Aegis VII Colony

The Aegis VII Colony was an illegal mining settlement built on Aegis VII by the Concordance Extraction Corporation. It supported the planet cracking operation of the USG Ishimura in orbit above it, and its manager, Hanford Carthusia, was a member of the Church of Unitology. The colony's history changed in 2508 when a survey team uncovered Marker 3A buried in the planet. In the months that followed the settlement descended into madness, was overrun by Necromorphs, and was finally destroyed when the planet crack brought a vast tectonic load crashing down upon it. (Dead Space; Dead Space: Downfall; Dead Space (comic))

Construction#

Despite traveling restrictions on Aegis VII, and unaware of the planet's dark past, the CEC chose to ignore them and build the colony, after surveys showed the planet held a fortune in saleable resources. Many of the employees who took part knew the operation was illegal but followed the company's agenda regardless. The colony was placed under the management of Hanford Carthusia, who had been born into a wealthy Unitologist family. (Dead Space; Dead Space (comic))

The settlement was divided into at least eighteen sectors, each subdivided into north, south, east and west sections and containing two to six levels. The main entrance and each sector could be sealed by pairs of thick retractable storm shutters, which served both to keep intruders out and to protect those inside from the violent dust storms that frequently swept the planet. Among its many facilities were a Shuttle Port that moved personnel and equipment to and from orbit, a P-Sec Headquarters overlooking Mission Square, blocks of living quarters, a network of more than twenty seven Megavents, and dedicated medical, security and gravity tether installations. (Dead Space: Extraction; Dead Space)

Discovery of the Marker#

Unusual seismic activity near the colony led to a survey team of three, headed by Jennifer Barrow, being sent to investigate the cause. On foot, the group discovered drilling scars on a rock that Barrow noted resembled the marks of an E-34 drilling rig, an obsolete model long out of use. As they searched further they uncovered Marker 3A and reported their find. (Dead Space: Downfall)

From that point the colony began to suffer what looked like a spreading epidemic. Much of the population fell prey to insomnia, depression and growing dementia, and many began to experience vivid hallucinations of their loved ones and of horrifying monsters. The sickness gave way to a rising tide of homicides that strained the medical staff and Planetside Security. When the Marker was removed from its pedestal and taken up to the Ishimura, fifty Unitologists led by Deakin Abbott committed suicide together in the colony's Union Square. Immediately after the planet crack, the Necromorphs emerged with new bodies to infect. The colony's slide into murder sets off the animated film Dead Space: Downfall. (Dead Space (comic); Dead Space: Downfall)

Collapse and destruction#

As the colony fell into chaos and Planetside Security lost control, an evacuation was ordered through the shuttle bay despite Captain Benjamin Mathius having declared a no-fly zone over the planet. The attempt ended in disaster when an overloaded passenger shuttle crashed into the bay, destroying the remaining shuttles and stranding the survivors. A few craft did escape: Shuttle 7, carrying Colin Barrow, his dead wife Jennifer and, unknown to him, an Infector; Shuttle CSO-4; and the Vestri, carrying P-Sec officers Nathan McNeill and Gabe Weller along with a CEC director and Lexine. All three were denied clearance to land on the Ishimura, but Shuttle 7 and the Vestri crash-landed aboard the ship while Shuttle CSO-4 was destroyed by its defensive cannons. The landing of Shuttle 7 proved catastrophic, for the Infector aboard had turned the Barrows into Necromorphs, carrying the infection up to the Ishimura itself. (Dead Space (comic); Dead Space: Downfall; Dead Space: Extraction; Dead Space)

By the time the USG Kellion reached the system, contact with the colony had again been lost and the settlement had been overrun, with its main officers, including Carthusia and the P-Sec commander James, all dead. When Isaac Clarke descended to the planet, the colony appeared deserted apart from the Necromorphs. It was eventually destroyed when a massive tectonic load resulting from the planet crack crashed onto the surface of Aegis VII, devastating the planet and presumably killing any survivors who remained. (Dead Space)