Dead Space: Distress signal.
02. Knight of shining armor.
Previous Chapter"The best defence is a good defence! Although maybe a contact beam could help as well...
The ship's A.I. voice woke me up from my dream and just after my eyes slowly opened, I noticed something was wrong. Every puff of air felt like a struggle to breathe and the smell and taste in this air was just awful. I got up off the floor and panted, not that I was drowning, but the oxygen became more and more scarce. I looked around and at the pile of mummified bodies near the blood and the symbols but surprisingly being at moderate risk preserved my mind from another panic attack ... for now. I walked to the storage node, finally being able to look at the blue holographic screen for which I had been searching so much and had almost died.
The interface worked, waiting for a user to enter their CLEC codes so they could access their personal store. Without further delay I let the device scan my RIG, and then a synthetic male voice said kindly:
Giving a deep sigh I stepped into the machine of horrors.
The four holders closed on my limbs with a snap, and I huffed before the steel door of the bottom of the store closed again. I could feel it working on me, quickly replacing the damaged parts of my current suit to use it as a base to add the plates and finally the rest of the suit corresponding with the design of the suit I had requested, adding both kinesis and stasis modules to my RIG. The weight made me feel a certain confidence that was manifested in my countenance. Finally, the doors opened and I stepped outside, looking so much bulkier and resistant. I cracked my neck and then checked the plates on my shoulders, then the suit's helmet rose and wrapped-adjusted itself around my head, closing with a distintive hum and the flicker of my new RIG interface on its visor. My mane fit perfectly inside the helmet while my tail sticked out from the suit.
Sigh... Advanced Unitologist RIG... passed from my mother to me despite my constant negatives. I finally had to accept it when she died, and even then I kept it at the bottom of my belongings. Ironically now circumstances forced me to use it as the strongest defense I could ever find. It had grey armor plating while the undersuit was black, with Unitology symbols etched onto it. I didn't hate Unitology... I had always maintained a neutral stance on my beliefs about the existence of the Princesses in the afterlife, but I felt a certain resentment towards the unitologists because my mother, being one, had squandered all the credits intented to finance my education at one of the most prestigious computing schools.
Thanks only to my talent was that I was able to enter another school for free and finish my studies.
I turned around and then looked at the rest of my storage...Mmmm, let's see... small medkits, plasma energy -That had to be what the computer added to my storage when it scanned my RIG- and nothing more. Good to know that the ammunition was given without a schematic! Then I would just have to find the schematic of the weapons first! Hurrrmph... I took as many medkits and plasma energy I could, leaving some room in my inventory for any new schematic -or gun- that I could find. Because, as stupid as this might sound, I was 99% sure that any useful weapon would have disappeared, or would have broken in the middle of the chaos generated by these ... monsters.
I looked at the objective screen in my RIG and found a new objective there. <...scanning user's data to generate next objective...>
I stood in front of one of the heavy armored doors... I was still afraid. I could feel the fear in me at the task I was about to undertake... But then, the image of my beloved marefriend appeared in my mind... Alone... fighting. And then I was able to harden myself and, with a smile, continue on my way, the helmet going up again and adjusted itself around my head. The heavy armored door opened to a long hallway full of that yellow haze and the steam that hindered visibility... But now thanks to the helmet and the built-in filter at least I could breath fresh air. The weight of my gear did pushed me down a little tho, so my gait felt heavier and firmer. The terrifying sounds of hell returned as soon as I walked out of the storage room, like a constant hammer on my mind. I could distinguish the voices of mares and stallions in quiet whispers, but again and again I had to convince myself that it was only my imagination.
A couple of times I swore I heard movement in the vents above my head, but when I aimed with the light of my plasma cutter, the sounds stopped... Even worse, the sounds seemed to follow me. Was I being hunted? Only ten seconds after my second pause, I heard something to my left. One of the pipes running along the wall was shaking, a noise came from the interior, I gasped and had started to run away before I noticed the rest of the pipes on the hallway started to shake and do the same noise. I aimed to the wall, as stupid as it seemed, and then I screamed and almost shot the pipe when it belched a stream of hot steam in my face.
... I swore something creative before I kept walking.
After some more steps and a deep breath I was trying to block the ambient whispers and growls with my best high spirits before I heard a loud squelching sound right above me. I jumped--- fell back trotting -dude, this suit was heavy!- before small but vicious creatures fell on the floor just where I had been a second ago. They looked like some kind of spider or star shaped creature, made from the same fleshy matter of their 'slasher' and leaper brothers. I screamed as a dozen of them fell through the vent and swiftly started chasing me, jumping from wall to wall and crawling with their strange 'limbs'. I opened fire with my cutter, but each shot only killed one of the creatures before their comrades leapt the distance to me.
Somehow, they were gnawing on my body... and it hurt like hell. I screamed and grunted trying to shake them off, a few exploding or being tored appart by the violence of my movements before they jumped off and to the wall again. I was about to waste more ammo when I kicked myself -mentally, of course-. A movement of my hoof later, the indigo burst of stasis hit the group of... swarmers... before I aimed and proceeded to fire until I killed the last of them. I looked at the ammo counter of my plasma cutter and groaned. Shit... I wasted so much ammo before I could remember I had stasis and kinesis now. I reloaded my weapon -pulling the slide made a spent energy cell fall to the ground with a clatter before I put a fresh cell in- and then kept going, my health indicator had dropped down around 25% of my overall health.
I looked at the vents with a renewed feeling of horror while I kept trotting. Did everything on this ship try to kill me? Apparently, yes. Before I could reach the door at the end of the narrow corridor, I heard some movement...below me. A grating zone under my hooves exploded, sending me back a few feet as I screamed and my body hit the floor with a heavy thud, and from the hole on the floor slashers climbed out swiftly charging at me, roaring.
Not this time guys. I frowned before the burst of stasis hit them and on this narrow hallway, froze them all in a blue glow. I then proceeded to shoot their limbs of, dispatching them quickly. The gurgling roar of the last one hadn't died when something hit me on the side, crushing me against the wall while a bone blade scratched against my armor plates managing to hurt my body a little. The stinger tail had lashed out and hit me, and then the leaper attacked again, hitting my shoulder with the stinger as I grunted shooting its arm off as it pinned me down when I tried to use my now empty stasis module. I held the monster back, and before it could bite my head off or use its tail again, I roared and finally heaved it off, grabbing the tail on my hoof and pressing my forehoof into its back. Earth pony strenght, stubbornness and RIG activated! I pulled its tail -and some of its spine- out from its body before hitting it in the head with its own stinger, lashing at it with its own tail.
At my second hit, its head came off and then I grabbed its remaining arm before throwing the monster to the wall, its body crunched and broke before it gave a gurgling shriek and went still. I threw the tail back at it with contempt and then stretched back my shoulders and back muscles giving a loud snort. I swore I heard a mare whisper: "Fa-ta-lity!" then.
...Remember when I said I was the soft blushy one? Well, I meant it. But I also happened to be a tad bigger (and bulkier) than the rest of my -now dead- companions, and of course, my marefriend. That, combined with my RIG's help and this suit resulted in a much higher strenght and endurance. Ironic that a computer specialist had a body like mine... Not so much if one took into account the genetics of earth ponies, and my constant refusal to simply stop exercising and become a sedentary mare like the rest of my classmates. In spite of the above, my personality could be described as happy, optimistic and cheerful. But even I had my limits, and I was still terrified by what I saw.
And on the other hoof, I was so far from being perfect. So far away that I wouldn't see perfect with a scope. My multiple defects and my own ponity countered my virtues perfectly. I walked to the door and then pressed my hoof to the holographic panel, before I entered to a bigger room. My usual high spirits and a faint smile were back, now that I had calmed down, and I sighed when I saw the blood splattered on the floor. In this level's infirmary there was blood and gore, body parts scattered everywhere while dry blood covered the walls, floor and ceiling. The lights were partially out, creating dark zones that I had to light by aiming my weapon at them. I could feel my heart beating in my chest...
I gasped and then looked up at the vents when a faint noise came from them. There was what I can only describe like chirping and high pitched sounds, with an occasional wail followed by slight and quick steps... I panted, time seemed to froze as I took some steps back, aiming at the vent where I first heard the sounds and then to the nearby vents... I glanced to the side, the door wasn't close enough for me to make it if I ran, and there were two fallen shelves that I'd have to remove with kinesis first. I was moving back to the first door before the noises at the vents followed me swiftly and then something fell from the vent above me, into my back.
I screamed and then shook violently, trying to take it off, but the thing had grabbed me! I could feel its arms around my neck before I could shake it off and it went flying away and landed with a sickening crunch some feet away from me...
...I had been fighting a corpse. The slightly more fresh looking unicorn was almost a copy of myself... But she was smaller -or normal sized?-, and her mane was blonde instead of bluish green. I looked up... But whatever had been moving up there was gone. I hovered the mare's corpse to a chair before I walked to the shelves blocking my way, and as fast as I could, lifted them with kinesis and threw them against the furthest wall. No time to waste. I looked around but every locker or container was empty or locked, and the few boxes I could stomp open only gave me a couple of small medkits. Since I already had all the medkits I could carry, I used one and picked up a new one before moving to the next door.
I opened the door and then entered to a much smaller room, apparently the nurses lockers. I found a couple of them unlocked and they gave me some more plasma energy, nearly making up for what I had used so far. This room was oddly cleaner and there weren't any corpses at view... Only one lying on the ground close to the next door. I frowned but then my RIG's artificial voice sounded and an holographic screen popped up making me jump, scared.
It managed to crawl towards me once it broke and torn its own leg tho, so I picked up another sharp pointy spur of rebar before throwing it at its torso with my kinesis, the thing screamed and then was thrown to the nearest wall, impaled... and dead. I looked at my kinesis module and then smiled, kissing it. "Kinesis impalement, best thing ever!" I also noticed that, without any other pony around, I had not spoken much in all this time except for screaming and grunting... As the cheerful and chatty pony that I am, I hoped that the loneliness didn't affect me too much...
Moving on, I punched the slasher's impaled torso just in case and was rewarded with blood and flesh sprouting from the body and a few more plasma energy cells falling from its corpse. I picked them up and cocked my brow... How? But then I looked at its torso a bit closer. It was wearing clothing! A torn and bloody nurse jumpsuit with a few pockets on it. I guess that solved the mistery. Note to self: punching and stomping corpses with clothing could be a good idea. When I looked at the door I was about to open I noticed it was locked, I was about to try and knock it down before I saw the plate-panel next to it... The memory of Clarity hacking a door came to my mind, and I sighed. I couldn't open it hacking a computer, and I couldn't knock it down... Plan C.
I popped the plate off with my hooves and set it down before I look inside the hole, trying to don't put my face too close to the cables. Okay... I was no engineer, but I suspected that this thing worked with a layout similar to what I had studied throughout the university career. If that was true... I only had to twist my hoof here... and then there... and then the door give a satisfying beep before it unlocked. I whooped and then quickly entered to the next area.
Another corridor, but this one was wider... and also darker. I used my plasma cutter to light my path, nervously looking around for any monster that could come and attack me. I started 'running' or trotting as fast as I could and after a while I had started to pant because of the weight of all my gear. I used my compass again, just to make sure this was the correct way... The things I could see at the light of my weapon were simply horrible. More text, written in blood all over the walls... There were bathrooms some steps further into the corridor, one for stallions and one for mares... I was barely able to avoid tripping with a corpse, or a limb... On the floor I found a pulse rifle, and then picked it up only to find the gun was broken. If I used this, it would most probably kill me than any monster I had to shoot at. I grunted and left it on the floor before I walked over to the bathrooms.
Good thing I had used the toilet when I found bathrooms back at the safe room.
I found myself wondering, how was I going to use a toilet now if I was wearing all this armor!? I could only hope that the store could do something to solve that. Then I remembered hearing that the store could actually remove the whole suit from you... It made sense, and I had to facehoof right there... Sometimes I wasn't a mature pony at all, despite my age.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something metallic falling to the floor. I decided to focus on the task at hoof, and kept walking.
The darkness was so deep that I couldn't see anything a hoof in front of me without using my light. When I had walked for a while, there was the sound of several vents and floor gratings exploding around me, and then I tried to use my gun to light the darkness around me erratically. That was when I heard a series of grunts, moans and even strange cackling before there was a fleshy thud behind me and I turned around only to see something more glowing in the darkness. Something that looked like a bright yellow pustule attatched to something, which I later discovered was another monster when I aimed at it. It was gross... The body was twisted, thin and fused in so many parts... The skull had splitten open and there were teeth on both parts like some sort of maw. A single thin leg made it walk while using its smaller arm and the bigger one with the pustule in it to hurl itself forward.
I gasped and screamed a bit when two more dropped through the same vent, but then my attention was directed towards something else when a slasher hit my side with its blade. I screamed again at the pain before shooting its head and then its arms off but, in the meantime, the yellow pustule monsters had gotten too close already. One of them rose its yellow pustule arm as if it was going to hit me with the yellow bag, before I shot a burst of stasis to them -the spell slowly recharged over time- and then backed up... I didn't know what that pustule was, but if that monster tried to hit me with it, I should try to get away of it as much as I could.
A leaper came out from the hole in the floor before I aimed for a yellow pustule... When I shot it, the thing exploded like if it had some kind of highly explosive chemical inside -which was probably the case- creating a chain reaction when the pustules of the monsters around it exploded too... The leaper that had been in the middle of the group simply ceased to be... Evaporated or tored into bloody chunks that were sent flying away, I'll never know. I panted and started walking again before I heard another cackle behind me... Oh shit no! I turned around and shot the thing with stasis, but all I could do before its arm-pustule slammed down into the floor was run a bit... The explotion launched me off my hooves and sent me to the floor in a heap, I also heard something break inside me and felt my body being damaged by the detonation.
Oh...not again... I saw my health indicator on the red zone, and when I tried to use one of my medkits, I heard more cackling and grunts before one of those things dropped down from a vent and slowly but decidedly tried to reach me. My vision was blurry, and I felt blood dripping down my nose when I realized I didn't have any stasis left... I shot the thing's pustule-arm off instead of shooting directly at the pustle, and when it had a momment of shock -Could this monsters actually feel pain?- I picked up a nearby crate with my kinesis, throwing it at the monster. It fell down several feet away before I picked the pustule up with my kinesis and then--- another one came down and then rose its pustule arm to hit me.
I screamed in horror and then dropped the first one's pustule, shooting at the thing's arm nearly at point blank and then quickly grabbing the pustule with my kinesis. Had I done it less than a second before the pustule came off, my kinesis couldn't have grabbed the pustule and I'd be dead. Now hovering the second one's explosive sack I shot its other arm and head before it died, and then threw the second one's pustule at the first one's, the blast radius turned the monster into gore bits... A few inches more and I could have probably died.
I panted and wheezed... even my suit's thick armor couldn't block the damage made by those...exploders. I'll have to be careful around them from now on... or I could end up as a pile of gore that once was a pony. I finally used my three medkits and regained around 75% of my overall health before I could stand up again... I even felt the broken parts inside of me regenerate by the magical healing gel... I wonder if all this medkit usage is going to earn me consequences in the future? Tumors? Malformations? Mutation? I shook my head and then ran for the door at the end of the hallway. I found myself in front of a large, circular armored door.
I used my light to read the signs next to it.
...Maybe I should have known how to move in zero gravity before trying to open this door.
As soon as I stepped into the room, my magnetic boots kicked in and held me in place... I could run, but this room was so large that I would suffocate before I could reach the end of it. Several corpses and debris were floating around, the blood looking like small red globs... Another holographic screen popped up and I heard my RIG's voice.
It hadn't been me, for sure.
But as stupid as the hint was, I tried to do as it said. I moved my arms and legs back a small bit, and then a burst of air -or was it gas?- coming from my shoulders and hindhooves pushed me forward. I did felt like a superhero, much to my regret... I also discovered that I could adopt so many other positions to move freely in the zero gravity zone... And that the air or gas streams didn't waste my air reserves... Odd. I focused on going forward for now since my time was limited, but shortly after I had been moving, something darted past my shoulder and then exploded against the floor with a much smaller explotion than the one caused by those exploders. I turned to the left and saw a big throbbing mass of flesh in the floor... Its top opened and grew three tentacles before spewing much smaller octopus like creatures... Or at least they had a big 'head' connected to a lot of tentacles. The things were of a bright red color and immediately flew towards me.
I failed to use stasis before one of them hit me square in the torso. I screamed and then I was sent floating away by the impact, before I could stabilize my flight... Surprisingly enough, the explotion only hurt me instead of blowing me to pieces. Shortly after I recovered, I used stasis on the ones that were left before shooting at them and a considerable ammount of ammo and a reload later, they were all dead. I focused on the... uh nest... -seriously I needed to name this things to identify them!- and when its tentacles came out again, I calmly shot them off one by one... Then the thing shook and finally went limp.
The hit of that one octopus thing had lowered my health back to 50% , so it would be better to shoot them all before they could touch me. The fight had taken more of my vital time, so I keept moving as far as the thrusters could go. I didn't have time to explore at the momment but maybe when I wasn't running out of air or I had an oxygen recharge station close, I would actually stop and investigate this low gravity conditions better. I finally made it to the door at the end of the room and managed to land just when I had around 30 seconds of air left... I was breathing heavily and panting by the time, because the air was starting to lack inside the helmet. And then just when I got the door opened and the air was sucked inside the room, something tackled me to the side.
Of course something had to attack me then!
I was panting when I turned to look at the leaper, 24 seconds left... I shot its arm off before it leapt the distance much faster than I could float away, and then it struck me with its stinger making me scream. 19 seconds left, I was panting and wheezing for air at this point while wildly shooting at the monster... I floated close to the door again while shooting back to keep it at bay... 14 seconds left. I was wheezing desperately for air before it leapt and pinned me down or at least pushed me with its body, I shot the remaining arm off and then floated out through the door.
When I could finally stand up, I opened the map screen of my RIG. Well... The zero G room had been a big shortcut... one that almost got me killed- and now instead of going up the elevator shafts and different levels I could just take a hallway or two to the maintenance hangar. Because, apparently there was where my RIG wanted me to go. I walked to the next door, still feeling a bit weak because I had nearly choked to death, and when I entered the hallway I felt a bit better. The place was well lit, and free of blood and gore... I slowly walked inside and then followed the path marked by my compass... Hmmm... I guess few monsters had made it across the zero gravity room and managed to get the door open? Or all this was just a simple stroke of luck.
After walking some more, always listening for any noises, I found another recording on the floor... Who would leave this here? I touched it with my hoof and again the data was transmitted to my RIG before I hit the play button. This time tho, it was a video message! An olive pegasus mare with light blue mane and tail spoke to a camera, she had dark circles under her eyes and her mane was a mess. The feathers on her wings looked unattended.
<We had to incinerate the remains of Jokerblue yesterday... She... She was pregnant... but after a few days of fever and illness, she started changing... the changes and transformation are too grotesque to describe them here... Suffice to say that we had to incinerate her on a bigger crematory furnace... with the remains of her foal. This thing... this infection attacks everypony... Old, young, mare, stallion, sick or healthy... All eventually mutate once they have been exposed to it... In view of the aggressive and resuscitating behavior of the strain, we have decided to call these monsters: Necromorphs... We must continue to investigate if we want to stop this madness ...
The rest of the recording was damaged, or it had been a short one... Either way, when I looked away from the screen an image of bold red letters written in blood on a wall came to my head, almost painfully. "Beware of the pregnant mares! They can change too!" I clutched my temple with my hoof after lowering the helmet once more, moaning in pain. "What...the...fuck!?" I managed to say before sitting down on my haunches... The pain slowly subsided and then I stood up again. What had that been!? Visions? Hallucination?
The sound of distant growls got me out of my 'trance' and into action, the helmet went up once more before I quickly trotted down the hallway. I came to a junction with a second hallway, but my compass once more pointed me in the right way before I took to the left and then found a door with a glowing holographic banner above it.
It looked like a giant room with rests and parts of ships hanging from the ceiling, with so many catwalks and grating floors... Right... So, where did my almighty RIG want me to go? I checked my map screen and then noticed I was supposed to go down to the fourth level, since I was currently standing at the first and there were a total of five levels in this place. At least the lights weren't flickering... but the room was full with steam and haze, and permanently dark small rooms and corners... I sighed... Come on monsters--- errr necromorphs... Bring it on. I stepped into the room and of course the Goddesses of whom I was not yet certain of their existence had to fuck me right then.
My small sure smile (because I was always smiling unless the situation was totally bad, like right now) melted when I saw two slashers climbing (how the fuck did they climb the grating and catwalk support columns?) until first their bone blades, and then the rest of their bodies showed up here, several feet ahead. I grunted and then aimed with my plasma cutter before the monsters gave a blood chilling roar and then charged me... Just before I blew the first one's legs off, and then the second one's head... Seriously, this "improved" Scorpion's cutter was awesome... with four shots, and then the flailing headless necromorph hurt its amputee companion lying on the floor. I smiled just a small bit when the slasher was tored appart, and then finished Mr. (or was it Ms.?) Headless Horseman off.
Was it just my imagination, or was I getting good at this? It was both a sad, and hopeful thought.
I kept moving, walking faster because running would've probably gave away my position... I heard an odd noise just before I felt pain blossoming on my side. With a scream I backed away before I saw... well... something horrible. A new necromorph was 'stuck' to the wall, walking on it like a bug... Its body looked either made from a foal, or several parts of them... It retained the foal-ish look tho, with its head and four legs still there... It was horrible... Decaying, rotten and corrupted... Three long red tentacles ending in spiny projectiles sprouting out from its back... Seriously... that was fucked up... And it also deeply disturbed me to the point I was shaking once again... Before it shot three more projectiles at me and I had to quickly fall back, but despite my evasive maneuvers one hit my torso while I screamed once again.
If you wonder why was I screaming so much, it was because being hurt by these freaks was FUCKING PAINFUL! It hurt like hell... and yeah... it was deadly. Only four hits later my health bar had dropped back to the red zone. I didn't feel like I was dying... but the pain was certainly crippling. Breathing was difficult and I was sure my chest was hurt when I aimed at the monstrosity... and then making a guess I shot two of its tentacles off before I dodged its next attack (the plasma cutter was good, but I could really use a gun with a higher firing ratio) and then shot the remaining tentacle off. The thing gave a barely foal like shriek (even if it still sounded like a foal's wail... a bit) before falling from the wall many stores down to the floor.
This was getting worse by the minute. I tried to use another medkit... but then my RIG's bottom showed a flashing red light and a sharp beep sounded twice... it was telling me there were no more medkits I could hover out of the special handles... Like I said, worse by the minute. Breathing was still difficult as I walked-limped to the bottom of the catwalk looking around in fear, specially to any vent that I happened to find... I had pressed the small cargo lift's holographic button before there was an explosion to my left, and then I found myself face to face with another of those slashers. I screamed when it burst through the vent and then tried to sink its claw into my neck before I blocked it with my foreleg... Not this time! Another hit and I'd be toast!
I growled and then pushed it away with my own punch, only to shoot its blade off and then catch it with my kinesis. With a frustration scream I threw it back at him, and the necromorph went flying to the wall behind it. It flailed around, roaring and trying to break free before I shoot its head and then one arm off. It finally went limp with a gurgling shriek before I punched it for good measure... Since it had no clothes, no loot fell from its body. I limped quickly to the lift and then pressed the button, making it go down another store... Before it stopped and the doors opened. What the...? I stepped out, ears perked up for any sound before I looked down the fragile shaft of the lift... It didn't go further down, and when I looked around once again I spotted another cargo lift right at the other side of the square shaped catwalk level. (There was a hole in the middle of the 'square'.)
I was about to scream once again, in frustration, before I spotted two crates lying on the floor on the corner of the catwalk. I limped towards them... and I stopped halfway then when I heard those chirpings and acute growls again... I looked around trying to find the source of the noises... But the source moved fast, because no matter how hard I tried, it changed constantly... That or, there were a whole lot of them. I slowly backed away towards the crates while aiming to the vents... I could hear my heart beating faster and harder on my chest, both because my injuries and because I was scared... I glanced over my shoulder at the crates, but a strong bang on the walls made me jerk my head back to the front...
There were whispers in here too... Punctuated by the occasional sound of tools or debris falling to the floor from what I could imagine to be shelves or cabinets... Before I could rise my hoof to stomp one crate open... I heard something that made my mane stand on end. A mare's whisper came to my ear... soft like a breeze. "Mol...ten...Co...pper..." And then I heard laughter... Similar to the chirping I had heard before... Like that of a carnivor ...stalking its prey...
I really hated this place.
But the whispers and every noise had the desired effect: I was so scared that I was about to piss inside my armor, and my hooves wouldn't stop shaking... Then, as suddenly as they had started, the noises -but not the whispers- stopped... "Huh? I guess I can---" Again, those had been the first words I had said in a while -quite hoarsely- before the grate beneath me exploded. I was thrown to the left with a hoarse scream and I would've surely died if I hadn't grabbed the catwalk's railing with my hoof. The thing bended and creaked under my weight before a stinger lashed out at my head. I screamed and then either willing or unwillingly let go from the railing, falling another store before I barely managed to grab a railing again. It gave a loud ping and creaked, bending as well before I tried to climb back to the grate floor... The leaper landed on the floor in front of me, but before it could strike again a burst of stasis hit it.
I grunted loudly, heaving myself up and landing on the grate with a loud thud. I stood up, and then while the thing was still on stasis I shot its arms off...Much to my surprise, it gave a gurgling -slowed- shriek before it finally went limp then. Huh? Well, note to self: shoot the arms of a leaper first. Even if it didn't kill them everytime, it should slow them down enough for me to place another shot. I sighed and reloaded my weapon before realizing I only had to go down another level to reach my objective. Dangerous as the attack had been, that leaper had helped me to throw myself out from the grating and on a rather deadly parkour display reach my target sooner... I'd make sure to thank the next one of its kind I saw.
...Fuck that! My brain must have been hurt or something. Sorry, brain damaged filly coming through.
I coughed and then limped to the left where I found the next lift. I paused and listened before pressing the button... and then as soon as the doors opened I rushed inside -as much as my wounded body allowed me to- before smashing the holographic controls (was it even possible to smash an holographic panel? My education told me the contrary) and then the doors closed, the elevator went down. It was a rather shaky and slow travel, and my body tensed upon remembering about that other lift that had malfunctioned and almost killed me... Relax Copper... Just breathe and think about... the other ten thousand horrors and threats around you.
I was trying to pick up the whispers around me before there was a loud cackle and I found myself looking at the yellow pustule of an exploder just when the lifts doors slid open. I gasped and then with a burst of stasis I stopped the doors just when they left a gap of the size of my hoof. "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK" I shouted over and over again, franctically looking around for any scape option before I came up with a stupid idea. If this failed... Then all what would be left of me would be chunks of pony that you could have put inside a bowl. I sighed before using the rest of my stasis -one shot- on the doors, only to press the small button at the side of my plasma cutter with my artificial telekinesis, making the cutting direction twist ninety degrees again... and then after shrinking my body to the side, through the narrow really narrow opening of the lift's doors I shot the creature's pustule.
The explotion shook the sturdy, armored cargo lift and sent the unhinged doors flying against my body. The heat and force had barely penetrated in here... But the doors hit me with such strenght that I heard and felt something break inside me. I screamed in agony as my health indicator dropped to 'critical condition': there was only a slight red line at the bottom of my spinal LED, blinking and flashing. The doors slowly fell to the floor of the lift and then I fell with them... I was crawling again. My hindlegs simply refused to move, and worse, when I tried to move them pain shot throughout my spine and my now crippled body. I crawled out from the lift, a trail of blood left behind me... And then to my right and ahead on this grating I spotted a room, there was a holographic banner above the door.
I panted and screamed before bitting down on my bottom lip... But, with the explosion before, I had no doubt that those necromorphs were already on their way here. Slowly, crawling, I made my way to the front of the heavy armored door... And then the vent above my head exploded, and a slasher dropped down on my hindlegs... at least I didn't feel the pain of it landing. I screamed...this time in rage, before I shot its claw just when it was going to hit me and the bone blade was sent in an arc trajectory before I catched it with my kinesis. The necromorph stepped back a moment by the stopping power of my shot before I threw its own blade back at it, hitting it right in the chest. The slasher was sent flying over the railing of the catwalk, dissapearing into the abyss with a pathetic gurgling shriek.
I finally made it inside the room... feeling so light headed... I barely reached up to close the door, wheezing... I looked around... please... there had to be something on this room to heal myself! Then I saw a small medkit resting on a shelving... I crawled over and then struck the piece of furniture with my hoof, the medkit fell to my right, and I eagerly hovered it to the port of my RIG feeling the healing effects then, I gave a deep groan...Then a sigh.
She looked as beautiful as I remembered... Maybe a couple of years younger... But as I sat on the bed, the dim light of the lamp made her light mint green coat sparkle... Or at least that seemed to me. I leaned down and nuzzled her neck... she had always loved that... and then she gave a slight yawn before her eyes slowly opened. "Is it time to get up...?" She said still half asleep. "No, but I figured you'd like to have another snack before we went to sleep?" I said with a small smirk before holding up a bowl full with mint and chocolate ice cream in my hooves. She sat down and gave a slight murr before using her magic to float a spoonfull of ice cream to my mouth. I returned the favor with a caress to her flank, and a kiss full of ice cream. "Copper..." She reached up and whispered to my ear, and I gave a happy 'hmmm?' before she continued. "Will we be together forever?" That was my marefriend, loving and emotional. I paused with a smile and then kissed her temple. " 'Course we will... I promise." My last words echoed in the distance as the lamp's light turned off, and my world became the touch of our blankets, and her hooves rubbing my body with passion.
With a groan, I opened my eyes again (did I had really passed out for a moment?) only to find two slashers already trying to break the armored windows. I stuck my tongue out af them -even if they couldn't see it anyway with the helmet covering my head- and then... I stood up. Apparently my RIG had used the medkit's healing power on my hindlegs first so instead of crawling I was back to limping now, my health indicator went back up to around 50% of my overall health... Yay...
Now that I wasn't bleeding out and suffering incredible pain, I could actually look around for any useful stuff I could find. I found three crates lying down close to the bottom left corner of the room and I proceeded to stomp them open, another medkit and some ammo. Another medkit used, and I was back to 75% of overall health, now actually being able to walk instead of limping my way to victory. I walked to a small desk at the other side of the room before my RIG gave a soft chord like noise and then a small screen popped out in front of my vision, telling me that the current goal was "completed". What!? But what did I have to... I saw something on the small desk, and picked it up with my kinesis just when my RIG identified it as "Tram system's access key." What...the...fuck? I knew what this was! (yay!) It was a nanocircuit board. Inserting it into the Tram's system console should reactivate the service.
Huzzah! Now I could finally--- Then after opening my objectives screen I saw:
Like I always liked to say: first things first. I walked to a locker on the corner of the room as the slashers still tried to break the window (there were vents in here, and it'd only be a matter of time before they noticed it) and then, lowering my helmet I stuffed my face with the preserved food inside.
Once I finished, the helmet went up again before I had the audacity to open the door and then face the necromorphs. They charged at me as soon as they saw me out, but then I shot their legs off. Somehow, slashers didn't seem as frightening to me as those foal things... I finished them off and then kept going. As I trotted over to the last cargo lift, I passed by a locked door... I stopped and then walked over... Mmmm... What were the odds that I found something good inside? I looked up to the holographic banner.
Twist...twist...twist, and the door beeped before I could enter the room... Which was empty.
"CELESTIA FUCK ME WITH MY OWN---" I swore aloud before I saw something on the floor. It looked like a small chip (circuit?) but when I drew closer my RIG identified it as:
Feeling better with my recent discovery, and again with a soft smile on my face (the anger caused by the restricted room and my new objective forgotten) I finally made it to the final lift, and then to the door connecting with the... long... hallway without incidents. The door slid open and when I stepped into the hallway I was reminded that my life was in danger. The lights were all flickering, and there were sections of the hallway shrouded in total darkness too... The signs and messages written on the walls were visible between light flashes and there were body parts evenly scattered on the floor... Gulp.
I checked the ammo counter on my gun before walking inside. If I listened closely, I could hear the whispers of a mare... But then after one or two locked doors they stopped. (I wasn't going to hack those doors while walking down this hallway, hay no!) Taking special care not to trip with the legs, torsos and heads I saw blood slowly dripping from an already destroyed vent... It was directly on my way... I slowly walked over, aiming up... and behind me... and every step seemed to take an eternity. Drip... one step... drip... another step...
Drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...
...
CRASH!
I screamed as I accidentally kicked a steel crate lying on the ground.... Fuck. I stomped the crate open and then picked up another medkit and decided to save it for later. Then the door to my left opened and I tensed, reading my shot...
Before a broom -soaked in blood- fell outside... I gulped and I swore I could hear a deep and distant gurgling chuckle...somewhere. I kept walking... I had made it to the mid of the hallway when I heard those chirping sounds and strange growls again. Oh fuck... I turned around and then again, aiming and trying to locate the sound of something crawling above me... But everything was silent... I looked to the door I had used to enter here... And saw it opened.
...That door had closed after I stepped into this hallway. I breathed louder much to my disgrace... Fear didn't mix well with stealth, but I kept walking to the end of the hallway. This was a narrow, long corridor... and the perfect place for an ambush. A phew minutes later, and when I could see the end of the hallway, there was a slight noise behind me and then I turned around...
I saw the empty eyes of a flayed head.
The necromorph charged and headbutted me, and I screamed before landing a few feet away and then it was on me, sinking its long and thin talons into my armor. I screamed once again as I felt it trying to reach my flesh and then I shot it in the head. The skull was so hard and large that it acted like some sort of shield keeping the monster from being beheaded... I cursed when it leaned down and I could see its ribs pointing out from its ribcage, ready to pierce and hurt me. I shot the thing with stasis but before I could hit it, the necromorph ran away... Really, it simply ran so fast back the hallway that I didn't have time to shoot it. I stood up... and then ran for the door at the end of the hallway. Fuck stealth. My health had returned to 40% or so, and I was feeling like crap...again.
I rushed into a small room with a spiral staircase, and then ran upstairs... I was sure that that necromorph was still chasing me. I could hear the chirping noises and the growls... I finally reached the end of the stairs and found myself in front of another large and heavy circular door... oh... this couldn't be good. On the door, someone had used their own blood to write: "Beware. Stalkers." Something told me that that creature I had met earlier was a stalker...Lovely... So this area was actually their hunting field... On the holographic banner above the door I could make out the words:
When I opened the door, the air was instantly sucked inside the room and then I stepped inside.
-Derp- Fuck.
Without further ado, I ran as fast as I could with a crippled...everything. Fuck these monsters, I couldn't be sneaky or slow here... The memory of nearly choking to death today was very fresh in my head... if only I had another gun. I franctically looked around, my world was a perpetual silence...like if my ears had suddenly stopped working...no... more like if someone had their hooves on my ears! Everything was muffled to the point of almost being mute. I could hear my hearbeat and the periodic beep of my air indicator as I ran through the room... I couldn't think of a reason for the life support system to fail here... It wasn't an external room, so a broken window wouldn't cause it... and if that was the case, there wouldn't be gravity in here. I wasn't paying attention to the room... I just had to run...
Then as I turned around I saw it, a stalker charing towards me. I gasped and then shot it with stasis, before I aimed for its legs and finally after four shots it fell down... And then I shot its arms off for good meassure. The last thing I needed was a stalker crawling towards--- And then I remembered they were supposed to come in packs, and turned to the left just in time to stasis another one before it hit me! I quickly moved to the side and then shot its legs and then its arms off. It wouldn't be long before I had to reload. A few steps later another one jumped on top of a shelving, making me aim to it for a second too long before I gasped. "It's a trap---" And then I was knocked down with a scream.
I reacted quickly and then with my kinesis I cut and picked up one of their fallen brethren's claws, before shooting the one about to slash at me with its claw, sending an arm flying away before my kinesis could bring the claw over to me and then I threw it at the stalker, cutting one leg off and giving me the chance to stand up and stasis the one charging at me from behind.
Chill. I got this.
The one I had mutilated was crawling towards me when another one came from the left, apparently forgetting about making a stealthy approach in order to finish me off. I shoot the crawling one's remaining arm off and then, with kinesis, threw it at the one to my left stopping it on its tracks and even making it roll back on the floor. I turned around and quickly shot the one in stasis, cutting its legs off and then shooting the leg of the one that had just stood up off before I could finally kill the one in stasis. The one that had been crawling was dead already too when I faced the only one left... I spotted a debris piece on the floor, like a pointy sharp ended pipe before I picked up with my kinesis and then impaled the stalker on a wall. A single shot to the arm and then it was dead.
Unfortunately... all this fight had costed me a lot of time... and oxygen. My counter had already reached 40 seconds and then I 'sprinted' for the exit... If only this was a zero gravity area. I kept running before I could finally touch the door, only 20 seconds of air left as I watched it slowly open for me. I turned around... and of course I saw a small group of them -probably three or four- running towards me from the other end of the room. Just some seconds more... open... open please!
I was already breathing louder and heavier and I didn't want to repeat my previous experience with vacuum.
The door had finally opened, and then I rushed to the other side, shooting the approaching group with stasis and then bitting my bottom lip in worry... Come on door... come on... And then I spotted the cables running along the ceiling. Thick, heavy cables that looked really important. I sighed and then sent a prayer to whoever could listen before taking aim, and then shooting the cables. They began to sparkle and fizz with electricity as soon as they were cut, and then they shook around before a couple of them fell down on the frozen group of stalkers. The creatures were electrocuted and some of their limbs exploded before the door closed, blocking my view. The artificial atmosphere returned and air filled my RIG once again with a loud hiss...
If that didn't kill them... I'd... Nothing... Just run away Copper you fucking idiot.
According to my RIG, I only had to enter to this next room before I spotted--- there it was! On a much smaller room there was the Tram system's console. Steel armor on the windows went up as I walked over, allowing me to peek outside. There was a tram system station outside this room. I could've kissed my RIG, if I didn't have to turn around on an impossible angle first. I rushed to the console, and then evaluated its integrity. It wasn't shot, cut or broken... So it should work. These units were made to be tough and sturdy.
I held the nanocircuit key and then inserted it on a small vertical slot next to the controls. The machine clicked and then the key started to glow before the console gave a loud beep.
And then I pressed the accept button. I sighed and then left the room, waiting for my transport to arrive... I kept my gun up, but sat down and lowered my helmet. It detatched from my head and went back to the neck section of my armor. It looked cool, and it was better than always having to take the thing off from your head. I found myself thinking about her as I sat there... Mint Breeze... My marefriend had to be alive! She had to... She could be anywhere on this ship... but... I couldn't drop my current mission and wander off, looking for her... If the ship wasn't repaired... then it would most likely explode, or something vital would fail... I didn't know if there was anyone else left in this ship... I couldn't just condemn them to death. I couldn't get my marefriend killed. I couldn't get myself killed.
And... if I did everything as I was supposed to be, I could eventually send a distress signal to our CLEC superiors. They would come here and rescue us... Right? In the meantime, I could look for my marefriend and find her before our rescuers arrival. I smiled... Because it would take more than this to beat me. Sure... I could be scared, even shit myself. But I wouldn't give up. I couldn't give up. The only thing that could ever stop me was...
No. That wasn't going to happen. I'd find her... I'd rescue her! And then my thoughts were interrupted when I heard an increasing roar around me, the ground shook and I gasped, reading my weapon... before I saw the silver, white and red tram arriving.