Hydroponics Deck
The Ishimura''s Internal Farm
The Hydroponics Deck was the USG Ishimura''s internal farm, growing the food and producing the oxygen needed to sustain the ship''s crew. During the 2508 outbreak the deck was overtaken by the Leviathan, which polluted its air and destroyed the ship''s food supply.
The Hydroponics Deck was the internal farm of the USG Ishimura, set in the upper portion of the two cargo towers near the rear of the ship. It produced the food that fed the vessel's thousands of workers and generated a sustainable supply of oxygen, making it one of the ship's most vital sectors until the Necromorph outbreak of 2508 left it ruined.
Layout and function#
The Hydroponics Deck occupied the top of the two cargo towers near the back of the Ishimura. It grew the plants that fed the ship's many workers, including vegetables, fruit, grain, mushrooms, flowers and herbs, and it produced a sustainable supply of oxygen for the vessel. The sector was divided into two primary parts: the multi-level Vegetation Grow Chambers and the central cylindrical Food Storage chamber.
At the heart of the deck stood the Hydroponics Central Hub, which carried a large holographic screen and the controls that governed the deck's air production, ventilation and filtration. The hub served as a crossroads, with doors leading to the West and East Grow Chambers and the Food Storage, along with a maintenance route to the Mining Deck tram station. Each Grow Chamber was a three-story tower of greenhouses fitted with solar lights and water sprinklers, the plants arranged by type and the walls hung with long climbing vines. The chambers even carried a simulated ambience of crickets and wildlife to imitate a forest environment. The deck also held refrigeration towers that kept harvested food frozen, flow control rooms, and a room of rare specimens secured behind a higher security clearance.
The Leviathan and the outbreak#
The Hydroponics Deck came under attack during the 2508 outbreak when the Leviathan, a massive Necromorph, smashed into the hull, grew into the Food Storage chamber and began polluting the air. The Corruption spread deep into this part of the ship, ruining the Ishimura's entire food supply, and the toxic creatures called Wheezers filled many of the deck's rooms with poisonous air, including the Seedling Rooms, Elizabeth Cross' office and the air filtration chamber.
The damage divided the deck. By the time Isaac Clarke reached it the door to the East Tower had been wholly covered by the Corruption, leaving only the West Tower accessible. The West Grow Chamber remained in a strangely functional and healthy state despite the infestation, while the East Grow Chamber had rotted beyond use.
Dr. Elizabeth Cross#
The senior horticulturalist Dr. Elizabeth Cross worked at a station in the Central Hub on a special enzyme intended to kill the Leviathan, but she lacked the liquid nitrogen needed to complete it. From her office on the third floor of the West Grow Chamber she recorded a video log to Isaac warning him that the deck had become too dangerous, that the Leviathan had destroyed the food supply and poisoned the air, and showing him what the creature had done to her crew. Cross was one of at least two known Hydroponics specialists aboard the Ishimura, the other being Dr. Karen Howell.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Hydroponics Deck?
- The Hydroponics Deck was the internal farm of the USG Ishimura, located in the upper portion of the two cargo towers near the rear of the ship. It grew the vegetables, fruit, grain, mushrooms, flowers and herbs that fed the crew and provided a sustainable source of oxygen.
- What happened to the Hydroponics Deck during the outbreak?
- The deck came under attack when the Leviathan smashed into the hull, grew into the Food Storage chamber and began polluting the air. The Corruption spread deep into the sector, ruining the Ishimura's food supply, and Wheezers filled many of its rooms with toxic air.
- Who was Elizabeth Cross?
- Dr. Elizabeth Cross was a senior horticulturalist who worked on the Hydroponics Deck. She tried to develop an enzyme to kill the Leviathan but lacked the liquid nitrogen to complete it, and she left video and audio logs warning the crew to flee the deck after the creature poisoned the air and killed her people.
Sources
- WikiHydroponics Deck — Dead Space Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Mining Deck
The Mining Deck was the largest section of the USG Ishimura, the heart of its planet cracking operation, where asteroids and planet fragments were broken apart and smelted for valuable minerals. One of the last decks to be overrun, it was where Isaac Clarke again encountered the figure of Nicole Brennan.
USG Ishimura
The USG Ishimura was the flagship of the Concordance Extraction Corporation and the first Planet Cracker-class mining ship. After recovering Marker 3A from Aegis VII in 2508, it became the site of a catastrophic Necromorph outbreak that wiped out its crew and bound its name to the history of the Markers.
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Isaac Clarke was a ship systems engineer for the Concordance Extraction Corporation who survived the Necromorph outbreak aboard the USG Ishimura, became a host for the Markers'' replication blueprints, and spent years hunted by EarthGov and the Church of Unitology as he fought to destroy the Markers.
Necromorph
Necromorphs were aggressive creatures formed when the Markers' electromagnetic signal reshaped dead tissue into monstrous new forms. Driven to kill the living and gather corpses for Convergence, they were the recurring plague that destroyed the Aegis VII colony, the USG Ishimura, and Titan Station.
The Corruption
The Corruption was an encrusting mass of Necromorph tissue that grew wherever an outbreak took hold, spreading in the presence of a Marker signal. It reshaped its surroundings into a habitat for the horde, poisoning the atmosphere and providing a ready supply of biomass.
Aegis VII Colony
The Aegis VII Colony was an illegal mining settlement built on Aegis VII by the Concordance Extraction Corporation in 2505. After the discovery of Marker 3A in 2508, the colony fell into madness and was overrun by Necromorphs before being destroyed in the planet crack.
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Crew Deck
The Crew Deck was the residential section of the USG Ishimura, a self contained district of sleeper bunks, mess halls and recreation built so that miners and technicians could live aboard the Planet Cracker. During the Necromorph outbreak it became a slaughterhouse and a site of mass Unitologist suicide.
Flight Deck
The Flight Deck was the central port complex of the USG Ishimura, where shuttles arrived and departed and the ship''s tram system was operated. It was where the USG Kellion crashed and Isaac Clarke''s ordeal aboard the ship began.
Nathan McNeill
Nathan McNeill was a P-Sec detective on the Aegis VII Colony and a veteran of the Resource Wars who survived the outbreak on the colony and aboard the USG Ishimura. He escaped toward the Sprawl only to succumb to his wounds and reanimate as a Necromorph.
The Leviathan
The Leviathan was a massive, amorphous Necromorph that lodged in the USG Ishimura''s Food Storage and barricaded the Hydroponics Deck. Named by Elizabeth Cross, it grew enormous on the colonists'' biomass before Isaac Clarke destroyed it.
The Urchin
The Urchin was a massive aquatic Necromorph that grew in the water purification facilities deep within the USG Ishimura''s sewer system. A formless body wreathed in tentacles, it ambushed survivors below the Hydroponics Deck during the ship''s outbreak.
Tram System
The Tram System was the USG Ishimura''s automated monorail, which carried crew between the decks of the vast mining vessel. Built around a single rail, it linked the ship''s major sections through a network of stations and a central maintenance bay.
USG Ishimura
The USG Ishimura was the flagship of the Concordance Extraction Corporation and the first Planet Cracker-class mining ship. After recovering Marker 3A from Aegis VII in 2508, it became the site of a catastrophic Necromorph outbreak that wiped out its crew and bound its name to the history of the Markers.
Wheezer
The Wheezer was a stationary Necromorph that generated and exhaled poisonous gas, fouling the air around it without ever attacking directly. It served as a kind of terraformer for the Necromorph ecosystem, making spaces toxic to the living.
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