"What the hell were you thinking, Hammond!?" Kendra reprimanded.
"If we had aborted at that speed and distance, we would have smashed right into the side of the ship." Zach reasoned.
Isaac looked around. He couldn't tell the extent of the damage from the interior, but he assumed it was fairly substantial.
"What do we do now!?" Kendra asked angrily.
"Our mission is to repair communications," Zach reminded, "That's exactly what we're going to do."
The corporal gave Zach an assessment of the damage. He advised gathering the rest of the crew on the flight deck. Kendra synchronized everyone's RIGs with the Kellion. Isaac followed them outside to the dock. The power to the lights had already been cut off sometime before.
"You lost the port booster...," Kendra uttered, "Unbelievable..."
Isaac examined the ship for a moment before continuing on. Zach ordered him to hack the door leading to the elevator room.
"Freeze!" Zach suddenly yelled.
Through the dim light, near the recording terminal, a lone figure stood. When it spoke, its voice was tender and feminine.
"You can shoot if you want, but I doubt it'll do much good."
"What are you!? Answer me!"
"Stay calm. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Yeah? How can we be sure of that?"
"Come closer. "
Kendra, Isaac, and Zach slowly approached the silhouette. When they were close enough to see, they were shocked beyond comprehension. What they saw was a being not of flesh, but white fur. She stood on four legs, and possessed wings only spoken of in fairy tales. On her back was a sword seemingly crafted during the medieval ages. The guard was comprised of a dark gray skull missing its lower jaw. Its teeth were jagged and threatening, almost vampiric in nature. Attached to each side were pointed bat wings.
"What are you...?" Kendra repeated in Zach's stead.
"My name is Atmospheric. I came here from a planet located in the distant reaches of the universe."
Zach lowered his rifle.
"Looks like your intelligence rivals our own. Mind telling us what you're doing here?" he questioned.
"I came to investigate."
"Investigate?" Kendra asked.
"Doesn't it seem strange there's no one around?" Atmospheric pointed out.
"Now that you mention it..." Kendra trailed off.
"I don't know what's going on here, but if you're on our side, we can use all the help we can get." Zach stated.
"What are your names?" Atmospheric inquired.
"Zach Hammond, Chief Security Officer of the USG Kellion. This is Kendra Daniels, our computer specialist, and Isaac Clarke, systems and engineering. We were sent here on a repair mission after we received a distress beacon."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
"I don't exactly know what's going on here, but I'd advise proceeding with caution. I sense something malevolent at play here. Better safe than sorry."
"We'll keep our eyes peeled. Isaac, take a look at the security terminal. We need to find out the extent of the damage."
"I'll follow him." Atmospheric offered.
Isaac hacked the door to the security room, Atmospheric in tow. They opened the assessment menu on the monitor.
"Most of the ship's been badly damaged," the mare pointed out, "We should hurry and patch everything up. I don't want to stay here too long."
Without warning, the ship's quarantine lockdown activated. The party heard a loud bang inside the walls.
"Did you hear that!?" Kendra asked.
"I'm not sure." Zach responded.
One of the ventilation grates caved in.
"Something's in here with us!" Kendra realized.
Isaac and Atmospheric saw it immediately: a decayed monster with six limbs. It was something neither of them had ever seen before. It began to approach one of the crew members...
"I don't think so..."
Time slowed down. With blinding speed, Atmospheric broke through the glass. She cut right through where she thought the heart would be.
"Guess it takes a bit more to bring you down, huh...?"
In a flash, she dismembered the creature. It screamed and flopped on the floor. With one last swing, she decapitated it. The beast put up one last struggle for resistance before ceasing its movements.
"Good to know."
She teleported back to Isaac's side. Time resumed its normal flow.
"What just happened...!?" Kendra inquired.
"I don't know, but we're lucky to be alive." Zach replied.
"The grate cut it to pieces," Atmospheric lied, "We were lucky."
"Kendra, the tram system's offline. How do we fix it?"
"The data board's fried," Kendra answered, "We can replace it with a spare from the maintenance bay."
"Isaac, you head for the maintenance bay," Zach commanded, "We'll wait for you on the other side."
"I'll watch his back," Atmospheric assured, "We still don't know how many of those things are on board."
"Be careful," Zach urged, "One wrong move and they'll be scraping us off the floor."
Atmospheric nodded. She followed Isaac to the elevator.
Before reaching the maintenance bay, Isaac found an ore cutter to defend himself with. He and Atmospheric fought back-to-back, fending off the Ishimura's scourge. After repairing the tram system with the stasis module, they prepared to depart for the medical deck. Isaac took a detour to one of the ship's stores. He purchased an upgraded RIG for better protection.
"Lookin' sharp." Atmospheric joked. They boarded the tram...
The brief period of rest between departments gave Isaac and Atmospheric time to reflect. The fear and tension had already drained them, but they had to keep going. Whatever tried to attack them before was hell-bent on their total destruction. They had to be prepared for anything.
"Isaac...You're looking for someone, aren't you...?"
Isaac stared at the mare in shock. How did she know?
"I saw into your soul. It's been a long time since I've seen someone with a genuinely good heart..."
Isaac asked what she meant.
"I had a family once: a husband and three beautiful children. They passed away from natural causes...Four centuries ago..."
Isaac gasped.
"I'm an angel created by God around the turn of the millennium. I don't know why I was made, but after I met the man I loved, it didn't really matter to me anymore. When the time came, I wasn't ready to say goodbye..."
Atmospheric tilted her head to the side. Behind her dark chocolate mane, she closed her eyes.
"If whoever you're looking for is here, I'll help you find them...I promise..."
Isaac told her who it was.
"Nicole...That's a pretty name..."
