FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Leather on leather, that distinct yet vaguely undefinable sound, not quite a squeak, not quite a scrunch. Over and over as Rose gripped tightly and loosened her grip on the control column handles of this new mobile suit.

"Are you sure about this? I barely finished training?"

Rose asked, looking out the open cockpit door at her commander; who sat on a wheelchair merely a few feet away on the boarding walkway. Bandages and casts covered the entire left side of his face, and the stumps of his missing left arm and leg. Imagining the visceral wounds beneath them only made Rose shake even more in fear. How the lieutenant survived was truly a mystery and a miracle. But it didn't make Rose any more confident; worsening every second as she felt the brand new parts that were built into this machine's left side of the cockpit, compared to the old, used, and worn right side. A heavy gulp of saliva struggled down her throat, during the preliminary launch checklist.

"Of course! The federation is trying to break our line as we speak! Zeon needs you more than ever lass! Besides, there's no one I'd rather take my Gouf than you!" The commanding officer cheered boastfully. Waving his remaining arm to his newest, former, squad-mate.

Rose frowned a bit, she knew he was only saying that out of some effort to give her confidence. It didn't work. She was never his favorite cadet, nor was she the best preforming. The only reason she was in this Gouf was because the rest of the squad had already been shipped out in leftover mobile suits before the lieutenant was shot down. She had this especially personalized machine purely by virtue of being the last one to ship out, and thus being here when it was fully repaired.

Secretly, she wished he would just be honest. This fake enthusiasm felt like a show of the officer's pure lack of actual faith in her abilities. It somehow made her even more nervous, made her feel like her and this Gouf would just see a repeat of it's doomed last mission.

Still, she continued her way down the checklist. Reactor core, full power, finger vulcans, fully loaded. All limbs fully operation. This whole process, she had done a thousand times in the training Zaku. It was almost identical in this machine, and yet somehow it all seemed so foreign. Every light, every switch, no matter how similar, the most minute changes in size or location, made it all seem as if it was an entirely different language.

"It's just your nerves." She whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Seizing a moment to clear her mind, to concentrate on something, anything, that wasn't her gripping fear of stepping foot into battle.

The chair, yes. The Gouf's chair. Freshly replaced, nice and soft, unused, comfortable. So much nicer than the training Zaku's old ripped up leather used by a hundred cadets.

With the calmness that came from the focus on this chair, as silly as it was, closed eyes made this foreign cockpit familiar, through muscle memory. Flicking the array of switches on, and listening to the distinct sounds of the machine's green lights. Rose kept her eyes locked shut, until she heard the engineer's voice yell from the deck below that she had the all clear.

"Hangar doors ready to open, MS-07B custom ready for engagement. "

"Give those feddies hell for what they did to me lass" The lieutenant followed after.

One more long and slow, deep breath escaped Rose's mouth, before she threw the thumbs up. Her cockpit sealing tight, her suit spewing forth its exhaust. The launchers her legs were locked onto stared their count down, as the door opened, mechanics and walkways retreated. Using this moment, she grabbed the marksman variation of the 120MG off the wall. The same one her training officer used. It worked well with the custom modifications the lieutenant had made to this suit, in regards to the finger vulcans being more dexterous for rifle usage than a standard model.

Launched out in full speed almost immediately after locking in the rifle's hardpoint, Rose saw that the battle was waging, the instant she fell into hot desert sands, federation GM's machine guns, and Zaku bazooka were blasting in every direction. Everywhere, projectiles, bullets, mobile suits of both sides erupting like bombs into the sandstorms that were whipped up by the mobile suit thrusters spraying into the dunes below. Gods above it was nothing like the simulations.

Rose's eyes slowly opened, though barely more than a squint. "This one has turned out nicely."

The voice was strange, not one she recognized, and it was so loud. Why was it so loud.. why was she so tired.

"Remind me why we use Zeon pilots?"

"Because, you idiot, we can't spare the soldiers."

A second voice. Still one she didn't recognize. Or maybe it was just that every word made her head throb, god, could they be just a little quieter, and, maybe turn on the air conditioning. She felt like she was melting in a pool of sweat. So hot.

"Put her in cell 17"

Cell? Rose thought. But only for a moment, till the smell brought a retching to her gut. Ready to vomit from this smell. It was like a hospital, but so, so, much worse. Piss, blood, sterile soap, chalky medicines, god it was overwhelming. She could barely struggle to resist vomiting.

"She's waking up. Give her another shot." Rose's eyes opened wider, looking up at the two doctors that loomed above her. One male, one female.

"Wha-" she started to ask, only to wince with a needle jabbing into her arm, putting her back out, almost the instant. Woozily falling back onto the hospital bed.

Rose opened her eyes again. Slow, heavy blinks, allowed the somehow, sterile, lights find their way in. Perfectly uniform in its brightness, unwavering not too bright, not too dark, somewhat yellowed. It felt so manufactured, somehow even more fake than any other light bulb.

"New pilot type? Lucky you."

This was a third voice, and still so damn loud. Rose groaned out, reaching her hands up to cover her ears. They were soft, delicate, long. Long? Confusion ran through her mind as she shot up in bed. Hands tracing down her abnormally long ears, and fuzzy. Quickly, with only heavy breaths like that of someone who felt something wrong in the dark, she looked around the cell. What was this thing blocking half her view. Her nose? It was huge! Only from the corner of her eye did she spot a metal sink. There was no mirror above it, but she could look at herself in the twisted reflection of the curved stainless steel.

Who was it? What was it? The reflection, it was an animal? She saw tan colored fur, a long, doggish muzzle, the ears of a lop rabbit. This wasn't her. Where was her skin? Was this a trick? What happened to her Gouf? Rose's heart raced a hundred miles an hour, pounding out of her chest. She could practically feel it trying to break through her sternum.

"What, not even gonna say hello?"

Still in a heavy panic, enough fear coursing through her, to have more pressing concerns than how loud this person was. Turning sharply, with an adrenal rush making every new stimuli she took in, feel as if the world was in slow motion.

"is that a panda?" Her mind asked itself, as she saw the cell across the hallway from hers, and a short, lithe, female, red panda that hung over the horizontal bar used for the food trays.

"You get used to it. The world being so loud. The smells being stronger, all of it. At least I did, but uh, judging by those giant ears of yours, you're part rabbit. So its probably even louder for you than it was me." The red panda added to her comments, the second half of her diatribe was, thankfully, whispered.

Euck, the panda was right. The overwhelming exertion of her headache from the volume and the drugs, then the shock of whatever she saw in the trick house mirror of the sink, she didn't even realize how this place smelled. It reminded her of a zoo, the smell of animals and shit. But, it was so much more, distinct? Instead of all of it melding together, somehow she could target every smell, a horse, a cow, dogs, the panda, even herself. Every odor was so much more powerful. Truth be told, she couldn't even recall how she knew what smell belonged to what, since they all smelled the same before.

"What's happening?" Rose asked in a sharp panic, to this panda who was the only 'person' that she had seen. One hand still covering a single ear, the other hand now pinching her nose. Shocked at first at its wet, bumpy texture, but having more pressing concerns for now.

The panda shrugged. "Federation scientists turned us into animal people."

Rose couldn't muster any response but to blink. Unmoving, locked in place by those words, and the rather nonchalant way she was told them.

".. why?"

"Something about, needing a super weapon to fight back with, or some shit. They don't really tell us much."

The cheap, prison, bed's springs creaked as Rose fell onto it. Sitting, leaning over, in a moment of shock. Her hands moving up and down her body, feeling all of her new features, a shaky, confused, hand taking it all in. "What am I? I have, rabbit ears, a muzzle, antlers, A TAIL?!" The last part of her speech loud enough to echo down the hallway, whilst her hands let go of the soft, velvety antlers that sprouted from her head, to the giant, furry, appendage. Burying her face into the excessive amount of fluff. It reminded her of a dog's long wagging tail, but with the excessive fur of a cotton tail rabbit, or even a chinchilla.

"Lucky us. Not everyone gets one." The red panda murmured. Chuckling quietly and wiggling her tush to get her own fluffy appendage within cuddling distance of her own face.

Rose hardly acknowledged their new compatriots comment, just letting out a continued scream, till the oxygen in her lungs was out. Forced to come to terms that she had her DNA twisted like a ball of yarn in the hands of a kitten. Against her will, and by federation scientists no less. Somehow, her body was being used to further some science club experiment, by the very same government she piloted to fight against hours ago. Hours? How long had she been out. Hours? Days? Weeks? How long did it take them to turn her into this, half human, half animal. How did she get here?

"The last thing I remember. I was still in my Gouf. How did I get here?"

The panda whistled. "A Gouf, huh? You musta been someone special."

"H..hardly. I just got lucky. I, was one of the last pilots on base. All the suits were already used. I just, was the only one there when the lieutenant's Gouf finished repair from a previous battle." Rose still held onto her tail. Starting to relax enough, that she could take a few, slow, deep breaths. Both of her hands stroking her tails long fur.

"Soft..." she muttered quietly. She took this to focus on. Just as she focused on the soft seat before, she had this soft fur, soft tail, to occupy thoughts. So occupied in this moment, almost meditatively so, she hardly even noticed as a loud yell from down the prison hallway belted out a "DROP DEAD, FEDDY!" It meant nothing to her, just another sweet nothing between warring soldiers. What did catch her eye however, was her panda friend ducking back into the dimly lit half of her cell. At least paying enough to take her face out of her tail. Looking over at the panda with a tilted head.

Watching the red panda repeatedly wave their hand and point down. Not fully piecing together what they were implying; until two federation soldiers and a scientist stopped in front of Rose's cell.

"Oh. That's what she meant." Rose murmured. Feeling rather dumb for not picking up on the "get down" she was being motioned, and even the strangeness of yelling a insult with the word 'drop' in it at such a full volume. Even the new smell of three unique bodies had escaped her attention. "This tail is dangerous." She thought to herself.

"Rose Luck, former Zeon pilot, cadet rank. Rabbit DNA added for heightened hearing and reflexes. Wolf for pack mentality and intense sense of smell. Deer antlers to increase blood flow to the head region during G force, chinchilla fur to prevent parasites. " The scientist read off these, changes, done to her, as if they weren't life defining, as if they didn't change every detail about her entire body.

"Nothing carnivorous but the wolf." The first of the two guards said. Tapping his baton against his palm. "Arms up, hands against the wall.

The second guard nodded. "We can take a wolf." Unlocking the gate, as he watched the celled hybrid do as she was ordered.

A nervous gulp went down Rose's throat, as she waited, hands against the wall as ordered. Outnumbered three-to-one, it didn't seem like a very good idea to disobey. Still, she looked back over her shoulders, watching the three people, as they opened her cell door and approached. As bad as she wanted answers, Rose stood there, allowing the first guard to take her arms and hold them behind her back. Trying to ignore the fear, that came with this, came with the unknown, and the overpowering; until her newly powerful senses, picked up something new. The sound of a switch flicking on; and smell of heat, of burning metal. Her head jolted over to look over the opposite shoulder, where she spotted a branding iron in the scientists hand. Shaped as the federation logo.

The second guard took her other arm, to reinforce the grip that pressed Rose against the wall, to cease her struggles. Rose's eyes sparked wide open as the entire world faded away except for the encroaching heat. Waves of that sweltering, shaped, ingot.

Time felt like it was in slow motion. Rose had felt adrenaline course through her veins before, but this was new. This was different. For the first time, she felt like prey. She understood the way a wild cottontail would freeze and watch as a human just casually passed by. Even without a direct threat, that instinct of a prey animal. But she was truly in danger now, only making that sensation so much more vivid. Her nose was twitching. It filled her lungs with oxygen, and let her focus.

Focus, and this prey instinct, all enhanced further by the natural human adrenaline. She jerked her head back, bashing her antlers into the face of the guard that held her left arm. Turning, pressing her back to the second guard's shoulder. Grabbing the electric branding iron just above the lab coat's hand, safely protecting her grasp. Newfound strength in the force of her enhanced legs; they had the shape of a dog, but the strength of a rabbit. Hand on the branding iron, Rose threw herself back with her full strength to push the second guard into her nearby bed. The foldout metal frame crushing into the guards hip with a loud crack. This motion also pulled the branding iron out of her unsuspecting opponent's grasp.

Shocked at the flexibility of her new body, and shocked more so at her ability to control it so fluidly in this moment, one of her legs slid under herself, bracing the opposite of the soldier pressed into the bed. Using both to jump herself upright, before the first guard had fully reacted from his face full of antler. Jamming his neck with the melting iron. Burning his loyalty into his own flesh.

Rose only pulled the iron away, letting the guard to drop, alongside the other who still writhed, broken hip in hand; after hearing the scientist speak.

"Where are you planning on going?! If you escaped, your own Zeon scientists would dissect you alive for our research!"

The brashness of the statement of this female doctor cowering against a corner in a cell of her own prisoner, sent a pause to Rose's adrenaline.

But, she was probably right. What would she even do if she escaped. There would be no rescue. That's even assuming that a hundred armed soldiers didn't gun her down the instant she left this cell. Even then, she was righter still about the surgery. If Zeon would commit acts as harsh as Operation British, killing billions just to destroy Jaburo, what would the life of an individual soldier mean, beyond a research specimen same as here.

"You're a damn animal, you'll never fit in, in society again! Just, try and escape! You'll be seen and reported to federation police by every human that ever sees you again!"

The cocksure attitude of this woman, who could be branded or broken like her comrades, somehow, appealed to Rose's every single fear.

Rose had no clue where this base was. What side it was on, if it was on earth, or possibly it was just a shitty asteroid without a soul on it, beyond these walls. No friends to call for help, no home to go back to, no way to integrate and live in society. This crushing reality made her heart sink like a brick. She dropped down the branding iron, and looked outside her open cage. Looked to the red panda, who was her only friend. That is, assuming one could call a stranger who's name you didn't even know, a friend.

"You're right. "

Rose murmured. "I don't have anywhere to go."

As she let this out of her muzzle, barely more than a whisper, the quivering scientist took back to her feet. Standing upright, albeit slowly. Still a coward underneath her strong words. They were probably rehearsed, Rose thought, said to everyone here who tried to escape. Surely she wasn't the first.

"But maybe they do." Rose finished. Much to the confusion of the woman who had only just left her safe space in the corner, where nothing could've snuck up behind them. An animal instinct in its own right, not so different from Rose's. Leaning down to grab the keycard from the guard, who had entirely stopped moving by now. Likely having choked on his own crushed and cooked windpipe. Rose stepped her way past the woman in white, into the open hallway, she offered the card to the reader of her "friend"'s cell. All the while Peach seemed to shake her head and wave her arms the entire time Rose tried. But it was information processed too late. Instead of an opened iron bar, all this swipe brought, was a dimming of lights to red; with the hellishly loud sound of a siren. Turning sharply back to see the door of her own cage slam shut tightly, and the shit eating grin of a test tube jockey safely protected behind it.

"Every keycard has fingerprint encryption on it. If an unregistered user attempts to use the key, it doesn't work. Yours, and every other animals, have been registered to set off the alarm instead."

A frown spread across Rose's newly shaped muzzle. In hindsight, it did seem a bit too easy. Was she actually that strong now? Or was that all an elaborate game these feddy lab coats set up, to use her as an example, should anyone else attempt escaping.

The pain of the sirens intense volume in her lapine ears, seemed equally effective against the other innocents behind bars. But it paled to the pain of being made such a fool, for the game of chess played by those who cared to little for human life... So she sat down, and waited, for the inevitability of the armed guards to return order to this block.

"Damn, didn't know rabbits could fight like that; and it looks like they didn't either." The red panda chuckled softly. "But you know they aren't gonna let that go unpunished, right?"

The defeated cloud of rain that hung over Rose's head grew darker at the realization. She just killed a guard, and injured another. Gulping in fear as she envisioned the firing squad coming for her.

It was about that time, that a dozen armed soldiers burst through the doors on both sides of the cell block. Each one dressed in full combat gear, rifles drawn and ready. Each one working in full team coordination; approaching with deliberate squad movements.

Rose clenched her eyes tight. Waiting for imminent execution; only to be forcefully grabbed by several of the goons at once. Hard gun barrels jammed against her head and into her guts, as more fingers than she could count dug into her soft skin. This was the hardest she could ever remember being manhandled.

She couldn't move an inch even if she tried; as a couple other guards proceeded to safely escort the scientist away, and the injured guard out. Immediately after, forcefully tossing Rose into the cell, throwing her down onto her face in the hard concrete flooring, mere inches away from the guard she'd managed to kill.

"Don't move. Let them do their thing." Rose thought silently. Looking at the corpse. She wondered if they were just going to leave him here to rot for part of her punishment, as the gate was slammed shut and alarm was eventually turned off, without them coming to get the body. Since they, for now, let her live it seems.

"Thank god." She continued her thought. Her ears were pounding from the alarm being on for so long. The silence was pure bliss. Well; comparative silence. The soldiers outside were still talking. Mostly in code and half conversations over the radio. But Rose didn't care. She just took some time to breathe, and let her ears relax. Still remaining placed on the floor, for her own safety.

"Don't move, animal. Well be removing the body soon. We aren't afraid to shoot if you disobey."

Rose heard the mook's order, but she really didn't bother to care. Not moving until the guns of a few itchy fingered feddies weren't trained on her back was already her plan.

Patience. Patience. It was the only virtue that mattered in war, and that made for double as a prisoner. But eventually the soldier's promise was made. The cage opened a second time, removing the corpse, before locking her in again.

"Situation clear. Withdraw."

Still Rose waited; until after a few more moments of footsteps and door hinge sounds, Rose was pulled from her self preserving coma, by Peach's voice.

"The branding iron scared you that much?"

Rose slowly leaned up from the floor, before climbing onto the bed next to her. "Uh, no. I, uh. I didn't want them to ruin my fur."

Peach just blinked a few times then laughed heartily. "Your fur?"

A soft nod returned the question. "If, if I have to get used to living life like this.. I, want to keep my fur nice. It's soft, and relaxing."

Peach just laughed even harder.

Rose shrugged softly. "Yea. S'pose you're right. My names Rose, uh, Rose Luck. how about yours? "

"Peach Sweet."

Rose grinned softly. Yea, that was a strange reason to want to protect herself, in hindsight. A need to protect the changes that just earlier this morning had her screaming in terror. How fickle we humans are. Human. Was she a human anymore? She supposed it didn't matter. This was who she was now.

"So, I don't recall pandas having a markings like that." Rose asked, as she let her eyes wander up and down the frame of the person she had been talking to, but had seldom the free moment to actually take in their details. She looked mostly akin to her feral counterparts, except her colors were unnaturally bright red and white; with a heart on her hip and black markings on her hands and feet that strikingly resembled arm warmers and stockings.

Peach was, rather short, and a skinny thing. Couldn't have been any taller than five foot five or so; maybe just a tiny bit taller. But it was hard to tell with so little frame of reference in these cells. She looked anything but some kind of, genetically augmented soldier. So soft looking, so fluffy looking. Not to mention her rather audacious curves. But, in hindsight, panda's, red ones especially, in nature are rather soft and cuddly looking. Human features aside, and her unique coloration, she did have most of the features of a panda. Most, anyways. It was rather cute.

In response to the question, Peach slowed down her giggles, and turned her eyes up to her own bangs. Blowing a bit of air to it, letting her hair flutter a bit. "The scientists let us dye our hair and fur if we behave during tests. "

Now it was Rose's turn to laugh. "If we willingly and readily sacrifice ourselves as test subjects.. we get pretty blue hair." As Rose laughed, she moved back to her bed. Seeing some blood remnants from the earlier encounter, she looked over her soft tan fur.

"Don't think I'll get to be dyeing my fur anytime soon." Her chuckle finished; before flopping herself down on the fold out bed. The squeak of the cheap bed springs shrilly pierced her tender rabbit ears; but, she withstood it. Needing to eventually grow accustomed to their increased strength.

A little more idle chit chatter wore down the night, as the day spent on a constant rise and fall of adrenaline took its toll and put the, mostly lapine, hybrid to sleep, once it had all finally relaxed.

Distress signals from every direction lit up the Gouf's screens, little red blips that could've outnumbered the stars in that moment. Rose did the first thing she could think of, and flicked her suit to the most recent signal. A Zaku I missing its left arm, held a heat hawk sternly against a GM's beam saber. A heat hawk was resistant to a beam sabers cutting, but it'd be only a matter of time before the more powerful beam prevailed. Rose was thankful that, while her hands shook with nerves, her suit remained steady. Rose pulled her long distance visor scope, to match it to the one on her rifle.

If anything a mobile suit did could be described as gentle, it would be a pull of the trigger. But not this time. An explosion wretched her rifle from hand, just as the burst of three bullets left its barrel. Instead of striking true, it simply blasted a chunk from the GMs head. "DAMNIT!" Rose yelled. Both as a cannon struck her arm, and as the shot missed.

Quickly, Rose turned face to her attacker; two federation Guntanks on quick approach. Rifle disarmed, Rose threw the hand that held it up, spraying out four tight hoses of bullets the finger mounted vulcans towards the GM; whilst engaging thrusters to their full potential and punching forward at the nearest Guntank with the other arm.

As Rose took hold of the Guntank's cockpit, entirely un-impeded thanks to the Gouf's intense speed advantage over the slow moving tank; she fired out the Gouf's electro-wire from it's left hand. The sharp anchor point meant for hanging off of buildings deftly pierced the glass cockpit like a hot knife in butter.

Blood splattered in every direction within the glass cage of death, painting it fully red; more of the poor pilots blood whipped up and splattered over Rose's Gouf's mono eye camera from the whipping wire on its return splattering anything left of the human that stuck to it.

A startled scream escaped Rose's mouth along with the creaking of bed springs as she shot up I'm the prison bed. Her heart was racing as she awoke from her memories. The lights of the cell block were on, scientists and guards patrolled the halls. It looked like they were taking blood samples, or testing something, of the fellow experiments she could see. "Why did they let me sleep?" She wondered. Quickly looking over herself to search for any tranquilizer darts or branding marks. None she could find.

"Oh good. You're awake."

The scientist turned her attention from her clipboard, up to Rose. It was the same one who had tried to brand Rose the day before. "I would've woken you up for testing earlier, but you looked like were having a nightmare."

The grin on the scientists face made Rose sick. The way she seemed to enjoy knowing that she was suffering. It's people like this, that are why she signed up with Zeon. Zeon was cruel and cold, and she knew it. But they stood for a cause that meant something. Rose wasn't shy of Zeon's war crimes, but the federation. The federation would gun down it's own people if there was profit to be had. She would've signed her lot in with ANYONE, who stood against the federation. Zeon or otherwise.

"Killian, take the rabbit to the simulation chamber." A guard quickly rushed to the scientists side, armed and armored, more so than the previous ones Rose had seen. Notably a helmet to match, covering majority of his face and neck. Rose wondered if that was because of yesterday's escapade.

"If they resist, kill them. You know the drill." Was added to the order.

Without needing to be told, Rose held up her arms where they could be seen. There was times to be defiant, and times to obey. This was the latter. Patiently, she let the gate open, and her hands get cuffed behind her.

"This way, animal." The Insult muffled out through the ballistic mask. Pulling his escort's cuffs down the hall.

Rose took her time to watch the path they walked; although she could've gotten lost on the way to the bathroom in her own house, she watched every doorway, every hall and every corner. She prayed to remember it, even thought it was likely only a tiny fraction of the true size of this base. Escape was still a dream, one she was sure others shared; but patrol after patrol made that dream falter more and more. Her guts sank a little harder every time she saw armed guards at every single door. She literally had to have seen close to a hundred soldiers on the way to the simulation chamber.

"This place has more soldiers than A Baoa Qu, she muttered quietly. Losing any hope she had of a traditional escape, before she was greeted by two more guards at the door. These two in particular were so heavily clad in gear they could have been mobile suits themselves. This, simulation chamber, had to be more than it's name implied.

Killian traded his credentials with these two juggernauts, before un-cuffing Rose and shoving her inside.

A single, central, simulation chair took up majority of the room. It made her hackles stand on end; but she wasn't sure why. Not entirely at least. But, it sure felt strange for a base this large, seemingly dedicated to these experimental pilots, to only have a single training cockpit. Back at Zeon boot camp there was lines of these things by the dozen. This one, all alone, felt alien. It was also significantly larger, with all kinds of additional wires and tubes. The pure empty, almost sterile, nature of the room beyond this machine felt equally strange. The only thing in the room otherwise, that is, if a wall could be considered 'in' a room, was the also uncomfortably clean mirror. It was just as suspicious as the rest of this room.

While Rose was busy, nervously eyeing this jinxed machine, the door shut behind her. A thunderous slam, followed by heavy bolting shut. This did little to dissuade the almost haunted nature this room had.

"HAP1185, take a seat in the training module." Crackled across the intercom.

The closer Rose got to this machine, the more her hair stood on end. It reminded her of the way dogs would bark at vacuums, or cats would stare at ghosts.

"Please take a seat in the training module, HAP1185" was repeated, this time less patiently.

A nervous gulp was Rose's only response, before throwing her leg into the machine, and sitting on the chair. This one was so vastly different than the Gouf she piloted before, even compared to the comparatively cheap Zaku she had trained in, this chair was extremely uncomfortable. The chair felt like a hundred pins and needs on top of unrefined ingots.

"Are all federation suits this bad?" She wondered to herself. Looking over the details of this machine. The most unique part, was the two hand and arm mounts, mounted on rails, on both sides of the chair. These strange metal gloves with rails all the way to the elbow replaced the control columns the Zeon suits had.

"Please insert your arms into the simulation gloves."

The grossly assertive demanding from the intercom, was only aggravating the nerves she was fighting through. Still, afraid more of the alternative, Rose obeyed. Putting her hands into the machine. Letting her fingertips move into position inside the metal glove, all the way up to her elbows. This action seemed to activate the simulation. Three screens extended from the body of the false cockpit, one in front and one on each side. Mimicking the visor cameras a proper mobile suit would have.

"Select your preferred machine, and place your legs into the pedal mounts."

By this point, the fear that the intercom's demands were bringing were starting to mix in with flat annoyance. Still, as before, she obeyed. Placing her feet into the pedals and letting them close around her new paws, just as the arm mounts also clamped down firmly.

The forward screen showed a selection of various mobile suits, all of them federation, of course. It was a bit unorthodox, being able to chose the suit, rather than the suit being chosen by supply. But she figured this was just a test. They just wanted to see what their new Frankenstein's monster was capable of in its own environment.

"I guess.. ill use.. lets try a Guncannon." Rose murmured, aligning its long range beam rifle and squad role to what she was used to with marksman rifle she used on her lieutenant's Gouf before.

But as Rose rifled through the variants, and equipment loads, she frowned in annoyance at the extreme sensitivity she had to combat with. Even small hand movements sent every menu spiraling through the options, taking numerous tries to select anything she wanted. "Are all federation suits this sensitive?" She wondered.

But almost as soon as she finished her work in the menu's, the pedals and the arm rails both locked firmly in place. Preventing any movement at all in the process.

"Wh, whats happ-" Rose stuttered out, but was very shortly stifled by an extra, mechanical, appendage growing out the side of the chair's headrest. Similar to cockpit scope, but instead it was only a block of wood and leather, jamming itself into her mouth like a horse's bit. Silencing any words she could form, into nothing more than angry and frightened mumbles.

Struggling against her binds, more polyester ropes shot from the chair, locking her in place from the slightest struggling. Meanwhile, the screens in front of her shifted data. Replacing the Guncannon training module with a variety of data. All about Rose. Blood-type, bone density, species used in her transformation, and more.

"We advise you struggle as little as possible. It could result in improper installation." Was the newest demand from the crackly intercom above the room.

"Improper installation?" Rose thought, confusion added to her growing list of emotions. But she didn't have to worry for very long, before sharp metal spikes drove themselves into her back, all along her spinal column. Sonorous cracks filled the room, either louder than Rose's screams of pain, or maybe they only sounded louder to her because they were inside her body. One by one her vertebrae were forced into a perfect alignment. Cracking and popping as this machine had forcefully invaded her body. Some liquid, presumably blood, poured down her back from a dozen gaped wounds. But the "installation" had just started. She felt the first wave of tools exit their carved wounds, only for a new set to replace them. The pain was so far beyond description. Biting down on the block they'd stuffed in her mouth, for a reason she now understood, as the machine latched onto her spine again. This time she felt it enclose the newly aligned vertebrae, locking them inside a cold steel frame, that little by little expanded until it fully encompassed her spinal column. Metal scales moving to circle around where the ribs locked to the spine.

She bit harder on the block, until she felt like her teeth would going to crack. Her eyes poured water like a river, and she screamed every ounce of oxygen her lungs could hold.

She had broken bones before, she had been cut, felt the pain of surgery, even passed a kidney stone as a child. But usually there was something to dull the pain. This time she was fully awake, not a drop of anesthesia or pain pills. This torment was perhaps the cruelest thing the federation could've done to an individual's body. It fueled her hatred for this corrupt government even further, fueled her hatred. The pain continued as the machine worked on encompassing her bones down to the very micrometer in metal; all she could do to steel herself against it was let this pain burn like embers in a fire of hate.

It did little to satiate the pain.

From Rose's perspective, it could have been mere minutes, but in this suffering it truly felt like a lifetime. Her entire body was drenched, in a disgusting mixture of blood, sweat, tears and spit. It left her feeling dirty, unclean, in ways more so than if she was encased in mud. She felt so heavy, she wasn't sure if that was the new metal inside her, or the pain breaking down her muscles.

But as this procedure slowed, the machine suturing the wounds it had caused, closed, except around a few metal plates that remained at the surface of her skin, connecting her spine to the outside world. Rose looked up at the screen once more.

She could barely breath, truly she could barely stay awake, but the pain, wouldn't let her rest, still throbbing and pulsing through her like a thousand knives and needles. "Focus. Read. Concentrate" she could only mentally will herself. She locked her eyes to the screen, desperate to take in anything, to entrance herself in the words, the numbers, even the font. Anything to distract from the pain.

"Rose Luck, Gouf pilot, 15 kill count, ace status, selected for special squad." Was the phrase that dragged her eyes more than any of the medical jargon.

"Fifteen?" She thought to herself. "I only took out three-" and then, despite this pain, a memory clicked in her head. Her commanding officer. He had an MS kill count of twelve, before being shot down. "Twelve, plus her three, was fifteen. The engineers hadn't wiped the combat log before transferring the suit to her. Was she only taken for this, experiment, that twisted her DNA and now her bones, for some ungodly reason; because the suit she was in stated she was an ace? Someone else's skill, locked her into a life of torment and service to the federation she would've died fighting against.

"We apologize for the lack of anesthesia during this operation. Testing has concluded that the reduced response of an unconscious body results in a less accurate spinal lock installation."

Rose had her concentration broken by the intercom static, apologizing, for putting her through a literal, woken, dissection. It only made her madder than she already was. She knew damn well that the scientists who did this, didn't care about her pain. He was probably reading off of a sheet, written to dissuade rebellions.

She would've spit on his face if he was here.

The torturous cockpit chair loosened it's binds, one by one, just as they had gone to tie her up, and in time, too loosened the rails that locked her feet and hands.

Half instinct, half desire, rushed Rose from the chair as quickly as possible. Throwing herself to her feet and off the chair; only to collapse an inch away, as her legs left feeling like jelly. Even standing up for a mere second, after that pain, was far too much for her body to handle.

After the loud slap of her body hitting the tile, like little more than a slab of meat, rain started pouring down over her. Ceiling tiles rotating in the corner of her eye, as she laid on her stomach. Muzzle splayed over the floor the same as the rest of her. Each tile giving way to a large sprinkler. Pouring down warm water mixed with some kind of soap.

The soap stung lightly as it brushed with her surgical wounds, but compared to the pain of the surgery itself, it felt so nice. It reminded her loosely of the feeling of dragging your hand over the prickles of a scratchy door mat. However, the warm water felt heavy, in the best way. Heavy droplets massaging into her muscles; or maybe it only felt that way by comparison. Still, she cherished this moment, despite the humiliation of laying on the floor.

"This, explains, the clean smell." She thought. With the soapy warm water washing the blood and sweat off her body; as well as the chair. Wiping away any trace of this crime, before the next poor bastard they were going to experiment on.

Rose grinned softly. It was no time for a joke, but that was, just how Rose did things. It was a sense of humor that got her in trouble sometimes. "This tile, is comfier than the bed..."

A red film over the lens, further visually cluttering the horrifying mess of war. Taking too long to recover from the shuddering, humbling realization of actually ending a human life for the first time; a cannon blast from the Guntank struck squarely into the shield that hung from her back. It jolted her out of her trance, and set off the alarms of a direct hit on her suit as the blasts momentum shook her around; and shook the pilot-less Guntank off her hand and the sand. Spinning around quickly, she made it just in time to see the GM that was missing half its head coming in close. Beam spray gun charging up. In an immediate reaction, her hands diverted. The left, grabbing onto the shield to bring it to bear; her right hand going for her hip to grab her heat sword.

"SHIT!" Rose screamed; after realizing all too late, that the Gouf's heat sword was not in the same place as the heat hawk of the Zaku she trained in. The shield came up just in time to brunt the beam guns fire; alongside her finger vulcans diverting from the original GM to this one on approach; but a few clicks from each machinegun, meant that while her left hand held the shield was unarmed while the GM charged up a second shot.

As the opponent was closer now than ever, she couldn't reach to her back to grab the heat sword without giving them another chance to fire. Instead she grappled her hand to the GM's forearm.

She managed to fight it's arm enough to put the second beam harmlessly off into the sky; only to immediately be jolted again by another canon blast from the remaining Guntank. This time direct shot to her shield arm. Caving in the appendage and leaving it hanging only by a few small cables; preventing any use of the still loaded left hand vulcans in the process.

This shock to her suit's stability gave the GM the leverage it needed to push back into proper aim, and pull the trigger. Reflex and a stronger suit, let Rose push the shot down, changed the beams target from center mass, but it still connected with her leg.

The power explosion caused by the beam igniting the minovsky particles powering her leg's boosters sent her flying back into the dunes, away from the GM and the Guntank. But in the process, Rose shot the electro-wire out for an attempt to latch onto something for support; latching on, with her hands already tight grip on the GMs arm, both working together made sure that the GM's arm came with her.

Rose was jolted awake as her face hit the floor again; but this time under the force of being thrown back into her cell. Loudly thudding into the ground.

"I see the surgery was a success." Came the familiar voice of that, damned lab coat. The same one who had seemed to take pride in her suffering.

"Fuck you." Rose responded. Trying to put her hands underneath her body to get up; but her bones still felt like jello. She hardly managed half of a push up before collapsing back into the floor.

Her sharp ears picked up a bit of pen scribbles, before perking her ears up further, at the continued speaking. "Guard, clearly subject HAP1185 is continuing to resist us. Take away her food rations for three days. Maybe she'll be more responsive after that."

The perk in her ears sunk down, a half snarl that bared her teeth escaped her, but only for a second. Deciding it best to comply, for now.

Still weak, and struggling to do anything, instead of lifting herself off the ground, Rose instead just rolled herself over.

It stung to lay on her still highly sensitive back, it felt akin to a blisters popping; but all across her, even though she knew it was clean, and too fresh for blisters to form. She wished she hadn't rolled over. But she did get to see that bastards face one more time, on her way out the room. She was so unassuming, if Rose had passed her in the street she never would've been able to tell they was some lunatic geneticist. She would probably be even kind of pretty, if it weren't for the pure lack of a soul.

Her long hair was dark auburn red, maybe a hint of dye made it even more red than that. Glistened in the lights above, with equally attractive green eyes, and very neat white skin. So perfect, like a porcelain doll, come to think of it, she was about as pale as a porcelain doll too.

Little by little, Rose kicked and pushed her limp and weak limbs against the floor, till she was back against the wall. Struggling to lift herself up. Propping her pained back against the wall, and struggling into a sitting position. That vile doctor was long gone before Rose had gotten this far; freeing the experiments to talk again.

"You're lucky, in a way" Peach chimed in. Waving a hand at the freshly leaned up rabbit. "Most don't make it back in one piece from that."

Rose rolled her eyes back a bit. Still feeling that excruciating pain. "I can imagine.. that.. was.. unbearable..."

Immediately, Peach started laughing. "I don't know about that, I beared it. " a stupid shit eating grin smeared across her face.

"That hurt worse than the surgery." Rose retorted. A frown just as big and Peach's smile spread over her muzzle. "And you're not even a real bear."

Peach seemed to just laugh even harder at the groans that her beyond terrible pun received, both from Rose, and some of the other inmates unlucky enough to have heard the context.

"I should call for the guards after a joke like that. " Rose muttered "but I don't think they care much about inhuman treatment"

"in-human treatment? Honey, I know we don't have mirrors but you can't be that daft." and Peach's laughing got even harder. She could barely contain herself at getting a two for one joke.

"Suddenly, I don't feel as lucky for surviving." Rose turned her head away from the panda. Trying to ignore her jovial, but terrible, jokes. Only for a loud call of "Drop dead feddy!" Just as if the mere mention of the guards called them to presence. Speak of the devil. Immediately ceasing Peach's laughter. Sending her ducking back into her cell and climbing under the blankets to feign sleep. Attempting to make herself as un-interesting to the researchers as possible. The loud shuffling from cells around the block that echoed into Rose's ears implied most others were doing the same. Rose winced, unable to do the same. Even small movements taking extreme amounts of effort through the pain. Stuck out in the open as the march and file of at what had to be at least a hundred soldiers into the cell block, immediately shattered any semblance of safety anyone may have had. However, this wasn't a standard guard patrol and the sheer volume of guards made it clear.

"Good god, how many soldiers are on this base?" Rose whispered to herself. Trying to count them as they each marched past, the smell of so many new bodies filling the cramped prison air as each dull stomp of a hundred boots monotonously crashed, pounding in her still sensitive lapine ears like a explosive metronome every time the overpowering weight hit the hard floor like a thunderous boom.

Although Rose couldn't see too far into the cell block while resting back on her prison cell, she could hear each guards stopping in a pair of two. The deafening bass drum crash getting slightly quieter one pair by one. One or one pair of armed guards stopping in-front of every cell Rose still could see from here, and presumably every other cell as well. Every guard in full combat attire, with at least one in two carrying a rifle. Rose's heart pounded faster at every second. She felt like a cartoon as her heart pounded against her ribcage.

Only once the last of the soldiers had found position, did the red haired scientist come back into the room. Still grinning in such a way that just couldn't be natural for a human with a conscience. "Now, Miss Rose." She said. The cold collectedness of her voice froze Rose in place. Terrified of what additional punishments could be in store. "This machine, is called an overload pack." As the doctor spoke, she retrieved an instrument from one of the soldiers next to her. Displaying it proudly to her unwilling audience. It was a bizarre looking thing, with a central tower surrounded by six smaller nodes. All of them rounded domes at the top like little grain silos; but with a few metallic rings up their bodies, and the central pillar with an indented circle top.

"I considered wiring you up to it, for your escape attempt. But I realized something. You're spirited. Anything I do to you, is just going to make you want to cause more problems. But you also care too much. A much better solution, is to wire up every single prisoner here except you. That way, you'll know not to try anything again."

Even without having the machines purpose explained, Rose's heart sank like a brick. She knew whatever it did, it was bad, and she could see it on Peach's reaction in the cell across. Immediately leaping out of the bed and pressing her back to the wall like a cornered animal. She could hear many other inmates doing the same, even before the doctor gave her order for the soldiers to open the cells and march inside, each carrying another one of the accursed packs.

"What they do, Miss Rose, so you can understand what you caused. Is these packs interface with the spinal surgery you just had installed, but instead of translating stimuli outward, as designed, they translate stimuli inward. Overloading your nervous system with extreme volumes of pain stimuli. It really is a neat invention, it causes no lasting damage, but your body is convinced its every last nerve is ready to explode."

Rose desperately took to her feet, trying to help, somehow, the adrenaline desire to rescue her innocent friend, but almost the instant she was up, she collapsed back down. Her knees buckling underneath her weight. Sharp burning pain shot up her body, burning into her fresh surgical wounds. Her back feeling like it was ready to peel away and whatever they did to her spine ready to carve its way out. A loud scream of agony escaped her muzzle even as she tried to stifle it in-front of the captors that so enjoyed her pain. This endeavor only rewarded her with a carcinogenic laugh burning into her ears. Though an even worse sound replaced it, just in time for Rose to look up from her humiliated splat on the floor. Fighting, struggling, from all across the prison. Her newfound ears picking up every detail with such vividness that she could practically see each abuse playing out in-front of her. But it was only Peach she could see the betrayal in her eyes. The fear of seeing the small red panda forcefully grabbed by two powerful soldiers, held down and wired into the cruel device.

With terror in her eyes, Rose watched the backpack click into the metal nodes on Peach's back, then light up. The central pillar starting to glow, whir, and spin, immediately dropping Peach to her knees. The poor panda clenching her body in agony, screaming in a carnal, indescribable amount of pain. Blending with the screams of everyone else, Rose could only grab her ears and cry. Trying to drown out the sounds of misery that she caused. But it didn't help. The sounds of so many people suffering burned into her conscience. Scorching away every thought that wasn't pain like a ravenous fire. Burning like an eternity in the brimstone pits of hell, till finally that laugh, that one specific laugh of the devil herself overwhelmed every other sound, from its sheer toxicity. "Alright. That's enough. Disable the packs."

It took a minute for Rose bold herself enough to look up, seeing Peach unhooked from the overload pack. Seeing in her eyes all of the joy of their jokes only a few minutes prior drained from her face. As soon as the guards left her cell, the red panda backed away into the shadows of her cell. Shaking her head as Rose softly whispered "I'm sorry."

"Hopefully you've learned your lesson, HAP 1185." Adding insult to injury, not even giving Rose the dignity of her name now.

Still a broken ball on the floor, Rose couldn't bring herself to look up at Peach a second time; and on top of it, now that the fear and sadness induced adrenaline started to wear off, her back absolutely throbbed in pain. Scooting back inch by inch, moving her sensitive back as little as possible, till she could press against the back of her cell wall, deep in the reclusive shadows. The pressure of the hard wall pushing up against her only freshly injured spine stung, the cold metal singed the delicate surgical scars. Mentally however, it felt good. Some feral instinct that warned her to protect her backside, felt a bit relieved at it being covered by something 'safe'. Through the pain, wincing through it, she moved her hand up to look at it. One by one moving the fingers, and trying all of the different combinations she could think of. A shocking new dexterity in them, she had never noticed before. Able to fully curl her middle finger without inhibiting the others. "They musta fixed that too, I guess." Rose muttered a bit. Attempting to distance herself from the thoughts of hate filled eyes carving into her. It was almost admirable, the dedication needed by these geneticists, to fix something even as small as the finger tendons being too tight, to move without the others. It made her wonder what these scientists could do for the good of all mankind, if they weren't busy trying to invent soldiers. The thought made her sick. When would humans learn to stop killing each other, over anything they saw fit to do so. "I wonder if hatred could be worked out of our DNA, just like all the other changes they did to us." Rose whispered to her own mind. "But that's probably just a pipe dream."

A defeated sigh escaped Rose's muzzle. Closing her eyes, and thinking about sleeping. Remembering her childhood routine of attempting to sleep twenty four hours a day when she was sick, to try and get through it faster. But before she did, her nose caught a new smell, a human, but not the scientist, and it didn't come with the same smell of gunpowder that hung off the soldiers. "Probably a new experiment." She muttered, wondering when they had brought them in. Though, rather than be concerned about this individual, the concept sparked her thoughts. Rose held her eyes closed, but perked up her ears to listen, and inhaled deeply to smell. Testing her animalistic traits again; but deliberately this time, and not from the overwhelming nature of it all.

Rose traced back her memories through the zoo trips, and nights spent out in the woods, attaching each new smell to a memory that her subconscious mind somehow understood the origin of. There was, a fox, a wolf, no, two of them. Of course Peach in cell across from hers, a lion? She thought, some smells fuzzier in their memories than others, a lizard of some sort, a Komodo dragon maybe? Her ears training just as intently. Although she had never focused her thoughts to anyone beyond Peach or the guards in front of her, nearly every cell had its own sounds, the conversations of other prison-mates to their own neighbors, or to them self. Some still coping with the fear of being here, some recovering from the overload packs, others, talking about their last training missions.

"Training missions?" Rose quietly wondered, before connecting the dots in her head, duh they were going to send us out in mobile suits at some point. Or at least simulators, but by the sounds of it, the discussions referred to physical suits.

"They put me in advanced division." Came one of the voices. Despite Rose's newfound talent, identifying which smell the voice belonged to was beyond her.

"Jesus, I got put in some shitty Zanny, and you're getting a custom suit?"

The intrigue only made Rose more and more curious the longer she listened. Doing her best to filter out all the conversations that were not this particular one.

"Hell yea, I'm marked as the 12th ace after I whipped the trainers ass."

For a moment, Rose considered scooting away from the back wall to see these voices were coming from; but opted out of it, with the tense pain that shot through the wounds. Instead opting to yell over to Peach.

"Hey, Peach, did you make ace?"

That wasn't really what Rose wanted to ask, but, it's the one that came out. She wanted to know more about the trials, when, what, why, she wanted to be prepared, but, at the same time, on some level, she didn't want to know. The concept of helping the very feds that did this to her, sent a fire down to her bones. Not to mention the tension that was thick enough to cut with a knife, that loomed as a thick fog.

"Uh, yea. Why?" Responded the red panda. A soft tilt of her head, a smile, and a soft wiggle all showed a bit of pride in that accomplishment, that for one brief moment broke the distrusting stares.

Rose stopped at that comment, pausing in silence. Unsure if she really wanted to follow up that question. Aware of Peach's bragging quickly turning to confusion the longer that Rose didn't really answer. But after an unknown length of time, that had become more than a little awkward, Rose decided that, having a specially built suit would provide much better for any, potential escape attempts. assuming, no, the thought of escape couldn't totally leave her. If she succeeded, she could help everyone else later.

"How does the test work? I want to win." Was the rabbit hybrid's final answer. A deep breath escaping her muzzle. Coming to terms with her need to work under the enemies rules for now, so that she can undermine them later. "The supreme art of war, is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Rose remembered, but didn't say aloud. An old quote, from Sun Tzu she was pretty sure. A loose memory hanging on from the military training academy, she was sure.

"Well, it changes a bit, they like to test how well the adaptations they gave you worked. Hmm, like, they'll probably test your hearing against some other anthros, and, they're definitely gonna have a sparring match of some sort. I've seen them change the rules a few times. For me it was unarmed combat only, and we were supposed to avoid spotlights. That is what me and my rival were created for, after all." Now Peach was back to, a concerned undertone of her words. Not sure what the boat rocking rabbit could want.

"Stealth? I didn't know pandas were meant to be stealthy. Specially bright red ones." Rose chuckled back at her companion.

Peach returned the chuckle, but one much more forced, a remnant of societal politeness. "It's because of our diet. I can operate behind enemy lines for extended periods of time with compressed bamboo meals. Or, that's the idea anyways."

Still laying in bed, Rose pondered the information given. Thinking back to what the doctor listed of their changes. "Chinchilla for fur that kills parasites.. useful, but not really something they'd test for Ace pilot training. Antlers for G force, eh, maybe? Probably not. Wolf for, pack mentality? Yes. That could be tested with squad tactics easily. But, that's testing a squad, not me. Maybe leadership training? Possibly. Should be prepared for that. Heightened senses, for sure that's gonna get tested. Hearing and smelling were particularly boosted. Eyes are replaceable by cameras." All Rose could think was about this test, what it could be, how these attributes could be tested inside a cockpit. Most of these senses were replaced by the sensors, cameras, and information fed by the cockpit.

Rose was deeply entrenched in her thoughts, playing mental games of chess with herself over the training, when a sharp bell ringing woke her from the stupor.

"Dinner time animals." Yelled a guard, who was pushing a cart of meals.

The smell of all these new foods being pushed into the hallway, almost the instant the cell block door opened. Rather close to her, awoke one more sense in her. Her stomach rumbling violently as it was reminded that food existed. Briefly forgetting that she was to be punished, her instincts kicked her out from laying against the wall. Pushing past the suffering pain for the smell of food, and it was real food, not nutrient paste slop. She smelled steaks, vegetables, fruits. All these personalized dishes to match each prisoners unique dietary demands that the genetic changes would demand, she was sure.

However, once the guard came into view, Rose saw the cast that firmly locked around his hip, preventing one of his legs from moving properly, and her heart sank. First, the guard slid Peach her bamboo like brick, before turning to Rose. A very cruel grin across his face, as he opened the cloche, revealing an absolutely delicious looking, and even more smelling, plate with steamed vegetables and a hot plate of red beef. The guard made a direct eye contact with Rose as she sank herself low, trying to appear as small as possible, while he tipped the plate to spill it into a trash bag. Destroying any hopes of recovering it.

Such a vile hatred that this guard would rather ruin the food in front of her, than just eat it himself, or save the money that it surely took to get real meat and veggies during wartime. A cruel laugh ran through the entire prison block, before he moved his way down to the next cells for their own meal.

Rose wasn't sure if she wanted to flump onto the floor right there, or make it back to the bed first. A soft whimper leaving her muzzle while her stomach still begged to be fed for the first time since she had arrived in this place. She was sure that it could be heard by just about everyone in here, with their sensitive hearing.

Peach frowned softly from across the hall, looking at her own dinner. "I would offer to share.. but I don't think you can digest bamboo." Rose wasn't sure if she was serious, or just being polite. A sentiment Rose appreciated, even if it did little to actually help.

Eventually, Rose faltered back to the cot hanging from the wall. Her body seeming to take turns between the brutally aching back, and the violently hungry stomach. Never truly giving her the release of monotony in her pain.

A low grumble was the last thing Rose 'said' before she fell into the barely softer than the floor bed. Curling her tail up and around, delicately wrapping her arms and legs around the exorbitantly fluffy additional appendage. Using it as both, something to rest her head and legs on, as well as a general comfort object.

Slow strokes of her fingers through the dense fur of her tail, relaxed Rose's mind, little by little. Pressing down enough for her fingertips to brush delicately against the skin beneath it. Serving as at least enough of a distraction to quell the hunger pangs, though not the sounds of it, or her still throbbing in pain back. Stomach rumbles were loud to her strong ears, leaving the embarrassment that came with the knowledge most other jail partners could probably hear as well. So to drown out the noise, at least to herself, she started to hum herself a non-specific lullaby under her breath. Quiet enough to not outright draw attention, but distract more from the sounds and struggles. This soft noise and her sensitive hands enjoying the exorbitant amount of fur until that presented the fluff of her tail, until the embrace of sleep finally took her one more time.

The Goufs rearward momentum, spurred on by sparked fuel in her newly disembodied leg jolted to a halt as the machine and Rose within it crashed against a sand dune behind them. The hard crash of full speed to zero threw her head back, crashing back into the headrest of the chair hard enough to crack the helmet. An echo of pain escaped Rose's mouth. Pain shooting through her from how badly that crash rattled her, but still grabbing her helmet and throwing it aside, to remove the spiderweb mural that was the visor from her view. Letting her take in her surroundings. Several of the outer cameras were also cracked, or outright disabled. But she saw the other suits encroaching. That damned GM was missing half its head and an arm, but it still strode forward, now reinforced by the other fully functional GM who had closed the distance. Fortunately the guntank seemingly focused itself elsewhere, no longer needing to waste artillery shells. on a downed suit. All Rose had left was her head vulcans, too small of a caliber to do amy damage at this range, then her electro wire and heat rod for close quarters. But with only one leg, a sword fight was out of the question. The wounded GM having no such qualms however, as it drew its beam saber.

"The spray gun!" Rose immediately thought. Looking at the disembodied arm still in her grasp. Arm in tow. Rose's mind rolled back to bootcamp, the training shed received about enemy suits, to know how to combat them. Zeon suits cant interface with federation weapons, they don't have matching hardpoints, but these spray guns the GM used had E-pacs inside them. They don't need a direct wire to the power supply to function. She turned to look through the flickering camera to her left. Her half hanging arm with stringing wires flickering and sparking; same as the ones on the GM's arm.

"God I hope this works" Rose quietly prayed, with the two GMs now within range. Quickly moving her good arm to jam the disembodied GM arm into the sparking socket of her own suits elbow, activating the loose hand to pull its trigger and sent a shot out from the spray gun towards its former owner.

The beam shot connected with the fully functional of the two GMs. Displaying a fireworks show of sparks, burning fuel, and the pinkish beam itself for about half a second, till the mixture of the damaged minovsky reactor and fire lit the mobile suit up into a great ball of gas and shrapnel. The sheer volume of damage these beam weapons were capable of, compared to her own ballistic machineguns was staggering. Though Rose couldn't take long to focus on the depths of power that the depravity of war could create for long, because the remaining GM lunged towards her with a dead sprint, as it was no longer just coming to confirm a kill, but was still in the fight. A loud scream that could've been Rose's, or could've been the GM pilot, depending on who was listening to either coms, as they raced to their final lethal moments. The one armed GM's beam saber swinging downward as Rose smashed her hand against the against the trigger button of the head vulcans. A low caliber, meant for missile interception.

But at this range, if she hit the cockpit...

A startled jolt of adrenaline shot through Rose's body. Sending her upright in a panicked motion, which served only to reward her with searing pain from her agitated surgery wound. It felt like her back was being peeled away by biting fire ants one tiny piece at a time. Rose could only whince and cringe as she gritted her teeth to get through the pain. The nightmares seemingly invested in not allowing her to sleep for long, as it was still dark within the cell block. Of course there was no windows for natural sunlight, but it was still lights out, and the other cells Rose could see still had their occupants as cozily curled up as a military prison cell could allow.

But while the sound of her own gnashing teeth filled most of her eardrum, her ears perked, there was a voice. She wasn't sure how long it had been there, but she was shocked she hadn't heard it before. Even in whispers it was such a deep baritone it could shake the prison bars.

"Rua.. raubbit. Rab. Ruoose. Rabbit."

The words, all had such an unnaturally long delay between them, intermittent with mumbles and half second growls. It could barely be considered human speech. "Rawbot. Ruase. Th, thenk. Rebbat. "

It still hurt to move, but, someone was calling to her. She had to look, if for nothing else than to sate the curiosity, but potentially it could be very important.

Struggling, hobbled movements were all Rose could manage. She wasn't sure if she was bleeding or if it was sweat, but she could feel it trickling down her back just from every small movement. What was only a few feet felt like boot camp all over again. The barb wire dragging over her back as she crawled through the mud underneath it.

"Ruaabbit. Not. Wooalf. Puart. Waolf. Half. Wulf. Raose."

As the voice continued, seemingly changing itself every couple of words. But it was clear that it was still directed at her. Eyes moving back and forth, checking each cell one by one, until she finally saw an awake inhabitant, about four cells down to the right on Peach's side of the wall. She could only see him with her head pressed to its side to look down and see him. He was gargantuan! His shoulders scraped the ceiling of the jail cell. Forcing him to be permanently hunched over, head level or slightly lower than his shoulders just to be able to stand up. Even her antlers didn't go nearly that high. They had the muscles to match too; Rose wasn't sure they couldn't have just ripped the prison bars out of the wall and walk out. This was more of a werewolf from the fables than any kind of actual canine. Fur so coal black that seeing them in the unlit prison would have been impossible were it not for her enhanced animal eyes.

"Raahbeet. Rahbeet. Roose. Smole. Eeaht."

For a brief moment, fear shot into Rose's body. The prey instincts that had once before kicked in started to show again, until a rattle of a wobbling glass plate uncomfortably loudly echoed out. The behemothian wolf pushing a dinner plate forcefully to her cell, landing just within reach. A completely raw slab of meat laying on top of it. He wasn't threatening to eat her, he wanted her to eat.

"Wuolf. Beeg. Stru, strruomg. Haaaannndle. Puh, neeshment. Rah. Rahbeet. Sm, sm, small. Hurrt. Eht. Sun. Teh-hest."

As Rose watched the beast, she could see his trouble with words, the way his lips and mouth were moving, it was as if he had to think back to the children's learn to speak books, moving his lips seemed to take a concentrated amount of effort, every word having to be spelled out in his head before he could say it. This wolf really was more animal than man, not just in his looks, but his mind too, and his diet.

Rose looked down at the slab of meat; it was still bleeding. Much like her own food that had been thrown away, it seemed their captors were invested in catering to the animal diets, more than hoping nutrient paste for humans adequately gave each unique one of us the nutrition requirements.

"Thank you." Rose responded. Not sure if it would be impolite to say a more, wordy thanks, or to try to send it back out of a politeness, hoping that this kind stranger wouldn't be as cruelly treated as she assumed they would be, for sharing food rations. Or, worse, if they would continue to punish the entire prison for her misbehaving again. For a while, Rose just looked at the meal offering. Unsure if she should even take it. But as the scent of meat wafted up to her nose, survival instincts trumped chivalry. Reaching between the bars to grab her secret dinner.

The idea of, tearing into a raw hunk of, what smelled like beef, horrified her. Maybe not on the outside, but deep down she was still a human. Or she felt like one anyways. The deeply rooted traditions of not eating raw meat, because of its diseases, or the simple knowledge that cooking food was one of humans key points in evolution.

But as the rumbling in her stomach returned, the pain in her with it. She hadn't eaten since before she was captured, she had no idea how long she had been medically kept under before coming to, and now she was condemned to three more days without food. A single sad tear of the degradation, the de-humanization of her captors treatment, the damn federation bastards, as her sharp canine fangs sank into the squishy, crude steak.

Her teeth were a strange mixture of herbivorous and carnivorous. Her two upper fangs worked well for sinking into the chewy slab of meat, but the flat ended buck teeth provided just as much resistance. Making it a struggle to get a proper mouthful of the steak that was almost as big as her head. The rest of her teeth were still normal human molars; they weren't designed to scissor through the muscle and tendon with nearly the efficiency of an obligate carnivore, as she supposed her new friend was modified to be. It forced her to chew, over, and over, forced her to squeeze the blood out in heavy gushes of mortal ichor. Forced her to suffer through the taste of this meat that was somehow a mix of bland and unpleasant gaminess, that felt like it burned on her tongue from the distaste of it all. She had to swallow constantly to stop from gagging on the frequent spurts of blood that needing to chew so hard and so long squeezed out, draining every drop from every small piece she managed to tear away. Truly struggling to get this thick muscly, tendon filled cut of meat chewed up small enough to swallow it safely. Rose wanted to stop, every new bite that forced her to pull the meat away from her, rending the flesh like a wild beast, sprayed the viscera across her face and the floor as it slapped around after giving way to the ripping. Blood mixing with the tears running down her cheeks. Rose ate at the steak, piece by piece, till the muscles in her jaw ached, but forced through the pain to ravenously finish the gifted meal. Somehow surprised she was able to finish the entire thing, even with its size. Her stomach churned with anger, having a less than ideal time digesting the raw meat, but still, Rose stood up and moved back to the gate of her cell. Pushing the plate back to the waiting wolf, so that the guards would find it where it belonged.

Wiping some of the spattered blood off the fur of her cheeks; she knew shed have to wash the rest off before she went back to sleep. "What's your name?" She whispered. Trying to be loud enough for her companion to hear her, but not wake up the other prisoners if possible. Both from a desire to be polite, and a worry of any potential snitches.

Once again, the wolf seemed to struggle with basic mouth movements. The long muzzle poorly translating to human speech. "Nim? Nem? Rembear, cahnt, remembear. Nim. Cawwll, mee, Hun, ter." Eyes busily looking around in thought with every stretch of letters, as if having to visualize each of them in an attempt to be even slightly legible.

"He cant even remember his name?" Was the immediate thought that filled Rose's mind. Was he, damaged in the transformation? Or did they wipe his mind? Was her name even Rose? "No, I remember my life before this. I was a Zeon cadet. I joined the war effort to get a better life for my mothers, who wanted to see the earth again. "

Briefly, Rose wondered what Brinley and Tori would think if they saw her now. But then her thoughts came back to the wolf a few cells down from her. Maybe thats why he had so much trouble speaking, he really did have to concentrate to even make small words and phrases. Rose wanted to ask him more, about the test, about the punishment he mentioned when he first gave her food. But it felt somehow, cruel, making this poor wolf struggle. But, maybe he enjoyed it too? A chance to retain his humanity even for a few moments?

"Hunter, do you like to talk?" Rose finally asked. Taking a step back into the cell, to turn on the tap water and commence washing her face before the blood stained her fur.

Hunter tilted his head in thought, not that Rose could see it while deeper into her cell. But she could still hear the intense difficulty of every syllable uttered by the giant. "Tahahk? Yez. Wurduhz. Harrd. Muhst, wards, or elsee... forget."

In that moment, Rose felt a twinge in her heart. Looking at her reflection in the metal piping around the sink in her cell, seeing the blood dripping away from her muzzle. She couldn't help but feel pity for her new friend. Moments ago she was busy crying at the dehumanization of forcing her to eat a raw steak, but this poor wolf, barely had a sliver of what made us human left. He could barely talk, he could barely form sentences. His mind degrading into feral the longer he remained in these cells. Rose wondered if he could remember his family. She still remembered her mothers, Brinley and Tori. She thought of how they both begged her not to join the Zeon army. They both probably thought that she was dead now. After all, who knows how long she had been missing in action. But she couldn't focus on their crying faces for long, without thinking of that poor wolf. Could he remember the faces of the ones he loved? The ones who loved him? Rose didn't know. She didn't want to know.

Wiping away the last trace of her secret dinner, Rose approached the gate once more. "Hunter?" Rose paused before speaking. Wondering if this line of dialogue would even be a good idea. "Do you, remember anything about the war?"

The towering canine flicked his ears for a moment. Visibly digging in the trenches of his mind. "Men, een, koet say, space bahd. Ert goode. Bat mee frum space. Ruabit frum space. Pack, goode. Eart bad."

Rose couldn't smile or frown at that. Knowing that the wolf was another unwilling project like her, having even more taken away than she had. It made her sick. But, she felt some relief in knowing how black and white he seemed to see things. It makes it easier to deal with the horrors that war brings, when you don't see the corruption of your own and the goodness in the enemy.

Rose shook her head. It did no good to think about such things right now. Right now survival was paramount, and anyone running this prison had forsaken any right to good will long ago.

"Hey Hunter?" Rose pondered. Pressing against the cell bars to look at her discussion partner as best she could. Trying to imagine the view from his cell to hers. There's absolutely no way he would've seen her while she was further in. Although, she had made enough of a scene on her first day to have maybe drawn his eye. "Why are you helping me?"

"SmeEll lioke.. prey.. awhlso liek.. paack. Prawtect.. paack."

Rose again paused. That sentence made her shudder from its implications. Was he just being nice, and this is the weird wolfish way his brain processed the question? Or, Rose thought back to the guards, listing off her modifications which included wolf for pack mentality. Was this a genetically trained trait by the federation scientists? Was it, Hunter's trait to obey, was it her trait to lead? Would some primal instinct kick in, in herself were the reverse situation true? In fact, was her failed attempt to rescue the others before leaving herself part of that? Was, was she doing the right thing back then? Or had she been coded on a genetic level to refuse to leave the "pack". Fuck. Rose wanted to scream, in anger and frustration. Now second guessing her own thoughts. "Or, is the wolf not even my friend? Just a plant here to breed thoughts of companionship and this entire thing is the federation plan? This accent just practiced to inspire pity?"

The fresh surgical scars flared in pain as Rose curled into a ball on the floor of her prison cell. Stretching her back and agitating the pain back to it's full damaging power; but it paled in comparison to the psychological. The inability to know what ones own thoughts were, if they were her own. If she is who she thinks she is. The pure existential dread press down on her with a crushing weight that could shatter bones.

The calmness she had maintained in an effort to not wake the rest of the cellblock during her discussion with hunter squeezed out of her, as she began to sob and whimper uncontrollably. The pain, both internal and external reached an apex, and Rose blacked out. The strain going beyond the conscious limit to withstand.

A double machinegun spray of two vulcans located on either side of the personalized Gouf sprayed up the sides of the enemy GM cockpit. The high velocity rounds with such close proximity let the low caliber draw a line up the enemy suit. The visor and ventilations flickered, alongside, more importantly, the beam saber. That turned on and off rapidly, as the bullets peppered into the power source behind the cockpit. The GM's movements becoming unsteady as its attack turned into a crumple. Collapsing on top of Rose and her Gouf with a titanic crash, that once again forcefully and painfully rocked her body in the pilot seat.

Only as she recovered from the violent shaking, did her eyes glance up, to the mostly mutilated corpse that fell through the bullet holes. A gored corpse, barely even recognizably human, half of a ribcage attached to a face screaming in permanent death throws of agony, painted red in its own viscera. Oozing down the camera emplacement, so close and so visceral, that Rose could only lean over the side of the pilot seat and vomit.

A quick adrenaline jolt shot through the hybrid. Awaking her back on the cell room floor. It was still dark, and despite her whimpering, everyone still appeared asleep; except for Hunter. Only asleep for a few moments, and the nightmares still sunk their teeth in vampirically, draining the soul and the will. Emphasized by the sharp movement of her waking judder, feeling like a rip of the skin off her sore back.