Chapter Text
Silence, horrible, painful, silence. The kind of silence that terrifies those who are alone. That was the only noise I heard following the crash. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was darkness. "Warning! Oxygen production offline! Utilize emergency breathing gear immediately!" screeched the mildly distorted distress call of my once-great starship. Grabbing my emergency breather and handheld scanner, I exited my fighter. The instant I opened the hatch to exit however, water poured into the spacecraft. "Crap! Of course this is an aquatic planet!" I thought to myself. The only question repeating through my head was, "How deep am I?" By accessing environmental scans on my PDA, I discovered I was 200 meters below sea-level. Another interesting tid-bit of information was I was in an underwater biome dubbed as the"Sparse Reef." My breather would only last for 45 seconds this deep down. Quickly, I ascended in the water, hoping and praying that I would reach the surface before I drowned. I was almost to the surface when another voice called out from my PDA,"Emergency! 10 seconds of oxygen remaining!" Against all odds, I made it. With 1.5 seconds to spare. "I... I did it... I actually made it!" I shouted, even though there was nobody around to hear me. In the distance, I saw a large shipwreck. There was only one ship this far out in the galaxy of that size, Alterra's Aurora. The Titanic of spacecraft. The supposed "unbreakable" star frigate. Apparently, something did break it. Something quite powerful. I was lucky to make it down to the planet relatively undamaged. Looking slightly to the left of the ship I noticed something else. There was one singular lifepod and a large platform floating in the water. "Lifepod, that could mean another survivor." I thought, hopes starting to rise. Instantly, I started to swim towards the lifepod in an attempt to find security among a fellow survivor. I made sure to keep my head above the water. Not just to prevent oxygen loss, but because I hate the ocean. Sure, it's pretty and all from a distance, but just knowing that something horrible could be swimming around right below me gives me a sick feeling. After what felt like hours of swimming, I made it to the lifepod. I knocked loudly on the lower hatch hoping whoever it housed would lend a helping hand. Five minutes later there was still no response. I decided to enter the pod regardless if the person wanted company or not. I was surprised to find the pod's interior empty. I preformed another scan of the environment. Now, I was in a biome called the "Safe Shallows." Hopefully, the name of the biome is not misleading. I decided to investigate the large platform next. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be another Alterra craft! The words"Neptune Escape Rocket Bay" were pasted on the side of the platform. Whoever survived the Aurora has clearly escaped now. Interestingly, the construction terminal was still operational. The terminal also included the blueprints to create another rocket. If I wanted off this planet, it seemed I would have to create another rocket first. I decided to look over the blueprints so I would know what kind of resources I needed to find. "Lubricant, plasteel, aerogel, kyanite, ion power cell." "What the heck is an ion power cell?!" Ion power was something nobody understood how to control or create. The odds of escape now seemed impossible. I dove back into the water, stomach painfully growling. I grabbed a strange looking fish and headed back inside the lifepod. Activating the fabricator, I used its cooking function to prepare the fish for consumption. After eating, I curled up on top of the lower hatch. I wished to fall asleep and never wake again.I decided that if I ever made it off the planet, I would never set foot in water again.