[Bongosan]

Great read!
Uhh sorry about being nitpickey but what was the time frame of the SAR pickup of Captain Rukia Fujita. The brain can only go 4-6 minutes with no oxygen before permanent brain damage occurs. Of course the tech must be better but if no synth brains...
I am assuming of course that she would go into full arrest with both lungs essentially destroyed, her heart nicked, and her stomache ruptured. Oh and those persnickety limbs that were removed. Not too mention all the nasty things a vacuum would do to open wounds like that. But I suppose you could have a good "techy" work around.
Also just to chime in on the agony thing. Pain is relative. I've seen people with one or more limbs ripped off that could still talk and walk(assuming the the aformentioned limbs were not the legs but I digress)and I've seen people faint due to a minor almost paper cut.
Please keep up the good work on the story.