The Independence Goes Down

The Swarm

The Independence’s attempt to stage a biological counteroffensive spirals into a shipboard catastrophe that costs lives and strands survivors in the Arctic.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Yrr Enter the Sluice The Yrr Enter the Sluice from "The Swarm". A Breach at the Hull The ship’s defenses fail A Yrr mass forces its way through the sluice after Rubin urges the crew to collect it.

The Yrr Enter the Sluice from "The Swarm". A Breach at the Hull The ship’s defenses fail A Yrr mass forces its way through the sluice after Rubin urges the crew to collect it.

A Breach at the Hull The ship’s defenses fail A Yrr mass forces its way through the sluice after Rubin urges the crew to collect it. An orca enters the basin, transforming the experiment into a lethal attack.

The Well Deck Becomes a Battlefield

Crew and Scientists Scatter Control is lost Orcas and Yrr tentacles overwhelm the well deck while gunfire and the trapped submersible add to the chaos. The vessel’s artificial containment system can no longer keep the attack outside.

The Ship Starts Flooding The Ship Starts Flooding from "The Swarm". A Warship Becomes a Wreck Structural failure spreads The blast ruptures compartments, flooding the ship and igniting further fires.

The Ship Starts Flooding from "The Swarm". A Warship Becomes a Wreck Structural failure spreads The blast ruptures compartments, flooding the ship and igniting further fires.

A Warship Becomes a Wreck Structural failure spreads The blast ruptures compartments, flooding the ship and igniting further fires. The crew’s evacuation is constrained by the vessel’s tilt and damaged systems.

The Final Escape The Final Escape from "The Swarm". A Few Survivors Leave Rescue through the rising water Anawak and Crowe escape through the flooding vessel and reach a Zodiac as the Independence sinks.

The Final Escape from "The Swarm". A Few Survivors Leave Rescue through the rising water Anawak and Crowe escape through the flooding vessel and reach a Zodiac as the Independence sinks.

A Few Survivors Leave Rescue through the rising water Anawak and Crowe escape through the flooding vessel and reach a Zodiac as the Independence sinks. Their survival depends on quick improvisation rather than the official evacuation plan.

The Yrr Are Left Unresolved The Yrr Are Left Unresolved from "The Swarm". A Costly Failure No victory is claimed The Independence is lost, Li’s plan fails, and the survivors have no certainty about the Yrr’s next move.

The Yrr Are Left Unresolved from "The Swarm". A Costly Failure No victory is claimed The Independence is lost, Li’s plan fails, and the survivors have no certainty about the Yrr’s next move.

A Costly Failure No victory is claimed The Independence is lost, Li’s plan fails, and the survivors have no certainty about the Yrr’s next move. The disaster reinforces the danger of treating ecological conflict as a conventional war.

during the well-deck crisis

minutes after the first breach

as explosions strike the Independence

after the bow and stern begin to fail

after the sinking, at sea