Hazel and Klunk (An RnC Subnautica AU)

Chapter 1: The Crash

I ran through the halls of the Starship Aurora. Something had shot and damaged the hull of the ship, and now we were descending upon an uncharted planet. I bolted into the Lifepod Bay and situated myself inside Lifepod 5. I was closely followed by a tiny robot—well under my full height—with a silvery body and blood red eyes. Neither of us spoke, and I waited for him to situate himself before launching. We both gripped the restraints of the Lifepod seats. I looked up at the Aurora through the hatch as we fell through space.

The ship exploded.

There was a loud bang, and the entire pod shook from the force. Part of the electrical panel broke off and flew around the pod. I raised my hands to protect my face, but I failed miserably and I blacked out instantly.

I didn't know how long I was knocked out for, but when I woke up the robot who joined me was struggling to put out the fires that started inside the pod. I grabbed the fire extinguisher from him and sprayed it in a panic. I coughed obnoxiously as the fire went out, and I saw the extent of the damage. As a technician and engineer, the damage was minimal and to me an optimum result of the landing. I knew the smoke was not good for me, so I opened the upper hatch which was exposed to air.

"*Cough!* Excuse me while I get some fresh air in here. How long was I—?"

"Took you long enough to wake up! You were knocked out for three hours!"

"Umm... thanks... I appreciate your efforts to stop the fire." I looked up and out toward the Aurora. "Oh... my... God..." I said, stunned. The Aurora had crashed in the ocean, obviously not having made it. Based on my experience, I was certain that it was strong enough to keep the long-range communication systems active.

"What happened?"

"The Aurora... it didn't make it... It's here... on the surface surrounded by the ocean. You get up here and look. I'll get down." I did as I suggested and decided to shuffle through the on-board storage system. There in the storage space were two Multi-Environment Protection suits, two Nutrient Blocks, two Water Bottles, two flares, and in the Med-Kit Fabricator was a single Med-Kit. I was the only one who needed any of this, but I knew there were provisions missing: the Scanner, Flashlight, an extra water bottle and nutrient block. However, there was an extra flare. I tapped my long tail on the floor and huffed in annoyance. I called up to the robot, "There aren't enough resources in here to survive for long. Looks like we'll be using alien resources to survive until someone rescues us or we find a way to leave this planet. I suppose I should introduce myself; I'm Hazel."

"Klunk, and don't you dare confuse me for Clank!" he exclaimed as he clambered down the ladder.

"Fine, fine. With those bloody red eyes it shouldn't be hard to remember," I said, already disliking his attitude. What the hell were Klunk and Dr. Nefarious doing on a Solana Government-sanctioned Starship? I sighed, "I'm going out to collect a few resources to make a scanner and hopefully a repair tool."

"Fine..." he muttered, plonking his butt down into the chair where he once sat. I opened up my Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA. The PDA rebooted in Emergency Mode: a mode with the directive to keep me alive on an alien world. According to the databank stored on the device, the Scanner required a Battery and a chunk of Titanium.

Easy enough, I thought. However, I had no idea how to make a battery, so I grabbed some food, the water, and a med-kit. I was just going to explore the area around me. The lower hatch was submerged, so I opened it up and slid out into the cold water, easing some aches and pains caused by the landing. I knew I would need a rebreather mask and an O2 Tank to survive and explore. Despite that, I had no idea how to craft a rebreather either, so that was something else I would need.