A recap of...
Subnautica
Approximately 1000 years prior to the game's events, the Precursors, an ancient, advanced alien species, came to 4546B in search of a cure for an apocalyptically deadly disease (the "Kharaa Bacterium"). Investigating thousands of planets in an attempt to find a cure, the Precursors eventually located a species of organism on 4546B, the Sea Emperor Leviathan, which produced an enzyme ("Enzyme 42") that could cure Kharaa. Unfortunately, the only living Sea Emperor was too elderly to produce the enzyme in enough potency to develop a cure. Although the Precursors attempted to force the Sea Emperor's eggs to hatch, hoping to acquire a more potent form of Enzyme 42 from her offspring, they were unsuccessful. In an attempt to better understand the egg-hatching process of the Sea Emperor, the Precursors took the egg of a Sea Dragon Leviathan (an evolutionary cousin of the Sea Emperor) to study. The Sea Dragon whose egg they took tracked down where the eggs were being held and destroyed the lab, leaking the Kharaa bacterium into the planet's ecosystem. The Precursors enabled a facility known as the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, a large weapon that fires on any spacecraft attempting to land on, or leave, 4546B, before evacuating. Kharaa was prevented from wiping out life on 4546B by a small amount of Enzyme 42 that was spread around (unintentionally) by a vent system the Precursors had built which connected the open ocean to the Sea Emperor's containment chamber and her children.
Much later, 10 years before the events of the game, a private vessel, the Degasi, came too close to 4546B and was shot down by the Quarantine Enforcement Platform. Only three of the six crew members survived: the captain, Paul Torgal; his son, Bart Torgal; and the ship's mercenary, Marguerit Maida. The three washed ashore on the Floating Island, an island-- visitable in-game-- held above the surface of the water by massive, buoyant creatures permanently stuck to its underside. The crew built a base and two observatories on the island. Eventually, waning food supplies, worsening weather, lack of resources, and curiosity as to the origin of an alien artifact discovered on the beach drove the crew to leave the island and search the ocean for answers. After constructing a new base in the "Grand Reef" biome, the crew discovered that they had been infected by the Kharaa Bacterium. Bart realized that, since Kharaa was unknown to humans, it had no known cure, and so he took on the task of developing one himself. Marguerit, under the guise of providing a test subject for Bart, attacked a predatory Reaper Leviathan and towed it back to the base using a submarine. A few minutes afterwards, the base was attacked by a Reaper Leviathan (either the one Marguerit subdued, or a second one drawn by the first's scent) and Paul was killed. Bart, believing Marguerit to be dead, returned to the Floating Island, and succumbed to Kharaa.[c] Marguerit defeated the attacking Reaper and, using its bloated corpse as a raft, floated to 4546B's polar region, returning in Subnautica: Below Zero.
10 years later, the Aurora, brand-new flagship of the Alterra Corporation, draws too close to 4546B while scanning for the remains of the Degasi and is shot down. 8 hours after the crash, Aurora receives a blueprint for an escape rocket from Alterra HQ, just before the long-range receiver goes offline. Many crew members eject in life pods, though only one survives: the player-character, Ryley Robinson, who contracted Kharaa shortly after landing . After repairing his life pod's radio and secondary systems, Ryley begins receiving radio transmissions leading him to the other (now-empty) life pods. After some time has passed, Ryley begins receiving transmissions from the Andromedan trading vessel Sunbeam. After detecting the debris field in orbit around, and on the surface of, 4546B, Sunbeam comes to rescue Ryley. Sunbeam is shot down by the Quarantine Enforcement Platform while landing, exploding mid-air and leaving no survivors. After this, Ryley receives a final transmission from Alterra HQ, informing him of the escape rocket blueprint in the captain quarters aboard Aurora and providing him with the access code for the room. Ryley also begins receiving telepathic communications from the Sea Emperor Leviathan in the Primary Containment Facility, a complex constructed by the Precursors to contain and study the Sea Emperor. The Sea Emperor helps Ryley find her containment facility, briefly explaining her history with the Precursors and asking Ryley to activate the teleporter within her containment chamber and hatch her eggs so that her young may be free. She gives Ryley the recipe for an enzyme that will allow her eggs to hatch. After the eggs hatch, the juvenile Sea Emperor Leviathans spit out a concentrated form of Enzyme 42 which cures Ryley's infection as well as all the other infected fish on 4546B, finally eradicating the disease. Now cured, Ryley is able to disable the Quarantine Enforcement Platform (it can only be disabled by a person who is not infected with Kharaa), build the escape rocket, and leave the planet.
After the credits finish rolling, an automated voice can be heard informing Ryley that he is one trillion credits in debt to Alterra due to harvesting resources from 4546B, and will only be granted permission to land once he has paid it off.
Much later, 10 years before the events of the game, a private vessel, the Degasi, came too close to 4546B and was shot down by the Quarantine Enforcement Platform. Only three of the six crew members survived: the captain, Paul Torgal; his son, Bart Torgal; and the ship's mercenary, Marguerit Maida. The three washed ashore on the Floating Island, an island-- visitable in-game-- held above the surface of the water by massive, buoyant creatures permanently stuck to its underside. The crew built a base and two observatories on the island. Eventually, waning food supplies, worsening weather, lack of resources, and curiosity as to the origin of an alien artifact discovered on the beach drove the crew to leave the island and search the ocean for answers. After constructing a new base in the "Grand Reef" biome, the crew discovered that they had been infected by the Kharaa Bacterium. Bart realized that, since Kharaa was unknown to humans, it had no known cure, and so he took on the task of developing one himself. Marguerit, under the guise of providing a test subject for Bart, attacked a predatory Reaper Leviathan and towed it back to the base using a submarine. A few minutes afterwards, the base was attacked by a Reaper Leviathan (either the one Marguerit subdued, or a second one drawn by the first's scent) and Paul was killed. Bart, believing Marguerit to be dead, returned to the Floating Island, and succumbed to Kharaa.[c] Marguerit defeated the attacking Reaper and, using its bloated corpse as a raft, floated to 4546B's polar region, returning in Subnautica: Below Zero.
10 years later, the Aurora, brand-new flagship of the Alterra Corporation, draws too close to 4546B while scanning for the remains of the Degasi and is shot down. 8 hours after the crash, Aurora receives a blueprint for an escape rocket from Alterra HQ, just before the long-range receiver goes offline. Many crew members eject in life pods, though only one survives: the player-character, Ryley Robinson, who contracted Kharaa shortly after landing . After repairing his life pod's radio and secondary systems, Ryley begins receiving radio transmissions leading him to the other (now-empty) life pods. After some time has passed, Ryley begins receiving transmissions from the Andromedan trading vessel Sunbeam. After detecting the debris field in orbit around, and on the surface of, 4546B, Sunbeam comes to rescue Ryley. Sunbeam is shot down by the Quarantine Enforcement Platform while landing, exploding mid-air and leaving no survivors. After this, Ryley receives a final transmission from Alterra HQ, informing him of the escape rocket blueprint in the captain quarters aboard Aurora and providing him with the access code for the room. Ryley also begins receiving telepathic communications from the Sea Emperor Leviathan in the Primary Containment Facility, a complex constructed by the Precursors to contain and study the Sea Emperor. The Sea Emperor helps Ryley find her containment facility, briefly explaining her history with the Precursors and asking Ryley to activate the teleporter within her containment chamber and hatch her eggs so that her young may be free. She gives Ryley the recipe for an enzyme that will allow her eggs to hatch. After the eggs hatch, the juvenile Sea Emperor Leviathans spit out a concentrated form of Enzyme 42 which cures Ryley's infection as well as all the other infected fish on 4546B, finally eradicating the disease. Now cured, Ryley is able to disable the Quarantine Enforcement Platform (it can only be disabled by a person who is not infected with Kharaa), build the escape rocket, and leave the planet.
After the credits finish rolling, an automated voice can be heard informing Ryley that he is one trillion credits in debt to Alterra due to harvesting resources from 4546B, and will only be granted permission to land once he has paid it off.
