“So that's it then. We head through Hydroponics,” said an unenthusiastic Mason.

“I know,” said Miller. “I don’t want to either, but whatever that obstruction out there is, it clearly doesn’t want us to take an easy route to engineering.”

Vadir finished starting up the shuttle and they were soon hurtling back the way they came. He was out of earshot and could only just make out behind him the Welcome Wagon members talking amongst themselves. He faced them. “Something wrong?”

Miller just shook his head. “No, Vadir. We were just coming to terms with the fact that this will probably be a one-way trip for us.”

“It shouldn’t be, once I prime the Aether Core and its extractors to explode. I can guide us to a nearby teleporter. Should take us to a safe place beyond the ship.”

Miller just smiled at that. “We’ll just see how it goes down. How far out are we from Hydroponics?”

“Not be long now,” said Vadir. He dreaded the very idea of taking a direct approach. Against that many Mortes, they may as well have had a death wish.

The shuttle soon came to a stop. They stepped out onto the empty platform and since Vadir knew the ship better than them he led the way forward. The first thing he noticed as he led them down the meandering corridors was the amount of black growth and biomass present. The Mortalis had been busy. He could only imagine what the ship would end up like if he didn’t manage to destroy it.

“We need to pass through the Vegetation Growing Sector first and then from there I can access the maintenance section. Should be some vents that can take us through to engineering.”

“Easier said than done I bet,” said Jackson. “Especially looking at how this place looks.”

“It’s those Mortis seeds. They practically shed them and are highly reactive to blood. If they’re dragging bodies here then that could explain the biomass,” said Munroe.

“Well either way keep your wits about you, they could crop up anywhere,” said Miller.

The Welcome Wagon stalked down long, dark, biomass-infested corridors. Now and again they passed multiple people, dead and encased in strange cocoons. Munroe had even looked one over.

“I don’t know how to best explain it, Captain. But his body is connected to the biomass. It’s like he’s being absorbed into it.”

“What an ungodly fusion,” said Jackson. “Are they fully dead?”

Munroe stepped back. “Maybe, hard to tell seeing them in this state.”

“Speaking of,” said Mason. “We’ve been here a while and haven’t seen anyone. I thought this place would be crawling with them.”

As if on cue they rounded a corner and found a large Mortan standing idle. They stopped dead and were each surprised at the creature’s lack of action. It also looked fused to the floor and wall. Its fully Morte body had a strange reddish glow emanating from its veins.

“That’s kind of like what you do,” whispered Miller to Vadir.

“It’s recharging- or mutating. Hard to say.”

The Morte appeared to sense their approach and stepped forward while from its back burst forth a tail that looked reminiscent of a dual, black scorpion metasomal. The two ends of the tail were pointed downward but soon shifted their direction to point at the approaching group. The tail's solid form turned into a more spiky, crystal-like state and began glowing an intense red.

“Welcome Wagon get down-!”

Captain Miller was cut off by the sudden firing of explosive crystal spines. Each member did their best to throw themselves to the floor except for Jackson who engaged his exosuit’s abilities and was able to narrowly avoid them. He approached the creature from its left and sidestepped the swiping tail. He primed his weapon and launched a series of shots into the monster’s stomach staggering it for a moment. Its tail lashed at Jackson forcing him to dodge back. With the monster suitably distracted Vadir closed his fist and ignited an aether blade. He lunged for the Mortan making sure to avoid its swiping tail and drove the aether blade into its spine. The creature let out a bellow and appeared to half blink out of existence allowing it to twist free of Vadir. Once it reformed, the Welcome Wagon didn’t give it time to press an attack and launched a joint assault that soon enough caused the creature to fall leaving it now riddled with holes.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Vadir made sure to remove the symbiote from the monster’s body and froze for a moment. He felt something was watching them. He looked around, from one Welcome Wagon member to another and saw no one else. Something's definitely prodding my thoughts but what?

“Something bothering you, Vadir?” asked Jackson facing him.

“I feel like something just tried to reach out.”

“The thing behind the hallucinations?”

“No, this one was more familiar. Anyway, we shouldn’t be standing around if they weren’t aware of us before. They are now.”

The group decided to pick up the pace and elected not to dawdle with any Mortan opposition. Their best shot at making it to where they needed to be was by working fast and not fully destroying the Mortans. Keep them pinned was what Miller said. And he was right, while Vadir’s alien weapon had an indeterminate amount of ammunition, the human laser weapons had a more complex charging system that couldn’t be influenced by his aether abilities. He just had to hope the numbers narrated against them weren't insurmountable.

The group soon slowed as the corridor widened out leading to the main Hydroponics area that handled vegetation growth. The biomass was slowing them down. It gripped their boots and Vadir could only look on horrified as the mutation encroached on everything it touched. Its thickness had meant the automatic doors had been left in a forced open state.

“Ever feel like you're walking into a trap,” said Mason.

“There's no other way?” Miller asked Vadir.

Vadir just looked resigned. “I wish there was but this is our best shot at reaching this deck's maintenance access.”

“Then we spring the trap.”

They entered the growing area and much like everywhere else around them was covered in the same black substance, though some of it had latched on to the surrounding plant life. The amount of Mortans was too many to count. The first one that caught sight of them blinked and soon appeared within touching distance. Thankfully, Jackson also clocked it and sent it staggering back with a single punch from his exosuit. Other Mortans began their approach, though not choosing to use blink in the same way. Either they don’t know how or their cores are undeveloped.

The Welcome Wagon opened fire at their approaching enemies, aiming for the centre in hopes of at least destroying the symbiote. Jackson had also got up close and personal with his staggered Morte and his heavy exo-suit rifle was pressed against their stomach. He fired off a couple of shots and the creature hit the floor. Some of the Mortes had generated aether weaponry and begun firing from a distance. Vadir took cover behind one of the metal pillars while Jackson did the same to the one next to him. They both caught sight of Miller narrowly avoiding a swinging blade allowing Mason to fire off a charged shot into the Mortan that sent it falling backwards. Vadir decided to help by aiming to pick off the distant Mortes as they too launched aether-based energy projectiles. They exploded upon impact with some distant glass casings and caused both plant and biomass to spill out into the open. Vadir charged up his rifle and burst from cover, firing a shot that exploded between two Mortes. Despite their armoured shell, their limbs exploded off of them and he was able to get closer to the centre of the room where sat the largest part of the biomass. He without realising put his hand against the slimy, pulsating mass and was surprised to be met by a bombardment of voices. It almost made him drop to his knees as Jackson hurried over to make sure he was okay.

“Vadir- What’s wrong?”

“This thing is alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“So many voices...”

Vadir looked up at the mass as Jackson provided covering fire, shredding any Morte that tried to blink close. He couldn’t hold it forever, they’d get more cocky eventually and try to catch them off balance. “We need to get moving, man. These things are spilling out of everywhere.”

Vadir didn’t need to be asked twice and withdrew his hand. He stared at it a while before moving forward and reuniting with the other three Welcome Wagon members. Despite a dent in the numbers, the Mortans had begun flooding the room, all in different stages of infection. Miller launched a grenade into the mix and attempted to spray at some only to be caught out by the zigzag of their blinking. As one got close and prepared to strike, Mason timed it right and blasted the creature in the head. “Captain, it’s obvious their messing with us.”

“Vadir, where is this Maintenance Access?”

Vadir pointed to a door with a sign above it written in Kaskari. They couldn’t read it but at this point, they had more important matters to deal with. Vadir was close to the doorway when a Morte clinging to one of the walls leapt for him, his exoskin forming to create a crude lance-like weapon. Jackson used his suit to intercept the Morte grabbing the monster by the throat and using his suit's augmented strength he launched it into the crowd of Mortans. Vadir was guided over the threshold first with Miller and Jackson not too far behind. Jackson grabbed Vadir by the arm and began running. It took Vadir tapping into the aether to push his synapses into overdrive just to keep up with the man.

‘I don’t understand what’s happening?’

‘Captain wants us to go on ahead. He’s not optimistic any of us are making it off this ship and he wants to also buy you as much time as possible. Which is why I’ve got your back.’

Gunfire erupted behind him as the three remaining Welcome Wagon members prepared to lay down their lives for him. “That’s not right,” he said. “Jackson. I never asked that of any of you.”

“Orders are orders, we blow this ship up and hope for all our sakes these freaks haven’t made it too far on the outside.”