Abyssal Stays Home [KC SI]

[Lovhes]

That's one way to write out the giant super kaiju ship(?)girl you made out of the story. Or at least make it plausible for dagon to not make another one.

 

[Azaira]

"Conventional weapons don't really work on shipgirls"
"The USS Nevada (BB-36) survived two atomic bomb tests"
"Godzilla can self-repair and intelligent enough to navigate to a place she doesn't quite know the location of"


China is Doomed…

 

[Naron]

Teching up to become more mobile is good, but would it be possible to manually mount point defense, heavy weapons, AA, heavy armor, or an air wing onto her?

Click to shrink...

Theoretically, yes. Practically, Dagon has no desire to go anywhere near an active battle. And if her Demons are already dead, which it would take to get at her, then any rudimentary defenses would likely help very little.

 

[SneakyScoundrel02]

2 for 1 deal then, Japan got btfo'd and China got itself into hot water.
Could Dagon make smaller land units (Abyssal tanks etc), or is it a no-go tech?
IMO she should give her Demons some non-Elite minions to help spread out the damage in battles, so they don't get focused down.

 

[Vlaadd17]

"Conventional weapons don't really work on shipgirls"
"The USS Nevada (BB-36) survived two atomic bomb tests"
"Godzilla can self-repair and intelligent enough to navigate to a location she doesn't quite know the location of"


China is Doomed…

Click to shrink...

With last sentence dialogue comes in mind
Dagon : Hey , did you see where reaper go ?
China : ewww , dont tell us you lost her and she gone feral ! She was already terrifying when you had her on the leash!

 

[Naron]

Could Dagon make smaller land units (Abyssal tanks etc), or is it a no-go tech?

Click to shrink...

Theoretically, yes. Practically, she has no real reason to prepare for a land invasion. Haven is small enough that her Demons can cover the island in their lonesome.

 

[Morkail]

hmm unless it was a direct hit I don't think a nuke would kill the discount Godzilla, have a feeling she's going to show up heavily wounded and glowing green.

That said she's needs to invest in some kind of tech that will stop humanity nuking the princesses bases because once humanity really starts losing they are going to start tossing nukes left right and center. Maybe something to make there storms cause nukes not to explode? Still useable on invading forces but they can't destory there bases.

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Sinker_91]

That said she's needs to invest in some kind of tech that will stop humanity nuking the princesses bases because once humanity really starts losing they are going to start tossing nukes left right and center. Maybe something to make there storms cause nukes not to explode? Still useable on invading forces but they can't destory there bases.

Click to shrink...

Something like Neutron Jammers from Gundam SEED/SEED DESTINY. They suppress nuclear reactions within a wide range and disrupt both radio and radar.

Better storms are probably on the docket too.

EDIT: and NJ Cancellers, can't forget that Reaper is nuclear powered.

 

[xbox432]

On other note, I expect Reaper to have survived.

I mean, a Kajiu Godzilla nuked?

That can only end with her being wounded but returning later even stronger there ever.

Click to shrink...

Her armor is made of tungsten iirc, so weathering the blast and heat with that and abyssal voodoo is possible. If she was at ground zero she is definitely dead tho imo.

Click to shrink...

"Conventional weapons don't really work on shipgirls"
"The USS Nevada (BB-36) survived two atomic bomb tests"
"Godzilla can self-repair and intelligent enough to navigate to a place she doesn't quite know the location of"

Click to shrink...

I was going to bring this up, but Azaira already ninja's my entire spiel. But yeah, I don't think Reaper was destroyed. Having a Godzilla expy killed by a nuke doesn't make sense at all! All China did was destroy their international reputation. Because anyone with the clearance to launch a nuke would KNOW about the USS Nevada tests... Which, in hindsight, will just piss off the rest of the world even more once they make that logical connection.

hmm unless it was a direct hit I don't think a nuke would kill the discount Godzilla, have a feeling she's going to show up heavily wounded and glowing green.

That said she's needs to invest in some kind of tech that will stop humanity nuking the princesses bases because once humanity really starts losing they are going to start tossing nukes left right and center. Maybe something to make there storms cause nukes not to explode? Still useable on invading forces but they can't destory there bases.

Thanks for the chapter.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, Humanity deciding to start throwing nukes around willy nilly would be in the Abyssal's favor. After all, background radiation poisoning the air, land, ocean doesn't mean shit for the Abyssals. But is sure as hell will speed up the eradication of humanity.

It'll be like that one old zombie movie I watched where humanity tried to nuke the zombies. Then just ended up with irradiated zombies spreading across the world.

 

[manatherindrell]

And now everybody decides to stop exporting to or importing from China. They're big enough to support themselves, but that won't stop their economy from imploding.

I wonder if China did it to fabricate an excuse to go in and claim territory. After all, somebody needs to step in and run things when he Japanese government collapses, and they're the closest and most powerful nation. The U.S. are really the only other power capable of doing that, and the war has to be making it exponentially more difficult to project their power across the Pacific Ocean.

 

[Faber_The_Builder]

I wonder if China did it to fabricate an excuse to go in and claim territory

Click to shrink...

That'd be pretty stupid, if you ask me. China doesn't have enough Kanmusu, even in potential(their navy wasn't much during those days). They'd be taking on the responsibility of feeding and defending Japan…the nation that was teetering on the verge of collapse with one of the biggest(if not the biggest when including US/UK aid) Kanmusu forces. They'd be forced to use conventional forces that'd just be massacred or nuclear strikes(dig their diplo hole even deeper). Japan(and most costal regions) is very much undesirable land due to Abyssal threat. Sure, they'd have one of the most developed nations in the world…but how long could they keep it or maintain the industry when shipping becomes impossible due to Abyssal activity that was curtailed by the JMSDF…hell naval transit in the Pacific just became impossible as the patrol routes that the JMSDF kept occupied just disintegrated, freeing up Abyssal assets for coastal raiding. The loss of Japan might have just become a breaking point of the Deadlock in the Abyssal War.

 

[Vlaadd17]

That'd be pretty stupid, if you ask me. China doesn't have enough Kanmusu, even in potential(their navy wasn't much during those days). They'd be taking on the responsibility of feeding and defending Japan…the nation that was teetering on the verge of collapse with one of the biggest(if not the biggest when including US/UK aid) Kanmusu forces. They'd be forced to use conventional forces that'd just be massacred or nuclear strikes(dig their diplo hole even deeper). Japan(and most costal regions) is very much undesirable land due to Abyssal threat. Sure, they'd have one of the most developed nations in the world…but how long could they keep it or maintain the industry when shipping becomes impossible due to Abyssal activity that was curtailed by the JMSDF…hell naval transit in the Pacific just became impossible as the patrol routes that the JMSDF kept occupied just disintegrated, freeing up Abyssal assets for coastal raiding. The loss of Japan might have just become a breaking point of the Deadlock in the Abyssal War.

Click to shrink...

I think they will pull it out somehow, world cannot lose Japan with its fleet , while it is gone now , they will summon it back for sure , they just have to wistand for months or half a year to regain stability. World will pour resources and ship girls in them , and while one nation contributing cruiser or couple destroyers not much it will add up. Thou it is question about nature of shipgirls . For instance are they summoned through ritual or just natural born or both? I doubt they cant replace loses somehow.

Evacuation will be , but outright abandoning whole country, they will refuse. Now i think if Chinese give such offer to feed and shelter them they will refuse with mouths full of foam.

 

[manatherindrell]

I don't remember seeing any indication that re-summoning is possible.

 

[Vlaadd17]

I don't remember seeing any indication that re-summoning is possible.

Click to shrink...

It just logical conclusion based on human and shipgirl tactics, if they are irreplaceable then humanity would lean heavily on defence and make one-two elite aircraft carrier strike teams to hunt Princess from afar , while keeping others out of risks in defence.

Another point that war is in a deadlock , while abyss can summon infinite troops. That means shipgirls have respawn time or they would slowly but surely loose , death by thousand cuts.

 

[Hagar06TheLizard]

Posted something like this on the spacebattle version too.

I kind of wonder, at least some Princesses used to be or could have been shipgirls, right? But they got overtaken by their grudges, depending on how this fic interprets what little lore there is. Facing an invincible juggernaut rampaging across their country, failing to stop at at heavy losses, having their home burn down while most of their friends and coworkers die one way or another, and then having their country get nuked, again, this time by a supposed ally?
Failure on that level must come with a lot of negative emotions. And if that's a necessity, most of the Japanese fleets have just sunk. Any chance we'll have some new neighbors soon? Maybe there won't be any Abyssal fleets moving in, but a bunch will rise on the spot, hidden under the chaos. Or maybe a few newborn princesses will remember Daggie's location.
For good or ill.
Anyone wonder what happened too Akatsuki? If she made it, and made the connection all this is a consequence of her telling Dagon's location? She probably isn't in a good place right now.

 

[Vlaadd17]

There wasn't mentioned musasi in the last stand , the yamato sister ship. Which can be justified she was somewhere else or sunk in failed raid , but my bet she is probably princess, otherwise she would fight beside yamato. Or she didn't returned yet.

As for rising as abysal it is really up to author i guess. Whyle yeah, ship girl with grudges risies as abyssal , it usually grudge against humanity, failed crew , or her being scrapped/target practice dummy. Maybe they will respawn as self summoned shipgirls to answer the pleas of their nation in darkest hour.

 

[Naron]

Day 207

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that Reaper lives. She was already moving away from Tokyo when the nuke struck; the shockwave almost killed her anyway, but that Abyssal resistance and her own hardiness saw her through. She is currently resting off the coast of Japan to repair her systems and will make her way home soon enough.

On second thought, this is great news rather than merely good. We had another little party when the Abyss told me. It will never not be weird how knowledge just pops into my head, but I really could not care less today. This also neatly solves the moral dilemma of what to do with China; I can just do nothing and see what happens next. Still feel bad about Japan getting screwed over, but the nuke was far beyond any response I expected. So I am not taking responsibility for that.

Now for the bad news. They were not life-threateningly bad, but my sanity definitely was threatened today. I am honestly surprised it took so long, considering we had access to the Internet for a while.

Ariel stumbled upon more porn. And this time the others saw.

Although this is the only reason today was not a good day, it certainly contributed to making it a hassle. Having to explain this subject, again, to a bunch of human-adjacent beings that have no idea about any of it was more than a little weird. The only saving grace is that the Abyss thankfully took out all of it when appropriating shipgirl designs for its own use. No weird experiments, no sudden descent into depravity. None of that, thank you very much.

Honestly, it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The girls are a little fascinated with the subject, if mainly because it is so alien to them. At least we have the internet to answer whatever questions they have, which was a bunch. Last I checked on them before turning in, they were looking up all kinds of fetishes and laughing at them.

So yes, I really hope they grow bored with it soon and I can forget about this.


Day 210

Frostbite started building her first wave of forward bases. She made two more Mi-Class ships and I lent her Orion to help with the building; the poor girl was getting stir-crazy back at Haven.

Sapphire is out scouting as per usual, with my core of Demons ready for rapid deployment if she finds any threats. Battleship, carrier, and destroyer. Thinking of it that way, it all turned out quite well in little more than half a year. I have a working economy, my fleet is small but strong, and we may be looking toward a calm time ahead. That is, assuming nobody else decides to come knocking.

I also may have accidentally caused World War 3, which would be deeply ironic for reasons of my German heritage. But again, I take no responsibility for the nuke. I just sent the kaiju.

Anyway, I still have no complaints about Frostbite as my neighbour. She comes by every other day to meet for tea and discuss expansion plans. We also go over technology I am planning to research; now that she wants to expand the teleporter network, it will be prudent to improve their reach. Those techs are not cheap, but they will save us literal tons of resources in the future. Improved repair speed has to go on the backburner again, though I doubt Reaper would benefit much from it in her state.

The first few mines Orion once dug are running dry, too. Ionia told me as much after making today's delivery, hence why there was a lower turnout. Soon enough I will have to rely solely on my own generation and what Frostbite gives me. It feels not quite right to put this in her hand, but I can not really do much about it beside expanding.

Or can I?

It just occurred to me that I can transmute one element into another and that every common rock counts for that. Same for the ocean. Why did it take me this long to realise?

So yes, I have a fallback plan for such a time that our mines run out. I just need to be careful where I take the materials from.


Day 211

Did a test run of the transmutation thing, it works like a charm. I filled my loading bay with sea water and transmuted it into steel. That is resource issues resolved.

In other news, I noticed that Ariel made accounts on several websites. She even has an E-mail account now. One site is a web forum like where I used to hang out, though not the same one. Nothing I recognise, and I will not go to check if any of those has an equivalent here. I know Youtube exists at least.

Point is, Ariel talks to people online. I am not monitoring her, but she tells me that nobody figured out her being an Abyssal so far. Just some comments on the profile picture being herself, read an Abyssal. Not the weirdest thing in the world, though. Going by what Jeanne let slip to embarass her sister, Ariel looks up a lot of the things that come up in conversations.

As far as approaches to learning go, this one is pretty nifty.

Which reminds me that progress is good on lowering Abyssal instincts. Sapphire said earlier that she is starting to get used to our calm lifestyle. At first she constantly felt the need to go out and fight, especially when I would not let her. By now that feels less and less important to her. Then she gave me a cookie she baked, the first that came out well enough to give someone else.

This tells me that Abyssals are capable of becoming domestic and settling down. It may be a long-term concern, but I was wondering what will happen when the war is over. Assuming the Abyss wins, there will be no humans left after all. An Abyssal civil war would suck. I get the vague idea that no more Abyssals will spawn on their own once humanity is gone, but the Abyss does not seem to have a solid grasp on the aftermath either. Good thing I am here to stop it from dropping the ball and trying to end the Abyssals after their job is done.

That was something I worried about, yes. Although I doubt it will come up by now.

Frostbite seems to appreciate the idea as well. I was a little reluctant to share it with her for a while, but our discussion on base Abyssal nature turned out quite cordial. She says she feels no pressing need to keep waging war, especially after all the other pastimes I introduced. Hence why she plans to spread them along to every other Abyssal she meets along the way. I could only agree with that stance.

I still have trouble comprehending that I gave them proper civilisation. Did I make the comparison to Prometheus before? I really hope this ends better for me than it did for him.


Day 216

I really can get no more than a single week off. Though today was especially wild.

It started when Jeanne called in about a single shipgirl having crossed into my territory; she tripped the sensors. Sapphire has standing orders to act as a shadow unless I give the green light for harassing anyone, that is why the intruder was not immediately sunk. Good to know she adheres to it even in unusual circumstances.

At first I was mighty confused why one lonely shipgirl would come this far out. The survivor of a convoy that got hit elsewhere was my first thought, but a single call to Frostbite told me different; she had no contact with any fleets this week.

Then Sapphire radio'd in with the fact she was tailing a destroyer. Not even a capital ship or some special unit akin to a Demon, but a by all accounts normal destroyer. Although this confused my fleet more, it managed to clear some of my own confusion. I told Sapphire to get me a better description; she is a sneaky girl, so I was not worried for her safety. She can run away faster than anyone else in case someone spots her.

Thing is, she was not. Or if Akatsuki spotted her, she did not attack. Yes, the wayward destroyer came back and set course straight to Haven. I still have no idea what went through her head to do this, but there she was; she came here of all places after somehow surviving not just the raid on Haven, assuming she was involved, but also the battle at Yokohama.

I had Sapphire tail her to make sure she was aiming for Haven; once we could confirm that, I had a decision to make. This time my fleet was home, so I could not really hide it anymore. But at the same time, she was no real threat, not when any single one of my girls could annihilate her. Yet a warship's firepower in the form of a girl could still be troublesome to me personally.

All I knew for certain was that just sinking her felt wrong. Time gave me some distance from losing Hydra, even if it still stings; even if it was Akatsuki's doing or fault, killing her when she can not conceivably harm me still left a bad taste just thinking about. Call it naive, but I am not that sort of bloodthirsty.

Yet it was also true that she posed a risk. I discussed the issue with my girls while we waited, not really surprised that they were all for sinking her. It took a bit to convey my curiousity for why she would come all the way out here on her own; at least pointing it out gave them pause as well. We went and figured out a few safety measures.

I know I considered trying to keep this under wraps as long as I can, but at this point insisting on some silly ideas to keep conversation away from their ears felt even dumber. So I admitted to housing Akatsuki before; suffice it to say, Jeanne was particularly unhappy with me. Ariel frowned a little, but said nothing.

Much to my own surprise, Hannah came through for me. She made a reasonable but also worrisome argument that humans, and by extension shipgirls, can be swayed by good conduct; hence that my being kind to Akatsuki may well allow to flip her alignment or obtain information from her. While I appreciate Hannah's shrewd sense for manipulation, I really had to hold myself back from denying this rationale.

At that point my returning guest was only ten minutes out and I put the plan into motion. The storm dispersed, revealing Haven's still ravaged self with one change: where there were a little hill before, there is now a gleaming citadel; obsidian mainly, threaded with gold and silver. It looms ominously in the storm, but with sunlight it shines like a gem.

I also sent out my trio of Demons to welcome Akatsuki. Sapphire never revealed herself.

What exactly they said to her, I do not know. I asked them to be polite, so Hannah probably acted as their spokesperson there. Whatever was said however, Akatsuki agreed to give up her ammunition as a courtesy, to be returned by the time she leaves. Hannah's fairies searched her rigging for any hidden stockpiles, but found nothing.

Then they brought her into my newly fashioned throne room. Nothing too fancy, just a bigger room with an elevated platform at the end. Now that I could make proper pillows, sitting on a throne was not so bad either.

I honestly have no idea what went through Akatsuki's head when she came in. Alone, without weapons, and flanked by a pair of Demons. The windows around us grew dark when I called back the storm that I only lifted as a courtesy to my guest. She cowered a tiny bit, but somehow found enough courage not to even hesitate. Ariel swerved away to stand by my side while Hannah remained next to her. Looking down on Akatsuki like that made me feel bigger than I was. I am not sure I like the feeling.

Hannah then made a show of taking a knee before me. Our guest did not follow suit, something almost defiant in her features. I could only roll my eyes and told my Demon to get up. Then I got to business asking Akatsuki why she came back here.

"I need to know" is what she answered, voice quiet. "Why did you do it? I know it was your monster. You said you don't want to fight, so why?"

I thought her eyes quivered for a moment there, but she stood tall under my attention. Something about it gave me pause; I knew she was disarmed, but right then Akatsuki still felt like someone dangerous.

All I could give her was the truth, though. "I could ask you the same: why did you pass on word of this place? I meant it when I said I'm happy to live and let live, but I will not roll over if people come to kill me first. That should be obvious."

I wanted to say more, but stopped myself. I am so used to giving reasoned arguments for both sides that it sometimes takes over, but talking to Frostbite gave me some practice only representing my own position. At least my girls kept out of it.

To say Akatsuki was upset would be an understatement.

"I won't say that's wrong, I can't. But so many people died because of you. I thought... I thought you might be different."

I could only arch a brow at her. "I ordered Reaper to destroy Yokohama Naval Base and told her to spare civilian lives where possible. Why do you think so many could escape her? My retaliation went only against the fleet that came for my home."

Akatsuki's mouth was flopping like that of a fish; she was so out of her depth here, I am not even sure how she imagined the conversation to go. That I would start gloating about having tricked her? How did she expect to get out alive if I actually had?

Some prodding revealed at least one thing: Akatsuki herself had no real idea why she came here. Maybe she wanted someone to hate properly instead of being so confused. Maybe she subconciously understands her own admiral was the one who caused the disaster. She did not even hear about the nuke until I told her, at which point she called me a liar again until I showed her the news articles and outright information war currently going on.

At that point she just collapsed into herself; even Jeanne winced a little at the sobbing pile of destroyer on the floor.

I had Ariel carry her into one of the guest rooms and tucked her in with a platter of sweets nearby. A drone is standing guard outside of the door, though its only purpose is to alert one of us if she tries to leave.

We discussed what to make of this afterward. None of the girls really understood Akatsuki's behaviour, though neither did I. It was a dumb thing to come all the way out here when her country needed her. Dumber still to sail into Abyssal territory on her lonesome. Had anyone else spotted her, she would be on the bottom of the sea now. Sapphire and Jeanne still made an argument of whether we should sink her; I overruled them for the same reasons as last time I had Akatsuki here, but it was far easier than I expected.

We also agreed to keep this within the fleet if possible. Frostbite and her girls generally announce themselves before coming over, so it may work. They are busy at the moment anyway, and I see little of them.


Day 217

Little happened today. Akatsuki has a bout of depression and stayed in bed all day. I asked if anyone wanted to keep her company and even got a volunteer, though not the one I expected. Meaning Jeanne. Despite her talking about killing the shipgirl in her sleep, she agreed to stay around. Maybe it was worry that Akatsuki will try something bad if left unsupervised.

Whatever the case, she behaved. In fact, she even got a little bit out of Akatsuki over the day. Turns out her entire division was destroyed during the attack on Yokohama. Same as all her sister ships. She really, really wants to blame me, but can not bring herself to; same as with her admiral. The other thing Jeanne learned is that it was indeed that guy who gave the order to stamp me out after receiving Akatsuki's report. The little destroyer tried to explain how I might be different, but he did not want to take chances.

She was not around for the attack on Haven, but heard word of the return fire the Japanese forces received. From what Jeanne tells me, Akatsuki blames herself for not trying harder to stop it. She also blames herself more than me for Yokohama and the following nuke. That is a lot of blame she puts onto her own shoulders.

I went and talked to her this evening because it took some time to formulate a proper response. I really did not like what I saw, that listless blob of a girl curled up under the covers.

So I asked her straight-up if she is considering seppuku, that is suicide to atone for her sins. She only twitched, but the lack of a denial really says more than anything else.

There was a statement in a game that stayed with me: 'people who say they want to die want to live more than anyone. It is those who stay quiet and silently fade away that seek death'. Or something like that.

I do not like the implications here.

 

[Vlaadd17]

Thank you for the chapter!
It seems si get ambassador for future contacts with humans. With her guilt she will try to make things right , whyle dagon try to ascend abyssals.
Honestly if she can convert one material to another , can she create drones that will go and gather all garbage in the oncian? Like cleaning the polluted areas and dissolving that floating garbage island. She can win some good graces with humanity that way.
Like doing it on vidio and watch Greenpeace fight for abbysal rights.
"Accidentally causing ww3" that means usa and goons declared war on China?

 

[Apathey_Incarnate]

I just found this story today and I absolutely love it. Please make more.

 

[JiggieP]

Tftc.
Heck yeah WWIII babyyyyy
Since the human will be once again busy fighting each other, our mc can focus on gathering resources and fortifying her domain. Yay for war.

 

[xbox432]

Depressed Destroyer Girl makes me sad... Curious to see how this pans out. Because Akatsuki basically went AWOL on top of everything else. I wonder if she'll be a better bridge between the Abyssals and the Humans now that she's seen the consequences of not speaking up when she thinks something is wrong?

Also, the Abyssals was civilized through games? Reeeaaallly leaning into the Eldritch Children angle there. I wonder if anyone else (in the story) will pick up on that?

"Accidentally causing ww3" that means usa and goons declared war on China?

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure in this instance China is the one who declared war on Japan. What with the nuke and all.

 

[Vlaadd17]

I'm pretty sure in this instance China is the one who declared war on Japan. What with the nuke and all.

Click to shrink...

True, but i mean like : here official declaration of war from us and the bois ,see you on battlefield.

Or is it like : i deeply despise you for what you have done but i m too lazy to do something other than give aid/weapons to Japan and express my concern through economic sanctions.
Because i cant really see them committing into that war , it is not bullying Muslims in the desert, it is full out war with roughly equal opponent. Not to mention average american and European wouldn't go die for japan in asia.

Or Chinese gone pull out coup and say it was ordered by guy before , he is dead/executed and we gone pay reporations dont attack us.

And sending shipgirls to do the killing is not the move here , with them tasting human blood and killing in anger and revenge, sounds like fast way to becoming abyssal princess.

 

[Vlaadd17]

How does she gets her resources, besides passive generation, how drones get resources? i mean it was mentioned they eat rocks and give metals within them , but that's it? They limited to only to surface of the bottom and cant mine deep?Or they strip mine areas rich with metals?Surely she can get tech for advanced deep mining instead of spreading out.

 

[Naron]

How does she gets her resources, besides passive generation, how drones get resources? i mean it was mentioned they eat rocks and give metals within them , but that's it? They limited to only to surface of the bottom and cant mine deep?Or they strip mine areas rich with metals?Surely she can get tech for advanced deep mining instead of spreading out.

Click to shrink...

Drones eat or slurp up the stuff, then carry it to the dedicated depot. They can separate different types of resources as they do. And they can also dig deeper by just... munching downward.

 

[Vlaadd17]

Drones eat or slurp up the stuff, then carry it to the dedicated depot. They can separate different types of resources as they do. And they can also dig deeper by just... munching downward.

Click to shrink...

Strip mining it is, but that's means that she out of easy pickings not that her Territory out of resources, the real riches is deeper . Just dont dig to deep like dwarfs and it will ok.

Spreading out may increase income but it will also increase logistics, cargo lady would go further and it would take longer to haul resources to base. Kinda reminds play wide or play tall strategies.
By the way Ionia some sort of underwater cargo ship? How she gets resources from mines? Or it is drones that swim to surface with cargo to her whyle she parked above?

 

[Naron]

By the way Ionia some sort of underwater cargo ship? How she gets resources from mines? Or it is drones that swim to surface with cargo to her whyle she parked above?

Click to shrink...

All Abyssals can go below the surface. Ionia is no exception.

 

[Naron]

Day 218

There is nothing nice about a depressed destroyer, except this alliteration. Akatsuki is still on suicide watch, but at least she did not actually try. I will have to take her outside tomorrow, at least on a little walk or something.

It should be noted I do not and have never suffered from depression. I did research the subject a little for my writing before, though. So while I am no expert, I have a bit of an idea how to interact with this. I can only hope that this is only a passing bout and not something permanent; both of these do in fact exist. Then again, is it even possible for a shipgirl to develop clinical depression?

These are all good questions that I am neither equipped to answer, nor interested in answering. All I care about at the moment is the nearly unresponsive girl taking up one of my guestrooms. The same girl who is supposedly my mortal enemy.

I think it says something that even Sapphire stopped asking me to finish her off.

The one good thing about today is that Reaper entered radio range and contacted us to report her survival. I already knew because the Abyss told me, as much as it can 'tell', but it was good to hear from her either way. The girls brightened up over these news, too.

Going by her report, Reaper will need about a year to fully repair everything. I still neglected repair speed, but even that is unlikely to help much; plus, well, I do not expect much fighting from now on, so making her combat ready as fast as possible is not a priority. There is so much else to do.

She will need another few days to return, our estimate is around three. Which will be an experience, what with Akatsuki here. She may not blame me, but if my guess is even halfway correct and shipgirls can have nightmares, then Reaper will feature prominently in hers.

I need to figure something out before then.


Day 219

She is still perfectly ready to hole up in her room, but I got her to come outside for a bit. I even dispersed the storm so she can have some sunshine. It was still somewhat heartbreaking to watch; Akatsuki has so little energy at the moment, as if something sucked it all out of her. Little more than a wreck was left behind.

We talked very little; I know that it is bad for her to stay inside of her own head so much, but I am not much of a talker. It felt too uncomfortable to turn into a chatterbox when I got no responses at all. At least that helped to not stick my foot in my mouth regarding Reaper.

I also insisted that my guest eat properly; at least that got a proper reaction out of her. It seems Akatsuki did not really register the fact we have food here, much less real meals. If nothing else, she all but devoured the lunch Jeanne cooked for everyone. Then an entire cake Sapphire made. I think that is progress? At least it was more of a food coma than a depressive haze that she ended up in.

I have to say, though: Sapphire and Jeanne turned into a great duo in the kitchen. I ate almost as much as Akatsuki because their daily practice paid off so well. Also because I can; Abyssals do not gain or lose weight from regular food. Well, I guess we technically do, but what is a few kilograms when our displacement is measured in thousands of tons?

Regardless, today saw some progress on the Akatsuki front. Then Hannah figured me out.

I do not know how long she knew by that point. She approached me rather openly once I was on my own, it was so casual I thought it was just another routine report at first. She adjusted well enough to tell me straight-up instead of beating around the bush, too.

"You do not actually wish to eradicate humanity."

It was not even a question. I am not sure what gave me away on that end; Hannah had no idea why she was the first to understand that without me outright saying it, either. At least she was not mad or felt betrayed by it, if a little confused.

I believe I mentioned before that I am a bad liar. I was also raised not to lie, so I had no real inclination to deny anything. I told Hannah she was right and then asked what she thought of it. Thankfully, she just shrugged in response and said she does not mind. "I will have to adjust my own operating parameters, but I will remain in line with your desires, Princess."

She is oddly demure for a Demon; from what the Abyss lets me know, those are generally more individualistic. Hannah breaks the mold, maybe because she is an escort type instead of a capital ship. She has no qualms going along with whatever I say. It may relate to the other thing she told me, though. When I asked if it was really fine with her just to make sure, she said something like this: "While I feel the urge to destroy them, I refuse to let something not myself define me. I follow Princess Dagon's orders because I so wish. And even if we tallied up the importance of these two outside forces, your word weighs far greater."

So yeah. My little destroyer refuses the Abyss itself for me. I felt more than a little touched hearing that and gave her a big hug. It really means a lot more than she probably imagines.

Unfortunately, we both agree that the others would not understand my desires like Hannah does. Ionia and Orion may because they lack the instincts. I will go and talk to each of them soon, one on one. Hannah agreed to try talking to Akatsuki; maybe another destroyer can empathise better.


Day 220

Reaper will be back tomorrow. I am both relieved and worried in equal measure.

We got Akatsuki to eat with us again. Whatever Hannah is saying to her seems to help. Not only that, but I am also learning a few more things about the Abyssal emotional range; all my girls show signs of pity, some even dote on the forlorn destroyer. They are definitely capable of rejecting their instincts when due impulse is given. I imagine part of it is the various experiences I stuffed into their memories, but the rest should still be their being semi-related to humans. The Abyss did not take that out.

Or rather, it just told me, at first it did. The result was something that could not sustain itself on a stunted emotional range. It ostensibly worked, if only in the sense that it went after humans and killed them. It was just not good at strategy or self-improvement. Kind of expected that half a human mindset with some alien bits slapped on would fall short of a full human. We, or rather they, grew to become the dominant species based on this ingenuity after all.

I went and asked about making something completely inhuman, which feels like the next approach. The Abyss can theoretically do that. But, and this is hilarious, it is too lazy to do so. Why reinvent the wheel if it can just copy a working chassis to fill with Abyss stuff? It varies the components from time to time in an emulation of evolution, but has yet to find an improvement beyond fixing the biological stopgaps that humans need to function.

That is one way to find out I am infertile. Then again, I do not really care much; if we are being technical, my girls could count as daughters anyway.

Back to the subject at hand, the general air of hostility toward Akatsuki has completely lifted by now. They have not suddenly become great friends, but they are polite to each other; I can appreciate that. Our guest talked a lot with Hannah today, though Jeanne joined in on occasion.


Day 221

Reaper returned as predicted. I directed her to a little cove beneath the waves to stay hidden from Akatsuki. She did not like the prospect of an enemy being in our base, but I somehow got through to her. The girls each went to welcome her back on their own time.

Akatsuki's recovery continues apace as well. I may be a bit too hopeful there, but she might just bounce back entirely with some more peace and calm.

Thing is, none of us has much of an idea what to do with her afterward. Not even Akatsuki herself. She already admitted she had no real plan when she came out here, that she honestly expected to die along the way or by my hand. That was my reminder she is a Japanese warship and holds traditional Japanese values. Honour is big for her; she not only failed to protect her 'liege', but also failed her mission and lost her sisters.

The fact she is recovering at such a rate is a small miracle in itself. I am not sure if I can attribute it to her nature as a shipgirl, or if this says more about Akatsuki as a person. Either way, I hope she recovers fully.

We talked a little and I let her wander around in the sun for a bit; it is a nice change of pace if nothing else, having the constant storm gone from time to time. She mostly spoke with my fleet, though.

I went to have a little meeting with Frostbite as well; the first teleporters are fully constructed and forward bases took up steam. Her drones excavate and more resources stream back into her stockpiles. Orion reports nothing out of the orinary, though no contact was established with other Abyssals just yet. It is a first step toward naval supremacy that we may desperately need in the future.


Day 223

I am no longer sure about Akatsuki's recovery. Not because she had a relapse, but because she got weirdly introspective since yesterday evening. Maybe it was something one of the girls said to her; from how it sounded when she explained, they talked about the events leading up to Reaper's creation.

Then she came to talk to me less than an hour ago. Specifically, to ask about an alliance against the Chinese.

Her words are still floating through my head.

"I acknowledge that you are not the one to be blamed for what befell Japan. It was more my own failure to convince the admiral than your rightful retribution. But what is unforgivable is the events that followed, the nuke deployed on my home by a foreign force. If you are willing, I wish to ask your help in punishing them for their actions."

At least writing this down helps getting it out of my head. Suffice it to say, I do not like where this is going.

From what Akatsuki explained afterward, she mulled over her next steps. There is precious little she can do for Japan, being just one ship. Yamato was sunk at Yokohama, the closest to a symbol for the nation now gone. Japan does not have the resources to summon her again, what with most of Tokyo having turned into a crater. At the same time, Akatsuki can not just turn her back on her home; she already declined not one but two offers to join my fleet. Neither of them was given by me, for the record.

By her logic, which I can follow, all that remains is revenge.

I like to think I am not a vengeful person myself, even if Reaper's existence would say otherwise. I am definitely a spiteful person, though. I understand where Akatsuki is coming from; some of my favourite stories feature vegeance in one form or another. But I also know where that kind of thinking can lead.

That is why I tried to talk it through with Akatsuki; I reminded her that violence is a cycle. She may get her satisfaction and hurt the Chinese, but then those she hurt will hit back and maybe kick the already downed Japanese further into despair. But at the same time I understand that letting go of these feelings is no easy feat, either. It is not an easy position to be in.

Akatsuki was thankfully calm during our conversation. She let me say my piece and offered her own thoughts on the matter. She even agreed on the nature of violence, yet refused to back down. According to her, her people are already doomed; the Chinese can do precious little to make that worse. But the international outcry and sanctions are nowhere near enough of a punishment for her liking; she wants to see China bleed.

I guess that is fair enough. I am more detached from the situation than she is.

We also talked about my involvement in such a retaliatory strike. I have a small fleet and no intentions to make it bigger. I specifically plan to stay out of this and let the humans figure themselves out; one point Akatsuki had to agree with is that an Abyssal invasion would lead to humanity closing ranks. It may allow China to sweep this under the rug while everyone is distracted fighting an outside threat.

This was also the one and only time I actually had to refuse an answer; Akatsuki asked me why I keep only a small fleet. I almost slipped up there before remembering that she will carry this knowledge back with her. So I told her that is classified; she can not know unless she actually joins my fleet.

We did not reach any consensus tonight, but it was still a productive discussion. I have to include the others in it tomorrow, at least for brainstorming.

In regard to tech, I am making good progress on improved teleport range. The few small upgrades I can fit in at the sides are not particularly relevant; general good stuff like a bit of fuel efficiency or improved weather control for my Demons and me.


Day 229

We spent most of the week talking things over and slacking off, really. The world slowly calms from events in Japan, but humanity is still focussed on their own; that means I have time to just do whatever and see what happens.

Unfortunately, Akatsuki caught wind of the fact I have access to the Internet. She finally remembered how I originally proved the nuke incident to her. What is more, either she did not realise the implications of an Abyssal being connected to human knowledge and news, or she did not mention them. Maybe she actually does trust me? Or she was too distracted absorbing every scrap of information she could get about Japan's state.

There was a bit of a relapse, but she kept bouncing back afterward. From what Hannah reported, Abyssal attacks are down to a record low; the Abyss confirms that, having spread my sense of waiting and seeing everywhere. Let humanity fight themselves for now. I am not entirely sure how to feel about that, but I guess I should not complain.

I just had to take a break because Ariel came in with news. Turns out the US launched a surprise attack on China. They had to, I am pretty sure; not a political expert, but I think not acting after one of their nominal allies got a nuclear warhead dropped on them would have been disastrous for public perception.


Day 230

Welp. There we have it. World War III. More and more countries are getting involved.

Now the question is how many nukes we will see. Akatsuki was pretty pale when we discussed the matter as a group, she may have been wondering the same. At least she gets her wish that China is punished.

She took me aside after breakfast, though. Asked if I have anything that could help with the radiation, or with protecting from nuclear warfare. I did not, though some dabbling in fission research for Reaper's reactor gave me an idea of what techs there are. I told her I will give it some thought.

The girls are doing fine otherwise; they are less excited about the prospect of war than I expected, though. I am unsure if this is their opinions changing, or just the fact they are not involved. At least the Abyss is pleased, though recent events are more people being stupid than me having done anything.

I had Orion here as well today. She took a mandated break; read, mandated by me. A workaholic she may be, but I will not allow her to just keep on working if I can prevent it. At this point I do not even need to have another ship drag her away from work; she acknowledged herself that taking breaks is conductive to better results. Progress.

Honestly, everyone was home today. I spent a little while walking with Ionia and played a game with Ariel and Jeanne. Then Sapphire took me aside to help bake another cake for everyone. She really grew to love the kitchen, the oven in particular.

It was nice. I need to recharge my own social battery now, but spending time with everyone like this more than makes up for it. We had fun together. Even Akatsuki managed to forget about the war for a bit.

I will need to speak with Frostbite, too. She has not heard the news yet and should adjust her paradigm accordingly. If nothing else, we should have an easier time securing the sea as long as we avoid the Americans crossing over.

This will take a lot more time to think through properly. For now I need sleep.

 

[Faber_The_Builder]

Welp. There we have it. World War III.

Click to shrink...

Shit got very real. Wonder how far it'll go. Without easy Naval access both sides are kinda gimped on mobility and neither can actually fully commit, that'd be suicide due to Abyssal raids + I wonder what the US Kanmusu force will do. They are just like Abyssals, conventional weapons are pretty ineffectual and the US has a lot…it's just they'll be fighting humans and their own…Jesus, the PTSD this will generate will be insane.

 

[SneakyScoundrel02]

WWIII happening! Truly this timeline is blessed by Atom Himself.
Mad Max Bote DLC soon!

 

[RedDot]

bruh Fallout 5 boat edition coming soon.