. Moreover, it was moving so fast as to seem random. Waiting for the right moment, Kairi blasted the device with stasis before running to the other side of the room, followed quickly by Isaac and Sora.
"Nice one, Kai." Sora praises while giving her a one-arm hug. Kairi beams at him while nuzzling into him, saying that it was nothing. Then, with the malfunctioning device behind them, the couple continued to follow Isaac as his waypoint guided them to the engine room until they found themselves in what looked to be the barracks. All the while, the three were on edge for any ambushes by the Necromorphs, their presence worryingly absent. But that all changed when they reached the centre of the ruined room.
Lockdown Initiated.
"Had a feeling were we about to get ambushed." Sora says as the three form a circle as the orange lights flared to life. But while the three had their eyes on the vents, the Necromorphs had other ideas. Along the barrack walls are small rooms for the marines of the Valor, and it was from these rooms that the creatures attacked from, catching the three off guard. Several Lurkers emerged from the bunks, firing at the trio as a single Pregnant charged forward with several Exploders, while Twitchers rushed along the sides, all the while two Leapers ran along the ceiling. The Necromorphs were determined to add them to the collective.
Shaking off the initial attack by the Lurkers, Sora and Kairi immediately cast gravity on the Leapers, bringing them crashing to the ground. One of them landed on an Exploder, setting off a chain reaction that decimated all of them, including the Pregnant. True to their name, the Twitches managed to twitch their way out of the blast, only to be hit by a stasis blast from Isaac before he blasted their limbs off.
Seeing their comrades fall quickly, the Lurkers ran behind the pillars to regain the advantage, only for Sora to cast a wind spell in their direction, forcing them out and into a malfunctioning gravity panel. Nevertheless, they were soon getting well acquainted with the ceiling of the Valor. Finally, the orange lights ceased, and the shutters retracted as the Lurkers stopped moving.
Lockdown Lifted.
"You know, I prefer the voice of the Ishimura to the Valor." Sora says as the three take a moment to breathe, Kairi casting a cure spell on them to heal the minor wounds they received from the Lurkers. "How far are we from the Engine room Isaac?" Opening up his map, Isaac was surprised to see the Engine room was only a few corridors away.
"We're not that far. I forgot just how small the Valor is compared to the Ishimura." Isaac comments as he leads the two out of the barracks and into the hallway, passing by a person trapped to the ceiling by a gravity plate. Sora and Kairi wanted to help, but Isaac shook his head, saying that the person was long gone. Grimly, the three continue into the next hallway, catching a glimpse of a survivor running through a door at the far end before it closes shut. Seeing the door turn orange, the three ignore it, begrudgingly, and enter the engine room next to it. Unlike the Ishimura's, the Valor's was divided into two small floors, one accessed by a service lift, while the ground floor was behind a glass panel, stretching the room's length.
Seeing no other option, the three step onto the lift and head up to the second floor, all the while the roaring sound of flames erupted around them. Looking past the wall before them, they could see the capacitor at the other end of the room. The only problem was the spurts of flames erupting from the back of the room, preventing all travel towards it. Thankfully, two large cylinders were on rails, blocking the fire near them. But they didn't run all the way up.
"So now what? Who do we stop this fire from engulfing us when we try and grab the part?" Kairi asks as she looks at the flames licking at the side of the cylinder. Isaac shrugs, never having worked on a military vessel before. Sora groans in irritation before taking a chance to look while the flames briefly stop. Looking around, he could see a jet of white fire shooting out from the part, while along the side looked to several fuse boxes. The same one that Isaac first blasted back when they were on the flight deck!
"I've got an idea!" Sora says excitedly, startling the two. "Isaac, there look to be some of those purple lights you shot at, back on the flight deck. Remember when we were in that room when you first found the Plasma Cutter?" If Isaac didn't have a helmet, Sora would have seen his face light up with recognition.
"You're talking about fuse boxes! If we can take them out, it should shut down the engine and leave the capacitor free to grab!" Isaac looks at both sides of the wall they stood behind, glancing at both cylinders. "No doubt there will be fuse boxes on both sides. Alright, ill take the one on the left. You two take the right." The couple nod at Isaac before walking over to the cylinder. Seeing the Kinesis symbol blazed upon it, Sora activated his and started pushing the cylinder back, Kairi walking beside him every step of the way. They could see Isaac doing the same on their end to their left before seeing him blast at a fuse box near him. Copying him, Kairi aimed her Keyblade at the box near them before firing a blast of ice at it when the flames subsided.
Repeating the process two more times finally ended the fire stream from the back, allowing the three to walk to the capacitor. Upon looking at it, Sora and Kairi could only tilt their heads at how bland it looked. They expected something fancy, but instead, they found a three-pointed cross. Not that they were going to question it, seeing how carefully Isaac was removing the capacitor. After detaching the last wire, Isaac then placed it on his belt before turning to look at the couple.
"Alright, we have what we need. Let's find Hammond and-" before Isaac could finish, a roaring explosion erupted around them, as several minor blasts could be heard through the Valor. Before they could ask what was happening, the Valor's A.I. told them.
Engine Power Failure.
"Shit! The capacitor was the only thing keeping the Valor together! Come one!" Isaac cries before running through an open door, closely followed by Sora and Kairi. Running down the corridor, fires continued to blast out of the walls as a critical chain reaction consumed the ship. Rushing out the door, they wince at seeing the glass screen before them before seeing, to their joy, Hammond appearing on the other side. "Hammond! Over here!" Isaac turns to look at them, relief written on his face and, to their confusion, resignation.
"Guys! I've been trying to reach you, but my comm was out!" He glances at Isaac's belt before seeing the singularity core. "You've got it! That's our ticket out!" His joy soon fell when a monstrous cry erupted from the hall. Then, to the horror of all, an enhanced Brute stormed into the room before glaring at Hammond, whose back was up against the glass.
"Hammond, getaway! Run!" Kairi yells as he stands there in fear, Pulse Rifle aimed at the Brute. Hammond fired at the beast with a desperate cry, yet his shots harmlessly bounced off. The Brute seemingly smirks at Hammond before raising its right arm above its head, ready to punch Hammond in the face. Yet it didn't get the chance to do so.
"STOP!" Sora's cry echoed through the room as what looked to be Roman numerals and rainbow coloured crystals appeared around the Brute before it stopped moving entirely. Hammond blinks at it several times before Sora's voice snaps him back to reality. "Don't just stand there! Run!" Shakily nodding his head, Hammond moves to the side, just as the Brute begins moving again. Its fist slammed into the space where Hammond was, breaking the glass like it was not even there and letting the trio free.
No sooner were they free, Isaac let loose a blast of Stasis on the Brute, while Sora and Kairi ran to its sides, bringing their Keyblades down in full force, severing its giant arms from its body. Then, taking a moment to calm down, they rush over to Hammond, who was shakenly standing up after his near-death encounter. "You alright?" Kairi asks while casting a cure spell over them.
"Yes, I am. Thanks' to Sora here." He gives him a thankful nod before standing back on his feet. "Come on. It's time we got out of here." No one argued with that, especially with the A.I. announcement warning them of a critical fuel containment leak, followed by several more explosions. Making their way back to a lift, the four return to the deck they entered from, rushing over to the airlock before coming to a realisation. "Hammond, do you have a spacesuit with you?" Hammond's face fell at the question, his smile bittersweet.
"No, I don't. I came in through a different way. It's a vacuum out there, isn't it?" he asks sorrowfully. The three don't answer, only staring at the ground in sadness. "Well, guess this is where my ride ends…." He looks over his rifle one last time before handing it to Isaac. "Take it, Isaac. I'm sure she will help you out as she helped me." Isaac looks over the Pulse Rifle before holstering his cutter. Taking it in his hand, Isaac cast a sad gaze at Hammond, who seemed to be smiling remorsefully. "It was a fun time, guys. Take care of these two, won't you, Isaac. They have a long life ahead of them." Before they could respond, Hammond closed the airlock door before jettisoning the three into the vacuum-filled ore storage room before they could react. As they looked back on the exploding Valor, a burst of flame erupted from the airlock, while the sound of a RiG going offline filled their ears.
Hammond was dead.
They didn't even have a chance to mourn him before rushing back into the Ishimura, exiting the soundless vacuum. It was only then that Kendra contacted them. "I just lost all of Hammond's vitals. Is he dead?"
"Yeah. He is." Isaac says in a small voice. Sora was holding Kairi tightly as she cried softly into his shoulder. They didn't know Hammond for long, but he seemed to be a nice guy. He didn't deserve to die like this. "We will talk to you more when we reach the Crew Deck Kendra." Isaac ends the call before leading the two back to the Tram Station. They would let Hammonds' death be for nothing.
I'll be real, part of me WANTED Hammond to live. But considering the only way back out was through the air lock in the Ore Storage, and Hammond's RiG didn't seem to come with a helmet, well, didn't have any other choice. At least he didn't get beaten to death by a Brute. And now Isaac has a Pulse Carbine/Rifle.