P-Sec Commander Corban McArthur stood sentry over the bloody scene before him, sucking in the last of his cigarette before putting it out on the floor. He stomped it out on the ground, his boot splashing into the blood and brains of one of the cultists that had “martyred” herself in the Marker chamber, which he promptly flicked away with a brief shake of his leg. He, his security teams, and what remained of the other engineers and EarthGov scientists were standing before a mass of corpses; some 40 Unitologists, along with several murdered crew members who were working at the time of the break-in.

One whole month had passed since the Marker’s discovery. Despite the supposed luck of the findings, McArthur couldn’t help but think back to all the horrible things that had occurred since unearthing the damn thing: suicides, violent mental breakdowns, sickness…and now this.

They had finally managed to move the Marker via tram into a specially-built test site in the Industrial Sector. At first, it was assumed that CEC would send out a planet-cracker or some sort of vessel to bring it to Earth, but EarthGov’s heavy presence on-colony quickly made it clear the thing wasn’t going anywhere. In the week following the transport of the Marker, Unitologist and government clashes became more frequent and more violent… leading up to today.

Around the beginning of Night Shift, several armed Unitologists of various rank stormed the perimeter of the Marker Chamber, forcing their way inside and killing any security or worker that happened to cross their path. They made a show of it, took heavy casualties, but 40 of the freaks managed to enter the main chamber, where their Overseer made a speech. McArthur watched the security footage when he arrived on-scene; the thing felt like something out of a movie. The Overseer was talking all about how what they were doing was God’s will, bringing about convergence through the rending of flesh. In a final offering, they all turned their guns on themselves and blew their own brains out…leaving the remaining crew and security baffled.

Something about the Overseer’s final words brought the slightest tremor to the P-Sec commander’s core.

“We slough off this shell and ascend to the next, and we shall spread glorious change throughout this colony—like a wave of righteous and holy purpose! Listen to the voice, brothers and sisters… and prepare.”

Despite all the death around him, the thing that worried him the most was the frantic, hushed tones of the remaining scientists. He couldn’t hear them well, but the words he did catch didn’t make him feel better.

“Something’s wrong…”

“…Recombination is possible—do we alert the teams?”

“Signal strength spiked; I don’t think this is normal…”

The commander was growing annoyed. He didn’t like not being told things. It was something he had to deal with all too much in the marines, but he was a commander now—and he wasn’t going to let some eggheads keep secrets from his men.

“Oi, you there.” McArthur said, pointing a finger at one of the scientists.

The scientist jumped in response; he was a slight thing, certainly not used to the environment he found himself in, but nonetheless sputtered out a respectful response.

“Y-yes, Commander? What can we uh… what do you need?”

McArthur walked towards them, his brutish figure dwarfing the two researchers as he stopped in front of them—a pulse rifle close to his chest.

“You two have been off to the side gossiping like schoolgirls and looking at the Marker like it just ate your dog. You two know something I don’t, and that’s dangerous. Tell me what the hell is really going on.”

The two sheepishly looked at each other, then back at him, a momentary silence filling the dead air of the room until the second scientist spoke in a hushed tone.

“Previously recovered uh… research materials… indicated that the Marker contains certain… properties.. and so we’re just concerned.”

The commander was getting angry now. “What kind of properties are you fuckin’ on about?”

The first scientist was letting his panic show now, throwing decorum out the window. “Listen, we need to get these bodies out now, Commander. H-have your team—” Before he could finish, the lights suddenly dimmed as bulkhead shielding fell across all open access points and doors to the Marker chamber. Alarms blared.

“WARNING! BIOHAZARDOUS MATERIAL DETECTED. QUARANTINE LOCKDOWN ENGAGED.”

“Oh no. No no no, this can’t happen. Not here.” The scientist said, hyperventilating as the second tried to calm him down. The scientists were backing away from the Marker and into an observation chamber, rushing to the terminals and frantically typing.

The Commander rushed to the window and banged on it with his fist. “THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU TWO??”

The calmer scientist called through the intercom: “Commander, listen very carefully. I need you and your men to form a defensive perimeter around the main bulkhead door. We don’t have a lot of time before—”A loud blaring noise suddenly blasted through the room, the power suddenly cutting in a crescendo, leaving everyone in darkness.

The commander and several of his men flicked their lamps on their guns and shoulder torches. McArthur looked back to the scientists, rendered unable to communicate due to sound-proofing, who were now pointing to the bulkhead with urgency.

“Everyone, fall back on me. Now.” The Commander ordered.

Noises were starting to emanate all around the pitch-black Marker Chamber. Only the soft, red glow of the rock itself allowed for some semblance of vision outside of the torches of the security teams and the remaining workers. Sickening sounds of tearing, snapping, and wretching could be heard in the center of the room, followed by… flapping.

“Check center, team. Be ready.” The Commander barked. In unison, the team all aimed their lamps at the center of the room and were greeted not with the sight of the mass grave they had responded to hours earlier—but no bodies at all. Bits of flesh and blood lay everywhere—more than had been there before, if the Commander thought about it.

“Stay sharp… keep formation.” The team fanned the area out with their lights, desperately trying to find where all these bodies had suddenly gone. The sounds went from gross and wet to loud and metallic, as the security team and other survivors looked around the room, trying to grasp their situation. Officer Marsh called out to the Commander, his pulse rifle’s light shining onto a ventilation shaft. “Sir! I got a broken vent over here. You don’t think…”

The commander and the others looked at the vent, incredulous to their situation. “I don’t know what to think, Marsh, but we need to hold the line. Johann, call HQ and get an alert out, I want all officers on duty and on patrol.”

Johann nodded and immediately dialed his RIG, managing to send out a message to the HQ before static overtook his display. “Comms are spotty, sir. I sent something out, but I won’t know if they got it or not—” a series of crashes around the room sent everyone looking in all directions. Lights waving through the air and scanning for movement.

The Commander sensed something wasn’t right… and quickly rushed over to the observation room the two scientists had previously been in, intent on getting answers. He shined his light into the room, and gasped.

Blood caked the walls and window port of the room. Neither scientist could be seen, but there weren’t any bodies either… the only thing truly visible was that the vent in the room had been broken—blood trails going into it.

Then the roars began. Inhuman shrieks and clawing seemingly echoing from all around them. Everyone in the room began to freeze up—unsure of what to do. The commander himself felt sick hearing it—something primal in him telling his body to run, blood rushing through his limbs as adrenaline kicked into high gear.

There was a loud crash—the sound of metal being bent open, followed by a loud, terrified scream.

Everyone rushed over to the far end of the chamber to find one of the engineers being attacked by what looked to be the scientists—blade arms rending flesh and ripping the poor man to pieces as he screamed bloody murder. Two officers immediately opened fire on the scientists, grabbing their attention—revealing their warped and twisted forms to the lights of the security team and the remaining workers.

Unphased by the gunfire, the two creatures charged towards the officers and got stuck in with them as smaller, bat-like things began flying about the room, one landing on the fresh corpse of the engineer and digging a proboscis into his head.

“OPEN FIRE!”

The Marker chamber erupted into chaos. The creatures were cleaving through the security with ruthless efficiency—and whatever corpses they made were transformed into more horrific creatures by the bats that now circled the room, swooping in like carrion crows in the middle of a warzone. Commander McArthur was desperately trying to hold the line with his men, while the other survivors tried to find a way out. Some of the engineers and miners began cutting away at the door with torches and plasma cutters, and McArthur formed up his remaining security team on them in the hopes he’d protect them long enough to get out of here—but things were going too bad too fast.

Things seemed to slow as he watched his team fall apart.

He watched as Johann was grabbed by what used to be one of the scientists, its claws digging into his head as it let out a flood of acidic bile all over Johann’s face and chest. His choked gags and screams sloughed away like the rest of his flesh and face, melting as he collapsed to the ground.

Looking to the side he could see several of the bat-like things turning his former colleagues into more monsters—their bodies convulsing and twitching as their bones snapped and shifted and their flesh peeled away to form a new, terrifying visage. He watched as some of the creatures retreated into the vents around the complex—no doubt to spread the infection further into the colony. McArthur was beginning to lose hope that they’d ever get out—until he heard a thud behind him and a voice shout:

“I GOT IT! EVERYONE OUT!”

The remaining workers fled through the now opened door, and McArthur gave the order to retreat, covering his men with suppressing fire from his pulse rifle. Once it ran dry, the commander turned to retreat—only to shout in pain.

Looking down, he could now see one of the creatures had run him through the chest with a bladed arm. Not wasting a second, he turned and bashed the thing’s brains in with the pulse rifle, and stomped it till it stopped moving. The other creatures were busying themselves with the other bodies; so he had to make this quick. He turned to his remaining team, a serious look in his eyes.

“Get those workers to safety, then seal off the exit you go through. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”

The officers protested.

“Commander??”

He was undeterred. “You will do as you’re ordered. Warn everyone in the colony. Don’t wait for me.” He hefted the broken door back into its closed position. “It’s been an honor to serve with you, lads.”

With the door now sealed again, he turned his attention to the monsters before him. Former colleagues hissed and roared inhuman screeches as they swarmed him, McArthur roaring back in defiance as he unholstered his Divet and fired into them.

He knew what he was doing was suicide. There was no getting out of this for him, but it wasn’t about that. This was about giving the colonists a fighting chance, giving his men time to escape. Whatever this infection was had the capacity to wipe out everything—something he couldn’t allow to happen. As he bludgeoned and shot at the creatures tearing into him, he felt at peace. He had fought hard all his life to protect people, growing old in professions where many die young. He had the privilege of seeing his granddaughter grow up into a bright young girl on Mars. The thought of these things reaching her made him fight even harder. He gave the creatures no quarter; using one of the bladed arms to stab at the monsters even as they overwhelmed him, cutting him to pieces.

“Better make it count, lads…” were McArthur’s last thoughts as his mind faded into darkness.

The remaining squads of P-Sec arrived at the industrial sector, warning Foreman Albion to trigger the lockdown as they rushed to reach HQ. Confused, the engineer obliged, and a colony-wide emergency alert was announced. Chernov couldn’t tell, but as they ran through the colony, he could’ve sworn he heard scratching in the vents…