1555 September 20th, 2019 CE

0752 (Mid Hour), Quiet 112th, 195 AE

Many miles off the shores of Miami

“Press forward! Show no fear! FOR THE GLORY OF THE IMPERIUM!”

The majestic and invincible steel beast of his Imperium was going full speed along with its fleet. Admiral Publius’s eyes filled with determination as it always does when he goes into battle mode. All of a sudden, the ship violently rocked to the left and everyone on the bridge was thrown off balance. There was a massive and brilliant explosion on the right of the ship. The admiral was thrown to the ground. He was only dealt with a couple of scrapes and stood up soon after.

“What in his Majesty’s name was that?”

As everyone started to recover and assess the situation, an officer shouted out.

“Admiral! Our ship was hit and is listing to the right!”

“What hit us?”

“It could be a torpedo. We are currently taking on large amounts of water.”

“Can it be repaired?”

“No, sir! The hole is too big!”

Just as that was said, there was a massive flash behind them.

“What was that?!?!”

“Sir! The IS(Imperium Ship) Atticus, our other battleship, was hit!”

“What’s its condition?”

“We don’t kn…”

“Use the telegraph.”

A telegraph was immediately sent to the IS Atticus. A reply came a few minutes later.

“Admiral, it reads ‘Listing right. Taking on water. Unrepairable. Preparing to abandon.’”

“What kind of torpedo can do that?!? Where are they firing from?!?!”

“We don’t know, Admiral. We believe that it’s a submarine but the destroyers have not detected anything.”

“TRY ANYTHING TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE!”

The Admiral was beginning to panic.

“Admiral, it’s impossible, water is gushing in so fast that our men can’t seal it off.”

The Admiral started to sweat.

“A...ab… abandon… ship…”

A minute ago

Nearby under the sea

After given the go-ahead, one torpedo came out from each of the 6 Los-Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines. Three of the torpedoes headed to one of the battleships while the other three headed to the other battleship. The Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine did not fire. The government wanted them to surrender for some political reason.

1600 September 20th, 2019 CE

0800 (Mid Hour), Quiet 112th, 195 AE

Many miles off the shores of Miami

“Captain, our flagships IS Marcus and IS Atticus is sinking! We are receiving a telegraph message from the IS Atticus that they are abandoning ship.”

The Captain of the Heavy Cruiser Victorum, third in command of the fleet, was taken by surprise. The other officers in the bridge were terrified. In mere minutes of the order to attack, both of their flagships were sinking. Their flagships, the Desmond-class battleship, should be able to take any heavy fire from any navy and still stay operational. There were no munitions capable of sinking it in a mere few shots. Even the Magusian navy, the only navy capable of somewhat standing up to the Mach, could not face any Desmond-class battleship with any hope of winning unless they outnumbered it 20 to 1. Now, right in front of their eyes, these invincible beasts were sinking.

“Captain, what do we do?”

“Should we turn back?”

“We can’t press forward.”

The captain had a solemn face.

“Telegraph to the other Mach ships to retreat.”

“Should we signal to the Bem to do that too?”

“We got no time. Retreat as fast as possible. The Bem will stay behind to cover our retreat.”

The Captain of the Heavy Cruiser Victorium knew that it was less of a cover and more of a sacrifice.

“Captain, we must go save the survivors.”

“We will meet the same fate as our flagships if we do. Ignore the survivors.”

“But Captain!”

The Captain gave a stern look and the opposing officer backed down. The group of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers were turning around in a scattered position. Far behind them, the Bem fleet which had seen the destruction of the Machians battleships noticed it.

“Admiral, they are turning around!”

“Have they signaled to us their intentions?”

“Negative sir.”

“They are abandoning us, aren’t they. Those bastards."

The 6 Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers that were staying 15 miles out also noticed.

“We have just received orders to intercept and prevent their escape.”

“Focus fire on the Machian ships.”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

The gun on each of the destroyers immediately turned and fired on the ships that were in the front of the Machian formation.

At that moment on the IS Victorum

“Captain! The enemies have opened fire!”

“Try to evade!”

The IS Victorum was hit. So were 5 other Machian ships. Two destroyers were immediately obliterated upon impact. A light cruiser’s bridge was destroyed. Another heavy cruiser and the IS Victorum sustained heavy damage.

The ears of the Captain of the IS Victorum were ringing from the explosion.

“What’s the situation!”

“Captain! The enemy shell hit the center of the ship. Two of our side main guns have been destroyed!”

All of a sudden, a zooming sound could be heard coming from above and passing over. The Captain looked out to the left of the ship. He could see two arrowheads at incredible speeds going outwards.

“...What… is that?”

Multiple Machians noticed the “arrowheads” flying over by and were alarmed by it. Its speed was something that seemed to be impossible.

At that moment on the IS Marcus

Admiral Publius’s was grimly looking out of the bridge. The rest of the crew and the diplomat had abandoned ship. Based on Machian naval tradition, an Admiral can not abandon ship. If they did, they will have their title stripped and face mockery while in jail waiting to be executed. Admiral Publius firmly believed in death before dishonor.

“What is this… what in his Majesty’s name is this…”

The Admiral said these words in despair after witnessing the destruction of multiple Mach ships and the arrowheads flying by.