#inner beast

I know what I want.

I know what I deserve...

... And I won't settle for any less.

I've read about intergalactic fics recently, and there's a particular interesting setting that soldiers could develop their spiritual animal that could fight alongside of them in a physical form.

Suppose you are one of the soldiers on the intergalactic battle field, who do you want to fight alongside with and why?(you could come up with their spiritual animals)

A. Ari, who always comes up with the craziest ideas and encourages you to jump from the fleet to the Bug's nest like he does. Crazy, but his plans always work out. Your superiors order you to pair up with him to train him to care about casualties.

B. Steve, who you can always count on to have your six. But he is even more reckless than Ari. You could only pray that he gets lucky and escape Death in the next battle. Your superiors order you to pair up with him so he doesn't go solo as he always wants to.

C. Curtis, who was born in Project Wilford, one of the deadliest soldiers alive. Rumor is he has gutted hundreds of Bugs in one battle, and made it out alive. He's mysterious and silent, and you can't help but wonder if he is a man or a literal killing machine. Your superiors pair you up with him to keep an eye on him, in case he runs wild.

Bonus Extra: D, Winter Soldier. The real Killing Machine. Losing an arm in a battle before scientists made him a robotic one. The only reason why your superiors ask you to pair up with him is because the winter soldier is highly unstable, and that he had asked to see you (why is that? You don't have the slightest clue)

Most of my contemplation on this has gone into what my own inner beast is/would be. I've settled on "Mutt". While different breeds can specialize in types of training, a mutt has the potential for all types, especially if it's a military service dog. So let's go through your list!

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Ari - I'm gonna say his inner beast (in this scenario) is a Firehawk. A bird that starts fires in order to flush out its prey with no consideration for the damage it causes.

For this, I'd probably be a mutt with guide dog training. Ari has this huge blindspot in his vision when it comes to casualties so I've been assigned to guide him through the parts he can't see. Additionally, guide dogs can practice selective disobedience so that they don't accidentally walk their human into traffic just because they got the command to walk. This will be very helpful for working with Ari and helping him to navigate casualty costs.

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Steve - I kinda wanna make Steve's inner beast a honey badger for this one. They are intelligent, fierce and survive a lot of things they shouldn't.

To help Steve's survivability, and to increase the likelihood he'll actually want to keep working with me, I think my inner beast would have to be a mutt trained for medical service. Whether it's getting him medical care or getting him out of danger until rescue can arrive, a medical service mutt would likely be most helpful.

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Curtis - I'm actually not sure what his inner beast would be. I'm torn between a shark and a large feline (i.e. Jaguar).

Either way, my inner mutt clearly needs PTSD/psychiatric support training. Learning to read his body language since he doesn't talk but also helping him find his voice again. Being a barrier between him and others when he needs it. Protecting him. Reminding him of his humanity and caring.

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Bucky - I'm sure a lot of people think Bucky's inner beast is a wolf. After all, one of his nicknames is White Wolf. But I don't think so. He's a sniper first. Silent, attacks from a distance, patient, solitary. His inner beast is an owl.

The reason he's asked for me is because, in this scenario, my inner beast is a mutt with military training in bomb detection. He lost his arm because, from his bird's eye view, he missed some traps that were set out. He's not gonna risk that again so he's asked for me to accompany him so we can keep each other safe. I'm his scout, his trap disarmer, bomb defuser, etc.

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Same, panda, same.