The backup submarine pen of Sector 3 was a huge underground cave hollowed out of the dark rock bedrock. A deep-water docking slip ran down the center of the bay, connected to the outer trench through a massive underwater water gate. The water in the slip was black and thick with fuel oil. It reflected the harsh glare of overhead sodium floodlights.
Moored inside the slip was the Gorgon-9—an eighty-meter attack underwater clad in black anechoic tiles, bristling with forward torpedo tubes and twin dorsal pulse-laser turrets. Upon its conning tower, painted in fresh crimson enamel, was the coiled world-serpent crest of the Sovereign Chimera Order. The vessel’s twin diesel-electric turbines were idling with a low, bone-shaking hum that rang through the concrete quay.
On the concrete quay beside the vessel, twenty Splicer technicians and heavily armed guards were wildly loading heavy lead-lined ice-cold transport containers into the submarine’s cargo hatches. Each container bore the living hazard symbol and was stamped with the words: APEX Storehouse - Baby STOCK.
Standing atop the gangway was Splicer Commander Hector Vance. A distant scion of House Vance who had defected to Osric’s order fifteen years prior. His left arm had been replaced by a heavy wired exoskeleton bristling with high-pressure channels. His neck was fitted with a brass straining collar that hissed with every breath. In his right hand, he held a heavy star-fire pistol, gesturing wildly at the loading crews.
