Chapter XV
Shattered
Chapter XV
"Why?" Fox asked, needing an answer. In fact they all needed an answer.
"He had been in contact with a marker, there was only one solution." Alex replied with a sad sigh.
"But why?" Fox asked still not understanding.
"A marker imprints upon everybody that comes in contact with it, over time, the instructions for their creation. He was too far gone."
"What the hell is a marker?" Wolf demanded from his seat.
"Something that should be destroyed." Alex answered.
This was the first time that Fara spoke. "What do we do. now?" She asked Alex.
"Now," he answered with a frown, "I have to do what I thought I never would have to again."
"Being?" She asked, one long ear hanging lopsided of her head.
"To teach others about the necromorphs. Fox, I need you to get everyone down here, I'm going to talk with General Pepper." Alex ordered as he walked to the exit of the room, all eyes were on him. He looked back one last time, not at them, but at the monitor, showing the corpse of the ape he had killed. Then he left without a word.
"What the hell is a necromorph?" Wolf demanded, he was ignored.
Hours later Fox and his team were waiting in a huge briefing room. It was large enough to accommodate their new additions, (making the whole place uncomfortable for poor Fox), and another team that had not arrived yet. Fox was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with Wolf and Fara.
"So Foxy, where did you find that killer eh?" Wolf asked from his seat across the room. Fara had decided to sit near him again, but it wasn't because they were close, more so that things were a little estranged with the team she had once called friends.
Krystal and the others had arrived half an hour ago, Lupa had left Penelope with a close friend. "Who's he talking about?" Krystal asked fox. Alex had not entered the room yet, as he was still talking with Pepper.
"Don't listen to that prick." Fox told her, giving his rival a death glare.
"Oh you know, that human. Never seen such a brutal interrogation before." Wolf continued to flap his jaw. "That ape never stood a chance."
"Interrogation?" Fay inquired, puzzled.
"Yeah, that hu-"
"Shut up wolf!" Falco ordered form his seat next to Slippy. The toad wasn't doing so well. His father had been kidnapped, and to exasperate that, it seemed that they had not seen the last of the necromorph scourge. Which his father was most likely at the heart of right now.
"Sheesh, alright then." Wolf grunted throwing his paws up defensively. "Don't have to bite by head off."
That's when the entryway to the room opened, and a squad of heavily armored and armed wolves walked in wearing the 48th's patch. They silently took their seats on the opposite side of the room. Making Wolf and Fara move to Fox's side. They weren't told to, but the intimidating presence they exuded was a subliminal warning to step off.
Wolf reluctantly sat next to Fox, and Fara moved to where Falco Slippy and Peppy were. "Uh...hey." She said awkwardly.
"Hello Fara." Peppy said warmly. "It's good to see you again."
"Yeah, long time no see." Falco agreed. Slippy just waved half-heartedly.
It was strange to her. They talked for a few minutes and it felt like she had never even left. As if her fallout with Fox had never happened. It was...nice.
Alex was walking out of Peppers office, he had just finished a very long discussion with the old hound. They had agreed on a course of action. Now he would just have to brief the teams who will participate in the assault. Alex had only one concern. Which he had voiced to Pepper.
"What about Venomian retaliation?"
"War was inevitable, the truce could only last for so long." Pepper replied, he was gazing out of his window and at the cornerian people going about their lives. "It is best for there to be a war with Venom, then for them to foolishly unleash those monsters upon us. I will not subject our people to them."
"Our, sir?" Alex asked confusedly.
Pepper turned to face him with a small smile. "Yes, our. You have done much for us Alex, I think you are deserving of a place in our society."
"I-I...thank you sir."
"It is we who thank you." Pepper said as he led Alex to the door. "Oh, and Alex..." The human turned around. "Bring everyone back safely."
Alex was thinking on that as he walked into the briefing room. He looked around. Their was Starfox with their new temporary members and the wolves of the 48th. These were the people who would fight and possibly even die to prevent a catastrophe. They had his respect.
Alex walked up to the podium at the front of the room. During his walk up he looked to Krystal and Fay and gave them an encouraging grin. Once he arrived at the podium he prepared himself for a speech. He was never any good at them, but he would try his best, he cleared his throat. "Some of you may not know who I am or where I come from." He started off, at the sound of his deep voice everyone who was not paying attention focused on him.
"So I think some background is in order. I am a human, and I am not from around here. Most if not all of what you are about to hear is going to seem impossible or even laughable, but I would entreat you to hear me out. You see, I'm not even from this universe." Their was some mumbling at that piece of news, from all those who had not already heard his story. They quieted down when he resumed.
"I came from a different place, one that I hope to never see again. My people had unearthed something. They called it, the marker. At this he pressed something on the podium and the screen behind him activated to reveal a black twisted obelisk. It was etched with strange red runes that seemed to glow even through the electronic pane. "This thing was a source of almost infinite energy. Humanity was at the brink of collapse. Our reckless use of unsustainable resources and failing to find a way to create a way to keep going, caused us to reach a crisis point. The marker was considered an act of divine intervention. So, in out ignorance we sought to create more of them, without completely understanding what they were." He paused for a moment, and one of the 48th spoke up.
"What were they?" The voice was female, that being the only way to distinguish gender amongst them. Their suits hiding any noticeable traits.
"They were evil. The markers, and I mean plural, as we had constructed many, were sentient, and they had a plan. Now, I don't know everything about them, as we never fully understood them, but from what I gathered in the war was that they were only a piece of the whole. Each marker, had a undetectable signal, that which upon activation, would over time reanimate corpses." The room was deathly silent, and now he had their absolutely undivided attention.
"These now reanimated bodies would mutate into lethal killing machine. They would then seek out anyone and anything alive and kill it. This caused those bodies to change as well. My people called these things necromorphs. Through the events of the conflict, we had to totally shift our methods of waging war. For the sake of time, I will forgo any irrelevant information. The main focus for you, will be on how to fight them. I know that some of you will not be participating in the actual fight on the ground, but if you are shot down, and the venomians don't have the marker contained properly, you could find yourself facing one." While he said that he pointedly looked to his friends.
"I have brought with me, a recording pertaining to this objective. It takes place during the closing year of the war. It should help you better understand what you are going to be dealing with." He had hooked up one of his modules to the port on the podium. Once connected he started the playback. He had one last thing to say. "Some of the things you will witness will be...unforgettable." He said that last line with a forlorn tone.
"Hey Alexander wake up!" The point of view originated from a helmet cam. The helmet was looking down at a lap. The heavy armor of the individual, (who could only be Alex), was black and red. The helmet shifted violently as if struck.
He looked up into the green visor of a blue and white suit. "What the hell Santiago?" (It was Alex).
"Dude how can you sleep?" The other soldier, Santiago, asked in a strange accent.
"By closing my eyes." Alex responded sarcastically. He turned away from his friend for a moment to survey his surroundings. It was the hold of a gunship. There were three other soldiers besides Santiago and himself. The IDs read Briggs, Daniel, and Jonathan. Each wearing the same colors as Santiago. They were fiddling with their rifles and talking in low tones.
"Don't be an ass." Santiago said, laughing, dragging Alex's attention back to him.
"Don't ask stupid question!" Alex retorted, lightly slugging his friend in the arm.
"Jeez lieutenant, I was only asking." Santiago replied in feigned hurt.
The voice of the pilot interrupted. "Lieutenant, we are approaching the LZ, five mikes out."
"Copy Firehawk, notify me when we're one mike out." Alex ordered.
"Understood."
Alex stood up and twisted his neck sharply causing his vertebrae to pop. "All right listen up!" He shouted to his men. "We are nearing the landing zone outside the marker facilty. This entire planet is going to hell, the necros are running rampant through the streets. We need to stop them before they reach convergence. The marker facilty must be neutralized. Which means we have to get the bomb their. How is it Santiago?"
The marine checked his back, on it was a large rectangular device. "Functional sir!"
"Good, when it's armed we are going to fall back and get the hell out out of here."
"Sir yes sir!" His men shouted as they saluted.
"Sir, have you heard from command?" The soldier named Briggs asked.
"I'm afraid not, not since we lost contact four days ago, I can only assume the command post was overrun. It matters not! We will still complete the mission."
"Of course sir, but where will we go?" Daniel asked.
"We'll find a ship to get us off planet and to the nearest RV point." Suddenly there was a buzzing noise.
"Lieutenant, I've spotted a group of civilians, they're being pursued, what's the order?" The pilot asked over the intercom.
"Keep going."
"....Sir?" The pilot asked hesitantly."
"You heard me soldier! Keep going!" Alex shouted.
"Understood." The pilot grunted.
The hold was filled with a grim silence. After a moment Alex spoke up. "We can't save everyone."
"I know that sir." Briggs muttered. "But, we took an oath to defend the innocent."
"Yes, but sometimes the needs of the many out-way the needs of the few, and in this case it holds true." Alex replied.
"One mike." The pilot warned.
"Copy, when we disembark I want you to circle the area until we call in."
"Understood lieutenant."
Sixty seconds later the rear hatch opened and the five men stormed out and into a courtyard connected to a giant set of building. The entire area around them was coated in blood and the floor was carpeted with spent shell casings. They crunched through the film of blood and metal to the door. Three dead bodies lay in front of the large medal doors. Two were of guards, torn to pieces, and the other was a mutilated...thing. Without a thought, Alex tossed an incendiary grenade on it. The thing burst into flames, (and startling the viewers), roared and vaulted up. Almost uninterested Alex gunned it down and turned to his men.
"You know the drill, check your corners, always stay topped on ammo, and remember to stay alert."
"We know what to do." Santiago said confidently. Alex nodded and climbed through the wrecked doorframe.
The video paused and Alex addressed his audience. "Any questions?"
"I have one." A feminine voice answered. Alex tried to identify it and when he did he was surprised. It was Fara Phoenix. "Those things play dead?"
"Yes, I don't know if that suggests some level of intelligence, and frankly I don't want to."
"Any more?"
"Yeah I've got one. How did you know?" Wolf asked.
"I didn't, but you can never take chances."
"Hmm."
Alex pressed a button.
They all followed after him and into the lobby. Inside was a bloodbath. Dozens of body parts lay scattered across the marble flooring. There were Pools of congealed blood and even some dripping from the ceiling.
"Jesus!" Jonathan exclaimed.
"Fuck!" Daniel muttered.
"Let's go." Alex ordered and began to walk through the wreckage of humanity. His men fell in behind him and tried to gingerly step over the remains. Alex just stormed straight through.
After leaving the massacred lobby, they found themselves in the access corridor for the main building. With cautions steps they traversed the hallway. Guns roving to target vents and doorways. The entire length of it was shrouded in darkness. Three quarters of the way in they were attacked.
With a gurgling bellow a shape collided with Alex causing him to fall and drop his rifle with a clatter. While he wrestled with it another half dozen attacked his group. Jonathan kicked his enemy away and fired his gun into its bladed limbs. Daniel fired his shotgun and blew his target into organic shrapnel. Santiago had some sort of electrical cannon that fried the rest.
As they turned to help their commander they saw him ripping off one of the necromorphs blades and stabbing it back down into its chest distracting it momentarily. That gave him the time to finish it off with a quick burst from his handgun. Santiago helped him to his feet. "Jeez, your always the one getting jumped, they must have a personal grudge."
"I can't help it if they like my charming personality." Alex said as he retrieved his errant rifle.
"Maybe if you toned it down a bit." Daniel deadpanned.
"Stow it marine!" Alex ordered jokingly.
"Yes sir!" Daniels said, saluting exaggeratedly.
Jonathan shoved him. "We need to be serious."
"Let them joke around." Briggs jumped in. "We don't have much to smile about now a-days."
"Alright." Jonathan acceded. "Your right."
"Arguing aside, we should get moving." Alex suggested.
"Got it." Santiago agreed and walked after Alex, who took point again.
Several minutes later they arrived at an intersection. "Where do we go now sir?" Briggs asked.
"Give me a minute." Alex scolded as he tried to figure out the map.
"Uh...we may not have a minute." Jonathan warned as he sighted down a hallway. "I've got movement."
"Positions!" Alex shouted.
Each member of his team took a corridor. With a piercing wail, forms emerged from the blackness. As they neared the lights of the marines's guns the necromorphs's frighting visages were revealed. Consisting of decaying bodies of the building's staff, twisted into parodies of human physique, they shambled forth.
"OPEN FIRE!" Alex barked, and his men complied. The darkened corridors were given light from the muzzle flashes of their guns. With concentrated precision the necromorphs began to fall. As the bodies piled up it seemed that they would be overwhelmed.
"Reloading!" Daniel shouted as he quickly tried to change mags. Slamming it home he brought his rifle back up...and was hit in the chest by a flurry of spikes. He flew back and dropped his gun. Alex took his fallen friends place and fired a kinesis blast freezing up the venue in front of him, and then lobbed a frag into the helpless monsters, it exploded flinging parts and putrid flesh down both lanes.
Using the time he had just purchased, Alex checked over Daniel. The spikes had smashed through the armor and into Daniel's vulnerable flesh. Blood seeped out of the edges of the many wound, and he was breathing heavily.
"F-F-Fuck!" Daniel stuttered painfully, and coughed wetly. Alex checked his rig, it was an ominous orange at the base of his spine, and it's hue was slowly shifting red.
"Hold on Daniel!" Alex shouted over the sound of gunfire. "Stay with me!"
"You know the procedure sir." Daniel said breathlessly.
"No, your gonna be fine Daniel." Alex denied. "Your going to make it back to your family."
Daniel grabbed the collar of Alex's suit and dragged him down until they were visor to visor. "Don't. Lie. To. Me." He enunciated each word heavily. "I know I'm dead, and even if I wasn't, you can't finish this with a wounded man." Daniel was right, they needed speed to accomplish the mission. They were already being trapped in the intersection.
"I can't just leave you here!" Alex refuted.
"You can and you will sir!" Daniel ordered his commander. "I'll cover your retreat."
Alex's tone was solemn. "Alright soldier, hold them back." He handed Daniel two frags.
"Sir?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't let my family find out how I died."
"I....okay I won't." Alex stood up. "Let's move marines!"
"What about Daniel?" Jonathan asked as he unloaded his gun down the hall. Santiago was too busy keeping the tide on his side back to respond, and Briggs was tossing a fire bomb at a large shape in the dark.
"He's covering our retreat."
"...Understood."
Falling back down the corridor that led deeper into the facility they could here the faint rapid bursts of a single rifle until it petered out. Then there was a loud bang, and silence. They stopped and looked back down the lightless corridor they had come from. "Let's go." Alex grunted, and they jogged away.
Several minutes of silence later they entered a room that was filled with columns and benches. Most likely it was a rest area for the off duty workers. Now it was a silent tomb. "Keep close, we should be close to the containment room." Alex said as they walked down the divide between the pillars.
"We shouldn't have left him." Santiago muttered angrily as he walked behind Alex.
"We had no choice."
"Of course we did!" Santiago fired back, "there is always a choice!"
Alex swung back to face him. "What would you have had me do huh? Drag him with us? Have him slow us down until we were slaughtered?" His tone was caustic and volatile.
"I don't know! But we could have done something!" Santiago said stubbornly.
Alex pushed his friend onto a pillar and got in his face, "we don't have time for this shit! We need to focus on the mission." Jonathan and Briggs watched the fight with uncertainty.
"You let him die!" Santiago shouted.
"HE TOLD ME TO!" Alex roared into Santiago's face. "You think I wanted to leave him, that I enjoyed it?"
"N-"
"So why would you fight me? You think the universe gives a fuck about Daniel? Do you think that debating on wether or not we could have saved him, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING MISSON!, is a good idea?"
"No." Santiago said looking down.
"Then man the fuck up and keep moving, the best we can do for him now is to finish this. After all, your not the one who has to go to his family and tell his wife and kids that he died. You won't have to see their faces as they look at you, like your the one who killed him." Alex threw Santiago off the pillar and continued to walk down the pathway.
Alex could hear Santiago being helped up by Briggs and Jonathan. "He's right you know." Briggs added.
"I know." Santiago said sadly as they followed after their leader.
"Excuse me!" A voice said in the room, causing Alex to pause it.
"Yes?" He asked and cleared his throat, his voice was a little watery.
"Do you regret leaving him behind?" It came from a member of the 48th.
"Regret is not the word I would use, I wished, that I didn't have to, but I don't regret it." Alex answered.
"How long were your people at war?" This came from Fara.
"For many years."
"How did it end?" She asked.
He paused for a long time. His face was empty of expression. "As all things do eventually." He replied mysteriously. He waited a few more seconds for any more questions, and when there was none he started it up again.
Alex was walking ahead of his men when he spotted movement. There was a beak peering from about ten columns away, he froze. "Stalkers!" He whispered loudly, alerting his team.
Stalkers were some of the most lethal things in existence. Intelligence, brutality, and numbers were what made them so.
"Crap." Briggs moaned.
"Regroup." They formed up into a circle, back to back and sat tight. Seeing that their trap had been foiled, the monsters ran out of hiding. The stalkers charged towards the group, and were met with pulse rounds.
There were seven of them. Three had been downed before they got any closer. The first one to reach them bowled Santiago over and kept going. The second one was halted by a stasis that Briggs had thrown, and was dismembered efficiently by accurate rounds. The last two slammed into Jonathan and carried him off into the darkness, his cries echoed throughout the vast chamber, the last sight of him was his sapphire glowing visor as it disappeared, and his right hand stretched out in a silent call for aid.
"JONATHAN!" Alex roared and chased after him. Leaving Santiago and Biggs to finish off the rest. He was breathing heavily as he ran off into the darkness carelessly. His HUD was bobbing up and down as he sprinted pell mell in the direction of the fading light. He was tormented by the screaming coming from Jonathan's radio, making him fight all the harder to reach him. His efforts were rewarded when he finally arrived, trailing after a road of blood. His reward was his suffering, the trail ended at the upper torso of his friend. His entire lower half was gone. Carried of no doubt by the beast. He was about to walk away in defeat when he heard it.
"L-l-lieutenant?"
Jonathan was still alive. "Jon?"
"I-it h-hurts sir." The now dying man said in-between hiccups.
"I-I know i-it does." Alex said as he walked closer to his friend. He was chocking on his own tears.
"M-m-make I-it st-stop." Jonathan cried out in pain. His voice was flecked with a guttural wet rasp.
"Okay...I will." Alex said as he pulled out his pistol. (At this point, everyone in the briefing room watched as Alex walked out.) he brought the barrel of the gun to rest on his friends head. His other hand had grabbed onto Jonathan's left, and was holding it comfortingly.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry I-I failed you." He gasped out.
"No no no no, it's I who failed you." Alex whispered back, voice filled with loss and pain. Wet droplets began to ping off of his HUD and pool in the middle, obscuring the body.
"T-tell m-m-my f-family I will a-a-always be t-there for them." Jonathan forced out of dying lips.
"You have my word." Alex promised.
"I-it's been a-an h-honor."
"The honor was mine."
.....BANG!
Alex straightened up from the body. He pulled out a grenade and placed it on his friends chest. He pulled the pin and walked away. A loud explosion signaled a deed done. That's when a screech was heard and a shadow flew at him.
With a roar of rage and anguish Alex intercepted it halfway, colliding with bone creaking force. The two adversaries tumbled in a pile of limbs. Still screaming his hate, Alex assaulted the body of his enemy, with relentless wet thumps he smashed his gauntleted fists at anywhere he could see. Having taken damage the stalker tried to flee, it never had the chance. Alex grabbed it by the legs and swung it into a column, it impacted with a crunch. He fell upon the unmoving corpse and beat on it until he felt hands grab him and pull him away. He was about to strike out at them when he heard voices over his own, he had still been screaming.
"Sir, it's us!" Santiago shouted in fear, a fist about to hit him.
Alex ceased struggling and went limp. All the fight had drained out of him. His men had to support him all the way to the exit of the room, his feet dangling as they dragged him. At the doorway he shrugged them off and walked on his own. He had no more words to say.
"Sir?" Briggs asked hesitantly.
"We keep going." Was all Alex said.
Half an hour of wandering later, they finally found the marker. It was hard to believe that such an object was responsible for so much. The brown and red pillar was inside a containment cell. The whitewashed walls gleamed a dangerous red, reflected off the light emitting from the marker itself. "Place the charge." Alex ordered and took position at the door. He leaned on the frame heavily, as if it was the only thing holding him up anymore. They could only guess what was floating through his mind. What he was feeling about all this.
Briggs and Santiago walked up to the marker and began to set up the device. Alex turned back to face the hall. He watched it diligently as he waited for them to finish. It was disturbing, where had all the necromorphs gone? Surely they should be protecting their icon, their means of existence? The questions went unanswered.
"We're done here sir." Santiago called out.
"Good, set the timer, let's get the hell out of here. They left the marker room and quickly traversed the building to find their way back. The entire trip back was uneventful, not a single sighting it even sound of any necromorphs. It was eerie and foreboding. They climbed out of the doorway and back into the light. "Call Firehawk."
Briggs went on the line and began to call in their extraction. Alex studied his surroundings while he waited. Nothing but death and destruction met his gaze. This was how humanity fell, not from its own greed and selfishness, but from an alien plague. A disease upon the entirety of creation. It was almost unbelievable, and ironic, in a dark way.
"Sir, pick up is on the way." Briggs jarred Alex out of his melancholic observation.
"Alright, sit tight gentlemen, we are getting out of here." They waited for their ship to arrive. Each man contemplating on what led them there. Five minutes later their wait was ended when Firehawk flew up and landed at the far end of the courtyard in a whine of engine noise, and the clatter of displaced shel casings.
They walked to the gunship when their peaceful journey was broken by an ear splitting howl. Spilling forth from the broken doorway of the facility was a tidal wave of necrotic death. Every single necro from the inner works of the building vomited forth from the blackness. "RUN!" Alex shouted and hauled ass to the gunship. Santiago was running alongside him when he got hit in the leg by a barb, he fell flat on his face.
Alex stopped and whipped back and clamped down on the neck brace of Santiago's suit, and began to pull him. They were too slow, the necromorphs were closing in. At that rate they would never make it. "Get him out of here!" Briggs demanded and halted. He turned to the hoard and engaged them. He was doing his best to buy his comrades time.
The time he bought for them allowed them to board the gunship. Just as they dragged themselves onto the ramp, Briggs was pulled down to the ground, still firing at the hoard. A massive necromorph impaled him into the concrete floor and dragged its blade through his guts. Crying out in agony, Briggs was raised up to its face, where it began to tear at his neck. The fatally wounded marine held up a small handheld stick with a red button on top, the detonator. He pressed the plunger and the sky lit up in a blinding flash of light.
The retreating gunship began to shake violently from the concussive force alone. It almost crashed back down onto the surface. But luckily for them its course held true. They made it, and stopped the necromorphs from finishing the cycle, but at the cost of three brave souls. They had been Alex's friends for three years, they had been family. Alex collapsed onto the unforgiving and cold deck plating.
Santiago limped up to his friend and fell next to him. "We did it." He muttered, his tone should have been joyous, but it sounded awfully like despair.
"Yes we did." Alex replied quietly, the silent hold a testament to the sacrifices made.