Chapter 194 20.27 Seconds Of Utter Silence
"Even if they know, they won\'t be able to do anything about it anyway, so what\'s there to worry about? Still, make sure that our soldiers are not full of themselves and continuously keep their eyes on the sonars to make sure there are no mines left behind in our way to victory," the fleet commander responded, as he turned to the right side, glancing at the multitude of vessels on both sides of the fleet, causing a smile to bloom on his face as he imagined the future ceremony were he would be rewarded for trashing Eden\'s navy.
Just to his right, he could see more than 15 vessels lined and that was the same for the number lined up on the left side, making a total of thirty vessels that were entering the waters of Eden, ready for their face off which would rather be described as a massacre.
"Yes, sir," the assistant commanding officer replied, immediately picking up his radio and relaying the instruction to all the vessels in the fleet.
However, just as he was about to continue his conversation with the fleet commander, an announcement resounded across all the fleet radios and it was even audible to those who don\'t have radios, in fact, the sound was so crisp and clearly heard as if it was being announced a few meters near them.
[Attention all Esparia Navy vessels,
This is a warning announcement from Eden\'s Navy.
We have detected your entry into Eden\'s territorial waters, and we demand an immediate explanation for your presence in our sovereign waters.
Be advised that unauthorized entry into Eden\'s waters is a serious violation of our territorial integrity and will not be tolerated. We are closely monitoring your movements, and any provocative or hostile actions will be met with a firm and decisive response.
In the interest of de-escalation and maintaining regional peace, we urge you to identify yourselves and your purpose for being in Eden\'s waters. Failure to provide a valid and satisfactory explanation may result in serious consequences.
]
"Looks like they found us. I would have been even more disappointed if they hadn\'t," the commanding officer muttered, maintaining a smile on his face.
He picked up the radio and responded, "This is Esparia Fleet commander. We are here under the order of the Commander-in-Chief, the President of Esparia, in retaliation to you firing the artillery at our base along the land border. Surrender immediately, or you will be forced to do so," his voice carried the pride of being on the powerful side where he was sure that no matter what the other side\'s response was, he would always be the one to emerge victorious in the war.
[If you don\'t turn around within thirty seconds, you will regret having said those words] A counter response came with a tick in each second that followed, indicating that it was a counter. [You have a vote in how things turn out, but whatever you choose, it better not be with continuing your trespassing act] The warning concluded with finality with no word after that.
"They really have a well-worded soldier," remarked the assistant commanding officer, though he didn\'t even dare to think about asking the Commander on whether they should continue to proceed or not. He just kept his head high, showing his confidence, as the Commander raised his radio for the second time and sneered, "Big words used by weak people, but this will also be our last warning. As soon as the thirsty seconds you gave us are up, we will be the ones firing the first shots if we haven\'t received your declaration of surrender."
He then immediately announced to his fleet while still being in an open channel, showing how little he thought of the other side\'s words, as he said with disdain, "When the thirty seconds are over, fire at them," he ordered the fleets of four gunships they had bought in bargain from America a few decades ago.
"Yes sir," the response came from the gunship crew, showing their unwavering confidence as they ordered the soldiers to start the preparations for firing the first round of artillery when the timer reaches zero, similar to their Commander, they did so without even trying to move to a secure channel, giving the entirety of the ordered without worrying about the other side doing anything that could so something from preventing on doing so or consider them a dangerous adversary.
Athen, on the other hand, remained silent, taking note of the actions that completely showed disrespect to Eden\'s military, however, she simply saved all of these recordings, knowing that they would be useful in the future.
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
TING!!!!!
The Type2 Bomb, strapped with a booster that was hanging on the helicopter about thirty kilometers away, was released as the pilot pulled the trigger after he was ordered by Athena.
With her timing as immaculate as it could be, she had timed the launch of the bombing order exactly when she was sure that there were very little number of imaging satellites over them to avoid letting them have the image of "That direction remover" while it was on its way to the Esparian fleet which still believed that they had the upper hand.
"Fire!" Esparia\'s commanding officer announced through the open channel and the four gunships responded as they fired without even locking onto their targets, considering that these were just warning shots.
Amidst the flying shells of artillery fired from them, "That direction remover" passed right between each other, one meant as a warning and the other\'s purpose was clear, as Athena was not joking at all, since they had disrespected her Father\'s forces, she had decided that they should be given a long-lasting lesson.
"What is that?" Those were the very last words uttered by the commanding officer and many soldiers in Esparia\'s fleet, being too late to realize that their appointment with the grim reaper had already been set as a sun emerged before them.
The bright light turned the dark ocean into daylight. There were exactly a period of 20.27 seconds of utter silence as the helicopter pilot watched as his face lit up with the light from the explosion about thirty kilometers away before the deafening sound of the explosion finally caught up to him.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Despite the heavy shockwave, the flight control computer of the helicopter took control and made the helicopter remain unaffected, not even the slightest shake resulted from it.
[You shouldn\'t have taunted and belittle father like that] Athena said in a serious tone after the first "TDR Type1" bomb detonated, obliterating with it a total of fifteen Esparia\'s military vessels after they ignored her warning announcements, clearly indicating that as long as you ignore her warnings, Athena won\'t hesitate to use your death as an act of lesson for her soldiers.