As they explore what appears to be an abandoned ship, they are attacked by grotesque monsters who kill off all but Clarke (who becomes separated), Hammond, and Kendra.
The crew then begins to seek another means of transport. As the Kellion attempts to dock with the Ishimura, a guidance system malfunction occurs and the Kellion crashes into the Ishimura's dock. The CEC dispatches another ship to investigate, the USG Kellion. The game takes place in the year 2508, when the USG Ishimura ( a Japanese surname which translates literally to "Stone Village"), a "Planet Cracker" starship, sends out a distress signal to the Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC) during a mining operation on the planet Aegis VII. Dead Space follows the story of Isacc Clarke, a space engineer and his battle against the necromorphs.