The Simulation
The man lurched up as if propelled by an unknown force, now standing in a vast dark abyss. The confusion set in quickly, as he took in his new surroundings he took note of his hands. His skin was fuzzy like static, as if his eyes couldn't quite focus correctly. His heart raced as he began to panic, trying to call out for help but finding himself voiceless. He was helpless to even scream as the blood within his began to roil with the firey burn of chemicals and the dark abyss began to shift to the memory of a battle. The soil beneath his feet was muddy and treacherous enough to even cause his Mindy to stumble in the bitter terrain. The sky cast a thick gloom along with the hail of raindrops the size of golf balls, massive displays of blood red lightning splitting the night sky. A familiar chaos filled the radio chatter over his comms, yet he couldn't make out the words as he ran in formation with his squad- no, they were charging. The leading soldier slid to a stop as the largest Crab-type Mishu he'd ever seen landed with force enough to shake the muddy ground. The Mishu siezed the leading Mindy in it's jaws, crushing the Neko and throwing her, her body landing in a heap of broken, bloodied metal and smoking circuitry. At the same time a pair of NMX Neko took positions beside the Goliath laying down phased pulses in a hail of gunfire that ripped his two other squadmates in half and struck his helmet. Falling to the ground with his head spinning he looked up at the last moment to see the collossal pincher of the Mishu descending on him, gripping around his chest and crushing him.
'That's not right...'
His vision bacame hazy as the very breath was forced from his lungs until he again fell through the scene to yet another. This time on a space station, one he recognized as Sunrise Station where he'd been a security officer. He was driving an Ocelot 'Big Cat' decked out with the amenities of a full blown police car. The hovering SUV weaved through traffic as it pursued a vastly quicker Cub hovercar. Adrenaline raced through his veins, but not from the thrill of the chase. Red and blue reflected off the civilian vehicles that parted to let the Big Cat through, all the while dispatch flooded the radio with demands that he cease the pursuit immediately, but he knew that wouldn't fix the bomb issue. With a quick motion he silenced the radio and focused on the high speed pursuit. The two speeding hover-vehicles raced off the main road as they barreled towards a large hangar bay, its large doors beginning to slide closed as the Cub pulled away from the slower SUV styled Big Cat. Quick math showed it would be close but most of the Big Cat would make it, or at least the part with the driver's seat. The generator output dial tapped steadily off the redline as he kept the pedal to the floor until the terrorists answered the problem. As the Cub passed through the doors three men exited the hangar, one with a homemade rocket launcher. One plume of smoke launched the spiralling projectile in a dancing line that landed just beneath the Big Cat blasting the SUV airbourne and sending it tumbling end over end, crashing into the closed section of hangar door with a mettalic crunch. Panting and groaning the security officer pressed his injured body out of the burning wreck only for one of the armed men to press a rifle to his forehead and the scene went black.
'That's not what happened...'
His vision reopened to the interior of the M2-2D helmet. It was unfamiliar, yet he remembered the smell of Calm on the air filter well. Looking over his left shoulder his wingman descended to a defensible position as they began assaulting the fortified hull of a ship under construction. Looking the other way he could see a red painted Plumeria ascending into orbit, unmistakably the YSS Eucharis. His wingman, Tsuguka Toyoe, was unfamiliar yet somehow he remembered an entire career training her to lead the team, the unfamiliar memories were cut short as the Graxlat assembled on the scaffolds and hull opened fire on him, a bolt of plasma burning though his armored boot and cooking his lower leg. He siezed the opportunity to fake a crash, teleporting a mere foot off the ground and shutting down his to make it seem like he'd died when his form reappeared in the reactor room. Without so much as a moment to enjoy his deception two big Graxlat grappled him, pulling at each end as he struggled, panicking as he flung himself from side to side until he heard a wet ripping and tear. His head hit the floor as he watched his decapitated body paraded around by the monstrous aliens, the scene eventually lost to tunnel vision.
'When did this happen?...'
His eyes opened to a mirror, though the man in the reflection was not someone he recognized. He wore a traditional black and white wedding kimono. 'Am I undercover?'
Exiting the restroom he found the interior to be remarkably recognizable, Hanako's Palace. Plesantries were shared between people he knew well, yet never met before. 'Something is wrong,' he told himself, 'I only just joined SAINT. This operation was years in the making.' A wedding ceremony had begun, the bride a dark-skinned woman with pink hair, his bride. Her light blue eyes sparkled with emotion, Love. He gave his vows earnestly, not an act. 'This wasn't an operation!'
As their lips touched in a passionate kiss the reality set it and memories flooded his mind. He'd been known as Candon Suites, served as Hanako Ketsurui's intelligence officer aboard Eucharis, founded a large manufacturing service that served the Empire as the most successful intelligence gathering operation during the entire Kuvexian War, a war he'd fought and died in! His thoughts drifted to his demise, memories fuzzy at best. His own mother had gone insane and their battle to stop her from spreading the condition killed both of them.
He thought back to his infiltration of the Graxlat ship, the scenery changing back to the reactor room of the Graxlat ship. The beasts had grappled him, but Jackson Howard's heated intake grill had burned the Graxlat behind him and Candon had used the oportunity to slip free of their grip and killed them both swiftly. Approaching the controls he set the reactor to overload and teleported to safety. With a well-timed jump he and Tsuguka regrouped to watch the explosion from a distance. He'd never been prouder of the infantry Heisho. She'd learned everything he could teach her and now stood by him as his equal by the irradiated crater. Together they'd wrestled back the Eucharis and rendered a huge Kuvexian asset a mere footnote in history. Satisfied he thought back to the terrorists on Sunrise Station.
The three men approached the burning wreck of the Big Cat cautiously only to be greeted by a flashbang grenade. Torēsu rolled out of where the windshield once was covered in burns and bleeing from glass-filled lacerations. SEP in hand, the energy pistol burned a neat little hole in the forehead of the man nearest to him, his cheap shotgun clattering to the floor. The other two opened fire as Torēsu slinked behind the wreckage with his gravitic manipulation. "What the hell? That gangly cop is a Neko?!" one of them cried out, "quick, load another rocket!" As they scrambled, Torēsu reappeared around the back of the Big Cat and fired again, striking the tail of the rocket they were loading. The little rocket ignited and zipped into the air, striking the ceiling and falling back to the floor spinning wildly as the two men scrambled to get away. The man with the launcher proved too slow as the rocket motor fizzled out and the faulty payload exploded too close to him. By this time civilians were in a full blown panic and the third assailant was heading for the crowd, dropping gear in the attempt to blend in and escape. Torēsu gripped the Big Cat's rear door and bent the jammed door until the lock broke and the tail door swung open. Taking his scoped SGAR in hand Torēsu leaned his injured shoulder against the SUV and shouldered the rifle, taking careful aim. The laser rifle pulsed once, a spray of red mist and smoke appearing on the back of the man's neck dropping him to the plated floor. Setting down his rifle he approached the door controls and produced a personally owned interface device that allowed his psionic connection to interface electronics and plugged it into the interface panel. Through the duraglass window he could see the uranium that had been in the Cub hovercar being loaded into the handmade bomb, a fission bomb by the looks of it.
Thinking quickly Torēsu used his access to open a door, but not the one he was standing by. In a moment the hangar's exterior door began sliding open, it's forcefield maintaining pressure. The door now being fully open held nearly every person's attention as they looked out into space, frozen as they realized the situation. The man holding the uranium piece stared defiantly back at Torēsu. The moment he dropped the uranium into the bomb the forcefield deactivated and the contents of the hangar were explosively thrusted into the void. There would be no bombing on Sunrise Station.
Remembering back to the strike team he'd been with during the First Mishhuvurthyar War the scene played out quite differently as the leading Mindy was thrown to the wayside by the enormous Crab-type. As the two ambushing NMX Neko sprang their trap Torēsu's GP-1 Assault Rifle sprang to attention gunning down the one on the right in a shower of 7.62 bullets as his comrades did similarly to the one on the left. The Crab-type charged Torēsu down, it's pincer threatening to split him in half.. and as they as all tried the same, they all died the same. Torēsu activated his twin shoulder mounted 50mm guass cannons as he laid back and slid beneath the mighty pincer, each cannon retaliating with a ferrous slug launched into the side of the monster's face. The Crab-type recoiled from the point-blank attack as the other two Mindy's began their assault on it, running beneath the creature to plant a bomb. The first Mindy was stepped on, her chest armor split open with ease as one heavy leg lanced her armor and pierced her reactor, enveloping the soldier in aetheric fire. The second Mindy clad soldier used her thrusters to launch herself beneath, sticking a brick of explosive ordinance to its belly. The two remaining soldiers thrusted away as the Crab-type erupted into a furious explosion, bits of chitinous hide and guts littering the scene of the fight. "Damn, that was our last charge," Sana cursed in frustration, "we'll need to hit an NMX cache, but that'll take to long."
"I already got a solution, Mom," Torēsu answered, approaching the Neko that'd been mauled with an open toolkit. "Don't you fucking touch me," the wounded soldier protested, "I am not your bomb you son of a bitch!"
"Sorry, mission comes first. Don't worry, it'll only hurt for a second and you'll get a nice promotion out of it," he replied flatly rolling the crippled soldier on her side and going to work on her teleporter, "did you know activated a tampered teleporter will engage a safeguard? It'll actually cause the module to intentionally self-destruct. It's a pretty big blast but that's science for you." On his HUD flickered the presence of a set charge awaiting detonation. The Neko tried in vain to resist the alterations to her suit but the damage had been simply too great. "I'm going to find out when I come back," she mumbled in warning. "When we knock this artillery offline I'm sure you'll, appreciate our work here," Torēsu answered sarcastically, lifting her onto his shoulder, "now can it, Hei. Bombs don't talk." Sana quietly watched the display of cannibalism unfolding before her nodding silently in approval as the three continued on to finish the mission, cost be damned.
