- So... now what? - Claudius asked awkwardly.
He did have a point. Sure, we made it out of the Science and Containment Centre and control a powerful submarine, but what are we supposed to do now? Swim around, in hopes of randomly bumping into Icebreaker-5?
- First things first, we need to ditch the SaCC. Being around here isn't entirely safe - Leonid stated.
- What do you mean, boss? We left the guards and the warden in the dust. What else is dangerous in here? - Rill asked.
- Submersible drones - Leonid pointed at something visible outside the window.
I got up from my seat to get a better look at the object. It looked like a tiny version of our submarine, but it didn't have a window. Instead, it was equipped with a turret that eerily resembled a laser blaster. So it's a laser turret of somekind.
The drone turned around, seemingly detecting our presence. As it rotated, I noticed that it only had one turbine instead of two. The vessel just stayed in place, quietly observing us. As I soon found out, it was aiming.
All of a sudden, a red burst of light almost blinded me. The drone fired its laser. Now, a pellet of light was headed straight for the cockpit.
- Dodge! - Einstein commanded.
We all scrambled to get our submarine to dive deeper into the subsurface ocean. The pellet flew right above the top of our vessel, narrowly missing it. After the failed attack, the drone froze in place. I was more than certain that it was preparing for another shot.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUdhOuOk47
- It's aiming! We need to move out of the way! - Anthony exclaimed.
We moved our submarine to the left. Shortly after, the drone fired again, but it missed. We decided to start moving chaotically to confuse the drone's aiming system.
Unfortunately, out vessel turns pretty slowly, so the struggle was like a duel of two turtles. The drone took its time to aim and we slowly moved out of the way.
- Are we just going to fumble around like this? - Amber found the fight underwhelming.
- No, because we're giving the warden time to react and send someone after us - Alia denied, much to Amber's relief.
- Go and blow this thing to bits. The cannons are on the sides, you should find them easily - Leonid commanded.
- Are you sure that this is a smart mo...? - Anthony started, but Leonid cut him off mid sentence.
- You destroyed quite a few things during your missions, so blowing up a drone shouldn't be a problem for you. Am I right?
- I guess so... - Arika nodded.
- You spoke, so you shall go. And you, glasses kid. Man the other cannon. I want adults steering this boat - Leonid ordered us to get up.
I noticed at the corner of my eye that Arika was about to tell him that we're competent enough to copilot with the adults, but I guess she didn't want to anger Leonid. He's a dangerous and unpredictable person, after all.
Arika and I made our way to the crossroad. There, we split up. I manned the cannon on the right and Arika chose to control the one on the left.
As we split up, I heard the others talking.
- On a side note, what did we destroy during are missions? - Sebastian wondered.
- Our schemes - Rill responded coldly.
I didn't focus much on the conversation, as I quickly had to learn how to control the cannon, because it wouldn't be long before reinforcements arrive. At last, I found it.
It was a small pod sticking out of the side of the submarine. Inside of the pod was a seat with a control panel in front of it. Above the panel was a windshield which gave me a good view of the cannon itself, along with the target.
Because the controls weren't labelled, except for a "FIRE" trigger, I just pressed random buttons to see what happens. Through this method of trial and error, I quickly learned how to move, rotate and retract the cannon.
- What are you doing? - Arika asked me through a radio which I didn't notice earlier. It exists to help the gunmen coordinate their attacks.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYrd0vSSAo
- I have no idea - I replied spotaneously.
- Don't mind if I do - Arika responded strangely.
- Do what? - I asked.
Instead of a verbal reply, I noticed a pellet that pierced through the drone, which promptly exploded. Arika fired while I was figuring out the controls.
- Path cleared - Arika connected with Einstein through her walkie-talkie and I heard her through the radio.
- I hate to interrupt, but I don't think so - I noticed reinforcements coming. Guess I will shoot something down.
Two more drones came in, but that wasn't the most concerning thing. Between them was a third, larger drone. Before Arika could reply, it fired a torpedo at us.
- Torpedo! - we both exclaimed simultaneously.
- Why can't this thing rotate to face backwards? I can't aim at the torpedo! - I added shortly after.
- You can! Just pull that blue lever! - Arika replied quickly.
- What lever? - I didn't notice it during my time learning the controls.
Thus, I wasted some time trying to find it. It was hidden beneath the panel, which was quite inconvenient. In hindsight, there was no space to cram it in besides placing it underneath the control panel. I pulled it and the pod rotated by 180 degrees. Now, I was facing the enemy drones.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0r2dJlcFo
Much to my concern, the torpedo was already extremely close and it was about to smash into our submarine's hull. Arika fired a few pellets and fortunately managed to hit the torpedo, which was ripped into pieces in a massive explosion.
Judging by the big drone's stillness, it was gearing up for a second attempt. While Arika was waiting for another torpedo, I chose to just shoot the drone. I pressed some buttons, pulled the trigger and...
...I missed.
My shot wasn't wasted though, as I managed to obliterate one of the smaller drones. The bad news was that the big drone fired its second torpedo.
I jolted and started shooting, in hopes of hitting the torpedo, but failed to do so. Arika successfully shot it down though, so I decided to try to shoot the big drone again.
This time however, I took more time to aim properly before pulling the trigger. Much to my surprise, I didn't miss. The pellet perfectly pierced the drone's metal casing and it magnificently exploded. The force of the blast pushed the remaining smaller drone further away, exposing it to Arika's shots. The smaller drone was quickly blown to bits as well.
With the enemy vessels destroyed, we started moving away. I didn't feel like leaving the cannon yet, in case another drone appeared.
Instead, a batyscaphe caught my eye. It was black with a circular window at the front. If it wasn't for the window, I wouldn't notice it. Unfortunately, it already made its way out of my cannon's range, so there was no way for me to shoot it down. Moreover, the batyscaphe was manned, with the pilot being none other than the warden.
Two robotic arms emerged out of the batyscaphe, latching onto our quickly moving submarine.
- Guys, the warden is coming in a batyscaphe! He latched onto our submarine and... is making his way to the cockpit! - I notified the others through my walkie-talkie whilst observing the craft.
- Roger that! - my dad responded.
Even though the batyscaphe was far beyond my range, I experimented with different angles and orientations to see how close I can aim.
At the corner of my eye, I saw the batyscaphe now gripping the front of our submarine. The claws were extended downwards until our pilots could actually see them. The batyscaphe descended as well, blocking our pilot's view, which meant that there was a genuine risk of bumping into the ice above us.
I knew I had to do something. Arika did make it to her cannon and tried to fire, but she couldn't get too close to the batyscaphe without risking damaging our vessel.
Looking at the ice sheet above, it gave me an idea. I rotated my capsule for the cannon to face the ice. I fired at my pellet managed to blow a chunk of ice off the sheet, just as I have hoped.
The chunk fell towards the batyscaphe and crashed into one of its claws holding onto our submarine, loosening the batyscaphe's grip. I shot a few more times to do the same thing with the other claw.
Arika tuned in and also fired. Eventually, we managed to dislodge the batyscaphe from our submarine, which quickly swam away before the warden's vessel could latch on again.
With the warden and his prison left behind, it's safe to say that we're safe, at least for now. It was about time to learn what is the next stage of Leonid's plan.
ns216.73.216.187da2
and then Add to home screen.