The way through maintenance saw them squeezing through tight corridors full of dislodged piping and bursting steam. Vadir led the group from the front and said very little as he checked each corner before leading them further. He had a bubbling feeling within him that things were about to get a whole lot worse before they got better. The hissing and spitting from the pipes didn’t help his anxious mind either, every time they stopped he heard clattering metal and distant growls. The whole ship had been turned against them. The least he could do now was save her from further becoming one with the monster that had made its home within her.

They soon reached the end of the corridor, Vadir did the same as before and keyed in the code that allowed the maintenance hatch to slide open. He led the way and the last two Welcome Wagon members followed. Last two. That thought lingered in the back of his mind. The others died to get me here. It almost doesn’t seem worth it. This has to work. These monsters can’t be allowed to win.

“Vadir? You good.”

The hybrid had his unchanged hand resting on Vadir’s shoulder. “I’m fine, we’re close to where the magic happens, follow me and watch my back. Something tells me once we prime this thing, the Mortans of this ship will be all over us.”

“As if they haven’t been already,” said Jackson checking his large heavy rifle once over. Despite the other’s struggles, he hadn’t complained about a lack of ammo. For now at least.

The dark red and dimly lit corridors of the engineering deck remained narrow as Vadir led them forward. He couldn’t tell if the others noticed this but being so entwined with the aether meant it resonated most with him here, like a living entity had laid claim to this part of the ship. He didn’t need to wait long before he found the entity, its biomass riddled the floor and walls, leaving it dark and difficult to navigate with each step creating a loud squelch underfoot. So far no Mortans had shown interest in them but he knew that luck wouldn’t last forever. The one controlling them, likely knew they were here. It also knew it could strike at any time. If he didn’t know any better he’d say it was toying with them deliberately. Can’t let it get in my head like this I need to clear my thoughts and focus on the task at hand.

They came around a corner and were met by three Mortans standing a few feet away down the corridor. They stopped whatever they were doing and each rose to full height. The centremost one looked to Miller first and cocked its head. Before any of them could charge Miller had loosened off a charge of aether that upon impact blew the centre Mortan into pieces. The remaining two blinked their way towards the three and used the Other Side to avoid the sudden gunfire. One emerged out of its rent close to Vadir their aether-infused claws came down forcing him to block with his rifle. Miller had this one too, getting behind the monster he drove his hybrid weapon into its back, making short work of the exoskin. The creature had frozen in place as the symbiote was fast removed. Jackson meanwhile wrestled with his Mortan, driving it backwards he let off a couple of shots from his heavy rifle. The creature remained undeterred and charged him igniting its aether blades. It attempted to swipe at the man and failed as his exosuit helped to enhance his natural reflexes. This gave Miller the opening he needed from point-blank range. The hybrid arm bio rifle, he wielded required little charge. It proved easy for him to blast the monster’s head into pieces.

“How are you feeling, Miller? Still with us?” asked Jackson.

Miller looked at his left arm and saw the Mortan growth had become larger. “Better than ever, I think I can alter its form too. Like they can.”

Vadir began walking and the other two soon followed. “Just be careful, you think you’re in control now. That’s what it wants you to think.”

“I don’t have a symbiote, Vadir.”

“It doesn’t need one, all it needs is your body. All Mortans are living weapons. I get the feeling if you weren’t as you are now, they’d have an easier time with us.”

“How so?” asked Jackson.

“Not sure, it’s possible they think he’s one of them that might explain the brief moment of reprieve before they engage. You’re new to them too. Nothing like you has ever existed. Don’t even remember hearing any stories of hybrids.”

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“Well, now there can be, how much further is it?”

“Not far now. Keep that strange weapon of yours ready, it seems to be good at thinning their numbers.”

“Ha, so much for that being my responsibility,” Jackson growled.

They reached another set of doors that had been left shunted open by the growth and had left the way up ahead completely covered in Mortan biomass. The three of them entered the large open area and Vadir crouched hoping to keep him and them concealed for as long as possible. He led them to a cluster of cylinders that they hid behind. He peaked over them and saw a large mass of Mortans in their final stage hovering close to the large Aether Reactor. From the reactor extraction ports, they funnelled the extracted aether into storage tanks that could then be rapidly cooled allowing the strange gas to liquify.

“To pull this off, I need to close the extractors and lower the protective field that activates when a tear is opened. Once done we can fire the ignition that should overload the power cells and cause a fail cascade,” whispered Vadir.

“The problem is we’re outnumbered by quite a lot,” said Miller. “Leave it to me. I’ll thin the horde.”

“Just how -”

Before Jackson could finish his sentence the Captain burst from cover and fired a glancing shot at a Mortan. It didn’t appear to do much except upset it. Vadir and Jackson moved so they were out of sight while Miller ran back the way they came. The horde barrelled after him, igniting their aether weapons. I have no idea how he plans to survive that many.

“Time to make this count,” said Jackson grabbing Vadir by the arm. The remaining Mortans charged and Vadir’s reflexes kept him out of range of their long aether-generated claws. Thanks to the creature’s momentum he was able to put more than enough shots into its back. Jackson also swiftly dealt with his opposition. Once they were done, the two remaining Mortans lay dead without their symbiote.

Vadir could no longer afford to wait, every bit of time wasted the Mortalis grew in strength. He approached the console and first plugged in the Captain’s override key. That would allow him to bypass many of the restrictions in place. As he ran through the system logs he noticed that this self-destruct had been triggered more than once and disabled each time. Third time's the charm, he thought as he closed off the vents and then opened a spatial tear. He allowed it to build in strength, and as Aether spilt out, gravity acted against it. The reinforced reactor’s casing showed signs of buckling under pressure with cracks showing across its surface.

“You sure we will have enough time,” said Jackson.

“Absolutely, I can set a small timer for when the ignition happens. Once that reactor blows, the tear will expand rapidly before closing, taking this entire ship with it.”

The sound of plasma fire caught their attention. Miller had returned guiding his new friends. His arm had grown inside as if the power could no longer be contained within his mortal body.

“Captain!”

“Jackson, exfil Vadir. By any means necessary. I have one last surprise for these freaks.”

Jackson didn’t get to respond as the number of Mortans swelled for a moment, swarming the Captain in a frenzy. The subsequent explosion of his aether power building up led to the Mortans being ripped apart. Not many would survive that.

“Vadir, the teleporter where is it?”

“Follow me.”

Vadir walked down the biomass-claimed steps and led the last of the Welcome Wagon down the corridor adjacent to the reactor. “The teleporters for this deck are up ahead -”

His words were cut short as two Mortans blinked towards them. When they reappeared preparing to strike, he and Jackson made sure to time their shots so that the Mortan limbs were destroyed. The creatures howled and fell. Neither man had time to remove the symbiote. Vadir led the way down the t-section. He caught another group in his peripheral heading their way. One had wings and had fired its explosive spines at them. Jackson avoided them barely but it was becoming obvious that only one of them would make it off this ship. Vadir wasted no time entering the code, as aether energy began being launched past them. He didn’t realise until the door opened but Jackson had used his massive suit to shield him. As the door opened, Jackson pushed him inside and punched the panel. This triggered the door to lock.

“This is where we part, Kor.”

Vadir faced him and wanted to object, “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. Fucking Soviets, had to ruin everything for the rest of us. Now go.”

Gunfire erupted behind him. Vadir reached the main chamber of the teleportation area and was unsurprised to find it too had undergone transformation but the biomass had thankfully not completely rendered the console inert. Why would it, I imagine teleportation would be quite handy. He began searching for viable locations when the ship shuddered and buckled. That would be the tear. Surprisingly, one location appeared to have an active teleportation network.

“That will do,” he muttered and primed the ignition sequence. He hurried onto the pad and caught it briefly, the door to the teleportation room being blasted into the room. The horde entered and would never reach him in time. The world had already gone dark. Where he would next appear he could only dream it was safer than this. I don’t want us to be the reason this world died. I can’t allow that.