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"The planet is restless. Hungry. It'll try to eat us alive."
Marker 3A speaking through "Nicole" to Isaac Clarke.[1]
AEGIS7

Aegis VII after the planet crack by the USG Ishimura.

Aegis VII was a remote planet of key importance located in the Cygnus system. In the late 23rd century, the planet was a test site for one of the Red Markers, Marker 3A, during the experiments conducted by the Sovereign Colonies.[2][3] Following a Necromorph outbreak and the creation of a gargantuan Nexus form known as the Hive Mind, Aegis VII and the entire system were abandoned and restricted by the government.[4]

In the early 26th century, Aegis VII was home to a second Necromorph outbreak as the construction of an illegal mining colony by the CEC eventually resulted in the accidental rediscovery of the Marker.

Location[]

AEGIS VII (2023)

A full view of Aegis VII.

The seventh planet of the Cygnus system and like-named cluster, Aegis VII was located an unknown distance from Earth, although it had been described to be "several million light years from home" by a surveyor.

Aegis VII had an unusually large quantity of precious metals residing under its planetary crust,[5] which prompted the Concordance Extraction Corporation to set up a mining operation despite the system being declared off-limits by the government.

Description[]

Ds-excavation

An excavation site on Aegis VII during the illegal mining operation by the CEC.

Aegis VII appeared to be a small, rocky planet with a molten core. The planet had an orange-tinted sky with an atmosphere that didn't appear to be too thick. Stars and the sparse ring of rocks which surrounded the planet were visible even during the day. The terrain was mountainous and barren. Ravines and caves were common across the surface as well as smooth barren plains requiring a crawler or a shuttle to be traversed quickly.

DSR Ishimura Planet Crack

The USG Ishimura orbiting Aegis VII in 2508.

Because the planet's atmosphere was so thin, wearing an engineer RIG was advised whilst exposed to the surface conditions. Surface weather consisted of high winds and dust storms, making prolonged periods of outside work inadvisable without sufficient protection. However, the atmosphere did contain significant levels of oxygen for a human to breathe.

After Isaac Clarke returned Marker 3A to its pedestal on the planet's surface, the resulting pulse disabled the gravity tethers that had been suspending a gigantic chunk of rock excavated from the planet, which then fell from low-orbit, causing a massive collision and leaving Aegis VII seismically unstable. Its molten core rose up to the surface, which created large lakes and rivers of magma. With the gravity field of the planet weakened, it eventually exploded into millions of chunks of debris and asteroids due to the collapse of the planet's structure.[6]

History[]

First Aegis VII Incident[]

"They were right the first time on Aegis VII -- this is beyond our ability to know or control!"
Kinner Phelps[7]
Red markers

The Aegis VII Marker shown alongside the other copies during a SCAF briefing.

After the Black Marker was successfully reverse-engineered by the Sovereign Colonies around the 2290s, three copies of it known as Red Markers were sent to three remote planets: Kreemar, Aspera and Aegis VII; the copy sent to Aegis VII was called Marker 3A.

Upon activation, the science teams began to study the Marker signal in the hopes of understanding it, determining that the Markers were not actually creating the signal but were instead receiving it from somewhere in deep space and re-broadcasting it.[3] It was also noted that the Markers on Aegis VII, Aspera and Kreemar demonstrated accurate triangulation and could communicate with each other to act as one regardless of light-years of distance.[8][9]

Eventually, the Red Markers triggered Necromorph outbreaks on their respective planets, all in unison.[9] On Aegis VII, the outbreak resulted in the formation of a Hive Mind: a gargantuan, telepathic creature that acted as a conduit between the Marker and the Necromorphs. The Marker maintained this connection through a signal-amplifying pedestal, which allowed it to relay orders to the Hive Mind and thus the rest of the Necromorphs.[10][11]

Fully aware of the danger of the Markers, the Sovereign Colonies eventually abandoned the system, burying the records of the experiment and marking the Aegis Cluster off limits to all space traffic as a prohibited zone.[4] However, despite the purge of Marker-related data, the Sovereign Colonies' successor, the Earth Government Colonial Alliance, was at some point able to recover information which pointed to Marker 3A's presence in the system.[12]

Second Aegis VII Incident[]

"I just got the latest report from Aegis VII. The situation's worse than Captain Mathius will admit. Forty percent of the colony's population is now showing symptoms - depression, hallucinations, more violence... People are dying down there. I know it's linked to the Marker, somehow, but I just don't have enough data."
—Dr. Terrence Kyne about the events on the Aegis VII Colony.[13]
DSR Aegis VII Marker Recording

Marker 3A after being unearthed in 2508.

The planet became home to an illegal mining facility set up by the CEC in 2505. With the eventual discovery of the Marker in 2508, the colonists began experiencing insomnia, uneasiness and hallucinations that resulted in an increase of violent incidents. At the time of the Ishimura's arrival before the commencement of the planet-cracking, the Marker had been extracted and brought into the colony, as many Unitologists believed this to be the Marker from their spiritual texts. After the artifact was taken into the colony, even more colonists began experiencing dementia, heightened aggression and other psychological disturbances. Both the suicide and murder rates on the colony skyrocketed in the days following the Marker's unearthing.

Upon hearing of this "Marker", Captain Benjamin Mathius ordered it taken aboard the Ishimura, following orders from the Church of Unitology. P.C.S.I. Security Chief Alissa Vincent objected, and Dr. Terrence Kyne questioned its nature. Some strange organic matter was discovered growing in the colony soon after the monolith discovery. A week later, following the planet crack, the colony experienced a blackout and all radio contact was cut off. Soon after the colonists began going completely insane, causing panic, murder, suicide, mutilation, and a full-blown Necromorph outbreak. This prompted the surviving colonists to flee Aegis VII via shuttles from the shuttle bay to the safety of the Ishimura, but an overloaded passenger shuttle crashed into the bay, destroying all the remaining shuttles with it.[14] The survivors were stranded on the planet and more desperate to push upward for the Ishimura.

Marker on AEGIS VII (1)

The Aegis VII planet crack site.

Under the Marker's influence, Isaac Clarke went down to Aegis VII to return the artifact, believing that it would stop the Necromorph threat from spreading further. Isaac successfully placed it back on its signal-amplifying pedestal, causing it to emit a massive pulse that imprinted its blueprints in his and Elizabeth Cross's minds.[15] These bursts of energy from the Marker disrupted the gravity tethers holding a large portion of Aegis VII several miles above the surface, threatening to destroy the colony. Kendra Daniels then stole the artifact in order to contain it and deliver it to EarthGov, but the Hive Mind crushed her before she could get it back to her ship. Isaac defeated the Hive Mind and left the planet on his ship just before the extracted rock fell on the surface.

Final Destruction[]

Screenshot 2024-01-08 2.49

Isaac watching the tectonic load crash into Aegis VII during his escape.

Aegis VII was severely devastated from the impact—in which Clarke was publicly recognized for being responsible for the destruction—with the entire planet becoming unstable, much of its surface flowing with magma and falling apart. Three weeks later, the USG O'Bannon visited the planet to investigate and recover remnants of Marker 3A. Gravity field generators were deployed onto Aegis VII from the O'Bannon to stabilize the planet. Circumstances after recovering a fragment of the Marker caused O'Bannon crew member Nickolas Kuttner to accidentally destroy one of the generators, subsequently causing Aegis VII to explode.

Trivia[]

  • After the events of Dead Space, EarthGov established a military blockade around the Cygnus System and quarantined the remains of the planet, as seen in Dead Space: Salvage.
  • If the statement "several million light years" is taken literally, it is almost certain that the Aegis system is located in either the Andromeda or the Triangulum Galaxy, although it is most likely that the statement is a mere hyperbole that exaggerates Aegis VII's distance from Earth and implying great distance. The statement also possibly includes the illegal mining colony more or less staying undetected until the Ishimura arrives.
  • Also, in Dead Space 3, there is a text log that states S.C.A.F. discovered Tau Volantis "on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy" and also that "it is the farthest man has ever gone from Earth". Considering Aegis VII was discovered before Tau Volantis, this can only mean that Aegis VII is somewhere in our galaxy closer to Earth than the icy "back water planet" Tau Volantis.
  • The early look of the planet was greatly different from the final production. The terrain looked much less symmetrical with huge canyons riddled across the planet. The hole where the colony was located looked more like a volcano. The planet also appeared more white-ish, as in the final production the ground glows almost in red colors.
  • Coincidentally, after the planet-crack, the planet resembles the first Death Star from the Star Wars series.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  • In the Dead Space universe, the location of Aegis VII can be found within the Cygnus System, possibly hinting that the Cygnus System is located in or around the Cygnus Constellation.
  • Aegis VII is shown to have a ring of asteroids around it, although logs describe this as a side effect of the planet cracking process.

Sources[]

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