Prologue: A Grave Mistake

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Chrysalis paced around her small bedroom for a few minutes while she thought about the latest rumor she had heard recently, one of a long stream of rumors she had been listening to ever since her last great venture failed due to the efforts of Starlight Glimmer. These rumors she had been hearing were from the Royal Guards that were stationed in Ponyville, who talked among themselves whenever they were off duty and went to the bars to drinks, as that was where she had decided to work since she was all alone, despite the fact that she disliked working as a barmaid. Sure, working as a tan coated unicorn mare, with a brown colored mane and tail, wasn't the best place for her to gather love, but she was able to feed off of the drunken patrons that tried to flirt with her. Thankfully their tempers were usually reported as effects of being drunk, which meant that she could get enough love to avoid dying from hunger while at the same time not raising any suspicion, as she didn't want her enemies to figure out that she was living inside their small community.

The drunken guards, however, told her rumors about a crystal mirror that several ponies, including the majority of the Elements of Harmony, had walked through within the last few weeks and yet none of them had returned at all, worrying both of the royal Princesses and the family members of the missing ponies. Chrysalis was annoyed that she couldn't use a disguise to take advantage of the situation, as she could easily transform into one of the missing ponies and feed off of the love that their family had for them, but she couldn't risk it, especially since Princess Twilight and the other Princesses were keeping an eye on everyone else. The few guards she had spoken too, when they were substantially drunk and wouldn't remember talking with her, told her that the missing ponies might be receiving training of some kind... from creatures that were unlike anything this world had ever seen before.

They all claimed that the missing ponies were obtaining powers that were unlike anything they had ever seen before, such as mastering a single element or doing things that one would normally never think of in the past... which only made Chrysalis wonder what would happen if she entered the crystal mirror.

After hearing those rumors, and thinking about the power that could be hers if she went through the mirror, she called in sick for her barmaid job, which was rather easy to fake if someone came by to check up on her, and got to work studying the exterior of the castle and the routine of the guards. She needed to understand what everyone did throughout the day, be it the Princess, the dragon that followed her everywhere, or something completely unexpected, before she started forming a plan to infiltrate the castle. She would find the weak point in the routines she was observing and use that small opening to slip into Princess Twilight's home, where she would begin her search for the mirror... and then she would obtain whatever power was waiting on the other side.

At least that was what she would normally do when trying to infiltrate an enemy castle, find an ancient mirror of some kind, and then find the power she was searching for, but this time around her plans were derailed as something completely different, and unexpected, happened. She had stopped pacing around her bedroom a few seconds ago and glanced out the window, as she had saved up enough bits as a normal pony to afford a small house that rested near the castle, where she spotted Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia departing from the castle. A few more seconds passed before the majority of the guards, those that were on duty at the moment, followed after them by both running and flying after them while at the same time leaving the castle completely defenseless.

She couldn't believe that they were leaving the castle in such a position, especially with all of the powerful books and relics that Princess Twilight might have stored away inside the building, though before the chance was wasted Chrysalis departed from her small house and rapidly made her way towards the castle, where she was thankful that it was almost nighttime at the moment.

She found that Princess Twilight had never bothered to learn that the castle doors were supposed to be locked and that all other entrances should be sealed as well, when she and her company were no longer inside the building, but that made it much easier for Chrysalis. She wore a different disguise, that of a mailpony she had seen wandering around the sky and sometimes dropping packages off at the wrong address, as she approached the castle, though when she got close, and determined that there was no one inside the building, she walked up to the main door. She then carefully powered up her horn and opened the door, where she quickly glanced around her for a few seconds before she slipped into the castle and closed the door behind her... though when she started walking she undid her disguise, as she could easily apply a new one should she bump into someone while she was looking for the mirror.

As she walked through the castle, however, she felt some of the crystal walls vibrate for a few seconds, as if someone was using a high level of magic on something, but since she had seen two of the Princesses leave the castle that meant that the person doing this had to be Discord... which made her immediately worry about her chances. If the darconequus discovered that she was here, looking for the power to overthrow Princess Celestia for good, he could easily snap his talons, find the Princesses, and bring them back to the castle, thus foiling her plans once more. Fortunately she discovered that the crystal mirror that she was searching for was resting in the castle's library, where the crystal seemed to shimmer for a few seconds. The downside to that, however, was that Discord was standing near the mirror and was staring at a board of some kind, which had a number of notes attached to it... though she discovered that all of the names on the board belonged to the missing Elements and the other ponies she had heard about.

Chrysalis wondered, for a brief moment anyway, if the mirror was one of Discord's experiments or his method of disposing of ponies that hindered his progress to conquering the entirety of Equestria, but at the same time she silently made her way towards the mirror while the creature was distracted.

"I wouldn't approach the mirror if I were you." a voice said, one that immediately stopped Chrysalis in her tracks, where she was halfway between the library entrance and her true destination.

Chrysalis turned her head slowly and noticed that Discord was still working on the board that he was staring at, making her wonder if he had been the one talking, but she was sure that it was him since she recognized the creature's annoyingly unique voice... though that was before she turned her head back towards the mirror and found a large book, with Discord's face, staring at her as it floated in front of her face.

"Why hello Chrysalis," the book said, using Discord's voice no less, though that made Chrysalis take a step back as she stared at the tome for a few seconds, "You should have come by a few days ago and made an appointment to see me, because we could be somewhere else right now, partaking in whatever food dishes and drinks that our hearts desired... for a couple of minutes anyway."

"I did not come to talk or hang out with you, Discord," Chrysalis stated, though at the same time she eyed the mirror for a few more seconds, because if she was fast enough she could get passed the chimera creature, and his possessed book, and enter a new world before he had the chance to stop her, "I came for an entirely different reason... revenge on Princess Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends."

The book stared at her for a few seconds before returning to the shelf that it had been pulled from and the magic surrounding it seemed to fade, though that was followed by Discord's magic pulling her over to where the creature was standing, much to her surprise. She was basically lifted into the air against her will and was deposited right beside Discord, though as she started to growl at the creature she realized that she had the chance to read the board, something that she had ignored since she entered the library. The board definitely contained the names of the ponies, and a griffin, that had gone missing recently, and Chrysalis knew that they had gone missing since she personally spent some time searching for them before determining they had simply vanished without a trace. She wondered what Discord was doing with a list of names, along with what she assumed was a description of some kind, but she quickly turned her focus back to the mirror and why she had come here.

"Chrysalis, I know that you desire the power to pretty much take over the world and defeat everyone that defeated you in the past," Discord said, though at the same time he waved a hand over the board in front of him, where he stared at the names that were on it with a mix of interest and regret, while pulling Chrysalis' attention back to him, "but if you go through that mirror... well, you won't find what you are looking for on the other side."

"Do not assume that you know what I am searching for," Chrysalis growled, as she disliked the powerful being talking to her in such a manner, though at the same time she wanted to leave him and run into the mirror, as that was the whole reason she had entered the lair of her enemy in such a manner.

"Rainbow Dash and Applejack entered the mirror in search of Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer," Discord continued, almost as if he hadn't heard what Chrysalis had said, which might be reasonable considering that he could destroy his ears for a few seconds before they grew back, "Derpy Hooves entered the mirror because she thought that the package she was supposed to deliver was on the other side, while Gilda went through because curiosity bested her while she was visiting Ponyville. Pinkie Pie crossed the mirror because she was looking for an adventure, the Sirens passed through the portal on their plane because they were curious as to what happened to Sunset, and the soul of Sombra used the mirror to avoid permanently dying.

My point is that each of them aren't searching for revenge and I can tell that the worlds they were taken to, or the worlds I think they were taken to, will allow them to grow over time... while you are more likely to be punished in some manner, if your lucky. If you happen to be unlucky... well, let's not think about what might happen if you were sent to a world that's the opposite of what I just said."

"Right..." Chrysalis said, though she deliberately stretched out the one word, as she really didn't buy what the chimera creature was telling her about the selection being 'lucky' and 'unlucky', though that was before something interesting about the board caught her attention, "Two more names have appeared on your magical board... which must mean someone else was taken off Equus."

"Really?" Discord asked, though that was followed by what appeared to be his full attention being turned towards the board, as Chrysalis felt the magic around her fade for a few moments, which made the changeling smile for a few short moments, "Lyra Heartstrings and Trixie Lulamoon. How, in the name of the gods, did the two of them get displaced by the mirror when they haven't been anywhere... near... oh, I see how it is now. I should have listened to Twilight's lecture about magical backlash, because the original spell I put on the mirror had several aspects that I decided to erase, which I just finished doing a few minutes ago. It appears that the backlash from erasing those parts of the spell has knocked two other ponies to an entirely new part of our universe... ugh, I'm glad that I never told Twilight or Celestia about this whole mess."

Chrysalis wasn't surprised to hear that the Spirit of Disharmony wasn't saying anything about this to either of the Princesses that she had seen earlier, otherwise there would have been no hope of her even accessing the mirror, but with Discord's full attention on the board she saw her opportunity. She carefully stepped backwards, making sure that her hooves didn't trip anything that might make a noise, before she stood some distance behind the chimera creature, to which she turned towards the mirror and started walking towards it. When she reached her target, however, she glanced back to be sure that Discord was paying full attention to that stupid board of his and found that the chimera creature had forgotten that she had even been there.

Chrysalis grinned for a few seconds as she charged into the crystal mirror, allowing its magic to grab onto her before she disappeared from Equus completely... though a few seconds later Discord turned towards the mirror and watched as the shimmering surface died down once more.

"That stubborn changeling has no idea what she's gotten herself into," Discord commented, though he frowned as Chrysalis' name appeared on his board as well, only this time the description under her name was blood red colored, which worried him more than he had been a few minutes ago, "Oh no... that's definitely not good at all."

The descriptions of his came in a variety of colors, ones that he had created some time after creating the original displacement spell, but he had reserved the color of blood red for the more terrifying worlds or parts of the universe that someone could be sent to. Chrysalis, in her eagerness for the power to have her revenge on those that had beaten her in the past, had been sent to one of those locations, but the number of those places meant it would take some time for him to locate where she went. He only prayed that Chrysalis survived for a sufficient amount of time so he could try and bring her back... once he figured out where, in the vastness of their universe, she had been sent to.

Systems Engineer Isaac Clarke remained seated in his chair while he waited for the ship he was in, the USG Kellion, to depart from the Titan Station, as they had not yet been given the okay to fly and that meant that they had to wait until the order was given. The pilot and co-pilot of the Kellion, Corporals Chen and Johnston respectively, were currently making sure that they met all of the maintenance procedures and double checked the other items on the checklist they had to go over every time they departed from the station. The rest of his unit, Kendra Daniels and Zach Hammond, were busy packing away the items and belongings that they had brought with them for the week long trip to reach where the USG Ishimura was located, which was Aegis VII according to what Hammond told him. According to what he had been told there was something wrong with the communications systems aboard the Ishimura and they were being sent there to fix whatever the problem was.

Isaac, on the other hand, had packed some nice clothing so he could take his girlfriend Nicole out for a nice dinner in one of the Ishimura's many restaurants once he and the others were done with their tasks... while at the same time hoping that nothing bad had happened to Nicole since the last time they had seen each other, though he had to resist the urge to watch her last message for the thousandth time since he got it.

No one in his unit had any idea what the Ishimura was doing in the part of space that Aegis VII was located in, as it was practically on the edge of unexplored space and Isaac was pretty sure people weren't supposed to be in that area, but without all of the information they could only speculate what was going on. They knew that they could figure out what was happening once they reached the Ishimura, that much was a reality, so no one bothered asking questions as they prepared to depart. Fortunately Isaac didn't had to listen to his thoughts for too much longer, as a few minutes after he started thinking about the Ishimura again he noticed that Chen and Johnston had returned to the Kellion... where they gave him and the others a thumbs up before closing the door behind them.

Once the pilot and co-pilot returned to their seats they powered up the ship, which gave Kendra and Hammond time to take their seats as well, before they finally released the Kellion from the docking clamps and departed from the Titan Station. Another minute or two passed before Shen announced that they were powering up the Shockpoint Drive, which caused the very fabric of space-time to open before them, to which the Kellion entered the wormhole and disappeared from where it had been seconds ago.

"And we're through," Chen said, though at the same time he kept his eyes on what he was doing at the moment, while at the same time Johnston checked the systems one last time, just to be sure that everything was okay, "In one week's time we'll arrive at Aegis VII and the Ishimura."

"That's good to hear," Hammond stated, to which he turned towards Kendra and Isaac, who happened to be sitting in the pair of seats behind where he had been sitting, though at the same time they turned their heads towards him, "Let's unpack our belongings and get settled in... this is going to be a long ride."

"Right." Isaac and Kendra replied, though once they realized that they had talked at the same time they stared at each other for a few seconds before they shook their heads and gathered their packs, before they followed Hammond towards the part of the ship where their cots were waiting for them.

When they reached the area that the cots were located in, however, their moods changed as something happened, as the moment Kendra opened the door to the area where she would be sleeping in, alone considering that she was the only lady aboard this ship, she noticed something odd. There was lady resting in what was her cot, who had to be between twenty to thirty years old at first glance and appeared to be sleeping, though at the same time Kendra noticed that the newcomer was wearing a shirt and some shorts that looked like they belonged to a poor person. The stranger's skin color was unlike anything she had ever seen before, as it was a dark gray color that almost looked black, and her hair was a dark cerulean blue color that was also unlike anything she had ever seen.

What was really weird about the lady, besides her strange hair and skin color, was that the lady had a pair of what she assumed were pony ears sticking out of her head, had a jagged horn of some kind growing out of her forehead, and her feet had been replaced by hooves... and she had a pony tail that matched the color of her hair. Kendra realized, at that moment, that the person in front of her was a cross between a human and some sort of pony creature, making her a pony girl of some kind, but this complicated things more than they already were.

"Oh my aching head," the lady said, her voice confirming that she was an adult, though at the same time Kendra still found it hard to determine her age at the moment, but she silently watched as the lady moved a tiny bit and turned towards the door as she opened her eyes, where she spotted Kendra standing in the doorway, "Um... hello?"

Kendra stared at the strange pony girl that was resting on her cot, trying to understand where she had come from since she hadn't been in this room when they were departing from the Titan Station, but all she could come up with was that she must have come aboard when they used the Shockpoint Drive. That alone still didn't make sense, considering that warping aboard a ship when it uses their Shockpoint Drive was virtually impossible, but since the lady was in front of her she needed to reconsider her definition of impossible. While this went through her mind she noticed that the mysterious lady was moving her body again, to which she fell out of the bed and collided with the floor, though that caused Kendra to let out a sigh as she stuck her head outside the room she was standing in.

"Isaac? Hammond?" Kendra said, though at the same time she noticed that the two men had stopped in their tracks, as they actually were surprised to hear her call for them, "Can I talk with you for a few seconds?"

"Sure." Isaac replied, though as he answered her question he and Hammond turned around and walked back to the doorway that Kendra was standing in, "Is something wrong?"

"I may have found a... complication..." Kendra said, though her voice trailed off as she moved out of the way, letting Isaac and Hammond stare at the strange girl that had appeared out of nowhere.

She had no idea what Isaac and Hammond were going to say about the mysterious lady that was now laying on the floor, moaning about the pain that she was feeling in her body, but she hoped that this didn't derail their mission... or cause any other consequences in the near future.

Interlude: Introductions

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Chrysalis, despite the fact that she had absolutely no idea where she was and had no idea why her body wasn't responding to her orders, was well aware of the fact that she had seen... something... staring at her from a doorway, before she had tried to move and fell out of whatever she had been resting on, resulting in the pain she was feeling at the moment. She had been foiled many times over her long life, more so than what the ponies of Ponyville and Canterlot knew about, though those paled in comparison to the few number of times where she utterly embarrassed herself, such as what happened a few moments ago. If she had any control over her body she would have charged at the mysterious creature that was staring at her and would have knocked it out cold, so she could plan her next move in regards to gaining the power to dominate all of Equestria.

Of course those thoughts went out the window the moment the creature, who had to be female based on the voice that Chrysalis heard, called out two names, indicating that she wasn't alone... though at the same time she decided that it was best if she kept silent, as she had no idea if these creatures would be hostile towards her, or friendly like those ponies.

"Ms. Daniels, was she in that cot a few minutes ago?" another voice asked, though Chrysalis quickly determined that the voice was definitely male and sounded like he was in charge of whatever was going on... in wherever she was.

"No Hammond, she was not in that cot when I checked my room," the first voice, the female she had earlier, replied, though her tone suggested that she and this 'Hammond' didn't get along very well, which told Chrysalis that they likely clashed their heads on whatever they were talking about, "As far as I can tell she must have teleported aboard the Kellion the instant we activated the Shockpoint Drive... even if such a thing is normally impossible."

"What are we going to do about her?" a third voice asked, though while this one was male Chrysalis detected that he might actually be worried about her, despite the fact that neither one of them knew each other.

"Well, we can easily stretch our existing food and oxygen supplies to support another person," the lady said, though at the same time Chrysalis knew she had to have done all the math in her head, which just made her think about Twilight Sparkle all over again, "and we're fortunate that there's another cot in this room, otherwise we would have to figure out where to move her before we arrived at the Ishimura."

"You know, its rude to talk about someone like they aren't present," Chrysalis said, though she chose this moment to talk and could have sworn she heard the sound of the trio turning to face her, but because of how her body wasn't responding to her orders she had no idea how to look up at whoever was in front of her, "I'd look at the three of you if I could, but this body of mine is being stubborn all of a sudden."

A few moments passed before Chrysalis felt something touch her front legs and her sides, before she was gently raised into a sitting position of some kind that felt completely foreign to her, while at the same time giving her the opportunity to see whatever was in front of her. As she opened her eyes, however, she found some strange bipedal creatures, two who appeared to be male and another that appeared to be female by their facial features, that happened to be staring at her. As Chrysalis' eyes focused she was able to tell what the strange creatures were wearing, as one of the males seemed to be wearing what she could only describe some sort of military suit, the second male was wearing another sort of suit that was different from the first male's suit, and the female was dressed in what she had to assume was some sort of casual clothing... and that they all had surprised looks on their faces.

Chrysalis then glanced down at her own body and had to resist the urge to gasp in surprise, as her body appeared to be a mix of her old changeling body and the strange bodies of the bipedal creatures that were staring at her, as her hindlegs ended in hooves while having the legs of the trio of strangers. Her front legs had been transformed into the strange appendages that the creatures in front of her possessed, though at the same time her hooves had changed into the strange five smaller appendages as well. Her chest area had likely been changed as well, as she had the same mounds that the female had on her chest, and she could tell that her face had been modified, as she couldn't see her muzzle and assumed it had followed suit. About the only things that seemed the same, save for her hooves, were the fact that her ears, tail, and horn seemed to be the only things to remain from her previous form.

She was absolutely shocked by the fact that her body had transformed in such a way, and she had to assume that Discord was at fault for her body appearing in this manner, but she tried to keep a neutral expression on her face as she faced the strange bipedal creatures that were staring at her.

"Now that you are sitting in a more comfortable position, its time you started talking," the military man said, though at the same time he knelt in from of Chrysalis, which told her that he wanted to look her in the eyes and not stare down at her while they talked, "Who in the world are you? And how did you manage to get aboard our ship while we were in the middle of hyperspace?"

"Chrysalis... that's my name," Chrysalis replied, to which she mentally grinned, as her voice sounded the same despite the fact that her body was now messed up beyond repair, "and I would have to hazard a guess that I'm now a changeling whose body is mixed with... whatever you three are supposed to be."

"Humans. We're humans," the lady said, causing Chrysalis to turn her eyes towards the female for a few seconds, though at the same time the lady gestured to herself before waving her front leg at her companions, "My name is Kendra Daniels, and these are my coworkers Zach Hammond and Isaac Clarke. I'm the Computer Specialist for the USG Kellion, while Hammond is the Chief of Security and Isaac is our Engineering and Ship Systems Specialist..."

"Coworkers is a nice way of putting it," the military man, Hammond, commented, causing Kendra to turn towards him for a few seconds, though at the same time Chrysalis' eyes followed suit, "You were inserted into our team because of persistent recommendations from the higher-ups in the CEC... and, more to the point, we barely know each other."

"That doesn't change the fact that, for this mission anyway, we're coworkers," Kendra countered, though Chrysalis at least agreed with the lady, but she didn't say anything because she wanted them to forget about the questions they wanted to ask her, though that was dashed as Kendra turned back towards her, "You said that you are a changeling, but you never explained what sort of creature that's supposed to be."

"That's because, on my home planet, we weren't in the habit of revealing our secrets to potential threats," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time a hit of anger appeared in her voice, as she remembered what happened when Thorax claimed control of her changelings, "not until Thorax ruined that anyway..."

"Thorax?" Hammond inquired, though while he was used to people hiding information from him, as that was part of what he went through thanks to Kendra's insertion into this mission, he was sure that Chrysalis was hiding something.

This time around Chrysalis said nothing, as she didn't want to bring up the changeling that had ruined everything and forced her into hiding, before she had made the move to invade Princess Twilight's castle and enter the crystal mirror, which brought her to wherever she was at the moment. Her silence seemed to irritate Hammond a little bit, meaning that he didn't like it when someone was keeping secrets or vital information to themselves, but at the same time she didn't care what he wanted from her. She barely knew the man and clearly didn't trust him, just as he clearly didn't trust her, but right now she was liking Kendra more than Hammond... and she had no idea what to make of Isaac, as he had remained silent since he first spoke up, but that also meant that she wasn't annoyed with the man just yet.

She carefully studied the three 'humans' that were standing around her and waited for one of them to talk, as she had to assume that her presence on the Kellion, whatever that was, could have derailed whatever mission they were on... yet their expressions told her otherwise.

"Okay then, we know your name and species," Hammond said, though Chrysalis could tell that he was a tad bit annoyed that she wasn't willing to share anything about her species with them, "but none of that explains how you managed to get aboard the Kellion after we activated the Shockpoint Drive."

"Honestly, I have no idea what the Kellion is or what this Shockpoint Drive you keep mentioning is," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she figured that telling them the truth about how she got here, maybe bits and pieces of it instead of the whole story, would make them leave her alone, "All I did was enter a magical portal, in the middle of a library, and I somehow ended up on that cot, so I have no idea what you are talking about."

Had Chrysalis known that none of the three humans knew what magic was, and had though about that before opening her mouth, she would have been able to bypass the terrible conversation about how magic worked and if she had access to any spells. Since they wouldn't leave her alone about it, and insisted she showed them something, she simply sighed and called upon a small fraction of her energy reserves, to which she levitated one of the boxes off the ground for a few seconds before setting it back down. Hammond called her telekinesis spell a 'mind-controlled kinesis tool', to which Kendra told him that he might as well call it telekinesis, while at the same time Isaac seemed interested in what Chrysalis was able to do.

Since she had to explain the nature of her home world, and the types of magic that existed throughout Equus, she gave the three of them a short explanation of the various tribes and the magic they all possessed, while at the same time saying nothing about her own species.

"So let me get this straight," Hammond said, though at the moment he was sitting on a chair and had something called a hand pressed against his face, something that Chrysalis had learned while they were exchanging information, "you come from a world that's populated by magical ponies?"

"That's correct," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she noticed that Kendra was leaning against one of the walls around her and Isaac happened to be standing near the doorway the three of them had used to enter the room they were all standing in.

"And, as you told us earlier, you entered a magical portal of some kind and appeared in that cot," Hammond continued, though Chrysalis could determine that he was just making sure that he understood everything that she had told the three of them.

"That's my best guess," Chrysalis stated, though while it was the truth it appeared that Hammond was either not buying her story or he was having a hard time believing her, just like she found it hard to imagine creatures like these humans were capable of doing everything that they told her about... and they had only given her a brief rundown on what their species had done in the more recent years.

Sure, Equus had trains, blimps, chariots, and a few airships, but she had never heard of a vehicle that was capable of leaving one planet behind and allowing the passengers to travel to a whole new world, and, according to what the three humans said, there were other types of spaceships that she didn't know about. Isaac, seeing that she was having a hard time understanding what they were saying, walked over to Chrysalis and helped her into a standing position, before he gently carried her out of the room they were in and brought her to an area he called the cockpit. It was there that Hammond introduced her to Corporal Johnston, the co-pilot for the USG Kellion, and Corporal Chen, the pilot for the ship she happened to be in... to which Chrysalis discovered that the two pilots were surprised that they had another passenger, but they seemed more open minded than what she expected them to be.

After being introduced to the pilots, however, Chrysalis took a moment to stare at the area that surrounded them, where she discovered that the Kellion was moving through some sort of ethereal haze, where she spotted what she assumed were blue rings that occasionally passed around the ship. To Chrysalis it almost looked like they were traversing a tunnel of some kind, where Isaac explained that they were heading through hyperspace and that they would be doing that for the next week... until they reached Aegis VII, where the USG Ishimura was located. Chrysalis had no words for what she was seeing, because the only thing that even remotely looked like this, in Equus anyway, was the teleportation spell that someone could learn from one of the number of spellbooks that existed in her old world.

"So this is what you meant by hyperspace," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time Isaac helped her over to one of the seats that allowed her a decent view of what was going on around them, "So, how long will it take us to reach this... USG Ishimura?"

"Well, the Ishimura is located on the fringes of our territory," Hammond said, though as he spoke he recalled every bit of information that he had on this mission, or at least the bits of information that he was told before their departure, "and we only activated the Shockpoint Drive a few hours ago, so it will take us about a week of traveling through hyperspace before we reach Aegis VII and the Ishimura. Once we arrive my team and I will diagnose and repair whatever is causing the communications blackout on the ship, though it might take some time, as the Ishimura is a large ship."

"Not to mention that it is one of the largest and oldest of the planet cracker ships that the CEC made," Isaac stated, to which Chrysalis watched as the other four humans nodded their heads in agreement, though this was the first time she heard of such a ship, before Isaac turned towards her, "Basically a planet cracker ship uses gravity tethers to lift a chunk of a planet into the air, where it is deposited inside the ship and the contents are studied. Once the studies are done the real mining begins, where the precious metals are pulled from whatever planet the ship happens to be stationed at... its a very lucrative business."

Chrysalis was a little surprised to hear that the ship they were heading towards was capable of tearing massive chunks out of whatever planet the CEC, whoever they were, wanted to mine for additional resources, and she could only speculate as to what might happen if something went wrong during a 'planet crack'. Even hearing what the Ishimura could do made her think of not allowing any of these humans to find her home world, as she was sure that they would rejoice at the spoils that rested beneath Equus' surface. Sure, she wanted to have her revenge on those that had wronged her, but this would take the fun out of it, so she decided to say nothing about her home planet.

"When we arrive at the Ishimura, and have settled down, you should be able to use whatever spell you used earlier and head back home," Hammond said, though at the same time Chrysalis turned back towards the military man for a few seconds, as it appeared that he had forgotten what she had told him earlier, "until then, you might as well use the other cot in Kendra's room."

"And we ought to give her some better clothing than the rags she wearing," Kendra added, though if she was annoyed with Hammond forcing Chrysalis into her room she didn't show it, while at the same time Chrysalis looked down at the clothing that had been put on her thanks to Discord's cursed mirror, "Isaac, we should have a spare RIG or two in the storage room... do you think we can modify one of them for Chrysalis to wear?"

"It might take a day or two to modify the boots to fit over her hooves, as well as modify the helmet to account for her horn, but we should be able to make it work," Isaac replied, surprising Chrysalis by the fact that it wouldn't take longer to make those types of changes to the type of suit he was wearing, as that was what she suspected Kendra had meant, "and don't worry, I'll come up with something to protect your tail as well."

Chrysalis honestly had no idea why they were willing to transform one of their spare suits into something she could wear, as she intended on heading someplace quiet when they reached the Ishimura so she could attempt to head back to Equus. Sure, she may not know the exact spell Discord had used on the mirror, but she had to assume that it was simple to recreate, yet, at the same time, something in the back of her mind told her that leaving Isaac and the others was going to be harder than what she thought... and she only hoped that she could prove herself wrong in seven days.

Ishimura: Arrival

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The next seven days passed by at a relatively normal pace for Chrysalis, as she didn't get too engrossed in something and let the hours go flying by, which was something that Twilight Sparkle, as well as some of the other bookworm ponies she had encountered over the years, would have done. Despite that fact Kendra insisted that she spend some time on something that she called a 'computer', and at least learn a little more about humans and their vast history, Chrysalis knew it was mostly to make her forget about the fact that she was so far from her home world. She was both equally amused and shocked by some of the news articles that the device had access to, as it appeared that while humans were smart they were also capable of making terrible decisions that could cost someone, or a larger group, everything... which only reminded her of the ponies that she tried to conquer in the past.

Hammond, on the other hand, insisted that she spend some time walking up and down the length of the Kellion, so she could be familiar with her new body, though while changelings were great at quickly adapting to new forms Chrysalis honestly couldn't remember the last time she took on a bipedal form like this. Even with her natural abilities it took her between two to three hours before she was actually walking like Hammond wanted her to, impressing both him and anyone else that happened to be watching her. Of course that made Kendra, Isaac, and Hammond inquire as to how she was able to adapt to walking like they did so quickly, though she decided to tell them that changelings were great adapters, which was true for the majority of her species... save for a few that never developed any particular skill that could have benefited the hive in some manner.

Chrysalis found that the only skill she couldn't practice, save for some levitation practice every now and then, were her magical skills, because the Kellion was so small and one wrong spell would have obliterated all of them in the blink of an eye... though she figured that, at some point in the future, she'd have the chance to practice her magic again.

She also found out that both the pilot and co-pilot could leave the area they had to be sitting in to take a break, relieve themselves, and get something to eat, though one of them had to stay in the cockpit to make sure the Kellion didn't exit hyperspace and collide with something else on accident. She quickly discovered that Corporal Chen liked to play chess with whoever was available, which was usually Kendra or Hammond, though he also invited Chrysalis to try her hand at beating him. She felt that she would be terrible at chess, if her real life strategy planning was anything to go by, but Chen simply smiled and went over the rules with her as they played a tutorial match, allowing her to get the feel of what each piece did and how to properly move them. When he was done teaching her, and had checkmated her in the process, they got started on a real match between the two of them, where she discovered that Chen lured her into a false sense of security by purposely allowing her to take several of his more powerful pieces... only for him to checkmate her a few moments later.

Chrysalis knew that Chen had played this game with a fair number of people, if his skill was anything to go by, and that it would take some time before she managed to do the same thing to him, but he was pleased that she could put up a decent fight... even if he constantly beat her at chess whenever he was on break.

Corporal Johnston, on the other hand, simply liked to pull out a deck of playing cards and challenged whoever felt like joining him, where Chrysalis discovered that he had a fair number of games for them to chose from and several of those she felt like they would be betting something if they weren't on the Kellion. The games they ended up playing were Go Fish, which was apparently a kid's game and Johnston found it to be fun from time to time, Poker, Blackjack, and a number of other games that made it hard for her to remember all of them. Chrysalis had a little more luck with the cards than she did while she was playing chess with Chen, as she actually managed to win a game from time to time, which in turn impressed the others that joined in the game.

Chrysalis assumed that they were acting that way because they had no idea what sort of games she had experienced over the years, but at the same time she was thankful that they were being friendly towards her... though something still told her that her luck was going to run out when they reached the Ishimura.

On the fourth day of their journey, however, Isaac showed Chrysalis the RIG that he had been working on since Kendra had asked him if it was possible to modify one for her body, though as she stared at the suit Chrysalis could see where her hooves were supposed to go, found the spot where her tail would slip into a special cover Isaac installed, and noticed that the head piece opened up to take her horn into account... and, when it closed up, it did so to make sure her horn was protected as well. Sure, the suit Isaac was giving her resembled his to a degree, but both he and Kendra told her that this would protect her in case something happened when they got to the Ishimura, though they were both quick to tell her that they didn't expect that to happen at all. Chrysalis decided to believe them, to which she stepped into the armored suit and zipped it up once she had the body part of it on, before she slipped on the helmet... which broke apart and revealed that it was working as Isaac intended it to do.

Of course once she had her own RIG Kendra had to do two things; the first was to update their monitors so Chrysalis' name and vitals appeared on it, where Kendra explained that it was so they could make sure that she, and everyone else on their team, were in perfect health. The second item was Kendra giving Chrysalis some proper clothing that she could wear, which was pretty much a dull grey colored shirt and a brown pair of pants, though Chrysalis noted that all of Kendra's clothing seemed to have the same design style while possessing different colors. She stepped out of the RIG for a few moments and carefully dressed herself in her new clothing, in the privacy of Kendra's room, before she bothered to put the suit back on. Once all of that was done Kendra nodded and they rejoined the rest of the group, where they continued what they had been doing for the last three days as they waited for the Kellion to arrive at where Aegis VII, and the Ishimura, was located.

On the seventh day of their journey, while everyone was getting themselves prepared for the Kellion to finally exit hyperspace, Isaac held his arm up and called up a video of his beloved Nicole, who Chrysalis had learned about when she talked with the engineer and discovered that she was actually on the Ishimura as a nurse. She noticed that every time Isaac opened the message, as he had done it a few times during their journey, he actually never finished listening to whatever message Nicole sent him. Nicole mentioned wanting to talk to someone, apologized to Issac for 'everything', and said that 'it's all falling apart here', which to Chrysalis meant that something must have happened on the Ishimura... and was likely the reason behind why the communication blackout happened in the first place. This time, like the last few instances where he opened the message, Isaac sighed and simply closed the message and turned towards the front of the ship so he could focus on the mission at hand.

Chrysalis knew that he longed to be with his beloved Nicole again, as she could feel some love being sent out from him when he looked at the message, but she said nothing about it and focused on the cockpit as well... where Kendra and Hammond were the only two people who were still standing at the moment.

"How many times have you watched that message since it arrived?" Kendra asked, though while she was happy to see that Isaac still cared for Nicole she was worried that he might lose focus as to why they were heading to the Ishimura in the first place.

"I watched it a few times before I got the call from Hammond about this mission," Isaac replied, though as he spoke he noticed that Chrysalis was looking at the front of the cockpit, where she was no doubt eager to get her first true glimpse of the USG Ishimura, instead of reading about it and seeing videos detailing it's destructive power, "and I've only opened it a few more times since we activated the Shockpoint Drive."

"Guess you really miss her." Kendra said, where Chrysalis could tell that she was being sincere about her statement, which seemed to help Isaac relax a little, "Don't worry, we're almost there. You'll be able to look her up once we're onboard. Sounds like you two have a lot of catching up to do."

A few seconds after those words left Kendra's mouth the Kellion finally reached the end of the hyperspace they had been traveling through, where Chrysalis immediately noticed a fair amount of what she assumed was space debris and a planet that they were heading towards... though, based on the large sized hole on the planet's surface, she had to assume that the planet was Aegis VII.

"All right everyone, we're here." Hammond stated, though at the same time he and Kendra turned their attention to what was in front of them, which told Chrysalis that they were looking for the Ishimura, "Syncing our orbit now."

"I swear, all this trouble over that chunk of rock." Kendra commented, though her tone told Chrysalis that she thought they were wasting their time here, but she believed that Kendra would assist the Ishimura like she was supposed to.

"Deep space mining is a lucrative business, Ms. Daniels, just like we told Chrysalis a week ago." Hammond replied, where he glanced at the changeling for a few seconds, to which she nodded her head so that he understood that she was following what they had told her, before turning back to Kendra, "Aegis VII is a gold mine, according to prospector's reports. Cobalt, Silicon, Osmium... Now, where is she?"

"There she is." Chrysalis said, though at the same time she pointed at some of the asteroids for a few seconds, where she and the others watched as the rocks floated out of the way and revealed the vessel they were searching for.

The USG Ishimura was, as Chrysalis quickly discovered, was a massive construct that looked like a huge metallic rib cage, with some large and impressive engines installed behind it, along with what appeared to be an area where the Kellion could fly through and dock when they got closer. She also noticed four unusual appendage like pieces of metal that were sticking out of the underside of the ship, though from what little she had read about a planet cracker Chrysalis had to assume that they were the gravity tethers that could pull up the parts of the planet Isaac and the others told her about.

"Good, we have visual contact." Hammond said, though he was pleased that Chrysalis had spotted the Ishimura before any of them, which meant that when this mission was over he might actually consider asking her to come with him and get some additional training to be like him.

"So that's the Ishimura?" Kendra inquired, as her eyes were locked with the large ship that they had come to do repairs on, though Chrysalis silently echoed what she was about to say next, "Impressive."

"The USG Ishimura." Hammond corrected, though he was a little annoyed that Kendra couldn't be more formal by using the entire name, but he regained himself as he assessed the situation, "Biggest planet cracker in her class. And it looks like they already popped the cork."

Chrysalis immediately knew that Hammond was referring to the planet crack, though she had already determined that the people aboard the large ship had gone through with that because of the gaping hole in the planet she had seen... along with the fact that the Ishimura was carrying a fragment of Aegis VII in it's gravity tethers.

"Why is it all dark?" Kendra asked, as while the Kellion was moving closer to the Ishimura she was studying what they were able to see at the moment, though what she found so far was worrying her, "I don't see any running lights."

"Corporal Chen, take us in closer and hail them." Hammond ordered, though at the same time he was slightly worried about the fact that there weren't any running lights, just like Kendra was worried, "And stay clear of that debris field. We're here to fix their ship, not the other way around."

"USG Ishimura," Chen said, to which Chrysalis watched as the pilot tapped a few buttons and a switch or two before he started speaking, where she assumed that his voice was reaching the planet cracker vessel, "this is the emergency maintenance team of the USG Kellion responding to your distress call. Come in Ishimura."

"You're going to need to boost the signal if their power is low." Kendra stated, though she was only trying to be helpful at the moment, as they had no idea what sort of shape the ship was in if they didn't get any messages back in return.

"Yes, we know that." Hammond said, to which Chrysalis heard more of the part of Hammond that spoke of the annoyance he had felt when Kendra's name had been forced onto this mission from the higher-ups in the CEC, before he turned towards Chen and Johnston, "Boost the signal."

Chrysalis silently watched as the two pilots did as Hammond told them to do, once more indicating that he was the commander of this mission, though at the same time she didn't hear any sounds that could be coming from the Ishimura, which meant that there had to be something majorly wrong on the ship they were heading towards.

"I've never heard of a total communications blackout on one of these things." Kendra stated, to which Isaac and Hammond nodded their heads, telling Chrysalis that this was an uncommon event that they might not actually be prepared for, "You'd think with a thousand people on board, someone would pick up the phone..."

That was quickly followed by some sort of unintelligible noise sounding over the Kellion's communications, though at the same time Chrysalis carefully listened to see if she could hear anything that the others might be missing... only to find that she really couldn't detect anything.

"What is that?" Chrysalis asked, because she had absolutely no idea what she was even attempting to listen to and knew that one of her new companions would be able to answer her question.

"It's a busted array like we thought." Kendra said, though she couldn't fault Chrysalis for not knowing anything about this, as she hadn't been briefed on the mission and she had researched little about how the ship systems worked, before she turned back towards Hammond, "Sounds like they're having problems with their encoder. You get us down there and Isaac and I can fix it. Forty-eight hours max."

"Alright, you heard the lady. Take us in." Hammond ordered, though this was one of the few times that Chrysalis heard his tone suggest that he was pleased with Kendra and what she was saying, which would improve how they worked together after this mission if they were put together again, "Let's see what needs fixing."

"Gravity tethers engaged." Johnston said, while at the same time flipping a few buttons that caused a light purple aura of some kind to surround the Kellion, though at the same time Chrysalis prepared herself for their arrival on the USG Ishimura, "Automatic docking procedure is go."

At first it seemed like everything was going just fine, which made Chrysalis and everyone else happy, but then, out of complete nowhere, a sudden blast rocked the Kellion and knocked everyone around, though while Kendra and Hammond struggled to remain standing Chrysalis, Issac, Chen, and Johnston remained in their seats as the two pilots refocused on what was happening at the moment.

"What the hell?" Chen shouted, as he was completely thrown off guard by the fact that something had blown apart near them, though at the same time he and Johnston didn't like the looks of the symbols on their monitors.

"Sir! The autodock..." Johnston started to say, though at the same time he noticed Hammond's glare in the glass in front of him and decided that it was best if Chen told the commander what was happening.

"What is it?" Hammond snapped, though while he spoke he watched as they started to drift near the Ishimura, or more accurately towards the loading bay that they were supposed to be heading towards until something happened to explode on them.

"We're off track!" Chen stated, though this time around he decided not to keep himself from being worried, because something like this had never happened before and he was out of his element now, "We're going to hit the hull!"

"Hit the blast shields!" Hammond ordered, to which Chen and Johnston started following his command, but at the same time he thought of something that had to explain what had happened to the Kellion, "Their guidance tether must be damaged! Switch to manual. NOW!"

"Inside the magnetic field?" Kendra asked in surprise, telling Chrysalis that this wasn't something that someone usually did if this sort of scenario happened, though she braced herself anyway, "Are you insane?! Abort!"

"NO! We can make it inside!" Hammond snapped, to which he spared a moment to glare at Kendra again, as he couldn't believe that she was questioning him at this vital moment, before turning towards both the pilot and co-pilot once more, "Corporal, I gave you an order!"

It was in that moment that Chen and Johnston gripped the lever that rested above where they sat for the majority of the journey through hyperspace and pulled it, to which a metallic shield of sorts unfolded from wherever it was hiding and connected in front of the cockpit while a screen appeared in front of the two pilots. Chrysalis already knew that they were in danger of being killed, either by aborting and being torn apart or by going through with Hammond's insane plan and likely being crushed in the process. She gripped her seat with both her arms and her magic, because she didn't go through the effort to cross through the magical mirror, and travel to a new world, only to die before she actually did anything... she preferred it if they lived through this event.

"Argh, the field's too strong!" Chen stated, though at the same time the screen started going into a static state, to which Chrysalis closed her eyes and braced herself for what might be the end of her life.

Despite the fact that her eyes were closed Chrysalis felt the Kellion hit a couple of things as they collided with the Ishimura, which part she had absolutely no idea, but she kept her eyes closed as she waited for the ship to come to a complete stop. It took a few moments before the Kellion actually came to a stop, though that was followed by five groans that told Chrysalis that everyone she had been traveling with had, somehow, survived their event. As a light flickered for a few seconds, however, Chrysalis carefully opened her eyes as the Kellion's systems restarted, to which the blast shields retracted into where they had been hiding earlier... while at the same time revealing that they had landed in the docking area of the Ishimura.

She was thankful for Hammond's quick thinking, because even if it had been an insane plan on his part he just assured that they would survive to help the Ishimura repair their communications array... and then likely get some help with repairing the Kellion in return, as she was sure that the ship was slightly damaged from their maneuver.

"Is everyone okay?" Hammond asked, though at the same time he turned around, to which both Issac and Chrysalis nodded their heads and gave him a thumbs up, indicating that they were fine.

"What...? What the hell were you thinking?!" Kendra shouted, as while she was happy they were all alive she was sure that they could have come up with something that was safer than what Hammond just put them, along with the Kellion, through, "Were you trying to get us killed?"

"I just saved our asses, Ms. Daniels!" Hammond snapped, to which he turned towards Kendra for a moment, though at the same time Chrysalis carefully undid her safety harness so she could get out of her seat once Kendra announced that everyone was okay, "If we had aborted at that speed and distance, we would have smashed right into the side of the Ishimura. Now settle down, and let's get to work. Corporal, report!"

"Chrysalis, let's put our helmets on," Isaac said, to which the changeling glanced over at him for a few seconds, where he entered the command and his helmet put itself together around his head, to which Chrysalis nodded and repeated the motion with her own helmet.

"I'm not getting any readings from the port booster and we've lost both comms and the autopilot." Chen said, though at the same time he sighed, because this was definitely more damage than what he was expecting to occur when Hammond suggested his plan, "It'll take some time to fix."

"All right, let's get some extra hands from the flight deck to help out." Hammond said, though at the same time he was pleased that all of them had survived the collision, while also being relieved that Chrysalis wasn't barfing or doing anything like that since this was her first time experiencing something like this.

Kendra sighed for a few seconds before she turned around, to which she walked up to where Isaac and Chrysalis were still sitting, indicating that they were patiently waiting for someone to make sure that everyone was fine before they even considered moving off the ship.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, hold still for a few seconds... I'm syncing everyone's RIGs with the ship." Kendra stated, to which she pressed a few keys on her portable panel and studied what showed up for a few moments, where Chrysalis noticed four blue bars appeared on the back part of Issac's RIG, which she assumed were on her RIG as well, "Okay, we're done. Clean bill of health for everyone."

"All right." Hammond said, as he was pleased to hear that news, even though he could have guessed that by simply looking at everyone, before he beckoned for everyone to follow him, "We've still got a job to do. We're moving out."

As Chrysalis, Isaac, and the others followed Hammond off the Kellion, by opening a door and creating a walkway for them to walk on, Chrysalis could tell that the Ishimura was a large ship from the inside, based on the size of the docking bay they had crashed into... yet, at the same time, there was a sense of dread that she couldn't shake and she silently hoped that nothing terrible happened while they were here.

Ishimura: Encounter

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As Chrysalis and her new companions departed from the Kellion, and walked onto one of the walkways that rested in the docking area that they had crashed into, Chrysalis took a few seconds to look around and truly take in how massive the Ishimura was, even if this was only a single area of the ship. The Ishimura was an impressive ship, even if it was the only one of its kind she would ever lay her eyes on, and it spoke volumes on how skilled the humans were at building massive constructs like this. It was at this point that she got her first look at the exterior of the Kellion, though as she gazed upon the smaller ship she realized that a good portion of the vessel was damaged from the collision and, if she was seeing things right, it actually looked like they might have lost a section of the ship as well.

The only person that was staring at the Kellion with her, instead of following Hammond towards the sign that was welcoming them to the Ishimura, was Kendra... and her eyes were resting on the same area of the ship that Chrysalis happened to be staring at.

"You didn't lose power to the port booster." Kendra said, though at this point she knew that both of the Corporals, as well as Hammond, would be ignoring her, but she wanted to say it so she could remind them about it later, "You LOST the port booster! Unbelievable."

Chrysalis knew that the port booster was important for a ship, how important she had no idea, but at the same time she didn't want to be left behind and gently grabbed Kendra's shoulder, to which the two of them walked down the walkway and rejoined the rest of their group. Hammond appeared to be listening to the welcoming sign, as if he was trying to figure something out while he and the others were waiting, but the moment he noticed Kendra and Chrysalis coming he snapped to attention and continued walking. Chen and Johnston were ready to go as well and followed after Hammond, though as they walked towards the large door in front of them Chrysalis noticed that the two pilots were carrying strange weapons that had six slots on the front of it... and Hammond happened to be carrying the same weapon.

For a moment she wondered if the pilots and the mission commander expected there to be trouble, since they were carrying weapons, but then she decided that since Hammond was the one in charge of the security details that this was okay for the pilots to do... to which she followed after them and kept her eyes open. One of the things she noticed was that the lights inside the ship were definitely off, which meant that the crew was either asleep or they were working in the darkness without noticing anything different. She also noticed a couple of lockers that were locked, if the red light in the center of them was any indication, and the couple of vending machines appeared to be powered down, meaning that something was definitely happening.

"Guess the power's down everywhere." Hammond said, apparently noticing the same things that Chrysalis had noticed, though that was before he turned towards Isaac, who was standing near the opening they had walked through and was staring at the Kellion, "Isaac, get over here and hack the door pad."

"He can do that?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she watched as Isaac approached the seemingly locked door and held a hand towards the center of it, where she watched as he interacted with a light blue hologram of some kind for a few seconds.

"Yeah, its something all engineers are taught in case something like this happens," Isaac replied, knowing that Chrysalis had no idea what engineers could even do, though at the same time he remembered the suit that she was wearing and what it had been made from, "Chrysalis, if you approach a door or locker with a blue symbol, like the one in front of me, you should be able to open them as well..."

The moment the last word left his mouth the door in front of him opened, to which Hammond, Chen, and Johnston walked forward first to be sure that everything was okay while Issac, Kendra, and Chrysalis followed after them... where they discovered that the lounge area looked a little messy thanks to all of the luggage containers that were sitting around the floor.

"Seems like everyone was trying to pack in a hurry." Chrysalis and Kendra said in unison, though they had to stare at each other for a few seconds before Kendra chuckled, as neither of them had seen that coming, nor had they planned on speaking in unison like that.

"There should be a security detail here." Hammond commented, though as the group spread out he glanced around the lounge, because something wasn't right about this and he knew that something strange was going on.

"Yeah, well there's not." Kendra said, though at the same time she glanced down at her monitor and started looking for anything that would help them out, to which her worries only increased when she found nothing, "There's nobody here. I can't pick up any broadcasts."

"Hey, there's a computer inside this room," Chrysalis said, to which the rest of the group turned and looked at her, where they discovered that she was pointing to a security console that was behind some glass, though they were fortunate that there was an entrance to the room she had discovered.

"That security console is still live." Hammond stated, though there was some hope in him now, because now they could figure out what happened and form a solid plan that they could all work from, "Isaac, log in and see what you can find. Chrysalis, you should follow Isaac and see if you spot anything else that's useful. Kendra, get that elevator back online."

Chrysalis was glad that she had found something useful, even though it was a security console and not a computer, which made her realize that the computers had to be personal and the other ones, in a public area like this, served some sort of function for the area it was installed in. Isaac, however, stood by the door that they needed to walk though and beckoned to it, where Chrysalis noticed that it had a light blue icon as well, to which she held a hand out and watched as the door opened before her eyes. She grinned for a few seconds before she and Isaac walked through the opening, though as they walked towards the console, however, the door closed behind them, which she assumed had to be natural... and the only thing that worried her, at that exact moment, was the fact that there was a decent amount of blood on the floor.

"Power's dead Hammond." Kendra said, as she had been standing in front of the elevator for a few seconds and finally stopped looking at her monitor, to which she turned towards their leader, "I can't get the elevator back online."

"Then re-route the damn power!" Hammond snapped, causing everyone to stop in their tracks for a few seconds, as they were expecting them to argue once more, before Hammond sighed and regained himself, "Look, if we all cooperate, we can figure this out a lot sooner. Let's get that computer display up, Isaac."

Isaac glanced over to Chrysalis for a few seconds, to be sure that she was ready for whatever happened after he activated the security console, to which she nodded her head and he tapped the screen, to which an hologram of the Ishimura appeared in front of them... where she then noticed that there were a few red flashing icons on the image, indicating areas of the ship that had to have been damaged in some manner.

"Huh. That doesn't look good." Johnston commented, to which he approached the glass and stared at the hologram from the other side of the glass, while confirming Chrysalis' suspicions as well, "She's taken a lot of damage."

"The tram system's offline. Getting around is going to be difficult." Hammond said, though while he sounded annoyed about that fact the air systems apparently came back on, which told Chrysalis that they had been breathing old air the entire time since their arrival, "The air seems to be flowing again. That's a start."

That was followed by the lights darkening while an alarm sounded, causing Chrysalis' senses to go into high alert as she looked around for some sort of danger, because she sensed that this was some sort of quarantine and that they had tripped something by activating the console.

"What the hell was that?" Kendra asked, though at the same time she sounded frightened and worried, while Chen and Johnston prepared themselves for whatever was going to happen.

"Automatic quarantine must have tripped when the filtration system restarted." Hammond stated, echoing Chrysalis' thoughts on the situation, though even with that confirmation she was still looking for any potential hazards that they might have set off, "Everybody relax..."

That was when a sound rumbled in the vents around them, telling everyone that there was something inside the numerous vents that surrounded them, but all that did was make Chrysalis ball her fists for a few seconds to calm herself down... while at the same time Isaac looked around while trying to determine where the noise was coming from.

"What was that?" Kendra asked, though this time around she was more frightened than she had been a few moments ago, because now there was the potential that something was in the vents, "Did you hear that?!"

"I'm not sure..." Hammond said, to which he pulled up his weapon and glanced around the room, while Chen and Johnston did the same thing, because if there was something in the vents they were going to be prepared for whatever it was when it decided to come out and reveal itself.

Chrysalis watched as one of the vents in the room suddenly burst open and something fell out of it, silently hitting the floor near where Johnston was standing, though Chrysalis' eyes widened as she realized that no one else had noticed the creature hit the floor.

"What the hell?" Johnston said, though at the same time he moved a little bit away from where the vent was located, but not far enough to really do anything in the long run since he had no idea what was lurking near him thanks to the fact that the lights were darkened.

"I don't know! Something's in the room with us!" Kendra called out, though she hoped that her warning about there being something else with them would make everyone survey their surroundings more than they already were.

"Johnston! Behind you!" Chrysalis shouted, as she could see the creature, which appeared to possess a human like form with its arms raised up in the air, approaching Johnston.

Johnston barely had time to turn around before the creature, whatever it happened to be, swung one of its blade like arms and decapitated the man, though before his body even hit the ground the foul monster started to carve up the poor man's body and appeared to hack him apart... while at the same time making Chrysalis sick to her stomach.

"Jesus! Open fire! Open fire!" Hammond shouted, to which he and Chen opened fire on the monster, though while their bullets hit the creature in the chest he knew that they needed to get out of there, "Kendra! Power!"

In that moment there was another bursting sound and a second monstrous creature dropped down near where Chen was standing, causing the man to turn and start firing into its chest as well, though while all of this happened Chrysalis noticed that the monsters weren't dying with all of the ammunition that was being pumped into their chests. She didn't understand how that could be possible, how a creature could still be alive with all of the holes that were being put in their chest, but there was the evidence and her mind was struggling how to understand all of this. While that was going through her mind the second creature jumped onto Chen and started tearing him apart as well, leaving Hammond as the only one of them with a weapon.

"Kendra...!" Hammond shouted, though he was thankful that the creatures appeared to be more focused on tearing apart the bodies of his pilots, as it meant that they weren't coming towards him, Kendra, Isaac, or even Chrysalis.

"Come on... come on." Kendra said, as she had turned her full attention to her monitor the moment Johnston had fallen, despite the fact that both the pilot's and the co-pilot's RIGs had flatlined in the last few seconds, before the door in front of her opened and hope seemed to return, "Got it!"

"Isaac, Chrysalis, get the hell out of there!" Hammond called out to them, though that was followed by the door closing, leaving the two to their fate as the door near them opened.

At that point Chrysalis and Isaac decided that it was time for them to move, to which they headed through the now open door as Kendra called out to them, by their RIGs now less, to get moving before the creatures came for them, though they experienced a slight complication along the way. One of the vents that they ran under happened to explode and another one of those creatures dropped down behind them, though they paid it little mind as they followed the hallway to what appeared to be an elevator. Isaac, being the first to reach it, activated the door and moved into the container, though when Chrysalis reached it she immediately turned around the moment she entered the container and slammed her hand on the control panel... to which the door closed and saved them from the monstrous creature.

Before the elevator could get moving, however, the monstrous creature shoved both of its arms into the crack between the doors and forced it open, to which Chrysalis and Isaac moved to the back of the container and stared at the creature... though when it took a step forward the doors rapidly closed and severed both of it's arms and its head, which rolled around their feet, and hooves, for a few seconds before coming to a stop. A few seconds later the cargo lift, as that was what the control panel called what they were riding in, started it's descend into the Ishimura, to which the two road in silence as they tried to calm their nerves. It didn't take them long to reach wherever the cargo lift was connected to before it came to a stop and opened up, to which Chrysalis and Isaac got out of there as fast as they could... which was followed by Chrysalis opening her helmet up and heaving up what she had for breakfast into the corner.

Isaac, seeing this happen, suddenly felt the urge to do the same thing and did so in an opposite corner, though he recovered from his ordeal and sealed his helmet once more... though that was before he noticed that they were in a repair area for plasma cutters, and that there happened to be one on the workstation. He walked up to the workstation and studied the potential weapon for a few seconds, to which he smiled to himself as he picked it up and pointed it at the wall, where he noticed that it felt good to hold... though he had no idea how well it would serve if more of those monsters revealed themselves. As he lowered his arm he noticed that there was a dead guy leaning against the side of the workstation, someone that had been brutally harmed by one of those creatures, and simply closed the man's eyes while he considered what to do next.

"I see you found something to defend yourself with," Chrysalis commented, though as Isaac turned towards her she noticed something else, something that her companion must have missed while he was studying the weapon, "I wonder what 'CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS' is supposed to mean. Is this guy suggesting that the only way to kill those creatures is to tear off all of their limbs in some manner?"

"I... I think that's what he means," Isaac said, though at the same time he turned towards the two nearby crates and opened them, where he picked up a Med Pack and acquired a thousand credits, which he could use later when they found a store that took them, "Well, at least we have something to defend ourselves with."

"Like I said, you found something to defend yourself with," Chrysalis countered, though she raised a hand to stop Isaac from saying anything, to which she walked over to the cargo lift and levitated the bone blades up from where they had fallen earlier, "and, until we can get back to the lounge area and claim either Chen or Johnston's weapons, these will have to serve me for some time... besides, now that we're on the Ishimura I can start using a higher degree of magic and not have to worry about destroying something in the process.

Isaac had no idea if it was a wise move to use the sharpened bones of the creature that had tried to kill them in the cargo lift, but instead of talking about it he decided that if Chrysalis believed that the blades could be of use to her, and not hinder her, then she might as well use them. Instead he approached a pair of crates and smashed them with his boot, where he found some plasma energy containers, which would allow him to restock his weapon if he ran out of ammunition, before he heard the sound of someone shouting for assistance behind the door he and Chrysalis needed to go through. He glanced over at Chrysalis, who nodded her head and approached the door as well, to which he raised the plasma cutter and blasted the panel that was preventing the door from being opened... though when they opened the door they found one of those creatures finishing off the person that had been calling for aid.

A few seconds later the creature turned towards them and jumped through the doorway, to which Isaac opened fire on the creature's limbs and blew one of it's arms off immediately, knocking the creature backwards for a second... though before he could fire again the creature's legs were removed and caused it to tumble to the floor, where he blasted the other arm off and the creature stopped moving. Isaac turned towards Chrysalis and noticed that the bone blades were floating around her, indicating that she had sliced off the creature's legs while it was distracted by the damage Isaac had caused to it. He watched as she examined her makeshift weapons for a few seconds before carefully removing the rest of the skin and muscle that were attached to the bone blades... though once only the bone remained she nodded and walked through the open doorway.

"So, what exactly are these creatures?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she and Isaac walked into the hallway that was in front of them, were they kept their guards up in case more of them showed up.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've never seen them before," Isaac said, though as he spoke he was sure that no one, save for the potentially few survivors on the Ishimura, knew what these creatures were and where they had come from, "but they have proven that they are capable of moving quickly and attacking with very lethal force, so we'll have to be careful from this point forward. How are you holding up?"

"Well, considering that I just puked up what I had for breakfast, I'd say not well," Chrysalis replied, as she had actually never seen someone torn apart like that and, while she didn't know Chen and Johnston well enough, she had considered them good acquaintances and was actually saddened by their deaths, "Come on, let's keep moving and see if we can't find a place to make contact with the others... provided those creatures didn't get to them first."

Isaac nodded as the two of them came to a door, though on the other side he found a Med Pack that he quickly added to their collection, where he explained that if they were hurt by something, like one of these creatures cutting them, they could use the Med Pack to heal their wounds. The two of them then walked down the short ramp in front of them and found an Audio Log, which Isaac explained was someone recording something for others to hear, before they found that the information on the log was the creatures used the vents to get around the ship and warned them to stay away from the vents... which made Chrysalis a little more worried than she had been a few seconds ago. Once the Audio Log was done the two of them opened the door to the Tram Control Room, where the lights powered on the moment they walked into the room.

The two of them snapped to the right, where the controls were located, and watched as the metallic shields that were on the exterior of the room pulled themselves back and revealed the other side of the tracks that the tram apparently rode on... where Chrysalis and Isaac noticed that Kendra and Hammond were alive and well, and their companions had noticed them as well. A few seconds later an image of both Kendra and Hammond appeared in front of both Chrysalis and Isaac, where Chrysalis remembered that this was a video log, essentially allowing them to speak to one another despite the fact that they were in two separate locations at the moment.

"Isaac! Chrysalis!" Kendra said, though that was followed by her letting out a sigh of relief, indicating that she was happy to see that the two of them had survived their encounter, "God, I can't believe they made it."

"Isaac, Chrysalis, we ran into more of them on the way over here." Hammond wheezed, telling the duo that he and Kendra must have run through their side of the area they were in and didn't stop until they were somewhere safe, "Are the two of you okay?"

"Just a little freaked out over what we just saw," Chrysalis replied, as she was still coming to terms with the fact that two of the people she had met when she first found herself on the Kellion were now dead.

"She means that we're doing fine." Isaac said, knowing that Hammond would prefer to hear that they were fine, which was the truth since neither of them had been harmed during their retreat from the security console or their follow up encounter with one of those creatures.

"More what?" Kendra asked, as now she wanted to return to the original course of their conversation, as there was something they needed to know before they moved forward, "What the hell are those things? Are... are they the crew?!"

"Keep your voice down!" Hammond warned, indicating that he had no idea what was happening, but at the same time he didn't want them to accidentally give themselves away to those creatures, "Whatever they are, they're not friendly! And half the doors on the ship are locked because of the quarantine. Now we have to get to the bridge, but first, we got to repair the tram system."

"You're crazy Hammond." Kendra said, which marked the return of their rivalry, while at the same time she didn't like the situation that they were in at the moment, "You're going to get us all killed."

"If you listen to me, I WILL get you out of here alive." Hammond stated, though Chrysalis detected a lack of conviction in his voice, indicating that he had no idea if he could fulfill such a promise, before sighing and turning his attention back to Kendra, "Now what's wrong with the tram?"

Chrysalis and Isaac watched as Kendra looked down at her monitor again and studied it, where they knew that she was connecting to the information that would allow her to tell Hammond what was wrong, but the look on her face told them that the damage might be more than what Isaac was thinking about.

"The data board's fried but there should be a spare in the Maintenance Bay." Kendra said, where she carefully read everything that was in front of her as she came to one conclusion, something that made her annoyed, "There's also a broken tram blocking the tunnel that needs to be repaired. Dammit, everything is on the other side of this quarantine. We can't reach it from here."

"No we can't... but they can." Hammond replied, to which he raised his arm and looked at the device that was allowing them to speak with Chrysalis and Isaac, where Chrysalis knew that they would have to fight those creatures to make whatever repairs they were talking about, "Isaac, if I can get to the bridge, I should be able to access the personnel files. You fix the tram and I'll help you find Nicole."

Isaac tensed for a moment, as in the heat of what they had all just gone through he had forgotten that one of the reasons he had come back to the Ishimura was to find Nicole and reunite with her, though now he hoped that she had survived whatever was happening to the ship so they could escape together.

"Chrysalis, you used magic to teleport aboard the Kellion," Kendra said, though at the same time she stopped Hammond from deactivating the link between them, indicating that there was something on her mind, "Look, just use whatever spell you used earlier and get away from this terrible place."

"I would if I could," Chrysalis replied, to which she sighed as she tapped in the command to pull her helmet apart, where she stared at the link between them for a few seconds and made sure both Kendra and Hammond could see her when she spoke, "but I'm afraid that such a thing is impossible. I walked through a magical gateway that was being monitored by Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony... so, unless I can find another one like it on the Ishimura, I'm afraid that leaving will be impossible. I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future, though I promise that I will do my best to make sure that we all get out of here alive."

"Okay, then help Isaac repair the tram," Hammond said, to which Chrysalis nodded her understanding as she resealed her helmet, as she knew that she was going to want it up from here on out, "and keep an eye out for those things... there's no telling how many of them are lurking in the vents."

Chrysalis nodded again as the link between them was terminated, though at the same time she knew that there had to be a fair number of those monstrous creatures lurking in the vents... and that she and Isaac were going to have to fight their way through a swarm of them just to repair the tram, and whatever else needed fixing on the Ishimura.

Ishimura: Fixing the Tram

View Online

Chrysalis and Isaac took a moment to calm themselves down, because since they were inside what appeared to be one of the safe rooms of the Ishimura at the moment Chrysalis insisted that she and Isaac calm themselves before they left the room behind. It was mostly because she was still freaking out on the inside, as this was something that she had never done before and she had never seen someone killed in such a manner, but at the same time she was relieved that Isaac agreed with her. He was also freaked out about what was going on at the moment and didn't want them to freeze at the wrong moment, because with those creatures running around the ship he knew that they needed to be ready for their return, especially with their already limited resources... and that was because they only had one working weapon at the moment and had nothing to replace it.

Isaac was sure that Chrysalis would hold onto the bone blades that she had pried from the monstrous creature that had been killed by the cargo lift doors, as it appeared that they were the only weapons she could find for the moment, but he was also sure that she'd put them aside when she found something more useful.

Once the two of them were calmed down, to a level that they both agreed with, they got back onto their feet, or hooves in Chrysalis' case, and moved towards the other entrance that the Tram Control Room had, to which they carefully opened the door and made their way into the hallway that was connected to it. A few seconds later they came to a split in the path, as they could choose from heading to the left and heading to the right, though this time around Chrysalis knew that it was best to follow Isaac. The reasoning behind that decision was because he seemed to know where he was going, which meant that he had worked aboard the Ishimura at some point in his career and knew where they needed to go, so she remained silent and watched him pick the path on their right.

That brought them to another door that Isaac carefully opened up, though they were greeted by a corpse falling from the ceiling and hitting the floor in front of them, to which they raised their weapons towards where the dead man came from and found that there was no vent there... only a small area to fit something into, which meant that he fell from where he had been hiding, no doubt to get away from the creature that was chasing him, before he died where he had hidden.

The two of them shared a look with each other, as they were sad to see another dead body, before they started to walk down that hallway, where they received a message from Hammond about the creatures he had fought while he and Kendra had been running, the same ones Isaac and Chrysalis had killed as well. He basically told them what they already knew, that shooting them in the body didn't seem to work and that they needed to go for the limbs, as dismembering these creatures seemed to do the trick. Isaac and Chrysalis confirmed that they received the transmission and told Hammond that they would change how they were attacking these monsters, though at the same time they silently sighed and continued on their way.

Hammond had no idea that they had found a message saying the exact same thing near where Isaac picked up his plasma cutter, so they simply decided to let him tell them what he knew and didn't fight against it, because then Kendra was likely to join in and Chrysalis really didn't want them all fighting with each other, especially given the current situation.

A few moments later Isaac opened the door in front of them and stepped out into the area in front of him, where Chrysalis discovered that they were actually walking on the area that rested beneath where the tram moved, though there was more than enough room for them to move around in. Something of interest that she noticed was that there appeared to be a broken tram resting on the rails, which had to be what they were supposed to either fix or remove, but at the moment she didn't really see how they were going to fix it from down here. She then turned her gaze towards the area that was around them, as she was sure that more of those creatures were around here somewhere, before she found Isaac standing near two bodies... or rather an unfortunate someone that had been cut in half by the malfunctioning door that was blocking their way.

Something that caught her attention was that Isaac had picked up something interesting while she was studying the ruined tram, as there was now something attached to his left arm that hadn't been there when they left the Tram Control Room a few minutes ago.

"What is that?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she stared at the strange device for a few seconds, as it appeared to be some sort of circular device that was plugged into a stand that was attached to Isaac's arm, indicating that he had likely installed it into his RIG at this point in time.

"A Stasis Module," Isaac replied, as he knew that Chrysalis had never seen anything like this before, despite the fact that she might have a spell that mimicked the module, but it felt good to explain things to her, "it allows the user to slow down fast moving objects... and sometimes even other people. Poor guy barely had a chance to use it, if the power meter is anything to go by... I wonder if this will help us against those creatures, maybe slow them down enough to where we can hack them apart before they have a chance to react."

"Only one way to find out," Chrysalis said, as while she didn't like the fact that she and Isaac might be seeing more of those creatures, as they sent a shiver down her spine and really freaked her out, she was interested in seeing what the Stasis Module did and had the perfect thing for Isaac to test it on, "How about you try it out on that malfunctioning door?"

Isaac nodded and pointed his left hand towards the malfunctioning door, waiting for the perfect movement to happen before he released a stasis blast at the door, causing it to slow way down and, and the same time, gave him and Chrysalis the opportunity to move to safety without being hurt in the process. The two of them made their way to the passage that was on the other side of the door and carefully started climbing the ramp that was in front of them, as there was no way of telling where their enemies were lurking. At the top of the ramp they found a Stasis Pack, which Isaac explained would allow him to recharge his Stasis Module if he ran out of power, where he showed Chrysalis a new icon that had appeared on his screen, so he could know how much juice was left inside the module at any given time.

He was right about the fact that whoever had been carrying the Stasis Module prior to him, before being crushed by the malfunctioning door he and Chrysalis had passed through, hadn't had the chance to use it at all before his untimely demise, but at least he could put it to use now.

The two of them walked down to the right for a few seconds, just to make sure that there weren't any enemies in the area surrounding them, to which the lights flickered and turned off for a few moments, though when they reached the locked door at the end of the hall, and picked up the thousand credits that were laying there, the lights came back on. That told Chrysalis that the ship might be running on borrowed time, because if the power started going out she was sure that the Ishimura might drop out of space and collide with Aegis VII. At the same time, however, she was sure that if the power was starting to go out, or was in the early stages of going out, that there had to be a way to restore power to the entire ship... something that Isaac or Kendra would definitely know about.

As they walked down the hall, back towards the way they came, Isaac insisted on checking the bathroom for anything that someone might have dropped, to which he quickly entered the bathroom and returned with two containers of plasma energy and a small Med Pack. With those items in hand the two of them carefully walked down the other side of the hall, where they came to a door that was marked as the 'Tram Repair Room', which happened to be what they were looking for at that very moment. As they walked into the room they noticed that the larger doors, which allowed the tram to be taken from the tracks and fixed while a new one was put in place, opened the moment they entered the area, though as they approached the main console, in the middle of the walkway on their right, Chrysalis spotted a box on the wall and opened it... where she found a node of some kind and pocketed it, as there would be time to figure out what it was later.

Once they reached the console, however, Isaac stopped and looked down at the repair area in front of them, or more specifically the two claws that were supposed to draw the broken tram into this area, meaning that one of them had to be broken in some manner.

"What we're going to do is manually attach these claws to the tram so the repairs can begin," Isaac said, to which he gestured to the two glowing screens that were to their right and left, at the ends of the ramps they had to walk up to reach this console, "all we have to do is tap the button and the claws will engage... then the system should take over and we can go find that data board Kendra told us about."

"Right," Chrysalis replied, though deep down she was pleased to hear that this was going to be an easy task and not something that was complicated, because she had no sort of training like Isaac or Kendra had and was pretty much useless in their respective fields.

As they started to separate from each other, however, Chrysalis heard the sound of Isaac's plasma cutter and found that he had severed the legs and one arm of a creature that had jumped into the room, though since he appeared to be handling himself quite well she decided that she might as well continue with her own task. Since she didn't have anywhere to put them, and didn't want to tire out her magical reserves on making two things float all the time, she had been carrying her bone blades since she and Isaac left the Tram Control Room. She figured that if she needed them she could easily toss one at an enemy, grab it with her magic, and battle her opponent in that manner, but at some point she knew that she was going to return to using magic.

Once Isaac was done with the creatures on his side of the repair area, and Chrysalis still hadn't seen any that would make her fight, the two of them nodded their heads and activated the consoles they were standing in front of, though as Isaac's claw touched the tram he blasted it with a stasis blast and charged up the ramp. A few seconds later he touched the console that was in front of him and the tram started being pulled back into the area they were standing in, which made Chrysalis happy that they were actually getting somewhere.

Replacing damaged tram car. a computerized voice said, one that made Chrysalis jump for a moment, as she wasn't expecting something like that to happen, before she calmed down when she noticed that Isaac was standing still and was paying attention to the tram in front of them, Please stand by.

The two of them watched what was happening for a few seconds, where the damaged tram car was removed from the track and lowered into an area where it could actually be fixed, though that was followed by a fresh tram car being brought out and attached to the tracks.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, you guys did it!" Kendra said, to which she appeared on the video link once more, though they could tell that she was extremely happy about what they were able to accomplish since their arrival, "That tram was blocking the whole system. When you get the computer online, you'll be able to call the tram from the control room. Faster the better... I can hear something crawling around out there..."

It was at that point that several of the vents, those that were still intact, blew themselves apart as several of the creatures jumped into the repair room, from both sides no less, thus forcing Chrysalis and Isaac to stand back to back as their enemies came at them. Isaac wasted no time in firing at his opponents, where he aimed solely for their legs and their arms, as they had already seen that these creatures were greatly harmed when even one of their limbs were blown off, giving them the advantage in this fight. Chrysalis, on the other hand, used her magic to parry the bladed attacks that came her way with one blade while using the other to cut off the exposed limbs of her opponents, allowing her to drop them in rapid succession like Isaac was... and, as quickly as it had started, the fight was over.

The two of them spared a few seconds to collect themselves, as now they knew that they should be wary of ambushes whenever they did something, before they gathered the spoils of their victory, ammunition and some credits, before they started to retrace their steps back to the area just past the first split in the path.

As they walked out of the Tram Repair Room they noticed another creature, one that was slightly different from the others due to the fact that it was using its hands to crawl on the floor, in a clear vent that was above their heads, but that was followed by it leaving the moment it spotted them. Chrysalis and Isaac glanced at each other, as they were sure that they hadn't seen the last of that type of creature, before they headed back down the ramp that brought them to the malfunctioning door. After Isaac loosed another stasis charge at the door, while spending the rest of it's charge at the same time, the two of them walked back into the area that was below the tracks... only this time around they were attacked by two more creatures, the slashing type that they first encountered and one of the crawling type they had seen a few seconds ago.

Isaac, deciding to play it safe at the moment, backed up to a stasis recharge station and powered his Stasis Module back up, which he knew that he could have done with the pack he had picked up earlier, before he slowed down the crawling enemy and opened fire on it's limbs while Chrysalis dealt with the slasher enemy. Of course he wasn't expecting her opponent to be hit by what appeared to be a fireball and burst into flames, where it dropped to the floor and cooked itself until it became a charred corpse. He then turned his gaze to Chrysalis for a moment, where he noticed that the armor around her horn stopped glowing, indicating that she had cast a spell and was pleased with the results, though he was glad that she didn't do that in the halls, as she could easily cook him by mistake.

With their enemies defeated the duo opened the door that led to the hallway they had walked through to get to this area, from the control room anyway, where they received another message from Kendra, to which they paused for a few seconds and listened to what she had to tell them.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, I've patched into the desk's security system." Kendra said, though her tone told them that she had some good news to share with them, which was likely something that was related to their current objective, "It took some work, but I've got the door to the Maintenance Bay unlocked. The data board should be somewhere inside."

Once the message was over, and they were pleased that their work was much easier, the two of them entered the first hallway they had walked through and made their way to the other side, where they hadn't gone considering that they had chosen the path on the right and not the path on the left. When they started to round the corner, however, they spotted a dead slasher creature that was blocking their path, as they were both sure that it would get up the moment one of them walked towards it, to which Chrysalis smiled for a moment. She tapped the Stasis Module for a moment and Isaac understood what she was thinking about, to which he loosed a blast that didn't rouse the creature, though that was followed by Chrysalis using one of her bone blades to sever one of the creature's arms... though as it slowly sprung into the air Isaac opened fire and tore off the remaining limbs, killing it before it even had a chance to fight back.

They rounded the next corner and found a cargo lift that would take them to their destination, to which they walked through the now open door and activated the command console, where they felt the lift start to move and patiently waited for it to stop when they reached their destination.

"Guys, it's Kendra again." Kendra said, though it was really surprising Chrysalis with the number of times that she was speaking to them, as there were moments where she told them something and then a few seconds later she told them something else that she should have told them in the prior message, "It looks like the door to the storage room is locked. There should be a key somewhere in the maintenance bay."

The Maintenance Bay, as it turned out, had some sort of contraption hanging in the air that was slowly swaying, along with two paths for them to take, though Chrysalis was sure that these paths connected up on the other side of the room they were in. Before they could start moving they both noticed slasher enemies coming from the path on the right and the path in front of them, to which Isaac opened fire on the enemies that were coming from the right while Chrysalis cut her single target down, by taking it's legs off, before blasting it with a fireball to the chest that also destroyed one of it's arms. The combination of her attacks brought her foe down, allowing her to focus on using her bone blades to wound Issac's enemies, or that was what she would have done if she hadn't discovered that Isaac had finished off his opponents in such a timely manner.

As they walked along the path on their right, as that was what they had chosen, another slasher foe jumped out of the vents and tried to attack them, but the combined might of Chrysalis and Isaac was more than enough to deal with a single opponent that thought it could take them on. From there they walked up to the cargo lift that was in the area and rode it up to the next floor, to the area that was near the top of the Maintenance Bay, before they walked out and started crossing a walkway that was in front of them. Only two more slasher enemies appeared in their way, to which Isaac blasted the one in front of him when Chrysalis cut down the one that jumped out of the vents, before they reached the other side of the short walkway... where they discovered the keycard resting near some ammunition and a log detailing some of the repairs that had been done the last time it was accessed.

With the keycard in hand the two of them returned to the cargo lift, shot down a slasher enemy that was patrolling in front of the door, before they rode it back down to the level that was below them, where Chrysalis carved up another slasher that was waiting for them, before continuing along the walkway they had been following. Along the way Chrysalis moved into a side area and collected two small Med Packs, that either of she or Isaac might need in the future, before they came to the door to the room where the data board was waiting for them to pick it up. Once they reached the door Isaac pulled out the keycard and the coloration of the door changed from red to blue, indicating that they could now enter the room... which they did so, as they needed a short break before they moved forward.

"So this is the data board," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she observed the piece of technology, as it was another item she had never seen before and was slightly fascinated by what she was seeing, because she was still silently freaking out about this whole situation, "Amazing."

"Yeah, it sure is," Isaac commented, though as he spoke he noticed that a Bench was resting nearby, to which he approached the terminal and activated it, where he laid the Plasma Cutter on it and watched as the upgrade screen appeared before his eyes... only to discover that he had no Power Nodes to upgrade his weapon.

Chrysalis, however, came to his rescue as she handed him the one she had found in the repair room and one that happened to be in this very room, though she was okay with handing them over since she had no weapon and knew that his weapon would make things easier if it was empowered. Isaac quickly thanked her before he empowered the cutter's overall damage and ammunition capacity, though once that was done he pulled the weapon off the Bench and let the terminal power down... to which he and Chrysalis started to move towards the door so they could head back to the Tram Control Room and get this venture over with.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, that's it!" Kendra said, to which the link appeared in front of them again, to which the two of them stopped before they actually walked out of the room, "Take the board back to the Tram Control Room and slot it into the computer array. That should get the Tram system back online."

As Chrysalis and Isaac nodded their heads the link disappeared once more, though as they stood there another slasher jumped onto the walkway they had used used to reach this room, but before it could really do anything Isaac blasted it's legs off. Chrysalis noticed another foe coming from the path on their right and simply held her hand out, as this time she decided that magic was the best weapon she had and she froze the slasher that was coming their way, before snapping her fingers and caused the ice crystal to explode and scatter the foe into a thousand pieces. When their foes were taken care of the two of them continued on the path to their right and circled back to the entrance, where they combined their weapons and took out the slasher that was suspiciously resting in front of the door, as if it was trying to ambush them.

Once that was done the two of them entered the elevator that took them back up to the hallway they had been walking through a few minutes ago, where Isaac loosed a stasis blast on a slasher that came from around the corner and cut off both of it's arms and it's legs... where they walked to the Tram Control Room and entered what had been their safe haven for a few minutes. From there Isaac walked over to the machine that the data board was supposed to go into and slipped it into the slot that was open, indicating that someone had been about to repair it before their death, which was followed by the computerized voice telling him that the console was now active... to which he approached the console and pressed the button that reactivated the entire tram system.

That was followed by the computerized voice announcing that the system was online and that the tram was arriving at the station, where Isaac and Chrysalis watched as the tram blocked their view of Kendra and Hammond... which was when their RIG link appeared in front of them once more.

"Alright, we're onboard and heading to the bridge." Hammond announced, though at the same time the tram started moving forward, indicating that the system was indeed working as intended and made Chrysalis pleased that their hard work had paid off, "Good work you two."

"Strange..." Kendra commented, while at the same time wearing a look of concern on her face, as if she believed that there was something wrong with the situation that no one was acknowledging, "the quarantine just lifted..."

"Whatever was in the flight lounge must have left. That's lucky for us." Hammond said, though at the same time he turned towards his arm, indicating that he was going to speak with Isaac and Chrysalis again, "Isaac, take Chrysalis, get back to the Kellion, and prep it for launch. We'll find out what we can from the bridge and meet you there."

"If we live that long." Kendra said, where she stared at Hammond for a few seconds, once more reviving their feud, which Chrysalis was getting sick of considering that they were in hostile territory at the moment, "You're out of your league, Hammond. This is suicide! We're going to die out here."

"Your lack of confidence in me is duly noted, Ms Daniels," Hammond stated, though both Isaac and Chrysalis detected that he had slipped back into being the commander of this mission, "but I have a mission to complete and that's exactly what I am going to do. With or without you. Do we understand each other?"

"Just get us out of here alive." Kendra replied, though the look on her face told Chrysalis that she wasn't in the mood to talk with Hammond at the moment, before the connection was severed once more.

The moment the connection was severed Isaac and Chrysalis started to retrace their steps back to the room that they found Isaac's Plasma Cutter in, where they made sure that no more slashers or leapers were waiting for them, though they were lucky, as they reached the lift without having to fight more enemies. When they reached the top of the lift, however, they had to cut and blast their way through two more slashers that happened to be in their way, though they caught their foes by surprise and took them out without being hurt in the process. Once those foes were taken care of they were able to make their way back to the room where the security console was resting, though as they walked into the room Chrysalis noticed that the bodies of Chen and Johnston had been taken by the creatures.

Fortunately Chrysalis found something nice waiting for them; while the creatures may have taken the bodies of Chen and Johnston, where they took them she had no idea, both of the pilots had let go of their weapons and those didn't get dragged away as well... to which she grinned as she collected one of the weapons and slipped the bone blades onto her back, while avoiding her RIG's vital areas.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, we made it to the Bridge." Hammond told them, though this time around he simply used the speech link and not the video link, but this time around Chrysalis didn't mind the change as she and Isaac listened to what the commander had to tell them, "It's a nightmare up here. No survivors. We're going to try and get to the Command computer. Wish us luck."

As the connection was terminated Chrysalis walked over to where Chen died, as she had claimed Johnston's weapon, and picked up the other one, to which she tossed it over to Isaac, who grabbed it and checked it for a few seconds, before nodding his head and headed towards the door they had walked through to enter the lounge area. As they walked out of the lounge area, and started walking on the walkway that would take them back to the Kellion, a leaper jumped off the sign above their heads and landed some distance in front of them. Since they knew the weakness of their foes, however, Isaac and Chrysalis lifted their new weapons and opened fire, where Isaac tore off the leaper's right arm while Chrysalis took care of the other arm... killing the creature before it had a chance to even charge at them.

Once that was taken care of the two of them approached the Kellion, though while they did that Chrysalis marveled at the recoil of the weapon and the strength it possessed, where she decided that this was a good weapon to use when the bone blades weren't the best choice... though as they boarded the Kellion, and Isaac started checking the systems, their luck went from back to worse instantly.

Hostile lifeforms detected. the Kellion's systems said, though Chrysalis could see that considering a leaper was currently crawling on the face of the ship, Hull damage critical. Evacuate immediately.

That was followed by part of the ship catching on fire, to which Chrysalis grabbed onto Isaac's shoulder and pulled him out of the Kellion, though as the real explosions happened she snapped up a barrier around the two of them before the flames even attempted to reach them. The two of them watched as the Kellion was rocked by a series of explosions that not only incinerated the leaper that was on top of it, but literally tore the entire ship into a mess of smaller pieces that landed all over the area where the Kellion had landed. At the same time, however, a couple of slashers and a leaper entered the area in front of them, to which Isaac and Chrysalis pulled out their new weapons as Chrysalis lowered the barrier... where they opened fire on the enemies that were coming at them as the computerized voice informed them of the 'collision' that had occurred.

While they fired at their foes Chrysalis felt defeated, because the only ship that could possibly get them off of the Ishimura, even if it had been damaged in their entrance, was now gone and there was no other ships they could use to leave this massive ship... but at the same time that fueled her anger and her determination to survive despite what fate was throwing at them. When she and Isaac finished off their enemies, and took a breather, their links activated once more and revealed that both Kendra and Hammond had heard what was going on in their area.

"What the hell is happening down there?!" Hammond demanded, though his tone indicated that, the moment he didn't see the Kellion behind them, his mood went from bad to worse, "What happened to the shuttle?"

"Gone." Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she moved her hand so Hammond and Kendra could see what remained of the ship they had used to reach the Ishimura, "It's gone..."

"That was our ride home..." Kendra said, though that was when her tone took on the same one that Chrysalis had used, as they both understood the situation that they were in, "It's the only way off this ship..."

"Kendra..." Hammond said, as this time he was actually attempting to make sure that everyone stayed calm, though Chrysalis knew that was impossible considering that the Kellion was gone.

"No Hammond!" Kendra snapped, as her earlier anger returned in full force, though at the same time Hammond closed his mouth as he waited for her to calm down on her own, "This changes everything!"

"Just let me think!" Hammond replied, though as Chrysalis and Isaac sat down on some boxes, while keeping their eyes open for enemies, it appeared that Hammond actually got an idea, "Can you access the Command Computer?"

"It's no good." Kendra stated, indicating that she had either been working on that earlier or had entered a simple command and found something wrong, "There was an executive lockdown of all primary systems. Without the Captain's authorization, I can't access them."

"Well? Where's the Captain?" Hammond asked, though even as he said that he had the feeling that he knew what the answer was, which was mostly based on everything they had seen so far since their arrival.

Isaac and Chrysalis watched as Kendra entered a few commands into her console and she muttered to herself, indicating that it was taking some time to figure out what she needed, though when she found something she still seemed disappointed and defeated.

"Here he is." Kendra said, though she let out a sigh as she spoke, confirming Chrysalis' fears that something terrible had happened to the person who commanded the entirety of the Ishimura, "Captain Benjamin Matthius. Location... Medlab. Status... Deceased."

"What? How?" Hammond demanded, though this time he was genuinely interested in hearing how the captain had died, especially since it complicated the entirety of their objective to survive and find a way off the Ishimura.

"I can't access that information." Kendra stated, once more letting out the sigh of defeat, as it appeared that everything was going to be much harder on them all from this point forward, "Find the Captain and you'll find his RIG. With his authorization codes, I can crack this computer wide open."

"Dammit!" Hammond said, though that was when he turned his full attention to the screen in front of him, where Issac and Chrysalis looked up and prepared themselves, "Isaac, Chrysalis, I'm sending the Tram back to your location. Get to the Medical Deck and find that RIG as fast as you can."

Before either Isaac and Chrysalis could say anything, and tell Hammond that they would leave immediately, they heard the sound of one of the creatures burst into the area that their companions were in, though as Hammond and Kendra started to run they saw the shape of a leaper enter the room before the connection terminated. Isaac and Chrysalis glanced at each other before they headed towards the lounge and the area that their companions had been in while they were fixing the tram. After going through a few doors they found themselves standing in front of the tram, though to their right stood a store of some kind, but instead of worrying about it Isaac and Chrysalis boarded the waiting tram, pressed the icon for the Medical Deck, and settled in for a swift ride.

Chrysalis was now beginning to regret her decision to enter the magical mirror that Discord was watching over, but what was done couldn't be taken back and she had to do her best to survive the horrors of the Ishimura and the reality that was now her life... and pray that she made it back to Equus without going mad in the process.

Ishimura: Medical Deck

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Isaac and Chrysalis remained silent as the Tram moved from the lounge and headed towards the Medical Deck, as they both were spending the time to reflect on everything that had happened since they crash landed in the Ishimura's flight deck and experienced the horrors that the crew had faced before their demise. Isaac knew that Nicole was stationed somewhere on the deck that they were heading towards, especially since she was a Senior Medical Officer, but he had no idea where she could have been sent when this outbreak happened. He was hoping that, against all odds, he could find some clue as to where she might have gone and hoped that she had found someone that could fight these creatures, so she and the other survivors could be saved once he and his team figured out a way to get off this ship. Issac knew that it was a lot for him to hope for, especially since it appeared that a good number of the crew members had been killed since the outbreak, but it allowed him to take his mind off of what was happening.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, simply set her new weapon to the side and input the command that let her helmet collapse on itself, where she moved her hands to her face and held them there for a few moments, while her replayed the last few minutes in her mind. The USG Kellion, the only ship she knew of that could get her, Isaac, Kendra, and Hammond off the USG Ishimura, without dying to those monstrous creatures that had slaughtered the majority of the crew, had been blown to pieces when she and Isaac went to check on it. Without a way off this ship, as they had no idea if there were even any shuttles left that the crew used to reach Aegis VII, she knew that she and her new companions were likely doomed to die in some horrible manner... but, even as she thought about that, she considered how the ponies might have felt when she attacked them the second time around, leading to another defeat for her.

Sure, she had kidnapped pretty much every powerful pony in Equestria and had a throne that prevented her enemies from using magic in her kingdom, yet at the same time she had been defeated and her kingdom had been taken from her by one of her subjects... making her wonder if she would be better served to hope for something good to happen, rather than think about despair and defeat at the moment.

The two of them remained silent until the Tram finally came to a stop at the Medical Deck's station, to which Isaac sighed as he pulled himself from his seat, picked up his weapon from where he had set it, and moved towards the entrance in a way that would tell Chrysalis that it was time to move on. A few seconds later Chrysalis pulled her hands away from her face, input the code to reform her helmet, and collected the weapon she had claimed earlier, before joining Isaac so they could walk out onto the Medical Deck together. What they discovered was that there were a fair number of bloody body bags laying around the station, at least four on their right and two on their left, before they noticed that there was a living woman sitting next to the corpse of someone... or rather the chest and waist part of a corpse, as it was missing both of it's arms, both of it's legs, and it's head.

Upon closer inspection it appeared that the lady was wounded in some manner, as there was a bandage wrapped around her eyes and it was soaked where the eyes were supposed to be, meaning that someone had blinded her and she had done this to herself.

"Shhh, shhh, it's all right, McCoy... He's here... Nothing to be afraid of..." the lady said, though it was plainly clear that she was talking to the corpse, who had to be this 'McCoy' that she had mentioned, before she turned her head towards Isaac and Chrysalis, "I knew you would come... just like you said... I, I, saved this for you... Can I go now? McCoy wants to take me... to the shuttle..."

Before either of them could say anything the lady reached over the corpse's body and picked something up, to which she turned back towards them and offered the item to Isaac, where Chrysalis noticed that it looked like a small rectangular box of some kind. Isaac stared at the item in question for a few seconds, noting some of the blood that was stuck to the bottom of it, before he gently took it from the lady's hand, where a smile appeared on her face before she fell backwards and seemed to go to sleep. As Isaac attached the new module to his RIG, and cleaned off the blood that was attached to it, Chrysalis approached the lady and felt for her pulse, though she let out a sigh as she stood back up and turned towards Isaac once more.

"She's dead... just like the majority of the things we've encountered so far," Chrysalis commented, though there was a question on her mind that she wasn't sure if she should ask it or not, so she decided to go for the second question, which was more reasonable than the first one, "So, what did she give you?"

"A Kinesis Module," Isaac replied, to which he waited until he was sure that it was fully integrated into his RIG before pointing his left hand at the rectangular metal boxes that were resting in their way, where he loosed some strands of bluish colored energy that lifted one of the boxes up and allowed him to move it, "basically it allows the user to lift items and either move them like I am, or hurl them through the air."

"So you could, say, use the blades from those slasher enemies to impale them with their own weapons?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time he realized that Isaac was now doing the same thing she could do, which made her wonder if that was even a viable option at the moment.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Isaac said, as he hadn't even considered that to be an option and was glad that Chrysalis had thought about it, because if they were back to back it could be a good option to fall back on before they were overwhelmed by their enemies.

Chrysalis smiled for a moment, because she was actually glad that someone appreciated her ideas, before she turned her focus to the hallway in front of them and found something interesting before they reached the next door, as it appeared to be a blueprint for something called a 'Flamethrower'. Isaac explained that the weapon did, like Chrysalis was thinking at the moment, spew fire at whatever the user was targeting, which could be useful in the future, to which she handed it over to Isaac. Instead of heading towards the door Isaac turned around and walked back to the store they had passed by, where he accessed the terminal and let the blueprint be scanned into the software, allowing the two of them to purchase the weapon if they so desired.

When Chrysalis stepped up to the terminal, as she was interested in what the mechanical contraption was, she found that she also had the ability to sell and purchase items from one of these vendors... where it kept track of her credits, what she had in her inventory, and the number of Power Nodes that she possessed, while also telling her what she was able to buy and how much it would cost. She spotted what appeared to be an 'upgrade' to the suit she was currently wearing and asked Isaac about it, where he told her that he had heard about them and believed that the tougher suits were designed to protect the wearers from a larger amount of damage and allowed them to carry more on them at all times. She had to admit that the idea of additional protection sounded interesting, considering their current situation, but at the moment she barely had enough credits to buy anything... to which she exited the store and followed after Isaac, as they had a task to complete and had procrastinated long enough.

The two of them walked towards the door that was in front of them and entered the Security Station, where they found that there was a fair amount of blood on the floor, there were two new paths that they could go through, and there was a third path that was apparently blocked off by a bunch of metal plating.

"Isaac? Chrysalis? Are the two of you there?" Hammond said over their RIG link, where the two of them stared at the screen that appeared in front of them, to which Isaac and Chrysalis stopped moving so they could give Hammond their full attention, as he likely had an update for them.

"We're here Hammond." Isaac replied, to which Chrysalis nodded for a few seconds, indicating that she could hear and see their commander just fine, "Are you and Kendra alright?"

"We were attacked!" Hammond snapped, as if he couldn't believe that Isaac was even asking such a thing, though that was before he calmed down and remembered that Isaac was concerned about them, "Kendra's gone! One minute she was there, then... I can't believe I lost her. We can still do this. Get me the Captain's RIG codes and we'll find Nicole. Looks like the crew barricaded the door to the emergency wing. You'll have to blow through it to get to the Morgue. Get some thermite from Medical Storage, and a shock pad from Zero-G Therapy. Should be down the corridor. God, communication is useless in all this static..."

"Understood." Isaac and Chrysalis said, though they were fortunate to say it when they did, because the moment they gave Hammond their reply the connection was terminated, leaving them alone for the moment.

"Isaac, before we move on I have a question," Chrysalis said, causing Isaac to pause and turn towards her, though he already knew that she was bound to have questions since none of this was familiar to her, "What's thermite?"

"Well, thermite is a pyrotechnic composition of metal powder and metal oxide," Isaac replied, though he really wasn't familiar with the stuff, but he had heard about it and could tell Chrysalis what he knew about the substance, "when ignited thermite creates brief bursts of heat and high temperatures that can cut through anything... and there's a chance that it might also explode, though there's a very low chance of that happening."

"...there's explosives on the Medical Deck of the Ishimura?" Chrysalis asked, though when Isaac nodded his head, as that was what it seemed like, she took a deep breath and calmed herself, before she stared at her companion for a few moments, "Why, in the name of tartarus, are there explosives n the Medical Deck? I'm sorry, but that just sounds retarded on so many levels..."

Isaac had no idea what to say to such a thing, in a manner that would calm Chrysalis down, but he suspected that some termite was intentionally left behind in case the survivors needed to get through the barrier the others had put up, or something like that. He really didn't know what purpose thermite played in the medical sciences, but he knew that there had to be a reason and merely said nothing, to which Chrysalis merely sighed and beckoned for Isaac to show her the way, as she had no knowledge of the layout of the ship and he did. He was slightly glad that she wasn't going to rush off and do her own thing, and hurt herself in the process, to which he turned towards the two paths that were available to them at the moment and wondered which item they should go for first... where he headed towards the Research Wing door and opened it, to which Chrysalis shook her head and followed after him.

When they opened the Research Wing door they found the body of a man that definitely looked like he had been attacked by one of those creatures they had fought earlier, though since he was dead the two of them simply continued walking forwards so they could get what they came for. As they walked down the ramp they found more bodies resting in a pile, all wounded in the manner that those creatures could deal, to which they raised their weapons and walked forward with caution. This was the telltale sign that there were creatures on this deck, which made sense considering that most of the crew had likely been killed at this point in time, but they made sure that their weapons were at the ready as they continued through the hallway... though they paused as they reached another malfunctioning door, to which Isaac raised his left hand and fired a stasis blast at it.

With the door slowed down Isaac and Chrysalis passed through it before it could resume how fast it had been going, where they opened the door to a lab of some kind and walked inside, though Chrysalis knew something was going to happen soon... though not a few steps later the quarantine activated and sealed them inside the lab, where several vents burst open and creatures started dropping into the area.

The two of them rushed to where a lift was waiting for them and stood near it, where Isaac faced the path they had come from with his Plasma Cutter while Chrysalis, using her Pulse Rifle as Isaac had told her what it was earlier before their moment of silence, and faced the path that was behind the lift. As the slashers started coming at them Chrysalis opened fire with short bursts of bullets, as she blasted off one of the slasher's bone blades and caught it with her magic, where she pulled it close and flung it back at her target. That action resulted in her impaling the slasher on the other wall, where it struggled against the blade before apparently expiring, telling Chrysalis that they might actually be vulnerable to their own weapons... but she kept her guard up and continued firing at the enemies that were coming at her. Isaac, on the other hand, was using his Stasis Module on the enemies that jumped out of the vent to his left and blasted them apart with his Plasma Cutter, before using the Kinesis Module to pick the blades up and fling them at the targets that were hanging in the back.

He had to admit that Chrysalis' idea to use the bone blades against the slashers was indeed an excellent idea, though at the same time the military weapons were definitely useful as well, which meant that they had a decent chance of surviving this ordeal.

When their enemies were defeated, and the quarantine didn't lift immediately after the last one fell, both Chrysalis and Isaac knew that more enemies had to be on the level below them, to which they carefully gathered the ammunition that was on the bodies of the slashers they had slain and restocked their weapons. Chrysalis found it odd that their enemies carried the exact ammunition they needed for their weapons, though when she made the comment Isaac simply said that they must have been crew members who had been using the same weapons the two of them were using. He then added to that by saying that since the crew had been killed, and transformed into their new forms thanks to some unknown method, the two of them were simply collecting the ammunition that the crew members hadn't used before their deaths... to which Chrysalis stared at the slashers for a few seconds before letting out a sigh, indicating that she seemed to understand what he was telling her.

Once they finished collecting all of the ammunition that they could, and raided the supply boxes on the walls, the two of them walked onto the lift and rode it down to the level below them, where they walked around for a few moments before five slashers, coming from different directions, jumped out of where they were hiding and charged at them. What Isaac and Chrysalis did was they grouped the slashers together and slowed them all down with a Stasis blast, allowing them to dismember their foes without having to risk being hurt in the process. When the last slasher fell to the ground and went still, however, the lights came back on and the quarantine lifted, to which they started to salvage whatever they could find while they searched for what they came for. They also opened the doors to several rooms and collected whatever supplies they could get their hands on, while at the same time Isaac found a video log that he called Chrysalis over to take a look at before they continued onward.

It appeared that a doctor was talking with someone, the captain Isaac said, though their conversation was focused on something called the Marker and what appeared to be something that happened to the Aegis VII colony. From what Chrysalis could gather something happened on the planet below them, something that the captain and others knew about, and they did nothing to stop whatever was occurring. Rather they brought something called the Marker aboard the ship, claiming that it could change everything, which the doctor happened to be worried about before the log finished it's recording and powered down, leaving her with more questions than answers. Isaac, on the other hand, appeared to be annoyed about something, while at the same time shocked by what they had heard, though Chrysalis suspected that there was a reason behind what he was feeling.

"Great, so in addition to monstrous creatures we might also have to deal with cultists," Chrysalis commented, as if there was one of them aboard the ship she was sure that there were more hidden away somewhere, before she turned to the term that had been spoken during the conversation, "Isaac, what's this 'Marker' that the captain mentioned?"

"One of those Unitologist fairy tales," Isaac replied, though at the same time he decided that it was best if he didn't tell Chrysalis what happened in his past, between him, his mother, and the Church that she spent almost all of their money to get into, before heading for the door, "Come on, let's go find that thermite before something comes looking for us."

Chrysalis nodded as they left the room they were in and investigated one more area before they moved on, where they found an audio log that revealed that a scientist convinced someone named Jurgens to show him the video feed from the colony, where he mentioned that he witnessed the miners undergoing a transformation into what he called 'Necromorphs'. The two of them agreed that the man was definitely insane in some manner, especially since he called himself a believer at the beginning of the log, which confirmed Chrysalis' suspicions that there had been more Unitologists aboard the Ishimura than anyone knew about. The insane doctor also mentioned wanting to see the infection first hand and mentioned someone from the colony, but that was where the log cut off... to which the two of them walked towards the one room they hadn't walked through yet and discovered that it would take them to the thermite.

They opened the door and walked through the hallway until they came to an unusual area, which to Chrysalis looked like a place with a large number of unborn babies being grown in some sort of container... though as they neared the glass a survivor appeared and banged on the glass, asking for their assistance. That was, however, followed by a mutated baby appearing behind the unfortunate survivor, where it sprouted three tentacles from its back and launched a spike at the poor man, where his hand was pinned to the glass by one of the spikes. The mutated baby then loosed another spike into the man's leg, or maybe both of them considering how much pain he was in, before the creature climbed the wall behind it and stared at him for a few seconds... which was followed by one more spike being loosed, one that blew the man's head wide open like a watermelon that exploded.

The mutated baby seemed quite pleased with itself, or at least that was what Chrysalis assumed by how it as moving, before it actually climbed up towards the ceiling and disappeared completely... leaving the two of them in shock because of what they had just seen.

"That's... that's just wrong," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she had to resist the urge to throw up again, because she honestly couldn't believe what these creatures, these Necromorphs, had done, "turning children into monsters... I'm even more disgusted with these creatures than I was a few minutes ago."

Isaac silently agreed with Chrysalis as they walked around the corner and entered the room the poor man had died in, though not a few seconds later the mutated baby, a lurker as Chrysalis decided to call it, dropped down near the lift they needed to use and raised it's tentacles once more. This time around the two of them were ready, as they both opened fire and tore several holes into the lurker's body, though Isaac also cut off the tentacles, which appeared to be it's weakness as the moment all three of them had been removed it staggered for a few seconds before dying. With the deed done the two of the walked onto the cargo lift and rode up to the level above them, where they had to contend with a pair of lurkers, where one attacked them from the wall on their immediate right while the second attacked them from afar... though despite that happening they were able to overcome their enemies and pressed onward.

Fortunately the door in front of them allowed them to access a second door, one that happened to bring them right into the room where the thermite was resting in a protective container of some kind, though Chrysalis insisted that Isaac hold onto it, to which he carefully slipped the container into his RIG's inventory area, where his ammunition and other supplies were being kept.

"Alright, that thermite you picked up should be able to melt through the barricade," Hammond said, speaking over the link at the moment, though both Chrysalis and Isaac were glad to hear that he was okay and that nothing had gotten to him since their last communication, "when you find the shockpad you'll use it to ignite the thermite. Hope I can hold this position, I can hear something big moving out there."

Once the communication was terminated Isaac started to move, but Chrysalis asked for a few moments of rest before they moved forward, as she was still coming to terms with everything they had seen and all of the monstrous creatures that this infection had created. Isaac stared at her for a few seconds before deciding that a little break wouldn't hurt them at the moment, to which he made sure that the door was locked until they needed to walk through it and watched as Chrysalis sat on the floor while she calmed herself down. Fortunately he had found some leftover protein bars in one of the first lockers they looked for supplies in, to which he pulled one out and tossed it over to Chrysalis, who weakly lifted her head before inputting the code that made her helmet break apart... to which Isaac did the same and they ate their food in total silence.

They knew that there would be time for talking later on, once they started moving again, but they knew that it was better to make sure they had the energy to move on, otherwise one of them might faint while they were on the run... which was something that Isaac wanted to avoid, since he needed Chrysalis' help to find where the survivors were hiding, figure out a way off the Ishimura, and escape with their lives. A small break was nothing to him at the moment, but at the same time he hoped that Nicole was okay and that nothing had happened to her since she sent that message... but he knew that only time could give him the answers he was looking for.

Ishimura: Finding the Captain

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After a few minutes of rest, as that was really all they could spare since they were being hunted by three different types of Necromorphs that could show up at any moment, Isaac and Chrysalis reengaged their helmets, pulled themselves off the floor, and primed their weapons as they approached the door that was in front of them. Chrysalis knew that they had fought a decent number of slashers in the medical area that was on the other side of this door, and had suffered through a quarantine until they were all dead, but at the same time she seriously hoped that they could continue without having to pause for more enemies. Isaac raised a hand towards the door and paused for a moment, where he looked back at Chrysalis to be sure that she was ready to move out, though when she nodded Isaac opened the door and the two of them moved out into the open area once more.

The two of them carefully walked over to the door that would take them out of this area and opened it, where Isaac used a Stasis blast to slow down the malfunctioning door in front of them, thus allowing them to pass into the hallway without injury. The moment they were on the other side of the door the two of them heard the sound of more slashers coming down the ramp that was around the corner, the same ramp that they needed to walk up to get back to the Security Station. Isaac, seeing a Stasis recharge station resting on the wall in front of them, quickly recharged his Stasis Module and moved out into the open, where he loosed a blast at the slasher that was almost in front of him and slowed it down, allowing Chrysalis to focus on the slasher that was further up the ramp. Together the two of them opened fire on their chosen opponents and dismembered them before either of the slashers had a chance to actually do any damage to them, though once the deed was done they continued up the ramp.

The moment they reached the top of the ramp Isaac opened the door and they returned to the area where the barricade was located, though that was when Chrysalis surprised Isaac by opening the door to the Imaging Diagnostics Wing, indicating that she would like to get this show on the road and not waste any time... to which Isaac smiled and followed after his companion.

As the two of them walked down the hallway the lights flickered and went out, though there were some lights coming from inside the walls that allowed them to see what was in front of them, while at the same time they heard the sound of someone banging their head against a pipe or one of the walls. When they rounded the corner, however, they saw a man that was partly covered in blood and happened to be banging his head against a pipe, to which Isaac and Chrysalis carefully raised their weapons and approached the man. As they approached the man he seemed to finally achieve what he was going for, as Chrysalis heard the sound of something cracking and he collapsed on the floor, where she and Isaac discovered that the front of his chest had been ripped off and made them wonder how he could have survived this long in such a terrible condition.

At the same time, however, another thought came to Chrysalis' mind as she stared at the body and replayed all of the encounters they had witnessed since their arrival on the Ishimura, to which she turned towards Isaac for a moment.

"Hey Isaac," Chrysalis said, causing Isaac to turn away from what he was looking at and gave her his full attention, while at the same time she waved a hand towards the body that was in front of them, "Don't you find it strange that these people could survive in these conditions, sometimes with serious wounds inflicted on their bodies, only to finally lose the will to live when we encounter them? It's almost like they were waiting for someone to witness the final moments of their lives before they finally committed suicide... or died to their wounds at least."

"Yeah, you would think that some of these people would have succumbed to their wounds before we even reached the ship to begin with," Isaac replied, as the wounded people, like the man that was beating his head against a pipe, was severely hurt and should have perished a long time ago, judging by the blood on his body anyway, "I don't know what's going on with the people that survived the outbreak, but we really should get moving before any of those Necromorphs come to claim this guy's body."

Chrysalis nodded and followed Isaac towards the door for the Imaging Diagnostics Room, though as the door opened she got her first look at a large piece of technology that was different from what she had seen so far, but because she had no idea what it was supposed to do she simply sighed and moved on. Isaac then found a Medical Log, one that detailed what happened to a man called Harris, as he had taken a doctor hostage and killed a nurse, indicating that he was suffering from some form of paranoia. One thing that both Isaac and Chrysalis agreed on was that there had been something horribly wrong with the man, as the log revealed that Harris had no guilt over what he had done and insisted that there was no crime to begin with... meaning that Harris was a dangerous man, if he was still alive anyway.

Once they finished reading the log the two of them entered the room in front of them, where they found another Bench waiting to be used, but since Isaac only had one Power Node and Chrysalis had none they both decided to wait until they had more resources to purchase a fair number before they empowered their weapons. They then approached the large tube that happened to be blocking the path they needed to take, though as Isaac raised his hand to use the Kinesis Module on the piece of machinery he noticed that Chrysalis was shaking her head. As he moved to question her, however, Chrysalis raised her own spare arm and her magic gently latched onto the piece of machinery, where she moved it out of the way with her telekinesis spell, while at the same time surprising Isaac by how strong her telekinesis was. The only reason he was surprised was that when she was practicing the spell on the Kellion she never moved anything that was this heavy before... but at the same time he had to admit that having someone that could do everything he did, and more, would make this mission go that much quicker, and potentially even smoother as well.

Shortly after moving the tube out of the way two leapers jumped into the area and reminded them that there were enemies around them at all times, waiting for the opportunity to strike when Isaac and Chrysalis weren't expecting them to show themselves. The first thing Isaac did was target one of the leapers and slowed it down with a well places Stasis blast, which he followed up with several blasts from his Plasma Cutter that cut off one of the leaper's arms and it's tail before it collapsed on the floor, Chrysalis, on the other hand, carefully tracked the leaper that she was targeting and waited for it to landed on the wall behind them, where she loosed a few short bursts and tore it's limbs off, causing her to smile as the Necromorph hit the floor and stopped moving. The two of them carefully made sure that they gathered the supplies that their enemies had been carrying before Chrysalis spotted what appeared to be a power module of some kind... one that looked like a rectangular cube that had to fit in the socket that was in front of them.

Isaac picked up the power module with his Kinesis and lifted it over to the socket in the wall it was supposed to go into, as this system was designed with the Kinesis Module in mind and he had no idea if Chrysalis' magic would even make the connection work... but in the end the power module snapped into place and the cargo lift came to life, though before they rode it to the floor above them both Isaac and Chrysalis agreed to check out the room that was near the lift. Inside the room the two of them discovered a man that coughed up bile for a few seconds before finally dying, once more making Chrysalis wonder why people survived until they arrived, before they uncovered a schematic for the Pulse Rounds, were were the ammunition for the Pulse Rifles they picked up in the flight lounge. The only other thing of interest that they salvaged from the room was a Power Node, one that caused a slasher to burst through the vent the moment it was taken from it's resting place... though the lone slasher did little against the combined efforts of Isaac and Chrysalis.

With the slasher dead the duo walked out of the room and boarded the cargo lift, allowing it to take them to the floor that was above them, where Chrysalis discovered that, by moving the large tube earlier, she had created a path for them to use so they could leave this area.

As the two of them followed the path in front of them they were attacked by a leaper and a slasher, so while Isaac slowed down the leaper with a Stasis blast, and proceeded to blast it's limbs off, Chrysalis blasted the slasher's arms off and used the bone blades to pin it's wounded body to the wall behind it, where it died seconds later. From there Isaac used the Kinesis Module to move the tube once more, as there was another area they needed it's top to be in so they could progress towards where the shock pad was located, though once they were over the makeshift walkway he discovered that the door they needed to go through was locked by a power module that was identical to the first one they encountered. Chrysalis, immediately remembering what they did the last time, raised her weapon and loosed a very small volley of bullets at the device, shattering it and allowing them access to the room or hallway that was on the other side... though as they accessed the second door behind the one in front of them the lights went red all of a sudden.

Chrysalis discovered that all of the air in the area around them seemed to be sucked out into the vacuum of space, as she rapidly found a hole in the side of the ship, where they happened to be, that was creating this scenario, though at the same time Isaac beckoned to her and she nodded... as he had more experience than she did and she would have been foolish to ignore whatever advice he had for her, to which the two of them walked through the hallway they were in. As they walked Chrysalis found out, by observation, that the RIGs they were wearing were designed to allow them to walk on the floor, or the exterior of a ship, if something like this occurred or if they purposely walked on the exterior for some reason. Her suit also had an air meter that told her exactly how many seconds of air she had, starting at the maximum of seventy seconds and counting down until the moment where she would suffocate if she happened to run out of air, which she was determined to prevent from happening.

As they walked through the ruined hallway, however, Chrysalis got a better look at the massive hole that had been carved into Aegis VII, though instead of sticking around and observing everything she followed Isaac towards the door on the other side of the hallway... where they entered an area that had air for them to breath in.

"Isaac, as you know the Ishimura is able to set it's gravity locally." Hammond told them, once more informing them that he was watching over their progress, but at the same time Chrysalis had no idea if he was pleased with them or disappointed with the fact that they took a break earlier, "Your grav-boots will kick in when you enter a zero-g area. Chrysalis, since your RIG is the same as Isaac's you'll be able to do the same when you enter the next room, so follow Isaac's lead and you'll pick up the basics quickly."

Chrysalis had no idea what a zero-g area was, or what zero-g even meant, but as Isaac opened the door she noticed the control panel that was in front of them was called a 'gravity control' terminal, where she connected the dots and realized that zero-g meant zero-gravity. The area around them was a large circular area with two strange structures on the left and right of where they were standing, while at the same time Chrysalis noticed that there was a massive gap between where they were standing and the room that the shock pad had to be stored in. There were power modules and crates resting everywhere, meaning that she and Isaac would want to loot this place after they got the shock pad, though she also knew that the moment they touched something the Necromorphs would come after them... to which she turned towards Isaac, who was standing by the terminal, and nodded her head.

Isaac raised his hand and touched the screen, to which the gravity stopped working in the entire area and objects started floating into the air, though at the same time Chrysalis noticed that she and Isaac weren't moving at all, indicating that their boots were keeping them tied to this platform. Isaac then demonstrated how to move around in zero-g, where he switched to the Plasma Cutter and pointed at the ceiling, though that was followed by him leaping into the air and flying towards the location he had been pointing at. Chrysalis watched as Isaac turned around and placed his boots on the ceiling, where he was allowed to walk around like normal, before she looked down at her weapon and wondered how he had done that. Instead of throwing questions around she raised her Pulse Rifle and pointed it at the area near where Isaac was standing, where she leapt into the air and found herself flying towards where Isaac was, though when she neared the ceiling she spun around like her companion did and touched the ceiling with her hooves first.

"That was... interesting," Chrysalis admitted, though at the same time Isaac nodded his head, indicating that it had been interesting for him the first few times he had gone through this process.

Without saying anything Isaac aimed at the platform that was opposite the entrance and landed on it, where he beckoned for Chrysalis to join him, though as she did that he started pulling over the various power modules so they could see which one would power the door they needed to get through. When Chrysalis landed she helped Isaac check out the power modules, where they found the one that powered the door and allowed them access to whatever was inside it, to which Isaac opened the door and walked inside. A few seconds later Chrysalis followed him in there, where she spotted some sort of device that Isaac identified as the shock pad, but before they picked it up the two of them gathered all the resources that were around them and put them away... before picking up the shock pad and slipping into the container area that Isaac had in his suit.

"Great, you got a shock pad," Hammond said, to which the two of them nodded, though they remained standing where they were because they were sure that Necromorphs would be waiting for them the moment they exited the room they were in, "Combine that with the thermite at the barricade to destroy it. Shit, I can hear more coming; moving through the vents. Stay safe you two!"

As the link disconnected the two of them exited the room and found that there were leaper Necromorphs waiting for them outside the room, though when one of them jumped towards the platform they were standing on Isaac grabbed one of the explosive containers with his Kinesis and loosed it at the leaper. They watched as the leaper exploded the instant it came into contact with the canister, though as they realized what had happened the two of them stared pulling the remaining canisters to them and loosed them at the other leapers the moment they left the walls they were clinging to. It took them some time to clear the area of the leapers, as some of them seemed to be slightly smarter than the ones that immediately jumped, but once the chamber was cleared the two of them crossed over to the roof and back down to the original platform that rested near the door they entered from.

Once they returned to the door Isaac turned back on the gravity, explaining that while the gravity was on the door would be unlocked and that while the gravity was off the door would remain locked... to which Chrysalis nodded her understanding before the two of them moved back out into the damaged part of the ship.

When they entered the damaged area the two of them encountered a single slasher that was blocking their way, but the duo simply dismembered it with their weapons and continued onward, where they returned to the door that would take them into the air filled area of the ship. Before they could actually walk through the door they had to contend with a second slasher that wanted to block their way, though this time around Chrysalis blasted it's bone blade off and killed it with it's own weapon. When they returned to the room with the large tube the two of them were attacked by a slasher and a leaper before they could descend to the lower floor, so they picked their targets and opened fire on them, making sure that they dismembered the Necromorphs before riding the cargo lift downwards once more.

From there the two of them discovered that no more enemies were in front of them, where they returned to the hallway where the one survivor was banging his head against the wall, but before they walked through the doorway they discovered a bunch of small creatures, which looked like hands that tried to jump at them, waiting for them. Isaac, thinking fast on his feet, loosed a Stasis blast and slowed them down, where he backed up as Chrysalis opened fire on the new type of Necromorphs that they had discovered. With the new enemy taken care of they walked through the door and returned to the Security Station, but before they attached the thermite and shock pad to the barricade Isaac approached the store and gave it the schematic they had picked up... though that was before he purchased the next level of the suit he was using, where he stepped into the back part of the store and the area closed on him.

Chrysalis stood there for a few seconds, as she was curious about what was going to happen, though when Isaac stepped out of the store area she found that Issac's suit had been repaired and that there were some metallic pieces, what appeared to be rib like, and some metallic pieces on his shoulder... while at the same time she noticed that there were two eyes slits on his helmet.

"According to what I read, this is supposed to reduce the damage I take and gives me more inventory space," Isaac said, as he noticed Chrysalis' confused look and was explaining why he had spent the credits to get the suit, before he glanced at the number of credits that Chrysalis had picked up along the way, "If you want your own version of this suit it appears that you have the necessary number of credits to get it... though since those Necromorphs haven't touched us you may not need it in the long run."

Chrysalis considered her options, because she would either take the safe road and prepare herself now with some extra protection, just in case she actually took some damage, or she could take her chances and go without it, but she already knew that it was a matter of time until her suit started to fall apart... to which she walked up to the terminal as Isaac moved out of the way, where she tapped the icon and allowed the terminal to pull away again. She then stepped into the opening that revealed itself and prepared herself, to which the door closed and the machinery went to work, scanning her body so the suit could properly fit her body before her old suit was repaired and upgraded. When the deed was done the machinery stopped and the door opened, where she stepped out and stared at the additions to her suit, as her suit now looked exactly like Isaac's... expect for the modifications for her hooves, tail, and horn.

She stood there for a few seconds, making sure everything moved like they were supposed to, before she grinned as she turned back towards Isaac, who was patiently waiting for her to finish admiring her new suit so they could move on and find the captain's RIG.

"I'm taking the safer route," Chrysalis stated, indicating that she preferred the protection over not having any, to which Isaac nodded his head in agreement, before she stared at the barricade once more, "Okay then, let's set up the thermite and pray that it doesn't blow the entire area to pieces."

Chrysalis still wasn't sure what thermite was doing in the Medical Deck of the Ishimura, but at the moment she was glad that they had found some and patiently waited for Isaac as he approached the barricade and set up the two items they had acquired so far. A few seconds later he called for Chrysalis to cover her eyes, and maybe look away for a few seconds, before he ignited the shock pad and the thermite ignited, though as the light erupted from the device he looked away as well. He waited for a moment, to be sure that the thermite ran it's course, before he and Chrysalis turned back towards the barricade, where they discovered a large hole that would allowed them access to the Clinic area of the ship and, more importantly, the captain's RIG.

"Okay, you're through." Hammond told them, though this time the tone of his voice indicated that he was pleased with them, which made Chrysalis happy that they were finally able to reach the area of the ship that the captain was resting in, "Should be clear from there to the morgue. Remember, the codes are on the captain's body."

Chrysalis and Isaac opened the door and spotted another log sitting on the floor ahead of them, though this time around it was a video log from someone that Isaac immediately recognized the moment he powered it on, as it was his beloved Nicole. The two of them stood there and listened to the ship wide broadcast that Nicole sent out, asking for more resources to deal with all of the cases that were coming into her area while at the same time revealing that no one was telling her and the others what was happening. After that they heard the sound of one of the wounded people making a noise that called for Nicole to ask the nurse to hold the man down, before ending the recording and causing Isaac to sigh as he put the video log away. Before they moved on Hammond spoke up and said that he couldn't tell when the log was made, from where he was standing anyway, but he promised Isaac that Nicole had to be around here somewhere... which seemed to boost Isaac's spirits a little bit.

As they turned around the corner, however, Chrysalis spotted a hole in the wall in front of them, one that looked like it was made by something that wasn't the types of Necromorphs that they had encountered so far... but she made sure to watch out for them in the future, because whatever made it might reveal itself in the future.

The two of them entered the Clinic area, gathered a medium med pack that happened to be locked in a crate, before walking into the area with all of the tables and medical supplies, some of which were definitely covered in blood from what had happened before the outbreak. As they surveyed the area two of the lurkers revealed themselves and separated from each other, to which Chrysalis targeted the lurker on the right of where they were standing while Isaac did the same with the one on the left of them. Fortunately those appeared to be the only enemies in the area, as the moment the second lurker fell the two of them were allowed to salvage whatever they could find in the immediate area, which was mostly more ammunition, before Isaac picked up the power module and slipped it into the slot by the door... allowing them to progress further once more.

As they entered the part of the Clinic that the door led them to another area with tables and blood everywhere, though since they encountered some Necromorphs in the other part of the Clinic, even if it was two of them, Isaac and Chrysalis kept their weapons at the ready as they walked through the corridor. The enemies they encountered included another lurker and a slasher, where Isaac loosed a Stasis blast at the lurker and started firing at it's tentacles while the slasher was dismembered by Chrysalis, who blasted off an arm and used it to pierce the slasher's chest. From there they walked forward and started to turn the corner, though that was when three more slashers, two coming from in front of them and one from behind, charged at them. Chrysalis opened fire on the targets in front of them, as they were moving much slower than the one behind them, and her Pulse Rifle made short work of the slashers she was targeting... while at the same time Isaac made sure to dismember the slasher that was his target.

When the trio of slashers were taken care of Isaac and Chrysalis moved forward and stopped in front of the next door they needed to walk through, as there was an audio log from someone called Elieen Fisk, who revealed that she had woken up and that no one was around her. Elieen asked for someone to come get her since she could hear scratching in the walls, which they knew had to be the Necromorphs, before she discovered that Harris was nearby and started calling for help, but that was where the audio log ended. Chrysalis guessed that Elieen either died to Harris, as the man had killed a nurse at one point in time since he started going crazy, or had been killed by the Necromorphs, but there was no way to know for sure. Before they moved forward Chrysalis also spotted a text log at the end of the corridor on their right, though instead of walking down there she grabbed the log, as well as the nearby crate, and brought them over to where she was standing... where she discovered that there had been fifteen newborns before the outbreak.

With the audio and text logs in hand they started to open the door that was in front of them, though that was when three more slashers burst out of their hiding places at the end of the corridor on their right and charged at them, to which Isaac and Chrysalis sighed before they opened fire... though as they dismembered the Necromorphs Chrysalis realized that she had prevented them from walking into a trap, one that was still set off in the end.

A few moments later, when they were absolutely sure that there were no more slashers coming after them and the ambush had been dealt with, the two of them actually opened the door in front of them and entered the Intensive Care Unit of the Medical Deck. When they walked through the door, however, they found someone that appeared to be a nurse actually cutting into someone that was still alive, though she was standing in a container that they didn't have the key to and seemed oblivious to the fact that they were even there. Unfortunately the moment the door closed behind them the lady finished off the poor man she was cutting up, as he went completely still, before she turned around and looked at them for a few seconds... before she raised the saw in her hand to her neck and committed suicide by cutting a deep gash into her neck, where she collapsed on the floor and bled out.

"Everyone on this ship has gone paranoid," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she was disgusted by how the lady had acted before her death, but she steeled herself as she and Isaac continued along the path that they had been following as they continued their search.

As they approached the next door in front of them they found another text log, one from a Dr. Kyne to the captain, that revealed that the doctor and some of his colleagues walked to go planetside and study the outbreak on the colonies, which they believed was caused by the Marker. From what Chrysalis could tell the people that believed that this Marker was a divine relic, the Unitologists as they were called, were all insane and determined that they should be removed if she and Isaac ever came across one of them. After putting the text log away they found the door to the morgue and opened it, where they discovered an audio log in front of a hallway, though as they took a step forward something shattered the panels on both the left and right sides of them, causing them to wonder what the heck could cause that to happen. The audio log was another addition to Chrysalis' belief that Unitologists were insane, as it was another article of what Dr. Kyne was suggesting.

Unfortunately the audio log incited one of the lurkers to reveal itself and pulled out it's tentacles, though it didn't get too far as both Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on it, relieving it of it's unnatural life and allowing them to access the door around the corner without having to worry about enemies... to which they stepped into a cargo lift and rode it down to the hallway that it was connected to, which allowed them to access the morgue.

As the two of them walked into the morgue they looked around for the captain's body, though as Chrysalis spotted the body resting on a table, separated from the other bodies all around them, Isaac found a text log that detailed the autopsy of Benjamin Mathius' body. From what they read it appeared that the captain might have gone insane before his death, as the number of bruises seemed to be involved in a struggle where he was restrained, before something was forced into his eye and went into his brain, killing him instantly apparently. The person who did the autopsy even declared that the captain's death was unlawful, which meant that someone might have purposely killed the captain in such a manner before the outbreak occurred. Chrysalis wondered what sort of man, no doubt not consumed by the paranoia that had claimed the ship, could have done such a thing to their captain, though while a part of her didn't want to know the answer she had the feeling they would find out soon enough.

The moment they put the text log away and took a step forward, however, some sort of bat like Necromorph dropped out of the ceiling in the room that the captain's body was in and latched onto the corpse, where they watched as it transformed the captain's body into a black slasher, indicating that it was likely empowered... though at the same time Chrysalis knew that the bat creature needed to die before it transformed any of the corpses around them.

As the black slasher busted through the glass container Isaac opened fire on it, finding that since it was empowered it took more blasts from his Plasma Cutter to even tear off one of it's limbs, while at the same time Chrysalis grabbed the bat like Necromorph, an infector in her mind, and threw it against one of the walls before pinning it there with her bone blades. The infector squirmed as it tried to free itself so it could infect more corpses with whatever liquid or bacteria that transformed the captain into a Necromorph, but Chrysalis decided to get rid of it before it could do anything else, which was when her horn lit up and ignited the infector into a fireball. As that Necromorph burned she turned her attention to the former captain, where her bullets joined Isaac's as they attempted to dismember one of his limbs, though when one of his legs fell off hope was in sight... to which they both grinned as they blasted off both of his arms and caused the body to go still at last.

With the deed done Isaac carefully extracted the RIG, finding it unharmed from the number of bullets they fired at the former captain, while Chrysalis gathered her bone blades and returned to his side, where he plugged a jack into the RIG and hoped Hammond found the codes he needed.

"Codes received, and they look good; thank god." Hammond said, to which Isaac and Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief, because they had no idea what the backup plan would have been if they recovered the codes and found that they weren't good, "I'll start accessing the captain's records right now. Head to the tram station, and I'll contact you there. I'm going to find out what the hell happened to this ship."

Once the transmission ended Isaac investigated the room the captain's body had been resting in and found a Power Node sitting on the ground, to which he collected it immediately before he and Chrysalis headed towards the nearby cargo lift, walked inside it, and rode it back up to the Security Station, as that was where it was connected to. When the lift stopped they walked forward, as the door they originally walked through didn't open, and they found themselves back in the Clinic area. The two of them then walked through the door that would allow them to return to the Tram area, but as they opened the door that they needed to walk through they found another slasher patrolling the room right outside the large Clinic room. Isaac and Chrysalis simply sighed and opened fire on the Necromorph, where they dismembered the creature, collected the ammunition it had, and walked through the door to their left... though when they entered the hallway that would allow them to return to the Security Station Hammond appeared in front of them, indicating that he was using the link between their RIGs.

"Isaac! Chrysalis! Somehow one of them found a way down to the Captain's Nest!" Hammond told them, though he appeared to be calming down, meaning that he either killed the Necromorph or had trapped it somewhere that it couldn't get out of, "I managed to contain it in a damaged escape pod. Lifting the executive lockdown... I found the deck logs... Whatever is happening around here, it came from the planet when they cracked it open. It spread to the colony, and reached the ship. This isn't an infection. It's some form of alien life!"

Chrysalis could have told Hammond that the source of this outbreak came from the colony, because everything they found on this deck seemed to indicate that one of the doctors might have brought a specimen up to the Ishimura and that was what caused the outbreak in the first place... but she said nothing, as she noticed Hammond's expression turn from pleased and become one that was more serious, indicating that something bad had happened.

"Shit! We've got bigger problems." Hammond said, though his tone indicated that he wasn't happy about what was happening now, while at the same time Chrysalis wondered how many questions she would ask this time around, "The ship's engines are offline and our orbit is decaying! Get over to the Engineering deck ASAP, while I stay here and figure out what the problem is."

As the connection terminated, and they continued walking towards the Tram, Chrysalis realized something about what they had been told, that if she and Isaac didn't get the engines back online they were going to crash land on Aegis VII, where the outbreak started... and there was no telling what sort of state the colony was in or what sort of monstrous Necromorphs were running around down there, and she honestly didn't want to find out. So she gulped back whatever fear she was feeling and climbed back onto the Tram, where Isaac pressed the icon for the Engineering Deck and they rode of into the unknown once more.

Ishimura: Exploring the Engineering Deck

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"The Ishimura is in trouble, isn't it?" Chrysalis asked, causing Isaac to glance over at her from where he was sitting, though at the same time Chrysalis made sure that her helmet was collapsed so she could stare at the other side of the Tram while they traveled towards the next deck Hammond was sending them to.

"If we don't get the engines back online, then yes it will be," Isaac replied, though he was impressed by how well his companion was taking all of this, because she had freaked out at the first Necromorph sighting and had no idea what all of the technical terms meant, but at least she was learning to improve her knowledge and nerves, "When we arrive at the Engineering Deck, and climb off the Tram, Hammond will likely have determined exactly what we need to do to repair the engines. From there it's a simple matter of walking through the hallways, dismembering all the Necromorphs that come out to get us, and repairing the systems as we go... provided that something doesn't happen while we're working."

Chrysalis knew that saying something like that was likely the wrong thing to do, if her own experience was anything to go by, but at the same time she could tell that Isaac had hope that they would be able to restore power to the engines and prevent the Ishimura from crashing into the planet below them. She honestly didn't want to go down to Aegis VII, and was going to do everything in her power to prevent such a thing from happening, because she really didn't want to see what sort of Necromorphs were running around down there, where the outbreak started. She was sure that there were more types of their undead enemies wandering around the Ishimura, ones they hadn't seen yet, and she dreaded to even consider what they might see in the future... but hopefully, before such a thing happened, she and the others could find a way off the ship, as she didn't want to be here any longer than what was necessary.

A few moments later, as she finished her thought about wanting to leave the Ishimura, the Tram arrived at the station for the Engineering Deck, to which she and Isaac reengaged their helmets and walked out into the station area, where they braced themselves for Hammond's message.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, we've got two problems, and we're working on borrowed time here." Hammond said, though at the same time the video image of him appeared in front of them, where they gave their commander their undivided attention while he told them what was going on, "First, there's no fuel in the engines. Second, the gravity centrifuge is offline, which means there's a couple trillion tons of rock pulling us down. I need the two of you to get that centrifuge operational, refuel the main engine and fire it up so I can stabilize the ship's orbit."

"Will do Hammond," Isaac replied, while at the same time Chrysalis nodded her head as well, indicating that they both understood their mission, even if Chrysalis didn't understand the vast majority of what Hammond had said, before the connection was terminated.

The two of them spent a few seconds looking for supplies that they might be able to use, though it appeared that the only thing they could fine were some credits resting on the floor and nothing else, so they walked towards the door to the Control Room and headed down the hallway that was in front of them. At the end of the very short hallway rested the area that was apparently called the Control Room, where there were a number of lockers, a few vending machines, a dead crew member sitting in a chair, and a circular door on their left that would take them somewhere else. They also found an audio log from Jacob Temple, the acting Chief Engineer, who mentioned that it had been two days since the planet crack and that people had seen their friends coming back with the intent to kill them, indicating that they had been transformed into some sort of Necromorph.

As they listened to the recording Chrysalis, somehow, found two still somewhat cold drinks in the vending machine, to which he brought one over to Isaac and they drank them as they listened to the audio log, while at the same time making sure to save their food for later, when they really needed it.

When the audio log was over they reengaged their helmets and walked through the door to the Machine Shop, where Chrysalis discovered a fair number of mechanical parts laying around and a busted door resting at the bottom of the ramp that was in front of them. Before they reached the door Isaac spotted an intact slasher resting in the middle of the busted door and started firing at it, where he dismembered the Necromorph as it tried to get back onto it's feet so it could kill them. While he did that Chrysalis investigated the chamber near the busted door, where she found three suits that were resting on the hangers that were opposite of the room's entrance, a schematic for Flame Fuel, and an audio log that detailed that someone had gone insane because he was pulling his own teeth out.

She waited for the audio log to finish, where she noticed that Isaac was interested in what she had been listening to, but at the same time she was beginning to think that uncovering the mysterious Marker had been the cause of the mass paranoia and dementia that had struck the Ishimura... and, since the Marker was aboard the ship, she wondered how long it would take before all of them started feeling the effects of this annoying madness.

The two of them then walked through the busted door and made their way around the large piece of machinery that was in the room, though the two of them smiled as they noticed a Bench in front of them and eagerly approached the upgrade device. Since the device was designed for a single person to use it at a time, something that Chrysalis considered to be a design flaw, she let Isaac go first and patiently waited for him to slip in the couple of Power Nodes that he had acquired since the last Bench they stopped at. Once he was done, and had backed away from the terminal, Chrysalis stepped forward and placed her Pulse Rifle on the device, where she watched as the screen appeared in front of her and glanced at all of the upgrades she could add to her weapon or her RIG. Unfortunately the only thing she could really put her two Power Nodes to were upgrading the capacity of her weapon and put the second one in the node ahead of the first one... which would allow her to access a few more when she found some more Power Nodes.

With the deed done, and the Bench was allowed to power down, the two of them continued to the left and followed the path that was in front of them, though as they walked Isaac told Chrysalis that he picked up a text log that detailed the chaos that erupted on the ship... and that everyone was running because they thought that someone else was attacking the Ishimura, which the writer of the text log was confused about.

As they walked through the door to the Refueling Control Stations the two of them kept their weapons at the ready, because they both knew that at some point the Necromorphs would jump out of one of the vents, or more of them at the same time, and attack them. As Isaac walked down the ramp in front of them Chrysalis noticed some movement in the vent area below where they were walking, where she could have sworn that she saw a infector or a leaper moving below them, but before she could blast it to pieces it disappeared. The two of them then carefully explored the area around them, where they found some credits that they added to their total, some ammunition that was laying around, and a med pack that they might not even need. When the two of them turned towards what was likely the path they needed to follow, to find one of the refueling stations, Chrysalis spotted a lurker that immediately fled from them... while a slasher dropped down in front of them and attacked them.

Fortunately Isaac was ready for such a thing, as he loosed a Stasis blast at the slasher and slowed their foe down, allowing him and Chrysalis to dismember the slasher before it ever had the chance to hurt them... though once the deed was done they looked up and found that there was a sign directing them to two different locations that were supposed to be the refueling stations.

"So, which path should we take?" Chrysalis asked, because she could tell that one of the refueling stations was on their left, heading up the ramp that was to their left, and there was another one on the right, which required them pulling over a lift of some kind so they could cross to the other side of the area they were in.

"We should get the refueling station that's in front of us," Isaac replied, to which he beckoned for Chrysalis to follow him as he walked up the ramp that Chrysalis had noticed, where they walked up to an platform of some kind.

Chrysalis looked at the small platform and found the terminal that had to be the refueling controls, though since the device had a Kinesis symbol on it she let Isaac latch onto the square lever and pulled it down to the bottom of the terminal, where a voice declared that the refueling sequence had been activated. At the same time the large piece of machinery that was located near them started spinning, causing Chrysalis to wonder if it was the engine or if it was where the fuel was stored inside. Before they walked down to the lift, and pulled it over to where they were standing, the two of them walked up the path behind them and opened fire on the slasher and small swarm enemies that happened to be waiting for them. From there they continued up the ramp and found that it brought them to a door, one that wouldn't take them to the other refueling station, where they sighed and headed back to where the lift was located.

This time around both Isaac and Chrysalis latched onto the lift with their own means and brought it over to them, where they waited for it to dock before climbing onto it and riding it over to the other side of the area... where they heard the sound of some sort of Necromorph that was unlike anything they had heard so far, which worried Chrysalis since it sounded like the creature was hungry for more people to kill.

As they neared the other docking station Isaac noticed some slashers gathering near where the lift would come to a stop, where he spotted an explosive canister and lifted it over to where they were with his Kinesis, before taking aim and loosing it at his target. He purposely aimed at the spot between the two slashers that were in front of the lift, where the two of them were blown apart and opened the way for him and Chrysalis to climb off the lift without having to worry about being attacked immediately. As the lift came to a stop Chrysalis was the first to react, as she leapt over the rails before they opened and raised her spare hand towards the slasher on her left, where she ignited it with a fireball before she dismembered the other that was coming down the ramp in front of her. She then pulled out one of the bone blades that were on her back and dismembered the burning slasher, before she glanced around and looked for any additional foes that might be coming for them.

Isaac, having patiently waited for the rails to lift out of the way, couldn't help but chuckle at what he had seen, because there were times where he forget that Chrysalis could use magic, though when she did use her powers it was usually to their benefit... but he joined her a few moments later and they continued forward as they searched for the second refueling station.

The two of them explored the immediate area and discovered a few more credits, another box on a wall that contained a Power Node that one of them could use, and an audio log that was someone speaking about how they shouldn't have let someone live. Temple, the engineer they had found a log from earlier, told the other person to shut up and said that someone had shut off the fuel lines to the primary engines and had damaged the valves in the process, though Temple also blamed the Unitologists for what was happening. Isaac and Chrysalis glanced at each other before they put the audio log away and walked up the ramp that was on the right of the area they were in, though at the top rested a slasher that they dismembered as it made it's way towards them. When the slasher was dead the two of them turned to the left of where they were standing and walked forward, where they found the refueling station they had been looking for... and the schematic for a weapon called the Ripper.

Chrysalis had no idea what the new weapon was supposed to do, especially since either she or Isaac would have to purchase it to figure that out, though as she stared at the item Isaac engaged the second refueling station and the machine Chrysalis had spotted earlier moved into the one in front of it... where the computerized voice declared that there was a sufficient amount of fuel to power the primary engine.

"Whatever the two of you did, it's working." Hammond said, though this time around Chrysalis detected that he was likely busy and wasn't actually watching them this time around, especially since he was trying to work on the fuel problem from his end, "I have a fuel reading... it's only a quarter full, but that's enough to restore orbit once you bring the engines back online... What the hell?"

Chrysalis didn't like the way Hammond said that, because it either meant that he had spotted a Necromorph near his location or there was something else on this ship that they had to worry about, which would lower their chances of getting off this ship alive.

"False alarm," Hammond continued, though this tone told them that he was nervous, meaning that the effects of the Marker might be starting to set in, or he was tense after everything he had been through since they had crashed into the Flight Deck of the ship, "thought I saw something."

That statement worried both Chrysalis and Isaac, as they both had guessed that the Marker might be the cause of the trouble of the colony and the Ishimura, but which Chrysalis was absolutely sure that it was aboard the ship Isaac believed that it was still on Aegis VII. Instead of discussing what might be wrong with Hammond the two of them retraced their steps towards the lift, though on the way they were attacked by a lurker that jumped at them with the intent to rip them apart with it's tentacles. Chrysalis, not wanting to deal with this at the moment, raised her hand and caught the lurker with her telekinesis, before she sent it flying into the wall behind it and made sure that it's tentacles were exposed as Isaac cut all of them off. From there they turned right and opened fire on the other lurkers that happened to be in front of them, as it appeared that the Necromorphs were annoyed that they had restored the engines, but Isaac and Chrysalis blasted their way through their enemies as they headed back to the lift.

As they rode the lift back across to the other side of the area they were in they heard the sounds of an annoyed Necromorph, like they had when they first rode the lift to the side they were leaving, and wondered what sort of creature it was coming from... while at the same time seeing a slasher charge up the ramp towards the first refueling station, meaning that enemies were waiting for them.

Chrysalis and Isaac moved the moment they reached the other side of the area, where they kept their weapons at the ready as they walked up the ramp and headed towards the door they had discovered a few minutes ago, while at the same time not finding any enemies along the way. When they reached the top of the ramp Isaac opened the door and they found themselves on the walkway outside the glass area the first audio log had been resting in, though while they walked Chrysalis spotted an infector walking around the floor as it made it's way towards the corpse she and Isaac had left behind. The instant the infector focused on the corpse Chrysalis opened the door leading back into the room, where she and Isaac opened fire on the Necromorph and the slasher that it created, dismembering the two of them before either of them could hurt them.

Once that deed was done Isaac approached the store terminal and input the new schematics he and Chrysalis had discovered, adding them to their growing list of items they could purchase from the store if they needed supplies, while at the same time Chrysalis stood guard and made sure that they were left alone... though while Isaac worked she noticed that they could buy Power Nodes, but thought it best to save their credits for something further down the line.

The moment Isaac was done with the store they headed across the room, to the opposite side of where the first door they walked through was located, where they entered the lift that was supposed to take them down to the location of the centrifuge and what they needed to fix. The two of them remained silent for a few seconds as they rode down to the hallway they would have to walk thought, though when they came to a stop and the door opened they found that there was a sign stating that they would have to go through a decontamination chamber before they reached the centrifuge. Isaac and Chrysalis glanced at each other for a moment, as they knew that Necromorphs were likely going to attack them when they entered the chamber, to which they raised their weapons once more as they made their way into the area around the chamber and collected all the supplies they could find, along with another audio log from Temple which told them about the problems with centrifuge.

A few moments later they headed into the decontamination chamber and stood in the middle near the table, where they braced themselves for what was coming next... to which Isaac touched the terminal and activated the sequence, which caused the lights to dim and the doors to lock as the voice told them that the sequence was starting.

The two of them stood where they were standing as the decontamination chamber went about it's business, sealing them in while 'cleansing' them of anything that was harmful to the centrifuge, though at the same time they watched two slashers attack the window opposite of where they were standing. A few seconds later the two Necromorphs busted into a vent and climbed into it, to which Isaac and Chrysalis prepared themselves as they waited for their enemies to appear, where one slasher burst out of the vent to the left of the chamber's exit and the other did the same thing with the vent on the exit's right. Isaac loosed a Stasis blast on his chosen opponent and started to dismember it, while at the same time Chrysalis charged her magic and loosed a paralysis spell that accomplished the same thing, allowing her to dismember the slasher she had been targeting... before she and Isaac noticed a leaper pull itself into the chamber, where they joined forces and tore the Necromorph apart.

A few moments after the leaper was taken care of the decontamination chamber finished the sequence it was going through and thanked them for their patience, where the lights returned to normal, the bracers on the windows retracted, and the doors unlocked... to which they walked through the door on the other side of the room and continued along the hallway they were in.

Chrysalis discovered, after walking through the door near the decontamination chamber's door, that she and Isaac had walked into a circular hallway of some kind, though instead of heading to the right immediately, like Isaac said they should do, the two of them headed to the left to see if there were any supplies for them to take. What they found, however, was some sort of gross growth that had completely blocked up a door, though fortunately neither of them had to get really close to it as they collected the credits on the floor and picked up a Power Node from the box on the wall. With those items in hand the two of them turned around and headed back the way they came, though when they reached the door they had walked through they kept going... where they found another large hole in the metal hallway, which concerned Chrysalis more than she was willing to admit, before Isaac found a semiconductor that he told Chrysalis they could sell for credits when they got back to the store.

From there they had to pass through two large circular doors before they could reach the centrifuge, where Chrysalis got her first glance at the massive structure that was the centrifuge, which was capable of making sure that the Ishimura didn't fall to the planet below them. The area around the mechanical device was trapped in zero-g, meaning that they would likely have to jump around a few times, while at the same time Chrysalis spotted some moveable pieces that would allow them to power the centrifuge. They moved to the left of where they were standing, allowing Chrysalis some time to study the devices in front of them, but before they could do anything a leaper landed on the walkway behind them, to which she opened fire on the creature and tore it apart. Isaac, on the other hand, used a Stasis blast to slow down the spinning part of the generator Chrysalis had been staring at and then used the Kinesis module to move it into place, while his companion blasted another Necromorph that was trying to attack them.

When he attached the generator the computerized voice declared that the module had been attached, to which he and Chrysalis jumped to the ceiling above where the second generator was before dropping back down to the walkway below them... where Isaac carefully realigned the generator once more while Chrysalis covered him with her weapons and magic, freezing and blasting whatever Necromorphs tried to attack them.

The moment Isaac was done with connecting the second generator module, which the system confirmed, he returned to Chrysalis and activated the terminal, which opened the majority of the floor opened and revealed the vacuum of space, where they had to rely on their air supply as they rode the elevator down to the level below them. They waited for the spinning part of the centrifuge to pass by where they were standing, as it started spinning, before moving along the path in front of them. As they walked both of them ducked into a side corridor where they dealt with another slasher, though as they waited for the centrifuge to pass by them their RIG link activated once more, indicating that Hammond had something to tell them as they continued moving.

"You two are doing great," Hammond said, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis ducked into another side area and used the air dispenser to replenish what they had spent so far, while Chrysalis determined that increasing the capabilities of her RIG was next on her list, "Centrifuge and gyros are both a hundred percent and stabilized. Now get out of there and focus on the engine. I don't know how much time we have left."

As Isaac and Chrysalis listened to Hammond they watched as a Necromorph walked out of where the lift up to the walkway above them was located, but before either of them could fire a single bullet the centrifuge crushed the creature, allowing them to access the lift without having to fight... where they walked through the large circular door and entered an area where they could breathe again. When they walked through the second door, after getting some air back into their lungs, a large tentacle like arm appeared from around the corner and reached for them, where it latched onto Chrysalis' leg and knocked her to the ground. She had no idea what sort of creature this was, but at the same time she didn't want to know as Isaac opened fire on the large yellow orb shaped muscle that he spotted, while she leveled her rifle with the orb and blasted it with a good number of rounds... though she had to stop a few times before obliterating the orb and causing the creature to let go of her before it retreated into the hole it came from.

When Isaac caught up to Chrysalis, however, he noticed that she seemed nervous and validated in her opinion that she and Isaac needed to be cautious around these holes.

"I have no idea what sort of creature that was, but I don't like it," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she shivered as she continued walking forward, leaving Isaac to walk with her and listen to her, "and I promise you that if we ever find whatever creature that was, I'm going to do everything in my power to obliterate it."

Isaac knew that Chrysalis didn't like the experience with that tentacle, and he knew that he wouldn't have liked it if he was in her position, but he had the feeling that, in some manner, she would fulfill this promise before she departed from the Ishimura. At the same time, however, they retraced their steps to the decontamination chamber, which had been broken after they used it apparently, and walked out the other side, where they dismembered the sole slasher that was waiting for them near the door to the lift. When they entered the lift Isaac activated the terminal and they started moving back towards the first room they walked into when they reached this deck, though at the same time they got something that they weren't expecting... a communication link between them and Kendra.

"Isaac? Chrysalis? Can you hear me?" Kendra said, though at the same time a video link appeared in front of them, to which Chrysalis was actually happy to see that her roommate was alive, since that was what they had been on the Kellion before it blew up, "It's Kendra... They attacked me... I ran for it... and Hammond just... he just disappeared."

"Kendra!" Hammond exclaimed, though the image didn't shift at all, indicating that he was simply speaking to them like had had done for the majority of the time he had spoken to them, "Where are you?"

"Nice to see that you're alive and well Hammond," Kendra stated, where Chrysalis determined that something had happened between the two that she and Isaac weren't fully aware of, but she kept her mouth shut and listened to what they had to say to her and Isaac, "I've barricaded myself in the computer core. I can hear them outside, but I don't think they know I'm in here... Anyway, I can log into everything from here. I hacked the root, and found some reports from the colony. Even before they cracked the planet the colonists were experiencing widespread dementia. It seems to be related to some artifact they found on the planet, something called 'the Marker'. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime I'm going to unlock the door to Fuel Storage... you can get to the engine chamber from there."

Chrysalis smiled as the connection terminated, because now that Kendra was back on their side, and could log into whatever she wanted, their chances of actually geting off the Ishimura were much greater than they had been mere minutes ago... to which she and Isaac agreed to take a short break before they continued. Neither of them wanted to run out of energy while they were fighting for their lives, and they were sure that the fight would only get harder from this point forward.

Ishimura: Fuel Storage

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The moment Isaac and Chrysalis were finished with their short break, and made sure that they had sold off the bits of ammunition that they didn't need at the moment since Chrysalis had found some line racks for the Line Gun, they walked over to the other circular door that was in the Control Room. This one was the one that would allow them to access the Fuel Storage, where they could turn on the engines and prevent the Ishimura from falling out of it's orbit and crashing into the planet below them, where the two of them and their friends would be at the mercy of the Necromorphs without any hope of being rescued or escaping. It was something that Chrysalis wanted to avoid, which was why she was so eager to get this ordeal over with so she and Isaac could join Hammond on the Bridge and figure out how to get off the ship, which they had a greater chance of doing now that Kendra had revealed that she was alive and that she had access to a good portion of the ship from where she was hiding.

Chrysalis smiled for a moment, because they had a chance at getting off this ship before the Necromorphs got to any of them, but at the same time she knew that she and Isaac needed to be sure that they survived turning on the engines, to which they opened the door in front of them and walked into a zero-g area... which was also open to the space around the ship thanks to the large part of the chamber missing.

Since they had little choice in the matter, and because there was no other way forward for them, Isaac aimed his Plasma Cutter at the wall in front of them and leapt through the air, where he soared towards the platform he had been aiming at and landed on it. The moment he was out of the way, as in he moved forward to give Chrysalis enough room to do the same thing, Chrysalis pointed her Pulse Rifle at the platform and leapt towards it, where she landed on it and braced herself once more. That was followed by them noticing that two leapers had emerged from one of the intact vents and were clearly preparing themselves for battle, though Chrysalis gripped the Necromorphs with her magic and pinned them to the wall they were crawling on, allowing Isaac to dismember them with a few shots. From there the two of them took turns aiming at the other walkway that they needed to walk on and jumped over to it, where they landed on the floor and headed up the ramp, which brought them to the circular door that was at the end of the walkway... where they left the zero-g area and entered an area that had air for them.

After walking through the two circular doors, or more like airlocks when Chrysalis thought about them, she and Isaac walked into the next part of the ship they needed to walk through, which ended up being louder than what Chrysalis was originally expecting and annoyed her a little bit... but at least her suit allowed her to block some of the noise so she didn't go deaf while they were in here.

Directly in front of them rested the schematic for the Medium Med Packs, which they had found one of since they had crashed into the Ishimura's Flight Deck, but Isaac and Chrysalis smiled as they stored it inside the storage area inside Isaac's suit before they moved forward. As they followed the hallway in front of them, however, the two of them quickly discovered that something was definitely wrong with this area, because there were the same organic growths that they had seen before entering the area that the centrifuge rested in.

"Okay, once was fine and all... but this is disgusting." Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she kept her eyes open for anymore holes in the walls, because she didn't want whatever creature that grabbed her earlier to do it again, or grab Isaac for that matter, "I hope there's a way to get rid of all of this at some point in the future."

"I'm sure that Hammond and Kendra will find a way to get rid of it all," Isaac replied, though that was before he remembered something very important about his companion, something that he shouldn't have forgotten in the first place, "or, if it comes down to it, you might be able to burn the growths away with your magic."

"I'm not sure what would happen if I tried that," Chrysalis said, but she wouldn't deny that such a thing made her think about calling forth a fireball or gout of fire to test how resistant the growths were to her magic, before she sighed as she continued walking forward, "Come on, let's find the terminal that will let us turn on the engines and get out of here before the creature from earlier tries to grab us again."

The area in front of them appeared to be squared in nature, as it was how the architects of the Ishimura built this part of the ship, and there was more organic growths on the walls and ceiling, though that was when Chrysalis noticed that there was even some on the ground, in a lighter fashion anyway. What they discovered was that walking on the organic surface made them walk slower than usual, meaning that they had to put more effort into moving their legs forward, but that made Chrysalis more determined to get out of here as soon as possible. The duo turned to the right and walked along the small amount of organic surface that was in front of them and approached the door that Isaac had been staring at, where they walked into what appeared to be a storage room... which contained a Power Node, some ammunition for both of their weapons, and a text log that was titled 'Corruption'.

It was then that Isaac and Chrysalis discovered that the Engineering Deck wasn't the first part of the ship that the organic growth had appeared in and had spread out from wherever it had originated, but there was no information on where it all came from... and that cutting it apart was futile, as it spread faster than the crew could damage it, but at least the scientists aboard the ship had been studying the mass of organic growth. From there they carefully crossed over to the other side of the chamber they were in and found another storage room, which contained more ammunition and a brief audio log from Temple, who claimed that he couldn't reach the engines on his own and that this was sabotage. Chrysalis wasn't surprised to hear that the engineer had given up and was heading to the Bridge to meet someone called Elizabeth, so they could get off the ship.

That made Chrysalis wonder if there actually was some sort of escape system that might allow them to get off the Ishimura, but for now she and Isaac had to focus on restoring the engines... to which they gathered the remainder of the supplies in this room, walked out to the lift that was next to the door, and headed down to the level below them.

On the second level they found that they had to head to their right, because the left was completely consumed by the organic growth, and that both of the storage rooms on this level appeared to be permanently opened, no doubt because of the large organic growth they were seeing everywhere. The first storage area they discovered had a trail of blood in front of the vent, meaning that a Necromorph must have killed someone using the vent, though nothing happened when they walked by the entrance and Isaac pulled the Small Med Pack over to them with his Kinesis before they continued around to the other side of the level. As they neared the other storage room three of the little swarm Necromorphs moved out of the room and approached the duo, to which Chrysalis leveled her Pulse Rifle with them and tore the three of them apart with a short burst... though once the deed was done she and Isaac carefully walked into the storage room so they could investigate what happened in here.

What they found in the storage room was what appeared to be a dead engineer, though as Chrysalis collected the various supplies that were in the area around them Isaac approached the dead person, to which the engineer stirred and started to point at something behind them before collapsing on the floor... where Chrysalis noticed a slasher charge by the entrance of the room and disappear. From what she could determine the engineer had known about the slasher and was trying to warn them about a potential threat, but at the same time it appeared that the slasher didn't want to mess with them and left before it was dismembered. Isaac, on the other hand, simply stared down at his fellow engineer for a few seconds before walking out of the storage room, to which Chrysalis followed him to the second lift and they descended even deeper into the area they had been sent to.

The lowest level of the area wasn't much better than the other two, as there was a good deal of growth everywhere, a door was malfunctioning, and there appeared to be someone trapped in the growth on the wall to their left, but his body was no longer fully human, as if the growth was feeding off him or something. They found yet another storage room and raided it for supplies, where Isaac crushed a box that had some of the swarm Necromorphs inside it and killed them before they could jump out at him and Chrysalis, before they investigated the rest of the room. What they found was another storage room, likely the last of them for this area, that happened to be locked at the moment and the only way to open it was for either Isaac or Chrysalis to sacrifice one of the Power Nodes they had picked up... to which, after a few seconds of internal debate, Isaac pulled one of his out and slipped it into the waiting receptacle, unlocking the door so they could see what was inside.

What they found was a fair number of supplies, in both ammunition and Med Packs, waiting for them, though Chrysalis also found the schematic for the Ripper Blades, which was another type of ammunition for a weapon that she and Isaac didn't have... though once they collected everything they headed back into the main room and prepared themselves for what was next. When Isaac lifted his hand towards the malfunctioning door, so he could Stasis it and allow them access to the Engine Room, Chrysalis held up a hand and indicated that he should wait, to which he watched as a slasher walked around the corner and walked right into the middle of the door, where he was smashed into pieces.

"How did you know he was coming?" Isaac asked, though at the same time he loosed his Stasis blast and slowed the rectangular malfunctioning door down, allowing him and Chrysalis to move forward once again.

"I heard something growling on the other side of the door," Chrysalis replied, though she was lucky to have heard it in the first place, considering the noise that the malfunctioning door was making while she and Isaac had been gathering all of their supplies, "though I honestly wasn't expecting that to work as well as it did. In truth I expected the slasher to move through the malfunctioning door, without being crushed in such a manner, and having to fight it before we could Stasis the door and move through it. This is one of those times where I'm glad to be wrong about something... even though I'm sure that more Necromorphs are waiting for us in the Engine Room."

Sure enough Chrysalis was right about more Necromorphs were waiting for them, because they were barely halfway through the hallway they were walking through before a larger swarm of the small white Necromorphs, accompanied by a crawling slasher, came their way. Instead of wasting ammunition on the swarm Chrysalis levitated the explosive canister that was in front of them into the air and aimed at her desired target, where she released the canister into the middle of the swarm and blew them all apart. That opened the way for Isaac to focus on the slasher's limbs, where he carefully dismembered the Necromorph before they continued up the ramp that was in the middle of the hallway, allowing them access to the Engine Room at long last.

As the large door opened for them Chrysalis found that the Engine Room was much larger than what she was expecting, as all she really was expecting was a smaller room with a terminal, but it appeared that they could see the engine and repair it at the same time if necessary. The other thing that she noticed, which Isaac picked up on as well, was that there was a decent number of slashers patrolling the area between them and the terminal they were supposed to access to get the engines back online. In that moment Chrysalis had to resist the urge to moan, as it appeared that she was more that correct about the fact that more Necromorphs would be waiting for them, though at the same time she and Isaac readied their weapons and their own methods of using stasis to slow something down. Fortunately it took the slashers a moment to realize that they had guests, though once they noticed that the door had opened, and Isaac and Chrysalis had walked through it, the group turned their attention on the duo and started rushing towards them.

The first thing that Isaac and Chrysalis did was engage their own methods of slowing enemies down and did so, causing all of the slashers to slow down in the process, before they opened fire on their chosen targets and spread out so they could cover more ground in case additional enemies broke through the vents and attacked them. Since they were in the Engine Room, however, Chrysalis opted not to use any fire magic out of fear of blowing them all to pieces, as she still had no idea if this was a safe place to use her fire type spells or not, but simply slowing her targets down and dismembering them in short bursts seemed to be doing the trick so far. She also incorporated freezing certain enemies in chunks of ice, or their feet so they would stop moving, and would either blast her targets apart on her own or would let Isaac do it with a single shot from his Plasma Cutter... making her want to pick one up at some point in the future, if such a thing was possible anyway.

Despite the fact that she didn't know a lot about the technology that she and Isaac were fixing, and what she was using at the moment with her RIG and her Pulse Rifle, she knew that a weapon that could shatter a large block of ice, and the unlucky Necromorph that was trapped inside it, was definitely useful.

When the initial wave of enemies was taken care of the two of them thought about resting for a brief moment and would have done so, had a extremely fat, maybe even pregnant, looking slasher moved out from where it had been hiding and proceeded to walk towards them. Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on it, blasting off it's legs and caused it to pull itself closer to them with it's bone blades, before the duo removed those as well and caused the creature to die like everything else they had fought so far. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of this fight, as the moment the Necromorph stopped moving Chrysalis lifted one of the bone blades they had torn off another foe and used her magic to send it into the swollen stomach of the creature they had fought. That, in turn, caused the stomach to explode and released a small number of the swarm Necromorphs into the area, which Isaac and Chrysalis slowed down and blasted apart, while at the same time filing away that useful piece of information.

"Okay, so the pregnant looking Necromorphs carry other smaller Necromorphs inside their swollen stomachs," Isaac commented, though at the same time he and Chrysalis looked around for any useful supplies that they might need in the future, especially if they kept finding weird Necromorphs like these all the time, "How did you know that such a thing was going to happen?"

"Honestly, it was another guess," Chrysalis replied, as it could have easily been that the swollen stomach was full of gas that could have knocked them out or poisoned them until they transformed into Necromorphs as well, though the only reason she thought about that was because she knew that there had to be more than one type of Necromorph that caused this change to occur in all of the corpses, "but we learned something new, always go for the limbs and never shoot anywhere else... otherwise you might be surprised by what an enemy is carrying in their bodies."

Chrysalis looked around the right side of the Engine Room and found that the majority of the supplies that she could find were more bits of ammunition, a few Small Med Packs, a Power Node to replace what they used earlier, and a fair number of explosive canisters that she and Isaac were likely going to need, which was why she pulled them near the terminal they planned on activating. Isaac found pretty much the same thing, save for the Power Node, but what he did find was that the pregnant Necromorph had a Gold Semiconductor on it, which they would sell once they got back to the store in the Control Room. The moment the two of them were ready, however, Isaac stepped up to the terminal and took a deep breath, before he punched in the command that would activate the engines and prevent the Ishimura from crashing into Aegis VII.

Ignition sequence activated. the computerized voice declared, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis faced the area they had walked through to get to the terminal, as they knew what was coming next, Please stand by.

That was immediately followed by a swarm of slashers and leapers emerging from the various vents and hiding places that they happened to have been hiding in, to which Isaac started loosing Stasis blasts to slow them all down while Chrysalis made sure to launch the explosive canisters at the enemies that were the furthest away from them to avoid taking any damage. Unfortunately there were only three canisters sitting near her, so she had to pick and choose where to fire them, but once they ran out she opened fire on the enemies around them as she slowed them down with her magical version of Isaac's Stasis Module. With the number of Necromorphs that were coming towards them, from the front and none of the sides, Chrysalis thought it was great that she and Isaac had gathered all the supplies that they could, because despite knowing where to aim there just happened to be a larger amount of enemies than what they were expecting.

The lucky slashers that made it to them, which was few considering what Isaac and Chrysalis were doing, met their end thanks to Chrysalis' bone blades, which she insisted on keeping until they were no longer necessary, something that Isaac agreed with... though they did breath a sigh of relief as the enemies stopped coming and they finished off the last slasher, to which the room grew slightly quieter as they waited for the terminal to tell them what to do.

Engines ready, the computerized voice spoke up, indicating that the ignition sequence had been successful, while at the same time making Chrysalis wonder if there was something else they needed to do, Please confirm ignition.

Isaac moved forward and input the command once more, though this time around they waited to see whether or not their hard work paid off, because if this didn't work than they were going to crash land on Aegis VII and would have to contend with whatever Necromorphs lived down there... provided they survived the initial crash anyway.

Engines firing. the computerized voice said, to which Isaac and Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the engines do what they were supposed to do, which meant that they must have succeeded in their mission, but they stood there and waited for either Hammond or Kendra to say something.

"It's working! We're online and functional!" Hammond stated, to which his face appeared on the RIG Link, while at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis input the command for their helmets to break apart, so they could smile and be happy for a few moments, "Finally some good news for once. Isaac, Chrysalis, head back to the Tram and come to the Bridge. I'm going to take us back into a geostationary orbit."

"Wait, wait! We're not safe yet!" Kendra spoke up, to which the image shifted to reveal her once more, though this time around Chrysalis knew that she had some bad news to tell them, "The ship's asteroid defense system is offline. on the way up the ship's going to pass through a debris field thrown up from the planetcrack... we'll be ripped to shreds unless the two of you restart it."

"Dammit, she's right. I'll start working on it from here," Hammond said, though at the same time he stared at Isaac and Chrysalis for a few seconds as they sighed and reengaged their helmets, as it appeared that there was more work for them to do before they could relax, "Isaac, Chrysalis, stick to the plan and come meet me on the Bridge. You two can do more good than I can up here."

Chrysalis found it amusing that, despite the fact that she wasn't an engineer like Isaac, a military commander like Hammond, or a computer specialist like Kendra, she could still do more good than some of them simply by listening to what needed to be done and followed the various markers to her destination. By rights she shouldn't have made it this far on her own, not without constant help from either Hammond or Kendra if Isaac wasn't around, but she was fortunate to have him as a companion and she knew that he was grateful for her assistance. Before they started moving, however, she noticed that Isaac seemed a little distracted and tapped him for a moment, where he shook his head and said that everything was fine... but he sounded like he might have heard the sound of his beloved Nicole talking to him. She wasn't sure if that was true or not, since her RIG hadn't picked up anything, but she guessed it might have been possible for someone to speak directly to someone without talking to two people at the same time.

As they walked out of the Engine Room, however, Chrysalis could have sworn that she heard the sound of a weapon moving and glanced back for a few seconds, where she noticed a familiar shimmering lance, one that was on fire around the tip, resting in the floor in the middle of the room... though when she blinked the lance was gone and there was no sign that it had ever been there to begin with.

"Chrysalis, are you okay?" Isaac asked, because he saw nothing new inside the Engine Room, to which he wondered if his companion was starting to get sick or had been distracted by something like he had been a few seconds ago.

"I'm... I'm fine." Chrysalis said, to which she did her best to sound normal as she looked over at Isaac, who simply nodded his head and beckoned for them to get underway, where she pushed what she had seen to the back of her mind and followed after him.

Together the two of them made their way back to the Control Room, though instead of heading back the way they came they actually headed through the door that was opposite of the Engine Room door and found that it gave them access to a hallway that brought them to a door that was near the glass enclosure of the Control Room. When the two of them entered the Control Room they headed right for the store so they could sell some of the useless ammunition that they didn't need, but before they reached the terminal they were attacked by a lone slasher. They quickly dismembered the Necromorph and returned to the business at hand, where Isaac sold the various pieces that he didn't need before Chrysalis did the same thing, though once they were done with the store they closed the terminal and headed back to where the Tram was waiting for them.

A few moments later the two of them climbed into the Tram and Chrysalis took her seat before Isaac pushed the button for the Bridge, though while the Tram got moving they both had to wonder what they would need to do to fix the asteroid defense systems... and worry about what new types of Necromorphs might be waiting for them once they reached their next destination.

Ishimura: Aiding Hammond

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Chrysalis and Isaac road the Tram to the Bridge in silence once more, letting their companion think about the situation they were in while wondering what Hammond would say to them the moment they arrived at the Bridge, but they both had other reasons for wanting to remain silent this time around. Isaac had heard, mere moments after Hammond and Kendra had stopped talking about the ADS, what he could have sworn was the sound of Nicole broadcasting something for him and him alone, but at the same time he had no idea if his mind was playing tricks on him or not. He wanted to say that it was Nicole, that she had reached out to him in a manner that wouldn't alert the Necromorphs to her exact location, but until he had further evidence to prove that he had actually heard his beloved Nicole he wasn't going to say anything for now... even if it pained him to not shout for joy at the possibility that she might be alive.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, didn't share Isaac's joy at all, because what she had seen chilled her to her bones, as that lance belonged to someone from her memories that she would have preferred remained buried in the past and not brought back to the surface. She hadn't told Isaac, Kendra, or Hammond about her past and what she had done, mostly because she didn't enjoy failure, but at the same time there were some memories that even she dreaded to think about and this was one of the few that she really wished she could forget about. The problem was that the memory in question was a strong one that she couldn't forget about, as she remembered it from time to time over the years, but this was the first time she ever envisioned that lance appearing like that... making her wonder if the Marker was making her lose her mind already, or if the artifact was already so powerful that it's affects started to manifest.

She couldn't tell Isaac and the others what she had seen, otherwise they would think she was already losing her mind and that sooner or later she would succumb to whatever madness had infected the colonists and the crew of the Ishimura before their arrival.

A few minutes later the Tram reached the Bridge's station and came to a stop, to which the two of them reengaged their helmets and picked up their weapons, where they walked off the Tram and made sure to keep their eyes peeled for any enemies that might want them dead the moment they felt the safety of the transport vehicle they used. Fortunately it appeared that there weren't any Necromorphs waiting for them, something that Chrysalis would have assumed they would do considering that the Tram made a decent amount of noise, but she was happy to discover that the Necromorphs weren't that smart to figure something like that out.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, come in." Hammond said, to which the video RIGLink appeared in front of them, where Isaac and Chrysalis stood their ground and paid attention to the communication, "Kendra's right, the ADS is completely shot. I'll need your help to fix this. Kendra, if you can hear me, see if you can get into the ship reports. It sounds like you have better access from there."

"When were you going to tell us about the artifact, Hammond?" Kendra asked, though as her image rapidly replaced Hammond's Chrysalis guessed that there must have been more to the Kellion's mission than what she had been told, or she was just overthinking everything thanks to what she had seen earlier, "This 'Marker'?"

"I don't know anything about that." Hammond immediately replied, where Chrysalis noted that this time he sounded calmer than he normally did, at least in the sense of when he was talking with Kendra, "It's referenced in the captain's records. They brought it up from the planet..."

"It's on the ship?!" Kendra exclaimed, though at the same time that was when Chrysalis knew that something was up, because she could have sworn that there was a hint, a very small hint, of joy in Kendra's voice, but she pushed the thought to the side and waited for the conversation to finish.

"In cargo." Hammond corrected, confirming what Kendra had asked while also telling them exactly which part of the ship that the mysterious Marker was resting in, "They think it's of alien origin, but I don't know what the hell it is."

"Really? The CEC didn't know anything about it?" Kendra inquired, though as she appeared in front of them once more both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that the calm conversation was about to explode once more, "You're lying."

"Back off. I am not the bad guy here." Hammond snapped, indicating that he was annoyed by what Kendra had said, though he let out a short sigh and regained himself a little bit as he looked at the screen once more, "We're all shaky right now. You're going to have to trust that I don't know anything about it."

That was followed by the image in front of them cutting out for a few moments, indicating that something had to be happening where Hammond was sitting, before the screen stabilized and he stared at them again, though he seemed more worried about something than he was a few moments ago.

"We've entered the debris field!" Hammond said, though this time around he focused on Isaac and Chrysalis, who nodded their heads as they knew what was coming next as they primed their weapons, "Get to the captain's nest. I'll explain everything later. Hammond out."

The instant the communication between them, Hammond, and Kendra was disconnected Isaac and Chrysalis quickly explored the station they had arrived in and gathered the bits of ammunition that were sitting everywhere, before they headed towards the door that would take them to the Main Atrium. The duo then followed the hallway that was in front of them, which led to a sitting area that had some bodies scattered around in various places and blood splattered near the door they had just walked through. As they walked forward, however, one of the glass windows on their left had a hole punched into it as some sort of Necromorph arm, unlike any of the undead creatures they had fought so far, punched it's way through the glass and lashed around as it tried to grab onto something... before eventually pulling away and disappearing as quickly as it had arrived.

Chrysalis knew that, at some point during their venture to help Hammond repair the ADS, she and Isaac would have to contend with whatever that creature was in order to get to one of their objectives, if what they had already been through was any indication.

A few seconds passed before they moved on, as they wanted to be sure that the Necromorph didn't come back, to which they approached the store and sold off some of the excess ammunition that they had, as they got rid of the ones that neither of them had the weapons for so they could pick up more supplies while they explored the Bridge. They then opened the main door to the Main Atrium and walked into the large area that was in front of them, though as they did so Chrysalis kept her eyes open for enemies that wanted them dead. She did so because there weren't any corpses laying around the atrium, which meant that the Necromorphs either let everyone run somewhere else and killed them there or already carted off the corpses. She also noticed that there were some large windows that allowed the crew to see what was around the ship when they were moving through space or hyperspace when using the Shockpoint Drive... though she also spotted a lot of debris floating around the bridge, all bits of rock that had been created from the planetcrack.

Before the two of them got too far one of the debris pierced the ceiling above them and smashed into the floor in front of them, where it disappeared into the depths of the ship while damaging the Ishimura in the process.

Warning. the computerized voice said, though at the same time Chrysalis glanced around as she expected the vacuum of space to suck out the air, but she found that she and Isaac could breath just fine despite the hole punched into the ceiling, Hull breach detected.

"Isaac! Chrysalis!" Kendra's voice said, to which the duo stopped for a few seconds and waited for her to speak before they moved forward, so they could fix the defense systems before a bigger piece of debris crushed them, "Impact on the bridge, right at your feet. I'm reading heavy damage, but containment looks solid. Life support is stabilized. We've got to get the ADS working!"

"Right." Chrysalis replied, though as the connection was terminated she turned towards the ceiling and looked at it for a few moments, before turning towards Isaac, "So... we have a hole in the hull of the ship and we're allowed to breath and walk normally? Does the ship have a system that allows it to automatically fix any damage to the hull in seconds?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Isaac replied, though he was sure that there was a reason behind it, but since they were on the clock and couldn't take the time to question everything he beckoned for her to follow him.

Chrysalis sighed, as some of the things she had encountered so far didn't make sense, but she followed after Isaac as they made their way to the captain's nest, though along the way they found an audio log that detailed someone asking the bridge for assistance combating the 'invaders'. Isaac and Chrysalis knew that the person who was talking was referring to the Necromorphs and one of their attacks on the deck staff, along with the fact that guns were 'useless' against these enemies, despite the fact that they had discovered the method to defeating the undead enemies. They listened to the audio log as they rounded the corner and walked onto the cargo lift in front of them, where they rode it down to the level below them. When the lift stopped they found the schematic for the next suit, the upgrade to what they were currently wearing, and that there were four escape pods, three of which had been used already and one seemed to be waiting for someone to use it... but they ignored it as they walked forward and entered the captain's nest.

There they found Hammond working on something, no doubt studying what was wrong with the ADS and what they needed to do to fix it up so they could survive passing through the debris field... to which the commander nearly jumped when he heard the door open.

"Isaac! Chrysalis! Damn, the two of you scared me." Hammond said, though at the same time he smiled for a moment before getting back to his work, but he intended to speak to them as they stood near he was standing and studied what he was working on at the moment, "This place is making me jumpy. Fucking asteroids coming through the roof... Look, I know Kendra doesn't trust me, but I don't know anything about a Marker or anything else. This was supposed to be a repair mission, plain and simple."

"It's okay Hammond," Chrysalis said, as she remembered the few audio logs that she and Isaac had discovered that mentioned the Marker, which she wondered if they should share with the commander before they departed to repair the systems that were supposed to protect the Ishimura, "We don't know much about the Marker either... all we know is that some of the scientists, and possibly the captain, knew something about it, but nothing more than that. Now, what is this... mess... that you are staring at?"

"This 'mess', as you call it, is the Asteroid Defense System," Hammond replied, though he couldn't fault Chrysalis for not knowing about what was on the screen in front of him, because she knew nothing about the majority of the items she had come into contact with, but he had to admit that she adapted quite well to her situation, "I can fix these boards, but the main power routing is shot. You and Isaac are going to have to re-route them manually through at least three junction boxes to activate the primary cannon. Oh, but before you do that you'll have to activate the Atrium elevators from Bridge Security. You can use them to get to the junction boxes."

As the two of them turned to go, however, two things happened; Isaac found a text log that he and Chrysalis could look at later, while at the same time Hammond coughed before the two of them departed from the room they had been standing in for the last few moments.

"By the way, Isaac, Chrysalis... be careful." Hammond said, though there was something in his voice that stopped the duo in their tracks and turn towards him, while at the same time he glanced at the glass that was in front of the captain's chair, "I saw something out there. I don't know what it was. I only caught a glimpse of it, but it was big... really big."

Chrysalis didn't like the sound of that, because of what she and Isaac had seen the instant they started walking down the hallway earlier, but she appreciated the warning as she and Isaac looked at the text log, which was a detailed list of the dead crew members. Isaac spent a few moments looking through it, seeing if Nicole's name was on the list at all, but after some time he sighed and put the text log away, indicating that his beloved's name wasn't on the list and gave him more hope for finding her alive. As they walked out of the captain's nest they found that the escape pod they had ignored earlier had a slasher trapped inside it, where Hammond told them to step back before he ejected the entire pod, along with the Necromorph, off of the ship.

From there the duo walked back onto the cargo lift and rode it back to the level above them, though as they walked back into the open area Chrysalis heard the sound of something striking a door, where she noticed the door near the one that led them to the store seemed to be breaking... though that was followed by a bestial Necromorph burst through the metal door and touched the floor again, before focusing on Isaac and Chrysalis. From what she could tell the creature had been formed from multiple bodies fused together, which was grosser than anything Chrysalis had seen so far, while at the same time it had heavy layers of flesh that had been converted into chitin... which no doubt served as armor to protect it's massive arms and head from damage, while also ruining their chances of quickly beating the creature.

"What the hell is that thing?" Isaac shouted, though at the same time the creature charged at them, forcing him to jump to the right to avoid the beast while Chrysalis did the same thing by jumping to the left.

"I have no idea, but I don't like it!" Chrysalis shouted in return, though as she did so she lifted the Pulse Rifle and opened fire on the creature, where her bullets bounced off it's armored pieces without damaging it at all, causing her to worry about their chances.

The monstrous Necromorph, a brute as Chrysalis decided to call it based on what it had done to the door it busted down, turned it's head towards her for a moment and stared at her, before it fully faced her and charged in her general direction while ignoring Isaac completely. Chrysalis, not having a moment to actually dodge this time around, called her magic together and formed a circular barrier in front of her, where the brute slammed into it and knocked her onto her back, before it approached her and pressed one of it's 'hands' down on the top of the barrier. Chrysalis opened a small hole in the barrier and opened fire on the brute's chest area, though she did minimal damage in the process, but one of it's arms was blown off as Isaac fired at something on it's back and forced it off of Chrysalis.

The brute shielded itself with it's remaining arm and pressed itself against the floor, where Chrysalis pulled herself up and backed away from the creature, while at the same time trying to figure out how best to damage their foe without being hurt in the process.

A few seconds later the brute regrew the arm that Isaac had blown off and pulled itself back to it's full height, to which it charged towards them with the intent on killing them and letting one of the infector Necromorphs transform them into more monsters to hunt and kill whoever was left in the Ishimura. This time both Isaac and Chrysalis avoided the charge and opened fire on the brute's back, where Chrysalis spotted some yellow balls of mass resting where the arms connected with the main body. She was reminded of the tentacle that wanted to pull her to her death and aimed at them, where she blew off one of the brute's arms and caused it to stagger, to which Isaac nodded and repeated the process on the other arm, causing their foe to stagger once more before collapsing.

The two of them waited for a few seconds, to be sure that the creature was actually dead, before they sighed as the brute didn't get back up and collected the credits that it was carrying, five thousand according to what Isaac said, before Chrysalis pulled out one of the Small Med Packs and applied it to herself. Just because she had summoned the barrier her armor still took damage from the collision and her RIG indicated that she, herself, had been hurt as well, though she wasn't about it question it and let out a sigh of relief as her systems said that she was fine once more. While she was doing that Isaac walked over to the Security Room, where the brute had come from, and called her over to him, where she found the elevator controls for the elevator that was near the cargo lift that took them to where Hammond was waiting... though when they turned the controls on the computerized voice told them that the elevators were online.

They also discovered another Bench, meaning that they could empower their weapons once they either purchased more Power Nodes or found them somewhere on the ship, but they decided to move on and headed back towards the main elevator... where they rode it down to the level they needed to head to, while at the same time finding a video log that had the captain, Kyne, and two crew members that appeared to be holding onto the captain. Apparently the captain was accusing the doctor and the men behind him with mutiny, while Kyne and the men were declaring the captain unfit for duty. One thing that the captain did was declare that the Marker had to be delivered to the church, while Kyne said that he couldn't allow such a thing to happen as he prepared a syringe filled with some sort of liquid... which was followed by some static and Kyne put the needle in the captain's eye, which resulted in the captain's dead despite the fact that Kyne insisted that the captain had to be stopped while the men stated that Kyne had to be arrested.

Chrysalis was pleased to find that they had at least figured out what happened to the captain, though at the same time it confirmed that people were succumbing to the power of the Marker... though when the elevator reached the level they were heading to they walked out into the open room and began their search.

The two of them gathered the supplies in the room and headed out into the hallway that was connected to the room, where Isaac found the schematic for the Contact Beam, a weapon that might help them, but instead of going back and downloading it into the store they moved forward and continued their search for the junction boxes. There was a storage room in front of them and they walked into it, where they found a slasher sleeping among some corpses, to which Chrysalis held it down with her magic as Isaac blew it's arms off. Once the slasher was done for they gathered the odd bits of ammunition and headed back out into the main hallway, though as they did so Kendra contacted them as they approached the door they needed to walk through.

"It looks like some of the gravity plating is malfunctioning," Kendra said, though at the same time Chrysalis shook her head, because she had no idea what Kendra was referring to while at the same time cursing the fact that there was more of the ship falling apart on them, "Keep an eye out for any kind of distortion effect coming from the floor... it could be dangerous for the two of you."

Isaac and Chrysalis walked into the room in front of them and found that they had to follow a specific path, though around the corner rested one of the ruined gravity plating, where they got a demonstration as to what could possibly happen to them as a lurker rounded the corner and charged at them. When it crossed over the ruined plating, however, it was thrown up at the ceiling and shattered into a mess of pieces, to which Chrysalis determined that she and Isaac should use them to the best of their ability so they could conserve ammunition. A few seconds later they rounded another corner and found a lurker and a slasher standing together between two gravity plates, to which Chrysalis smiled and held a hand out towards them. That was followed by her using some of her magic to force the two enemies into the gravity plate behind them, where they were ripped to pieces and dropped some ammunition, allowing them to collect the bits before they moved forward along the path... while at the same time avoiding the plates that were in their path.

A slasher dropped down into the area they had walked through to get into this area and slowly approached them from behind, to which Isaac turned around and put the creature down before returning to Chrysalis, where they followed the path forward once more... where they found two lurkers waiting for them, but since they posed no threat Isaac slowed them down and they tore the Necromorphs apart with a few blasts.

Behind the two lurkers rested some crates that were easily moveable thanks to the Kinesis Module and Chrysalis' telekinesis, though as they did that they heard the sound of another brute waiting ahead of them, to which they both gulped as they hoped that they were just hearing things. Unfortunately they found a brute barreling towards them as they entered the room in front of them, though this time around they were smarter thanks to their encounter with the other one and separated from each other. Isaac threw a Stasis blast at the brute and slowed it down, allowing him and Chrysalis to get to the back of the creature, where they opened fire on the weak points that were visible to them, just like they had with the last brute. When the Stasis failed the brute turned around and charged at them again, though this time Chrysalis wrapped her magic around it and slowed it down with her own spell, allowing Isaac to finish it off... where they collected a Power Node before continuing forward.

In front of them they found where the debris had landed, and was still flaming oddly enough, though at the same time there were some moving electric wires that could prove hazardous to their health, where Isaac loosed a final Stasis blast and slowed them down... allowing him to access the junction box, where the computer informed them that power had been re-routed to the ADS.

"Ship Systems junction box re-routed," Hammond confirmed, though at the same time Isaac returned to Chrysalis and they started walking back to the elevator, while they listened to what their commander was saying, "I'm making some progress with the tracking grid... one of the cannons is giving me a hard time... keep moving."

Chrysalis smiled for a few seconds, because despite the fact that two more junction boxes remained they were actually making decent progress this time around... though she had the feeling that she and Isaac would find another one of those brutes before they powered up the remaining two boxes and restored the ADS to it's full power. All she could do was hope that they could overcome whatever else was in front of them and prevent the ship from falling apart, which meant preventing more pieces of debris from piercing the hull... but she was sure they could manage a miracle, before something else went wrong on another deck.

Ishimura: Asteroid Defense System

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The duo carefully made their way back to the elevator that had brought them down to this level, as they still had to avoid the malfunctioning gravity panels that were in their way, before they opened the larger door and walked back into the hallway that the supply room was connected to. As they rounded a corner they found a slasher standing in their way and it turned towards them the instant it noticed that the two of them were there, though it didn't get too far as Chrysalis and Isaac blasted it's arms and legs off. The moment that Necromorph fell, however, another slasher dropped down from the vent they would have walked under in a few seconds and roared at them, where the duo tore it's limbs off with their weapons and dropped it's chest to the floor. Once they were sure that there weren't any other enemies coming towards them, for the moment anyway, the two of them continued walking forward and made their way back to the elevator, where they climbed into the lift and headed back up to the Main Atrium.

A few moments later they walked out of the elevator when it arrived at it's destination, though as they entered the Main Atrium again they heard the sounds of enemies waiting for them, to which they looked around and found five leapers lingering on the wall in front of the elevator and on the ground around them. Isaac focused on the enemies that were to their immediate left, as he was more worried about them, while Chrysalis focused on the remaining foes to the right, where she froze one of them and dismembered it before turning her attention to the other leapers. Fortunately it appeared that the leapers were the only Necromorphs in this immediate area, save for the dead brute that was laying where the duo had killed it, so Isaac and Chrysalis were able to focus their efforts on their current enemies before they were all gone... to which Isaac decided to head towards the store, so he could sell off the ammunition he didn't need and potentially buy the next suit that they had the schematic for.

When they approached the store Isaac sold off the ammunition he didn't need and found that he had more than twenty thousand credits, to which he tapped the button and entered the suit portion of the store, allowing the door to seal behind him for a few moments. When he emerged Chrysalis found that the level three suit had more 'rib' like segments for additional protection, had some metal over Isaac's right hand that looked like a gauntlet of some kind, and his helmet seemed to have three lines instead of two. That last part was some sort of identifier for these suits, as the ones they had been wearing in the beginning had only one line while the one that Chrysalis was wearing had two lines on her helmet, though she pushed that thought to the side as Isaac stepped out of the machine and studied his new suit before walking out of the way.

Chrysalis stepped forward and found that she also had enough credits for the next suit, though this time around she didn't bother to wonder if it was worth it or not as she tapped the button and entered the machine... to which she emerged a few moments later with her version of the level three suit, once more modified to fit over her unique body.

With that deed done the duo walked back into the Main Atrium and searched the area a little bit, where Chrysalis found a second elevator that had three levels they could pick from, though she knew that 'Level 02' was where they were located and that 'Level 03' had to be the ADS itself, so she beckoned Isaac over and climbed into the elevator. Once they were in the elevator she pressed the 'Level 01' button and the door closed, to which they stared their descent towards the level where the other two junction boxes had to be located. As they started their descent, however, they noticed that their RIGs were receiving another communication, to which they both stood still as the connection went through.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, listen up." Kendra said, to which both of them paid extra attention to what they might be told, as Kendra had been reading reports and might be able to tell them something new about the Necromorphs or the strange organic stuff they had come across earlier, "I've gone over the med-sci reports. These things are BIO-RECOMBINATORS. They take dead tissue, absorb it and mold it into new forms. One iteration seems to have the sole purpose of infecting corpses... the others, well, seem to be making corpses to infect. And that body tissue we keep seeing on the walls is part of it too. I found a report that says it's a habitat changer."

Chrysalis didn't like the sound of that, even if she had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but the connection was terminated as they reached the lower level the elevator had been heading towards and walked out after the door opened. From there the two of them walked into the hallway that was in front of them and carefully followed the path in front of them, though that was quickly followed by one of the larger doors exploding and forced them to switch to using their air as the air in the area around them was ejected into space. This time around they ignored the storage room that was in front of them and used the time to reach the door that they needed to head through, though when the door closed behind them the air came back, meaning that they could explore the storage room on the way back to the elevator. On the other side of the door rested a larger door that brought them to the Atrium room that they would find one of the junction boxes in... and it happened to be crawling with several Necromorphs at the moment, along with corpses that one slasher was interested in hauling around the chamber.

There were also a good number of gravity panels that were broken and the duo planned on using them to their advantage, as all they did was shoot a Necromorph once and it would charge at them, but they carefully positioned themselves in line with one of the panels and watched as the slashers were torn to pieces by stepping on the panels and were thrown into the room's ceiling. They repeated the process several more times as they carefully made their way up to the end of the room, watching the slashers tear themselves apart thanks to the malfunctioning gravity panels, before they reached the other side of the room, where a lurker was hiding and waiting for them. Chrysalis, deciding not to play any games at the moment, seized the lurker with her magic and threw it into the wall, where she opened fire on it until it stopped moving and let go of it.

Once they were sure that their foes had been taken care of, and that no more had appeared while they were busy, Isaac tapped the button on the terminal in front of them and waited, because there was always the chance that something might change after it was pressed.

Power transferred to the ADS. the computerized voice declared, to which Isaac and Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief, as it worked like a charm and that meant that they only needed to find one more junction box before they restored power to the cannon.

"Control Systems junction box re-routed." Hammond told them, once more confirming that they had done what the computerized voice had said they had done, which pleased the two of them that they were getting all of this accomplished in a timely manner, "I'm getting a reading. Almost there."

The moment the communication was terminated Isaac and Chrysalis moved forward, though that was when they discovered that an infector had invaded the area and was transforming the corpses into a new swarm of slasher enemies, so while Chrysalis seized the infector and destroyed it Isaac slowed the group of foes and opened fire on them. Chrysalis joined him a few seconds later, where she hurled the dead infector into the group of enemies before loosing rounds from her Pulse Rifle and tore off the arm of a slasher. It took them a few moments to clear out the rest of the slashers that had been created by the infector, though once the enemies had been taken care of they collected all of the ammunition that was resting on the floor. Fortunately the majority of the ammunition was for their weapons, and there were a few bits that would need to be sold later on when they got back to the store, though once they finished collecting everything they could find the two of them made their way back towards the door they used to enter this room.

When they reached the other side of the room Isaac spotted another door they could use and opened it, where he and Chrysalis discovered a text log that detailed the spread of the 'infection' that had knocked out the Flight Deck and moved on from there. It was short, sweet, and to the point, allowing the two of them to store the log away before they entered the connected room and gathered the supplies from the various crates that were in front of them, as well as claim another Power Node for one of their weapons. From there they returned to the room with the second junction box for a few seconds and entered the newest part of the ship that didn't have any air for them to breath, where they quickly made their way to the storage room they had passed earlier. It was there that they found another Bench and some ammunition, though since they only had the one Power Node the duo returned to the airless hallway and retraced their steps back to the room that the elevator was waiting in.

The instant they were back in the elevator Isaac tapped the 'Level 02' option and they rode upwards in silence for a few moments before they stopped on the level that they were familiar with, to which Chrysalis sighed as she realized that she was partly wrong about 'Level 03' and tapped that option, where they continued up towards the level that the third and final junction box was located in. When the elevator reached the level that had been selected, and the doors opened, Isaac and Chrysalis spotted someone standing in the middle of the doorway they would have to walk through, someone that looked hurt and about ready to die, while at the same time a voice said 'Make us whole again'. Before they could actually do anything, however, the man walked to his right and disappeared down the hallway that was connected to this waiting room... to which the duo walked out into the room and collected the Force Gun schematic, along with another audio log from Temple that stated that the bridge was screwed and that he was heading to Hydroponics to find someone called Elizabeth.

When the log was over the two of them walked through the doorway and discovered that there was no trace of the man that they had seen, not even a blood trail to show that he had been there to begin with... to which they fell back into the waiting room and stared at each other, as they would be safe in this area for a few moments so they could question what they had just seen.

"Okay, I'm not the only one that saw that guy right?" Chrysalis asked, because after seeing a fragment of her past suddenly show up like that, and having it be a fragment that she didn't want to remember, she was starting to believe that she and Isaac might already be infected by the Marker.

"No, I saw him as well," Isaac replied, though at the same time he disengaged his helmet for a moment and rubbed the back of his head, as he knew that something was quite right about this situation and knew that Chrysalis had likely determined the same thing, "but he must have been a figment of our imaginations... though I'm not sure how we both could have seen the same person if that was the case."

"When we find this Marker, I'm going to blow it to pieces," Chrysalis growled, because she was already growing tired of the small hallucinations that they had seen so far and didn't want to see what was at the end of the road, and she hadn't found anything that said the Marker was terribly important to Aegis VII, "then I'm going to figure out how to open a portal back home so I can forget all about this terrible nightmare."

"I thought you said that you couldn't open a portal back home." Isaac commented, as he remembered the small number of conversations Chrysalis had with Hammond about the subject, and remembers all of her answers to the various questions.

"I did, but that's not going to stop me from trying once I don't have to fight for my life," Chrysalis replied, to which she sighed as she leaned her head against the wall behind her, as she regretted walking through that crystal mirror and wondered if the other ponies that had been displaced felt the same way, "Look, I'm not about to ditch you on a ship like this, which is constantly falling apart on the three of you, and leave you to face those Necromorphs by yourself. I may have gotten myself into this mess by walking through that crystal mirror, but I'll be damned if I let you, Hammond, and Kendra die without doing my absolute hardest to ensure that you make it off the Ishimura... then, and only then, will I even consider going back home."

Isaac smiled when he heard that, because originally Chrysalis had been fighting for her own survival once they crashed into the Flight Deck, and she still was considering that Necromorphs were still chasing them, but she had found something inside her being that made her want to make sure that he, Hammond, and Kendra made it off the Ishimura. It was almost like she considered the three of them to be her closest friends, something that she may never have had before in her entire life, which was impossible to know since she barely told them anything. Still, regardless of what she did and didn't tell them, she was willing to fight alongside him and finish what they started, while at the same time making sure that all four of them lived to see another day.

"So, does that make us friends?" Isaac asked, because he knew that Chrysalis had been acting like the three of them were merely her acquaintances the entire time, but now it seemed like she had found new ground to stand on and possibly change how she looked at them.

"... I think it might mean that..." Chrysalis replied, as she never had a friend before and had no idea how she was supposed to truly know a real friend from the ones that were faking, before she sighed and glanced at the doorway that they were sitting next to, "Come on, let's go find that other junction box before Hammond and Kendra start screaming at us when the next piece of debris breaks through the hull."

Isaac nodded and reengaged his helmet before he followed after Chrysalis, to which they entered the hallway that was connected to the waiting room and primed their weapons, as they were sure that there was going to be a fight before they reached their target. Around the corner, however, rested another pregnant Necromorph and a slasher, who burst out of the vent near it's companion, to which Isaac loosed a Stasis blast at the pregnant creature and slowed it down while Chrysalis rapidly dismembered the slasher. Once the first target was dead Chrysalis turned her weapon on the pregnant Necromorph and remembered to avoid the stomach area, where she and Isaac tore off it's limb and let it die as it's massive frame hit the floor.

Fortunately for them the terminal they were looking for happened to be in the same room they were in, almost like the pregnant Necromorph was trying to guard it or something, as well as a locked door that they couldn't get through, so Issac and Chrysalis simply walked up to the terminal and pressed the button once more.

Asteroid Defense System now online. the computerized voice declared, though at the same time the door on their left, which had been locked seconds ago, was now able to be open, meaning that the ship's systems had been keeping people away from the main cannon since there wasn't enough power to use it.

"All right, we've got enough power." Hammond said, though this time around Isaac and Chrysalis waited for a few moments, as they were both sure that there was something else he needed to tell them, if their previous experiences were anything to go by, "But the ADS cannon's auto targeting is down. I think it's a faulty data cable. I need one of you to aim the cannon manually until I can replace it. Take the elevator to the top of the ship, and head for the cannon pit."

"Does he realize that we're already at the top of the ship?" Chrysalis asked, because Hammond had spoken to them before and told them which part of the ship they were in based on the readings he was getting, but this time around it appeared that he must have been too focused on the ADS to bother determining where they were.

"He'll figure it out in a few moments," Isaac replied, though at the same time he opened the door that was beside the third terminal and revealed another hallway, shorter than the majority of the ones they had been through so far, waiting for them, "and if he doesn't... well, Kendra is likely to tease him about that."

Chrysalis could see the two fighting about that instead of one teasing the other, but she kept her mouth shut as she and Isaac made their way down the hallway, pausing to stop in the storage room and gather the disappointing amount of supplies that were in there, before heading towards their true target. The door in front of them allowed them to enter another elevator, one with two doors instead of one, and they rode it up towards the airlock that would allow them to walk on the exterior of the ship, making Chrysalis take back her statement about being at the top of the ship. When the elevator arrived at it's destination the duo walked out and followed the small hallway towards the airlock, where they paused and stared at it for a few seconds... which was followed by another communication coming in.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, the two of you are going to have to cross the ship's exterior to reach the ADS." Hammond said, where he echoed what the pair had been thinking about a few moments ago, which they found a tad bit funny while also saying nothing about it at the same time, "Problem is, we're still getting bombarded by asteroids. Look for cover or you'll be torn to pieces."

Chrysalis wasn't too inspired by the information, but it told her and Isaac that they needed to be careful least something happen to them that they couldn't recover from, to which the two of them approached the circular door in front of them and opened it. Once the way was clear they walked into the area between the interior and exterior of the ship and waited for the door behind them to close, though when it did they approached the second circular door and repeated the process, where they stepped out and touched the exterior of the ship. As the two of them carefully walked along the exterior of the ship Chrysalis marveled at the sheer size of the Ishimura, as the two 'walls' on their left and right were pretty tall and, given the lack of air in their suits, were impossible to scale given their situation. Fortunately several of the structures they could hide behind, to prevent the asteroids from tearing them apart, had air canisters attached to them in case workers needed air, which Chrysalis kept in mind as they walked.

Of course the experience wasn't complete without some leaper Necromorphs climbing out of the vents that were in front of the duo and tried to attack them, to which Isaac and Chrysalis made sure to take them out as fast as possible, or let one of the asteroids smash into the unlucky Necromorphs, which happened several times as they walked.

It took a few moments, some effort, and a few more dead Necromorphs before they reached the circular door that would take them to the ADS cannon, to which they entered the chamber and let the door close behind them, were Chrysalis discovered that the controls for manually controlling the cannon were right in front of them. She also collected the ruby semiconductor that happened to be laying on the floor as well, though she and Isaac walked away from the door so it could close and restored air to the entire chamber. Since there was only one seat Chrysalis decided to let Isaac take the controls and simply watched, as she had no idea how to even control the ADS in the manual manner and suspected that Isaac might have some experience if he was an engineer. Isaac, on the other hand, didn't waste any time climbing into the seat and grabbed the controls, to which the three panels in front of them pulled away and revealed that he had control over the entire system... as well as a meter that displayed the hull's integrity, which was at eighty-five percent.

As Isaac took control of the system the computerized voice declared that manual override had been initiated, though at the same time he kept his eyes open for incoming asteroids and pieces of debris, which Chrysalis was helping him with as she looked out the glass in front of them.

"That's it, Isaac, you're in the pit." Hammond spoke up, as if he knew which one of the two had taken control of the cannon without actually seeing them make that decision, though at the same time the two remained focused on what was in front of them, "That cannon's a massdriver, so it should punch through anything that's flying at us. Keep an eye on the hull's integrity. Too many of those things get by and we're dead. I think I've almost got the system repaired, but I need a little more time."

Once the communication was terminated Isaac spotted several bits of debris, or potentially asteroids, coming towards them as the Ishimura returned to it's original orbit it had been staying in before the engines went offline, to which he carefully opened fire on the bits of rock. One thing he had to be mindful of, besides the integrity of the hull, was the fact that manually firing the ADS meant that he might accidentally cause the weapon to lock up if he fired too many shots in rapid succession. Chrysalis, however, watched the asteroids that were coming towards the ship and pointed them out in case Isaac missed them, where the cannon snapped to them and blew them apart before returning to the other rocks that were heading towards them. Some of the asteroids even separated into smaller ones when they were damaged enough, meaning that Isaac had to be careful when he blasted those ones apart, because if he wasn't careful the ship would be damaged and the hull integrity counter would go down.

Fortunately it appeared that Isaac had a good handle on how to operate the ADS, even though he claimed that this was the first time he actually had to take control of the cannon and fire at something, before the auto tracking kicked in and it started shooting at asteroids while Isaac climbed out of the chair.

"Nice shooting Isaac." Hammond said, to which both Isaac and Chrysalis grinned at each other, as they were happy that their hard work was paying off once more, especially since they weren't in danger of being smashed by asteroids or pieces of debris, "Auto tracking is now online and is clearing a path to safe orbit. As soon as we're clear I'll engage the autopilot again. You and Chrysalis should head back to the Tram and I'll meet you there when I'm done."

Isaac and Chrysalis left the ADS to do it's job, protecting the Ishimura from all the asteroids and debris in the air, while they carefully made their way across the path they had taken to reach the pit, taking out the few leapers that decided to attack them before they entered the other airlock. When they reached the elevator that would take them back down to the area that the third terminal was located, and the elevator back down to the Main Atrium, they stopped in their tracks as Kendra appeared on their RIGLink... and it appeared that she had some bad news to tell them, which caused Chrysalis to mentally moan as they stood in front of the elevator door.

"Wait! Isaac, Chrysalis, Hammond... you're not going to believe this." Kendra said, though her tone told them that this was as serious as everything they had done so far, which meant that Isaac and Chrysalis would have another challenge ahead of them, "Oxygen levels are failing. Something is poisoning the Hydroponics air production... and whatever it is, it's filling the deck up with organic stuff. We're not going to have any air to breathe soon. But, if I'm understanding these lab reports correctly, I think I can make a poison to destroy it. Head to Medical. It should have everything we need."

"Will this ever end?!" Hammond asked, his video overtaking Kendra's for a moment, though that was when he looked at Isaac and Chrysalis, where they could both tell that their commander was thinking of something, "Isaac, Chrysalis, get to Medical and mix together whatever Kendra's come up with. I'm heading to Hydroponics. If I can slow it down, that might keep us breathing long enough to fight it."

Isaac and Chrysalis nodded as the connection was terminated and they rode the elevator down in silence, though once they arrived at the area the third terminal was located in they immediately headed towards the other elevator, where they found a new Necromorph that happened to have the ability to separate into various body parts that attacked them from all directions. Chrysalis didn't know if these individual arms and legs had a unified form, but she and Isaac weren't willing to find out as they froze their foes with Stasis blasts and tore them to pieces, before calmly entering the elevator and returning to the Main Atrium. Fortunately there were no enemies waiting for them in the Main Atrium this time around, allowing them to return to where the store was located, but this time Isaac simply shook his head and indicated that they would have time for that when they returned to the Medical Deck.

As they moved away from the store two more slashers, one dropping down in front of them and one doing the same behind them, tried to attack them and spit at them with dangerous looking ball like objects, though Isaac and Chrysalis grabbed the ball from the slasher they were facing and returned it to their target. The instant the slashers were weakened the duo opened fire on them and tore them apart, to which they returned to where the Tram was located, made sure that no more Necromorphs were coming after them, before they climbed onto the Tram. From there Isaac tapped the icon for the Medical Deck and they were off... allowing them a few moments of rest before they had to contend with whatever was happening on the Medical Deck while also creating Kendra's poison.

Chrysalis had the feeling that something terrible was going to happen on the Medical Deck this time around, but she silently hoped that she was wrong and that both she and Isaac could survive whatever was waiting for them.

Ishimura: Medical's Terrible Surprise

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"I'm getting tired of this." Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she input the code and let her helmet fall apart for the moment, as she would rather have it off while she and Isaac were in a safe environment, even if that was for a few minutes while they were riding the Tram to their next destination.

"What are you getting tired of?" Isaac asked, though while he could easily guess what that something was, as he was beginning to feel the same thing, he wanted to speak with Chrysalis, since it had been some time since they had conversed and this would help her relax in a manner.

"Every time we fix something aboard this ship, something breaks not moments later," Chrysalis replied, as she remembered what happened when they fixed the Tram and what happened when they fixed the next problem, before she let out a sigh, "We fixed the Tram for Hammond and Kendra, so they could figure out what happened to the Ishimura, only to lose the Kellion and our only way off this ship. We went to the Medical Deck and blasted our way to where the captain's body was resting, so we could get Hammond the codes to access the records, only for the centrifuge and the engines to stop working. We spent some time fixing both the centrifuge and the engines, so that way we didn't crash into Aegis VII, only for us to find out that the ADS was offline and that it would take some work to repair it. And now, after we've switched on the ADS and made sure that we won't be crushed by the asteroids around the ship, we find out that something is poisoning the air and soon we won't be able to breath anymore.

Isaac, I'm getting tired of fixing something incredibly important, like the engines or the ADS, only to find that another important part of the ship broke and that we need to fix it... I just want to fix something and not have another part break in some unexpected manner."

"I see what you're talking about," Isaac said, as he did understand what Chrysalis was saying and completely agreed with her, but he knew that the reason why all of this was happening was because they crashed into the Ishimura, or more accurately it's Flight Deck, at the point where the majority of the systems would have started failing anyway, "but you should stop worrying about it, because I'm sure that we'll be doing this a few more times before either Hammond or Kendra figure out a way off the Ishimura."

"Fine, I'll stop 'worrying about it'," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she glanced at the door she and Isaac would soon be walking through, when they arrived at the Medical Deck, and Isaac could tell that she wasn't too happy about their current situation, "but that doesn't mean that I have to like what's going on."

Isaac nodded his head, indicating that he could accept Chrysalis' opinion on the matter, before noticing that the Tram was started to slow down as it approached the Medical Deck station, something that Chrysalis felt as well, as she sealed her helmet and prepared herself accordingly. Isaac stood up and held onto one of the poles in the Tram as it neared the station, something that his companion mimicked this time around, before they watched as the Tram finally came to a stop at their destination and opened the door for them. The duo carefully walked out of the Tram and noticed that the bodies they had seen the last time they had been here were gone, indicating that someone or something had moved them, and that there were some portable lights resting around the area, once more confirming the fact that someone had been here while the two of them were in the Engineering Deck or the Bridge.

The fact that all of the bodies had been moved since the last time they had been here didn't help Chrysalis stop worrying, as that either meant that the Necromorphs were getting smarter, or there was another survivor that had likely gone insane since the outbreak happened... and considering the few survivors they had encountered so far, who were all insane in some manner, Chrysalis was willing to bet it was a survivor they were facing.

"Shit. Isaac! Chrysalis! I can smell the contaminated air from here." Kendra said, though as she appeared on their RIGLink the duo kept moving, until they were forced to stop when they noticed that the door they needed to walk through had been locked after their departure from this area, "It's spreading faster than I expected! I'm trying to isolate it, but it's not going to buy us much time. We have to get that thing off the ship. The chemicals you need to make the poison are located in the Chemistry Lab. I'll hack the door for you two when you get there."

The moment Kendra stopped talking, and the connection was terminated, Isaac and Chrysalis noticed that she had unlocked the door for them while she was telling them the news, to which they walked into the Security Station and found that all three of the doors they had walked through earlier were locked.

"You can't stand in the way of God's plan..." a voice said over the intercoms, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis recognized the voice as Dr. Mercer, the insane and devout scientist that had been mentioned before, and likely heard his talk once before this point if their memories were correct, "The natural order... Are you... Are you two blind like the rest?"

"Looks like someone has reprogrammed the door locks on this deck." Kendra commented, though the duo realized that she likely had no idea where Mercer was or what he was doing at that very moment, but her tone told them that she knew what they had just found out, "And recently too. I guess we're not alone here after all. Someone doesn't want the two of you in this part of the ship."

Chrysalis didn't like the fact that Mercer, if they were correct on who was standing in their way, didn't want them in this part of the Ishimura, meaning that there had to be something important here that he didn't want them messing with or seeing. The other option was that he had hacked into the Ishimura's systems before the outbreak and had been watching them since their arrival, meaning that he knew they were here to create a poison to deal with whatever monster was poisoning the air. This was definitely something to worry about, in her mind anyway, but she had to push the thought to the side as she and Isaac started to move forward, only for Isaac to pause at the store so he could sell off the ammunition he didn't need. He also purchased some Power Nodes, explaining that they might encounter a Bench soon and that it would be good to empower something... to which Chrysalis sold some ammunition she didn't need and acquired some more Power Nodes for herself.

She was planning on empowering her RIG, as in seeing if she would increase the suit's 'health' and see if there was a way for her to increase the amount of air she could carry at any given moment, in case they had to walk through another airless section of the Ishimura in the future.

Once the two of them were done with their shopping, which took only a few minutes altogether, they turned towards the now unlocked door that would take them to the Image Diagnostics Wing of the Medical Deck, a gift from Kendra, and opened the door in front of them. As they walked through the hallway in front of them, which was much darker than it had been the last time they had been here, two lurkers emerged from the darkness and opened their backs, indicating that they were getting ready to attack them. Isaac and Chrysalis, however, were faster on the draw and opened fire on their new targets, quickly tearing their tentacles off and causing them to fall off the wall they had been clinging to, allowing the duo to head around the corner as they kept an eye out for more enemies. They carefully entered the short hallway where they had seen someone banging their head against the pipes, where he eventually died, and found that the man's body had been moved as well.

Isaac quickly recharged his Stasis Module before he and Chrysalis approached the door in front of them, where they found that the large tube they had moved with the Kinesis Module earlier was moving on it's own, though at the same time they carefully approached the Bench and made their modifications to their weapons and RIGs. Isaac decided to empower both his Plasma Cutter and his Pulse Rifle, as he used the cutter for single enemies and the rifle for larger groups, before pulling away from the terminal. Chrysalis, on the other hand, attached all of her Power Nodes to her RIG, increasing both her air capacity and the total health of her RIG while leaving her weapon alone, as she was just fine with the damage it did and the other aspects she could empower... for the moment anyway.

Her plan was to make sure that her RIG, what was protecting her from being ripped apart by their enemies and running out of air to breath in the airless areas, was fully upgraded before allotting any Power Nodes to her Pulse Rifle... and any other weapon she considered getting, if one wasn't enough to overcome everything in their path.

The moment the two of them had finished upgrading their chosen items, and allowed the Bench to close once more, they turned around the corner and walked over to where the cargo lift to the upper level was located, though that was where they spotted an unfortunate man whose body had been pinned to a wall and transformed into a monster that used tentacles to latch onto the wall around it. It also had a hole in the stomach area, or what Chrysalis assumed was the stomach area since the creature no longer resembled a human anymore, where it loosed a pod of some kind that fired spiked projectiles at them. Since there happened to be an explosive canister nearby, and their new foe wasn't in the position to move, Isaac grabbed the canister with his Kinesis Module and brought it over to where Chrysalis was standing, behind a wall so the pod didn't fire at her, before nodding his head to her. Chrysalis, understanding the gesture, turned towards the pod and severed the pod's appendage that was firing at them, to which Isaac emerged and loosed the canister at their new foe.

A few moments later they watched as the guardian Necromorph, as Chrysalis was going to call it and the others of it's kind from now on, exploded as the canister came into contact with it's chest area, destroying it in an instant and allowing the two of them to access the cargo lift once more.

With the deed done the two of them climbed onto the cargo lift and rode it up to the level above them, where they noticed that there was some electricity sparking between two parts of the wall on their right, meaning that they couldn't simply ride the malfunctioning tube from side to side. Instead Isaac lifted his hand towards the tube and loosed a Stasis blast at it, which would allow them to walk to the other side of the walkway, though before he did anything else Chrysalis opened fire on a lurker that emerged from the side passage and killed it before Isaac could fire a single shot. The two of them then crossed over the still slowed tube before the Stasis wore off, to which they turned around the corner and waited for the tube to start moving fast once more... where Isaac loosed another Stasis blast at the tube when it was in front of them again and created a path for them to move towards the door that would allow them to get even closer to their current destination.

"You're close to the chemistry station." Kendra told them, informing them that they were getting closer to one of their destinations, though her tone indicated that there was something else they didn't know about and that she was trying to help them in her own way, "Once you get the chemicals, you're also going to need a DNA sample of the alien tissue. I'm searching the records for one right now."

The duo glanced over at each other for a few seconds before opening the door in front of them, where they walked up to the familiar door that would have taken them to the Zero-G chamber they had gotten the shock pad from earlier, but this time around they turned to the right and approached the now open door in front of them. This one apparently led to the Research Lab, which they had been searching for, to which they walked into the small hallway and climbed onto the cargo lift that was waiting for them. Fortunately the lift only took a few seconds to reach the level below them, as it was quite literally right below them, though as they walked off the lift Chrysalis picked up an audio log, one that was definitely from Mercer. That alone made the two of them pause as she activated the log, as this was either going to have some relevance to what they were going or was going to shed some light on what the insane doctor had been doing since the outbreak had started.

Mercer, according to what the audio log told them, had 'acquired' a live subject for his tissue regeneration theory, while at the same time the man in the background claimed that Mercer was insane, confirming Chrysalis' opinion that he had kidnapped someone instead of legally getting a subject to work on. From the sounds of it Mercer believed that the man was putting his trust in him, though that was before Mercer pulled out some sort of drilling device and started drilling into the man's body, or maybe his head, while the man screamed in pain. Fortunately the audio log stopped there, as she didn't want to hear the poor man's suffering anymore, but at the same time it confirmed that Mercer was definitely insane and, if he was alive still, he would prove to be a hindrance to their plans.

The two of them sighed as they walked through the door in front of them and continued towards the lab door, where they found two glass containers that contained two test subjects, one that appeared to be a human corpse still while the second one was a much larger specimen that resembled a slasher, only more muscular than a slasher. Chrysalis didn't like the look of the Necromorph, because it looked deadly and she didn't want to tangle with it at all, so she and Isaac carefully collected the Force Energy Schematic and a Power Node before they found the area that the chemicals they were looking for were housed in... to which Isaac tapped the controls and the capsule was extracted, which meant that he and Chrysalis were one step closer to crafting the poison that would help them deal with whatever was poisoning the air.

That was, however, followed by the sounds of some shutters opening, to which he and Chrysalis turned towards the locked door that was to their right and found Dr. Mercer staring at them from the other side of the glass... though it was unclear if he was pleased with them or unhappy with them.

"What ARE you doing?" Mercer demanded, though at the same time he simply stared at the two of them and did nothing, which made Chrysalis worried that they might have walked right into a trap, "Your fight for survival is admirable, but pointless. And yet you keep on going. It almost makes me think that we had hope, as a species. Am I the only one who sees that we have died out a long time ago? We just haven't accepted it yet. Stop running. Stop your struggle. Our future, your future, the future of our race, ends here. Allow me to introduce you to humanity's child, the children that will replace us... our greatest creation."

The instant Mercer stopped talking he moved away from where he had been standing the entire time and seemed to do something from his side of the wall, though that was followed by the sound of something stirring behind them, to which Isaac and Chrysalis turned around as the large Necromorph burst out of the container it had been put inside. As the creature realized that it had been released from it's container, and was now allowed to move around at long last, it raised it's bladed arms and ran them against each other for a moment as it stared at the duo. Chrysalis, not liking the way it was staring at her and Isaac, raised her Pulse Rifle and opened fire on the creature's legs, intending to topple it to the ground before it had a chance to reach them... to which Isaac joined her and blew apart the creature's arms, reducing it to a simple chest that couldn't do anything.

That was, however, before the creature started to shake as the duo realized that they were locked in the room with the monster, which was followed by both of it's arms and both of it's legs regenerating from it's body, allowing it to push itself back into a standing position... to which Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on it again, though this time around Isaac added a Stasis blast to keep it down for some time.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, you can't kill that thing! It's just going to keep regenerating!" Kendra shouted over their RIGLink, though she did so in a manner that wouldn't cause the two of them to go deaf from what she was doing, while at the same time the door they had entered through unlocked itself, "Get out of there, run!"

With the hunter, as Chrysalis was going to call the Necromorph from now on, preoccupied with slowly regenerating it's arms and legs, so it could come after them again, the duo ran out of the room as fast as they possibly could and found that the door they could have walked through earlier was now unlocked for them. As they returned to the room with the malfunctioning tube Isaac spotted two groups of the swarm type Necromorphs coming towards them, to which he loosed a Stasis blast at them as Chrysalis opened fire on their new targets. Fortunately these enemies died in one shot, as they were small for a single blast from the Plasma Cutter or the Pulse Rifle to obliterate them instantly, which also allowed them to continue forward as they retreated from where the hunter had been located.

"Is anyone there?" a voice said, though Isaac and Chrysalis recognized the voice immediately, even though the speaker was definitely hurt from something, "Repeat. Come in Isaac, Chrysalis... Kendra. Is anyone there?"

"Hammond?!" Kendra exclaimed, sounding surprised for a moment, as they hadn't heard from the commander since he had left the bridge to investigate what happened on the Hydroponics Deck, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've reached Hydroponics... it's bad down here, really bad." Hammond replied, though he coughed for a few seconds, which was a small reminder of what he had gone to check out, to see if he could stall the infection that was contaminating the air, "...can barely breathe. That organic matter is growing everywhere! My eyes are stinging... must be seeing things..."

Isaac and Chrysalis, while listening to Hammond talk, carefully made their way towards the Security Station, while at the same time hearing the sound of the hunter chasing after them, though fortunately it appeared that their new foe was using the vents like all the others and couldn't use the vents to ambush them. Since the hunter couldn't actually get at them at the moment, and couldn't swing his bladed arms at them, the duo was able to reach the hub of this area without encountering any additional enemies... even though Chrysalis heard the sound of the hunter breaking things as it attempted to catch up with them.

When the two of the entered the Security Station again, and the door to the Imagining Diagnostics Wing closed behind them, they paused for a few seconds to see if Kendra had anything to tell them about the next item they needed to acquire to make the poison.

"Now the two of you need to find a DNA sample of the growth." Kendra spoke up, reminding them of what they needed to find once more, which Chrysalis was thankful for because she had forgotten the second step when she and Isaac felt the horror of a Necromorph that refused to die like all the others, "According to the lab reports, there's an inert sample stored in the ICU. A Dr. Mercer was apparently doing intensive research on it. I've been trying to reach Hammond since we picked up his signal, but all I'm getting is static. Isaac, Chrysalis, you've got to hurry!"

"Fortunately for her, we have the proper motivation to hurry," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she weakly chuckled, because the monster that was following them invoked some terror in the two of them, even if neither of them wanted to admit what they were feeling.

Isaac nodded his head as the two of them headed for the door to the Clinic, as the third door that rested near the one they had emerged from happened to be locked still, while at the same time they tried to do their best to ignore the sounds of the hunter growling in the vents every now and then. Fortunately the hallway the duo had to walk through to reach the Clinic didn't have any enemies waiting for them, though both of them noticed that some of the stretchers they had seen earlier were now void of whoever they might have been carrying earlier. That was another sign of Mercer's handiwork, as he had no doubt used them to cart his victims, before and after the outbreak occurred, to his work area so he could continue his studies... though at the same time that made Chrysalis wonder how he was able to live among all of the Necromorphs, unless being on his level of insanity gave him some immunity or something.

When they walked through the door at the end of the short hallway, however, they found Mercer standing behind the glass with a look on his face that indicating that he found something to be vastly interesting, though Chrysalis was happy that the insane doctor was ignoring her presence... otherwise that hunter would have likely attacked them if Mercer had realized that she wasn't entirely human.

"Your persistence surprises me." Mercer said, to which he turned and faced the duo for a few seconds, though once again Chrysalis had to wonder how in the world he had gotten here from where he had been, when the two areas didn't seem to be connected to each other, "Holding on to your final breath, you claw your way along. You hold onto what was once your world. But now, it belongs to the children. Be glad of the knowledge that your deaths... will bring their birth. Listen! Can you hear it? It is coming! Say your prayers."

As Mercer walked out of the room that he had been standing in, and left them to their own devices, Isaac and Chrysalis opened the door to their right and walked into the Clinic area where all of the machines were located, though it didn't take them long to realize that they weren't alone. Mere moments later the hunter walked around the corner and stared at the two of them, indicating that it had broken one of the vents ahead of them while they were listening to Kendra tell them what they needed to do next, so it could be ready for them. As the hunter stared at them several slashers and a lurker invaded the area as well, revealing that Isaac and Chrysalis would be dealing with a larger group this time around, to which the two of them started moving away from the hunter and his allies... while at the same time they opened fire on the Necromorphs that were following after them. The hunter, on the other hand, simply stared at them for a few seconds, as if giving them a head start, before it started walking after them like it had done in the room they first encountered it in, while also rubbing it's bladed arms against each other.

While Chrysalis was definitely terrified of a Necromorph that they couldn't kill, and she didn't bother using her magic on it because she had no idea how it would affect the hunter, she was thankful that she and Isaac could deal some damage and blow off it's limbs as easily as they could... while using a Stasis blast to slow it down and give them the time to deal with the remaining enemies that were following after them.

"Someone keeps shutting down the door protocol." Kendra told them, revealing why the door they would have used to go forward had been locked the entire time, though at the same time Isaac blasted apart the lurker while Chrysalis dismembered one of the slashers, "I've bypassed the lock! Go!"

The instant Kendra said that Isaac and Chrysalis charged at the door in question and opened it, though as they passed through it and it started closing they realized how lucky they had been to have Kendra open the door at that moment, as the hunter had been in the process of regenerating and would have continued after them once it was ready. With the hunter put behind them, for now anyway, the duo followed the corridor in front of them and picked up an explosive canister as they walked. That was a good call on Isaac's part, as when they rounded the corner Chrysalis spotted one of the foul guardian Necromorphs resting on the wall near the door they wanted to go through so they could get the DNA sample, to which Isaac leveled the canister with the guardian and waited for the tentacles to show up... which was when he loosed the canister at it and obliterated it in an instant.

As they walked towards the dead guardian they noticed two things; one was a gold semiconductor that they could sell later on, while the second was a lady that was resting at the end of the corridor to their right, but since the hunter was chasing after them, and might be in the vents above them, they opened the door in front of them and moved on.

The two of them then entered the room where the one lady sliced open her neck, the last time they were walking through the Medical Deck, and walked around the corner, where Mercer's office, and the DNA sample, was located, to which they sighed as they accessed the door and walked inside the small room. There was blood on all four of the walls, skulls either resting in glass jars or sitting on the shelf, red flags that were attached to the ceiling, and a number of supplies that they collected, as well as a semiconductor and an audio log. The log revealed that Mercer spent time creating the hunter and was studying how it reacted to whatever he was doing, while stating that Kyne would have disapproved if he hadn't been preoccupied by the Marker... which had driven him insane in some manner, as he had spoken with his wife, who had been dead for years, though that was followed by the hunter growling before the log ended.

As Isaac slipped the container into the terminal so he could mix the DNA sample with what they collected earlier, Chrysalis realized that part of this dementia included people seeing dead loved ones, or at least that was what she was assuming since only one person seemed to have confirmed that fact... though as Isaac collected the capsule again the terminal said that they needed to do a final mixing.

"That's it!" Kendra exclaimed, to which she appeared on the RIGLink, though it was clear that she could see what was behind them and tried not to focus on what was in Mercer's office at the moment, "Now the two of you just need to finish mixing the poison..."

"This has gone far enough!" a new voice said, to which their RIGLink was seized by someone else as Kendra was forcefully disconnected for the moment, though that was when Isaac and Chrysalis found Mercer staring at the two of them once more, "Accept your part in god's plan. Embrace your own extinction!"

That was immediately followed by the computerized voice stating that the life support systems had failed all over the Medical Deck, indicating that Mercer had like sabotaged something and was trying to kill the two of them before they could complete the poison that would stop whatever was poisoning the air in the Hydroponics Deck.

"Who the hell was that?!" Kendra exclaimed, indicating that she had been allowed to speak with Isaac and Chrysalis again, while at the same time the duo started moving back the way they came, where Chrysalis was thankful for her idea to upgrade her air capacity in her RIG, "Isaac, Chrysalis, he's decompressed the entire deck and I'm being locked out of those systems. All the air has been vented into space! You two should be able to bring it back online from the Security Station, but you don't have much time!"

The instant the duo reached the door back to the corridor the guardian had been located in Isaac spotted a pack of the swarm Necromorphs and loosed a Stasis blast at them, though while he ran by them Chrysalis paused to mow them all down with her Pulse Rifle before catching up with her companion. When they reached the door to the main Clinic room, where the hunter was located, they found the regenerating Necromorph standing on the other side of the door, though this time around Chrysalis decided to throw caution to the wind and loosed a wave of energy that knocked the hunter backwards. That gave them time to get around the hunter, and the two pregnant Necromorphs that had entered the room, before they walked through the two sets of doors that rested between the Clinic and the Security Station... where they had to deal with a lonely lurker before they could enter the room that rested near the Tram station.

When they entered the Security Station Chrysalis was fully expecting some Necromorphs to suddenly appear and attack them, which would have fit the pattern that she and Isaac were used to, but fortunately there weren't any enemies around as they walked towards the station... where Isaac touched the screen for a moment and the life support systems came back online, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Nice job getting life support back online for the Medical Deck," Kendra spoke up, to which the duo smiled as they turned towards the first door they had walked through and opened it, as they already knew what was coming next, "Now then, you two have everything you need to make the poison. Head to the Chemistry Lab and complete the final mixing."

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast," Hammond added, though this time around his voice was much weaker than what it had been moments ago when he had spoken up, indicating the condition that he was in at the moment, "...Can hardly breathe in here..."

"You're cutting out, Hammond. I'm going to try to switch over..." Kendra started to say, though that was before the duo detected that something had happened to Hammond's RIG, as while they couldn't see if they knew that Kendra's mood had suddenly changed, "Shit. I lost his signal. I'll continue scanning for his signal, while the two of you get that compound mixed."

Fortunately it appeared that there were no new Necromorphs for the duo to deal with, save for a malfunctioning door that could have crushed them if they weren't careful, so Kendra took a moment to give them a brief rundown of what she had discovered. According to a report there was a massive creature that had entered the Hydroponics Deck from the outside of the ship, a creature that one of the survivors called the 'Leviathan', which sent shivers up both Isaac's and Chrysalis' spines for a moment. They both knew that, if this poison failed to kill the growth and this Leviathan, then they would have to get their hands dirty and fight the massive creature in whatever area of the Hydroponics Deck it had claimed as it's home... to which the two of them silently prayed that the poison would be enough to do what Kendra was hoping for as they reentered the Chemistry Lab.

When the poison was made, and the capsule collected, the duo turned to leave, only to discover that the way they had come from was now locked and that the other door was unlocked, indicating that there was something that Mercer wanted to show them... even though he also tapped into their RIGLink and told them that they shouldn't spurn the Hive Mind's offerings, which only made them think he was more insane than they originally thought.

"So, do you think this is a trap?" Isaac asked, though at the same time he already knew that they had no choice in the matter, as it was either follow the path that Mercer was offering them or wait for the hunter to catch up with them in a room that would become their tomb.

"Oh, this is definitely a trap," Chrysalis replied, though as she spoke she primed her weapon and opened the door in front of them, as she was growing sick and tired of Mercer and his insanity, "but we're going to spring it anyway... and show Mercer that he shouldn't underestimate us."

Isaac nodded and followed Chrysalis out into the hallway that was in front of them, where they carefully walked around the left corner and came to a door that led to the Cryogenics Lab, which made Chrysalis ask what cryogenics was, since it was a new concept to her. Isaac explained that the lab had the technology to freeze objects or people, for whatever the reason was, and that it was likely going to be a little chilly when they entered the room, though he noticed that a light bulb must have gone off in his companion's head. Instead of asking her what she was thinking about, Isaac put some faith in Chrysalis as he opened the door, to which the two of them walked into the area that Mercer wanted them to face his creation inside... where the insane doctor was already standing near the controls, indicating that he had been waiting for them the entire time after he decompressed the entire deck.

Mercer revealed that his plan was to cart all the Necromorphs back to Earth, where they could spread and share their glory with the rest of humanity, before leaving the area as the hunter broke through one of the vents and glared at the duo for a few seconds.

Chrysalis, upon seeing the hunter once more, tapped Isaac on the shoulder and beckoned towards the controls that Mercer had been standing near, because if she understood the purpose for this room she knew that there had to be a way to turn on the technology that Isaac had mentioned. As Isaac started to move, and the hunter followed him, Chrysalis snapped her fingers and put a barrier between the two, preventing the hunter from chasing Isaac for the moment, to which it turned towards her. Fortunately it appeared that the hunter wasn't all that smart, as it actually entered the chamber that was in the middle of the room, to which Chrysalis smiled and opened fire on the hunter's arms and legs, bowing all four of his limbs off before using her magic to slow it down to the best of her ability... though that was followed by her calling out for Isaac to flip the switch.

Isaac immediately pressed the button and the machinery activated, to which Chrysalis pulled her magic away from the hunter as the container sealed, where she watched as the hunter was literally frozen before her eyes and the capsule and moved into an open slot on the right wall.

With the deed done Kendra connected to them again and stated that she hoped that this was the last they saw of the hunter, before telling them that she managed to override Mercer's lockdown and revealed that there was a second Tram ahead of them, which would allow them to get to the Hydroponics Deck. The duo collected a Power Node from the wall container and followed the new hallway that was in front of them for a few seconds, where they arrived at a new Tram station that wasn't like the one they arrived at earlier. They took a moment to collect any useful supplies, and grab some of the food items from the vending machines, before they boarded the Tram and headed towards the Hydroponics Deck... where they would see to whatever was poisoning the air and contend with the Leviathan. For now they could rest and recover for some time, as they would need their strength for the next task that was waiting for them... and for whatever came after the Hydroponics Deck.

Ishimura: Poisoned Air

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As Isaac and Chrysalis rode the Tram towards the Hydroponics Deck they did something different this time around, they kept their helmets up and didn't bother disengaging them like they did in the past, because they were nearing the source of the poisoned air and didn't want to succumb to the toxin. At the same time they remained silent, as they were thinking about the fact that Mercer had created a Necromorph that could regenerate from the most lethal of wounds and would have hunted them across the ship if they hadn't frozen it in the manner that they had. Isaac considered how Chrysalis had acted around the hunter, how terrified she must have been considering how peaceful her home world, and knew that she was only putting on a brave face for him and the others, while deep inside she had to be absolutely terrified of everything she was seeing. He was fortunate that his companion hadn't broken down yet, that she was holding up as well as she was, and smiled as he focused on the next task they had to complete before Kendra found them a way off the Ishimura.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, simply held her hands out a tiny bit and stared at them, because while part of her mind was worried and terrified of what she had seen so far, the other part of her mind was wondering why she hadn't felt even the slightest ping of hunger. She wasn't referring to the human aspect that her body had been inflicted with after walking through the mirror, a gift from Discord she assumed, but rather she was referring to the fact that she hadn't needed to feed on anyone's love since she arrived in this part of the universe. That worried her, because that was what a changeling needed to feed on in order to survive and to grow stronger, but it appeared that, in order to prevent her from returning with the power of a god, Discord changed her innate powers just to mess with her. She could still feel her power to feed on love, but she couldn't feel her old hunger, which only made her silently curse Discord's name as she finally rested her head on the wall behind her.

Despite the situation that she was in, where she was apparently more human than she originally believed she was, she would find a way to increase her magical power and fulfill her goal, but she would focus on that after she, Isaac, Kendra, and Hammond got off this damned ship.

When the Tram arrived at the Hydroponics Deck a few moments later, and the duo made sure that their weapons were at the ready, they walked off the Tram and immediately spotted an audio log resting nearby, to which Chrysalis pulled it over to them so they could listen to it without fear of enemies coming for them. This one was from Elizabeth Cross, who said that they were working close to maximum capacity, all of the flora were healthy, and they had a surplus of supplies from what she and the others on the deck created. A few seconds passed before they learned that the captain issued a no-fly order, meaning that none of the surplus could be given to the struggling colony that was on Aegis VII, but the duo knew that it was in an effort to save the Ishimura. Elizabeth was clearly against such an order, since she and the others knew that the colony was in trouble, but from what this audio log said it appeared that she hadn't done anything against the order... yet anyway.

Once the audio log was over the duo remained standing there for a few more seconds, to see if Kendra would contact them, but when it was clear that they were alone for the moment they sighed and moved forward, to which they headed into the hallway on the left of the station and followed it. As they walked down the hallway both of them noticed that the bathroom on their right had a couple of bodies resting on the ground, all of which were surrounded by blood, to which they moved forward and ignored what they had just seen. At the end of the short hallway they found an elevator that would take them up to the Grow Decks, to which they entered the elevator and rode it up to their next destination, though once it came to a stop they walked out into a waiting room... which had some plants in a glass container that would allow them to grow with the systems that were inside the container, along with a schematic for Contact Energy.

As the watering cycle stared for the plants, and they walked through the door that was to their right, both of them smiled when they noticed someone familiar resting on the floor in front of the glass container that they were heading towards at the moment... because they had found Hammond and it appeared that he was still breathing.

"Hammond!" Isaac and Chrysalis said, to which they rushed towards their commander and made sure that their eyes weren't deceiving them, though they had to be careful when Hammond lifted his Pulse Rifle for a few seconds... only to relax his arm when he noticed who was standing in front of him.

"Isaac... Chrysalis... Good to see that you two are in one piece..." Hammond replied, though at the same time his tone suggested that he was suffering from the effects of the poisoned air, which the two of them were countering by keeping their helmets on, "Don't take... your helmets off... the air's rotten... I got a look... at it... it's huge... you won't believe it... shut itself in Food Storage. The crew that was on this deck... I think they're what's poisoning the air. They've been transformed... I saw one of them, bloated and swollen. They're poison factories... we need to take them out while we can still breathe..."

Not even a few seconds later, after Hammond attempted to get back up and fell backwards a bit, a smaller video feed from Kendra appeared in front of the commander, though both Isaac and Chrysalis waited in case she had something to tell them before they got started on cleaning up this mess.

"Hammond! I thought you were dead!" Kendra exclaimed, though while she may not have liked Hammond all that much, which was the mutual feeling he had towards her, she did sound glad to see that their commander was alive, despite what was around them at the moment, "You need to get to cleaner air. You're not going to be able to help either Isaac or Chrysalis in your current condition. Guys, he's telling the truth about there being something really big inside the Food Storage, but I can't get a good scan on whatever it is... but I can tell you that the monitor readings are off the scale. Please, be careful."

When the connection was severed Chrysalis offered to help Hammond down to the Tram area, where the air wasn't too bad and that he would have the opportunity to take the Tram somewhere with cleaner air, but their commander waved her off and indicated that she had a job to do. Chrysalis was a little hurt that the first time she actually offered to lend someone her hoof, or hand as it were, that she was rejected, but she understood that she and Isaac had a job to complete and nodded her head. The two of them then approached the door that would allow them to access the Security Station section of this deck, which was where the store, the air controls, and the door to Food Storage was located, while at the same time Kendra informed them that they would have to deal with the poisonous pods before they could even access Food Storage... and the Leviathan for that matter.

One thing that Chrysalis noticed, and pointed out to Isaac, was that all the glass containers in this chamber contained that organic growth, meaning that the Leviathan had either killed the plants or had devoured them when it started growing to the massive size that everyone was reporting... though as they walked through the door on the left of the main entrance they heard Kendra state that she still didn't trust Hammond. Chrysalis, on the other hand, was beginning to wonder why their friend was being so quick to damn their commander every time they were away from him, and likely cut off from his communications, to which she decided to be careful, in case Kendra was the one they needed to be worried about. At the moment, however, they needed Kendra's assistance and there was no use arguing with her, so they simply remained quite as they opened the door in front of them and walked into a chemical containment area that had some pipes that spewed small bursts of whatever chemical was inside the containers... to they carefully made their way across the room that they were in and headed towards the other side of the room, where a cargo lift was located.

Along the way Isaac opened two of the three doors that were on their left and found nothing useful in the first room, though the second contained a Bench that they might need in the future, before they climbed onto the lift and rode it up to the level above them. When they reached the upper level they spotted a slasher guarding the door they needed to walk through, so Isaac simply dismembered the Necromorph before the two of them entered the main chamber they had been searching for, which was where Chrysalis stared at the large number of devices and areas where the crew had been growing food and making sure the systems were operational. At the same time, however, the duo heard the sound of their enemies starting to emerge from their hiding places, meaning that they had a limited amount of time before they would be attacked by the horde of Necromorphs that called this place home.

Instead of moving out into the area in front of them, where all of the Necromorphs would be able to see them instantly, Isaac and Chrysalis moved to the right side of the room and started moving along in, intending to see just how many enemies they had to contend with while also looking for any of the transformed crew that Hammond told them about. It wasn't long before they were attacked by something, as a lurker emerged from it's hiding spot and started moving towards them, though while Chrysalis used her magic to slow it down Isaac used his Plasma Cutter to shear off it's tentacles, killing it in seconds. That was followed by two more Necromorphs, another lurker and a slasher, coming their way, though while Isaac killed the lurker in the more traditional method Chrysalis froze the lurker in a block of ice before shattering the entire thing, which brought a smile to her face.

Unfortunately after taking out those enemies more lurkers and slashers started to converge on their location, which was something that both Isaac and Chrysalis had been expecting the moment they started firing at their opponents, but that didn't stop them from carefully making their way forward. When they did take out the group of attackers, however, silence seemed to reign for a few moments, allowing them some time to find out where the poison carriers were located, before more Necromorphs entered the area. Chrysalis assumed that either the Marker or Mercer had the vast majority of the Necromorphs gathered on this deck, to prevent them from stopping the spread of the poison or killing the Leviathan, but at the same time she and Isaac used the instances of peace to look around the area as they searched for their targets, before having to fight again.

What put things in their favor was when they opened the door to the small building that was opposite the main entrance and found one of the poison factory Necromorphs resting inside it... where Chrysalis held her spare hand towards it and ignited the poor person, burning the entirety of the transformed person until it was a charred husk.

Isaac thought that it was a little extreme, since he could have easily set an explosive canister next to it and blew it to pieces, but he and Chrysalis agreed that all of the poison factories needed to be taken care of, so they could deal with their true target. With this part of their task taken care of the duo left the small building they had entered and returned to the main chamber, where they started the search for the second poison factory, as neither of them had any idea how many of them there were left on this deck. Sure enough more lurkers and slashers were waiting for the duo, to which they cut and blasted their way across the chamber until they came to another small building that they had access to, as most of the other small buildings were locked to them. When they walked inside Isaac immediately spotted the poison factory to their right, to which he opened fire on it until it crumbled to the floor and the room was filled with normal air once more, before they walked outside again.

This time around they found a pregnant Necromorph waiting outside the small building they had been in, though as it rushed towards them Isaac loosed a Stasis blast at it and slowed it down, allowing him and Chrysalis to dismember the creature before it dropped to the floor... to which the duo walked over to the middle of the chamber, where a cargo lift was located, and rode it up to the second floor, while ignoring the third floor for the moment. The two of them then walked towards the right wall and headed through the door, though while Chrysalis found a poison filled room Isaac seemed to be in a trance for a few seconds before stating that he was okay. As Isaac grabbed an explosive canister Chrysalis headed towards the door in front of them, where she found the poison factory to her left and backed away from it, allowing Isaac the clear shot of blowing the entire thing to pieces... while at the same time restoring the quality of air to this room as well.

Before they could depart from the room, however, two infectors dropped down from the ceiling and moved towards them, to which Chrysalis pinned hers to the ground with her bone blades before shooting the Necromorph to pieces, leaving Isaac to blast his target apart... though once that was done they finally exited the room and began searching for the next poison factory.

They walked to the left side of the main chamber and opened the door in front of them, where they moved through the short hallway and passed through another door, though behind that one they finally encountered another new type of Necromorph. This one appeared to stand at the same height as a slasher did, but instead of using bladed arms to kill it's targets this one carried a yellow sack that contained some sort of goo inside it, though instead of letting it get any closed Chrysalis targeted the sack and fired at it for a second, causing the sack to explode. The resulting explosion took out the new foe as well, indicating that this was better saved for when there were multiple enemies around one of them, meaning that they could use the exploders to take out large groups of enemies if they were successful.

At the end of the hallway four more exploders started to shuffle towards them, but now that the duo knew their weakness they simply fired at the yellow sacks and watched them all explode, to which they collected all the ammunition that they could before following the path once more.

The door at the end of the hallway brought them to an area that didn't have gravity, making Chrysalis wonder why the heck this was even a part of the Hydroponics Deck in the first place, before they walked out into the Zero-G area and began looking for the way forward. Fortunately the way forward was easy to find, as all they had to do was love a grate out of the way and jump into the next room, while at the same time avoiding the spikes that had been put up on many of the metallic sections of the flooring and walls, which was another thing that Chrysalis would question at a later date. This time around Chrysalis dealt with the two lurkers that wanted a piece of them, giving Isaac the time to open the next grate without being interrupted, though once it was open she killed her foes before heading into the next part of the area with her companion.

From there it was a simple matter of taking out the lone lurker that was waiting for them, jumping into the area what would return them to normal gravity, and passed through the door to the Air Filtration Room... though as they passed through the second door Chrysalis noticed that the room they were in had flames on the level that was below them, and that the path forward seemed to involve going down there and running through a course of some kind. As they walked to their right, however, they encountered an audio log from Elizabeth Cross that said she was trying to contact Temple about something, but couldn't because of the ship wide medical alert. Unfortunately there wasn't much for them to go on, as it stopped it's recording moments later, to which they focused on their current task and stared at the power tube that was preventing the door from opening. Chrysalis recalled what happened at the beginning of their venture, after Isaac had first picked up the Plasma Cutter, and knew what to do, to which Isaac blasted the tube apart and opened the way forward... though he followed that up with another shot through the flames.

Chrysalis discovered that while one of the larger tubes was using the flames to 'purify the air', or whatever they were designed to do, some metallic flaps opened and revealed the tube behind it, which meant that Isaac opened the door between tubes so they could move onward. Since this was a much more dangerous venture Chrysalis used her magic and summoned a barrier around the two of them, a moveable one that would protect them from the majority of the flames, but since she knew she had a limit she made sure to use it when they were between tubes. That gave Isaac the chance to shoot out the next tube and return to her before they endured the flames, to which they would walk forward again until they came out of the final tube... which was followed by Isaac obliterating the poison factory that they had been walking towards the entire time.

Once the poison factory was taken care of they rode the cargo lift to the top level again and made their way into the security room that overlooked the three tubes, where Chrysalis found another Power Node that either of them could use in the future... though from there they headed to a short hallway behind the cargo lift and used the elevator to descend back down to the Grow Chamber. As the elevator descended, however, the computerized voice declared that there was a ten kiloton mass detected in Food Storage, telling Chrysalis that the Leviathan had to be much larger than what everyone else had told her and Isaac about. A few moments later, when they exited the elevator they were assaulted by two lurkers and a pregnant Necromorph, both of which the duo knew how to take out, though as they fought their new enemies they headed back towards the main door of this area so they could leave and find out if they had killed all of the poison factories... or if there were some more out there.

Before they left the area, however, Chrysalis turned around and headed back towards the lift that they had taken to reach the second level, where she input the command and headed towards the third level, the one closest to the ceiling, to see if there was anything useful up there. What she found was some ammunition, a med pack that had been contained in one of the crates, and a ruby semiconductor, which she and Isaac could sell for some credits when they returned to the store. With those items in hand she returned to the cargo lift and rode it back down towards the level that Isaac was on, where she was surprised by the sheer fact that the Necromorphs had departed from this area, as if the two of them had claimed this area from their foes. At the same time, however, Chrysalis suspected that their enemies might have moved into the other wing of this deck, or they could have vacated to another deck entirely, which would have been the more desirable option of the two... but she knew that they would know what happened in the next few minutes, since they were so close to where the Security Station and the air controls were located.

It was an uneventful journey back to the Security Station, save for some of the vents exploding as a slasher tore them to pieces as he followed the duo, before they arrived at their destination and found out that there were a grand total of eight poison factories on this deck, meaning that Isaac and Chrysalis were only halfway done with the first phase of this mission. The second phase was giving Kendra's poison to the Leviathan and seeing if it killed it, but before they could do that the two of them had to hunt down the remaining four poison factories that rested in the other wing of the Hydroponics Deck. Instead of leaving to hunt down their remaining targets immediately, like Kendra and Hammond were expecting them to do, both Isaac and Chrysalis accessed the store and sold off the useless pieces of ammunition that they had acquired so far, along with the semiconductor. With their funds greater than what they were when they reached this deck, after making sure that they had the essentials, both Isaac and Chrysalis purchased a few Power Nodes from the store... prompting them to make a quick return to the Bench they had passed by earlier.

This time around Isaac made sure to put some of his nodes into his RIG, so that way he could survive for longer like Chrysalis could, while at the same time Chrysalis put some upgrades into her Pulse Rifle, increasing the capacity it had and it's damage. Her reasoning was that the poison might only weaken the Leviathan and she wanted her weapon to be at the ready for when they attacked the creature, but she was seriously hoping that she was wrong on this matter and was only over preparing for what was coming next. At the very least if they didn't have to fight the massive Leviathan, and could move on, the upgrades would make themselves useful against the other creatures that were still on the Ishimura, allowing her to mow through her enemies faster, since they were bound to get tougher in the future. Truthfully, she still didn't think that she needed to upgrade her weapon, since she had access to magic, but because she had a limited amount of mana to use at the moment she couldn't just burn through all of it, like she did when she fought Celestia.

Her best course of action was to keep pace with Isaac and his weaponry, so that way they could stay on the same level throughout the rest of their mission, while picking and choosing when to use her magic... though she had the strangest feeling that she was going to need her power in the near future, but for what she had absolutely no idea.

Ishimura: The Leviathan

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Once Isaac and Chrysalis were done upgrading their weapons at the Bench, and Isaac's RIG as well, the two of them made their way back to the Security Station once more and took a look at the screen that detailed how many of the wheezers, Chrysalis' name for the poison factories they were hunting down, were left. From what the screen told them there had to be four more in the right wing of the Hydroponics Deck, as there were four in the wing that they had just finished exploring and that added up to the eight icons that were on the screen. For a moment Chrysalis wondered how in the world none of the crew members, that had access to weapons during the outbreak, could take out even one of the wheezers, but all she could guess was that the poison killed them all before they had a chance to fight back, allowing the infectors to start creating more Necromorphs to guard this deck... and the creature that was no doubt tied to the organic growth that they had encountered throughout the Ishimura so far.

A few seconds passed before Isaac let out a sigh and headed towards the door that would take them into the right wing of this deck, to which Chrysalis followed after him, where they entered a short hallway that happened to have a text log from Dr. Jagerwald. This log detailed the corruption that they had seen multiple times so far, though what they discovered was that the bacteria involved in all of this multiplied twenty-fold in a minute, revealing the speed at how fast this corruption spread. The log also echoed what Kendra had told them earlier, about the corruption being a habitat transformer, which made sense considering everything they had encountered so far, though they also apparently produced some form of gas, which neither of them were smelling at the moment. Some of this information was new, as they hadn't uncovered part of this beforehand, though some of it was old news that they didn't mind seeing again, but when they reached the end of the text log Isaac put it away before they walked up to the door that was in front of them and entered the right wing of the Hydroponics Deck.

As they opened the door, however, they spotted a guardian on the other side of the room they would be entering, though this time around it appeared that there weren't any explosive canisters sitting around them, meaning that they would be using their own weapons. Before they did anything the guardian loosed a pod at them, which handed halfway between them and sprouted a tentacle so it could start firing at them, though Isaac quickly took out the pod while Chrysalis opened fire on the guardian. She did so in short bursts, allowing each burst of bullets to take out one of the five tentacles that the guardian had, and smiled as the Necromorph moaned as she tore the tentacles off, though when the last one fell the creature stopped moving, indicating that it was dead and that they were allowed to move on... though before they reached the end of the hallway they took a moment to investigate the doors on their right.

The first door had a Bench they could use, which would have been great to know about earlier, but since they didn't need to use it they walked back out into the hallway and let the door close, to which they walked up to the second door and investigated what was on the other side. A slasher appeared on the other side and raised it's bladed arms at the duo, who immediately opened fire on the Necromorph, dismembering him in a manner of seconds, allowing them to gather up all of the supplies it had been guarding. The third and final door on the right side of the hallway, however, was locked and needed a Power Node to access, but since they had already used up the majority of their credits earlier, to buy the nodes they used to upgrade their weapons and RIGs, they had little choice but to turn towards the cargo lift and ride up to the level that was above them.

When the cargo lift came to a stop they discovered that there was more of the organic growth attached to the ceiling and the walkway, though since they had no choice in the matter the duo carefully walked forward and kept their eyes open for any Necromorphs that wanted them dead. As they walked forward, however, the duo heard that there were some anomalies in the East Grow Chamber, which immediately gave them the location of one of the four wheezers that they were currently hunting at the moment. Once the announcement was made they opened the door in front of them and entered a chamber that looked like the main hub they had walked through in the western wing of the Hydroponics Deck, only this time all the vegetation that the crew had been growing appeared to be dead... as everything was either dead from lack of care or had been consumed by the Leviathan and it's organic growths.

Before they could even take a step forward, and begin their search for the four wheezers, Chrysalis heard the sound of something something coming their way and held a hand up to stop Isaac from going forward, though that was before they both caught sight of a brute making it's way towards them.

"Well, at least we know that these guys aren't invulnerable," Chrysalis commented, as she knew that if these creatures were immortal like the hunter was, which still sent shivers up her spine when she thought about it, they would have perished back on the Bridge.

"Yeah," Isaac said, as he understood what Chrysalis was talking about, as he still had flashes of the hunter chasing them through the Medical Deck, before he focused on the brute, "so, should I take the left side and you the right, or should I take the right side and you take the left side?"

"You should take the left side," Chrysalis replied, because she was standing to Isaac's right and it made sense for her to attack the side of the brute that she would be the closest to, just as it made sense for Isaac to do the same thing with the other side of the creature.

Isaac nodded as both he and Chrysalis lifted their weapons and waited for the brute to charge at them, as that appeared to be one of the special moves that only a brute could do, before it finally rounded the corner that separated it from them. Once they were actually in the brute's sights, and it had a chance to stare at the duo for a few seconds, it let loose the same roar that the other brutes had made and charged at them, fully intending to knock one of them to the floor so it could smash them into pieces. When it got close enough both Isaac and Chrysalis threw themselves away from each other and let the brute move by where they had been standing moments ago, though they were quicker to regain themselves as the brute tried to stop itself. The duo opened fire, aiming for the weak points that kept the brute's arms attached to it's body, causing the beast to shudder and shake for a few seconds before it's arms were torn off, which was when it dropped to the floor in defeat... giving them a Power Node, one that they decided to slip into their packs instead of using it immediately.

With the brute dead the duo started their search for the four wheezers, though Chrysalis found one almost immediately, as it was resting in the level beneath the elevator, but fortunately for them the terminal that opened the class container, so it could one of the canisters out of the area it was in, was operational. Isaac stood beside the terminal as Chrysalis got in position, where she had an angle on the wheezer, before she nodded her head as she lifted her Pulse Rifle up. Isaac pressed the command option and the container opened, though as one of the canisters was removed Chrysalis opened fire on the wheezer and literally tore the Necromorph to pieces before the container closed, reducing the number of wheezers they needed to kill down to three.

Instead of using the elevator immediately, and heading up to the level above them, the duo decided to investigate the level that they were on and started searching for any small buildings that a wheezer might be hiding in, though along the way they opened some containers and secured more ammunition and supplies for the future. That was before they found a small building that, when they opened the door, definitely had a wheezer inside it, because of the poisonous air that the creature was emitting at the moment. Since they found their next target Isaac took it upon himself to blast the wheezer a few times until it was dead, allowing the air to return to normal in the small building they were in, though instead of resting they walked out of the building and entered the one in front of them. The second one didn't have either of the remaining wheezers for them to take out, though it did provide them with a few more supplies that they eagerly collected and stored away.

Once they were done searching the level they were on they returned to the cargo lift, where they climbed onto it and rode it up to the level above them, though the two of them were slightly surprised when they found a number of explosive canisters resting behind where the cargo lift was located. One of the two paths they could have chosen from was locked, though in front of the door rested an audio log from Elizabeth Cross, who said that something huge had slammed into the hull of the ship. She also said that it wasn't an asteroid or anything like that, which told Isaac and Chrysalis that the Leviathan didn't originate from the Ishimura, but rather it was possible that it had been created on Aegis VII and had, somehow, been flung into the air to slam into the hull near Food Storage. It would have been an outlandish theory, but since neither of them had any idea what the Marker was capable of, or what the Necromorphs on the planet were capable of, they didn't rule out that possibility... even if such a thing made the two of them nervous.

Since the mystery of the Leviathan was even stranger than they originally assumed, and wasn't likely going to be solved, the duo pushed it to the back of their minds as they returned to the cargo lift and rode it to the final level, as their prior experience told them that something had to be up there... which ended up being the third wheezer that they were searching for, though seeing it only made the duo open fire on it and tear it to pieces like the others.

With that task done the duo returned to the cargo lift and rode it back down to the second level, where they carefully approached the only door that would open for them and walked into the short hallway that was behind the door, though behind the second door rested a hallway that had a lot of growth on the walls and on the floor. Both Chrysalis and Isaac moaned as they realized that they would be slowly walking towards the end of this particular hallway, though before they started walking Chrysalis picked up a gold semiconductor and stored it inside her storage area before walking forward. Before they could get too far, however, another large tentacle surged around the corner and latched onto Chrysalis' leg, knocking her to the floor before it started to drag her to whatever hole it wanted to pull her through, but she wasn't about to let this journey end in such a manner. Since she knew the tentacle's weakness, the large yellow ball that appeared to connect two parts of the tentacle, she dipped into her magic and loosed an ice charge forward for a few seconds before releasing the magic.

The good news was that the large ice spike she had summoned pierced the tentacle's skin and stopped it from taking her further down the hallway, though the bad news was that she had missed the weakness, which only caused her and Isaac to open fire on it before it finally exploded, releasing her as the tentacle returned to it's home... allowing Chrysalis to pull herself back to a standing position as she checked her armor, so she could see if she had suffered any damage.

"What's with these tentacles?" Chrysalis inquired, though at the same time she and Isaac started moving again, because they were still short one wheezer before they could take on the Leviathan, "Why do they keep going after me, instead of picking you for once?"

"Maybe the Necromorphs see you as the bigger threat and are trying to get rid of you first?" Isaac suggested, because that was honestly the best answer he could give her that made sense, as he was sure that any other answer would have annoyed her to no end.

"Whatever." Chrysalis said, though her tone told Isaac that she was getting fed up with the Necromorphs and Mercer, even if Mercer wasn't behind the tentacles trying to drag her into a dark hole, "Let's just find that last wheezer and get to the Leviathan before those tentacles come after us again."

At the end of the growth infected hallway the duo walked through the door on their left and found an audio log, one from Temple this time around, where the engineer stated that he was searching for Elizabeth Cross and couldn't find her anywhere, before saying that he was heading to the Mining Deck to look for her. Somehow Chrysalis knew that the next task they were be forced to do, or the one after that, would be situated on the Mining Deck, either trying to fix something or do whatever Hammond and Kendra asked of them. The duo then walked through the door in front of them and entered an area where they would have to use Zero-G again, just like on the other wing they had passed through, before Chrysalis noticed that there was some writing on the screen to their right... though it appeared to be the various symbols they had seen in the Unitologist areas of the ship, complete with which letter of the alphabet went to which symbol.

Since they were likely to never see something like this again in the future, even if the alphabet was incomplete, Chrysalis felt the urge to memorize what she was seeing, to which she cursed the fact that there wasn't a picture taking option for the RIG... but in the end her few moments staring at the symbols and letters was integrated into her mind, though it would take her some time to fully memorize all of it.

Once that was done the two of them walked through the barrier between a room that had gravity and the part of the wing that didn't have any gravity to speak of, where they were both sickened by the sheer amount of organic growth that was resting all around them. Fortunately it didn't appear that there were any enemies in the area around them at the moment, to which they carefully aimed their weapons at the platform they could jump to and did just that, though as they flew through the air Chrysalis noticed an engine or something that seemed to be malfunctioning due to the electricity that was coming from the device. Isaac, however, had the solution to the problem they were facing, as he loosed a Stasis blast at the machine and slowed it down, getting rid of the electricity in the process, before he jumped over to the other side of the platform that they needed to be on... where Chrysalis followed after him, as she didn't want the machine to come back on while she was passing over it.

From there the duo looked into the compartment on their left and jumped through the opening that was right in front of them, where they were assaulted by two lurkers that happened to be patrolling the area, but they were prepared for such a thing and went on the offensive first. It truly didn't take them long to dismember the lurkers, not when their weakness was the tentacles that they willingly revealed from their backs, though once their foes had been taken care of Isaac and Chrysalis carefully maneuvered themselves into the next chamber. It was there that they found the last wheezer spewing more poison into the air, though the instant they landed both of them opened fire on the Necromorph for a few seconds, reducing it to a floating stack of parts as the air returned to normal once again. Chrysalis was impressed by how quickly the air seemed to return to normal, which meant that the systems had been trying to fix the problem and their removal of the wheezers had achieved what the systems had been trying to do.

As they waited for some confirmation on their mission, however, two more lurkers decided to attack them while they were distracted, though Isaac and Chrysalis proved that they were still paying attention when Chrysalis froze them with her magic and let Isaac obliterate them with a shot from his Plasma Cutter.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, that's the last of them." Kendra said, to which Isaac and Chrysalis nodded in satisfaction, because they were now one step closer to ending this nightmare and the Leviathan, "There's a switch in Atmosphere Control to reset the oxygen recycling. Once the air's clean, the two of you can get into Food Storage. Guys, I've been reading these reports... the crew began experiencing mass hallucinations. And... well, I just saw my brother on a security monitor. And that's just not possible..."

Chrysalis had no idea that Kendra had a brother, as she had never once mentioned him while they were on the Kellion, but even as that thought crossed her mind she realized that if Kendra was starting to see loved ones, like some of the other people whose audio logs they had recovered so far, than it was only a matter of time until she, Isaac, and Hammond did the same thing. She was sure that the others would be overjoyed to see their loved ones again, even if it was just a brief hallucination, but for her the memory was too painful, which was why she was thankful to have only seen the lance and not it's owner, back when they were turning the engines on. As Kendra cut the connection, for the moment anyway, Chrysalis pushed the thought about what she had seen to the back of her mind before following after Isaac, since he had already jumped into the previous area so he could start making their way back to the place that Chrysalis had assumed was the Security Station... though she guessed that it was both a Security Station and the Atmosphere Control at the same time.

As they progressed back to the gravity filled part of the ship, however, they had to pass by the malfunctioning piece of machinery again, though this time around Chrysalis spotted a device that turned the machine off, allowing her and Isaac to pass through the area without having to worry about being electrocuted by some stray electricity.

From there it was a straight up back to the first room of this area and then a quick jog into the gravity filled portion, where the duo relaxed a tiny bit as they opened the door and returned to the hallway that had more of the organic growth that impeded their progress. As they walked back to the other side of the hallway Chrysalis did so walking backwards, as she was keeping her eyes on the hole the tentacle had erupted from earlier, but she and Isaac were in luck since the tentacle appeared to have learned it's lesson and wasn't coming for them again. When they reached the end of that hallway they entered a shorter one that would take them back to the main chamber, where Isaac spotted a wall container that happened to have a Power Node inside it, which put a smile on both of their faces. As they walked out into the large chamber, and made their way to the cargo lift, the two were on edge since there should be Necromorphs coming after them, but even though there weren't any to speak of they kept their weapons at the ready.

Fortunately that was a good idea on their part, because when they opened the large door to head back into the first hallway they walked through to get to this chamber, where the locked door was located, three slashers stood near the cargo lift and turned towards them the instant the door opened. Despite the fact that it was three to two the slashers didn't stand much of a chance against the duo, not when they lined up perfectly so all of Isaac's and Chrysalis' attacks punctured all three of them in a row. In about thirty seconds all three slashers had been dismembered and the duo was continuing on their way once more, where they rode the cargo lift down to the lower level and skipped over the locked door, deeming the Leviathan to be a more important target for them. As they reached the end of that hallway, and entered the smaller one that would take them to the Atmosphere Controls, Isaac paused for a moment, as if he was hearing things that only he could hear, before pressing onward.

Chrysalis wondered if he was hearing the voice of a loved one, like everyone else was, though since he wasn't saying anything about it she kept her mouth shut, especially since she could have sworn that she heard some whispering for a moment, but it was so faint that she couldn't make out what was being said.

When they entered the Atmosphere Control area Isaac quickly walked over to the store and sold all the ammunition and items he didn't need, before making sure to purchase some additional ammunition, just in case things went sour after they used the poison. Chrysalis, on the other hand, simply sold off anything that she didn't need and kept the credits, so she could either get some Power Nodes or the next suit when it showed up, before walking away from the store once she was done selling everything. A few moments later they approached the terminal that they needed to access and Isaac pressed the button, to which the computerized voice indicated that it was flushing the systems and restoring both nitrogen and oxygen levels... before indicating, after a few minutes of the systems running, that the lockdown on Food Storage had been lifted.

Once they knew that the lockdown had been lifted they walked around the control terminal and accessed the large circular door that was in front of them, revealing a glass hallway, tube shaped, that connected them to their destination, along with a large mass of organic growth that rested all around the glass. Both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that the Leviathan had to be big, especially with how much growth they had encountered so far, but seeing all of this made them both hope that the poison took out the Leviathan. They also discovered another audio log from Elizabeth Cross, who stated that she was going to the Mining Deck to wait for Jacob there, though that was all she really said, to which the duo made their way across the hallway before opening the door in front of them. Both of them knew that they had finally reached the point where they used the poison that Kendra had them make, though as the door opened they discovered a terminal that had a receptacle waiting for them.

Of course there were several small tentacles wrapped around the door to Food Storage, indicating that the Leviathan wanted to be left alone, but that didn't stop Isaac from inserting the poison capsule into the receptacle and starting the process... which, judging by the howl like noise that emitted a few moments, didn't kill the Leviathan, but did open the way so Isaac and Chrysalis could take it out.

"Dammit, the poison wasn't strong enough." Kendra commented, though she sounded upset with herself, indicating that if they had more time she could have created a poison that would have wiped the Leviathan out, "Isaac, Chrysalis, it's still alive. Get in there and finish it off, before it contaminates the entire ship!"

Since they didn't have much of a choice in this matter, especially since the door behind them locked after the poison was put into the receptacle, Isaac and Chrysalis opened the door in front of them and walked into Food Storage, which prompted the lights to activate. What they discovered, at the very end of the storage area they were in, was a large monstrosity that was at least as wide as the entire circular storage area, though what was staring at them were three large holes that formed a triangle shape and a fourth one that rested in the middle of those three. The Leviathan was, like all of the other Necromorphs, composed of a large number of corpses, though it was hard to tell how many of the corpses belonged to the colonists on Aegis VII and how many had been the crew aboard the Ishimura... though one thing both Isaac and Chrysalis agreed on was that the Leviathan was an ugly creature, though they knew this thing was dangerous thanks to all of the corpses floating around them.

As the door behind them closed, and they took a few steps forward in the Zero-G area they had walked into, the Leviathan sensed that it had company and let out another roar as three tentacles emerged from the creature's front side, one tentacle per hole of the triangle.

"So you're the creep whose been using those tentacles." Chrysalis stated, though a smile appeared on her face, one that she was thankful that Isaac couldn't see thanks to the helmet, before she primed her weapon and pointed it at the monster in front of her, "I'm going to enjoy this way more than I should."

Isaac wasn't sure if that was the case or not, but it seemed to put Chrysalis in the mood to deal with the Leviathan and he wasn't about to break that, rather he loosed a Stasis blast at the first tentacle that fully pulled itself out of their foe so it could smash them. The resulting blast did slow the tentacle down, though since it belonged to something so big it quickly snapped out of it, telling Isaac that he might want to invest some Power Nodes into his Stasis Module at some point in the future. The good thing that came from that, however, was that Chrysalis loosed a hail of bullets at the tentacle's weakness and blew the tentacle apart, causing the Leviathan to howl in pain for a few seconds, but this time around the duo held their ground as they waited to see what happened next. What they were expecting was that they would have to move to a point where they could attack the other two tentacles, but fortune was on their side as one of the remaining tentacles entered the Leviathan's body and emerged where the first one had been located.

This time around Chrysalis latched her magic into the tentacle and forcefully pulled it out, revealing it's weakness to Isaac, who grabbed one of the explosive canisters with his Kinesis Module and hurled it right into the area that Chrysalis was showing him, causing that tentacle to explode as well. The third and final tentacle reached for them like the other two had, but this time around the duo simply opened fire on it and tore the weakness to pieces before the tentacle could even latch onto the side of the chamber, to which they listened to the Leviathan howl in pain as they waited for it to reveal another weakness to them. What happened next was that their opponent opened it's 'mouth' and revealed the weak spot they were searching for, to which Chrysalis opened fire on it immediately, though while some of the bullets hit their target some of them hit some strange growth balls that the Leviathan was spitting at them... though the oddest part was that if she and Isaac hit the balls with a bullet it went flying right back into the Leviathan's mouth.

Together they took turns shooting the balls back into the Leviathan's mouth and appeared to be doing massive damage to the creature, judging by how it was shaking at the moment, before it clamped it's mouth closed and created three new tentacles to fight the duo. They then simply repeated the same set of attacks they used against the first three tentacles that had been used against them, where Isaac slowed the first down and Chrysalis destroyed it, Chrysalis grabbed the second and let Isaac blow it up, and they combined their attacks to down the third. From there it was a simple matter of firing into the Leviathan's mouth, and hitting the organic explosive balls it was firing at them, before the Leviathan let out a rather painful howl, one that was louder than the others... before it shook for a few seconds and then stopped moving altogether.

"Take that you foul monster!" Chrysalis cheered, because now that the Leviathan was dead she and Isaac wouldn't have to worry about encountering anymore of those tentacles that only seemed to go after her.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, you did it!" Kendra spoke up, though her tone immediately told them that she was happy, especially since they didn't to worry about the Leviathan creating more wheezers to pollute the air in the future, "Hammond? Do you read me? Oxygen levels are returning to normal!"

Isaac and Chrysalis stood there for a moment, as while they were overjoyed to have won this victory for them and the others, it wouldn't be that great if they suddenly lost one of their friends before they could properly celebrate their victory over the Leviathan.

"Dammit. He's gone again. No sign of his RIG anywhere." Kendra finally said, to which both Isaac and Chrysalis gulped, because that either meant that Hammond was dead or Mercer knew how to hide their friends from them so he could hunt them down in peace, "It's up to the three of us now... and I've got a plan to get off this ship! I've located an SOS beacon on the Mining Deck. If the two of you can get down there and activate it, we might be able to send out a distress call."

Chrysalis moaned as she heard that news, because she hated being right about having to visit yet another deck on this ship, one that was no doubt infested with more Necromorphs, but at the same time she and Isaac turned around and headed back through the door they had used to enter this area, leaving the dead Leviathan behind. From there they returned to the Atmosphere Control area and walked over to the door that would take them back to the elevator that they used to reach this area when they first stepped off the Tram. A short elevator ride later brought them to the level where the Tram station was located, to which they carefully walked out and made their way to the Tram, where they were both pleased to find that no Necromorphs were waiting for them.

Together the duo stepped onto the Tram and took the same seats that they took every time they had to use the Tram to move from one deck to another, before Isaac pressed the necessary icon and got the Tram moving once more... only this time around they had a plan to call for aid and potentially get off this ship. Chrysalis wanted nothing more than to get off the Ishimura and go home, but for now she could settle for getting off the Ishimura with her friends, and then she could worry about finding a way back to Equus.

Ishimura: New Hope

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"I see you are feeling much better now," Isaac commented, noticing that Chrysalis was fast to deactivate her helmet as they rode the Tram away from the Hydroponics Deck, one that he was glad to get away from as he followed his companion's lead and deactivated his own helmet.

"Well, it's not hard to feel better when you have hope." Chrysalis replied, though even as she said that she was beginning to realize why the ponies always thought about what when they were under pressure, such as when she first invaded Canterlot or when some other evil was attacking another settlement, "After experiencing all of the horrors that we have faced so far, and killed all of those Necromorphs to reach this point, it's good to actually have a plan of action that will get us saved from this nightmare. I'm not going to lie, the situation we've found ourselves in is more terrifying than any I've been in over my long life, though for some time I was actually wondering if we were fighting a losing battle... though now I'm glad to have some hope that we can get out of here alive."

Isaac wasn't surprised to hear that Chrysalis was slightly terrified of everything they had been through so far, as he felt the same way, but the both of them had been brave as they fought the Necromorphs and completed the various tasks that either Hammond or Kendra had for them. Sure, it was challenging work to repair a ship of this size on his own, since his companion didn't have the knowledge that he had, but the two of them were lucky that none of the systems they had been asked to repair had been completely broken. He wasn't sure what they would have done if the engines had been completely destroyed or if the ADS had been wrecked beyond repair, though he was grateful for what they were able to do with what remained on the Ishimura. At the same time, however, he actually wondered if Chrysalis had ever loved someone enough that she was starting to hear their voices inside her head, like he was with Nicole, though he decided not to say anything about it since she would think he was going insane.

As he opened his mouth to say something else, however, Isaac watched as the Tram started to slow down until it came to a stop in the station area of the Mining Deck, to which he and Chrysalis sighed as they reengaged their helmets, checked their weapons, and disembarked from the Tram.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, this might be our last chance of getting out of here alive." Kendra spoke up, to which a video link appeared in front of the duo, where they stopped in their tracks as they wondered what she was going to say to them this time around, while keeping their eyes open for enemies around the station area, "Fortunately there's an asteroid loaded up in the mining bay, waiting to be smelted. If you guys attach an SOS beacon to it, you can launch it away from the ship to make a clear broadcast. The beacon is located on the Maintenance sub deck, and the asteroid can be launched from the Control Room... which is locked at the moment. It looks like the crew kept an emergency access key on the Processing sub deck... couldn't be easy, could it? I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Hopefully this will be the last we have to endure," Chrysalis said, as she was getting tired of all of this as well, though that didn't stop her from worrying that something else might go wrong while they were on this deck.

Kendra nodded and the communication was terminated, to which Isaac and Chrysalis quickly searched the station for any supplies that were around them, which was mostly credits, before they headed towards the hallway that would bring them to the hub section of this deck. What they found was that the hallway was short and brought them right to a slightly larger chamber with a good sized door, though before they activated the door Chrysalis spotted a wall box and claimed the Power Node that was stored inside it. Once she had that in hand the duo activated the door and walked into the RIG Room, which had to be a preparation area for the people that worked on this deck, or at least that was Chrysalis' thoughts as she looked around the room. The area was definitely large for a decent sized group, which would have been the engineers and workers that were assigned to this deck, though she also smiled when she noticed a Bench on the right side of the room.

Chrysalis did find quite the number of supplies in this area as well, where she and Isaac kept the ammunition that was for their guns and sold off the pieces that they didn't need, while at the same time Isaac stored some of their excess med packs inside the storage function of the store, which they could access at any of the stores if they ran out of what they currently had.

Once they had gotten themselves situated, and had taken care of their inventories, the duo approached the doors to the cargo lift and called the elevator up to where they were standing, though when it arrived they witnessed the death of yet another person that had survived this long, who raised half of his arm towards them before collapsing. Based on their experience with such things both Isaac and Chrysalis prepared themselves as they walked out onto the elevator and stood their ground, to which Isaac pushed the button for the Maintenance sub deck, as the Mining sub deck option, and the deck itself most likely, was offline at the moment. Even as he pressed the button the two of them heard Kendra inform them that she was going to try and find a bypass so they could access it later on, though as the door closed they readied their weapons for whatever enemies were waiting to jump out at them this time around.

As the elevator descended towards the level that Isaac chosen, the very last one since that was where the beacon was located, the vent above the elevator shattered and several slashers jumped down onto the floor that Isaac and Chrysalis were standing on. It came as a shock for the duo, since they weren't expecting it to happen at all, but they quickly regained themselves and opened fire on the enemies that had come for them, dismembering the slashers before they even had a chance to turn around or brandish their bladed arms in a menacing manner. When they passed by the door to the third level, the Mining sub deck, Chrysalis froze as she thought she saw the form of the hunter lurking behind the door, but she didn't have a change to prove whether or not her mind was playing tricks on her as they continued down to the fourth and final sub deck... before finally coming to a stop and letting the door open, allowing them to enter the Maintenance sub deck so they could find what they were looking for.

As they walked off the elevator, however, Chrysalis remembered that Mercer had two test tubes in his lab and that there was a slim possibility that he might have made a second hunter while they were dealing with the Leviathan, but she pushed that thought away, because two hunters terrified her more than one did.

One thing they both discovered was that there was some organic growth in this area as well, which made sense considering that the Leviathan had stretched itself across the entire ship, though when Chrysalis looked to the left she spotted a organic ball sitting out in the open. Instead of wasting bullets on it she simply levitated the ball with her magic, causing two infectors to charge out of their hiding places, though Chrysalis used the ball to blow the furthest one into the wall while Isaac dismembered the one that came at them. She then put her weapon to the side for the moment as she pulled out one of the bone blades she had taken from a Necromorph before she had acquired her main weapon, to which she decided not to waste any ammunition on the wounded infector and finished it off with one of the blades that she had been carrying on her back the entire time.

With the deed done they searched the area and found an audio log, one that revealed that Dr. Kyne had kidnapped something and was threatening to kill the man, though he wanted the access codes to the cargo bay, where the Marker was supposed to be stored. According to what they heard it appeared that the Marker was definitely the key to everything that had happened aboard the Ishimura and Aegis VII, though either of them were absolutely sure that that meant since they still didn't have the full story on the Marker. When the log finished playing Isaac picked up a gold semiconductor as Chrysalis slipped the audio log into the container where they were keeping all the logs they had acquired so far, before opening the door that was in front of them and moved to the next part of the ship... where they found a lift area, like the one they pulled towards them in the Engineering Deck, before Isaac turned around and headed back to the elevator.

Chrysalis, not understanding why he would want to leave the beacon behind, since that was what they had come for, sighed and followed him back to the elevator, where Isaac pressed the option for the second sub deck, the Processing sub deck, and the elevator got moving once again.

"So why are we going to Processing without the beacon?" Chrysalis asked, as she knew that the key they needed was somewhere on the sub deck they were heading towards, but she wanted to know why Isaac picked the Maintenance level when he wasn't planning on getting one of the items they needed.

"There's something down there that made me think that getting the access key was the smarter move," Isaac replied, though at the same time he couldn't explain the feeling that he encountered when they opened that door, as he was sure that there was something there that was pushing him away until it was ready, "besides, we need both of the access key and the beacon before we can enter the Mining sub deck, so I decided that getting the access key might be the best course of action at the moment."

Chrysalis wondered if there was another reason behind the decision, like a past memory or something, but instead of arguing with Isaac over the matter she decided to drop it, since she knew that her companion was correct in his assumption that the order they acquired the two items in didn't matter. If he wanted to go for the access key first, instead of the beacon, then she would suck it up and follow him, since they worked well as a pair and had each other's back when they were fighting the Necromorph hordes that stood between them and escape. Of course she was unwilling to admit that she might have felt something as well when Isaac opened the door that made him change his mind in such a manner, but somehow she had the feeling that Isaac already knew what she was thinking.

A few moments later the elevator came to a stop at the door to the Processing sub deck and opened, to which the duo walked out and began to take stock of their new surroundings, where Chrysalis picked up another audio log, though this one was from Temple. What they discovered was that Temple was able to find Elizabeth, which made Chrysalis happy for them, but also learned that there weren't any spaceworthy vessels left on the Ishimura, though when Elizabeth spoke up it appeared that they were looking for a beacon as well. That instantly told the duo that they weren't prepared for what was in front of them, the Necromorphs, and likely failed in the end, but at the same time that meant that they couldn't fail, since they had friends that were waiting for their success.

They turned to the left and came to a small section that had some ammunition boxes, though as they collected what was in front of them a trio of slashers dropped down on the path they intended to take, to which Isaac stunned them with a Stasis blast as Chrysalis opened fire, dismembering the trio before they could even fight back. As a fourth slasher came towards them, however, a pregnant Necromorph came up the path behind them, from the path they didn't take, so while Isaac fired at the slasher Chrysalis opened fire and dismembered the other foe without breaking open it's stomach. Once those enemies were taken care of the duo continued to explore the area they were in, carefully searching for more foes while looking for the way forward... which they eventually found, in the form of a ramp that brought them down to a door, one that let them access a hallway that would take them to Material Processing.

They followed the passage right into the waiting blades of a slasher, which Chrysalis loosed a blast of magic at and knocked into the wall behind them, before Isaac dismembered it completely, allowing them a small breather to examine the text log that was on the floor in front of them. The text log indicated that there had been a gravity failure at some point, as one of the asteroids the workers had been collating had broken free of where it was being held, killed two of the crew members, and slammed into a wall, where it separated into multiple chunks that prevented anyone from getting the master key. When they reached the point where the writer indicated that they needed engineering help, which was at the end of the text log, Chrysalis could help but wonder why only a few people had Stasis Modules, when it appeared that everyone on the ship should have had them.

As they put the text log away, however, they found the asteroid that was mentioned, as it was resting in the wall in front of them, though at the same time the hole it had punched through the wall gave them the quickest way into the area they needed to go through... even though that meant cleaning up the mess that the crew had left behind.

Chrysalis stared up at the strange circular contraption that bits of rock were floating through in a straight line, heading from one side of the room to the other, though at the same time she immediately spotted several bits of rock that had come from the asteroid.

"There's a failsafe on the processing room door," Kendra told them, though that was another moment where Chrysalis wondered if Kendra was actually watching them and knew that they picked up something that said the same thing, or if she only knew when they were approaching certain obstacles, "It won't open unless you restore gravity to the room, but you guys can't turn the gravity on unless you clear that room of all the boulders that are floating around. Isaac, maybe you can grab some of them with your Kinesis Module and drop them in the gravity beam... Chrysalis, I guess you can just wrap your magic around some of the boulders and do the same thing."

Once the communication was terminated Isaac jumped over to the other side of the chamber and started moving towards the rocks that were the closest to him, leaving Chrysalis to do the same thing on the side where the hole in the wall was. While the two of them made their way towards one of the boulders, however, they were assaulted by leapers that started crawling out of the vents around them, though both of them were ready for such an attack and opened fire on the Necromorphs that were coming at them. What Chrysalis did, in addition to moving her two boulders into the gravity beam that was in the middle of the room, was levitate the various fragments of the Necromorphs she slew into the same area that the boulders were being put into, along with the corpses that hadn't been changed by an infector yet. She was making sure if an infector invaded this area there would be nothing for it to transform, something that Isaac nodded his agreement with when he asked her what she was doing.

They knew that the anomalies were being destroyed because the computerized voice was telling them that, though it took them a few minutes to clear the area of enemies, and their corpses, and the asteroids themselves before there was nothing left for them to grab... before the voice informed them that they were now allowed to restore gravity to the entire room, to which they jumped to the console in question and landed on the area around it.

As they restored gravity to the entire room, however, a trio of Necromorphs, being a slasher, a pregnant, and one of the exploders, though the slasher was separate from the other two, forcing them to divide their attention between the two groups of enemies. Chrysalis, thinking smart in this situation, targeted the exploder and blasted the ball of goo that it was carrying, causing it and the pregnant to explode together, allowing her a moment to watch the walkways restore themselves as she heard Isaac firing at the slasher. Of course that wasn't the end as more slashers and exploders started to flood the area, though with how they were grouped all the duo did was fire at the good sacks that were being carried and destroyed their enemies with ease. Once they had taken out all of the enemies that decided to come after them, for the moment anyway, the duo took a few seconds for Chrysalis to levitate the dead bodies into the gravity beam and burned them like everything else they had fired into the beam, before heading towards the door they had unlocked by restoring the gravity to this room.

When they entered the room that was their destination they found more dead crew members, which wasn't new for them at this point in time, they found some ammunition laying on the floor and in some crates that they opened, before they found the key resting in the hands of one of the corpses... which they carefully pried from the body before grinning to themselves for a few seconds, as this allowed them to get one step closer to getting off this ship.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, that's definitely the key you need," Kendra spoke up, though her voice sounded happier, meaning that she was happy to see them making progress like this, since it would allow them to send out an SOS signal to whoever might be listening, "It'll get you into the Control Room so you can launch the asteroid, but don't forget to find a beacon and attach it to the asteroid first. I've been reading another report on the colonists dementia, and it appears that it started after they brought the Marker up from the planet. God knows how long it's been down there."

The duo sort of knew that the dementia started with the Marker, though now they knew when it started, but since that wasn't really relevant to their current situation they opened the door in front of them and walked into the hallway that appeared to wrap around towards the entrance of this area. Before they got too far Chrysalis opened a wall box and recovered another Power Node, though with it in hand she followed after Isaac as they rounded the corner and headed towards the door that would take them back to the entrance. As they approached the door, however, the lights went out for a few seconds and they could have sworn that they heard some sort of Necromorph roar echo throughout the decks of the ship... before the vent above their heads burst and caused them to back up, only to find that there weren't any enemies that wanted them dead.

As the two of them calmed down they opened the door and turned to the right, where they opened a second door and followed the path back to the elevator, though they had to dismember a leaper that dropped down in their path before reaching their target... where Isaac tapped the option for the Maintenance sub deck, returning them to the first level they picked a few minutes ago.

When they arrived at the Maintenance sub deck the duo discovered that none of the enemies they had killed had been replaced by new ones, to which they carefully approached the door that they had opened earlier and walked out into the area that they had ignored earlier. From there Isaac latched onto the trolley that was hanging in front of them and pulled it over to where they were standing, though one it was in place, and the bars were raised, he let Chrysalis walk onto it first before stepping up to the control terminal. As they started moving towards the other end of the trolley line, however, they found several pods resting on both sides of the trolley, to which Isaac pointed his Plasma Cutter at the right side while Chrysalis did the same with the left side, though she held her Pulse Rifle out. The two of them then fired at the tentacles that the pods pulled out in an attempt to hurt them, while at the same time being disgusted by the organic growth that rested on the area around them.

As they reached the end, and the trolley came to a stop, Chrysalis noticed that the bars didn't raise immediately and that there was something tickling the edge of her mind, before she heard the sound of someone walking around them and turned around... where she spotted a lady, wearing the attire that the other crew members had been wearing, walking out of what appeared to be her hiding spot.

"Isaac!" the lady said, though the instant she spoke Chrysalis realized who she was staring at, as this had to be Nicole, the person that Isaac had been so worried about while she and the others were using the Kellion to reach the Ishimura, "Is that really you?"

"Nicole!" Isaac said, though his tone was much happier than it had been since they landed in the Flight Deck, because now he knew that his beloved girlfriend had survived the outbreak and had, somehow, managed to hide from all of the Necromorphs that were running throughout the Ishimura, "Yes, it's really me!"

"It feels like it's been so long," Nicole commented, where she also sounded happy to see Isaac again, before noticing that Chrysalis was even there, though that didn't seem to bother her in the slightest as she turned back towards Isaac, "but we can help you. Come with me."

Chrysalis had no idea how Nicole managed to survive down here, for so long on her own, but she became worried when she heard 'we' escape her lips, because as far as she could see Nicole was the only person around, something that Isaac must not have noticed. As Nicole walked back behind her hiding spot, however, the trolley bars opened and allowed the duo to walk over to the door that was in front of them, though when they walked through it they found that the room was separated into two halves. The side they were on was much larger, easily taking up half of the total size of the entire room, while the part that Nicole was walking on was half the size of what they had to work with, though she didn't seem to mind it at all.

"The beacon is in the storage room next to you," Nicole said, pointing at the door in question as she walked towards a console, one that she seemed more interested in at the moment as she turned to face it, "I think I can disable the lock from here. Hold on."

As Nicole started hacking the terminal both Isaac and Chrysalis remained on their guard, because this wasn't going to go unnoticed by their enemies, though they smiled as they watched a slasher drop down on the side that Nicole was standing on and turned towards her. Isaac was the first to react, as he immediately loosed a shot that blasted the slasher's legs right off, before following that up with a second shot that tore off it's arms, killing it in a matter of seconds and stopping it from hurting Nicole. As the number of enemies started to increase Isaac moved to attacking the slashers that were closer to his beloved while Chrysalis targeted the enemies that were either near the door Nicole had walked through or the slashers that had climbed up to the area she and Isaac were standing on. While all of this was going on, however, Chrysalis noticed a shimmer on the other side of the room, where Nicole was standing, and a Necromorph that both of them had missed was sliced apart by a lance that embedded in the chest of a second slasher.

Chrysalis' eyes widened as she recognized the flaming lance, something that shouldn't be in a location like this, before she spotted the owner drop down on the walkway near Nicole and trotted up to the impaled slasher, to which the familiar form gripped the lance and pulled it out, before finishing off the slasher. Chrysalis took in the familiar light gray colored coat that the mare had, along with the fire red colored mane and tail that was similar in style to Spitfire's mane and tail, though she only knew the Captain of the Wonderbolts because she impersonated Princess Cadance for some time. The mare in question was wearing light armor, fit for a pegasus such as herself, that would allow her to move around easily without wearing herself out quickly... though it was the mare's familiar amber colored eyes that caused Chrysalis to freeze for a moment as she stared into them.

Even though the mare's Cutie Mark was obscured by the armor she was wearing, and couldn't be seen, Chrysalis knew what it looked like, since she had seen it many times in the past... and knew who this had to be, despite the facts that she knew at the moment.

"W... Wildfire?" Chrysalis weakly asked, though at the same time she lowered her weapon until it was resting by her leg, as her mind was struggling to understand what was happening, "Wildfire Comet? I... Is that really you?"

"Chryssi?!" the mare said, though that was before she flapped her wings and headed over towards the side of the room that Chrysalis and Isaac were standing on, before she stopped in front of the duo and studied them for a few seconds as she tried to see past the helmets, which prompted Chrysalis to disengage her helmet for a moment, "Chryssi, it is you! I knew I recognized your voice the moment you started talking, though it took me a second to realize you had changed forms again... and I'm not against the form your wearing now."

Chrysalis couldn't believe what she was hearing, because the only pony that knew that personal nickname, which she only gave to the mare that truly held her heart, was somehow standing in front of her, causing her to stand there in shock for a few seconds.

"Chryssi? You look like you've seen a ghost," Wildfire commented, though that was followed by her smiling as she leveled herself with Chrysalis and twisted her head as she placed a light kiss on her cheek, before pulling back with a grin on her face, "Not that I mind reminding you about the fun we had in the past."

"Now is not the time Wildfire," Nicole said, causing the pegasus to glance back at her before sighing and departed from Chrysalis' company, to which she turned back towards Isaac, "Okay, the door's unlocked Isaac. Wildfire and I are going to find another route so we can meet up with you... but remember that I love you, Isaac, just as she loves Chrysalis. This will all be over soon."

Before Isaac could say anything Nicole walked towards the door she had walked through earlier and walked out of the room they were in, to which Wildfire waved a hoof at Chrysalis before following after her, leaving Isaac and Chrysalis to their own devices... which was mostly Isaac opening the door behind them and finding the beacon they had come here for, as well as the schematic for the level four RIG suit.

"Isaac! Hey, I lost both your signal and Chrysalis' signal for a moment there," Kendra spoke up, surprising Isaac by that fact, though at the same time he stored the beacon and the schematic before shaking Chrysalis out of the shock that she was in, where she reengaged her helmet once more, "I was worried there for a moment... but now my fears have been eased, especially since you have the beacon now. Just head to the Mining sub deck and attach it to the asteroid. I've been running trajectory calculations and if we launch soon, there's a good chance the asteroid can reach a safe distance to begin transmitting. Unfortunately there's still no sign of Hammond... in his state, I can't imagine he's still alive..."

Isaac was sad to hear that Kendra thought that Hammond was dead, but considering how much poison he had taken into his body before he and Chrysalis arrived at their destination he guessed that their commander might have died before they took out the Leviathan. Chrysalis, on the other hand, was still shocked by what she had seen and said nothing as she followed Isaac out of the area they were in, as she was trying to understand what had happened and who she had seen. She knew that it was impossible for her to have seen Wildfire again, especially since she was already dead, and knew that the Marker must have already wormed it's way into her head, showing her the first signs that it showed the crew of the Ishimura and the colonists of Aegis VII... and yet she couldn't stop her heart from racing as she touched the part of her helmet that rested above where Wildfire had kissed her, as it had felt completely real.

Chrysalis wasn't sure what was going on at the moment, but she hoped that, at some point in the future, she and Isaac figured out everything about this strange mystery... hopefully without going completely insane before they and their friends escaped from the Ishimura.

Ishimura: Launching the Asteroid

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After retrieving the beacon that they needed to attach to the asteroid, which had been after seeing both of their loved ones again, the duo walked out of the room that the beacon had been resting in and returned to the trolley that would take them back towards the large elevator. The trolley was right where they left it and immediately climbed onto it, where Isaac pressed the button and got them started across the line so they could return to the small room before the elevator, though at the same time they discovered that some new pods had been deposited during their encounter in the previous room. At first it appeared that the pods were the only enemies, though after a few seconds a lurker emerged on their right and growled at them. Chrysalis responded by blasting the lurker to pieces before it could even attempt to attack them, where the pieces fell into the abyss around them, though her victory was short lived as more lurkers emerged from wherever they were hiding and continued the attack.

It didn't take them long to deal with all of the enemies that were in front of them and return to where they had first used the trolley, though this time around they were attacked by a pair of slashers that were waiting for them, to which they responded by opening fire on them... before returning to the small area that was in front of the elevator, where they dealt with one more slasher that was pretending to be dead in front of the elevator.

"I've restored elevator access to the Mining sub deck," Kendra informed them, which the two of them could see by simply looking at the command terminal that was in front of them, though they patiently waited for her to finish before they picked the level they wanted to head to next, "It was a security lockdown, although I don't think that it helped them out. Now that the two of you have the beacon and the access key, you should head to the Mining sub deck. It looks like the asteroid is being held in place by some gravity tethers, which the two of you will have to knock out before you can launch it off the ship."

Isaac looked at the terminal for a few seconds before he tapped the icon for the Mining sub deck, to which the elevator rose up to the level above them and opened the door, where they discovered a host of enemies already waiting for them this time around. Slashers and lurkers were standing around the entrance to this level, causing the duo to open fire on them in an attempt to move forward, though even as made their way into the sub deck they turned to the left and headed in that direction. It ended up being a wise decision in some ways, since they came to an area that appeared to have a store and a Bench for them to use, though that required them to cut down a slasher that was trying to fake them out by pretending to be dead. The duo then headed towards the store, where they found an audio log from Dallas, who noticed what happened to the bodies of the dead and stated that if he didn't have limbs he wouldn't be able to kill anyone when the infectors or the Marker tried to bring him back to life.

Chrysalis was disgusted by the fact that the people of the Ishimura, those that hadn't died automatically, had to resort to such drastic measures to make sure that their friends, and sometimes family, weren't hurt by them when they turned into Necromorphs... though as Isaac accessed the store she simply sat on the nearby container and disengaged her helmet as she thought about what she had seen earlier.

"So, who was that mare?" Isaac asked, as he knew enough about Chrysalis' past, or the past of her home world, to know that the strange pony that had been standing next to Nicole had been important in his companion's life, though he was still coming to terms with the sort of form Chrysalis had before coming here.

"Wildfire Comet... the first, and only, pony I ever gave my heart to." Chrysalis replied, though she couldn't fault Isaac for asking the question, as she and the others had pestered him about Nicole while they were traveling to the Ishimura earlier, but she did have to put her face in her hands.

"I see," Isaac said, to which he moved around some of the items that were in his inventory and sold some of them of, though when he noticed that he could purchase the new suit they had gained the schematic for he paused, since he was interested in what they had seen, "Wildfire seems nice, though I had no idea you were into ladies... or mares, considering where you came from."

"Technically, I like both genders," Chrysalis stated, once more not faulting Isaac for making such a observation, since she never volunteered the information and knew that Isaac had drawn his statement from Wildfire's gender, "Originally, when I started seeing her, it was more to get at my mother, who was trying to teach me to see ponies as a food source and nothing else. In time, however, I eventually developed feelings for Wildfire and revealed my true nature to her, but she was more accepting than the other ponies were at the time and accepted the true me with open hooves, where we became a couple some time after that. As you saw she's a fighter, seeing how she handled that slasher, and her commanding officer at the time was pushing to make sure that the pegasi were ready for war, hence her armor."

"Sounds like the two of you were a perfect match," Isaac said, as he had seen Chrysalis fight with the bone blades that she carried on her back, with a terrifying accuracy at times, and knew that Wildfire must have shown her something during the time they were together.

"We thought so as well," Chrysalis replied, though that was followed by her letting out a sigh as she leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling, because she remembered how it all ended, "I was careful to make sure that none of the other ponies discovered my true nature when I was with Wildfire, reverting back to my true form when we were alone, but eventually her commander, and the leaders of the unicorns and earth ponies, discovered the truth. Someone discovered that I was a changeling, the heir to my mother's kingdom, and revealed my true nature to the three leaders, who proceeded to chase me out of town before I could even explain that I was acting on my own. Wildfire... Wildfire suffered a worse fate than being chased out of town."

"What happened?" Isaac asked, though this time he turned around and noticed something wrong, there were some tears on Chrysalis' face, indicating that he must have asked something that he shouldn't have.

"The other ponies saw Wildfire as a traitor for loving someone like me," Chrysalis replied, though this next part truly pained her heart, because of what happened, but she ignored the tears that had formed and continued speaking, "since she was a pegasus the others tied rope around her wings, binding them to her side, and dropped her off in the largest desert in the entirety of Equestria. I spent weeks searching for her, so I could save her and bring her back to my home since her kind had pretty much banished her, but... but in the end I was too late, and I found her body resting in the sand. I foolishly hoped that she was still alive, after so much time in that desert, but after discovering what happened to her I cried for weeks and mourned her terrible passing... while my heart shattered into a thousand pieces and I turned bitter towards the ponies that inflicted such a terrible fate upon my sweet Wildfire."

"Wait... you mean..." Isaac said, though as he realized what Chrysalis had said, and why she had frozen up earlier when she saw Wildfire, he also realized what was happening to his companion.

"Wildfire died a little over a thousand years ago," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she touched the side of her face where she had felt the touch of Wildfire's lips, because despite the truth it felt too real for it to be an illusion, "I personally buried her with her armor and weapon, along with what remained of my heart, before I went on to become queen of the changelings when my mother finally retired. That's why I froze earlier, because there's no way Wildfire could be here, on the Ishimura, in her natural form like that... and yet it's like she's been given a second chance at life, because that kiss felt real."

"Chrysalis, you're just feeling heartbroken," Isaac said, though he had no idea how to comfort someone whose lived for over a thousand years and whose only comfort, the only person or pony they ever loved, had died over a thousand years ago, but he hoped that she would accept his statement, "you aren't going insane. You are much stronger than the colonists were, so there's no way for the Marker to be getting to you already."

Chrysalis sighed and nodded her head, though instead of saying anything she decided that the time for talking was over and wiped the tears from her eyes, as merely thinking of Wildfire still caused her to freeze and cry, something that she had refused to show to her changelings. Now, however, her only companions were Isaac and Kendra, maybe even Hammond if she was lucky, and knew that they would let her cry and voice her sadness without judging her, even though Isaac felt terrible for bringing up the past. Once the tears were gone, and sure was sure of that, she engaged her helmet and stood up once more, where she watched Isaac nod for a second and he accessed the store, to which he stepped into the machine and let it close around him... though when he emerged Chrysalis noticed that the left arm piece of Isaac's suit had armor pieces, as well as the leggings that he was wearing, and there was a fourth line on his helmet.

As Isaac stepped out of the store area, however, Chrysalis took a moment to sell off the stuff she didn't need and noticed that she also had enough credits to purchase the suit as well, to which she stepped into the machine after making the purchase and let it close around her... though a few moments later she emerged with her modified suit.

With the two of them decked out in new armor they walked down the path that was in front of and headed over to where the Bench was located, though as Isaac accessed the work station Chrysalis heard the sound of a Necromorph moving in the nearby vents. She turned towards the vent near the Bench and raised her Pulse Rifle as a slasher jumped out of the vent and landed on the floor in front of her, to which she tore the slasher apart as Isaac upgraded whichever weapon he was working on. When Isaac was done with his weapon the duo moved on, as Chrysalis didn't feel like using her Power Nodes just yet, but as they did so Chrysalis wrapped her magic around the Power Box and pulled it from the terminal that it was in... to which the two of them walked down the path on the right of the main entrance of this sub deck and found a terminal waiting near a cargo lift.

Of course the duo had to deal with a few more Necromorphs that were in their way, a pair of exploders to be exact, though once they were done with those enemies the duo walked up to the cargo lift, slipped the Power Box into the terminal, and rode it down to the next level... where they followed the hallway in front of them and found a text log that detailed the mining timeline, including the planetcrack. The duo stared at the text log for a few seconds, as it was an interesting thing to read for a moment or two, before they stored the log away and opened the circular door to the area where the tethers were located, as well as the massive asteroid that they were holding in one place.

"So, there's the asteroid we need to attach the beacon to," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she noticed that there appeared to be four beams attached to the asteroid, two of which appeared to be inside the room and two of them appeared to be outside the chamber.

"And there's the Necromorphs that want to stop us," Isaac added, to which he aimed at the leaper that was coming his way and and dismembered it before it could reach them, where he heard Chrysalis firing at a lurker that was near them, which just confirmed his suspicions.

There was actually a few lurkers and leapers waiting in this chamber, waiting for them to move before they even revealed themselves, though at the same time Chrysalis observed the area around them as she wondered how they were going to destroy the gravity tethers. As she watched the one on the level that they were on, however, she noticed that there were times where some power tubes, like those they destroyed to get through the flaming tunnels on the Hydroponics Deck, were revealed to them. When she pointed this out to Isaac her companion loosed a Stasis blast at the gravity tether and slowed it down, where Chrysalis noticed that the tubes were vulnerable for a few moments and immediately opened fire on it... causing the entire tether to explode as the beam was disconnected, leaving three more beams from the three remaining tethers.

Isaac leapt towards the ceiling and moved towards the gravity tether that was at the top of the room, though Chrysalis simply aimed at the area between the inside and outside of the room, to which she landed on the asteroid after the moving rings passed by her destination. The instant she landed on the edge of the asteroid she walked along the edge and headed outside, where she was thankful for her increased air supply as she started firing at the lurkers that happened to be running around the exterior of the ship. She noticed that there was a large number of them this time around, at least ten by her estimates, but fortunately she didn't have to fight them alone as Isaac followed her outside and opened fire on the enemies on her left, allowing her to focus on those that were to her right.

While the two of them made cut and blasted their way through their enemies Chrysalis noticed that they could see Aegis VII, and the massive piece that had been pulled from it, in the sky above them, a reminder of what the Ishimura had done before the outbreak happened... before she pushed the thought away and focused on the task at hand.

Isaac approached one of the gravity tethers and slowed it down with a Stasis blast, allowing him to blast the power tubes to pieces before the entire machine was a flaming wreck, while at the same time Chrysalis approached the second one and did the same thing that her companion was doing. For her, however, she had to resort to sinking her magic into the machine and froze the components with a frost spell, giving her the ability to blast one of the tubes to pieces once the rotating part was no longer spinning. The instant the final tether was down, however, she and Isaac got back together in the middle of the asteroid, on the outside part of it, and carefully attached the beacon to the surface of the piece of rock, before they headed back inside the room the other half of the asteroid was resting in.

Warning. the computerized voice said, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis jumped onto the nearby wall and then jumped to the floor, allowing them a moment to relax before Kendra talked to them, Payload 8772 is no longer tethered. Untrained personnel should leave the area immediately.

What surprised them was that as they made their way outside the room where the asteroid was resting, and returned to the hallway that was outside the room, there was no word from Kendra yet, though they kept their mouths shut as they blasted apart a slasher that was waiting for them by the cargo lift. As they road the cargo lift back up to the level it had been at earlier, before they accessed it to reach the area the asteroid was resting in, they noticed that several of the machines were now spewing fire, meaning that they had to be careful as they moved the power box back to the terminal it had originally been in earlier. Fortunately it didn't appear that there were any enemies at the moment, not with all of the flames that the two of them had to avoid as they levitated the power box through the area, as they were able to retrace their steps to the store and Bench area... where Isaac carefully slipped the power box into the terminal and restored power to the cargo lift that would take them to the control room that contained the terminal that would allow them to launch the asteroid.

They paused for a moment, to make sure that no Necromorphs were waiting for them to return the power box to where it had been earlier, but when they didn't see any slashers or exploders or lurkers the duo walked onto the cargo lift and rode it up to the level it was supposed to take them to... where they found a few swarm type enemies waiting for them, but Chrysalis crushed them immediately with pure magic before they climbed off the cargo lift.

The door to the control room was locked, as they expected, to which Isaac touched the door and the card was recognized, where he and Chrysalis walked into the area that would allow them to do what they were here to do, though before they got too far they both noticed a box on the wall that contained another Power Node. They took a moment to gather all the supplies that were resting around the small room, before they approached the terminal that was in front of the window and got another clear view of the asteroid, along with the machine that was still holding it in place at the moment, despite the fact that the tethers had been destroyed. Isaac and Chrysalis braced themselves, as they were sure that something was going to happen after they activated the terminal, before they sighed and touched the command option, to which the lights flashed and the asteroid was released from whatever was holding it.

Payload 8772 launched. the computerized voice declared, though at the same time the duo stared at the asteroid for a few moments as it drifted off into space and left the Ishimura behind, while hoping that this did exactly what Kendra said it would do.

"Beacon's on it's way!" Kendra declared, though this time around a video link appeared, instead of them just listening to her voice, but Chrysalis noticed that she seemed sad about something and had an idea what that something had to be, since she had seen the same thing earlier, "All functions normal and broadcasting wide band... now we just have to hope that someone's listening. I'll position the array receiver. Guys, I thought I saw my brother again. He waved to me, like nothing was wrong."

"You aren't the only one seeing dead loved ones," Chrysalis said, as she easily recalled what she and Isaac had seen earlier, or more specifically who they had seen when they went after the beacon, "Wildfire Comet, the love of my life that's been dead for a thousand years... I saw her earlier, when Isaac and I were searching for the beacon."

"...I'm sorry to hear that," Kendra replied, as she and Isaac hadn't known how long Chrysalis had been alive before today, and was still shocked by how old she really was, and knew that she must been suffering for years to try and replace someone that was irreplaceable, "Okay, I should be able to leave this channel open... What? The Comms Array receiver isn't responding. Isaac, Chrysalis, can the two of you get back to the Bridge? We need that array online, otherwise we can't receive signals from anyone responding to the beacon."

Before either of them could respond, however, the room was locked down as quarantine enforced itself upon the area they were in, to which Isaac and Chrysalis prepared themselves for the Necromorphs that were no doubt coming their way at the moment. Slashers started pouring into the room, at least ten of them, causing the duo to split apart and take one side of the room apiece, where they kept their eyes on the slashers and opened fire on them as they dropped down into the area that they were in. Since she had access to magic, and some of her enemies had no idea what to do against it, she froze several of the slashers that were in front of her and blasted them to pieces with her weapon, while at the same time Isaac dismembered the enemies that came at him and even had to use a med pack to heal one of wounds that was dealt during the fight.

With the fight done, and no more Necromorphs were coming after them, the duo walked out of the room and headed back to the cargo lift, allowing it to take them down to the level where the store was located, to which they carefully walked through the corridor that had flames. Halfway through that area they returned to the main elevator and climbed onto it, where Isaac pressed the button for the Preparation sub deck, the first of the four sub decks, and they waited as the elevator took them to their destination.

"So, back to the Bridge?" Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she wasn't surprised, because when one task was completed they either went to a new deck, to take care of a specific task, or headed back to an old deck to do something specific.

"That's correct," Isaac replied, though he shared Chrysalis' mood, he wasn't too keen on backtracking at this point in time, but he knew that they needed the Comms Array to be online and that the two of them were the only ones that could fix whatever went wrong, "but think about this; we'll be there for a few minutes, fix up the Comms Array, and then we'll head to one of the other decks and fix something else."

"I hate how I know you might be right," Chrysalis moaned, though before she could say anything else a slasher, the empowered black variety they had encountered when the Captain had been transformed into a Necromorph, dropped onto the elevator floor and turned towards them.

Chrysalis turned her Pulse Rifle on the slasher as Isaac pulled out the Plasma Cutter, to which the two of them opened fire on the slasher and dismembered it before it could touch them, though before they could put their weapons away they found some of the limb type Necromorphs wandering around the Preparation sub deck, in front of the elevator. The duo carefully removed all of the limb enemies and moved forward, where they walked through the door that was in front of them and passed through the short hallway that was between them and the Tram. When they arrived at the waiting Tram the two of them took their seats before Isaac pressed the icon for the Bridge and they got underway once more... though this time around they remained silent so they could think about what they had seen earlier.

Chrysalis took the time to reflect on her own past and what happened since Wildfire's death, where she wondered if her love would have been proud of her or disappointed in how she acted recently... yet all she could do was let some tears flow as she waited to see what horrors were waiting for them on the Bridge this time around.

Ishimura: Fixing Communications

View Online

As Isaac and Chrysalis headed towards the Bridge once more, to fix yet another broken part of the Ishimura, the mood was slightly different than it had been when they were riding the Tram to the Mining Deck, where the asteroid had been located until a few minutes ago. Isaac was happy with everything they had done, as he, Chrysalis, Kendra, and hopefully Hammond had survived everything that the Necromorphs had thrown at them, repaired critical parts of the ship to ensure that none of them died from poisoned air or asteroids, and had sent out a distress beacon that would ensure they escaped from this nightmare in one piece. He was sure that if he had been forced to do this all by himself, without any backup at all, he would have completed all of this anyway, but he found that having a partner like Chrysalis meant that things were easier since someone was watching his back... even if his companion was being silent for the majority of their journey to the Bridge.

Chrysalis, while extremely happy for their successes so far, couldn't help but be weighed down by the pain of her past, because she had buried her broken heart with Wildfire and had tired to forget about it, and she originally thought that she had succeeded in that regard... until the Marker pulled her darling out of the past and brought her here, as if it was trying to break her will or something. She supposed that, in a way, the Marker could have already succeeded, as she had frozen up the first time she saw Wildfire and was constantly crying every single time she thought about her, though all this told her was that she was definitely going insane, regardless of what Isaac said. Still, despite her own issues and questions regarding her sanity, she still felt happy knowing that there was a possibility that they could be rescued from this nightmare, though she didn't spoil Isaac's mood with her sadness, as she considered him her friend and didn't want to ruin the moment.

It wasn't long before they reached their destination, though as Isaac walked towards the door of the Tram he noticed Chrysalis open her helmet for a moment so she could finish wiping away what remained of her tears, but he didn't say anything since he figured that she would tell him everything when she was ready... before she walked up beside him, with her helmet engaged, and the two of them walked off the Tram and returned to the station they had visited earlier.

"Things are looking up!" Kendra informed them, appearing on the video link once more, though with the smile on her face Isaac couldn't help but smile as well, as he was sure that the news was great, "A military ship just shocked in... the USM Valor. I don't know what it was doing all the way out here, but it must have gotten our distress signal. We can't talk to it unless the Comms Array is fixed, which you both know by now, so I'm going to hack the doors to Communications for you. Get in there and find the Comms Control Station."

"Not to rain on everyone's parade, but am I the only one worried about this?" Chrysalis asked, because there was something extremely alarming about what Kendra just told her and Isaac, something that neither of them seemed to have noticed, "I mean, there just happens to be a military grade ship, no doubt armed with weapons and soldiers that are trained for battle, sitting near where the Ishimura is located and only made itself known when we launched that asteroid a few minutes ago. Surely the both of you can see that something is extremely wrong with this picture?"

"Maybe they were on their way to an outpost or something." Isaac stated, though even as he spoke he had to admit that Chrysalis raised a valid point, because if the Valor was so close to the Ishimura he had to wonder why they hadn't done anything until the asteroid had been launched, "Either way, we still have to fix the Comms Array before we can do anything else, so we had best get moving."

Chrysalis was thankful that someone was willing to listen to her, even if he didn't fully agree with her take on what was going on, but instead of saying anything else she and Isaac moved on as the link between them and Kendra was cut, indicating that she was leaving this to them. The two of them made their way back to the Main Atrium and passed by the store that was along the way, though as they entered the main chamber, however, they discovered that one of the elevators was plugged up by the organic growth that they had encountered earlier. It was impossible to know if this was recent or if it had grown in before the death of the Leviathan, but instead of waiting around for anything to happen the duo walked forward... which, in turn, caused the quarantine gates to fall around them as their enemies came for them. This time around both Isaac and Chrysalis were surprised with the amount of enemies that came towards them, as there were at least ten exploders, three slashers, and a leaper that wanted them dead.

Bullets rained on the ground as the duo opened fire on their enemies, making sure that the exploders were grouped together before one of their goo blobs exploded and took them all out, while using the Stasis Module to slow down the remaining enemies, who were darkened and empowered, before they were overwhelmed... though after a few tense moments of fighting the gates opened and the quarantine was over.

Once they were sure that there were no more enemies in the immediate area, and had collected all the ammunition that had been dropped for them, Isaac and Chrysalis headed towards the elevator that was in front of the path down to the area that Hammond had been stationed in until he left for the Hydroponics Deck. As they climbed into the elevator, however, they discovered that the Level 1 option was no longer accessible, confirming that the growth had been active since the moment they left the deck. Isaac sighed and tapped the icon for Level 3, since they were on Level 2, and the door closed before their eyes, allowing the elevator to start it's ascent to the level above them, where they could begin the repairs that needed to be made.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, the door to Comms is open." Kendra told them, which was great news for them, as it made their lives that much easier, but at the same time they both detected that there was something else she needed to tell them, "But I've been getting some weird feedback spikes on the local comms... I think someone might be listening in on us, so be careful."

Chrysalis wondered if it was Mercer that Kendra had discovered the existence of, as she and Isaac hadn't seen anything of the mad doctor since they trapped the hunter in an icy tomb, but at the same time she knew that they would keep their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. She knew that, at some point in the future, they would figure out who was listening on their conversations and put a stop to it, though she pushed that thought from her mind as she and Isaac reached the level that allowed them to access the ADS earlier. As they walked off the elevator they found that the screens that were hanging on the walls were showing what was called static, though Chrysalis paid them no mind as she raided the crates of their ammunition and joined Isaac as he walked into the hallway once more.

As they walked out of the room they had been in, and turned to the left, they noticed a guardian resting on the wall in front of them, which was already starting to launch pods at them, to which Isaac loosed a few shots at the pods while Chrysalis tore the Necromorph apart with her Pulse Rifle. It didn't take long for the two of them to make short work of the guardian, but as they walked forward a little more they discovered that a second guardian was resting on the same wall as the first one and was ready for them. The duo let out a sigh as they opened fire on the pods and the guardian they came from, though as they tore it apart Chrysalis noticed that the door to the ADS was locked, indicating that the growth had either sealed it in some manner or someone didn't want them heading out there anymore.

When the second guardian was dead, and had stopped moving entirely, the duo approached the door to the Comms Array and opened it, where they found another survivor crawling towards them before expiring like all of the other people they had encountered so far. A few seconds later a new Necromorph, which looked like the combined form of all the limb shaped Necromorphs they had encountered so far, walked around the corner and stared at them for a few seconds before starting it's walk towards them. The duo immediately opened fire on the creature that was coming at them, shooting off it's arms and legs like they were supposed to, though when the Necromorph was on the ground it separated back into the lesser limb creatures and continued their advance... up until Chrysalis and Isaac blasted the creatures into a thousand pieces, only stopping when the coast was clear.

Once the divider, a name Chrysalis had chosen for the unique enemy they had encountered, had been taken care of the duo followed the hallway that would take them to the Comms Array, which immediately brought them to a door that had come chairs and desks blocking the way... though while they removed the obstruction Chrysalis picked up a ruby colored semiconductor, which she pocketed for later.

The area behind the door contained a Bench and a cargo lift, though since they didn't have any Power Nodes to use, and Isaac didn't want to use the ones that Chrysalis had in case she purchased a new weapon in the near future, the duo walked onto the cargo lift and activated it. At the top area that the cargo lift connected to the duo found an audio log, this one from First Comms Operator Bailey, though this time they learned that Bailey wanted to send out a distress signal and was denied by Captain Mathius. It was then that they discovered that the Ishimura wasn't supposed to be in this prohibited system, making this entire venture an illegal operation that the crew had known for months, and that Bailey was going to disregard his captain's orders. When Bailey started to send out a distress signal, however, he learned that the entire comms array was offline, where he immediately blamed his captain and the log ended, though Isaac and Chrysalis determined that he must have come here to try and fix everything himself.

They walked through the door in front of them and found a Power Node in the box to their left, though once they had the node the two of them climbed onto the trolley in front of them and accessed the terminal, to which it started moving towards the other area it connected to. The only thing they had to worry about on their way to the other side of the tunnel was a corpse that was hanging in the air, to which the duo simply moved out of the way and let it pass by them, before finally arriving at their destination. Oddly enough the area that they walked into was much cleaner than any of the other rooms and chambers that they had walked through earlier, but at the same time they looked around for the Comms Array and what part of it they needed to fix... though it wasn't hard to find the array, since the room they were in actually overlooked the entire device.

Communications array offline. the computerized voice said, to which both Isaac and Chrysalis rolled their eyes, as they already knew that thanks to what Kendra had told them and what Bailey's log had revealed, A service technician has been notified.

"That Comms Array is in bad shape." Kendra noted, though at the same time both Isaac and Chrysalis nodded their heads, as it appeared that the Necromorphs had done quite a number on this portion of the ship, "We need at least six working dishes for a strong enough signal. Make sure they're aligned symmetrically so there are no power gaps."

Chrysalis wasn't exactly sure what Kendra meant by that, just like she had been slightly confused by everything else she had heard so far, but she was going to do the same thing she had been doing the entire time she was with Isaac, she was going to wing it and hope for the best. She followed Isaac into the side room, where they discovered a Power Node and some ammunition, before they approached the circular door that would allow them to access the array, though they had to move through a second door before they entered the Zero-G area that the array was resting in. As they entered the Zero-G area the duo discovered that the Necromorphs that had damaged the machine, a pack of leapers, had remained in this area to kill anyone that came to fix the array, because the moment they walked out of the safe area the group of leapers became active.

The duo remained where they were standing and opened fire on the leapers that were coming after them, carefully aiming at their arms so that when their targets landed they could dismember them immediately, though fortune was on their side as none of the leapers even reached the two of them... though once the last one was dead Chrysalis stared at the damaged dishes and wondered what they were going to do.

"So, how do we fix the array?" Chrysalis asked, because this wasn't as straightforward as the other things she and Isaac had to fix around the ship, though if it was easy to figure out she would feel like an idiot for not seeing it.

"Simple, we remove the damaged dishes," Isaac said, to which he used his Kinesis Module to lift one of the broken dishes out of the way and let go of it, allowing it to float through the air as he turned to the other dishes, "and make sure that the six good dishes are placed in a circle, on the same level anyway."

Before asking another stupid question, and making herself look like a fool in the process, Chrysalis noticed that the screen in the room showed the positions of the dishes, where the green lights must have been the good ones and the red lights must have been the damaged ones. One of the red lights vanished when Isaac pulled out the damaged dish, to which she nodded her understanding and helped Isaac remove the remaining damaged dishes, watching as the red lights started to disappear in the process. The moment they had all of the damaged dishes removed, and they were sure of it, the duo carefully lifted one of the good dishes up out of where it was resting and moved it into position in the circle that was the closest to the center of the chamber, where three good dishes were already resting. A few moments passed before Chrysalis moved the last of the good dishes into position, to which the area lit up and the screen returned to the color it had before the malfunction had occurred.

While that was happening, however, the duo returned to the door to this area and waited, as they were pleased with their progress and were waiting to see if there was anything else they needed to do in this area before they departed and headed back to the Tram.

Communications array re-aligned. the computerized voice said, to which the duo grinned as they heard that, as it confirmed that they had correctly fixed the Comms Array and that they could finally speak with the Valor, Messages can now be received.

"That's it, it's working!" Kendra declared, though this time around both Isaac and Chrysalis could hear the joy in her voice, indicating that she was ready to leave this nightmare behind as well, "Get back to Communications and use the control panel to send our coordinates to the Valor!"

Isaac and Chrysalis headed back through the two circular doors that were in their way and retraced their steps to the terminal that they had been standing near when Kendra told them what to do in this area, though once they stepped up to the panel Isaac tapped some buttons and the array came to life... which was followed by all of them receiving a message from the crew of the USM Valor.

"This is the USM Valor, broadcasting on all frequencies to the USG Ishimura in response to your SOS." the Comms Operator for the Valor said, though that was when the group discovered that it was an actual video feed this time around, where Chrysalis found that the man was wearing his suit with the helmet engaged, "We've picked up your escape pod number 47, and are en route to your position. This message will repeat every thirty seconds until you respond."

"Escape pod?" Chrysalis asked, though that was before her eyes widened as she remembered what happened on the Bridge the last time she and Isaac had come here, or more specifically what was inside that escape pod, "Oh no, that's the very escape pod that Hammond fired off the ship when we were fixing the ADS. It had a slasher trapped inside it!"

"What!? You mean one of those things is aboard the Valor now?!" Kendra said, though her tone went from happy to urgent, because if they didn't act fast the Valor might suffer the same fate as the Ishimura and they would have a whole new mess of Necromorphs to deal with, "No, I refuse to let this happen again! USM Valor! Come in Valor! Damn, our signal isn't strong enough... I'm going to open the blast doors to boost our signal."

Error: blast door blockage detected. the computerized voice said, though this time around both Isaac and Chrysalis, as well as Kendra for that matter, weren't happy to hear that something else was broken, Please contact a repair technician.

"Shit!" Kendra snapped, as this wasn't the news they wanted, not after all the good that had happened to them so far, in regards to them staying alive through all this madness, "Isaac, Chrysalis, there's something big on the hull of the ship, directly above the Comms Array, something organic. I don't know what it is, and honestly I could care less about finding that out. We need to get those doors open so we can transmit to the Valor. You should have a clear shot from ADS cannon 48, so get over to it and blow whatever's on the hull out into space!"

"Roger that." Isaac said, to which the connection between them and Kendra was cut off, though he paid it no mind as he and Chrysalis returned to the trolley and headed back towards the station that had let them access the other ADS cannon some time ago.

As they rode the trolley forward Chrysalis spotted a lurker running on the tracks, though when the trolley collided with the small Necromorph it crushed the lurker instantly, to which she chuckled for a moment as they came to a stop at their destination a few seconds later. The duo then walked through the door and found that a slasher had been smart enough to use the cargo lift to ambush them, though it wasn't smart enough to account for Chrysalis dismembering it so easily with the bone blades that she carried on her back. From there it was a simple matter to ride the cargo lift down to the level below them and walk towards the large door that they had walked through earlier, though once they were through that door they accessed the now unlocked door on their right and entered the elevator that would take them to the ADS cannon they needed to access.

Once the elevator came to a stop the duo walked out of it and headed towards the circular door that was in front of them, which happened to be where the seat for the controls was located, though as Isaac walked over to the seat Chrysalis opened a wall box and claimed the Power Node inside it... before the shields opened up and revealed that the organic obstruction was some sort of large crab like Necromorph, one that ignored their existence until Isaac fired at it.

As Isaac fired at it five large tentacles, each containing the same yellow weakness as a few of the enemies that they had encountered so far, erupted from it's back and started latching onto parts of the hull, where it ripped pieces of the ship off and hurled them at the cannon. Isaac had to pick and choose when to attack the yellow goo sacks and when to target the fragments of the Ishimura that were being thrown at them, though it was at times like this that he wished there was a second cannon so Chrysalis could help him out, as her magic was useless in this situation. Instead he focused on the task at hand, letting his companion help him plan when to attack the fragments and when to target the tentacles, until finally a well placed shot obliterated one of the goo sacks and tore the tentacle to pieces, leaving four more for him to take care of before the blast doors could be opened.

Chrysalis watched all of this go on and helped her friend to the best of her limited ability, though she patted him on the shoulder when the second tentacle was destroyed, showing that he was making the right move and that they would get through this together. Fortunately taking out one tentacle reduced the number of items that the creature threw at them, where they also discovered that if they hit a sack while the tentacle was holding something, like a large explosive canister, it would drop what it was holding, allowing the item to drift into space without being used against them. She also considered that this fight might be doing more harm than good to the Ishimura, but at the same time she absolutely hated the planet cracker and the mess she had gotten herself into. That was soon followed by the third tentacle being destroyed, allowing Isaac to focus on the remaining two tentacles and what they were throwing at him, to which Chrysalis smiled as she watched the crab Necromorph suffer for what it had been doing.

After a few more volleys of well placed blasts the remaining tentacles were torn off and the large Necromorph ceased it's movements, where the circular part of it that was attached to the ship loosened it's grasp before drifting off into space, where Isaac and Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief a the sight.

Opening Communications Array blast doors. the computerized voice said, though the duo knew that this had to make Kendra a little happy with their efforts, but they were more worried about the Valor and the escape pod.

"USM Valor, this is Kendra Daniels on the USG Ishimura, come in!" Kendra called over the communications, though Isaac and Chrysalis waited in silence as they waited to see what happened next, especially since there was no telling what happened on the Valor at this point in time, "Do not open the escape pod! USM Valor, this is Kendra Daniels on the USG Ishimura, come in! Do not open the escape pod! Dammit, respond!"

That was followed by a new video replacing Kendra's, where they discovered the slasher from the pod killing one of the crew members of the Valor, though as that happened Chrysalis noticed something that immediately worried her more than what was happened aboard the other ship. The USM Valor had finally appeared in the space surrounding the Ishimura, though it was getting larger with every passing second, at an alarming rate, and there was an explosion that rocked part of the Valor as well. As Kendra started to whine about why the crew of the Valor opened the pod, and thus sealed their fate, she noticed what Isaac and Chrysalis had noticed, where she called for them to 'get the fuck out of there', before the video was terminated. Chrysalis, knowing that moving was well beyond an option at this point in time, grabbed Isaac, hauled him out of the chair as carefully as she could given the current situation, and pressed the two of them against the wall... where she expanded her magical energy and created a triple layered barrier, one that surrounded them and two more surrounding that one, before they braced themselves.

Not a few seconds later the Valor rammed right into the side of the Ishimura and forced the duo to cover their eyes as parts of the room collapsed around them, where they heard the definite sound of an explosion happening, though they remained in that state for a few moments before they dared to open their eyes... where they found that the room was on fire and that it was totally wrecked, though the barrier had saved them from being severely hurt in the process.

"I can't believe that the time I spent listening to Shining Armor talk about shields would come in handy," Chrysalis moaned, as while she was grateful to have learned a spell that had saved their lives, she was shocked by how much power it took to maintain the spell, but it was a small price to pay for staying alive.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, are you there?" a familiar voice said, though as Chrysalis carefully lowered the barriers, to be sure that the area didn't collapse on them, Isaac opened the video link and found their commander, still alive, staring back at them with a look of concern on his face.

"Hammond?!" Isaac and Chrysalis exclaimed, though they were both happy to see that Kendra had been wrong about their commander falling, which meant that it had to have been Mercer that was messing with them the entire time.

"Thank god the two of you are alright." Hammond said, though while he appeared to be happy to see them they knew that he was more concerned with what was going on at the moment, "I've been trying to reach you for some time now, but someone's been blocking my RIG signal remotely. That crash must have interrupted the signal block."

"Hammond?!" Kendra asked, though instead of replacing his video link Kendra remained as a voice this time around, though both Isaac and Chrysalis hoped that she hadn't suffered much during the collision, "Where have you been?"

"Surviving... barely." Hammond replied, though he let a small smile appear on his face, indicating that he was happy to see that all three of them were concerned for his well being, before he faced them once more, "I found some medical supplies and patched myself up. Listen, as the commanding officer I am officially calling off this mission. Fuck the CEC and fuck the chain of command. We have to get the hell out of here. I think I've located a shuttle on the crew deck, one that we can use. The flight log says it needs a new singularity core, but we can probably salvage one from the Valor... which I can see the tail-end of it sticking out of the side of the Ishimura. I'm headed there now to see if I can't find a way inside the ship. I'll meet the two of you there. Hammond out."

"Isaac, Chrysalis, if what he says about the shuttle is true, we might have a chance of getting out of here." Kendra said, though Hammond's video log was replaced by Kendra's, where she still seemed sad over something, but neither of the duo decided to say anything, "Head to the Cargo Bay and see if you can help Hammond... in his state he might not last much longer."

The duo nodded and exited the room where the ADS controls had been, where they used the elevator to return to the level it was connected to and approached the large door that would allow them to access the other room in front of them, where they had killed two guardians earlier. As the door opened, however, they had to contend with several pieces of a divider, though since they were rather easy to take care of neither Isaac or Chrysalis were bothered by them and quickly put their enemies down. From there they made their way to the elevator that would take them down to the Main Atrium and accessed the machine, to which the two of them rode down towards their destination in silence, all while keeping their weapons at the ready in case more enemies were waiting for them.

When the elevator reached the Main Atrium and the duo walked out, only to round the corner and find another divider waiting for them, but neither of them were in the mood and they opened fire immediately, breaking the Necromorph down into it's movable limbs before blasting those apart as well.

Once the divider was taken care of the duo moved into the hallway that would take them back to the Tram station, though they paused for a few moments by the store so they could sell off the ammunition and other items that they didn't need at the moment. The instant they were done with the store they headed towards the end of the hallway, though that was when they found a pregnant Necromorph walking around the corner, to which the duo opened fire and dismembered the creature before it could release whatever was inside it. From there it was smooth sailing towards the Tram, as they encountered no more enemies along the way and climbed onto the Tram, where they took their seats and started the short journey towards the deck that the Valor had rammed into.

Chrysalis wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived at their next destination, though she hoped that it would be a simple matter to find the singularity core and leave with it, so they could all get off this ship and leave this terrible nightmare behind at long last.

Ishimura: Salvaging the Valor

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While Isaac and Chrysalis traveled to the deck that the Valor had rammed into, where they intended to get their hands on the singularity core that Hammond was going to help them recover, Chrysalis remained silent as she thought about something that was bothering her. Originally, in the heat of the moment when the Valor had collided with the Ishimura, she and Isaac believed that it was Mercer that had been blocking Hammond's RIG in an attempt to make them think that their friend was dead, but upon further consideration of that fact she realized what was wrong with that picture. From what she recalled on the RIGs, where she admitted that her knowledge wasn't great, the only people that should be able to do such a thing was one of the other people whose RIG was linked with Hammond's. Since they had lost two of their members at the very beginning of their arrival on the Ishimura, thanks to not knowing about the Necromorphs ahead of time, the only people that should be able to block Hammond's signal was either her, Isaac, or Kendra... and, since she had no idea how to do something like that, nor had she seen Isaac do anything with his RIG, that meant that the only person that could have done this had to be Kendra.

At the same time, however, Chrysalis didn't want to immediately call her out since she had next to no knowledge in this field and didn't want to upset her and Isaac, even though that would put fuel on the fire for Kendra and Hammond to go to war with each other and forget about what they were trying to do. Yet despite all of this she had the undeniable feeling that one of them was lying to her and Isaac, though whether or not Isaac had figured that fact out as well was something that she would only find out if she asked him. Instead she kept her mouth shut and kept her thoughts to herself, though all this information did was make her remember what she had done when she was the queen of the changelings, back when she played the long game and manipulated ponies like chess pieces. She was sure that someone was playing a game with all of them and had already arranged their pieces accordingly, but so far it appeared that whoever that person was had no idea that Chrysalis was onto them... and she intended to keep it that way until she figured out what was going on.

A few seconds later the Tram stopped at the deck that the USM Valor had rammed into, the Ore Storage Deck to be precise, to which Chrysalis and Isaac gathered their weapons and walked off the Tram, where they kept their guard up since the Valor had been full of soldiers and that meant there was a new army of Necromorphs waiting for them.

"Isaac? Chrysalis?" Hammond asked, though that was when the video link between them was established, where the duo noticed that the commander was happy to see them standing on a new deck, "Good, the two of you made it to the Ore Storage Deck. Listen, I just found the munitions log for the Valor... and I don't think that their presence here, so close to the Ishimura, is a coincidence. They're not on reconnaissance and they're certainly not on patrol... they're prepped for war. They were on a seek and destroy mission!"

It was at that point that Hammond's video link was disconnected once more, in such a way that seemed like it was almost forceful, before Kendra's video link replaced the commander's, though at the same time Chrysalis knew that something was definitely up.

"Shit, I've lost Hammond again... there's no signal from his RIG." Kendra said, though her tone immediately made Chrysalis suspicious about what was going on, more than she had been on the short Tram ride to this deck, but she said nothing at the moment, "Isaac, Chrysalis, just find the singularity core and get out of there."

"So, it appears that I was right about the Valor," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she noticed Kendra roll her eyes before the video link was disconnected, which seemed strange since Kendra normally praised her when she figured something out and was right, before she turned to Isaac for a moment, "What's gotten into her lately?"

"Well, we did just lose what we thought was a rescue team," Isaac replied, though at the same time he thought about what Hammond had just told them, about the Valor, which only made him sigh for a moment, "and she's likely not happy that the Valor was actually coming here to destroy the Ishimura... which means we should be thankful that the slasher worked so quickly, otherwise we would have been blown to pieces."

"Thanking a Necromorph... now that's a strange thing to do," Chrysalis said, though as she said that she primed her weapon and headed towards the hallway that would take them to the Zero-G Ore Storage, as it was the only way for them to progress at the moment, "Come on, let's get that singularity core, get Hammond out of the Valor, and see if the shuttle needs anything else before we can get off this ship."

She was deliberately acting like she didn't know anything, because she wanted to see if Kendra was the one messing with them, but the fact that Hammond's signal was cut off again, without them hearing the sounds of his vitals flatlining, meant that their friend was up to something. She honestly didn't want to blame Kendra for all of this, especially after everything they had been through so far, but the evidence that she was messing with Hammond's RIG was starting to increase. Even if something had been blocking Hammond's RIG in the past, before the Valor crashed into the Ishimura, she was sure that it would have taken much longer for someone to set the blockade back up, but since they had lost the signal again, so soon after getting it back, someone was working real hard to make it seem like their commander wasn't that important... and the only one that even thought like that had been Kendra.

Chrysalis growled as they walked, because the more she thought about it the more damning the evidence seemed, though she decided to hold her hand back for now, not when Kendra could permanently lock them in one area if they refused to cooperate with her... besides, she knew that there would be a time and a place for her to reveal her hand, she just had to be patient and wait for that moment to arrive.

As the duo walked down through the hallway they discovered a store along the way, but they ignored it as they approached the circular door that would allow them to enter the small room that rested between them and the Valor, to which they carefully opened the door, entered the room that was in front of them, and opened the second door. It was then that the duo got their first real look at the large warship that had collided with the Ishimura, though at the same time they couldn't see a lot of it thanks to the fact that only a section of it was visible from the room they were entering. What Chrysalis could see was that some sort of weapon had been destroyed in the impact and the ammunition that went into firing the weapon was now floating around the chamber. She hated to think that if Hammond hadn't jettisoned that escape pod earlier the Valor would have blown the Ishimura to pieces, effectively killing all of them in the process and, maybe, even destroying the Marker as well.

Before they got too far, however, they paused as they heard the sound of their audio links connecting with someone, though a quick look told them that it was Kendra and not Hammond, as Chrysalis had been hoping that she was overthinking the situation... but they remained silent as the connection was made.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, one of the Valor's weapons ripped open in the crash." Kendra told them, stating the obvious this time around, while at the same time making Chrysalis wonder if their friend thought they were stupid or something, "Those green orbs you see are highly radioactive, and the Valor's airlock has sealed itself. You're going to have to throw those into space before you can get into the ship."

"Well, since there just so happens to be a hatch in front of us, that should be easy," Chrysalis commented, as there was a large hatch they could open and likely launch the green radioactive orbs off the ship, to which Isaac nodded as the connection was cut off once more.

As the duo walked down to the level that the hatch was on, however, they noticed that there were a decent amount of bodies floating all over the place, as well as some power tubes that were keeping the hatch in place, informing them of what they needed to do to free the hatch. Chrysalis had Isaac wait for a few seconds, as she wanted to see if there were any Necromorphs in the immediate area, though when none revealed themselves she nodded and they opened fire on the set of tubes in front of them, breaking the trio into pieces. From there they carefully made their way around to the other side of the hatch and fired upon the tubs on that side, though as the last one was blown apart the hatch opened and the air was pulled out of the area that they were in, causing some leapers to jump into the area and begin their attack. Instead of attacking all the enemies together Chrysalis decided to play defense and fired at the leapers that were after her and Isaac, while at the same time Isaac leapt around the chamber and pulled the radioactive orbs to him before firing them through the now open hatch.

The computerized voice informed them that radioactive material had been removed when one orb exited the Ishimura, and did so five more times until all six of the orbs had been sent off into space, though while all of that was happening Isaac had to take a breather since his air supply wasn't as upgraded as Chrysalis' was... who was moving around the chamber, dismembering Necromorphs with her Pulse Rifle. Once the last of the radioactive material was floating outside the Ishimura, and was no longer in the chamber they were in, the Valor's own computerized voice declared that the safety lock had been released, meaning they could enter the ship now. With that information obtained the duo jumped through the air and sailed towards the airlock, where they passed through the Valor's set of double doors before finally entering the warship.

When the second door opened, however, they saw what could have been a slasher violently shaking for a moment before rapidly disappearing down the hallway to the right of where it was standing, causing the duo to wonder what the heck they had just seen.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Chrysalis asked, because while she expected a new type of enemy, as literally every deck seemed to add another Necromorph to the growing list of enemies they had to fight, they barely had time to see what this new foe was before it disappeared.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Isaac replied, though while he suspected that it was a slasher, the most common type of Necromorph he and Chrysalis had encountered during their journey through the decks of the Ishimura, he couldn't be too sure of that fact, before he shook his head and took a step forward, "Come on, let's find the singularity core before that thing comes back with some friends."

"The part you're looking for will be in the engine room at the back of the ship!" Kendra told them, telling them exactly where the singularity core was located, which told them that they would be fighting a decent amount of enemies before they found what they were looking for, "I'm reading massive damage, so the two of you may need to find an alternate route to get there!"

The hallway that the Necromorph had been in was slightly on fire, at least on the right side of where they were standing, while on the left there was a broken gravity panel that they had to avoid, to which the duo walked by the broken gravity panel and opened the door that was passed it. When they entered the room that they were heading towards they spotted the creature from earlier, where it shook before running down towards the other end of the room, though sooner or later both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that they would deal with the creature. At the same time they noticed that there were several containers with the Kinesis symbol on them, meaning that they would also have to deal with creating a path forward... or maybe creating a blockade for any terrible enemies that might have been created when the Valor crashed into the Ishimura. Before they could take a step forward, however, someone connected to their RIGs, though one look at the identifier brought a smile onto Chrysalis' face.

"The infection process is doing something strange to these soldiers." Hammond told them, meaning that Chrysalis was either wrong about Kendra, or Kendra was trying to manipulate them into thinking that someone else was behind their commander's constant disappearances, "They all had built-in Stasis units in their body armor. The infection is merging the Stasis unit into their flesh or something... making the move fast... real fast. Isaac, Chrysalis, be careful."

Chrysalis thought about commenting on how his signal continued to disappear, but in the end she decided to focus on the task at had and nodded to Isaac as they started to move through the container filled room that they had found themselves in. It didn't take them long before they were stopped by a trio of containers, to which Isaac moved one of them to the side and pulled back to cover the path the two of them had come from, before forcing the third one forward, opening the way for them to move onward. As they rounded the corner he spotted another obstacle blocking their path, though before he could do anything Chrysalis simply latched her magic onto the container in question and moved it out of their way. After that she spotted the creature from earlier, standing in the middle of the area that was directly in front of them, but instead of letting it get away she grabbed it's legs with her magic and pulled it to the floor, allowing Isaac to dismember it within seconds.

As soon as the first one died two more of the new type of Necromorph, twitchers as Chrysalis was going to call them based on how much they shook, rushed out from wherever they were hiding and charged the duo, though they were prepared for Isaac's Stasis blast slowing them down.

Once the two twitchers had been taken care of Isaac and Chrysalis walked towards the door that was at the end of the room, off to the left, though as Isaac moved the crates out of the way, so they could actually access the door, Chrysalis dealt with a twitcher that tried to attack them, letting it slip into the nearby gravity panel and break into a vast number of pieces. With the door open they found two more crates in their way, which were easily removed by the duo, before they entered the room in front of them, where Isaac stared at the screen on the other wall of the room and mumbled something about seeing Nicole's face for a moment. Chrysalis, on the other hand, saw a glimmer of Wildfire flying through the air before she disappeared, though she already knew that she was going insane and that, eventually, she might end up like the crew that lived on the Ishimura... but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind as they progressed forward and continued the search for the singularity core.

One thing they noticed in this room was that there was a power box that looked ready to fall out of it's terminal, to which Isaac seized it with his Kinesis module and pulled it out, before he and Chrysalis walked over to the door on the other side of the room... the more rectangular one that had to be the right track to where the core was located.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, I'm tracking your position but it doesn't look like I can reach you." Hammond told them, which made the duo a little annoyed by the news, though at the same time it was to be expected since the Valor was a large ship, "This damn ship was nearly sheared in half. I made it to the bridge... it's a mess here. These poor bastards didn't stand a chance. I'm going to override all door locks so you two can get to the engine room. I'll try and catch up with you there."

The instant the audio link was disconnected Isaac and Chrysalis walked through the door in front of them and followed it to a hallway that had two power terminals, one on each end, with an elevator to their left, though when they tried to open the door the circuits went wild and knocked the now ruined power box out of the terminal that was next to the elevator. Fortunately the power box they had brought with them was more than sufficient for them to restore power to the door and the elevator, though before the duo could use it they had to turn around when they heard the sounds of something moving through the vents. It turned out that two infectors dropped down into the area and were going to attempt to use the corpses around them to make more Necromorphs, to which Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on the distracted infectors... dismembering them within seconds, as well as the unfortunate corpses that they happened to be latched onto at the moment.

With the deed done they opened the door in front of them and climbed onto the elevator, where they rode it up to the level that it was supposed to take them to, though as they did that their RIGLinks became active as someone connected to them, to which they held their wrists up to see who it was... only to find that the person they were staring at wasn't Kendra, Hammond, or even Mercer for that matter.

"Mr. Clarke! Miss Chrysalis!" the man said, causing the duo to immediately raise their guard, as the fact that he already knew their names meant that he must have been watching them the entire time since their arrival, "I need to speak with the two of you... My name is Terrance Kyne... Doctor Kyne. Listen to me, there isn't much time... If you really can repair the shuttle... there is a better use for it than just running away. You must understand, the forces at work here are... greater than you can imagine. If you leave now...you condemn all humanity! The planet will never stop, never rest, unless the Marker is returned. Don't you see? The Church is wrong! This is all a trap! I've seen it... Please, you must help me!"

The moment Kyne was done talking, and his transmission was terminated, the elevator came to a stop and the door opened, revealing that the immediate path forward was on fire and had been partly collapsed in the crash, to which the duo sighed and headed to the right. They followed the open path to a door that would allow them to enter the Armory, which was where the crew of the Valor must have stored their weapons, though as the door opened the duo opened fire on a divider that was standing in front of a shooting range. A few seconds later the divider separated into it's individual components and forced the duo to change targets, though they adapted quickly and dealt with the limb shaped foes that were coming at them. The limb shaped enemies didn't last too long, since one shot per target was enough, though that was when the duo noticed a pair of exploders walking towards them, which were easy to take out as well... but their enemies were taken care of, and the coast was clear, the duo salvaged all the ammunition they could find and acquired another Power Node, allowing Isaac to further empower his weapons.

Chrysalis, at that point in time, simply handed him the nodes she had been collecting, as her rifle was already at a level of power that she was comfortable with, especially with her magic, and her RIG was fully upgraded, so she had no use for them... though she smiled when Isaac put the nodes towards his own RIG, increasing the air it could carry and the amount of damage it could take.

The instant Isaac was ready the two of them investigated the shooting range for a moment, causing them to turn back and deal with yet another pair of exploders, before they found an audio log from Commander Cadigan, who was ordering his crew around to fire at the hostile 'aliens' that were attacking the ship. When the log was finished they stored it away and ignored the actual shooting range, as they didn't have the time to waste on practicing their skills with their weapons, to which they made their way towards the door that the first group of exploders had been guarding. According to the sign that was above the door they were supposedly heading towards the Infirmary, though on the other side of the door they found a wounded man cradling his missing leg for a few seconds, before he succumbed to blood loss and died before their very eyes... much like a fair number of the survivors of the Ishimura outbreak.

As the duo walked through the second door, however, they found that the Infirmary's machine was malfunctioning and was shooting laser streams out in some odd angles, though as they stared at the machine, and thought about what to do, a few Necromorphs used the vents on the other side of the room to attack them... though as they charged through the lasers they were cut into several large pieces, killing them instantly.

The other good part about the malfunctioning machine was that it actually moved from time to time, so Isaac waited for such an event to happen before loosing a Stasis blast at the machine, allowing him and Chrysalis to hurry along the side of the room that it wasn't firing at and crossed over to the door. From there they exited the Infirmary and entered a new hallway, where they were attacked by a pack of exploders that were waiting for them, but a good Stasis blast at the ground gave the duo enough time to get away from the pack before blowing them all to pieces. After that they followed the only available path forward and headed into the Barracks, which was a large room than all of the other ones they had been in since they stepped onto the Valor, though as they walked forward a lockdown was activated and the Necromorphs started emerging from their hiding places.

What surprised Chrysalis was that in the amount of time that had elapsed since the escape pod had been opened, before she, Isaac, and the others even knew it had been picked up, was that the Marker had created a new army to replace the one that she and Isaac had destroyed. There were lurkers, pregnant Necromorphs, leapers, slashers, and exploders coming at them in a seemingly endless surge of attacks, though the two of them stood their ground and fired at every foe that dared to approach them. Chrysalis even added some of her magic into the mix, waving it through the air as her bone blades moved around and carved up some of their enemies to make the fight that much easier, but even with that assistance they had to be careful when picking which foe to fire at and when they had to pull the trigger. Grouping several foes with an exploder was a good idea, thanks to the goo sack the creatures carried, and it helped keep the number of enemies down... before the duo stopped firing when they saw that there were no more Necromorphs coming their way, as well as the lockdown being removed.

As the end of the chamber they were in rested a store, allowing Isaac and Chrysalis to sell off what they didn't need and properly loot the enemies that the two of them had just killed, where they made sure to have the ammunition for the weapons they used and a good supply of med packs in case they needed them... before heading off towards the next part of the Valor, as they continued the search for the singularity core.

While they walked away from the store, however, Chrysalis picked up a text log that was for an operation called 'White Light', which gave some details into the fact that the Chief of Staff for Earth Defense knew that the Ishimura had breached a government order and was believed to be in possession of Marker '3A'. The text log revealed that she had been right in the fact that there was coincidence in the fact that the Valor appeared shortly after they launched the asteroid, because they were waiting for someone aboard the Ishimura to transmit the exact location of the planetcracker. All this told her, besides the fact that she had been right, was that there were more than one of these damnable Markers and that Earth Defense was trying to prevent this one from being rediscovered. That meant that there was more to the mystery, more than she and Isaac originally believed when they first stepped onto the Ishimura, but she sighed and stored the text log away, because she knew her attention needed to be on keeping them both safe.

They then walked through the corridor that was in front of them and turned to the left when they had no choice, where the duo made their way towards the door that said it was the direction that the Engine Room was in and walked through it... before approaching the larger door, which revealed the mechanical parts of the engine. A few seconds later they walked onto the elevator that was in front of them and rode it up to the level that was above them, where they had to hide behind other parts of the engine to avoid being burned apart. As Isaac used the Kinesis to move that part forward the duo noticed that several power tubes were resting on the left side of where they were standing, to which Chrysalis fired at the tubes while Isaac focused on moving. When they reached the end of the side that they were on, and had taken out three of the power tubes, Isaac carefully pulled them back towards the area where the elevator was resting and walked over to the left side of the engine... where he and Chrysalis repeated the same pattern once more, causing the flames to stop spewing out once the last power tube was destroyed.

From there the duo approached the end of the engine room and approached the odd triangular shaped object that happened to be resting in front of them, large enough to fit into their hands, to which Isaac carefully removed the singularity core and stored it inside his RIG's inventory... though at the same time part of the engine ruptured and started to fall apart, indicating that the two of them should get moving immediately.

"Is that it?" Kendra asked them, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis entered the passage that was in front of them and exited the engine area, but they continued moving since it appeared that the engine was getting ready to self destruct and tear itself apart, "You got it? Oh my god, you got it! That's the piece we need. Get to the Crew deck!"

Isaac and Chrysalis followed the path in front of them and found themselves inside the mechanical part of the engine room, which they had seen when they walked through the door earlier, but as they walked into the area one section of the machinery exploded, indicating that something bad was coming... though as they approached the glass on the other side of the room, which Chrysalis was planning on obliterating with her magic so they could move, the door opened and she faltered as Hammond walked into the chamber, though he was focused on something else.

"Hammond!" Isaac said, causing their commander to turn towards them for a moment, where all three of them were happy to see each other again, though at the same time he and Chrysalis heard the familiar sound of a brute roaring, indicating that one was nearby.

"Isaac! Chrysalis!" Hammond replied, though instead of sounding happy he sounded terrified, which made sense considering what was nearby, though he kept his eyes on the door behind him, which hadn't closed for some reason, "I've been trying to reach you two for some time now, but I think my comm was damaged after our last communication. I see you guys got the singularity core... that's our ticket out of..."

That was before a blackened brute, meaning that it was much stronger than the ones Isaac and Chrysalis had fought so far, walked into the area behind Hammond, causing their commander to brace his weapon as he prepared to give the duo their last order as their commander.

"Isaac... Chrysalis... it was nice knowing you two," Hammond said, to which he turned towards the Necromorph and raised his weapon, because he knew what was coming and was prepared to make sure that the courageous duo got themselves, and Kendra, off this ship, "Now get that core to the shuttle... and please, don't wait for me."

It was then that Hammond opened fire on the brute and used every bullet that he had left in his Pulse Rifle, though at the same time the Necromorph simply stood there and took it for a few seconds before it made it's move, where it rushed forward and bashed it's arm into Hammond, knocking him into the glass wall that was behind him. Before Hammond had a chance to regain himself, however, the brute stared down at him before pressing it's right arm against his chest and gripped Hammond's left leg with it's left hand. That was followed by Hammond screaming in pain as the brute ripped off his leg, though before Isaac and Chrysalis could do anything, or even feel anything, the brute raised it's arms into the air as Hammond went into shock over loosing his leg, before the brute slammed it's fists into Hammond's body three times in a row, breaking his bones and crushing his organs as blood erupted from his mouth and his missing leg. That was before the brute lifted Hammond, who was nearly dead at this point already, before slamming him into the glass wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces while Hammond's RIG flatlined.

"HAMMOND!" Isaac shouted, though his voice was full of pain and anger, because he knew Hammond before this mission and had been friends with his commander, so losing him meant that he had lost a good friend.

"No... not this again..." Chrysalis said, recalling how she had felt when she lost Wildfire, her first true friend, and that pain resurfaced with a vengeance, to which she growled as she stared at the brute with a look of pure anger in her eyes, while at the same time extending her hand towards the brute, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

Isaac, who had never seen or heard this sort of anger and hate from Chrysalis, nearly flinched when she said the second part of her statement, though as the brute charged at them her magic ignited and a large red magical hand, a literal hand made from her anger and magic, formed in the air above them... though that was before it grabbed onto the brute and gripped it tight, preventing it from moving. A few seconds passed before Chrysalis tightened the grip on her magic and crushed the brute under the intensity of her anger, causing the creature to roar in actual pain for a few moments before it was crushed. As the hand released the brute, however, Chrysalis growled and loosed a barrage of magical blasts that tore the rest of the brute to pieces, making it impossible for the Marker to use any part of the brute in the future... to which she calmed down a little as the realization of what happened returned to her.

Isaac, for the most part, tapped her shoulder and beckoned for her to follow him, since they still needed to get out of here, to which Chrysalis nodded and followed after him... though not before loosing a fire spell to burn away Hammond's body, so the Marker couldn't use him in the future.

"I just lost all of Hammond's vitals! Is he dead?" Kendra asked, though even as she asked the question she knew what the sound she had heard had been, to which she followed that up with a sigh, "Oh god. Isaac, Chrysalis, it's just us now..."

"Why didn't you tell us where Hammond was?" Chrysalis asked, because the only person who knew where their commander had been, at any moment in time, was Kendra, yet Hammond said that he was having comm trouble, which told her that her earlier suspicions had to be true, "If we had known that Hammond was literally right behind us, by a minute or two, we would have waited for him and killed that brute before it could have killed him. We could have saved him, Kendra, and now... now he's gone, just like everyone else we've encountered so far."

Isaac wanted to say that Nicole was the only exception to that statement, but at the same time he knew better and kept his mouth shut, because now that he had seen a sample of a pissed of changeling, who had magical powers, he knew that she could easily do the same to him in her current state.

"His vitals were failing and I didn't want to distract you from the mission," Kendra replied, though her tone suggested that she was offended that Chrysalis thought that she signed Hammond's death warrant, especially when he attracted the attention of one of those brutes, "it was for your own good."

"That's complete bullshit." Chrysalis growled, though at the same time Isaac fixed the elevator that they had come to and they climbed into it, allowing them to descend towards the level they had used to board the Valor, "Kendra, the only person that could have blocked Hammond's signal is you, since neither Isaac or I would ever do something like that and I'm pretty damn sure that Mercer, a doctor, didn't have the ability to do something like that. You've been making us think that Hammond's been dead ever since he went to the Hydroponics Deck, and then played it off like you were surprised when he finally spoke up when the Valor collided with the Ishimura. Why? Why in the hell did you think that making us think our commander was dead was going to be beneficial to our mission, when Hammond could have helped us overcome hurdles that only he was familiar with?"

"Chrysalis, I know you're angry and looking for someone to blame, but I'm not the enemy," Kendra said, though that only made Chrysalis growl again as she and Isaac left the Valor entirely, which was slowly tearing itself apart behind them as they flew over to the airlock, "Look, just get the singularity core back to the shuttle and we can get off this ship."

Instead of saying anything more, and annoying the clearly manipulative lady that was now in command of their entire group, Chrysalis kept her mouth shut and followed Isaac back to the Tram station, where she hardly acknowledged the slasher that Isaac killed before they returned to the Tram. From there she simply took her seat and disengaged her helmet, where she placed her face in her hands as she mourned Hammond's passing, while Isaac got them underway to their next destination. Isaac knew that Chrysalis was in pain, as he was as well, but he really couldn't say much at the moment, not when she was this angry, so he simply kept his mouth shut for now... but sooner or later he knew that his companion would talk to him, and he was willing to wait until that happened again.

At the same time Isaac hoped that when the Valor finally exploded, as that was bound to happen sooner or later, he and the others were long gone when that happened, though it all depended on what happened after they arrived in the Crew Deck and fixed up the shuttle.

Ishimura: Navigation Cards

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Chrysalis remained quiet during the ride to the Crew Deck, as there was nothing she could say to Isaac, who had just seen one of his closest friends die at the hands of a brute, and she sure as hell didn't want to talk with Kendra at the moment, since she was responsible for Hammond's death. The pain she felt at the moment only reminded her of the horrible pain she had felt when she and her guards found Wildfire's corpse in that desert, where she was the only one in her hive that mourned Wildfire's passing. She knew that the two deaths were the same, since Wildfire was the love of her life and Hammond was someone she had slowly become friends with, but the similarities the two shared were that they had been her friends, even though she had to prove herself to both of them before that happened. After Wildfire's death she never bothered to make another friend, not when all she felt was pain at their passing, but she had gained some valuable friends in Isaac, Hammond, and Kendra... or at least, that was what she thought when they crashed into the Ishimura and the events that transpired revealed themselves.

Now, however, Kendra was nothing more than a lying bitch who had gotten one of her friends killed, awakening a new level of anger and hatred inside Chrysalis, while at the same time opening old wounds that she would have preferred to forget about... but in the end she guessed that, by making friends, pain was just a normal thing that occurred over time. For a moment she actually wondered how the mighty Princess Celestia managed to hide the pain of her mortal friends fading away before her, or how Princess Luna felt when she returned and discovered everything she knew had been changed in some manner. Originally she had thought that friendship was just a foolish thing that was worthless to her, but now, as a fraction of her earlier anger cooled off, she realized that she had been thinking too much on her mother's teachings and was only now seeing the world slightly differently... though the eyes of the Chrysalis that had been buried away all those year ago, when she buried Wildfire.

It was the Chrysalis who still believed in friendship and all the wonders that the ponies had to offer, though even as she thought about that she realized that maybe she had been horribly wrong when she invaded Canterlot during Cadence's wedding... to which she sighed as the Tram came to a stop, as the silent rides made her reflect on her past and made her realize how much pain she must have inflicted on everyone that day. She then cleared her head and reengaged her helmet as Isaac moved towards the entrance of the Tram, to which she followed him off and stepped out onto the station for the Crew Deck.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, I've located the shuttle that Hammond mentioned." Kendra told them, to which she appeared in front of them, though at the same time Chrysalis turned her head to the side and avoided making eye contact, before something appeared on the monitor she was staring at, "Shit! I'm afraid that it's no good. That shuttle's brain dead... it appears that someone removed the navigation cards. God knows why someone would want to do that."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that we know who did it," Chrysalis commented, as while she hated talking with Kendra now, especially after what happened on the Valor, she couldn't resist the urge to show her that she and Isaac knew something that she didn't, "Terrance Kyne said that there was a better use for the shuttle than just running away and stated that he needed to talk with us... so something tells me that he's the one that removed the navigation cards, to force us into talking with him before we reach the shuttle."

"Well, regardless of who removed the cards, I can tell you that there are three of them," Kendra continued, as if she hadn't heard a word that Chrysalis had said, to which the changeling growled for a few seconds, which was also ignored as well, "and, fortunately for you two, they're all scattered around the Crew Deck. I've already downloaded the coordinates for each navigation card, though since I cannot access the doors to each card from here you two will need to acquire a Crew Key as well. If you guys can find those parts, then I'm sure that we can repair the shuttle and get out of here."

With that said, and Kendra not even bothering to glance in Chrysalis' direction during the entire conversation, the connection between the two was disconnected, leaving Isaac and an annoyed Chrysalis to walk down the steps that were near where they walked off the Tram. Of course since this was the Crew Deck they expected to see a few bodies on the floor, but when they entered the first part of the new deck they discovered a lot of intact bodies that looked untouched, though that was before Chrysalis found Unitologist symbols on the walls. Those two facts immediately told her that the cultists that had been on this ship, where was an alarming number now that she thought about it, must have committed suicide at some point in time and left their bodies for the Necromorphs, and the Marker, to use as they desired. They both knew that all these bodies could be turned into enemies when they got back to this area, as it was the hub section for this deck, but instead of wasting time they didn't have the duo simply walked over to the store and sold off some things.

From there they walked through the door that was right next to the store and entered a more open room, to which a Necromorph busted one of the vents and drew their attention to it, though this time around their foe was smart and didn't drop down immediately, meaning that the Necromorphs might be learning. That thought frightened Isaac more than it frightened Chrysalis, because if they were getting smarter than there was no telling what they might be able to learn and the thought of them throwing around magic absolutely terrified him. Of course the only way that would happen is if Chrysalis had been taken out and was consumed by the infection, but something told him that if she was about to die, and had no med packs, she'd likely ignite her magic and obliterate everything around her... though he pushed that thought to the side as they continued their search, while noticing the growth that was resting on the ceiling, which didn't made either of them happy.

Since one door was locked the duo opened the other one and entered what appeared to be a locker room for something called Zero-G Basketball, though as they looked around Chrysalis picked up the schematic for the next level suit, the fifth one, before they opened the door that let them enter the room between the locker area and the actual game room, where they found the text log that revealed the rules and whatnot for 'Z-Ball'.

Instead of wasting time reading about something they weren't going to even attempt, since Chrysalis didn't care too much about this Z-Ball, the duo stored the text log away and opened the door to the Zero-G game room, where Chrysalis smiled a bit when she located the first navigation card resting on one of the platforms. As she collected the card, however, two black colored lurkers charged out of the holes they were hiding in and attacked the duo, to which Isaac and Chrysalis lifted their guns and started firing in return. Since there were only two enemies, and no more came out during the fight, the duo was able to swiftly claim victory and retreated from the game room, since they had what they needed they determined that there was no reason for them to stick around in this area. As they walked back into the first locker room they were slightly surprised when a black colored slasher, who must have been the one who broke the vent a few minutes ago, broke another vent and dropped down in front of them... to which the duo dismembered the slasher before it could even hurt them.

At the same time Chrysalis discovered that their weapons, none of which were fully upgraded yet, weren't doing a lot of damage against the black colored enemies, to which they gathered all they could from the open lockers and made their way back towards the hub area... before they approached the store and sold off everything that they didn't need at the moment, which was all the useless pieces of ammunition, for the other weapons, that they didn't have. As they did that Chrysalis discovered that the Level 5 Suit was actually sixty thousand credits, which was pretty much a good chunk of both her credits and Isaac's credits, meaning that they could both purchase a suit and a few Power Nodes or spend all their cash on nodes for their weapons. In the end Isaac chose to buy a few nodes and used the rest of his credits on the suit, though when he walked out Chrysalis found that his left arm now had all the armor plating as his right arm did, as well as his leggings having complete armor plating as well, making it look like Isaac was ready for war. Another thing Chrysalis noticed was that the fifth glowing line in the helmet, to indicate the level of the suit at a glance, was actually a vertical line that went through the middle of the previous four lines.

Once Isaac was done with the store Chrysalis walked forward and stared at what she could get, though her original instinct to protect herself won out and soon she was wearing her own Level 5 Suit... though before she moved away she also got some Power Nodes to finish off her Pulse Rifle.

When they finished their shopping, however, the vent in front of the suicide area shattered and two black slashers moved into the room they were in, though as they opened fire Chrysalis spotted an infector flying through as it sought out the first corpse it could transform. Instead of letting it do that, and making more enemies for them to fight, Chrysalis hurled one of her bone blades at it and pinned one of it's wings to the wall, preventing it from going anywhere without ripping it's entire wing off, which would kill it instantly. The infector, once more proving that enemies might be getting smarter, stopped struggling and simply waited, giving Isaac and Chrysalis time to take out the two slashers before they walked up to the creature. Isaac quickly dismembered the unfortunate infector, allowing Chrysalis to claim her weapon once more, before they walked onto the cargo lift and rode it up to the level above them... where they walked over to the nearby Bench and upgraded their weapons for a few minutes.

Another thing they found, on the upper level before reaching the Bench, was a text log that detailed Unitology, though neither Isaac or Chrysalis were even interested in it and simply stored the log away... along with something singing a strange song, one that Isaac told Chrysalis was the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' song, though she did her best to ignore it.

Once they were done upgrading their weapons, and they were sure that there wasn't anything else they needed on the lower level, the duo walked over to the door that was beside the Bench, the one that would lead them into the Residential Hall, and opened the door up. What they found, on the other hand, was a bunch of the organic growth on the floor, which meant that they would have to slowly walk through this area, before noticing that a survivor was tied down to a chair in the room that was in front of them, which they could see thanks to the glass window. That was swiftly followed by them spotting Mercer, who was holding a knife in one of his hands, step out and face them as they neared the glass window, though they had a feeling they knew what was going to happen.

"What do you cling to when all must seem so utterly hopeless around you?" Mercer asked, though at the same time he beckoned to something on the ground, where Isaac and Chrysalis discovered the body of a dead lady resting in the corner, though Isaac was happy that it wasn't Nicole's body, "Dr. Cross was a true believer, she had faith... and now she waits for her transformation... her rebirth."

As Isaac and Chrysalis pieced together that Dr. Cross was Elizabeth Cross, whose audio logs they had found on the way to this deck, they realized who the man had to be, since she spoke of him many times and he mentioned her in his audio logs as well... it was Temple, the acting Chief Engineer, that they were staring at.

"Are you ready to ascend, Mr. Temple?" Mecer inquired, though that was when the duo discovered that Mercer had placed tape over the man's mouth, preventing him from saying a single word in his defense, "Of course you are. Have no fear, because you will play your part soon enough. Now then, witness the conviction of a true believer!"

That was followed by Mercer, who was clearly and most certainly insane at this point in time, raised the knife into the air before driving it straight down into Temple's skull, killing the man instantly, where Mercer let the knife stay there for a few seconds before pulling it out... while causing Temple's now dead body to collapse on the floor, where his head and Elizabeth's head were near each other, their faces staring at the other.

"They are ready!" Mercer called out, where both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that he was absolutely obsessed with the Necromorphs and was likely trying to call them to where he was, "Take them! Embrace them!"

The duo, knowing that it was only a matter of time until some Necromorphs came to check out the noise, got moving the moment Mercer started walking away from the corpses, though at the same time Chrysalis wanted to strangle the man for everything he put the two of them through, but she focused on the task at hand. Fortunately it appeared that the door to the Mess Hall, where Mercer had been mere moments ago, was unlocked, to which Chrysalis opened the door and walked inside, though by the time they got into the Mess Hall Mercer was already long gone. They carefully made their way around the bar island that was in front of them, though as they did so they both noticed some limbs of a divider moving in the area below them, indicating that an enemy was waiting for them. As they reached where Temple and Elizabeth were resting, however, Chrysalis noticed some of the vents they had walked by, outside the Mess Hall, had burst open and an exploder revealed itself... before it suddenly decided to head back into the vent it had come from, revealing that it was coming for them.

They found a cargo lift resting close to where the two corpses were resting, to which Isaac and Chrysalis used it to reach the lower level, the area that Mercer must have wandered off to, only they didn't see the mad doctor anywhere at the moment... but as the lift came to a stop they found two dividers waiting for them.

Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire the moment they could see the dividers, as they knew that these enemies would be coming at them as fast as they could, though as the dividers separated into their limb fragments Isaac used a Stasis blast to slow them down, allowing the duo to tear them apart. Once the two enemies, and the smaller pieces they broke into, were defeated the duo salvaged whatever ammunition and med packs they could find, as well as a Power Node that was resting in the wall box on the other side of the room. That was before Chrysalis found the Crew Key resting inside a storage container, as if someone had purposely stored it away there in the hopes that she and Isaac would find it, to which the duo shared a look before they backtracked to the cargo lift, allowing it to carry them back up to the upper level of the Mess Hall.

As they started walking towards the door they walked through earlier, however, their RIGLinks became active as Doctor Kyne appeared before them, in the form of a video log, though he seemed anxious and was looking at the duo as if they were his last hope.

"Mr. Clarke! Miss Chrysalis! I really... must speak with you!" Doctor Kyne said, once more reinforcing what he had said back when they were walking through the Valor, though at the same time they stared at him, since he might be as insane as Mercer was, "I'm very close to your current position, and... and I know you both will want to hear what I have to say. I can explain all this! I know what happened! When you have the Nav cards, I'll let you into the Security Station. We must talk. Hurry!"

Chrysalis wasn't happy with the way that he was insisting that they needed to hurry, as that meant that something horrible must have happened on Aegis VII or the Ishimura, though as the connection between them and Doctor Kyne was terminated she and Isaac simply walked up to the door and opened it. As they returned to the hallway Chrysalis paused for a moment, to see if the exploder from earlier was going to leave the vent he had been in, though once she determined that it wasn't going to happen they opened the other door that was right behind them and entered the area behind it. When they turned to the right they both noticed a guardian resting on the wall at the end of the hallway, though at the same time several pods revealed their tentacles before firing at the duo, who moved out of the way before they were hit, only to open fire in return. It didn't take them long before they had finished off the lone guardian and the pods that it used against them, though once the deed was done the two of them carefully walked up to the door it had been guarding... which required them to dismember a slasher that tried to get in their way, before they walked up to the door.

They were fortunate that they had acquired the Crew Key when they did, as it allowed them to open the door and they walked onto the elevator that awaited them, to which they descended into Sleep Block A, which Chrysalis figured was where the crew slept since they hadn't seen a bed anywhere else on this forsaken ship.

When the elevator reached the area it was connected to, and the duo walked through the small hallway in front of them, they found that they were in the trashed Commons of Sleep Block A, though at the same time they carefully looked around the room before choosing a path to take. As they did so, however, Kendra informed them that the lift support to Sleep Block B had been shut down and that they needed to find the override so they could access the door and enter that area of the ship. Since they had no choice in the matter the duo opened the door to Sleep Block A Bunks and entered the room in front of them, though as they did so another tentacle reached around the corner and grabbed onto Chrysalis' leg, indicating that it was going to drag her again. This time, however, Chrysalis opened fire on the tentacle the instant she saw it, though as it pulled her to the ground she softened the blow and grabbed onto the tentacle with her magic, stopping it from moving her through the area they were in... giving Isaac a few seconds to blow the weak point to pieces and released Chrysalis in the process, who growled at the wounded tentacle as it backed away from them.

"I am getting sick and tired of those things going after me all the time," Chrysalis commented, as she really hated the tentacles and the fact that she was the only one they seemed to care about, before she beckoned for Isaac to continue as she prepared her weapon once more, "Let's just get those navigation cards and get out of this area before those tentacles decide to come back for us."

Isaac nodded and turned towards the door that was behind them, where he opened it and found a terminal that could be used to override the door lock that Kendra had told the two of them about, but at the same time Chrysalis wondered if Kendra could see where those tentacles were from where she was stationed. If she could do that than Chrysalis guessed that Kendra might not have told them about the tentacle in the chance to remove her from the board, but she said nothing about that to Isaac. She already knew that her friend was worried about their chances of getting out of here, as well as going over why Kendra hadn't told them about Hammond when they were on the Valor earlier, so she didn't want to burden him further with what she was thinking about. If Kendra was actually trying to remove one of them from the board, namely her, than Chrysalis was going to figure out how to ruin her for everything she's done, though she remained silent as Isaac pulled the lever into position and overrode the door lock.

With that task complete the duo retraced their steps back to the common area, taking a moment to take out the slasher that was coming from where the tentacle came from, before entering the Commons once more, where no enemies were waiting for them... causing the duo to keep their guards up as they entered the short hallway between the Commons and Sleep Block B.

As they entered Sleep Block B, which had no life support and appeared to be some sort of winter wonderland, by the frost on the walls and floor, the duo spotted a pregnant Necromorph and a slasher coming their way, to which Chrysalis dealt with the pregnant foe while Isaac dismembered the slasher. The moment their current batch of foes had been taken care of the duo walked through the door on their right and entered the sleeping area that it brought them to, where Isaac blasted a lurker that destroyed the vent above their heads. As he did that Chrysalis moved forward and opened fire on the lurker and pregnant Necromorph that emerged from their hiding places, making sure to dismember her targets so the pregnant one didn't spawn new enemies for them to take out. Behind them Isaac found a Storage Room that contained a Power Node and some spare ammunition, though with those collected he followed after Chrysalis, who dismembered a slasher that was coming after her... before they found the second navigation card resting on the floor nearby, to which they collected it and continued following the coordinates that Kendra had given them.

With the second card acquired the duo quickly returned to the Commons and left the frost covered area behind, to which they waited for a few seconds before heading towards the elevator, which they climbed into and headed back up to the area that they had seen Mercer in.

As the door opened, however, an exploder was in the process of jumping into the vent that happened to rest in front of the elevator door, though it literally paid the duo no attention as it disappeared, to which they cautiously walked out of the elevator and followed the path back to the door that rested near the Mess Hall door. As they walked through the door the exploder jumped out of the vent that Chrysalis had seen it jump out of earlier, to which she smiled as she loosed a small burst of bullets at the goo sack it was carrying and blew the Necromorph to pieces. Before they moved forward they spotted a second exploder jump out of the vent, though at the same time the limbs of a divider started to near it, to which Isaac waited until the two groups were together before blowing all of them apart. Once that was taken care of, and they were sure that no more exploders were coming out of the vent, the duo walked through the organic mess and headed back towards the door they used to get into this area... though as they walked Chrysalis noticed that the bodies of Temple and Elizabeth had remained in the same location, to which she guessed that she and Isaac were the Necromorph's main concern and simply smiled to herself.

When they reached the door they had been heading towards, without any further incident, the duo returned to the are the cultists had sacrificed themselves in and rode the cargo lift back down to the first floor, where they walked through the door that would allow them to head back to the Z-Ball court... only for them to blast a slasher to pieces before unlocking the door to a second elevator, one that took them to Sleep Block C, and used it.

A few moments later they walked off the elevator and headed into the Commons for this area, though as they did so they heard a recorded sermon from Mercer, who apparently was trying to convince his fellow cultists to not abandon their faith and proclaimed that Unitology was the truth of everything. Isaac and Chrysalis, who already knew that the man was insane before the Marker had been discovered, decided to ignore the electronic sermon, which was apparently stuck on constant repeat by the sounds of it, and headed through the door that would take them to the final navigation card. The room that they had to pass through, however, required that they move the bed containers, which were big rectangular objects, in a specific pattern so they could move forward. As Chrysalis soon discovered sometimes they had to seal the path behind them, in a manner of speaking, so they could move forward, though she and Isaac did that as fast as they possibly could... before they came to an area where more cultists had sacrificed themselves, only for the final one, a lady by the looks of it, lifted a weapon to her head and shot herself in the head.

Chrysalis was really disgusted with the Unitologists, since they were all clearly insane and would kill themselves, as well as everyone around them, for the 'glory of the Marker'... though she shelved the thoughts for a moment as she and Isaac found the third and final navigation card, which put a smile on both of their faces.

"This time there will be no escape for you, my friends." Mercer told them, speaking over the audio link for a few seconds, though his tone worried Chrysalis, as nothing this guy did was good for anyone on the Ishimura, "You two have been most resourceful up until now, but my creation is free, reborn in the fierce heat of life itself! Now it's time to play your part..."

That was immediate followed by the hunter, freed from his frozen slumber, bursting out of the vent in the ceiling and struck the ground in front of them, though Isaac, acting on instinct thanks to the number of times he's used the Module so far, loosed a Stasis blast at the beast and stunned it. That allowed the two of them to open fire and dismember the hunter, though as it's arms and legs flew off, and it started to move towards the ground, Chrysalis turned towards the bed containers Isaac had moved earlier and started reforging the path they used to get to this point. A few seconds later Isaac followed after her, where they sealed the path behind them as they retreated to the Common area, though when they arrived in the Commons they found lurkers and slashers waiting for them... and the fact that the door was locked thanks to Mercer's actions, meaning that the hunter was going to catch up with them in moments.

Despite the fact that Chrysalis might have annoyed her earlier, with her accusations that she aided in Hammond's death, Kendra told them that she would work on the door lock, to which the duo continued their fight against their enemies... along with the hunter when it finally arrived, though it looked at them with a look that could have been hate, but the duo put some distance between it and them as Kendra worked on the door. Since they had to wait both Isaac and Chrysalis took up a stand on one side of the room and fired at the Necromorphs that wanted them dead, making sure to dismember the hunter whenever it came at either one of them, while at the same time keeping an eyes on the door. A few minutes passed before she managed to break Mercer's hold on the door and reverted it back to it's original state, where Isaac and Chrysalis dismembered the hunter once more before Isaac loosed a Stasis blast at it, though while it was slowed down the duo moved through the doorway and retreated once more.

"Excellent work, Mr. Clarke, Miss Chrysalis!" Doctor Kyne told them, surprising the duo for a moment, though they took a moment to relax before they climbed into the elevator and headed back up to the hub area, "Excellent work. Now... come and meet me in the Executive area. The door is unlocked. Please be quick."

"Isaac, Chrysalis, be careful with Dr. Kyne." Kendra said, speaking only when Kyne had stopped speaking and the connection had been broken, though at the same time Chrysalis was surprised that she was even speaking to her at the moment, "A lot of what I've discovered so far has come from his records... the man has clearly gone insane. He might be unstable, maybe even violent."

Isaac and Chrysalis rode up to the hub area they had discovered after they arrived on the Crew Deck, where they used the cargo lift to get up to the second level and opened the door that was to the immediate right of them, though the two of them followed the short hallway to the room it brought them to... where they found Kyne looking at something with his back turned to them, though he was standing in a separate room from where they were standing and only turned around when he started talking to someone that wasn't there.

"Ameila, I knew that you would know what to do, I knew, I love you so..." Kyne said, though that was before he noticed Isaac and Chrysalis standing on the other side of the glass, to which he seemed to snap out of whatever was happening to him and stared at them, "You made it! Thank god you made it... I've been following your progress. I know that you two, and your friend, want to repair the Executive shuttle and leave this place, but... escape is impossible at this point. The... the shuttle's ShockPoint Drive has been destroyed. No, please don't lose hope... At first I lost hope, I tried to scuttle the ship, sabotage the systems... but Ameila... she changed things. The church! They think the Marker is divine, but they don't know what's going on here! They don't know what's been released! Here... I'll show you what I mean."

The was followed by Kyne opening a video log for them to see, one where Isaac and Chrysalis heard the roar of a terrifying creature as a structure appeared on the video... though that was before a massive Necromorph, unlike any they had seen so far, rose out of the massive pit that had to be where they extracted the large fragment of Aegis VII.

"That is what we found, in the core of the planet," Kyne explained, though Isaac and Chrysalis glanced at each other for a moment, because that creature only reinforced the idea that it was a good thing they hadn't gone down to the planet thanks to the ship crashing, "Mercer calls it the Hive Mind. It's the source, controlling all the Necromorphs telepathically. We were so STUPID! But Ameila, she knew. She knew it could be stopped... by returning the Marker to the planet. The Marker was actually containing the Hive Mind inside the planet... so if we return the Marker, we can seal the Hive Mind away. Please, I bear much of the responsibility for this tragedy. Now, I must take responsibility for ending it, and atone for my sins. But you two can help me, if you repair the shuttle and bring the Marker aboard. We can end this... forever."

It was at that point that Kyne gave them absolutely no choice but to comply with his request, as he touched his left wrist for a moment and the door behind them was locked once more, while at the same time the door to the elevator on their right was unlocked. Since there was no telling how long it would take for Kendra to get through the door behind them, and no telling how the unstable Kyne would become if such a thing happened, the duo said nothing as they walked through the door and took the elevator down to the Executive Sleep Block. When the elevator came to a stop, and they headed through the door in front of them, they found four pregnant Necromorphs waiting for them, to which the duo repeated their earlier tactic and simply dismembered them... preventing them from releasing whatever was inside their massive stomachs.

With the pregnant Necromorphs dead the duo quickly salvaged whatever they could find in the area, with Isaac taking the left side while Chrysalis took the right side, though all they ended up finding, in addition to some ammunition, was an audio log from the captain, which gave some more detail into the events after the Ishimura arrived at Aegis VII. They also recovered a ruby semiconductor and a text log that stated who the Unitologists were, though there were only a few names on the list, since the outbreak must have occurred before the list could be completed.

From there the duo walked through the door that was opposite of the one where the elevator was located and finally entered the Executive Shuttle Bay, where they approached the large shuttle and entered the area that was just outside the cockpit area. Isaac, being the more experienced of the two in this sort of thing, carefully attached the navigation cards and the singularity core into their proper slots, to which he smiled when he heard that Kyne was pleased with their progress and that he was coming down. Since they had a few minutes to kill Isaac took Chrysalis over to the control room for the ship and opened the door, where they stood in the room for a few seconds and test fired the engines, which caused several Necromorphs to emerge from where they were hiding... as well as the hunter bursting into the room from the vent that was behind them.

Chrysalis would have normally been worried about the hunter finding them like this, but instead she smiled as the beast locked it's eyes with her and followed her out into the area where the ship was located, though she had Isaac remain inside the control room as she tangled with the creature. As she walked out of the control room a pair of twitchers tried to attack her as well, though Chrysalis broken them with her Pulse Rifle and continued to lure the hunter away from Isaac, only to stop on the walkway that was directly behind the engines. The way she saw it, from what happened earlier, if the extreme cold couldn't kill this sort of creature, then maybe the extreme heat would make it impossible for the hunter to put himself together. Once the hunter was in front of the engines, however, Chrysalis latched her magic onto the creature and froze it where it was standing, to which she ran to the other side of the walkway and stared at the hunter as she beckoned for Isaac to test fire the engines again... to which she smiled as the heat of the engines rushed through where the creature was standing, who roared in pain as the flames turned it to ash.

With the hunter dead, and the engines stopped test firing, Chrysalis walked over to the glass and nodded, to which she and Isaac watched as Kyne walked into the area, who told Isaac what he needed him to do while he used the controls in the actual shuttle... though that meant that all Chrysalis could do was watch as the shuttle was released from the docking clamps and made it's way to the Flight Deck, where the Marker was resting.

The moment the shuttle, and Kyne, were gone Isaac walked out to where Chrysalis was and the two of them started the trek back towards the Tram Station, where they could finally get back to the area they landed on when they reached the Ishimura some time ago. While they walked Kendra told them that she didn't trust Kyne, since he was insane, but also told them that they should keep the man on their side since they needed the shuttle, though Chrysalis didn't like how Kendra said the 'for now' part at the end of her statement. As they walked another thing happened, Mercer sent them a brief message, though the actual statement he was trying to tell them was lost as Chrysalis smiled as the mad doctor willingly let the Necromorphs cut him to pieces and end his life. She wasn't sure that he would come back like he thought he would, but now that Mercer was dead there was no reason for them to worry about him stalling their efforts... so instead she worried about Kendra and the fact that she had betrayed them once already.

They also denied Mercer his transformation since he was actually right outside the door they were walking through, so instead of him becoming a Necromorph, and hunting them down, the duo destroyed both him and the infector that was next to him... though as they started to walk away Chrysalis turned what was left of Mercer's body to ash, making it impossible for him to 'transcend' to the next level of existence. From there the duo used the cargo lift to reach the area below them and walked over to where the Tram was waiting, where they took their seats and headed back to the Flight Deck... where they could finally bring an end to this terrible nightmare, one way or another.

Ishimura: The Marker

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Chrysalis and Isaac remained quiet as they rode the Tram to the Flight Deck, where they would finally find the Marker that was responsible for all of this madness and take it back down to Aegis VII, something that neither of them had been expecting when they decided to repair the shuttle. Chrysalis knew that it made sense for them to take the damned Marker back to the planet below them, as it should be able to seal that Hive Mind that Kyne showed them, though at the same time she sensed that someone was about to betray them. Kyne was definitely insane, as he had been talking to his dead wife when she and Isaac found him and made several mentions about her while talking to them, while at the same time Kendra had proved that she wasn't trustworthy when she purposely got Hammond killed earlier. Sooner or later she was going to get at Kendra for killing Hammond, she just needed to be patient and get through the madness that was coming up, since she knew that the Marker had to be guarded by a good number of Necromorphs.

The duo kept their thoughts to themselves, as they both knew that they had to be prepared for the guardians of the Marker, before the Tram came to a stop after it's short ride to the Flight Deck, where the duo sighed as they reengaged their helmets, picked up their weapons, and walked out onto the station area that they had passed through earlier.

"Mr. Clarke, Miss Chrysalis, I'm approaching the shuttle hangar." Kyne told them, to which the duo watched the video link appear in front of them, where they noticed that the doctor seemed happy that they were willing to help him fix the mistakes that the crew of the Ishimura did, "You must... You must find your way to the Cargo Bay! The Marker... it's being stored in there. There's a cargo loading lift there you can use to deliver the Marker up to the hangar. Please... you must help me with this! It's the only way..."

"Don't worry Kyne, we're here to help you out." Chrysalis said, fully meaning that she and Isaac were willing to help him right the wrongs and end this nightmare, as they had no idea what Kendra was doing at the moment.

Kyne nodded and the connection was terminated, to which the duo quickly approached the store and sold off the ammunition and items they didn't need, before using some of their credits to purchase some Power Nodes that they used on the Bench behind them to improve their weapons. With that done, as it was rather easy for them at this point in time, they approached the door on the left of the store, which would take them to the Tram Station Hall, though when the door opened they found an exploder on the other side. Chrysalis, acting fast, raised her arm and used a small burst of energy to knock the exploder backwards, allowing Isaac to aim at the goo sack that it was carrying and caused the Necromorph to explode. From there they walked through the hallway that was in front of them, pausing for a moment as they passed by the bathrooms they had passed by earlier in their venture, before they turned to the right after the bathrooms and approached the door that would allow them to enter the Cargo Bay.

Fortunately it appeared that they wouldn't have to ride a cargo lift or an elevator to reach the Cargo Bay, though when they entered the area that the Marker was in they discovered that there were a lot of cargo boxes in front of them, but it appeared that the shaking of the ship had jumbled them up in some manner. They walked onto the cargo lift that was in front of them and rode it down to the level beneath them, though as they did so Chrysalis spotted a pregnant Necromorph that immediately carved itself open, releasing a pair of lurkers into the area as it died. As Isaac opened fire on the lurkers, showing that he had seen them as well, Chrysalis stood beside him and fired at the exploder that was on the walkway they would likely have to walk on. As the two of them made their way towards the walkway, however, the Necromorphs started emerging from their hiding places and marched towards where the duo was standing, though this time Chrysalis turned around until her back was facing Isaac's. She was going to make sure that their foes didn't surprise them from behind while Isaac focused on the Necromorphs that were in front of them, though the duo discovered slashers, exploders, twitchers, lurkers, leapers, and pretty much every variety guarding this area.

The initial group of enemies fell a few moments later, where they noticed a good amount of enemies were dead around them, to which the duo quickly moved around the exterior of the Cargo Bay and collected the ammunition that was stored around the area... before they made their way towards the control panel they had been fighting near and activated the terminal. The duo watched as a crane, one designed to grab things, descended from the ceiling of the room and descended into the cargo that rested in front of them, where they waited for a few seconds before the crane started reversing it's direction as it found the Marker. That was shortly followed by the crane bringing up the container that the Marker was contained in, where Chrysalis' eyes widened as she and Isaac looked upon the red colored double-helix shaped relic that had caused all the madness that had occurred on Aegis VII and the Ishimura. It was an imposing artifact, as even Chrysalis could feel it's power, but at the same time she knew what she and Isaac had to do with it, to which they watched as it landed on the movable platform in front of them.

Delivering cargo shipment 782. a computerized voice said, while at the same time the crane that had pulled the Marker up let go of the container and retreated back to where it had originally come from, Kinesis Module required for further cargo transport.

Luckily they had the Kinesis Module, to which Isaac held his hand towards the Marker and started moving the container along the path that was in front of them, though while he did that Chrysalis was on point and kept her eyes open for any and all Necromorphs that wanted them dead. She was right to have done so, since a new group of slashers, exploders, and a pregnant Necromorph started to move towards their location, though Chrysalis smiled as she opened fire and started dismembering the foes that were close to her and Isaac, while also removing the pregnant foe with a the detonation from the exploder's goo sacks. Isaac, after seeing how she worked thanks to their trek through the Ishimura, clearly trusted her like he trusted all of his friends, something that she was glad to have, and she made sure that none of the Necromorphs came anywhere near her friend... especially after what happened to Hammond earlier, when they were getting the singularity core from the Valor.

As they moved onto the walkway a tentacle emerged from the depths, confirming that there was likely a third monstrous creature aboard the Ishimura, though before it could do anything Chrysalis latched onto it with her magic and locked it in place, before tearing it's weakness apart and blew it to pieces... though a few seconds later a second one emerged from the cargo boxes and tried the same thing, only to end in the same result as Chrysalis smiled.

Delivering cargo shipment 782 to the Hanger Bay. the computerized voice said, to which Chrysalis looked over at Isaac and found that he had successful delivered the Marker to the other side of the area it had been stored in, where another crane latched onto the container and hauled it into the air.

"The cargo lift has arrived!" Kyne told them, though while he sounded happy that they were making progress, as both Isaac and Chrysalis were happy to be near the end of this nightmare, he also sounded anxious, which was understandable since they were going to have to take it down to Aegis VII, "The Marker is in the hangar bay. Now you can load it into the shuttle. Hurry!"

Isaac and Chrysalis quickly gathered all the ammunition that had dropped from the Necromorphs that Chrysalis had killed, which was quite a lot now that she thought about it, before they returned to the cargo lift and headed up to the level above them... where they returned to the hallway and headed back towards the store, as the elevator they needed to take was right next to it.

"I restored power to the elevator." Kendra informed them, which meant that they didn't have to go through some secondary mission to restore it themselves, though that made things much easier for them, despite the fact that Chrysalis still didn't trust her, "Take it up to the Hangar Bay and get that Marker on the shuttle. I'm heading up to the flight deck now. Oh god... I'm just going to run for it... wish me luck."

As the connection was terminated, and the duo climbed onto the elevator, Chrysalis wished that a Necromorph would jump Kendra before she made it to the shuttle, just so Hammond could be avenged in some manner, but she kept that to herself as she and Isaac rode the elevator to their destination. Once the elevator came to a stop the duo walked through the open door and continued towards the Flight Lounge, where the lights came back on as they reentered the room where they first experienced what a Necromorph could do. Chrysalis was a little sad as they entered the area, as Chen and Johnston didn't deserve to go out in such a fashion, before she shook her head and followed Isaac to the door that he had hacked through to enter this area when they first arrived on the Ishimura. Of course the quarantine was activated before they could even reach the door, so both she and Isaac turned around and opened fire on the slashers that burst through the air vents, as they were expecting an attack the moment the area was sealed.

Fortunately it was only the seven slashers that came at them, six of the weaker ones and one empowered one to be exact, but the duo was able to stand their ground and defeat the slashers in no time, releasing the area from the quarantine and allowing them to walk through the door at last. From there they returned to the area where the Kellion had crashed into, which there was still some fragments of off to their left, before the main door opened and they could see a shuttle coming in to land.

"Excellent! I'm going to dock the shuttle. Got to be careful now...careful..." Kyne told them, to which the duo simply watched the shuttle, because if it was damaged in any sort of way then they might as well say goodbye to each other since the only working shuttle on the ship would have been totaled, though they smiled as the shuttle entered the area without a problem and the door started to close, "I'm bringing the shuttle down now. The automated loading controls aren't responding. The two of you will have to shut down gravity in the hangar bay and then manually bring the Marker directly beneath the shuttle."

Isaac nodded and beckoned for Chrysalis to follow, to which the two of them backtracked towards the door they had just walked through, though to the left of it rested a second door that Chrysalis remembered seeing back when she and the others first arrived, and it was unlocked now. When they walked through that door Isaac brought them to another door, though on the other side of that one they had to walk up a ramp and passed through a third door that allowed them to approach the gravity controls. The moment the two of them were ready, and the shuttle was completely still where Kyne had parked it, Isaac pressed the command prompt and the gravity in the Hanger Bay ceased to exist, to which he and Chrysalis leapt through the air and traveled over to where the Marker was waiting for them. As they traveled through the air, however, several lurkers started pouring into the air, so the moment Isaac landed he turned towards their foes and started firing at them, which Chrysalis did as well with the pack that was trying to flank them.

The only good thing about lurkers was that they died in a few hits and usually dropped the ammunition they needed to keep their weapons going, though soon enough both Isaac and Chrysalis were done with their individual targets and walked over to where the Marker, which was laying on it's side since the container was like that, was resting and started to move it along the path that was in front of them. Chrysalis immediately discovered that they needed to change the tracks so they could get the Marker to the shuttle, to which she activated the terminal they were coming to and watched as the opening faced the direction Isaac was coming from. Isaac reached where Chrysalis was standing and moved the Marker off to the side, where another shuttle would have been, allowing Chrysalis to restore the track to how it had been moments ago before they moved the Marker even closer to Kyne's position. Chrysalis changed the tracks in front of them and let Isaac do the rest, where she watched as he moved the Marker into position underneath the middle of the shuttle, though once it was in place he backed away and stared at his handiwork.

"Okay, it's in position." Kyne said, causing the duo to smile, as it appeared that this would all be over soon, though at the same time Chrysalis couldn't shake the feeling that she had from earlier, "Eh, still having trouble with these damn loading controls. Isaac, Chrysalis, could you please restore gravity to the room? I should be able to load the Marker then."

Isaac and Chrysalis flew through the air and landed above the walkway they needed to land on, where they readjusted themselves before they jumped back down to the walkway, to which Isaac tapped the command option and gravity was restored once more... where he and Chrysalis watched as the Marker was brought aboard the shuttle at last.

"It's on board!" Kyne said, his voice much happier than it had been since they first started talking with the man, though Chrysalis focused on his video log as she waited for whatever her feeling was to happen, "Please, come and join me. Together we can stop this Hive Mind! We can end this nightmare! At last!"

Isaac and Chrysalis nodded before the connection was terminated, to which they headed though the door that was behind them, walked down the ramp, and passed through the other door before turning to the right, where they found a very happy Kyne standing on the walkway in front of them... though to Chrysalis' dread she couldn't see Kendra anywhere, though she kept her weapon at the ready in case something happened.

"Over here! Hurry, there's no time to waste, we must do it..." Kyne said, waving at them for a moment, but as that happened Chrysalis and Isaac noticed that he became distracted all of a sudden as he turned towards the shuttle, "Wait... Ameila... where are you going... wait..."

That was swiftly followed by a shot ringing out and a large hole was opened in Kyne's chest, to which he looked down at the wound in shock for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground, though since it wasn't a Necromorph that had gotten him Chrysalis had the feeling that she knew exactly who was to blame... especially since the walkway's ramp had receded and shuttle's door had closed, to which the duo watched as it started to move out of the Hanger Bay.

"Sorry, Isaac, Chrysalis, but I couldn't let him go though with it." a voice said, to which the duo watched as Kendra appeared thanks to a video link, though at the same time Chrysalis stared at the lady with a look of pure hatred in her eyes, one that might even put the great Somrba to shame, "I suppose I should thank him for finding the Marker. We even managed without help from the USM Valor... Thank you for helping me find it, by the way. My department's been looking for this place for a long time. See, what Kyne didn't know was, it was the government's mess to begin with. This whole planet is one big experiment. The Marker? This 'divine relic'? Made by man. They reverse-engineered it a couple of hundred years ago from the REAL Marker, a true alien artifact recovered on Earth. They dug it up, studied it, and made it their own. Then they brought it to Aegis VII, and activated it. And you've seen the result. The stuff of nightmares. They sealed the system, and no one would have been the wiser."

Kendra paused for a moment to chuckle about something, though whether it was so she could gloat about her great victory or spill even more beans to them Chrysalis didn't care, because she wanted Kendra dead for everything that she had done since they landed on this forsaken ship.

"But then CEC blunders in and starts tearing the planet apart." Kendra said, revealing that her chuckles were because of what the company that Isaac, Hammond, and the others worked for had done to Aegis VII, "The experiment was still alive. Kyne was right about the Hive Mind. The Marker would contain it...but that doesn't matter now, does it? I have the Marker, and this entire system can go to hell. For what it's worth, you did a great job, Isaac. And Chrysalis, you were right about me the moment Hammond died... it's a shame that you landed on the Kellion and not in my department's office a few weeks ago, because we could have used someone with your resourcefulness. Maybe I'll see one of you around in the future... or maybe not."

"Kendra, I swear, as Celestia as my witness, that if I get off this ship I am going to hunt you down and make you pay for everything that you've done to us," Chrysalis growled, causing the lady to pause before the connection was terminated, though she smiled when she saw the slightly frightened look on Kendra's face, "You are an absolute bitch, one of the worst that I have ever come across, and I am going to enjoy making you suffer when I get my hands on you."

"...I believe you..." Kendra said, though that was followed by her cutting off the video log and her communication with the duo, causing Chrysalis to growl in annoyance as the Hanger Bay door closed in front of them.

"Isaac! It's Nicole!" a new voice said, to which another video link appeared before them, this time belonging to Nicole, though some of Chrysalis' anger melted when she saw Wildfire standing behind Nicole, "I need you to help me, help us! Now! We're... We're in the Flight Control Room! Please, Isaac hurry! Please... I love you..."

Isaac and Chrysalis made their way back towards the control panel that they used to mess with the gravity, where they found a second door that would take them to the area that Nicole and Wildfire were in, to which they walked up another ramp and came to a door. Behind the door rested a guardian and it's pods, to which the duo opened fire on their foes before they could be hurt in the process, though that didn't stop them from keeping their guards. Once the guardian was dead they approached the door that it had been guarding and entered the Control Room, where they found both Nicole and Wildfire minding their own business... though when they walked into the room the duo turned towards them with a smile on each of their faces. As Isaac and Chrysalis approached the duo, and looked at the control panels in front of them, Chrysalis stopped beside her dear Wildfire and disengaged her helmet as she smiled down at the pegasus, who smiled back up at her for a moment.

Despite the pain and anger that this adventure had caused her, mostly because of Kendra, Chrysalis was at least happy to have a few more moments with Wildfire, especially since it appeared that Nicole needed their assistance with something, which was why Isaac was approaching her at the moment.

"Isaac! Is that really you?" Nicole inquired, though she waited for a few seconds for Isaac to nod before she started talking about, but the movement and way she talked had Chrysalis wonder if she was actually dead as well, as she knew that this had to be Isaac from when they met earlier, "I never thought we would be together again. God, I'm... I'm so sorry for what I did... I never wanted to hurt you... but you need to get it back now Isaac."

"That's the plan," Isaac replied, though at the same time he could already imagine what Chrysalis was going to do to Kendra when they got their hands on her, and a part of him really didn't want to know what Kendra's fate was going to be, not after what happened to that brute earlier, "Tell me what do do and we'll get the Marker back from Kendra."

"You can pilot the shuttle remotely from here." Nicole said, beckoning to the terminal that she was standing near, though since she hadn't touched it at all that gave some evidence to what Chrysalis was thinking about, "Make us whole, Isaac... Make us whole."

Isaac approached the terminal, the Emergency Shuttle Recall terminal, and stared at the command prompt that had been put on the screen, to which he silently raised his hand and confirmed the order, to which he noticed that the Ishimura started sending out the command prompt to the shuttle... and he could already imagine the look on Kendra's face when she realized what was happening.

"Isaac, what the hell are you and Chrysalis doing?" Kendra shouted over the audio link, informing the duo that they weren't even worth looking at anymore, though at the same time the duo waited to see what her next move was, "The two of you are making a big mistake. This is not over!"

That was followed by the computerized voice declaring that an escape pod had been launched from the shuttle, revealing that Kendra was fleeing for now, though at the same time Isaac smiled as the Hanger Bay door opened once more and the shuttle returned to where it had been before Kendra tried to fly off with it and the Marker.

"It doesn't matter," Wildfire said, though she smiled as Chrysalis rubbed the area behind her ears, despite the fact that Chrysalis knew the truth behind why she was able to see her again, "she can't escape her fate."

"None of us can..." Nicole stated, but her choice of words caused Chrysalis to know that there was something off about her, since she seemed to be talking about something different than what Isaac was thinking about, before they turned towards the shuttle, "Here it comes. I'll reprogram the shuttle so we can fly down to the colony. We're so close Isaac... now go! You and Chrysalis should get on the shuttle... I'll meet you there."

Chrysalis entered the command prompt and reengaged her helmet for the moment, where she and Isaac started walking back along the path that would take them back to the shuttle, though at the same time Wildfire walked behind them as if she was actually alive and not an echo of Chrysalis' memories. Chrysalis didn't mind as much as she should have, despite the fact that this meant that she was definitely going insane, but she enjoyed the extra time with Wildfire, since she figured they had been robbed back when she was alive. She knew that this was merely an echo, but the way it walked, talked, and acted, along with the seemingly real touch she felt every time they made contact, made her think that the echo was the real Wildfire... and she was perfectly okay with that decision.

Eventually they made it back to the walkway that would allow them to access the shuttle, though as they stepped out onto the walkway two more leapers appeared in front of them, clearly trying to stop them from leaving the Ishimura with the Marker. What surprised Isaac was that Wildfire, despite being an echo of the real deal, opened her wings and took flight, where she used that flaming lance of hers to dismember the Necromorphs that were in front of them, and they were definitely the real deal when he checked the limb that came to a rest in front of him. Isaac knew that if he and Chrysalis were going insane, which it appeared might be happening to his companion, that they would be hallucinating and none of this was real, but the Necromorphs were real and were being cut apart as if Wildfire was real. For a moment he considered that maybe Chrysalis' love for Wildfire had created some sort of echo that switched between reality and illusion, but before he could say anything Chrysalis and Wildfire climbed up the ramp and entered the shuttle, to which he sighed and followed after them.

Not a few moments later he took one of the seats in the cockpit, where Nicole followed after them and took the other one as Chrysalis and Wildfire sat in the seating area beside the door they used to get aboard the shuttle... to which Isaac input the commands and the shuttle started to leave the Ishimura. It was time for him and Chrysalis to finish their mission and stop the nightmare, and that meant traveling down to Aegis VII and putting the Marker back where it belonged.

Ishimura: Aegis VII

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Since the Ishimura was close to Aegis VII it didn't take Isaac long to get them down to where the colony was located, thanks to the fact that Nicole had reprogrammed the shuttle to take them to the area that the Marker had been pulled out of, though no one said anything while they traveled down to their destination. He and Chrysalis knew that this was going to be the last thing they did, in terms of the Ishimura, before they left the system and called for assistance, where he knew that his companion would begin her search for a way home. The moment Chrysalis had told him, Hammond, and Kendra that she needed to find a gateway home, back when they asked why she couldn't just teleport out of the Ishimura, he knew that the gateway would become her focus once this adventure was over, though he wasn't ready to say goodbye to her yet. He had come to realize that he thought of her as his friend, something that she seemed to agree with based on what she had told him earlier... though he silently hoped that, when she was given the option to stay or leave that she picked him and those he trusted over her painful old home.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, merely sat in the chair she had picked out when she entered the shuttle, thinking about the fact that she and Isaac were going to be taking the Marker back to where it had been found, while also absently scratching Wildfire behind her ear. She knew that she and Issac would succeed in their mission, in returning the Marker to where it had come from, but at the same time she wondered if putting it back would stop whatever signal it was sending to the two of them. If that was the case then she would likely lose Wildfire all over again, though as painful as such a scenario would be she was still grateful for the chance to spend some quality time with the one pony that had shown her the wonders that Twilight Sparkle and her friends represented. She still found it odd that she had long scorned the magic that was friendship, all because of her mother and what happened to her precious Wildfire, but now she was relearning what she had known in the past... and maybe forge some new friendships at the same time.

After a few moments of silence Chrysalis felt the shuttle come to a stop, indicating that they must have landed in the part of the colony where the Marker had been found, to which she sighed as she stopped scratching Wildfire behind the ears, something that was immediately noticed.

"We're here already," Wildfire commented, her voice sounding sad for a moment, once more making Chrysalis wonder just how much of her was actually real and how much of her was an illusion created by the Marker, before she looked over in Chrysalis' direction for a moment, "I was hoping that we'd have a few more minutes to ourselves... just to enjoy each other's company before you and Isaac got to work on delivering the Marker."

"So was I." Chrysalis said, though at the same time she moved her arms and grabbed Wildfire into a hug, something that she hadn't done to anyone since the fateful day she found her in the desert, before gently putting her on the floor in front of her, "Wildfire... if today is the last time we see each other, for the rest of my life, I just want you to know that I loved you with all my heart... and that I still do, even after a thousand years of mourning your death."

"Chryssi, I still love you with all my heart as well," Wildfire replied, to which she reached up and put another kiss on Chrysalis' cheek, in the same spot as the last one, before she returned to the floor as the main door opened, "Come on, let's get moving before Nicole starts telling us that 'now's not the time for fun', like she did back when you and Isaac were searching for that beacon."

Chrysalis nodded as she entered the command into her RIG once more and let her helmet seal around her head, before she and Wildfire walked out of the shuttle and took a look at the area that was around them, which was a large compound of sorts that had a rail resting in front of where the shuttle was sitting. From what she could tell she and Isaac would have to use the Kinesis Module to move the Marker through the compound until they reached wherever it had come from, while no doubt fighting off the Necromorphs that called this place home. There was some dust blowing in the air around them, though since Wildfire was dead and Chrysalis had her helmet on neither of them were affected by it, even though Chrysalis figured that it was all from the planet crack, which only made her a little nervous when she remembered that the fragment of Aegis VII was literally looming above their heads. The planetary fragment would be the perfect weapon to use against the Hive Mind, though something told her that doing so was a bad idea, so she pushed it away as she and Wildfire walked down the ramp that was in front of them.

When they reached the platform that the ramp brought them to, and Wildfire spread her wings so she could search the area for herself, Chrysalis turned around and watched as Nicole walked down the ramp as well... though a minute later Isaac did the same thing, making her wonder why it had taken him some extra time to get out here, but she said nothing as her companion stopped beside her with his helmet up as well.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, you'll need to use one of the loaders to get the Marker off the shuttle." Nicole told them, though at the same time she turned her head away from where the duo was standing and walked over to were a large metal door was resting, where she stopped beside some tracks that matched what Chrysalis had stared at earlier.

As Isaac started looking for a loader, however, Chrysalis walked over to where the edge of the compound was so she could get a better look at the massive hole in the planet, where she quickly discovered that there were more than one compound resting around the edge of the hole. According to what Kyne told them, and showed them, the Hive Mind was somewhere in the darkness of the hole, waiting for something to happen, to which Chrysalis gulped as she backed away and followed after Isaac. Fortunately it appeared that a loader was already resting on the tracks, waiting for them to use it, to which Chrysalis raised her Pulse Rifle and nodded to Isaac, who latched onto the loader with his Kinesis Module and started pulling it over to where the shuttle was waiting. Oddly enough no Necromorphs jumped out at them while they were moving the loader, which only put Chrysalis on edge considering that there had to be a few left behind, though she said nothing as they came to a stop in front of the shuttle.

A few moments later Isaac input the command into the console that was next to the loader, where the duo watched as the Marker, without it's container surrounding it, emerged from the area in front of where the loader was resting, before it was pulled onto the loader... causing Isaac and Chrysalis to walk back to where Nicole was standing.

When they reached the area that Nicole was still standing in, with her eyes locked on the Marker, Chrysalis noticed that the power terminal that would allow them to move forward had no power box inside it, and that the only place where she and Isaac could get a replacement was inside the building to their left. Since they had no choice in the matter, as they couldn't go forward without the power being restored, Isaac eventually let go of the loader and followed Chrysalis over to the smaller building's door. When they entered the building they found bodies scattered everywhere, something that they were used to at this point in time, though when they turned to the right they found an infector resting on the glass wall of the room that appeared to have the power box they just happened to be looking for. A few moments later, when they opened the door, they discovered that there were two infectors inside the room, though neither of them lasted very long in the grand scheme of things as Isaac and Chrysalis gunned them down and dismembered them.

As they collected the power box, and pulled it out of the room it was in, their audio links became active once more, though the duo paused since it was either Nicole telling them something before she disappeared again or it was Kendra trying to persuade them into handing over the Marker.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, the Marker needs to be returned to the Pedestal Chamber." Nicole informed them, though at the same time the duo collected anything they could salvage from the building they were in and made sure that they sold what they didn't need at the store, "Use the loader to bring it there and place it on the pedestal. Replace what was stolen, and make us whole again."

Once the connection was terminated Chrysalis opened the door for Isaac before the two of them walked outside, where they discovered that Nicole was no longer standing where she had been a few moments ago, though they also had to open fire on a divider and his limbs once he separated into smaller segments. With the divider taken care of Isaac picked up the power box once more and inserted it into the terminal, allowing power to be restored to the doors and the large metal door that was opening before their very eyes. As that happened Isaac grabbed the loader with his Kinesis and pulled it into the waiting area that was behind the metal door, which happened to be between two metal doors, though as Isaac moved through the door he opened Chrysalis turned her head to the skies and didn't see Wildfire anywhere... to which she sighed as she followed Isaac into the depths of the compound.

A few moments later, after closing the first door they had moved the Marker through, or a shutter as the colonists called them, and opening the second one in front of them, where they discovered that the colonists had definitely been attacked by Necromorphs on account of the blood and bodies, as well as some organic growth that was blocking a path they could have taken to get the Marker to it's destination in a shorter amount of time. Another thing Chrysalis noticed was that there were a decent number of bridges that needed to be raised so they could even move the Marker through this area, to which she headed over to the console that was attached to the first one they came to and tapped the button in front of her. That was followed by the bridge rising in two halves, though Isaac quickly loosed a Stasis blast at the bridge, to be on the safe side, and moved the Marker further down the path they needed to take... though as they passed the first bridge the quarantine activated, informing them that the Necromorphs were coming at last.

The first wave of enemies that came after them contained a few slashers and a few lurkers, just enough so there were equal amounts of them on both sides of the room, meaning that both Isaac and Chrysalis fought the same number of enemies at the same time. Despite the fact that these Necromorphs were empowered, meaning their bodies were darker colored than the normal color they possessed, Chrysalis found that both of them were able to clear out their groups without breaking a sweat. She wondered if that meant that these foes were actually weaker than the ones on the Ishimura, which would be weird since they were so close to the Hive Mind, but she paid it no mind. The next group consisted of the same enemies they fought in the first wave, only now a few exploders were joining the fun, which made things easier for the duo since their foes got close together and made a single shot at the goo sacks take them all out.

The instant their enemies appeared to be taken care of, despite the quarantine lights still going on, Isaac and Chrysalis returned to raising the bridges in their way and moved the Marker along them, so that way when the quarantine lifted they would be able to continued onward without having to waste too much time. As it turned out the Necromorphs were waiting for them to move the Marker into the next area where two shutters were waiting before they attacked again, this time sending two lurkers and four exploders. Chrysalis would have been surprised by that arrangement, but since the exploders were easy to take out she quickly made short work of them, allowing Isaac to deal with the lurkers that were trying to pin them down. Not even a minute passed before all the enemies were dead, to which the lights returned to normal and the quarantine was over, where the duo breathed a sigh of relief as they headed over to where the Marker was waiting for them and moved it into the next chamber that they would likely have to fight their way through... though they had to wait through closing one shutter and opening the next one before they could get to fighting something.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, you're almost there," Nicole told them, though as they walked into the area Chrysalis noticed a tube of some kind with two guardians blocking the way, indicating that it was important, "You'll have to restore power to the bridges to move the Marker through this area. Look for a control station at the end of the maintenance tube."

Seeing how the maintenance tube was being guarded Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on the guardians and the pods that were loosed into the area between them, where their weapons dismembered the two Necromorphs with ease, once more making Chrysalis worry that they were walking into a trap of some kind. Once the guardians were taken care of the duo opened the door they had been guarding and walked into the Zero-G environment that was waiting for them, while at the same time they took out a few leapers that were hiding inside the maintenance tube. As they waited Chrysalis stared at the blades that would have been spinning and knew that, once they turned the power back on, that they would have to move through here as well, meaning that Isaac's Stasis Module was necessary. Eventually they came to a point where they had to jump through a square hole and then jump onto the ground where the switch was located, though once Isaac pulled the switch back to where it belonged they carefully made their way back through the tube... where he slowed the blades down so they didn't get carved up, while Chrysalis simply grabbed their enemies and hurled them into the blades to quickly get rid of them.

When they finally got out of the maintenance tube, however, they found an empowered brute waiting for them, as it immediately started to charge at them the instant the door opened and they walked out, though both Isaac and Chrysalis moved to the side and let the beast pass them. Once the brute was behind them Isaac loosed a Stasis blast at it's back, allowing him and Chrysalis to open fire on the beast's weaknesses without it trying to fight them back, where the beast roared in pain as one of it's arms was removed. When it was allowed to move fast again the duo continued to fire at it's back as they avoided it's attacks, before it's other arm was blown completely off it's body, where it collapsed and died, to which Isaac collected the Power Node that it happened to be carrying... something that he wasn't sure he and Chrysalis were going to need at this point in time.

Once the brute was taken care of, and they were absolutely sure that it was dead, they restocked their ammunition at the nearby store, or at least sold some of the useless pieces of ammunition they had, before they started moving the Marker towards the third set of shutters they had to walk through... and entered another part of the compound were they would have to fight their way forward.

Oddly enough there weren't any enemies for them to fight in the area they walked into, to which they carefully moved the Marker as they waited for something to happen, but in the end they were able to open the doors to the Excavation Site without having to fight any Necromorphs. When they opened the second set of doors, however, they discovered that the Hive Mind was active, as there were a lot of large tentacle like appendages moving around where the massive hole was, but at the same time the duo stood beside each other as Isaac carefully moved the loader carrying the Marker towards the pedestal they had been moving towards. As they started moving the Marker across the rails, however, they were attacked by Necromorphs, though while Isaac dealt with the lurkers and some slashers Chrysalis cleared the way by dismembering three tentacles that were trying to block the way, before she turned around and helped Isaac with the mess of enemies that were coming from behind.

The moment they were finished with all the Necromorphs that wanted to attack them, and were sure they were done, the duo continued to move the loader to the red pedestal they were heading towards, though once they reached it Isaac pressed the prompt on the screen and the Marker was returned to the pedestal... which was followed it energy surging around it as something happened, while Nicole stepped out from behind where the Marker had been placed.

"Thank you Isaac. I always believed in you." Nicole said, though since her sudden arrival made no sense Chrysalis knew now that Nicole had to have been killed at some point in time during the outbreak, but she said nothing since it appeared that Isaac might not have put the pieces together himself, "I knew you would return to me. We are whole again, Isaac. We are whole..."

That was followed by Nicole disappearing as something bright glowed behind her, obscuring her from their vision, though when the light faded the Marker released a pulse of energy into the sky that shook the area for a moment... but what came next caused Isaac and Chrysalis to freeze for a moment.

Emergency: geo-orbital gravity tethers offline. a computerized voice, one that was slightly different from the one they heard on the Ishimura, said, though at the same time Chrysalis' eyes widened as she looked into the sky, Tectonic load released. Impact imminent. Evacuate this area immediately.

"Holy shit." Chrysalis said, looking up at the fragment of Aegis VII for a moment, which was now starting to make it's way down towards the area it had been pulled from, though this time she knew that death was a guarantee if they didn't get off the planet soon, "Isaac, we've got to move... and I mean right NOW!!!"

Chrysalis, taking command in this situation, hauled Isaac away from where 'Nicole' had been standing and headed into what appeared to be a decontamination chamber, as she knew that there was one more door in the area they found the power box in earlier and hoped that this area would take them there... only for the door to lock up and the walls to rise around them, forcing them to wait for a few seconds before they lowered back into place.

"Isaac, Chrysalis," a familiar voice said, one that filled Chrysalis with rage as she and Isaac turned around, where they found Kendra standing on the walkway they had been on moments ago, only this time it appeared that she was holding a gun in her right hand, "you two didn't really think I would just walk away from this, did you? I can't do that, because the Marker is coming with me. It really is a shame... I was really starting to like how resourceful the two of you were... even if the two of you are insane."

"Kendra, I have no idea what you are talking about, and I wouldn't believe you even if you were right," Isaac replied, though at the same time he pointed his Plasma Cutter at the glass, because if he could just break it he could give Chrysalis the opening she needed to end Kendra's cursed existence.

"What, you don't believe me? Just look at yourself." Kendra stated, though that was when a smirk appeared on her face, one that Chrysalis hated the instant she noticed it, before she pointed at Isaac's RIG, "Better yet, take a look at that video from Nicole... and this time, watch it right to the end..."

Chrysalis patiently stood there as Isaac opened his video log and replayed the video from Nicole once more, seeing the same parts of the video she had seen several times since she arrived on the Kellion, though before it she, and Isaac for that matter, noticed something different. The camera zoomed back for a moment and revealed that Nicole was holding a needle, one that was connected to some sort of compound, where Nicole told Isaac that she loved him and that she could have seen him one last time... before driving the needle into her arm. At first nothing seemed to happen, but as they watched they discovered that Nicole effectively put herself down before the Necromorphs got to her, which confirmed all of Chrysalis' suspicions, though at the same time she still felt sorry for Isaac and knew the pain he was going through at that exact moment.

"See? You're insane!" Kendra declared, though at the same time Chrysalis growled at the lady, as she was imagining what she was going to do with her now that she was within her grasp, while at the same time Kendra ignored her, "Just like Kyne, just like the Captain... and just like Chrysalis! Hell, Chrysalis is even more insane than you are, because she's constantly interacting with whatever construct the Marker has been showing her..."

"Her name... is Wildfire Comet," Chrysalis growled, though as she spoke she glared daggers at Kendra, as she hated this one person with every fiber of her being, for everything she had done to the duo during their journey through the Ishimura, "Once this door opens I'm going to kill you... and if I don't then the Hive Mind will do so before you can even hope to leave with the Marker."

"Nicole and Wildfire have been dead the entire time, Isaac," Kendra stated, completely ignoring Chrysalis, as she wanted to torment Isaac a little more before she left the duo to their deaths, either at the tentacles of the Hive Mind or the collision of the tectonic load colliding with Aegis VII, "Whatever the two of you have been seeing the entire time... was made by that! The two of you were it's pawns. But don't worry, because from this point forward it will be in good hands... far away from this damned place. Goodbye Isaac... goodbye Chrysalis."

Before Chrysalis could even do anything Kendra ran away from where they were standing, heading into the building she and Isaac had fought their way through, to which Chrysalis turned towards the door that was behind them and found that it was finally unlocked. With the way opened the duo opened the door and headed down the corridor that was in front of them, though at the same time they had to move slowly because of the organic mess that was lining the majority of the corridor. As they walked the duo heard the sounds of the Hive Mind, which was either pissed or happy about what Kendra had done, though they focused on their objective as they reached the end of the corridor and entered another room, one that had plenty of supplies waiting for them. They quickly restocked what they had before they moved through another door and entered the area the power box had been resting in, before they opened the door and headed outside so they could get to the shuttle before Kendra could.

As they headed outside the building the duo discovered that some of the larger cargo boxes had been toppled, but Chrysalis ignored that as she spotted Kendra heading up the ramp to the shuttle's seating area, indicating that she was planning on leaving before they could stop them... though she wasn't going to have any of that as her magic flared and she extended her hand, letting her magic sparkle around Kendra before she pulled back and yanked her down to where she and Isaac were standing.

"So, Kendra, where did you think you were going?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she glared at Kendra as she purposely disengaged her helmet, allowing the lady to see the anger and hate in her eyes before she ended her life like she had promised.

"I'm leaving with the Marker," Kendra replied, though as she spoke Chrysalis didn't move her eyes, while noticing that Kendra was inching her hand towards her gun while they were talking, revealing her intentions, "and that means the two of you need to..."

"Stop that." Chrysalis commanded, to which her magic grabbed hold of Kendra's mind, or a decent portion of it, while she used a type of magic she hadn't used since she had been dethroned by Thorax, to which Kendra's body shook for a few seconds before her hand stopped reaching for her gun, which caused Chrysalis to smile as she placed a finger under Kendra's chin, "Now then, let's finish our quarrel; throw yourself off the nearby edge of this area."

Isaac watched as Kendra, with a look of fear in her eyes, moved away from where Chrysalis was standing and headed towards the area that the Hive Mind was no doubt resting in, where she charged forward and jumped off the edge of the platform, as if she had been forced to listen to Chrysalis' command. It also appeared that there was a limit to that power, as the moment that Kendra was over the edge she started screaming as she fell into the abyss that was in front of them, before her voice disappeared as her RIG flatlined, indicating that she was now dead.

"Was... was that necessary?" Isaac asked, as he had never seen something like that from Chrysalis, though at the same time he knew that it was because the enemies they had fought were dead instead of alive, but that ability was slightly terrifying if he was admitting anything.

"I could have taken the easy way out and simply blown her to pieces," Chrysalis admitted, though she felt only a tiny bit better over all this, before she turned towards the shuttle and stopped staring at the area she had told Kendra to throw herself off of, "but that wouldn't have lessened my anger... come on, let's get out of where before..."

That was immediately followed by a long white tentacle erupting from the area that the Hive Mind was located in and wrapped around the area that the duo was standing in, preventing them from heading to the shuttle or retreating into the building that they had come from... to which they both turned towards the area that Kendra had jumped off of and watched as the Hive Mind pulled itself up to their level, all while loosing it's unique roar at the same time.

As the Hive Mind roared at them, however, the duo noticed that there were five yellow areas, it's weakness, that they could target, to which Chrysalis reengaged her helmet before the two of them started firing at the areas that would allow them to defeat the massive creature. After a few seconds of them firing the Hive Mind pulled itself back and attempted to crushed the two of them with it's massive white tentacles, though the massive Necromorph roared in pain when one of them obliterated one of the weaknesses. As Isaac caused the first weakness to explode they both stopped firing as they dodged the tentacles, though as it calmed down Chrysalis resumed firing at the one she had targeting, causing it more pain as she destroyed her target. When the third weakness was destroyed, however, the Hive Mind lashed out with it's tentacles and grabbed onto both Chrysalis' right leg and Isaac's right leg before hauling them into the air, where it dangled them in the air as it started to bring them towards it's mouth.

Isaac and Chrysalis determined that combining their attacks was best at this point in time, to which they targeted the same weaknesses for a few moments, having to pause every now and then as the Hive Mind brought them closer to it's mouth... though as they attacked it's weaknesses a flash appeared in the air above them and Chrysalis noticed Wildfire stabbing the tentacle that was holding her, before the weakness exploded and the duo was thrown at the ground. A few moments later, after the Hive Mind calmed down, the duo got back up and blew the fifth and final weakness apart, causing the creature to howl in pain once more. That was followed by the Hive Mind's chest cavity opening, revealing five more weaknesses that looked like organs, to which the duo opened fire immediately, as they knew that they would be forced to do some things before they had another chance at this.

A few moments later the Hive Mind loosed a pair of pods into the air that landed in front of the duo, which turned into a pair of pregnant Necromorphs, though Isaac and Chrysalis dismembered them before they had a chance to cut themselves open... allowing them to access the Hive Mind's chest cavity and causing it more damage as the first organ was blown to pieces. From there they had to avoid the tentacles and wait for the creature to open it's chest, while at the same time praying that they had enough time since the fragment of Aegis VII was getting even closer to where they were standing. The duo also did as much damage as they could to the Hive Mind's organs when they were revealed, each targeting a different one to the best of their ability, while also saying nothing as one of their attacks caused massive pain to their foe as an organ was blown to pieces. It took them some time, but eventually the last weakness was blown apart and the Hive Mind moved around in pain, before it collapsed on the platform in front of where Isaac and Chrysalis were standing, where it remained for a few seconds before moving backwards and fell into the abyss behind it.

With the Hive Mind taken care of the duo immediately ran over to the ramp, which was now accessible thanks to the tentacle being pulled away as well, though as they entered the shuttle Chrysalis turned around and looked at the sky, where she was tackled to the floor by Wildfire, to which she sealed the door and braced herself... while at the same time Isaac accessed the cockpit of the shuttle and got them moving into the air, before they breached the atmosphere and finally left Aegis VII behind.

"It's finally over," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she disengaged her helmet as she picked herself up off the floor, where Wildfire moved into the chair she had been sitting in earlier, before she walked into the cockpit and found Isaac making sure that the shuttle was heading away from the damned planet, "Hey Isaac, how are you holding up?"

"...I'm fine..." Isaac said, though his tone suggested that he was saddened by the fact that Nicole was dead, having taken her own life during the Necromorph outbreak, before he glanced back at Chrysalis as he disengaged his own helmet as well,"How about you? How are you holding up?"

"Truth be told, I'm exhausted." Chrysalis replied, as her body ached from the constant running and fighting that they had been through, without any real rest to speak of, but she pushed that to the side for the moment, "Isaac, I'm sorry that you lost Nicole."

"It's fine," Isaac stated, where Chrysalis determined that he was only trying to lie to himself, though if he wanted to do that she guessed that she could abide by his desires, "Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky and have her materialize for me like Wildfire does for you."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Chrysalis said, though she didn't say anything else in that regard, because she knew that now wasn't the time for her to be prying into his life, especially after everything they had been through so far, "Well, if you want to talk about anything I'm going to be in the other room... sleeping I might add. Hopefully you get us somewhere safe, where you can get some rest as well before we head out into the vastness of space."

Isaac didn't say anything as he nodded his head, to which Chrysalis let out a yawn and returned to where Wildfire was resting, where she found that the seats could have their arms pulled up to make the entire thing a single length that was long enough for a person to sleep on. Chrysalis smiled as she sat on the chair for a moment, though that was before she rested her head near the open edge of the seats and let herself drift off into what she felt was a well deserved slumber, as she hadn't had one since the Kellion crashed into the Ishimura. As she drifted off to sleep, and headed into the land of dreams, she could have sworn that Wildfire kissed her cheek once more, though that was the last thing she recalled before she started snoring... not realizing that her adventures with Isaac were far from over.

Interlude: Unfortunate Awakening

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Chrysalis moaned as she finally pulled herself from the restful sleep that she had been having, along with one of the most wonderful dreams she had had in a really long time, though her moans were because of how sore her body was from everything she had done aboard the Ishimura. Just thinking about that cursed ship made her remember all the horrors she had seen and what she had done to keep herself alive, while at the same time making sure that her friends Hammond and Isaac had gotten to safety as well, before it was only her and Isaac. Even now, as she pulled herself from her slumber, she recalled exactly what she had done to Kendra the moment that bitch was within her grasp, and yet she was perfectly fine with what had happened since it was what she deserved. Either she had hit the side of the Hive Mind's body and was crushed in the impact, or she had been eaten by the massive Necromorph before it rose up to fight her and Isaac, which they succeeded in beating before they departed from Aegis VII.

Thinking about the fact that they left the cursed planet behind, and left the damned Marker behind since it would keep everything in check, caused Chrysalis to force herself into a sitting position as she opened her eyes and took stock of what was in the shuttle... though as she opened her eyes, however, she discovered that she wasn't in the executive shuttle that she and Isaac had repaired. The room she had found herself in looked like a prison cell, or maybe a cell where crazy people were kept, though it was all made of metal and the door was the same way, only there was a small window that looked like it might be moveable from the outside. From what she could tell there was a bed, which she must have been sleeping on, and some bathroom accessories, the toilet and sink, that happened to be resting on the wall opposite of where she and the bed were currently resting.

Thanks to her nerves, from her ordeals aboard the Ishimura, she reached to her right and found that her Pulse Rifle was missing, though as she glanced around her she found that not only was her preferred weapon of choice missing, but so was her bone blades. In fact the armor she had purchased, to keep herself alive during the repairs that she and Isaac were making to the Ishimura, had been stripped from her body, as she was now wearing a white shirt and a white pair of pants, though she felt no undergarments anywhere. In fact the only thing that she could find that she still possessed was her RIG, still attached to her back, but that was of little comfort as she noticed that all of ammunition and credits had been taken as well, meaning that someone had robbed her blind while she was resting, without her noticing. That made her wonder where Isaac was, not because she thought that he was the one that did this, but because she was concerned for her friend... especially since she had no idea what was going on at the moment.

Before she could consider the possibilities, however, the door suddenly opened and a man walked into the room that she had awoken in, though Chrysalis quickly found that the man had cut his hair down to the point where he was almost bald and had his facial hair cleaned up in a similar manner. The mysterious man was wearing a white suit, similar to what a doctor would wear, that even had shoulder pads for some odd reason, though it didn't take her long to spot the name tag that was on the left side of the man's suit, which revealed that the man's name was Foster Edgars.

"Miss Chrysalis, I see that you are awake at last," the man said, though his tone didn't sit well with Chrysalis, as it reminded her of how Kendra acted, as she had been arrogant when she believed that she was going to walk away with the Marker, "Truthfully, I was hoping that I would walk into this room one day and find you dead, since you appeared to be in a coma for some time... though your death would have been an excellent tool to convince Isaac Clarke to cooperate with us, when we start questioning him about the events of Aegis VII anyway."

Foster's statement immediately set where he rested on Chrysalis' scale of trust, as she had quickly determined that the doctor, or whatever he was, had hoped that she would die before she had awoken, as it would provide him with the tools necessary to get whatever information he was after out of Isaac. That revealed that the good news about this whole situation was that she and Isaac were alive, and that they had managed to leave Aegis VII behind without the consequences of the tectonic load crashing into the planet affecting them. The bad news, however, was that they were both likely missing some days out of their lives, considering her situation, and that the people who had captured them were after the Marker. Chrysalis had no idea if the red Marker had survived the events of Aegis VII, but a part of her was hoping that it had been destroyed before someone could use it, as that was what Kendra and her unknown friends had been hoping to do with it... if she were to believe Kendra's story anyway.

"Yes, Isaac Clarke is alive and well," Foster said, causing Chrysalis to stare at the man once more, as she knew that she had been lost in her thoughts for a moment, though at the same time she wanted nothing more than to get up and punch the man in the face so she could prevent whatever scheme he was planing, "you were the first thing he asked for the moment he was awake, though he's only given us your name and refuses to share anything else he might know about you... not that we're terribly interested in studying what you are anyway."

"You, and whoever you work for, are only keeping me around to make sure Isaac complies with your demands," Chrysalis stated, as she knew exactly why she was in this room and wearing a different set of clothing than she had been when she went to sleep, as it appeared that she was going to be a prisoner until someone released her.

"Not quite." Foster said, to which he smiled for a moment as he stared at her, though Chrysalis knew that whatever he was going to tell her was going to anger her, in one way or another, "You see, one of the things we discovered, after your shuttle was picked up by a recovery patrol, was that both you and Isaac Clarke are suffering from dementia... even if the levels of your dementia are completely different. In addition to that Isaac is also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which you seem to be immune to or weren't phased by what is tormenting him. You see, I said that we weren't interested in studying what you are, rather we are interested in understanding what the Marker showed you and only you, as your case is different from Isaac's."

Chrysalis didn't need to think about why she and Isaac were different, as she had suffered through a thousand years without her soulmate and had only finally gotten some time to dull the pain that had resurfaced, while Isaac had been faced with the reality that Nicole had been dead before he and his team got the call to check out the Ishimura, which was likely what he was thinking about at the moment. From the way Foster was talking Chrysalis knew that he wasn't going to ask her and Isaac to willingly help them with his department's studies, rather it sounded they were going to be forced into whatever tests and experiments the man had in mind. Since that appeared to be the case she had to wonder where Isaac was, as she would have thought that he would be the first person, other than Foster and his men, that she had the honor of seeing after waking up in such a manner.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Foster raised a hand to his mouth and coughed, though it was the type to get someone's attention and not to prevent the spread of something, to which Chrysalis returned her attention to the man as he stared at her.

"We are nearing our destination," Foster said, to which he walked outside the room that Chrysalis had awoken inside, though when he was on the other side he turned towards her once more, "Come along now. My superior wanted me to show you and Isaac your new home, before committing the both of you to our research. And if you don't come quickly I'll have one of the guards shoot you in the leg... or maybe in the knee."

Chrysalis could already imagine the jokes that the guards would play if such a thing happened, to which she sighed as she pulled herself from the bed and followed after Foster, though at the same time she started to commit the area to memory, in the off chance that she and Isaac were rescued before they reached their destination. Foster lead her down a few hallways until stopping at an observation room, where she could stand in a decent sized room and look out at what was around them. She did not find Isaac inside the area she was brought to, meaning that Foster didn't trust the two of them to be together, even for a few moments, but when she looked at the glass window she found herself staring out at what appeared to be a planet, one that had rings surrounding it. That was before she noticed a large fragment, of something that could have been a moon at one point in time, that had a station built around the entirety of the fragment, a station that was far larger than anything she had seen so far. She guessed that the moon fragment, if that's what she was staring at, had been the location of a planet crack before the CEC started cracking actual planets, but it appeared that most of what the fragment had been was long gone... the resources used to stabilize humanity, at least according to what she discovered since she arrived on the Kellion.

Thinking about the Kellion reminded her of Hammond and the others that had died to the Necromorphs, though before she could actually get too deep into her thoughts she heard the sound of Foster walking towards her and focused her mind back on what was happening at the moment.

"That is the Titan Station," Foster commented, though this time Chrysalis didn't turn back towards him, instead she merely stared at the massive station and focused on it at the moment, "it was built into the last shard of Titan, one of Saturn's moons, and supports a large metropolis that includes schools, malls, skyscrapers and a Unitologist church... and it'd going to be your new home for the rest of your life. Now, I shall answer a few of your worthless questions, so we can get back to your cell. We found your shuttle a week ago, after it had spent three weeks adrift in space, and it appears that teams are being dispatched to Aegis VII to survey the damage that you and Isaac have caused to the planet."

"Right, blame the surviving engineer and his friend for what happened," Chrysalis said, to which she turned towards the man that was staring at her, as she figured that someone was going to be blamed for what happened on the Ishimura and Aegis VII, "It was only a matter of time until the power that was supporting the Aegis VII colony gave out and dropped the tectonic load back into the planet below it, we just happened to get off the planet before that happened."

She remembered the information she and Isaac had found on the original black Marker, which Kendra also told them about, and recalled that some government had basically covered up the facts of their findings and the existence of the red Marker on Aegis VII. Based on that knowledge she knew that whichever government Foster belonged to was going to research everything they could about Aegis VII and the Necromorph outbreak, before they created a cover story and buried the truth about what happened. That, in turn, was going to make the Unitologists upset and likely cause them to retaliate in some manner, once they figured out that Kendra was dead and had failed in her mission to bring them the Marker that the crew of the Ishimura had discovered... and maybe cause them to blow something up, which would cause some conflict between the government and the Unitologists.

"You don't need to lie to me, because I'll find out what really happened anyway," Foster stated, sounding like he knew exactly what had happened on Aegis VII, though at the same time he beckoned for Chrysalis to follow, to which the annoyed changeling followed after him, "The USG O'Bannon is in charge of stabilizing the planet and recovering the Marker that you and Isaac left behind, which will greatly help us in our research, though even a fragment of the Marker would be beneficial for all of us."

"Okay, Isaac and I are definitely the more sane members of this ship," Chrysalis said, because it appeared that she and Isaac were the only ones that saw that the Markers, both the red one from Aegis VII and the mysterious black one Kendra had mentioned, as the evil creations that they were.

"Oh no, you two are certainly insane," Foster replied, though at the same time the smile on his face told Chrysalis that the man thought it was humorous for a 'insane' person to think that they were 'sane', which only made her want to punch him even more, but she kept herself at bay since she had no idea where her gear was, "Come along, now that I've shown you your new home it's time that we take you back to your room, before we transfer you to your permanent home in the Titan Station."

Chrysalis really wondered if she should just take her chances and attack Foster immediately, as she was fairly certain that she could stop the lesser bullets from touching her if she were to do such a thing, but at the same time she had no idea what sort of enemies she would have to deal with. She already knew that if she had been making this decision while she was in Canterlot, or some identical location, she would have attacked in an attempt to get away, but right now she wasn't thinking about herself anymore. She had no idea where Isaac was and wasn't about to leave this ship without him, so she kept her thoughts to herself as she followed Foster back towards her temporary cell, as she would have a new one soon enough, all while glaring at the men that were around her as she tried to think of a plan that would let her find Isaac and escape with him before they were caught. The guards ignored her completely, though she knew that they were keeping an eye on her without her being aware of it, meaning that once she did something they would know and would either shoot her full of holes or put her to sleep until they arrived at their destination.

Soon enough she was back in the room that she had awoken in and was ushered inside, though as Foster opened his mouth to say something else a soldier tapped his shoulder and whispered something into his ear, causing him to frown before he left the room and walked down the hallway... to which the soldiers closed the door until it was either time to give her food or to transfer her to her new home in the Titan Station. A few seconds later Chrysalis sighed and sat on her bed, wondering how much power she would need to cause the ship to shake before she could punch through the door, but before she tried anything a swirling vortex appeared on the wall to her right. She stared at it for a moment, as it was something she would have been searching for if she and Isaac hadn't been captured in this manner, but as she watched a familiar head with a goatee appeared... to which the creature smiled for a moment when he noticed her sitting there.

"There you are Chrysalis," Discord said, to which the Spirit of Chaos stepped through the portal and let his body fill the room, purposely coiling his body in a manner that would prevent anyone on the other side of the door from seeing what was going on, "I've been looking for you since you walked through the mirror, because you were sent to a part of our universe that could have gotten you killed if you weren't careful. Now that I've found you, however, it's time that you came with me and come back home, preferably before someone comes looking for you... I don't want to be the one to tell Twilight and the others what happened to you."

"Discord..." Chrysalis said, where she simply stared at the chaotic creature for a moment, wondering how he had found her so quickly, but even as she considered that she had the easy way out of this situation, however, she realized that the Chrysalis that had lost at Canterlot would have taken the easy road, to which she smiled for a moment, "thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid that I'll have to decline."

"Why, in Celestia's name, would you want to... stay... here?" Discord asked, though even as he spoke he seemed to realize what was going on, which was followed by him calling forth some doctor items as he checked Chrysalis' chest and felt her head, as if he believed that she was sick or something, "Why Chrysalis, I see that you found the magic of friendship at last... though you picked an incredibly dangerous place to learn about friendship."

"Actually, it's more like I rediscovered something important," Chrysalis replied, as she was mostly referring to her connection to Wildfire, who had originally taught her the meaning of friendship until countless lessons and some terrible treatment from her mother forced her to forget all of that, "Isaac, my friend, is currently being held somewhere aboard this ship and I intend to rescue him, once I know more about my surroundings and can determine a good escape route without getting us both killed. Besides, these guys are planning something terrible and we're the only two that can stop them from fulfilling their mission, once we reach our destination anyway."

"You have a friend?" Discord inquired, though not a few seconds later he pulled himself away from Chrysalis and stared at her for a few moments, as he was still surprised by his discovery, before he sighed, "Very well, if you want to stay here, in an area that you might die I might add, then I'll head back home and wait till you're ready for me to bring you home. Until then, I'm going to see if I can't convince someone else to return home, because being rejected twice is annoying and I have the feeling that it'll happen again soon enough."

Chrysalis watched as Discord moved back into the portal he had created and headed back to Equus, leaving her behind as she requested, before the portal shimmered and disappeared, letting her remain in silence with her thoughts as she considered what she needed to do. Foster was going to be looking for information on the Marker, that much she knew already, but that meant that she needed to do something to prevent him from getting at whatever might have been given to her when the Marker brought Wildfire up from her memories. She may not be the queen of the changelings anymore, but she was still one of the strongest members of her species and her mind powers were stronger than what ponies often thought, meaning that Foster wouldn't be able to break her easily. Still, in the off chance that the technology of the area could bypass her defenses, she had several spells that would help her steel herself and she didn't hesitate to empower herself appropriately.

While she was doing that the air shimmered for a moment as Wildfire materialized in the corner, to which the two smiled at each other as she jumped onto the bed and leaned against Chrysalis while she worked on her spells, including one that would make sure she remembered the exact sequence of spells she was using.

"I haven't seen Nicole since the Marker was returned to Aegis VII," Wildfire commented, revealing what Chrysalis had known since she first saw Wildfire, that she and Nicole were constructs created by the Marker, though at the same time she knew that the pegasus was different than whatever Nicole was, "I thought she might be following Isaac around, but I've been having trouble finding him as well, despite the fact that he's supposed to be on the same ship that we're on."

"We'll find them in time," Chrysalis replied, as she knew that if they played their cards right she and Wildfire would find Isaac, and Nicole for that matter, and escape from Foster and his superior at the same time, though she hoped that involved destroying the doctor's research at the same time, "for now we have to study our new enemies, see if we can't find a weakness, and do our best to overcome everything that they throw at us. I'm not sure what the Marker did to us, after we brought it back to Aegis VII, but with our combined power we'll be able to resist Foster and his tests, until we find Isaac and escape from our new 'home'."

She had no idea what sort of challenges awaited her and Isaac once they arrived at the Titan Station, especially since she had no knowledge of the new area they were heading towards or the security that would be making sure she and Isaac didn't escape. Those guards would be used to normal people and insane people, but they had no idea what to do against someone that used magic and she was going to hold off on revealing her power, as she was going to wait till she found her friend before she did anything else. That made her wonder if Isaac was still in a coma, as she knew that if she had been in one then he must have been in one, which would have made since if she hadn't seen him since her awakening, including why Wildfire hadn't been able to find Nicole either. Foster likely had Isaac located somewhere else on this ship, meaning that she would have to start her search after they reached the Titan Station, though that only made Chrysalis focus her mind on what she was going to do in the near future.

As the ship shook, the sign that they were nearing the Titan Station and were docking in the flight area that the station had, Chrysalis stood up and faced the door that had opened earlier, while at the same time Wildfire, who was going to be invisible to everyone that wasn't touched by the Marker, jumped onto the floor and followed after her. Soon enough the guards would open the door and escort her to wherever they were going to keep her and Isaac, though she intended to remember the pattern of the path they took for the future, because sooner or later she was going to free Isaac and get them both out of here... hopefully without any Necromorphs being involved.

Sprawl: A New Outbreak

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Three years, that's how long Chrysalis patiently waited and suffered through Foster's experiments, while at the same time studying the security that was around the room that she, Isaac, and the other condemned subjects were kept, counting the steps along the entire path they used to reach the device they used on everyone, and silently made plans with Wildfire when they had some alone time. She and the other inmates weren't allowed to do much except sit in their large box shaped cells that they were incarcerated in, though she spent her time making sure that nothing terrible happened while making sure the guards didn't abuse anyone, to the best of her ability anyway. For the most part it appeared that all of them were forced to wear straitjackets that prevented them from using their arms to retaliate against the doctors and the guards, but at the same time Chrysalis discovered that, with Wildfire's help, she could undo the latches and free her arms, though she made sure to keep them bound at all times, so she could be ready for anything.

Foster and his men tried to subject her to the same experiments that he forced upon Isaac and the other inmates, where he forced them into a circular machine called the NoonTech Diagnostic Machine, which she guessed was supposed to access the information that the Marker imparted to them. The reason it was a guess was because whenever Foster tried to get her into the machine she complied, but Wildfire's influence caused the machine to stop working, forcing the men to repair it to a point where it wouldn't break when she was there. Chrysalis wasn't going to question how Wildfire was able to influence the machine, since she was a spirit in a sense and the machine was real, but at the same time she was thankful for that, since there was more in her mind that she wanted to keep to herself, namely how to use magic, just in case the people Foster worked for had a way to replicate her powers. She knew that humans could be devastating on their own, if the Red Marker and planet cracking were anything to go by, so she wanted to make sure that they didn't get their hands on what she knew... something that Wildfire agreed with, despite the fact that she was also keeping them from the other information that might have been given to her.

She wasn't sure that the Marker had given her anything, beside Wildfire anyway, but at the same time they used their new position to delay Foster's research to the best of their abilities, though they couldn't assist Isaac and the other inmates as they were taken and forced into the machine while she sat in her cell. She would patiently wait for the guards to return, though every time Isaac returned from using the NoonTech machine Chrysalis noticed that he seemed to be spacing out and didn't seem to recognize the area he was in, reminding her of what she did to Shining, to an extent anyway. From what she could guess Foster and his men were injecting Isaac and the others with some sort of drug that was making them forget what they had seen, though why they wanted that she had no idea, but that didn't stop her from thinking about it while she studied the guards and her friend at the same time... though she had to restrain herself from attacking, since she hadn't figured out a way out of here yet.

Eventually Foster decided to stop bringing her to the machine and tried interrogating her with more common means, where they sat at a table and he asked her questions about what happened back on the Ishimura, to which Chrysalis offered him information on what happened while keeping some bits to herself for future use. He clearly wanted information on the Marker, though since all of her knowledge on the matter was secondhand, thanks to all the text logs she and Isaac had found, she could only repeat herself, since he and his men had likely read those logs. She was more than willing to waste the man's time in such a manner, as it prevented him from spending his time with Isaac and the others, but she could only do it for a few hours before he grew annoyed and went back to him main task, experimenting on Isaac and apparently asking him questions as well.

As time passed Chrysalis found that Foster was starting to ignore her and focused his time and effort on Isaac and the other inmates, though that gave her time to focus her mind on what she and Wildfire were doing, where she found it amusing that some of the inmates seemed to follow Wildfire, as if they could see her, while the guards definitely couldn't see her at all. That combination allowed Wildfire to influence the actual world, where she messed with the guards so Chrysalis could see how they reacted to noises that hadn't been in the area before, allowing her to silently plan her attack for when an opening revealed itself, where she reverted back to the persona she had used when she was planning her assault on Canterlot. She had learned from her mistakes and was making sure that her plans were open to change at a moment's notice, since literally anything could happen between now and the time the guards lowered their guard, but she had the suspicion that the men were going to unleash something terrible before she engineered her escape. Even Wildfire was willing to wait for the opening to reveal itself, despite the fact that she could attempt to force the men to create the opening, but Chrysalis didn't want something to happen to her... to which they patiently waited for that day to arrive.

It was on the third anniversary of her being contained in this cell, and she knew that by counting the days from when she arrived in this area and to the day that it happened, that their predicament changed, though it was the worst possible outcome that she had hoped would never happen... and yet, despite her wishes, it happened anyway, though she went with it and readied herself for some trouble.

After three years of remaining in the cell, and biding her time, Chrysalis' ears twitched at the sound of gunfire and the familiar sounds of Necromorphs screaming as they cut down the foes that were standing in front of them, though as she heard that she engaged her magic and undid the bindings on her arms, allowing her to stretch as she stood up. As first the other inmates stared at her, surprised that she could even do something like that, though at the same time she focused her mind and waited for trouble to happen before she made her move. Sure enough slashers invaded the area and dropped down into several of the cells, where they butchered the defenseless inmates that they surprised, though Chrysalis was more ready for them when the slasher invaded her cell. She spun around and kicked the slasher in the chest, avoiding it's claws for a moment, before she engaged her magic and ripped off it's arms, which she used to dismember the slasher before it could react... though she stripped the bone blades of the muscle bits until it was pure bone, like her first pair.

Once that was done she turned towards the glass door in front of her, which she couldn't open without the code combination being entered from the other side, though she had her own ways of getting through the door, as she extended a hand towards the door and applied her magic to it, where the glass shattered before her eyes and flew out into the middle of the room... though as she walked out she found a man, not dressed in the same attire as the guards, messing with a door to her right, one that she recognized instantly.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" Chrysalis asked, causing the man to falter for a moment, though at the same time she held her bone blades at the ready, since it was possible that the man could be an enemy, "That cell you're trying to access is where my friend Isaac Clarke is being held, so I'm going to..."

"Oh, thank god that I'm not in the wrong area," the man said, to which he hit the enter button on the pad and the door opened before their eyes, though at the same time Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the same time, "I was actually sent to rescue him, or assist in his escape since he did so well to survive on the Ishimura, especially with a skilled partner beside him all the time."

"Yeah, and that 'partner' was me," Chrysalis stated, causing the man to turn towards her again, though the smile that appeared on his face made her question what he was doing, as people who came searching for Isaac, and her as well, usually didn't have the best intentions in mind, especially since not a lot of people knew that there had been someone with Isaac the entire time.

"Chrysalis!" the man said, revealing that he already knew her name, though at the same time Chrysalis raised her guard, because she didn't trust the man at all and had no idea which side of the conflict that he was on, be it Foster's side or the Unitologist's side, before the man touched his radio, "Daina, I've located Chrysalis... or rather she found me."

"Really?" the voice on the other side of the connection, a lady by the sounds of it, exclaimed, as if she actually didn't believe that Chrysalis had been found, "That's great news Franco, but we still need to find Isaac Clarke."

"Don't worry, I just opened the door to his cell," the man, Franco, replied, to which he looked into the cell that he had opened, where Chrysalis did the same and found that Isaac was definitely inside it, though he seemed a little out of it once more, "I'm going to sync their RIGs and make sure they're still operational, like you ordered me to, and then we'll get out of here before the Necromorphs show up."

"A little late for that," Chrysalis commented, as she was facing the area behind her and could see that the slashers from earlier were making their way out of the cells they had jumped into, while at the same time some of the corpses got back up and revealed that they had been transformed into slashers as well, to which she held her bone blades out, "Look, do what you can to get Isaac up on his feet before the slashers realize that we're here, because the moment they notice us I'll start cutting them down."

Sure enough one of the slashers turned and looked in her direction, so while she used her magic and her bone blades to parry the incoming attacks, and eventually dismember the slasher entirely, Franco moved into the cell that Isaac was in and started to rouse him from his drug induced slumber. Chrysalis was happy to hear Isaac moan as reality came back to him, as it had been so long since she had actually heard him say or do anything on his won, though that smile only widened as she heard him ask where he was, and where his friend was. Franco immediately told him that he could explain everything and that they had to trust him, because the two of them were in incredible danger, which was in the ballpark of what happened on the Ishimura... before Chrysalis heard a gasp of pain, to which she turned around and watched as an infector latched onto Franco's back after impaling him through the chest.

Chrysalis grabbed onto the infector with her magic and pulled it away from Franco, knowing that he was in pain at the moment, and dismembered the Necromorph in seconds, though as she turned back to Franco she watched as he underwent a transformation, as slasher style limbs erupted from his back as he started to peer down at Isaac with the same look at all Necromorphs had given the duo in the past. Before Chrysalis could do anything, however, Isaac apparently regained himself and bashed his head into Franco's face, though as Franco fell to the ground he pulled himself from where he had been resting and moved out of the cell he had been in. It was then that he smiled when he noticed Chrysalis standing in front of him, though instead of saying anything at the moment they turned towards the path to Isaac's left and moved away from where the cell was located... though not before Chrysalis grabbed onto the slasher that Franco was becoming and caused it to explode, at least ending the man's suffering before he could fully transform.

She may not have trusted the man, since he knew where they were located and what their names were, but Franco had freed Isaac from his cell and was willing to get them out of where while explaining who wanted them dead, so the least she could do was offer what remained of the man a quick and final death... without the worry of fully becoming a Necromorph that existed to kill everyone around him.

"Franco? Franco, what happened?" Chrysalis heard Daina ask, meaning that Franco had connected both of their RIGs to Daina's before his death, which was why they were able to hear her speak at the moment, "Oh god... Isaac Clarke? Chrysalis? If either of you can hear me, the RUN!"

Chrysalis thought about replying that they were already doing that, she really wanted to do that as well, but with the number of Necromorphs being formed before their eyes, from a combination of slashers and infectors, she knew that running was the best thing at the moment since neither of them had a good weapon at the moment. Instead Chrysalis moved to the front of the pack and lead Isaac away from where his cell was located, where they headed towards the room that was connected to this one and turned to the left, since the other directions weren't any good due to slashers. They then passed through another door and headed to the right, where a few moments later they were forced to turn right once more and passed through the open door that was in front of them... where a slasher jumped onto Isaac's back and pierced his side with a bone blade, though before he and Chrysalis forced the slasher off of him, where it was crushed by the door slamming shut on it.

Chrysalis paused for a moment, to let the adrenaline fade to a more reasonable level, before she rushed to Isaac's side and used some of her magic for a basic healing spell, not enough to make his RIG go green again, but enough to stop the bleeding until they found a med pack.

"Isaac, can you hear me?" Chrysalis asked, as she had no idea whether the drugs were still in his system, or if he had burned through them thanks to the adrenaline that had been pumped into his body.

"Yeah, I hear you Chrysalis," Isaac replied, though he moaned for a moment before she helped him onto his feet, before she picked up the bone blades from where she had dropped them, "God, it's like the start of our visit to the Ishimura, only this time I have no idea what's happening or where we are."

"Well, we're inside a part of the Titan Station, which is commonly called the Sprawl these days," Chrysalis said, though as she smiled as the two of them walked down the hallway in front of them, while keeping their eyes open for supplies and other items that they might be able to use, "and, from what I was able to gather, you're missing the last three years of your life, no doubt due to the drugs that Foster and his men have been pumping you with. Fortunately they stopped trying with me after the first month and a half of failure, but they kept me around in case they could devise a way to get around why something was causing their machinery to break around me... and they never did."

"Wildfire, am I right?" Isaac asked, remembering the connection that Chrysalis had to her first and only love, one that apparently transcended time and death itself, and what the two were able to do before they returned the Marker.

"Correct." Chrysalis replied, as she was happy to see that he still remembered that portion of their journey through the Ishimura, though time would tell how much of his memory had been shattered by the scientists, "Since there's a Necromorph outbreak, just like what happened on Aegis VII and the Ishimura, I think it's safe to say that someone either built or found a Marker... and they foolishly activated it, unaware of what would happen to those around it."

"Great, that means we either have to return a second Marker or blow a new one up," Isaac said, to which he moaned for a moment as he looked down at his arms, before he realized that Chrysalis had freed her arms and that she hadn't done the same for him, "Um, a little held here?"

"Unfortunately your jacket is much tougher than mine was," Chrysalis commented, looking at the area that she could use to separate his arms, but the only blades she had were too large and could easily hurt him in the process, "Look, let's explore a little and see if we can't find something that will let us remove your jacket, because with all this medical equipment you would think there would be a scalpel somewhere."

To their sadness there weren't any scalpels in the area that they had stopped in, which was strange in Chrysalis' mind before she remembered that there was an active Marker somewhere and that whoever had taken them was likely killing whoever he or she came across, so that the infectors could bring them back as Necromorphs. Since they were out of luck in finding a scalpel, or anything to free Isaac's arms without hurting him, they approached the door at the end of the room and walked through it, intending to leave the slasher infested halls behind as they started a brand new adventure. On the other side of the door they found two soldiers standing guard, looking for someone, though Chrysalis had them crouch and silently walk, just in case they proved to be enemies. Despite that fact it appeared that the soldiers knew that they would be coming from the direction they came from, as they opened fire the moment the door closed, until they stopped when something in the vents pierced one of their chests and hauled the soldier into the vent... until his companion investigated the noise and was pulled up as well.

Chrysalis had been hoping that the soldiers would have dropped their Pulse Rifles when they were being grabbed, like what happened on the Ishimura, but this time around it appeared that she would have to settle with using her bone blades for a little while longer... though as they walked towards the open door the soldiers came from whatever was in the vent dropped the torso of one of the soldiers, which the duo ignored.

"This is Director Tiedemann to all project personal." they heard a voice say, though at the same time Chrysalis felt the urge to blast whoever the man was the moment they found him, as she had a sneaky suspicion that this was the superior that Foster had mentioned several times when she first met the man, "I want the key subjects terminated and the facility scrubbed. This is not a drill. Tiedemann out."

"Well, that answers who our enemy is," Chrysalis commented, though as she spoke she realized that the project must have been whatever they were doing with the Marker information they had taken from Isaac and the other inmates, the 'key subjects' as Tiedemann called them, "Come on, let's get out of here before more of his soldiers come looking for us and get past that horde of slashers."

They rounded the corner that was in front of them and walked up the set of stairs that were at the end of the short hallway, where they entered another short hallway that had only one open door, one that would allow them to enter the Observation Room, though Chrysalis entered the area first since she had a weapon. The duo entered the room that was right above the area that they had been housed in the entire time, something that Chrysalis had known about and studied while making her plans, but fortunately it appeared that there wasn't anyone around at the moment. There was a video log of a session that Foster had with a Nolan Stross, where Foster mentioned something about one of Nolan's eyes looking better while also scheduling him for another session the following day. After that Nolan talked about the Marker, describing it a deep black thing that was glowing red and had symbols that whispered to him, though he revealed the existence of a shard that filled his head with information... revealing that the Red Marker had been blown to pieces and that a single fragment of it had survived, only for someone to destroy it as well.

Chrysalis wasn't happy to hear all of this, but at the moment they paid it little attention as they accessed the door near them and walked down the hallway that they uncovered, before they opened another door and walked into a new area, one that had someone that Chrysalis immediately recognized... Foster Edgars, who happened to be staring down at something in the room in front of him. Isaac walked forward for a moment, though before Chrysalis could stop Foster the man turned around and grabbed Isaac, where he stopped when he was holding a scalpel near Isaac's neck, though at the same time Chrysalis growled as she readied herself.

"Come on man, let go of me." Isaac demanded, revealing that, while he remembered everything about the Ishimura and what happened on Aegis VII, he didn't recall anything that happened while the memory suppressing drugs had been inside his system.

"Patient Four... I remember you..." Foster said, staring down into Isaac's eyes for a moment, though both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that the Marker's insanity had already reached him, based on what they were seeing, "Tiedemann said we... all the key subjects... need to be eliminated... terminated... what's one more?"

"Touch him again and you die." Chrysalis replied, to which she rested a bone blade against Foster's shoulder, poised to swing and take his head off while she planned to engage her magic and stop the scalpel from harming Isaac, just in case the man forced her hand.

"I'd listen to her if I were you, because she's scary when she's provoked." Isaac commented, remembering what had happened to the brute after it had killed Hammond, or what had happened to Kendra once Chrysalis finally caught up with her on Aegis VII, "How about you use that scalpel to cut me loose? And then we can all escape before the Necromorphs come looking for us!"

"No one's getting out of here..." Foster said, though that was when he moved the scalpel and drove it between Isaac's arms, cutting into the straitjacket like a surgeon, to which a few seconds later Isaac moved backwards, with his arms now free from their bindings, and stared at the man as Chrysalis joined him, "There is no escaping from what I've done... Your RIG is red. It's red. There's a health pack and a flashlight in that wall locker... you should take them."

Chrysalis floated a bone blade into Isaac's hand as she walked over to the locker in question, as she suspected that the moment one of them went to investigate the locker Foster would attack, though she found that the two items in question were where the man said they were be, to which she gave the health pack to Isaac, who used it to heal the wounds that had been inflicted on his body since Franco had opened the door to his cell. She then handed him the flashlight, which he turned on and off to be sure that it worked before he held it in his right hand, like he would if he had the Plasma Cutter that had been his main weapon on the Ishimura.

"Isaac... we're all going to burn for what we did to you." Foster stated, to which Isaac and Chrysalis stared at the man for a moment, as they still didn't trust him, before he drove the scalpel into his neck and slashed his neck wide open, killing himself in a matter of seconds with the amount of blood that erupted from the wound while he collapsed on the floor and finally went still.

"You know, oddly enough that's what I would have commanded him to do if I seized a portion of his mind," Chrysalis commented, remembering what happened to Kendra, which brought a light smile to her face as she turned towards Isaac once more, "oh well, no use crying over something you can't change. Let's get going before something comes and brings Foster back to life."

Once Foster was taken care of Isaac and Chrysalis opened the door that he had been standing near and headed towards the Patient Rec Room, though as they reached the elevator that would take them to that room they were stopped by their RIGs becoming active as a video link opened before them... and a lady appeared in front of them.

"Clarke!" the lady said, staring at the duo for a moment, almost as if she couldn't believe that she was seeing them in the flesh, though both of them remained silent for a few seconds, "Isaac Clarke, is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm Isaac Clarke, and this is Chrysalis," Isaac replied, already slightly annoyed that this lady didn't seem to care about his companion, despite the fact that he was sure that he wouldn't have gotten through the Ishimura on his own if it hadn't been for her assistance, "Who are you exactly?"

"My name is Daina." the lady answered, causing Chrysalis to remember the name that Franco had said when he first discovered that she was there, where she was happy to have a face to associate with the name, "I'm the one trying to rescue you and Chrysalis..."

"That's good to know, but why only the two of us?" Chrysalis inquired, because while she would have liked to believe what Daina was saying she also knew better than to blindly trust people, as her lesson from Kendra resurfaced within seconds, but she only played along in case her feelings were wrong.

"You're suffering from a unique form of dementia, Isaac... something you contracted on Aegis VII." Daina said, though there was something about her tone that made Chrysalis feel that she was right to be paranoid about her feelings towards the lady, "This type of dementia will kill you, Isaac, but not if you can get to me first, so I can get you and Chrysalis to safety and heal you at the same time. And, if the two of you need a reason for why you should trust me, I'm not the one shooting at either of you."

Isaac glanced over at Chrysalis and knew that she was likely thinking about the situation at the moment, considering whether or not Daina was worthy of their trust or not, and knew that he would follow her lead, no matter what she decided about the situation. Besides, Chrysalis was a changeling, a shapeshifting spy of sorts on her home world and had been one of the best since she impersonated a princess, which he wasn't going to hold against her, but she seemed to know when people were lying and when they were trying to trick someone. The look in her eyes suggested that she might have figured something out at the moment, which was why he was remaining silent as he listened for any Necromorphs, especially since they hadn't walked into the elevator yet.

"You make a compelling argument," Chrysalis finally said, though her tone told Isaac all he needed to know, that she still didn't trust Daina and watched to see what she did before she determined what to do with her, "I'm sure that you already have a route in mind for us to take?"

"That I do," Daina replied, to which both of their RIGs beeped for a moment, indicating that the route she wanted them to take had been uploaded into their suits, "Just follow that and you'll get to me in no time."

Isaac and Chrysalis walked into the elevator the moment Daina was done talking to them and rode up to the floor it was supposed to take them to, though when they arrived they found that it was slightly dark in front of them, to which Isaac stepped forward and used the flashlight to help them move around. They took a few moments before they entered the room on their right, where some dead scientists were sitting in chairs, but they paid the dead no mind as they made their way to a hallway were some wheelchairs were sitting. From there they found a door that they could open and entered a more lit room, though even as they made that discovery they kept their guards up as the two of them explored, as they needed all the resources they could find at the moment. Unfortunately they didn't find anything useful in the area around them and, as they passed through an opening that would take them to a door, Isaac paused and grabbed his head, indicating that something was happening... but it quickly passed and he was quick to ensure a worried Chrysalis that nothing was wrong with him.

That was followed by Chrysalis discovering what she thought was a door was actually an engineer vent, which they used to get around places if she was remembering her original reading correctly, which presented a problem for them, as she wasn't an engineer and didn't have the authority to use the vent at all... or at least they thought it was a problem, as a few moments later they got a brief message from Daina. It appeared that she had anticipated such a problem and had hacked into the CEC computers long before she and Franco put their rescue plan into action, as it appeared that she inserted the signature of Chrysalis' RIG into the systems and made it appear that she was actually an engineer as well, at the same level that Isaac was at. The voice that acknowledged them as they entered the engineer vent hailed them both as CEC Engineers Isaac Clarke and Chrysalis, though neither one of them really said anything about that as they made their way through the vent... especially since it appeared that she wasn't interested in hearing them thank her, which made Chrysalis wonder about Daina once more.

They moved through the engineer vent for a few moments before the next area that Isaac moved onto collapsed and dropped him inside a medical room, one where some guy was being kept in one spot by some equipment, though he moved out of the way and let Chrysalis drop into the area as well, so they could advance together.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, what happened?" Daina asked, speaking over the audio link instead of the video link, though at the same time the duo surveyed their surroundings before they moved forward, "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we just fell out of the engineer vent and landed in a medical wing," Isaac replied, though as they looked around he decided to ask something to see if he could get Chrysalis more information about the lady that was talking with them, especially since she might not be trustworthy, "So besides trying to combat my dementia, why else did you and Franco decide to save the two of us?"

"Because if Tiedemann finds the two of you, more people will die." Daina said, though the duo had been expecting something like that, especially since it appeared that Tiedemann might have done something will all of the Marker information Foster had acquired from Isaac and the other inmates, "Though the two of you need to hurry before you get locked into the area that you're currently in."

Isaac glanced over at the man that the machine was currently levitating and noticed that he was already dead, so he walked over to the terminal that was powering the machine and pulled off the cover that was in his way, where he fiddled with the interior of the machine before he pulled out a Kinesis Module and attached it to his left arm. With the module in place, and the machine deactivated, Isaac grabbed one of the machine pieces that were already resting on the ground with his Kinesis and hurled it at a glass wall, opening the way forward for them. Of course that was when a slasher revealed itself, but he smiled as he used his Kinesis to lift a second piece of machinery and impaled the Necromorph on the wall that it was passing by, where he noticed that Chrysalis was smiling as well. Even the second slasher that showed up wasn't a match for the power of an object thrown by Kinesis, as it was impaled as well, though as they walked away Chrysalis lifted a few of the pieces that Isaac had been using with the express purpose of giving her companion a weapon until they found him a real weapon... and pulled the parts out of the wall they were in at the same time.

They found the elevator that would take them to the Surgery Observation Area and walked onto the lift, where they rode it up towards the floor that it was connected to and walked out into the area in front of them, to which Isaac spotted some slashers coming towards them and started grabbing the rods with his Kinesis... where he rapidly flung one and impaled his target, before latching onto the rod or the bone blade and used that to impale the next target until all three of them were dead.

Chrysalis, having searched the bodies of the dead along the way since they found the Kinesis Module, made sure Isaac took the few health packs that she had picked up, where they finally restored his RIG to full green, which she was happy to see again as they continued on their way. She also collected some credits for the two of them as they opened a door on the far right of the elevator, though as they walked into the hallway they found more dead bodies that they looted, since they were in need of supplies, but all they ended up finding was credits and health packs, which they were happy to take. When they entered the next area they discovered that someone was calling for help, though when the duo found the man they found out that he had been operated on and that the process was half complete, as there was an exposed area that was leaking blood at the moment. The duo already knew that the man was a goner anyway, on account of the injury that neither of them knew how to fix, but Isaac told the man that they would get him out of his predicament... to which he started messing with the nearby terminal as he wondered if he might have found a Plasma Cutter.

As Isaac did that a slasher huffed into the room and stared at the man that was resting on the table, though Chrysalis surprised the Necromorph and dismembered it with her floating bone blades, which allowed Isaac to power down the operation and retrieve the weapon... where he aimed the Plasma Cutter at the doorway and blasted the slasher that was entering the room in the leg, separating it from the main body, before removing an arm as well. The man, thankful to be alive, ran out of the room with the injury still on his chest, though that was when one last slasher cut him down before he had a chance to do anything else, though Chrysalis and Isaac sighed as they walked out of the surgery area and removed the slasher from existence, just like the others they had encountered so far.

There was also the unfortunate person who seemed to be halfway between a slasher and a person, how Chrysalis didn't even want to know, but they put the poor man out of his agony and moved through the door that he had been placed in front of, where they carefully moved forward, because last time they got an actual weapon the enemies appeared in larger groups. As they entered the area Daina apparently found out about their fight with the slashers and proceeded to tell the duo how to permanently end them, where Isaac politely reminded her that they had a lot of experience in this field, especially since they were the only survivors of the incident on the Ishimura and Aegis VII. That promptly caused Daina to tell them to stay in one piece, like a commander telling a soldier something instead of an operative speaking to an asset, which got on Chrysalis' nerves a little bit... and only reminded her of her own failings with her hive, back when she was the queen of the changelings.

It was one of those rare instances where Chrysalis really thought about how terrible of a queen she had been, to every changeling since she took the throne when her mother passed it to her, but she shelved the thought as she and Isaac moved through two doors and entered the Intense Care Waiting Area, where Isaac lifted his weapon and kept an eye open for any enemies that might be waiting for them. Parts of the area in front of them, including the hallway they had to walk through, appeared to be on fire, though as they walked under one of the sprinkles something turned on and the fire was extinguished in a matter of seconds, allowing them to move forward once more. That, of course, required that they blast and cut their way through three slashers that wanted them dead, but they remembered how they worked back on the Ishimura and repeated their previous tactics, though as that happened Chrysalis hoped to find a store so she could see if she could buy her own Plasma Cutter this time around.

After exploring the area, and looting all the ammunition and credits off the dead bodies, Isaac and Chrysalis headed towards the only door that they could use and opened it up, which was a small office room that they quickly walked through, though as they exited through the other door they heard someone complaining about shooting off the legs of something and it was still coming at him. There was a response about shooting the limbs, which they already knew, but as it turned out it was a communicator of some kind, one that was worthless to them as they opened the door to their left and walked into the hallway it connected to. Instead of immediately heading to the right, however, Chrysalis opted to explore a little and found a text log that detailed the effects of continued exposure to the memory erasing drugs, where people forgot who they were entirely... and had to be told who they were each day and why, in some cases, that they were in pain, to which she counted herself lucky that neither of them had this sort of thing happen to them.

A few moments later they approached the door that would take them to the Upper Lobby and walked through it, though as they walked into the new area someone called out to Isaac, telling him that they had to hurry before mentioning that someone was after them, which he and Chrysalis knew had to be Tiedemann's followers. They followed the man down some stairs and into an area that proclaimed that the hospital bulkheads were closing, though when they finally found the man they were too late as the barrier door closed between them and him. It was at that point that the man revealed that his was Patient Five, though Chrysalis knew him better as Nolan Stross, the man they had seen on the video earlier, though before Nolan could say anything else the heavier door closed in front of them... trapping Isaac and Chrysalis in the area that they were in, until they figured out a new path to take.

Isaac knew that both he and Chrysalis hated to do this, but since they were left with little choice he opened up their audio links with Daina, since she needed to know what was going on.

"Hey Daina, we've got a bit of a situation," Isaac said, though at the same time he and Chrysalis faced the area they had come from, as they knew that something would be coming at them soon enough, "We're going to need another route, because the one you sent us lead us straight into a security lockdown."

"I told the two of you to hurry!" Daina replied, though Chrysalis detected a hint of anger in the lady's voice, which was understandable since she was trying to 'save' them at the moment, "How did you two morons manage to miss it?"

"It's easy to miss our opening when the door's locked by the time we got there," Chrysalis said, not even bothering to mention Stross or the fact that she could have teleported them to the other side, as she didn't trust Daina enough to give her that information yet, "Look, we either need a new route or someone has to bypass the lockdown... there aren't any other options left on the table."

Daina said nothing as she left Isaac and Chrysalis to fight the slashers that were coming in from the left and right hallways that converged in the area that they were standing in, to which Isaac faced the right side while Chrysalis took the left side and engaged their foes. Oddly enough Chrysalis counted that there were only six enemies overall, as she would have thought there would have been more considering that this place was a hospital, but she wasn't about to question it since the lack of enemies made things much easier for the two of them. With the number of enemies being small they were able to clear the area and turn off the quarantine lights, what Chrysalis assumed were part of the Titan Station's quarantine procedure, to which they waited for Daina to get back to them with some information.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, I know I haven't given you a reason to trust me, but we're stuck together," Daina told them, to which the duo nodded, as she was literally the only person trying to help them at the moment, but at the same time they were prepared for what she had to tell them, "Tiedemann is your true enemy, don't forget that. Now then, I've found a new route for the two of you to take."

"That's good to hear," Isaac said, though at the same time they started to salvage what they could, as they had done back on the Ishimura, before something came to mind, "Hey Daina, I've got two questions. First, where in the hell are we? And secondly, how in the hell did another Necromorph outbreak occur?"

"The two of you are on Titan Station, orbiting Saturn," Daina replied, telling Chrysalis what she already knew, but she knew that Isaac trusted her and was merely asking their new 'friend' some questions so they could better form an opinion of her before they openly trusted her, "as for the outbreak... shit, Tiedemann's jamming my signal."

Sure enough the connection dropped and they lost Daina, but fortunately they had the route she had programmed for them and continued on their way, heading behind the counter that was in front of them and picked up another text log, this one detailing some anxiety and tensions between the Unitologists and EarthGov. From there they followed the new route as it brought them to the Triage Room, where Chrysalis noticed that some Stasis Beds were in use, which meant Isaac was going to have both of his gadgets at the beginning of their journey, instead of picking them up some time down the road like they did on the Ishimura. Fortunately the first terminal they came to had the module in question, to which Isaac pulled the cover off the machine and hacked into it, allowing Chrysalis to watch as Stasis blasts were thrown around before he pulled the module from the machine and hooked it up to his left arm... while at the same time slowing down a slasher with the intensity of the Stasis Pulse that had emitted from the machine it had been hooked up to.

Isaac took a moment to dismember the unfortunate slasher, as this would have happened either way, before he and Chrysalis continued along the path that Daina had created for them, which included tapping the console that opened the door in front of them, though it started to close moments later. Chrysalis remembered something from the last time they did this and opened the door again, where Isaac loosed a Stasis blast and slowed it down, allowing them to pass through the opening before it closed, to which they smiled before they opened the door on their right and continued forward. That was when they found a poor person being corroded by some sort of vile liquid that was on his back, though when they turned to look in the room he came from they found a new type of enemy, one that puked up corrosive bile at whoever it was targeting... though Chrysalis was quick to take it, and the second one of it's kind, out before they could even register that they were under attack.

"Great, and now we've got pukers... just wonderful," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she and Isaac were careful as they explored the area, looking for anything of use, before they returned to the path that they had been carefully following this time around.

Fortunately they found a Power Node in the room with the two pukers, something that they planned on saving till later, before they climbed into the elevator that would take them to Patient Care, while at the same time making the duo wonder how many elevators they would have to ride before they could take a short break. As they rode down to the level they were heading towards the lights seemed to go out for a few moments, though as they came back on the duo heard the song Chrysalis had pointed out on the Ishimura, the 'twinkle twinkle' song. They ignored it, to the best of their ability, before they reached their destination, where the two of them walked out into the reception area that they discovered, which happened to contain a text log that talked about secrecy and that someone was going to tell Tiedemann about some policies that seemed to be failing... though once they reached the end they stored it away and kept moving.

They passed through the door that took them into the East Wing and kept following the path in front of them, where they walked into a room that clearly had some flames in the middle of it, though that was when the glass shattered and the flames were sucked out, to which they grabbed onto something as the area began to decompress. A slasher rose up at the same time, since Necromorphs weren't affected by this sort of thing, but Chrysalis smiled as she noticed that an icon appeared before the broken glass. She raised a hand and blasted the slasher with magic, knocking it out of the room, which Isaac followed up with shooting the icon, causing a metal wall to rise and prevented them from being sucked out of the room as well, to which they settled down for a few seconds before moving through the door on their left. That was followed by them entering a short hallway that opened up to a larger room, with a slasher faking being dead until Chrysalis tapped it with the tip of her bone blades... allowing Isaac to dismember the creature as they walked into the room that it had tried, and failed, to guard.

That was when Chrysalis smiled when she noticed the store on their left, as that meant that they could finally put their credits to good use and, hopefully, buy two new armor sets so that they could really take this battle to the Necromorphs that were in front of them, and hopefully a gun for her as well. Unfortunately the only weapon the shop was selling was a Force Gun, which did what Chrysalis could do with a force of her magical energies, but she smiled when she noticed that there was an engineering suit available and only cost a thousand credits, where she discovered that they had more than enough for two sets. Isaac entered the command and stepped into the area that he needed to step into, where Chrysalis stepped back and watched as everything closed on him, though a few seconds later Isaac emerged, where they noticed that he was wearing a new variation of the Level 3 RIG they found back on the Ishimura, only it seemed to be more orange colored than the other suit... to which Chrysalis smiled as she repeated the process.

A few moments later Chrysalis emerged from the machine with her modified suit of armor on, surprised that the machine fit it according to what her body looked like, but now she and Isaac were ready for total war with the enemies that would be waiting for them.

Sprawl: Train Ride

View Online

With a new suit of armor covering their bodies, making them feel that much more prepared this time around, Isaac and Chrysalis paused for a few seconds as they input the command to close their helmets, so that way they would be fully prepared once they left this area. A few moments later, when they were sure that they were ready, the duo turned towards the door that was resting in front of them, which would take them to the Emergency Arrival Area, and passed through it. As they opened the door they discovered that part of the area had been breached, since they entered an area that didn't have any oxygen, though as the two of them walked Chrysalis spotted a floating Power Node and collected it, since it was going to be useful further down the line. With the node in hand the two of them quickly made their way through the small ruined hallway that they had to walk through, where they found the door to the actual area that the emergency shuttles arrived in and smiled as the door closed behind them... restoring the oxygen to this particular room, since it was still undamaged.

As they started exploring the area, where Chrysalis noticed a Stasis Recharge Station on one of the walls, they heard a broadcast stating that they were in the Titan Station Emergency Care Wing and that, due to the evacuation order, all services had been suspended for the moment. Once the announcement finished, and was likely preparing itself to repeat it since no one was around to turn it off, the duo approached the burning shuttle that had been waiting on the pad, as they were unsure if this was what Daina wanted them to use to get out of here. A few moments later Chrysalis had Isaac stop as a large Necromorph climbed onto the top of the ship and roared at them, though as it did so she was disgusted by the fact that she could actually make out all of the individual bodies that went into the creation of such a creature, as well as the fact that it was like a larger leaper since it didn't have any legs... rather it had a tail where the legs would have been and had large blade like claws that let it move around as it hunted it's prey.

The only name that Chrysalis could even think of to give such a creature was tripod, since it only had three limbs and she didn't want to confuse it with an ordinary leaper, though she snapped her attention back to their foe as it leapt off the ruined shuttle and landed near them.

Isaac and Chrysalis retreated as the tripod came after them, though in doing so it fell for Isaac's trap as he unleashed a Stasis blast that slowed the Necromorph down, allowing him to open fire on the yellow weakness points on the tripod's left arm while Chrysalis used her blades to hack into the weakness on the right arm. This was the type of enemy that Chrysalis wished she had her Pulse Rifle for, since it's rapid fire was great for larger enemies that they had to use Stasis on, but unfortunately the only soldiers carrying them and taken them with them this time around. Still, without her preferred weapon she was still a force to be reckoned with since she had been the Changeling Queen for a thousand years after taking the position from her mother. She proved that by running flames along the edge of her bone blades and inflicted some fire damage to the tripod, while at the same time using some of her magic as she launched a fireball that slammed into the weakness that she had been aiming at the entire time.

Despite the fact that they had to Stasis the tripod two more times, once with the remainder of Issac's charge and another time with Chrysalis using her own powers to force the Necromorph to stand still, the duo was able to remove both of it's arms and inflicted the death blow on it... where they collected a gold semiconductor for their troubles.

"Jeezus, that thing sure was angry at us for some reason." Isaac commented, to which he took a moment to catch his breath, since it had been awhile since either of them had fought something like that, though as Chrysalis nodded her agreement he opened the audio link that had been established between them and their 'friend', "Daina? We've made it out of the hospital."

"Okay, the Tram Station is just beyond the apartment blocks." Daina replied, informing the duo as to what they needed to go through before they reached the area she wanted them to meet her in, even though Chrysalis smelled a trap that they were going to spring anyway.

"Hang on, we need more answers." Isaac stated, once more giving Chrysalis time to form a real opinion on Daina, if that was even her real name, as he knew that she wasn't too trusting of new people and already wasn't a fan of the person who sent a partner in to rescue them since she said nothing about him so far, "How long have Chrysalis and I been stuck in this place?"

"Three years." Daina immediately answered, as if she had been expecting that question, but the fastness of the answer didn't sit well with Chrysalis, as she recalled changelings giving her fast answers when they had done something wrong and didn't want her to know about their deeds, "Tiedemann found you two floating in space near Aegis VII and brought you both here for study. And the reason that you can't remember anything since the events of Aegis VII is because the Marker you found imprinted your brain with a self-replicating signal that only spreads when your awake, meaning that it's slowly killing you at this very moment. Tiedemann thought he could hold the signal off, and keep it in check, with memory suppressants."

"And you said you could fix it, right?" Isaac inquired, though at the same time he knew that some of what Daina had said should have applied to Chrysalis as well, but because she was an entirely different species he knew that she had to be immune to whatever was going on.

"Only if you and Chrysalis can reach me in time." Daina simply said, indicating that she wanted to save him from what was killing him, though at the same time silently stating that if they didn't get there in time it wasn't her fault if he died to the Marker signal, "Tram Station... get moving."

Isaac glanced over at Chrysalis for a moment, who disengaged her helmet for a few seconds so he could see the look in her eyes, silently telling him that she still didn't trust Daina and that they needed to be careful with what they told her, to which he nodded as she reengaged her helmet. From there they headed towards the door that was opposite of the one they used to enter this room, a door that would take them to the Vehicle Maintenance Bay, and followed the passage that was in front of them until they had to pass through another door. That brought them to a room that had some normal tools and gadgets sitting around, though the duo collected the credits that were on the floor, as that appeared to be the only thing in the area, before Isaac used the Kinesis Module to remove the cover that was covering the engineer vent... to which he and Chrysalis climbed into it and crawled through it as they made their way to their next destination.

It didn't take them more than a few seconds before they reached the other side of the vent, where they pulled themselves out of the vent and found a room that had another store, a Bench, and an audio log, which was just someone called Sorensen from the CEC telling people to aim at the Necromorphs' limbs, to which they stored it away before getting to work with upgrades. While Isaac walked over to the Bench and started using his Power Nodes to empower his weapon, since he was the only one with a gun at the moment, Chrysalis opened up the store and found that two new weapons were suddenly available for purchase, a Line Gun and a Javelin Gun. From what the descriptions said the Line Gun fired off energy beams to hurt foes, and also had a land mine firing mode, while the Javelin Gun fired javelins, like Isaac did when he first got the Kinesis Module, though the only difference was that they could electrify the last javelin fired. Chrysalis would have bought one of them, as she saw that she barely had enough credits for one of them, but at the same time she didn't really care too much about them since she could modify her spells to do the same.

Secretly, however, she was hoping for the Pulse Rifle to become available so she could have her favorite weapon back, though she sighed and closed the store, where Isaac finished upgrading his Plasma Cutter and joined her, to which they stepped through the door and walked into the large hallway that was in front of them... where they spotted some shuttles flying away, thanks to the glass wall in front of them. At the same time they heard an announcement from Tiedemann, a recording most likely, stating that he was declaring Martial Law and that everyone was being ordered to evacuate, while also stating that looters would be shot. Neither of them were sure how many people would be getting off this station alive, not with the Necromorphs being active thanks to the Marker that was on the moment, even if they had no idea where it was being hidden. A few moments later the duo sighed and kept moving, since there was no point for them to stand around and let their foes come to them, but at the same time they kept their weapons at the ready for when something did try to attack them.

Chrysalis spotted a health pack resting on an electric walkway and thought about grabbing it with her magic, though as she noticed the slasher resting close to where the pack was resting, pretending to be dead, to which she snatched the pack as Isaac opened fire, dismembering the slasher the instant it tried to get up.

Oddly enough that was the only Necromorph in the hallway, to which the duo approached the larger door that would allow them to access the Titan Heights Apartments and opened it up, where something further along the path exploded shortly after they opened the door. At the same time Isaac managed to find a Power Node from simply staring at the area in front of them, which he used on the locked door behind them, which gave him a few supplies, a schematic for Power Nodes, a ruby semiconductor, and a text log that detailed the quarterly report for the station. With those supplies in hand the duo turned to the door they had opened and repeated the process, though as they did so they spotted a lady being carved to death by a slasher, which they dismembered seconds later. As they advanced forward Chrysalis turned her head to the right for a moment and spotted some survivors that were running from an infector, who was turning a corpse into another slasher that would go hunt down the people she had just seen... though she latched onto the infector with her magic, before it could get away, and crushed it with her sheer power.

Fortunately the slasher that had been made turned towards them and shuffled towards the holes in the wall that revealed the hallway the duo was standing in, to which Isaac dismembered the distracted Necromorph, before both he and Chrysalis turned around the corner and found an elevator that they could use... and would take them up to level four, since two, three, and five through eight happened to be blocked off at the moment. As they rode the elevator in silence it seemed to stop as the lights went out, though that was before the doors opened and revealed that they were halfway between one floor and another. Before either of them could think about what was going on a man appeared in front of the elevator door and started to do his best to climb into the elevator, though as Chrysalis got ready to help him, however, a slasher carved the guy up from behind, which was the last they saw of the man as the doors closed and they continued towards the fourth floor.

When they arrived at their destination they were greeted by an impaled corpse that was resting in front of the elevator, though as they stepped off the elevator they both kept their guards up, because there was no telling when the Necromorphs would descend upon them.

"Isaac!" a voice called out, to which the duo turned around and looked out over the gap that separated the side of the building they were in from the other side of the building, where they found Nolan Stross waving his arms in their general direction as everyone ignored him, "Isaac! Over here!"

"Who are you?" Isaac asked, realizing that Nolan had connected to their audio links, though the reason he was asking wasn't because he had ignored the video they had seen earlier, but rather because he was interested in why the man said his name and not Chrysalis' at all, since they had all been in the same area until the outbreak.

"It's the drugs, Isaac." Nolan replied, completely ignoring the question entirely, though even as they got a reply Chrysalis turned around and made sure that Necromorphs weren't coming up while they were distracted, "They gave us drugs to make us forget... but it's all coming back... Look out!"

Isaac had been about to tell Nolan that he honestly didn't remember him or the drugs, but before he could actually say anything a leaper started to pull itself up in front of him, though that only made it an easy target for him to get rid of the moment his Plasma Cutter removed it's limbs. With the leaper taken care of the duo moved to their right and headed for the only unlocked door in the hallway, though as it opened a slasher burst through another door and came to a stop between them and two guys who were arguing over leaving someone behind. Fortunately the men moved out of the way as Isaac opened fire, dismembering the slasher in the process, though Chrysalis soon discovered that the person the two guys had left behind had been transformed into a puker, which she dismembered with her weapons before rejoining Isaac as he headed towards the next door they needed to walk through... which brought them into a laundry area, where the power went out a few moments later.

The duo sighed as they readied themselves, as over the next minute five slashers and a leaper dropped into the darkened area and charged at them, though thanks to the flashlight lighting part of the area up both Isaac and Chrysalis were able to dismember the Necromorphs before they even touched them, restoring power to the room at the same time.

Once they were done collecting anything of use Isaac opened the door that the Necromorphs had been guarding and found an area that collected where they had been to where Nolan had been, though as Chrysalis joined him they watched another shuttle fly through the air, but the back of this one looked damaged in some manner. After the shuttle left their sight the two of them opened the door to their left and walked into the hallway it was connected to, where they ignored the man behind a door that was telling anyone that he wasn't going to listen to the evacuation orders and was going to shoot anyone that tried to open the door. Chrysalis knew that the man was either going to die from lack of food or to a Necromorph that busted into his 'house', but since he wasn't in the mood to listen to reason there was no reason for them to stick around and try to help him out, even if it would have been a good thing to do. At the end of the hallway rested a text log that contained some information on what happened to Titan, before it became the station that many people called the Sprawl... though instead of focusing on it Isaac and Chrysalis turned around and headed towards the elevator that was waiting for them.

When they entered the elevator, and set it so they could head back down to the first floor, Isaac decided to have a little chat with Daina again, to which he opened the audio link once more and hoped that she was listening, since there was more to this mystery than what he and Chrysalis knew.

"With all the Necromorphs running around the place, killing and converting people, it's like the entire Sprawl in infected with dementia." Isaac commented, getting a nod from Chrysalis, since she agreed with the statement, though that was before he focused on who he wanted to talk to, "Daina, how in the hell did this happen? Chrysalis and I destroyed the Red Marker back on Aegis VII, when the tectonic load was released from the gravity tethers."

"You two destroyed A Marker... Tiedemann built another one." Daina replied, though at the same time something clicked inside Chrysalis' mind, as she had a good idea why Tiedemann and his soldiers were so keen on studying those that had been touched by the Markers.

"On the Sprawl?" Isaac inquired, because even though he understood that sometimes people made the wrong decision, and always paid the price, he knew that this had been an entirely stupid decision with a much more serious consequence, "Why in the hell would he do something like that?"

"It's a powerful alien artifact... Tiedemann wants that power." Daina said, though that was when the elevator came to a stop, something that she heard from the other side of the audio link and decided to change the subject, "Get to the tram, it'll take you to the Cassini Towers Tram Station."

Once the elevator doors opened the duo walked out and headed around the corner, heading towards the door that would take them to the Tram Station, though at the same time a slasher burst through another door and appeared in front of them, only for Isaac to dismember it in seconds. From there they opened the door and headed into another large hallway that they would have to walk through, though as they stepped out into the dimly lit area a shuttle turned towards the building they were standing in and collided with the side of the structure. Sure enough the explosion took out the shuttle and everyone that was aboard it, if there were any survivors, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis counted themselves lucky that they had made their way through the first part of the building they had walked through in such a fast pace, otherwise they would have been caught in the explosion as well.

As they headed down the hallway, however, they found a gold semiconductor that was being guarded by a slasher and a leaper, both of which were easily dismembered when Isaac was able to Stasis them together and both of them made sure to put their targets into many pieces before they moved on. When they reached the other side of the hallway they discovered that the door they needed to walk through was locked, though at the same time some exploders entered the area and started shuffling towards them. Fortunately a single well placed shot from a Plasma Cutter or a fireball was enough to destroy the goo sacks that the Necromorphs carried around, allowing Isaac and Chrysalis to blow them apart while expanding little ammunition in the process. The instant the last exploder had been taken care of the power was restored to the entire hallway, allowing them to access the locked door that they needed to go through, which wasn't locked now that the power was back.

As they walked down the ramp that was in front of them, however, Chrysalis noticed that Isaac seemed to be having a headache of some kind, though when they reached the top of the second ramp they came to a waiting area for the trains, where she spotted Nicole, who looked a little more scarier than usual, sitting on a bench... though when Isaac approached her he seemed to get better, before they watched as a burning train passed through the station in front of their eyes.

"Isaac... are you alright?" Chrysalis asked, because she didn't like the fact that her closest friend in this world might be going insane, though at the same time she was there to make sure he made it through this without breaking his mind or dying in the process.

"...Yeah... I'm fine." Isaac replied, though the way he said it didn't fill Chrysalis with hope, rather it made her worry that there was something wrong with him, before he shook his head and turned towards her, "Here's an odd observation; I've seen Nicole a few times since I was rescued from that cell, but not once have I seen a single trace of Wildfire. Why is that?"

"That's because I've been busy," a voice said, to which Wildfire appeared nearby, or rather she flew down into the area and closed her wings as she landed, where she offered the two of them a smile, "you know, killing Necromorphs and looking for Nicole. Speaking of Nicole, I just missed her, didn't I?"

"Yeah, she vanished when I approached her just now," Isaac said, though he paused for a moment, because there was something about Wildfire just said that didn't make sense to him, something that needed to be explained, "Wait a second, didn't the Marker create you to mess with Chrysalis? If that's the case, then why kill the Necromorphs, when they would technically be your allies?"

"The Marker didn't make me, it pulled me from Chryssi's heart and gave me a chance to see her again," Wildfire answered, though at the same time she smiled as Chrysalis scratched her behind one of her ears, something that they had done every now and then when Chrysalis had been locked inside her cell, "seeing her again, and remembering the love we shared while I was alive, reminded me of what we had... and I guess I became something more than what the Marker intended, as I haven't been destroyed yet. Anyway, I've noticed that Nicole has changed since we've been here and I've been trying to figure out what's going on, hence why I've been searching for her."

"Well, don't let us keep you from your mission," Chrysalis said, to which she moved her hand under Wildfire's chin and scratched her there as well, knowing that she liked that as well, before eventually pulling her hand away and reengaged her helmet, "Please be safe Wildfire."

"As far as I can tell, I'm invulnerable," Wildfire replied, though she sighed as she opened her wings and moved herself into the air around them, taking a moment to look at them before she departed, "but don't worry Chryssi, I won't let my past repeat itself."

Chrysalis nodded and waved at Wildfire as the pegasus flew off into the distance, where she eventually disappeared and left the area they were in, to which she and Isaac started searching the station for credits and ammunition, so they could be prepared for the future. One of the things that they discovered was a Stasis Pack schematic, which they may or may not use at some point after storing it inside a store, though their exploration was interrupted as the train behind them, which had been still the entire time, opened one of it's door and a slasher walked out towards them. Chrysalis, on the other hand, noticed an infector trying to hide itself as it made it's way towards another corpse, to which she hurled her bone blades at it and sliced it to pieces while Isaac dismembered the slasher... though once that was done, and they had all of the goods in the area, they walked onto the train and made their way down to the end of the vehicle, as Isaac knew what they had to do next.

As they reached the end of the train, and found the terminal that Isaac intended to hack into, Chrysalis stood guard and kept her eyes open for Necromorphs, though a few seconds later the train started moving and a voice said that they were heading to the Cassini Towers. Not even a moment later two slashers and a puker entered the part of the train that they were standing in, though while Isaac dismembered the slashers, after waiting for them to get close to him, Chrysalis blasted the puker apart before it could spit on them. The instant the three Necromorphs were dead the duo walked forward and opened the door they had walked through a minute ago, where Chrysalis instantly blasted the puker she spotted on the other side with pure magic, obliterating the Necromorph in a few seconds. With the puker taken care of the duo headed towards the other side of the train car that they were in and opened the door, where they discovered that the next car was missing... and that, if they wanted to reach the next car after the missing one, they had to engage the boosters in their RIGs.

Isaac went first and threw himself into the air, where he engaged the boosters and started flying in the area between the two train cars, where Chrysalis watched how he moved and used her magic to protect where she was standing the instant she noticed the metallic door being torn into two pieces and were thrown her way. Fortunately the magical shield protected her from all damage, though the instant Isaac was standing on the other car, after having to pull himself into it, Chrysalis sighed and lowered her shield, before hurling herself forward as the boosters came online. As she flew through the air she noticed that it was a smooth ride, since she didn't have to worry about the door fragments, though when she reached the other car Isaac grabbed onto her hand and pulled her into the car. As she touched the floor an exploder and a puker pulled themselves into the area behind them, near the door to the next car, but Chrysalis lifted a sharpened pole from the ground and hurled it with her magic, destroying the goo sack and both of their enemies in an instant.

When they attempted to approach the door that would take them to the next car, however, a slasher tried to attack them from behind and was quickly dismembered by Isaac, though the instant they actually walked into the next car things went wrong immediately. The train shifted for a moment, causing the duo to brace themselves for a few seconds, before they were knocked onto their backs as the train car tilted until they were heading downwards, where the doors now decided to open as the duo slid towards them. As they slid down the train cars, however, Isaac used the Plasma Cutter to hurt all of the slashers that appeared in front of them, before they reached the last car and were thrown out of the car, only to be caught on something and hang upside down, which wasn't great in the grand scheme of things. Chrysalis spotted a number of sharpened spikes resting around them and pulled them to them with her magic, as she knew that enemies would be coming at them soon enough.

Of course the moment Chrysalis thought about enemies they both spotted a few exploders and slashers heading their way, to which Isaac opened fire with the Plasma Cutter while Chrysalis used the spikes to impale those that were coming from a different direction. After the first few foes fell, however, a roar could be heard above them and the other Necromorphs disappeared, though as the duo turned towards the car above them a brute appeared from the area that had been around the door. They immediately opened fire on the brute, since they knew that it could easily kill them in this situation, before blowing off one of it's arms, causing it to roar in pain as it retreated and they dropped to the ground, only for Chrysalis to notice something bad. The brute's retreat had shook the train and it now threatened to squish them, to which she grabbed onto Isaac with one hand and used the other with a gust of wind, sending them sliding away from the train... to which they reached the wall and watched as it derailed and slammed into the area they had been resting in, meaning that they could have been killed if not for Chrysalis' quick thinking.

"That... was some excellent quick thinking," Isaac commented, though at the same time he and Chrysalis stood up as she stopped casting her spell, as she didn't want to expand her mana reserves on something so minor, especially when they might have a need for her magic in the future.

"Thanks," Chrysalis said, as she was fortunate enough to remember that spell that quickly, though that was before she shook her head and noticed that they weren't where Daina wanted them to be, which made her sigh once more, "Well, might as well give Daina the bad news."

"Right," Isaac replied, to which he tapped the side of his helmet for a moment and made sure that the audio link was still okay, though once he determined that the connection was fine he stopped stalling and braced himself, "Hey Daina, we hit another complication... we need another route."

"What happened?" Daina asked, though that was when Chrysalis noticed that she seemed to be sounding sad, but that still didn't make her automatically trust the lady she and Isaac knew nothing about, which was further proven by the ladies next couple of words, "I thought we lost you two."

"Unscheduled stop." Isaac stated, as that was the truth, because now it appeared that they might be under the original target Daina was sending them towards or even further away from it, but he turned his attention to the area around them as their friend worked her magic, "Can you tell us where we are?"

"How did you two end up there? Hang on." Daina replied, though her tone indicated that they might not be in the best place at the moment, but at the same time Chrysalis knew that, with Necromorphs running around, every place wasn't safe until they could permanently remove the undead creatures, "This won't be the most pleasant route, but it'll get the two of you to the Cassini Tower Residential Sector... Dammit! Tiedemann has your signal again. Keep moving!"

Chrysalis was sure that there was more to Daina than what the lady was willing to tell them, though as they explored the area for a few moments she found something that immediately made her happy, the schematic for a Pulse Rifle, which caused her to grin. Isaac noticed that there was a spring to her step as she headed towards the ramp that would allow them to reach the door that would take them out of this area, though as he accompanied her, after getting everything he could, they entered the hallway and noticed a child sized Necromorph fleeing from them. Chrysalis spotted a wall container that had a Power Node, which she eagerly collected before heading through the door that the path brought them to, dropping them off in another hallway like the ones they had used to view the shuttles in the past... though at the end of the hallway rested a store, which to Chrysalis' joy.

As they headed towards the store, however, more of the child Necromorphs, which Chrysalis was going to call a pack since the creatures came at them in such a manner, attacked them... but Chrysalis summoned a barrier around the store and made sure that she and Isaac were inside it before it closed, preventing the pack from getting at them.

Chrysalis chuckled as she approached the store and allowed it to take the schematics that Isaac was holding, since they would both benefit from having them available, before she added the Pulse Rifle's schematic to the list, where she waited for a few seconds before purchasing a Pulse Rifle. She stared down at it for a few seconds, feeling happy to have a familiar weapon in her hands and was even happier when she noticed that it was fully stocked at the moment, to which she pulled herself from the store and faced the pack. A few seconds later she pushed the barrier outwards and stunned the Necromorphs in front of them, though as the barrier faded she opened fire and dismembered the members of the pack that were in front of them, while also having a smile on her face at the same time. She stopped a few moments later and stared at the dead pack members, as having her own gun was going to make this even better for the two of them, since she wouldn't have to rely on Isaac shooting everything down.

"Oh yeah," Chrysalis said, to which she tapped the Pulse Rifle as Isaac looked at her, though at the same time her eyes were focused on the damage she had caused in a few seconds, before she glanced up at Isaac, "This is going to make things more interesting... for us and our enemies."

Isaac chuckled for a moment, because it was nice to see that, despite how this adventure started, that Chrysalis was happy to have a weapon in her hands and was even happier after seeing Wildfire again... though he knew that their enemies were going to be in a world of pain once he and Chrysalis found them, after they finished taking a short break near the store anyway.

Sprawl: Cassini Tower

View Online

Isaac and Chrysalis remained near the store for a few minutes, making sure that they salvaged all of the ammunition crates that were scattered around the area and sold off the various pieces of ammunition that neither of them needed, as they didn't have the guns that the ammunition went to. Chrysalis used some of her credits to make sure she had a decent amount of bullets for her Pulse Rifle, which she was happy to have in her possession again, before she stepped away from the machine and smiled at Isaac. Sure, she might not have access to a Plasma Cutter like Isaac did, but she was more skilled with this weapon and she had her magic to aid her if she really needed it, especially since there was at least two new types of Necromorphs that they had to contend with and there was no telling how many more they would find in the Sprawl. Once she was ready to depart, and Isaac agreed with her, the two of them reengaged their helmets and stepped away from the store... though before they could move their audio links went off.

The duo shared a look with each other for a moment, as they were curious as to who was contacting them at the moment, though Isaac tapped the command and a video link appeared in front of them, where they found Nolan looking at them from the other side of the link.

"Isaac! you still alive?" Nolan asked, once more completely ignoring the fact that Chrysalis was even there, though at the same time she didn't mind that too much, as she and Nolan weren't part of the same group before the outbreak happened, but she was interested in what he wanted to say, "We can't talk long... I think they're tracking our signals. Are the memories coming back to you? They're coming back to me... the good ones... ow! Th... the bad ones. The more I remember, the more my head hurts. I keep seeing the symbols... do you see the symbols too, Isaac? And him... I keep seeing his face... Ah shit... they've found me!"

That was followed by Nolan disappearing from whatever he was using to contact Isaac and the video link was disconnected, leaving Isaac and Chrysalis to stand there for a moment as they wondered what Nolan was talking about, before they sighed and headed towards the elevator that was near the store. According to the sign the elevator was supposed to take them to the Concourse Mezzanine, though Chrysalis honestly had no idea what that was and climbed into it with Isaac. Once they were on the elevator Isaac pressed the button and the elevator started moving, though not even ten seconds later the elevator stopped and opened the door in front of them, where they walked out and entered the new area of the Sprawl that they had discovered. As they walked out into a mall like area, as that was the only thing that Chrysalis could think of to call the area, a member of the pack climbed onto the railing that was in front of them, where Isaac dismembered it's legs and killed it in seconds.

The moment the Necromorph was dead, and they started to explore the area around them, Isaac raised his hand and activated the audio link once more, though this time he had a very specific target he wanted to talk to before the two of them delved deeper into the infested area.

"Hey Daina, there's this crazy guy that keeps contacting us." Isaac said, though at the same time he refused to say Nolan's name, as he wanted to give Daina the sense that he didn't trust Nolan, which was partly true in a sense, so he could see what she knew about him, "I saw him back at the hospital."

"His name is Nolan Stross," Daina replied, though the sound that was coming from the audio link indicated that she was bringing up the file that had the information that would give Isaac a few answers, "He was a patient in the program, just like you were... and just like Chrysalis was supposed to be, but they could never get the program to work for her."

"Really? Why was he there?" Isaac inquired, though the reason he didn't ask about Chrysalis was because he knew that there was a certain someone that must have been helping her avoid being subjected to the program as well, to which he focused on Nolan, "What does he want?"

"Isaac, he's a psychopath, so steer clear of him." Daina stated, but at the same time Chrysalis knew that the term meant Nolan was dangerous, though with the Marker messing with his mind that was to be expected, "He murdered his own wife and child."

"Then we'll be careful, if he shows up again." Chrysalis said, though at the same time the mention of a wife and child made her wonder, for a few moments anyway, what it would have been like if she had saved Wildfire, before she shook her head and continued onward as Isaac disconnected the audio link.

Once the connection was terminated the duo explored the area around them, where Chrysalis smashed some of the windows that were near them and gathered some essentials, mostly some bottles of water and some sandwiches that had been left behind, that she and Isaac chowed down on before they continued moving. The reason she had done that was because it had been some time before she and Isaac had actually eaten anything and knew that it was best if they kept their energy up. Since the majority of the citizens of the Sprawl were already dead, thanks to the outbreak, she didn't bother to leave any compensation for what she took, though Isaac didn't say anything as they moved through the area and headed towards the doorway Daina's route was bring them to, while also collecting a gold semiconductor that was on the ground on the floor below them.

Unfortunately the route they were following brought them to a Unitology Recruitment Center, along with a text log that was titled 'Altman's Footsteps', which mentioned that they believed that EarthGov was trying to squash the truth that they were trying to spread... though at the very end Chrysalis noticed the term 'Convergence' and could only feel a sense of dread when she looked at it.

"If the events of Aegis VII and the Ishimura weren't enough to make the Unitologists seem insane, this just puts the final nail in the coffin," Chrysalis commented, though her eyes lingered on the word Convergence, because her foreboding feeling about it made her wonder what terror the Unitologists wanted to unleash this time around, "Any idea what the word 'Convergence' means in this context?"

"Based on what the Marker's done since it's been activated, and the Unitologists worship them, I can only guess that this Convergence is something horrible." Isaac stated, as he remembered the Hive Mind and the Leviathan, massive creatures made of the flesh of those they had corrupted into Necromorphs, which only made him shudder at the thought of what a Convergence Event would create, "We should get moving before the Necromorphs find us... we can talk about what this means in the future."

Chrysalis nodded and approached the elevator that was in front of them, to which she stood guard as Isaac removed the cover and started hacking into the controls that powered the elevator, though a few seconds later the two of them walked onto the elevator and started headed to wherever it was taking them.

"Daina, I thought you were routing us through residential." Isaac said, opening the audio link between them and Daina once more, because where they were going didn't sit well with either of them, especially after everything that they had seen on the Ishimura, "This looks like a Unitologist Recruitment Center. Are we still on track?"

"Yes." Daina immediately replied, though that only made Isaac and Chrysalis look at each other, as the last time they walked into an area that had been controlled by the Unitologists, Mercer anyway, they had been nearly killed by the creatures that called that place home, meaning that they could be walking into a trap, "There's an old maintenance access point in there that will take you through the waste disposal system and into the Cassini Tower. Stay sharp."

When the elevator arrived at it's destination the duo walked through the door and entered the waiting area for the recruitment center, though at the same time they did their best to ignore the message that was playing and continued walking, while Chrysalis found a text log revealing that the layoffs the CEC had been handing out was also hurting the church. She wondered why the CEC would be laying people off, something that Isaac was definitely interested in, though at the same time they both decided that time would tell and kept moving, while hearing that the church aimed for all of humanity to be of one body and soul. That seemed to relate to how some of the Necromorphs were made, as many people went into creating monsters like the brutes and the tripods, though if that was true it only made them truly wonder what sort of monster a Convergence Event would create... and what type of firepower they would need to bring such a monstrosity down, if the event was completed.

As they rounded the corner, however, two vents blew open and a few Necromorphs crawled into the area, which was two members of a pack, a slasher, and an exploder, though Chrysalis smiled as she noticed how they were so close to each other and Isaac practically read her mind... as he loosed a Stasis blast at the whole group, allowing her to have a clean shot so a short burst of bullets ruptured the goo sack the exploder was holding and tore all four of them to pieces. That was followed by five more members of the pack using a pincer attack on them, as three came from the direction Chrysalis was facing while the remained two attacked from the path they had come from. Once their enemies were dead the duo carefully explored the rest of the area, since most of the doors seemed to be locked at the moment, and found only a few bits of ammunition for their efforts. The moment they finished searching they returned to the engineer vent that was where they needed to go through and Isaac climbed into it, where Chrysalis waited for enough room to be open before she followed her friend to their next destination.

It didn't take them long to reach the other side of the engineer vent, though when they pulled themselves out of it they found a dead man resting against a machine with a video log that they could play and download into their own RIGs, but Chrysalis was a little disappointed in the message since it detailed how to use the parts of a Necromorph as projectiles to take them out, which they had been doing the entire time.

From there the duo walked up the nearby ramp and headed into the control room that contained the panel that would allow them to switch off part of the machinery, which would them allow the two of them to safely progress through this area before they found their next target. Sure enough Isaac found the terminal in question and entered the command, to which the compressor piston went offline and the computerized voice for this area told them that it was now safe to enter the chamber. Chrysalis would have used the nearby Bench to empower her weapon, but in the heat of getting the Pulse Rifle again, and stocking up on ammunition, she had forgotten to purchase a few Power Nodes, but in the end they headed back through the door and returned to where the man had been resting. As they walked down the ramp, however, they were greeted by three slashers and an exploder, though since one slasher came all on it's own Isaac dismembered it before Chrysalis blew the others up with the explosive goo sack.

The moment their foes were taken care of Isaac and Chrysalis walked through the door they had ignored a few minutes ago and walked into the short hallway between it and a circular door, which opened up and let them enter a Zero-G area... to which they both discovered that the new suits they were wearing had been upgraded in this field, as there was a command option for them to engage their boots and walk along a surface or disengage them and float through the air around them. Isaac immediately headed over to the other door, as he wanted to progress forward and get out of here quickly, though as he turned around he noticed that Chrysalis had opened a door near the one they had come through and simply waited. She floated to where he was a few moments later with a Power Node in her hand, meaning that it was worth the few seconds she spent, before they engaged their boots and touched down on the walkway below them, to which they opened the door and left the Zero-G area behind.

From there the two of them walked down the short hallway that was in front of them and approached the terminal that was at the end of it, where Isaac tapped the commands and opened the circular door that had been in the room they had just passed through. Chrysalis noticed that the tunnel it was connected to had opened the other door that they were now standing near, to which Isaac led the way back into the previous room and carefully lifted themselves into the Zero-G atmosphere again. From there they floated over to the open circular door and avoided the large pieces of trash that were coming their way, while at the same time they moved down the tunnel that they needed to pass through, before they reached the door that would take them to the Cassini Tower Infrastructure. Of course that involved them reconnecting with the floor and made sure that their boots were sticking to the ground, though once they determined that fact the two of them opened the door in front of them and walked into the hallway that was waiting for them.

As they entered the area that was in front of them they discovered that the area was slightly darker than normal, though since there weren't any Necromorphs around the area the two of them walked around and found a ramp that brought them to a door that needed it's power box put back into the waiting receptacle. When they reached that level, however, a slasher burst out a vent and tried to attack them, though Chrysalis happily dismembered the Necromorph with a short burst of bullets while Isaac inserted the power box into where it was supposed to go. The instant the power box went back into the receptacle the lights came back on and let them see what was around them, while at the same time restoring power to the elevator that they had been heading towards. Chrysalis also noticed that there happened to be a store resting nearby as well, or rather what remained of a store, as it appeared to have been smashed in some manner when the outbreak originally occurred... to which the two of them walked onto the elevator and rode it up to their next destination, while carefully listening for anything out of the ordinary.

When the elevator came to a stop the duo discovered a box with a Power Node on their left, which they collected before they headed towards the door that was near them, to which they discovered an apartment area that looked like some Unitologists had been there, based on the symbols anyway. A group of little Necromorphs, the members of the swarm Chrysalis realized, emerged from the room in front of them, to which Isaac blasted them apart before they moved away from the door they used to enter the area. As Isaac opened fire on the other swarm members, coming from another room that was in the area around them, Chrysalis quickly backed into the first room and found a text log, one that revealed some people being interested in what was happening soon, but even thought they didn't name the event that was supposed to be happening she had to determine that it was the Convergence Event they discovered earlier. The instant she stopped reading it she stored it away and headed into the room that Isaac had walked into, though that was when she watched him walk into the room that they had to walk through.

That was when Chrysalis got worried, because the instant Isaac walked into the room he started to stagger and seemed focused on the bed that was to his right, as if someone was sitting on the bed and was demanding his attention, which made her step forward to help him in some manner... only to stop when she heard him talk.

"You're not Nicole!" Isaac stated, pointing his Plasma Cutter at the bed for a few seconds, telling Chrysalis that he was seeing the Marker's image of Nicole again, which was apparently trying to mess with his mind once more, "Nicole is dead! You're not really here!"

"Isaac!" Chrysalis said, to which she reached forward with her hand and grabbed onto her friends' shoulder, where she shook him for a few seconds and snapped him back to reality as he lowered his weapon and seemed to stare at her, like he was lost or something, "Isaac, are you sure that you're alright?"

"...yeah... I'm fine..." Isaac replied, but this time around Chrysalis knew that he had to be lying to her, as the memories were mixing with the Marker's signal and it was causing pain to his mind, something that he was trying to avoid speaking about while they were together, "Come on, let's keep moving before something terrible finds us."

Chrysalis looked at Isaac for a moment, as he opened the door that was resting to their left and walked into the hallway that was on the other side, as she was concerned for her friend's well-being and knew that this was going to be tough on him, to which she determined to help him to the best of her abilities before she walked through the door as well. They carefully explored the rest of the apartment area that was in the hallway around them, though at the same time they discovered that the doors all around them, that would let them enter the various 'houses', were locked, meaning that the only path they could take was the one in front of the door they had walked through. Since they had no choice in the matter the duo returned to the only unlocked door and opened it, which allowed them to walk out onto a walkway that rested above an area that the Unitologists used... and, possibly, where a good number of corpses used to rest before the outbreak occurred.

As they walked out into the open, however, a gunship flew by the glass to their far right and stopped as it looked into the area that Isaac and Chrysalis were in, though that was when Chrysalis realized the danger that they were in, as she was sure that Tiedemann and his soldiers had found them at last.

"Daina, we've got another complication." Isaac said, though at the same time he stared at the gunship as well, as he silently agreed with Chrysalis that they were in danger, even though she hadn't said anything, "Tiedemann's soldiers have discovered our location... they're tracking us in some sort of gunship."

"You're almost there!" Daina replied, to which Isaac and Chrysalis realized that she might not actually care about the fact that Tiedemann had discovered where they were, though that only made Chrysalis more annoyed with the lady that was 'helping' them, "Hurry!"

Isaac and Chrysalis did just that, because before the gunship had a chance to fire at them, since it was a gunship and not an observation ship, they headed towards the door on the other side of the walkway and opened it, disappearing before their enemies could find them. As they walked into the hallway a slasher burst through an apartment door and turned towards them, where Isaac dismembered it as they moved forward, as now wasn't the time to be cautious about how they were moving. From there they turned around the corner and entered the elevator that took them down to the level that was below them, though that happened to be the floor where all the Unitologist bodies were waiting, which caused the duo to prepare themselves for whatever was waiting for them, as they were both sure that the area in front of them was going to be a trap.

Sure enough the moment they entered the area the gates on either side of them closed, though Chrysalis was the first to react as she spotted an infector moving, as she blasted it to pieces before it could even reach the corpse that it happened to be heading towards. As that happened Isaac spotted two pukers emerging from the entrance of the Unitologist Church, the last place either of them wanted to be, and opened fire on them before they had a chance to start puking up their acid in order to damage them. The moment the pukers died, and the duo gathered in the middle of the floor so they could see everything around them, another infector burst into the area and headed towards a corpse as two slashers joined it. Chrysalis grabbed one of her bone blades and hurled it through the air, impaling the infector before it had a chance to turn more of the corpses, while at the same time Isaac dismembered the slasher in front of him and left the other one for her to deal with... which died in a hail of bullets, causing the gates to rise back up and allowed them to move around once more.

The unfortunate thing was that both of them knew that they had no choice but to enter the Church that was resting in front of them and see what horrors awaited them, though despite the fact that they needed to hurry the duo stopped at the various terminals and got the history of the Church. This was purely because Chrysalis had next to no information on Altman and the Church, save for what they found from time to time, and she listened to them as Isaac frowned at everything around them, which she felt like replicating as she stood in front of the various terminals. The first terminal revealed that Altman discovered the Black Marker in the Yucatan Peninsula in 2214, which 'spoke' to him about a plan that would unify humanity and lead them to a bright future, something that she disagreed with. When she moved over to the second terminal she discovered that millions of people flocked to the Marker to see it and hear Altman's message, though by the next year he was assassinated by someone, becoming the first martyr for the new Church... where his followers became determined to not left his message be silenced, as they were the ones to create this made Church.

As she moved to the fourth terminal she discovered that the Unitologists could be found all across the regions of space that humanity owned, though while the message claimed that the Church was spread out over the entire universe Chrysalis determined that the universal part had to be a lie, since they were nowhere close to where Equus rested. The fifth terminal revealed that this particular Church started as a devout group of miners and flourished into what it was today, while also being the site of the annual Unitology Enigma Symposium, which she wasn't interested in learning about as she approached the final terminal. The final one revealed that all Unitologists were waiting for Convergence, where the message proclaimed that they needed to continue to nurture their relationship with the Marker and understand the 'future' that it was preparing for them... to which Chrysalis sighed as she walked towards the door that Isaac was standing near, since he had been ignoring the messages.

"Ready to delve into the Church?" Isaac asked, as he knew that the moment Chrysalis was with him again that she would be done with the messages that had been lining the hallway, though at the same time he prepared his Plasma Cutter for whatever was waiting for them in the actual Church.

"Yeah, we should get moving." Chrysalis replied, to which she pulled up her Pulse Rifle and turned towards the door that was in front of them, where she noticed that Isaac was more than ready for the dangers that were waiting for them in the next area.

Isaac nodded his head and made sure that both of their helmets were still engaged, though the moment he found out that both of their helmets were in place he opened the door and stared at the stairs that were in front of them, to which they braced themselves and stepped forward... while at the same time wondering what horrors and dangers waited them inside the Titan Station Church of Unitology.

Sprawl: The Church

View Online

Isaac and Chrysalis carefully walked up the stairs that were in front of them and looked around the area that they had discovered, where there was an alter of some kind in the middle of the room and a number of stained glass that contained the likenesses of Altman and a few other famous members of the Church of Unitology. Chrysalis actually wondered if there were any other founders or important members of this religion, as none of what she had listened to revealed the existence of any other people like that, but it didn't stop her from thinking about that. Before they had any time to actually study the various glass windows, however, one of the windows above them shattered and the air was sucked out of the room they were in, to which the duo braced themselves as they made their way towards the door that was in front of them. Fortunately they knew that, unless more of the Church was damaged in a similar manner as the room they were currently in, they would be able to seal themselves in an area where they could breathe just fine.

"It's Tiedemann! He's found you!" Daina told them, though this time she actually sounded like she was worried about them, as she should be since they were the key to stopping the Marker and the Convergence Event that it was likely trying to create, even if Chrysalis didn't trust her at all, "Into the Church, hurry!"

Neither of them said anything as they hurried towards the door and opened it, allowing them to slip into the true entrance area of the Church, where they were right that they could breathe just fine as the door locked behind them, preventing them from leaving this area... provided they found the other entrance that Daina wanted them to go through so they could escape with their lives.

"Daina? The Church of Unitology?" Isaac asked, echoing the thought that was going through Chrysalis' mind, meaning that they were both interested in why their 'friend' would tell them to come this way, especially since the Unitologists might have left something nasty behind for them to contend with, "Why here?"

"It's one of the few places on Titan Station that Tiedemann can't monitor." Daina told them, knowing that Chrysalis was thinking the same thing and was addressing the two of them, even if she didn't say either of their names while they were talking, "Separation of Church and State."

"No Daina, we shouldn't be in here." Isaac replied, already remembering the terrors that he and Chrysalis had encountered on the Ishimura, created by a good number of Unitologists 'sacrificing' themselves to create the various Necromorphs that they had encoutered, "This is the last place we want to be in right now."

"Isaac, my brother died trying to rescue you and Chrysalis." Daina stated, though at the same time Chrysalis was reminded of what Kendra said about her brother and wondered if their 'friend' was lying, cause it sure felt like Daina was trying to feed them the wrong information, "This is important... it will work. I'm in a safe room at the top of the Chruch. Meet me there, okay?"

Isaac waited for a few seconds before he determined that Daina was finished talking to him and Chrysalis, though as he lowered his hand he noticed a circular barrier that was now resting around the two of them, where the magic was rolling off of Chrysalis' horn as she looked at him.

"Isaac, I don't like this one bit." Chrysalis said, as all that Daina had done so far reminded her of Kendra and what she did while they were on the Ishimura, where she noticed that Isaac was nodding his head in agreement, "When she said that Franco was her brother I didn't sense a single shred of emotion behind that statement, meaning that she's trying to guilt trip us into following her orders. Another thing I don't trust is that she brought us to the Church of Unitology, where the Unitologists likely killed themselves so that they could 'ascend' to the next stage of evolution, though there's no telling what monster is waiting for us this time around."

"You think she's a Unitologist or something?" Isaac asked, because based on what he had seen during their first adventure together, where she called out Kendra and actually was right about everything, he was willing to bet that she was right about whatever she was feeling right now.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure whose side she's really on, but I'm willing to point the finger at her being a member of the Church of Unitology," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she frowned, because if she was right they would be walking into a trap that Daina had set up for them, though at the same time it was one that she was more than willing to spring in her own manner, "Come on, let's carefully make our way through here and see what horrors await us."

"Right." Isaac said, though before the magic faded from Chrysalis' horn he held up a hand, as he was curious about something and the barrier around them made him want to ask the question before they moved on, "Why did you summon this barrier around us? There aren't any Necromorphs around us at the moment."

"It's another skill I learned during my time with Shining Armor," Chrysalis admitted, as most of her defensive skills she had stolen from Shining Armor, or at least the techniques she could use to empower the few spells she already had before taking Princess Cadence's form, "This barrier is designed to prevent sounds, or a conversation, from being heard by anyone that's on the outside of the sphere, though if I channel it through my RIG I can cut off the link between us and Daina for a few moments... which I only just figured out now, so I'm thankful that it worked so well."

"So she has no idea that we don't trust her," Isaac said, to which Chrysalis nodded her head, though Isaac let out a sigh of relief, as the last time they had openly accused an 'ally' of being the enemy Kendra had claimed that Chrysalis was in pain from losing a friend, until she revealed her hand, "Very well then, it's time we get moving again."

Chrysalis dropped the barrier and they quickly explored the area around them, as they entered the room on their left and found that there wasn't too much for them to look at, though the door beside the one they used to walk into the room had a text log inside the small room, one that was simply detailing a tour. From there they walked up to the Unitology Gift Shop and entered the store, where they discovered an actual store they could buy and sell things at and a Bench they could use to upgrade their weapons. Chrysalis was happy to sell a few of the worthless bits of ammunition she was carrying and bought a Power Node or two with the profits, allowing her to empower her Pulse Rifle in the process, making it much more deadly than it had been moments ago. Isaac followed her actions as well, empowering the Plasma Cutter, before the two of them walked out of the gift shop and continued searching for anything that might be able to help them in this area... or enemies that they needed to kill, as that was likely what they were going to find.

From there they walked up the stairs and entered the Reading Room, which was a library of sorts, where they found a text log that detailed the ceremonial gesture that Unitologists used in greetings and in their ceremonies, though it was simply entwining one's arms with their fingers touching at the top, which sounded like the Marker. After the text log the duo found a Power Node resting on the floor, though as they picked it up a slasher burst into the room behind them, to which Isaac turned around and dismembered it before it even had the chance to come at them. As they walked out of the reading room they got another transmission from Nolan, who asked Isaac if he could see the symbols, something that Isaac confirmed, leading Nolan to say that they needed to work together and that they were a threat to someone. Before Nolan could spill all the beans, however, he seemed to become focused on his bloody nose and walked off screen, to which the communication was severed.

Isaac and Chrysalis looked at each other as they returned to the main entrance of the Church and approached the other door that they could walk through, where the duo discovered a fair number of corpses, a few bits of ammunition, and an audio log that detailed something that happened in the cathedral. Since the audio log contained nothing of interest the duo returned to the room and walked up the stairs that were in front of them, though this time around they kept their weapons at the ready in case more enemies showed themselves, which was what they were expecting. When the duo reached the top of the stairs they discovered that the only way forward was through the Library, which was actually just a circular walkway with shelves on their left, though as they followed the path they encountered an infector that was trying to awaken a corpse that was in front of them. Because the infector foolishly picked the wrong corpse to go after Chrysalis impaled it with her bone blades and dismembered it, as she didn't see the need to use the Pulse Rifle on it, before claiming her weapons and returned to following the path once more.

At the end of the walkway rested some stairs that took them down to the level that was below them, where they discovered another infector that Isaac dismembered with his Plasma Cutter, which was when a slasher tried to get the jump on them, only to meet it's end when Chrysalis loosed a small burst of bullets that blasted it's limbs off. That was before they spotted another pair of Necromorphs, an infector and a slasher, heading for some bodies on the other side of the room, to which the duo simply sighed and changed targets, effectively making it impossible for the two Necromorphs to do anything. The instant all those enemies were taken care of another slasher, attacking alone, burst out of the vent on the other side of the room and charged at them, where it met it's end at the combined might of Isaac and Chrysalis' weapons, allowing them a few moments to salvage the ammunition, credits, and health packs that were laying around before they moved on.

Once they were sure that they got everything, and were leaving nothing behind, the duo walked to the circular column in the middle of the room and opened the door that they discovered... to which they climbed onto cargo lift inside it and rode it up to the floor it connected to.

It didn't take them long to reach the walkway that the cargo lift connected to, nor did it take very long for them to cross the walkway and open the door in front of them, where they entered a hallway that appeared to have only one path for them to take at the moment. At the same time, however, Chrysalis spotted one of those circular tube power generators that usually kept a door closed until the tube was destroyed, to which she used a short burst of bullets to smash the tube to a thousand pieces, though what that did she had absolutely no idea. With that taken care of they walked through the main door and entered the Indoctrination Testing Center, where they heard a seminar of some kind playing, one that proclaimed Altman as the savior, that the Marker was a divine relic, and that they would all be united through the Convergence Event they kept hearing about.

Instead of paying attention to the seminar the duo entered the room on their right, though as they walked into the area a panel on their left burst and the cover fell to the floor, to which Isaac sighed and pulled the other part of the cover off with his Kinesis Module, as he knew that they were going to fix something around here. Chrysalis found a text log that detailed the results of the indoctrination on someone called Casey Milham, where it appeared that the Unitologists were able to determine that he wouldn't remain afflicted with the Church after a period of time, while also holding out some hope that he'd fully join them eventually. As she stored the text log away she felt the urge to smash the Unitologists, but unfortunately the seemed to have pretty much killed themselves off for the glory of the Convergence Event that could be happening at this very station, which was something she and Isaac needed to stop soon, especially since they had no idea what the Convergence Event created. Isaac, on the other hand, removed the fuse from the nearby terminal that Chrysalis was standing near and inserted it into the device he had been staring at, restoring some power to the other door in the room they had been in moments ago.

With that taken care of the duo returned to the main room they had been in, where the other door was opening and closing in rapid succession and revealed that they would need to use the Stasis Module on it, but before they could do anything the vents burst open and some slashers entered the area... though that was when Isaac had the bright idea to blast open the glass wall and suck the two Necromorphs out into space before sealing the breach.

"Well, at least we won't be seeing those two again," Chrysalis commented, to which she picked herself off the floor and stared at the steel door that was where the glass had been, as she was surprised that Isaac had done that without even telling her anything.

Isaac nodded his head before heading over to where the malfunctioning door was located, which he loosed a Stasis blast at and waited for the door to be open enough for him and Chrysalis to access the room in front of them, where he suffered another flash of the dead Nicole appearing on the screens and telling him that he couldn't run from the pain and that he would soon beg for a way to end it all. The moment the vision had stopped, and he assured Chrysalis that he was fine, he continued moving and searched the area that they were in, completely ignoring the computer screens that were in front of them. As they moved to the left the duo discovered something of interest, the schematic for the Security Suit, which was likely stronger and had more resistance than what they were currently wearing, but instead of heading back and seeing how must it cost Isaac insisted they continued moving... to which he opened the engineer's vent in front of them and climbed into it, leaving Chrysalis to sigh as she followed after him, so they didn't get separated.

When they reached the end of the vent, however, Isaac climbed out and seemed to be attacked by yet another bout of Nicole's signals, only this time Chrysalis could only watch as 'Nicole' attacked Isaac with what appeared to be the same needle she used to put herself down, while at the same time Isaac's helmet disengaged and revealed his face. The two of them struggled for a few seconds, where 'Nicole' told Isaac to 'make us while', which was followed by Isaac gaining the strength he needed to push her away and the vision seemed to end, where he dropped the needle that had been in his hands and backed away for a moment. Chrysalis, however, pulled herself out of the vent and rushed to his side, because now she was concerned for his health and safety, since it appeared that 'Nicole' was trying to either tell them something or outright kill Isaac for what happened on the Ishimura... though it took him a few moments to calm down, with her beside him, before he reengaged his helmet and started moving again, with her keeping a close eye on him.

Once the incident was over they found out that they were in some sort of office room and discovered a Power Node resting on a nearby desk, which was collected instantly, before they walked out of the room and entered the hallway, one that lead to the Indoctrination Unity Library. Originally the door had been locked, but Isaac used the cover that had been hiding the power tube to smash the tube in question, allowing the door to be opened whenever they desired, though Chrysalis opened it anyway and found out that it would allow them to head back to the first hallway they had been in earlier, meaning they could put the new suit on if they wanted to. Instead of doing that Isaac insisted on moving forward again and walked through the other door that was at the end of the hallway, where they entered a different room that was unlike the other rooms they had been in so far, though as they walked into the room the both of them heard the sound of something moving in the level below them.

Chrysalis determined that the sounds of these new creatures meant that they were feral, at least she assumed they were feral by the sounds, but at the same time she and Isaac made their way over to a cargo lift and rode it down to the level below them, where they entered the center of the room and walked over to the main door... which was disabled as something large slammed into it from the other side, trapping them in the area that they were in for the moment.

"Daina, we're locked out." Isaac said, though at the same time he and Chrysalis faced the way they had come from, as they both knew that the new enemies that they had discovered would be coming at them soon enough, to which they prepared their weapons, "There's something in the Church with us... it broke the door!"

"Hang on." Daina told them, though this time around Chrysalis ignored the tone that the lady was using, as she was more focused on making sure that she and Isaac survived whatever was coming their way this time around, "I'll try to override all the gates in the area."

"Hurry." Chrysalis commanded, because she wasn't about to play around with their lives and wanted Daina to know that time was of the essence this time around, especially since she and Isaac might get hurt in this area, as they had no idea what sort of enemies were waiting for them, "There's something else out there too..."

That was followed by the metal gates, to their left and right, opening, though the instant they saw that Isaac turned to the left and Chrysalis turned to the right, indicating that they were going to make sure they kept their eyes open for enemies and took out whatever was coming their way. That was when Chrysalis laid eyes on a creature that looked like it was hunched over, which made sense considering that they were made from human corpses, but when it peeked out from behind it's hiding place she noticed that it's type must have been modified in some manner. That fact was proven to be true when the first one raced out from where it was hiding and charged at them only for Chrysalis to impale it with a bone blade that she threw like a lance, which caused some noises to erupt from the area surrounding them, indicating that these creatures were smarter than the other Necromorphs and were biding their time until a weakness was revealed. A few seconds later Isaac, following Chrysalis' example, used one of the sharpened poles that were laying near them and did the same thing on a stalker that was coming his way.

What surprised them was that there only were three stalkers in the area, as if they were getting a taste for this type of Necromorph, though the moment the third one fell Daina decided to contact them again, to which the duo hoped that she had some good news for them.

"Isaac, I can't unlock the elevator." Daina told them, which immediately told Chrysalis that there was something they needed to do before they could leave this area, though that was confirmed moments later, "Is there anything you can do on your end?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Isaac replied, though at the same time he wasn't about to let this setback cast him and Chrysalis their lives, not when he was positive that there was another path for them to take, somewhere anyway, "but give us a few minutes and we'll see what we can do."

"Okay, once your through you'll go through the Funeral wing of the Church and down into the Crypt." Daina said, to which Chrysalis sighed, as it appeared that this was going to take longer than she originally thought, where Isaac nodded his head in agreement, "It's very important that you're not... No! No. Earth Gov can't jam us in here! Not in here!"

Before either Isaac or Chrysalis could say anything the communication was terminated, though by the sounds of it Daina had been wrong about Tiedemann not being able to do anything to the Church, as it appeared that he might have snapped that boundary in half and was likely coming for them. As such Isaac headed over to the cargo lift that was on the right side of the room and tore off the cover for the control panel, allowing him to hack into the machine before it was operational again. The instant he was done working they walked onto the cargo lift and headed to the level above them, where they found a Power Node to their left and claimed it, though as they walked away from the middle of the room, however, Chrysalis felt a chill crawl down her spine. Isaac stopped, as if he felt the chill in the air as well, before turning back to face her, though she glanced down at the center of the bottom area they had walked through and noticed another sight that caused her to stall.

Standing in the middle of the area was another pony like creature, though this time around the creature stood as tall as Chrysalis did when she had been in her changeling form, before she accessed the mirror, but her eyes were drawn by the fact that this was another changeling that she was staring at. It took her a few moments to recognize the color of the carapace that the changeling had, as it was the same as what her's had looked like, and spotted the same eye coloration that she possessed. The changeling's mane and tail, despite possessing the same color of Chrysalis' own hair and tail, had a similar style that looked like Princess Cadence's mane and tail, filled with a few holes that all of the other changelings possessed on their manes and tails. The horn that the changeling possessed was pointed straight, like Princess Celestia's horn, with some curves lining one edge of the horn, though what really caught Chrysalis' attention were two things; the cold gaze that the mare was giving them and the moderate green colored royal shoes and chest piece that she happened to be wearing... including the familiar crown that Chrysalis had worn for a long time, until she discarded it when Thorax took everything from her.

She knew that Isaac would think she was happy to recognize the changeling that was down there, but the reality was different than what he knew, as the moment she snapped back to reality she turned to the path they were following and headed towards the entrance to the Basilica section of the Church, though she didn't stop until she, and Isaac, were on the other side of the door.

"Chrysalis, who was what?" Isaac asked, though at the same time he noticed Chrysalis disengage her helmet so she could wipe some sweat from her forehead, indicating whoever that pony creature was had to be someone from his friend's past, possibly someone she didn't get along with.

"Qu... Queen Crudelis," Chrysalis replied, though as she said the same she recalled all of the painful and horrible memories that were associated with it, and what she had done in retaliation to what the mare had done to her over the many years they knew each other, "...my mother..."

"Wait, THAT was your mother?!" Isaac stated, as he was shocked by the fact, as he never heard Chrysalis mention that her mother was dead, but at the same time he remembered the chill that went down his spine, "The mare that made you seek out someone she didn't approve of, since she's traditional in whatever way the changelings consider traditional, which brought you to the love of your life? The mare that tried to teach you that ponies were only a source of food and weren't good for anything else, which you determined had to be wrong until Wildfire was taken from you, and poisoned your mind against the rest of the ponies in Equestria?"

"...yes..." Chrysalis said, though at the same time she leaned against the wall and stared at the one that was opposite of her, while picturing the last time she had seen her mother while she was alive, "The last time I saw her was right after I finished the last lesson I needed in order to become queen, when she decided to retire anyway, and she told me that she was proud that I had seen things her way. I scoffed at that and said that I was going to punish the ponies for taking Wildfire from me, and that was what I did for a thousand years as the new queen of the hive, up until I was defeated time and time again. And now the Marker has pulled my long dead mother back from the depths of my memories... which has made the situation worse, if she's able to do things like Wildfire is."

Isaac noticed something about the way Chrysalis talked about her mother, as she mentioned how the former queen hated ponies and saw them as nothing more than food, was more than willing to shatter her daughter's heart and poison her against all of Equestria, and install a level of fear that he had never seen in Chrysalis. It brought him to several conclusions that were terrible to think about, especially since he could hear some pain in his friend's voice when she spoke about Crudelis. Isaac stepped in front of her and disengaged his helmet, as he knew that she needed to get over this and not collapse, as he could already tell that she was fighting whatever emotions she was feeling at the moment.

"Chrysalis... when you were younger, did your mother beat you or punish you in some manner?" Isaac asked, though he instantly knew he had hit a serious pressure point, as the moment he mentioned it Chrysalis flinched the instant she heard his question, "Wh... what did she do to you?"

"She... beat me for my weaknesses when I was younger," Chrysalis admitted, as it was something she never told anyone, because she had seriously hated her mother and had done her best to bury all the painful memories that her mother had given her, "and, whenever her generals failed her in some manner when she was declaring war, she punished them by taking it out on me, the princess they were supposed to protect, and claimed she was also teaching me a lesson at the same time. Every time the generals failed her my mother would say to them 'do you think I enjoy beating my daughter because of your failures', as it was supposed to motivate them to do better, least something happen to the heir of the hive. To a degree it worked, because the failures decreased over time, but despite that fact I suffered at my mother's hooves whenever they failed her or when I failed her, much to the anger of many of the changelings that lived in the hive at the time.

My time with Wildfire was the only good moments of that point in my life, as it allowed me to get away from who was essentially an abusive mother and let me enjoy some parts of life that she wanted me to stay away from, all because I wanted to rebel against her. The only respite I got from the abuse was when the generals finally rebelled, after I had completed my training to be exact, and declared a civil war between them and my mother, who met her end at the blade of the general that would become my trusted commander for many years."

Isaac sort of understood what was going on, as he had next to no information on changelings and how their society worked, but at the same time he was happy to hear that Chrysalis' mother had got what was coming to her, as even her generals couldn't let her abuse her daughter forever. He understood why Chrysalis had told him, and both Hammond and Kendra at the time, that she had been disliked by many ponies and had disliked them in return, but now he knew why she had been like that, because her mother was a massive bitch and tried to pass that nature to Chrysalis. Sure, his friend told him that she had been somewhat like that when she was in command of the hive, but from the sounds of it Chrysalis tried to provide for her subjects and be a better ruler than her mother, meaning that the attack on Canterlot, whatever that was, had been for resources and supplies for her subjects... something that her mother would have had different targets for if she had been around during the attack.

A few moments later he disengaged his helmet and wrapped his arms around Chrysalis, surprising her for a moment, but she didn't fight it and simply closed her eyes for a moment... to which he let her recover from what he had asked her and didn't say another word, while wondering how to help her overcome the demons that haunted her past.

Sprawl: Deception Revealed

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Chrysalis and Isaac stood where they were for a few moments, where they let Chrysalis calm down after having seen the spirit of her mother and having to relive some of the more painful memories when Isaac asked her about something she never told anyone, before the two of them separated. They both knew that it was only a matter of time until Tiedemann found them, and the Necromorphs for that matter, so the duo reengaged their helmets and started moving down the hallway that was in front of them with their weapons at the ready. They quickly walked by the locked door on their left and approached the way that would take them to the Reunion Chapel, which would allow the duo to enter the Crypt, though they both agreed that there had to be a Necromorph or two in that area. That was when they walked into a small area where four doors were located, though while two of them appeared to be completely offline there was another one that could be unlocked by destroying the power tube, and that wasn't counting the door they actually had to walk through.

The duo stared at the doors for a moment before Chrysalis smashed the power tube, allowing them to reenter the area that the Gift Shop was in, to which the duo smiled for a moment as they walked down to the store and started selling off the ammunition they didn't need... though when they finished doing that they both walkway away with a new suit of armor, the security suit that they found the schematic for earlier. From what Chrysalis was able to tell this was the same type of armor that the EarthGov soldiers had been wearing the entire time she and Isaac had been trapped in the hospital area, but they ignored that little fact as the two of them made their way back to the other unlocked door they had walked by. It didn't take them long to reach the door and enter the chapel area, though as they opened the door the two of them stopped as a computerized voice started a sermon of some kind. The two of them stood there for a few seconds, listening to how the people proclaimed that 'death was a blessing' and other statements that would make the Unitologists and converts believe that they were on the right path... even though Isaac and Chrysalis knew they were all insane.

As the message ended, and the duo entered the chapel, a large amount of swarm Necromorphs dropped down from the ceiling and touched the floor in front of the coffin near the back of the area, though before they could do anything a slasher pulled itself into the area and stared at them... to which the duo watched as the swarm members climbed onto the other Necromorph and acted like body armor. That was an interesting tactic, as when Chrysalis opened fire with her Pulse Rifle the members of the swarm took her initial blasts as the slasher staggered backwards, though at the same time Isaac dismembered another slasher that dropped down beside the first one. Even when the armored slasher met it's end, and the members of the swarm fell to the ground, the little Necromorphs came at the duo and insisted on trying to attack them, only for Isaac and Chrysalis to tear them to pieces... or rather stomp them into oblivion, since Isaac used a Stasis blast to freeze them and gave the two of them an opportunity to smash them with their boots.

Once those Necromorphs were finished the duo looked around once more, to be absolutely sure that there weren't any other enemies in the area, before they quickly collected the ammunition and credits that were laying around chapel and headed behind where the coffin was located... which allowed them to find the elevator that would take them down into the Crypt.

"Okay, it seems that the Necromorphs are capable of adapting and coming up with new ideas," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she and Isaac climbed onto the elevator, to which Isaac tapped the command interface and they descended down to where the Crypt was located, "This, in addition to who we saw, does not bode well for us."

"Agreed." Isaac replied, because he knew that if the spirit of Wildfire was able to interact with them and their surroundings, as well as kill Necromorphs every now and then, then Queen Crudelis might be able to do the same thing, which only made him shudder at the horrors the changeling spirit could pull off.

"Isaac, I'm sorry for bringing you into this mess," Chrysalis added, knowing that her friend was worried about her mother, as she was absolutely terrified of what might happen when they next crossed paths with each other, before she let out a sigh, "I thought I had buried those memories and locked them away so I would never have to remember the pain and torment that was my life for some time... and now she's back, to do it all over again."

"Don't worry about it too much," Isaac stated, causing Chrysalis to turn her head towards him for a moment, no doubt because she was surprised that he was fine with this situation, even though he didn't want anything to do with the old changeling queen that had revealed herself, "as long as we're together, and Wildfire helps us out occasionally, we should be able to overcome anything that the Marker and Queen Crudelis throw at us."

Chrysalis knew that Isaac had no true understanding of the cruelty that her mother possessed, nor did he understand what her mother had done to the other hives, as there had been more than one before the old queen got what she wanted, but even then she mentally shoved those memories back into the hole they had been locked in. Now that the spirit of her mother was back it would be far too easy for her to slip back into who she had been back when she was but a foal, the same one that had been beaten time and time again. It also made her realize that her mental defenses must have been weaker than she originally thought, especially since the Marker went out of it's way to pull a second pony from her memories, only on the opposite side that Wildfire was on. Chrysalis also dreaded what might happen if the spirits of her lover and her mother were to come into contact with each other, because she had a terrible feeling she knew who would win in a fight and didn't want to lose Wildfire again.

The sound of the elevator stopping caused Chrysalis to stop thinking about what the Marker was doing and who it brought back, to which she sighed as she and Isaac walked out and entered the Crypt... or at least walked into the area before the actual Crypt, since she and Isaac were staring at a door at the bottom of a ramp, which had a golden symbol resting above it, though they ignored that and pressed onward.

The duo walked down the ramp and opened the door in front of them, allowing them to enter a small room that rested between where the elevator was located and the Crypt, though they had to wait a little longer for the Crypt door to open since it was colder and it had two different types of doors to open. As they walked into the Crypt they discovered that literally every wall had tubes that contained the bodies of the dead, held in a stasis of sorts for when it was time for the Convergence Event to happen, while they also noticed that the temperature in this area was designed to make sure that nothing happened to the corpses. At the same time, however, Chrysalis was thinking about smashing all of the tubes they came across, gathering all of the corpses in a single pile, and then burning them all to ash, and there was a specific reason behind her thinking about that. The reason being was because she didn't want the two of them to walk through this area and suddenly have an army of Necromorphs coming up from behind them, but Isaac shook his head and moved forward, indicating that if they got out of here fast they wouldn't have to worry about any of the long dead coming back to haunt them in some manner.

Chrysalis turned her gaze from the tubes and followed after Isaac, to which they carefully followed the path in front of them and made their way towards the other side of the room, where they discovered another door that connected this room to the next one.

As the duo entered the next room they both, for once, suffered from the Marker's influence, as Isaac saw the dead bodies inside the tubes reaching out and trying to grab them and he was sure that Chrysalis was seeing the same thing that he was experiencing. Chrysalis did see the bodies in the same light as Isaac did, indicating that she was at least on the same level as Isaac now in terms of how the Marker was influencing them, but even as they returned to reality she heard the sound of a specific pair of shoes touching the ground. She turned to the right and watched as her mother walked out of the shadows that rested in the hallway, to which she primed the Pulse Rifle and opened fire, letting the short burst of bullets tear into her target... which was actually the unfortunate corpse that had been inside the now broken tube she had fired upon, causing her to look around and see if she couldn't figure out where her mother went.

"Chrysalis, are you alright?" Isaac asked, as he had slipped out of his own vision the moment it ended, only to be greeted by the sound of his friend discharging some of her bullets into a tube, and the corpse it contained, for no reason, but while he suspected he knew what she had seen he didn't get an answer immediately like he usually did, "Chrysalis?"

"Whe... where did she go?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she knew that her mother had been close to them, but at the same time she knew that the Marker was actually affecting her more than it had been when they had been aboard the Ishimura.

"Normally I'd say she was never there, like I do for Nicole," Isaac replied, to which he rested a hand on his friend's shoulder and watched as she calmed down, despite the fact that she would snap to attention the moment her mother made her appearance again, "but, since your visions and visitors seem to involve magical ponies and changelings, I'd say she came by to mess with you and departed before you could do anything to her. Chrysalis, whatever your mother did to you is in the past and you don't have to worry about her doing it to you again... regardless of whatever abilities the Markers seem to possess."

Chrysalis wasn't sure if she believed Isaac, since neither of them knew the full extent of what the Markers could do, but at the same time she nodded her head and hoped that her friend was right, because the last thing she wanted was for the spirit of her mother to start torturing her again, especially in an area that was infested with Necromorphs. Once she had calmed down, as much as she was able to considering what she was going through, Isaac and Chrysalis walked away from the door they had walked through and made their way to the other side of the room. Despite the fact that there was one broken tube in this area, which wasn't the one Chrysalis had destroyed on accident, there weren't any enemies in this room and the duo moved into the third room, where they found themselves in a lucky situation again as there weren't any Necromorphs in that room either. It wasn't until they reached the fourth room, however, where their luck changed, as slashers started breaking through the tubes and landed on the floor in front of the duo, to which Isaac and Chrysalis faced the two directions their enemies could come from and started firing at the slashers that were coming at them.

It didn't take the duo long to dismember and kill the slashers that were coming at them, though once all of them were dead, and they were absolutely sure that there weren't any remaining in any hidden corners or something, they gathered the supplies that had been dropped and headed for the door... which brought them to a new room that was unlike the others that they had walked through so far.

"Daina? I think we've found the exit, but its way above us." Isaac said, attempting to connect to Daina for a moment, while at the same time Chrysalis kept an eye open for any enemies that might attempt to ambush them while they were waiting near the machine in the middle of the room, "The gravity controls are locked out... Daina? Fuck."

"Seems like Tiedemann wants to keep us in the dark," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time Isaac understood that she was actually referring to the fact that she didn't trust Daina, meaning that she believed that all of this was an elaborate trap that Daina had created, before she looked at the machine, "I wonder if we can fix this ourselves..."

"Only one way to find out," Isaac replied, to which he and Chrysalis walked to the other side of the room and walked onto the cargo lift that was waiting for them, where he input the command and they descended down to the level that was below the entrance they walked through.

As they reached the level below the entrance, and discovered that there was a spinning machine with three rings moving in three different directions, they received a message from Daina that said that they had to go up, which they already knew since Isaac had been the one to figure it out. The instant the cargo lift stopped moving the duo walked off it and started salvaging what they could find, including the schematic for the Ripper weapon and a Power Node, before they came to a stop in front of a terminal that Isaac could pull the cover off and hack into. Isaac proceeded to do just that, as he worked on the terminal for a few moments before completing the task he had set himself to, which caused part of the ceiling above the rotating rings to descend and a voice said that the capture arms had been released. He then glanced over to his friend for a moment, who simply shrugged since she had no experience with any of the technology she had come across, before he raised his hand and fired a few Stasis blasts at the rings, slowing them down enough so he could use the capture arms to ensnare the first ring.

He repeated that twice more, capturing the second and third rings as they continued to move slowly, before the gravity shifted and the computerized voice said that gravity was now offline, to which he and Chrysalis braced themselves as they kicked off the floor. The instant they were floating in the air they turned towards the fan that separated them from the floor they had been on moments ago, to which Isaac loosed another Stasis blast and slowed the fan down, allowing them to slip into the upper floor and begin their ascent towards the ceiling. Fortunately when they reached the ceiling the hole they wanted to go through opened up and slipped a coffin into the room that the duo was currently in, though Isaac used his Stasis to slow the closing of the door so he and Chrysalis could enter the room above them, where they found a bunch of stuff floating in the air... along with the schematic for the Medium Med Pack, which they eagerly collected before they tried to find the exit that they were supposed to take.

The good thing was that it was rather easy to find the door that they needed to head through, the downside was that the offline gravity meant that it couldn't be opened at the moment, so Isaac and Chrysalis headed to the circular walkway and touched down, letting their boots reengage with the surface, before heading over to the nearby terminal... where they reactivated the gravity with a single command and the door was unlocked not a few seconds later.

"Isaac?" a voice said, to which a video link appeared in front of the duo, who noticed that Daina was staring at them, or maybe she was having connection issues since she seemed uncertain if she had reached them, "Dammit! I think they're jamming our signal with a mobile device. Someone get me the frequency of that jammer! They must have a gunship positioned near the compound."

"Now what, change of plans?" Isaac asked, because that was what normally happened when a signal was picked up, Daina changed their plans and made them take a different route to the same location.

"No, if they knew where we were they would have killed us by now." Daina replied, indicating that they could actually speak with each other without a problem, while at the same time something in the background seemed to catch her attention for a moment before she turned towards them, "Shit! The signal's fading! Just follow your locator and hurry!"

Isaac looked down at his hand for a moment, as he knew that the RIGs had a built in navigation system, but at the same time he never felt the need to use it since he was rescued since the entire path they had followed had been literally a straight line to this point, save for a few stops along the way. When the video link disconnected a few seconds later the duo sighed and headed through the door that they had unlocked, to which they made a quick stop at the store on their right to input the new schematics, before they walked up the short ramp in front of them and entered the next room they had to walk through. As they entered the room, however, the lights flickered for a few seconds and went out, though instead of worrying too much Chrysalis summoned a light source and they approached the Bench, where they spent a few moments upgrading their weapons with the Power Nodes currently in their possession. Once that was done they started moving again, where they were shocked that the lights came back on for no reason, to which they sighed before Isaac used the Kinesis Module to move some coffins out of the way... revealing an engineer vent that the duo could use to access the area that Daina wanted them to head to.

As they made their way through the engineer vent, however, one of the grates beneath Isaac collapsed and he fell onto the ground below them, to which Chrysalis sighed and climbed out as well, as there was no reason for her to continue through the vent without her friend.

It took them a few seconds to find a door that they could open, allowing them to enter a new room with some potential dangers waiting for them, to which they carefully readied their weapons and advanced forward, where they found the schematic for the Line Racks ammunition before they moved away from the door. The duo gathered what little ammunition they could find before they opened the other door and walked out into the hallway that was on the other side of the door, where they carefully followed the path that was in front of them. That brought them to a vent that a lurker burst out of, and was followed by a slasher walking out from behind a cover, but Isaac and Chrysalis had been expecting this and opened fire immediately. Chrysalis' Pulse Rifle made short work of the lurker, especially when it was getting ready to fire at them, and Isaac used his Plasma Cutter to dismember the slasher before it could reach the bottom of the ramp it was walking down... which was when a second lurker, who jumped out of the vent, was blasted to pieces by Chrysalis, who happened to be grinning under her helmet at the moment.

They followed the path once more and eventually came to what appeared to be another important area of the Church, which made Chrysalis tired of being in a place that Unitologists worshiped the Markers in, because there was no telling what horrors waited them this time around.

"How delightful, we have some guests." a voice said, to which Isaac and Chrysalis stopped where they were and stared up at the walkway that someone could use to stare down at them, where they spotted Queen Crudelis standing there, only this time she was wearing the fake smile that Chrysalis was familiar with, "Ah, my little rebellious daughter, it's been far too long since we've seen each other... considering that I've been, well, dead for the last thousand years or so."

"Queen Crudelis." Chrysalis growled, as she had been dreading something like this, because it appeared that her mother was now blocking the path that she and Isaac needed to take and wasn't likely going to move without a fight, if she felt like it anyway.

"How sweet, you still refer to me by my title," Crudelis replied, though this time Isaac could hear a bit of disapproval in the changeling's voice, meaning that while she might like it that she was called queen all the time there was something she'd rather have Chrysalis call her by, "Come now, I know you told your darling companion a little bit about me when I saw you two earlier and I know he knows your connection to me, so there's no reason for you to shy away from what I really am to you... your mother!"

"You lost that right when you started beating me up all those years ago!" Chrysalis snapped, though instead of saying anything else her horn glowed as she leveled her open hand with where her mother was standing, to which she loosed a magical charge that separated into five red colored arrows that pierced the area that her target had been standing on, blowing a hole in the walkway in the process.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chrysalis," Crudelis said, only this time she materialized on the same level that Chrysalis and Isaac happened to be on for a moment, though Chrysalis knew that she was looking right at her, "after all these years I would have thought your aim and accuracy would have been so much better... and yet you missed me entirely. That just reminds me of when you were younger, when you were first learning how to use your magic, and you constantly missed your targets, regardless of my attempts to help you. Now it appears that you have come back to that point in your life... which means you have to be punished..."

Before Isaac could say anything, or even come to his friend's assistance, Queen Crudelis opened her wings and flew through the air so fast that he could barely seen her move, though when she appeared in front of Chrysalis his friend coughed in pain as her mother's right hoof made contact with her chest piece, no doubt cracking some of her ribs in the process. That was followed by Crudelis' horn glowing as she grabbed onto Chrysalis and hurled her into one of the pillars to her left, where Chrysalis crumbled to the floor and stayed there for a moment, though as Isaac stepped forward a tripod dropped down and stood between him and his target... who was now standing back where he and Chrysalis had first seen her when they entered the room.

"How pitiful, you made another friend," Crudelis stated, staring at Isaac with what could have been a look of pure hatred, or maybe it was the look a predator gave it's prey before having some fun, "I would have thought you would have learned this lesson the first time around, but it appears that I must repeat it; friends will only drag you down and make you weak, which is unbecoming of a royal changeling... even if you don't have a hive to rule anymore. This time, however, I think my new pet and minions will be able to give you a lesson you won't forget."

As the tripod attacked Isaac, and knocked him onto his back, Crudelis let out a menacing laugh as she literally walked away from where the duo were resting and disappeared behind one of the pillars, but while Isaac struggled with his foe, and blasted at it's tail, he knew that the ancient changeling queen was likely watching this unfold. Crudelis didn't have to be physically present or anything, but he knew that she would take great pleasure in watching them suffer, especially since her 'minions' were members of a pack that started to swarm the area as he forced the tripod to retreat. A few moments later, as the pack reached the halfway point, a blast rang out and Chrysalis opened fire on them, tearing some of them to pieces before Isaac even realized that she was standing again, to which he joined her assault and they cut down the Necromorphs that Chrysalis' mother either had control over or had said that to mess with them. There was even a slasher that tried to attack them while they were distracted, but Isaac and Chrysalis dealt with it before it could reach them, though once the coast was clear Chrysalis moaned as she wrapped her other arm around her chest.

"Pardon me for saying this, but your mother is definitely a bitch," Isaac stated, as he wanted Chrysalis to know exactly what he felt about the ancient queen, though at the same time he pulled out a med pack and used it to patch up his friend's cracked ribs, allowing her to move without pain again.

"She was like this before the civil war claimed her life," Chrysalis replied, to which she stretched to be sure that her body was fine, before beckoning for Isaac to follow, as she wanted to get out of here before her mother decided to show herself again, "Come on, let's get to Daina before something else happens... like my mother or that tripod returning to see if we've been defeated."

The duo walked up the ramp and reached the upper level that Crudelis had been walking on earlier, though as they did so an exploder and a slasher appeared along the path they had chosen, so while Isaac dismembered the slasher Chrysalis patiently waited before seizing one of the fallen arms and set it flying towards the exploder. The instant the sharpened limb penetrated the goo sack the unfortunate Necromorph died, though before they could even more forward they both spotted a puker and another slasher on the other side of the room, no doubt making their way towards where the duo was standing. Instead of moving they patiently waited for their enemies to round the corner before they opened fire, tearing apart the two Necromorphs that had been coming towards them, though the instant that was done they approached the door that they needed to go through... before they open the door and entered the room that was behind it, dealing with a leaper that was crawling towards them.

From there it was a simple matter to open the next door that was blocking their path and entered a chamber that had stone carvings and a Marker statue in the direct center of the entire room, something that the duo hated seeing and wanted nothing to do with it... so they kept moving as they followed Daina's path, as they were both eager to leave this place behind, one way or another.

As they reached the door the duo experienced another bout of madness from the Marker, where Isaac heard Nicole talk to him about pain, about someone trying to kill themself, and about leaving her there to rot and fester, as if his dead girlfriend was angry over something. At the same time, however, Chrysalis was subjected to listening to her mother's sinister laughter as one of the earlier torture sessions came back to life before her eyes, where she experienced the pain her 'mother' inflicted upon her at the time. After the first few moments of the memory coming back to life Chrysalis fell to her knees and did her absolute best to ignore the memory, but her body remembered all the beatings and broken bones she received during that specific session and the phantom pain came back in full force. This was the specific session where her mother purposely tested how much pain and punishment her young body could take, all because she accidentally burned a map of Equestria... which her mother had five copies of at the time and they all looked the same, no matter how many times she tried to recall what the difference between that one and the others was.

Isaac, recovering from his ordeal first, turned towards his friend to see how she was taking the bout of madness, though when he saw that she was on her knees, and happened to be shaking, he rushed to her side and input the command to disengage her helmet, where he noticed that her eyes weren't focused on reality and her breathing almost made him think that she was hyperventilating.

"Chrysalis?" Isaac asked, though when he didn't get a response he was worried, because that meant whatever his friend was experiencing was worse than he thought it was, to which he gently shook her and repeated her name a few times in the hopes that she would snap out of it.

A minute or two went by before Chrysalis finally emerged from the memory that she had been forced to experience again, though when she did so Isaac watched as tears started started flowing, meaning that she must have been forced to endure one of the more painful torture sessions her mother inflicted on her. Isaac, truly not knowing what he could do for his friend, simply pulled her close and let her cry without saying a word, as it appeared that having someone nearby when this happened, to help her calm down, was more than enough at the moment. He didn't even want to know the specifics of the 'punishments' that Chrysalis suffered over the years before her mother died, as it would only make things worse for her, but at the same time he knew that he absolutely hated her mother with all his heart. Isaac was sure that Chrysalis felt that way as well, at one point in time anyway, and that feeling was bound to resurface at some point in time, but he said nothing and simply comforted his friend.

A few minutes ticked by before Chrysalis, still slightly weak from her experience, pulled away from Isaac and wiped her eyes so the tears would disperse, to which she reengaged her helmet and made her way towards the elevator that they needed to take. Isaac nodded his understanding and followed after her, to which they opened the elevator door and climbed onto it, where they let it head towards the upper level of the Church, which happened to be where Daina was supposed to be waiting for them.

"Daina, you still with us?" Isaac asked, as he figured that since they had no further contact with Daina that the connection might have been severed, but if she had moved he felt that she should know exactly where he and Chrysalis were at the moment, "We're almost at the top of the Church."

"You're almost there," Daina replied, though despite the fact that she was still recovering from what she had felt Chrysalis still didn't trust the lady, something that Isaac agreed with, "I'll be waiting near the shuttle."

Before the elevator reached it's destination a slasher burst through the ceiling and landed between them, though when Isaac raised his arm to Stasis blast it, however, Chrysalis dismembered it with her bone blades, cutting it down before it even had a chance to target them. When the elevator stopped they walked out of it and followed the path that was in front of them, pausing for a few seconds to stare out at the station that had been their home for the last three years, before they decided to move on, where Chrysalis found a Power Node and a Detonator schematic in a nearby room that was open to them. That was followed by them heading towards the path they needed to take and quickly reached the door that they had to go through, but before Isaac opened it Chrysalis wove her magic through the air and turned herself invisible, as she wanted to confirm their suspicions before they did anything else.

With her preparations in place Isaac opened the door and seemed to walk out on his own, while Chrysalis walked behind him and kept quiet as two goons grabbed onto Isaac's arms while forcing his helmet to disengage, though Daina was staring towards the glass and not back at the door.

"Daina... so you really are a Unitologist." Isaac said, noticing some symbols on the uniforms that the goons were wearing, symbols that matched the ones that they had seen in the Church, confirming that they shouldn't have trusted Daina to be a friend and that Chrysalis was right once more, "So Chrysalis was right that we shouldn't trust you."

"Well, neither of you really had a choice," Daina replied, to which she turned around and faced the door, though if she was surprised that Chrysalis wasn't there she didn't reveal anything, as she kept her eyes on Isaac, "I told you two that there was a cure and you came running. It was the perfect plan, despite Tiedemann's interruptions."

"So why are you doing this?" Isaac inquired, because he was waiting for Chrysalis to do something and knew that she wanted a specific piece of information before she made her move, which he was willing to help her get as long as they escaped from this situation.

"You're a dangerous secret, Isaac." Daina answered, revealing that she knew something that neither of the duo knew about, which had to be exactly what they were waiting for her to reveal, "EarthGov won't leave you alone because they're afraid that you'll find and destroy their Marker... especially since you helped build it in the first place. That's why we went through all the effort to bring you here, so you can help us build more Markers and spread glorious Convergence to the entire galaxy!"

"You Unitologists really are insane." Chrysalis commented, to which she mentally smiled as both of the goons looked around for the source of her voice, while at the same time Daina seemed surprised to hear her speak, almost as if she thought that she had died at some point.

"Whose there?" Daina asked, to which she looked around as well, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from, though at the same time that played right into what Chrysalis wanted them to do, as it made it that much easier for her to do what she wanted.

The first thing Chrysalis did was use a small portion of her power to knock the goons away from Isaac, as well as Daina for that matter, before she snapped up a barrier around her friend, as she didn't want something to happen to him as she dealt with their foes this time around. The goons rubbed their chests for a moment, indicating where Chrysalis had struck them, before they stared at the magical barrier that rested between them and Isaac, preventing them from even touching him at the moment. That was before Chrysalis disengaged her invisibility spell and appeared in the eyes of those around her, though she did so right behind Daina, who had no idea that she was even before her despite the fact that the goons knew she was there. She then moved to the side and kicked Daina to the ground, before raising her Pulse Rifle and loosed two extremely small bursts, literally a bullet a piece, into the knees of the two goons, forcing them to kneel as they gripped their legs and fought the pain.

"I'm the one you heard speak," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she made sure that the barrier was large enough to rest over the grate in the floor, as she had the sneaky feeling that she and Isaac were going to need it in the immediate future, "and I'm sad to hear that you forgot about me, considering that Isaac kept saying us and we all the time when we were talking with you."

"And why would I care about a freak like you?" Daina demanded, though she admitted that she had no idea how Chrysalis was able to slip through the area without her or her allies figuring out that she was there, "You can't build Markers, like Isaac can, so I deemed you irrelevant and figured that if you died it would have made things much easier for me and my team."

"You know, the last person who talked to me like that ended up dead," Chrysalis commented, recalling exactly what she had done to Kendra, which put a smile on her face that no one could see thanks to the fact that her helmet was engaged at the moment, "maybe I should give you mercy and end your suffering now, before it actually starts."

Before she could actually made good on her promise, as she wanted to break into their minds and make them kill themselves, Tiedemann's gunship came into view and Chrysalis channeled her magic into her horn, where she moved herself into the barrier as the ship opened fire on where they were standing. The shuttle that Daina had been using was the first thing to go, as it was completely destroyed by the hail of bullets that were being fired from the gunship, though that was followed by Daina being ripped to pieces by bullets the moment she stood up. The goons didn't fare too well either, but Chrysalis smirked as she and Isaac opened the cover that the barrier contained and revealed a passage that headed back down to the depths of the building they were in... though since they had nothing to lose Isaac moved into the passage and fell towards the bottom, while Chrysalis followed after him and severed her barrier when she was far from it.

When the duo landed, however, they knew that their situation had changed from bad to worse, as Chrysalis spotted a large insectoid-like Necromorph that was staring down at them, the Tormentor as she decided to call it, though the instant they got up it roared at them and started collapsing the area they were in. Isaac and Chrysalis charged forward, in an attempt to get away from the creature, but as the pipes fell and blocked their path they were forced to turn around and open fire on the yellow weakness that was the Tormentor's arm. The combined attack blew off part of it's arm covering and made it attack them again, where the duo were forced onto their backs as they tore off another defense that the arm had in place to protect itself. That time around the Tormentor grabbed onto Isaac with it's other arm and hauled him into the air, where it attempted to eat him right then and there, but it also left it's open to Chrysalis' attacks, as she opened fire with the Pulse Rifle and tore the rest of the arm's defenses to pieces... to which she severed the arm and caused the creature a great deal of pain in the process.

That was before the Tormentor threw Isaac into her and they both went flying towards a door that needed a Kinesis Module to move it, though since the Necromorph would be coming after them soon Isaac used a Stasis charge to slow it down, if even for a few seconds, before opening the door so he and Chrysalis could get through. Of course as they ran away from the Tormentor they came to another glass filled room and spotted the gunship as it fired on them, but as they gripped the floor beneath them the Tormentor charged into the room and knocked the two of them out into space it with. From there they all collided with the side of the gunship, but Isaac and Chrysalis were fast to jump off the ship the first moment they got... even if that included firing at an explosive canister, that was attached to the gunship, to stop the Tormentor from reaching out and grabbing them.

The force of the explosion sent them flying through a nearby window, different from the one they left through, but soon the iron gate was in place and both gravity and the oxygen had been restored... but the duo simply remained where they were laying, as now was the time for them to calm their nerves before they did anything else. They would start moving soon enough, once they calmed down and took stock of what happened to them, and then they could figure out where they needed to go from where they were standing.

Sprawl: Change of Plans

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Isaac and Chrysalis remained laying on the floor for a few more moments, letting their nerves calm down, before the two of them bothered to start moving again, though this time around they did so slowly so they didn't damage anything in the process. The duo discovered that they were inside a hallway of a residential area, one that looked oddly familiar to their eyes, and found that there was one open door they could go through, which meant that the others must have been locked since they last came through this area. Before either of them stepped forward they made sure that they hadn't sustained any injuries from their encounter, namely since they had been forced to face such a massive creature, were thrown out into space, had to jump away from a gunship before it exploded, and and were forced through a second glass window before the iron wall had sealed the area. Fortunately the duo discovered that they were in perfect health, despite what just happened to them, to which they breathed a sigh of relief before they moved through the only open door that was in the area around them, while also having their weapons at the ready.

As they moved through the door, and collected the credits and Power Node that were in front of them, their video links beeped and they stared at each other, because after Daina they needed to be cautious as to when they opened calls like this, since it broadcasted where they were, but in the end Isaac sighed and accepted the connection... to which the duo watched as Stross appeared before them once more.

"Isaac? Isaac, are you there?" Stross asked, revealing that his grasp on reality was definitely shattered in some manner, as it appeared that he was having a hard time seeing the duo, even though he was more interested in Isaac than Chrysalis, which she was fine with, "Can you hear me?"

"What do you want Stross?" Isaac inquired, knowing that, due to the Marker's influence, the man was definitely insane and shouldn't trust him, though at the same time he was only listening in case the man revealed something that might aid him and Chrysalis, "Look, it's over. All our plans got blown out the window."

"No, no, no, no! It's not over!" Stross insisted, though while he spoke Chrysalis kept her eye open for any enemies that might want them dead, as she was sure that Tiedemann's forces and the Necromorphs wanted to make sure that neither of them escaped this station alive, "At least, not yet. Isaac... we built it. We can tear it down!"

"You mean the Marker?" Chrysalis asked, as she recalled what Daina had said to Isaac before she revealed her existence and surprised the Unitologists, before that gunship ruined all of their plans with it's arrival, "Stross, do you know where the Marker is?"

"I... It's in the Government Sector!" Stross said, though that information really didn't help the duo, as they had no idea which sector of the Titan Station they were in at the moment and no idea where the Government Sector was, but that wouldn't stop them from looking for it, "The Government Sector... but we have to move now! Now! Now! Now! Because time is running out for me... or us."

Before either Isaac and Chrysalis could say anything else, and ask him what he meant by 'time is running out', Stross disconnected the connection and left them alone once more, only this time they had next to no idea where to go since they might be in unfamiliar territory.

"Stross! Where are you going? Shit!" Isaac demanded, speaking through the audio link this time around, since the video link had been deactivated, only to find that the audio link had been disconnected as well, to which he sighed as he turned his attention to his friend, "I guess this means that we'll have to search the area and see what we find, in terms of supplies and enemies, while we try to locate an exit."

"It sure seems that way," Chrysalis replied, to which she primed her Pulse Rifle and started walking away from where they had landed when they burst through the glass window earlier, as she wanted to get out of here before either of them were visited by their visions again, "Let's get to exploring and seeing what awaits us this time around."

The duo left the room that the Power Node had been located in, where they received Stross' call, before returning to the main hallway and made their way towards the door that was off to their left, though as they walked they ignored the Marker symbols that had been etched into the floor and the walls. On the other side of the door they found another laundry area, filled with more symbols, before they spotted two doors they could open this time around, which was a rarity for them since they started this adventure. Instead of heading forward, as that was likely the way they needed to go, the duo turned to the door on their right and walked out onto a walkway that reminded them of the walkway they had been standing on when they first spotted the gunship earlier. Off on their right rested the schematic for a Seeker Rifle, which they collected for later, but as they started to move away Chrysalis noticed some pieces of a divider climbing the wall below them and raced up to the level that they were standing on... to which she opened fire on them and tore them to pieces, before joining Isaac as he reentered the room they had just walked out of.

From there the duo approached the main door they had to walk through and found a number of bodies scattered everywhere, human bodies to be exact, though it quickly became apparent that there weren't any Necromorphs in the immediate area, as they would have charged at them the instant they heard the door open. Chrysalis didn't like that fact, as it meant that their enemies might be getting smarter as time passed, but at the same time she had to wonder about Queen Crudelis' words. Her mother had claimed that her 'pet' and 'minions' would take care of her and Isaac before she departed from the area, making her wonder if that meant that the Marker had not only pulled her mother out of her memories, but had also appointed her as leader of whatever operation it was trying to pull off. She didn't like the thought of her mother being in control of an army of monsters, so she seriously hoped that she was simply overthinking everything and that it was a simple coincidence that events happened like they did.

Isaac managed to find some ammunition, again for weapons they didn't have, before they opened the door at the end of the hallway and continued moving forward, though they were forced to stop in their tracks as Stross reconnected with them with a video link.

"Isaac! They were afraid of us after our sessions, I remember!" Stross said, referring to what Chrysalis had seen over the last three years, as everyone but her had been called in for those 'sessions' that involved the machine that Wildfire kept her from using, "They took us to the machine. For our sessions. For the steps!"

"I don't remember any sessions." Isaac replied, as that was the truth since the effects of the drugs was still preventing him from recalling anything that happened over the last three years, despite what Chrysalis and the others had told him since this adventure started.

"You're lucky you don't remember." Stross stated, though his tone indicated that he wished he had Isaac's luck in that manner, making Chrysalis wonder what sort of horrors he and the other patients had suffered when they were forced into that damned machine, "When you do, He starts coming back."

"Who comes back?" Chrysalis asked, as she knew that there was a possibility that Stross might give them that information if it was someone, besides Isaac, asking the question, especially since she was interested in who this mysterious person was.

"Oh, look at you! You've grown up so much!" Stross said, though this time around both Isaac and Chrysalis could tell that he was in some sort of vision, just like they had suffered through after they left the area they had been held in for the last three years, "Where are you going?"

"Stross! Whoever's there, don't follow them!" Isaac stated, though that was instantly followed by the connection being terminated once more, to which both he and Chrysalis sighed as they thought about what they had learned this time around, "Well, this is only going to complicate things even more than they already area."

"Yeah, as if Necromorphs and Queen Crudelis weren't enough." Chrysalis said, keeping herself calm as she forced herself to say her mother's name, as she already dreaded their next meeting with the old queen, "Oh well, we had best get moving before our enemies find us."

Isaac nodded before the two of the quickly explored the area that they were in, finding no supplies and discovered that the only thing they could go was ride an elevator down to the level that it was connected to, or rather the only available level that it could bring them to. It didn't take them long to reach the level that they were heading to, though when they arrived they discovered that there was dead soldier resting against a wall with a message from Tiedemann playing, one that they decided to listen to. They learned that Tiedemann was ordering all the surviving squads to fall back to the Government Sector, the same place the Marker was in if they could believe what Stross told them, and that Operation Endgame was now in effect. Chrysalis didn't like the sound of that, nor did she like the fact that their enemy also said that contingencies were in place to deal with lost 'assets', likely the two of them when she thought about it... and Isaac definitely didn't like what they just heard.

After hearing that message the duo turned around the corner and walked out into the open area that they needed to traverse, though as they stepped out into the open they heard the familiar sound of a pregnant Necromorph ahead of them, where they spotted their foe walking out from it's hiding place. The duo remembered that attacking the stomach area was a bad idea, for this particular breed of Necromorph anyway, so Isaac lifted his Plasma Cutter and dismembered the creature's legs, dropping it to the floor. Once that had happened he approached it and blew off it's arms as well, killing the Necromorph and preventing it from birthing new enemies for them to fight, though as he did that Chrysalis turned around and opened fire on the pregnant foe that was coming up from behind, repeating the process before it had a chance to do whatever it was thinking about. Of course those weren't the only enemies in the immediate area, as the moment the two pregnant Necromorphs had been dealt with two leapers emerged from their hiding places and charged at the duo, who quickly opened fire as they backed up into the area that the first pregnant Necromorph had been hiding inside before their initial arrival.

After those two leapers died, however, four more emerged from wherever they were hiding and surged towards the duo, to which Isaac and Chrysalis held their ground as they opened fire on the leapers, who were slightly faster than they remembered, but their prior experience and Isaac's Stasis Module helped them survive the attack.

Before either of them opened the door that they needed to go through, if they could believe Isaac's indicator, they turned to the right and headed down to a store, where Isaac sold off what he didn't need and purchased some additional ammunition for the future, just to be sure he had enough. Chrysalis, on the other hand, spotted one last pregnant foe coming at them and dismembered it with her bone blades before it could get close them to, though she continued to remain on watch until Isaac was done with his transactions. The instant he was done she connected to the store and did the same thing that her friend did, as she wanted to be ready for anything that the Marker, Tiedemann, or the Unitologists threw at them in the future. When she was done with the store she regrouped with Isaac as he made his way to the door that was on the other end of the hallway they were in, where Chrysalis noticed that the door was supposed to take them to the Public Areas and the Transport Hub.

When they opened the door they found some sort of organic vent that was near a wall, though for some reason a nearby broom fell onto it and the organic stuff exploded, revealing that they had yet another obstacle to avoid, one that could be triggered by something touching it... and likely getting too close to where the organic stuff was located.

As they turned towards the tunnel they would have to walk through they noticed that the broom was likely only going to survive one more explosion, to which Isaac picked it up with his Kinesis and hurled it at another cyst, Chrysalis' name for the corrupted organs that fired off a single bomb when they were triggered. From what they could tell there was a number of cysts in the tunnel they had to walk through, though with the broom obliterated from the second explosion they had to improvise. Fortunately there happened to be a dead soldier nearby and the duo used the corpse to set off as many cysts as they could, pretty much obliterating the corpse before they reached the end of the tunnel, though that also meant it wouldn't become a Necromorph if an infector had been in the area. As they cleared out the last cyst, however, a leaper tried to surprise them, only to find itself dismembered as both Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on it, pretty much ending it's existence in the flash of an eye.

Once that was gone they approached the Bench that was in front of them and made sure to use their Power Nodes for additional upgrades for their individual weapons, though Chrysalis did spare one of her nodes so she could unlock the door to their left, where she recovered a few bits of ammunition, a few med packs, and two semiconductors, a bronze one and a ruby one.

The moment they were done with the Bench they walked through the door that would take them to the Hyperion Hall Apartments, where the duo instantly had to walk by a few floating corpses as they entered a Zero-G area, which meant that something important had been busted before their arrival. As they walked forward they discovered that there was a large fire pretty much raging with no systems trying to stop it at all, which was the moment a computerized voice told them that there was a fire suppression system malfunction. From what she heard Chrysalis guessed that they needed to divert the flow of oxygen to this area to cut off the flames, which was why they were lucky to have an oxygen tank equipped on both of their suits. Isaac immediately got to work as he and Chrysalis kicked off the floor, as he started moving around the area they were in and used his Kinesis Module to remove the power boxes from where they were located, as well as the covers that were keeping them in place. Chrysalis mostly followed after him and kept her eyes open for enemies, since there was no telling when more Necromorphs would show up, but it seemed to be uneventful as Isaac pulled out the third box and let it float through the air... to which the oxygen stopped and the flames were smothered almost immediately.

Once the flames had been taken out Isaac replaced two of the three power boxes, restoring oxygen to the area, before carrying the third one over to the path that his indicator was pointing towards, where Chrysalis followed after him and short down the lurkers that were waiting to ambush them... allowing the duo to walk through after door, after connecting to the floor once more, and insert the power box into one that powered an elevator, restoring the power to it so they could move on. The elevator happened to have a puker waiting inside it, something that both Isaac and Chrysalis dismembered and destroyed before it could do anything to them, before they pulled the dead Necromorph out of the elevator and took it's place as they headed down to their next destination. As the elevator moved Stross decided that now was a good time to contact them again, though this time around he did that by an audio link and not a video link, to which the duo sighed as the connection was made.

"Isaac, the steps. He wants me to follow the steps." Stross told them, causing the duo to look at each other in confusion, as neither of them knew exactly what he was referring to, though they listened in case it had any relevance to what they were going to do next, "Step one, crawl into the dark machine."

"Stross, calm down." Isaac replied, as he could tell that the man was about to break down in some manner, if his tone was anything to go by, but at the same time he still had to wonder who this 'He' was that Stross mentioned, while knowing that the answer would come to them in time, "He can't hurt you."

"He wants me to go into the dark machine, Isaac... but I can't go." Stross said, though as he spoke Chrysalis had to wonder if this 'dark' machine was actually the very same machine that Foster had tried to make her enter when he was still trying to question her, "She's in there... she's waiting for me."

"Stross, listen to me. You need to keep moving." Isaac stated, as he knew that, if the last communications with the man were anything to go by, the soldiers would be upon him soon and that he needed to get somewhere safe before they found him again, "Can you get to the train? Can you do that?"

Instead of saying anything Stross disconnected the transmission and went back to whatever he had been doing before he tried to speak with Isaac, to which the duo sighed as they realized that the man was definitely going insane and there might not be anything they could do to help him. That was quickly followed by the elevator stopping and allowing them to exit through the door that was opposite of the one they entered through, where they found a Power Node resting in a wall box and a power tube keeping a door locked. With the node in hand Chrysalis smashed the power tube and unlocked the door, allowing her and Isaac to walk out into a cargo area that reminded them of the one where they found the Pulse Rifle schematic. As they walked down to the lower area and started to traverse it, however, they heard the sounds of the stalkers waiting around them and instantly fell back to a more defensible position, where the duo waited for their enemies to make the first move and fired at them when they charged at them.

It wasn't long before the stalkers were all dead at their feet, and hooves, before Isaac and Chrysalis moved to the other side of the cargo area, where they found another terminal for Isaac to hack into, where he started the process while Chrysalis defended him like usual... though a few moments went by before he was successful, allowing them to walk through the door that was to their right.

"Isaac?! He's gone." Stross spoke up, causing the duo to stop once more, inside the new area they had discovered, but at the same time they were getting tired of this, as they weren't making the type of progress they would have been making if they weren't constantly being interrupted by someone, "Listen, the steps can destroy the Marker. Step one, crawl into the dark machine. Step two, the screws go tight, all around..."

Before Isaac could even say that he didn't understand what Stross was talking about, and Chrysalis was planning on voicing the same opinion, Stross said that He was back and the connection was terminated again, leaving the duo to sigh as they walked up the ramp that was in front of them. Neither of them said anything as they reached the door at the end of the path and entered an area that had a ticket station for the trains, but they ignored that as they heard the sound of someone firing at something. As they emerged from the small room they had found themselves in they spotted some slashers climbing up to the level that they were standing on, though all of the Necromorphs were more interested in someone that was firing at them from the safety of a security wall. That fact, however, didn't stop Isaac and Chrysalis from rushing over to where the person was located so they could help them, but they quickly found out that the person was a lady, from the voice they overheard as they emerged from the room they had been standing in.

"Yeah, come on!" the lady taunted, clearly trying to get the Necromorphs excited, which seemed easy to do since the undead monsters were only interested in living creatures, of which she was a prime target for them, "You like this? The come and get it!"

As they rushed to help the lady, however, it appeared that she actually didn't need any assistance at all, because every Necromorph that tried to attack her ended up dying before it could reach the level that they were all standing on, even the leaper that wanted to attack Isaac and Chrysalis... though as they started to cross the bridge a bullet stopped them in their tracks, but they knew who it came from.

"Hey, watch it!" Isaac shouted, though at the same time he carefully put his weapon to the side and held up his hands for a moment, hoping that the lady would see that he and Chrysalis, who reluctantly followed his example, weren't enemies and were trying to survive like the lady was.

"You two stay back!" the lady replied, though Chrysalis knew it was a demand, one that she and Isaac were ready to follow if it meant that she wouldn't shoot at them anymore, especially since all of them just wanted to get off this station, or destroy the Marker, "You wanna talk, you do so from over there."

That was instantly followed by a video link appearing in front of them, where they came face to face with the lady they had originally planned on trying to help, only for her to prove that she didn't need any assistance at all, which made them happy that they weren't the only ones surviving the outbreak.

"And don't say that the two of you are here to help." the lady continued, picking up from where she had left off, though at the same time it made the duo a little uneasy with how easy it was for everyone to pick up their signatures and speak to them like this, "The last person who said that tried to kill me."

"Don't worry, we weren't planning on hurting you or anything," Isaac replied, to which he disengaged his helmet for a moment, just so the lady could see his face and know that he wasn't lying by observing his features, something that Chrysalis repeated moments later, "we were planning on killing those Necromorphs, but you showed us that you definitely didn't need help taking them out."

"Yeah, you got that right." the lady stated, though her tone was a little too hostile for both Isaac and Chrysalis' liking, but they couldn't blame her since they had literally made contact with her after some terrible things apparently happened to her, "If either of you even try to hurt me, you'll both wind up dead."

The moment her threat was made the lady disconnected the communication and went back to whatever she had been doing before the Necromorphs attacked her, which appeared to be her trying to hack into something, but since there wasn't much else for them to do at the moment Isaac and Chrysalis carefully walked over to where she was working, since they might receive a bullet in the process.

"Look, I think we got off to a bad start here." Isaac said, noticing that the lady really wasn't paying attention to them at the moment, though if she was he sure as hall couldn't see any movements that indicated that she was, "I'm Isaac Clarke, and this is my friend Chrysalis."

"...Ellie... Ellie Langford." the lady replied, though she waited a few seconds before doing so, while at the same time turning to look at the duo, likely so she could observe them while she finished her work, "What do the two of you want?"

"We're just trying to get to the Transport Hub." Chrysalis answered, as she knew that, from the brief look she got of Ellie's attire and attitude, their new acquaintance likely had no idea what was going on and had no idea what the Marker was, meaning that the less they told her the better it was for her, "We need to get to the Government Sector."

"What do you think we were trying to do?" Ellie asked, to which Isaac and Chrysalis noticed some dead bodies around her, people that had likely been defending the area while she worked and had been killed before she could complete her hack session on the elevator, though she surprised them by finishing it up right then and there, as the elevator door opened and she grabbed her tools.

"Maybe we can be of some assistance?" Isaac suggested, as he knew that he and Chrysalis could easily handle the hordes of enemies that were in front of them and their experience in this sort of situation would help keep Ellie alive until she decided to part ways, "Look, Chrysalis and I have been in this sort of situation before and we've got some experience in dealing with the Necromorphs that have infested the station... and besides, we've proven that working together benefits everyone in the long run."

"Not a chance." Ellie replied, to which she walked over to where Isaac and Chrysalis were standing, where Chrysalis noticed that she was carrying her own Plasma Cutter and kept her eyes on Ellie, in case she got second thoughts about allowing them to live, "You're little group dynamic might work for you, but for me other people are just a liability. Once I reach where I'm going I'll release the door lock so you two can use the elevator... but please, don't follow me."

"As you wish." Isaac said, as he knew that if they ticked Ellie off in some manner, while she still had the door lock under her control, they would never be able to move forward, not unless Chrysalis used her magic to break the metal door down once Ellie was gone.

Sure enough his choice of words seemed to make Ellie pause for a few seconds, as if she was actually reconsidering what she had told them already, before she sighed and walked into the elevator with her tools, where she closed the door and headed to whatever floor she had been trying to head to the entire time. Isaac and Chrysalis simply waited outside the metal door and waited for the lock to be released, though a few more moments ticked by before the door moved out of the way and the elevator door opened, revealing that Ellie was already going down her own path. The duo decided to explore the area a little bit, just to be absolutely sure that they didn't miss anything, to which they found the schematic for Pulse Rounds and little else. With that in hand they returned to the elevator and descended towards the level that they needed to head towards, where they wondered if Ellie had hacked into the elevator and set their course as she left the elevator... but, since they likely wouldn't know the answer, they pushed it to the back of their minds as they waited to see where they had to go through next.

When the elevator came to a stop they found themselves in a tunnel that had some cysts waiting for them, which they carefully removed with the various dead bodies that rested around them, though as they walked they realized that they were actually near the area where Chrysalis had bought the Pulse Rifle... only this time around the door they had walked through, after the purchase, was blocked off with some of that organic mess.

As the duo headed down the tunnel that was in front of them, and recognized the stores that were to their right, they found a slasher and a pregnant Necromorph waiting for them, which were quickly dispatched before they continued forward, while at the same time Chrysalis claimed a Power Node that was sitting out in the open. As they neared the end of the passage a pair of pukers tried their luck, only for Isaac and Chrysalis to snatch their acid projectiles with their Kinesis, or magic in Chrysalis' case, and flung it back at their owners, blowing the two creatures to bits and opening the way once more. When they approached the door to the Titan Station Elementary School two more pukers attacked them, only for them to meet the same fate as the previous group that attacked them, though before they started moving Isaac decided to wait and see if any more enemies wanted a piece of them. Chrysalis stood beside him and noticed that there weren't any additional enemies heading their way, to which they both sighed before they opened the door to the Elementary School and walked through to the other side.

At first the school appeared to be almost normal, save for some of the blood that was inside a nearby fountain, but the duo was able to ignore that as they kept moving, since there was no telling what awaited them inside this area, until they came to a stop when they found something disturbing. They found a lady standing near the back of a room, one they could observe thanks to the window they were standing next to, and she was talking to the mutated child that was crawling along the ground as it moved towards her. A few seconds later the mad lady was kneeling on the floor and was holding the crawler, Chrysalis' name for the unfortunate mutated children, and patted it's head a few times, which was followed by the Necromorph exploding and killing the lady in an instant, while at the same time painting all of the walls around the room red with the lady's blood.

"That... that's horrible and disgusting." Chrysalis said, to which she turned away from the window and moved away from the blood filled room, as she didn't want to look at it any more than what was absolutely necessary, and the few seconds she had seen it was more than enough, "Nope, we're moving along and not looking back."

Isaac couldn't blame her, as he felt sick to his stomach as well when he considered what the Marker had done to the children that likely had been inside the school when the outbreak happened, which meant that they would have to be careful, least they encounter the same enemy in the near future. The duo carefully followed the path, listening as another computerized voice declared a fifteen minute recess, before they entered a daycare room that several crawlers entered the moment they were inside. Instead of wasting a ton of ammunition on these enemies, like they would do against everything else they fought, Isaac waited for all of them to be in the same area before using a Stasis charge to slow them all down, meaning one shot was enough to take them all out in an instant without hurting themselves in the process. They then entered the next room and found a few more crawlers hanging around the place, though this time Chrysalis simply snapped up a shield around them and levitated a bone blade around, using it to slice into the goo sacks that were the backs of the crawlers and blew them all apart... before she dispelled the shield and moved onward.

From there they exited the room they had been standing in and walked out into a new hallway, one that immediately had them duck into a new room that contained a text log, one that detailed the potential origins of how the outbreak in this area came to pass, before heading out through another door. When they walked outside the Marker attempted to mess with them for a moment, causing them both to stagger, though while Isaac had nothing happen to him, at the moment anyway, Chrysalis did some careful breathing as she heard her mother's laughter again, but thankfully that was the only thing that happened. After that event they opened the door on their left and entered what was apparently the gym area of the school, though with some things blocking their way they had to walk under the bleachers and contend with an empowered slasher, along with a few members of a pack. After that they climbed onto the stage itself, walked around so they could access a terminal that Isaac could hack into, and remained that way for a few seconds until he was done fiddling with the controls... which caused the stage props to disappear and the tables that had been blocking their way were pulled back into the floor in front of the stage.

The only downside to that was the fact that the remaining members of the pack and a large number of crawlers started charging at the stage, but both Isaac and Chrysalis stood near the edge of the stage and opened fire on the foes that were coming their way, using the crawlers' explosive backs to their advantage whenever possible.

When the short battle was over, and the duo discovered that an infector had been in the group without them even knowing about it, they headed towards the door that was opposite the one they entered through, where they entered an area that was a mirror of where they entered the school. The reason they knew it was a mirror image was because the room they walked by wasn't covered in blood and they could enter the room, where they found a text log that detailed that the kids had, indeed, started feeling the effects of the Marker. They also found the schematic for the Flamethrower nearby as well, something that they collected for when they reached the next store, before they moved out of that room and walked into a new room, one that contained a playground of sorts. In there they found a Power Node and little else, though when they approached the elevator they were seized by the Marker once more, where Isaac spent a few moments speaking to 'Nicole' once more... while Chrysalis, on the other hand, shut her eyes as another memory, where her mother was beating her over one of her many 'failures', but this time there was something off about the memory.

Despite how painful the phantom pain of the memory was, as the beating had broken several of her bones in the process and required some healing before the Queen could do so again, there was a blank spot in the memory, as if there had been someone else present during the beating... someone that she couldn't remember for some odd reason, though she paid it little attention as she came back to reality. Once the duo were calm and collected, and their visions had gone away, they entered the elevator and headed up to the level that the elevator was connected to, though at that happened their video links became active as Ellie appeared in front of them... and she was pointing her weapon at Stross.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, it's Ellie." Ellie said, though she was repeating her name in the off chance that they had forgotten about her, something that wasn't likely going to happen any time soon, "I've found someone... another survivor. He says he knows you, or rather he knows you, Isaac, since he makes no mention of Chrysalis... Hey, hold still!"

"Yeah, we know him." Isaac replied, not knowing exactly how much they wanted to tell Ellie at the moment, since this wasn't the sort of thing that she should be involved in, "His name is Stross. I know he can be twitchy, we all are considering what's happening on the station, but we need him to help us stop this madness."

"Shit Isaac." Ellie stated, as while part of her clearly didn't believe that Stross was important in any way possible, regardless of what they told her, there was a part of her that wanted this entire event to be over and that part appeared to win out in the end, "Alright, I'll march him to the transport hub and hand him over to you, but if he does anything stupid, and I mean ANYTHING, I'll shoot him."

The moment Ellie was done speaking the video link was disconnected and the elevator came to a stop, allowing the duo to walk out of the elevator and explore the tunnel that they had been connected to, though at the same time they found a decent sized hole in the wall and heard a roar that reminded them of a brute. When they walked out of the tunnel they were in another video link appeared as they walked out, only for them to find that Ellie and Stross were on the level above them. The duo found it odd that they had basically ended up at the same place that Ellie had, despite the fact that she told them not to follow her, but at least Stross, and his understanding of the 'steps', was within their grasp, since they might be needing it soon.

"Well, this brings up bad memories." Ellie commented, looking around the area that they were in, while at the same time shrugging off whatever terrible memories had come back up to the surface, "I barely managed to escape this CEC facility this morning."

"Wait, you're CEC?" Isaac asked, though Chrysalis knew that he was interested in that fact, because he was an engineer with the same company, and technically she was since Daina had hacked into the system and added her own signature to the roster without raising any suspicions.

"Heavy Equipment Pilot, Class Four." Ellie proudly said, as Chrysalis guessed that the class of their profession was like a badge of honor or something, though she knew some ponies and changelings that were the same way, "You?"

"Engineer." Isaac replied, though he was equally proud of his accomplishments, despite the fact that it had brought him to the Ishimura and the Red Marker that had given him the information he knew, while at the same time Chrysalis picked up a schematic for the Vintage Elite Suit.

That was followed by the lights going off and casting them into the dark for a moment, where Chrysalis carefully called a ball of light into the area so she and Isaac could see what was around them, and draw the attention of whatever creature was in the area with them, as she was sure that there was one near them. Of course that was before the video link was claimed by someone else, where Isaac and Chrysalis, along with Ellie for that matter, got a look at Tiedemann, who had finally caught up with them despite their best efforts.

"Our three remaining runners; Clarke, Stross, and the infamous Chrysalis." Tiedemann said, though while he sounded happy to see them there was a smugness to his voice that Chrysalis hated, so much so that she wanted to punch him in the face a few times before ending his existence, "I knew it was only a matter of time until you reached the transit hub. You'll find the train inoperable. The public sector is already beyond acceptable recovery conditions and I cannot allow any of you to escape. Good-bye."

That was swiftly followed by a hole being punched into the level above them as a brute entered the area, before jumping down to the area that Isaac and Chrysalis were on, leaving some other Necromorphs to attack Ellie and Stross while the duo were busy. Chrysalis, acting fast, cast a few more glowing spheres into the air and gave the area some light so all of them could focus on their targets, instead of having to rely on having some light from their flashlights, before she and Isaac opened fire on the brute. The duo dodged the attack that was coming their way and fired upon the creature's back, aiming for the weaknesses like usual, but this time around the brute was more resistant to their attacks and it took a few more repetitions of the same thing before they got anywhere. When the first arm was removed that only made the brute even angrier, as it charged at them with a fury that was unlike the brutes from the Ishimura, because those ones had defended themselves after losing an arm... before they tore off the second arm and killed the brute, where they picked up the ruby semiconductor before moving out into the open area so they could see Ellie and Stross.

"Isaac, why the hell did Tiedemann turn off the power?" Ellie asked, though at this point the duo knew that she was bound to have questions for the two of them, especially since she was going to be confused over so many things, "What did the two of you do that pissed him off this much? And how in the hell did Chrysalis shoot out those balls of light?"

"Ellie... this might sound weird, but do you know what a Marker is?" Isaac inquired in kind, as he knew that if he could convince her that the Marker was real, and that it's abilities were real, she might understand why Tiedemann wanted them dead and why Stross was important.

"Yeah, the Unitologists on my crew wouldn't shut up about it." Ellie said, though at the same time Chrysalis was sort of happy to hear that information, as it meant that they could bypass some of the tale and get to the heart of the situation before she called them insane, "Why? Is it real?"

"Yes, those damned things are real." Isaac replied, though even as he considered what to say he knew that Chrysalis was looking out for any additional enemies that might attack them while they were talking, "Tiedemann made one from patterns and codes that were stored inside our heads... mine and Stross' to be exact. Everything that had been happening on this station is because of the Marker that he made. Chrysalis and I are heading to where the Marker is located so we can destroy it, and Stross is the one that knows how to do that."

"Isaac, Chrysalis... you are some strange people." Ellie said, though while part of her looked like she didn't believe Isaac, the other couldn't fault the reality of their situation and knew exactly what she needed to do, "But, since we're going to suffocate, I guess we might as well work together."

"The our first order of business is restoring the power," Isaac stated, though he was happy that Ellie was willing to help them out in this situation, especially since she originally told them that she wanted nothing to do with a group of people since she didn't trust other people, "without it we have no air and no train. The Sprawl's got to have some back-up batteries somewhere."

"Yes, the solar arrays up there!" Ellie said, though her tone told Chrysalis that she and Isaac would likely be heading outside the moment they found the elevator to leave the building, "But they've been mothballed for years."

"Well, Chrysalis and I will head up there." Isaac replied, to which Chrysalis nodded her head, as she was eager to move on since standing still meant that her mother might find them and try to torture her again, "We'll see if we can't start them up and restore some power to the train."

"You'll need someone to open the connector panels." Ellie commented, to which she smiled at them for a couple of seconds, indicating that she knew something that the duo didn't know at that moment, "I can do that."

Isaac nodded as the connection was terminated, where he and Chrysalis watched as Ellie lead Stross away from the area that they were standing in, before they headed out and searched for the path that would take them to the solar arrays so they could restore power to the train. At the same time, however, Chrysalis wondered what the blank spot in her memories was, but she was sure that time would give her the answer... even if, when she got the answer, she wished that it had never been given to her.

Sprawl: The Solar Array

View Online

Isaac and Chrysalis quickly found that the only way forward at the moment, since Tiedemann had cut off the power to pretty much everything in the area, was the door that was in front of them, one that brought them to a chamber that had a few supply boxes, which all contained more ammunition for them to use. They then headed through the door on their right and found that they were now in a hallway that had some sort of laser trap on the left wall, though by flinging the nearby canister through the trio of beams the trap was disabled as it fired at nothing. Of course there was another laser trap on the next hallway to the left of the landing, which they also removed, though behind that the two of them spotted a guardian that was latched onto the wall near the elevator that would take them to their new destination. Fortunately killing one of these Necromorphs was easy, as all the duo had to do was blast apart the pod that it launched at them and dismember the tentacles it used to secure itself to the wall, which allowed them to end it's existence rather easily.

A few seconds later, with the guardian dead, the duo approached the elevator and climbed into it, though Chrysalis grabbed the gold semiconductor that the Necromorph had been holding onto when it was still a human before joining Isaac on the lift that allowed them to descend towards whatever would allow them to access the arrays. Along the way Isaac decided to get a quick update on Stross' condition, because if he snapped and got himself killed they wouldn't be able to stop the Marker from completing the Convergence Event, as Chrysalis was sure that the two were linked. What they learned was that Stross had the potential to give away Ellie's location, and his own for that matter, though the duo apologized for his behavior and suggested that she try to keep him focused on the task at hand. The only way to destroy the Marker was locked away inside Stross' head, and Chrysalis guessed maybe Isaac's as well if something were to change, and they needed to know what he was trying to tell them, especially because he constantly mentioned these 'steps'.

Ellie, on the other hand, said nothing to that and disconnected the audio link, to which Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as the door in front of them opened and walked out into a chamber where a Bench and a store were located, though that only caused them to head to the store so they could sell off items they didn't need and purchase anything that might be useful at the moment. As it turned out the armor schematic they had picked up couldn't be accessed at the moment, to which the duo groaned for a few seconds before they funneled some of their credits into acquiring more Power Nodes, so they could further empower their weapons. Of course while they worked a leaper tried to get the jump on them, though Chrysalis wasn't in the mood and used her magic to suspend the Necromorph in the air before she used her bone blades to cut the creature apart. Isaac was willing to ignore the noise, as he was sure that his friend needed some time to vent her emotions on something, especially because of what her visions were like, but sooner or later Chrysalis needed to confront her mother and put the past behind her... otherwise this was going to keep happening until something horrible, that she might not be able to recover from, happened.

At the same time, however, Isaac also noted that there was a distinct lack of Wildfire in any of the areas that they had encountered the Marker's influence, and he knew that she had been disconnected from the Marker, so he had to wonder where the love of Chrysalis' life had wandered off to... while at the same time being worried that Crudelis might have already done something to her, which was why they hadn't seen her for some time.

The instant the duo was done with the store and the Bench, and had everything that they could possibly need at the moment, they headed towards the ramp that the leaper had come from and walked down to the door that was labeled with a sign that read 'To the Solar Array', meaning they were on the fight track. From there they followed the path down to a locked door, where a voice told them that the Docking Pod was off the mag-rail and that an engineer had been notified to take a look at it. That was slightly amusing to the duo, as Isaac was the certified engineer and he knew exactly how to fix the mess, though he hadn't been 'notified' of the problem and was only going to fix it because it might be the way for them to access the arrays.

"Ellie, it appears that we've run into a slight problem." Isaac said, to which he and Chrysalis turned towards the door that was on their left and headed into the Elevator Maintenance Bay, though that required that they pass through two normal sized doors to move forward, "It looks like the Docking Pod that runs to the Solar Array is floating at the bottom of the shaft. But don't worry about it too much, Chrysalis and I are heading outside to have a look."

Chrysalis noticed that Ellie didn't reply to Isaac's comment, meaning that she likely had her hands full with her own task and whatever Stross was doing, to which they walked through the second door and noticed that something was blocking their path. Chrysalis simply levitated something that was nearby and whacked the booster that was attached to the wall section that was blocking the way, to which she and Isaac leapt off the ground and used the Zero-G nature to float out into the actual shaft. Once they were in the shaft they floated around the area, looking for anything that allow them to move the Docking Pod or remove the obstruction so they could continue to the Solar Array, though at the same time Chrysalis picked up a schematic for Ripper Blades, ammunition for a weapon neither of them used. That was before she noticed two boosters, like the one she used to move the wall fragment out of the way a few moments ago, were attached to the bottom of the actual elevator, to which she smiled as she turned them on by firing something at them, which caused the elevator to move forward.

Isaac, of course, took a moment to check in with Ellie, where he had to tell her that Stross was hallucinating and that it was all part of the sickness that the Marker spread, before confirming that all of this was trouble, especially with what he knew and didn't want to tell her about.

The moment he was done talking with Ellie, and the audio link was broken once more, the duo returned to where the set of doors was located and touched the floor once more, returning them to normal gravity, before they headed through the doors and walked to where the entrance to the elevator was located. As they approached the elevator door a leaper decided that now was a good time to attack them, only to be dismembered by Isaac, who was anticipating such an action after what Chrysalis had done earlier. After that the duo walked through the door and entered the Docking Pod, which was much wider than the other elevators that they had used in the past and knew that this was meant for more than two people to use at a time, before Isaac walked over to the command terminal and activated the elevator. A few seconds later the elevator started moving and ascended through the shaft that they were inside, though the duo watched as they eventually left the shaft and got a good view of the entirety of the Sprawl... as well as Saturn, the planet that the former moon turned space station was orbiting.

Chrysalis had little time to marvel at the sight of the planet before them, as not a few seconds later a tripod smashed one of the windows and sucked all the air out into space, causing the duo to fire at one of it's arms before it was knocked away from the Docking Pod. That was followed by more windows breaking as multiple tripods revealed themselves, to which Isaac and Chrysalis stood back to back as they faced all of the windows that the Docking Pod had, allowing them to fire at the tripods when they appeared. Together, with their combined efforts in staying in the same spot and firing at all of the enemies that wanted them dead, Isaac and Chrysalis forced back the large amount of tripods, which was an alarming number when they considered how many there were, before the Necromorphs got the hint and stopped attacking them, allowing the duo a few seconds of rest as the Docking Pod continued it's journey. That was shortly before a computerized voice informed them that they were arriving at Solar Array Sigma Zero Five, though while Chrysalis had no idea why it was called that she decided that now wasn't the time for questions as the elevator finally came to a stop.

Fortunately it brought them into a station of some kind, sort of like the one the Docking Pod had been in before they launched it, and the broken windows were sealed so they could breath once more, though as the door opened Isaac stepped outside and cautiously explored the area, something that Chrysalis did as well. One thing they discovered was some cysts guarding a group of lockers, though the duo carefully removed them before finding that one of those lockers contained the Force Gun schematic, another weapon that they didn't need. The other side of the chamber contained the same thing, only the lockers on the other side held ammunition, to which the duo collected everything that they could before they approached the main door that was in front of them. When they walked through the door, however, they found a hologram of a person, a lady by the looks of it, waiting on a pedestal in front of the door, though they ignored the birds that were flying around the place.

It was then that they learned that, in order to move forward, they needed proper identification and that Watchman Howard Phillips would be with them soon enough, but based on past experiences the duo knew that he was either dead already or would be dead by the time they found him. They turned to the right and found some cages with some birds inside them, though instead of doing anything to the poor animals, as they had no idea if they should let them out of their cages or how to actually feed them, they simply continued exploring the area. It was then that they found the living area for Howard Phillips, or what they assumed was his personal living area, and discovered a text log that revealed that the man in question wanted to transfer out of this area and that his requests had gotten no responses, while also receiving a shipment of some kind, no doubt the birds that were all over this area. They then found the mangled body of Howard resting on his bed, though since they needed proper identification the duo knew what they needed to do, as Isaac used his Kinesis Module to lift the corpse into the air and carried it over to the door they needed to pass through.

Fortunately whoever had built the security system apparently never bothered to install something that checked if the person's RIG in question was connected to a living breathing person, as the door opened for them after a voice greeted them as Howard Phillips... though on the other side of the door the auto defenses came online because they were actually unauthorized guests and the hologram asked Howard to provide a code to authorize them.

Since the security measures were the same as the new one they found earlier, the laser walls, Chrysalis picked up something with her magic and hurled it through the two walls that were blocking their path, disabling them as they fired their shots at nothing. From there they entered a much larger room and dismembered the leaper that was crawling along the floor to get to them, though when they reached the center of the chamber the hologram activated more laser walls, keeping them contained in the middle of the area. That ended up working in their favor, as some more leapers burst through the vents around them and hurled themselves at the duo, meaning that the Necromorphs were blown apart by the defenses at first and the duo didn't have to waste energy on them, though that ended up being a bad idea since the shots tore open some explosive canisters near the glass window. Chrysalis, not wanting to be smashed by the iron door that would seal the area or suffocate out in space, raised her Pulse Rifle and blasted the icon that sealed the area, allowing them to pick themselves up before they turned to see what enemies were left.

Once they determined that there were no enemies at the moment, as they were sure that more would be coming soon enough, they entered the room that the hologram was standing near and Isaac hacked into the terminal that was inside the room, though while Chrysalis guarded him she found another text log detailing Howard's woes... and did her best to ignore the fact that the hologram wanted Howard to stop them from accessing the lift that the terminal happened to be connected to.

The moment Isaac was done hacking into the terminal, and they ignored the glare that the hologram was giving them, they walked out of the room and dealt with the lurker and two slashers that jumped down into the area, though since they were easy targets the duo made short work of them before they accessed the lift and headed to the level above them. As they reached the upper level a slasher tried to ambush them, though Chrysalis dismembered it with her bone blades before it even had a chance to swing at them. From there they headed to the left, ignoring the Bench that was right in front of them, and Isaac used the Kinesis Module to move something out of their way before lowering a bridge section into place, before he blasted the laser trap to pieces so they could move to the other side of the room. It was at that point that their audio links became active once more, though instead of it being Ellie calling them it was Tiedemann, which only annoyed the duo as they listened to what he had to tell them.

"Clarke, Chrysalis, I know you two are up there." Tiedemann said, almost as if he had known that by cutting off the power to the area they had been in that the duo would have come to the Solar Array, though if that was the case Chrysalis feared that a trap might have been put in place for them, "Understand that even if the two of you survive long enough to restore the power, there is no escape for you two. All routes going in and out of the Government Sector are being monitored as well speak. Give up."

The duo ignored Tiedemann, as they would find their own way into the Government Sector if necessary, while they finished exploring the upper area that they were in, to which they used a toolbox to destroy another laser trap before looking at what the lockers it was protecting had to offer, which included a Power Node. As they walked away from the lockers a slasher burst out of the vent on their left and was dismembered seconds later, where they headed through the door that was in front of them and started walking down the hallway that they discovered. Of course the annoying hologram reappeared and stated that it was purging life support, though as that happened they were forced to deal with a pair of stalkers. The instant the enemies were taken care of they headed to the other side of the hallway and found another terminal that Isaac hacked into immediately, to which Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief when he finished and restored the life support systems... while at the same time wishing that there was a way for them to destroy the hologram, as the program was making things even more difficult for them.

At first she thought that their luck was turning around, when they entered the mainframe, only for Tiedemann, being the absolute bastard that he was, ordering the computer to disable all Solar Array functions immediately, to which the hologram locked the system down... and then Tiedemann stated that there was too much at stake and that he couldn't let them succeed in their mission.

Isaac sighed in frustration for a moment, as dealing with Tiedemann only reminded him of what they did on the Ishimura and the various problems they had to overcome, before he approached a panel that almost seemed out of place and focused on it. He carefully used the Kinesis Module to move the panel out of the way, revealing a moveable engineer's vent that would allow him and Chrysalis to crawl into the two rooms on either side of them, to which he tapped the control panel and moved the vent until it would let them into the room on their left. Once it was in place Isaac climbed into the vent and quickly came out the other side, to which he moved out of the way as Chrysalis joined him and looked at the electronics that were resting in front of them. The duo glanced at each other before Isaac started pulling the panels from the wall in front of them, causing the hologram to proclaim that they were in violation of Titan Station Civic Code and that they should replace the panels and back away from the fuseboard... though while Isaac worked Chrysalis dismembered the slasher that dropped into the area in front of them.

Fortunately that was the only enemy to attack them in this area, allowing Isaac to carefully extract the four fuses from where they were resting and place them in their proper locations on the panel that was close to where the center of the room was, though once that was done a terminal rose from the floor near the fuses. Chrysalis carefully approached the new terminal while Isaac covered her, though when she activated the terminal the shielding for the mainframe was deactivated, causing her to smile for a moment as she returned to the vent and followed Isaac outside. The moment they were both outside the two rooms the hologram declared that they were in violation of multiple subsections of the Civic Code, though they ignored the program as they crawled out of the vent and rerouted the system once more. Once the vent was connected to the room on their right the duo climbed into it and entered the area that the other fuseboard was located in... where Chrysalis blasted apart the members of the swarm that were in front of them while Isaac moved the fuses around, before turning on the terminal and exposing the mainframe in the process.

The instant the second terminal was online, and the iron doors closed around the glass walls, Isaac and Chrysalis climbed into the engineer's vent and returned to the main part of the room, where a pair of slashers were waiting for them and were dismembered before they could reach the duo... who then proceeded to destroy the power conduits that were inside the mainframe, causing ANTI, the hologram, and several other systems to go offline. Of course the downside to that was that they would have to manually change the array themselves, but it was better than having Tiedemann command the hologram to combat them the entire time. As the duo moved through the door that was in front of them, and wasn't the one they had walked through earlier, a corpse fell down on top of Isaac, who pulled it off and threw it onto the ground in front of them, before sighing before they continued forward.

"Ellie, we're on our way to the mirrors now." Isaac said, letting their new friend know exactly what was going on at the moment, especially since she was stuck in a Necromorph infested station with limited power and oxygen, with someone that might endanger her, while at the same time a video link appeared in front of them, "We have to realign them manually. How are you and Stross holding up?"

"I'm doing fine." Ellie replied, though while she seemed a little surprised that Isaac was asking her how she was doing, as she must have figured that Stross was more important than herself, she was grateful for the thought, "As for Stross... well, you two should see for yourself."

"No! I'm not ready for the needle again!" Stross exclaimed, to which the duo noticed that he seemed a little more insane than he had been originally, though that only meant that his condition was deteriorating quicker than they thought when they first encountered the man, "You have to let me out! I can't breathe! Let me out! He's... waiting... for... me!"

Before they could ask Ellie what was wrong, and they had an idea of what that something was, the connection was terminated and the video link stopped, causing the duo to sigh as they moved through the hallway that was in front of them, while destroying the fragments of a divider and the cysts that were waiting along the way. It didn't take them long to reach the other side of the hallway and enter the room that it was attached to, though as they walked into the room they heard some Necromorphs in the area below them. At the end of the walkway they were standing on was a slasher that wanted them dead, though as they reached where it was standing, and dismembered it, two leapers tried to ambush them, only for them to be destroyed as well. In the middle of the walkway rested an elevator that had a hackable panel next to it, so while Isaac did his thing Chrysalis guarded him and blasted apart the lurkers that climbed up to the area that they were standing in... though once Isaac was done they walked into a short hallway, that wasn't an elevator, and headed inside the room that it brought them to.

When they opened the door, however, they were assaulted by another bout of the Marker's influence, where Isaac came face to face with Nicole again and listened to what she had to tell him, or listen to her question how he was able to hide his pain without his face betraying him. Chrysalis, on the other hand, found her mother standing in the center of the room, who simply stood there and stared at her, though she didn't raise her gun and fire at the Queen, because she didn't want to ruin any of the machines that were around her in case they were important to their current mission.

"You continue to amaze me with your persistence," Crudelis said, though this time around she made no effort to walk away from where she had appeared, meaning that she was perfectly fine with where she was standing, "Normally a few reminders of our sessions is enough to make you submit and accept whatever punishment I have planned for you... it seems that I'll need to step up my game."

"You should have known that, sooner or later, I would turn against the pain you caused me," Chrysalis replied, to which she primed her Pulse Rifle for a moment, because if her mother moved a single step she was going to fire at her so she could get rid of her, "I'm not as weak as I once was."

"You say that now, but I know the truth." Crudelis stated, to which her horn glowed and pain pulsed through Chrysalis' body as another memory surfaced, along with the pain that had been inflicted on her during that time period and the fact that this memory came with another blank spot, meaning someone had to be missing from her memories, "You always talked big when you thought you were going to beat someone or overcome my lessons, and yet the end result was always the same; you on the ground, squirming in pain because of your failures. Even a thousand years later, after my death thanks to the traitors that turned against me, you continue to prove that you learned nothing from our sessions and forgot what I taught you, reducing you to a failure once more. You almost managed to make me proud when you marched on Canterlot and bested Celestia with the power you took from Shining Armor, but then you became an utter disappointment when you lost to him and his bride... and I'm not even going to mention your latest stunning failure.

Maybe I shouldn't have killed Amaryllis all those years ago, she always made sessions like this enjoyable, whether or not you found them to be that way, and had a much stronger will than you ever did."

"W... Who?" Chrysalis asked, as the name meant nothing to her, though at the same time she knew it had to belong to a changeling, one that her mother had killed because she was either bored or got tired of her constantly fighting back.

"Oh, it's no one that you need to concern yourself with," Crudelis replied, to which she raised a hoof and made a flicking motion with it, where Chrysalis was knocked onto her back for a moment and gasped as more pain shot through her body, "Now then, shall we get started on revisiting one of your first lessons?"

"I don't think so." a voice said, to which Crudelis raised an eyebrow as she looked around the area that they were in, before she was seized in a magical grasp and disappeared in the blink of an eye, allowing Chrysalis to breath once more as the pain vanished completely.

Chrysalis moaned as she picked herself up and got back onto her hooves, where she noticed that whoever had saved her was long gone and likely wasn't coming back to say high, though as she thought about the voice she knew that it wasn't Wildfire since her love didn't use magic. She knew it couldn't be any of the princesses, since all of them were alive and wouldn't come this far to help her, and it wasn't Discord's voice that she heard, as he would have dragged her back to Equus so the princesses could punish her for attempting to gain the power to overthrow them. Even as she remembered why she had stepped through that damned mirror in the first place, so she could have her revenge on those that had wronged her in the past, she realized that such a thing no longer appealed to her. In fact all she wanted to do was go home and forget about her plans, so she could live a seemingly ordinary life without trying to take back the hive or anything like that... but first she needed to help Isaac destroy the Marker.

"Chrysalis," Isaac said, causing Chrysalis to realize that Isaac must have snapped out of his vision at some point and had been worried about her, since her visions were worse than his were, "are you alright?"

"Physically, yes," Chrysalis replied, as this time around something had stopped Crudelis from inflicting a new level of pain on her body, or rather make her remember the session that had tormented her when she was younger, "mentally, however, is no. The Queen showed up again..."

"Shit." Isaac stated, as he knew what happened when Chrysalis' mother showed herself, if the last few times were any indication as to what power the long dead Queen Crudelis possessed, before he turned his attention to his friend and considered what he could do to help her, "Do you want to stop and talk about it?"

"Not right now." Chrysalis answered, to which she sighed as she turned to the glowing blue panel that was near her and tapped the command that was on it, to which the room they were in started to rise from where it had been located before their arrival, "Ellie is counting on us to realign the array and restore power to the station, so my personal problems can take the backseat at the moment."

Isaac knew that something terrible or important must have happened with this vision, since Chrysalis deemed that she wasn't ready to talk about it, but since it was clear that she was still in pain from what had happened he decided not to press the issue and went along with her choice. With that decision made he turned and looked at the other panels that were around them, finding that one of the three arrays happened to be properly aligned and that the first and third ones needed to be corrected before they did anything else. That was swiftly followed by the room coming to a stop, to which the duo walked over to the door again and opened it, only this time around they walked out into space and spotted one of the arrays immediately. They then kicked off the walkway that they had been walking on and flew through the air as they headed towards the array in front of them, though when the two of them reached it Isaac made his way to the terminal that would allow him to move the array and accessed it... to which Chrysalis watched as the array started to move as her friend guided it towards where it was supposed to be pointing.

While Isaac worked, and there were no Necromorphs around to bother them, Chrysalis opened an audio link and asked Ellie how things were going on her side, while also informing her that they were moving one of the mirrors back into position. She then learned that Stross had stopped hyperventilating and that she had no idea how much longer the man was going to last before he finally cracked and went crazy, while also mentioning that this was why she did things solo and didn't like having people that only slowed her down. Of course when Isaac realigned the first of the two arrays, and joined Chrysalis near an oxygen recharge station so they both had a full tank, was the moment that Ellie found the collector panel and discovered that it was being covered by something that caused her and Stross to run away. That proved to be a motivator for Isaac and Chrysalis to work faster, though even as they moved towards the second array they had to contend with some sort of corruption that looked like a nest of some kind... something that also acted like the guardian and was easy to destroy once it revealed it's weakness to them.

The moment the nest was destroyed, and the ruby semiconductor it had been holding had been collected, the duo ascended towards the control terminal that would allow them to move the array into position, where Chrysalis remained on guard while Isaac moved the array into place... though once it was in place the three beams of light powered the central part of the array, which fired a beam of light energy down towards the station, which Chrysalis guessed was normal.

"Holy shit Isaac!" Ellie said, to which a video link snapped up in front of the duo, causing them to stop what they were doing and give Ellie their full attention, since it was possible that there might be something they needed to know before they headed back down towards the station.

Ellie, are you alright?" Isaac asked, because while he knew that the answer was going to be no, especially since she started off with 'holy shit', he felt it best to ask her the question and see what the problem was, though at the same time he hoped that they reached the point where they could send her off without getting her hurt.

"We just made it to this crossover tube when the beam hit." Ellie replied, to which she moved a little to show them the area that she and Stross were in, before she stood in front of her arm and commanded their attention once more, "Isaac, Chrysalis, those things are still heading for the Transit Hub. They're wrecking everything in their path!"

"Oh shit, they'll cut us off." Isaac said, as he realized that the Necromorphs were moving faster than they had been when he and Chrysalis had been on the Ishimura, which wasn't good news for anyone, "Ellie, take Stross and get to the hub as quick as you can. Chrysalis and I will meet up with you as soon as we can."

As Ellie nodded her head and started to cut off the connection, however, Isaac and Chrysalis heard Stross talking to someone that the Marker had conjured to mess with him, which made them worried that he might snap at some point when he said 'one step at a time', but that was the least of their problems at the moment. Isaac headed up to the room they had walked out of and waited for Chrysalis to join him before the door closed, though as he approached the chair that was the ejector seat he realized that it only had enough room for one person, creating another problem that they needed to deal with. In the end all he could think to do was ask her to use a shield around her and stand next to him when he engaged the chair, though while she was happy to do what he said she had no idea what it was supposed to accomplish... until the chair Isaac strapped himself into rose up and moved until he was facing the floor, that she was now standing on, before the floor opened and they rushed forward.

A few seconds later, when Isaac left the chair behind and engaged his boots, the duo flew through the space between the array and the station, though as they did that the two of them had to avoid the debris that was in their way, especially when part of it exploded when it touched the beam of light that was shooting down at the station. They had to fly through sections of the station that had come undone, likely because of the Necromorph outbreak tearing things up, and avoid a few more obstacles as they approached the station. A few moments later Isaac, who was followed by Chrysalis replicating his moves, flipped around and used his boosters to stop the speed of his descent before he punched a hole through the ground and came to a stop at the floor that was his destination... only to move out of the way as Chrysalis punched a second hole in the room and landed near him, where she finally dispelled her severely cracked shield.

"You know, despite the fact that our legs should be broken right now, that was slightly fun." Chrysalis commented, as while she could have done without having to dodge obstacles in such a manner, least she be smashed into a thousand pieces, it was an interesting experience, "So, what's next?"

"We keep moving," Isaac replied, knowing that Chrysalis likely knew that his answer would be something along those lines, though at the same time he readied his weapon and followed the path that was in front of them, as Ellie and Stross had to be close by.

Sure enough, when they hurried down the ramp and entered the room in front of them, they found Ellie and Stross on the level above them, where Ellie called for them to head to the train, though that was followed by the Transit Hub exploding and causing the duo to stay back as more explosions rocked the area. Isaac, seeing that there was a CEC factory nearby, said that they should head for it and asked Ellie if she could get the doors opened, where Ellie stated that Isaac had to be crazy, since she had barely escaped with her life from that very area, as it was crawling with Necromorphs. The fact that it was now the only way forward, however, didn't sit well with Ellie, as she cursed the moment she realized that they had no choice in the matter. As Ellie worked on the door, and the oxygen was blown out of the room, Isaac and Chrysalis stood their ground as an army of pack members, slashers, leapers, and pukers entered the area all around them and tried to kill the duo, causing them to stand their ground and fight back before the intensity of the Necromorphs reached where they were standing.

Fortunately for them Ellie, despite a few setbacks on her end, was able to open the door that they were standing near, allowing the duo to retreat into the CEC factory, where the door closed a few seconds later, preventing the Necromorphs from following after them immediately, and locked itself as the duo turned away from it. Once that was done the duo approached the lift that was in front of them and accessed the terminal to connected to the level above them, where Isaac opened a video link with Ellie to see how she and Stross were doing.

"Ellie, are you and Stross there?" Isaac asked, as the screen remained in a state of static for a moment, making the duo wonder if this was as far as they were going to go in stopping Tiedemann and his Marker, "Did you guys make it?"

"Shit Isaac..." Ellie replied, to which the link connected and they saw Ellie standing on the other side, though she was remembering what had happened in this place when she had first been in the area when the outbreak occurred, though the duo knew that she hated this place, "Just... shit..."

"Ellie, take it easy." Chrysalis said, knowing that the lady had to be going through some difficult emotions, ones that she was likely going to blame them for making her remember in the first place, "Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it's not!" Ellie snapped, revealing that she was angry and annoyed that someone would say something like that at a time like this, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis remained silent as they waited for her to speak her mind and clear her emotions, "I was here this morning with a crew of thirty people. But we were overrun, and before I knew it they were all transformed. I had to cut the arms and legs off of my friends just to escape. I'm sure that there's pieces of them still lying around here somewhere."

"Ellie... we didn't know," Isaac said, knowing that Chrysalis didn't mean to annoy their new friend in any manner, but at the same time he could only imagine what was going through Ellie's mind at the moment as she recalled what had happened in this area, "We're sorry for what you had to go through."

"And here I am again." Ellie continued, almost as if she was ignoring the duo as she looked around the part of the factory that she was in, just so she could deal with the fact that she was back where she started when the outbreak happened, "I just walked one big fucking circle today."

"We'll get through this together." Isaac stated, as he was sure that if they all worked together, and pooled their strengths together, they would be able to get out of here without something terrible happening to them, "Let's figure out how to meet up first."

"Right," Ellie said, her expression changing from what it had been and transformed into a more calm one, especially since she hated this area now, "There's a central Hub in the main facility. Here are the coordinates."

Isaac and Chrysalis nodded their heads as the connection was terminated, though as they got the coordinates for the area that Ellie had specified they knew that they were likely going to face incredible odds once more, something that they were growing used to the more they continued forward. Chrysalis, on the other hand, could only wonder who this mysterious Amaryllis was and what sort of connection she had to her, as well as Amaryllis' connection to her mother... but something told her that she would find the answer out in time, and that she wasn't going to like what she was told.

Sprawl: CEC Facility

View Online

Isaac and Chrysalis barely waited for a minute before they walked through the open door that was in front of them, as they both knew that there were Necromorphs trying to kill them as they tried to find another way into the CEC factory that the two of them had entered. They walked down the ramp that was in front of them and opened the door at the end of the walkway, where they smiled as they both spotted a store they could sell off their excess items and purchase whatever items they might need for the future. As the duo entered the safe area, which might become unsafe later on, Chrysalis picked up an audio log that was from someone named Kaleb, the Xenogeologist from Langford Shift 1, and told all the other teams that there was something inside the facility, as they had lost three members of their crew already and that they couldn't contact Shift 4. That was followed by Kaleb stating that he and his team were abandoning their shift and that all the other teams were being ordered to do the same, though the log ended in shots being fired as more Necromorphs appeared near Kaleb and whoever he was with.

Once Chrysalis was done with the audio log, and stored it away, the duo appeared the store and suffered from another bout of influence from the Marker, but thankfully this time around it was just the damned contraption reminding them of it's presence and not her mother come to torture her again. She suspected that she had to thank the mysterious figure for saving her earlier, before the Queen could inflict one of her first sessions on her again, but until she encountered the other pony that the Marker had awoken, a third one when she reflected on the information, she was going to keep that to herself and said nothing to Isaac. Speaking of which Isaac was already interacting with the store, no doubt he had moved towards it while Chrysalis was thinking about what happened earlier, so she simply waited her turn and sold off a few things when Isaac made way for her to access the terminal. As she did that Isaac surveyed the area for anything useful and only found some ammunition for a weapon they didn't use, along with something that made things easier and slightly worried him at the exact same time.

"Well, the good news is that we only have one path to follow," Isaac said, pointing to the door that was on the left hand side of the room, before sighing as he waved a hand towards the other two doors that they could have used, which were both busted in some manner, "the bad news is that the only available path might be a death trap of some kind, just waiting to be sprung by whoever comes through this area."

"Then we'll just follow the path that's available at the moment and fix things as we go," Chrysalis replied, as that appeared to be how things went for the two of them they found something that was busted and either worked out how to get around it or fixed it and moved on, though at the same time she primed her weapon, "and personally, I'd like to get moving before the Necromorphs find out how to get into the facility from the entrance we used... and before a certain someone shows herself again."

Isaac nodded his agreement to that statement, because from what he had seen Crudelis was the worst possible thing that the Marker could have resurrected from Chrysalis' past, though at the same time it made him wonder something that his friend either hadn't noticed or was unwilling to talk about... and yet he had to ask her anyway, just to see if she was even aware of what was going on.

"Chrysalis, where's Wildfire?" Isaac asked, as they had gone through several areas that involved the Marker's influence since they had seen the pegasus that had captured Chrysalis' heart, and yet they haven't seen anything from the pony that was searching for Nicole.

"She's likely out there somewhere, killing Necromorphs." Chrysalis answered, though she knew what Isaac was trying to do and couldn't fault him for it, because she was worried that her mother might have captured Wildfire and was planning on doing something terrible to her in the future, "Come on, let's keep moving."

The duo walked up the nearby ramp and approached the only working door in the area, where they found a room with bodies on the other side, though as they carefully made their way through the room they gathered anything that would be useful in the long run, which included a Power Node. Since it appeared that there weren't any enemies in this room, which the duo was grateful for considering what they had fought before entering the facility, they quickly made their way to the door that would take them to the Operation Control Room. The room in question was small, had a stand that displayed a holographic version of the Titan Station, and had a back room that an infector was working in, transforming corpses into more foes for them to fight. Chrysalis spotted a slasher resting off to left of where they walked in and opened fire on it, because it looked too intact for her liking, and she smiled as it jumped up in surprise before it was dismembered, preventing it from doing any harm to her or Isaac.

Of course that had been a decoy that distracted them so the other four slashers, all black and empowered, burst into the room that they were in, to which the duo opened fire on the empowered Necromorphs and made sure to tear off their arms and legs. Once the slashers were taken care of Chrysalis noticed a locked door on their right and spotted the slot where a Power Node could be entered, to which she pulled out the one she just picked up in the other room and slipped it into place. On the other side of the door she found ammunition, medical supplies, two more Power Nodes, a gold semiconductor, and the schematic for the Vintage Suit, which pleased her greatly, though instead of heading back and getting the new suit she and Isaac continued along the path that was in front of them. They opened the door that was across from the storage room and found a man's body floating out in space, which they could see from where they were standing, before they sighed and headed down the path on their right.

As they reached the slightly larger room that was in front of them, however, they discovered a pregnant Necromorph waiting for them and, while Isaac fired upon it, Chrysalis heard the sound of a vent breaking behind them, where a slasher was trying to ambush them, to which she dismembered it as Isaac finished off his target. The duo paused for a moment, finding yet another audio log from Kaleb as he told Sorenson that he had better be behind him since he and his team were leaving a pile of angry dead body parts, making the duo wonder if he was referring to a divider. That was before someone said that 'they' were moving in ahead of them and Kaleb ordered everyone forward, though both Isaac and Chrysalis already knew that 'they' referred to the Necromorphs. When they considered what Ellie had told them earlier, about her friends dying, it was possible that pretty much everyone who came to work today, excluding their new friend, had died due to the outbreak... but they kept moving, as there was no telling how many Necromorphs were waiting for them.

When they entered the next room, however, they suffered a second bout of influence from the Marker, which was unusual considering that the last one had only been a few minutes ago, to which Isaac listened to Nicole talk about cracks forming and memories returning... while Chrysalis dealt with hearing the voice of her mother whisper that she was a failure and that she was always going to be one, something that apparently came true a thousand years later.

A few moments later, when the wave of influence was over, the duo collected themselves and kept moving, as there would be a time and a place for talking, especially since Necromorphs were searching for them, as well as Tiedemann and his forces for that matter. Before they moved towards the door Chrysalis spotted another wall box that contained a third Power Node, which she eagerly collected before she and Isaac moved through the door that was in their way, while at the same time looking out for enemies. They then entered what appeared to be a darkened hallway that required the use of Isaac's flashlight to even see anything, though as Chrysalis considered using her light spell again the actual lights came on and they found that the path they needed to take was on their left, since the right was locked. The door on their left allowed them to walk along a short walkway before coming to another door, one that was supposed to take them to Fueling Processing Control, and when they entered the room they found some dead bodies and some lockers.

The good thing they discovered was that they could see Ellie in a room that was connected to the one they were in, though the bad part about it was that the only door that seemed to connect them was busted and couldn't be unlocked at all, meaning that they would have to go down separate paths for the moment.

"Isaac! Chrysalis! Over here!" Ellie said, as if they hadn't seen her on the other side of the window, but they didn't feel like pointing that out and disengaged their helmets for a moment, so Ellie could see the relieved looks on their faces, especially since Ellie was back in the one place she hated, "The door is jammed... this must have been the last stand for whoever was left down here."

"Is there any way to get it open from your end?" Chrysalis asked, because this was one of those rare occurrences where she hoped that the answer was yes so they could skip everything inside this place, even though she already knew what the answer was going to be.

"No, the circuits are fried." Ellie replied, though the tone of her voice suggested that she had been hoping for the same thing, only to discover that the reality of the situation wasn't what she wanted, to which she moved away from the jammed door, "They must have fused the panel trying to keep those things out."

"There has to be another way in." Isaac commented, as most of the rooms they had walked by, since they escaped from where they were being held earlier, had multiple entrances and this shouldn't be any different from what he had Chrysalis had seen so far.

"The only way around is through the processing plant, but it's not meant for human traffic." Ellie said, though at the same time she came to a stop in front of the terminal that was in front of her, while Stross stood near her and switched his gaze from her to Isaac and back, completely ignoring Chrysalis, "I think I can stop it from here though."

"Alright, do it." Isaac replied, because if it was the only other way forward, for him and Chrysalis to take at the moment, then it was better than nothing, since he was sure that the two of them could overcome whatever was waiting for them inside the processing plant.

Ellie nodded and tapped a few of the commands on the terminal in front of her, though that was followed by a computerized voice stating that the shut down was accepted and warned that some systems might calibrate without notice, which told the duo that they would have to rely on the Stasis Module to get by those systems. Once that was complete Stross mentioned the steps again, as well as mentioning the 'she' from before, but Isaac told him to hold it together before he and Chrysalis headed towards the door that was labeled Pressurization Control. They then walked into the chamber that was in front of them and spotted the schematic for Detonation Mines, which they collected for later despite the fact neither of them was going to use it, before following the path that would take them to their destination. As they walked the machinery in the area came to life, no doubt calibrating like the computer had warned, though as they headed towards the Bench the two of them were assaulted by a pack of slashers that burst into the area.

Isaac and Chrysalis carefully avoided the attacks that were coming towards them while they fired at the Necromorphs, though the moment all of the slashers were taken care of, and they were sure that there weren't any additional enemies to fight, they spent a few moments empowering their weapons... or rather, Isaac upgraded his weapon while Chrysalis added some additional protection to her suit, before they departed from the Bench and headed towards the door behind them.

On the other side of the door they found a Zero-G area that would allow them to float through the area and contend with a venting system that appeared to be blocking their way, but even as they noticed all of that Chrysalis found some of those boosters they used on the Docking Pod earlier. Isaac made a comment about the venting system and Ellie told them that manually shutting down the plant froze all of the pressure valves in place, meaning that the two of them needed to find a way to force the valve open. Chrysalis, already forming an idea in her mind, gently kicked herself off the walkway that they were on and used her magic to lift one of the boosters out of the container that they were stored in, though as Isaac lifted himself off the walkway she attached the device to the valve and engaged it with her magic. The duo then watched as the single booster was enough to force the valve open, allowing them to bypass the valve and float through the air as they made their way towards where Ellie and Stross were located.

Of course they had to stop when they approached some of the machinery they turned back on and started spinning, though before either of them could ask Ellie what was going on, however, their video links became active as Tiedemann appeared in front of the duo for a moment.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, there you are!" Tiedemann said, though there was something in his tone that suggested that he believed that he was superior to the two of them, something that made Chrysalis want to kill him even more than she already did, "I see your friend has powered off the facility... remind me to thank her for providing me with your exact location. I've already locked the processing cycle on, and trapped you both inside. It ends here!"

Before either Isaac or Chrysalis could say anything to Tiedemann, or even proclaim that he was a madman for wanting to use the Marker in the first place, the connection between them was severed, to which the duo sighed as they carefully floated forward and found a few gaps in the machinery. Fortunately it only took them a few seconds to bypass the spinning drills of the processing machinery, though as they rounded the corner they found a square piece, one that appeared to be a blocker for the four vertical panels that were firing electricity at the wall opposite of them. Isaac carefully aimed at the moving part of the machine and fired a Stasis charge at it when it was starting to move over one of the four panels, though both he and Chrysalis smiled when it slowed down as it was passing over one of the panels. With the way open the duo carefully flew between the two bits of electricity and came to a stop on the other side, though just because they overcame two pieces of the machinery didn't mean they could relax... especially since there had to be Necromorphs waiting for them to get near them.

As they rounded the corner the duo found a pair of lurkers waiting on the wall that was opposite of where they were floating, to which they opened fire on Isaac and Chrysalis, forcing them to separate from each other, for a moment anyway, before they returned fire and dismembered the tentacles that their foes possessed.

"Ellie, can't you shut these things off?" Isaac asked, as he was sure that Ellie must have some sort of say in the system, since she was still a living employee of the CEC, something that had Isaac was surprised he still had considering that he's been gone for three years.

"No." Ellie replied, though while the duo was shocked by that fact they could tell that Ellie was pissed, which was more understandable when they heard why she was pissed off, "Somehow Tiedemann declared me dead in the system, and now my codes won't work anymore. Oh shit, something's coming. Stross, help me with the door!"

As the connection faded both Isaac and Chrysalis could hear Stross talking about Ellie needing to see the steps so she could understand, where Ellie told him to focus on what she needed him to do, before the connection was lost once more and left the duo alone for the moment. Instead of getting worried, as Ellie had proved that she could easily overcome any Necromorphs on her own, the duo turned towards their latest obstacle and prepared themselves accordingly, as all Isaac had to do was point at the spinning parts of the machine and loose a Stasis charge at it, slowing it down so they could pass through to the other side. Once they were on the other side they took care of the lone lurker that was hanging out near a valve they needed to force open, though once the creature was dead Chrysalis levitated a booster over to the valve and turned it on, to which they flew through the opening she had created. The next part of the machinery had what appeared to be a fan like area, though as they looked above them they found a ring of fire and another nest, one that would need to be taken care of before they bothered to leave the area.

It didn't take them long to reach where the nest was located, even though they had to avoid the flaming rings when they were open and had to fire at the projectiles that the nest sent at them, though once they reached the upper part of the tunnel they were in the duo tore the nest to pieces and moved on... though Chrysalis grabbed the ruby semiconductor for later, whenever they found another store they could access.

With the nest dead Isaac and Chrysalis were allowed the freedom to attach some boosters to the valve that was blocking their way, which the nest was likely guarding in some manner, before they activated them and opened the way forward once more. On the other side of the valve the duo spotted a walkway with a door they could access, though if Tiedemann was watching them he was going to be extremely disappointed in the fact that his plan to kill them had failed, even if he already had another one in place to deal with them. As they needed the door they got a video link from Ellie as she battled the Necromorphs that were coming for her, proving that Stross was still having his breakdown as he mentioned 'Step Three' this time around, which was more than what Isaac and Chrysalis knew. A few seconds later the connection was cut off once more, though Isaac opened the circular door that was in front of them and entered a short passage that allowed him to leave Zero-G... to which Chrysalis landed and followed after him, even as the door closed behind them and the one in front of them opened.

When they entered the room that Ellie and Stross had been in minutes ago, when they were standing by the glass window, the duo noticed that it was stalkers that had ambushed the others and that one of them was still alive, which Chrysalis quickly amended as she dismembered the Necromorph that was crawling it's way towards them. Isaac found a wall box that contained a Power Node, which they would put to use later on, while Chrysalis spotted a hole in the glass window that hadn't been there when they had come through this area the first time around. Since there wasn't much else they could do in this room, besides stand around and hope more Necromorphs came so they could make Ellie's escape easier, the duo approached the door that Ellie must have gone through and opened it... to which they had to quickly raise their hands, as Ellie was actually pointing her Plasma Cutter at the door and nearly shot them when it opened.

"Oh god, Isaac! Chrysalis!" Ellie said, to which she breathed a sigh of relief as she lowered her weapon, while at the same time Stross rocked back and forth of the crate he happened to be sitting on, which appeared to be normal for him at this point, "Glad to see that the two of you still have all your body parts."

"Are you alright?" Isaac asked, as he had seen part of her battle with the Necromorphs and wanted to be sure that she was fine, especially since she appeared to be a little annoyed about something, but he could hazard a guess who that something was.

"Um, yeah... no thanks to twitchy over here." Ellie replied, beckoning to Stross for a moment, who seemed to stop moving as he looked up at the group, even though both Chrysalis and Isaac disengaged their helmets for the moment so he wouldn't see them as enemies.

"Step Four... she'll be waiting." Stross said, though that still only told them nothing, since steps one and two seemed to be rather simple while the other two seemed to be difficult for him to remember fully.

"What's the fourth step?" Isaac inquired, as he still didn't remember what Stross was going through, which meant the drugs he had been given must have been even stronger than the ones that Tiedemann's officers and professors gave to Stross while they were captives, "Whose waiting at the end?"

"After the screws, after the needle, she'll be waiting." Stross replied, as if that was the answer to everything, even though it barely took them anything about how to shut off and destroy the Marker that they had helped Tiedemann build on the Titan Station.

"Damn, his condition is getting worse." Isaac commented, to which both Ellie and Chrysalis nodded their heads in agreement, as it was as clear as day to them as well, before he sighed and turned towards their new friend, "We have to keep moving."

"There's an industrial Transport upstairs." Ellie replied, beckoning to the area above them, or at least in the general direction of the shuttle in question, before she turned back towards Isaac and Chrysalis, "Runs on the same spoke as the commuter train. It should get us into the Government Sector. The only problem is that one of us will have to deploy it from the gear house."

"Well, that sounds like something we can take care of," Chrysalis said, to which Isaac nodded his head in agreement, as it was safer for Ellie to remain here and given them directions, if necessary, while at the same time keeping Stross safe until the train could be deployed.

"Hold on a minute," Ellie said, causing both Isaac and Chrysalis to stop for a moment, as they knew that they didn't have the time to be stopping, especially since Tiedemann could easily do something to the spoke that the trains traveled on before they even got the train deployed, "you still haven't told me how you did that earlier. That thing with all of those balls of light. What in the world are you?"

Chrysalis remained silent for a moment, as she remembered what she had said to Hammond and his crew, and the fact that not many of them had believed her until she proved that she could harness magic, before she decided that now wasn't the time to be holding back secrets... as she and Isaac trusted Ellie, who in turn trusted them, and she was tired of keeping secrets, even after the thousand years she spent as Queen of the Changelings.

"If you must know, I am a changeling," Chrysalis replied, to which she sighed as she wondered how she was going to explain this, though Isaac nodded his head and revealed that it was okay if she talked for a few moments, even though it might have serious consequences later on, "and the reason I can fire off and sustain that many orbs of light is because I can use magic. Yes, that means I can shoot fireballs from the palms of my hands, summon barriers to protect myself from harm, and do a decent amount of the things that humans believe possible with magic, even though my position as a changeling entitles me to a few other abilities."

"Oh really?" Ellie inquired, though the look on her face said that she wasn't buying it, despite the fact that the dead were trying to kill them after being remade by the signals that the Marker was sending out, "And what sort of 'abilities' do changelings posses that other magic users don't?"

Chrysalis, instead of responding immediately, stared at Ellie for a few seconds and took in the details of her body, as well as her voice, before she closed her eyes and gathered her magic, where her horn glowed with the green coloration that was unique to changelings before she was consumed in green fire. Isaac and Ellie stepped back for a moment, as they were surprised that Chrysalis suddenly combusted in such a manner, before the flames died down and allowed them to see what happened to their friend, only for them to stare at what was in front of them in total surprise. Standing in the spot that Chrysalis had been standing in earlier was none other than Ellie, or rather an exact duplicate of Ellie that was wearing the same clothing and the same bandages. Isaac was surprised by this turn of events, as he could have sworn that he had been told about this in the past and hadn't seen it in action, though Ellie stepped forward and approached her mirror image... though the only way someone could actually tell them apart was by the weapons they carried, as the real Ellie had a Plasma Cutter and the copy had a Pulse Rifle.

Still, despite the fact that it was only a weapon that prevented them from being the same person, Isaac knew that anyone else would have assumed that the two Ellies were actually identical twin sisters, even if they would have been wrong in their thinking.

"To put it in simple terms, changelings are shapeshifters," the copy said, speaking in Ellie's voice, so perfect that if she had replaced the actual Ellie, and went about Ellie's normal routine, Isaac was sure that no one would have been able to tell the difference, expect when asked about the past maybe, "We used this ability to sneak into towns and villages so we could carefully gather the necessary love energy for our species to thrive and exist, taking on the forms of whatever was appropriate for our mission. At first we were peaceful towards the other races of our planet, but then Queen Crudelis came to power and turned the various hives into a single united empire, even if she crushed and slaughtered those that dared to challenge her rule. She turned us into spies, infiltrators, and imposed many new rules to how we operated, while at the same time making herself into a warmonger that would never be satisfied until she controlled all of Equus, until some of her generals turned on her and killed her.

Once she was gone I came to power and spent the next thousand years trying to undo the damage the previous Queen had done, and I even managed to appoint new Queens to run the old hives with changelings that wanted their old lives back... but in the end I ultimately failed and lost my own hive. At least they found a better, more benevolent, ruler to watch over them as they finally ease back into a life that was almost stolen from them all by the old queen..."

Isaac knew that this was an extremely shortened version of the history of the changelings, something that even Chrysalis didn't want to get into because the beginning of it pertained to her mother, the dreaded Queen Crudelis, though he was surprised that her mother had actually gone out of her way to subjugate the other hives. He was sure that the true history of the changelings was one that started out with peace and prospirity, before coming to a force of spies and warriors that Crudelis created, and then slowly returned to what it had been in the beginning. Chrysalis seemed to notice the silence and reverted back to her original form, before she closed her helmet and walked towards the only other door that she and Isaac could take, where she stood beside it and waited. Isaac couldn't fault his friend for being upset, as her mother was one of the worst ones he had ever heard about and he was sure that Crudelis had done more than what Chrysalis had told them about... and yet he knew better than to provoke the pain that was lingering in her heart, especially with the terrible memories that had returned with the appearance of her mother.

Before he could move forward, however, a hand stopped him and he turned to look at Ellie, who was actually staring over at Chrysalis, as if she felt sorry for their friend, which was something that Isaac felt every time she was forced to remember or experience her painful past again.

"Queen Crudelis... she's Chrysalis' mother, wasn't she?" Ellie asked, though at the same time Isaac could hear the venom in Ellie's voice, indicating that she disliked the old queen, even if she was supposed to be dead.

"Yeah... she was." Isaac replied, to which he sighed for a moment, as he could only imagine the endless pain that his friend had been in over the years and admired the fact that she hadn't considered killing herself to end her personal torment, "Crudelis dominated the other hives and killed their queens, turned her subjects into something they weren't supposed to be, saw the other races of her world as nothing more than food, and beat her own daughter so much that, even a thousand years later, she still remembers the beatings. Her own generals declared a civil war on those that were loyal to the insane queen and removed her from power, leaving a broken Chrysalis to pick up the pieces... she's had a rough life, and that damned Marker is making her experience it all over again."

"Then stop standing around and get to the gear house," Ellie said, to which she stepped away from Isaac and tapped Stross' shoulder, indicating that she would keep him safe while the duo worked their magic, "besides saving what remains of the Titan Station, if such a thing is even possible, Chrysalis needs the pain to stop... before she does something that she'll end up regretting."

Isaac nodded and started to head towards Chrysalis, though as he did so he picked up the schematic for the large med packs and stored it away, so when the two of them were standing near each other, with their helmets engaged and their weapons primed, they moved forward and didn't look back. That, of course, meant that they had to move the tables out of the way so they could access the door that was in front of them, but the moment both of the tables had been removed Chrysalis opened the door and moved forward. As the duo entered the chamber that they needed to walk through they discovered that it was a fueling area, though since they were forced to follow the walkway there wasn't much they could do, save for dismembering the two leapers that crawled out of a vent that was in front of them. As those two Necromorphs fell a slasher attacked them from behind, where Chrysalis spun around and loosed a burst of bullets that tore it's arms and legs off, allowing Isaac to blast apart the next leaper that tried to attack them.

As the end of the walkway they found a cargo lift that took them to the floor above them, where Isaac was forced to listen to Nicole mentioning that they had only two short years together and that they were the happiest years of her life, before he made her start 'doubting' herself. Chrysalis, on the other hand, shuddered as another session with her mother came to life, but thankfully it was one of the ones that was short, as a general had stepped in with 'good' news and made the beating stop, only for the following one to be twice as bad to make up for it. As the duo escaped the Marker's influence, where they worried about how many were coming within a short time since the last one, a slasher tried to attack them when they neared the hallway they had to walk through, though Chrysalis tore it apart before it had a chance to react. The duo then followed the walkway that they had to go through, passing by a locked door in the process, before they came to an area where crawlers were crawling down the wall in front of them and were trying to approach them... to which Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as they used short bursts and tore them all to pieces, clearing the way forward.

From there it was a straight shot to the door that allowed them to enter a rounded room that was identical to the one that Ellie and Stross were resting in, or likely had been resting in if they had moved on already, though as Isaac and Chrysalis entered the room they were attacked by more Necromorphs... or more accurately two lurkers and a puker, all of which the duo dealt with in rapid succession.

The moment those enemies were taken care of Isaac approached the store that was near the door they needed to walk through and sold off what he didn't need and made sure to install the new schematics, that way he and Chrysalis could buy them if they desperately needed something. Chrysalis, however, picked up an audio log that was from Sorenson this time around, where he was telling Kaleb that he recognized the bodies that were chasing them since they were all from Shift 4. Of course the log revealed that Sorenson asked Kaleb where his team went and got the answer that he was looking for, as well as a warning that enemies were closing in from behind, though Chrysalis knew that the men had either escaped and had been gunned down, or had been killed by Necromorphs and transformed into the very things that killed everyone else. The moment the audio log was done she stored it away and waited her turn at the store, where she sold off a few things as well before she walked away from it, to which she and Isaac gathered near the door and opened it so they could press onward.

When they entered the hallway in front of them, and rounded the corner, they spotted a divider standing on the other side of the area that they were in, though it rapidly crossed over to where they were and was only slowed down when Isaac used a Stasis charge on it. That action allowed him and Chrysalis to open fire on the divider and tear it into pieces, where they then had to destroy the fragments that came alive when the divider separated itself, which they did quickly so they didn't get ambushed by more enemies. When the divider and it's fragments were dead, and they were absolutely sure of that fact, the duo quickly collected the gold semiconductor it had been carrying and walked towards what it had been guarding, which was an elevator that took them up to the High Pressure Storage area. A few moments later, when the elevator came to a stop, the duo were assaulted by a slasher that came from the right and an exploder that came at them from the front...though it was easy for the duo to dismember the two Necromorphs, especially when one died in an explosion and the other was cut apart by Isaac's Plasma Cutter.

Isaac also found a wall box on their right that had a Power Node, though without a Bench he simply stored it away as he followed Chrysalis to the door that was opposite the one they entered through, but as they entered the hallway Isaac heard Nicole whisper in his ear about what he had said to get her aboard the Ishimura, as if he wanted her to leave and get out of his life, which was the opposite of what he had wanted at the time. As he forced the voice to be quiet, so he could continue forward, Chrysalis grabbed a nearby box with her magic and floated it through the two laser traps that were in front of them, setting them off so she and Isaac didn't have to worry about them. When they reached the walkway ahead of them she then pulled some crates out of the way and collected a schematic for Flame Fuel, the ammunition for the Flamethrower weapon neither of them used... along with an audio log from Sorenson, ordering any remaining CEC personal to track Ellie's RIG, since she had cleared a path that was closing.

As the duo considered what was said they realized that whoever got that had either joined up with Ellie's group, or had died and become the very monsters that decimated her friends until she was the only one left, before they stored it away and headed down into the walkway so they could bypass the barricade in front of them.

When they walked up the second ramp, however, they came under fire from a guardian that was at the far end of the walkway, as well as from some of the pods that it had fired out to guard the area between it and the ramp they had used to get to this point. Chrysalis, not in the mood to mess around, used her magic to snap up a barrier that the pods attacked, allowing Isaac to move out into the open and dismember all of them, though once that happened she canceled the spell and joined her friend as they opened fire on the guardian and tore it to pieces. They then carefully picked up the gold semiconductor that it had been holding onto and then road the cargo lift beside it up to the next level they had to overcome, though during the ride Isaac tried to silence the voice that was whispering in his ear, saying that he couldn't bare to watch her message to the end and still went looking for her... despite he 'knew' that all he would find on the Ishimura was death.

At the same time Chrysalis disengaged her helmet for a moment as she coughed up some blood, revealing what sort of torment the Marker was inflicting upon her, before she wiped her glove off and used a small med pack to mend the pain her body was in from remembering her beatings... especially the ones that actually caused her to relive the torment and the pain, as they were accompanied by blood all the time.

As the cargo lift came to an abrupt stop near it's destination, however, Chrysalis reengaged her helmet and blasted apart the slasher that was going to attack them, before Isaac took aim and caused the exploder behind it to detonate it's payload, obliterating it as well. When the lift connected to the floor it was supposed to connect to the duo was ambushed by a pregnant Necromorph that was waiting for them, though they followed what they normally did in this situation and dismembered it before it could slice itself open, preventing new foes from being born. It was also accompanied by members of a swarm and another slasher, all of which the duo opened fire on and terminated, before they lowered their weapons and walked into the room that was in front of them. Fortunately there was a Bench inside the room, where Chrysalis decided to let Isaac have all the Power Nodes this time around as she explored the area, where she personally ended the fragment of a divider that was trying to hide in a corner and ambush them when they weren't looking.

The moment Isaac was done with the Bench he approached the terminal they needed to access and pressed a few of the commands, the ones that would help them with the train, until he found a problem and opened the line with Ellie, since she might be able to help them out.

"Ellie, the good news is that I found the transport," Isaac said, referring to the large object that was near the room they were standing in, which Chrysalis had ignored since they were previously under attack by Necromorphs, "the bad news is that there's a problem with the release mechanism."

"No surprise there." Ellie replied, though this time around the duo breathed a sigh of relief, as it sounded like she wasn't under attack this time around, which had to be great for her, "The parts to fix it should be located near the actual mechanism, so search the room you two are in and you should be able to fix it in seconds."

Sure enough the moment they disconnected from Ellie, and started looking around the room, Chrysalis found a circular device of some kind and slipped it into the upper part of the release mechanism, which seemed to be part of the process they needed to go through. Fortunately Isaac appeared to remember how to fix this particular mechanism, after having seen her slip the first part of it into place, as he raised a nearby tube into the air and revealed that it was actually a cover for a storage area of sorts, one that contained a second circular device that was slipped into the bottom section of the mechanism. From there he opened the second tube and held it in the air, allowing Chrysalis to gently remove the gear shaped device that was inside the second storage container, which she placed in it's proper place inside the mechanism and caused all the lights to go green. After that happened the duo approached the terminal again and Isaac put in the commands once more, though this time he got the message he was looking for, as he opened an audio link to Ellie not a few seconds later.

"All right, we've released the Transport." Isaac said, though at the same time Chrysalis smiled, as it appeared that they were one step closer to their goal, even if they both knew that their luck could change at any moment, "Ellie, meet us at the landing."

"We'll be right there." Ellie replied, though before the connection was terminated they could hear her trying to get Stross to move and hoped that his madness hadn't engulfed his very mind, otherwise their chances of beating the Marker will have disappeared.

As the duo made their way towards the Transport two empowered slashers tried to stop them in their tracks, but since they were expecting something like that Isaac and Chrysalis fired at their foes and dismembered them, opening up the path to their target. A few seconds later the two of them walked onto the Transport and Isaac took up point at the front, where he tapped in the command and they started to descend towards the landing that Ellie would be at, though at the same time he focused his mind and tried to banish the Marker's influence, as this time Nicole appeared near him. Chrysalis made no sound this time around, either because her mother was nearby or it was a session of total silence, but before Isaac could even ask her if she was okay she seemed to snap out of it and returned to the door as they reached the landing... where she opened the door, allowing Ellie and Stross to board the Transport.

"He's staring at me Isaac." Stross said, though as that happened Isaac let Ellie take the controls as he focused on Stross, as he might be the only one capable of calming the man down at this point, "Through the... holes... in his head."

Isaac opened his mouth, to tell Stross to relax and that everything was fine, but the man walked over to a seat and sat down, causing him to sigh as Chrysalis closed the door and they started to move down to the spoke that would allow them to get to the Government Sector... though both Isaac and Chrysalis, who disengaged their helmets, were shocked by what they saw off in the distance.

"Oh my god..." Isaac said, staring at the one thing he never thought he would actually see again, because he instantly recognized the vessel that was resting off in the distance, and he was sure that it haunted Chrysalis's dreams as well, "It can't be... that's..."

"... the Ishimura..." Chrysalis finished, staring at the ship where she first experienced the Necromorph outbreak and started to relive her past, though it was there that she had been reunited with Wildfire, who had been brought back to torment her until Wildfire turned into an ally they never expected to find.

"Yeah, used to be the pride of the CEC." Ellie commented, as she wasn't aware of the fact that Isaac and Chrysalis had a certain history with the planetcracker, though that didn't stop her from speaking about what she knew, "Sad story actually. I heard that everyone onboard died... some sort of terrorist attack or something."

"That's what their calling what occurred on the Ishimura? A terrorist attack?" Isaac asked, to which Ellie looked back and nodded her head, indicating that no one, excluding a few select personal, really knew what happened to the Ishimura three years ago, "That's where all of this started, the Necromorph outbreak. Everything that's happened on the Titan Station so far, happened on that ship three years ago. Chrysalis and I, as well as the rest of my original five man team, arrived after the initial outbreak, but we saw what happened to the crew of the Ishimura and had to fight our way through the undead host just to survive."

Ellie opened her mouth to say something, as this was definitely news to her, but before she could actually speak the Transport shook for a moment, causing the moment to be ruined as she turned back to the terminal behind her, though at the same time experience spoke volumes and both Isaac and Chrysalis reengaged their helmets.

"What happened?" Chrysalis asked, though as she spoke she primed her weapon, as she knew that she and Isaac were going to have to walk off the Transport and fix something, as that seemed to be common these days.

"I don't know... something must be blocking the track." Ellie said, as that was the only reasonable explanation for what was going on, even though it wasn't one that she wanted to think about at the moment.

"Then Chrysalis and I will go fix the problem," Isaac stated, to which the Transport came to a stop at a landing, nearly perfectly timed he mentally reflected, before the door opened and allowed the duo to step off the Transport.

Chrysalis sighed as she followed Isaac, because with the reappearance of the Ishimura in their lives she knew that something was going to happen to make them go back aboard the ship... and she wasn't looking forward to that happening in the near future, and she was sure that Isaac shared her thoughts on the matter.

Sprawl: Return to the Ishimura

View Online

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sprawl: Into the Mines

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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.

Sprawl: Government Sector

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Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as they reengaged their helmets and continued walking down the path that was in front of them, which brought them to the elevator that Ellie must have used to get to this area, though before either of them could actually open the elevator and walk into it their video links opened again. At first they thought that maybe Ellie was calling to curse them out for thinking about her safety more than their own, but as the link was established they noticed that it wasn't Ellie that had contacted them, rather it was Tiedemann, and he looked pissed off.

"I don't know what Providence protects you two, but this game ends here!" Tiedemann stated, though what the man didn't understand was that this was never a game, as both Isaac and Chrysalis knew they were going to reach the Marker and destroy it before it had a chance to reach Convergence, "I have two hundred armed security personal... EVERY entrance is covered. Even if you two find a way inside, you won't be getting back out."

Neither of the duo said anything as Tiedemann disconnected the link between them, to which they headed over to the store that happened to be near the elevator and sold off a few of their worthless ammunition types, before buying anything that they might need. The moment they were ready the duo walked into the elevator that was to their right and headed down to the level that Ellie had been on earlier, though as they headed out of it a few moments later Chrysalis opened fire on the slasher that jumped into the area and dismembered it. That was when the duo realized that the Necromorphs must have been right behind the drill, as now they were starting to slowly pour into the entrance of the Government Sector and were coming for either the two of them or were heading for the Marker. Isaac immediately headed towards the door and found a panel that he could hack into, so while he removed the cover and started doing that Chrysalis opened fire on the pukers, lurkers, slashers, and exploders that wanted to kill them.

Fortunately because she was able to protect Isaac, and prevent him from being harmed, he was able to complete his hacking and open the door that was near them, though once it was open the two of them rushed through it and watched as it slammed shut behind them... but they kept moving, as there was no telling how long the door was going to last before something smashed it's way through it and let the Necromorphs into the area. That luck then turned sideways as they followed the path downwards and soon found an armed group of soldiers standing in their way, though they were at a distance where it was the surrender procedure, meaning they were going to try and force the duo to surrender before killing them, or just kill them anyway. Isaac noticed a bathroom off to their right and immediately ran towards it as the security personal asked that they surrender, though as Chrysalis followed him she noticed a grenade being thrown through the air and used a small barrier behind her to protect them from damage... while at the same time the door locked behind them, meaning the only way forward was for them to walk through the door at the end of the room and access the engineer's vent that they discovered.

That vent allowed them to access a new room that had some stairs heading upwards, though as they walked Chrysalis found it funny that none of the security personal realized that they had entered the bathroom and that they were now above the area that they were all gathered in. As they came to the control room for this part of the area Chrysalis looked out over the entrance and thought about what was going to happen next, though as she nodded Isaac tore off the cover for the power cell and pulled the cell out of it's receptacle. The consequence of that was immediate, as the lights went out and the soldiers called for the auxiliary power to be turned on, though that was followed by the sound of the large door the duo had passed through opening and the sounds of Necromorphs coming towards the open area. Sure enough some Necromorphs appeared at the end of the area that the security personal's flashlights could see, though the odd thing was that they had paused for a moment and caused the soldiers to do the same thing.

Chrysalis glared down at the line of Necromorphs as her mother stepped forward, the undead parting as if she was now their ruler, before she grinned at the soldiers that seemed to be shocked by what they were seeing, though whether that was because of the Necromorphs, Queen Crudelis, or both Chrysalis had no idea.

"Go ahead, my pets," Crudelis said, a hint of joy to her voice, as if she loved being in command of an army again, especially one that wouldn't fight back this time around, "tear them apart!"

Isaac and Chrysalis watched as Necromorphs, consisting of every type they had seen on the Ishimura and the new ones from the Sprawl, surged towards the soldiers and started hacking them apart, while at the same time the soldiers opened fire and tried to stop the undead from killing them. Chrysalis glared down at the sight as a Hunter type enemy, this one possessing a body that was similar to a slasher with some resemblance to the Hive Mind of Aegis VII, but appeared to walk slowly and deliberately for some reason. Crudelis seemed to enjoy the Ubermorph, Chrysalis' name for the regenerating monster, around and even gave it a grin as it walked by her, meaning that she must have found the best of the bunch and brought it with her. Isaac and Chrysalis remained still for a few moments, letting the worst of the large undead force pass by the area they needed to walk through, before Crudelis started to follow after her army, though before she vanished completely she glanced right up at the duo for a moment and grinned in their direction... before following the Necromorphs into the sector.

During that period of time, where they were watching the Necromorphs, Tiedemann connected to them and informed them that they were idiots and stated to say something about the creatures reaching the Marker, before calling his soldiers to pull back to the Marker Chamber and disconnected the line.

Once the majority of the Necromorphs had gone through where the soldiers had been, and the ones that had fallen behind were bringing up the rear, Isaac and Chrysalis headed through the door they had walked through a few minutes ago, headed back down the stairs, and approached a new door that let them enter the carnage filled area that some infectors were working in. Chrysalis opened fire on the infectors immediately, preventing them from turning more of the soldiers into Necromorphs, while at the same time Isaac dismembered the slashers that were in the area, though once those foes were taken care of they headed through the ruined metal detectors and followed the blood trail. Of course there was an exploder and some swarm members in front of them, but a well placed shot eliminated all of them and allowed the duo to enter a chamber that had a number of dead bodies, which made them thankful that the infectors had been taken out already, or at least for the moment since more were likely coming their way.

When they carefully explored the area Nicole appeared before them once more, asking if Isaac even knew where he was going and got an 'I don't know' in return, where the hallucination somehow messed with his navigation unit and gave them the directions that they needed, before disappearing as quickly as she came.

The duo then headed through the only unlocked door in the area and approached another station that scanned them to be sure they were who they said they were, where the two of them picked up one of the nearby corpses and walked forward, gaining the access they needed to progress onward. They headed through the door and entered the labs that were in front of them, though as Chrysalis stared at the pair of tubes that were in front of them, which contained spirals that resembled the Marker, Isaac found an audio log that spoke of one of Patient Four's sessions and the information that was gleamed from his mind. The last part of that was that they planned on growing the Marker from some mineral baths, though both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that if one had been made in such a manner, successfully, more would be made in due time until the outbreak happened all across the area of space that humanity controlled. When the log was over the duo headed into the area in front of them and used the right passage for a moment, though they came to a dead end and were attacked by a slasher and a puker... which stood no chance against the duo, who dismembered them before heading down the other path and using that doorway to enter a lab room of some kind.

The first thing they did was target and destroy the infector that was racing towards a nearby corpse, before they separated from each other and started firing at the slashers, pukers, and exploders that were coming at them in groups, which made perfect sense considering the amount of Necromorphs they saw earlier. With the two of them each taking a side of the room, and focusing on that side for a few moments, Isaac and Chrysalis were able to clear the room of enemies and headed through the door that was off to the right of the one they used to enter the room. That, of course, allowed them to walk down a ramp that had some blood on it and enter a new chamber, one that had a supply room that Isaac used a Power Node to access and salvaged everything he could find, including the gold and ruby semiconductors that happened to be in there. With those in hand, and he didn't bother stopping at the Bench to upgrade anything, the two of them turned around and had to dismember a divider that dropped into the room, along with the fragments that split off from the creature when they dealt enough damage to it.

With another gold semiconductor, dropped from the divider, in their possession the duo moved through the door that was nearby and headed to the next chamber, though along the way they noticed that the organic growth was spreading faster than it had when they were on the Ishimura, as it was already starting to grow in the Government Sector.

Of course as they entered the next chamber they heard the sounds of stalkers in the area, and confirmed when one ran for cover, to which both Isaac and Chrysalis remained on their guard as they pressed onward, where they opened fire on the stalkers that dared to show their faces and made sure to focus down the ones that charged at them. Along the way Chrysalis spotted a power cell hanging in the air above them and grabbed onto it with her magic, liberating it from it's container as she and Isaac made their way to the other side of the room they were in. They also found an audio log that revealed that the Marker signal carried both the blueprints to create more Markers and dementia, as it was the people the signal affected that were different, telling Chrysalis that the smarter people, like Isaac, received the blueprints while people like Stross eventually went insane. At least that was what the audio log made it seem like, though she knew that Equestrians couldn't be immune to the Marker since she was affected by the signal to some degree, but she said nothing about that as she and Isaac replaced the shorted out power cell with the new one she had grabbed earlier.

As they walked into the passage that the power cell unlocked, and started walking down the ramp, both Isaac and Chrysalis felt the Marker's influence again, only this time it was even stronger than before, meaning that they had to be getting closer to their target.

That was followed by them entering the Reconstruction Room, where they found a circular chamber with beams firing at something in the middle of the room, something that looked like a Marker that was halfway built, meaning that Isaac's Marker had been completed and more were in the process of being made, which wasn't a good sign. From there things got tricky, as they had to first fight off Necromorphs that were coming towards the room they were in, with their enemies consisting of a leaper and a group of crawlers, before they used a Stasis blast to slow the the machinery so they could access the next room. After that it was a matter of repeating the motions a few more times, where each time they moved around the circle of rooms they had to deal with the undead that had been resting there before pausing for the lasers to move so they could use a Stasis charge on them, where the motion repeated once more. When they did that the fourth time they found a lift that allowed them to ride to the level above the area that the lasers were in, though when they arrived on the upper level Isaac moved forward and turned the laser system off... allowing him and Chrysalis to pulled down sections of a walkway after the incomplete Marker was covered by a cylinder.

On the other side of the room they were assaulted by two slashers, which easily fell to their bullets, before they moved through the door and headed down the ramp that was on the other side, which brought them to a ruined monitoring area of some kind... but with the store destroyed, and not much else to do, the duo continued the path they had been following and entered the Thermal Conduit area.

Isaac and Chrysalis were then forced to take up positions on one side of the large walkway they had discovered, as Necromorphs of all types came running from both directions and having someone watching over each side made it possible for them to prevent themselves from being overrun. It took them a minute or two to finish off those enemies before they were allowed to use the nearby door and access the ramp down to the next floor, though as they did that Isaac dismembered the slasher and puker that dropped down in front of them. When they reached the second floor it was the same routine as the first one, two duo separated so they could cover both sides of the floor and opened fire on all the Necromorphs that started rushing them, before the way was clear and they were allowed to access a ramp that took them to the lowest floor in this area. As they walked out into the open, and headed over towards the large circular door, Isaac found an audio log revealing that the person who had been working on the code necessary to make more Markers had succeeded in making a small miniature one... and that was likely when they started building whatever Marker that Isaac had helped them create.

When they approached the door, however, a blackened and empowered brute jumped down into the area and roared at them, just like the ordinary brutes would do, but neither of them were intimidated by that, especially when the Stasis canisters that were laying around were strong enough to freeze the creature long enough for Isaac and Chrysalis to dismember both of it's arms and kill it... allowing Isaac to hack into the panel behind them while Chrysalis covered his rear, in case more foes showed up.

A few moments later, when Isaac finished hacking into the panel, he opened the circular door in front of them and they headed into the tunnel that brought them to a second circular door, which they expected since these types of doors were never built with one in an single place. From there they walked out onto a walkway that was open and had no railings between the building they had just come from and the one that they happened to be heading towards, which meant that they had to be careful as they crossed the gap. While they did that both of them noticed that there were more than one walkway like their's in the area, where they actually paused for a few seconds and watched some Necromorphs shuffle over the walkway that they were on, heading into the same building that Isaac and Chrysalis happened to be heading to, where the duo realized that maybe allowing the Necromorphs a straight path into the sector had been a bad idea... to which they sighed and walked through the door that was in front of them.

The walkway brought them to a room where they sold off what they didn't need at the store, purchased what they might need, and upgrade their weapons or RIGs with some Power Nodes if they wanted, before they accessed the elevator and rode it to their destination... though when it arrived, and they stepped out of the elevator, both Isaac and Chrysalis disengaged their helmets as they approached the glass in front of them, where they stared up at the massive Marker that was already pulsing with energy.

"Oh my god." Chrysalis said, as she had seen the size of the Red Marker of Aegis VII, and realized that the copies of the Black Marker had to have been the same size as the original Marker, but this was something different and seemed to be even stronger than the Aegis VII Marker, "Isaac... you helped build this?!"

"I... I guess so." Isaac replied, as he was having trouble accepting that he could have helped anyone build something on this scale, as this Marker was massive, before he glanced down into the area below them, at the base of the Titan Marker, and stared at all the Necromorphs that seemed to be worshiping the Marker, "Wh... what are they doing?"

"They're all coming to the Marker," the duo heard Nicole tell them, though this time around she didn't bother to make an appearance, as her voice alone seemed to be enough for the two of them, "Convergence is at hand..."

"Clarke!" a voice said, to which Tiedemann appeared on a video link, looking as pissed off as they had seen him earlier, which he called them idiots, though they stared at him and he continued speaking, "I knew that you, and your damned friend, were nothing but trouble from the start. But they told me that you, Clarke, were necessary. That your mind was the purest. I spent three years sifting through your demented brain, while your companion denied me at every turn. This wasn't the way this was supposed to happen!"

"Oh really?" Chrysalis asked, as she was getting rather annoyed with Tiedemann and hoped that something got rid of him soon enough, though whether that was her and Isaac or a Necromorph she didn't care, so long as he met his end she would be happy, "Then tell us, Tiedemann, how was this 'supposed to happen'?"

"We had it under control!" Tiedemann shouted, as if shouting would make things better for him and for everyone else that was still alive, if anyone else had actually survived the Necromorphs sweeping into this sector, "Clarke, Chrysalis, this isn't our fault! We were so close to understanding it!"

That was immediately followed by the Marker's energy surging to life as the air around it shifted all of a sudden, while at the same time the Necromorphs started to slowly fly into the air and started to gather at a single point, though based on what they were just told Isaac and Chrysalis knew what was coming... Convergence.

"What? It's all those bodies!" Tiedemann said, though this time his tone shifted to one of horror, as if he knew something that neither of them knew, but at the moment Chrysalis honestly didn't care what the director knew because she figured he'd never tell them everything, "All those bodies that you two let in here! It's triggered a Convergence event! But, we never... expected... this many bodies..."

As Tiedemann was cut off Nicole appeared once more and pulled Isaac towards the room that was off on their right, drawing him away from the scene that was playing before their eyes, and Chrysalis followed since she didn't like the sight of what was happening at the moment. When they entered the next room, however, Chrysalis' eyes widened as she gazed upon the NoonTech Diagnostic Machine, the very one Foster had tried to force her to use and had been unable to do so thanks to Wildfire manipulating the world around her. It was then that she understood the 'Steps' that Stross had been telling them about the entire time he had been alive, they were really the instructions on how to use the machine to gain the knowledge that the Marker implanted in their minds, meaning that Isaac literally possessed the key to destroying the Titan Marker inside his brain.

Even as she made the connection to the machine, and stared at it for a few seconds, Isaac seemed to recognize it as well, as he tapped a command and part of it retracted, though while all this happened he stared at the device as Nicole appeared near him.

"I remember this machine." Isaac stated, confirming Chrysalis' suspicions on the manner, though at the same time she walked over to the window and stared out at the bodies that were flying towards the top of the massive Marker, "This machine activates the parts of our brain where the Marker codes are stored. But how does that threaten the Marker? What could they be afraid of?"

"Me. Us. Working together." Nicole replied, as if it was the simplest answer in the world, and yet for some reason Chrysalis realized something about what she had said earlier, about Isaac being ready to finish this.

"Step Four." Isaac said, knowing exactly what the hallucination of Nicole was talking about, before he chuckled for a few seconds, as he recalled what Stross had done to Ellie and knew what he had to do next, "This is going to hurt."

Chrysalis turned away from the window for a moment and watched as Isaac climbed into the machine, where he laid down and the machine came to life, where it stated that Step One was Isaac crawling inside the machine, while Step Two was the screws go tight all around. It was at that point that Chrysalis looked away from the machine as it started the needle up and heard Isaac's moans a few moments later, when the needle reached it's destination and did what it was supposed to do. She then stood beside the machine as Isaac was allowed out, gently helping him back onto his feet as he stared at the area that was in front of the doorway to their left, where only he could see Nicole she guessed, before he was able to stand alone and he reengaged his helmet, which she did a few seconds later. That was followed by the auxiliary power coming online and powering the terminal next to the door, though as Isaac walked over to it Chrysalis heard the sounds of the Ubermorph and turned towards the vent on the other side of the room, which was where the creature came from and stared at them.

As Isaac hacked into the terminal Chrysalis opened fire on the Ubermorph and dismembered it's arms and legs, as she recalled that the Hunter had that type of weakness and needed a few seconds to regenerate it's missing limbs, though as it hit the ground she hurled a Stasis canister at it and slowed it down... giving Isaac the time to finish hacking into the terminal, before the two of them headed through the now unlocked door and left the Ubermorph behind.

The duo followed the path that was behind the door and turned the corner, finding an audio log that revealed that Tiedemann had launched an illegal evacuation when they were breached, no doubt to save what he could, but they paid little attention to it as they continued along the hallway and walked through another door. The short passage in front of them allowed the duo another glimpse of the massive Marker and what it was doing, before they entered a room with a slasher and the Ubermorph. As such the duo opened fire on their targets and made sure to use a Stasis charge on the true threat, though once that was done Isaac grabbed a nearby corpse and used it to bypass the security scan that was in front of them, allowing them to get further away from the Ubermorph. As they headed down the ramp that was in front of them they noticed that pukers were now coming in behind them and were firing their spit at the two of them, intending to slow them down so the larger Necromorph could get them, but Isaac and Chrysalis grabbed onto the projectiles with their Kinesis Module and magic respectively and hurled them back towards their owners.

After that they eventually reached what appeared to be a dead end, though since there happened to be a path on the right side of the hallway they decided to backtrack and found the Ubermorph waiting for them, but that was exactly what Chrysalis was hoping would happen. She and Isaac pulled the Necromorph away from the hallway they wanted to go down and dismembered it, though after they used a Stasis charge on it they headed down the path they had opened up, but that also required they take out three slashers and a swarm before they could reach the elevator that would take them down into the depths of the area they were in. The room the elevator brought them to had a panel they had to remove so they could smash a power tube that was locking the door, though as they did that the two of them discovered two infectors creating more Necromorphs, to which they headed inside the room and dismembered the creatures that were waiting for them before they could be hurt.

As they entered the room that the infectors had been in, and tried to relax for a few seconds, they heard a familiar growl and turned around, where they noticed the Ubermorph, with all it's limbs intact, started walking towards them, to which they quickly removed it's arms and legs again, before loosing another Stasis blast on it and headed through the circular door in front of them.

Fortune turned in their favor as they discovered a terminal that allowed them to turn off the gravity in this chamber, where they did so and kicked off the ground before flying through the air and left the Ubermorph in their dust, even though both of them knew that it would find them again soon enough. As they flew through the area they had to avoid the machines that were still working, and the ones that happened to be firing electricity at the other side of the wall from where they were resting, while at the same time taking out one of the nests that happened to be built in the area. Behind the nest rested the other terminal that controlled the gravity in the area, where they carefully landed near it, turned the gravity back on, and headed through the circular door in front of them, where Isaac suffered a bout of Marker influence for a few seconds before he calmed down.

When Isaac recovered from his episode, and Chrysalis once more wondered why she wasn't getting them anymore, the two of them headed through the door in front of them and turned down the path on their left, where they had to pass through yet another door and forced them to walk down the hallway until they arrived at an area that had a store and a Bench for them to use.

Isaac and Chrysalis ignored the two machines, since they were already well prepared for what was ahead of them, and continued through the door that was at the end of the walkway, though as they approached it Nicole informed the two of them that Convergence was almost there and that they were supposed to met her at the base of the Marker. On the other side of the door they found that the path forward meant that they had to go through some of the lower areas that surrounded the base of the Marker and that the Necromorphs definitely didn't want them to be here. Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on the undead creatures that were blocking their path and continued moving forward at the same time, where they ran into the Ubermorph once more. Chrysalis dismembered it immediately, allowing Isaac to Stasis it seconds later before they continued onward, where they opened fire on the other Necromorphs that were trying to stop them and blew them to pieces as they entered the building in front of them.

Of course as they entered the structure some slashers burst through the vents and tried to attack them like usual, but as that happened Chrysalis realized that they were trying to slow them down so the Ubermorph could kill them, so they mowed their way through their foes and headed out of the structure they were in.

From there they continued onward, where they fired at the Necromorphs that were trying to attack them and made sure to stall the Ubermorph when it appeared behind them again, before fleeing into the interior of the next structure that was along the path they were following. That contained another group of slashers that wanted to stall them, which they removed from existence while using Stasis on the foe that was constantly following them, and headed up the stairs that allowed them to leave the structure. From there they made their way to the next doorway and entered a chamber that contained a cargo lift, one that allowed them to head to the level above them, though as they rode it up to the next level Isaac found a text log from Tiedemann that detailed his decisions to do all of this, as he claimed that they needed the Markers to survive, though the duo still called him insane. When the lift came to a stop they turned towards the left and headed towards the door that was in front of them, where they already knew that their new foe was hunting for them and was waiting to ambush them.

As they walked through the door the Ubermorph dropped down into the area in front of them, where the duo opened fire on it and dismembered all of it's limbs before using another Stasis charge on it, to which they headed towards the door with a power tube blocking the way and smashed what was keeping the door sealed. Fortunately that opened the way for them to move forward and they had to smash another tube on the other side of the path, which opened another door that revealed a walkway that was opposite of the one that the lift was near. As they walked out they heard the familiar sound that they were growing annoyed with and turned towards the closed door for a few seconds, though as they opened it again they found their foe standing in the area, to which they dismembered it and used another Stasic charge on it, before heading through the door on their right and moved out into the area in front of them... which happened to be exactly where the route to the Marker's base was located, though they did nothing as the door closed behind them and seemed to trap the Ubermorph at last.

"Chrysalis, are you ready for this?" Isaac asked, because while he could see the light of Nicole off in the distance he could also see a dark creature standing next to her, one that he hated with a passion.

"No... I'll never be ready to face her," Chrysalis replied, as she knew that if she hadn't been tortured during her younger years she might have been able to do so, but with the power her mother commanded over her she had to test her luck and push forward, "Come on, let's do this."

Isaac nodded and stepped forward with Chrysalis by his side, as he was sure that the two of them would be able to overcome whatever final test this Marker sent their way before they eventually destroyed it... and he was confident that he could help Chrysalis finally put her demons to rest after a thousand years.

Sprawl: Revelation

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Isaac and Chrysalis waited for a few seconds before they braced themselves and headed over the walkway that was in front of them, where the base of the Titan Marker was located and knew that Nicole's path had come to an end, though she wasn't the only hallucination that was waiting for them. Queen Crudelis stood beside the light that Nicole was giving off with a smile on her face, meaning that there was something going on that they weren't aware of, something that the duo knew had the potential to be worse than whatever the Marker had planned. As the two of them stepped onto the area in front of the base of the Marker, however, they both noticed that the light coming from Nicole happened to be hiding someone else from their vision, as the moment the two of them reached their destination a javelin shot flew through the air and pierced Isaac's left shoulder, causing him to stagger for a moment as Chrysalis focused on what was happening.

"The research in that Marker is worth every life we just lost!" a familiar voice said, to which Tiedemann appeared in front of them, though the right half of his body appeared to be burned and charred from some sort of fire, though at the same time he reloaded the Javelin Gun that he happened to be carrying, "I won't let either of you throw this all away!"

"You should be prepared to 'throw it away'," Chrysalis replied, to which she switched to her bone blades and let her magic gather around her horn for a few seconds, where she latched onto Tiedemann and stopped him from completely reloading the weapon, "because this is where you meet your end."

Before Tiedemann could say anything Chrysalis yanked him through the air and swung her bone blades at him, where she hacked him apart and let the pieces fall to the ground behind her, as while she disliked Tiedemann, and could have killed him in the same manner as Kendra, they were stressed for time and this was the easiest way to kill him. Once she was sure that the Director was dead, and she was sure of that, she turned towards Isaac and helped him remove the javelin that was in his shoulder, where a large medpack healed the wound and restored his energy. The moment that task was taken care of, however, the duo turned towards the pair of hallucinations that were standing in front of them, as both of them were sure that something was wrong about this picture.

"Isaac... Chrysalis... you made it." Nicole said, to which she spread her arms for a moment, as if she expected one of them to walk up to her and rest their head again her, or something like that, "Thank you..."

Isaac and Chrysalis stared at Nicole as something unexpected happened, Crudelis stepped behind Nicole and her smile turned to the grin as she used her horn to pierce Nicole's back from behind, where all of them stared at what was happening in shock. Nicole, even though she was a hallucination, still had blood gathering around the area that Crudelis had pierced, though as few seconds later she ripped her horn out of Nicole's chest and shoved her into the ground that was on her right. Nicole hit the floor and stayed there for a few seconds, with the Marker still working like it was supposed to, before she glanced back and stared at Crudelis with a look of shock on her face, especially since Isaac had been sure that they had been on the same side the entire time.

"Traitor!" Nicole stated, to which her eyes flashed back to what they had been before Isaac had 'accepted' her and what he had been 'running away from', while at the same time the duo backed up a little, "How dare you betray us, especially with Convergence happening!"

"The Marker only needs one of us to complete it's task," Crudelis replied, to which her magic engaged and Chrysalis watched as her mother's magic wrapped around Nicole's neck like a noose, where she dragged her into the air and attached her to one of the outcrops of the structures around them, "You, my dear Nicole, were only necessary to bring Isaac and Chrysalis here... so I could complete my own task and bring this adventure to an end."

The duo watched as the hallucination that was Nicole actually hung from the area that Crudelis had attached her to and didn't even attempt to appear somewhere else, as if her Marker given abilities had disappeared all of a sudden, while at the same time Nicole struggled against the magical noose that was around her neck. Isaac and Chrysalis stood there as Crudelis enjoyed herself, as they had no idea what to do in this sort of situation, before the old queen pulled back and snapped Nicole's neck at last. Once that was done she released her hold on Nicole and let her body fall to the floor, though as it collided with the ground Isaac ran up to here, where he and Chrysalis watched as the body shattered into a thousand pieces that drifted into the air and disappeared. Isaac was shocked, because he figured that since Nicole was planning on using them he and Chrysalis would have to destroy Nicole and whatever trick she was going to play on them, effectively destroying the Marker as well... and yet now the only plan they had was out the window, as he knew that Chrysalis would have a hard time facing her mother in battle, as she was now the only thing standing between them and the Marker.

Chrysalis, however, braced herself and readied her Pulse Rifle, as she was sure that a battle would break out between them soon enough and she wanted to be sure that she was ready for it, while at the same time being glad that Isaac wasn't going to let her face her mother on her own, since he returned to her side and readied his Plasma Cutter.

"There's no need for silly toys anymore," Crudelis commented, to which her horn glowed for a second and both of their weapons were torn from their hands, where they went flying across the ground and landed right up against the Marker, meaning they would have to go through her to get them back, "Now then, onto the matter at hoof... or, as I guess you say it these days, the matter at hand. Convergence will still happen, even without Nicole here to finish you two off, and all I have to do is kill you, Isaac, and the mission will be a complete success."

"Kill me?" Isaac inquired, as this was starting to make less sense than it had been before he stabbed himself in the eye, though now he was forced to talk with Crudelis and get his answers from the one person he disliked, even if that person or pony was supposed to be dead, "What would killing me accomplish? And what about Chrysalis? Why haven't you said anything about her?"

"Oh my, so many questions for a soon to be dead man," Crudelis said, though she couldn't help but chuckle for a moment as she looked up at the Marker, as if it explained some of what was happening at the moment, before she turned and looked at them again, "Let me put it this way; the makers of the Markers must be absorbed for Convergence to be complete, and you just so happen to be the very last component for this Marker to complete it's mission, the last body it needs so it can be reborn. Nicole was hoping to wear your defenses down to the point where she could invade your mind, when you reached this point, and force you to kill yourself so Convergence could be complete, but I find that the direct method works best in most cases. Chrysalis, on the other hand, isn't necessary for Convergence and the Marker has agreed to spare her life, only so I can take the Black Marker to Equus and burn it to the ground with a new army that not even the most powerful beings can stand against... and then, when all is said and done, we will consume Equus and move onto the next part of the universe, until everything is made whole."

"As if I'd let you do any of this," Chrysalis replied, as she was shocked that her mother even thought that she would willingly allow her and the Markers to destroy Equus, especially since she had seen the error of her ways and wanted to make it up to those she had tried to conquer in the past, "I would rather die, and take you with me, than let a single Marker even reach Equus."

"Oh, but that was my plan from the beginning," Crudelis stated, though before she could say anything else Isaac charged at her and threw his fist at her, to which she simply moved out of the way and kicked him in the rear with her hind legs, knocking him to the floor for a moment, "My plan was to make you remember all the pain and misery you have repressed since my death, and I'm sure I've opened that box wide open at this point, and tear down your defenses so that, when you reached this area, I would be able to shatter your mind and obtain the perfect vessel for my own rebirth."

"Your insane!" Isaac declared, causing Crudelis to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time he stood up and faced the old changeling queen, the one that had hurt his friend too many times over the course of her long life and had called that pain back to the surface, "She's your daughter! What sort of mother are you, that you would openly declare that your goal was to shatter your daughter's mind, effectively killing her in the process, just so you can claim her body for your own stupid agenda?"

"You act like this weakling could even hope to lay a finger on me," Crudelis commented, to which her horn started to glow again, indicating that she was getting ready to do something and that the duo needed to be prepared for whatever that something was, "As my daughter she should be happy that I'm taking over her pitiful excuse for a life so I can correct some of the mistakes she has made over the last couple of years... and, to be sure that she complies with my demands, I have a few things that I must go through before I let Convergence finish."

Chrysalis growled and ignited her horn, ready to cast a spell and destroy her mother to the best of her ability, but before she could do anything metallic chains surged out of the shadows and wrapped around her arms and legs, where they pulled and prevented her from doing anything more than sit on her knees as she stared at her mother. There was also a shadowy figure that wrapped a sinister iron ring, one with a central core that looked like it was forged from the darkness, around her horn, which shocked her and prevented her magic from being used. She knew what this was, as it was one of the tortures she had endured over the years before her mother's death, though this was the one where her mother sealed her magic away from a magic suppressor ring, resting near the base of her horn, that shocked her whenever she attempted to use magic and prevented her from casting a single spell. Her mother designed this technique to torture unicorns for information, as well as inflict pain onto her body whenever she did something wrong, and she clearly remembered the number of times she had been sentenced to receive this punishment... which must have been a reason why her mother picked this one as the last one she forced her to remember.

"I was right about you, just like I was right when you were younger," Crudelis said, though as she stepped forward she threw a spell at Isaac and knocked him backwards, indicating that this was between her and Chrysalis, before she turned her full attention to her daughter, "Amaryllis was always stronger than you, in body, mind, and will, and yet she failed me in the same manner that you failed me... and, despite all that, she might have been the better choice to lead my empire, as you destroyed everything that I had made."

"Quit talking about Amaryllis like I should know who that is," Chrysalis growled, though at the same time she struggled against the chains that were holding her back, where she discovered that the chains were as touch as she remembered, meaning that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, "I don't know who Amaryllis is!"

"I see that you're still fighting the truth, despite my earlier attempts to free that knowledge," Crudelis replied, to which she stopped in front of Chrysalis and looked straight into her eyes, as if she was searching for something that only she could see, before her earlier smile reappeared, "I see... it appears that, when I sealed these memories all those years ago, I made the seals much stronger than I originally intended and they've been slowly weakening since my arrival. Well, since I know the trigger that will tear all the seals apart, and hit you with a massive surge of mind damage at the same time, I might as well get started."

As Crudelis' horn started to glow Chrysalis could feel her mother's magic penetrating her mental defenses like they were made of clay, before the terrible feeling that was running through her body morphed into pure pain as her mother surged into the depths of her memories, searching for something while not caring about the pain she was inflicting on her at the moment. It wasn't long before Crudelis appeared to find what she was searching for, a cluster of memories that Chrysalis could feel had been sealed away in the depths of her mind, where she would never think to look for them, but then her mother smiled as she twisted some sort of magical key and the cluster exploded. Memories started to rapidly fill the gaps that Chrysalis had seen and remembered, but could never figure out what they were supposed to mean, and a certain changeling continued to show up in what appeared to be every single one of them, appearing in the earliest days that Chrysalis could remember and went all the way to when she was finally turned sour towards the ponies that she had once considered friends.

Amaryllis appeared over and over again as the old memories resurfaced, where the memories Chrysalis had believed to be real shifted to include the new changeling that had been there the entire time, revealing that her mother had tampered with her memories. There were times where she and Amaryllis played together, read books in the hive's library as the guards watched over them, got into trouble and were punished accordingly, and so many other events that they shared that a new thought formed in Chrysalis' ravaged mind. A thought that became more true as the memories flowed back up to the surface and tears started to flow freely at this point, because the truth of what she had discovered was so painful that her weakened mind was already starting to crack, which had to be what her mother was after. When at last the final memory came to the surface, and carefully fit itself back into the position it had been stolen from all those years ago, Chrysalis remained where she had been resting and made no attempt to wipe her tears away.

"Now you know the truth." Crudelis said, to which she ripped her magic out of Chrysalis' mind, wrecking more havoc on her in the process, before she canceled out her magic for the moment, where she stared down at her daughter, "Go ahead and say it... who is Amaryllis?"

"Amaryllis... was... my older sister." Chrysalis replied, though that was when her pain turned to anger as she snapped her head up and looked at her mother with hatred in her eyes, where Crudelis didn't even flinch at the sight, while Isaac, who was watching all of this, was shocked by what he was seeing, "You... you... BITCH! How could you do that to one of your daughters? How could you take my sister away from me?!"

Isaac was shocked, as Chrysalis had never mentioned the fact that she also had a sister, but he then realized that Crudelis must have put an enchantment on her at some point to make her forget that, which fit in perfectly with her plan to crush Chrysalis' mind. He also realized that Amaryllis must have been what Chrysalis discovered the existence of back when they were messing with the Solar Array, back when she had denied his suggestion to talk about what had happened with her mother that time around. He could see that the metal walls that his friend had put up over the years, and no doubt maintained to the best of her ability, were crumbling and that there was nothing he could actually do to help her, not when Crudelis wanted him to stay out of this battle. Chrysalis was fighting a losing battle, Isaac could see that, and he hoped that his presence, in both reality and inside Chrysalis mind, would be enough to save his friend... so he started considering things he could say to help her out.

"Because she was a traitor for falling in love with that light gray coated unicorn," Crudelis stated, where Chrysalis remembered meeting the unicorn in question at one point, who had been an interesting pony to encounter since he wanted to be an explorer at some point, "she even declared that she was going to abandon the Hive and marry the fool at some point, so for the benefit of our kingdom I removed her and focused my efforts on you. Speaking of ponies you and Amaryllis shouldn't have dated, I have a surprise for you..."

As Crudelis let the sentence hang for a few seconds as the air to her left shifted, where Chrysalis' eyes widened as she realized what had happened to Wildfire, as the love of her life appeared next to her mother, bound in chains to prevent her from moving and laying on the floor. It appeared that she had tried to attack Crudelis several times since her capture, as there were more chains than what Chrysalis recalled her mother would use in this situation, though as Wildfire came into focus a weapon made out of energy appeared from Crudelis' magic... one that looked like an executioner's axe.

"Wildfire Comet," Crudelis said, to which Isaac watched as a headsman's block rose from the floor, no doubt crafted from the changeling's magic, and Wildfire was positioned so that her neck was exposed, where he immediately knew what was coming, though as he took a step forward chains wrapped around his feet as well, to ensure he didn't interfere, "for your crimes against the Hive, both as a living pony and as a spirit, I hereby sentence you to death. Have you anything to say before I end your life?"

"You mean besides 'go fuck yourself'?" Wildfire asked, using some of the words that she had picked up while she was helping Chrysalis avoid using the machine that Isaac had used earlier, before she turned away from the queen and faced Chrysalis, who instantly realized what was happening, "Chryssi... I love you."

"I know." Chrysalis said, where she let the tears flow without even trying to stop them, as she knew what was coming and the ring around her horn was preventing her from doing anything to save the one pony that had turned her life around and made it mean something, "Wildfire... I love you too."

As Wildfire smiled, and accepted her fate, Chrysalis watched as her mother raised the weapon she had summoned for a few seconds, before swinging it downwards in a motion that severed Wildfire's head from her body with a sickening sound that shattered what was left of Chrysalis' defenses. All she could do was watch as Wildifre's severed head rolled over to her and stopped near her, before both her head and body shattered into a thousand pieces and her spirit departed from the area, just like with Nicole. Isaac, on the other hand, watched as Chrysalis' weakened mind shattered and she fell to her knees, as the life that had been inside her eyes had been extinguished and he was sure that her acing heart had been broken into too many pieces for her to pick up, not after having seen the love of her life die in such a manner. His friend was gone, seemingly shattered beyond repair at this point, just as Crudelis had planned, but just thinking about that made him truly realize how horrible Chrysalis' life must have been with that as a parent... and realized that Chrysalis hadn't been brave for not thinking of killing herself to free her from the torment, but had been strong because a certain someone stepped in and stopped her.

He was sure that the real reason behind Chrysalis meeting Wildfire was because she had run away in an attempt to kill herself, which Wildfire stopped and managed to get her back on the path of living through the torment, but the pain of losing her again had shattered whatever had been left of Chrysalis' will... to which he growled as he turned towards the queen, who was staring at Chrysalis' still body.

"You heartless BITCH!" Isaac shouted, causing the queen to turn towards him, though at this point he cared less about himself and more about trying to fix Chrysalis, if such a thing was even possible at this point, "How could you do such a thing to your own daughter? I thought you changelings thrived on love, and yet all I've heard about you makes me think that you had a problem with your daughters actually thinking about the betterment of the Hive."

"Wildfire poisoned Chrysalis once before and I removed her to prevent disaster," Crudelis replied, though the only reason she was bothering to answer was because there was nothing Isaac could do to stop her, not when the only person capable of beating her was broken, "A thousand years ago I saw what was happening to my daughters and realized I had to take action, which was why I was forced to kill Amaryllis before she could carrying out her plan and I made sure to kill Wildfire in such a way that it pushed the blame onto the ponies that lived nearby. It's actually rather fitting that I be the one to kill Wildfire again, especially since I was the one that personally tortured, beat, and eventually killed her... and Chrysalis will never know, not with how broken her mind is."

"You truly are heartless." Isaac said, not believing what he was hearing, because this meant that Crudelis not only caused the death of Chrysalis' lover, but had also manipulated events to make her think the ponies she had been friends with had killed Wildfire, and that wasn't even counting her locking away all her memories of her own sister, "No mother would go so far as to inflict all this pain onto their children..."

"I did what I did for the future of the Hive," Crudelis stated, to which she turned away from her prize and started walking over to where Isaac was standing, while at the same time she frowned at the man, "Wildfire died once to fuel the fire for Chrysalis' hatred for ponies and to see them as a food source, and now that I'll killed her again there's no reason for my broken daughter to remain. My new Hive will conquer Equus, and the planets near it, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me."

Isaac was about to retort that someone would stop her, who he had no idea, but before he could say anything the area around them vibrated for a few seconds, though as he determined that it wasn't from the Marker, as Crudelis was surprised as well, he noticed that Chrysalis was starting to stand up again. As he stared at what was happening behind Crudelis, however, he watched as the chains vibrated and the ring around Chrysalis' horn cracked, meaning that something had changed in the last few minutes. Isaac wondered, for a few seconds, if there had been some part of Chrysalis' mind that had been listening to them as she slipped into the darkness and left reality behind, which meant that her mother mentioning that she was the one that killed Wildfire, a thousand years ago, was bringing all that anger and hatred back to the surface... and this time it would have a new target, one that was far more deserving of all the pain that had been inflicted on her over the years.

A few seconds later a wave of energy rushed out from where Chrysalis was standing and the chains, both the ones wrapped around her and those that had been wrapped around Isaac, shattered into a thousand pieces, before the ring flew apart in a number of directions as it fell apart as well... though that was followed by Chrysalis letting out a sorrowful scream as her body was consumed by a sphere of red energy that shook the area around them.

Crudelis and Isaac watched as the energy died down after a few seconds and the sphere broke apart, though as that happened, and they got to see Chrysalis again, Isaac's eyes widened for a moment as he laid eyes on his friend, as she was different than what she had been moments ago. As the energy cleared Isaac noticed that Chrysalis' skin color had shifted from the dark gray color it had been and had become nearly bone white, while her dark cerulean blue hair had become dark red colored. A few moments later the Advanced Suit came off, revealing the patient attire she had been wearing back when they first busted out of the hospital, and it was thrown off to the side, where it landed near Isaac, who noticed that, despite what was going on, the Necromorphs seemed to have been silenced, which couldn't be a good thing. He also noticed that Chrysalis' eyes had changed color as well, as her sclera had blackened and her irises had taken on a golden yellow color, making her look more akin to a monster than the person he had gotten to know.

"Well what do we have here?" Crudelis asked, though at the same time she moved away from Isaac and walked back to the front of the Marker, where she had been when all of this madness started, and smiled as she felt the energy in the air for a few seconds, "It seems that you finally unlocked whatever power you were given when you crossed through that mirror earlier... but not soon enough to save anyone you cared about."

Chrysalis remained standing there for a few seconds, not even bothering to make a reply, before she lifted her right hand and brought it close to her face, as if she was studying something and was more interested in it than who happened to be in front of her. A few seconds later, after some bits of what Isaac guessed was pure magic gathered around her hand, both of them watched as Chrysalis barely turned and waved her arm towards the wall on her far right, where the structure of the area cracked and buckled the moment her energy came into contact with it, even shattering in some places. Crudelis, however, smiled at the thought of commanding the power that Chrysalis was now using, though as she took a step forward Chrysalis turned towards her and roared, her power causing the entire area to shake for a few seconds.

"I see that you have lost the ability to comprehend what I am saying," Crudelis said, to which she sighed as she started to gather her magic in her horn once more, where Isaac watched as a sphere of dark green energy formed above the tip of her crooked horn, "Oh well, that hardly matters that this point."

What Crudelis wasn't expecting, and caught Isaac off guard as well, was the fact that Chrysalis held her right hand out and pointed her pointer finger at her mother, where both Isaac and Crudelis watched as strands of energy came into existence and started gathering into a sphere of red energy that rested above her finger. Not a few moments later Isaac was forced to move backwards as the two magic users released the spells they had been preparing, both beam style attacks apparently, which collided with each other in the middle of the area between them, causing an explosion that rocked the area they had been standing in and kicked up a large amount of smoke in the process. He could immediately tell that Chrysalis' attack had been stronger, as it had forced Crudelis' attack back and devoured it whole, while at the same time the old queen had been forced into the air above where he was standing, though he was shocked by the crater that rested where the attacks had collided, and that included the missing portion of the Marker that had been in the area.

Impossible! Crudelis thought, staring at the pillar of fire and smoke that was resting where her attack had collided with her daughter's, though even as she stared she refused to accept what had happened, Her attack was exactly the same as the one I used, only her's was somehow more powerful than my own. I knew that going through the mirror would have increased her magical power, to a point where the princesses would fear her, but I was not expecting her to gain the power to overcome me at the same time!

While Crudelis was thinking about what had happened she failed to account for where her daughter was, though when Chrysalis flashed into an area, one that gave her a direct line of sight with her mother, she immediately began charging another sphere in front of her pointer finger... to which Crudelis growled in annoyance as her magic started to gather around her again.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!" Crudelis shouted, to which her horn glowed as she faced her daughter, allowing another sphere to form at the tip of her horn, indicating that she was going to do the same thing that Chrysalis was planning on doing.

A few seconds later their attacks collided in the air between them and Crudelis watched as her attack was, once again, overpowered by the sheer power that her daughter was bringing to bare against her, though as she appeared above the new cloud of smoke, however, something unexpected happened. Chrysalis appeared behind her and caused her to rapidly turn around, causing Crudelis to swing her left foreleg towards her daughter, who caught the outstretched hoof that was coming her way, only for one of her bone blades to come to her a few seconds later. Before Crudelis could react her daughter caught the blade with her right hand and brought it downwards, severing Crudelis' leg before and causing a look of shock to appear on her face. That was followed by her being knocked out of the air, struck by her own severed limb no less, and collided with one of the rooms that was around them, though as that happened Chrysalis roared once more, her voice sounding more like a monster's than a person feeling pain... causing Isaac to be concerned for his friend, while also silently cheering for her to finish off her mother.

Crudelis, on the other hand, moaned as she accessed her own Marker given abilities and regenerated her missing limb, though once the leg was back where it belonged, and she was sure that it was working properly, she stared up at the creature her daughter had become and decided that it was time for her to stop playing around.

"Now that I have the ability to regenerate, a blessing from the Marker, you'll never be able to defeat me," Crudelis said, where she noticed that Chrysalis seemed to be standing still and was looking down at her, to which she sighed as she drew in her magic once more, this time in a different fashion, "but, since you want to fight me, then I guess it's time I showed you how strong I really am."

Crudelis followed that up by allowing her arcane energy to form a dark green javelin, one of the weapons she had her guards carry into battle when she was in command of the Hive, and let the energy roll off the weapon, as she had only used this attack against three of the most stubborn queens she had to kill to command all of her kind. This attack was dangerous, it was deadly, and it could potentially ruin a good chunk of the area if she wasn't careful, but at the moment the Marker was still working and she could afford to damage it a little more. She spun the weapon, nicknamed the Javelin of Thunder by those who had witnessed it in action, around for a moment before hurling it towards Chrysalis, knowing that the explosive charge that it contained would be enough to take her daughter out. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for Chrysalis to remain where she was standing as the javelin actually missed it's intended target, where it sailed into the wall and detonated it's payload, tearing a good hole into the structure that was supporting the entire building... but Crudelis knew that a few more attacks like that would bring the whole building down, which she wasn't concerned about.

As Crudelis found it amusing that the javelin missed, as she never did that while she was alive, she started to form a second one, as she could actually use three of these when she was alive and was sure she could use more now that the Marker was on her side, but as that happened Chrysalis vanished. Not even a second later she reappeared behind Crudelis, who carefully turned around in shock the moment she realized where her daughter went, before even thinking about how fast she could have become. That was followed by Chrysalis swinging her right arm, as well as the bone blade, and used the force to knock Crudelis backwards, though as she regained herself Crudelis noticed that her daughter had moved towards the ceiling and was standing in the middle of the Marker's peak, where the tips of the two spires were close to each other, and she flared her wings as she flew towards her target. Along the way, however, Chrysalis vanished and appeared alongside her mother, where she grabbed onto Crudelis' head and slammed it against the side of the Marker, breaking a small part of the Marker while damaging her mother in the process... before swinging her bone blade down on top of her and shattered a small portion of the massive construct.

The pair moved through the air, where Chrysalis slammed her mother into the Marker when Crudelis tried to charge another sphere up, causing the discharge to blast more pieces of the Marker off, before Crudelis appeared on the floor nearby and Chrysalis remained high in the air. That was followed by Chrysalis lifting a chunk of the Marker, broken free thanks to her mother's shattered attack, before hurling it down to where Crudelis was standing, who used the second javelin she had created to shatter the fragment that was thrown at her. It quickly became apparent that Chrysalis wanted her mother to do that, as it distracted her long enough for Chrysalis to slip through the smoke and pieces so she could attack Crudelis from below, who dodged the incoming attack, that nearly hit her, and jumped back. Crudelis then planned on using the javelin to wound her daughter, though as she went through the motions Chrysalis flashed in front of her and grabbed onto the tip with her bare hand... shattering the entire weapon before cutting a long gash into her body, causing Crudelis to cough as she fell back onto the floor behind her.

Isaac was amazed by what he was seeing, because he had never seen Chrysalis work such power before, which had allowed her to defeat her mother, though he remained silent as he waited for the conclusion of the fight, even though he had a feeling he knew who was going to win.

"So, you've 'won' this fight," Crudelis mocked, revealing that she still had a trick that was waiting to be used, something that Isaac didn't like the sound of, though while all this happened Crudelis' horn started to glow, "tell me, Chrysalis, what are you going to do..."

Crudelis didn't get to finish her statement as Chrysalis lowered her left hand and gripped her horn, where Isaac watched as Chrysalis snapped it in half and canceled out whatever spell Crudelis had been preparing, before she drove the tip of the crooked horn into her mother's heart. Crudelis gasped in pain as her own horn pierced her heart, and coughed up blood in the process, before Chrysalis started pouring her hate, her pain, and all of the emotions that she felt whenever she was being tormented by her mother into the horn. Isaac watched as cracks started to appear on Crudelis' body, spreading out from where her horn had been driven into her body, and he could tell that she was in pain the instant she started screaming, indicating that Chrysalis might have transferred her own pain to her mother. Chrysalis stayed that way for a few moments, letting her mother feel what she had been through and watched the cracks spread out, before picking her mother off of the floor and hurled her into the air... where Crudelis screamed one last time before her body detonated under the force of Chrysalis' new power, consuming her in an explosion that rocked the entire chamber.

A few seconds ticked by before Isaac realized that Chrysalis had, in her rage filled mind, destroyed her mother is a violent display of power, hopefully making it so that Crudelis never came back, before he heard Chrysalis growl again, making him worry that something terrible had happened to her... though his focus changed the moment the Convergence stopped and the Marker lost all of it's power, revealing that Crudelis had been right about her being linked to the massive Marker, causing him to smile as the area started to fall apart at last. That smile then faded when he heard an announcement that the reactor containment had destabilized and that a breach was imminent, meaning that this entire place was going to blow... and with the only ship that could have gotten them out of here was long gone by now.

"You complete bastard." a voice said, to which Isaac looked up and found that his video link was open, and that Ellie, of all people, was now staring at him with an angry look in her eye, "Was this your grand plan? Dump me off at the first available ship and then 'sacrifice' yourselves?"

"I said we were full of bad ideas, remember?" Isaac replied, though at the same time the creature his friend had become moved over to where her Advanced Suit was resting and seemed to put it back on before sheathing her bone blade, and then somehow found both of their weapons, "Though the reality of the situation was more than any terrible plan I could have come up with."

"Yeah, well, you two must have rubbed off on me," Ellie stated, where Isaac could see her inputting some commands on the terminal that she was sitting near, to which he wondered what Ellie could be doing at the moment, "because I'm going to crash through the roof to get you two. Now move your asses."

Isaac and Chrysalis looked up at the roof of the building they were in and watched as part of it collapsed, where the gunship they sent Ellie off in flew through the hole that had been created and circled around the area that they happened to be standing in. The consequence of the roof being wrecked in such a manner was that the entire chamber depressurized and the gravity had been knocked offline, to which both of them were thrown into the air, causing Isaac to turn on his thrusters as he flew at the gunship. Chrysalis, on the other hand, flew behind him and made sure that he didn't get hurt by the pieces of the Marker or the chamber itself that happened to be flying in the air between them and the gunship. When the two of them reached the side of the ship, after circling the Marker twice, the duo found Ellie standing by the side door and was holding her hand out for one of them to take, where Chrysalis made sure that Isaac was the one that helped Isaac onto the gunship... though as Ellie pulled Isaac into the ship, and touched the wall opposite the door, Chrysalis landed in the doorway and stared down at the Government Sector.

Isaac and Ellie watched as Chrysalis held her right hand out towards the building they had left behind and gathered her energy for a few seconds, before she growled and released a beam of energy that had to have struck the Marker... though as the door closed, and Ellie returned to the cockpit, Isaac got a front row seat to the destruction of the Government Sector and the massive Marker that had been contained inside it.

A few seconds later Chrysalis huffed and walked over to one of the benches that was long enough to classify as a bed for one person, where Isaac noticed that she put her bone blades and Pulse Rifle in the weapon holder, before laying on the bench and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. He then noticed that whatever spell had been placed on his friend seemed to shatter, as her skin and hair colors reverted back to what they had been before her extreme transformation, though as he took that in he spotted that her eyes had returned to normal as well. Chrysalis then rolled to the side and stared at the wall, instead of facing him, and he could have sworn that he heard the sounds of his friend crying, but this time around there was nothing he could do to comfort her. Chrysalis had just learned so many horrible things today, and witnessed what was possibly the permanent death of Wildfire, and he knew that she needed time to come to terms with what she had discovered... to which he sighed and headed to the spare pilot seat that was next to Ellie.

"How is she?" Ellie asked, revealing that she must have known more about Chrysalis' situation than Isaac originally knew, but right now Isaac didn't care how she knew about his friend's terrible past, not after everything they had just gone through on the Sprawl.

"Honestly, I don't know." Isaac replied, as emotional magic creatures, that could become monsters in such a manner when their hearts and minds were fractured, was something he had no experience in, "Chrysalis needs time to come to terms with what she's discovered... and it's possible that she'll never fully recover from the torment she has endured. Our best course of action is to find someplace where we can lay low until EarthGov and the Unitologists forget about us, and then we can build a real future without being hunted all the time."

He wasn't sure what the future held at the moment, not after what he and Chrysalis had suffered through when they finished with the Red Marker of Aegis VII, but with the Titan Marker destroyed he was sure that the three of them could find someplace to lay low until their lives returned to normal... and yet he knew that he and Chrysalis would never have their old lives back, and that it was only a matter of time until they were forced to take action again.

Interlude: Recovery

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Chrysalis had no idea how much time had passed since she and Isaac had found the Titan Marker, finished off Tiedemann, and witnessed the death of the hallucination that had been Nicole, before things went completely sideways once her mother took control of things. She did not care how much time had gone by since the gunship that she was in, the same that they sent Ellie off in and later used to pick them up, had left the Titan Station behind, not when her emotions were a mess and her mind was tormented by truths she didn't want to know. Thanks to her mother she had the notion that, for a little over a thousand years, she was an only child and never had any other siblings, but now her memories were telling her that she once had an older sister, born five minutes ahead of her. That was why she and Amaryllis looked so similar, save for their hair and mane styles at the time, because they were twin sisters and only their mother could really tell them apart, which didn't save them when she wanted to punish one of them.

Her heart ached when she thought about the sister that she had once known, then forgot about thanks to her mother's influence, and then was forced to remember all of it in a flash of energy that was designed to shatter her mind... and the second death of Wildfire, which came after her sister coming back, had been enough to break her mind, where she would have stayed had her mother not revealed the sickening truth behind Wildfire's first death.

Chrysalis remembered the pain, anger, hatred, and other emotions that had given rise to new power she had called upon, giving her exactly what she wanted when she first entered the crystal mirror, and yet now, after all the pain and suffering she had been forced to endure once more, she realized something important. She had realized that she no longer cared about the power to topple Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the other alicorns that watched over Equestria, nor did she care about even attempting to conquer them now, which was mostly due to the fact that the other ponies had to be as strong as she was, maybe even stronger. Hell, she didn't even want to head back to the Hive and ask Thorax for some sort of position, she just wanted to lay there and do nothing but cry, because she wasn't strong enough to overcome the pain in her aching heart... just like she couldn't handle it a thousand years ago, back when she was still a princess, and needed someone to save her from herself.

"Okay, I've set our course for the nearest ShockRing," Ellie said, to which she pulled herself out of the chair she had been sitting in for the last few minutes and walked out of the cockpit area, while at the same time Chrysalis heard the sound of Isaac doing the same thing, "it will take an hour, maybe a little more, before we reach it. Once we've reached the ShockRing we'll travel through ShockSpace and de-shock near the New Horizons Lunar Colony, where we should be able to blend in and disappear."

"That's a great idea," Isaac spoke up, though as he did that he realized how tired he actually was, especially since he had to go through a lot of effort, both physical and mental, to overcome the Marker and the Necromorphs that they had fought against, before turning his attention to their other friend, "Chrysalis... are you awake? If so, do you want to take about what happened back there?"

"Isaac, I'd rather not talk about what I've learned," Chrysalis replied, though as she considered what she knew, and what knowledge had been delivered to her who knew how long ago, she sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position and stared at both Isaac and Ellie as they sat across from her, "but, well, I guess I might as well, seeing how it's either talk or pretend to be asleep... and sleeping will only make me relive some of the memories that I've been given."

Isaac figured that Chrysalis would want to talk about what happened, because her entire world had been shattered by what her mother had done to her and the majority of the childhood that she remembered was wrong now, because there was someone else there that had been reintroduced. He was glad that Ellie had put the gunship on autopilot and was keeping an eye on things, as at any moment they might be forced to change from relaxing to battle if any of Tiedemann's forces had survived the destruction of the Titan Station. Ellie also found some supplies in the back part of the ship and distributed them to Isaac and Chrysalis, where Isaac noticed that Chrysalis seemed to stare at the water bottle that was being offered to her for a few seconds before she took it, along with the protein bar that Ellie handed her. Before Chrysalis said anything she put the food items down before removing her armor, indicating that she didn't want to wear it at the moment, and set it off to the side for now... before she returned to where she had been sitting and took a few sips of water, since she hadn't had anything since she and Isaac escaped the hospital.

Ellie stopped Chrysalis before she could say anything, mostly because she had taken one of the dry towels that had been stored in the gunship and carefully rubbed her face, removing what she could from where Chrysalis had been crying, before she sat beside Isaac and nodded her head.

"Isaac, Ellie, for the longest time I thought that I was an only child," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she raised her arm and wiped the tears from her eyes, especially since she had barely said anything and she was already heading back to what she had been doing earlier, "expect for the last thousand years I've known that there were holes in my memories, as if someone else was present in all my early years and was removed for some reason. Even after my mother, the dreaded Queen Crudelis, was dead I was never unable to figure out why my memories were so full of holes and why someone was missing, until I eventually focused on my Hive and stopped worrying about myself. I spent the next thousand years ignoring my past, trying to convince myself that it was a horrible dream and that none of it had happened, but now that illusion has been shattered... and I've figured out who had been ripped from my memories; my sister."

"You mentioned her earlier, as your older sister," Isaac commented, remembering what Chrysalis had declared after her mother revealed part of the past to her, while causing an intense level of pain to her in the process, "she must have been important enough in some manner for your mother to inflict that much damage on you."

"Amaryllis was a caring and loving older sister," Chrysalis replied, where a smile appeared on her face, because the only good thing that came from remembering these memories was that she remembered that there was another pony that had cared for her, until her terrible end, "despite being only a few minutes older than me we did almost everything together, like playing games, reading books, and exploring the Hive whenever we were allowed to. When the beatings started she always tended to my wounds first, putting my needs above her own, and occasionally we would both escape from the Hive to study the ponies that were living nearby. Our mother always told us that we weren't supposed to interact with the ponies and weren't supposed to develop any relationships, as we were told to put the Hive first, and eventually we both found someone that truly made the pain go away... Amaryllis found a caring unicorn stallion who loved to explore ancient ruins, study powerful artifacts, and found her to be an amazing individual."

"And you found Wildfire," Ellie spoke up, remembering what she had been told by Isaac, what she had heard from the audio link that Isaac had no idea she had established, and what she could piece together on her own, "who made the pain go away, as if it never existed."

"Yeah, though the truth of the matter is that I didn't really seek her out to get back at my mother," Chrysalis said, to which she looked down at the weapon holder that was nearby and stared at one of the bone blades that had survived everything the Sprawl could throw at them, "The truth of how we first met was because shortly after Amaryllis and I turned sixteen, which was the same year that Amaryllis announced her intentions to leave the Hive and marry her true love, disaster struck. My mother killed my caring sister, all because she believed that Amaryllis was a 'traitor', and locked away all my memories of her, leaving me with a pain I could never truly place and made me think that I was an only child, the heir to the throne as it were. The beatings following my sister's death were more intense than those that came before it, eventually causing me to flee from the Hive with one of the weapons I had stolen from the armory, a bladed one that would put me out of my misery."

It was in that moment that Isaac realized that his earlier suspicions about the meeting between Chrysalis and Wildfire had been proven right, as Chrysalis originally wanted to kill herself to relieve herself of the pain that she was going through every single day... and the only reason she stopped was because of the one pony that gave Chrysalis a taste of what friendship truly was, and then something even more; love.

"I traveled to a lake, far enough away from the Hive so that the guards wouldn't feel my passing immediately," Chrysalis continued, not even bothering to take a sip of water or anything, revealing that she was so focused on the story that she didn't even care about herself anymore, "there I stared at my reflection for a few minutes and wondered if my mother would even care if I was gone, or if she would find someone to replace me in the future. Eventually I prepared myself and readied the stolen blade that I had taken with me, as I was determined to leave that pain filled world behind and I used my magic to slowly move the sword towards my chest. However, before the blade could reach it's target, a pegasus landed nearby and tackled me to the ground, preventing me from ending my pitiful life... and that pegasus happened to be Wildfire, who demanded to know who I was, what I was, and why was I so bent on killing myself. I told her everything, the whole truth, and I could tell that the parts about the changelings interested her, while the parts about my beatings sickened her.

Originally I did all of that just to get back at my mother for all the pain she had caused me, even if I wasn't aware of all of it at that point, and yet despite all of that happening she took me to her small cottage, locked the sword in a chest for some time, and tended to the wounds my mother had inflicted upon me that day, before letting me spend the night in her own home. Instead of heading back home when morning arrived, or going anywhere else to escape my mother, I did my best to remove myself from the hive mind, which was hard for me to do since I was inexperienced at the time, and I started wearing the form of a light blue coated pegasus to blend in. I stayed with her for half a year, somehow avoiding my mother's detection at the same time, and formed a unique bond with Wildfire that I've never been able to repeat, only for one of my mother's guards to find me one day and dragged me back to the Hive... and that meant that I was run out of the village Wildfire lived in by 'ponies', as I'm now convinced that my mother staged that as well. Just like she staged Wildfire's death, to make it seem like the ponies that ruled Equestria were to blame for everything, and I, mad at the world when I found Wildfire's body, went along with it.

Now that I've been forced to relive everything, and remember a sister that I had forgotten about, there's only one thing I should do at this point... finish what I started a thousand years ago."

Before Isaac or Ellie could even say anything, or even have a chance to think about what she was saying, Chrysalis lifted one of the bone blades with her magic and let it levitate over to her, lining up perfectly with where her heart was resting, though as the two of them started to move, however, something odd happened... another aura wrapped around the blade and stopped it from moving.

"That's enough!" a voice declared, though as Isaac and Ellie looked around they both noticed that there was a look of shock on Chrysalis' face, but instead of it being the bad type of shock, like Crudelis appearing again, it was the good type, as she seemed happy for some reason.

Isaac watched as a hallucination, for that was what it had to be, appeared near the backside of the gunship, where Ellie found the food items, though now a new person stood there, or rather a new changeling that looked younger than both Crudelis and Chrysalis. The newcomer gently used her magic to remove the weapon that Chrysalis had picked up and made sure that the other bone blade and the Pulse Rifle were far away from her, in case she tried anything funny, before she walked up to where Chrysalis was sitting and came to a stop when she reached her target. As Isaac watched all of this he noticed that Ellie was looking at the sight in shock, indicating that, despite the fact that the Titan Marker didn't seem to work on her mind at all, she could see what was happening before her, and that it worried her a little bit. Isaac, on the other hand, realized who was sharing the space with them now and knew, based on what Chrysalis had said, that the newcomer was just the person his friend needed at the moment.

"A... Amaryllis?!" Chrysalis asked, her voice almost pleading, revealing that she wanted this to be real, even if it meant that her sanity had finally snapped, while at the same time neither Isaac or Ellie said anything as they watched the two sisters stare at each other for a few seconds, "Is... is that really you?"

"Of course." the changeling, Amaryllis, replied, though at the same time she sat down near Chrysalis, while at the same time Isaac could tell that there was a concerned look on her face, "Chrysalis, what happened to you since my death? What caused my strong willed sister to even consider killing herself?"

Chrysalis, instead of replying, removed herself from where she was sitting and wrapped her arms around her sister's neck, reminding Isaac that some of the Marker's hallucinations were able to interact with the real world, especially since his friend had been kissed by Wildfire back on the Ishimura. Instead of sticking around Isaac let out a sigh of relief as he and Ellie returned to the cockpit, allowing Chrysalis to have some alone time with her sister, who moved Chrysalis to the back portion of the ship and levitated the three weapons back to the middle of the ship, once more to prevent her sister from doing something she would regret. Upon reaching the cockpit Isaac turned around and noticed that, despite all the horrors and painful memories she had been forced to endure lately, Chrysalis was looking slightly better than she was a few minutes ago, when she was getting ready to kill herself in front of them... and he knew just who to thank for keeping his friend safe from harm.

Ellie, on the other hand, was still shocked by what they were seeing and could only stare at Chrysalis as she made contact with the hallucination, spoke with it, and acted like it really was her long dead sister... while Amaryllis sat there and listened to her younger sister as she explained everything, and she meant everything, to her caring older sister.

"Isaac, is this normal?" Ellie asked, though she did so the moment she was back in the cockpit area of the gunship, allowing her to observe their course and glance back at Chrysalis whenever she desired.

"Nothing is normal when the Markers are involved." Isaac replied, to which he glanced up for a moment and smiled, as it seemed that just by having the spirit of her sister back, who had helped her back when she was growing up and had mended her wounds first, had lightened Chrysalis' mood a little, "but, since we're talking about a magical shapeshifter, I think normal for us is different than what is normal for her. So far I've seen three spirits from Chrysalis' past and all three of them have acted differently than what Nicole did, as Wildfire essentially turned against the Markers and fought the Necromorphs, Crudelis decided to use the Markers for her own personal mission, and Amaryllis... well, she came back to be the guardian angel she had been when she was alive, to help Chrysalis when she truly needed help.

Ellie, at this point all we can do is watch and pray that Amaryllis helps Chrysalis recover from her ordeals, because she deserves more than what fate has given her... she deserves a more normal existence, if such a thing is even possible for someone like her."

Ellie sighed and determined that she wasn't in the mood to be messing around with things that she knew nothing about, that being the Marker and the magic that was flowing through Chrysalis' veins, before she focused on the fact that they were nearing the ShockRing and readied the gunship accordingly. A few moments later their drive activated and they slipped into ShockSpace, where they began the journey to the ShockRing near the New Lunar Horizons Colony, which was where they could lay low until they figured out what to do next.

It took them some time to reach the end of ShockSpace, giving Ellie, Isaac, and Chrysalis some time to rest and recover from their ordeals, especially Chrysalis since her mind was strained from what had happened, though when they arrived at their destination Ellie eased them out of ShockSpace and revealed where they were. In front of Chrysalis rested a planet that reminded her of what she read about Earth, back when she was traveling to the Ishimura, and that information caused her to turn towards the moon that was resting nearby, what the humans referred to as Luna. Ellie said that this was the last place the Unitologists or EarthGov would think to look for them, meaning that the three of them could lay low for a few months before they started to live a normal life, or as normal as they could considering what they had been through. Isaac felt that it was a good idea, as neither group could consider coming here to look for him and what he knew, but even as they descended towards the docking area he looked off into the distance and spotted a large building that reminded him of the one they had found the Titan Marker in... and he seriously hoped that there wasn't a Marker on Luna, otherwise things would be bad real fast once it was activated.

When they reached the docking area Ellie was the first to climb out and Isaac followed after her, though Chrysalis actually made sure to disguise herself as a generic female soldier, just in case someone stopped them, and followed her friends off the gunship, while at the same time the spirit of her sister followed behind them.

Isaac knew that Ellie would never admit to it, but he felt much safer having a spirit watching over them, as Amaryllis could easily scout an area they were thinking of heading into and warn them of any potential threats that might be waiting for them, just to keep her sister safe. He knew that the reason she hadn't left, after listening to Chrysalis' abridged version of a thousand years without her sister and the pain she was forced to relive, was because someone needed to anchor Chrysalis to reality, and that someone had originally been Wildfire. With the spirit of her lover gone, for real this time, he was sure that his friend was feeling lonelier than usual, which had to be why Amaryllis was sticking around, so that way a face from her past would help her overcome the turmoil she was in and prevent her from attempting to take her own life, something that Chrysalis assured Isaac and Ellie that she wasn't thinking about anymore. Isaac, not buying that for a moment, had glanced over to the spirit that was following Chrysalis, who nodded behind her back, and knew that his friend was safe if such a thing started to happen again.

The very first thing they did, after docking and leaving the gunship behind, was Ellie setting up a new account, under a name and identity that Chrysalis created on their way here, and carefully made it so that Isaac's credits were all transferred to the new account, minus whatever had to be used for the bills that hadn't been paid. After that Ellie found someone that wanted to buy the gunship from them, as the merchant came to them and offered them a rather decent amount of credits for it, and soon the stolen gunship was no longer in their possession, which was for the best considering they wanted to disappear. From there it was a simple matter to move themselves deeper into the city and to an area that contained the apartments they were looking for, where they were able to secure a two bedroom and one bathroom apartment with the new funds they had acquired. It was there that the three of them settled into their new home, in the Red Moon Apartments, and considered what they could do now that they were free from the factions that wanted them dead, though the first thing Chrysalis said they should do is spend a few of their credits on food and other supplies they needed for their home... as well as finding a place to get Ellie an artificial eye to replace the one that had been taken by Stross, which was easier than they thought it would be, but purchased one and put it in while they were shopping.

After they went shopping, where they also picked up some normal clothing so they didn't stick out like a sore thumb, Isaac inquired as to why Chrysalis had picked the name 'Rebecca Sparkle' for the form she was wearing when she was disguised, which was an unassuming librarian if anyone were to look at her. Chrysalis replied that she intended to open a shop of some kind, to give the illusion that someone actually lived inside the apartment they had taken and stayed there when they weren't working, though it was going to be a small shop so she didn't waste their funds on something else. There was the other thing that none of them wanted to talk about, the fact that there might be another Marker in this colony, but she intended on being as ready as possible and wanted a few days of rest before she really attempted to do anything that would result in gaining the attention of Unitologists or EarthGov.

While Chrysalis worked on the store, a small mystic type store that sold things that were sold on Earth, she let Isaac and Ellie grow closer together, as while she wasn't Cadence, who seemed to have a natural affinity for finding out who loved who and that sort of thing, she could tell that they were falling for each other and gave them some alone time. It seemed to work out, because not a week after their arrival the duo went out into the city and enjoyed themselves, while lamenting that her only chance to find love again was back home, on Equus, and she was likely never to have the chance to go back. Sure, Discord had told her that he would come when she was ready, but she didn't feel ready, not when she was sure that there was another adventure to be had... and she was sure that, even if she called for Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony would ignore her because she turned down his offer to take her back home, back when she and Isaac were being taken to the Titan Station.

The three of them were sure that they would be called to action once more, especially since the Unitologists were still at large, and they made sure to keep themselves hidden, but they knew that it was only a matter of time until their fates changed on them and they were called upon to save the day again... they only had to be patient and wait for that change to come their way.

Interlude: Time Passes

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Chrysalis found that, as the days ticked by, Ellie and Isaac seemed to be perfect for each other, just like she originally thought she and Wildfire were perfect for each other, and occasionally took some time off from her little store, which was easier when the store wasn't fully ready. When they weren't out dating, or trying to find low level jobs to keep themselves hidden, Ellie eventually asked Isaac about his past and what he was trying to bury, though while it was clear that Isaac was a little reluctant to speak of the past, and who he had lost, he had seen what happened to Chrysalis and opened up. Ellie listened to Isaac and helped him through his ordeal, of having to remember Nicole and the fact that she was gone, but she was surprised, and pleased at the same time, to find that he was strong enough to face his past and not let it rule his life. She knew that Chrysalis and her ordeals had helped Isaac face his own demons, she was positive of that, and it helped to strengthen their bonds, which pleased Chrysalis to no end.

At the same time, however, Ellie made it her mission to help Chrysalis overcome her own demons, what little of them remained anyway, and the spirit of Amaryllis came forward every time they did so, as speaking of the past, in Chrysalis' case, was extremely painful, even when they didn't discuss the old queen. The one thing that Chrysalis had been hoping for, when she eventually had her own child and was able to pass on the Hive to them when they matured, was that she was remembered as a caring queen that did everything in her power to support her Hove, but she was sure that they would actually remember her as a warmonger. She could only blame her mother for enforcing that lifestyle on her, and herself for accepting that fate so easily, but there was no changing the past, not unless she was willing to find a time spell that would let her go back and do something about Crudelis' vile torture... but that, in itself, was something she shelved and forgot about, since that would have untold consequences for the future that she didn't even want to think about.

Chrysalis found that, while she wasn't undergoing therapy with Ellie and Isaac, she did gain some customers for her little shop and sold some of the items that she had imported to the warehouse that was attached to her store, though some of those customers she noticed were Unitologists and she smiled at them to let them know she wasn't a threat. She had quickly discovered that by acting like Twilight Sparkle, back when she was a simple librarian and not a princess, she actually made herself less of a target in the eyes of the Unitologists and more a person they might try to covert, but thankfully a quick hypnosis spell, to make them forget their intentions to convert her, and a memory wipe spell of the time they were missing was enough to stop that from happening. They still came back every now and then, to actually buy something from her, but it was always the red candles that she knew they used in their ceremonies, but she said nothing as she took their credits and let them leave with what they had purchased.

In addition to spending some time at the shop she also spent a good portion of her time meditating, as Ellie said it would help calm her down, though that also gave Amaryllis an excuse to appear in Chrysalis' mindscape so they could freely practice honing Chrysalis' new powers without blowing up part of the moon in the process. The first thing that Amaryllis had her sister do was attempt to fight the creature, the very monster she had became when she battled her mother, and she instantly found that she wasn't up to the task. Amaryllis had been expecting this and planned for such an event happening, as she started teaching Chrysalis the more basic magical spells that she knew, and had forgotten since she was starting to favor her Pulse Rifle, before they moved onto the next level of spells that they had been taught when they were younger. When she completed a lesson Amaryllis insisted that Chrysalis use her training to defeat a group of changeling guards, in their natural forms, or a group of pony guards that used the same tactics, though she was required to use certain tactics to defeat certain opponents before they knocked her out.

The mental training, to remaster spells and powers that she had long forgotten about, was taxing all on it's own and that was before they got to the expert level spells that Amaryllis shared with her, gleamed from the private library their mother kept to herself. It appeared that Crudelis believed she should be the only changeling with power and kept those tomes to herself, but failed to keep them under lock and key, allowing Amaryllis to read them from time to time and she memorized a good portion of the spells inside the various tomes, which she now handed to Chrysalis. Some of the spells Chrysalis learned were ones that she had seen her mother use, more in combat again her generals, while others she was sure that Princess Twilight had in her own library, though there were a few that she didn't recognize that seemed great to have a working knowledge of. Of course when Amaryllis ran out of things to teach her, and that happened about half a year into their training, she had Chrysalis face the creature again, who still beat the stuffing out of her, but once more Amaryllis anticipated that happening and had Chrysalis practice with her new power, instead of fearing it.

Chrysalis had seen what she was able to do against her mother, one of the strongest changelings in existence, when she harnessed the power that had been coursing through her veins, and it was still there, waiting for her to call upon her real power, but it actually terrified her. She had become a monster, one hellbent on killing Crudelis by using any means necessary, and she was sure that she could have hurt Isaac along the way, had she not forced her mother into the air and kept her there for the majority of the fight. She understood that Amaryllis wanted her to come to terms with the power that she had unlocked, the very power that had made her seek out the crystal mirror in the first place, but doing so was harder than she anticipated and every time she challenged the creature it would beat her. Fortunately the creature stopped when she admitted defeat and backed off, letting Amaryllis tend to her again, but it only made Chrysalis worry that she couldn't stop the creature she had become.

Amaryllis continued to insist that she needed to defeat her fears and find harmony with her new power, something that was odd for a normal changeling to think about, but at the same time Chrysalis did her best to overcome her fear of her powers, even if said power manifested as a monster that always beat her.

While Chrysalis did that Isaac and Ellie, on the other hand, eventually decided that they couldn't actually wait for an adventure to come to them and started researching the Markers, in secret so EarthGov and the Unitologists didn't find them out, which, after some amount of time, lead to Ellie visiting Haven Prime, which was her old home apparently. There she was able to make contact with someone that might be able to help her, and both Isaac and Chrysalis as well, in their search for anything related to the Markers and their origins, as they all assumed that some species had created them for a very specific purpose. Ellie was focused on finding what she called the 'Marker Homeworld', the place where the Markers came from and, if they could find that, they might be able to turn all the Markers, both the Black ones and the Red ones, off. Chrysalis had no idea if that was even possible, but since Ellie believed in that mission both she and Isaac supported her as best they could, while at the same time obeying her wishes to stay out of sight until she had more concrete evidence of the planet she was searching for and any information regarding the Markers.

During her time on Haven Prime, which made her miss Isaac and vise versa, she encountered John and Damara Carver, as well as their friend Robert Norton, and discovered that Damara was actually being assigned to Planet Uxor, or more specifically to where one of the Markers was being kept, and she actually promised Ellie that she'd share whatever information she could get, when she had the time to do so.

The fact that there was actually a second replica Marker in existence, as Isaac knew there was one near their own apartment building, didn't sit well with either Isaac or Chrysalis, especially since the Unitologists that Chrysalis used her mind spells on tended to come back and tell her things about what the 'Circle' was planning. It was an unintended side effect of her trying to make them stop attempting to convert her, but while Ellie was busy gathering information she got some of her own, fabricating a new mind spell to replace the old one and a new form to be associated with it, as well as making sure that they stopped coming here when they had things to tell her. As such 'John Dee' was able to gleam information from the Unitologists and sent them back to work without them knowing that they had revealed anything to an outsider, but every time it happened Chrysalis realized that something terrible was coming. That was because this 'Circle' was gathering an impressive amount of resources, in both credits, weapons, and ships, that someone would think they were trying to take out the existing government or something similar.

The knowledge that the Circle was preparing for war caused Chrysalis to keep a close eye on what the Unitologists were doing, because having any information on their enemies would be beneficial in the future, but even then she didn't like what she found, as it only confirmed what the mind controlled Unitologists had told her. Isaac was still shocked that she managed to break into the minds of two members of the Church, even low ranking ones at that, but Chrysalis didn't really mind, as it gave her information on what their foes were doing and allowed them to plan accordingly. As such there was something that she told Isaac and Ellie, when they were next together, that was more for Ellie if she found something and needed to investigate it, only to need to call upon the two of them in the event that she found what she and the others were searching for. It was a specific code, one that Ellie could give to a trusted person, who would be required to come to Chrysalis' store and offer her a very specific item, one unknown to the patrons that came and bought things from her all the time... a specific item that would be a call to arms, essentially being Ellie's signal that she found the Marker Homeworld and that it was time for Isaac and Chrysalis to come join her, with the person baring the item being their transport.

Isaac and Ellie raised an eyebrow when Chrysalis suggested this plan to them, as they were more surprised by the item than the plan she had offered, since it was actually so important to her, but at the same time they understood why no one else would even consider it... and soon enough the two of them agreed with the entire plan, while at the same time knowing that, at some point in time, they would have to act on it.

As it turned out it took the Circle two years before they started any operations, giving Ellie, Isaac, and Damara Carver to continue their individual investigations on the Marker's, the signal they produced, and the potential location of the 'Marker Homeworld'. During that time Damara happened to stumble across some information regarding the Sovereign Colonies, and more specifically their experiments with the Markers, leading Ellie and Robert to assist her in her attempts to find the location of the source of the Markers. Unfortunately something started to happen when Damara found that information, as the army of Unitologists that Chrysalis had heard about, fully armed thanks to the weapons and ships that they had been gathering for a long time, had finally started it's assault on the locations that contained a Marker. At first it started in the outer reaches of the territories that humanity controlled, but Isaac and Chrysalis, who remained hidden on the moon while Ellie carefully worked her magic, were horrified when they learned that the Unitologists were successful in 'liberating' the Markers of the planets they had attacked.

Chrysalis used her natural ability and took the form of one of the Unitologists that had been sent to one of the locations they wanted to attack, where she noticed some postings that detailed the chaos and death that came when one of the Markers was activated... meaning not only were the Unitologists activating the dreadful Markers, but they were creating multiple Necromorph outbreaks.

Isaac wasn't shocked when he heard that news, as they already knew that the Unitologists were insane, and this only told him that the Circle was a group of extremists that appeared to be more armed and better trained than they originally assumed, because they were able to slaughter the soldiers of EarthGov in the areas they had 'liberated' the Markers from. At first Chrysalis thought that such a thing was strange, that the people that were employed and trained by EarthGov couldn't stand up to the extremists that were attacking them, but then she remembered that she had been bested by civilians and a couple that was in love. Despite that fact she watched the shadows and kept an eye out for danger, as it was only a matter of time until the Unitologists arrived on the moon and attacked the building that contained the Marker, as it was a definite target for the Circle. Fortunately Chrysalis had stored her Advanced Suit in a storage chest, along with her weapons, that only she could open, while Isaac kept his Plasma Cutter on hand, as his armor had been sold off to make him seem more like a civilian... something that she didn't agree with, considering the danger, but at the same time she didn't criticize him for his decisions.

Eventually bad news reached them that the Circle had attacked Uxor, which was where Ellie had done because it appeared that Damara had found something that was the breakthrough they were waiting for, though Ellie insisted on Isaac and Chrysalis staying hidden for now, so she could verify what Damara found. From what the duo was able to determine the site the Marker was being held in had been breached and another outbreak had occurred in the process, something that the two of them had been expecting when they heard the news. Uxor was joined by a number of other planets and colonies that had been attacked, revealing that the Unitologists were attacking the majority of the locations at the same time and that they were getting close to 'liberating' the remainder of the Markers. That knowledge told the duo that the moon was soon going to come under attack from the Circle and their forces, something that quickly became apparent when Chrysalis discovered something unpleasant when she was sneaking through the offices of the higher ups in the Church.

That something was a pair of text logs that seemed important, as the first one was about Ellie and stated that she might actually know the location of the Marker Homeworld, which was another reason why they attacked Uxor, and the second contained some notes on Isaac, revealing that the Unitologists knew that he lived somewhere in the New Lunar Horizons Colony. What she discovered was that there was an order out, to all the members of the Circle, to hunt down and exterminate Isaac if they found out where he lived or encountered him in the streets, along with capturing his friends and allies, if he had any, to force him out of hiding. That made Chrysalis happy that they had used one of her own personas for the apartment, that way it would take them longer to figure out where Isaac was located, while at the same time being somewhat pleased that neither Isaac or Ellie had any other friends or associates at the moment, because that meant that the Circle wouldn't have any leverage against him, provided they didn't capture Ellie at some point.

Despite the fact that erasing evidence of what the Circle knew was likely to point them to the New Lunar Horizons Colony, and make them think that Isaac was here, she went ahead and, using her limited knowledge of the technology that was inside the offices she had infiltrated, she purged all the data relating to Isaac, Ellie, and anything else that might help them find out where they were hiding. Once that was done she headed back to the apartment, making sure to use a different route than normal so she could see if anyone was following her, and she smiled as she lost the small group of people that had been following her, while at the same time wishing she could have struck against them. She was too close to the apartment building, so killing them would have drawn attention to this area, and using magic to strike them down would have raised questions, so she held herself back and slipped into the darkness... while at the same time using a small bit of her power to send the Unitologists that were following her on a wild goose chase to the more populated part of the colony, where they were going to remain for a few days until they figured out they had been tricked.

She knew she was much stronger than when she had been when they were on the Titan Station, if her power up and mental training with her sister were anything to go by, but even now she wondered what was keeping her from beating the monster that rested inside her mind, what sort of test she had to overcome to use her full power. Part of her didn't want to use that power, because it was so easy to become a real threat to those around her, but she was sure that, at some point in the future, she would be able to figure out what she needed to do. Until then she made sure that Isaac was kept safe, as he was the Marker Killer that the Unitologists were afraid of, and ensured that no one came looking for him that wasn't sent by Ellie, if she had survived the events of Uxor. Chrysalis was fairly sure that Ellie had survived, because she was a fighter and wouldn't go down without taking a lot of Necromorphs down with her, so she knew that they just had to be patient and wait for her signal to arrive, or for her to come back and get them herself.

As the days ticked by, however, both Chrysalis and Isaac saw an increase in Unitology blimps flying around the center of the New Lunar Horizons Colony, with the leader of the Circle, Jacob Danik, promoting his believes as the blimps flew over the area. Chrysalis knew what that meant, as she had seen the reports from what the other members of the Circle did on the other locations that housed the other Markers, and she knew that time was running out, so the moment they saw the blimps she had Isaac prepare himself. That meant locking the door to the apartment and only opening it for her, since she was the only one who knew where he was, and Isaac was quick to go with it as he started to worry about Ellie, which was understandable since they had heard nothing from her since she went to Uxor. At the same time Chrysalis returned to her shop and remained there or an extra hour every day, longer than what was necessary, in the hopes that Ellie or her trusted messenger would come through the door, looking for her and Isaac.

Eventually a day came where the Unitologists, all armed to the teeth, ran down the street outside her shop and continued towards the EarthGov building that was nearby, one of many that were required to get through if they wanted to reach the Marker... and yet she did nothing, because the code hadn't been used yet, and she sighed as her patrons fled for their lives, leaving her alone in the small building until someone came along. Fortunately she didn't have to wait very long, as about an hour later the door opened, and the bell rang, as two soldiers walked into her shop, and she could tell that they were soldiers by the fact that they were carrying guns and wore armor that rivaled her Advanced Suit. As Chrysalis watched them she noticed that the soldier that was the closest to her seemed to be the commander of their little group, as he walked like a military officer or commander would, while his partner seemed to be a soldier who cared more about following orders than anything else. Both of them had hair that had been cut short, much like what Isaac and other members of the military did, though while the first soldier's armor had blue patches on it the soldier behind him had red patches on his armor, though whatever that meant didn't matter to her in the slightest.

Since the two soldiers seemed to be looking at the shop, and weren't paying attention to her at all, she decided to act like the owner of the place and cleared her throat, letting them know that they were being watched and that she was eager for some business.

"Welcome to my humble shop," Chrysalis said, thankful that she was still wearing her librarian disguise and easily slipped back into her persona, where she wondered what Princess Twilight would think if she saw the former changeling queen acting like a human version of herself, complete with a near identical voice, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, yes you can." the commander replied, turning towards the counter as he and his companion stopped in front of her, where Chrysalis carefully stared into their eyes, as she could tell that neither of them were going to play around and were going to get to the point as fast as possible, "A friend of ours, Ellie Langford, told us that you might be able to help us locate Isaac Clarke, the so called 'Marker Killer' that the Unitologists fear."

"Isaac Clarke?" Chrysalis asked, though she did so in a way that made it sound like she had no idea who the name belonged to, which was what she did whenever someone came asking for him without producing the necessary item that only Ellie could have told them about, "I'm sorry, but that name doesn't ring any bells. I'm sure that I can help you find a different Clarke, as I know several that might be able to help you out..."

"Look lady, we didn't travel all this way to play a game with you!" the commander snapped, where he reached for his weapon and put a hand on it, indicating that he was willing to shoot her if he needed to, while at the same time his companion seemed shocked by what he was doing, "We know that you know where Isaac Clarke is, so tell us where he is and we'll be out of your hair."

"I told you, I don't know who this 'Isaac Clarke' is." Chrysalis replied, though as she said that she prepared herself, because if the commander fired she would take him out before his bullets even reached her, and she had stored a good portion of her medical supplies from the Titan Station with her armor, "Please, there's no need for violence. I'm sure that there must be something else I can help you with."

"Captain, I've got this." the second soldier said, to which he pulled out a pack that he had been holding onto the entire time, one that was well hidden behind his back so that Chrysalis wouldn't see it, and set it on the counter, before pushing it towards her, "Ellie said that the key to finding Clarke was to offer this item to you... and hopefully she was telling the truth, otherwise we wasted time by coming here."

Chrysalis looked down at the package for a few seconds and carefully opened it, as she was sure that these were the people that Ellie had sent to recruit her and Isaac into finding the Marker Homeworld, or how to turn them all off, and she let a smile appear on her face as she looked down at the red amaryllis flower that was in front of her. Only Isaac and Ellie knew that her sister shared her name with the flower, especially since they were the only ones that knew Amaryllis was even there, but this was what she was waiting for. Anyone could have offered her such a flower and expect some reaction out of her, though the mention that this was the key to finding Isaac was the other half of the code, to which she sighed as she covered the package back up and set it aside... before she looked at the soldiers again.

"Okay, you've found me." Chrysalis said, this time surprising them when she spoke in her natural voice, though at the same time she pressed a button and sealed the door to the shop, before turning towards the one door behind her that only she had the key to, "And allow me to answer your question; yes, I do know where Isaac Clarke is."

"Why use this approach?" the soldier asked, while his commander just stared, as if he couldn't make sense of how she was able to change her voice, without something attached to her neck, "Why not give Ellie a encryption key, or something similar, that we have to hand over to you?"

"Mostly because I don't know the ins and outs of your technology," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she stepped back and moved a cover to block them from seeing her, but she kept talking as she changed back to her original form and slipped back into her armor, "besides, only two people knew what the significance of the amaryllis flower was, to me anyway, and only one knew the exact wording that needed to be said when it was offered. If you hadn't offered me the flower or the code phrase... well, let's just say you both would be dead and I'd be waiting for someone else to arrive. The fact that Ellie told you two exactly what you needed to know, and you performed your part of the code almost perfectly, means that she wants us to come and join her."

"That's correct." the commander said, as he was now focused on the task at hand and wanted to get this over with, while at the same time Chrysalis sensed that there was something more in his tone, "Ellie thinks she's found the source of the Marker Signal and, since both you and Isaac destroyed two of them in the past, she felt that it was time to bring you two into the mix."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Chrysalis inquired, to which she pulled the cover back and stepped out, wearing her Advanced Suit and carrying not only her Pulse Rifle, but both of her bone blades as well, causing the two to stare at her as they realized that she wasn't a simple librarian or shopkeeper, rather she was a warrior equipped for war, "Follow me, I have a shortcut to where Isaac is staying... and please, do refrain from annoying him when we get there. He's been rather upset that I confined him to the apartment, for his own safety, and that we haven't heard anything from Ellie since she last visited us, so this should give him some good news."

"Well we had best hurry, because the Unitologists are approaching the concourse," the soldier said, to which both he and his commander followed after Chrysalis as she lead the way into the alley behind the shop, before heading off in the direction of the apartment building, "I'm John by the way. John Carver. And this is my commander, Robert Norton."

"It's nice to meet you two," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she smiled, as these were the people that had been helping Ellie earlier, while she and Isaac were keeping themselves hidden, meaning that they understood the mission that they were undertaking, "My name, my real name, is Chrysalis. Now, let's go find Isaac and give him the news, and then leave this colony before the Unitologists come looking for all of us."

She was sure that their enemies would be looking for them, based on the information she had read in the past, but at the same time she drew one of her bone blades and prepared herself, because she knew that things were about to change and a whole new adventure was about to begin for her and her friend.

Tau Volantis: Departure

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Chrysalis was fortunate that the path she had to the apartment was mostly hidden in the alleys that existed throughout the colony, as it was so ordinary that no one would ever expect to find it there, as a lot of people didn't use the alleys and it made it that much easier for her to lead Carver and Robert Norton to their destination. Sure, they had to stop a few times when she spotted Unitologists moving up the road in front of them, and had to stop the trigger happy idiots from giving away their position, but for the most part it seemed like they were going to get away with this. While they walked Chrysalis could tell that Norton was trying to understand who and what she was, why she had actually gone to the effort to make a code with Ellie, and whether they should believe her or not. Carver, on the other hand, trusted that Ellie had given them the right information and trusted that the three of them were on their way to see Isaac, which was the real reason he was silent and not talking at the moment. It also helped that she asked the both of them to remain quiet while they walked along the path she was taking, mostly to keep themselves hidden from their foes, as she knew that if they took out a single Unitologist they would effectively give away their position.

She wanted to do that after they were far away from the apartments, and Isaac was with them, before they started killing the bastards that were attacking the colony... though her mood improved when she spotted the apartment building and headed towards the front door, where she had Norton close the gate behind them as she walked up to the door that her, Ellie, and Isaac's apartment rested behind, to which she disengaged her helmet and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a voice asked, though it was the one that Chrysalis was hoping to hear, because despite her precautions she knew that something could have changed while she was gone, but she was pleased to hear that this time around everything had gone right.

"Isaac, it's Chrysalis," Chrysalis replied, to which she heard Norton and Carver tense up for a moment, as in they drew their weapons, where she glared at them for a few seconds before turning back to the door, "Ellie finally used the code and sent some people to collect us... it's time we end the Markers, once and for all."

Chrysalis waited a few seconds, knowing that Isaac would think about the fact that Ellie had sent for them and the fact that she said that it was time to end the Markers, as that meant that Ellie had succeeded in her mission and had discovered the Marker Homeworld. Sure enough she heard the sound of Isaac touching his side of the door, where she placed her hand against it and undid her enchantments on it, to which the door opened and revealed Isaac, who hadn't shaved for a few days and was wearing the same clothing he had been wearing three days ago, standing before them. Isaac smiled when he saw her, as he was happy to see her again, before he glanced at the soldiers behind her, clearly weary of them since they were holding their weapons at the moment.

"Who are they?" Isaac asked, as he suspected that these were some of the friends that Ellie had made while she was researching the Marker and all the old information she briefly told him about the last time they were together, but he wanted to know who they were before they started moving.

"EarthGov's Last Battalion. I'm Captain Robert Norton," Norton replied, though he frowned when he gazed upon Isaac, as the fact that Chrysalis was ready to go, and was armed to the teeth, gave him the idea that Isaac would react to the news in the same way, meaning that he was disappointed in him already, "and this is Sergeant John Carver."

"Last Battalion?" Isaac said, putting some emphasis on the word 'last' for a few seconds, before he sighed and realized what that meant, as anyone with a brain could figure out what Norton was talking about, "Shit! The Unitologists moved faster than we thought they would. Okay, let me get my weapon and we can get out of here, before they figure out where we're hiding."

"I've already sent for a transport to get us out of here quickly," Norton stated, indicating that he wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, even though that was against the plans that Isaac and Chrysalis had created for this scenario, but they said nothing as Norton looked at Isaac, "Where's your armor?"

"I sold it some time ago, to look more like a civilian and less like the person the Unitologists were hunting," Isaac replied, though that was followed by him pulling out the chest that his Plasma Cutter was stashed away inside, along with the few med packs that he had thrown in there, all of which he collected before grabbing a picture of him and Ellie, taken by Chrysalis, before turning towards the group, "Now then, let's ge..."

Isaac was cut off as they felt, heard, and saw the explosion that came from the area near the Marker building, which meant bad things for everyone if the Unitologists were involved, though a few seconds later Norton's communicator came online and revealed that the crazed fanatics had breached the concourse. That was then followed by a second explosion rocking the same area, where both Isaac and Carver agreed that it was time to go, to which all four of them drew their guns and headed outside the apartment building. Both Isaac and Chrysalis, veterans of dealing with Unitologists and what came after them, knew it was only a matter of time until they had to fight their way through a third Necromorph outbreak, which was why they wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Norton rushed to the gate for a moment and stayed there, looking to see if the coast was clear and if their ride had arrived, though as he pressed the button and the gate opened, while the getaway car arrived, disaster struck... the Unitologists had discovered their location, as the moment they moved through the gate the crazed fanatics revealed themselves and started firing.

All four of them ducked behind the cover that was in front of them and waited for the bullets to stop flying, before they revealed themselves and opened fire, where neither Isaac or Chrysalis had any problems aiming for the heads of their foes, as one shot and one kill meant that they could move onto the next target with greater ammunition than they would if they dismembered the Unitologists. A few moments later, when the way seemed clear, Carver called for Isaac and Chrysalis to approach the car with him, though as they did so a suicide bomber climbed onto the top of the car and primed his charges. Chrysalis, seeing it coming, weaved her magic through the air and created a light barrier around her, Isaac, and Carver, where the explosion knocked them all off the area they had been fighting in and dropped them in the underpass that was near the apartments, though once they landed Chrysalis removed her spell... and also made her friend and new companion pause as a flaming car crashed into the area as well, but didn't even come close to hurting them.

"What the hell was that!" Carver demanded, staring at Chrysalis for a moment, as he could handle the strangeness of her voice changing, and he might have been able to handle her changing form in some manner, but what she had just done was something that wasn't of this world and it needed to be addressed immediately.

"Look, we'll fill you and Norton in later, when the Unitologists aren't trying to kill us," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time several more Unitologist soldiers dropped down into the path in front of them and started to raise their weapons, where she opened fire on the closest one, causing him to drop his grenade and blow himself up, "For now, let's focus on getting out of here alive!"

Isaac nodded and followed after his friend, causing an annoyed Carver to follow after them, where the three of them opened fire on the Unitologists that were blocking their path, though while Isaac and Chrysalis aimed for their heads Carver seemed more interested in just firing at their chests, which was still a good strategy. Fortunately the part of the underpass that they were in was short and sweet, as the Unitologists that were standing against them seemed ready for people who weren't a threat to their mission, and what they got was their worst nightmare. Even if Chrysalis didn't use her magic to kill their foes, like she could have, the three of them were able to overcome the foes that were in their way and reached the other end of the area they had been dropped into, to which Chrysalis guarded the ladder that was in front of them while Isaac was the first to climb up to the level above them. Once Isaac was halfway between the levels Carver put his weapon away as well and climbed up after Isaac, though when he reached that point, and Isaac was at the top, Chrysalis headed up the ladder as well.

The three of them found themselves in a small room that looked like a storage and maintenance area, though it appeared that the Bench that was in front of them was offline, thanks to the Unitologists that were attacking the colony, but they pasued for a few seconds as something came to Isaac's mind.

"So, the Unitologists are after us again," Isaac commented, remembering what happened in the past, especially when he and Chrysalis were dealing with the Necromorph outbreak that Tiedemann had created, and focused on what the fanatics had done, "what else is new?"

"They're after you and Chrysalis because you two have destroyed Markers in the past." Norton said, a video link appearing in front of them for a moment, where the group stared at him for a few seconds as he, and whoever was near him, fought against the Unitologists, "That, in itself, makes the two of you a direct threat to their 'plans'. Some sort of 'end-time' prophecy based on the Markers."

"Convergence." Chrysalis stated, remembering what happened back when they were taking care of the Titan Marker, the specific event that she and Isaac had stopped, even if she had been mentally scarred by her long dead mother and unlocked her 'true' power in the process.

"Yeah, and Ellie thinks you two can stop it." Norton replied, revealing that Ellie had told him some specifics of what happened three years ago, though fortunately they knew she wouldn't have told him everything, "Look, we don't have time to sit around and discuss what's going on. Get to the Dredgercorp Building as quick as you can, there's an extraction team waiting there."

Isaac and Chrysalis nodded, as they understood what was going on, while Carver remained silent, though at the same time they let Norton disconnect the video link between them and then smashed the ammunition crates nearby, where they discovered the ammunition for their weapons had been modified to be universal between all weapons. That was an interesting thing to discover, and that by adding it to their weapons their old ammunition modified accordingly, to which they sighed as they headed through the door that was in front of them and walked through the small hallway they discovered. When they walked through the other door they heard a Unitologist asking a lady if she had seen 'this man', meaning Isaac, and when she said that she didn't know she was fired upon, where they watched her dead body fall to the ground moments later.

As they walked around the corner, and let the pair of Unitologists know that they were there, Isaac moved fast and shot one of them in the head, while at the same time Chrysalis grabbed one of her bone blades and hurled it through the air, piercing the chest of their remaining foe, who coughed up blood for a few moments before collapsing on the ground. Once that target had been taken care of Chrysalis magically recalled her bone blade and sheathed it once more, to which she and Isaac moved forward while a shocked Carver looked at her at the same time, as his mind seemed to be trying to comprehend what she was doing. With those targets taken care of the three of them walked around the corner and found another Unitologist that was trying to fire at them, but he was backing up and was a terrible shot, though he saved them the trouble of having to waste a bullet on him as he walked right into a moving unmanned vehicle behind him and killed himself in the process.

"So, we've hit the freeway," Isaac said, recalling what he knew about the colony, something that Chrysalis insisted that he and Ellie learn in the event that they were attacked and separated for some reason, before he turned towards his companions, "Hey Carver, any thoughts on our current situation?"

"They're unmanned transports... they don't stop for anything." Carver replied, though while he said that Chrysalis sighed, as it didn't appeared that he was going to be of any help at the moment, not when he was still trying to understand who and what she was.

"Isaac, just use your Stasis Module." Chrysalis said, beckoning to the recharge station that was off on their left, where her friend noticed it and nodded his head, indicating that he understood and immediately recharged his Stasis, before he faced the traffic and held his hand out.

What happened next was what Chrysalis was expecting, as when Isaac loosed the Stasis charge the vehicle he struck slowed way down, allowing another one to slam into it before that created a whole mess that ended up blocking both lanes of traffic. Instead of wasting time Chrysalis beckoned for Isaac and Carver to follow and made sure that they could use the ladder while she guarded them, which was a good thing since Unitologists came out from the area the three of them had come from, where she decided not to play around. She raised her hand and loosed a shimmering magical arrow at the area above the entrance they had come from, where it detonated a few seconds later and collapsed part of the area on top of them, giving them a few minutes of peace before their enemies returned. A few seconds later Isaac called for her to join him and Carver, to which she rapidly climbed the ladder that he and Carver were standing near and followed them through the passage that would get them away from the Unitologists, who now had to go around the obstacle that Chrysalis had created to block the way.

As it turned out the door Isaac and Carver opened brought them to the entrance of the Dredgercorp Building, which meant that there was an elevator or a set of stairs that would take them to the roof, though it wasn't hard to find the elevator in question... they just had to ignore the dead bodies that they walked by, as well as ignore Danik's message that claimed the large television screen they spotted along the way. Isaac didn't comment on why the Unitologists were systematically slaughtering everyone in their path, and why they wanted to topple EarthGov, because the fanatics were interested in Convergence and wanted to kill the only threat to their plans, as well as remove the government that they saw as 'heretics'. The three of them opened the door to the elevator and climbed into it, where the three of them silently rode it up to the roof of the building, where Norton's extraction team would be waiting for them and they could get out of here before the Marker was activated by someone.

When the door in front of them opened a few moments later they found a blinding light that obscured what was in front of them from their sights, though that was followed by some bullets flying and Isaac, being the one without any armor at the moment, took a bullet to his side and fell to the ground. A few seconds later Carver and Chrysalis suffered the same type of damage as well, revealing these guys had armor piercing rounds, and fell to the ground as well, where Chrysalis spotted a figure, Danik based on the body, standing near the edge of the area they were supposed to being picked up in.

"This one's still alive!" one of the Unitologists said, one that happened to walk over to where the three of them were resting and focused on Isaac, which made sense considering that he was the main target of part of their mission, though Chrysalis had the feeling that something bad was going to happen next.

"Bring him here." Danik ordered, though as the fanatic pulled Isaac by his feet, and carried him over to where Danik was standing, the leader of the Circle put a bullet in the head of the surviving member of the extraction team, killing him instantly, before turning towards Isaac, "Isaac Clarke, just the man I was looking for. Oh, don't waste your energy, you and your friends will be dead in a matter of minutes. Pick him up, there's something I want to show him."

At their leader's command the fanatic that had been pulling Isaac forcefully picked him up and made sure he was standing beside Danik, giving him a good view of the large building that the Marker had to be stored inside, while at the same time Isaac moaned because of the pain he was in.

"There, you see that?" Danik asked, pointing right at the very building that Isaac had spotted, the same one that Chrysalis was focused on while she silently used her magic to mend her wound and Carver's as well, so the two of them could strike when their enemies least expected them to do so, "That's a Marker test lab. They're everywhere at all of the major colonies and outposts. As part of the Marker test program, Isaac, you helped make them... and today you, of all people, get to watch me set them free."

"You can't do that!" Isaac stated, though at the same time he gripped the area where he was wounded, but as he did that he glanced down and noticed a faint aura wrapped around where the bullet hole was, indicating that Chrysalis was working her power, to which he braced himself, "You'll kill everyone!"

"Death is only the beginning, Isaac." Danik replied, revealing that he fully believed in the Marker and what it promised, which made sense considering that he was the leader of the Circle, "Nature must take it's course... and I can't allow you, or anyone else, to stop that. Eyes forward, Isaac. Pay attention."

It was in that moment that Danik held out a small remote of some kind and clicked it, though that was followed by a large number of explosive charges being ignited from that had been stored inside the Marker test lab, where the entire building was consumed by a bright explosion and the Marker, revealed in all it's glory, loosed the familiar wave of energy that Isaac and Chrysalis knew all too well... informing them of what was coming next.

"And now it's time for you, and your friends, to join the cycle of rebirth." Danik said, though as he raised his gun again Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver made their move while the Unitologists were distracted.

Isaac was the first to react, as he swung his arm and knocked Danik's hand backwards, forcing him to fire the bullet in his gun at the wall it was now aiming at, narrowly avoiding behind hit in the back of his head in the process, and that caused his companions to move. Carver grabbed his gun, surprised the soldier that was in front of him, and loosed a few bullet's into his chest, killing the fanatic before he even had a chance to understand what was going on, while at the same time Chrysalis used her magic to hurl the other soldier fanatic off the room of the building they were on before she moved forward. What she did was punch Danik in the face, knocking him to the side for the moment, but instead of finishing him off she grabbed Isaac and Carver, wrapped all three of them in her magic, and they all jumped into the opening in front of them, where they crashed into a large pile of dead bodies some distance from where Danik was standing... meaning that they were safe from their living opponents.

The reason Chrysalis thought about this situation as living opponents was because a few seconds later, after they landed on the pile of bodies, she watched the first of many Necromorphs rise up from the office area that was on the other side of the glass wall that rested in front of them... though this one appeared to have a seemingly normal body, save for the fact that it looked similar to Nicole when she was trying to tear Isaac down, and it happened to be carrying a pair of axes in it's hands, which it used to attack the glass.

"And now we have to deal with these bastards again." Chrysalis commented, to which she raised her Pulse Rifle and opened fire the moment the glass shattered, tearing into the fodder to pieces before it had the chance to reach them, giving Isaac a moment to use an actual med pack to heal his wound.

"At least we know how to deal with them," Isaac replied, which was when he lifted his Plasma Cutter and loosed a few shots that dismembered a fodder that was coming from the left of where the first one was coming from, before he got onto his feet and walked up to Chrysalis with Carver backing them, "only now we're going to need a new escape plan."

"Unfortunately the majority of my plans involved escaping before the Marker was activated," Chrysalis said, where she and Isaac watched as Carver, getting the idea on how to deal with Necromorphs, opened fire on the pair coming at them and tore off their limbs, killing the pair of fodders that dropped into the area, "now that it's been activated it's only a matter of time until the Necromorphs start slaughtering the survivors and start breaking all the vehicles we can use to get off the planet."

"So Ellie wasn't joking when she said you two had experience in this sort of thing?" Carver inquired, because while he believed that Ellie had told him and Norton the truth about what she had seen back on the Titan Station, before it's destruction, he still found it hard to believe that these two had survived two of these outbreaks.

"Well, we are experts in dealing with the Markers and the Necromorphs they create," Isaac stated, though at the same time he opened the door that was in front of them and they moved into the next part of the office building they were in, which required that they fire at some fodders that were blocking the way, "We were prepared for such a thing to happen, but like I said earlier, the Unitologists are moving faster than we thought they would, so all the plans we made are pretty much worthless at the moment."

Carver didn't reply to that, though whether it was from the shock that they knew this event was coming one day, the confirmation of Ellie's stories, or something else entirely didn't matter to Isaac and Chrysalis, as they made sure the last of the fodder were dead before they all climbed into an elevator and rode it down to the level it connected to.

"Carver, what the hell is going on down there?" Norton asked, where the trio heard him loud and clear, though it sounded like he and the rest of his team had no problems getting themselves to whatever ship they were on.

"Danik flat-lined the extraction team." Carver replied, knowing that his captain deserved to know what happened to the men he had sent to pick Isaac up, though whether Norton got mad or not was up to him, while at the same time he readied himself for whatever was next.

"FUCK!" Norton said, revealing that he wasn't happy with how the operation was currently going, especially given what Danik had done a few minutes ago, though not a few seconds later he seemed to decide on something, "Alright, I'm coming in with the Eudora. Find a way out of the city."

"How about the trains at Washington Station?" Isaac asked, recalling the layout of the colony once more and remembered Chrysalis making a comment that the station would be a good way out of the city, should the Unitologists attack them, "We can ride one of them out of the city."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Carver inquired, as he knew that Isaac was an engineer, which meant that he might have already thought of a way to get them out of the city the moment he made the suggestion to head over there.

"I'll leave figuring that part out to the three of you." Norton said, though his tone told them that he wasn't in the mood for this conversation right now and wanted to get away from the colony before they were blasted out of the sky, "I'll see you on the tracks."

When the elevator came to a stop, and the audio link was disconnected, the trio emerged from the elevator and walked out of the small office building that they had stopped at, where they walked out into a shopping area that Chrysalis remembered her, Isaac, and Ellie exploring the first time they came to the colony. She also found a small Unitologist artifact resting near the elevator, one that apparently contained information, though since time was of the essence she stored it away and they continued along the path that was in front of them. As Carver attempted to head to the left a barrier, a metallic one, lowered into place and prevented them from heading that way, though since it wasn't the way to go anyway Isaac and Chrysalis weren't annoyed by that at all. Instead they headed towards the store on the right of the one they walked out of and headed into a candy store, though as they made their way through it Chrysalis wished it had been a normal food store, mostly so she could get them something to eat when they got off the moon... to which she sighed as she followed Isaac and Carver out into an area between the various stores.

Of course when they entered the new area they were attacked, from both sides no less, by a large number of fodder and slashers, to which Isaac and Carver faced the path they needed to follow and continued firing while Chrysalis guarded the rear and dismembered the Necromorphs that dared to attack them from behind. Chrysalis did that by either using her Pulse Rifle to mow her targets down, used her magic to blast them backwards, or used her bone blades to dismember whoever she was fighting. Between the three of them they were able to make their way over to the entrance of the theater, which also contained a second path that held the elevator they needed to take, though not a few seconds later the door opened and they walked out into the area where the trains were being held.

"Where the fuck are the trains?" Carver asked, as he could see a few train cars resting around the area in front of them, but that didn't mean they had a whole train that they could use to get out of the city.

"It looks like maintenance was being done on one before the Unitologists started their attack," Isaac commented, to which he and Chrysalis looked at the various pieces that were around them, along with the special symbol on a few of them that he immediately recognized, "since this is a train yard, all we have to do is find the engine and a few other pieces before the train can move again."

"We don't have time for something like this!" Carver said, as if he felt that they couldn't get one of the spare trains operational before their foes found them, though that only made Isaac grin as he got to work, causing Carver to groan as he and Chrysalis kept their eyes open for enemies.

Isaac used his Kinesis Module to latch onto the engine car that was near him and pulled it into position in the middle of the room, though once it was in place the tracks shifted until it was facing the exit that he and his companions needed to take. A few seconds later, where the center of the room stopped moving, he latched back onto the engine car and moved it into the exit tunnel, causing the central ring to move back into the position it had been in moments ago, before he moved the first train car onto it. The exact moment the ring came to a stop he latched onto the fuelcar and moved it into position as well, though when it was in place the railings came down and the pieces of the train connected together before it started moving. As the train started moving down the exit tunnel a computerized voice told them to board at the rear of the train, though as they waited for the train to finish moving they heard the sounds of the Unitologists trying to cut through the various doors around them, just so they could kill the three of them... though instead of worrying about them, since he had Chrysalis and Carver backing him, Isaac opened his audio link and started talking.

"Alright Norton, the train is hooked up and ready to head out the south gate." Isaac said, though as he spoke the train stopped and revealed the back car that they could use to get away from the city, to which they started walking over to it as they ignored the Unitologists trying to catch up with them, "You can't miss it, since it'll be the only thing that's moving."

"All right, understood." Norton replied, though there was a hint of happiness to his voice, indicating that he was glad that this particular part of their nightmare was almost over, "I'll close in once you have cleared the city. Be ready for pick-up, because this is going to be tricky."

"Roger that," Chrysalis said, to which she, Isaac, and Carver boarded the rear of the train, though before the doors closed she smiled at the Unitologists that they were leaving behind, since the train started back up the moment Isaac touched the floor, before she turned towards Carver, "So Carver, what can you tell us about Ellie and where she went?"

"I don't know much about what happened," Carver admitted, though at the same time he remembered everything that had happened back when he and his captain last had contact with Ellie, "We were at Keyhole Station for a time, then she shocked out to some secret coordinates she found, which was around the time we lost contact with her. The last thing Ellie told us, before that happened, was to use the code she had given us to tell you two it was time to leave the colony, which worked like a charm. I imagine that she's alive and that she's pretty pissed off that we haven't come to rescue her yet, and help her complete her mission."

"That sounds like Ellie," Isaac said, where he sounded happy that his girlfriend might be doing just fine on her own, reminding him of when he and Chrysalis first met her, before he shook his head and turned towards the door in front of them, "Come on, we had best get to the front of the train so we can jump to the Eudora when Norton arrives."

As they opened the door they found that the Unitologists, using their gunships no less, had caught up with them and were already dropping soldiers into the area, though the first gunship that was in the air was blown apart as the Eudora flew in and Nortion said that the cavalry had arrived. While Isaac and Carver headed along the path that would take them to the front of the train, and through a good number of fanatics that had dropped in so far, Chrysalis decided that now wasn't the time to play around and used her magic to fly into the air. What she did while she was in the air was simple, she used a small amount of her magic, shaped to be an explosive charge, and hurled them into the sides of the gunships that were trying to fire at the Eudora, where they exploded and tore the enemy gunships from the sky, dropping them into the walls and ground that rested far away from the train tracks. It actually didn't take Isaac and Carver all that long to reach the front of the train, especially when she was taking out the gunships, though when they reached the front the two of them jumped across the gap that was in front of them.

Carver was the first to land on the platform that Norton had opened up, so they could make the jump, and he turned around to help Isaac up, as he had miscalculated his jump and nearly missed, though when the two of them were on the platform, and it was starting to raise back into place, Chrysalis blew up one last gunship before teleporting behind the pair, just in time to beat the door... to which Carver called for Norton to take them out of there, where the three of them felt the Eudora enter ShockSpace and left the colony behind.

"Now then, I'll show you to where you'll be spending the majority of our flight," Carver stated, to which he headed into the ship and beckoned for the duo to follow him, though he did turn back once and stared at Chrysalis, "where you'll explain who you are, what the hell you are, and what sort of powers you used back there."

Chrysalis chuckled as she and Isaac followed after Carver, because she knew that he wasn't going to like what she and Isaac had to tell him, especially since she no longer cared about hiding the truth about herself from those she trusted, and Carver seemed to be that sort of person... and it would give them something to do, besides sleep and eat for the journey to the coordinates that Ellie had shocked out to.

Tau Volantis: Explosive Arrival

View Online

Carver lead Isaac and Chrysalis to his personal chamber on the Eudora, where he and whoever he was assigned to work with would rest while they were traveling through either space or ShockSpace, though it had been some time since he had any sort of partner by the looks of it. When they arrived at their destination he told Norton that they would be resting until they neared the coordinates that Ellie shocked out to, which the captain agreed with, and ceased communications with him for now, where he set down his weapon and gathered some food items that were stored in the area. Isaac and Chrysalis were more than happy to have something to eat, especially since neither of them had a chance to eat something before the Unitologists attacked the colony, though the moment they all started eating Carver popped the first question he wanted to ask the duo. That question, of course, was focused on who Chrysalis was, followed by the specifics of what she was, and what sort of powers she possessed, since Carver was convinced that she had some sort of unusual power at her command, which he was right about.

Chrysalis, seeing that Carver was likely their watcher and had been assigned to them by Norton without them hearing that piece of information, decided to share some things about her, since the whole story would take way too long and they didn't have the time for that. As such she told Carver that she was a changeling, where she explained that she was a shapeshifter and demonstrated her power by transforming into a mirror image of both him and Isaac, shocking him out both times, before giving him a brief understanding of her species. Since Carver was more interested in specifics she gave him some information on where she rested in the hierarchy of the Hive, where he was shocked to hear that, at one point in time, she had been the princess and heir to the Hive, before becoming queen of the changelings... and then eventually losing her position, which, in time, caused her to step through the portal that allowed her to meet Isaac.

She could tell that Carver was trying to understand what she was saying, as she knew that shapeshifters were told in myths and other stories, but at the same time she and Isaac did their best to make him understand what she had told him since they shocked away from the colony... and eventually Carver held up a hand and stopped them.

"You don't have to explain everything to me, because I'm sure that I won't understand all of it," Carver said, knowing that there was more to everything that Chrysalis had told him, and by the looks of things there were a few small bits of information that Isaac didn't know either, but his mind was too focused on the mission, "I'm still trying to make heads and tails of the whole Necromorph situation and that the Markers are responsible for creating them, and the fact that Ellie, somehow, might have found a way to stop them."

"If she's found the Marker homeworld, then we can stop them for good." Isaac commented, knowing that the stakes were high, because if they failed to reach whatever planet Ellie had discovered, or got blown up in the process, then the Unitologists would win and complete Convergence, before he glanced over at Chrysalis, "Besides, if we can't stop the Markers through whatever means Ellie finds on the planet, we've got another weapon that might do the trick."

Chrysalis knew what Isaac was talking about, the power she had awakened back on the Titan Station when she confronted her mother, and yet even as she thought about the rush of power she remembered how afraid she was that she might hurt her friends in the process. Sure, the power boost had allowed her to topple her mother like she was nothing, but even then she had destroyed a good portion of the containment area that the Titan Marker had been stored inside. Despite her best efforts over the last three years she was nowhere near ready to wield that level of power, not when she couldn't beat the mental image of what she had become, but at the same time she never actually told Isaac that she couldn't call upon that power at will. Isaac believed that she could will that power to life and use it whenever she wanted, which was why he said what he did to Carver, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him otherwise, though as she looked off to the side she found the spirit of her sister sitting nearby... though she had to laugh when Carver glanced in the direction she was staring at and found no one there, meaning Amaryllis either didn't want to be seen or he wasn't ready to see spirits yet.

Once their conversation was over, and Carver was ready to turn in, Isaac did the same thing and retired to the spare bed that had been put aside for him, leaving Chrysalis' bare for the moment, where she smiled and walked around the halls of the Eudora. She did this in the event that something terrible happened, so that way she would know where everything was located, and nodded to Norton as she walked through the bridge of the ship, pausing for a few seconds to stare out at the ShockSpace they were flying through, before she continued with her investigation. By the time she was done walking around the ship she could tell that the Eudora was a fine ship and would serve their purposes well, to which she returned to the area that she, Isaac, and Carver would be sleeping in for the next few hours, or potentially even a day or two, before she settled into the bed that was set aside for her. Before she went to sleep she noticed that Carver seemed to be trying to distance himself, which was never a good thing if he was supposed to be part of their team now, and Isaac was, of course, worried about Ellie... to which she sighed and let herself fall asleep, as she knew they would work better once they had some rest, even if it was only a few hours.

Chrysalis was happy to hear that she was actually wrong in her original estimate of a few hours, as it took them an entire day and a half to near the point where Ellie's ship had popped out of ShockSpace, though when they reached that point Norton called for all three of them to come to the bridge. Isaac, upon hearing that, immediately got on his feet and walked over to the door, followed by Chrysalis and Carver, where the three of them walked towards the bridge in silence, as they each had their own thoughts running through their heads at the moment. Chrysalis was more worried about how cold Carver was towards her and Isaac, as at one point they had seen him pull out a picture of a boy, his son they realized when Isaac asked the question, and then learned that Danik had been the one to kill both his son and his wife back on Uxor... before the Marker that Danik had 'liberated' turned them into slashers, causing him to kill them again. Carver, upon telling them that information, told them that he didn't need their pity and that they needed to try harder the next time they were fleeing from Unitologists, referring to the fact that he had to pull Isaac into the ship when they were leaving the colony.

Both she and Isaac could tell that being part of a group was going to be hard for Carver, but they were determined to help him understand that they were a unit and that they were all in this together... though none of them said anything as they entered the bridge and found Norton getting ready for them to exit ShockSpace.

"Alright people, we're going in blind, so stay tight on that exit vector." Norton said, revealing that they were much closer to their destination than what Isaac and Chrysalis originally thought, but that didn't stop them from stopping behind Norton so they could see where Ellie went, before he turned towards the pilot and co-pilot, "Rosen, count it out."

"Exit-beacon locked." Rosen commented, though at the same time he looked at a few of his consoles, being sure that everything was alright, before he turned back to the main console that he usually stared at when he and his fellow pilot flew the Eudora, "De-shocking in five... four... three... two... one."

Isaac and Chrysalis braced themselves as the Eudora shook for a moment, which was a common sign when ships used ShockSpace to travel between points, before the ship exited the space tunnel they had been in and gave them their first view of the area Ellie went to... though the first thing everyone noticed was the planet's moon, which appeared to have been blown apart in some areas, as it was more damaged than anything Chrysalis had seen before today.

"What the hell is that?" Carver asked, deciding to voice what everyone was thinking at the moment, in their own ways anyway, while at the same time being worried about the situation that they had found themselves in.

"A moon... or what's left of one..." Norton started to say, though as the first words started to leave his mouth he noticed a fragment of a ship rising up in front of the main window, causing an immediate reaction out of him, "Rosen!"

"On it!" Rosen replied, to which he jerked the controls and the Eudora dived for a moment, getting by the debris that had nearly crashed into them, while at the same time giving them their first view of the planet below them... and all of the ships that happened to be lingering in the space above the atmosphere, all dead from the looks of it, "Christ. This plans looks like a junkyard."

"Actually, it looks like a graveyard." Carver commented, as it looked like all of the ships had been damaged in some way, either crippling them or outright destroying them if the pieces of debris could be believed.

"Any sign of Ellie's ship?" Isaac inquired, because everything hinged on finding Ellie, as she was the only one that held the clues as to what they were even doing here, and he wanted to be sure that she was all right, especially since she had escaped from Uxor earlier.

"I'm reading several transponders, but none of them are ours." Locke, the pilot, said, though as she spoke she looked at the consoles and screens that were in front of her, where she seemed confused for a few seconds, "According to the registry... they're warships that belonged to the Sovereign Colonies!"

"You serious?" Rosen asked, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, though at the same time he shook his head and stared out at the ships that were resting above the icy planet's atmosphere, "They'd be over two hundred years old!"

"Wait, I'm picking up something else." Locke said, to which she focused on the console that was in front of her, where a small smile appeared on her face for a few seconds, as she had some good news at last, "It's an S.O.S coming from that ship, dead ahead: the C.M.S. Roanoke."

"That's got to be Ellie." Isaac stated, to which Chrysalis nodded her head in agreement, otherwise if it wasn't Ellie they might be flying into a trap, but they both firmly believed that it was Ellie signal they had found.

"Yeah, let's hope so." Norton said, where Chrysalis heard something in his voice, so small that only she could detect it, that made her wonder if he had actually fallen for Ellie and was jealous of what Isaac had, but she pushed that thought away as they prepared themselves, "Alright Rosen, close to five hundred klicks."

"Aye sir." Rosen replied, to which he input a command into one of his consoles, before he and Locke started moving the Eudora closer to their target... while at the same time Norton noticed something odd.

"Those lights... are they beacons?" Norton asked, referring to some of the red lights that had appeared on Locke's console, causing the pilot to look up at her screen in confusion for a moment.

"Hang on... no..." Locke said, though as she studied the icons that had appeared on her screen she realized what they were almost immediately, which in turn caused her next word to come out even louder than before, "Mines!"

That was immediately followed by several of the mines surging towards their ship and collided with it, where they detonated once they made contact with something, though the instant Norton saw the glass crack he called for an evacuation of the bridge. Unfortunately as they rushed out of the bridge Rosen ended up hurting his leg in some manner, though Locke was beside his side in moments and helped carry him out of the bridge, taking him to a compartment that Isaac, Chrysalis, had Carver had been in a few minutes ago. Their luck got even worse as one of the mines caused some metal to collapse, trapping Rosen and Locke in the compartment, though as Norton called for assistance to move the pieces of metal out of the way Isaac, thinking clearly, smashed a nearby glass box and shoved the item into Norton's hands. He then order the captain to use the plating that was around them to seal the doorway, which immediately caused Norton to demand why he was the one suddenly giving orders... though that prompted a response that would have made Chrysalis chuckle, if they weren't in danger of dying at the moment.

"Since you clearly don't have a plan for this sort of thing, I have to come up with one. Don't worry, I'll explain everything to you," Isaac said, though that was when he turned towards Carver, who was smart enough to follow Chrysalis' lead, since she had already sealed up her helmet the moment the first mine hit the Eudora, "Carver, where can I find an E.V.A. suit?"

"Down this way!" Carver replied, to which he turned to his left and started heading down the passage that was in front of him, where Isaac and Chrysalis followed after him and noticed that the windows were cracking as the mines continued to destroy parts of the Eudora.

Not a few seconds later a computerized voice declared that there was a hull breach and that gravity had been knocked offline, to which the three of them floated into the air for a moment, causing them to turn towards the direction they needed to head in, before the gravity was reengaged and they slammed into the windows that were near them, only now they had to walk on said windows. As the three of them headed down the hallway they were in, being fast about it while trying not to crack the already cracking glass they were running on, they also had to avoid fires that were along the way. Fortunately they didn't have to run very far, since the room Carver was leading them to was near them, but as Chrysalis noticed the fact that the door could slam shut at any moment she threw her magic forward and braced the two halves in their current position, preventing them from moving for a few seconds. That allowed the three of them to jump through the gap that she had kept open, though the instant they were on the other side she released the magic and the door slammed shut behind them. Isaac, knowing they had precious seconds left before something bad happened, quickly pulled the E.V.A. suit out from where it was resting and slipped into it, completely disregarding the fact that he was wearing something else at the moment.

Before he could get the helmet out of the nearby case, however, the door near them exploded and he was sucked out of the room, but he managed to grab onto the ruined frame of the door as Chrysalis and Carver tore open the case, causing the helmet to fly out into the area Isaac was in... though he caught the helmet and slipped it on before the oxygen in the ruined ship was completely gone, where he breathed a sigh of relief as his companions joined him as he floated in the ruined interior of the Eudora, which was now exposed to the space around the ship.

"The room's sealed!" Norton called out over the audio link, though whether he was broadcasting to everyone or just to Isaac's group there wasn't enough time to consider, especially given what was happening at the moment, "What now?"

"We're going to free it from this side." Isaac stated, to which he, Chrysalis, and Carver flew over to the sealed off room, where he smiled when he saw exactly what he was looking for, as this meant his plan would work, "Rosen, Locke, you should brace yourselves. Once we release these clamps, we're going to be blown clear off the Eudora. Everyone should find something to hold onto before we eject ourselves."

As soon as Isaac said that he used his Kinesis Module to move one of the clamps out of the way, to which Carver, seeing what he had in mind, did the same thing on the left side of the room, causing the central clamp to come undone on it's own as a command console was revealed. Isaac paused for a moment, making sure that Chrysalis and Carver were holding onto something as well, before he turned towards the console and input the command, to which the thrusters engaged and the room was blown out into space. As they raced away from the ruined ship, however, the explosion that signaled the Eudora's end knocked Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver off the sealed room, to which all three of them engaged their own thrusters and flew after the sealed room that Norton was still latched onto. It quickly became apparent that they were going to have to blast their way through a large number of mines and avoid a number of obstacles if they wanted to catch up with Norton and the room, though Chrysalis came to their aid... as in she ignited her horn and started loosing small blasts of magic through the space between them and the mines, destroying the mines before any of them were hurt by the devices.

Of course the three of them had to avoid the fragments of the other ships that had come to this planet, one of which had to be Ellie's ship, and continued their flight towards Norton and the sealed room... until eventually they reached a large fragment of a ship that they could only punch their way through, to which they gathered behind the room and waited. A few moments later the room punched through the ship fragment and started spinning out of control, to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver latched onto it and turned their thrusters to the max, where they, along with Norton assisting them, managed to stall the sealed room until it was no longer spinning or threatening the people inside it. Once that was done the trio disengaged from the sealed room and let Norton fly off with it, though as he moved through space they stared at the C.M.S. Roanoke, knowing that there was no way for them to go back, especially now that they had lost the ship they used to reach this point.

"Let's not do that again." Isaac commented, referring to flying into a minefield, destroying the ship they were on, and making him come up with such a crazy plan like that, only for him to remember what he had told Ellie when he and Chrysalis boarded the Ishimura back during the Titan Outbreak, before he focused on the task at hand, "Hey Norton, can you make it to the Roanoke's cargo dock?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Norton said, though at the same time the trio could tell that he was trying to catch his breath, as that entire experience was something he wasn't expecting, nor was he expecting Isaac to suddenly take control of the entire situation, "You think there's air onboard the ship?"

"Of course we do," Chrysalis replied, as she knew that a certain someone would have gotten that system running the moment she, and whoever else she had brought with her, reached the Roanoke, "Ellie's S.O.S. is coming from inside, so it only makes sense that she would have turned the air on the moment she boarded the ship."

Norton didn't say anything to that as he flew over to the cargo dock with the sealed room, to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver flew closer to that door as well, though along the way Isaac pointed out a doorway that appeared to head inside the Roanoke itself. The moment they spotted the doorway the three of them flew over to it and had their boots establish a connection to the walkway that was below them, allowing them to walk up to the door and activate it, though that required turning a manual crank with one of their Kinesis Modules so they could actually get inside the ship. As they headed into the area between the exterior of the ship and the interior the group commented that all they had at the moment was air and dust, indicating that they were the first to use this particular entrance in a very long time... meaning that Ellie and her group must have found a different entrance to use when they arrived above the icy planet. At the same time Isaac promised Norton that he and the others would find a way to let him and the sealed room into the ship, to which they started moving the instant they opened the second door that was in front of them.

Once the second door was open the three of them entered the hallway that was on the other side and turned to their left, since the door on the right was locked at the moment, and turned left again to enter the open room that was in front of them, one that contained a machine that had a crank on it. Isaac, not wanting to waste time, pulled the crank with his Kinesis Module and sure enough the cargo dock door opened, allowing Norton to push the sealed room into the chamber before the door closed behind him. It was at that moment that Locke asked how much longer it was going to take them, as Rosen wasn't doing too well on account of the fact that she couldn't stop the bleeding, though that prompted Norton to call Isaac and his group into the room as well, as he could unlock it from this side. That meant that the door on their left was now unlocked and they pushed themselves into the room that Norton was in, where all three of them disengaged their helmets as they walked up to him... where they found that he was now undoing what he had done to seal the room and save both Rosen and Locke's lives.

"Isaac, Ellie's S.O.S. is coming from deeper inside this ship," Norton said, though at the same time he gestured to the sealed room that he was now working on, trying to break it down to get his crew out of it, "but, as you can plainly see, I can't leave Rosen and Locke like this... which is why I am ordering you to check out the coordinates I just sent you."

"Okay. We'll go check them out and see what's waiting there." Isaac replied, though relief flashed over his face for a moment, as this was exactly what he was hoping for, him and Ellie reuniting with each other again, before he turned around and headed for the door, where he stopped for a few seconds, "Don't worry, we'll contact you when we discover whatever is waiting for us."

Chrysalis smiled as she, Isaac, and Carver walked over to the larger door that they would allow them to access the path to the coordinates that Norton had just given them, as it was time for them to find Ellie, let her reunite with Isaac for a moment, and then they could figure out what to do now that they had found the place where the Marker Signal was coming from... and hopefully stop the Markers before the Unitologists could complete their terrible plans.

Tau Volantis: Reunion

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As Chrysalis and Carver started to open the large door that was in front of them, so they could begin their journey to find what was waiting at the coordinates they had been given, Isaac spotted something nearby and found what he called a 'Tesla Core', something that would be useful in crafting new weapons once they found a bench. Chrysalis wasn't sure that such a thing was entirely necessary, since they had done just fine with the weapons at their disposal, but since they might have found the place they were looking for she guessed that Isaac could tinker with his weapon, if a Bench even existed on the Roanoke. Once he rejoined his companions they opened the door and entered the hallway that was in front of them, where they discovered a large number of metallic containers, which looked an awful lot like coffins, resting on both sides of them, though all that did was cause Isaac and Chrysalis to remember what they had seen on the Ishimura and the Titan Station... meaning that it was only a matter of time until they encountered the Necromorphs that the crew had become.

"Coffins everywhere... that's never a good sign," Isaac commented, to which Chrysalis nodded her head, indicating that they were thinking the same thing as they primed their weapons, causing Carver to glance over at them for a moment before he did the same thing.

"Especially since these were executions," Carver added, causing the duo to turn towards him as he pointed at one part of the wall that he happened to be staring at, where they found him staring at some ancient bloodstains that had been left after whatever happened on the Roanoke, "the bloodstains are at the height a head would be at."

"I don't think the insanity of the Marker even touched these ships," Chrysalis said, because if these people had been executed that meant that someone intended for this to happen, to prevent something from leaving this area, which meant that they needed to get down to the planet as fast as possible, "Come on, let's get moving and find out whats waiting at those coordinates."

As the trio moved forward they discovered that they weren't actually inside a hallway, rather it was a smaller area before the larger one that was in front of them, where Chrysalis spied a Bench nearby, as well as a power cell receptacle that was missing it's power cell.

"It's a dead end." Isaac commented, staring at the large door that was across from the one they used to enter this area, as he could already tell what was going on the moment he laid eyes on the door, "It appears that someone shut a bulkhead for a quarantine... that's also not good news."

"Can we cut through it?" Norton asked, revealing that he was partly listening to what Isaac and his companions were saying, while at the same time working on the sealed room Rosen and Locke were locked inside.

"No, it's too thick for us to do that." Isaac replied, knowing that if he asked Chrysalis might be able to use her magic in some manner to open a hole for them to use, but at the same time he knew a much easier way for them to open the door, without destroying it, "But we might be able to get it to cycle open if we power it back up."

Fortunately it wasn't too hard to find the power cell that went into the receptacle, as it was resting near the Bench, to which Isaac smiled as he picked it up with his Kinesis Module and carefully inserted it into the waiting slot, which did exactly what he had been thinking it would... and, as an added bonus, the Bench powered up as well.

"That did it." Isaac stated, knowing that Norton was going to like that bit of news, while at the same time he and Carver walked over to the Bench for a moment as Chrysalis faced the door they could now open, intending to protect them in case enemies suddenly attacked them, "And we're in luck, because there happened to be a Bench on the same circuit."

"...Bench?" Norton asked, clearly having no idea what that meant, but at the same time he said nothing else about what Isaac was talking about, as he figured that Isaac would explain everything to him anyway.

"It's a place where we can upgrade our weapons," Isaac explained, though at the same time he glanced around the area that they were in and nodded his head for a moment, as he could see potential already, "With all of the parts that are laying around here, I'm willing to bet that Carver and I can 'make' some better weapons, better than what we're currently using at the moment."

"Smart thinking." Norton commented, though that was when the audio link was disconnected as he continued work on freeing Rosen and Locke, leaving Isaac and Carver to see if there was anything they could do with the supplies that were around them at the moment.

While the two of them worked on following the tutorial that was in front of them, however, Carver mauled something over in his mind and glanced back at Chrysalis once or twice while he did so, before finally focusing on what he was doing as he asked his question.

"Why isn't Chrysalis watching this tutorial as well?" Carver asked, though if Chrysalis heard him he didn't know, as she seemed really focused on the door and what might rest behind it, before he remembered what her weapon was, "Surely she can find something to use to upgrade her Pulse Rifle."

"Yeah, her fully upgrade Pulse Rifle." Isaac said, as he knew that, before they confronted her mother back in the Titan Station, Chrysalis had spent a great deal of credits to purchase the necessary Power Nodes to upgrade every aspect of her favorite weapon, and he was sure that she wouldn't change it at all, "She's fond of that Pulse Rifle, so good luck trying to convince her to make a new weapon or upgrade it... and besides, if she runs out of bullets, or grows tired of it, she'll either switch to those bone blades of hers or start hurling magic at her targets. The moment she deems that weapon useless you'll see a very sudden and rapid change in how she fights, and the power she brings to bare against our foes."

Chrysalis, despite not paying attention to Isaac and Carver for the most part, knew what her friend was referring to, he was talking about her powers, the ones she had unlocked back when they were attacking the Titan Marker, and how dangerous she could be if she entered that state. The monster she had become could easily decimate, if not entirely destroy, the Roanoke and any of the other ships that were lingering above the atmosphere, before heading down to the planet to tear it apart. She was still terrified of it, because she couldn't control her own powers, and feared what might happen if she was forced to become that monster again, but at the same time she still said nothing about this to Isaac, because she didn't want to worry him at all. With everything that was going on she didn't want him to know that she couldn't actually use that power without the fear of losing herself in the process, especially since she had been so emotional she she accessed it in the first place.

All of this went through her head as she waited for Isaac and Carver to finish up at the Bench, though once they were done, and the Bench returned to it's normal state, she snapped back to reality and prepared herself... to which the three of them opened the door that was in front of them and delved deeper into the Roanoke. What they discovered on the other side of the door was another door that manually needed to be opened by their Kinesis Module, followed by another door of that kind, before they found a new enemy leaning from the ceiling. Chrysalis, on the other hand, noticed that the enemy was a slasher the instant it hit the ground, though at the same time they noticed that more of them further behind the first one. As such the three of them opened fire on the slashers that were coming their way, dismembering them before they could even reach the door that they were standing in front of, though fortunately Isaac and Chrysalis' experience in this situation was useful in dealing with them... but once the group of slashers was taken care of, and no more were coming at the moment, they paused for a moment.

"Son of a..." Isaac said, as he and Chrysalis had been expecting this, though Carver growled as they all restocked their ammunition for a few seconds, before he opened an audio link, "hey guys, we're in trouble."

"What... what is it?" Norton asked, though his tone indicated that he didn't like any bad news, even though he also seemed to know that this sort of thing was going to be common in the near future, "What's going on?"

"We just got jumped by what's left of the crew," Chrysalis replied, while at the same time knowing that they needed to clarify what they were talking about, especially since Norton and the others weren't used to this sort of situation, "or, more accurately, the reanimated remains of the crew... also known as Necromorphs."

"Wha..." Norton started to say, though when he comprehended the second part of her statement he understood what she was talking about, to which he sighed as he realized that they were in trouble, "Okay, so what do we do?"

"You keep your weapons ready and stay the hell away from the ventilation shafts." Isaac explained, to which he and his group did the same thing, especially since they had no idea what sort of enemies were waiting for them in the rest of the Roanoke, "And, if any of them get close to you, you need to shoot at their limbs... it's the quickest way to kill them. You catch all of that?"

"Yeah... yeah, I got it!" Norton snapped, which Chrysalis thought was unnecessary, especially since the only time Isaac had taken command away from him had been back on the Eudora, so they could all escape with their lives, but instead of saying anything else he disconnected the link so he could focus on the sealed room.

As the connection was cut off Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver continued down the hallway that they were in and looted the various walk boxes and lockers that they discovered, though in addition to finding some universal ammunition they also discovered some new supplies that both Isaac and Chrysalis hadn't seen in their prior adventures. Regardless of that fact Chrysalis insisted that they pick them up, so that way they could maybe upgrade things or craft supplies if they really needed something, which Isaac agreed with. From there the trio walked through the nearby doorway and entered what appeared to be a theater or meeting room of some kind, one where they had to deal with a pair of slashers that freed themselves from their resting places. After those two were taken care of the trio walked over to the other side of the room, opened the door that was in front of them, and headed into another hallway, where they had to contend with another small group of slashers... though once those were taken care of Isaac opened a door on the left side of the hallway and found a ladder that would help them out.

As Carver climbed down first, to be absolutely sure that the path was clear for them, Isaac noticed that the audio link was beeping, to which he pressed the button and let it come through, as he figured that Norton had news regarding Locke and Rosen.

"They're coming out of the woodwork!" Norton said, where Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver heard the sound of gunfire on the other side of the audio link, indicating that the Necromorphs were attacking the others at that very moment, "Isaac, where the hell are you?"

"We're almost at the crossover tube." Isaac replied, knowing that Norton and the others could best some two hundred year old Necromorphs, but that didn't stop him from wanting to move faster now that he, Chrysalis, and Carver knew the others were in danger.

As Norton and the others continued fighting the Necromorphs that were near them, and winning by the sounds of it despite them running low on ammunition, Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver reached the lower part of the ladder and opened the door that was in front of them, where they entered an area that didn't have gravity. The moment they noticed that all three of them disengaged from the floor and floated into the air, where they started flying through the air and headed towards the other side of the tunnel, though as they did so a lurker burst out of a nearby vent. What Chrysalis found odd was that instead of the lurker being crafted from babies, like the last two outbreaks they had encountered, this one appeared to have been created from a dog's body, meaning that the Sovereign Colonies brought pets and no kids. Despite that fact Isaac and Chrysalis fired at the lurker and cleared the way forward, only for a few more of them to surge through the other vents and enter the tunnel.

Fortunately it didn't take them long to reach the other side of the tunnel, where they connected to the floor that was beneath them and opened the door that was in front of them, which in turn had them take turns climbing up the ladder that was inside the room... though at the top of the ladder they had to open a door that allowed them to enter what appeared to be the Roanoke's primary generator.

"Norton, you there?" Isaac asked, as he wanted to hear what the situation was for their companions, especially since they had been under attack the last time they had spoke to each other.

"Yeah, I'm here." Norton replied, though at the same time Isaac heard the sounds of Locke and Rosen lingering in the background, to which his group breathed a sigh of relief as their companions were just fine for now, "I think that's holding them for now..."

"The S.O.S. is coming from above our current location." Isaac stated, though while he spoke Chrysalis and Carver studied the area around them and looked out for any additional enemies that might come after them, "We just found the ship's primary generator, so if we can get the power going it should unlock the crossover tube for your group."

"What about you, Carver, and Chrysalis?" Norton asked, indicating that he might be worried about one of them, mainly Carver, but at the same time none of them put too much thought into it at the moment.

"I see an elevator that goes straight up to where the coordinates are located," Chrysalis said, to which Isaac and Carver spotted it as well, only discovering that it was currently offline at the moment, putting more pressure on them to power up the Roanoke, "Once we've got the power online we'll meet you at Ellie's coordinates."

Norton said nothing as the audio link was disconnected for the moment, to which Isaac and Carver, using their Kinesis Modules, approached one of the three turbines that were in the area and lowered part of it into place while the other turned the valve and started powering part of the generator up. Chrysalis, on the other hand, opened fire on the lurkers and slashers that tried to stop them from restoring power to the ship, allowing her friends to focus on their own task at the moment. As the first turbine went online more enemies started pouring into the area they were in, though Chrysalis focused on those that were behind her while Isaac and Carver moved to the next turbine and repeated the process that they had just gone through. When the second one came online the trio continued around the circular walkway that they were on and approached the third turbine, repeating the process once more and caused the third one to go online as well, to which they approached the main terminal... where Isaac and Carver stood in front of the pair of buttons, where they pressed them and the generator sparked to life, restoring power to the Roanoke.

After they did that Norton reconnected the link for a moment and said that it was time for them to rendezvous at the top of the spire, while he left Locke and Rosen behind for a few seconds, to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver walked over to the elevator and climbed into it... where they simply stood there for a moment or two before they reached the top, which was when all three of them disengaged their helmets as they stepped out into the command center. A smile appeared on Chrysalis' face as she saw Ellie standing in the middle of the chamber they had come to, tending to a man and a woman that were slightly injured, but she was pleased with what happened next.

"Ellie!" Isaac said, though his tone was a happy one, because now he put all of his previous fears to rest the moment he laid eyes on her, though at the same time Ellie, hearing Isaac's voice, turned around and the happiest grin appeared on her face when she saw him.

"Isaac!" Ellie nearly shouted in return, though at the same time the two of them approached the other and wrapped their arms around each other, bringing a tear to Chrysalis' eye as she stared at the lovebirds for a moment, and her labeling of them was proven right when they shared a short kiss a few seconds later.

"I knew we'd find you, safe and sound." Isaac said, to which the two of them pulled back for a moment, but still stood near each other as he realized that while Ellie didn't have any weapons this time she was still a force to be reckoned with, especially if she was right about the situation, "I'm glad you aren't hurt at all."

"If you two lovebirds are done, we have an operation to complete." Norton commented, walking out of the doorway that connected to the crossover tube, though at the same time Chrysalis detected a fair amount of jealously in the captain's voice, enough to make her worry about him.

"Captain, is this them?" the wounded man asked, to which he and the lady that was helping him walk stared at Isaac and Chrysalis for a moment, letting them know that he was referring to them, while at the same time his tone revealed that he was happy to see them.

"Yeah, it is." Norton replied, his tone shifting towards anger for the briefest of seconds before it disappeared, but Chrysalis was smarter than Norton believed she was and knew that he might be a liability, to which she decided to watch him and see what happened next, "Buckell, Santos, allow me to introduce Isaac Clarke and Chrysalis, our newly recruited experts on the Markers and, more importantly, Marker Killers. Isaac, Chrysalis, these are Austin Buckell and Jennifer Santos, members of the Marker research team that are dedicated to stopping the Markers and what they create."

"If it is true that you can decipher the Marker script, this mission might have a chance." Santos said, referring to the script that was etched into the Markers and used by the Unitologists, while at the same time revealing that Ellie had informed them about something that Isaac picked up on after destroying the Titan Marker.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, thanks for coming so quickly." Ellie said, knowing that the two of them would have preferred to remain hidden, but her discovery demanded that she contact them immediately and get them away from the colony before it's Marker was unleashed... though she could tell that she must have sent the message in the nick of time.

"You gave Norton and Carver the code, which they performed perfectly," Chrysalis commented, to which her smile remained on her face, even though she knew that there was more to the situation than what they currently knew, "as such we came here as fast as we could, especially since Danik unleashed the colony's Marker. So, what are we up to this time?"

"It's time to stop the Markers, once and for all." Ellie replied, voicing something that everyone agreed on, though this time there was so much more meaning behind her words, especially when she considered the planet that they were currently floating above, "The trail ends at the Admiral's quarters, where she's apparently written Marker Scrawl all over the walls. The key to stopping the Markers is in there, I know it... and we simply cannot leave without knowing what she wrote on the walls."

"Then Chrysalis, Carver, and I will go see what it says." Isaac stated, as he knew that, as the only person that could actually read the Marker script, it was up to him to figure out what the Admiral wrote all those years ago, "You and Norton should get the others to a safe spot and search for anything else we might be able to use in the meantime... and Ellie, please stay safe."

"I always do, don't I?" Ellie said, though before she and the others left she put one last kiss on Isaac's cheek before helping Norton assist Santos and Buckell in leaving the area, before the door Norton entered through closed once her group was on the other side.

"Come on Isaac, let's get moving." Chrysalis spoke up, to which she and her friends engaged their helmets, as they had the feeling that they were going to want them up when they went back down to the generator room.

Before they left the command center Isaac and Norton salvaged everything that they could, as in spare parts, med kits, and any useful parts that would help them create better weapons in the future, before they returned to the elevator and rode it back down to the generator room. As they did so something shook the shaft they were in and caused them to raise their weapons, though when the elevator stopped and the door opened Chrysalis found some sort of creature, one that used massive tentacles, was latched all over the room and they couldn't see the main body. Unfortunately since the path on the left was blocked off, since part of the walkway had been smashed to bits, the trio had to head to the right, where they opened fire on the yellow weakness areas that the smaller tentacles had while trying to come up with a way around the larger ones. it was Chrysalis who came up with the plan, as she had Isaac and Carver repeat the actions they went through when they were powering the area up, so she guarded them while they did that... to which the surge of power caused the tentacle in front of them to loosen and retreat while the creature roared in pain.

Chrysalis really hated these tentacle monsters, as they always went after her whenever they tried to grab one of them, and she seriously considered unleashing the monster on them for a few seconds to clear the way in record time, but then she calmed herself and knew that if such a thing were to happen the entire Roanoke, not to mention her friends, would be consumed in the destruction... so she fought off the lurkers, fodders, and leapers that wanted them dead with her Pulse Rifle while Isaac and Carver cleared the path in front of them.

Fortunately it didn't take them very long to reach the door that lead into this chamber, though they were quick to close it and climb down the ladder that was on the other side, as they didn't want the creature to suddenly show itself before they could leave the area. When they entered the tunnel they had flown through earlier all three of them found that the two fan sections were spinning again, a result of turning the power back on, though neither Isaac or Chrysalis were worried about that. The reason being was because it was a simple matter for Isaac to loose a Stasis charge at the first one, and instructed Carver to do the same with the second one, before they flew through the openings they had created and touched down on the other side of the tunnel. From there they had to climb back up the first ladder they climbed down to get into the tunnel in the first place and returned to the hallway they had been walking through a few minutes ago, where they spotted a terminal in front of them that was now powered up... though as they approached it, and found that it required two people to operate, Chrysalis spun around and dismembered the slasher that was trying to sneak up on the three of them.

Isaac and Carver went to work on the terminal, where Isaac recognized the design and informed Carver of how to help him bypass the security, before the two of them managed to override the security... though they waited for Chrysalis to finish off the last slasher, as more had come towards them and she dismembered them, before they accessed the elevator and rode it down to the Admiral's quarters. Once the elevator came to a stop Isaac and Chrysalis walked out into the short hallway and turned to their left, where they found a room that definitely had Marker markings on one of the walls, indicating that they were in the right place, which was further proven by the rotting corpse in front of them. As the two of them walked forward they disengaged their helmets as Isaac focused on the wall, where he started to mumble to himself as he looked at the writing the Admiral had left behind.

"Hey Ellie, it Chrysalis," Chrysalis said, opening an audio link with the other group, knowing that some of them were going to like the news that she had to share with them, "We've reached the Admiral's quarters and Isaac's started to decipher what the Admiral left behind."

"And? What does it say?" Ellie asked, though it was at that very moment that Carver, who waved his hands in front of Isaac's face and got no reaction, shook him and snapped Isaac back to reality, who insisted that everything was just fine before staring at the writing again.

"Everything's fine." Isaac said, to which Carver backed off and let him get back to work, though this time he didn't stare off into space like the last time he stared at the writing, where he started to decipher what the writing meant as he focused on the central drawing, "Oh my god... Ellie, the Admiral was obsessed with making a key..."

"A key to what?" Ellie and Carver asked at the same time, though that allowed Isaac to chuckle, as it was uncommon when people did that and he found it somewhat funny, before he truly focused on what was in front of him.

"Some sort of alien device... a machine of some kind." Isaac replied, where his mind rapidly worked as he translated what was in front of him and tried to make sense of what he was reading, before he found something that was interesting and related to what they were looking for, "It seems that the Admiral believed that the machine controlled the Markers... one that she wanted to turn off. She wrote 'turn it off' over and over again, like a mantra."

"This is exactly what we've been looking for!" Ellie exclaimed, revealing that she was excited for the news, exactly like Isaac thought she would, before she fully understood the situation that they now found themselves in, "Isaac, Chrysalis, this isn't some random planet... they found the source! They found the Marker home world!"

"You have got to be shitting me." Carver said, as he didn't believe that the Sovereign Colonies could have found this place, the source of the Markers, and not turned them off when they had the chance, though at the same time Chrysalis knew that there was something fishy about the way 'turn it off' was repeated over and over again.

"Alright, let's regroup in the control room," Norton stated, referring to the area near the docking chamber that he had brought the sealed room into, indicating that it was time for them to come to an agreement on something, "we can plan our next move from there."

Isaac and Chrysalis nodded for a moment, as did Carver, though as the audio link was disconnected the duo stared out at the icy planet that was beneath them, understanding that they had found the one place they had been hoping to find the moment Ellie started investigating the Markers... which meant that it was time for them to stop the Markers in their tracks and deny the Unitologists their Convergence, and save whoever was still alive.

Tau Volantis: Exploring the Fleet

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Before Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver left the Admiral's quarters they carefully searched the rest of the area, collecting the bits of ammunition that were around the area, while also listening to a recording that seemed to be between the Admiral and one of her generals. The recording revealed that they were here to look for Markers and that the general was going to be fully briefed on the situation by a Doctor Serrano, someone that the trio agreed was an important character in what had happened to the fleet of ships that were around the Roanoke. When the recording was over, and they found nothing else of use to them, they headed back to the elevator and rode it up to the hallway they had been in before coming down here, though as they did so Buckell called them and revealed some news that would definitely be of some use to them.

"Buckell here," the man said, to which the trio remained silent as they listened to him, as both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that they would likely need to go somewhere so they could get something, as that was what generally happened when they were caught in a situation like this, "We've tracked down a scrapped transport shuttle called the Crozier."

"If we can get it space-worthy again, we can use it to reach the planet's surface." Ellie added, which was the more interesting part of the entire conversation, something that Isaac and Chrysalis were happy with, since this was the reason they had come to this location in the first place, getting to the planet and stopping the Marker.

"No chance." Norton stated, indicating that he wasn't too pleased with his authority being undermined in such a manner, meaning that he thought of this as a rescue mission for Ellie and not their attempt to save the rest of humanity from the Markers, "We'll find that shuttle, and then we're getting the hell out of here."

"Dammit Robert, if we don't stop the Markers there won't be anything for us to go back to." Ellie replied, though Isaac recognized her tone immediately, because when Ellie used someone's first name in an angry manner that meant she was either annoyed with them or pissed off.

"Ellie, we'll look into the shuttle." Isaac said, because right now he didn't want a war to break out between Ellie and Norton, especially since they were in the middle of space without any shuttles or others modes of transportation, so they were all trapped until someone did something, "Where is it located?"

"In the biggest ship in the fleet, the Terra Nova... but that's a long walk." Buckell answered, meaning the largest ship that appeared to be at the end of the line, or at least of the ships that hadn't been blown apart by the mass of mines the Eudora had flown into earlier.

"Well, they must have had a way to travel between the ships." Santos commented, which both Isaac and Chrysalis agreed with, especially since they needed some way to get between the various ships besides trying to use magic to teleport between them all.

"If there's a way, we'll find it." Buckell said, echoing what was going through their minds at the moment, though at the same time Isaac and Chrysalis primed their weapons and Carver followed their motions, as there was no telling if more Necromorphs were waiting outside the door.

The moment the rest of the group was done talking Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver walked out of the elevator and entered the hallway that allowed them to reach where Ellie was located, though at the same time they started to retrace their steps back towards the area the Bench was located in. The trio returned to the theater room and found that an informative message was playing, to which they paused for a moment and discovered that, after finding the Black Marker on Earth, the people at the time tried to harness the energy of the dangerous artifact for themselves. That eventually brought them to this planet, which they called Tau Volantis, with the intent of finding the source of the energy and claiming it for themselves, so they could make a better future for themselves. The moment the informative message was over, and started playing a second time, the trio moved through the door on the opposite side of the room they were in, where they were assaulted by some slashers and leapers as they entered the other hallway.

Chrysalis used short bursts to dismember her targets while she followed Isaac and Carver over to the door they used to enter this hallway, defending their rears as they moved into the waiting area between the hallway and the area the Bench was located in. Fortunately no additional enemies came from behind them, meaning that they were able to walk through the set of doors and return to the area the Bench was in, where they found Ellie working on something and everyone else that had been with her was somewhere else.

"Isaac, Chrysalis, I knew you'd be a few minutes behind us." Ellie said, though the anger that had been in her voice a few minutes ago was gone, for now anyway, and Isaac wanted to make sure he stayed on her good side while they hunted for the shuttle.

"Where are the others?" Chrysalis asked, as she would have figured that all of them would have remained in this area until they were ready to move forward, especially since two of them were wounded, but instead they found that the rest of Norton's group was nowhere to be seen.

"Finding a way off this wreck." Norton commented, indicating that he was currently linked with Ellie's location at the moment, meaning that the two of them had been discussing something while the trio was busy fighting their way to this area, "Santos, tell them what we found."

"Of course!" Santos said, the excitement in her voice revealing that she had found something that would aid them all in getting to the shuttle that was currently resting somewhere inside the Terra Nova, "We found a little maintenance craft, a 'Skip'. It doesn't go very far or very fast, but it will take you to the outermost ships. Here, I'll send you the coordinates."

"Now, let's get that shuttle so we can go home already." Norton said, though his tone indicated that he would command them to follow him if he needed to, which wouldn't work for him if he tried it, because almost all of them wanted to bring an end to the nightmare.

"Robert, we are not going home!" Ellie stated, her earlier tone resurfacing in full force, though Isaac couldn't fault her for being angry, as he was starting to get annoyed of Norton's lack of faith in their mission and the fact that he continued to press for heading to a home that was either destroyed or about to be taken by the Unitologists.

"Look, we have to get the shuttle before we do anything else." Chrysalis snapped, causing everyone to stall for a moment, because when she got angry Isaac and Ellie knew that it was time to stop a conversation, something that Ellie must have warned the rest of her crew about before their arrival.

"Of course." Ellie said, though as she sighed she disconnected the audio link that was between her and Norton's group, at least for a moment anyway, as she turned and faced the trio that was near her, "Isaac, what do you think we should do with the shuttle?"

"Exactly what you're thinking of doing with it." Isaac replied, which brought a smile to Ellie's face, as she knew that he would have sided with her anyway and wanted to be absolutely sure of that before they left the area, "Chrysalis, Carver, and I are going to check out this 'Skip' and see what we can do with it... and hopefully it'll take us right to the Terra Nova, where the shuttle is supposed to be."

Ellie nodded and got back to whatever she had been doing before their arrival, to which Isaac and Carver approached the Bench and quickly made some modifications to their weapons while Chrysalis stood near the door that would allow them to return to the airlock so they could jump out into space. The moment her companions were ready they joined her and continued through the door that was in front of them, only to pause when they reached a suit kiosk that would allow all of them to upgrade their suits. Since Chrysalis was still wearing her armor from the Titan Station, which she had already upgraded to it's maximum potential, she didn't both approaching the kiosk and waited nearby, though she didn't have to wait long as Isaac and Carver finished up with the kiosk. Apparently upgrading these suits required certain materials that needed to be salvaged, like the gel and scrap metal they had been picking up, but the amounts were more than what Isaac had been expecting... so he called it off and simply joined Chrysalis, as he figured that it was time for them to get serious about finding that shuttle.

As the three of them walked into the hallway that was just beyond the suit kiosk, however, Isaac's RIG beeped and he discovered that someone was already trying to message him, and only him when he found out that neither Chrysalis' or Carver's was doing the same thing... to which he opened the video link and found Norton staring at him.

"Isaac, Norton here." Norton said, as if Isaac was retarded and didn't know who was calling him, but since time was of the essence Isaac said nothing about the captain's lack of faith in him and focused on another matter.

"Why are you contacting me on a private channel?" Isaac asked, though he figured that there was something the captain knew that he didn't want to tell the rest of the crew, meaning that he thought it was fine to share it with Carver and Chrysalis while not wanting to reveal it to Ellie's crew.

"Because I need to know if you, and your friend, are on my side." Norton stated, which instantly sounded stupid to Chrysalis, because as far as she was concerned there was only one 'side' in this entire venture, though that only made her wonder if the captain was focused on something other than the mission.

"There are no 'sides' in this mission." Chrysalis replied, causing Norton to glare at her, but at the same time she was unaffected by whatever he was trying to do, as the many years she had spent learning from her mother and the many years she learned to lead her Hive gave her the tools to ignore the glare entirely, "We're all here for one thing; the end of the Markers."

"Isaac, I know you love Ellie, but so do I." Norton said, choosing to ignore Chrysalis at the moment and focused his attention on the person he wanted to talk to, though at the same time Isaac simply stared at the captain, "I love her too much to let her go through with this... and if you feel the same way, like I think you do, you'll tell her to stand down and use the shuttle to go home."

"I have no doubt that Ellie just found the Marker home world," Isaac stated, as he and the majority of their team understood what was going on at the moment, even if Norton seemed to be clueless about the situation, "which means that this is the only chance we'll get to stop the Markers and prevent the Unitologists from achieving Convergence. Norton, I'm going to say this once; if you threaten this mission, or do anything that might result in us failing to get down to that planet, I won't hesitate to blow your head off and dismember your corpse."

Norton stared at Isaac for a few seconds, as if he couldn't believe that Isaac was willing to go through with this, but instead of saying anything he simply cut off the connection and the video link disappeared entirely, allowing the trio to continue moving towards the airlock. Carver remained silent for a few moments, though Chrysalis could tell that it wasn't his normal silence and that he was thinking of the fact that his captain was willing to abandon their mission, especially after all the trouble they went through to find the two of them. Isaac raised his hand and used his Kinesis Module to turn the lock on the door that was in their way, allowing them to enter the chamber that was between them and the space outside the Roanoke, where a few seconds ticked by before the door opened. From there the three of them walked out onto the walkway that was connected to the entrance and started their search for the Skip that Ellie and the others had told them about.

As they flew out into the space around the Roanoke Isaac discovered a looping message of some kind, one that Santos said was coming from the C.M.S. Greely and that it might be important, where Isaac promised that they would look into it if they got a chance. Fortunately it was easy to find the station that the Skip was located at, as it wasn't too far from the entrance they used to get inside the Roanoke and had been off to the side to prevent it from being wrecked by the debris from the Eudora. The only downside they discovered when they found the Skip's location was that it was designed to sit two people at a time, making them all wonder why the hell the soldiers that had come here had bothered with this since it seemed impractical for them to only transport two people at a time. As such Chrysalis stood outside the Skip and let Isaac climb into the front seat as Carver did the same with the back seat, where they discovered that there were three other ships they could head to; the Greely, the Terra Nova, and the Brusilov.

Chrysalis, upon hearing that there were three options for them to pick from, suggested that they take a few seconds to check out the Brusilov, because if they were going to visit two of the other named ships she had to wonder if there was something they could do with the remaining on. Isaac agreed with her statement and clicked one of the buttons on the console in front of them, to which the Skip started to move forward and left the small station that it had been docked at for the last two hundred years. Chrysalis latched onto the top of the Skip and let it carry her over to the ship that Isaac had selected, using her magic to brush off the debris that were around them, before she spotted another station approaching and let go as the Skip docked. A few seconds later the shuttle stopped moving and both Isaac and Carver climbed out of the area they had been sitting in, where they stared at the Brusilov and wondered what sort of information or items they would be able to find while they were here.

She and Isaac drifted around the space around them, finding a nest Necromorph that needed to be taken out so they could actually get into the Brusilov, and they destroyed it while Carver stared at the ship for a few seconds, before reality seemed to snap back into place for him.

"What the hell...?" Carver said, before he focused on the ship that they had come to, as he had received an unusual transmission that had caused him to stall for a moment, "Isaac, Chrysalis, head for that ship."

"That airlock will be our way inside the Brusilov." Chrysalis commented, as she could see the airlock, something that they were all focused on, and they started flying through the space between the Skip's station and the Brusilov, but at the same time she felt a familiar tug that could only spell disaster.

Since the nest seemed to be the only enemy in the area, which was a good thing in the long run, the three of them flew over to the entrance of the Brusilov and entered the airlock, where they waited for a few seconds and let the systems do what they were supposed to do. After a few seconds they unlocked the door in front of them and entered the ship, though as that happened computerized voice declared that they were entering a vacuum, indicating that there wasn't any air on the ship at the moment.

"Hey, we're not getting any air." Carver said, noticing what was going on at the moment, something that could easily be determined by simply listening to the computerized voice, but at the same time the three of them readied their weapons in case any enemies showed up.

"Lift support must be offline." Isaac commented, though at the same time he and Chrysalis glanced over at Carver for a moment, as he seemed to be the one that was the most effected by being here, making him wonder if there was a Marker on this ship, "You sure that you want to go through with this?"

"How long can you hold your breath?" Carver growled, his tone indicating that he was going to go through with this, whether or not his new companions were going to go along with him, especially when he opened the door at the end of the hallway and dismembered the fodder that was on the other side of the door.

"Let's find the life support systems and get the air flowing again," Chrysalis said, because right now she didn't want the two of them to get into a fight over something like this, as she could feel some tension in the air, and they were willing to stop since she could easily overpower the two of them, "in the meantime we can use these air canisters to restock our oxygen supply while we're looking for our target."

As they entered the room that was in front of them the trio discovered that the only way forward was to climb down the ladder that was in front of them, but as Isaac did that Carver and Chrysalis were attacked by some fodders that dropped into the room they were in. As they opened fire on the Necromorphs, however, Chrysalis heard the sound of gunfire below them, indicating that Isaac was under attack as well, before she and Carver finished off their foes, which allowed them to take turns and climb down to the area that Isaac was in, where they discovered that he didn't need their assistance at all. Despite that fact Chrysalis opened fire on the slashers and fodders that were in the area, which Carver did as well, before they were able to help Isaac in taking out the enemies that were coming into this room... while at the same time Chrysalis noticed a pregnant Necromorph that Isaac had dismembered before it could release the contents of it's stomach, saving himself from what was inside it.

After killing the enemies in the immediate area the three of them quickly looted the lockers that were around them, and the ammunition boxes that were around the room, before they walked into a new hallway that brought the three of them to a new door that allowed them to enter a command room of some kind. Before they moved forward they stopped at the air canister that was in the hallway and restocked on their oxygen, since Isaac and Carver were running low since their suits weren't fully upgraded like Chrysalis' was. Once that was done they entered the new chamber and followed the path that was in front of them, where they dealt with a few fodder enemies that attacked them and made sure they were dismembered, though as they moved towards the next doorway Chrysalis picked up one of the axes that her target had been holding and noticed that it seemed to be finely made. Despite that fact she preferred her bone blades over the axe she was now holding and returned it to where she had found it, because she didn't need a new pair of weapons when her own blades were in pristine condition, before she turned around and headed over to Isaac and Carver, where they used a door that revealed an elevator to them.

They rode the elevator for a few seconds, where Carver stared at the wall to his right during the trip, though when they arrived at their destination the three of them walked out into the small room that the elevator had stopped at, where a lurker was waiting for them. As such the three of them blasted the lurker until it was dead, where they explored the area and found a ladder that would allow them to descend to the level below them, which was where the power terminal happened to be located. Isaac headed down to the lower level, where he pulled off the cover and started to hack into the terminal while Chrysalis stood behind him, so she could fire upon the Necromorphs that were coming their way, while at the same time Carver remained on the upper level and did the same with the enemies that were up there. Fortunately Isaac was able to hack into the terminal without anything happening to him, to which the lights and everything came back online as the life support systems turned back on, allowing them to breath a sigh of relief as they finished off the rest of the enemies in their immediate area.

A few seconds later Carver seemed to stop in his tracks as he listened to something, though from what Isaac and Chrysalis could tell it wasn't Norton and the others, and there wasn't any incoming transmission that was being broadcast by the ship.

"There it is again!" Carver said, snapping out of his trance as he glanced around the area that they were in, as if he was trying to find the source of whatever he was hearing, "It's coming from somewhere inside this ship."

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that he knew what was going on, as Chrysalis seemed to be more in tune with what their new companion was talking about.

"The transmission... didn't you hear it?" Carver stated, but that statement told Isaac and Chrysalis exactly what they needed to know, which only made them wonder something else as they glanced at each other, "What?"

"There's a Marker nearby." Chrysalis said, as that was the only explanation for what was going on, which caused Isaac to nod his head in agreement, before she turned her gaze towards Carver and an idea formed in her head, "Can you home in on where this 'transmission' is coming from?"

"Yeah, I'll adjust our waypoints and we can move out." Carver replied, though if he was wondering what Chrysalis was talking about he didn't say anything, as if he forgot what she and Isaac were supposed to be, before he started to move out and the duo followed after him.

The trio returned to the elevator and rode it back up to the hallway they used to get down here, though when they arrived they dismembered the fodders that got in their way and moved towards the door that was on their right, as that was where Carver said they needed to go. The three of them headed through a small hallway and then entered a slightly larger one after passing through a door, though when they did that they had to deal with a pregnant Necromorph that was backed by several fodders. Before heading through the door they were supposed to go through the three of them opened a door on their left and raided a supply room, for all the resources that it contained, before they headed towards the actual door they needed to go through. From there they followed the path that was in front of them and came to a terminal that required two people to hack into it, where Chrysalis guarded the pair while they worked their magic on the device, unlocking the door that was blocking their path... though when they opened the door Isaac and Chrysalis found that the chamber in front of them contained a Marker with sensors attached to it.

Carver, on the other hand, stepped forward and stopped in front of something that only he could see, as he picked up whatever he was seeing and seemed to be focused on what the Marker was doing to him, while at the same time all three of them disengaged their helmets as they entered the chamber. A few moments later Chrysalis pushed Carver, after he said the name 'Dylan', and snapped him back to reality, where the three of them heard enemies surge out of the vents and enter the area they were in. As such the three of them reengaged their helmets and opened fire on the fodders that were marching towards them with their axes raised, though while they gunned them down Chrysalis switched to her blades for a few moments and hacked her way through the Necromorphs that attacked her. There were even a few lurkers that wanted a piece of them, but they fell beneath the combined might of Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver, though when the dust settled it was clear that the trio were the victors of this fight. Isaac said nothing as he spotted an ammunition container, one that Carver helped him open, and they claimed the packs and upgrades that were inside it... though once that was done they headed back towards the door and headed out into the hallway.

As they walked out into the hallway the life support systems turned off again, either from the stress of being online after two hundred years or from the Necromorphs damaging the systems, though the group focused on what they were doing and blasted their way through the enemies that now stood in their way... before they exited the Brusilov and floated off into the space around the ship.

"What was it Carver?" Isaac asked, though at the same time the three of them flew over to where the Skip was resting, so they could see what was up with the Greely and whatever message they had picked up earlier, before focusing on the Terra Nova and the shuttle that the others had found, "What did it show you?"

"What do you mean?" Carver replied, as if he had no idea what Isaac was talking about, though at the moment both Isaac and Chrysalis weren't going to play this game, not when they were above the Marker home world and whatever else was waiting for them.

"The Marker." Chrysalis said, though at the same time they stopped by the Skip and she waited for them to climb inside it, as she was going to ride all the way to the third station while they sat inside the vehicle, "They show you visions, either of your loved ones or moments that really hurt you in some manner, and they often come with the spirit of a loved one that will follow you around and help you in some way."

"I don't want to talk about it." Carver stated, though his tone told them that he didn't want to talk anymore, to which Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as they readied themselves, as the moment he and Isaac were ready the Skip moved out of the station and headed towards the one near the Greely, while Chrysalis rode on top and protected them from the debris that were still in the way.

It didn't take them long to reach the Greely, especially with Chrysalis moving the debris out of the way, though when the Skip came in for a stop she jumped off the top of the shuttle and floated down onto the platform that Isaac and Carver stepped out onto it. From there the three of them floated into the air and flew over to the Greely, aiming for the airlock that would allow them to enter the vessel, though as they approached it they fired at the lurker that came out from it's hiding place and tried to attack them, dismembering the Necromorph before it could hurt them. After that they landed on the small walkway and headed inside the research ship, though after they actually entered the ship the three of them stopped as they looked around the hallway that they were in while Isaac reached out to one of their new friends.

"Hey Santos, we've made it inside the Greely." Isaac said, though he was hopeful that Santos was able to make some progress with the message they had heard when they exited the Roanoke some time ago, especially since they spent some time investigating the Brusilov, "Any luck with that encrypted message?"

"Unfortunately not," Santos replied, her tone telling them that she was slightly annoyed by that prospect, though at the same time the trio knew there was more she wanted to tell them before they got started on this quest, "but if you guys can find the source of the message I might be able to decrypt it."

"Roger that, we'll keep our eyes out for something that'll help you out." Isaac stated, though he followed that up by disconnecting the audio link and opening the door that was in front of them, allowing them to access a ladder that brought them to a level below them.

As they reached the level below them, and spread out a little, the three of them were under attack by a group of lurkers, pukers, exploders, and a few slashers before the coast was clear, though even as that happened the three of them remained on their guard, because they were sure that the Necromorphs were going to bid their time before striking out at them again... and at the same time Chrysalis noticed something that was going to change the course of this investigation.

"Hey Santos, it looks like parts of the ship are sealed off." Chrysalis said, opening the audio link once more, though at the same time since she was talking it gave Isaac and Carver some time to get the supplies that were in the chamber that they had climbed down into.

"Sealed? On purpose?" Santos commented, her tone indicating that she was thinking about what she had been told, though at the same time Chrysalis was willing to bet that this was intentional, especially after what they had seen while they were inside the Roanoke, "Do you think that you and the others can get them open?"

"It all depends on whether or not we can turn on the power." Isaac stated, indicating that he was listening to the conversation, though Chrysalis never bothered to make it so only Santos could hear her, as she knew that Isaac had the key to all the machines on all of these ships, "If we do that we might be able to lift the lockdown."

Since Santos had nothing to say to that, as she was trusting Isaac's abilities as an engineer, the audio link was disconnected once more and the trio headed down the stairs that were off in the corner, where they found some lockers and ammunition boxes before they advanced through the door at the end of the line. That door brought them to a second door, which in turn allowed them to enter a chamber that looked like the one they found the oxygen controls in on the Brusilov, which meant they had to descend to the level below them. Sure enough Isaac found the generator on the level below them, though while he powered it up Chrysalis stood near him and Carver stood on the level above them, the two of them being ready for any Necromorphs that wanted a piece of them... though what surprised them was the fact that no Necromorphs came to interrupt what they were doing, causing them to wonder what was going on before they decided not to lower their guard just yet.

Once the power was back on Santos revealed that the lockdown was coming from the radio room and that she had set their waypoints for the location of the room in question, to which the trio got back together and approached the elevator at the end of the room, though to reach it they had to take out a pair of slashers. After that they rode up to the hallway the elevator connected to and found themselves in yet another identical hallway to one of the ones in the Brusilov, though Chrysalis figured that all of the research ships were identical in how they were built at this point. The moment the elevator stopped they opened the door in front of them and entered a room with consoles, where they found a small electrical terminal that required them exchange the power between two pieces of machinery so they could move further into the Greely. Carver and Chrysalis stood guard as Isaac tested the various controls for a few seconds, making sure he knew the voltage of each part, before smiling as he figured out the combination that would allow them to move into the next part of the ship.

As they moved towards the door they heard a recording of someone asking one of the crew members about who was sending a message planetside, until they came to a point where the soldiers determined that the proper course of action was to cut off the ship's power and kill everyone, as well as cripple the transmission. As they headed through the door that Isaac had unlocked they heard the sound of gunfire, indicating that the soldiers that were following the order dealt with the crew member that they had been talking to. The path the door revealed brought them back to the room that the ladder was in, along with some more of the various Necromorphs that they had fought the first time they were in this room, where they gunned down the undead creatures as they made their way towards the actual door they needed to head into to find the source of the transmission. On the other side of that door, which was down a second set of stairs that the trio had ignored, they discovered a room that definitely looked like it belonged to a research vessel, though as they looked for a way to continue they all kept their eyes open for any enemies.

Sure enough some lurkers and slashers attacked them while they headed towards a lift, but they were easy to take out and soon the trio was heading down to the level below them, where they fired at a slasher and blew it apart before walking over to the door that it happened to be guarding. The door brought them to a small area that a slasher tried to ambush them in, though Chrysalis smashed it with her magic since they were too close to actually fire their weapons at the moment, before they moved through the door that was in front of them. That allowed them to enter a new room that brought them to a manual crank they had to turn with their Kinesis Modules, so while Isaac did that Chrysalis stood guard in case enemies attacked from behind. A few seconds later the three of them headed through the now open door that was in front of them, as that was what the crank was linked to, before they entered a power room of some kind, one that had electricity sparking off the central machine and hitting the area around it.

Fortunately they found a panel on the machine that they could tear off and remove a piece of the machinery, cutting off the electricity that was coming from the device, though that resulted in some of the plating around them breaking as the gravity wells broke and created the unstable gravity walls that would tear them to pieces if they stepped on them. Since there weren't any gravity walls in front of them they were able to cross to the other side of the room and activated the terminal that was in front of them, which also allowed them to listen to another recording that was during the time of the 'cleanse' order. After letting the message cycle Chrysalis found a key that had to be to the office mentioned in the recording, to which the three of them headed back towards the door that allowed them to enter this chamber, where Chrysalis decided to use her magic and hurled any Necromorphs that dared to show themselves into the gravity walls that were all around them... allowing Isaac and Carver to conserve their ammunition for whatever was on the Terra Nova as they made their way back towards the room with the ladder they had gone through multiple times so far.

Chrysalis found it satisfying when she used the gravity walls to dismember and kill the various Necromorphs that were in the area around them, as it allowed them to move through the Greely all that much faster, though at the same time she could tell that Carver was interested in what she was doing with her magic, since he wasn't used to magic being a thing that existed in his world. When they reached the room with the ladder Chrysalis handed the key she had found to Isaac, who headed towards the door it went to, before she and Carver opened fire on the Necromorphs that started to come towards them, taking them out before they could be hurt in the process. Fortunately the decryption key was in plain sight and Isaac sent it to Santos the moment he had it, where they discovered that the message was 'hide Rosetta', which they all assumed was a scientist whose research was the key to everything, though that information meant they knew what to look for when they headed down to Tau Volantis.

With the deed done, and the message decrypted, Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stopped at a Bench to manage their supplies for a few seconds before they headed towards the airlock that would allow them to exit the Greely, so they could finally access the Terra Nova and find the shuttle... and then the task of heading down to the planet would begin, once they made sure the shuttle was ready to fly.

Tau Volantis: Terra Nova

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It didn't take long for Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver to use the Skip to travel from the Greely and head over to the Terra Nova, where Chrysalis protected them from the various pieces of debris that were around them, because she didn't want them to get hurt before they arrived at their destination. When they neared the outside of the main ship Chrysalis let go, thinking that the station the Skip would dock at would be located outside the ship, but then it passed through an opening on the exterior of the ship, which was massive when she looked at it, to which she sighed and followed after it with her jets. The Skip then reached a point where it stopped and rose up like it was in an elevator, forcing her to head upwards as well, before the small ship docked and she landed on the platform that was in front of it. As she touched down on the platform, and the walkway that would take them to the airlock, she watched as both Isaac and Carver pulled themselves out of the Skip and stood before her, looking ready for anything that the Terra Nova could throw at them.

Once the three of them were back together again they headed towards the airlock, as it was time to hunt for the shuttle that would allow them to head down to Tau Volantis, though as they did so Isaac opened an audio link to Buckell and his team, as they knew where the shuttle was located.

"Okay, we're inside the Terra Nova." Isaac said, though as he spoke the three of them opened the airlock and headed inside the ship, while making sure to keep their eyes open for any Necromorphs that wanted them dead, "Now, which way do we take so we can find that shuttle?"

"Santos, you found the impound records." Buckell answered, indicating that while he had absolutely no idea where the shuttle was located, despite knowing about it's existence, Santos was the one that knew the information they needed at the moment, "What did they say?"

"Only that the ship was decommissioned." Santos replied, though at the same time the trio heard her sigh for a few seconds, indicating that she didn't like the information that she was looking at, "They were going to part it out."

"Great." Carver stated, his tone immediately indicating that he wasn't happy with the news that they had been given, since the shuttle was the only way for them to get to the planet or leave if his captain got his way, "So basically no one knows where the shuttle is?"

"There has to be more detailed records somewhere aboard the Terra Nova." Chrysalis said, as she was sure that the crew of the ship must have kept a list of the various parts that the shuttle had and where they went, along with the actual resting place of the shuttle, "We'll just take a look around the ship, kill some of the Necromorphs that call the Terra Nova home, and find the information we need to locate the shuttle."

Neither Santos or Buckell said anything to that statement, which Chrysalis was expecting, before the audio link was disconnected, allowing her and her companions to walk through the door that was in front of them and enter the hallway that was right on the other side. What they immediately discovered was that there was a suit kiosk to their right and a screen in front of them that revealed that the Terra Nova was running on reserve power, though while Chrysalis wondered what sort of energy source the ship used she wasn't about to question the fact that there was power for them to use. From there they headed into the elevator and headed to the second floor, as they had entered through the first floor and the third floor happened to be blocked off for the moment, though they rode in silence as they waited to see what they were going to have to do this time around. When the elevator came to a stop they discovered a small hallway that brought them to a door, one that allowed them to enter the bridge, where they learned that the power reserves were on standby and that the cargo systems were offline... along with a recording that was from the time when the Terra Nova first arrived above Tau Volantis, while at the same time the three of them ignored the country music that was still playing.

Once the recording had played once they headed up the stairs that were on the left and right sides of the stairs they climbed to reach the bridge, where they found a room of some kind that had a power terminal that Isaac could pull the cover off and hack into... one that restored the power to the room they were in and gave them some information, where Chrysalis smiled as she realized it was the exact information they were after.

"Isaac here." Isaac said, opening the audio link to the others for a moment, as they deserved to know what they had found, since it determined what they were going to do next, "It looks like our shuttle is in the AFT section of the ship. I'm updating all of our locators right now."

"Just tell me that it'll get us to the nearest shipping lane." Norton replied, though his tone indicated that he was bored of something, which was going to annoy Ellie more than she already was, to which Chrysalis decided not to talk about that and let the man dig himself an even bigger hole than what he was in at the moment.

"If we can get it space worthy again," Chrysalis commented, staring at the part of the screen that was in front of them, the one that seemed to show the notes that had been made on the shuttle they were after, "Judging from the diagnostics... well, let's just say that it's a pile of shit."

Chrysalis had adapted to using several of the words that Isaac and Ellie had used during her time with them, but she tended to use them when she felt the situation called for it, and right now the diagnostics claimed that the shuttle wasn't in the best condition at the moment.

"We can get it to work, can't we?" Ellie asked, though while her tone sounded a little disappointed in the state of the shuttle, which most of them were feeling at the moment, she was also hopeful that Isaac, the master engineer that had escaped two Necromorph outbreaks with Chrysalis at his side, would be able to work his own magic again.

"We're swimming in a sea of spare parts." Buckell said, referring to all of the various ships, both the whole ones and the destroyed ones, that were floating around the Terra Nova and the Roanoke, ships that they could salvage parts from and attach to the shuttle if necessary, "If the parts are out there, I can get it to fly."

"Ellie, we can make this work." Isaac firmly stated, as he knew that he, Chrysalis, and Carver could find the parts that they needed and fix up the shuttle, it would just take some time to make sure they gathered everything they needed and didn't miss a single component.

Once Isaac said that, and Ellie felt better about the situation, the audio link was disconnected and the trio moved through the doorway that was behind the screen, where they walked through another small hallway and passed through a second door that brought them to a mess hall of some kind. From there they climbed down the ladder that was on the other side of the room and entered a small room, one that allowed them to open a door that would take them right into the cargo hold. When the three of them walked into the cargo hold they were attacked by a pack of lurkers, to which Isaac and Chrysalis stood back as Carver picked up an explosive canister with his Kinesis Module and hurled it at the pack that was approaching them, blowing them to pieces and opening the way forward. As Carver climbed down the ladder that was off on their left, and headed down to the level below them, Isaac and Chrysalis opened fire on the slashers that revealed themselves and tried to attack him... where they dismembered all the Necromorphs that were out in the open before joining him on the level below them.

As they walked out into the open area a slasher tried to attack them from behind, where Chrysalis magically yanked out her bone blades and hacked the Necromorph to pieces, allowing Isaac and Carver to climb down to the third level of the cargo area... though when she joined them she discovered that they were holding a pair of strange robots, which were small and could be held like a gun despite the fact that they weren't weapons.

"Chrysalis, these are old Scavenger Bots," Isaac said, indicating that he knew what the robots were, though at the same time Chrysalis understood what they were supposed to do by their name alone, "We'll be able to find any additional resources in an area and, when they find and recover them, they'll find their way to the next Bench that's in our path... but the amazing thing is that no one's been able to figure out how they can follow their owner from the space above a planet to the planet itself."

Normally Chrysalis would have blamed magic for that sort of thing, but since this was a piece of technology she assumed that whatever had gone into making them had been lost and it was left as a mystery, so she said nothing as both Isaac and Carver put their new toys away and moved along the path they needed to follow. As they followed the ramp up towards a door that would take them to their destination, however, a pair of fodders tried to attack them, one from the front and one from behind, though they were nothing to the trio's weapons. After the fodders were dealt with the trio climbed up the ladder that was at the end of the walkway, where Chrysalis remained on the lower level for a few seconds and blasted the lurkers that were climbing on the walls near her while Isaac did the same on the upper level. From there, once the three of them were on the upper level, an exploder tried to ambush them by appearing in the hallway in front of them, though Isaac simply loosed a single shot and struck the goo sack it was carrying around, blowing it to pieces and allowing them to continue forward.

What they discovered was a fodder and an exploder protecting the door they needed to go through, though since they were close together another shot was fired and they were blown apart, allowing the trio to open the door and enter the room that was on the other side... where they watched a few members of a swarm burrow into some corpses on the other side of the room and raise them from their slumber, only to die again a few seconds later as the three of them opened fire on them.

From there they opened the door and headed into the small hallway that was in front of them, where a vent exploded and some swarm members raced towards them, but Chrysalis wrapped her magic around them and squeezed her hand, causing them all to explode. The instant the enemies were dealt with they opened the door on their left and found a station that reminded Isaac and Chrysalis of the Tram Stations in the Ishimura, though at the same time they discovered a few pregnant Necromorphs patrolling the area. As such the three of them dismembered those Necromorphs and payed no attention to their stomachs, meaning that they didn't have to worry about new enemies being spawned while they were busy, before they headed over to the power terminal that would allow them to access the tram for this ship. As they walked over to the terminal several slashers broke into the area and charged at them, to which they went on the defensive and fired at their enemies, dismembering the slashers before they even had a chance to hurt them.

Once those enemies were taken care of the trio returned to the terminal and Isaac activated it, where they quickly discovered that there was something that would cause a collision on the tracks and that someone needed to report to Cradle Operations to remove the obstruction.

"Of course there's an obstruction." Chrysalis commented, as she remembered what they had to do back in the Ishimura, when they were putting the Tram back on the tracks and what they had to go through in the Titan Station, before she sighed, "Come on, let's go see what the problem is and take care of it."

Isaac nodded his head and turned towards the door that was near them, as it was the only way for them to reach the area that the Cradle Operations was located in, where he walked through the door and was followed by both Chrysalis and Carver. On the other side of the door they found a ladder that allowed them to climb up towards a new level that rested above them, though as Isaac reached the upper level he opened fire on the members of the swarm that were coming his way, clearing them out as Chrysalis and Carver joined him. As they turned a corner they came face to face with a guardian that rested on the wall that was in their path, one that they immediately fired at the moment it revealed it's tentacles, where it screamed in pain as they tore the life from it's undead body. This time around, when the guardian died, it dropped nothing more than ammunition or medical supplies, as Isaac and Chrysalis were used to semiconductors, but they gathered their prize anyway and continued along the path that was in front of them... which brought them to an elevator that they gathered inside and used to head up to the level that rested above them.

When the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened, they entered a seemingly dark room that they couldn't find their way around without using Chrysalis' magic to summon lights, though as Isaac started to open his mouth he and the others watched as the exterior door that covered the windows opened, allowing them to see everything. What they found out was that there was some trash on the tracks, which one of them would have to remove with the controls, though at the same time they spotted a few vents and knew that enemies were likely to come when they accessed the controls.

"Okay, I see the problem now," Isaac commented, though at the same time they all walked down the ramps that were to the left and the right of the door they had walked through and approached the controls, where he stepped up to the terminal while Chrysalis and Carver stood beside him in case enemies attacked them, "It looks like someone left a bunch of cargo on the tracks."

"You can clear it, can't you?" Ellie asked, but even as she said those words she didn't doubt Isaac, because if there wasn't a working terminal he could use to move the cargo she was sure he'd figure out another way to move the cargo out of the way so they could use the Terra Nova's tram.

"Yeah, these controls should be easy to use." Isaac replied, staring down at the terminal that was in front of him and how they were supposed to work, before he set his enhanced Plasma Cutter to the side and grasped the handles that were in front of him, "Don't worry Ellie, I'll make sure that we get to the AFT section of the Terra Nova and see what the condition of the shuttle really is."

While Ellie might not have said anything to that statement, as she was busy on her end, Isaac accessed the controls and started rotating the pieces of cargo that was in front of him, finding that the only way for him to remove the pieces from the track was to connect them in some manner, almost like a puzzle. As he did that he noticed that this seemed to be intentional, as in whoever had cleansed the ships had left the cargo in this state in case someone tried to head to the area that the shuttle was located in, to prevent them from escaping into the depths of space or something. While he moved the cargo pieces around he heard Chrysalis and Carver open fire on the Necromorphs that were invading the room that they were in, where Chrysalis mentioned something about a pack of slashers and a few fodders, though he had faith in their ability to stop the enemies from hurting them. He put the gunfire at the back of his mind and barely registered when it had stopped, as he was focused on the task at hand, before he reached what was the last bit of cargo that separated the tram from being returned to the station... though he paused for a moment when he glanced at the bit of cargo that was on the right side, as there was something familiar that was going to complicate the situation more than it already was.

Resting in a rectangular container, with it's arms bound by some sturdy metal constraints, was a humanoid creature that resembled the Hunter and Ubermorph enemies he and Chrysalis had fought in the last two outbreaks, where they had burned the former to ash and had trapped the latter in a sealed room that was blown apart when the Titan Marker exploded three years ago. What he discovered, from looking at the creature, was that it had the same smooth skin texture that the Ubermorph had and it's arms had been transformed into sinister looking scythe like blades that he suspected could easily cut anything that stood before the creature. What interested him the most was the various Marker symbols that had been carved into the creature's flesh, why he had no idea since he could barely make out what the various markings said from this distance, but despite that fact he knew that bringing the creature aboard the ship was a bad move... and unfortunately it was the only way for them to access the tram that was right behind it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Chrysalis asked, though since the slashers and fodders were dead she and Carver were able to turn towards Isaac, to see what sort of progress he had made on his end, but as she did so she stared at the container that had caused her friend to stall for a few moments.

"Yeah... it's a regenerating Necromorph." Isaac said, as he already knew what the creature was the moment he laid eyes on it, though at the same time he heard Chrysalis sigh for a few seconds, indicating that she wasn't pleased to have found one of these creatures again.

"A 'regenerating' Necromorph?" Carver asked, as this wasn't something that he and his captain had been briefed on when Ellie first told them about the various Necromorphs that she had encountered, meaning she either didn't know about them or had failed to tell them about this type, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you can dismember it as many times as you want, as it won't die." Chrysalis replied, to which she locked her eyes with the Regenerator, her name for the new type of regenerating enemies they had encountered, and wondered if she could simply do away with it with her magic, "These things are extremely difficult to kill and they can regenerate any part of their body, meaning that the only way to destroy one of them is total destruction to their bodies, so there's nothing left for them to regenerate. Back on the Ishimura we encountered one type of this particular Necromorph, what we called the Hunter, that we tried to imprison in a block of ice, but that ultimately failed and we burned it to ash with the help of a shuttle's engines. The second time we discovered an enemy like this was back on the Titan Station, where we called that one the Ubermorph, and while we didn't actually kill it, not directly, we trapped it inside a room that had no exits and it died in the fiery explosion of the station."

"So how do we kill it then?" Carver inquired, because based on what he was just told he was sure that they had a method to trap it somewhere for later, especially since Chrysalis had her innate magic at her beck and call, or at least eject it into space so it can't get back aboard the Terra Nova.

"We dismember it's arms and legs, loose a Stasis charge at it, and run," Isaac stated, though as he turned back to the controls he could tell that Chrysalis was thinking about something, likely whether or not she could detonate the new enemy like she did to her mother, before he sighed and moved the cargo pieces once more.

As the cargo pieces were pulled into the ship, and the tram started to move to the station they had seen earlier, a computerized voice said that there was a cargo fault in bay four and that there was a containment breach, meaning that the Regenerator must have snapped out of his casing the moment it was inside the ship. While that happened a number of pukers jumped out of the vents and started to attack the three of them, to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver replied by shooting at them and dismembering them as they headed towards the elevator. When they reached the area in front of the elevator they discovered a recording that revealed the cowboy person from the last recording knew about the coffins that were being stored in the cargo hold and claimed that this wasn't going to end well, even if his commander knew everything that he knew about the situation. Once the recording was done Isaac opened the elevator door and found a puker on the other side, one that the three of them gunned down and dismembered, before they walked into the elevator and headed down to the level they had used to enter the elevator originally.

This time around the elevator seemed to detach from what was holding it and dangerously descended for a few moments, where the three of them stood their ground and waited for the elevator to stop, though when it did they paused for a few seconds, to calm themselves down, before they opened the door and exited the elevator... where they walked out into a different hallway than what they used to reach the elevator.

As the three of them exited the elevator they found another recording, one revealing that Tucker, who had to be the person in the previous two recordings, was lazy and didn't care about the mission, though as they listened to the recording Isaac remembered something he and Chrysalis had found on the Titan Station. As such when they entered the room that was in front of them he opened an audio link and forwarded the short video of a man using slasher blades to impale his enemies, using a Kinesis Module to do so. Carver and the majority of the crew, those that didn't know how to do that, were interested by that while Norton, on the other hand, was annoyed that Isaac was wasting time on something so stupid, even though Isaac only offered the method in case the others ran out of ammunition. The instant the video was over the three of them climbed up the ladder that was in front of them and approached the doorway that was at the end of the path they were following, which allowed them to walk up a ramp that brought them to yet another puker, one that they decimated the moment it revealed itself. The room the puker was guarding happened to have a door that allowed them to reenter the Cargo Hold, via a door they had walked by to get to the lowest area of the entire place, though they discovered that the only way forward at the moment was to head to the lower area.

When they climbed down the ladder that was to their left, and reached the lowest area of the Cargo Hold, Chrysalis noticed the case that the Regenerator was trapped in had been placed along the path they needed to take, though when it saw them it roared and swung it's left arm, breaking it's arm off while shattering the glass. That was followed by the creature pulling on it's right arm and snapped it off as well, though as it stumbled out of the ruined case it's body started to shutter, indicating that it was starting to regenerate it's missing limbs. This time around Chrysalis wasn't going to play a game of cat and mouse with this type of creature, to which she raised her right hand and waited for a few seconds, though the moment the Regenerator had it's arms back she unleashed her magic and pinned the creature against the case it tried to leave behind. She followed that up by gathering some power into her open hand once more, forming a sphere of energy that she remembered shoving into her mother, when her power had taken over, and what had happened after that... to which she sighed as she approached the Regenerator and stared at it as she pressed the sphere into it's chest, where she heard what could have been a moan or something, before she backed away from the creature.

Before Isaac and Carver could say anything red cracks started to form on the Regenerator's body as the power of Chrysalis' attack took hold, where all they could do was watch as the cracks spread out to it's arms, it's legs, and the rest of it's body, before it was vaporized in the explosion that followed... though when the dust settled they discovered that the Regenerator had been turned to ash, as nothing of it remained where Chrysalis had attacked it.

"Chrysalis, what did you do?" Isaac asked, because while he was sure that he could piece together what happened on his own, as his friend's powers were known to him thanks to the time he spent with her, he wanted to hear what she had done for himself.

"I simply detonated the Regenerator with my magic," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she sighed as she turned away from where the Necromorph had been, as there was no reason for them to worry about it anymore, "Come on, let's keep moving before more of our enemies show up."

Sure enough the moment they started heading towards the room that the tram was supposed to arrive in, so they could head to the Aft section of the ship, the rest of the Necromorphs that were in the Cargo Hold converged on their location, following them towards the room in question. As they fought their way through the Necromorphs, however, the three of them heard a familiar sound as they entered the room that the tram would arrive in and continued to fire at the undead creatures that were coming towards them. Isaac and Carver gunned down the creatures that entered the room they were in, and Chrysalis assisted them with her Pulse Rifle, though when a second Regenerator burst out of an already broken vent, surprising the group in the process, Chrysalis was the first one to react. Instead of repeating what she had done earlier, and chaining the creature down before destroying it, she attached her gun to her side and drew one of the bone blades from her back... where she gathered her magical energy into the core of her blade and swung at her target's arms, separating them from the Regenerator's body.

As the Regenerator fell to it's knees, and started to shake as it began to rebuild it's missing limbs, Chrysalis gripped her now flaming blade and drove it into the creature's heart, where she released a burst of magical energy that instantly reduced her foe to ash... though when she pulled out the handle of her weapon she watched as the sharpened blade turned to ash as well, leaving her with one bone blade as she dropped the handle.

"At least I used it for a good cause," Chrysalis commented, to which she drew her gun out and dismembered the next pair of undead that came at her, though as she did so she noticed that the tram was drawing into the station and the door was opening, "Isaac, Carver, the trams here! Let's get out of here."

Her friends didn't need to hear anything else as they blasted their way to the door of the tram and opened it, where they boarded the tram and covered her while she climbed aboard the vehicle as well, to which the door closed behind her and Isaac got the tram moving towards the MID section of the ship... just so they could get away from their enemies.

"I really hate regenerating Necromorphs," Isaac stated, though at the same time the three of them relaxed for a few seconds, as they needed to calm down before they dealt with whatever they found when they stopped at the MID section or continued on to the AFT section.

Chrysalis agreed with that statement, as the regenerating Necromorphs were extremely hard to kill, and she seriously hoped that this was the last they saw of the Regenerators, because this mission would be a lot easier without them, but she guessed that only time would tell if there were more than the two she had destroyed a few seconds ago.

Tau Volantis: Conning Tower

View Online

Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stood around the control terminal for the tram for a few seconds, collecting themselves from their encounter with not one regenerating Necromorph, but for sure two of them with the sounds of a third one echoing through the vents before they left the section of the ship they were in. Chrysalis was immediately annoyed by hearing the sound of another Regenerator echo through the corridor of the ship they had been in, since it appeared that her wish to not see more of them was void already, but she kept her cool as they moved towards their destination. Carver seemed eager to fight something, anything really, but that made sense considering that he hadn't been able to kill one of the Regenerators and wanted to beat something else up. Isaac, on the other hand, stood at the terminal and stared at the part of the ship that they were heading towards, his mind thinking about the enemies that they had left behind, before he sighed and opened an audio link to the others.

Chrysalis knew that he wanted the rest of their team to know that they had freed the shuttle and that they were nearing the AFT section of the Terra Nova, where the shuttle was located, but at the same time she had to wonder what sort of errand they might run at the MID section, if they chose to stop there.

"Guys, we made it to the tram." Isaac said, letting Ellie and the others know what was going on, since they were also the only way for them to find out where they were going at any given moment, which he was grateful for since having someone guide them made things much easier, "It looks like this thing stops at the MID and AFT stations. We already know what's waiting for us in the AFT section of the ship, so what's in the MID section?"

"Well, that would be the Conning Tower." Buckell replied, though his tone suggested that he had been doing some research while they were away and might have found something interesting, something that might make them change their minds on what they were doing, "Here's something that might interest the three of you. The records indicate that a number of useful tools and salvage were signed out from storage there by a Lieutenant Tucker Edwards. Maybe the MID section might be worth a look?"

"It might definitely be worth it," Chrysalis commented, as she knew that, from their experiences on the Brusilov, exploring a new area that wasn't related to their actual mission would yield some new enhancements for the weapons that Isaac and Carver carried, especially since she didn't care about that sort of thing, "Isaac, Carver, think about this for a moment; we might be able to find some useful components to upgrade your armor, modify your weapons, and even find some interesting modifications for your weapons. We could make you two an even deadlier force to be reckoned with, at least in the face of the Necromorphs, and make fighting our way through them even easier... allowing us to complete our objectives even faster than we would with the weapons at our disposal at the moment."

"Along with any supplies that might be useful in repairing the shuttle," Isaac said, understanding where Chrysalis was going with her opinion on what they could do, as he had been thinking the same thing that she was thinking, though when he glanced over at Carver, who nodded his head, he knew what they were going to do, "Hey guys, we're going to check out the MID section real quick and see if we can't find Tucker's stash, because we might find something that will help in repairing the shuttle or powering up our weapons."

"Clarke, don't you dare step foot in the MID section." Norton stated, his tone indicating that he didn't want to remain here for longer than what was necessary, where Isaac and Chrysalis knew that Ellie would attack him in some manner when the audio link was disconnected, "As your commanding officer, and leader of this operation, I am ordering you to stick to the plan and acquire the shuttle that Ellie and the others found."

"Norton, it will only take a few minutes to see what Tucker checked out of the storage area," Isaac replied, though he wasn't surprised that Norton was upset with him and Chrysalis, as it was clear that he was going to blame them for everything that was happening to him at the moment, "Once we find whatever Tucker took, and acquired it for ourselves, we'll return to the tram and head out for the AFT section, so we can see what sort of situation we're dealing with once we see the condition the shuttle is in. We'll contact you again if something happens or if we find the shuttle."

Before Norton could say anything Isaac terminated the audio link and let silence reign for a few moments, allowing them to focus on heading into the MID section of the Terra Nova, where he was sure that they would find some more Necromorphs and whatever Tucker left to defend what he had checked out. Chrysalis nodded her head, indicating that she was pleased with how he had handled Norton at the moment, while at the same time Carver seemed to remain silent, but Isaac knew that he was still stunned by what his captain was doing since he seemed to be going back on what he had wanted before they recruited them into their mission. Isaac was still surprised that Norton, who had started off as someone that seemed to believe in their mission to take out the Markers, had turned into someone who wanted to flee this planet and never look back. He was sure that Ellie would have words with Norton, which was a conversation he would laugh at when he heard it, but he focused on the task ahead of them and what they were going to do once they had searched the MID section.

Not a few seconds later the tram came to a stop at the MID station and the door to the left of the terminal opened, allowing the three of them to walk out and step into the station so they could begin their search for whatever Tucker had checked out of storage... and, from the looks of what was in front of them, there was another terminal that required two people to hack into it, to which Chrysalis guarded Isaac and Carver as they worked their magic.

The moment the two of them were done hacking into the terminal, and Chrysalis didn't have to fire a single shot since there were no enemies that tried to attack them, the door to their immediate right unlocked itself and they entered the room that was behind it. What they found was a Bench, a few meager supplies, a key to the Conning Tower, and a recording that revealed that someone had confronted Tucker about a 'Scenario Five' situation and that everyone had to die in accordance to the order. What happened next was that Tucker, taking his commander's hesitance as an opportunity to make a move, shot his superior officer and killed her, before swearing that if the 'jarheads' came looking for him he'd be ready to fight back. His tone told Chrysalis that he must have turned Conning Tower into a death trap for the soldiers that were carrying out the orders that came with a Scenario Five situation, meaning that they would have to be careful when they entered the area that Tucker had taken control of.

Once they had the key and heard the recording, as well as taking a moment to sort through their supplies at the Bench, the trio approached the other door, that was to the right of the one they used to find the key, and unlocked the lock that had been placed on the door, which turned out to be an elevator... though as they climbed into it and headed up to the next floor something interesting happened.

I see you! a voice said, one that Chrysalis realized had to be Tucker, but since he was around two hundred years ago she knew that he had to be long dead like everyone else aboard the Terra Nova, meaning that this was a recording that played if someone opened the elevator door and used it, Guess you were smart enough to make it past my lockout. So you must not be one of those no-neck dipshits on the General's goon squad. But before you go patting yourself on the back, you should know that was the easy part. Your day is about to get a whole lot worse.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Chrysalis commented, because this was already turning out to be a bad day, especially since the Eudora had been destroyed, but she was sure that the three of them would be able to overcome everything that Tucker had set up for people like them.

The moment the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened, the trio stepped out and opened fire on a pair of slashers that dropped down from the ceiling, where they had been hanging since they went to sleep all those years ago, and soon they were laying in pieces all around them. The hallway they were in seemed to be pretty straightforward, as there was nothing to their right and when they turned left they found yet another hanging slasher drop down and try to assault them, only to be blasted to pieces. There were a few bits of salvage laying around, metal and gel that both Isaac and Carver could use on their suits when they found the next suit kiosk, but at the same time that only made Chrysalis keep her guard up as they opened the only door that wasn't blocked and entered a room that had two or three levels to it... and, from the looks of the vents, this had to be one of those traps that she had been worried about.

All the infected soldiers... they brought them up here for 'safe keeping'. Tucker spoke up, indicating that they had found another recording, though that only made the three of them ready their weapons as they waited for whatever trap the man had created to be sprung, You may think that you can put a bullet in my dome, but I've got a ready-made army that says you can't.

The trio glanced at each other as they carefully made their way over to the stairs that were on their left and walked up to the level that was above them, where they discovered that the room had two levels and not three, before they headed over to the door that would allow them to leave the room... but as Isaac tapped it, to get it to open, the door shocked him back and locked itself, meaning that they were going to have to deal with whatever Tucker had left for them.

Gotcha! Now it's time for a little fun. Computer, arm explosives. Tucker said, though his voice command caused the various explosives, which had been resting on every vent throughout the room they were in, to power up as they prepared to detonate their payloads and tear the vents apart, And... detonate.

That was immediately followed by the various explosives detonating and tearing the vents apart, opening the way for anything to enter the room, and sure enough slashers started to pour out of the now open vents, each wanting a piece of the trio. Fortunately the path leading towards the door had three different routes one could take, meaning that Carver could fire at the enemies coming from the left, Isaac could focus on the ones coming from the right, and Chrysalis could make sure that the forward path was clear of enemies. As they got into position, and started firing at their enemies, the computerized voice of the Terra Nova informed them that some contamination had been detected, which was the various Necromorphs, and that quarantine was in effect until everything was dealt with.

"I'm reading a quarantine lockdown." Buckell said, opening an audio link with the three of them, though it appeared that he was the only one that was doing so, even though the trio was firing at the Necromorphs and were dismembering them before they could get close, "Are you three alright?"

"Yes, for the moment, and that could change at any second." Isaac replied, as he knew that they could easily deal with the enemies that were coming at them, since it seemed to be mostly slashers that were interested in the noise, but at the same time he knew that this could be costing them time they didn't have, "Unfortunately the door is locked and I don't know how to override it's commands."

"There must be an override on one of the walls." Norton spoke up, indicating that he was interested in what was going on, though at the same time Chrysalis knew that he still didn't care for the three of them and wanted to make sure they survived so he could force everyone to leave this planet behind.

"We'll look for it once these things have stopped trying to stab us in the face." Carver said, to which he opened fire on another slasher and dismembered it, as he knew that if these things got close they would use their blades to carve all three of them up, which was something he wanted to avoid.

As the conversation ended the trio discovered that the slashers weren't alone, as they were joined by a pack of lurkers that wanted nothing more than to stab them with their sharpened tentacles over and over again until they killed their targets, but those very tentacles were their weakness. Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver fired upon the tentacles when the lurkers revealed them, and fired at something else when they were running around the room, before they managed to topple all of the undead creatures that were trying to kill them, though their joy was short lived as pukers started pouring into the room as well. The only thing that made Chrysalis happy about this whole situation was that there weren't any of the Regenerators running around this room, because two was enough for now, and her joy increased when they finished off the last of their enemies and no more came after them, for the moment anyway. From there the three of them looked around for the override that would allow them to move forward, as they were pretty sure that Tucker had designed this as a gauntlet and that they couldn't go back to the MID station until they found and bested him.

Fortunately the override happened to be on the wall right next to the door in question, in the form of a terminal that Isaac removed the cover from and started hacking into it's system, though a few seconds later he pulled his arms out and the door unlocked itself, allowing them to move into the hallway that was behind it... though that brought them to a room that had a pack of slashers waiting for people to kill, to which they opened fire on them immediately.

Guess you got a knack for killing anything that moves. Tucker said, though he seemed to think that something was funny before he grew serious again, which only made them wonder what sort of trick he had up his sleeves this time around, Fine. But that arsenal of yours ain't gonna help you now. You can't shoot electricity!

The trio wondered what the man was even talking about this time around, since there wasn't any electrical traps waiting for them, though they finished off the rest of their enemies and walked through the door that was in front of them... only to stop on the other side when they found the trap in question, one that Isaac studied for a few seconds before opening an audio link again.

"Buckell, it seems that Edwards has rigged up some sort of electrical trap." Isaac said, though he immediately found something interesting that might be able to tell them how they were supposed to get around such a thing, "Looks like a homemade job with a short-range transmitter."

"Short-range, huh?" Buckell replied, where his tone told them that he was thinking about the information that Isaac had given him and his own personal experience with such things, before an idea sprung to his mind and he started talking once more, "Well, the control box must be nearby, if you can find it..."

"...we can shoot it." Chrysalis finished, to which she and Isaac nodded their heads, as they understood what Buckell had been about to say, as this wasn't their first dance with people putting obstacles in their way either.

"That's right." Buckell said, though he didn't sound annoyed that he had been cut off, rather he seemed happy that they were smart enough to know exactly what he was going to say and didn't wait to be told everything, before the audio link was disconnected for the moment... as he was keeping a line connected to them in case they needed some additional assistance further down the line.

It was rather easy to locate the control box for the electric trap that was in front of them, as it was above the circuit on the left side of the room, to which Isaac latched onto it with his Kinesis Module and raised the lid, allowing either of his companions to blast it to pieces. Once the deed was done, and the trap had been turned off, the three of them walked up to the door that it had been guarding and opened it, where they found a second electric trap on the other side and two slashers that were marching down the stairs to kill them. Since they were smarter than the Necromorphs the three of them stood their ground and watched as the trap carver off the legs of their enemies, where they dismembered the rest of the foolish slashers before putting a third one, that used a vent to bypass the trap, out of commission as well. After that happened Isaac looked around the area in front of them and easily found the control box, to which he lifted the cover up with his Kinesis and Carver blasted it apart, since Chrysalis had apparently blown the first one to pieces.

They then walked up the stairs that were in front of them and came to a third electric trap, though as they stopped Chrysalis spotted the control box off to their far right and smiled as she used her magic to raise the cover, allowing Isaac to loose a blast from his Plasma Cutter that tore the box to pieces and stopped the trap from working.

Once the trap was taken care of they walked into a small room that had a few lockers, which they raided for supplies, before opening the door that was in front of them and walked out onto a walkway that had a cargo lift off to their left, one that they stepped onto and rode down to the level below them. The lower level had a number of coffins resting off on the left wall, though instead of focusing on those the trio advanced along the only path that was available to them and opened fire on the slashers that tried to block their path. From there they turned to the right and walked up to the door that was at the end of the path, though as they opened it and walked through the opening a slasher jumped out of a coffin on their right and Chrysalis, being the fasted to react of all three of them, dismembered the Necromorph with her gun before it had a chance to attack them. The moment the pieces of the slasher fell to the floor they unlocked the smaller door that was in front of them and entered a new walkway, one that had both a door and a ladder that went even deeper than they currently were at the moment.

When the three of them headed towards the door, however, they stopped as a slasher burst out of a ceiling vent, landing directly on the walkway that they were intending to walk on, and the plating shattered as some gravity wells activated rather suddenly, indicating that Tucker had been smarter than his crew had thought he was.

Surprise. Surprise. Tucker's next recording said, which immediately told the trio that this was yet another trap that he had set up all those years ago, meaning that they had been right in their thoughts, but they listened to the recording before doing anything else, Bet you didn't know that you could reverse gravity plating and hammer someone into the ceiling? I gotta admit, I didn't either until I tried. Go on. Step into the gravity flow. I dare ya!

"Buckell, Edward's set up a gravity well trap." Isaac said, hoping that their friends would be able to point them in the right direction of the location that powered these gravity plating, so they could move forward and figure out what Tucker had stashed away two hundred years ago.

"Yeah, I see it." Buckell replied, where they heard the sound of him reading something and mumbling to himself for a few seconds, before he seemed to find exactly what he was searching for, "There was a spike in power usage from Environment Control when it triggered... it's likely where he's drawing the power from. Here, I'll send you the coordinates so you can take care of it."

"Thanks Buckell." Isaac said, seeing the new waypoint become active, one that went down the ladder that was off on their left, to which he nodded his head and started to climb down the ladder while Chrysalis and Carver waited their turns while making sure no Necromorphs attacked them.

When the three of them were down on the lower area, and no Necromorphs had attacked them this time around, they approached the door and walked through to the other side, where they found a trio of coffins that didn't open and another ladder that they had to climb to to reach the level above them. As Isaac climbed up to the upper level he found a few slashers and a puker waiting for him, to which he opened fire on them while Chrysalis and Carver climbed up so they could join him. Fortunately the small group of Necromorphs were all they were dealing with in this area, allowing them to find the control box for the electrical trap that was blocking their path and blow it to pieces, to which they moved towards the other part of the walkway that they were standing on and found a ladder that they had to head down. The three of them ignored the locked door that was by the ladder, as they didn't have the necessary item to unlock the door, so they simply climbed down the ladder and continued towards Environment Control.

The moment Isaac reached the lower level he found that the control box for this electrical trap was hiding behind a vent, one that he destroyed so he could blow apart the control box, though as his friends joined him he also dismembered a slasher that emerged from the vent... though once that was done the three of them opened the door to their left and headed down the short ramp that was in front of them, before opening another door and entering another room that looked like the first one they had triggered a trap in. Sure enough when they approached the elevator that would take them to their destination the door locked itself, like the first room, to which they prepared themselves for whatever Tucker had prepared for invaders.

Look, you know I'm not screwing around. And I can't let just you waltz into Environmental... I don't wanna die. Tucker's recording said, though while his tone seemed more serious than it had been earlier, as if he knew the danger he would have been in if someone made it to this point while he was alive, that didn't change the fact that the trio knew what was coming their way, I'm sorry. Computer... arm explosives. And... detonate. Be seeing you.

Sure enough the explosives on the vents around them detonated and the computerized voice declared the same thing as what they heard in the first room, that quarantine was active thanks to a contamination, to which the three of them started firing at the lurkers, slashers, and pukers that climbed into the room they were standing in. This time around the Necromorphs were joined by a few exploders, which actually hurt the undead more than the trio, especially since they stood near their allies and blew them all apart when their goo sacks were blown open. As such it wasn't a problem for the three of them to clear the enemies that wanted them dead, though it was Chrysalis who found the override for this room, as the vertical machine with six moveable circular devices seemed to be what they were looking for. Isaac and Carver fiddled with the machine she found, turning the six circular devices until the parts linked up, where the computer accepted the override the moment they completed their task... to which they headed over to the elevator, opened the door, climbed into the elevator, and rode down to their next destination.

When the elevator came to a stop they walked out and discovered that the machine powering the gravity plating was a spinning fan of some kind, one that had three removable components that Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver yanked out of their sockets the moment they spotted the machine.

I never wanted to hurt anybody. You know? Tucker said, apparently having a recording made for the event that someone overcame the trap in the other room, came down here, and removed the components of the machine that they had just ripped out, I just wanted to live. That's all I wanted... to live. I wanted to live.

"That did the trick." Buckell spoke up, the audio link reconnecting for a moment, though whether or not he heard what Tucker had said the trio didn't care to know, as they had more pressing matters on their mind at the moment, "Gravity is reading normal again."

"I wonder what was worse for Edwards," Isaac commented, as he was finally thinking about something that Chrysalis and Carver hadn't said anything about, though they were listening to what he was saying, "dying along with everyone else that he had worked with, or being the only one to survive the Scenario Five orders."

"Personally, it's not the dying that scares me... it's not making a difference before I do." Buckell said, though he let out a sigh, as if he was thinking about something else as well, before he seemed to refocus on what they were doing and let that conversation go, "You... uh, you, Chrysalis, and Carver should be able to make it to the top of the Conning Tower now. If Edwards is around, that's where you'll find him... and his stash."

Isaac nodded his head and followed Chrysalis and Carver back to the elevator, where they rode it back to the level they had accessed it at and started the short trek back to where the gravity well was located, though along the way they had to deal with a few slashers and a lurker. The Necromorphs didn't stand a chance against them, as they were able to dismember them in no time as they carefully walked back to their destination, though when they arrived at the walkway that had it's gravity reversed they found that the way was now open. That brought them to an elevator that had three levels it had access to, the one they were on, the one above them, and what was possibly the top of Conning Tower, to which they decided to check out the second floor first. What they found when the elevator stopped at the second floor was some supplies and a key that likely gave them access to something important, though once they gathered everything they returned to the elevator and headed up to the third floor.

When they arrived at their destination they discovered that it was like an observatory of some kind, as part of the room had glass windows that allowed people to see outside the ship, though as they walked forward the three of them found Tucker Edwards' dead body sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, exactly what they were expecting to find when they heard his voice earlier... and, sure enough, they found a recording near him, his final words to whoever managed to make it this far and survive all of his traps.

Congratulations. You found me. Tucker's final recording said, to which the trio stood near him and listened to it, as they were interested in what he had to say before he brought an end to his life, as they had seen the bullet hole in his skull and knew he had to have done it to himself, Kind of stupid, ain't it? I just wanted to live and now that I'm the only one left, I couldn't give a shit. With all this time alone, I realize it's just like Sam said. I'm a lazy prick who never took one for the team. Well, team, if you can hear me now, this one's for you.

As he spoke the trio could hear Tucker cock the weapon that he had used to kill his commander, the only weapon he likely owned, before finally putting a bullet in his brain, where they heard the sound of the weapon and his now lifeless body collapsing into the positions they had found them in. Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stared at him for a few seconds, to see if there was any reaction from the room due to this message playing, and found nothing, so they walked over to the cargo lift that was on the right side of the room and rode it up to the level that was above them. There they found a locked door that could only be opened by the very key they found on the second floor, though on the other side of the door they discovered the cache of supplies that Tucker had taken before the crew had started killing each other. The moment the three of them laid eyes on the cache they started storing everything inside the containers inside their suits, as they had the feeling that this would be the only time they would be allowed to come here before they headed down to the planet below them, before they gathered everything and headed back through the now open door.

What none of them were expecting, however, was for there to be one final message for them, as the moment they stepped back out onto the walkway that the cargo lift brought them to they heard the sound of another recording starting to play... and finally noticed the explosives that were stuck to all the vents that the room had.

It took me a while but now I realized why we weren't allowed to live. Tucker said, though he sounded prepared to do what he thought was necessary, which meant that this message had to have been recording minutes before the one where he killed himself, And if you've found this and you're still alive, I guess I can finally do my part: Computer, blow all remaining charges. It's time for you to join us.

Sure enough the charges detonated and blew open the vents, but what happened was that a few pukers and a leaper pulled themselves into the area that they were in, to which the trio dismembered them before they could charge at them and then headed towards the elevator. They were surprised that more Necromorphs hadn't pulled themselves into the top of Conning Tower, but since they had decimated their enemies the three of them figured that they had little to fear from such a small group of enemies, or whatever was left of them in this section of the ship. The instant they returned to the elevator they climbed into it and rode it back down to the first floor that it went to, where the gravity well was located, though upon arriving they started to retrace their path back towards the station they had stopped at. While they made their way back towards the elevator that would take them down to the station, so they could continue to the AFT section of the Terra Nova, the trio also took out every Necromorph that tried to jump them on the way, either dismembering them or blowing them up if they were an exploder.

When they neared the elevator that would take them back to the station, so they could move forward, Buckell decided to contact them one last time, for the moment anyway, and asked them something that Norton was likely interested in hearing the answer to.

"Well, was it worth a look?" Buckell asked, though the trio could hear that the others were waiting to hear the news as well, especially since Tucker had checked out a good number of resources before the crew started whatever mission they were supposed to carry out.

"Yeah, Tucker had a nice pile of tools, parts, and salvage that we can use." Chrysalis replied, as she was sure that Isaac and Carver would put the supplies they had gathered to good use, making their armor better and their weapons more powerful in case they ran into tougher enemies in the future.

"That's good to hear." Buckell said, as that meant it wasn't a complete waste of time, which would have annoyed Norton to no end, and that also meant that they weren't leaving anything behind that might be useful to them in the near or far future.

"We're heading to the AFT section now to check on the shuttle." Isaac stated, reminding the others that they were still heading to the main reason they had boarded the Terra Nova in the first place, especially since it was the key to getting to the planet below them, "Hopefully it's not a piece of shit that needs more repairs than what we can give it."

The three of them rode the elevator down to the station, paused for a moment so they could store their new supplies away in the Bench, and then boarded the tram that was waiting for them, to which Isaac got the tram started and they headed out for the AFT section... where they would find out if they could easily repair the shuttle with what was floating around the Terra Nova, or if this mission was doomed for failure because of what the crew did to the shuttle two hundred years ago.

Tau Volantis: The Shuttle

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Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver stood still for a few moments as the tram brought them to the AFT section of the Terra Nova, where the shuttle was supposed to be located, though as they arrived a computerized voice informed them that this was Engineering and Repair, meaning that they had to be in the right place. The screen that was in front of them, identical to the ones they had seen in the other two parts of the ship, was cracked and seemed to be shorting out, but since they didn't need it for anything the trio walked around it so they could investigate the area. They quickly discovered that while this station seemed to mimic the one from the Conning Tower, in it's layout, there wasn't a power terminal for them to hack into, thus allowing them to enter the control room that was behind the door on the left side of the room. They found a few supplies laying about the room, just a few bits of ammunition and some more items to improve armor, before all three of them headed over to the other door and opened it... where they discovered that it was an elevator, which was also identical to the station in Conning Tower.

As they started to climb into the elevator, however, one of the nearby vents burst as another Regenerator dropped into the station, though Chrysalis decided not to play around and wove her magic into another sphere of energy, to which she ducked the incoming attack and slammed the sphere into the Regenerator's chest. She then knocked it backwards with a quick burst of her magic and watched as the creature howled in pain for a few seconds as the cracks started to appear in it's body, before it detonated and was reduced to ash. With that done she returned to the elevator and joined her companions, to which Isaac tapped the level that they were supposed to be heading to and the door closed as the elevator began it's descent towards the floor the shuttle had to be on.

"I know that you are on our side," Carver commented, as he had seen what Chrysalis had done to the first two Regenerators they had encountered, back near the first station they had used to get aboard the tram, and what she did to this one only solidified his thoughts, "but what you do with that... power of yours... scares the hell out of me."

"Trust me Carver, you haven't see anything yet." Isaac said, as he knew that there were a number of other things that Chrysalis could do with her magic, based on what he saw back when they investigated what happened to the Ishimura and when they were trying to escape from the Titan Station, especially if she took on her empowered state.

"Part of me doesn't want to see what else she can do," Carver stated, indicating that everything Chrysalis had done, in the time he knew her, went against everything he knew, and yet there was something in his voice that suggested that he was okay with that, "and the other part... well, that part's curious about what else she might show us."

Chrysalis, on the other hand, remained silent as the elevator moved, as she knew that Isaac was referring to the form she had taken on back when she was fighting her mother, the same form that she feared to take on again since she was aware that she could accidentally kill her friends. She still couldn't bring herself to tell Isaac that the form he was talking about, and might need later on, was one she wold likely never take again unless her mind shattered again, but the chances of that happening were slim to none. She had destroyed her mother, erased the form that the Marker had given her, and her sister was making sure that whatever remained of Crudelis' spirit never surfaced again, which was good news since they were a little busy at the moment.

Fortunately she didn't have to dwell on those thoughts were long, as the elevator finally reached the level that they were heading towards and opened up so they could walk out into the area that the shuttle was located in... though as the three of them walked out, and laid eyes on the shuttle, they knew that someone was laughing at them.

"Hey guys, we found the Crozier," Isaac said, letting Ellie and the others know that they had succeeded in their mission and were now staring at the vehicle that would allow them to head down to the planet's surface, and the number of things that were wrong with it, "and it's... well, it's a piece of shit. There's no way I can pressurize the cabin."

"Then we'll have to remote pilot it back to the Roanoke's repair bay." Buckell replied, though his tone indicated that, in the off chance that something like this had actually happened, he and the others had prepared themselves to do some work on the shuttle, to make it space worthy again.

"To do that we'll need a remote relay." Isaac stated, knowing exactly what Buckell was thinking at the moment, and he had to admit that it was a great plan, while at the same time he cast his eyes around the rest of the chamber that he and the others had walked into, "Give us a few minutes to explore the Terra Nova's repair bay and I might be able to find the parts needed to build one. Then it's a simple matter of attaching it to the hull and letting you guys work your magic."

The moment the audio link was disconnected the trio walked over to the cargo lift, one that could take them from one side of the chamber to the other side, and apparently stop in front of the hull of the Crozier, but instead of using that they activated the vertical cargo lift that was a few steps away and descended to the level below them. When they reached that level a number of Necromorphs started to pour into the area, mostly leapers and a few exploders, but the trio blasted them apart while they looked for the pieces of the remote relay that they needed to make. Fortunately Isaac was able to find one of them on the lowest part of the area that the were searching, though with that in hand they retreated back to the cargo lift and rode it to the level they had been on a few moments ago. From there they climbed into the other cargo lit and rode it over to the other side of the chamber, where all three of them fired at the Necromorphs that were gathering near the area that this docked at, allowing them to safely step off it once it stopped moving.

When they reached the other side of the chamber, and found that the Necromorphs were being silent, they used the cargo lift on that side to lower themselves to the area below them, where they just so happened to find the remaining two pieces they needed to build the remote relay. With all three of the parts in their possession they instantly headed back up to the Bench they had walked by and let Isaac fiddle with the parts for a few moments, until he was holding the object they needed to move forward. From there they returned to the cargo lift that went between the two sides of the room and let it carry them towards the hull of the Crozier, where Carver pulled up the hatch with his Kinesis Module before Isaac installed the remote relay. Once it was in place they closed the lid and moved back to the side where the Bench was located, as they all knew that there had to be something else they needed to do before the shuttle was ready to leave the Terra Nova.

"Hey, it worked!" Ellie said, though she knew that if Isaac had suggested the plan it was going to work, while the only person that might not have believed the plan was Norton, who remained silent, "I can see the Crozier's readouts. Hand on guys, I'm going to try and start her up... and hopefully it has some fuel inside it."

Isaac and Chrysalis looked at each other for a moment, as they both knew that Ellie was being too hopeful for a two hundred year old ship to still have some fuel inside it, especially when the crew at the time were getting ready to tear the entire thing apart.

"No good," Ellie said, where her voice indicating that she knew that his might have happened, but at the same time she was really hoping that fate would have been nice to them and given them a fueled ship, "it's out of fuel."

"Wait, there should be a refueling station on the upper floor." Buckell stated, which was great to know, as the moment he mentioned the station's existence the group glanced up and stopped the station he was talking about, but they remained silent as they listened to him, "Here, I'm sending you the coordinates."

"Okay, we'll head up there and refuel the Crozier." Chrysalis replied, letting a certain someone know that they were doing everything in their power to complete the mission and not deviate in any fashion this time around, "Then, once it has some fuel inside it, we can try starting it up again."

The instant after she said that the audio link was disconnected for now, to which the trio rode the cargo lift down to the level below them, where they found the last two parts of the remote relay, and found that the door they needed to walk through was off on their right. When they opened the door they discovered a small room that had a ladder, to which they took turns ascending the ladder until each of them reached the floor that it stopped at, though that brought them to a structure that allowed them to walk behind the Crozier. As they entered the area behind the Crozier the three of them discovered a few fodder Necromorphs decided to attack them, though as that happened the trio opened fire on their enemies and dismembered them before they could reach them. The three of them were more than able to take out the enemies that were coming their way and cleared out the area, to which they used the cargo lift that was near the ladder they used to reach this point and headed up to the level above them... which was the control room that they were looking for, with the refueling station standing just outside the room.

As they walked into the control room Isaac and Carver accessed the terminals that were in the middle of the room and watched as the refueling device moved into position above the Crozier, to which the three of them headed out through the other doorway and approached the terminal that would allow them to manipulate the device. As Isaac attached the nozzle, however, several fodders tried to attack them again, to which Chrysalis and Carver stood their ground and opened fire on the Necromorphs that were marching towards them. A few moments later the terminal indicated that the tank was full and the trio headed back towards the control room, where they discovered that the only way to detach the nozzle was to access the pair of terminals that allowed them to move the nozzle above the tank in the first place. The three of them watched as the nozzle moved out of the way, moving back to the position it had been in earlier, and they stood there for a few moments... before Isaac reopened the audio link so they could tell the others the news.

"Okay, the tank's full." Isaac said, knowing that there was the possibility that they would have noticed that from where they were stationed, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially when this was the only shuttle left that they could use to get down to the planet, "Go ahead and try to start it again."

"That's more like it!" Ellie replied, her tone indicating that she was liking what she was seeing, which confirmed the group's thoughts, before she started fiddling with the controls on her end, "Okay, I'm initiating a test-fire of the shuttle's engines. You guys should find some cover, as this could get hot."

Sure enough the engine started and they could see that it was working just fine, which was great since Isaac was worried that something would have gone wrong, but when he noticed that the audio link was still open, and the tapping of keys was even greater than it had been earlier, he knew that something had happened.

"That cheap bloody ancient techno... oh, oh god..." Ellie commented, at first sounding mad over something that the crew had done before they were all killed, but then that turned to terror as something happened on her end, "Um, guys, I think I just started the launch sequence... and I have no idea how to stop it!"

"You WHAT?!" Carver snapped, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment, especially since they were still in harms way at the moment, as those flames had the potential to cook them all and leave nothing behind.

"Look, just get out of that chamber before it bakes you all to a crisp." Ellie replied, where both Isaac and Chrysalis knew that she was concerned for their well being, though at the same time she stopped talking so they could get moving before the flames caught up with them.

The first thing the group did was use the cargo lift to get back down to the walkways they had been on a few minutes ago, though as the cargo lift came to a stop they found that the path they used to get over here was blocked off by flames and the only way forward was to head by the engines of the Crozier. Since they had no choice but to go by the engines they waited for one of them to stall, which was followed by the second one, and they raced across the walkway that was in front of the engines. At the same time they didn't fire at the Necromorphs that were in the area around them, as they either died due to standing in the flames or they were burned by the engines, but as they moved towards the other side of the room a Regenerator popped out of a vent and tried to attack them. Chrysalis, not wanting to mess with another one of these monsters, wrapped her magic around her spare bone blade, thrust it into the Regenerator's chest, and hurled it into the walked by the engines... where the combined power of her magic and the engines reduced it to ash, though at the same time she lost the blade as well, but she pushed that out of her mind as they moved into the small open room that was near the Regenerator.

Luck seemed to be on their side for the moment, as there was a ladder they could use to descend to the bottom portion of the side of the repair bay that they had entered through, though as the three of them climbed down to the level below them they discovered that a good portion of the area was on fire as well. As they headed towards the cargo lift, so they could leave, Chrysalis spotted yet another Regenerator marching through the flames to get at them, to which she growled and used her magic to yank over one of the axes that the fodder carried with them at all times. The instant the weapon was in her hand she empowered it with her magic and carved the Regenerator in half, before using her magic to reduce the two halves to ash so she could climb onto the cargo lift. Of course when they reached the upper level two more of the vents burst open, though while one was on fire, and they had to wait to cross when the flames died down, the one behind them had another Regenerator, making them wonder how many of these damned things there were... though at the same time Chrysalis held her ground as she hacked the creature to pieces and reduced it's body to ash, before she sighed and followed after her friends.

As they reached the elevator that allowed them to get down here they discovered that it was offline at the moment, to which their best course of action was to use the other cargo lift and travel to the front of the Crozier again, though as they did that they had to wonder what they were going to do next.

"The airlock door is stuck!" Ellie stated, though this time around the trio could tell that this was bad news, especially since they had just filled the Crozier with fuel and they had no idea what was resting near the repair bay, "If the shuttle launches before it opens..."

"Son of a bitch!" Isaac said, as he knew what might happen if they let something happen, to which he tapped the command terminal and had the cargo lift they were on head to the other side of the chamber that was opposite of the side they entered through, "We'll check the gears and see what's wrong with them."

As they reached the other side of the room, and headed towards the cargo lift that was next to the Bench, Chrysalis growled as one more Regenerator arrived through a vent in front of them, to which she repeated the process she used earlier against the others of it's kind and reduced it to ash after hacking it apart. Once the cargo lift arrived at the lower level they headed down the ramp on their left and approached a door that needed to be manually turned, like every other door in this ship, while Chrysalis turned around and dealt with a Regenerator that started marching down the path. She was growing tired of these things, because now they were just like every other Necromorph, save for the fact that only she could permanently kill them. The moment the door was open she finished off her target and followed her friends to the room that was in front of them, where they avoided the flames that came out of the walls and moved towards the back of the room... where an elevator was located, one that they used to head up to the area that the gears had to be in.

When they reached the floor that the elevator connected to they found a pair of gears in front of them, though as they wanted forward something flew by them and became wedged inside one of the gears, though it was something that Isaac sort of recognized.

"It appears that there's some military ordinance barrels wedged into the gears," Isaac said, speaking into the audio link, though this time he made sure that Chrysalis and Carver could hear him as well, just in case the noise in the area made it hard for them to hear him, "We're going to try and clear it."

"Explosives?!" Ellie exclaimed, understanding exactly what they were facing at the moment, to which her personal worry for two of them rose to the surface immediately, "Oh god... Isaac, Chrysalis, be careful."

Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver headed to their immediate right and found two turrets waiting for them, to which Chrysalis stood behind them and tried to keep the rest of the military ordinance down, while at the same time Isaac and Carver used the turrets to destroy what was blocking the gears, as well as the number of Regenerators that happened to drop into the area between them and the gears. Fortunately it appeared that the turrets were strong enough to kill the Regenerators the instant they appeared, which meant that Chrysalis didn't have to deal with them, but the explosives proved a different challenge. Regardless of where they exploded the military ordinance dealt damage to the gears, which wore a pair of holes in the part of the ship behind it, before a set of them not only blew apart the gears, but the destruction pulled the three of them out into space... while at the same time they watched as the door opened and the Crozier safely launched, where it headed out of the Terra Nova and flew over to the Roanoke.

The three of them floated in the air for a moment and watched the Crozier fly off into the distance, though as that happened Chrysalis spotted the empowered axe she had been wielding, which now floated a good distance from where she was, and magically grabbed it... because right now it was her best hand held weapon until she decided to use her magic and nothing else.

"Isaac, you guys did it!" Ellie said, though at the same time she and the others cheered for their success, while Isaac and Chrysalis could hear that Norton wasn't very excited about what they had done, which was sure to get him another earful from Ellie later, "Okay guys, let's get the docking bay ready to receive the shuttle. Isaac, we'll see you, Chrysalis, and Carver when you guys get back."

The moment the audio link was disconnected the trio floated forward and headed towards the section of the Terra Nova that they had docked the Skip in, though as they did that they found a supply cache, like what they had looted on the Brusilov or inside the Conning Tower, resting in their way. As Isaac and Carver headed over to the rectangular container, to gather whatever was inside it, Chrysalis fired at the nest Necromorph that was resting nearby and the mines that happened to be floating in the area around them. Once the container had been stripped of everything that it contained, and Chrysalis was sure that she had killed everything that was in the area, the trio flew back towards the area that the Skip was resting in, as it was time for them to head back to the Roanoke and get the Crozier ready for departure. While they moved towards the docking area Isaac noticed that he had another message waiting for him, to which he reopened the audio link so he could see what was going on.

"I'm surprised that you guys were able to check out the Crozier so quickly." Isaac commented, as he was sure it would have taken them a few more minutes than when he, Chrysalis, and Carver had given them, but that only meant that there might be something bad with the shuttle.

"This thing needs more than just plating," Norton said, though his tone indicated that he wasn't too happy with what he had seen when the Crozier came to a stop outside the Roanoke, which was likely pissing him off and he was thinking about directing his anger towards them, "it's missing the port engine."

"There's a small wreck near the Greely," Ellie spoke up, causing the trio to remember the wreckage that was resting near the smaller research shuttle that Santos had asked them to visit, if they wanted to, and sort of recalled seeing what Ellie was referring to, "It could be a shuttle."

"We should check it out." Isaac said, because unless they were willing to take the time to tear apart one of the larger ships, or repurpose the entire research vessel into a flying ship, checking out the wreck that Ellie was talking about was the best thing they could do at the moment.

"Rosen! Locke! Suit up." Norton commanded, though that only made the others listen in silence, as one of two he listed was still wounded from the Eudora's explosion and their arrival on the Roanoke, but they said nothing as he gave them his orders, "You're on engine duty."

"But sir, my leg..." Rosen started to say, as even he knew that he really wasn't in the best shape to help anyone out at the moment, though when he didn't say anything else Isaac and Chrysalis, along with Carver, knew that Norton must have silenced him for a moment.

"I'm not asking you to do jumping jacks!" Norton stated, his tone indicating that he wasn't about to have anyone talking back to him at the moment, as if he believed that he was still in charge of the mission, especially when everyone else wanted to head down to the planet below them, "Now get moving."

"Hey Rosen," Isaac said, stopping the audio link from being disconnected for the moment, as he wanted the man to know that someone cared for his well being, even if his commander didn't seem to care anymore, "we'll meet you there."

"Whatever." Rosen replied, though that was followed by the audio link disconnecting, to which the trio sighed as Isaac and Carver entered the Skip and got it moving out of the station, with Chrysalis riding on top once more.

Thanks to the fact that Chrysalis had removed all the debris that was in the way of the Skip, in reality she moved them to the side so they didn't get hurt, neither Isaac or Carver had to worry about the Skip being damaged as they headed back over to the Greely, though when the Skip came to a stop the three of them gathered on the platform in front of the station and they started moving out into space. As they floated out into the space between them and the Greely, however, Chrysalis discovered the location of their waypoint and spotted the wreckage that Rosen was already working on, though the condition that it was in made her question if this was a good idea.

"Is that our engine?" Chrysalis asked, though while she opened the audio link up to Isaac and Carver she made sure that Rosen could hear her as well, as she wanted to be sure that this was what they had been told about, otherwise she was going to look for the real engine.

"Hey, you guys wanted an engine," Rosen replied, to which he stared at the group as they flew towards his location, before returning to what he had been doing before Chrysalis asked her question, "here you guys go."

"It'll do." Isaac said, as he could see why Chrysalis was worried about the engine, and he shared her feelings, but at the same time there wasn't much for them to use and this was the best they were going to get at the moment, so there wasn't much use in complaining about what was in front of them.

"It's shit... just like our 'plan'." Rosen snapped, indicating that he no longer cared about what they were doing, though since he couldn't leave this area on his own he was stuck with assisting them until they did what they came to do, destroy the Marker signal and stop Convergence.

"Are you always this helpful?" Isaac inquired, because Rosen's attitude was something they could do without at the moment, especially since Norton was the one who really wanted Isaac and Chrysalis to bend to his way of thinking and not assist Ellie in her quest.

"Hey, some of us just want to go home, alright?" Rosen stated, though that statement made Chrysalis think about something she hadn't thought about all that much, as she remembered what happened, and who she had seen, right before the events of the outbreak on the Titan Station, "Look, I've disconnected all the lines and service tubes, but hell if I know now to get it out of here."

"I'll take a look at it and figure it out." Isaac said, as he appeared to be the one that had the most knowledge about engines and other things like it at the moment, meaning they should just listen and assist him so they could get a move on before something else happened, "Go get your equipment together so we can tow it back to the repair bay."

As Rosen did that Isaac stared at the side of the wreck that the man was floating near and was surprised that he hadn't seen the way to get to the engine, as he raised his hand and started to use his Kinesis Module to remove the panels that happened to be in the way. After the panels had been removed he heard the sound of Chrysalis and Carver firing at some lurkers that were in the area, to which he focused on what he was doing and removed the locks that were keeping the engine tied to the wreckage it was in. The moment the three locks were taken care of, and he was sure that there was nothing else blocking the way, he latched onto the engine with his Kinesis and carefully extracted it from the wreckage, where he made sure that it was brought out to where Rosen was floating.

"You need any help getting the engine back to the Roanoke?" Isaac asked, not because he thought that Rosen couldn't handle transporting the engine to the Crozier, but because there were Necromorphs out here in space and he didn't want anything to happen to him.

"Clarke, I'm not an idiot." Rosen snapped, his anger apparent, though why he was angry at Isaac and the rest of them Chrysalis had no idea, as it was Norton he should be annoyed with since he had ordered the injured man to come out here in the first place, "I can handle this."

"I never said you couldn't handle this." Isaac said, though at the same time he waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want to get into a fight with Rosen at the moment, to which he allowed the man to start carrying the engine over to where the Crozier was resting, "Just be sure to lock the injectors down tight when you install it into the Crozier. I don't want them popping out in mid-flight."

Rosen grumbled something as he carted the engine off through space, heading over to the Roanoke, leaving Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver to float there for a few seconds as they wondered what to do next, though that was before Chrysalis opened an audio link with the others to give them the good news.

"Okay, we've removed the engine from the wreckage and Rosen's bringing it over to the Roanoke," Chrysalis said, as she knew that the others would be happy to have that information, especially since they were likely getting tired of hanging out in space all the time, "Is that everything, or is there something else we need before we leave?"

"There is one more thing we need before we're ready to go," Buckell replied, confirming Chrysalis' thoughts on the fact that there happened to be something else they needed to do, which caused Isaac and Carver to listen as they waited to hear what that something was, "We're going to get tossed around like a midget at a circus if we try to navigate that atmosphere without a flight path."

"Can we use the flight recorders from the derelict ships?" Isaac inquired, as that seemed to be the fastest way for them to get exactly what they needed at the moment, unless the others were willing to wait for him to salvage a better one from one of the other ships.

"Yeah... we could reconstruct one of the routes they used!" Buckell said, his tone indicating that he was glad that Isaac had suggested doing something like that, meaning that he would have said something completely different and might have cost them time they might not have, "Look for some small satellites with four solar panels sticking out of them... and I think I saw some outside the Roanoke."

"Okay, we'll take a look and use whatever we find to make a flight path." Isaac said, to which the audio link was cut off for now and he flew back to the Skip's platform, with both Chrysalis and Carver following after him.

The three of them were happier than they had been earlier, as now they had one last thing they needed to do before the group headed down to Tau Volantis, and soon they could begin the search for the Marker signal so they could stop it and prevent Convergence from happening.

Tau Volantis: Terrible Flight

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As Rosen transported the engine over to the Roanoke, where he and the others could install in into the Crozier and check out the systems once it was in place, Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver headed back to the Skip and assumed their usual positions before leaving the station it was docked at. As they headed over to the Roanoke, and headed through the debris field that was in front of them, Chrysalis removed the items that were in their way, which wasn't much since the last time they came this way she did the same thing. Fortunately they were able to make their way back to the Roanoke without anything happening to them, though as they stopped at the station, and climbed out onto the platform that was in front of them, all three of them noticed that the Crozier was definitely resting in the Roanoke's docking area and that the rest of the crew was already working on it. It also didn't take them long to notice the area that the satellites were floating in was near where the Crozier was located, meaning that it wouldn't take them long to gather what they needed, no doubt craft it into a device using the nearby Bench inside the Roanoke, and then they should have everything they could possibly need for the flight down to Tau Volantis.

Once they noticed where the satellites were located the three of them started to fly through the air as they headed over to the side of the Roanoke, though as they did so they opened fire on the group of lurkers that were coming outside to fight them, quickly bringing an end to them as Isaac reached the satellite and pulled out the flight recorder that was attached to it.

"Hey Buckell, I think I found one of the flight recorders." Isaac said, though as he informed the others of his progress he pulled out his gun and fired at the lurker that was near him, blasting it and sending it's pieces floating off in space as both Chrysalis and Carver dealt with the others that were around them.

"Great! There should be more of them floating near the Roanoke." Buckell replied, but instead of cutting off the audio link immediately it appeared that there was more he wanted to tell them, which caused Isaac to listen as his friends blasted the lurkers away from them, "By my estimates we'll need three flight recorders to recreate one of the flight paths the crew used to reach the planet."

"Okay, we'll get two more and get out of here." Isaac stated, to which he cut off the audio link and focused on the remaining satellites that were in the area around them, which also happened to be guarded by a number of lurkers that were jumping around the area and slowing their progress down.

Chrysalis, knowing that they needed to move fast, wove her magic through the air and started throwing magically charged blasts, about the size of a finger, through the air and watched as they zeroed in on her targets, blasting them apart while opening the way for Isaac and Carver to get to the satellites. Carver only went along to make sure the rest of the Necromorphs didn't interrupt their attempts to get the remaining flight recorders that they needed, though while he blasted the lurkers Isaac latched onto the next satellite and removed the device they needed. Fortunately a third satellite happened to be floating near the second one, allowing Isaac the opportunity to fly over to it and remove the flight recorder that was attached to it, though as he did that he fired at the mines that were starting to move towards their location, blowing them up before any of them were injured. Chrysalis was quick to see what he was doing and hurled magical blasts through the air, striking the remaining mines that were in their area and blew them all apart, allowing the three of them to leave this particular area and get away from the lurker infested area.

When the three of them were halfway between where the satellites were located, and where the Skip's platform was resting, they stopped and Isaac opened an audio link once more, as it was time to tell the others that they had succeeded in their mission, which was bound to make all of them happy, maybe even Norton as well.

"Hey Ellie, we've got all the flight records we need to reconstruct a safe path to the planet." Isaac said, though as he did that he headed towards the Roanoke's airlock, as he already knew what he needed to do with them, while Chrysalis and Carver looked out for any additional foes that might come after them.

"That's great news!" Ellie replied, where the trio could hear that some of the others were happy to hear that piece of news, since they had been wanting to get down to the planet's surface since they first arrived above the atmosphere, even though none of them had been expecting the mines to tear their ships apart, "All you have to do is build the navigation module and plug it in, right?"

"Yeah, and we're already heading to the Bench so I can put the module together," Isaac answered, to which he smiled for a moment, as Ellie understood exactly what was coming next and didn't have to tell him something that he already knew, meaning they spent less time talking and spent more time doing.

Ellie said nothing as Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver headed over to where the airlock was and made their way into the Roanoke, though as they boarded the ship the three of them walked by the suit kiosk and approached the Bench, where it took a few moments for Isaac to carefully take apart the three flight recorders he had gathered and piece together a working navigation module they could use... though when the task was done he smiled again as he carefully stored the module away and turned towards his companions.

"Okay, the navigation module is complete," Isaac said, though this time around he made sure that everyone could hear him, as this was something that all of them needed to hear before they did anything else, especially since there was one among their number that wasn't sold on heading down to Tau Volantis.

"Thank god!" Norton exclaimed, his tone betraying the fact that he wanted to get the hell out of here, even though everyone else wanted to destroy the Marker signal before they did anything else, "Now, let's chart a course for the nearest shipping lane and get the hell out of here..."

"No Robert!" Ellie nearly shouted, her voice revealing that she was seriously annoyed with him now, as constantly hearing that they needed to leave Tau Volantis, without doing what they came to do, was wearing down her patience, "We are going down to the planet."

"Ellie, I know this is where it all started," Norton said, where Chrysalis heard Norton attempting to use a different tone with her friend, trying to convince her to see things his way, but remained silent as she knew that it wouldn't work, "but we are WAY over our heads! We can't take on a whole planet that's full of those goddamned things!"

"Robert, we are the only ones that can do this and you know it!" Ellie countered, to which Isaac silently rooted for his girlfriend, as he knew that she was speaking the truth and was sure that the rest of the crew was going to stand beside her if Norton tried something, "Besides, if it comes to it we can always ask Chrysalis to do something with the Necromorphs... I mean, she's the only one of us that has some sort of magical ability and can take out a fair amount of them in an instant. We're not helpless Robert."

"Norton, the solution is down there." Isaac said, knowing that it was time for him to chip in, because Ellie needed some support and he was the one that was going to give it to her, "The Admiral even wrote it on her wall, before the ships were left in the state they're in. She wrote 'Turn it off', and that's exactly what we're going to do."

"Damn straight." Carver commented, surprising Isaac and Chrysalis for a moment, as this was the first time he had actually voiced any agreement to what they were doing, meaning that there had to have been more to his personal encounter that he wanted to keep buried, "Captain, we can't pass this up."

"Carver, I don't need your mutiny on top of all of this." Norton snapped, his tone indicating that he couldn't believe what was going on at the moment and that he was going to do everything in his power to make it so everyone followed his way, instead of following Ellie's path, "If I say we're not going down to the planet, and we're heading in the opposite direction, then we're not going down to the planet!"

"Sorry Norton, but you have been overruled!" Chrysalis said, deciding that it was time for her to start talking again, as they had wasted enough time on talking and were losing time that they didn't have, "We have a chance to take out the Marker signal and stop this madness, and we're going to take it. Now, you are more than welcome to either come with us or stay here, on the Roanoke, but if you decide to come with us I don't want to see you attempting to sabotage our efforts to find the source of the signal... and if you do, well, use your imagination on what I might do to you."

Chrysalis fully intended for that last part to come out as a threat, as those that knew what she was capable of could already imagine what she would do to Norton if he stepped out of line, while the rest of the group, who had only heard the stories, would be curious as to what the Captain did... and a part of her seriously hoped that he would challenge her, just so she could get rid of him quickly.

"Ellie, get the shuttle prepped." Isaac said, knowing what was going through Chrysalis' mind at the moment, more accurately what she would do if Norton tried to stop them, while also knowing that it was time for them to leave, "We're on our way to the docking bay."

Isaac and Carver gathered some more ammunition from what they were able to salvage before they joined Chrysalis by the door they had walked through earlier, to which the three of them walked out of the airlock and disengaged from the walkway that was in front of them. From there they flew over to the front of the Crozier and stopped when they reached the area that the remote relay had been placed in, to which Carver used his Kinesis Module to open the lid and let Isaac install the navigation module properly. A few moments later, when he was done with attaching the module, Isaac nodded and Carver closed the lid, where Ellie revealed that she was getting the information they needed while Buckell, on the other hand, indicated that their window was rapidly approaching. As such the three of them landed on the side of the shuttle that the airlock was on the side of the ship, though as they did so Chrysalis finally noticed that the Crozier had a turret mounted on the top of it... which only made her worry as they entered the airlock and stepped inside the shuttle once the door behind them was closed.

As they boarded the Crozier, so they could get this show on the road, Isaac and Chrysalis disengaged their helmets for a few moments, as it had been some time before they did that, though at the same time Isaac smiled when he found Ellie standing in front of the door, waiting for them.

"Ellie." Isaac said, though as he did that the two of them embraced each other, once more filling Chrysalis with some sort of happiness that her friends were happy to see each other again, while at the same time ignoring the fact that she was pained by the fact that such happiness was likely never going to be hers again.

"Isaac," Ellie said, though she took a moment to kiss him, indicating that she was pleased with something that had happened recently, before she pulled back and looked him in the eyes, "Thanks for supporting me back there."

"Hey, we came to stop the Marker signal, not run away." Isaac replied, where he looked around and noticed that the ship happened to have more than enough seats for all of them, but it seemed that the only place that had a good open seat, without supplies resting on them, was the one near Norton, who frowned at Chrysalis for a few seconds, "It's time we actually got to work on finding the source of the signal and beginning the real work."

"Maybe you and Chrysalis can help with something before we go," Ellie said, to which she beckoned to the back of the large cockpit that they were all sitting in, where Isaac found something that he knew that could be fixed easily, "the oxygen injectors can't lock down, maybe due to some rusty threads. Can you check them before we get moving?"

"Sure. Shouldn't be too hard." Chrysalis answered, as she knew the look in Isaac's eyes and already knew that he could get them fixed in a matter of seconds, and he was already nodding his head in agreement, indicating that he could do that task before they activated the shuttle.

It was rather easy for them to fix the oxygen injectors, as all they had to do was lift them with their Kinesis Modules and turn them, locking them into place, which was followed by the three of them heading to the front of the cockpit, where Ellie was waiting for them in her own seat. Isaac sat in the other pilot seat, even though he wasn't the most qualified person to do so, while Carver took the last open seat and locked himself in, allowing him to operate the turret that was on top of the Crozier, leaving Chrysalis to stand at the ready and figure out what she could do this time around. Sure, she knew that she could sit next to Norton and not do anything, but she was determined to be of some assistance to the crew while they descended through the atmosphere. Of course Rosen still through that this was a suicide mission, and voiced that as everyone readied themselves, but for the most part everyone ignored him as Ellie and Isaac got the Crozier moving, where they departed from the Roanoke's docking bay and began the descent towards the planet.

At first it started off rather easy, where Carver used the turret to blast apart the various mines that were in their way while Isaac followed the path that was on his screen, allowing Chrysalis to sit back and watch the fireworks as they started blasting their way through the obstacles that were in front of them. It didn't take them long to reach a point where flames started to appear on the outside of the shuttle's window, which Chrysalis didn't try to put out since this was what happened when ships entered a planet's atmosphere, and Carver started firing at the various ship fragments that were floating in their way, blasting them to pieces and even splitting one in the process. Isaac did a good job of piloting the Crozier, as he avoided everything that he could with his limited skills as a pilot, though there was one part of a ship fragment that he couldn't avoid and that started shaking the shuttle's plating loose, meaning that they might be in danger this time around. A few seconds later something terrible happened, as a piece of a random ship, one that Carver couldn't see on his console until it was too late, struck the right side of the Crozier and broke part of the cockpit, sucking Locke out of the ship and immediately burned her to death as the act of reentry attached to her... though before anyone had a chance to mourn her passing Chrysalis threw up a barrier around where Locke had been, to prevent anyone else from being sucked out of the ship, while the others corrected their course.

During that moment Isaac said that they needed to reseal the oxygen injectors, to which Chrysalis told him to stay put as she wove more of her magic through the air, forcing the tanks back into their containers and locked them into place before sealing them with her magic, or at least until they landed.

As they continued their descent part of the frame above Isaac and Ellie came undone and struck Rosen, cleaving his head in half and killing him instantly, to which Ellie removed herself from the seat she had been sitting in and pushed Rosen's corpse out of the navigation chair, assuming command to the best of her ability. Moments later, after revealing that he actually couldn't see too much thanks to the fog that was in front of them, Isaac had to quickly pull themselves up and avoid the rock formations that sprung up in front of them. At this point Chrysalis took Ellie's original seat and used even more of her power to form a barrier, shaped like a window that was applied to the area in front of the actual window, that would protect them from anything else that might slip through the broken window. Carver, not knowing what else to do, constantly fired at the rocky peaks that were in their way, shattering them and blowing them to pieces to make sure nothing else happened to them... unfortunately that didn't help when a hidden rock formation struck the bottom of their ship and caused more chaos on the shuttle than what the group was expecting.

Chrysalis watched as parts of the shuttle tore themselves apart as the damage raced across the entire structure, as she was shocked by the fact that one touch was enough to cause all of this, before the section of the shuttle Ellie was in shook for a few seconds. Knowing what was happening Isaac turned towards Ellie, to get her to join them before something happened, though before he could even say anything the shuttle was sheared in half and they were separated from each other, causing him to scream Ellie's name for a second before she, and the rest of the shuttle, disappeared from his view. While all this happened Chrysalis, knowing that they'd be in pain in a few moments, pulled all her magic back and wrapped it around herself, Isaac, and Carver, as well as doing her best to make sure that they emerged from what was coming with minimum injuries. That was immediately followed by their section of the Crozier hitting another rock formation and all three of them violently struck the consoles in front of them, or rather the small barrier in front of them, before they blacked out.

Chrysalis had no idea how long she was out for, meaning that she must have bumped her head real good, but when she opened her eyes and regained control of her body she found that she, Isaac, and Carver had actually survived the Crozier's collision with the ground. The downside to that was the fact that their half of the ship was currently on fire, keeping the cold winds of the planet from freezing them into popsicles, though as she found that out she moaned as she pushed herself into a standing position and carefully drew her magic back to her. As she did that Chrysalis attempted to close her helmet, mentally cursing herself for not sealing it after they started the engines, but there happened to be an error since part of the mechanics had been broken in the collision, meaning she needed to find a suit kiosk so she could fit it. Once she was able to determine that wearing a helmet was no longer possible, and shivered as she felt how cold it really was on the planet's surface, she used some of her magic to mend any of her wounds while she carefully help Carver onto his feet... to which the two of them unbuckled Isaac from his chair and made sure that he touched the ground without hurting himself even further.

Once the three of them were together again they walked out of the part of the Crozier that they happened to be standing in and found a path, if it could even be called that, leading away from the flaming wreckage, to which they carefully headed away from the wreckage and started to look around the area. While they did that Isaac, concerned for Ellie's well being, called out for her a few times while they descended down the path, but at the same time Carver decided to be an ass and told Isaac that Ellie and the others had to be dead. His reasoning was because the majority of the others, save for his captain, weren't wearing any armor and could have either fallen to their deaths or might have been punctured by pieces of the shuttle that they were in. Isaac and Chrysalis, on the other hand, weren't about to side with him and say that Ellie was dead, as she was stronger than Carver knew, but they followed the path that was in front of them and kept their eyes open for anything that showed that someone else had survived the crash... until part of the path shattered and they were forced to roll down the side of a hill to avoid being crushed by part of the Crozier, where they sighed and continued moving in case there were Necromorphs running around the area.

Not even a few minutes later they found an area that allowed them to see the other half of the Crozier, which was on fire like their half was, and they quickly followed the rest of the odd rocky path that they had been walking on since they started moving. From there it was only a minute, maybe two minutes, walk to the area that the part of the shuttle had landed in, to which Isaac rushed into it and, upon seeing a body buried in snow, started to move the snow out of the way so he could see who it was, though relief flashed on his face when he found Rosen's corpse and not Ellie's, as that meant that she was still out there. His mood was lifted as Chrysalis found a computer terminal that had a message waiting on it, though when she pressed the button to play the message Ellie appeared on the screen, looking like she did before the Crozier left the Roanoke and had no scratches on her.

Isaac, Chrysalis, if you find this... Ellie said, her voice sounding pained while she spoke, which made sense considering the fact that she and Isaac had been dating as boyfriend and girlfriend before the Unitologists started their attacks and the madness started again, God I hope you guys find this...

Ellie! Come on! Norton commanded, to which the trio watched as the captain appeared behind Ellie and started to pull her away from the computer that she was talking to, the same one they were standing in front of, We're freezing to death out here!

I'm coming. Ellie stated, where the trio could see her shake Norton off of her and forcing him to tend to the others, who had survived the crash as well, before she turned towards the screen again and held up what Chrysalis knew was a flare, Isaac, I'm going to leave you, Chrysalis, and Carver a trail of flares, that way you can follow us to whatever shelter we manage to find down here...

It was at that point that Norton returned for Ellie and pretty much ripped her away from the computer, claiming that all three of them were dead and that they needed to find shelter, though they could hear Ellie wishing for them to be alive, since they were the only ones that could actually help her stop this nightmare. With the message over, and the path they needed to follow now revealed to them, the trio stepped out of the ruined part of the Crozier they were standing in and followed the first few flares they could see... each of them hoping to find the others, get out of the freezing wind, and figure out what they were going to do now that they had reached the surface of Tau Volantis.

Tau Volantis: Braving the Cold

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Once Ellie's message was over, and Isaac was happy to hear that she and the others were alive, the three of them headed out of the ruined part of the Crozier that they had been in and started following the flares that Ellie had left for them to follow, to which they headed down the path that was in front of them. When they reached the edge of a cliff, however, the three of them were surprised when a large crab like Necromorph pulled itself up in front of them and swung one of it's legs at them, knocking all three of them into the air and forcing them to roll down the hill that it had just climbed up. Chrysalis, thinking quickly, wove her magic through the air and grabbed both Isaac and Carver as they hit the side of the hill, using a temporary barrier to protect them all before they came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. When they stopped moving the three of them remained still for a few seconds, looking for the creature that had suddenly disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, though when they saw nothing coming at them they picked themselves up off the ground and Chrysalis sent her barriers away.

"Okay, what the hell was that thing?" Carver asked, as that was a new type of Necromorph he hadn't see before, though he wasn't sure if Isaac and Chrysalis had seen it before since they hadn't told him all the types they had encountered over the years, to which he turned and looked at them.

"Some sort of intelligent Necromorph," Chrysalis replied, as she knew that the Snow Beast, her name for the creature, was watching them like a predator, meaning that they were supposed to be it's prey, but the creature would find that the 'prey' it was hunting wasn't as weak or as helpless of what it was used to hunting, "Come on, we had best get moving before it decides to come back and attack us again."

Isaac knew that Chrysalis was referring to the fact that they couldn't really fight in these conditions, not when they had to constantly restore the heat to their bodies by the fires and whatever else they could find, but at the same time he also knew that this creature, which his friend had likely named by now, was going to keep coming after them until one of them was dead. Of course he knew that the creature would be the one to fall, it was only a matter of how many times it wanted to fight them before that happened, but instead of focusing on the creature he turned towards the flares that were nearby and started moving again, to which Carver and Chrysalis followed after him. As they focused on their surroundings, and ignored the creature that had surprised them, they found a large pipeline and some ancient vehicles resting in front of them, though luck was on their side as they found the trail of flares again and stopped beside a door. The three of them decided to take a chance and opened the door, finding a decent sized room with a generator that, when it was powered on, brought heat to the room, allowing them a few moments to restore their body temperatures before they had to leave and tackle the cold once more.

Isaac also found a text log that revealed that the crew that had come down to the planet had a large number of drill parts and that they might have uncovered some sort of alien life, but since that was where the text log ended he simply stored it away and welcomed the warmth into his body again... and besides, it wasn't as grand as the people thought, as he knew of a species that wasn't affected by the Markers and likely never would be; the species of Chrysalis' homeworld.

Once they were all warmed up they opened the door and headed back out into the cold, where they resumed following the flares as they led the way around to the other side of the pipeline, where a ladder to the walkway on the top of the pipeline rested. As such the three of them carefully climbed up to the walkway and kept their eyes open for the Snow Beast, as both Isaac and Carver agreed with Chrysalis on the fact that it was likely hunting them at that very moment, which also meant they kept their weapons at the ready as they walked forward. Fortunately they soon came to a second room that was like the one they had been in a few minutes ago, though to be on the safe side they powered up the generator and warmed up a little, even though they moved away from the windows as the Snow Beast climbed up the side of the structure and reached the top of the area they were in. Oddly enough the Snow Beast was content to leave them alone, as it didn't seem to be doing anything else or moving to a new location, but at the same time they readied themselves for when they decided to leave, as the creature might be waiting for that to happen.

it looks like... there's a... a voice said, one that the trio recognized as Ellie's voice, though Isaac's spirits were lessened as he noticed that it was coming from the radio box that was in the middle of the room, as he was hoping to find her and the others in a room like this, large facility ahead! Stay close to the wall or we're all lost in this blizzard.

"Ellie?!" Isaac said, opening the audio link for a moment, hoping to catch Ellie's signal so he could tell her that he and the others were safe and were following her trail, or at the very least catch someone else's signal so he could have them tell her the news, "It's Isaac. Are you in range?"

A few seconds later Isaac stopped attempting the connection, as it appeared that Ellie and the others had a good head start on them and that the blizzard that was raging in her area was making it impossible for them to receive any communications that might be coming from outside the storm. Since they hadn't used any of their ammunition so far, as the Snow Beast was the only creature they had seen and it fled after surprising them, they ignored the Bench that was beside them and headed out through the door that was opposite of the one they used to enter this building. The moment they were outside the room, and felt the cold once more, they headed to the left and accessed the cargo lift that was waiting for them, which they used to slowly reach the level that was below them. When they reached the lower level, and walked out onto the walkway in front of it, they found that the only way forward was through the pipeline itself, to which they headed into the massive cylinder and started to follow it... only for the Snow Beast to attack them from above and cut the support structure for the area in half, forcing the section they were in to lower until it formed a diagonal path to the ground in front of them.

"Clarke! Chrysalis!" Carver said, turning to look at his companions for a moment, as he was already getting annoyed with this creature and wanted it dead, though something told him that it would be some time before they were able to kill that thing, "You two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Isaac replied, though he was happy that Carver wanted to know if they were fine, meaning that he either saw them as tools that couldn't be replaced or he was genuinely seeing them as his friends, like Chrysalis had come to see him and Ellie as her friends.

"The Snow Beast is definitely hunting us at the moment," Chrysalis commented, as she had studied wild beasts, at her mother's orders anyway, and knew that some of them liked to do things like this when they were on the hunt, so it didn't surprise her to see a Necromorph acting like this, "We'll have to find some sort of shelter soon, to wait out the storm, otherwise that thing will come for us again, whether we're ready for it or not."

"Then we'll follow the pipeline and the flares until we find a place like that," Isaac stated, to which he primed his gun and continued walking forward, as he could see something moving under the ground and snow that they were walking on, meaning that something was waiting to ambush them.

Sure enough slashers, made from the bodies of the crew that had been sent down to the planet, started popping up out of the ground and rushed at the trio, who opened fire on them and dismembered them before they could deal any damage to the group. As they continued forward Chrysalis spotted what appeared to be pukers doing the same thing as the slashers, to which she turned her attention towards them and blew them again, preventing the three of them from being hit by their acid blasts. There were even a few Necromorphs guarding the door to the next room that had a generator, meaning the trio had to dismember all of them before they could even warm up again, but this was only a temporary solution to their problem. They did, however, pause long enough to hear that a recording about ration cards and not wanting anyone to go hungry, which must have been before the order to kill everyone came in, at least some time before that terrible event happened.

Once they were sufficiently warmed up, to the best of their ability anyway, the three of them moved through the other door and walked out of the building, where they started to follow the path that was laid out in front of them and opened fire on the Necromorphs that were making their way towards the building the trio had come out of. From there the trio moved out into the wide open are that was in front of them and continued to fire at all of the Necromorphs that were emerging from their hiding places, tearing them apart as they grew closer and closer to a square shaped building of some sort. Since the flares were leading around the building, and then away from the door, they decided to follow Ellie's path and headed towards the cylindrical shaped building that was in front of them, one that was smaller than anything else they had been in so far. The moment they were inside the building they paused for a moment, to catch their breath and made sure they had enough ammunition for the enemies that would be on the other side of the door, before they approached the door and waited... to which a scanner, which they hadn't seen when they entered the building, scanned them for a few seconds and beeped at them.

Security alert. a computerized voice, the exact same one that was used on the Roanoke and the other ships they had searched in the space above the planet, said, causing the trio to look at each other as they wondered what this machine was going to tell them, A snow suit is required beyond this point.

"Well, since we can't move forward, why don't we check out that building we went by." Chrysalis commented, as there had to be a reason that a flare was near the door, but they had decided to skip it since they spotted the next one in the set nearby, which had brought them here.

Isaac and Carver, not knowing what else to do, nodded their heads and followed after her as Chrysalis headed back out into the blizzard, if it could be called that since it didn't seem to be the case, before they turned towards the building and started walking towards it. It only took them a few seconds to reach the door in question, which opened up to reveal another door, like an airlock of a ship, so they entered the waiting area as the first door closed and the second one allowed itself to be opened at long last. Once the second door was open, however, Isaac and Chrysalis gasped as they found Buckell freezing near an elevator, one that seemed to be missing some gears by the looks of it, but before any of them focused on the contraption they rushed over to the injured man.

"Buckell!" Isaac said, to which he and Chrysalis stopped in front of him, where Chrysalis started to gather her magic up as she attempted to heal his wounds and prevent him from dying, especially since she was sure that he was still vital to the team's overall success.

"Isaac? Chrysalis?" Buckell inquired, as his voice revealed that he was surprised, meaning that some of them might have thought that the group died int he collision, but he also seemed to be happy that they were alive, though it was hard to tell if that was the case since he was shivering from the cold, "Well I'll be damned... listen, the others are heading over to the research facility up on the ridge. We found some snow suits, but there weren't enough to go around... so I decided to stay behind. Not that I would have needed one anyway, since I'm on Death's door, but you three might be able to find some spares down in the basement."

"'Might be able to'?" Carver asked, as he didn't like the fact that Buckell had no idea if there were even any down there to begin with, as he would have thought that someone, before the execution of all the crew members two hundred years ago, would have made a list containing the number of available suits that were left.

"Well, the elevator is shot," Buckell said, to which he used his head and beckoned to the slots were the missing gears were supposed to go, before he coughed for a few seconds and focused on them once more, "there's also something scratching around down there, so we didn't... we didn't check."

The instant that last word got out of his mouth was a terrible one, as Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver watched as the life faded from Buckell's eyes, his chest finally stopped moving, and the arm that had been holding onto his wounded side the entire time finally let go as it fell into his lap. Isaac and Carver, despite not knowing the man as well as Ellie did, felt bad about Buckell's passing, though Chrysalis, on the other hand, knew that Buckell had been one of Ellie's crew, maybe even a friend at one point, and it hurt to think about the fact that he'd never get to see the outcome of their mission. Buckell's death wasn't as painful as Hammond's had been all those years ago, mostly because she didn't know Buckell as well as she knew Hammond, but the pain still came in the end, to which she sighed as she got up and focused on the task at hand, as there would be time to mourn later. Together the three of them made their way over to where the generator for the building was located, as it must have switched itself off in the time since Ellie's team left Buckell here, though while Isaac powered up the generator both Carver and Chrysalis collected the gears that were on the wall and carried them back over to the elevator.

From there it was a simple matter of figuring out which of the three gears went into the empty slot, though when they found it, as it had been the third and last one that Chrysalis was holding, the elevator became active once more, to which the three of them opened the door, climbed into the elevator, and descended towards the basement. It was clear that, while they were riding the elevator, Carver wanted to say something about the situation, but whatever he was thinking about clearly got thrown out the window, as Isaac and Chrysalis were sure that he would have made some comment about Buckell, Norton, and the mission, though they were happy that he said nothing about all of it at the moment. When the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened, they instantly found the area that the suit kiosks were in, though the pair was blocked off by a gate that could only be opened from the other side, informing the trio that they would have to make their way around the basement, fight whatever was down here, and overcome a number of obstacles before they were allowed to acquire their snow suits.

Since they couldn't go forward the trio headed over to the door on their left and opened it, though as they did that they found another new type of Necromorph, one that looked like a human husk that had blood on it's hands and feet, though before any of them could do anything the creature ran away, leaving them alone for now.

"Well, that's not good news." Isaac said, though instead of saying anything else he noticed Carver making a few signs with his hands, indicating that they should shut up and keep their eyes open for whatever they had seen, as he was sure that there were more of them in this area.

As they stepped forward Chrysalis noticed that the area the feeder, again her name for the creature they had seen, had been in was a cafeteria of some sort, one that clearly had nothing left after the last two hundred years of nothing happening on this planet, leading her to believe that the feeders were less intelligent than the Snow Beast. After that they rounded the corner and found that there were a number of bodies hanging on the right side of the passage they had to walk through, or at least they assumed they were bodies since the bags were blocking their view of whatever was inside the bags. A few seconds later the three of them approached the door that was at the end of the passage, though as they entered the room that was on the other side they spotted a large group of feeders gathered around something, only for them to turn towards the trio as they came to a stop... to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver raised their weapons as the feeders charged at them.

Fortunately the trio was able to deal with the small group of feeders that wanted to kill them and rip them to pieces, though as they finished off their foes the three of them gathered the various pieces of ammunition and supplies that the feeders were carrying before heading through the only door that could be opened. On the other side of the door they found another short passage that brought them to yet another door that they needed to go through, though before the three of them reached the door they found a recording from a Sam Ackerman. The recording indicated that he had spent his days hiding and that he could trick the 'creatures' into moving to an area with noises, meaning they didn't actually have to fight all the feeders that were in their way, but at the same time the trio knew that something would draw their attention and force them to fight anyway. The plan this time around was for someone to open the door and force the feeders to come to where they would stand their ground, further back near the door they had just come through, and Isaac was more than happy to do that... to which he blasted a feeder apart the moment the door was open and retreated the instant the Necromorphs came at him.

The instant he was standing by Chrysalis and Carver again, and their weapons were pointed at the still open door that Isaac had opened, they opened fire on the feeders that rushed out towards them, dismembering and killing them before they could even reach the side of the passage they were in. Once the feeders were done for, and no more came out of the room or the vents, the trio moved into the room that the feeders had been in and found their way towards the door that was inside that area. From there they walked through the short passage that they were in, gathering whatever ammunition they could find along the way, and then opened the door that Isaac spotted, before they entered a large chamber with two piston contraptions that were on the level below them. The trio could tell that the door they needed to go through, so they could reach the area that the suit kiosks were in, was on the other side of the chamber and to get at it, without using Chrysalis' magic, they had to descend to the lower level and fight their way through whatever was down there... be it enemies or obstacles that were left behind two hundred years ago.

When they reached the bottom of the ladder, however, they found that there was a few circular components they could move to restore power to the pump that was in front of them, to which Isaac quickly rotated some of them and soon enough the pump was moving once more. For them to move forward they had to wait until the pump was up to speed before using a Stasis blast to slow it down, though as they waited a feeder revealed itself and was instantly smashed by the pump. When the pump had the required speed Isaac used a Stasis blast and slowed it down, allowing them to move into the side passage and accessed a recharge station to get his power back, before he used a second blast to slow the pump once more so they could reach the middle part of the chamber. Once they reached the middle of the chamber both Isaac and Carver accessed the circular power components for the second pump and turned them until they could turn the pump back on, though as the pump turned on the two vents on the other side of the chamber exploded as feeders surged towards the trio... to which Chrysalis, who wasn't really doing anything except guard her friends, opened fire and started mowing down the enemies that were coming at them, before Isaac and Carver joined her in firing at the feeders.

Once the feeders were taken care of, and they were sure that no more were coming from the wrecked vents, the three of them turned towards the pump and used a Stasis blast to slow it down, allowing them to head down the passage that was in front of them and exit the side of it so they wouldn't have to worry about being crushed. From there they climbed up the ladder that was at the end of the path they were following and entered a control room that happened to have a key to a supply depot, though none of them had any idea where that place was supposed to be. Once they had that key, however, they opened the door to their left and smiled when they found the suit kiosks waiting for them, where Isaac and Carver approached them and selected the option to use the snow suit that they needed to move towards the research facility that Ellie and the others had traveled to. With the option selected both Isaac and Carver stepped into the machines and let them close around them, to which Chrysalis waited for a few seconds before her friends stepped out wearing a grayish-beige colored suit of armor... one that was padded enough to protect them from the cold conditions of Tau Volantis while also allowing them to walk around without any restraints.

Chrysalis smiled as she repeated the process and stepped out of the machine a few seconds later, wearing the snow suit they needed to continue onward, to which the three of them approached the gate and let the scanner approve them for the next part of their journey... reaching the research facility that Ellie and the others were headed to, so they could bring an end to the nightmare that the Unitologists had awoken.

Tau Volantis: To the Research Facility

View Online

Once the scanner in front of them had determined that they were ready to move forward, as all three of them were now wearing the snow suits, actually called an Arctic Survival Suit by the suit kiosk, complete with their helmets covering their heads, Isaac unlocked the gate that was in front of them and they approached the elevator. Before they reached the elevator, and headed back to the surface level, they stopped by a recorder that revealed that a Doctor Serrano was asking Sam Ackerman, the man from the previous recording they had listened to, to head to Facility One for some reason and that lives of everyone depended on what he was did. Once the recording was over, and they were sure that there wasn't anything else they needed to do down here, the three of them entered the elevator and rode it back up to the surface level, though as they arrived at their destination Chrysalis paused as they started to walk by Buckell's body... where she sighed as she put her gun away for a moment and held her hand towards the corpse, to which she used a fire spell to set Buckell's body on fire.

The only reason she was doing this was because it made it impossible for the Necromorphs to infect his corpse and transform him into a monster that they might have to kill later, to which Isaac nodded his head in agreement as Carver stared at her for a moment.

"Right, magic... I forgot about that," Carver said, as he was so used to seeing Chrysalis use her gun and generally didn't pay attention to the fact that she used her magic, expect for when she was right in front of them, which made it impossible to not see her do what she did.

"Don't worry, I have that effect on people every now and then," Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she drew her gun as she and Isaac headed for the door that would allow them to access the airlock for the building, to which Carver fell in with them and readied himself, "besides, knowing how our adventures on the Ishimura and the Titan Station went, it's only a matter of time until something comes up that makes me use more of my magic... there's always something that does that at some point."

Carver seemed like he wanted to say something to that, just like he had at an earlier point, but decided not to say anything and followed after them as Isaac and Chrysalis headed back out into the blizzard that was still raging outside the building they were leaving. As they walked outside, however, the three of them found out something that made them all happy, the suits they had grabbed from the building were doing what they were supposed to do, as none of them could really feel the cold and their temperatures weren't going down at all. With them finding something good, in regards to the suits, they headed over to the cylinder building that the scanner that had rejected them was located in, though since no Necromorphs came out to attack them they were able to make their way to the structure without anything happening at all. It didn't take them long to pile into the building and close the door behind them, though once the door was closed they approached the scanner and stood in front of it, letting it scan them and the new suits that they were wearing, as all three of them were eager to move forward and get their real mission started.

What surprised them was that the scanner said nothing as it scanned them, rather the light on the door changed from reddish-orange, the color that usually indicated that something couldn't be used, and turned light blue, the color that meant they could use something, to which they opened the door and headed back out into the blizzard... to which they started to walk up the hill that was over on their left, as they knew that they had to be getting closer to the research facility Ellie and the others had set as their destination.

"We must be climbing into a storm system." Isaac called out, as he was quick to identify that they were heading right into the blizzard that had been mentioned earlier, though that meant they had to be careful, least they hurt themselves on something that was hidden from their view.

"What?" Carver shouted in return, as if he hadn't heard what Isaac had said, though at the same time Chrysalis, hearing her friend with ease, did the rational thing and connected an audio link between the three of them, that way they could speak without having to miss what someone said.

"He said we must be climbing into a storm system." Chrysalis stated, where Isaac nodded his head, indicating that she was correct and that he was pleased that she had figured out what he had said, but at the same he focused on looking out for any Necromorphs that the storm might be hiding from them.

Despite Chrysalis' thoughts that they had to be worried about the Necromorphs, as she was sure that there were some of them out there, it seemed like they had to stick close to the cliff wall that was off on their left, as the area on their right was an immediate drop from the looks of it. It didn't take them long to round the corner and find a structure that seemed to have been worn out by the storms that had ravaged the planet, but as they approached it the trio had to deal with the fodder that was standing in the middle of the structure. That brought them to a small cave system that allowed them to not be affected by the blizzard, though at the same time they had to deal with the two fodders that tried to ambush them. After dealing with the fodders the three of them opened the ammunition crates that were in the caves and took the ammunition that was inside them, before they climbed up the ladder that was near them and reached the top of the structure they had walked through.

Directly in front of them was a structure that Chrysalis didn't trust, not because she wondered if there were any Necromorphs inside the structure, but because it looked like it was going to tip if any change was made to the weight that was applied to it. As Isaac stepped onto the structure it righted itself and moved forward, only to stop when the other end touched another bit of land, to which Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that she might be overthinking things this time around. When they walked out the other side of the structure, however, she noticed that off on their left was what appeared to be the front of a transport vehicle, meaning that the structures they had walked through had been cargo containers that had come to an immediate halt when the kill order had been put in. What happened next was what she had been worried about, as the moment one of them stepped on the snow near the front of the transport vehicle the ground started to crack and the vehicle shifted... forcing them to their knees for a moment as the vehicle started to fall off the cliff that it had been perched on.

Chrysalis, deciding that now wasn't the time to be playing games, engaged her magic and grabbed onto both Isaac and Carver, where she hauled them into the air and tossed them onto the path that was near them, the same one that would allow them to reach the research facility, before she landed behind them as the transport vehicle descended into the abyss that was below them.

"Want to watch where you're stepping next time?" Carver asked, as he was pretty sure that the first person to step onto the area near the vehicle was Isaac, though at the same time he was happy to be alive, especially since being crushed in such a manner would have been annoying.

"Carver, don't be an ass," Isaac replied, as some times Carver's attitude was justified and there were times where it wasn't needed at all, much like right now, but at the same time he turned towards the path that was in front of them and started walking, "and Chrysalis, thanks for the save back there. Not sure what I would have done if you hadn't been paying attention to the ground beneath us."

"I'm happy to make sure we all survive this journey." Chrysalis said, because right now the last thing she wanted was for someone to die, not after what happened when they traveled through the atmosphere earlier and lost both Rosen and Locke, and especially not after having lost Buckell as well.

"Hey, that's got to be the research facility!" Isaac said, though that was when the three of them walked towards the edge that was in front of them and watched as the blizzard seemed to die down until it was no longer blowing, allowing them to see the large facility that was actually pretty close to their current position.

"No shit sherlock." Carver stated, though his eyes were locked onto something else, as he was seeing a whole lot a lights that happened to be powered up, which meant that the others had found their destination and were likely waiting for them to arrive, "It's lit up like it's fucking Christmas down there. Looks like someone got the power going."

"And that someone would be Ellie." Chrysalis replied, to which Isaac nodded his head before they started moving down the path that was in front of them, because the sooner they reached the facility, and got inside it, the sooner they could figure out what the next stage of their plan was, "Come on, let's get going and let the others know that we've managed to catch up with them at last."

The three of them headed down the path that was in front of them and walked into the cave that it brought them to, where they had to deal with three slashers, made from the people that had come before them, before they could reach the bottom of the cave system. When they exited the cave they discovered that there was an open area between where they were standing and the actual facility, making Chrysalis wonder if the Snow Beast was going to show up again, and it was clear that Isaac and Carver were thinking the same thing. Carver, however, stated that until they were on the other side of the wall they were sitting ducks, something that he clearly didn't like, to which Isaac decided that they would move forward and figure out how to get inside the facility, especially since the main entrance looked damaged. Fortunately there happened to be a cargo lift nearby, one that happened to have no power at the moment, though instead of letting that get them down Chrysalis pointed at the small building that was next to it, as she was sure that the way to power the cargo lift was inside it.

Sure enough when they entered the building Isaac spotted the generator that would restore power to the cargo lift, to which he immediately turned it so they would be able to get to the walkway that was above where they were now standing, though before anyone did anything Carver disengaged his helmet and stared at them.

"Let's get one thing straight Clarke." Carver said, as he appeared to be annoyed with the fact that Isaac was more focused on finding Ellie than he was on finding the source of the Marker, which was the entire reason behind why this mission was happening, "We came to this frozen shit-hole to stop the Markers. And nothing, not you or your obsession with Ellie, is going to get in my way. You got that?"

"Really?" Isaac asked, as he couldn't believe that Carver was doing this right now, because he had thought that the newest addition to their group had understood that all of them were focused on stopping the Markers, though this time around he had no idea where to go and Ellie was the key to finding where the signal was coming from, "Are you really doing this right now? Carver, I don't have an 'obsession' for finding Ellie. She's the key to figuring out where the signal is coming from, and she's the only one that can guide us to our goal, so of course I'm going to make it my mission to find her first, because that will ensure we can get to our true goal."

"Look, you two can shoot each other later, once we've reunited with the others and stopped both the Marker signal and the Unitologists," Chrysalis stated, as right now she didn't want the two of them to fight over something so stupid, because that was the last thing they needed right now, before she turned towards the generator that was nearby, "Let's get this thing powered up so we can use that cargo lift to reach the upper walkway... with any luck Ellie and the others were be waiting for us just past that gate."

While Chrysalis turned on the generator that was in front of them, and restored power to the lift that was right outside the building, Isaac and Carver headed over to the Bench and turned some of their salvage into ammunition and made any modifications to their weapons that they wanted. Once that was done, and they were ready to go, the three of them engaged their helmets and headed outside, where they climbed onto the cargo lift and activated the controls that allowed them to reach the walkway above them. A few seconds later the cargo lift reached it's destination, though before they could actually get off of it the structure shook as the cargo lift tilted to the side for a moment, which was followed by the roof of the structure being pulled into two halves as the Snow Beast revealed itself once more. From there it attempted to kill them with some sort of tentacle like tongue, or at least Chrysalis figured that it was the creature's tongue, before the three of them braced themselves as the Snow Beast caused the cargo lift to break off and fall to the ground... though while Chrysalis protected them from damage with her magic she knew the Snow Beast would be alright, especially since it fell right on top of the building they had been in moments ago, destroying the entire building in the process.

As Chrysalis lowered her magic, and all three of them raised their weapons, the Snow Beast got up and moved out into the open area, before turning back and roaring at them, indicating that it was ready for a battle and wanted to kill them, just like everything else that it had been able to kill before the last crew killed themselves.

It didn't take them long to figure out the weakness of the Snow Beast, as the moment the battle started it revealed three tentacles that were attached to it's back, which they were able to shoot at after Isaac loosed a Stasis charge right into the creature's face. As the creature slowed down the three of them aimed at a different tentacle and took all three of them out in a single round, causing the Snow Beast to roar in pain as it attempted to flatten them by charging at one of them, since they had spread out a little, only for whoever it was targeting to dodge the attack and fire at it again. After a few seconds the Snow Beast revealed it's true weakness from what could have been it's mouth, small yellow goo sacks that reminded Isaac and Chrysalis of when they fought the Hive Mind back on Aegis VI. It took only a few seconds for the three of them, using a Stasis charge when the weakness was revealed, to blow one of the goo sacks apart, causing the Snow Beast to stagger for a moment before it started to move once more... and, as Chrysalis watched it, she knew that it was repeating the motions that it had shown them so far, which she and Isaac were more than prepared for.

Because of how the three of them worked like a team, and were great at dodging the creature's attacks, they were able to force it to reveal it's true weakness and destroy one of the remaining two in the process, though that caused the Snow Beast to roar in pain... and, as a consequence, the creature turned tail and retreated, though in the process it started to climb the side of the wall that was near the gate they needed to use to enter the facility, and also broke some of the support pieces that lowered part of the walkway down so they could climb up to the entrance.

"Hey! We're not finished with you yet!" Carver shouted, as the last thing he wanted at the moment was to let such a dangerous Necromorph continue to hunt the area around the facility and recover from it's injuries, but at the same time it appeared that the creature was ignoring them now.

"It's heading back out into the area around the facility," Chrysalis commented, to which they watched as the Snow Beast finished climbing over the wall and disappeared, leaving them to their own devices once more, to which she sighed as she knew that it would be back at some point in the future.

"Come on, let's get up to the gate and get inside the facility before it returns." Isaac said, to which he walked over to the walkway that the Snow Beast had created for them, as now they could use a ladder to access the upper walkway and actually use the gate this time around.

As such the three of them walked over to the ramp and walked up it, to which they took turns climbing up the ladder and stopped when they reached the walkway, where they stood together as they walked over to the gate that all three of them had seen when they first entered this area... and while they did that Isaac tried the audio link once more, hoping that someone was listening for his frequency.

"Ellie, are you there?" Isaac asked, knowing that Carver would only be annoyed with him constantly asking the question, but at the same time she was the first person he would prefer to talk to, if they were keeping an ear open for anything from him and the others, "Can you hear me?"

"ISAAC?!" Ellie exclaimed, her voice echoing over all three of their RIGs, indicating that she had finally spotted all three of them approaching the gate, which the trio chose to stop in front of, just in case the others had locked it so the Necromorphs couldn't get in through this entrance, "Oh my god!"

"He's alive?!" Santos asked, surprise gracing her voice for a moment, though Isaac and Chrysalis knew that the others had to be surprised, mostly because they had been separated and Norton had likely tried to seize control of the operation from everyone, "What about Chrysalis?"

"And Carver?" Norton inquired, though while he was questioning whether or not Carver was alive he wanted the others to remember that Carver was a part of the operation as well and shouldn't be ignored by anyone, even though it was hard to do that.

"Hey Captain." Carver said, letting Norton know that he was fine as well, as he was glad to see that someone cared about his safety, excluding Isaac and Chrysalis anyway, but he didn't say anything else, as he was focused on the task at hand and making they got inside the facility.

"I'm fine as well." Chrysalis added, letting the others know that she was present, as her unique powers meant that she wasn't someone they could replace if something were to happen to her during this adventure, but she was sure that Ellie was happy to have both of them back again.

"Ellie, it's so good to hear your voice again." Isaac stated, though while he had known that Ellie and the others had to have made it to the facility, because Ellie was someone who refused to die, hearing her voice had calmed him down and brought a smile to his face.

"How did you guys survive the crash?" Ellie asked, though Isaac and Chrysalis knew that she had a good idea of what had happened before the ship was sheared into two halves like it was, "Norton was convinced that you guys died in the crash, especially after what happened to the ship."

"Magic." Chrysalis replied, to which a smile appeared on her face, as that was the key to how she had survived everything that the Necromorphs and the humans she had fought against had thrown against her and Isaac over the years she had been in this part of the universe, "I wove my magic around us and protected us from the crash, allowing us to walk away from it with a very limited amount of damage. After we found your section of the ship, and the message you left behind, we followed your trail of flares, picked up some Arctic Survival Suits, and came to this facility."

"Are you guys alright?" Isaac asked, because after seeing what happened to Buckell, and having encountered the Snow Beast in an actual battle, he wanted to be sure that the others were fine and didn't need medical attention, something that they could deal with thanks to their med kits and Chrysalis's healing magic.

"Yeah, for the most part." Ellie replied, her voice happy to hear Isaac and Chrysalis' voices again, even Carver's since he was part of the team, to which they heard her tapping on something and watched as the gate unlocked for them, "I'm happy to hear that all three of you survived the crash. I just sent you our coordinates, as we're in Central Command at the moment, and I've unlocked the gate that's in front of you."

"We'll get there as fast as we can." Isaac said, to which the three of them walked into the room that the gate revealed to them, as it moved in a curved fashion, before allowing them to enter a small hallway, though at the same time the audio link was disconnected so they could concentrate on reaching the coordinates.

The trio entered the hallway that was in front of them and came to a stop in front of the door that was in their way, which opened up for them after Isaac tapped it, allowing them to walk through another hallway, but this time around they ignored the ladder that was by the doorway in front of them and came to an area where a cargo lift was waiting to be used by someone. As such the three of them climbed onto it and tapped the controls, to which it started to move down towards the floor that it connected to, only that happened to be an area outside the part of the facility that Ellie and the others were inside, though the place in question looked a little like a refueling area. Fortunately there weren't any Necromorphs waiting for them this time around, allowing them to access the circular security door that allowed them to enter a hallway inside the facility, one that had two doors they could pick from, but they headed to the right since the one on the left was locked down at the moment.

When they opened the door on the right, however, all three of them disengaged their helmets as they reached the coordinates that Ellie had sent them, though as they walked into Central Command they smiled at the group that was standing around the large map table that was in the room... and Ellie, turning to see them as Norton growled in their direction, rushed towards Isaac and embraced him with tears in her eyes.

"Isaac... you and the others made it!" Ellie said, to which she rested her head against Isaac's chest for a moment, as this was something that she had missed since the Unitologists started their assaults, "I just knew that you guys would catch up with us."

"Good to see that you made it, Isaac, along with Carver and Chrysalis." Norton stated, to which Chrysalis glared at him, as she could tell that he must have tried something while the three of them were fighting to catch up with the group, as Norton actually looked a little pissed off that they were standing in front of his group, "Maybe we should give the two of you some alone time... or would you prefer to actually get some work done?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellie asked, though at the same time she pulled herself away from Isaac and stared at Norton, where the rest of the group could easily tell that she was starting to get tired of his attitude, something that Chrysalis found herself agreeing with.

"You're too happy to see someone that we all thought was dead." Norton replied, not even aware of the fact that he was actually digging himself a hole that he was never going to be able to crawl out of, even though the group was more than willing to let him do so.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm overjoyed to see that my boyfriend and one of my best friends survived that crash." Ellie snapped, where everyone could hear the anger in her voice, as Norton seemed to be pushing buttons that he shouldn't be touching and it was only making her mad, though Chrysalis and the others were more than happy to watch these events unfold, "And, in case you forgot why I asked you and Carver to get Isaac and Chrysalis, let me repeat myself: in order for this mission to succeed we need Isaac and Chrysalis, as they are the only ones qualified to fight the Necromorphs and destroy the Markers that created them. Without them we wouldn't have a chance at succeeding and we would have had a few hours to ourselves before the Necromorphs got to us, so be thankful that they survived the crash and made it to us in one piece, with Carver alive as well. Now that we're all together again, and we all have suits to survive in these conditions, it's time we focused on finding that Machine and shutting it down."

"Have you guys had any luck in locating the Machine?" Isaac inquired, because as amusing as it was to watch Norton get an earful from Ellie, and it was very amusing, he knew that they had better focus on the mission and get underway, as it was only a matter of time until the Necromorphs broke into this area and came after them.

"I... might know how to find it." Santos replied, causing the group to turn towards her, as she had apparently spent the time since the crash going over the various papers that had been left behind, "All the computer data we needed was erased two hundred years ago, but the written logs I've found discuss that the people who came before us used a signal-tracking experiment to pinpoint the exact location of the Machine. I am convinced that, with the help of Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver, we can replicate the experiment and figure out where the Machine is located... the only problem is that it's on the other side of the complex."

"Fine, let's go take a look." Norton said, to which he turned and headed for the doorway that would let them leave the room they were inside, though at the same time he purposely bumped shoulders with Isaac, as if he was trying to push him to the ground with an accident or something, only to cause Isaac to glare at him, "I could do with a change of scenery."

Ellie sighed as she and Santos followed after Norton, as it appeared that they were going to start the journey to the other end of the complex immediately, instead of letting anyone even attempt to conserve their energy, to which Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver followed after them... though at the same time Chrysalis couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen on the other side of the door and change their mission just a little bit.

Tau Volantis: Unexpected Arrival

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The group followed Norton outside the room they had been gathered in, though instead of using the door Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver came through he used the door that was opposite that one, to which they all moved through the circular security door and headed outside. Of course the trio ignored the Bench that was near the door, especially since none of them had used any ammunition since the battle with the Snow Beast, though as they entered the circular room that would let them head outside they made sure to engage their helmets, just in case something happened. When they walked through the other side they found that Ellie's group, as they had to split into two groups of three to use the security door, was standing on a short bridge in front of them and that Ellie was trying to get Norton to wait for them, since they were vital to the success of the mission. Isaac still found it amusing when she did things like that, as Norton was so used to giving orders and it was plainly clear that he hated taking orders that he didn't like, along with the fact that no one was actually listening to the majority of the orders he had attempted to give them since they reached the atmosphere of this planet.

As they caught up with the group, who Norton had convinced to move to the other side of the bridge at least, a missile raced through the air and slammed into the middle of the bridge, knocking Ellie's group off the bridge while Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver were thrown into the area below the bridge, thanks to the angle the missile had come in at... though as they got back up the group watched as a Unitologist ship, no doubt containing Danik himself, flew overhead.

"How the hell did Danik's men find us?!" Carver asked, because he was fairly sure they had lost the Unitologists when they entered ShockSpace when they were leaving the Lunar Colony behind, but that didn't change the fact that their enemies had found them once more.

"Come on." Norton said, his voice full of urgency as he tugged on Ellie and Santos, trying to get them to move away from the area that they were in, while at the same time Ellie glanced down at the area that the trio had landed in and stared at Isaac, as she was worried for him and his companions, "Come on. Run!"

"Ellie! Get going and stay safe!" Isaac said, causing Ellie to look down at them for a moment and nod her head towards him, indicating that she would do her best to do exactly that, before she, Santos, and Norton continued along the path that was in front of them, "We'll meet you guys at the warehouse!"

As he said that he, Chrysalis, and Carver turned towards the Unitologist ship that was coming to a stop in the area in front of them, though as that happened Chrysalis spotted several more of them flying through the air and dropping cultists off along the path that they were following. That told her a few things, though the first was that Danik was likely on a different ship that hadn't reached the facility yet, meaning that they would have to fight their way through his fellow insane fanatics before they reached the warehouse. The other thing she thought about was how impossible it had been for them to even follow the Eudora all the way to Tau Volantis, as from her readings she knew that it wasn't possible to track things through ShockSpace. Once she considered that point she came to another conclusion, one that she knew had to be real despite the fact that she foolishly hoped it wasn't, and that was that someone had to have told Danik where Tau Volantis was located... and the only person that would even dream of sabotaging this mission, and getting almost all of them killed in the process, was Robert Norton, the man that came and recruited them for the operation on Ellie's orders.

If she was right, and Norton had betrayed them in the worst way imaginable, she was going to utterly destroy him and make it impossible for the Marker to use his body when he was dead, and then she was going to turn her magic on the Unitologists and do the same to them.

As the followers of Danik dropped down from their ship and stared firing at the trio, providing cover fire so that the rest of their forces could join them, Isaac and Carver returned fire and did one simple thing as they did so, they targeted the heads of their enemies, making it easy to blast their way out of the ambush that was in front of them. When the last Unitologist had been dropped, and either one of the duo had gunned him down after avoiding his opening fire, the gunship started to rise so it could leave and get more soldiers for later, though Chrysalis wasn't going to let that happen on her watch. As such she reached for her magic and wove it through the air, allowing it to grab onto the gunship before it could depart, to which she grinned for a moment as her magic ignited, tearing the gunship apart in a explosive fireball, raining parts on the ground as she, Isaac, and Carver moved forward so they could reach the warehouse. Along the way to the security door, as there was only one that was operational at the moment, Chrysalis took a moment to also burn the corpses of their enemies, after looting them for their ammunition and med packs anyway.

Once they were on the other side of the door, however, Isaac decided to spend a moment asking the very question that Chrysalis had been considering before the Unitologists started dropping it's followers into the area they were in, as if they actually expected some of them to kill the trio.

"Where did they come from?" Ellie asked, as she was hoping that someone, it didn't matter who, had an idea or an explanation as to how this had happened, though her voice revealed that, while she was shocked by the arrival of Danik and his men, she was thinking of an explanation herself.

"They must have tailed us here." Norton stated, though at the same time Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver moving towards the other door in the area they had entered, so they could press on and meet up with the others, even if they had to blast their way through a hundred more Unitologists to do so.

"That would be impossible, since no one's able to do something like that through ShockSpace." Chrysalis spoke up, though at the same time she knew she needed to speak her mind, to at least Isaac and Carver, because she had the feeling that she was right.

"Yeah, well they did." Carver said, as right now he wasn't in the mood to argue with anyone, because as far as he was concerned Danik had figured out where they had gone and had come after him, which meant they needed to be careful from this point forward.

"Ellie, can you and the others get to the warehouse?" Isaac asked, because if the answer was no he'd have to figure out how to meet up with them and help them get to their destination, even if that meant allowing Danik's men to run wild throughout the rest of the facility.

"Yes, though we'll have to outmaneuver the Unitologists to do so." Ellie replied, though even as she answered the line between them and her group was disconnected, indicating that they needed some silence before they were caught, which Isaac could understand.

"Isaac, I might have an idea how this happened." Chrysalis said, stopping Isaac and Carver in their tracks, to which she sighed as she considered how best to tell them what she was thinking, especially since one of them might take this the wrong way entirely, "Look, I might be wrong about this, but there's only one explanation that makes sense for how this came to pass... someone betrayed the location of Tau Volantis to our enemy, and right now the only person that has any real reason to do that is Norton."

"That's bullshit!" Carver replied, as he couldn't believe that Chrysalis was accusing his superior of something like that, especially after all the effort they went through to make sure the two of them came to this place to stop the Markers, "The Captain would never..."

"Are you really that blind to what he's been saying so far?" Chrysalis asked, causing Carver to freeze for a moment, as she wasn't letting him finish his statement, because she was going to tell him why she was thinking the way she was and wanted to see if Isaac agreed, "Carver, I told you that I'm a changeling and that my species can feel people's emotions, even feed on them at times despite my recent transformation nullifying the reason for me to do that. I can tell that when Norton looks at Ellie it's with the same love that Isaac radiates when he looks at her, though when Norton looks at Isaac he feels nothing but anger, rage, and jealousy. He's jealous that Ellie would pick someone like Isaac, who she has had feelings for since the events of the Titan Station, and has spent the majority of the time we've known him trying to convince Ellie to give up the mission for her own sake. Personally, I wouldn't put it passed him to try something like this, to use the unitologists, our human enemies, to try and kill Isaac so he could try to get together with Ellie."

"You're wrong about the Captain." Carver said, to which he disengaged his helmet for a moment so he could look Chrysalis right in the eye, especially when she did the same thing with her helmet, before he put his back together and continued towards the door, "You'll see that you read the situation wrong and the Unitologists followed us through ShockSpace... and then you'll beg the Captain for his forgiveness for doubting his commitment to our mission."

Chrysalis sighed as she put her helmet back together, as it appeared that it would be harder to convince Carver than she originally thought it would be, but at the very least the nod from Isaac revealed that he was thinking the same thing that she was, to which they followed after Carver before he got too far ahead of them. As they walked outside the building they had been inside Carver happened to intercept an enemy communication, indicating that the Unitologists knew where the three of them were, but that was great for them since it allowed Ellie, Santos, and Norton to get away, even if Chrysalis didn't trust Norton at this point. From there they accessed the cargo lift that was in front of them and used it to get to the area below them, though as they started to move down they spotted Ellie's group running across a walkway that was some distance in front of them, telling the trio that they were on two separate routes at this point. As the cargo lift reached the bottom area they found a group of Unitologists waiting for them, though as they fired at the cultists all three of them spotted some slashers pulling themselves from the ground behind the Unitologists... who were cut down from behind, to which the trio turned their guns on the slashers and dismembered them with destroying the corpses of their enemies.

At the end of the short path in front of them stood another security door, one that allowed them to enter a room where they could catch their breath in, allowing Isaac to make sure that Ellie and the others were safe, where Norton quickly stated that none of them were safe and that the Unitologists were only after Isaac, since he was the one that had the key to destroying the Markers inside his head. Norton even went so far as to say that Isaac wasn't worth all the trouble he had given the group, to which Ellie, who was getting really annoyed with the Captain, could be heard punching him in the gut as Santos said she found the warehouse... to which the audio link disconnected once more. Isaac and Carver stopped at the Bench to pick up a little more ammunition, just in case they encountered something that needed more than the few shots they were firing so far, before they headed out through the security door that was in front of them and continued their journey towards the warehouse. On the other side of the door they found some Unitologists that started shouting that they had found the group, though that only woke up several slashers that had been buried in the snow, who promptly killed the cultists before they could do anything to defend themselves... even though the trio opened fire and dismembered both them and the Necromorphs at the same time.

Chrysalis would have felt sorry for the Unitologists, but then she remembered that the majority of them were trying to bring about the end of the human race with a Convergence Event, which caused her to growl as she fired upon her targets and cut them apart before they could reach the three of them.

Once those enemies had been taken care of the three of them headed into the tunnel that was to their right, where one of the Unitologists called out that Isaac was in the tunnel, which just so happened to be the one that was right around the corner from where they entered the tunnel. Isaac gladly blew a hole in the cultist's brain, even though he knew that the other enemies knew where he and his friends were located already, before they moved towards the security door that was at the end of the path and used it to enter the area it was connected to. When the door opened a slasher was waiting for them, only to be immediately destroyed, though as they stepped into the room that was in front of them they discovered that the scientists that had been sent down to Tau Volantis had discovered more than one Snow Beast, as there was a still frozen and lifeless one resting in front of them, still half buried in the snow. As they walked over to the end of the walkway they were standing on, however, Isaac found a communicator that had a message from Danik, proclaiming that he was essentially an enemy of humanity, since he was trying to stop their 'rebirth', and that he and those who followed him needed to be killed before Convergence could happen.

At the bottom of the stairs rested yet another security door, revealing that the colonists and soldiers that had come here loved these things, though one the other side they engaged the cultists that happened to be guarding the area, to which they either blew the heads off their targets or dismembered them entirely. From there they walked through another security door and entered a small building that would allow them to get closer to the warehouse, though as they walked into the area they found the head of a divider burrowing into the decapitated body of a cultist, forcing the body to rise once more and fight for the Necromorphs. The trio then discovered that it was an easy target, as all they had to do was fire at the head and the entire thing went limp again, though to be on the safe side they all agreed to dismember every body they came across, so that way the creepers, as Chrysalis called the heads of the dividers now, wouldn't be able to do anything if they possessed a body.

As they walked through the other security door that allowed them to enter the small building, however, the trio stopped when the door opened and they walked outside, as some distance in front of them rested a massive Necromorph that both Isaac and Chrysalis recognized immediately, as they had fought one of them back on Aegis VII.

"What the hell is THAT?" Carver asked, as he hadn't seen or heard of anything like that before, but then again there were some Necromorphs that Ellie hadn't informed him and the others about ahead of time, and this just happened to be one of those types.

"A Hive Mind." Chrysalis replied, though at the same time she stared at the frozen creature, remembering what they had done to stop the creature the first time and who she had killed seconds before the first Hive Mind they had fought revealed itself to them, "We fought one on Aegis VII a few years ago and defeated it. Don't worry, if something were to wake that bad boy up we know how to take it out."

Once they had their fill of staring at the frozen Hive Mind, and continued along the path that was in front of them, all three of them paused as a group of terrified Unitologists backed up in front of them, completely ignoring them, and tried to run from some slashers and fodders while they tried to kill them. The trio decided to wait for a few seconds, letting the undead take care of the cultists for them, before firing at the group of Necromorphs that were now standing in their way and dismembered them. Of course as they moved forward more of the creepers showed up and started infesting the corpses that were in front of them, to which the trio simply shot them in the head and were done with them, as there was no reason to let them gain complete control over the bodies in front of them. The moment they were sure that all of the enemies, both the living ones and the dead ones, had been taken care of they walked into the area the Unitologists had been standing guard in and found a computer terminal that required two people to hack into it.

Chrysalis stood guard over Isaac and Carver as they started to bypass the defenses and activate the security door that was beside them, though at the same time she was attacked by a single fodder the entire time they stood in front of the terminal, which she dismembered almost immediately... though a few moments later they stepped away from the computer and the door opened for them.

"Okay, I might regret asking this," Carver said, to which the three of them paused when they stepped through the other side of the circular security door and entered the large chamber that they were now standing in, where he pointed up at the machine that was in front of them, with part of it jammed into something, "but what is that?"

"It looks like a drill." Isaac answered, knowing that Carver, who served in the military, wouldn't have been taught to recognize something like this, while at the same time he knew it because he had repaired one or two of them in the past and Chrysalis knew it from her readings on the technology that was all around her, "Considering how many buildings we've already passed by, and how many we've gone through, I'd have to hazard a guess that the warehouse should be on the other side of that door."

"Of course to do that we'll have to move the drill." Chrysalis commented, to which she spotted something that was right in front of where the drill was resting, some switches of some kind, and wondered if those were the key to getting through the other security door.

The three of them headed down the short ramp that was off on their right and approached the deactivated Bench that was at the bottom, though at the same time Carver spotted a generator that he guessed restored power to part of the chamber that they were in. When he turned the generator's lever, however, they discovered that it not only powered up the area that the Bench was located in, but it also powered up the rest of the chamber, where a computerized voice declared that the Coring Platform was online. That was accompanied by the sounds of the drill starting up and the small gate that was beside the generator lowered into the ground, meaning that they could now walk out into the area that the drill happened to be in and investigate how they were going to remove the drill. Chrysalis, seeing all of this happen, came to the conclusion that they might have to destroy the drill to move forward, which would be easy with their Kinesis Modules and her magic... but that didn't stop her from looking for any additional methods they could use to clear the path, without destroying something every single time they wanted to move forward.

"Like I thought, the damn thing's stuck." Isaac said, to which the three of them carefully entered the massive circular area that the drill usually operated in, while at the same time seeing what Chrysalis must have seen earlier, "Hey Carver, give me a hand and help me lower those safety gates."

"SAFETY GATES? DOWN?" Carver asked, disbelief filling his voice for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that Isaac was asking him to do something like that, but at the same time he growled and shook his head for a moment, "You had better know what you're doing."

Together the two of them latched onto the switches that controlled the safety gates, which is what Chrysalis had seen earlier, and they turned them with their Kinesis Modules, though that caused the pair of safety gates to lower into the floor and free the drill from it's prison. As the drill came free, however, they discovered that it was going to have to be destroyed, as there was no way for them to safely move around it without someone getting seriously hurt or killed, to which the three of them focused on what they needed to do. Isaac, being the one that was the most familiar with drills, stated that they could use a Stasis charge on it and slow the drill down, revealing it's weak point to them so they could damage it and eventually destroy it. At the same time, just as Isaac slowed the drill down and they started to fire at it, several Necromorphs pulled themselves out of the nearby vents and charged at the group, causing Chrysalis to focus her efforts on keeping them safe while Isaac and Carver dealt with breaking the drill.

Fortunately with the three of them following that arrangement, even with Chrysalis going after the Necromorphs and nothing else, they were able to cause enough damage to the drill to cause the blades to break in half, which was followed by it spinning out of control... to which Chrysalis returned to her friends and raised a barrier to protect them, just in case the drill came at them. A few seconds later, however, they watched as the drill separated from what it was attached to and spun around until it was embedded in the wall above the door they needed to pass through, though it appeared to be deep enough so that it wouldn't come undone at all.

"You know, I'm glad that worked as well as it did." Isaac commented, to which he looked at their handiwork as Chrysalis lowered the barrier, though he was happy that she was thinking about all of their safety when she saw the drill moving like that, "I'm not sure what we would have done if it didn't work."

"I'm pretty sure I could have blasted our way out of here," Chrysalis said, though as she spoke she held a hand out and let some magic gather around her, reminding them that she still had a power they really didn't use all that much, which was just fine with her considering that she couldn't control her full terrible power.

"You know what, I'm just going to say this, but fuck this planet." Carver stated, indicating that he was growing tired of everything trying to kill them, even though it was their fault the drill attempted it since they powered the thing and lowered the safety gates it was stuck on, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Okay Ellie, we're headed to the warehouse now." Isaac said, reestablishing the audio link between their group and Ellie's group, as he was worried about them and he was sure that they were worried about the three of them, especially since Danik had decided to show up.

"Is everything alright?" Ellie asked, though her tone suggested that she knew that something had happened in their area, which wouldn't come as a surprise to him or Chrysalis since her team had been the reason they had survived this long, or had found the areas and pieces of equipment that they needed.

"Well, considering that this planet wants to kill us, Norton hating my guts, and Danik finding us, I'd say we're having a blast." Isaac replied, though in truth he was being sarcastic, and he knew that Ellie knew he was doing that on purpose, to which he focused on what he really wanted to say, "Ellie, we just destroyed a drill that was blocking our way and the Necromorphs that came in to stop us died before they could lay a hand on any of us. We're fine, I promise."

"And I believe you." Ellie said, though at the same time the trio could hear the relief in her voice, because while she might actually worry about them, despite the fact that two of them were seasoned veterans at dealing with outbreaks like this, she knew that they would always come out on top, "Isaac, I'm sorry about the way Norton is acting... he certainly wasn't this way when I asked him and Carver to find you and Chrysalis."

"Well tell him that if he doesn't behave I'll fulfill my promise from earlier," Chrysalis stated, knowing that Norton had seen some of her power earlier and knew that she was dangerous, as that had gotten him to shut up when they attempted to use the Crozier to breach the atmosphere, and maybe it would get him to behave again, "Have you guys had any luck in finding the experiment?"

"Yes, we've located it." Ellie replied, though at the same time her tone was still happy, meaning that whatever she and the others had found must have been a lot better than the fact that the Unitologists were now scouring the facility, looking for all of them.

"And?" Carver asked, because right now he knew that they had information on the experiment, something that they might need to know before they reached the warehouse, and was silently hoping that Ellie would given them what she and the others had found out.

"The three of you will have to see for yourselves." Ellie stated, to which the audio link disconnected a few seconds later, indicating that she and the others had work to do and were fully expecting the trio to arrive shortly, causing them to move forward while Carver moaned for a few seconds.

The three of them headed through the security door that was in front of them and discovered that they were outside once more, though this time around they had to use the cargo lift that was to their left to ride up to the path that was above them, which they did so without delay. When the cargo lift came to a stop they carefully walked forward and kept their weapons at the ready, as they immediately expected enemies to reveal themselves when they spotted the crates that were partly buried in the snow, but what surprised them was that there weren't any enemies that wanted to engage them at the moment. Still, to be on the safe side, the three of them kept their eyes and ears open for anything and everything that might want to fight them, though as they did so they stepped into the security door and headed finally entered the warehouse that everyone else was inside... though when they stepped through the second side of the security door, however, they stared at the massive Necromorph that was frozen over and definitely wasn't moving at all.

"Holy shit." Isaac said, as when Ellie said that they had found the experiment he was expecting something small, like a item one of them could hold or a vehicle that they could all drive in, but he and the others weren't expecting the experiment to be a large Hive Mind sized Necromorph.

"Isaac, there you guys are!" Santos spoke up, apparently seeing them from wherever she was standing, though at the same time the group remained standing where they were, because they were interested in what they were seeing at the moment, "We're upstairs on the observation level."

"What the hell is this thing?" Isaac asked, because the more he looked at the Necromorph the more he could tell that it wasn't a Hive Mind, as there were some notable differences between what they saw on Aegis VII and what was resting in front of them.

"It's bad news, that's what it is." Norton stated, indicating that he wanted nothing to do with what the others were attempting, even though at this point he was really giving Chrysalis a reason to get rid of him, because if he wasn't going to help them he might as well be gone.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Santos inquired, apparently ignoring Norton's comment on the large Necromorph, which had to annoy him, while at the same time staring at some of the information that was in front of her, as they suspected that she and the others found something when they arrived, "The researchers called it the 'Nexus'. They thought these larger specimens acted as conduits for the Marker signal, broadcasting it to the smaller forms."

"And that helps us how?" Carver asked, because he honestly wasn't seeing what was so special about the large dead creature that was in front of them, as he wanted nothing more than to let Chrysalis use her magic and obliterate the entire thing, just to be on the safe side.

"Because I think the researchers found the Machine by tracking the signal upstream," Santos replied, her tone revealing that she was vastly interested in what she had found and what they could still find, especially since there might be more for them to learn, "through the nerve clusters inside the creature."

"We actually have to go inside that thing?" Chrysalis inquired, as that was the weirdest thing she had heard of since she arrived in this part of the universe, because at this point she was too used to the dead rising and transforming into monsters that were bent on killing everything.

"Yes! This is a wonderful opportunity!" Santos said, indicating that she was overly excited about the prospect of learning even more about the Necromorphs, even if that meant sending the trio inside the beast in front of them and potentially repeating the experiment the researchers did.

"Okay, but there's a problem with that plan." Carver stated, as he appeared to be one of the few people that seemed to understand what they were seeing at the moment, even though he was sure that Isaac and Chrysalis had noticed the problem as well, "That son of a bitch is frozen solid. How the hell are we supposed to get inside it?"

"Well, the scientists used heat exchanges... here, let me try to ignite them." Santos replied, to which the trio watched as nothing seemed to happen in the chamber that they were inside, which made sense considering that this facility had been offline for two hundred years, though they were thankful that the doors, at least, were still operational, "No good."

"There's probably a furnace on the roof." Isaac stated, as that made the most sense in this situation, even though the last thing any of them wanted to do was to go inside the body of a Necromorph, even one that had been frozen for the last two hundred years, "Chrysalis, Carver, and I will head up there and see if we can't find it, and get it running again... and then we can talk about the Nexus again."

"Guys, please be careful out there." Ellie said, as she was sure that they would remain safe while they were outside the chamber, if what had happened so far was anything to go by, but she wanted them to know that she wanted nothing to harm them while they searched for the furnace.

"Yeah, don't get yourselves hurt." Norton remarked, his tone indicating that he didn't care if they succeeded or not, meaning that he was still hoping that he could convince Ellie to leave the planet, even if everyone else was so dead set against leaving at this point.

Chrysalis sighed as they started to walk away from the Bench that was near the door they had walked through, as she knew that this was going to end poorly for someone, especially since they were going to turn the heat on to thaw out a frozen Necromorph, which had to have some disastrous consequences they weren't aware of... to which she readied herself, as she wanted to keep them all safe so they could get this mission done as fast as possible.

Tau Volantis: Blast From the Past

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After discovering what they needed to do, and that was to turn the furnace that was located on the roof of the building on, Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver headed towards the other side of the building, where they accessed a normal door for once and entered the hallway that was on the other side. When they walked through the door they discovered a recording from Dr. Earl Serrano, who revealed that he and the other scientists had uncovered two Nexus specimens and that they were hard at work on trying to uncover them from their icy prisons. The three of them stood there for a moment, listening to the doctor's discovery on the fact that the Necromorphs apparently communicated by some sort of telepathy, reminding Chrysalis of the hive mind that she and all other changelings possessed, until she lost that connection when Thorax took over and she was dethroned at last. She wasn't sure if the Necromorphs actually used telepathy, since all of the ones they had encountered seemed to be acting on instinct, an instinct that told them to kill and convert everyone around them, but at the very least the work Dr. Serrano and his fellow scientists did would allow them to find and destroy the Marker signal.

Once the recording was over the three of them walked towards the end of the hallway and opened the door that was in front of them, allowing them to enter a decent sized room with some supplies, a locked door, a suit kiosk, and the elevator that would allow them to reach the roof... though since none of them needed to fiddle with their suits, and had collected all the loose supplies, they climbed onto the cargo lift and headed toward their next destination.

When they arrived on the roof they found that there was a single room they could enter, which was where the controls for the furnace had to be located, though as they walked out onto the roof of the building Isaac spotted a ladder that would allow them to access a walkway, one that went to the top of the building where the controls had to be. Since the walkway was only wide enough for two people Chrysalis let both Isaac and Carver walk across it, though as they did so they were attacked by a pair of fodders, which they dismembered rather quickly as they pressed onward. Chrysalis found that the area of the roof that she was in appeared to be void of enemies for the moment, though as she looked around she found something that made her smile a little, as she discovered a power cell inside a container, one that let her take the power cell out without fighting back. Of course as she did that, and carried the power cell with her levitation magic, a few fodders charged down from the door of the building in an attempt to kill her, though they weren't expecting Isaac and Carver to fire at them from behind, destroying them before they got too far.

"Here, I think you guys might need this." Chrysalis said, levitating the power cell up to Isaac, where she let it drop out of her levitation magic and fall into the waiting grasp of Isaac's Kinesis Module, to which she smiled as she waited for them to get to work in fixing the furnace.

Chrysalis waited for a few moments, taking out whatever Necromorphs remained in the area around her, before she heard the sound of a door slam shut and noticed that the door to the building that Isaac and Carver were inside had closed, and it appeared that they had restored power to the furnace. Not even a few seconds later the duo opened the door and walked out to where she was standing, to which the three of them walked back towards the cargo lift, boarded it without delay, and started the descent back into the building that the Nexus was resting in. As the cargo lift started it's journey Isaac raised his hand and tapped the side of his helmet for a moment, opening an audio link between them and Ellie, so he could tell her the news.

"Isaac, are you guys alright?" Ellie asked, because while she knew that all three of them could take care of themselves, especially since two of them had taken down two different Necromorph outbreaks in the past, that didn't stop her from worrying about them.

"Yeah, we're just fine." Isaac replied, though he smiled for a moment, as it was nice to have people who genuinely cared about him and the others working on their team, but they still weren't sure if Norton was the enemy, like Chrysalis had suggested, or if he was just being lazy, "And we've restored power to the furnace, so we're coming back down to see what else Santos needs us to do so we can do this experiment."

"Santos will be happy to hear the news," Ellie said, relief filling her voice for the moment, as knowing that the furnace was back on would make everything much easier for all of them, before she focused on something else, "Listen, I'm sorry that you guys have to deal with Norton... he's been acting strange the entire time we've been here."

"Good, I'm not the only one that's noticed that somethings up with him." Chrysalis commented, as she was happy to hear that someone might agree with her thoughts on Norton, though she would only know that for sure when they had a moment to talk to each other, face to face anyway.

"Ellie? Is that Isaac?" Norton asked, though as he spoke both Isaac and Chrysalis, as well as Carver for that matter, could hear a hint of annoyance and anger in his voice, something that definitely revealed that he wasn't a fan of what Isaac and the others were doing, "Oh, are the two of you having a nice little chat?"

"He just called to let me know that they got the furnace working again," Ellie replied, though the annoyance was clear in her voice, as she was honestly getting tired of the fact that Norton hated Isaac with all his heart, even if he wasn't doing anything to sabotage their operation, at least nothing that they were aware of, "they're on their way back right now. Isaac, we'll see you guys in a few minutes."

"Yeah, we'll see you guys soon." Isaac said, to which he disconnected the audio link for a moment, as he knew that the moment they were back inside the room where the Nexus was resting Santos or Ellie would tell them the next step of their plan and what they needed to do so they could move forward.

It took the cargo lift a few more seconds to reach the bottom of the shaft that it moved up and down in, though when it reached the bottom the trio let the bar in front of them rise before they walked back into the room with the suit kiosk, which they ignored again as they stepped into the hallway that would take them right to where the Nexus was located. A few seconds later they opened the door into the Nexus' chamber and found that the machine that was right in front of the specimen was definitely on, but as Isaac looked at it he could tell that something was up.

"Ah, Isaac! The heat exchanges are powered up now, but the specimen isn't thawing like I had hoped." Santos told them, speaking over the audio link that Isaac had left open, where he was thankful that he had the thought to leave it open for such an occasion, "Is there something wrong with the mechanism?"

"Yeah, it looks like it's frozen shut." Isaac replied, staring at the machine for a few more seconds, as he knew that there had to be a way to fix it, before he smiled a little as an idea came to mind, "We might be able to free it by adjusting the pipes."

"Should we really be thawing the Nexus out now?" Chrysalis asked, as this sounded like a terrible idea, because she knew that if the Nexus warmed up enough they could awaken it from it's slumber and it would no doubt attack them the moment it spotted them, "Shouldn't we wait until we have everything we need for the experiment, and then start to thaw out the Nexus?"

"Listen, we don't know how much time we have before Danik and his men find us." Norton stated, to which he looked down at the trio from the observation level, though that only caused the three of them to glance up at him so he knew he had their attention, "Just fix the damn mechanism and get it over with, before our enemies find us."

Chrysalis sighed and shook her head, as she felt that this was a foolish thing for them to do, before she glanced over at Isaac and let him get to work, where he told Carver to watch the pipes that had the numbers '3' and '4' at the top of them, as he was going to watch the ones with the numbers '1' and '2' on them. Once they were in position Chrysalis approached the controls, glanced up at the slumbering Nexus for a few seconds, as she knew that it would awaken at some point if they did this, and simply tapped the command that was on the screen in front of her. The moment she did that Isaac and Carver used their Kinesis Modules to turn the pipes when the number above them glowed, allowing the mechanism to shake as they worked on adjusting the pipes, while at the same time Chrysalis kept an eye out for any enemies that might try to stop them. A few moments passed before Isaac and Carver did what they had been attempting to do, as the pipes reached one hundred percent and steam started to emit from where the Nexus was resting, though Chrysalis still thought that this was a stupid thing to do.

"Okay, I think that did it." Isaac said, letting the others know that he, Chrysalis, and Carver had done what he said they were going to do, even though he had no idea what the next step was, because it appeared that the only one that knew what to do was Santos.

"Yes! The Nexus' internal temperature is rising!" Santos stated, though while she sounded happy Chrysalis still thought that doing this, when they didn't have everything on hand, was a terrible thing to do, since they had no idea what might happen next, "And I have more good news."

"And that would be?" Carver asked, because right now he knew that they all needed some good news in light of them crashing on the planet, losing three of their crew in the process, and having both Danik and his insane cultists somehow track them all the way to this forsaken place.

"Come up to the Observation Booth, I'll explain on the way." Santos replied, to which the trio glanced at each other before they started moving, though that was exactly what Santos was waiting for, as she continued talking a few seconds later, "The Necromorphs are conduits for the Marker's signals, based on the information we found, and the researchers managed to build a sensor that allowed them to track the signal upstream, right to the Machine. Unfortunately the original sensor was likely destroyed in the purge two hundred years ago, and both Ellie and I agree on that, but we also found the blueprints so we can make a new one."

"And suddenly I'm having deja vu." Isaac commented, to which Chrysalis nodded her head in agreement, because that meant that the three of them were going to have to find the necessary parts to make the sensor, so they could figure out where the Machine was located.

Together the three of them walked into the elevator that was below where the Observation Booth was located and let the door close, before they took a short ride up to where Ellie, Santos, and Norton were waiting, though when they arrived, and disengaged their helmets for a few moments, they found that both Ellie and Santos were happy to see them... while Norton, of course, ignored them to the best of his ability.

"Over here!" Santos said, to which the three of them walked over to where she was standing, though at the same time Chrysalis noticed that Ellie was studying the Nexus, just in case something happened to the large Necromorph while the three of them were busy, though Santos was walking around the booth and moving things around, "This is the blueprint I was telling you about. I don't see any of the parts necessary to make this sensor... but there's another research warehouse on the other side of the camp. Here's the schematic... what do you think?"

Isaac walked over to the counter and looked at the schematic that Santos was showing them, though as he looked at it he found what the researchers had done to make the sensor in question and the few amount of parts that they had used to get the job done... and, if he was reading everything right, he knew that making one would be easy, provided the other warehouse still had what they needed.

"It looks like they modified a telemetry spike." Isaac eventually said, though it wasn't something that he generally worked with, meaning that he had found something outside his comfort zone, but at least the notes on the schematic would allow them to figure things out, "Honestly, I have no idea how such a thing works, but yeah, I should be able to put one together, provided we can find the right parts. Where's the other warehouse?"

"I'll put the coordinates in all three of your RIGs." Santos replied, though her voice indicated that she was happy that they were at least willing to look into making the sensor they needed to replicate the experiment, "It is most likely going to be locked down tight, so here, let me send you the research passcodes we found when we arrived in Central Command earlier. They are what got us into this warehouse... maybe they will work for the other buildings as well."

"Well, we'll got check out the warehouse and see if the parts are there." Chrysalis said, to which she, Issac, and Carver reengaged their helmets as both the coordinates for the warehouse and the passcodes arrived in their RIGs, allowing them to make some real progress once more, "We'll be back once we've taken a look at the warehouse."

As Santos nodded, and started talking to herself about gathering information on the Machine from what was left behind, the three of them returned to the elevator, rode it down to the level they had been on a few minutes ago, and headed over towards the door that would allow them to head back to the warehouse in question.

"Okay geniuses, here's a question," Norton spoke up, stopping the trio in their tracks, because right now he seemed to have nothing positive to say and was only good for annoying people with simply speaking, "Let's say that this stupid experiment of your's works and you find the location of the Machine. Then what? Do you guys even have an idea as to what 'turning it off' even means?"

"Well Norton, Admiral Graves referred to something called a Codex." Isaac replied, remembering what they had found up on the Roanoke, before they decided to come down here and begin their mission to find the Machine, "She said that it was the key to controlling the Machine."

"That's correct." Santos added, indicating that she must have discovered some piece of information before they arrived at the warehouse, revealing that she was working much harder than Norton was at the moment, "I've been able to decrypt several of Dr. Serrano's logs and he references someone called 'Rosetta' in being instrumental in the process of forging this key."

"Are you even listening to yourselves?" Norton demanded, his tone revealing that he thought they were all going insane, falling victim to the madness that had caused this nightmare in the first place, but at the same time he made no movements towards anyone, "You don't know any more about this bullshit than I do!"

"Well, we're going to focus on recovering the parts needed to build this sensor," Chrysalis commented, to which both Isaac and Carver nodded their heads in agreement, where the three of them resumed their journey to head towards the warehouse they needed to search, "once we have the sensor, and perform the experiment to figure out where the Machine is located, then we can figure out what to do about the Codex... and Norton, if you don't want to die a very painful death, I would suggest that you stop trying to stop us from completing our mission."

When Norton said nothing to that remark, which was what Chrysalis was hoping for, she, Isaac, and Carver stopped by the Bench and restocked their ammunition, though both of her companions made a modification or two to their weapons before they were ready to go. With all three of them ready to go they headed back through the security door they used to get into this building and walked outside, where they carefully followed the path back to the cargo lift and, upon finding that there weren't any enemies for them to take out, rode it down to the level below them. From there they headed through the security door in front of them and paused when they found some Unitologists inside the drill chamber, where it appeared that they had set up a ritual area, which both Isaac and Chrysalis recognized the moment they saw it. Fortunately they didn't have to deal with the group of Unitologists, as they lowered their guns and killed themselves by running a knife over each of their necks, allowing their bodies to fall to the ground as they awaited an infector to come and claim them... or maybe they just killed themselves because they didn't want to deal with the three of them when they arrived.

The trio paused for a moment, finding that there weren't any enemies that wanted to come out and infect the fresh corpses that were in front of them, so Chrysalis burned them until they were nothing but ash and followed after her friends as they headed through the security door on the other side of the chamber... and returned to the area where they could see the massive frozen Necromorph from earlier.

"According to the coordinates Santos gave us, it looks like the path is right there." Isaac said, beckoning his head towards the walkway that was in front of them, the one that headed off to the right, which meant they had missed something when they were here the first time.

"Hey... HEY!" Carver suddenly called out, looking at the path they had taken to reach Ellie and the others, after the Unitoogists arrived, though when Isaac and Chrysalis looked over there neither of them saw anything, dead, alive, or even spiritual, that would have caused him to speak up.

"Carver, is everything alright?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she knew what this was, and was sure that Isaac knew it as well, as they had seen this happen back on the Brusilov, where Carver had experienced the influence of the Marker and had been shown something personal.

"There was a woman... out there." Carver replied, though he sounded like he was half paying attention, while the other half was likely caught by the fact that he was suffering from another surge of the Marker's influence, before he turned and looked at them, "Maybe we should go look for her."

Isaac and Chrysalis turned their heads towards each other, knowing that allowing Carver to delve into this madness wasn't something they should be allowing, but since he seemed so ready to follow after his delusion, like Isaac had been willing to believe in the projection of Nicole that the Marker used against him, the decision was already made when Carver spoke up. As such they put exploring the warehouse on hold and let Carver take point this time, where he headed back down the path they had taken to reach the drill chamber, only now they were heading back through the security door and into the small passage building they had walked through earlier.

"Carver, are you sure that you saw someone?" Isaac asked, because he wanted to know if their companion was actually under the influence of the Marker or if he was just buying time for the Nexus to heat up, which was something they could be doing once they had the sensor.

"This is the only way she could have gone." Carver stated, revealing that he was focused on whatever he had seen, as he was more interested in heading towards the other side of the building they were in, instead of focusing on getting the parts to make the sensor.

Chrysalis knew that Carver answered the wrong question, but at the same time he was also confirming that he had seen someone walking in the area, even if both she and Isaac didn't see whoever he had seen, to which the two of them followed after Carver as he exited the building and walked out into the passage area between the groups of buildings. As the three of them walked down the path that was in front of them Carver suddenly moved quicker, heading towards a building that was marked as 'Storage' by the sign, a building that also happened to be locked at the moment. Fortunately the passcodes that Santos had given them also contained the necessary information to open the door, allowing the three of them to step onto the elevator that was on the other side of the door. A few moments later, after riding the elevator downwards, they stepped out into what appeared to be a tram station, only for whatever model of tram the researchers had designed for Tau Volantis, especially since it was underground by the looks of it.

"So what the hell is this place?" Carver asked, indicating that not only was he not paying attention to the signs they had walked by, but he was too focused on trying to figure out what he had seen earlier, confirming their suspicions that one of the Markers on this planet had to be playing with his mind again.

"You should be telling us what this place is," Isaac replied, though at the same time he knew that this was a tram area that connected all the underground parts of the facility, and that there had to be a storage area of some kind, but instead of saying that he wanted to see if Carver even cared enough to make the attempt, "you're the one that brought us down here in the first place."

"Yeah... I'm, uh, going to take a look around." Carver stated, clearly showing that he had no idea where they were or what they were doing down here, though at the same time he readied his weapon as he walked over to the other elevator that was open, another one that likely descended into the planet, "You guys coming?"

Isaac and Chrysalis sighed as they followed Carver onto the elevator and let the door close, though not even a few seconds later, as it began it's descent, the elevator got jammed on something, to which they simply stood there as they waited to see if it would fix itself or if someone would have to fix it themselves. Chrysalis noticed that while Isaac seemed focused on the mission, which was what they should be focused on, Carver seemed to be staring off into the distance, like he wasn't there or something, but for her she found a chill that hadn't been there before. It wasn't the chill that came from the cold air of Tau Volantis, which was what the Arctic Survival Suits had been acquired to deal with, rather it was the same enchanted chill that she had felt when her mother first revealed herself as a hallucination of the Marker, back when she and Isaac were on the Titan Station. That worried her, because she had destroyed her mother three years ago, before the destruction of the station and it's Marker, but there was always the chance that a fragment of her had survived that fateful day, even if she hoped that she was dead.

About five minutes ticked by, according to the clock that was on Isaac's RIG, before the elevator shook and caused them all to move ever so slightly, though while Isaac and Chrysalis weren't affected all that much Carver turned his head for a few seconds, as if he had been somewhere else and was only now snapping back to reality.

"Isaac? Chrysalis?" Carver asked, as if he was being sure that they were real and not fragments of his imagination, making them wonder what he had seen in his vision, as both Isaac and Chrysalis were sure that the Marker must have shown him something.

"Of course." Isaac replied, though at the same time a light smile appeared on his face as the elevator started moving again, because now they could see what was going on, or at the very least ask Carver what he had seen before they continued the search for the sensor, "We've been in this elevator for the last five minutes, so are we going to check out this storage area or not?"

"No... no, we're not." Carver answered, where Chrysalis noticed that his tone was different than what it had been before they climbed into the elevator a few minutes ago, something that Isaac seemed to spot as well, though they both knew what had happened.

Fortunately it appeared that the elevator stalling, and starting back up again, had caused the elevator to head back up to the room they had been in a few minutes ago, where they simply walked out into the tram room again and walked back into the elevator they had used to reach this area in the first place. A few moments later they walked out of the storage area and returned to the passageway between the buildings, allowing them to feel the chill of Tau Volantis once more, but at the same time Chrysalis knew that they weren't alone. As they started walking back towards the security door that would allow them to get back to where the warehouse was located, so they could find the pieces of the sensor and build it without delay, there was something that made Chrysalis, and her companions, slow down. There was the sound of hooves walking on the snow behind them, to which Isaac and Carver turned around so they could face Chrysalis, though as they did so they both disengaged their helmets and showed Chrysalis that they were shocked... to which she disengaged her own helmet, feeling the sting of the cold weather once more, before she turned around and looked at whatever her companions were staring at.

Standing a few steps behind them, without a single care in the world for the cold that was affecting the three of them, was the last person and pony that Chrysalis expected to see again, because of what she had done three years ago... and yet her eyes weren't deceiving her, especially when she stared at the familiar changelings that stood in front of them.

"Guys... what the hell is that?" Carver asked, because he had never seen anything like what was standing in front of Chrysalis, though when he tried to raise his gun, so he could be ready to fire at a moment's notice, Isaac rested his hand on his weapon and shook his head, indicating that he shouldn't do that.

"It's not a 'what', it's a 'who'." Isaac answered, though at the same time he knew that they were in trouble, because the spirit standing in front of them was one of the worst that could have been drawn from Chrysalis' memories, especially when they both thought she had been destroyed, "Actually, it's a 'she'."

"Carver, I don't believe that you have had the pleasure of meeting my mother," Chrysalis commented, to which she stared into Crudelis' eyes for a few seconds, while at the same time her mother glanced at the pair that were standing behind her, "Allow me to introduce my mother Crudelis, former queen of the changeling hive, who died a little over a thousand years ago, for me anyway."

"Chrysalis, it is good to see you again," Crudelis said, though at the same time she walked up to where the trio were standing, noting that two of them were gripping their weapons tightly while one of them, her daughter, wasn't even bothering to do that, "You must have matured since we last saw each other, because you're no longer trembling in fear by the fact that I am here, nor have you decided to shoot me in the head, like your friends might do."

"That's because I'm not afraid of you anymore," Chrysalis stated, because thanks to the spirit of her sister sticking around she was able to overcome the vast fear that had been installed in her by their mother, and it was easy to do that when she had something new to fear, "Speak your mind, mother, because we're on a busy schedule and we can't afford to waste time making small talk with you... or trading insults, whichever you prefer."

"I just wanted to say that I'm disappointed in you," Crudelis replied, though even as she spoke Chrysalis knew that there was more than what her mother was saying, especially when she remembered everything that happened to her before she took over as the queen of the changelings, "My actions on the Titan Station pushed the right buttons and you ascended to a new level of power, one never seen by any changeling in our entire history, and yet you refuse to use it to destroy your enemies."

"There is a reason I don't call on that power." Chrysalis said, as she had seen how dangerous she could be if she let her power take control of her, like it had three years ago, and she intended to never let that happen again, not unless she found a way to tame her power.

"Trust me, in time you'll learn how to master your power." Crudelis stated, surprising Chrysalis for a moment, as this was possibly the first time that her mother, who had treated her like trash her entire life and had tortured her when she showed weakness, said anything that might encourage her or give her hope, before she turned around and started to walk away from them, "Until then, I'll let you and your friends have fun... and who knows, maybe we'll see each other again before the end."

Before Isaac, Chrysalis, or Carver could say anything Crudelis disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, to which the three of them engaged their helmets and got some warmth back, though at the same time Chrysalis stood at the same spot and stared at where her mother had been standing.

"Isaac? Carver?" Chrysalis inquired, causing the two of them to stop moving for a moment and turn towards her, as while one of them knew how annoyed she must be, since Isaac was the only one of the two that knew who Crudelis was, the other wanted to move on and leave the past behind.

"Yeah?" both Isaac and Carver said, though while they would have been annoyed by speaking at the same time, they just didn't show it like people usually would, they were interested in what Chrysalis had to say on the matter, especially when her mother came back once more.

"I hate those fucking Makers even more now." Chrysalis stated, though at the same time she sighed as she faced them, as right now she wanted to get their mission over with so they could find the Machine and turn it off, because having her mother return again just annoyed her and made her angry, "Come on, let's get that sensor built and run the experiment before my mother decides to attack us while our defenses are lowered."

Chrysalis wanted nothing more than to put the past behind her, and she thought she had done so with the death of her mother three years ago, but now it seemed that she and Crudelis might be destined for another collision with each other, something that she would have to avoid for the sake of the mission... provided everything remained the way it was and nothing surprised them, though she had a feeling the situation was going to change on them soon enough.

Tau Volantis: The Experiment

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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.

Tau Volantis: The Snow Beast

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"The deed has been done." Chrysalis said, though as she spoke she returned to the area that Isaac, Carver, Ellie, and Santos were standing in, where she noticed that they were now standing near what appeared to be some grappling hooks or something, while also informing them that Norton was gone.

"I wish Norton hadn't turned his back on the mission." Ellie said, to which she sighed as she shook her head, because Norton had been a friend of hers for some time before the events that had led to this mission had happened, but now that bond had been shattered by his betrayal, "With the Nexus and Norton dead, and Danik's men have scattered for the moment, maybe we can make some progress climbing the cliffs, before we're forced into a corner again."

"Ellie, I'm sorry it came to this." Isaac commented, knowing that Ellie had put her trust in Norton, just like the majority of them had done when they first arrived in the atmosphere above the planet, but right now they had to keep moving, as it was only a matter of time until more Necromorphs showed up.

"Me too." Ellie replied, to which she shook her head and looked over at the grappling hooks that she and Santos had activated, as they had set them up while the others had been busy being harassed by Danik and the Unitologists that happened to come down here with their commander, "Hey, we should get moving. We won't find the Machine or whatever the Codex is just standing around here."

"Oh, there is something else we should look into." Chrysalis said, to which she pulled out the text log that she had secured before the Nexus had shown itself, where she handed it over to Ellie and Santos, "I don't know if Danik was telling the truth, or if he was lying to get us to lower our guard, but according to what he said there's apparently another army or something fighting the Unitologists and decimating their forces. I think he might have some recordings of what his fellow cultists might have discovered on the other planets, and maybe some information on what they might have seen, because something about this doesn't make sense."

"There shouldn't be another army fighting the Unitologists," Santos replied, to which she eagerly took the text log from Chrysalis and started tapping the controls, as the look on her face revealed that she was interested in figuring out what was going on at the moment, "If there was another army out there, fighting our enemies like Danik apparently thinks there was, I'm surprised that Norton and the others didn't hear about it before the Eudora arrived above the planet... it would have given him some real information that could have stopped us from coming down here."

"Well, since we're already down here, knowing that there's someone else fighting back isn't going to change anything for us." Isaac said, because while it was good news that someone was taking charge and lashing out at the Unitologists, like he and the others had done so far, he was still curious as to where this supposed army had come from, what sort of weapons and vessels they had, who commanded them, and how they managed to destroy a planet, "Chrysalis, Carver, we had best get moving before more Necromorphs or Unitologists show up... and that means that we need to get to the top of this mountain as fast as we possibly can."

"Well, that gives us a new problem to get around," Carver commented, to which he looked at the grappling hooks, and the stations that they happened to be attached to at that very moment, and noticed something that would hinder their progress a little, "there's only two grappling hooks and three of us..."

"I can levitate with my magic." Chrysalis stated, reminding Carver that she wasn't bound to the same limitations that he, Isaac, and the others were bound to, rather she preferred to limit herself and be more like them, instead of flaunting her magic all over the place... though, since they were running short on time, she decided that now wasn't the time for that opinion and started using her magic again.

Isaac chuckled, as he knew that at some point in time Chrysalis would have to start using her magic more than her Pulse Rifle, to which he climbed into the station that was the closest to him and locked himself into position, where Carver sighed and did the same time. Chrysalis watched as the two of them prepared themselves for a few moments, which was really just them attaching something to their suits before they pulled a lever, one that loosed the hook into the air and propelled them onto the rock wall in front of them. As such that allowed them to walk up the side of the wall, somewhat slowly when Chrysalis thought about it, which was why she was fortunate enough to have thought about using her magic to levitate herself up alongside her friends, even though both Ellie and Santos refused to be carried up to the top, but also stated that they would change their mind if it was the only way for them to get up there. Of course as both Isaac and Carver started climbing Chrysalis noticed a loose piece of rock, knocked out of place by one of the hooks, starting to fall towards her friends, to which she engaged her magic and latched onto it, stopping it's descent in it's tracks... before she moved down to where Ellie and Santos were standing, where she put the rock down in the mouth of the opening they had walked through, to provide some protection for them in case enemies came at them.

Of course as she did that she noticed that more fragments were falling through the air, where she wove her magic around them all and stopped them in their tracks, before she pulled them to her and started forming a barricade to protect Ellie and Santos from Necromorphs or Unitologists.

"Guys, we're going to cause an avalanche if all of us try to climb it." Isaac stated, referring to him, Carver, Ellie, and Santos, because since Chrysalis could simply fly around the area he wasn't counting her, but he was happy to see that she was removing the rocks and bounders before they crushed someone.

"Then what do we do?" Ellie asked, because while she knew that Chrysalis' way was the fastest way, even if it would burn through her magical reserves to get all of them up to the top of the mountain, she wanted to be sure they had cleared out every other possibility before doing that.

"Carver and I will climb to the top of this segment and let Chrysalis join us," Isaac replied, where a rather large piece of rock started to fall towards them and he stared at it, because his friend engaged her magic once more and moved it into the blockade she was forming, "then we'll search around the area a little bit. There has to be a safer route than this... and if not, well we'll just have to magic our way to the top."

Even as he talked parts of the rock wall came undone and started to break apart, starting their descent towards where Ellie and Santos were standing, but Chrysalis saw them coming and used her magic to keep her friends safe, while at the same time moving the rocks into position at the opening, which no ordinary person would be able to get through now. One thing she could have done, to make Isaac and Carver's climb up the mountainside all that much easier, would have been to blow up every rock before they came undone, but at the same time her magic would have probably loosened the rocks more than they already were, making her wonder if the explosions she had caused had done this to the wall of rock her friends were climbing up. As Isaac and Carver climbed, however, they discovered that there was another pair of grappling hooks that were at the top of the cliff the first pair had brought them to, though while they climbed over the edge and strapped themselves into the new ones Chrysalis looked around the area as she followed them. What she found was that there was some sort of elevator or cargo lift off to the right of where Isaac and Carver were climbing, which meant that there might be a way for Ellie and Santos to catch up with them safely.

Of course as Isaac and Carver used the second pair of grappling hooks, and jumped onto the next part of the rock wall, Chrysalis returned her focus to catching any loose rocks and sending them down to where Ellie and Santos were, to add them to the barricade she had created... though fortunately the second climb they had to do was much shorter than the first one, allowing Chrysalis to land near her friends as they started walking along the path that was in front of them.

"Santos, have you discovered anything confirming or denying the existence of this second army?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she, Isaac, and Carver walked out into the open for a moment and slowly made their way up the ramp like path they had discovered.

"No, not yet." Santos replied, which made sense considering that she had only been given a few minutes to look over the text log that Chrysalis had secured, though her tone indicated that she was still interested in what she had discovered so far, "But, from what little I've read so far, several of the Unitologists reported seeing people carrying some rather unique weapons into battle; a whip that seemed to be made out of plasma, some sort of cannon that sucked trash up and fired it out as powerful projectiles, and some sort of mine weapon that creates some sort of green humanoid creature that throws itself at whatever the weapon's owner is attacking. There are also reports of a humanoid robot appearing at several different locations, who appears to be laughing as he engages the cultists that happened to be attacking the planet or station a Marker was stored on."

"Wait a second," Carver said, as there was something about that statement that was a little odd, because while many people customized their ships with either a male for a female voice, like they had heard several times so far, he had never heard of a robot being made, much less one being labeled as male, "you mean to tell me that whoever is attacking the Unitologists, and I think we can all agree that it's happening, has a dangerous robot aiding them... one that identifies as male for some reason?"

"From the recording it sounds like he's also able to talk in full sentences, like a human can," Ellie commented, which meant that she must have found a way to hear whatever Danik's men had recorded, making that text log, which was more like a combination between all three types instead of just a single one, even more valuable to them, "and, based on what Danik's men had been able to hear, he has a dislike for 'incompetent morons' and often says 'squishies' when dealing with the Unitologists... who he either cuts to pieces with his built in arm blades or blasts them with a blaster of some kind."

Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver paused for a moment, as they all agreed that this was something unusual, before they continued walking and rounded the corner, where they found that the researchers had built some ladders into place between the area they were walking and what was above them. At the same time Chrysalis found something to be amusing, as she didn't use her magic or anything and easily climbed up onto the level that was in front of them, finding that they could simply climb up to the next area if they wanted to. Of course Isaac and Carver activated the ladder and climbed up it, instead of doing what Chrysalis had done, though once they were all inside the new cave they kept their eyes open for enemies, since there had to be some Necromorphs standing in their way. As they moved through the cave the three of them heard someone hitting something with an axe, though experience told them that it was either a Necromorph or a Unitologist trying to distract them.

When they rounded the corner, however, they found that the sound was coming from a fodder that had been partly crushed under a boulder, as it was now hacking at it's legs in order to free itself so it would crawl after whoever it wanted, though the trio simply dismembered it entirely before moving forward. Of course that was when a few more fodders and some slashers decided to join the party, though what surprised the group was that they were coming from both sides, so while Isaac and Carver moved forward Chrysalis made sure that their enemies didn't hurt them from behind. There were a few enemies that were blackened, empowered to take more damage and deal more damage, and some of them were even hiding in the snow, waiting to surprise them at any moment, but all three of them were prepared for such a thing and fought back with their guns, blasting the Necromorphs to pieces as they made their way outside the small cave they had found themselves in.

As the three of them walked out of the cave they had been in, and Chrysalis blasted the top of it to collapse the entrance in case more Necromorphs tried to follow them from behind, Isaac smiled as he found something that would help Ellie and Santos out; a cargo cage.

"Ellie, Santos, we've located a cargo cage up here." Isaac said, opening an audio link to the others, knowing that this news was going to make them somewhat happy, especially after they had been betrayed by Norton, "But it looks like it's currently wedged into the cliff. Gives us a few seconds and we'll see if we can free it, and send it down to you."

"That sounds like a plan." Ellie replied, though as she spoke there was the sound of blades hitting the stones that were protecting her and Santos at the moment, indicating that the Necromorphs were already trying to get at them, "But please hurry, because sooner or later those Necromorphs are going to figure out how to get through the barricade."

Isaac didn't say anything as he latched onto the gear that was attached to the cargo cage with his Kinesis Module, where he turned it around a few times until the cage was no longer resting against the cliff, though as it started it's descent the three of them heard the sounds of the Necromorphs getting louder. As such Chrysalis ran over to the edge and threw herself into the air, where she engaged her magic and flew down to where the barricade was resting, though as she got closer to the ground she noticed that there were a number of fodders, slashers, lurkers, and even another Regenerator trying to get through the mass of rock she had placed in the entrance of where the first grappling devices were located. The moment she saw what was going on she engaged her magic once more and formed a temporary shield between the area that Ellie and Santos were in and the area that the Necromorphs were in, before she landed on the ground behind the Necromorphs and ran some flames down the side of her axe.

"Trust me, you don't want to pick on someone that can't fight back." Chrysalis stated, hoping that Isaac and Carver got to the controls so they could pull Ellie and Santos out of the area they were in, as she could see the cargo cage coming down to them, though at the same time the Necromorphs stopped what they were doing and started to turn their attention towards her, exactly as she had planned.

The Necromorphs charged at her and left the area that Ellie and Santos were in, to which Chrysalis focused on the enemies that were around her and moved out of the way as the first slasher came at her, letting it's blades strike the ground she had been standing on moments ago. The instant following that was when she spun around and used her flaming axe to cut through the slasher's arms, taking it's weapons away from it in an instant, before she cleaved it in half and continued with the next foe that wanted a piece of her. The fodders tried the same thing, swinging their weapons at her in the process, but that only made things much easier for her as she severed their arms and let their weapons call to the ground, where her magic wove through the air and brought some life to the axes, pipes, and bone blades that were scattered around her. Back when she was learning from her mother, in a time she hated to remember, she had learned a number of spells and techniques to use against her opponents, though there was one she did like to use when she was surrounded and there were a number of weapons scattered around the battlefield, as it was a spell that usually turned the tide in her favor... a spell that she referred to as Weapon Dance.

The name meant exactly what anyone would assume it meant, as her magic empowered the weapons on the ground and they floated into the air, each one attacking some of the Necromorphs and doing exactly what she did to her targets, cutting the limbs off and harming her foes in the process... though if a new weapon was dropped it was added to the spell almost instantly, increasing her odds of survival more than they had been moments ago.

With the Weapon Dance spell in effect, and she noticed that her magical energy hadn't suffered like usually when she used it, another sign of what happened three years ago, some of the Necromorphs actually wised up and backed away, trying to look for openings they could use to get at her. At the same time, however, only one of them actually charged at her and tried to crush her, which happened to be the Regenerator, but instead of blowing it to ash immediately, like she had done back on the Terra Nova, Chrysalis parried it's attacks and did nothing that would turn the one on one in her favor. She created this situation on purpose, because it gave Isaac and Carver the time they needed to climb the sides of the cliff and reach the area that the crane, the one that was attached to the cargo cage, was located, because the moment Ellie and Santos were out of danger she was going to turn the odds in her favor and end this fight, though even as she thought about that the Regenerator lunged at her and tried to pin her to the ground, where she rolled out of the way and cut into her opponent's side a little, before backing away.

Fortunately the two of them did that for a few minutes, exchanging jabs at each other as the Regenerator tried to hurt her over the course of the battle, though after some time Chrysalis spotted the cargo cage moving towards the top of the cliff with both Ellie and Santos standing inside it... to which she withdrew the magic powering the barrier and the Weapon Dance, which she transformed into a powerful sphere that she destroyed the Regenerator with, before she turned towards the cargo lift and flew into the air, leaving the other Necromorphs behind. A few moments later she found the winch that Isaac and Carver were standing near, carefully turning it as it reached the final stretch for bringing up the cargo cage, to which she landed in front of the area the cargo cage was supposed to stop and waited. When the cargo cage came to a complete stop, and the bar that was in front of her moved out of the way, she helped Ellie and Santos off of it, so that way the five of them could continue their mission and find out more about the Codex.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Ellie stated, indicating that something had happened on the way up here, for her and Santos, though even as that information came to mind Chrysalis made sure that Santos had her pack before she got off the cargo cage.

"Not bad? I was crying the whole way up here!" Santos replied, meaning that even the thought of the Necromorphs coming for her had triggered some terrible thoughts or memories for her, or maybe it was the ride itself, "Just get me some solid ground under my feet."

It was in that moment, when Chrysalis was near the opening of the cargo cage and Santos was still inside it, that the Snow Beast mare it's third appearance, as from the looks of it the creature had been climbing up the side of the cliff after the cargo cage had gone by it. Santos immediately froze in fear as the Snow Beast came to a stop on the top of the structure she was standing in and started to try and kill her by using it's legs, but as that happened Chrysalis wove her magic through the air and did something that Isaac, Ellie, and Carver never expected her to do. She teleported herself inside the container and took Santos' place, allowing Santos and her pack to appear near Ellie, though as they understood what had happened Chrysalis disengaged her helmet and smiled as her magic flared again. This time around the wire that the cargo cage was connected to snapped and the container started to fall towards the lowest part of the cliffs, but at the same time Chrysalis flew outside the container and followed the creature down to the area that the cage happened to be heading towards.

When the container came to a stop, and was buried under a decent amount of snow in the process, Chrysalis landed in an open area that happened to have two harpoons ready for someone to use them... and, standing in the middle of the area, was the Snow Beast, who seemed ready for a showdown.

"You think that, just because I'm down here with you, that I'll fight you?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time her anger flared for a moment, because despite Norton's betrayal she had come to think of both Santos and Carver as being her friends as well, despite the fact that they barely knew each other, which was why her anger returned, "You tried to kill one of my friends and could have crushed the others with a potential avalanche... so I'm not going to fight you. I'm going to DESTROY YOU!"

Her flaming aura returned in full force as the area around her shook for a few seconds, though at the same time she rushed forward and bypassed the Snow Beast's attack, where she swung her fist and struck the side of the creature's body, knocking it into the cliff wall for a moment. The Snow Beast roared for a moment before it charged at her, though as it did that Chrysalis jumped over it and struck the top of it's body with a blast of energy that knocked it into the ground, before she landed behind it, latched onto the creature with her magic, and hurled it into the cliff wall again. As that happened she glanced up at the part of the cliff that was hanging above the area they were in, where she spotted a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling, though she grinned as she turned her attention back to her foe. The Snow Beast roared as it tried to charge her again, to flatten her like it had tried when she, Isaac, and Carver had fought it twice in the past, but she avoided the attack again and blasted the creature again, knocking it into the rock formation that was near them. She found it amusing that the creature didn't seem to care that it was taking damage, which made sense considering the fact that it had survived two encounters with her in the past, when she had friends assisting her, but this time she intended to make sure it didn't leave this place at all.

The next time the Snow Beast charged at her, and Chrysalis avoided it, she grabbed onto the creature and threw it back into the wall, but this time around she latched her magic onto the ceiling area and pulled on the stalactites, though as they tore themselves from the ceiling she made sure that they were sharpened by magic. A few seconds later the Snow Beast roared in pain as it's body was pinned to the ground, because even with it thrashing around it only cracked the spiked rocks that had punctured it's body, but at the same time this was only so Chrysalis could keep it in one place and finish it off before it ran away. With the Snow Beast held in place Chrysalis raised her arm and started pulling in some of her power, forming an energy sphere above her head, one that would obliterate the Necromorph and make it impossible for it to come back and chase them again, unless she encountered something that could come back from being completely blown apart, which would suck for all of them. The instant the attack was ready she backed away and hurled it at the Snow Beast, where it was consumed in a bright explosion that tore it apart, preventing it from coming back, though at the same time the explosion left a decent sized crater behind... and, as luck would have it, the entire area she was in was starting to shake from what she had done, to which she wrapped her magic around her and floated into the air.

Sure enough the ground where the Snow Beast had been pinned cracked and collapsed on itself, creating a chasm of sorts, while the grappling stations and large sections of rock filled the void and the area around it, though instead of staying here she started to ascend towards the top of the mountain. Fortunately the flight up to the mountain wasn't that bad, as she found Isaac, Carver, Ellie, and Santos standing near the edge that one would have climbed up if they were using the grappling stations, but since she wasn't doing that she landed behind them and smiled.

"We all knew that you'd get back to us, safe and sound." Isaac said, to which he smiled as he placed a hand on Chrysalis' shoulder, though at the same time Carver nodded his head while both Ellie and Santos smiled as well, indicating that they were all proud of her, "And the Snow Beast?"

"Blown to pieces." Chrysalis replied, where she flexed her hand for a moment and the magic came back, letting them know exactly what she had done to the creature that had surprised them, before dispelling the magic once more, "Is anyone hurt or in need of attention?"

"No, we're just fine." Ellie said, though she was happy that Chrysalis had dealt with the Snow Beast, as that eliminated a potential threat that would have bothered them time and time again in the future, but now they didn't have to worry about it showing up again, "Now everyone is ready for the next part of the operation, find out everything we can about the Codex and forge a new one, using Rosetta's research."

"And where the hell are we going to find her research?" Carver asked, because while they had been lucky in finding everything they needed so far, from everything in the atmosphere above the planet to everything down here, he knew that their luck would eventually run out.

"We head up to the facility and look for anything with her name on it," Santos stated, though the look on her face told them that she was determined to see this through to the end, especially after Chrysalis risked herself to save her from what could have been her death, "maybe a lab or some files... honestly, at this point I don't know what to expect."

"And we can take that to the entrance." Chrysalis said, seeing what appeared to be a shuttle, connecting the area they were in to one of the entrances of the facility that was in front of them, resting near their location, "Cone on, let's find out what Rosetta knew about the Codex, see if we can't forge a new one, and then shut down that Machine, once and for all... and then we can focus on heading home."

The group nodded and together they stepped forward, knowing that now was the time for them to gain the key that would finally put an end to the nightmare that came with all of the Markers, putting an end to the Necromorphs at the same time, and save whoever was left from an untimely death at the hands of the Unitologists... and then the five of them could celebrate a job well done, once Danik and his followers were dead as well.

Tau Volantis: Rosetta and the Codex

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As Isaac, Chrysalis, Carver, Ellie, and Santos started walking over to where the shuttle was resting they all noticed that there was a ladder that would allow them to climb up to the area it was docked at, which seemed to be fully powered at the moment and meant they wouldn't have to hunt down something to power it up. Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver moved out of the way and let both Ellie and Santos climb up the ladder first, giving the trio a moment to be sure that there weren't any additional Necromorphs in the area, though they left the pack that Santos had been carrying on the ground, that way when they reached the top Chrysalis could just levitate it up to them. It took them a few moments to reach the top of the ladder and walk over to the window that would allow them to look down at the trio, though as they did that Chrysalis smiled as she lifted the pack off the ground and brought it up to where they were standing, allowing Ellie and Santos to take it before she withdrew her magic from it. She wasn't sure if there was any other valuables inside the pack, save for the combination log that Santos was carrying with her, which Chrysalis had secured from Danik himself, but it was better to make sure they had everything, in case they found something that needed a specific something that Santos had picked up earlier.

Once the two of them were ready Isaac and Carver started to climb up the ladder next, leaving Chrysalis for last since she could fly if need be, but then, when they were halfway up the ladder, the weight of their weapons and armor, combined with the fragile nature of the metal that the ladder was made of, caused the ladder to snap in half, forcing them to fall down on top of the snow covered building that was near where Chrysalis was standing. Chrysalis, hearing the noise, turned around in time to watch Isaac and Carver hit the top of the building, though she sighed and caught the ladder fragments with her magic, tossing them over the cliff before flying up to where her friends were picking themselves up.

"Are you guys alright?" Ellie asked, as she was immediately worried for both Isaac and Carver, as the fall, despite looking so short, could have impacted their spines or something, since they had hit the ground with their backs, but at the same time it appeared that nothing serious had happened yet.

"Yeah, we're fine." Isaac replied, though at the same time he noticed Chrysalis land nearby, but while he did that he also found another path that they could use, to which he turned and looked up at the shuttle, "Ellie, why don't you and Santos go on ahead in the shuttle. Chrysalis, Carver, and I will catch up by using this path."

"Are you sure?" Chrysalis inquired, to which she floated around the duo for a few seconds, as she knew that time was of the essence and figured that expanding more of her power would be useful in the long run, "I could just levitate both you and Carver up to the shuttle, then all five of us could simply ride it to the facility and start the search for Rosetta."

"It looks like its just a short walk," Ellie said, revealing that she and Santos had a good view of the path that Isaac had been talking about, while at the same time Isaac nodded his head and Chrysalis sighed, because at this point it was best if she just let him and Carver take their route and follow after them, "I'll send the coordinates to your RIG, that way you won't get lost on the way up. We'll see you guys at the facility."

Isaac nodded and waved for a moment, letting the duo know that the three of them would be fine, before the shuttle moved forward and headed up to the other station, the one that would allow them to enter the facility, though once the vehicle was gone he started moving once more. Chrysalis sighed, as she would have preferred to do things the easy way instead of going the hard way, but instead of saying anything she and Carver followed after Isaac, keeping their eyes open for either Unitologists or Necromorphs, as they were sure that there had to be some of them in the area. Together the three of them followed the path that was in front of them and quickly approached the side of one part of the facility, which was as large as the one they had gone through to get to this point, before heading to the right and walked right up to the smashed gate that was in front of them. It was clear that something had come through here, maybe the Snow Beast when it was first awoken, but all that did was make them lift their weapons as they walked into the compound... though as they walked forward, and followed the coordinates, they found a number of Markers buried in the snow around them, an alarming number of them to be exact.

"Okay, this is definitely the Marker home world." Carver commented, as he was sure that there had to be hundreds of these things buried in all the snow around Tau Volantis, though despite the fact that they had been buried he knew that they could still be active.

Isaac and Chrysalis had to agree with that statement, as there were more Markers here than there had been on the Titan Station, to which they followed the coordinates in silence and were rewarded by a normal door that they needed to open up, and not another one of those spherical doors that they had to enter and wait for it to spin before they could pass through it. On the other side of the door they found a few dead bodies, which was to be expected considering where they were, before they quickly moved through the short hallway that the three of them had walked into and found another to walk through. When the three of them stepped through to the other side, however, a gunship moved into the area and stopped some distance away from where they were standing, but since there appeared to be a vast number of these things in Danik's arsenal, which he likely brought with him, it was impossible to tell if the leader of the Unitologists was on that ship or if he was on a different one, watching to see what they did.

Chrysalis, however, made the decision for them, as she floated into the air, moved away from where Isaac and Carver were standing, and latched onto the gunship with her magic, though the moment it was ensnared in her power she pulled it away from the facility and hurled it straight into the air, where she forced the ship to explode... though once that was done she landed beside Isaac and Carver and continued moving.

"Hey Ellie, Santos, it looks like Danik's ready for round two," Isaac said, opening a brief audio link to the duo that had done in ahead of them, hoping that they found whatever they were looking for so they could move on before Daink and his men attacked them, "and, judging by what just happened, so is Chrysalis."

"If you can do that, to a single gunship, then why didn't you do anything when we last saw Danik?" Carver commented, as that was something that was bothering him, because Chrysalis had a prime opportunity to put the leader of the Unitologists down and make it impossible for their enemies to get reinforcements, but she didn't do that.

"Well, we had a Nexus to deal with," Chrysalis replied, as so many things had happened at the same time, after they left the compound the large Necromorph had been locked away inside, before she sighed and continued walking, "I guess I was too caught up in the fact that we're not the only ones fighting the Unitologists, the fact that planets are apparently being destroyed left and right, and Norton's unsuccessful attempt to get us all killed."

"I've been wondering about that as well," Santos spoke up, revealing that she had been hard at work studying the combination log that Chrysalis had given her, which she had taken and secured from Danik when the Nexus burst out of the building earlier, "and from what I can tell the force that's currently attacking the other groups of Unitologists definitely possess weapons, armor, and ships that are unlike anything I have ever seen. Some of the weapons I've been able to make out, before the cultist that recorded the message died, may actually seem to be harmless, but in reality all of them have been designed to kill or destroy whatever the wielder is fighting.

"This is all very fascinating, but I've got another question." Carver said, because while he was interested in what sort of technology the attacking army had, where they could be decimating the Unitologists in such a manner, he was also focused on the task at hand, which the others seemed to be ignoring, "How are we supposed to find Rosetta if she's been dead for the last two hundred years?"

"You actually don't have to worry about that part, because we found a 'Rosetta Lab' a few seconds after entering the facility." Ellie replied, though she sounded pleased with what she and Santos were able to do, as that meant that they would be able to figure out how to forge the Codex once they got there, "Santos and I are going to head inside and see if we can't figure out the next step, while at the same time I'll send you the coordinates so you can find us."

None of them said anything as Ellie sent them the coordinates, which revealed that the path they needed to take was off on their left, to which they carefully walked by a vehicle, that happened to be frozen in place, and bypassed the few crates that had been trapped in the snow, before arriving at one of the facility's entrances. When they arrived at the entrance in question Chrysalis found two things of interest, the first being that Isaac needed to open a panel to reroute some power so they could get inside, while the second was that the door happened to be the spherical security type they had dealt with back where the Nexus was being stored. She guessed that the researchers and scientists that had built this area had been fond of these types of doors, seeing how they were built nearby everywhere in the entire compound, but she felt that they were unnecessary when a simple door, like what they dealt with on the ships earlier, could have done the same thing. Fortunately she didn't have to dwell on her thoughts for too long, since Isaac was able to sort out the power and bypass the lock that was on the door, to which they let it open and walked inside it, before being allowed to walk inside the actual facility... where they spotted some creepers heading down the hallway to their right, completely ignoring the trio entirely before they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

What they quickly determined was that they were in the Biology Sector of the facility, the left side of the hallway was completely useless since the door was offline and Isaac didn't see a way to restore the power, and that there was a suit kiosk and a Bench nearby... so the three of them picked up some more ammunition, and let Isaac and Carver fiddle with their suits for a few moments, before they continued down the path on their right. As they walked down the hallway they were assaulted by a pack of fodders that jumped out of the vent that was above them, but the three of them had been expecting something like that and quickly dismembered the Necromorphs that tried to ambush them, though Chrysalis changed up her routine and used her axe to clear some of them out as well. Between the three of them it didn't take them long to eliminate the fodders and continue on their way, where they reached the end of the hallway, as every other door seemed to need a key to unlock, before having to wait for a few moments as the elevator descended to where they were standing... before they were allowed to walk into the elevator, which had some red material lining the lower parts of the walls, and headed up to the next floor.

The moment the elevator came to a stop they walked out into the curved hallway that was in front of them and made their way over to the circular security door that the coordinates were in front of, though when they made their way through the door they discovered the lab that Ellie and Santos had found... and, based on what was in front of them, there also happened to be a sliced up specimen, with multiple parts missing, resting in the middle of the chamber.

"Wow, so this is Rosetta's lab?" Isaac asked, though while he was impressed that it seemed to be in working order, despite the state of everything that was around it, he found that there wasn't much to do in this chamber, save standing on one of the two sides of the room or stand in the booth that both Ellie and Santos were in.

"That's correct." Ellie replied, to which she glanced up from the controls that she had been staring at when she and Santos had entered the chamber, as it was good to have the three of them standing in front of her once more, before she beckoned to what was in the middle of the chamber, "And this, according to all these controls, is the assembly station."

"That would make sense, since we're here to assemble a Codex." Chrysalis spoke up, though while she spoke she glanced at the poor creature that had been sliced up and placed inside the preservation container that it had been put inside, as she was curious as to why it was here.

"Actually, that's not entirely accurate anymore." Ellie said, to which she glanced back down at the controls for a moment and looked at the labeling that was in front of her, while at the same time the trio looked around the chamber while Santos continued her studies on what was happening on the other planets, "According to this we're going to have to... assemble Rosetta. Oh my god, the scientists and researchers cut her into pieces?!"

"Oh fuck this day even more!" Carver stated, because that just sounded wrong and made him wonder if the people who had been here had actually been infected by the Marker, as something as terrible as that could have only happened while someone was going crazy.

"I just don't understand why they would do such a thing, but fortunately some of the pieces are already inside the assembly station," Ellie continued, giving the group a moment to understand what was going on, before glancing over at another monitor that made her smile, as it was likely going to do the same for the trio, "There also happens to be another piece over there, as well as four more that had been checked out by a Dr. Serrano for some reason, but since there are three other buildings in the facility they're either in one of them... or all of them."

"That's going to be a problem," Isaac said, as he, Chrysalis, and Carver had noticed something that was going to be a thorn in their sides during this part of their mission, though at the same time he and Carver released the slab that was in the chamber with them, before adding it to the assembly, "especially since most of the doors we saw happened to be locked down."

"Well, then you're in luck." Ellie said, to which she walked out of the booth she and Santos had been inside and handed Isaac a security pass with a smile on her face, indicating that she was pleased with herself, "That security pass was left on the controls when we walked in here, but maybe it can get you through all the locked doors that you guys saw on your way here and help you find the rest of Rosetta."

Chrysalis sighed for a moment, as it seemed that it was impossible for them to have an easy objective every once and a while, before she, Isaac, and Carver headed out of the chamber through the same door that they had used to enter it, so they could begin their search for the four Rosetta Slabs. The three of them quickly made their way back to the elevator, rode it back down to the level below them, and approached the map of the entire facility, where they discovered that the three primary buildings in the area were the Biology, Paleontology, and Geology buildings. Fortunately the three of them came to a quick decision, as they backtracked a little and unlocked the door that was supposed to take them to the Geology building, even though that included walking out into the snow once more, causing them to ready themselves for whatever was waiting for them. They headed to the left of the door they had walked through, as it was the only way for them to advance at the moment, though the path they picked had some crates between the walkway and another locked door... and, when they stepped forward, they had to contend with a small group of stalkers that happened to be using the area as their hunting grounds.

When the group thought about a small number of enemies it was between two to five, based on the fact that there were always more out there, and sure enough there were only five stalkers for them to tackle, though since the door in front of them was locked, meaning they needed a different keycard to get inside that building, they turned to the left again and used the cargo lift to move onto the next area. A few moments later, when the lift came to a stop, they walked out and headed up the little hill that was in front of them, though as they did so all three of them noticed that the blocks of ice around them contained frozen creatures inside them, ready to be cut up and studied. Sure enough there was another small pack of stalkers waiting for them, though the trio, in a hurry to get the Rosetta Slabs so they could make a new Codex and get out of here, swiftly dismembered them and headed to the right, where an entrance to a building happened to be located. From there the three of them waited for a few moments, as they had to pass through another one of the circular security doors, before they could enter what was the Geology Sector, thanks to the information on the walls, and start their search.

Of course they had to pause when the intercom came online and someone started talking, though they quickly discovered that it was Danik, talking about how he knew that the three of them were thinking that he was an overzealous crusader and that he was a foolish man for following an 'angry god'. The three of them opened the door that was in front of them as Danik proclaimed that he was a man of science, someone who studied cause and effect, along with fact and reason, before stating that they would all understand what he was talking about before the end came for them. When they walked into the chamber on the other side of the door they all ignored the ice blocks, containing Necromorphs and what could have been the population of the planet before the outbreak occurred, because if Danik was going to speak with them, in such a manner, that meant that some Unitologists were nearby. Fortunately there weren't any in the chamber that they were currently in, and that continued on into the next room, which was great since it was a simple hallway with a door that needed a special bar and the way forward... though since Danik was after them they opted to continue along the path and not get distracted, but if their target showed his head then they'd gladly open fire on him.

On the other side of the door they found a short room that had a few lasers they needed to get around before they could access the Rosetta Slab that was on the other side of the room, though since time was of the essence, and there was no telling what Danik had planned, Chrysalis decided that it was time to cheat the people who created the facility. What she did was teleport both Isaac and Carver over to where the controls were located and let them open the case, before teleporting them back to the door, where she could grab the slab with her magic. From there it was a simple matter of lifting the slab out of it's container, pulling it over to them, and then put it inside the contraption that would send it to Ellie and Santos, though once it was on it's way the three of them had to deal with a few Necromorphs that came out of the vents before they were allowed to leave the room. As they headed into the smaller hallway between rooms, and entered the room they had been in a few minutes ago, they were assaulted by a group of Unitologists that must have arrived by a gunship, even though they knew what Chrysalis could do to them... though the interesting part was when one of them shouted that Isaac was a 'Marker Traitor', which caused Chrysalis to chuckle before she cut one of their opponent apart with her axe.

The only reason she found the 'Marker Traitor' bit funny was because the Unitologists, having discovered what was in EarthGov's records at some point in time, knew that Isaac had the knowledge to both build and destroy Markers embedded inside his brain... and, since they were pawns of the Markers, the cultists believed that Isaac, having that information, was a traitor to their cause and wanted him dead, something that would never happened.

When the group of Unitologists were taken care of, and they were sure that no more were coming after them in the building that they were in, Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver headed for the entrance of the building, listening to Danik inform them that none of them would be getting out of there alive. Isaac, growing annoyed with the leader of the cultists, told Danik to shut up and Carver told him to bring it on, indicating that he was going to kill everyone that Danik sent at them, while Chrysalis remained silent, choosing to keep her eyes open for anything that might endanger them. When they walked outside the building that the first slab had been located in, however, they found that there weren't any enemies in the immediate area, so Isaac took the opportunity to ask Ellie and Santos how they were going to build a Codex. The answer that the duo gave them was strange at first, but after a few seconds Isaac remembered what had happened on the Titan Station, which also gave him the knowledge he knew now.

"Guys, it looks like they used magnetomic forensic neurology," Ellie replied, answering Isaac's question, as she was the one that was focused on the mission since Santos was still shifting through all of the information that was on the log that Chrysalis had given her, as it appeared that there was more on the log than they originally thought, "which basically produces a data stream that's stored inside the Codex. It appears that the scientists and researchers lifted the codes for the Machine right out of Rosetta's brain."

"Well that sounds familiar." Isaac commented, recalling the exact memory that Ellie's statement reminded him of, as his eye still had some phantom pain from when he stabbed it with the needle to awaken the knowledge that had been stored inside his brain, "At least they didn't poke her eye out..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carver asked, indicating that he hadn't been given the information on what happened to Isaac and Chrysalis on the Titan Station, or at least the fact that Isaac had stabbed his eye, but at the same time Chrysalis knew what to do.

"Ellie, we've got three more slabs to find, then we'll be back soon." Chrysalis said, reminding her companions that they were on a mission, to which they nodded their heads and returned their attention to what they were doing, which was riding the cargo lift back down to the area below them.

A few seconds later the cargo lift came to a stop on the lower level and the trio retraced their steps back to the first building they had exited, though as they did so Danik felt that it was time to taunt them again, reminding Isaac and Chrysalis of the fact that there was once a Black Marker on Earth, which apparently predated mankind. Chrysalis then decided to ignore most of what Danik said, as he was saying that the Markers were responsible for creating mankind and forced them to evolve towards a 'higher purpose', until they became what they were today. Based on how they were standing she could tell that neither of her companions were interested in what the cult leader had to say, as the moment he stopped talking they returned to the hallway and headed to the left, where they opened the door to the Biology Sector and stopped when some cysts and organic growth appeared in front of them.

"There things are annoying," Isaac commented, staring at the cysts that were along the path they needed to take, as it was easy to recall what the explosive containers would do if someone or something got close to them, before he turned towards Chrysalis for a few seconds, "Chrysalis, do you have an idea on how to tackle this area in a timely manner?"

Chrysalis stared at the cysts for a few seconds before expanding her magic, where she formed spherical domes over each cyst and trapped them, though to test her spell out she lifted a piece of metal over to them and set it near the edge of her target, which didn't seem to register that the metal was there. With that done, and she was satisfied with what she had accomplished, the three of them carefully moved down the hallway that was in front of them, allowing her to imprison the cysts that were in the way so they didn't have to worry about setting them off. At the end of the hallway they found a control station for a device that deployed some sort of gas, though since something was clearly broken the three of them walked into a room where a lift was located and Chrysalis cut off her magic, unsealing the cysts and allowed them to hear the sound of all the explosives going off as the door closed, where she smiled as they descended to the lower level. Carver, on the other hand, asked if Isaac was thinking of messing with the sterilization systems, since it apparently used gas that would eat their faces... to which Isaac replied that, since Chrysalis was with them, they didn't have to worry about something like that happening to them.

As they headed down to the lower level they fired at a pair of lurkers that were in the pump area they were heading to, though when the lift came to a stop Chrysalis and Carver made sure the Necromorphs were taken care of as Isaac tampered with the power box that was in front of them. Fortunately it didn't take Isaac long to equalize the power between the elevator and the pump, though once that was done he opened fire on a fodder that dropped down into the area and destroyed it before the three of them headed back up to the level they had been on a minute ago. When they reached the area they found the lift in, however, a fodder burst out of the vent and was immediately broken apart by the trio, who then left the room they were in and walked into the control booth that they had stopped at, to simply check out what it controlled. Chrysalis, knowing what was coming next, formed a square barrier around them as they stood inside the control booth, just in the off chance that the door didn't close, though as Isaac and Carver turned on the terminal the door actually closed as the gas started to pour into the hallway... and, oddly enough, they heard the sounds of some Necromorphs screaming in pain as the gas ate at their bodies, no doubt reducing them to nothing as the gas obscured their vision for a few moments.

Once the gas had cleared the three of them walked out of the control booth, once Chrysalis lowered the barrier, and approached a door that had been sealed shut by some of the organic growth, which brought them to a short hallway with another door that they needed to head through. From there they entered what appeared to be a research chamber of sorts, including a dead Necromorph that was pinned against the wall and cut open, revealing that someone had studied the creature intensely before the outbreak occurred, before the trio moved on. They made their way to the back of the room they were in and easily found the second Rosetta Slab inside another container, guarded by a guardian, but instead of wasting time Chrysalis set fire to the guardian and covered it with a barrier, letting it burn while Isaac and Carver unlocked the container the slab was located in. The moment it was in their possession the trio made their way back toward the entrance of this room and started firing at the fodders that filed into the room, but due to their experience with these creatures the trio were able to blast their way through the host of enemies and slipped the slab into the device that would ship it over to Ellie and Santos.

With the slab on it's way to where the others were located the three of them headed out of the room they were in and returned to the main hallway, where they approached the cargo lift that was on the left side of the hallway and stepped onto it, allowing it to take them up to the level that was above them. From there they walked over to the door in front of them and entered another short hallway, which brought them to a door that happened to have a walkway over to the Paleontology Sector, though that was where several fodders, spitters, and some slashers waiting for them. It didn't take them long to take out the group of enemies that wanted them dead, even though some of them were actually empowered versions of their type of Necromorph, thus allowing them to enter the building that was in front of them. As they did so Danik decided to speak once more and talk about the fact that mankind was naturally compelled to make Red Markers, like the one from Aegis VII, and that all three of them were reluctant to accept the natural evolution that was coming for all of them... something that he intended to correct, after he informed them of what was going on and tried to convert them to his side, which was never going to happen.

Carver discovered that the door they needed to head through was locked and that the way to open it was a lever that was covered with a metallic cover that could be removed, so while Isaac did that Carver turned the lever around and soon they were walking through the door in front of them. From there they discovered an area that had a few doors they could pick from, though it quickly became apparent that the one they wanted to take was across from the table that Chrysalis found a keycard sitting on, one for the Reaper Barracks, something that they were likely going to ignore. With the keycard in hand the three of them entered the elevator that was across from the table and descended to a new level, where they were immediately attacked by empowered feeders and forced to go on the defensive immediately, which was when Chrysalis used her magic to form a barrier that forced the feeders to change their path and come at them from a path that allowed the trio to easily take care of them. It was times like this where Isaac and Carver were happy to have Chrysalis on their side, as she was able to make things even easier for them and feeders weren't something they were terribly interested in fighting normally... and, soon enough, the three of them finished off the rest of the feeders and moved on as they searched for the next slab.

At the end of the walkway they were on the trio found a cargo lift that brought them down to the level below them, where a large cylinder device of some kind was located, though as they approached it Chrysalis discovered that the slab they were after was inside it... to which she growled as she spotted that a normal person would have to rotate three rings to open the path for the slab to be removed, something that she didn't care about at the moment.

"Isaac, Carver, stand back for a moment." Chrysalis said, to which she lowered her Pulse Rifle and raised her hand until it was level with the device in front of them, though she waited for her friends to get out of the way before she used her magic... to which she started tearing the device apart while making sure that the slab remained untouched.

"And this is why I'm glad she's on our side." Carver stated, because if Chrysalis could grab gunships out of the air and blow them to pieces, tangle with the largest Necromorph he had ever seen and destroy it in mere moments, obliterate some creatures that Isaac claimed were incapable of dying, and a number of other things, he was sure that getting on her bad side was something he didn't want to do... especially after what happened to his traitorous captain earlier.

A few moments later, with the device destroyed beyond recognition and the slab sent off to the lab, the trio headed through the other door that was in the area and found a passage that would allow them to either enter the Reaper Barracks or continue their search for the final Rosetta Slab. They quickly decided to head through the door that would likely take them to the slab, though as they entered the hallway that was on the other side of the door Chrysalis threw up some barriers and stopped the cysts from exploding on them. As they walked into the hallway, and found a control booth to control some more of the flesh eating gas, Danik contacted them again and asked them to ponder what would have happened if these aliens, the scientists that came after them, and they themselves, hadn't stopped the 'natural evolution' and 'rebirth' that awaited them. As usual the trio ignored him, taking note that Danik thought they would be meeting again, while focusing on heading down to the other end of the hallway to access the valves that would allow them to power up the control booth and loose the gas, though Chrysalis trapped the cysts along the way to protect all of them from harm. Once the valves were turned, however, some of the gas started to pour out into the hallway immediately, forcing the three of them to return to the booth before they were torn apart by the gas, though once they were inside the booth Chrysalis sealed it. After that Isaac and Carver activated the controls, loosing the rest of the gas and let it eat away at the organic growth that had lined the hallway... and any Necromorphs that might be in the area, since they heard some of them screaming in pain as the gas tore them apart until nothing was left.

Once the gas was gone, and the booth's door opened for them, the trio walked out of the control booth and headed towards the door that the organic growth had been covering, though now that the growth was gone they opened the door and entered the short hallway that brought them to a second door. The chamber that was in front of them contained some specimens of the Necromorphs that had been frozen by whatever event had turned this planet into the frozen wasteland that it was, though as they entered the area the three of them were attacked by another group of feeders that happened to be accompanied by a few slashers. While they fought off the Necromorphs, and littered the area with the parts of their bodies in the process, Chrysalis noticed that the slab they were here for was on the left side of the entrance they had walked through, which meant that it was even easier for them to find it this time around, since it was resting on some boxes and not trapped inside a device. The other thing she noticed was that there happened to be a frozen Snow Beast resting in the middle of the room, propped up for the researchers and scientists when they were studying the creature, but fortunately it looked quite dead... but, seeing how the Nexus was that way until something tampered with it, there was no way to determine that this creature would remain in this state for long.

The instant all the feeders were taken care of Isaac grabbed the slab with his Kinesis Module and walked up the path that was in front of them, where he slipped the slab into the device and sent it on it's way to Ellie and Santos, before discovering that the way they entered the area was blocked off and that they needed to continue forward. As such the trio approached the door on the opposite side of the room and opened it, where they immediately had to deal with a pair of pregnant Necromorphs, which Isaac and Chrysalis dismembered the limbs of without touching the bloated stomachs at all. While Carver followed their lead, since they had more knowledge about these things than he did, he inquired why they were firing at the arms and legs when the stomach seemed like the best target, where the duo explained that hitting that area always birthed more enemies for them to fight and that it was best to kill the pregnant Necromorphs before any of the other enemies. A few seconds later, with both targets eliminated, the trio headed through the door, down the short hallway that was behind it, and then used the spherical security door to head outside, where they spotted some of Danik's gunships patrolling the area... though as Isaac and Carver headed down the path in front of them, and made their way back around to the main entrance, Chrysalis flew through the air and started blowing the gunships apart, while making sure the pieces and explosions happened away from the facility.

In her eyes it didn't matter if Danik knew where they were, as he had been taunting them the entire time they were looking for the Rosetta Slabs, though when Isaac informed her that they were heading inside the main building she flew over to her companions and entered the building... though, after a few minutes of wandering through the hallway and riding an elevator, they opened the security door and entered the Rosetta Lab.

"Alright, let's hope we can figure this out before Danik and his men find us." Isaac commented, though at the same time he, Chrysalis, and Carver disengaged their helmets as they entered the chamber, while noticing that Ellie and Santos were still hard at work with their individual tasks.

"It should be simple." Carver said, taking a moment to look at 'Rosetta' and the parts of the body they had recovered thanks to the Rosetta Slabs that had been checked out of Dr. Serrano earlier, "Leg bone's connected to the... uh, whatever the hell that is."

Isaac, Chrysalis, and Carver then spent the next few minutes carefully studying the various slabs that were inside the machine, along with the contents of each slab, before using their Kinesis Modules to lift one of them out of the row and move it to a new destination, shifting everything in the process. Chrysalis had never done anything like this and was simply focusing on the outline, hoping to find something that made things easier for them, while Carver made some odd comments about the shape of the body. What she was more interested in, however, was the fact that Rosetta was another alien creature, likely an inhabitant of the planet before the outbreak happened, though at the same time she knew that this would be one of Danik's targets if he learned the truth about what was going on in here. Fortunately she didn't have to ponder that thought for long, as their combined efforts eventually allowed the pieces of Rosetta to connect into a single mass with each slab connected to the one next to it... while at the same time revealing the alien's original form as the rest of the controls powered up to perform the procedure to make a Codex.

"There she is." Isaac said, because the moment the machine in the area told them that the assembly was complete he and Chrysalis stood in front of the terminal while Carver guarded the door to Ellie and Santos' area, who were now watching this with more interest than before, "Everyone, meet Rosetta. You know, the scientists were lucky to have found her, regardless of what they did to her, because without Rosetta I'm sure that they would have never been able to unlock the secrets of the Machine. Now everyone get ready, there's no telling what's going to happen when we activate this terminal and create a new Codex, so be prepared for anything."

It was in the moment that Isaac activated the control terminal that he was standing in front of, to make the new Codex, that both he and Chrysalis fell to their knees as some new scenes played out in their minds, where they shared a joint vision of sorts. What they saw was the alien civilization that had been on the planet before the outbreak, the planet not yet covered in snow and ice, and at the center of the kingdom rested a massive Marker that rivaled the one they had destroyed on the Titan Station. As the massive Marker activated the sound they heard only once before, and started to float into the air, the duo watched as they moved backwards and discovered that they were correct in their assumption that there had been hundreds of Markers on this planet at one point in time. That was before the massive Marker activated a Convergence event, pulling in all the reanimated corpses that had been created by the Necromorphs and brought them to a single point with the Marker at the heart of it all, before it was consumed by the mass, which looked an awful lot like the damaged moon that was above Tau Volantis' orbit. It was in that moment, as the surviving aliens raised a machine and flash froze the planet while stopping the Convergence event in it's tracks, that Isaac and Chrysalis instantly understood what they were seeing... the moon was the result of the Convergence event, a monstrous mass of flesh and death that sought to consume everything.

It was also in that moment of understanding that they returned to themselves, resting at the base of the terminal that the controls were on, before they gently laid their backs against the machine... but at the same time their minds were busy thinking about what they had seen, something that Ellie, Santos, and Carver needed to hear before they moved forward.

"Oh no... we've got it all wrong." Isaac said, his mind working out what they had seen and what they had learned, but even as he thought about all of this he was grateful to have an army taking care of the Unitologists and the other Markers that EarthGov had scattered throughout the galaxy, "This isn't the Marker home world... the aliens they, they found the Markers, just like we did, and it spread. It consumed them, it... it pulled their bodies into the sky to form the final stage... oh my god."

"The moon is the source of the Marker signal, not the machine." Chrysalis stated, realizing what was going on and recalled what they had read in the Admiral's quarters when they were up in the atmosphere, where she now knew that they had almost been played by the Marker.

"Yes... the Moon IS Convergence!" Isaac agreed, though his face revealed that, while he was slightly excited about the new information they had discovered, the understanding that they would have accidentally let the Moon wake up, if they hadn't seen that vision, sickened him, to which he gently took the Codex as he continued, "The aliens they... they built the Machine to freeze the planet... to keep the Moon from becoming whole! Oh god, if the Machine shuts down the planet will thaw and the Convergence event will resume... and not just here, but everywhere the Markers have spread... creating a vast number of Moons from the Markers that are still around. And the Codex..."

"...is the key to turn it all off." a voice said, to which Danik appeared with his gun pointed right at Isaac's head, just as he and Chrysalis pulled themselves up and turned to face their friends, who were currently standing outside the booth with a few of Danik's men keeping them in line, to which Danik took the Codex from Isaac, "Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting for me."

"You don't understand what you're doing." Chrysalis stated, causing Danik to glance over at her for a moment, though the look in his eyes told her that, no matter what she said, he still wouldn't care about the rest of his kind, "If you turn off that Machine the Moon will home in on Earth's Markers and devour everyone."

"Oh, I misunderstood initially, that's truth... but now its all quite clear to me." Danik replied, to which he glared at Chrysalis for a moment, as if he was going to shoot them once he was done talking and was daring her to move, "It's not only mankind's tampering that has hindered our glorious rebirth... but this alien Machine as well. I will not stay away from that Machine, and with this Codex I can turn it off and make humanity whole... unlike these foolish aliens, that chose death over evolution. Go on, ki..."

"I would suggest that you stop what you're doing." a new voice said, causing Danik to stall for a moment, as from the looks of it he was shocked that there was another person speaking, a lady by her voice, though when he looked around he didn't see anyone new to worry about, "I'm over here."

Chrysalis turned towards the door that connected this room to the hallway she, Isaac, and Carver had walked through a few times since they arrived at this facility, though as she did so she found something that made her question what was going on once more. Standing on the walkway, in front of the door, was another person that looked exactly like herself, in terms of how her body was structured, meaning that she was staring at a pony girl, but unlike Chrysalis this newcomer wasn't a changeling. As she stood there for a moment Chrysalis took in the amber colored skin, along with the vivid crimson and brilliant yellow colored hair and tail and the pony ears that were sticking out of her hair, revealing that she was another pony girl, but that was before she noticed something that was odd. Instead of wearing some sort of suit, to combat the cold winds of the planet, the newcomer was wearing what appeared to be a set of Egyptian inspired clothing, the type that one would see on a god, as she had a decent sized collar around her neck, which also rested on her chest a little, a binding of sorts wrapped around her breast area, with some baggy pants that came with a belt, a sash, and a pair of golden bracelets that she wore near her wrists.

Chrysalis had no idea who was standing before them, and happened to be staring down at them at the same time, but all she knew was that the power the person was giving off was on a completely different level than what she was used to, as if she was staring at an actual god... and, despite the fact that she had stopped Danik from firing at them, she knew that one misstep towards the figure could get them all killed in an instant.

Tau Volantis: Shocking Turn of Events

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"Now this is a surprise." Danik said, as he certainly wasn't expecting to find another member of Chrysalis' race, if the newcomer was actually a member of whatever race Chrysalis belonged to, in a place like this, but at the same time he had his guards make sure that their weapons were pointed at Isaac and Chrysalis as well while he turned towards the door, "I honestly wasn't expecting one of Chrysalis' people to show up, especially in the manner that you did. Who are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Me? Why, I am Sunset Shimmer," the pony girl replied, though at the same time she made no move to do anything yet, indicating that she was studying the situation and seeing what she had interrupted, "and technically you're incorrect about assuming that Chrysalis and I share the same species; she's a changeling and I'm a unicorn, despite the fact that we're both also part human as well. But there is one thing you should know, before you do anything foolish..."

"And that would be?" Danik asked, because right now he honestly didn't care what the newcomer, Sunset Shimmer, was talking about, as he planned on blowing them all away and shutting down the Machine, which was why he was still holding onto the Codex.

"I'm the God of Destruction for this universe," Sunset answered, knowing that the title might not mean anything to people like this, though she found that if people knew they were dealing with a god they tended to get scared when she showed them what she was capable of, "To put it in simple terms, ones that even you would understand, my job is to ensure balance in the universe by destroying planets and letting my polar opposite, the Kaioshin, begin the process for creating new ones and, hopefully, even life one day. Someone like me can even go out of their way to destroy specific races that threaten the universe as a whole, instead of the entire planet, or we can tackle the threats directly... which is what I'm doing right now."

"Don't you see, Isaac?" Danik asked, turning his attention away from the newcomer for a moment, to which he stared at the man that his entire expedition to this forsaken planet had been focused on, "Even the gods of other faiths have come to show you that you are wrong in your mission to stop the plan the Markers have for us!"

"That is where you would be wrong." Sunset said, to which she turned to the left and started to walk down the ramp that was in front of her, though at the same time she kept her gaze on the men that were pointed at Chrysalis and her group of friends, confirming what Discord had told her earlier, "Isaac, Chrysalis, and the others aren't the threat I came to destroy and save the universe from... it's you, the Markers that you and your insane friends follow, and those cursed Brethren Moons that form from the flesh of millions of people."

"Forgive me for asking this, but how could you possibly know that?" Chrysalis asked, because she and Isaac had only just discovered that information, so if Discord had told Sunset where she was located, which she assumed was what happened since the god was standing before them, he wouldn't have been able to tell her the information about the moons, "We only just discovered that information ourselves, so how could you have discovered it?"

"Orvus, one of my friends, is the Supreme Kai of Time, or the God of Time, if you prefer," Sunset replied, to which she stopped when she was on the same level as the people that were threatening Chrysalis and her friends, where they were now all pointing their weapons at her, "I spent a few hours with him, going over everything that has happened in this galaxy, and discovered the existence of those moons, how they were formed, and what happens when a new one is created and added to the network. That is why I brought an armada to this galaxy, to wipe out the people that are threatening the lives of others, giving me the chance to find the Markers, as you call them, and destroy them before they complete their terrible purpose."

"You're the one in control of the army that's been engaging the Unitologists?" Santos inquired, because if that was true they had a greater chance of beating the cultists and surviving this nightmare, even though she also wanted to learn more about the specific titles Sunset had mentioned.

"That is correct." Sunset said, to which turned and looked at the poor alien that had been cut up by the humans that had come to this place a long time ago, before she sighed and tapped the machine that was holding the casing up, "I'll admit that getting an army together, to tackle another army that was in a completely different part of the universe, sounds like a lot of work, but the reality is different than what you know. All I had to do was inform my friends as to what you were doing, and what would happen if those Markers got their way, and within thirty minutes I had an army that was ready to go to war, complete with ships to carry the innocent people away to new planets so they can start a new life and other ships that have cured this 'madness' that the Markers force upon those that are in a Marker's domain. The first planet we came to, with the full might of the army, didn't even stand a chance of defending themselves, so I ordered the captains to separate the army and divide our power... and right now they're still tearing your forces asunder, wiping them out across the remaining planets your trying to destroy.

Dr. Nefarious even spotted a dead planet that you tried to take over recently, only to fail by the looks of it, but since you and your cultists killed everyone on the planet I was forced to take drastic measures and destroy it entirely... along with another one that some of your forces were heading towards."

Chrysalis couldn't believe what she was hearing, as the moment they learned that there was another force out there, waging war on the Unitologists, she knew that something was going on, but hearing that this Equestrian had the power to obliterate a planet, in an instant based on the fact that Danik's forces couldn't find the other one, made her wonder how she ever thought that she could beat someone like her.

"Please, you expect me to believe that you are that one responsible for destroying Uxor?" Danik asked, to which he laughed for a moment, as he found this to be extremely funny, before he turned towards the pair of guards that had come into the building with him and beckoned to them, "Okay, I think we've given this one enough time to run her mouth, so while I finish off Isaac, and his friends, why don't the two of you put her in her place."

That was immediately followed by both of the cultists moving away from Ellie, Santos, and Carver as they pointed their guns at Sunset, who turned her head slightly and shook her head at Chrysalis, who immediately understood that she wasn't to get involved with what was coming next, though at the same time she surrounded herself and her friends with a barrier now that it three of them weren't being threatened anymore. Danik didn't seem to notice as his followers opened fire, though as that happened the assembled group watched as the bullets flew through the air and disappeared before they could even touch Sunset, but as that happened Chrysalis noticed some particles dance in front of where Sunset was standing. A few seconds went by before the cultists realized that they weren't doing anything and stopped firing, though as that happened Sunset sighed and focused her mind, where the particles in the air gathered together and revealed what she had done, as a sinister purple aura appeared around her and formed a protective shield of some sort... one that, when Chrysalis looked closely, was at the same location where the bullets disappeared.

"This is my Aura of Destruction, something that only a God of Destruction can wield," Sunset said, to which she raised her left hand and rested it against the machine that she was standing near, only this time she had something else in mind for it as her aura intensified a little, "and what's coming next... well, you'll just have to wait and see."

Chrysalis watched as Sunset focused her energy for the briefest of seconds and a small flicker of energy, in the form of a dark purple wave, washed over the machine that she was standing beside, though that was before the machine, and the container that was containing Rosetta, was reduced to nothing... as if Sunset had erased it's very existence in that moment, surprising both Chrysalis' group and Danik's group. Chrysalis thought it was all over with the demonstration of her power, but it seemed like she wasn't finished yet, as she raised both her hands into the air and the two cultists were pulled right towards her, where she grabbed onto their faces and slammed them into the floor beneath her, while at the same time Danik stepped back a little.

"That was my power to erase the existence of something," Sunset explained, keeping the cultists pinned against the floor, though they tried in vain to attack her, as their bullets collided with her Aura of Destruction and their existence was erased immediately, "and it's not limited to just inanimate objects, so observe what I'm about to do. Hakai!"

Isaac, Chrysalis, Carver, Ellie, and Santos watched as the two cultists screamed in pain for a few seconds as they started to glow with the same color as Sunset's energy, though that was before they literally turned into particles before their eyes and were blown apart, their existence erased in a matter of seconds. Chrysalis was stunned, because with everything she had seen so far she found that she was no longer scared of her own power, rather she was now scared of Sunset's power being used against her, if she ever did anything wrong. Danik, however, growled as he threw the Codex, the sole reason they had come up to this facility in the first place, at Sunset as a diversion to make her lower her guard, but then the unexpected happened once more. A golden yellow colored aura appeared around the Codex and it stopped in midair, halfway between Danik and Sunset, though Chrysalis' eyes widened, as she recognized that aura anywhere, and turned towards the door once more. Standing in front of the door, where Sunset had been standing minutes ago, was none other than Princess Celestia, her body twisted into the hybrid form that Chrysalis had gotten used to since she stepped through the mirror... but what Chrysalis found to be odd was the fact that Celestia was wearing some sort of attire that was different from Sunset's, yet still spoke that she was a deity as well, while at the same time she carried a staff with some sort of orb at the top of it.

Chrysalis could also feel the power radiating from Celestia, indicating that she was much stronger than when the two of them had fought in Canterlot during Cadence's wedding, meaning that she had been right to give up any plans for trying to dominate Equestria... because with two godly beings guarding the ponies she would have failed, even with her immense power boost that her true power gave her.

"And who might you be?" Danik inquired, though his tone revealed that he was holding his ground, because even if these two newcomers were able to best his men, who were part of the strongest battalion he had brought with him, he knew that he could still take them on and come out on top.

"I am Celestia, former princess of Equestria, now standing as Sunet's Angel." Celestia said, though she did bow her head slightly, as she saw no reason to simply stand there for a few seconds, before lifting her head up and glanced at the item she had caught, which was floating over to her now, "So this is the key that will allow someone to turn off that Machine and awaken the Brethren Moons... fascinating."

"Yes, and I would like to do just that." Danik stated, though as he opened his mouth to say something more, however, Chrysalis pulled herself out of the barrier that had been protecting her, making sure that her friends were still safe, before she tackled Danik to the floor and pinned his head against the floor.

"Good, I was hoping that you would do something like that," Sunset commented, causing Chrysalis to glance up at her for a moment, where she found Sunset staring down at her and Danik, but the look in her eyes told her that there was something that Danik needed to see before he met his end, "instead of taking the easy way out and just ending his life before he sees what happens next.

"She's too weak to do what must be do..." a voice started to say, though as Chrysalis realized that her mother was starting to form in the room, however, she whipped around and punched her mother's spirit in the side of her head, knocking her to the floor as well, as she was tired of her constantly coming back.

"Go away mother, I'm not scared of you... not anymore." Chrysalis stated, to which she turned and glared at her mother's spirit once more, where she silently wished that she could be rid of her mother and move on with her life, without having to worry about her coming back, "I may not have the power to destroy you completely, but I'm through being the weakling that you loved to torment... I've matured since your death."

"And yet you'll never be rid of me." Crudelis said, to which she repositioned herself and stared at Chrysalis, as she would focus on the others once her business with her daughter was concluded, "One day your pitiful defenses with fall and I'll be there to claim my prize, so I can conquer all of Equus and reestablish the changelings as the dominate species, like I would have done bef..."

Crudelis never finished her statement, as Sunset approached her and pointed her first two fingers from her left hand at the spirit's face, allowing her energy to flare before her destructive nature took hold, which was followed by purple holes appearing all over Crudelis' body. Chrysalis watched as her mother screamed like a banshee as her existence, the same one that the Marker had given her, was terminated and she was erased from existence, though while all that happened she felt some relief that she would never have to deal with her mother ever again. Even as she was dying, and was likely never going to come back again, Crudelis tried to move towards Chrysalis, to take control of her body like she had told Isaac about back when they were dealing with the Titan Marker, but even then her hoof crumbled away into nothingness as it neared Chrysalis... and, for the first in her entire life and her existence as a spirit, Crudelis felt fear for the first time, before the rest of her spiritual body turned into nothingness as well, leaving nothing of her behind.

"Discord told me that your mother was quite stubborn and that she refused to die." Sunset said, though she didn't feel sorry for what she had done, because since it was time for Chrysalis to step up and become someone different, all the way anyway, it was also time for her mother to disappear, forever, "Now then, onto the business at hand; we still have this one to deal with, then there is the matter of dealing with the Brethren Moon that is hanging above this planet, as well as the ones that are currently heading towards Earth."

"So you mean to tell me that, despite everything we've done, we've failed in the end?" Ellie asked, because based on what the god said the other Brethren Moons must have found some way to awaken, meaning that all of their work had been for nothing, especially since it was bound to be impossible to kill however many of them there were.

"You may think that, but the truth is different than what you're thinking," Sunset replied, to which she nodded towards Celestia, who swung her staff and a large sphere appeared in the middle of the room, which caused everyone to back up and stare at what was happening, though Chrysalis made sure to bind Danik up so he didn't try anything later, before the image of Earth and the moon appeared before them, "At the moment I have a number of my forces assaulting the cultists that are trying to destroy Earth in their own manner, using the Marker that's somewhere on the planet, and some of my forces have been busy gathering up the survivors to get them off world as soon as possible. That means that you succeeded in your mission of saving the lives of everyone else on Earth, and at the same time I have ensured that they will go someplace where they can start a new life, away from what's happened in the last few days. Make no mistake, I fully intend to destroy the Earth by the time I'm done with this galaxy, but before that happens I intend to use it as a beacon for the other Brethren Moons, so that way I can have them all destroyed in a single instant."

"The ships that have answered Sunset's call to arms are carrying some of the most powerful weapons that have been built in the last few years," Celestia added, to which an image of what could be called a warship, capable of flying through space by the looks of it, replaced the image that had been there moments ago, "especially since this is a joint effort by the Solana, Bogon, and Polaris galaxies. These weapons were originally designed to stun massive creatures, roughly the size of the building we're standing in, but Starlight Glimmer, whose been working on weapons like these for a really long time, managed to find a safe way for them to be used against something that's the size of a moon. According to her projections the blasts from all the ships we have at our disposal will stun the other ten Brethren Moons for a limited amount of time, but it will give us enough time to use Earth and take them all out."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Danik asked, to which he growled for a moment as he tried to get Chrysalis off of him, since she was still keeping him pinned despite the bindings she put on his arms, while also managing to stare up at the person who was ruining his entire operation with her mere presence.

"I hardly think you're qualified to know that information." Sunset said, to which she turned towards the wall that was behind her and waved her hand, causing Isaac and the others to watch as a circular portal opened in front of her, one that appeared to connect to a ship of some kind, before she tapped something in her right ear, "Ratchet, this is Sunset. I'm sending the people that are with Chrysalis aboard the Hyperion. How's the situation up there?"

Chrysalis watched as a screen of some kind appeared in front of Sunset, much like the video link that she and the others used when they wanted to converse with each other over long distances, though the person in question appeared to be some sort of cat human hybrid creature, one that was wearing some impressive and different looking armor... and, in the background, she was sure that she could make out Tau Volantis and the Brethren Moon that was currently hanging above their heads.

"Well, aside from the fact that these guys didn't have any weapons on their smaller spaceships, we cleared the space around the planet you went down to," the creature, Ratchet, replied, to which he smiled at her, telling Chrysalis that he was having a blast being here, even though he preferred a challenge of some kind, instead of what he got, "The other captains are reporting successes in saving the people of Earth and getting them away from it, as well as taking out the enemies that are trying to tear the place apart. Even Quark's getting in on the action, though I still don't think Starlight should have given him a RYNO... but I won't argue with the results, because he's cleared out a good amount of enemies using the weapon she gave him."

"I don't think I want to know what sort of weapon that is," Chrysalis commented, because based on the tone that Ratchet took, when he mentioned the weapon in question, that told her that the thing was dangerous and not to be underestimated, while also surprising her that Starlight, of all ponies, made weapons of destruction.

"If you ask Starlight, I'm sure she'll find some time to explain it in detail," Sunset said, her tone telling Chrysalis that she had experience in seeing the weapon in action at one point in time, before she turned her attention back to the screen that was in front of her, "Once Celestia and Chrysalis' friends are aboard the Hyperion, and are settled in for the flight, I want you to get away from the planet and prepare to jump over to Earth... there's something that Chrysalis and I need to take care of before we leave this place behind."

"Roger that." Ratchet stated, to which he turned to someone that wasn't in front of the screen and nodded his head, telling whoever was listening to the conversation to do what Sunset had said, before the line was cut and Sunset returned her focus to what was around her.

Chrysalis stood there as she lowered her own barrier, allowing Isaac and the others to gather what they had brought with them and walked over to the portal Sunset had opened, though Chrysalis remained where Danik was pinned to the ground. It was clear that her friends were concerned for her, since she was the only one among their number that happened to be staying behind on a planet that was still infested with Necromorphs, but she assured them that she would be fine, especially since the person she was going to be walking with was a god that was even stronger than she was. Of course Santos' expression changed when she stepped through the portal that was in front of them and boarded the 'Hyperion', because the moment she was on the other side Chrysalis heard something about it being a highly advanced starship that was even more advanced than the ones she had been on over the years. Even Isaac, who was the last one to cross over, reported that while the ship was almost near the size of what the Ishimura had been, which surprised Chrysalis, it was also armed for war while having several areas that looked like relaxation areas, a bridge that was different from what they knew, and sleeping quarters that were even better than what they were used to... and that wasn't counting a room dedicated to playing video games, a deck built to do maintenance on the smaller ships, and a virtual reality deck designed to allow people to train with the new weapons and gadgets that Starlight developed.

Celestia was the last of them to head through the portal, and she ended up handing the Codex over to Sunset before she did so, though once she was on the other side, and all of Chrysalis' friends were off the planet, the portal closed and the two of them remained in the room they were in... complete with the one person that Chrysalis hated, since Danik was still alive at this point in time.

"So, what are we going to do?" Chrysalis asked, as she was curious as to why the god had asked her to stay down here, on the planet, when it was clear that she was likely going to blow Tau Volantis up, while at the same time she hauled Danik onto his feet and forced him to stand there as he stared at them.

"I'm going to head outside and end this," Sunset explained, though at the same time she held up the Codex that Chrysalis and her friends had assembled with her left hand, where she tossed it through the air and let it land where she had found the changeling a few minutes ago, before she turned to leave, "you, on the other hand, are going to watch me bring an end to this idiocy. Then, once we're done with this planet, we'll head back to Earth and make sure that the rest of the Brethren Moons are taken care of as well."

"Great, front row seats to the end of a world" Chrysalis said, as that didn't sound as exciting as many people would have thought it would, though while she spoke she hauled Danik into the security door that was in front of them and let the door close, only for it to get caught and come to a halt, "Hold on, I'm sure I can get it unstuck without needing to call Isaac and have him explain what to do."

"There's no need to disturb him right now," Sunset replied, to which she raised her right hand and simply blew a hole in the door that was in front of them, allowing them to enter the hallway that Chrysalis was used to seeing at this point while she smiled a little, "Come on, let's get out of this building and st..."

"Look out!" Chrysalis said, as the two of them had gone through the hole a few seconds after it was made, but that was before she noticed that Sunset didn't seem to be paying attention to the enemies that were in the hallway, or rather the Regenerator that was waiting between them and the elevator that would allow them to head down to the floor below them, so they could leave the building.

"Hmm?" Sunset said, to which she turned towards the undead creature that was in front of them, who happened to be sharpening it's arm blades at the moment, before she grew serious as she knew what she was going to do, which was when her aura started to gather around her, "Give me a second."

Chrysalis watched as Sunset walked up to the Regenerator and stared at it, though what was odd about the situation was the fact that the Necromorph didn't even attempt to strike her or swing it's arms at her, rather it stood there and stared at Sunset for a few moments. That was before something that Chrysalis had deemed impossible happened, the dangerous creature seemed to grow scared or something as it stared at the powerful gaze that Sunset was giving it, before she beckoned with her head and the Regenerator moved out of the way. Once that was gone Chrysalis moved forward and walked into the elevator, followed by Sunset, before they descended to the level below them, though while that happened, and Sunset turned off her aura, Chrysalis realized that the Regenerator hadn't just been scared of Sunset, it was frightened of her. A Regenerator, one of the strongest Necromorphs, under the Brethren Moons and ones like the Nexus or Hive Minds, was frightened of a living creature, revealing that it could still think about it's actions... and, based on what she saw, it felt a level of fear that it had never felt before, making it back off before it was utterly destroyed. Even Danik, who didn't know how dangerous the creature was on a normal day, was surprised by what was happening, since these were supposed to be fearless creatures that fought to the death.

It was in that instant that Chrysalis found another reason to put her fear of her own power behind her, because it took a strong will, and a lot of practice, to control the power that was coursing through Sunset's veins, without destroying everything that was around her.

As the two of them walked outside the building, however, Chrysalis discovered that there were still Unitologists moving around the facility, conveniently in the area that they were planning on heading through, though as they moved forward Sunset made no motion other than walking. It was in that moment, as some of the cultists started firing rockets at her, that she made her move, as her energy raced through the air and destroyed the missiles before they even had a chance to touch her, while at the same time her energy seemed to turn into arrow shaped objects that pierced the chests of her targets and knocked the dead cultists away. Chrysalis was both amazed and slightly terrified, because while it appeared that Sunset wasn't paying that much attention to her surroundings, the truth was that she was fully aware of what was happening around her and she was more than capable of tearing her way through the enemies that were in front of them... allowing Chrysalis to stand back and watch as she followed after the god, while also observing the power that was hers to command, as well as giving Danik a reason to see why his mission was doomed to fail.

Eventually Sunset came to a stop, in a flat area near the cliff that the facility had been built on, and tapped her ear again, where Chrysalis noticed some sort of communication device this time around, but instead of a communication screen appearing she pulled up a map of some kind, one that she studied for a few seconds before nodding her head, which was when she put the screen away.

"This is a good enough spot to bring about the end of something" Sunset said, to which she turned around and looked at Chrysalis, or more specifically the person that she was carrying, where she beckoned for Chrysalis to step forward, which she did so and tossed a still bound Danik forward, to which Sunset used her magic to sit him up in a sitting position that would allow him to see everything, "You said that it was your mission to awaken the Brethren Moon and bring about the 'evolution of mankind', am I right?"

"Yes, and even if I fall the rest of my followers will finish what I started," Danik stated, to which he struggled for a moment, indicating that he was trying to break the bindings that had been placed on him, but both Sunset and Chrysalis knew that it would be hard for someone like him to do that, "you can't stop the army that I've amassed for this mission."

"It seems that you have a bad habit of ignoring what people are saying," Sunset replied, to which she stared into Danik's eyes for a moment, as she was already growing tired of the man and his existence, before she pointed up at the atmosphere that was above the planet, "Before I came down here with Celestia, to retrieve Chrysalis' friends, my brother Ratchet and his friends spent a few minutes flying around the ruined ships and blew all of those you brought to this planet to pieces. Your army is falling apart as we speak, as my forces are engaging them on every planet you're trying to destroy, so soon there won't be anyone of your faith left in the universe, making the rest of the planets and galaxies safer from you and your Brethren Moons. Now, allow me to show you true despair."

Chrysalis silently watched as Sunset took a few steps back and let her aura wrap around her once more, though as that happened she could tell that the deity had something in mind, because the sheer power of her aura was causing her to sweat just a little bit. A few seconds later Sunset raised her right hand towards the atmosphere and Chrysalis, who was following the god's line of sight, noticed that she seemed to be pointing at the still frozen Brethren Moon, where Danik struggled against his bindings once more. Chrysalis realized that, with the power that was coursing through Sunset's body, she had the power to obliterate the incomplete Brethren Moon that was hanging above the planet, which might tell the other moons that they were screwed if they continued towards Earth. Even if the other moons discovered what happened here, and didn't head to Earth like Sunset thought they were, she was sure that the god would be able to track them down and obliterate them, or do whatever she was planning on doing to them.

"Hakai!" Sunset said, allowing her power to zero in on her target, where not a few moments later she, Chrysalis, Danik, and those safely aboard the Hyperion watched as the Brethren Moon started to glow... though that was followed by a horrified and painful screeching noise that was coming from the dead moon.

Chrysalis realized what was going on immediately, the Brethren Moon above Tau Volantis had felt the shock of Sunset's power latching onto it, and started to break it apart since she was sure that several pieces were fading out of existence before her eyes, and was screaming in pain as it was forced out of it's slumber. It was in that instant that she discovered that the exterior of the moon appeared to be some sort of casing, concealing a mass of withering tentacles that immediately shot towards the area that Sunset was standing in, only to not make it anywhere near her as her power tore them apart. As this happened Chrysalis heard the sounds of more Necromorphs and turned around, where she found the rest of the enemies she, Isaac, and Carver hadn't dealt with emerging from their hiding places and were staring at Sunset, telling her what they were planning on doing this time around... they were going to stop Sunset from destroying the Brethren Moon that was above their heads, which they might already be too late to stop anyway, before she turned around and primed her weapon, as she was going to take as many of them down as she could before they reached her.

That was before a highly advanced ship, about the size of the gunships that Danik and his men had been using against them, flew through the air and loosed a rocket into the group of Necromorphs, blowing them all to pieces in an instant while leaving Chrysalis to stand there with a look of shock on her face... especially when the persian blue colored ship landed nearby and Starlight, possessing the same body as Sunset and Celestia, jumped out of the cockpit and approached her, where she also noticed that the former unicorn was wearing some strange metallic armor that had several purple parts to it.

"Starlight Glimmer, this is an unexpected surprise," Chrysalis said, though she wasn't angry with Starlight anymore, as her time with Isaac, Ellie, and the spirits of her past had given her the chance to forgive what had happened to her, though at the same time she spotted more Necromorphs walking towards them, "though we'll have to talk about things later, because it appears that..."

"...our enemies are dead men walking." Starlight stated, to which she pulled out what appeared to be a large, dark grey colored weapon that had purple highlights, though Chrysalis found that it featured several barrels and had to be like her Pulse Rifle, only much more powerful, before she turned towards Chrysalis, "You might want to duck."

Chrysalis, not knowing what was going to happen next, moved out of the way as Starlight pulled the trigger, to which she unleashed a storm of what appeared to be energy based bullets that tore through the Necromorphs like a knife cutting through butter, much to Chrysalis' surprise. In a matter of seconds the enemies had been taken care of, as the entire group of Necromorphs were torn apart and unable to move, if they were lucky to have survived the initial surge of bullets, though Starlight smiled as she put the weapon away.

"Wh... what was that weapon?" Chrysalis asked, as so much was happening today that she couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on anymore, while at the same time she knew that she had to test that weapon out at some point in time, as it made hers look weak by comparison, "And what is that armor you're wearing?"

"Oh, this? It's the Nether Armor that Vendra Prog and I developed together," Starlight replied, looking down at herself while she remembered why she had been so busy since she and Sunset returned to Equus, after their adventurers, even though Ratchet still asked her for assistance every now and then, "and my weapon, Chrysalis, is the most powerful RYNO weapon ever constructed, the RYNO VII. The Plumber, Vendra, and I collaborated on it during my last adventure... which I must tell you about at some point, including all the weapons I've made over the years."

"Starlight, why don't you take Chrysalis back to the Hyperion," Sunset said, knowing that it was high time for the changeling to get off the planet, because it looked like she was in need of some sleep, some decent food, and a number of other things that the starship had, "and don't worry about Danik... he won't make it off this planet alive."

Chrysalis stared at the man in question, who was absolutely terrified at the combination of the Brethren Moon being destroyed before his eyes and the Necromorphs being terminated without a chance to fight back, and knew that there was nothing to fear from him now. As such she climbed into the ship that Starlight had been piloting and soon the two of them, once the cockpit was closed, headed off the planet and began the short journey to the Hyperion, which she found was a massive ship that was definitely unlike anything she had seen since she arrived in this galaxy. As they neared the ship she could hear the sounds of the Brethren Moon screams as Sunset's power ripped through it, parts of it breaking off and disappearing forever... until at last the entire creature dissolved into nothing, disappearing from the face of the universe and likely allowing Sunset to leave Tau Volantis behind. When they boarded the starship, however, Chrysalis walked over to a glass wall that would allow her, and anyone else, to view what was happening on the planet below them and she quickly spotted Sunset coming up towards the starship... though that wasn't the only thing that was happening.

The surface of Tau Volantis rippled as what appeared to be long dormant volcanoes became active once more, as now there was lava spewing out all over the planet's surface and the earth was falling apart as red molten cracks started to form everywhere, though that was before the atmosphere itself started to fall apart... leaving Chrysalis standing there in shock, as she had no idea what was going on at the moment.

"This is the end for Tau Volantis," Starlight commented, looking down at the dead planet as Sunset's power tore it apart, knowing what was coming next since she had seen it multiple times since she became the God of Destruction, before she looked away from the planet, "Come on, let's get to the bridge and get out of here. We still need to finish saving the people of Earth, before the other Brethren Moons arrive to finish what Danik started."

Chrysalis, despite following after Starlight the moment she said they needed to move, barely noticed as the starship seemed to slip into something that resembled ShockSpace, as she took one last glance at the planet they were leaving behind as Sunset boarded the ship before it's departure... and witnessed the destruction of Tau Volantis as it exploded under the weight of Sunset's power. She gulped for a moment as she followed after Starlight, now she knew the full extent of Sunset's power and her fear of her own power was gone, but she focused on finishing their mission, as there would be time to talk about what she had seen later... once they stopped the remaining Brethren Moons and saved what was left of the human race.

Tau Volantis: End of the Markers

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Chrysalis discovered that the starship that they were traveling in, the Starship Hyperion as it appeared to be called, was an advanced warship that was outfitted for a one ship war against an armada, because once they left the place where Tau Volantis had been located Starlight insisted on showing her around the ship. She discovered that the starship had a docking area that happened to contain a smaller personal ship that each of the people that worked aboard the ship used when the starship came to a stop near their destination, and that happened to include the same ship that Starlight used to get down to the planet's surface. There was a room where Starlight created the newest plans for any additional weapons that she could think of, including the ones that her creative partners assisted her in creating, though as she walked by the room she noticed that Starlight was considering the creation of several new weapons that looked like upgraded versions of the weapons she must have created earlier, along with what appeared to be the blueprints for the powerful weapon she had used against the Necromorphs while they were on the planet.

The room that Starlight stopped in, however, appeared to be a room where she modeled new armor and either built it or attached it to whoever was supposed to wear it, to which she walked over to a control terminal and stared at the screen for a few seconds, before glancing up at Chrysalis.

"You're probably wondering what we're doing in here," Starlight commented, to which she tapped a few of the controls and the machines around her powered up, though at the same time Chrysalis stared at the armor sets that had either been created or imagined by Starlight, "I'm going to measure you real quick and then we're going to outfit you in some of the best armor that we have at the moment, that way you'll be prepared for the assault on Earth."

"What's wrong with the armor that I'm wearing right now?" Chrysalis asked, to which she looked down at her armor, which had served her faithfully over the years she had been stuck in this part of the universe, before glancing over at Starlight for a few seconds.

"Nothing. It's strong, sturdy, and great for the environments you had to travel through," Starlight said, though that was when she walked over to Chrysalis and directed her towards the middle of the room, where Chrysalis decided to humor her and went along with it, before she returned to the control terminal, "it's also, in comparison to what I've been using for the last few years, highly outdated and in need of replacing. How would you feel about wearing some armor that not only was light enough where you feel that it's not even there, but also has the protection necessary to negate the vast majority of damage that might be done to you, without even showing signs of stress?"

"How much damage resistance are we talking about?" Chrysalis asked, because she had to admit that she was interested, as her current armor made it impossible to forget that she was wearing it, though this one sounded like it was a dream to have on since she'd be protected at all times.

"Ninety percent." Starlight replied, though she had to grin when she saw the look on Chrysalis' face, as while she was sure that the former queen had made sure she didn't take any damage over the course of her adventure, save for when she and her companions started a new task, this would help her even more in the future, "The armor also has protections against the elements, just like the survival suit that you happen to be wearing at the moment, and attachments that get rid of the recoil from the majority of the weapons I have created over the years, save for a select number of them. The helmet also has some great modifications that I've made over the years, constantly updating it with any new technology that might be important, and it will keep track of how much nanotech you have and when you need to restock... don't worry, I'll tell you and your friends everything once you start training."

"Shouldn't we be getting ready to arrive above Earth?" Chrysalis inquired, as that was what they said they were going to be doing, heading back to that planet and saving the rest of the people from the Unitologists, Necromorphs, and those that were completely overtaken by the madness of the Markers.

"That's what we're doing," Starlight said, though that was when the machine activated and Chrysalis found that it was measuring her body with the armor she was currently wearing, before the former queen sighed and pulled off her current armor, showing off the store keeper clothing she had been wearing before the call to action had arrived, "Once you, along with your friends Isaac and Carver, are outfitted with some new armor I'll take you to the virtual training deck and show you the latest weapons you can use in the upcoming assault. We'll arrive above the planet in a few hours, mostly to give you three time to relax or do more than the recommended training I'll be giving you, but once we get there our objective is to rescue the remaining survivors, kill those cultists that want everyone dead, and stall for time until the other Brethren Moons show up."

Chrysalis stood there as the machines around her became active as her measurements were taken, to which she watched as several robotic arm like appendages lowered and started pulling out armor pieces that looked like what Starlight was wearing. From there she stood still as the machine expertly slipped the metallic gloves, boots, and the body parts of the armor onto her body, each piece following the limb or body part that it was supposed to attach to while doing nothing that would break her bones in the process. Not even a minute later she was standing there with the same type of armor that Starlight was wearing, though the glow that came from her new armor was a dark green color, before the helmet slipped into place and she found a few commands that she could use while this was on, along with the fact that she could either take it off or let it collapse like her old armor did. Once the armor was in place Starlight powered down the machine and nodded her head, indicating that she was happy with her work as she beckoned Chrysalis to follow her... though as that happened Chrysalis found that the armor was everything that Starlight had briefly told her about, making her eager to see what else it could do.

It wasn't long before they reached the virtual training area of the ship, one where they could slip into a whole new world if they so desired, and she found both Isaac and Carver, already decked out in new armor, waiting for her, before Starlight started showing them the weapons that were available to them. Chrysalis found that all of them were deadly in their own manner, even the more useless looking ones were quite dangerous, and she understood why the Unitologists were having such a hard time surviving the invasion, because they weren't ready for weapons like this. The three of them took turns testing out the variety of weapons available, shooting at the dummies that the area used as enemies for people to practice on, though what really interested Chrysalis was when Starlight actually let them test her toy, the RYNO VII, out and they all decimated the horde of dummies that had been coming at them. The only sad part was that Starlight, after allowing them each a turn with the weapon, stated that she couldn't let any of them use the weapon in actual combat, as she was the only one that was certified to use the weapon of mass destruction... even the earlier forms of the weapon series required some sort of training before someone could use them as well.

Chrysalis, however, felt that was just fine, as she had a few favorites from the new weapons that she had been shown and she still carried her favorite weapon with her at all times... even though Starlight seemed to have an idea on how to improve it as well, and promised to have something ready for the assault.

Like Starlight said, it took them a few hours to reach the space that surrounded Earth, though Chrysalis discovered that the captain, who happened to be the same Ratchet that Sunset had spoken to earlier, hadn't activated the full power of the warpdrive that was installed in the starship, otherwise they would have gotten here in a minute or two. She wasn't mad, since the army that had come to this galaxy was still holding their own without any signs of slowing down, and it gave her, Isaac, Ellie, and Carver a chance to relax from their ordeals on Tau Volantis, though Santos was the only one that was still running around the ship, trying to understand everything about it. Starlight even said that to understand the Hyperion she would have to sit down with Santos and explain how they turned a research vessel into a fully operational military vessel that was completely outfitted for war, which surprised Chrysalis when she heard that piece of information. Still, despite the lack of any real crew on the ship, save for the captain, his small robot companion, and a few other people, the ship seemed to operate too well with that small number... until she discovered that there were AI that were in charge of specific areas of the ship, to make sure that it worked like it was supposed to, and that the ship could easily be filled at a moment's notice if the captain was on his own.

After discovering all of that Chrysalis and the others waited until the ship left the warp system that it had slipped into when it was leaving Tau Volantis behind and Isaac's home planet appeared in front of the starship, where the captain brought them to a stop and turned towards the people that were gathered around him... while at the same time Chrysalis noticed a few more starships surrounding the planet as well, sending smaller ships down to both the planet and the moon as they searched for survivors.

"Alright, we've received confirmation that several of Earth's continents have had their survivors liberated and safely carried out of this system so they can begin new lives once this is over," Ratchet said, looking at the group that was in front of him, though at the same time Chrysalis could tell that he wanted to be down there as well, but held himself back since someone had to be the commander of this operation, "We've received reports that there are still survivors on the moon, desperately trying to survive the outbreak that happened earlier, and right now there's a small force fighting them back, so Starlight will transport you all down there so you can get to work rescuing the remaining survivors. We only have about an hour left before the Brethren Moons arrive, if they follow what Sunset thinks they'll do, so we need to save all the people that we can before they arrive... though I don't need to tell you want will happen to them if they don't get off the moon before our targets arrive."

"All of your helmets will have a clock that will tell you how much time you have left before you need to evacuate from the moon," the little robot, which Chrysalis had discovered was called Clank, added, to which an icon of a clock appeared in their helmets, small enough where it didn't obscure their vision while also being noticeable at any moment, "Once those clocks reach a certain time you should head back to the transport immediately... before you get caught in what is going to come next."

From that moment forward Chrysalis, Isaac, and Carver followed Starlight to the transport ship, a rectangular vessel that could carry a good amount of people inside it, that flew out of the Hyperion and headed straight towards the moon, though as they approached a good landing point Starlight fired at the Unitologist gunships that were blocking the way and cleared the landing pad so she could touch down on it. Chrysalis, at this point in time, was no longer surprised by the firepower that each of the ships and weapons had, but she was happy to have them on her side, especially since there was work to be done, people to save, and both cultists and Necromorphs to kill. While Isaac carried a pair of pistol like weapons, the Dual Vipers as they were called, Carver carried a powerful rocket launcher called the Negotiator and some other smaller weapons in case he ran out of rockets to fire... though Chrysalis, on the other hand, continued to use her Pulse Rifle, only this time around Starlight had modified it to fire energy bullets that could tear through anything and were designed to not pierce walls that were behind a target, unless she wanted them to do that.

Chrysalis also came equipped with a weapon that Starlight called a Flux Rifle, as it was an actual sniper's rifle that had been quite handy in the training area, though so far she could tell that it would be some time before she had the chance to use it in a battle scenario.

The first group of cultists that they came across, who came to investigate the strange ship that had blown two of their own to pieces and had landed nearby, were excellent targets for Chrysalis to test her improved Pulse Rifle on, where she loosed a volley of bullets and watched as they tore through the cultists in front of them and then did the same with the pair that was behind them, exactly like Starlight said they would. When that happened Chrysalis glanced at her weapon for a moment, surprised that it was even better than it had been back on Tau Volantis, though at the same time Isaac pointed his new guns at the doorway that the cultists had come through and fired at the second group that was coming their way, putting holes in them as their bodies fell to the ground. Of course since the Marker that was on this colony was still operational, as they had ran away from it when the outbreak happened, because the bodies that were in front of them started to reanimate themselves immediately after Isaac and Chrysalis first fired at them... only for Carver to loose one of the rockets in his weapon and blew them all to pieces, opening the way forward while they stared at the area the bodies had been resting in.

"Holy hell," Carver commented, looking at the weapon he had picked to be his main weapon for this mission, because while he knew the power that it commanded in a training environment, like they did earlier, this was completely different from that period of time, "I knew this thing was powerful, but to do all that with a single rocket... no wonder the Unitologists were getting mowed down in all of Danik's reports."

"You should have seen what happened to those Necromorphs that Starlight attacked," Chrysalis said, remembering how quickly the person in question had decimated the undead enemies that were coming their way, before she turned towards the path in front of them, "The RYNO VII is a truly fearsome weapon... though we had better pick up the pace, because those Brethren Moons are going to arrive before we know it and we haven't even saved anyone yet."

Isaac said nothing as he ventured forward, using his new weapons to mow down the Unitologists and Necromorphs that were in their way while Chrysalis and Carver did the same thing, though depending on the targets Carver either stayed with his spare weapon, a bomb throwing glove that really packed a punch, or blew up large groups of enemies with a single rocket. It didn't take them long to reach an intersection where they had to split up, to which the three of them went their separate ways for now and focused on hunting down any survivors so they could escort them back to the transport ship and get them out of here. Fortunately Chrysalis found a group of survivors that happened to be holding their own near where they had landed, which also happened to be near her shop as it turned out and the people were some of her customers before the outbreak, though they were happy to see her again and followed her back to the ship, as they trusted that she wasn't lying to them about it being safe.

Even as she brought the group of people to the safety of the transport ship she found that the moon was a war zone that would have caused an ordinary pony from Equestria to vomit and pass out, though since she was a changeling, and had seen some battles thanks to her mother, she could observe this without freaking out. As she stood near the edge she could see the army that had come to defeat the Unitologists blowing the gunships out of the air or mowing through the ground forces with ease, including the Necromorphs when they rose up to fight. The Unitologists were losing this war that they had started, because their enemies had weapons that caused massive damage if they weren't careful, had ships that happened to be on a level higher than their gunships, and had two actual goddesses that could easily tear the entire moon apart if they so desired. Chrysalis discovered that she honestly didn't need to fight anyone at this point, not with her weapons, so she stood there and protected the transport ship as both Isaac and Carver brought the people they had found to someplace safe... all while she was thinking about what happened to those that crossed over the mirror, the forms they took on, and the power they commanded in the end.

Isaac, who was getting ready to head out towards a second group, paused as Chrysalis held her hand out and the air around her seemed to shimmer for a few seconds, reminding him of the flaming aura she had taken on back on the Titan Station, when she was fighting her mother... but he knew that she wouldn't use it here, not when there were so many people around that could still get hurt.

As it turned out the amount of time they had left before the arrival of the Brethren Moons had gone by rather quickly, though at the same time Chrysalis found several opportunities to use her Flux Rifle to blow a gunship out of the air, once more surprising her by the level of power that these weapons contained. They were far beyond what she, Isaac, and Carver were used to handling, so much so that she honestly wondered what sort of enemies required the use of these weapons in order to defeat them, but that was before her mind turned towards a true adventure in the stars, instead of worrying about death every time a Marker was activated. The Solana, Bogon, and Polaris Galaxies that Sunset had mentioned earlier sounded interesting and worth investigating, making her wonder if she could get permission to explore the vastness of the universe that was now open to her and her friends... though her thoughts were interrupted as the timer went off and she spotted several transport ships taking off, taking the survivors off the moon and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, the other starships that were gathered around the space around Earth were starting to leave as well.

The moment the ships started to leave the planet and the moon, however, Chrysalis snapped back to reality and climbed onto the transport ship that she was standing near, where Starlight tapped a few controls and started up the engines as both Isaac and Carver appeared with the last of the survivors they could find... getting them aboard the ship before climbing up to join her, where they watched the door close as they headed away from the moon.

"Weapon systems are engaged and are being primed as we speak," Starlight commented, causing Chrysalis to turn away from the closed door and walk over to where she was standing, because she was interested in what was going on at the moment, "All starships, be ready to fire at the Brethren Moons when they arrive... and then return to the galaxies you came from while Sunset finishes our targets off."

"Where will you take these people?" Chrysalis inquired, knowing that right now the passengers they were carrying to the Hyperion would be taken somewhere safe, so they wouldn't have to worry about Unitologists and Necromorphs ever again, though even as she spoke she noticed that all of the starships were lined up near each other and were facing the Earth as they charged up the weapon systems Starlight had mentioned.

"There are some inhabitable planets in the Solana Galaxy that some of them can claim as their home," Starlight replied, though at the same time she docked the ship inside the Hyperion and stopped the engines, before she made sure that the ship was locked in place, "along with some planets like that in the Bogon and Polaris Galaxies. We made sure to have places set up ahead of time so that way everyone we saved has a chance to calm down, get over what happened to them, and then integrate themselves into the new societies that are around them. Those foolish cultists tried to destroy humanity because of what some monstrous moons told them, though the survivors won't have to worry about that happening to them again in the future... especially when there appears to be some of them that want to take up arms and defend the rest of their kind from future threats."

Chrysalis wanted to ask more, because all of this was interesting, though at the same time she and her friends walked out of the ship and headed to a viewing area that allowed them to see the Earth as the Hyperion moved away from the planet started to head to the line of ships that were pointed at the place they had just came from. When the Hyperion came to a stop Chrysalis watched as Sunset appeared outside the ship and stared at the planet, while at the same time the ship began to charge it's weapon systems as well, with a timer that indicated that the Brethren Moons would be making their appearance soon. What surprised her was that the timer was more accurate than she thought it was, as the moment it hit zero the space near Earth rippled and the ten Brethren Moons that they had been told about started to appear around the Earth, causing the humans that were around her to gasp in fear and shock as they stared at the massive moon sized creatures that were heading towards the planet. It was in the following moment that Ratchet gave the order to the other ships, where they all fired the weapons that Starlight had created and the shots flew towards their individual targets, causing the ten Brethren Moons to scream in pain and shock as they froze where they were floating, which was followed by Ratchet determining that it was a success.

Before anyone could say anything Sunset made her move, as she gathered some of her energy into a small sphere and sent it flying towards the Earth, causing Chrysalis to remember what had happened to Tau Volantis earlier, though she patiently waited to see what happened next. A few moments went by before the sphere disappeared when it came into contact with the Earth, though that was immediately followed by the volcanoes becoming active and red magma cracks started to form, causing the humans that called Earth home to gasp in shock as they watched what was happening to the planet below them. It took a couple of seconds before the entire planet was covered in fire, ash, death, and was falling apart before their eyes, though Sunset remained where she was standing and sighed as the end happened, to which the Earth exploded and took the moon with it... though, as she and the others had been planning, the Brethren Moons also suffered the end of the planet they had come to devour.

"Well, this is good news," Starlight commented, looking at the tablet that she was holding, which happened to have a video of the planet before it's destruction, though she smiled as the Hyperion started to depart from the area of the universe that they were in, just as Sunset teleported aboard the vessel, "I'm reading that all of the Brethren Moons were caught in the explosion... it seems that the plan was a complete success, as they've all been erased from the universe."

"We're part way done with this operation," Sunset said, causing Chrysalis to turn towards her, because she had to wonder what else she could do to improve the situation that she was in control of, "Ratchet's going to activate the warpdrive, near it's highest power, and we're going to pull out of this galaxy... and then, once everyone is out of this dead galaxy, I'm going to erase the entire galaxy."

"Then what was the point of using the Earth to destroy the Brethren Moons?" Chrysalis asked, as that didn't make a lot of sense, because if Sunset was going to destroy the entire galaxy anyway, which was pretty much dead thanks to both the Moons and the damaging mining that the people went through, she wondered why they had wasted their time in such a manner, when she could have done it in an instant.

"Verification that the Brethren Moons died." Sunset replied, though at the same time she walked away from the window and started heading towards the bridge, so she could wait for the end to come, "I didn't want any of them escaping before I blew the galaxy apart, because if even one of them survived they would have started this madness all over again, in an entirely new galaxy."

Chrysalis stared at Sunset as she walked away, as she couldn't believe what was happening, though at the same time she stared at what had once been the planet known as Earth, because the power that the god commanded was more than what she had thought a pony could control. She remained silent as the Hyperion departed from the galaxy that she had spent the last couple of years in, though what surprised her was that not even a few minutes later they appeared in an area that was outside the swirling mass that had to have been the galaxy she had been living in. Sunset, true to her word, used her power to destroy the 'dead' galaxy, purging it from existence and erasing the rest of the Markers and the Necromorphs that they created, before they headed towards one of the other galaxies that Starlight had been to during her own adventures.

While all this happened Chrysalis realized that she had entered a world where ponies, in their new forms, were the strongest creatures in the entirety of the universe, but at the same time she had also come across the existence of some interesting galaxies that she wanted to explore... Equus, as much as it was her home, held no value for her at this point and her mind turned towards the stars around them, wondering what adventures she would have in the near future.

Interlude: End of a Journey

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After the destruction of the unnamed galaxy, that she had been in for the last couple of years, Chrysalis spent the first few minutes sitting in a chair as she stared at the area that the galaxy had been resting in, reflecting over the fact that the mission that she had been on, survive the nightmare that she had found herself in, was complete. Her original mission had been to survive for as long as possible, but then, when she started to see some sort of friendship with Isaac, she turned down the only way out of this galaxy in order to break her only friend out of the area he was being contained in. Sure, she suffered more mental scars in the process when her vile mother came back from the depths of her memories, but she managed to get both herself and Isaac, along with Ellie, away from the Titan Station before it blew up. After that it was a matter of hiding until they were needed again, something that Carver and his traitorous captain told them about and promptly brought them to Tau Volantis... which was now completely destroyed, just like the rest of the galaxy that it and the other Marker infested planets had inhabited.

It was in that moment of reflection that she remembered that they had won, they had stopped the Markers and the Brethren Moons from completing their terrible task, saved a good portion of humanity in the process, and were now heading towards the other galaxies that had planets for the survivors to start over on.

"It doesn't seem real, does it?" a voice said, to which Santos and the others took the remaining seats around Chrysalis, as there had been five chairs around her when she arrived in the area that she was currently sitting in, though she stared out at the stars that they were passing by, "We spent all that time thinking that we were the only intelligent life in the galaxy, when in reality we had barely scratched the surface of the universe and the number of races that call it home. I could spend months studying the races that Ratchet's already told me about and I still would have only scratched the surface of all the new information that's available to use... even his own species, the Lombaxes as he calls them, are so fascinating that I could send days on end learning all I can about them."

"This starship is also fascinating in it's own manner," Isaac added, as that was what he had gone and looked at after they left the dead galaxy behind, because he started to explore the ship the instant that they no longer needed to focus on survival for once, "Not only was it outfitted for war, after being used as a research ship apparently, but there are enough rooms for all of us and the survivors to share without anyone being cramped, like there's more to the interior than what we can see from the outside. There's also the fact that the air vents on this ship are much smaller than the ones I'm used to seeing aboard all the other ships I've worked on, or even the ones in all the corporation buildings that I needed to work in from time to time... meaning that we'd be much safer from any sort of danger, if such a thing actually happened aboard a ship like this."

"And don't get me started on their weapons," Carver commented, as he was impressed by the power of the weapons they had used in their training sessions and was clearly eager to see what else their new surroundings held for them, and what sort of enemies he could use the new weapons against, "I traded a few words with Captain Ratchet earlier, once we started heading towards our destination, and asked him and his companion Clank if there were any armies that might be taking someone like me in, even if I had no idea what the rules or regulations are for the galaxies we're heading towards. Surprisingly enough he said that all three of the galaxies that he's been to have their own Defense Force and that all of them are actively recruiting new members, meaning that there might be a chance for me to actually make myself useful and defend what's left of humanity... and use some of those weapons that we used earlier at the same time."

"That's nice to hear." Chrysalis said, as she was happy that at least three of her friends might have found something new to do with their lives, once they dropped off the survivors on the planet that they were being taken to, though Ellie was sure to follow Isaac and continue the research she and Santos were doing on the other races.

Isaac didn't say anything to what Chrysalis said for a moment, because he was busy trying to figure out what was wrong with her, since she was clearly happy about all the lives that they had saved with the help of the gods that had come to their aid, but at the same time she seemed distracted by something else. He immediately remembered everything that he had learned about his friend, the fact that she had once been one of the two princesses to an entire kingdom and then became the queen when her mother was killed, but as those memories came back he realized what was going on. His friend had finally been rid of the one person that she hated with all her heart, her evil and vile mother, but at the same time he realized what it wasn't her mother that she was thinking about, it was actually her sister, the one spirit that she hadn't seen since the events of the Titan Station. Amaryllis hadn't shown herself since they left the moon, which was the last time Chrysalis would have been able to see her sister before they started fighting for their lives, which told Isaac that what was distracting her was the fact that she had never gotten the chance to say goodbye to her sister... just like what happened when they were alive, as she never had the opportunity to do the same thing when Amaryllis was alive.

The only other thing that he could think of was that Chrysalis wasn't looking forward to heading home, to Equus, either because of what happened before she appeared in the Kellion all those years ago, or because she didn't want to relive the memories that might be waiting for them when they got there.

"Chrysalis, what's wrong?" Santos asked, beating Isaac to the punch, as he was getting ready to ask his friend what was bugging her, but at the same time they remained silent as Santos talked, as they were interested in seeing what sort of reaction the changeling had, "You should be happy that we all survived our excursion to Tau Volantis and managed to save quite a number of people in the process."

"I am happy about that, I really am," Chrysalis said, and she meant it, because she had always put her subjects first, back when she was the ruler of the Hive, though now she was pleased that they had saved as many as they did, "the problem... the problem is that even though we'll be heading to my home planet, after we set these guys up with their new lives, I won't be staying for long. I ruled over the Hive for the last thousand years, since the day my mother was killed, and only stopped when I was overthrown and utterly defeated, though now I suspect that my changelings would rather have me disappear and leave them to their devices, with Thorax ruling over them now. The truth is that Equus holds too many bad memories for me, ones that I would relive once we spent some time in a specific location, so all I'm going to do is visit a place that is important to me and say my goodbyes... and then I'm joining Ratchet's crew, or whoever would be willing to take me with them. I was hoping that all of you would join me in exploring the vast universe we're being introduced to, because I'm saying goodbye to Equus and putting the past behind me."

Isaac was honestly surprised to hear that the planet that Chrysalis had been trying to get back to, ever since she first entered his life all those years ago, now no longer had any value to her and that she only wanted to visit one place before she left her home world. In a way it almost felt like she was admitting defeat, because going home had been her mission the entire time he had known her, but the pain of having her loved ones and family brought back had caused all the terrible memories to resurface, ones that she wanted to keep buried because of how painful they were. At the same time, however, he was quick to agree that he'd be willing to join her in her exploration of the new galaxies, planets, and races that were now open to them, as he knew that something new would put Chrysalis' mind off of everything that she had been though since she walked through the crystal mirror she kept talking about. Ellie, Santos, and Carver each agreed as well, as all three of them were interested in different aspects of the new technology that was available and the places that were now open to them... and, much to Isaac's joy, Chrysalis actually smiled when she discovered that her friends were going to come with her and see what the rest of the universe had to offer them.

Sure, that adventure wouldn't start until they had their short visit to Equus and let Chrysalis do what she needed to do, but then, when that was over and done with, the five of them would figure out which of the captains would be willing to take them on and start their next adventure.

Chrysalis spent the next few hours half listening to the plans that her friends were making, about how Santos was going to find a research team to join so she could study all of the new lifeforms that they had discovered, while Ellie decided that she would put her talents and training to use somewhere else. Isaac and Carver, both respectable fighters thanks to everything that they had been through, were planning on joining one of the military networks, like they mentioned earlier, though as they glanced at Chrysalis she knew that they wanted her to come with them, as a three man team. She still wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she left Equus behind, since that entire visit was going to be one that she was going to dislike, but she told them that she would think about it, especially since she was preoccupied with confronting the past for the last time. At the same time she was somewhat happy to see that her friends were willing to let her think about what she was going to do next, though they all insisted that she eat something to keep her energy up... which was followed by her discovering that the food that was aboard the ship was fresh and was more delicious than anything she had while she was traveling with Isaac and Ellie.

Eventually Ratchet pulled the Hyperion into a docking station on a planet called Kerwan, where the large city known as Metropolis was located, though as Chrysalis helped her friends escort the survivors outside, which was where the smaller transports were waiting to carry the survivors to the other planets that were scattered throughout the galaxy. While they did that Chrysalis discovered that Metropolis was a gigantic city with a large number of vehicles flying through the air, which immediately explained why the survivors weren't going to be living here, but what caught her interest was that there were people and robots helping the poor people out. That entailed helping them out of the RIGs that they had been wearing, and wouldn't need anymore, before outfitting them with the basics of the technology that the three galaxies used, so they could get acquainted with the new technology before showing off everything else. She even overheard that the currency for the Solana, Bogon, and Polaris Galaxies was Bolts, to which she and her friends looked at each other with some confusion on their faces, but they didn't have a lot of time to ponder that as Ratchet called them back aboard the ship so he could get underway to the area where Equus rested... which happened to be outside the three galaxies, where the group discovered that he was one of the few people that knew how to get there by using a starship.

Now that they weren't weighed down by the survivors, where Chrysalis was happy to see that they were already taking to the new information that was being given to them and the locations of where they were going to live, Ratchet activated the warpdrive and they entered the familiar space between two points... though this time he used the full power of the ship, as not a few minutes later they exited warp system and appeared near a familiar planet; Equus.

"We'll take over things from here," Celestia commented, surprising Chrysalis by her arrival, as she was sure that the two gods had been talking about something in the private room that they had been in since they left the erased galaxy, though at the same time Ratchet nodded his head in understanding, "Come along now, it's time we head down to Ponyville and see if we can't sort some things out."

Chrysalis said nothing as she, Isaac, and the rest of their group followed the gods over to the docking area, where Celestia waved her staff and surrounded all of them with one large magical bubble, though once that was done they flew out of the ship and started their descent towards the planet below them. As they got closer and closer to the planet, and her friends started to take in the sights that they could see already, Chrysalis felt the presence of a number of powerful beings from where she was standing, but as they got closer the number of signatures she felt only increased at the same time. She had to wonder what was going on, since there hadn't been this many powerful beings when she went through the mirror all those years ago, but what shocked her was that there were a select few of the powerful beings she could feel that were even stronger than the others... and, by her estimates, there were at least six extremely powerful beings down there, not counting Discord since he was living inside the castle last she checked.

When they breached the layer of clouds, however, Chrysalis' eyes widened as she looked down at Ponyville, which was the same as she remembered it, and looked at the inhabitants that were walking around at the moment... as all of them happened to have the same type of body that she and the gods did, but that didn't make sense considering that only a select few had gone through the mirror, which she had done.

"We developed a process called the 'Awakening Process'," Sunset explained, gesturing to some of the humanoid ponies that were walking around the town, all of which had pony ears, tails, and hooves where Chrysalis had them, with some having horns as well, "It's like stepping through the mirror that you stepped through, only this time they weren't thrown to another part of the galaxy and didn't have to go through an adventure to unlock their powers... rather they willingly took on these new bodies, after seeing Princess Luna do the same thing, and they gained new bodies as well, and in some cases some of them unlocked the power to tap into an element and use it in battle. I trust you remember the three fillies that called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom." Chrysalis replied, as she remembered their names and what they had looked like the last time she had seen them, though now she was sure that their forms must have changed as well, since they all lived in Ponyville.

"Each of them has undergone the transformation process and unlocked some of their inner power," Sunset said, to which she gestured to what appeared to be a practice area near the Everfree Forest, where Chrysalis could feel the energy of at least three of the extremely powerful beings residing in that area, accompanied by four smaller ones, "just like everyone that has gone through the mirror and completed their own adventure. The same could be said for you, that you went through the mirror, transformed into your new form, and eventually unlocked a higher level of power to use against your enemies, if the need to use that power ever arose."

Chrysalis thought about the names that Discord had told her all those years ago, about the ponies that had gone through the mirror before her, and wondered just how strong they actually became, as the power she was feeling put them on the level that the Royal Sisters would have been on if either of them used their full power during a fight, which was why she was lucky to have beaten Princess Celestia when she did. She couldn't think about her thoughts for too long, as the moment they neared the ground the bubble disappeared and they all landed on their feet, or hooves in the cause of the Equestrians, though once that happened Sunset beckoned for them to follow and headed towards the area that the energy was coming from. As they walked, and Chrysalis' friends took in the scenery, Chrysalis noticed that every former pony they walked by had a level of power that had been nonexistent when she was last here, confirming what she had been told, but when they reached the training area she found four children sized pony girls, all of which were flying around the area in front of them, battling each other... while at the same time she recognized the three figures that were standing nearby as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, all having the same body that she did and possessed incredible energies that potentially rivaled her own higher power.

She wondered, for a moment, if their adventures were like hers, where they went on a quest of some kind, had a emotional event happen to them, and took on the level of power that they now commanded... and, at the same time, she found that she honestly didn't want the answer to that question.

"I knew that I felt someone come back from their adventure!" a voice said, to which Chrysalis and her friends jumped back a bit when Pinkie Pie appeared in front of them, out of thin air, while at the same time the gods found their expressions to be a little amusing, "Here, for all of you!"

Sure enough Pinkie had cupcakes ready for all of them before they even arrived, making Chrysalis remember that this pony had also gone through the mirror, since her body was like hers and she was wearing some strange armor with a robe of some kind over it. At the same time, however, her friends stared at Pinkie with some levels of shock, surprise, and Santos saying something about how she disregarded the laws of the universe, leading every Equestrian to tell her that it was just Pinkie being Pinkie and that she'd get used to it. Chrysalis stared at the cupcake for a moment and honestly couldn't remember the last time she ate one because she wanted to, rather instead of playing whatever role she had taken on so she could better the lives of her Hive... though thinking about them made her remember why she had bothered to come home in the first place. Instead of sticking around, like she was sure that the others would have wanted her to, she floated into the air and headed towards the one place that she wanted to visit, the only place that she could finally put the past behind her... she headed towards the Hive, so she could find the graves that she hadn't visited in a long time.

Thanks to her new power she managed to make it to the location of the Hive in ten minutes, where originally one would have to take a train for a day or something similar, though instead of heading into the actual Hive she headed towards a nearby cave and landed in front of it. From there she moved the stone boulder that was in the way and walked down into the small hidden crypt that had been constructed, while at the same time the enchanted torches came alive for the first time in a thousand years, revealing that not many changelings knew about this place, and it was possible that she was the only one who did know what was down here. There weren't any spells or enchantments to ward off intruders, rather the fury of the Hive was enough to make anyone instantly regret even considering opening this place, even though it wasn't as sacred as the Crypt of the Queens, where her mother was likely buried with the rulers that came before her. It was a place where her sister should have been buried, since she was destined for the throne before her, but in the end Amaryllis ended up someplace else... which was just fine for her, since it meant that her sister was close to the other pony that had a special place in her heart; Wildfire.

When she reached the bottom step she looked at the small chamber she was in, which was twice as tall as a queen sized changeling and didn't made her crouch or anything, but what held her attention were the two stone coffins that were in front of her, one to the left and one to the right. She had painstakingly created this place when Wildfire died, to honor the pony that had befriended her and taught her so many lessons, and also increased the size in case she ever needed to join her and was forbidden to join the other queens, though the one to the right was where her sister rested, no doubt brought here by some of the loyal changelings that had helped her take her mother down. Just thinking about Wildfire and Amaryllis caused her to take a seat between the two coffins, where she silently sat as she remembered all the good times she had with both the pony that won her heart and the sister that was her guardian angel, even in death. As she sat there, however, she let the tears flow for a while, as just being here made her also remember how each of them had died and caused the pain to come back... but this time around she was going to bury all of it inside the tomb, where she hoped that she would never have to feel the pain ever again, at least until she decided to come back, if she ever did that.

She honestly had no idea how long she spent down there, and honestly she didn't care, but when she felt that she was ready she wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes, stood up at long last, and touched both of the graves for a few seconds, before she headed towards the opening... though this time around she was leaving with her head held high as she focused on what the future held for her. When she reached the opening, however, she wasn't expecting to find Celestia standing near the opening, though the look on her face told Chrysalis that the Solar Princess felt sorry for her, while at the same time she didn't bother to ask how she found her way here as she closed the door behind her.

"I take it you're going to head back to the Hyperion and leave Equus behind?" Celestia asked, though at the same time she watched the former queen of the changeling Hive as she moved the boulder back into position, sealing the tomb once more, as it was rare to see her like this.

"That's right." Chrysalis replied, to which she sighed as the boulder slipped back into place in front of the entrance, sealing the tomb in the process, before she turned her attention towards the god that was standing in front of her, "If I were to stay on this planet, where I lost both my sister and the pony that won my heart, I'd be tempted to spend every waking moment in that tomb with them. I built it as our final resting place, for all three of us, so that way, when the world was too much for me to handle, I could end my suffering and slip into the afterlife... though right now there are people that need help and I'm sure that Ratchet has a schedule that he needs to get back to."

"Then we had best be moving along," Celestia said, forming a bubble around the two of them before they headed back towards Ponyville, where Starlight would land and collect Chrysalis when she was ready, though there was one other thing that needed to be taken care of before the changeling left Equus behind, "There is, however, the manner of the power you unlocked during your travels and your inability to actually tame it. If you continue down the road you're following at the moment, where you aren't even attempting to tame the impressive power you unlocked, you'll eventually burn yourself out and potentially kill everyone around you."

"What are you getting at?" Chrysalis asked, because she had determined all of this already, which was why she had refused to use her power in the first place, especially when they could have used that power to decimate the enemies that were in their way.

"Would you like a rematch before you go?" Celestia inquired, though she said nothing more as she focused on getting them back to Ponyville, as she was sure that Chrysalis understood what she was referring to and what she was trying to convince her to do before she left Equus behind.

Chrysalis actually grinned for a moment, because Celestia, the Solar Princess herself, was asking her if she wanted to have another battle with her, sort of like what they had back during the wedding... and the more she thought about it, and the potential danger, the more she realized that it would get the worst of her feelings towards her true power out of her system, which made her wonder what it would be like to fight the actual Celestia in battle, and not the weakened version she fought during the wedding. One thing was for sure, she wasn't about to let this chance pass her by, not when it was likely the only time she would have to calm her true power down, and she was sure she knew exactly which answer Celestia was waiting for... and she'd be in for one epic battle once they got back to Ponyville.

Interlude: The Rematch

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Once Chrysalis and Celestia returned to Ponyville, after the flight from the area that the Hive was located in, the Solar Princess landed in front of the others and asked Chrysalis if she had come a decision regarding what she had asked her when they were leaving the private tomb she had opened. The question caused the others to turn towards them and stare at them, because it appeared that when a pony returned from their adventure they engaged someone in a battle to show how strong they had gotten over the course over their travels, indicating that it was Chrysalis' turn if she followed the pattern. When she learned that whoever finished their adventure apparently had a battle with someone, where she found out that two of them had actually fought Sunset upon their return to Equus, she was half tempted to say that she was just fine and leave the planet behind, but the more she thought about it the more she decided that she couldn't let this chance slip by her. In the end she faced the group, of Equestrians and her friends, and informed them that she was going to take Celestia up on her offer to have a rematch, where she inquired as to where they were going to spar with each other before she figured out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

"We'll head to a dead planet to battle each other," Celestia replied, though as Sunset approached them she noticed that Chrysalis and her friends were staring at her, but why they were doing that she had no idea, "What? You honestly didn't think that we would fight somewhere on Equus, did you?"

"I'm just surprised that you want to fight on a planet that's like Tau Volantis," Chrysalis stated, as that was what she thought of when she heard the term 'dead planet', but based on the looks that she was getting she could tell that there was something that she wasn't understanding.

"A dead planet is one where life, like humans or ponies for instance, won't develop," a new voice said, to which Chrysalis turned and found Twilight Sparkle, wearing a different set of clothing than what Sunset and Celestia were wearing, and had some strange earrings in her ears, walking towards them with Discord floating behind her, "Sunset's supposed to destroy them so I can eventually spark the creation of new planets, since I'm the God of Creation for our universe, but for the next few days I'm going to be extremely busy... because creating the spark of creation for an entirely new galaxy, to replace the one that you were sent to, is going to be extremely taxing and time consuming. Normally, when Sunset destroys a planet, I start the process to create new ones, but since I have to make a new galaxy I've decided to take the rest of the day off for now, especially since this will be the first time that Celestia's fought someone that's not Sunset... and that's when they're sparring."

Chrysalis stared at Twilight for a moment, as she slightly regretted her decision to battle Celestia if she was capable of sparring with Sunset, who was the God of Destruction who wiped out an entire galaxy in an instant, but at the same time she knew that she couldn't back out, not when she agreed to the fight. Since the Hyperion was still near the planet, as Ratchet had next to nothing to do until they were done visiting the planet, Celestia gathered her power for a moment and formed a sphere around the entire group, before pulling them up to the ship. Chrysalis soon discovered that the group that was coming to see the fight included Sunset, Twilight, Discord, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, including the newest addition that they had picked up, but she focused on what was going to happen next when they reached the planet in question. When they arrived aboard the ship, where Ratchet was waiting in the docking area for someones return, he nodded his head when he heard that they were heading out to a new planet, one that he must have been told about after Starlight and Sunset finished their adventure, before he returned to the bridge of the ship and activated the warpdrive once more.

This time around the journey between the two points was extremely short, making Chrysalis wonder if this planet was closer than the galaxy she had been sent to or if the power of the warpdrive made the journey even faster, but when they exited the warp system she discovered that the planet in question seemed to be like Earth... but, as she looked closer, there were some places where there was active volcanic activity and a massive ash cloud, no doubt a consequence of Sunset's battles with the other Equestrians that returned from their adventures. Once they neared their destination, and the ship's engines died down, everyone headed over to the transport ship that was in the docking area and Ratchet piloted it down to the planet's surface, where he appeared to be looking for a good spot to land. With a quarter of the planet looking like it was going to continue erupting for the next couple of years, at least until someone blew the planet apart, Chrysalis would have thought it would have been hard to find a patch of land that hadn't been ripped up, but Ratchet surprised her by finding a plain that was far enough away so they wouldn't have to deal with the fire and ash, which also had a mountain in the distance.

When they arrived at the edge of the plains Ratchet lowered the transport ship down onto a cliff that was overlooking the area in question, though when the ship came to a stop he tapped a few buttons and some sitting arrangements came out of the sides of the ship... though as that happened Celestia rested her staff against the side of the ship before she and turned towards Chrysalis, where she stared at the armor that she was wearing at the moment.

"You might want to change out of that armor," Celestia commented, though at the same time she jumped into the air and floated there for a few seconds, as it appeared that she was getting ready to head out and would wait for her to come to the area that she would be standing in, "otherwise you'll find that it will hinder you, instead of helping you."

"And I have something that you can wear, instead of whatever your wearing under the armor," Rarity added, though that didn't surprise Chrysalis at all, not when the fashionista was prone to making dresses in the most unlikely of places and even out of some of the strangest items.

A few minutes later Chrysalis, now wearing a dark green set of clothing that resembled what Rainbow and Applejack were wearing, a gi as they called it, left her armor in the capable hands of Isaac and her friends, before she floated into the air and flew after the Solar Princess. As it turned out Celestia had decided to pick the very middle of the plains, giving them plenty of room to battle in, though at the same time she knew that the other reason was so that if she started to use her full power she didn't have to worry about hurting the others in the process, which was why she had been able to beat her on the day that Cadence was supposed to get married. After surveying the area, and finding it to her liking, Chrysalis landed nearby and faced her opponent, who had been patiently waiting for her to arrive, knowing ahead of time that Rarity would insist on replacing the clothing she had been wearing, but she decided that now wasn't the time to bring that up as she prepared herself for battle.

"So, what are the rules for this fight?" Chrysalis asked, because based on the fact that she had to leave her weapons and armor behind, things that she had gotten used to using and wearing since she stepped through the mirror, she knew that this was going to be a magic fight with punches and kicks involved.

"I want you to attack me with all your might," Celestia said, though at the same time she shifted her body a bit, where she was facing Chrysalis now, while also raising one hand into the air while hanging the other by the side of her body, "and I, in turn, will do the same to you. The match will be over when one of us admits defeat, so no killing."

Chrysalis moved not even a second later, where she flew through the air and raised her right arm so she could punch Celestia in the face, though as she got close and swung her arm, however, Celestia moved out of the way and let her attack go right by her, surprising Chrysalis that she had dodged the attack instead of parrying it. A moment later Celestia released her left hand and slammed it into Chrysalis' chest, staggering her for a moment as pain flashed through her body for a brief second, before she spun around and kicked her in the same spot, knocking her backwards. Chrysalis stopped herself from moving too far back and stared at her opponent, as she was surprised that she had dodged her first attack with so little effort, but that only made her wonder if Celestia had always been like that or if it was something she had learned during her training with Sunset. She knew that her opponent was powerful, as it had been one of the things she had thought about before her initial invasion of Canterlot for food for her subjects, but with her transformed into this state she was already on an entirely new level... meaning that she needed to be careful, otherwise she was sure that Celestia would find a way to get through her defenses and take her down.

As such Chrysalis engaged her magic and readied herself, as not a few seconds later she rushed her target again and attacked her once more, though this time around she gathered her magic and loosed several energy shots at Celestia when she knocked her away from her. Celestia, seeing the attacks coming, simply brushed them aside with her hands, where the blasts traveled around the area and exploded when they hit some boulders and the ground, but while that was going on, and she was distracted, Chrysalis charged forward again so she could make sure of the opening that had been revealed to her. Chrysalis watched as her first came close to Celestia's face, who was distracted from the energy attack she had fired at her, but what happened next was that Celestia pulled her head back, without even looking at Chrysalis, and let the attack through the space that her head had been in seconds ago, surprising Chrysalis as the Solar Princess grabbed onto her hand and threw her away from where she was standing... though not a few seconds later Chrysalis righted herself and stood on the ground, while at the same time Celestia simply stood there and waited for her to attack.

This time around Chrysalis stayed on the offensive, because if her opponent was going to just stand there and do nothing she might as well try to exploit the weakness, but as she rushed forward and attacked, where Celestia floated into the air and simply ducked and weaved under her attacks as she dodged them, Chrysalis knew that there was something strange about this situation. Sure, Celestia was one of the most powerful creatures on Equus, much like Discord was one as well, but even so she knew that her opponent's power couldn't allow her to simply dodge all of her attacks like they were nothing and only fight back when she found a good moment to do so. Even though she had once been an alicorn, a creature of immense power that had to learn self control over the years, that hadn't given Celestia the ability to simply avoid attacks that were directed at her, as she would have done so during the wedding and struck Chrysalis down where she stood... and yet here she was, dodging her attacks like they didn't matter, though it wasn't until she emerged from her thoughts that Chrysalis noticed that Celestia had closed her eyes and was still dodging her attacks.

Chrysalis growled for a moment as her magic flared, where she ripped some of the earth out of the area behind Celestia, created to be pointed spikes so she could at least hurt her opponent, but then Celestia merely jumped over them, without opening her eyes, and Chrysalis followed suit as she continued her attack. The next thing she tried was fireballs, ice spikes, and blasts of lightning, as those were some of the lowest level blast attacks she knew that she could test against what was happening in front of her, and every time she fired one of those spells, at random, Celestia still dodged her attack like it was nothing. After a few more seconds of that happening, and getting absolutely nowhere with this fight, there was only one thing that Chrysalis could do in this situation, she jumped backwards and landed on one of the boulders that happened to be resting around the plains, though whether it was from her fight or one of the previous ones didn't matter to her at the moment. Once she was in position she focused her mind and let her aura flare to life around her body, though even as she raised her power to a higher level she still refrained from pushing it too far, as she didn't want to go wild, like she did at the Titan Station, which was why her body remained normal as she stared at her opponent for a moment.

"So you're finally getting serious." Celestia said, to which she opened her eyes again and stared at Chrysalis, though at the same time she noticed that she still wasn't using her full power, which made her slightly disappointed that her opponent wasn't trying her hardest to beat her, "Come, let me see the power you gained during your adventure."

Chrysalis swung her arm and loosed a surge of energy blasts that raced through the air towards where Celestia was standing, though as that happened she ran along the ground and stayed with them, so when the first energy blast reached her target Celestia would have to focus on them and not on her. What actually happened was that a golden aura appeared around her opponent and the energy blasts curved around where she was standing, where they went off in an entirely different direction and exploded when they came into contact with something, though at the same time Chrysalis threw her fist forward and was rewarded by Celestia actually blocking her attack with her hand. That was good news, because she was tired of the Solar Princess dodging her attacks while they were nothing and could work with her parrying her attacks, which was why she continued to punch and kick at Celestia as she pushed her back towards the mountain that was directly behind her. Celestia didn't seem to mind changing areas, since sometimes the force of their energies colliding shook the area around them and sometimes even broke it, but did continue to parry the attacks that were coming her way with the same efficiency that she used earlier.

What ended the barrage of attacks that Chrysalis was using, just her kicking and punching at the moment, was when Celestia moved under her attacks and punched her with enough force to send her all the way back to the plains, where she forced herself to stop in the same area that they had started in... though instead of rushing forward Chrysalis focused both her mind and her magic, as there was something she wanted to try against her opponent and this was the only opportunity she was going to get. Celestia, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Chrysalis had stopped moving and that her energy was building, though as she watched what was going on, while floating down to where the changeling was standing, she noticed that the energy was starting to wrap around the area that they were in and that several forms were starting to take shape. That was followed by swords, axes, lances, spears, pikes, and a number of other weapons, ones that could be wielded by ponies and not the guns that Chrysalis had discovered, formed around them, though one thing that Celestia noticed was that they all appeared to be made of energy, which meant they would hurt if they came into contact with someone.

"This is my Weapon Dance technique," Chrysalis commented, though at the same time she stared at Celestia for a few seconds, who was staring at the weapons with a look of interest in her eyes, before she looked around at the weapons she had been able to create, "Normally I try to use this when I'm outnumbered and there are a lot of scattered weapons around the area that I'm in, though at the same time I can also spend a little more of my energy to form my own weapons and use them in the technique. Of course it's more demanding when I use my own power to make weapons, but now that I'm not longer restricted by how much love energy I have on hand... well, let me just say that I made more weapons than what I actually needed for a single opponent."

"Sometimes making more is a good thing," Celestia replied, as she had read a few reports over the years from ponies that had fought a shapeshifter that turned the weapons of the guards against them and always fled the scene before they could be stopped, which meant that it was Chrysalis in all those reports, though at the same time she raised a hand and beckoned to her opponent, "I'm interested in seeing how well this technique of yours works."

Chrysalis charged forward and the rest of the weapons followed suit, almost making it look like an army of invisible soldiers were charging at the Solar Princess, who simply stood there and waited to see what happened, though once she got close enough to her target Chrysalis flexed her hand and one of the swords flew over to her, where she grabbed it and swung at Celestia. It was plainly clear that Celestia wasn't actually expecting her to grab one of the weapons, or call one over to her hand, which was why she had a slightly delayed reaction to that and almost got cut in the process, but at the same time Chrysalis was pleased to find that her opponent was slowing down a little. As she spun around for a second swing, however, it was Chrysalis' turn to be caught off guard, because Celestia reached out and caused one of the broadswords to come to her hand, one that she used to block the incoming attack and force Chrysalis backwards. As she did that, and came to a stop as the weapons waited for directions, Chrysalis realized that there was a flaw in this spell, now that she was actually using it against one of the Royal Sisters... anyone with an sufficient amount of knowledge on how magic worked, like Celestia for instance, could make use of the spell and arm themselves as well, maybe even order some of the weapons to attack their creator at the same time.

This was something that she honestly wasn't expecting, but should have at least seen coming since she was challenging someone that that was at least a thousand years old, maybe even more than that, though that didn't stop Chrysalis from charging forward and attacking Celestia again... where their blades connected for a moment and Celestia dodged the other weapons that came at her by pulling back at the last second. Despite Celestia avoiding the most nasty attacks that Chrysalis had planned, as she kept avoiding the weapons when they came for her, Chrysalis discovered that actually having an opponent that she could clash with, at least with energy weapons, was more interesting than what she originally thought it would be. There were times where she used magic and tried to blast her opponent in the face, which ended up missing since Celestia was faster than her, and eventually their weapons broke since they weren't made to be extremely durable, which cut into the number of weapons she had forged from energy until there was next to nothing left... and at the same time Chrysalis still didn't have anything to show for her efforts, because Celestia seemed to be avoiding all types of damage and her attacks seemed to be too slow.

There was only one thing she could think of that would turn this battle in her favor, one thing that would make it an even battle between them, and yet, at the same time, she still didn't want to tap into the uncontrollable power that she had unlocked a few years ago... though as the final weapons shattered, and they separated from each other, Chrysalis wondered if now was the time to try her luck and use her full power for once.

"I'll admit, that was an interesting spell," Celestia commented, to which she watched as the magic faded as quickly as it had arrived, as she was sure that Twilight had seen the spell in action and already had notes on how to mimic it for herself if she ever wanted to use it, before she turned towards Chrysalis, "but let me be completely honest with you, Chrysalis, the only way that you're going to be able to get close to dealing damage to me is if you tap into the power you awoke during your journey... and this time control it, instead of letting it control you. Just remember what you were fighting for, and who you were fighting for, when you made the decision to refuse Discord's offer and stay in that cell for a few years."

Chrysalis was mad at Discord for even revealing that, because it was something that should have stayed between the two of them, though at the same time it wasn't hard for her to remember why she had told Discord that she wasn't going to take his offer and let him leave without her. She had been dead set on rescuing Isaac and getting off the Titan Station before the Marker went off, and then that changed to them wanting to destroy the Marker before it killed everyone and started the Convergence event that they stopped, only for it to change again when Ellie called for help. She wanted to do everything in her power to save people, which was another reason she was leaving her home planet behind to travel across the stars, to help people that were in danger from the other villains that the universe had and to see new places that weren't trying to kill her. She had picked up the desire to protect innocent people from the evils that were arrayed against them and had discovered friends that were willing to stand beside her, regardless of the situation that they found themselves in... even if it meant fighting a planet that was filled with Necromorphs and a moon that was made from the flesh of who knew how many people.

When she thought about all of that Chrysalis sighed and closed her eyes, reaching back to the day she unlocked the power that had terrified her enough to almost swear off her magic entirely, before she reached into the depths of her being and tugged on her inner power.

Celestia watched Chrysalis for a few seconds, already feeling the change in the former queen's energy as she actually reached for her new power, though as the seconds ticked by Chrysalis' aura came to life, as she expected it to, before taking on the appearance of flames. From what she could tell, based on what Discord had shown her on Chrysalis' travels, the changeling didn't have a specific element that she was partial to, rather she she used whatever spell was best at any given moment and usually got away from her enemies once she was done, so she was sure that there wasn't an affinity involved this time around. Considering that some of the other ponies had affinities for other things, much like the absent Lyra and Trixie, who were in the Dragon Lands last she checked, she was sure that Chrysalis wasn't tied to a specific element, rather she connected to something else, especially with how powerful her inner power was. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Chrysalis' skin was changing color, taking on a near bone white coloration, while at the same time her hair and tail turned crimson red... and when she opened her eyes Celestia found that her sclera had turned black while Chrysalis' irises had turned golden yellow.

For a moment she actually thought that Chrysalis was going to charge at her like some mindless creature, as that was the vibe she was getting from her, but as she readied herself she noticed that a look of surprise appeared on Chrysalis' face, as she had to look over her body a few times to be sure that she wasn't hallucinating what she was seeing.

"I'm... in control?!" Chrysalis commented, as the last time, and the only time, she had used this power was when she had been forced to transform into this form, but now she was actually in control of her power and not being used like a doll of some kind, before she faced Celestia, "This is different than when I used this power the first time around... so I have no idea what will happen when the battle starts up again."

Celestia nodded her understanding, as Discord had explained it to her and Sunset earlier, before she beckoned for Chrysalis to come at her, as she was wondering just how strong this new power of hers was, though the air around her opponent rippled as Chrysalis flew towards her, faster than what she had been doing earlier. This time around Celestia grabbed the fist that was coming towards her and stopped it in it's tracks, though at the same time the area around them was flattened by their energies coming into contact in such a manner, reminding her of when Sunset battle both Rainbow and Applejack upon their return, or when Sunset fought their father sometime later. Chrysalis, sensing that an opportunity had presented itself, pulled her fist out of Celestia's hand and spun around, where she brought the back of her leg down on where the Solar Princess was standing, causing the entire area around her to break as her attack was parried, though at the same time Celestia looked at Chrysalis and smiled, as this was what she had been trying to pull out since the battle started... and right now it was time to see just how strong Chrysalis had actually become, which was followed by her forcing Chrysalis backwards before the battle started anew.

Chrysalis stood there for a few seconds, feeling the power course through her body as she wondered why she had taken so long to try this since she appeared to be in complete control, before she gathered her energy into her right hand and sent a beam of energy towards her target. Celestia, seeing it coming, raised her hand and used her own power to form a shield in front of her, to which the beam struck it and turned into bands of energy that arced around her body and exploded when they struck the mountain behind her, before she noticed that the beam had stopped when the smoke cleared. As she noticed that Chrysalis was no longer standing where she had been a few seconds ago, however, she focused her mind and waited to see what her opponent had in mind for her, though that was followed by the air behind her shifting as Chrysalis appeared behind her, where she parried the attack that was coming her way and the area around them shattered under the weight of their powers colliding. This time around Chrysalis grinned as she grabbed onto Celestia and hurled her into the air, before bursting into the air as well and launched herself into a fury of punches and kicks that her opponent either parried or blocked... while at the same time the air around them shuddered as they moved away from the plains and headed towards the mountain that was near them.

As they clashed in the air above the mountain the peaks rumbled and collapsed in the process, though at the same time Chrysalis kicked Celestia down towards the ground and loosed a storm of blasts that raced down towards where she was standing, forcing the Solar Princess to loose some blasts in return and cause some collisions in the middle of the air while tearing the mountain apart. Of course while that happened Celestia found that Chrysalis was definitely planning her attacks out ahead of time, as while the two of them were blasting each other she used her magic and teleported behind her while she was distracted, allowing Chrysalis to kick her in the back and send her flying towards the mountain for a moment, before she spun around, touched the face of the mountain, and kicked off before heading back towards her opponent at the same rate as she had been sent towards it. From there the two of them came into contact with each other and the force of their collision, of their energies, shook the entire mountain range that they were in as Chrysalis tried to force Celestia backwards, as she wanted to show that she was strong and that she could match Celestia's power. After a few seconds Chrysalis grinned as she grabbed Celestia's hand once more and pulled her close, though this time around she took the kick that was aimed at her chest and didn't go flying this time around... though once the attack was over she spun around and kicked Celestia in her side, sending her flying through the air until she passed over the ocean that was near the plains she had picked earlier.

Chrysalis then flew through the air and chased after Celestia, where the two of them started trading blows above the water, where the ocean rippled under the force of their powers, though when they separated again Chrysalis didn't fly after her opponent and brought her hands together... where a sphere of energy started to form between her palms as she stared at her target. Celestia seemed to stare at her for a moment, as if just feeling her power, before her power flared to life and she gathered her energy as well, forming a sphere between the palms of her hands as well, though as that happened Chrysalis had to chuckle, as their first fight ended with a beam struggle and it appeared that the second one would likely end the same way. Moments later the two of them fired their beams through the air and they collided with each other, shaking the ocean that was beneath them in the process, but after a few moments of the two beams struggling against each other Celestia's started pushing Chrysalis' backwards... until Chrysalis found that she was being pushed back, despite the fact that she was using her full power in this fight, yet she continued to fight back against her opponent.

In the end Celestia's beam tore her own apart and barreled into her chest, where Chrysalis found herself flying back towards the area that they had landed in, though after a few seconds she crashed into the ground and collided with the rock wall that was beneath the transport ship... though as she coughed and struggled to pick herself up she found Celestia standing over her, with a hand reaching out to her.

"Your power is impressive, but you need more practice before you can best me," Celestia said, though to prove her point Chrysalis felt her power diminish as her transformed state reverted back to her original state, where she had to huff for a few seconds, indicating that it used a lot of energy to use that form, "I will say that you did great for your first attempt against a godly creature."

"So, where do I measure against the others?" Chrysalis asked, though at the same time she took the hand that was offered to her and let Celestia pulled her into a standing position, before she glanced up at the other ponies that had gone through their own adventures.

"If you were more experienced, I'd say on Rainbow and Applejack's base level," Celestia replied, to which she glanced up at the others, who were currently discussing what they had seen during the fight, before turning and looking at Chrysalis once more, "but at the moment, with your current experience, I'd say that you're a level or two away from that point, so with some additional training you'll be on their base level."

"I guess that means I'm on Pinkie's level... or Rarity's level." Chrysalis commented, as she originally thought she might be on Pinkie's level, but when she thought about it she determined that she was more close to Rarity's level, something that she honestly didn't care about since she wasn't likely to tap into her power again in the future, "So, out of Twilight, Sunset, and yourself, which one of you is the strongest god?"

"Normally, in any situation, the Angel is supposed to be the strongest," Celestia stated, where she glanced up at Sunset for a moment, who was talking with Ratchet and Chrysalis' friends, no doubt discussing something about what they had seen during the fight, "but you would be surprised to find that Sunset is even stronger than me. An Angel is supposed to be stronger than their God of Destruction, so they can keep them in line and stop them from going on a rampage, but Sunset is much stronger than I am. I have the feeling that her fighting some powerful enemies, like Rainbow and Applejack, or even Beerus himself, has pushed her own power to even greater heights, and I don't think she's done growing yet."

Chrysalis stood there for a moment, surprised that the basic relationship was supposed to be the Angel being stronger than the God of Destruction, while in reality Sunset Shimmer was even stronger than Princess Celestia and seemed to be growing stronger with each battle. At the same time, however, she determined that it wasn't her concern, since she was planning on leaving Equus behind and traveling across the rest of the universe, meaning that Sunset and Celestia could deal with this situation on their own. Her focus was on leaving Equus, and her painful memories, behind so she could head out into the universe and help the rest of the universe out, just like Ratchet and those other heroes had down when they came and stopped the Unitologists, because she was sure that there were villains out there that were trying to dos something on the level of the cultists. She had to admit that she was eager to learn about a new part of the universe, the people that called that new area home, and combat the enemies that were in their way... and at the same time she was sure that her friends were ready for that as well.

As she and Celestia headed back up to the transport ship, however, she found that she was immediately bombarded by questions from the other ponies about her new powers and how she had come across them, telling her that she didn't have to tell them if it was too painful... and yet she found that she was going to have tell them something before she left, to which, on the way back to Equus, she told them the answers to her questions while focusing her mind on the future that she had planned for herself and her friends.

Epilogue: Start of a New Adventure

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Chrysalis yawned as she shifted in the bed that she was laying in and eventually pulled herself into a sitting position, where she stretched her arms for a moment and rubbed some of the dust from her eyes as the first rays of Celestia's sun shined through the window. When they returned to Equus, after her fight with Celestia, she had found herself bombarded with additional questions about her adventure, as were her friends for that matter, and that Pinkie insisted on throwing a party for her safe return from the galaxy she had been sent to. Of course she knew better to refuse a party from what many of her followers had called the 'Pink One', when the changelings had been her subjects anyway, and she had to admit that it was much better than what she was expecting it to be, especially since it had been years since she had any decent pastry treats, since the ones she had while she was on the colony on Earth's moon weren't the best. Chrysalis had enjoyed the party more than she was willing to admit, as it had been some time since she had some time to enjoy herself, and if Pinkie had been serving drinks she was sure that she would have been wasted by the end of the night... but, when she took into consideration what Pinkie served last night, Chrysalis found that she was just fine with what she had consumed.

She looked around the room that she had been given for the night, as Twilight had let her, a former enemy turned hero of the people, have a room for a few nights until she and her friends were ready to leave Equus, to take their adventure to the stars with Ratchet and Clank. It wasn't as grand as the room that Twilight had, since it was her castle, but at the same time Chrysalis remembered seeing one room that was larger and more grand than Twilight's room, which had been the actual room that Twilight had taken when the castle was first made. She discovered that both Twilight and Sunset shared the castle together, meaning the Gods of Creation and Destruction lived together in the same castle, in the roommate sense anyway, but she simply let them do their thing and had gone to bed the moment she knew which room she was being given for the night, which was what her friends were given as well... and she could only imagine what a good nights sleep was going to do for all of them, since they hadn't slept since the Eudora and Ellie's ship had been blown apart by those mines.

After a few minutes of staring at the room she was in, however, Chrysalis smiled as she pulled the sheets off of her and climbed out of the bed, where she made sure that her body was robed with a robe that Rarity had given her, before heading to the bathroom that the castle had... while at the same time ignoring the fact that a crystal castle, forged from the potent magic of Harmony, had a modern bathroom that she would expect to find in other buildings that had been built recently.

When she emerged from the bathroom some time later, and found that someone else wanted to use it, she walked back to her bedroom and slipped into the suit that went under the armor she would be wearing in the future, before looking at the gi that she had been given. She had to admit that Celestia was right, if she had practiced with her true power more the outcome of the fight would have been much different, but since she stayed away from it she guessed that she deserved to lose the fight like she had, even though she gained so much information from the exchange afterwords. As she thought about the fight, and the outcome, she sighed as she glanced towards the mirror that was nearby, where she focused her mind for a moment and slipped into the form she had taken near the end of the fight, but this time, instead of seeing the monster that had wrecked her mother, she saw herself, in control without having to worry about succumbing to the power inside her. When she was satisfied with the situation she reverted back to her original state once more, before turning to the metallic suitcase that Ratchet had given her, in case there was anything that she might want to bring with her when she left Equus behind... and yet, despite everything that's happened to her, the only thing that she ended up putting inside it was the gi, because most of her belongings were back in the Hive and she wasn't about to bring up some painful memories when she was getting ready to put them behind her.

Chrysalis sighed once more as she slipped the gi into the suitcase, while at the same time recalling that Starlight had put her new suit of armor back in the Hyperion for when she was ready to leave Equus behind, before she made sure she was ready... to which she headed down to the dining room area of the castle, where she found both Sunset and Celestia sitting at a table with Twilight, while at the same time Spike, the dragon that was growing up, was preparing something for everyone to enjoy for breakfast.

"I'm surprised that you brought the suitcase down with you," Twilight commented, as she had seen Ratchet give it to Chrysalis the night before, as she was the only one with anything that she might want to bring, since Isaac and the others had lost most of their belongings when the galaxy was erased, "I would have thought that you would have taken your time deciding what you wanted to take and what you wanted to leave behind."

"I... I cannot bare visiting the Hive and bringing my painful memories to the surface," Chrysalis admitted, though at the same time she set the suitcase down and took a seat at the table, which was large enough for ten people based on the number of chairs, before she looked at the gods that were sitting around her, "I know, the Hive is my home and that I should feel safe in such a location, but it's better if I don't go back there and leave those memories where they belong, and anything that I might want to take with me."

"Well, you'll be able to make new memories with your friends," Sunset said, as she knew that traveling across the Solana, Bogon, and Polaris Galaxies would take her mind off of her past and, with the people that she called her friends standing by her side, she knew that the former queen would be able to forge a new destiny for herself, "Trust me, you might not have to deal with the madness that Starlight and I went through, when we were traveling with Ratchet and Clank, but whatever adventure comes your way will definitely be more exciting than what you had to go through."

"That reminds me, I never properly thanked you for coming to our aid earlier," Chrysalis stated, as she knew that, in the excitement of discovering that she hadn't been forgotten, and that one of the other displaced ponies had an army that decimated the Unitologists while she obliterated a Brethren Moon, she had actually never thanked any of them for risking themselves to save her, her friends, and the people she was trying to save.

"It's okay, it's what Ratchet, Clank, and I are used to," a new voice said, to which Starlight entered the room a took a seat near Chrysalis, though this time around the changeling smiled at her and got a smile back in return, "besides, all those people we saved were extremely happy when we saved them and told them that they were being taken to a new place where they could begin a new life, without fear of something like what those cultists pulled ever happening again."

Chrysalis opened her mouth to say something to that, though before she could do so Isaac and Ellie walked into the room and took their seats as well, looking happy that they were able to actually spend some time together without having to worry about the Markers, before Carver and Santos followed after them. Santos, from what Chrysalis discovered, was still in shock over everything that she had seen the night before, during the party, as well as the fact that both Celestia and her sister Luna, who had come over to visit them once she heard the party was happening, controlled the sun and the moon that were near Equus. She was also still surprised about the population that lived in Equestria had been ponies until some time ago, when they all went through the ascension that Chrysalis had heard about, though while Chrysalis suspected that many of their neighbors wouldn't like that she found that one of the displaced ponies, Trixie Lulamoon as it turned out, as talking terms with the new Dragon Lord... though from what she could tell, and Spike's reaction to talking about the transformed pony in question, Trixie might actually be part dragon, but hadn't had the honor of interacting with her since she was still in the Dragon Lands at the moment.

Once everyone was together, and Spike served a large meal for them all to enjoy, Chrysalis joined the others in the morning meal while listening to what Sunset and Celestia were going to do next, as it appeared that they were going to take Twilight out and study the stars, though why she didn't want to think about. Discord, having decided to stay in the library since their return, was likely still staring at the board he was working on while trying to figure out where the other ponies had been sent, so he could either pester them or convince them to return with him. Starlight was, of course, coming with Chrysalis and her friends when they decided to leave Equus, since she liked to journey across the three galaxies and create new weapons for her brother to use against their enemies, though at the same time Chrysalis recalled that some of the ponies had been sent to other worlds that weren't in the three known galaxies that she had been told about earlier. That told her that there had to be more galaxies out there than what Ratchet and the others had explored, meaning that the universe wasn't completely charted when she thought about it and that there any number of adventures they could have once she left Equus behind.

While they ate Chrysalis listened to what Isaac, Ellie, Carver, and Santos wanted to do once more, as they were now explaining themselves to Sunset and the others, who nodded their heads in understanding, though she had no reason so speak because everyone knew what she was planning... and, when they considered the pain she had been in, they knew that there was no reason to try and stop her, as this would be good for both her and the people that she ended up saving along the way.

The moment she was done eating, and everyone else was done as well, Chrysalis asked when Ratchet was going to arrive to take them away, as he had left shortly after they returned to Equus and had given her the suitcase, something about needing to talk with someone, to which Starlight said he should be back before noon. As such Chrysalis decided to walk around Ponyville and take in the sights once more, even though Isaac and the others wanted to see what the rest of the town looked like before they left, but even as the five of them headed outside she could make out Rainbow and Scootaloo moving some clouds around with the other transformed pegasi. Near them was Gale Wind, who was apparently Rainbow and Applejack's younger sister, as they had been sisters themselves in the universe they were sent to, as Sunset informed her that they had been sent to Universe 7 some time ago and had recently returned, though they were apparently the children of a God of Destruction, which hurt her head a little when she considered that their universe wasn't the only one out there... there were thirteen of them and they were in Universe 13, but she honestly hoped that she never had the opportunity to meet the other Gods of Destruction, as one universe was enough for her.

At the same time, however, none of her friends had been told the news and Twilight had even asked her not to tell them unless she was forced to, how she had no idea, but Chrysalis had promised the Kaioshin that she'd keep it under wraps and they went their separate ways.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she found that there were near Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac were already hard at work harvesting the apples and making sure that the trees were healthy so they could continue to produce the Apple Family's signature item. From there she found that all the other ponies that called the town home, and of course were transformed as well, were out and about, enjoying their day while some of them were off to the training area to practice their skills in a much safer environment than their houses, though while that happened she caught a glimpse of Rarity practicing with Sweetie Belle, who was channeling the power of fire at the moment. Chrysalis guessed that she must have been sent back in time a little, even though Discord said that the displacement spell had been broken, but at the same time, if that thought was true, it meant that she likely had the last bit of it used on her before she found herself in the Kellion. Just thinking about the mirror made her remember why she had used it in the first place, even when she knew how dangerous it would be to use it, and, at the same time, remembered the ponies that had caused her to use it... but this time around her earlier feelings towards them were gone, stripped away by her desire to save people and put the past behind her.

Sure, she guessed that she could go to the Crystal Empire and apologize to the royal couple, but according to Twilight they were going to be busy for some time and wouldn't want to be interrupted, and since Thorax controlled the Hive, and usually stayed there, he was out of the question as well... to which she sighed and went about the rest of the morning to the best of her ability, as she was eager to leave and put these thoughts behind her.

While the five of them were walking and taking in the sights, and walked by the training area, Rarity stopped what she was going and insisted that Chrysalis come by her shop, which was followed by her being dragged over them for a few minutes, before she walked out with a suitcase full of clothing to wear when she wasn't on an adventure. She honestly wasn't sure that she was going to wear most of it, since the fashion of the other galaxies was much different, but at the same time she thanked Rarity and returned to her friends, where they finished their tour of the town and returned to the castle to relax. The reason behind trying to relax was because she didn't see any reason for one of them to get too involved in anything since they'd be leaving soon enough, and sure enough, just an hour before noon, Starlight came to collect them. From what Chrysalis could gather she was using that earpiece of hers to keep taps on where her brother was and when they were in the same area, though once she knew that the time was upon them she grabbed the suitcase and, with her friends by her side, they followed Starlight outside, where the transport ship was resting in the nearby field.

As they started to climb aboard the ship, however, Sunset, Celestia, Twilight, and Discord came outside and wished them all luck on whatever adventures they had, something that Chrysalis smiled about since the last time she started an adventure Discord had told her not to go through the mirror... and, not a few minutes later, the transport ship docked in the Hyperion's docking area and Starlight showed them to the rooms that they were going to be given, where Chrysalis noticed something strange on her door.

"Is... is that Wildfire's Cutie Mark?" Chrysalis asked, as she was staring at the flaming lance mark that was on her door, which looked like what she had seen on Wildfire's flanks before her untimely death, though at the same time she noticed that the others had their names on their doors.

"Yeah, we found it by looking at the day you first met her," Starlight said, reminding Chrysalis that they were friends with the God of Time for their universe and had likely figured it out so they could surprise her, though this was one surprise that she was perfectly fine with, "When Sunset and I were with Ratchet we had our Cutie Marks made into symbols on the doors, that way we could figure out which room was ours without screwing up... but, if you don't like it, we can always create something else and replace the door."

"No... it's fine." Chrysalis replied, though she smiled at Starlight as she showed the others to their rooms, before she slipped inside and found that her suit of armor, and her weapons for that matter, were resting in a container that looked like a storage area for when she didn't need to wear them.

Chrysalis chuckled as she slipped the suitcase into a different storage area and let the door close behind her, where she opened the container that was in front of her and pulled out the suit that she was going to be wearing for the foreseeable future. Without wasting time she carefully put the armor on until it felt what she had felt when Starlight had used her machine to make the armor and assemble it over her body earlier, though to be absolutely sure that it was perfect she kicked and punched the air a few times, before smiling as she slipped the helmet over her head while making sure that her ears were safe. The moment the armor was on she turned towards the container and pulled out the axe that had been her weapon on Tau Volantis, after she sacrificed her bone blades in the process, but she still smiled at it as she slipped it into a holder on her side, before picking up her modified Pulse Rifle. Thanks to the modifications Starlight had made she could actually store it inside a storage area that was attached to her armor, so she could store it and call it to her at a moment's notice thanks to the instructions in her helmet, though she put it away before she headed outside and walked towards the bridge.

When she arrived at her destination she found Isaac and Carver, both wearing their new armor and weapons, and Starlight, outfitted in the same way, standing nearby, while at the same time Ellie and Santos were looking at the controls in the area below them... and Ratchet, the captain of the Hyperion, was standing on their level, patiently waiting for all of them to be on the bridge before he spoke.

"Allow me to officially welcome you aboard the Starship Hyperion, our mobile command center and home when we're on an adventure to save a galaxy from whatever villain that's at large," Ratchet said, though at the same time Chrysalis had to wonder how many villains were trying to seize control of an entire galaxy, because it sounded like something that would be incredibly hard to do, "Over the next couple of hours Starlight, Clank, and I will tell you about the galaxies, the currency system, and a number of other things so that you won't be caught off gu..."

"Ugh, Ratchet, is this a bad time?" a voice asked, to which Chrysalis found a large man, wearing a green suit with a strange symbol on his chest, talking from the screen that was behind Ratchet, who turned and looked at it for a moment to show that he was listening.

"Well, I was just getting ready to explain things to Chrysalis and her friends," Ratchet replied, though at the same time he knew that something had to be up, as the only reason he'd be a call to action this soon was if a supervillain was actually attacking one of the galaxies, "but I can hold off for a few minutes. Qwark, what's wrong?"

"Oh you know, just a few... thousand... heavily armed commandos attacking Meridian City," Qwark stated, though at the same time there was some explosions before him, where he turned and fired at the mechanical enemies that were coming towards him, blowing some of them up in the process, before he turned back to his communicator, "Angela seems to think they came from another galaxy, one that we didn't know about, and they're bent on trying to eliminate the Lombaxes, just like Tachyon was before you guys beat him."

"We'll be there in a few minutes." Ratchet promised, to which the communication was cut off as Qwark went to battle the clearly robotic armor that was attacking the city he was in, before he turned towards Clank for a moment, "Clank, set a course for Planet Igliak and activate the Gravimetric Warp Drive, and let Angela know that we're on our way."

"What's so special about Meridian City?" Isaac asked, though at the same time he was echoing the thoughts that were going through Chrysalis, Carver, Ellie, and Santos' minds at the same time, where they all looked at the captain as he sat in his seat and stared at the screen.

"It's the seat of the Galactic President, who rules over the three known galaxies," Ratchet replied, knowing that none of them knew anything about the planet they were heading to, while at the same time thinking about the fact that it was being attacked by yet another foe, "as well as some other things that we'll have to tell you about later, when we're not busy dealing with our new enemies. I hope you guys are ready for a new adventure, because it appears that a new one is starting anyway."

Chrysalis smiled as she stood near Ratchet, with Isaac and Carver standing beside her as well, as they slipped into the warp system and started the journey towards Meridian City, where a new foe was trying to conquer the city and take down the ruling government... and this time they might be heading into uncharted territory to deal with a villain from an entirely different galaxy, making her excited to see what the future held for her and her friends.