"General Sennheiser, sir. Are you sure we should retrieve the Longinus? Her majesty Yu wanted all forces to focus on the Republic." A soldier said as the ship flew towards its destination. They had taken a few other airships along, and the plan was to land and take what they had come for by force.
"Yes." General Sennheiser replied as he stared out of the ship's bridge, his hands clasped behind his back. The soldier nodded and stepped away. "Reviewing Amalia files, I discovered a very Interesting set of details. The Longinus wasn't at full power when it was first fired. Furthermore, the calamity class Meteorn's core was not destroyed. They didn't actually kill it, but they believed they did."
"Sir? What do you mean by that?" A soldier asked, confused.
General Sennheiser sighed. "It's body was destroyed, yet the core of it's being remained."
"What?" A soldier asked, confused. He was looking over a tablet with data on it, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Amalia's data is... very thorough and detailed. She must have had XRSV01 help her with at some point. Anyway to get to the point, there's an individual whose Resonance signature is an exact match for that calamity class Meteorn. While things are still developing, we have a small window of opportunity to do the job right this time." General Sennheiser said as the airships cruised over the ocean. "We must be quick, once we take him out... all of the rest of the Meteorn will fall. And we must do this before either Yu or Eclipse catches on. We only have once chance to do it right, because we are tempting our complete and utter destruction."
"Sir, if the Longinus was only at a third of its maximum output when fired..." The soldier paused. His mind raced with the possibilities of what could happen if it were to be used to its full potential. The destruction of an entire nation was possible. "We could wipe out every single one of them... and end this war..."
General Sennheiser glanced at the man. "You must understand what I'm saying. There will not be a world to call victory for. We're just trying to put down the calamity class before things go too far. The window is shrinking fast. We must kill Yuren Gotsutoa with the very slim opportunity we have. It's our only chance to finally put an end to the Meteorn threat."
General Sennheiser then turned and walked away, his footsteps heavy on the bridge's deck. The soldier turned and watched the man walk away.
"Sir... But how will we activate it..." The man whispered as he returned to his post. He stared down at his console.
The formation of airships continued its rushed flight over the ocean, and the crew was tense but focused.
The soldier's eyes widened as the airships approached a massive whirlpool in the water.
"Sir! We're approaching the coordinates!" One of the soldiers called out, his eyes scanning the screen in front of him.
"There's something strange about that whirlpool!" A soldier called out as he watched his monitor closely. "It seems like there's something else there!"
The bridge's monitors and lights flickered. General Sennheiser looked out the bridge windows and saw a shimmer in the water, "What?" His eyes widened at the sight of red energy arching in the opposite direction of the vortex.
"Sir it might be too dangerous for the retrieval team, not only the whirlpool is radiating with Resonance, the water is moving at dangerous speeds!"
"Reposition and charge the mains, we'll disrupt it with a shot then send an android dive team."
"Roger, repositioning to fire." A soldier called out, and the ship turned towards the whirlpool, its main cannon charged and aimed.
"FIRE!" The soldier called out, and the cannon fired, sending a beam of energy into the center of the whirlpool.
The beam of energy hit the water and caused it to burst upwards, the water turning to vapor instantly and causing a huge explosion.
As the mist cleared, the waters settled to an unnatural stillness as if the ocean had suddenly died. The ship hovered in place and waited for any underwater movement. General Sennheiser waited and watched the waters carefully, his eyes scanning the area. After a few moments of stillness, he spoke again, "Raise our altitude. Hurry."
"Roger." The soldier said, and the airship rose from the water's surface. As the airship climbed up, it suddenly stopped, and a loud rumbling could be heard.
Droplets of water slowly rose from the surface, forming into small spheres that hovered in mid-air. The airship's sensors detected an unknown energy signature and began to blare with alarms for a few seconds. The crew was on the verge of panicking.
"That must be Levaithan manipulating the water! It's attention is on us! Send the dive team, now!" General Sennheiser called out, and the ship began to move forward once again
The water suddenly began to churn as more droplets rose up and formed into a massive wave that surged forward, engulfing one of the other ships and dragging it down.
"General! We lost a ship!" A soldier yelled as the water in the air began to whip wildly around.
The sound of the droplets impacting the hull could be heard through the ship, as they pelted it like bullets.
"Where is it? Its resonance signature must be spiking! Target wherever it is and fire again!" General Sennheiser demanded, and the ship's cannons were charged again, the crew frantically searching for the source of the attack.
"Position found! Fire!" The soldier called out, and the ship fired again, this time hitting the target with the full force of the ship's cannons. The explosion sent a massive wave of water and vapor in the air, and the ship was sent rocking wildly. "Direct hit!"
General Sennheiser stood still and looked down at the ocean, his eyes wide. "The sensors are not reading its signature anymore..."
"It must have gone deeper." The soldier replied, and the airship hovered over the ocean surface, scanning the water. "We'll find it soon."
"Tell those damn androids to hurry up and retrieve the Longinus!" General Sennheiser yelled. He was not pleased with the situation, his eyes scanning the ocean.
The water began to swirl once more, forming another vortex that began to grow larger and larger.
Alarms suddenly blared as a massive energy spike was detected, and a red light shone through the windows of the ship's bridge.
General Sennheiser turned his head to the left and saw that the ocean was glowing a bright red.
"Resonance sensors are going haywire! The area's humidity is rapidly increasing!" A soldier shouted.
General Sennheiser's eyes narrowed as he watched the red energy grow brighter and brighter. He could feel his hair stand on end as the energy grew more and more intense.
"Resonance density beneath the water has surpassed critical levels, the dive team won't last long if this keeps up!" The soldier said.
The general stared at the red light beneath the ocean's surface, and the light grew brighter and brighter.
"General... It's..." The soldier said, his eyes widening at the sight of a massive claw slowly rising in the rapid whirlpool. Its long, black claws slowly extended and opened wide; its body was a deep blue, with streaks of red coming from a burn mark on its forearm.
The bridge was silent and filled with dread, the soldiers' eyes wide with horror. They were staring at a Meteorn they had never seen before. The massive beast was easily the size of their airship and was staring directly at them from beneath the surface of the ocean.
The monster's claws closed around the hull of the second ship near them, causing the ship's armor to crack and groan.
"Levaithan has the second support vessel, fire all weapons! Do it now!" General Sennheiser yelled.
"FIRE!" A soldier yelled as the airship's weapons opened fire on the Meteorn's arm, their guns blazing.
Levaithan roared in anger as the airship fired its cannons, the monster's claws letting go of the ship as it was burned by the force of the cannons.
"The dive team has secured the Longinus! They're behind Levaithan!" A soldier said.
The Meteorn's body was slowly surfacing and it was massive, easily dwarfing the airship, the massive beast's head was the first thing to break through the water, a massive horn and long flowing fin running from the base of it's neck and down it's back, it's long serpentine body followed, it's black claws extending and retracting in the air, the Meteorn's red eyes were staring at the ship.
"Evasive maneuvers!" General Sennheiser shouted!
Its jaws opened wide, and it released a roar, causing a blast of red energy to shoot out from its maw. The blast of energy glanced the side of the airship and caused the ship to violently shake.
The beam extended far into the sky, turning the blue canvas into a bright crimson.
As the crew scrambled to recover from the attack, the Meteorn opened its mouth again, and red light began to build up once again.
"Move this damn ship! Just get the dive team and withdraw at full speed!" General Sennheiser ordered.
The airship banked sharply to avoid the next attack and quickly descended to pick up the dive team and the Longinus, its engines roaring. As it descended, the Meteorn fired another blast of energy, which missed the ship and struck a nearby mountain, a massive explosion erupting in the distance.
The dive team was quickly retrieved, along with the Longinus, the massive device being quickly dragged inside the airship's hold.
The airship then ascended and accelerated as fast as possible, its engines roaring. The Meteorn was now far below it as the airship flew away. The beast watched the ship leave, and it roared in frustration.
"Send the logs of our encounter to the Ministry. Leviathan should be categorized as a Disaster class." The General said. He watched the beast resubmerge as the airship gained more altitude; the monster's body was slowly disappearing back into the ocean.
"Roger." A soldier replied as he quickly uploaded the data.
****
In a dimly lit office, the sound of a piano playing quietly echoed off the walls, a large screen displaying footage of the Leviathan encounter. "So... that's the Meteorn of the depths?" A woman with striking azure hair said, "We'll finally know what it looks like. Ser Klein, look into why Argentia's ships went out there in the first place. Oh, and also request a full copy of the report on Leviathan from them as well."
"Yes Ma'am!" A voice called from the shadows of the dimly lit room
"I'll also have you do something else. Get the Argentian's empress on a call. I want to have a conversation with her."
"Right away." The voice called again, and the sound of footsteps faded.
The woman stood, walked to her office window, and stared out over the city below. Her eyes were focused on a building in the distance, one with a Union flag hanging above its entrance.
"A lot of work to be done. Let's hope we're ready to do it. But that can wait... for now... it's time for that call." She mumbled as she sat back down. "And after that... I need to prepare for the Union's summit. I suspect it'll be the biggest one yet." She turned to face portraits of several people. "This kingdom, will not fail. We must prevent the avalanche that is coming, or we will be buried beneath it."
She turned back to face her screen, the images of the Leviathan fading and being replaced by the face of the Empress of Argentia.
"Empress Yu Chien, I've noticed your nation's airships were active in our territory. What could possibly have warranted such a blatant intrusion of our nation?" The woman said as the woman on the screen glared at her.
"Airships? Were they not just passing through?" Empress Yu Chien asked.
"No. They opened fire on a Meteorn. Or rather, the Meteorn of the Depths."
The Empress of Argentia was taken aback. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the situation. "Where exactly?"
"In the Heagal sea fifty miles from the coast."
Yu was silent; she had an idea of what they were doing. She sighed and looked at the screen, "I'm sorry, Arlettia, I'll have that investigated immediately. Also I have a few things I wish to discuss, but I'll leave for the summit. It's best if you and the king were present."
Arlettia nodded. "Very well, I'll have the king informed. And don't think for one moment I don't know what you are planning Empress Yu. Don't make an enemy of me." Arlettia said, her tone cold and threatening.
"Oh, Arlettia..." Yu laughed softly, "You couldn't even begin to understand what I have in mind. You are far too used to those who came before me." She then waved her hand, and the call was disconnected.
The blue-haired woman slowly clenched her fist and slammed it on the desk.
"She hung up on me...?!" She exclaimed. "That brat! She doesn't understand what she's getting herself into. Was her quiet demeanor just a facade?"
"I don't think that's quite it ma'am. The loss of her father and immediate placement on Argentia's thone must've had a very significant effect on her for the past 6 years. The fact that she's standing out now must mean something broke within her. I'm certain of it." Ser Klein stepped into the light; his uniform was a pristine white. He was a tall man with a short white beard; his blue eyes looked tired and worn, and his face bore the marks of many battles. He had the air of a warrior about him, a veteran of countless battles, but now he was a man who had found peace and purpose, serving his kingdom with unwavering loyalty. "Her uprising is a microcosm of Argentia's current status."
"Insightful as always, Ser Klein." She chuckled and sat down in her chair, "Let's try to find that battalion that left the Empire. Perhaps they can help with something."