The final chapter. Please review and tell me what you thought.

The sequel, Dead Space: Terminus, will be out sooon.

"Déjà vu anyone?" Owen asked as they stepped back out of the airlock and into the corridor. Menshikov and her cronies' bodies had disappeared. A bloody trail led to a vent. No one said anything about that, except John tossed a few grenades down the vent. There was a distant boom and body parts came tumbling out, among them Menshikov's mutated head. "Remember what happened the last time we went off together away from the group?"

"The LC found a really cool gun, we made some new friends, and you found a new toy?" Chen replied. They all chuckled darkly before becoming somber.

"I've served on vessels like these. Had to help service them on more than one occasion. There are three intake points for the fuel lines." John explained to them "Besides securing them to the fuel tanks, each one has to have its valve opened, otherwise the fuel won't pump. Stupid safety precautions." He turned to see Owen fidgeting with his RIG comm "What?"

"Before I met up with you guys, I was helping this couple…Evelyn Marcus and Jack Keller, a pair of engineers. They were from the O'Brien. Evelyn was also on EarthGov's capture-and-secure list. We broke into Government Sector together. I haven't been able to contact them since I drained the power."

"Try again. If they're engineers, then we could use their help."

[TRANSMISSION LOG]

[TYPE: AUDIO]

[TO: KELLER, J.]

[FROM: HAINES, O.]

[ARE YOU THERE?]

[Haines: Jack, come in.]

[Keller: ….]

[Haines: Jack, you answered the message, it didn't go to voicemail. I know that you're there. Come on man, talk to me.]

[Keller: It's all over…]

[Haines: What?]

[Keller: Just gone...]

[Haines: Keller, you're making no sense.]

[Keller: She's dead! Evelyn's dead!]

[Haines: What?! I...are you sure?]

[Keller: COULD YOU SURVIVE A 4000 METER FALL?! YES, I'M SURE…STAY OUT OF MY HEAD…]

[Haines: Keller?]

[Keller: Ugh…the Marker…it's taunting me…using images of her…I can't tell if she's dead or not…]

[Haines: But you just said…]

[Keller: I KNOW! I know she's dead…but I don't…it's meddling with my mind just like it did with Major Lack's and Williams'.]

[Haines: Keller…we need you. We have a ship, but there's a problem with the fuel tanks. Can you help us? Come on man, pull yourself together.]

[Keller:…yeah, I can. Send me the coordinates, I'll meet you there.]

[LOG ENDS]

They took a lift up to the fueling platform above the Israel. Keller was already there, working on the fuel lines. He had a shotgun strapped to his back, and what looked like a Necromorph arm blade screwed onto what had been the handle for a flashlight, a sort of makeshift sword. He was also covered in blood.

"Someone ripped the feeding tube out of its socket mid-fueling." Keller explained to them. He was calm, collected, and immersed in his work "Hard thing to do, considering the safety magnetic lock to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen. They overrode a dozen safety protocols."

Keller pointed down to a loading dock beside the Israel that had a bunch of dark two meter-long boxes with clear glass tops. "Bunch of stasis pods with people was stacked there. Whoever cut the lines wasn't thinking. The remaining fuel still stuck in the tubes vaporized and flooded that area with toxic gas. Burnt out the power circuits and mag-seals on the stasis pods. They all died screaming. A few were still twitching and moaning when I arrived. Rather annoying." He winced and clutched his head. John's hand strayed near the handle of his FANG, but a glare from Owen stopped him from unstrapping it. Still, he kept his hand near the trigger.

"Jack?" Owen asked. Keller glanced at him "You sure you alright?"

"I'm fine." Keller snapped, "She just wants something. We've got to get these fuel lines together. Make us whole. I mean, make them whole."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's just focus on this, okay?"

"Okay." Owen said hesitantly. He was starting to to think that John's suspicion wasn't totally unfounded. "What needs to be done?"

"We need to finish fueling up the ship. One of the intake valves runs through the ceiling. I've already opened it with Kinesis." Keller said and pointed to the tube clamped down over one of the three fuel tanks in the side of the Israel.

"There are two more. One of the intake valves is running across the deck of the bay. There's a lift you can take down to it. The other one is located in the maintenance wing on the other side of the Israel."

"Right. Okay, let's get this done quickly. Chen, you stay up here and holler if you spot any more of those things trying to sneak up behind us." John said "Owen, head down to the deck and open the first fuel line. I'll go over to the maintenance wing and open the second one. Engineer Keller will stay up here as well and secure the fuel lines once we've opened the intake valves." John also motioned to Ashley and mouthed lights out and indicated Jack. She understood. If he went crazy, she knew what to do.

Owen stepped into the lift and descended to the bottom of the bay. There were empty oil cans, rusty bolts, torn hull plating, and fuel residue from the countless repairs/constructions done in here. Owen stepped off the platform and realized there was a two-inch-thick layer of engine fuel coating the floor. The whole thing reeked, not to mention stuck to his boot. Luckily, it only proved a minor annoyance and Owen managed to reach the large metal box-structure holding a long black tube to the floor. Using his Kinesis module, Owen turned the large handle until the intake valve opened up.

"LC! How you doing?"

"Just finished mine! You?"

"Same! Keller, everything okay?"

"Yes! I'm attaching yours now, Owen…odd."

"What?"

"The intake valve is open, but there's no pressure in the tube itself. Check for a leakage." Owen walked back and forth among the length of the tube until he found the leak; a two-foot-long gash in the side of the tubing. Fuel was dribbling out of it. That explained the layer of engine fuel on the ground.

"Found it."

"Okay, there has to be some sort of breach sealant on a workman's table down there. Look by the observation office." Owen did as he was told and found two cans of dura-foam. Walking back over to the fuel line, Owen applied a layer of sealant over the pipe. Then he found a curved piece of metal plating and a blowtorch. Holding the plate overt the breach, he welded the plate to the tube.

"Okay, that should-UMPH!" BLAM. Owen bent down as his shoulder armor caved in. Something was embedded in it. He dropped the blowtorch. The armor was still intact, but that was going to leave a major bruise. Turning around, he saw the bloody visage of Captain Alistair Romanoff. The man had a revolver in his hand. In his other was a knife dripping with oil. His vision blurring from the pain, Owen lifted his laser pistol. Another shot knocked it out of his hands and split it in two.

"You…can't…let anyone…leave!" Romanoff sputtered. The man was truly in a terrible state. Half of his face was completely destroyed, and there were wounds all over his body. He might have survived the destruction of his ship, but just barely. "Earthgov's research…must be stopped! I see the truth now! They're dooming us all!" He fired again. This time, Owen managed to duck. Romanoff fired again, catching Owen in the hand. He winced and hit the floor. That time, the armor didn't hold, and while the gelfoam sealed the breach, there was still a hole in his hand.

"If…any…infected or affected…make it off…the planet…we're all doomed! You can't leave!" Romanoff aimed the pistol at Owen's head. Owen closed his eyes, waiting for the end. BLAM. Nothing. Owen opened his eyes to see Romanoff topple over, a gaping hole between his eyes.

"Poor misguided fool. Still, he served his purpose in preventing you from leaving." The voice had an English accent. Owen looked up. Above him stood a man in his mid-40s, with a white RIG Suit and black sunglasses. He had short brown hair, except for a small ponytail in the back. Glancing around, Owen saw John and Keller on their knees with black-armored men pointing shotguns and assault rifles at their heads. John mouthed 'safe' when Owen did a mental body count, indicating that Chen was inside the Israel. Another man was plopped down. To Owen's surprise, it was Colonel-fucking-Abraham-Ford. Or whoever he really was. He looked pretty beat-up. His stasis gauntlet was ripped in half. If his appearance gave any hint, Owen was sure that the other two Oracles hadn't survived. The man examined Owen's ID tag.

"Private Owen Haines, is it? A pleasure. My name is Jacob Arthur-…"

"…Danik, leader of the Inner Circle of the Church of Unitology." Keller finished "Remember me?" Danik bent down and studied Keller's face.

"Hmm…would you be Vested Amanda Keller's son? You and your father turned your back on us, if I recall. Your sister and brother fortunately were saved. They are being reborn as we speak. So sad that you could not see what-"

"We saw the truth!" Keller snapped, "I was on Titan Station! I saw what happened there!" Danik just shook his head. Suddenly, his fist shot and and collided with Keller's face. John growled. Owen felt behind him until he found the blowtorch. There were areas of the floor still covered in engine fuel. Ford saw him, but he didn't say anything.

"Haines...I'm sorry. Believe me when I say that we were trying to control the Marker situation." Ford said. Owen almost believed him "Listen to me, I know you have no reason to trust me, but we both have a common enemy in people like Danik! Even if we sacrificed some people for research, it would have allowed us to keep them under our control almost indefinitely!" He still didn't say anything about the blowtorch. Maybe he was telling the truth.

"Oh the belief of heretics. I've spent years fighting the blasphemy done by his government." Danik kicked Ford in the stomach. "You and your EarthGov are responsible for restraining the Markers, but no more! As we've done here, the Markers will be free. Everywhere. EarthGov was kind enough to leave data on where all of their Marker test sites are located. They're everywhere; all the major colonies and outposts."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with!" Ford snapped. Owen put one finger over the handle of the blowtorch. Then another, and then another…

Danik turned to Ford. The traitorous marine smiled and stared him down before snarling "We were misguided-I was misguided into thinking they could provide us with unlimited energy! But we were wrong! I've seen the top government files. It's a trap! Keeping them contained is the only way to prevent our extinction!"

"You mean our salvation! We will free them, but you have no part in that. Now it's time for you to join the cycle of rebirth you so abhor." He aimed his pistol at Ford's head.

"You first." Owen activated the blowtorch and let out a stream of flames at the gas-covered ground. Immediately, fire sprang up all around them. Taking advantage of the flames, John and Ford grabbed their captors and shoved them into the inferno before taking their guns and blasting more Unitologists. Danik was already running.

"Leave them! Our task here is complete. Uxor awaits! The work must be continued! Let them burn with their station!" The rest of the Unitologists fled. John aimed his Gauss cannon and fired. It obliterated one of them. The others fired a volley of bullets before disappearing back into the corridor.

Owen retrieved his shotgun and aimed it at Ford, but the man didn't attempt to raise his own gun. Owen could see why: one of the Unitologists had managed to shoot Ford. There was a gaping wound in his stomach, and Owen had seen enough chest wounds to know when it was too late. Ford was finished, and no amount of Med Packs would save him. "Someone has to get back there and warn Earth! If the Unitologists free the Markers, then we're all dead!" Ford yelled over the crackling flames. He wobbled slightly and grimaced from the pain. Owen kept his shotgun aimed at Ford, but his hands began to tremble.

John was talking to Nichols on his RIG and turned to them. "Automated takeoff procedures aren't working. Danik and his men sabotaged the mooring clamps. They'd need to be removed manually."

Ford tossed Owen a data stick "Here! That's all the information you'll need to convince EarthGov. Don't give it to them in person. Transmit it and don't let them track you. They won't go after you so long as that information is dangling over their heads." He turned and limped off in the opposite direction to the mooring clamps. Once there, he began using Kinesis to remove the pins holding the mooring clamps to the Israel. Then he used Kinesis to force the clamps off of the Israel, groaning as his Kinesis module began to spark from the strain being put on it.

"Did he just help us?" John asked. Owen stared after Ford before running back to the lift. Keller and John hopped in after him.

"Hurry up! Once that fire reaches the fueling pumps, this whole sector will explode!" Stumbling from mini-explosions and dodging flames, the trio ran back into the airlock.

"Corporal Nichols, we're aboard! Go, go, go!" The airlock shut and they were flung against the wall as the Israel accelerated out of the docking bay. They were just in time: the docking bay erupted into flames and exploded just as they cleared the area.

"We made it..." Jackson murmured.

They rendezvoused with the Orpheus. The damaged vessel had been patched up, but it was clear that they weren't going to last a Shock jump. Jackson maneuvered the Israel next to the Orpheus and docked. They began loading up her crew and the few survivors from the Jerusalem. Wagner and his crew came aboard, shaking the hands of Squad Three. White came over and gave them a salute. Benson hugged each of them.

"Congragulations, Squad Three. You did us proud." She said solemnly.

They arrived at the bridge. Wagner stepped aside and indicated the captain's chair to White. White nodded in thanks and sat down, gripping the seat handles tightly. Wagner sat down at the navigation officer's station.

"Prepare to fire a missile." White ordered as the bridge crew sat down in their seats. There was a hiss as the nuclear device shot out of its tube and slammed into the station. There was an explosion in the center of the station as half of its gravity deflectors failed, and it entered a decaying orbit. Suddenly, Wagner sat up in his seat.

"Heads up! Something in the asteroid belt! I'm reading dozens of signals!" Commander Benson checked her screen and nodded in confirmation.

"One carrier, two frigates, three scout vessels, and maybe forty gunships and god-knows-how-many fighters. They've just cleared the system. Their Shock Drives are spinning up." John glanced out the viewports and nodded.

"Danik and his men."

"I'm reading about a dozen of those gunships turning about! The rest are shocking out of system!" Hardwick reported, "No, wait…two of the scouts are still in system. They're firing!"

"Message incoming from Danik."

"So, you survived. As much as I'd like to commend you on your strategy, I can't allow you to stop my holy crusade. Goodbye."

"We still need to clear the asteroid field before we can shock out!" Wagner warned White. The other captain nodded.

"Man the defenses!" White ordered, "Anyone who can still pull a trigger should be up in those turrets!"

Owen nodded and began limping off, before noticing Keller just standing there amidst the chaos, biting his lip. He was sweating and tracing weird symbols on his pants with the blood on him. He grabbed the young man and dragged him down the corridor. "Come on, you've had to have fired ADS cannons before. Turrets aren't that different."

Keller stared at him "Do you see her?"

"Who?"

"Evelyn. She wants something."

"That's great. Keep moving!"

They ran past the med bay, where the medical staff from the Orpheus was helping to tend to the wounded. Turning a corner, they found an unoccupied dual-turret station.

"Right, simple enough-fire and watch your ammunition counter. Once it drops to zero, you launch the empty barrel and reload a second one. If your feed jams, launch the barrel. The rounds are explosive, and continuing to fire will risk setting them off. I'll act as your spotter. I'm going to paint targets for you." Owen explained to Keller "Got it?" Keller nodded. He grabbed a headset from a wall locker and put it on. The holographic HUD appeared over the right half of his face. He was still sweating and gritting his teeth.

"Fire, watch ammo counter. Launch ammo barrel when empty and if jammed. You give me my targets." Keller repeated. He sat down in one of the two seats. Owen sat down next to him. The seats moved forward on their rails and into the firing stations. It was a box-shaped room, with a single clear reinforced-glass screen that had holographic capabilities. Indeed, the moment the seats dropped into their position, the "screen" came to life, highlighting the passing gunships and linking to Owen's helmet HUD. They also linked them to the other gunner stations.

"Two gunships, approaching on your six!"

"Locking on…Keller, take them!"

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT

"Got one. Station Four, the other one's heading your way."

"Rodger that!"

"Locking on…he's down."

"We're entering the asteroid field."

"This is Station One. They're firing a miss-…."

"Station One?"
"Just got taken out. We're down one turret."
"This is Station Eight. Those asteroids are starting to look a bit dangerous!"

"This is Wagner. Stations Two, Five, and Seven; divert your fire to any asteroid that gets in our way!"

"One of the gunships just crashed into an asteroid!"

"I hit one! Took out his forward port thruster."

"I see him. Still has firing capabilities."

The scout corvettes bore down on the Israel. "Open fire!" White barked. The ship's main railgun, the GAR-340 Series-X, fired. A red-hot projectile shot out and slammed into the side of one of the corvettes, tearing a hole in it. The corvettes responded with their own cannons. Several shots impacted harmlessly on the ablative hull armor, but one round managed to rip the ablative armor off the hull directly below the bridge.

"Fore ablative armor has failed. Standard hull armor at 56%" Hardwick warned.

Another GAR round fired. This time it missed. The non-wounded corvette came in close, blasting with its cannons. The ship's main turret opened fire, spewing titanium armor-piercing rounds. The pilot of the corvette tried to dodge, but the bullets cut a trail through its hull, right up to its reactor. The corvette went flying off and exploded.

The second corvette came round for another attack. The GAR fired. The round managed to tear a hole right through the vessel's engines, but before the corvette exploded, it fired a series of missiles. The Israel's main turret took out two, but the rest managed to slam into the ship's torpedo bay, ripping up the hull around it.

"Corvettes are down!"

"I just lost visual on that injured gunship."

"Station Three, he's entering your field of fire."

"Just took out another one!"

"Station Six, I see him. Firing…he's down!"

"I count seven left."

"Make that five. The main turret just took out one and another was hit by debris from that last gunship."

"My gun's jammed!" Keller warned Owen.

"Launch the barrel!" Keller tried, but shook his head.

"It's no good! The feeding belt is caught."

"Get out and manually remove it!" Keller didn't respond. He was hunched over in his seat, mumbling to himself. Another fricking breakdown. Owen cursed and got out of his chair to manually remove the barrel. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind and slammed against the wall. The impact activated his helmet retraction.

"You need to see the truth! We must all be made whole!" Jack's eyes were bloodshot and he looked half-crazed. In his hand was his Slasher-blade dagger. He stabbed Owen in the shoulder and the area weakened by Romanoff's bullet caved in. Owen roared as the blade bit into his shoulder. Cursing, he karate-chopped down on Keller's wrist, knocking the blade from his hands. That didn't stop the Marker-affected man and he instead grabbed Owen by the neck.

"She wants us. SHE WANTS US TO BE MADE WHOLE!" Owen heard the warning blare that meant the turret was starting to overload. It was still attempting to fire the ammunition, even though it was jammed. The cooling system was failing. Sooner or later it was going to blow.

With a roar, he threw Keller off of him and across the room. The effort tore something in his shoulder, and he fell to one knee. His shoulder was dislocated. Grunting in pain, he slammed his left side into the wall, forcing the joint back into its socket. That caused more pain.

"FUCK! Jack, listen to me. You're hallucinating. Snap out of it."

"You need to see." Keller said calmly. He stood up. Owen put up his hands to fight.

Keller growled and rushed him. He had something in his hand. Owen realized it was a Marker shard. That was why he was still affected. Keller brought the shard down, but Owen dodged. He grabbed the shard. The moment his fingers touched it, the world shifted and warped.

Owen found himself standing in a weird misty plane, which was shaking and surrounded by floating rocks and stars. Then the entire world turned red and he found himself in the same mist-shrouded plane, except it was floating in a red emptiness. In the center was a Marker. Walking towards it was…Jack Keller. Standing in front of the Marker waiting for him with open arms was Evelyn Marcus. She was bloody and missing a hand.

"Keller!" Keller turned to look at him. Evelyn glared at Owen, her eyes glowing red.

"Don't listen to him, Jack! Join me and we can be together again!" Owen snarled and tried to shoot her, but a roar from Keller created some sort of barrier, and his shot was deflected. Evelyn smiled maliciously at Owen and held out her hand to Keller.

"Jack, you know she's dead." Owen pleaded, "You have to move on. It isn't what she would want."

"How do you know what she would want?!" Keller screamed "You didn't even know us before today!" A gun materialized in his hand and he fired. Owen dodged the shot and shot the gun out of his hand.

"I know someone sensible and in love when I see them." Owen replied "And I know that she wouldn't want you hanging onto a memory of her. You saw what happened back on Titan Station. You know what the Markers do to people. You have to let go. She would want you to keep on fighting. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain." Owen was counting silently in his mind. He knew time went faster in dreams. Did that count for hallucinations too? All he knew for certain was in reality, they were standing in a room about to explode. He held out his hand to Keller.

"I…" Keller's angry expression softened. He glanced back and forth between Owen and Evelyn. "I can't…she needs…I have to…" His shoulders slumped in defeat "You're right. I have to finish this. For her." Evelyn snarled and screeched. Her entire face began glowing as she began moving forward to strangle Keller. Owen raised his sidearm and emptied it into the Marker. The red spiral shattered, Evelyn dissipated into mist, and Owen and Keller were knocked off the plain by the shockwave from the destroyed Marker…

Owen groaned as he hit the deck. He was back in reality. Keller was sitting against the wall, rubbing his head. Owen raised his sidearm cautiously-it was still full.

"You okay?" Keller raised his head and looked at him solemnly. The Marker shard was no more than a pile of red sand on the floor.

"Yeah."

Owen stood up and walked over. He helped Keller up. "Let's get back to business and-…" BOOM

The room exploded. At first, Owen thought it was from the jammed turret, but then he realized that a gunship had fired a rocket at him. The viewport shattered and air began rushing out of the room. Panicking, Owen closed up his Security Suit, wincing as the gelfoam filled in his shoulder breach, and also a bit into his shoulder wound, and turned to Keller, who didn't have an EVA-worthy RIG. Turning around, Owen saw an emergency cabinet, with two fresh EVA Suits. Grabbing Keller, who was hanging onto the turret seat, Owen ripped open the locker and, with the young man's help, stuffed him into one of the EVA suits. Keller grabbed one of the helmets and slid it over his face. He gave a thumbs up to Owen.

"Keller, Haines; are you alright?!" It was Benson.

"Yeah, Commander. We're fine."

"You in one piece?"
"Room's depressurized and turret's a bust, but I got Keller in an EVA Suit and my suit's sealed."

"Good, because we've got a problem."

"Besides the Unis hounding our tails?"

"We managed to destroy the last few, but there's a giant one of those things blocking our path. Corporal Chen identified it as the same thing you two saw that destroyed the Jerusalem. I have to say…it's a lot bigger than the tentacle we saw crawl up the bridge."

"Thing?"

"Big, gaping maw, lots of large tentacles."

"Can we go around it?"

"We lost the Number Two fuel tank. We barely have enough fuel to clear the asteroid field on our current trajectory as it is. We can't shock through that thing with all those tentacles flailing around."

"Shit. Can't we blow it up with the nuke?"

"Unfortunately, besides blowing a few of the turrets, the Unis managed to hit the main torpedo bay. The explosion blew up the entire section. Luckily, their safety measures held, thank God, and seeing how we're not incinerated, the nuke wasn't destroyed. We can't get in; the main hatch is sealed. We don't have time to suit someone up and send them out, and frankly, everyone is occupied at the defenses trying to stop that thing from attacking us with its tentacles. You might be able to do something."

Owen stepped out onto the hull. Keller was right behind him. Together, they made their way forward to the warped blackened section of the lower bow where the rocket had hit. "Jesus…" Owen said as he glanced up. Jutting from an asteroid was a large gaping maw. He hadn't seen the whole thing when it destroyed the USM Jerusalem, but he was starting to wish he hadn't seen it at all.

The creature seemed to have taken over the asteroid, with a large maw jutting from one side and tentacles coming out from other holes. Two smaller asteroids were fused to the main one by the same organic muck that had been covering the Bellerophon. It reminded Owen of the sea monster of Norse legends. The Kraken let out some sort of guttural roar that sent vibrations through Owen's helmet, and extended its tentacles.

The gunners of the Israel were firing bursts of cannonfire every time a tentacle made a move on them, but they could only do that for so long. Wordlessly, Owen and Keller climbed into the breached torpedo bay. Like all EarthGov vessels, the torpedo tubes would automatically mag-seal themselves in case of a hull-breach or explosion. Unfortunately, there was no way to unseal them and torpedoes were usually taken out in drydock, where maintenance crews had access to torches and electrified metal cutters. It would take time to unseal even one, that is if they could find it. Luckily, their Geiger counters located the correct tube, set in a ground-mounted launching tube.

"How are you with oxygen?" Keller asked. Owen checked his suit.

"Six minutes. You?"

"Eight. We better hurry." They began prying open the launch tube for the nuke.

"So…one Havoc nuke and no idea how to launch it." Keller said as he used a crowbar to break off one of the hinges. He tossed Owen a blowtorch. Owen caught it and began cutting through the other hinge. Oxygen began hissing out from the breach. That meant the missile was intact.

"I have a theory." He severed the hinge. Keller jammed the crowbar into the gap and they both began pushing on it. "If we can't make the nuke go to the monster, then we make the monster go to the nuke."

"How?"

"Simple. Encase it in something one of those tentacles would grab onto, and set it to detonate on a timer." The gap was increasing. Owen grabbed another crowbar and jammed it in next to Keller's. They both began pushing and pulling.

"Like an escape pod?" CLANG. The hatch popped open and the nuke floated out. Keller grabbed it with Kinesis.

"Yeah." Owen opened a link to John.

"What is it, Private? We're kind of busy up here-…" The image flickered as the ship groaned. Owen grabbed onto a bulkhead as they were knocked out. "Shit, it just grabbed onto our port rocket thruster. Try to shake it loose!"

"LC, I need you to launch an escape shuttle."

"Why?"

"We're going to send it to the thing with a special prize inside." John grinned and nodded.

"I'm launching the one closest to you. It should be right outside the launch bay."

The light from outside dimmed as the box-shaped vessel appeared in front of the breach. Owen and Keller floated the nuke to the vessel. Owen blasted the emergency hatch with his sidearm and they loaded the nuke inside.

"Once this thing launches, we need to get back inside before the Israel activates its Shock Drive. We still need to set this shuttle on a course for the maw. I'll figure out a way for us to get back." Owen said. He prepared to fire the maneuvering thrusters. Nothing happened. Frowning, Keller began imputing commands. Still nothing. Then their RIG comms activated and Nichols' voice reverberated in their helmets.

"Guys, that thing just launched some sort of organic blob at you! A bunch of those weird web-spitting things came out and they're webbing the shuttle to the hull!"

"I'll go out there and stop them." Keller said. He grabbed two Plasma Cutters from the shuttle's wall locker "You stay here and launch the shuttle the moment I sever us from the Israel!"

Keller stepped out onto the hull and was immediately accosted by a Slasher. He blasted it into pieces. There were five strands holding the shuttle in place. Keller began blasting them. The strong fibers were resistant to the plasma beam, and it took several bursts to sever one. By then, however, the Spinners had figured out he was a threat, and stopped their web-spinning to attack him.

"Keller, back up!" Owen warned. Keller activated his suit's jets and rocketed backwards. The area where he was standing erupted in flames as the shuttle's maneuvering thrusters activated, incinerating the Spinners on the hull. The remaining ones retreated and began starting new web strands. Snarling Keller blasted them to bits and then severed the last four strands. With a roar, the shuttle's engines activated, and Keller found himself hanging onto the side of the shuttle as it rocketed towards the Kraken.

"Jesus, Owen! You could have waited for me to…oh shit!" A tentacle came flying towards them. Keller raised the Plasma Cutters and blasted a sickly yellow growth on it. The tentacle recoiled. Another one came in. He managed to actually sever this one.

"Keep them off the shuttle! We're almost there!" Keller blasted more and more of the tentacles. The tooth-lined maw of the Kraken grew closer. A tentacle reached out and grabbed the shuttle, pulling it towards the maw. Owen shut down the engines.

"That's it!" Owen cheered, "Setting the timer for one minutes…okay, this is the hard part! Move forward until you're right above the pilot's seat!" Still being pulled by inertia, Keller slowly made his way forward until he reached the roof of the cockpit.

"Wait…you're not going to…" The hull plate underneath him shifted, and the next thing he knew, he was hanging on for dear life to an armrest as the ejection seat shot away from the shuttle.

"HOOOLLLYYYYYY SHIIITTTTT!" Keller screamed. Owen winced and lowered the imput from Keller's helmet microphone.

"Thirty seconds!" Owen yelled at the top of his lungs. Keller wasn't sure if he was nervous or high on adrenaline or both. Ahead, the looming visage of the Israel grew near. Chen's voice came over their RIGs.

"We're opening up the main storage bay! Try to aim for it!"

"Fifteen seconds! I'm going to have to increase speed!"

Dodging asteroids and pieces of gunship, Owen fired one last burst from the booster seat's thruster and sent them flying into the storage bay. Inside, Jackson, John, and Troy were waiting. Keller lost his grip on the seat the moment they entered the artificial gravity. Jackson caught him. Owen threw himself from the seat and into the arms of John and Troy. The booster seat itself slammed into the side of the bay and erupted into a small firestorm. Emergency crews put out the fire.

Still holding Keller, Jackson activated his RIG "Captain, we got them! Get us out of here!"

"Already doing it!" The Israel's engines glowed blue and the vessel disappeared into shockspace just in time. The Kraken roared as its insides burst and disappeared in the expanding ball of fire that shot out of its orifices.

They reappeared in normal space at the edge of the system. The crew gathered on the bridge to watch as Perseus Station made its decaying orbit. Once it fell, it would cause a cataclysmic event similar to the one on Aegis VII after the botched rescue attempt by the USG O'Bannon. Suddenly, Wagner sat up in his seat.

"White, I'm reading several E.D.F. destroyers in-system. They're hailing us, sir."

"USM Israel, report status on package." They all recognized the voice to be that of Defense Secretary David Chang. Owen walked over to the comm unit and activated the mike.

"Secretary Chang, I'm sending you a data package. Know this: the Unitologists plan on liberating all the Markers. This data will give you some idea on which targets they intend to attack next. What do you with that information is up to you. Do me a favor and don't bother coming after us. The same agent of yours who gave it to us also gave us some sensitive intel that if it goes public, will seriously damage your image. Don't come after us." Owen said. He pressed the SEND button.

"Wait, who is this? Identify yourself-…" Owen closed the link.

"Go." The Israel shocked out-of-system. Meanwhile, the armada of warships opened fire on Perseus Station. Salvo after salvo of missiles and cannonfire hit the station, until finally it shattered. The destroyed remnants fell through the atmosphere, slamming into the outpost and the Marker, destroying both. The impact caused planetwide seismic activity. There were visible shockwaves as the planet cracked and twisted. Then it shattered. The E.D.F. vessels turned about and began moving away. Then, they shocked out as well, leaving behind the burnt-out remnants of the planet.

[TRANSMISSION LOG]

[CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET-ONYX-ONE]

[TO: CLARKE, P.]

[FROM: CHANG, D.]

[SUBJECT: YOUR SON.]

[POUL, AS YOU KNOW, THE ATTACKS ON ALL OF OUR MARKER SITES FOLLOWING THE ONE ON KREEMAR HAVE DEVASTATED US. DUE TO THE CACHE OF INFORMATION WE RECOVERED FROM INTERROGATION SESSIONS WITH HIM, I REQUEST REOPENING THE SEARCH FOR YOUR SON, PATIENT FOUR (CLARKE, I.). PLEASE RESPOND ASAP.]

[LOG ENDS]

[TRANSMISSION LOG]

[CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET-ONYX ONE]

[TO: CHANG, D.]

[FROM: CLARKE, P.]

[SUBJECT: RE: YOUR SON]

[PERMISSION DENIED.]

[LOG ENDS]

[E-MAIL DICTATION SYSTEM]

[USER: CLARKE, P.]

[TO: CLARKE, I. (REGISTERED AS SON OF SENDER)]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTACH A PERSONAL GIFT?]

[DENY]

[ACTIVATING VOICE-RECORDING SOFTWARE…]

[CLARKE: Begin dictation…Isaac, if you hear this…I'm sorry, son. I know you've been searching for me-pause dictation…damn it, he's not going to forgive me…continue dictation…Don't ask how, but it's been me who's taken EarthGov off your trail. I swear I had no idea what happened to you after Aegis VII. I thought you died. It was only after Titan Station that Command told me what happened. I've taken them off your trail, but you need to…Hell, I don't know if you still use your old P.O. box or if you'll receive this message. Just keep your weapons close and your friends closer. This thing isn't over yet. I love you son. Please forgive me. End dictation.]

[MESSAGE READY. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEND?]

[DELETE MESSAGE]

[MESSAGE DELETED. THANK YOU FOR USING EARTHCOMM MESSAGING.]

[TRANSMISSION LOG]

[TYPE: TEXT]

[TO: UXOR COMMAND (GEORGE, I. (CPT.))]

[FROM: CHANG, D.]

[SUBJECT: PATROLS]

[PER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND THE ISSUE OF SECURITY AROUND MARKER SHROUD 4, COMMAND ORDERS YOU TO INCREASE PATROLS PLANETWIDE. PLEASE PLACE EMPHASIS ON PATROLS AROUND MARKER SHROUD 4.]

[LOG ENDS]

[DUTY ORDERS]

[TYPE: TEXT]

[TO: CARVER, J. (SGT.)]

[FROM: GEORGE, I. (CPT.)]

[SERGEANT CARVER, PER YOUR RECENT 'DIFFERENCE OF OPINION' WITH ME OVER THE ASSIGNMENT OF PATROLS ON UXOR, YOU ARE NOW ASSIGNED TO PATROL THE PERIMETER AROUND MARKER SHROUD 4. CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY THAT YOU AREN'T BEING COURT-MARTIALED FOR BREAKING MY NOSE.]

[LOG ENDS]

Hope you enjoyed it!