Aboard the Mulawin, Fleet Admiral Isagani Amihan was making his routine tour of the battleship's numerous facilities. Accompanied by his two guards, Isagani strolled the narrow passageways, peering through every room he encountered. Everything seemed to be in order, thought the Fleet Admiral as headed back to the Admiral's deck.
Upon arriving at the command hub, Isagani heard the unusual beeping sound which was once again plaguing the officers on duty. It was the beeping sound they reported to the Admiral a few days ago and it was back once more, but this time the signal was coming north-west.
"Turn off that damn racket! I can't hear myself think," yelled the Fleet Admiral as he approached the Mulawin's central helm. A Technician Officer stood in front of the Admiral, gave a salute, then approached the visibly irritated Isagani.
"Sir, the beeping sound has been going on for a few hours now. Might I suggest relaying the unknown sound to the West Sea Division HQ or to Metro? Maybe they have guys there who can..."
Amihan cut the naive officer short. "Pffft! Those guys and their gizmos. They won't know a thing. Just turn off the volume on that thing and keep heading towards Coralway. "
"Sir," the officer again interjected. "The source of the unidentified sound is coming from north-west of our current location. It will be quite close to Coralway in fact. May I suggest we send out a few reconnaissance vessels and explore that region, sir."
"Do we really need to do that?" Amihan's voice seemed annoyed which made the officer stutter his words. "Do we, officer?"
"Uhm... uh... sir... I think... uhmm.."
Suddenly, a man spoke from behind the hub, just at the edge of the entrance doors.
"Yes, we should definitely send a couple of Marlins towards the sound's point of origin. By your command, of course, Fleet Admiral."
The unusually composed voice turned every officer's head in the command hub to its direction. It was Commander Ezekiel Manawari of the Intelligence Division.
"I'm sorry Admiral for my abruptness," greeted the Commander as he made his formal salute to the leader of the West Sea Division. Isagani nodded his head while busily stroking his white beard.
"It seems my intel department are also having a little trouble deciphering the coded sound and would like the opportunity to know its origins." The Commander bowed his head to Isagani who had stopped fiddling his beard.
"Very well, commander. Issue the order and report back to me with the details. As long as that beeping sound is in this deck I'm going back to my quarters. Go do your jobs!" Isagani Amihan stormed off to his room, leaving his guards by the door of his quarters.
Commander Manawari relayed the order of the Fleet Admiral to the transport bay to make ready for a routine exploratory mission. They were two hours away from Coralway so the Commander headed back to his own room, just behind the command hub.
Commander Ezekiel Manawari had a peculiar taste when it came to the design of his interior quarters. Manawari never liked bright lights and sometimes had trouble adjusting to rapid luminous changes. Other crew memebers always saw the Commander squinting his eyes whenever they approached him; His perfectly straight black hair dangled in front of his face, hiding his eyes even further.
The Commander's office was very dimly lit, and he wanted it that way. He was head of the Intelligence Division yet he wanted his privacy when it came to his humble abode aboard the Mulawin. The room was also inadequately furnished; A bathroom, a nightstand, a small bed, one small desk, and a chair made up the entirety of Manawari's onboard possessions inside the room.
But Manawari had another desk. Manawari also had another room. Behind a secret panel in his bathroom was a hidden passage that led to a small space deep within the Mulawin's core. Inside this space was a desk, a small lamp, a writing paper, and a small speaker that connected to the command hub's helm.
Commander Manawari went inside his room and closed the door. Once he checked that everything inside seemed to be in order, he proceeded to the path leading to his secret room. There, the Commander took out his pen and started translating the beeping sound coming from his speakers.
Isagani Amihan went out of his room just after Commander Manawari had left the deck. He told his guards to stay put and don't let anyone near his room as he was going to ask Manawari about their plan for Coralway. He walked out and knocked on the Commander's door.
The Fleet Admiral opened the door once he knew no one was answering and saw that the Commander's quarters was bizarrely under-lit. There he saw a small gap opening, a small fragment of light was shining through its panel. Amihan closed the front door behind him and followed the light leading towards the secret room of Commander Manawari.
A small desk greeted the Fleet Admiral. His path had led him to Commander Manawari, deciphering the coded message. Fleet Admiral Amihan then unbuckled his hidden Hydro-Pistol, a very outdated model from the West Sea War, and started to point the end of it to the unknowing Commander.
"Freeze, traitor!" yelled the Admiral. His voice reverberated loudly inside the small room. The Commander jumped out of his seat and fell to the cold metal floor.
The Commander slowly looked behind to see the Fleet Admiral pointing his weapon at him. He was about to finish decoding the message when the Admiral startled him to the floor. The Commander stood calmly, with hands raised above his head while the Admiral aimed his sights towards the dark haired traitor.
"Bang!" shouted the Admiral. He smiled and holstered his weapon. "Gotcha!" Isagani smirked as Commander Manawari smiled in return.
"You got me there." Manawari answered. "So, you now know my secret?" asked the guilty Commander.
Admiral Amihan annoyingly answered the Commander in a more rambunctious tone.
"What secret? That I'm not the only one sent by the Crimson Legion to keep tabs on the mission? Yeah. I get that now. They thought that just because I'm old that they would send another spy here to check up on me. Well, thank you for that. I don't need your help. I already deciphered the code inside my room hours ago. We're all set for the attack once I give the signal. The West Sea Division won't know what hit them."
"Ah. I see you're still faithful to the cause, my dear Fleet Admiral. Very well then. I shall stop interrupting your business and get back to my department post haste." The Commander made a forceful smile as he packed up his things inside the secret room, on his way outside the bathroom panel.
"Tell me, " Amihan asked Manawari before he stepped out of the hidden panel; the Commander's foot had barely touched the bathroom tile in front of him.
"Are you the only one spying on me? Because if there's more, you better tell Legion that this plan will be in jeopardy if one of them got caught and whatnot."
"Yes, my dear Admiral, " Commander Manawari answered softly. Amihan walked closer to the commander, also on his way out of the secret room.
"I was only activated once I boarded the Mulawin. I vehemently opposed the notion that the great Isagani Amihan, the victorious warrior of the West Sea War, would need checking up on. I truly apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable."
Amihan grabbed the Commander charmingly by the shoulders. "That's alright, Commander. We do what we have to do, am I right?"
The Commander smiled back, grinning his teeth. "Yes, sir. You are very much correct."
The secret room fell into silence once more. Isagani went back to his quarters a bit upset about the whole thing but kept his composure. He wrote a couple of standard letters and handed it out to his guards and started his solitude inside his room once more.
By the side of his bed was a small, hidden ear piece in which the Admiral used to listen in on the beeping sound. It was from the Crimson Legion. They were beginning their first phase of invasion towards the West Sea.
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