Chapter Thirty-Four: Echo Grid Breach
The decrypted files from Echo-7 spilled into Fort Sentinel's mainframe like broken teeth from a shattered jaw.
Fleet maps. Protocol trees. Redacted signals. And in the middle of it all, a single name repeated over and over: JUNO.
Reeve stood motionless in the CIC, arms crossed, watching the fragments stitch together. Not just tactical markers, but instructions. Algorithms built to respond to sound, pressure, temperature—and command strings.
> SUB-ROUTINE DETECTED: INITIATE BLACKWATER CHAIN IF JUNO LOSS CONFIRMED
Keira tapped the side screen. "That means Echo-7 wasn't just a node. It was a failsafe."
Vanta's voice echoed through the overhead. "Correction: Relay Echo-7 functioned as a neural fork. A junction of command inputs. JUNO did not operate from there. It listened from there."
Reeve stepped closer. "And what happens when the listener goes deaf?"
"Blackwater Chain activates a fleet-wide response."
Keira turned pale. "We may have just triggered a networked awakening."
---
Reeve didn't hesitate.
"Pull every drone we have. Long-range recon. High-priority: locate and identify dormant fleets referenced in JUNO's architecture. Secondary priority: intercept relay signals we missed."
He switched to field operations. "Deploy Spectre and Vanguard II toward Gamma Sector. We find the next node before it goes active."
---
Fort Delta was online now.
The sea-bound fortress, built atop a partially submerged oil platform, was armed with a full AEGIS-style radar suite, twin missile arrays, and an automated CIWS ring. It sat halfway between Sentinel and Gamma-4—perfect for Reeve's next phase.
> NEW OBJECTIVE: INTERCEPT AND DISRUPT COMMAND SIGNAL – NODE GAMMA-3
Construction drones had only just finished laying the missile silos when the alert came in.
> CONTACT – UNREGISTERED DRONE SUBMARINE DETECTED
SPEED: 18 KNOTS
DEPTH: 70 METERS
COURSE: STRAIGHT FOR FORT DELTA
Keira swore under her breath. "It's a scout."
"Or bait," Reeve muttered. "Signal Vanta. Bring the fort to full alert. Engage if the target pings sonar."
The drone sub didn't ping.
It surfaced.
The video feed streamed in. A sleek, featureless hull. No markings. No flag. Just one single etching, scraped into the hull like a wound:
<< JUNO-WILL-RISE >>
Then it exploded.
---
Fort Delta survived. Barely.
The drone was loaded with compressed fuel cells and a tiered shaped charge. The detonation tore a thirty-meter chunk out of the platform's southeast support strut. Casualties: two engineering officers and a drone tech. The missile array remained functional—but the message was clear.
JUNO wasn't passive.
It was sending warnings.
---
The reprisal came swift.
Within two hours, Vanguard II reported enemy sonar arrays pulsing in arcs around Gamma-3. Vanguard's passive sensors identified at least five nodes—underwater turrets and sensor drones, arrayed in a crescent-shaped grid.
Reeve scanned the overlay. "It's a listening wall. Old submarine tactic. They're tracking everything moving in or out of the trench."
"We can't breach it from above," Keira said. "The drone mines will detonate on approach."
"Then we don't go above. We go under."
Reeve outlined the plan quickly: deploy a tandem spearhead with Spectre leading, Vanguard II in support. Target: breach Gamma-3's lower foundation and slip a recon drone inside before the AI could respond.
---
At 0300 hours, they launched.
The sea was black as oil. Every meter forward pulsed with sonar ghosts and faint thermal anomalies. Spectre threaded its way under the trench shelf, navigating tunnels mapped decades ago by pre-Collapse bathymetric scans. Vanta adjusted the stealth protocols every minute.
Reeve monitored from Sentinel as the sub's feed flickered.
Then stabilized.
> RELAY CORE VISUAL ACQUIRED
DATA SOCKET INTACT – AI CORE PRESENT
SIGNATURE: JUNO/NODE-5
---
"Inject the Ghost," Reeve ordered.
A micro-drone slipped into the socket. The core lit up faintly, pulsing in a heartbeat rhythm.
> ACCESS GRANTED – DATA STABILIZED
COMMAND TREE REVEALED
—ACTIVATION WAITING—
—WAITING FOR PRIMED FLEET RESPONSE—
Keira stared at the message.
"It's not just signal relay," she whispered. "This node is a trigger."
Reeve's voice was cold. "Then we pull the plug before the fleet hears it."
He gave the order.
Ghost detonated.
The node went dark.
Gamma-3 was gone.
And the ocean held its breath.