At this moment, the Ishimura's engines, repaired by Isaac, had roared back to life. Under the calibration of its automatic navigation system, the ship slowly shifted away from Aegis VII below, nudging itself into an area teeming with high-speed meteorites.
"Boom!"
A small meteorite smashed through a porthole in the Bridge Hall.
"Warning, hull breach detected." The entire bridge area, including Marcus's current position in the Captain's Quarters, flared with dangerous red light, accompanied by a piercing alarm. "Containment measures activated, porthole lockdown initiated." It wasn't until the Ishimura's main computer automatically initiated the lockdown procedure, sealing the damaged porthole, that the alarm and red light finally subsided.
Marcus immediately summoned the Shield Bee, which had been hovering beside him, and connected it to the main computer in the Captain's Quarters. The artificial intelligence from the Titan Empire swiftly infiltrated and completely took over the Ishimura's system.
It was at this moment that Isaac and Daniels entered, finding Marcus. Both looked at the Shield Bee hovering beside him with some surprise; they hadn't noticed this peculiar device before. However, given Marcus's earlier "space technology"-like abilities, they quickly dismissed their concern.
Marcus turned to them. "You've come at a good time. I'll upgrade your RIG authorization levels."
A RIG (Resource Integration Gear), in the Dead Space world, was one of the most vital pieces of equipment for any human. Beyond its basic functions of monitoring health and displaying identity, it integrated video communication, broadcast reception, personal computer functionality, navigation, and file storage. On the Ishimura, its most crucial use was to open doors requiring specific access levels. Now that the Shield's intelligent system had fully compromised the Ishimura, Marcus could naturally grant them the highest RIG authorization. However, Marcus chose to keep a subtle advantage: he only upgraded Isaac to the highest level, while Daniels's RIG level was raised by merely one tier.
Daniels's eyes flickered as she looked at Marcus, growing even more convinced he was from the CEC company. How else could he wield such authority?
After upgrading their permissions, Marcus pointed to the Ishimura's system structure image, which floated holographically in the Captain's Quarters. "The power routing for the ADS railgun has been struck by a meteorite; this is hardware damage. You'll have to reconnect the circuits and restart the railgun to destroy the incoming meteorites."
Isaac nodded, accepting the daunting task. It was worth noting that during his time repairing the engine, Isaac had occasionally encountered holographic images left by his girlfriend, Nicole, further cementing his belief that she was still alive.
Daniels, standing nearby, couldn't help but interject, "We also need to construct a distress beacon. Otherwise, relying solely on us, it's impossible to resolve the disaster on the Ishimura." Marcus raised an eyebrow; he knew Daniels wanted to lure the USM Valor and its crew of professional soldiers to the Ishimura, planning to seize the initiative. However, he didn't expose her scheme, casually stating, "The Ishimura's acting engineer, Jacob Temple, has already gone to the mining deck to set up a distress beacon. If you're worried, you can set up another one yourselves after restarting the railgun."
Isaac and Daniels nodded, then exited the Captain's Quarters. The situation was urgent, time was pressing, and every second delayed meant another meteorite tearing a hole in the Ishimura. Marcus didn't linger either. After finding a Mind Power module and a Stasis module in the Captain's Quarters, he too left.
These two modules were significant. The Mind Power module functioned similarly to his own psychic abilities, allowing him to attract and launch objects telekinetically. The Stasis module's effect was even more impactful, capable of drastically slowing the movement speed of objects hit by stasis energy, achieving an effect akin to stasis grenades and stasis bombs in the Warhammer Universe. However, the Stasis module could only slow objects, not completely halt them, and its duration was relatively short. But overall, these two modules were considered cutting-edge technology developed by humans in Dead Space.
It was notable that in the Warhammer Universe, only the Dark Angels, who had unearthed the STC template for stasis bombs, possessed the ability to manufacture them. Among other human factions, only a select few Forge Worlds could produce the less effective stasis grenades. If the Stasis module were brought to the Warhammer Universe, most Imperial factions would likely clamor for it. Unfortunately, both modules required RIG installation to be used, meaning Marcus couldn't even test them out himself.
However, he wasn't overly concerned. He put the two modules away and left the Bridge Hall, walking towards the Crew Deck area. Since the Crew Deck was adjacent to the Bridge, Marcus quickly reached its entrance.
The Crew Deck was one of the largest areas on the Ishimura, and also the most densely populated. Many crew members on the Ishimura were followers of the Unified Church, and under the Marker's influence, they had gathered here and committed mass suicide. This led to the Crew Deck having the highest concentration of Necromorphs, making it the most challenging area to clear. In gaming terms, this was a late-game map, filled with difficult monsters.
Marcus came here for two reasons: First, to clear out the Necromorphs gathered here and accelerate his mission progress. Second, to personally witness the Red Marker, which had been replicated by the Earth Government.
Along the way, Marcus casually cleared out over a dozen Necromorphs. Then, at a corner, he encountered the Tyranid Warbeasts who were also diligently clearing Necromorphs in the area: two tyranid warriors, a biovore, a lictor, and a venomthrope.
Looking at the Tyranid Warbeasts before him, Marcus's eyes narrowed. He then opened the system panel.
629 / 1277
The progress of clearing the Necromorphs on the Ishimura had already exceeded halfway. In the clearing order he'd given to the Tyranid Warbeasts, the Crew Deck had been placed last.
"It seems the number of Necromorphs here is unimaginably large," Marcus muttered to himself. Then he noticed a head hanging from the lictor's scythe-like claw. Though covered in blood, Marcus still recognized it as the head of the mad scientist, Mercer. During Marcus's previous actions, the lictor had already completed its hunting mission. How could a mere mortal like Mercer escape the relentless pursuit of an assassination master like the lictor?
"It can be considered fulfilling his wish," Marcus mused, a slight curl to his lips. "Don't Unified Church followers all want to be aggregated by the Marker after death?" Immediately, his Psychic Flying Knife shot out, triggering the "Corruption" effect, completely erasing Mercer's last traces.