STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: [Classified]
Format: Hand-written note
Object: Uncategorized written note #######
Location (if known): [Classified]
Time (if known): [Classified]
Detailed description: Jilted, uneven spacing & shaky hand suggests that note was written under significant duress. Tool of question appears to be small undefined writing implement (likely jury-rigged from small detritus or debris). Composition analysis of surface material definitively declare approximately 65cm (length) & 42cm (width) coarse wrapping paper, (Originating from Washington Navy Yard, DC. Circa. 1930s). Pigment material appear to be combination of heavy fuel oil & rust from heavy metallic erosion.
Handwriting analysis matches [Classified], who was serving aboard [Classified] at the time of [INCIDENT I]. Item was recovered from [redacted], [Classified], near [Classified] inside a watertight container.
Partial text transcription below. Complete transcription of text impossible due to significant water damage to much of text.
Cmms eqpmnt dwn 20 mn bfr we saw thng. Hd pwr bt no sgnl cmng or going nywhr. Chief Brock worrd & wnt to fnd Capt. All of flt lst contct [ ]
[ ]
IMPACT at 013(?) [ ] drct hit whch mde lrge hle in [ ] Ripped through [ ] lk it ws papr.
[ ] no vsbl mrking. Ddn’t get gd look. Maybe cn’t – frghtfl & feeling lke thrwng up & lghtheaded. Ppl screaming terribly. Thnk it look monster whale bt glows around parts [ ]
[ ] no good. Bmbs CANNOT GO THROUGH ITS SKIN shells DN’T WRK TORPS DN’T WRK NTHNG WRKS sme of our plts trd to ram the thng bt [ ]
[Curator’s note: significant portions of text missing]
0157 Dead in wtr w/ hvy lst. blck goo flowng frm ocean & crwlng up & arnd shp frme. Dn’t knw if goo is prt of it or sm chem rxtion b/c smell [ ]
0201 Gunshots above deck.
The Abyssal Fleet first made its move on June 25, 1950.
In a stroke of accidental or intentional genius, North Korea launched its attack across the 38th parallel minutes before humanity encountered this terrifying foe. Confusion reigned for the first eleven hours of the incursion as the lone abyssal “destroyer” devoured Korean and American troops stationed around the coast. Hampered by mysterious and intermittent radio interference, the US 7th Fleet’s response can only be described as chaotic and ineffectual.
American commanders, not realizing the nature of the opponent they now faced, were soon faced with a painful awakening. A task force hurriedly scrambled with the intention of being a stop-gap measure to slow North Korean advances met its ultimate fate with predictable results. Within hours, the USS Leyte (CV 32) and its escorts would became the first navy ships to fall victim to the abyssal fleet.
The early hypothesis that this new enemy was some kind of Soviet weapon was quickly squashed when the USN soon learned that this was beyond anything they’ve ever dreamed of encountering before. Technology simply failed in its presence. Confused and contradictory eyewitness transmissions, voices often laced with terror and helplessness, suggested that conventional arms were useless against whatever “armor” or “skin” this thing seemed to possess. A few precious frames of delivered recon footage showed that it moved with a predatory agility that should by all means be physically impossible for its colossal size, and as the USN – and the soon to be formed STEC – will learn later, its most potent weapon was one that played its deadly influence on the human mind.
For a few tense hours, chaos reigned. President Truman was adamant in his position that the atomic bomb should not be used, and blocked all efforts to launch a pre-emptive strike against America’s greatest rival. It was fortuitous that he did. Had America unleashed her nuclear arsenal in desperation against the abyssal fleet, the world may have been brought to a premature end regardless of further abyssal incursions.
Yet the world did not end in 1950. No, as the world would soon find out, 1950 was only the beginning.