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voidendron · 4 years

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Deep Blue Sea, Ch. 19

<<<Chapter 18 | Chapter 20>>> [wip]

Chapter 19: The Aurora Subnautica/JSE Egos Crossover

hiiii it’s been a while oops- I have a new hyperfixation, so working on Ego stuff has actually gotten pretty difficult, but I’ll do my best to update this whenever I’m motivated to do so!

Warnings: Swearing, Arguing, Knives Characters: Chase Brody, Marvin the Magnificent, Second Officer Keen, Jackieboy Man (briefly), Dr. Schneeplestein (briefly) POV: Chase Brody

“Warning: Local radiation readings suggest the Aurora’s drive core has reached critical state. Quantum detonation will occur within two hours.”

“…Hey, Chase. Remember what you said yesterday? That thing you were so confident about? What was it you said again?” Marvin asked as he glared down at his PDA. His diving mask was pushed up on his forehead while he treaded water with his free arm.

The repairman’s groan was muffled by his mouthpiece as he ducked his head under the surface to avoid his companion’s glare. That had to be literally one of the worst things to be wrong about.

A hand on his suit dragged him back above the surface, then moved to pull his mask off. “C’mon. What did you say?”

“…That the Aurora won’t blow up.”

“That the Aurora won’t blow up, right! And what’s about to happen?”

“…The Aurora’s gonna blow up?”

“The Aurora’s gonna blow up!” Marvin grumbled something under his breath, then with the flat of his palm smacked the water with a curse. “Just great! Wonderful! Let’s get back to the goddamn habitat.”

Both men pulled their masks back down over their faces and began the swim back with the materials they’d gathered to add to the growing collection. Chase could feel the dread in the pit of his stomach the whole way there, the worry, the “what ifs” lingering in the back of his mind. He was a repairman, not an engineer. Hopefully the damage wouldn’t be as severe as the warning made it sound…

When they entered the habitat, the drainage system seemed to take ages before they were finally able to push the bulkhead open. Both Seaglides were tucked out of the way along with the supplies, then Chase cast his eyes around the too-cramped room.

Jameson, already on his feet and moving to start putting the new materials away in their respective lockers. Henrik, tending to Jackie’s injury again while cussing him out over something. Keen, rubbing at his chin while he scowled down at his PDA’s cracked screen. It wasn’t long before his eyes shifted from the device, up toward Chase and Marvin. He pursed his lips, then, “Quantum detonation. We don’t know the shape that will leave the ship in.”

“And?” Marvin asked.

“And, for all we know, it could take out the computers that the data package was sent to.”

“Well…actually,” Chase interrupted, “detonation’s gonna be in the drive core, right? The drive core and some of the major computer systems are pretty damn far from each other. Multiple walls between ‘em—hell, they’re even on different levels, and the computers get their power from multiple places throughout the ship just in case one or more of its sources goes down. Long as the entire ship doesn’t decide, ‘Hey! Fuck this shit!’ then the package should be okay, even if I can’t repair the drive core.”

“Okay… How’re you so sure while Keen’s worried, thought?”

“Hey, no offense to Keen, but I’m the repairman. I’ve been on every level and in every room of that damn ship to fix shit no one else could be bothered with. He was one of the highest ranking officers there. Doubt you even set foot in the engine room or JJ’s cafe, like, ever, did ya?”

“…He’s right.” Keen nodded, tucking his PDA away. “Brody likely knows the layout of the ship better than anyone, save the engineers who built it. It you believe the main computers will be safe, I’ll take your word for it, then.”

One hour ticked by. He, Marvin, and Keen were now sticking close to the habitat as they gathered materials. Going inside during detonation would probably be the safest bet, right?

Fifteen more minutes. Marvin had already gone in to start getting more power cells and batteries crafted, leaving the officer and Chase to continue scavenging just a little while longer.

At half hour to detonation, they both made their way back into the habitat to join the others. Time seemed to stretch for ages as they sat around in tense silence—Jameson was chewing his nails, Marvin played with his hair, Chase couldn’t help the anxious tapping of his foot.

All six PDAs gave a warning beep that had Chase jumping even as he’d been expecting it. They echoed one another in an eerie monotone, each survivor moving away from the window as the words droned from their devices.

“Emergency: A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora’s drive core. The reactor will reach a super critical state in T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five—” Chase closed his eyes and scrunched his fists into the fabric of his dive suit, “—four, th-three-ee-ee, t-t-two-two…”

Even underwater, even inside the habitat, he could feel the shock wave from the explosion rip through the water around them: The way it threw sand up at the window, the habitat creaking, lights flickering, projectile shrapnel from the ship itself clanging as it hit the shallowly submerged habitat hard enough that in one spot off in the corner if even started a leak.

Then, it was over.

Just like that, everything went quiet as the survivors took a collective breath. So quiet, Chase grimaced when their PDAs chirped again with, “For your convenience, the radiation suit has been added to your blueprint database.”

Chase actually found it in himself to snort. “…At least one good thing comes outta that.”

“I’m almost scared to see the ship, now.” Jackie’s voice, through gritted teeth, as he winced with every step toward the window. Not like looking out of it would do any good. Not with the sand disturbed. It would be a while before the water was clear again in their shallows. “I mean, that had to be some explosion, right?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve gotta go and at least try to repair the drive core.”

“Well, I’m goin’ with you.”

“To hell you are!” Henrik scoffed. “You can barely stand and the water is no good for your injuries, Mann!”

Marvin shook his head even as he gathered up supplies from the lockers for the new blueprint. “Like hell am I going anywhere near the ship. I’m not dealin’ with a Reaper again.”

“I’m not goin’ alone! Someone’s gotta watch my—”

“I’ll go.” Keen was already at the fabricator that Marvin had put the supplies on, letting it read his PDA so it could get the sizing for the new suit correct. When Chase opened his mouth to protest, the older man simply put a hand up to stop him there. “I slept through the night and most of the morning—I’m rested and my injuries were minor. I’ll accompany you to the ship.”

The suits were heavier than their previous ones, but not n a way that hindered them as much as Chase had expected. The only downside was that the flippers were smaller—stiffer—but he supposed that would be good for when they got onto the actual ship and couldn’t take the flippers off unless they wanted radiation poisoning. Regular ones would have had them falling on their faces on dry land. The helmets also had a wider field of vision from the masks or rebreathers, and no mouthpiece so they could speak while keeping them on—another plus.

“One of you should take the Seamoth, and the other use a ‘Glide,” Marvin said as he handed both of them fully-charged Seaglides. “The ‘Moth’s a bigger target, but also a lot faster. If the Reaper goes after one of you, it’ll chase whoever’s in that, and it’ll have a better chance at escaping. Then the one with the ‘Glide can get past safely.”

“With any luck, we won’t run into one of these ‘Reapers’ at all.”

“Heh. Be nice if somethin’ goes our way for once, huh?”

A final nod to their companions, one last supply check (survival knives, extra batteries, laser cutter, scanners, first aid kit, repair tool—all accounted for), and they pulled the bulkhead open, waited for the teeny little corridor between it and the hatch to flood, then left the habitat.

Keen was the one to take the Seamoth, leaving Chase to trail behind. Smoke still rose from the ship as they approached, there were pieces of the hull that looked like they were barely held on by a few bolts, and the water was so murky from the disturbed sand that he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face and could barely tell which way was up when completely submerged.

It made the knowledge that there was a massive creature, somewhere out there, all the more terrifying. It could be swimming inches away from them and they’d never even know it.

The first time Chase heard the Reaper’s cry, he could have sworn his blood turned to ice right then and there. His breath caught in his throat, even as he realized the sounds were from far off. So far, it seemed the last few hundred yards to the ship would go without incident.

That didn’t change the fact that it was the most terrifying sound he’d ever heard and didn’t dare duck his head under the surface.

Ahead of him, the Seamoth sped up slightly before falling back again (hesitantly) so he could actually keep up. Keen had heard it, too.

They hugged the side of the ship when they finally reached it, searching for any points of entry that may have been torn into it. It didn’t take long to find one: The entire front half of the Aurora had been ripped apart by the explosion, and Chase’s stomach twisted. He really hoped they wouldn’t find any bodies once they got on board.

“Warning: Ship’s structural integrity is low. Fire suppression equipment and laser cutters may be required. Exploration is conducted at your own risk.”

“Thanks, PDA…” Great. They’d forgotten fire extinguishers. At least they’d been plentiful on the ship—they had a good chance of stumbling across one in their time aboard.

Keen parked the Seamoth as shallowly as he dared on a sloped piece of metal that would have to act as their ramp into the ship. They both hauled their Seaglides up under one arm, survival knives in the other. There were Cave Crawlers everywhere… A part of Chase told him that human bodies would probably be nonexistent with those things on board, and it took everything he had not to gag at the thought.

“Don’t let them rip your suit,” the officer demanded as he used his Seaglide as a bludgeon on one that lunged at him. It fell stunned at his feet, only for him to kick it off into the water. Chase would have snorted if not for the unease that settled over him as he got a good look at the smoldering remains of the ship, at twisted metal, at collapsed floors that used to be rooms and command center.

The repairman swallowed, holding his knife close as they continued up the “ramp” that he was starting to recognize as the floor that should have led straight to command.

“What do you think we’ll find on board?”

“…I don’t know. Let’s just worry about the drive core first.”

“Right. Yeah, okay.”

It was easy to find, once they got past all the crabs and into the ship, once they helped each other clamor over too-heavy crates that had fallen in the way of one of the corridors. H eknew the ship’s layout from bow to stern, after all. Now…

Now Chase could only frown as he looked down into the water that had flooded the drive core room. There were…things in there. Swimming about, attacking one another…

He pulled his scanner from his hip when one came close enough to the platform—the scanner dubbed them “Bleeders”—and then glared at all the damage he could see from where he stood. They kind of reminded him of cuttlefish. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be—he even figured it should be fairly easy to repair from what he was seeing—but if those Bleeders tore his suit..?

When he turned to Keen, the older man had his hands on the railing, eyes fixed on one of the creatures as it circled near them, clearly trying to figure out how to get at them. “They’re like leaches,” he said without looking to Chase. “Had one attack me when I left my lifepod. Don’t let them latch on.”

“Think you can keep ‘em away from me while I repair?”

“I believe so.”

They set their Seaglides near the door to keep them out of the way of feet and tools and knives and Chase got to work on the damage he could reach from the platforms, first.

Without looking away from his work, Chase asked, “So… What’re we gonna do about that Sepse guy? Just…leave ‘im here when we leave?”

“I hate to say it, but yes. He’s been here alone for too long and attempting to get him on a ship off world would just put anyone involved in danger.”

“Fair enough.” One spot finished, he moved on to the next. He’d have to go in the water soon. “Got another question for ya: The rest of Sepse’s crew. The Mongolians? Any idea how they ended up here? Marv thinks they were looking for habitable planets.”

“Why they were here, no.” Chase could tell by the sound of his voice that Keen had his back turned to him to watch the Bleeders beneath their platform. “It… But it’s why we’re here.”

When he spun around to face the officer, he about caught his own finger with the repair tool. “…What do you mean by that?”

Careful with the knives, Keen crossed his arms with a sigh and shook his head. “The Degasi went missing a decade ago. To improve relations with the Mongolian settlement, Alterra gave the Aurora a secondary mission: To find out what happened to its crew. This system was its last known location, and we came close to the planet in an attempt to scan. That’s the only reason we were equipped with diving gear and appropriate vehicles.”

“So this…this…” Chase went to pinch his nose but only bumped the glass on his helmet. So instead, he threw his hands up, nearly catching Keen with his still-active tool. “Why didn’t the rest of us know about this?! Some…secret fucking mission could be what kills us all!”

“It was meant to be a simple scan. But something happened, Brody. And I have a feeling what happened to us is what also brought down the Degasi.”

“Doesn’t fucking change the fact the rest of the crew should’ve known. That Mongolian emissary—Khasar?—that’s why he was on board, wasn’t it? So you could figure out what the hell happened and he could tell his people. Why the fuck would that be kept from the rest of us, man?”

“Because nothing was expected to come of it! If something was discovered we would have sent people down while the Aurora continued on its course to set up the phasegate. This—” he gestured at the flooded room around them, “—was never supposed to happen.”

“Awesome. Good to know we’re stranded ‘cause someone was curious about a crew that went missing ten fuckin’ years ago.” He shouldered past Keen to move on to the next spot that needed repairing.

Curiosity killed the cat, Chase thought bitterly. He reached a hand up for the pendent at his throat, could feel it under the thick fabric of his suit. Someone else’s curiosity could be what never let him see his kids again, dammit.

“…Did Doc know? He keep this shit from us?”

“No. Schneeplestein was too new to the crew. He was one of the few ranking officers who wasn’t informed.”

Chase shook his head and muttered under his breath, checked the battery on his repair tool—

“Brody—”

“Can it.”

—and stepped off the platform into the water below. The nearby Bleeders immediately went after him but the super-heated end of the repair tool worked even better on them than he’d expected. It wasn’t long before Keen was there with the knives so Chase could use the tool as it was actually meant to be used, however. Just focus on the job at hand for now, he told himself. Repair the drive core so you don’t have to worry about the radiation.

It took a lot of time—a few hours, by Chase’s estimation—before he was finally positive every leak in the core was repaired. Or…“repaired” since it wasn’t like it would ever run again anyway. At least now the leak was stopped.

When they surfaced again, Chase was the one to take the leader after they’d snatched up their Seaglides.

“When we get back, you better fuckin’ tell the others about the secret little mission that killed over a hundred people. Got it?”

He didn’t give Keen a chance to answer, instead storming off for another part of the ship.

To the computers then, he thought. Let’s see what that package is.

#writersofjack #jacksepticeye #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #second officer keen #deep blue sea #dbs ch19 #blitz indites #subnautica crossover #swearing /#arguing /#knives /

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