Prologue
Nobody knew when the Abyssals first attacked. Starting in 2026, reports of massive horrifying monsters made of black steel, taking the form of mutilated fish and octopi, attacking small fishing vessels and pleasure craft. The Abyssals are very large, with lengths ranging between one hundred and one hundred and fifty metres. Survivors were thought to be insane, suffering from PTSD.
In a time where the world was already teetering on the edge of all-out war between the Eastern and the Western powers, the news was not well received. Both sides accused each other of creating monstrous weapons and using them to kill civilians. It didn't take long before things escalated quickly. The warships of the East and West undertook regular patrols in the seas. By 2027, World War Three was about to begin as coast guard ships and small military ships joined the ranks of the missing.
A Kamov Ka-35 helicopter touches down on the helicopter deck of the warship after completing a patrol. The said warship is massive, stretching 252 metres overall and displacing 24,300 tons at full load. The Russian battlecruiser, Pyotr Velikiy, a Kirov – class battlecruiser. The largest surface combatants in the world, the class dated back to the days of the Soviet Union. After an extensive refit which ended in 2022, it packed a new nuclear reactor, the latest missiles, radars and even a railgun. The battlecruiser is dangerous enough on its own.
But Pyotr Velikiy is not alone, for it lead a flotilla of the newest Lider – class destroyers, along with older Udaloy – class and Sovremenny – class destroyers. The fleet cruised in the Barents Sea, in preparation to take on Norwegian naval forces which evaded the Russian submarines. The Russian Army has already massed in the Russian Far East and on the borders of the Baltic States.
Further south from them, Chinese warships cruised the East and South China Seas, holding the line against the US led coalition. The Chinese are unable to break the blockade, but China's One Belt One Road implemented, they can quickly bring in resources over land. Quite a few countries along the 21st century Silk Road were willing to contribute to the war, as they believed that America was the creator of the Abyssals. The fact that American ships were among the ones sunk failed to convince them otherwise. That and the fact that many Middle Eastern governments and terrorist groups are eager to see China and Russia deal a nasty blow to the West.
Captain 1st Rank Boris Sotnikov sat in the command chair, gazing through the windows of the bridge. Outside, snow fell, whipped up by the howling wind. Winter has arrived. The Lider – class destroyer, Neumolimyy, he commanded wasn't nearly as big as the mighty Pyotr Velikiy, but at two hundred metres long and displacing 17,500 tons, it isn't small either. The nuclear powered destroyer packs two hundred vertical launch missiles and a railgun, along with other cannons.
"All ships," the Admiral on the flagship battlecruiser said, "this is Admiral Kolchak. Word has it from Moscow that Washington declared war. The opening shots have already been fired in the South China Sea. This is it, men. World War Three has begun."
A lieutenant leaned forward, "Captain. Your orders?"
Sotnikov looked up and announced into the intercom, "Men! You should all be in battle stations by now! Get the ships reactor output to eighty percent! Weapons, charger the railgun capacitors and unlock the missiles!"
Power surged from the reactors, rushing into all the systems of the ship. The railgun on the fore deck thrummed as power entered the capacitor. The barrel of the gun elevated slightly, in preparation for unleashing a shell with thirty six mega joules of energy.
"Lider – class," Kolchak ordered, "we have just lost contact with several satellites. Americans must have taken them out. We are detecting several Western ones overhead. Engage at will. Follow up with a bombardment of Norwegian military emplacements."
"Acknowledged," Sotnikov said, "activate the S-500, target the satellites. Attack the Norwegian positions."
Smoke and flame covered the fore deck of the two Lider – class destroyers as the ship's vertical launch system spit out massive missiles which speed towards the sky. The air defense missiles streak through the atmosphere before deploying their kinetic kill warheads. The warheads then continue their journey, smashing through the satellites and turning them into heaps of twisted metal, scattering thousands of pieces of debris into orbit.
Others quickly levelled out and flew low over the sea, revealing them to be Kalibur-NK cruise missiles. Speeding along at su
"Sir," another officer said, "our radars are detecting erratic signals."
"Already?" asked Sotnikov, "Do they have that much confidence in their Joint Strike Fighters?"
"No sir," the officer shook his head, "the contact is on the surface of the water."
Sotnikov frowned, "On the water?"
"Yes," the officer replied, "last bearing north twenty three degrees east, range eleven kilometres, moving due south at 20 knots. The unidentified object was detected on the lower frequency bands of our radars and by our photonic radars. Higher frequency bands see nothing."
"Tell me more," Sotnikov demanded.
"We can't," officer said, "we only know that is there. In fact, the contact keeps disappearing and reappearing."
Sotnikov listened to the officer before saying, "So this unknown contact not only manages to evade our active electronically scanning arrays, but also our revolutionary photonic radar. This is a serious threat. I must report this to Admiral Kolchak. Their Ka-35 just returned, I believe. Time to send out our own."
While the destroyer's helicopter was prepared for a sortie, Sotnikov picked up a phone.
"Admiral Kolchak this is Captain Sotnikov," he said, "our radar picked up on a mysterious object on the surface of the water. It blinks in and out of radar coverage, apparently able to evade our AESAs and photonic radars. Could it be a submarine? I am dispatching a Ka-35 to the area."
"A Japanese or American submarine," Kolchak said, "yes, that is likely. The Nepreklonnyy detected that as well, as did the systems of Pyotr Velikiy. But we have more pressing matters. Because we lost our satellites, we are blinded to the position of the Norwegian fleet we were observing earlier. But they won't know where we are either. Await further orders, Captain."
"Yes sir," Sotnikov said before putting down the phone.
Later, the Ka-35 approached the location where the mysterious object was last spotted. The helicopter whipped up a large amount of spray as it descended closer to the water.
"Alright," the pilot said, "standard procedure, lower the sonar. We'll see what we find."
"Reckon it'll be the mystery enemy that is sinking all the ships?" asked the co-pilot.
"Or some American submarine," the pilot replied, "and we're gonna blast it out of the water."
The two men chuckled. A stubby cylinder is lowered from hovering helicopter and splashes into the water. The sonar operator looks at his screen intently as the sonar pinged through the water.
"Anything?" asked the pilot.
"No," the sonar operator replied, "not a single return."
"Perhaps the motherfucker has left," the pilot spat, "I am reporting this to the Captain."
A communications officer manning his station was feeling bored, despite the fact that World War Three has just begun. Suddenly, a hail from the Ka-35 came in.
"Neumolimyy, this is Ruslan One with a status report, over."
"Go ahead," the officer said.
"We have scoured the area with our sonar, but we haven't picked up anything."
"What is this?" asked Sotnikov, looking over to the officer, "They haven't found anything."
"No sir," the communication officer said, "apparently not. Perhaps the phantom we detected is a glitch?"
"Right," Sotnikov replied in as he walked over to the terminal, "the object appeared on both our AESAs and photonic radars. It was also picked up by Nepreklonnyy and Pyotr Velikiy. Do you honestly believe that the systems of all three ships are glitched out in the exact same manner?"
"Sir, look!" the lieutenant said, pointing out the bridge.
The sea at the horizon suddenly turned dark and thick, like some a massive oil slick. The substance was more like tar, to be precise. Dark clouds also gathered, swirling around a central cloud pillar. The clouds expanded rapidly, spreading out towards the Russian fleet.
"What the fuck?" Sotnikov swore, "Some giant oil spill? And a supercell storm?"
"Looks like a mushroom cloud," the lieutenant muttered, "don't tell me that nukes have already been exchanged?"
"No," the communications officer said, "if they have, we'd be notified. And we would have tracked the missiles anyway. Mushroom clouds aren't black like storm clouds either."
"Sir," a radar operator said, "we can't penetrate the clouds with our sensors."
"Not with any of the frequencies?" asked Sotnikov.
"No," was the reply. The Captain frowned. What the hell is going on here?"
"All ships, this is Admiral Kolchak, we are detecting a strange atmospheric phenomenon ahead. It is resisting radar penetration by all systems. It could be some American superweapon. Keep your eyes peeled."
The water a kilometre to their starboard suddenly began churning, quickly turning into a bubbling froth. The water then exploded as a massive black figure rocketed out before splashing back down. Several waves splashed over the warships, rocking them with their violence. As water cascaded from the creature, the Russians could see what it is.
A massive monster with dark grey skin, roughly taking the form of a human who took too much steroids and never left the gym. But that was where the similarities ended, for the monster possessed two rounded heads of a shiny metal, both ending in snapping jaws with nasty looking teeth. A red glow emanated from the mouths, accompanied by tongues of flame. The monster appeared to be chained by a pair of massive handcuffs, but it still appeared very intimidating. Dual turrets are mounted on its shoulders and biceps. Spikes protruded from its back. The monster was easily a hundred and fifty metres across and about as high.
"What the FUCK is that!" Kolchak shouted, "THIS is the kind of superweapon that has been decimating the worlds shipping?"
Both heads of the monster roared loudly before the guns on it opened fire. A Sovremenny – class destroyer burst into flames before falling out of formation while an Udaloy – class was completely obliterated.
"Shoot back!" Kolchak shouted, "What the hell are you maggots waiting for!? Can't you do something without an order?"
"We can't!" an officer exclaimed, "All our tracking systems have gone crazy and we can't get a lock!"
"Then use the goddamned railgun and aim for its head!"
The railgun turret on Pyotr Velikiy turned to face the monster under manual control, aiming for its left head.
"FIRE!" Kolchak ordered.
The barrel of the railgun glowed and crackled before it fired a shell at hypersonic speed. The projectile hit the monster on its left head. But it didn't seem to be disturbed, because a formerly invisible energy barrier flared up as it dissipated the energy. The guns from other ships also open fire. Railguns from the Lider – class and 130mm AK-130's from the others. Explosions splash across the energy barrier, but it held fast.
"Torpedoes!" Kolchak shouted, "Rockets! Hit it with everything we've got!"
The 533mm torpedo tubes of the battlecruiser turned to face the mysterious creature before unloading its load of VA-121 Shtroms. Developed from the VA-111 Shkvals, the torpedoes are propelled by a rocket motor which also generates a bubble of gas around the torpedo. As a result, it is capable of reaching a speed of three hundred knots. In mere seconds, the supercavitating torpedoes have crossed the gap between the fleet and the monster. Massive water sprouts erupt from under the monster as the torpedoes hit home.
At the same time, ASW rockets are also fired, the ten barrel 305mm RBU-1000s unleashing a salvo of rockets. But like the other weapons, they were stopped by the barrier.
The monster replied only by firing its guns again, pulverizing Nepreklonnyy and several other ships in the fleet.
"Goddamit!" Kolchak cursed, "What the hell is that we are fighting?"
"Nothing we've got will even dent it!" a bridge officer exclaimed.
Kolchak clenched his teeth and cursed before picking up a microphone, "All ships, this is Admiral Kolchak. Break formation and retreat! This is an enemy we can't beat!"
But the water churned in several places. More of the shadowy figures rise from the water. All of them are about the size of a destroyer and take the form of whale like monsters made of black steel. They possessed massive teeth and glowing green eyes.
"We're surrounded!" the bridge officer shouted.
Opening their mouths, the monsters revealed batteries of guns.
"Ah, fuck," was Kolchak's last thought as the combined firepower reduced the entire fleet to rubble.
A lone figure standing on a head of the first monster watched the Russian fleet burn. She gazed at the burning wrecks and oil slicks, her glowing red eyes overflowing with contempt. The woman herself is scarily pale and is dressed in black.
"Hmph," she said, "this fleet no match for the firepower of Battleship Water Demon either. But I must admit, it was tougher than the Norwegian fleet we flattened."
She then ordered her destroyer escorts, "Let's go. It's time to annihilate anyone who stands in our way. The world shall know the power of the Abyssal Fleet."
Hey guys, you might be wondering why I am starting again. You see, Eastern Uprising was deleted for whatever reason (most likely too many author notes as chapters). So I decided to start anew, with different plot, characters and mechanisms. With longer chapters and what I perceive to be an improved writing style. Of course, the old Red Fleet Resurrected will still be up. I have no intentions of deleting that.