Kiru stepped out of the medical bay looking a little flushed. She had just finished having her womb drained of slime seeds. She had to agree with the ship that it was a simple procedure, but it certainly wasn’t one she would have cared to repeat. The procedure really had only taken twenty minutes, and the first part wasn’t so bad. The ship simply had her sit on a special chair, the Solean version of a gynecologist’s chair. Strangely it wasn’t all that different from the Neku version. After she was settled, an injector was used to deliver the special fluid meant to break down the slime. It barely even stung.

The part she didn’t care to repeat was actually the part where her womb was drained. The how was simple and logical, but it was hellishly embarrassing as well. She didn’t think any girl would be okay with having a thick tube inserted into their vagina, and used to pump bluish slimy eggs out. She certainly wasn’t. Kiru made a mental note to be very careful with slime sex in the future. As fun as that had been, it just wasn’t worth the regret and embarrassment that followed. 

Megumi stepped out of the medical bay at that moment, and pulled her into a hug. She felt herself relax into it. Especially once Megumi started stroking her head. After a moment or two Megumi calmly asked, “Feeling better now?”

Her only answer was to push against Megumi. She didn’t want to say this, but she felt like she needed the attention after that. It certainly made it easier to forget what she just went through. Still didn’t change her newfound stance on slime sex though. Megumi must have read her like a book, because she responded, “In that case, how about joining your classmates? They are currently working on our infiltration plan.”

Kiru let out a breath, and nodded. It wasn’t what she was inclined to do right this minute. However her sense of duty prevailed, and it very much did need to be done. “Yeah, let’s get that out of the way. We can have fun later,” she replied while stretching suggestively against Megumi.

Megumi just giggled. Moments later the two were walking down the corridor. Today was going to be busy, and Kiru had a feeling that the following days would be as well. There was a lot to do before they infiltrated the world below. Although her mind already had a few questions that she hoped the meeting would answer.

Kiru stepped through the door, and found her classmates already discussing the infiltration plan. Although they seemed to be a few steps ahead of what she expected, as they were already discussing who would go where and do what after getting into the capital.

Kiru frowned, “Exactly how are you planning to get into the cities undetected?”

Megumi shook her head, “The real trick is to get in without arousing suspicion. While a cloak can get us in undetected, it would be very suspicious if you just appeared in the middle of the city.”

Suddenly she manifested a second avatar, and that avatar gestured to herself, “The very technology that allows for my holographic avatars does, however, suggest an answer.”

She blinked, “you mean we are just going to walk into the city?”

“Sail in actually. The gate complex is at the bottom of an ocean. With a bit of hacking and some holographic trickery, our transport can sail right into the harbor, and drop off our infiltrators. All while playing the role of an expected passenger liner. No one will think twice about it, and that will allow you and your classmates to simply slip into town without any undue attention.”

That made a certain amount of sense. She had to admit that much, but it did bring up a rather obvious issue.

“Passenger ships are expected to pick up passengers.”

“True, but not on every voyage.”

Kiru nodded, that was true. Although most of the time they were moving passengers. Then she thought of something else, as the ship wasn’t her problem. “Anyway, I think we will need someplace to train. I doubt they really know how to fit in, especially considering what May thought was appropriate. I still don’t know what she was thinking, painting herself like that.”

Megumi chuckled, “Yes that was rather risque. Not really the norm, either. Not even among my creators who aren’t known for being modest about their bodies. Then again, given their abilities, that isn’t all that surprising. Both shapeshifters and telepaths are known to be less modest, but they are both.”

“Speaking of them. I have heard a bit about them, and they seem to come off as a bit of a super race.”

“And you are wondering if that is natural? The answer is sort of.”

“Sort of? What does that mean.”

“That is a rather long story but to make it short the Soleans weren’t born a spacefaring race. They were created, but not on purpose. Millions of years ago, the proto-Solean people were an advanced single system culture that had not yet discovered the secrets of faster than light travel when they made first contact with an aggressive alien culture. What followed was a war they ultimately lost, and their homeworld was ravaged. A few ships survived, most importantly, three of them were outfitted with the first generation of warp drives. They left in search of a new home but faced a hostile galaxy. A few years later they were swallowed by a hyper-ion storm and faced death due to its deadly radiation. To survive the Solean people turned to genetic engineering, but doing so also caused a number of unintended effects. A series of rapid mutations that ultimately resulted in the Solean people. Anyway, that isn’t all that important.”

“No, it isn’t all that important right now,” agreed Kiru.

“Now you mentioned training, and you are right. I have something to show you. It’s on the list of things I planned to show you, but haven’t yet.”

“Hmm, what’s this about a list?”

Megumi smiled, “Well for one, I haven’t yet taught you about the ship’s escape pods. While we shouldn’t need them, an ancient piece of wisdom says that you should always be prepared, just in case the unexpected happens.”

Kiru had to agree with that wisdom. There was even a similar saying among the Neku. “I guess that is true. Although I can’t imagine ever actually needing one of your escape pods.”

Megumi chuckled, “You can’t, but I can. I may be a match for any ship in the quadrant, but I am not invincible. Nothing is. Even the vaunted Excaliburs aren’t invincible, even if they are widely believed to be. Yes, those mighty superdreadnoughts are nearly impossible to destroy. But there are weapons that can penetrate their incredible shields, and carve through their armor.”

Kiru wasn’t familiar with the Excalibur class superdreadnought, but it didn’t seem important. Instead she agreed with the sentiment. She knew of several ships that were touted to be unsinkable or some such, and inevitably they eventually sank. “Anyway, the escape pods and what else?”

Megumi smiled, “The simulators. They employ a neural interface, and immerse the user in a full virtual environment. They have a few obvious training advantages.”

Kiru frowned, “Why didn’t we use them earlier.”

“Because they are no substitute for intensive physical training. Again the reasons for that are obvious. Before you start asking a million questions, I am going to tell you a bit about them.”

Kiru stepped into the room with the simulators, and looked at the row of pods. Her mind was still considering what she had been told. Some of it should have been obvious. The pods were designed to maintain the user’s body for long term sessions. Without them, the user would face a number of health risks. Risks that were often associated with coma patients since they were factors known to occur with long term immobility. It was well known after all that the body would deteriorate without a minimal level of exercise. The pod slowed that down significantly by putting the user in a form of biometric stasis.

Of course being in a virtual environment, she had been wondering about an accelerated temporal rate. Unfortunately that turned out to be something not really recommended. Apparently producing a virtual environment with an accelerated temporal speed came with its own set of health risks. Not that she was entirely clear on what those were. Much of what Megumi had to say on the matter was beyond her. What she did understand was that brain damage and several mental disorders could be caused. Most of them are apparently associated with either prolonged or frequent use of a time accelerated virtual environment. Sometimes both.

Those thoughts quickly drifted to what else the ship had mentioned. She had apparently prepared a scenario to demonstrate the simulator, one she thought Kiru might appreciate. She was curious about that. Kiru made her way to the open pod. Megumi said that it would activate the moment she was in, and since this wasn’t a long-term session. The stasis feature wasn’t going to be activated.

She slipped into the pod, and moments later the world turned dark. Within seconds she found herself in a small ship’s cabin. There was a desk to her left, and on the monitor was what looked to be a brief.

On April Thirteenth 1471 SDE, the Cityship Tokyo received an unusual distress call. Investigation of that distress call has brought the 17th fleet to a planet a mere twelve lightyears away from its previous position. It was the fourth planet in its system, and home to an indigenous culture. One that had not yet split the atom, and was in the midst of a global war. The source of that distress call was traced to an isolated lab in the middle of a besieged nation. A lab that contained a crashed alien ship.

Soldier, you have been selected to be inserted into the area. Fleet command does not want the locals to know of our presence, and as such you will not be issued any advanced weapons. Unfortunately we don’t know much about their weaponry, and as such you must acquire weapons on the ground. Doing so will be important since the lab is under attack. Once you have a weapon, you are to determine the situation on the ground, and investigate the lab. Refrain from action with the locals where possible. The Alliance has no desire to get involved in a planetary war, especially with such a young culture.

There was more, but it was merely to elaborate on her objectives. Kiru commented to herself, “Interesting. It’s sounding like this is a historical simulation.”

There was no response to the comment. Not that she was expecting one. Megumi had said that she wasn’t going to interact with her during the scenario. Now she just had to get to the shuttle bay. According to the brief, the mission starts as soon as she boards the shuttle. Thankfully, there was a map of the ship on the desk. She took a moment to memorize it, and left the room. She had a shuttle to catch, and she was curious where this was going to go.