Chapter One

Lily sighed heavily as she walked the south-western border of Kodiak Island. The cold water was heavily lapping at her jaeger's black legs.

"Bored?" asked Lily's co-pilot.

"You have no idea," replied Lily.

"I'm in your head, remember?"

"I try no to."

"Smartass."

"Jerk."

Lily felt an amused feeling rubbing against the edge of her mind.

"Patrol is so boring," said Lily. "Why couldn't we have been born a couple of years earlier so we could have fought in the Kaiju war?"

"You and me both sister," answered Jack.

"Pay attention kids," interrupted another voice.

"To what exactly George?" asked Jack. "There's nothing out there."

"Remember, we're not the only ones who developed stealth technology for our Jaeger's," replied George's brother and co-pilot, Steven.

Despite Jack's silence, Lily could feel her brother's annoyance through the drift.

"How long have we been out here?" asked Lily, more for Jack's sake then her own.

"We have another hour before our shift ends," replied Sarah,

Jack just grunted. Before Lily could say anything, she felt a massive force hit the left side of their jaeger. She and Jack staggered several steps before they caught their balance.

"Listen kiddies," said Jane, Sarah's sister and co-pilot and also the leader of the patrol team. "Whoever is out there, it's our job to keep them from getting on land. Understood?"

"Understood," said Jack and Lily.

Jack and Lily turned toward the coast to face the enemy. Out of the fog came six Jaegers. Judging on the design, they all appeared to be Mark-5 class.

"It looks like we're outnumbered baby sister," said Jack. "You scared?"

"Hell no," replied Lily. "And you're only older than me by ten minutes."

"I'm still older then you."

"Enough of the chitchat kids," came George's voice. "Since you guys have the Mark-6 Jaeger, you'll provide the head of the formation. We'll be right behind you."

Lily sighed shakily and began moving forward with the two other Jaeger's of the patrol team closing in on either side of her. Lily could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest.

"Don't worry Lily," said Jack. "We can kick their butts."

"They outnumber us six to three Jack," replied Lily.

"Yeah, but they don't have a Mark-6 Jaeger."

Lily smirked at her brother's comment. Through the drift, Lily could feel her brother's reassurance.

"We should try far range weapons first," said Jane.

Lily raised her right arm with her hand in a fist. She could hear the machines to her bottom right begin to power up. The jaeger's right hand opened up to become a plasma cannon.

"Fire at will," commanded Jane.

Lily fired the cannon several times at the lead Jaeger's torso. Eventually, it fell into the cold ocean, causing some waves to lap at Lily's "legs." The other five Jaegers continued to proceed with their advance without breaking formation. The jaeger to Lily's right began to power up its plasma cannon as well.

"We got this one," said George, firing their jaeger's plasma cannon.

The second jaeger fell, leaving the numbers four to three.

"Alright children, they're becoming too close for far range combat," said Sarah. "It's time for close range combat."

Lily and Jack made their way to make confrontation with the Jaeger to their left. The enemy Jaeger released its chain blade.

"Oh look Lily," said Jack feigning impression. "Isn't that cute?"

Lily smirked at his comment. Jack released the Shadow Samurai's chain blade and stabbed the Jaeger through the core. Lily could see the edge of the silver blade force its way to the back of the enemy jaeger. Jack removed the chain blade and let the Jaeger fall.

"Three down, three to go," said Lily.

Before Lily and Jack could make their way to the next jaeger, a massive force shook the Shadow Samurai hard. The conn-pod jerked suddenly to the right, making the jaeger stumble several steps. Before Lily and Jack could regain their balance, another force caused them to fall into the ocean.

"COWARDS!" yelled Jack as he and Lily hit the ocean floor.

Lily could feel her brother's rage. Combined with her anger, the twins stood up and faced the jaeger that attacked them. Lily threw the first punch at their opponent, Jack's punch not too far behind.

Just as Lily was about to throw another punch, a powerful force pushed them forward. Then all of a sudden, someone grabbed the conn-pod and began to pull up. Lily and Jack tried to fight back by elbowing them. Before they could break free, the jaeger in front of them raised its right hand, signaling to stop. The jaeger behind them released its hold.

"Jane," said Lily urgently. "Where are you? We're getting our butts handed to us."

"Our hands are kind of tied right now kid," she replied apologetically.

"GEORGE!" Jack roared. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"These guys are putting up quite the fight friend," said George calmly.

"It looks like we're on our own sister."

Lily nodded, not even saying a word to her brother. She knew Jack could feel her fear. The siblings raised their fists, ready to continue the fight.

"To the death," said Lily.

"To the death," copied Jack.

Getting their second wind, Jack began to throw the first punch. The jaeger dodged it and provided a counter punch to the conn-pod. Lily, without even thinking, backhanded the jaeger's own conn-pod. Jack giggled at Lily as he activated the chain sword.

"They deserved it," Lily said, glaring at Jack.

"I know," replied Jack with a smirk on his lips.

The last jaeger standing in front of them activated its plasma canon and aimed it at Shadow Samurai. Before they could fire their weapon, Jack pushed the chain sword through the enemy's conn-pod. The conn-pod fell freely into the freezing water while the headless jaeger fell to its knees and disappeared under the waves.

Before Jack could even retract the chain sword, the sirens in Shadow Samurai began to blare.

"Warning!" said the jaeger AI. "System infected!"

"What happened?" yelled Lily over the alarms.

"I think it was when we were in the chock hold!" replied Jack. "They must have somehow infected Shadow Samurai's systems!"

Lily could feel a little bit of her heartbreak. Shadow Samurai had always been good to her and Jack. It always protected them from the dangers the enemy threw at them. Now, Shadow Samurai was reaping the consequences because Lily and Jack could not protect themselves.

"Warning!" said the AI. "Left hemisphere infected."

Lily and Jack looked at their screen.

"Show source of infection!" commanded Jack.

A holographic image of Shadow Samurai appeared before them. The source of the infection was in the harness itself.

"Disengaging left hemisphere pilot," said the AI.

Lily felt the neural load double. It felt like someone just dumped fifty bricks onto her head.

"Ejecting left hemisphere pilot," the AI said.

Lily whipped her head toward Jack. Before he disappeared, she saw a look of pure horror on his face.

"NO!" exclaimed Lily.

The locks that held Jack in place released and the left part of the harness put Jack in the escape pod.

"Releasing escape pod," the AI said.

Lily could see dot that represented the conn-pod on the screen and land safely in the waters.

It looks like I am on my own thought Lily.

"Shadow Samurai, listen to me!" yelled Lily. "Can the virus be isolated?"

Lily could feel a separate consciousness rubbing against her own. It did not feel like her brother's but it was still familiar.

I will try my best came the response.

On the holographic imaging system, Lily could see no sign of the virus.

"What happened?" asked Lily, the alarms finally gone quiet.

"Lily!" came Jane's voice over the comm. "What is going on? We just saw Jack's escape pod eject!"

"A virus infected Shadow Samurai," Lily replied calmly. "But then it just disappeared."

"I just did a sensory sweep colonel," interrupted George. "I can't find Jack's pod anywhere."

"Don't worry Lily," said Sarah. "We'll find your brother."

Even though the neural load was stilling hold strong, Lily could still feel a bit of relief, knowing that help was coming.

"Can we go now?" asked Steven.

"Lily can," said Sarah.

"Thank you colonel," replied Lily.

"How come she gets to be dismissed and we can't?" complained George.

"Because she doesn't have a co-pilot," replied Jane.

"Dumbass," said George.

Lily turned off the comm system so she would not have to listen to her teammates argue. The walk to Anchorage was excruciatingly long for Lily. The neural load felt like it was getting heavier, making it harder for Lily to move.

I am sorry said a voice at the edge of Lily's mind.

"It's okay my friend," responded Lily. "I know you did what you thought was right."

After a half hour went by, Lily finally made to the Anchorage shatterdome. The first set of hangar doors opened up. Lily walked onto the platform that rolled Shadow Samurai into its hangar.

"Disengaging right hemisphere pilot from Shadow Samurai," said the AI.

The weight from the neural load suddenly lifted, leaving Lily lightheaded and dizzy.

"Oh," said Lily before passing out onto the floor of the conn-pod.