Tau Volantis: The Experiment
Once Chrysalis had gotten over the fact that her mother had returned from the dead, for the second time when she thought about it, the three of them entered the small building that had the security door and passed through to the other side, where they could stare at the large frozen Necromorph once more. From there it was a simple matter to walk over to the short walkway that brought them right to the locked security door in question, to which Isaac entered the passcode from the list that Santos had given them and the lock was removed. The moment that was taken care of the door opened for them and they entered the circular area that rested between the two entrances, though as they walked into the hallway that was attached to the second entrance they spotted a feeder that fled the moment they started moving. As the trio walked down the hallway, and headed towards the elevator on the opposite end from the entrance, Isaac spotted the ruined vent that the feeder must have joined into, indicating that it had run away to get assistance for an attack... though what they soon discovered was that the elevator in front of them was busted and the one near the vent was the one that would take them to their destination.
As such the three of them climbed into the elevator and rode it up to the level it connected to, though as they stepped outside they found a group of stalkers that were actually feasting on the corpse of one of their own, who must have been the weakest in the pack or something... though the moment they walked outside the stalkers snapped at attention and fled, but at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis were ready for them, as these things were dangerous.
"Okay... what the hell were those things?" Carver asked, knowing that the best way to get information on a new type of enemy was to ask both Isaac and Chrysalis, as the chances were very high that they had fought this type in the past as well, as they had proved many times since this adventure started.
"Stalkers." Isaac replied, though at the same time he carefully walked forward, where both Chrysalis and Carver mimicked his footsteps as they continued towards the warehouse the parts were located in, "They tend to hide behind cover and peek out at whoever or whatever they're hunting, though they also tend to charge at their targets with a headbutt that packs quite the punch. If you see one peeking around a corner you had best shoot it quickly, or hurl a spike or something at it before it has a chance to move."
Sure enough they were attacked by a first few stalkers as they approached the first crates that were in front of them, though while Isaac and Carver focused their fire on them Chrysalis loosed a few shots at the stalkers that were directly coming towards them, blasting the down before they could reach the group. From there they slowly made their way towards their destination, forcing the stalkers to show themselves as they went and carefully removed them from their path, either by blasting them apart or just shooting them with the claws of other stalkers. Of course one obstacle they had to be careful of was the fact that the left side of their path was nothing more than a cliff wall, meaning that if one of them fell over the edge, and Chrysalis didn't react fast enough, then that person was dead before they even hit the ground. Despite all of that, however, they were able to reach the building that the coordinates were leading them to and walked through the security door that was waiting for them, where they walked into what appeared to be or a briefing room... one that was talking about the fact that they needed to contain the threat they found on this planet, which was what happened two hundred years ago.
Chrysalis, despite the fact that she hated listening to such a video as it explained how the military arm of this campaign had killed everyone and themselves, found the tactics they used to be of some interest, especially since each team self terminated themselves once their missions were complete.
Once the video was replaying itself again, however, the three of them moved towards the opposite side of the room and found a path that brought them right to another security door, one that they eagerly moved into since they were supposed to be getting closer to their destination. When the door opened they found that the area in front of them had a decent number of large boxes resting around the area, reminding Chrysalis of the large open areas where they fought the stronger enemies, to which they remained on their guard as they headed over to their left. As they moved towards the security door that was their destination, however, they had to contend with another pack of stalkers that apparently called this place home, while keeping their guard up as well. The surprising part was the terminal they could hack into when they reached the security door, so Chrysalis kept Isaac and Carver covered while they bypassed the lock that was on the door, before the three of them slipped inside it and came even closer to the warehouse.
When they walked through the other half of the security door, and headed down the short hallway that was in front of them, the trio opened the door to the warehouse and gazed upon what was left inside the building... where they quickly discovered that there was a massive hole in the structure, with a number of parts missing, and there was no Nexus resting in the middle of the ruined building.
"Whoa..." Isaac commented, as this wasn't what he was expecting when Santos wanted them to come out and see if the parts for the sensor were still around, though at the same time it looked like they might have discovered one of the reasons that the Tau Volantis outbreak, and the military purge, had happened in the first place, before he opened an audio link to the others, "Uh, guys? We've got some bad news. It looks like the Nexus they were experimenting on in this warehouse just got up and left before they started purging everything... and it looks like it took half the warehouse with it when it left."
"Oh no!" Santos replied, though while she knew that such a thing had been bad for the scientists and researchers that had been here two hundred years ago, and likely resulted in the purge of everyone who came to Tau Volantis, she also knew that it might make things more difficult for them to complete their mission, "What about the sensor parts?"
"The schematic said we need three components to make the sensor, right?" Isaac inquired, to which he waited for a few seconds before he got a sound that sounded like Santos was confirming what he had said, as he remembered what had been on the blueprints easily enough, "Well, it's a long shot, but Chrysalis, Carver, and I will take a look around the rest of the warehouse and see if we can't find the necessary parts... and I see at least one of them already. We'll let you guys know when we've gotten all the parts."
The first thing the trio did was walk down the walkway that they were standing on, as they approached a ladder and both Isaac and Chrysalis headed down to the lower level, as Carver spotted something he might be able to use from the level they walked out onto. Isaac, being the first to reach the lower level, headed off to the right and found a box with some ammunition inside it, though he smiled as he picked up the component that he had spotted from the entrance they used to get in here. Chrysalis, on the other hand, walked to the left of the ladder and found some additional supplies that she gathered immediately, including what appeared to be another part that they needed for the sensor, before she turned around and joined Isaac by the ladder. It was in that moment that Carver turned the gear that was up on the level he chose to stay on, where the duo watched as a cage was pulled up to the ruined walkway that was near them, though both of the smiled as they noticed that it contained the third piece of the sensor, which caused Isaac to walk over and grab it before Carver let the cage descend back into the area it had been pulled from.
With the components in hand both Isaac and Chrysalis climbed the ladder and met up with Carver, to which all three of them started the journey out of the ruined warehouse so they could head back to the main warehouse and put the sensor back together... and then, hopefully, it would help them uncover where the Machine was located.
"Alright Santos," Isaac said, opening the audio link once more, because he was sure that at least Santos and Ellie were going to like the news he had to give them, even if Norton thought they should be planning their escape from this planet and the creatures that called it home, "I'm pretty sure we've got all the parts we need to make a sensor."
"Excellent!" Santos replied, her earlier happiness returning in full force, as this was good news for them and their mission, before she decided to focus on the one aspect of the task she had sent the trio on, "Isaac, do you think you can reconstruct the sensor?"
"Yeah, we just need to find a Bench and call up the blueprint." Isaac stated, as that was what he had done when he was making the pieces for the Crozier earlier, though now it was for something that might as well double as a weapon, if his thoughts were correct, "We should have a working sensor in no time... and then we can perform the experiment."
The trio walked through the second entrance of the security door and walked back out into the area that was in front of them, where all the boxes were located, though as they did so they turned towards their left and watched as the Snow Beast appeared once more, only this time he smashed the ground and caused several boxes to fall. The moment their opponent revealed itself to them, however, the trio separated and forced it to decide who it wanted to fight, though at the same time it foolishly revealed the tentacles that all three of them tore off the instant they were brought out. Eventually the Snow Beast resorted to revealing it's major weakness after a failed attempt to charge one of them down, which they fired at and destroyed one of, causing the Snow Beast to retreat in pain. Of course only taking one of it's main weaknesses down wasn't enough, as it stuck around and tried to attack them again, using the same patterns they had come to know by now, so it was rather easy for them to dodge the incoming attacks and fire some off in return... before destroying the second of the three weaknesses the Snow Beast had.
When that happened the Snow Beast roared in pain and retreated as quickly as it possibly could, to which it climbed over one of the walls and disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the trio to their short lived victory, as they knew that they would be seeing it again soon enough.
"Damn, that thing keeps running away before we can kill it." Isaac commented, though he was happy that they were able to remove it so quickly, as that allowed them to move forward without having to worry about something attacking them from behind.
"Well, we'd be able to finish it off if someone held it down long enough," Carver stated, to which he turned and looked at Chrysalis, because he was sure that her power was more than enough to hold something like the Snow Beast down, long enough for them to finally kill it.
"Next time we see it, I'll stop it from running again." Chrysalis promised, because she was getting tired of the Snow Beast already and wanted it gone, as did both Isaac and Carver, though even as they started to retrace their steps, so they could get back to the others, she noticed that only Isaac was staying behind... and he seemed to be staring at some flares that had been left in front of another door.
"Shit... someone left a trail of flares outside the armory." Isaac said, staring at the building in question, though since they weren't the only ones out here it made sense who would be able to leaving flares that were still burning, "And by someone I mean Danik and his men."
"Let them have whatever death is down there." Chrysalis stated, as she wasn't interested in heading down into the armory, mostly because she was sure that the Unitologists had something sinister planned for such an area, "Isaac, this whole thing smells of a trap to me... one set up by Danik and his men, to get us killed. We would be better served to ignore the armory and focus on the experiment."
"She's right." Carver added, as he knew what Chrysalis was thinking about, as when he discovered the flares he had been thinking the same thing and considered what their enemies might be doing, "It's a Unitologist suicide mission down there, to rile up some Necromorphs to kill us... let's just leave it behind and keep moving."
Isaac thought about it for a moment, especially since the Necromorphs prayed on the Unitologists as well, before eventually deciding that they were right, to which they started to retrace their steps back towards the drill room, while at the same time dismembering and blasting apart any enemies that got in their way. Fortunately there weren't a lot of foes until they actually reached the drill room, where some slashers and fodders were waiting for them, but even then those enemies didn't stand a chance against all three of them working together. With those foes defeated they headed through the security door that was under the ruined drill, used the cargo lift to reach the level above them, and started to make their way towards the door to the warehouse, where they encountered a few creepers that were trying to infest the corpses that were laying around the area... only for the three of them to shoot the small targets in the brain and kill them, allowing them to move forward and enter the warehouse.
When they walked inside Isaac immediately rushed over to the Bench with the components they had grabbed, where he started putting the pieces together, allowing Chrysalis and Carver to stand there for a few minutes while he worked on reconstructing the sensor... though when he was finished they found that the sensor was a long barreled weapon that seemed to fire electric stakes, and seemed even more dangerous than they originally thought it would be.
"Wow, this looks pretty lethal for science equipment." Isaac commented, looking down at the Probe Gun he had just created, as that was what the schematics and blueprints called it, though at the very least he still had his Plasma Cutter so he wouldn't have to carry this around all the time, "Okay, now what do I do with it?"
"The research says the scientists took their readings internally." Santos replied, though at the same time the trio looked at each other, because this was going to be one of the weirdest experiences they were ever going to have with a Necromorph, even if it was still frozen, "So I guess we'll have to pry open the specimen's body and lower the three of you down inside it."
"Well, that would explain the harpoon guns." Ellie said, referring to the two harpoon guns that were located on the Observation level, with one on either side of the Nexus, though at the same time Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver weren't too impressed by what they had to do next.
With the sensor in hand, and nothing else for them to do except go forward, the trio walked into the elevator that was next to the Bench and took it to the level that everyone else was standing on, though when they arrived they found that Norton was a little further away from the others than he had been when they last saw him... and, if Chrysalis wasn't seeing things, he closed a video link he had opened with someone, maybe confirming her suspicions at the same time.
"Who's that?" Carver asked, indicating that he had seen the same thing that Chrysalis had seen, though neither of them had seen whoever Norton was talking to, even though Chrysalis had an opinion on who Norton had contacted... and it wasn't a good thought at the moment.
"Don't worry about it." Norton snapped, indicating that he wanted his conversation to remain private and not be known to everyone that was around them, while at the same time making Chrysalis seriously think that she was onto something when she told Isaac and Carver her opinions on the Captain.
"Aye Captain." Carver said, though he didn't like how quickly his Captain had snapped at him, because that made him wonder if Chrysalis was right, but he kept his thoughts to himself for now, as he didn't want to annoy his Captain at the moment and start something that would derail the mission.
Chrysalis stood near Santos, Ellie, and Norton as both Isaac and Carver approached the two harpoons that were inside the chamber with them, where they activated the consoles that were near the harpoons and turned them on, before they loosed the bolts into the Nexus' rib cage. From there they both activated their Kinesis Modules and started to turn the cranks on the back of the harpoons, where Chrysalis and the others watched as the two halves of the rib cage were forcefully pulled open before their eyes. It took a few moments for Isaac and Carver to pull the rib cage open, to a point where the cage Norton was standing near could fit into the gaping hole, though once the deed was done the duo pulled themselves away from the harpoons and approached the cage, while Isaac also pulled out the Probe Gun. His reasoning was that he was going to need it while they were inside the Nexus, where Chrysalis and Carver protected him from whatever was inside the beast, while they sought out whatever Ellie and Santos wanted them to find.
"Isaac, I'm sure that you and the others know this, but you'll have to ride the cage out to the opening." Santos said, echoing what the group had been thinking the moment they gathered together again, to which she turned towards Norton, who happened to be doing nothing at the moment, "Norton, can you help us?"
"Wha... you've got to be kidding me." Norton said, his tone indicating that he didn't want to help anyone do anything in regards to the Nexus, even though it was simple enough for him to access the control panel and get them to their destination within a few seconds.
"Norton, just save it." Chrysalis stated, to which she, Isaac, and Carver walked over to the gate that was on the cage, which needed to be opened so they could get into the cage, before she stared at the Captain, "We just need you to guide the cage over to the opening... and then we'll take care of figuring out where the Machine is located."
Norton stared at them before he opened the side of the cage where the controls were located and closed the opening behind him, where he opened their side of the cage and allowed them to walk into the open area that they needed to stand in for a few moments. Once they were all inside the cage Norton closed the opening and started moving the controls, where the cage started moving forward and allowed them to approach the Nexus, though when they arrived above the opening Norton activated another control and their side of the cage started to descend into the insides of the Necromorph. As they descended Isaac asked Santos how they were supposed to do this, since he had never actually used something like this before, to which Santos informed them that they needed to use the weapon's sensor attachment to locate a nerve cluster, which the weapon would ping near. From there it was a simple matter for them to shoot a telemetry spike into one of the nerve clusters and she should get the location of the Machine, though at the same time all three of them knew that it couldn't be that simple... even if they wished that it was that simple.
When their section of the cage came to a stop, and the side opened so they could leave it, Isaac pulled up the Probe Gun and followed the ping to the right of where the cage had landed, though what was fortunate about that was that Isaac brought them to a small chamber area that the first nerve cluster was located in. As such Isaac lifted the weapon and loosed some spikes into the nerve cluster that was above them, though that caused the nerve cluster to shake while the actually creature seemed to shudder as well. Not a few moments later blackened feeders emerged from the various paths that they could take and charged at them, revealing that the Nexus must have had these inside it when it was frozen two hundred years ago, to which Chrysalis stood at the ready and wove her magic through the air, creating barriers that would force the feeders to come from a single direction. That action, and the fact that both Isaac and Carver realized what she was doing, allowed the three of them to focus their fire on the feeders that were now coming for them, dismembering them and blasting them apart before they could reach their target.
Sure, Chrysalis thought the easy way would be to use magic and obliterate the feeders before they even reached the group, but at the same time most of her spells would damage the inside of the Nexus and would ruin their chances of finding the Machine, which was the reason she stayed her hand for now.
Once the feeders were taken care of, and they were sure that there weren't any more of them coming, Santos inquired if they were okay, since she had heard the gunfire from her end, where Isaac commented that the Nexus had 'one hell of a defense system' and inquired as to whether or not they were done. Unfortunately Santos informed them that the first nerve cluster was barely a trickle for them, to which Isaac stated that they were going to hunt for the next nerve cluster and see if a second one would boost the signal. When they found the second nerve cluster, which was in a chamber next to the one where they found the first one, Chrysalis prepared herself as Isaac fired several spikes into the second target, where the Nexus shook again, but what surprised them was that there weren't any defenders to attack them this time around. When they were sure that no enemies were coming Isaac asked Santos if two was enough, where they learned that a third was required for them to get the Machine's location, to which Isaac led the way towards the third one, in the side chamber on the left side of the cage's location, before they prepared themselves for another assault from the enchanced feeders.
What happened was Isaac fell to his knees for a moment as a vision slammed into him, leaving Chrysalis and Carver to dismember the feeders that were coming at them for a few moments, though after some time the only thing that remained was the corpses of their enemies... to which they helped Isaac onto his feet before they headed back towards the cage, where Santos informed them that she had the location of the Machine.
"Ready when you are Norton." Isaac stated, speaking the moment they stepped into the cage, as there was no telling how long they had until the remaining defenders of the Nexus came out and charged at them, though after a few seconds he glanced up at the part of the cage that was still outside the massive Necromorph, "Norton?"
A few seconds later the opening they had walked through closed and the cage shook, where the three of them watched as they started to rise out of the Nexus, to which they disengaged their helmets and smiled, because what they had just done had likely given them the location of the Machine.
"Santos, do we have a fix on where the Machine is located?" Chrysalis asked, because Santos had said this part of the operation had been a success, though what 'success' meant in this situation was unknown to her, as they could have actually found the Machine or the next step in the puzzle.
"Yes! There are thousands of signals, all concentrated far below the planet's surface." Santos told them, to which they all raised their eyebrows, as they weren't sure what that was supposed to mean, but they remained silent to listen to the rest of what she was saying, "That has to be it! There's an entrance further up the mountain beneath a second dig site."
"Further up the mountain?" Norton asked, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, though at the same time the trio had figured that there was more to the situation than what they had expected, so this wasn't a surprise to them at this point in time, "They're sheer cliffs!"
"I saw some climbing gear stored outside the warehouse." Ellie spoke up, revealing that there was a way up the cliffs that Norton had a problem with, though at the same time Chrysalis knew that if it came to it she would just use her magic to lift all of them up to the location that Santos had discovered thanks to all of their efforts, even if it drained her for some time, "Santos and I will start setting it up at the base of the cliff. Norton, can you make sure that Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver get out of the Nexus safely?"
"Yeah... sure." Norton said, his tone revealing that he honestly couldn't care for the trio at this point, even though Carver had served with him for a great deal of time, to which Chrysalis prepared herself for whatever he was planning on doing next, "I'll take care of them."
Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver watched as their section of the cage rose out of the Nexus and reconnected to the part of the container that Norton was waiting in, though as the two parts of the cage connected once more Norton touched another command and they headed back towards the area Santos had been... though when they arrived at the area in front of the booth Norton turned away from the controls without touching the command that would open the door for them to leave as well.
"Norton, open the cage." Isaac said, as if Norton turned his back on them, like he appeared to be doing, that would confirm Chrysalis' suspicions that he wasn't on their side, which would make him a target for Chrysalis to take out before they reached the end of the mission.
"No." Norton stated, to which he stopped in front of the opening that they would have been able to walk through if the gate in front of them had been opened by the command, before he stared at the three of them, where Chrysalis definitely felt the hate and jealousy that she had told the others about.
"Excuse me?" Chrysalis inquired, because she was seriously hoping that this was happening, as it would allow her to finally take Norton out and remove an infection from their operation, and she was getting tired of staring at someone that didn't care about what they were doing.
"Look, it's clear that the three of you want to die, so be my guests and do so." Norton snapped, to which he turned his full attention towards them, where Chrysalis could see the emotions she had felt swirling in his eyes, revealing that her senses hadn't dulled in the time since she came to this part of the universe, "I'm taking control of this mission again... and saving Ellie from your stupidity."
"Norton, Isaac asked you to open the cage." Chrysalis said, to which she tapped into the ancient power of a changeling queen once more, a power she hadn't used since the events of Aegis VII, when she killed Kendra, before she stared at her target and sent her power at Norton, "Now, allow me to repeat his statement. Open. The. CAGE!"
Norton stood there for a few seconds before his hands moved towards his head and he screamed in pain as Chrysalis' power latched onto his mind, causing Carver to gasp in shock for a moment, though Isaac stopped Carver from doing anything as they watched what was going on. Chrysalis took a slight amount of pleasure in doing this, as Norton had been a persistent thorn in their side since they reached the fleet above Tau Volantis, but this was a means to an end for them, which was the only reason she was using this power again. She quickly seized some control over Norton's mind and forced him back into the cage, where Isaac and Carver watched as he walked into the cage and fiddled with the controls, allowing the gate to open and letting the three of them exit the cage. Once that was done Chrysalis waved her hand and beckoned for Norton to follow them, where she released him for the moment, allowing him to gasp in shock before looking at her with a look of fear in his eyes.
"Be thankful that I haven't killed you yet." Chrysalis stated, as while she did want to get rid of him, for being unwilling to assist them and tried to hinder their progress, she was better than her mother and was at least willing to bring Norton before the others, to see if they had anything to say for his actions.
The three of them, now followed by Norton, climbed into the elevator and descended back down to the level that was below them, where Isaac and Carver got some more ammunition for their weapons before they were ready to move forward and see where the climbing gear was located. As such they headed over to the room where the cargo lift to the roof was located and headed toward the left, as that door was now unlocked, which allowed them to go through a small hallway before approaching a security door. The moment the door opened, however, a group of Unitologists surprised them by smacking them in the face with the butt of their guns, stunning them for a few moments as they were all forced onto their hands and knees in front of the security door. Chrysalis, despite what was happening, was glad to see that Ellie and Santos were not present at the moment, meaning that these bastards hadn't gotten their hands on them yet... and she intended to keep it that way, by making them focus on the four of them.
Of course as the Unitologists gathered around them, with an air of victory surrounding them, Danik revealed himself and walked over to where the group was kneeling, while his soldiers made sure to have their weapons at the ready in case one of them tried anything funny.
"You wouldn't believe the trouble you have saved me.... nice work" Danik said, where he stared at Norton for a few seconds as he pulled his head up, revealing to all three of them that the Captain was definitely a traitor, which now gave Chrysalis more than enough reason to put him down once this was over, before staring at someone else, "Well here they are: the Marker Killers, Isaac Clarke and Chrysalis. And here we are, on the 'Marker home world'... you know, to tell the truth, I almost didn't believe a place like this existed. But thanks to your friend Norton, I finally found it... and the two of you as well."
"That's how they followed us through ShockSpace." Carver commented, the pieces of the puzzle lining up in his head, to which he sighed for a moment, because he actually couldn't believe that he had been wrong about his Captain, before he turned towards Chrysalis, "It looks like you were right."
"It sure does look that way." Chrysalis said, though at the same time she was pleased to have found out that she was right about Norton, that he was the backstabbing snake that had given the Unitologists the location of the planet that the Marker signal was coming from, because she had plans for him.
"Well, he's certainly a bright one for figuring that out." Danik stated, glancing over at Carver for a moment, who didn't bother to look up at him, before turning his attention over to Chrysalis for a few seconds, "And you, if you had this all figured out earlier, why didn't you bother to stop him?"
"No evidence of his guilt remained." Chrysalis answered, because that was usually how someone convinced the others around them that something horrible had happened, or that they had discovered something good for all of them, before she turned towards Danik, "Besides, now that you're here this makes things that much easier for all of us."
"Good luck getting out of here alive." Norton stated, revealing that, despite his brush with Chrysalis' magic, he still believed that she and Isaac were as good as dead, which she decided to ignore since he was going to be the one dying soon enough anyway, "Carver, these guys only want Isaac and Chrysalis. You, me, Ellie, and Santos are free to go home and put this behind us."
"You know, speaking of 'home', that reminds me." Danik said, to which he pulled out one of the text logs that people recorded information inside, where he tapped a few icons before calling up what he wanted to look at, before he stared at Isaac and Chrysalis, "How did you do it? How could the two of you destroy so many Markers in the last twenty-four hours, when Norton here claims you have been on Tau Volantis the entire time?"
"We've been looking for the Marker signal, not going around and destroying the Markers that you 'liberated'." Isaac said, though he was wondering if Danik and his men were losing their minds, as there was no way for them to assume that he and Chrysalis were behind the destruction of multiple Markers, especially after they ran away from Earth's moon.
"My men have reported multiple instances where someone with 'magic' attacked and destroyed the units that were sent at them," Danik stated, looking down at the list that was in front of him, his annoyance showing more than he likely wanted it to, which would make things easier for them if he was distracted, "there are instances were new ships and new weapons were used against us, ones that EarthGov doesn't have in their arsenal, and the destruction of a vast number of Markers that we have liberated. Even Uxor, the planet your friend Ellie went to, was been wiped clean from the face of the universe... and the only person with that power, that I'm aware of, is Chrysalis. Frankly, I'm not sure how you two are doing all of this, but I'm going to put a stop to it right now and do what I came here to do."
Chrysalis braced herself, because she could sense what was coming next, though as Danik moved his right hand towards his leg, where his single shooter style weapon was resting, she heard a beeping sound, one that the man had heard as well, as he had to back away for a moment and take the transmission.
"Yes, this is Danik." Danik said, clearly not even worried by the fact that the others were going to hear every word he said in the next few minutes, mostly because he was thinking he was going to kill them all in the end, "I trust that you are almost to the next planet that EarthGov shipped one of it's Markers to a few months ago? What do you mean you can't find the planet? Are you following the coordinates I sent you and your men? Well the planet should be there... What do you mean that you think the planet was destroyed before your arrival?"
Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver glanced at each other for a few moments, as it sounded like someone was fighting back and standing up to the Unitologists, even going so far as to destroy the Markers that they were after, how Isaac didn't even want to know at this point, and, apparently, even blowing an entire planet to pieces. There was also a second transmission after that one, where the speaker stated that they were in the middle of the operation, before stating that they were being decimated by what he guessed was an army, one that he had never seen before. The speaker also stated that the civilians that they were tasked with putting down were being shepherded aboard ships, ones that were larger and wider than any ship they had even seen, allowing them to escape from the Unitologists as a whole. All of this told the group that not only were people fighting back against their attackers, but people were successfully fleeing the planets that were under attack... meaning all was not lost for the people that had spread out across this part of the universe.
A few seconds later Danik canceled the transmission, having snapped at the commander to take care of whoever was trying to stop the operation, though the last thing the group heard was someone blowing something up nearby, meaning that his commander for that operation was going to be dead soon enough.
"It seems that I must return to the field, to correct what the others are doing wrong." Danik said, to which he stared at the group, where he held his gun in one hand and the text log in his left, which was something that Chrysalis decided that they needed to get their hands on, "First, I will purge all of you, so you won't be completing your mission, and then I'll return to the other planets and liberate the last of the Markers, undoing all the damage that mankind has wrought upon the universe... oh, and my apologies for misleading you, Captain."
It was in that moment that Chrysalis nodded her head, where Isaac charged forward and barreled into Danik, knocking him away from the rest of the group, allowing Chrysalis and Carver to lash out at their captors in their knees and cripple them for a moment. With that done the two of them got up and picked up their weapons, though as one of the Unitologists reached for Isaac, however, Carver called attention to himself and shot the cultist in the brain when he turned to look at him. Isaac, seizing the opportunity, grabbed one of the grenades that was on the cultist's belt and hurled it towards Danik, though as that happened Chrysalis pulled out her enchanted axe and hurled it at the cultist that was standing over Norton, killing the Unitologist when it struck his skull, before she pulled it back with her magic and picked up her Pulse Rifle. That was followed by them ducking under some protective cover that she made, by throwing up a barrier around them, as the grenade went off, but luckily Chrysalis was able to secure the text log that Danik had dropped when Isaac tackled him, giving Ellie and Santos something to look at when they caught up with them.
Of course a gunship came in at that moment and landed so Danik could retreat, while some of his soldiers stayed behind to die as they covered his escape, but even as that happened the warehouse wall shook for a few seconds, causing everyone to pause... before the Nexus, fully awakened from it's ancient slumber, burst through the wall and stopped at the edge of the area they were on, where it glared at them for a few moments as it roared at them.
"Apparently, this is now happening," Chrysalis stated, to which she tapped the side of her helmet and disengaged it, where she stepped forward and let the Nexus stare down at her as she stared up at it, "Isaac, Carver, I'll take care of the Nexus... you should take Norton and go to the others, so they can know what he has done and figure out a decent punishment for him."
Isaac nodded as Carver forced his traitorous Captain towards the area that Ellie and Santos were in, while at the same time mowing down the Unitologists that were stunned by the Nexus' arrival, though Isaac kept his eyes on Chrysalis as he wondered what she was going to do. That was immediately followed by Chrysalis' magical aura coming into existence around her body, like it did when she was about to do something major, though as Isaac watched he noticed that her aura seemed to be moving like it was on fire. He thought back to three years ago, when they were on the Titan Station and she had unlocked her true power, when her aura reminded him of flames, to which his eyes widened as he realized exactly what she had in mind for the Nexus and how she was going to go about beating it. A few seconds later Chrysalis put her Pulse Rifle away and let out a sigh as she braced herself, because a moment later she activated her magic and burst into the air, like she had done three years ago in her rage, before heading right towards her target.
Isaac watched as Chrysalis raced right up to where the Nexus was standing and slammed into the creature's chest with her aura surrounding her body, causing the Nexus to stagger backwards as she forced it away from where her friends were gathering. Chrysalis didn't stop there, as she started to gather her power in front of her hands and started loosing small blasts through the air, striking the Nexus with several of them in the process and started blowing parts of the creature off as it roared in pain. In response the Necromorph raised it's arms, which were either tentacles or claws or some mixture of the two, and tired to crush her under them, but Chrysalis wasn't about to have that and moved through the air, avoiding the attacks before throwing energy blasts at her opponent, knocking it away from the cliff everyone else was standing on, even if they weren't near the actual cliff area. When the Nexus roared again, however, Chrysalis prepared herself accordingly and hurled a charge of magical energy into the creature's throat, where it gulped and stared at her for a moment, almost as if it realized that it had done something wrong... before Chrysalis expanded her energy and the sphere she hurled into it's throat expanded, blowing apart the creature's stomach and caused it to roar in pain as it really started to sway.
Chrysalis stared at the Nexus for a moment, debating whether or not she should finish the creature off or let it stay here in pain, before deciding that she might as well finish it off, because prior experience told her that if they didn't kill something when they first encountered it, the creature would return for another round, just like the Snow Beast. As such she extended her arm towards the Nexus and let her power come to life once more, making sure not to pull in too much power since she couldn't control that other side of her, where a ball of energy started to form in front of her hand. Once the attack was ready she moved out of the way, avoiding the appendage that the Nexus had swung at her, and leveled her hand with the massive Necromorph. A few seconds later she released the attack and let the beam of energy fly right into the Nexus' chest, causing a large explosion that tore a massive chunk out of the Necromorph's vital area, though the only reason she knew that was because the creature roared in pain once more and crumbled to the ground... but this time around it simply laid there, not moving, to which she turned around and flew back to the area where Isaac, Carver, Ellie, and Santos would be waiting for her arrival.
When she landed on the ground and walked into the seemingly dead end that was in front of her she found a reason to smile, as Isaac and Carver were holding onto Norton, while at the same time Ellie and Santos were looking at him with a look of anger and shock on their faces.
"I take it they told you two what he did?" Chrysalis asked, though while she was still angry at Norton for his betrayal, one that she had guessed at earlier, she was pleased that he wasn't resisting them at the moment, because she had special plans for the traitor.
"It's your fault we came down here!" Norton declared, to which he turned and glared at Chrysalis as she came to a stop to his right, but at the same time she wasn't fazed by his glares, not after everything she had been through, "You bastards encouraged her to come down here... and now, with Danik's men shooting at us and whatever the hell that creature was, what chance to we have?"
"You seem to be forgetting something," Chrysalis said, where she held out her right hand once more and a small ball of energy formed above the palm of her hand, to which she glanced at Norton and found him staring at it, "I can use magic, a power that none of these Necromorphs have ever had to contend with before. Let me tell you something, a few blasts were more than enough to topple the Nexus and allow me to come join all of you, meaning I could easily take out a army of those things with my powers."
"Chrysalis, I wouldn't waste your breath on him," Ellie stated, to which she simply stared at Norton, as she couldn't believe that part of this mess was all his fault, before she sighed and shook her head, "We all trusted that you were on our side, yet you brought our enemy to the one place they should never have come to, despite your claims that you were trying to 'save us' from certain death. I take no joy or happiness in this next part... Chrysalis, get rid of him so we can continue with our mission."
Chrysalis grinned and beckoned to Isaac and Carver for a moment, where they released Norton and allowed him to rub his arms for a few seconds, though that was all the comfort she was going to give him, as a moment later she raised her left hand and lifted Norton up with her magic. From there she walked back to the cliff area the Nexus had been staring at, before she moved it away from the cliffs, and stopped when she was roughly where she had been standing when the large Necromorph revealed itself to them. Once she was in position the ball of energy expanded until it was three times the size it had been a few seconds ago, causing Norton to shake in fear as he stared at it, as he seemed to understand that she wasn't to be messed with, even if it was a little too late for him to do anything to save himself. The moment she was ready she stepped forward and pressed the sphere into Norton's chest, to which he started to scream in pain as cracks started to form around his body... much like what Chrysalis had done to destroy her mother three years ago, only this time death would be permanent for someone like Norton.
She stood there for a few seconds, letting the traitor suffer for his transgressions, before expanding the energy and causing an explosion that tore Norton apart and vaporized his body in the process, preventing the Markers and the Necromorphs from using his body for their own purposes... to which she sighed and headed back to the others, as it was time for them to move forward and figure out what they needed to do next, to shut down the Machine.
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Welp, Sunset is definitely getting shit done. Destroyed planets and Markers? Yep.
And the ships that are opposing the Unitologists. . . Well there are only 2 options for who those could be. Either they are the forces from Azeroth or, more likely, Sunset and Starlight's allies from their jaunt with Ratchet and Clank.
Well, looks like Sunset is cleaning house, with some help from the armies of the Solana, Bogon, and Polaris galaxies.
8992631
Azeroth only has one or two ships capable of space travel, and from the look of things, there are entire fleets taking care of the Markers... although, now that I think about it, the heroes of Azeroth could just as easily be taking part with their ships. Even with the Unitologists' technology advantage, a bit of help from the other galaxies could even things out, and of course the heroes of the Alliance and Horde would be able to pwn entire armies of Unitologists.
Is it bad that I wanted Norton had met Sunset and had been given a demonstration of her power personally? A simple Hakai would have been awesome, oh well.
finally the prick is dead. good going Chryssie
i wonder if theres going to be a story with velvet remedy from fallout equesteria in it
im liking where this is going and think i see how you plan to end it. if im right and even if im not this is definitely gunna be a better ending than the canon one. good work here on this one and i definitely look forward to seeing how you will be ending it :D
8992800
Nope. This set of stories will be the last ones before the Universal Survival Arc from DBS.
Although, with this story approaching the end game, it makes me wonder how BDR is going to change their release schedule with only three fics to work on. I'm pretty sure they won't start the finale until all the lead-up stories are finished, but they've kept a consistent schedule so far with four stories, and finishing one will change things up.
We haven't seen amyrilis the entire time chrysalis has been at tar volantis .... it wouldn't surprise me if she's going around killing unitoligists and destroying markers. As to the ships and planet destruction ..... both pinkie and starlight have access to ships .... and any planet taken over is ripe for this universes god of destruction if sunset isn't the one doing it. I'm actually hoping it's changelings on the ships coming to help and save one of their own.
...Seriously man, enough with humping the game canon. She could have reached out and snapped Danik's neck like a twig, grabbed the gunship and blew it up like the one she did before, or what have you.
8992740 Don't worry, there is a Hakai in the cards for someone.
8992927 I think this alternate ending is going to be well received, once we reach it.
8993673 There's a lot in the third part of the story that doesn't fit with the canon story, like the relationship between Isaac and Ellie or the relationship between Isaac, Ellie, and Norton, along with the death scenes of the Nexus and Norton. I'm letting Danik live for another hour or two, in game time, because he'll get what's coming to him in two, maybe three, chapters.
8993923
i have no doubt of it.
Discord?
8993153
Super ponessssss
them
Norton execution was waaay overdo...
Finaly bitchboy is dead. To bad he screwed everyone over already...
Chrysalis the goddess of absolut and permanent death
👍