Dead Space: Ascension

No one dared to make a noise for fear of drawing out the evil that hid in the darkness. But with their hooves banging against the metal, it was a tad difficult to not make any noise at all. Twilight's eyes had adjusted to the dimly lit corridors and rooms they passed through, but it wasn't enough to keep her from worrying about what she couldn't see. Sometimes, she would hear the screams of the little demons that had taken out Captain Shard, but they were always far off. Or at least, that's what she thought. You never could be too sure in a situation like this one. One moment you'd be fine, and the next, you'd be scattered from one end of the hallway to the other.

The group followed the signs as best as they could, but the layout was a lot more different than they were used to. None of them were sure if they could trust these aliens to get them to safety. But it's not like they had much of choice in the matter. The only way off of this metal box was by shuttle, and the only shuttles were in a locked hangar that only Resonov could open. They'd have to do whatever Resonov wanted, though that might be a little risky. Who knows what this guy's true motives are. He could be telling the truth, or he might just be using them and be planning to live up to his end of the deal. Whichever side he was on, Twilight and the others needed to be ready for the worst.

Rainbow whispered in the quiet darkness, piercing it with her voice, "Guys, the guy we're supposed to meet is four rooms apart from us. Be ready for anything, this might be a trap."

None of them spoke further, as they wanted to be able to hear every little noise. They turned right into what looked to be a locker room of some sort. On the right side, there were lockers, and on the left there was what looked to be shower heads attached to the walls. The shower head farthest from the door they had went through was covered with blood. And so, too, was the walls and floor around it. A single appendage could be seen, which seemed to be an arm, lay still on the ground in the middle of the gore. Fluttershy whimpered a bit, but said nothing in response to this grisly sight. What could one say? The dead remained as they were, a very real reminder of just how easily a life could be taken.

They turned to head into another room, tensing up at the rather loud sound of the door opening. Looking around them for a moment to make sure they hadn't attracted any unwanted attention, they continued on to their destination. According to the blue line that was laid out for them, Markus was in this room. Apparently the guy was heading in their direction as well, closing the distance between them. The group raised their guns, ready for anything, or at least they were ready as they were ever going to be. Monsters from your worst nightmares were stretching it a bit.

The door at the other end of the room opened up, a shadowy figure standing omniously in the doorway. As the man walked forward, Twilight gritted her teeth, her gun at the ready. Whatever happened in the next few seconds, this had to be peaceful. But if worse came to worst, they'd have to be ready to fight. She could almost hear Fluttershy's heavy and labored breathing, which wasn't too much of a confidence-booster. Despite the yellow pegasus's timid nature, she always pulled through for her friends. So Twilight knew she could trust her friend to keep a cool head. Everything depended on it.

The human walked further into the room and lowered his weapon, gesturing for the ponies to do the same. Reluctantly, they did as they were told and stared at each other for the longest time. It wasn't technically first contact anymore, but it was still strange to see an alien. And that went for both sides. The tension was almost palpable.

Markus was the first to speak, his deep and seemingly naturally athoritative voice soothing in a strange way, "So you're the ponies that have been causing such a ruckus. As I said on the comms, my name is Markus Banning. I was with a mercenary group sent to check out a distress call. The government would have sent their own, but we were the closest by a long shot. The pay was, in a word, a fortune. We came by and the rest is an undesirable history. We ran through the ship, losing one person after another. Me and my girlfriend found the doctor and his group. A day later, you show up."

He continued, grimacing a bit, "Now, I know you don't give a shit about why I'm here. But I just thought you'd be more comfortable being around someone you at least sort of know. Trust is hard to come by, but it IS a necessity. If there's no trust, we will all die. You have my word that you have my trust. Can I have yours?"

Twilight nodded a bit, understanding where Markus was coming from, "That makes sense, I guess. Alright, you have our trust. We have your back as if you were on of our own. I'm assuming the same can be assumed of you?"

Markus relaxed a bit, seemingly relieved, "Of course. You have my word, miss...?"

Twilight smiled a bit, though it had to be forced due to recent events, "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. The yellow one is Fluttershy and the blue one is-"

Rainbow interrupted, puffing her chest out and hovering into the air, "Rainbow Dash! I'm the fastest pegasus in the Equestrian space navy, the most agile soldier there is."

Markus let out a deep laugh, clutching at his stomach to quell the pain of a wound he had sustained at some point, "Oh, that's rich! Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow. Not only are you cartoon ponies, but you have the names that sound like they were made by small children. I already like all of you. I mean no offense, but you look and sound like you came out of a children's book."

Twilight frowned a bit, deciding to not voice her discomfort of being demeaned in such a way, "It's quite alright, Markus. Different cultures breed different reactions on both sides. For instance, you look like you belong in a zoo. No offense taken?"

Rainbow was about to say something in protest, but recieved a swift nudge by the purple unicorn, "Hey, what are-... ow! Alright, alright! No offense taken, l guess."

Fluttershy offered a small, shy smile, "It's alright, mister Banning. No offense taken. As you said, we all need to trust each other."

Markus seemed to be amused by all of this, "No offense taken, purple horse. Well, alright then. I'd like to chat a bit, as this is first contact for me personally, but for now, we need to get down to business. Behind me is the door that'll lead us to an elevator. We'll take that down to engineering and divert power to the tram station. But I have to warn you, there's a reason I chose to get you first. Those things are swarming down there for some reason. I'm not going to lie, what you've seen so far is nothing compared to what's down there."

The group of ponies definitely didn't like the sound of that, especially Fluttershy. But they eventually all decided that in order to return home, they had to do this. Everyone back home was counting on the Voltage and her crew to make it back in one piece. The Voltage itself was depending on the success of Markus and the ponies. If they couldn't pull this off, this horrible parasite would eventually find its way back to the Voltage. And there was no way in hell that this was acceptable.

Markus offered a grin of satisfaction and set off back towards the way he came, making it clear that he wanted to be followed. With no shortage of hesitation, the group of equines followed after the human. If not them, no one would get this done. They were the last bastion of defense for the Voltage. No pressure.

_______________________________________________________________________________

It had been a cold swim, but the pony captain had made it to safety. It had been a while since he had narrowly escaped his makeshift explosion and he was freezing, but on the bright side, he was safe and in the ventilation system. He wasn't sure why there was so much water, but apparently there was a leak somewhere. Where that was is a mystery. He had long since gotten out of the water, which had been a godsend. Hypothermia had begun to be a very real threat. With his helmet off, it had flooded his armor and soaked him.

He climbed up a ladder along the tall ventilation shaft, looking for a broken vent to climb through. He couldn't risk breaking one, as that would surely attract attention he didn't want. He eventually found a torn open ventilation fan, which proved to be his savior. Just as he climbed through, he heard those monsters fill where had just been. Darting behind a desk in an attempt to hide, he reloaded his gun, getting ready for a fight. He could hear one of those things walking around in the room with him, making small animalistic noises as it searched for prey. It shuffled over to the captain's position, dragging it's long blade arms along the top.

Tensing up at the sound of this, he started to tip the barrel of his gun in the direction of the monster in front of the desk, but kept it out of view. If this thing got any closer, he wouldn't have a choice. He would have to engage. A howl from deeper inside of the ship stopped the creature in its tracks, blood splattering across the desk and on Captain Shard. Apparently this thing had been injured at one point... or maybe it wasn't the thing's blood at all. Tearing other beings apart tends to produce a lot of blood after all.

He heard the creature jump out through the ventilation shaft and join its bretheren in their endless search for murder. Letting out a sigh, the captain let his head rest against the desk. He needed to find his squad and get the hell off of this ship. No pony will be left behind. That and he wasn't confident in his abilities to fight these things on his own. Age had caught up to him over the years, making combat a lot more difficult. He still had a lot of fight in him though, and it would take a hell of a lot more than nightmarish monsters to take this stallion down.

Grunting a bit, he got up and headed towards the office's only door. Opening it, he walked out into the rest of ship with a goal in mind. Find his squad and get them back home. He only had his country and fellow ponies to fight for. They had families, friends, and things very dear to them. He may not have those things, but he would be damned if they lost their lives to this hell. These creatures would soon learn that he was the true demon amongst the shadows. Grimacing a bit, he headed off into the unknown.