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Dead Space: Deep Space Terror

by Blackdrag-rose

Chapter 53: Tau Volantis: End of the Markers

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Chrysalis discovered that the starship that they were traveling in, the Starship Hyperion as it appeared to be called, was an advanced warship that was outfitted for a one ship war against an armada, because once they left the place where Tau Volantis had been located Starlight insisted on showing her around the ship. She discovered that the starship had a docking area that happened to contain a smaller personal ship that each of the people that worked aboard the ship used when the starship came to a stop near their destination, and that happened to include the same ship that Starlight used to get down to the planet's surface. There was a room where Starlight created the newest plans for any additional weapons that she could think of, including the ones that her creative partners assisted her in creating, though as she walked by the room she noticed that Starlight was considering the creation of several new weapons that looked like upgraded versions of the weapons she must have created earlier, along with what appeared to be the blueprints for the powerful weapon she had used against the Necromorphs while they were on the planet.

The room that Starlight stopped in, however, appeared to be a room where she modeled new armor and either built it or attached it to whoever was supposed to wear it, to which she walked over to a control terminal and stared at the screen for a few seconds, before glancing up at Chrysalis.

"You're probably wondering what we're doing in here," Starlight commented, to which she tapped a few of the controls and the machines around her powered up, though at the same time Chrysalis stared at the armor sets that had either been created or imagined by Starlight, "I'm going to measure you real quick and then we're going to outfit you in some of the best armor that we have at the moment, that way you'll be prepared for the assault on Earth."

"What's wrong with the armor that I'm wearing right now?" Chrysalis asked, to which she looked down at her armor, which had served her faithfully over the years she had been stuck in this part of the universe, before glancing over at Starlight for a few seconds.

"Nothing. It's strong, sturdy, and great for the environments you had to travel through," Starlight said, though that was when she walked over to Chrysalis and directed her towards the middle of the room, where Chrysalis decided to humor her and went along with it, before she returned to the control terminal, "it's also, in comparison to what I've been using for the last few years, highly outdated and in need of replacing. How would you feel about wearing some armor that not only was light enough where you feel that it's not even there, but also has the protection necessary to negate the vast majority of damage that might be done to you, without even showing signs of stress?"

"How much damage resistance are we talking about?" Chrysalis asked, because she had to admit that she was interested, as her current armor made it impossible to forget that she was wearing it, though this one sounded like it was a dream to have on since she'd be protected at all times.

"Ninety percent." Starlight replied, though she had to grin when she saw the look on Chrysalis' face, as while she was sure that the former queen had made sure she didn't take any damage over the course of her adventure, save for when she and her companions started a new task, this would help her even more in the future, "The armor also has protections against the elements, just like the survival suit that you happen to be wearing at the moment, and attachments that get rid of the recoil from the majority of the weapons I have created over the years, save for a select number of them. The helmet also has some great modifications that I've made over the years, constantly updating it with any new technology that might be important, and it will keep track of how much nanotech you have and when you need to restock... don't worry, I'll tell you and your friends everything once you start training."

"Shouldn't we be getting ready to arrive above Earth?" Chrysalis inquired, as that was what they said they were going to be doing, heading back to that planet and saving the rest of the people from the Unitologists, Necromorphs, and those that were completely overtaken by the madness of the Markers.

"That's what we're doing," Starlight said, though that was when the machine activated and Chrysalis found that it was measuring her body with the armor she was currently wearing, before the former queen sighed and pulled off her current armor, showing off the store keeper clothing she had been wearing before the call to action had arrived, "Once you, along with your friends Isaac and Carver, are outfitted with some new armor I'll take you to the virtual training deck and show you the latest weapons you can use in the upcoming assault. We'll arrive above the planet in a few hours, mostly to give you three time to relax or do more than the recommended training I'll be giving you, but once we get there our objective is to rescue the remaining survivors, kill those cultists that want everyone dead, and stall for time until the other Brethren Moons show up."

Chrysalis stood there as the machines around her became active as her measurements were taken, to which she watched as several robotic arm like appendages lowered and started pulling out armor pieces that looked like what Starlight was wearing. From there she stood still as the machine expertly slipped the metallic gloves, boots, and the body parts of the armor onto her body, each piece following the limb or body part that it was supposed to attach to while doing nothing that would break her bones in the process. Not even a minute later she was standing there with the same type of armor that Starlight was wearing, though the glow that came from her new armor was a dark green color, before the helmet slipped into place and she found a few commands that she could use while this was on, along with the fact that she could either take it off or let it collapse like her old armor did. Once the armor was in place Starlight powered down the machine and nodded her head, indicating that she was happy with her work as she beckoned Chrysalis to follow her... though as that happened Chrysalis found that the armor was everything that Starlight had briefly told her about, making her eager to see what else it could do.

It wasn't long before they reached the virtual training area of the ship, one where they could slip into a whole new world if they so desired, and she found both Isaac and Carver, already decked out in new armor, waiting for her, before Starlight started showing them the weapons that were available to them. Chrysalis found that all of them were deadly in their own manner, even the more useless looking ones were quite dangerous, and she understood why the Unitologists were having such a hard time surviving the invasion, because they weren't ready for weapons like this. The three of them took turns testing out the variety of weapons available, shooting at the dummies that the area used as enemies for people to practice on, though what really interested Chrysalis was when Starlight actually let them test her toy, the RYNO VII, out and they all decimated the horde of dummies that had been coming at them. The only sad part was that Starlight, after allowing them each a turn with the weapon, stated that she couldn't let any of them use the weapon in actual combat, as she was the only one that was certified to use the weapon of mass destruction... even the earlier forms of the weapon series required some sort of training before someone could use them as well.

Chrysalis, however, felt that was just fine, as she had a few favorites from the new weapons that she had been shown and she still carried her favorite weapon with her at all times... even though Starlight seemed to have an idea on how to improve it as well, and promised to have something ready for the assault.


Like Starlight said, it took them a few hours to reach the space that surrounded Earth, though Chrysalis discovered that the captain, who happened to be the same Ratchet that Sunset had spoken to earlier, hadn't activated the full power of the warpdrive that was installed in the starship, otherwise they would have gotten here in a minute or two. She wasn't mad, since the army that had come to this galaxy was still holding their own without any signs of slowing down, and it gave her, Isaac, Ellie, and Carver a chance to relax from their ordeals on Tau Volantis, though Santos was the only one that was still running around the ship, trying to understand everything about it. Starlight even said that to understand the Hyperion she would have to sit down with Santos and explain how they turned a research vessel into a fully operational military vessel that was completely outfitted for war, which surprised Chrysalis when she heard that piece of information. Still, despite the lack of any real crew on the ship, save for the captain, his small robot companion, and a few other people, the ship seemed to operate too well with that small number... until she discovered that there were AI that were in charge of specific areas of the ship, to make sure that it worked like it was supposed to, and that the ship could easily be filled at a moment's notice if the captain was on his own.

After discovering all of that Chrysalis and the others waited until the ship left the warp system that it had slipped into when it was leaving Tau Volantis behind and Isaac's home planet appeared in front of the starship, where the captain brought them to a stop and turned towards the people that were gathered around him... while at the same time Chrysalis noticed a few more starships surrounding the planet as well, sending smaller ships down to both the planet and the moon as they searched for survivors.

"Alright, we've received confirmation that several of Earth's continents have had their survivors liberated and safely carried out of this system so they can begin new lives once this is over," Ratchet said, looking at the group that was in front of him, though at the same time Chrysalis could tell that he wanted to be down there as well, but held himself back since someone had to be the commander of this operation, "We've received reports that there are still survivors on the moon, desperately trying to survive the outbreak that happened earlier, and right now there's a small force fighting them back, so Starlight will transport you all down there so you can get to work rescuing the remaining survivors. We only have about an hour left before the Brethren Moons arrive, if they follow what Sunset thinks they'll do, so we need to save all the people that we can before they arrive... though I don't need to tell you want will happen to them if they don't get off the moon before our targets arrive."

"All of your helmets will have a clock that will tell you how much time you have left before you need to evacuate from the moon," the little robot, which Chrysalis had discovered was called Clank, added, to which an icon of a clock appeared in their helmets, small enough where it didn't obscure their vision while also being noticeable at any moment, "Once those clocks reach a certain time you should head back to the transport immediately... before you get caught in what is going to come next."

From that moment forward Chrysalis, Isaac, and Carver followed Starlight to the transport ship, a rectangular vessel that could carry a good amount of people inside it, that flew out of the Hyperion and headed straight towards the moon, though as they approached a good landing point Starlight fired at the Unitologist gunships that were blocking the way and cleared the landing pad so she could touch down on it. Chrysalis, at this point in time, was no longer surprised by the firepower that each of the ships and weapons had, but she was happy to have them on her side, especially since there was work to be done, people to save, and both cultists and Necromorphs to kill. While Isaac carried a pair of pistol like weapons, the Dual Vipers as they were called, Carver carried a powerful rocket launcher called the Negotiator and some other smaller weapons in case he ran out of rockets to fire... though Chrysalis, on the other hand, continued to use her Pulse Rifle, only this time around Starlight had modified it to fire energy bullets that could tear through anything and were designed to not pierce walls that were behind a target, unless she wanted them to do that.

Chrysalis also came equipped with a weapon that Starlight called a Flux Rifle, as it was an actual sniper's rifle that had been quite handy in the training area, though so far she could tell that it would be some time before she had the chance to use it in a battle scenario.

The first group of cultists that they came across, who came to investigate the strange ship that had blown two of their own to pieces and had landed nearby, were excellent targets for Chrysalis to test her improved Pulse Rifle on, where she loosed a volley of bullets and watched as they tore through the cultists in front of them and then did the same with the pair that was behind them, exactly like Starlight said they would. When that happened Chrysalis glanced at her weapon for a moment, surprised that it was even better than it had been back on Tau Volantis, though at the same time Isaac pointed his new guns at the doorway that the cultists had come through and fired at the second group that was coming their way, putting holes in them as their bodies fell to the ground. Of course since the Marker that was on this colony was still operational, as they had ran away from it when the outbreak happened, because the bodies that were in front of them started to reanimate themselves immediately after Isaac and Chrysalis first fired at them... only for Carver to loose one of the rockets in his weapon and blew them all to pieces, opening the way forward while they stared at the area the bodies had been resting in.

"Holy hell," Carver commented, looking at the weapon he had picked to be his main weapon for this mission, because while he knew the power that it commanded in a training environment, like they did earlier, this was completely different from that period of time, "I knew this thing was powerful, but to do all that with a single rocket... no wonder the Unitologists were getting mowed down in all of Danik's reports."

"You should have seen what happened to those Necromorphs that Starlight attacked," Chrysalis said, remembering how quickly the person in question had decimated the undead enemies that were coming their way, before she turned towards the path in front of them, "The RYNO VII is a truly fearsome weapon... though we had better pick up the pace, because those Brethren Moons are going to arrive before we know it and we haven't even saved anyone yet."

Isaac said nothing as he ventured forward, using his new weapons to mow down the Unitologists and Necromorphs that were in their way while Chrysalis and Carver did the same thing, though depending on the targets Carver either stayed with his spare weapon, a bomb throwing glove that really packed a punch, or blew up large groups of enemies with a single rocket. It didn't take them long to reach an intersection where they had to split up, to which the three of them went their separate ways for now and focused on hunting down any survivors so they could escort them back to the transport ship and get them out of here. Fortunately Chrysalis found a group of survivors that happened to be holding their own near where they had landed, which also happened to be near her shop as it turned out and the people were some of her customers before the outbreak, though they were happy to see her again and followed her back to the ship, as they trusted that she wasn't lying to them about it being safe.

Even as she brought the group of people to the safety of the transport ship she found that the moon was a war zone that would have caused an ordinary pony from Equestria to vomit and pass out, though since she was a changeling, and had seen some battles thanks to her mother, she could observe this without freaking out. As she stood near the edge she could see the army that had come to defeat the Unitologists blowing the gunships out of the air or mowing through the ground forces with ease, including the Necromorphs when they rose up to fight. The Unitologists were losing this war that they had started, because their enemies had weapons that caused massive damage if they weren't careful, had ships that happened to be on a level higher than their gunships, and had two actual goddesses that could easily tear the entire moon apart if they so desired. Chrysalis discovered that she honestly didn't need to fight anyone at this point, not with her weapons, so she stood there and protected the transport ship as both Isaac and Carver brought the people they had found to someplace safe... all while she was thinking about what happened to those that crossed over the mirror, the forms they took on, and the power they commanded in the end.

Isaac, who was getting ready to head out towards a second group, paused as Chrysalis held her hand out and the air around her seemed to shimmer for a few seconds, reminding him of the flaming aura she had taken on back on the Titan Station, when she was fighting her mother... but he knew that she wouldn't use it here, not when there were so many people around that could still get hurt.

As it turned out the amount of time they had left before the arrival of the Brethren Moons had gone by rather quickly, though at the same time Chrysalis found several opportunities to use her Flux Rifle to blow a gunship out of the air, once more surprising her by the level of power that these weapons contained. They were far beyond what she, Isaac, and Carver were used to handling, so much so that she honestly wondered what sort of enemies required the use of these weapons in order to defeat them, but that was before her mind turned towards a true adventure in the stars, instead of worrying about death every time a Marker was activated. The Solana, Bogon, and Polaris Galaxies that Sunset had mentioned earlier sounded interesting and worth investigating, making her wonder if she could get permission to explore the vastness of the universe that was now open to her and her friends... though her thoughts were interrupted as the timer went off and she spotted several transport ships taking off, taking the survivors off the moon and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, the other starships that were gathered around the space around Earth were starting to leave as well.

The moment the ships started to leave the planet and the moon, however, Chrysalis snapped back to reality and climbed onto the transport ship that she was standing near, where Starlight tapped a few controls and started up the engines as both Isaac and Carver appeared with the last of the survivors they could find... getting them aboard the ship before climbing up to join her, where they watched the door close as they headed away from the moon.

"Weapon systems are engaged and are being primed as we speak," Starlight commented, causing Chrysalis to turn away from the closed door and walk over to where she was standing, because she was interested in what was going on at the moment, "All starships, be ready to fire at the Brethren Moons when they arrive... and then return to the galaxies you came from while Sunset finishes our targets off."

"Where will you take these people?" Chrysalis inquired, knowing that right now the passengers they were carrying to the Hyperion would be taken somewhere safe, so they wouldn't have to worry about Unitologists and Necromorphs ever again, though even as she spoke she noticed that all of the starships were lined up near each other and were facing the Earth as they charged up the weapon systems Starlight had mentioned.

"There are some inhabitable planets in the Solana Galaxy that some of them can claim as their home," Starlight replied, though at the same time she docked the ship inside the Hyperion and stopped the engines, before she made sure that the ship was locked in place, "along with some planets like that in the Bogon and Polaris Galaxies. We made sure to have places set up ahead of time so that way everyone we saved has a chance to calm down, get over what happened to them, and then integrate themselves into the new societies that are around them. Those foolish cultists tried to destroy humanity because of what some monstrous moons told them, though the survivors won't have to worry about that happening to them again in the future... especially when there appears to be some of them that want to take up arms and defend the rest of their kind from future threats."

Chrysalis wanted to ask more, because all of this was interesting, though at the same time she and her friends walked out of the ship and headed to a viewing area that allowed them to see the Earth as the Hyperion moved away from the planet started to head to the line of ships that were pointed at the place they had just came from. When the Hyperion came to a stop Chrysalis watched as Sunset appeared outside the ship and stared at the planet, while at the same time the ship began to charge it's weapon systems as well, with a timer that indicated that the Brethren Moons would be making their appearance soon. What surprised her was that the timer was more accurate than she thought it was, as the moment it hit zero the space near Earth rippled and the ten Brethren Moons that they had been told about started to appear around the Earth, causing the humans that were around her to gasp in fear and shock as they stared at the massive moon sized creatures that were heading towards the planet. It was in the following moment that Ratchet gave the order to the other ships, where they all fired the weapons that Starlight had created and the shots flew towards their individual targets, causing the ten Brethren Moons to scream in pain and shock as they froze where they were floating, which was followed by Ratchet determining that it was a success.

Before anyone could say anything Sunset made her move, as she gathered some of her energy into a small sphere and sent it flying towards the Earth, causing Chrysalis to remember what had happened to Tau Volantis earlier, though she patiently waited to see what happened next. A few moments went by before the sphere disappeared when it came into contact with the Earth, though that was immediately followed by the volcanoes becoming active and red magma cracks started to form, causing the humans that called Earth home to gasp in shock as they watched what was happening to the planet below them. It took a couple of seconds before the entire planet was covered in fire, ash, death, and was falling apart before their eyes, though Sunset remained where she was standing and sighed as the end happened, to which the Earth exploded and took the moon with it... though, as she and the others had been planning, the Brethren Moons also suffered the end of the planet they had come to devour.

"Well, this is good news," Starlight commented, looking at the tablet that she was holding, which happened to have a video of the planet before it's destruction, though she smiled as the Hyperion started to depart from the area of the universe that they were in, just as Sunset teleported aboard the vessel, "I'm reading that all of the Brethren Moons were caught in the explosion... it seems that the plan was a complete success, as they've all been erased from the universe."

"We're part way done with this operation," Sunset said, causing Chrysalis to turn towards her, because she had to wonder what else she could do to improve the situation that she was in control of, "Ratchet's going to activate the warpdrive, near it's highest power, and we're going to pull out of this galaxy... and then, once everyone is out of this dead galaxy, I'm going to erase the entire galaxy."

"Then what was the point of using the Earth to destroy the Brethren Moons?" Chrysalis asked, as that didn't make a lot of sense, because if Sunset was going to destroy the entire galaxy anyway, which was pretty much dead thanks to both the Moons and the damaging mining that the people went through, she wondered why they had wasted their time in such a manner, when she could have done it in an instant.

"Verification that the Brethren Moons died." Sunset replied, though at the same time she walked away from the window and started heading towards the bridge, so she could wait for the end to come, "I didn't want any of them escaping before I blew the galaxy apart, because if even one of them survived they would have started this madness all over again, in an entirely new galaxy."

Chrysalis stared at Sunset as she walked away, as she couldn't believe what was happening, though at the same time she stared at what had once been the planet known as Earth, because the power that the god commanded was more than what she had thought a pony could control. She remained silent as the Hyperion departed from the galaxy that she had spent the last couple of years in, though what surprised her was that not even a few minutes later they appeared in an area that was outside the swirling mass that had to have been the galaxy she had been living in. Sunset, true to her word, used her power to destroy the 'dead' galaxy, purging it from existence and erasing the rest of the Markers and the Necromorphs that they created, before they headed towards one of the other galaxies that Starlight had been to during her own adventures.

While all this happened Chrysalis realized that she had entered a world where ponies, in their new forms, were the strongest creatures in the entirety of the universe, but at the same time she had also come across the existence of some interesting galaxies that she wanted to explore... Equus, as much as it was her home, held no value for her at this point and her mind turned towards the stars around them, wondering what adventures she would have in the near future.

Next Chapter: Interlude: End of a Journey Estimated time remaining: 59 Minutes
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