Author's Note: This chapter has been edited from its original version. Remastered as of Sep. 07, 2023. Edits include several rewritten/expanded sections and fixing spelling/grammar mistakes.
Make Him Whole Again
Prologue: Tau Volantis, Convergence Vortex:
"Isaac, hurry!" Carver shouted as they ran through the damaged warehouse.
"I am, God damnit!" Isaac shouted back, running close behind him.
Outside the walls, the winds swirled violently, tearing large chunks of rock from the planet's surface and pulling them up towards the sky. Since Jacob Danik had shut down the alien machine, the Brethren Moon above the planet had awoken and began tearing the planet apart, finishing the convergence it had started eons ago. Isaac and Carver made haste towards the Moon, hoping to reach the machine and reactive the Codex before it became whole. Reaching the back wall of the warehouse, Isaac used his kenesis to force the damaged doors open. The moment they exited, four twitchers charged around a boulder, flailing their bladed arms as they sprinted towards them.
"Isaac!" Carver called out.
"I see 'em!" he replied, aiming and firing his stasis.
One twitcher was caught by the stasis field, the rest fanned out and circled them. Isaac and Carver fired their weapons before they could land an attack. One twitcher lost a leg from Isaac's plasma cutter, the other three withered from Craver's pulse rifle. The stasis wore off on the fourth twitcher and it ran straight for Isaac. He was too busy stomping the other twitcher into the snow to notice that his stasis wore off, at least until the twitcher slammed into his side and sent him tumbling to the ground. He rolled onto his back just in time to see the twitcher raise its blades above its head. He rolled as two bladed appendages impaled the snow.
"Carver! A little help here!" he shouted.
Carver kicked a twitcher away from him, turning toward Isaac and shooting off the other twitcher's arms with his rifle. Isaac held his arms out to catch it before it fell on him. He pushed it away and stood to his feet, raising his plasma cutter at the twitcher Carver kicked away. It never got the chance to stand up completely as they both gunned it down. A loud roar echoed across the cliffs around. They turned to the sound, raising their weapons just as two enhanced slashers and a leaper replaced the twitchers.
"Fuck off!" Carver shouted while firing his pulse rifle, the high velocity rounds tearing chunks of flesh off the necromorphs.
Isaac joined him, sending bolts of plasma their way. Each one found their mark, severing the limbs of the slashers. One slasher fell after losing both of its arms, the other lost a leg. The leaper stayed low and only took a couple hits. The slasher missing its leg used its blades to drag itself toward Carver, swinging them when it got close. He dodged the blades and emptied his rifle into its body, spraying its blood and bits of flesh across the snow. The slasher's body contorted, a gurgle and a cough signaling its death. The leaper jumped at Isaac, who rolled out of its was. He aimed his stasis, engulfing the leaper in the stasis field. He then fired his cutter, taking off both arms and its head. The stasis wore off shortly after and the leaper's body slammed into the ground, twitching violently before going still.
"Fuck these things!" Isaac said, kicking the leaper.
"Leave it!" Carver snapped, "We gotta move, now!" He and Isaac continued up the path, heading for another part of the machine.
"There!" Isaac shouted, pointing at a piece of the Conduit, "We can ride that to the machine.
"Let's move!" Carver said, "We're running out of time!"
They sprinted towards the edge of the rock, jumping the moment they reached the ledge. Both activated their suits thrusters and entered the Conduit. They were forcibly propelled forward, heading towards the moon at high speed. Several large creatures moved themselves into their path.
"Carver, shoot them!" Isaac yelled.
"I got it!" Carver yelled back, shooting at the creature closet to them.
The creature roared in pain before it raised its tentacles, launching numerous, glowing projectiles from its underside. The projectiles righted themselves and flew straight at them, as if they had a mind of their own.
"Holy shit!" Isaac shouted as they closed in.
"Use your thrusters! Go around them!" Carver yelled.
Using the Conduit's power and their suit's thruster, they quickly moved out of the projectiles path, laying down suppressing fire on the creatures. The glowing bubble on one creature violently exploded, sending it plunging down to the planet's surface. Isaac fired at another creature as they passed, his plasma bolts going wide.
"Shit!" he cursed, adjusting his aim.
"Save your ammo!" Carver shouted.
Isaac growled and straightened himself. He and Carver sped past the remaining creatures, which thankfully ignored their presence. Approaching another large chunk of the planet, their reversed their thruster to slow themselves down. They weren't strong enough to fully overcome the gravity inside the Conduit, and they were thrown roughly on onto the rocks.
"Fuck! I'm tired of this shit!" Carver said as he stood, brushing himself off.
"Come on, through there," Isaac said, pointing to a small canyon nearby.
Readying their weapons, the cautiously made their way through before being stopped by a giant tentacle. Before they could react, two smaller tentacles burst from the ground with roars of rage.
"Shit! Watch out!" Isaac shouted as one of the tentacles slammed into the ground.
"Clarke! Hit them with stasis!" Carver shouted.
"I only have enough for one!" he shouted back, shooting at the glowing growths in the center of the tentacles.
"Just do it!" Carver yelled, emptying his rifle's magazine into the nearest tentacle.
Isaac groaned and aimed his stasis, engulfing the tentacle in a field of blue and joined Carver in his assault. A bright explosion emanated from the center of the tenacle, blinding them temporally. Once their eyes adjusted, they saw that the tentacle had been blown in half, the bottom half flailing around, spraying blood before retracting back into the ground. Isaac aimed and fired his cutter at the last tentacle, destroying it in another bright explosion. A loud moan followed, and the giant tentacle slide from their path. With the obstruction cleared, they ran through the canyon, coming upon another building. They forced the door open and entered, slamming the door shut behind them. The interior was filled with shelves and various storage crates, each labeled with the S.C.A.F logo.
"Let's search these crates for ammo," Carver said, "This might be our last stop."
"You ready," Isaac asked.
"No," he replied.
"Yeah, me neither," Isaac said.
The two of them fanned out, searching the shelves and crates. Isaac found a few batteries for his plasma cutter, as well as a couple stasis packs. on the other side of the room, Carver tore open a med kit and grabbed the health packs inside, storing them in his RIG. Isaac opened an ammo crate, tossing some pulse rifle mags Carver's way. The remaining crates yielded nothing of value aside from ration packs, something they doubted they'd need.
"Not much of a haul," Isaac said.
"Will have to make it work," Carver said, "Move out."
They exited the building, scanning the terrain for any necromorphs. They were much closer to the Moon now, the hideous features of its maw more apparent. Since it was clear, they ran from the warehouse and through another small canyon. Watching both sides, they quickly moved through the canyon, the lack of necromorphs making them nervous.
"It's too quiet," Carver said.
"Yeah," Isaac said, "There's another piece of the Conduit ahead. Let's catch it before it slips away."
"Or something jumps out at us," Carver mumbled.
Picking up their pace, they emerged from the canyon, heading to the edge of the planet chunk. A screech from behind them pierced the air. Turning around, they spotted a pair of leapers climbing over the wall of the canyon. A couple spitters followed behind them. Isaac fired his stasis, slowing the leapers. Carver fired at the spitters, killing one while the other dodge his fire. Isaac fired another blast of stasis, hitting the spitter in the chest. By then, the stasis field on the leapers began to wear off.
"You just had to something!" Isaac said, firing at the leapers.
"Let's just go!" Carver said, "Save our ammo."
Isaac agreed and they ran towards the edge, the leapers now running at full speed. The piece of the Conduit passed in front of them just as they reached the ledge, and they both jumped, engaging their thrusters. The leapers jumped after them, the claws spread wide. Before they could reach them, Isaac and Carver entered the Conduit, the gravity rapidly propelling towards the Moon. Using their thrusters, they dodged large chunks of rock and broken buildings on their way up.
The winds became stronger as they neared the Moon, the debris becoming harder to dodge. The Moon's gaping maw was clearly visible now, its appearance resembling a flower with long, jagged teeth aligning it. In the center of the maw, large, glowing eyes shined through the dust. Numerous large tentacles flailed around the maw, adding another obstacle from them to avoid.
Moments later, the Conduit ended and again launched Isaac and Carver violently onto a larger chunk of the alien machine. The Moon's eyes turned towards them, their pale, orange glow illuminating the platform they landed on. A small tentacle near its 'face' was holding the console of the machine, the Codex still in it. Isaac rose steadily to his feet and tore off his damaged helmet as Carver recovered nearby. He rubbed the blood from his face and stared the Moon in the eyes.
"You can't have this," he said.
"We gotta kill that thing!?" Carver shouted, "There ain't enough ammo in the world!"
"Then we'll have to make some up!" Isaac replied, glancing around for anything they could use. He then noticed the Red Markers floating all around them.
"Look, there's Markers all around me." he said, "I can use this TK charging plate and launch them as weapons."
Isaac ran to the TK platform while Carver covered him. Isaac used his kinesis on a nearby Marker and aimed it toward one of the Moon's eyes. He launched the Marker forward, lodging it right in the center of the Moon's eye. The Marker exploded a short time later, destroying the Moon's eye and sending shards slicing through its flesh. The Moon roared in pain as it launched several large pods that landed on the platform. The pods burst open and several S.C.A.F slashers emerged.
"Carver, keep them off me!" Isaac shouted as he grabbed another Marker.
"I got 'em!" Carver yelled, shooting at the slashers, "Hurry up and take this thing out!"
Isaac aimed the Marker at the Moon's second eye, launching it straight at its's center. The Marker exploded, glowing, orange bile flying from the eye. The Moon again roared in pain and launched more pods at the platform, releasing a group of slashers and twitchers.
"Isaac!" Carver shouted as he tried to reload his rifle, dodging the bladed arms of the slashers, "I need some help here!"
Using his enhanced kinesis, Isaac ripped a blade off a slasher and impaled it hard enough to send it flying from the platform. Carver fired a grenade into a group of three slashers, killing two and leaving the last one without legs. Clarke finished it off with a shot to the face. The Moon's final eye opened as it roared angerly at them, raising a large tentacle.
"Carver!" Isaac shouted.
"I see it, Clarke!" Carver shouted back, his voice filled with annoyance. Both dodged the tentacle as it slammed down, crushing an unlucky slasher.
"We need to finish this shit, now!" Carver yelled as the tentacle raised itself for another hit.
"I'm on it!" Isaac shouted, grabbing a third Marker with his kenesis.
Shifting to the final eye, he launched the Marker into the center, which exploded moments later. The Moon roared in agony, its head flailing about.
"Carver, the machine!" Isaac shouted.
"I'm on it!" Carver replied, leaping from the platform.
He landed on the steps in front of the machine's console, the blue light from the codex reflecting off his suit. He jumped to his feet and ran towards the console. before he could activate the Codex, a tentacle wrapped around it. The Moon's mouth opened, and it pulled the Console inside. Carver let out a yelp when the mouth closed, firing a few rounds from his pulse rifle.
"Isaac!" he shouted through his suit's radio.
"I got you!" Isaac said, aiming his kinesis at the bottom of the console.
Planting his boots firmly on the ground, he slowly began pulling the console out of the moon's mouth. The sound of ripping flesh filled the air as he pulled with all his might, blood spraying everywhere as the spikes around the console shredded the Moon's flesh. With one final pull, he ripped the machine free, a large chunk of innards falling from the Moon's mouth.
"Carver, now!" Isaac shouted and Carver turned the Codex.
A blinding green ball of light emerged from the top of the console. The Moon moaned in agony as the machine began to pull it down to the planet's surface. As the convergence vortex collapsed around them, Isaac and Carver stumbled and fell from their respected platforms.
"Carver!" Isaac shouted, his voice drowned out by the wind.
He watched helplessly as Carver tumbled down to the planet below, fading from view as the wind propelled a large, dull grey cloud of dust around them. Isaac stared toward the sky, the fatigue of constant fighting finally caught him. The clouds of dust swirled more violently, the sky gradually becoming darker the further he fell. He reached into his suit and pulled out the tore picture of Ellie.
"Ellie," he muttered softly as the green light from the machine began to intensify.
He let go of her picture, his vision slowly faded to black as it floated away. The last thing he saw was the Moon rapidly plunging towards him.