Tides of Pacifica Excerpt and Art

The following is from my newest completed manuscript, toward the climax of the book.

Xara and the Star Clan managed to do a lot of damage with their first six shots. The Omega Trident worked as well as if were the trident of prophecy, raining down thunder under the waves. The first objective was to take out the perimeter pillboxes. They did not have the firepower to do so with mini-torpedoes alone, but Janine and Mr. Galloway had devised a plan.

On the initial attack, Xara lead all the armed orca in a line abreast formation. She pointed the Omega Trident to her left and aimed for the top of the southern wall of the undersea canyon. The Omega Trident contained a highly sophisticated targeting computer. The orca could be scattered throughout a battle, but if she sent a sonar pulse at a target with the trident, the computer would choose to automatically fire torpedoes from the orca with the best attack angle on the target. She flipped up the safety cap and depressed the fire button for a long pulse, sending two torpedoes at the southern wall. Then she shifted her target to the north canyon wall, and two more torpedoes zipped from the pectoral fins of a startled orca.

The resulting explosions shook the entire canyon. Tons of rock and coral tumbled in a storm of bubbles as the fire blossoms from the torpedoes snuffed out. The rocks crashed down on the pillboxes nearest the canyon wall. If they fired any of their arsenal now, they risked exploding themselves. The middle two pillboxes took some damage but not enough. Xara dove Mizuchi straight for them. She pointed directly at a torpedo tube with the trident.

A torpedo left Mizuchi in a storm of bubbles, crashed through the torpedo tube door, and exploded the pillbox. The rumble and shockwave knocked Mizuchi and Emperia back, causing them to have roll over on their back and climb toward the surface a few meters. Xara managed to hang on, but frowned as the final pillbox guarding the east wall of the Iron Reef launched a volley of deadly mines. They must have been set with a timed fuse, because three exploded only a few seconds after launch. Xara was forced to break up her formation as all twenty four orca wove their way further into the base. She depressed the fire button again, but no orca were headed for her intended target. She ordered Mizuchi to swim in an inverted loop as she fired his second torpedo straight down at the final pill box. The explosion cracked the top of the concrete, and the pressure of the sea took care of the rest. No more mines could be launched. Their escape route would be secure. Twelve torpedoes left.

Artwork by: https://lukefitzsimons.deviantart.com/