One by one, metallic plates slid over reinforced fiber layers, shaping around their bodies like a second skin.
The suits weren't bulky like Gliders, but they weren't light either, they were designed for survival under crushing depths. Smooth helmets sealed with a soft click, and the inside HUDs flared to life with thin blue interfaces.
Ashen flexed his fingers, the gloves responding with fluid precision.
A soft stream of oxygen circulated inside the helmet, carrying a faint chemical smell that reminded him of sterile labs.
He drew in a slow breath and exhaled.
He had done suit drills a hundred times before, but it never stopped feeling like he was locking himself into a cage.
Renn's voice crackled over comms, cheerful and jittery even through the distortion.
"Now this—this is what I'm talking about! Look at us, a bunch of space rangers about to reclaim my poor, precious treasure."
"You dropped a keycard," Jaro muttered flatly while tugging at his suit seals. His broad frame looked even bulkier in the reinforced plating. "We're not saving the galaxy, Renn."
"Keycard?" Renn gasped in mock offense. "Excuse me, sir, it's an access key! Do you have any idea how screwed I'd be if someone found out I lost it? I'd be skinned alive by Instructor Kieran. Slowly."
Lira chuckled softly, her voice calm and even. "You wouldn't survive half that long. Relax, we'll grab it and get back before anyone notices."
Ashen said nothing, it really wasn't a big deal for him since he had successfully completed worse missions, sometimes even without the suits.
He stood near the rear of the group, waiting as the chamber depressurized. The walls vibrated, and through the viewport in the steel door ahead, he could see darkness shifting like liquid ink. Beyond it was the ocean—vast, endless, and merciless.
The green light flashed above the door and hatch unsealed, sliding open with a soft groan.
Cold water rushed in, flooding the transition chamber.
Their suits held firm, HUDs adjusting automatically to pressure and light changes. The group moved forward in unison, thrusters at their backs releasing controlled bursts that propelled them into the dark expanse.
And just like that, they were floating in the abyss.
The Academy lay sprawled on the seabed far below like a sleeping giant. Its massive structures were built into the ocean floor, lights glowing across its dome-like towers. Glass corridors stretched like arteries, carrying shadows of passing students. Above them, nothing but rolling black waters that swallowed light whole.
Ashen's eyes flicked toward his HUD where a faint beacon pulsed—the signal Renn had locked to his datapack.
"There it is." Renn's voice piped, smug. "See? Easy! Just a short swim and boom, we're heroes."
"Heroes don't sneak out of restricted zones," Jaro cut in, voice heavy. "Stay sharp. If drones catch us out here—"
"They won't!" Renn interrupted, upbeat as ever. "I've got the perfect distraction lined up."
"Which is?" Lira asked.
"Fishes."
There was a beat of silence across the comms.
"…Fishes?" Jaro repeated flatly.
"School of silverscales, actually," Renn corrected, his grin practically audible. "I've got food capsules. Toss one out, they swarm it. Drones won't see squat through the chaos. Genius, I know."
Ashen shook his head slightly inside his helmet. He didn't bother commenting.
Renn's "genius" plans usually ended in a disaster Ashen had to clean up.
The further they swam down, the heavier the water pressed against them. The HUDs adjusted pressure warnings, but even so, Ashen could feel the squeeze on his chest. Jaro grunted, slowing slightly, while Lira steadied herself with measured bursts of her thrusters. Renn, though, was already panting into comms.
"Ughh… okay… maybe I underestimated… just a bit…"
"A bit?" Jaro's tone was dry.
They finally slowed near a jagged outcropping of rock close to the Academy wall. Renn pointed dramatically at his datapack display. "Signal's stronger here. Key's deeper down. Real deep."
"You're useless below this point," Jaro said bluntly. "Your vitals are already red-lining."
"Hey!"
Lira's voice cut in, gentle but firm. "He's right, Renn. If you push further, you'll black out."
Ashen reached out wordlessly, Renn hesitated, then reluctantly handed over the datapack.
Ashen secured it to his wrist display.
"I'll go," he said simply.
There was no argument, they all knew Ashen could handle the pressure better than they could.
Calmly, he angled his thrusters and descended further into the black.
Silence swallowed him the deeper he went.
His HUD dimmed its brightness to adapt to the crushing dark.
Shadows stretched endlessly, broken only by faint glows of strange plants rooted into the seabed.
Fish with translucent skin darted away from his light, vanishing into caverns. The datapack beacon pulsed stronger the lower he went, guiding him toward a cluster of tall, swaying seaweed-like stalks.
There—resting on one of the plant's broad leaves—was the key. A small, metallic glint out of place in the alien flora.
Ashen maneuvered carefully, extending his gloved hand. The leaf swayed as if resisting him, but he caught the key and secured it inside his suit's storage latch.
Objective complete.
But as he turned to return, a sharp pulse of red cut through the dark catching his attention.
His helmet flashed warnings.
For a heartbeat he panicked thinking it was his suit failing—but no, the red wasn't internal. It bled through the water itself.
Ashen twisted toward the Academy's outer walls.
Massive emergency lights were blazing, flooding the ocean with intermittent crimson flashes.
They blinked slowly, rhythmically, warning the whole facility.
A Level-One Security Breach.
Ashen's stomach tightened.
Those alarms weren't used lightly.
He tried opening comms, but they where down. A harsh crackle filled his ear as his connection to the others failed completely.
Then the water itself suddenly trembled.
It began as a low vibration, a hum in his bones.
Then out of nowhere, streaks of light ripped past him above, burning trails as objects pierced the water like fiery lance.
Asteroids, dozens of them.
They slammed into the seabed, bursting sand and rock into clouds of debris.
The shockwaves sent Ashen tumbling, HUD screaming warnings as he fought to stabilize.
The pressure around him fluctuated wildly, he could barely tell which way was up.
Each impact thundered like cannon fire, shaking his teeth inside his skull.
He kicked thrusters, trying to ascend toward the Academy hatch—but another blast of impact threw him sideways.
His body spun, disoriented, vision filled with whirlwinds of silt and rock.
'Shit.'
Then he saw something at the edge of his vision.
One asteroid, smaller than the rest, blazing with unnatural speed.
It wasn't tumbling randomly like the others—it was arrowing straight at him.
It was already too close for him to do anything.
He barely had time to register before it slammed into him, the force rattling his entire body.
His HUD flickered, suit groaning as he was thrown down against the seabed. Pain shot through his ribs, his lungs heaving.
The "asteroid" suddenly hissed as steam was sent out of it.
Ashen blinked through the red haze, eyes widening as cracks split across the surface of the rock.
'What kind of substance is this?'
Mechanical plates peeled back from the asteroid, unfolding like a grotesque flower.
Something inside writhed uncontrollably.
'What the hell!'
Black fluid surged out, curling in the water like smoke.
The thing was alive—or conscious at least, and it moved with purpose. Before Ashen could react, it darted forward, slamming into the weak damaged points of his suit.
His HUD flared red.
[Warning, Amour breach.]
[Warning, Amour breach.]
He felt the thing burning through plating, piercing fiber layers, digging straight into flesh.
Ashen's scream tore through his helmet, lost to the static.
It crawled under his skin, fire and ice in equal measure, invading every nerve. His veins lit up with searing agony, like liquid lightning running through every artery.
His vision swam as the ocean, the lights, even the pain blurred.
And then, a voice, a faint alien whisper curling in the edge of his consciousness.
'Not bad…'
Ashen's eyes rolled back as darkness swallowed him whole.