NOVEL NEXT Chapter 286: Abyssal Trench
Alex's mind raced as he continued his descent into the abyssal trench.
The deeper he went, the more he questioned whether his random choice had been a mistake.
He kept his senses, along with the ship's senses, on high alert, straining for any hint of an enemy presence.
"King, any signs of life, or unnatural activity yet?" Alex asked, his voice laced with impatience and dissatisfaction.
"Negative, Captain. No signs of life or technological activity detected so far," the AI responded.
Alex gritted his teeth. He was more than halfway down the trench now, and still, there was nothing. If the Red Demons weren't here, then they had to be at the other location. He couldn't afford to waste more time.
"King, prepare for an emergency ascent. If we don't find anything within the next five minutes, we'll head to the other site," Alex ordered.
"Understood, Captain. Emergency ascent protocols initiated," King replied.
'Surely they can't be at the absolute bottom of the trench, right?' Alex thought to himself.
"Scratch that previous order. Only leave when we've descended as far as we can go."
Realising his mistake, Alex changed his orders.
The minutes ticked by with excruciating slowness. Alex's ship continued to descend, the pressure and darkness growing more intense.
'I guess it's time to pack it u-'
Ping!
Then, just as he was about to give the command to ascend, something flickered on the ship's sensors.
"Captain, I'm detecting a faint energy signature approximately 200 metres ahead and 50 metres below our current position," King reported.
Alex's eyes narrowed. "Finally. Let's move in closer."
He adjusted the ship's trajectory, guiding it toward the source of the energy signature. The darkness seemed to press in on all sides, but the ship's powerful lights cut through, revealing more of the trench's jagged landscape.
As they approached, the energy signature grew stronger.
"King, keep the sensors focused on that energy source. I want to know the moment we're close enough to identify it," Alex said.
"Affirmative, Captain," King responded.
Another few minutes passed, and then the outline of a massive structure came into view. It was nestled into the side of the trench, camouflaged by the surrounding rock. The structure was enormous, easily spanning a kilometre in length. Strange symbols and patterns glowed faintly along its surface, marking it as unmistakably alien.
"Target identified. It appears to be a heavily fortified base, Captain," King confirmed.
Alex's pulse quickened. "Alright, let's get a closer look."
He guided the ship to a position just outside the base's perimeter. The structure was made of a dark, metallic material that seemed to absorb light, making it difficult to see details. But the faint glow from the symbols provided just enough illumination to navigate.
"King, scan for any entry points or weaknesses in the structure's defences," Alex ordered.
"Scanning... Entry point detected. There appears to be a docking bay approximately 100 metres to our starboard side. No external defences detected in the immediate vicinity," King reported.
'Perhaps I can destroy the base without even having to do any of the work myself…' Alex considered.
He remembered Admiral Olgierd's words when he first handed this ship over to Alex.
It had the potential to unleash Variant class B rank attacks, if need be.
Using his ship to completely obliterate the enemy base seemed like a much better idea than going in himself.
He asked the AI for its opinion, but it poured cold water on his idea.
"I strongly advise against using the ship's weapons. The energy signature I am sensing indicates an enormous gathering of energy at the epicentre of the base. If such a thing is struck by the ship's cannons, the resulting explosion would tear the planet in half."
The AI's tone was so neutral and calm, it would be hard to believe that it had spoken such unbelievable words.
But they only threw a spanner in Alex's plan.
'Dammit! That's completely not an option. Going in myself it is then, I guess.'
Alex grimaced. "Time to park this thing and hop out then."
He maneuvered the ship toward an area a few hundred metres away from the base, careful to avoid making any sudden movements that might alert the base's occupants.
He hopped out of the pilot's seat and headed to the airlock, only to be met with massive pressure forcing down on him from all sides, and a great outpouring of water into the small airlock on his ship.
He could only be thankful that he had a strong ship, easily capable of withstanding the pressure.
When outside, he stored away the ship in his storage, like always.
The void left behind by the ship was filled instantly, barely disturbing the uneasy harmony of the surrounding pitch black environment.
It was times like this that Alex was thankful he had his Spatial perception, as he would not be able to tell up from down and left from right in this place if it weren't for it.
Making sure to check his surroundings thoroughly, he neared what looked like an entry point, an airlock hidden in amongst some outgoing rocks.
'Might as well try my luck…'
He wasn't expecting much, but he pressed the handle on the sturdy, reinforced metal door regardless.
Click!
Clank!
Grind!
But completely unexpected to him, the mechanism behind the door had started!
'Don't tell me they don't even need a key card or something like that to access a so called 'top secret' base…'
What Alex didn't know though, was that he had just entered through a door that was normally just used as an emergency EXIT, where the use of things like key cards or passcodes would be inconvenient to use in the event of an emergency.
When inside, he quickly discovered that the Red Demons did in fact use key cards to get in and out of places.
As he confirmed by the guard, who, locking eyes with Alex as he stepped through the interior door of the airlock, used his key card to open a utilities cupboard.
'Shit…'
Alex didn't expect to meet anyone inside so soon, to his dismay.