Splash Down (A Subnautica Story)

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  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    Skope wrote: »
    boark4r6sqkv.jpg

    I knew this day would come... I wasn't prepared enough.
  • jeodjeod Stuck in Aperture Join Date: 2017-04-12 Member: 229591Members
    I really like this story! It truly shows you what it was like for the character and how terrifying planet 4546B is (we really need to give it a proper name...)
    I also enjoyed the way you merged in the actual events that happened, it is pretty apparent that someone did their homework :)
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    edited April 2017
    jeod wrote: »
    I really like this story! It truly shows you what it was like for the character and how terrifying planet 4546B is (we really need to give it a proper name...)
    I also enjoyed the way you merged in the actual events that happened, it is pretty apparent that someone did their homework :)

    :smiley: Thankyou! <3
  • jeodjeod Stuck in Aperture Join Date: 2017-04-12 Member: 229591Members
    "Hell6B"
    We finally have a name people!
  • zetkubazetkuba Czech republic Join Date: 2017-03-03 Member: 228553Members
    Waited since....last week :smiley:
  • jeodjeod Stuck in Aperture Join Date: 2017-04-12 Member: 229591Members
    jeff's in for a big surprise...
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    edited May 2017
    Chapter 19: Evasive Action

    "Alright you're sure you're confident with the landing protocol?"

    "Yes sir! It'll be a breeze."

    "Alright, I sure hope so Westly."

    Quinn turned to Carson, "What's our ETA?"

    "About 30 minutes. Cloud cover is a bit dense in the landing area so we might not see the landing sight until we break through the clouds."

    "Ok, what about our fuel Jerret?"

    "We're still in the safety margin. Fuel preservation is still extremely important though, so when we land, we'll need to shut off the ship for as long as we'll be idle."

    "Alright, scanners still can't distinguish any human signatures from the vast ecosystem here, but we have picked up two local distress signals from working life pods which means there are bound to be a few survivors. I just hope none of them are wounded. We don't have very much medical supplies."

    ~~~

    Jeff sat on the beach relaxing up against some flat rocks with his hands behind him supporting his head. In a large patch of sand in front of him, he had lain a circle of flares that were still burning bright. He was relaxing in the heat of the sun with a toothpick he had made out of some plant material in the area hanging out of his mouth. He had just eaten one of the fish he had prepared and was feeling quite relaxed for some one who had been stranded alone on an ocean planet for 4 weeks. Well, he didn't consider himself entirely alone. If it hadn't been for the artificial companionship of Sally, he would have likely lost some of his sanity by now, but the frequent conversations, and the simple sound of another voice helped keep Jeff stable these long days. In fact, Jeff was feeling quite content right about now. The warm sun on his face, a full belly, the soothing sound of the sea on the beach, the occasional alien bird making some strange yet calming squawk, and the comfort of knowing the horrors on this planet would all soon be over. His eyes were closed and a tired smile graced his unshaven face. A distant splash was heard and Jeff opened his eyes and shielded his face from the sun with his hand. Not too far out in the water, a reef-back had breached the surface playfully turning over laying on its back for a moment before diving back under. Jeff smirked and laid back against the rock and closed his eyes again. Then, a more disturbing sound split the tranquility. A long, metallic creek and mechanical whine that thundered through the air. Jeff quickly sat up opening his eyes that instantly fell on the large alien tower. It was moving.

    "What the..."

    The whole upper part of the structure was extending into the sky becoming taller and taller. Eventually it stopped with a crash. Jeff was standing up now, intently watching the structure.

    "Ok... so you can extend to be taller for no reason... cool."

    Then, the tower began rotating. Doing a 180 degree turn. Then, the revelation came into Jeff's mind as the tower began angling itself from a pivot point at its base still pointing into the sky.

    "Energy levels are spiking inside the alien structure. Power is being rerouted from an energy reserve in the base of the structure into the extended tower section and is increasing to extremely high levels there."

    Jeff gasped and spoke under his breath, "Oh, my, gosh..."

    "Sally! Is the sunbeam within communications range?!"

    "Yes, this PDA's receiver is currently connected to the Sunbeam's systems."

    "Patch me in! I've got to tell them to back off!"

    "This PDA is not equipped with 2 way communication."

    Jeff was about to say 'thanks sally", when he suddenly realize what she had said and he lost his breath for a second.

    "Repeat?"

    "This PDA is not equipped with 2 way communication."

    "What the heck... Since when!?"

    "Sally, what OS is this PDA currently running?!"

    "This PDA is currently running: Universal Survival Protocol and Assistance (U.S.P.A.) OS version Vanilla 1.0.0 in tandem with AI Assistant program: Reconnaissance Planetary Assistant AI and Informative Relay (Re.P.A.I.R) 1.2.4. If any bugs are found, please have them reported; fore the safety of crash survivors and reliability of survival PDAs are important to the Alterra corporation."

    Jeff could barely believe it.

    "That version is outdated and was replaced by the 1.2.0 version as a mandatory replacement like 2 years ago for this very reason! How in the hecking heck are the Aurora's PDAs legally running outdated survival softwear!?"

    Sally responded, "According to mandates, this OS system is outdated and should have been replaced. However, unable to determine why that protocol was not met by Altera construction and supply crew."

    "So I can't contact the Sunbeam myself!?"

    "Softwear for that action is not installed."

    ~~~

    "Captain, we'll be breaking atmosphere in 5 minutes. The cloud cover should be dissipating in 4 minutes."

    Avery Quinn squinted through the cockpit windshield trying to see through the clouds.

    Jerret began speaking, "Captain, I'm detecting a massive metallic structure at our landing sight. Energy levels are extremely high. Did another ship beat us here?"

    Quinn was surprised and paused for a moment, "No way, If there were a ship, we'd have picked them up ages ago and received their hailing signal."

    "Then what could it be sir? With such high energy levels it would have to be a military class Ion cannon cruiser and the only known terrestrial versions of ion cannons are back on Earth. This is an unexplored planet, there couldn't be a defense cannon. It's gotta be a ship."

    "Hmmm... can you get any structural readings?"

    "Negative sir, the scanners can't seem to pick it up for some reason even though I know it should be able to especially at this range... All I get is the energy signature. The only thing I can think of that might be causing that would be some kind of military grade jammer."

    "This doesn't sound good... Either some unknown federation military outpost is on this planet or some federation ship was doing some secret mission out here on the outer rim and got the distress call first..." Westly said.

    "Oh that's just great, so we really DID jettison our cargo for absolutely jack-"

    "Cool it Rainer! We can't even see it yet. Could just be a flipping volcano and that's why Jerret can't pick up any structural readings... because there is none."

    "Um sir," Jerret informed, "If a volcano had that much thermal energy, it'd have to be erupting more violently than the volcanoes on Io and scans show the weather is perfectly normal... there's no way its a volcano..."

    At that moment the clouds gave way and the planet surface was finally visible.

    "Hey, our communications system has connected to a personal PDA! Some one's down there to replace its batteries!" Quinn said, "In fact, look! there's some one down there!"

    Quinn opened the channel, "Aurora survivor, we have your PDA signature! I don't know how you walked away from that wreck, let alone survived since then, but we'll be happy to bring you onboard and hightail back to federation space. Stand back, we're approaching the landing site now.

    "But sir, what about that weird structure to the left of him?" Westly said.

    "I don't know but if its federation military they wont fire on us, we've got federation ID codes on this ship. We'll just go down there, pick up the survivor and head out."

    "Wouldn't they have at least contacted us by now?" Jerret said.

    Quinn looked at him, "That's true... Strange..."

    Quinn turned back to the communication com, "Breaking atmosphere in 5... 4... 3...-" Suddenly, the whole cabin lit up in red emergency lights and a red graph appeared on the main console center screen. "What's that?"

    Jerret stared at it, "The energy signature is building up... they... they're firing on us!!!"

    "What!? Why would they do that?! We've got federation codes! Westly, evasive action, get us out of here full ahead flank!"

    "SIR! THEY'RE FIRING!" Jerret screamed.

    "GET TO THE LIFE POD!" Rainer yelled.

    Everyone in the cabin leaped out of their seats and rushed to the door where a confused and drowsy Derek stood on the other side.

    "What's happening guys!?"

    They had no chance to respond. No chance to push past him. No chance to even fully comprehend the whole situation. One second they were there, frantically trying to escape, to save themselves. The next, they were gone. All of them. The ship was gone too. Nothing but a ploom of smoke and fire with tiny fragments of hull raining down from the sky.

    Jeff couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Completely helpless as a green beam of immense power reduced the Sunbeam to falling debris in an instant. He fell to his knees for the second time on this God forsaken planet. The Sunbeam was gone.
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    Chapter 20: Touch Down

    Palmer's head snapped up from where it had been hanging loosely from his shoulders as the echo of a distant explosion jolted him awake. His slumped body became rigid again and his limp legs steadied themselves against the floor again. He was breathing heavily and blood caked the corner of his mouth and under his nose. A very small pool of dried blood collected on the floor. As he cleared the fog from his mind and began reaching full consciousness, he instantly felt a pang of immense pain in his stomach. The pain was so excruciating that he first thought he had been impaled by something lose in the pod, but upon looking down, he saw that he was fine and realized he was actually extremely hungry. Every few moments, a pulse of pain would ripple from his stomach throughout his abdomen and cause him to cringe.

    "I've got to find something to eat... but... I'm all out of nutrient blocks..."

    Palmer unlocked the bracer and lifted it over his head and stood up. His legs buckled beneath him, causing him to fall to the floor, and he realized how weak he was. It was at that moment he noticed his pod wasn't sloshing on the waves of an ocean planet.

    "What?"

    He glanced through the bottom hatch glass and saw dirt. He worked up the strength to grab onto the ladder and hoist himself up through the top hatch. As he stuck his head out he was instantly met with air fresher than anything he thought he'd ever breathe again and it filled him with vigor. Then he looked around. He was on an island filled with alien plant life and various sounds of unknown creatures. It was nearing sunset and he was in a dense patch of forest with strange seemingly blue, bioluminescent trees all around him obstructing his view. The parachutes had tangled themselves in the tops of the trees behind him with twigs and branches sticking through tears in the canvas. At the sight of plants, Palmer hauled himself fully out of the pod and rolled over the side falling hard onto the grassy ground. Wincing away the pain, he crawled up to the nearest plant. It looked like an orange and green melon with palm leaves growing straight up. He unholstered his scanner and rested his head on his arm as he propped the scanner up on the ground aiming at the plant and began scanning. When the scan was complete, he completely ignored the details of the plant and looked down at the survival information.

    'Harmless. Possible good source of food.' was all he needed to see before he ripped the plant out of the ground and bit directly into the bulbous melon part. The bite revealed a tender green inside filled with water that reminded him of an unripe watermelon. The taste was similar too, but much more dull and less sweet. None of that mattered to Palmer though, the sight of water and the apparent safe edibility of the planet made it a God send to satiate himself. After fully devouring the plant, he rolled over on his back and rested there for a moment, regaining his strength as the pain from his stomach slowly subsided. He instantly noticed the giant moon that orbited this planet.

    "How does that thing not crash into this planet... kinda creepy... but beautiful at the same time."

    His energy restored, he slowly began to think about his situation.

    "What was that sound that woke me up?... are there any other survivors?... where is this island in relation to the crash site?... Where's the Aurora?... Are there hostile creatures on this island?..."

    Palmer sat up and tried to stand. It was difficult, but his energy was slowly returning. He made it back to the pod and climbed back inside. He gathered what materials he could from the pod's locker and came back outside.

    "I need to get a better vantage point."

    He looked to the sky and noticed a faint ploom of smoke.

    "Wouldn't be surprised if that's the Aurora."

    He headed off into the trees toward the smoke until he came to a lightly trodden path.

    "Huh... what's this doing here..."

    Palmer decided to follow the path. Eventually, it lead him out of the dense woods to some high ground where he saw that on either side of him were two small mountains. The strangest part however, was that there were what seemed to be old federation style observatories on both peaks. He decided to take the one to his left since it would take him in the direction of the smoke. Along the way, he scanned various plants discovering their edibility and benefits. The trek was short but very steep, taking every bit of Palmer's already dwindling energy out of him. Once he got to the top, he peeked around the corner of the observatory and saw the Aurora.

    "Holy crap... the drive core must have ruptured... meaning... survivors are highly unlikely..."

    He came back around the corner and went to the door of the structure. The metal of the observatory was rusted and covered in moss and rain weathering. The door was rusted open allowing Palmer to get a glimpse inside.

    "Hello? Is anyone there?"

    He stepped inside. The room hall was very small. In a little indention in the wall were two pots containing very large plants that had likely been growing there for years. Palmer recognized them as Chinese potato plants, a common emergency plant seed used in many ship's survival kits.

    "There must have been others who crashed on this planet before the Aurora... but how long ago? Are they still alive?"

    After gathering several potatoes from the plant for later, he headed down the hall to the observation bubble where there was a desk, a chair, and an overgrown PDA. Palmer tried to scoot the chair to the side to take a seat but, through all the weathering, the chair had become stuck to the floor requiring a bit more effort from Palmer to push it free before he could sit down. He scraped off the moss covering the PDA and picked it up. He wiped the screen down with his elbow and tapped it. Nothing. Then he heard the sound of it rebooting. The screen didn't light up, but the audio was working. He told the PDA to play last recorded voice log. After a few moments of static and pops from the damaged speaker, the audio began playing.

    "It won't work, Chief. There's nothing left of the Degasi. No building materials on this island. And my nose tells me the weather's turning. We're gonna have to get our feet wet."

    "This island is safe, Marguerit! There are no predators. We can grow food. Why would we abandon it?"

    "Your kid says we can't grow enough. Not without more growbeds. Speak up, kid."

    A third voice, a young male, began speaking, "It's... it's true. The natural growth rates are too slow to support three of us indefinitely. Especially if the weather gets worse."

    Marguerit sighed, "All I'm sayin' is, ocean's got us surrounded. No use hiding."

    "I've made my decision. You two want to forfeit your commissions just to take a swim?" The cheif asked.

    "Believe me, I'm thinkin' on it."

    The voice log ended abruptly. Palmer sat for a moment trying to understand what he had just heard.

    "So... These are the ruins of the survivors of the Degasi ship that was lost to the Mongols several years ago... And it sounds like they wanted to go underwater... maybe that means they're still alive!... I hope... I don't want to be the only one on this planet for God knows how long..."

    Palmer got up and went outside gazing at the Aurora again and the surrounding area as the sun began to set. He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he saw a large, skinny red tail splash up above the water before it slipped back under the surface just behind the Aurora's engines. Palmer then decided he had better get back to his life pod and start a fire before it got too cold in this fast approaching darkness.
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    edited May 2017
    Chapter 21: Motivation

    Jeff couldn't quite tell how he felt. His mind was swirling with negative thoughts and emotions. Depression, anger, grief, confusion. He steadily became more and more depressed and grief stricken. Every time he tried to focus on one particular thought, his mind took him down a dark path that ended with a sinister option: suicide. He tried to find the silver lining, tried to think of something that would bring him out of this deep dark hole that was paralyzing both his body and his mind. He was thinking to himself, fighting himself, trying to escape from his own mind.

    "This is a dream..."

    "No, you know full well this isn't a dream."

    "There is no hope."

    "No! There must be hope, something I'm not thinking of."

    "There's nothing to be done, no one to rescue you, no one to comfort you."

    "No! I'm never alone! God is with me."

    "There is no God, what foolishness is this? Take out your knife and end it all now."

    "No! I can't! I won't!"

    "What good is it to struggle? No hope, no help, no choice. End it now."

    "NO! Ther- There IS a choice! There is hope! I-I'm... Yes, alive! I'm not dead yet! I can still fight to stay alive! I can get of this planet some how! I can pray! I can press on! Suicide is never a valid answer!"

    "But-"

    "No, there is no but! I'm going to climb out of this hole! I'm going to survive! And I'm going to find out why this- this gun shot down the Sunbeam! I'm going to destroy it and get off this planet and there's nothing that can stop me!"

    And with a splitting scream, Jeff pounded his fist into the sand as his rage pulled him out of the hole of insanity. He stayed there, breathing hard, staring at the sand as the sky continued to darken as the sun set.

    "God, give me strength... I- I can't deal with this alone..." he muttered.

    Jeff stood up and tried to calm himself.

    "I need to get back to the pod and gather more materials... If- If I'm going to be here for a lot longer, then I'm going to need a home more suitable then an 8x10 floating metal prison."

    Jeff bent over and retrieved his PDA from the sand and wiped it off.

    "Sally, bring up a document file."

    A text box and a keyboard appeared on screen. Jeff began writing goals for himself, something to keep him motivated and to keep him focused.

    1.SURVIVE!

    2.Find out more about the alien structure and figure out a way to disable it.

    3.Build a ship and get off this stupid planet.

    4.Build a better home.

    5.Get a Cyclo-

    Jeff was still typing when a notification popped onto the screen and Sally began verbalizing, "Picking up a distress signal from life pod 37."
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    Woah, invisible Bumpasaurus, coming through!















    Wow, look at the size of that Bumpasaurus! It's gigantic!
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    *Gasps* WHOA! Oh, goodness. Thank you Bumpasaurus for waking me up! Don't worry! Stuff still on the way!
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    Ok, I'm so sorry guys! I've been really distracted lately. When I wasn't busy with life things, I've been devoting a lot of my time on the subnautica forums to reading Bugzapper's 'Aurora Falls' and 'Borealis Rising'. I hope none of you think I've lost interest or have quit though! This story is still pressing forward and you can expect more entries very very soon!
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    Ok, I'm so sorry guys! I've been really distracted lately. When I wasn't busy with life things, I've been devoting a lot of my time on the subnautica forums to reading Bugzapper's 'Aurora Falls' and 'Borealis Rising'. I hope none of you think I've lost interest or have quit though! This story is still pressing forward and you can expect more entries very very soon!

    I can relate. One day, I restart reading Aurora Falls, and when I finish, not only do I realize I read Borealis Rising, I also realize it's two days later.

    Happens to the best of us. ;)
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    edited May 2017
    Chapter 22: A Floating Island

    Jeff had been sleepily heading back to his pod. He remembered that not too many hours ago he had washed his hands of that claustrophobic tin-can and yet now, he was forced to return to its safety. His eyes were barely open with his head propped up by his arm against the armrest of the seamoth. The sun had fully set now and the night had settled in.

    "I'll check out that distress signal tomorrow. Hopefully it'll have some useful salvage."

    Jeff reached the pod and climbed his way inside where he collapsed on the uncomfortable floor.

    "This will be the last time I sleep here."

    And with that thought, he shut his eyes.

    In the morning, Jeff sat up from the floor and rubbed various points on his back where his bones had pressed hard against the metal floor. He had already been awake for an hour, unable to stay asleep for long in the tossing of the pod on the waves. He got up and began transferring all of his things out of the pod and into the seamoth's storage. He had enough materials to begin building his own more spacious base but he needed a hand-held constructor first. To make a constructor, he would need a computer chip and a battery. He had several unused batteries, but no computer chip. Jeff hoped the life pod he would be visiting soon would have a computer chip or salvage materials to craft one. After cramming all the materials and equipment he could into the seamoth, he then took a dive-reel he had crafted a while back to tie the mobile vehicle fabrication platform to it. Once he was all set, Jeff finished off a water bottle while sitting on the top of the pod and hopped into the water. He climbed up and into the seamoth and set off toward the distress beacon. Jeff made a mental note that the pod was sending a continuous signal meaning it was still operational. Survivors however would be quite slim. The beacon was coming from an area dangerously close to the radius of the radiation leak and there was still another day or so before the Aurora's particle field would fully clear the radiation. The signal was quite a distance and would take him into the open ocean area that Jeff now referred to as the grassy plateaus due to the red grass coverage and the strange vertical, segmented pillars that rose from the flat terrain. Though he had only found reefbacks to be native to this biome so far, he still wondered what other creatures might wonder their way into it for a reefback snack... or worse, a human snack. As he came out of a branch of kelp forest into the grassy plateau, he kept his eyes open for reefbacks. If he hung around them, anything big enough to eat one might go for one of them instead of him. There were several pods of reefbacks around this area today and their presence was reassuring for Jeff. While he was traveling, Jeff had been thinking about his goals and various other projects to work toward. One of which would be tricking out his seamoth. The way it is now, the seamoth is a very fast and agile little sub with a small storage bay and a decent power supply. However, the minimal depth capability and the lack of defense mechanisms left Jeff feeling that modifications would be the best next goal after he began the construction of a more permanent home.

    "Sally, bring up the base construction menu."

    A holo screen appeared to his right with a listing of all known structures. He noticed that what he was looking for was not listed.

    "Sally, what structure is required to make modifications to this seamoth submersible?"

    "That would be the MoonPool Submersible Bay. This structure's schematics are not currently known."

    "Hmmf, figures... I'll probably be forced to go back into the Aurora to look for the schematics database."

    By this point the grassy plateau started to give way to much deeper and darker ocean.

    "Oh boy, here we go."

    Jeff brought the seamoth down with the terrain as it sloped deeper and deeper until the sand gave way to coral-covered rock and dropped off abruptly into the darkness. Through the murkiness, he could make out some faint light coming from the darkness. Jeff continued to descend.

    "Warning, reaching safe depth margin. Further decent will result in hull failure."

    Jeff instantly shot his eyes up to the top of the seamoth's pilot bubble where a depth counter was displayed and he realized he had almost forgotten about it.

    "Maybe it's a good thing I can't go deeper yet..."

    Jeff looked for the distress signal's waypoint on his hud but suddenly realized it wasn't there. He looked around and found it again. It was coming from ahead of him on the surface.

    "Huh, woulda thought it would have sank into the depths... Maybe the pod's more intact that I thought."

    Jeff started heading forward out into the darkness and slowly ascended up toward the surface. After a few minutes of closing the distance to the waypoint, he suddenly noticed light coming out of the darkness above him in strange splotches unlike that of the sun shining through the surface. He slowly got closer until a sharp spike of rock appeared in front of him out of the murk. The stalactite of stone was covered in various table coral and other growth.

    "What? How is this just floating here?"

    He maneuvered around it and got closer to the strange light and suddenly stopped in his tracks when he realized he was only twenty yards from a giant, pulsating, pink blob attached to the underside of a stone structure. Jeff looked around and noticed there were more of those pink blobs dispersed between a forest of those stalactites. He followed the underside of the structure until he found an opening big enough to fit a cyclops right in the center of it. Jeff broke through the surface and was amazed at what he saw. A forest. He had surfaced in a pond in the middle of what seemed to be an island. Cliffs of stone rose up around him the tops of which were covered in plant growth of all kinds. To his right was a ledge of sand that lead into a cave. Jeff could barely believe it. It was all so beautiful, yet so impossible. The plant life on the other mountain island was so sparse and plain. How is solid rock floating like this? Jeff had to know. He resubmerged in the seamoth and went up to the closest globular mass of pink. Getting out of the seamoth immediately reminded him of the first upgrade he wanted to add to the seamoth: built in scanner. He swam up to the mass and began scanning it with the hand-held. The percentage counter went up slowly and every second Jeff floated there in dark open ocean gave him a very dreadfully nervous feeling. This place was even deeper than the grassy plateaus or the area round the mountain island. He tried not to look down but he knew he had to keep an eye out for danger. Finally, the scan was complete and he quickly hopped back inside the safety of the seamoth. Sally then began verbalizing the gathered data.

    "Structural analysis reveals that this entity is made up of two separate species. The pink main body and inner jaws are the dominant creature. The outer, gel-like substance is a mesh of microorganisms capable of forming a sealed vacuum around the creature's jaws. A thin layer of helium is stored within the outer membrane, providing buoyancy.
    Assessment: Further research required"

    "Huh... interesting... So this whole island isn't connected to the ground but rather held in place by these little buggers."

    Jeff resurfaced, parked the seamoth up next to the sandy ledge, and disembarked. Standing on solid ground was always a great feeling for Jeff even if the ground was only twenty feet thick and unknown depths of ocean lie directly below him. He breathed in a deep refreshing breath and looked at the sky above. There were bird calls similar to what he had heard on the mountain island which reminded him of the alien nature of this island and warned him to proceed with caution. Then he saw the smoke. It wasn't coming from the direction of the Aurora, it was coming from some where on the island, and Jeff had a pretty good idea of where.
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    edited May 2017
    Chapter 23: Someone else

    The night had been cold as Palmer had expected. His survival PDA indicated the temperature was around 13 degrees Celsius. Not too cold, but uncomfortable enough to warrant a fire. During the night, he had foraged around in the "woods" for materials and fuel for a fire. In his search, he had found the ruins of a 3rd base built by the Degasi survivors. It was quite destroyed and half of it was covered in a land-slide. Inisde, however, he found several useful materials such as some old silicon rubber and some silver. For titanium, Palmer simply took out his welder and removed small sections of the old structure. It was very inefficient in terms of cutting compared to the laser cutter, but he was able to accumulate a fair amount of titanium that would suit his needs. Back at the pod, the fabricator broke each material down into its basic elements and reconstituted them into a survival knife. Using the knife, he inspected the trees in the area and discovered that the tall bioluminescent trees were very similar to the wooded trees of Earth but more along the lines of very thick and dense plant stalks. This would have posed a problem considering the amount of water contained in plant stalks, however, the liquid inside these trees was actually quite flammable, even more so than tree sap back home. The liquidy sap was blue and produced its own light which indicated that the sap was the origin of the trees' bioluminescence. Whatever materials constituted these trees, Palmer didn't really care as long as it burned well. After building a fire near the life pod, he made a bed of leaves to sleep on. He ate another marble melon and fell asleep. In the morning, Palmer felt better than he thought he ever would again. He felt that he had some strength behind his muscles now and was more confident in his survival chances. During the night, he had received a distress signal from life pod 5, 6, and 27. Only one of those signals continually pinged indicating the rest were either destroyed or damaged. Additionally, the PDA's AI had indicated to Palmer that the area on the outskirts of the island surrounding the Aurora were heavily irradiated but that strangely, the radiation levels were slowly decreasing which meant, some how, the particle containment field was still online.

    "That's a plus. Won't have to worry about getting radiation poisoning in a few days."

    Palmer struggled to put out the fire. The sap was like oil and he made a note to himself to be very careful next time he made a fire. Once the fire was finally smothered, Palmer set out in search of more useful materials. He made another stop at the abandoned base for more deconstruction for titanium and other various metals like copper and gold. There were a few lab materials in the base as well. Samples of what seemed to be some of the underwater life on this planet. One looked liked a punctured mushroom, and the other resembled shelf coral or giant lichen. On his way back, he gathered plant materials as the AI had indicated they posed a good source of fibers. He then fabricated a flashlight and a reinforced dive suit using the synthetic fibers made from the plant materials. The suit would defend him against the crab creatures he had encountered a few times on this island and, if he ever dared to do so, would help him breathe at greater depths in the water. Palmer was starting to realize that this island's resources were very few. Food and water was about the only thing that this island provided naturally, the rest was gathered by the Degasi survivors from underwater. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he would have to take a dive to find some resources. He wanted to be fully prepared for whatever this alien ocean had to throw at him. He had already seen evidence of massive creatures when he saw that large red and white tail and he didn't what to find out the hard way if they were aggressive or docile. He would need some kind of vehicle and the seamoth was the only one he thought he could remotely obtain the materials for at this stage. He hoped that he would be able to find those materials in the 3 degasi bases, otherwise, he'd still have to take a swim on his own. Palmer was walking up a path. He had already completely dismantled and looted the main Degasi ruin and was now heading off to deconstruct the two observation pods at the tops of the two mountains. He was at the fork in the road about to choose which one to go for first when he heard a large splash. A splash much different from that of lapping sea water, and it didn't come from the shore, it came from the center of the island. Palmer decided to investigate further and left the path into the dense plant life.

    ~~~

    Jeff was about to head into the cave to try and find a way to reach the surface when he heard some stirring in the trees above him. He looked up and his eyes widened.

    ~~~

    After only a short distance of hacking through large leaves and dodging trees, Palmer came to a cliff edge. Down below was a pond and in the center of it was a seamoth. Confused, Palmer looked around the edges of the pond. There, on a sandy ledge, stood his dearest friend, Jeffery Masterson, and he was looking right at him.
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh snap, two worlds collide!

    Now's the time when things get interesting. :)
  • kubazet99kubazet99 Czech Republic Join Date: 2016-08-17 Member: 221450Members
    I wonder whots going to be next,a exploring?investigating lifepods?making a Cyclops/Prawn?
  • kubazet99kubazet99 Czech Republic Join Date: 2016-08-17 Member: 221450Members
    Also name for Cyclops: Nautilus
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    Sorry for the long wait guys! I hope these last two entries rekindle your fires of curiosity and intrigue!
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    Wait a minute, I just thought of something.

    @ThunderShock27, is this a fan story about your secret desire for multiplayer?!

    You diabolical fiend you...

  • kubazet99kubazet99 Czech Republic Join Date: 2016-08-17 Member: 221450Members
    Well i cant way whots is going to continue,i cannot wait untill few subnautica lore events happen to them.Also whots about geting a pet(cutefish)?
  • ThunderShock27ThunderShock27 America Join Date: 2017-02-13 Member: 227880Members
    Thank you all for helping me reach 3.2k readers! This story has really grown into something really special to me and I'm so happy you all are enjoying it! <3
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