December 15, 2025 — 3:03 PM
East China Sea – 178 Nautical Miles from Luzon
The Sea Phantom was quiet, its engines dropped to a whisper as it drifted at twelve knots, cutting a slow curve across the now-darker waters of the East China Sea.
Inside the sealed cockpit, Thomas Estaris sat tense, his eyes scanning the sonar return like a man watching an old fuse burning down. The ocean was beginning to change. The light outside dimmed, not from the sun—still well above the horizon—but from the water itself.
The glow had gone dull.
More blips appeared on the sonar.
Contact 1: Depth 17.5m
Contact 2: Depth 16.9m
Contact 3: Depth 19.2m
Contact 4: Depth 18.0m
Movement Pattern: Irregular convergence
Classification: Unknown
They were rising.
"They're tracking me," Thomas muttered under his breath. "No way this is coincidence."
He scanned for escape vectors—no nearby landmasses, no islands, no friendly units. The only thing he had was ocean.
And a hull.
