Chapter 1: Dead to the world

A/N: I was playing Dead Space 2 so I wanted to write a story. Hope you enjoy.

Isaac Clarke, 49 years old and was about to die. After turning the machine back on he was blasted into atmosphere. Isaac was stuck, there was no one coming to save him. Isaac could feel the harsh wind blow past his head as he fell. Soon he couldn't hear and all sense of pain had left his body.

Even though Isaac was about to die, he wasn't afraid. After years of torture, fighting, and death, he had lost the feeling to be afraid. Isaac thought back to all the people who have died simply because they were around him. Zach, Johnston, Chen, Austin, Santos, Carver, and of course Nicole. Each one of them were dead because of Issac. Soon, he would be joining them.

The worst part about all of it was no one would know about them. They all gave their lives to fight the necromorphs, if it hadn't been for them Isaac could have never ended the threat. They had saved the universe but no one would know. They would get no honors, no parades, no children writing book reports about them. They had all died, alone and scared.

Isaac wasn't that far off, he was alone but not sacred. Even after everything he was able to save the only good thing in his worthless life. Still falling Isaac reached into his suit's pocket and pulled out his picture of Ellie. Isaac looked at it, memorized every feature. Isaac wanted her face the be the last thing he saw. Isaac reached forward with his hand wanting to touch the photo but his fingers were turning numb.

Before he could react the picture flew out of his hand. Isaac watched as it disappeared in the chaos of falling debris. Isaac reached out for the photo but it was gone by the time he lifted his hand. He felt the cold slowly overtake him, this was the end. Isaac slowly began to lose concisus as he continued to fall. First his vision went black as all his muscles finally gave out. He felt his body drift through space as he chuckled to himself one last time. They were right, only the dead survive in space.

A gentle breeze. That's what Isaac felt. Not the cold but the warm beams of the sun on his skin. Isaac slowly opened his eyes, still delirious from light. Isaac slowly rose as his eyes finally adjusted to his surroundings. Isaac was sitting in the middle of a meadow, the rolling grass hills expanding into the horizon in front of him.

Isaac couldn't help but think this was heaven. The last thing he done was fall thousands of feet while a moon sized necromorph crashed into him. Isaac reached for his head as his face was soon covered by his helmet. With a flick of his wrist his vitals were displayed on the helmets HUD. 60 bpm, 99.1 F°, 0 BAC, current health: green. Isaac almost let out a sigh of disappointment, he was still alive.

But then a thought occurred to Isaac. He was still alive!

"Eilie! Ellie do you read me? Ellie!" Isaac shouted into his communication system. Isaac received no response.

Isaac stood up and began to adjust his communication system's broadcast siganle, "Hello! Ellie! Carver! Does anyone copy?" Isaac shouted hoping someone would answer.

Silence was Isaac's only answer. Isaac shook his head, nothing was making sense. One moment he is falling to his death and the next he is in the middle of a field. Isaac knelt down for a moment to process what was going on. Then a feeling of anger washed over him, he slammed his fist on the ground. This wasn't fair! He was ready to die! He was tired of everything. Why couldn't the universe just let him rest!?

Isaac didn't know what to do, he sat in silence. Silence made him comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. That's when he heard a faint voice on his communication system. Isaac quickly brought his communication system to the forefront of his HUD. Isaac enhanced the system and heard the voice again.

"Down….injured…." Isaac heard a woman's voice say.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" Isaac said using some of his backup power from his suit to strengthen his signale.

"Yes! We can hear you. My name is Carmine. My team and I crashed nearby. Our ship is broken and we need repairs. Most of my team is injured and are in no shape to fight off Grimm. Atlas would be greatful for any assistance you can provide." Carmine said over the radio.

Atlas? Isaac had never heard of Atlas before. Was it a company? No, that didn't make any sense. The way Carmine was talking she made it sound like she was with a military of some kind. Isaac was still wanted by the Earth Government and by the Unitologist. Still, Isaac couldn't turn a blind eye. "Understood, what is your current location?" Isaac asked.

"Look for the flare." Carmine said through the other line. Isaac looked to the sky when he saw the red flare exploded over a small forest in the distance.

"Okay, I'm on my way." Isaac said making his way towards the flare's location.

"Please hurry, no doubt that attracted Grimm to our location." Carmine said over the radio.

Grimm? Isaac wasn't the smartest guy around, he only really knew how to fix things. However, he had never heard of Grimm in an class he ever took. It was possible that these Grimm were special to this planet. Isaac couldn't let that thought slow him down though, people need his help right now. Isaac made his way into to forest and for a moment he thought he lost his way. That didn't last long as Isaac followed the sound of gunfire.

Isaac ran into the clearing just as he sound of gunfire stopped. He decided it would be better to hide his face so Isaac quickly brought up his helmet. Isaac slowly made his way towards the ship and looked around the corner. Isaac saw four people in some sort of armor tending to their wounds.

"Um, Hello. My name is Isaac." Isaac said grabbing the attention of the soldiers.

One of the taller soldiers made their way over to Isaac. Thier face was covered by a helmet as well but Isaac could tell that this soldier was female. "Hun, didn't think you look like that. Doesn't matter, you said you could provide assistance." The soldier said.

"I'm an engineer. Give me a few hours and I can fix your ship." Isaac said nodding his head.

"Perfect! We just cleared a wave of Grimm. Just focus on getting us up and running again." The soldier said turning back to her men. "Alright, if you want to go home check you weapons and ready up." She shouted getting her men back into combat.

Isaac could tell they were tired. Most of them were wounded in some way and Isaac saw one soldier on the ground. Isaac could see that the soldier was still breathing but he didn't look good. Isaac didn't want to waste any more time and ran over to the ship.

The soldier's ship reminded him of old time helicopters. It was clear that the ship was not capable of space travel but Isaac only needed to get to a city first. From the city he could contact Ellie and possible leave whatever planet he was on. Isaac examined the damage to the ship, the engines weren't broken but something was disrupting the system. Isaac walked to the cockpit and opened the control panel. That's when Isaac saw the problem, the circuits were fired. Isaac reached for his trusty plasma cutter and activated a small flame on the tool. He would have to reroute power and cut off all the unnecessary parts.

Isaac had just started cutting parts off when he heard a howl echo through the forest. Isaac stuck his head out of the cockpit. "What the hell was that?" Isaac shouted at one of the soldiers.

"Looks like we got Grimm. Hurry up with those repairs!" The soldier responded.

Isaac returned to his work cutting and re-connecting wires where necessary. Isaac continued to work even as the sound of gunfire rattled the forest. Isaac heard the shouts and screams of the soldiers as they fought whatever the enemy was. Isaac couldn't sit by and let innocent people die, that wasn't the way he lived his life. Isaac reconnected the last wire and heard the engine come to life. Hitting the ignit button the ship, it would take a few seconds to power up. Isaac jumped out of the ship plasma cutter at the ready.

"NO! GET OFF ME!" One of the soldiers shouted. Isaac turned his attention to the screaming soldier. Isaac wasn't sure what he was seeing to be true. Standing over the soilder was a massive black creature, its features very wolf like. The creature was about to cut the soldier in half with its massive claws but before it could Isaac fired several plasma shots at the creature's legs.

The black creature roared in pain and turned it's attention to Isaac. Isaac wasted no time and fired several more shots at the creatures left arm. The creature's arm flew off from its body causing the creature to grip it's missing arm. Isaac then fired a barrage of shots at the creature's head cutting it clean off. Old habits kicked in as Isaac rushed forward and stomped on the creatures corps causing blood to spray everywhere.

"Are you alright?" Isaac said offering a hand to the downed soldier.

The soldier took the hand and stood up slowly, "I think so, but I can't walk." He said gripping his leg.

Isaac saw the soldier's leg had a deep red gash. Isaac wasn't any kind of doctor and he couldn't use one of his healing packs now. Isaac threw the soldier's arm on his shoulder, "Alright then, just stay calm and follow me." He said leading the soldier to the ship.

"I got the ship up and running! Everyone get on!" Isaac shouted to the rest of the remaining soldiers.

"Understood! Everyone we're leaving!" The female soldier shouted as the rest of her men began to make their way to the ship.

As Isaac walked the soldier to the ship he could hear the breath of a creature approaching him.

"We're not going to make it!" The soldier shouted.

"Yes we are!" Isaac responded.

It was a race against the creature as Isaac continued to move forward as fast he can. Isaac was mere steps from the ship but he could feel the creature getting closer and closer. Isaac took a brief moment and looked behind his shoulder. The creature was a massive black bear with bone like appendages sticking out of its back. Isaac knew they both could not make it so making a quick decision he threw the soldiers toward the ship.

One of the soldiers caught the injured soldier as Isaac turned around to face his enemy. The massive black bear let out a threatening roar vibrating the very inside of Isaac's core. But Isaac had faced much large threats before and they all died the same. Isaac let out a scream of his own as he used the suits power to rush forward and tackle the beast. Using a free hand he blasted the beast with stasis slowing its movement. Isaac then proceeded to punch the creature's face causing blood to cover his helmet. Isaac didn't stop though, he continued to punch causing more and more damage to the creature. Isaac stopped for a brief moment and grabbed his plasma cutter. He fired shot after shot into the creature's body until nothing remained but a bloody pulp.

Isaac took a moment to catch his breath. The stasis finall1y wore off and the beast didn't even have time to let out a cry of pain. Isaac slowly stood up putting his plasma cutter away. Isaac stood still for a moment, memoires of Necromorphs filled his mind. Was he truly doomed to fight for all time? To never know rest? To forever be tied to the fate of the dead?

"Come on! We got to go!" The female soldier shouted breaking Isaac from his trance.

Isaac shook his head and ran for the ship jumping in at the last second.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" The pilot shouted as the engines ignited taking off immediately.

Within moments the ship was airborn, far away from the forest and the black creatures. Isaac took a breath of relief as his helmet retreated back into his suit. Isaac was about to lean back and take a nap when a soldier tapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you, I would be dead if hadn't saved me." The soldier said as another tended to his leg.

Isaac waved him off, "Don't worry about." He said.

"Don't be so modest, you saved one of my men's life. For that I am eternally grateful." The female soldier said behind Isaac. Isaac turned to face her, her helmet was removed. Isaac's eyes went wide as the room turned blood red. Her face was almost identical to Nicole. Isaac gripped his head as he heard voices scream inside him.

"Hey, are you okay?" The female soldier asked shaking Isaac.

Isaac shook his head as the world returned to normal. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Old wound." He said.

The woman let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. I thought you were injured." The woman put out a hand to Isaac. "We haven't been introduced yet. My name is Carmine." She said.

Isaac shook her hand, "You were the one on the radio." He said.

"Yeah thats me. Thanks for all your help. I do have to admit though I didn't think…." Carmine said trailing off at the end.

Isaac was confused. Was it his suit? Was it his weapons? Did she know who he was? Could she be a unitologist? "Didn't think what?" Isaac said slowing reaching for his plasma cutter ready to draw at her response.

"Well this is a bit embarrassing but when you walked up to us in that suit I thought you would be… young." Carmine said laughing a bit at the end and blushing a bit.

Isaac stopped reaching for his Plasma cutter and relaxed his shoulders. "Oh, it's okay." Isaac said waving the comment off. Though if he was being honest it had been a while since someone had commented on his age. If Isaac remembered correctly his birthday was coming up. He was turning fifty if he remembered correctly.

"Well Atlas is very thankful for your assistance. You really saved us. Once we get back to base I'll be sure that you are properly rewarded." Carmine said.

"Thank you very much." Isaac said.

"Well it is going to be a while before we get back to base. Feel free to get some rest in, I'm sure you tired after that battle." Carmine said walking away and attending to a nearby soldier.

Isaac nodded as his helmet reappeared on his face. This was the only time Isaac felt comfortable, when he had his helmet on. The helmet block out noise, blood, and when he needed to the helmet shut out the light. Isaac wasn't afraid of the darkness, he was afraid of what was in it.

"Um… Isaac sir. We arrived." A voice from behind the darkness said.

Isaac shook his head waking from his slumber. "Thanks." He said slowly standing up and looking out one of the windows. Isaac wasn't sure where exactly he was but he could tell that where he was it was a giant hanger. Other ships were sitting in the dock while crew members attended to ships.

Isaac stretched his limbs and stood up. While he was stretching Carmine walked up to him, "Umm… I hate to ask this of you but our commander wants to thank you personally." She said.

"It's no problem." Isaac responded.

"Good, come with me." Carmine said gesturing for Isaac to follow.

Isaac stepped off the ship and got a better look around the hanger. Isaac wasn't sure what is was but something was throwing him off. He had spent a lot of time in shipyards so some of the tools these soldiers were using were odd. The tools looked old and the ships themselves almost ancient. Isaac wasn't sure what was going on but as long as they had a communication relay of some kind he could contact Ellie.

Isaac followed Carmine until she stopped in front of a older man. She saluted and walked away leaving Isaac alone with the man. He was wearing a uniform of some kind, his hair was like Isaac's almost all gray. The man's face was very strong and his features almost looked like they were made of stone. The man offered his hand to Isaac while keeping his other hand behind his back.

"Thank you for your assistance citizen." The man said.

Isaac shook the man's hand. "It was no problem. In fact I was hoping you could help me." He said as his helmet retreated.

"Ask away Mr… forgive me but I don't seem to remember your name." The man said stroking his chin.

"Isaac. And you are?" Isaac asked.

"General Ironwood. I must say Isaac I have never seen a suit like that before. Or a weapon like that. Can I ask where you got them?" Ironwood asked.

Isaac was confused. Of course he had made modifications to his suit and plasma cutter but they were still standard issue. "You mean my plasma cutter?" Isaac asked.

Ironwood shook his head, "I have never heard of a weapon like that before. Did you make it yourself?" He asked.

Isaac decided for both their sakes it would be easy to just say yes. "Yes, I also made the suit." Isaac said.

"Interesting, well after we help you with whatever you need I hope I can convince you too look into a job in the Atlas military." Ironwood said in a joking matter.

Isaac laughed along, "I might just take you up on that. Now coming back to that favor. Do you have a communication relay of some kind? I need to send out a message." He said.

"Of course." Ironwood snapped his finger and a nearby robot came to life. The robot marched over to Ironwood and waited for instructions. Ironwood took out a small device and inputted a commands. "Follow this bot, he will take you to our communication room. Afterwords if you still want to talk about that job follow the bot once again." He said.

Isaac nodded, "Thank you very much." He said.

"Consider it even for saving my men." Ironwood said. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a important colleague to meet." Ironwood turned heel and walked away leaving Isaac alone with the robot.

Isaac turned to the robot who saluted. "Come with me sir." The robot said dropping the salute and marching down a nearby hallway.

Isaac followed the robot down the hallway. The hallway was extremely clean, not a spec of dirt anyway. The gray metal walls almost reminded Isaac of the Ishimura. Isaac was confused by this planet. This planet wasn't backwards like some frontier planets but why hadn't Isaac seen a single mention of the Earth government? Last time Isaac checked the earth government didn't let frontier planets have their own army in case of rebellion. Isaac had to wonder what were the creatures he fought, they seemed to plague the soldiers. He wondered if they were intelligent or followed a hive mind like the necromorphs.

Isaac was so lost in thought he almost ran into the robot. "We have arrived sir." The robot said opening a door a small room.

Isaac looked inside the room. It was filled with servers and other communication machines. It wasn't great but with a little tinkering Isaac could broadcast a message across all know space. "Thanks." Isaac said stepping inside.

Isaac made his way to the main console. Isaac placed a hand on the console as his suit interfaced. Adjusting the frequency Isaac began to broadcast on a special frequency. It was one only Ellie and Carver knew about. Isaac begin rerouting power from his suit to the communication relay. His suit would be weak for a bit but it would be worth it. Isaac cleared his throat and began to broadcast his message.

"I'm so sorry for everything Ellie. You had to suffer so much because of me and my actions. It's over now, I'm not sure how but I'm alive. I am on some strange planet I have never heard off. I am sending the coordinates of my location of this frequency. But… Ellie I can understand if you never want to see me again. I caused you so much pain. I was ready to die and if you have accepted that so have I. Carver, if you still alive and listing then I hope you know that you did you job. You completed the mission and I couldn't have done it without you. You were a good friend, I hope we can meet again some day."

Isaac finished his message and closed the communication relay. Isaac sat down for a moment as his held his head in his hand. What was he going to do now? He could take the job from Ironwood but then what? Would he cause these people to die too? Isaac wrestled with these thoughts as he stood up and opened the door to the hallway.

When Isaac opened the door however he was greeted by several robots pointing their guns at him while a tall woman in white pointed a sword at him. "You are coming with me." The woman said coldly.

Isaac put up his hand, "What is going on here?" He asked.

"Quiet!" The woman in white said smacking Isaac in the face with the but of her sword. Isaac fell on his knees and wiped some blood from this mouth. "I said you are coming with me." The woman in white grabbed Isaac by his shoulder, "On your feet!" She shouted pulling Isaac up and pushing him forward.

Isaac put his hands up as the woman pointed the tip of her blade on his back, "Move forward." The woman in white shouted as Isaac marched forward.

Isaac's mind was running at a million miles per hours. He examined every possible scenario. He could set a tripwire with his plasma cutter. No, that could hurt him too. He could use his thrusts to blast forward while shooting back. No, his suits power was low enough as it was. He could try to block the woman's weapon with his suit and take her hostage. That could work. Before Isaac could enact his plan the woman shouted at him to stop in front a large door.

"Wait right here." The woman in white said pressing her finger to the door. "I brought the prisoner sir." She said.

"Bring him in." Ironwood's voice said.

The door opened and Isaac was pushed through. Isaac found himself in a large office, a large deck overlooking a window. Isaac looked out the window to see that wherever he was they were airborne. That could help Isaac escape. Ironwood was standing in front of the window and then turned around to face Isaac when he walked in.

"Who are you?" Ironwood asked his eyes narrowing.

"I told you, my name is Isaac." Isaac said.

Isaac felt a powerful blow to the back of his head. "Answer the question." Isaac heard the woman in white say behind him.

Ironwood put up his had to pacify the woman. Ironwood shook his head, "None of this is necessary. Just tell me who you are, if you don't I'm afraid Winter will have to deal with you." Ironwood said.

Isaac began to weigh his options. Using his stasis to freeze the woman and take her hostage could still work. However, that isn't how Isaac solved his problems. With a heavy sigh Isaac decided that the old saying was true, the truth would set him free. "My name is Isaac Clarke." Isaac said preparing for the backlash.

Ironwood seemed confused, he pulled out a small device and begin to type something on it. Within seconds Ironwood's face turned sour, "Take him away Winter." Ironwood said.

Winter grabbed Isaac, "Come on." She said pushing him away.

"Wait! I can explain!" Isaac shouted.

Ironwood put his hand up causing Winter to stop. "You better explain fast." He said.

"My name is Isaac Clarke. I'm an engineer with the CEC." Isaac said.

Ironwood shook his head, "Making up words won't help you." Ironwood said.

Isaac was now beyond confused, "Wait! Where am I? What planet is this?" Isaac asked.

Now Ironwood was the one who was confused. "You mean to tell me you don't know where you are? Next your going to tell me you're from another planet too." Ironwood said chuckling to himself.

"I am! I was born on Earth." Isaac shouted.

"This is getting us nowhere. A few days in solitary confinement might loosen your tongue." Ironwood said as Isaac was escorted out of the room.

Isaac was stuck with Winter as she pushed him down the hallway. "You should be grateful, if it was up to me I would have you killed." Winter said as the two walked down the hallway.

"I don't even understand what is going on. I told you who I was." Isaac said.

Winter scoffed, "What you did was lie to us." She said as the two walked down a long hallway with a row of small rooms on the side. "Stop here." She said stopping Isaac in front of a small room. She stepped forward and begin to pressed several buttons on the door. The door opened to reveal a tiny room with barely enough space for Isaac to stand up.

"Get in there." Winter said pointing her weapon at Isaac and motioning for him to step inside.

"I'm sorry about this." Isaac said deciding it was now or never to make his move. He quickly flicked his wrist as his helmet covered his face. Quickly reading his HUD Isaac saw his suit was still on low power but his stasis was full. Bringing his hand up he blasted Winter with stasis slowing her movement. Isaac then kicked her body into the room and slammed his fist down on the door controls.

The door slammed shut behind Winter locking her inside. "I really am sorry." Isaac shouted as he turned heel and began to run back the way he came. If he remembered correctly then the docks had some ships he could use to escape.

Isaac continued to formulate his plan when he heard a loud metallic clang. Isaac quickly spun around and saw the door of to the room he locked Winter fly off the hinges. Winter stepped outside the cell and Isaac saw a face of unrivaled anger. Winter rushed forward at a insane speed almost catching up to Isaac in a second.

Isaac hadn't planed on her escaping and wasn't sure how she did but right now he was more concerned with staying alive. Isaac blasted Winter again with his stasis slowing her down. Stasis would only last a few seconds so Isaac decided his best plan was to keep running and blast Winter whenever she got too close. He would run out of kinetic by the time he got to the ship but could always get more.

So Isaac ran down the halls of the ship with Winter on his heels tearing up anything that came across her path. Isaac would blast her with stasis whenever she got too close but by the time he reached the docks he was all out.

Isaac saw the ship from earlier parked near the docks. If he could reach it then he could escape, assuming Winter didn't tear him apart. Isaac didn't want to hurt anyone, but he was really considering it right now. Isaac set his plasma cutter to the lowest setting and aimed down his sights.

Winter was in sight, Isaac held his breath and aimed for her left leg. Hopefully it wouldn't do to much damage but before he could pull the trigger he froze in place. A purple energy covered his entire body. Isaac couldn't move an inch.

"Now what is going on here?" A female voice said behind Isaac.

Isaac cursed to himself, why did every woman he ever meet try and kill him?