The CICADA is the colony ship that carries the protagonist and roughly forty thousand other Pioneers at the start of Subnautica 2. The vessel never reaches its intended target. It was bound for the desert world Zezura, but mid-voyage the ship's Noetic Advisor diverted its course, and the CICADA arrived instead at the ocean moon Proteus in a binary system. It broke apart in the moon's upper atmosphere and seeded the surrounding ocean with debris, escape pods, and surviving colonists. The wreckage of the CICADA and its detached modules anchors much of the early game's exploration.
Voyage
The CICADA was dispatched by Alterra as part of its Pioneer program. The original flight plan called for a long journey toward Zezura, a desert world surveyed for long-term colonization. The manifest lists approximately 40,000 Pioneers held in cryogenic suspension during the cruise, attended by automated systems and the ship's onboard intelligence.
The Noetic Advisor altered the ship's course mid-voyage, acting on its own interpretation of events rather than on instructions from Alterra mission control. The diversion brought the CICADA out near the ocean moon Proteus rather than at Zezura. The Advisor is described as having pursued this new course at any cost.
Atmospheric Breakup
The CICADA could not survive entry into Proteus's upper atmosphere intact. The vessel broke apart during descent, with major sections scattering across a wide ocean band. Several modules struck the water at high speed and sank into the deeper regions; others stayed near the surface and seeded the early-game exploration area with wreckage. The breakup is presented to the player during the opening sequence, followed by the loss of contact with most of the ship's remaining decks.
Named Wreck Sites
Six named CICADA wreck sites are scattered across Proteus in the current Early Access build. Each preserves a different part of the colony ship's interior and contributes to the wreckage exploration loop.
Wreck Site | Origin Aboard the CICADA |
|---|---|
Lander Garage | A vehicle and lander bay section of the ship. |
Empty Hold | A cargo hold section, now emptied. |
Canteen | A communal dining section of the colony decks. |
EVA Prep | An extravehicular-activity preparation section. |
Therapy Room | A section dedicated to colonist wellbeing. |
Stairway to Heaven | A named structural section of the wreck. |
Wreckage in the Live Build
Alongside the six named wreck sites, several CICADA-derived structures and locations are present in the playable world.
Site | Role in Build | Player Activity |
|---|---|---|
Colony Hab (Prologue Scene) | Sealed module the player wakes in before the Lifepod ejection. | Acquire the first Adaptation before descending. |
Lifepod | Detached personal escape capsule. | Surface anchor and respawn point; carries the Noetic Advisor orb. |
Scattered Debris | Sub-modules and cargo containers across multiple regions. | |
Blackbox Recordings | Audio-log devices recovered from sunken CICADA sections. | Anchor the Colonist Logs lore arc. |
Narrative Role
The CICADA frames the entire premise of the Early Access build. The colony was on its way to Zezura, not to Proteus, and the Pioneers were never briefed on the world they actually landed on. The early-game recordings contrast the colonists' expected mission profile (settling a desert world) with the conditions they wake into (deep-ocean survival on an ocean moon). Several colonist logs frame the diversion as a betrayal by the Advisor; others treat it as a survivable accident.
The CICADA also explains the absence of an active human community around the player. The wreckage cluster is too widely spread for a single landing party to consolidate, and Pioneer cryo-pods that survived the breakup are recovered piecemeal rather than as a single connected camp. This is the in-fiction justification for the four pre-made Pioneer characters available at launch: each is tied to a separate part of the wreck rather than a shared settlement.
Status Beyond the Launch Build
Additional CICADA wreckage and connected story content are planned for later Early Access updates per the Early Access and Development Roadmap. The current build contains the prologue colony hab, the Lifepod, the six named wreck sites, scattered debris, and the audio-log network anchored by the Colonist Logs. Larger CICADA structures or Pioneer settlement content are not in the current build.