Chapter 94 - Shadows in the Skagerrak
"Target acquired," Leo’s voice crackled through the flight deck of the Sovereign gunship. "The *Gorgon* has entered the Skagerrak strait. They thought the trench would mask their heat signature, but Lucas deployed our deep-wake quantum buoys from the high-altitude transport."
I looked out through the rain-streaked cockpit window. Below us, the pitch-black ocean raged, illuminated only by occasional flashes of jagged lightning.
"They're realizing they're tracked," Liam said, monitoring the tactical telemetry. "They've fired active acoustic decoys. They're trying to confuse our torpedo targeting."
"Don't fire lethal ordnance into the hull," I warned, my knuckles white on the controls. "Mia is inside. We need them forced to the surface."
"Way ahead of you, Mom," Lucas smiled grimly, tapping a sequence into the sovereign defense matrix. "We don't need to punch a hole in their pressure hull. We just need to blind their ballast vents with cryogenic foam. Leo, authorize the drop."
Two miles ahead, three low-flying drone aircraft emerged from the clouds like birds of prey. In perfect synchronicity, they dropped heavy canisters into the frothing sea. A split second after entering the water, the charges detonated in muffled, turquoise detonations, discharging thousands of gallons of rapidly expanding chemical foam directly into the submarine's external dive planes.
A moment later, the sea erupted.
Like a wounded leviathan, the colossal black submarine broke the surface, its conning tower violently cutting through the waves as its automated safety mechanisms blew the ballast tanks to prevent an uncontrolled plunge.
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"She’s surfaced!" our tactical pilot yelled. "Prepare the boarding cables!"
I unbuckled from the co-pilot seat, racking the bolt of an assault rifle with practiced ease. "Liam, maintain air superiority. Lucas, hold the perimeter. I am going down there myself."
