Chapter 1: A Drop in the Ocean

Darkness... punctuated by sharp stabs of pain.

Sounds too... waves crashing. The strange chirps of bird-like creatures. The motorized growl of a distant engine. Water laps around your legs.

You open your eyes, spit sand from your mouth, and force yourself upright. Bright afternoon sun causes you to groan and shield your face as you look around. A long white beach stretches out to either side of you. To your back, a thick wall of jungle foliage, beyond which you can just barely make out a far-off, rocky ridge of some sort. In front of you is infinite blue ocean.

In the water, perhaps a few hundred meters from shore, you see the sinking remains of a large VTOL craft. One of its wings is tilted up out of the water, and the turbofan engine is sputtering wildly. The turbine repeatedly stops and starts, as though it can’t decide whether to live or die. The noise is horrendous. Pillars of thick, black smoke rise from the side of the aircraft, traveling into the sky like a prayer offering to the gods of Poseidon. Part of the vehicle appears to be on fire, though that fire is being rapidly quenched by the rising water.

A quick check of your body reveals no serious injuries. Your clothes are more or less intact, as is your personal gear, but you are soaked and everything is water-logged. Any larger pieces of equipment, however, are nowhere in sight. It’s easy to surmise that any heavier gear you own is currently on the sinking craft, heading toward the bottom of the bay.

Everything is foggy and disorienting. As you start to collect your thoughts and further assess your surroundings, you remember the following: The GEO Justice Commission sent your team to an isolated island in order to investigate a mysterious distress signal. Upon approaching the island, there was an explosion and your aircraft crashed into the water.

You glimpse several other people up and down the beach. Some are moving slowly about, while others will never move again. Where the surf meets the beach, debris rises and falls with the surge. Among the frothing waves are two unmoving bodies, and the water in their vicinity is a sickly pink; the wet sand a congealed, rust-colored brown. The air above the waterline is thick with nooniebirds – Poseidon’s version of seagulls – alien, pelican-like avians with striped wings, hooked beaks, and multitudes of "eyes spots" in place of eyes. The various combined smells of blood, smoke, and sea water are unpleasant, forming an undertone to every perception.

You are currently marooned on one of Poseidon’s nameless equatorial islands. Planetary surveys have dubbed the place Oceanic Isle 727. For those of you from Earth, the tropical climate and emerald waters remind you of the Caribbean. Were it not for your current predicament, the scenery would undoubtedly strike you as beautiful. You try hard to forget everything you’ve heard about survival chances in the wilds of Poseidon…


Helpdesk

You rode in the Valkyrie turboprop with your non-cetacean teammates. While they were seated and harnessed, you rode within a travel cradle - a sort of contained water tank used for the transportation of cetacean passengers. Your travel cradle was designed for dolphin-sized cetaceans, and although the tank had life support and communication systems, it was incredibly restrictive. Most cetaceans dislike the cradles and regard them as claustrophobic, but there aren't many other options for a long trip.

You're not exactly sure what happened. There was an explosion, you heard shouting from the crew, and the turboprop descended at high speed into the water. Fortunately, you were able to initiate an emergency release and as the craft filled with water, the top of the travel cradle opened. You were able to wriggle free and swim out of the sinking craft. You were then able to push or drag some of your unconscious or disoriented teammates from the wrecked vehicle and toward the nearby shore.

"Here, let me help you. I'm Helios. Are you okay?"
When Helios sees that Kimra is able to walk, he asks, "Will you help me find other survivors?"
He waits for her response.

Here's some context for those who might be unfamiliar with the setting:

The ocean planet of Poseidon has a surface of 97% water and only 3% exposed land (Earth, by comparison, is 71% water and 29% exposed land). Most of Poseidon's human population and settlements are located in the Pacifica Archipelago. This is a series of island chains representing more than 200 major islands and thousands of lesser clusters, islets, and atolls. Beyond the Pacifica Archipelago, one finds mostly just endless ocean. Note that Poseidon has 30-hour days, a denser atmosphere, and slightly higher gravity than Earth (0.08 g greater).
You and your teammates left from the Crusoe Island military base. This is GEO's largest facility in the Northwest Territories, from which GEO Peacekeeepers can launch rapid response efforts in the region. The facility's primary purpose is to monitor the Sierra Nueva War. Your team isn't directly involved in the fighting. You were simply at the base to rest and resupply from your last assignment.

Your team responded to a distress call that came from a distant island, Oceanic Isle 727, at 4° 39' 27' south latitude and 13° 49' 12' west longitude. The island is catalogued in planetary surveys and is located way out in the New Pacific Ocean. GEO records list the island as "uninhabited," so it was a surprise to be receiving a distress call so far from the main island chains. The base at Crusoe Island is the closest GEO facility in the area, so your characters were tasked to investigate.

You are roughly 4,500 kilometers northwest of the Haven colony, and about 2,000 kilometers northwest of the Crusoe Island base. At least 1,000 kilometers from the nearest populated area.

As Ezra and Helios approach the two unmoving bodies, you see that they are clad in the standard issue dark blue uniforms of GEO Patrol Officers (the equivalent of precinct cops; a step below Peacekeepers). You roll the bodies over and immediately recognize their faces: Novak and Batista. These patrolmen were piloting the Valkyrie turboprop craft. They were both sitting in the cockpit when the explosion happened. Neither individual is a regular part of your team. Rather, they were simply along to provide transportation to Oceanic Isle 727 and to return you to Crusoe Island when your investigation was concluded.

Both officers are very much dead. Even before checking for a pulse, it's obvious. Their uniforms are perforated by shrapnel in various places, and water is gently pouring from their open mouths and nostrils. The beach sand around them has turned rust colored from the blood. Though most GEO personnel are enhanced with a number of bio-modifications to increase their survival chances on Poseidon, it appears that these weren't enough to save the officers' lives. Sadly, they seem to be quite young; in their early twenties, perhaps. They have likely only been out of the academy for a year or two.