Eh, most of the time it means that the Naval technical advisors are being compensated very very well. Plus, if the movie producers are having to use the naval asset in any way, even just bringing a camera on board to take generic shots without any people on it? Well, the Navy gets to charge a decent chunk of change for that, and that money goes into the preservation and upkeep of the asset/battleship in question.
They also likely want people to join more than they want them to understand. False pretences is not exactly a good way to earn loyal seamen, but is stuff they saw in a ridiculous movie really something that they were told? If people have a vague impression of being the bestest most important person ever who everyone loves and respects? Then they are liable to join without thinking things through that much, while still intellectually aware that it was never particularly likely to work out that way.
Author's Note: Sigh, I've tried. Really TRIED to edit this before posting, but if you find something let it be known? That and I hope to not have beaten certain things to death here. Personally, I think that the idea of Abyssal Sub spy networks is a cool idea, but the sisters and Trin of course have a different view on things for . . .various reasons.
Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's Swearing-in Ceremony and Follow Up Check-in with Dr. Takahashi!
Chapter 5: Negotiation and Vindication
"It was her skills in damage control," Smythe said from the smartphone's small screen. Apparently, whoever briefed this man did it rather well from appearance. "Sara taught her well, you know. You all know that."
"Yes," Trinitite said, smiling fondly at the memories only to have it crashing down at the end. Almost whimpering near the end. "It was a close-run thing and it took long enough that I could do nothing but watch as my Princess get transformed . . .and I had to watch and do nothing as she was taken away by helicopter."
Both sisters shudder, thinking about how utterly helpless and confused their sister must have felt. Must have felt like she'd lost everything!
But her still being Abyssal?
Wouldn't that mean . . . oh DEEP!
"I want my mother back!" Trinitite glared at the humans on the other side of the teleconference call. In a tone both sisters knew from their time when even at the worst, she was . . .at her best.
Determined. That is what she'd been before when in the Crossroad Fleet and both sisters saw that same kind of determination. She'd had enough of it to get herself to the US, after all. She was their sister and could be just as determined as they could be. Like "determined" enough to answer a Summons from their Mother, despite the very Abyss standing in their way kind of "determined".
That wasn't good...at all; Trin had been the one causing "family issues" for Saratoga! And in her quest to save their Princess and return her to the Jellyfish Princess? Trinitite would actually be dooming their Mother to a sad and doomed existence, and the sisters couldn't have that. Both knew now what the Abyss was about, and now know that that monster had done to their Princess. It had been chilling what the Abyss had been PROUD of her handiwork upon making their Mother as she had, transforming the then depressed Saratoga into Jellyfish. Transformed the poor Saratoga into . . .somebody who never had left the spot that she had sunk as a steel hull. Said that the price those who took her offer of power to be transformed into Abyssal Princesses was only a small thing. Just as long as the blood of humans flowed, it was more than fair! AS long as she got to watch it flow, anyway. . .
While hardly the same as the other Abyssal Princesses, the implied "price" that those others must have paid which created the narcissistic (and even monstrous) Abyssal Princess did not sound "small" at all. And there had to have been SOME kind of price that their Princess had paid, the sisters had discovered upon reflection....
That it took a session with Dr. Takahashi's gold watch to restore and enhance their memories to crystal clarity? To perfect recall? The sisters had felt almost sick for not having noticed before! Thankfully, Dr. Takahashi had been able to calm both of the former Abyssals down. Telling them that while the past was past, what counted was what they did for and with their Mother NOW that she was free of the Abyss' influence. Still...
How had they not seen the signs? Their Mother was still caring and loving, but now was more vibrant and alive as a Kanmusu somehow. Making her Jellyfish again would be . . .disgusting. She would become (again) a ghost of what she could and SHOULD be if Trinitite succeeded.
And that is if the Abyss did not opt at "improving" their Mother's disposition next time around...
No, that cannot be allowed, at all! But . . .how to do that without a screaming match? Deep, better a screaming match than having eventually had to try to SINK their sister. But couldn't there be . . .
"I want my sisters back," Trinitite adds, wilting slightly when looking at her sisters who blinked back at her. Maybe . . . it was doable. It wasn't like . . .their sister had given up on them. She said (and they saw) that she did want them back as well as their Princess.
Just that she's REALLY gotten thrown for a loop here, both sisters can observe easily. Both also could say the same about Trinitite having SURVIVED the Battle of Bikini! All the other shipgirls who'd participated in that debacle said all had been sunk . .
Of course, there had to be SOME idiot on the other side to interrupt the sisters' train of thought. Frankly, while perhaps at another time both Firestorm and Hypocenter might have been more understanding but even IF they'd known just HOW stressed and tired all the various Feds and Military folk were on the other side of the TV screen had been they'd have been just as crossed with the unnamed FBI female agent.
"So. . . that was all this was about?" a slightly exasperated woman's voice comes from some corner of the room on the other side of the screen. "You mean to tell me that you came all this way here. No abyssal submarine spy networks? No attempts at industrial sabotage? Avoided every attempt to block your way and capture you? Evading our attempts to so much as do ANY surveillance on you? This was all to just get back with your mommy?!"
Both sisters were almost struck mute at the sure . . .stupidity of that statement! Deep, what do they have to do? Draw pictures? Use signal lights or semaphore to get the message across?!
YES! That is all it had been about. A common Abyssal is willing to DIE to protect their Princess instead of letting her sink (or in this case, it turned out except for Trin they'd died to prevent their Princess from being freed from the Abyss' clutches). And they all did this not due to being mere "drones" who were programmed to do such things. Both Firestorm and Hypoenter. . .
GAH! Nevermind!
. . . .
Still, if they'd known what the reality of it had been, things . . .sure as Hell would have been different.
Besides, if there had been something like an Abyssal submarine spy ring then . . . surely the ring would have been LESS than pleased at the attention that Trin had brought to their operation. Submarines were . . .sneaky shipgirls. They had to be in order to survive. Oh, Trin had been able to avoid capture and all that from what Firestorm and Hypocenter gathered but had been "loud" enough to have gotten noticed. Besides, if there HAD been an Abyssal spy ring on land who'd been friendly with Trinitite? One who'd be willing to lend aid for nefarious Abyssal spy purposes by loaning them their Repair Berth (and any spy network worth its salt would have one socked away hidden somewhere for repair work on their spies and other Abyssal assets)? Well, surely by now the damage that had been done to Trinitite's flight deck--which both sisters had witnessed back at Bikini before being sunk--would have been fixed so she should have been the proper "Abyssal Terror" to launch some kind of aerial attack within the lands of the US? But while nothing sure had been said, the sisters were knowledgeable enough to understand such had not happened. Else all the secrecy that the humans back in "Washington state" would have been approaching the problem Trinitite presented in a much more open (and HOSTILE) manner than currently displayed. Firestorm was willing to eat her own rigging if she and Hypocenter were wrong!
That and the sabotage and everything else the agent was speaking about? A Princess would have soon have started bragging about successfully planting such a spy network, right before ordering the submarines to start causing havoc and chaos.
But that said, Trinitite was even LESS amused than they were at the interrupter.
"Abyssal submarine spy networks?!" their sister blinked from the back of the car she sat within, looking towards the spook woman in question as if she was an idiot. "As far as I know I am the first Abyssal to ever to penetrate your security and get onto American soil. And honestly, if some Princess was to send a spy, it sure as Deep wouldn't be an Abyssal Aircraft Carrier. Not like I did it, you know!"
Both sisters would soon learn the extent of the further damage done to their sister. NOTHING was going to be launched from her catapults before some drydock time was done here!
"Now shut up and stop interrupting us," the Wo-class practically commands, a fierce glare having gotten cast towards the sputtering woman before she had dismissed the fool. "I do not want to belabor the obvious with you anymore."
Both Firestorm and Hypocenter found themselves nodding in silent agreement with their sister here, as well as one other young woman that gave off the air of being some sort of shipgirl herself, somehow.
"I want them back," Trinitite says, firming up and repeating herself once back to staring at Smythe. She then begins to reach out to do something on her end of things."And I suggest you not try to stop me from doing that, humans."
And here it went, and it appeared they had little time left for "it"! Hypocenter had a few rational angles she's willing to try in order to sway Trin to their side of things. Firestorm had her own ideas (which were more emotionally based appeals that reflected her more passionate/hot-tempered state). Obviously, this was not to be an easy task, because Trin obviously thought that both Mother and their own rationality had been compromised by the humans.
But a much BETTER persuasive person stepped up to the bat before the sisters (or any of the humans) could. And when Mother speaks, the sisters were prone to stand back and listen!
"Trin!" Saratoga began, which naturally interrupted whatever exactly Trinitite was thinking of doing. "I'm here in Washington! We need to meet!!"
"Wha-at?" Trinitite blinked, not sure she'd heard correctly and having felt like she'd hit a reef. "How?!"
Both former Abyssal sisters already knew the answer to that question, but the man who'd stepped up to support their Mother while she had been weak in the knees confirmed that aloud. That and pretty much cemented the actual identity of the man; there were many human males named "Janson" out there the sisters believed.
"A very fast jetfighter brought about by one G*d d*mn question I just had to ask," muttered the marshal, looking rather perplexed as to why a question should have snowballed into this chaotic scene before him. Whatever the case, Firestorm couldn't help but notice that Trinitite was now is looking at him, having overheard that.
Janson Smythe appears to not be aware of how his voice seems to carry in that room, the fiery sister thinks to herself. The acoustics seem to be set up for it, somehow. The others back in Japan kept hearing various others whispering around the room despite them not being near any microphones.
Not that she was actually interested in merely eavesdropping on those others. Her business here was with three people as of this moment: Trinitite, Saratoga, and this man who's caught her and Hypocenter's attention.
Yes, she was willing to bet her new paycheck that THIS man was the one who had caused their Mother to be pulled back to America.
Hypocenter found herself nodding, actually glad to have guessed rightly. This had indeed been the marshal who'd asked a question leading to so much . . .excitment. Truly, she looked forward to chatting with the man if only to see what made him tick if one question should cause so much chaos!
"Wait!" Lt. Commander Dan Murray--a man who'd not made the best of impressions on both former Abyssals last time they'd met--waved to catch Trinitite's attention, and nicely cutting off whatever Mother would have said to their sister both sisters angrily observe. Who WAS this jerk?! Mother was handling their wayward sister, so why interrupt things?!
"We can arrange a meet,' the man desperately continued. " Make some kind of . . ."
"I . . . .might be willing to do that," their sister Trin managed, having glared at the US Navy officer all the while. "But not with you. I have had my fill of you even before I escaped from the Pacific Lilly."
"Not a fan of my ex-boyfriend eh?" Katie Harmon--an earlier overheard name muttered around the room over in America by only a few but the scorn has been very evident to the former Abyssals--chuckled softly over the cellphone. "Wow, we have an Abyssal of culture and good taste."
Both Firestorm and Hypocenter gave each other slightly confused looks before shrugging slightly and turning back to the scene playing out before them, not having wished to miss a single thing if their input should be needed. Yes, they knew what "friends" were and what "boys" were, but not exactly what the significance of putting both words together like that. Whatever the case, there seemed to be some bad blood between this woman and that man. Something that the shipgirls agreed with, Murrey had rubbed them the wrong way in the brief time they'd shared together earlier.
"I wish to do any future dealing with the Navy through 'the Cowboy'," Trinitite continued, gesturing towards the marshal --who had a nickname both sisters had no real idea meant but didn't particularly cared to learn of at the moment--in question. "He's been polite, for the most part!"
Yes! Yes, both sisters were really beginning to like how this was playing out here. While not done yet, at least Trin was willing to compromise here and not be committed blindly to "rescuing" both their Mother and them from the humans' clutches!
None of them wished to be "rescued", only to have had Trin try to get them back into the clutches of the Abyss in her misguided attempts to bring all of them back to reason!
Having ignored a human joke that the sisters found made no sense but not wishing to ask about, instead turned to the Admiral to ask about something else.
"He's concerned over a fleet mate's fate," Trinitite (of all people) admonishes the narcissistic PI. "Friends do that. Abyssals? Kanmusu? Humans? Oh, dare you to say differently?!"
"Good one Trin," Hypocenter nods slightly before cutting the mike and turning fully to the Admiral. "But that said, what's this about the 'Pacific Lilly'?"
The male officer gave a quick rundown of events since the sisters had been . . .indisposed since the Battle of the Bikini Atoll. Both sister's eyebrows raised higher and higher from the start of how Trinitite had hijacked the fishing trolley called the Pacific Lilly to manage to reach American soil to the raid of some supply depot called "Fred Meyers" to the problems the Americans had until now even being able to locate their sister!
Deep, their sister had been busy while both Firestorm and Hypocenter had been sunk!
A questioning look that the slightly overwhelmed marshal gives to those around finds almost everyone there gesturing that he was both authorized and GET TO IT! The only reason that those folk back in Japan are not doing the same was simply the fact they had no real say whether or not Smythe was authorized to negotiate with Trinitite, despite all there having wanted this business over and done within as quick (and positive) manner as feasible.
"I am . . .authorized to be able to do that," Janson conceded, having not been blind to all of the gesturing.
After a quick correction of what proper title and name to use between Marshal Smythe and Trinitite (which left the sisters nodding as there seemed to be less difference between humans and those who haled from the Abyssal fleet), there soon came something of a sticking point. Something about the amount of the "signing bonus" that Trinitite seemed to be DEAD set upon getting before agreeing to sign with the US Navy.
No, Trinitite had not lost her mind and somehow had forgotten the fact that their Mother had been betrayed by the Firebringers. Trin's sharing of Saratoga's revelation of humans being how blind to the metaphysical had been quite a shock to both Firestorm and Hypocenter.
The Japanese Admiral having added it would have meant sheer insanity to have done what had inadvertently been done back decades ago. No, human beings had no idea that ships had spirits like human beings. Much less than said ship spirits would return in vengeance to wage war upon humans decades later as what had happened with the Abyssal War. Honestly, if it had not been for the Kanmusu coming back to defend the unprepared populations, then the Abyssal War would have been even MORE bloody. As in bloody in the sense that "the Fire" might have made the scene kind of bloody, which caused all sorts of shuddering for those from the former Crossroad Fleet. Especially when Trinitite shared with her sisters what the "Fire" actually was and had been used for near the end of World War 2.
AS an aside, this cleared up for the Kanmusu-ized sisters just why their Mother had stayed with the US Navy so opted in joining the Americans as well. If only to be able to stay close to her, really this.
And also as an aside (and quiet behind Saratoga's and the other's from the Crossroad Fleet), the military high command in America agreed that it was the best way to keep both Trinitite and her sisters UNDER CONTROL after the chaos of what Trinitite alone had done earlier here. That and the fact that Saratoga had gone full Momboat on them over her daughters here was not lost to them; she acted in such manners when meeting other Essex-class shipgirls (her daughters) but THIS was . . .something entirely different. Now worrying different but until Firestorm and the rest of the shipgirls here matured some the high command felt it was best to have them all together anyway until that time, if even then.
Frankly, some in the US military had been playing with the option of just shuffling the lot of them off onto the Canadians with THEIR Navy and be DONE with it!! That Canadian Admiral had shown interest, after all, and actually (through Dr. Takahashi) made overtures to both former Abyssal shipgirls on joining his Navy!
That was something to be addressed at a later date, but that said it was to be done AT A LATER DATE!! Not now, while they had not yet gotten Trinitite Out of their hair and under their thumb!
...
Also as an aside when Firestorm and Hypocenter had shared their experience with the Abyss during a lull in negotiations? Well...
Flashback....
"What do you mean the Abyss threaten you?" Trinitite blinked, having trouble believing her own ears. "That and having 'marked' you as Traitors to Abyssal kind forever? For answering our Princess' Summons just because she is a Kanmusu? What?!"
"The Abyss . . .talked with you?" Smythe blinked himself, not sure he'd heard correctly. "Uh . . .pardon, but it had been thought that the 'Abyss' was some kind of . . .shadowy version of the Admiralty of a nation. That or some kind of cabal of high-ranking Abyssals, like say a Queen or Empress even. Not . . .something like some kind of Eldritch Abomination with delusions of godhood."
"Sounds almost like Khorne the Blood God from that game I played off and on on my downtime: Warhammer 40K," muttered Trinitite, really disturbed at this revelation. The only word she and her sisters had gotten from the Abyss had ever been to Report to their Princess when first Summoned years ago. And that order had been very . . .impersonal at the time. "She hadn't said anything like 'Blood for the Blood God and Skulls for the Skull Throne' but still!"
Various human beings who'd just witnessed an Abyssal confessing to playing that popular tabletop Game from England's Game Workshop were taken aback by the idea. Then again, the surprise was rather mute after everything else with Trinitite.
Hey, even an Abyssal needed a hobby, right?
"Trinitite~," Saratoga said softly, not liking the sound of the kind of games her daughter had been playing. "What's Warhammer 40k?"
Trinitite reassured her Princess that Warhammer 40k was merely some tabletop strategy game and not some kind of dark ritual one would find performed on humans like some Abyssal Princesses had been rumored to perform. That was reassuring to her mother, at least.
As for Trin's sisters? Firestorm and Hypocenter had no idea what Warhammer 40k was, but the part about it being a strategic wargame simulator wasn't too far out there. True, the games the sisters had played amongst themselves was nothing like the grim and dark stuff found in Trinitite's new favorite past time (much less what they'd learned about her favorite faction: the Tyranid), but it sounded . . .interesting.
Interest in Trinitite's new past time was shelved, however when they'd gotten back to the part about how badly the Abyss had treated her sisters and her Mother had left Trinitite almost beside herself in RAGE. The hesitant revelations of the how Saratoga's mind had been twisted into thinking that . . .
Well, it all left Trinitite in a rage so let us leave at that!
Meanwhile, the humans back in America who'd overheard the conversation had been alarmed about what the Abyss actually appeared to be. Mutterings about how to handle something like THAT were heard, but the Japanese Admiral had assured those present that this information had been passed along to the various higher-ups in the allied military . . .and was NOT something to be sidetracked with here and now. He was rather tired of negotiations having taken THIS long and really wanted it done.
END of flashback...
After mutters of horror from various Army Ranger officers having learned that recon techniques some of THEM had taught and left videos of at Youtube had been utilized by Trin's Marines in order to spy upon those like Shangri La, the business of ONE particular thing finally commenced.
And it had been a LONG, tedious thing. Trin just had NOT been willing to be swayed. Everything else? Had been quick and painless. She really wanted to be with her Mother again.
Smythe had been more than willing to just GIVE Trin the bonus, but somehow some tightwads higher up in the Navy chain wanted to be difficult.
Sighing, he concentrated on the positive by listing out the terms agreed upon thus far, if only for the record.
NOT that these records would ever see the light of day again if the spooks had their way. He wasn't going to breathe a word of this, even IF his inner fanboy having been involved with so much Kanmusu business that he was still giddy to this day. He wasn't an idiot.
" . . .And you agree that you're amenable to the idea of utilizing the repair bucket NOT only to fix the damage that had been done to you and your rigging instead of using a Repair Dock here in Seattle," US Marshal Smythe summarized while giving the unrepentant Abyssal a look. "Being a quicker solution to fixing your lingering injuries, said 'bucket' will also permanently alter your rigging to be in line with what your sisters are sporting."
It had something to do with utilizing a misconception inadvertently unleashed within the worldwide R&D community looking into all things Abyssal; namely from the realm of DARPA. This had happened well before the Japanese Admiral had thought to even ORDER Dr. Takahashi to not share anything about the REAL nature of Firestorm and Hypocenter. The order given, Dr. Takahashi had been more than happy to oblige. He saw no need for any fiends out there to get into their microscopic minds that doing vivisections on the Kanmusu-ized sisters was a good idea, even IF it was in the name of SCIENCE!
Some things were beneath contempt.
Ah, but what had been the nature of the misconception going about the R&D circles (by way of DARPA)? Whelp, it had to do with the rather Wo-class style of rigging the Kanmusu-ized got passed around when Houshou had put out requests for a specialist who could handle memory issued caused by "rough" Accidental Summonings. It was too close to various experiments which (you guessed it) involved mobile Summoning Pools on ships. Yep, it involved that drek! In this case, the fact that there happened to be TWO living Kanmusu with decidedly Wo-class twists in their rigging had been pretty damning. In prior attempts of that one quack in DARPA who'd had the good taste to die in an Abyssal torpedo attack (long story), the resulting summons had pulled forth DEAD shipgirls who . . . .looked kinda Kanmusu-ish, but with VERY Abyssal twists to them. The fact that Dr. Takahashi had been tapped to tackle Firestorm's and Hypocenter's problems had raised the hackles of some out in the community, but after failure after failure pride was swallowed and Takashashi was contacted.
THIS is why there had been calls from DARPA to speak with both Firestorm and Hypocenter, by the way in case you hadn't guessed. If not, there you go!
If this accidental Summoning at a regular (land-based) Kanmusu Summoning Pool could be studied enough, then the data could be utilized for the failed DARPA attempt.
Dr. Takahashi knew the truth, but had his own ideas on how to make DARPA's failed project a success but saw the merit of this cover story.
Hey, if it worked then lives saved! Then the war effort he'd been trying so hard to aid would be realized!
And he would have SHOWN THEM ALL!!
...
The fact that the torpedoing of the nameless quake's Summoning Pool ship was . . .BARELY within range of the course distance-wise and TIME-wise to that course that Trin took from the Bikini Atoll to Washington state was just . . .gravy.
The cover story from this misunderstanding would cover both Kanmusu-ized, and now Trinitite with her rigging (at least) getting "Kanmusu-ized" by the repair bucket.
....
Yes! The fact that repair buckets (as well as the local Kanmusu repair bays or whatever they're actually called in Kancolle) can change an Abyssals Rigging (and general appearance sometimes) into something more in line with the appearance of a Kanmusu is known to DARPA. Mad lads there conducted experiments on dead Abyssals which said as much, but the estimated damage it would do to any life subject was guaranteed to kill all but the hardiest of Abyssal. On dead Abyssals it left the results a twisted . . .mess and leave at that.
Just as well, the project here with the repair buckets and Abyssals had been some mad idea of a program to go out and capture live Abyssals (as if such was possible) and use mind control/brainwashing to have a fighting force for humanity. Honestly, that is just about as stupid as using mind-controlled Xeno-morphs (those nasty monsters from Aliens) in combat. IN other words, it would have been a disaster in the making and the project got shut down hard before it had gone too far.
All those fiddly extra details were told to Firestorm and Hypocenter (and the reasoning behind them), if only to keep them in the loop. Some of the science behind it hadn't been understood by the sisters, but they'd been thankful to at least be included (if only for the benefit of being able to keep their facts straight).
OH? What about the signing bonus for Trin? Why the bonus?
...
In case you missed it in the other story with Trin, it was an effort to satisfy her debt of honor to Elizabeth the Night Manager of Fred Meyers (back in Shelton, WA). She got the bonus, and it got sent Elizabeth's way.
And the JAGs and the Fred Meyers' lawyers had a fine day in court, but that was another story and one that Trin really didn't care about. Her sense of duty satisfied (if albeit by Abyssal standards), she was done with it.
Later. . .
After a "swearing-in" ceremony back in Japan for the Kanmusu-ized sisters with the shipgirl USS Enterprise as the US official swearing the sisters into the US Navy as the official swearing-in the sisters with a bunch of their new IJN shipgirl friends as a witness.
That done and a small party had by all, the Kanmusu-ized sisters were back in a teleconference with Trinitite and Saratoga.
After getting her rigging Kanmusu-ized (and marked herself as Traitor to Abyssal kind by a very PISSED OFF Abyss), both daughter and Saratoga had gone into the base proper. Paperwork was signed and the USS Trinitite of the US Navy was sworn into the fold (as an officer). A tearful and joyous USS Saratoga had been the one to swear in Trin, and a somewhat still tired US Marshal had been witness to the ceremony.
After having thanked Trin for the needed coffee (and the small breakfast of ham and eggs as an added gift), the man had made his way back to an office to slay a most fierce and evil enemy: paperwork!
There would have been a mountain or two of paperwork both Saratoga and Trin would have had to fill out, but . . .Trin had been smart enough to negotiate that away. Heh, she'd been in the human world long enough to know how annoying THAT evil stuff could be so took advantage of her position where she could, being NO fool! Just had to worry about some rather now cross officials being tasked to take care of it in their steed, that was all. Not her problem, if the fools should try to take revenge on her later.
That would end poorly, for the humans if they were fool enough to attack a shipgirl.
Trinitite and Saratoga had contacted both sisters back in Japan to update each other on the latest (all over secure teleconference). Some of the things discussed were NOT for the ears of those not in the need to know (or with sufficient security clearance). The meeting had gone on for a while but ended with a promise by the Kanmusu-ized sisters to check in with Dr. Takahashi over the results of his latest experiment.
On their end of things over in the US, the word was it had been a success and DARPA was about ready to give Takahashi their firstborn children over the results.
YES, the results were in and their cover story looked to be a viable thing!
But the sisters and Saratoga were interested in the fine details. Like exactly WHAT had come back from the former Abyssal Crane Princess fleet.
But when they found Dr. Takahashi and the gang?
"I'll miss Mr. Tails but . . .I got back my Mommy and Mommy LOVES ME!!" a rather hyperactive battleship (with rigging that looked rather . . .toothy in places) chattered away, hugging a rather frazzled looking but happy Zuikaku!
The unnamed battleship doesn't have glowing purple eyes, nor does she have the psycho happy smile of one, but . . .
"Re-class?" Hypocenter whispered, somewhat aghast at this development.
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Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's Making of New Friends
Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's Making of New Friends
Chapter 6: Re-turning and Once More Unto the Breach
"Re-class?" Hypocenter whispered, somewhat aghast at this development.
She frowned slightly. Re-class or not there had to be SOMETHING good going on here if she'd come, right? After all, having come in defiance of the Abyss Herself to be at her Princess's side? She'd at least give this new shipgirl . . .a wary chance.
Meanwhile, Both battleship shipgirls and Dr. Takahashi had noded an affirmation while Zuikaku and Re-13--the former Re-class's "name" which was actually the hull designation for which the Crane Princess had never bothered to go beyond for identification purpose--were too lost in each other in mother/daughter bonding to answer anything at the moment.
In their first life, Hypocenter and her sisters had been somewhat dismissive of the Re-class, having never really done surface combat until the Battle of Bikini. That and having a somewhat isolationist Princess, which had cut down on too much interaction with other Abyssal Fleets beyond the occasional escort mission had fostered that dismissive opinion. Now, after having talked with the Kanmusu Battleships who happened to actually had experience with surface combat; surface combat with a number of the Re-class? Well, while the sisters still thought that the Re shipgirls had been prone to preen under attention, at least their combat effectiveness wasn't an EMPTY brag if both Yamato and Musashi (who'd become fast friends with the former Abyssal shipgirls), were to be believed. Both Firestorm and Hypocenter respected the battleships' opinion on such matters . . .so, of course, were a touch leery of the former Re-class in their midst. Not because they feared that this unnamed former Re shipgirl (who looked disturbingly similar to Musashi for whatever reason) would turn traitor. Rather, they were leary because if anything else there had been ONE thing to be wary of the Re-class; they were nuttier than squirrel sh*t.
Not that the two sisters still knew what a squirrel happened to BE, but it gets the general idea across on how insane and unpredictable a Re-class shipgirls would usually behave.
Dr. Takahashi and the Battleship shipgirls not involved in hugging each other nod an affirmative, lost in the moment.
Yamato tries not to stare at the untypical behavior that the usually fiery aircraft carrier was displaying. Acting like a caring and even doting mother was something that Yamato never expected of Zuikaku. She had gone . . .full momboat here and there was no indication of when or IF she'd ever snap out of it fully. Oh, Yamato expected the aircraft carrier to be able to continue to do her duty, but . . .there was going to be the momboat factor here.
Re-13 was sure eating it up, almost starving for her mother's . . .
Oh, she realized she should have known from the very start! Did not her new friends Firestorm and Hypocenter say that Fodd . . .pardon! . . .Common Abyssals were made to Report to their Princess to LOVE and OBEY them? The battleship shipgirl was not certain if this was supposed to be something akin to the instinct for biological origins (in as far as Abyssals or shipgirls had such things) or if it . . .had been engraved into their very Souls by the Abyss to be that way; either option was disturbing for various reasons to Yamato. And that cast a whole new and disturbing light on Common Abyssal behavior which left a bad taste in her mouth, but what for it was there?!
But that said, this explained everything about Re-13's behavior! She had been starved for her Princess' love, always trying to obtain something that Zuikaku had revealed (with more than a bit of disgust at her former self) could never and WOULD never be capable of providing to her . . .daughters whilst the Crane Princess: love. No matter how hard they tried to gain it, it would never happen since she'd been narcissistic (amongst other things) to be capable of such. The Crane Princess had seen the Common Abyssals under her as mere assets, and this misconception had carried over into her new life as Zuikaku with how it had led to all sorts of confusion and misconceptions when a certain Abyssal from the Bikini Atoll (a "cruiser" which turned out to actually be a Wo-class aircraft carrier named Trinitite) had hijacked a fishing boat.
Houshou had briefed the aircraft carrier before Yamato and her sister had swung by to meet with Dr. Takahashi at the Summoning Pool. There had been a very tense air about the aircraft carrier, but she'd refused to discuss what had been revealed during her briefing nor her feelings about the matter. But being that both Yamato and her sister battleship had been "written into the program" of secrecy surrounding Dr. Takahashi and his connection to what had brought about the accidental Summoning of the former Abyssal aircraft carriers. About how Saratoga (who'd been Jellyfish when bringing both carriers to the land of the living) had summoned the two sisters forth after an upsetting phone call from some wayward daughter in the US called Trinitite. Not all details surrounding this affair were known to the battleships, but they DID know from THEIR briefing that the Admiral wished for Dr. Takahashi to attempt to recreate the conditions which had produced Firestorm and Hypocenter coming forth from their Summoning Pool. Since Saratoga was stuck in America for an unknown amount of time, apparently the option of using the only other former Abyssal Princess available: Zuikaku. Of course, Zuikaku was less than pleased with the idea since she'd thought common Abyssals as mere machines of hatred and destruction, not people (as it had so very much turned out with the former Abyssal sisters coming around).
Zuikaku was no longer that monster known as the Crane Princess and wished nothing to do with that dark past. She especially didn't want to think that those who'd she had sent to fight in her name whilst the Princess had been in effect her children, even IF she'd not been in her right mind at the time. But something changed between the time of pick up from Houshou's office to escort to the Summoning Pool; the aircraft carrier's angry muttering had been growing more and more something akin to denial touched with . . .something else. Regret. Longing maybe. Something had planted a seed within her heart for whatever reasons.
During the experiment where she was attempting to somehow reach forth and call one of her former fleet members back from the limbo they'd been sent when sunk, a single tear had fallen. A single whispered "please" and "love you, please!" had been heard by both battleships while Dr. Takahashi had been finishing up with recording readings from whatever gizmo he'd set up for this operation. Until then? It had pretty much looked like a flop.
Then? Things went . . .sideways. The initial "donation" corpse body for this Summoning had been that of an American destroyer known as Fletcher. She was a shipgirl who'd been sunk for a while now and as of yet . . .had not returned to be re-Summoned, mostly due to the bottleneck presented to the fall of Pearl. Dr. Takahashi's job at the Department he'd been shuffled away from the light of day for the LONGEST time had access to her (and so many MORE) corpses for R&D purposes. Of course, the doctor had stated that it mattered really NOT what the original ship class the former owner had been, this Summoning process had the potential to transmute the donor corpse into whatever ship class the new owner had been in their "first life". BUT most likely the result was to be a destroyer shipgirl, it should be stated. And that should make defeating or restraining the summoned shipgirl easier for two battleship shipgirls, in theory.
In reality? What had come practically JUMPING out of the Pool after the donor body had evaporated had NOT been a destroyer at all!
The aircraft carrier who'd summon this newcomer recognized her instantly, despite having no thoughts of her beforehand. The memory had just "bubbled up" from her time as the Crane Princess. They had Summoned a shipgirl who'd been a Re-class battleship, and one who'd been one of her inner circle/chief enforcers within her own fleet: if albeit a bit more on the wild (insane) side than comfortable at times. More on that in a bit, . As whatever power had hit the poor shipgirl had caused her to shriek so upon exiting the Pool, it had left definite changes from how she had appeared in her "first life", Indeed, the tail that had been graced with that signature toothy ship prow had shrunken and been absorbed into her body right before her emergence; marking the completion of her transformation into a Yamato class shipgirl, and what that meant for the former Re was not only the big turrets (and other big . . .large features that denoted a "healthy" shipgirl of her stature but also her skin tone had darkened and tanned rather to something just slightly paler to what Mushashi sported.
Now a Yamato-class battleship (with decidedly Abyssal stylings such as teeth like structures here and there in her rigging), the new shipgirl had looked up at the carrier shipgirl.
"Mommy?" the former Re whispered, before shouting in joy and tackle hugging the gobsmacked shipgirl in question. Then shuddering, she started to cry. "MOMMY! Mommy! Mommy!"
Wind knocked out of her, Zuikaku never the less reached out and returned the hug while feeling her heart . . .melt.
"Beloved," she whispered, beginning to cry herself despite herself.
The former Re-class had her Princess/Mother back AND had gained something that she'd been willing to DIE for to get: confirmation of her being loved; a universal story if albeit a somewhat tragic one for the fodder Abyssals for their Princess.
And for Zuikaku? Well, she found she had gained a daughter and her HEART wasn't going to let her do anything else but love being Mother (and Princess) for her newly regained daughter. Ever. Oh, it's not due to outside things forcing this love. It is due to how come the re-Summoning being able to call forth their old Fleet. Love would later prove to not be needed to summon a non-Fleet member to the side of a former Princess (or other Summoner later on). With the former Princess calling forth old Abyssal fleet members? Yep, It would not work unless they were sincere in their desires and their desires had to have love present..
. . .
How GOOD of mother the Summoner would turn out to be was a different story, especially for those with no initial emotional investment in the Summoned (which should be added including the "newly minted" former Abyssals of no prior Fleet). But those are other tales, some of which are rather tragic...
Ah, and if you should object? Well, it's kind of part and parcel of how Kanmusu ARE on a spiritual level. They are the personification of warships who've returned to protect humanity. To serve in their nation's Navy. There just were not any Kanmusu shipgirls out there who opted out of fighting in the Abyssal War, it was unthinkable to them to do otherwise. They COULD, but . . .their heart just wasn't in it to do anything else. IT just felt too . . . good.
So later, when everyone eventually gets themselves settled and sorted out. The former Re-class kept finding herself nodding off, rather tired from the process of her return. However, both former Wo-class Abyssal did have to admit . . .that Re-13 (the name that Zuikaku had been very fond in introducing her with to the sisters before admitting an actual NAME beyond a mere hull designation like that was coming soon since the poor dear deserved at least that much).... Well, Re-13 was much calmer and . . . .er . . . SANE than any other Re they'd ever met before.
Talking with Dr. Takahashi later about it in private had brought up issues with "bad wiring" in the bridge equipment of every Re-class the doctor had been the probable cause of their erratic behavior. That had left both former Wo-class shipgirls feeling a bit stupid, realizing that their fleetmate/sisters of the I-class had suffered under similar issues.
While somewhat less erratic and hyper-focused upon "defend the aircraft carrier sister!" with their Rigging summoned (as well as definitely appearing less "human" with Rigging engaged), the poor I-class shipgirls were . . .prone to erratic behavior which was a bit offputting at times back home off duty while at the Atoll.
So anyway, later in a side room where private (and proper "high security") discussions could be had near the Summoning Pool...
"Indeed," Zuikaku answered Re-13, stroking her hair as she laid her head in the aircraft carrier's lap. "You were so brave to come back to me despite that meany Abyss leaving warning signs and wards to block you! Now just close your eyes my brave battleship! You need your rest and we'll then discuss . . .other things like real names and getting your memory sorted out here really soon."
"Okay Mommy," whispered the former Re-class, closing her eyes. Soon, soft snoring could be heard from the battleship girl which made for an almost comical sight but not . . .really.
"Now," the aircraft carrier shipgirl said in a soft and gentle voice so as to not awaken the tuckered out battleship. "Back to what you asked about my child? You said you did not remember her from the very last time you saw . . . my former self, the Crane Princess visited your island? Simply put, I had not Summoned her at that time."
She frowned in consternation, remembering the Crane Princess only having been only slightly satisfied with her daughter's emergence from the Summoning Pool. She had practically begged the Abyss for other shipgirl types, mostly aircraft carriers. The Abyss instead kept giving her battleship after battleship. But at least with Re-13 the Crane Princess--her former self--had a battleship . . .that could launch planes due to being an "Abyssal Aviation Battleship". Not up to her taste as what an aircraft carrier shipgirl would have been, but better by far than a simple battleship. So instead of merely shuffling her to fight on the front lines without adequate training, she'd been provided . . .a mediocre training program instead.
But as things turned out, that alone had not been enough to prevent Re-13 from capturing her attention (and favor) later.
It had been yet another visit to some upstart Princess--the Armored Carrier Princess to be exact-- who'd snubbed participating in yet another "brilliant" plan to strike back at the humans and their "traitor" shipgirls. This time around during the visit, the bint had the audacity of actually TOSSING a depth charge into her face!
Yes! There is your example of who might have at least started rumor of Princesses tossing depth charges at those who'd annoyed them. But if nothing else, this particular bint had been nice enough to remove herself from the playing field by this rather idiotic act!
Not a single shipgirl of that upstart's fleet survived, but the honor for having SUNK that bint? Well . . .
"Ding-dong the B*tch is dead!~" sang Re-13, holding onto what was left of the Armored Carrier Princess' head by one of her remaining braids as what was left of the rest of her sank beneath the waves. "Ding-dong, the B*tch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked B*tch! Ding-dong, the wicked B*tch is dead! Wake up, you sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed! Wake up, the wicked B*tch is dead!"
The Abyssal Crane Princess looked upon the work that her grievously injured daughter had accomplished despite the odds and smiled. Battleship or not, the Princess found her worthy so did not include her in the next batch of unwanted battleship girls to be traded with a Fleet with the shipgirls she wanted.
Instead, after having the Re-class visit the Repair Berth for healing, she was promoted to the Crane Princess's Elite Guard (for want of a better term). While shown favor, despite her tendency to rhyme her words for "added alliterative appeal" the Crane Princess . . .
"The poor dear tried to earn the very thing I only now gave her after she had sunk trying to protect her Princess," Zuikaku said softly, almost HISSING the last part with more than a bit of venom. "Only after coming back Re-Summoned could she . . . !"
The aircraft carrier stoppped a look of shame in her eyes.
"I . . .I came here to prove that my . . .children weren't . . .That I didn't love them," she whispered. "That I couldn't love them because they couldn't love."
Both Hypocenter and Firestorm refrain from mentioning anything about Zuikaku MUST have learned from Houshou about Trinitite since that last time the aircraft carrier shipgirl had been consulted. Which as it turned out, that would happen to have been back during the Pacific Lilly hijacking with that Abyssal "cruiser". Zuikaku had been out of the loop for a LONG time, as you might have guessed.
...
It took Firestorm a bit more effort to curb her tongue, by the way. But she had been able to manage it. Anything acerbic she would have said would be not only ill-advised but ill-earned on this target. Whoever Zuikaku was NOW, was not the Crane Princess that had darkened their old home back on the Atoll.
THIS person before them was a sihpgirl they'd be proud to call a friend. That and she was going to make a splendid Princess . . .for the rest of her life.
Ah, perhaps that sounded a bit sinister? More in that in a bit, but . . .nothing "sinister" is in play here.
. . .
"But here we are," the aircraft carrier shipgirl finished, looking slightly befuddled look at a certain battleship who was gently snoring. "I am . . .a Princess/Mother! But . . .I want more. I want all my daughters back."
Both Yamato and Mushashi glanced at each other in concern, and then at the aircraft carrier. That . . .was easier said than done. How much time had passed since the former Abyssal Crane Princess had been redeemed? How many of her daughters were still in that . . .Limbo wherever fodder Abyssals go before getting recalled back to service? How many were out in other Fleets, serving under new Princesses right now?!
How many would they have to fight and perhaps sink? Would those sunk be willing to answer their friend's call to be at her side in such a case?
And one really ODD question seemed to be going through both battleship shipgirl minds: if another Abyssal Princess gets redeemed, could they come looking for Zuikaku to claim paternity over reclaimed daughters? Would it result in dual parental custody or . . .
. . . .
No, both battleship sisters looked at each other and seemed to come to the same conclusion without speaking it aloud. Best to leave such matters for the future, for that was something they knew too little about right now to make such calls upon! Let the future take care of itself, right now the PRESENT was confusing enough as it stood!
"And what kind of mother am I going to be!?" she continues, looking a bit frantic as she looked around at all the other (awake) people in the room. That . . .was a good question. "I did not wake up this morning thinking this would happen! I don't know . . .how to be one."
"Ah . . .perhaps you could ask Houshou or our mother for tips?" Firestorm blurted out, after giving Hypocenter a quick glance. "Both are rather good at such things, I'd dare say."
"Especially Mother but Houshou is not unskilled," Hypocenter murmured, well being able to remember that . . .misunderstanding from earlier.
"That . . .might work," Zuikaku blinked, suddenly having a hopeful look on her face.
Later . . .
"Oh DEEP!" muttered Aki (the now properly named shipgirl). "Mommy, if I EVER think that doing rhyming . . .that 'added alliterative appeal' ALL the TIME is actually appealing and not just plain terrifying! . . .Pleas sink me because that'll mean I'm too stupid to live!"
The Deep Hypnosis session had done wonders for firming up Aki's memories (and stopped her from being as easily mislead), but some of the memories of her "first life" had been less than welcome.
The Abyss really hadn't done a good job with the Re-class in some regards. Emotional and psychological stability was being the top contender for LOWEST priority. It must have opted instead for firepower and raw fighting prowess by the look of things, looking back.
"Ah! No talk like that Aki," Zuikaku admonished. "It wasn't . . .too offputting. Just concentrate that talent of yours in regular poetry. You have a talent for it! You'll do great!"
Yeah, in some things the Japanese aircraft carrier had some old tastes in entertainment if that was not obvious; Not like there was a lot of more "modern" entertainment back at their old home base when she'd been stuck as the Crane Princess!
Oh, there had been that battery-powered DVD player with the DVD of "The Wizard of Oz" stuck inside. The one that Aki and the other Re-class shipgirls in their "first life" had found endlessly entertaining and had played repeatedly until the player had broke (much to their dismay)....
"Well. . . .I'll still just avoid it in regular speech," Aki shuddered. "Creepy."
Hugging and soon parting ways, the former Wo-class chatted away to the gunnery range to get their fairies up to snuff with their targeting. Then the aircrew had to learn how to properly fly their planes.
LOTS of things to get their runts back up to snuff before their Princess (a term that they all had agreed to only use while in a private setting to avoid . . .awkward questions for those not in the know) and Trinitite finally do manage to get back over here to Japan!
They were both coming over to Japan by jet, but not a jet fighter. After everything was said and done, both sisters could understand the lack of a rush for the Power that Be to bring their Mother back in a more swift manner.
Much later . . .
Years passed. The Abyssal War raged on, and three former Wo-class shipgirls (as well as the rest of the former Crossroad Fleet) quite a name for themselves in the news for their heroics. For their fierceness against the forces of the Abyss...
It was still a long and harsh war. One which demanded a lot, and one which demanded changes to keep ahead of the Enemy. Or to keep MOVING at all, near the end of it.
Ah, it has to do with the fact that "Peak Oil" had been reached and passed. . . . but certain strides in the production of energy (and miniaturization due to certain DARPA projects natch) led to this.
But it also leads to an enraged Abyss to escalate dangerously before the end . . .
"Okay . . .so you're an Abyssal Submarine Princess . . .by the name of Georgia?" Firestorm begins, looking at the smiling Ohio class submarine girl. "And the Abyss wanted you to use Tomahawks--which are nuclear-tipped I may add--to scorch the 'land apes' for their insolence?!"
"Hey!" the odd nuclear submarine protested waving her arms. "It isn't like any of us Ohios or the Typhoon class shipgirls were DOWN with that crazy shit!! But might I add. . ."
Not everyone had escaped the island that these Boomer submarines had been Summoned from, and there had been talking about "brainwashing" and "torture" to get the "uppity" ones onboard...
Author's Note: Okay! I freely admit that an Omake of an Omake is . . .odd, but I had an itch I just HAD to scratch! Anyway, some of this is taken directly from Jessetheswift's omake "40k Crossover VI: The Truth Revealed!"
Chapter 1: It's Deja Vu All Over Again!!
Not everyone had escaped the island that these Boomer submarines had been Summoned from, and there had been talking about "brainwashing" and "torture" to get the "uppity" ones onboard...
And when the name of the island where the Boomer subs are being imprisoned is mentioned, nobody was particularly HAPPY about it.
"Are you serious?" Firestorm blinked. "The Abyss has Her last trump card imprisoned . . ."
She just looks in askance at her sisters (not just the former Wo-class shipgirls) of the former Crossroad Fleet and shakes her head, stunned at the sick irony.
"What?" Georgia asked, perplexed. Yes, imprisoning nuclear submarine shipgirls on that place was ironic, but still! "I know that some nukes were tested there and around there in the '40s and '50s but. . . ."
"Operation Crossroads was conducted there," Saratoga said, shaking her head sadly. "At the Bikini Atoll, two atomic devices were tested. And while still a steel hull I sank there due to damage received from the second bomb. And returned as an Abyssal Princess, the Jellyfish. An Abyssal Princess who had been gifted the powers of the Abyss as a Princess, but had been so broken by what the Abyss had done to her mind and heart in the 'gifting' process that my former self . . .could never move on from where my steel hull had sunk. At least until a band of brave heroes came and brought me back to my senses, but that is a LONG and detailed story for later, dear."
"Ah my Gawd," Georgia blanches, reaching over and giving Saratoga a hug. "I-I didn't know! But it wasn't like I wanted . . . That's sick!"
Various muttered agreements and vile curses directed at the Abyss Itself could be heard by a distressed Georgia, what little humor she'd been harboring since escaping the Abyss's clutches drying up. At least for now, anyway.
Yes, the usually humorous sub felt that some tact was called for here, at least for now. Or at least she'd best be careful about the humor she uses with this group...
Not that she'd been in much of a joking mood, still rather PISSED at how she and her sister Ohio-class shipgirls --a feeling of sorority still surprising her in its intensity considering that she'd not even known her own name and had the oddest memories of being human before this--had been treated by this Abyss b*tch.
The eldritch monster had been almost beside itself due to the fact that whatever attempts of modification of mind and hearts beforehand on Georgia and the other Submarine Princesses had failed . . .miserably. Something about being a rush job on a style of shipgirl the Abyss hadn't done enough homework on beforehand or some such.
Georgia's heart bled for the Abyss!! Truly, a tragedy of the ages there, It's a failure!
The Russian Typhoons were even MORE livid if that was to be believed. The only reason why nobody had launched nukes at that island in spite of their escape had been because of the family left behind!
But anyway...
"The Abyss has a sick sense of humor," Saratoga sighed, shaking her head after reassuring Georgia that she understood that. "We all know that here in this Fleet especially for . . . Well, it's part of that long story we'll tell you later about."
Georgia and her family had been part of a major push towards bringing an END to this accursed Abyssal War. They had been combing the various islands found in the Marshal Island group but had been finding either empty bases . . .or traps.
"And we are heading back to the one island where our Princess and the rest of us least wanted to visit," Trinitite sighed. "But we'd best at least want to get on the horn and let Command know about this . . .development PDQ! And maybe Rear Admiral Zuikaku and her Fleet can give input on this as well."
Left unsaid was whether or not Admiral Zuikaku had found corroborating evidence to support the Ohio-class shipgirl's tale, or if the poor dear had been hoodwinked by the Abyss to lead them all into (yet) another deadly trap.
Traps, that had been getting old for a while now...
Later . . .or . . .earlier . . . Elsewhere/when
Trinitite just nodded woodenly, mortified that she'd mouthed off to a Princess.
"Ah, calm down you two, so, where did you say that you were staying?" Chitose asked.
"It's just down this road, on the right," the car slid into the apartment parking lot in silence, it wasn't until the Japanese woman had set the breaks that Georgia spoke up.
"So, she's cool, right?" The Submarine asked. Trinitite looked at the Seaplane Tender, who put her arm over her seat as she twisted around to look at her, they shared a long look into each other's eyes, and while she probably out-displaced the Japanese vessel by a fair margin, Tinitite felt like she was under the appraising eye of a Hime, deciding whether or not it was worth Jelly's anger and lack of services to sink her for some slight.
...
"Hmm, I think so, yes."
Trinitite sagged in relief.
"She's in Japan."
Trinitite un-sagged.
"WHAT!?"
Knock-Knock!
All the shipgirls jump slightly at the sound of somebody knocking on the side window of their car. The sight of some other shipgirl (an Essex-class) gives Trinitite the scare of her life, even IF some of that Rigging has some comforting and oddly familiar features. But when she gets a better view of the unexpected shipgirl's face as she steps into a better patch of light from a streetlight . . .
"Oh thank God!" Hypocenter muttered, looking at the gobsmacked shipgirls within the classicly styled retro-car (with realistic internal combustion exhaust from the decorative tailpipe). Those kinds of cars had been making a comeback with the nostalgic, but she'd never seen the appeal. "You're alive and you found Shortstack there!"
The shyer of the three shipgirl sisters of the former Jellyfish's Fleet thanked God that they'd survived that bloody battle there. With the Abyss Herself barging Its unwanted way into Earth's reality, Georgia had made the right call in launching a Mark48 ADCAP at the Summoning Pool, despite the damn thing being nuclear-tipped like EVERYTHING ELSE the poor submarine shipgirl had in her weapon's inventory!
The explosion hadn't been "nuclear" in nature, but something ELSE. Something decidedly . . .eldritch naturally. A green light/not light smelling of sulfur? A bitter taste of color pink? The sound of light? These and many MORE borked up senses the entire Fleet had felt before finding themselves HERE, somehow!
Thoughts as to why Trinitite had for whatever reason opted on going around in her "human camouflage" getup could wait. After they get the others on the Coms and a rendezvous point set up (somewhere in Seattle?!), then questions like that . . .
"Hypocenter!?" Trinitite whispered, shocked almost to mute silence before almost ripping off the door in her attempt to get out.
Questions as to why her sister should be looking like she does (like why she has light lavender hair and other decidedly NON- Abyssal features), THAT can wait!
Her sister was back!
"Hypocenter!" the Wo-class whispered, crying as she hugged the now slightly befuddled sister shipgirl. "You're back. You're back!!"
"What . . .is going on here?" Georgia blinked, not exactly sure what to make of this. She could be in SO much trouble right now! But . . .was not 'Hypocenter' the name of Trinitite's dead Wo-class sister back from the Atoll?
That meant that THIS couldn't be Hypocenter, since Fodder Abyssals . . . cannot be re-Summoned!
But that confusion for both Georgia and the others still inside the car increases when various OTHER shipgirls suddenly make the scene, crowding around the two aircraft carrier sisters hugging outside. Including . . .
"What the Hell?" USS Trinitite blinked, looking at a Wo-class shipgirl double in Hypocenter's arms, and then back at the USS Saratoga.
Author's Note: Okay! I freely admit that an Omake of an Omake is . . .odd, but I had an itch I just HAD to scratch! Anyway, some of this is taken directly from Jessetheswift's omake "40k Crossover VI: The Truth Revealed!"
It might be an idea to consider making a new thread and calling it a fanfiction instead of an omake. I do not have the first clue of what the actual considerations or opinions on the matter are, but there does seem to be a bit of a thought around that if something is large enough to be its own fiction, then it should get its own thread.
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Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Young and Elder
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Young and Elder
Chapter 2: Young and Elder
Artist: derryfebrian
"What the Hell?" USS Trinitite blinked, looking at a Wo-class shipgirl double in Hypocenter's arms, and then back at the USS Saratoga.
The last thing she remembered was that battle back on what the Bikini Atoll . . .had become since last she had visited it. She had left it in shambles, and after learning what her Princess had happened to her because of the Abyss? After what she had learned what . . .
No, she'd never wanted to return there. And with the "redecorating" the Abyss's minions had been doing to the Atoll . . . .God! She never wanted to visit this place again, even in her nightmares! But there was a lot to witness, and to take in (even if she really had not wanted to do such).
Ah, and read? There WILL be a lot to take in here. Fair warning.
The prison was there. but there was this air of wrongness when you cast your eyes upon it, and according to satellite imagery, the d*mn thing wasn't even there! Satellites showed just an ordinary speck of land you'd come to expect from this particular Marshal Island known as the Bikini Atoll. But it was there, and the enemy fleet surrounding it had NOT been happy to greet them!
They'd fought through the Abyssal fleet, the disparity in weaponry and quality bolstered by pure blind fanatism that . . . just wasn't anything the former Crossroad Fleet (nor the fleet of the former Crane Princess) had ever seen before. It was mad. It was . . .fanatical, well beyond what one could and would ever see in Common Abyssals protecting their Princess.
These were fantics who were following the Orders from their Goddess! And something told the sisters that THIS is what the Abyss would have wanted all "fodder" Abyssal to have been from day one.
The Abyss's forces had pretty much receded, leaving only token outposts here and there with only scraps for resources. A long lull in new Abyssal shipgirls showing their faces, and now this? Yes, the Abyss seemed to finally gotten around to addressing the "free will" problem that She seemed to have found so vexing when both Firestorm and Hypocenter had defied her so long ago.
There was no direct proof, but...
Ah, but that all said it would appear that AGAIN the Abyss had moved on fixing this problem a little too little and a little too late. All these fanatical shipgirls in the service of the Abyss could do was die messily as they at best delayed both Fleets converging into the prison, the air thick with the exhaust from the Abyssal shipgirl's boilers. Its thickness would almost have made a viable gas weapon against any ordinary human forces. More than a few of those of the Saratoga's fleet had wondered if the Abyss had been Hoarding all the fossil fuel that her shipgirls still used....
Fossil fuels had grown rather scarce on the ground around the world due to this damnable war.
What, you haven't figured it out? Well, the thing here was simple enough. Since shipgirls on both sides usually ran on fossil fuels and a LOT of fossil fuel as the war waged on and on, the world's supply of fossil fuel got drained a LOT faster rate than pre-war. Pre-war, the figures had put reserves lasting around fifty years. Shipgirls sped up that consumption by an alarming rate (and pumping out a truly alarming amount of carbon)...
Steps had to be made, else human industry (indeed civilization) was going to come to a grinding halt. And let us not talk about things like climatic change!!
The solution for both tackle increasing temperature (and all the problems associated with it) from the carbon footprint turned out to be also the solution to the dire straights that the shipgirls were facing: starvation. And before you ask, no way were shipgirls going to be able to be sustained by things like wind or solar energy. Are you kidding me?!
Basically, it was due to the first breakthroughs in atomic energy through the creation of the first "regular" fusion atomic reactors (hot plasma and others of that type): HOT fusion
Then DARPA pulled a rabbit out of the hat: Muon-Catalyzed Fusion! Also known as cold fusion.
Basically, the mad lads at DARPA figured out not only how to stop Muons from getting "stuck" as quickly as they usually would do in normal circumstances They did . . .something that solved the problem of muons getting stuck by using several nanoscopic ridges that are shaped to increase the surface area as much as possible to free any muons that might get stuck and stop the fusion process.
Author's Note: that last part taken from "General Owl" by Jaune Pendragon. Giving credit where credit is due.
A story of a self insert with a power inspired by Tinker of fiction..
forums.sufficientvelocity.com
Between hot and cold fusion, humanity had enough energy to power machinery capable of removing the carbon from Earth's atmosphere in sufficient quantities to stop (too much) climatic change. What was done with the recapture carbon was an interesting tale involving various schemes (including a way of tackling world hunger but that is a tale for another day).
Zuikaku had been the first to have a miniaturized "cold fusion" reactor installed inside her, which . . .pretty much made her remaining boilers pretty much redundant (and unneeded). The trick had been doing it in such a way to make it small enough to fit within her, while just large enough to power her (but not to the point of overloading her).
Oh, and power "something" that was the answer for the "phsyics problem" using rigging weaponry on dry land caused. I think you know what I am talking about...
Yeah, basically what had happened was the former Crane Princess had become a nuclear-powered aircraft carreir! And with that, soon all Kanmusu-ized shipgirls and just plain Kanmusu shipgirls were nuclear powered, leaving the Abyssal Shipgirls to basically run out of fuel in increasing numbers. A really ugly way to go. . . not that the Abyss cared, of course. Just made her angrier and angrier as time went on, and corrupting "traditional" nuclear ships could only carry the Abyss's war efforts so far. She was still being outnumbered more and more as more and more fodder Abyssals were summoned to humanity's side...
Until what happened with Georgia and the other Boomers. If the Abyss couldn't win this war, then she could d*mn well make humanity lose!
Or something like that. Nobody, in the end, was sure why all the sacrifices had been about. What exactly the plans the Abyss had beyond it having something to do with Summoning Her there to Earth's plane of existence, but Her being on Earth would have been bad enough. Just looking at the B*tch had been a monstrous strain on the shipgirl's sanity. All that Non-Euclidean geometry! And considering how powerful Abyssal Princesses were, what kind of nightmare monster would the actual Abyss be in the eldritch flesh?!
Well, the world thankfully will never know the answer to that question due to actions taken by Georgia (who'd come along with Saratoga's fleet despite almost being orders NOT to come along). The sub shipgirl wasn't going to miss taking that Abyss B*tch down for what she'd done to her and her sisters!!
But now? What about the situation here with two Trinitites. Not aware of just HOW different the elder is to herself, the younger Trinitite is alarmed. Indeed, the sight of her twin almost makes the younger Trinitite summon her Rigging. However, upon seeing USS Saratoga?
...
"Mother?" Trinitite whispered, a surging feeling sweeping out of here and then BACK through her, nearly knocking her to her knees. As it was, it just staggered her a bit. And was unknowingly transformed, in a metaphysical way. "Reporting for duty, my Princess!"
Saratoga? Well, she felt something sweep through her and sweep BACK out at Trinitite the younger. Ah, but what exactly? What DID happen was this.
"My sweet brave Wo!" Saratoga whispered, rushing over and embracing the younger Trinitite, accepting her into the Fleet and family. As one of her own! And pretty quickly the younger Trinitite found herself being either hugged or otherwise welcomed into the Fleet by the rest of her sisters of the Fleet.
What would have happened if younger Trinitite--the one of THIS reality-- had actually met the Saratoga (of this reality)? Well, the very act would have been . . .interesting for the whole of Seattle (or whatever human city), this should occur within! While true enough that fodder Abyssals loved and obeyed their Hime and would die to protect her, there was a little twist that the Abyss of this realm added here. A failsafe. If a Princess should get freed of the Abyss's grip, but even ONE fodder Abyssal should survive? Of course, they'd seek their Hime out! Of course, they'd try to talk sense to them, hull to hull, to bring them back to their senses. To bring them back to being an Ayssal! But in this case? The mere act of seeing the younger Trinitite would have instantly transformed the (native) Saratoga back into Jellyfish!
A deliberate, hidden failsafe and pretty much a bad ending for a LOT of people in the end.
But here? USS Saratoga didn't have that "failsafe" engraved within her soul by the Abyss, thank goodness. Now? The younger Trinitite got transformed a bit, though she doesn't know that quite yet.
"Nani?!" Chitose blinked, finally managing to get a clearer view of just exactly who the Wo-class had been hugging and crying over. "What in the Hell are you doing here instead of teaching back in Japan, Saratoga? The aircraft carriers were really needing your expertise and you're here in the US?!"
The seaplane tender then pauses, noticing the rank that USS Saratoga was wearing: Admiral!
"That . . .was more than a decade and a half ago whoever you are," the aircraft carrier/fleet admiral mugs, giving the shipgirl an annoyed look for interrupting the moment. "By chance are you perhaps mistaking me for my sister, Lexington? She's on the roster over there in Japan for the latest in anti-Abyssal tactics, last I heard. Even IF the war pretty much is winding down to its end."
In Saratoga's defense, not much time really had passed since finding themselves suddenly here at their homeport: Seattle. Finding what they'd thought was their Georgia and a younger Trinitite had slowed down the truth revealing itself...
"Of course . . .that could have something to do with why I have an extra daughter," Saratoga added, looking over where the younger Trinitite and her elder are chatting away about something in excitement, along with some submarine sisters: Neutron and Reactor.
This wasn't some kind of Summoning Pool mishap where sometimes a clone got created?
Looking around, the town of Seattle kind of looked . . .less built up than last she remembered...
"Nani?" Chitose blinked.
Meanwhile, in Japan . . .
Saratoga staggers, looking around as if something . . .had changed. A sense of relief . . . and of loss sweeping in equal measures through here for no apparent reason. Shaking her head, she decided to continue the class and look into . . .whatever that was at a later time when she could.
"Uh . . .Sara?" Zuikaku called out to Saratoga, interrupting her class despite Saratoga's resolution. "We . . .may have a problem here?"
USS Aki smiled awkwardly as she and the rest of her fleet sisters stood back and Rear Admiral Zuikaku stepped forward to speak, pausing when seeing that the Admiral of the base seemed to have stepped away from this class for whatever reason...
"I . . .was hoping to speak with the Admiral here," the Japanese aircraft carrier/fleet admiral began. "I fear it is . . .urgent."
She'd noticed the difference before, but now that she'd gotten somewhat acquainted with human structures, Trinitite found the odd buildings in this part of Human Territory even stranger. Where most structures had enjoyed some kind of buffer of land between them and their neighbors, these seemed to be jumbled and crowded, the smaller structures utilizing space with little concern for claims or territory. Unlike in Seattle or other cities she'd seen, however, the structures were tiny. It was almost like they'd been crammed together, like aircraft on her flight deck.
Speaking of aircraft, these buildings didn't quite seem as sturdy as those found elsewhere. Looking at them, Trinitite couldn't shake the feeling that their builders hadn't been worried about doing a good job. Part of her was confident she could lift some of these structures, assuming she had the equipment to prevent her from tearing it apart or sinking into the ground.
Trinitite forced herself to stop focusing on the buildings next to her, instead turning her attention to her course and destination. She knew the fleet she wanted to visit was stationed along one of the major roads, part of the massive grid that served as the basis for much of human territory. Hopefully, that knowledge would be enough, because when Trinitite had first left, she might have been too demoralized to lend much thought to her bearing or location.
A pair of humans passed the abyssal, forcing her to hug the side of the concrete sidewalk. Again, Trinitite was no expert on these things, but their clothes seemed to be in worse condition than those on the worksite. One of them didn't have a jacket, which was unusual for these parts, while the other's clothes seemed to hang limply off of him, instead of hugging him.
In a way, the people here reminded Trinitite of a defeated fleet, withdrawing from a battle they'd realized was unwinnable. In general, there felt like there was a… lack of morale here, and the hope she'd taken for granted in Seattle or on the Construction site was missing. She hadn't noticed it earlier because she'd been too worried about herself, but now...
The abyssal terminated that line of thought when her rangefinders settled on a familiar sign.
Luzon Blues... So she hadn't been lost, after all.
Had it really been under a week since she'd been here? So much had happened since she'd tried to join this fleet. As an alarm, a bell chimed as she opened the door, but unlike the many times such a device had caught her off guard, she felt she hardly noticed this one. Now that the question of supplies was no longer grinding her down, surprises like that were easier to take in stride.
"Welcome!" The human at the checkout greeted her. Trinitite gave the man a small smile, nodding to him, but didn't do anything beyond that. The Abyssal had entered with two different plans, depending on who was manning that post, and it looked like she was going to go with the latter. It would mean she wouldn't be able to spend any time at the library today, but she'd already made that sacrifice by setting a course east from the construction site instead of northwest. More research was important, sure, but while she could get much more done at Mill Creek, Trinitite felt she had a duty to return here, at least once.
Passing the checkout area and entering the array of shelves stuffed into the building, Trinitite started searching for items that she might need, such as that propane stove. She knew where to find one, sure, but she didn't owe the Walmart Fleet anything. Giving Ineng her well-earned money felt much better, considering how much the Supply Depot Princess's Lookalike had helped her.
"...Who's gonna plug their ears
"When you scream,
"You can't go on...
"Thinking,
"Nothing wrong, oh oh…"
Trinitite's largest complaint about this place was, of course, the damn noise they pumped into the building. This wasn't too bad, she supposed, considering it's steady tempo and unintrusive volume, but it didn't need to be here at all!
Trying to ignore the noise emanating from above, the abyssal focused on the storage shelves in front of her. She recognized most of it from her raid on The Fred Meyers, although some of the labeling was in a different language. Was this what Filipino looked like when it was written down? The Supply Depot Princess's fleet had spoken the language amongst each other, but they'd labeled everything in English, like a narrow majority of other fleets.
Unfortunately, as the Abyssal checked more of the store, it seemed like that food and clothing was all they had. This was… unfortunate. She wanted to help Ineng, but she wasn't going to give her well-earned money for something she didn't need. Still, she'd come all this way, it would be a shame if she'd come all this way and traded for nothing, however…
The Abyssal drifted to a stop, her rangefinders focused on a bag of familiar white pellets. She'd kind of wasted the rice she'd had… what was the sauce she'd used on it? Warchester sauce? She'd have to locate some of that, too. Come to think of it, she'd passed over ice cream back at the Fred Meyers, but now that she had a better idea of how long it was going to take to locate her Princess, adding Ice Cream to her freezers didn't sound like a terrible idea.
All of that would wait, however. She planned to loiter around Luzon Blues until she met their commander, and while carrying something for a couple of hours wouldn't be a problem for her, she still preferred to keep her free hands on her walking stick.
"Do you need anything?" A familiar voice spoke up from right behind her. Despite herself Trinitite jumped, spinning to meet the human.
"Ah, Ineng." She sighed. "You scared me."
The easy honesty might have caught the juman off guard, because the Luzon Blues' leader's eyes narrowed in uncomprehension, before her face suddenly lit up.
"Ah, it's Elizabeth, right?" She asked, her rhythmic accent again reminding Trinitite of her abyssal lookalike.
"Yes." The abyssal confirmed. The lie had become much easier after answering it in two days of construction work. "I…" She started, taking a breath before continuing. "...would like to thank you."
"Thank me?" The human echoed. She leaned forwards slightly, eyes flicking over the abyssal's face. "Did you find a job?"
"Oh," Trinitite straightened, her eyes widening. "uh, that's right."
She'd been anticipating how she'd break the news to her ever since she'd left the construction site, but now that she'd guessed it...
"Not many other reasons you'd seek me out." Ineng supplied, reading Trinitite's face. "Your makeup looks fine."
"...you're kind of scary, Ineng." Trinitite admitted, her words slipping out before she'd realized it. Realizing the mistake, the Wo-class straightened, eyes widening as she clapped a gloved hand over her mouth.
What was that? She'd never be so open around the commander of a fleet, even a human one! In her experience, nobody who had that kind of power would accept something so candid! Sure, Ineng didn't seem like the kind of person to rip someone's rudder off for getting too familiar, but that also meant she didn't deserve being slighted like that!
Instead of reacting with anger or something reasonable like disappointment, however, the human laughed!
"It's a mother's intuition, Elizabeth." She provided, chuckling. "You'll understand when you have kids."
She wasn't so sure about that. Plenty of abyssals had 'mothers,' and she could say with certainty that they had no such thing. Also, when? Were all humans expected to exchange genetic information with someone? It would explain why there were so many of them…
She shook her head. What was important was that the human wasn't offended, somehow, so Trinitite could try to steer this conversation back on course.
"Maybe, but… uh" The Abyssal tempered, searching for the words she'd planned. "Right! Your advice helped me get a job, so I wanted to thank you!"
"That's wonderful!" The princess of the Luzon Blues Fleet exclaimed. "What's this job?"
"I'm working for a construction group!" Trinitite announced. She'd wanted to be more specific, but while she'd recorded the name of the fleet she was a part of in her log, she hadn't figured out how to pronounce it yet.
"Construction?" Ineng asked, her smile disappearing as her brow furrowed.
"Yeah." She confirmed, suddenly unsure of herself.
"Oh…" The human trailed off. Why did she find that surprising? As soon as it had came, though, the surprise faded, the human clapping her hands together. "Well, I wish you the best of luck!" The smile suddenly went thin as she locked eyes with Trinitite. "Just remember: You don't have to do anything they tell you to do."
Really? Trinitite guessed she technically had the strength to overpower anyone else in her current Fleet, and they'd have trouble leveraging any heavy equipment against her unless she cooperated, but that would break her disguise…
"Elizabeth." Ineng added, dragging the Wo-Class's thoughts back to the present. "The worst thing they can do to you is take your job away. If they try to do anything worse, you get out of there, you report it to the authorities, and you come back and let me know. Please."
What was this about? What kind of things would her employer ask her to do that weren't supposed to? The memory of the training videos returned, and the Wo-class straightened again in comprehension.
"You're worried about sexual harassment." Trinitite stated, pressure spiking in her boilers as the human's actions finally clicked into place. Were there so few women in the Construction Fleet because they had a bad reputation?
"Yes, but it could be much worse."
"I… see." Trinitite lied, although the training video they'd forced her to watch and the research she'd done gave her a good enough idea, she thought. Meeting the human's gaze, Trinitite took a moment to really read the human's face. They didn't know each other very well at all. Why was she concerned?
This gaze. The only other humans she'd seen stare at her with such intensity were the Captain of the Pacific Lilly and the real Elizabeth. Unlike the frustrated anger or desperate fear they'd shown, however, it had the authority to it that reminded her somewhat of Dan, or an Abyssal Princess. Beyond that, though, there was something else. Something she'd seen in her sisters.
"Thank you." She said, taking a breath. There were so many humans out there, and would be impossible for someone to worry about all of them, yet Ineng seemed to care about her. Maybe only while she was in her market, with money to trade for her supplies, but it was still far more than she deserved.
The Abyssal hadn't done anything to help her, after all, not until she bought something here, yet the human had not only helped her fix her disguise, get valuable experience on finding a job, and give her a suggestion of where to look next, but she'd also offered to… help, somehow, if her current fleet ended up betraying her.
"This…" Trinitite started again, looking away and dabbing at her eyes. She couldn't afford to cry. Not over something as cheap as a spoken promise. "Everything's okay right now, but thank you."
"It's not a lot of work on my end, Elizabeth." The Princess of the Luzon Blues fleet admitted. "Not now, but do you know anyone else in Washington who could help you if things went south?"
Trinitite looked back up, although she wasn't focused on who she was talking with. Quite a few people had been helpful since she'd made landfall… but she had no idea how to find them again.
"There was a nice State Trooper…" She started, although she knew she was wasting time with the answer. Come to think of it, the briefing he gave the abyssal during their journey hadn't been that different from the sexual harassment training, even though it had been much less formal.
"Know his name?" Ineng pressed. "How to contact him?"
"No." Trinitite admitted, her gaze falling. Given the light, then, Trinitite wasn't even sure she'd recognize his face.
"Exactly." Ineng stated, her voice reinforced with steel conviction. Trinitite almost jumped as she suddenly laid a hand on her shoulder. "Look. I don't know about you, but the group I got out with escaped the Philippines by looking after each other. It's how us refugees survived the abyssals, and it's how you're going to survive here, right?"
"Ye- Yeah." Trinitite stuttered, stiffening.
"Good." The steel abruptly left the human's voice, the Princess of the Luzon Blues releasing her hand and stretching. "Now, I have to get back to work. Can I help you find anything?"
"No," Trinitite said. If there was a propane stove here, then she would have found it already. "I was stalling so I could meet you, but now I should probably grab what I wanted."
"Alright." With that, the human turned, walking towards the back of the store. "Take care, Elizabeth!"
"You too." The Abyssal weekly replied. "Goodbye."
As she watched the human disappear into the next aisle, Trinitite found herself releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The aircraft carrier… wasn't sure how to feel about this. She was already somewhat indebted to the human, but she'd hoped that just buying some stuff from her market would be enough to make things even, again.
Now, however, the idea rang hollow. Sure, she hadn't actually taken up the offer the human gave, and someone could make all kinds of promises without any intention of following up on them, but knowing it was there…
Had she ever considered offering to help someone from another fleet? She had, but that had always been a part of a negotiation, ensuring that the Crossroads Fleet got what they needed, and not much more. It wasn't like there weren't abyssals she'd met who'd needed help, either.
Of course, she didn't have the authority that Ineng had, then, and even now, with fleets seeming to be much looser among humans, she didn't exactly have the resources to do so. This human, Ineng, probably wouldn't have extended the offer if she'd known what Trinitite truly was, but that didn't change the fact that she'd done so in the first place. As the noises broadcasted throughout the store faded away, replaced by a different song, the Wo-Class only felt like she was thinking of excuses, not rationalizations. She grabbed the food she wanted, taking it to the market's checkout, but her mind stayed focused on the issue she was wrestling with. Certainly she was overthinking things, but she still couldn't dismiss one question:
Was Ineng too trusting for her own good, or was Trinitite too selfish?
There's a lot to blame for the delay in getting this chapter out, including some pretty good reasons (Enlistment, a school project) and some really bad ones (Xenoblade Chronicles 2), so I'll skip all of those and thank you all for waiting for this. Here's another chapter that doesn't advance the plot at all, but it felt like a good character moment for Trinitite, so I wrote it in anyways. This might be poor writing, because it might look like it's setting something up, but hopefully you saw it more as tying up a few loose ends then opening more plothooks that I'll probably leave hanging.
You'll also notice that Trinitite used a couple of words here that I haven't written out her learning the definitions to. The bit where she learns a basic word through an abyssal lens can be funny, but I don't want to abuse it, so I figure having her figure out some vocabulary through osmosis would both make sense by this point, and ensure I can reserve the joke for when it might be funny to use again.
I... don't really remember what I had planned for next chapter. That's happened before, so we'll see. Perhaps another Saratoga interlude could be fun? We'll see when I start writing it tonight.
It does make me wonder if Abyssals just don't have the concept of charity, so the thought of someone just doing something helpful without expecting anything is completely alien.
Or I guess maybe it is just the idea of doing so for another "fleet" is the true brain breaker.
Also I thought it was an interesting continuation of her wanting to pay back her debts. Going to laugh if one of the conditions for her working for the USN is footing the bill for the Fred Meyers raid.
I... don't really remember what I had planned for next chapter. That's happened before, so we'll see. Perhaps another Saratoga interlude could be fun? We'll see when I start writing it tonight.
It does make me wonder if Abyssals just don't have the concept of charity, so the thought of someone just doing something helpful without expecting anything is completely alien.
This is very accurate. I might go as far as to assume that Trinitite might be one of those people who wouldn't accept charity/government support, even if they they needed it. I certainly know humans like that.
I had, and I made a lot of progress there, but it turned out the project was taking too long, and I needed to focus on getting another chapter first. Graphically it's all done, and I've finished writing up the summary for the 53 human 'points of interest' on the map, but I still need to write out a summary for most of the Abyssal Princesses. I'm starting work on that more immediately, but I want to make sure I'm making steady progress on the next chapter despite working on this as well.
Not really. It's more of a reference to how Trinitite sees Ineng as a counterpart to an abyssal princess, more then any other manager she's talked with.
Graviator - CFS Trinitite, the *Literal* Refugee Princess
Water fountained into the air around the Ho-class cruiser, followed by a second fountain of smoke and steel splinters. The pale girl shot a murderous look at Ikazuchi to augment another burst of 25 mm fire. The shells fell into the water between them, no more effective than the glare. Then the cruiser toppled forwards.
"Contact one torpedoed, rolling," Ikazuchi reported. She glanced at the legs sticking out of the water, and added, "Fully capsized now, still afloat."
"Contact two is gone." Isuzu replied. "Exploded. All clear?"
"Hello Isuzu, this is Overwatch Two. You've got one robber, bearing two five zero, range one eight quadruple-oh, heading due East at thirty-one knots. Probable destroyer. No Alpha Sierra activity in the coastal zone. Over."
"Isuzu, aye, aye."
Ikazuchi groaned. "How many more stupid little raids can they throw at us in one day?"
Fletcher pulled alongside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It could be worse," she said, "They could have come as a single group." Fletcher frowned. "Or shown a hint of discipline. They didn't even screen the cruiser properly." She bit her lip. "If their strategy doesn't make sense, it's probably a good thing."
Ikazuchi shuffled in place as she watched the enemy cruiser's legs twitch. "They usually aren't that stupid. If they're willing to throw away at least eleven ships just to maaaybe get one destroyer within bombardment range of shore, they must have something horrible in mind when it gets there."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Fisher said. "Let's just make sure it doesn't happen."
Ikazuchi opened her mouth to respond, but Isuzu interrupted. "We're moving to intercept. Come around on heading one eight zero."
She took one last look at the enemy's feet as they slipped beneath the waves and shuddered.
"I hope we don't find out."
Meanwhile...
The abyssal clawed at the circle of sky above. Eventually, her fingers found purchase on the rippling surface and she hauled herself out of the abyss.
She sat down on the waves, catching her breath, getting her papers in order. Her navigator, who lacked a calendar date and who emerged with a stopped watch, was trying to reconcile her calculations with her almanac. Her executive officer sorted through navigation charts, looking for the right one to set up on the plotting table. Meanwhile, her captain had another chart and was trying to reconcile it with the single order in her log.
The first part made sense. "PERFORM ANY NECESSARY CREW TRAINING FOR COMBAT READINESS AND REPORT TO FLAGSHIP CFS TRINITITE WITHIN 48 HOURS." But the rest of the message must have been decoded incorrectly, or her map was wrong. Her fleet couldn't possibly be based ten miles inland in enemy territory, right?
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Reach out and Touch Someone
Chapter 3: Reach out and Touch Someone
But meanwhile, back in America, Washington state, Seattle . . .
With Trinitite the Younger (aka Elizabeth) . . .
Smiling, young Trinitite and her sisters (including the new "big/twin sister") Trinitite are heading back to speak with Mother when Hypocenter waved for them to all stop and wait. It appeared that Mother was . . .discussing something about young Trin with her friend and the turncoat Kanmusu who was . . .a partner of some kind to Georgia.
Her Princess was not looking too happy with them...and several of her other sisters (who she felt so . . .much CLOSER to now than she'd ever done before) were standing by off to the side, tense. Like they're ready to jump into action.
....
Her friend and partner might be in a bit of trouble here, and she feared she knew why. Oh, she had questions right now but that would have to wait!
" . . .And you are telling me that you met my daughter 'Elizabeth' while playing Warhammer 40K," her Princess said, gesturing towards Georgia who nods quickly. Then continuing she turns towards Chitose, giving the Seaplane Tender a slight frown.
"And I heard something about you wishing to aid my daughter by helping her track 'me' down in Japan?" Saratoga continued, pulling out her issued cellphone and making an adjustment to it, and then tapping something in before turning it towards the two being interrogated. "Well . . .good thing that she at least told you about how easily I'm able to be tracked down by Google, else I would be OBLIGATED to report this gross breach of security."
Both Georgia and Chitose swear softly in both their native languages before young Trin's Mother turns and lets her see what is on the smartphone's screen and . . .the Wo-class found her jaw hanging open in shock at what she was reading.
In the search bar! In Google's search bar is the simple phrase "where is shipgirl Saratoga" and . . .it is showing young Trinitite's MOTHER's location in Japan?!
WHAT?!
"Heh, that brings back memories that look!" chuckles my elder twin softly. "I was MORE than stunned when I learned how LITTLE the Navy and other US organizations actually seemed to think about what could be found online by a 'simple' Abyssal."
"You mean I could have just looked it up on the library's. . .at any time?!" the young Trinitite sputtered while pointing at the online article that some Kanmusu had posted. While not as smooth and professional as some things she'd seen while using the computers in the library, it did have her Mother's name and the naval base in Japan listed.
No doubt, my sister apparently after having gotten OVER her shock (which I'm still having trouble handling right NOW), the young Wo-class thought fiercely to herself. She must have looked up the contact phone number for the base? Maybe even somehow managed to trick her way and gotten my . . .Her . . .UH . . .I mean OUR Princess's phone number to speak with her?
Is whatever conversation they had what lead to Trinitite . . .
. . .
Shaking her head, the younger Trin decides for now just call her elder sister Trinitite and herself "Elizabeth" for ease of conversation. Otherwise, this was going to get too confusing for the poor Wo-class!
What did Mother say that got Trinititie to join up with the Firebringers instead of the plan of getting Mother alone, hull to hull, and "bring her back to her senses"?
It had to be a VERY good reason because not only did Trinitite join the Kanmusu, but every OTHER member of the former Crossroad Fleet had as well!
. . . .
Could . . .she do that as well? YES! Elizabeth . . .she saw it was a "no brainer" in joining if that meant she could be with her Mother again. If . . .if the Firebringers hadn't compromised her free will of course . . .but . . .Mother seemed to be in her right mind.
Ah, and somehow even MORE vibrant and here?
"Yes dear," Saratoga smiled, cupping the Wo-class's chin fondly before turning back to the still stunned submarine Hime and the Seaplane Tender.
"And finding out who I was after being freed from being Jellyfish?" the Lexington-class aircraft carrier continued. "Depending on which websites you visited and the method you used, it would have been easily determined. God knows that there are enough conspiracy websites out there with their theories about how Abyssals and Kanmusu being two sides of the same coin!"
A quick typing session with Google again shows a somewhat blurred (but recognizable) image of her Princess as she'd appeared as Jellyfish. It was the Princess in all her pale glory with that beautiful dress of her and her long, white hair. And those spots that covered part of her face, including one of her eyes...
Elizabeth blinked, suddenly finding the image of how those marks made it look like her Mother had been burned in spots. It . . .was not a pleasant sight to her now.
"Amazing what lengths some fools will go to get pictures," Saratoga muttered to herself. "Got to wonder how they managed to get pictures before my former self evicted the human tourists back in the beginning at Bikini Atoll. They just had to take pictures instead of just running for their lives . . ."
"That IS how you found out and just passed along open source information?" Saratoga asked, giving the two shipgirls a meaningful stare. Both Abyssal and Kanmusu nod their heads in affirmation. Saratoga smiled, satisfied.
Something told Elizabeth that that WAS NOT how they had done things, but if her Mother wasn't going to pursue such awkward things then far be it for HER to gainsay her Princess! Not like she, a fugitive Abyssal, should tip off her hunters of such matters. Being that it had . . .or would have been . . .benefit to herself!
Saratoga, meanwhile has indeed opted (FOR NOW) at leaving this security issue alone. It had become clear to her when certain DATES were mentioned (and certain FACTS coming to light), that this wasn't the Seattle she and her Fleet left earlier.
The Abyssal War HERE was only something like into its second year. That and it appeared that not only had Pear Harbor NOT fallen yet, but world trade wasn't as (badly) disrupted by the Abyssals. At least not YET...
It would later account for just WHY "Elizabeth" was in a good financial position so much earlier than Trinitite had been comparatively speaking, timeline-wise. The "dollar" stores were still stocked, full of cheap imports from Asia, and that had left more money in Elizabeth's pocket. Enough to where she'd been able to take on hobbies early on...
"Okay you two, I need you to call somebody in your chain," Saratoga finally says, coming to a decision. "Tell them there is something that needs to be negotiated to bring MY daughter safely into the fold which does NOT include imprisonment or dissection. . . "
Later in a certain Navy Office in the Seattle area . . .
Nashville was closing up the office she'd been using, wondering if they'll be able to track down that damn Wo-class before the Abyssal somehow managed to repair itself enough to launch an air raid attack when her cellphone began to ring...
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Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Reach out and Touch Someone-Part 2
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Reach out and Touch Someone-Part 2
Author's Note: much shorter than usual but felt that what is to be written here and next was best served that way.
Chapter 4: Reach out and Touch Someone-Part 2
With USS Nashville...
Nashville was closing up the office she'd been using, wondering if they'd be able to track down that damn Wo-class before the Abyssal somehow managed to repair itself enough to laugh an air raid attack when her cellphone began to ring....
"USS Nashville speaking," the cruiser said after activating her cellphone and pushing a pile of folders into the inbox for review for tomorrow. Shaking her head slightly, she continued. "How may I help you?"
"Is your refrigerator running?" a young-sounding girl's voice asked from the other end, leaving the cruiser shipgrirl wondering just how she had the luck to get a bunch of kids doing crank calls.
"Or do you have Prince Albert in the can?" another voice asked, sounding perplexed (and familiar), causing Nashville to freeze in her tracks. It was Trinitite!! She recognized that voice from having heard it more than a few times back with the Pacific Lilly! A round of childish laughter is heard as the sound of shuffling is heard by the now VERY concerned Nashville.
How in God's name did that Abyssal get her number to crank call her?
And now she had Abyssal allies as well on land with herl?! That or hostages?! Oh, this is BAD!!
"Okay, I did it but who in the Deep is Prince Al-," Trinitite is heard asking in the background before -CLICK-!
"MURRAY!!" Nashville screamed, wanting the Commander right NOW.
Meanwhile, at an undisclosed DARPA facility . . .
"That'll teach that meany light cruiser for putting shells into Big Sister," grumbled the former I-class destroyer, glaring at the phone they'd used before passing it back to Big Sister Trin- Elizabeth. The Wo-class in question gagged as she consumed the 'burner phone' she'd bought earlier.
While the phone hadn't been intended as being used as a "burner phone", the stories that their newest Big Sister Trinitite had . . . .inspired the little pack of mischief. Groves especially had been almost beside herself in fury over having been "sunk" instead of by Elizabeth's side to protect the aircraft carrier as a Little Sister should! The newly (and accidentally re-Summoned) destroyer had to settle for rattling that cruiser instead of putting a few (dozen) shells into the shipgirl for that crime!
"Hey, has anyone seen? . . . . Oh there you are you little monkeys!!" another, somewhat similar but OLDER-sounding voice asks, stopping at the doorway to the office the gang had ducked into for some privacy while pranking. "What have you all been up to while poor Auntie Georgia was recovering from that side effect from summoning Robbin's sister from the Beyond?"
The little experiment that the egg heads had conducted when learning that Saratoga had the means to Summong Fodder Abyssals (as Kanmusu) had been . . . interesting. It worked for Georgia (who volunteered out of curiosity as well as a desire to kind of . . . make up for Robbin having lost her sister at the submarine's hands). But while the re-Summoned shipgirl had arrived and been non-hostile (much to the destroyers' relief doing overwatch duty), it had done weird things to Georgia!
The Abyssal Princess submarine had switched rapidly back and forth between Kanmusu and Abyssal (each shift being set off by her looking at her newly summoned daughter or her older "regular" Abyssal daughter). Her form had finally settled on her old Abyssal Princess form, but it had scared the bejeebers out of her family.
The scientists were concerned, but also ecstatic over the new data from the experiment. Even with the unexpected "hitchhikers" in the form of all the sunken I-class destroyers from "Elizabeth's" Crossroad Fleet!
After getting over the fact that they now had feet (!) and could walk around on dry land (!), the hyperactive destroyers had been something of a handful, wanting to experience anything and everything they'd missed out having been stuck only in their "monster ship" form. Something that the now more mature versions of the little shipgirls could well understand, if not share more than a bit of pity over what the little tykes had gone through being STUCK with their rigging on at ALL times.
The former I-class Destroyers from Trinitite's fleet had . . . issues back when Abyssal shipgirls, but at least they could shift into human form with the Rigging stowed. Not so much for their younger analogs, alas.
The Abyss here seemed to have been an even bigger B*tch than back home, it seemed.
"Oh nothing!" the younger Groves said innocently to her sister the Elder Groves.
"Uh-huh," the elder smirked, not buying it for a second. "Well, whatever! The site director has finally gotten permission to contact Elizabeth's hunters so they can be called off and all that! Wanna watch them squirm?"
Higher-ups in the food chain had already been contacted, and after the requisite swearing and cussing in surprise, a deal had been struck. A repeat of the "fat check" that Trinitite had gotten as a signing bonus had been won for Elizabeth, repeating history and satisfying Abyssal senses of honor over regarding debts owed. Just had to share that with Elizabeth first, soon enough.
But right now? Now it was time to share the . . . good news with Murray's group.
By blindsiding them. Groves just couldn't wait to see their faces!
Moments later . . .
"What?" Lt. Commander Dan Murray blinked, pretty much mirroring everyone else's thoughts on the matter here.
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Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am!
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am!
Chapter 5: Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am!
"What?" Lt. Commander Dan Murray blinked pretty much-mirroring everyone else's thoughts on the matter here.
"You heard correctly," the prim-looking researcher and head of a local DARPA project that Dan Murray hadn't even known had existed in the Seattle area said, looking slightly smug. "The Secretary of Defense himself has ordered you to stand down on the manhunt for the fugitive Wo-class Abyssal known formerly known as Trinitite--currently christened Elizabeth--and stand by for this upcoming briefing.
"Knowing some of what I know about it I dare say that it will be more than a bit shocking," the researcher continues, a trace of sympathy leaking into her tone.
As a long-time researcher and scientist, she had always had some disdain for the Military and other Government agencies . . .approach to certain things in life. However, in certain cases where she had to play her part in the "cloak and dagger" game with her research programs (and their results!) she could find some semblance of empathy for their plight.
After all, if only she and her team had been allowed to SHARE what they actually knew about Abyssal (both Princesses and Common type) then perhaps this "Absolute Railway" business would not have been quite the circus it had become until this point.
If nothing else, the hunters would have given their query more credit for her intelligence . . .but orders were orders if she wanted to be allowed to keep her funding and all that. Such as life.
"Ah, but here comes that briefing and so I'll step down and let them speak," the woman research finishes. Her image blinks out and was replaced by the now-familiar image of Admiral Matsumoto Keiko, of the JMSDF, Kanmusu Division was displayed along with TWO almost identical-looking shipgirls who Murray knew as the former Abyssal Crane Princess except ONE is in the uniform of a Japanese admiral!
"W-what the hell?" USS Nashville muttered softly, staring at the screen.
Murray found himself echoing the sentiment.
"Sorry for the lateness of this briefing but I fear that it could not be helped," the female admiral began. "But given the odd nature of one of my guests here and what she'll have to say I believe you'll understand why it took some amount of time to get it straightened out. But . . . I'll let Rear Admiral Zuikaku start first, and then we'll go from there."
"Thank you, Admiral Keiko," the Japanese aircraft carrier nods before stepping forward. And my, what an INTERESTING story she tells her audience. Tales of another Earth where the Abyssal War had lasted more than a decade! Where the world reserves of oil and other fossil fuels had been drained by the needs of both Abyssal and Kanmusu shipgirls, leading to widespread depletion and the rise of both actual "hot" and "cold" fusion.
The part about how the massive glut of now provided (green) available energy for use from THAT to combat the carbon dioxide greenhouse gas having been released by all the shipgirls during the war was almost overlooked. The part about how the "recaptured" carbon dioxide had been used in part to create carbohydrate-based food to fight world hunger WAS overlooked by all but a few, considering that a lot of minds had almost blue screened over how much fossil fuel thus far HAD been consumed by both sides during this war. What the overlooked but obvious consequences of it all meant for everyone...
If everything ELSE from this briefing turned out to be some kind of sick joke, the audience as a whole hoped that . . .
"I . . .am hoping that you'll be sharing the technology for fusion power?" Murray manages to ask, his concern for otherwise dark future ahead overshadowing his concerns about the unexpected turn with the wayward Wo-class he'd been chasing ever since the Pacific Lilly.
"We already have shared what I and my fellow ally are currently authorized to share," the offscreen voice of what Murray identifies as Saratoga, but from the sudden appearance of said shipgirl suddenly leaning in from the left to look in askance at the camera gives Dan the feeling . . . that the Saratoga who spoke is NOT the Saratoga on the screen presently.
"Ah 'Sister Sara'," the apparent unseen doppelganger of the gapping shipgirl onscreen chides. "While I am sure you're curious about this and the family matter concerning a certain Wo-class shipgirl, I may suggest you wait until Admiral Zuikaku is finished with her presentation at least before asking questions?"
"Uh . . . sorry Ma'am," the red-headed shipgirl sputters before ducking back out of the picture.
"Admiral Saratoga?" the Japanese shipgirl admiral blinks, smiling happily. "You're alive and well? Hopefully, your fleet is well also?"
"Yes old friend," the 'admiral' Saratoga answers from offscreen. "We all appeared back in Seattle for whatever reason, safe and sound despite some of my . . . shipgirls having suffered grievous injuries from that last battle. I assume that all of your Fleet arrived with you in Japan. I do hope they did so safe and sound?"
"Yes they all arrived, but more than a few of my fleet need either serious time in drydock for repairs or a round of repair bucket time," the Japanese admiral/aircraft carrier sighs, giving her analog at her side a glance before looking back through the screen to Admiral Saratoga (who is still off-screen). "As to exactly WHY we appeared back at this world's version of home ports remains to be determined, but as for everything else . . .?"
"I don't suppose that our submarine friend that tipped us off to what eventually led us to end up here showed up with you?" Admiral Zuikaku asked, giving a concerned look towards the screen. "I already informed the authorities over here on this side of the ocean, and nothing was uncovered. And of course, they are understandably concerned, considering what she happens to be carrying."
"Nothing beyond a rather interesting encounter with the native version of my daughter Trinitite and the analog of our friend I am afraid," the Lexington-class Admiral admitted. "And beyond being of similar character and . . . other issues, she only has a loadout for conventional-attack."
"She's talking about m̤̗͎̮̙̤͑ͫ͂̍͌ͥe̋ͫ?" a young-sounding girl's voice asked from somewhere off-screen. The Abyssal flang made more than a few people's hairs on their neck stand up on end over that. "Yeah, that's me that . . . Waitta minute, what's this shit about me having a 'loadout for conventional attack'? Does that mean that my͚͇ͬͣ ̆͒d͇̼͓̹̲o̜̮̼͙̣̹͈͆̓ͫͧ̏̍̈́p̯̤͈ͨ̈̊p͚̰̉̇lͭ͋̿e͖̙̤ͧ̐ͩ̚ͅg̱͍̳̮͙̔̃ͦ͂̈́̎ͅan͚̬̖g͖̞͔̩̩̤̔̊̐͗̔͑e̤̙̙̱̼̎̏͒ͪͮr ͈̤̭̥͔ͧ͋͐̅͌i͖̹̞̎̌̏ș̻ͬ̓ ͦ̓͂̽pakcing N̺̙͚̞̍ͪ́́Ủ̳̻͍̱͙͓̩̲̳̙͖̓͋̊͛͑̍ͦ͐̉͂K͞E̠̙̗̲̮͐ͮ̎͌̉͜͢͠S̛̞̳̠̞̗̬̮̞̯͝͡?̰̩̮͙͕̲͕̮ͪͩ̿ͩ͒̉͆ͦ͢!̓ͥ̔͑ͧ̃ͪ̿̚"
Of course more than a few concerned questions are asked (or more like shouted) from Murray's gang, which of course needs to be addressed before continuing.
"So . . .let me, get this straight?" Agent Brandon Ferguson managed to finally get out, almost ready to explode in consternation. "First, the reason why ordinary human Navies can now hit Abyssals now is due to what happened over in Vietnam awhile ago? Because of a rogue Abyssal Submarine Hime and her Fleet were at the heart of it? Who are guests here in the USA because they're our friends and allowed because of a letter of marque? And let us not forget that this Princess is an Ohio-class submarine whose tomahawk missiles are conventional warheads, but this mirror version of the USS Georgia has nuclear-tipped tomahawks AND nuclear-tipped torpedoes?! AND WE don't even have a FUCKING CLUE where she IS!?"
The Agent's face had an alarming shade of red, and many who saw him were worried that he was going to have a stroke here any moment.
"Yes Agent," Admiral Saratoga said, an eye roll evident to all despite her STILL not being on screen. "That is the exact thing we are saying. And before you ask, she is NOT going to just launch her missiles at any human targets."
"And how do you KNOW that?" Ferguson shouted.
"Because she and her Boomer sisters let us know where the Abyss's base was where It was trying to brainwash those who had NOT escaped their jail cell into launching their nukes at MY world's cities," the shipgirl said in a calm, but condescending tone of voice reserved usually for a mother talking to a slow, dim child. "If she was inclined to launch missiles because of being -- oh my goodness it's a MEAN and evil for the lolz Abyssal Princess--then MY world would have burned in the FIRE and I assure you we would NOT be having this MEETING!!"
"That'll be enough Agent Ferguson," another voice, a tired-sounding one that causes Ferguson's red face to go chalk white. "She has a valid point so stop making an even more of a fool of yourself and stand down."
As it turned out, that had been the Director (a man much higher on the totem pole than the Agent) who had been speaking (and hadn't been too impressed with the agent). As it turned out, the Director had known about the "native" USS Georgia and her Abyssal Fleet/ Family who had been kind enough to come to Seattle for a while for DARPA to run tests on them. The only reason why Ferguson hadn't been told? HE had no need to know, that was why. It wasn't concerning his hunt for Trinitite/Elizabeth, so why tell the peon about it?
Well, there could've been a good reason, but that would have been due to some kind of extreme case . . . Like the Abyssal Princess suddenly running amock or some such . . . But still . . . It had looked rather badly done how he'd acted there and at other points, and the Director was getting tired of Ferguson's shit. Had been making the hunt for Trinitite even harder than it should have been until now, really.
...
The agent slowly sits down and stays silent for the remainder of the briefing which basically boiled down to this: if the "other" Georgia is found, then POLITELY approach her and ask her to come with them into custody. Force was not only not going to work, but if anyone who was foolish enough to threaten the submarine girl enough . . .with nuclear missiles?!
No, politeness was called for here. That and some discretion! No need to cause needless panic amongst the civilians!
Of course, other places than Seattle will be checked (but Murray and the gang there are tasked to check around the city since they're already set up for hunting).
Oh, and of course a task force will be sent down to the Bikini Atoll on the off chance that the other USS Georgia should show up there since . . . well, since that was the last place Saratoga's fleet had been that was one place to look.
As it stands, there is a glowing RIFT there present, as well as some people and shipgirls who'd gone through to look for missing Fleets and such, but no Georgia. AND my aren't her Ohio sisters and her Russian Boomer friends wanting to find their comrade in adversity . . .
However . . .
At Pearl Harbor, at the Arizona Memorial . . .
A Battleship shipgirl sighs, looking at the grave of her own steel hull and wonders . . . if that push that had been done by the Abyssals hadn't collapsed due to Navy Forces being actually able to help the stationed shipgirls . . . would she had come back as she had? Or as some kind of Abyssal Princess?
USS Arizona had to wonder, really. Oh, after she had found herself Summoned it wasn't like she'd not been a bit . . .bitter over how she'd Sunk as a steel hull due to various forms of incompetence on the Navy's part, but . . . Then again, it wasn't something to hold against ALL of humanity (or the USA) for the failure of some idiots in Command back then.
"Heh . . .me as some kind of Abyssal Princess?" Arizona muttered, not seeing it unless the Abyssal invasion had gotten to the Summoning Pool and did something that made her come back . . .wrong? Was that even possible?
Still smiling slightly, she turned away only to pause as she saw a small pale girl slowly rise from a spot in her wreckage on . . .some kind of Abyssal rigging of a submarine?! And a rather modern-looking submarine of some kind, Postwar? Really banged up, though...
"Ouchie!" USS Georgia muttered, looking up at the sky and squinting blue glowing eyes. "Where the Hell am I?"
Of course, the human tourist see her. See the Abyssal Rigging and features.
Cue a lot of screaming....
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Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Smile, You're On TV. . .
Wo Wo Wo: Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land-Smile, You're On TV. . .
Chapter 6: Smile, You're On TV. . .
Of course, the human tourists see her. See the Abyssal Rigging and features.
Cue a lot of screaming . . .
Meanwhile, back at the DARPA facility in Seatle . . .
The lower-ranked hunters had already been dispersed to begin their hunt for the missing Abyssal (Nuclear) Submarine Princess Georgia. Now that the more concerning business had been taken care of, there was the matter of what the hunters had been originally been tasked to find: Elizabeth (who had originally been known as Trinitite but had been re-christened to avoid confusion with her and USS Trinitite).
"So . . .lets get down to the elephant in the room," Admiral Saratoga begins, addressing the small group of shipgirls with her in Seattle and the others over in Japan. "The elephant of course being my newest daughter: Elizabeth. Who may I add still IS family for you, Sister Sara; ceded claims of motherhood to me or not."
The Lexington-class Admiral frowned a bit at that memory, it had left a bad taste in her mouth. After all, even IF Elizabeth had become the Admiral's newest daughter (and nothing was going to change that) it wasn't as if a "shared custody" could not be done. The idea that any and all claims of motherhood got annulled when Elizabeth had declared the Lexington-class Admiral as her Princess (not Hime); there was a thing that did not sit well with her. The thing? Young Saratoga seemed to feel that a TOTAL separation from family was the thing here. Okay, some kind of mysterious event HAD happened around that time that had annulled the younger Saratoga's claims on Elizabeth as Hime, but nothing about this had to mean the younger shipgirl should give up on being Elizabeth's mother! After all, Saratoga (Admiral or not) WAS the mother of all Essex-class aircraft carriers and Elizabeth WAS an Essex/Wo-class aircraft carrier. Houshou was viewed as the mother of ALL aircraft carriers (but seen as a grandmother in another case concerning Essex-classes we needn't rehash)...
The younger Saratoga and Elizabeth, meanwhile, share an uncomfortable glance before looking at the Admiral.
"I . . .would not be against having Saratoga over in Japan as an aunt," Elizabeth allowed, not against the other shipgirl being in the Family. Just not as her Mother. Definitely not as her Princess, since the elder Saratoga gained THAT right. When she had met her new Princess (not Hime!), she had been transformed into something new. She had become akin to her new elder sister. She had been reborn to report to her Princess, who she was to be loved and obeyed. "But Mother, I fear I . . .just cannot call her my mother anymore."
Not that I ever really was worthy to be called a proper Mother back when I was Jellyfish, thought young Saratoga to herself in shame. Even IF she had not been her right mind, it didn't much lessen the shame she felt on the shameful affair. Empty gestures of giving out ice cream and only pretending to care...
"And . . .I really shouldn't be called her Mother, in any case, consider that . . .I had lost all rights to be that," the younger Saratoga said softly, shame in her voice. "I didn't embrace my wayward Wo-class as you'd apparently had the bravery to do and . . ."
"Ah! About that," the elder Saratoga begins to confess, after giving Trinitite a look. "We haven't told you about how things played out in my world with MY daughter . . ."
Basically, while the younger Saratoga had gathered that the elder Saratoga and her daughter were from a similar world, it hadn't been clear as to how CLOSELY it resembled her own. Basically, besides a few details, the tale of her elder sister was the same as her own up to a certain point. In that other world, Trinitite had managed to contact her Princess by cellphone and all that, but the point here was that her elder hadn't been immediately ready to take Trinitite in as her daughter.
But she HAD chosen eventually, whereas the younger feared that she would have been foolish enough to turn her wayward Wo away in fear if she'd been allowed. The reportings of those at DARPA about what had happened with Georgia there had left her chilled.
To think that merely MEETING with her wayward Wo could have transformed her back into Jellyfish left her feeling ill. Something that her wayward Wo had also expressed feeling more than a bit ill about, considering what price being the Jellyfish Princess had actually entailed.
Elizabeth wanted to have brought her "back to her senses", not . . .that!
"Still . . .something got severed with you becoming her Princess," young Saratoga insisted. "And while I may be the mother of the Essex-class aircraft carriers and by that extension Trin-Elizabeth, you have the superior claim and right of Mother. But I am open to being an aunt since she's open to that idea..."
"I like that Auntie Saratoga," Elizabeth smiled at her former Hime. "And just as soon as the researchers say that it is safe for us to meet, I look forward to meeting you again in person. The Kanmusu-isation process should make that a reality, soon enough. The researchers want to do a few more experiments to compare me--an 'altered' Wo-class Abyssal--to the Wo-class Abyssals of Georgia's Fleet. See how I compare to them and such."
The Wo-class wanted to just get down and done with it, taking the last step and complete the process of severing her old life and stepping into her new life with her Princess and family. To join with the Fleet (and the US Navy of their world), when (and if) they returned to their homeworld. Honestly, their world sounded much more inviting than her world honestly. The Abyssal War was over and done over there, while it was still in full swing here. All desire to fight in it on the Abyssal's side of things had been killed right out after she had learned why her Princess had opted to serve under the Firebringers despite having used "the Fire" on her.
Trinitite and her elder Sisters had been very understanding with Elizabeth's shock when her Princess had revealed that human beings had been blind to the reality of ships having souls. Blind to them being more than mere tools. So the idea of testing "nuclear" devices on her and the other ships in Operation Crossroad made a certain amount of sense, otherwise, it would have been sheer lunacy...
Oh, and the added half-joke that Trinitite had made about having to worry about consumed cellphones coming back as Abyssals had been MOST disconcerting (considering SHE had consumed her burner phone back during that crank call earlier to avoid it being traced). . . .it had been hair raising disturbing.
. . .
"Well and good I suppose if it will keep you both from severing all family ties," Rear-Admiral Zuikaku smiled. While it would have been nice if the could have remained daughter/mother it fit into what had happened with her Fleet and the younger Zuikaku. There had been no "chemistry" between them and her Fleet, but both sides had been willing to at least entertain the idea of the younger Zuikaku being seen as an Aunt. "That said, any word yet on using the Summoning Pools to call forth more of this world's version of the Crossroad Fleet back from the Great Beyond?"
Admiral Zuikaku had been more than delighted with the accidental "extras" that had come along with the intended Summonings. Yes, young Zuikaku had been initially . . . hesitant in being part of it. Truth is that back in Admiral Zuikaku's world, the BEST summoners had always been former Abyssal Princesses like herself. While not as true HERE, Zuikaku had been tapped and . . .hesitant or not, the young Zuikaku had succeeded in Summoning. Oh, the Summoned shipgirl had been as Green as they come. That is, the shipgirl had been a new Summons (no prior experience or memories before the Summoning). But the shipgirl had been ironically enough an aircraft carrier (same class as Zuikaku) and . . .when Summoner and Summoned looked into each other eyes . . .
Yes, the young Zuikaku was going to make both a fine Mother and Princess, and Admiral Zuikaku expected young Zuikaku's Fleet to grow vastly here soon enough. Both willingly for the younger Japanese shipgirl AND the Japanese High Command, since more shipgirls to fight for the cause was good in Command's eyes and Zuikaku had a pretty good bead on the younger sister's heart in this matter.
The Admiral Zuikaku had been happy to welcome the new accidental Summons (analogs of various parts of her Fleet), and chuckled at the disconcertment the Japanese researched had over the extras to for the one intended Summoning they were trying for here. At this rate, all the analogs of her Fleet would be back amongst the living and joined with her family.
Yes, as a shipgirl she was used to a different idea of how large a "proper" family should be . . .and the more the merrier. She could handle it, easily. And High Command? Well, there were plans for shipgirls after the War, so more won't hurt that. . .
Mars exploration sounded like a splendid way to serve after everything. And maybe they could see if those Mars probes NASA sent over there had their own version of spirits. Be nice to show some respect then, if nothing else.
"Actually there is a LOT of noise about me doing a Summoning just to see how many can be brought back Over from the Beyond," Admiral Saratoga smiled. "Just hope they have the materials to feed the newly Re-Summoned else we'd better raid a few auto junkyards or such really quick to make up for the shortfall."
Georgia had made the most interesting suggestions in that regard. . .
The site head researcher comes rushing into the room, looking a bit rattled.
"Hey . . .you remember your version of Georgia the submarine that was misplaced?" the researcher begins.
Back at Pearl Harbor, Arizona Memorial . . .
A TV reporter had been at the Memorial doing a fluff piece when they'd spotted the Battleship shipgirl, Arizona. Sensing some kind of possible news piece beyond the fluff stuff she'd initially planned, she and the crew moved over to interview here, turning on the TV cameras when. . .
A group of Screaming civilians was the first clue, and then the Submarine Princess had surfaced, clutching her head at the noise.
"Oh my Gawd would you be quiet!!?" she screeched back at the civilians. "You're being loud enough to wake the DEAD!"
"Abyssal!" shouted Arizona, summoning her Rigging and aiming it at the Abyssal. This causes Georgia to jump back a bit and look at the Destroyer shipgirl in wide-eyed shock!
"Are you f*ckin '̟̝̱̳̻͕͙͖̲̊͂̊ͤ͆ͥ͊ͮ̂ ̠̟͖͚̬̣͕̲̹̘̪͙̻͈̄ͧ̽ͩ̃ͯ̍͊ͧͪ̋ͥͨͧn̗ͯu̢̡t̤̼̼̱̼͚̺͖̦͚̫s̻̪̬̗͓̦̠̭͎̃̓ͩ͊̋ͫ͐ͪ̃?!" Georgia shouts, pointing at the civilians who are still nearby. "You're too close to shoot those off for them to n̓o̷ţͭͧ g̓̒͐͑͗e̒́ͦ͆̆̚t͢ ͪ̓ͪ͂̋͒c̒́̀̓͢ǎuĝͭ͗̃hͧ͑͒̓ͩͨ̚t́͂͊ in the crossfire!"
"Then . . .surrender?" Arizona asked after a short pause of consternation (an Abyssal Princess worried about collateral damage?!), not exactly sure at the conversation turn here. As if an Abyssal Princess is actually concerned about harming innocent humans? Oh, she had a point since the Rigging summoning had been a pure reflex . . .
"How about parley?" Georgia countered, calming down. "That and maybe we can speak with Either Admiral Saratoga or Admiral Zuikaku."
The Current State of The Abyssal War as of September, 2022
When a series of anomalous storms simultaneously appeared at either pole, scientists were alarmed, but the outbreak of COVID-19 meant the phenomena didn't get the attention they normally would. When parties attempting to explore these phenomena disappeared, the rare survivor claiming to be attacked by aliens, demons, or terrorists, a military response was organized, but by then it was far too late.
The death toll of the first abyssal campaigns are still unknown, but wile conventional militaries claim plenty of victories in the war's early fighting, the rise of installations cemented the fact that their conquests weren't going to be easily reversed.
The war has gone on for slightly more then two years by now, and while some nations have adapted to the new norm, the lines are still very much in flux. New Abyssals constantly rise from the waves, and plenty of islands around the fronts change hands as they make landfall and are driven off in turn.
This is a map matching the current 'lines' of the abyssal war. It can be broken down into these items:
Grey Territory: Otherwise known as 'contested' territory, this can be considered parts of the earth where it would be reasonable for a military task force to expect an attack. Plenty of abyssal attacks have been reported outside of this area, but those are either concerted abyssal attacks or raids against poorly-defended targets.
Dark Grey Territory: Areas 'conquered' by abyssals. In these areas, abyssal presence is constant enough that no human civilization can exist. There are plenty of survivors, resistance fighters, and special forces that call these areas their home, but cannot meaningfully contribute to the war against the abyssal fleets without outside support.
Red Diamonds: Installation-type Abyssal Princesses. Anchors to abyssal lines, these spiritual beings are tied to the ground they stand on. Since there are no known ways to permanently destroy one, the emergence of one is generally considered a catastrophe to anyone who lives in or defends the nearby area.
Red Circles: The base of operations for Ship-type Abyssal Princesses. The abbreviation 'CB' has been created for the purposes of representing large coastal defense ships, but otherwise the icons use the US Navy's Hull Classification Codes to denote the nature of the Princess leading the fleet. Light Blue symbols denote the former bases of abyssal Princesses who have been 'Purified,' and have joined UN navies.
Blue Rectangles: Used to denote human 'Points of Interest.' The vast majority of these are military bases of some sort.
Abyssal Installations:
1: Midway Princess On the famous Atoll, the Midway Princess conducts her fleet and her 'allies,' working to orchestrate a decisive battle to determine the fate of the Pacific.
2: Central Princess (Pearl Harbor)
Under constant siege, the Central Princess struggles to maintain her fleet and her position. Her repair efforts focus on the damaged Arizona Memorial, a weakness human forces have refused to capitalize on.
3: Northern Ocean Princess (Dutch Harbor)
Wandering through the abandoned town of Dutch Harbor, the Northern Ocean Princess almost seems peaceful, until a vessel enters her exclusion zone. Both abyssals and human-aligned ships give this installation a wide berth.
4: Airfield Princess (Henderson Field)
Abyssals have pushed west of the Solomon Islands many times, but without the anchor that the Airfield Princess provides, have been pushed back by human forces determined to keep the path between Australia and the Americas open. Many a human attempt to spoil the Abyss's southward crawl has broken in Ironbottom Sound, her fleet expertly using the dense jungles and maze of islands to their advantage.
5: Harbour Summer Princess (Singapore)
The Corrupted spirit of Singapore may be more of a hindrance to the Abyssal Fleets then a help. The installation saves the strength of her fleet to dominate the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, requiring a portion of all abyssal goods passing through the logistical artery.
6: Supply Depot Princess (Mindoro)
Weather through concerted efforts to exploit the south pacific's resources or an unnatural ability, this Princess gains supplies unusually quickly. This stockpile has been leveraged to build a web of alliances in the pacific, making her the backbone of the loose coalition that has conquered the region.
7: Isolated Island Princess (Wake Island)
Despite being the northmost installation in the Marshall Islands, the Isolated Island Princess's intense weather anomalies and impossible defenses have deterred any major human efforts to confront her. Not content with wallowing in her anger, the Installation's fleets frequently sortie, especially against the JMSDF.
8: Anchorage Water Demon (Addu Atoll)
It's unknown exactly when the princess on Addu Atoll awoke. The Anchorage Water Demon's strategy seems to be focused on hiding her true strength, engaging only in small raids and reporting any larger force to her two neighbors.
9: Fortified Airstrip Demon (Saipan)
The installation presiding over Saipan has turned the island into a fortress, lending her fleet out to allies in exchange for additional supplies to reinforce her impressive shore defenses.
10: Fortress Airfield Princess (Tarawa)
The uninformed have called Tarawa the 'high water mark' for Abyssal attempts to close the southeast pacific to human convoys. In reality, the heavily-fortified installation's influence extends far to the east, the Princess being uncharacteristically generous in aiding other fleets seeking to raid convoys bound for Australia.
11: Hong Kong Princess
Driven by her hatred, the Hong Kong Princess has destroyed a sizable portion of the facility to facilitate her crusade into Southern China. Despite regular attacks from both the PLA and other UN forces in the South China sea have only managed to slow her progress, although both this and her land campaign in Southern China have made her cripplingly reliant on other abyssals further south.
12: Island Fortress Princess (Corregidor)
Guarding the entrance to Manila harbor, this insular installation stays to herself. Whether she is self-sufficient or stubbornly enduring a supply crisis is unknown.
13: Harbor Refinery Princess (Balikpapan)
While the nature of abyssals makes them fairly unreliant on natural resources the refinery was built to exploit, the Harbor Refinery Princess's massive reserve of fuel and other supplies has forced many of her allies to come to her defense.
14: Anchorage Water Princess (Truk/Chuuk Lagoon)
Now in the center of Abyssal Territory, the Anchorage Water Princess's fleet can sortie to the aid of almost any princess desperate to indebt themselves to her.
15: Enewetak Atoll Princess
A series of setbacks, over-commitments and blunders has left the once dominant Anchorage's fleet a shadow of its former glory. As a result, this installation is perhaps too hesitant to commit her slowly recovering forces.
16: Bitter Fortress Princess (Peleliu)
The true extent of the Bitter Fortress Princess's influence over the island of Peleliu is unknown. Only her airfield is visible to submarines on the shore, but underwater seismographs plated by special forces imply much more work is being conducted inside the island's heart...
17: Eastern Airfield Princess (Iwo Jima)
Due to her dangerous habit of launching regular air raids on the Japanese mainland, the Eastern Airfield Princess is regularly visited by JMSDF task forces. Unlike the besieged Central Princess, however, the Eastern Airfield Princess often has the forces to prevent these human attacks from achieving serious damage.
18: Southern Harbor Princess (Port Moresby)
Given the Southern Harbor Princess has been active for less than five weeks, very little information is available on her personality, disposition, or capabilities. However, her existence has jeopardized the security of all land forces in New Guinea, as well as severely compromising the security of Australia itself...
19: Inland Port Princess (Palembang)
While Abyssals have had serious difficulties awakening installations far inland, the Inland Port Princess is perhaps the only true exception. Her unique position hasn't acted as much of an advantage, however, as her force of abyssals, aircraft, and anomalous AFVs aren't numerous enough to sweep the stay-behind elements of the Indonesian Army away from the ruins of the surrounding city.
20: African Port Princess (Antsiranana)
In recorded transmissions, the princess often refers to her war against humanity as a "divine crusade," seeking to bring every human before God's judgement through the use of force. This... baffling rhetoric, along with confused sermons that pull elements from several Abrahamic faiths, means that their attention is almost completely focused on their genocide in Madagascar, the installation paying little attention to the overall war.
21: East Java Princess (Surabaya)
With her fierce sense of independence, the East Java Princess will only deal with fleets sent from other installations in the region. This installation considers everyone else, whether they be abyssal or human, as the enemy.
22: Port Refinery Princess (Sabang)
With the Harbour Summer Princess's lording over the Strait of Singapore, the Port Refinery Princess has enjoyed a competitive advantage in supplying goods to abyssals in the Indian Ocean. Her hatred of the Eastern Harbor Princess and all other things related to the old British Empire, however, have prevented her from truly capitalizing on her unique position.
23: Southern Island Princess (Port Blair)
At first glance, the Southern Island Princess seems almost benign, contributing occasionally to the war against humanity, but not much more. Reconnaissance photos that show the Installation has completely repaired the Cellular Jail, however, suggest something far more sinister to the Installation's actions.
24: Rangoon Princess
While the corrupted spectre of a port city, the Rangoon Princess's attention is almost entirely focused on the ground campaign in the rest of Myanmar.
25: Gulf Harbor Princess (Bangkok)
Situated in the heart of abyssal territory and content to merely hold her gains in Thailand, the Gulf Harbor Princess's fleet can often be seen aiding abyssals in Vietnam, China, or Indonesia.
26: Eastern Harbor Princess (Colombo)
Few abyssal victories have been more disastrous than the fall of Colombo. While normally content to passively starve a large portion of India through her domination of vital sea routes, air raids by the Royal Navy and Indian Air Force have caused the princess to launch devastating reprisals against cities on India's coastline.
27: Betrayed Anchorage Princess (Mers-el-Kabir)
While all abyssals have a hatred of humanity, few are as openly passionate as the Betrayed Anchorage Princess. More than once, the Installation's unabated rage has led her to directing her fleet towards other abyssals, mistaking any semblance of caution from her Mediterranean allies as human sympathies.
28: Fortress Princess (Gibraltar)
The Fall of Gibraltar could be considered perhaps one of the most decisive events of Blood Week. The Fortress Princess herself keeps to herself, focusing on keeping European ground forces away from her and sweeping the strait of Gibraltar for submarines, but her mere existence has caused damage enough.
29: African Seaport Princess (Dakar)
While they barely have the range for it, the African Seaport Princess focuses her surface fleet on harassing convoys bound for the United Kingdom, ignoring far closer targets in South America.
30: Casablanca Princess (Casablanca)
This princess rarely sorties her fleet, instead relying on her aircraft to aid the abyssal war effort. Other habits, such as only allowing the flagship of visiting fleets to enter her harbor and trailing the movements of other abyssal fleets with aircraft and submarines, may point to her passive nature being motivated by paranoia about her allies, instead of the human forces in the Atlantic.
31: Mediteranian Airfield Princess (Crete)
The corrupted airbase on Crete has radically changed the strategic situation in the mediteranian, effectively splitting human forces in the area in three. However, constant attacks by human forces trying to keep the sea route between the Middle East and Europe open have prevented her from gathering too much strength.
32: Besieged Seaport Princess (Malta)
The corrupted Princess at Malta is one of the newer princesses in the Mediteranian, but her strategic bombing campaign has already proved devastating in the region.
33: Northern Anchorage Princess (Kåfjorden)
Much like several other princesses, the Northern Anchorage attempts to enforce an exclusion zone around her, preventing all but the European Water Demon from entering her waters. However, geography works against her, and the abyssal installation faces constant attacks from human forces based out of the Nordic Countries.
34: Southern Base Princess (Lae)
The Southern Base Princess had almost been hysterical in her calls for aid in fighting in New Guinea. Even though the Southern Harbour Princess has taken the majority of the pressure off of the installation, her demands for reinforcements from other fleets have only increased.
Abyssal Princesses:
1: Southern War Princess (Musashi) Among abyssal Princesses, few have gained as much notoriety as the Southern War Princess. Forming a battle line with two Re-classes and a Ru-class, she'll happily come to the aid of another princess in need… if they can guarantee that it will end in bloodshed.
2: Southern War Demon (Warship Number 111) The Southern War Demon seems to lack the drive of her corrupted sister, sortieing from her base in Diego Garcia only occasionally. It seems she attacks human settlements for no other reason to provoke a response, retreating after doing battle with human QRFs even if the engagement earns her a victory.
3: Southern Demon (Repulse) Roving up and down the shores of Southeast Asia, this corrupted battlecruiser and her fleet will only break from their frequent patrols if the Harbour Summer Princess calls for them.
4: New Submarine Princess (Unknown) It's exceptionally difficult to determine intelligence on Abyssal Submarines. The location of her base, nature of her fleet, her identity in a previous life, and even if there are more than one Princess is currently unknown.
5: Seaplane Tender Water Princess (Commandant Teste) Intercepted transmissions imply that like with many installations, it seems the Abyss's corruption has blocked any memory of Commandant Teste's postwar service. As it is, the Seaplane Tender's fleet has proven to be a significant force in the Atlantic, although the princess herself only acts in a support role.
6: Seaplane Tender Princess (Mizuho) Occasionally raiding the coast of Japan and human installations in the First Island Chain, the Seaplane Tender Princess has managed to avoid any major combat with humans so far. Her cautious approach has prevented her from doing much damage, however.
7: Northern Water Princess (Gangut) (RESTORED) Russian forces are quietly building an observation post on October Revolution Island, ready to sound the alarm in case another princess moves into the Northern Water Princess's former base.
8: Night Strait Princesses (Fuso and Yamashiro) Surigao Strait hasn't seen daylight since the Night Strait Princesses claimed it for their own. Along with blocking most light, their weather anomaly seems to suppress waves and wind in the area, leaving an uneasy cold and stillness that has even other abyssals hurrying through the strait.
9: Submarine Princess (Soviet Submarine S-13) This submarine princess limits her hunts to shallow waters. The reasoning behind it was unknown until her hideout was discovered, special forces documenting macabre... 'souvenirs' from every ship she'd sunk.
10: Light Cruiser Princess (Jintsuu) Based out of Kolombangara Island, the Light Cruiser Princess is a major player in the south pacific. Despite her previous fate, the Princess's fleet prefers to engage in night battles or combat in poor conditions, with the high, unpredictable winds of her weather anomaly reducing the effectiveness of aircraft.
11: Light Cruiser Demon (Naka) (RESTORED) After successfully baiting the Light Cruiser Demon's fleet into a trap with some under-escorted aircraft carriers, the Light Cruiser Demon was left dead in the water by several near-misses as she attempted to withdraw from combat. There, she ordered the remnants of her fleet to wait at their base at Poluwat for her to be resummoned. They remain there to this day, unaware that Naka was purified by human forces once they caught up with the crippled Princess.
12: German Escort Princess (Shinyou) This converted ocean liner seems to hate combat, avoiding serious engagements and attacking at almost the extreme range of her aircraft. This hatred for conflict may be why her neighbors have pressured her into joining the war against china in the first place, instead of staying to herself like many other princesses.
13: French Battleship Princess (Jean Bart) In the United States, no abyssal princess draws as much hatred as the French Battleship Princess. Funnily enough, this feeling is shared with abyssals in the Western Atlantic, since both factions were devastated by the tsunami the Richelieu Class created in instigating the infamous landslide at La Palma.
14: European Water Princess (Bismarck) (RESTORED) Human forces failed to stop two very successful raiding campaigns by the European Water Princess and her fleet, only bringing her reign of terror to an end by capturing her base of operations. Instead of asking for assistance and indebting herself to another abyssal fleet, the Princess elected to go out in a final blaze of glory, engaging in a final battle over Santa Cruz that ended with her fleet sunk and the abyssal purified.
15: European Princess (Ark Royal) While the European Princess hasn't raided any civilian settlements and rarely attacks human naval bases, she still has been a major thorn in the UN's side. Using her submarines to track human fleet movements, she often deploys to the aid of other abyssals in the area, despite many seeming to resent her efforts to gain favors amongst her 'allies.'
16: Escort Water Princess (Unidentified Casablanca-class) With her fleet of escorts and light carriers, the Escort Water Princess hasn't contributed much more to the abyssal war effort then convoy escorts, preferring to stay far away from human fleets despite her boisterous deminor.
17: Escort Princess (Taiyou) While initially focused on subhunting, her position close to Taiwan has exposed her to the brunt of UN forces stationed there. After a few high-profile losses against the US seventh fleet, the Princess happily throws her fleet behind any offensive against the island.
18: Entombed Anti-Air Guardian Princess (Suzutsuki) The Entombed Anti-Air Guardian Princess spends little time out on the ocean, preferring to station herself and her fleet near her base or in other shorelines, supporting installations or other abyssals.
19: Destroyer Water Demon (Hagikaze) At dusk, the Destroyer Water Demon will sortie her fleet from their base, patrolling the Solomon sea to return at dawn.
20: Destroyer Princess (Harusame) Leading her fleet from Sorong, the Destroyer Princess has taken an active part in the push south. Human forces have found that attacks from strategic bombers can quickly make the princess panic and withdraw, despite their poor effectiveness.
21: Battleship Princess (Kentucky) A common site off America's East Coast, the Battleship Princess's goals have shifted from causing as much damage to the US as possible, to specifically finding and engaging the battleship Wisconsin. Often, these sisters will go as far as requesting their allies withdraw from the battle, to ensure their duel is uninterrupted.
22: Battleship Water Demon (Illinois) From her distant operating base in Greenland, the Battleship Water Demon's strategy has degraded from terror attacks along the East Coast to fairly benign convoy raiding. Many times she's attempted to rebase to one of Canada's islands, but has been driven back to Greenland by the RCAF and UN ships not long after.
23: Batavia Princess (USS Houston) Abyssal corruption seems to have taken its toll on the Batavia Princess. The unstable heavy cruiser moves erratically, performing unusual strategies during combat, and even issuing complements over open channels to her enemies. There are theories that her fleet is actually run by one of her fodder abyssals, or by a representative from the Semerang Princess.
24: Armored Carrier Princess (HMS Glorious) With decades of combat experience and a poorly-contained temper, the Armored Carrier Princess has managed to pass down much of what she knew as both a surface combatant and a carrier to the majority of her fleet. She refuses to sortie with ships that don't meet her expectations, sometimes going as far as to return to her base in Myre to retrain them to her impossible standards.
25: Armored Carrier Demon (HMS Courageous) Unlike many abyssals in the Atlantic, the Armored Carrier demon tends to avoid convoys, instead focusing her efforts on destroying infrastructure along Western Europe's coastline.
26: Anzio Princess (HMS Janus) While seeming to fight for no other reason for combat itself, the corrupted destroyer tends to avoid engagements unless she has a decisive advantage.
27: Anti-Air Cruiser Princess (USS Atlanta) When she initially rose from the depths, the Anti-Air Cruiser Princess seemed to keep to herself, but over the last year the cruiser has steadily become more aggressive.
28: Ancient Destroyer Princess (Hayate) As a casualty of the first few days of ww2, the Ancient Destroyer Princess seems eager to pick up where she left off. She rarely stays at her base in the Marshall Islands, instead roving around the South Pacific, attacking easy targets and using nearby islands to hide from reaction forces.
29: Ancient Destroyer Demon (Oite) Contrary to popular belief, not all abyssals hate humanity as a whole. The Ancient Destroyer Demon is an example of this, focusing her rage on fleets hailing from the old allied powers, and going as far as to withdraw from a battle when sighting ships hailing from the JMSDF.
30: Aircraft Carrier Water Demon (Shoukaku) Due to her recent appearance, little is known of the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon. Her fleet has made several sorties to the old Abyssal Crane Princess's base of operations, but beyond that she hasn't undertaken any major operations.
31: Aircraft Carrier Princess (Kaga) Before the rise of the Central Princess, the Aircraft Carrier Princess bore the brunt of the US Navy's efforts against the Abyss. After organizing the attack which corrupted Pearl Harbor, however, she's taken on a more passive role, attempting to destroy convoys bound for the Hawaiian fortress instead of directly aiding the Central Princess.
32: Aircraft Carrier Demon (Amagi) The Aircraft Carrier Demon has settled in the ruins of Ho Chi Minh City, her aircraft and fleet attacking any signs of human life around her. Perhaps because of her isolated location and lack of allies, the JMSDF believes the carrier might be an easy target for redemption.
33: Air Defense Princess (Michitsuki) The Air Defense Princess's initial performance in the south pacific was initially underwhelming, but as the war has honed her skills. Now, she roams the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, her fleet a force strong enough that most UN commanders try to avoid it.
34: Abyssal Twin Princesses (I-13 and I-14) The two submarine princesses have only been discovered due to their sedentary nature, relying on their fleet to secure their revenge while they remain on Manus Island.
35: Abyssal Sun Princess (Seaplane carrier Nisshin) Despite maintaining a high operational tempo, the Abyssal Sun Princess has proven to be adept at maintaining the size of her fleet. Her expertise in logistics were one of the major factors contributing to the rise of the Southern Harbor Princess, and now she seems poised to exploit the weakness in Australia's defense the rise of the installation has created.
36: Abyssal Nimbus Princess (Murasame) After the fall of Port Moresby, the Abyssal Nimbus Princess and her fleet seemed to disappear. Whether they've redeployed to another theatre or rebased somewhere well-hidden is unknown.
37: Abyssal Mediterranean Princess (Muzio Attendolo) When engaging in battle with UN forces, the Abyssal Mediterranean Princess is infamous for her lengthy speeches over open channels. These speeches, filled with open questions, non-sequiturs, and or phrases that sound intellectual, but often have no meaning, have made their way onto the internet, perhaps making her a common sight in Italian Social Media.
38: Abyssal Jellyfish Princess (USS Saratoga) (RESTORED) Satellite imagery suggests that the facilities constructed for The Jellyfish Princesses' fleet were mostly destroyed after human forces withdrew from the area. Theories range from a follow up battle between abyssals over salvage, to a catastrophic accident due to them being unattended, but unless the science expedition to determine the radiological damage from The Princess's weather anomaly is greenlighted, humanity may never have the answer.
39: Abyssal Crane Princess (Zuikaku) (RESTORED) Ever since the Abyssal Crane Princess's ill-fated expedition to Okinawa, the waters around Casiguran Sound have remained quiet, becoming an ideal insertion point for special forces seeking to contact survivors in Luzon.
40: Tyrant Cruiser Princess (Unknown) Contact with the Falkland Islands was abruptly lost in the opening days of the Abyssal War. Now the Tyrant Cruiser Princess maintains her exclusion zone with a kind of nuance uncharacteristic of abyssals, going as far as to have her fodder ships stoically escort violating ships away from the zone, instead of immediately firing on them.
41: Battlecruiser Princess (Unidentified Lexington-class Battlecruisers) This Abyssal Princess doesn't even have a base of operations, her lack of a weather anomaly allowing her to use the facilities and supplies of other fleets. In order to ensure that other Princesses accept her visit, she will gift newly summoned fodder ships to them, preferring to keep her raiding fleet small and well-drilled.
42: Battlecruiser Water Princess (Unidentified Lexington-class Battlecruisers) In the early stages of the war, the Battlecruiser Water Princess made several attempts to attack the East Coast. When her lack of air defense cost her a good portion of her fleet and saw her sunk several times, she attempted to raid convoys from the US and Canada to Europe, but that ended in several failures as well. Now, she remains in Bermuda, her lack of weather phenomena allowing reconnaissance to confirm an almost complete drop in activity.
43: Battlecruiser Demon (Unidentified Lexington-class Battlecruisers) Many of the first Abyssal fleets originated in the Antarctic, but most of them have rebased into the warmer climates, where they could rely on the assistance of Installations to support them. Newer princesses often appear there, taking advantage of the remote location to train their fleet and themselves to a standard.
44: Battlecruiser Water Demon (Unidentified Lexington-class Battlecruisers) One of the newest Abyssal Princesses, very little is known about the Battlecruiser Water Demon.
45: European Water Demon (Tirpitz) Previously, the European Water Demon had been working to break into the Atlantic, picking advantageous engagements in raiding tactics. However, with her recent push further south, the battleship's tactics have shifted to holding her new base in Ranfjorden, taking the brunt of humanity's response while other Princesses push further south.
46: Abandoned Battleship Princess (Tosa) After a series of high-profile confrontations with the Southern War Princess, the Abandoned Battleship Princess has retreated to the Crozet Islands, establishing her authority over newer abyssals in the Antarctic.
47: Typhoon Princesses (USS Hull, USS Monaghan) Surrounded by a storm so intense it poses a serious danger to other abyssal's fleets, these two Princesses seem to be trapped in Davao City. Abyssals seeking to deal with the two Princesses have to make landfall elsewhere in Mindanao, hiking to the flooded city to avoid the waves.
48: Typhoon Demon (USS Spence) Roving the Central and South Pacific, the Typhoon Demon may be the only destroyers in her fleet. This lack of escorts may be a critical weakness, if the storm wasn't severe enough to destroy most ships under a certain tonnage on it's own.
49: Submarine Cruiser Princess (Surcouf) Solving the mystery of what happened to the Surcouf, this princess stalks the Caribbean, preferring to attack airfields and carriers over shipping and towns.
50: Shattered Escort Princess (Unidentified Avenger-class) Rarely sortieing from Scoresby Sound, little is known of the Shattered Escort Princess. The Light Carrier tends to stay away from human territory, focusing her efforts on subhunting and intercepting aircraft.
51: Captured Battleship Princess (Clemenceau) The Captured Battleship Princess has been eager to engage UN navies, but her lack of experience has cost her entire fleet more than once. Currently, she's slowly regathering her power, training a re-summoned fleet for another attempt at Europe.
52: Converted Cruiser Princess (Seydlitz) Leveraging her aircraft surprisingly well for a ship who never finished conversion, the Converted Cruiser Princess attempts to keep its distance from Russian forces. With only one Wo-class aiding her and not much of an air wing of her own, this has reduced the amount of damage she's been able to achieve, but so far she's managed to avoid a surface engagement.
53: Northern Cruiser Princess (Lützow) Sticking to her experience providing artillery support during the battle of Leningrad, the Northern Cruiser Princess roams the coasts of Norway, shelling anything that seems human. The rest of her fleet acts as a screen for her, focusing on repelling naval threats to their Princess.
54: Captured Carrier Princess (Aquila) The former ocean liner spends as little time in her home port as possible, sometimes setting off before vital repairs are completed. The Italian Navy is fairly confident they'll be able to redeem her, and is currently drafting an operation to do so.
55: Northern Union Princess (Unidentified Sovetsky Soyuz-class) From her base in Svalbard, the Northern Union Princess focuses her efforts on the cities of the Russian Federation, referring to all humans as 'Traitors.' From other intercepts, it seems like this term doesn't seem to have any ideological component, the Princess happily working with the Converted Cruiser and abyssal ships from other countries.
56: Northern Union Demon (Unidentified Sovetsky Soyuz-class) Judging by interviews with Gangut, the Northern Union Demon may have may have looked up to the Northern Winter Princess. In case this intelligence is correct, the Russian Navy has avoided deploying Gangut against the Northern Union Demon until they can build a more complete psyche profile.
57: Sky Princess (Unidentified South Dakota-class) From her base in the ruins of San Juan, the Sky Princess has managed to wield her battle line of Ru-class standards to extreme effect, an achievement that would have been impossible if it wasn't for her somewhat cautious nature, passible screen from carriers, and unpredictable weather phenomena. While lesser known in the continental US, she's made more than a name for herself in the human-held parts of the Caribbean.
58: Abandoned Atlantic Princess (Unidentified South Dakota-class) Embracing the relative lack of opposition in the Arctic, the Abandoned War Princess lords over Baffin Bay and the Northwest Passage, using her inexperienced fleet the rare signs of human activity she finds.
59: Abandoned Sky Princess (Unidentified South Dakota-class) Recently identified by weather satellites and radio intercepts, the Abandoned Sky Princess is new enough that her fledgling fleet isn't prepared for combat. Still, her remote location makes launching a preemptive attack while she is vulnerable unlikely.
60: Abandoned War Princess (Unidentified South Dakota-class) A principle belligerent in the Beaufort Sea, the Abandoned War Princess sees regular action with the armies of Canada, Russia, and the United States. Compared to the massive cities in the south pacific, it is fairly easy to evacuate the small civilian populations threatened by her, so her actual damage has been relatively insignificant.
61: American Battleship Princess (Unidentified South Dakota-class) The American Battleship Princess seems to direct the majority of her ire towards the United States, but seems reluctant to surrender her base at the remote island of Saint Helena to pursue her revenge. Instead, she contents herself with raids throughout the southern Atlantic, settling for raids against Africa and convoys in the Atlantic.
62: Abandoned Carrier Princess (Unidentified Essex-class Carrier) Most Abyssal Princesses rebase out of the antarctic once they believe their fleet is of sufficient strength- UN forces rarely contest their bases precisely because the climate and remote location makes it difficult for princesses to operate from there, but the Abandoned Carrier Princess is an exception. For now, she seems content to occasionally strike north, harassing convoys bound for Australia from an unexpected direction.
63: Pacific Aircraft Carrier Princess (Unidentified Essex-class Carrier) After suffering a serious defeat attempting to relieve the Central Princess several months ago, the Pacific Aircraft Carrier Princess remains in the Marshalls, slowly regaining her strength.
64: Burnt Cruiser Princess (Primauguet) While unable to truly fortify the island of Bioko like an installation would, the Burnt Cruiser Princess seems to be doing whatever she can to make her base an unattractive target. Hef fleet relentlessly drills, using the african coast to gain experience, and she's digging a network of pools and channels in the island, trying to make her fleet serve as shore batteries in case they are attacked.
65: French Destroyer Demons (Boulonnais & Fougueux) Eager to use their neighbor's bases as a jumping off point against the US, it seems like the two Princesses are trying to repair the rift between abyssal factions in the atlantic. Studies into the feasibility of a false flag operation to ensure the Atlantic Rift remains permanent are ongoing.
66: Mediteranian Battleship Princess (Bretagne) Responsible for the fall of Crete and many other abyssal victories, the Mediteranian Battleship Princess's reputation for ruthlessness has earned her infamy in Europe and Africa. She seems to have set her sights on the Suez Canal, a scenario all of Eurasia is seeking to prevent.
67: Abandoned Carrier Twin Princesses (Unidentified Unryu-class) Sitting just north of the Bering Strait, these two unfinished Princesses alternate between raids in the Bering sea and probing defenses in the strait itself.
68: Revolutionary Transport Princess (Fernando Poo) One of the few Abyssal Princesses focused on Africa itself, the Revolutionary Transport Princes rules over the ruins of Bata, the Prison ship slowly extending her territory into Equatorial Guinea. Rumors from Central Africa are contradictory and inconsistent, so stories of her fleet kidnapping survivors and taking them into the heart of the city aren't taken seriously.
69: Cape Spartel Princess (Almirante Ferrándiz) Despite her proximity to Portugal, the Cape Spartel Princess can be seen often traversing the Gibraltar Strait, attacking the besieged Spanish positions in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately for her, the destroyer often over-commits in attacks against European positions, meaning the abyssals that limp back into the Atlantic are usually in the minority.
70: Makassar Strait Princess (Unidentified Admiralen-class destroyer) With her overly-cheery personality and unusual care for her subordinates, the Makassar Strait Princess stands out from other abyssal princesses. She seems to fight for the prospect of combat itself, returning to port after one or two successful battles, and turning to attacking civilian and land targets only if left alone by UN fleets for a period of time.
71: Dutch Destroyer Princess (Unidentified N-class destroyer) From her base north of Iceland, this Princess's fleet serves mostly as a reactionary force. As the fleet stalks the north sea, hunting specifically for fleets with german ships, often working in conjunction with the Abyssal Sparrowhawk Princess
72: Coastal Defense Princess (HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën) From her base in Banyuwangi, the Coastal Defense Princess stalks the shores of the East Indonesia Island Chain. While the Coastal Defense ship's fleet actively seeks surface combat, in an air attack their strategy shifts to running for land, where their nature as shipgirls limits the damage of bombing.
73: Semarang Princess (HNLMS De Ruyter) While most Abyssals tend to have fleets reflecting their service history or doctrine, the Semerang Princess is backed by several capital ships with not much of a clear historical analogue. Fortunately for humanity, she seems tied to the movements of the the insane Batavia Princess, unwilling to stray too far from her former ally.
74: Abyssal Sparrowhawk Princess (Sparviero) Above all things, the Abyssal Sparrowhawk princess seems to harbor a hatred for germany. As the Princess, backed by a cadre of Wo-class Carriers that augment her relatively small air wing, happily attack any other UN force that might be supporting german interests in the north sea, she's become a serious threat to every northern european power.
75: Four Sisters Princesses (Francesco Carccilo-class): The only abyssal fleet headed by more than two princesses, each member of the Francesco Carccilo class seems to reflect a different planned conversion. As their fleet roams the south atlantic, the princesses take the form of a Battleship, a Flush-deck Aircraft Carrier, a floatplane carrier, and a more traditional Aircraft Carrier conversion.
76: Convoy Cruiser Princesses (Alberico da Barbiano & Alberto da Giussano) Based across from human installations in Sicily, the fleet of the Convoy Cruiser Princesses hasn't had much of a chance to grow. Still, the cruisers operate their smaller fleet to the best of their ability, reserving their small number of ships and disengaging when rushed by destroyers from UN fleets.
77: Heavy Cruiser Princess (Bolzano) After securing her anchorage in Mallorca, the Heavy Cruiser Princess has turned her attention to Sardinia. European air forces regularly bomb the island in the hopes that they can delay her eventual attack.
78: Jutland Princess (Unidentified Indefatigable-class battlecruiser) The Battlecruiser's fleet is outdated when compared to most of her peers, but the fierce storms that surround her nullify many of her disadvantages. Still, despite her fearsome reputation, the Jutland Princess hasn't fared well against more modern shipgirls.
79: Protected Cruiser Princess (Takachiho) Too dated for combat at sea, the Protected Cruiser Princess and her fleet spend most of their time fighting inland, supporting vulnerable Abyssal ground units in their war against humanity in china.
80: Protected Cruiser Demon (Oleg 1903) Staying near the coast, the Protected Cruiser Demon forms the east flank of abyssals making landfall in Norway, primarily fighting Europe's armies.
81: Coastal Defense Twin Princesses (HNoMS Eidsvold and HNoMS Norge) Cloaked by constant snow and heavy fog, the two Princesses and their fleet lurk in Ofotfjord, practically under constant concealment as their screen keeps others from drawing too close.
82: Gale Destroyer Princess (ORP Wicher) The Gale Destroyer Princess and her fleet can be seen regularly off the coasts of Russia and England, often referring to the war against humanity as some kind of 'desperate stand.' The fact that these desperate stands are usually offensive actions seems to be lost to the corrupted destroyer.
Human Points of Interest:
1: The Hawaiian Fortress With the Fall of Pearl, American forces only withdrew to the islands east of Oahu. From there, rocket artillery regularly barrages the Central Princess, aided by special forces in Oahu and regular shipgirl raids.
2: San Diego While several long-abandoned Naval Stations along the west coast have been reactivated, San Diego's importance as a summoning station, command center, and jumping-off point for convoys has only increased. Since the fall of Pearl, this prominence has only grown.
3: Puget Sound The second heart of the West Coast, Military Bases in Puget sound house ships from all nations participating in the famous Seattle Express, as well as the heart of Canada's Pacific Command. Several anomalous reassignments and troop deployments in the area point to something happening, but at the moment only rumors hint at unfolding events.
4: Anchorage After it became clear that the Northern Princess didn't have any offensive actions planned, the military presence in Anchorage dropped drastically. Now, Elmendorf AFB serves as a vital source of air cover for the Seattle Express.
5: Klyuchi Air Base Without obstructions from the Northern Princess's weather anomalies and a closer proximity to abyssals in the Central Pacific, this Russian airbase has seen much more in aiding the Seattle Express and ensuring bases along the Aelutians remain supplied.
6: Yokosuka With the advent of shipgirls, fewer commitments and a more concentrated fleet than the Americans, the JMSDF has become the primary offensive force in the Pacific. The majority of this force is stationed in Yokosuka, and the port acts as the Pacfic end of the Seattle Express.
7: Okinawa After the narrow failure of the Abyssal Crane Princess to corrupt Okinawa, US military forces mostly withdrew from the island. Currently the island's fortifications are manned by the JGSDF.
8: Zuoying District On the frontline of the abyssal war, the Zuoying District of Taiwanbases the American 7th Fleet, as well as the ROC navy. Shipgirls of the Chinese Maritime Defense Corporation are most often based here.
9: Ningbo The headquarters for both the PLAN's Eastern Fleet and the remnants of the Southern Fleet, this protected port serves as a mustering point for offensive operations against abyssals occupying the mainland. Shipgirls of the Chinese Maritime Defense Corporation may base here as well, but the distance from the frontlines means they are fairly rare.
10: South Korea While not unscathed by the abyssal war, the Republic of Korea's Navy and shipbuilding capacity has been severely underestimated by Abyssals as a whole. Lacking shipgirls, the ROK nevertheless has a significant steel-hulled force that has distinguished itself in the war so far.
11: Vladivostok The Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet has been a low priority throughout the abyssal war, but they still contribute to the mutual effort in the region. Regular patrols root out submarines in the sea of Japan, and a handful of Russian ships have been contributed to the Seattle Express.
12: North Korea Ever since the prospect of support from the PRC or Russia disappeared, the Hermit Kingdom has become oddly quiet. Rumors of an internal power struggle grow, but while experts can agree that the situation isn't stable, predictions vary.
13: Vietnam Unable to fight the abyssal fleets in the open, the Vietnamise Military has retreated into the jungle, waging asymmetric warfare in the jungles and cities on the coast.
14: Three Gorges Dam Since the land war in China has stalemated, the Hong Kong princess has adjusted its tactics to raiding the 3 Gorges Dam. Desperate to avoid a disaster that would dwarf La Palma, the PLA has created the largest air-defense system in the world.
15: Sulawesi Convoys enter Sulawesi loaded with weapons, and leave loaded with civilians. The large island is the cornerstone of human defenses in Oceana.
16: New Guinea Despite stiff resistance, human forces in New Guinea have been slacking after the fall of Port Moresby, shifting resources to Australia and the rest of Oceana.
17: Port Darwin Despite lying deep behind human lines, Port Darwin is one disaster away from being threatened by abyssals. Fortifications in the surrounding area are being developed, although all hope they will never see use…
18: Brisbane The Headquarters for the Australian Navy and endpoint for vital convoys from the americas, Brisbane has been a key port in keeping Australia and the governments-in-exile residing there fighting with vital war material.
19: Vanuatu This independent nation has once again become a fortress, stationing a major garrison of Australian, American, and Chilean troops. Abyssals have attacked and shelled the islands several times, but their seeming inability to summon a princess here has ensured it remains in human hands.
20: Devonport Naval Base While the majority of New Zealands' Navy is engaged in combat north of the island, Devonport is a prominent base for military expeditions into the Antarctic.
21: Bering Tunnel Although China has withdrawn their investment into the project, the start of the abyssal war was what the US needed to greenlight a Bering Tunnel. Work has been ongoing for 8 months by now, frequently interrupted by abyssal attacks.
22: Visakhapatnam This economically starved port houses the only naval base capable of defending cities along the surrounded Bay of Bengal. To help the undersupplied fleet there, a handful of Royal Navy Shipgirls have been assigned to help the former colony.
23: Djibouti With their original owners having higher priorities and the only surviving trade routes through the Gulf of Aden being between Europe and the Middle East, the extensive base infrastructure in the country has been lent to European powers.
24: Gulf of Oman While the extremely militarized region has repelled any abyssal probing attacks, the withdrawal of most US support and massive drop in trade for the region has led to significant instability in the once-prosperous gulf states.
25: Kotelny Island After the purging of the Northern Water Princess, Russian forces were able to reoccupy the airbase here, and are currently preparing it to repel another abyssal attack.
26: Severomorsk Since it seems like the majority of Abyssal princesses in Norway are focused on pushing south towards mainland Europe, the Russian Northern Fleet focuses on their duty as the only Fleet currently able to oppose Abyssals in the rest of the arctic circle. Despite fortifications around the port created by the Russian Army, plans have been made to relocate the Northern Fleet to Arkhangelsk if Severomorsk falls.
27: Haakonsvern The main base of the Royal Norwegian Navy, Haakonsvern hosts a significant shipgirl force from other European powers, as well as their own shipgirl flotilla. Despite several attempted raids, Abyssal forces have failed to break this lynchpin of Europe's defenses.
28: Nordic Countries Attempts for Abyssals to mount more offensive operations from Norwegan fjords have been hampered by conventional military forces, who've taken advantage of their local knowledge and the speed of mechanized forces to mount several successful raids on their infrastructure.
29: Keflavik The GIUK gap, and the chain of underwater listening posts lining it, has been somewhat effective in detecting abyssal surface raiders attempting to break into the Atlantic. Keflavik, being a major point along this line, now houses a skeleton US complement, a major Royal Navy element, and elements of Iceland's growing Coast Guard.
30: Orkney Despite reassurance of Imperial German Shipgirls who'd been a part of the scuttling there that the events there don't make it a target for abyssal corruption, fears of an installation emerging in Scapa Flow have led to the United Kingdom spending significant resources fortifying Orkney.
31: HMNB Portsmouth This prestigious naval base is the first Western port to summon a shipgirl. Portsmouth's protected location makes it one of the safest ports in the continent, and is the endpoint of many convoys.
32: Lisbon Somewhat isolated from the brutal combat in the Medetranian, Portugal's economy is one of those most devastated by Atlantic raiders. While they have some support from visiting convoys and the French Fleet, they're mostly on their own.
33: Cartagena Despite being devastated by multiple abyssal raids, the port at Cartagena stands defiant against abyssals in the Mediterranean. Multiple campaigns in the Mediterranean have been decided by a shipgirl fleet launching an attack from here.
34: Tulon Even before the arrival of shipgirls, France's force d-action navale has distinguished itself in combat. While most of its steel-hulled fleet has been lost to attrition, it's been buoyed by shipgirls eager to serve their nation.
35: Sardinia All supplies brought into the island are used almost immediately, while the steady stream of refugees from the island shows no sign of stopping. It's unknown if the exhausted garrison will be able to withstand another attack…
36: Naples The reorganized US Sixth fleet, composed of the remains of the prewar Fifth and Sixth fleets, have been stationed here, trapped in the Mediterranean. To prove that the United States hasn't entirely abandoned the fleet or Europe, shipgirls have been sent to bolster the sixth fleet's strength, but many European powers fear that once that last steel hull sinks, the US will pull out of the Mediterranean entirely.
37: Sicily The dominating spectre of the Besieged Seaport Princess looms over Sicily, but armies from nations from all over Europe still defiantly hold the island.
38: Taranto With the threat posed by a hypothetical Taranto Princess, this port has become the primary center of power for the Italian Military.
39: Lora Harbor Beyond housing the Croatain Navy, Lora also serves as the headquarters for the Eastern Europe Naval Corporation, a private military contractor under which Austria-Hungarian and Yugoslavian shipgirls serve.
40: Greece While the fall of Crete has been devastating for the Hellenic Navy, a layered defense launching ambushes from the Agean's many ambushes has prevented abyssal access to the Black Sea.
41: Aksaz This Turkish Naval base houses the summoned Ottoman fleet, their small and relatively dated fleet complemented by more modern ships from the early Turkish Naval Forces.
42: Cyprus As an abyssal stronghold here would cut vital oil shipments from the middle east, the government of Cyprus has lent out several of its port facilities to a revived, all-shipgirl British Mediterranean Fleet.
43: Suez Canal Every European Nation, from Portugal to Russia, has deployed forces to the Suez Canal, desperate to keep this vital passage open.
44: Central Africa With the vast majority of trade to Central Africa cut off, sensationalized stories and rumors tell of a collapse of civilization in the region. More nuanced intelligence reports, however, suggest that while not all of the horrific rumors are inaccurate, the situation in Central Africa has begun to stabilize.
45: South Africa With only tenuous convoys to South America to keep it supplied, the nation and its neighbors have been preparing a desperate rearmament to fend off a future abyssal assault. Whether they'd be able to withstand a dedicated abyssal assault is unknown.
46: Cape Horn and Ushuaia After it became clear that the Tyrant Cruiser Princess seemed content with occupying the Falklands, Argentina shifted some forces from coastal defense and joined Chile in fortifying this important trade route.
47: Brazil With no immediate threat beyond an economic one, the Brazilian navy uses their decently-sized shipgirl fleet to manage several convoys through the contested Atlantic.
48: French Guina A small squadron of the French Navy is stationed here, repelling the occasional push south from Caribbean abyssals.
49: Venezuela The threat from abyssals managed to pull the Venezuelan government together throughout 2021, but the complete lack of foreign investment and the drop in trade has led to worrying cracks appearing in Maduro's government, despite the existential threat the nation poses.
50: Panama With such a vital canal, vast wealth has been channeled into ensuring that Panama canal does not fall to abyssals. A ship transitioning from the Atlantic to the pacific will see patrolling warships, coastal batteries, missile launchers, and experimental weapons like railguns and lasers.
51: Guantánamo Bay Fears of an abyssal princess appearing in Guantánamo Bay, and the damage that would cause, have led to a complete transformation of the overseas base. Prisoners have been transferred out and troops have been transformed in, transforming the land into a coastal fortress.
52: Norfolk The slow recovery from the La Palma disaster continues along the American East Coast, with shipbuilding only resuming in the first part of 2022.
53: Halifax Arguably, the French Battleship Princess's La Palma Campaign was far more effective against Canada then her intended target, as abyssals raiding the country didn't lose their bases of operation to the Tsunami that characterized it. Now, while most of the civilian infrastructure has been repaired and shipbuilding has started, the Canadian Navy relies almost entirely on its shipgirl force to defend it's shores and contribute to the war.
...And this project is done! I put a lot more work then I needed to into this, but I did have some fun making it. The original plan was to break the map down into regions, but at the end of the day I wasn't sure how to break the map up without making some weirdly cut rectangles. I'd just suggest opening the image in a new tab and checking between the two (sorry, mobile users.)
Anyways, I'm obviously not going to use a lot of these ideas in this fic, so if you're a fanfic author feel free to steal any if you think they're worth anything. In a similar vein, I made enough entries in the map/key that there's bound to be some mistakes or really dumb ideas. Please call me out on any BS you see.
This wasn't a chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyways!
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