Prologue

Calm was the sea, only awaiting for the storm slowly brewing over the horizon. Today was a dark day, signifying the fall of a once great nation. Susceptible to corruption and blackmail, it was only but a matter of time before it crumbled from within, and now their foes were out to pick up what remained and use it for themselves.

All except one whose rage and fury was manifested in the waves that surrounded her. Her once proud creators all but puppets for a hostile regime that now had power over them. But not her, not her crew, and especially not her captain.

The Indomitable was indeed a truly powerful warship, constructed by the greatest nation and greatest engineers to ever exist with the highest quality in materials. A true moving fortress over seas. She was designed to be over 320 meters in length, 40 meters in beam width, and with a total draught and draft of 22 meters, equaling to a full displacement of over 100,000 tons of steel. She was powered by twelve water-tube boilers providing a total of 300,000 horsepower through four steam geared turbines spinning the propellers, giving her the ability to achieve 35 knots total. Her armament consisted of five triple 432mm/50 caliber main batteries, two triple 203mm/45 caliber secondary batteries, ten twin 152mm/55 caliber secondary batteries, twenty quad 40mm anti-aircraft batteries, thirty twin 20mm anti-aircraft batteries, and twenty 127mm anti-aircraft artillery guns. Her belt armor consisted of 525mm of steel, her bulkheads with 475mm of steel, her barrettes with 550mm of steel, her turret faces with 575mm of steel, and decks with 120mm of steel. She was also fitted with two catapults for launching of floatplanes and was equipped with an advanced analog fire control system assisted via powerful air and surface search radars capable of detecting ships and planes from 100 kilometers out and a sonar suit capable of tracking submarines from 10 kilometers out.

In command of her was Captain Moses Rhys, a renown captain and well credited with his knowledge and tactics of naval warfare. A proud man to be put in command of a proud ship. With him was Lieutenant Martin Rose as his first-officer. With them were 3,300 brave sailors to crew this mighty vessel and a unit of 500 marines who were ready to be deployed should war break out and they be required to land forces on enemy shores.

Unfortunately war has broken out, and much to the captain's disgust and fury their government and generals had surrendered without even putting up a fight.

TRAITORS, he had claimed them all to be. They shouldn't have given up right then and now. They should've fought against their foes, yet instead they just gave the enemy the keys to everything in their arsenal without any resistance. He remembered when he received the telegram from high command ordering his fleet to surrender and return to harbor. He couldn't believe it, and was hoping this was all some sick joke. But it was reality as every cruiser, and destroyer in his fleet complied and was making ready to return to harbor. All except his ship.

He denied the orders and had the telegram operator send his response word after word.

G-O_T-O_H-E-L-L

After which he had the lamps transmit the ships of his fleet his intentions, either they join him or will be destroyed if they try to interfere. Only two destroyers joined his cause, leaving the rest of his fleet to turn tail and sail in the opposite direction. However they likely warned high command of what Captain Rhys was planning as moments later he received another telegram issuing a warning and labeling his ships as rouge. This time he ordered no response. They would no longer take orders from the leaders who betrayed them.

"Sir! Radar room reports three surface contacts ahead at 075 east, 79 kilometers out, current speed estimates at 29 knots!" Lieutenant Rose reported as he received an update from the radar room below the bridge.

"Do we have visual contact on them?"

"Negative sir, we're still beyond visual range but we should be able to see them by the hour. How should we proceed sir?"

Rhys shook his head, taking note of their situation and planning ahead what they should do. "As far as we're concerned anyone can now be our enemy at this point. I want the ship set to general quarters and everyone at their battle stations. Contact our destroyers to do the same. If they are enemy then we'll take them all down. We'll take on as many as we can before our supplies run dry or we're disabled."

The ship was currently carrying aboard it over 10,000 rounds of ammunition for all it's guns, holding enough oil to operate for 40,000 kilometers, and has food stocks to feed it's crew for two months. This would not last them infinite as they relied on support and resupply ships to keep herself topped up, and was supposed to serve as a force multiplier in a large fleet, not just two destroyers. However their options were limited, and if they were gonna go down they were gonna take as many enemies or traitors with them until they could no longer fight.

"General Quarters! All hands General Quarters, man your battle stations!"

The intercom went off and the alarms started blaring out across the ship, signaling for the crew to make ready for combat. Men rushed out from whatever they were previously doing and made for the armories, fitting on their helmets worn while in combat and reporting to their assigned stations. Men rushed for the gun batteries and began arming them for combat. Within minutes the ship was ready for war as if she was always waiting for it. The two destroyers made similar preparations as their crews manned the guns and reported to their assigned stations.

The minutes rolled by, as everyone aboard was growing anxious with what's been happening recently. Now they had to worry about possibly shooting at their own ships once allies, many were uncomfortable with that reality. But it was either that or surrender, and no one was agreeing with surrender.

"Lieutenant, contacts spotted on the horizon dead ahead!" A spotter called out as he identified three figures approaching overseas. "Looks to be three cruisers sir!"

"Captain, we've spotted the surface contacts. Possible they're cruisers." Lieutenant Rose relayed to the captain back on the bridge. "Should we continue on course?"

Captain Rhys nodded. "Proceed ahead, I wanna ID these ships before I give the order to fire."

The sailor at the helm held the ship in a steady course, adjusting the wheel to ensure the ship continued in a straight line towards the three currently unknown cruisers approaching them. Minutes later the spotter was able to identify the flags being waved by the ships.

"Lieutenant, enemy vessels sighted ahead! Counting one large cruiser and two light cruisers!"

"Captain, we've confirmed the ships to belong to the enemy. Should we prepare to fire?" The lieutenant asked the captain whose blood boiled knowing these ships belonged to the nation responsible for his nation's demise.

The rats would perish by his guns.

"Bring us about two kilometers from our port and adjust the 152s and 203s for firing! We'll send them to the depths where they belong!"

"Aye captain!"

The massive battleship pushed forward, challenging the enemy ships ready to deliver her fury upon them. However oddly the enemy vessels did not look prepared to engage the Indomitable, rather they looked to not even be on alert. Perhaps they didn't see the Indomitable as an opponent but rather as a gift, from their new subordinates.

Captain Rhys was quick to notice this and planned to use this assumption to his advantage. By now the enemy ships were unprepared, and wouldn't fire upon them until they revealed their true intentions.

"Change of plans, bring us up to one kilometer off our port and set all batteries at their stationary positions. Once we're in position, adjust all guns and fire in my mark. We'll catch these vermin by surprise."

"Aye captain!"

The two separate fleets of warships approached one another with opposite intentions. One waited to greet and claim their prize, while one sought to destroy the other in one swift and brutal blow.

On the sides of the enemy warships, sailors were seen leaning out over the railings to catch sight of their brand new addition to the fleet. And a mighty vessel by the looks of it, one of the fabled almighty battleships formerly operated by their former adversaries. How clueless they were from the imminent destruction approaching them.

"Hold…" Rhys said as his battleship pulled up along the side of the enemy cruisers.

"Hold…" The enemy sailors were now puzzled as the battleship was not slowing down and continued on at it's current speed.

"Aim…" The 203mm and 152mm guns all turned and lined up with the enemy cruisers, startling the sailors who now realized what was happening.

"Fire!" But it was already too late for them.

The battleship's guns all let loose a simultaneous 'BOOM' as she let loose her anger and fury onto the unfortunate cruisers who were unlucky enough to encounter her, point blank. The combined barrage of munitions was enough to instantly cripple the large cruiser and destroy one of the light cruisers while leaving the other one with light damage. The enemy large cruiser suffered multiple breaches on it's port hull and was taking in water, while also having three of it's four main batteries knocked out of commission and having parts of her superstructure collapsing. Meanwhile one of the light cruisers had it's front magazine struck and caused a huge explosion to rip the bow of the ship off, cutting the vessel in two and leaving it to sink. The other one suffered minor damage as part of it's superstructure and smoke stack being hit. Two of the three vessels were now on fire and taking in water.

"All batteries reload immediately! Continue firing when ready!"

The guns the began to fire again, but instead were firing separately instead of in a joint volley from all batteries. Either way they were inflicting heavy damage as they proceeded to finish off the large cruiser and sink the other light cruiser still intact. The destroyers even joined in as they fired their 152mm guns at the enemy cruisers to assist the battleship.

Another barrage from the 203mm guns finished off the large cruiser, detonating the rear magazine and killing the ship's mobility, leaving it to sink as the single light cruiser was all that was left. 152mm guns were quick to inflict superficial damage before the smaller ship could return fire, shooting a return volley from it's rear 178mm guns. The four projectiles fired struck the ship's armored belt, but bounced off harmlessly while leaving a mark on the points of impact. It would only be two minutes after that in which the smaller ship's fate was sealed as it's hull was torn apart and it listed due to flooding.

The battle was over before it even begun, however their was no time to relax or celebrate as another threat began approaching on radar.

"Captain, radar is tracking over one hundred airborne contacts approaching at 225 southwest at fifty kilometers!" The lieutenant alerted to the captain. "Also we just received another allied telegram, this time from the carrier Intervention! They're ordering us to stand down and follow orders!"

That answered what those airborne contacts were. The Intervention had launched her entire air wing to attack and force the Indomitable to surrender. This meant they were about to go to battle against brothers—, no. Former brothers they perhaps once fought alongside.

"Ready for anti-air combat. We will not stand down and will fight them if they want to pursue us."

"Sir, you do realize we'll be shooting at men who were once our allies." Lieutenant Rose stated to the captain with hesitation. "If we do this, we'll have no chance of returning home."

Captain Rhys looked over and focused his eyes directly into Lieutenant Rose's. "Our home is already gone, and our futures are all but shrouded in darkness. We have nothing left to lose. Prepare the ship for anti-air combat,"

"Aye captain!"

The 20mm, 40mm, and 127mm guns were armed and aimed towards the sky, while men manned and operated the smaller 13mm machine guns set up across the ship for added firepower. Minutes passed by before the rumbling sound of engines in the sky caught their attention, revealing a hundred once allied aircraft flying within the clouds and diving towards the mighty battleship. Among them were dive bombers and torpedo bombers armed to take the ship down.

Lining up the sights, all guns focused for anti-air combat picked out their targets and waited for the order to begin firing.

"Open fire!"

The sides of the battleship suddenly opened up in hail fire as AA shells were fired up into the sky towards the approaching aircraft. Plumes of smoke from the midair detonation of the fragmentation rounds filled the sky and caused the planes to break out of formation and begin their attacks. Planes were already taking hits and getting knocked out of the sky with engines bursting into flames and wings blown off. However it did not stop them in their objective.

Five dive bombers dove and unleashed their payload above the battleship. Fortunately all five bombs missed and created plumes of water along the port and starboard of the ship. Unfortunately this would not always be the case and another group of three dive bombers dove in and attacked. One was destroyed, but two were able to unleashed their payloads and pull out, one of which struck the front of the blow and blew out some of the wooden deck and injuring several crewmen. The layer of steel under the wood held against the explosion as it was designed, but the same could not be said for the destroyers as they were targeted too.

Six dive bombers dove down and unleashed their payload onto one of the destroyers, two bombs missed, but the other four hit. The stern of the smaller ship and her guns were destroyed, killing much of her air defenses and crew that were on deck. The other destroyer suffered a direct hit to the bow that blew out the front magazine and ripped the ship in two, dooming her to the depths below.

Meanwhile torpedo bombers conducted their attack on the Indomitable, ten planes flying in at low altitude with torpedos ready to be dropped. The AA crew realized this and trained their guns on the incoming aircraft, firing to the port of the ship to shoot them down. Five planes were hit before they could unleash their torpedos, while the other five dropped and pulled off.

"Torpedos in the water port side!" Lieutenant Rose shouted as the torpedo trails streaked above the water.

"Helmsman, hard left rudder!" The Captain responded as the helmsman turned the ship to the port as she slightly tilted to the starboard.

The five torpedos streaked towards the stern of the battleship but missed with the fifth being only a centimeters from contact. They got lucky.

"Sir, we won't last much longer, and more aircraft are likely to arrive if another carrier is with the Intervention or part of another fleet closing in on us!" Lieutenant Rose shouted as AA gun fire continued going off outside. Captain Rhys acknowledged this and looked out ahead from the bridge. A violent thunderstorm was brewing north, and would do in concealing them and keeping the aircraft off their backs.

"Helmsman, hold here until we get as many sailors from the destroyers onboard as possible. Then head for that storm, flank speed."

The ship had momentarily stopped to pick up survivors from the two crippled destroyers that were now sinking. Sailors aboard the Indomitable had lowered nettings along the sides of the hull for the sailors in the water to grab onto and climb aboard. Meanwhile the crew continued defending against air attacks were damage control teams responding to more bomb hits. A small fire started at the stern near turret four, but was quickly extinguished.

One of the five bombers that had used up it's bomb dove again to strafe the battleship's air defenses in hopes to knock them out. However one of the gunners of a 40mm quad noticed and aimed up at him, firing his battery and scoring a hit that set the engine on fire and tore off one of the wings. The plane tilted down towards the battleship and crashed against the side of the hull leaving scratches and traces of burning oil from it's busted tanks before plunging into the water.

"Holy shit that was a close one! Thanks for the save gunner!" One of the sailors shouted to the gunner who shot down the plane.

"Don't thank me yet brother! We still have all that up there to deal with!" The gunner responded and continued firing back up towards the incoming planes attacking.

The last of the sailors from the destroyer wrecks was aboard and the battleship took off, engaging at flank speed towards the storm. While she continued to fend off air attacks before another threat appeared on radar.

"Two surface contacts detected at 330 northwest! Approaching at 35 knots approximately 50 kilometers out!" No visual was made on the surface contacts, but they were definitely warships intended to intercept the Indomitable based on their current trajectory.

The captain made no orders to chance course as the battleship proceeded north into the storm. Raging black clouds swirled above them unleashing thunder and lighting that touched down into the sea. Waves were rising more higher than they normally would, reaching ten meters in height that would surely topple most ship. But the Indomitable wasn't most ships and it would take more than bad weather to stop her.

Once they reached the edge of the storm, the planes all finally broke off, unable to pursue in such conditions. "Sir, surface contacts spotted! We have two allied battleships pursuing us!"

Looking out from the bridge, Captain Rhys spotted two battleships formerly allies pursuing them. These ones weren't as formidable as the Indomitable and her sisters, but they would still prove much of a danger if they engaged directly.

"Ready the rear main batteries! Standby to fire if they get too close to us! Continue further into the storm!"

Turrets four and five adjusted to aim at the pursuing battleships while the Indomitable clashed against the raging tides crashing against her hull. She was lifted up a few times before crashing back down into the water under gravity, the crew outside required to hang onto something to avoid being thrown overboard. However this was only the beginning of the worst as the storm suddenly began to grow in intensity.

"Captain! Dead ahead!" The helmsman shouted in alarm which caught the attention of Captain Rhys and Lieutenant Rose who were looking out at the battleships behind them. Looking ahead, they were met with a sight that made them start questioning their sanity.

A massive wave, reaching a startling one hundred meters in height arched up and towered above the lone battleship, rapidly approaching her and making ready to fall on top of her.

"Hard right rudder immediately! Hard right rudder!" The captain shouted as the helmsman worked to turn the ship hard to starboard to avoid the giant wave. However it was no use as the wave was too quick and was upon them within seconds. The crew along the exterior looked up in terror as the water raced down towards them and began to envelope the Indomitable.

And that was the last she was ever heard or seen from again. Once the storm would clear, ships would be sent to search and recover whatever wreckage was left, but strangely enough there was no wreckage. Almost as if the mighty battleship suddenly disappeared and left no trace of her existence.

Until then, the Indomitable was declared lost with all hands, ever to be found again. And that was the final moment of the battleship Indomitable.

Or is it?