Chapter 1

It was all dark. Everything. I couldn't see, hear or smell. I couldn't even feel if I was sitting or laying down on something. The numbness was agonizing. An eternity seemed to pass, everything around me remained still even myself. Then finally as though to my rescue I heard voices. Distant muttering perhaps, though the tone was gradually getting louder. I realized the people speaking were approaching, but the voice in my own head still deemed them illusions. Was my sanity finally starting to sway from all the inaction?

"I hope he's awake today, the medical division said his comatose state has been lifted."

"We'll find out soon enough."

Both their voices were only slightly distinguishable by tone, one deeper and the other light. Their entrance brought a sudden illumination into the room, and immediately my eyes closed to withdraw from it. I grunted in surprise, and I felt my heart begin to pump faster. The excitement and fear both welled inside me, who were these people that were now with me? And what were they going to do with me? Raising my eyelids lightly, the blur of my tears only allowed me to see two shadowy figures approaching. One female and the other male. I heard a light gasp before the two figures rallied to me.

"I hope you've slept well."

The man spoke gently, as my eyes finally adjusted to the invading light. I glimpsed first at the lady. She was probably around her late twenties, brunette hair in a neat ponytail and emerald eyes. I blinked a couple times to focus before I met the mans gaze. The man on the other hand was around his thirties, tussled dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. For some strange reason it dawned on me, that I knew them from somewhere... I turned to her and back to him before my questioning.

"Who are you two? Where am I?"

It was strange. I knew I spoke but... Was it me? My own voice sounded alien to my ears. Eyes widened, my heart rate rose with panic that was seeping into me. The woman and man seemed to notice my reaction, they glanced at one another in alarm. Was it from my questions or my own rushed realizations?

"Steady, take a deep breath. You're in the Shatterdome hospital. Were Joyce and Ervin, don't you rememb-"

"Who am I?!"

I interrupted the man aggressively and both visitors stared back blankly, almost as shocked as I was. It was a question of amnesia, that had solidified with all the mystery around me. It took a brief moment of silence, with us staring at one another before the woman spoke in a delicate pitch.

"Your name is Ty Reid. You were a Jaeger pilot under the Pan Pacific Defence Corps, do you remember what those are?"

With the shock gone, I guess everything was becoming clearer to me and my visitors. The lady spoke more calmly, but with a hint of sadness in her words. It soaked in a bit for what she said, but the idea remained heavily vague. I nodded anyway for her to continue while mutely mouthing the words Ty, Jaeger and PPDC.

"Well how can I put this in better words..."

She lightly sighed, the grimace on her face gave away the incoming bad news.

I prepared myself to hear it, as worse as it was it couldn't be horrible as I was still alive.

"You were dispatched February 3rd, 2017. The Jaeger you piloted, the Terra Shogun was damaged due to an earlier confrontation with a Kaiju."

Revelation sparked in my mind, and I witnessed short sequences of images as she spoke this time. Perhaps it was mentioning the Jaeger I piloted or the Kaiju itself. A massive creature of cyan tendrils and dusky hide flashed before my eyes, and I witnessed the overpowering sensation of several feelings boil inside me. I saw a robot of nearly equal height, plated with reflective chrome armour and onyx interior.

"That day we miscalculated an extra Kaiju capable of camouflage, nicknamed Kamisori . It went straight for the Shatterdome while our other Jaegers were already deployed fighting their own Kaiju."

She paused to look straight at my eyes, and I reflected her gaze. The man was silent the whole time, he only recounted what she said to himself. Continuing with a cough, she never blinked while speaking.

"Brash but brave as you were Ty, you disobeyed HQ orders after returning to the Shatterdome with the Terra Shogun. Not only did you not let the crew resupply the Jaeger, you also ditched your co-pilot going solo to fight the Kaiju yourself."

Her stare revealed a sense of dual emotions, she was both angered and glad in a way towards me. Angry because I had potentially cost a Jaeger and my own life, and glad that I had survived but was void of memory. I hesitated but spoke before her this time.

"I'm sorry..."

"You shouldn't be."

She blinked finally and calmly replied herself, trying to lower her offensive nature towards me.

"I- no we, owe you our lives. Your actions may have been irrational, but you did what you saw was right. I'm glad it all turned out well."

"What happened after?"

"Well you went solo, so I figure you knew your fighting capacity wouldn't be very effective. You managed to lure the Kaiju away from the Shatterdome, gave enough time for the other Jaegers to back you up. But when we found the Terra Shogun it was heavily damaged, repairable but otherwise useless for that time being."

More images ran through my head, I managed to collect a few more important memories. This time it hurt though, and my hands rose to my face. Pressing against my forehead with my fingers, I felt heavy this time and my head was hot. A stream of blood ran down my nose, as Joyce lunged for a rag nearby on a table. Ervin needed only one glance before quickly departing the room, probably in search for medical assistance.

"And now since you've been back Ty, you were injured internally and externally from singular combat in a Jaeger and by the damage the Kaiju did. We found you in comatose still attached to the Jaegar, and you've been asleep for almost 4 months."

She continued wiping above my lip, blood staining the rag but otherwise halting the bleeding with her fingers pressed above my nose. Ervin returned with a doctor before I knew it, and I was injected with a stimulant. Yet even better news was to come beyond my recovery.

"The stimulant should take effect in a couple minutes, you should be perfectly fine then. I'll be off."

"Thank you doctor."

All three of us replied, as the white coated man made his exit from my room. An announcement followed up his leave, coincidentally it was the better news in the worst circumstance.

"War Clock update 8:21:48, Terra Shogun and the Edge Lotus have returned. Docking section D-2 and D-3."

"Joyce, that's Nathan he's back."

"Great, he'll be overjoyed to hear Ty is awake."

"Nathan?"

"Your stepbrother and Jaeger co-pilot, he's been visiting you everyday Ty. He's just back from a Kaiju skirmish. I'll go with Ervin to report. Stay here and adjust a bit. We'll be back."