Chapter 124 The Iron Fleet

Chapter 124 The Iron Fleet
The Shielded Sky

"We have exactly three hours" Cipher said his voice breaking in the oppressive silence which blanketed the War Room. He pointed a shaking finger at the holographic projection of the Mariana Trench. A massive red line which showed the Aethelgard siphon moved downward through the Pacific Ocean and destroyed miles of water and bedrock.

"Once that dark-matter drill breaches the outer mantle and touches the planetary core" Cipher swallowed hard "it will create a localized vacuum. The Source magic which binds the tectonic plates together will be instantly extracted into the dreadnought. The Pacific Plate will violently overlap with the Mariana Plate. The ensuing mega-tsunamis and global earthquakes will break the continents into pieces."

I looked up at the ceiling of the bunker while I visualized the gigantic ancient Star-Beasts who fought a losing battle in the sky above us. Valda asked in frustration "Why don't we just blow up the ship?" Valda demanded "Kade you command gods now. Send Orion to rip the dreadnought out of the sky!"

"I can't" Kade said while his silver-blue eyes became filled with calculating dread. The liquid Star-Metal veins on his neck throbbed irregularly as he processed the cosmic data. Valda The dreadnought isn't located within our atmosphere as you believe. It exists within the dimensional fracture. The object uses the edge of reality to function as a protection against attacks. The cosmic mass of Orion will disperse throughout the galaxy if he strikes the hull. The ship is not accessible from any aircraft.

"I will attack the ship" I stated as I walked to the holographic table. I traced my finger down the massive red line of the drill. "If they are drinking our ocean with a straw we don't need to break the cup. We just need to pinch the straw."

"We will attack the siphon" Alpha Thorne realized while his heavy brow furrowed. "Underwater."

"Exactly" Kade nodded while his Alpha instincts surged to the forefront. "The siphon becomes weak at its connection point to our physical world which occurs at the trench's bottom. We must reach the drill head before it reaches the mantle so I can use the World Engine to join the tectonic plates together. I will construct a Star-Metal cap which has such great density their dark-matter drill will break against it.

Thorne moved without delay. He activated his encrypted comms unit.

Thorne declared "The Vanguard is dead but the Syndicate still controls the sea." "I will take command of the deep-sea operational fleet. Prime Luna... your chariots await."

The Abyssal Drop

We reached the Aurora harbor thirty minutes after we arrived.

The sky above us transformed into a battlefield. The Star-Beasts produced deafening shrieks which could be heard above the strong winds as they repeatedly intercepted the constant downpour of Aethelgard drop pods.

Three enormous Syndicate attack submarines floated in the Pacific's cold churning waters. The submarines were painted in a matte black color which featured heavy armor protection and carried anti-monster torpedoes.

The Nautilus served as our flag ship.

The submarine which had bone-plated armor suffered severe damage but received extensive repairs following our battle against the mutated megalodons. Finn had already taken his position on the deck while his iridescent blue scales showed anxious purple hues as he tested the magnetic navigation systems.

"The ocean is screaming Luna" Finn hissed as Kade Valda and I dropped down the hatch into the cramped red-lit command cabin. "The massive drill is violently displacing millions of tons of water. A normal hull would be torn apart by the underwater currents which exist down there.

"Our hull fails to meet standard requirements Kade stated with disappointment.

He moved to the middle of the cabin and positioned his Star-Metal gauntlet directly on the steel floor. The World Engine released a dazzling white-gold light which spread throughout the Nautilus interior. I watched in awe as the mundane steel of the submarine instantly transmuted into pristine unyielding Star-Metal.

"Finn take us down" Kade ordered. "Flank speed.

The Nautilus creaked as it descended into the pitch-black depths of the Pacific ocean while its entire structure was protected by god-magic. We started to descend into the abyss while the two Syndicate subs flanked us and their sonar devices activated at quick intervals.

The Cold Light

At ten thousand feet below the surface the water didn't only lack light but it also displayed chaotic behavior.

The Aethelgard siphon which stands as a gigantic structure of swirling sickly grey dark-matter energy has the width of several miles and illuminates the trench. The thermal vents which emerge from the superheated water create violent tossing of the two Syndicate subs. Finn handled the Nautilus through the boiling maelstrom by using his raw aquatic mutation abilities.

The radio broadcasted the panic-stricken voice of a Syndicate captain from the port-side sub "Sonar contact!! Multiple bogeys moving incredibly fast! They aren't biological!

Kade closed his eyes to extend his tectonic senses into the water.

"Aethelgard aquatic drones" Kade warned while his jaw clenched. "Sleek dark-matter torpedoes. They defend the drill path so prepare yourself for incoming attacks.

The murky grey light revealed dozens of sleek metallic shapes which moved in complete silence to exit the Star-Metal viewport. The vehicles moved through space by using localized slipspace fields which allowed them to navigate the crushing pressure without needing propellers.

The drone crashed into the starboard side of the Syndicate sub.

The object did not explode. Its dark-matter plating glowed and it violently attached to the hull of the sub. The sickly grey light enveloped the vessel which instantly drained all of its internal mechanical and ambient biological energy. The sub's lights died instantly while the heavy iron tube crashed into the abyss as a dead tomb.

"Their actions are causing our fleet to lose all its power Valda yelled while she held onto a handhold during the Nautilus wild banking maneuver to evade another drone. "We can't shoot them! The torpedoes will just feed their shields!

I requested to be released from confinement while my wild golden eyes focused on the group of dark-matter drones beyond the glass.

Valda reacted with shock by saying Elara the outside pressure will instantly crush your body. Elara the pressure outside will crush your bones in a millisecond. The pressure outside will crush your bones the moment you step outside. The ocean will boil and kill everyone because you cannot use your lightning underwater.

Valda I will not use electricity. My voice became a dangerous sound when I spoke to Valda.

My gaze shifted downward to my hands. The silver liquid starlight had begun to shine from my knuckles.

I explained to Kade that electrons move through materials. Photons don't. The storm has stopped. The storm has stopped. A star now exists in place of the thunderstorm. Starlight is capable of moving through the dark spaces.

Kade accepted the situation because he possessed superior knowledge about universal physics than anyone else.

Kade told me he would secure my position. Kade stood next to me and used his human left arm to secure his grip at my waist. He slammed his Star-Metal gauntlet against the viewport glass.

I remained inside the building. I placed both of my hands flat against Kade’s Star-Metal armor.

The fire ignited.

The cosmos flooded my veins with its blinding silver light. I teleported my body by sending astral lightning through Kade's Star-Metal conduit and into the submarine hull.

The dark ocean exploded into a spectacle of silver light which emitted silence and blinding brightness.

The astral lightning maintained its position above the water surface. The beam system operated as a celestial laser network. The freezing water created a barrier that pure starlight beams passed through to target Aethelgard drones.

The drones' dark-matter armor transformed pure cosmic light into complete energy absorption. The silver beams penetrated their slipspace fields, which resulted in their power cores experiencing extreme internal overload.

At least twenty alien drones experienced immediate system failure before they erupted into silent underwater explosions.

Finn shouted for everyone to hear that our path was safe to use. He moved the throttle forward with force.

The Nautilus moved forward to explore the destroyed drones while it descended into the boiling water of the chaotic trench.

The Tectonic Anvil

We reached the bottom of the ocean.

The scene appeared as an apocalypse. The enormous dark-matter drill of the siphon was forcefully destroying the visible glowing red magma at the fault line. The colossal grey energy pillar was using millions of bedrock tons to create vaporization and upward suction of bedrock materials.

The earth produced a groaning sound. The tectonic plates began to shake while the world seams started to separate.

Kade informed us that we had only a few minutes until the mantle would begin to break apart. Kade stepped away from the viewport.

The World Engine became fully operational at this moment. His chest plate emitted a bright white-gold light that created intense blinding shadows throughout the small cabin space.

Finn operate to move the submarine as near to drill head as possible according to Kade who spoke with absolute power authority. Elara drones need to be stopped from attacking our position.

Kade moved to the cabin's main entrance which was built from heavy steel.

I asked Kade what he was planning to do while I kept the silver light ready to use.

Kade explained to me that he was unable to change tectonic plates from the interior environment of the vessel. Kade needed to maintain physical relationships with bedrock elements. He required street access to leave his current position.