It wasn't immediately quiet after the creature retreated.
Quite the opposite.
The surface of Cenderawasih Bay rippled gently, not from the wind, but from something moving beneath it. The ripples were regular. Too regular. Like breathing.
Garuda Inferno stood rigidly. Its weapon systems were still hot. Its right sensor flickered, partially dead. In the cockpit, the faint smell of burnt metal began to be noticeable.
"Garuda Unit," the commander's voice came in, more cautious now. "Do not pursue. Hold position."
Tomy didn't answer immediately. His eyes were fixed on the tactical radar. The red dots that had appeared earlier… hadn't vanished.
They had only moved away. Forming a semicircle just beyond visual range.
"They're waiting," Tomy finally said. "Not retreating."
A sonar analyst at the command center spoke rapidly. "Movement pattern is consistent. It's not random. It's a formation."
That word silenced the command room for a moment.
Formation meant there was a leader.
And what Tomy had just faced… might have only been the opening act.
A faint vibration rose from Garuda's feet. Not an attack. More like… a touch. Something passed beneath the sandy seabed, close enough to be picked up by the pressure sensors.
"Subsurface contact!" an operator yelled.
"Range—thirty meters below the unit!"
Tomy clenched his fist on the controls.
"Activate focused sonar. I need to see."
The main screen changed. The sonar image came up slowly, rough lines forming the shadows of giants beneath Garuda Inferno.
Not one. Not two.
Many.
Long bodies, layered, crisscrossing like giant tree roots on the seabed. Some moved slowly. Others… were still. Waiting.
"This isn't just an invasion," Tomy muttered.
"It's a colony."
Before he could finish speaking—
—PRESSURE SPIKE.
The water around Garuda suddenly grew heavy. The compensation systems screamed. Numbers on the HUD skyrocketed.
"Tomy, fall back!" the commander's voice rose. "They're encircling from below!"
Garuda Inferno tried to step. Its right leg lifted—then was held back. Something snagged its ankle, not a tentacle, but a hard, circular structure, like a living bone ring.
"Physical contact!"
"Biological structure entangling the unit's leg!"
Tomy pulled the emergency lever. Servos strained to rotate. Metal screeched. The structure cracked slightly but didn't release.
From below, another vibration emerged.
Stronger.
The sea began to darken.
Not because of night.
But because of a shadow.
Something far larger was rising slowly from the depths. Not all the way to the surface—but close enough to drastically alter the water pressure. Close enough to make Garuda Inferno look… small.
Visual sensors couldn't capture its full form.
It was too big. Too deep.
Only one thing was visible.
An eye.
A single one.
Pale blue.
Larger than Garuda's cockpit.
It wasn't staring.
It was observing.
All of Garuda Inferno's systems suddenly went still for a second. As if the machine itself… hesitated.
"Command…" Tomy spoke softly, his voice strained.
"This one is different."
The command center's voice came through again, lower than before. "Data matches black archives. An old code."
A side screen opened automatically. Ancient files, even older than Garuda Inferno itself.
CLASSIFICATION: LEVIATHAN-CLASS
STATUS: THEORETICAL
NOTE: DO NOT ENGAGE DIRECTLY
Tomy smiled thinly, bitterly.
"Too late."