"SUIT UP!"

Those were the words that Melia Jandon dreamed of hearing directed at her. Her older brother, James, stood up and hurried to put a shirt on.

"Category?" Melia questioned, hopping down from her bunk in the room they shared.

"Three, apparently," James replied.

"I bet I could take down a Three," Melia said, punching the air with the same fluidity as a snake. "Or a Four."

"Sure you could, kiddo," James said, opening the door.

Melia made to follow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" James said, his arm barring her way.

"To the observation and control room?"

"Absolutely not."

"Yeah, like you could stop me," and with that, Melia curled her body, swung herself up, wrapped both legs around the offending arm and whipped her brother to the floor.

"See ya!" she called, and disappeared in a flurry of red curls.

Melia watched from the safety of the windows as her brother got into his white suit and stepped inside his Jaeger. The Jaeger was called Emerald Fist, a medium-sized green Jaeger with a particularly powerful elbow rocket.

Melia managed to shove Tando out of the way just long enough to shout into the comm "had enough yet loser? Maybe I should take over."

Tendo pushed her away and reestablished a proper communications link.

Stacker appeared at Melia's elbow. "Don't shout into the microphone, kid."

Melia scowled. "Don't call me kid, sir."

"You look like you just jumped outta bed," Stacker said, observing the young candidate in her navy vest, blue trousers and blue hoodie knotted around her hips.

"I did," Melia replied.

They all watched as Emerald Fist was given the go-signal and was transported out.

"When do I get to become a pilot, sir?" Melia said, throwing the question out there in hope of shocking an answer out of Stacker.

"When you're ready."

"Which I am, sir."

"I beg to differ."

"What's the real reason I'm not a pilot yet?" Melia demanded, not even bothering to add 'sir'.

Stacker sighed and seemed to cave in. He turned to her and looked her directly in the eyes. "Melia, you're one of the strongest candidates we've had in years. You are technically ready. But we haven't found anyone of adequate Drift Compatibility for you yet."

Melia frowned. "Surely there's someone?"

"Melia, we need to find someone with a similar fighting style to yours. Everyone in this place fights with striking uniformity - you're unpredictable."

"Can't the neural handshake meld their style to mine?"

"It could, but we think your potential could be maximized if we could only find the right copilot for you."

A beeping distracted them. "Tando, what's happening?" Stacker said sharply.

"Pilot Jandon has lost his copilot," Tando said hurriedly. "Jandon, report!"
"The Kaiju got Darren!" a sobbing voice broke through. "It got Darren!"

"Jandon, please do not be distracted by pilot Samuels," Stacker ordered. "Return to base, repeat, return to base."

"It got him!" James repeated in a shrill tone. "It got Darren! The Kaiju got Darren!"
"Pilot Jandon!" Stacker yelled. "LISTEN TO ME! Return to base, THAT IS AN ORDER!"

"He can't solo pilot all the way back!" screamed Melia. She practically threw Tando to one side and grabbed the comm. "James! James, can you hear me?"

"It got Darren," her brother repeated in a whisper.

"James, I need you to try and get out of the way of the Kaiju," Melia said in a controlled calm. "Can you do that?" She covered the microphone and glared at the Marshal. "Get helicopters out there, now. Take a willing pilot with you."

Stacker decided to ignore the insolence and began yelling orders.

"James?" Melia inquired quietly, talking into the comm. "James, it's Melia, your sister. Melia, your little sister. Listen to me. Focus on my voice. Please, please, get out of range of the Kaiju. Just enough so that it doesn't get you. They're bringing a pilot to help you get back. Until then I need you to solo pilot."

"I can't solo pilot, Melia," James sobbed. "I can't. I can't."

Melia swallowed. She wasn't used to hearing this side of James. It was like he was a little kid again, scared out of his mind. But back then it was because of thunder - right now it was because a giant ugly sea alien had killed a man he had been psychically linked to.

"Yes, yes you can," Melia whispered. "Breathe with me. In, out, in, and out. See? Calm. Calm. In and out. In and out. Now move your feet, one in front of the other, until the Kaiju isn't close any more."

Heavy breathing a slight groaning indicated that James had begun to try and solo pilot.

"Breathe, James, breathe. In and out. In and out."

"It's big, Melia, it's really really big."

"It is?" Melia gulped down the ball of panic and went along with it. "How big?"

"Big."

"Okay. It's big. What else does it look like?"

"It has four pointy bits on it's head. Like a star. Star head."

"OK, got it. We'll call it Starhead."

"And it's blue. It's got a blue throat, like glowing blue."

"Neon blue? Like Gatorade?"

"Yes, just like that. It's so disgusting, Melia."

"I bet it is."

A new voice suddenly broke out over the comm. "Pilot Milligan reporting to base, over."

Melia sighed in relief. "Pilot Milligan, this is Melia Jandon, over."

"Melia Jandon? Pilot Jandon's baby sister?"

Melia resisted the urge to shout that she was nobody's baby sister, but instead controlled herself and said "yes, pilot Jandon's sister. Please, check that James is okay and start moving towards base, over."

There was a scuffling and quiet voices and Milligan's voice appeared again. "He seems rather traumatised, Miss Jandon, but I'm sure that if you keep talking to him we'll be able to get the Jaeger back to base."

Melia took a breath in through her nose. Okay, she can do this. Emerald Fist will get back safely and she'll see James again.

"James?" Melia said, voice soft. "James, can you try and walk? Pilot Milligan is there and will be able to help you."

James sniffled and didn't say anything.

There was a pause, and then Milligan said, "it's working, Miss, we're moving."