USM Valor

"Those who do not bend to the will of Heaven, must instead raise Hell."

—Plaque on the USM Valor^[1]

The USM Valor was a Destroyer-class vessel of the Earth Defense Force captained by Commander F. Cadigan. A fifth the size of the USG Ishimura, the Valor possessed formidable firepower and was emblematic of its class.

The Valor was ultimately destroyed during Operation: WHITE LIGHT in the Aegis system.

Service Record[]

"CEC vessel USG Ishimura in breach of EarthGov system isolation order. Believed to have recovered Marker 3A. Special Ops has confirmed the system but unable to provide planet location. [...] OBJECTIVES: Secure Marker 3A. If infection is present, initiate sterilization protocol 'EURYDICE'. If infection is not present, initiate containment protocol 'APOLLO'. All personnel must, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, submit to full psychological examination during debriefing."

—The Valor's orders.^[2]

CH08 0370 Valor Contact Videolog — Commander Cadigan in his RIGlink message to the *Ishimura*.

The USM Valor was deployed to assist the effort to reclaim Marker 3A undertaken by EarthGov and spearheaded by Kendra Daniels, and so journeyed to the Aegis system to retrieve it from the USG Ishimura. As the location of Aegis VII could not be determined by EarthGov, the warship's instructions were to move to a position out of local scope range once in the system, and await a signal from the Ishimura to confirm its location.^[2] When it managed to raise the Ishimura thanks to the efforts of Isaac Clarke and Daniels, the Valor began to make its way to the planet-cracker and relayed the news that one of the Ishimura's escape pods had been recovered.

CH08_Valor_Killed_by_CHEN_Videolog_DEADSPACE_2023 — CH08 Valor Killed by CHEN Videolog DEADSPACE 2023

The final transmission received from the *Valor* before it crashed into the *Ishimura*.

Unfortunately, this escape pod contained a Necromorph - the reanimated Aiden Chen that CEC operative Zach Hammond had successfully contained and jettisoned via the pod. The Necromorph attacked the Marines on board the Valor and Commander F. Cadigan was forced to mobilise all personnel against it. The Valor lost control, however, following the deaths of its helm officers, and listed headlong towards the Ishimura. The Valor was seen by Isaac Clarke after he killed the Leviathan Remnant, which was blocking the Ishimura's comms array blast doors, with the armament of the ADS cannons. The Valor crashed, lodging itself into the hull of the Ishimura and causing incalculable damage to the larger ship and itself.

DSR USM Valor Crashed Side — The USM *Valor* after crashing into the *Ishimura*.

Cadigan's personnel fought bravely against the Necromorphs, many of which had been members of his crew.^[3] With more Necromorphs boarding the ship from the Ishimura after the crash, the tide of battle was with the horde and Cadigan presumably went down along with the rest of the crew.

USG ISHIMURA - USM VALOR ESCAPE POD — The escape pod recovered from the *Ishimura* which contained the reanimated Chen.

DSR USM Valor Briefing Room — Isaac in the crashed *Valor*'s briefing room.

Isaac Clarke boarded the Valor to retrieve its singularity core in order to power a shuttle to escape the Ishimura; unfortunately, in the process of doing so, which involved fighting through numerous Necromorphs, including a new breed formed from the ship's complement of Marines - Twitchers - Isaac's compatriot Zach Hammond was killed by Chen's Necromorph form and the Valor's engine was destabilized due to a catastrophic failure of fuel containment, causing substantial damage to the Ishimura. However, the singularity core was successfully retrieved by Isaac despite the damage its removal caused, giving him, Kendra Daniels and Dr. Kyne a chance to escape via a surviving Executive Shuttle.

Daniels would later attribute the role of the Valor to her efforts to retrieve the Red Marker after she betrayed Isaac Clarke and Dr. Kyne at the Ishimura's Flight Deck, stating that her mission succeeded even with the loss of Cadigan and his crew.

Afterwards, the Ishimura was recovered by EarthGov and it eventually ended up at Titan Station, where all traces of evidence regarding the Necromorph outbreak were wiped out and the ship underwent a period of structural restoration. As part of EarthGov's falsified reports of the Ishimura's destruction at the hands of terrorists, the wreckage of the Valor was most likely disposed of in the process to support their cover up.

Internal Structure[]

Briefing Room[]

The Briefing Room was available only to the Valor's command officers. It was a large room with a holographic table in the center, displaying the ship's target and mission logs. One side of the room was lined with large windows while the other featured several computer consoles.

Armory[]

A large, long room containing an array of long weapons lockers with multiple Pulse Rifles and ammunition, as well as lockers with Advanced Soldier RIGs. A subsection of the area served as the Shooting Gallery.

Shooting Gallery[]

Main article: Shooting Gallery

The Shooting Gallery was a subsection of the Valor's Armory where off-duty Marines could practice their accuracy and shooting skills on holographic human-sized targets. Hitting all of the red targets and none of the blue targets earned the player points, with the maximum achievable score increasing with each level.

Barracks[]

The Barracks consisted of a long room separated into two sections, each section lined with personnel bunks built into the walls where the Valor's Marines slept. In the middle of each section stood a wall with several lockers for storing personal items.

Mess Hall[]

Near the Barracks was the Mess Hall, consisting of a large room with a kitchen and several tables where the Marines would have their meals.

Cargo Bay[]

The storehouse of the Valor. It was the storage center for the ship and its Marine and custodial complement, and supplies of water, fuel, ammunition, field rations, weapons, oxygen supplies, Stasis Packs, medical supplies, and associated paraphernalia were stored here.

The Ishimura's escape pod containing the reanimated Aiden Chen was brought into this cargo bay.

Engine Room[]

A very large two-level room containing the Valor's singularity core and ShockPoint Drive. It was divided into two sections: the first was the Drive Deck, a dangerous level that was dominated by the ship's ShockPoint Drive and Engine Reflux Tubes. The second level was the Engine Room proper, where the ship's propulsion systems functioned; the singularity core was contained here behind a shield. The Engine Room would be the epicenter of the ship's destruction when the singularity core was removed.

Infirmary[]

The Infirmary was a medium-sized cabin used as the sickbay and operating room for the Marines and other personnel. It was equipped with multiple patient beds, scanning and medical equipment, and a variety of surgical tools, most notably a large laser cutter device that had malfunctioned, causing it to spin erratically and cut down anything that came within reach.

Torpedo Room[]

USM Valor's Nuclear weapons (2) — Torpedo Room

The Torpedo Room was the armament storage and deployment center for the Valor, and was in ruins when Isaac Clarke entered it. As part of sterilization protocol 'EURYDICE',^[2] the Valor carried a twelve-megaton warhead, which was destabilized when the ship crashed into the Ishimura.

Armaments[]

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 Weapons 01 E PACKED 0 — A "Weapons" poster seen on the USM *Valor*.

The USM Valor's naval armaments were divided into two parts, namely the torpedo/missile system and the naval gun system. She was equipped with two pairs of cannons as the main batteries, which resembled the ADS cannons seen on the USG Ishimura and were located on the upper and bottom sections of the ship's hull. In addition, there were five single-mounted Orpheus MOD2 76mm CIWS cannons located on the starboard and port sides of the bow and at the bottom of the ship.

The Valor was armed with a 12-Megaton EURYDICE MOD I Guided Nuclear Missile, which was to be used on the USG Ishimura in case the Necromorph infection was present. In case the infection was not present, the Valor was to use the APOLLO MK-VI Close-In-Missile System located at the top of the hull instead.^[2] The area near the ship's engines had a Vertical Launching System module which may be used to launch torpedoes/missiles.

In addition to the armaments of the ship itself, the Marines aboard the Valor had access to a wide variety of military-grade versions of the standard tools located aboard the USG Ishimura and on Aegis VII. The main armory was also fully stocked with racks of SWS Motorized Pulse Rifles, although these were not accessible to Isaac.

Marine Complement[]

T Env Arc Mil NamePlates 01 PACKED 0 — A list of Marines on the *Valor*.

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 ThreeTeams 01 E PACKED 0 — The "Three Teams. One Mission" poster found on the *Valor*.

The Marines aboard were either killed or transformed into Necromorphs, although Isaac Clarke did encounter some non-infected Marines; one who died from his injuries shortly after he was encountered, and another who escaped through a hatch to an unknown fate.

Because the Marines had Stasis modules in their Advanced Soldier RIGs, when they were transformed into Necromorphs they were able to move many times the speed of regular Slashers, being referred to as Twitchers. The Marines also carried Pulse Rifles, but the Twitchers did not make use of these.

According to a poster found on the Valor, the ship's crew was divided into three teams: "Navigation", "Weapons" and "Engineering".

Trivia[]

T Env Arc Mil Plaque 01 PACKED 0 — A plaque found on the USM *Valor*.

USM VALOR singularity core (1) — The *Valor*'s singularity core.

In the 2023 remake, a plaque found on the USM Valor notes that the ship was built at the "Wanat Orbital Ship Yards". This is a reference to production designer and Necromorph creator Ben Wanat, who worked on the original game and its sequels and was responsible for much of the series' lore.^[4]
In the remake, as the whispers from the Marker differ depending on the context of the area and chapter that Isaac is in, the whispers heard while he is on the Valor relate to the Marines' mission. These whispers are: "Dead. On. Arrival", "Crack the escape pod", "Secure... this... location...", "All personnel, to arms", "Hostile life forms on board", "Target the limbs", "No reinforcements", "Ishimura crew is compromised", "No survivors", "Single file while boarding", "Prep the nuke" and "The package is priority one".^[5]
In the remake, the Valor's model as it is seen approaching the Ishimura is identical to that of the original game; however, after crashing, it switches to a more detailed and updated model.
The Singularity Core is visually almost identical to the Flux capacitor from the Back to the Future movies.