Lifepod 22by DiloboiChapters1. Planetfall2. Drifting3. Soaked1. PlanetfallAuthor's Note I wrote this while listening to several Titanic sinking analysis videos, so I apologize for any mistakes that might've made it in. Just a guide on how I'm writing this: "Hello" - Normal Dialogue "Hello" - Characters thought "Hello" - Robotic Voice / Telepathic Voice Hello - Writing Also, I did some math and I estimate the Sirens are about 56 feet or about 17.1 meters long, with their head alone being about 6 feet tall. Spooky. 1. Planetfall "Attention. Hull failure imminent. All personnel abandon ship." A feminine voice bellowed out. Red lights flashed and Alarms blared as Jack sprinted down the hallway towards the Lifepod bay. Rounding a corner, he sprinted through an open door as he finally reached his salvation. Breathing heavily, he rapidly scanned the bay for a pod, noting that the majority were gone. "Hopefully others made it." He thought to himself as his eyes locked on the green lights above the hatch where Lifepod 22 was still connected. Dashing over, he quickly opened the hatch and jumped into the pod, ignoring the ladder and landing roughly on the metal floor. He quickly jumped to his feet and slid into one of the chairs. He raised a hand over the touch screen attached to the armrest, only hesitating for a moment before hitting the button. "I can't wait. Not enough time." "Launch in 3... 2... 1..." A different feminine voice spoke, as the seats restraining bar came down. The sound of the pods deployment thrusters powering up followed by a burst as it was separated from the ship rung out. The pod rattled for a moment, before mostly stabilizing. Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Holy shit..." He said, his speech tinted with a slight Scottish accent. He looked up through the hatch, at the rapidly shrinking Aurora. As the seconds passed, Jack could take note of several details, the orange glow of several fires along the bow, the debris detaching from the ship, and even a couple flashes of light he hoped were launches of other Lifepods. A little hope filled the man. "If all 25 pods are launched, there's a good chance I can meet up with other survivors planetside. Hopefully one of the officers-" His thoughts were interrupted as a bright green beam erupted past the pods window, striking the Aurora's port side near the engines and releasing a violent explosion. He stared in shock for moments before the roar of the pod making planetfall captured his attention. The pod began to shake more and more as flames from atmospheric entry illuminated the pod from the hatch. "Ah shit." Jack hissed through clenched teeth as he gripped tightly to the arm rests, closing his eyes as the deafening roar only got louder and louder. He felt the pod falling through the sky now, he himself rising from his seat as if gravity wasn't affecting him, the restraining bar the only thing keeping him from floating around the interior. He tried to brace himself for the inevitable rough landing. The seconds dragged on until... The airbrakes and landing thrusters kicked on, roaring as the pod shuddered. Jack felt as if gravity shifted, now being forced into his seat. More and more the pod slowed until it slammed into something. Jack again was flung back up in his seat as he caught a glimpse what he though was water rush over the pod's top hatch. "Sea Landing Detected. Deploying Floatation Devices." Said the same feminine voice. A few seconds later, the a bursting noise followed by Jack again being pressed into his seat occurred. Finally, after a moment, he watched as the water gave way to blue sky as his pod reached the surface. The pod moved around for a couple moments before finally settling to be mostly still. Jack breathed heavily, still tightly clutching his arm rests. His wide eyes stared forward until he closed them and took a couple deep breaths. "Come on Jack. You're not some wee lad, get your shit together." He took a few more breaths before finally reopening his eyes. "You're alive. You're alive..." He sat for a few moments longer, before finally pressing the button to release his restraints. The bar lifted up, and jack stood up. Only to fall to his knees as he clutched his head, closing his eyes as his vision clouded. "Stood... up to fast..." He remained on the floor, allowing fogginess to clear, before attempting to stand up again. This time, he was fine. "Apparently landing like that causes lightheadedness. Who knew?" His attempt at humor was interrupted by a distant boom, and he could hazard a guess on what it probably was. "I hope I'm wrong... but I get the feeling I'm not." He stood for a moment, unsure, one question on his mind. "What now?" "...Well...I guess I'll need to check my PDA. Maybe it'll tell me what to do." Reaching to his waist, the man removed a tablet looking device. He tapped the power button, waiting for a moment before the screen booted up. Yellow text appeared, reading Booting in emergency mode, appeared, followed by a loading screen showing the Alterra Logo. "Al-ter-ra" A feminine robotic voice sung out as the circular loading bar took a moment to reach 100%. When it did, a menu displaying an outline of his person and several slots appeared, along with several tabs on the top of the screen. The voice called out again, this time sounding slightly less robotic and with a slight accent. This PDA has rebooted with one directive, to keep you alive on an alien world. Please refer to the databank for detailed survival advice. Good luck. "...Well I guess that's helpful." Jack said. Following the PDA's instructions, he switched to the tab labeled Databank. He saw two entries, one labeled Start Here and the other labeled Survival Checklist. He clicked on the former. If you are reading this, then you have survived an emergency evacuation of a capital-class ship equipped with Alterra technology. Congratulations: the hard part is over. Your PDA has automatically rebooted in Emergency Mode. This operating system has one directive: to keep you alive on a hostile alien world. If that is not possible it will alert salvage teams to the location of your remains. It features: - Full monitoring of vital signs for timely survival advice - Blueprints for fabricating a range of essential survival equipment, tailored to your environment - Onboard camera, microphone and OCR technology for short-range situational analysis - Cross-compatibility with all Alterra-compliant products NB Your personal and work files have been encrypted and may be retrieved at a later date by a licensed engineer. A smile came to Jack's face. "Helpful." Exiting, he clicked on the next entry labeled Survival Checklist. 1. Administer first aid if required 2. Take inventory of available materials and supplies, and decide on rations 3. Survey the environment for threats and resources 4. Construct necessary survival equipment using the lifepod's fabricator 5. Check lifepod for damage, and repair as necessary 6. Broadcast local distress signal using lifepod's short-range radio 7. Locate other survivors using line of sight or the radio 8. Find or construct a more permanent habitat 9. Maintain physical and psychological health until rescue NB This information is meant as a general guide. In the first instance you should always follow the advice of your PDA, which has taken your particular circumstances into account. "Well I'm not hurt, so I'll take stock of supplies then." Returning the PDA to his waist, he walked past the ladder in the center of the pod, and stepped over the hatch embedded into the pods floor as he reached the supply locker. Just above it, however, was a large display. On the left, it read: STATUS: OKAY -Secondary Systems: ONLINE -Outgoing radio communication: OFFLINE -Incoming radio communication: ONLINE -Floatation Devices: DEPLOYED -Hull Integrity: OK -Environment: -Uncharted ocean planet 4546B -Oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere -Waterborne bacteria levels: High "Well the pod is all good, so I can cross 5 off the list." Checking the right side of the display, he spotted the pods three separate solar batteries, along with the text above reading MAIN POWER ONLINE. "And the power is working as well." Jack allowed a smile onto his face. For such a rough landing, the pod had held up remarkably well. Returning his focus to the supply locker, he reached down and pulled it open. "Well that's a little underwhelming." Digging through the container, he took note of the small amount of supplies he had. "3 nutrient cubes, 3 bottles of water, 1 protection suit, and 1 flare... PDA? Can you take note of that?" "Noted." The PDA replied. "...Thanks." Taking the protection suit, he removed his utility outfit, and put it on. He stood from the locker, pushing it closed. He lifted his PDA from his waist, again checking the list. "Well I don't have any supplies to construct anything, but I can check for distress signals. With my pod in good condition, I can probably take on other survivors... right?" "Correct. Should other survivors be located, and their own lifepods compromised, it is recommended to bring them to Lifepod 22." "Okay." Crossing to the other side of the life pod, he reached the wall mounted radio. Pressing the large red button, he waited for a moment, until a higher pitched voice came from the device. "This is Aurora. Distress signal received. Rescue operation will be dispatched to your location in 12...14...18... hours. Continue to monitor for emergency transmissions from other lifepods." "...That's not reassuring." He waited for a moment, before pressing the button again. For a moment, seemingly nothing happened. "...well-" "Playing pre-recorded distress call..." Jack scowled before it continued, this time playing a voice he quickly recognized. "This is Officer Keen in Lifepod 19! The captain is gone. I have assumed command. The last thing the captain did was give me co-ordinates for dry land. We regroup one and a half kilometers south-west of the crash site. Stay together, and good luck. This message will now repeat." "Rendezvous co-ordinates received. Adding to heads-up display." In the corner of Jack's vision, a marker appeared. Looking over, he saw the words Aurora Rendezvous Point (Dry Land). What really alarmed him, however, was the distance. It was 2305 meters to his northeast. "Christ... How far did I land away from the Aurora then?" "Calculating..." the PDA spoke up before continuing a moment later, "...Estimates suggests distance is roughly 3.8 kilometers from your current location" "...Not good." Quickly, Jack left the radio and came around the ladder. Quickly, he ascended, reaching the top hatch and pushing it open. Pulling himself up, he stood on top of the lifepod, taking a moment to steady himself before glancing out over his surroundings. "...Shit." Open ocean, stretching for as far as he could see, covered the majority of his vision. The only landmarks, besides his tiny float lifepod, was a distant landmass, and an even more distant Aurora, resting well above the water level. "PDA? Can you give me any details on this planet?" "Yes. The Aurora has suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. It has been deliberately crash-landed in shallow waters by the Late Captain Hollister. Planet-scan data received before the crash indicated that an underwater landmass, likely from a inactive undersea volcano, created a sizable, shallower area." "...And where am I?" Jack slowly asked. "Detecting no sizable landmasses for roughly 2 kilometers in any direction. However, detecting multiple unknown leviathan-class lifeforms within 1km of your current location. It is recommended to find a safer area while waiting for rescue." Jack froze, his eyes widening as a cold bead of sweat rolled down his face. A shiver ran up his back, as a sinking feeling filled his gut. "...fuck." About 250 meters below the surface, the darkened waters lay undisturbed. That is, until, a brilliant flash of cyan light filled the space, followed by a small crack. The light faded as quickly as it appeared, and its place, a large creature now floated. It had a long, scaly body, split into two sections. It had a lighter cyan front half, with a dragon like head, a large membrane resembling a mane, and two finned forelegs ending in hooves. Its other half, a more turquoise color was a lot more simple, resembling a mermaids tail almost, with several membrane fins adorning it. For a moment, all it did was float there. Until one of it's large eyes opened, revealing a set of lightly glowing magenta pupils. It scanned its surroundings for a little while, before it opened its maw filled with sharp teeth, looking as if it were about to release a deafening roar... "Where am I?" It instead spoke with a confused sounding, feminine voice. 2. DriftingJack stood for another moment, staring unblinkingly into the deep blue ocean around him, before taking a seat on Lifepod 22's roof. He pulled his knees closer to him, resting his arms and head on them. For a while, all he did was sit there, his short brown hair gently blowing in the wind. His breathing was unsteady as he took multiple shuddering breaths, trying in vain to calm himself. "...PDA... is it a bad time to mention I'm afraid of the ocean?" he managed to say. He waited quietly for a moment, lifting his head slightly. "Yes. Thalassophobia will prevent your survival in the long term. 4546B is covered in over 99% water, and it can be assumed that the majority of resources crucial to your survival are found beneath the surface." "...Thanks... that was very reassuring." He sighed, putting his back down. The man went quiet again. For about a minute, he sat there, feeling the soft salty breeze and the warm sun above. It was almost peaceful, in a sense, were it not for the void of nothing but water beneath him and God knows what lurking within— "It is recommended to take action soon. Delays will decrease your already slim chances of survival." Jack again raised his head, this time glaring at the device from where it sat on his hip. "You're not helping." "Ignoring important survival tasks is not helping your survival." Jack groaned, standing up and stretching his arms out as he gestured to his surroundings, as futile as it was doing so to an AI with no eyes. "Then what should I do? I could try swimming 2 kilometers, or I can try to construct something with the resources I don't have." He scoffed, crossing his arms. "There's nothing I can do here." "It is not recommended to attempt swimming. However, your assumption 'There's nothing you can do here' is incorrect. Attempting to send out a distress signal is an important step towards rescue. From there, it will be a matter of improvising a solution." "Great. The AI designed to keep me alive is telling me to wing it." The PDA shared no response, so the man sighed. "Guess I'll send out a distress signal." Bending down, he pulled open the roof hatch. Feet first, he descended through the hatch and onto the ladder. From there, he moved over to the radio. Finding the correct button, he pushed it. "Recording Message," the radio voice said. Jack took a deep breath, thinking of what he would say, before speaking. "This is Lifepod 22. It's just me, Jack Fitzgerald, Assistant Electrical Engineer, aboard. Currently, I'm 2 kilometers out from the rendezvous point, stranded with no resources and only a few days' worth of food and water. While rescue would be nice, my PDA has detected several Leviathan-class lifeforms near my pod, so if you try, please come prepared. In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out a way to get out of here. Jack out. "Oh, and please, someone try and stay alive. I don't want to go mad out here alone." "Message recorded. Send out signal?" the device asked. "Yes." Jack affirmed, the radio letting out a small glow in response. He stood for a moment, lost in thought, before sitting down in the lifepod's chair. He sat, pondering, before speaking again. "PDA, do you have any ideas?" "Improvise." Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anything else?" "No other solutions present themselves at this moment." "...Great." Jack facepalmed. 30 minutes later... Jack breathed heavily as he held onto the ladder. For the last 20 minutes, he had hung off the side of the pod, scooping water with his hands in an attempt to paddle the lifepod toward the rendezvous point, but now, he was taking a breather, resting his sore arm. "Congratulations. You have made a total distance of 8 meters. Note: Currents may affect progress in varying degrees." Jack groaned, climbing back up the ladder toward the top of the pod. Halfway up, however, one of the rungs snapped loose, nearly causing the man to topple back into the sea if he hadn't grabbed another. "Son of a..." As he looked at the separated bar he held in his hand, a thought came to his mind. "PDA? What's this rung made of?" "It is comprised of 80% titanium and 20% iron. Note: It is not recommended to remove all the rungs from your lifepod." "I've got an idea." Jack smiled, climbing to the top and back into the pod. 1 hour later... "This was genius." Jack had a broad smile on his face as he looked at his creations. A survival knife, made from ladder rungs and torn rubber from the seats, was now held in his hand. Inspecting it yielded no visible imperfections despite being constructed from scrap. Attaching it to his waist, he moved on to the two other things. The first was a simple prybar. Created from the first rung that had broken off, this tool had helped him get the rest of the rungs off one side of the pod. It was crudely made, as there was no preinstalled blueprint, and the one who had made it had about half a year of coding and design under his belt. Moving on to the second item, it was the one he was more proud of. A large paddle, created from the majority of the rungs, sat fresh off the fabricator. While this design was just as rough as the prybar, the tool itself was simple enough not to warrant any huge defects. However, he had added a small mechanism that would certainly come in handy. Jack grinned widely as he removed the item from his fabricator, holding it with two hands as he inspected it, before placing it on his back where it attached to the hooks waiting for it. The man took a moment to place the prybar on his hip as well, before stepping back to look up at the hatch. "Well, PDA. It turns out you were right," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "This unit is right 99.95% of the time, with a 0.05% margin of error. Note: Your creations are not licensed by the Alterra corporation and cannot be used as evidence in any legal action taken against Alterra." Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his PDA, before shaking his head. "With this paddle, I will get to the rendezvous point, meet up with any survivors, and start looking for a way off this planet." Grabbing onto the ladder, he hoisted himself through the hatch and onto the roof. Standing, he saw how far the planet's sun had progressed across the sky, already past noon. "Guess the days are quicker here. PDA?" "Planetary data supports your hypothesis. Days on this planet are estimated to be 15-16 hours long." "Cool, thanks." Continuing his task, he removed the paddle from his back and took a seat on the front edge of the pod, just above the number 22. Inspecting the shaft of his tool, he turned it until a small metal pin embedded in the handle faced him. Pushing the pin in, he pulled on the end of the shaft, lengthening it to be about 3 meters long. Then, he spun the paddle end toward the water and dipped it in. Making sure his grip was true, he began rowing the pod, occasionally switching sides to keep the direction straight. Already, he could see the distance between him and the rendezvous point shrinking ever so slightly, meter by meter. "Well... this is tedious... but hopefully... I'll be there soon..." he said, pausing between each string of words to take a breath as he kept rowing, hopeful he was traveling toward fellow survivors and safer waters. Elsewhere... "I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this!" the large creature said repeatedly as she rapidly swam toward the surface. Shortly after appearing and waking up in her old body, she'd decided to take a swim around, remember what it was like to not be human, and explore for a bit. And for a while, it'd been nice. Well, except for the whole no-bottom-in-sight ocean she was in. Seriously, she was used to lakes and maybe the occasional sea, but she mainly stayed near the coast. As to why she stayed next to the coast, it was mainly because of her fear of deep water, but also so she could use her magic on sailors and others that approached. Speaking of her magic... It seemed there, more so than after she'd been defeated by the Rainbooms, but yet not as much as when she was previously in her true form. For one, she couldn't fly at all; she'd tried earlier to leave the water and it didn't work. And two, she couldn't use her singing abilities at all. Every time she'd tried so far, either the creature swam away or it got seriously angry. Which was how she'd ended up in her current situation. The creature she'd seen... it glowed eerie blue while its body was transparent. It was ginormous, easily triple her length. While it seemed to keep its distance at first, it got angrier when she'd approached. And when she'd tried to sing to dissuade it, it got even more mad. And that's how she'd ended up here. Chancing a look behind her, she noticed how it had slowed and stopped pursuing into shallower waters, instead opting to keep its distance, occasionally facing toward her. She allowed herself to slow, only coming to a full stop when she was just a couple feet from the surface. While she couldn't fly away, it was much more comforting than being all the way down there. The creature circled a few more times before it finally swam back down and disappeared into the depths below. She let out a breath, making sure to keep her gaze on the abyss below for another minute before finally being confident enough to look elsewhere. It appeared she was still in open ocean, and there wasn't anything resembling land or even underwater land for miles. "Okay, Sonata, think. What would your sisters tell you to do?" She closed her eyes and rubbed her head for a moment with her hooves, deep in thought, before she again opened them and clapped her hooves together. "I know! They'd tell me to go to the surface to look. Good thinking, me!" Swimming the short distance to the surface, she slowly poked her head out of the water, instantly being met with the warm air and sun above. "It's pretty warm out... It was nearing fall last I checked when I was still human..." She began to scan her surroundings, twisting her flexible neck and body to view every direction like a lighthouse. At first, there was nothing but more ocean, and ocean, and even more ocean, until... "...nope, still more ocean—wait!" She spotted something. A small dot of gray and luminescent blue on the horizon. And it appeared to be moving, albeit very slowly. "Must be some kind of weird ship... maybe they can give me some directions!" Her stomach rumbled after a moment, and a small blush appeared on her face. "And maybe some food as well." She finished. Turning her body to face the strange ship, she again dunked her head underneath the water and began to swim. "Land and hopefully food here I come!" she cheered. Back to Jack, 2 hours after starting to paddle... Jack was gassed. The paddle, due to its long length, made it very difficult to retain his already low stamina as he continued to pull it through the water. His arms now ached considerably, and he could feel a small bit of hunger within him. A long while had passed, and in that time he'd made some distance... ...of a little over 400 meters, now putting him about 1.5 kilometers from the rendezvous point. Jack let out a small sigh. "Christ... It's going to take a while to get there... and I don't know if my arms will make it..." He pulled the paddle out of the water, pushing on the second metal pin to fold it down. He decided it was time to take a break, maybe grab some food and water, and continue later. Setting the paddle beside him, he laid back, resting his head on the pod's top hatch. He stared at the sky, which was beginning to adopt an orange tint as the sun drifted closer to the horizon. Besides the ever-present slight breeze, there wasn't much in the way of surroundings, except for those clouds— Sitting up, the man looked toward the clouds, off on the horizon to his southwest, noting their slightly dark appearance. "Probably a storm then... not good." He quickly grabbed the paddle, getting ready to re-extend it. "I need to hurry. Don't want to—" His thoughts were interrupted as a shadow, a large shadow passed beneath his pod, followed by something bumping it, jostling the lifepod and nearly making Jack slip from where he was seated. Hastily, he stood to his feet, his eyes wide as he scanned the water for whatever passed him. "PDA? What the hell was that?" he breathed out. "Scanning..." Everything seemed quiet as Jack waited. "A single leviathan-class lifeform is in your immediate area. Please seek shelter in your lifepod's interior until further notice." Jack's eyes shot open even wider than before. Quickly, he turned around, reaching down to open the hatch... ...if it weren't for the pod being bumped again, this time causing the panicked man to lose balance and topple over, plunging into the deep waters below... Author's Note In my sorta headcannon, I believe ghost leviathans feed predominantly on micro organisms and maybe the occasional larger creature, so in turn, it would not directly hunt larger prey, and instead defend itself and it's territory. 3. SoakedThe cool waters quickly enveloped Jack as he crashed through the surface. Quickly, like a large hand had gripped him and pulled, he began sinking deeper into the ocean, face up with his back to the abyss below. He stared in horror as he watched the bottom of his lifepod drift further and further, knocked away by whatever creature had hit it. "The creature!" Quickly, Jack thrashed about through the water, kicking his legs and grabbing handfuls of water as he attempted to escape the void beneath him. The monster must've not seen him, as he continued to claw his way to the surface, for he would have surely been killed by now. Finally, his head burst through the water. He coughed roughly, spewing the water that had found its way into his nose and lungs. His nose burned in pain, and his already sore arms cried even more in protest as he treaded in the water. He took in gasping breaths, partly from panic and partly from nearly drowning, as he scanned for Lifepod 22, his salvation. There! About 20 meters away, it floated, spinning in the water slightly. It looked undamaged, and was still floating perfectly. "Shit. Bastard knocked it far! I won't make it!" A wave of dread crossed the man, but he tried to calm himself as he took a moment to catch his breath. The moment was quickly shattered by something, something big breaking through the surface of the water behind him, splashing water down his back and further soaking him. Spurred on by the perceived danger, he began swimming hard toward the pod, barely giving himself time to take a breath or even see where he was going through the splashes of his arms meeting the water. "I won't become some monster's dinner! The hell I will!" Determined, the man sped through the water. Behind him, he heard a couple of odd noises before there was a gasp and a loud splash. Chancing a look behind him, he saw disturbed waters, but nothing else. That is, until he noticed the shadow rapidly approaching him. It was about 40 meters away, but that gap was quickly closing as whatever monster it was came closer and closer. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" The pod was just about 10 meters away now, but still too far. "This is it!" Another glance behind him revealed the shadow had closed the distance; it was right by him. "Fuck!" Quickly, Jack spun around to face the creature, reaching around his waist for his knife, the only chance he had. "Where the fuck is-" Something burst through the waves before him, and in mere moments, he was grabbed by something. He flopped onto his belly as he was hoisted from the waters, lifted into the air by whatever creature it was. Lifting his dangling head confirmed what held him. Some kind of scaly cyan creature, almost looking like a dragon, held his torso in its toothy maw. "FUCK! SHIT!" His mind screamed as he tried to push out of the creature's jaws. It was futile, however, as he made no movement, still held tightly within the creature's sharp teeth. Surprisingly, he wasn't dead yet. It gave him no hope, however. "Bastard's going to drown me first!" Trying to find an escape, he looked down towards the ocean and then his waist. "Knife!" Hastily, he gripped a handle at his waist, pulling it from his hip into his right hand. "Prybar? Shit!" He'd make do. Quickly, he swung at a tooth. The action had its desired effect, as the creature shrieked in pain and released him from its grasp. It, however, dropped him what felt like 2 stories into the water below. He had only a moment to hold his breath before he crashed through the surface again, this time face down towards the depths. His prybar had left his hand sometime during the fall, resulting in him watching it sink deeper into the ocean, no chance of ever being retrieved. "Shit! Get to swimming!" Turning around, he attempted to find the lifepod's bottom, only to see two bright, purple slitted eyes and a scaly head again boring down on him. He let out a yell in the form of air bubbles as he was again gripped in the creature's maw. Instead of being dragged deeper into the ocean, however, he was lifted again to the surface. He took another few gasping breaths and looked towards the creature. This time, being face up, he could meet its large, glowing, slitted eyes, as they stared down at him. "Let me go!" He yelled uselessly, finding it hard to muster any strength in his arms to mount a resistance. He was exhausted, every last bit of energy he had having been expended trying to escape. His waist, where his knife was holstered, was impossible to reach, hidden between the massive jaws of the creature. "This is it. I'm dead." He was hopeless. The creature had him now, his strength had left him, and there wasn't a way out. He could only let his eyes screw shut in grim acceptance, the last act he could do before he'd meet a cruel end, crushed and torn apart by the jaws of some alien monster... Only nothing happened as he felt himself continue to be hoisted through the air, and heard the continued splashes down below. What is- He began to ask himself before he felt himself being lowered. He managed to open his eyes, looking at the creature, and then toward the ocean below as he descended toward- "Is that the lifepod?" Strangely gentle, the creature placed him on top of the lifepod, releasing him from its mouth right after. Jack laid flat on his back for a moment, frozen in shock, as he stared up at the creature above him, who returned his gaze with its own seemingly concerned one. "What..." He managed out before being interrupted by, of all things, the creature. "Hey there, tiny human! Are you okay?" It said in a feminine voice. "It looked like you were drowning after I accidentally knocked you off your boat thingy. Sorry about that..." The creature chuckled nervously, looking away as it tapped its two forelegs together... two forelegs that ended in hooves. "I swear I didn't mean to make you fall. I thought I saw another one of those scary things below, and... I got a little spooked..." it gave Jack a nervous grin, giving the man a good view of its massive teeth. But what had the man's attention was that it just spoke, in perfect English, sounding like a teenage girl, to him. Not only that, but it apologized to him. And was apparently trying to help him, and he'd... "oh. oh shit." He was currently rendered speechless, by a combination of his exhaustion from what he thought was a fight to save his life, and the absurdity of the situation. And so the electrician just sat there, gaping up at the creature looming above in now awkward silence, with only one thought on his mind. "What the fuck?" Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to get something out, and decided that making a shorter chapter my favorite cliffhanger ending was good enough. Thank you for the support and comments. I love reading them, and feedback and ideas are always welcome. And maybe I'll get around to proof reading these.
1. PlanetfallAuthor's Note I wrote this while listening to several Titanic sinking analysis videos, so I apologize for any mistakes that might've made it in. Just a guide on how I'm writing this: "Hello" - Normal Dialogue "Hello" - Characters thought "Hello" - Robotic Voice / Telepathic Voice Hello - Writing Also, I did some math and I estimate the Sirens are about 56 feet or about 17.1 meters long, with their head alone being about 6 feet tall. Spooky. 1. Planetfall "Attention. Hull failure imminent. All personnel abandon ship." A feminine voice bellowed out. Red lights flashed and Alarms blared as Jack sprinted down the hallway towards the Lifepod bay. Rounding a corner, he sprinted through an open door as he finally reached his salvation. Breathing heavily, he rapidly scanned the bay for a pod, noting that the majority were gone. "Hopefully others made it." He thought to himself as his eyes locked on the green lights above the hatch where Lifepod 22 was still connected. Dashing over, he quickly opened the hatch and jumped into the pod, ignoring the ladder and landing roughly on the metal floor. He quickly jumped to his feet and slid into one of the chairs. He raised a hand over the touch screen attached to the armrest, only hesitating for a moment before hitting the button. "I can't wait. Not enough time." "Launch in 3... 2... 1..." A different feminine voice spoke, as the seats restraining bar came down. The sound of the pods deployment thrusters powering up followed by a burst as it was separated from the ship rung out. The pod rattled for a moment, before mostly stabilizing. Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Holy shit..." He said, his speech tinted with a slight Scottish accent. He looked up through the hatch, at the rapidly shrinking Aurora. As the seconds passed, Jack could take note of several details, the orange glow of several fires along the bow, the debris detaching from the ship, and even a couple flashes of light he hoped were launches of other Lifepods. A little hope filled the man. "If all 25 pods are launched, there's a good chance I can meet up with other survivors planetside. Hopefully one of the officers-" His thoughts were interrupted as a bright green beam erupted past the pods window, striking the Aurora's port side near the engines and releasing a violent explosion. He stared in shock for moments before the roar of the pod making planetfall captured his attention. The pod began to shake more and more as flames from atmospheric entry illuminated the pod from the hatch. "Ah shit." Jack hissed through clenched teeth as he gripped tightly to the arm rests, closing his eyes as the deafening roar only got louder and louder. He felt the pod falling through the sky now, he himself rising from his seat as if gravity wasn't affecting him, the restraining bar the only thing keeping him from floating around the interior. He tried to brace himself for the inevitable rough landing. The seconds dragged on until... The airbrakes and landing thrusters kicked on, roaring as the pod shuddered. Jack felt as if gravity shifted, now being forced into his seat. More and more the pod slowed until it slammed into something. Jack again was flung back up in his seat as he caught a glimpse what he though was water rush over the pod's top hatch. "Sea Landing Detected. Deploying Floatation Devices." Said the same feminine voice. A few seconds later, the a bursting noise followed by Jack again being pressed into his seat occurred. Finally, after a moment, he watched as the water gave way to blue sky as his pod reached the surface. The pod moved around for a couple moments before finally settling to be mostly still. Jack breathed heavily, still tightly clutching his arm rests. His wide eyes stared forward until he closed them and took a couple deep breaths. "Come on Jack. You're not some wee lad, get your shit together." He took a few more breaths before finally reopening his eyes. "You're alive. You're alive..." He sat for a few moments longer, before finally pressing the button to release his restraints. The bar lifted up, and jack stood up. Only to fall to his knees as he clutched his head, closing his eyes as his vision clouded. "Stood... up to fast..." He remained on the floor, allowing fogginess to clear, before attempting to stand up again. This time, he was fine. "Apparently landing like that causes lightheadedness. Who knew?" His attempt at humor was interrupted by a distant boom, and he could hazard a guess on what it probably was. "I hope I'm wrong... but I get the feeling I'm not." He stood for a moment, unsure, one question on his mind. "What now?" "...Well...I guess I'll need to check my PDA. Maybe it'll tell me what to do." Reaching to his waist, the man removed a tablet looking device. He tapped the power button, waiting for a moment before the screen booted up. Yellow text appeared, reading Booting in emergency mode, appeared, followed by a loading screen showing the Alterra Logo. "Al-ter-ra" A feminine robotic voice sung out as the circular loading bar took a moment to reach 100%. When it did, a menu displaying an outline of his person and several slots appeared, along with several tabs on the top of the screen. The voice called out again, this time sounding slightly less robotic and with a slight accent. This PDA has rebooted with one directive, to keep you alive on an alien world. Please refer to the databank for detailed survival advice. Good luck. "...Well I guess that's helpful." Jack said. Following the PDA's instructions, he switched to the tab labeled Databank. He saw two entries, one labeled Start Here and the other labeled Survival Checklist. He clicked on the former. If you are reading this, then you have survived an emergency evacuation of a capital-class ship equipped with Alterra technology. Congratulations: the hard part is over. Your PDA has automatically rebooted in Emergency Mode. This operating system has one directive: to keep you alive on a hostile alien world. If that is not possible it will alert salvage teams to the location of your remains. It features: - Full monitoring of vital signs for timely survival advice - Blueprints for fabricating a range of essential survival equipment, tailored to your environment - Onboard camera, microphone and OCR technology for short-range situational analysis - Cross-compatibility with all Alterra-compliant products NB Your personal and work files have been encrypted and may be retrieved at a later date by a licensed engineer. A smile came to Jack's face. "Helpful." Exiting, he clicked on the next entry labeled Survival Checklist. 1. Administer first aid if required 2. Take inventory of available materials and supplies, and decide on rations 3. Survey the environment for threats and resources 4. Construct necessary survival equipment using the lifepod's fabricator 5. Check lifepod for damage, and repair as necessary 6. Broadcast local distress signal using lifepod's short-range radio 7. Locate other survivors using line of sight or the radio 8. Find or construct a more permanent habitat 9. Maintain physical and psychological health until rescue NB This information is meant as a general guide. In the first instance you should always follow the advice of your PDA, which has taken your particular circumstances into account. "Well I'm not hurt, so I'll take stock of supplies then." Returning the PDA to his waist, he walked past the ladder in the center of the pod, and stepped over the hatch embedded into the pods floor as he reached the supply locker. Just above it, however, was a large display. On the left, it read: STATUS: OKAY -Secondary Systems: ONLINE -Outgoing radio communication: OFFLINE -Incoming radio communication: ONLINE -Floatation Devices: DEPLOYED -Hull Integrity: OK -Environment: -Uncharted ocean planet 4546B -Oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere -Waterborne bacteria levels: High "Well the pod is all good, so I can cross 5 off the list." Checking the right side of the display, he spotted the pods three separate solar batteries, along with the text above reading MAIN POWER ONLINE. "And the power is working as well." Jack allowed a smile onto his face. For such a rough landing, the pod had held up remarkably well. Returning his focus to the supply locker, he reached down and pulled it open. "Well that's a little underwhelming." Digging through the container, he took note of the small amount of supplies he had. "3 nutrient cubes, 3 bottles of water, 1 protection suit, and 1 flare... PDA? Can you take note of that?" "Noted." The PDA replied. "...Thanks." Taking the protection suit, he removed his utility outfit, and put it on. He stood from the locker, pushing it closed. He lifted his PDA from his waist, again checking the list. "Well I don't have any supplies to construct anything, but I can check for distress signals. With my pod in good condition, I can probably take on other survivors... right?" "Correct. Should other survivors be located, and their own lifepods compromised, it is recommended to bring them to Lifepod 22." "Okay." Crossing to the other side of the life pod, he reached the wall mounted radio. Pressing the large red button, he waited for a moment, until a higher pitched voice came from the device. "This is Aurora. Distress signal received. Rescue operation will be dispatched to your location in 12...14...18... hours. Continue to monitor for emergency transmissions from other lifepods." "...That's not reassuring." He waited for a moment, before pressing the button again. For a moment, seemingly nothing happened. "...well-" "Playing pre-recorded distress call..." Jack scowled before it continued, this time playing a voice he quickly recognized. "This is Officer Keen in Lifepod 19! The captain is gone. I have assumed command. The last thing the captain did was give me co-ordinates for dry land. We regroup one and a half kilometers south-west of the crash site. Stay together, and good luck. This message will now repeat." "Rendezvous co-ordinates received. Adding to heads-up display." In the corner of Jack's vision, a marker appeared. Looking over, he saw the words Aurora Rendezvous Point (Dry Land). What really alarmed him, however, was the distance. It was 2305 meters to his northeast. "Christ... How far did I land away from the Aurora then?" "Calculating..." the PDA spoke up before continuing a moment later, "...Estimates suggests distance is roughly 3.8 kilometers from your current location" "...Not good." Quickly, Jack left the radio and came around the ladder. Quickly, he ascended, reaching the top hatch and pushing it open. Pulling himself up, he stood on top of the lifepod, taking a moment to steady himself before glancing out over his surroundings. "...Shit." Open ocean, stretching for as far as he could see, covered the majority of his vision. The only landmarks, besides his tiny float lifepod, was a distant landmass, and an even more distant Aurora, resting well above the water level. "PDA? Can you give me any details on this planet?" "Yes. The Aurora has suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. It has been deliberately crash-landed in shallow waters by the Late Captain Hollister. Planet-scan data received before the crash indicated that an underwater landmass, likely from a inactive undersea volcano, created a sizable, shallower area." "...And where am I?" Jack slowly asked. "Detecting no sizable landmasses for roughly 2 kilometers in any direction. However, detecting multiple unknown leviathan-class lifeforms within 1km of your current location. It is recommended to find a safer area while waiting for rescue." Jack froze, his eyes widening as a cold bead of sweat rolled down his face. A shiver ran up his back, as a sinking feeling filled his gut. "...fuck." About 250 meters below the surface, the darkened waters lay undisturbed. That is, until, a brilliant flash of cyan light filled the space, followed by a small crack. The light faded as quickly as it appeared, and its place, a large creature now floated. It had a long, scaly body, split into two sections. It had a lighter cyan front half, with a dragon like head, a large membrane resembling a mane, and two finned forelegs ending in hooves. Its other half, a more turquoise color was a lot more simple, resembling a mermaids tail almost, with several membrane fins adorning it. For a moment, all it did was float there. Until one of it's large eyes opened, revealing a set of lightly glowing magenta pupils. It scanned its surroundings for a little while, before it opened its maw filled with sharp teeth, looking as if it were about to release a deafening roar... "Where am I?" It instead spoke with a confused sounding, feminine voice.
2. DriftingJack stood for another moment, staring unblinkingly into the deep blue ocean around him, before taking a seat on Lifepod 22's roof. He pulled his knees closer to him, resting his arms and head on them. For a while, all he did was sit there, his short brown hair gently blowing in the wind. His breathing was unsteady as he took multiple shuddering breaths, trying in vain to calm himself. "...PDA... is it a bad time to mention I'm afraid of the ocean?" he managed to say. He waited quietly for a moment, lifting his head slightly. "Yes. Thalassophobia will prevent your survival in the long term. 4546B is covered in over 99% water, and it can be assumed that the majority of resources crucial to your survival are found beneath the surface." "...Thanks... that was very reassuring." He sighed, putting his back down. The man went quiet again. For about a minute, he sat there, feeling the soft salty breeze and the warm sun above. It was almost peaceful, in a sense, were it not for the void of nothing but water beneath him and God knows what lurking within— "It is recommended to take action soon. Delays will decrease your already slim chances of survival." Jack again raised his head, this time glaring at the device from where it sat on his hip. "You're not helping." "Ignoring important survival tasks is not helping your survival." Jack groaned, standing up and stretching his arms out as he gestured to his surroundings, as futile as it was doing so to an AI with no eyes. "Then what should I do? I could try swimming 2 kilometers, or I can try to construct something with the resources I don't have." He scoffed, crossing his arms. "There's nothing I can do here." "It is not recommended to attempt swimming. However, your assumption 'There's nothing you can do here' is incorrect. Attempting to send out a distress signal is an important step towards rescue. From there, it will be a matter of improvising a solution." "Great. The AI designed to keep me alive is telling me to wing it." The PDA shared no response, so the man sighed. "Guess I'll send out a distress signal." Bending down, he pulled open the roof hatch. Feet first, he descended through the hatch and onto the ladder. From there, he moved over to the radio. Finding the correct button, he pushed it. "Recording Message," the radio voice said. Jack took a deep breath, thinking of what he would say, before speaking. "This is Lifepod 22. It's just me, Jack Fitzgerald, Assistant Electrical Engineer, aboard. Currently, I'm 2 kilometers out from the rendezvous point, stranded with no resources and only a few days' worth of food and water. While rescue would be nice, my PDA has detected several Leviathan-class lifeforms near my pod, so if you try, please come prepared. In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out a way to get out of here. Jack out. "Oh, and please, someone try and stay alive. I don't want to go mad out here alone." "Message recorded. Send out signal?" the device asked. "Yes." Jack affirmed, the radio letting out a small glow in response. He stood for a moment, lost in thought, before sitting down in the lifepod's chair. He sat, pondering, before speaking again. "PDA, do you have any ideas?" "Improvise." Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anything else?" "No other solutions present themselves at this moment." "...Great." Jack facepalmed. 30 minutes later... Jack breathed heavily as he held onto the ladder. For the last 20 minutes, he had hung off the side of the pod, scooping water with his hands in an attempt to paddle the lifepod toward the rendezvous point, but now, he was taking a breather, resting his sore arm. "Congratulations. You have made a total distance of 8 meters. Note: Currents may affect progress in varying degrees." Jack groaned, climbing back up the ladder toward the top of the pod. Halfway up, however, one of the rungs snapped loose, nearly causing the man to topple back into the sea if he hadn't grabbed another. "Son of a..." As he looked at the separated bar he held in his hand, a thought came to his mind. "PDA? What's this rung made of?" "It is comprised of 80% titanium and 20% iron. Note: It is not recommended to remove all the rungs from your lifepod." "I've got an idea." Jack smiled, climbing to the top and back into the pod. 1 hour later... "This was genius." Jack had a broad smile on his face as he looked at his creations. A survival knife, made from ladder rungs and torn rubber from the seats, was now held in his hand. Inspecting it yielded no visible imperfections despite being constructed from scrap. Attaching it to his waist, he moved on to the two other things. The first was a simple prybar. Created from the first rung that had broken off, this tool had helped him get the rest of the rungs off one side of the pod. It was crudely made, as there was no preinstalled blueprint, and the one who had made it had about half a year of coding and design under his belt. Moving on to the second item, it was the one he was more proud of. A large paddle, created from the majority of the rungs, sat fresh off the fabricator. While this design was just as rough as the prybar, the tool itself was simple enough not to warrant any huge defects. However, he had added a small mechanism that would certainly come in handy. Jack grinned widely as he removed the item from his fabricator, holding it with two hands as he inspected it, before placing it on his back where it attached to the hooks waiting for it. The man took a moment to place the prybar on his hip as well, before stepping back to look up at the hatch. "Well, PDA. It turns out you were right," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "This unit is right 99.95% of the time, with a 0.05% margin of error. Note: Your creations are not licensed by the Alterra corporation and cannot be used as evidence in any legal action taken against Alterra." Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his PDA, before shaking his head. "With this paddle, I will get to the rendezvous point, meet up with any survivors, and start looking for a way off this planet." Grabbing onto the ladder, he hoisted himself through the hatch and onto the roof. Standing, he saw how far the planet's sun had progressed across the sky, already past noon. "Guess the days are quicker here. PDA?" "Planetary data supports your hypothesis. Days on this planet are estimated to be 15-16 hours long." "Cool, thanks." Continuing his task, he removed the paddle from his back and took a seat on the front edge of the pod, just above the number 22. Inspecting the shaft of his tool, he turned it until a small metal pin embedded in the handle faced him. Pushing the pin in, he pulled on the end of the shaft, lengthening it to be about 3 meters long. Then, he spun the paddle end toward the water and dipped it in. Making sure his grip was true, he began rowing the pod, occasionally switching sides to keep the direction straight. Already, he could see the distance between him and the rendezvous point shrinking ever so slightly, meter by meter. "Well... this is tedious... but hopefully... I'll be there soon..." he said, pausing between each string of words to take a breath as he kept rowing, hopeful he was traveling toward fellow survivors and safer waters. Elsewhere... "I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this!" the large creature said repeatedly as she rapidly swam toward the surface. Shortly after appearing and waking up in her old body, she'd decided to take a swim around, remember what it was like to not be human, and explore for a bit. And for a while, it'd been nice. Well, except for the whole no-bottom-in-sight ocean she was in. Seriously, she was used to lakes and maybe the occasional sea, but she mainly stayed near the coast. As to why she stayed next to the coast, it was mainly because of her fear of deep water, but also so she could use her magic on sailors and others that approached. Speaking of her magic... It seemed there, more so than after she'd been defeated by the Rainbooms, but yet not as much as when she was previously in her true form. For one, she couldn't fly at all; she'd tried earlier to leave the water and it didn't work. And two, she couldn't use her singing abilities at all. Every time she'd tried so far, either the creature swam away or it got seriously angry. Which was how she'd ended up in her current situation. The creature she'd seen... it glowed eerie blue while its body was transparent. It was ginormous, easily triple her length. While it seemed to keep its distance at first, it got angrier when she'd approached. And when she'd tried to sing to dissuade it, it got even more mad. And that's how she'd ended up here. Chancing a look behind her, she noticed how it had slowed and stopped pursuing into shallower waters, instead opting to keep its distance, occasionally facing toward her. She allowed herself to slow, only coming to a full stop when she was just a couple feet from the surface. While she couldn't fly away, it was much more comforting than being all the way down there. The creature circled a few more times before it finally swam back down and disappeared into the depths below. She let out a breath, making sure to keep her gaze on the abyss below for another minute before finally being confident enough to look elsewhere. It appeared she was still in open ocean, and there wasn't anything resembling land or even underwater land for miles. "Okay, Sonata, think. What would your sisters tell you to do?" She closed her eyes and rubbed her head for a moment with her hooves, deep in thought, before she again opened them and clapped her hooves together. "I know! They'd tell me to go to the surface to look. Good thinking, me!" Swimming the short distance to the surface, she slowly poked her head out of the water, instantly being met with the warm air and sun above. "It's pretty warm out... It was nearing fall last I checked when I was still human..." She began to scan her surroundings, twisting her flexible neck and body to view every direction like a lighthouse. At first, there was nothing but more ocean, and ocean, and even more ocean, until... "...nope, still more ocean—wait!" She spotted something. A small dot of gray and luminescent blue on the horizon. And it appeared to be moving, albeit very slowly. "Must be some kind of weird ship... maybe they can give me some directions!" Her stomach rumbled after a moment, and a small blush appeared on her face. "And maybe some food as well." She finished. Turning her body to face the strange ship, she again dunked her head underneath the water and began to swim. "Land and hopefully food here I come!" she cheered. Back to Jack, 2 hours after starting to paddle... Jack was gassed. The paddle, due to its long length, made it very difficult to retain his already low stamina as he continued to pull it through the water. His arms now ached considerably, and he could feel a small bit of hunger within him. A long while had passed, and in that time he'd made some distance... ...of a little over 400 meters, now putting him about 1.5 kilometers from the rendezvous point. Jack let out a small sigh. "Christ... It's going to take a while to get there... and I don't know if my arms will make it..." He pulled the paddle out of the water, pushing on the second metal pin to fold it down. He decided it was time to take a break, maybe grab some food and water, and continue later. Setting the paddle beside him, he laid back, resting his head on the pod's top hatch. He stared at the sky, which was beginning to adopt an orange tint as the sun drifted closer to the horizon. Besides the ever-present slight breeze, there wasn't much in the way of surroundings, except for those clouds— Sitting up, the man looked toward the clouds, off on the horizon to his southwest, noting their slightly dark appearance. "Probably a storm then... not good." He quickly grabbed the paddle, getting ready to re-extend it. "I need to hurry. Don't want to—" His thoughts were interrupted as a shadow, a large shadow passed beneath his pod, followed by something bumping it, jostling the lifepod and nearly making Jack slip from where he was seated. Hastily, he stood to his feet, his eyes wide as he scanned the water for whatever passed him. "PDA? What the hell was that?" he breathed out. "Scanning..." Everything seemed quiet as Jack waited. "A single leviathan-class lifeform is in your immediate area. Please seek shelter in your lifepod's interior until further notice." Jack's eyes shot open even wider than before. Quickly, he turned around, reaching down to open the hatch... ...if it weren't for the pod being bumped again, this time causing the panicked man to lose balance and topple over, plunging into the deep waters below... Author's Note In my sorta headcannon, I believe ghost leviathans feed predominantly on micro organisms and maybe the occasional larger creature, so in turn, it would not directly hunt larger prey, and instead defend itself and it's territory.
3. SoakedThe cool waters quickly enveloped Jack as he crashed through the surface. Quickly, like a large hand had gripped him and pulled, he began sinking deeper into the ocean, face up with his back to the abyss below. He stared in horror as he watched the bottom of his lifepod drift further and further, knocked away by whatever creature had hit it. "The creature!" Quickly, Jack thrashed about through the water, kicking his legs and grabbing handfuls of water as he attempted to escape the void beneath him. The monster must've not seen him, as he continued to claw his way to the surface, for he would have surely been killed by now. Finally, his head burst through the water. He coughed roughly, spewing the water that had found its way into his nose and lungs. His nose burned in pain, and his already sore arms cried even more in protest as he treaded in the water. He took in gasping breaths, partly from panic and partly from nearly drowning, as he scanned for Lifepod 22, his salvation. There! About 20 meters away, it floated, spinning in the water slightly. It looked undamaged, and was still floating perfectly. "Shit. Bastard knocked it far! I won't make it!" A wave of dread crossed the man, but he tried to calm himself as he took a moment to catch his breath. The moment was quickly shattered by something, something big breaking through the surface of the water behind him, splashing water down his back and further soaking him. Spurred on by the perceived danger, he began swimming hard toward the pod, barely giving himself time to take a breath or even see where he was going through the splashes of his arms meeting the water. "I won't become some monster's dinner! The hell I will!" Determined, the man sped through the water. Behind him, he heard a couple of odd noises before there was a gasp and a loud splash. Chancing a look behind him, he saw disturbed waters, but nothing else. That is, until he noticed the shadow rapidly approaching him. It was about 40 meters away, but that gap was quickly closing as whatever monster it was came closer and closer. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" The pod was just about 10 meters away now, but still too far. "This is it!" Another glance behind him revealed the shadow had closed the distance; it was right by him. "Fuck!" Quickly, Jack spun around to face the creature, reaching around his waist for his knife, the only chance he had. "Where the fuck is-" Something burst through the waves before him, and in mere moments, he was grabbed by something. He flopped onto his belly as he was hoisted from the waters, lifted into the air by whatever creature it was. Lifting his dangling head confirmed what held him. Some kind of scaly cyan creature, almost looking like a dragon, held his torso in its toothy maw. "FUCK! SHIT!" His mind screamed as he tried to push out of the creature's jaws. It was futile, however, as he made no movement, still held tightly within the creature's sharp teeth. Surprisingly, he wasn't dead yet. It gave him no hope, however. "Bastard's going to drown me first!" Trying to find an escape, he looked down towards the ocean and then his waist. "Knife!" Hastily, he gripped a handle at his waist, pulling it from his hip into his right hand. "Prybar? Shit!" He'd make do. Quickly, he swung at a tooth. The action had its desired effect, as the creature shrieked in pain and released him from its grasp. It, however, dropped him what felt like 2 stories into the water below. He had only a moment to hold his breath before he crashed through the surface again, this time face down towards the depths. His prybar had left his hand sometime during the fall, resulting in him watching it sink deeper into the ocean, no chance of ever being retrieved. "Shit! Get to swimming!" Turning around, he attempted to find the lifepod's bottom, only to see two bright, purple slitted eyes and a scaly head again boring down on him. He let out a yell in the form of air bubbles as he was again gripped in the creature's maw. Instead of being dragged deeper into the ocean, however, he was lifted again to the surface. He took another few gasping breaths and looked towards the creature. This time, being face up, he could meet its large, glowing, slitted eyes, as they stared down at him. "Let me go!" He yelled uselessly, finding it hard to muster any strength in his arms to mount a resistance. He was exhausted, every last bit of energy he had having been expended trying to escape. His waist, where his knife was holstered, was impossible to reach, hidden between the massive jaws of the creature. "This is it. I'm dead." He was hopeless. The creature had him now, his strength had left him, and there wasn't a way out. He could only let his eyes screw shut in grim acceptance, the last act he could do before he'd meet a cruel end, crushed and torn apart by the jaws of some alien monster... Only nothing happened as he felt himself continue to be hoisted through the air, and heard the continued splashes down below. What is- He began to ask himself before he felt himself being lowered. He managed to open his eyes, looking at the creature, and then toward the ocean below as he descended toward- "Is that the lifepod?" Strangely gentle, the creature placed him on top of the lifepod, releasing him from its mouth right after. Jack laid flat on his back for a moment, frozen in shock, as he stared up at the creature above him, who returned his gaze with its own seemingly concerned one. "What..." He managed out before being interrupted by, of all things, the creature. "Hey there, tiny human! Are you okay?" It said in a feminine voice. "It looked like you were drowning after I accidentally knocked you off your boat thingy. Sorry about that..." The creature chuckled nervously, looking away as it tapped its two forelegs together... two forelegs that ended in hooves. "I swear I didn't mean to make you fall. I thought I saw another one of those scary things below, and... I got a little spooked..." it gave Jack a nervous grin, giving the man a good view of its massive teeth. But what had the man's attention was that it just spoke, in perfect English, sounding like a teenage girl, to him. Not only that, but it apologized to him. And was apparently trying to help him, and he'd... "oh. oh shit." He was currently rendered speechless, by a combination of his exhaustion from what he thought was a fight to save his life, and the absurdity of the situation. And so the electrician just sat there, gaping up at the creature looming above in now awkward silence, with only one thought on his mind. "What the fuck?" Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to get something out, and decided that making a shorter chapter my favorite cliffhanger ending was good enough. Thank you for the support and comments. I love reading them, and feedback and ideas are always welcome. And maybe I'll get around to proof reading these.
