Kraken - Rookie Burwick (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

to the surface. He came up and began swimming away from the monstrous tentacles.

He swam as fast as he could through the dark water, luckily able to see enough to make through, hoping the tentacles weren't following. . . then a loud creaking noise pierced through the night sky. He spun around, sending a wave of water as he did, and saw a tentacle wrapping around the entire bridge, and heaved it down into the water. The entire ship sunk with the tentacles pulling it into the murky depths. Eirght couldn't believe his eyes. The ship was gone. The entire ship was no more.

But then, he felt something wrap around his chest, and jerk him under, and then he saw the massive suction cups, latching onto him, digging into his skin. . .

 

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Briche took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Everything was fine, at the moment. There was no reason to be tense, except for keeping an eye out. Since Jasper had left, he had spent his time staring out the window and watching the shadowed figure of the ship's doctor running around and checking bodies that the horrible creature had left in its wake. And that hadn't been too entertaining.

Then, a quick beeep sounded off.

"Sir," Brent said. "That Navy ship just disappeared off my radar!"

Now, he tensed up again. That thing had gotten to them, and God only knew how bad they had gotten it. They were so much smaller than this ship, which was an Independence-Class ship, and they were Freedom-Class. It was too late do anything. They had disappeared from the radar which meant they had sunk. Despite the slight rivalry that he had gone through with captain Leverhorn, he still felt bad for having to watch them sink in the form of a digital dot.

It was wrong. Everything about this was wrong. None of it was natural. That creature should never have existed. It should have been long extinct, and buried in mankind's dead and forgotten knowledge. But it wasn't. It still existed, and was now threatening their very lives. Not only that, but it was also taking lives.

"Your order, sir," Brent said suddenly.

"Are we at full speed?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," came the reply.

"Then, there's nothing else left to do but wait."

"Wait for it to return?"

"Of course."

It went silent behind him as a quick breeze fluttered by outside, making him shiver. The thought of being attacked by that monster in the dark of night was frightening. What if it hit the ship suddenly without Brent's knowledge, and finished them off? What if it bent the rest of the missile launchers, and their weaponry was cut off? There was thousands of possibilities. But he could only count three; death, death, and death. Nothing but death. He just didn't know if there was any chance of defeating such a creature of its size, and if there was, they didn't have it. Or at least, that was his take on it.

Sure, the ship was much larger than Ship 27, but still. That thing was the largest living thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. It was almost impossible to even imagine them defeating such a behemoth. It would take all of the Navy's firepower to do that. And he wasn't about to spread the word and start a panic. Beaches would shut down, fishermen would lose their jobs, and no one would dare touch the water. No one in the world needed that kind of trouble. Him especially.

"Sir, we have another shoal of squids approaching!"

Briche turned to him. "Another one?"

"Yes, and there moving faster than the last one!"

"Don't open fire, not yet. Wait and see if that creature comes back first."

"Yes sir."

He turned back to the window. Great he thought. It's back.

 

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Jasper looked up at the sound of the emergency alert beeping. The red light the beamed down the hallways was now blinking non-stop. He stood up and walked closer to the door, trying to catch a glimpse of what was really happening. Once again, men were running from their posts to find a window or door to look out from. He couldn't help but opening his door, and stepping out a bit. He knew these men had reasons to be like they were, and he didn't want to get in the way.

 He stepped out, trying to make himself as slim as possible, and shut the door behind him. Then, after watching six more men pass by, he followed them. Slowly but surely, he followed close behind them, hoping to figure out what was going on. Obviously, he knew it had something to do with that. . . The ship was hit, and hit hard. Jasper fell to the floor, smashing his already hurt collarbone against the floor. Now, pain shot all through him, and blood ran from his nose. He carefully got up, and stood there for a moment.

"Hey, what's going on?" a voice said behind him.

He turned around to see Silvia staring back at him. She was still dressed in her clothes and her hair was still up. "I'm not sure," he replied.

"That was some hit."

"Yeah, it was. I told you I wasn't lying."

"What do you mean?"

"That creature I saw, it's back. And it's gotten bigger."

"Is that what's happening?"

"Yes, it is. Did you get my message to the captain?"

"No, actually. When I got back to the control room, he sent me to my cabin because I was off duty. I'm sorry, but. . ."

"That's fine. But there's no time now, it's too late."

The two of them heard screaming coming from the deck. "Oh crud! I've got to talk with the captain. I'll be right back."

She watched as he hurried away towards the control room. He rounded the corner, now running to get there. His breath was running out itself, but he ignored that. He needed to get to the captain in as little time as possible. He hurried down the last hallway before opening the door, but then the ship was hit again. He flew up against the wall, and heard a loud crunch. He tried to move his shoulder . . . it wouldn't budge. As carefully as he could, he gently lifted himself from the wall, and continued on.

He soon arrived, and swung the door open to find Briche and the other guy staring back at him.

"Hutchision, I thought I told you to stay in your cabin," he said.

"I need to know what's happening," Jasper replied.

"That thing is back, and it's attacking with more force than before," replied Briche.

"Let's stop calling it a 'thing'."

"What do you mean?"

"Just call it a Kraken."

"Forget the name! Brent, fire the missiles now!"

 

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The men watched as an eruption of water blasted through the night air. They had seen the glow of missiles shooting from the launchers, and, if it hit the creature, it hit it hard. One explosion took place, sending water up nearly ten feet in the air. Then, the second blow came just seconds later, creating the same effect. Then, everything went still for just a few moments.

But it wasn't long before another explosion blasted off. But none of it was working. The men watched with a look of horror swept onto their faces as the horrid creature's tentacles smashed down on the deck, and then slithered back into the water. They heard the sound of metal being crushed, and saw a tentacle smashing down a landed helicopter. More of the massive creature's tentacles wrapped around the ports, and squeezed. They broke off in that instant, and fell into the water. Then, more tentacles smashed into the side helicopter compartment, and wrapped around the machine that it contained, and pulled it down into the water. Any more damage to the ship would and it would sink. Then, they all heard something breaking off the bottom of the ship.

Tentacles were everywhere, tearing off the Multifunction Towed Array, and letting it fall into the depths. More massive suction cups latched onto the stern ramp and caved it in. Then, a loud cracking sound . . . and a chunk of the deck came off, with the tentacles pulling it.

"We have to do something," one man yelled out.

"The guns!" replied another.

They all spun around and hurried over to the main gun storage room. Each one of them grabbed a firearm, and then ran back onto the deck moments later. They all took aim and fired at the towering terrors latched onto every inch of the ship. Bullets went flying into the tentacle's thick skin, but it didn't seem to do any harm. They kept on firing until they ran out of ammo. That's when the tentacle wrapped around the back radar panel and tore it off. The men heard a scream and saw another tentacle wrapped around a commanding officer. It threw him into the ocean, and blood filled the water. . .

 

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The sight was un-believable. The missiles weren't doing one bit of harm to the creature's body. Its tentacles were still destroying stuff on deck and now had taken the life of even more men. At least they tried to defend themselves with weapons, but that didn't work. They were all dead now. The water surrounding the deck was now red. Even in the dark night sky he could see it. 

"Brent, is the creature showing any signs of retreat?" he asked.

"None sir," Brent replied.

"Then what can we do?" Jasper leaned against an empty station.

"Don't ask me Hutchision. I've tried everything but the bombs and I'm not going to use them until we finish off the missiles. Brent, keep firing!"

"Yes, sir."

Brent sent out three more missiles into the creature's lower half. Its tentacles slowed for a moment, but then continued. Jasper kept a close eye on the screen, ready to alert Briche if anything happened. . . then, one of the thing's tentacles slithered over, using the cover of the water, and smashed another missile launcher. But Jasper could tell Briche heard the crunch from way down there.

"It's destroyed another missile launcher!" Brent called out.

Briche spun around and glared at them both. "Keep firing at it, we can't give up!"

"But sir. . ."

"Don't give me that just fire!"

Two more missiles were sent into the things body, but, once again, nothing happened. Then, a man stumbled out onto the deck, and looked around. It was obvious his eyes were still adjusting to the darkness due to his way of walking. Briche's mouth opened to try and warn him. . . but he was too late. A tentacle wrapped around his body and pulled him into the eternal blackness of the ocean. How was it that these tentacles knew where stuff was? Was it the creature itself sensing stuff?

Briche wished it were a darker night so he couldn't see the horrible things he was. He still couldn't believe any of this was happening, especially to his ship. Sure, it couldn't happen to a small row boat or anything like that. It had to happen to a US Navy LCS 26. This thing had to discover them drifting slowly along out in the middle of nowhere. Its senses were just too strong to fight off. It was too smart for them.

Any idea hit him like a rogue wave of salty water. He turned to Jasper, whose eyes were still glued to the monitor.

"Hutchision, I need your help," he said.

"My help, sir?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, I've got an idea."

The two of them hurried out the door and into the hallway. Jasper followed him down the hallway, and they soon turned the corner. Then, the ship lurched backward, and he went flying back. He grabbed ahold of the railing and grasped it tight. Jasper fell to the floor, moaning at some odd pain that seemed to be located in his shoulder. He couldn't