Chapter 68-Surrender

Chapter 68: 68-Surrender

The moment Aymara gave the command, the atmosphere around the cruise ship changed.

The blue barrier remained suspended around the vessel, shimmering silently beneath the sunlight.

[Hostile status confirmed.]

[Counterattack authorized.]

Aymara’s gaze hardened stiff. "They declared war on my ship," her fingers curled, though she could feel a faint tremor in them. "So I’ll answer in kind."

The ship moved. Panels along the cruise ship’s exterior opened with a series of mechanical sounds.

Hidden defense systems emerged from beneath the reinforced structure, their movements precise and almost eerily quiet.

The men aboard the submarine stared in utter shock. "What the hell...?"

"Those weapons weren’t there before!"

"General!"

The general’s face drained of color. He had spent the last several minutes believing he was hunting an unprotected luxury cruise ship. Instead, he had apparently brought his submarine directly into the mouth of something far more dangerous than the ocean.

"Back inside!" he roared. The men scrambled toward the hatch. "Get us underwater!" he added.

The submarine began descending but Aymara’s system was faster.

The cruise ship’s defensive weapons opened fire and the ocean erupted around the submarine.

Powerful fictional energy blasts and automated projectiles slammed into the water surrounding the vessel, forcing the submarine to veer sharply. Its crew struggled to regain control as warning alarms screamed throughout the interior.

"Damage to the outer hull!"

"Systems failing!"

"Take us deeper!" the general ordered as though going deeper under water would protect them.

"Negative! The controls aren’t responding!"

The general grabbed the nearest console. "Do something!"

Another alarm sounded, a different one. Aymara’s blue screen appeared before her.

[Hostile vessel has activated an extreme strategic weapon.]

Her expression changed. She was stunned that they would resort to that measure to deal with her. "What?"

The system displayed the incoming threat. The general had apparently decided that if ordinary weapons could not defeat her, he would use something far more destructive.

Inside the submarine, panic erupted. "Launch authorized!"

"Are you certain?"

"DO IT!"

Aymara stared at the approaching threat. For the first time, genuine fear flickered across her face. It was not for herself but for Nathaniel.

The thought of the ship breaking apart, of the dining room collapsing around him, struck her with such force that her breath caught.

She had spent days treating the vessel as a fortress, but Nathaniel was the reason its walls mattered. If the barrier failed, if the weapon reached them, she might have to watch him die without being able to do anything. Again.

Her fear hardened into something sharper. "System, protect the ship."

The answer came immediately.

[Command accepted.]

The blue barrier surrounding the cruise ship brightened. The incoming attack struck. For several seconds, the ocean disappeared beneath a blinding flash.

Aymara instinctively raised an arm over her eyes. The shockwave rolled across the sea, the cruise ship trembled violently and the deck shook beneath Aymara’s feet, and for one terrible instant she imagined the barrier cracking.

Her knees nearly buckled. She could hear Nathaniel’s voice in her memory, could picture him sitting at the table, unaware of how close death had come.

Inside the ship, alarms screamed for a full five secindd before silence came again.

Aymara slowly lowered her arm. She looked around. The ship was still standing. The barrier was still there, stronger than ever.

Her breath escaped in a shaky exhale. Relief washed through her so suddenly that it left her weak. She pressed a hand against her chest, feeling her heart hammering beneath her ribs.

"System, how much damage did we take?"

The blue screen flickered.

[Defense integrity: 95%.]

Aymara stared. Five percent? Only five percent damage after a bomb explosion? She was impressed.

A stunned laugh almost escaped her, but it came out thin and unsteady. She had been afraid. Truly afraid. She was not of dying, but of returning to Nathaniel and finding nothing left to return to.

Just then a new message appeared.

[Emergency defensive reinforcement activated.]

[Adaptive defense response initiated.]

[Hostile threat level has triggered enhanced countermeasure authorization.]

Aymara’s eyes widened. "So attacking me made my defenses stronger?"

[Affirmative.]

A slow smile spread across her face, though the fear had not completely left her body.

The general had just made another terrible mistake and Aymara wasn’t foolish enough to give him a third chance to strike at her.

The system continued.

[Hostile vessel identified as primary threat.]

[Counterattack efficiency increased.]

Aymara looked toward the submarine. "Well..." she rested one hand against the railing again. "You really shouldn’t have done that."

The cruise ship’s weapons fired again. This time, the attack was devastating. The submarine lurched violently. Inside, men were thrown against walls and consoles as warning lights flashed throughout the vessel.

"Emergency!"

"We’ve lost propulsion!"

"Pressure systems are failing!"

"General!"

The former general grabbed onto a support rail. His face had gone completely pale. They couldn’t win, that realization finally settled inside him.

Even with thirty mem, weapons and the submarine, they were no where strong enough to take on Aymara. They had attacked the wrong ship.

"Stop!" his voice cracked. No one heard him over the alarms. "STOP!"

He forced himself toward the communication system. "Raise the white flag!"

One of the men stared at him. "General? What do you mean?"

"Raise it!"

The submarine’s emergency flag was brought out moments later.

Aymara saw it and stared at their weak state for several seconds, then she laughed softly.

"So now you want peace."

The general’s voice came through the communication system. "We surrender!"

Aymara folded her arms. "You’re going to surrender everything?" She said, "Give up your weapons."

The general swallowed. "All of them?"

"Any strategic weapons you possess," Aymara saw an opportunity to upgrade the ship and she took it.

His jaw tightened.

Aymara’s eyes became colder. "And every weapon you have stored aboard that submarine..." she paused. "Agree or we can continue!"

"We surrender," the general lowered his head in defeat. "We surrender," he repeated.

Aymara’s system verified the declaration.

[Hostile surrender confirmed.]

She gave them one final condition. "You and your men can leave with your lives."

The general looked stunned. "You’ll let us go?"

"If you cooperate."

The submarine’s remaining weapons were surrendered. Aymara’s system detected and secured the dangerous equipment before it could be used against anyone else and when they entered the space, they multiplied.

Only then did she give the general another command. "Get your men off the submarine."

The men began climbing out one by one. They entered the water, swimming away from the damaged vessel.

The general was among the last. He looked back toward Aymara. Their eyes met. There was no arrogance left in his expression. Only humiliation and loss.

Aymara didn’t say anything. She simply watched them leave and for a moment, she wondered whether she should feel pity for them.

They had been terrified, desperate, and foolish, but they had also chosen to attack first. If she had shown mercy too early, Nathaniel might pay for it later. The thought steadied her resolve.

Then the system displayed another message.

[Submarine structural weakness identified.]

Aymara glanced toward the damaged section she had noticed earlier. The weak point, she remembered the bubbles and the uneven vibration from earlier.

The section of the hull sitting lower than the rest. She raised her hand.

"System, attack at the weak point!"

[Command received.]

"And disable the submarine."

The response was immediate. A single concentrated strike hit the already weakened section. The submarine shuddered. A deep metallic groan rolled across the ocean. Then the vessel began to sink.

The men in the water panicked.

"Swim away!"

"Move faster!"

"Get away from it!"

The massive submarine slowly disappeared beneath the waves. For several moments, Aymara watched them struggle through the water. "I didn’t kill you... but that doesn’t mean you’re leaving here alive," she smirked, the general and his men had no idea about the mutants in the water.