"There's always a bigger fish."
Pytheas, Griffin Explorer and Archeologist
Location: Sentinel's Run, The Gallian Trench, 22,000 Hooves below Sea Level
Time: 5:00 AM
After a rather embarrassing moment where Derring woke up sucking on Penworthy's horn, the two were quickly on track to the bridge. The two refused to look at each other the whole time, the awkward silence between punctuated only with a:
"So..." Penworthy started.
"Let's not say anything." Derring said.
"Agreed."
The two entered the bridge, climbing up to the central deck, where there was already a small crowd of griffins, minotaurs, and unicorns (with Digger and Mu in the mix.) Sidonus and Lysander turned to their new arrivals, Sidonus with displeasure and Lysander with neutrality. There was already a whiteboard out along with a slide projector, ready for Derring's briefing on the situation.
"Alright." Captain Lysander announced, "I want you all to give Miss Derring-Do your undivided attention."
Derring rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her hoof, Penworthy sat down next to the whiteboard. Derring stood there, giving the crowd of specialists a good look over. She noted that they weren't really that excited for a lecture.
"Hello. My name is Derring-Do. With a D-E-R-" Derring started.
"We know." Sidonus interrupted.
"Anyway. So..." Derring hadn't really thought of a presentation beyond the one she was going to give for the board of directors a few days ago. She'd imagine the people who worked for the military probably didn't have much interest in ancient cultures, especially ones that are supposed to be mythological, "How about slides? Penworthy?"
Penworthy quickly jumped out of her sleep, then trotted over to the projector. Derring sighed.
"So... our current location I believe is Sentinel's Run. The entrance to Thule." Derring motioned Penworthy to put in a slide, "According to the journal, Sentinel's Run is guarded by a great, terrifying monster known as the Sentinel."
Penworthy messily worked with the slides before slipping in a random one. There was suddenly a load of muffled laughs and giggles from the crowd as a picture of Derring as a tiny filly wearing an inner tube and a snorkel was projected onto the board. Derring gave Penworthy a quick slap on the head, who quickly brought the right slide in, a picture of the page describing the Sentinel with illustrations of it sinking ships.
"Now..." Derring continued. Digger continued to try and stop laughing, much to Derring's annoyance, "The Sentinel is described as a masterpiece guardian, with a single red eye and uh... sparks of fire."
"Is this guardian real Derring?" Lysander asked.
"Oh, I wouldn't... well..." Derring quickly mulled over the question, "Clover describes it as a masterpiece guardian, so I imagine it's a statue or some kind of carving."
"So we find this masterpiece, then what?" Sidonus asked.
"WILL WE DIG!?" Digger popped up from the crowd.
"Actually, we won't have to dig. You see," Penworthy took the slide out, and quickly trotted over to the whiteboard with a marker, who began an illustration of the route, "we'll be going down this tunnel which lead into an air-pocket, where upon we get onto this ancient highway to Thule."
"You said there would be digging." Digger nudged Sidonus. Sidonus shoved him away.
"The journal also describes the Trial of Fire and the Trial of Ice," Derring said, "Something about keys and the Gate to Thule. I'm sure we can figure that out later though, that's all I got for now."
There was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd, all of whom dispersed into different directions. Derring sighed, rubbing her hoof into her face. Lysander walked up to her.
"If it's any consolation, you gave your information accurately." He said.
"Captain!" Horner turned from his position on the helm, Lysander, Sidonus, Derring and Penworthy all looked to him, "You might want to take a look at this."
"Alright, give me exterior lights." Lysander commanded, walking up to Horner with the other three in tow. The Submarine turned on its two spotlights powerful enough to blind Celestia herself. The lights brightened the area, giant pillars of rocks and stone and strangely no fish or wildlife. They weren't focusing on that however, they were focusing on the giant graveyard of boats and ships lying on the ocean floor.
"Lycurgus' blood..." Sidonus muttered, "There are so many ships."
"There must be ships here from every era." Penworthy added. The Submarine floated slowly over the massive graveyard, keeping the lights in a tight search pattern. Suddenly, a cloud of sand kicked up, out of sight from the spotlights and escaping the notice of the crew.
***
Vinyl Scratched leaned back in her chair, listening to what techno music she had managed to smuggle aboard ("Messes with the electronics." said Sidonus.) in her headphones. She took a casual glance at the passive SONAR computer, usual expanding circle, few small dots, one huge dot circling the ship, nothing special.
Except the huge dot circling the ship. She quickly threw off her headphones and threw on her work headphones. She turned on the active SONAR, a bwong sound passing through her ears as it sent out sound waves to locate and find out what exactly this strangely huge signature was. The active SONAR indeed hit the signature again, she took a good listen at it, then turned on the hydrophone, fiddling with the settings with her unicorn magic.
"Captain!" Vinyl shouted, "I think you should hear this!"
Meanwhile, Derring was flipping through the journal, Sidonus looking curiously over her shoulder.
"It's amazing really, the illustrations, the writing, the very paper it's all written on." Derring said.
"It shouldn't even be surviving today." Sidonus added.
"Exactly. I figure, Clover must've enchanted it or something, this thing could be indestructible for all we know."
"Captain!" Vinyl shouted again. Lysander also looked inquisitively over Derring's shoulder.
"Enter the Lair of the Sentinel, and there you will find the gateway." Derring recited. She tapped the page for emphasis. Sidonus nodded approvingly. Vinyl called for the Captain again, much louder this time.
"Yes, what is it Miss Scratch?" Lysander said, bored out of his mind.
"There's something on the hydrophone I think you should you hear." Vinyl clarified. She inquisitively tapped her sunglasses, still trying to figure out just what in Celestia was making that noise.
"Put it on speakers." Lysander commanded. Vinyl flipped a switch, and over the speaker system came a terrible roaring noise, almost sounding like a wounded whale but interlaced with some a subtle grinding. Derring, Penworthy, Lysander and the rest of the crew looked up both curiously and nervously. Lysander and Sidonus jumped down to Vinyl's post.
"What in Lycurgus is that, a pod of whales?" Lysander asked.
"Nah, sounds bigger. SONAR picked up one signature, not multiple." Vinyl explained.
"Sounds metallic," Sidonus quickly started turning some of the dials on Vinyl's equipment, "Could be an echo off one of the wrecks."
"Whatever it is," Vinyl interrupted, "It's dropping some serious bass."
"What have I told you about bringing that mindless drebble on board," Sidonus said, he was referring to Vinyl's electronic taste in music, "it's probably messing with the electronics."
"Is it just me or is that getting louder?" Penworthy asked. The strange noise was indeed getting louder, but slowly it simply stopped. The hydrophone only picking up the sound of calm waters.
"Whatever it was," Sidonus pecked at the crack in his beak, "It's gone now."
"Horner!" Lysander shouted up to the command deck, Horner looked down from his post, "Bring us about! Tighten search patterns and slow us-"
The Submarine suddenly rocked, knocking everyone off balance. There were shouts of pain and surprise and the crew scrambling to figure out what happened.
"What was that?!" Lysander shouted to no one in particular, "Horner, get us balanced quick!"
Horner spun the wheel opposite the direction the Sub was listing. Derring and Penworthy quickly ran up to some railings to hang onto. They looked out of the observatory window and dropped their jaws in shock.
"It's the Sentinel!" Derring screamed. The great armored, one eyed serpent whose length was measured in miles and whose arms were currently knocking the ship about. The Sentinel gave the ship another whack, sending everybody to the floor again. It then swam away, weaving through the water at a speed like it wasn't the size of a mountain and then turned around towards the ship.
"Sidonus! Get the crew to their posts! I want this overgrown krill served for dinner!" Lysander commanded.
"Load torpedo bays! Sub-Pod squadron, battle station-" Sidonus was interrupted by the Sentinel ramming the ship again. The Sentinel was ostensibly giving the ship light whacks to probe it of its strength, akin to how a filly would tap a glass bowl with fish in it to wake them up.
"Captain!" Derring shouted, "What do me and Penworthy do!?"
"Get in that little corner and cower!" Lysander pointed to a corner on the lower deck. Penworthy quickly ran to the corner and started cowering. Derring hit her head on the railing in frustration. The ship rocked again, then Derring suddenly found herself falling towards the glass. The Sentinel had grabbed the ship in both its arms and brought it up to its eye. Derring hit the glass, much to her credit she didn't even make a crack in it. She recovered and immediately came to a realization which struck fear and complete surprise into her.
"Sweet Celestia! IT'S A MACHINE!" Derring reared up on the glass, nearly losing her balance. The Sentinel's eye closed its shutters, then reopened them, as if it blinked in surprise. Derring found herself sliding off the glass onto the floor, the Sentinel apparently righting the ship. Lysander leaned over the railing.
"Launch Sub-pods!" He commanded. A crewmember confirmed the order, there was a brief thump.
"Aren't you going to launch torpedoes at it or something!?" Derring shouted over the yelling of the crew.
"He's got us in his arms, we're too close for that," Lysander explained, "We gotta hope the Sub-Pods can get us free!"
"And if they don't!?"
"Good question." Lysander deadpanned.
***
"Everything's green light!" Digger said, checking over the controls of the M1A1 Piranha Sub-Pod. The Sub-Pod sat in the launch tube, waiting to be released out into the water along with the rest of the squadron, "How are you doing Mu?"
"It is a bit cramped." Mu said, his side of the Sub-Pod being slightly too small for him, forcing Mu to arch his back at an uncomfortable level. Mu put on a headset, allowing him to communicate with the Submarine, "Are you sure you can use the Sub-Pod Digger?"
"Of course!" Digger boasted, "No different than the Siege Tank, Digger assures you nothing can go-"
The Sub-Pod suddenly came flying out of the tube, causing the two to scream in surprise and terror as Digger narrowly avoid slamming the Sub-Pod into the sea floor. Thankfully for the two, Digger picked up driving the Sub-Pod quickly, getting into formation with the rest. The squadron accelerated away from the Submarine and the Sentinel then quickly pulled up and around to engage the target.
"Attack Pattern Alpha, fire on my mark!" The squadron leader commanded. Digger steadily lined up the shot for Mu, whom handling the firing of the mini-torpedoes, "Fire!"
The Sub-Pods all fired one mini-torpedo at the Sentinel. The full force of fifteen mini-torpedoes slammed into the Sentinel, surprising it and causing it to release the Submarine. Despite the surprise, all the mini-torpedoes did was produce spectacular explosions but little else to the Sentinel's health. The Sentinel then swam up and over and into the darkness out of sight, apparently gone.
"Did we scare it away?" One of the Sub-Pod pilots asked, obviously a bit nervous.
"This is Captain Lysander, the Pytheas has some minor damage but we're good," Captain Lysander spoke over the radio, still obviously on edge after that close call, "Return to the Pytheas."
"Confirmed." The squadron leader, "All Sub-Pods, turn around, time for a coffee break."
"Ha! Digger showed that overgrown shrimp what for!" Digger gave a snort and a snicker at his boasting, Mu simply rolled his eyes. The Sub-Pods turned around, heading for the now righted Submarine. Suddenly, one of the pillars to the left exploded in a cloud of smoke, the Sentinel was back and was now on top of the Sub-Pods.
"SCATTER!" The squadron leader screamed. The Sub-Pods clumsily flew past the Sentinel's head. The Sentinel's arms caught two of the Sub-Pods and crushed them in hand, "That's not fair! Nothing that big should be that fast!"
"Hold tight. We'll cover you." Lysander reassured them, "Shift around the sides, we're firing torpedoes!"
"Acknowledged!" Mu shouted. Digger pulled the controls to the right and the Sub-Pod speedily lurched right. Four other Sub-Pods followed his lead, shifting to the right as well.
"Torpedoes in the water!" A crewman shouted over the radio. This was immediately confirmed by four standard sized torpedoes flying past the Sub-Pods and impacting the Sentinel. The torpedoes exploding in great clouds of smoke, the Sentinel disappearing behind the cover of it.
"Is it dead yet?" Mu asked hopefully. Unfortunately, the Sentinel bursted from the smoke with nary a scratch or a dent or even scorch marks. Then, the tentacles on its face noticeably grouped together to form a single point, a great red ball of light appearing on the tip. Suddenly, a great beam of red shot from the Sentinel's face and impacted the Submarine, and continued going even after that.
***
Derring picked her head up, the Bridge was now submerged in darkness beyond the emergency red light which really wasn't any better. The crew were picking themselves up from that surprising blow, trying to get electronics to work again and in general trying not to panic.
"DERRING!" Penworthy screamed, still in her corner cowering. Derring quickly ran over to Penworthy, "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"
"Penworthy, calm down!" Derring quickly hugged Penworthy, who was now having a bit of a freak out. Penworthy screamed, being nearly completely overtaken with fear.
"Excuse me." Vinyl deadpanned from her post, which just happened to be right next to Penworthy and Derring, "I'm talking to someone, could you all keep it down?"
Vinyl returned to conversing with Octavia, apparently oblivious to the fact that the Submarine just took a nasty hit from an ancient machine guardian. Vinyl noticed a blinking light on one of her computers and sighed.
"Sir, it's Engineering on four." She flipped a switch. Lysander quickly headed to the radio and turned it on.
"Captain!" Lysander flinched as the other griffin on the line, Archimedes, screamed in his ear, "It's not looking good! The Submarine has a sizable hole in the hull which means we're taking on a considerable amount of water which isn't good for the electronics and the boiler which could rupture if too much water hits, the bulkheads aren't going to hold at this rate if we-"
"Archimedes," Lysander interrupted, "Short version please."
"The ship is going to EXPLODE!" Archimedes angrily screamed.
"How much time?" Lysander asked.
"Twenty minutes at most, I can probably-" Archimedes' end was suddenly interrupted by rushing water and the sounds of panicking crewman, "Nevermind, make that five."
"Five minutes! Get to the Shuttles!" Lysander quickly announced to the rest of the crew. Lysander returned to the radio and switched channels, communicating orders to the Sub-Pod to distract the Sentinel as they escaped. The Bridge crew immediately dropped what they were doing and ran for their lives. Horner quickly ran down to Penworthy and Derring and shoved them out to the Shuttles.
"Scratch!" Sidonus leaned over the railing and looked down at Vinyl's post, "Sound the alarm!"
"I told you Octavia," Vinyl said, not really caring, "If you're going to write your own composition, it's gonna be a bit derivative, true inspiration doesn't just pop you in the head like a-"
"SCRATCH!" Sidonus shouted again.
"Oh hang on Octavia, I gotta go," Vinyl nodded, "No no, I'll call you."
***
The Shuttles in essence resembled boxy whale calfs, one was enough to fit a Siege Tank and several trucks. At this point however, nobody was paying attention to design, the ship was sinking and probably about to explode.
"GET IN, GET IN! COME ON, GET IN!" Sidonus, the normally pretty stoic griffin, was now shouting at the top of his lungs. Derring and Penworthy immediately entered the Shuttle and strapped themselves into a seat on one of the sides. Colgate, Trixie, Braeburn and Archimedes took seats alongside them. Among the other Shuttle passengers were a platoon of soldiers, some of Archimedes' engineers and Vinyl. The Shuttle also happened to be carrying the huge Siege Tank and several trucks, including one with a large barrel on the back. Sidonus entered the Shuttle last and sealed the hatch behind him.
"Lieutenant! Get us out of here!" Lysander shouted, he took the co-pilot seat of the Shuttle. Lysander quickly took the pilot's seat. Next to the Pilot's seat was the emergency release lever. Sidonus pulled on it, but immediately found it to be sticking in place. He tugged on it further, "Lieutenant!"
"SHUT UP! I'M WORKING ON IT!" Sidonus screamed. He tugged harder on the lever. The Submarine and the Shuttles shook hard. The Shuttle radio came to life.
"I think that thing just blew another hole in the Sub!" Horner shouted over the radio, he was piloting the second Shuttle, "Hurry up!"
Sidonus responded by kicking the lever, which immediately gave and blew out the doors for the Shuttles to escape.
"Hold onto your butts!" Sidonus screamed to the passengers. The three Shuttles immediately dived into the water, escaping out into the ocean. As the fourth Shuttle escaped, the Submarine exploded in a spectacular display of fire, taking the fourth Shuttle with it. Debris flew everywhere at high speeds, some unnervingly hitting the Shuttle Derring and Penworthy were riding. Despite the Submarine's destruction, the Sentinel gave chase, roaring its deep bass as it chased the Shuttles.
"Derring, where we going!?" Lysander turned around in his seat, waiting expectantly for Derring's answer. Derring quickly pulled out the Journal from her saddlebag and flipped through the pages. She stopped at the right one in just under a few seconds.
"We're looking for a big crevice of some kind!" Derring responded, obviously wanting to live just as much as everyone else. Lysander and Sidonus quickly scanned the landscape, nothing but ships, stones, big crevice, and water-
"THERE!" Lysander shouted, pointing to the big crevice some distance away, Sidonus quickly picked up the radio reciever, "Up ahead!"
"All craft! Make your mark 20 Degrees down angle!" Sidonus commanded over the radio, "Follow us in!"
"Roger that!" Horner shouted, "Your good eye better not crash us into the landscape Sidonus!"
"Sub-Pod squadron is right behind you!" Mu shouted over the radio. Indeed, the Sub-Pods brought up the rear. Only three of them remained however after distracting the Sentinel for everyone to get to the Shuttles. The motley flotilla of Shuttles and Sub-Pods accelerated as hard as they could for the crevice, the Sentinel hot on their tail. The Sentinel was faster however, and it quickly body-slammed one of the Shuttles against the sea floor, causing its destruction.
"We're getting killed out here!" One of the Sub-Pod pilots screamed. The panicking shouts of other crewmen over the radio didn't help other matters.
"Stay calm!" Lysander grabbed the radio receiver, "We're going to run out of space real fast!"
The Shuttles and Sub-Pods dived into the dark crevice. It was going to take all of their navigation and maneuvering skills to enter the rather small tunnel at the bottom of it. The Sentinel attempted to follow them in but got slammed into the entrance, stuck. Instead of accepting defeat however, it fired its fiery beam, destroying a Sub-Pod and causing the rest of the ships to scatter. It fired the beam again, narrowly hitting a Sub-Pod that dodged at the last second. The Sub-Pod slammed into the Horner's Shuttle however and veered it off course.
"We're out of control! Wait, no-" Horner shouted before the Shuttle slammed into the tunnel entrance and exploded. All that remained was one Shuttle carrying the crew and Mu and Digger's Sub-Pod who immediately dived into the Tunnel.
"Derring!" Penworthy shouted, nearly at tears at this point, "There's something I want you to know if we don't make it!"
"We'll make it Penworthy!" Derring responded.
"It's just that I-" The Shuttle hit a rock, causing it to rock and rob Penworthy of her nerves. The Shuttle and the Sub-Pod continued, the beams nearly missing them. The Shuttle grinded across the tunnel as it suddenly moved upward. Sidonus and Lysander tightened their beaks, every hit and every ding could result in the Shuttle's crash. What was worse however, was that the Tunnel seemed to be getting smaller. Sidonus' skill was being tested, not since the war had he had to do such intense maneuvering. The Shuttle hit a rock and knocked Mu and Digger's Sub-Pod, cracking its viewport. Then, the tunnel got wider and wider as it suddenly hit Sidonus that it was over. The two Subs broke the water and surfaced.