Chapter 4: Just their echos
Twilight fired the plasma cutter she managed to slice through two of the necromorphs legs, they fell to the ground scrambling after her with their front hooves, she fired again and they were dead their rotting blood oozing out of their torn appendages.
Stepping over the bodies she made her way back to the lobby, inside her rig link opened and circuit came on the screen with mike pacing back and forth in the background,"what the hell is going on down there, what happened to the shuttle?", questioned mike as continued his pacing,"it was the shuttle...our only home", replied circuit shaking her head.
"Goddamn it....god...GODDAMNIT!! Mike this changes everything!!", yelled circuit slamming her hooves glaring back at mike.
"Shut-up dont say that, if you listen to me we'll get out alive. Now just let me think for a sec....", replied mike as he stopped pacing and thought,"can you access the command computer"?
Circuit looked down at the keyboard typing then back at the computer screen disappointment washing over face like a bucket of water," its no use a command override is in affect, i cannot access it only the captain has the authorization code," replied circuit with a sigh.
"Well can you pin point his location?", questioned mike as circuit typed once more into the keyboard,"i found him, Captain Benjamin Mathias, location Med Lab, status.......deceased", sighed circuit.
"What....how?", replied mike shock now filling his face,"i dont know i can't access that information! Find the captain and access his rig to get the authorization codes, with those codes i can crack the computer wide open", said circuit with a hint of irratation.
"Twilight, im sending the tram back to your location make your way to the medical deck and get that rig", replied mike as a rustle came from the vents on their side,"what was that", shouted circuit as her eyes darted around the room.
A loud crash came from the corner as mike and circuit bolted out of the room a necromorph crashed onto the console roaring, his bladed tail whishing around hitting the camera it went to static then the rig link minimized into her chest display.
Activating her deck navigation, the blue line shot onto the floor turning left where mike and circuit had exited when they were ambushed.
Twilight walked into the tram station, she could feel the faint breeze pressing against her suit the smell of stagnent air flowing into her nostrils making her wing a little. To her right a little station labled,'STORE', just above it and remembering the credits she picked up along the way walked towards it as the menu folded out.
Scrolling through the menu her eyes rested upon on a tab,'LEVEL 2 SUIT: 9,000 cd", twilight looked at the tab for a second,"pricey", thought twilight as she tapped on the tab, the screen display folded upward as the back opened, twilight starred at the back station for a moment before walking slowly forward.
Turning her back to the wall tiny clamps came out of the back pushing her legs and head back against it, the front sliding doors hissed shut as the suit was stripped off of her and the new one fitted on a bright light ran down the middle of where the doors separate.
After the suit was fitted onto her and the helmet adjusted she stepped out of the small back room, she gazed at her hoofs more steel ribs were now on the suit covering half of her legs, the helmet now better fitted and the gazer more strategically armed.
After going over the suit twilight made her way to the tram, stepping in she glanced at the blinking tab clicking on it she sat down as the tram jerked forward. It didnt feel like a tram ride though but a ride down the intestinal track of a huge beast digesting her, twilight leaned her head back and closed her eyes as the darkness of the tunnel swallowed the tram.
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The tram slowed to a stop yanking twilight out of a shallow nap she rose to her hooves, peeking out of the trams opening she entered the station, in the upper right hallway entrance she saw a mare with a blonde mane, bandages covering her eyes but that wasnt what startled her.
Laying next to her was a torso of a stallion his four legs severed and missing while laying in a pool of blood, the mare was petting him gently and whispering to it.
She approached the mare slowly and the mare spoke,"shhh..its ok shes here theres nothing to worry about", the mare said patting the bloodied torso as she looked up at twilight, the bandages covering her eyes were bloody where her eyes had been, she began to speak softly to twilight.
"Oh i knew you would come, i've been waiting for you, here take this i saved it for you", the mare reached just above the corpse where his head used to be and handed her a small mechanical object her rig display popped up and read,'KINESIS MODULE', "thank you for coming i know you'll need it more than me...thank you...thank you...".
The mares voice faded as she slumped to the floor, the last breath of her body leaving, her spirit floating on the breath as it carried it up to the heavens away from this hell hole.
Twilight fit the kinesis module in the rear of the stasis module and with a faint click it snapped on, seeing the debri in the hall entrance she decided no better way than to use kinesis, normally she would use her magic but being this deep in space somehow messes with it.
Holding out her front hoof a faint blue sphere appeared around her hoof as three strands of electricity cluched the debri and flung it out of a way, it was a splendid invention and came in handy when needed.
Just as she left the station twilight looked around it at the bloodied body bags that littered the floor, then back at the mare her body looked empty now just laying there, dead weight.
Twilight made her way down the hallway a glowing object caught her eye and picked it,'SCHEMATIC: FLAMETHROWER', she grinned at the schematic and idea but had a job todo first, pressing the door it hissed open a metal barricade prevented her from going to her route, the rig link popped up and mike appeared.
"Twilight are you there? We were attacked and circuit is gone one minute she was there....i just cant believe i lost her", spoke mike in a frantic voice before taking a breath and continued speaking.
"Alright we can still do this, get me the captains rig codes and we'll find circuit. It looks like the crew barricaded the door to the emergency wing", spoke mike as the rig link displayed a map of the wing and where she needed to go.
"We need to destroy that barricade to get to the medical wing, go to medical storage and retrieve some thermite then zero-G therapy for a shock plate...dang it...communication..is...useless...with..all...this static..", mike began to cut in and out as the static claimed the rig link then minimized.
Twilight started for the door and pressed her hoof on it, it paused for a few seconds, a dead mangled body layed next to the door she shrugged it off as she made her way through the bloody halls. A door leading to medical supplies was malfunctioning and was slamming repeatabley, stasising the door she walked through and the door continued its malfunction.
Entering the medical bay was strange, it felt as if the creatures were staring at her with cold gazes as if hating her especially. She walked further the containment alarm shot on making twilight jump aiming the plasma cutter, the room was now filled with soft yellow slow oscilating light.
In the distance she could hear the roar of the necromorphs, hungry for her...
She fired at one as it burst out of the vent cutting its limbs off, she spun around to kill the other one but wasnt fast enough as the necromorph seized twilight and bit at her neck its foul breath pouring in her nose.
Thrusting it off she then fired at its legs cutting it to the ground, stasising it she curb stomped its other top hoof killling it. Making her way to the elevator she tapped on the downward arrow, aiming the plasma cutter she walked slowly towards the middle of the medical deck the lockdown was still in affect so there had to be more and it didnt take long for them to find her.
One crawled after her as blood gurgled in its throat she stasised it and stomped on it till it was dead, a few more had come out of the back room and she dispatched them, their blood spattering the walls and floor.
The containment breach lifted and twilight stopped to rest, she gazed at her bottom hooves now covered with blood and gave a little smile, she...somehow was beginning to like it.
Shaking her head she activated the deck navigation, the blue line turned behind her into a small office, following the line she pressed on the door as it hissed open, walking in she noticed another sliding door that the line continued beyond.
Proceding she opened the door and immediately something caught her attention, the smell of....foals, but why on the ship? Twilight walk slowly forward coming around a bend in the hall, she could see through rather good sized window in a enclosed room individual tanks and small forms floating within them as a green fluid encased them.
Walking closer a stallion rushed from inside to the window,"HELP HELP COME ON COME ON!!!!", he yelled in panic and terror as a small foal crawled from behind, its eyes no filled with blood lust, three tentacles slithered out from slits in its back.
One of the tentacles fired pinning one of the stallions hooves against the glass, it fired another into his back as it jumped up onto the wall behind the stallion, one last shot came from one of the tentacles into the stallions head exploding it against the glass like a bag of jelly.
Twilight shook her head to come out of her trance and ran to the door that led to the room, she pressed her hoof against the door and it hissed open. Walking in the foal, which from a closer view appeared to be a filly, jumped at twilight gripping her chest and stabbing into her back.
Surges of stinging pain shot up and down her body like a bullet richocheing of walls, twilight managed to yank the filly off her then slamming it into the ground, she then kicked it with all her might severing two of the three tentacles.
The filly necromorph was dead laying on the floor like a peaceful mangled puppet but strangely enough she didnt feel sad as she curved around the corner to a small lift. Once she reached the top another of the foal necromorph had its back turned against her.
The element of surprise was gone as another foal burst out off one of the tanks, twilight ducked behind one of the tank columns as the two fired their harpoons at her. Stasising one twilight shot a horizontal bolt at the one that was in regular motion, the bolt ripped off two tentacles and it fell to the ground dead.
Turning her attention to the stasised one she then stomped repeatabley on the foal till all she heard was the soft gurgle of blood oozing out of the wounds. Wiping the splattered blood off her visor she continued through two more doors entering a small room, which she guessed was medical storage.
Looking at the desk in the middle of the room she could see the small container of thermite and snatched it away, an audio rig link popped up and mike spoke," Alright that thermite should be enough to blow that barricade, use the shock pads from zero-G therapy to detonate it", spoke mike in a hushed tone.
"Hope i can hold this position....i can hear something big moving out there", mike spoke then the audio rig link shut off and minimized.
Making her way through the medical deck twilight went up the elevator and exited the room. On her way there two necromorphs ambushed her in the hall, quickly dispatching them twilight made her way up the small incline.
Entering the lobby she looked at the barricade and now needed to retrieve the shock plate, turning to her right she pressed on the door and it hissed open as she stepped in the hallway. From around the corner twilight could hear a wet thud every four seconds sending chills down her spine.
Making her way around the corner the sound grew louder and louder, when she turned a small shadow was standing facing a wall. Creeping closer she could see a stallion standing in front of the wall hitting his head against the wall that now had blood dripping down it.
She stepped closer, the stallion pushed his head back a little farther and slammed it as hard as he could a sickening squelch wrenched twilights stomach as his head caved in and blood spattered out, his body collapsed onto the floor.
His eyes starred at her like orbs of ice chilling twilight to the bone, his forehead caving in slightly, a small pool of blood forming in the caved in area.
She made her way through a door and into a loading station of somesort a large clear cylinder with a flat top and light blue glowing kinesis symbol beside it. Aiming her left hoof twilight shot out the kinesis bolt and it cluched the cylinder, she slowly rotated it to the left into a crevice opening a path way to her right, the squeling of the necromorphs on the other side.
Without giving pause she ran to the opening adrenaline rushing through out her body as she fired a stasis bolt at one of the blade tailed necromorphs as she finished off the other she then stomped on the stasised one until it gave way.
Breathing for a moment twilight looked up and saw a power cell on the ground, lifting up the power cell she then placed it in the socket turning blue indicating a good connection, the cargo lift next to it lit up as she stepped on and went upward.
Lifting her hoof she pulled the stage to the left so she could crossover , turning around the corner she fought off two necromorphs as they burst out of the vents. Doing the same to the stage as she crossed over to the other side.
The door read locked but she didnt take long to find the circuit and shot at it thus unlocking the door, opening it she walked in another door lay ahead of her. Pressing her hoof on the door it paused for longer than normal, then air started to furiously exit the room.
A hiss sounded as the door opened the ishimuras voice spoke,"Entering Vaccum", twilight stepped out, there was no sound it was completely silent, the vaccum no matter how hard or loud you screamed nopony could hear you.
Twilight made her way through the damaged area its side ripped out so she could have a clear view of the planet below, the huge crater stared at her like an eye of a giant cyclops without blinking.
She came upon the door and pressed her hoof on it the voice spoke from the intercom once again,"Exiting Vaccum", twilight walked over to the zero gravity door, it was different then the rest it was circular not square. Pressing the door it shifted and rotated to the left and opened.
The room was rather huge and in a cylinder set up a holopad sat waiting for command, twilight tapped the tab and the zero gravity kicked in and the bodies and debri in th room started to float around. Aiming herself, twilight jumped with her front hooves outstretched, landing with a hard thud she pushed herself up.
One of the power cells were missing so twilight searched the room for the cell, it was floating in the near corner, aiming her left hoof she then shot out the stasis bolt clutching the cell it drag close enough for her to place it in the socket then pressed on the door.
The door hissed open and she walked in, the room was small probably used for storing utilities, she rested her eyes on the shock pad and picked it up her audio rig link popped up and mike spoke.
"Great...you got a shock pad, combine with the thermite at the barricade to destroy it....shit i can hear more coming...moving through the vents stay safe twilight", spoke mike in a hushed voice as the audio link shut off.
Twilight exited the room a necromorph had made its way inside and was now starring at her, she raised her plasma cutter as it tensed itself and launched at twilight. Firing the weapon she managed to kill it before it reached her its body carring past her from the momentum.
Leaping across the platform she landed on the other side and opened the door,making her way through the vaccum once more a necromorph was walking slowly toward her she aimed and fired killing it swiftly its blood floating in little bubbles like bloody stars.
The way back to the barricade was smoother than expected besides the usuall necromorph, now she was facing the barricade, the thermite hooked into the shock pad and she placed it onto the barricade.
After taking a few steps back she sheilded her eyes as the thermite ignited with a brilliant blue light as sparks flew this way and that, when it was all over the a gapping melted hole stood in front of her, the audio link snapped on.
"Okay yor through it should be clear from here to the morge...remember the codes from the captains body", said mike as the audio link closed.
She walked through the door and saw a blue soft light pulsating slowly on the ground, twilight reached down and picked it up, it was a video log so she flipped it over a clicked the tab. Twilight gasped, it was fluttershy, one of her medical logs, she listened as she began to speak.
"This is senior medical officer Fluttershy transmitting ship wide, we need more help, we dont have the resources to deal with this many cases! Nopony would tell us whats happening!", sighed fluttershy as she continued.
"These...wounds..we are not equipped to deal with this.....", fluttershy stopped talking and sighed shaking her head as the bloodcurdling screaming of somepony came from the background,"get him to the table now! Mathew hold him! Hold him! God..end of recording!",the video log shut off and minimized leaving twilight starring at the empty air where the video was playing.
That was her friend, the second video ive seen of her, she must be around here somwhere! Her audio link snapped on and mike began to speak.
"That was fluttershy right....i cant tell from here when that log was made...im sure shes around here somewhere", spoke mike in a sympathetic tone, the audio link shut off leaving twilight there...silent.
Determination burned in her soul as she continued on her way to the morge, entering was a chilling sight, blood spattered all over the ground, bloody hoof prints on the walls and windows , and writting on the walls that was in an entirely differnt language but somehow....she recognized it.
Twilight entered the operating room, two foal necromorphs fired their harpoons as she ran for cover as they whizzed past her ears. Stasising one she lifted a power cell and flung it at the foal, the cell smashed the foal killing it instantly, she then fired at the other killing it as well.
Lifting the power cell she placed it in the socket unlocking the door, the door hissed open and revealed the bloodied hospital beds, each one was covered in blood and empty body bags laying on top. Each row was covered in the blood of the patients, it was also covering the floor, wall , and even the ceiling like a spray painter from hell had come and sprayed the corridor.
She walked on, the putrid smell of the blood filling her nostrils, two necromorphs slid from uptop suprising her but she quickly dispatched them and continued on her way through the bloody medical hall and came to a door.
Entering the room there was individual capsules for biocontainment, she froze as the middle had two ponies in it, the stallion on the medical bed was writhering in pain as the mare cut into him with a bonesaw. She looked over at twilight and started to laugh then looking back at the stallion she cut his main artery killing him quickly.
Glancing over her shoulder at twilight the mare laughed louder as she slowly brought the saw up to her own throat and slit it, blood gushed out of the cut as she fell to the ground all she heard was the gurgling of blood in the mares throat, loosing
its final breath.
Twilight walked around the capsule approaching a door starring at it blankly for a moment recalling what she had just saw, pressing on the door she was greeted by a huge roar that broke the pressure windows popping them like air filled bags.
"The beast is hungry", thought twilight as she released her hooves from her ears and brushed off the glass, continuing a little further she came upon an audio log sitting there without a care in the world and activated it.
"Science log chief science officer doctor kyne reporting, the colonies problems concern me greatly. I have no doubt that they are somehow linked to the discovery of the marker, but...the exact nature of that connection is still unknown, almost fourty-percent of the colonists are experiancing the same form of dementia".
"The obvious symptoms ar acute depression, insomnia, and hullicination. Incidents of violence and murder also indicate extreme paranoia.....doctor mercer even advises bringing some of the affected onboard for further study, doctor wellen, the planet site psychiatrist, has reported that his own analysis has been fruitless. An hetitance relies on mercers at this point, i need his expertise".
"We need solutions....and we need them quickly", the audio log closed and twilight let it fall to the ground,"the marker. The marker.The...marker".
The words bounced around her like a rubber ball each impact releasing thoughts and emotions, it somehow felt similar to her as if she was connected with this....marker.
Shaking her head she walked on and came to an elevator, pushing its holotab the door hissed open and she stepped in the air of the elevator runing through the shaft brought a strange sort of comfort to her mind.
The sliding doors opened and she was confronted by yet.....another door the same kind she entered through when the roar came, pushing the door a foul odor rushed into her nose making her gag as if she was punched by a hoof in the stomach.
Yep...it was the morge alright blood covering the walls and medical beds, organs laying on the ground and medical beds, the smell of rotting flesh and putrid blood claiming the air, a faint haze hung in the air.
Just ahead twilight could see a see-through glass section, inside layed a dead stallion...the captain. Once the idol of authority on this vessel now a bloody plaything laying on the medical bed. Twilight approached slowly making her way around the bloody beds.
She jumped as a morge door opened by its self revealing a dead rotted stallion, she chuckled to herself for scarring so easily over just a little thing, turning her attention back to the captains body, she approached closer.
Just then a necromorph crashed through the roof of where the captains body layed, swooping down on what looked like flesh like wings it grabbed ahold of the body and using an long injection talon it thrust the talon into the captains head through the skull.
A yellow murcy fluid flew in all directions as the bat creature transformed the captains body, twilight could just stand and watch as the bat flew off the captain as the body writhed on the ground.
Long talons shot out just underneath the hooves,the hair falling off and matted on the ground the skin turning coal black, his bottom jaw seeming to melt off as little tentacles sprung from where it had been.
Snapping its head around it glared at twilight with blood lust and hunger, the once proud kind captain was now part of the necromorph herd. Thrusting its talons back it broke the glass and charged at twilight but she managed to stasis him and fire upon his legs.
Cutting them off she than quickly cut off his upper hooves kiling him, but she had forgot the bat and it lunged at her its wings open for capture. Twilight was thrusted against the morge doors as she tryed desperatly held the bat away as it tryed to inject its talon into her head.
"How the buck could this have been a pony!?", said twilight in her head as she ripped the bat creature off of her, pressing down on the bat with her bottom hoof she than grabbed the three tentacles plus the long talon and pulled with all her might.
She heard the flesh rip as the tentacles and talon ripped out of the bat, then kicking it across the room it slammed into the wall and convulsed on the ground, blood pouring out of the wounds.
The bat gave one final convulsion then flopped onto the ground, twilight let the tentacles fall to the ground and leaned against the morge doors to catch her breath.
After gaining some strength she walked over to the captains rig, hovering her front hoof over it a data reader gathered the information and sent it to mike, her audio link popped up and mikes voice spoke.
"Codes received and they look good....thank celestia", sighed mike with relief,"I'll start accessing the captains records right now, head to the tram station and ill contact you there. I'm gonna find out the hell happened to this ship!"
The audio link closed and twilight made her way to the elevator around the bend, she pressed on the door and stepped halfway in and turned and looked back at the captains body. A pang of sadness came upon her like a sharp needle in her brain, turning she pressed on the holopanel and looked out the closing doors.
Twilight raised her hoof near her forhead saluting the captain as a final gesture of farewell, the doors closed and cut her vision from the morge.
The elevator stopped and twilight stepped, she was once again in the upper med lab, making her way to the door she walked into the blood caked lobby where a necromorph had "conveniently and patiently" had waited for her and charged.
Dodging its attacks she swung around and fired upon its legs, cutting it down she stasised it and commenced stomping on it till it gave up the ghost.
After stomping the buck out of it she noticed one strange thing, the once light pink flesh of the necromorphs were now a charcoal black and took more effort to kill. Keeping the thought in mind she continued through the door, for the first time in a while her video link popped up and mike appeared.
"Twilight!! Somehow one of them made its way down to the captains nest, i had to contain it in a damage escape pod", said mike in between breaths, he breathed and continued talking," Lifting executive lockdown now....i found the deck logs whatevers happening around here it came from the planet when the cracked it open".
"It spread through the colony and made its way to the ship....twilight this isnt an infection its some form of alien life", spoke mike as a brief wave of static claimed the channel for a few seconds.
Mike appeared out of the static and continued to speak," shit we got bigger problems!! The ships engines are offline and our orbit is decaying, get on the engineering deck asap while i stay here and figure out what the problem is", mikes voice cut off as static claimed the channel again for good.
Twilight made her way down the hall and into the room where the barricade was, pausing she remembered the flamethrower schematic she picked up a while back and turned to the right.
The shops menu panel unfolded ready to serve her like a mechanical servant, entering the schematic the menu tab labeled flamethrower popped at the top and she clicked it and two little arms unfolded at the bottom and assembled the weapon rather quickly.
Handing it to her she lifted it off the arms and felt it, it.....was marvelous how it felt in her hooves, oh what destruction she could release upon the mutated freaks of the ship. Holstering the weapon she turned around and made her way through the hall to the tram station, upon entering she gasped.
Just a little while back the tram station was littered with bloody body bags...at least eight were there and now there not, the torso of the stallion and the mare that had given her the kinesis module and died was also gone, now only blood stains were there.
A chill ran down twilights spine as if a piece of ice had run down it, shaking her head she walked over to the tram and sat down inside it by the control panel.
Pausing her hoof over the tab she looked out towards the hallway from where she had come, she thought she herd a voice calling out, 'im fine' or 'hey its good to see someone else'!
But ...no, there was no hoof steps or voices coming from the hall, pressing the tab the door slid slowly shut and so did twilights eyes as the tram jerked forward deeper into the intestines of the giant metal beast as the voices of the fallen echoed throughout the metal shaft....
......it was just their echos......