- "Are you sure this is working? I think we're just pissing it off!"
- —John Carver to Isaac Clarke while fighting the Nexus.[1]
The Nexus was a Necromorph Hive Mind form encountered on Tau Volantis, created from the remains of the planet's natives. Much like the Hive Mind encountered on Aegis VII, the Nexus forms served as ground commanders for lesser Necromorph forms, telepathically broadcasting Marker signals and coordinating infestations.
Several Nexus forms were encountered by Isaac Clarke during his journey on Tau Volantis; all were initially found frozen solid, although one later thawed and revived.
In order to continue his mission to stop the Markers, Isaac had to activate nerve clusters inside a frozen Nexus' body cavity, which could be used to track down the Alien Machine's location through the signals they received. However, the Nexus was irritated by this and attacked Isaac, Carver, Norton and the Unitologists who had previously attacked the crew. Isaac and Carver successfully managed to take down the enormous beast, with it finally collapsing to the ground, dead.
Overview[]
- "The scientists called it the "Nexus". They thought these bigger specimens acted as conduits for the [Marker's] control signal, broadcasting it to the smaller forms."
- —Jennifer Santos[1]
The Nexus are gargantuan crustacean-like Necromorphs of the same hive mind sub-species as the one encountered on Aegis VII. Although only the upper body section is shown during the boss fight with the Nexus specimen 001, the rest of the body is shown on a table showing its external anatomy. It appears to be created from at least one corpse belonging to the extinct alien species of Tau Volantis; its "head" resembles the skulls of the alien skeletons seen later in the game, hence the difference between the two giant Necromorph encountered in the series.
The Nexus possesses four known limbs which it uses to attack with. The head is very mantis-like and has four eyes separated by large fleshy openings down its crowned forehead. Its vertically split mandibles, when open, reveal two large claws and five large pustules which surround the mouth. The chest cavity opens to reveal a large glowing pulsating sac similar to the Hive Mind on Aegis VII. It also has several appendages on its back, again similar to the Aegis VII Hive Mind. These likely act as "antennas" that broadcast the Marker signal to the other Necromorph pawns and also receive it from the Markers and the Brethren Moons. During combat, the Nexus uses four of its long limbs to attack while two blade-like arms rest behind the head. It attempts to smash its victims or suck them inside its mouth, down into its stomach where the Nests that are located will take of them, if they aren't drowned in the liquid that is in the stomach.
The Nexus has hollow internal chambers which are covered in Corruption strands. Cyst-like nerve clusters are located in the corners that are sensitive to damage and also are part in broadcasting the Marker signal. If shot at, they will summon Enhanced Feeders (that have been feeding on the Nexus' insides to make themselves stronger) to defend the stomach, quite similary to white cells in a human body.
The Nexus specimen fought against can shoot many red pustule projectiles that explode upon contact and swing its massive claw-like appendages down on the player. When the pustules aren't disturbed, Feeders can burst from them and attack. The player must first target a large sac on its stomach, then destroy two of the yellow pustules on its mouth while the Nexus attempts to swallow the player. This must be repeated twice before the second fight sequence.
After shooting all of the yellow sacks, the specimen attempts to swallow Isaac and Carver a third time and they are slowly pulled into its stomach. They are plunged into an organ filled with an acid substance. After being attacked by three Nests, the Nexus spits them out. After several seconds of a frenzy, the Nexus collapses, dead.
Death Scenes[]
- No direct death can happen in the Nexus specimen's chest caused by the creature, but Isaac or Carver will die from the Enhanced Feeders as they do normally outside if their health reaches critical levels.
- If Isaac or Carver fails to shoot the yellow spots on its mandibles while it is sucking them in, it will suck them in and chew them up before spitting them back out. They will die if their health was low.
- If Isaac or Carver happen to be under the Nexus' blade when it smashes it on the ground, they proceed to get ripped into pieces if their health is low.
- If Isaac or Carver run out of oxygen while in the creature's stomach, they will simply die of asphyxiation. They can also be killed by the projectiles shot by the three Nests.
Strategy[]
- It is best to use rapid fire weapons for targeting the chest cavity's sac as well as the nests inside the stomach.
- As it pulls Isaac or Carver in, fire at the mouth's pustules. The pustules turn red as more damage is inflicted.
- Be sure to have a close quarters combat weapon (like a hydraulic hammer) when inside the Nexus. Flee to the cage when the fighting gets too rough after targeting the nerves.
- If you are using a rapid fire weapon, it is usually advisable to ignore the pustules that the beast spits out, and concentrate on the chest cavity. Once you deal sufficient damage, the creature will attempt to suck Isaac or Carver into its mouth, and all spawned Feeders will be consumed in the process.
Trivia[]
- The head of the Nexus bears some resemblance to the Xenomorph Queen from the 1986 movie Aliens; this can best be seen in the concept art for the Nexus.
- The specimen that Isaac and Carver must venture into was named by the SCAF research team as "Nexus-001", with the number indicating that there were more than one Nexus as suggested by the other warehouse being ripped apart as well as three others seen frozen solid at the base of the hill where the Alien Machine is located.
- It is possible that the Tau Volantis Moon had telepathically ordered the Nexus creatures to stop the Machine from activating, as three Nexus forms are seen at the base of the frozen mountain that has the Machine hidden inside it, frozen in a position that looked like they were preparing to climb up the mountain or tear it down. However, they were too late as the remaining alien survivors managed to activate the Machine, freezing everything in place, including the three Nexus.
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