In the early years of the twenty-first century, the United Nations suddenly assembled a multinational fleet across the Pacific Ocean.
An artificial home port was constructed off the coast of Hawaii, and the largest naval fleet in history was formed.Brand-new cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and aircraft carriers were commissioned. Even the once-considered outdated Iowa-class battleships were rebuilt and returned to service.
At first, many nations expressed opposition to the creation of such a fleet.Yet somehow, the voices of resistance—particularly from the United States and its allies—gradually disappeared.
By the middle of the twenty-first century, the fleet had grown so enormous that it could cover the entire Pacific Ocean.It moved constantly across the waters like a vast school of fish.
Sailors from militaries around the world were assigned to the fleet.
Their mission was classified—beyond even national secrets.
Charles Brick of the British military had been summoned for a two-year assignment and stationed within the fleet.Like everyone else, he had been given no explanation.
Not until the briefing.
Shortly after arriving, he and the other recruits were gathered aboard the flagship Oahu for their first official briefing.
There, Charles heard the truth for the first time from Fleet Admiral Jonathan Berry.
The projector flickered to life.
An old video appeared on the screen—footage of the ocean floor somewhere in the Pacific.The date in the corner indicated it had been recorded twenty-five years earlier.The resolution was poor.
Suddenly, the sand on the seabed was violently stirred.
A massive black object passed through the frame.
Then the video abruptly ended.
The lights came back on.
The admiral stepped forward.
"You are wondering why you are here," he said calmly.
"What mission you have been assigned to.And perhaps you even question the very existence of this fleet."
He paused.
"I will now explain."
The white-haired admiral rubbed his brow, then cleared his throat.
"In the early twenty-first century, a Japanese deep-sea research vessel, Yume-Iruka, detected an unidentified object at a depth of three thousand meters.
Estimated length: three hundred meters.
At first, the Japanese government suspected it might be a submarine belonging to a neighboring nation. Inquiries were sent to several countries, but every one of them denied involvement.
Despite that, Japan publicly reported the incident as a violation of its territorial waters."
The admiral folded his hands behind his back.
"But within a week, it became clear that it was not a submarine.
Multiple vessels traveling across the Pacific began reporting attacks by a massive black object. Ships were damaged… some completely destroyed.
Official reports blamed collisions with whales.
But that explanation was false."
He gestured toward the dark screen.
"The footage you just saw was captured by the Australian deep-sea research submersible Deep Sea Challenger.
Witnesses from the attacked ships all gave the same testimony:
'It wasn't a whale.'
Some even described a far more complex structure."
The admiral paused again.
"The reason governments—led by the United States—suppressed this information was because of another discovery made a few years earlier."
The next image appeared.
Again, the ocean floor.
But this time something else was visible.
A pitch-black vortex opened across the seabed.
It looked like a gigantic mouth carved into the ocean floor.
"This is a mysterious hole discovered along the Pacific tectonic plate," the admiral explained.
"At the time, scientists classified it as an unexplainable natural phenomenon.
It did not absorb seawater.It emitted nothing.And it caused no detectable disturbances."
He continued.
"But several years passed with no progress in understanding it.
Then the ship destruction incidents began."
The admiral looked across the room.
"Too strange to be coincidence."
"The world's leaders decided to establish a defensive fleet."
He spread his arms.
"That fleet is us.
Our mission is simple.
Research the unidentified lifeforms…and eliminate them."
The next slide appeared.
A still image.
The room erupted into murmurs.
The creature was grotesque.
Countless mouth-like organs lined its body.At their tips extended writhing tentacles.
Its skin was covered in vein-like structures resembling exposed organs.
And the entire body was an overwhelming mass of pure black.
One thing was undeniable.
It was not of Earth.
"This image was captured recently on the ocean floor," the admiral continued.
"Samples recovered from the creature reveal a biological structure completely different from Earth-based DNA."
The room buzzed with shock.
The admiral silenced them with a single cough.
"These lifeforms attack ships.
Therefore, they must be exterminated.
Fortunately, our weapons are effective."
His voice hardened.
"Use them to their fullest.
Destroy the enemy."
He switched to another slide.
"Investigations into the hole believed to be their point of emergence are ongoing.
However…"
His voice darkened.
"The number of these holes across the Pacific plate increases every year."
Murmurs spread again.
"We have confirmed that hostile lifeforms emerge from them.
All weapons tested against the holes have failed.
They cannot be destroyed.
Therefore our fleet has only one option:
Eliminate the creatures after they appear."
At that exact moment—
A deafening alarm blared through the room.
The ship's announcement system activated.
"Hostile lifeform detected.Repeat. Hostile lifeform detected."
Charles felt the color drain from his face.
The admiral shouted.
"Everyone—on your feet!"
Chairs scraped as soldiers stood instantly.
"Battle stations!"
They rushed from the briefing room toward their assigned ships.
Then—
The entire vessel lurched violently.
New recruits were thrown across the corridor.
Charles struggled to regain his footing and sprinted toward the deck.
The ocean outside was a deep, brilliant blue.
White waves rolled across the surface.
The once-perfect formation of the fleet had fallen into chaos.
Then—
Something moved beneath the water.
A massive black shape erupted from the sea.
Like a whale devouring prey, it bit straight through a destroyer, snapping the ship in half before disappearing beneath the waves again.
Submarines launched torpedoes from below.
But the creature moved with impossible speed, evading every attack.
Mines detonated.
Torpedoes streaked through the water.
The Iowa-class battleships roared as their massive guns fired relentlessly.
The thunder of artillery shattered Charles's ears.
Amid the chaos, the enormous black creature surfaced again, emitting a shrill, unnatural scream.
And then—
Something happened that had never occurred before in recorded history.
There wasn't just one.
There were many.
Black shadows began appearing across the ocean.
More.
And more.
Until the sea itself seemed covered in darkness stretching to the horizon.
Charles whispered to himself.
"No… that can't be…"
At that moment, the flagship was struck from below.
A colossal impact.
The ship split apart.
Charles was thrown violently into the sea.
Saltwater flooded his throat and lungs as he struggled to swim.
A gigantic black shadow passed before his eyes.
Then—
Darkness swallowed him.
When he awoke, he was lying on a deck.
Medics rushed around him in frantic motion.
Wrapped in a blanket, he slowly raised his head.
The magnificent fleet was gone.
Reduced to twisted wreckage sinking into the sea.
Far below the water's surface, enormous black shapes drifted away into the depths.
Above him, the sky was bright and clear.
And the sea that day
was perfectly calm.
Sea of Serenity — End