North Coast, The Emeri Empire
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
August 16th, 2980 AD
With the expansion of the realm, and the winning of new mechs, the Emeri Empire just became one of the ten. That is to say, they became the newest member of that group of nations that would survive forever, provided the future rulers didn’t screw things up. This was not just due to its population, and economic output, but also the fact that they had enough mechs and combat vehicles to protect said territory.
With the expansion into Pesh, there were now large forests available for lumber, foraging, hunting, and a coastline that went into the northern sea for fishing. Due to the low tech level of this world, proper industries to utilize these resources to their fullest simply didn’t exist. As such, there were only a few fishing towns along the coast for that purpose and little else.
When it came up, I told the administrator of the town that I wished to go to that area since I had fishing experience. I gave some details about various fishing vessels I had been on, crab fishing, shrimp, salmon. They didn’t know what those were, but giving them a basic drawing showed I knew what I was on about. So, they gave me leave, and I let my friends know. They were a bit sad, but agreed it was a good opportunity.
I ate dinner with them, and gave them all the greens and roots I had, only to be given potatoes, carrots, and a few cabbages for the trip.
“Don’t starve like a fool.” The momma bear matriarch said before bidding me good night. Before I went to sleep, I fiddled with the scanner. I smiled at the device. It was a piece of the modern world as far as I was concerned, and it was a comfort simply to hold it. I scanned everything. The hut, the chair, the sickle, my knife, the bedding, the clay jars, myself, and so on. The PDA helpfully alerted me that it could now build these things, and then went to bed.
The next morning set off for the distant shore. I wasn’t the only one going there, as there were fisher families among the people in the empire that wanted to return to that lifestyle. After a few days, I reached the coastline and gazed upon the rolling waves. It was picturesque, and a perfect starting point.
Walking into town, I alerted the local administrator, who was now an “imperial” citizen himself that I was there to stick around. He just waved me off, made me sign a register, and I was on my way. I made an effort to pick up any garbage left sitting about, especially metal refuse.
“Anyone care if I take this refuse?” I asked. Most people just shrugged, and said to do as I wanted with it. Despite it all being junk, it was useful for materials since I saw rubber, steel, and fabrics among the stuff. One man’s junk was another’s treasure, provided they knew what the hell they were doing.
I wandered away from the town, a good enough distance, and began to use the scanner. Over the course of four hours, I scanned many, many flora and rocks to begin the path of construction. The plants were able to provide fibers which I was able to use to fabricate advanced fabrics, which allowed me to construct a diving suit like in the game. I wore it as soon as it was done, and then constructed an oxygen tank with the same fibers and the steel junk I had. With broken glass, steel, and resin from the garbage, I was able to construct a breathing mask for the tank. Finally, with the rubber, and resin from various composite materials, I was able to make flippers.
I realized with a start once I brought out the PDA and connected it to the suit, that it gave me access to the sub-space storage that all Alterra survival suits came with. Taking advantage of this, I broke down everything I carried, and placed into storage raw materials and various foods.
With little left, I turned, and began to walk into the water.
Getting past the point where the waves pushed me inland, I began to swim underwater and down as the seabed dipped deeper. I could still see the bottom for several hundred feet before it faded into blue and grey. My tank had about forty-five minutes of air before I had to surface for it to refill itself, so I had no fear of running out before the time was up like in the game. The suit would also do the adjustments for the depths so I didn’t suffer the standard issues with scuba diving, so it was all just swimming and exploring from this point forward.
Taking out the scanner, I began scanning various rocks and plants that I came across, sparce as it was, but felt elated upon running into coral. I didn’t know if it were the right type, but after scanning, it appeared to be both the type to create chips and parts, and to created bleach with.
I wasn’t expecting to find Titanium, since I had no idea if it was even a common material or not on this planet. Assuming it was as common as it were on Earth (9th most common) it would be everywhere but in absolute minute amounts.
Scanning large rocks gave me the means to draw it out, and into my inventory. It was time consuming however as even a rock as large as a bus gave me only a handful of the material as dust in about thirty seconds per hit. However, the PDA was helpful in putting the material into exact measurements in the storage, and I knew how many equaled a single unit of pure titanium. Ten units to be exact.
For the next hour, aside from surfacing for air, I just grinded away until I had enough material to finally construct my first base. I dove deeper first before stopping in a relatively flat location, and constructed an “X Compartment”, along with a “T Compartment”, a pair of solar panels, and the hatch.
I clambered inside, proud of the fact I finally had things going my way when I felt it. A star fell, and the Forge grabbed it.
-Material Limitations (World Seed) (100CP)
Even with the advanced technology commonplace on Earth nowadays, material limitations haven't changed. Or rather, you could say that they've gotten even worse. After all, how are you going to store antimatter if you have only steel at hand? Luckily, you won't ever have problems finding the materials you need. Whether you'll stumble upon them while searching through a scrapyard, or find just the right people who can get you that obscure alloy you need, nothing will stop you from building whatever you want besides your own skill. Well, if you're keeping it reasonable, at least.
The chance of you finding what you're searching for decreases exponentially with the material's strength and rarity, and increases by how much you know about said material, scientifically, and how good your technology skills are. So while a regular schmuck would probably never find Adamantium, someone who could reproduce it themselves in only a few years would have much, much better chances. So if you're in a situation where it is impossible to get what you want with what you know and where you are right now? Then you'll have to get to work yourself. Good riddance then that you can eventually reproduce any material or alloy that you have seen, though for extremely advanced ones it might take an unreasonable amount of time and skill.
I blinked. “Well…that may solve several issues.” I already knew about many materials I needed to actually make Subnautica technology work, as well as the real-world information about them. So, I guess I’ll run into stuff sooner or later regardless.
For the next four hours after that, I explored the immediate area, and found several locations near me of note. A kelp forest where I used the Sickle to harvest the materials for food and fibers, same for seaweed, several large rock areas that yielded more materials to me after a lot of scanning, a variety of underwater flora that could be utilized to make electronics, and most importantly, unlocking new blueprints as I discovered new materials.
The base now had six solar panels, a fabricator, emergency kit, a radio, several lockers, six of those basic plant pots which accelerated growth, and a proper bed. The PDA figure out most of the designs on its own, which showed how good of a tool it was.
The six pots were a surprise to me entirely, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. One pot was full of carrots, one with potatoes, another with cabbage, dandelions in the fourth, and strawberry and tomato like plants for the last two. I found the last ones while seeking out materials near the shore. The lockers were filled with purified water, and materials I didn’t want to have in my storage space. I was more or less self sufficient without needing to beg for scraps or get paid in a meal anymore.
The freedom that came with that was gratifying. It felt like was living normally once more. I mean…sure I worked to earn money, but that’s not the same as earning your daily bread. Might as well work just to breath oxygen.
“That’s the first world mindset bruh.” I muttered to myself as I remembered Bron and Roake. I’m sure they would love to be independent too.
With a shrug, I got undressed, turned down the lights and went to bed with the sound of the surface waves drifting me to sleep. For the first time in over two months, I dreamt nice dreams.
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Underwater Base #3, Northern Sea
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
August 23rd, 2980 AD
I finished the last touches of the new base, a bed and fabricator.
“Good.” I said simply as I turned to look out the window, out into the dark water towards the reason I constructed a new base.
The day after I built my first base, I upgraded my tank from a standard one to a high capacity one, giving me two hours and fifteen minutes of air to use, and I began to explore. Deeper, farther, and I found a great many things. Places where I am able to harvest a variety of plants and fish. Places where I mine due to being very craggy, and filled with rare minerals. I chose to construct a similar, smaller base to the first two kilometers away between these two locations, and use it mainly to store things.
It wasn’t until five days after I had been looking for large deposits of various metals, only to then make an unexpected discovery that shook me to my core. The remains of a Union class dropship. It had faded markings of the Federated Suns upon of it, but it was covered in coral and rust. There was no way for me to reclaim it, but I didn’t care about any of that. I wanted to scan it. It was about a kilometer underwater, and five kilometers away from shore, four kilometers beyond my base. Thank goodness for beacons, without them, I would not be able to find my way to either base, or to shore.
“Alright. Let’s get to it.” I said with glee.
As I began scanning, the PDA helpfully added commentary, and new designs with the technology its database now possessed.
“According to scans, the dropship suffered a strike from a small capital laser. Given data on Novo Franklin, and its importance at large, how and why a warship would have been here is puzzling.”
I frowned. “That is weird. Also makes me wonder who they were fighting over this rock.”
Installing light rods around a hole to the innards of the vessel, I shone a flashlight within and swam into the dead ship.
The inside was filled with sand and stone from who knows how long ago, but it was otherwise without plants and some small fish, and floating particles. I placed all of the light rods I had before lighting off a flare. Swimming upwards I paused in awe as I saw the face of a man, in the form of a machine. Two, three, four…eight. There were eight mechs inside of this thing. All of them more or less intact. I doubt they could be used after being underwater for so long, but a scanner could probably give more the means to do so, or even build one.
The first was a Hunchback-4G, followed by a pair of Wasps, then a Firestarter, then a Clint, a Dervish, a Catapault, and finally a Rifleman. Bit of a hodgepodge mixture of mechs, but if it were during the latter part of the beginning Succession Wars, then beggars could not be choosers.
Pulling out the scanner, and I floated in front of the Hunchback and began the scan. Even with the faster scan function, it still took five minutes to completely scan the machine. Once it was finished, I got not only the design for the machine, but for everything that went into it. The weapons, the autocannon, the ammunition, Myomer, fusion reactor, the neuro-control system. Everything. Scanning the rest of the mechs just added more of what some machines lacked. Different weapons, engine models and sizes, chassis, and so on were added.
It was when I finished with the Rifleman that I felt another pull, and waited as the forge reached out. It faded away as it missed the star, but the energy remained for a future star.
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“According to scans, there is mech bay below the primary one, and an aerospace fighter bay higher up.”
I following the PDA’s words, I checked the two bays, only to find them both empty.
“Maybe they got out before whatever happened, happened?”
The rest of the time was spent scanning everything from desks, to cots, to doors, to picture frames, until needed air, and then repeated until I exhausted myself. The main notable thing was the cargo bay had several vehicles, mainly APCs, for land travel. I scanned them completely.
I laid in a newer, more comfortable bed after disassembling the old one, and checked over the designs and schematics the PDA had stored away. It was almost too much to take in, but two schematics in the “deployable” menu caught my interest.
“Huh. I regained the mobile vehicle bay. So I can try to remake the Seamoth if I put forth the effort, or find similar enough technology to scan.”
The other one that grabbed my attention.
“Land Vehicle Bay?”
“The Land Vehicle Bay utilizes the technology from the Mobile Vehicle Bay to construct land vehicles of many kinds. To modify and repair land vehicles, consult the base construction menu.”
Doing so revealed the “Land Hanger Bay” which was a land-based version of the moonpool. Robotic arms could lift and modify, recharge, and repair any vehicle stored in the bay. There were three models. A small one for trucks and APCs. A Medium one for the Mechs and Aerospace Fighters. And a large one for the Dropship, which was at least five different things that made up this one object.
The fact the PDA figured out how to make these on its own showed me just how powerful Alterra tech was. Then again, it was an emergency AI unit that somehow managed to partially translate a completely alien language based on little to nothing. Not to mention capable of scanning its surroundings to a frighteningly accurate degree despite little to no actual sensor systems attached to it.
I had several new base parts as well, but most of them were applicable only on land, but I now also had the scanner room back since the UAV technology on board the ship was enough to recreate the tech from scratch. Plus, I now had the Seaglide again because of desk fans and the amphibious modes of some vehicles. Also, the reinforced diving suit due to space suits and industrial exoskeletons.
I would work on those later.
Going to sleep once more, with the distant giant looming over the base, I had the PDA play soft music that was somehow stored on the ship and recoverable. How it did that, no clue, but I wasn’t complaining. I went to sleep easily.
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Deep Expanse Edge, Northern Sea
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
August 30th, 2980 AD
I felt like an idiot. I was glad I made the beacons to find my way around, but I cannot believe that I wandered so far and deeply without paying attention.
I couldn’t help it though! That damned “Material Limitations” perk kicked in a ton ever since I started actively looking for minerals like Copper, Aluminum, Titanium, Gold, and more to build more stuff. Because of the perk, I was finding deposits of the stuff here and there which forced me to create the seaglide to move about faster.
It also got me started on the project to create the “Marine Mech”, which is basically a Battlemech turned deep sea industrial mech. I was almost done too since I found radioactive material required to create the “Fusion Power Cell” to actually power the thing.
But then I ended up, like many foolish players first playing Subnautica, staying underwater too long before taking into account the air supply. I would have just created a temporary base and left it at that, but then I ended up finding the edge of what appeared to be a large sea trench. Which Is when the PDA kicked in.
“Local scans of this underwater valley show signs of large deposits, as well as possible rare elements. Deep Sea diving equipment is highly recommended.”
So, here I was trying to reach the edge of this thing before I ran out of air. I was fortunate that, despite the depths, the solar panels still functioned at powering the place.
That said, I needed a small base quickly, so a simple “I Section” with a hatch, and a single solar panel, did the job.
“Warning: Depths of this magnitude require reinforcement. Recommend you construct building foundation.”
“I don’t have that, or the lead for the requirements. So, if you have a better design in there, I would love to see it before I die of suffocation.”
Within a few moments, it did provide me with a new series of base parts. “Reinforced base parts” which required far more titanium than I had on me. I only had sixteen minutes of air left, so I got to scanning for the amount I needed. I had only four minutes left when I got the materials, and constructed the new base.
Double-hulled, it was able to withstand the new depths better than normal base parts. Even so, I still only had the amount of space normal base parts had.
For the moment, I laid on my back, lambasting myself for my stupidity. There was no excuse for not keeping track of my air supply, but I got too caught up in the gathering game, and wandered too far.
“I got lucky this time, but never again. I only have this one life, and no resets.”
With little else to do, I rest and recharged for the next few minutes before going back out.
Looking down over the edge of the abyss, there was nothing but black and a deep silence to it all. Thalasophobia is something a lot of people have to various degrees, for various reasons.
I was no exception, which is why I usually tried to stick to the sea floor when I go around and explore.
Now I was seeing nothing but the depths, and it made my stomach drop and ass pucker up.
It was at this moment I felt the star fall down upon me. I waited for the forge to take it…only for it to fade away again, and the residual energy gather even more.
“Well, it will be interesting when that actually grabs something.” I said as I swam away from the edge.
“First however…we need to gather and build up.”
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Underwater Base 005, “Leviathan’s Depths” Trench, Northern Sea
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
September 4th, 2980 AD
Checking over my materials one last time, I pointed the habitat builder to the spot where a ground level “T-Section” connected to the rest of the base, and began construction of the Underwater Mech Hanger. It slowly took shape with the internals appearing first, before quickly being covered with internal bulkheads, and then covered with a thick titanium shell that protected the internal bay from the incredible pressure of this depth.
Upon completion, the facility stood tall, well over the base itself. One hundred feet tall and about half that in length and width. It had taken ten titanium ingots, along with a variety of electronic parts to fabricate the thing, but it would be well worth it.
I swam down to T-Section and entered through the deep-sea hatch there, going through the process of draining water out of a chamber, which then pressurized, before entering the base itself.
The hanger was a big empty space, same the large robotic arms attached to the walls, floor, and ceiling. These robotic arms would not only keep the machines in place, but also allow for construction and modification to them without a crew to do the work.
Standing before the bay construction/modification terminal, I entered in the menu to construct the Marine Mech, all the required materials taken from my inventory. The arms swung about and began shining beams about, nanites constructing the machine from the molecules and up. After a minute, the machine was done, and the PDA announced itself.
“The Deep Sea Marine Mech is a powerful tool for both exploration, industrial work, and even combat if modified for it. Capable of handling the abyssal depths, it is the king of the battlefield, on land and now in the sea. Refrain from excessive excitement, lest the machine acts out against your will.”
I rolled my eyes at the last bit as I walked about the machine. It stood forty-five feet tall and weighed about fifty tons. It looked positively skeletal compared to a standard Battlemech, but most of the weight was a metal shell around the actuators and myomers. This acted as reinforcement for parts to withstand the abyssal pressure, which coincidentally allowed it to act like armor in combat.
Despite its gangly appearance, it was as powerful as any machine in its weight class. It’s titanium shell, however was a weakness due to being less capable of deflecting damage. I needed Lithium in order to create alloy grade Plasteel, which according to the PDA, was an equivalent to the standard armor Battlemechs, and other combat vehicles, were in possession of.
With knowledge of what Lithium was in depth, thanks to the PDA, I had faith that my perk would make me stumble across it at some point.
“Alright. Let’s get to-“
The sudden sound of groaning filled the air, with the whole room rumbling and shaking.
“What the hell?!” I shouted, stumbling into the construction station when the rumble gave way to an ear bursting bang from within the bay.
I turned to look, and horror filled me as water jetted in through a hole, and then another bang, deeper in the base. Then another, and another…
“Warning! Structural integrity compromised!”
“NO SHIT!” I shouted, sprinting to into the base, sealing the bulkhead door behind me.
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“Leviathan’s Depths” Trench, Northern Sea
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
September 7th, 2980 AD
I stomped about slowly with my “Marine Mech” and began mining out the Uranium deposit. The drill arm whirred to life loudly as it began digging into the earth around the mineral formation. It was easier to do than to drill the mineral itself, even if it were easier to take it back to base in chunks than a whole piece.
It wasn’t too big a deal though, as I had the base built for these depths now, instead of having to float eight kilometers up again to the other base near the edge. Though reinforcing them wasn’t easy given the lack of stronger materials available, save more titanium, which is what I ended up doing. The base was a chunky thing with extremely thick walls that had no windows to look outside.
For the mech to enter the base, I would have to enter it into a floodable hanger, which would then pressurize and then drain the water out. My reinforced suit could handle these extreme depths well enough, but I still had to enter a double hatch bay to get inside due to the insane pressure.
Having gathered the diamond deposit into the mech subspace storage unit, I entered my base and exited my mech after the process was complete.
“Status?”
“All systems functioning nominally. Structural Integrity at 100%. Captain.” The female voice sounded out.
I nodded with relief. Ever since that incident three days ago with that near miss with death, I became paranoid about its structural stability. Any sufficient growl of the structure settling was enough to set me off. I did not need to deal with holes popping open and filling the place with laser beam-like jets water. I say laser beam-like because at these depths, the P.S.I. (Pounds per Square Inch) is so incredible that water going through a small hole would cut a man to pieces.
“Load the Uranium into the processor, and construct the Power Cells.”
“Acknowledge.” The Habitat AI replied as the system began its work. Raw Uranium was too dangerous for me to handle even with a radiation suit, but the Vehicle Bay possessed the means once it was modified to access a vehicle storage unit.
I had fifteen Fusion Power Cells in storage right now, and with the amount I got from this latest dig, I might increase that to twenty. Enough to power ten Marine Mechs, or Battlemechs.
I paused in my thoughts as the Forge suddenly reached out to a falling star…and missed again. The residual power increased even more, and I felt the forge would grab something far larger the next time.
Moving on, I exited out of the base and into the abyss once more about the base. Thanks to the installed lights, I was no longer completely in the dark and could see a variety of small creatures swimming about above and below the base. Fish that were blind due to not needing sight at these depths, and eel-like in order to save energy that would be needed to survive without food for weeks. They fed on particulates that my base gave off as a result waste, of my needing companions down here, and the PDA designing a system to allow for it. As a result, there was a small school of fish just feeding and laying about in the underside of the base, with a few burrowed in the sand.
Swimming upwards above the base, I installed a new I-Section to a X-Section that I had intended to use for a bit, and installed the newest facility. The Scanner Room. With it done, I re-entered the base and set to getting the drones to work. I had them search out for Lithium around the base, and then left them to it. It would be several hours before I needed to check them.
I decided to go to the garden section of the base because I needed green, and upon entering the room the soft sound of lo-fi music played. I installed the sound track for the plants primarily, but also to create an atmosphere of peace in the harsh depths. The walls were lined with transparent titanium that were lined with micro-filiments, a technology gained from Battlemech armor, allowing them to act as a TV screen. The walls, ceiling, and the floor were able to project a holo-image within the two-foot-thick metal panes, creating realistic images of any environment I desired. It wasn’t a Star Trek Holodeck, but it was the next best thing.
The scenery was currently set to the Caribbean, with a beach, palm trees, a single bungalow with a dock and surfboards. Plus, distant animals like seagulls, chickens, a cat, and dog, randomly moving about in the distance, doing random things.
This was good for my mind more than anything else. When Covid hit, I was alone for around two years, and I was fine because I was from Alaska. I was used to isolation and solitude. However, I could still go outside and enjoy the sun, the critters, the rain, the breeze. Down here, there was none of that. It was just water and black all around me. While it didn’t…bother me per se, I didn’t like it all that much. So, I made this room with the help of the PDA coming up with schematics from my ideas. It worked out very well in my opinion.
Kinda wish I had an actual cat though.
Once more my mind rifted to the idea of going to the surface, and doing exactly that. Taking a mech, using it to establish dominance, then trading what I wanted with the minerals and gems I got down here. It’s not like Comstar is going to do anything even if they were aware. Eight kilometers of ocean between me and them would do that. While they can burn worlds, they can’t crack them like eggs. My armor is thicker than your shit can hit, and anything they drop down here, I can destroy with impunity if the ocean doesn’t do it for me.
“Actually…does Comstar even exist on this world yet?” I asked out loud with a frown. It was around this era of time they tried to “reach out” to the periphery, which includes Novo Franklin getting a B-Class station. I hadn’t asked around for them because I was too busy getting my feet under me when I got dropped on this medieval hole.
“Well…at this point I could just rise up and do that…Hey Ada?”
“Yes sir.” My PDA replied.
“Can we design a Submarine that not only can handle these extreme depths, but also carry and launch a battlemech? Maybe Seamoth fighter drones too?”
“We can. Shall we start now?”
I nodded as I stood up. “Start up the design room. I’ll be there in a bit.”
Roaming the base to the “design room”, most of the internals were lined with “Windows” that were screens like the garden room, but instead of the Caribbean, it showed a brighter, more lit up version of the ocean around us. One that reminded me where we were, but not so dark and dull that it would depress me. It even had the sun shining down with a connection from the other bases to track the suns movements, creating the illusion we were not that deep.
Entering the design room, the room was lined with screens in the wall, and on a desk that gave me an interface to interact with the program.
“I have a preliminary design to show you now.”
“Fast as always” I said with a grin as the interface lit up, showing me what it made.
It showed me what could be mistaken for Moby Dick. A White whale like machine that was over two hundred feet long with an enormous engine, a central control system up front on the “nose” of the thing, a pair of “eyes” that were observation rooms, and a hanger that lined the entire bottom of the ship save the final third of it in the aft section. The dorsal section had…a dorsal fin…that more or less had sensors, sonar, and a scope camera. Ahead of that was another hanger door on the top that opened to what could only be the mech bay hanger. It would be laying down inside of the submarine until either the hangers above or below opened, where it would be lifted upright, or dropped down as is into the water below.
“This is pretty awesome already! I can’t-“ I was saying when another star fell. I paused for the forge to reach out…and miss again.
“This will be quite the thing.” I muttered, both to myself about the energy I would spend, and the ship itself.