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RP: YSS Heartbreaker [M3A11] Friendly Fire...

Edto Xar'Sivaree

Lizard Freak!
Inactive Member
Hallway Outside Cargo Bay, YSS Heartbreaker

A crash of metal was audible through the closed doorway as Itto Hei Blesi Ingrid stood outside, shifting nervously. Edtoto Nar'Sivaro was in there, training. She was training hard, judging by the sound of grinding metal and that was good. Edtoto had been injured the last time the crew of the Heartbreaker had fielded and it was Tsukisaki-Taii's plan that the Vekimen representitive be able to survive the next encounter less damaged. Edtoto had asked to not be disturbed, but the shrieking on the other side of the door suggested that she might actually like a break.

Something banged against the door, hard.

On the other hand, it might suggest that she's really focussed and wanting to maintain her "zen."

Ingrid fidgeted with indecision but eventually a lull in the banging emerged. With a pulse of courage, she raised her hand to knock on the door. Just as she was about to knock, another crash made her jump back.

Ochiko appeared beside her, floating in her characteristic lackadaisical manner. "Blesi-hei seems nervous, yes?"

Ingrid glared at the MEGAMI.

"Would she like see what's in there? The mystery seems to be stiffening her bones, yes? Perhaps the itto hei would be braver if she knew what awaited her, yes?"

Ingrid's glare melted into uncertainty. The AI, not being told to stop snapped her fan and in the empty space beside her she summoned a holographic scroll which unfurled and presented Ingrid with an video feed inside the cargo bay. She was shown a mess—one that would likely have Pecan in a fit. Empty cargo containers littered about, some of them with minor dents in them. The silence was not explained though as it didn't seem anyone was in the room.

Nothing happened for a few moments, until the friendly neighborhood Alien girl fell into the picture, holding her head and thrashing about as if she were in pain, or something was burrowing into her skull.

"Ochiko," Ingrid said.

"Yeeessssss?" she replied, holding her fan in front of her face and fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

"That doesn't help my courage one bit, Ochiko."

Ochiko looked slyly at the image and then said, "Perhaps your nerve would be restored if I reminded you that this was an order from our beautiful captain, yes? For you to ensure Toto-tan not break any more of my things, yes?"

"Apparently piling on fear works just as well as instilling courage," Ingrid said and she wrapped on the door. The sounds from the hold died instantly at the knock. After waiting a moment, Ingrid pressed the door control and entered into the hold, leaving Ochiko in the hallway. She looked around, but Edtoto had vanished. "Edtoto?" she called. The shrieking and banging were even louder in absence. "Hey, Edtoto, you alright in here?" she called again as she walked forward, cursorily examining the banged and dislocated crates.

As Ingrid approached the crates and started examining, a form slithered around on a tall stack of loaded crates off to the side with an uncanny silence. Faster than any normal human could react, the Alien launched herself at Ingrid, tackling her to the ground. Edtoto wasn't the normal, calm and composed person she was usually. Now, she looked like an animal, her mane expaded, eyes wide, bloodshot, with slit pupils. She opened her jaw wide, unhinging it as she unleashed a scream that could likey deafen a lesser creature, pounding her fists and claws against the ground, her tail thrashing wildly.

Ingrid screached as she flailed about underneath Edtoto. As she regained some semblance of her composure, she reached up and clasped Edtoto's muzzle shut in an effort to make the blood curdling sound stop.

Edtoto shook her head out of the grip, snapping her teeth at Ingrids hands. She opened her muzzle again, and this time a clear, viscous fluid dripped from the large incisors. She reared her head up, about to bring the rows of teeth down on whatever she could latch onto before she stopped, jerking slightly. Something was obviously wrong as Edtoto suddenly scambled off Ingrid, grabbing at her head again. This time she slammed her forehead into a cargo bin, adding another sizable dent into it.

"Edtoto!" Ingrid shouted over the ringing in her ears. Ingrid's fear of Edtoto's behaviour gave way to concern for her as she careened about the hold. She leapt off the ground and rushed to the Vekimen as she reeled from her cranial impact. She took a deep breath and grabbed Edtoto from behind, bringing her to the ground. She scrambled to put a hold on her, using her inertial control organs to force additional weight down on Edtoto to keep her from squirming away. "Edtoto!" she shouted again. "Snap out of it, Edtoto! Come on!"

Edtoto tried to fight the hold, but she wasn't a physical match against a milspec minkan focusing their attention on her, with the advantage. She still thrashed at the hold, gradually losing steam. Finally she stoped moving, sprawling out. Her mane went somewhat normal and her eyes were fluttering slightly. Groaning, she brought her hand up to her head, trying to roll off to the side.

Ingrid stopped using her gravitic control to fly Edtoto into the ground, but maintained her hold. "Edtoto–Edtoto, are you there? Are you with us?" she panted.

Edtoto looked down at the arms wrapped around her, an tried to look over her shoulder. "Ingrid? What are you doing here?" She asked, sounding a little concerned. "I didn't want anyone to come in here... I could have hurt you..." She mumbled, slumping again.

"Hurt me?" Ingrid asked, astonished. She released her grip and kneeled beside Edtoto. "Edtoto, you–" she pointed at the dent in the nearby crate, "–you did that with your head. What is wrong with you? Why were you acting so, so feral? Are you okay?"

Edtoto looked at the crate, then reached up and rubbed her head. "My horns must have taken the brunt of the force" She muttered, sitting up herself. "Long story short, I am trying to learn how to control my... Less pleasant state. It... It isn't working out too well" She sighed, her shoulders falling. "I... I hope I didn't do anything stupid..." She whispered, looking up at the Minkan.

"Less pleasant?" Ingrid asked, astonished, looking at the cargo hold's general disarray. "Yeah, I guess, I mean, this isn't precisely you with the lights out," she said.

"With the lights out?" Edtoto asked, tilting her head, getting up and starting to put the crates back where they should be.

Ingrid chuckled nervously and mumbled something, her face flushing. She sprung forward as Edtoto dragged a crate back to where it was. "Hey, don't worry about that. They all need to be checked for damage and reorganized anyway. Just leave them." She reached for Edtoto's shoulder and turned her to face her. "Okay, talk with me, Edtoto. As scientists. What is this, uh, feral state you just exhibited?"

Edtoto seemed to flinch at the word Feral, sighing a little. "I guess there is no other word for it. Well I guess it should start with what makes my kind... My kind I guess. Vekimen are just as much Animals as they are Sentients, just as prone to falling to instict as we are to using rational thought. It's like there is a tiny, psychopathic, murderous vekimen always clawing at the back of our brains, feeding our natural fears and desires. Most try to stamp it out, forcing themselves into situations to push themselves and crush these instincts under a load of rational though. Others allow it to take over, becoming truly Feral. Then there are those so few..." She explained, trailing off.

"So few that try to tame the inner beast," Ingrid said. "You've been the first for most of your life, I guess. As a scientist, you've kept yourself under control, using your intelligence to guide yourself." She thought a moment. "You do realize that in power armor combat, you need rationality far more than emotion or instinct, right? You need to depend on trigonometry and physics and tactics and communications. If you're in a situation where those aren't going to win the fight for you, you're already up shit creek. But, I suppose, being able to turn into a raging beast is at least a usable paddle. It might not get you out of the crap, but it's better than swimming. So, you want to take control of your hindbrain?"

"There are a few Vekimen who can still rationalize. think critically, and operate as they do in day to day life, but gain many of the benefits of the feral mindset. Faster reaction times, added strength, a massive dump of adrenaline that would keep them going even through fatal wounds. I've been on the bad side of a Feral vekimen twice in the past, and it's not an experince I ever want to go through again. They can somehow out think normal, rational Vekimen in a fight. They are... They're monsters really" She sighed, hugging herself and looking down. "A entire race of people who can turn into a monster that I still have nightmares about. Imagine one who can use that natural skill in a fight, as well as make and follow plans. Imagine the moral blow on your opponent to see... Well I guess you did see it, didn't you?" She asked.

Ingrid grimaced. "Eaty McBiteface isn't pleasant. It's no Misshuvarthyar, but pretty intimidating nonetheless. I can see the appeal. So, we say that becoming one of these, I don't know, wildthinkers is a worthwhile goal. How's your progress been?"

"An absolute disaster..." She commented, lightly kicking a stack of crates. "It's always a fight. It's like me and it are two totally different people sharing a body, and if I let it take over completely then I'm gone... It will evict me and I will have no chance of coming back..." She sighed, sitting down. "It's so much stronger too... I give it an inch and before I even realize it, it has a mile and is taking even more. I had almost given up that time..." She said, looking at her favorite. "So I guess I owe you quite the thanks fr getting me out of that"

Ingrid swallowed. "Ha ha, y-yeah, n-n-no problem," she said, her voice squeaking. Ingrid sat down Indian style across from Edtoto. "First, no more unmonitored testing of your limits. That's an order. I don't know and don't care if I have sufficient rank over you to say that, but it's not safe for you," Ingrid paused for emphasis, "or the ship to continue pushing yourself like this. So no more pushing your limits without someone knowing and ready to bring you back. Second, how do you feel about using technology to help you master this dual state?"

Edtoto felt really bad when Ingrid seemed nervous, moving away a little. "No, I understand... I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I think I'm just not giving Yamatai soldiers the credit deserved of them" She said in defeat. "As for implants... I think Vekimen can't get implants. From my studies, the way our body works and heals makes us reject implants, which is why we can't use prosthetics. Anything you put in will be pushed out as our body tries to heal" She continued. "Unless you have Yamatai magic in that regards too"

"Your breath mints are still working, aren't they?" Ingrid asked with a smirk.

"Those... Those aren't implants though... How would nanobots do anything?" She asked.

"Nope. We don't need implants or nanobots to get where we're going." Ingrid shrugged and said, "Well, probably.

"I'm thinking hormones. I need to do tests, get an analysis suite going on you, but I bet if we let you slip into a, uh, mild rage, I bet we can get a good look at what kind of hormones your system pours onto the fire. Add in whatever you know about yourself, and I think we can come up with a way to manifest at least some of the advantages of feralism."

Edtoto thought about it. "Well... Some is better than none, but having natural control would be better. I need to figure out how to work on things, work together and be on the same page as my feral self. Work towards the same goal. Anyway, would you like my help cataloguing the damages done? I was going to put everything back, but I think I did damage a few of these in my little bought against myself" She said, looking at the cargo hold.

"Okay, let's get this room tidied up a bit. We'll make a list and get everything upright and kind of organized. Pecan will want to get everything just right for her own particular tastes and priorities. Which are probably a Star Army standard written in a manual someplace," Ingrid said. She moved to one side of the room and righted a crate. "Even if an artificial hybrid feral state isn't tenable, we might get enough information to help guide you to a true hybrid state more safely."

Ingrid looked at the crate and the large claw scratch across the side. "This is gonna take a while."
 
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