#stygian midra

[rubeau-art]

The boys are fighting!

In Jax’s first encounter with Tsu’Maahr (Stygian Midra ‘Tusk’) he gets his arse absolutely handed to him. He’s not used to being that big, and the fear of the damage he could cause prevents him from fully protecting himself. So he gets thrown around like a rag doll.

Tsu’Maahr gets a few hours of wrecking things while Jax tries to get his head on straight and focus on what he has to do. Their next encounter is a messy and desperate struggle, and it sets something off in Jax and he forgets his fears enough to take the Stygian down.

Jax realises what he’s done later and it freaks him out so bad he gets stuck at 6cm for three days.

[rubeau-art]

Warmup Midra thoughts.

I have been struggling to find a proper name for the Mutated Midra that wasn’t ‘kaiju’, or ‘mutated midra’. Neither of these seemed to fit. After playing around a bit, I think I’m going to settle on ‘Stygian’ as the callsign given to them by the protectorate.

[rubeau-art]

How does Jax feel about the stygian midra who retire? They are still giant, humongous things full of strange mutations, a cracked reflection of what has happened with himself. Does Jax eventually talk with them? Does he find solace in being able to make amends, or are the horrors of having to fight these beings nearly to the death too much for him to be able to face?

Jax is very uncomfortable being around them. He's locked horns with all of them at some point, and they have both done damage to each other.

He does understand what they're going through, and neither him or the Stygian really hold a grudge against the other, none of them asked for any of that after all. It's just easier to live if they limit their interactions.

They do talk, and Jax does a lot of work with them to set up their new homes and facilities, but after that point they don't see each other. (he has a lot of guilt because he still had his own mind during a lot of those fights and they didn't)

He does make a point to be there to help and pay proper respects when they pass.

[rubeau-art]

Is there any way that the mutated stygian midra can be saved? Or is the only way to save them to put them out of their misery?

Initially there is no way to save them. The Machine warps them so much that the only thing that can be done to help them is to put them down.

However, thanks to the effects being a bit delayed on a human, Ori had the chance to analyse the effects. Later he is able to reverse engineer enough that the last handful of the Stygian can get their minds back.

Unfortunately, their physical changes can't be undone, and their lifespan is dramatically reduced, but they do get a peaceful retirement together on Eden-9.