Abyssal Stays Home [KC SI]

[Naron]

Damn, you just have to go and kill the doggy didn't ya?

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Yup. Hydra gave before Ariel did, in part because she 'only' had intelligence on par with a reasonably smart dog. Ariel stayed at a chokepoint where she could make up for being outnumbered.

 

[BerialAstral]

Once I have those lizards, I will make Godzilla.

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GOJIRA!!!

Godzilla roar *VERY LOUD*

www.youtube.com

 

[xbox432]

Well, after this I don't think the MC will be as forgiving to lost Kanmusu. She sure as hell won't be letting them wander off with valuable intel. Sad thing about war, it doesn't matter if you don't want to fight as long as the other guy does.

Though it does make me wonder... Did the Kanmusu come with the intention of parlay, but while also carrying a big stick. Then Hydra, being themself, immediately started firing? Or was this an execution order from the beginning?

 

[DyrantCore]

No Monopoly, though. We do not need an Abyssal civil war.

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To me, this is the thing that drives home just how hard the Abyss mind-whammied the MC

You can either using Abyssal Eldritch property or use disposable aluminum wire with steel tip to direct said stored lighting down on surface target.

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Look up electrolasers, we've had the tech since the 80's (the SDI program was nuts), the problem has always been power generation, but if you just happen to have a very convenient storm available to provide power nearly on-demand and a half decent high-discharge power storage solution (like those used in the Manhattan Project for their uranium refinement magnetrons) it's potentially devastating, even the targeting laser would flast-fry a human.

 

[Vlaadd17]

Well, after this I don't think the MC will be as forgiving to lost Kanmusu. She sure as hell won't be letting them wander off with valuable intel. Sad thing about war, it doesn't matter if you don't want to fight as long as the other guy does.

Though it does make me wonder... Did the Kanmusu come with the intention of parlay, but while also carrying a big stick. Then Hydra, being themself, immediately started firing? Or was this an execution order from the beginning?

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Probably they come to kill her , if they come to parley as diplomats,they would live as fast as they could when things go bad , but they chose to finish her , and storm her base-bunker ,thinking she is down there. Not to mention they destroyed drones and was ready to shoot unarmed civilian abyssals (war crimes, just saying)

 

[Lovhes]

Now is the time for tripling down on sneaky shit, no?

 

[Morkail]

She's planing to turn her base in to a massive fortress and supply the princesses around her with resources so they come to her defense. Considering what the rest of humanity has that will probably work well.

 

[Naron]

Day 119

Is this an efficient use of resources? No.

Is it a good idea? Probably also no.

Will it send a message? Absolutely.

It has been two days since the attack; I have trouble putting into words just how Hydra's absence feels, but it is definitely felt. My girls seem to feel similar; Jeanne and Sapphire were more subdued, spending quite a bit of time with Ariel and Orion in the baths. Mostly to keep them company, at least until Ariel asked them to give her some space.

Outside of that, I set up Orion's ascension to Demon yesterday. I sold Frostbite as much tech as she can afford to fund my next big project, so I had enough resources to spare. The shipgirl wrecks were broken down and converted into an additional influx of materials.

The new stasis fields work decently well, too; Frostbite got a few samples to make sure she can catch the lizards I want and keep them fresh. I also tested them on Sapphire with her permission, but anything with a heavier metaphysical weight than some tiny animal is able to resist. So no flash-freezing any attackers, at least not on this level of the technology; maybe one of the expensive upgrades will allow that, but I have other priorities right now.

In addition to the other preparations, I had my drones dig a deeper spawn pool beneath the sea. The ones I use for my shipgirls are a few metres in diameter, this one is more like fifty metres.

I also spent time with my girls; having only three of them present gave me a bit of an idea. So myself, Jeanne, and Sapphire spent a decent amount of time in the kitchen. My synthetic food continues to improve, so we looked up a few recipes and went to work. Jeanne was in charge of the cooking, Sapphire took care of the desert, and I helped each of them where they needed me. That includes cleaning up and measuring ingredients so they could do the fun parts. I do not mind the busywork, and I like my kitchen clean.

Then we surprised Ariel with a meal fit for a queen. A battleship she may be, but she earned it after going above and beyond to protect Haven. I also started to look into waterproofing a computer somehow, so that she can go online from the bath.

Even still, there was this air of trepidation around us.


Day 120

Today was the day Ionia finished her metamorphosis. I am not sure I should use that word again because it reminded me of reading Kafka in school. Then again, I did not hate the book. Ionia is prettier than any sort of insect, too.

We welcomed her back together, Jeanne even propped up Ariel and led her over. They were just in time for an even chubbier Ionia to break through the churning darkness.

"Container Ship Demon, at your command," is what she greeted me with. Her smile was genuine, although it did not last beyond spotting Ariel. "Did something happen while I was out?"

I guess we were waiting for these words, or at least something like them. Sapphire got teary-eyed and I had trouble actually saying it; Jeanne was the one to fill Ionia in, still steadying Ariel. She probably blew her twin's not-quite last stand out of proportion, but I maintain that she deserves all the praise we heap on her. Ionia seemed to agree, considering that she thanked her as well. Word of Hydra's death did not affect her as much as the rest of us, excepting maybe Orion. Or she just kept it to herself.

After that, it was my turn to explain our next steps; come to think of it, that may have been the first time I actually spelled out the plan. Only Frostbite heard some of the broad strokes.

Suffice it to say, the girls seemed happy that we are hitting back. They were also confused about my unorthodox method to do so.

"This is not about destroying them," was how I explained it to them there. "This is about sending a message what happens if they mess with me. I have no idea how well it will work, but if the rest of the Abyss couldn't roll over them with superior firepower, we may as well try something new."

Honestly, it was a much better reasoning than I thought at the time. It is true, too; the Abyssals are still losing ground across the globe. The main stalemate stems from one side being landbound while the other is at home in the deep sea. If there was not this violent conflict going on, we might even be able to coexist well enough. Abyssals live where humans can not, humans live where Abyssals do not want to dwell.

Alas, we are at war and at least one side will not stop until the other is dead.

Funny how now should be the moment I realise I could try for forcing coexistence; unify the Abyssals under my banner and see about ending the war peacefully. Maybe I even have a shot, considering the Abyss itself is in my corner. Mind, it does not like the concept of peace with humanity at all. I like it more than war, but going out and finding all the Abyssal nests feels like too much work. I rather stay here and take care of my own business.

Not to mention I already tried being nice. Now Hydra is dead and Ariel out of commission for almost three months. Frostbite lost a pair of escorts in the defense of Haven, too.

So I sent Ionia out to get back to work; she is still bringing back resources from the various autonomous bases Orion set up. This week-long pause made the stuff pile up there. Sapphire escorts her everywhere, forcing a miniature storm to obscure their movements whenever they leave my zone of influence.

Speaking of, I need to invest into upgrading weather control. Keeping Haven and the surrounding waters obscured is a boon, but it could be bigger.


Day 125

The last few days were calm despite my constant storms. Orion returned as a Drone Commander Demon, good as new if not even better. She grew taller just like Sapphire, yet stayed as stocky as before. That should mean she has even more muscle packed away in her body.

The first thing she did upon emerging was to take back control of the drones; I had them clean up the upper layer of our home and started on building a citadel to get a new roof. And I will bling it out even more, just out of spite. Every lightning strike will have its shine refracted by ten thousand specks of gold, silver and various crystals. Spikes of obsidian will reach into the sky.

What is more, I steadily converted some of my unused materials into Uranium and other radioactive things. There was already a decent stockpile, but now I have a lot of it. I also went into researching biological weapons; that is, natural weapons. Not viruses. My labs focus on breath attacks, for hopefully obvious reasons.

Frostbite sent in a number of caught lizards as well, some of them alive. I am waiting for a second load that should come in tomorrow, then we will begin Operation Kingmaker. I felt something of such gravitas should have a proper name; this one is fitting enough, quite literal, and does not actually give away its purpose unless one already knows.

Business mostly returned to normal by now. It still hurts to think of Hydra, especially with her body yet remaining in stasis. I decided to make her remains the base of this new chimera as a final tribute.


Day 126

Orion approached me today. It was a bit of a surprise when she asked me to mount guns on her and her drones. Being caught off-guard like she did apparently annoyed her, or so she said. Now she wants to have an emergency measure to protect herself, she even went to draw up blueprints herself in one of the external labs.

Outside of that, well, Kingmaker is go. I placed first Hydra's body into the large spawn pool, then dumped several tons of uranium, a large number of dead and living-but-drowned lizards, and ungodly amounts of steel on top. This was followed by tungsten, once again out of spite. Even just a single ton of that stuff was brutally expensive to produce, but I gladly do it for the miniscule chance that my new creation's scales will be similarly durable.

Frostbite is still skeptical, especially because I am now more or less broke. So is she, though. She did not have to buy so much tech to deplete all her stockpiles, but did it anyway. Her support was invaluable to get this done. I also have some of her girls dropping by every once in a while. Some come to play games, others just want to poke the gestating king or throw more lizards into the pool.

On that note, there is a complementary creation growing as I write this. Well, not to the nascent king, but to my ships. The other reason I am pretty much broke is the Destroyer Demon currently gestating. I set her up right after finishing with the king. Throwing a kaiju at idiots is one thing, but Sapphire is not a dedicated escort. Ionia needs protection, as do Jeanne and Ariel in the field. Perhaps I should have made more than one, but I ran out of resources.

That aside, I also feel that I do not want to make too many ships. Upkeep aside, I want to know them, and I want them to know me; there will be too little time to interact with everyone if I make them in bulk. Maybe my stance will change later, but right now I do not want to risk becoming callous with the lives I create. I will not even consider sacrificing them as long as I know them well.

I just hope this new Demon will get along with the others.


Day 130

All is going as I hoped. Well, almost all; the king needs a while to gestate, which I probably should have expected. If that particular song is to be believed, Bismarck displaces around 50,000 tons of steel. I dumped many times that into my pet project.

Food for thought: ships are always treated as female due to superstition. Abyssals are also all female, physically. No, the body dysmorphia has not faded. I just got better at ignoring it. But I digress; if Kingmaker follows Abyssal conventions, would I get not a king but a queen?

I may be too bored if that is what goes through my mind at times like these. My Destroyer Demon will arrive in three days' time, far before whatever monster comes out of the other pool.


Day 133

She is here and I named her Hannah. No particular reason, the name just came to mind.

As became the habit recently, everyone stopped by to welcome her to our fleet. She came out with a little smile, slim and with squishy cheeks. It is a little odd how she looks the softest out of all my combat ships, but I guess someone had to take that honour off of Ariel.

Either way, there is little else of note happening. Hannah is more on the soft-spoken side, but seems to like being around one of the capital ships the most. Meaning myself, Ariel, or Jeanne. She kept our battleship company in the baths for a while, then appointed herself assistant to whatever we were doing. It was kind of cute how attentively she watched us.


Day 136

Hannah continues to be a sweetheart. She started carrying food and small amounts of sweets to Frostbite's base, to share with the girls there. She is also big on cuddles and goes for them whenever she can.

That makes my first physically affectionate ship. The others give or take a headpat or a hug on occasion, but Hannah is different. She does not like sleeping alone and rotates around to wherever someone else is, nestling into them. Tonight I have her here with me while writing this. It takes some getting used to.

Frostbite tells me this is more or less normal for destroyers, just like their penchant to being around capital ships. Hannah spends less time with Sapphire, though the two of them do not seem to hate each other or anything.

Despite that different behaviour, Hannah is a professional in the field. I sent her out escorting Ionia twice so far, but her conduct was exemplary. Ionia notes she feels perfectly safe with Hannah around. Good thing too, now Sapphire can go back to patrolling my territory.


Day 138

We had another raid today, but it went far different than the first. I was around to notice the scanners pinging me, for one. Sapphire also spotted the fleet coming our way half an hour out to sea. More than enough time to alert Frostbite and bring her entire fleet into my harbour. We welcomed them with overwhelming firepower while Jeanne and my storm won the battle for air superiority. The few bombers that made it through her fighter screen were shot down by Hannah and the other escort Demons.

They turned tail and fled the moment I had Sapphire backstab them again. And I let them go without further harassment; perhaps I am hoping in vain that they will eventually understand I only defend my home from attack.

Either way, our superior force sunk a few of their ships. Frostbite and I split them evenly between us for resources. They never spotted the spawn pool beneath their feet.

Now I just need to figure out what to do if they send more ships. This fleet was smaller than the last one. What if they join forces with the Americans? The Abyss does not have stationary gun emplacements, so all I can do is hope Frostbite's forces are enough of a deterrent. They do not know we can teleport between our bases, which is an effective trump card. It will be less effective if they get the idea to lay siege to both of us simultaneously.


Day 142

Nothing new on the front, at least not really. I talked a bit with Hannah, which taught me something curious. When I asked her why she keeps mingling with Frostbite's fleet, she told me this: "They're our allies by your will, Princess. So I want to get along with them. Not to mention that it is harder to betray someone you like."

My cute Destroyer Demon may be more devious than I gave her credit for.

Tabling that thought, I also decided that if I am already at war with humanity, I may as well pirate some movies. Not like I have money to buy them. I guess I could make some, but counterfeiting is a worse offense than piracy. I am also a being of the sea, so a pirate fits better; not to mention that merely existing is probably a greater crime under human law than either of the others. For an Abyssal, I mean.

Long story short, I watched some Godzilla movies with my fleet. We set up a little cinema room, except I can control the volume; all the upsides, none of the downsides like noisy randos or hurting ears. I also got across what I am hoping to spawn much better with this; some of the 'newest' movies do not exist, maybe not yet, but the franchise is older than the first Abyssals.

This had an unintentional side effect as well: I created a lot more interest in human commodities and pop culture. Especially Jeanne and Hannah were intrigued by the concept and wanted to watch more. So I got them into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Another joy of being in this alternate timeline is that only six Star Wars movies exist. And that we are unlikely to ever see more.

Science Fiction seems to garner a lot of interest, too. I heard quiet discussion whether Abyssals could go to space; they asked me as well, but I could only shrug. A number of high-end techs are still hidden from me on the tech tree. Not that it stopped the discussion. Even Ariel joined in from the little bath container I installed for her; I thought she might like watching remote more, but this seems easier on her social battery.

I am not only filling their heads with information here, but I also make them accept that not all human things are bad. Which reminds me that seeing humans on the screen does not trigger the aggression like seeing them in person does. Silver linings and all that.

Maybe I should feel a little concerned that they cheered every time Darth Vader and the Nazgul came on screen, though.

Either way, I have a rabbit hole to drag my fleet into.


Day 169

Nothing of real note happened recently, but the funny number is back.

Kingmaker still bubbles along merrily and there were no further attacks. I spent the last few weeks putting on movie after movie, then switching to anime as well for visual media. Then I went back to books for the girls who would rather read.

Somehow, word spread to Frostbite as well; she was less enthused by the reruns for her fleet, but saying she was not interested at all would be a lie. Her girls loved the spectacle as much as mine did.

At least none of them called me out for trying to make something that exists in human media. Maybe it never occurred to them, or they were too distracted by the new experience.

Come to think of it, there was that one conversation I had with Ionia; her being the only one beside me who knew Akatsuki was here, she asked me if sparing the girl was worth it. I did not like how I had no good answer to that. It was not worth it, but I would probably do the exact same thing again. I just do not have it in me to be cruel when the person is in front of me. Hence Godzilla.

Now here is to hoping the king will hatch soon.


Day 180

Long live the king!

Today was hectic, I will get to the details in tomorrow's entry.

 

[JiggieP]

Tftc
Devious Destroyer Brat that like to snuggle, cute.

Day 180

Long live the king!

Today was hectic, I will get to the details in tomorrow's entry

Click to shrink...

AHHHHHHHHHH. Not a bloody cliffhanger. I wanna see the King(?)(Queen?)

My imagination:
Instead of a ship, the Abyss might pop out something like an upgrade so Dagon can evolve into a Queen(King?), and it's gonna have like a sad name like Hydra's Love / Last Wish or something that will stab at our heart. Like Hydra's Last Wish to always be by her princess side to protect her.

 

[Lovhes]

Inb4 it's not Godzilla shaped, it's ghidorah shaped, especially on the multiple head part.

Also, that's a mean place to put a cliffhanger XD

 

[Slynch]

Hoh, so you still not design a hover carrier like the Galsien from Desert of Kharak eh? The only weakness of that class is it can't repair allies, but can manufacturing other class of vessel and can deliver serious punch out with the "cruise missiles" (it's more like guided MOAB, and not a nuke) and in exchange, all terrain capability and self-repair if taking damage until full HP. It's a hover carrier, the best of both. No fear of torpedoes or sea mine when you can just glide dozens feets above sea water.

Foid for thought, just in case you need Eldritch engineering inspiration.

 

[Vlaadd17]

I think if she sends Godzilla straight to japan it will gather all abyssal on the way ,like not only the thing will huge concentration of spooky abyssal magic, it will absolutely massive, all princesses would show up and try to tame it , and when fail just follow him(her?) to battle (just out of morbid curiosity lol). Sure thing americans and japs will call back all forces to face him , what will bring more attention. She should expect visitors who will survive the attack and spread the word among abyssals.

 

[FreeCityMagnate]

Akatsuki was here, she asked me if sparing the girl was worth it.

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How was it not worth it?
Didn't they sink several ship girls for a low but not negligible cost?

 

[Naron]

How was it not worth it?
Didn't they sink several ship girls for a low but not negligible cost?

Click to shrink...

I feel it was fairly clear that Ionia did not mean the cost-benefit analysis of resources gained versus lost there.

 

[Lovhes]

How was it not worth it?
Didn't they sink several ship girls for a low but not negligible cost?

Click to shrink...

All of Dagon's girls, especially Dagon herself, value each others life and wellbeing much more than sinking the enemy.

Even if they sunk all of the invading ships and ship girls, it would still be a question for them if it's worth losing one of their own. Especially considering that now they'll be in the cross hair of the ship girls.

 

[FreeCityMagnate]

I feel it was fairly clear that Ionia did not mean the cost-benefit analysis of resources gained versus lost there.

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The more ship girls they sink today, the less they must face tomorrow.

It is war, so taking losses is expected, even inevitable. Whether it is worth it or not is an objective matter of how many of your comrades lives will be saved in sequential engagements by damaging the enemies capacity to mount effective offensives.
The implication that it wasn't worth it is disrespectful and a shortsighted attitude that disparages her subordinates sacrifice and the disregards the lives of the rest of the fleet.

Softhearted and soft-brained thoughts suited for peace time are of no benefit in war time and are unsuited for an officer's mentality.
By the time her 10th subordinate dies she would become numbed to the grinding attrition of war and suffer a realization of her folly.
The thoughts she's espousing are essentially just uselessly sapping her own wits and morale.
Rather she should be grateful that they had time to bury the dead.

(If you disagree, come at me with valor. )

 

[Vlaadd17]

The more ship girls they sink today, the less they must face tomorrow.

It is war, so taking losses is expected, even inevitable. Whether it is worth it or not is an objective matter of how many of your comrades lives will be saved in sequential engagements by damaging the enemies capacity to mount effective offensives.
The implication that it wasn't worth it is disrespectful and a shortsighted attitude that disparages her subordinates sacrifice and the disregards the lives of the rest of the fleet.

Softhearted and soft-brained thoughts suited for peace time are of no benefit in war time and are unsuited for an officer's mentality.
By the time her 10th subordinate dies she would become numbed to the grinding attrition of war and suffer a realization of her folly.
The thoughts she's espousing are essentially just uselessly sapping her own wits and morale.
Rather she should be grateful that they had time to bury the dead.

(If you disagree, come at me with valor. )

Click to shrink...

It is not about killing more of them , it is about we had our little island base they didn't know of ,but after an act of kindness they know we are here and they are coming to kill us.

She pointed out that idialy she spread out tech while humanity didn't know about her existance. Now they will have to fight kill and die , when they could play waiting game if she executed that shipgirl