by A21 Reporter Andy Clems
The World Aquanaut Security Patrol flagship Stingray has concluded an investigation into the mysterious explosion at the Oxton Offshore Atomic Centre on Tuesday.
Speaking to A21, Commander Shore of Marineville said, “The Oxton Centre is one of the most vital links in the WASP power supply network. Any drop in output from that facility could seriously compromise our operational effectiveness. Within minutes of the explosion being reported, I sent the Stingray crew to investigate.”
Troy Tempest, commanding the super submarine, wasted no time sweeping the area around the atomic facility for clues. “When we arrived, we scanned the entire sector looking for anything that might give us a lead on the cause of the explosion. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, so we blew tanks and Phones and I headed to shore to question the personnel on duty in the control room. The head of the project, Professor Emil Thomas, assured us that everything had been perfectly ordinary until the moment of the explosion. We checked their electronic printouts and confirmed the systems were hunky-dory. With no further clues, I decided the best thing to do was take our sea-bugs and perform a more thorough visual inspection of the damaged reactor.”
Donning their aquatic gear, Troy and Phones dived into the water and powered through the sea using their sea-bug equipment. Reaching the remains of reactor number 1, Phones noticed something unusual. “Troy and I got real close to the wreckage of the reactor and we looked over every inch of it until I saw a set of scratches that had no business being there. Troy agreed that they could only have been made when something had been attached to the supports below the reactor. Working on the theory that a charge of some sort had been the source of the trouble, we figured whoever was responsible might try again on the second reactor, so Troy reckoned we could set a trap.”
Returning to Stingray, the two aquanauts requisitioned fresh supplies and moved the craft out of range of the atomic facility, hiding it in a narrow channel in the rocks on the sea bed. Next, they hauled the underwater camouflage net over the outside of one of Stingray’s Aquasprites and piloted it to the vicinity of reactor number 2. Setting the craft down on the bottom of ocean floor, the Aquasprite resembled a large rock formation.
Troy recalls, “Once we were in position and turned the cabin lights off, we blended in perfectly with the sea floor. Then it was time to play a waiting game. As it turned out, we didn’t have long to wait at all. We’d been in position for maybe a quarter of an hour when a small alien craft appeared out of the gloom in front of us. It was maybe half the size of Stingray and moving very slowly towards the supports below reactor 2. We waited until the craft got in real close to the reactor and the undersea alien left his vessel carrying what looked like another charge. Then we sprang into action, shedding the camouflage net and powering up our systems. We got the alien locked in our floodlight beams and verified he was indeed holding an explosive device. Firing the non-lethal aqua-stun pulse, we disabled the alien. Returning to Stingray, I swam out and recovered the intruder and brought him in for questioning at Marineville.”
Commander Shore revealed, “After questioning the guy behind the attack on the centre, we discovered his name was Trahten. He was from a undersea people known as the Dephazen, allies of Titanica. But the story doesn’t end there. It seems that Titan lied to the Dephazen’s, claiming that the people of the land were planning to destroy their city, using the Oxton Center as a frontline base. It took some time, but we managed to convince Trahten of the truth and he has sworn to return to his people and break off the pact with Titanica. Fortunately no lives have been lost as a result of Titan’s devious scheming and a new peace as been made possible with the Dephazen people.”
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