Toxic listened silently to what the Captain wanted to do and left the briefing room without saying a word. She sought out Jin down in the mech bay down on the fifth deck of the Nautilus. She spotted some of Rose's family at the far end by the outside doors. They were laughing and joking around with one of the Scav Rangers. The woman that Jalisco had been hanging around with was getting out of one of the Borodon suits. Master Sargeant Jin Tkarro shouted at her,"GOOD GOD! That was BLOODY AWFUL! LIL! What were you THINKING? If that wasn't virtual, we'd have a shot up squad of DEAD MEN! IF they were enemies, that would be FINE, BUT NOT YOUR OWN MEN!" Slicey-Dicey shouted down the bay,"For a non-interfacing human, she hit some of the targets! Before she shot her own squad up! It WAS her first time, you know!" Lil Saluted saluted and shouted, "I'm SORRY,SIR! SIR, I'LL DO BETTER NEXT TIME, SIR!" Jin saluted back and shouted,"YOU BETTER! WE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU! Dis-MISSED!" Toxic said behind Jin, "Granny Jin...I'm afraid." Jin whirled around in surprise. "What? You? Afraid? What happened,girl? YOU NEVER have been afraid of ANYTHING I've ever seen!" Toxic hugged herself and shivered. "Did Dokka tell you about the horny girl?" Jin laughed, "You mean the Asuran prisoner who is one of the 'walking dead' or some such? Call her an Asuran, not 'horny girl'...that has wrong connotations! Yeah...he told me what you and Neon saw. Why are you afraid?" Jin was concerned, but tried to hide it. Hearing Toxic saying those words of vulnerability shook her more than she liked. Toxic said,"He wants us...the Four Sisters to confront her! Measure is scared out of her mind, Neblae is just petrified, and Lime...is weirded out of it. I SAW IT! It LOOKED AT ME! It was some kind of dark shadow that looked like the horny...Asuran that swallowed up the Asuran girl! it LOOKED AT ME!" Jin put her hands on Toxic's shoulders and said,"So what? Why does that disturb you so much? Kali looked at you and you kicked her ass. Madjulla looked at you and bit you hard before you kicked her ass. You bit Izkibel, and helped kill her. Why are you afraid now?" "That is what makes me afraid! I don"T KNOW WHY it makes me so afraid! Always before...I thought I could have a chance against someone in a fight, or beat them. This time...I think I could really die and not come back!" Toxic looked so fearful. Jin hugged her and said, "Welcome to MY world. I feel like that in every combat. Like when Izkibell cut my arm off. I was sure I was gonna die. ALL regular humans feel this fear in combat." Toxic pushed away and looked shocked. "Are regular humans CRAZY? Why fight if they fear like this?" "Because of friends. Because of country. Because of ideals. You have to find the courage within you to carry on even when terrified. THAT is what training is for. So the actions you take become automatic, so you can do them, even when bombs are falling around you, and your comrades are being killed around you. You have to call up a greater emotion to overcome the fear." Jin paused. She looked Toxic in the face and said, "You remember when you took on Izkibell? You scared me. I NEVER seen you so angry! She could have killed you. Were you full of fear then?" Toxic shook her head. "No. She hurt you! She would have KILLED you. I was SO MAD! I wanted to stop her so bad, I could taste my anger! I thought I might explode!" Jin nodded,"Anger is a protective emotion when used for good. It can save you from fear. Fear lets you know about danger, and anger helps balance that out so you can take action. Never forget that! That balancing act gives birth to determination and will! Through will, you can move the universe, even if just a bit! Do you understand,girl?" Toxic looked thunderstruck. She nodded. "Thanks. I love you,Jin. I have to act!"Toxic ran off. Jin smiled and let her go. --TO BE CONTINUED!--