Author'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.