FRTI volume 1(The Great escape) Chapter 0

The constant sound of sonar pings and the beeps of electronic machinery accompanied the group of men and women loitering around the bridge of the Resistance force super-submarine 'Slava IV' as it made its slow journey in the dark depths along the bottom of the sea.

"Give me our depth and speed Junior Lieutenant Williams." The captain of the submarine asked the pretty blonde-haired female sonar operator who sat at her work station to his right as she stared fixedly at her circular screen with her headphones pressed tight against her ears.

"Depth two thousand meters. Speed constant at five knots." The woman promptly replied as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen.

"Any acoustic readings on the sonar?"

"Negative."

"How long is our ETA before we arrive at rendezvous point X?" the captain asked again as he took out his watch from his uniform's pocket.

"ETA approximately five minutes and counting."

"Perfect. I guess it is now time to let the extraction teams who will take part in the operation to attack and restrain the high priority target X aware of the combat plan." The captained exclaimed as he switched on the comms and called the squad leaders of the extraction teams to the bridge.

In order to avoid any potential leaks of crucial intel by moles to the enemy ahead of their critical operation, only the sonar operator and the captain of the submarine were aware of the plan to restrain high priority target X.

They only knew the details of the plan as even the name and location of the target were kept hidden from them. They were simply told a plan to capture and retrieve a target based on his distinctive physical features and the location and coordinates of the extraction point were pre-installed into the auto-navigation of the ship AI behind firewalls that could give the greatest hackers and hyper computers pause.

A beep was heard followed by a swooshing sound as one of the hatches to the bridge slid open. A small group of eight men immediately entered and lined up shoulder to shoulder with their backs straight.

"Captain Owens!" They all shouted in unison as they offered a military salute.

"At ease Lieutenant commanders." The captain said as he beckoned them to come close to him and surround the Combat information hologram table with the operation plan projected from it.

"You have all been briefed that you will be taking part in a very important mission but they never told you the real importance of this mission." The captain paused as he noted that the eight men were raptly paying attention.

"Allow me to inform you of the real importance of this mission… it is a code-black designated mission."

Sharp intakes of breath were heard throughout the bridge from the operating crew eavesdropping on the conversation. The eight men showed no sharp reaction to the news however the sheen of cold sweat that appeared simultaneously on their brows betrayed the shock and fear they gleaned from those words.

The captain allowed a few seconds of silence to persist in order to build up the tension before continuing.

"We are tasked with capturing an extremely high priority target at our rendezvous point and this mission is of utmost importance to the resistance and to the world. Our source in the Great Grisalian Empire Spider lily confirmed intel that the first prince of the Great Grisalian Empire has been tasked with scouting out the border onshore military installations of our Slade Confederacy."

A bout of silence came over the bridge as the image on the screen projected a military convoy of trucks, tanks, Amphibius assault vehicles and juggernaut mechas as they emerged from the sea and made landfall.

"Our target is a twelve-year-old boy with white hair and golden eyes who is the first prince. He will be a valuable bargaining chip to capture for ransom and negotiations as it was noted that the emperor apparently dotes on him very much and is his favourite amongst the other princes and princesses."

His voice took a heavy sombre tone as he looked each man in the eyes as a heavy sad atmosphere permeated the room.

"We have received news of the prince's overwhelming combat prowess that is on the same level as that of the Grisalian Army's seven heavenly kings and on top of that, he is a brilliant tactician and strategist. His combat prowess alone will require us to send out five of our esteemed sages and on top of that, his personal troops are highly trained and competent.

We are merely the cannon fodder of this operation to whittle down the mobs around the prince but should we succeed, we would have gained an absolute advantage over those fiends."

The captain then looked at each of the generals in the eyes as his eyes took a solemn hue.

"I have no doubt that few amongst you and your men will return alive from this mission but even so… I still ask you to lay down your lives for our cause and our nation. The fight will be tough and the enemies too strong for our liking but still, it is a risk we have to take and a fight we need to see through.

The fate of our brothers, our sisters, our wives and our children depend on it. The whole nation depends on it and so I'm asking you. Please die for our cause!" The captain said whist kowtowing on the floor with his head pressed hard to the ground.

"No need to ask us captain and no need to humiliate yourself by bowing to worthless people like us. For the country we would trade our very lives if that's what it requires of us."

The captain was slowly helped from the ground as tears streamed down his face.

"Thank you very much everyone. For the crew and for the country!"

"FOR THE CREW AND FOR THE COUNTRY!!!" The whole bridge echoed.