Chapter 8: Helpless Cries
"Alright, as soon as we get to the bridge, we head down to the lower level and make for the Array. The sooner we get it up and running, the better." Isaac explains, going over his holographic map. Sora and Kairi watch, passing the time as the Tram races for the bridge. They had just past the Medical Deck before the Tram came to a sudden stop, throwing everyone to the floor. "The hell!?" Isaac cries as the lights go out, growls echoing on the other side.
Tension rises as the trio ready themselves for an attack as the sounds of a Necromorph scurry around the Tram. Before a vent is smashed open, the attacker leaves them be. The Tram slowly moves again not long after.
"That was close." Sora comments as the Tram arrives at the Bridge. "For a second, I thought we were going to have to fight in the Tram."
"That would have been complicated." Isaac comments as the Tram doors open. The Bridge Station had not changed since their last visit, which was both good and bad. Good that no growth has reached this far. Bad in that there really were no more survivors onboard the ship. But just as that sobering thought entered their minds, a video call from Kendra appeared before Isaac. And her face was delighted.
"Guys, we did it! A ship just shocked in. The USM Valour. They must have heard our SOS." While Sora and Kairi breathed sighs of relief, Isaac raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"That's great and all, but why is a military ship doing all the way out here? Doesn't that seem odd to you?"
"At this point, Isaac, I'm not questioning it." Kendra dismisses. "I'm getting to the point I'd be happy to be rescued by a fucking magpie. Head for communications. Once we with the Comm Array, we'll get all the answers we need." And with that, the call ends, but not before leaving the trio with a heavy cloud of suspicion.
"Kendra keeps saying Hammond is hiding something, but I'm thinking that so is she." Kairi comments as they make their way to the Atrium. "And why IS a military ship out here? Wouldn't it make sense if it was another mining ship?"
"That's what bothers me." Isaac replies. "But Kendra's right. We can ask questions once the Array's back online. Just hope this ship isn't filled with Unitologist fanatics." That was the last thing they needed. More bodies to expand the Necromorph horde. However, that did raise another question. What was happening to all the dead Necro bodies?
Hazardous anomaly detected. Quarantine activated.
Well, they could ponder that question after dealing with these living Necros!
Bursting out of the vents, a wave of Exploders led the charge, followed closely by three Slashers and two Leapers. To anyone else, they would have panicked at what to do. But for the veteran trio, it was easy.
A simple shot at one of the Exploders detonated the entire line, leaving the Slashers and Leapers vulnerable to Stasis. While the Leapers had, well, leapt away, the Slashers were stuck by the Stasis blast. Leaving them wide open for Sora to blast them with the alternate fire of the Contact Beam.
While Kairi and Isaac focused on the Leapers. One tried to leap onto Kairi, but she batted it away with her Keyblade before firing her Flamethrower at it. Isaac, for the most part, used the Force Gun to repel his Leaper while shearing off its skin with each blast before finally shattering its limbs.
Soon, silence once again filled the atrium, but not before Isaac's comm unit flared up. Static pouring out.
"There's that static again…" Isaac comments as the comm cuts out. "Someone must be listening in, but who? And if so, why?"
"Isaac. I think we found something." Sora calls out, standing near one of the holographic panels lining the area. Isaac joins the two before activating the panel, playing a recorded conversation between Nicole and the Unitologist Captain. With both fading into view as the holograms play.
"Fine, then, we'll waste more time and record this. Satisfied?" The captain asks with exasperation. Yet the look on Nicole's face was anything but.
"No, I'm not 'satisfied'. We have a dead miner, we can't sedate Brant Harris—"
"Wasn't Harris originally your patient? You could have warned us that he'd go berserk." The captain cuts her off coldly as he begins to walk away. Nicole followed after him.
"Captain, Harris is suffering from a dementia that we don't fully understand. He was making progress until Dr. Mercer took his case—over my objections." The captain sighs at her as he comes to a stop, looking out the windows.
"I've read them. And frankly, this…this vendetta against Dr. Mercer just sounds like more of your bigotry." Nicole looks at the captain with an aghast look while Isaac clenches his hand in anger. "Do you deny that you've 'counselled' members of our church and turned them against Unitology?" Nicole refuses to take his bait as he looks at him in the eyes.
"All I'm telling you is that Mercer's treatments are immoral and dangerous. And why does he keep taking Harris to Hydroponics?" The trio's eyes raise up in surprise at the Hydro remark. They wondered how they managed to miss something like that. "Medical is a sanctuary, not Mercer's private lab, so stop covering for him."
"More accusation, and still no proof." The captain dismisses. "You know your way out." As he walks away to the Cross Nest, Nicole calls out one more time.
"He won't stop with Bran Harris, Captain. You know that." And as Nicole walks away, the Recording ends.
"So, Hydroponics huh? We can check it out once we're done with the Comms Array. And with military backup." Isaac remarks as the trio enters the central lift. Selecting the third floor down, they descend to where Kairi had gone to reroute one of the Junction boxes. Only to find a sickening find.
"The growth made it all the way here?" Sora asks as they see the entrance to the Comms Array covered in it, along with two Guardians protecting the entrance. Eliminating the two Guardians was as simple as ever, allowing the trio to enter into the connecting hallway. They soon entered into the control room, overlooking the vast room holding the Comm Array. A Leaper crawls along the window, hunting for pray before leaping away.
"The Valour's in a holding position. How's the Array?" Kendra asks over the Comms as the trio gazes at the sorry state of the array. Destroyed sensor dishes lay in their holdings as the connecting point lay broken.
"Fried. Someone hotwired the dishes together and blew out the system." Isaac reports, gazing at the sparkling dishes.
"Not all of them, though." Sora points out. "Some look like they could still work. We'll just need to replace them."
"And make sure the connecting point sends power to the central antenna. It'll be short-range, but it'll be enough."
"Okay, do it. I'll…keep an eye on things here." Kendra replies as she ends the comm. Sora and Isaac turn around to plan out the repairs. Only to see Kairi missing.
"Kairi?" Sora calls out, glancing at the floor. No blood trail was a good sign, but that didn't stop the small fear building in his heart. Until they spotted her coming out of a side office with an audio log. "Dear Light, Kairi. Please don't scare us like that. I thought the Necros had got you."
"Sorry about that." Kairi says with a hint of guilt. "But, I found something in that side office." She hands the log to Isaac and plays it from his suit.
"Communications Log, First Comms Officer Bailey reporting. I want this on record. The ship is under attack, but Captain Mathius has refused to issue a distress call. And we all know why. This whole operation is illegal. Aegis VII was sealed off—they knew it, we knew it. And we all kept our mouths shut. That ends now." Typing could be heard as Bailey began calling for help.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is USG Ishimura, calling—wait, what the hell? Jesus…He took the whole Comms Array offline. It's over…"
"You tried, Bailey. You tried…" Isaac whispers, pocketing the log. "Let's get this array fixed and call for help." Following Isaac's lead, the trio entered the connecting hallway leading to the airlock before spotting a table blinking with a recorded audio log. Thinking it could reveal who sabotaged the Array, even though they could probably guess it was the Captain, Isaac activates it.
And he immediately wishes he hadn't when the Captain came into view. Holding his arms in the form of a Marker.
"Progress report, Captain Benjamin Mathius, to Paragon Jorden, Luna. This will be my last transmission. Afterwards, I'll make sure our pilgrimage can be completed without interference." The way the Captain spoke sent cold shivers down Sora and Kairi's spines, while Isaac felt a hot fury building in his chest. Even more so when a hologram of the Marker appeared on the table.
"We have successfully brought the holy Marker on board. Dr. Kyne, an expert on the original Marker, is deciphering its secrets. Forgive me for quarantining Aegis VII. Director Eckhardt's work may have been inconvenienced. But they're suffering some sort of epidemic. Regardless, planetcrack begins tomorrow on schedule. CEC can scratch out its illegal operation now that the true prize is ours."
"Let's see EarthGov try to cover this up. Altman be praised. Mathius out." And with that, the recording ends with Isaac slamming his clenched hand onto the table.
"Fucking government! Fucking Unitologists! Peace of shits! All of them!" Isaac yells as he slams his hand into the table before Sora grabs onto his arm and Kairi puts a hand on his right shoulder. Isaac breathes heavily as he calms down from his brief moment of rage.
"Sorry about that." He says as Sora lets go. "Couldn't hold it in much longer."
"Don't be. You've been holding this in for too long." Sora replies as Kairi nods her head. Isaac pats both of them on the shoulders, thankful for their understanding of his anger. "Let's go get this array fixed."
Entering into the array via double airlock doors, they find more than just floating array links. A giant hole had been torn in the side of the room, the flesh's growth pouring out as though it were foam. It was hard not to imagine the Leaper had emerged from there. The same growth was already starting to worm its way around the room, though thankfully, it had not reached any of the array points.
Speaking off the Leaper, it and a friend were crawling around the ceiling, scampering around the communication tower itself. Needless to say, the trio made short work of them before turning their attention to the Array itself.
Removing the damaged emitters was easy, thanks to Kinesis, but replacing them with the ones remaining was more tedious.
Eventually, after connecting and re-connecting the emitters, power was successfully transferred to the central array. Lights illuminate the array as power returns.
"Alright, that should do it. Let's head back to the control room and connect to the Valour. Let's hope they're listening." Following Isaac back to the control room, they input the commands to activate the array. Seconds pass as the array powers on, with no sign of the Valor answering. Until a video call activates on Isaac's suit.
On the screen was a white helmet designed to look like a skull, with two glowing slots where the eyes would be. Three painted line marks in the form of scars cover the right side of the helmet as the soldier speaks.
"This is Commander Cardigan of the USM Valor, widecasting on all frequencies to USG Ishimura in response to your SOS. We've picked up your escape pod number 47 and are en route to your position. This message will repeat every thirty seconds until you respond."
The video ends as it cuts to a confused Kendra, who turns to look at the emotionless masks of the trio. Unable to see the looks of horror on their faces.
"Oh fuck… That's the escape pod Hammond jettisoned earlier!" Isaac yells, taking Kendra by surprise.
"It had Chen inside! A Slasher Chen! He's going to kill everyone on board!" Kairi adds, much to Kendra's shock and horror. Before her eyes narrow in determination.
"Not if I say anything! USM Valor! Come in! Come in, Valor!" She grimaces as she hits a terminal on her side. "Damn it, our signal's not strong enough! I'll try and open the hatch and deploy the long-range array! Wait—something's blocking it?! Why now?!"
"Kendra! Keep trying to open it! We'll try and activate the manual release. Failing that, we'll head outside and see what we can do." Isaac replies before turning around to sprint out of the room. Sora and Kairi are close behind him. Using Kinesis to break apart a flimsy barrier blocking their way, the trio proceed towards the gondola, connecting them to the outside airlock.
It was a tight fit, getting all three of them onto the gondola as it zooms through the small connecting tunnel. Reaching the other side, the three ready themselves to run, only to find a survivor crawling around the corner. He glances up at them with pleading eyes. Before long, spindly hands grab his shoulder and drag him back.
The man screams in terror as the trio can hear his bones snapping, the splashing of blood and a high-pitched cry. Stepping around the corner, the man's attacker made himself known. With a raggy coat and long, spindly legs, the new Necromorph variant lumbers towards them before Isaac blasts it back with his Force Gun.
However, while the blast had managed to blow the new variant apart, it seemed to only make it stronger as the individual pieces moved individually of each other, crawling their way along the floor towards them.
Kairi switches to her Line Gun, aiming to save on fuel for her Flamethrower, and launches a laser tripwire into the wall. The small Necros crawl blindly into the beam, triggering the trap as the red beam ignites. Burning into the small creatures.
But the head proved smarter than its divided breather, as it leaps into the air and latches onto Sora's throat with its three tentacles. The head squeezes around his neck, aiming to behead Sora, who holds it back with his hand.
Isaac runs to his side before helping to rip the head off Sora before bludgeoning it with his Force Gun. "Tricky bastard." Isaac grumbles as he throws away the head. "You doing alright, Sora?"
"Yeah." Sora replies, rubbing his sore throat. "But that hurt a lot. Felt like knives tried to slice into my neck." Concerned, Isaac takes a look at the back of Sora's suit, finding small rips near the back.
Not enough to render the suit unable to enter a vacuum, but still concerning.
"Those things are stronger than they look. For now, whenever we see a Divider, take them down first." The couple nod at Isaac as they turn the corner, finding the remains of the crewmember. "Unless we want to end up like that…" Walking past the bloody mess, the trio enter into a nearby lift, taking them up to the higher floor. Up there, they find the room housing the manual release.
Entering inside, Isaac heads to the control terminal located next to a window, the protective barrier covering it from the outside. Isaac attempts to open the door but gets the same result as Kendra. Irritated, he opens the shutters to see what is blocking the door, only for his eyes to bulge out of their sockets as Sora and Kairi join him.
Both were equally shocked at what they were seeing. A silence is only broken when Kendra activates a Comm channel to them.
"Still can't reach the Valor. What's happening with the antenna."
"You're not going to fucking believe this. It's being blocked by the Leviathan. It must have snatched into the hull when we spaced it from Food Storage." Isaac replies, annoyance in his voice.
"How did it even get here anyway?" Sora asks, puzzled by how the Leviathan could fly through space with no way of propelling itself.
"A mystery we can solve once we get it off the ship." Isaac replies before turning around. "There should be ADS guns outside we can use to knock it off. You focus on the Valor Kendra. We've got this." Closing the comm, Isaac leads the duo back outside and turns right towards a nearby airlock. As the door closes behind them, Isaac turns back to them.
"I know you're wondering how, so I'll explain. To link one of your tools to the ADS, just hit the input commands and place your tool near it. The system will take care of the rest. Once linked, aim your tool like normal and press the trigger. Don't worry. You won't fire anything while linked up."
With a nod from the two, Isaac opens the door to the outside. Air rushes past them as ice builds up on the metal of their suits, with the Leviathan looming before them. Multiple spiked mouths line its sides, even forming on the ends of its three tentacles, while three pulsing yellow sacks line the bottom half. As Sora and Kairi activate their gliders and head over to the side guns, Isaac floats over to the one just outside the airlock and links his Plasma Cutter to the ADS.
The Leviathan, sensing the incoming danger, lashes out with its tentacles. Hoping to either skewer them or fling them away into space. While Sora and Kairi effortlessly dodge the attacks, Isaac focuses his attention on the yellow sack before him.
The ADS punches through the outer surface, slamming into the soft tissue underneath before detonating the volatile yellow bile hidden below. Even in the muffled vacuum of space, Isaac swore he could hear the Leviathan roar out in pain and anger. It could have been the vibrations from the ship, but it still managed to put a chill down his spine.
The Leviathan ramps up its attacks, launching the same explosive sacks back into Food Storage, along with several non-exploding sacks that acted more like a minefield or defensive barrier. Isaac couldn't help but acknowledge the beast's ingenuity. If it had any, that is.
An explosion out the corner of his eye alerted Isaac to the destruction of a second sack from Kairi. Followed quickly by a third on the right side of the Leviathan. The moment that Sora managed to destroy his, the Leviathan's attack slowed considerably. Its tentacles hang limp in space as its mouths stop moving.
Then, ever slowly, it was ejected from the ship as the blast doors behind it finally pushed forward and open. The giant chuck of flesh resisted the doors, but with no life to hold it down, it was forcefully ejected from the ship towards Aegis VII, where it would burn up in the atmosphere.
Isaac watches with a smug grin while filling his air supply from a nearby station. He watches as the array is slowly lowered outside. A tap on his shoulder drew his attention behind him, with Sora pointing over to the airlock as Kairi stepped inside. Getting the message, Isaac returns back into the ship with Sora before heading back to the observation room. Along the way, Isaac opens a comm channel to Kendra.
"Kendra, we've done it. The Leviathan is dead, and the antenna is deployed. Got a transmission ready to go?" He asks as the trio enter the room. Looking out the window into the blackness of space.
"You bet I do! USM Valor, this is Kendra Daniels on the USG Ishimura! Do not open the escape pod! Repeat, do not open the escape pod! Do you read?"
Everyone held onto hope that they made it in time. That the Valor would be safe and they would be able to leave this hell hole. But when the video feed came through, all those hopes were dashed.
For on that feed, through smoke and fire, a badly injured Cardigan leaned on a wall, hand on a stomach wound. He glances up, hearing the noise of a Necromorph charging towards him through the darkness. It steps into the light, revealing itself to be Chen as it rams its arm blades into the Commander's chest.
The Commander groans, too weak to even scream before he is torn into two by Chen, before it slinks away. Looking for more people to kill.
"We were too late…" Kairi whispers as their final hope is extinguished. While Sora placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, Isaac continued to look out into space. He sees a rapidly approaching dot, burning orange, before it grows into an arrow-like shape. It only took him a few seconds to realise what it was.
"The Valor! It's going to slam into the hull! Brace yourselves!" Isaac crises as he pulls Sora and Kairi to the ground. The emergency shutters close, detecting the incoming Valor as the ADS outside fire in a futile attempt to stop it. But nothing could stop it as it slams into the hull of the Ishimura.
The impact damages the protective shutters, the glass shattering from the impact as air is sucked out of a tiny hole through the window. Isaac pushes Sora and Kairi out of the decompressed room and into the hall just as another comm channel opens on his suit.
"The whole crew deck just shook! What happened!?" Hammond calls out, confused at what was happening. The trio inwardly felt guilty at forgetting to let Hammond know about the Valor but also confused as to why Kendra didn't inform him about it.
"It was a rescue ship. The USM Valor." Isaac tells him. "They picked up the escape pod you jettisoned. The one holding Chen. He busted out and killed everyone onboard.
"God damn it!" Hammond curses.
"The Valor's scrap. By the time another ship hears our SOS. It will be too late…" Kendra replies, defeat in her voice at losing the Valor.
"No, that's what I was telling you. I found an executive shuttle on the Crew Deck. Intact. It's missing the singularity core, but we might be able to salvage one from the Valor."
"Assuming that it survived. But it should still work." Isaac replies, confirming the idea. "The Valor crashed just outside where we are. We'll head on over and look for the core."
"Not alone, you three aren't. I'm heading over there as well. We go in, grab that core, put it on the shuttle, and we are out of here. Let CEC clean up their own mess. I'm saving what I can, and that is you guys."
"Do you think it survived, Isaac?" Sora asks as the trio enter the airlock. "It was a big crash."
"Honestly, Sora. I have no idea." Isaac replies as he opens the door. Staring at them from across the vast void of space, sticking out like a dagger, with the dark grey body of the Valor. Its name printed proudly on its hull as the trio floats over to the airlock located next to the name.
Unaware of something terrible forming within the depths of the ship.
