Dead Space: Uprising

Whatever it was that was so important that every available engineer was needed at the bridge; it didn't seem to wake up Aria at all. In a way, it was like the dead had gotten up and started walking. Most ponies that Aria spotted walking through the ship seemed just as tired as she was. Those who were moving a little faster seemed to do so while putting in half the effort, all lowered down and half asleep. Aria brought up her RIG, which always kept on step ahead of her at all times. She wasn't too far from the bridge, closer than some. She got to wondering what it was; Engine failure? Centrifuge offline? Whatever it was, Aria was at least curious to find out what it was.

"I should probably ask Slate what's going on" she thought to herself. Navigating the RIG's menu, she found Slate's frequency and called her back. Her RIG showed everything about her that she could want to know that wasn't private. Her location and her health included. Full blue bars, just like her. "Hey Slate, what could be so important that they need to wake us up?"

"Beats me, but whatever it is, it's probably gonna suck, I'll tell you that" she was audibly tired, like Aria was.

"I bet. You almost there?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you there" and the transmission ceased. Aria yawned as she made her way through the corridors for what felt like the millionth time.

...

The bridge room was massive for a service ship. Several ponies all sat at holographic displays, flicking through the screens like experts. It was unnaturally clean compared to the rest of the ship, all modern and 'smooth'. At the very front was a wide area in front of a majestic view of space, filled with stars, rocks and in the very far distance a small planet. Floating in that distance was a fairly sized vessel, though at a glance it would look like a generic rock. There were no lights or any evidence of movement from it. It just floated aimlessly in space, as if it was abandoned. Occupying the area in front of the window was a fairly sized group of ponies. Some, like Aria, were in their Engineering suits. There was chatter among them, all asking the same question. Why did they get woken up? Standing before them was a white pegasus pony, the captain. He looked stressed out for some odd reason. He remained quiet until all the other ponies had settled down. This was not for happening.

"What's going on?!"

"Why did you wake us up?"

"Are we in danger?!"

Aria found herself alongside Slate among the small crowd. She also noticed Steel Mills was there, looking drearier than most others. The captain finally spoke;

"Ok everyone. You're all gathered here today as part of a mission. Look behind you please" he ordered. The crowd all turned around. "That ship in the distance is the USC Nalu. We lost contact with it 2 months ago and we finally found it, so we're let to believe that there are communication problems" he explained.

"Well duh" muttered Slate. Aria stifled a giggle.

"So that's why you're all here. We need a team of engineers to volunteer themselves to go to the ship" he explained much to the dismay of the crowd.

"...Seriously? You woke us all up for this?" was all that Aria could say without letting out a barrage of curses toward him. The captain sternly looked at her.

"Is that you volunteering Miss Cackles?" the captain sneered. Aria stepped forward from the crowd. She'd had enough.

"You know what? Yes. Yes it is. Anything to get off of this piece of shit of a ship for a while anyway" Aria taunted the captain, who simply frowned at her.

"So be it. Anyone else?" he growled. A few others stood forward from the group, included Slate who almost loyally stood next to her. Steel Mills even stood forward, offering to go. She exchanged looks towards Aria, narrowing her eyes. This was already not going to be a fun trip, not like it was exactly like a trip to a theme park to begin with.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aria asked Slate. The yellow pony gave a sly smile.

"Hey, can't let you have all the fun, now can I?" she replied, lightly shoving Aria to the side. The captain spoke quietly to  one of the bridge ponies. He nodded attentively, but Aria couldn't hear what he was talking about.

"We're syncing your RIGs to the ship so we can keep a close eye on you. We want you to repair the ship wherever needed and report anything unusual. The USC Nalu's lights are all out, so there might be more than one problem. Understood?" the captain explained. The volunteers all nodded in reply. "Great. You depart at in 3 hours, so go back to your dorms for now. Remember your helmets now, you're all going to need them" The captain looked directly at Aria. "Especially you Miss Cackles. You are all dismissed" he finally finished. The ponies who didn't offer to go all mumbled under their breaths in frustration for being called out of their warm beds for nothing. In the end, it was just a ground of 6 who offered to go. 4 ponies and 2 stallions. They all gathered around each other to exchange... pleasantries.

"So Aria, I must say I'm somewhat impressed you volunteered. I thought you'd be too lazy to do so" Steel Mills taunted. Aria didn't say a word.

"Hey lay off her Steel, aren't you a little old to be doing this?" Slate defended Aria against her. Steel seemed rather surprised she was being insulted back.

"Watch it you. I don't need two smart asses on this" replied the older pony. One of the stallions rolled his eyes.

"Well this is gonna be fun, isn't it? We're already making friends" he moaned. He was a green stallion with a short-cut yellow mane. Aria shook off his comments.

"Can we all just go back to bed?" Aria yawned mid-sentence. "Seriously."

"I have no objections to that" Steel replied. The 6 started to disband to their separate rooms. Though Aria was quickly stopped by Steel Mills. So much for no objections. "Oh, and Aria? Don't forget what the captain said. Wear your helmet on this trip" she smugly quipped.  Aria narrowed her eyes at her. Metal plates at her neck opened up as parts assembled across her face in quick succession, with a distinct mechanical sound. Her helmet brightened Steel's face as the 3 blue horizontal on the helmet slits lit up, blinding her a little bit.

"Better?" she moaned. Her voice slightly echoing from inside the suit. Steel rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, Yeah, go to your dorm" Aria trotted off smugly, her helmet lighting up the dark corridors on the way. That was the one benefit she saw of the helmet, it could blind Steel.

"Agh, this is just too uncomfortable" she moaned to herself. She didn't take it off, it was providing a good amount of light. For some reason, the lights decided to go out before everyone made it back. Just another thing to fix. Aria walked off, anticipating the following day’s events, for all she could.

...

The captain stood at the window of the bridge. A serious pony by all means. His vision fixated on the USC Nalu. One of the bridge members approached him. A slightly younger stallion.

"Sir, do you really think it's on board?" he asked quietly. The captain kept his expression. He didn't even turn to him.

"I have no doubts in my mind"