Dead Space: Purpose

by Dragonman461

Chapter 27: So It Begins

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Isaac stared at the being with a shocked expression before trying to make sense of the situation.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"This is the homeworld of the Markers."

Isaac tried to blink several times in the void, before trying to talk again.

"The homeworld... wait, that... that can't be possible. The Markers are billions of years old! This place has only-"

"Isaac," The being raised its upper right hand to cut him off, "we understand that this can be confusing. But please listen." It lowered its hand. "It all began 800 quintillion years ago. There was a powerful race of great minds. They were known to my people as the Great Minds."

'Wow, that's disappointing.' Isaac thought to himself.

"They were faced with a massive crisis that threatened their people during a great war. An energy crisis. They looked for a way to create generators that would spawn infinite energy. A method of defying entropy was their first method, trying to keep stars burning well beyond their average lifespan. Unfortunately, they realized that they were looking at their situation from the wrong angle. Instead of trying to generate energy, they tried to find a way to convert other forms of being into energy. That's when they constructed the first Marker."

"Wait, then what's their power source?" Isaac asked.

"All the other Markers you've faced are receivers of power, only echoes of transmissions from the first one. The source of their power is life itself. So long as there are beings that exist within reality, then the Markers will have a source of power."

Isaac stared at the being for another moment as he tried to process the situation.

"Wait, how could it turn the presence of living beings into energy?"

"If my people knew that, we would have been able to sever their links long ago, and prevented this from happening."

"Why is this one still standing? Of all the ones in the Galaxy, why here?"

"This is the Marker homeworld. The only one capable of surviving the massive severance after your actions at Tau Volantis is the original Marker."

"Which means..." Isaac trailed off as realization struck him. "... I'm going up against the first Marker..."

"Indeed, Isaac."

He turned to face the giant before giving an accusing glare.

"Why me?"

"Understand, Isaac, that no one in existence could have expected you. You were brought up as normally as anyone else, felt like anyone else, lived as any other would. This all changed when you went to the Ishimura."

"Oh yeah, and what changed there!? My girlfriend died before I could try and save her, and the Markers just played with me, trying to get me to fix their problem!"

"You were supposed to die there. That was your destiny."

Isaac felt a headache at the mention of the word.

"Why... why the hell would I care about something fake like that?"

"Isaac, when the Marker was created, it was infused with some of their creators greatest minds. One of which was a philosopher that believed that all beings must progress in a certain way that's been determined by a creator of higher power than ourselves."

"Let me guess... when they fused these idiots, the Marker actually believed that it could control destiny."

"It believes that it is merely a conduit of fate. And that all life will eventually merge with it. Isaac, you defied its word at Aegis VII, at Titan Station, at Tau Volantis, and even stopped its rise in this Equestria."

"What do you mean, 'this Equestria'?"

"This world has progressed through many different iterations of the Pony races, nearly eight thousand versions. It created them as an immediate source of energy, and as a last resort, if necessary. You delayed its actions by merely existing. It was going to start the Convergence of their kind by luring in the one you know as, 'Fluttershy'."

Isaac found himself seemingly more present at the mention of the pegasus.

"Wait, what about her?"

"The Marker was bringing her in to be turned, but when you arrived, you changed her fate. She is connected to the Elements of Harmony, a secondary weapon for the Marker's plans. Once they reunite the Elements with the Root of Death, the Marker will purge their world and begin the Final Convergence."

"Final? What does that mean?"

"Once it draws in their power, it will rip open multiple tears across the fabric of reality. The Equestrians will be turned into a mindless slave race that will spread their message of peace and tolerance to every universe, and when they're done, the Marker will extinguish every single form of life that exists. No dimension will be safe, no species can stop it."

"So this is it?"

"No. Isaac, you've stopped this several times so far. First with Fluttershy, then when you saved Rainbow Dash from killing herself when you saved young Scootaloo. You've changed the fate of the Bearers of Harmony, and in doing so, you can turn their power to your favor. When you face the Marker, you will face your greatest challenge. Every life that ever existed and ever will shall watch these next moments of your life with anticipation. Do what needs to be done."

Isaac felt a massive ripple pulse through his mind as the world around him began to fade.

"Wha... what's happening?"

The world shook as every creature around him opened their eyes and mouths and poured light out from them as they spoke at once.

"THE TIME HAS COME, ISAAC CLARKE! DENY THE MARKER'S ASCENSION OR WE WILL BE DAMNED FOR ETERNITY! HALT THE CONVERGENCE! BREAK THE WHOLE!"

The massive amount of light flooded his vision, before going completely dark once more.

\\\//////

Deep beneath the Everfree forest, the scent of death and decay strengthened to immeasurable levels. A cave once filled with a symbol of hope was stuffed to the brim with the broken and mutilated bodies of hundreds of ponies, from all across Equestria. In the mix were also Griffons, Changelings, Minotaurs, Zebras, all kinds of sapient creatures. The cracking of bones could be heard throughout the massive cave as flesh and muscles fused together in the glow of a dark presence. Entire bodies were converted within hours, into shapes that matched ones that surrounded them, creating a massive row of legs that were similar to that of a centipede. The largest mass of bodies began to twist and convulse into two large arms, glowing a faint yellow along the joints. Ribs and spines were pulled out towards the front of the mass, creating a massive set of jaws that made up the entirety of its lower section.

After days of molding, the being looked over the mass with a hint of joy.

"Rise, my Equestrian Tormentor." A voice rung out through the cave.

The gigantic arms of the creature slammed into the ground as its jaws opened to give off a roar that shook the foundations of the forest itself. The beast took off towards the treeline in the distance before hiding closely by the edge of the small town, waiting to attack.

Back in the cave, however, was the most dangerous conversion of flesh and bone. Joints snapped and folded as the bodies of ponies were morphed beyond recognition. The skins of the ponies shed off the fur as facial features began to rise. When the bipedal form was finished, it looked down into the pool of blood to examine the face of Equestria's doom. The face of the New Age.

The face smiled at its reflection, clapping its hands together.

"Perfect."

\\\//////

Isaac felt himself being hurled onto the ground with relative ease, yet still found himself out of breath upon contact with the ground. He groaned as he started to get up, slowly bringing himself to his feet.

'I'm getting too old for this shit.' Isaac thought to himself.

When he got up, he took a look to see where he had been dumped. The moment he saw the Library, Isaac knew that he had made it back to Ponyville. However, when he truly saw it, his jaw nearly dropped. The buildings were all covered in black tentacles, either rooting up at their bases or seemingly moving towards them from the distance. He looked around to try and find any innocents in the streets, and saw that the town was empty of any living creatures.

Before he could make any kind of assumptions, his R.I.G. came to life with a loud hiss of static, until he was staring at the communicator screen.

"Hello there, dear Isaac."

On the screen was a strange looking creature, with an unmatched set of horns, a goatee, yellow eyes, and was cut off around the neck. Behind the strange creature were crowds of ponies, all scared in a large, dark room.

"I imagine you have several good questions that deserve to be answered, but I'm afraid we have no time for such pleasantries. I believe you've heard of me. Discord, Spirit of Chaos, so on, so forth." He leaned away from the screen and gestured to the crowd of ponies with a clawed hand. "I've already moved the citizens of Ponyville here within Canterlot, but I think we both know that they're not going to be safe here for long. Not while that... abomination of stone is still out there. Just know that you don't need to worry about the town. If we live through this, I can fix everything with a snap of the fingers." He waved a pawed arm by the screen. "Well, I should leave you to it then. Good luck Isaac."

The image died out before Isaac could stop him. Left speechless, Isaac looked back to the town and sighed as his helmet began to assemble around his head once more.

'So what hap-'

His thoughts were interrupted when an ear-shattering roar split through the air in a terrifying wave. The ground beneath his feet began to rumble along with the houses that surrounded him, nearly causing him to fall over while reaching for his Plasma Cutter. The house next to him exploded into shards of wood that careened into him en mass, sending him sprawling across the ground as more bits went flying out across the ground. Isaac sat up and looked to where the house was, and saw an all too familiar abomination.

The Tormentor. Identical to the one from Titan Station.

"Oh SHIT!"

The Tormentor roared at him, flaring its massive jaws made of bones and spines, and raised its massive left arm before bringing it down towards Isaac. The Engineer rolled to the right before it slammed into the dirt, sending out a small shock-wave that sent Isaac another few feet into the air before skidding across the dirt. He stood and ran for the houses as the massive Necromorph brought back its arm and charged right after him. Isaac fired off a few shots behind him blindly, before something grabbed him by the ankle, and brought him into the air.

Isaac felt time slow down as the massive abomination brought him close to its head-like lump, while hanging upside down in its grip. When he was close enough to it, Isaac could see that the deformed skull at the top of the flesh was a pony's, and a unicorn, as the massive spike coming out of the skull was bluntly obvious. As if to exaggerate the point, the horn began to shift and leak fluids before ravaging the entire area around the skin, breaking through with sickening crunches of bone and innards tearing apart, before racing straight towards Isaac. The Engineer managed to swing himself out of the way, feeling the bone spear scrape by his plated helmet. When it fully shot out, Isaac saw his opportunity: the yellow pulsing joint at the base. Without missing a beat, Isaac shot a Stasis bolt at the base of the appendage, and as the blue tone spread across the weapon, he brought up the Cutter, and fired at the yellow joint until it burst.

Roaring in pain, the Tormentor brought up its arm that held Isaac and slammed him onto the ground, breaking several ribs with a sickening crunch. Inside his mask, the Engineer coughed up a bit of blood onto the visor, but managed to avoid having it block out a majority of his vision. When he was raised back up, he felt the slight cooling feeling of the R.I.G. automatically feeding his body one the Med-Packs he was carrying. As he felt the relief spread to his chest, the massive Necromorph began to shred itself near its center, and revealed six smaller arms to tear him apart. Inside the flesh were melted faces of the deceased, merged into its inner walls. It gave a low growl while it began to stretch the new appendages.

Isaac fleetingly scanned the monster for any yellow points, where the limbs would be at their weakest. He examined the massive arm that held him in place and spotted a massive collection of the familiar yellow fluid. Raising the Plasma Cutter, Isaac aimed the lasers over the spot as the beast began to growl louder, starting to hack something up. A sickening odor assaulted Isaac's senses, and almost immediately, the suit went into an air-lock mode.

"[WARNING: HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT DETECTED. ACTIVATING OXYGEN RESERVES.]" The synthetic voice in his R.I.G. spoke to him.

The Engineer pulled the trigger of the mining tool four times before the arm exploded in a mess of yellow, and lost its outermost layer of flesh. The Tormentor screamed in, what felt more like shock than anything, and stumbled a bit, trying to balance itself. Taking the opportunity, Isaac fired off the remaining shots of the Plasma Cutter into the glowing surface of its arm, and within seconds, the massive appendage fell off the Necromorph, taking Isaac straight back to the ground.

Upon landing, Isaac turned tail and ran as fast as his body could manage, not bothering to try and see what damage he had managed. He fled around the corner of a small shop, and leaned against the wall when his lungs began to burn. He felt the hissing of the suit's depressurization, cocked back the reload mechanism for the Cutter, and managed a glance back at the Tormentor. When he saw it, he managed to grow a faint smile. The gigantic monster was wailing in pain, as the arm Isaac severed began to hiss and melt on its own, reducing itself to nothing more than a passive pool of acid. His attention was brought back to the Tormentor when it ceased its cries and began to growl once more. Isaac stared wide-eyed as the abomination began to shift its weight in place, readying for some kind of one-armed charge. However, this was not the case, as instead of moving from its spot, the Necromorph dug its claws into the dirt, and shook with enough force to resemble a small earthquake. The Engineer stared horrified at the massive beast began to spurt blood and gore out of the stump of the severed limb, and within seconds, out popped a fresh one, coated in acidic blood that steamed against the chilled air of the town.

"... no..." Was all Isaac could manage as it roared once more, and charged at him with all of its might.

Isaac took off once again, ignoring the protests given to him by his aching muscles, and tried to find some kind of hiding place. Within a span of seconds, however, a massive force hit Isaac square in the back, and forced him into the dirt, nearly crushing his spine with the sheer impact. He found himself raised once more above the creature, even higher than last time. This time, however, the Tormentor brought Isaac behind its head and threw him with a mighty swing. Closing his eyes, Isaac braced for whatever landing he might come to, and felt himself fly through a hollow wall, before going through a floor and connecting with something more solid that wood. Stone.

The Engineer groaned as he tried to get up and examine wherever he had landed, and the first thing he saw, was a Unitologist flag. Around him, were boxes that were hastily packed, often having their lids a little to the side, and even one on the ground, revealing its contents to him. Isaac's eyes widened when he saw that fluid in the canister.

'The suicide bombers at that restaurant.' He remembered.

He stood up and slowly limped to the crate, tossing the top of it aside. The contents of the box matched his memories of the devices the suicide bombers used to burn the place to the ground.

Before he could make heads or tails about the coincidence, the space above Isaac was torn away and replaced with the Tormentor, giving a mighty roar at the man in the suit. Without hesitation, it reached in with a crushing grip and brought Isaac up into the air, right-side-up this time. Isaac peered down and struggled to find any kind of escape, not even finding a spot he could shoot on the arm. The monster tightened its grip on him, causing the Engineer to scream in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac could see that it was beginning to walk with him in tow, as if to bring him to a special place to be turned into one of them. It sidestepped, however, and dropped a few feet. There, right next to its leg, was an open crate with the explosives that exposed the rows of canisters. Isaac brought up his Plasma Cutter and aimed as best as he could. The first shot sailed right over the box, the second one going to the left. The third, however, hit one of the smaller legs of the Tormentor and brought its attention back to him. It glared death at him with its small, yellow eyes. The crushing grip around his torso continued once more, breaking his focus, and bringing more blood up into his mouth, forcing him to literally taste his impending doom. With a strained focus, Isaac aimed the Plasma Cutter at the box, his vision fading fast, and with one last prayer, pulled the trigger.

The result was instantaneous. A massive wave of heat burst from the small crater of the home, and sent bits of concentrated burning fluids across the entire area in a massive release of pressure. The Tormentor roared in agony as it felt its entire being light up and begin to burn, causing it to lightly toss Isaac a ways away. When he made contact with the ground, Isaac crawled backwards, watching as nearly a dozen homes caught fire and burned to the ground within seconds, while the massive Necromorph thrashed about, shattering buildings and such with swings of its massive arms, both appendages becoming smaller as the liquid from the canisters seemed to cling down into its bones. The monster convulsed in pain, writhing in its own blood as the flesh melted away, and bone broke down into a molten state. Its growls lowered in volume and pitch as the beast collapsed to the ground once more, burning away.

Isaac watched as the Tormentor was burned to death, and waited for it to try and get up once more. When it showed no signs of regenerating, Isaac managed to sigh in relief, before collapsing into the dirt in exhaustion.

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