---
The deep sea had given Reeve more than intelligence—it had given him a ghost.
The crew at Fort Sentinel worked around the clock to process the flood of data recovered from Echo Station. But all eyes were now on the unfolding mystery of the stasis pods. Six cryogenic chambers, sealed, labeled, and marked with the words: TACTICAL BOND – PROTOCOL BLACKCROWN.
Reeve stood in the SubOps vault, watching the 3D scans. The bodies inside were motionless, human-shaped but indistinct. Ice coated the inner walls of the stasis glass. Life signs fluctuated faintly—possible neural activity, but no conscious brain waves.
"Do we open them?" Keira asked.
"Not yet," Reeve replied. "We isolate, then we study. I want a medtech drone assigned to each pod, and a hard quarantine line on the whole platform. If these people wake up, we need answers—on our terms."
---
Meanwhile, U-01 Shade had returned to full operational status.
KRIEG reported no hull breach, no acoustic anomalies, and no pursuit. But the AI had marked something unusual during its final pass through Omega-7: a secondary signal, distant but active, broadcasting in a loop similar to the orbital descent module.
Reeve didn't like coincidences.
He authorized a follow-up mission.
> MISSION: "SPECTRAL TRENCH" Objective: Track secondary broadcast signature
Region: Sector Lambda-5
Depth: Estimated 3,600 meters
> ASSETS:
U-01 Shade (Submarine)
1x Kite Recon Drone
2x Skua Mini-Drones
---
While KRIEG submerged again, Fort Sentinel launched another project.
> PROJECT: BULWARK Class: Heavy Destroyer
Blueprint Source: Echo Station Archive
Status: Assembly Initiated (Drydock Tier III in Progress)
> SPECS:
Displacement: 9,800 tons
64-cell VLS array (Multi-role: SAM / ASM / Land-Strike)
5-inch Naval Gun
2x Torpedo Launchers
Dual Hangar Decks (Rotary Drone & ASW Helicopter Compatible)
Power: Mini-Reactor Core (Tier III)
Reeve had selected the name himself.
"Bulwark. Because it's the last wall between us and whatever's coming."
---
That evening, Spectre-01 conducted a flight sweep of Zeta Quadrant. Radar scans passed over the wreck tagged in Chapter Sixteen—a ship burned and broken, but now more clearly defined.
> VISUAL CONFIRMATION:
Ship Class: Destroyer Retrofit
Origin: Unregistered
Structural Markings: Faded Red Star + Serial "K-38"
Keira stared at the feed.
"Not pirate. Not ours. It's Soviet. Late Cold War silhouette."
"Then it was brought into this world like us," Reeve said.
He marked it for salvage.
---
Twenty meters beneath the runway, in Fort Sentinel's R&D vault, the Project NEMEAN decrypt queue hit 94%.
> REVEALING FILE: "Prototype Command Network – BATTLELINK-X" Function: Real-time inter-ship coordination AI suite Capabilities:
Automated Fire Distribution Across Fleet
Active ECM Feedback Looping
Long-Range Fleet Maneuver Synchronization
"This was built for an armada," Keira muttered.
"And we're going to build one," Reeve replied.
---
As U-01 reached Lambda-5, sonar contacts began to bloom.
KRIEG launched the Skua drones. They spiraled outward, cameras feeding back distorted shapes—curved hulls, broken superstructures, and what looked like a hangar frame twisted around itself.
One signal grew clearer.
> SIGNAL LOCKED – STATIONARY OBJECT Designation: Autonomous Relay Node
Status: Damaged, Transmitting Loop Message
Language: Unknown (Partially Obfuscated)
It was broadcasting a name.
> TEXT RECOVERED: "ARCHON PROTOCOL – CMD. JUNO ACTIVE"
Reeve stood frozen.
"Juno. We've seen that name before."
"Pirate logs. Treaty reference. Hollow Sea something," Keira said quickly.
"She's real. She's not just a code tag. She's another Commander."
---
Back at Fort Sentinel, Reeve issued a base-wide advisory:
"All recon units are to reroute and confirm presence of rival command structures. Any AI traces resembling 'JUNO' are to be sandboxed. No open links."
"Prepare for contact. Because we're not the only fleet anymore."
---
And in the deep dark of Lambda-5, U-01's camera caught the final image: a glimmer of steel hull vanishing into blackness, with a single emblem etched in red:
> A stylized tower encircled by barbed rings.
Keira stared at the image.
"What the hell is that?"
Reeve answered without blinking.
"Her flag."
---
[End of Chapter Nineteen]