"Shit." Rhys swore with his arms crossed and his face scrunched up in a frown. He was currently staring at the radar and other measuring instruments that they used to monitor the state of the submarine.
"Indeed." Dmitri whistled as he sat with his arms crossed behind his head. Even with their current situation, he was still able to look relaxed and carefree.
The problem that they were looking at right now was something quite urgent, but not something that they could not work with. The weight of the mech was dragging the submarine down. They were not able to reach optimal speeds, and if they did not get out of Empire of Fire territory as soon as possible, then it might turn into a much bigger problem.
"How far away from the border are we?" Rhys asked.
"Hmm, thirty minutes tops." Dmitri checked a few things and said.
"Alright, get the other subs ready."
Rhys left the control room of the submarine after that and made his way to his temporary room. He was tired, but did not plan to sleep until he had reached his secret base of operations.
WOOOOOOO!!!
All of a sudden, a loud alarm rang out through the submarine, startling Rhys. He cursed and immediately left the room to head to the control room.
"What happened this time?"
"Sir! The radar is picking up a signal!" One of the operators suddenly yelled and Rhys turned his eyes.
"Damnit!" He cursed and marched out of the room while yelling, "Prepare the torpedoes! Call in the others for backup too!" Rhys had wanted to sneak out without much issue, but it seemed they were going to get in a fight after all.
.
.
"Admiral!" Admiral Tenzo turned around when he saw the messenger running his way. The young, brown skinned man was not a native of the Empire of Fire. The town where he had lived in had been conquered by the Empire's forces, and the young men there had been conscripted. This had happened years ago, and the young man was a little boy then, so indoctrinating him was not too difficult. Now, he was a loyal adherent of the Empire of Fire.
"What is it, Ricky?" Tenzo asked, his voice stern. The long jagged scar that ran from his eyebrow to his neck did nothing to easy the ferocity of his gaze.
Ricky, the young man, paused before regaining his composure. "We picked up the signals of a submarine that isn't ours! I think it has something to do with the report we got earlier."
"Hmm." Tenzo rubbed his chin and followed Ricky to the main cabin of the Carrier flagship. There, many people rushed around to make sense of what their scanners had picked up.
"Admiral, they are not responding to our requests for communication and are actively trying to move around us. Should we engage?!"
"..." Tenzo thought for a moment before making his decision.
"Enga-!"
BOOM!
A heavy explosion rocked the surface of the water as the side of a frigate not far away blew up. A large pillar of water shot up into the air and some of the crew was thrown off the ship.
"We're under attack!"
.
.
"Ha! Fools! Those Ghost Torpedoes work wonders!" Dmitri laughed when he saw multiple ships get hit by the torpedoes loaded in the submarine.
The term Ghost Torpedoes was dubbed by none other than Rhys. He had designed these torpedoes in advance, waiting for the day he would need them. They had been configured in such a way that the scanners of the Empire of Fire would never be able to detect them before it was too late.
This feat was achieved after numerous years studying the underlying technology that made the Empire of Fire's navy what it was today. It also helped that Rhys had played a large part in elevating their technology to what it currently was.
As such, the Ghost Torpedoes that were launched from the submarine shot forward with impunity, striking heavy blows to any ship that they hit. In just a few moments, four ships had massive holes in them and their crew were evacuating frantically.
.
.
"Those damn bastards!" Tenzo lost his cool, veins popping up on his forehead. "Fire all we have! I don't care who they are. Anyone who attacks the Empire of Fire will face our wrath!" He clenched his fists as the soldiers rushed to carry out his orders.
However, before any good work could be done, multiple explosions shook the hull of the flagship, sending everyone reeling. Tenzo himself staggered, but did not fall, unlike most of the crew present around him. He was a hardened veteran, and the moment the shock had occurred, he had steadied himself.
Tenzo's fury only grew as he realized that the torpedoes had slammed into the side of the flagship's hull. Not only had the torpedoes hit the hull, but the locations targeted had affected the torpedo launch areas, meaning that they could not launch any torpedoes from that side of the ship!
Tenzo wanted to scream but in the next moment, the carrier shook once again, tilting in the opposite direction!
"WHAT?!!!"
"We are picking up signals of two more submarines approaching from the opposite direction, Admiral!"
"Our torpedoes launchers are jammed! We can't do anything!"
"We are taking in water! We have to abandon ship!"
All around Tenzo, the crew shouted out alerts that left Tenzo despairing. What could he do? Nothing. He could not do anything!
'This will leave a bad stain on my record...' Amidst the fury, Tenzo's heart had already reconciled the fact that he had lost before he even made a move. The enemy was too ferocious!
"Abandon ship! Evacuate the ship!" Tenzo bellowed out orders and the crewmen around him let out sighs of relief. They had half expected that Tenzo would refuse to evacuate the ship, which would doom all of them!
Tenzo waited until all of the crew around him had left before barring his teeth in a ferocious grin.
"Whoever you are... This is war."