---
Below 200 meters, light was a memory.
The sea pressed in on all sides, black and silent, broken only by the dull resonance of sonar pings echoing through saltwater and steel. Inside U-01 Shade, Fort Sentinel's first diesel-electric submarine, every system hummed in harmony—silent propulsion, compressed air tanks, AIP core venting in regulated cycles. The submarine was a ghost, and the ocean was its hunting ground.
Reeve watched from the SubOps deck via live telemetry, the holographic projection flickering in shades of deep blue. Even from Fort Sentinel, the tactical overlays and sensor trails made him feel like he was aboard. The enemy wasn't always flesh and metal. Sometimes, it was the unknown itself.
> MISSION ACTIVE: PHANTOM DRIFT
Vessel: U-01 Shade
Depth: 312 meters
Route: Sector Delta-3
Objective: Investigate Encrypted Acoustic Signal
Risk Rating: Medium-High
Inside U-01's command capsule, the AI core designated KRIEG monitored 137 environmental inputs in real time. Water pressure, salinity variance, thermal bloom. It parsed the ocean like a battlefield, even in peacetime. Redundant fiber-optic feeds relayed visual feeds from its periscope shell, sonar array, and torpedo guidance sensors.
KRIEG extended a secondary hydrophone array. The signal from Delta-3 pulsed again—ultra-low frequency, faint, but regular. Every 42 seconds, a rhythm emerged. Not biological. Not purely mechanical either. Something else.
> SIGNAL PATTERN: 0.082 Hz
SIGNAL TYPE: Encrypted Ping Loop
SOURCE: Seabed Contact – Static
"Dead comm node?" Keira speculated aloud from the CIC. She stood next to Reeve, arms folded, brows furrowed.
"No," he said. "Too regular. Too clean. That's a transmission, not a beacon."
U-01 shifted its trim, ballast tanks adjusting. At 320 meters, the shape emerged.
Lights from its navigation lamps flared softly against something massive embedded in the seabed. Angled armor plating. Erosion-resistant mesh. Scarred observation domes. It wasn't a wreck—it was designed to survive the deep.
> OBJECT IDENTIFIED: ORBITAL DESCENT MODULE (PDM-31 Class)
Length: 203 meters
Mass: ~4,000 tons
Material: Composite Alloy / Ceramic Heat Shielding
Origin: MIL-CIV Joint Command (Pre-Collapse Era)
The structure jutted from the seabed at an angle, its rear section half-buried in silt and crushed coral. Faint thermal signatures radiated from an internal power source—likely a decaying radiothermal generator. Still alive. Still transmitting.
KRIEG's external drone launched from a dorsal hatch, swimming ahead and lighting the wreck's interior with a dual-beam array. Inside were shattered conduits, dormant consoles, and a sealed vault core covered in etched military insignias. One marking stood out:
> "ECHO-CTRL // SOUTHCOM – BLUE CONTINGENCY"
Reeve's pulse ticked upward.
"Mark it. I want that thing out of the water by tomorrow."
---
By mid-morning the next day, a recovery task force had assembled.
Hammerhead 01 led the surface screen, armed for interception. NH90 drones carried sonar buoys and relay repeaters. A six-bay drone barge carried the lift drones—massive spider-like machines designed for deep salvage.
Reeve remained in the CIC, supervising the slow approach. The data link from U-01 remained stable.
> LIFT SEQUENCE INITIATED
Anchor Vectors Locked
Buoyancy Control Normal
ETA to Surface: 3 Hours
In the projection tank, the object looked like a sleeping beast rising from the abyss. With each meter it climbed, the sonar profile widened. Internal readings stabilized. The signal was still active—calm, steady, almost like a heartbeat.
Keira leaned over a console, brow tight. "Why would something that deep still have power?"
Reeve stared at the node. "Because someone wanted it to wait. For us. Or something else."
As the PDM-31 broke the surface, the sea steamed where hull met sun. Its shape was brutal—angular heat shielding, no unnecessary parts, purely function over form. Drone cranes secured it to the modular recovery platform and began the slow transit to Fort Sentinel.
> OBJECT STATUS: SECURED
Internal Power: Minimal
Structural Integrity: 87%
Hazard Rating: Unknown (Quarantine Imposed)
---
The recovery dock was sealed.
Specialized teams in radiation suits opened the first access panel. Air hissed. Lights inside flickered—red emergency strobes and a single central console still showing life.
> SYSTEM CORE: ACTIVE
Quantum Memory Vault: LOCKED
Language Detected: Naval OS Variant 9.2 – Encrypted
Reeve stood outside the quarantine barrier as the AI core was transferred to the R&D vault.
He tapped the command pad.
> TASK ORDER: DECRYPT ORBITAL MODULE
Subsystems: – Signal Loop Translation
– Memory Reconstruction
– Power Rebalance
– Vault Decipher Protocol
Estimated Completion: 28 Hours
Keira turned to him. "You think it's got blueprints?"
"I think it's got a lot more than that."
---
Back in the command tower, Reeve brought up the Naval Progression Matrix.
HQ Level 6 was now within striking range. Destroyer-class vessels. Aegis systems. Naval SAMs. Heavy hulls. The kind of ships that could turn Fort Sentinel into an empire.
> DRYDOCK TIER II EXPANSION – IN PROGRESS
RESOURCES: 60% Ready
Completion ETA: 18 Hours
He looked at the orbital node's flickering status bar one more time.
The ocean had given him a key.
All that remained was to turn the lock.
---