Subnautica: The Reaper [Fanfic]

Chapter I: Welcome to the Ocean

Atronac looked outside the window again. Empty water. AGAIN. Why couldn't he have landed on a desert planet instead? Or a forest planet, ooh. Like one with resources, for example. That would be great. He sighed and sat down on the floor.

Without warning, the entire pod was slammed sideways. Atronac leapt upgrabbed the handlebars for support and glanced outside. "Computer, whatsthat!" he yelled.

The AI responded calmly, like always. Idiot. "Scans indicate only one lifeform in the area. Size: Leviathan."

"Oh, crap!" he yelled, getting a glimpse of a truly huge white and red tail slither by the porthole-sized window. A flash of a grinning face and huge claws, then he was looking into unfathomable waters again. And his day had started out so well.

Atronac stumbled over to the supply chest. Canned food - not going to do much if he died before he ate it. Water was the same thing - worthless in a fight. The pod was rocked back upright as another bash from the monster slammed into it. Atronac flew backwards into the ladder and crumpled to the ground, the breath knocked out of him.

He wheezed. The supply chest was only a few feet away. Food and water wasn't the only supplies in there. He tried to get up, but a searing stab of agony stabbed through his wrist and he collapsed. He yelled in pain and cursed in his head. Oh Moon Mothers, I am really going to die today. 

A roar echoed through the waters outside. He caught a glimpse of a long white and red tail again - three triangular fins on it. Murky brown water covered everything else. What the hell was that thing?

Atronac dragged himself to the lifepod with his right arm, his left bent in a protective angle to his chest. It hurt so much, but he had to deal with the larger problem before he could tend to his wounds. He dragged himself to his feet and entered the code.

As the crate swung open, he dug around for something - anything - to fight with. Water and food would be great for surviving, but fighting? Not so much.

There! A glimpse of steel. He thrust his hand among the pile of tins and bottles and pulled out a knife. Not great, but he could work with this. That creature was going down.

In my demented dreams, he thought. Fifty-meter sea demon versus wounded man with a one inch stick of metal. But still, a knife was a knife!

He gripped the weapon in his hand. It had a circle in the middle of it, which was presumably to store it in a belt. It had the Alterra logo too, like almost all of the company's products did. It occurred to him that Alterra was the reason he was in this mess. But he put that thought out of his mind. He had a snake-eel-demon thing with this knife's name on it.

"Depth check: 14m," said the AI. Thanks for that. Usually helpful, but right now he didn't need a reminder that, should the pod spring a leak, he would drown deep below in an alien sea.

Atronac grabbed his mask and snapped it on. He gripped the knife in his sweaty palm. This was it. Time to fight.

He grabbed the hatch, and paused.

He was fourteen meters underwater.

In a small container of air.

About to open the airtight hatch.

This presented a variety of problems.

One, he didn't like the ocean much, especially where it was deep. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. Two, it would immediately flood his small container of air, namely the pod, rendering it a small container of water, much the same as the rest of the ocean. Problem three is that this would immediately sink it to the unknown depths of the ocean floor.

Hmm.

He slid down the ladder and said, "AI, power up flotation devices."

"Aye aye."

He slipped back into his chair and locked the harness. This could get rough.

A thumping from outside almost made him jump out of his skin. The leviathan's face slammed against the hatch window.

He wished it hadn't.

It was white and red, like the tail, with four beady black-green eyes. It had a fleshy unicorn horn and a beard like a pharaoh. But the worst part were the face... arms. They were creepy. There were four, each like a crab leg without any armor, with unnecessarily large pincer claws at the end of them. It stretched out its pincer arms and roared. He could see all the way down its gullet. Rows of sharp teeth, each as big as his hand. He suddenly acted on an impulse and opened the chair lock.

Atronac climbed a few rungs up the ladder and punched the window. The leviathan glared at him and grinned. That was creepy. He hoped it wouldn't do that again.

The beast stretched out its four pincers and gripped the pod. Its face was pressed up the window, sneering at him. It looked almost human. He put that thought out of his mind quick.

"COMPUTER!" he yelled as the hull gave a unnerving crunch.

"Flotation devices in three..."

Sparks flew from the battery holders and the main screen as the leviathan hardened its grip. Atronac could catch a glimpse of a body that lashed around. He did a quick estimate and guessed it to be fifty meters long. Damn. That was a big fish.

"Two,"

He looked up into the face of the demonic creature. "Bye," he said, mimicking the creature's grin.

"One." 

THUMP.

He was thrown to the ground as, among a torrent of bubbles, the pod shot upwards towards the sky and air. The leviathan, thrown off guard, slid off the side and disappeared into the depths, shrieking a terrible, unearthly roar. He waited a minute, making sure it was gone. Yep. At least, for now. He had defeated a creature as long as a Cyclops-class submarine.

"WAHOO!" shouted Atronac, throwing both fists in the air, a moment before he fell off the ladder and hit the metal floor with a thud.

"You have fallen," noted the AI.

"Great, thanks," he muttered.

The leviathan had disappeared. They were at the surface. So far, so good.

Atronac pushed up on the hatch with both hands. Nozzles hissed steam, and it opened. He climbed up and stood on the roof of the pod, shading his eyes from the glaring sun. Surrounding him was all water, as far as the eye could see. No land, although weird fish birds kept circling his craft. He sighed. Great. Now he would have to go underwater. Did he already mention he didn't like deep waters?

A rumbling sound like thunder echoed through his ears. There, in the distance: a huge shadow. He stepped forward, getting a better view. "Is that... my ship?"

Nope. A definite Aurora-shaped outline was visible on the horizon, which meant it wasn't the Atlas. Black smoke drifted up from the hull, and the whole thing appeared to be on fire? His day kept on getting better and better.

"Warning: Aurora drive detonation occuring in T-10 minutes. Prepare for shockwave." said the AI to brighten his spirits.

OK, this is fine, he thought, I'm fine. He yanked the pod's hatch open and slid down the rail and took a water bottle. He opened it and drank deeply. Ah. That was better.

Next, he took his knife and borrowed the pod's fire extinguisher. In case the pod erupted into flames after being thrashed by twenty meter waves. Cheerful thoughts, cheerful mind.

Step three. He pulled on the floor hatch. It unlocked with a grim hiss of air and opened. Beneath him was unfathomable blue water. He chuckled at his own pun for a second, then took a deep breath. He was fine. Totally fine.

Atronac strapped his mask to his head, gripped his knife, and slipped into the depths.