RP [Seventh Fleet] Stayin' Alive!

Lizalopod · Feb 22, 2024

JP done by @Lizalopod , @FrostJaeger , @Miko , @Soban .
If theres anything thats innacurate with this JP, please let me know over discord! Otherwise enjoy! It took us awhile.. -w-

Color Key:
"Speech by Kohkrolisfu"
"Speech by Akiko Hayashi"
"Speech by Mikodimus Belmont"

From: Chujo Signy Williams
To: Taii Umemiya Frigg
Date: YE 45.8.15
Subject: Exploration orders

Taii Frigg,

Your ship made it through the battle undamaged. We currently require greater intelligence about our new surroundings. Therefore, take the YSS Ayakashi and thoroughly (but quickly) explore and document the following star systems,
Saneck, Rentiurs, Ournanizush, Dolgis, Elpephed, Wubioxpe, Pamyd, Rochegges, Lirtryl, and Sqentots.

Signed,
Chujo Signy Williams,
Nami no Seijou Division Command

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
XSS Zxuwhyrqx - Random Corridor

Dolgis V was a rather interesting and beautiful planet located in the Dolgis Star System. It was quite a sight as the planet, being tidally locked to the system's Star, had a remarkable look caused by one hemisphere being exposed to constant light, and thus extremely charred and arid, and the other devoid of such light... being rather cold and barren. In the middle of the planet, a habitable strip of land remained, that which was habitable and filled with at least some life. Unfortunately however, interrupting said beautiful view was the indistinguishable hull of a Mishhuvurthyar Scout Vessel, its hull littered with scorches and the occasional hole blown through. Said vessel, the XSS Zxuwhyrqx, was locked in a deadly confrontation with another vessel... one belonging to the dreaded Star Army of Yamatai!

"DAMN THESE YAMATAIAN FLIES! Attacking unprovoked like this is a new low!" A certain Advanced Type Mishhuvurthyar screeched to themselves as they hurried down a grotesque corridor aboard the XSS Zxuwhyrqx. The hulking beast carried along a piece of equipment, what seemed to be a replacement for a power conduit, unceremoniously dragging it along the occasionally shaking floor of the escort they happened to be aboard, floating along. The vessel had been sustaining heavy damage, and as one of the ship's technicians, it was this certain Mishuvurthyar's job to patch up some of the failing systems aboard as a result of the space battle currently happening outside. As some NMX nekos suddenly came around the corner, they almost crashed into the Advanced type, which growled at them and threatened to hit them with the piece of equipment if they didnt get out of the way. As soon as they did, the Mishhuvurthyar hurried to one of the panels in the corner of the hallway, and ripped it off to reveal a burnt up conduit in need of repair. The beast got to work on removing it, and replacing it with the piece they had been dragging along the ground.

This had to have been by far the worst day on Kohkrolisfu's career, forced to do essentially gruntwork by the chief engineer aboard the NMX vessel due to her 'lack of guts'. The scout was taking heavy damage, it wasnt going to hold out much longer against the Yamataian scum that were attacking it. The Advanced-Type grunted to herself as she threw the panel back on the now fixed conduit, slamming the broken one down on the ground next to her, almost hitting a frantic passerby NMX neko on the way down.

"Those incompetent fools-" She grumbled to herself, the Advanced type beginning to rush down the hallway to continue repairs, seeming increasingly irritated at the seeming incompetence of the ship she had been assigned to. Her charge, however, was cut short by several panels blowing open nearby, the entire vessel groaning as it took a massive hit. One it would never recover from. The Mishhuvurthyar was thrown against a wall as the vessel began a deadly descent into the atmosphere, letting out a psionic wail, And after a flash... Everything went dark.

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
In Space - Above Dolgis V

In orbit of the planet Dolgis V a rather deadly confrontation between two vessels was taking place. A Yamataian scout and a Mishhuvurthyar vessel brawled in the emptiness of space just above the planets atmosphere, a battle which would end with no winner...

In their defense, the crew of the Midori-class scout ship known as the YSS Ayakashi had tried their hardest - and, tragically, had very nearly emerged victorious in what really ought to have been a decidedly one-sided battle in orbit above the planet Dolgis V. For the NMX scout ship XSS Zxuwhyrqx, it was supposed to have been a textbook ambush, thanks to Dolgis V's moon concealing their presence; unfortunately, however, the incompetence of the Zxuwhyrqx's gunner, a Mishhuvurthyar by the name of Cuslcjancisoch, meant that what should have been a kill-shot delivered straight through the Ayakashi's centerline had instead merely evaporated the Yamataian ship's two portside sensor booms - thus turning the ambush into an all-out brawl that the Ayakashi ultimately won with its better gunnery.

The Zxuwhyrqx had lost most of her systems at this point thanks to the Ayakashi's masterfully developed strategy. The ship was rendered to a rather sad death spiral, being pulled down towards the habitable strip of the planet just below as its propulsion systems gave out. It thankfully remained whole as it crashed into the mountains below, leaving quite a mess of the once serene landscape, and perhaps allowing several lucky Mishhuvurthyar to survive the catastrophic loss of their assigned vessel...

The Zxuwhyrqx didn't die alone, however. Not when a single hit from any of its anti-starship weapons (its main cannon and its four aether turrets) was enough to cripple the Ayakashi - and not when the range between the two scout vessels was measured in the tens of thousands of kilometers, where not even a gunner as bad as Cuslcjancisoch could miss.

It was a single lucky shot delivered in spite and defiance (and enabled, ironically enough, by Kohkrolisfu's desperate last-minute repairs) as the battered and broken form of the Zxuwhyrqx began its final descent into the planet below - but one shot was all it took, especially when said shot impacted squarely on the already-damaged armor plating protecting the Ayakashi's reactor compartment. Though the compartment was protected by twenty centimeters of pure Yamataium and another meter of Durandium for good measure, not even the legendary Zesuaium could protect against the lance of antimatter and electromagnetic radiation that pierced into the ship's engineering compartment and set off its aether reactor - thus causing the aft half of the YSS Ayakashi to vanish in a silent explosion of white light that sent into plunging on a one-way trip into the planet's atmosphere.

Not all of its fourteen-man crew were fortunate enough to perish in the initial explosion, however. Seven of the nine survivors would simply perish due to the lifeless hulk of the ship disintegrating during the aforementioned atmospheric re-entry. Two, however - Mikodelmus Belmont and Hayashi Akiko - were (un)fortunately able to get into the sole escape pod not destroyed by the explosion of the ship's reactor, thus allowing for them to make planetfall with... partial ease, given that the escape pod did not survive the previously-mentioned explosion unscathed.

When the Type 30 Escape Pod - whose severely-damaged capacitor array ceased functioning shortly after the pod entered the atmosphere - finally smashed into the ground at something approximating terminal velocity, the Star Army Intelligence Operative known as Hayashi Akiko honestly thought her life was over...

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
Dolgis V - Campsite

...and was thus thoroughly disappointed when she woke up in a world of pain, as it meant that she was a) stranded on an alien world and b) stranded on an alien world with Mikodimus Liber Belmont, who had been flirting with her non-stop ever since he'd been transferred onboard.

The situation was, in Akiko's digital mind, clearly suboptimal.

As luck would have it, Mikodimus found himself in a battle of the ages. Well maybe not that extreme but for sure no less life or death. Miko did his part to put up the good fight. All his years of training helped keep it together even with the odds at times against them. For a brief moment he felt like they had the day.

Then in a flash of light hit and his life slide showed in front of him. Was this to be the end, out on a scout ship in the middle of no where? Either out of desperation or just dumb luck, he found himself inside an escape pod. As the ship spun, he could make out a world below. His only hope now was to not end up in a crushed can on impact.

After the impact, Miko found himself alone on a new world. The crash had damaged much of the ship. His effort to get the rescue beacon working was for naught. He'd have to hold out till Star Army sent another ship to investigate. He was glad he had spent much of his young doing black op missions for the family. His years of surviving off the land for his missions would come in handy. Though for the moment this world did not seem all that bad. Least nothing was trying to eat him as of yet.

"You know, if we were not in this situation, one might consider it romantic. Alone, lost on some world with only each other to rely on." He called out to Akiko as he broke sticks as he worked to build a fire.

Akiko - who, for just a singular moment in time, marveled at how her companion was able to move about so freely - merely sighed in response, only to wince as a lightning bolt of pain smashed through her with all the gentleness of a runaway cargo freighter. That is... seven ribs broken, with hairline fractures in another two. Definitely not optimal. Nevertheless, remaining stationary is not conducive to my continued survival, ergo...

With a grunt of pain, the navy-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned, and relatively well-endowed Type 33 (Eihei) Nekovalkyrja extricated herself from the escape pod - inhaling sharply as yet another explosion of pain echoed through her, this time from a dislocated left shoulder - and then staggered to her knees on the ground in front of the aforementioned pod. It appears my shoulder is not positioned correctly. This should be remedied... - with a sickening pop, the Neko's shoulder was shoved back into place by her right hand - ...and done. "As I have stated three hundred and fifty-eight times previously, Belmont-Hei, I am not interested in either dating or copulating with you."

Miko stood, his left arm laying limp against his side. He could tell that it as dislocated and could even be broken. The pain caused his eyes to twitch. He'd have to deal with it till the area was secured. He paused as he heard a loud pop echo around him. He looked over to see his battle buddy was hard at work fixing herself. A grin crossed his face.

"Glad your able to still throw some jokes. And for the record, it has been three hundred and fifty nine times." As a laugh left his lips his entire body tensed. While he was not broken all over, his body for sure took a beating in the crash.

Miko dug around in his outfit and let out a happy giggle. He slowly pulled out his favorite apron he always kept on his person. He was happy to see that it had survived to see another meal. For the moment he was working on getting a camp setup for the two of them. They would need shelter and a place to clean up. He was banged up but he could tell Akiko was in worse shape.

Miko worked quickly to get a simple shelter setup. He found supplies in the pod that could be used as a tent. It was crude but it would keep the wind and rain off them at least. He put his carving skills to good use as he made posts he dug into the ground. It was at best a crude bed, at worse a torture device. That aside it was big enough for two, but not much more. He pictured they would take shifts to rest so would not be an issue.

"Feel free to take a rest. It is not much but better than sitting on the ground." He called out to her. "I shall get to work on a DIY shower thingy. Need to keep our wounds clean after all." His voice was clam yet firm with resolve.

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
Dolgis V - Downed XSS Zxuwhyrqx

A psionic yell echoed out of a ruined hallway as an Advanced-Type Mishuvurthyar regained her consciousness. The evidently wounded beast attempted to get up from the ground, barely managing to float with all of the injuries she had sustained during the crash. Its eyes seemed to widen at the sight of several disjointed NMX Nekovalkyrja bodies littering the ruined floor, all of them gruesomely ended by the veracity of the ship's impact. Somehow she was still alive, if only barely, fortunate to be much more resilient in comparison to the weaker NMX Nekos. "ANYONE ELSE ALIVE? SPEAK UP DAMNIT" The Mishuvurthyar boomed after a moment, with no response returned from the relatively silent vessel.

"ANYONE?" She called once again, with the same result... The Mishuvurthyar began to move through the ruined corridors, picking up speed as her movements became more frantic. More continued telepathic shouting yielded the same result, she couldn't detect anyone else aboard the vessel alive. Almost getting caught in a mess of shredded metal, the Advanced type finally found a large hole going through the ships hull, barely floating out of it and landing on the outside hull.

...

"Fuck..." She silently thought to herself, before letting out a psionic screech into the sky, the only several remaining tentacles slamming against the ruined scouts hull as she threw a tantrum, frustrated and quite notably terrified of her situation. They began to wrap around her heavily injured body. tightening a bit. Something was certainly wrong, perhaps caused by the intense physical trauma originating from the crash. She couldn't immediately tell what was going on, but something simply felt wrong, atleast to her.

Then her attention was caught by an odd sight... smoke rising into the horizon. The Mishhuvurthyar composed herself as she noticed it was near the site where the fragments of the Midori Class laid unceremoniously, the dreaded enemy that took their vessel down. Her eyes narrowed... It was time to hunt.

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
Dolgis V - Campsite

"Noted, Belmont-Hei, though I must decline the use of the bed, as ribs are more easily healed when sleeping in a sitting position. I am going to go extract supplies from the escape pod," replied the SAINTly Nekovalkyrja. After a moment spent marveling at her Minkan compatriot's construction skills, Akiko floated off of the ground and went back into the somewhat crumpled escape pod; after several moments of rummaging around, a mostly-steady stream of supplies started to quite literally fly out of the vehicle. Fortunately for Miko, among said flung supplies was a WickedArms TA-17 Survival Kit and a WickedArms TA-13 Field Surgery Kit.

Unfortunately for Miko, both of the aforementioned kits slammed into his crotch. It wasn't on purpose, of course, as Akiko was inside the pod and presumably not looking backwards at what she flung outwards - but it was nevertheless painful, given that each kit wasn't exactly lightweight.

If Akiko was going for a one, two punch, this was for sure heading that way. Miko doubled partly over as his family marbles joined the pain of the rest of his body. Ironically enough his bits was the one things prior too that wasn't in pain. "Good...find." He said in a raspy voice. "Your SAINT aim is true as ever." He said more clearly as the pain started to subside. He reached up and wiped a tear from his eyes.

A clearly confused Shoi poked her head out of the Type 30's hatch - not knowing what the Empress her crewmate was talking about - only to see her subordinate's condition, put two and two together, and very nearly smile at the comedy of the situation. "My apologies, Belmont-Hei. Such devastation was not my intention, and flinging out equipment in such a fashion was im hindsight a poor decision on my behalf. As penance, I shall..." - a pause as the Eihei drifted out of the e-pod a centimeter or two above the ground - "...fashion a sling for your arm. I will not, however, be providing any medical attention to your testicles, as their functionality is not required for your survival."

With that said, the Neko tore the left sleeve off her Type 35 Duty Uniform in a single, swift motion - her strength letting her rip said uniform's durable materials apart like they were paper - and, after retrieving the sewing needles from the aforementioned survival kit, sat down under the shelter Miko had constructed earlier and went to work on the sling... only to stop after a moment upon realizing something. "Would you like me to relocate your shoulder? I will not be gentle, but your arm will in theory be usable again, unless it is broken."

"Correction, they would be if we wanted our legacy to live on should we be stuck here forever." A sly smiled crossed his face. "Aye, a sling would be nice. Will make building a lot more easy." He then made his way over towards her. He paused and looked as his arm which clearly was not right. "Guess in the moment I had not really noticed. Just busy making base so you could rest." He took a seat next to her. "I take it that means cuddling is out of the question then?" The sound which came next echoed loudly as she yanked his arm back into location.

With a bit of applied force, Akiko popped Miko's shoulder back into location, her enhanced strength making such a maneuver trivial; to his comment, she gave him a Look and replied "That would be correct, Belmont-Hei" as she continued to sew away at a fairly decent rate. Then she frowned. "Did you hear something?"

"No... are you sure you're alright?" Only Akiko would hear "Mikodimus" respond to her query. But even then, it didn't seem right. The tone of the speech she had just heard lacked a certain... Miko-esque quality to it- as if it was soulless and a cheap imitation. From the real Mikodimus's perspective.. well, he wouldn't have even heard anything...

Miko eyes perked up as his hand went to his hip. Sadly he was not armed at the moment so this was going to make things more tricky. Though he did not jump to action and instead acted not alarmed as he scanned the area closest to them.

Similarly to Miko, Akiko's hand rested near the YB-28A-equipped Type 33 Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol holstered on her right hip as she abruptly scanned the area, taking great care to keep her thoughts calm as she scanned the areas opposite from where Miko was looking - thus, the masses of twilight-lit trees "behind" the duo's recently-constructed camp. "You sensed it too, then..."

Akiko's gaze of the rather calm landscape would be interrupted by quite the horrid discovery. Just behind the two, the rather imposingly large, heavily injured body mass of an Advanced Type Mishhuvurthyar hovered silently, its eyes narrowing as it peered at the pair of Yamataians. Granted, the biological horror didn't seem to be in its best shape, thanks to the rather rough landing it had experienced not long before. If the Advanced Type had a traditional mouth, it would have been twisted into a rather nervous, slightly unnerving grin, as the horror behind the two let out a boomingly loud, trademark psionic laugh. Watching as the neko stared, the Mishuvurthyar simply let a "Boo" be heard through its psionics. Simultaneously, the pair of Star Army personnel would find their weapon wielding limbs being preoccupied with some of the Mishuvurthyars remaining tentacles, preventing them from at the very least aiming properly. The Mishhuvurthyar was attempting to restrain the pair, expecting the two to either freeze up or attempt to run from her, and allow her to manipulate them.

Before even Akiko's finely-honed mind could process what was going on, her pistol had already been set to Heavy mode and started blasting away, even as she surged forward with every ounce of gravity and inertial manipulation available to her. It hurt - oh, it hurt, with her ribs screaming in agonized protest - but she knew that if she got pinned, it was all over. Despite this, however, a part of her digital mind was confused - because by all rights, she should have already been immobilized by the Advanced-Type's psionic powers. My communicator's integrated psionic signal controller is not a match for the Enemy's psychic abilities, so why has he not employed them yet? Were the organ(s) responsible for his psionic abilities damaged in the crash?

As the Neko silently surged forward, her pistol's high-powered shots - each packing the punch of an exploding grenade - hit home. One slammed into an unlucky tree trunk, vaporizing it in a cloud of splinters and dust. One slammed into the ground, blowing a fist-sized hole into the dirt. One sliced through several of the Mishhu's smaller tentacles, evaporating them like water on a hot summer day.

And one grazed the Mishhu's body, taking out one of her primary tentacles as it carved a burnt and bloody trail of destruction along the Advanced-Type's flank in the blink of an eye.

The Mishuvurthyar let out a rather loud psionic psionic wail as the Nekovalkyrja made her already rather injured body even worse. The Mishhuvurthyar watched, to her own dismay, as one of her limbs fell to the ground, twitching in the grass. Kohkrolisfu let out a rather piercing yell, fueled by anger and terror, as her remaining limbs squeezed around both Yam hands in an attempt to pry the weaponry from their grasp. The hulking advanced type was evidently experiencing quite a lot of pain already, and more notably, it's expression had a hint of desperation. "YAMATAIAN SWINE! DROP DEAD!" It snarled at them through psionics...

Miko was just a few steps behind Akiko. While he was not armed with a ranged weapon, he did have his trusty blade. As he charged things seemed completely out of place. Getting the jump on them both normally would have meant death for one or both of them. Instead it greeted them with a boo of all things. This thought quickly passed as his killing instinct kicked in.

In all his years this was the first time he pulled a punch. Trained at a young age to slip through the shadows and take down marks. This was a trait that was always nipping at the edges of his mind. It was for this very reason he joined Star Army as a cook. He wanted nothing more to do with killing and instead be a source for good.

Instead of striking his own blow, he bolted under Akiko and defected the Service Pistol away from its intended target. "Hold up." He sent over telepathy.

Akiko - whose center-of-mass aim was mostly true in spite of the tentacles desperately trying to deflect said aim - didn't even blink as her companion deflected her aim at the last second (transforming what would have been a fatal blow for the Mishhu into a shot that obliterated another unlucky tree trunk); instead, the Neko merely replied "Why?" in an entirely too matter-of-factly tone as she continued the wrestle the Advanced-Type for control of her pistol. Perhaps the Enemy's psionics are in fact operational, as there was no logical reason for Belmont-Hei to deflect my shot like that. Curious - perhaps he lacks a communicator, or has one that was damaged during recent events?

The Mishuvurthyar winced visibly as the near-miss whizzed by her. She had expected a different response from the two, assuming her ambush would have terrified the Yamataians and encouraged them to.. cooperate with her. Evidently she was absolutely not ready for a fight, given her extensive injuries rendered her quite incapable of doing much... She wasn't even sure that she could attempt to control the Yamataians. The Advanced type backed away as Akiko's weapon briefly aimed over her. She wouldn't be alive at this point- if not for Mikos hesitation. The Mishhu let go of Akiko's limb, opting for the extremely un-Mishhuvurthyar cowardly response to her predicament. She quickly darted to a nearby boulder and ducked behind it, hoping that gun would be unable to easily penetrate it. "STOP IT", She yelled as she felt another shot going nearby, unusually terrified for her life. The Advanced Type seemed confused and scared, emotions not normally felt by her kin.

Miko found himself knocked away from the group slightly. This had turned into a three way struggle. "I don't know why, just hold up." He once more sent out over telepathy. Then something he would have never had expected just took place. The Mishhu asked them to stop. His first reaction was rage, knowing countless crew no doubt shouted those words as they were cut down. However, despite his best judgment felt mercy, almost sorry for the wounded Mishhu. As these thoughts crossed his mind he started to question if he was still sane. No less showing pity towards the enemy in front of SAINT would not end well.

He spun the weapon in his hand around a few times before turning it off and putting it back on his belt. He was in too deep now to stop so might as well keep pushing forward.

"You have approximately five seconds to explain yourself before I levitate over the rock and terminate the Enemy," telepathically replied Akiko as she kept her weapon trained on the space a millimeter above the rock the Mishhu had taken cover behind. The SAINT operative had, of course, noted that the Mishhu's behavior was somewhat unusual - but such things didn't change the fact that they were the Enemy (and a highly dangerous one at that!) and thus needed to be eliminated sooner rather then later.

"Just pause and look how odd this all seems. I am no Mishhu expert but this has been just weird." He lifted his good arm and pointed towards the rock it was hiding behind. "Maybe we should capture it instead. Risky but having extra help isn't a bad thing either." Even as he spoke these words he was shocked to even suggest it. This was like playing in a viper pit and not a matter of if but when one would get bit.

The Mishhuvurthyar stayed behind the rock, its tentacles once again wrapping around her body idly in an unintentional form of desperation. Her concussed mind was racing, she was becoming a little disoriented, ironically on her own. She didn't know how to weasel herself out of this situation, surely any attempt to run at this point would lead to her life being prematurely terminated...

"...very well, however, you will be held responsible should this go awry, Belmont-Hei" telepathically replied the blue-haired SAINT as she switched her pistol from Heavy to Stun, took a painful breath, and bolted over the boulder. She took aim, and fired. Then fired again. And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Until the once-proud Advanced-Type had been reduced to a twitching mass of flesh and tentacles. "Come and help me drag it over to the camp," continued Akiko as she holstered her pistol - her expression and tone as calm as if she'd just ordered sushi from a restaurant - and began to pull and tug on the Mishhu, which at this point looked like a knocked out pokemon.

"Remind me to never ever get on your bad side. Then again I wasn't on either side and still ended up with a case of blue balls." He lightly chuckled as he walked over. "First, if one can eat it, think it would be mad if I cooked one of those tentacles?" He asked as he reached down and started to tug on it in support.

"Most likely, and I would not suggest such a course of action, given the hemosynthetic nature of an Advanced-Type's tentacle protrusions..." was the Shoi's response, which was followed shortly thereafter with "...and besides, a sufficient quantity of ration pills and field rations survived, which makes such a potentially risky course of action unnecessary."

"Fair enough. Let us, I guess- tie up the Mishhu. Granted I am not sure it would stop it but it is better than nothing." He called out as he grabbed some rope.

The Mishhuvurthyar's bloodied husk of a body had been caked in dirt as the pair dragged it somewhere more suitable for restraints to be applied. The Advanced type at this point only had 5 remaining tentacles, 4 others seemed heavily damaged, likely by the injuries received during the crash, and of course, the one that Akiko had blown off. The giant mass of tentacles still twitched from time to time, clearly stunned to hell and back by the operative's weapon.

After trussing up the Mishhu like a performer at one of the clubs Poppy tended to frequent, the operative in question took up a position safely away from the Mishhu's tentacles and patiently waited for the Advanced-Type to wake up, floating above the ground in order to give her screaming ribs some brief respite.

Lizalopod · Feb 22, 2024

Color Key:
"Speech by Kohkrolisfu"
"Speech by Akiko Hayashi"
"Speech by Mikodimus Belmont"
"Speech by Kjalrifutlku"

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.16
Dolgis V - Campsite

Several hours later. . .

After several hours had passed from the initial incident pertaining.. a certain currently restrained Mishhuvurthyar, the latter finally regained its ability to think properly after having been stunned repeatedly. Kohkrolisfu's features seemed to wince, as her eyes focused and began to look around. The rather lovely feeling of a splitting headache finally overcame her once more, the Advanced Type attempting to raise a tentacle to rub over what would have normally been considered a forehead by humanoid standards... before realizing she couldn't. The Mishhuvurthyar looked down, only to realize her tentacles had been rather tightly restrained into a bundle by a conveniently applied survival rope which the weakened Mishhuvurthyar simply could not manage to break at this point. The rope had also been tied around a rather hefty looking boulder to prevent the psionic user from simply floating away from her current predicament. Never having been restrained in her damn life as an advanced type Mishhuvurthyar, Kohkrolisfu responded in the only way her brain could think of at this point. Throwing a temper tantrum like a toddler.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! GET THIS DAMNED THING OFF OF ME YOU DEGENERATE LIVESTOCK!!!"

"No," said the quiet - yet steel-edged - voice of Akiko, who was standing behind the bound Mishhu. "We are the ones asking questions, and you will be the one answering them, unless you would prefer that I remove each of your remaining eyes and tentacles in an excruciatingly painful manner."

The Mishhuvurthyar was about to scream at Akiko about how her pride would simply never allow her to divulge anything she was asked by a filthy Yamataian- that is, until the latter threatened to remove her remaining limbs as painfully as possible. She seemed to tense up, perhaps even more than before, the monster simply saying in a lowered volume. "I should've expected such treatment from a disgusting species such as you, nekovalkrja scum...What do you want you glorified feline?" She grumbled, very displeased with her current predicament. Her headache was also certainly not helping.

"Name, rank, and position, for one, and..." - Akiko paused to jab the very sharp tip of a wooden spear into the Mishhu's behind - "...what a lone scout ship was doing so far from NMX territory. Dishonesty - which, according to my instructors, I was highly skilled at spotting on Mishhu simulacrums - will result in further pain, up to and including burns, brandings from heated metal, and the loss of limbs. I must admit, I have always been curious at to what happens when you apply heated metal to a Mishhu's eyeballs..."

True to Neko's chilling words, there was a small campfire burning nearby - and a piece of metal debris with a red-hot tip heating up inside of it.

The Advanced type let out a wail as she felt the spear- which ended up splintering wherever it stabbed into. She floated momentarily so that she could lay her eyes on the devilish nekovalkrja that was questioning her, the Mishuvurthyar seeming to think about it for a moment, clearly hesitating in providing the SAINT with any information. Upon the sight of more torture equipment being prepared, she seemed to capitulate... "Kohkrolisfu, Superior Technician. And i dont fucking know- they barely told me shit" She retorted rather sassily, staring at the Nekovalkrja intently. "Now its your turn you swine"

The Mishhu's request was met by another - and much, much harder - jab. "No. Furthermore, I strongly believe the third portion of your response was a lie by omission. Belmont, fetch me the heated iron. It's time this creature learned that actions have consequences." The Shoi had a pretty good feeling that Kohkrolisfu wasn't lying - but threatening further punishment was, of course, always an effective way of ensuring such things, especially when combined with the tried-and-true "bad cop-good cop" routine she and Miko were doing.

Miko just sat off to the side with one eyebrow raised. He was curious to see how SAINT would perform an interrogation. Honestly he was not shocked by what he seen so far. On the one hand he was amused but on the other fairly bored. They were in the middle of nowhere and she was trying to get intel like it matters. It would if and only if they lived to tell.

He walked over to the fire pit and grabbed the iron. He kneeled down in front of the Mishhu. "Are you hungry?" He asked in a calm, sincere voice. He then looked over towards Akiko. "Just, chill for a moment." His eyes narrowed as he spoke. A second later and he had turned and stabbed something over by the fire with the iron. At the end was now what seemed to be a well cooked fish. "It isn't much but you're welcome to eat it." He said with a smile.

Akiko's response evidently sent the Mishhuvurthyar into a fear induced rage, watching as Miko strolled over to the fire. She frantically looked back towards the neko, pretty much screaming at her. "HEY- WHAT THE FUCK- I DONT KNOW WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING- STOP YOU STAR ARMY BASTARDS-" Kohkrolisfu braced herself as Miko came closer with the iron, expecting to momentarily be in a world of pain, that was until the Minkan simply lowered the iron to her face. The Advanced-Type's eyes blinked in surprise as she stared at the... quite appetizingly roasted fish the skilled chef had prepared, confused as all hell. "Eh?...." After some thought, her eyes seemed to close, grumbling angrily- humiliated by her current position. "I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOUR PITY, SWINE"

"As I figured, it genuinely does not know anything of value," casually replied Akiko as she went over to a neatly-stacked pile of supplies under the shelter, fished out a ration pill, and popped it into her mouth; after finishing it, she continued, "thus begging the question of what to do with it. Keeping it alive would be preferable, as more information can be extracted out of it later, but keeping it indefinitely stunned with my Service Pistol would of course be impossible. What would you suggest, Belmont?"

"This is new ground for me so I am firing from the hip." He said as he took a bite of the fish. He once more offered it to the captive. "Sure you don't want a bite? Even livestock can become friends with the butcher." A big smile then crossed his face. "I agree, we have no reason to fight given our condition." He then tipped his head to one side. "So nice to meet you, I am Mikodimus, ship chef." He said with a big smile once more. He then looked confused. "So do we like, hug or shake hands. Can't say I've ever been this close to a Mishhu not hell bent on killing me so I am a little off put here." Said as a matter of fact. "Plus we have to find a way off this rock too."

Kohkrolisfu narrowed her eyes at Mikodimus as he offered the fish once again. She had expected both to act more so like what Akiko was exhibiting. Perhaps similarly to the Yamataians, the Mishhuvurthyar had never experienced an encounter with a Star Army Officer that had not led to the untimely demise of one of them. She growled and moved away from the fish, refusing to give in to the chef's temptation. "I don't have... hands, and yOU KEEP YOUR BLOODY HANDS TO YOURSELF!! PIG!!!." She didn't say it, but the chef's suggestion was quite logical... none of them had anything to gain from killing the other in this situation. "It shouldn't be too difficult to fashion a rudimentary communications terminal to call for a-" she paused, before omitting the mention that she was perhaps referring to signalling Mishhuvurthyar ship, though with further thought, maybe that wouldnt be wise either... The Advanced-Type wasn't dumb enough to provoke the armed Nekovalkrja next to her. "...Rescue vessel"

"Very well," said the SAINTly Neko as she stepped back while carefully observing the Mishhu and drawing her sidearm. "Belmont, release her. I'm sure it's capable of ascertaining what the consequences of disobedience and/or attempting to flee are."

"You got it boss, I shall free the captive. Unless they like being hogtied." He said with a light chuckle. He wasted no time removing the ropes that bound Koko. "So I shall leave this fish here if your hungry." He slid the fish over as he took a step back. Though more to give space than out of concern.

The Mishhuvurthyar remained quiet as she was released from the rope, now perhaps even more confused than she was previously. Why were they setting her free? Regardless, Kohkrolisfu was far too injured to even consider attempting an escape from the Yamatai scum that had decided to keep her as a pet. And even if she could, it would have simply ended in the advanced type's death- thanks to Akiko and her weapon. The Mishhuvurthyar simply slid further away to put some distance between herself and the Neko and Minkan, staring at both of them rather intently, on edge. She didn't dare to leave, but the monster still seemed wary of them.

Kohkrolisfu felt like an absolute failure and humiliation to her Mishhuvurthyar blood. Part of her began to wish that the Mishhu never found her, knowing her fate would probably be death due to her rather concerning inability to even fend for herself. She idly rested in the corner for the night, watching the other two Star Army officers do what they wished.

"Technicians log, date unknown. One day after being stranded on this stupid fucking rock.

Today could not have progressed any worse. After being stranded by the incompetence of my damned crew I have been captured by some surviving Yamataian swine. The white haired one insists that my survival could be helpful so now I'm being kept here like a slave for these damned bastards. I am a dumbass, I should have killed myself when i had the chance... The blue one that tried to torture me is insisting on forcing me out to the remains of the swine ship. I don't know what she pretends to fine, but maybe ill get a chance to end her. Maybe."

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.17
Dolgis V - Wilderness

The next day - at least, according to Akiko's internal clock; the constant state of twilight made light-based timekeeping an exercise in futility - a pistol-armed Akiko and a rather... depressed Kohkrolisfu set off for the still-smoldering remains of the Ayakashi's bow section, with the Neko following above the ground a modest distance behind the Mishhu as the two navigated through the branches, trees, mossy ravines, and thorny vines of the seemingly-endless semi-lit forest.

The Mishhuvurthyar was faring perhaps just a slight bit better than the previous day, at least physically. Some of her wounds had begun to heal, albeit very slowly at this rate. The pain still remained, something the Advanced type would unfortunately have to bear through. She had been forced to come along with Akiko, the latter preferring to keep an eye on the monster at all times, so she could end it if necessary. Kohkrolisfu merely grumbled to herself as she floated along, still rather pissed about her current predicament... who wouldn't be?

As the duo made their way - well, floated their way, to be specific - across a ravine thoroughly overrun with plants, Akiko finally broke the stony silence that had thus far permeated the journey. "Why did you not terminate Belmont and myself when given the opportunity? Such an action was not logical in the slightest, and led to your injury and capture."

"...Why would i tell you?!- ergh" The Mishhuvurthyar pivoted to shoot an annoyed glance at Akiko, before continuing on as she was reminded by the sight of the Nekovalkryjas pistol that she didn't have much of a choice, if she wanted to survive that was. "...I was too injured to do so" she mumbled psionically, a half truth. She was also betting on using the two Yamataians as slaves, however she was far too afraid of the armed operative behind her to mention it.

The SAINT Neko let out a quiet - but nevertheless audible - sigh as she landed on the opposing side of the ravine behind Kohkrolisfu. "You and I are both fully aware that you were more than capable of incapacitating the two of us should you have chosen to do so. During previous operations, I have witnessed Advanced-Types with vastly greater injuries than you possessed at the time easily take down seasoned Star Army Intelligence operatives, so again I shall ask: why did you not terminate Belmont and myself when given the opportunity? And do not say it was for reasons related to manpower - as a technician, you have both the strength and the know-how to create a distress beacon without any external assistance."

". . ." The Mishhuvurthyar returned a rather infuriated stare as she turned to face Akiko. The pestering was visibly eroding the Advanced-Type, becoming more frustrated with the repeating questions. "I just didnt, leave it at that damnit!" She retorted, beginning to slowly float towards the wrecked midori class, which was not too far away now. Her headache was slowly returning, making the monstrous creature wince. "This is so humiliating..."

"This will be discussed once we return to camp," cooly (or was it icily?) replied the blue-haired catgirl as she followed in the Mishhu's wake - and then they were upon the clearing formed by what little remained of the once-proud YSS Ayakashi: twisted and burnt chunks of durandium and yamataium, some alit, some smoldering, and some smoking, various assorted parts of the ship's nose-mounted sensor array, a few charred pieces that bore a vague resemblance to MEGAMI components, and a couple of Mindy power armors whose internals had undoubtedly been pulverized by the force of impact. There was also a smattering of several storage boxes, all in various states of disrepair, and - somehow - a mostly intact washer and dryer.

"NO IT WONT! JUST FUCKIN DROP IT!" Kohkrolisfu yelled in annoyance and anger as they floated along. "SHUT UP ABOUT IT YOU PIG"

"If you converse like that again, I will drop you where you float, Mishhuvurthyar," retorted Akiko in a definitively icy tone, "and do not test my patience, as the amount of pain I am in - for injuries sustained during the crash, whose exact nature I will not elaborate on to avoid giving you a tactical advantage - has drastically shortened the length of said patience."

The Mishhuvurthyar grumbled and remained quiet as Akiko threatened her once more. She floated along to inspect some of the boxes that remained in a semi intact state, using her few uninjured tentacles to at least attempt to open them. She kept glancing towards the neko as she searched for anything remotely useful in the wreckage, anything she could use to fashion some shoddily put together frankenstein equipment. Her headache kept getting more and more irritating as the Mishhuvurthyar searched, and attempted to at least ignore Akiko; her body was urging her to try to murder the nekovalkrja.. yet at the same time it felt like it was preventing her from doing so. The Advanced-Types several untreated concussions were certainly affecting her ability to act, and perhaps even a bit of her reasoning.

After observing Kohkrolisfu for several moments, the Shoi chimed in, "Do you require medical attention? Some of the boxes may contain medical supplies, and you can be treated back at camp by Belmont, though I admittedly do not know he's proficient in Mishhu physiology, sexual habits aside. I would offer to assist him, but my knowledge of your kind unfortunately - in this instance, at least - only covers how to best disable and terminate you, not provide medical treatment."

The maimed Mishhuvurthyar glanced back towards Akiko. One moment she was being threatened, the next she was being asked if she needed help. She really didn't understand nekovalkrja at all... Kohkrolisfu silently contemplated saying yes, until her Mishhuvurthyar side swelled and tried to at least prevent further humiliation. "NO, KEEP YOUR BLOODSTAINED HANDS TO YOURSELF, CAT EARED BASTARD" She grumbled, returning her attention to a box, attempting to open it.

"Very well," replied the SAINTly catgirl as she continued to keep her Type 33 Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol trained on the Mishhu, who was able to pry open the box - which, for better or for worse, contained medical supplies: painkillers, splints, bandages, assorted drugs, bottles of industrial grade lubricant, rectal thermometers, more rectal thermometers, labeled packets of blood, regular thermometers, and injection devices.

The Mishhuvurthyar grunted as she saw that whatever the hell was in there, it wasn't going to be of use for engineering anything. She slid the box towards Akiko as she continued opening and checking other boxes. She glanced towards the forest momentarily, thinking she had perhaps heard something, before shrugging it off...

Akiko - while keeping her pistol trained on Kohkrolisfu - began fishing through the boxes with one ~~paw~~ hand much like a cat would fish through water for, well, fish, and soon retrieved her prey: several packs of painkillers, a pack of anti-nausea pills, and a bottle of anti-concussion medicine; after a moment, all three were thrown directly at the Advanced-Type. "Though the printed dosages are for humanoids, I would strongly advise that you take these so that you are not physically impaired by whatever is currently afflicting you - I don't know what, as you have not been forthcoming with such info - while assembling the distress beacon. Rest assured, they are not poisonous - unlike the NMX, the Star Army does not deliberately attempt to kill its own soldiers when they have been deemed obsolete or useless."

As she was speaking, the intelligence operative pocketed one of the painkiller pill packs, clearly intent on taking some later on to ease her own pain.

"I find that hard to believe considering all the dastardly things Yamatai does on a daily basis..." The Mishhuvurthyar stared at the packages, unable to really decipher much apart from 'medicine'. She opened the bottles momentarily, taking at least one of each to see if they would do anything. Kohkrolisfu reasoned that maybe if they killed her it would be more pleasant than dying to a nekovalkrja operative.

Given the similarities between Mishhuvurthyar and Nekovalkyrja - the former was, in all honesty, really just an up-armored, up-tentacled, and up-psionic'd evolution of the latter - it wasn't long before the technician began to feel slightly better (although not completely, of course; the sheer difference in mass between an Advanced-Type and a Type 33 Neko meant that the medications were only about a quarter as effective as usual). Akiko, meanwhile, popped a few painkillers of her own - and was almost immediately rewarded with ribs that were no longer constantly shrieking in pain at her. "Much improv-" she began - only to frown and whip around as her enhanced hearing detected something rustling about in the trees surrounding the crash site. After a multi-spectrum visual scan returned nothing, however, the Shoi resumed her observance of the Mishhu. "Did you detect anything just now?"

The Mishhuvurthyar visibly relaxed as the pain slowly crept away, her mind perhaps a little clearer. She hated the fact that she had just accepted help, from a damned Yamataian swine no less- but at the same time she.. appreciated the gesture. "...This is humiliating" She quietly mumbled to herself... before her eyes shot up as she recognized a signature in the bushes surrounding the crash site. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to realize what it was, slowly floating backwards in the direction of the Shoi. She glanced at the nekovalkrja, beginning to panic internally as she tried to reason the best course of action, but she couldn't decide…

Akiko frowned as she heard something again; as it sounded distant, however, she merely opened her mouth to speak. "Ther-"

The Mishhuvurthyar's remaining tentacles then sprung into action, aided by better coordination stemming from the now muffled away pain. They wrapped around Akiko in an instant, with one making sure to cover her mouth and keep her limbs restrained. The operative was forced to the ground, the massive advanced type essentially sitting down on the Nekovalkrja (thankfully, with some degree of care) and keeping her as still as possible, hidden under its large body. From her position under the Mishhuvurthyar restraining her, Akiko was able to spot a small, floating object moving to the Mishhu. Upon a better look, it was a Parasite Type. It stopped right in front of the Advanced type, the two monstrosities of varying sizes staring at each other wordlessly.

Acting on instinct, the catgirl began to writhe and struggle within her fleshy restraints, even as she chomped down on the tentacle covering her mouth and started depressing the Type 33 NSP's trigger in order to deliver a stun blast into the Advanced-Type's rather foul-smelling underside - only to immediately cease all of her actions upon catching sight of the Parasite-Type as a whirlwind of questions blew through her digital brain. What in the name of the Empress? Why would a Mishhuvurthyar shield me from detection by one of its kin? This is the perfect escape opportunity, and it is not being taken! Such actions make zero sense - logical or otherwise - whatsoever!

After a moment, the Parasite type seemed to begin to float away back into the bushes. Akiko would remain restrained by the Advanced-type until she stopped hearing the ruffling caused by the leaving Mishhuvurthyar. Only then did she let the nekovalkrja operative go, throwing her into the opened medical crate not so gracefully. Kohkrolisfu grumbled to herself, picking through another crate, picking it open. "Move'', came a rather simple response to all of that...

Although the Shoi - whose head, shoulders, chest, and upper torso were currently stuck inside the aforementioned medical crate - had an exponentially-increasing number of questions that she wanted, no, needed to ask the Advanced-Type, she (in this instance, at least) knew better then to argue with the Mishhu when the Parasite-Type was still nearby. Nevertheless...

"Very well," Akiko whispered telepathically, "but you will answer my questions once we arrive at the new location. Is that understood?"

...she wasn't going to give up without a 'fight,' per se.

The Mishhuvurthyar let out a frustrated grunt as she began to hover away quickly, trying to ignore the nekos last telepathic message. She grabbed a couple of undamaged cargo crates with her tentacles, as many as she could feasibly carry without being too awfully burdened

After several hours of floating, the pair would be able to eventually slither away into the forest, and were fortunate enough not to have another encounter with more Mishhuvurthyar as they trekked back to the camp where they had left the rather flirty cook. Kohkrolisfu slowed down significantly as they neared the camp, the situation no longer urging a faster speed.

The SAINT operative - having freed herself from the cargo crate, and still annoyed (despite the passage of several hours) that the technician had refused to answer her last interrogative - wordlessly followed behind the Mishhuvurthyar with her pistol drawn until the two had traveled right up to the camp's outermost fringes, then in a chilled tone said, "Put the crates down, then head to the middle of the camp where Belmont built his... structure. It's time we had a nice long talk - and this time, failure to comply will result in the most painful death I am capable of inflicting upon you."

"...Fine" The Mishhuvurthyar grunted annoyedly, dropping the boxes down on the ground with maybe the faintest of attitudes. She dragged herself to the structure, floating outside, given how she didn't.. exactly fit inside, as the structure was likely designed to fit the more... regular sized members...

"Very well," said Akiko as she followed Kohkrolisfu into the makeshift shelter, her sidearm still in hand - but, for once, not pointed directly at the Advanced-Type. She took a seat safely out of the Mishhu's reach - and then, at last, began to speak, an expression somewhere between curious, confusion, and concern adorning her features. "Firstly, you will explain why you sheltered me from the Parasite-Type and did not use its appearance as a means of escaping."

The fact that said Parasite-Type would have had no effect on the Eihei - thanks to her countermeasures - was, of course, something Akiko wasn't going to mention; though SAINT was fairly sure the NMX knew about the NH-33's built-in countermeasures, there was still no reason to openly share such information with the enemy.

"If you think I did it with you in mind, then you are a fucking idiot" She grumbled along the excuse she had been cooking on the way back, hoping it was enough to prevent further prodding by Akiko. It turned away from the Nekovalkrja so the latter couldn't keep staring at her. "If other Mishhuvurthyar survivors find out that I have been subjugated by the Star Army of Yamatai like a pathetic weakling, I'll simply be exterminated on the spot. There is no place for the weak on the NMX. I simply hid you away so the other Mishhuvurthyar were unaware of it." She closed her eyes in frustration, her tentacles visibly twitching. "Either I get slowly dissected by Yamataian swine or I get hunted to death by my own people." She seemed to say to herself.

That last comment prompted a raised eyebrow from the emerald-eyed Nekovalkyrja. "Star Army Intelligence does not routinely dissect Advanced-Types as far as I know, given the quantity of data that was obtained from performing dissections during and after the Second Mishhuvurthyar War. Moving on, why did you not terminate Belmont and myself when given the opportunity to do so? Your earlier answer..." - Akiko paused to pop another painkiller into her mouth, then continued, "...was not satisfactory."

"I told you I was injured and couldn't handle both of you. I.. underestimated you swine." She grunted, still facing away from Akiko...

"You and I both know that's false," casually retorted said cat girl as she idly pointed her Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol at the Mishhuvurthyar's tentacles. "I would strongly suggest you do not lie again, lest I begin removing your tentacles one by one until you decide to be truthful again."

The Mishhuvurthyar's tentacles reached down to the grass, beginning to slowly rip it out in frustration. "SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME BE"

Akiko frowned, then in a zesu-sharp tone replied, "No, I will not leave you be, Technician Kohkrolisfu. You are our prisoner, so by the Empress you will answer my questions or I will inflict enough pain upon your pathetic form that you will beg for me to dissect you. Is that understood?"

The Mishhuvurthyar finally turned and faced Akiko. In a sudden fit, she got far closer, destabilizing the survival structure the neko was standing under. Her psionic voice became much louder, the Advanced-Type essentially yelling at the Nekovalkrja. One would normally assume she was about to either cuss the operative out, or attack her. But Kohkrolisfu gave a completely different answer... "BECAUSE ALL YOU PEOPLE FUCKING TERRIFY ME, WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?!"

...

She retreated away from the survival structure, with the makeshift building shaking a little in her wake. The Mishhuvurthar clearly did not want to admit that, but she couldn't take it back now. She began to wish for death the second the realized what she had said. "Use the gun, kill me. Do it. Id rather end my existence."

For the first time in her nearly twelve years of existence, Hayashi Akiko had to forcibly stifle the urge to quite literally laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of the Advanced-Type's claims. "Terrify you? Us Nekovalkyrja and Minkans, who are weaker in physical strength and fortitude and lack your vaunted psionic capabilities? Please. You are either joking, or utilizing the strangest psychological tactic I have ever witnessed."

The aforementioned gun - which had snapped up to attention the moment Kohkrolisfu had approached the intelligence operative - remained pointed squarely between the Mishhu's eyes, but unfortunately for said Mishhu had yet to fire.

The Mishhu remained facing the ground, grunting quite annoyedly. "You people are monsters, based on what we know. How many of us have you put down personally?". She seemed rather serious about it, hesitating when she asked. Kohkrolisfu was clearly terrified, her previous behavior was quite telling, the Advanced type certainly didn't want to admit it either, whether out of pride or fear, given how the Mishhuvurthyar were rather ruthless with the weak. "Just add one more to the pile"

"That figure is classified, and as we do not consume Nekovalkyrja for sustenance, I would not say that 'we' are monsters, even if the methods utilized by Star Army Intelligence are not always ethical" said the blue-haired SAINT as she patiently observed the Mishhu. "Furthermore, as easy as it would be to simply dispose of you, Kohkrolisfu, your technical skills make you more valuable then you realize. Terminating you here would serve no purpose but to prolong the duration of our stay on this planet, thus such an action is not logical - and neither is wishing for self-termination, given what one with your skill set could accomplish if left unmolested by the local fauna and flora."

"Self-Termination is the most painless and optimal option that i have left." She seemed to barely mumble as she remained on the ground, the Mishuvurthyar not even floating anymore. "Even when I was in the NMX, I was considered a disposable doing grunt work. Considering my weakened state, and the fact that I've been.. enslaved by you, going back is a death sentence. If I remain here and construct that beacon, the Star Army will undoubtedly terminate me and rescue both of you. If I am to remain here alone, its unlikely I'll survive for an extended period of time. Nothing I do from this point forward will affect my eventual fate. As your fucking logic would determine... the simplest way to simply end it would be for you to just end me."

So it was treated differently in comparison to its peers as punishment for its lack of sufficient aggressiveness, likely due to an imprinting or programming defect of some kind. How utterly fascinating... thought the Eihei as she lowered her pistol - not holstering it, but not pointing it at the technician, either - approached the 'fallen' Mishhu. And an interesting opportunity, too. Though it will be immensely difficult to convince my superiors to go along with this... perhaps...

Akiko inhaled, exhaled, and said, "Would you consider defecting to the Yamatai Star Empire?"

"...Because joining the enemy is so simple of course" The Mishhuvurthyar said sarcastically as she remained on the ground. Perhaps if it allowed her to live, she would consider it. However, given her previous experiences fighting against Yamatai, the Advanced-Type simply couldn't see a scenario where she wouldn't be shot on sight and killed.

"Easy there Akiko." Miko called out as he moved over to the group. "Some in Star Army do not take kindly to something showing sympathy towards Koko." He said with a straight face. "Plus as pointed out getting this past the higher ups would be tough. Though if needed I could contact my brother Alastair. He is a master at getting unapproved races past Star Army." He paused and smiled at them both. "At first this was odd but I am glad I followed my gut. Your alright Koko. Sorry your life has been so rough." His tone showed concern as he reached out and gave the Mishhu a pat.

Reading the room, the SAINTly Neko also gave the Mishhu a pat. "Nothing worthwhile in one's life is simple - and happiness has to be fought for. So, what is your decision?"

"..."

The Mishhu's eyes opened as she felt the pats from not one, but both Yamataians attempting to console her somewhat. She remained silent momentarily, before a tentacle slowly reached up and rested on the area on her head that was touched by the Minkan and Neko. "What the fuck was that supposed to be?". The Advanced type said with some hint of irritation in her psionic voice, evidently she had never been given a head pat.

"A means of physical consolation," replied the cream-skinned Neko. "So, how about it? Is it not logical to be curious about how the other half lives?"

"Just being friendly, hugging is also accepted too." He then let out a laugh. "I think we can pull it off, personally I think it is a little cool I made a Mishhu friend." His face was beaming showing just how excited he was.

"IM NOT YOUR FRIEND??? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT!" She yelled out all of a sudden, a flustered hint creeping into her tone. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT PHYSICAL CONSOLATION!! SHUT UP AND GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!". If a Mishhuvurthyar could blush, she would've been turning several shades redder. Instead she began to float, putting some distance between the pair of Yamataians, searching for a nicer resting spot. "...I'll consider it"

Miko could not help but chuckle. Hours before he was fighting for dear life. Now he was getting the tsundere treatment. It warmed his soul knowing his gut feeling was right. Koko was interesting and so far had been much fun, in his opinion. "Ohh snap, that wasn't a no!" He said in a high pitched voice.

"Indeed," added the operative with what was probably the faintest look of approval in the history of expressions, "However, with this resolved, what is to be done now? The presence of Parasite-Types in close proximity to the Ayakashi's wreckage precludes any further solo excursions."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BRAINLESS COOK" The Mishhuvurthyar snapped towards Miko as she continued to find his taunts both annoying and embarrassing. She grumbled as she listened to Akiko's assessment, before adding onto it, the Advanced-Type slowly descending back onto the floor to rest. "Parasite types are the least of our worries. From the information that parasite conveyed when we communicated through psionics, there are more survivors than previously thought... I do not know much apart from that."

Miko puffed up his chest and stood tall. "And they can fuck right off, we found Koko first and not giving her up " His voice was firm and very serious. In his mind, he had made a new friend and would protect her like a big brother.

Akiko nodded in assent. "I concur; regardless, however, the sooner that beacon is constructed, the better - especially if other Advanced-Types survived the crash, as it is highly likely the activation of the beacon will draw them to wherever it is located."

"....I'll get to work on it. Later." She grumbled as she turned away from the two Yamataians, the Mishhuvurthyar's eyes staring off into the distance once more. "Leave me alone for now", her booming psionic voice concluded.

"Very well," replied the spoopy catgirl as - for the first time since encountering the Mishhu she holstered her sidearm and returned to the structure, whose integrity was beginning to look somewhat... questionable after Kohkrolisfu had charged out of it like a bull fleeing an irate china shop owner. "Belmont, assist me with reinforcing the shelter you constructed."

Dolgis Star System
YE 45.8.22
Dolgis V - Campsite

The camp had changed quite a bit in the last couple of days, the small team of three mistifs getting to seriously work on surviving the ordeal. The shelter had been heavily strengthened into a proper structure by the rather proud Mikodimus Belmont, with the help of a certain nekovalkryja operative, of course. Meanwhile, A little workshop had been set up nearby, using pieces gathered from the wreckage of the Star Army vessel. It was a rather... messy workspace, with a myriad of equipment strewn about its surroundings. A piece of equipment stood out, an incomplete makeshift antenna, which had been the Mishhuvurthyar's ongoing project for the last few days. It was almost operational... just a couple of adjustments needed to be finished for it to work properly.

"Technicians Log, date unknown, Around day 10 of being stranded here."

"Several days have passed since the initial truce with my Yamataian swi- ...Erh, companions. Though my pitiful maimed state has made it difficult to work on the distress call, its slowly progressing. The blue one has been of.. some varying assistance- but I find the white animal to be insufferable, and the blue one seems to at least agree. The beacon should be complete today after finalizing some remaining work... I can just hope that ill come out of this stupid ass planet alive."

Kohkrolisfu had at the very least been attempting to get along with the two Yamataians. While sometimes they irritated her rather short fuse to no end, she secretly appreciated the chance the two were taking on her. The psionic beast was busy prying open one of the remaining crates early in that morning, throwing the lid away into a bush nearby. The Advanced type didnt sleep, she just took short rests from time to time, before getting back to work... quite different in comparison to the two sleepyheads snoring in the makeshift shelter. She paused as she stared at what was inside momentarily...

That morning, Akiko and Mikodimus would be awoken by music coming from outside. The Mishhuvurthyar was hard at work at finishing up the distress beacon, accompanied by a newly found FARS drone from one of the crates. It seemed like she had evidently gotten to the drones database, and found the music category. As the drone floated around the Advanced Type playing the music at a... not very conservative volume, the latter bobbed to the beat, immersed in her work.

With a surprising amount of speed for one who'd just waken up, Akiko dashed over to the wayward ~~son~~ FARS drone and shut it off, her expression almost glacially cold in both stiffness and stillness. "Projecting music, though understandably beneficial in terms of optimizing efficiency, is also an excellent way of attracting local fauna and - more importantly - any of your former colleagues that survived the crash landing. Please do not play music again; with that being said, however, what progress have you made in constructing the distress beacon?"

Miko followed a short while after Akiko. "Leaving me like that, tis chilly in that tent you know." He reached up and rubbed at his eyes. He then took notice of the FARS. "Oh nice, you been busy I see." He said as he walked closer to get a better look.

The Mishhuvurthyar was inches away from starting up a fuss as Akiko confiscated her newfound toy. Koko grumbled as she tried to snatch the drone off of the Nekovalkyria's grasp, squinting at her. "FINE. Killjoy." She was a little embarrassed to have been caught enjoying music anyways, simply returning to the beacon device. "I'm finishing the distress beacon.."

The SAINTly operative brushed off the 'Killjoy' comment as she surrendered the FARS drone, then replied, "Excellent..." before wandering off back over to the twilight-illuminated shelter in search of something to eat and drink.

Akiko would notice a familiar smell as she headed back to the tent. The most wonderful smell of eggs and bacon. Miko had been busy and seemed to have found fresh food to eat. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Found some seasoning I believe will be most tasty." The team would also notice his outfit was different than normal. Miko had on his apron and not much more.

Koko didn't particularly mind Miko's new outfit, it's not like she had a concept for embarrassment in that sense. The Mishhuvurthyar simply continued making the finishing touches on the beacon. She found that the easiest way to avoid Miko's... shenanigans... was to simply ignore the rizz. Only a few tweaks later, the beacon would be complete and ready to deploy, with the mishhuvurthyar picking it up with several tentacles, and carefully bringing it over to the center of the camp for activation. "Done. I dont fuckin know what frequency to use or what to make it say, so thats up to you guys I guess."

"Shame we can't upload the smell of this food. Would attract half the galaxy." Miko said with a big grin. "Though figure we will be using secure channels to not alert unwanted attention." He commented as he bent down, drawing his own attention.

Though she didn't blush - due to having been subjected to much, much, much worse during INDOC - Akiko nevertheless audibly facepalmed and let out a sigh of exasperation as she was unwillingly treated to an unrestricted view of her cohort's genitals. "Is it really necessary that you cook while naked? Such a practice is extraordinarily unhygienic, and fully exposes you to any blood-sucking - and likely disease-carrying - insects present on this planet."

"S' that like a crime or something? I've been 'naked' this entire time and you haven't complained" The Mishhuvurthyar commented, looking back and forth between the two Yamataians in confusion.

Miko looked at one, then the other. "Kind of is necessary when your clothes are drying out. But it is just a naked body." He then lifted one eyebrow. "I was also curious if in your form you'd consider this as naked." He then grinned and gave a nod towards Koko. "So based on my calculations, you are out numbered so feel free to join in the fun." Miko shouted out towards Akiko.

The SAINTly intelligence operative merely rolled her eyes heavensward in response as she strode over to the completed beacon and began entering a lengthy string of numbers into its molecule-tape-attached keypad that looked like it'd once been responsible for opening a door onboard the Ayakashi. "I will not be shedding my uniform, as it would be illogical to surrender its carrying capacity and would only..." - a pause as the Neko finished inputting the last of the frequencies likely to be searched by the Star Army - "...encourage lewdness from Belmont. Regardless, the beacon has been programmed. Shall I activate it?"

"...WHAT DO YOU THINK??? DUH... Unless you wanna actually become livestock and remain here with all the stupid animals and shit." Kohkrolisfu growled as she wiggled around her tentacles, in an attempt to ridicule Akiko.

"Very well, then," calmly replied Akiko, seemingly unfazed by the Advanced-Type's theatrics as she anti-climatically pressed the SEND button on the beacon and stepped back. "The beacon should now be transmitting on a continuous loop, assuming it was... re-assembled properly. I would strongly suggest that we take up defensive positions, lest any other surviving Mishhuvurthyar track the transmission to its source."

"Eh? ASSEMBLED PROPERLY? OF COURSE IT WAS ASSEMBLED PROPERLY YOU TWIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM- STUPID???" Kohkrolisfu angrily waved her tentacles at Akiko, before huffing psionically... "FINE... Ill go get-"

It didn't take more than a second for there to be a response. Granted, the response was the appearance of great gouts of Aether weapons fire lighting up the sky. There was crack of sound as a Mishhuvurthyar gunship appeared from the sky, firing back upwards. Black shapes fell from it, landing on the next hill over. The ground troops that had been disgorged were started shooting at the three by the transmitter as they hit the ground and started moving towards the stranded crew.

As the ground troops found themselves on the relatively empty planet, they would be joined by some surviving Mishhuvurthyar from the XSS Zxuwhyrqx, all of them fully Mishhuvurthyar, as no NMX Nekovalkrja would have been able to survive the catastrophic crash. They advanced with their fellow allies to the camp.

"ONWARD BROTHERS!" psionically bellowed the captain of the XSS Zxuwhyrqx, a particularly bloodthirsty Advanced-Type by the name of Kjalrifutlku who didn't seem to care in the slightest that half of his body had been mangled and charred during the Zxuwhyrqx's crash-landing. "FI FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF A YAMATAIAN! BE SHE LIVE OR BE SHE DEAD I'M GRINDING HER BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD!"

The Mishhuvurthyar technician proceeded to freak the fuck out when she saw the Gunship above. She wrapped her tentacles around a piece of metal hull she had been using as a makeshift table, the entire mess of now useless parts being thrown to the floor as she pulled it up. Kohkrolisfu used the piece of hull as a shield, beginning to retreat backwards toward the forest behind. "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK," was all she said over psionics, watching the Mishhuvurthyar ground troops advance at them. Looking up, she noticed the NMX ship was firing, and it wasnt at them on the ground.

This was a shock to Miko who answered the call. More to the point was that he was the one caught with no pants on. A place others in the family tended to find themselves in. Thinking fast, Miko did a dodge roll into the shelter to find some gear. He quickly geared up with what he could find which honestly wasn't much. Against a team of Mishhu they were as good as food. As he was about to put on pants, it dawned on him a possible plan. If they thought he and Akiko were enslaved, it might just fool them.

"Hey Akiko, got any bright ideas? Cause the one I have your not going to like." Miko shared with the team.

"If involves becoming physically intimate with the Mishhuvurthyar - or worse, yourself - you already know what my answer is," whispered the black-paneled spook, who'd managed to get a couple of snap shots off with her Type 33 NSP before gracefully dive-rolling into the shelter slightly ahead of Miko. "As the beacon attracted far more attention then we are capable of handling, I am going to strike out on my own and survive as long as possible. I can terminate you before I depart, if you wish."

"While I like your dedication to the cause, no, though it would involve being captured." He paused for a moment then pointed towards Koko. "By a certain Mishhu friend here." He then brought himself out of the shelter. "If we leave the beacon now, we might miss our chance at being saved. So as much as I want to settle down and make a family with you here, I'd like to try and avoid that please." He had pressed his hands together in a bagging motion. He was making it clear he meant what he was saying.

Fortunately, there were several more cracks of thunder as four Fuji class gunships appeared overhead. They exchanged gunfire with the Mishhu gunship for a moment before the enemy gunship dove for cover behind a hill. One of the four gunships chased the Mishhuvurthyar, two provided high cover and exchanged fire with something in orbit, the last one swooped down making a low fast pass over the beacon and the troops charging towards the camp.

"STUPID IDEA, BRAINLET!- WHAT IF THEY KNOW THAT IM-" Kohkrolisfu was interrupted by the Fuji Gunship making a flyby above the beacon. The Mishhuvurthyar made an annoyed little sound as a couple of shots ricoched off of her makeshift shield. Maybe it didn't have to truly work, it only needed to stall out the advance of the Mishhuvurthyar and keep them alive until the Star Army ships above could respond. She quickly reached to the two's weaponry, pulling the NSP's out of their arms, and coiling her tentacles around them- without even letting Akiko have a say. "FINE!"

She then started yelling with her psionics at the advancing group, waving a tentacle frantically above the shield. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU BASTARDS, STOP FUCKING SHOOTING AT ME, DO I LOOK LIKE A YAMATAIAN SWINE TO YOU?! CANT YOU SEE I FUCKING CAPTURED THESE TWO YOU TWATS?!"

For the first time in her memory, Akiko's eyes widened as the distraction caused by Miko's... somewhat-less-then-wholesome plea (and, to a much lesser extent, the arrival of not one but four Expeditionary Gunships) caused her to be caught up in Koko's tentacles and quite literally swept along for the ride. "Well, that was unexpected. If I perish, I am blaming you in my after-action report, Belmont."

"EXCELLENT! CEASE FIRE!" psionically barked Kjalrifutlku as he accordingly raised a tentacle in a cease-fire motion. "I'M IMPRESSED, KOHKROLISFU. I DIDN'T THINK A WEAKLING LIKE YOU WAS CAPABLE OF TAKING HOSTAGES, ONLY BEING ONE. HU. HU. HU...." - a pause, then - "...NOW, HAND THEM OVER TO ME. I HUNGER FOR THEIR FLESH AND WANT THEM COOKED MEDIUM RARE."

She grunted as she finally put the massive piece of hull down, letting it rattle on the ground. The Mishhuvurthyar tugged the two Yamataian's along, floating towards the captain, both NSPs still being held in her tentacles. "I'M NOT A DAMNED WEAKLING- I SURVIVED DIDN'T I?" She boomed out in a much harsher and aggressive voice than the one she had been using previously, maybe making Akiko and Miko doubt whether she was on their side. The Advanced-type floated in front of her old captain, squinting her eyes. "I CAPTURED THEM, I GET TO COOK-" She attempted to continue, continuing to stall, before being rudely interrupted.

Kjalrifutlku's tentacles were already reaching for the Minkan and (especially) the Neko as he rudely cut her off. "NO! YOU LACK THE GUTS YOUR WEAKLING- AND YOUR CULINARY SKILLS ARE SUBPAR, JUST LIKE YOUR TECHNICIAN SKILLS! I WILL COOK MY OWN FOOD, YOU FOO-"

Kohkrolisfu returned the favour as he faced away from the Captain, enraged at the insults. She had planned to drag this out for longer, but her now clouded mind simply didn't allow it as she watched the Advanced Type reach for the Minkan and the Neko... Perhaps the only two people ever to have treated her with some level of respect. The Mishhuvurthyar pushed the NSPs up and against the Captain's head, yelling in a rage. "I GET TO COOK YOUR ASS!". The Mishhuvurthyar let out a blood-curling psionic scream as she just about managed to squeeze both NSPs triggers with her tendrils, drilling a hole into the enemy Advanced Types flesh, to the shock of the other Mishhuvurthyar soldiers surrounding them. She looked up, watching the Fuji class get closer, and finally tossing both weapons back to their rightful owners... 'Just a little longer...'

The teleportation flashes hit as the standoff was reaching its climax. Seven Mindies appeared, and opened fire at the same moment into the main mass of Kjalrifutlku's troops. Kjalrifutlku was hit by armor piercing rounds from an shoulder-fired 20mm Gauss Cannon mounted on a Kodian's Mindy. As the Captain went down however, he managed to hit Kohkrolisfu with several shots from the four (!!!) Impaler Particle Beam Rifles he'd been quad-wielding, who was still unfortunately nearby. The advanced type was critically injured, letting out a pathetic psionic yell as she collapsed on the ground, next to her now dead former captain. She was still alive, evident by her attempted movement. The Nekos who were with them were caught entirely off guard. A few moments later, all of the enemies were down and the Mindies turned to Kohkrolisfu and her Star Army companions.

Between the fallen body of Koko, a comparatively small minkan with an apron attached poked out. Miko started to wave it around, to indicate they came in peace. "So is this the part where one of us calls for a parlay?" Miko asked as his head poked out from behind a tentacle. Without even knowing it, he felt that his hand was holding another. He looked to Akiko to see if she had a bright idea on what to do next.

The Neko whose hand was being held without her consent let out a very long, very loud, and very annoyed sigh of exasperation as she realized what Miko had done. "We will talk about this later, Belmont-Hei" she said telepathically, which was verbally followed a moment later by "Greetings. I am Shoi Hayashi Akiko of the YSS Ayakashi, and this..." - a pause as she gestured towards the man who was still performing the extraordinarily lewd act of hand-holding "- is Ittô Hei Mikodimus Belmont, also of the YSS Ayakashi. Please refrain from terminating the severely-injured Mishhu - whose name is Kohkrolisfu - as she has indicated that she wishes to defect to the Star Army."

There was a pause as two of the helmeted figures looked at each other. Then they shot all three of them.

Lizalopod · Feb 22, 2024

Color Key:
"Speech by Kohkrolisfu"
"Speech by Akiko Hayashi"
"Speech by Mikodimus Belmont"
"Speech by William Fletcher I"
"Speech by Alexandra"
"Speech by Tsumura Hatsue"

Hotaru Star Fortress
YE 45.8.22
???

Miko awoke from the heavy stun to find himself with a massive headache, dressed in a pink prisoner's uniform, and handcuffed to a table. The room was small and made of metal. In front of him was a severe looking Yamataian woman in a Chujo's uniform. "Mister Belmont, the good news is that if this interview goes poorly, you will merely be shot and we will awaken your backup rather than formally charging you with a variety of crimes. Why don't you tell me what happened?" She asked

"I guess failure has turned into a crime now." He said in a calm voice. "We were attacked by Mishhu and crash landed. We lived and now I am here talking with you." He leaned back against the chair. "I''d stand and give you a hug for saving me but I am a little tied up at the moment." He said as he tugged at his chains that bond him to the desk.

Alexandra nodded, "You seem to have left out the part where you gave aid and comfort to the enemy."

Miko lifted one eyebrow. "I know me and Akiko have our differences but would be a reach to call us enemies." A grin then crossed his face. "Though before being lit up by star army finest I recall holding her hand so even if I live, it might be short." He then chuckled to himself knowing just how true this was.

She slid an image of Kohkrolisfu's injured body in a medbay. "Perhaps this will spur your memory?" She asked.

"Yeah, that is Koko. Helped make the beacon that summoned you." He leaned forward to get a closer look. "Poor girl, got real beat up I must say. You are treating her well I take it." He turned his head slightly and looked towards Alexandra. His eyes told the story of just how comfortable he felt in this current situation.

"She is in critical care, I don't have any information beyond that. I want to know what you do about what led Shoi Hayashi vouching for Koko." She asked.

"She didn't eat us and instead helped. Oddest thing Ive ever seen but you can't argue with the results." He then once more tugged at his chains. "Is this really necessary?" He asked his captor.

"Why should I think you haven't been compromised?" She asked.

"I'm a Belmont. Think someone compromised would have been naked in an apron making breakfast? I promise I am of sound mind."

"Running around naked in an apron is sound mind?"

Miko raised one finger about to protest, then decided against it. "Hindsight, I was caught with my pants down when the Mishhu attacked, ya got me there." He then let out a small laugh. "I am sure your checking my responses against records. So, did I get a passing grade? I am sure you are hungry after saving us and I'd like to treat you to a meal."

"So far, I'd describe you as insane. But that moniker applies just as well to your whole clan." The shackles unlocked. "Fine, there is a uniform for you to wear in the box. You're free to go anywhere on the station. The Taisho wants to keep you around until this mess you managed to stumble into is resolved."

Miko rubbed at his wrists. "I'll take that as a compliment." He stood and took ththe uniform from the box. "Can I go see Koko? I do owe them a thank you." Without wasting time he changed into the uniform.

Hotaru Star Fortress
YE 45.8.22
???

Akiko also awoke in a small interrogation cell and clothed in pink prisoner's robes. Across from her was a purple haired Neko that she recognized as being pretty far up her chain of command, Chujo Tsumura Hatsue, the head of intelligence for the seventh fleet. The Chujo sat back and cocked an eyebrow, "So, how did we get here?" She asked.

Akiko set about regaling her superior with a lengthy - yet condensed when possible; her full, probably-novel-length AAR would contain all of the omitted details - tale about what exactly had occurred on Dolgis V, taking care to note that her recollection could have possibly been compromised and that she only spared Kohkrolisfu’s life due to her extraordinarily atypical behavior and knowledge of Mishhuvurthyar technology, the latter being something the SAINT operative believed the Star Army was in desperate need of.

"That could be construed as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Why should I think your not compromised?" Tsumura asked.

"Because the scans and associated analysis of my Soul and memories have already indicated that I remain uncompromised, else I would be in chains, you would have sent someone of lesser importance to interview me, and I would have certainly not been allowed to remain in an Eihei body," calmly replied the blue-haired spook. "As for aiding and abetting the enemy, should my actions be deemed as such I will accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate, as I stand by my belief that the decision I made was in Yamatai's best interests given what information I have access to regarding the Star Army's strategic position and outlook."

"Do you think her offer to defect is genuine?"

After thinking for several moments, Akiko replied "Yes, given that the alternative entails wasting an entire ship - and its crew - on a venture that would have little chance of success, given that the standard procedure with defectors is to thoroughly analyze their Souls for even the slightest signs of malicious intent; furthermore, upon mental review the Mishhuvurthyar captain seemed quite intent on killing the defector due to the amount of firepower he employed to such ends. Had his assault been meant to deceive, it would have employed much less firepower - likely one or two Impalers - or possibly not have been made in the first place, as the Advanced-Type could have easily 'played dead' after receiving a twenty-millimeter gauss round to the center torso."

Tsumura nodded thoughtfully, "You've given me your analysis, what do you think our next steps should be?"

"Set up long-term and very discreet surveillance, then give it access to supposedly classified technology and information - that is, of course, fraudulent - to see if it breaks character and reveals any information to the Mishhuvurthyar. I personally doubt that it will, but procedure - and the saying 'better safe than sorry' - demand otherwise," said Akiko.

She tapped her tablet and the manicle fell away. "Very well then, you are free to go. There is a box with a new uniform for you behind you. The situation is fluid enough that the Taisho wants to keep you around Hotaru until this situation is resolved one way or another."

"Acknowledged, and thank you, Tsumura-Chujo," replied the Eihei with a well-practiced salute; after a moment, she stood up and left the room - both to change into a proper uniform, and to see how Kohkrolisfu was doing.

??? - ???
YE ??
???

Kohkrolisfu couldnt feel anything. She panicked, frantically trying to look around as she turned and tumbled in nothingness. Where was she? ...Why did she feel so small?... The Mishhuvurthyar realized something odd... She seemed to be better, at least she felt better... her 10 tentacles were completely healed... wait- yes, 10 tentacles! She had somehow gotten her other 5 back..?

A sound interrupted her train of thought as she kept rolling around in nothing... a crackling from above, followed by a muffled.. yell perhaps? The Mishhuvurthyar slowly floated upwards as light began to pur down from the dark sky, as a crack slowly developed... until she was free. She looked around, feeling oddly small... Kohkrolisfu was back in her old quarters aboard the XSS Zxuwhyrqx. A small reflection off of the unusually bloodied ground left her shocked, as she realized she looked like a newborn mishhuvurthyar... wait. It finally hit her, she recognized the room, and the rather large Advanced Type Mishhuvurthyar watching... with several other newborns emerging from bloodied corpses lying motionless on the ground. She paused, the rather young mishhuvurthyar turning to stare at where she had just emerged from... A battered and bloodied captive Nekovalkrja, with a pretty standard appearance. Blood caked jet black hair, a fairly pale skin tone... brown eyes... What seemed like radiation burns lined the neko’s pale skin, having been quite unfortunate in combat.. Thoughts began to flood her mind. Why was she reliving her first memory...? Why was she back on an already destroyed ship? Why did she feel... overwhelmed... The newborn Koko noticed the neko staring back at her from the ground... She began to wonder who this neko was. Had they been as nice as Mikodimus? or a cold bitch like Akiko..? Were they one of those evil Yamataians she was indoctrinated on as a child... or could they have been wrong? As she thought, she seemed to float forwards to the neko.. fading away.

And waking back up. In horrible pain. She tried to scream but she couldn't. She felt extremely weird- her limbs had been reduced down to 4... The Mishhuvurthyar looked down at her body and was perpetually horrified, she was a neko, a heavily injured and beaten up neko at that... and she had a bloodied hole through her body. Everything was crying out in pain, but she was distracted.. by herself. Peering right back at her gaze was Kohkrolisfu the newborn Mishhuvurthyar, a curious look in the younglings eyes. She weakly reached for herself, the neko’s arm barely lifting off of the ground. While the other Mishhuvurthyar hatchlings either slayed or attempted to enslave whatever other neko’s remained alive, the hatchling Koko simply watched as her host reached for her. It felt strange, as if she was experiencing both perspectives at once. A tentacle reached out back to the bloodied nekovalkrja, touching a finger gently. An involuntary smile curled into Nekovalkrja Koko's lips... but it would soon fade as her gaze met with that of the adult advanced type in the room, which furiously floated over. One of its massive tentacles slammed down into the nekos body, flattening it. Kohkrolissfu couldn't even scream as she experienced the nekos death, from boh perspectives. She floated motionless, her little newborn body covered in dead neko hemosynth...

…

Everything would snap away as the now NH-31 Minkan awoke from her strange slumber for the first time, trying to orient herself. Koko looked around rather confused, at what seemed to be some kind of odd medical facility she had never seen in her life, before focusing on her hands and legs... She actually was... what seemed to be a neko now?! And thus, the ex-Mishhuvurthyar reacted in the most mature and level headed way possible- by screaming out in horror telepathically.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Beside her bed sat a old Minikan man with dark brown skin. His hair was grey. However, his face was smooth without any wrinkles of age. However, a look into his brown eyes showed there was a deep age and weariness there. He wore a Star Army uniform without rank insignia. "Is everything ok?" He asked with a deep baritone voice.

Her head, no, her entire body turned to face the Minkan male, the newly awakened NH-31 beginning to float rather unstably. She yelled, eyes wide open- "What do you mean is everything okay?!? WHAT THE FUCK AM I-" She trailed off as her gaze traveled around the room, before focusing on the now dead Mishhuvurthyar corpse laying on an examination table. Koko's eyes only seemed to widen exponentially, letting out a terrified scream.

The Mishhuvurthyar's body was indeed an interesting specimen, even more so when it had been alive. Medical scans revealed interesting mutations in the Advanced-Type's body and genetic coding, ones likely caused by prolonged exposure to radioactivity at a young age. One could only theorize this to be the cause of the Mishhuvurthyars more... manageable behavior.

"Unfortunately, we weren’t able to save your old body, it was too badly injured. However, we were able to transfer you into a new Minikan one. I'm sorry if all this is coming as a shock to you." He said gently and quietly.

He handed her a mirror, "This is your new body, we can adjust a lot of the parameters such as Gender, skin, eye, and hair color. Facial shape, height, build. I want you to be comfortable in it because you will probably be spending long time in there."

Koko paused in her panicking as she stared at herself through the mirror. A pretty standard short hairdo, colored black, fairly standard cream colored skin, default brown eyes. Her expression only grew in terror the more she looked at herself. To anyone, she looked like a pretty standard Minkan which hadnt editted her appearance at all... To Koko- she looked exactly like the nekovalkrja she had been born from.

A strange feeling swelled up in her chest, she didn't understand what it was at all. She couldn't suppress it either, as her eyes welled up with tears. She let out a wail, fueled by confusion and fear, as she stared at herself.

He waited beside her, letting her feel whatever emotions she was feeling. His brown eyes held something that she had never seen on a Mishhuvurthyar, compassion for another being in pain. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but it is necessary for now." He said as reassuringly as he could.

For several hours, Koko would have been inconsolable in the medical bay, her emotions simply too much for the newly transferred Mishhuvurthyar to handle. Once she eventually calmed down, the Minkan was assigned a temporary, restricted cabin for her to rest in. It had nothing she could use to communicate with the outside, the only exception a highly monitored holotablet, which she could only use to view information...

Hotaru Star Fortress
YE 45.8.24
Temporary Quarters

It had been several days since the survivor trio had been rescued from Dolgis V. Kohkrolisfu remained confined to her temporary quarters, the newly minted Minkan was still learning how to function. She had the help of some Star Army doctors and psychologists. The grey haired man who had sat with her on her first day in this body stopped by about once a day to talk gently and help. So far she wasnt doing too badly! The ex-Mishhuvurthyar had figured out how to use her mouth to speak, and more importantly, eat. She was still figuring out the whole walking thing, but at the very least she could still rely on gravity manipulation to move around, like she did in her old form. Unfortunately, she had also had a... waste disposal related accident, but she figured out how to work those systems after a bit. The Ex-Mishhuvurthyar had been entertaining herself with the restricted holotablet she had been provided, delving into decades worth of yamataian history and information. So far Koko had discovered several news articles relating to some random.. 'Senate' thing, a couple of video game trailers, a ton of civilian engineering articles... and quite a lot of... questionable content. Who knew Yamataians were so... naughty- though given Mikodimus's nature, she shouldn't have been so surprised by what she found.

Currently, the Minkan floated above her bed, legs sticking up as she held the holotablet in her hands. She had a chopstick in her mouth, biting it continuously to alleviate stress. She scrolled down some news articles, before stopping at one outlining the newest information regarding the Mishhuvurthyar war... Curiosity killed the Mishhuvurthyar- and thus she dove into reading information regarding the war, from the Yamataians side this time. Her eyes widened as she read through the rather long list of atrocities and war crimes the Mishhuvurthyar had committed, not only against the Star Army of Yamatai, but against regular civilians who didn't want anything to do with the conflict...

"What the fuck have we been doing..." Koko mumbled to herself as she scrolled, resisting sympathetic tears that threatened to well into her eyes. She had been trying to get a lid on her newly expanded emotional range, but it was rather difficult. For a second, she thought it could have just been Yamataian propaganda, but that was quickly dispatched by thinking back at her own experiences on the NMX, the blatant mistreatment and killing of POWs, indiscriminate bombing, the list went on. Something inside of her insisted that it was unwarranted, all this time, she had been fighting a war that the other side didn't want to be fighting. The ex-Mishhuvurthyar shuddered, continuing to scroll article by article.

Taisho Fletcher stood outside the door. "I'll be reintroducing her to Miko and Akiko today. Tell them to expect me inside and to try not to give away who I am." He told Subaru, the Neko nodded and joined the two guards already at the door. Fletcher pressed the doorbell to alert Koko that he was there.

"..."
Koko fell onto the bed with an 'oof', attempting to scurry off of the bed and to the door. She didn't get very far, and fell onto the floor unceremoniously. The Minkan floated up with a groan of defeat, simply yelling out to the door as she rubbed her head. "Ow... COME IN". The room was a little messy, Mishhuvurthyar weren't exactly known for organization. The tablet had been left on the bed, mid war article.

Fletcher smiled at Koko as he entered the small but comfortable quarters. "Morning Koko, I see you've been reading. Learning anything interesting?" He asked.

"Crap.. is it …’morning’ already?" She scratched at her head as she continued to float. She hadn't really even gotten the hang of standing still, her balance was all off. Koko glanced at the tablet with a bit of a frown, before trying to push the conversation in a different direction. "I didn't know Yamataians liked watching videos of people getting dramatically injured in strange ways."

Fletcher took a seat and nodded, "There are a lot of ways to look at that. Typically, it's because it happens in a non-serious context where we know they aren't actually hurt badly. For example, people don't normally fall while walking and so it's incongruous which is funny to a lot of people. However, that same energy that is used for laughter gets turned into concern or panic if the person is genuinely hurt by the fall. What do you think about it?"

"I guess it is amusing to watch silly cats fail so terribly..." She snickered to herself, before remembering her previous flops. ".....You people better not be recording my falls and uploading them. That'd be so fucking embarrassing." She winced a little bit, biting down a bit on her lip unconsciously.

"You were learning to walk. There is no shame in failing at something you are learning and improving in. It's something we all do, all the time. What matters is our attitude and our actions. We can choose our attitude towards our failures, what sort of attitude towards failure do you think is the most productive?" He asked.

"Curse in frustration and try again has been working so far". The ex-Mishhuvurthyar lost her balance as she floated, and flipped upside down. She made an unamused face at her own oopsie, not even attempting to right her orientation. "...What are you people going to do with me?... Just keep me here forever? Not that I mind- I just thought I'd be put somewhere less nice or... executed..."

He shook his head, "I don't think that's the Taisho's style. If that was going to happen, then it would probably be coming from above him. I think he would much rather find a use for you after he's gotten all of the information he wanted. Something that you can put your heart and soul into."

"..." She closed her eyes with a tiny huff, self righting herself in the air. She slowly floated down onto the bed, sitting on it cross-legged. Koko looked up at the nameless (to her) man, tapping one of her feet idly. "They used to indoctrinate us on that the Star Army was pure evil and shit, that they'd just kill without remorse. I don't know what to think anymore.."

He looked like he was looking at something far away. "No, not without remorse."

She paused, glancing at the tablet. "What are we even working for? What the fuck do the Mishhuvurthyar hope to achieve with..." She picked up the tablet, chucking it closer to the Taisho. "...this"

Fletcher caught it and glanced at the article she was looking at. He gave it a few moments of thought before he answered. "That's a question the Taisho hopes you will help answer. Part of it is a genetic compulsion, part of it is just being particularly unsubtle about wanting to clear the universe of any competition, but that doesn't explain all of it. There is something deeply wrong beyond the cold calculus of conquest."

"...I never really received that much information on why, just cause we were “superior” or some shit… I was just a simple engineer grunt. I don't really know why, I just didn't particularly enjoy killing defenseless prey much- so the others branded me as a weakling and had me do... neko gruntwork. My mind has been much clearer now i suppose?.. honestly... it feels like I just-" She made a pop with her mouth, pointing at her head. "Unlocked half my brain-"

The doors opened to admit Akiko, now clad in a spotless (and black-paneled) Type 42 Duty Uniform. "Greetings, Kohkrolisfu," she said as she half-stepped and half-glided into the room - completely ignoring Fletcher while doing so. "How has adapting to your new body progressed?"

Koko stared at Akiko momentarily, as if processing her appearance into the room. The rather plain looking minkan suddenly exclaimed, her mouth morphing into a toothy grin. "WHAT THE FUCK YOURE STILL ALIVE!!" She tried to get over to her instinctively, but failed to float properly and smacked into the floor like a drunk fly.

The spook raised an eyebrow in what for her was "obvious_confusion.png" as she extended a hand to the fallen Minkan's form. "Why would I have perished? As an Eihei, heavy stun blasts are not lethal to me."

The Minkan instead slowly floated up, her face a little red after having slammed into the floor. She groaned, pushing some hair off of her face. "I dunno, they wouldnt tell me anythin about what happened to you two..."

Mikodimus popped out from behind Akiko. He looked over Koko slowly. Like a file download over dial up it clicked what he was looking at. "Oh my gawd, look at you. Your inner Minkan is just awesome. Who knew that Mishhu would take the hot dial and crank it over 11." He shouted in excitement. He was now walking around Koko checking her out. It was as if he had never seen another Minkan before.

Akiko facepalmed. Hard. "Behave yourself, Belmont-Hei," she said as she let her emerald-hued eyes roll upwards in their sockets towards the ceiling. "You're quite likely scaring her, and..."

"..."

It only took a second for the Minkans fist to be against Miko's skull, hitting him hard over the head. Koko turned red, fuming. Seems like she had read enough about.... dirty Yamataian tendencies in her free time. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE"

"...when scared, a person will frequently resort to violence," finished the SAINTly Neko with a shake of the head.

Miko took the shot to the head like a champ. He did a full two flips before landing on all fours like a cat. When he landed he was blushing and grinning ear to ear. "Haaa, I knew it. I see some blush!" Miko was beside himself with his new friend. "Oh gosh, just wait till we go shopping. It will be so much fun." He had gotten back on his feet and was still grinning.

"Eh?" She stared at him momentarily, before shaking the thought away and looking back at Akiko. "How do you stand him?" Koko grumbled, floating back up cross legged. "He's annoying as fuck"

"By ignoring him," replied the spook, "and by knowing that I can terminate him at any time I so desire."

It was unclear as to whether Akiko was joking or not.

"....Damn" She stared at her for a moment, eyes going a little wide. She then floated back to the bed and sat back down, smiling unintentionally. She particularly didn't want to admit it with Miko in the room, fearing what the Minkan would say, but she was glad to see them again...

Miko pointed at Koko like a hunting dog. "She smiled, ahh, I am smitten." He said as he fell to the ground. "Akiko, you missed your chance to take me out. Avenge me..." He reached his hand into the air before letting it drop.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YA OVERGROWN BAG OF MEAT" Koko yelled as she growled at Miko. Her smile almost immediately disappeared and was replaced with a frustrated scowl.

"No, I don't think I will," replied the blue-haired Eihei in a fashion akin to a certain continental captain.

Miko leaned up like a zombie raised from the grave. "You wound me so." Miko then looked up to the man in charge. "So can Koko join and be my battle buddy?" He was still grinning like a fool.

"...IM NOT GUNNA BE YOUR BATTLE BUDDY- SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Barked the enraged and a bit flustered Minkan from the bed. She threw a pillow at miko, hitting him on the back of his head harmlessly. Koko sure was a feisty one, thanks to what remained of her Mishhuvurthyar personality.

Fletcher looked at the pillow. "That's still being decided over my paygrade. On the other hand, I think the pillow speaks for itself."

"DAMN RIGHT!"

"Indeed," added Akiko.

"Boo, but I see these things take time." Miko leaned down and picked up the pillow. "In the meantime, we can have a pillow fight!" As soon as he finished he swatted at Koko.

Koko's eyes had trailed back down to the holotablet sitting on the bed, which still had a war article loaded on it, with several pictures of attacking Mishhuvurthyar ravaging someplace. She was cut off by Miko's attack, yelping as she flopped onto the bed. The Minkan growled at him, yeeting another pillow from the bed his way. "STOP THAT"

The room's sole Nekovalkyrja looked at Fletcher. "How do you..." - a pause as her arm flashed out to catch an errant pillow - "...put up with these children?"

Fletcher laughed in amusement, watching the exchange. He turned over the batted down pillow in his hands. "You can't take yourself seriously all of the time. Laughter is good medicine. Play is learning. It also builds the social fabric. And well, sometimes it's just fun to launch a pillow at someone's face." He said, suddenly launching the pillow at Miko.

"...I see," replied the black-paneled spook, who - with what could've been the faintest smile in the history of the Star Army - sent the pillow in her hands streaking towards Miko. Unlike Fletcher, however, she used nearly all of her strength (and a healthy amount of inertial manipulation) to throw the pillow - thus giving it enough speed and force to transform it into something akin to a lethal weapon.

Miko smiled as his face was buried in two pillows. The soft and fluffy pillow of Koko and the rage filled pillow of Akiko. The perfect ying and yang, a balance like none other. His mind quickly snapped back into reality as he was blasted against the wall. Like a good Saint, Akiko showed that even a pillow can be deadly. Only matched by a pencil. As he blacked out he still had a smile on his face. Looking forward to the next adventure.

"...Dramatic" Koko rolled her eyes, watching Mikodimus's felled body on the ground. She picked up the holotablet again with a heavy sigh, her tone perhaps shifting slightly as she slid her finger on its screen, going further into the article. "...I was not aware of the...extent of the damage caused by...y'know"

"Indeed," said Akiko, "and that is merely the information that has been made available to the public."

Kohkrolisfu shivered a little as she listened to Akiko's comment, looking up at the blue haired operative. "...But like- why?! I don't..." She cut herself off as she stared at the pictures on the articles she was scrolling through, quite gruesome pictures. "And I was complicit... if only I had known..." She grunted, a little shadow covering her facial expression as she looked away from the Yamataians in the room.

Fletcher nodded, his deep voice was compassionate. "We can't change the past, but we can change the future."

Kokoro remained silent as she stared at the screen. Her gaze began to sharpen as she thought, gritting her teeth for just a moment as she began to idly shake her foot. The ex-Mishhuvurthyar finally swiped the article away and put the tablet down next to her, staring at the floor. "I..." She faltered at first, before grunting and trying to get on her feet, facing Akiko. For the first time she was (mostly) able to retain balance on her feet, speaking with a bit more determination surging in her voice. "I want to join the Star Army and help against the NMX... it's the least I could do... Maybe I could leverage my knowledge on the Mishhuvurthyar??". The Minkan grumbled, squeezing her fists shut.

Though she'd had an inkling it was coming, the declaration nevertheless suprised Akiko, who looked at Fletcher quickly; he, unlike her, didn't seem suprised at all by Koko's announcement.

Fletcher nodded, "I can't promise that you can join the Star Army, but we will work on it."

"...Yeah" She nodded, before blinking and looking back at Fletcher. She tilted her head, a bit confused and curious. "...Wait, I thought you were like.. a doctor or something? Whaddayamean 'We'?"

Fletcher let out a breath, "You are very smart, I was planning on telling you after some final decisions had been made. When I say we, I mean the Empress, Yui, and the Taisho."

"Are you implying you're like- one of three or something?" She raised an eyebrow, thinking she was simply being messed with, sitting back down on the bed and crossing her arms...

"I am Taisho Fletcher. I lead the Seventh Fleet and only answer to the Mistress Taisho and the Empress as to the appropriate necessity of my actions. However, what exactly to do with you is a question that could impact the Empire as a whole and if you are allowed to join you likely won't be in my fleet." Fletcher explained.

"..." Kokoro blinked as she was about to accuse Fletcher of joking around, before realising he was actually serious...

"EEEEEHHHHH?!?!?!? WHAAAAAT???"

Fletcher’s rank appeared volumetrically on his uniform. "Surely you knew that defecting would gain attention from the highest Echelons of the Empire."

"Err- well… thought so but WHAT THE HECK I THOUGHT YOU WERE A DOCTOR OR SOMETHING?!?!" She scooted back in the bed, alarmed. It took her a bit to calm down... "I was expecting like... a really stone cold neko or something-"

"Such as myself?" said the pale-skinned spook with a very, very, very slight trace of amusement in her voice.

"...Uh.... Yeah pretty much!" She motioned towards Akiko, her eyes still as wide as dinner plates.

"There are plenty of Taisho that are, Irim comes to mind. However, anyone can become a Taisho with enough time, effort, and devotion to the Empire. What you have to understand is that with the completion of the Senti Soul Transfer project, everyone in the Empire is immortal if they choose. We can still be killed with enough effort, but we are not limited to the lifetime of a single body. However, with a few exceptions, we are all very young immortals. I think there are many who don't understand this yet. We must ask ourselves who and what we will be a century from now, a millennia from now, perhaps even a million years from now. I choose to plant seeds that may not bloom for a long time. I hid that part of I was because I wanted you to know me without the rank and the deadly threat that comes with it first. So that I could listen to you without it between us." Fletcher explained.

He took a breath, "I suspect that you can be the seed of something more, something greater than you are right now. I don't know what shape that flower will bloom into or when, but I feel as though I must give it a chance. It's why I'm advocating for you to the Mistress Taisho and the Empress."

Her expression slowly fell away into neutrality as she listened to Fletcher speak, the Mishhuvurthyar making a small 'ah' as he explained his motive behind hiding his rank. It was probably for the best, she might have ended up flipping out in panic or something- she was still having a hard time keeping a lid on her newly expanded emotional range. "...Thank you.. err- sir!". The minkan attempted to mimic one of the salutes she had seen during her browsing. It was far from perfect... but it was the thought that counted! "...I don't... deserve this chance given my past... but if you guys take a chance on me... I'll do as best as I possibly can!" She nearly yelled, some small tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

The SAINT operative, though silent, nodded in approval. All was proceeding according to keikaku.

"Good, and I can promise you that you will be given a chance, inside or out of the Army." Fletcher said.

The Ex-Mishhuvurthyar dropped the 'salute', a nervous smile flashing through her lips as she slumped back onto the bed. Kohkrolisfu didn't know what the future held for her, but she knew couldn't simply stay back and do nothing. The Star Army wasn't what she had previously though, instead of being terminated, she had been given a new home, and treated with much more care and respect than she had ever experienced in her short life. She was determined now, she had to return the favor and give something in return...

To be continued...