Dead Space: Deep Space Terror

by Blackdrag-rose

Sprawl: Into the Mines

Chrysalis moaned as reality seemed to come back into focus around her, though as she opened her eyes, and took in the area around her, she realized that something had to be seriously wrong, because she was back in the hive and not laying on the ground somewhere with Isaac. A few seconds later her nerves came back to her and she pulled herself from the ground, feeling that her body was definitely sore from what she had been through, though she kept her defenses up as she noticed that the banners in the area around her were the same as her mother's personal banners. She glanced to the side for the moment and noticed the throne that she had sat on many times over the last thousand years, and recalled who had been on the throne before her, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed that Queen Crudelis was no where to be seen. The only problem was that she could hear the familiar laughter that was becoming a common occurrence these days, causing her to look around for the source of the noise... though when she turned around in a full circle, however, she froze when she stared at the throne once more.

This time when she looked at the throne, and stared at the stone structure, she noticed that Queen Crudelis was now sitting on her throne with a smile on her face, though before Chrysalis could say anything she watched as a guard escorted a younger version of herself into the throne room... accompanied by another young changeling, who looked similar to her save for the fact that her mane and tail looked similar to Twilight's mane and tail.

"I am disappointed in the both of you." Queen Crudelis said, to which she simply stared down at the two young changelings and made no move to approach them, while at the same time the guards, with their neutral expressions, stood over the duo they had escorted, "I hear that you have been trying to make friends with the ponies in the nearest village... when will you two learn that they are nothing more than food?"

"Ponies have the potential to be friends and allies of the hive," the unknown changeling declared, while the younger version of Chrysalis nodded her head, indicating that she agreed with the statement, while she stared defiantly at the Queen, "but not if we keep treating them like cattle."

"It seems that I must punish the two of you again," Crudelis stated, though this time around she rose from her throne and started to approach the duo, where Chrysalis could see the punishment coming from a mile away, even if part of this memory didn't make sense.

Pain flashed through Chrysalis body as the pain from that particular punishment, several broken bones and a few cracked ribs, snapping her back to the real reality, which was her standing near two ruined escape pods and what appeared to be the Transport Ellie and Stross had been on. As she focused on what was real, and forced the memory to fade away, she found Isaac resting nearby and he appeared to be shaking for a moment, no doubt because the Marker was giving him a vision of Nicole again. She sighed as she realized that she and Isaac had reached their destination, as they appeared to be somewhere on the Government Sector, a place that looked like it might lead to the entrance of a mine, and sighed for a moment. She wondered if that mysterious changeling she had see in her memory had been Amaryllis, though the way Queen Crudelis spoke suggested that Amaryllis was Chrysalis' sister... which was impossible, because Chrysalis was an only child, which meant that the changeling had to be a friend that had been killed years later.

Yet, despite her thoughts on the matter, she knew there was something about the other changeling that should have rung a bell in her mind, but she pushed that to the side as she heard Isaac stir, to which she rushed over to his side and carefully helped him back onto his feet.

"Where... where are we?" Isaac asked, though at the same time Chrysalis could tell that he had definitely suffered from the message the Marker had sent him, but now wasn't the time to be worried about something like that.

"Best guess, the Government Sector." Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she was sure that her friend would be able to more accurately tell her where they were, since he had more experience with these areas and she was just guessing whenever she was asked.

Before Isaac could say anything more, however, their video links became active as Ellie appeared in front of them, though it appeared that she and Stross had moved further ahead of where they were and Ellie was on her back, indicating that Stross had pinned her to the ground.

"Isaac! Chrysalis!" Ellie called out, staring at her link for a few seconds, though the duo realized that she was terrified or afraid of something, which had to be Stross considering what was going on.

"Shhh... It's going to be okay." Stross said, to which the duo watched as he appeared above Ellie, confirming that he had pinned her to the ground, though that only made Isaac and Chrysalis worry about what was going to happen next, especially since the man was going insane, "I promise... this won't hurt a bit. Cross my heart and hope to die..."

"Stross! Don't you dare..." Isaac started to say, though as he started to make his threat Stross revealed that he had definitely snapped, as the screwdriver was already coming down towards Ellie's face.

"Stick a needle in your EYE!" Stross finished, though the last thing the duo saw was Stross driving the screwdriver into Ellie's right eye and the last thing they heard was Ellie's screams as the video link was disconnected, confirming that Stross was insane and Ellie had been hurt in the process.

"God dammit." Isaac said, as this was something that he didn't want to have happen, because he had hoped that they would have reached the Marker before this happened to Stross, though now they had a new obstacle that was between them and their main target, "Come on Chrysalis, let's get moving before more Necromorphs show up."

Chrysalis nodded as the two of them engaged their helmets and headed towards the large metal door that was in front of them, which was where they had to go considering the the way back had been destroyed, though as they walked over to the door they heard a recorded message about abnormally high seismic activity in the area. They paid no attention to the rest of the message as they opened the door in front of them and headed into the building that their escape pods had crashed into the landing of. The two of them walked into the short passage between the first door and the one right in front of them, though on the other side of the second one they found a ramp leading them deeper into the building, where they carefully walked down towards the bottom. At the same time the duo opened fire on the stalkers that tired to get around them, along with the crawlers that tried to flank them, before they reached the bottom of the ramp and headed through the door in front of them. After that they entered a chamber that looked slightly wrecked, which was understandable considering what they had done earlier, though at they stepped forward their audio links clicked and they stopped in their tracks.

"I seeeee you!" a voice said, one that they both recognized as Stross' voice, indicating that he was spying on them and was likely looking for a way to meet up with them, but since he hurt Ellie, the only person who hadn't actually tried to kill them and trusted them a little, he was going to be in for a big surprise.

"Why did you do it Stross?" Isaac shouted, not caring if the Necromorphs heard him, because at the moment he was pissed off and wanted the now insane man to know it, especially since he was planning on getting back at him before they found where the Marker was located.

"I couldn't face it!" Stross declared, no doubt referring to the mysterious figure that he was seeing in his head, the one that he referred to as 'she', as 'he' must have been Tiedemann and Stross no longer mentioned him, "I thought Ellie could. I had to make her see! STEP THREE!"

"What can't you face?" Chrysalis inquired, though at the same time she was in the same boat, because the one spirit she couldn't face was her mother, especially since her mother still contained the same power she had over her when she had been alive, "What's the final step?"

"Her! It's what they were afraid of, that I'd face her and destroy the Marker!" Stross replied, revealing that whoever was waiting at the final step, after the mysterious Step Three, was definitely the key to the safety of the Marker and that destroying them destroyed the Marker, "But it's too much! You have to help! You need to see. Step Three!"

Before Isaac could say anything else Stross disconnected and disappeared, to which he sighed as he approached the nearby power panel and removed the panel, before he started hacking into the device with Chrysalis guarding his back, just in case some enemies showed up. A few moments later he finished hacking into the power panel and removed his hands from it, where he and Chrysalis opened the door in front of them and entered another ruined section of the building, though as they walked forward they spotted a couple of Necromorphs heading towards something that was off in the distance. The duo glanced at each other for a few seconds, knowing that this couldn't be a good sign, and turned towards the passage on their left, where they carefully made their way forward and dealt with the cysts that were attached to the walls and the floor so they could safely move forward.

The next door they found contained a Power Node near it, where they collected it and headed through the door, which let them use a hallway that brought them to a store, something that they stopped near and quickly sold off what they didn't need before heading through the door at the end of the hallway.

On the other side of that door they found what appeared to be a large mine area, which Chrysalis guessed made sense considering what she knew about the Titan Station, though at the same time the two of them followed the path in front of them and started firing at the slashers that came at them first. They soon discovered that the door they needed to go through was locked, and that the power wasn't too great in this area since the lights were offline, to which the two of them agreed to head down to the level below them, as the generator had to be down there. Of course as they headed down the ramp they were assaulted by slashers, pukers, exploders, and lurkers, causing the duo to open fire on them as they searched for the power source for this area. Chrysalis soon found a dispenser that had a power box inside it, though when Isaac called out where the receptacle was located she levitated it into the air and headed over to where her friend was standing... where she slipped the box into the receptacle and restored power to the entire area, along with the door that they needed to head through.

As they headed up to the upper level again, and walked over to where the door was located, the duo was assaulted by the same enemies from before and threw in some crawlers as well, but they were able to fight their way up to the door and slipped through it before more Necromorphs could surprise them. The duo walked into the tunnel that was in front of them and heard an intercom message about survival chambers being the only hope for survival should a cave-in occur, though they both knew that neither of them needed to worry about something about that as they moved forward. As they headed towards the door on the other end of the tunnel, however, they passed by a wall on their left that had metallic blinds of some kind, ones that weren't moving. It was there that Stross, holding the screwdriver with Ellie's eye attached to it, appeared from the darkness and stared at the two of them as he grabbed onto the blinds of the wall.

"There you are Isaac!" Stross said, continuing to ignore Chrysalis as he always did, and this time she was thankful for that fact, while he focused solely on Isaac and what he wanted to say, especially since his insanity might reveal something to them before his death, "We've been waiting for you... now it's your turn! Step Three, then you'll..."

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off as Ellie appeared from the darkness behind him and swung a pipe through the air, where she struck Stross in the back and knocked him away from the wall, though instead of going in for the kill immediately she turned towards the duo.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, the two of you owe me an eye." Ellie stated, something that Chrysalis and Isaac were more than willing to agree with, since it was technically their fault she had been hurt in such a manner, but before anyone could say anything else she turned towards Stross as he got back up and the fight continued as the wall rose up.

Chrysalis stared at the wall for a few seconds, hearing Stross shout that the 'patient was not cooperating' and that she 'needed another session', where she believed that he had devolved into a more insane version of the scientists that had been experimenting on him and Isaac. Since it appeared that Ellie could handle herself, and that they couldn't help her at all, Isaac and Chrysalis headed towards the door in front of them and opened it up, though as they entered the burning passage something happened that Chrysalis would have rather avoided. A tentacle burst out of the wall to their right and wrapped around her legs, though the moment Isaac grabbed onto her, to help keep her here, the tentacle dragged them through the hole in the wall and threw them into the space outside the area they had been in... where it released them and disappeared to whatever hole it came from.

"I am getting sick of those things coming after me." Chrysalis said, though she recalled some of the earlier scientists, back before the outbreak happened, mentioning their stupid adult shows that involved tentacles and girls, but she mentally pushed that thought back into the hole it came from as Isaac let go of her shoulder.

"Ellie lied!" Stross declared, interrupting whatever Isaac was going to say, though at the same time they focused their attention on the nest that was starting to hurl seeker blasts at them, "She won't help... but you will Isaac. You'll see her after Step Three!"

"Isaac, he ran off, deeper into the mines." Ellie said, though while she sounded exhausted from her ordeal, which was understandable considering that her eye had been torn from her body, both Isaac and Chrysalis were happy to hear that she was safe and sound for the moment.

"Unfortunately we have problems on our end as well." Isaac replied, as while he knew they could deal with the nest that was in front of them he had to figure out a way around the lasers that were blocking the way back into the area they had been ripped out of, "Ellie, get somewhere safe."

As Ellie said that she would try to do so, however, Isaac and Chrysalis finished off the nest that was firing at them, though once it was dead the two of them floated around the area and looked at the devices that were firing their lasers in the direction of the entrance they wanted to use. Chrysalis, finding one of the boosters floating through the air, grabbed it with her magic and connected it to one of the two lasers that they needed to change the direction of, though when Isaac moved out of the way she activated it and watched the lasers move. Now that they knew exactly what to do with the second device Isaac found another booster and attached it to the side of the machine, where they allowed it to move the lasers out of the way. With the way open they carefully made their way over to the tunnel that would take them back into the building and found that there were cysts blocking their way, but those were easily dealt with as Isaac pulled one of the other boosters into the tunnel and threw it into all the cysts, allowing them to discharge their shots as they moved forward once more.

From there the duo moved through the pair of doors that were in front of them and exited the vacuum, allowing them to enter the structure they had been in before the tentacle grabbed them, though the area they were in now was slightly different from the previous part of the building they had been in.

"Ellie, we're back inside." Isaac said, though at the same time Chrysalis looked around and gathered whatever supplies she could find, just so they would be ready to go the moment he was done figuring out what they needed to do next in their plan to stop the Marker, "Where are you? And where's Stross?"

"I'm safe for now, but Stross has lost it!" Ellie replied, stating what they all knew at the moment, about Stross anyway, but at the same time she sounded excited about something that might help them out, "I think he's coming for you and Chrysalis... but I've found something that you're going to want to see. Here's my location. Just hurry up and get here, I'm not in any shape to be fighting."

"We'll get there as soon as we can." Chrysalis stated, knowing that they were going to have to fight their way through some more Necromorphs, as well as Stross most likely, before they found where Ellie was hiding herself and whatever she had found.

Once the connection between them and Ellie was disconnected the duo headed over to the cargo lift and rode it up to the level above them, where they noticed some lurkers, slashers, and pukers waiting for them, but that wasn't anything new since they were likely swarming this area as well. Isaac opened fire on the enemies that were blocking their path while Chrysalis aimed at the walkway below them, just in case some of the more powerful Necromorphs were down there, and they carefully made their way around the room they were in. Along the way the duo found a Power Node resting nearby, once more handed over to Isaac since Chrysalis didn't need it at all, before they approached the door that was at the end of the walkway. On the other side of the door they found that the path on their left, which had to be the correct way to go, was blocked by three of those mine traps that had lasers revealing where they shouldn't walk, though instead of messing with that Isaac used the Power Node they just picked up on the door to their right.

Inside that room they found a number of supplies that would be useful for the both of them, including the schematic for the Advanced Suit, likely the most powerful and up-to-date suit of armor that they could find, to which they happily collected the schematic and the rest of the supplies... before using a small crate to trigger the mine traps and opening the way so they could continue forward. From there they opened the door in front of them and found another passage that had cysts on the walls around them, to which Isaac simply used the remains of a supply box and hurled them through the air, forcing the cysts to fire their charges at the walls opposite of where they were resting and die without hurting anyone. With those taken care of the duo made their way towards the door and Chrysalis turned back towards the way they had come from as Isaac pulled the panel off of the terminal in front of them and started hacking into it... but before he could complete the session, however, the door opened and Stross revealed himself.

"There you are!" Stross said, to which he raised his hand and grabbed onto Isaac as he pulled himself into the tunnel that Isaac and Chrysalis had just walked down, while at the same time knocking Chrysalis back from the unexpected hit to the back when Stross moved past her.

"Whoa Stross," Isaac said, as he knew that one wrong move would cause the man to attack him, while at the same time he resisted the man's grasp as Chrysalis started to get up and face the duo, though she restrained from firing since she might hurt her friend in the process, "What are you doing?"

"You have to face her for me!" Stross shouted, to which he drove the screwdriver into the side of Isaac's helmet and apparently hit something important, as the helmet broke apart as if Isaac had put in the command for it to disengage, before he tried to drive the screwdriver into Isaac's eye, "Tell her I didn't mean to do it!"

Chrysalis watched as the two struggled for a few seconds, where Stross slowly seemed to lose control of the situation, before Isaac managed to grab hold of the screwdriver and, after a moment of thought, drove it right into the side of Stross' head, causing the man to stagger for a few seconds before he collapsed on the floor. Isaac looked up for a moment, as he was thankful for Chrysalis allowing him to deal with the man since they had both been apart of this madness since the very beginning, before he reengaged his helmet. Chrysalis, on the other hand, found an audio log that revealed that the person that Stross had been seeing the entire time, the 'she' that he kept mentioning, was someone called Alexis, who had to be his wife. She quickly realized that Stross couldn't handle the guilt of his actions and couldn't face the phantom that the Marker summoned to torment him, but in the end it drove him to insanity and there was no going back, to which she sighed as she stored the log away and followed Isaac into the next area they had to walk through so they could get to Ellie.

When they walked through the door in front of them the duo discovered that they were back in the room they had turned the power on in, save for the fact that the larger door they had powered up was now unable to be opened, though they walked onto the cargo lift and rode it down to the level below them. Fortunately the door they needed to go through was to the right of where the cargo lift came to a rest, were they passed through the door and entered the hallway that was behind it, before turning towards the door at the end of the path. As they walked through the door in front of them they were assaulted by another burst of the Marker's influence, where both of them heard Nicole mention that it was a shame about what happened to Stross and explained that this was what happened if they 'fight it'. Isaac, growing annoyed with the fact that the Marker was constantly using Nicole against him, told the voice to shut up, which caused it to tell him that it would ask him who it was one last time before the end.

That didn't sit well with Chrysalis as they snapped back to reality and returned to following the path in front of them, where they walked down a ramp and approached the door at the end of it, though as they walked through the door a slasher climbed up from the gap in front of them and tried to attack them, only for the duo to blast it apart. From there Isaac tapped in a command to the nearby terminal and called the elevator down to where they were standing, though before they activated the other terminal Chrysalis picked up an audio log from a Unitologist that was short and detailed that they had been selected for a special assignment, before she stashed it away and nodded to Isaac. A few seconds later the elevator started to rise and headed up the shaft that they were in, though as they started moving groups of slashers started dropping down into the elevator and attacked them, prompting Isaac and Chrysalis to open fire on them as they waited for the elevator to arrive at it's destination.

When the elevator arrived at the floor they were supposed to arrive at, and came to a stop, Isaac and Chrysalis walked off it and headed towards the door in front of them, though as the door opened something interesting and unexpected happened; Nicole, the Marker's creation, appeared in the middle of the doorway and grabbed onto Isaac as his helmet disengaged on it's own, while at the same time Chrysalis was forced to the ground by her mother, who stood off a few steps away from Nicole with a smile on her face as her magic kept Chrysalis pinned to the floor.

"Moment of truth, Isaac!" Nicole declared, staring right into Isaac's face with a rage and anger that was brought up by the Marker, while at the same time Isaac didn't fight back all that much as he stared at the powerful hallucination, "Who am I? Am I your friend? Your lover? The one shred, one light, one bright, shining star you clung to in this universe? Or am I your guilt? Crushing the life out of you because you can't get over the fact that I'm dead? That you feel responsible? Who... AM... I? Why do you keep fighting me? Why can't you let go?"

Chrysalis watched as Nicole swung Isaac into the wall to the right of the door's opening and held him there for a few seconds, when she switched from 'love' to 'guilt', before lifting him into the air when she questioned him as to why he kept fighting her... and yet she knew that her friend had an answer for the hallucination.

"Because you were my everything," Isaac replied, revealing that he had truly loved Nicole while she was alive and that, with her dead, he felt hollow inside, which was why he didn't want to get rid of her, even with a good friend like Chrysalis standing beside him every step of the way, "And if I let you go, I would have nothing left of what we had."

That was followed by a few seconds of silence, though as Chrysalis started to question what was happening Nicole reverted back to normal, meaning no blood and lights coming from her mouth and eyes, before she lowered Isaac to the floor and finally let go of him as a smile appeared on her face.

"Step Four: Acceptance." Nicole said, to which she removed her hand from Isaac and let him fall to the floor for a few seconds, so he could catch his breath, before she started to walk away, "Now you're ready to finish this."

"And what... about Chrysalis?" Isaac asked, as he knew that the way things were going Chrysalis was still being tormented by her past, even if she wasn't personally responsible for the death of her mother, which was why he wondered why the Marker had really changed from Wildfire and changed to Queen Crudelis.

"She is nothing but a weakling." Crudelis replied, to which her horn ignited for a moment and she slammed Chrysalis into the wall opposite of where Isaac had been held by Nicole for a few seconds, before she knocked Chrysalis to the floor and let her magic fade away, "I'll crush her when the moment is absolutely perfect."

Chrysalis watched as her mother and Nicole faded away, as if they had never been there to begin with, before she bothered to pick herself up from the floor and make sure that she hadn't sustained any injuries, though a miracle must have occurred since she wasn't bleeding or spitting up blood this time.

"You know what? I absolutely hate your mother." Isaac said, as he could put up with Nicole trying to get back at him, in her own way, for what happened, but at the same time it was sickening to see a parent, even a long dead one, tormenting their child and beating them whenever she had the chance, "I know you hated Kendra, but she would be better than having Crudelis following us around and hurting you whenever she has the chance to inflict some pain."

"Now you know why I hated my life until her timely death," Chrysalis replied, to which she stretched her arms before heading towards the store that was in front of where, where she slipped the new schematic into the waiting slot and smiled a little as the Advanced Suit became available for them to purchase.

Chrysalis' finger hovered over the option to buy the suit, because she clearly had the credits to do so, before she tapped it and stepped into the machine, allowing it to close around her and started exchanging her existing suit for the new one, where she was let out a few moments later. When she emerged from the store, with the final suit equipped, she stepped away from the terminal and allowed Isaac to step forward, where he was enveloped by the store as well and forced her to stand there for a few seconds. Moments later Isaac emerged wearing the suit as well, where Chrysalis was able to see that this suit was the more armored version of the suits they had acquired so far and looked more menacing than the other ones. With their trip to the shop done, and the new armor equipped, they headed down the ramp and Isaac quickly added a few more Power Nodes to his weapon, before they headed towards the door at the end of the walkway and opened it up... only for the duo to stare at the large piece of machinery that rested in front of them.

Isaac, knowing that Chrysalis had no idea what this was, identified the piece of machinery as a drill, though a few seconds later they walked down the ramp that was beside them and walked down to the area below them, where they found Ellie tampering with what had to be the power source of the large vehicle.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, over here!" Ellie said, noticing the duo as they reached the area that she was standing in, to which the two of them disengaged their new helmets and walked over to her as she turned back to the power source, "It looks like the mechanic was dragged away before he could finish fixing this."

"Ellie, Stross is dead." Isaac commented, knowing that Ellie would enjoy hearing that piece of news, especially since Stross was the one that removed her eye and hurt her, though that wouldn't do anything to bring back her eye, even with Chrysalis' magic at their disposal.

"Well, I'm not sorry about that." Ellie stated, though at the same time she turned away from the power source and stared at the duo for a moment, finding that Isaac was focused on her while Chrysalis was looking around for any enemies that might come looking for them, "So what happens now? I thought you two needed Stross to destroy the Marker."

"Stross couldn't lead us to the Marker," Isaac replied, now understanding part of the reason why Nicole had been tormenting him the entire time since he left the hospital behind, before he sighed and looked into Ellie's eye, "He was running away from his guilt."

"What about you?" Ellie asked, her tone revealing that she was worried about Isaac, meaning that she either saw part of his episodes with the Marker's influence or had heard part of it and said nothing about it.

"I'm not running anymore... I know what we have to do now." Isaac answered, beckoning to Chrysalis for a moment, who snapped back to them for a moment, before he glanced up at the machine that they were standing near, "Well, this drill is a stroke of good luck, finally. Ellie, why don't you get up to the cab and see if you can't get it started. Chrysalis and I will locate the other power cell."

"Alright." Ellie said, to which she pushed the power cell into the receptacle that it was resting in, allowing it to connect to it's container, before turning towards the duo, "I'll see what I can do from up there."

Isaac and Chrysalis reengaged their helmets and watched as Ellie climbed up to the cab that was near the top of the drill, though as she started to close the door they started to explore the area and searched for the power cell, which was actually behind the drill and off to the right in a dispenser. Blocking the path to the dispenser rested a group of cysts, to which the duo smashed a supply crate and stared flinging the pieces at the cysts, forcing them all to detonate their charges until the path was open. Once the path was cleared Isaac approached the dispenser and withdrew the power cell that was inside it, to which the duo carried it over to where the first one was located and slipped it into the second slot that was right next to it, where they immediately wondered what the next thing they would have to do is, since that was common in situations like this.

"Hey, what did you guys do?" Ellie asked over the audio link, confirming their suspicions that something had happened when they put the power cell into the slot, though they listened to what she had to say while Isaac stared at the pair of power cells, "I just lost the control holograms."

"Yeah, the circuit junction shorted out." Isaac replied, figuring out exactly what was wrong in a few seconds, though at the same time he already knew how to get around the situation that they were in, "We'll have to find another one."

"Well, it's standard, there should be another one around here somewhere." Ellie said, though at the same time they could hear the sound of her working on something, indicating that despite the fact that the controls had disappeared she was still fixing something else.

Isaac and Chrysalis headed up the other ramp, that wasn't the one they used to get down into this area, and carefully walked up it, where they found a diamond semiconductor and headed over to a lift that allowed them to pass by the part of the drill that Ellie was in. When they reached the other side a pair of slashers rushed at them and tried to cut them apart, though the duo dismembered them before they could even come near them and walked up to the panel that was right in front of them. Isaac removed the lid with his Kinesis Module and extracted the circuit that was in front of him, to which he and Chrysalis climbed back onto the lift and headed back over to the area they had come from, though at the same time Isaac informed Ellie that they had what they were looking for and she, in turn, told them that she might have been able to bypass the need for any navcards. As the lift came to a stop near the first area they found it in the duo spotted a puker blocking the way, one that was easily removed, but they remained on their guard as they headed down towards the power source for the drill... and Chrysalis was surprised that this was all the Necromorphs they were even encountering at the moment.

The duo then stopped in front of the power source and Isaac slipped in the new circuit junction, though Chrysalis could hear a sigh coming from her friend as he realized that something had happened once more.

"It doesn't recognize the new junction." Isaac said, letting Ellie know what was going on while at the same time informing Chrysalis on what she didn't know, who was currently looking out for more Necromorphs, since she believed that they were trying to lure the duo into a false sense of security.

"I think I've got it from up here." Ellie commented, meaning that she might be able to fix what went wrong from her side, which was another stroke of luck that they didn't need to go get something else to fix up the drill.

"Or maybe just rewire it from down here." Isaac mumbled, though at the same time Chrysalis heard him, but she said nothing as Ellie questioned what had been said and Isaac brushed it off as nothing.

Chrysalis watched as Isaac pulled the panel off of the terminal and started hacking into it, though a few seconds later he pulled back and the duo watched as the entire power source was pulled back into the interior of the drill, where Ellie exclaimed that she had solved the problem. Ellie then stated that there was a lift on the other side of the machine and that she was going to turn it around so they could use the lift to reach the upper part of the machine, to which Isaac and Chrysalis moved to the side and watched as the machine started to spin in place. As the drill started to spin the duo watched as the machine mowed down several Necromorphs that wanted to kill them all, rapidly cutting them to pieces in the process, before Ellie stopped the machine when it was facing the opposite direction. Once Ellie stopped moving, and the lift came down to where they were standing, the duo moved over to the lift and let it bring them up to the top of the machine, where they stood in the middle and connected to Ellie.

"Okat Ellie, we're on the drill." Isaac said, though at the same time Chrysalis waved her arm a little, so that way Ellie could see them easily, but they both kept their helmets up, since they both knew that enemies would likely be ahead of them and attempt to hurt them.

"Alright," Ellie replied, to which the duo watched her tap a few more controls and the machine started moving forward, indicating that she was ready to get them to their destination, "time to see what this beast can do..."

As the drill started moving forward, and started cutting through the rock and organic stuff that was in their way, Isaac and Chrysalis watched the sides of the machine and opened fire on the pukers and slashers that were climbing up to the level that they were on, dismembering them before they had a chance to hurt either of them or get close to Ellie. Along the way the duo heard Ellie speak about how many Necromorphs there were, or 'bastards' as she called them, and openly wondered how many had to be above them, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis also fired at the lurkers that walked along the sides of the tunnel. As they moved through the tunnel, and fired at all of the Necromorphs that wanted to harm them, Ellie also asked if they were doing fine, where Isaac confirmed that they were having a blast, though Chrysalis opened fire on the lurkers in the distance and removed them before they could become a threat to them. Isaac also fired at the explosive canisters that the lurkers were standing near, blowing them to pieces in the process and allowing them to focus on the more important threat.

Some time passed before they reached what Chrysalis was their target, because Isaac called for Ellie to stop and they did so for a few seconds, though at the same time she sensed that something was gong to change and prepared her magic for whatever was going to happen.

"It looks like we've reached the foundation pylons of the Government Sector," Ellie commented, though there was some hope in her voice, as they had reached the area that the Marker was in, which meant that Isaac and Chrysalis could finally do what they had planned on doing.

"So how do we get in there?" Chrysalis asked, as she was sure that there had to be some way for them to get into the Government Sector from where they were, as in an elevator or something like that, but the smile on Ellie's face told her that she had a different plan in mind.

"Straight ahead." Ellie replied, to which she started tapping controls again, as if she didn't care for the fact that Isaac and Chrysalis was standing on the top of the machine, while at the same time the drill continued moving forward, "We do have a giant drill after all."

Chrysalis was glad that she had prepared her magic when she had, as she summoned a barrier around her and Isaac for a few moments as Ellie tore into the foundation pylon, though a few seconds passed before the drill tore through what was clearly a wall of the Government Sector. When they pierced the wall Chrysalis lifted her and Isaac into the air and set them down on the walkway that was above the entrance of the area they were in, while Ellie brought the drill to a stop as it pointed diagonally up towards the ceiling. The duo realized that they had opened a massive hole in the side of the area and that there was still an army of Necromorphs somewhere behind them, meaning they had to move fast before they were overrun by enemies. As Ellie climbed out of the machine, and dropped down to the area below them, Chrysalis dropped the barrier she had summoned and looked around the area, knowing they had to be quick and find the Marker before the Necromorphs or Tiedemann tried to stop them.

"You know, I'm glad you summoned that barrier when you did," Isaac commented, staring at the wreckage that was behind them for a few seconds, as he was imagining what could have happened to them without the barrier, "otherwise I'm pretty sure that would have broken some of my bones, even with this advanced suit of armor."

"Actually, the damage could have potentially killed us as well," Chrysalis said, as she could tell that all the metal and stone they passed through would have gone more damage than what Isaac was thinking about, though she was happy to save them some pain, "Oh well, we're safe for now and that's all that matters."

"Hey, at least we made it, right?" Ellie asked, causing the duo to glance down at her for a moment, while at the same time finding that they wouldn't be able to join her immediately thanks to the damage she caused to the area near them, and that included the fact that the drill was blocking the way, "And we're definitely inside the Government Sector... which means this Marker of yours is somewhere behind the large door that's in front of us."

"Well, we had better move fast." Isaac stated, knowing what was coming through the mines that they had been in and knew that they didn't have the power to kill everything behind them, not unless Chrysalis had a magical power of some kind that would allow her to mow through their foes, "Those Necromorphs are going to find a way up the hole we drilled. There's got to be an elevator or something connecting these floors. Chrysalis and I are going to make our way to you."

"Alright, I'll meet you two halfway." Ellie replied, though before either of them could say anything else she started moving and left the area she had dropped down into, leaving them to their own devices as they searched for the route that she was searching for on her own, but before they moved the audio link activated, "Isaac, Chrysalis, there's a gunship docked near the door!"

Isaac and Chrysalis glanced at each other for a moment, as they had seen several gunships during the early stages of their escape, and wondered why one would be here, especially since the two of them were sure that Tiedemann had sent them away, before either of them said anything.

"Really?" Isaac asked, as he still found it hard to believe that Tiedemann would purposely leave a gunship behind, unmanned as well, for anyone to take, "Is it damaged?"

"Not that I can tell." Ellie answered, though the joy that had been in her voice earlier came back, indicating that this piece of news was great for all of them, especially after all the horrors they had been through so far, "Isaac, Chrysalis, we're going to make it out of here alive!"

"Ellie, it's too dangerous for you to stay here..." Chrysalis started to say, but she stopped when Isaac held up a hand and shook his head, indicating that he had a better plan to make sure that Ellie got out of here and let them take care of the Marker that he had a hand in making.

"What are you talking about?" Ellie asked, though that was before she sighed and the sound of her walking on something could be heard, indicating that she must have gotten on the gunship, "You and Isaac need to get your asses over here quickly. I'm starting a systems check now."

As the audio link between them was disconnected, indicating that Ellie had work to do, Isaac and Chrysalis turned to their left and followed the hallway that happened to be in front of them, though at the same time they opened the boxes on the walls and gathered whatever supplies they could. The duo chose to walk by the door that was clearly the only way forward, merely to see if Ellie found anything wrong with the gunship, while also finding a Power Node that they might or might not even use at this point. When they finished exploring the area of the floor that Chrysalis had dropped them on, the parts that hadn't been destroyed by the drill anyway, the duo headed back towards the door they ignored and opened it up, where they had to pass through a second door before they arrived at the docking area the gunship was docked in... and, from what they could tell, the ship was in pristine condition.

They soon found Ellie standing near the main controls of the ship, though as the duo approached the terminal on their side they both disengaged their helmets for a moment, while at the same time Chrysalis waited to see what sort of move Isaac made in regards to Ellie and the gunship.

"Isaac..." Ellie said, revealing that she had noticed their arrival and was focusing on what Isaac was doing, which was him staring at the terminal as he mentally questioned if he was going to go through with this, "what are you doing?"

Chrysalis watched as Isaac glanced up for a second, his eyes revealing that he had made a decision, even if it was one that Ellie would hate when she found out what he was doing, and he started entering the commands to seal the gunship's door and launch it from the docking bay.

"Isaac! What are you doing?! Open this door right now!" Ellie exclaimed, indicating that she definitely realized what was happening and her tone revealed that she didn't like it one bit, though at the same time she opened a video link with the duo, "No, don't you dare! Don't you dare launch this ship!"

"Ellie, this is your best chance of surviving this nightmare," Isaac said, though at the same time he entered one more command and the gunship was launched, to which he and Chrysalis stared at Ellie as the gunship started to leave the area and take her to safety, "Ellie, back on the Ishimura I couldn't save Nicole and lived with that guilt for a long time. Even Chrysalis couldn't save the love of her life and she's been carrying those emotions with her for the last thousand years... at least now we can be happy knowing that we saved someone and made sure they lived to see tomorrow."

"...you bastards..." Ellie said, though as the gunship started to leave the area, and take her to safety, Chrysalis noticed that she looked sad and hurt by what Isaac had done, making her wonder if Ellie had developed feelings for Isaac along the way, before the connection was cut off... to which Isaac sighed as he leaned against the nearby wall and sat on the ground for a few moments.

"Are you ready to talk now?" a voice asked, though that was when the duo noticed that Nicole had appeared again, those she was sitting near Isaac and that she was looking in Isaac's direction.

"Why?" Isaac inquired, where he shook his head while refusing to look at the hallucination at the moment, leaving Chrysalis to wonder where both of her spirits had wandered off to this time, "So I can let you go too? I can't do that Nicole... I never wanted to let you go."

"A lot happened that we never wanted." Chrysalis said, mostly referring to her unfortunate life, but at the same time she felt that it was an appropriate thing to say at the moment, especially considering the feelings that Isaac had to be feeling at the moment.

"Isaac... touch me." Nicole added, to which she raised a hand and held it out towards Isaac, though while that raised some alarms in Chrysalis' head she was happy to see that Isaac was thinking the same thing.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Isaac stated, though at the same time he picked himself off the floor and gathered his weapon, knowing that their final hurdle was in front of them, to which he nodded towards Chrysalis and they started to walk by Nicole.

"Isaac, please." Nicole said, her voice almost pleading for Isaac to do that, but at the same time Isaac's mind was made up and he was determined to stick with his plan, just like he had done to ensure Ellie's survival, "Make us whole."

"I can't do that." Isaac replied, though not a few seconds later the hallucination of Nicole vanished before their eyes, allowing Isaac and Chrysalis to focus on the task at hand once more.

Chrysalis was still slightly worried about this place, the Government Sector, as her feelings and brief experience with the Red Marker of Aegis VII told her that something bad was going to happen soon... and she had no idea if that was because of the Necromorphs or because of whatever her mother had planned.

Comments

[Earthpatriot117]

I rather she stayed a CHANGELING but I guess I could into this story.

[Earthpatriot117]

Wait....NEVER MIND!!! I thought this was a pony turned into a human story, it's actually anthro........WHICH IS AWESOME!!!

[Ze1a7in]

A changeling named Amaryllis, which has a mane and tail similar to Twilight Sparkle's?

...You sure you didn't get inspiration from any "Twilight was born a Changeling" fics?

[Black--Soul]

Step 5: Become hole again by kicking Marker ass and destroy the Markers implanted mental Parasite...

Chrysalis will totaly wipe her mothers face with the power of being best Bugwaifu

[Black--Soul]

Next step... Party hard!
8916525
Awesome stories to take inspiration from

[Black--Soul]

Damn, ds2 is nearing its end. It's a great game, I can see it being a successful co-op game.

Chrysalis never killed the bitch that birth her, would be reasonable that she has to do it. Since in the past someone had to do it for her, now she can do it herself!

Ellie... Dawww... See you

Ha-haaa, time to pay some assholes a visit and finish this outbreak and putting the project leader to a well earned execution
Seriously, I doubt they ever fix any of their shit, letting it festering until it comes to bite them in the assistance.