FicWad

-Admiral Benton looked at the sonar screen for the fourth time. The signal resembled an incoming storm more than an enemy fleet. Could there really be that many hostiles on approach? He gave another sweep of the horizon with his binoculars but saw nothing. Whatever he was up against, it was underwater.

-"Prepare depth charges!" he barked to his executive officer. The bald man nodded and picked up a radio to issue the orders. Benton cursed his government. They should have launched a preemptive strike and supported the Americans during their last offensive months ago. Instead some dumb bureaucrat that didn't want to get his hands dirty had insisted it was a US matter.

-Benton had known then that it had been a mistake. This threat wasn't just an American problem and now, because of that foolish decision, he was on the defensive against the enemy on their terms. And that dumb bureaucrat was safe behind a desk in a comfortable office.

-"Sir the enemy is in range." His X.O. said. Benton took another look at the sonar screen. There was no way they could get a positive lock on individual targets, but if they were grouped that close together they wouldn't need to. He resigned himself to the battle ahead and gave the order, "all ships, open fire!"

-Dozens of battle ships fired off missiles and dropped depth charges in unison. Under the waves and slightly behind the ships a group of submarines fired their torpedoes at the oncoming enemies. Dozens of underwater explosions created a line of bubbles across the front of the enemy fleet.

-"Report!" Benton ordered as he watched the waters churn up bubbles and bloody chunks of flesh. "Enemy is still incoming," a man called out called out, "and they are rising!" Admiral Benton turned his attention back to the water and watched as an enormous creature burst from the water just a little to the left of his ship.

-The creature resembled a whale but was much larger; its skin looked dark and diseased with dozens of bulbous welts covering its body. It fell to its side and slammed into the hull of the ship. Benton was nearly knocked off of his feet by the impact as were most of his bridge crew. The creature sank back beneath the waves leaving a huge dent on the port side of the battle ship.

-Dozens of engineers rushed to the damage area to conduct repairs but before they could get there hundreds of foot long fish leapt from the water, spread out their pectoral fins and flew through the air. The creatures swooped and dove at the work crews, their blade like wings slashing at the men. One of the creatures sliced a man's throat and left him bleeding on the deck while his fellow crewmen ran for cover.

-Under the water several of the whale like creatures rushed at a submarine. The vessel tried to evade them but the animals were just too fast. They opened their enormous mouths filled with large teeth and bit into the steel hull. The vessel fired off one more volley before imploding under the crushing pressure of monstrous jaws.

-The torpedoes of the ill fated sub found a target and blew a hole in the side of another whale beast. The doomed animal bellowed in pain and dozens of the soccer ball sized growths on its skin detached and began to float to the surface. The blobs attached themselves the hulls of several ships and exploded shortly afterwards.

-Admiral Benton watched as his fleet was torn apart. The whale creatures bit into the remaining battle ships. The flying fish sliced up any humans unfortunate enough to be caught on the deck. Any men who tried to abandon their sinking ships were devoured by ravenous mutant sharks. The fleet was in chaos.

-Before he could issue further orders admiral Benton's ship was rocked as something slammed into it below the waters surface. Before he could recover Benton heard his X.O. screaming in pain and as he turned he saw why. His second in command was being dragged across the floor by a tentacle covered in hooks.

-The man screamed in agony as the appendage lifted him into the air and tightened its grip, driving the hooks deeper into his flesh. Several other men let out cries of panic and pain as they too were garbed by similar barbed limbs. All the men were pulled out of the bridge and Benton could see that all of the long arms came from the same spot.

-He rushed out to the railing and looked over the side in time to see a giant mouth with spiked teeth emerge from the water. One by one it pulled the screaming men to their deaths. Benton pulled out his side arm and desperately fired at the creature in vain. Another whale erupted from the water and firmly planted itself on the deck of his ship.

-The creature opened its gigantic maw and an army of demonic creatures poured out from its gullet. They entered the bowls of the ship and ripped the crew apart. One member of the boarding party stood out from the rest. The figure confidently walked across the bloody deck and up to the bridge where he found a man in an admiral's uniform looking over the tattered remains of the fleet.

-"So nice of you to extend the welcome mat," Jeffery said with a grin, "sorry about the mess." The man looked at Jeffery with a beautiful expression of rage and anguish on his face. Jeffery smiled pleasantly at the man and took in the view from his enemy's perspective. The bridge was a mess with broken windows and splattered blood. All around men screamed as they were ripped apart by sharks, squid and the rest of Jeffery's new pets. Smoke and fire billowed from sinking ships and the corpses of fallen creatures and half eaten men floated on the surface of the blood stained waters.

-Admiral Benton knew who stood before him. The man with a grin on his face and who wore a black cloak must have been the one behind the dark territory. And by stepping onto his ship he had made a fatal mistake, his arrogance would be his undoing. Benton lifted his side arm and aimed it at the monsters head.

-Even then the dark lord showed no sign of concern. He simply cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow with amusement. Benton squeezed the trigger and shot a hole through the man's head. And then he watched as the bullet hole sealed up on its own right before his eyes.

-Jeffery closed his eyes and smiled as he let the sensation of pain flow through him like an electric charge. He so rarely felt it anymore that such sensations had to be savored. Once the feeling had faded away he turned his attention back to the little man who was still pointing a gun at him.

-"Can I have another?" Jeffery asked. The admiral promptly granted the request and emptied his clip. Yet again the wounds quickly healed and Benton dropped his weapon in despair. Jeffery stepped forward to finish what he had started when he was overcome by a different kind of pain. The voices were back.

-Jeffery grabbed his head and dropped to one knee. It was worse than before, so many voices, so loud. They weren't as calm as usual, this time they were panicked, urgent. They filled his head so much that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore. Jeffery felt himself slipping back into the blackness that had almost clamed him once before. Again he willed himself back to reality but this time the pain remained.

-When he finally came back to the world Jade and Scylla were standing over him with concerned expressions. He slowly got to his feet with the help of his generals and looked around. He was riding on the back of one of the war whales. The naval fleet was now little more than smoking ruins on the horizon.

-"How long was I out?" Jeffery asked, trying to clear his head. "About half an hour, master." Scylla said. "Jade went looking for you when you didn't come back. She dispatched a human who was trying to kill you and brought you here." Jeffery looked at Jade and cupped her cheek. "Thank you," he said.

-Jeffery looked over his invasion fleet; he had only lost about ten percent of his force in the battle. He still had more than enough to continue his campaign all the way to Europe. He had always hated the French, so that would be his first stop. But in the meantime he needed to take care of something.

-"Scylla," Jeffery said, "I have a special job for you."