Lord K
A.N./ FINALLY got the last part done.
----------------------
QueenOfTheNorth: forums.shipgirlsonline.com/threads/star-crossed-under-the-starshell-snippet-collection.630637/
LinkBot: [QueenOfTheNorth Has Posted A
Link to the Chat]
QueenOfTheNorth: Latest chapter is now up everyone!
Outrageous-ly Fun: : D
Prancing Dragon: (
｡◕‿‿◕｡)
Pagoda Simulator: Wait, what's this about?
Mutslug: Some people took the joke about Tillman Demon being Naka's secret love child with Puget Demon and ran with it.
TheOtherEnterprise: Now there's a legit thread on SGO with fanfiction for a re-imagined and fleshed out Tillman Demon, who is the result of a one night stand between Naka and a Princess, set twenty-minutes into the future, trying to find her famous "other mama" so she can get her parents back together.
TheOtherEnterprise: Basically "The Parent Trap", but with a hilariously OP Demon who terrifies everyone, but is actually hilariously moe, wants to be a rock star, and apparently rolled the power "Disney Musical Number Plot Progression" at character creation.
FailureToLaunchDysfunction: Hahaha, lolwut?
Winter(S)oldat(-83): It's every bit as amazing as it sounds
SalemTheTeenageSeaWitch: KEK
CarrierOfTheEndCentury: Okay, this I have to see
Yorkten: Trust me, you need to. Dat latest chapter ⚙̥ꇴ⚙̥
NotSkitter: No real-person crack-fic has the right to be that WAFF-filled, hilarious and heartwarming at the same time
OG Smoke Cancer: Praise where praise is due, Tirpitz is one one of the main writers.
The Fleets Idol: Really?
QueenOfTheNorth: Yeah, you like?
QueenOfTheNorth: Sorry if I caused any trouble with the tabloids though, didn't realize people would copy it off SGO and spread it elsewhere/confuse the piece in the opening chapter as a legit news article
QueenOfTheNorth: No hard feelings?
[QueenOfTheNorth] Is Temp-Banned From Talking In [Naka Streams: CK2 MP Mod Special - Abyssal Princesses 2] By Moderator [The Fleets Idol]
HighImpactNightBattleViolence: That's a bit harsh don't you think?
Vollhorst: MY SIDES
Arky Welcomes You To T4: LOL
Arky Welcomes You To T4: F
KTKM-SAMA: F
U-Are Being Monitored: F
HMASter Blaster: F
Nightmare of Solomon: F
Brokinawa: F
ScrewedOverbyWoWs: F
Rodnol: F
The Blue Beauty: Aw, don't be like that. I bet you haven't even read it. It's actually really good!
xX-BushidoSamurai-Xx: Maybe she's trying to cover up that she actually does have an illicit Abyssal love-child daughter? /s
Dunkek: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
[xX-BushidoSamurai-Xx] Is Temp-Banned From Talking In [Naka Streams: CK2 MP Mod Special - Abyssal Princesses 2] By Moderator [The Fleets Idol]
----------------------
"Hi hi everyone! Hello and welcome back to our Crusader Kings 2 mod, multiplayer special!"
"Picking up where we last left off, I am currently pursing a certain end game tech-oriented build, so I am mostly focused trying to improve my learning, and thus my monthly technology points gain, along with a small amount of dabbling in eugenics and Hapsburg-ian dynastic integration on the side. Basically this means I'm shaking down my neighbors for resources and knowledge to fuel my Research and Society Special Events, while occasionally plowing everyone else's wives, sisters, nieces and daughters when they aren't looking."
----------------------
"I am currently in, like, four- no,
five different wars right now. I just can't help myself. I keep on saying I'll stop, but it just keeps escalating every time I beat on someone, and they go running or crying to some bigger fish to help."
"You know, you could just
not try to Full-Annex everyone who fights you?"
"But if I've already taken all their territory and resources...."
"We don't really have Over-Extention or a Demense Limit in this mod, thank god, but you must have
so much Aggressive Expansion right now."
"I kicked their asses, their shit is mine by right."
"And you wonder why you're fighting three different Coalitions right now."
"And wining."
"Then stop complaining about it!"
"But I want to change my damn Succession Laws!"
"Then stop fighting everyone!"
----------------------
"I am currently stuck in a stalemate with Puget Princess, who is also still fighting off the USN."
"Also, I may or may not be almost broke again..... Dakota?"
"GOD DAMNIT IOWA!!!"
----------------------
"Now in this grave hour, the Inquisitors of Gangutgrad face a most dire task! Dreaded western subversive elements now walk among the Free peoples of this glorious soviet nation!"
"Didn't WolfMail technically start out and, thus spawn 'The Cult of the Dark One', to the
east of you?"
"Political dissidents and enemies of the people now threaten the peace and stability of our great communist country!"
"
What peace and stability? You're legitimately at -2 Stability right now, and constantly imprisoning people to avoid uprisings and plots by all the people unhappy about all the imprisoning you were doing in the first place!"
"But this grand pillar of the commune and the proletariat, our Free Peoples Democratic Republic of Gangutgrad shall not falter!"
"Oh hey, five lies for the price of one!"
"We shall carve this Cult and it's members out like the cancer it is, and exorcise this bourgeois influence once and for all!"
"Yeah, we'll see about that."
----------------------
"So Yuubari, what are you up to?"
"I would like to get my Fleet back. Or at least become a Princess or Demon again."
"I'd also like to think that by this point, my character wants to find a nice clean shower to sit down in, and hold herself while rocking back and forth and gazing off into the distance with a thousand yard stare."
"Oh come on, we haven't done anything
that completely pointlessly heinous yet."
"You are
eating people for incremental Trait and stat boosts, and forcing me to help you!"
----------------------
"And I'll need to Alex Mercer-lite quite a few more before we can seriously consider going back to the Pacific."
"That's not the only horrible thing you've done! You knocked up your own daughter's wife!"
"Tragically my daughter is both Mad and an Imbecile, and I will not allow her to risk the RNG of passing those Traits on to any of our Dynasty's progeny."
"And then you imprisoned her wife anyway!"
"She was plotting against me, and thus a traitor."
"Because you imprisoned and ate her mother!"
"But that those
Stats! I could have passed those on to our kids."
"And yet you ate her anyway!"
"My daughter created a Faction to free her wife, and I could not risk a problematic and rogue loose end with such high Intrigue being allowed to go free."
"She was still pregnant!"
"Which was a mistake on my part, I'll admit. If I'd waited a little longer, then I could have had
two prisoners to eat."
----------------------
The only member of the group who is an actual Abyssal in real life, beams brightly for the stream.
"Hoppou is giving them all enough rope to do it themselves right now."
----------------------
"Hey SoDak?"
"It better not be more Resources you're about to ask for."
"No! Thank god, I don't need anymore right now, but..... now that I think about it, doesn't it strike you as odd that Naka was willing to Ally with WolfMail at first, only to turn on him as quickly as she did, that early in the game, as soon as we offered her some of his turf?"
"Not really?"
"You don't think so?"
"I've been following along the chat and the other view points for the stream in another window. The guy is either the legit descendant of some sort fucked up magical dynastic warlord IRL, or he knows the ins and outs of this mod like the back of his hand. Nothing phases this guy for very long. You should see all the events he just keeps on managing to trigger. Naka probably realized she needed him weakened and lagging behind as quickly as possible."
"That's a bit harsh."
"This is CK2."
"True."
"The worst thing isn't what the game or other players do to you, but what you can do to yourself when you're on the backfoot."
Iowa pauses quietly at that thought, letting Dakota's sentence hang in the air for a suspiciously awkward long moment.
"Iowa. What did you
do?"
The larger battleship chuckles with uncertain helplessness.
"Uh.... yeah, about that.... I may have just face planted Central Princess into one of Puget's doom-stacks in a desperate all or nothing move to drive her latest offensive off, but now I
kind of don'thavetheresourcestofixher."
"GOD DAMNIT IOWA!!!"
----------------------
Colonia was an interesting little Province.
While basically the middle of nowhere in the western Pacific, and limited in raw Resources or base Development, there was still a mildly decent amount of room for some buildings if one wished to to turn it into a minor Forward Operating Base or an outpost for resupplying Fleets. Geographically, it also sat at something of a crossroads.
To the east was the rest of the atolls that made of the Caroline Islands. To the west was the Philippines. To the north was the chain of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. And to the the larger island of Palau, offering a further jumping off point that could be used to reach the island groups of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
It was for this latter reason, that Kogamaru had first intimidated the island's original conquerors into becoming one of his many Vassal Fleets. To him, Colonia had been just another stepping stone towards building a network of Vassals, Alliances, and eventually defensive pacts that could have protected him from his more aggressive neighbors.
But then, hopes for a strategy of peace, reason and fairness were dashed by an opportunistic invasion from three different directions. An invasion that then saw the great swathes of territory placed under banner, divided up between the three conqerors.
Colonia in particular, went to Naka. And Naka had a much different interest in Colonia than its mildly strategic positioning. In one small, inconsequential Sea Zone, just to the northwest of Colonia, in a patch of random ocean in the middle of nowhere, with no obvious claim to fame or resources of note, Naka had an entire Fleet of Submarines.
Back and forth they scoured the area, currently set to Hunt for Treasure. Normally the way this function worked, one would occasionally turn up either raw Resources or Artifacts from sunken vessels. Sometimes though, there was even a chance to find actual sunken treasure, which could also be sold on, or kept for a nice Prestige and Legitimacy boost on occasion. Rarest of all though, was the chance to occasionally find a sunken wreck, that could then be summoned as a Demon or a Princess.
And now, after well over twenty minutes of repeatedly turning up nothing, and losing against the hefty demoddifiers and RNG for searching in such deep waters, Naka had found what she was looking for.
"Mwuhahahaha!!!! At last I have it!!!"
Naka cackles like a supervillian who's plans are finally coming together, while the game chimes merrily to announce the completion of the ritual, and the addition of Shark Cruiser Princess to her court upon the completion of her ritual.
"Sounds like something good happened Naka?"
"Oh yes. Something good alright. Hehehe...."
"Does not sound very good for us I think."
"Oh don't worry about it you guys. You'll be fiiiine."
Looking at her webcam, Naka then mouths 'no they won't', before putting a finger to her lips, signalling for them to keep quite about what she is about to show. Selecting Shark Cruiser Princess, and highlighting her Traits, Naka then hovers over one of them in particular.
Fatally Secret Mission - ???
"Hey, does anybody know if that Mad Scientist Princess is still in the game?"
"I think she's in some random Abyssal's Court in the Bonins right now. For some reason Midway and Wake were going all out trying to wipe her and her Dynasty off the face of the map earlier, and she had to flee."
Naka grinned. Perfect. If Mad Scientist Princess was already unlanded, that would make convincing her to come to Tinian Princesses Court to help with some research that would enable the next two phases of her plan even easier. She might not even have to Seduce her now, to secure her aid.
"Awesome! By the way, who wants to help me try and become Kind somehow?"
----------------------
Hoppou's frown was a most displeased one as she looked over her recent messages.
Not only had her puppets failed to see their job through properly by capturing or slaying Mad Scientist Princess in the field of battle while taking over her territory, but now Naka had apparently reached the next stage of her plans. A stage which pulled Mad Scientist Princess from the Abyssal Court to which she'd fled, and invited her into Naka's own.
Hoppou took pride in her carefully cultivated and grown Intrigue score, but the littlest Abyssal was strong doubts that a plot which would have to be carried out by proxies so far from home would work. Not against Naka's own respectable capabilities. Either Hoppou would fail, or at the very least, Naka would learn who was behind the assassination of the newest member of her court. And from there, the Light Cruiser would have to be an idiot not to realize that someone (most likely Hoppou) was on to her plans.
No. Better to leave things as is.
Better a known plan and an unaware foe she could plan a counter around, than having to go to the time and effort of then figuring out what Naka had up her sleeve as a back up if she were to scrap her current one.
Hoppou tents her fingers as her eyes scan the screen analytically.
Yes. That is what she would do. The course would be set irregardless.
They were rapidly approaching the endgame of their little scenario. Her failure to remove Mad Scientist Princess from the playing field would eventually have irksome consequences, but it is was a possibility Hoppou had always foreseen could be a possibility. It was time to be a bit more proactive.
Speaking of which....
Looking over her list of family members, Hoppou in particular, looks for that one daughter she caught plotting against her that one time. Said daughter is currently Improving Relations with one of the Abyssal Fleets in Tarawa.
There's nothing of actual value, or future importance to Hoppou's primary plans in Tarawa.
But there is a highly virulent plague.
One her traitorous daughter has now picked up a few weeks after arriving.
Hoppou now redeployes her daughter, directing her efforts to instead begin schmoozing with the minor, but still rather populated court of a Demon subservient to Gangut
An 'assassination' with zero risk of being caught Kinslaying,
and biowarfare, all rolled into one.
----------------------
"Annnnnnd I do believe that's the last of them!" declares Kogamaru as he rubs his hands gleefully. "Not only am I now "the Uber-Re" with Traits out the waazo, but we have also officially removed the last Fleets with any potentially claimants to the sea-zones from the Nigeria coast all the way to the Cape of Good Hope."
In spite of this achievement, Yuubari can't help but cringe. "Now if only capturing enemies in combat, imprisoning subjects, and then
eating everyone didn't give you such a massive Tyranny modifier. We've got rebellions coming out of our ears now."
"Which is awesome, as it gives me a whole bunch more people to capture or imprison."
"Aren't you at all concerned about actually holding onto these provinces in any actually meaningful way?!?"
"Not really to be honest. At this point I've gained everything I need from these territories, that being victims to farm for Traits and Stats, and sufficient resources to rebuild my forces before I move onto the next phase of my plan."
"We're returning to the Pacific?"
"Not quite yet actually. There is one more Event Chain I want to proc before doing so, but it is definitely time to leave the Congo I think."
"What about your holdings here then? This dumpster fire is going to fold like a house of cards the instant you're gone and not here to eat anyone who so much as thinks about rising up."
"Well originally I was operating on the assumption that I would be doing this all solo, so I was just going to let them rebel and jump ship as they wished once I was done with them. They all hate my guts, and I don't particularly care for earning positive opinions when there isn't any need to. Now that you're here though, that provides some interesting possibilities."
Yubari's eyes light up excitedly. "You want to give them to me now?!"
"Why not?" Offers Kogamaru with a shrug. "If they're more likely to listen to you, it's more resources and ships we can potentially pull on later."
"Alright! Yuubari is back in the game baby!"
"We should also probably pick up your old Fleet as well. We'll be passing it by on the way to where we next need to go anyway."
----------------------
"Jesus Christ Naka!" exclaims Iowa with mild disbelief as she takes a moment to look away from the bloody back and forth between herself and Puget Princess. Allowing herself a brief look at how everyone else's Dynastys are doing out of curiosity, the battleship's eyes boggle at the sheer number of character portraits she sees crammed into one field in particular. "How many freaking kids do you actually have?"
"I like to operate on the assumption that if you have enough of them, statistically
some of the ankle-biters will eventually be good. Alternatively, it's more chances to shack up with someone potentially worth trying to claim something from."
"With the way I tend to accidentally lose heirs and other descendants to meat grinders, I kinda have to do that by necessity," admits South Dakota. "Thankfully at least some of my decent spawn have survived to Demon-hood, in spite of all the wars I've been fighting."
"Do you know their names?"
"Uhhhh...... I think one of them is..... Ta....er.... Tabitha?"
"Your family tree says Tabata."
----------------------
Gangut unleashes a fercious stream of angry Russian.
"Chto za huy!!! I have the Rust again!" Then the battleship pauses in horrified disbelief. "It's not just me! Half of Gangutgrad seems to have it all of a sudden!!!"
"Hold on, how the hell did that happen?"
"I don't know, but this is terrible! My sister has it, my Marshal has it, my Spymaster has it- oh god, even my half-human Daughter has it!"
Turning on her map filter for diseases, South Dakota then boggles at what she sees. A splotchy patchwork of colors covers most of the Philippines.
"Holy shit, that's a bona fide plague outbreak you've got there." Then the battleship pauses in confusion. "Actually, that looks like there's three or four of them all happening in there at once. That's not normal."
"Such dirty underhanded methods!" cries Gangut in realisation. "The glorious peaceful nation of Gangutgrad has been made a victim of biological warfare! This is beyond even normal warmongering capitalist methods!"
Scanning the map and the player list suspiciously, the Russian then glares at one name in particular. "There is only one kind of foe so truly blackhearted as to resort to such measures!
Cultists!"
"Hey, I didn't have anything to do with this! Besides, there isn't even any actual form of Bio-warfare in this game anyway. I
need all my people too much to turn them into plague-bearers!"
"A suspiciously knowledgeable denial from the member of the group to most publicly profess a grudge against Gangutgrad, don't you think?"
"Indeed."
"Oh come on! Your courtiers or their underlings must have picked up those diseases from sending people to areas that already have the disease."
"Yeah, and they all just happened to pick up four of the most virulent kinds that can hit Abyssals, all at the same time," interjects Naka, merrily adding fuel to the fire.
"And they also infected the provinces close enough to my border that I might get hit as well if this shit keeps on spreading like it currently is."
"You question not just the intelligence of the people of Gangutgrad, but my own as well?!"
"I am telling you, this wasn't me!"
Unnoticed by everyone else, Hoppou smiles beatifically for the face cam.
She also uses the opportunity to send her chancellor on a very special diplomatic mission to the south. One she would rather that the other were just a wee bit too distracted to notice.
----------------------
Meanwhile, Naka begins smiling for much more different reasons.
The first of her two special Research Projects has finally popped.
A very rare branch of the Immortality Event Chain, brought about by a combination of being Kind, Genius, Scholar, with at least one dead child and a Mad Scientist Princess in her court.
"Far and wide, Mad Scientist Princess has scoured the land for the secrets to immortality and defying the vulnerabilities of earthly flesh and steel. Most recently however, some of her agents have uncovered a rather unique tale to behold. A recent tale that to the much more learned ear, almost sounds a form of Sacrificial Blood Protection, capable of protecting even from death when empowered by the love of a mother. "
"Mad Scientist Princess is intrigued by the tale and the possibility of what might be gleamed from attempting to reverse-engineer the ritual. However, she is uncertain whether or not it is worth proceeding, considering the generally fatal nature of the sacrifice required to place the protections."
Naka begins highlighting her options for the benefit of her viewers.
"
I'm interested
not dying. My kids can look after themselves."
"This could prove useful for a rainy day. For the sake of my daughters, I'd like to know more."
Then the Light Cruiser grins.
"If the love of a mother is so powerful...... can it not just protect from murder, but even reach past death itself?'
----------------------
"You know, I think that at this point, the one nice thing I've got going for me, is that the US doesn't actively hate me that badly."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. I'm actually pretty close to neutral for them right now."
"How'd you manage that?"
"It's fucking Puget Princess. I've basically been fighting her non-stop for so long that aside from setting up my base at Pearl just so I can pump out and repair vessels, I haven't actually done anything against all the humans in my territory."
"What about when you first took over?"
"I head to blockade and siege it down, rather than just stomping in and taking over thanks to loosing my heavy hitters to the Pele Event, remember?"
"Oh right."
----------------------
Yuubari gave a heavy sigh.
Examining what was left of the Horn of Africa and the surviving descendants of her original Fleet that had now joined her new one at WolfMail's side, the Light Cruiser was far from impressed.
"God damn it!" she curses loudly. "There's barely anyone left!"
"I guess I don't know my own strength."
"You killed half of them in combat!"
"Well, at least we convinced a fair few the ones who survived to join us."
"They only did so after receiving a Feared-Reputation modifier because you ate another quarter of them!"
"If they weren't going to join us, then better I at least got some use out of them, rather than leaving them behind to pointlessly rot in prison or rebel later."
"I've now got barely a quarter of the people I could have had!"
The cruiser sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, whatever. At least I got at
some of my original Fleet back and can finally become a Princess again. Now that we've got that sorted, where are we headed next? You said this was on the way to the next part of your 'plan'?"
"That's right. Now that we're officially done with Africa, it's time to head on to North Sentinel Island. Also, you'll want to bring everything you can afford to pull away from your territories for this next attack."
"Why?" asks Yuubari, sounding slight baffled. "Isn't North Sentinel Island only inhabited by tribal hunter gathers? There's literally nothing there in-game."
"Trust me," says Kogamaru with a grin. "You'll want to bring a doom-stack or two."
----------------------
Simultaneously, a pop up springs up across everyone's screens, signifying the importance of the Event that has finally happened.
It is an event that changes a great many things for many factions and groups.
"What the hell?!"
"Accords?"
"Wait a minute, it's still too early for when this normally fires for an A.I.!"
"Who even managed to get on good terms with with the Humans so quickly?!?"
"Wait, look at the Fleet name!"
"Hoppou?!?"
The picture of childish innocence, Hoppou bounces in her seat excitedly and nods happily.
"Hoppou just wants to everyone to be friends, just like Hoppou does." The little Abyssal the nods determinedly. "And more friends means more people working against Puget Princess!"
"The Truce Accords," reads Naka for the benefit of the stream.
"Thoughts of disapproval against the Abyssal crusade to wipe humanity from the seas are spreading across the Pacific as a result of the increasing ineffectiveness of Demons and Princesses. Voices are raised questioning the current rationality and long term viability of the War. A Princess in Unalaska has for some time expressed deep concerns and is now openly declaring her discontent with the War, paving the way towards a Truce with humanity."
"Ohhhhh boy." Shaking his head, Kogamaru then laughs. "Well, it sucks to be you guys. Hoppou just started the dominoes. Once Puget's down, most of the minors in the region are probably going to flip, or be stomped out by Hoppou and those that do. They're too weak after so many years of constantly fighting Puget or each other, to then stand on their own against the USN or their stronger neighbors once they aren't distracted, so inevitably they'll peace out, if only to get the next biggest fish and their immediate allies off their backs."
At Kogamaru's assessment, Iowa then groans.
"God damnit, he's right!"
"Right about what?"
"I've barely managed to hold out against Puget this entire time."
"Pfft, what do you mean barely? I've basically been bank rolling your entire continued existence."
"Exactly!" Cries Iowa hopelessly. "Pretty much everything I've done at this point, has gone into just trying to stay above water fighting her. One, admittedly OP, Princess who's been trying up most of the resources and units of the USN on the West Coast. Once she's gone, they'll be free to move all those assets onto other things, and I have barely any defensive infrastructure to speak of."
"Well I'm sure it's not that bad."
"Hoppou will help if Iowa wants to join the friends group!" adds the littlest Abyssal.
"Really?"
"Hey, no bribing!"
Iowa however, bites her lip, torn with indecision.
"Wait, hold up- Iowa, you can't seriously be considering this?!"
"Why shouldn't I?" asks the larger battleship. "Hoppou is closer, it would make a number of other Abyssal Fleets near me less likely to attack, and I could potentially get allied reinforcement beyond periodic drip feeds of raw resources."
"What the hell!" cries South Dakota in affronted response. "Is this the thanks I get for basically gifting you a third of my economy?!"
"I'm not in a position where the problem can just be fixed by throwing Oil and Steel at me! I don't have the population or facilities to produce the ships needed to decisively outnumber Puget! Not while having to repair and replace everything already getting into fights with her! I need actual troops Dakota!"
"Then just wait a bit, and eventually I'll get around to you once I finish crushing all these little wars!"
"That's what you've been saying for the last
two fucking hours!!!"
"They'll make you give up most of Hawaii!"
"Well it's better than inevitably loosing all of it to Puget or whoever comes next!"
As the two continue to argue back and forth, Hoppou momentarily allows herself a small smirk.
Not only has one of the most natural partnerships in the game now found it's two halves looking in opposite directions for their Dynasty's futures, but now Hoppou has garnered for herself a new non-A.I. Ally out of the deal as well.
----------------------
A jaunty chime announces a new pop up, and Naka rolls her eyes at the continued back and forth between South Dakota and Iowa in the background, as she reads off the blurb for the latest event.
"After the publication of the "Truce Accords", introducing the central principles and ideas that could eventually become the seed for nascent peace and coexistence, the social, political and philosophical attitude of Abyssal Fleets the world over, has begun to alter. The doctrines of non-aggression and potential recognition, has had a strong effect on the Fleet of Central Princess of Hawaii, making them give up their old beliefs in favor of those advocated by the reformed Abyssals."
Closing that particular window, Naka then reveals the one she was actually looking at. One that makes a smile spread across her face.
"Within the heart of Shark Cruiser Princess, Mad Scientist Princess finds something. An echo, resonating like the ripple in the water from the skip of a stone. An after-image of an object, central to some world-shattering trauma, left like a wake in the original's passing. Something is missing from this cold reflection that doomed Shark Cruiser Princess in life however. Mad Scientist Princess believes that with some time and luck, she could eventually re-awaken this missing element, and then discover what you would need in turn, to wholly replicate this terrible artifact yourself."
"Such power is beyond anything borne before. We could not survive the reactionary attention it may draw."
Naka then grins as she moves her cursor over the second of the two options.
"We shall become death. Destroyers of worlds."
----------------------
"Alright, we're here. Now what?"
"Siege it down. Don't bother with a blockade."
"What?" Yuubari double checks the province info for North Sentinel Island again, just to be sure. "There's nothing here? There's literally nothing to siege. This place is so empty, it doesn't even have any buildings or holdings."
"I know that's what it says,'" replies Kogamaru with unconcerned offhandedness. "Just stack everything you have on top of mine anyway, as if you're trying to Siege down a fortress or castle that's sitting in the upper holding slot. Trust me, it's either this, or we go hunting for Alepotrypa cave in Cape Matapan, try to take Lake Avernus from the Italians, or get into an excessively expensive fight with Gateway for the Isle of Demons."
Yuubari gives the undeveloped province's info another dubious glance.
"Well alright then...... if you know what you're doing....."
----------------------
"So....." grumbles Dakota to Gungut. "That happened. How are things on your end."
"Not good," admits the battleship with a grimace. "I currently have a bunch of revolts sailing around my territory. But my main Fleet is too plague-stricken to effectively deal with it. Meanwhile, all these revolting Abyssals are actually making things worse, because new members of the group keep on catching the plagues and carrying them everywhere, which just keeps on adding to the attrition my plague-ridden Fleet is being strangled by."
"Well, I guess the peasants really are revolting."
"It gets worse. Because they keep on capturing provinces and spreading the plague to new areas, it then makes those places more likely to aid their rebel cause."
"Ah.... yeah, that does sound like a kick in the teeth then, yeah."
"Ohooiet! I don't know what's worse! These plagues, or these rebels! if this keeps up, I'm going to have to move my Home Base to some other part of my teritory that's mildly less of a dumpsterfire!"
"Chin up Gangut. It's not like it could get any worse."
The Russian battleship's eyes widen in horror. "Cyka blyat! You did not just say that!"
A merry chime sounds, followed by Gangut giving an agonized groan of infuriated frustration.
"Holy shit, did you just get assassinated!"
----------------------
Feeling mighty proud of herself, Hoppou dusts off her hands and examines her work proudly.
The chaos she has sowed in Gangutgrad is coming to fruition, and just in time to.
If WolfMail is still attempting to do what Hoppou thinks he's trying to do, then the strife in Gangut's territory should be reaching it's climatic peak at the perfect opportunity for him to carry out his task, with the added benefit that Gangut is now a plague-ridden half-human Abyssal child.
----------------------
"-with all the ridiculous shit you can already do in the game if you know how to exploit the system or get the right events, I'm just saying. You can play as a horse. You can play as a bear. You can play as a Lustful gay horse fucking a bear Priest in a Satanic orgy, and then give birth to the Spawn of Satan, who murders the house cat that replaced your last Spymaster after killing him. But the unmodded base game still makes you jump through almost as many hoops or requirement in order to go Hapsburg+ with your siblings? What's up with that?"
Naka sighs as her Subs now scour the waters surrounding the US West Coast, in search of her next objective.
"
Please stop talking."
----------------------
Yuubari stares at her screen, and what is left of her forces in baffled disbelief.
"What... what the
fuck was that?!?!"
"What was what?" asks Kogamaru curiously
"THAT!!!" cries Yuubari "THE THING WE JUST GOT A POPUP FOR WHEN IT SORTIED OUT OF THE FUCKING NOTHING AND
WRECKED HALF OF OUR COMBINED FORCES!!!"
"Well, in case you already closed the pop up-" Kogamaru then clears his throat.
"Best Left Undiscovered"
"North Sentinel Island is an isolated and almost entirely uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean, a with a sparse population at best, despite it's long history of habitation. As it turns out, there is apparently a reason for this. One which the supposedly 'primitive' natives are willing to pay dearly to protect, lest you discover what it is. After weeks of strangely futile efforts to track down the locals and their homes, suddenly you are beset from all sides. Not just by the local peoples you expect, but by a whole host of supernatural defenders. Venerable war mages and battle sorcerers, looking as if gathered from all corners of the globe, now attempt to drive you into back the sea."
"What ever is here, must certainly be worth dying for!"
Yuubari just shakes her head as Kogamaru finishes.
"I still don't understand! What was that?! It's written like this is something that could be done elsewhere as well?! Are there more of these things?! Was that what we came here for? To get a magical army dumped on us for some reason? Are we supposed to keep doing this to trigger a hidden easter egg or something? What even was the reward for that?!?"
"Don't worry, it'll pop up in a minute or so."
"Look, I'm just
really confused, and I want an explanation."
"Don't worry. All will be revealed soon enough."
The game then chimes, signaling the appearance of a popup.
"See! There we go!"
Uncertainly, Yuubari begins to read.
"Dark Corners of the Earth"
"In the days since your battle on North Sentinel Island, many of the greatest minds in you fleet have been baffled by the surprise battle and the desperate ferocity of the apparently magical army that tried to drive you off. No small number of hypothesis and postulations are put forward as to why so many, from possibly so many far flung reaches of the globe would unite to drive you off, but none can come up with a satisfactory answer. As the days go on however, you and many others on the island begin to hear things. A faint scratching noise, as if something were digging at a wall that isn't there, and can never be heard when you are seeking the source of the maddening sound.
A week of this passes, before your Priestess of the Dark One, Hera, abruptly collapses and begins speaking in tongues. When she finally reawakens once more, she explains that she has had a vision. This island is one among a number of rare places, scattered across the globe, hidden away in secret and protected due to their well-springs of magical power and ability to focus the will and interactions of things normally not of this world. Hera reveals that thanks to this discovery, she has now come up with a ritual to call upon the Dark One with the full might of it's power, drawing forth that which lies lost beyond the boundary of death and within her poisoned home turned corpse. All that is needed is to gather the necessary sacrifice, and surely you shall be rewarded upon the Dark One's summoning."
Re-reading just to make sure she has everything, the Light Cruiser blinks owlishly.
"Sacrifice? What Sacrifice?"
Kogamaru then grins.
"The way we unlock the next stage of this event chain is a bit of a finicky task. Specifically, we now have to capture a direct descendant of a Princess who slew human citizens during Blood Week, and then we have to Sacrifice her to the Dark One."
Yuubari shifts nervously.
"You aren't going to backstab me are you?"
"What? No!" The okami actually looks a little affronted at the suggestion. "You've proven yourself to be a useful and worthwhile minion so far, why would I waste that?"
A toothy grin then splits the wolf's face.
"Luckily, I know just the place where we can someone else who fits the bill."
----------------------
Gangut glared at what remained of Gangutgrad as her beloved Abyssal communist utopia was yet again gripped by Civil War.
Thankfully however, there was at least some form of distraction available.
"Hey guys, how's it going?"
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the traitor."
"Oh can it Dakota. At least I'm still in the game thanks to Hoppou. Thing's aren't quite as dire now that I have actual help and don't have to worry about the USN crawling up my butt." The battleship then grimaces slightly. "Actually, that brings me to what I was meaning to ask."
"If this is an invite to the Humie-Lover club, no thanks."
"What? No- look, I was wanting to ask about Naka, WolfMail and Hoppou."
"What about them?"
"Don't you think they're up to something? That they're all building up to something big. Aren't you maybe a little bit
worried? WolfMail and Yuubari are definitely working towards
something out east, Naka has been kinda silent lately doing god knows what. And since I've been working for Hoppou, it's slowly dawned on me just
how powerful and rich she is. She has a
stupendous amount of Resources moving around her territory, and not all of it is being stockpiled. It's going places. To people."
South Damota shrugs. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. She's barely fought at all this entire match."
"I dunno..." says Iowa uncertainly. "I'm starting to think that might be part of her plan. More and more, I think she proc'd the ability to make Truces with humanity early for a reason,
and not just because she likes playing a pacifist. Cooperation with the US is far more of a boon to her than any of us realized."
South Dakota just blows a raspberry. "You're getting paranoid. Either that or you're just trying to scare me into jumping into the pro-humanity bed as well now."
Iowa facepalms. "I'm not kidding Dakota. I think there's some serious shit happening now, and we're the ones who're eventually going to get either caught in the pile up or captured in these webs of machinations."
From where she has now been forced to move her capital to one of the few still secure areas of the eastern Philippines, Gungut gives a resigned sigh of frustration.
"Honestly, I think I may have to do the same soon enough."
"What! Gangut, you can't be serious!?!"
"Why shouldn't I?" asks the Russian battleship. "All joking aside, I am
really not in a good position right now, and I pretty much am part way towards an alliance with the humans already. My current Character
is half-human. Most of my loyalists have picked up the "Humansexual" Trait too after somebody divulged my heirtage and made the more anti-human members of my Fleet jump ship to the rebels."
"Come on Gangut, you can turn things around."
"By joining humanity so I have a few less enemies on my back, sure."
"Screw humanity!"
"That is
so going to be clipped from the stream and quoted out of context by someone."
Before Gangut can chip in with her own observation as well, a pop up on her screen then makes her blink in surprise. Then she groans in dsibelief.
"Oh what the hell? Unknown raiders from the west have entered your territory."
Meanwhile, South Dakota, continues her Pro-"Stay Part of the Anti-Humanity Club" spiel unabated. "So what if you're at the bottom of the barrel right now! That just means the only way is up, and you have nothing else to worry about. Things officially can't get any worse for you!"
Scrolling over, Gangut takes a moment to locate the stack of units beelining straight for her capital, and then clicks on it to check the unit compilation.
"WHAT THE FUCK! A SUBMARINE PRINCESS AND A RE-CLASS?!?
AND WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THOSE TRAITS AND STATS?!?!?!"
"Greetings Gungut! Remember that promise I declared earlier?"
----------------------
----------------------
As Gangut tracks her captors' progress away from her yet again ruined Home Base, the Russian battleship shift nervously, pondering her poor character's fate.
"You aren't actually going to eat me are you?"
"No. Technically I can't anymore."
"Oh good, thank god for that, South Dakota had been saying some weird thing's she'd been hearing from the other streams and chats about- wait." Gangut then pauses uncertainly as something about WolfMail's wording raises suspicious flags. "What do you mean by 'technically' and 'anymore'?"
"Well originally I was going to make good on that promise and eat you myself." the okami pauses. "But then I decided it would be far more convenient to sacrifice you in a magical ritual on an altar built atop a gateway between the mortal world and the realms of gods and unknown things, in order to summon my unholy liege and lord of cruelty, the Dark One, at the greatest extent of her power."
Gangut stares.
"I- what?"
An alert then pops up on Ganguts screen, describing her charcter being lead ashore in chains, towards the center of a tropical island in the Indian Ocean.
"Wait, please no! I can- I'll give you- er....."
Uncertainly, Gangut tries to figure out some excuse or bribe to offer. Resources? No, she's broke. Territory? Barely has any at this point? Troops? She's pretty sure WolfMail and Yuubari just killed most of those who were still loyal. Now really scrapping the bottom of the barrel, she glances at the portrait of her Character, and her youthful half-human features.
"Oh god, I have so much to live for!"
In the Twitch chat, a message appears in among the stream of jokes now taking place at her expense, or poking fun at the reinvention and melding of the usual CK2 Cthulhu Summoning and Demon Worshiper Event Chains for AP2's Abyssal religions.
MaleficentMolly: Wrong god
>:3
----------------------
Looking up from her latest research project to complete, Naka pauses in her cackling, her elation at everything coming together immediately 180'ing into dread.
"Oh fuck."
Looking back at the earlier two earlier pop ups to appear, Naka steels herself. It appears that WolfMail has now finally forced her hand.
Thankfully however, she is still ahead of them all.
Shark Cruiser Princess' hidden ability has been unlocked as a only a single-use range-0 ability, rather than one of it's rarer but more useful forms unfortunately.
But on the other hand, Naka now has a certain ritual available to her, and one last objective to achieve before she can complete her other Event Chain.
All that remains, is to follow the trail of the Shadow to Japan.
And WolfMail may have just given her the perfect distraction to keep everyone else occupied.
----------------------
Far to the north, Hoppou watches the proceedings and quietly tents her fingers. The final act upon this grand digital stage of warfare, politics, and deception approaches. On the screen in front of her, the full might of her secretly built and gathered Fleets now splits into two separate, but equally great and titanic forces.
The first, begins to move south.
The second however, she send elsewhere.
----------------------
"I warned you!"
"Oh shit..."
"What did I tell you!?"
"Holy fuck!"
"But did you listen?!"
"Iowa..."
"Nuh uh, and now look where we are!"
"Oh my god, Iowa!"
"Now we got to fight the fucking Abyssal version of The Beast."
"That's so fucking cool! I
have to figure out how to do that!"
----------------------
"Re-velation" Reads Kogamaru, while Yuubari remains mute with stunned silence at what they've done.
"The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a Princess coming out of the sea. It had ten tails and seven squadrons, with ten turrets on its tails, and on each aircraft a blasphemous name. The Princess I saw moved with the agility of a leopard, but had the strength of a bear and the magic of a lion. The dragon gave the Princess her power and her throne and great authority. One of the turrets of the beast seemed to have had a fatal detonation, but the fatal detonation had been repaired. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the Princess. People worshiped the dragon because she had given authority to the Princess, and they also worshiped the Princess and asked, "Who is like the Princess? Who can wage war against her?"
"Behold the Dark One!"
"What have we done?" breaths the Light Cruiser as she looks upon the now even more insanely OP Stats and Traits of the 'Revelation Princess' Kogamaru's Re-Class has now become. "What is this thing?"
"We have brought about the end game. And this shall be the instrument of that climax."
Kogamaru now grins and claps his hands happily.
"So, how about we say hi to Naka and Sodak next? I believe it's been a while since I last caught up to them, what with the whole unceremonious exile to far flung Africa thing."
The game then elicits a merry chime, signaling a new pop up.
"Oh hey, they all just declared war on us using the "Unholy Champion Casus Belli"."
"WHAT!?!
----------------------
Moments earlier;
"I'm thinking we can all agree that this is kind of enough of a Godzilla Threshold that we can call an Enemy Mine moment, right?"
"You want to fight
that? Knowing the outrageous collection of Traits and Stat modifiers Gangut said she saw?"
"Well, I know I for one
don't plan on welcoming our new dark overlord without a decent fight first"
"Aren't you still fighting your million and one wars right now?"
"Hey, it's only seven! And I'm winning enough that I can peace out of most of them already. Mostly. Maybe once I just grab a little more land."
"I take it from the way you're arguing, that you aren't coming Iowa?"
The USN battleship pauses uncertainly, before finally succumbing to the silent pressure and expectation from players and chat alike. Inevitably, she gives a long-suffering sigh.
"I
can't just leave my turf undefended against Puget Princess.... but I can probably afford to send a descent portion of my Fleet, as long as the US can keep her distracted while I'm away."
"What about you Gangut?"
"Beautiful Rusalka!" cries the Russian battleship, who is now playing as her previous character's cousin. "You were too sweet and innocent for this capitalist world! A product of forbidden love that could have brought hope and peace between Man and Abyssal! Now snuffed out by superstitious madmen and sacerdotal warmongers upon the altar of their make-believe deity!"
"Er....Gangut?"
"I shall avenge you, dear daughter of the revolution! This crime shall not go unanswered! So swear I, cousin!"
As the Russian breaks out into faux-sobbing, Iowa looks mildly disturbed.
"Okay... well.... that's a thing."
"What about you Hoppou? Are you a bad enough teenager with attitude to take on the chosen champion of the Dark One?"
"Hoppou's Character can't ally with you because Hoppou in game made you her rival, but that's okay! Hoppou still wants to help and can declare a war separately!"
"Awesome!" Ecstatic that she now has the situation shifted to a 5v2 against WolfMail and Yuubari, Naka then grins excitedly. "Then knowing that they're probably gunning for either Dakota or me next, and that they're likely going to need at least some form of Forward Base to do it, here's the plan!"
----------------------
Sailing across the Pacific with Yuubari and their massive war Fleets accompanying them, Kogamaru grins as they reach their destination.
Colonia. The place where it all first went off the rails so many hours ago.
And surrounding the island, are fleets.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the whole gang here to welcome us Yuubari. Or at least most of them. Naka not coming?"
Iowa stiffens slightly at the possibility that the suspiciously absent forces of the orange-wearing light cruiser have abandoned them to their fates, but South Dakota is unmoved by the suggestion.
"She's still readying her forces. Great swathes of them. Her air assets
alone could block out the sky. You may have ambushed Gangut by surprise, but today you face us as well! The combined might of the Pacific Abyssal Alliance!"
Kogamaru just chuckles, as if South Dakota had told him a mere mildly amusing joke.
"Then I suppose we shall just have to defeat the combined might of the Pacific Abyssal Alliance in the shade." the okami then smiles with open friendliness. "Really though, it does not have to be this way. Swear fealty to me, and I shall allow each who does, to continue on unimpeded. I may not even require taxation or any kind of tribute from you. Resist however, and like the Great Khans of the Steppes, I will be sure to destroy any who refuse this one time offer.
Utterly."
South Dakota scoffs.
"I'd prefer to take my chances with liberty entwined with danger, rather than peace with the chance of becoming a slave. Or worse, a late night snack for
you."
"I see. And what says you, o' Biggest of Sticks?"
"Enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom."
"Quoting FDR, are we? Then how about this one; 'it is an old strategy of tyrants to delude their victims into fighting their battles for them'."
The American battleship shifts uneasily at the pointed fact that Naka is still absent, while the wolf now turns her Russian counterpart.
"You, I am willing to put aside previous grudges for, in the name of peace. Swear fealty to me, and I will even help you in regaining control of your land. With my aid, you could restore Gangutgrad back to greatness, if not
beyond it's previous glory."
Gangut's response is succinct.
"DEATH TO REVELATION PRINCESS! DOWN WITH THE CULT OF THE DARK ONE! VENGEANCE FOR RUSLAKA! AND NOT ONE STEP BACK! URAAA!!!"
"Fair enough. Hoppou?"
"You've done very bad things! To people who weren't even bad too!"
"I suppose that is indeed true."
The okami then shrugs and cracks his fingers. "Welp, nothing for it. I guess this means we'll just have to kill you all."
"Now hold up!" declares South Dakota, interrupting Kogmaru before he can give his forces the order to finally begin the attack that will likely decide the fate of the game. "What about you, Yuubari? Are you really going to see this through, on this guy's side? As the glorified
lackey to a Possessed Trait-Stealing Cannibal serving as the right hand of some sort of jacked up minor dark-god?"
The Light Cruiser shifts uncomfortably. "Well... when you put it like that, it's kind of hard to forget that he
is a Power-Stealing People-Eater that has been given great and terrible power by a god he actually managed to summon."
Iowa facepalms at South Dakota's failure of diplomacy, while the smaller battleship fumes. "Come on Yuubari! It's not too late! Swap sides and backstab him, and surely we can defeat him together!"
"Together?!" asks the Light Cruiser incredulously. "What's this about together? Unlike you lot, I haven't been too bamboozled and distracted to notice, but I see what's happening! Hoppou has only brought half her forces! Hell, Hoppou herself isn't even here-"
The three battleships' eyes widen in shock, as they all collectively glances at the one non-battleship in their midst in shock. "What?!?"
"- and neither is Naka! They've both hung you three out to dry!"
"That's what you think!"
And then from the north, they appear. A stream of ships, of all classes and type, bearing traffic cone orange on their banner, and led from the front by a Princess level Abyssal.
"NAKA! YOU CAME!"
"Phrasing!"
Ignoring the low-brow humor from the peanut gallery, Naka grins.
"Quickly! Lock them into a battle before they can escape!"
"Okay!"
"On it!"
"Hoppou will do her best!"
"For Rusalka! Urraaaaa!!!!!!"
As the three battleships and Hoppou immediately charge their forces forwards to meet his and Yuubari's head on however, Kogamaru then feels the hair on the back of his next raise.
Instinct screams to him that something isn't right.
Why would Naka order them to leave an Island Province where they would have terrain and fortress defensive bonuses, to engage his and Yuubari's qualitatively superior force? If they were wanting to overwhelm him with quantity, why not wait for Naka's troops to catch up, or move as a coordinated group with the best Flagships selected to lead their formation's center and flanks?
Clicking through the unit compositions and examining the Traits of the leaders facing him down, to his horror, Kogamaru then discovers his answer.
"OH FUCK!"
"Having second thoughts?" asks South Dakota smugly.
Kogamaru however, ignores her. "Yuubari! Don't commit your troops! Pull them back
now!"
"They're already in the fight too! I attached them to your troops remember!" Something in the okami's urgent voice then makes a chill of horrible anticipation rundown the Light Cruiser's spine in turn. "What's going on?"
South Dakota laughs. "I think he's finally realized how screwed you both are now that Naka's here to help us."
The okami however, can now only watch helplessly as the flagship of Naka's contribution to the battle now prepares to enter the fray, days before Yuubari's and his own can finish leaving.
"YOU FOOLS! SHE ISN'T HELPING YOU!"
Like watching the descent of an executioners axe in slow motion, Kogamaru braces for the inevitable impact he knows can only be coming if Naka is committing Shark Cruiser Princess as her sole heavy hitter for this attack.
"SHE HAS BETRAYED YOU ALL!!!"
In a flash of light, the screens of all those currently viewing the battle turn white.
When the artificial glare at last begins to fade away, a mushroom cloud now rises above the island of Colonia and it's surrounding seas.
----------------------
Far to the north where Naka's actual attention is, the Light Cruiser grins victoriously.
Across the seas sails her actual Tinian Airfield Princess, at the head of a Fleet containing the heavy hitters and capital ships that were never actually committed to the trap at Colonia. A trap that wasn't just for WolfMail and Yuubari.
With the rest of the present players now likely reeling from the point-blank sacrificial play using Shark Cruiser Princess, Naka has made her move. Now she is a crusader on the march, not to the south, but northwards.
North towards Japan.
North towards the Inland Sea.
North towards Hiroshima.
And the final requirement needed to fulfill her goal of becoming an Abyssal version of a Nuclear Weapon State.
She blitzkriegs through the outer kanmusu patrols before the A.I. can properly react or redeploy to her presence.
Her sheer numbers let her Fleet weather the storm of missiles and railgun projectiles hurled at her by JASDF Air Units and JMSDF Steel Hulls
The massed firepower of so many capital ships sailing towards land with the unstoppable suicidal dedication of computerized soldiers, lets her shred through the shore defenses as she gets closer and closer to the Home Islands.
However, upon arriving at the Bungo Channel, the southern most entrance to the Seto Inland Sea, Naka at last has to stop.
And then she laughs.
Because suddenly, it all makes sense.
"So it was you all this time.
You were the other mastermind behind the scenes."
Blocking Naka's way through the Bungo Channel, and possibly the last line of defense between Hiroshima and Tinian Airfield Princess, is Hoppou and the missing half of her Fleet, accompanied by the In-Game Hoppou and her own great Unalaskan host as well.
"You have been a
bad person!"
With a jaunty chime, a pop up appears on Naka's screen, announcing a Declaration of War from Hoppou and her Allies of humanity.
----------------------
"Fuck me! I can't believe I died from that!"
"Chush' sobach'ya!"
"Okay, sound off, who's
not dead?"
"You've got to be shitting me!?! I died in the same battle as my heir
again!!!"
"What about you Gangut? Still alive?"
"Pó xuju!!!"
"I'm gonna take that as a no."
"I guess that makes us four-for-four so far on people Crossroads'd"
"Wait.... hey WolfMail?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Revelation Princess on the kill list?"
----------------------
It is a valiant effort.
A battle for the ages.
Were it reality, the waters of the Bungo Channel would have no doubt run black with Abyssal blood, furthering the clogging of the channel begun by the untold numbers of corpses from both sides. So many dead, on a scale unseen since Blood Week, in a single titanic battle which has largely been Abyssal on Abyssal.
And now it is only a paltry scattering of either side which remains. Tinian Princess lives, surrounded by the few members of her personal Retinue to survive the battle.
Hoppou however, is now the leader of the surviving Unalaska-Human Allied Forces. Hoppou, the not-even-a-demon-yet Spymaster.
Because Hoppou's in-game Abyssal Princess doppelgänger, now lies dead. Slain by Tinian Princess' hand.
"Give it up Hoppou! I've won! It's over now!"
"Never!" declares the little Abyssal definitely.
"You think you can still contend with me?" asks the Light Cruiser. "You're good at the Intrigue game, I'll admit that. But your passiveness has been your undoing!
I'm the combat powerhouse here! And with the Fleet to support her too!"
"Hoppou thinks otherwise!"
"Oh, and how are you going to change my mind? Some last ditch trick up your sleeve? Because I can bet you I have more!"
"Jellyfish Princess' power won't help you if you don't have it yet, you know."
"True. But that doesn't mean I gambled all my plans on
one idea alone. Now, not to be mean or anything, but I have an ocean to crush and subjugate, and I believe
you are in my way."
"
Hoppou believes," says the Princess slowly as she opens up the Mod's reinvention of CK2's usual Title Actions menu, "That you need a good spritzing!"
With a flash of light, Hoppou's Character changes. And where there was a moment ago, just another relatively squishy, low-ranking Abyssal with some admittedly decent stats, is now a new Northern Ocean Princess. Carefully hoarded stockpiles of Oil and Steel hemorrhage at the cost of the sudden upgrade.
And yet, the massive stockpile Hoppou has been slowly building towards almost since the beginning of the game, is barely dented by the cost of this upgrade.
Naka scoffs. "You think that's supposed to scare me? I took down one Northern Ocean Princess without needing that much help from my Fleet. What makes you think I can't just can do it again without them by my side at all?!"
"Because if Hoppou as Northern Ocean Princess is not enough to stop you-"
Opening up her Title Actions Menu once more, Hoppou now moves her cursor over a new option now available. One normally hidden, to all but those with the right amount of resources and that have defied the odds by managing to maintain a truly pacifist stance with humanity throughout the game.
"-Then
I shall be more than a Northern Ocean Princess."
With a second click of a button, the screen flares with the light of Abyssal ascension once more. Hoppou's stockpiles, previously bearing the burden of becoming a Princess with little issue, now plummet at the cost of an upgrade that costs almost three times as much.
And with a merry chime, a pop up appears on the screens of all watching.
"I am the Bird of Hermes."
"When Hope is gone.... unlock this crown. I am the widow left ashore. I am the mother who's child is taken. I am the fisher's daughter orphaned by the storm. I am the sister ripped from her twin. I am the castaway, stranded and adrift at sea. The sole survivor, old and regretful in bed. I shall spread my wings, no longer content to remain tame. And now set forth, on a moonlit course."
"I am the Forsaken Child Elder Princess."
Watching as Hoppou's character art now changes to a hypothetical older version of herself, while many of her Stats are given appropriate modifiers and bonuses for such an ascension, Naka grits her teeth.
"Is that how you want to play it? Fine! I'll see your raise, and match it!"
Navigating to her Decisions menu, Naka moves her cursor to her own ace-in-the-hole. And then with a single click , a merry jingle from the game announces that Tinian Island Princess has died.
It takes only a second however, for the pop up to appear.
"A Second Beginning"
"You lay down on your bed and close your eyes. Slowly but surely all thoughts and impressions melt away as you clear your mind. Even the sound of your own breathing disappears into nothingness as you sink deeper and deeper....
"And then you rise. The body before you is no longer yours. You have seen the reflection of that face a thousand times, but never more shall it be. She is peaceful, not even breathing as the form begins to change. This fact does not upset you. Detachedly you observe for a while, before you drift away, drawn to the endless sea you now see."
"The first breath is more powerful than anything you have ever seen. "Good as new," Mad Scientist Princess says proudly. "Welcome back to Life Tillman Demon."
A new pop up then appears.
"As you awaken from what feels like a long slumber, you briefly have the impression of a caring presence passing you by. You come to, surrounded by the remnants of a ritual. A perversion of self-sacrificial blood magics, sorceries of the soul, necromanicies, and the bastardization of kanmusu summoning. Above it all however, is the final words of a fading voice, as Mad Scientist Princess welcomes you back to the land of the living once more."
"Mother loves you."
Naka, now at the helm of Tillman Demon, the fully resurrected and restored daughter of Puget Sound Princess and true heir of Tinian Airfield Princess, grins victoriously.
"No more playing around. This one's for
all the marbles, and it's time pull out all the stops."
And so Naka deploys the closest thing she
does have to a nuke at the moment, further ratcheting the odds at play in her favor with one final factor.
Opening her diplomacy menu, Naka then sends a Call to Arms to the one surviving Abyssal in the game who
will answer Tillman Demon's request.
----------------------
Looking over what diminished forces she has in her home territory, Iowa sighs while the others watch the final show down between Naka and Hoppou with rapt interest.
So much struggle and toil, now wasted. Hours of painstakingly building up a core of hardcore, veteran commanders from the sporadic survivors of the periodic meat-grinder defensive campaigns against Puget's advances, which went through most green Fleets like hot knives through butter, rendered irrelevant with a single masterstroke backstab from Naka.
Iowa would have been impressed if it wasn't so depressing.
Still, at least things couldn't get any-
A minor alert in the corner of her screen appears, warning her that she now has invaders in her territory. With a sigh, Iowa scrolls over to investigate.
And then she practically spitakes at what she sees.
"Holy fuck!"
"What happened now? The A.I. neighbors kicking you while you're down?"
Iowa shake her head, mouth open in shock at the fact that that one enemy she never expected, and prayed never would go on the move, is now mobile and taking the the field herself.
"You guys aren't going to fucking believe this. But Puget Princess is on the warpath."
"WHAT!?!?"
"She just punched a hole through the USN's blockade, and stack-wiped one of my patrols like they were bugs on a windshield!"
"Is she coming for you?"
"I don't thinks so actually.... she just sailed right on by Hawaii...."
"Where the hell is she going then?"
"I think... I think she's heading northwest across the Pacific."
"No way...."
"She's going to help Naka!?!"
"This is turning into a battle of monsters. Princesses, Demons, and Beasts."
"Yeah. And only one of them gets to be King of Monsters.... or Queen technically."
"Ain't that the truth. They're basically playing forces of nature with how OP they all are now."
"Fuck me, do we want to get involved in this? Actually, can we even
get involved? I don't have any decent heavy hitters left."
"Gangutgrad is in a million pieces right now, so no."
"At least you guys
have people. I've got nobody left at all at this point. I had all my best commanders at Colonia, and now all my other wars are clusterfucks."
"What about you Yuubari? Do you think we got any chance of making a difference at this point?"
The Light Cruiser is silent for a long moment. "The folly of man, is thinking he is in control of nature, and not the other way around. Let them fight."
----------------------
There are no more Fleets.
The last of the Unalaskan defenders have sold themselves dearly, holding the line against Naka's host at her flanks. Inevitably however, the wrath of Hoppou's Forsaken Child Elder Princess has whittled away the Light Cruisers followers to nothing. Even Mad Scientist Princess has fallen.
Tillman Demon may have borne stats and traits that would have put even most Princesses to shame, but this was no normal Princess she faced. Slowly but surely, Hoppou was winning the digital dice-rolling slugging match between the two titanic demi-gods.
And yet, it was Naka who was grinning.
"Too little, too late Hoppou."
"Hoppou think's you're confidant for someone who is about to lose."
"Maybe if you had some better Combat Traits and Martial Bonuses, sure. In a straight up 1v1, you'd win. But this
isn't a 1v1."
Far away, at the edge of Hoppou's fog of war, a figure appears, causing the little Abyssal to narrow her gaze.
Puget Princess.
"I win again Hoppou. I don't need to
beat you. I just need to live long enough for back up to arrive, and swing the DPM game in my favor."
"You won't win."
"Are you sure about that? Look around Hoppou! Everyone else is is either dead or licking their wounds. By the time they recover, I will be in Hiroshima, and it will be too late to stop me. Even your own Fleet is destroyed."
The Lighth Cruiser laughs like a villain on the cusp of her grand victory.
"You fight this battle alone, and once Puget Princess reaches us, you shall
die alone!"
"That's what you think!"
Eyes widening in shock at the sudden shout, purposely ironically echoing her earlier words, Naka looks to the edge of her own fog of war.
"What the-!? Impossible!!!"
Racing in from the south is the still heavily damaged and now Fleet-less, but no less individually deadly Revelation Princess.
"How?!? You should be dead!?!"
"You're right, I should be," chuckles Kogamaru with a vengeful grin. "But there's just
one thing you didn't account for."
"When you detonated Shark Cruiser Princess' nuke, you didn't just destroy everyone's fleets, and kill off most of the surviving Demons and Princesses with lingering Fire, Flooding and Radiation Damage. You also destroyed and afflicted Colonia's defenses due to the close proximity of the battles as well. With all the defenders dead, that let
me capture the place on the first seige tick,
before the DoTs could completely outpace all the different Self-Repair, Healing and Regeneration Traits I've stolen!"
"Damn you!" Naka grits her teeth and glares, as Revelation Princess suddenly pulls to a stop in the final sea-zone just beyond the ongoing battle between Tillman Demon and Forsaken Child Elder Princess. "What do you hope to achieve anyway?! You're still mostly-dead! You have no hope of defeating Puget Princess and myself at such low health!"
"Maybe so." Kogamaru then laughs. "But then I don't need to defeat either of you. I only have to
stop her from saving
you."
With horror, Naka then realizes where Revelation Princess has placed herself and what the Okami plans to do. Having waited until Puget Princess is committed to entering the final sea-zone before she can reach Tillman and Forsaken Child, Revelation will entrap Puget in a battle.
One which Tillman will likely already be dead before the end of, even if Puget wins.
Hoppou smiles as the dawning horror at last begins to spread across Naka's face at the realisation she has been outplayed, and that now there is no stopping Tillman's ever shrinking health bar.
With nothing left to do, Naka finally gives up with a sigh, before deciding to ham it up for the stream
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" A merry chime announces the second death of Tillman Demon of Puget Sound, and the final victory of the Unalaskan Fleet in the defence of Hiroshima. "DAMN YOU FORSAKEN PRINCESSES!!!!! I SHALL RETURRRRRNNNNNN~~~ WOOoOOooOoOo ~~~~~"
"That's silly."
Hoppou isn't done there though, and immediately turns her attention one province over, where the faltering Revelation Princess still struggles against Puget Princess. Abruptly the tables turn. Low on health though Forsaken Child and Revelation both may be, common Abyssal Units mean nothing to Characters of their power. Soon enough, the sheer damage the two can collectively output when simultaneously focused, brings about the all but inevitable result.
Puget Princess is slain as the Center of her Fleet folds, swiftly throwing the rest of her force that she brought from the West Coast into a broken rout of a retreat. Back on the West Coast, the effects of Puget's passing are immediate. Not only do the US and many neighboring Abyssal Fleets begin numerous opportunistic attacks, raids, and attempts at reconquista the instant she is dead, but Puget's Death brings internal ramifications as well.
With Tillman Demon, resurrected, renamed heir, and then killed in battle alongside her mother before either of them could elect a new successor, the inevitable happens. All across Puget's territory, revolts begin to break out as conquered territories rebel, while others become the fiefdoms of warlords and claimants seeking to name themselves successor.
In one fell swoop, Puget's empire has been shattered, and hours of careful plotting and secretive preparations by Naka have been undone. With a single battle, Hoppou has broken two of her greatest foes.
And now there is one more that lies at her mercy before her.
With Puget defeated, Revelation Princess and Forsaken Child Elder Princess now stand opposite one another in separate sea zones.
Forsaken Child is heavily damaged.
But having entered the fray to save her, with only the bare minimum of repairs Kogamaru could squeeze in after a nuclear detonation that would kill most other Princesses, Revelation is practically on death's door. A few good hits from even a destroyer could polish her off at this point.
And Kogmaru knows it.
"So....." he asks with idle nonchalance. "I don't suppose there's anything I can say to convince you of my pragmatic worth as an Ally?"
Hoppou gives him a flat look. "No."
The Okami merely gives an amused chuckle, knowing he could not have expected anything else.
"Fair enough."
Hoppou directs Forsaken Child to advance into the sea zone of her once-more foe. Kogamaru doesn't even bother trying to escape. Forsaken Child is faster than Revelation anyway. There is no escape.
"Welcome to the top of the food chain."
It's less of a fight, and more the execution of an already defeated foe who accepts death with dignity.
----------------------
"Well, that happened."
"Hahaha!"
"You play like a
right bastard, you know that?"
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
"Naka! What the fuck was that?! You and Hoppou going all "this isn't even my final form" on us at the end!?!"
"There's a lot of fun, hypothetical, and sometimes just silly things in this mod when you have the supernatural stuff turned on. Trust me."
"Well, I definitely think I'll have to do that more often, yeah."
"You should see the kind of magical shenanigans you can get up to if you have a start in the Baltic or Scandinavia. Now
that can be fun."
"That you apparently think there are more 'fun' ways to play this game, seriously makes me worry."
"I'm not that bad."
"I
pray nobody ever puts you in change of a large number of people."
"snerk"
"Fun aside, I guess this makes Hoppou officially the only person to have not died at this point."
"I guess so."
"I don't even
know what number Character I'm on at this point. I died again while you three were having your show down."
"Yeah, Gangutgrad's kind of gone to hell in a handbasket hasn't it? Not really sure how to help you fix that rat's nest at this point."
"Speaking of which, now what do we do? I think most of us kind of went all in for that fight at Colonia, and the repercussions kind of show."
"Honestly, I think we should just call that Hoppou's win."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We've been playing for a few hours now, and I don't think any of us that died are going to be coming back from that fight anytime soon."
"If ever."
"I think it would take more than a few hours more to come up with something that could actually face off against an Elder Princess with most of the northern Pacific under her control. One that's also backed by the full might of the USN behind her as well."
"Yeah.... That'd be kind of hard to face off against, even from a fresh start."
"Well, I guess we're all in agreement then. It's your win Hoppou."
"No quibbles with that here. Good job Hoppou."
"GG."
"Well played."
"MVP right here."
"Good match."
"Thank you!"
"Then is settled! Let's all give a round of applause for the real, legit princess right here, folks!"
"Woo hoo!"
"Go Hoppou!"
"Hail the conquering Princess!"
"Yay me!"
"Winner winner chicken dinner!"
"Better ask Harry to make you some!"
"Hah!"
"I think this deserves a toast, no? Hold on, let me pour one out. Finest Russian vodka to celebrate victory! Even if it isn't your own!"
"Wait, have you been drinking this entire time?"
"Good to stay hydrated while playing, no?"
"That explains so much."
"Okaaaaaay, I think that about wraps things up then!"
"Thank you all for watching! We'll be back in half an hour with some high volume industrial salt production, also known as World of Warships Ranked Battles!"
"In the mean time though, it's time for a short intermission! Grab some snacks, maybe something to drink too, but not something like Gangut's 'cause the break will be over before you know it! This is Naka-chan, signing off!"
----------------------
