Mineko is a player character played by Ametheliana.

Mineko
Species & Gender:	Nekovalkyrja, Type 33 Female
Date of Birth:	YE 42
Organization:	Star Army of Yamatai
Occupation:	Star Army Intelligence Analyst
Rank:	Ittô Hei
Current Placement:	YSS Resurgence

Mineko's eyes are girdled with red Nekovalkyrja Facial Markings and are most pronounced on the outer corners. Her big round eyes are a deep periwinkle blue with crimson undertones at the top and center. Her face is rounded with a small pointed nose and full peach lips that spread quickly to show her smile, one that has two sets of canines on the top and bottom. She is five and a half feet and has soft curves but a petite frame. She smells sweet and milky like her voice, which is warm and light and injected with emotion.

Her somewhat grown out straight bangs are thicker on her left side and tuck into a severely short hime cut which obscures her small ears. The rest of her long hair is thick and she often wears it in a double bun tied with a ribbon in its center or loosely wafting over and behind her shoulders.

She likes cold weather uniforms or wearing jackets over the bodysuits.

Mineko has been given a serial number (3-42-714788-443835-1) but due to being gestated by a Nekovalkyrja mother before being orphaned, she was not born with any identification or markings besides the SPINE interface along her back.

Mineko is kind and hard working. Conversationally she can seem less intelligent than she is. She tends to mirror other people and seek out their needs with a genuine want to please, but when she's alone she feels most like herself and recharges during that time.

She can be nervous in new situations or anxious when undertaking something she is not good at. She defers to authority figures or people she trusts when she thinks she can't handle something. She has abandonment issues and wonders if she'll ever be able to be a part of a group or family. She constantly feels like an outsider. Even when she is the most boisterous person in the room, she can still feel like the loneliest and will gravitate from the spotlight to the most hidden recess she can find.

Mineko was born around 4月 YE 42 as a civilian NH-33Y (Youngling). It seems obvious to Mineko that her parent was lost in the Third Battle Of Nataria, though she never knew her. She was quickly given to Tsubomi to be raised. The young Nekovalkyrja was extroverted and sociable, but also a bookworm and enjoyed time alone reading and borrowed a record amount of books from the library.

Humanity and literature classes at Tsubomi were some of her favorites, but she also enjoyed traditional dance classes and devoted a good amount of her free time to learning the often stoic and symbolic dances of Geshrintall. Through them she felt she was able to express her true depth of emotions in ways conversation never yielded. She joined the Kikyō Scouts at the urging of a dance class friend that she wanted to be closer to. Her friend wasn't looking for the same intimacy, but Mineko found something else in the group. She loved the thrill of outdoor activities and skill-building all rolled into one.

After she had matured, in only a couple months, Mineko got a job through her neighbor's mother at the Warm and Sweet she managed. Mineko took to customer service well, she doesn't have a horror story of customers at all and treated everyone with care. But she didn't do well when her neighbor moved stores and a more harsh, overbearing manager took over. This coincided when other parts of her life began crumbling. She didn't like having to sell cookies for the Kikyo Scouts -she already did that enough at her real job! But she was partnered with her old school friend so she looked forward to her afternoons and evenings sitting in front of grocery stores chatting and laughing. The teasing and flirting they shared felt mutual, but her friend was now going steady with a boy and the whole situation left her feeling empty and hollow.

She quit the Kikyo Scouts a year in and threw herself into traditional dance, becoming a protege of the region's teacher. She entertained crowds and small groups alike, finding her feelings were best spoken when dancing.

Just over two years after her birth, Stella Glass came in to her Coffee shop to redeem a gift card. The two had an instant connection, but Stella could tell Mineko was unhappy with untapped potential. The barista took her up on her offer to interview for a place in the Star Army of Yamatai. She quit her job on the spot, but in her heart Mineko promised herself if the military didn't work out, she'd get a library job. It seemed cozy and she had Stella happily agree to visit Mineko there if her offer didn't work out.

The Star Army did work out for Mineko. She had a natural spirit, perhaps inherent to her or perhaps something the Kikyo Scouts had honed. Regardless, she faced obstacles and challenges with zeal and courage. She enjoyed learning everything that was more cerebral from starship operations and communications to laws and history of Yamatai. She wasn't a fighter, it was clear. Even though she had proficiency in utilizing her body, as she did in dance earlier, she couldn't translate that outside of kata and drills. Sparring was not her forte, but she continued trying her best with a little help and coaching from Stella. When choosing her occupation, it was Stella who pushed her to look beyond the color options and go for becoming a Star Army Intelligence Analyst.

With her limited knowledge of the SAINT training, Stella spent her free time guiding Mineko in the areas Stella thought she would struggle with the most like interrogation techniques and combat reconnaissance, mostly doing jovial mock drills that helped Mineko take them less seriously than she was. During the first four weeks black panel selection and without Stella to coach her, the words “Drop On Request” haunted her. But every day they dissipated a little more and more until she stopped thinking about why she would fail and started thinking about why she should succeed. She was highly intelligent and loved the challenge of learning and using knowledge to solve problems. For her, SAINT wasn't just about analyzing information but utilizing it, too.

If there was an award for most improved at selection, she would have gotten it. Instead of floundering, she had pushed through. The next 20 weeks felt like a breeze. Then, she was given her first assignment. Suddenly the goal she had sought was confronting her and she didn't know how to feel.

Full of nervous expectations, Mineko left her first mission surprised by the monotony of drilling into ice on Kepler VI. She had taken an advisory role in noting which planet of the system would be ideal for further research. Her addition to a successful mission left her proud, ready for the next one. The ship's away team explored Ahmar and found evidence of Kuvexians and dead Seelies, a species the SAoY thought extinct. The next few days were a flurry of activity while going to pirate hotspots and an SAoY base to muster reinforcements in saving the Seelies. Mineko went on boarding missions and also advised on the bridge and during mission strategy sessions with the captain. She learned the exhilaration of accessing and analyzing information while on the Resurgence couldn't match the less euphoric stress of being the feet on the ground. After the rescue, the crew received promotions. Thus the analyst was now a Nitô Hei and properly situated in what was her new life off of Yamatai and flying through the stars, protecting her home and the people within it.

The next mission to find and rescue the Wakaba had Mineko at the bridge surveying signal readings and working with central intelligence to triangulate the ship. When they made it to the far Northern reaches, the ship was boarded by Yamatai's greatest enemy and Mineko chose to stay on the bridge instead of repel the boarders. Eventually a Mishhuvurthyar made its way there and Mineko saw her crewmen speared through and eaten alive. Among the dead was the captain. Mineko was thankful Cpt. Aoba was able to ST back. It was a privilege her parent had not been afforded at the Third Battle Of Nataria and shook Mineko temporarily, resulting in a gratitude that the technology existed so that her crewmen could keep on living despite the horrific Mishhuvurthyar attack.

During this continued mission, a new SAINT agent came aboard, Erika Elster. This time the new addition was an operative. Mineko treated them differently than the rest of the crew as she worked under the assumption that the agent had a wider file on Mineko. So, for better or worse, the analyst was a very open book. This worked in both of their favor as they developed a good working relationship and friendship outside of the battlefield.

They decided to get Erika some extra money by working at Mineko's old job during Resurgence's downtime following the successful rescue of the Wakaba. SAINT had other plans, though, and picked the two up for a intel gathering mission to Miyamae where they infiltrated a Mishhuvurthyar base. They killed a few NMX Nekovalkyrja, something that left a bad feeling in Erika but was only momentarily haunting for Mineko. The threat level was low (the sole Advanced-type of the base was a gamer with a sweet pad, but not rallying troops for the newest war) and they departed from the planet with that intelligence for SAINT.

Mineko has the following notable skills:

• Star Army Common Skills
• Survival and Military (Kikyo Scouts)
• Entertainment (traditional dance)
• Sleeping with Lorath princesses
• Knowledge (from personal studies and interests)

Mineko is connected to:

• Stella Glass (Close Friend)
• Dance Instructor
• Aoba Kuranosuke (Captain)
• Erika Elster (SAINT coworker, Friend)

Mineko has:

• Star Army Standard Issue Items
• Kikyo Scout Standard Issue
• Denim Jacket, striped shirts, plaid skirts, jeans, and boots for working at Warm and Sweet
• Pajamas and thick socks for sleeping
• Navy, red, and white co-ord outfit
• Satin hair ribbons
• Ruby obiage gifted to her from dance instructor upon leaving for SAoY
• Mostly intact ship-based power armor replication chamber (!) - make custom PAs!
• PRISM Inert Organic Storage Unit
• The deed and title to a large plot of land on one of Yamatai southern islands, where there's the ruins of an old castle

Mineko currently has 3000 KS.

In the case Ame becomes inactive:

• Can this character be used as an NPC by a GM or FM? YES
• Can this character be adopted after I've been gone for a year? NO

Ametheliana created this article on 2022/12/15 19:07.