Markus awoke to the worst pounding in his head he had ever had. It was as if his brain had gotten a little up close and personal with his skull, and it didn't want to let go.

The clingy fuck made Markus grab his head in pain.

Markus heard someone calling his name through the pounding in his head. It sounded far away, as if down a hallway, or if his ears had been glued shut.

Looking around, and wishing he hadn't, Markus couldn't see anyone except for Beavis' corpse strewn over the console to his right. Looking up, Markus saw two of the three blast doors for the cockpit viewport sealed, with the middle third allowing Markus to see outside. Outside, he saw a glimpse of a planet as the ship turned out of sight.

Hearing his name again, Markus shook his head to try to clear the fog, but only succeeded in making himself nauseous and even more disoriented. Markus put his arms to his stomach to help cope with the nausea.

He felt weak. Weaker than he ever had. It felt as if he had been under a waterfall or jumped off a cliff. His body ached something fierce, and nothing he tried to do helped.

A long siren went off in the cockpit, shifting Markus out of the fog he was in, but only marginally. 

"MARKUS!" blared Spark through the speakers, making him assess his surroundings. Lights were flashing on the console in front of him, while some buttons beeped and others screamed for his attention. Looking to his right and getting a clearer look at Beavis' body, Markus saw and smelled that Beavis looked rotted through and nearly all bones, but still in his flight suit.

"What?! What happened? Why is Beavis dead?" Markus shouted back. 

"Markus, you need to get to the landing craft." Spark replied.

Markus thought of the little spacecraft attached to the back of the ship. A small thing, about the size of two small bedrooms and painted orange for higher visibility. Utilitarian in design, the Lander's main purpose is to act as an escape craft and rescue ship. Most of the space is taken up by either storage, components, or physical shielding. Practically, there is only enough room to move around for 2 king size beds. 

Making the decision to trust Spark, Markus decided to follow her advice. Getting up and out of his seat, Markus started stumbling towards the hallway that would lead him to the lander. Strewn about the cockpit are bits and pieces of rock, glass, and some plastic and metal components ripped from the right side next to where Beavis sat.

As Markus was about to open the door, Spark spoke up. "You have enough time to load the lander with extra supplies. I would recommend food and extra clothing, as well as any survival tools."

Markus stopped and turned around, immediately heading back to grab Beavis' body, almost tripping. Deciding to get rid of the pain in his head and the fogginess of his senses, Markus grabbed the medical kit off the wall on the right side of the cockpit. Opening the kit, Markus saw three differently colored injection capsules, as well as an injection device.

Looking much like a small pistol with an auto injector on the end of it, the injection tool was designed to be loaded up with the three different colored capsules, with 3 different settings. One for the head, one for the body, and one for both, although the option for both works at a lesser intensity than if you were to choose one of the other options. There were three capsules per color, while the color indicated the severity of the wound. Green was reserved for head trauma and concussions or multiple small lacerations that wouldn't require stitches. Orange was reserved for severe wounds like massive head trauma and bleeding in the brain, or large lacerations that would require stitches or clotting factor to heal, as well as internal bleeding. Red capsules were reserved for if someone was truly messed up. These capsules were generally only used if one was missing a limb or other life-threatening wounds occurred. If used incorrectly, the red capsules had the capability of killing someone by massively increasing the rate at which new cells formed.

Naturally Markus loaded up a green capsule, chose the head setting, and pressed it to his neck letting the auto injector work its magic.

Immediate relief flooded through him. Not just from the medical stimulants coursing through his veins, but also the relief from the thought of him not having to drag Beavis' corpse all the way through the ship to the landing craft while as messed up as he was.

Feeling rejuvenated, Markus Grabbed the Captains corpse and dragged it by the shirt, walking backwards towards the lander. 

As Markus was dragging Beavis' body out of the door and into the hallway, Markus asked why he needed to get to the lander. While the air seemed a bit stale and the cockpit was a little messed up, the ship still seemed fine to Markus.

"Explaining it all would take time we don't have, Markus" Spark said. "The quick explanation is that the fusion reactor is busted, and power is going to cut off soon. My most recent estimation has the cutoff point at fifteen minutes. You need to get out of here before that happens."

Markus slapped open the door to engineering 2, the bay that held the ECLIPSE-A Drive. Grabbing Beavis' body, Markus started backing up into the engineering bay. Feeling his boot hit something, Markus looked behind him to take in the state of engineering 2.

Or at least what was left of it.

The room originally held the ECLIPSE-A Drive, the drive that took Markus to wherever he is now. Looking around, Markus saw 3 massive claw marks rend through where the ECLIPSE-A Drive was. Like something had clawed out the Drive and the surrounding walkway and taken it to God knows where. What could be seen where the claw marks were was bits and pieces of machinery, wires, and lots of torn metal.

Markus couldn't see any entrance that would allow something to tear its claws through his ship. In fact, it seems that the roof of the compartment was fine but only the area around the drive was torn up.

He also wasn't sucked out of the ship when he opened the door, so that tells him there isn't a structural breach.

"Is... Is this why the fusion drive is busted?" Markus asked.

"Not exactly" Spark said. "Hurry up. You don't have much time."

Markus grabbed Beavis again, dragging him around the rather large gorges that tore through the ship, and got to the landing craft hatch. Hauling Beavis' corpse into the storage compartment, Markus looked around. Feeling somewhat cramped, Markus was inside of a compartment no bigger than a twenty-first century van. Along the walls were drawers and shelves inlaid into the structure itself, with just enough space for someone to stand and access opposite the container.

Leaving Beavis' corpse there, Markus returned to the ship and started grabbing anything that wasn't nailed down and Markus thought would be useful. Starting in the cockpit, Markus grabbed the medical kit and the fire extinguisher. Markus had Spark list the time out for him so that he would know how much time was remaining. 

twelve minutes left of power reserves.

Not good.

"Markus, I need to tell you something." Spark said, with what Markus detected was with a hint of remorsefulness. Markus, grabbing a cart to get as much stuff into the lander, gave his full attention to Spark.

"What?" Markus said, while grabbing as many ration packs as possible.

"We are... We're no longer in the same observable universe as earth." Spark jittered out.

Markus dropped a couple ration packs. "What?"

"I have detected and confirmed through multiple sensors that there are new forms of matter, as well as the fact that none of the stars out to seventy thousand light years are within the calculated star charts within earth's observable universe. I'm so sorry Markus."

Markus mechanically picked up the ration packs off the floor, looking somewhat dazed. Racing through his head was the idea that he was never going to see another human again. Possibly never talk to or interact with anyone ever again.

Then it hit him. He would never be able to see his father’s grave again.

While Markus was never one to be sentimental, one thing that he did on a somewhat regular basis when he was particularly stressed or swamped with work was to go see his father’s grave on earth. Now, with the realization that he would never be able to stand above the grave of the only person that felt had ever given a damn about him, Markus clammed up.

"New forms of matter?" Markus droned out the question, fearful of falling down that rabbit hole. Not one to waste time, Markus stuffed all that information into a box and pushed it aside for later, focusing on what spark had said. Thinking of what else he might need, Markus grabbed a stack of data pads and lobbed it with the ration packs.

"Yes." Spark said. "Something I've been inclined to call 'nascent' matter, it ties into what's happening with the fusion reactor."

Markus finished loading the ration packs into the lander and stuffing the data pads into a drawer. Heading towards engineering one, or the bay that held the fusion reactor, Markus started to open the door when he noticed the heat coming out of it.

Opening the door, Markus was hit with a blast of heat, as well as a large flash of red. Looking inside, Markus saw a large pulsating mass of red attached to the far side of the compact fusion reactor that inhabited the engineering bay.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Markus yelled over the droning he heard coming from the blob.

"I... I can't tell you now. Ever since we woke, I've been trying to fight it, but it reaches its tendrils out and corrupts everything it touches. I've compiled a report of things that have happened since we've been here and sent it to the lander. Included is a piece of me." Spark replied. "You've got eight minutes, Markus. Hurry!"

Looking around for what he might need, Markus grabbed some tools and parts. Luckily, most of the tools that he might need were handheld and most of the spare parts that he grabbed were just screws and bolts, with other interchangeable parts incorporated. He looked over at the engineering suit forlornly, knowing that it would take too long to lug over to the lander as well as get everything else he might need in time.

Thinking of what else he might need from the ship, Markus almost forgot about the Fresh Organ Pills. Rushing to grab them from his personal storage, Markus heard Spark play something over the comms system, almost as if coming from a recording. The voice of an old woman with what sounded like a chorus of whispering behind her, spitting out what she was saying. "It's been three years. Three years since the veil sundered. Three years since the world boiled in chaos. Three years since countless countries and empires fell into ruin. Three years since the portals opened, bringing others to this world! But now my friends, now, look to the sky! For tonight is the night of Cosmic Illumination!!!"

Cheering - and some otherworldly warbling - could be heard in the background of the recording, before the audio abruptly ended.

"Spark?" Markus asked, very concerned about what he just heard played.

"Yes?" Spark said after a moment passed.

"Did you play that?" Markus questioned.

"Play what?" Spark asked.

Markus decided that now was the time to leave. Grabbing a last couple handfuls of spare parts, Markus booked it back to the lander.

"Markus, I need to tell you something." Spark said.

"What?" Markus said back, loading the last of the supplies into the secondary room of the lander.

What was left of space was gone. Only a couple places were available to Markus for Markus to be able to step into the cockpit of the lander. The rest was filled with ration packs, tools, spare parts, and other goods, like clothes and some extra bed sheeting.

About to close the compartment, Markus heard Spark speak into the lander.

"It has been three years since we arrived here, since we transitioned to this place." Spark said, voice getting quieter and more warbling. "The world below has had to deal with multiple portals opening up across its surface. Rifts in space, portals to places best left unknown." Spark's voice took a turn for the demonic. "There is a reason why the Old Testament is so violent, Markus. War, famine, conquest, death. All have happened down below." Spark's voice returned to its previous state. "You can't let it get to you. You will know cruelty; you will know bloodshed. You cannot let yourself become a slave to it Markus. You need to come out the end of it unbroken, and. save..."

With that, the power to the ship was lost. Looking out of the port, Markus grabbed a flashlight and shined it into engineering 2. Markus saw the walls closest to engineering three start to become frosty, with those at engineering one staying unfrosted. Markus could see his breath starting to condense in front of him. Seeing the gash in the center of engineering two, Markus was about to close the door when he saw the door to Engineering one partially open. Inside, the red light from the blob on the fusion reactor seemed to be getting bigger. Before he could close the door, Markus saw metallic claws the size of Markus' face grab the door and rip it the rest of the way open. Before whatever did that stepped out, the port sealed shut.

Immediately closing the inside hatch, Markus high-tailed it to the cockpit, initiating decoupling from the main ship as fast as possible.

With a quick jolt, Markus was disconnected from the main ship, half-falling towards the planet below.

Initiating the thrusters on the lander, Markus got some distance from the main ship before starting to pick out a place to land on the map of the planet. Piloting a intercept course with the first continent he could see, Markus decided he could always pack it in and move elsewhere on the planet.

Looking at the planet, it was a beauty too. Almost earth like, Markus could see 3 distinct land masses from his initial perusal of the planet. High amounts of water, atmospheric conditions looked good, and a high amount of detectable surface resources. 

Does that continent have less iron and coal than the others? Markus asked himself. 

Before he could continue that line of thinking, a large jolt in the ship rocked Markus, almost getting whiplash from the quick arrival of the g-force it brought.

Looking at a couple blaring sensors, Markus saw that the main fuel line had been busted and the secondary compartment was quickly venting atmosphere.

Closing the door to the cockpit helped with the atmosphere, but no matter what Markus tried he couldn't get the fuel shunted.

Trying to maneuver proved almost useless. While the secondary fuel line was still functioning, it seemed that it wasn't working. For what reason Markus couldn't piece it out. Markus was starting to panic. His controls locked up, and he started to go into a flat spin.

The spin quickly turned into a g-force party, one in which Markus quickly drank too much and passed out.

...

Markus woke up to the sound of multiple blaring sirens, as well as the ship screaming at him to pull up. Looking out of the ship, Markus saw a forest quickly approaching him. Quickly getting his bearings, Markus grabbed the stick and pulled back hard. He wasn't sure if he heard the ship call him a retard or not, but he once again was knocked unconscious when his head was slammed against the back of the cockpit seat.

Once again Markus' vision started to fade to black.