Garuda Inferno's first shot wasn't fired immediately.
Not out of hesitation.
But because the sea… reacted first.
The wave in front of the unit split slowly, not like from an explosion—more like something was parting it from below. The blue lights on the backs of those creatures flashed simultaneously, then died out together.
A momentary silence.
Not a safe silence.
The silence before something moves.
"AI," Tomy said in a low voice. "Energy reading?"
"Unstable," it replied quickly. "Source unidentified. Pattern… resembles resonance."
Tomy felt his throat go dry.
Resonance meant one thing: they were connected.
The creature at the front lowered its head. The water around it hardened like a transparent wall, the pressure spiking suddenly. Garuda Inferno's sensors screamed, numbers soaring beyond safe limits.
"Energy contact!" an operator yelled from central command.
Tomy didn't wait.
"Fire."
A flash of white light seared the sea's surface. Garuda Inferno's main weapon spewed heat, instantly vaporizing the water, leaving a thick metallic-tasting mist. The shockwave swept in all directions, forcing the unit to stagger half a step back.
But that creature… didn't shatter.
Its outer shell was cracked. Its blue lights flickered chaotically. But it was still standing—and the others moved.
Not charging.
They spread out.
"Formation broken!" the sonar analyst panicked. "They're circling us!"
Garuda Inferno slowly turned its body, far too slowly. Its leg servos were at their limit. From the right, one creature dove. From the left, the water swirled, revealing a massive shadow below.
"They're not focusing on the unit," the AI said. "They're… locking down the area."
It was then Tomy realized.
This wasn't a duel.
This was a trap.
The water beneath Garuda Inferno suddenly dropped. Not a retreat—it was pulled. The unit's legs lost their footing, the seabed structure collapsed, leaving a gaping black abyss.
A trench.
"Stabilizers!" Tomy shouted.
The lower thrusters fired forcibly. The engine roared, heat spiking. Garuda Inferno halted right at the lip of the sea trench—below it, absolute darkness. Sonar systems died one by one, as if swallowed.
Then… that sound emerged.
Not through the radio.
Not through sonar.
A low, deep vibration, like a mountain speaking from beneath the water. The cockpit trembled faintly, not violently—right at a frequency that made Tomy's teeth chatter.
"AI," he whispered. "What is that?"
A pause.
A pause far too long for a machine.
"…Data unavailable," the AI finally answered. "Source is below the maximum depth of human mapping."
The creatures on the surface stopped moving.
They faced the trench.
Not Garuda Inferno.
As if awaiting permission.
A chill crept from Tomy's nape down his spine.
This wasn't a standard invasion.
They had awakened something that should have stayed asleep.
"Command," he said softly but firmly. "This isn't one wave. This isn't one species."
At central command, silence.
"Beneath Cenderawasih Bay," Tomy continued, his eyes fixed on the dark abyss, "there's something that serves as their nexus."
The trench trembled.
The water rippled upward, slow, heavy, as if the sea itself were drawing a breath.
And for the first time since this war began—
Garuda Inferno was no longer the last wall.
It was merely a witness
that humanity…
was not the apex inhabitant of this world.