Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stood around the control terminal for the tram for a few seconds, collecting themselves from their encounter with not one regenerating Necromorph, but for sure two of them with the sounds of a third one echoing through the vents before they left the section of the ship they were in. Chrysalis was immediately annoyed by hearing the sound of another Regenerator echo through the corridor of the ship they had been in, since it appeared that her wish to not see more of them was void already, but she kept her cool as they moved towards their destination. Carver seemed eager to fight something, anything really, but that made sense considering that he hadn't been able to kill one of the Regenerators and wanted to beat something else up. Isaac, on the other hand, stood at the terminal and stared at the part of the ship that they were heading towards, his mind thinking about the enemies that they had left behind, before he sighed and opened an audio link to the others.
Chrysalis knew that he wanted the rest of their team to know that they had freed the shuttle and that they were nearing the AFT section of the Terra Nova, where the shuttle was located, but at the same time she had to wonder what sort of errand they might run at the MID section, if they chose to stop there.
"Guys, we made it to the tram." Isaac said, letting Ellie and the others know what was going on, since they were also the only way for them to find out where they were going at any given moment, which he was grateful for since having someone guide them made things much easier, "It looks like this thing stops at the MID and AFT stations. We already know what's waiting for us in the AFT section of the ship, so what's in the MID section?"
"Well, that would be the Conning Tower." Buckell replied, though his tone suggested that he had been doing some research while they were away and might have found something interesting, something that might make them change their minds on what they were doing, "Here's something that might interest the three of you. The records indicate that a number of useful tools and salvage were signed out from storage there by a Lieutenant Tucker Edwards. Maybe the MID section might be worth a look?"
"It might definitely be worth it," Chrysalis commented, as she knew that, from their experiences on the Brusilov, exploring a new area that wasn't related to their actual mission would yield some new enhancements for the weapons that Isaac and Carver carried, especially since she didn't care about that sort of thing, "Isaac, Carver, think about this for a moment; we might be able to find some useful components to upgrade your armor, modify your weapons, and even find some interesting modifications for your weapons. We could make you two an even deadlier force to be reckoned with, at least in the face of the Necromorphs, and make fighting our way through them even easier... allowing us to complete our objectives even faster than we would with the weapons at our disposal at the moment."
"Along with any supplies that might be useful in repairing the shuttle," Isaac said, understanding where Chrysalis was going with her opinion on what they could do, as he had been thinking the same thing that she was thinking, though when he glanced over at Carver, who nodded his head, he knew what they were going to do, "Hey guys, we're going to check out the MID section real quick and see if we can't find Tucker's stash, because we might find something that will help in repairing the shuttle or powering up our weapons."
"Clarke, don't you dare step foot in the MID section." Norton stated, his tone indicating that he didn't want to remain here for longer than what was necessary, where Isaac and Chrysalis knew that Ellie would attack him in some manner when the audio link was disconnected, "As your commanding officer, and leader of this operation, I am ordering you to stick to the plan and acquire the shuttle that Ellie and the others found."
"Norton, it will only take a few minutes to see what Tucker checked out of the storage area," Isaac replied, though he wasn't surprised that Norton was upset with him and Chrysalis, as it was clear that he was going to blame them for everything that was happening to him at the moment, "Once we find whatever Tucker took, and acquired it for ourselves, we'll return to the tram and head out for the AFT section, so we can see what sort of situation we're dealing with once we see the condition the shuttle is in. We'll contact you again if something happens or if we find the shuttle."
Before Norton could say anything Isaac terminated the audio link and let silence reign for a few moments, allowing them to focus on heading into the MID section of the Terra Nova, where he was sure that they would find some more Necromorphs and whatever Tucker left to defend what he had checked out. Chrysalis nodded her head, indicating that she was pleased with how he had handled Norton at the moment, while at the same time Carver seemed to remain silent, but Isaac knew that he was still stunned by what his captain was doing since he seemed to be going back on what he had wanted before they recruited them into their mission. Isaac was still surprised that Norton, who had started off as someone that seemed to believe in their mission to take out the Markers, had turned into someone who wanted to flee this planet and never look back. He was sure that Ellie would have words with Norton, which was a conversation he would laugh at when he heard it, but he focused on the task ahead of them and what they were going to do once they had searched the MID section.
Not a few seconds later the tram came to a stop at the MID station and the door to the left of the terminal opened, allowing the three of them to walk out and step into the station so they could begin their search for whatever Tucker had checked out of storage... and, from the looks of what was in front of them, there was another terminal that required two people to hack into it, to which Chrysalis guarded Isaac and Carver as they worked their magic.
The moment the two of them were done hacking into the terminal, and Chrysalis didn't have to fire a single shot since there were no enemies that tried to attack them, the door to their immediate right unlocked itself and they entered the room that was behind it. What they found was a Bench, a few meager supplies, a key to the Conning Tower, and a recording that revealed that someone had confronted Tucker about a 'Scenario Five' situation and that everyone had to die in accordance to the order. What happened next was that Tucker, taking his commander's hesitance as an opportunity to make a move, shot his superior officer and killed her, before swearing that if the 'jarheads' came looking for him he'd be ready to fight back. His tone told Chrysalis that he must have turned Conning Tower into a death trap for the soldiers that were carrying out the orders that came with a Scenario Five situation, meaning that they would have to be careful when they entered the area that Tucker had taken control of.
Once they had the key and heard the recording, as well as taking a moment to sort through their supplies at the Bench, the trio approached the other door, that was to the right of the one they used to find the key, and unlocked the lock that had been placed on the door, which turned out to be an elevator... though as they climbed into it and headed up to the next floor something interesting happened.
I see you! a voice said, one that Chrysalis realized had to be Tucker, but since he was around two hundred years ago she knew that he had to be long dead like everyone else aboard the Terra Nova, meaning that this was a recording that played if someone opened the elevator door and used it, Guess you were smart enough to make it past my lockout. So you must not be one of those no-neck dipshits on the General's goon squad. But before you go patting yourself on the back, you should know that was the easy part. Your day is about to get a whole lot worse.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Chrysalis commented, because this was already turning out to be a bad day, especially since the Eudora had been destroyed, but she was sure that the three of them would be able to overcome everything that Tucker had set up for people like them.
The moment the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened, the trio stepped out and opened fire on a pair of slashers that dropped down from the ceiling, where they had been hanging since they went to sleep all those years ago, and soon they were laying in pieces all around them. The hallway they were in seemed to be pretty straightforward, as there was nothing to their right and when they turned left they found yet another hanging slasher drop down and try to assault them, only to be blasted to pieces. There were a few bits of salvage laying around, metal and gel that both Isaac and Carver could use on their suits when they found the next suit kiosk, but at the same time that only made Chrysalis keep her guard up as they opened the only door that wasn't blocked and entered a room that had two or three levels to it... and, from the looks of the vents, this had to be one of those traps that she had been worried about.
All the infected soldiers... they brought them up here for 'safe keeping'. Tucker spoke up, indicating that they had found another recording, though that only made the three of them ready their weapons as they waited for whatever trap the man had created to be sprung, You may think that you can put a bullet in my dome, but I've got a ready-made army that says you can't.
The trio glanced at each other as they carefully made their way over to the stairs that were on their left and walked up to the level that was above them, where they discovered that the room had two levels and not three, before they headed over to the door that would allow them to leave the room... but as Isaac tapped it, to get it to open, the door shocked him back and locked itself, meaning that they were going to have to deal with whatever Tucker had left for them.
Gotcha! Now it's time for a little fun. Computer, arm explosives. Tucker said, though his voice command caused the various explosives, which had been resting on every vent throughout the room they were in, to power up as they prepared to detonate their payloads and tear the vents apart, And... detonate.
That was immediately followed by the various explosives detonating and tearing the vents apart, opening the way for anything to enter the room, and sure enough slashers started to pour out of the now open vents, each wanting a piece of the trio. Fortunately the path leading towards the door had three different routes one could take, meaning that Carver could fire at the enemies coming from the left, Isaac could focus on the ones coming from the right, and Chrysalis could make sure that the forward path was clear of enemies. As they got into position, and started firing at their enemies, the computerized voice of the Terra Nova informed them that some contamination had been detected, which was the various Necromorphs, and that quarantine was in effect until everything was dealt with.
"I'm reading a quarantine lockdown." Buckell said, opening an audio link with the three of them, though it appeared that he was the only one that was doing so, even though the trio was firing at the Necromorphs and were dismembering them before they could get close, "Are you three alright?"
"Yes, for the moment, and that could change at any second." Isaac replied, as he knew that they could easily deal with the enemies that were coming at them, since it seemed to be mostly slashers that were interested in the noise, but at the same time he knew that this could be costing them time they didn't have, "Unfortunately the door is locked and I don't know how to override it's commands."
"There must be an override on one of the walls." Norton spoke up, indicating that he was interested in what was going on, though at the same time Chrysalis knew that he still didn't care for the three of them and wanted to make sure they survived so he could force everyone to leave this planet behind.
"We'll look for it once these things have stopped trying to stab us in the face." Carver said, to which he opened fire on another slasher and dismembered it, as he knew that if these things got close they would use their blades to carve all three of them up, which was something he wanted to avoid.
As the conversation ended the trio discovered that the slashers weren't alone, as they were joined by a pack of lurkers that wanted nothing more than to stab them with their sharpened tentacles over and over again until they killed their targets, but those very tentacles were their weakness. Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver fired upon the tentacles when the lurkers revealed them, and fired at something else when they were running around the room, before they managed to topple all of the undead creatures that were trying to kill them, though their joy was short lived as pukers started pouring into the room as well. The only thing that made Chrysalis happy about this whole situation was that there weren't any of the Regenerators running around this room, because two was enough for now, and her joy increased when they finished off the last of their enemies and no more came after them, for the moment anyway. From there the three of them looked around for the override that would allow them to move forward, as they were pretty sure that Tucker had designed this as a gauntlet and that they couldn't go back to the MID station until they found and bested him.
Fortunately the override happened to be on the wall right next to the door in question, in the form of a terminal that Isaac removed the cover from and started hacking into it's system, though a few seconds later he pulled his arms out and the door unlocked itself, allowing them to move into the hallway that was behind it... though that brought them to a room that had a pack of slashers waiting for people to kill, to which they opened fire on them immediately.
Guess you got a knack for killing anything that moves. Tucker said, though he seemed to think that something was funny before he grew serious again, which only made them wonder what sort of trick he had up his sleeves this time around, Fine. But that arsenal of yours ain't gonna help you now. You can't shoot electricity!
The trio wondered what the man was even talking about this time around, since there wasn't any electrical traps waiting for them, though they finished off the rest of their enemies and walked through the door that was in front of them... only to stop on the other side when they found the trap in question, one that Isaac studied for a few seconds before opening an audio link again.
"Buckell, it seems that Edwards has rigged up some sort of electrical trap." Isaac said, though he immediately found something interesting that might be able to tell them how they were supposed to get around such a thing, "Looks like a homemade job with a short-range transmitter."
"Short-range, huh?" Buckell replied, where his tone told them that he was thinking about the information that Isaac had given him and his own personal experience with such things, before an idea sprung to his mind and he started talking once more, "Well, the control box must be nearby, if you can find it..."
"...we can shoot it." Chrysalis finished, to which she and Isaac nodded their heads, as they understood what Buckell had been about to say, as this wasn't their first dance with people putting obstacles in their way either.
"That's right." Buckell said, though he didn't sound annoyed that he had been cut off, rather he seemed happy that they were smart enough to know exactly what he was going to say and didn't wait to be told everything, before the audio link was disconnected for the moment... as he was keeping a line connected to them in case they needed some additional assistance further down the line.
It was rather easy to locate the control box for the electric trap that was in front of them, as it was above the circuit on the left side of the room, to which Isaac latched onto it with his Kinesis Module and raised the lid, allowing either of his companions to blast it to pieces. Once the deed was done, and the trap had been turned off, the three of them walked up to the door that it had been guarding and opened it, where they found a second electric trap on the other side and two slashers that were marching down the stairs to kill them. Since they were smarter than the Necromorphs the three of them stood their ground and watched as the trap carver off the legs of their enemies, where they dismembered the rest of the foolish slashers before putting a third one, that used a vent to bypass the trap, out of commission as well. After that happened Isaac looked around the area in front of them and easily found the control box, to which he lifted the cover up with his Kinesis and Carver blasted it apart, since Chrysalis had apparently blown the first one to pieces.
They then walked up the stairs that were in front of them and came to a third electric trap, though as they stopped Chrysalis spotted the control box off to their far right and smiled as she used her magic to raise the cover, allowing Isaac to loose a blast from his Plasma Cutter that tore the box to pieces and stopped the trap from working.
Once the trap was taken care of they walked into a small room that had a few lockers, which they raided for supplies, before opening the door that was in front of them and walked out onto a walkway that had a cargo lift off to their left, one that they stepped onto and rode down to the level below them. The lower level had a number of coffins resting off on the left wall, though instead of focusing on those the trio advanced along the only path that was available to them and opened fire on the slashers that tried to block their path. From there they turned to the right and walked up to the door that was at the end of the path, though as they opened it and walked through the opening a slasher jumped out of a coffin on their right and Chrysalis, being the fasted to react of all three of them, dismembered the Necromorph with her gun before it had a chance to attack them. The moment the pieces of the slasher fell to the floor they unlocked the smaller door that was in front of them and entered a new walkway, one that had both a door and a ladder that went even deeper than they currently were at the moment.
When the three of them headed towards the door, however, they stopped as a slasher burst out of a ceiling vent, landing directly on the walkway that they were intending to walk on, and the plating shattered as some gravity wells activated rather suddenly, indicating that Tucker had been smarter than his crew had thought he was.
Surprise. Surprise. Tucker's next recording said, which immediately told the trio that this was yet another trap that he had set up all those years ago, meaning that they had been right in their thoughts, but they listened to the recording before doing anything else, Bet you didn't know that you could reverse gravity plating and hammer someone into the ceiling? I gotta admit, I didn't either until I tried. Go on. Step into the gravity flow. I dare ya!
"Buckell, Edward's set up a gravity well trap." Isaac said, hoping that their friends would be able to point them in the right direction of the location that powered these gravity plating, so they could move forward and figure out what Tucker had stashed away two hundred years ago.
"Yeah, I see it." Buckell replied, where they heard the sound of him reading something and mumbling to himself for a few seconds, before he seemed to find exactly what he was searching for, "There was a spike in power usage from Environment Control when it triggered... it's likely where he's drawing the power from. Here, I'll send you the coordinates so you can take care of it."
"Thanks Buckell." Isaac said, seeing the new waypoint become active, one that went down the ladder that was off on their left, to which he nodded his head and started to climb down the ladder while Chrysalis and Carver waited their turns while making sure no Necromorphs attacked them.
When the three of them were down on the lower area, and no Necromorphs had attacked them this time around, they approached the door and walked through to the other side, where they found a trio of coffins that didn't open and another ladder that they had to climb to to reach the level above them. As Isaac climbed up to the upper level he found a few slashers and a puker waiting for him, to which he opened fire on them while Chrysalis and Carver climbed up so they could join him. Fortunately the small group of Necromorphs were all they were dealing with in this area, allowing them to find the control box for the electrical trap that was blocking their path and blow it to pieces, to which they moved towards the other part of the walkway that they were standing on and found a ladder that they had to head down. The three of them ignored the locked door that was by the ladder, as they didn't have the necessary item to unlock the door, so they simply climbed down the ladder and continued towards Environment Control.
The moment Isaac reached the lower level he found that the control box for this electrical trap was hiding behind a vent, one that he destroyed so he could blow apart the control box, though as his friends joined him he also dismembered a slasher that emerged from the vent... though once that was done the three of them opened the door to their left and headed down the short ramp that was in front of them, before opening another door and entering another room that looked like the first one they had triggered a trap in. Sure enough when they approached the elevator that would take them to their destination the door locked itself, like the first room, to which they prepared themselves for whatever Tucker had prepared for invaders.
Look, you know I'm not screwing around. And I can't let just you waltz into Environmental... I don't wanna die. Tucker's recording said, though while his tone seemed more serious than it had been earlier, as if he knew the danger he would have been in if someone made it to this point while he was alive, that didn't change the fact that the trio knew what was coming their way, I'm sorry. Computer... arm explosives. And... detonate. Be seeing you.
Sure enough the explosives on the vents around them detonated and the computerized voice declared the same thing as what they heard in the first room, that quarantine was active thanks to a contamination, to which the three of them started firing at the lurkers, slashers, and pukers that climbed into the room they were standing in. This time around the Necromorphs were joined by a few exploders, which actually hurt the undead more than the trio, especially since they stood near their allies and blew them all apart when their goo sacks were blown open. As such it wasn't a problem for the three of them to clear the enemies that wanted them dead, though it was Chrysalis who found the override for this room, as the vertical machine with six moveable circular devices seemed to be what they were looking for. Isaac and Carver fiddled with the machine she found, turning the six circular devices until the parts linked up, where the computer accepted the override the moment they completed their task... to which they headed over to the elevator, opened the door, climbed into the elevator, and rode down to their next destination.
When the elevator came to a stop they walked out and discovered that the machine powering the gravity plating was a spinning fan of some kind, one that had three removable components that Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver yanked out of their sockets the moment they spotted the machine.
I never wanted to hurt anybody. You know? Tucker said, apparently having a recording made for the event that someone overcame the trap in the other room, came down here, and removed the components of the machine that they had just ripped out, I just wanted to live. That's all I wanted... to live. I wanted to live.
"That did the trick." Buckell spoke up, the audio link reconnecting for a moment, though whether or not he heard what Tucker had said the trio didn't care to know, as they had more pressing matters on their mind at the moment, "Gravity is reading normal again."
"I wonder what was worse for Edwards," Isaac commented, as he was finally thinking about something that Chrysalis and Carver hadn't said anything about, though they were listening to what he was saying, "dying along with everyone else that he had worked with, or being the only one to survive the Scenario Five orders."
"Personally, it's not the dying that scares me... it's not making a difference before I do." Buckell said, though he let out a sigh, as if he was thinking about something else as well, before he seemed to refocus on what they were doing and let that conversation go, "You... uh, you, Chrysalis, and Carver should be able to make it to the top of the Conning Tower now. If Edwards is around, that's where you'll find him... and his stash."
Isaac nodded his head and followed Chrysalis and Carver back to the elevator, where they rode it back to the level they had accessed it at and started the short trek back to where the gravity well was located, though along the way they had to deal with a few slashers and a lurker. The Necromorphs didn't stand a chance against them, as they were able to dismember them in no time as they carefully walked back to their destination, though when they arrived at the walkway that had it's gravity reversed they found that the way was now open. That brought them to an elevator that had three levels it had access to, the one they were on, the one above them, and what was possibly the top of Conning Tower, to which they decided to check out the second floor first. What they found when the elevator stopped at the second floor was some supplies and a key that likely gave them access to something important, though once they gathered everything they returned to the elevator and headed up to the third floor.
When they arrived at their destination they discovered that it was like an observatory of some kind, as part of the room had glass windows that allowed people to see outside the ship, though as they walked forward the three of them found Tucker Edwards' dead body sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, exactly what they were expecting to find when they heard his voice earlier... and, sure enough, they found a recording near him, his final words to whoever managed to make it this far and survive all of his traps.
Congratulations. You found me. Tucker's final recording said, to which the trio stood near him and listened to it, as they were interested in what he had to say before he brought an end to his life, as they had seen the bullet hole in his skull and knew he had to have done it to himself, Kind of stupid, ain't it? I just wanted to live and now that I'm the only one left, I couldn't give a shit. With all this time alone, I realize it's just like Sam said. I'm a lazy prick who never took one for the team. Well, team, if you can hear me now, this one's for you.
As he spoke the trio could hear Tucker cock the weapon that he had used to kill his commander, the only weapon he likely owned, before finally putting a bullet in his brain, where they heard the sound of the weapon and his now lifeless body collapsing into the positions they had found them in. Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stared at him for a few seconds, to see if there was any reaction from the room due to this message playing, and found nothing, so they walked over to the cargo lift that was on the right side of the room and rode it up to the level that was above them. There they found a locked door that could only be opened by the very key they found on the second floor, though on the other side of the door they discovered the cache of supplies that Tucker had taken before the crew had started killing each other. The moment the three of them laid eyes on the cache they started storing everything inside the containers inside their suits, as they had the feeling that this would be the only time they would be allowed to come here before they headed down to the planet below them, before they gathered everything and headed back through the now open door.
What none of them were expecting, however, was for there to be one final message for them, as the moment they stepped back out onto the walkway that the cargo lift brought them to they heard the sound of another recording starting to play... and finally noticed the explosives that were stuck to all the vents that the room had.
It took me a while but now I realized why we weren't allowed to live. Tucker said, though he sounded prepared to do what he thought was necessary, which meant that this message had to have been recording minutes before the one where he killed himself, And if you've found this and you're still alive, I guess I can finally do my part: Computer, blow all remaining charges. It's time for you to join us.
Sure enough the charges detonated and blew open the vents, but what happened was that a few pukers and a leaper pulled themselves into the area that they were in, to which the trio dismembered them before they could charge at them and then headed towards the elevator. They were surprised that more Necromorphs hadn't pulled themselves into the top of Conning Tower, but since they had decimated their enemies the three of them figured that they had little to fear from such a small group of enemies, or whatever was left of them in this section of the ship. The instant they returned to the elevator they climbed into it and rode it back down to the first floor that it went to, where the gravity well was located, though upon arriving they started to retrace their path back towards the station they had stopped at. While they made their way back towards the elevator that would take them down to the station, so they could continue to the AFT section of the Terra Nova, the trio also took out every Necromorph that tried to jump them on the way, either dismembering them or blowing them up if they were an exploder.
When they neared the elevator that would take them back to the station, so they could move forward, Buckell decided to contact them one last time, for the moment anyway, and asked them something that Norton was likely interested in hearing the answer to.
"Well, was it worth a look?" Buckell asked, though the trio could hear that the others were waiting to hear the news as well, especially since Tucker had checked out a good number of resources before the crew started whatever mission they were supposed to carry out.
"Yeah, Tucker had a nice pile of tools, parts, and salvage that we can use." Chrysalis replied, as she was sure that Isaac and Carver would put the supplies they had gathered to good use, making their armor better and their weapons more powerful in case they ran into tougher enemies in the future.
"That's good to hear." Buckell said, as that meant it wasn't a complete waste of time, which would have annoyed Norton to no end, and that also meant that they weren't leaving anything behind that might be useful to them in the near or far future.
"We're heading to the AFT section now to check on the shuttle." Isaac stated, reminding the others that they were still heading to the main reason they had boarded the Terra Nova in the first place, especially since it was the key to getting to the planet below them, "Hopefully it's not a piece of shit that needs more repairs than what we can give it."
The three of them rode the elevator down to the station, paused for a moment so they could store their new supplies away in the Bench, and then boarded the tram that was waiting for them, to which Isaac got the tram started and they headed out for the AFT section... where they would find out if they could easily repair the shuttle with what was floating around the Terra Nova, or if this mission was doomed for failure because of what the crew did to the shuttle two hundred years ago.