Returning to the navy fleet faceoff, or should it more aptly be called a ruthless massacre by Edenian submarines?
The soldiers aboard the speedboat were rapidly closing in on an optimal water depth where they could land with their equipment before they proceeded to get to the land and commence their fight.
The missile defense guns that had been focusing on taking out the missiles a few moments ago had now turned their attention to the hoard of high-speed boats that were just a few kilometers away from reaching the shore. Guided by the onboard control computer, the electricity being sent to those guns was increased, increasing the amount of electricity that was being sent into the guns’ electromagnetic barrels. This resulted in a quick doubling of the effective range of the guns, enough that the first barrage of bullets sent in their direction shredded not just the boats, but also turned some of the soldiers onboard it into unrecognizable masses of flesh. Nevertheless, most of the bullets were targeted onto their boats, resulting in those who were boarding them being immediately sent into the water. To survive, they were forced to abandon their equipments and swim the arduous kilometer-long stretch to reach the safe shore, the only thing that drove them to do this was the motivation of life versus death.
Amidst the chaos, not a single soldier—barring the few who had not survived the rain of bullets and were unfortunate enough to be turned into meat paste– had even a flicker of thought of continuing their mission.
They had already abandoned everything they deemed being heavy enough to hinder them in their swimming race which had started and had a very tempting reward at its end.
With the daunting reward for completing this perilous one-kilometer swim being their survival and the consequence for failing it being their death.
Despite this, and to act as a large enough motivator for the now twenty-thousand-plus-something soldiers who were swimming for their lives, the submarines were directed to send torpedoes towards the tankers that had once carried them and at the moment still held a trove of the crucial heavy equipments within them. These tankers needed to be docked to be able to unload their cargo and start using them, yet, their current imperative was to back away and run as farther away from the war, thanks to being scared to shit after what they had witnessed. And then…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The midsize tankers each were instantaneously cleared into two, thanks to the torpedoes’ first round of detonation and before even the cavitation (underwater explosions, where rapidly collapsing bubbles generate shockwaves that are destructive to nearby structures.) could even happen due to the amount of explosive strength the torpedoes carried within them and the moment the cavitation occurred, the now two divided pieces of each mid-sized tankers were flung into air, including whatever that was inside them also being scattered like confetti.
As for the soldiers who were now swimming in the water, they experienced an unexpected surge of momentum as the shockwave from the explosion acted as a booster due to the distance they were in. By the time the shockwave reached them, it had already been weakened enough to just act as a speed-up button, helping the still swimming soldiers to cover a few meters ahead of them with ease before they were once again forced to start swimming by themselves.
This same scenario was happening across all the bases where Esparia had dispatched their soldiers to try and infiltrate before they could start attacking the neighboring cities. Hence, even the slight bit of mercy that could be shown to them now required someone as cold as Athena to decide to do it.
Meanwhile, as the soldiers were swimming with no professionality or discipline among them, looking similar to a school of fishes, a helicopter could be seen stealthy hovering above every Esparian fleet, documenting and recording everything that was unfolding.
After more than half an hour, the competition finally came to a conclusion, leaving the soldiers completely exhausted as they were panting on the well-lit shores of Eden. Their respite didn’t live for long as they could hear warnings coming from behind them. When they turned to the direction from which the warning sounds were coming from, they saw massive convoys coming to them with vehicles that were completely filled with soldiers.
After noticing the convoy, some of the Esparian soldiers tried to run away, only to quickly realize how futile their actions were. Within a moment, they were turned into porcupines followed by a stern warning, “Esparian soldiers on our shores, due to our states being at war against each other, you are now our prisoners of war. You will be treated in accordance with those rules. As for anyone who might attempt to escape they will be shot and killed.”
Upon hearing this announcement, a sense of relief washed over some of the panic-stricken soldiers as they simply laid themselves down on the sand since they were tired and their bodies had already reached the limit of producing specific hormones. Disarmed and disheartened, they had abandoned their weapons and other equipments in the ocean when they started swimming– an act that proved to be a smart idea compared to some of the stubborn ones who had tried swimming together with their equipments and could already be seen floating on the water, lifelessly. They had enough water in their bodies that they felt satisfied enough with living and chose death with a satisfied expression on their face or so, they thought.
Meanwhile, others cried, as they knew that it would take them a considerably long time before they returned and reunited to see their families, which they needed a lot at the moment after being heavily traumatized by the unfolding events.
The Edenian soldiers started distributing black-looking zip ties to all the captive soldiers, to put it by themselves, which they did so willingly. While a few of them tried to show defiance, they were promptly dealt with and could be seen crying while laying in a fetal position with their faces and many other body parts looking swollen.
They knew that this night was going to be a long and trying ordeal.
…….
The following morning, at 10 am, a press conference that had been announced just five hours ago commenced.
Emanuel, the President of Esparia, ascended to the podium inside the press room which had very few reporters. The country was in a literal state of war with its only neighboring nation, this prompted many international reporters to go back or be called back due to fear about their safety. Nevertheless, the video feeds were being provided by Esparia and they allowed anyone to use the footage and broadcast it if they wanted to, an opportunity which every news company seized upon, knowing very well that this was the current hottest event in the world and they would gain a few more eyeballs on their channels which they could show their advertisements to.
“Ehem…” Emanuel cleared his throat before raising his head and looking straight at the camera. He then started his speech by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of our nation, today I stand before you exactly eighteen hours after I had stood here and valiantly declared war against Eden.” He paused, taking another moment to clear his throat once again, this time trying to stifle the overtone he had used during his previous words. His actions revealed everything that he was feeling, anyone with enough social skills would know that it was a tone of regret, but the audience still couldn’t discern whether this regret was about what he was talking about at the moment or a regret about something else.
Nevertheless, they still maintained their focus on his speech as he finally continued, trying to finish his first paragraph of the many he had to speak today, “As for why I have called for this press conference, it was to make it known that as the President of Esparia, I hereby declare our complete and unconditional surrender to Eden.”