The Assault

*Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light...**This article is about The Dark Pictures Anthology's third installment,* ***House of Ashes***
***.***

## Chapter Guide

**The Assault** is the sixth chapter of Act 2 in *House of Ashes* and the thirteenth overall.

The player controls Rachel (Theatrical Cut) and Eric and Nick (Curator's Cut) as the former reunites with the others while still in danger.

## *Temple, 0000 HRS, 144 FT.*

The guys run into the temple and begin to close the doors while Eric (if alive) searches the main hall looking for Iraqis. Suddenly, the guys hear Rachel's voice and let her and possibly Clarice inside, after which Jason blocks the door with a board. Rachel hugs Nick and asks where Eric is.

* If Eric is dead, Nick will tell Rachel, much to her disbelief.
* If Eric is alive, he looks up with displeasure. Eric can hug Rachel or fight with Nick.
	+ If Eric decides to hug Rachel, she will coldly answer while Nick looks displeased, after which Eric will start talking about the incident in the chasm. Nick will interrupt their dialogue and ask if they are good. Eric can say that he guessed that Rachel was seeing with Nick or that they are good.
		- If Eric cut the rope, he will apologize, to which Rachel can punch him, saying that he dumped her, or exonerate, saying that he followed climbing protocol.
		- If the rope snapped by itself, Eric will say that he didn't cut it and held it to the last, for which Rachel can thank him coldly or warmly.
	+ If Eric decides to fight with Nick, they will start fighting but Rachel will pull them apart. She can tell Eric that she was tired of waiting or tried to hold on, to which Eric will sarcastically reply that Rachel is always loyal.
		- If Eric cut the rope, Rachel will point out that he himself wasn't loyal when he did it.

* If Clarice was abandoned, Jason will tell Rachel that they have lost Merwin, Joey, and Clarice. Noticing Rachel's confusion at the mention of the latter, Jason will ask her about it, to which Rachel can lie or tell the truth about leaving Clarice.
* If Clarice went with Rachel, she will collapse and scream in pain. Jason decides to shoot her, but Rachel stands in front of him, trying to convince him not to shoot.
	+ If Jason refuses to shoot, he will tell Rachel to be held responsible for this. He will do this if:
		- Eric/Nick sided with Rachel.
		- Eric/Nick sided with Jason, but Rachel decided to convince him not to shoot.
		- Eric/Nick sided with Jason, Rachel decided to argue with Eric, Eric/Nick decided to disarm Jason (but failed to do so) and Rachel successfully disarmed him.
		- Eric/Nick sided with Jason, Rachel decided to argue with Eric, Eric/Nick decided to restrain Rachel, but failed.
	+ If Jason shoots Clarice, Rachel will scold him, to which he replies that if Rachel saw what happened to Joey, she would understand. He will do this if:
		- Eric/Nick sided with Jason, Rachel began to argue with Eric/Nick and he successfully restrained her.
		- Eric/Nick sided with Jason, Rachel began to argue with Eric/Nick, he failed to restrain Rachel and Rachel failed to disarm Jason.

The group hears the vampires pounding on the doors and runs into the main hall. Before that, Jason asks Rachel if she is armed and gives a pistol.

* If Clarice was abandoned, Jason will tell Rachel to always hit the vampires.
* If Clarice was spared, Jason will tell Rachel to save a bullet for her.
* If Clarice was killed, Jason will tell Rachel to get herself together.

In the main hall, the generator jams and the lights start to flicker. The vampires enter the temple and while the guys stay to hold the doors, Rachel runs to start the generator. She runs to the tent and checks the cameras, where she sees many vampires.

* If Jason/Nick bypassed the tripwire, some vampires will be seen being blown up, causing loss of connection with the camera.
* If Jason/Nick triggered the tripwire, some vampires will be seen running across the room.

Rachel asks the boys if the place is mined, to which Jason replies that it isn't completely. Rachel takes the computer with her and runs to the generator.

* If Clarice was spared, she will walk up to Rachel from behind. Rachel will aim the gun at her, thinking she has already transformed, to which Clarice will reply that she isn't out of the fight yet.

Meanwhile, the guys are holding the doors with all their strength.

* If Eric knows about the vampires' weakness, he will try to shine the UV wand on them, but accidentally drops it.

The vampires break the board and partially open the gate. Jason shoots them while Eric/Nick runs to close the doors again.

* If Eric/Nick completes the QTE, he will hold the door until Jason blocks it with the other half of the board.
* If Eric/Nick fails the QTE, one of the vampires will sneak into the hall.

Rachel walks over to the generator and has to perform two QTEs to start it.

* If Rachel completes all two QTEs, the generator will recover and the light will remain on.
* If Rachel fails one of the QTEs, the generator will continue to jam and the lights will gradually fade.

As the vampires break through the door harder, the guys run to Rachel, who checks the cameras. She finds a chamber without vampires in the catacombs and tells the others to head towards the east gate. The vampires break through the gate and make their way into the hall. While Nick and Jason fire back at them and Eric and Clarice run towards the gate, Rachel can retreat or use the Vickers gun.

* Use the Vickers gun
* Retreat
* Rachel is ambushed by a vampire

She must complete a QTE to load it.

* If Rachel completes the QTE, she will load the gun and must complete QTEs to shoot the vampires.
	+ If QTEs are completed, all vampires will be shot.
	+ If QTEs are failed, a vampire will grab her. She must complete another QTE to fight back.
		- If QTE is completed, she will flee.
		- If QTE is failed, the vampire will rip her stomach out and plant a parasite in her corpse.
			* If Clarice is alive up until this point, Clarice will stand in the vampire's way, making it flee.
* If Rachel fails the QTE, she will be grabbed by a vampire and the same previous situation will play out.

However, if Rachel succeeds to shoot at the vampires, but Jason and Nick previously triggered the tripwire or Eric/Nick failed to hold the door, one of the vampires will jump onto Rachel and the same previous situation will play out.

Jason will continue to shoot at the vampires. One of the vampires will knock a lamp over, causing it to crash near the generator and create an explosion, which burns several vampires. Jason then retreats.

* If Rachel is grabbed by a vampire, as the protagonists move on, Jason will yell out to Nick about the mines from Bloodbath. Nick must instruct the other survivors to go through the center or the sides. If Nick says nothing, the survivors will go through the center.
	+ If Nick gives the correct direction or says nothing the tripwires are at the sides, the other survivors will bypass the mines safely. Jason and Nick will join them while the vampires will trigger the mines, blowing themselves up.
	+ If Nick gives a wrong direction or says nothing and the tripwires are in the center, the other survivors will trigger the mines and be killed.
		- If Rachel is there, Nick will mourn for her, but Jason insists they move on.
* If Rachel shot all the vampires, Jason will join up with the other survivors and automatically give the correct direction to bypass the mines.

Rachel will run away and the same scenario will play out as if Rachel used the Vickers gun but was grabbed by a vampire.

Regardless of what Rachel choose, if Jason and Nick previously triggered the tripwire in After the Fall or Eric/Nick failed to hold the door, then Rachel failed QTEs to turn on the generator, she will be grabbed by a vampire. The same situation as if Rachel failed the QTEs while using the Vickers gun will play out.

* In Shared Story, Eric can choose to shoot the vampire or the generator if he's unaware about the vampires' weakness, or he can save Rachel immediately with the UV wand.
	+ If he shoots the vampire, Rachel will be freed.
	+ If he shoots the generator, it will blow up, burning the vampire and Rachel in the process.

The same sequence will play out as if Rachel was grabbed by a vampire or retreated.
After the explosion, a landslide begins, which partially fills the corridor, but all the surviving characters manage to escape.

## Deaths

### Inevitable

Several vampires

* Several will always burn from the exploded generator after one of them hit a lamp that crashes and causes fire.
* If Rachel fails to turn on the generator, is grabbed by a vampire while Eric is alive and does not know about the vampires' weakness to sunlight, then decides to shoot the generator instead of the vampire, it will burn to death. (Shared Story)

### Determinant

Rachel

* If Rachel is grabbed by a vampire and fails two QTEs while Clarice isn't present to save her, the vampire will rip her stomach out and infect her corpse.
* If Rachel fails to turn on the generator, is grabbed by a vampire while Eric is alive and does not know about the vampires' weakness to ultraviolet light, then decides to shoot the generator instead of the vampire, Rachel will burn to death. (Shared Story)
* If Nick directs the group into the tripwires or says nothing with the tripwires in the center, Rachel will be blown up.

Eric

* If Nick directs the group into the tripwires or says nothing with the tripwires in the center, Eric will be blown up.

Clarice

* If Rachel fails to convince Jason not to shoot Clarice and is successfully restrained, Jason will shoot her in the head.
* If Nick directs the group into the tripwires or says nothing with the tripwires in the center, Clarice will be blown up.

Many vampires

* Rachel can kill several vampires with the Vickers gun.
* If Rachel is grabbed by a vampire and successfully fends it off, it will be blown up by Jason with a grenade.
* If the group successfully bypass the tripwires, some will be blown up.

## Trivia

* This is the fourth chapter for Eric and the first for Rachel in which they can die.