Chapter 111: Wolfpack

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August 15, 1640
Artticus (Conshal) Ocean
50 miles from Lookout Bay
Seehund-class Fleet Submarine, GVS Niflheim

Captain Donitz peered through his submarine's periscope, grinning from ear to ear as he spotted the masts of his target, sailing some 20 miles in the distance. The relative distance between his vessel and the Mirishial ships shrank, allowing him to identify the enemy force. It consisted of 8 destroyers, 3 cruisers, and two battleships — one of which looked much more advanced than the other.

He announced giddily, "That's the Cosmo! One of the only Mirishial ships with missiles, and we have a chance to sink it!"

His cautious second-in-command, Commander Leibniz, became a voice of opposition. "Sir, with all due respect, our orders are to strike isolated vessels in the middle of nowhere, not to challenge a battle group next to a Mirishial base!"

Donitz grumbled, unable to refute Leibniz's concerns, "Blasted orders! Fine! We will continue to shadow them, but if an opportunity presents itself, we will sink the Cosmo!"

Leibniz wanted to refrain from attacking the Mirishials altogether, but a feeling of trepidation held him back from pushing further. He didn't want the Mirishials to start taking the war more seriously than they already were, but he also didn't want to antagonize the captain. The Niflheim's mission still has several months left, and he wanted that time to go as smoothly as possible.

Besides, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they actually did sink the Cosmo. Would they be rewarded for sinking a prized Mirishial superweapon? Could the Mirishials even retaliate, considering that they have yet to deploy their forces to Mu? In any case, Leibniz no longer had his prized excuse; fear of Mirishial retaliation was a drop in the bucket compared to fear of American retaliation.

Seeing no reason to argue against Donitz's wishes, he simply nodded. "Yes, let's see if we can sink the Cosmo."

——

Artticus Ocean
En Route to Mu
Orichalcum-Class Battleship, HMS Cosmo

Admiral Tachyon walked down to his ship's combat information center, which was brimming with screens and advanced interfaces copied directly from the Pal Cowne CIC. Having recently transferred to the Cosmo from his previous posting aboard the Mithril-class battleship Solar, he decided to inspect his new vessel. After inspecting the weapons systems, he peered into a newly-installed station. It sat beside an American SPY-1 radar console, which looked similar to the radar system on the Pal Chimera and Pal Cowne. However, unlike the radar system, this new station was home to an entirely different form of detection — sonar.

He lifted a slim finger, and with grace customary of a high-ranking elf like himself, he traced the strange outlines on the screen. "So this is our ship, and these are our allies... Lieutenant Ofalio," he called out to the cat-man sonar operator, "What is this clump here?"

"That is a group of wild hippocami, sir. Equine creatures."

New signatures soon popped up, grabbing the mens' attention. Tachyon immediately noticed, feeling a bit of concern that the contacts had appeared behind the fleet's wake. "And... what are these?"

Lieutenant Ofalio grimaced slightly as he looked at the screen. He listened closely to his headset, his ears and tail suddenly perking up.

"What is it?" Captain Yleyza asked, immediately catching the tell-tale sign of alertness from his fellow cat-person.

"I... They're torpedoes!" Ofalio yelled out in surprise. "24 torpedoes, headed straight for us!"

Admiral Tachyon and Captain Yleyza watched the torpedoes close the distance.

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