Hybrids

Ironclad

Tameen held Rez's hand tightly as they sat on a medical bed, looking at the bustling hangar they had landed in.
Ships were coming and going every few minutes, and a large part of the hangar floor had been converted into a hospital. Doctors were rushing around, tending to the injured young, all with the same differences that they had.
However, Rez had noticed a few of the doctors also had the same additions to their bodies. Some with cat parts, some dogs, he could have sworn he even saw a glimpse of a mane of hair around someone's neck.
Though the deafening bang of metal hitting metal reached their ears, causing both his and Tameen's to fold down and cover themselves. They looked over to what made the sound, and it was a gigantic airlock for ships to come and go through. 
The giant metal doors were split horizontally, with the bottom half going into the floor, and the upper half into the ceiling. The airlock worked like how it did on a person sized one. Two doors and a chamber in between for altering the pressures, although this one was scaled up to a far bigger size to accommodate the large transports that they seemed to rely on.
At the moment, the doors were opening to allow a transport that looked the same as they the one they were on to come in. However it seemed to have attacked, as one of its engines was missing, and the lower decks were visible through a large hole in the side of it.

But the two didn't have time to keep looking at the ship, as a beautiful brown haired woman approached the two. Her hair was done up in a messy ponytail with two long hairsticks. Her soft looking skin was pale white, and her soft lips reflected the light from above. She was wearing a white lab coat with a woolly green turtleneck underneath-that only made her curves more apparent, which went with her own stunning emerald eyes. She was holding some sort of tablet under her arm, and she spoke with a soft angelic voice befitting of a goddess.

She knelt down to eye level with the two young ones and gave them a genuinely warm, caring smile. Her white teeth on the verge of being blinding when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello. My name is Coco" she paused to let them process.
 "...I know that you've both been through a lot of awful things. But, I'm here to make sure you're both comfortable and safe"
She glanced between the two, not quite expecting any response from either of them. And she was correct in thinking so, which only made her chuckle a bit.
"I can't imagine how you both feel. You look so hungry and sore" she said, gesturing to the scars, bruises and cuts on both of them.
"You'll all be safe here. Every single one of you"
She looked across the makeshift hospital at all of the other young ones, then back to Tameen and Rez.
"But, you two are lucky. You'll have me as your carer. I'll have you two, the other girl, and a few others to look after. So you'll have my attention a lot of the time. Isn't that great?"
She smiled and leaned down, gently extending her hand out with her palm facing upwards.
"I know it must be difficult to trust people right now. But, I promise you, we're going to make things better for you

Rez was unsure. They had only just arrived in this place, and for all he knew these people could be even worse. But he figured that at least these people had the courtesy of introducing themselves before torturing him.
But Tameen seemed to trust her. Placing her small hand on top of Coco's. Tameen's tanned skin contrasted against the pale whiteness of Coco's.
Letting out a little sigh, Rez followed her lead and place his hand beside Tameen's, looking down at how rough both of their hands looked, and how soft Coco's were.

Coco smiled brightly at the two, and stood back up, fixing her white coat as it had creased when she knelt down. 
"I need to go see some others now. But next time we meet, you'll be in a nice comfortable place, and not in this noisy, busy hangar. I promise" she said, waving gently as she walked off. Rez kept an eye on her until she vanished into the crowds.

Tameen was quick to look at him and smile, stating "I like her"
And he was glad he did, but he wasn't quite ready to trust.


The two sat there for what seemed like ages, watching people go by and listening to the doctors when they came round every so often to check up and perform a test or two. They were almost falling asleep, despite the racket going on around them, when a man walked over and looked to the two "Alright. I um, have to take you to your new rooms, if that's okay" he said, gesturing to follow, and which they did. 
Rez however did not let go of Tameen's hand as they did so.

The walk was longer than expected, walking through metal corridors with no windows, pipes running along the walls, and bright fluorescent lights above them. It was an area for soldiers, engineers and workers, style wasn't a concern for designers. After an elevator trip however, the halls were no longer metal and industrial. The floors were now a shiny, smooth tile like material, although there was no gaps to indicate that if it was laid piece by piece.
The walls were painted a cool gray, and plants were placed every few feet. It seemed far nicer than below.

As they were walking along, a white sign caught Rez's eye.
On the wall was the symbol of a blacksmith's hammer in between the words Ironclad. It sounded familiar to him, and he turned to face the man, to question who they were.

Ironclad was a branch of the United Planetary Alliance navy. A navy that served the entire solar system and protected innocents against pirates or threats to peace. Ironclad was the navy's raw untamed power. The toughest ships and biggest guns.
One of Ironclad's biggest achievements was putting an end to a war that ravaged the system for over 50 years. 
The war was fought between the UPA planets, and those who sought to become independent from Earth. The Pro-Independence planets consisted of Mercury, Saturn and Pluto. 
The war was hard fought, and many lives were lost. But Ironclad led many successful operations against the P-I forces, and even conducted the final battle that ended it once and for all. Three Ironclad ships stormed in and decimated the already tired and beaten fleets over Titan, and laid siege to the moon, as the P-I leaders were hiding out on the surface.
Only days after the bombardments started was the white flag raised, and Mercury, Saturn and Pluto were back into the UPA. 
But the punishments that Earth handed out were only fuel for a future conflict. One that has been bubbling for a long time, and was likely to erupt soon with the new leadership of Theodore as the Head of System.

"Oh. Ironclad? That's who we are. Those guys who saved you. Ironclad" the man said as he opened a door, which led into a spacious, well lit room. 
Three beds were lined along the wall, with a large TV, a few potted plants and a door that led to a bathroom in the corner. 
Tameen walked in and looked around, then noticed a large window on the far wall. She walked over and peered out, letting out an audible gasp as she saw below.
The window overlooked the hangar they were just in, with a perfect view of  the ships that come and go.

Rez walked over to one of the beds, then over to the man who was standing at the door. He was skeptical, and didn't quite believe what was going on "So, this is just ours?" he asked with a hint of distrust.

The man looked over and nodded, reaching behind his head and scratching his hair "Well, it's a temporary accommodation, but yeah. It's your room"

Tameen seemed enamoured by the view, watching the ships fly in from space, then flying back out to do who knows what. Her bunny ears twitched and moved around quizzically as she watched, then she turned to face Rez with a big smile.

This warmed Rez's heart up to the idea, but when he turned to look at the man again, he was walking off as he talked on his radio to someone. 

Shrugging, Rez claimed the bed in the middle, sitting on it and then laying his head on the pillow as he stared at the wall. His ears twitched gently as he listened to Tameen shuffle around the window just out of his view. But he was more focused on what he could feel, not what he could hear.
The softness and warmth of the pillow enveloped his head, and his body sank ever so slightly into the mattress. It had been so long since he had felt this safe, comfortable sensation. As he thought about it his eyes began to well up, and moments after he realised, tears began to stream down his cheeks.
He grabbed the covers and hugged them, burying them into his face as he let out a sob.

The sob however, didn't go unnoticed by Tameen's sensitive ears. She quickly ran over and knelt beside the bed, and put her hands on Rez's head "W-What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked, obviously worried about her friend.

Rez shook his head and moved the covers away, looking into Tameen's emerald green eyes. He cleared his throat "It's been so long since I've had a soft bed, and a pillow"

She gave him a sad look and nodded in agreement, before she climbed up onto the bed and laid beside him, hugging him. Her ears lowered behind her head, and she rested her head just behind Rez's "I'm tired" she whispered.

Rez nodded "So am I. But I don't want to sleep right now" he said, sitting up and looking odwn at the brown haired bunny "I want to see my sister before anything else..."

Tameen nodded as she sat as well, understanding his worry "Okay. I'll stay up too"

And they both did. They sat next to the window at a small table and watched ships come and go, taking note at how many more experimented children come off of them. They sat for what seemed like hours, until they heard the door open to their room.

Both of their heads turned around almost instantly to see who was there. At first it seemed like it was just Coco who was walking in, and Rez's heart sank a little, but as she walked in, he could see that behind Coco, was a bandaged and fixed up Riza.

Rez immediately sprung to his feet and ran over, sobbing and crying out loud as he ran into his sister's arms. She let out a grunt as he bumped her stomach from running, but she smiled and hugged him, kneeling down so they could be at eye level.

Riza stroked the back of Rez's head as he cried into her chest "It's okay. I'm alright. We're together now" she gently reassured him. 
He gripped her clothes and hugged her tightly, but his tail seemed to wag at an incredible speed.

Riza picked him up and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his back and waiting for him to calm down. Tameen however was also trying to help, as she sat beside the much bigger and taller girl and held Rez's hand.

Coco smiled at the sight, and sat down on the chair that Rez was on a few minutes before. She cleared her throat before speaking "Allow me to properly introduce myself now. My name is Coco Gems, I'm a scientist and caretaker here at Ironclad. My job is to care for all of the Hybrids that come in, and I'm here to help heal your wounds and make you all comfortable"
She adjusted her labcoat an glasses before continuing
"You're currently aboard our fleets biggest medical ship, the Golden Bellows..." she then placed her hand on her chin "A lot of our ships have a sort of, blacksmithy theme. I suppose bellows mean like, it stokes the fire to keep us going, and the fire is us, and getting us back into action. I think anyway"
She thought about that for a few moments, then smiled and sat up "Well, I'm sure you're all hungry, and after eating you should get washed and get that dirt and blood off of you" she spoke with a smile, and gestured to the door.

Two trays of hot meals were rolled in, plastic tubs of chicken and rice, beef and gravy, steamed vegetables and fish. It was a gourmet meal just for them, and the three wasted no time in digging in.
And whilst the three began to eat, Coco smiled and took a sneaky picture with her phone to remember their first day