Reggie confirmed Daniel’s report, the revelation that there were enemies on the horizon running through the squad like lightning. Korta immediately began demanding their location, which both soldiers marked with two waypoints. Said waypoints immediately became obsolete, as both groups of enemies continued moving toward the debris. One party of 20, and one party of 45: “45? That’s a strange number for a Republican group. Aren’t we all supposed to be operating in squads of 20?’

  A man by the name of Praxis piped up with a good question. Had several Republican teams decided to merge? That wouldn’t create an odd number. Had they taken casualties?

  “We should stay back and call for reinforcements.”, Arnold Martel commented, the first one to state the obvious. They were outnumbered by more than 3 to 1. Their allies were further away, but it would make sense to call them and wait for them to get here before closing in on the target: “No.”

  Korta chewed on his fingernail as he thought, eyes looking around suspiciously: “If we wait for the others, the Terran dogs will seize the prize. We’re closer than either enemy group. If we move swiftly, we can get in and out with what we need.”

  Daniel could hardly believe what he was hearing. Technically, Korta wasn’t entirely off base. If things went perfectly, they could reach the debris, dive down, find some salvage, then leave. If things went perfectly. If they didn’t, and things inevitably went wrong, they would be sandwiched between two groups of enemies. They’d be sandwiched between enemies under the sea, likely surrounded by underwater dangers and unable to ascend quickly thanks to the water pressure. Said pressure wouldn’t kill them if they gave themselves time to acclimate. But any human forced to move from a high-pressure environment to a low-pressure environment rapidly would pop like a cork. While the Pioneers’ bodies were able to mitigate this weakness, they couldn’t avoid it entirely.

  That said, their other allies were far enough away that waiting for them would give up the initiative. As dangerous as this decision was, it was the option that made it most likely the Pioneers would achieve their mission. Daniel and the others could only nod at the lawfully given order, with Arnold adding: “Even so, now would be the time to inform our allies of our discovery and call for backup.”

  The time for internal competition had passed. They’d need help if they wanted to hold onto the prize. The Lieutenant nodded and sent a quick transmission to the others before they went on their way. After a little over two hours, they finally arrived at the floating metal debris. The Pioneers donned undersea helmets and slipped beneath the waves, aiming their Oceanglides straight downward. The helmets were metallic grey with blue visors, designed to help them see in the absolute blackness of the deep ocean. It didn’t take long for the light to dim, then vanish entirely, forcing the helmets to kick in. The dark world suddenly took on a mild sapphire hue. Daniel looked around and spotted his allies, their bodies clearly seen and outlined in blue.

  The Pioneers swam through the void, constantly monitoring their surroundings. They saw nothing, a fact that disturbed them. The chill of the cold sent goosebumps up and down their bodies, and even as their bodies adapted to the cold, those goosebumps remained. Breathing unconsciously growing shallow, the Pioneers slowed their descent, trading a desire to beat the enemy to the objective for greater caution. Even their ambitious commander went along with that program. After around forty-five minutes of nervous swimming, they finally saw something.

  It began as a panoply of red and purple lights, glowing ominously in the distance. As they grew closer, they saw that these lights were the bioluminescent nodes dotting the heads of a vast forest of underwater plants. Some were the size of massive trees, while others were small wisps, little larger than tall grass. The ocean floor was carpeted with this uncanny vegetation, and they watched as vast schools of fish swirled around in the unexpected haven of life. Rather than enervate him, Daniel felt his uneasiness multiply as he gazed upon the spectacle. The reason was an ongoing theme. Silence.

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  A roiling menagerie of chaos and life should be noisy and full of fish calls. Yet as he watched, the marine animals barely made a sound as they glided through the underwater forest. Even when they fed on one another, they were often as quiet as possible. The reason for that revealed itself when he watched one larger predator fashion its jaws around a stout-looking fish. The latter let out a feeble cry as it began to glow, trying to use whatever ability it had to survive. The effort was futile, but not because of the predator.

  Several of the glowing, vine-like plants nearby snapped out, wrapping around both parties with crushing force. Their normally red tips changed to a light blue as they crushed the life out of both fish. Eventually, both stopped struggling, and Daniel watched in disgust as energy began to flow from the cocooned fish and through the vines, causing their dark green bodies to glow blue. As the Pioneers continued their dive, he decided that some reading might be in order. Pulling up his Codex’s notification log, he found this: “Luxamar Plant: Found only on the deep ocean floor, the Luxamar plant feeds and is fed on by deep-sea fish. It locates its prey through sound, forcing the surrounding wildlife to adapt to hunt in silence. The Luxamar plant is capable of rudimentary teamwork, coordinating with neighboring plants to strangle larger prey to death. This appearance of intelligence is belied by the fact that this plant will not react to physical stimulus, relying purely on sound to perceive prey around it. This makes it vulnerable to swift and decisive attacks.

  Medium sized Luxamar Plant spotted! A forest of Luxamar Plants spotted!

  Class: Mid-Grade Zeta: Individual Threat Assessment: Low: Group Threat Assessment: High-Moderate.”

  Well, that was some small comfort. So long as he kept quiet, those things shouldn’t touch him. It also shouldn’t be a problem if only one decided to attack him. Several at once would be a real threat, however.

  The mighty forest of Luxamar plants ringed the gaping maw of an ocean floor trench, which the Pioneers swam for. At the bottom of the trench, they could see more alien lights and the waypoint representing their ultimate goal. As they’d gotten closer to the debris that’d been their original objective, Daniel had aimed his scanner beneath the waves. He’d found a large object he’d suspected was the body of the fallen ship, marking its coordinates for later reference. The Pioneers stuck close to the rock wall of the ocean’s basin as they swam directly at their target.

  Daniel chanced a look back at the rock wall, noting that it had suddenly shifted from a solid cliff to being dotted with decently sized underwater caves. He then looked to his left and right, confirming the presence of his allies, then focused back on his objective. A sudden tingling danced up Daniel’s neck, and he looked to his left again.

  The man was gone.

  Daniel’s fate was determined by his reflexes within the next few milliseconds. Immediately, he expanded his Hunter’s Domain and saw tendrils of purple light questing toward him from behind. His arm swung out, typing a single character into a blue box on his HUD. He barely managed to touch it before being wrapped up in threads of shining amethyst light. It reeled him away from the group at a jaw-dropping pace, leaving his Oceanglider behind. Daniel had bigger problems to deal with as his Domain revealed his opponent's face.

  It was a face only a mother could love, crimson and jagged, with a mouth unhinged to an unsettling degree in preparation for its incoming prey. It was massive, wide enough to swallow Daniel in one bite. Three rows of jagged yellow teeth and a lolling pink tongue glistened with anticipation, watched over by a single glowing purple eye. Its head was flanked by four long ‘arms’ on both sides, thin insect-like appendages shooting out the purple threads dragging Daniel to his doom. He flexed his arms, but even with his impressive strength, Daniel knew he couldn’t brute force his way out of the trap in time.

  Good thing he wasn’t relying on brute force.

  Just before he’d been dragged away, Daniel had hit the hotkey to Manifest the Heavenly Armament. His right hand now grasped a flaming sword, blazing with bright light even in the cold water. It cut through one of the threads with its mere presence, and Daniel managed to maneuver it with his wrist to cut a few more. That allowed him to break free, yet his momentum continued him toward the jaws of doom. There was no time to summon the Heavenwalker Tech, so Daniel needed to make a split-second decision. He supercharged his right arm with the Destroyer’s Strike.

  And threw his Heavenly Sword.

  The blazing white light created a trail of bubbles as it hurtled through the water. It struck the soft back of the creature’s mouth to devastating effect, eliciting a scream of anguish as it bore through the back of the creature’s spine. Daniel was relieved to see the monster spasm once, then grow still.

  The good news was that Daniel’s decisiveness allowed him to survive, turning the tables on his opponent and killing it instantly with his counterattack. The bad news was the numerous screams that echoed in the water around him, letting him know the fight wasn’t over yet. Daniel didn’t even have the time to dismiss and re-summon his Heavenly Armament before his Domain detected another set of tendrils heading his way.