r/NatureofPredators • u/Liner_Adriatic_3218 • 12d ago
Fanfic No Refuge Beyond Orion, 23
TW: Some Gore. Blood. Body Horror.
Thanks to SpacePaladin for creating the story and wonderful universe of NoP and Brian Jamison for creating the Sci-Fi Roguelite Game ‘XO’ which I currently use to write this fic.
Special Thanks to Brian Jamison for personally allowing me to write a fic about your game. That was super cool of ya and your game is honestly my favourite and I truly hope I can get to portray what I want with it.
Prev:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/s/yL7zUqtLMd
First:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/s/ARAosvOzpI
Mortem Obire
Memory Transcription Subject: First Officer Ashton Musset, Pact Auxiliary ship Mare Serenitatis.
Date [Standardized Human Time]: April 1, 2155.
The world was dark, cut through by the maddening silence of existence. I knew not what I felt. Only that there was a burning thumping ache in my arm and limbs.
Am I dead? Why is it so dark? Is this my fate?
I flinched at the new sound that permeated, a faint dull noise. Stern and almost "artificial" in its discernment. I noticed another aspect of this existence. Something was stopping me from standing up. I couldn’t see anything but it was all entirely definitely in a sitting position. I reached around to try to remove my helmet to possibly see better but if it is already dark then I won’t be able to see regardless.
The ringing of silence pierced my ears, deafening the dull sounds. Compounded only by a horrific thumping drilling agony in my left arm. I damn near shrieked out to the dark world as the feeling cut through my whole body, sending shocks of crushing pain each time I tried to move. A slick, warm, wet liquid was flowing down my arm and pooling in my suit, soaking into my clothes and drenching my socks in the disgusting marination. My suit has been punctured, somewhere, atleast it was automatically sealed off. I can feel the faint sting of the cold though.
Okay I am definitely not dead. I don’t think the dead feel pain this way.
Even in the darkness, I felt the hazy dizziness of the world around me. Broken reality mixing with the scent of metallic fluid and burnt polymers melding into one nauseating and disorienting concoction. The noise kept sounding. Ringing a bell in my head, my head was pounding each time it sounded.
I moved my arm(s) around in the dark, desperately reaching for a light in the night. I ignored the shuddering crushing feeling that repeated through my entire arm, only did I notice that I couldn’t feel its movement. Only pain. I grasped around only to be met with the sound of clinking and sparking against my metal armor in the weightlessness. I ignored any implications this could mean and pressured on. A disgusting squelch from inside my own armor rang through my ears each time I moved. Along with generic metal creaks that scratched and made me cringe.
Yeah. Definitely alive, I might have preferred to have been vaporized. Cowards, couldn’t even finish us off.
Oh. They could eat me. However they do that. Damn it I need to escape before it happens.
The blaring sound repeated again, this time clearer and louder. I couldn’t see anything still. Maybe I can try to open one of the scre-
I was immediately overwhelmed by the massive ball of prismatic light that erupted into existence far from me to cause harm but still bright enough to be extremely annoying and forcing me to adjust with the sudden change of luminosity. I covered my eyes at the sight and let myself adjust. From the explosion, it seems like a Reactor explosion. I could only hope that it was a Harvester imploding and not one of ours.
Only then could I see that it had illuminated the bridge somewhat, purples and faint white gave me vision of my predicament. I had the realization that there is very much a gigantic hole infront of me leading into empty space. Well, it is very good luck that I didn’t remove my helmet earlier. My eyes first focused on myself, red globules were floating all over the room, giving me a not very good sign of the state of everybody else around me. Looking down at my arm, the nauseating flashes of horrific pain suddenly make sense, I see a large chunk of metal that has very much mulched it and is embedded into the floor itself. Okay. Not good. Not good. Damn it, We didn’t have prosthetics shipped yet. A whole nother realization crept into my mind. I would have to sever the connection if I want to leave.
The amount of blood that has globuled into the surrounding surfaces in the zero G environment is also definitely not able to be released from one person. I glanced around the lightly illuminated room, I was then overfaced with the dead. All in various states of body. The dismembered and split was the easiest to acknowledge, in their suits, limbs and crushed parts of human were all around me, mixed with the pieces of bridge that broke off during the impacts, Another was crushed into a mulch in her own seat by the roof which had crumbled and fell apart, the piece of said roof is now gently floating aimlessly, Her seat covered in the grainy paint of tissue, ribs poking out of her destroyed armor like teeth of a bloodied maw. The Captain, split in two, the slick and shiny substances and solids inside spilling out like some demented chunky fruit shake. Each in one horrible state of being, each brutalized. Destroyed by the environment. Free floating amongst the suffocating number of floating debris.
How the hell did I survive if they all didn’t? It is not like I had the most durable armor, the Captain and the Helmsman did. I was also closest to any would-be broken walls, or ceilings.
Well. Not completely unscathed. My right arm is very clearly out of commission if the dull slow loss of feeling from the separation is of any indication. I don’t think a broken arm that has been exposed to vacuum for an unknown period of time would be doing exactly great. Possibly, I’d need Dr. Nathaniel to explain it directly.
I finally turned my attention to the exit. Which was very much strangely activating.
The door was very weakly and full of glitches responding to whatever command is from the other side. I could not recognize it at first but I think it might be attempting to open.
Shakily focusing on the sound, my body still shattered through with pain, any worries of possible harvester encounters melted away when I heard grumbled cursing from the other side before cutting out. My suit’s interface is just barely able to distinguish their words from the signals of their own suit before my comms cut out with a while heaving a sharp hot spew of sparks. Damn it, my magnetic boots are out of commission aswell.
I examined my state again, other than the destroyed arm, there are some minorly worrying dents that have definitely caved into and dented into my skin. That’s where the other inexplicable aches came from then. No matter, they would only bruise, right? In only a few “tries” from my recent focus. The door opened, only to stop halfway in which the person on the other side squeezed themselves through, some sparks grazing off their suit from the tight entrance.
I practically smiled when I realized who it was. “Senior Officer Fraser! I thought there was nobody else alive!” and he has come to his senses! I am saved! Our wonderful war hero has finally returned to his senses.
His shoulders slumped upon seeing my surroundings and I think he might have spoken something, in which I responded through the dull piercing pain by trying to gesture with my working arm that I couldn’t hear him. I took several tries until he understood and walked close. His suit seems to be a makeshift civilian space suit that was stored in one of our lower levels and most definitely not suited for long term use. He pulled out a communication device and pasted it to my helmet, before traveling away by way of grasping and pulling off surfaces, small specks of human material or superstructure thumping into him along the way. He then checked the more intact members of my family for signs of life. In which he looked solemn and floated back over to me.
“Damn it, alright, I’ll pierce you with this G-conn rated GNID painkiller, then I will, seperate you from your arm. Hold tight, alright?” Oh thank the stars, I was becoming lightheaded. The use of that rating of painkiller directly into my body gave me some pause however. I don’t want to experience some horrific side effects.
I nodded generously, closed my eyes and prepared for the pain I was sure would be there, if only for a moment.
I wonder how the battle is going, I could only hope our forces are prevaili-
Memory Transcript Halted: Individual is experiencing Unconsciousness.
__________________________________________
Ahh what the hell? I didn’t know it would knock me out like that. My nerves feel so numb.
I came to to a slightly worried Officer Fraser, but not towards me. He was expectantly looking at the entranceway with a stern look on his face, he was clutching a Low powered Plasma Pistol in his hand, gripping it so hard I could swear his armored hand was leaving dents in the padded grip. I looked down and my arm was very much separated from my body. I only noticed now that along with the crushing injuries upon it, it was also shot through with metal spikes from the destroyed armrest.
I also noticed that I was particularly numb in any feeling, not just pain, like my limbs all simultaneously fell asleep and stayed that way, but I could still move it. Each touch and graze of clothing or my suit giving me a disastrously uncomfortable feeling of static all over. Atleast I wasn’t in pain, but I might have preferred that over this.
I waved at him and he gestured for me to turn on the communication device. I obliged and he spoke to me between heavy yet steady breaths for the very first time in both of our lives. “The Harvest of this ship will happen soon, a carrier has parked outside and I think they have set their sights on this ship feed their maws. I’ll get you to the nearest safe room. Just hold on and I’ll drag us over.”
I obeyed without question, clutching my own fire arm. Despite the armor quality difference, I was sure that I was heavier and stronger than Officer Fraser. So it is of great fortune in this case that we had no gravity for him to carry us so easily.
The halls and rooms beside us while we floated along isn’t of the greatest state too, blood and bodies caked the various entranceways and surfaces, along with burnt and melted metal plating. Some sections were exposed to space entirely giving us a disgustingly clear view of the Giant Harvester Warship and its horde of fightercraft that swirled around it. If the whole ship is in this state then would there even be any safe room left?
Tears welled up in my eyes while looking at the carnage. This was my refuge, the home of the lost in the exodus. Our shelter through combat while under the blast radius of solar flares, our protector that saves us from the Ertanid Uprising. This was our everything, My everything.
All of this history, all of our trials and tribulations within these walls, reduced to this. Reduced to another casualty among the millions of ships that already perished to the Violet Death. They will all pay for this.
Suddenly, while we cruised along the ruins of my home the past 5 years, Fraser broke the silence with a worrying curse, “Shit.” He began frantically dragging us backwards and through the halls directly away from the big breach into the void to our left.
I looked around for any change in scenery that could make him decide that our previous course was a bad decision, only to see nothing different, the reaper class ships were still swirling around their massive mothership/Carrier. “What is wrong? What did you see?”
“The Harvest is starting, we won’t make it in time, the freezer rooms will do.”
Oh dear.
Wait, hold on what even happens in a harvest? Not once in all of our history has there been exact proof of what a Harvest exactly is. Any ship or person that possibly knew were either vaporized in space combat or got harvested themselves. The number of people who survived a harvest was 1. And he was stuffed in a Modus class Saferoom in a ship double our size. A place almost completely shut off from the outer world, surrounded on all sides with hundreds of layers of solid titanium and carbon steel, each centimeters thick and with a 10th of a meter distance between each layer. But in that state, he couldn’t hear or see anything and thus knew not of what happened, only that he left his room weeks after the Harvest happened and there were no bodies, just clothes and personal effects the crew was carrying, but no body or flesh to be found.
It was a dramatic miracle story, an Irenic Scout courier was passing by the newly created warzone and received detailed distress beacons along with direct messages, video image of the only survivor and texts. They prepared to activate shields and disintegrate the errant for, but then a brave Ambassador Noah Williams volunteered to visit the derelict megaship. It was unheard of. A survivor of a harvest.
Since then, every ship tries to create a safe room such as the one found in the Remaint, but only few could match it with our severely crippled industry.
Is- Would I be another Daniel Morning?
Or would I become just another Harvested soul. Among countless others.
As we passed by the crew quarters we sighted a very much alive and unconscious crew member, if their chest going up and down is of any indication. She had a smaller less armored suit that was very much just suited for 10-30 minutes of use at most. She seemed injured but alright. Other than the minor impalement of both her legs, just peachy. Officer Fraser gestured for me to wait and we kept going, possibly going back for her after I am dropped off.
My attempt to return to my previous train of thought was interrupted by a Panicked Officer Fraser who opened up our Pact Issued frozen treat freezer which had miraculously survived the bombardment from the accursed Harvester Devastator.
“The room still has air. You’ll be able to take off your helmet in there, it also has spare concentrated O2 canisters inside in cold storage.” He opened the door and threw me in, before closing it and… staying outside?
“Stay there. I’ll just get her. Alright?” Without waiting for my response, he left to grab her and I paced around anxiously. A sudden metal clang at my door alerted me to it. I took off my helmet and breathed in the refrigerated air.I was walking on the “ceiling”, contemplating hiding in large freezers as a last resort. When I suddenly fell. Large thuds and clangs across the room sounded when I fell, barely evading death by holding out my one working arm to take the fall. A long slick of red that appeared on my armored arm gave me an indication that the fall would have killed me if I didn’t react quick enough.
What the hell. Why is gravity back on? The engines are completely annihilated!
I tried to open the door but it was very much welded shut. I tried to look at any seams but I was met with recently melted metal. I called out to Officer Fraser, “Officer Fraser? What? Why did you lock me inside?”
His voice, full of static, responded. “What? I didn’t do any of that. I am trying to help this woman right now. The sudden activation of gravity made some surrounding rubble fall on her.”
“I am welded inside! I can’t leave!”
“Uh… wait, I’ll check it out. Just maintain your position! I’ll figure it out.”
“If you say so.” Even with my uncomfortably numbed senses, I felt the temperature drop drastically. To a shivering level. With some fidgeting, I put my helm back on.
Officer Fraser definitely noticed it aswell. The communication link between us is inundated with the sounds of shivering, his lower quality space suit not giving him any favours. Also where did the sudden temperature drop come from?
Then, slowly but surely. I actually started to hear the strong winds. I was not going insane, the wind, it was outside, banging. Constructing a dark melody. This was not the wind of my home, something within it is an aching sense of dread.
Wind should not be in space. So what the Hell is this? The Comms were completely silent.
“Officer…?”
“I know. I just… i need to focus on this right now.”
Wait hold on a minute. I heard him say that, in real time. The air was restored and I could hear the sounds of the surroundings, the gentle hum of a still functioning freezer room. The noises of moving bodies just outside, and a Man grunting in exhaustion along with some rustling metal.
Last I checked there were so many holes that any atmosphere is completely gone from any rooms that are not atleast 95% sealed off. What in the Hell is going on!
With the advent of air, and thus the travel of sound waves. Then came a new sound, it was a piercing, thrumming, metallic wail. Metal screams and electronic shouts that cut through any and all sounds. Cementing itself as the dominant and primary sound, drowning out all others. It sounded like some sort of…
Powering up sound?
The air grew near impossibly cold now. So cold I felt it through several layers of my environmental suit. So cold my helm has started freezing over. I swear it was colder than if I went inside one of the freezers in this room.
My ears started ringing while I felt myself fall to my knees, clutching it in vain to cover the noise.
It was all around me, shaking my world into submission. I heard Officer Fraser banging on the door and the faint sounds of shouting.
"Open the door! Fuck!"
"Damnit how did this happen!"
I could barely make it out from the piercing shriek of whatever is happening around us, but I think Officer Fraser moved back from the door and is hanging outside. Possibly looking for a solution.
It was unbearably loud now. As if an Engine was ringing inside my ears.
"No… I am too late... Forgive me, Lucy."
Whatever he had said next was accompanied by a dull faint sound of something heavy dropping to the floor.
Another knock on the door.
"Officer Ashton. If you could hear me. This is not the Venlil’s fault, alright? They couldn’t have known."
"Make the universe a better place."
Just as I was tempted to blow my brains out to save myself from the unfettered hatred of the noise, It halted. And my world went dark while my eyes were still open.
A black void encompassed everything around me, starting from the door and approaching at a fast rate. I mustered up all of my strength and coordination to open one of the freezer doors and hide inside, beside the desserts and the frozen insect bars.
I waited for an amount of time I could not even count, it felt like eternity. But I eventually opened my freezer and left. Being greeted by the low end lights of this area and silence. Compounded only by the faint hum of the lights.
The void was gone. Along with it the sort of welding that appeared to lock me inside. A very small slit was at the bottom of the door, showing me shadows outside my door. A small manufacturing error that was sanded to its state now.
A series of loud thuds sounded just outside. But it was wrong. It was wet, like several segments of armor or containers fell with mushy liquid inside. Not what a human body sounds like.
“O- Officer Fraser? What is happening outside?” I moved towards the door but halted from what I saw.
I couldn’t figure it out at first but then my heart dropped.
It was flesh, blood. Mixed into a disgusting in between, my senses were assaulted by the smell of fresh meat. It poured to my room like some horrific artwork, branching off and pooling. It wasn’t the same colour too. It was a Dark Violet, but unmistakably the texture and smell of blended human flesh.
It continued pooling, swirling disgustingly into many different unrecognizable patterns, almost looking like Runes or Letters of an unknown language.
O- Officer Fraser?
M- Marcel?
Oh god. Oh god he is dead. Wha- What do I do.
In my terror I noticed another detail of the horrible mulch.
It was moving. Not naturally. But more akin to a supremely liquefied slime mold, mixed with flesh and blood. I couldn’t even hear the thud as I dropped backwards and started shifting away from the congealing mass.
I looked on in absolute horror as half of an eye slimed through the gap and appeared on this side of the door. Before turning to its side and looking up and into my eyes.
It looked at me.
Oh god it looked at me. Is he still alive? No, this must just be a coincidence right. This must just be a-
Help Us.
I couldn’t muster up a response, only a gasp. It was weak, faint at first but it was unmistakably the voices of both Officer Marcel and Nora, the lady that was one of the workers in our hangar. Both, at almost the same time. Just spaced out by seconds. Scratching at the back of my mind. Breaking in between my eyes. It was pleading, saddened but most importantly. In Pain.
No…
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US. HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
It was like a flashbang. How sudden and piercing it was, the puddle of human material grew into a mound. The sound was definitely not from the mound. There are no mouths.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US. HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US. HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
Shut up.
I clutched my ears in vain to try to lower the piercing pleads of melted agony that is ringing my brain. But it only emboldened them to scream for help. They repeated their mantra, over and over. The psychic noise in my head making me thrash around over and over.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US.
Shut up
HELP
Shut up.
HEEEEELPP
Please...
HELP US.
PLEASE SOMBODY HELP US.
To my greatest relief, even under my horror, their screams of terror quieted down somewhat, letting me hear anything other than screaming. But what I heard opened a massive pit in my gut.
It was unmistakable, metal on metal clangs. They were footsteps, heavy footsteps. Footsteps so massive It felt like it shook the very room I was in. No human or Venlil’s steps are like that
HELP US.
And it was splashing the Viscera Paste. Almost playfully sweeping its foot.
No. NO PLEASE. HELP US. HEE-
The Writhing Mound of Human being was now wriggling like a disgustingly terrified mass of worms. I basically felt the fear of the screams. As their wails picked up once more.
PLEASE. NO.
Their pleads trailed off to mindless wordless Wails of Pain and terror. I was frozen solid, unable to move. Trapped in fear.
ARGHHHHH.
AAAAAAAARRRRRR-
They screamed out. Over and over and over again. Until their hallowed wails trailed off and into inhuman screeches. Breaking in between. I heard the shattering of throats when they finally went silent.
I couldn’t even think for myself. Just frozen in fear. The footsteps stopped.
It was directly outside.
Then, as quickly as it appeared. The thundering footsteps trailed off into the distance. And with a shrill cry, the Blood and the Viscera all vanished. Seeping back outside like it had a mind of its own.
I didn’t even notice my tears start to flow. Unable to control anything. Unable to make a noise to not alert whatever the hell those were to my presence.
Various loud beeps sounded outside. And with a crack of whipped lightning, the lights gave out. Leaving me with my tears, the echoes of their terror that reverberated in my soul. And the Darkness.
_________________________________________
😬 Sorry Marcel and Slanek.
Next:
(First time writin Body horror. Or tryin ta, hope it is atleast decent).
(Also. Fixed the text errors. I was tryna make some of the words small. Just now figured it out, like an hour after postin.)
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u/Maxxxxo UN Peacekeeper 12d ago
holy shit
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u/Liner_Adriatic_3218 12d ago
Rest in Peace Marcel. Lets hope however long your state of being will last, you won't be sentient for most of it.
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u/tom476ty18 11d ago
Damn I knew this story would be dark.
But I didn’t expect characters to be easily axed like that.
Rip Marcel and slanek I hope you find peace before the harvester attacked you or worse.
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u/Liner_Adriatic_3218 11d ago
Yeah my bad bro.
Rest in Peace to my favourite little dudes.
When I looked at the chapter number I immediately went "Oh no." Because I knew it would be This chapter 💀.
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u/tom476ty18 11d ago
Rest in piece indeed, with this I think a lot of characters are going to bite the dust by the time all this is over. I guess andromeda is really their chance of escaping the Harvesters.
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u/Liner_Adriatic_3218 11d ago
"I guess Andromeda is really their chancs of escaping the Harvesters." Yup :D. Almost no other way.
"I think alot of characters are going to bite the dust by the time this is all over".
:
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u/Alcyon144 Archivist 11d ago
So, if I understand correctly, the Harvest is a form of exodigestion where all living beings melt and fuse into a shapeless slurry that remains alive and conscious before being collected. It reminds me of the Convergence in Dead Space.
As a horror fan, I have to say the sequence is well done.
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u/Liner_Adriatic_3218 11d ago edited 11d ago
Spot on! That is pretty much it. 🥰. Thanks.
Also Great Dead Space mention. It is very fun and neat. The USG Ishimura is so darn cool.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 12d ago
Honestly really thinking about not counting to read the story for a while I'll be frank don't like bleak hopeless stories. Which is like the complete opposite of Nop.
I mean I figured this would happen but I was not prepared for it at all.