Title: The Broken Engineer

Origin: Dead Space 2

Type: AU Post Dead Space 2

Genre: Horror/Hurt/Comfort

POV: Isaac Clarke

Ch. 1: Refuge

A.N.:

Hello to whoever reads this!

I have been meaning to add this story to my growing list. I have been writing for F.E.A.R. for nearly 2 years and BioShock for nearly a year now. However, following Dead Space 3, I was a little disappointed with certain parts of where the series was going. As the third of my childhood favorites behind F.E.A.R. and BioShock, Dead Space has been a real inspiration for me in my hobby of writing.

Anyway,

This story takes place in an Alternate Universe and is post Dead Space 2. While there will be intersections with Dead Space 3, it is not the same universe…I want to go ahead and make that clear to avoid confusion.

I wish to thank the people who take the time to read this in advance and apologize if it is sub par.

Disclaimer: Dead Space is trademarked by Electronic Arts Inc. All other elements are the property of their respective owners. I claim no ownership nor do I plan to profit from posting this.

Light flashed before my eyes as I let out an exhale. The burden of intense pain flooded my mind as if to mock me that I was still among the living. What kept this old worn out body of mine alive? Even I did not know the answer to that question. However, as I had accepted long ago, it was best not to question reason if you wanted to survive. Moreover, questioning could easily drive a person mad. I may not have started all of this but I was certain that I would be among those that ended it once and for all. If not, all the sacrifice and lives lost would have been in vain.

My vision finally cleared and the sight that had been burned into my memory greeted my gaze. The scratched surface of the four independent, long, narrow, horizontal viewports of my battle-scarred Advanced Engineer RIG returned my gaze. Through them, I saw the comforting sight of the seemingly invincible titanic planetcracker known as USG Ishimura through the smoke-obscured sky of the besieged Earth. The modified workhorse's worn appearance from countless brushes with utter destruction oddly mirrored my own.

I groaned as I tried to get up. With Ishimura above me, it meant that the next step of the plan could get underway. EarthGov's orbiting blockade had prevented any of the large ships in our massed fleet from getting through to assist those of us on the ground. We needed Ishimura and her gravity tethers for the next step. I was relieved that the giant former CEC-planetcracker had been able to utilize the brutal power of her gravity tethers and sheer size to punch her way through the armada of EarthGov warships and enter Earth's atmosphere. For once, a plan actually seemed to be working. Love her or hate her, old Ishimura had been indispensable for getting this far against the Necromorph hordes of the ever-growing influence of the Brethren Moons and the dying organization called EarthGov.

Intense pain racked my back as I attempted to get up and I was forced to momentarily admit defeat. As I laid back against the ground, I became aware of the eerie silence of the the area around me was. There was no screaming, no discharging of energy or projectile weaponry, or even the telltale cry of a Necromorph. The Necromorph outbreak caused by the last remaining pocket of EarthGov attempting to use Markers as a last-ditch attempt to stave off the inevitable had been a huge obstacle in our plan to destroy the Moons once and for all, but we had come this far and there was no turning back now. Bending my neck, I looked down at my battered form.

I was partially buried in acidic mud, which was curtsey of the near constant drizzle of acid rain that was caused by the heavily polluted atmosphere of Earth. It was not always this way I have been told. Earth was once beautiful or at least so I have been informed. It has always been the hellish nightmare of humanity's own design as long as I have known it however. The "fake" Earth that was artificially created by EarthGov was currently sealed up in the giant dome areas that loomed over the nightmarish landscape of the true Earth.

The palm of my armored left hand was resting on my chest just below the projecting interface of my suit's RIG. The formerly light grey/green skin of my suit had been weathered into a dirty dark brown color. The two parallel rows of reinforcing rectangular copper strips running along my chest and down along the outside of my legs was now missing a few pieces and the remaining were now partially corroded and thus sported greenish exteriors. The equally corroded copper armor tips of my suit's gravity boots with built-in jet propulsion units were visible where they were projecting from the quagmire surrounding me. Ellie had once asked me why I stubbornly insisted upon wearing this suit, which I had found in one of Ishimura's older stores that had not been updated like the others, even when there were clearly better ones available. I had responded by informing her that this suit had never failed me.

Turning my head to the right, I found my right arm partially sunken in the thick sludge. However, the welcoming sight of my favored tool, the 221-V Plasma Cutter, still tightly gripped by the digits of my right hand met my gaze. My cutter had become less of an improvised weapon and more of an extension of myself over the countless nightmares that I had found myself in. Its chipped, worn exterior was a testament to the countless nightmares that it had taken to get this far.

Relocating my hands back behind me, I made one more attempt to get to my feet. My exertion caused me to sink further into the mud for a moment but then I found solid ground. However, as I started to get up, the muddy form of an EarthGov soldier suddenly appeared before me. The soldier's blue and black uniform, large blue visor in the center of his helmet, his entire helmet, and the tri-barreled pulse rifle in his grasp were all covered with muddy sludge. Moreover, I saw patches of ripped armor and could see places that the man was bleeding heavily.

As he saw me, the man yelled with pure hatred, "Fucking Clarke!"

Before I could get my plasma cutter up to defend myself, the grunt ran forward and then violently stomped into the center of my heavily armored helmet's faceplate with the reinforced sole of his right combat boot. Ringing filled my ears as I was forced back into soupy mix beneath me. The next thing I saw through my daze was the three barrels of the man's pulse rifle. The soldier's rifle made a loud click as its barrels extended out from the weapon as it entered its "fire mode" when he aimed it point blank into the center of my second horizontal viewport.

My hardened mind and body failed to panic or feel any fear as certain death awaited me. However, just before the soldier could execute me, a sudden onslaught of violent motion occurred above me and the man was gone. I heard the man screaming in both fear and agony from somewhere in front of me. I had heard that tone from countless individuals and thus I did not need to look to visually confirm what was happening. Instead, I simply brought my plasma cutter to bear as I simultaneously lifted my head and shoulders up out of the mud to give me a clear shot in front of me.

I was met by the sight of the reanimated corpse of a deceased man dressed in typical blue collar workers attire that had been twisted into a typical "Slasher" Necromorph. I grimaced as I envisioned the fast-approaching "Brethren Moons" that sought to literally consume not only what was left of humanity but also the polluted world that we called home: Earth. It was somewhat ironic that we were not the first form of intelligent life that thought that we had the right to "consume" worlds for our own benefit without thought to the forms of life that we destroyed. The only difference between our two species was that the Moons themselves consumed worlds while we consumed worlds with our technological wonders such as the mighty planetcracker USG Ishimura.

We had destroyed several of these Moons, including one over a world called Tau Volantis, with the powerful gravity tethers and "teeth" of the modernized and heavily armored giant planetcracker but now, with the entire Brethren bearing down on Earth, not even Ishimura could destroy them fast enough. Because of this, we were left with only one remaining option to save what little of our species could still be saved. However, as I had learned over the past several years: all solutions had to be implemented one tiny step at a time. The presence of Ishimura herself was perhaps causing the Moons to bear down on Earth with even more brutality. After all, they had felt their brothers being ironically "devoured" by the giant planetcracker just like they had done to countless worlds and species.

The Slasher buried its left railroad spike-like appendage through the center of the blue visor of the screaming soldier's helmet. The man's body instantly went limp and the Slasher turned to face me. The soldier's corpse was still attached to the Necromorph due to the appendage but, as the abomination turned to face me with its insect-like mandibles moving back and forth, the body flew through the air off to the side. The disgusting creature began to charge at me but I was not so easy a mark. With my plasma cutter's tip spread apart so that it now resembled a large "C" clamp and casting its three bright blue aiming beams, I aimed my improvised tool at the Slasher's right spear-like arm and then squeezed the trigger.

A brief but intense bang coupled with an expulsion of ionized gas temporarily overwhelmed my senses but not as much as they once did all those years ago. Almost instantly, the Slasher's limb fell to the saturated ground and the creature recoiled slightly. Taking advantage of the abomination's recoil, I quickly shifted my aim to the other arm. Without even having to think about it, I severed the remaining weaponized limb with equal ease.

The armless Slasher went to make a full-body lung but I rotated my tool's head and then severed its left leg. The creature fell to the soupy ground. There, it looked at me as its mandibles clicked loudly as they moved as if they were devouring flesh. Calmly, I rotated my cutter's head back to its default vertical position, took aim, and then squeezed the trigger. The high-energy cutting beam easily sliced the Slasher's head clean in half. The reanimated corpse finally submitted and collapsed. However, I was not going to fall for another trick. I fired a final blast into the motionless Slasher.

My caution was rewarded when the creature flailed briefly before finally ceasing all movement for the final time. I started to let out a sigh of relief but suddenly the intense report of another Plasma Cutter cut through the air. A large object landed just to my left. Upon investigation I found that it was the slain form of a Leaper Necromorph. Confusion mixed with gratitude filled me briefly until I heard a familiar taunting laugh. I called out in response, "I wasn't in any danger!"

Seconds later, the Advanced Suit clad feminine form of Ellie walked into view before me. The formerly blue helmet had been worn down to a bare steel grey. The suit's once clean and eye-catching exterior had been weathered into a dirty dark grey. However, the bright blue light being emitted from the three "V"-shaped "eyes" of the faceplate was still just as vibrant as ever. Meanwhile, in her right hand, my partner held an equally worn and beaten 221-V Plasma Cutter. The other individuals in the makeshift resistance movement that we had founded preferred actual weapons but Ellie and I both mutually believed firmly in the small handheld industrial tool and its remarkable prowess against both Nercomorphs and human beings.

As Ellie stood over me in her dirtied highly feminine and prototype suit, she teased me, "Why must I keep saving you…nerd?" Before I could reply, she gently pressed the bottom of her right boot into my left shoulder to hold me down. The side of her toned leg was resting against the side of my weathered and partial corroded helmet in a way that was impossible to ignore. Asserting herself over me while lazily bending her head to the right, she continued, "Does the nerd like it when the girl makes him dirty?"

Irritated, I replied, "How is the whole depth perception thing going?"

Removing her foot, Ellie made a series of clicking noises. I tried to get up but a sudden stab of pain erupted in my right side. I mentally cursed as what felt as if a piece of molten, rusted scrap metal was being thrust into my side flared through my already aching body. Ellie's teasing demeanor vanished instantly as she saw the pain that I was in through my body language. With a concerned tone, she said, "I don't have any med packs but an EarthGov gunship crashed just on the other side of the warehouse district. There is bound to be a med pack on-board. It is on the way to the rendezvous point with Carver's team…can…can you make it?"

I laughed in a tired manner as I rocked my head back and forth. Then, I remarked, "I am not a pity case yet, Ellie. This old dog still has some bite left in him."

With a low, sorrowful tone my wife said, "That is not what I meant."

I smiled beneath the cold emotionless faceplate of my helmet before I assured her, "I know…just help me."

Leaning down and offering me her free left hand, she replied, "Of course…" I reached up with my own free left hand and firmly grasped her outstretched hand. Both of us let out grunts of exertion and Ellie nearly fell back onto her posterior as she sank into the quagmire but finally I managed to get to my feet. My knees protested loudly but otherwise I had no difficulty standing on my own.

Ellie feigned injury as she placed the side of her plasma cutter against her left arm. Then, she roughly pocked me in the center of my left pectoral before she remarked with an irritated tone, "Damn it Isaac! This heavy pile of scrap metal you call a RIG belongs in a museum!" After a moment, she calmed down and leaned in. As she did, her helmet began to fold itself up in two sections and retract into her RIG.

Ellie's worn face soon replaced the beaten helmet of her Advanced Suit. Her features had drooped with age but not dramatically. The different color of her right artificial eye's iris was a constant reminder of the nightmare of Titan Station. Beneath both of her eyes were areas of purple that gave her the appearance of an insomniac. A hair-line scar ran at an angle down from the far left corner of her forehead over the bridge of her nose and down to the far corner of right cheek. Her short brown hair was now a salt-and-pepper color though this was due to premature aging.

My own face was just as worn down. However, my favored suit required me to manually remove my entire helmet instead of it being able to fold and unfold itself as if it was a jigsaw puzzle. As I went to take off my helmet, suddenly, we both heard an approaching EarthGov gunship. As her helmet reassembled itself over her head in a dramatic manner, Ellie quickly moved to stand on my right and then put my right arm over her shoulders while simultaneously placing her left arm under my right arm and up on the top of my left shoulder.

As we made our way forward through the smoke and blanket of pollution, Ellie remarked, "So the plan didn't work exactly as we had wanted it to…again…but we've come this far right?"

Fighting through the pain born from both my recent injuries that culminated in regaining consciousness partially buried in Earth's sludge-like polluted surface and my age, I replied, "Well, we aren't dead…so…that's a good start."

WE ARE COMING! WE ARE HUNGRY! WE ARE HERE!

I fought the urge to panic as the Brethren Moon's forced intrusion inside my mind made itself known. Sensing my distress, Ellie asked, "Isaac? What is it?"

I replied, "They're here Ellie! The Moons are here!" Ellie went to cry out in alarm but stopped when we were suddenly temporarily blinded by the searchlight of the EarthGov gunship as it appeared through the smoke above us. Before we could even react, the hovering machine began to open fire upon us. I quickly savored the last time that I would ever feel my wife's touch as I waited for the hail of cannon fire to cut us down.

Several years earlier

"What?" Ellie asked with a somewhat amused tone as she noticed my terrified expression.

Feeling rather foolish for having expected to see the apparition of Nichole just as I had when I escaped Aegis VII, I replied, "No-nothing…its nothing." My partner and subsequent rescuer eyed me with a suspicious expression but did not continue questioning me. In an attempt to save face, I said in a humble tone, "Thanks for coming back."

Ellie smiled quickly before rolling her eye and shaking her head as she replied, "You're welcome…nerd." A sharp shooting pain erupted behind my right eye from having the machine's needle penetrating it to access the marker codes. Wincing, I lifted my gloved right hand up and placed my palm over the top of it. Ellie asked with a concerned tone, "What is it?"

The pain was subsiding as quickly as it had manifested so I lowered my hand back down as I replied, "My eye…" I stopped when my companion's expression become stone-faced as she stared at me silently. Realizing my mistake, I quickly explained, "Oh…no…no…the last step…the one that Stross couldn't face…it was…there was this machine that Tiedmann was using to access the marker codes stored in our heads…the last step was 'stick a needle in your eye'."

Ellie's expression softened to a more sympathetic one but she still remarked as she glanced away from me, "At least you still have both of yours."

I started to apologize but something outside the gunship's viewport drew my attention. Upon investigation, I realized that it was the remains of one of The Sprawl's Evacuation Shuttles. Noticing that Ellie had also seen the destroyed emergency transport in my peripheral vision, I asked rhetorically, "That's one of The Sprawl's Shuttles…what happened to it?" The twisted mass of what remained of the shuttle suggested a violent demise but I could not see any possible reasons for its end. That is until moments later when the sight of more than a dozen large EarthGov warships came into view.

Ellie remarked in surprise, "Oh my god…!"

As the bright flashes of the warships' armament began to fly past our gunship, I yelled, "Ellie! Get us out of here!"

As she took manual control over our small ship, she yelled, "Shit! Hold on Isaac!" I was thrown back into the seat as the gunship plummeted straight down and then began to perform a barrel roll. Even with her maneuvering, our ship suddenly jerked violently as one of the warships scored a direct hit on our hull. Alarm bells sounded as smoke began to fill the interior. Looking back behind the seat, I saw a small electrical fire near the back.

As my Advanced Suit's helmet dramatically reassembled itself over my head, I unbuckled myself and grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher. Ignored the painful collisions with the sides of the narrow path to the back, I made my way to the fire. With the limited amount of oxygen inside the pressurized interior of the gunship, the oxygen-consuming fire would easily prove fatal if it was not extinguished quickly. Finally reaching the growing blaze, I removed the locking clip on the fire extinguisher and then started dousing the flames with the dry chemical.

Seconds later, the blaze was extinguished. I let out a sigh of relief that was cut short when I was painfully throw into the left side of the narrow walkway. From the front of the gunship, Ellie called out, "Isaac! We just lost the primary power core! If the backup doesn't kick in, we will be a sitting duck!" Groaning, I pushed away from the side of the walkway. Looking around, I noticed the nearby bright red box-like projection of an electrical panel.

I made my way over to it. As I reached the panel, Ellie called out, "The backup is not activating! We'll be torn to shreds if I can't override it from here!"

As I reached up to the protective cover of the panel, I remarked to myself, "I can probably just rewire it from here."

Ellie asked, "What was that?"

I replied, "Nothing!" I forcibly removed the cover and threw it down to the ground. Then, I bent down low enough so that I could snake my armored left hand up into the access panel. Using nothing other than my sense of touch, I quickly bypassed the primary power core and wired the backup directly into the main line. My impromptu repair succeeded in restoring power to the gunship and we continued to evade the intense fire from the warships.

As I made my way back to the front, Ellie said, "I did it! I got the backup working!" I kept my actions to myself and merely sat back down in the seat next to my partner. She smiled at me before she said, "Good work on that fire."

I shrugged as I replied, "Glad I could do something."

The former CEC heavy equipment pilot said, "Without the primary power core, we cannot shock out of here and the backup will not last very long. So…I guess this is it…unless you have any more bad ideas."

I thought quickly. There was only one place that was close and out of the line of fire. I replied, "Go back to The Sprawl!" Ellie stared at me as if I had lost my mind. I explained, "There…there might be something in the debris field that we can use for cover."

She looked at me for a moment and then remarked, "I said bad idea not suicidal."

I replied, "Do you have a better idea?"

After a brief stare contest, Ellie finally gave in and steered the gunship back towards the nightmare that we had just barely escaped from. The EarthGov blockade was understandably hesitant about following us into the debris field but it would only be a matter of time until they sent in gunships to make sure of our demise. We had to find refuge and we needed to find it with much haste. For what seemed like hours, we moved through the large debris field that was filled with organic sludge from the dematerialized Necromorphs, human bodies, pieces of buildings, and what was left of Titan. I began to question my original idea as we lazily drifted through the debris to conserve power. All hope seemed lost as everything that we passed was nothing more than twisted scrap.

However, just as it seemed that this was indeed the end of our story, we came out from underneath a large piece of building and we saw her. There, floating amongst the human loss and the debris of the death of a civilization as if she was a silent witness of humanity's ultimate destruction that refused to meet her end, was the "Savior of Humanity" USG Ishimura. Though her hull was silent and dark, the running lights refused to be extinguished as long as her reserve power was still available. As we neared her, the giant letters spelling out her name along her hull suddenly lit up as if she was welcoming us and gesturing for us to take refuge inside of her giant interior.

A shiver went up my spine and primal fear filled my mind as flashes of buried memories played before my mind's eye. Death just a breath away, monsters come to life, rotting bodies everywhere, nothing but the little handheld Plasma Cutter for comfort in the cold and in the dark, hallucinations making me question everything I saw, heard, and did, and then betrayal not only by the very person that I cherished more than life itself but also the only teammate that I thought I could trust. I wanted to scream but nothing came out. No one could hear your screams in space. No one was coming for us. There was only Ishimura and her valiant fight against her traitorous crew. She had been heavily damaged but my ease in repairing her systems back to working order had proven that she could yet be saved. When the tectonic load crashed back down onto Aegis VII, it seemed that the resulting devastation had claimed the old workhorse.

However, Ishimura had clung to life by a thread following the destruction of Aegis VII. Perhaps, it was not a coincidence that she had just so happened to be at Titan Station at just the right time to assist me despite that fact that she should had rightfully met her end above that cursed dead planet. She was a relic. She had every right to give into the forces of time. Instead, now, like me, she had survived two nightmares and still had life left in her. Perhaps, it was not coincidence that she was once again one of the only survivors of something that should have been her end.

Ellie said, "That…that isn't possible…right?"

Torn back to reality, I said plainly, "Go aboard her."

My partner asked me, "Are you sure?"

I looked her dead in her eye and replied, "Yes. She is our only hope to get out of this alive."

Ellie gave me a strange look before she asked, "You survived whatever it was that happened to her…so…you know her…well?"

I assured her, "Give me a few hours…I can have her operational."

Ellie nodded and then guided our gunship into her uncomfortably familiar Main Hanger Bay. As if to further unnerve me, my partner happened to dock in the exact same slot that USG Kellion had crashed. The lights inside the hanger were offline so only the lights of our gunship were illuminating the vast space. The access point of the cleanup teams in the far right bulkhead was gone and the resulting hole in the ship had rendered the hanger a vacuum space.

However, from my experiences during my earlier visit, I was certain that once we had entered the Arrival/Departure Lounge we would exit the vacuum. Given her immense size, Ishimura surely had enough oxygen for us to survive long enough for the EarthGov ships to give up their pursuit. Given the planetcracker's appearance, the armada might even let the ship float past them without a second thought. With our gunship running on fumes, this slumbering giant was our only hope. I had put this ship back together once and I could do it again.

After Ellie had found an EVA Suit, we exited the small ship and entered the hanger bay. I kept my hastily crafted plasma cutter at the ready as we made our way to the entrance of the lobby at the far end of the ramp. All around us, there was nothing but eerie silence. The letters spelling out the ship's name that were mounted to the side of the mountain-sized bulkhead before us failed to illuminate as if they were the ghostly echo of the planetcracker's former glory.

Despite the ship's reserve power still flowing through her, the airtight door that allowed access to the lobby was dark. Even the mocking red circle that was burned into my memory was absent. Irritated, I slammed the side of my gloved left fist into the thick door. Unnervingly, as if Ishimura had been playing a cruel joke on me for abandoning her after I had used her for her gravity tethers, the door opened. After exchanging a nervous glance, we entered the dark and silent Arrival/Departure Lobby.

As we reached the seats in the center of the room, the door to the hanger suddenly slammed shut. Just as I had suspected, we were back in a regular atmosphere once the airtight door had sealed shut. I should have known better than to expect a quiet welcome however. The door had no sooner slammed shut than the bright overhead light fixtures powered to life. However, that was not the only welcome that Ishimura had for one of her returning crew members that was desperate for her to show pity upon him and his plight.

The ghostly voice of a woman that vaguely sounded like Nichole began to sing in a creepy tone through the ship's intercom system,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,

When the nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night."

The woman continued with the same eerie tone but now with more emphasis on certain parts,

Then the traveler in the dark,

Thanks you for your little spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so."

The ghostly voice finished without any emphasis,

When the blazing sun is gone,

When the nothing shines upon,

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star."