Chapter 183 - To Sink The Kraken
The World Governing Power had created several fortresses that patrol around the nations. These were the visible forces that would patrol as the locations of the Atlantis remained undisclosed and unseen. Since the Atlantis had the ability to dive down to the lowest points of the seas, it was difficult and impossible for many countries to detect it.
But above the sea, were several visible mobile fortresses called the Kraken. As the situation in South-East Asia, particularly near the Australian region, grew more and more chaotic, one of the Kraken's had positioned itself on the borders of Australia.
Aside from the war, Australia's many crimes had led them into a disadvantageous position. The WGP had set several measures that prohibit Australia from using weapons of mass destruction, a continuing embargo on trading several key resources that the WGP determines to be dangerous, and constant monitoring from the Kraken to prohibit Australia from secretly launching any stealth aircraft or satellites.
Four Kraken and six Atlantis patrol the world. These were the mobile sea bases that were a ready force that could attack or terrorize any nations should they behave beyond the Nominative Ethics of a Nation.
Australia did not receive the WGP's wrath as they had received their wrath in the attacks of various nations. But as the wars in the South-East Asian regions continue to escalate, this fortress positioned itself near the borders of Pangea.
But when an EMP attack was made on the heart of New Great Britain, the angry government utilized their technology and used their weather-controlling technology to create a storm that would attack Australia. The WGP stepped in and prevented the usage of powerful storms, and so a typhoon level attack as only made. This Typhoon would reach the maximum range of what a Typhoon was and barely make it into a super typhoon.
Since the attack was not at the weapons of mass destruction level, the typhoon was allowed by the WGP, however, the location in which the storm would pass would inevitably pass by the Kraken
Up on the Sky Satellite, the group of gamers, soldiers, former drug dealers and a man from the province of Pangea readied for their drop. They were on their final briefing before their epic fall.
The entire team was already wearing a unique black suit made of rubber. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the precise time the storm would be over the Kraken.
BEEP!
The alarm indicating that a signal was detected rang out.
Tyler immediately turned the monitor on to receive the transmission. A distorted image of a person was shown. The feed was poor as if the signals were barely reaching. But to an Unlocked ear who could hear different frequencies, a clear and audible voice could be heard.
"Is everyone doing well?" The familiar voice laughed.
"General Seeker?!"
"Zeek?! What happened?" Cliff asked in confusion.
"What's going on?" Gardo was confused. He could not see a clear image and could only hear distortions and although he noticed the rest flapping their mouths, no sound came out.
Cliff signaled to Gardo to keep quiet.
"Cliff. Ask Gardo if he is one of the Progenitor's seed." Seeker immediately ordered.
Cliff asked Gardo right after he muted their audio-out.
"Are you a Progenitor's Seed?" Cliff asked.
Gardo was stunned. However, after giving everyone a suspicious look, Gardo sighed and nodded.
"He is," Cliff confirmed to Seeker.
"I was right. So apart from age, power is one factor in becoming the bearer of truth. Alright. There are several changes to the plan."
"Changes?" Cliff hated that word.
"Don't worry. You won't end up kissing someone with these changes. One of our allies is a former Aragarian. He betrayed his own race, came to Earth earlier and was the reason why we were able to fight back in my future and in fact, he was the one who assured our victory from a possible Aragarian take over back during World War Three."
"So the Aragarians were already here."
"Right. Review your history from that perspective and a lot of it makes sense. But this Aragarian did so much to save us. In fact, it is assumed that he killed all the Pioneers who tried to manipulate Earth during that period. We call this man the Progenitor. We are assuming that this Progenitor should be stronger than the Presiders and even a Principal. He has been dubbed as the Lost Primordial among Aragarians." Seeker summarized.
Everyone silently listened but was shocked at the information.
"A Primordial? What's with their fascination with the letter P?" Cliff pondered.
"Something about it being constant? I don't know. Gardo Dalisay is one of the seeds that this former Aragarian left behind. Or at least I hope he is. The Progenitor made several preparations to help humanity fight against a possible Aragarian invasion. But of course, this Progenitor was even more cautious than we are. Gardo here may not even know of another team that the Progenitor formed. In fact, they were banned from actively seeking out other Primordial. So we can't ascertain his identity yet." Seeker chuckled.
"You mean he could be lying?" Cliff frowned.
"Just keep an eye on him. Kill him if necessary." Seeker ordered.
Cliff and the rest did their best to act normal. Seeker was actually telling them to kill Gardo at any time. While the rest did their best to put on a poker face, Gardo who still couldn't hear the other frequencies simply sat down and waited for the meeting to end as he explored the dark caves on his face to extract some large minerals.
"Your mission will no longer focus on just one possible Overcomer and Ranked Hero. Arthur ordered me to change the details of your attack. And since he actually ordered me, I had to take this seriously."
Cliff was surprised. Arthur was indeed someone who always followed along with Seeker's crazy plan. But now, he was actually ordering Seeker to this.
"So it's this important…" Cliff muttered.
"Right. We want this attack to become an all-out melee. Through the Weather Control tech of New Great Britain, the storm will pass, but strong rains should still hit the area continuously. You will delay your attack for about eight hours. This has two purposes. The first is to give time for those like the Dalisay to join. Arthur predicts that consecutive calls hinting out the existence of the Progenitor will force all those who are the seeds to take action. Arthur was able to manipulate the encrypted message on that ship on the last minute. That simple message will draw the attention of many. And I have plans to broadcast another message. Because of that, we need more time for them to get closer when you attack.
"This sounds… more problematic. This will become an all-out war." Cliff couldn't help but frown.
"That's the plan. The other reason why we are delaying is that we need Lynd to finish his little contest first. We're afraid that the WGP will add stricter rules to world trade. In fact, we are assuming the entire world to halt its operations after this attack. This is because your mission no longer will be to locate all the Atlantis and damage that fortress, your goal is to inflict as much damage on it as possible. If fact, if you can sink it."
"Sink it?!" Several cries were heard. Some even spoke normally.
"Quiet!" Cliff reprimanded.
"I knew it would come to this, honestly." Cliff sighed.
"The weapons you gave us isn't enough to blow the whole fortress up. I doubt that you want us to initiate some nuclear meltdown." Cliff replied controlling his anger.
"Nah. Too dangerous. The radiation would spread and harm civilians."
"Since when do you care about civilians?"
"Civilians of our side, I mean."
Cliff rolled his eyes.
"It is… important that you sink it. As I said, there will be chaos so it should be easier for you to infiltrate the fortress. However, there may be a possibility that the WGP will be on guard from you. We've just received word from Lowengren. As you've experienced before, the limitations of our encrypted messaging can only include broader and more open-ended messages. And as you ended up kissing a guy, I'm sure you of all people understand the limitations of our communication."
"Why are you apologizing?" Cliff asked suspiciously.
"Because Arthur predicts that Lowengren may use our coming attack as a tool for deception. He aims to deceive a Fleet Admiral controlling one Atlantis."
"Just get to the point." Cliff urged angrily. It was the first time that Seeker was actually apologizing and giving hesitating answers to Cliff.
"Basically, the WGP may be on guard with your attack. They might allow the EMP attack to damage their base, but many of its weapons should be protected and be online when you attack it."
Cliff turned purple.
"Well… to be fair though… Various Families will move and therefore the government which they support ought to take action as well. Australia may have no choice but also join the battle. I mean, we've used two Australian EMP bombs on different nations. And now, on the WGP. It's very obvious that the EMP bombs are not initiated by the Australians. But having no choice of the matter, Australia will attempt to intervene. Considering their close proximity, they should join the battle either to aid the WGP or to ransack the base like the rest. To help you, I've made preparations. Harker already leaked information to the Dalisay's that Gardo could be in the Kraken so his team should help you guys. They have destructive techs which would definitely prove helpful." Seeker explained.
"That's it? The Dalisay's against the WGP, several Families and the Aragarians? The level of difficulty you are giving me is increasing exponentially." Cliff contained his anger.
"Well… You've grown. I mean… you can even use the word, exponentially." Seeker laughed.
Cliff was about to rant out but then Seeker continued.
"Don't worry. The Dragon's Fang is on its way there." Seeker added.
"Who among them will join?" Cliff held hope in his heart.
"Blast, Trigger, Suit and… Typical will be joining you."
Cliff gave a visible sigh of relief. He even sat down and rested his head on the cushion of his seat. The pressure and fear he felt were building, and now, it just lessened by a great deal.
"You have the support of the most explosive members of the Dragons Fangs. I did instruct them only to join when more groups will try to infiltrate the WGP. Of course, the Aragarians may also appear. I doubt that they'd ignore this. And I've already given my instructions on what to do when you meet them." Seeker added.
Everyone gave a solemn nod as they understood what to do.
"That is all. Tyler, give a detailed explanation about the WGP to them. I want you guys to talk about the rest of the implications of this attack. I don't have time anymore. The signal from One China's satellite won't be able to reach you anymore. And just out of precaution, I have to end the call the moment the satellite naturally aims its sights on whatever government approved position it was supposed to have. I leave the detailed explanation of the mission to you." The call immediately ended.
"What happened? What were you guys talking about?" Gardo scratched his head.
"You! You!" Asterisxx gave Gardo an angry look.
"What did I do?"
"Our boss just found out about you. He must have found out about your erm… kind through Nogard Meng."
"Nogard Meng? That hero-general of old?" Gardo was confused.
"He's alive. He must have gotten something from the guy you call Progenitor. Anyways… we'll talk about it later. For now… Tyler tells us about the WGP and their erm… whatchamacallit?" Cliff asked.
"Right. I think I need to explain more about the WGP's military bases. The World Governing Powers, as you know is the prime organization or kingdom that holds this world. Ever since the Agreement of Foundations, the WGP had relocated from their base at Rome after the establishment of their own nation. They established this nation and was intended to be away from the prying eyes of the World. The Arctic nations remain to be the hardest nations to ever go to. Only the elites of the world can go there. Even General Seeker cannot go there. Of our team, the only person legally permitted to travel to the arctic nations is Meryl."
"I miss her." Danny laughed.
Asterisxx and even Titan rolled their eyes at Danny's words and even Dara could not help but grit her teeth.
"But aside from this Nation of Solitude that they made, they also established several bases which were meant to keep an eye on the world. The Worlds Helm is the largest megastructure ever made by human hands. An artificial island that surely should have mobile capabilities. But of course, you all know that the Worlds Helm has yet to ever use its mobility. Roaming the world is two groups of massive fortresses. One above the sea and the other, under the sea. The Atlantis basically has the power of several fleets of any strong nation. It even its own air force, should they need to rise to the surface to war. Our target is the one that is above the sea, the Kraken."
The gamers listened attentively. Most of them did not know the existence of the underwater fortress until recently.
"The Kraken is generally a mobile fortress that has the military might to mobilize three ground, air and sea forces. It's more powerful than an Atlantis. It is large enough to have an international airport of its own as most international flights, especially those traveling towards enemy countries, would land there. I am explaining this so you guys could imagine the implications of our attack. As you know, our mission now is to try to sink it." Tyler explained seriously.
Gardo's mouth was wide open.
"You guys are crazy." Gardo shook his head.
"Our boss is." Cliff shrugged his shoulders.
"Actually, the attack is a strategic one. Attacking the WGP will make it more cautious and thus make them send out their armies. Also, our focus is to move the world into the brink of war. So this action will actually accomplish several of our directives. The more chaotic the world is, and the more active and wary the WGP will be. And we want that because that will limit the movements of the Aragarians. In fact, perhaps only their plan regarding the Jews will continue. And that is our goal. We have to stop them or delay their actions. And this just fits the bill." Tyler explained.
"Still��� The thought of attacking one large fortress is just… too much." Titan voiced out worriedly.
"Wouldn't this attack turn the whole world upside down? Attacking the WGP will create a global restriction in trade!" Asterisxx voiced out.
"Weren't you listening? That's what we want! Lynd's gamble would start soon. After that stream which would give us trillions of credits, the attack begins on the WGP! We get a lot of funds to do whatever it is we need, while the world suffers. If the WGP halts all trading, people would be investing in us! The only thing that would remain in the gaming community! And that's our cash cow! We become rich and at the same time create a momentary pause to the rest of the world!" Roselyn explained.
"But that will still create a collapse the economy! The world will be in turmoil!" Asterisxx countered.
"I think that's the plan. The more chaotic the world becomes, the easier it will be for us to move. You see, the Aragarians don't know about us. That Harker gave out the information to that Presider called Lara. The Aragarians think that someone among them betrayed the Pioneers and are now trying to take over the world now and is trying to gather technology. We gave the Aragarians a false enemy and Harker's confidence that he can lead the enemy to make false actions. Lowengren already made sure that that other Presider guy would also do something crazy."
"What exactly are we after?"
"Time." Stanley sighed.
Everyone turned to Stanley in surprise.
"Err… The boss kept saying that we need to hurry up and that there's no time. I figure that since what we need is to make breakthroughs on the Unlocking and making friends with people like Mister Gardo, then we'd have more advantage." Stanley shrugged.
"He's right," Tyler confirmed.
"We're buying time. We're making the WGP act all crazy and look for things that are not normal. The Aragarians will probably be going after the WGP because of everything Harker said. Harker told me that one of the best ways to be out of anyone's radar is to make them focus on another enemy. They will never expect that we are united. I mean, New Great Britain, One China, Africa, the EAA, the Americas… Who would think that we have people on those countries?" Cliff explained further.
"Well enough talk. When are we going to attack?" Gardo asked impatiently.
"Eight hours from now.. I'm curious though… What exactly will happen within these eight hours?" Cliff pondered.