Day 255

My girls radio'd in today. They encountered no problems and are en route to Haven. They were not followed either, though I guess a wandering storm is hard to miss. Then again, they said they occassionally make it disperse, both to throw off pursuit and because Ariel came to like the sunlight.

Good thing Abyssals can not get sunburnt. Considering how pale we all are, that would happen right quick if we could.

Akatsuki is still doing her thing, though she now takes occasional breaks. Hibiki and a battleship called Yashima support her, each of them carrying another Radia-Gone. The Internet still goes on about where the devices came from, but so far nobody tried to take them off Akatsuki; I guess this is a case of not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I saw some theories about actual divine intervention, too.

Those people will be so disappointed if they ever find out.

Day 258

Had a longer discussion with Frostbite today. She is getting annoyed by the constant sea travel passing through her territory. Especially now that she managed to make contact with another Princess. Her name is Briar and she is an Airstrip Princess controlling Hawaii. Also about as landlocked as I.

I should probably note that Frostbite's expansion is nowhere near Hawaii yet. Her scouts met Briar's scouts and exchanged information, though no tech. We face a similar problem to when we first met and it will take at least a week to pass a single message.

Funnily enough, Frostbite told me she now understood perfectly well why I just gave her the radio tech for free. Having it makes waiting so long an even greater annoyance than it was before. Hence why she changed course; right now her builders focus solely on a line of outposts aiming toward Hawaii, close enough to contact Briar without need for any relays. This will still take time, but we joked that it is faster than just exchanging messages.

Not to mention that we can link up with another Princess. If she then does the same as Frostbite, we may actually be able to link up Abyssals across the globe at some point. Going by how far out her own scouts were, she definitely seems to hold a sizable territory. They did not know what was going on and were looking for American ships, we have not told them yet.

That may just be a headache and a half to deal with.

Day 259

The girls came home. We had a little celebration for their first complete sortie into human territory, though Jeanne insisted that it was nothing grand. She is right, but I felt like celebrating anyway. They went all the way and returned without needing to fire a single shot. Another Abyssal scout watched them for a time, but did not attack; that poor girl must have been so confused.

Hannah told me about how she formed an accord with Akatsuki along the way; with them both being destroyers, the girls got along quite well. She also made sure to remind Akatsuki not to let anyone take the Radia-Gone away.

She also said that her sort-of friend was deep in thought for most of the journey. There was some sort of plan brewing in her head, but she never said what it was. Ariel and Jeanne agreed on that one. Only Hannah decided to prod and pry a little, but it did not work out.

They took the news of Briar with good cheer, too.

Meanwhile, Frostbite is stockpiling resources while focussed on only a single outpost at a time; her growing territory and numerous mines on the ocean floor make her more and more rich in that regard. She will have to restructure her logistics network soon, though. I offered to help and hope I actually can; if we manage to cover most of the Pacific, then Frostbite will rule the largest singular domain in the world.

We have the slight advantage that there are no civilians living in that territory, else distributing resources would become a real nightmare. I already asked Orion for help with this and she agreed, then Ionia volunteered to assist as well. Those two may not be warships, but they are definitely willing to do their part.

We will be busy until at least the end of the year, but I do not mind. It is actually pretty nice to do things again.

Day 261

Maybe Akatsuki went insane after all. I still do not know how to feel about today and neither does anyone else. Except Hannah, she had a giggling fit when she saw that speech her friend made. And she had a big smile on her face the rest of the day.

It has been one and a half weeks since that girl returned to Japan. There is still a lot of ground to cover, but she and her sisters in arms actually made a decent amount of land habitable again. Volunteers are cleaning up the rubble and rebuilding has slowly begun. Today she decided to break her silence, requested to hold a speech on live television and livestream.

I already knew something was up when the Internet exploded about it, but had to wait for a full translation. And while I could say a lot about what she explained there, it will be easier to just copy the transcript for posterity.

"Sisters and fleetmates, brave soldiers of the JSDF, people of Japan and of the world. I am Akatsuki, first of the Akatsuki-Class destroyers and former member of Destroyer Division Six. For the last ten days, I have worked to undo the horrific injustice we suffered by the hands of our unexpected enemies. Many times I was asked which unlikely ally may have given me these wondrous tools to do so; whether a kind angel descended from the heavens to grant me this boon, or whether the kami smiled upon me."

"Today I wish to reveal to you the truth and beg your understanding. I remained quiet too long. My story begins weeks before the day of the kaiju's emergence upon Japan's shores."

"During deployment against an Abyssal Princess far out to sea, we were suddenly beset by a great amount of opposition. Elite units and Abyss Demons struck our force, sinking a number of ships and almost destroying me as well. We were dispersed like still water if a rock were dropped in its midst. I do not recall crawling ashore. Perhaps the kami did indeed smile upon me that night, for when I woke I had been saved."

"However, the woman who saved me was not one of ours, nor of our esteemed allies of the USN. Her name is Dagon and she is a Princess of the Abyss."

(There was a long pause here, probably because people lost it.)

"Neither is this a joke, nor an embellishment. I was saved by an Abyssal. Of course I was scared at first, well aware that there can be no friendship between us and them. Or so I believed at the time, at least. Dagon allowed me to use her repair baths and was overall a kind if, distant host. She asked me no questions about Japan or the IJN, made no attempt to torture me for information. I have no complaints and only praise for her conduct. Once the brunt of my damages were repaired, she freely parted with enough fuel to see me home and let me go."

"My admiral did not believe it when I told him after my return. I understand to be wary, I too could hardly believe what happened to me. For a month I was examined in any conceivable way to find something nasty, an infiltration device, any sort of mental effect. Every single test came back negative; no changes were made to my ship self and no contraband was found. The admiral still did not believe we were dealing with a potential friendly. The USN offered a flotilla currently on loan to Japan to assist in ambushing this new Princess. I had seen no other beings bar two during my stay. Based on this, they deemed Dagon easily handled."

"Of the entire fleet that went to subjugate her, only a handful of ships returned. I was never made privy to what exactly happened that day and do not dare speculate. What I know is that it was not her who attacked us first."

"When I asked of Dagon why she showed me kindness, she asked me if it was wrong to want to be kind. The day she let me go, she said she wants to be involved in the war as little as possible. In this we forced her hand, just like any of us would retaliate after being attacked. The monster that destroyed Yokohama was of her making. I knew the moment we first heard of it. A message made for all of us fools to leave her be, or suffer the consequences."

"Many may curse the beast for the events that transpired, but I respectfully disagree with such a notion. Dagon herself told me that she gave her monster orders to leave the civilian population alone, to only destroy Yokohama Naval Base. Neither was it her who brought forth the true catastrophe; this monstrous act rests on the shoulders of humans and humans alone. I refuse to let them avoid punishment by blaming their actions on the one Abyssal we can work with."

"After the destruction of Yokohama Naval Base, I went to confront her with my emotions awhirl. She showed patience and once again kindness I still believe I did not deserve. In the end, she even up and created these anti-radiation devices for me to take back. What happened to Tokyo sickened even her."

"I understand the confusion and worry many of you must feel. For a time I felt the same. But I have seen no adverse effects whatsoever over the last days. Again and again I expected falsehood, only to be given truth and kindness. At this point I believe in her goodwill, and even if I did not, we as a people do not have a choice anymore than to trust. Trust in those who came to help, be they human or not. We must trust them for Japan to live."

End of quote.

So yeah, Akatsuki went for broke there. I listened to the audio broadcast too, there was a lot of emotion packed into her voice. She spoke from the heart, which made me feel a little fluttery. I had no idea she puts so much faith in me. Even if she is right that Japan needs outside help after that nuke, I remember enough media to know the Japanese are a proud people. They may very well decide to shun an Abyssal's help and rather wither away from the radiation.

Then again, the Internet seems to have its own civil war on the subject. There are a bunch of hardline groups declaring that such a thing as a kind Abyssal can not exist, but a number of people seem tentatively interested in the story as well. Considering Akatsuki's presence, her clearly being a shipgirl, and the fact the radiation is indeed gone from where she worked, they have a foot in the door. Not to mention that she all but called out China for being bigger assholes than the Abyss in this instance. A bunch of people jumped onto that bandwagon as well.

Ironic, really. I want no part in this, but my actions probably did more in terms of weakening humanity than any other singular Abyssal across the globe. They do remain quiet these days, too. Probably biding their time and stockpiling resources in the unofficial armistice. Which was also caused by me, now that I think of it.

Either way, Akatsuki is currently being investigated again. If the news are to be believed, she fought tooth and nail for Hibiki and Yashima to keep working while she carried her Radia-Gone to a lab for examination. Props to her fleetmates on that end, too: they kept going without any visible hesitation. Hannah says that Yashima seemed uncomfortable holding the Abyssal device in the pictures, but I could not see it.

I have to admit that I am incredibly curious how this will shake out.

Day 263

From the news that came in today, Akatsuki was cleared a second time. No Abyssal corruption, no nothing. The Radia-Gone is fine as well, which I could have told them too. Humanity is more divided than ever at the prospect of a 'good' Abyssal.

There were a number of interviews with Akatsuki asking more details about me and Haven. She tried hard not to tell them where exactly I am, probably to prevent another incident like the last one. Not a word about my fleet beyond that they are all kind and that yes, it was them who escorted the destroyer back home.

Lines are drawn in the sand as well. A lot of people who suffered through Abyssals categorically refuse to accept my existence, which I am not blaming them for. Others play devil's advocate about the matter and a few seem actually convinced. None of the world's nations has made any comment on the matter yet, but a lot of journals note them looking at Japan. The land of the rising sun is a hotbed of change these days.

I am a little tempted to send my fleet for a vacation, but that is a risk I am not sure I want to take. Maybe later. Much, much later.

For the time being, I will just enjoy my free time and play some games with them. Cooking with Jeanne is fun too, same as baking with Sapphire. Everyone eats while we watch the news or Ariel translates journals for us; turns out she started learning Japanese. I am not sure if that is because of the situation or because she is turning into a weeb. I do not think I care, either.

Day 266

People sure turn around if you give them an olive branch. Akatsuki's work slowed down some because the area she has to cover is so large, but she still works tirelessly. Rubble is being cleared and rebuilding continues. The earthquake yesterday did not help those efforts, but the Japanese take it in stride. I guess they are used to it.

Those directly affected seem more and more inclined to follow her lead in regard to me. Akatsuki still has not told anyone where they can find me though, which is prudent. She kept quiet on my access to the Internet too; maybe she forgot over her work, but I feel like this is something one would keep in mind. Either way is good for me.

Ariel hangs around on a number of online messageboards lately; she took to compiling short reports of what people write about the situation and my involvement. The hostile sentiment begins to dissipate with each day nothing bad happens. I have the feeling there is a sense of dread among those boards, though; they probably expect the other shoe to drop one of these days.

That aside, Frostbite made good progress on our connection with Hawaii. She passed along the comm tech and calling Briar is now easily possible. I actually had a chance to speak to her today; she seems a bit more high-strung than either of us. More outgoing, though not overly friendly. Considering where she is based gives me an idea why that is; the USN probably harasses her on the regular, which would make me grumpy as well. At least we get along fine.

Maybe Briar was actually mellowed out by the gifted tech. She seemed a little wary, but expressed interest in trading for more. I agreed to do so, if only after the connection is established. Then I gave her the teleporter blueprints as a freebie, though I sadly could not see her face. After that she became a lot friendlier and agreed to build one of her own on the main isle as soon as she is able.

Frostbite asked me afterward if it was wise to do this when we barely know Briar. She had a point, but in this case we get more out of it than she; she would figure it out before long anyway. Like this we can have Briar build at least one of the stations, saving Frostbite resources. It makes for a nice gift, too. I had some trouble conveying this in just a few words at the time, but my friend understood in the end. She still has reservations and keeps an eye on things, though. I do not mind, she is my security after all.

Day 280

Connection to Briar is established. She built two teleporters in total, probably in part to keep her territory as her own. Frostbite's final station is placed outside of it, using hers as relays. We both went to meet the Airstrip Princess, each with our entourage of Demons.

Briar is tanned. Not dusky brown or anything, but her skin has actual colour instead of being pale like ours. She says she often suspends her storm to fake out the Americans. They never know which part of the archipelago she hides in. The shallows are full of mines and other traps while carriers hide everywhere to spew bombers and planes.

I think she immediately figured out that I am not a military commander, but took it in stride. I gave her a little booklet with the technologies I can offer at the moment. She is still poring over it now; Briar is not flush on resources, especially after building those teleporters. She is definitely more outgoing than Frostbite or I, though.

Akatsuki is still going strong, too. No real news there. There is a steady stream of refugees returning to wherever they used to live and helping with the rebuilding. Hats off to them and the volunteers that help out, too.