I wanted to get this done a while back but I've just lost the spirit to write stories. I have all these ideas and I want to write them, but I just can't get myself to write them. I hope that wears off soon…

I need to ask everyone this: Is the story getting dull, or not at all frightening? It is pretty hard to make each chapter of this story suspenseful and full of horror/terror, but part of that has to do with the fact that Course Correction isn't that exciting of a chapter compared to like Environmental Hazard or End Of Days. But I want to know, is the story not as good as it used to be?

Also, despite my noted hiatus, I really don't think I'll be taking a break from this. I know that sounds selfish, but…I've worked on this story for a while, and I think I just need a break from writing lemons for a little bit.

Anyway, please enjoy this update.


Chapter 3: Course Correction

Orange lights flashed before his eyes. Not manmade, artificial lights, but from an unknown source. Mysterious symbols spun around him, flashing like a strobe light and dissolving into the scene before him. Dark silhouettes kneeled in a circle, as if they were praying.

Other figures surrounded them, their features not hidden by the shadows. Necromorphs. They surrounded the kneeling people, slowly closing in on them. They weren't fazed by their presence; the presence of death itself.

"Take us…we are ready..."

Their arms rose above their heads as if praising God. They remained on their knees even as the monsters closed in around them, overtaking and beginning to slaughter them.

"To join…is to survive…" They chanted in unison, their voices without pain, without fear; just cold and emotionless

Surrounded on all sides…no escape; no hope; no regret. Their blood sprayed, staining the distorted faces of their assailants. Blades covered in blood like a butcher's knife, cutting them apart like ill-fated animals, spreading their limbs around. Their blood pooled at his feet, their very essence as cold as ice.

"Keep us whole...Unity is forever…" The words droned throughout his head, his mind buzzing like a hornet's nest. The pain was excruciating, his brain pounding violently against his skull. "One mind, one soul, one flesh…"

The blood ran like a river, the smell of death and despair powerful in the air. They were cut to bits, what remained of them pulled away by the infectious monsters, spreading their infection…

"One mind…one soul…one flesh…"

He lurched to the left and everything disappeared. Isaac gasped and cried out in surprise and despondency, disoriented from his dream as he almost fell out of his seat. His whole body was drenched. Isaac took his helmet off to take in hard, deep breaths.

Another dream…there was another dream. Not like the one before; this one…he couldn't begin to describe what he saw. He looked at his hands; his shaking hands. He brought one to his forehead, the firm material warm against his cold skin.

"What the hell…?" Isaac sat back against the seat. He looked at the different advertisements for products and services around the Tram, the bright colorful posters out of place in the rather dark-colored interior; almost like an eyesore. Like in the dream and back at the Medical Deck his head pounded, the pain never ceasing. If this persisted he was going to go crazy; he could hardly think straight.

The Tram had come to a stop; obviously the source of the lurch. The covering panel was drawn up, so he was at his destination. Isaac didn't know why the fear was gripping him so hard. It was like a giant fist was squeezing every ounce of his valiance and determination and left him a withered, spineless shell of his former self. That was another fear he had; not proving himself as a man, especially to Nicole. He wanted to be the one without fear, the one that could handle any situation. He didn't want to be like his father Paul, a coward who leaves his wife and young child and never comes back. He promised he would never in his life do such a thing.

Even here, alone in the USG Ishimura, he had to be strong. He couldn't run from his task because things seem to be out of his favor. Though he might die, he'd rather die fighting than cowering in fear of the adversaries and impediments around him. Isaac knew what he had to do: suck up his fears, and fight to complete his mission. Fight, for Nicole.

"For Nicole…for Nicole." Isaac grinded his teeth as he struggled to his feet, feeling his strength and energy replenished, if at least somewhat. That was good enough for him; he didn't need it all back to go on. He slid his helmet back over his head, exhaling deeply as he turned to the Tram's exit, slowly emerging from its safety.

The grey-hued station showed signs of wear-and-tear, the glass windows of the waiting area covered with muck and grimed around the edges. Steam rose from underneath the Tram, flowing over the dark grey floor and stopping right at the large font silver letters that spelled out 'ENGINEERING DECK'. Isaac took a quick look around, one foot inside the Tram in-case he needed to take quick cover. To the left and the right, nothing but the inky blackness of the Tram tunnel. From within those depths Isaac could almost hear the howling of Trams roaring down the tracks…almost as if one was heading his way…

"Genealogy and background report complete. Sources verified subject Gaulthier, Jane…"

"Who's there?" Isaac shouted out, looking all around over the ceiling and walls, the muscles in his chest tensing. "Show yourself God damn it!"

"Please review the following information to increase chances of survival…"

Isaac still wasn't sure if the Ishimura's PA system was malfunctioning or if someone was following him; the latter seemed too farfetched to be true, but the ominous whispering brought another possibility, it being neither a deranged crew member nor the PA system. He didn't know what that third possibility was, but it was there.

Shaking his head and blinking a few times Isaac manage to shake off some of his drowsy state and stepped off the ramp. The second her did the static-filled video display popped up from his RIG. Hammond appeared onscreen, his face reflecting a manifestation of the apprehension that they both possessed.

"We've got two problems, and we're working on borrowed time here. First, there's no fuel in the engines." His eyes shifted focus from Isaac to the display screens in the Captain's Nest. Hammond tried to hide it with a serious demeanor which he could hear in his voice, but Isaac could tell by his face that he was getting more and more anxious. Hammond continued."Second, the gravity centrifuge is offline which means there's a couple of trillion tons of rock pulling us down. I need you to get that centrifuge operational. Refuel the main engine and fire it up so I can stabilize the ship's orbit."

Static, then the screen closed before disappearing.

No fuel? How was that possible on a ship as big as the Ishimura? Isaac went further away from the Tram, passing the waiting booth to look upon the orange tint of the next hall, the color coming from a red sign above the doorway displaying either a cutting tool or engine of sorts. 'WARNING. This is a dangerous environment! Sync your RIG regularly! Safety begins with YOU!"

In this state the dangerous machinery was the least of his problems; he worked around these kinds of machines in his field and Necromorphs were not part of that environment. The marker above the door read: 'Control Room: Days since last accident: 0'. Well that number was about to go up to 1 before too long. Another sign of irony that Isaac could not help but find funny in a sick way.

Isaac went through the entryway, the dim hallway leaking brown steam from the crevices at the base of the wall, dispersing when he walked through them.

"I find it hard to believe that the Ishimura ran out of fuel..." Isaac said in his mind, thinking over the information Hammond gave him minutes earlier."They haven't been on mission long enough for that. Either the fuel lines are disengaged or something very bad has happened…"

Rounding the corner Isaac grunted in surprise and covered his eyes, greeted by two sets of three bright, blinding lights. Not exactly the best way to greet crew members coming to the Engineering Deck, but he waited for his eyes to adjust to the intensity of the light. It wasn't so bad when they did and he could go further in to the control room. There was a lot to be observed; in the center was an opened booth where all the control panels were, four windows overlooking what appeared to be a smaller room. Next to the control booth was a locked door and to both sides were a door to his right and another hall to his left. According to the map the right path lead to the refueling stations, while the left way lead to the centrifuge; that was also marked by the pointer above the doorway. There were other things scattered around the open room, lockers and such, but Isaac held a few of these things with no importance to his mission.

Curious, Isaac went to the control booth and saw the corpse sitting in the left chair. Not as mutilated as some of the others he ran into so far, but he could still see several large wounds and blood through and on the thick body suit. Only his hair and cold grey ears could be seen; his face was completely covered by a safety mask. Isaac approached cautiously, only to feel something under his boot. A log. He blinked and looked through the glass, not knowing why he felt a dark sensation spreading through him. There was a walkway beyond the glass, and it was dark but Isaac could still see past it. On one window had specks of dried blood on it, but he couldn't tell if it was from the inside or the outside. There was something…strange about it. Something made him look closer at it to get a better look, when a fleshy shape ran up and across the glass. Isaac jumped and yelled out in surprise, watching the tail whip over the window before disappearing out of sight. A blotch of red suddenly appeared at the top of the glass and fresh blood trickled three fourths down, adding to the blood stains already present as if the creature that just passed was killed, or killed somebody…

Leapers…no matter what they managed to scare the living shit out of him, even if they didn't know he was there. Did they? The thought of the Necromorphs always knowing where he was…it took away all possible feelings of safety he had within him. Stay alert Isaac, and remain calm… Picking up the log, Isaac played it.

"Personal log... acting Chief Engineer Jacob Temple. It's been two days since they pulled the planet open...since the captain died." Word of Mathius's death spread rather quickly; Isaac didn't know the whole story, so he didn't have much to say. While the log played he observed the orange display of the planet at the right wall, the Ishimura and its rock load orbiting above a small ring of asteroids most likely brought up from the planetcrack."The panic, the riots…they were nothing compared with what came after. Our friends, our co-workers…started coming back…changed...coming back to kill us, drag us away. Rucker disappeared this morning and I have to assume he's dead. My crew they're…starting to crack. I'm trying to keep an eye on them but right now I have bigger problems. We're hemorrhaging fuel and the primary engine is laboring. Danvers and I are going to try to reach the fuel depot to see if we can fix it...Temple out."

The trouble was everywhere he went. Not a single corner of this ship was safe from the onslaught of the Necromorphs. Isaac recognized that name, Jacob Temple. He was a skilled member in the CEC engineering department from what he heard; he even had some combat training just like Isaac, but who could say he survived this mess? With the engines still offline they obviously didn't succeed; either they died along the way or…the engines weren't fixable. If that fear became a reality things couldn't possibly get any worse.

Isaac looked around the control room to get better acquainted with it, taking note of the Store to the left of the way he came in. The supply lockers would come in handy, but he was just about out of space and who knows what he would run into on the way that would be useful; schematics, semiconductors, the works. Isaac came out from the control booth and noticed to his left two Sun soda machines, both having the brand's slogan "Taste the Sun" on the side. He wasn't thirsty, but it would've been wonderful if the Medical Deck had one of those. What's done is done though, and other more important things had to be done; there was no telling how much time he had before the ship would start to fall down to the planet.

Isaac pulled open his not-very detailed map of the area. A ways beneath him there was a room shaped like a ring; this was the Centrifuge room. But as he suspected before he needed to take the door to his left, through the door marked 'Machine Shop: Reminder: Please sync your RIG regularly'. Isaac passed the Shop and the storage lockers, heading through this door.

The next room immediately opened up to a mesh platform that went down in a series of ramps, several feet above the floor. All around the room extra machine parts laid out on racks, most of which were turbines that were replacement parts for the engine. Isaac went down the first ramp and came on a single square landing; the rest of the platform branched off to his left in an L shape, the next square sporting a single blood stain. Isaac slowly went down the rest of the platform, looking to his left and to his right, both hands gripped tightly on the Plasma Cutter. The minute he came down to the main floor he found a dark trail of blood that lead to two different directions to his right; one of them a changing room for engineers, and the other lead to the rest of the shop through a small doorway. And underneath that doorway a single Slasher in blue overalls laid there on the floor in a mass of blood as if someone put it there.

Isaac looked at it, not sure what to make of that. It didn't look like it just died there; it was too well placed. His spine shivered and his chest went cold. Before going that way, he decided to check out the changing room. A single flickering light from the corner produced a long shadow that danced across the floor in a sharp jittery manner, almost as if produced by a living being. Before he got within a few feet of the room a cylindrical storage canister rolled across the floor from the right, making a short distance before coming to a stop. He swallowed and slowly peeked around the corner, to see if he was safe. The room was devoid of any life, the blood spatters on the floor marking the forgotten presence of now-dead crew members.

Engineer suits hung from the wall like strung-up corpses, watching him with all life and emotion sucked away. Isaac tried his best to forget about it, taking his eyes away from the suits and investigating the other side of the room. There were a few chairs and storage lockers, more canisters on the floor as well and even two discarded lunch pails and a thermos, but what really drew his attention was the blinking schematic plate and a log lying on the floor. First Isaac grabbed the schematic which contained information for Flame Fuel. He didn't buy the Flame Thrower yet, but that was because of the cost; eleven thousand credits was quite a lot. Then, Isaac picked up the log, moving it around his hands before downloading it to his RIG.

Instead of hearing a voice reporting the name and rank of the owner, a hollow pounding played through the log followed by a grunting shout.

"What in hell is going on here? Danvers!" The voice…it belonged to Temple.

"It's, it's Henderson... He's crazy!" The second person in the log had to be Danvers."Pulling his own teeth out!"

The pounding continued as did the insane yelling of Henderson; he sound like he was in pain, like he was trying to rid himself of an unknown force.

"Henderson! For god's sake!"

"UWAAA UNHH!" The cry of despair came from Henderson. Then there was a sudden bang from what sounded like a gun, followed by soft thud. All sounds stopped.

"Oh god, is he dead?" Danvers said in anguish, as if he just witness the death of his co-crew member.

"Relax, he's alive. But he hit that door pretty hard."

"Man... Why would he do something like that! I don't get it."

The log cut off. Jacob wasn't kidding about the panic in his last log; they witnessed the building insanity of a worker, a friend, and Isaac could see that whatever was going on around here these aliens had something to do with it. But what did the Marker have to do with it? There was some connection between the condition of the crew, the Necromorphs, and the Marker, and it seemed to center around the planetcrack, and it was very obvious that the twisted religion of Unitology itself was playing some part in all this. The nature of these connections Isaac could not make out right away. He would need more evidence before he could make any conclusions.

Leaving the changing room behind Isaac saw the Necromorph had not left its position on the floor. It laid almost identically to the one he saw in the Flight Deck on his way to the Maintenance Bay. Could this one be attempting to fake him out, draw him into a trap that would lead to his death? Isaac licked his drying lips and carefully went towards it. It wasn't reacting to the sounds of his boots pounding on the floor. If it was alive, it was really waiting for him. He had to get past; it was his only way to get to the engines. When he was within a few feet, the Necromorph jumped to its feet like a spring-loaded toy, its back curving back sickly as it straightened up, roaring as it came face-to face with the engineer.

Isaac screamed in surprise; all that went through his head was how could he be so ignorant and stupid. That went through his head as it grabbed his shoulders, but the forceful grab made his hand swing up and hit it in the head; the hand holding the Plasma Cutter. The Slasher gurgled and roared in pain as its iron grip suddenly disappeared and Isaac was thrown back against a large metal shelf, a grunt of pain escaping him. The Slasher was above him, now lacking a head and slashing blindly at the air. Isaac's left shoulder ached, the muscles throbbing, but despite the uncomfortable pain he raised his gun to lay out two blasts over the Slasher's body, the second one making a lucky hit and taking off its arm. It fell back on the floor with a sick burble of incoherent sound, spraying blood in every direction.

Isaac struggled to his feet, wincing and grabbing his shoulder. The monster was stronger than he gave it credit for; the throw did a number on his shoulder. The pain wasn't that intense but it really would bother him as long as it lingered.

"These things…can't get enough of me…" Isaac chuckled to himself in an attempt to break the dark feeling of the atmosphere built around him; his only sense of relief from the events around him would have to be from himself. As he continued down a narrow path made by long work benches, Isaac ran his Cutter across the metal to produce a small scraping sound, his eyes on the mining tool until it suddenly hit a log. Isaac sighed and looked over at the rest of his path, which was only a few more feet away. The more information however, the closer he was to solving this complex mystery no matter how tiring it was getting these logs.

The large blue screen of his database came up. The log was a bit short, but on the right the two photographs were rather interesting. The top one was of Captain Mathius with the word "DECEASED" printed in red across the picture. The one below it Isaac recognized. The white signs back at the Medical Deck Security Station with the words "Evacuate this area immediately" written in sharp red print.

""DECK LOG
HALLOW. F. (AB)
Don't know what's going on around here. Someone said the ship's been attacked. Who the hell would attack us out here? First the Captain dies, now we get attacked? Carmack says someone on Bridge staff killed him. Can't believe that.
Goddamn chaos now. Can't get through to the Bridge. Can't get through to anyone. Everyone's running. Getting the hell out of here. I should probably join them.""

The information from this log Isaac didn't find all that useful or informative but it did give him an idea of what the crew was feeling. Communications were down everywhere; most likely due to the busted Comms Array, but there could be several other factors that contributed to this.

The next spot he hit were the Refueling Control Stations; exactly where he needed to go. The room he came to was tighter cramped like a regular hall, but the lack of walls and proper flooring made it all look skeletal; leaving room for smaller Necromorphs to attack.

"This is getting ridiculous." Isaac said in his mind. "This whole goddamn ship is like one death trap."

A single body of an engineer lay on the floor. Isaac didn't look at it. He didn't want to feel the anguish of their deaths; it would make him weaker, unable to continue. Events like these were enough to drive a person to his whit's end. It was amazing he had his fingers wrapped so tightly around his sanity. A scream echoed from somewhere in the room. It sounded like the scream of a little girl. The realization that children could've been on this ship brought a wave of despair to him.

The Necromorphs were killers; brutal killers who didn't care if you were a father or a mother, or even someone's child; to them you were just prey laid out on the table for slaughter.

Isaac came to a path that lead left and right, but when he looked down he saw one crawl across the underside of the grate. His hands jumped up and followed it, but the Leaper disappeared out of sight down the right path. His chest pounded violently. He wasn't sure if it would come looking for him, but the fear of it froze him in place. He was on a platform; this fact became known to him when he saw the darkness that stretched out past the railing, only broken by a single white light that bathed a tail curved spire that rose from the smoke-covered blackness below. The loud creaking of parts of the Ishimura, the screams of unknown victims, and the howling coming from the darkness was all the interrupted the silence.

He chose the right path, unsure why because of the Leaper, but on the wall across from him he found a container on the wall with a blue sign that read "Emergency Supplies". While he expected a med pack, he found eight hundred credits. Isaac collected these before he went on. Rounding a few tight corners Isaac's nerves were tested by the darkness alone; if it weren't for the few lights along the ceiling it would be completely dark.

"God, was this deck always like this?" Isaac whispered his voice low and deep. The mesh floor creaked below his feet as if his weight was too much for it to support.

This felt like a horror movie; the blood, the dark and macabre settings around him, and he was the ill-fated actor that would not get another take when he died. It was so unnatural and evil to the point that this no longer felt like the fabled USG Ishimura. It was hard to believe this part of the ship would be so dark, even before the attack. Was the ship designed in such a way? The mining vessel couldn't possibly have been made with scaring the shit out of the crew in mind.

Isaac came out from the small hallway onto a platform that continued to the right, just in time to see a Lurker crawl out of sight and into the shadows. He froze. His hand muscles tightened up, the pulse in his palm beating against the Plasma Cutter. The intensifying fear was taking over but Isaac stood firm. The lights flickered behind, the wind howled through the Engineering Deck and Isaac could feel the deep abyss beneath him; if the floor fell away he would fall into the darkness; the never-ending darkness.

Isaac could barely see what was in this small square "room", except for the shadows that covered every shape and made them dark silhouettes. Isaac stepped out of the light and into the darkness, as if he was crossing the path between worlds; as corny as that sounded, the line between light and darkness was growing thinner and thinner with every step he took – and one step after another, one step could be his last.

Dark metal broke from the ceiling with a crash and a bang. A black silhouette dropped from the opening it created; almost completely obscured by the darkness, Isaac only knew it was there due to the loud roar that came through its rotted deformed lips. The light from his helmet provided little light, but he could see the split down the middle of its face, where the physical traits of human and alien clashed. Isaac screamed as it charged his way, blades slashing at the air like its namesake.

Thump...thump...thump…his heart pounded dangerously against his chest. Isaac didn't have enough time to take aim, it was too close and it closed in. Without even thinking Isaac swung wildly, no clue as to where his punch would land. The Slasher roared, hissing out sickly and gurgling on its own blood. Isaac felt something soft and fleshy hit his boot; one crucial element missing from its shoulders. A gusher of blood drenched the floor, its rotten form pressed back on the iron railing of the catwalk. A blast of energy lit the darkness for a split second, then a second time followed after that. All he could see of the Necromorph in those short moments was its blood covered visage, still fighting to get to him despite the mortal injuries he inflicted upon it. The monster's silhouette slumped down on the floor, falling down to its side.

Isaac's breath came out long and hard. His sharp increase in body temperature made the inside of the suit humid and uncomfortable; he found relieve when the RIG systems cooled him off with a fine blast of mist. Had it not been for that Isaac would boil in his own suit. The ship was already hot enough from the festering heat coming off the bodies littering the ship. One could only envision but never dream of taking in the smell of death that flowed through this ship.

The screams echoed through the Deck, the slaughtering of innocent lives at the blade of this alien threat; the deep clanking of the unseen mechanisms everywhere around him, pounding on his ear drums so resonantly he could practically feel them bleed, taking his very life away with it.

Keep us whole...Unity is forever.

To the left where the Lurker disappeared, the catwalk continued, coming to a dead end directly in front of him but another walkway to the left between two wall plates, but Isaac could barely see past the wall furthest from him it was more of a ramp, rather. Below the ceiling against the dead-end wall two signs were set up, one pointing to the left and the other to the right. Aside from the bright white lights scattered across the Deck, they did provide some of their own well-needed and really appreciated light. The topmost marker pointed to the North Refueling Control Station, while the bottom one pointed to the South Refueling Control Station. A blue holopanel was against wall at level with Isaac, a marker of its own indicating a gondola was stationed there. Indeed accessing the south station via the gondola was possible, but the gondola was not there; instead, it was out in the middle of the track, lying dormant as if sitting there for a very long time.

'Malfunction! Kinesis Required' was what the panel currently displayed. Kinesis would do well, but right now he had direct access to the north station. The best bet was to start there, then come back and put the gondola back in place.

Isaac looked up at the ceiling as the Ishimura's computer made an announcement, albeit in a different language. His natural curiosity made him wonder what the computer was really saying; mainly, because he wondered if it concerned the attack; an evacuation order, or anything along those lines.

A few steps were taken to the left path and Isaac's stomach churned. He staggered, feeling very cold. The Plasma Cutter fell from his suddenly weakened clutches.

"What…the hell…" Isaac's words came out in a faint mumble. But as quickly as it came, it went like a quick flash. He looked at his hand, his shaking hand. Something was going on…the lights, the visions; was he coming down with a strange sickness, or was there something else at play here?

At the Refueling Control Station…the refueling was controlled by a lever on a tall panel, which could be moved with Kinesis. What looked like the fuel containment chambers stood out in front of the station, composed of three cylindrical attachments on the end of a larger containment pod. Obviously the levers would bring the two halves together. Isaac hooked his Kinesis on the lever and dragged it down to the bottom, attaching the ends with a soft click.

"Refueling sequence activated. Please standby."

The pod hummed to life as it spun around in a slow motion, coming out to meet the other end halfway, shattering the horrible silence. That was one down, and one more to go.

Isaac gazed down at his thick heavy boots. Then at the Plasma Cutter. The macabre appearance of the deck didn't improve his inner feelings. Everything looked so threatening, so unnatural…what did he get himself into? Nicole…that was the only reason he volunteered for this mission. He could bear to go another four months without seeing her, feeling her soft skin…

Isaac brought up a broadcasting channel. The hazing hum blasted his ears for a second before he selected Hammond's RIG code for the transmission.

"Hammond, Hammond do you hear me? Did you find Nicole's code yet?"

No response, nothing but static.

"Hammond? Damn it Hammond answer me!" The channel didn't clear even the slightest, consumed by static and noise. "Fuck!"

He closed the channel. If Nicole died because he couldn't reach her in time Hammond was going to lose a few teeth. He couldn't be sure, but was it possible Hammond was ignoring his promise for a reason?

Isaac didn't want to think so, but at this point the question wasn't all that crazy.


Don't know why this took me so long to finish. Maybe I can get up more soon, but I can't promise anything.

R&R