Where justification and limits are revealed

[caressthedarkness]

1. (Video - can be tagged in-person.)

[So, stuff happened during the mission. Monsters eating other monsters is kind of a thing...

As Seta explains, she looks fearful as ever, and on top of that, she occasionally makes the face that Asagi did after downing his Spiced Cabbage Banana Smoothie. Apparently, what she ate was not very tasty.]

...I apologize for having kept this from all of you...but Leos' reaction...is why I chose not to reveal everything...

That changes now.

[A deep breath before she goes on.]

The Gloster Foundation...is not just an organization of agents devoted to defeating a specific enemy...that is to say, our goals are true, but the agents in question, myself included, are not human in the first place.

We are all Kijin; the same race as the enemy that threatens humanity and Earth...the difference is that we are here to defend it...

...There is a history to this that I do not mind sharing as well...but I believe this will suffice for those in need of a basic explanation...

[She averts her eyes from the camera.]

I understand if this means I cannot be trusted... but I now realize that Mizuki was right. If I was as bold and honest as she is, the victory today would be a greater one...

---


2. (Option for in-person/action tag)
[A while later, Seta is out by the shore of Sakihama City, looking out at the ocean.

Considering everything, she now understood why Gloster agents operated on their own. That urge to run away because she didn't get it right was rising...]

Maybe...I was not the right one for this task after all...

Comments

[caressthedarkness]

I tried my best...

But I also made things worse in other ways.

[majestic_keiki]

Maybe...But Leos shouldn't have been out there at all.

[caressthedarkness]

He did seem troubled before that...

Why is he...

[Like that, she'd ask, but she never finishes.]

[majestic_keiki]

Everyone in his hometown was killed...But I don't know why he's here or why people let him pilot instead of getting him help.

[caressthedarkness]

Is there no one here who can do that...?

[Seta would try to help herself, but right now, the last thing Leos needs to see is her face.]

[majestic_keiki]

I don't know anybody. That doesn't mean there isn't...I wish I knew what to do.

[caressthedarkness]

As much as I would like to make amends...it is a difficult situation...

Surely, someone higher up in the ranks can help with this...

[majestic_keiki]

Hopefully.

[She let the issue hang for a bit, before giving the woman(?) next to her an uncertain look.]

Can you tell me more about yourself and the things you're fighting?

[caressthedarkness]

...Well...

[She hesitates a bit.]

...It might take a while.

Even though I said that in the broadcast, I do not know where to begin...

[majestic_keiki]

I'm sure you understand why I'm asking. We don't understand our enemies, I'd like to at least have some idea about our allies and what you can tell us about some further enemies.

[caressthedarkness]

...

[Seta knows you're right, Kei. Although she doesn't know how to explain this at first, she eventually decides.]

Then...I will begin with what you know from the mission...

...This body is...not my real one. The reason I was able to survive...is because it represents only a part of me. If I had continued to receive injuries like that...

[She shakes her head, but goes on anyway, because the following is the most important bit.]

I would have died just like any human being...and this applies to the Kijin who we will no doubt face someday as well.

1/2

[majestic_keiki]

[Kei nodded to show that she was following.]

So physical trauma hurts Kijin like other beings, I understand.

2/2

[majestic_keiki]

I imagine it must have hurt...I can only imagine what it's like to have to keep fighting after taking damage like that.

[caressthedarkness]

[She looks uncomfortable discussing it too.]

...Fortunately...they rendered my human body non-functional within seconds...there was not much pain to feel after it was shut down...not while and after the reconstruction took place.

You could say that...I got out of it with only moderate injuries. Like a deep gash in an arm...

However, what we will be facing will not have a human shell to hide behind...this makes some things easier, but others, more difficult.

[majestic_keiki]

You mean that it'll be easier to kill something that doesn't look human?...What does it make harder? Figuring out what to target?

1/2

[caressthedarkness]

[She nods at the first part.]

Yes...it will also be easier to gauge the damage done to most of our enemies.

On the difficult side...some Kijin, notably higher class ones, are sometimes clad in very resilient armor. This armor is resistant to most types of attacks...and the best way of dealing with it is a focused assault on one section of an opponent.

This is where the limbs you've seen...my Craft, RB, comes into play...

2/2

[caressthedarkness]

[But then, a pause.]

...Of course...I have not actually encountered a higher-class enemy myself...and have only managed to completely manifest my Craft once before...

Re: 2/2

[majestic_keiki]

[Kei nodded, not quite sure how to react to that last bit of weird apology.]

So what are Kijin?

[caressthedarkness]

I suppose we would fit the definition of 'aliens' the best. Well, we originated from another realm...one that I have heard is vastly different from this one.

Heard...because I was born on Earth. Not many of us in the Foundation are like me.

[She looks away before continuing.]

But... one common trait we share is that we were all born for battle, one way or another.

Life on Earth is something we never completely adjusted to... it requires more skills than what most of us can mentally manage.

[majestic_keiki]

How so? Skill at dealing with humans or is it some other aspect of Earth that's the problem?

[caressthedarkness]

[Nod.] Dealing with humans is one of the most difficult parts. I believe you've experienced it as well...being a pilot, and also having to maintain a good public image. That is the closest situation I can liken it to. It requires a delicate touch.

...On top of that, Madame, my tutor, taught me that battles on Earth are not won by strength and individual skill; there are often other factors at work, too.

That is also why the most we have done so far is fight against the enemies we know...and not be involved with the ones we don't.

1/2

[majestic_keiki]

Don't remind me of the PR work.

2/2

[majestic_keiki]

And, yes, having to learn to cooperate if it doesn't come naturally to you sounds hard.

[caressthedarkness]

I would say that...we are at least doing much better than our counterparts that are now our enemies...

The same ones now mostly trapped in our ancestral home...that refused to see any other way besides domination...

[majestic_keiki]

...Why do Kijin attack humans? And how did you come together to form the Gloster Foundation to oppose that?