//------------------------------//
// Sprawl: Return to the Ishimura 
// Story: Dead Space: Deep Space Terror 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

As Isaac and Chrysalis walked off the Transport that they had released a few minutes ago, so they could get to the Government Sector of the Titan Station and find the Marker, the two of them kept their weapons at the ready as both of them salvaged some ammunition from the nearby crates. Since there were only a few crates in the area near the Transport the duo eventually opened the door and walked into the cargo area that was in front of them, where they discovered a few cysts lingering on the floor around them. Chrysalis, however, spotted a wall box to their left and found a Power Node inside it, which she handed over to Isaac before they carefully made their way through the area in front of them, while at the same time collecting an audio log from an unknown speaker. What they learned was that the speaker was the unknown person that had survived with Ellie for some time, before they discovered that the speaker was actually Kaleb, who they had found some logs from earlier, though once the log was over they stored it away and continued forward.

Isaac had an idea as they neared the first cyst and moved back to the door they had just walked through, where he carried out two boxes with his Kinesis Module and let Chrysalis take one, where the two of them started throwing the boxes at the cysts and forced them to explode... allowing them to move forward as they searched for the doorway that would let them find whatever was obstructing the Transport.

As they walked forward the duo had to be careful, as stalkers happened to be patrolling the area and peaked their heads out from their hiding spot from time to time, to which the duo took turns firing at them when they decided to show their faces. Along the way an exploder jumped out of a vent and found itself dead a few moments later, as Isaac blew up the goo sack it was carrying, destroying itself and the stalker that was near it, before shooting another stalker that was trying to come at them from the side. Chrysalis impressed Isaac when she grabbed one of the fallen spiked claws from a stalker, with her magic, and hurled it through the air, hitting a stalker that was poking it's head out from it's hiding spot and impaled it right in the head, killing it instantly apparently. The two of them then followed the rest of the path that was in front of them, killing the remaining stalkers and the lone exploder that came at them, before finding a guardian that happened to be guarding an elevator.

Fortunately they knew how to deal with such a creature and quickly dismembered it, though once it was dead Isaac explored the area behind it and claimed the Seek Shell schematic that he found, while Chrysalis picked up a ruby semiconductor that was their prize... before the two of them climbed into the elevator and rode it down to the level that they needed to use to see what was blocking their view.

When the elevator arrived at the floor they had selected the duo noticed a cyst resting near the entrance, though since they didn't have anything to throw at it Isaac sighed and blasted it once with his Plasma Cutter, forcing it to expel the explosive charge it was holding in and killed it at the same time. As they turned the corner they found a few more cysts lining the way to the store that was in front of them, along with a slasher that was poorly hiding from their sight, to which the duo carefully made their way forward and stood back whenever they dealt with a cyst. It didn't take them long to pass through the hallway and approach the store that they had been eying, though when they approached it they simply sold off what they didn't need before heading towards the door on their right. Isaac tapped the command and the circular door opened, revealing the Transport door that was blocked off, along with the large tentacle that was preventing them from moving towards the Government Sector.

Chrysalis shuddered for a moment, remembering all the times the tentacles on the Ishimura grabbed her and not Isaac, before noticing the tanker that it happened to be wrapped around and wondered if they could use that to their advantage in this situation.

"Ellie, there's a giant tentacle blocking the Transport door." Isaac said, though while he knew that Ellie had no idea what a Necromorph tentacle looked like, unless she had seen one before and never told them, he guessed that her imagination would tell her everything, "It's also wrapped around a big tank."

"A big tank?" Ellie replied, to which the duo paused for a moment, because they could hear that she was interested in whatever the tentacle was wrapped around and might actually tell them exactly what they were dealing with at the moment, "Nitrogen Trichloride! Those explode if they overheat!"

"Perfect." Chrysalis stated, as there happened to be some exploding canisters near where they were standing and a dispenser unit behind them, to which she levitated one of them into the air, while Isaac did the same with the second once, before they hurled the canisters at the tank the tentacle was wrapped around.

The two canisters connected with the tank and exploded, dealing half the damage they needed if Isaac was reading the opening of the tank correctly, though they simply waited for the two of them to have another pair of canisters, thanks to the dispenser, before they fired a second volley. This time around the tank exploded and the tentacle fled in pain, to which the two of them smiled as their connection to Ellie was established for a few more seconds, as it appeared that some good news was in order for them.

"That worked, we're moving again!" Ellie said, to which the duo watched as the Transport lowered into the area and continued moving, no doubt heading for the next landing that would allow them to rejoin her and Stross, "We'll wait for the two of you up ahead."

"Alright, we see you." Isaac replied, confirming that everything had worked out just fine and that the Transport was moving again, which meant that they were one step closer to the Government Sector, though their moods were dashed as the Transport stopped again and he spotted another tentacle blocking the way, "Ellie, get ready. We're going to take out another tank."

"What? Are you crazy?" Ellie asked, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis used the cargo lift that was beside them to lower themselves into the area that the second tentacle was in, while at the same time Chrysalis immediately understood what Ellie was referring to as she looked around the area, "That one in the middle? If you set that off it will incinerate everything in here!"

"Yes it will." Isaac confirmed, as if that was part of the plan, though as he fired the first explosive canister into the second tank a tripod jumped down onto the area between them and their objective, effectively demanding their attention for the moment, "Just be ready to move when I say so."

Isaac turned towards the tripod and loosed a Stasis charge at it, slowing the Necromorph down for a couple of seconds, though while he fired at it's left arm Chrysalis did the same with the right arm, to which they both dismembered their target and caused it to shake in pain before dying. Once that was done Isaac pulled out a second canister and fired it at the tank, causing Ellie to warn them as a second tripod jumped into the area, only for Chrysalis to immobilize it with a stun spell and them blasted it apart with her Pulse Rifle. Sure enough the pattern held up as the third shot called forth a third tripod, which Isaac dismembered on his own, but then the pattern shattered as the fourth, fifth, and sixth shots didn't bring any additional tripods to battle them... though the sixth canister tore the tank apart and dealt damage to the tentacle that was holding it, causing it to flee from the area and open the way forward.

Of course that set off the chain reaction that Ellie had been trying to warn them about, to which she ordered them to get up to the Transport as quickly as possible, causing Isaac and Chrysalis to rush over to the nearby cargo lift, rode it up to the landing that was above them, and dove into the Transport... though as Isaac told Ellie to go, and the Transport started moving, Chrysalis gathered her magic and surrounded the majority of the Transport with a mobile barrier. Despite that fact, however, she knew that if they were caught in the actual blast the barrier, which was keeping them from the flames that were all around them, would shatter and they would be blown to pieces. At the same time the Transport moved at it's highest speed as they raced through the tunnel that they were in, racing the flames to the exterior, though not a few seconds later they raced out of the opening and left the area behind, allowing Isaac and Chrysalis to disengage their helmets as Ellie brought them down to a more normal speed that would get them to their destination... without crashing into the Government Sector anyway.

Before they could celebrate, or have Ellie scold Isaac for his insane plan in the first place, a video link opened up and revealed Tiedemann standing in what appeared to be the same area he was in every single time he contacted them, while at the same time Chrysalis growled at him as Ellie turned to face the link.

"Mr. Clarke, Chrysalis, in another situation I would have admired your persistence." Tiedemann said, indicating that if they hadn't been locked up against their wills, and had been freed thanks to the Necromorph outbreak, and had done this against terrorists or something he would have had a different opinion of them, "But this is bigger than you and bigger than the lives of everyone on this station.

"Sir," a voice said, to which one of Tiedemann's soldiers walked up to him and caused the Director to turn his head slightly, indicating that he didn't care whether or not Isaac's group heard what he was going to be told, "finals preparations for evac are wrapping up."

"It looks like this ends here," Tiedemann commented, though at the same time the soldier walked behind the Director and continued with his duties, but that only made Isaac and Chrysalis focus on their enemy, who didn't seem to care about them anymore, "At this point, it's all just... dead weight."

"Isaac. Chrysalis. What does he mean?" Ellie asked, as the moment Tiedemann said 'dead weight' the connection was terminated, causing them all to wonder what the Director had planned for them this time around, "What did he mean when he said dead weight?"

Before either Isaac or Chrysalis could say anything, or even begin to voice what was going through their heads, a bright flash of light appeared off in the distance, but their eyes widened as they recognized the solar beam that they had turned on some time ago... and now it appeared that Tiedemann was using it against them.

"He's using the solar beam!" Isaac said, though as his eyes followed the direction the solar beam was heading in he realized what was going on, and what Tiedemann meant by dead weight, to which he turned towards Ellie and snapped her back to reality, "Ellie, we have to stop the Transport, now!"

Ellie was able to do so within seconds, though that didn't comfort them as the Transport rocked as the solar beam sliced through the rail that they had been riding on and cut it into two sections, just like each and every other rail that hadn't been destroyed before this point in time.

"He... he cut the station in half!" Ellie exclaimed, as she now realized what Tiedemann said by dead weight, though at the same time she stared at the rail that they had been following and knew the trouble they were in, "There's no track for us to get across now!"

"Ellie... back us up to the station." Isaac said, knowing that now wasn't the time to admit defeat and knew that there had to be another way for them to get across, though that was before his eyes landed on the Ishimura, which they were now close to, and another insane plan started to form in his mind.

"Why?" Ellie asked, though at the same time she did so, mostly because it was better than hanging near a gap that would be impossible for them to traverse if they fell off the railing, "What are you planning this time?"

"The Ishimura." Isaac explained, as there was a very specific type of machinery that planetcrackers had installed into their very being, one that he hoped was still intact, otherwise they will have failed completely, "If the gravity tethers are still functional, maybe I can..."

"...you can snare EarthGov and drag it back." Ellie finished, as she understood what Isaac was thinking about, though at the same time her tone told them exactly what she thought of the plan, something that she still decided to tell both Isaac and Chrysalis anyway, "Isaac, this is ridiculous."

"Actually, if we can line the tracks up, for a few seconds, you should be able to get the Transport across." Chrysalis spoke up, as while she may not have the knowledge that either Isaac or Ellie possessed, in terms of all these machines and how they operated, she still understood the basic concepts of the plans that Isaac created, and this one was rather simple and reflected their current situation, "Sure, it sounds insane, but it's the only plan we've got."

"This is a really bad idea." Ellie said, though at the same time the Transport came to a stop and she, somewhat reluctantly, stopped it at the doorway that would take them into the Ishimura, as if she knew that trying to persuade them to stop this madness was a bad idea and was simply letting them go.

"Trust me, we're full of bad ideas." Isaac replied, though as he said that both he and Chrysalis reengaged their helmets and approached the door on the left side of the Transport, to which they walked through it the moment it was connected to the tunnel and approached the doorway in front of them.

The duo opened the door that was in front of them and entered the small hallway that it brought them to, where they waited for the first door to lock before they opened the second one, which ended up bringing them to an area where a horizontal cargo lift was waiting for them. They boarded the cargo lift and rode it through the passage that was in front of them, where they quickly discovered that people had been working on the Ishimura for some time, since the events of Aegis VII, and that someone was trying to repair the place. There were tool boxes, large metal crates, plenty of lights, containers that looked like unused body bags, and a number of other cleaning items resting on both sides of the hallway they were in. At the end of the hallway the duo discovered a cargo lift that took them up to the walkway they had walked on when they first crashed into the Ishimura, though that was when they discovered that the circular passage they had gone through was actually where the Kellion had met it's fate three years ago... though at this point in time it appeared that the wreckage of the smaller ship had been taken care of, as there was nothing of it resting in the area around them.

Both Isaac and Chrysalis shuddered for a moment as the cargo lift came to a stop, as this place was the home of some bad memories, though they did their best to ignore the feelings that were going through their bodies as they made their way towards their new destination.

"Ellie, we're in." Isaac said, briefly connecting them to their friend for a moment, letting her know that everything was fine for the moment, even if they were sure that things would change soon enough, "There should still be a computer in the flight lounge. We can check the ship's status from there."

"Isaac, are you okay?" Ellie asked, stopping Isaac before he could disconnect them, but at the same time the duo glanced at each other as they stopped where they were for a moment, "You sound a little nervous."

"Last time Chrysalis and I were here, things didn't go so well." Isaac replied, remembering that he had lost three of his friends on this damned ship, while the fourth member had been a Unitologist that masqueraded as a friend, one that Chrysalis had called out on her actions, "Look, we'll contact you once we know more about the situation."

With the connection disconnected Isaac and Chrysalis walked forward and opened the pair of doors that were in front of them, the same ones they first walked through when they first arrived on this ship, and walked into the flight lounge, which was in the middle of being cleaned up by the looks of the cleaning gear around them. The duo carefully explored the flight lounge, as they both remembered what happened here the last time they had been aboard the ship, while they searched for anything they might be able to use, while at the same time Chrysalis noticed that the bloodstains were still on the floor. The door to their right, which would have taken them to a Tram, could be opened and they found a text log that revealed that some of the people who were working on the Ishimura had bathroom problems, or an inaccuracy with how much toilet paper they needed. The bathroom itself contained a Power Node and an audio log that was from someone called Hedrick, who mentioned that something was following him when he worked in this area and declared that the entire ship was cursed in some manner... making the duo wonder if there had been any lingering effects from the Marker, or if Tiedemann's Marker was responsible for this.

Considering the world that Chrysalis had come from, and the natural ghosts and spirits that called Equus home, she went with this being the fault of Tiedemann's Marker, though the fact that Hedrick said something was following him reminded her of her own demons... and the low echoing voice of her mother that she could hear, but couldn't pinpoint since that would be too easy. Once the audio log was over the duo carefully made their way back to the flight lounge and opened the door that would allow them to access the computer they were searching for, to which they approached their goal and called up the report that Isaac wanted to look at. When Isaac tapped the command they learned that the gravity and life support systems were on reserve power, the primary systems were offline, and the centrifuge was offline for repairs, all of which made sense when he thought about it.

"Damn it," Isaac said, though at the same time he gave a light chuckle, because fate really was playing against him and Chrysalis at times, especially when the one thing they needed was offline, "I was hoping for something different, but it appears my thoughts were correct."

"What?" Chrysalis and Ellie asked, though despite the fact that they were in two different locations they heard the other say the same thing, to which they both rubbed the back of their heads for a moment as they waited for Isaac to explain what he meant.

"The gravity centrifuge is under repair." Isaac explained, causing Chrysalis to briefly remember what they had been through the last time they activated the machinery in that area, and what happened afterwards, "Chrysalis and I are going to have to go down to Engineering... where things are going to get interesting."

"Is it safe?" Ellie asked, once more revealing how little she knew of the events that happened on the Ishimura, which was something that neither Isaac or Chrysalis could forget about, despite the drugs that had been pumped into Isaac over the last three years.

"Honestly, I don't know how it could be safe." Isaac said, to which Chrysalis nodded her head in agreement as she opened the door behind them, the same one they used to flee from the first slasher that chased them, before he sighed and focused on the audio link for a moment, "We'll let you know how things go."

Once the connection between them and Ellie was broken, for now anyway, Isaac and Chrysalis opened the door that was in front of them and followed the path that brought them to the cargo lift that had saved their lives three years ago, though at the same time Isaac had to listen to Nicole whispering in his ear. She was talking about how he pretended not to be bothered by being back in the Ishimura and that no matter how hard he tried to bury the past he still remembered what happened here, though he couldn't say that the ghost was wrong. He was bothered by having to walk down the same hallways where people had died, where parts of the ship had been broken by them and by the Necromorphs, and visualized where all the bodies had been resting when they had discovered them. If it wasn't for the fact that they needed the gravity tethers to ensnare the section of the Titan Station that Tiedemann was running away in, where the Marker was located, he would have never considered coming back here... so he braced himself and continued forward, knowing that the sooner they finished up here the sooner they could leave and never look back.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, only heard the echoing sound of her mother's laughter, something that had haunted her for years when Crudelis had been alive, but she focused on the task at hand and tried to ignore what she was hearing, as she wanted to keep the past where it belonged.

The duo reached the cargo lift and rode it down to the level were Isaac had found the first Plasma Cutter that had been his weapon, along with Chrysalis claiming her first pair of bone blades at the same time, before they stopped by the Bench so Isaac could empower his weapon and RIG some more. The instant he was finished they approached the door in front of them and entered the hallway behind it, where they carefully followed the path to the next door and turned to their right, allowing them to watch a circular metal canister roll with nothing nearby to push it. From there they entered the first control room they had fought their way to, where they overheard a shuttle asking permission to land, though the duo agreed that it had to be back when the outbreak happened and a no fly order had been issued. That had been their thoughts, but the response was to allow the landing to happen and got an update from the colony, which meant this was all before the outbreak... but Isaac and Chrysalis moved on, as they already knew how the outcome of this happened and didn't want to hear it again, if it was recorded anyway.

At that point they reached the first split in the path, though while the route on their left came to an end they found another one of Hedrick's audio logs, once more revealing that there was something happening on the ship that he didn't like and wanted to avoid. The route on the right, being the correct path, brought them to a larger hallway, or at least a larger worker tunnel, that they followed as both of them kept their weapons at the ready, as they were both sure that it was only a matter of time until Necromorphs showed up to fight them. The knocked over cleaning supplies did little to calm them down, as that only meant that something was waiting for them, and they passed through the door at the end of the hallway without any incidents, which only made them nervous. On the other side of the door they found a ruined portion of the worker tunnel, which was more like what they were expecting, though they stopped just in time, as a brute smashed through some of the crates and glared at them.

Isaac and Chrysalis, working in perfect harmony, attacked the brute at the same time, as after Isaac loosed a Stasis charge at the creature he attacked from the right while Chrysalis attacked from the left, to which their combined barrage of bullets dismembered both of it's arms and caused it to crash on the floor... where they picked up the credits that it had been carrying and continued forward as it finally died.

With the brute dead they followed the path that was in front of them once more, though after a certain point they noticed some boxes and crates in front of them flying all over the place and watched as a second brute came barreling towards them. Isaac allowed the Necromorph to get somewhat close to them before using a Stasis charge on it, allowing him and Chrysalis to move by it as they fired upon both it's body and it's weak points, severing both of it's arms in a matter of seconds. As the second brute died, and Chrysalis picked up the gold semiconductor that it dropped, both she and Isaac started opening fire on the Necromorphs that were in front of them and behind them, as Ellie connected for a brief moment to inform them that the creatures were starting to swarm the Ishimura. As Isaac moved towards the end of the passage, where a hackable terminal was located, Chrysalis turned around and opened fire on the slashers that were coming after them, providing cover fire like usual... until Isaac, having finished his work and claimed a Power Node, told her to get onto the cargo lift with him.

From there the two of them rose to the area that the lift was connected to and left the Necromorphs behind, for now anyway since it was only a matter of time until they tore into the vents and came after them, though upon their arrival the duo kept moving forward so they could outpace their enemies. As they walked through the door in front of them they learned that the Engineering Deck had not undergone it's final clean-up and decontamination, though at the same time they both knew that such a thing was never going to happen, not with more Necromorphs following them and the fact that the workers assigned to the Ishimura were all dead. They then entered the chamber were all the computers were located, for this deck anyway, and found that they were all messing up in some manner, before the two of them headed over to the elevator that would take them one step closer to the centrifuge... where they found an audio log from Dr. Heidi Latchford, who was doing research on the fact that there was some sort of sludge all over the ship.

According to the audio log it appeared that the Necromorphs that had been on the ship had been reduced to sludge when the Aegis VII Marker was destroyed, but would reawaken if a new Marker signal was introduced, making them wonder how many Necromorphs they had missed the first time they were on this ship... and now many of those puddles of sludge turned into monsters that waited for Tiedemann's Marker to be complete.

Once the elevator came to a stop they quickly made their way to the decontamination chamber and watched as the walls locked into place, just like the first time they came through this area, though what surprised them was that by the end of the process, and the walls were taken away, they were free to leave without fighting a single Necromorph. That only told Chrysalis that these enemies were waiting further ahead and carefully readied herself as she and Isaac headed through the door that was opposite of the one they had used to enter the chamber. As it turned out she was right, as when they passed through the second door they were assaulted by a puker, a leaper, and a lurker at the same time, but the duo quickly dismembered all three of them before continuing towards the centrifuge. They then continued to the end of the line, cutting down the slasher and pregnant Necromorph that was in front of them before they reached the end... where they found a Power Node in a wall box, resting next to the organic growth that seemed dead still, just like Isaac and Chrysalis remembered.

"That's just sad." Chrysalis commented, looking at the blocked passage that was in front of them and locked her gaze on the organic growth, almost as if she was daring it to move, "They've had three years to clean the Ishimura, dispose of the remains of all the Necromorphs we killed, and even get rid of all this organic growth... and yet, three years later, it barely looks they've gone anything at all, save for covering up the past."

"I guess so." Isaac replied, though at the same time he faced the direction they came from, which was where they were going to have to go again, and opened fire on the slasher and leaper that were coming their way, knowing more were slowly converging on their location, "Come on, let's get moving before we're boxed in and can't move at all."

Chrysalis nodded as she turned around and walked down the hallway with Isaac at her side, where they carefully cut and blasted their way through the Necromorphs that were in front of them, and occasionally behind them at times, before they reached a circular door that allowed them to access a second one. From there they walked into the area that the centrifuge was resting in, which was a Zero-G zone at the moment, though that caused Isaac and Chrysalis to disengage from the walkway they were on and floated over to the top portion of the centrifuge, which was missing some pieces based on what they were seeing. Chrysalis, however, quickly discovered that what they needed to do was make a connecting line from the top of the centrifuge to the bottom of the machine, something that Isaac agreed with and started grabbing the missing pieces with his Kinesis Module. A few moments later, when all of the missing pieces were attached to the centrifuge and had been placed in the correct order, the top of the machinery started to slowly spin as the duo flew over to the control terminal and landed on the walkway.

Once their boots were reattached to the floor, and they were both sure of that, Isaac tapped the controls on the terminal in front of them and input the command he remembered from when they did this the first time, to which the centrifuge started spinning as the power core sunk back into the machine, which meant that this task was completed... though as they walked back into the hallway Chrysalis flashed back to three years ago with the tentacle that knocked her to the floor, before she snapped back to reality a few seconds later and realized that it hadn't happened this time.

"Chrysalis, are you okay?" Isaac asked, as he had seen his friend stall for a moment and knew that the past had come back once more, to which he wondered what sort of horrible memory her mother had forced upon her this time around and how much more it was going to piss him off.

"Yeah... I just remembered the tentacle that grabbed me when we left the centrifuge." Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she shook her head and pushed that memory away, because there was no reason for her to worry about that, especially with the creature that was associated with it happened to be dead, "I'm fine, really."

"Okay, if you say so." Isaac said, though as Chrysalis moved forward, and dismembered the slasher that was in front of them, he followed after her and connected with Ellie again, knowing an update would cheer their friend up, "Ellie, we've got the centrifuge back on-line and we're heading for the Tram station now."

"Okay, I've almost got us disconnected from the mag rail," Ellie replied, though at the same time they could hear Stross in the background, which wasn't new at this point in time, but it actually sounded like his condition was actually starting to get worse now that the Marker was moving away from him, "Keep me posted."

Once he had told Ellie the news, and silenced the connection for now, he and Chrysalis headed back to the decontamination chamber, where this time around they were attacked by members of a pack, which smashed through two of the glass windows so they could get at the duo. Chrysalis, however, only grinned as she gunned down all of the pack members that were coming at them, proving to Isaac that she was as skilled with her Pulse Rifle as she was with her magical abilities, which she almost never got to use thanks to the confined areas they were in. Of course after the pack members were taken care of Isaac stepped forward and dismembered the two slashers and the two pukers that jumped into the chamber as well, though once those foes were taken care of the computerized voice declared that the process was complete and allowed them to leave the decontamination chamber... to which they did so with haste, especially since it was only a matter of time until more Necromorphs found them.

As they continued walking back to where the Tram would have been stationed, back when the Ishimura was operational, the link between them and Ellie activated once more, to which they listened while they walked.

"Isaac, Chrysalis," Ellie said, though her tone was one that revealed that she was worried about something, which either pertained to Tiedemann or Stross, something that they discovered soon enough, "Stross is starting to worry me. Here, listen to this..."

"...I would never. I would never." Stross stated, though it sounded like he was definitely talking to someone, which meant that his condition was definitely getting worse as time went by, "But son, Daddy's not a murderer! I would never hurt you and Mommy!"

"Stross, he's not real." Isaac replied, hoping that his voice would allow Stross to calm down and return to reality again, especially since he needed all the time in reality that he could get.

"Yes he is!" Stross snapped, to which both Isaac and Chrysalis knew Stross was talking to Ellie, the only one among their number who wasn't plagued by ghosts of the past or loved ones that wanted to torment them because of what the Marker was sending out, "You can't see him because you haven't taken the steps! The needle will make you see! Step three! STEP THREE!!!"

"Stross, put down the screwdriver." Ellie said, though that was followed by some sounds of Stross doing something and Ellie moaning about that something, before the connection was cut off and the duo looked at each other in concern, as it seemed like Stross might have finally snapped.

The duo returned to where the elevator was resting, dismembering the slasher that was resting in front of it since it tried to attack them, and then rode the elevator back up to the level they had come from, though as they returned to the Tram station they opened fire on the two slashers and the swarm that came at them. From there they discovered something that surprised them, as the Tram was back at the station, to which they dismembered the next slasher and swarm that charged at them before climbing onto the Tram. After they did that Isaac tapped the command and got them moving to their next destination, to which the door behind them closed, which was new, and they patiently waited for their arrival on the deck they needed to access... while at the same time Isaac contacted Ellie, to see how she was doing with the ever increasing insanity that Stross possessed.

"...dammit that hurts." Ellie said, though that was before she noticed that the link between them had been established again, as she focused on them for a few seconds, "Isaac, that bastard bit me!"

"WHAT?!" Isaac exclaimed, as while he and Chrysalis knew that Stross was becoming more insane as time passed, and hopefully didn't go fully insane before they got the information he possessed, neither of them actually expected him to suddenly lash out in such a manner, "Oh shit. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ellie replied, though her tone told Chrysalis that she was in a little bit of pain and that she was sore that Isaac and Chrysalis had essentially roped her into helping them, meaning that she might blame them for what she was feeling at the moment, "But he's stopped talking and he won't even look at me anymore. How are things going on your end? Please tell me that this insane plan of yours is going to work."

"Chrysalis and I are on our way to the Bridge." Isaac explained, revealing to Chrysalis where they were going, and allowing her to remember what they had fought the last time they had been on the Bridge, "From there we can activate the gravity tethers and ensnare EarthGov."

"Well good." Ellie said, though as she spoke Chrysalis knew that there was something else that she wanted to tell them, especially since she had a good view of the exterior and knew what the Necromorphs were up to, "Those creatures are swarming in through a hole in the Medical Deck... at least you won't have to go through there."

It was at that point that a computerized voice said that there was an obstruction ahead of them and that the Tram was going to be shutting down, trapping them on the Medical Deck, to which Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as they disconnected from Ellie and walked out onto the deck that the Necromorphs were swarming into. As they walked out of the Tram, and stepped back out onto the Medical Deck, Isaac paused as Nicole spoke to him again, revealing that this was where she met her end all those years ago before telling him to stop being shy. Chrysalis barely moved as she tried to block out her mother's laughter, slightly stronger than what it was the last time she heard it, before she relaxed when Isaac touched her shoulder and snapped her back to reality. Once she pushed Crudelis' laughter out of her mind, for the moment anyway, she and Isaac opened the door that was in front of them and headed back to the hub area for this deck, to which they opened fire on the Necromorphs that were waiting throughout the entire hallway... which made sense considering that they were swarming into this area.

Originally the duo believed that they were heading towards the hub of the deck, considering where they came to a stop, though as they walked through a door they reentered the cyrogenics lab, where they froze Mercer's masterpiece, the Hunter as Chrysalis called it, and carefully collected a Power Node as they continued forward... though while they were happy that all of Mercer's frozen specimens had been destroyed a slasher charged at them from the side, only to be blasted apart by Isaac.

That, in turn, caused two more slashers and two exploders to invade the area, though Chrysalis covered Isaac as he ran over to the panel he could hack into and she opened fire on the Necromorphs that wanted them dead, making sure to used the exploders to her advantage. A few seconds later the door next to them was unlocked and the duo headed through it, to which they returned to the lab where the Hunter had been located before Mercer had originally set it free, though as they walked into the lab both Isaac and Chrysalis noticed the computers on their right replaying Nicole's last message to Isaac. Chrysalis found it odd that there was nothing for her this time around, meaning that her mother was likely trying to lower her guard for the next assault, but she did find a Power Node nearby and grabbed it, to which she and Isaac headed through the other door and continued on their way. The route they were thinking about taking happened to be blocked off, forcing them to access the cargo lift and head up to the level that was above them, where they walked through the door they came to and entered a small hallway... one that brought them to the area with the movable tube they had encountered before.

Isaac grabbed onto the tube with his Kinesis Module and dragged it over so they had a walkway in front of them, where they walked forward and turned towards the other gap that the tube formed a walkway over, taking out a lurker in the process, before they headed to the cargo lift that left them drop down into the area below them. Fortunately part of the machinery was malfunctioning and was shooting off blue electricity that sliced through the Necromorphs that came from the path that was behind it, allowing the duo to clean up their side before pulling out a power box and disabled the piece of equipment. Of course as they walked through where the electricity had been flowing through a few seconds ago some Necromorphs attacked them from both sides, though the duo was more than prepared for such an attack as they dismembered every undead enemy that came their way, before opening the door in front of them and continuing through the Medical Deck.

As they headed down the hallway Isaac was once more tormented by Nicole's voice, talking about how he never found her and wondered if she had actually been turned into a Necromorph that stalked the halls, looking for more victims, though the voice disappeared as they entered the hub area... to which the duo sold off what they didn't need, bought some more ammunition for their weapons, and then salvaged what they could from the area before moving forward.

From there the duo walked through the hallway that brought them to where the Tram had originally come to a stop, before they were forced to use the second Tram, and entered a Zero-G area, to which they disengaged from the floor and floated into the tunnel that was in front of them. As they followed the tracks to their destination Isaac tried not to listen to Nicole talking about how the barrier between them was wearing thin, while at the same time Chrysalis once more heard her mother's laughter, slightly louder than the last time she heard it. The duo also discovered a few lurkers waiting in the tunnel, as they opened fire the moment Isaac and Chrysalis revealed themselves, but they were ready for such a thing and opened fire on the Necromorphs that were trying to stop them, though as the lurkers died Chrysalis had to wonder where the rest of the undead creatures had gone, as she was sure that there would have been more if they were swarming into the ship... which only made her worried that something was going on that neither she or Isaac was going to like.

Fortunately they managed to reach the hallway that took them to the Bridge without anything else happening, so they attached themselves to the floor once more and passed through the door in front of them, leaving the Zero-G area behind as they prepared themselves for what was coming next. They both briefly relived the brute smashing a small hole in one of the windows on their left before snapping back to reality, where they carefully moved forward and kept their eyes open for anything that might want them dead. When they entered the large chamber that was their destination, however, they had to fight their way through a fair number of stalkers, pukers, and the occasional leaper before they were able to reach the ramp that would allow them to access the area the controls were in... though along the way they returned to the room that the Bench was in, so Isaac could empower his weapon while the stalkers gave them a break, and found an audio log revealing that someone recovered evidence that revealed the true events of Aegis VII and covered the whole thing up, which they knew about thanks to Ellie telling them what the accepted story was.

After that, and a few more stalkers, they reached the cargo lift that took them down to the area that was their goal, to which Isaac opened a video link with Ellie so they could tell her the good news, especially since she had asked them to keep her posted throughout their venture into the Ishimura.

"Ellie, we're almost at the Captain's Nest." Isaac said, causing Ellie to look their way, though whether she was pissed that Stross had bit her or indifferent since she wanted to get this nightmare over with neither Isaac or Chrysalis could really say, so they focused on their news and nothing else, "The gravity tethers will be activated soon."

"Alright." Ellie replied, though that was when a small smile appeared on her face, indicating that she was pleased about something, while at the same time she was looking at something near the Transport, "The centrifuge looks spooled to power from here."

"Great." Chrysalis spoke up, as she was sure that this was good news for all of them, because she guessed that the statement meant that the centrifuge was at full power, though at the same time the cargo lift came to a stop and allowed the two of them to approach their destination, "It looks like everything is ready to go."

"Yeah, and it's time to see if this plan works." Isaac stated, to which he sighed for a moment as he focused on Ellie, because he was sure that she was eager to get this over with as well, "Ellie, are you ready?"

Ellie confirmed that she was all set on her end and was merely waiting for his signal, to which Isaac nodded and powered off the video link, though he did keep the audio link at the ready so that when the gravity tethers activated he could tell her to move within seconds of it happening. The two of them stepped up to the console they needed to access and Isaac tapped in the command, where he held down the key for a few seconds as Chrysalis watched what was happening outside the Ishimura. The beams that fired from the gravity tether, which had held up the tectonic payload back on Aegis VII, fired from the planetcracker and latched onto EarthGov, which was exactly what Isaac had planned the moment he came up with such a crazy idea. Isaac then reopened the link to Ellie and told her to get moving, as he and Chrysalis could use one of the escape pods to catch up with her, before disconnecting it and heard a small part of Tiedemann stating that the moon would be ripped to pieces by the gravity tethers... though both Isaac and Chrysalis ignored him as they made their way to the escape pods.

Since the escape pods could only hold one person, a design flaw in Chrysalis' mind, the duo was forced to take the remaining two pods, where Isaac had to pause as Nicole confronted him again, but he overcame what was in front of him and climbed into his pod, which Chrysalis mirrored... to which the two of them were ejected from the Ishimura, though as they did so they heard Ellie and Stross doing something with the screwdriver, before they were both struck by some sort of missile that knocked out their guidance systems, causing them to crash somewhere else.