To the Sea

[Ultimatum]

The world of Glee Anslem was new to Ultimatum. He thought that perhaps he should have to it sooner, the Nautolan race were fairly friendly according to his historical database. This world did not offer much of mineral value, at least not in the way that Ultimatum would have wanted. Instead it was the concept of a water world that drew him thus. It was the perfect world for particular construction of ships. Experimental works that he had in mind would be ideal on this world, however before simply building a facility, Ultimatum wanted to have a better understanding of the ecology. Ultimatum wanted to avoid introducing elements or materials that might be a detriment to the native flora and fauna, and he wanted to have a better understanding of the said life in order to try to keep his constructions from being attacked or damaged.

Mon Calamari had been his first choice, but complications had arisen and for now he wished to test on this world first. To that end, the Sovereignty lay floating above the water of the world while Ultimatum took a submarine vehicle to enter the world. He had a suit that would be waterproof when he was ready to explore the depths. For now though, they were just floating down.

-----

The dark depths of the ocean world were probably the places that he would construct a facility, after all that would be the place where his designs would need to be tested. The creatures out here would not doubt be more acclimated to the pressures. Ultimatum looked forward to seeing what creatures lay in the deep. His small submersible continued to flow through the water and passed by many a small creature that did not recognize. Nothing looked particularly dangerous.

[member="Mantis Shrimp"]

 

[Mantis Shrimp]

The seas of Glee Anslem are full of undocumented sea creatures big and small. One of the creatures that swims and lives in the waters of Glee Anslem are the Nagarian Mantis Shrimp who normally spend their time hidden beneath the sand or hiding at the entrances of the underwater caves awaiting for their prey to swim close. Of course as a Nagarian Mantis Shrimp I hiding in my burrow with only my two eyes poking out scanning the area for prey and one thing I saw was a metal beast that most beings call submarines that has come near my burrow. Once the submarine got close enough I came out of my burrow and attempted to use my spear like claws to grab the submarine, of course the submarine was not made out of soft material preventing my claws from piercing its hull so in an attempt to take down the submarine I decided to give it a good hit with my club like claw. Now I should state at the time I didn't know what a submarine was and just thought the thing was a new type of fish that I haven't seen before.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

The submarine was pushing further and further into the depths, truth be told the artificial probably should have studied more before entering the world. But this was far too late to deal with now. The droid did not have any difficulty seeing in the darkness, as his eyes adjusted to both spectrum and brightness in order to create a relatively clear image of the surroundings. Or at least as clear as was possible in the depths of the ocean. As light lessened the ability to see in any spectrum began to diminish, for no matter what spectrum it was all based on light.

When the creature struck out of the ground Ultimatum was caught by complete surprise, though a few choice words did leave his mouth. The first movement shook the vessel heavily, though fortunately it did not damage it too badly. The various mechanisms were still functional, albeit the gauges were not all shaken out of alignment. The droid attempted to bank hard in order to get away from the land and whatever attacker there was. It was a fortuitous move. Had he not turned in such a way the thick claw of his attacker would probably have crushed the vessel in and likely have trapped Ultimatum in a sinking ship. As it was, the strike bashed the read of the submarine such that it's propulsion failed and a small leak began. With water being something of a hazard to his electronics, Ultimatum took a moment to quickly pull over his dry suit. The last thing he needed right now was to short circuit in the water. He turned back to the window and tried to see what was out there.

[member="Mantis Shrimp"]

 

[Mantis Shrimp]

Now this metal beast was able to withstand one of my punches but I could tell I weakened it. Now after punching i like to retreat back to my burrow and take couple of seconds to recover from the shock my punch made. Now I had to figure out the weakest point in the submarine to take it down in my second punch but then i never have fought one more advance than the ones tourists would normally come in. While i swam back to my burrow im sure beast or who ever was in it would see my fluorescent skin before I vanished under the sand. Of course chances are if the creature was paying attention it could probably see my two blue eyes staring at it, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

The submarine turned slowly, limping around to give Ultimatum a view of what had just hit him. There was a plume of sand setting, but in the midst of it he saw the bioluminescent skin of some creature. The droid was certain that it had been this creature that had attacked him. Of course, that probably would not help him at the moment, after all this thing looked rather large and he was not in any situation to stand against the beast. Whatever it was, his more immediate concern was getting the submarine under control.

The leaking was not especially large, but by no means was it small either. He had to figure a way of sealing the damage, or at least covering it for the time being. On the flip side, the propulsion was almost entirely disabled, which meant he was a sitting duck for this alien predator. There was no running, unless he flooded the sub and made a run on foot, underwater. No that was not going to work. This animal, whatever it was, had likely been adapted to moving through the water with far greater efficiency than the artificial.

The situation was bad, so he needed to figure something out. What did he have on hand? No conventional weapons. The sub came equipped with a patching kit, but then that was more for minor cuts and dents, not the nasty holes that covered the rear of the vessel. It also had some testing equipment. The droid opened the patching kit and tore free the small syringe of rubidium within. A naturally silver metal that oxidized in water, violently, the metal was intended for use in identifying leaks in the oil systems aboard the craft. Should it leak on the inside there would be silvery oil and if on the outside it would be very visible by the burning. Then there was the expedition kit. There were several things that he could have used, but he decided to pull out the cylindrical sensor launcher, intended to fire small needle like sensors deep into the earth in order to help surveyors visualize the land under them. It wouldn't work half as well underwater, but the sensors emitted a bright flash of light across all frequencies soon after firing. It might not be much, but it could buy him some time.

After pulling these two devices the droid looked out the window once more, the dust had mostly settled and he could not see any monster out there. But then he noticed something, two odd colors in the swirling brown. Two balls of blue just floating there. Unwavering and multifaceted, Ultimatum guessed those were the eyes of the beast. He wondered if it would be scared off by a loud enough sound, the thought did not even cross his mind that it might be sentient.

Pushing a lever the sub shook slightly as the small outside speakers emitted a deep rumble. It wouldn't be dangerous to any wildlife, of that Ultimatum had been sure, but perhaps it would make the predator second guess another attack. And if it didn't, well then he was in for a rough time.

[member="Mantis Shrimp"]