"Aye, captain." =Speech
[All hands to battle station.] =Radio/Intercom
Arctic Ocean
6th July 201X
10 km Southeast of the North Pole
18:00 Local Time
SCPS Arkhangelsk
For years the Arctic Ocean was known for its cold temperature, so much so that it's capable of freezing a body of water with ease. But that didn't stop the SCP foundation from its mission of protecting humanity by sending one of their most capable ships, the Kirov-class battlecruiser SCPS Arkhangelsk for yet another mission on this frozen sea.
Equipped with a plethora of missiles and rockets, along with a series of modernization and retrofit -courtesy of the Foundation- made the Kirov-class battlecruiser the most formidable ship the organization has, sometimes even capable of fighting one-on-one with water-based SCPs around the globe, even though the old girl is already nearing her thirties at this point. SCPS Arkhangelsk has been with the foundation for ten years now, with a track record of almost perfection. During those ten years, SCPS Arkhangelsk had been thrown into the most unhospitable anomaly zone the world could give, be it for research purposes, escort missions, or straight-up combat duties, Arkhangelsk always prevail.
Currently, her mission was to search for an anomaly reported by the nearest listening station in Norway. Based on the station reports at around twelve thirty p.m. yesterday, the station managed to pick up a strange radio wave transmission from somewhere on the Arctic Ocean, which is then followed by an emission of unknown radiation from the same direction the radio wave coming from. Having departed from a Russian naval base an hour earlier, the thirty-five years old warship is now lazily cruising along the seemingly endless ice that covers the water, but thanks to her reinforced hull those ice will not be a problem.
On the helm of the ship was Captain Aleksey Tupcovic, a veteran member of the SCP Foundation naval detachment with over twenty years of experience, watching with keen eyes the sight of the Arctic Ocean inside Arkhangelsk's bridge. Today's mission is a simple one and because of that, he allowed some leeway for his crew in doing their duty to maintain the old girl.
"Sir! I'm picking up the radio wave as in the report, Sir." One of the crews responsible for the ship radar called. With years of efficiency, he walked towards the officer's station.
"Are you sure?" Aleksey asked as he neared the station, the officer in question flicked and turn some dials on their station while carefully listening to their headset, before nodding to the Captain a couple of seconds later.
"The audio is a little bit distorted, but it seems to be matched the one in the report, Sir."
Aleksey nodded, before averting his gaze to the station next to the one he currently overseeing. "Anything on the radar?"
"So far there's nothing, Sir." The officer occupying the station reported.
Just then, the radar bleeps, signaling that there's something out there. Both officers observed the screen as its scanning arm turn around the screen, and once again the radar bleeped, showing them a green dot on the rightmost corner of the screen.
"Give me an update every 30 seconds, got it?" Aleksey ordered, to which the officer nodded before going back to his station. Aleksey for his part walked back to the center of the bridge before he starts issuing orders.
"Helm. 30 degrees to starboard, decrease the speed to half."
"Aye, Captain."
"Communication. Inform command that we have possibly found the anomaly, and now requesting the next order of operation."
"Understood."
Satisfied, he grabbed the internal comms of the ship on his command station, before bringing it closer to his mouth.
[General quarters. General quarters. All hands to battle station. I repeat. All hands to battle station.]
The moment the alarm was blared the entire ship sprung to life as crew members hurriedly go to their designation and weapons being reloaded. In under a minute, the Arkhangelsk is combat-ready with all her weapons and sensors fired up.
"Sir, one kilometer to target, Sir." The radar crew informed.
Aleksey nodded as he bears a binocular towards his eyes to search for his target. For a while, nothing could be seen in his peripheral vision other than ice and water, but just as he turn to the right slightly he sees a rather big iceberg in his scope. The only iceberg in the vicinity, with suspiciously thick ice around it.
"Radar. Is the target at one o'clock?" Aleksey asked as he keep his eyes on the iceberg.
"Yes, Captain."
"Sir, Command has authorized to conduct reconnaissance on the possible anomaly. They say the method is up to you, Sir." The communication section informed, which Aleksey acknowledge by nodding to their general direction, before glancing to the helm.
"Helm."
"Understood, moving towards the iceberg."
Now slowly but surely the Arkhangelsk moved towards the iceberg, while her metal bows crushed the ice beneath it effortlessly. Suddenly, Aleksey's command station starts making crackling sounds and upon investigation, he saw one of the arrows of the many screens on the station start to turn slowly upwards.
Geiger counter, detecting radioactive emission, meaning that they're right on the target.
[All crews activating CBRN protocol. I repeat. All crews activating CBRN protocol.]
Once again the Arkhangelsk sprung to life, but instead of preparing for a battle-ready situation, the crews hurriedly put a gasmask on their face, while some closed any opening on the ship's body. The engineers even go to great lengths by wearing a full hazmat suit, which protects them better since they're the one responsible for Arkhangelsk's pair of nuclear and steam engines respectively.
The bridge section is also included in this protocol with the crews, including Aleksey, now wearing hooded gas masks to protect them from possible radiation. And it was indeed the best decision because the nearer they were to the iceberg, the crackling sounds intensifying greatly to the point the arrows of the Geiger counter pointed directly upwards. But that didn't stop the Arkhangelsk to reach her target.
Upon reaching the iceberg, however, the crews of Arkhangelsk were in for a surprise.
Because on the other side of the iceberg lays a graveyard of ships, scattered in a roughly football field size body of water. Their positions were varied, some tilting, some almost fully submerged, and there was even one who got itself half-lodged inside the iceberg. But one thing for sure is that the ships weren't human-made, evident from their sleek and angular design, lack of windows, and red-accented black color. Still, there's at least a flotilla of destroyed ships in here…
"What the hell happened here?..." Aleksey thought as the Arkhangelsk moved in between the wreckage, oftentimes hitting some stray metal while doing that.
But before Aleksey could relay another order, the Geiger counter once again crackled, but this time it hit the maximum amount. Then the entire electronic equipment aboard suddenly glitched and screeched, before abruptly turning off everything from engines to weapon systems. With the inside being pitched black, the crews relied on flashlights for lighting their environment.
"Everyone all right?" Aleksey asked while he shines the bridge with his flashlight, to which the others answered with a firm "affirmative". Even though the sunset light still shone through the windows it was still not enough to light the entire room, not to mention the loss of Arkhangelsk sensors and weapon systems making them a sitting duck.
Yet to Aleksey's surprise, the light suddenly turned on again, with the electronics following suit. Without wasting their time, the crew rechecked the entire system for any defect, malfunction, or failure. A minute later the results are out with everything to be in order, save for one problem.
"Sir! I couldn't reach Command," The communication section informed, before tinkering their communication station back. "I think we're jammed."
"Are you sure?" Aleksey asked from his position.
"Positive Sir. I couldn't even reach anyone on an open channel, even civilian ones."
"Contact!" Yelled one of the spotters inside the bridge. "Reality-bending anomaly at ten o'clock!"
Hearing those words come out of the officer's mouth, Aleksey's blood ran cold. Reality bending was one of the deadliest anomalies the Foundation had faced in its long journey, a prime example being SCP-106, who could use his reality-bending ability to trap his victims inside a pocket dimension. But back to Aleksey, he was now standing beside the spotter, looking at something he didn't expect to see.
A big mass of dark clouds, twirling and moving on the spot just around two kilometers from Arkhangelsk's position. The mass of clouds was a single entity, evident by the lack of clouds in the sky, but still.
"Helm! Bow facing forward towards the anomaly now." Aleksey quickly ordered.
"Understood, Captain!" The officer obeyed as they turn the steering wheel hard.
"Gunnery! Prepared tube one to tube ten."
"Aye! Prepping tube one to tube ten now." The gunnery officer replied as ten cruise missiles launcher placed on the Arkhangelsk foredeck opened up their covers, showing the ready-to-launch P-700 Granit ASNs.
Now the Arkhangelsk is front-facing the anomaly with her weapon ready. However, not a minute later the anomaly starts to shift violently, before seemingly making way for something to go through. That something is a ship, a pretty big one at that, with what seems to be battleship cannons on top of its deck. Worse, those cannons were aimed at Arkhangelsk.
"Launch tube one now!" Aleksey ordered just as the mysterious ship opened fire.
"Launching!" The gunnery officer shouted as one of the ten ASNs streaked upward, before changing its course to its target. For the cannons fire, all of the miraculously missed. A couple of seconds later the ASN hit its mark on the spot between the ship's battery and what Aleksey assumed to be its bridge, creating a big explosion as the ship slightly lifted before splitting into half, slowly sinking into the abyss.
Unfortunately, that ship wasn't the only enemy Arkhangelsk has to fight, as more ships just like the one on the ship graveyard start to make their way through the swirling mass of dark clouds while creating some type of battle formation at the same time. There are around twenty of them, with the bulk being destroyer-sized ships. Still, there are three light cruiser-sized somewhere in that formation, and that's not counting the ship that looks like an aircraft carrier behind them.
Overall, the incoming battle will be a tough one, one where Arkhangelsk might finally end her life. But she wasn't called the most formidable ship for being a coward.
"Gunner! Set priority targets for the big ship behind the formation. Secondary targets are the cruisers. Tube two to four for priority. Tube five to ten for secondary." Aleksey quickly ordered.
"Aye! Setting priority and secondary targets now." The gunnery officer replied. "Launching!"
Again, the ASNs streaked to their targets, nimbly evading anti-air fires from their enemy and target. First to hit were the Cruisers, with two of the three immediately sunk after impact, but the third had somehow managed to shoot the cruise missile heading for it and thus saving it from death. The Aircraft Carrier had fared better than its cruiser companion since only one out of the five ASMs manage to reach its target, and even then it was only hitting the Carrier's stern, effectively stopping it from advancing any further.
In retribution, the mass of destroyers quickly moved in for the kill, only for some of them to sink thanks to Arkhangelsk's torpedoes and 130-millimeter naval gun. But there are still too many for a lone ship to handle, even if said ship is a battlecruiser. Even with most of their comrades sunk, the destroyers didn't budge, instead, they unleashed a hail of torpedoes as parting gifts before being decimated completely.
"Everyone, brace for impact!" Aleksey called out as the CIWS were at work in thinning the oncoming torpedoes, before a couple of explosions rocked the ship hard, causing some wirings and piping to go loose. "Status!?"
"Sir! We lost contact with the whole stern section, and there are reports of leaking on the aft and hull of the ship, sir." The communication officer reported. "We're dead on the water, sir! What do we-"
"Contact! Enemy air wing at twelve o'clock!" Shouted the officer overseeing the radar station. "I'm seeing at least fifteen contacts!"
"Prioritize on taking down those aircraft now! Those are the immediate threats to our survival." Aleksey ordered.
Without wasting any time the anti-air batteries were prepared alongside the CIWS, and they were just in time. The moment the aircraft were a couple of meters from the Arkhangelsk they were welcomed by streaks of missiles and bullets. Some go down in an instant, while others dropped their payloads prematurely before being forced to withdraw.
Aleksey watched the alien-looking planes retreating to their ship, then he averted his gaze to the enemy formation. Their destroyers were no more, leaving only the damaged Aircraft Carrier and light cruiser to fight.
"Gunner! Launch all remaining ASNs to those two targets!" Command Aleksey.
"Aye! Launching all tubes now!" the officer obeyed as streaks of missiles sped off to their targets, which currently blanketing the sky with sheer immense anti-air fires
"They're distracted! Quick! Shoot them with the One-Thirty!"
With that, the twin-barreled AK-130 naval gun quickly delivered its deadly symphony, penetrating the hulls of both ships with one hundred and thirty-millimeter explosive rounds. Just then, the Aircraft Carrier suddenly erupted into a giant fireball, while the light cruiser slowly tilted to the side.
Unfortunately for the Arkhangelsk, the light cruiser managed to let loose one final salvo, which penetrated deep into the battlecruiser's already battered hull. Without a pause, the hull gave up, causing gallons of arctic waters to quickly enter the dying ship's interior.
[ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP. I REPEAT. ALL HANDS ABANDONED SHIP.]
To seal her fate, the remaining ammunition suddenly erupted, causing the ship to go sink into two pieces, one being from the hull to her bows, while the other being her stern. Out of seven hundred and ten onboard, none survive, buried inside their pride and joy. The Foundation tried to regain contact with the battlecruiser by sending another ship to her last know location two days later, only to find an aftermath of a battle.
With that, the Foundation listed the Arkhangelsk and all hands onboard as KIA (Killed In Action), before resuming their daily lives. But unknown to them, the soul of Arkhangelsk is still alive, thanks to its encounter with the alien warships. For a month it created its own body underneath the ocean, making torso, limbs, head, and lastly consciousness, before sending the now reincarnated ship back to the surface…
Back to the fighting…