Deepwoken: Divers

Breach: Reunited

The four friends were sleeping close to each other in sleeping beds before being woken up by a journeyman with bags under her eyes.

"Alright... Everyone up! It's time for breakfast!"
They slowly gathered themselves. Pakki looked at his self-made necklace with his bandage covered hands, squeezing it tightly, remembering the previous day before going to eat.
Standing in line for quite a while, only Faust and Gwen got a small portion of Urchin Stew.
Pakki stared at the journeyman angrily. "What about me..?! What am I supposed to eat?!"
The journeyman replied blankly, not even looking him in the eyes. "There isn't enough food for everyone."
Colt grumbled angrily. "He should get some! He and Faust were one of the only ones fighting out there!"
Faust stared at the guy. "Yeah... This is bullshit."
The journeyman finally looked up at them, tears in his eyes. "Then he should've died fighting!"

The group just stared at him, shocked.
"I've got to spare food for at least some of us to survive... You're all wounded... Who's to say you'll survive even if I give you food?!"
"We had to watch our own damn comrades die, fought outside yet we don't get to EAT? You, who has to give out food sparingly, are the one we should have pity on?" Faust replied angrily.
The journeyman shouted back at him. "THEN DO IT IN MY PLACE! All of my friends, all of my family... They're all DEAD! I wish I died fighting... But I'll be seen as a coward if I kill myself now..."

Gwen took them away. "Let's just leave him..."
They sat down to eat, splitting the two portions into quarters. Since there weren't any tables or chairs, they merely sat on the ground, eating in the middle of the room.

"So... What's our plan now?" Pakki asked.
"We'll just wait for reinforcements to arrive." Colt replied, calmly eating his portion.
"That isn't gonna get us anywhere... They might not even know we need help." Faust added.
"What other option is there?" Gwen sighed.
"I'll just get reinforcements myself." Faust put his food down, having left some of it.
Colt stared at him. "Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?! You're gonna get yourself killed and accomplish nothing!"
Gwen looked at him with concern. "I really don't think this is a good idea, Faust.."
Colt stared at him coldly. "I don't want to kill your spirits, but I've seen you fight. You two barely managed to handle a single thresher."
"So I'll juke them." Faust replied calmly.
Gwen looked between them. "Guys, people are... Starting to take notice...."

Colt put his food down, standing up just as Faust did. "Would you stop it with the attitude?!"
Pakki stood up as well, finished with both his and Faust's portion. "I'm going with him."
Colt started to shout. "Just... Shut it, the both of you! You're not going anywhere! You wouldn't even get past the wall of monsters outside!"
Faust raised his voice as well. "Well we had to get IN here somehow..."
Pakki looked at Colt, dead serious. "If you're too afraid to leave, fine! But don't be surprised if you all slowly starve to death because no one acts!"
Colt shouted louder, squeezing his eyes shut. "JUST STOP IT ALREADY! HAVEN'T YOU HAD ENOUGH OF BEING THE RECKLESS SUICIDAL MANIAC YOU GUYS ARE?! JUST STAY IN HERE, BECAUSE... Because I have no idea what we'll do if you two never come up..." He squeezed his hands into fists. "....you guys are all I have left..."
Gwen looked at him concerned. "Colt..."
Pakki just looked on, surprised.
Colt started to cry, putting a palm on his forehead and lifting his head back. "God I... I wish we were like kids..." He looked up at the ceiling. "...and we'd stop beating around the damn bush and just say what we really want to.."
Before Faust could say anything, a fellow diver approached them. "You two... A-are you two serious about leaving?"

Faust looked at Pakki for a moment before looking back at the diver. "Yeah. Yeah we are."
A couple of moments later, most of the divers were sat looking at a map of scribbles supposed to be Castle Light.
"Right so... How do we plan on getting them out?" One of the divers asked.
"What if we can't? Will we really starve to death here?" Another replied.
"Worse, imagine if we lure the monsters here while trying to get them out!" Yet another joined.
As panic started to set in, Colt squeezed his eyes shut again, gathering his courage before opening them. "I... Have an idea." He sat down before the map with a pen, drawing a route through the last known location of a smaller thresher. "We could make a tunnel out... Using one of them."
"A monster?!" One of the divers demanded.
Colt spoke up so as to not let chaos set in again. "I know it's risky... But it could provide us with a secret route outside. And we can kill a single thresher... Right?"
Loud discussions began, causing Colt to start losing his focus, until a familiar feminine voice spoke up.
"Everyone listen! You are all divers here. Some rookies, some journeymen. A lot of us died yes... But is that going to stop us? Was your 17 years of training seriously wasted? Or better yet, was the sacrifice of your comrades wasted? Because if you give up here, you'll let their sacrifice mean nothing! Can't you all feel it?! We all know this is our only chance... So let's do it! Put your 17 years of training to use! Let all of your hearts pound as one!" Gwen stood proudly, her voice was now the only one remaining. "Give meaning to their sacrifice! Fight, and keep fighting! Push on until you can't any more! You're all dedicated to saving mankind from these horrors, so prove it! Draw your weapons and save mankind! Trust each other! Trust Colt! Trust us! Trust yourself!" She finished, eyes closed.



After a moment, everyone started cheering, Colt continuing nervously. "R-right so... I'll bait one of them... That's the easy part... The hard part is that it won't be the only one. And that we need to shut the doors after we baited that one." He drew several lines with other colors. "These will be the squads tasked with closing the doors no matter what."
People already began to volunteer, forming squads and studying the plan.
"And... How are we gonna make sure it's the only one that comes after us?" One of the divers asked.
Colt took a deep breath. "That's... What I've been putting off.... .... We'll launch an attack. That's the only way we can make sure they're all distracted while I bait our thresher in."
The room got quiet. A single diver asked a question. "An attack? Wouldn't that mean we'll..."
Colt finished his sentenced for him. "...die. I'm going to be honest. The chances of survival for those who go out and fight are tiny... .... Negligible, to be clear. That's why I'm volunteering for the thresher. I'll have to be the one to go the furthest. I can't bring myself to put this burden on anyone else..."
Colt took a deep breath. "So..." He closed his eyes. "... Who's in?"



Everything was quiet. His heart dropped.....
Until everyone started cheering.