FoL Agriculture
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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Savato93
"So…" Goto looked to the Abyssal girls in front of him, eyebrow raised. "You're hoping to consolidate your fleets?"
"Yes. With this peace, we're all free to come out of hiding, get back together and be one big family again." Ritou gestured to the eldest sister present. "The island Tanith settled on is spacious enough for all of us to live comfortably, and Uncle Harry has offered us several options in terms of temporary housing we can use short-term. If we can just resolve the matter of feeding everyone, we should be okay in the long run."
The admiral tilted his head slightly. "You all are having a food issue?"
"Of a sort, yes." Tanith nodded. "Up until now, we've primarily… fed ourselves via fishing. But that has only worked… because our fleets were all… fishing in our own regions. Trying to continue that as a single fleet… will likely decimate populations." She gestured to herself. "My daughter does tend a farm back home… but it's not big enough for all of us… to live off it alone. She's just one girl. As much as we hate to be a burden… we're going to need outside help… to get back on our feet."
"And to be perfectly honest, we're tired of seafood," Sunny added.
"…I see." Goto leaned on the desk, hands clasped in front of him. "In that case… what kind of help are you seeking?"
The girls looked to each other for a few moments, deliberating. "Well…" Ritou eventually began, "To start, Regalia would love to get her hands on some new crops; fruits, vegetables, grains, the works. It would help to introduce some more variety into our diet. And while she's done well up to now being self-taught, getting her and a few others some professional training and proper equipment would help us a great deal."
"Are you anticipating large-scale farming?"
"Large-scale…? Oh, right." Ritou shook her head. "If you're talking those huge machines that are supposed to automate most of the work, I don't think there are enough of us to make those necessary."
"Hm." Goto rubbed his chin, thinking. "That shouldn't be too difficult to arrange." Bringing out a pen, he began to jot down some notes. "So, what about meat? Are you planning on raising your own livestock, as well?"
"Actually, we may already have… a solution for that," Tanith answered. "There's a population of… feral pigs, that terrorizes Regalia's crops. If we can capture those… and re-domesticate them, that would resolve… multiple problems."
Goto nodded. "You get a steady source of red meat and potential fertilizer, while simultaneously cutting down a significant threat to your crops. Good thinking."
"Beyond that? Some dairy animals would be nice," Patty spoke up. "We did some research, and we think goats would be the best bet. Smaller, cheaper and a little less maintenance-intensive than cows."
The admiral looked over the sisters with an intrigued expression. "You ladies seem to have put a good bit of thought into this, which is no doubt admirable. But it's not like you need to take care of absolutely everything by yourself. Nobody is saying you can't ask us for supplies every now and then, if you find yourselves in a pinch."
At this, a couple of the girls looked away sheepishly. "…Miss Supprin advised us to try and reach self-sufficiency as quickly as we can," Ritou admitted, "and this was the result. It wouldn't exactly be a modern lifestyle, true… but we're just not sure if anyone would be open to selling much more than the necessities to Abyssals."
Goto was quiet as he thought their words over. "I think you girls are selling yourselves short, here," he eventually said. "You should keep in mind that you have the benefit of a relatively positive reputation—your fleet gave their lives to defend Unalaska, you sought out peace of your own volition, you brought home the crew of the Regina… and there's a not-insignificant amount of footage online documenting some of your fairly innocent goings-on since your arrival."
"...footage?"
XXXXXXXXXX
"'Abyssal Princess Introduces Her Daughter to'... wait, someone videotaped me and Mom when we went to get ice cream? I feel kinda… violated."
"To be fair, two Abyssals walking into a Baskin Robbins (ugh, that sounds like the setup to a bad joke) isn't something you see every day…"
"A lot of the comments are about my back…"
"Hey, don't even think about feeling down! That's the OLD you. Now you're just as awesome as the rest of us!"
"Plus, there's plenty of people who commented on how adorable your reaction to the birthday cake flavor was; some of them are even calling you a cinnamon roll… oh right, you've never had one of those before, need to fix that later… anyway, they think you're a sweet girl."
"...well… I guess it's nice, to see that not everyone would outright reject me for my disfigurement… hey, hold on. What does that one say? Something about Mom… a MILF? What does tha—"
"Yeahokaylet'sfindanothervideoandpreserveyourmother'sgoodnameshallwe?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Goto gestured to the girls. "Over the past few weeks, you've given people more than enough evidence to prove that Abyssals can be just as human as the rest of us. I'm certain that if you look in the right places, you'll find people who would be willing to work with you, help you build something new for yourselves, once they hear your story."
"...I suppose you have a point," Ritou finally responded with a sigh. "But even if finding someone to buy stuff from isn't that big an issue… we have no money."
The admiral nodded. "If I recall correctly, Supprin has brought up the possibility of mining methane hydrate from the ocean floor, to process into natural gas. Given that you all have the Bering Sea more or less to yourselves, I'm sure that would be a good source of income."
Nuri sighed. "We're aware of that possibility, and we're planning to pool our raw materials and begin production on the Oku-class immediately, once we return to the Aleutians. But locating the deposits, setting up a system to harvest and transport the methane, getting our hands on machinery to process it… that's all going to take time. We don't want to just sit on our debts and tell people we'll pay them back once we have the money, that would just make us look bad…"
The demon was interrupted by a knock at the door. Blinking, Goto rose from his seat. "Excuse me." Stepping over to the door, he cracked it open. "Yes?"
Ooyodo stood just outside the door, another woman—another shipgirl—standing beside her. "Admiral, there's a shipgirl here from Russia. She says she's here concerning the message you sent out a few days ago."
Sparing a glance to Tanith and her sisters, Goto nodded. "You've arrived at a good time, actually. Please, come in." As the admiral opened the door wider to admit the newcomer, the Abyssals turned to get a good look—and paused, baffled by the sight before them.
Physically she was nothing spectacular; sporting an average height and a sturdy build, akin to a Ri-class. Her hull, though… several sets of eyes began to flicker between the shipgirl and Tanith, whose own hull bore shocking similarities. The same rough superstructure design, the same main gun and armor layouts… she could easily be described as a dark reflection of the dreadnought now standing before them. "…I think taking refuge on that Russian island may have influenced your ascension…" Ritou couldn't help but point out.
"…I think you may be right," Tanith responded.
They weren't alone in their observations, as the other dreadnought chuckled. "I see the Abyss has seen fit to emulate the great work of the Motherland," she said dryly. "Fortunate, then, that you sided with us." She gave the Abyssals a small bow. "Russian dreadnought Gangut, name ship of the Gangut-class. It is good to make your acquaintance."
Once the sisters had made their own greetings, Gangut turned to the Admiral and saluted. "Admiral."
Goto nodded. "At ease. I'll be honest, wasn't expecting anyone to find anything this quickly... I hope you didn't trip over yourself getting to Kushiro."
"The journey was uneventful, thankfully." Lowering her hand, Gangut nodded curtly. "I apologize if the Russian Navy's rapid response to your query caught you… unawares. But we've actually been observing some strange activity at the edge of our territory over the last few months, that we've struggled to find an explanation for. When we got your message, we found it critical to reach out to both you and our new allies as quickly as we could."
"Abyssal activity?" instantly, the sisters were on alert.
"Yes." Gangut reached into her hold and pulled out a chart of the Kuril Islands. Each of the islands was connected with an arrow pointing to another, marked with two dates. "A pair of Abyssals were spotted landing on Urup earlier this year; since then, they've been steadily making their way north, hopping from island to island. They follow a relatively consistent pattern: they make landfall, scavenge any nearby razed settlements—presumably for supplies—and then go on to spend several more days going over the rest of the island, up to a week or so depending on the size of the isle in question, before leaving.
"We have no idea what they're searching for, but the moment they detect anyone approaching, they either find a hidey-hole and wait for scouts to pass, or they flee eastward into the Pacific until we stop following them, before returning to their routine." She shook her head. "Their behavior is startlingly non-confrontational… docile, even."
Tanith spoke up. "You think these Abyssals may be… one of us?"
Gangut shrugged. "It's our best guess, currently. They don't come near populated areas, they don't seem to be in communication with any other Abyssals… one of our early presumptions was that they were simply exiles, trying to stay alive. Before you and your comrades made headlines, we had no clue that ANY of the Little Princess's fleet sailed away from that massacre, let alone in such numbers—but your survival has presented us with the possibility of these Abyssals being genuinely non-hostile. If we could just make contact with them, offer them peace… but they just keep running away."
The room was quiet as the occupants thought that dilemma over. The silence was broken by Sunny, as she gave the dreadnought a curious look. "So… just what kind of Abyssals are they? Do you have photos of them?"
Gangut nodded grimly as she produced another photo, holding it out to the girls. "This… is the reason we thought it was so urgent to contact you," she said.
The girls stared at the photo, eyes wide. Despite the blurriness, the poor angle of the shot… despite the visibly crippling damage the Abyssal depicted had sustained…
the outline of a Re-class hull was unmistakable.
"So…" Goto looked to the Abyssal girls in front of him, eyebrow raised. "You're hoping to consolidate your fleets?"
"Yes. With this peace, we're all free to come out of hiding, get back together and be one big family again." Ritou gestured to the eldest sister present. "The island Tanith settled on is spacious enough for all of us to live comfortably, and Uncle Harry has offered us several options in terms of temporary housing we can use short-term. If we can just resolve the matter of feeding everyone, we should be okay in the long run."
The admiral tilted his head slightly. "You all are having a food issue?"
"Of a sort, yes." Tanith nodded. "Up until now, we've primarily… fed ourselves via fishing. But that has only worked… because our fleets were all… fishing in our own regions. Trying to continue that as a single fleet… will likely decimate populations." She gestured to herself. "My daughter does tend a farm back home… but it's not big enough for all of us… to live off it alone. She's just one girl. As much as we hate to be a burden… we're going to need outside help… to get back on our feet."
"And to be perfectly honest, we're tired of seafood," Sunny added.
"…I see." Goto leaned on the desk, hands clasped in front of him. "In that case… what kind of help are you seeking?"
The girls looked to each other for a few moments, deliberating. "Well…" Ritou eventually began, "To start, Regalia would love to get her hands on some new crops; fruits, vegetables, grains, the works. It would help to introduce some more variety into our diet. And while she's done well up to now being self-taught, getting her and a few others some professional training and proper equipment would help us a great deal."
"Are you anticipating large-scale farming?"
"Large-scale…? Oh, right." Ritou shook her head. "If you're talking those huge machines that are supposed to automate most of the work, I don't think there are enough of us to make those necessary."
"Hm." Goto rubbed his chin, thinking. "That shouldn't be too difficult to arrange." Bringing out a pen, he began to jot down some notes. "So, what about meat? Are you planning on raising your own livestock, as well?"
"Actually, we may already have… a solution for that," Tanith answered. "There's a population of… feral pigs, that terrorizes Regalia's crops. If we can capture those… and re-domesticate them, that would resolve… multiple problems."
Goto nodded. "You get a steady source of red meat and potential fertilizer, while simultaneously cutting down a significant threat to your crops. Good thinking."
"Beyond that? Some dairy animals would be nice," Patty spoke up. "We did some research, and we think goats would be the best bet. Smaller, cheaper and a little less maintenance-intensive than cows."
The admiral looked over the sisters with an intrigued expression. "You ladies seem to have put a good bit of thought into this, which is no doubt admirable. But it's not like you need to take care of absolutely everything by yourself. Nobody is saying you can't ask us for supplies every now and then, if you find yourselves in a pinch."
At this, a couple of the girls looked away sheepishly. "…Miss Supprin advised us to try and reach self-sufficiency as quickly as we can," Ritou admitted, "and this was the result. It wouldn't exactly be a modern lifestyle, true… but we're just not sure if anyone would be open to selling much more than the necessities to Abyssals."
Goto was quiet as he thought their words over. "I think you girls are selling yourselves short, here," he eventually said. "You should keep in mind that you have the benefit of a relatively positive reputation—your fleet gave their lives to defend Unalaska, you sought out peace of your own volition, you brought home the crew of the Regina… and there's a not-insignificant amount of footage online documenting some of your fairly innocent goings-on since your arrival."
"...footage?"
XXXXXXXXXX
"'Abyssal Princess Introduces Her Daughter to'... wait, someone videotaped me and Mom when we went to get ice cream? I feel kinda… violated."
"To be fair, two Abyssals walking into a Baskin Robbins (ugh, that sounds like the setup to a bad joke) isn't something you see every day…"
"A lot of the comments are about my back…"
"Hey, don't even think about feeling down! That's the OLD you. Now you're just as awesome as the rest of us!"
"Plus, there's plenty of people who commented on how adorable your reaction to the birthday cake flavor was; some of them are even calling you a cinnamon roll… oh right, you've never had one of those before, need to fix that later… anyway, they think you're a sweet girl."
"...well… I guess it's nice, to see that not everyone would outright reject me for my disfigurement… hey, hold on. What does that one say? Something about Mom… a MILF? What does tha—"
"Yeahokaylet'sfindanothervideoandpreserveyourmother'sgoodnameshallwe?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Goto gestured to the girls. "Over the past few weeks, you've given people more than enough evidence to prove that Abyssals can be just as human as the rest of us. I'm certain that if you look in the right places, you'll find people who would be willing to work with you, help you build something new for yourselves, once they hear your story."
"...I suppose you have a point," Ritou finally responded with a sigh. "But even if finding someone to buy stuff from isn't that big an issue… we have no money."
The admiral nodded. "If I recall correctly, Supprin has brought up the possibility of mining methane hydrate from the ocean floor, to process into natural gas. Given that you all have the Bering Sea more or less to yourselves, I'm sure that would be a good source of income."
Nuri sighed. "We're aware of that possibility, and we're planning to pool our raw materials and begin production on the Oku-class immediately, once we return to the Aleutians. But locating the deposits, setting up a system to harvest and transport the methane, getting our hands on machinery to process it… that's all going to take time. We don't want to just sit on our debts and tell people we'll pay them back once we have the money, that would just make us look bad…"
The demon was interrupted by a knock at the door. Blinking, Goto rose from his seat. "Excuse me." Stepping over to the door, he cracked it open. "Yes?"
Ooyodo stood just outside the door, another woman—another shipgirl—standing beside her. "Admiral, there's a shipgirl here from Russia. She says she's here concerning the message you sent out a few days ago."
Sparing a glance to Tanith and her sisters, Goto nodded. "You've arrived at a good time, actually. Please, come in." As the admiral opened the door wider to admit the newcomer, the Abyssals turned to get a good look—and paused, baffled by the sight before them.
Physically she was nothing spectacular; sporting an average height and a sturdy build, akin to a Ri-class. Her hull, though… several sets of eyes began to flicker between the shipgirl and Tanith, whose own hull bore shocking similarities. The same rough superstructure design, the same main gun and armor layouts… she could easily be described as a dark reflection of the dreadnought now standing before them. "…I think taking refuge on that Russian island may have influenced your ascension…" Ritou couldn't help but point out.
"…I think you may be right," Tanith responded.
They weren't alone in their observations, as the other dreadnought chuckled. "I see the Abyss has seen fit to emulate the great work of the Motherland," she said dryly. "Fortunate, then, that you sided with us." She gave the Abyssals a small bow. "Russian dreadnought Gangut, name ship of the Gangut-class. It is good to make your acquaintance."
Once the sisters had made their own greetings, Gangut turned to the Admiral and saluted. "Admiral."
Goto nodded. "At ease. I'll be honest, wasn't expecting anyone to find anything this quickly... I hope you didn't trip over yourself getting to Kushiro."
"The journey was uneventful, thankfully." Lowering her hand, Gangut nodded curtly. "I apologize if the Russian Navy's rapid response to your query caught you… unawares. But we've actually been observing some strange activity at the edge of our territory over the last few months, that we've struggled to find an explanation for. When we got your message, we found it critical to reach out to both you and our new allies as quickly as we could."
"Abyssal activity?" instantly, the sisters were on alert.
"Yes." Gangut reached into her hold and pulled out a chart of the Kuril Islands. Each of the islands was connected with an arrow pointing to another, marked with two dates. "A pair of Abyssals were spotted landing on Urup earlier this year; since then, they've been steadily making their way north, hopping from island to island. They follow a relatively consistent pattern: they make landfall, scavenge any nearby razed settlements—presumably for supplies—and then go on to spend several more days going over the rest of the island, up to a week or so depending on the size of the isle in question, before leaving.
"We have no idea what they're searching for, but the moment they detect anyone approaching, they either find a hidey-hole and wait for scouts to pass, or they flee eastward into the Pacific until we stop following them, before returning to their routine." She shook her head. "Their behavior is startlingly non-confrontational… docile, even."
Tanith spoke up. "You think these Abyssals may be… one of us?"
Gangut shrugged. "It's our best guess, currently. They don't come near populated areas, they don't seem to be in communication with any other Abyssals… one of our early presumptions was that they were simply exiles, trying to stay alive. Before you and your comrades made headlines, we had no clue that ANY of the Little Princess's fleet sailed away from that massacre, let alone in such numbers—but your survival has presented us with the possibility of these Abyssals being genuinely non-hostile. If we could just make contact with them, offer them peace… but they just keep running away."
The room was quiet as the occupants thought that dilemma over. The silence was broken by Sunny, as she gave the dreadnought a curious look. "So… just what kind of Abyssals are they? Do you have photos of them?"
Gangut nodded grimly as she produced another photo, holding it out to the girls. "This… is the reason we thought it was so urgent to contact you," she said.
The girls stared at the photo, eyes wide. Despite the blurriness, the poor angle of the shot… despite the visibly crippling damage the Abyssal depicted had sustained…
the outline of a Re-class hull was unmistakable.
