Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Pacific Rim. I make no profit from this. If I did I wouldn't be working 12 hour shifts 7 days a week.
A/N: This is my first published story. I've written short stories before and did one working with another person. Also please forgive any spelling errors since I typed this on my touchscreen cellphone during my breaks at work. I think I've gotten the worst of the mistakes, but if you spot any please let me know and I'll get them fixed. This story is also published on under the same title and author name.
A special thanks goes to fishbone76. This story was originally her creation and she has kindly allowed me to take a shot at it. Hopefully I'll be able to do justice to the concept she had in her head to start with. The cover photo of the Normandy SR-2 Jaeger is also her work.
Quick clarification: Italics are character's thoughts. Bold are memories carried by the drift.
Kaiju: Japanese meaning "Great Beast"
Jaeger: German meaning "Hunter"
In 2099 humanity discovered that we are not alone in the universe. However, they did not come from outer space like we always assumed. They came from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean through a rift between dimensions, between worlds. We call it the Breach and the creatures that come through, Kaiju. The first attack struck Hawaii. In less than 3 hours it obliterated Honolulu. The Army, Navy, and Air Force mobilized everything they had, but it wasn't enough. It took them over 5 hours, 3 thousand miles, and several million dollars worth of equipment and ammunition to finally kill the beast.
We rebuilt, repaired, and moved on, but it was only the beginning. Six months later the second attack hit the coast of Russia. Five months after that the third destroyed Tokyo and that wasn't the only damage the Kaiju did. We discovered the hard way that Kaiju blood was toxic and mutation causing. There were several distinct kinds of mutations, each essentially creating a new race. The Quarians developed severe immune system deficiencies and have to wear sealed environmental suits to avoid potentially fatal infections. The Turians grew solid plates on their skin and claws on their hands. The Krogan grew plates as well, but they also grew to rather large sizes by human standards. The Salarians became more amphibian like with over-sized eyes and skin that constantly remained moist. The Asari mutation affected only women by turning their skin blue and replacing hair with tentacle-like growths.
The attacks continued like this for 2 years with each nation trying to suppress them alone. They failed. Desperate to survive, humanity finally achieved what was long thought impossible: Unity. Every nation and race came together and pooled all their resources to create one last hope. The Alliance was formed to determine the best possible use of those resources. It was decided that to defeat monsters we would have to create monsters of our own. So the Jaeger program was born. Jaegers are massive robots shaped like humans. Large enough to go head to head with a Kaiju it was an epic undertaking to build them. In fact they were so large that no computer system could possibly control it accurately. This problem was solved by connecting a pilot's brain directly to the Jaeger's main system. However, a single pilot could not withstand the neural load of an entire Jaeger. Severe neurological damage and insanity were common occurrences in those early tests. So it was decided that there would be two pilots who would share the neural load equally between them. Within a year of the program's start the first Jaeger was deployed and killed the Kaiju in less than an hour. We started to win more and more until Kaiju attacks just became another part of life. Today, 83 years after the first Kaiju attack and 81 years after the Jaegers were developed, Kaiju are still coming through, but the Jaegers and their pilots stand ready.
The sound of an alarm blaring jolted Jane Shepard awake. With a groan she reached out and smacked the snooze button on the clock without opening her eyes. However, the alarm continued to sound so she reluctantly opened her eyes. All of her sleepiness disappeared as she saw the source of the alarm: the communication console on the wall. She scrambled out of bed dumping the blanket to the floor in the process. A quick examination of the screen confirmed her thoughts. As she pulled on some clothes and dragged her messy red hair into a ponytail she called out, "John, wake up! A Kaiju has been detected. We're being deployed." When she didn't get a response she called out again as she finished getting dressed and left her room, "John! Did you hear me?"
"Yes, I heard you. The alert woke me up too you know," her older brother said as he joined her by the door to their quarters. At first glance it wasn't obvious that the two actually were siblings since John's hair was a dark brown that he kept almost shaved off and his eyes a sky blue as opposed to Jane's long fiery red and emerald green. However, someone only had to watch them interact and see the teasing affection between the two to realize how close they were.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure. Judging by the unspeakable noises I heard, you and Ashley were up pretty late last night. Did you ask her yet?" Jane asked as the siblings jogged to the locker room and started putting on their pilot suits.
John sent a mock-glare towards his sister, "I am not going to propose during sex. I have a little more class than that. This has to be done perfectly." Jane just rolled her eyes at her romantic of a brother. He always had to over complicate things. When she eventually asked Liara to marry her it would be simple and to the point, followed by lots of celebratory sex. As if reading her mind John continued, "Besides you of all people can't complain about noisy sex. I don't even want to know what you do to make a girl as quiet and reserved as Liara get that loud."
Jane smirked as the siblings entered the pilot compartment of their Jaeger, "Jealous, big brother?"
He snorted, "Of course not."
"Well I am!" Both Shepards looked up toward the ceiling as the voice on the intercom continued, "Seriously, Jane. What do the two of you do?"
"Sorry, Joker. That's for me to know and you to fantasize about," Jane responded with a chuckle. Leaning back in his chair at an elaborate command console Jeff 'Joker' Monroe stuck his lower lip out in a childish pout. "Come on I'll do anything. I'll give you my firstborn child!"
Jane couldn't stop the burst of laughter that came out. "That would first require you finding a woman willing to carry your children. Which I don't see happening anytime soon."
"Ouch, that hurts. I will have you know that the future Mrs. Monroe is out there. I just haven't found her yet." The last was said very quietly. Jane opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by an exasperated sigh behind her. "Keelah. Do you two ever talk about anything besides sex?" Jane glanced back at the quarian engineer behind her and said, "Yes, Tali... sometimes we talk about porn." She chuckled and then yelped as the connecter cable was attached to her suit and harness with more force than was absolutely necessary.
John just shook his head and said, "Come on, Sis. Leave Tali alone." Finished connecting Jane's suit Tali turned to John and said, "Thank you, John. I'm glad that at least one of you has some manners." John smiled at her in response and then turned to put his helmet on, missing the faint blush visible behind the quarian's face mask. Jane chuckled slightly. If John hadn't been involved with Ashley Jane would probably try to play matchmaker. However, despite the fact that she loved Tali like a sister Jane couldn't deny that Ashley and John were perfect for each other and Tali would only end up with a broken heart. She smirked suddenly, "Speaking of sex and manners, how did your date the other night go? You know the one with whats-his-name."
"His name is Kal'Reeger and I am not telling you what we did. Not that we DID anything because we didn't and even if we did it's none of your... WILL YOU STOP LAUGHING!?"
Chuckling at the scene on the monitor Joker was about to throw in his thoughts when he noticed movement reflected in the screen in front of him. Sitting straight up in his seat he cleared his throat and spoke in a shockingly formal tone, "Normandy pilots, are you prepared for neural handshake?" He then turned and said in a painfully casual voice, "Oh, Marshall. I didn't see you there. Normandy is almost ready to deploy." Sure enough standing behind Joker with his hands resting behind his back and one eyebrow raised was Alliance Marshall David Anderson, veteran Jaeger pilot and current commander of the entire Jaeger program. Joker then turned to focus on his screen, missing the eye roll that Anderson made. John and Jane's father Ian Shepard had been the engineer for the Jaeger Anderson piloted years ago. The two men had been good friends prior to Anderson's promotion to Marshall and had kept in touch even when they couldn't meet in person. The siblings called him "Uncle David" when they were much younger. This meant that Anderson was very familiar with the crazy antics of the Shepard siblings and their friends. Stepping forward he spoke to the intercom mike, "Normandy, are you ready?"
"Yes, sir. We are ready to deploy," John answered as Tali exited the compartment and sealed the door.
" Let me guess: another night patrolling the coast just in case the Kaiju comes this way," Jane said with a bored tone. She sifted in surprise when Anderson answered, "Not this time, Normandy. Your mission is search and destroy. Find that Kaiju and put it down." The simultaneous feral grins that appeared on the siblings' faces would have been perfectly at home on a pair of wild wolves that had just stumbled across a grazing deer. "Yes, sir!" they answered in unison.
Anderson nodded and turned to Joker, "Initiate neural handshake, Mr. Monroe."
"Yes, sir. Initiating neural handshake in ten... nine... eight."
As Joker continued to count down John turned to Jane, "Ready to step inside my head, Sis?"
She smirked back at him, "After you, Bro. Age before beauty." He snorted in response, then they both took a deep breathe and closed their eyes as Joker finished his countdown.
The drift. The method of linking two human minds and a computer controlled machine. Using memories as the medium the pilots acted as the left and right sides of the Jaeger's brain. The memories flowed between the siblings without restriction. Some were shared by both, Christmas dinner and opening presents or getting punished by their father for breaking a window as kids. Others came from only one of them, John breaking his leg while at the Alliance Academy or Jane meeting Liara for the first time. Everything was visible from the embarrassing, John setting fire to the kitchen while trying to impress Ashley, to the private, Jane loosing her virginity with an asari named Shiala in the janitor's closet at the Academy. The drift took two already close siblings and brought them closer. No secrets existed between the Shepards and they liked it that way.
Eyes opening suddenly they moved their arms outward and around before bringing their hands together one fist closed. Their movements were perfectly synchronized. Outside Anderson, Joker and the rest of technicians watched as the massive bipedal form of Normandy SR-1 mimicked the actions of her pilots exactly. Joker glanced at his monitors and reported, "Neural handshake is steady and strong. All systems look good."
"Understood. Normandy, you are clear to deploy. Good hunting." At Anderson's command Joker worked his display and activated the conveyors. Hydraulics kicked in and Normandy began moving forward. It moved slowly, but built up speed as it began to pass the other Jaegers stationed here in the Alaska base. The massive bay doors slid open revealing a stormy night sky and waves crashing against the base's foundation. The conveyor ground to a stop and clamps around Normandy's feet unlocked. Freed from the restraints the Shepards took a step forward with Normandy responding immediately. A few more steps and they entered the wildly raging sea. Some Jaeger pilots liked to think the controlling a Jaeger made you unstoppable and invincible. Neither Shepard particularly agreed with that. However, as Normandy plowed through the waves, resisting nature's wrath with no effort at all, it was easy to see why some did think that.
An hour later and they still hadn't found the Kaiju. "Are we sure it's even here?" Jane complained as they continued to move through the water.
"Pretty sure," Joker replied. "We know a Kaiju came out of the Breach and was last seen heading to where you are now. Unfortunately that storm is screwing with our scanners so we can't get a good reading."
"How the hell are we supposed to find it then?"
"Like that," John suddenly said. Jane turned her eyes and immediately spotted what her brother meant: a wave that was moving in a completely different direction than all the rest. Almost as if it knew it had been seen the Kaiju rose out of the water and roared, a great thundering challenge to its opponent. It had a short, stocky body with equally short back legs. Its front limbs were double that length and had large sharp pincers for hands. A thin whip-like tail with barbed tip waved behind the beast. Its head consisted of three eyes and a short snout filled with razor sharp teeth. It reared up onto its back legs, roared again, then splashed back down and began charging at Normandy.
Jane brought her left arm up and said, "Activate Plasma Cannon." Normandy's left hand shifted and reconfigured into a glowing cannon which Jane aimed at the charging behemoth. As the Kaiju approached the cannon glowed brightly and fired several blasts all of which hit, but none penetrated the beast's unusually thick armor. Undaunted by the energy blasts the Kaiju reached Normandy and snapped with its pincers. A quick side step allowed them to dodge the strike. Then John ordered, "Activate Rocket Punch" as he raised Normandy's right arm into a punching position. A powerful jet engine equipped in the elbow engaged and propelled the raised fist forward at high speeds just as the Kaiju turned back. The powerful punch hit the beast's jaw so hard that it shattered all of the teeth in its mouth. A pained roar came from the mangled mess, but then its tail whipped out and around Normandy's right leg and pulled. The Jaeger didn't fall over, but it was thrown off balance. The Kaiju didn't waste any time and launched itself at the unbalanced opponent. Jane saw it coming and tried to aim the cannon, but the beast was too close. It grabbed hold of the arm just below the elbow. The razor edge off the pincers dug deeply into the metal, sending a wave of pain through Jane's arm because of the neural feedback. She screamed out as the Kaiju twisted and with a massive heave ripped the arm and cannon off.
The pain became so intense that Jane almost blacked out. Fortunately John wasn't as badly affected and quickly reacted even as the beast flung its prize out of sight. He activated the plasma cannon in Normandy's other arm, put it up against the Kaiju's slightly turned head and fired. The blast struck at point blank range and sent the beast crashing back into the water. Normandy didn't move as the cannon remained aimed at the still form. A minute passed with no movement and John relaxed. He turned toward his recovered sister and said, "That was a close one, huh Sis?"
The water around them erupted as the Kaiju suddenly launched itself at Normandy. Jane barely had time to notice one of its eyes destroyed and the dull white color of hardened bone visible beneath burnt skin before it was on top of them. One of its pincers stabbed deep into Normandy's chest, thankfully missing the reactor core, while the other grabbed the undamaged arm as John tried to get the cannon in position. It couldn't get as good a grip as earlier, but did prevent John from aiming properly. Then it looked like the beast was trying to eat the arm, but with its destroyed teeth it was only able to hold the cannon inside its mouth. The tail was lashing around wildly until it suddenly raised back and struck forward quick as lightning.
Jane was having trouble focusing from the pain of earlier injuries and the sudden unpredictable movements the Kaiju was causing. She was about to ask her brother if he had an idea when a bolt of pain worse than any before exploded in her chest. Looking down showed nothing that could have caused it. A sudden chilling feeling of dread arose as she turned to see her brother standing there... with the spike of the Kaiju's tail piercing his body.
Jane stared in wide eyed horror at the object embedded in her brother's body. She could see the tip of the spike coming out of his back, blood dripping off of it. The spike and John jerked suddenly as the Kaiju tried to pull its tail out. However, when it pierced the reinforced window that was one of Normandy's eyes one of the barbs got caught on the metal so the beast couldn't get free. Another attempt jerked the spike and John again, this time causing John to groan and a wave of pain to come across the drift.
The drift was filled with a storm of emotions coming from both siblings: pain, shock, disbelief, and anger. Slowly John's emotions changed to an almost calm acceptance with a small flash of regret, accompanied by an image of Ashley, then... nothing. The drift was silent except for Jane. A strangled sob was interrupted as the Kaiju finally got its tail free, ripping a piece of the wall and John's body out and flung away. Jane could only stare in stunned disbelief at the empty space where her brother died. However, when the Kaiju roared again she saw a red haze descend over her vision as grief was temporarily buried beneath rage.
She had to get control of the remaining cannon, but her entire body rippled with pain when she tried to move. She gritted her teeth hard. So what if it hurt? White hot pain in his chest. Looks down to see the spike impaling him. Pain is nothing. Pain is meaningless. Ignoring the agony that rippled through her nerves she typed in the commands to switch control of the cannon and ordered it to charge beyond the usual power. "WARNING," flashed onto the screen, "Overcharging Plasma Cannon may result in reactor failure or overload. Do you wish to continue?" With a snarl Jane pushed the yes button.
It only took the state of the art power systems a few seconds to charge the cannon, but it felt like an eternity as the grief swelled up again. A beep sounded throughout the compartment as the screen displayed, "Plasma Cannon charged to 363%. Fire when ready." A rage and pain fueled scream ripped itself from Jane's throat as she fired. The Kaiju was still trying to chew off Normandy's arm when it stopped and tilted its head slightly, its two remain eyes making it look like it was confused about something. Then its head exploded in a brilliant flash as the cannon discharged.
The beast's body dropped like a puppet with cut strings, splashing down into the water. Normandy followed it down. Almost all systems had shut down when the cannon drained all power. A few minutes passed before lights began to flicker as Normandy's systems rebooted. Jane just slumped down as far as the harness would allow her, breathing heavily as her vision flickered and swayed. Eventually she forced herself upright and checked the screens. All of them were flashing warnings, alerts, and damage reports. One screen showed that the communication system was not functioning. So calling for help wasn't an option. If she wanted to get home she'd have to do it herself. She used the few more minutes it took Normandy to restart to catch her breath, all while keeping extremely busy observing the data so she wouldn't think about what had happened. Finally everything was ready. Jane took a deep breath and tried to stand up. Her body protested the strain of both her injuries and of trying to endure the neural load of an entire Jaeger alone. She gritted her teeth and tried again. A couple of sharks came in closer to the site of the battle. They were curious, but smart enough to stay away from the toxic Kaiju blood. The other form was much more interesting. They had just gotten close when it suddenly began to move. As the sharks rapidly swam away the heavily damaged Jaeger stood, and then lifted its right leg forward in a slow, lurching step. This was followed by another, and another, and another as Normandy and her surviving pilot slowly but surely limped towards home.
Anderson cursed the storm and malfunctioning equipment for the hundredth time as the jeep he was in bounced over a rock by the coast. They had lost contact with Normandy over two hours ago and the storm's interference kept them from seeing what was happening. They finally got a lock on Normandy's emergency beacon and found that she was moving somewhere near here. Anderson and a small group immediately set out, though he did have to order Liara T'Soni and Ashley Williams to remain at the base. He knew how close they were to the Shepards and if the worst had happened he didn't want them to have to see it. Assuming that we ever find them damn it. His continued mental cursing was interrupted suddenly as someone from another truck shouted that he saw something. Anderson looked in the direction indicated and, sure enough the massive silhouette of a Jaeger was visible through the gloom. However, Anderson's relieved smile disappeared when they got closer and saw all of the damage. He didn't have time to be concerned as Normandy took another step, caught her foot on the inclining ground, tripped and fell... right toward the group of vehicles.
"Move! Move!" Anderson shouted as everyone scrambled to get out of the way. Thankfully everyone got clear before Normandy crashed to the ground causing a small earthquake-like effect. Almost before the shaking stopped, Anderson was out of his jeep and running to Normandy's head. A large gaping hole in one of the view screens conveniently allowed access. His heart clenched tight as he realized there was only one person in the compartment. The mangled and torn metal of the pilot harness support and the very hole he just climbed through told the story very clearly. For a brief second he thought about the young man who had been like the son he never had. Then he shook his head, "Focus! Grieve later, make sure she's alright now." Jane appeared to be unconscious and didn't respond to him calling her name. He detached her from the harness and caught her limp body before it fell. After gently lowering her to the ground, he remove her helmet and was surprised to find a lot of blood had leaked out of her nose. Concerned that she hit her head he lifted open one of her eyes and saw the pupil contracting and expanding randomly. He froze slightly as he recognized the symptoms of neural overload. He realized with dawning awe that Jane had piloted all this way solo. Only one other person in the 81 years the Jaeger program had been active had ever managed to do that and survive.
His train of thought was interrupted as Jane suddenly took a gasping breath and opened her eyes. "Jane, can you hear me?" Anderson asked. "Are you alright?" Her eyes were still a little unfocused as she stared at him. "John? Is that you?" she asked.
Anderson winced and gently said, "No, Jane. It's Anderson. 'Uncle' David."
"Uncle David? Where's John?" Her soft plaintive tone broke Anderson's heart. He was trying to figure out what to say when she suddenly grinned and said, "Oh, there you are!" She was happy to see him. She had a bad feeling something was wrong, but he was standing there in that beat up leather jacket he loved. Everything was alright.
"Jane?" Anderson asked softly. "Who are you talking to?"
"John, of course," she answered pointing at him. Anderson turned to look, but didn't see John or anything. Jane felt a cold dark feeling form in the pit of her stomach as she saw Anderson look directly at John without any reaction or recognition. "John?" she whispered. He shrugged one shoulder apologetically, "Sorry, Sis. I died."
With that simple confession Jane's memory of the last few hours came rushing back. She screamed a wordless denial as John disappeared as though he were never there, because he wasn't. Then Jane Shepard simply... broke. She began sobbing uncontrollably as Anderson wrapped his arms around her, knowing that there was nothing he could say. So he simply held her as she sobbed until her voice gave out. He held her as she sobbed silently until her eyes, red and raw, stopped producing tears. He held her as she sobbed silent and tearless, her entire body shaking with gut wrenching heaves. He held her until the medics used sedatives to force her into a deep dreamless sleep. Only then did the sobs stop. For now.
A/N: What do you think? Worth continuing? For those that would like to know this fic will have the main pairing of Jane Shepard and Samantha Traynor with some other pairings as well. This is a femslash fic so if that's not to your taste I'm letting you know now. Also there will probably be a smut scene somewhere down the road. Maybe. I've never done one so we'll have to wait and see. If that's not something you're comfortable with then you might not want to read this. Any helpful criticisms about flaws, spelling and grammar errors would be greatly appreciated. I only ask that you be polite. Any flamers or trolls will be ignored.