Earth, Atlantic Ocean.

The mythological island of Atlantis.

Between the American Continents and the vast African Continent lay a huge island. Surrounded by mountains along the shore and encompassing a great plain in an oblong shape. The island stretched around five hundred and fifty five kilometers in a single direction. Such a vast piece of land had remained unknown to the world for a greater length of the period. The main inhabited area was around nine hundred and twenty meters in diameter, located in the center of the island.

Home to one of the factions of the current I-CA Central Command. The inhabitants of Atlantis believed themselves as the rightful rulers of Humanity. To be honest considering the level of technology and prowess of Atlantis it could be presumed as true. Reaching an unprecedented height in the field of High-energy particle physics and nuclear physics, they proclaimed themselves as the rightful ruler of the Human race. Governed by the Ten Kings each inheriting their respective titles along with the ten independent cities.

In the central part of the island lay a huge pyramid surrounded by four towers. The top of the pyramid-like structure had a metallic tower surrounded by discs rotating at a fixed tangential speed. The tower was emitting a thin beam of ionized energy piercing the sky. Within the structure in a huge hall, ten people were seated around a circular table, the Ten Kings of Atlantis.

Everyone had their gaze locked at a single person. This was King Atlas, the de facto leader of Atlantis.

“Damage report.”

King Atlas opened his eyes as he commanded. Although he seemed like a person in his twenties his actual age was well above fifty, due to their superior genetic composition an average Atlantean could live for about more than one hundred and fifty year, among those the ones with a specific genetic composition could even live for almost three hundred years.

King Atlas’s sapphire-like pupils, a sign of a higher level of genetic composition, landed on King Azaes seated beside him.

King Azaes’s body shuddered as he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Among the core components only the Electromagnetic field generator received intense damage. The electrostatic generator was totally overloaded and thus it needs to be replaced entirely. The hull integrity in the radius of impact of the Naval Station has been compromised and thus needs to be restructured. Our weapon systems have been rendered offline. In short, the Naval Station is just a huge piece of debris floating in space. As for the casualties, we lost around twenty of our people. Currently the rest of the officers on-board have been ordered to move to the dreadnought.”

As King Azaes finished his report, a heavy silence descended on the hall. Everyone’s faces were grim after all this was blatant provocation and disregard for them. Not to mention the cost of repair and rebuilding the Naval Station.

King Atlas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and gazed at everyone present in the room. He could sense that everyone was waiting for his instructions.

“Enemy status.”

Hearing this all the other Kings were stunned as the other party was now designated as an enemy by King Atlas.

“The enemy has entered defensive mode. Their dreadnought has even moved from the docks and energy signatures indicate they are ready to retaliate. The whole Naval Station has been locked down and the core part shows signs of that ‘being’ awakening.”

Hearing the mention of that ‘being’, everyone was shocked.

King Atlas too lost his composure. He then took a deep breath and said something which astonished everyone.

“If they want a war, we shall give them one. It is time for us to rightfully take over what is our. Prepare for war.”

**********

Space, I-CA Naval Station Poseidon.

The space port was located on the opposite side of the Naval Station and thus there was not much damage. Docked on the port was a huge vessel, the other dreadnought of the I-CA Naval Command. With a length of around four hundred meters and a beam length of around a hundred meters it looked like a deadly predator lying in silence.

All the dreadnought-class space vessels of the I-CA followed a standard configuration which consisted of a single heavy-class weapon for maximum damage, multiple sub-weapons for close proximity combat as well as defense, electromagnetic field generator to protect from harmful cosmic radiation, an engine block which had the power reactor, life support systems, deep-space communication systems, state-of-the-art multi-purpose radars and lastly the command center.

Inside the command center of the dreadnought one could see that the officers and the necessary personnel were undergoing pre-launch checks. The command deck of the ship was divided into multiple parts based on the functionality. In the center was the captain’s chair on which sat a man wearing I-CA Naval Command uniform with a captain’s insignia on the left side and a symbol of trident on the other side. His shoulders firm and tall, eyes deep with blue pupils signifying his descent, well defined eyebrows and a built radiating immense aura of authority.

All the officers on board the dreadnought knew this man by the name, Captain Zero. He was renowned for his unique and curel tactics.

“Captain, message from the Council.” First-officer Jessica relayed the message. Jessica was of the same descent as the Captain, they were childhood buddies and despite being a woman, who in general were often looked down on by their people, she was recognized for her strength. But the main reason for her being here was that she was the only person who could keep the Captain in check.

Listening to her, Captain nodded in confirmation.

The holographic screen displayed the face of King Atlas.

“We greet his majesty!”

Everyone on deck saluted. King Atlas waved his hand as he continued.

[Captain before relaying my order, I would like to know about your opinion on this matter.]

King Atlas’s voice reverberated in the command deck. Everyone waited for the Captain to reply. Some feared that their crazy Captain would recommend a retaliating attack on the enemy. But Jessica was not among them. She knew that the Captain was crazy but not stupid. And her guess was right.

“My King, right now the enemy has the upper hand. Our people are stranded in the space station and the only line of defense left is my dreadnought. Our first priority should be the safety of our people. The enemy right now is in a state of high alert, they have even awakened ‘that’ being so I believe we need to be patient right now. After all, they cannot stay alert forever.”

Captain Zero’s voice was calm and devoid of any emotion. The officers on deck sighed a breath of relief and Jessica’s lips curled upwards.

The projection of King Atlas listened to Captain and nodded in affirmation. He then instructed Captain Zero to maintain a state of alert and prepare to rendezvous in case the enemy attacks again. As for the people stranded on the station, I-CA Central Command was under talks with the High Command for the rescue.

I-CA High Command. Moon.

Inside the command center Rear Admiral Amelia Valerie was listening to the command from the higher ups who instructed her to cooperate with the rescue of the personnel stranded on the Naval Station Poseidon. Although R-Ad. Valerie wanted to remain a bystander in the fight between the two factions, the higher ups were adamant, thus she was left with no other choice.

Thus, she relayed her order and ten dropships each with a capacity of carrying twenty people left High Command. Their mission was to rescue the personnel and drop them to the I-CA Central Command located in the southern hemisphere.

‘I hope the situation does not escalate more. Dammit, they were waiting for this moment.’

One could observe the frustration on R-Ad. Valerie’s face as she watched the dropships leaving for the rescue.

The island of Atlantis.

King Atlas along with the other ten kings were discussing the method of retaliation after the rescue operation was finished.

“We received a reply from the opposite faction, they said there was a personnel among their ranks on board the station bearing the symbol of Atlantis who initiated the attack by hijacking the station.”

King Gadeiros, another one of the kings who was also the twin brother of King Atlas, relayed.

“Che, what sophistry! Hijacking? Are their defenses that weak? I say they are intentionally trying to place the blame on some other hypothetical third party.”

King Mestor roared in disdain towards King Gadeiros with blatant disregard for his thoughts. His reply was met with a sharp gaze by King Atlas which immediately silenced him.

“How about the Defense Turrets?” King Atlas looked over towards King Elasippos for a reply. King Elasippos’s city was the one responsible for the technological research and development of Atlantis for generations.

As soon as the question was asked everyone looked over to King Elasippos in anticipation. As for King Elasippos he sighed and answered.

“They sure can target the Naval Station, but they require time to charge and we need to dispel the shielding in order to fire them, which will enable every force to locate us on the map. Not to mention the recoil from a single shot which would create huge tsunamis destroying the coastal pathways and constructs. We would lose more than we would gain if we were to fire.”

Everyone frowned hearing this. The Defense Turrets were the last line of defense created by their ancestors to protect them from the formidable enemies, though not much was mentioned about those enemies in their records. Thus from the time of their creation they had never been fired at full power.

“But what if we use just enough energy to damage only our opponents?” King Ampheres, one of the tacticians of Atlantis replied, pondering over the situation.

“Hmm, that is possible. If we control the energy output, the damage can be controlled. Although the opponents Naval Station would not be completely destroyed, it will surely cause them to bleed.” King Elasippos thought about the option and relayed his thoughts.

“Then it is settled, Ampheres shall take command of the operation, I allow the use of the Defensive Turrets after the rescue operation is finished. Make sure the damage to Atlantis is minimal. Meanwhile Diaprepes, ready the ground troops and prepare for any anomalies that appear after our shielding is disabled. The border fortresses are to stay on alert.” King Atlas relayed his orders and everyone left.

The rescue operation proceeded as planned. Very soon everyone from the Naval Station Poseidon was transported to the Central Command Center without any difficulty.

Inside the Command Center of the Naval Station Lemegeton.

“Anything?” Admiral Daniel, one of the higher ups of the faction behind Lemegeton asked the officers.

“Negative Admiral. High Command dropships have almost completed the transfer of the personnel.” One of the officers replied. Just then--

-Beep-

-Beep-

An alarm rang out.

“Admiral, the other side’s dreadnought has locked their weapons on us. The energy signatures indicate they are ready to fire at us.” Another one of the officers said as the screen in the front enlarged the image of the dreadnought. The readings on the screen indicated a spike in the energy signature.

“Shit! Activate counter measures. What about our dreadnought?” Admiral Daniel hurriedly instructed and asked.

“Reporting to the Admiral, our dreadnought is still unoperational. The engineers are working on it.” One of the officers replied.

“Dammit, at this rate we might really go to war if they fire upon us. Alright, since the opponents do not believe us, then we are left with no choice.” Admiral Daniel proclaimed with determination.

Meanwhile outside the Naval Station, each and every weapon was locked on the opponent’s dreadnought. Ready to intercept the heavy-railgun fire at a moment’s notice.

But was it really the situation?

While the Naval Station was focused on the opponent’s dreadnought, on the outer coast of Atlantis, a huge construct with a barrel length of about a thousand meters stretched itself like waking up from the deep sleep. The energy transfer channels radiated immense energy as it moved towards the energy compressor. This huge construct was the Defense Turret.

Inside the huge pyramid in the center of Atlantis, King Ampheres’s gaze was locked on the screen in front of him which indicated the energy signature of the Defense Turret.

“Stabilize the power supply at twenty-five percent, also charge the magnetic coils and once it reaches twenty percent divert the power from the shielding to it. On my command, drop the shields and fire away. There can be no error, once the shot is fired we are to immediately activate the shielding. Understood?”

King Amphere’s command reverberated in the room.

“YES, KING!”

Each and every officer stationed in this room were the top brains that Atlantis had to offer.

“Patch me through Captain Zero.” King Amphere ordered.

Soon the image of Captain Zero appeared on the holographic screen.

“How’s the situation, Captain?” King Amphere asked.

“The opponent’s attention is totally on us. They are unaware of the situation.” Captain Zero’s voice reverberated in the room.

King Amphere took a deep breath. Just then the energy signature of the Turret reached twenty-five.

“King, we are ready.” One of the officers said.

“Lock on the target.” King Amphere conveyed.

The Defense Turret outside created a heavy noise as it rotated slowly while it’s heavy barrel lifted itself at a sixty degree elevation pointing straight towards the Naval Station Lemegeton.

Everyone inside the room took a deep breath, while some gulped in nervousness.

King Amphere looked at everyone and his gaze turned determined.

‘To Atlantis.’

He thought and then---

“FIRE”

A single command left his mouth.

The huge barrel glowed with an intense blue light. Just then the shields covering the entire Atlantis which were running on the bare minimum power turned off and a blue beam penetrated the clouds moving towards the target at a breakneck speed.

“Shot fired. Diverting power to shield generators. Shielding at ten percent and increasing.” The officers relayed reports one after the other.

Meanwhile King Diaprepes along with a thousand elite soldiers stood on top of a mountain as they watched the beam penetrate the clouds. The soldiers behind him cheered with joy and their morale was all time high, as for the King, he was on full alert, in case Atlantis suffered from any external attack.