A/N: This is an old idea that brewed in my mind while watching Pacific Rim (one of my favourite films) a few months ago, so I cleaned it up, compressed from a few half-finished chapters I wrote then, and finished it as a one-shot. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING, property of respective owners etc.
United we Stand
"Why did I ever let you drag me into this," Amelia said idly as she swiped her hand over various holographic displays, sweat beading along her brow and matting her scarlet hair.
"You said 'I do,' remember?" quipped her counterpart, and the woman knew the Scot's sapphire eyes were twinkling.
"Of course I remember that, though I'm still surprised you do. You were practically too drunk to stand," she sent a few images of the ravenette throwing up on the altar across the connection between their minds-'headspace' they called it during training.
"As you constantly remind me," Alexa replied, "though I seem to recall you drinking even more than me."
"The Irish can hold their drink better than the Scots, its official," the redhead quickly returned, drawing her arm back as the kaiju barrelled its way towards their Jaeger.
"I demand a rematch."
"If we survive this, sure. I'll happily drink you under the table again, Lexi."
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"This is a stupid idea," Amelia protested as her excited lover practically dragged her along. The Scot grinned manically in return, her decidedly non-regulation black hair flowing to her shoulders with its line of crimson to the right of her face, contrasting with the old green camouflage army fatigues she wore.
"Come on, you're the one who's always saying we should do more as a couple," Alexa replied.
"Testing for drift compatibility?" the redhead dubiously stated, looking at the posters lining the walls of the building in front of them.
"It'll be fun!" her partner argued, "besides, I've heard it's really good for bonding if you get to drift."
"You do realise I have work to do on the thermo-couplings for the dual reactor design?" the Irish woman looked over her rectangular glasses with their black frames at her lover, instinctively reaching into one of her lab-coat's pockets for her 'to-do' list.
"You do realise that I had to trade three patrol shifts in to get free time now and book the session. They'll be pissed off if we blow it off, there's a pretty long waiting list," the ravenette pouted, and Amelia sighed, looking away as she knew that she couldn't resist that look.
"Sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake falling in love with a complete maniac," she posed out loud.
"You love me really," Alexa replied, "now come on! We don't want to miss it."
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"Video games? I really didn't think the drift testing would be so…crude," Alexa said as she shot another enemy combatant on her screen. "I mean the puzzle solving in…what did you say it was?"
"Portal 2," Amelia replied absent-mindedly, "sniper, your 2 O'clock."
"Thanks babe," the other woman said, nailing the offending man before continuing her musing, "that one made sense, that was like a visual problem solving thing. This is just a shoot-em-up; it's nothing like real combat."
"It's hardly a crude system, as you put it," Amelia returned, bringing her assault rifle to bear on someone attempting to flank them. "All these sensors they've wired onto us monitor heart-rate, brain activity, and all that, so they can see how in sync we are."
"Watch your left," Alexa interrupted.
"Thanks Lex. And the real combat can be taught, or in your case you already know half of it, which means I wouldn't need to in an actual Jaeger because our minds would be linked and knowledge is shared. What they're testing for here is something that can't be taught. It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it."
"Still seems silly to base how you'd do in a two thousand ton robot on how good you are in Call of Duty."
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"Uncle," Amelia rasped out through her oxygen mask, placing her feet on the side of the treadmill as the limbs burned from exertion. She looked over at her compatriot in envy as the other woman smirked beneath her mask, casually continuing her strong pace on her own machine. "I didn't know I was that unfit," she said as she pulled the mask off, a scientist in a lab-coat handing her a bottle of water which she took gratefully.
"Don't worry," he said, "you did better than average; not every applicant has military training like your girlfriend."
"Wife," she corrected automatically, noting Alexa's knowing look she sent her way. The woman knew she still loved saying that; hell, they both did.
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"Good to get all that stuff off," Alexa stated as she stretched her toned arm out, massaging her likely aching muscles. God knows Amelia's were still burning.
"That's the last of it," the scientist attending her stated as he pulled the last sensor from her stomach, and Amelia lowered the tank-top back down over herself, glad to lose the self-conscious feeling of showing her sports-bra clad bust. "If you just wait here for a while, you'll be getting results in a minute." He gave the pair a smile before walking out of the waiting room with the box of electronics.
"Well, you got your wish. We went through drift viability testing," the redhead said as she leaned back into the chair, allowing her muscles to go limp.
"Hey, it's not over yet is it? We still haven't drifted," Alexa replied with a frown. Amelia gave a snort of laughter in return.
"Babe, next-to-no-one gets to actually drift. Few people have the ability, and even fewer in compatible pairs," she stated, "I tried to tell you earlier that we'd never get past the initial testing."
"Well," the ravenette began slowly, dipping her head down, "it looks like they're talking about something important over there." She gestured to the translucent window separating the small waiting room from the corridor beyond, where two shadows were animatedly gesturing as they conversed.
"No, no way," Amelia replied firmly, "it'll be something else; you're allowing your imagination to take hold."
Her lover was cut off from any retort she might have made as the door opened to reveal a man familiar to them both-the major in charge of the military base. They both stood, Alexa snapping off an immediate salute.
"At ease Lieutenant O'Connell, Doctor O'Connell," the man said, but neither of them relaxed much. "Now I have good news, and I have bad news."
"No way, there's no way," Amelia muttered disbelievingly.
"Good news is you passed, with flying colours I might add," two jaws dropped at his statement, "bad news is, we ain't got the simulators and tech up here in Scotland to give you the real drift testing. You two are shipping out to London HQ, ASAP."
Much to her eternal embarrassment, that was the moment when Amelia fainted.
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"Names," the man at the desk demanded, stopping the pair from looking around the lobby as they hefted bags over their shoulders.
"Lieutenant Alexa O'Connell, 52nd Lowlands Regiment," Alexa snapped off.
"Doctor Amelia O'Connell, PhD, MEng," the redhead added. The man at the desk cycled through something on his screen before nodding, opening a draw to pull two lanyards out.
"You are to wear these at all times. Proceed up to the fifth floor, you're expected," he said as he handed them over.
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"Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol sequence," came a robotic female voice around the pair as they sat in what were not dissimilar to dentists' chairs, headgear adorning their skulls with a pad to the each side and on top. "Neural handshake in 20…19…18…"
"You ready for this?" Alexa inquired as Amelia simply stared at a wall, still feeling no small bit of trepidation over what they were about to do.
"God knows, let's find out."
"5…4…" the AI continued, who reminded Amelia a lot of GLaDOS. Which wasn't a nice thought considering they were the Chells of the situation. "3…Neural handshake initiated."
There was almost a sucking feeling as two pairs of eyes widened, and everything seemed to explode.
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"What you reading, geek?" sneered a bulky boy, and Amelia shuffled backwards, holding her textbook close to her chest.
"N-nothing," she stammered out.
"Give it here," the book was ripped from her arms, and she cried out, grabbing for it as the children around her laughed. Her rucksack was quickly taken as well, being thrown around above her head.
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"And so, due to the effect of a chain reaction, nuclear fission became a viable source of energy, contrary to Einstein's original beliefs," Amelia concluded, smiling a little as she finished her passionate speech of scientific theory.
"Very good Amelia, if, well, a little beyond the realms of the syllabus," the teacher stated, looking bewilderingly over the handout she had provided. "Where did you even find this information?"
"An A-Level physics textbook," she replied, though her smile faltered as something wet impacted on her cheek. She gave a noise of disgust as the spit-ball fell to the floor.
"Oh, now who threw that?" the teacher demanded, standing up to look around the darkened classroom. Amelia merely sighed, her hand reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose, her short stature in a dejected state.
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"Daaaaaad, come on, it's bonfire night, everyone's going out to the hill for the school party," Alexa protested.
"No, you're staying here; I'm not letting you out that late," the man replied, not even getting up from his seat on the battered old sofa, sipping his can of beer.
"That's not fair!" the girl protested, going so far as to stamp her foot.
"Well, tough shit, life ain't fair," the man replied simply, "now go up to your room and do your homework or something."
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"What are you doing back here?" Alexa inquired curiously, watching as the redhead whipped round immediately, eyes wide.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…I… sorry," she said in an Irish accent, so obvious to the Scot. She caught the shorter girl as she tried to brush past, curiously looking at her fearful expression.
"You're the new girl, aren't you? The one from Ireland."
"Y-yeah," she replied quietly.
"Why are you so scared? I'm not about to hurt you," the ravenette said confusedly.
"Really?" came the tentative reply.
"Really really," she said comfortingly, "what are you even doing back here? You're a bit young to be going behind the sheds for a smoke."
"I was reading…" the girl replied slowly, opening her arms a bit to allow the other girl to see the book clutched to her chest.
"Oh, what's the book?" Alexa inquired curiously, peering round to get a look.
"A Brief History of Time," the redhead stated, bringing the book round so that the infamous author's picture on the front could be seen.
"Whoa, you some kind of genius then?"
"Um…" the girl rubbed the back of her head absent-mindedly, "kinda?"
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"Alright, I won't do the traditional dad on first boyfriend introduction to parents routine," the man said kindly to his daughter, smiling as the redhead relaxed. "But if he says anything about 'lucky' or 'charms' then I'm getting the shotgun."
"Michael!" the man's wife admonished, batting him on the arm as their daughter blushed.
"Um, yeah, about that," the teen said, shuffling awkwardly, "I'd been waiting to tell you… It's not a 'he' as such."
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"I think that went well," Alexa said as she held her girlfriend's hand, the pair sitting on the floor against the radiator in Amelia's room.
"I think I was blushing the whole time; I couldn't look them in the eyes," Amelia replied.
"Well," Alexa added brightly, "at least they didn't say anything about safe sex." That managed to wring a laugh from her quiet redhead who leaned into the taller teen for comfort.
"Now we just got to brave your father."
"Oh god, don't remind me of that," Alexa groaned, "he's gonna hit the ceiling, probably disown me or something. 'Hello daddy, I've decided I'm a filthy heathen, this is my girlfriend and we're off to shake hands with Satan.'"
"You should try saying that, really, I kind of want to see his face," Amelia replied.
"He'd probably belt me one."
"Really?"
"Wouldn't be the first time. Ever since mum died…" the girl trailed off, but was brought from any further melancholy by a soothing rubbing of her arm.
"We'll get through it Lexi. At the end of the day, we'll always have each other," the teen said softly.
"Have I ever mentioned that I love you?" Alexa replied with a smile.
"Once or twice," the Irish girl shuffled up, and laid a kiss upon soft lips.
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"Y'know," slurred Alexa as Amelia sipped her can of cider, "I wash talking with Shteve t'other day."
"Mmm, what about?" the redhead replied.
"The whole gay marriage thing," the ravenette gesticulated as if to show how the recent law passed encompassed the space. "He asked if we'd be getting hitched."
"What'd you say?"
"I said we would, defin-defin…defin-itly," the girl went cross-eyed trying to pronounce the word, clearly heavily inebriated.
"Sounds like a plan," her girlfriend replied with a smile, not quite so drunk, but still far from sober.
"Ack-shully, y'know what?" Alexa posed, looking surprisingly pensive for a drunk person, "I'm a Shcottish shcitizen."
"Yeah, and?"
"Laws shay marriage age is sixteen. Parents don't even have a shay. We could get married, like, now."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah." In response, the redhead struggled unsteadily to her feet.
"In that case…Alexa Smith, will you marry me?" the green eyed girl held out a hand to her girlfriend, helping her up.
"Of coursh!" the ravenette exclaimed, "wake Jenny up, and letsh go find a fucking church!"
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"Fuckin' 'ell," Alexa said as she woke up to the most ear-splitting headache she had ever experienced.
"Good morning to you too," came Amelia's voice from beside her. She opened bleary eyes to see her girlfriend sitting up in the messy bed, bare breasts exposed as she examined her hand with extreme interest.
"Where th'fuck are we," she slurred a little in her language, cradling her aching skull.
"Hotel, down Maynard Street," Amelia replied off-handedly, still not looking up from her hand. "Do you remember what we did last night?"
"Er…" she looked around the messy room, with clothes strewn about, and taking in the fact she knew herself to be naked and the odours of exertion filling the air. "Lots of sex?"
"Before that."
"Lots of drinking?"
"After that."
"I don't fucking know, tell me."
The redhead finally looked over at her, her emerald eyes as bloodshot as her own doubtless were. A pale hand was extended over, and Alexa blinked as she tried to concentrate on it before freezing as she noticed the detail.
A ring.
A single golden ring on the fourth finger of Amelia's left hand.
"What?" Alexa spluttered, while moving under the sheets to withdraw her own hand, an identical ring present. "Holy shit," memories flooded back to her all in a rush, of what they'd done…
"Married," Amelia confirmed, "at seventeen."
"We are so dead."
"Mm-hmm," Amelia agreed. "I've been up for the last hour trying to think of what I'm gonna tell my parents. But do you know what?"
"What?" Alexa said, glad for something to grasp onto as her world rocked.
"I don't care. Because right now, I have my wife," she reached over and planted a soft kiss on the other teen's lips. "And that is all that matters."
Alexa couldn't help but chuckle a little at the mad situation, but she as well felt a burst of happiness over the fact.
"Well then, wife of mine, I have an idea to propose."
"Oh, pray tell," Amelia made a gesture to go on.
"I say we forget the rest of the world for the next few hours and make good use of this bed."
"I second."
"Good."
And then there was little said between them for many hours.
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"I can't believe this, look at it!" Amelia exclaimed, gesturing at the screen where a huge beast was being filmed as it laid waste to a city. "We need to do something, anything."
"What the hell can we do about it?"
"Something. You can always do something."
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With a jerk of their heads, the room around them swam into view. And it was them; they could feel one another totally, intrinsically in their beings.
"Neural handshake completed," the electronic voice came through two sets of ears and they both heard it, and each smiled at what they'd just done.
"Holy shit," they muttered as one.
"That was weird," Alexa commented.
"They call it chasing the rabbits," Amelia commented.
"Chasing down memories along the neural synapses of each other and oh my god I sound like you." The redhead let out a laugh.
"I shall call you, Mini-Me."
"Hey, I'm the tall one."
"No," Amelia replied with a grin, "we're going to be inside the tall one." She sent a picture across their neural pathway to allow Alexa to see an image of the metal monstrosity her wife was a part of building.
"Oh, hell yes."
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The next five months were gruelling as they trained, even as Amelia tried to balance her continued work with building the first of the Mark III Jaegers-Britain was determined to bring theirs out first-and specifically, customising one. For them.
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"Look at him," Amelia stated, gazing up at the metal behemoth as sparks flew off the metal, people swarming across it.
"Lord Azrael," Alexa echoed.
The machine was humanoid of course, though the head was fairly cylindrical and mainly functioned as a decoy and access port, rather than the pilot control as in many other Jaegers. The whole machine had strong, thick metal armour harking back to the Mark I's rather than the II's and several other countries designs for Mark III's, with heavy limbs and a tall figure-even for a 5000 ton Jaeger.
The armour was black, lined in red, and the heavy build was obvious in the thick legs and barrelled chest from wherein the control pod rested. Alongside the dual nuclear reactors of course. The arms were where the symmetricity was upset; the left was again heavyset, armoured in plates along the outside designed for defence not unlike a buckler, though with a sharp serrated edge and twin blades that snapped into position on either side of the giant hand; the right arm was lighter, designed with jets in the back to propel it forward, and having not just the same twin blades but also an extendable sword that created something almost like a Sai for them to use, albeit a lot bigger. The machine was definitely built for brawling, the only ranged weapons being a few fire-and-forget cannons that emerged from the right breastplate, and an electromagnetic railgun that popped open from the left shoulder - a weapon that Amelia had pioneered and rushed through development to have fitted in their personal battle machine. Of course, said rail-gun-while heavily damaging-used a massive amount of power to fire its depleted uranium projectile, so was only good for two or three shots with their full power reserve.
And of course, up on its left breastplate, was a Union Flag, displaying proudly that the United Kingdom wouldn't sit back and allow its allies to face danger alone. Or so the propaganda went; it was good for national morale.
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"Right Hemisphere, calibrating," Alexa said aloud, bringing both their armoured right arms up.
"Left Hemisphere, calibrating," Amelia replied, bringing her own control sphere up.
With a jerk, they pushed their hands together in the traditional palm to fist, signifying their connection.
"Alright, Lord Azrael trial one. Out you go, ladies," came the orders across the speakers, and the pair grinned as the giant doors opened in front of them, showing the large courtyard beyond where two of their fellow behemoths already stood.
"Got the surprise installed?" Alexa inquired with a hand on the mute comms button.
"Yep," Amelia replied, "should work fine."
With strong movements, and a song in their hearts, the pair took the first huge step forward, the mechanics around their feet rising up to allow the Jaeger to do the same.
"And now," the voice was clearly from speakers outside, where the crowd was gathered to view Britain's latest achievements, "Lord Azrael, and its pilots: Amelia and Alexa O'Connell."
"Showtime," Amelia muttered, and at her word, the clapping paused as the speakers gave out a little white noise and grinding before guitar riffs began sounding through the square. They stepped out into the sunlight, the golden beams peeling off the shining black armour to the dulcet tones of Brian Johnson.
"Back in black! I hit the sack, I bet you know I'm glad to be back!" the singing was accompanied by cheers as they emerged, moving to stand proudly at the centre behind the stand containing various dignitaries. Just to play it up, they snapped the right hand up into an exaggerated salute, before letting it fall back down as the music faded.
"You think they'll be pissed about interrupting them with music?" Alexa queried.
"It's ACDC. Everyone likes ACDC," Amelia replied assuredly, moving the cameras to zoom in on a small lady in blue down on the stand. "Look at that; her Majesty, in the flesh."
"God save the Queen."
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"You rigged the speaker system to play ACDC," stated some military officer as he walked in to the suit room where Alexa and Amelia were having black pieces of armour removed to display the silver under-suit.
"It made for a good entrance," Amelia replied, her counterpart quickly nodding her agreement.
"Well, I'd reprimand you, but as of tomorrow you're no longer our problem. You girls are shipping out to the Sydney Shatterdome, while Chrome Brutus and Aran Thunder are heading to Canada."
"Australia. Right, we already have great big Godzilla style monsters trying to wipe us out, we get to go to the country where everything else wants to kill us as well," Amelia said drily.
"Hey, at least we can work up a tan," Alexa said quickly, prompting a laugh from her lover.
"Won't catch me on those beaches without scorpion repellent or something."
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"Opening bay doors, Lord Azrael drop one, January 3rd 2018. Kaiju: Shorthorn, category three, exited breach twenty minutes ago," professionally rattled off the base's ensign, Mia Locke.
"Sorry to do this on your first drop, but Vulcan Spectre is still being repaired, and as you know we lost Jade Brawler recently; you're on your own," Marshall Addams declared, his gruff Australian accent oddly comforting as Lord Azrael rolled down on a gurney into the dark night.
"Don't worry about us, worry about the city. How far is the bastard from Sydney?" Alexa asked.
"Thirty miles and closing fast," Mia promptly replied.
"Where are our Jumphawks? We can't walk there before it reaches the city," Amelia stated calmly, surveying what skies they could see from the helmet-cam up in front of them. The disadvantage of a chest-pod was that they had to send the camera feed down rather than having a window of sorts.
"Just left the hangar, should be hooking you up in a few seconds," Mia said, even as floodlights appeared from above and the black aircraft became just about visible against the night sky, cables already being lowered.
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"Big'n'ugly, 1'O'Clock," Alexa said as they assumed a ready position in the ocean of Sydney's harbour, the water reaching up to their knees. A spotlight mounted on the helm of the Jaeger immediately swung over to shed light on the large ripple with noticeable bumps.
"Alright you little bastard, here's your welcoming party," Amelia growled out as she primed up her railgun, the barrel extending up and then across at the swiftly approaching monster. "Charging up….fire!" The knockback was incredible, their left foot even lifting up a little as they allowed the shoulder to roll.
Their gaze, however, was on the line of fire that the projectile created as the air ignited behind it, and seeing the beast attempt to veer out of the way and a scream being heard as the depleted uranium slug ripped into its side, blue blood spraying into the ocean.
"Off target, kaiju is still active," the redhead continued for those back at the base.
"Brace," stated Alexa, moving to push their right foot back while Amelia brought up the left 'shield-arm' as they called it. True to expectation, Shorthorn leapt out of the water at them so they could get their first proper look at it. It seemed rhino-like, with a ridge of horns along its brow to nose, as well as a small mouth of wicked looking teeth. Furthermore, it had a tough hide and short legs, capped with clawed feet. Of course, it had a great rend in its right side where the railgun had done its job, ribs exposed beneath blue slime.
As it slammed forward, Amelia absorbed the butt with her arm, pushing it over to the left as Alexa brought her weapon round in a right hook, elbow rocket firing to jab the kaiju in the neck with two short blades. Again, screams rent the night to their grim smiles.
"Get your sword out, Lexi," the redhead stated as the beast swam away from their reach.
"Reading my mind, babe," Alexa quipped even as the weapon extended beneath the arm, flopping around before the individual pieces snapped together to form the long blade. "Lost visual."
The spotlight swept over the dark waves as they looked around, taking a defensive pose. The ravenette was the one to eventually spot the ripple in the waves, bringing them round to face the beast as it leapt up on their right, snapping its teeth around their forearm. Both women gave a groan of pain as electrical feedback snapped along their own arms in conjunction, signifying the damage.
Without saying a word, Alexa sent an idea over through their headspace, Amelia immediately confirming and bringing her arm round to clamp onto Shorthorn as Alexa pushed her arm downwards so his head was right by their chest. It tried to buck its spiny horns along their front, but the heavy armour plates held even as the top plate opened up to reveal three cannons in a triangular shape which quickly fired one after the other at the kaiju's head.
Amelia held it close with her arm, keeping Shorthorn still as the beast was pummelled by angry rockets, although not piercing its hide, certainly stunning it and possibly breaking a few bones. When it released their damaged right arm from its mouth, they sent the heavy right forearm to press into its neck and pushed it down to the seabed, where it struggled weakly to fight its sluggishness after the rocket assault.
Triumphantly, the right arm with its sword shining silver raised up high, the elbow rockets faltering but still functioning as they slammed the blade down to impale the Kaiju in its neck, quickly twisting to slice it apart, leaving the head dangling, vaguely attached to the spine.
As they stood back up, Shorthorn didn't stir; its eyes, once malice filled, were glassy beneath the dark waves.
"Shatterdome, Shorthorn down and out," they said together, staring down at the corpse with pride.
"Confirmed," the Marshall replied, likely through images from the Jumphawks hanging around. "Good work; head back and the drinks are on me."
"You just made a mistake, Marshall," Amelia said with a chuckle, "you better bring your wallet."
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"Six years of continued service, and now you've become the first Jaeger crew to bag ten kills and be in double digits, how do you feel?" the talk-show host asked the pair as they reclined on a sofa opposite him.
"I guess, we feel pretty good," Alexa replied, leaning forward as she did, sending her long trench-coat swinging. The pair had nearly identical coats; hanging to just below the knee, jet-black with red lining, a large silver logo of a sword framed by a pair of wings-Lord Azrael's insignia-and of course the Pan-Pacific Defence Corps logo embossed on their shoulders. The only differences were the names on the right of their chests, and the flags on the left. Amelia of course had an Irish flag, while Alexa's was Scottish.
"It's nice to know we've done something good. Each of those kills means fewer Kaiju had a chance to get near a populated area," Amelia added.
"It's still pretty impressive, but then you've always been special, even amongst Jaeger pilots," the man said, leaning back in his seat as he looked at some white cards in his hands. "You were the first lesbian couple as pilots, first pilot from Ireland, first, and I believe only, pilot to have helped build their own Jaeger. I mean…" he raised his hands as cheers flooded the room, each of the pair smiling as they shrugged in sync. "And of course," he continued, looking carefully at his cards, "I came across your names in 'Tales from the Jaeger Academy,' the first of Grant Thompson's series on his life as a pilot. He named you as 'legends' among the trainees for drinking all the base personnel under the table."
"Well, you know what they say; work hard, play hard," Alexa commented.
"What she's leaving out is this," Amelia continued, "there are certain peoples you do not challenge to a drinking competition. The Scandinavians, the Icelandic, and the Russians to name a few. At the top of that list, are the Scots and the Irish. And if anyone would like to dispute that we're willing to accept any and all comers." There was much applause for that statement, and the host laughed as he leant back.
"Still though, you haven't always been able to hold your drink, have you?" the man asked slowly, a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. "In-fact, that would be how you ended up with wedding bands on your fingers." Both women groaned at his statement, leaning back in their chairs with twin palms to their heads.
"That was a…defining moment in our lives," Amelia admitted, "we'd been dating for two years, and the British gay marriage bill had just passed, and the Fifa world cup was going on. And it was the first time Scotland had even qualified in years, and then they actually went and won the bloody thing. We got caught up in the celebrations and…we ended up at an altar swearing vows, somehow."
"I'll be honest, I don't remember much of that night, but the morning after was good," Alexa added, to several laughs from the audience, "telling our parents, less so."
"And you were seventeen when you did this?" the man said incredulously.
"Well…yeah," Alexa rubbed the back of her head, "laws in Scotland allow for marriage at sixteen, so…that's how we got hitched."
"Well, you've certainly led an interesting life, that's for sure," the man said, spreading his arms to gesture to the pair. "Speaking of life, does it concern you how many Jaegers have fallen of late? I believe you trained with the pilots of Chrome Brutus?" Both winced at that statement.
"We did, yes," Alexa replied, "and she helped design that Jaeger-Brutus and Azrael were two of the three that Britain provided to the commonwealth Pacific countries."
"Zeke and Illisapie will be sorely missed," Amelia added quietly, to which her wife nodded.
"Indeed they shall, but doesn't it worry you? I mean, in the last twelve months, we ourselves have lost both Echo Sabre and Vulcan Specter. There are some doubts among people that Jaegers are still enough to stop the Kaiju," his face showed concern, and it was obvious he'd been waiting the whole evening to spring the question on the pair of pilots, who shared a look before replying.
"It's true that the Kaiju are getting bigger, and more deadly. All that it means is we have to hit harder," Alexa said firmly.
"Like you said earlier, we've personally been at this for six years, and we're not about to stop anytime soon. And we both disagree with the coastal wall idea some people have been pushing around lately," Amelia continued. "Walls can be broken through, or climbed over, or dug under. A Jaeger has to be fought past, and we sure as hell aren't about to let any Kaiju get past us."
The short speech was enough to rouse cheering and applause from the audience, but both women shared a look saying silently what they already knew. The man was right, one day it just wouldn't be enough, and they were losing too many Jaegers. At current time, there were just three of them at the Sydney Shatterdome, and there were rumours of more nations cancelling the new Mark V's.
Things were not looking good.
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"Jesus tap-dancing Christ, I swear if you make some half-veiled comment about wanting a threesome again, I am gonna rip you a new one," Alexa growled annoyedly at the Australian man, "how hard is it for you to understand that we are: one, not interested in men; and two, fucking married." Amelia laughed as she ate another forkful of salted meat. She perked up a little as a familiar grizzled man in dress uniform entered the mess hall.
"Oi, Hansen!" she yelled over at him, "come rescue your son before my wife murders him." The man headed over towards them, but Amelia's face fell as his grim expression became clear. "Oh Christ, they did decide…" the redhead muttered, her interest in food gone. "So much for a happy new year."
"What?" inquired her lover confusedly, following her gaze to the approaching veteran.
"What was the verdict?" Amelia asked as he sat down opposite her, dread already settling in her stomach.
"They're pushing everything into the coastal walls," Herc replied, his disdain obvious in his voice. "No more Jaegers. They're going to push us all into the Hong Kong station, close down the rest, and give us funding for six months to go to the last man. After that, the Jaeger project is done."
"That's ridiculous," his son protested.
"Those are the orders," the man replied. "Marshall Pentecost is heading things up. I know him, and he has a plan. We ship out in a few days."
"What, we just abandon our posts?" Chuck stated incredulously.
"Half the Shatterdomes are empty anyway. Vladivostok, Hong Kong and Anchorage only have one Jaeger each, and the latter has no pilots left," Amelia said morosely, "guess it's time to make a final stand. What's the plan?"
###################################################################################################
"Striker, on your right!" Alexa yelled as Mutavore barrelled towards the Jaeger. Of course, with the warning, the Mark V was capable of turning around to meet the charge, smashing the Kaiju into a skyscraper with a pair of blades in its neck.
"Thanks, girls," Herc's voice came over the comms.
"Hold him steady, I'll nail the bastard," Amelia commanded, her railgun already powering up as she levelled it at the struggling monster held fast by the Australian machine. With a sound like a crack of thunder, the slug tore into Mutavore's head, and the beast slumped, blue blood pouring from the open wound.
"Good shot," came the voice of Mia.
"Check the hind-brain, make sure it isn't playing dead," Amelia added, to which Striker-Eureka brought down its blades where the secondary brain was located.
"Bastard's dead alright," Chuck stated disdainfully. "'Nother notch on the belt. That's double figures."
"Still not beating us, boys," Alexa replied with a smile, "this makes our thirteenth."
###################################################################################################
"Gentlemen, Ladies, welcome to Hong Kong," declared Marshall Pentecost as he approached.
"Max! Come here, remember me?" the Japanese woman by his side said, dropping to one knee as the dog approached.
"Don't drool over Miss Mori," Herc reprimanded light heartedly, wringing a laugh from a few onlookers.
"Raleigh, this is Hercules Hanson, an old friend from the Mark One glory days," Pentecost declared as the two men shook hands.
"I know you mate, we rode together before," Herc replied.
"We did, sir. Six years ago, my brother and I, it was a three Jaeger team drop," the blond man replied.
"And of course," the Marshall continued, "these are your fellow Mark III pilots; Amelia and Alexa O'Connell."
"We've met; at the academy," Amelia stated, "good to see you, Raleigh." With a smile, they hugged, the man quickly repeating the gesture with Alexa.
"We were sorry to hear about Yancy," Alexa said softly as she withdrew.
"Thanks," he replied quietly with a nod and a pained expression. To feel someone die through the drift…it was something they all feared. Surviving that was even worse.
"Herc, and his son, Chuck, will be running point in Striker Eureka," the Marshall stated, "fastest Jaeger in the world, first and last of the Mark V's. And you're probably familiar with Lord Azrael. Australia decommissioned these two a day before the Sydney attacks."
"Yeah, was lucky we were still around," Herc commented.
"And now they're running point for us," the Marshall continued.
"Wait, running point on what? You still haven't told me what I'm doing here yet," Raleigh interjected.
"We're going for the Breach, Mister Becket."
###################################################################################################
"Did you hear about how Raleigh and Chuck are butting heads?" Alexa inquired as she slipped into their bed.
"Yeah. With the amount of testosterone between them, it was kinda inevitable. I kinda hope he teaches Chuck a lesson, that guy could do with a downsize as far as his ego is concerned," Amelia replied.
"It's kinda cute, though," Alexa mused.
"What, Raleigh and Mako?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Little bit, yeah."
"Hopefully they'll give in and shag before we all march off to certain death." Alexa's comment wrought a laugh from her wife as she too settled under the sheets. "Speaking of which…"
"You're insatiable."
"You love me really."
"God yes I do."
###################################################################################################
"Breach was exposed at 2300 hours. We have two signatures, both category four's. Codenames: Otachi, Leatherback. They'll reach Hong Kong within the hour," Choi announced as he stood in front of the monitors.
"Evacuate the city, shut down the bridges. I want every single civilian under refuge right now," Pentecost declared as he stepped forward. "Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha, Lord Azrael, I want you to frontline the harbour. Stay on the Miracle Mile. Striker, I want you to stay back and watch the coastline. We cannot afford to lose you, so only engage as a final option."
"Yes, sir," chorused the Aussie father and son as the commander turned to the two disgraced pilots of Gipsy Danger-following the fiasco of the day before.
"You two; stay put," he ordered. "Alright, let's go!"
###################################################################################################
"Alright, reverse V formation," Amelia stated as they dropped into the ocean, "Typhoon, hang back a bit while Alpha and us go up front; you're lighter and faster than we are."
"Soglasovano," sounded the Russian reply.
"Copy that," followed the Chinese accented English.
The comms remained quiet as they walked slowly forward, three spotlights scanning across the dark waves as rain beat down atop the metal behemoths ineffectually.
"Movement, 3'O'Clock!" shouted one of the Wei Tang clan, and both other Jaegers turned in time to see Otachi emerge from the ocean and send the red machine flying with a strong hit from its tail.
"We're coming, hold on!" Alexa replied as they and Cherno Alpha turned slowly back towards where Crimson Typhoon was standing up and engaging its rotary blades.
They were agonisingly slow moving over, the water resisting their movement heavily, but the Chinese seemed to be holding their own; three spinning blades darting in and out quickly, added by bursts of flame from jet engines speeding up the strikes. They even went so far as to use their signature move; flipping up and over the Kaiju and throwing Otachi forwards; right into the Russian's path. All it needed was gift wrap and a bow.
The tank-like Mark I immediately set about the beast, its Tesla Fists smashing into the bony head repeatedly before again the Kaiju's tail smashed them backwards before they could deliver a strong overhead hit. Vaguely the crew of the Azrael heard the Australians arguing with the Marshall over advancing as Cherno Alpha slowly stood back up, and Crimson Typhoon re-engaged. Fear penetrated their hearts as Otachi sent its clawed tail around to clamp onto the head of Typhoon-which was also the conn-pod-as they were still too far away. A quick spray of rockets from their small chest-pod distracted the beast though, making it look at them long enough for the Chinese to stagger away from the Kaiju.
In the time it had given them, Amelia set about powering up the trusty electromagnetic railgun. Their shot sent them reeling backwards a bit through recoil, and went wide, simply ploughing into the sea.
Russian was shouted over the radio as Cherno Alpha ran back at the Kaiju, but curses came through as something blue was sprayed from Otachi's mouth, which immediately started eating through the metal on top of the Jaeger.
"We've been hit with some type of acid!" Aleksis could just about be heard saying, her voice garbled through the airwaves.
"Screw this, listen! We're moving in now," Herc's dulcet tones stated, and across the harbour, Striker Eureka could be seen running, which was a strange thing to see on a Jaeger-they were usually lumbering beasts, even the light ones like Crimson Typhoon. "Hold on! We're on our way."
It was too little, too late however, as Otachi bit at the Russian's arm, and then a huge shape leapt from the sea behind them: Leatherback. They had all forgotten-or were too used to single Kaiju-that there were two monsters to deal with. Leatherback ripped at Cherno Alpha's chest before smashing a huge fist down on its head, sending them tumbling down into the water on their back.
Frantic Russian filled the air from the comms unit as Striker and Azrael tried to get closer, and Crimson Typhoon re-engaged Otachi.
Amelia and Alexa had just got close to Leatherback, laying in a punch to send it reeling away from the fallen Jaeger when the water lit up orange with an explosion-signifying only one thing.
"Cherno Alpha is down," Alexa stated, her microphone picking it up and relaying it back to the Shatterdome. Striker took their first move on arrival as setting hands into Otachi's spine and lifting it over their head before throwing it forwards, back towards a backing up Crimson Typhoon who immediately set to work with saws.
"Engaging missiles!" shouted Chuck, but the female couple were more fixated on Leatherback and how it backed off with blue energy trailing ridges in its body. They collected above its neck and coalesced into a ball of plasma that exploded outwards, washing over them and making the pair scream in pain as the drift was forcibly shut down in a single second. Through blurry vision, each could see arcs of electrical energy shooting around the control pod before everything went dark, only a bit of light from below allowing them to see.
"What the fuck?!" exclaimed Alexa.
"Shatterdome?" Amelia shouted, pressing a finger onto the comms button, "Shatterdome?"
"Ami, what just happened?" questioned her lover as the redhead ripped her helmet off.
"I don't know, I…" the scientist's mind was whirling as she considered the dark cockpit, "some kind of electromagnetic pulse, generated by cells like an electric eel then discharged…all the electrical systems are fried."
"What the fuck are we gonna do? There are still two fucking Kaiju out there," Alexa's nervousness was obvious in her descent into swearing-something she didn't do that often.
"I…I might be able to rewire things, jumpstart what we have," Amelia thought out loud, "the only digital systems are the upgrades I've had put in him over the years: the reactors will still be working, so we have power, and the muscles are purely mechanical."
"Less talking, let's do it!"
"Yeah, it's not as simple as that."
###################################################################################################
"Shatterdome, this is Azrael, come in," Amelia barked through a repaired radio, set to all frequencies, and receiving nothing in return. "Shatterdome, this is Azrael, come in!" she repeated before angrily releasing the button. "They probably haven't rebooted their systems yet. Keep trying, I'm going to work on resupplying power."
"Gotcha," her wife replied, glad for something to do amid the controls her lover had quickly dissected over the last few minutes. The redhead however paused as she set her bag of tools down by the wall-always kept in the Jaeger for when she felt like tinkering. "What is it?" Alexa inquired concernedly at her frozen lover.
"It's just…to hotwire things, I'm going to have to remove some of the panels and get at the guts of the thing and…" she trailed, turning around to level fearful emerald eyes at the ravenette. "I…" she shook her head, "it doesn't matter, I'll tell you later." The woman set to work, ignoring the sounds of a Kaiju prowling around outside the silent Jaeger.
###################################################################################################
Fifteen minutes after the pulse originally happened, light flooded the control pod, surprising its only occupant.
"Did that do anything?" yelled Amelia from behind the open wall panel and sparking wires.
"Yes, everything's come back online," Alexa answered, watching as their screen powered back up to display the environment around them, "Shatterdome! We're back online."
"Roger that, Azrael," Tendo Choi replied, "Gipsy is thirty seconds out, you just need to hold out 'till then. You only need to deal with Leatherback; Otachi's rampaging in the city."
"Tell Gipsy," Alexa began as her wife emerged from the wall, covered in sweat, "we'll handle Leatherback; they need to get into Hong Kong and deal with the other one before more people get hurt."
"That's a category four and you're not operating at full capacity-."
"Just do it!" Alexa ordered, interrupting the Ensign's protests. She removed her hand from the comms button, picking up her helmet and slipping it on. "How are we doing, by the way?"
"Sixty percent power-we're only running the one reactor, and I'm redlining it just to give us that. We need to get this done quick, it can't take it for long," Amelia replied, her black helmet already on as she stepped into the foot clamps, the brace harnessing itself to her armoured suit. "Railgun is down, and we might have problems with the cam and spotlight, but we can still move. Cannons should be operational as well."
"We're gonna need them," Alexa stated as she too strapped herself in, "what the hell are they doing?"
"Something stupid," Amelia replied drily as they went into a rough neural handshake as two flares fired off the top of Striker Eureka. Gritting their teeth, the pair pushed past the rush of memories-their sense of urgency egging them on to immediately start moving, their chest plate opening up to fire cannons at the Kaiju that would probably have otherwise crushed the two humans who attacked it with flare guns of all things.
"Well, we got its attention," Alexa stated as it turned to look angrily at the previously silent Jaeger.
"Yes, yes we did," the redhead said simply, her left arm into a defensive stance in preparation for Leatherback charging at them. Far behind the Kaiju, Gipsy Danger could be seen being airlifted to the edge of the city. "Come on you fat, ugly bastard," she muttered.
They chose a moment when both of its heavy front legs were down, slamming the left fist forward to push it round to the side, even as they sidestepped and slashed at its back with the sword, jabbing at the bone dish shape that allowed the earlier EMP discharge. It gave a screech of pain as hunks of flesh fell down trailing vibrant blood. It spun clockwise to level hate-filled eyes at them, so familiar to the pair; the one thing that never changed about Kaiju was the mindless malice in their eyes, no matter the shape, size or number.
This bastard, however, was especially big, strong and angry, surprising them by grasping its huge hands around their midsection, spinning, and physically throwing all their 5000 tons to shore, sending them crashing into a pile of shipping containers on the edge of the water, small arcs of electrical feedback flicking up their spines.
With purpose, they heaved themselves up, ignoring flashing red warnings as the reactor protested its overuse.
"Note to self: don't let him inside our guard again," Alexa grunted, her wife nodding as she levelled her emerald eyes on the beast now charging at them.
"Brace and prepare to re-engage," Amelia stated calmly, and the pair settled into a defensive stance, left arm once more held up as they held their sword arm at the ready. As Leatherback approached, Azrael's shield-arm flicked out to deliver a back-hand to the Kaiju's head, and the sword slashed forward to satisfyingly bite into Leatherback's left foreleg, pulling back to leave a large gash down to the bone, crippling it.
The beast roared in pain, slamming forward with its remaining thick, heavy arm to grasp around their shield-arm, slicing itself bloody on the serrated edges of the armoured plates. Alexa took the opportunity to stab forward, sending the sword triumphantly into Leatherback's belly, quickly dragging to the side to properly open up the Kaiju.
The behemoth slumped, scrabbling for purchase as its stomach hung open. They gave no quarter as their sword blade swiftly jabbed down to impale its skull-ending the Kaiju threat.
"Base, this is Azrael. Leatherback is dealt with," Alexa said tiredly, finger on the comms button.
"Where's Gipsy?" Amelia inquired, her mind already turning to the other bastard spewed from the breach.
"Airborne," came the cryptic answer, and the pair frowned as they turned to see a great flapping pair of wings on Otachi as it carried a familiar blue figure into the sky.
"Holy shit," they said together as the pair rose above Hong Kong, their latest kill forgotten.
###################################################################################################
The cheering in the base was something that could be heard from a mile off, so they were all paying attention as Raleigh and Mako were swept by a crowd around a corner; Alexa and Amelia having received similar treatment upon leaving their own Jaeger.
"It's nothing, Herc," Amelia said as she turned back to the man shaking her hand, "we've both saved each other's arses a few times."
"Yeah, you want something special? Try the pilots of the first flying Jaeger," Alexa gestured towards the approaching pair.
"That's not something we're going to be trying again, trust me," Raleigh said firmly, wringing a chuckle from his fellow pilot.
"Next time, let's not spend a clip on an already dead Kaiju," Mako added drily.
"Mr Becket! Miss Mori!" declared a loud, familiar voice, and the crowd parted to allow the Marshall to approach. "In all my years fighting, I've never seen anything like that. Well done, I'm proud of you." The last part was directed at his adopted child, who smiled as she nodded in respect. "I'm proud of us all, but…" he declared, moving past them, "as harsh as it sounds; there is no time to celebrate. We lost another crew today…no time to grieve. Reset that clock!" There were murmurs around as people stared at the Marshall, and his brow furrowed for a moment before he saw Mako gesturing to her lip, and the first drop of blood fell from his face to his shirt collar. He hurriedly drew a handkerchief from a pocket and held it to his nose as he stalked off. "Reset the clock!" he repeated as he left the room.
Many eyes followed his retreating back, and Amelia squeezed at Alexa's hand-in need of comfort-as her quick mind surmised what she had already guessed at. All the scientists who worked on the Jaeger project had heard of the problems associated with the Mark I's, and Pentecost was one of only two men alive to have fought solo…
The warmth of a clasped hand kept her steady, but it didn't stop the fear in her gut.
###################################################################################################
"Oi, Tendo. Tendo!" Chuck called as he walked across the bay floor, bee-lining for the Ensign as he stood by the three already suited and booted Jaeger crews.
"You're not suited up," the slick man replied, gesturing to his casual clothes and the dog trailing on a lead behind him.
"Yeah, I'm aware of that, Elvis. I need to know what's going on," he insisted.
"He said suit up, so suit up," Tendo replied, not even responding to the dig at his hair.
"Look, I can't pilot Striker on my own, now, can I?" Chuck stated, following the Ensign as he walked over to the others. "Dad's hurt, so who's gonna be my co-pilot."
Almost as if on cue, the main doors opened to reveal the Marshall in a black pilot-suit not unlike the Gipsy and Azrael crews, and Hercules with his arm in a sling. The pair immediately scouted out the waiting pilots and stalked over, Pentecost's armour clacking soundly on the deck with each step.
"Don't remember it being so tight," Pentecost commented light-heartedly, touching his stomach as he walked over. He strolled past them, towards the foot of Striker Eureka, and was followed by one Miss Mori.
They held a quick, whispered conversation that everyone averted their gaze to-not wishing to intrude upon the clearly emotional pair.
"Everyone!" They all turned back around at the Marshall's shout, looking at the stoic man apprehensively. "Listen up." He moved over to Striker, climbing up a little to stand on its foot where everyone could see him. "Today…today. At the edge of our hope. At the end of our time. We have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other! Today there is not a man or woman in here that shall stand alone. Not today. Today we face the monsters that are at our door, and bring the fight to them! Today we are cancelling the Apocalypse!" he grew impassioned and louder towards the end of his speech, and his words were met with cheers from the assembled crowd, before people quickly dispersed to get to their posts.
###################################################################################################
Radio silence and silence in the control pods was maintained as the four Jaegers proceeded to the drop and as they fell into the ocean and moved into a diagonal formation-Striker taking point, with Gipsy and Typhoon side by side in the middle, and Azrael bringing up the rear. It wasn't through orders, just the weight of the situation sitting upon them all. Today, the war with the Kaiju ended for them. One way or another.
"Two Kaiju still in circle formation in one quadrant, both confirmed category four," came Hercules' voice over the comms, breaking the reverie. "Codenames: Raiju and Scunner."
"Roger that," Marshall replied. "Half a mile to the ocean cliff. We jump, and its three thousand metres to the breach."
"Half a mile? I can't even see a damn inch ahead," Chuck stated, "how are we supposed to deliver the bomb?"
"Switch your instruments, Striker, you've got infra-red and Echo location, use them," Amelia replied quickly, even as she did the same in her own pod.
"Ami…I just want to say," Alexa began slowly, but her thoughts were interrupted by further breaking of the silence.
"Gipsy, you got movement at your 3'O'Clock!" Hercules yelled in their ears.
"Right's clear, I got nothing," Raleigh replied.
"It's on the left now, moving quick. Fastest Kaiju on record," Tendo added. Even as he said it, Azrael's head twisted to see a flash of a long tail on their left.
"We see it," Alexa stated, comms button held down, "break and widen formation-we don't want to all get bowled over at once."
"I don't see anything, it's moving too fast," Raleigh said, though complied as Gipsy moved out to the right a little to the same degree Typhoon was heading left.
"Eyes on the prize, Gipsy, six hundred metres from the drop," Chuck commented, striding forward in Eureka and jumping over the edge of the aforementioned cliff, followed swiftly by Typhoon, and then Gipsy and Azrael at much the same time. "Four hundred metres and closing!"
"I don't like this, where are they?" one of the Wei Tang clan commented worriedly.
"Striker, bogeys are stopping, your 1'O'Clock," Hercules sent over the line, and said Jaeger slowed as well to a fighting position, splaying its arms out.
"Marshall what the hell are we doing?" Chuck protested.
"They're stopping, why the hell are they stopping?" replied Pentecost.
"I don't give a damn, sir; we're three hundred metres from the jump!" Hansen returned to his co-pilot.
"Something's not right," the Marshall insisted.
"Striker, the bogeys' out forward, take the leap now," Hansen senior commanded.
"No, stop it, it's not going to work," protested Newton of all people, sounding frantic.
"What do you mean? What's not going to work?" the Marshall demanded.
"Sir, just because the breach is open does not mean you'll be able to get a bomb through," the biologist stated.
"The breach genetically reads the Kaiju like a…a barcode at the supermarket and then lets them past," Gottlieb continued.
"Okay, so you have to fool the breach into thinking you have the same code," Newton finished.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Raleigh asked as Gipsy and Azrael slowed down in their slog towards the two other machines.
"By making it think you are a Kaiju," Newton answered.
"You have to lock onto a Kaiju and ride it into the breach," Hermann added, "the breach will then read the genetic code and let you past."
"If you don't do it, then the bomb will deflect off the breach like it always has and the mission will fail," the biochemical specialist stated.
"Alright, you never heard all of that. Striker, take the leap!" Hercules commanded, sounding as if he just wrestled the microphone back. "Wait, third signature, emerging from the breach."
"How big?" Amelia asked, hand on the comms button.
"Category five…first ever," Hansen replied slowly, as if loathe to admit it-which he likely was, as one of the scientists he had just butted away had predicted this very event.
They could see as the head moved up above the cliff, the absolutely huge beast swimming up and roaring as it hung in the water above them.
"We see 'em. Striker and Typhoon; Azrael and us are a hundred metres back, we'll come around your side and try to flank 'em. Standard formation, just keep 'em busy for a few-," Raleigh's planning cut out as Scunner slammed into Gipsy's side, the blue Jaeger bringing up hands to the Kaiju's horns and head-butting the creature.
"Gipsy!" Alexa exclaimed, bringing them around to face them and changing their direction of travel by unsaid consent of the two pilots. Amelia brought down her railgun, trying to get the aim right without friendly fire.
They nearly stopped running at the ensuing brawl as Gipsy brought Scunner down in a headlock, then raised a sword up high to deal a death-blow. Screaming was heard over the comms as Raiju stormed through, capturing a blue arm in its jaws and ripping it off of the Jaeger. The crocodile-like creature snapped down twice, destroying the metal limb as it headed for Azrael, and they fired the powered up shot from the rail-gun at it. The shot crippled its left foreleg and making the Kaiju screech in agony-its head opening up to display its blue muscles-as it veered off to the right to avoid the black Jaeger, instead heading for…
"Typhoon, look out!" Amelia yelled as the beast swung towards the red mech. The brothers tried to turn, but only had time to see Raiju approach and snap its powerful jaws around their head-still weakened after the clash with Otachi mere hours before. With sickening brutality, the head was ripped off, the red body falling to the ocean floor in slow motion as the Kaiju swooped round and set its eyes back on them.
"Why did I ever let you drag me into this," Amelia said idly as she swiped her hand over various holographic displays, sweat beading along her brow and matting her scarlet hair.
"You said 'I do,' remember?" quipped her counterpart, and the woman knew the Scot's sapphire eyes were twinkling.
"Of course I remember that, though I'm still surprised you do. You were practically too drunk to stand," she sent a few images of the ravenette throwing up on the altar across the connection between their minds-'headspace' they called it during training.
"As you constantly remind me," Alexa replied, "though I seem to recall you drinking even more than me."
"The Irish can hold their drink better than the Scots, its official," the redhead quickly returned, drawing her arm back as the kaiju barrelled its way towards their Jaeger.
"I demand a rematch."
"If we survive this, sure. I'll happily drink you under the table again, Lexi."
Amelia made a grab for the Kaiju's head as it got within melee range, but only succeeded in bashing it down to the right. As Alexa tried to extend over with her sword, the bastard swept underneath them, slamming a clawed foot against their right leg, managing to dislodge their heavy limb in a way neither had ever expected, and they were tripped over, falling over onto their front, Azrael's shield-arm extended to stop their momentum, no longer able to put weight on the cripple right leg.
As they tried to push up and turn around, their backs arched in pain as claws scraped their way along their rear armour-damaging the closed reactor ports and gods knew what else.
"Gi…o…oad…to….ch…" stuttered voices stated in their ears, interspersed with white noise.
"Must've hit the comms unit," Amelia stated as she gave a hard shove to the sandy ocean floor with her arm, giving them the push needed to get back on their feet, their head twisting around to try and spot Raiju. The crocodile imitating Kaiju was sweeping around to their left for another attack, and the pair braced Azrael for the coming blow.
As Raiju barrelled at them again, they tried the same move as before, sending the left arm around in a chokehold-this time successfully-and immediately taking the opportunity to stab the Kaiju viciously in its underside, leading to screams at the deep penetration of their sword into blue flesh.
"That's right, you bastard," Alexa stated as it thrashed in their arms, even as they opened the rocket-hatch and unloaded a trio of explosives in its face. Its response was snapping at the head and shoulder, clamping down on their upper left arm as the ravenette forcefully pulled her arm upwards to fully split open the beast lengthways, ignoring the burning electrical pain from her shoulder.
Eventually, the jaws loosened, and they threw off the corpse of Raiju, finally turning their attention to the rest of the fight.
And that was when the blinding light hit them, and they were thrown bodily backwards as everything went black.
###################################################################################################
There were celebrations, of course. The war with the Kaiju being over at long last and all. All over the world, people emerged and rejoiced over the fact they were still alive.
But there were also those who mourned, and grieved, for that which had been sacrificed to get there.
###################################################################################################
"Babe…" Amelia said as she looked over the piece of paper she held, "you remember when I said I'd tell you something later? In the harbour?"
"Mmmm," warm hands wrapped around the redhead as her lover's form pressed into her dressing-gown-clad back, "before you dissected the wall, yeah. What was it?"
"This," the Irish woman said quietly, and a chin rested upon her shoulder as her wife leaned over to read the letter. She felt the Scot stiffen as she read the important parts, and a gasp heard by her ear.
"Babe…" Alexa said softly, "Why…why didn't you tell me?"
"Didn't seem important at the time-we were pretty likely to die at any moment, and you would've still been safe behind the majority of the shielding. It's just me who got a dosage," Amelia replied, "still, what's five years off my life and a slight susceptibility to cancer?" The comment was meant to be light-hearted, but came out feeling hollow to both of them.
"Ami, you know it's not just that," Alexa rubbed the redhead's stomach from her position behind her, "I mean, I know we never talked about it, what with the war and all, but I still saw in the drift how much you always wanted kids…"
"It's fine," the Irish woman said quickly, "look at it this way, we still saved the world. We're still alive, and as the pilots of the last Jaeger on Earth! There's also a letter here from HMG about a knighthood." Alexa snorted a little at the idea. Them. With knighthoods. "Come on. I believe I made a promise about drinking you under the table again when this was all over. I think I could use a drink right now."
"Hah, look out Hong Kong, here we come," Alexa replied.
###################################################################################################
It was after a fortnight of celebration and elation that the day of mourning came. The monument was as simple as it was huge-nearly as tall as the Jaeger standing beside it. It listed every name of every Jaeger pilot, their Jaeger, and the years they served.
Dignitaries from around the globe stretched out before them, Lord Azrael's head sweeping from side to side a little as they surveyed them all.
As the final words were said by the new Marshall, Hercules Hanson, Azrael's chest plate opened, and the dead were treated to the most thunderous twenty-one gun salute ever heard as dozens of flags flapped in the wind.
Inside the control pod of the Jaeger, two tired women smiled, said their own blessings to fallen friends, and looked forward. To the new day dawning.
A/N: And there you have it. Now, I know I've been inactive for, what? Nearly a month? And I'm sorry, but life has been hectic. If I can, I'll be getting some stuff out this weekend. If I don't manage it, it may be another two weeks-as I'm going to a party next weekend-but I am still aiming to polish off 'To Serve an Empire' as best I can, although 'The Lady Revan' has been put on a backburner.
Anyhow, please review and let me know what you think, and until the next time.