Pacific Rim: The Southern Line
The Furies
Before there were the Jaegers, there were the Furies.
[Author's Note: This story is set in the period between the first appearance of the Kaijus and the development of the Jaegers.]
Eun Park woke with a start, snapping upright in her bed and, as usual, banging her head on the underside of the bunk above. She swore. The occupant of the overhead bunk muttered something in sleepy Japanese, but Eun could not make it out. Partly because she could not speak Japanese, but mostly because she simply couldn't be bothered.
She had been dreaming of helicopters – again. Dreaming of her last day in the pilot seat, facing something that shouldn't exist. Shouldn't, but there it was. Not like you could miss it. Not like it was trying to hide.
She rubbed her bruised forehead and swung her legs over the side of the bunk, wiping the nightmare sweat away as best she could. She glanced at the clock: it was only an hour to the start of her shift. Might as well get out of here, see if the bar was open.
She pulled on her greasy overalls and in the darkness picked her way to the door, stepping over sleeping bodies. There were twelve women, counting herself, assigned to this room, with six sleeping in bunks and the rest on mattresses on the floor. Once, this place had been a ritzy resort hotel. Now it had thousands of survivors from various countries crammed into it. Whoever was doing the organisation had stuck her with a Japanese group, maybe assuming she was Japanese or maybe just not knowing what else to do and having no time to think about it. Eun didn't like it much but, hell, it was better than what a lot of other people had.
And she could not help but feel sympathy for the Japanese, both the women in the room and the hundreds of others scattered around Uluru Base. After all, there simply wasn't a Japan anymore. Or a Taiwan or a Hawaii, for that matter. And much of South Korea was gone. Three hours after the Kaiju had come ashore near the coastal city of Pusan – once her home – the North Koreans had launched an attack. They had said that it was to 'unify the country to better face the threat'. Yeah, sure, of course. But the South Korean army had turned and fought them, and between the conflict and the Kaiju – well, do the maths.
She had managed to get onto one of the last evac planes, an Australian one, and now she was here, in the middle of the Australian desert – damn, she hadn't even known there was a desert in Australia – working, like everyone else, in one of the huge weapons factories. Making parts. Had been doing it for months.
The Kaiju that had destroyed much of her country was the fourth one, or maybe the fifth, to emerge from the Breach, no-one really knew. It had taken most of her country's military forces, with help from US and Russian planes, to eventually drive it back into the sea, bloodied but not beaten. So it was still out there. Somewhere.
She left the hotel and walked through the sweaty, luminous darkness to the bar, really just a large pre-fab shed. As usual, she stopped for a few moments to stare at the massive bulk of the Rock on the horizon. At the moment, it was a blacker-than-darkness shadow. Damn thing was the size of a Kaiju.
The bar was half-full. She still had some credits, and she ordered a beer and took a seat at the counter.
And the inevitable happened. Some guy tried to hit on her. She brushed him off. Then another did. Brushed him off too. The third one was more insistent, saying that 'Jap girls will do anything for a couple of credits, or even a couple of drinks'.
"I wouldn't know," said Eun. "I'm Korean."
"Heh," said the guy. "That means you'll do it for nothing."
Eun sighed. She glanced at another guy sitting at the counter, an older guy, looked Australian. He had a half-full beer jug in front of him.
Eun looked again at the guy bothering her. "In most cases, yeah," she said. "But not you. I only like guys who like girls, you see. So that means, well, not you."
The guy gave a snarl. He grabbed her by the wrist and wouldn't let go.
The older guy picked up the jug and came over to Eun. He put the jug down. "You may as well have this," he said.
The guy holding Eun gave another snarl. "I don't want another drink," he said.
"I wasn't talking to you," said the older guy.
With her free hand, Eun picked up the jug. And then smashed it over the guy's head. He cried out in surprise and let go of Eun's wrist. Eun punched out, once, twice, short savage Hapkido punches.
But the guy was strong. He grabbed Eun by the throat and pushed her back over the counter.
She managed to turn her head to look at the older guy. "Feel free to jump in any time," she said, through gritted teeth.
He held up his hands. "Hey, you just wasted half a jug of beer," he said. "Done my bit, sister."
"Oh, alright," muttered Eun. "I'll do it myself." She brought her knee up, smashing the guy in the groin. He gave a shout of pain and let go of Eun. She took the opportunity to head-butt him in the face. He staggered backwards.
The older guy put out his foot and the other guy fell over it, crashing to the floor.
There was a smattering of applause from the people in the bar. A couple of the guy's friends picked him up and hustled him out before someone called the cops.
"There, I helped," said the older guy to Eun. "Which I think means you owe me a jug of beer."
"As I see it, I owe you absolutely nothing," said Eun. "You got a good show, after all. Sounds like you owe me."
There was the sound of a siren. Shift change. Which meant that Eun had ten minutes to get to her place on the production line. She started for the door.
"Show wasn't that good," said the guy.
She flipped him the finger and continued on her way.
Her shift was finishing when one of the Military Admin people came up to her. Said that she was wanted in the office of Base Commander Albright.
As she followed the man, Eun wondered if maybe the guy she had decked in the bar was a boyfriend of Albright, or maybe a relative. Well, nothing to be done about it now.
She was shown into Albright's office. There was someone already there, seated in a chair. Damn, it was the older guy from the bar. He looked a bit puzzled, and even more so when he saw her.
"You know why we're here?" he said to her.
"Probably because of our charming personalities," said Eun.
Base Commander Louise Albright entered, with her usual crutch. She eased herself into her chair as the Admin guy, whose uniform shirt named his as Major Bellows, handed a folder of documents to each of them.
There were several pages of odd-looking graphs, covered in squiggles and hand-written notations.
"Ms Park, Mr Trent, if you don't know, these are copies of the brain scans that you had when you arrived at Uluru Base," said Albright. "They mean that you have just volunteered for a special assignment."
"Uh, how can I say this, no," said Trent. "And fuck you."
Albright ignored him. "Are you familiar with the Furies project?" she said. "You are now a part of it, anyway."
"What part of 'fuck you' isn't clear?" said Trent.
"You can do this," said Bellows to him. "Or you can go back to jail. Or maybe you might not make it that far. Fatal accidents happen around here all the time, you know."
Huh, thought Eun. "I am not familiar with the Furies project," she said. "At the moment, I work on an assembly line."
"But you used to be a helicopter pilot," said Albright. "Which means you know about operating complex machines."
"I hope you're not talking about what I think you're talking about," said Trent.
Albright sighed and levered herself out of her chair. She and Bellows led them into the corridor, where they piled onto one of the electric runabout vehicles. Eventually, they came to a huge hangar. Eun had not been to this part of the base before; it was off-limits to people with her lowly security clearance.
"Your brain patterns show that you both have a capacity for what might be termed extreme multi-tasking," said Albright, as they entered the hangar, where squads of workers were buzzing about. "That is what we need right now. For the Furies."
They turned a corner – and then Eun gasped.
Inside the hangar were two giant robots. Towering. Massive. Unbelievable. But there.
"Meet AC7491 and DC8032," said Bellows. "Your new best friends."
"Fuck," said Eun and Trent together.
"This is part of a world-wide project to develop weapons that can fight the Kaiju," said Albright. "As you know, our conventional weapons … well, sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't."
"Uh, I don't want to piss on your parade, but neither of these could take down a Kaiju," said Eun. "I've seen one up close, and they're bigger than these things. Way."
"We know that," said Bellows. "Which is why there are two of them. They – you – will fight a Kaiju together. Two against one."
"I don't play well with others," said Eun.
"Neither do I," said Trent. "Authority issues. Co-operation problems. You've probably read the file."
"Yeah, but you're the best software hacker we have left," said Bellows. "Which is what landed you in jail, as I recall."
"And I got let out early so I could work for you," said Trent. "That was meant to involve sitting in front of a screen and writing code. Not going up against a monster in one of your tinkertoys."
"I am surprised," said Eun, "that you don't have people who are better qualified for this job."
"We did," said Albright. "But they were in Jakarta when the place got levelled."
"So we're the B team," said Trent.
"Actually, the C team," said Bellows. "The back-up team were in Jakarta too. So now we have two robots ready to roll but no pilots."
The four of them stared up at the two Furies. AC7491 had its chest and head open, showing where the pilot would go, hands and feet strapped to servo mechanisms, and surrounded by computer consoles.
"Why didn't you make them larger?" said Eun.
"This is as large as we can get and still have them mechanically controlled by a pilot," said Albright. "There are plans to build larger ones, called Jaegers, using a neural interface and two pilots operating in unison. But that's a fair way off. We're waiting for the Japanese, or what's left of them, to come up with one of their programming miracles to make it work. Until then, we go physical, and tag-team."
"Huh," said Trent. "So the bottom line is that you need us. That raises the question, what do we get out of this? In return for risking our lives against a mountain of claws, teeth and bad attitude, we should get some special privileges."
"What you get," said Albright, "is the opportunity to save the world. And get some payback. I don't have to tell you, Mr Trent, that many cities in this country have been destroyed, even though we had enough warning to relocate most of the people inland. That should be more than enough incentive for you."
"Meh," said Trent.
"These things are spreading," said Bellows. "There were reports of one near New Zealand recently. They're not going to stop. You want special privileges? How about the privilege of you both keeping your present salubrious accommodation instead of being shoved into the General Dormitory section of the base? I understand that you can get a bunk there, sometimes, if no-one bigger wants it."
Eun wasn't listening. She was staring up at the Furies. It was a chance to fight again. Settle up. Make amends.
"I'm in," she said. "So is he."
"Hey, wait – " started Trent.
"I said," said Eun, "that you're in. Live with it."
It was one of those dreams that you know is a dream, or the dream of a memory, but that doesn't make it any easier. She had had this dream before, and would no doubt have it again.
She was in the cockpit of the UH-60P combat chopper, one of a flight of three meant to distract the Kaiju – codenamed Wanderer – while the rest of the air force swept in from behind. The choppers' mission was the eyes. In the briefing, it had sounded simple. It can't be armoured all over, can it? Got to have a soft spot somewhere. So go for the eyes. A blinded Kaiju is a Kaiju down. Easy peasy Japanesy.
So the three helicopters had been hovering in position, waiting for the Kaiju to get in range. The briefing officers had said that it would probably move away when it saw them, but it didn't. It came at them in a run, with a howl that made the whole chopper shake, ear-splitting even over the storm of the rotors. Hard to believe that anything so large, so goddamn fucking huge, could be so fast. And then it had –
Eun woke with a start again, snapping upright in her bed and, as usual, banging her head on the underside of the bunk above. Out of habit, she swore.
She looked at the clock. It was almost time for her to start her first day as a Furies pilot. So she swung herself out of bed and pulled on her overalls.
It couldn't be that hard, could it? There were computer systems that would help the pilot guide the machine, Albright had said. Once you're strapped in, it will follow your movements, and you can make adjustments with the computer console. Couldn't be much more difficult than flying a chopper, could it?
"Fuck!" shouted Eun for the umpteenth time. "This is fucking impossible!"
"All you have to do," came Bellows' voice in her earphones, "is walk ten paces, turn around, and come back again."
"Then you fucking do it!" she shouted. She tried to take another step, but AC7491 toppled and went over – again – crashing to the desert ground. With an effort, she struggled to her knees, a process that took about five minutes.
To make matters worse, Trent in DC8032 strode by her. "Hey, this is a lot of fun," he said over the radio. "We should market these things as rides for kids."
"Screw you," said Eun, as she got back on her feet.
There was a series of clicks in the earphones. She realised that Trent had somehow turned off their radio connection to the bunker on the test site, where Albright and Bellows were. For a few moments, at least, it was just the two of them.
"Hey, you don't want these pricks to win, do you?" he said.
"The Kaiju?"
"No, Commander All-Bitch and Major Asshole."
"Oh. Well, no."
"Then don't try so hard. Look, you're smarter and stronger than me, so if I can do it then you can. Don't think of it as a vehicle you have to drive. Think of it as a videogame."
There was a crackle in her earphones and Bellows came back. "Mr Trent, have you been screwing with the communications software?" he said.
"Who, me?" said Trent. "Why would I do that, Major Ass … I mean, Mr Bellows?"
Eun could not help but smile. She readied herself for another try at walking. Right, she told herself. Videogame. With hands and feet. She took a step. And then another. And then another.
"Not bad," said Albright.
But it was, Eun thought, a nightmare of switches and levers, buttons and screens. In fact, there was no window in the Fury; the pilot had to depend on video cameras. One more thing to worry about.
She made it to the end of the course, turned, and came back.
Finally, the day was over, and she and Trent found themselves back in Albright's office, with Bellows and a troop of technicians.
"Well, that performance was a piece of crap," said Albright. "A Kaiju will eat you for dinner."
"I can walk alright," said Trent.
"Wonderful," said Bellows. "You can take a nice stroll with one of them."
"I want a design change," said Eun.
"Says the pilot who took an hour to get to the end of the runway," said Bellows.
"I want a window," said Eun. "So I can see out. See what's in front of me. Help me keep my balance, stay orientated."
"Impossible," said Bellows.
"Actually – " said one of the technicians, a Chinese by the name of Sao. He was the engineering team leader.
"Shut up," said Bellows.
"I think it's a great idea," said Trent. "Yeah, we should have a window. You know, I wrote some of the code for the video screen controls, and I wouldn't trust it if my life depended on it. Which it does."
Albright sighed. "We'll see," she said.
Sao looked at her. "Tell them," he said.
"Uh, tell us what?" said Trent.
"There is a … timing … issue," said Albright. "When it comes to combat. So far, you have been in minimum-power mode. That's really only enough for basic movement. Combat requires much more. So the batteries will last for … well, not very long."
"How long is not very long?" said Eun.
"Four minutes and twenty-three seconds," said Sao.
"And then?" said Trent.
"If you exceed the time limit, you freeze," said Sao. "If you switch out of combat mode before you reach the line, you go back to minimum-power mode. The batteries start to charge up again from the reserves."
"Oh, that's just fucking sweet," said Trent. "So we have four minutes to beat a Kaiju?"
"And twenty-three seconds."
Trent and Eun stared at each other. "I wish I could say that it has been nice knowing you," said Trent to her. "But actually, it hasn't."
"Likewise, moron," said Eun.
"And tomorrow," said Albright, "we begin combat training."
It was five days later. Aching in every muscle, Eun staggered into the bar.
"Oh, great," she muttered. "It's you."
"Well, maybe one of us should leave," said Trent. "I vote you."
Eun muttered a Korean profanity. Then she sat down on the stool next to Trent.
"Okay, asshole, out with it," she said. "Tell me what you do to get this thing to work. Today, we hit the 4.23 mark and I hadn't even got my weapon up."
"Maybe you're just incompetent," suggested Trent.
"Much as I hate to agree with you, you could be right," said Eun. "But there's just so much to watch inside that thing. Pressure gauges, balance monitors, environmental controls. I just can't do it all and keep track of the time."
"Oh, I don't bother with any of that stuff," said Trent.
"What!?" said Eun.
"The techs can handle it. Hell, I wouldn't know what to do anyway, if there was a pressure drop or a … something else. I never even knew how to set the timer control on my old DVD player. I guess it was in the manual, but I couldn't be bothered."
"Huh," said Eun. "Son of a bitch. But that still doesn't solve the timing problem. If I keep one eye on the clock, I can't do all the other stuff."
"Hmm," said Trent. "Okay, you can share my secret. Come with me."
They finished their drinks and Trent led Eun to a distant part of the hotel. Eventually, they came to a narrow door. Eun looked around. Room Number 12 was on one side, Number 14 was on the other, Number 13 was across the hall.
"I think of this as room number twelve-and-a-half," Trent said. He opened the door.
It had, apparently, once been an equipment closet. It was only just big enough for a bunk, with perhaps ten inches of room on the side. You had to climb onto the bed to get through the door.
So they climbed onto the bed.
"After this, I will no longer complain about my sleeping arrangements," said Eun.
Trent was taking something from a shelf. He handed it to her.
It was an ancient iPod. He manipulated the controls until the name of a particular song came up on the screen.
"This music is from an era well before your time," he said. "But this song has a particular advantage. It is exactly four minutes and twenty-three seconds long. I listen to it to help me keep track of the time. And so I don't have to listen to Albright and Bellows natter at me. Once you've heard it a few hundred times, you get to know the timing. You can try it, see if it works for you. I have another one."
Eun looked at the song title.
Thunderstruck. By a band called AC/DC.
Eun and Trent entered the hangar together. There had been no training for a few days, as Sao had wanted to do some maintenance and upgrades on the Furies.
They joined Albright and Bellows, who were standing in front of the Furies, staring at them. Sao joined them, wiping his hands on an oily rag.
"All done," he said to Albright. "As per your orders."
Eun and Trent looked up at the Furies. There were now window panels in the front, made of high-tensile plastic. Not as strong as the meta-alloy armour, but not bad.
And there was something else. AC7491 now had the word Thunderstruck painted on the side. DC8032 was Hell's Bells.
"My … orders?" said Albright.
"Yes, from your email of a few days ago," said Sao.
Albright stared at Trent. "My … email," she said. "Of a few days ago."
Trent shrugged.
Albright turned to Bellows. "Make the new designations official in the records," she said to him. She looked at Trent and Eun. "Carry on," she said. She limped away.
Part II
The helicopter pilots had been told that at this height they would be out of range of the Kaiju, even its tail. Hadn't worked out that way. Even as Eun watched the Kaiju crash towards them, its barbed tail extended like a telescope, doubling in length. The Kaiju swivelled and lashed out, the tail smashing into the chopper on her left. It immediately disintegrated, showering Eun's chopper with flying debris. A piece of metal came whirring through the side window, lancing into the head of her co-pilot. There was a shower of blood.
And the Kaiju was reaching for them now, extending its huge, claw-like arms. Eun saw her hands moving on the controls, seemingly of their own volition, pulling back on the sticks to gain more height. She glanced to her right, just in time to see the chopper there pulled from the sky.
It was her instincts and training at work now, and they were transferring the weapons controls from the co-pilot's console to her own. There was a moment when the face of the Kaiju was directly in front of her, those massive eyes staring into her soul.
"Firing missiles!" she heard a voice say into to the radio, before she realised it was her own. She watched as the missiles smashed into the face of the Kaiju, exploding into clouds of smoke.
And nothing happened. The Kaiju shook its head, a giant flicking a mosquito bite.
Then, from behind the creature, a flight of warbirds was coming in. The Kaiju turned again, swinging that massive tail, taking out a half-dozen before they could even fire. The rest scattered. Some fired, but their missiles were no more effective than Eun's had been.
Her chopper was sputtering now, damaged and leaking fuel. If only I had got closer, she thought. If only I had aimed better. If only I had done my job better, I might have saved them. If only…
She came awake with a start. To the sound of flying engines.
"Quite a dream you were having there," said Albright, strapped into the seat across from her.
"Are we there yet?" said Eun.
"Another half-hour," said Bellows, next to Albright. "The crews with the Furies are already in position. We'll be landing at Singapore airport, and then we'll link up with them."
Singapore. Shining corporate jewel of south-east Asia. And now there was a Kaiju heading for it. And once it had flattened Singapore, it would probably go on to the Indian Ocean. From there …
So Eun and Trent had been pulled from their beds a few hours ago and told that they had their first mission. Intercept and destroy at point of landfall. Sounded easy, when you put it like that.
She stared out the window at the clouds below. Logically, she knew that there was really nothing else she could have done. The mission had failed because they had not known enough about the enemy. 'No blame should be attached to any of the battle participants' would have been the official report, if there had been one. That was one part of her head. But the other part … well, all it could see was the planes going down, her co-pilot with half his head gone, the Kaiju moving towards Pusan. And it saw failure, defeat, promises not kept and home not defended.
She glanced at Trent, sitting next to her. He was writing something.
"Your will?" she said.
He laughed. "Far from it," he said. "Making notes for the talk shows. As I see it, after we've killed this thing we'll be so famous that we'll never have to work a day in our lives again. Just sit back and watch the money roll in. And these two – " he nodded at Albright and Bellows – "will have to kiss my celebrated shiny arse."
"Ha," said Bellows.
"But if you are successful in this mission, I might be able to give you a few days off," said Albright. "Maybe. Without pay, of course."
"Let me ask you something," said Eun to Trent. "Have you ever actually seen a Kaiju?"
"Of course not," he said. "But plenty of pictures and things. And we've done the combat simulations and training. I mean, how hard can it be to kill one? They're just animals, after all."
"Great," muttered Eun. "Fucking wonderful."
The plane landed and a military helicopter took them to the northern edge of the island, where Thunderstruck and Hell's Bells were being given their final prep.
This part of the island was a large patch of open, sandy land, part of the Singapore government's ongoing plan to expand the island through land reclamation. The area had been filled some years before but was still to be declared stable enough for construction. The edge of the city was a few kilometres away. Some of the population – those who could afford to buy their way into another country – had been evacuated but most were in underground shelters. Like that would be much help when the whole place started to come down.
The Furies had been fitted with their weapons. Attached to the left arm was a machine gun. It had thirty 'bullets', each the size of a truck and packed with explosives, in a bandolier strap that ran across the Fury's back. On the right arm was an extendable knife: if the Fury had been the size of a man, the blade would have been about twelve inches long.
"We'll be in the helicopter, watching you the whole time," said Albright. "So all you have to do is follow orders. Got that?"
"Yeah, 'cos that always works," said Eun.
The plan was to have the two Furies a distance apart, so when the Kaiju went for one the other could attack it from behind. That was the plan.
Eun and Trent were taken up to the cockpits of the Furies on the elevators and were strapped in. Albright, Bellows, Sao and the others got into the helicopter and flew to a safe distance.
"We're tracking the Kaiju by satellite, and we're pretty sure it's going to come ashore right between you," said Bellows over the radio. "Don't switch to combat mode until the last possible moment."
"Ah, some images of the Kaiju have just come in," said Albright. "Transferring them to you now."
An image came up on Eun's computer screen.
She gasped.
Wanderer.
It was fucking Wanderer.
"I can tell you right now," she said into the radio, "that this attack-from-behind idea isn't going to work. Its major weapon is its tail."
"Doesn't look that dangerous," said Albright. "So stay with the plan."
"Anyway, how would you know?" said Bellows.
"Because we're old friends," said Eun.
At that moment, a wave broke onto the shore. There was a tremor through the ground. And then another. And then another.
And then Wanderer waded out of the water and onto the beach. It looked around and gave a howl.
"Weapons hot and prepare to switch to combat mode," said Albright.
"Watch the coolant pressure and the temperature monitors," said Sao.
"And don't forget to – " started Bellows.
Eun turned them off. She put the iPod plugs in her ears.
"Damn, I hate this song," she muttered to herself. She opened the channel to Trent.
"Hey, asshole, get ready," she said to him.
She heard him whisper: "Fuck me. It's … it's … "
"Yeah, it's big, I know," she said. "Watch out for the tail, it gets a lot longer when it's fighting."
Silence.
"Trent?" she said.
Nothing.
Goddamn, she thought.
The Kaiju had begun to move. Towards Hell's Bells. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed.
"Trent!" shouted Eun. "Go to combat mode! Now! It's coming right for you!"
"I … I … I can't … "
"Fuck!" said Eun to herself. She punched the button to switch to combat mode and hit the control on the iPod. A guitar riff began.
4.23. And counting.
She began to run. Faster. She saw the Kaiju's tail extend.
"Trent, get your fucking gun up!" she shouted. "Or move! Do fucking something!"
But Hell's Bells was just standing there, immobile. Frozen.
The Kaiju was almost on him when Eun caught up. She grabbed the Wanderer's tail as it whipped around and pulled. Then, with all her strength, she swivelled and flung the creature through the air, back down the beach.
It smashed into the ground and rolled, but was up again in a moment. It charged at her.
3.49.
She lifted the arm with the gun and fired. The explosive bullets whacked into the Kaiju. Boomboomboom –
And then nothing. Jammed. After nine shots.
The Kaiju ploughed into her, swinging her around. She managed to get an arm free and punched out, smashing into the creature's jaw. It fell back a step.
And looked at her.
"Yeah, that's right, fucker," she said. "Me. The one who spat in your face."
Wanderer charged again. Eun swung the arm with the now-useless gun, to use it as a club. But the Kaiju blocked the blow, grabbing hold of the arm, and smashed out, knocking Thunderstruck down. Eun managed to get to her knees but the Kaiju wrapped her in a deadly embrace.
3.21.
Inside the cockpit, lights began to flash red. There was the sound of metal tearing. The video screens went dark.
"Trent," said Eun. "I … need you … help me … please … "
And then, suddenly, Wanderer was away from her, being pulled back. Trent had his knife extended and was stabbing it, again and again, and punching with his other fist.
The Kaiju's tail flashed around, cutting into Hell's Bells leg. The Fury fell back a few steps, and went down onto one knee, the other leg gushing hydraulic fluid.
Eun struggled to her feet. She realised that Thunderstruck's left arm was useless, crushed. She needed another weapon.
She had an idea. She searched for the control, and then found it: Emergency eject cartridge strap.
The strap with the bullets fell from Thunderstruck's back. She picked it up with her good arm.
2.39.
She swung it, and caught Wanderer across the face. And then again. And then again. The Kaiju fell back, howling in something that might have been pain.
She smashed into the Kaiju with the strap again, but this time it caught it in its mouth. Wanderer tore the strap from Eun's hand.
Trent's voice, quite soft: "Down."
She dived aside.
Boomboomboomboomboom –
Hell's Bells was still on one knee but was firing. The bullets were smashing into the Kaiju's chest, and it was bleeding. But it was a long way from going down.
1.41.
That tail was whipping up again, preparing to strike. Eun leaped for it, grabbing it and holding it down. She extended the knife, and drove it through Kaiju flesh, pinning the tail to the ground. And then the blade broke.
She rolled away and struggled to her feet once more.
"Fuck, this thing is tough," said Trent. "Twenty-five bullets and it's still up."
"I'm on the last verse," said Eun.
The Kaiju had managed to rip itself free from the knife, although its tail was now shredded, gushing blood. It came charging at them again.
Eun launched herself at it. There was a crash as muscle met steel. With her right fist, she punched, and punched, and punched.
But Wanderer had its claws around her again, and was squeezing. This time, it meant to finish her. Eun could hear supports collapsing and cables snapping.
0.59.
She could feel her blows getting weaker. And she realised that Trent could not fire for fear of hitting her.
She looked up. She saw that the ammunition belt was still in Wanderer's mouth.
"Trent!" she shouted into the radio. "Fire! At its head! Aim for the bullets!"
"You're too close!" he shouted back. "If they go up – "
"Just do it!"
0.28.
Boomboomboom –
With a final effort, she broke out of the Kaiju's grip and threw herself down.
There was a shattering roar as the shells in the strap exploded, all at once.
Slowly, Wanderer staggered backwards, half of its head gone. It tottered. Then, like an avalanche, it crashed to the ground, face-down.
0.2.
Eun switched out of combat mode as the last chords died away. She got to her feet and staggered to Trent, running on minimum-power now. With her remaining good arm, she helped him up. Together, they hobbled back to the Kaiju. They looked down at it. There was smoke and liquid streaming from its skull.
And then it twitched. It started to move.
"Damn thing just won't die," said Trent. "Must have a second brain somewhere."
"Got any bullets left?" she said.
"Nope," he said. "But I've got this." He held up the knife.
She helped him kneel, and he plunged the blade into the back of the Kaiju's neck. Then he pulled it down, along the spine.
Finally, the twitching stopped.
Eun kicked it in the side. "Payback's a bitch," she said to it. "Fuck you. Fuck all of you."
She stared at Wanderer. She had a feeling that she wouldn't have any more bad dreams about it.
They popped the hatches and climbed down the emergency ladders. They were both bruised, shaken, and exhausted.
By the time they reached the ground, Albright's helicopter had landed.
Bellows came storming up to them, Albright limping behind.
"And just what the fuck was that all about!?" he shouted. "Why the hell didn't you obey your orders!?" He leaned forward into Eun's face, snarling.
And she head-butted him. There was the sound of a nose breaking. He howled in pain.
"Outstanding," said Trent.
Albright came up to them. She glanced at the blood streaming down Bellows' face, and then at Eun and Trent.
"Speaking for myself – and this is an entirely unofficial opinion – I thought you did alright," she said. "Not too bad at all."
"As if we fucking care what you think," said Eun.
The two of them started to walk towards the city.
"Think there are any bars open in Singapore?" said Eun.
"Hope so," said Trent. "Because you still owe me a beer."
"Bullshit," said Eun. "You owe me one."
"Well, how about this then," said Trent. "I buy the first round, you buy the second. Deal?"
"Deal," said Eun.
END
All for One
Eun and Trent have a new ally. But the Kaijus are becoming more dangerous.
[Author's Note: This story takes place three months after the story The Furies.]
"You know, I used to own a Hyundai sedan that was more reliable than you," said Eun, as she struggled to lever the servo into place. She finally picked up a hammer and whacked it until it was where she wanted it.
"The way you talk to it, one might think you didn't like it," said Sao.
"I don't," said Eun. "Goddamn piece of junk."
"And yet you and Thunderstruck here, and Trent and Hell's Bells, have taken down three Kaiju," said the engineer. "Which is more than any other Fury drivers can say."
"Well, the second one, the one near Shanghai, had already been wounded by the Chinese bombers," said Eun. "At least my gun didn't jam that time. And I didn't lose an arm. Came pretty damn close, though. And the third one was as dumb as a brick. Practically asked me to put my gun down its throat and pull the trigger."
Their work on the Thunderstruck's servos done, they got onto the little elevator and started on their way down. When they finally reached the floor of the hangar, Commander Albright was waiting for them.
"Ready for action?" she said.
"As we'll ever be," said Eun. "I hear that Back in Black is nearly complete." She nodded towards the new Fury at the other end of the hangar.
"Another week, maybe. I wanted to tell you, Ms Park, that the Shishio and the Koryu went down this morning. Defending Vancouver, or what was left of it after the first hit."
"The pair of Furies that the Japanese survivors built in Canada?" said Eun. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Even worse, the Kaiju then went after the construction base. Most of the people got out but the base itself was destroyed. So no more Furies from that part of the world for a while."
"But that was in the safe zone," said Sao. "Three hundred miles inland."
"I guess no-one told the Kaiju that," said Eun. "They're getting bolder. And tougher."
"That is the view of the UN PacRim Crisis Committee as well," said Albright. "They've put more resources into the Jaeger project. Unfortunately, they took the money out of the Furies program. Might make sense, in terms of strategy, but doesn't make our life here any easier. On the plus side, the Australian government has increased our funding, for what it's worth. I guess Trent's idea of taking Hell's Bells for a little walk around Canberra was a good PR move. All the politicians wanted to have their photo taken with it, apparently."
Eun laughed – something she didn't do very often, these days. "Yeah, well, maybe they'd like to face off with a Kaiju next time around," she said. "Might be some votes in it."
"We don't have a pilot for Back in Black yet, so maybe I'll make them an offer," said Albright. With a grimace that said that her job had way too much politics in it, she limped away.
Eun turned to Sao. "So no-one else has tested as suitable for the pilot job?" she said.
"Apparently not," said Sao. "And they've double-tested all the military guys."
"Then perhaps we'll have to look further afield," she said.
As she made her way to the bar, she thought about the things that had changed and the things that had not since she and Trent had brought down Wanderer. No-one had thought to give her a new pair of overalls, for example. She had been offered a room to herself in the hotel but when she had learned that it would mean kicking a family out of it she had said no. So she was still sharing with eleven Japanese women. They seemed to treat her with a bit more respect now, but that didn't translate into any more time in the bathroom.
On the plus side, word had got around that she didn't much like men hitting on her, which was something she was grateful for. She received lot of fan mail, but the novelty of that had quickly worn off, and now she threw it away without opening it. Only so many marriage proposals a woman needs to hear.
As she took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer, she glanced at the muted television on the wall. She was surprised – although she told herself that she shouldn't be – to see the face of Trent. He was on one of the talk shows. The barman noticed her watching and turned up the volume.
" – the first time, I was so scared I just froze," he was saying. "It was my partner, Eun Park, who really deserves the credit. She's back at Uluru Base at the moment, probably having a beer after doing maintenance work on Thunderstruck."
"Huh," said Eun.
"Huh," said the barman. "Well, nice of him to mention you. And us. Good for morale."
"I'll leave the public stuff to him," said Eun. "He likes it. I just drive the tinkertoy."
A woman came up to her. It was Summers, Albright's new assistant. After Bellows had … left. She handed Eun a large package.
"These are your clothes for tomorrow," said Summers. "Good trousers, blouse, jacket, shoes. We'll be wanting them back."
"What?" said Eun.
"You know, for our trip to Adelaide," said Summers. "You and me. Of course, you're the one who has to shake hands with the Premier and everything. Pose for some pictures. My job is, well, the boss said that I was to make sure that you didn't get into any fights. Any more fights."
"I thought I'd got out of this," said Eun. "Like all the others."
"Apparently not," said Summers. "Anyway, we fly down tomorrow morning, you do the PR thing, and then we get to stay in a decent hotel. With real beds, probably. Fun, eh? So I'll swing by your room at seven." With a smile that was so cheery it was depressing, she left.
"You know, I think I preferred Bellows," said Eun to the barman. "I wonder if I could I get away with pushing her out of the plane."
"Well, maybe you'll get lucky between now and tomorrow morning, and there'll be another Kaiju attack," said the barman.
"I'm not that lucky," said Eun.
So they went to Adelaide and did the photo-op thing, and Eun did her best to not feel really, really stupid. Summers announced that she was going somewhere or other, and now Eun was sitting at a café in Rundle Mall. At least there was real coffee here, not the stuff that they had at Uluru Base.
She noticed a little crowd forming nearby. There was a street performer doing something, apparently. Eun picked up her coffee and went to see.
The performer was a young woman, working for credits from the audience. Most of the performers that Eun had seen usually made some sort of effort to dress the part, but this woman was wearing ordinary, somewhat ragged clothes.
The woman was juggling a set of balls, five or six of them, throwing them up in patterns. Then she let them fall to the ground, and she caught them as they bounced up. She showed the audience her hands: the balls had disappeared. Gone. Not easy, given that she was wearing a sleeveless tank-top shirt.
But someone in the audience was not impressed. "Is that all you've got?" said some guy. "And you want money for that?"
"You don't like it, then fuck off," said the woman.
I like your attitude, thought Eun.
The woman opened a wooden chest and took out a knife, a meat cleaver, and a mini-chainsaw. She put them aside and opened a small cardboard box. She took out a black-and-white kitten. It meowed. The woman stroked it, and then put it back in the box.
She started up the chainsaw, and proceeded to juggle it, the knife and the meat cleaver. She looked down at the box.
"You can't – " said someone in the crowd.
"Sure I can," said the woman. She put one foot into the box and flicked the kitten into the air, and caught it. So now she was juggling a kitten and three very sharp things. The kitten was going meow, meow, meow.
"Stop!" cried someone. "You'll hurt it!"
"You'll kill it!" shouted someone else.
The woman nodded towards the hat on the ground where the money went. People started to throw notes into it.
When she was satisfied that the pile was big enough, the woman flicked the knife back into the chest. Then the meat cleaver. Then she caught the chainsaw in one hand and the kitten in the other. She turned the chainsaw off.
"Ta-dah!" she said. She bowed.
"Thank god!" said someone in the crowd.
"How could you be so cruel?" said someone else.
"Don't worry folks, it's all part of the act," she said. She held up the kitten. Except it wasn't a kitten. It was a doll. A kitten doll.
"But I heard it meowing!" said someone.
The woman made meowing noises, without moving her lips. She tipped the cardboard box a little, showing that the real kitten was still there.
The crowd started to break up.
"I don't know if that was the best show I've ever seen, or the worst," muttered someone as they passed Eun.
The woman was packing her equipment away. Eun walked up to her. "You make enough money with this?" she said.
"Actually, I'm secretly a wealthy heiress who does this for kicks," said the woman.
"What's your name?" said Eun.
"Grace. Or Grace the Magnificent, if you prefer. It's sort of a stage name. Hasn't really caught on, though. Can't think why."
"I'm Eun. You want a job?"
"Doing what?"
"Stuff. Saving the world. That sort of thing. There's some travel involved."
"Uh-huh. Can I bring my cat?"
"I don't see why not."
"Okay, then."
"Surprisingly, she tests out as suitable," said Albright. They were watching Grace, who was standing in front of Back in Black, staring up at it.
"Not so surprising, after you've seen her juggling act," said Eun.
"But she has serious problems with social interaction at all levels."
"Also not surprising, after you've seen her juggling act. Look, Albright, all the Furies that have gone down so far have been piloted by by-the-book military types. The pilots that have survived are the ones with … issues."
"Well, Grace certainly has issues."
"Bottom line: you got anyone else?"
Albright sighed. "I guess we can try her on the training course," she said.
Eun nodded. She walked over to Grace.
"And there it is," she said to her.
"I've seen these things on tv," she said. "But I hadn't realised they were so … so … "
"There are things in the world that are bigger. And much nastier."
"You know, when you said that this job was about saving the world, I thought … well, I didn't think that it would be about this. Actually about saving the world. I thought you meant doing work for some sort of charity."
"Believe me, it wasn't my first career choice, either. By the way, have you been allocated accommodation yet?"
"Yeah, a room … well, I think it was once an air-conditioning vent or something. Believe it or not, it's better than where I used to live in Adelaide. When a city built for a million people suddenly has an extra three million jammed into it, decent places to live get pretty hard to find. I've spent more than a few nights sharing beds with people I didn't much like, so Uluru Base is not that bad. And Herman seems to like it."
"Herman?"
"Cat."
Eun smiled. "Then tomorrow we'll find out if you can do anything more than party tricks," she said.
Eun in Thunderstruck and Trent in Hell's Bells – recently returned from their PR tour – were standing at the edge of the training course, watching Back in Black's first outing. Grace had fallen twice, but now she seemed to have the hang of it. She walked to the end of the runway, turned, and came back, and stood in front of the bunker.
Then she bowed.
"Applause sign flashes," said Trent over the radio.
"Or just throw money," said Eun. "But then, anyone can walk."
In fact, as they watched Back in Black, still in a bowing position, began to totter forward. There was a weird flailing of giant-robot arms as Grace tried to regain her balance. And then it crashed down, its head slamming into the bunker. Fortunately, the bunker was strong enough to withstand the impact.
"Automatic fail," said Trent, as the dust began to clear.
"But you have to admit, it was sort of funny," said Eun.
"Actually, I got so bored that I fell asleep," said Grace.
Over the radio, Albright sighed. "All Furies pilots," she said, "are miscreants. And possibly insane."
Over the next few weeks, as Grace ground through her training, news of more Kaiju attacks filtered into Uluru Base. The Panama Canal was destroyed, and coastal cities in Vietnam and Ecuador were levelled. A Chinese team of Furies trying to defend Macau, and an American team in Mexico, were defeated.
"Basically, we're losing," said Eun, as the three pilots were sitting in the bar.
"The Kaiju are knocking down Furies faster than we can build them," said Trent.
"But we're okay here, aren't we?" said Grace. "There haven't been any attacks on Australia for over a year, and none south of Brisbane. I mean, where Brisbane used to be."
"Yeah, we're made in the shade," said Trent.
"Eventually, the Kaiju are going to run out of targets on the Pacific Rim," said Eun. "And then they'll start looking elsewhere. It's what they do. It's all they do."
"But not even a Kaiju can beat three Furies," said Grace. "Not three. According to the simulations."
"Right," said Trent. "According to the simulations."
At that moment, all of their phones beeped. Text message. From Albright.
GAME TIME.
Part II
"So how many people are in Surabaya?" said Trent over the thud of the helicopter rotors.
"Before the Breach, about 3.2 million," said Summers. "But with the refugees from the rest of Indonesia, plus ones from the Philippines and elsewhere, it might be triple that, or more. You know, I went there for a holiday once, years ago. Nice place. Some very attractive temples."
"Please shut up," said Eun.
Grace was looking at a tourist guidebook. "But according to this, Surabaya isn't on the coast," she said.
"Nevertheless, according to the satellite tracking, that's where he's going," said Albright. "Once they've decided to go somewhere, they move in a pretty straight line, and you can extrapolate their course."
"She," said Trent.
"What?" said Albright.
"She," said Trent. "Kaijus are female."
"Huh," said Eun. "And how do you know that?"
"I was married to one."
The four women exchanged glances, and then rolled their eyes.
"Been waiting a long time to use that joke, have you?" said Eun to Trent.
"Couple of months," he said.
"Whatever," said Albright. She unrolled out a military map. "Anyway, it will have made landfall by the time we arrive. The plan is to engage it here. That's only about twenty miles from Surabaya but it's the best terrain for us, pretty flat and open."
"Pity we can't take the Kaiju on in the water," said Trent.
"The Furies aren't built for that," said Albright. "But I understand that the Jaegers will be able to do it."
"How do they know where to go?" said Grace. "The Kaijus. I mean, it's not as if they just wander out of the sea anywhere. It's always near cities or something."
"Interesting question," said Trent. "Maybe they can smell large populations."
"Or maybe someone is … guiding … them," said Eun. "Maybe they're not just dumb animals that follow their instincts. Maybe they're … something else."
The three pilots looked at each other.
"Oh, that's just fucking great," said Trent.
They were approaching the island of Java from the north, having re-fueled at a US carrier in the Banda Sea. They crossed the coast.
There was a massive furrow of flattened jungle leading southwards, heading towards Surabaya.
"You think we'll have any trouble finding her?" said Trent.
They flew over the Kaiju. It was built almost like a bear rather than a marine creature, but it had the armour-like exoskeleton that they all had. And extra layers of sloped armour on its shoulders, angled sharply at the end.
"Codenamed Stuka," said Albright. "Because of the shoulder-pads, I assume."
They could see the three Furies now, standing in the middle of a complex of highways that fed into the city. The helicopter landed and they ran to where Sao was waiting. There was an Indonesian man with him.
"I'm Ade Johan, the regional governor," said the Indonesian. "It is very good to see you."
"Can the Indonesian military provide any assistance?" said Albright.
"Since Jakarta, there has not been an Indonesian military," said Johan.
"Has the population been evacuated?" said Eun.
"Where would we go?" said Johan. "We have nowhere else to run. So we will fight. With sticks and stones, if we have to."
"I admire your courage," said Trent.
"Let's go," said Eun. She led the way to the Furies, where the prep teams were completing their work.
"Sao, did you finish the gun upgrades?" said Trent.
"Yes, Thunderstruck and Hell's Bells now have forty-five shells each," said Sao. "Back in Black's primary weapon is more like a shotgun. Ten shots. Good for close-in. We think. Never really tested it."
"Oakey-dokey," said Grace. "I'll let you know how it works out."
"And if we fail, ten million people die," said Trent. "No pressure though, guys."
Albright was speaking to Satellite Control on her phone. "Kaiju ETA, twelve minutes," she said.
Eun, Trent and Grace were strapped into the Furies. Johan, Albright and the rest of the Uluru Base team retreated to Surabaya in helicopters.
Eun activated the radio link with Grace.
"Status report," she said.
"Absolutely fucking terrified," said Grace.
"Me too," said Trent, "if anyone's interested."
The three Furies were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, Back in Black in the middle.
"We concentrate our fire," said Eun. "Trent and me first, Grace when it's closer. That should wound it enough so we can take it down with hand-to-hand."
"Sounds simple enough," said Grace.
"Well, for a while the military types tried to draw up complex tactical plans," said Trent. "None of those survived an encounter with a Kaiju. Straightforward and brutal is all that seems to work."
"And we just have to hope that they don't get any bigger," said Eun.
"Or smarter," said Trent.
"You're not making me any less scared," said Grace.
"Wait, it gets worse," said Eun.
At that moment, Stuka came into view. It saw the three Furies and gave an ear-splitting roar.
"There, you see, I told you," said Eun.
"Fuck," said Grace. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Trent.
The Kaiju started towards them, in a lumbering run.
"In machine-gun range in five seconds," said Eun. "Trent, you and I go combat mode in three, two, one, now."
Thunderstruck and Hell's Bells raised their guns and fired. And fired.
The bullets smashed into the Kaiju. It began to slow in its charge, and blood began to spurt from the wounds.
"Grace, go combat on my mark," said Eun, over the storm of gunfire.
The Kaiju had almost stopped now.
Eun glanced at the shell counter. She had fired thirty eight bullets. Trent had probably done the same.
"End fire at forty shots," she said.
The Kaiju was tottering in its tracks when Eun and Trent ceased shooting. Slowly, it fell backwards. Its mountainous chest heaved, and heaved again … and then stopped.
"Well, that wasn't such a chore now, was it?" said Trent, as he and Eun switched out of combat mode.
"I didn't get to do anything," said Grace. "Not that I'm complaining about it."
They approached the Kaiju, sprawled across the tangle of wrecked roads.
"I guess it just wasn't as tough as the other ones we've seen," said Eun. She prodded the Kaiju with Thunderstruck's foot. "In any case, it's not breathing."
"There's … something … wrong," said Grace. "This feels like … like … we're watching the wrong kitten."
"Get back!" shouted Eun. "Go combat!"
Suddenly, the Kaiju moved. The second of warning from Grace's intuition had let them get out of its reach but they were still in what now seemed like a very dangerous zone. Stuka lashed out with one huge arm, sweeping Thunderstruck's feet from under it. It kicked, catching Hell's Bells on the chest and knocking it down.
Grace had been able to switch to combat mode but before she could do anything the Kaiju punched at her. She reeled backwards but stayed on her feet. She struggled to bring her gun up but then the Kaiju was lunging at her.
But it didn't reach her. She saw that Hell's Bells was holding onto one of its legs, holding it back.
"Shoot the fucking thing!" shouted Trent.
Grace lifted her gun and fired but the Kaiju managed to turn, and its extra-armoured shoulder took most of the blast. It gave another roar.
It was kicking at Hell's Bells with its free foot but Trent was holding on, knowing that if the Kaiju was able to fully get back on its feet it would be hard to stop.
Thunderstruck came in from the side, punching, aiming for the bullet wounds. Stuka howled. Eun extended her knife and started to stab, opening a massive gash in the Kaiju's chest.
It lashed out, knocking her away. Finally, it managed to shake itself free from Hell's Bells.
Grace fired again, and this time Stuka took the shot directly in its face. It staggered backwards.
In Thunderstruck's cockpit, Eun glanced at the timer. Two minutes twenty gone.
"Trent, Grace, status!" she shouted into the radio.
"Still in the fight, but I've taken heavy damage on both sides," said Trent. "Five bullets left. And tick tick."
"I'm … okay," said Grace.
"On its feet, it's too strong for us," said Eun.
"Then … the bar thing?" said Trent.
"Worth a try," said Eun.
She charged at the Kaiju, punching and slashing. It grabbed hold of her, meaning to push her back. With all her strength, she smashed her head into the Kaiju's face. It reeled backwards again.
To where Hell's Bells had a foot out.
The Kaiju fell back, landing with an earth-shaking crash.
"Now, Grace!" said Eun. "Get in close and shoot!" Both she and Trent fired the last of their bullets, but the Kaiju was already trying to get up. It was clearly wounded, and badly, but it was not finished yet. It punched at Hell's Bells and Thunderstruck, sending them both down.
Grace came running forward, gun up. She fired.
The Kaiju started coming towards her.
She fired again. She started to back up. She fired again. And again.
"It's … it's not stopping," she said.
"Keep firing!" Eun shouted, trying to get to her feet.
Back in Black kept firing.
"How many shots is that?" said Trent.
"Nine," said Eun. Both Thunderstruck and Hell's Bells were heavily damaged but they struggled towards the Kaiju and Back in Black. Out of ammunition, they extended their knives.
"One left," muttered Grace.
The Kaiju was almost close enough to grab her.
Then she saw the gash in the Kaiju's chest, from Eun's knife.
Last chance. She rammed the barrel of the gun into the wound. And fired.
The Kaiju screamed. Blood gushed from the wound. And then Stuka, enraged, charged at Back in Black again.
"Grace, knife!" shouted Eun.
Grace extended her knife and thrust out her arm.
0.00
System freeze.
If the Kaiju saw the danger, it paid no heed. The force of its charge drove it onto the knife. The blade sliced into the creature's throat. And out the other side.
Back in Black went down with a crash, the Kaiju on top of it. There was a massive explosion of blood. The Kaiju howled, convulsed … and then was still.
Eun and Trent had both managed to switch from combat mode a few seconds before freezing, and were operating on minimum power.
"Grace, are you still alive?" said Eun.
"I … I think so," said Grace. "All my controls are dead. Can you get this thing off me?"
"Er, not really, no," said Trent. "You might be stuck there for a while."
"Your hatch has a manual override," said Eun.
The three of them climbed out of their machines and eventually met at the foot of Thunderstruck. Trent glared at the Kaiju.
"And that's what you get for playing dead on us," he said to it. "You wind up dead for real."
"These things are getting way too smart," said Eun. "Grace, you did well. Very well."
Suddenly, Grace vomited onto the ground between them. Some of the brown-green muck splashed onto their boots.
"Well, hardly the worst thing that's happened today," said Trent.
"Sorry," said Grace, wiping her mouth.
The helicopters with Albright and the others were landing.
"You think we'll get a raise out of this?" said Trent.
"Unlikely," said Eun.
"Wait, you mean we get paid?" said Grace.
"Yes, but not much," said Eun.
"Before the boss and the techs get here, there's one question I want to ask you guys," said Trent. Both Eun and Grace looked at him.
"What was that thing about the kitten?" he said.
END
End of the Line
Human or mechanical, the most powerful weapon is the heart.
[Author's Note: This story takes place three months after the story All for One.]
Eun, Trent and Grace were sitting in a booth in the bar of Uluru Base. They were staring at the table. They still had the smell of a Kaiju in their nostrils. Still had the sound of its roar echoing in their heads.
"I don't know how much longer I can do this," said Eun softly.
"Fucking A," said Trent.
"Me too," said Grace. "And you guys have been doing it longer than I have. I've only been in three fights. You've been in … how many is it?"
"Too damn many," said Eun. She picked up her drink – whisky, not beer – and downed it. She signalled to the barman for a re-fill.
"We've done our share," said Grace. "We can quit. Let someone else drive the Furies. We can retire undefeated."
"I see a flaw in this plan," said Trent.
"Which is?"
"There isn't anyone else," said Eun. "No-one else has tested to a useable level."
"What!?" said Grace. "You mean that there's nobody else on the base who can pilot a Fury?"
"No," said Eun. "I mean there's nobody else in the country."
"Fuck me," said Grace.
"On the other hand, it means that we've got jobs for life," said Trent. "However long that might be. I suppose we could just … not go. Not turn up for the next mission. Say that we're busy or something. Say we've come down with a cold, and we've got a note from the doctor."
"Sure, we could do that," said Eun. "Albright will understand. And so will everyone else. I'm sure the Kaijus will be cool with it too. They'll go away until we're ready."
Grace put her head in her hands. "Goddamn," she said. "Goddamn."
Tears began to run down Eun's face. She touched her cheeks, surprised.
"Here is where the old guy is supposed to dispense some timely and important advice," said Trent. He thought about it. "Sorry, I've got nothing," he said. He handed Eun a paper napkin.
Eun couldn't help but smile. "Good to know I can count on you," she said.
There was a commotion in the bar. People were starting to rush out. Trent caught a guy as he passed.
"Sup, mate?" he said to him.
"Didn't you hear?" said the guy. "The first Jaeger has arrived."
They ran to the hangar. It was there. Still in pieces from factories all over the country, but there. The construction team had already started assembly work. Looked like it was going to be twice the size of a Fury.
"Thank god," muttered Eun.
Workers were unpacking the crate with the name-plate. Terror Australis.
It was the next evening. Eun was sitting on the foot of Thunderstruck, watching the huge jigsaw that was Terror Australis slowly come together. She had a bottle of whisky in her hand. Half of it was gone. But not enough, she said to herself.
She patted the massive metal foot. "Looks like we're going to be out of a job soon, big fella," she said. "Which is not a bad thing."
She realised that the metal was deeply scratched and worn. In fact, Thunderstruck's exterior was a patchwork of repairs and old wounds. She saw that Sao had finished the upgrades on the knife; it now extended twice as long as before. Aside from that, the Fury looked like it was ready to quit. Or fall apart, whichever happened first. Like her. She put her hand on the metal skin.
"We've done our job, and then some," she said. "So here's to us." She poured a generous slug of whisky over the robot foot. And then had some more herself.
"Is this a private party?" said a voice. "Or can anyone get some of that?"
Eun handed the bottle to Albright. She took a shot and handed the bottle back. With an effort, she eased herself down next to Eun.
"Mixed feelings?" said Albright.
"If the Jaeger means that we don't have to go up against any more Kaiju, then certainly not," said Eun. "Tell the truth, I don't think my large friend here can take much more."
"And neither can you, I know," said Albright. "If there was an alternative, I would have pulled you out months ago. Trent too. And Grace soon. But … "
Eun sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said. "But once Terror Australis is up and running, it won't be an issue. Who's going to be driving it, anyway?"
"A pair of sisters from Tasmania, apparently. They're arriving next week."
"Good luck to them. They're going to need it, even if the Jaeger is a much bigger platform than the Fury."
"I was hoping that you might be able to give them some pointers. Act as a mentor. After all, the total number of people with field experience in this country is three. And you're the team leader."
"I am? Who says?"
"Trent and Grace. And me."
"Huh."
"You might not know it, but you're a bit of a legend. You know what they call you three in other countries? The Southern Line. I was talking to one of my American counterparts a few days ago, and he said that the reason they were seeing a lot of Kaijus there was because they were afraid to come south. Knew they'd get their arses kicked, he said. They prefer to face the new American Jaegers than the Aussies. You can take that as a compliment."
"Huh," said Eun again. "And I'm not even Australian."
"It's a state of mind, not a piece of paper," said Albright. "Which reminds me, I brought you something." She handed Eun a package.
Eun unwrapped it. It was a new pair of overalls. On the breast, there was a line of Kaiju icons, representing Eun's number of victories. On the shoulder, there was a patch. It was an Australian flag.
She stared at it for a long time. Then, softly, slowly, because of everything that had been lost and everything that had been gained, she began to cry.
Part II
It was a week later. The ceremony for the commissioning of the Terror Australis was a big affair, with a pack of dignitaries and a media scrum visiting Uluru Base. The sisters, Dorothy and Beatrice, were to arrive at the same time.
Eun, Trent and Grace were standing in the line in the hangar with various other people from Uluru Base, as the Prime Minister and the sisters moved along it, shaking hands.
The sisters were youngish women. They looked pretty tough, as if they had been nailed together from chunks of Tasmanian hardwood. Good, thought Eun.
Dorothy and Beatrice came up to them.
"Wow," said one of them, as they shook hands. "The Southern Line. You guys are – "
" – mean motherfuckers," said the other.
"From Tasmanians, that's a compliment," whispered Trent to Eun.
The Prime Minister reached them. He shook Trent's hand. "Hello again, Jerry," he said.
"Hello, Keith," said Trent. "Let me introduce two of the bravest people on the planet – "
A siren went.
"What's that?" said the Prime Minister.
"Bad news," said Eun. She, Trent and Grace started for the helicopter pads. The Prime Minister and his coterie followed.
"Is it a Kaiju?" said the PM. "If it is, I want to come. I want to see one. For real."
"No you don't," said Grace.
"But – "
Trent stopped and turned to the Prime Minister. "Keith," he said. "Do you know how to pilot a Fury?"
"No, of course not."
"Then shut the fuck up and get out of our way."
"Hey!" said one of the PM's advisers. "You can't say that to the leader of the country!"
"I'll probably be dead in a couple of hours," said Trent. "So I can say whatever I fucking want." Then he ran after Eun and Grace.
"Heh," said Grace, when he caught up. "Jerry. Your first name is Jerry. Heh."
"Who would have guessed?" said Eun, as they boarded the chopper.
Trent smiled. "You guys are assholes, you know," he said.
"Sure we are … Jerry," said Eun.
Summers was already on board, and was speaking on her phone to someone. She kept saying: "Are you sure? Are you sure?"
Albright climbed on board. She was carrying a folder of papers, fresh off the printer. The helicopter took off, turning west. The transport choppers were already starting to lift the three Furies out of the hangar.
"Damn, another day or two and Terror Australis would have been ready," muttered Grace.
"Where are we going?" said Eun. "Where's the landfall point?"
Summers pointed on a map.
"Western Australia," she said.
The three pilots started.
"It's not even the Pacific," said Grace.
"Naughty Kaiju," said Trent. "Very bad, not knowing your geography."
"So they're spreading," said Eun. "We knew it would probably happen one day. Here it is. We deal."
She looked more closely at the map. The projected landfall point was a few kilometres north of Perth. Pre-Breach, Perth had been one of Australia's smaller cities. Now it was one of the largest, swollen by the flood of refugees from Asia and elsewhere. On the map, the situation was clear: there wasn't anywhere the population could be evacuated to. Here was where you ran out of continent, at the end of a very long train line.
"So now, we fight for our own," said Trent.
"We do," said Eun.
They looked at her.
"We do," she repeated.
"There's something else," said Albright. "This is a big one. Very big. The Americans are calling it a Category Two." She passed around some satellite images of the Kaiju at sea. The creature was deep under water, a huge, dark shadow. And there was a massive wake on the surface.
"Oh," said Grace. "Hey, is it too late to quit this job?"
"Sorry," said Eun.
"Damn," said Grace.
"Codename Scimitar," said Albright.
The three pilots exchanged glances.
Eun looked down at her hands. She realised they were shaking.
They flew on.
The three Furies were standing on a wide beach, looking north. Back in Black was in the centre position.
The Kaiju was slowly coming towards them. Strolling pace.
"No hurry, ready when you are, we really have nothing better to do," muttered Trent.
Grace yawned. "And to think we rushed to get here," she said. "I would have had time to take a selfie with Jerry's friend the Prime Minister."
Eun smiled. At least her hands had stopped shaking. She wondered if the techs had noticed when they were strapping her in.
"Maybe she's a little shy about meeting us," said Trent. "I hear there was a memo that went around, telling them how badass we are."
As the Kaiju came closer, they saw why it was called Scimitar. There were huge, curved blades of bone protruding from its wrists.
"Or maybe it's just quietly, casually confident," said Eun.
"Yeah, maybe," said Grace.
And it looked markedly bigger – not much taller but considerably heavier – than the Kaijus they had seen so far. Bigger. Tougher. Nastier.
"Category Two, eh?" said Trent. "How many categories do you think there are?"
"Hopefully, two," said Eun.
Scimitar was almost in range of their machine guns. It stopped. As if to consider them.
"Advance," said Eun.
The three Furies moved forward. They spread out a little, so they might be able to dodge the bone-blades.
They were in range now. Eun and Trent went to combat mode and hefted their guns. They fired, a long burst.
Perhaps thirty bullets hit the Kaiju. Only a quarter of them pierced the exoskeleton armour.
"Well, that's not good," said Trent. He and Eun switched out of combat mode, so the batteries could recharge.
The Kaiju shook itself.
"It's almost like it was testing us," said Eun. "Testing our guns."
"Which were not outstandingly effective," said Trent.
"We'll have to get closer," said Eun.
They waited until the batteries of Thunderstruck and Hell's Bells were fully recharged. Now, when they went to combat mode again, they would have 4.23.
"Advance," said Eun again. "But be prepared for anything. It's a bar fight, remember, not a boxing match."
They advanced, and the Kaiju began to come forward. It began to pick up speed.
"Grace, fall back a bit," said Eun. "Trent, you and I move out. We need to attack from several sides at once."
Scimitar was charging at Back in Black now.
"Go combat and close in," said Eun.
They did. But suddenly the Kaiju veered away, and swung towards Thunderstruck.
Eun fired. At this range, the bullets smashed through the creature's armour, but there was little obvious effect.
Eun braced herself, as the Kaiju slammed into her. She managed to keep her footing but she was being pushed back, sliding across the sand.
Hell's Bells and Back in Black ran forward, weapons up. But before they could fire Scimitar turned and swung the bone-blades. Both Furies were hit, and staggered backwards.
But now the Kaiju had its back to Thunderstruck.
And Eun saw something. Something critical. In a second, she had extended her knife and stabbed out. The Kaiju gave a howl, and there was a gush of blood.
"There's no armour under its arms!" she shouted into the radio. "When it uses its blades, it's vulnerable!"
Hell's Bells and Back in Black had both taken damage from the blade hit but they were still on their feet.
Eun slashed at the Kaiju again, slicing into its neck. It turned towards her, and raised one of the blades to strike.
Grace aimed her shotgun and fired, hitting the Kaiju under its arm. It howled again, and turned towards Back in Black. Grace fell back a few steps.
And now Hell's Bells was behind it. Trent angled for a shot, and, on one knee, fired a burst into the Kaiju's soft spot. The Kaiju turned towards Hell's Bells. And then Thunderstruck and Back in Black attacked from behind.
The Kaiju turned again, but it was in a defensive posture now, keeping its arms down to protect its vulnerable areas. It was bleeding from several wounds.
We're wearing it down but we're running out of time, thought Eun. She checked the clock. Less than two minutes of power left.
"Trent!" she shouted into the radio. "If I can get it to lift its arms, can you grab them and hold them up long enough for Grace to get a close shot?"
"I … I don't know," said Trent. "Maybe … for a few seconds."
"Then get ready."
Eun ran forward, firing at the Kaiju's chest. She was standing directly in front of it now. A clear target. Too tempting to resist.
And the Kaiju couldn't resist. It raised its arms –
And Trent grabbed them, pinning them in position. Eun could hear him groaning with the strain.
Grace rammed the shotgun into the exposed flesh of the Kaiju's armpit and fired. Again and again. It howled and roared.
Then it broke free from Hell's Bells, and slashed out at Thunderstruck. The bone-blade smashed into the Fury with full force.
Inside the cockpit, Eun felt the concussion of the strike. She heard Thunderstruck's metal frame start to break.
Thunderstruck went down with a crash, falling onto its chest as one leg gave way. In the cockpit, something came loose in a shower of sparks and whacked into the side of Eun's head. There was a gush of hot, sticky blood.
On instinct, she switched out of combat mode and shut down non-critical systems. On one of the monitors, she could see the Kaiju tottering as Hell's Bells and Back in Black stabbed it, again and again. Trent managed to get behind it, and reached around its shoulder. He stabbed his knife into the Kaiju's neck and hacked it across the creature's throat. The blade broke in the armour but blood began to pour from the wound.
It staggered, staggered … and then fell. It gave a final massive convulsion, and then was still.
Eun glanced at the clock. Twenty-seven seconds left.
"Switch out of combat mode," she said into the radio.
Trent and Grace did. The recharge cycle began.
"Are you still with us, Eun?" said Trent. "That was a helluva hit you took."
"I'll live, but I don't think there's enough duct tape in the world to stick Thunderstruck back together," said. She managed to get out of the straps. She climbed up the hatchway and clambered out.
Standing on the robot's enormous head, she saw the helicopter with Albright and the others approaching. She turned towards Hell's Bells and Back in Black. She waved. Hell's Bells lifted its arm in salute.
Gently, she touched the metal skin of the fatally damaged Thunderstruck. "Well done, big fella," she whispered. "Well done. You can rest now."
And then another Kaiju came leaping out of the sea and onto the beach. It howled, and swung at the helicopter. It was only a glancing blow, but it was enough to send it spiralling earthwards, trailing smoke.
With huge fists, the Kaiju began to punch at Hell's Bells and Back in Black. It was roaring, enraged. It didn't just want to defeat the Furies. It wanted to tear them apart.
Damaged, low on ammunition, and caught by surprise, Trent and Grace fell back, trying to parry the blows. But the Kaiju was much, much stronger, and faster, and it had a barbed tail that whipped at them.
Eun scrambled back through the hatch and into Thunderstruck's cockpit. She strapped herself in and put on the headset. She hit buttons and switches. Emergency re-start.
She tried to get the Fury to move. From somewhere, there was the groan of metal on metal. Some of the monitors came back online. "Come on," she said softly. "You can do it. They need us."
The Fury moved. Slowly, painfully, Thunderstruck lifted itself off the ground. It got to one knee.
"Just a little more, buddy," she said. "A little more." She hauled against the weight of the damaged limbs, the broken connections. She shouted with the effort.
And then Thunderstruck was on its feet. Its right leg was severely damaged, losing hydraulic fluid and coolant, the cables hanging on by threads. Large chunks of armour had been ripped away, and dozens of servos were inoperable. But the Fury was up. And rolling.
It limped forward. Eun could see that Hell's Bells and Back in Black were both about to go down.
She was getting close now, and the Kaiju did not appear to have seen her.
She went to combat mode. She raised the machine gun. Seven bullets left.
Boomboomboom – . The bullets smashed into the Kaiju, and there were spurts of blood.
The Kaiju turned towards her. Then it looked back at Hell's Bells and Back in Black, as if it was trying to decide whether to finish them or face this new threat.
Eun hit the control that ejected the spent gun. She extended the knife. She lifted her arms into the air, and activated the external loudspeaker.
"Let's finish this, fucker!" she shouted. "Come on! COME ON!"
The Kaiju gave a howl. It braced itself, and then came charging forward.
Thunderstruck charged as well. The ground shook as the two crashed together.
The Kaiju was trying to wrap its huge arms around the Fury, intending to squeeze it into ruin. But Eun got her right hand free and stabbed at the Kaiju's face.
And the blade found the Kaiju's eye. With all her strength, Eun pushed the knife in. There was a gush of blue liquid. The Kaiju howled in pain, and tore itself away from the Fury.
Eun glanced at the clock. Thirty-eight seconds of power left.
She charged again, punching and stabbing. It pushed her back.
And then Hell's Bells and Back in Black came in from behind, slamming into the Kaiju. Trent and Grace were close enough now to put their guns to its head. They fired together. Everything they had.
But as the Kaiju fell, its tail slashed out, ramming into the front of Back in Black.
In her headset, Eun heard Grace scream.
Oh no …
As Back in Black went down, Thunderstruck's mighty heart gave out, and it crashed to the ground.
In the cockpit, the screens went black. "Thank you, big guy," said Eun in a whisper. "For everything."
She clambered out of the hatch and to the ground. She ran to Back in Black. By the time she reached it, Trent was pulling Grace from the hatch. She was bleeding. Broken. They laid her on the ground.
She grasped their hands. "Not enough time for a long speech, I guess," she gasped.
"No, probably not," said Eun.
"Two things, then," she said. "One. Look after Herman."
"Yeah, alright," said Eun. "And what's Two?"
She looked up at them. "Thanks for loving me, guys," she said. Then her eyes closed.
"No worries," said Trent.
Coda
"I guess since you're the new Base Commander, I'm fired," said Summers.
Eun sighed. "I have to say that I loathe you with a special passion, but I guess I can deal with it," she said. She looked around at the office. "You know, I think I'll miss that old bitch. Is Sao going to be alright?"
"Yes, so I understand," said Summers. "Burns and broken bones from the crash, but he says he'll be back in the hangar by the time the second Jaeger, Lucky Punch, arrives for assembly. Which is next month, I think. Commander, can I ask you something?"
"I suppose so."
"Do you … do you think we will win? Do you think we will ever win?"
Eun considered. "Not tomorrow," she said. "Or the next day, or next year, or the year after that. But I've seen what people can do when they fight with their hearts. So, yeah, we will win. Eventually. One day."
END AND AMEN
25