Category:The South Pacific

An underwater laboratory in the Pacific discovers a signal emanating from the Mariana's Trench. A team of aquanauts (the mission commander, three scientists, three military officers armed with underwater rifles) are dispatched to investigate the signal and are authorized to open a container holding high-tech underwater suits. These suits are a cross between a EVA, a wetsuit and a military BDU.

After several hours of lowering themselves in submersibles down the trench, they begin to cross towards Challenger Deep, and they see that the valley is actually a metallic fin of some sort with strange angular engravings. The aquanaut team radios to the communications officer still in the underwater habitat and transmits video showing the fin jutting out from the wall of the trench. However, this is not the source of the signal being emanated and the mission commander decides to continue.

They mark the fin with several underwater flares before taking their submersible deeper to the bottom of the trench. After hours of following the signal deeper, the team arrives at the known depth of the trench, 6.85 miles below sea level. The communications officer informs them that they have been authorized to go EVA and the crew dons their high-tech underwater outfits, helmets and hardware. The commander leads them out of their submersible and using the built in aqua-thrusters in their packs, the team makes their way to the underwater surface of the trench.

Touching the soft ground they do not see a black ribbed, bone-like tail whipping it's way away from them, seeming to curl away and into the rocks. The mission commander leads the others closer towards the signal until they reach another trench heading deeper into the earth's crust. They mark this area as well with flares and return to the submersible, proceeding down this opening.

The darkness of the trench begins to fade, a soft golden light growing brighter and brighter as the submersible moves deeper into the trench. The commander notices an oddity on his depth meter indicating that the pressure outside is equal to the natural air pressure on land. He informs his communication officer who takes note.

The glowing light now illuminates a enormous chamber circular in diamater bristling with machinery and more of the engraved metal similar to the Challenger Deep "fin." The mission commander sees that the area is flooded with water. As he angles the submersible downwards to get an accurate diagram of the chamber the headlights on the vehicle illuminate the slightly curved shell of a circular spacecraft. Bubbles from a enormous tear in the metal appear, indicating that the vessel is flooded with water. The mission commander notes that the shape of the tear is the same as the "fin," as for what that shard of metal is doing way up there, nobody has an explanation.

The communications officer notices an anomaly on his radar. The same black "tail" worms its way through the underwater grass and thick coral weeds as the exterior lights illuminate the perimeter of the structure. The tail seems to worm its way into a small crack between rocks and the blip on the screen vanishes. He informs the commander of the anomaly as the team decides to return to the habitat and report to the mainland on their discovery.

NOTES:

The vessel is an alien spacecraft.

The trench is the result of alien architecture and its construction. The opening shaft leading to the ship was made as the worm-like species broke out of their stasis cylinders, infecting the ship and making their way outside the alien structures and onto the ocean floor. The "fin" was a part of the vessel that was ejected as the alien crew attempted to evacuate their vessel, but the immense water pressure flooded their ship, seemingly drowning them.