Chapter 3
Götterdämmerung
"Кто-то пел на заре...Дом родной покидая…"
The deep basso voice called to her, its sonorous melody working its way through the cold oblivion that was her mind, enveloping her thoughts in a warm tenderness she had not known for the past five years.
"Будешь ты в декабре…"
"Once upon a December…" Elsa groggily murmured the final verse as she slowly opened her eyes for the first time in forever. The bed she currently lay on was comfy enough, but the burn scars from the circuitry suit still felt raw all over her body, and her head felt like a clan of dwarves had taken up residence in it and turned it into their family smithy. Not helping matters was the sterile smell crawling up her nostrils, the blinding whiteness of her surroundings, and the constant beeps of an electrocardiograph assaulting her ears. She tried to get a sense where she was, but the vision in her right eye was still blurry, and she could only focus on the giant of a man who sat beside her. "Where am I?"
"The medical bay," Aleksis Kaidanovsky replied, every bit of hardness in his ordinarily accented English now hidden behind a layer of velvet. "Do not worry, lapushka. Everything is alright now."
"Everything...alright…" Elsa whispered to herself, not quite believing it after everything that happened. Suddenly, a more important thought hit her. "Wait - Anna, what about Anna? Is she okay? Where is she-" Elsa wanted to get up, to get a better view of everything around her, but her bones ached, and she simply lacked the strength for anything more than an awkward halfway ab-crunch. Okay, that didn't work, she thought as she sank back into the mattress. Maybe better it didn't, she added, noticing the intravenous drips feeding into her arms which probably would not have appreciated any sudden motions.
"Easy, girl, easy," Aleksis said, reaching out with a reassuring hand in case he had to restrain her from trying it again. "Your sister is stable. Sasha is with her now."
"Oh." Well, that was good. "How did I get here?"
"You do not remember?" Aleksis asked. "You killed the beast, by yourself no less, and then you blacked out. Sasha and I, we caught your Jaeger before you could fall into the sea. The Marshal cut power before you could burn yourself out from the neural load, and then the Jumphawks brought you both in."
There was a knock on the door, and Elsa's eyes darted towards the source of the sound. It wasn't Anna, though, but rather an orderly who had come with a tube apparatus of some sort and a fluid-filled bag. Aleksis turned to the orderly and said something in Russian, and the man nodded and left.
"Aleksis, what was that?"
"It is dinner time," the Russian replied. "You are awake now, so I told them to put up the feeding tube and bring you some warm soup."
"Feeding tube?" Elsa suddenly felt dizzy again. "How long was I out?"
"Three days," Aleksis replied. "I will be honest, you were in pretty bad shape when they pulled you out," he added upon seeing the shock in the younger woman's eyes. "Nosebleed, earbleed, a - what was the word - hemorrhage in your eye. You bit your tongue, too, but that seemed more like accident. It was good that the Marshal cut power when she did, before you could have gotten seizure and really hurt yourself or worse."
"Then Anna-"
"As I said, your sister is stable. Your injuries only because of neural load in addition to circuit burns. She did not have that, so do not worry." The orderly came back with a serving trolley full of edibles that immediately overrode the pervasive scent of sterile wipes and sent Elsa's stomach rumbling like Frozen Heart's engine. "Just focus on recovery," he said, dipping a metal spoon into a steaming bowl before lifting it out and blowing on it. The savory aroma of chicken and ginger and scallions and a dozen other ingredients wafted towards Elsa's nostrils, and her stomach rumbled again. "Now open up, lapushka."
"Well?" Sasha asked in her native Russian as her husband joined her by Anna's bedside. As Aleksis pulled up a chair, Sasha turned back to her patient and affectionately stroked the young woman's hair. Anna's chest heaved slightly with each breath, and the EKG beeped slowly with each heartbeat.
"Elsa is fine," Aleksis replied. "She just woke up, actually. The orderly says she may be able to move on to solid food soon, and then in a few more days she will be ready for physical therapy. And then…" He looked down at Anna, still sleeping serenely as the monitors continued their progress."Well, the therapy will be a week, at least…"
"She cannot know, not before then," Sasha replied. There was a brief spell of silence as the two Jaeger pilots held hands, continuing to stand vigil over their younger comrade. "Have you taken your metharocin tablets today?"
"Of course," Aleksis replied. The modern Jaegers now all came with radiation shielding, but the Mark-1s were constructed in an era when haste and desperation had caused certain safety features to be overlooked. Metharocin had been developed as a stopgap to that, and while the drug was not one-hundred-percent effective, as the case of Tamsin Sevier demonstrated, on the whole it had been a literal life-saver to many Rangers. A shame that is all it was, he thought bitterly, and then quashed the feeling as soon as it came. Stepping up to defend the rodina was not just duty, but a sacred honor, and he knew Sasha felt the same way. Still, sometimes he could not help but be reminded of the sacrifices they both made as part of the first generation. There was no use agonizing over past winter snows, Aleksis thought, ignoring the impulse to glance at his wife's belly, and instead squeezed her hand in support.
"The monsters, they will regret this," Sasha said, an edge of steel returning to her voice, barely containing the rage bubbling underneath. Beside her, Aleksis nodded his assent. There would be a reckoning the next time the kaiju showed their ugly heads.
No one hurt their little girls like that.
"No no no, Marshal, allow me, I insist."
"Nonsense, Representative. You in my town, how can I force guest to pay?"
"There was no force involved, madam, only noblesse oblige."
Marshal Anastasia Andreievna Kerensky paused at the unfamiliar words, and Prince Hans of House Monpezat took the opening to beckon over the waiter and hand over a Danmarks Nationalbank corporate card.
"Well played, you sly devil," Kerensky said, a wry grin slowly creeping upon her face. The prince had extended his stay at Vladivostok until the sisters' recovery, which meant as ranking officer, she had the duty of escorting him around during off-time. The Pan-Pacific Defense Corps was, at its core, a voluntary coalition of the willing, which meant that all Marshals had to spend at least some time entertaining VIPs when they came to call. Kerensky ordinarily hated these things, for she would much rather be left alone to do her job - that is, coordinate the kaiju genocide - in peace, but this particular instance turned out to be not so bad.
It helped when said VIP was not what the Americans called a "REMF", and actually understood a little something about the necessities of war, having flown on the front lines just like she used to.
"Guilty as charged," Hans replied, smiling back. "I am, after all, a prince. Had to be sharp in the royal household. You know how it goes." His voice changed, affecting a reasonable facsimile of the Queen's English. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die."
"I bet you say that to all ladies," Kerensky replied. "Too bad for you, I am not one. Only proud worker and soldier of the Russian Federation and the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps." Hans laughed at this. Soon the waiter had returned with the final check, and upon receiving a rather generous tip from the Danish prince, bowed and left. "I appreciate this, truly. Both for the meal and for your country's continued support of Jaeger program," Kerensky said, getting up and donning her military peacoat. "We can stem tide, but prices still rise, even here. This dinner would have cost at least ten percent less had you come one year prior."
"I understand," Hans replied. "It's the same all over the world." The easy smile he wore dropped for the first time all night. "We had thirty-percent inflation for the past two years until we instituted rationing, and even then there are still problems with hoarding and black markets and such."
"Looks like everyone now reliving my parents' lives," Kerensky said as she performed a last minute check of all her belongings. "Well, thank you again for dinner."
"It was my pleasure, Marshal. After all, it's the least I can do after the hospitality you've shown me. This was truly an eye-opening opportunity."
"Speaking of which, is there anything else you would like to see?"
"Well, your people have been quite accommodating during my stay here. I think I've seen all I needed to."
A buzzing suddenly came from Kerensky's handbag, and her brows furrowed as she heard the accompanying ringtone. It was a high-priority message from Shatterdome staff, and she quickly fished out her work smartphone. Her facial expression changed from one of concern one of pleasant surprise.
"What is it, Marshal?"
"Elsa just woke up."
Hans blinked.
"Then I must amend my earlier statement, for there is something else I would like to see."
Knock-knock-knock.
"Come in," Elsa called from her sickbed. The door opened a crack, and then a little wider as Warrant Officer Kristoff Bjorgman poked his head in.
"Hey, Elsa? I heard you were awake, and I just thought I'd pay you a visit. That fight, it was pretty tough, and-"
"I'm glad you made it out safely, Kristoff," Elsa said, smiling back at the Jumphawk pilot. "Come on, pull up a chair. Aleksis says I've been out for days. I could use some company after all that time." She made a face as she strained to pull herself up to a sitting position, then glanced at the bouquet Kristoff held in his hand. "Aww, are those for me?"
"Ah, yeah. Just a little something to thank you for saving my life," Kristoff replied, handing over the bouquet and pulling up a chair. "Seriously, I owe you though. If you hadn't drawn that thing's attention from us, I'd probably be sleeping under the salmon-hall right now."
"Oh no, if anything, I should be thanking you," Elsa said, accepting the flowers and giving herself a moment to take in their light fragrance. "I was chasing the RABIT like a rookie in her first Pons simulation, and we were sitting ducks until you came through. Really, you saved Anna and me. Speaking of which, have you visited her yet? How is she?"
Kristoff hesitated.
"Uh, yeah, I just came from there, your sister is - Marshal on deck!"
"At ease," Marshal Kerensky said, striding into the room with Hans in tow. "Welcome back to land of living, Ranger. Warrant Officer Bjorgman, air wing has finished initial review on replacement Jumphawk. Report to helipad Delta-Five-Three for flight test. Dismissed."
"Yes ma'am." Kristoff snapped off a salute, then turned for the door, though not before turning back and mouthing the words we'll catch up later.
"Marshal." Elsa was surprised at the visit. "What brings you here?"
"They said you had awakened," Kerensky replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Still a little lightheaded, but a lot better than when I first woke up," Elsa replied. "Aleksis came to visit me."
"Did he? Good man, Aleksis," Kerensky said. "Him and Sasha, they switch off visiting you and your sister for the past several days during off-time. Your sister is stable, by the way."
"Ah, yeah, Aleksis told me," Elsa said. "The doctors say there's a few more days of tests," she added, splaying out her arms with controlled motions to emphasize the IV drips still hanging from them. "I can't wait to get out of this sickbed so I can see her again."
"Did they? Then I hope you pass them with distinction," Kerensky said. "Well, I only came to check and make sure you were fine, and that medical was not pulling my leg." She turned around, and then suddenly did an about-face. "Ah, my apologies. I almost forgot that you have not yet met formally. Elsa, this is Representative Hans Monpezat of Denmark."
"Your Majesty." Hans stepped forward and bowed. Kerensky raised an eyebrow, and Elsa tried to stifle a blush. It had been so long since the last time someone had addressed her as such, and with Kerensky there...it was like inviting a boy you liked to your home for dinner and having your mother constantly refer to you by your pet name from preschool, while your dad sat in the living room in his bathrobe, cleaning his side-by-side while offhandedly remarking how they should totally go hunting sometime.
"Please, just call me Elsa," she said. "Everyone else does."
"I believe I am supposed to kiss your hand as well, but given the circumstances, I don't think the IV lines would appreciate your arms being jostled around," Hans said. Though she understood the words, they seemed strange, as if she was hearing them through an Autotune filter. Elsa's brows furrowed, and she bit her lower lip as she tried to place where Hans's accent was coming from.
Then she realized that Hans was speaking to her in Danish.
"I'm sure I can find it in me to forgive the breach of protocol," Elsa replied, switching to her native Norwegian. The Scandinavian languages had always been mutually intelligible to each other, and the familiar words of home were a welcome contrast to the mix of languages heard around the Shatterdome. "I didn't get to ask you this before the drop, but what brings you here?"
"Well, ever since I replaced Representative Grunditz in his post on the Subcommittee on Kaiju Defense and Security not too long ago, I had determined that it was necessary to witness the workings of a Shatterdome firsthand, so that I may better discharge my duties," Hans replied. "After all, Herre Grunditz performed admirably as a pioneer to this new era, and his footprint upon history is large indeed. As his successor, I have some very large shoes to fill."
"I see. Well, best of luck in that," Elsa said, nodding. "He was a good man," she added. Mårten Grunditz had been the Permanent Representative to the UN General Assembly from Sweden when Scandinavia's involvement in the Kaiju War began, arguing passionately for their entry in the wake of a kaiju attack that Elsa remembered clear as day. She had just come of age, then, and was still settling into her new role as ruling monarch when the news hit. A Category II kaiju had become the first to choose flight instead of fight when confronted with a Jaeger, attempting to using its speed to run past Cherno Alpha as the heavy Russian Jaeger moved in to confront it. Ultimately, the extreme cold of the Arctic tundra combined with the kaiju's unfamiliarity with the terrain had slowed it down enough for Cherno Alpha to eventually catch it and kill it, but it had almost made it past the North Pole, and the implications of what could have happened had it pushed past south into warmer climes were...unpleasant.
On that day, the nations beyond the Pacific Rim received a grim reminder that they lived in fear of the kaiju and were disgraced to survive on the courage of others, but in the end, caution had won out across Europe, save for two exceptions. The United Kingdom continued to provide funding and resources due to its ties with Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland had gone one step further, formally establishing the Scandinavian Defence Union and fielding their own Jaeger for the war effort. And while Norway provided their Queen Regnant and Crown Princess for the front line, Sweden's contribution was Grunditz, liaison between the PPDC and the SDU, balancing the needs of five nations upon his back instead of merely one.
"Anyway," Elsa said, mind returning to the present. Hans would indeed have big shoes to fill, but he seemed like he could handle it. "I hope you enjoyed your visit, then?"
"Oh, immensely. The Marshal has been very accommodating," Hans said. He cracked a smile, then continued. "And the sight of you and Princess Anna marching out in Frozen Heart is truly awe-inspiring. I can't help but be reminded of the virtuous monarchs of old, Edward the Black Prince, Gustavus Adolphus, Boudicca of the Iceni, leading the charge to protect their people."
Elsa flushed red again at this. Back when she and Anna had first stepped through the Jaeger Academy's gates, the press had naturally drawn parallels between the two of them and seemingly every other European royal who had taken on the responsibilities due their position. Edward, Gustavus Adolphus, and Boudicca, as Hans had pointed out. Marcus Aurelius. Charlemagne. Jan III Sobieski. Elsa never cared much for the comparisons, finding them to be generally self-aggrandizing to the point of embarrassment, especially when one well-meaning article attempted to compare her to her own ancestor King Haakon VII who had kept Norway on the right side of history between 1940 and 1945. Anna, meanwhile, agreed...but only in that particular instance, as she seemed to always have a habit of "accidentally" sending Elsa web links or leaving article clippings of such in her view.
"Nobility obliges, Prince Hans," Elsa replied simply, returning the smile. She figured Hans didn't need to know all that, and he could probably tell, anyway.
"Indeed it does," Hans replied. "Can't let the Brits have them all, can we?"
"Representative, friendly reminder that combat log debrief with K-Science and J-Tech begins in fifteen minutes," Kerensky cut in. "If you would kindly join me..."
"Of course," Hans said in English. He turned back to Elsa and bowed again. "I'm sorry, but duty calls."
"I understand," Elsa replied as the Marshal and the Prince turned to make their exit, before her brows furrowed in confusion. "But Marshal, I haven't finished my combat report yet." Kerensky paused to about-face for the second time, and the woman who Elsa had always known as a strict taskmaster that had pushed her to her limits and then over them uttered words that Elsa thought would never come from her mouth.
"No one will die if your report has not arrived on my desk prior to midnight. Just rest up and focus on healing."
"As they say, all kaiju are different, but some kaiju are more different than others." Dr. Anton Sevarius, head of K-Science at the Vladivostok Shatterdome, chuckled at his little joke, while Kerensky maintained the placid expression on her face that soon killed his attempt at levity. "Anyways, while most kaiju differ in terms of phenotype, this particular kaiju has proven to contain a most peculiar set of adaptations never before seen in previous specimens," he continued, clicking on his mouse and bringing the PowerPoint presentation to its next slide. "Based on autopsy results, I and my team have found the primary differences between Bilgesnipe and previous kaiju are as follows:
1. High concentrations of cartilaginous tissue in skeletal structure, especially along the spinal column.
2. High concentrations of adipose tissue in the subcutaneous layer, analogous to blubber deposits shared by cold-weather mammals such as whales, seals, and walruses.
3. Extremely polished scales in the epidermal layer, densely arrayed, coated with a thin mucous-like film. Said film repels liquids to great effect.
Cryptozoology is still running tests, but I believe we have enough data to begin combat analysis and application brainstorming. Now, before I move on, are there any questions?"
There was a brief pause of silence, and then Kerensky bade him continue.
"First, the cartilage," Sevarius said. "As you know, cartilage is softer than bone, but at the same time it is also more malleable and thus less prone to breakage. You might think of it in terms of the phrase 'bend, not break'. Contrast earlier sorties," he said, clicking again, and the screen now came alive with a vid-capture of a gigantic rhino-lobster hybrid, one of its claws broiled red, the other an iced-over stump, charging in pain-infused rage before Frozen Heart put its kinetic strike module through its head with the sound of a watermelon being dropped from an apartment balcony. "To this one," he added, now switching to the fight against Bilgesnipe. "The more martially inclined of us might notice that the kaiju seems to almost be 'rolling with the punches', as it were."
"Now, on to the blubber layer. In earth mammals, blubber serves the primary purpose of providing insulation in cold climates. Here, we suspect it serves a dual purpose. One, it supplements the more flexible skeletal structure in providing a cushioning effect against blunt trauma. Two, it provides additional insulation, reducing the penetration effects of Frozen Heart's cryo-shot."
"You weren't kidding, Marshal, about this being a bad match-up," Hans whispered to Kerensky as Sevarius continued to present his findings. The Marshal nodded, jotting down notes as the doctor moved on to his final point.
"Finally, we move on to the the scales and mucous. Again, I would like you to contrast previous sorties with this one." An early battle, Horizon Brave against Meathead. The bull-like kaiju, already battered, bleeding, and bruised, snorting in defiant challenge at the Chinese Jaeger that strode towards it, stopping only to open up with the dual cryo-cannons on its shoulders. The supercooled liquid splashed all over kaiju, and in a flash it was on the ground, front half encased in a thick layer of ice, hind legs still energetically pawing the air as its secondary brain didn't quite get the memo that it was already dead, even after the Chinese Jaeger casually, contemptuously stalked over and put its foot through the beast's head. The video now cut to Frozen Heart again, facing off against what looked like the scaled up unholy union of praying mantis, fire ant, and rhino beetle, mandibles chittering as it bounded towards the Jaeger, but a blast of incendiary gel caught it right in the thorax, and its chittering became a piercing shriek as the gel seeped through previously battered cracks in its exoskeleton and cooked it in its shell.
I can never eat lobster again, Hans thought as Sevarious continued to explain.
"As said before, the scales are highly smooth in surface and densely arrayed, and the mucous layer excels in repelling liquid," Sevarious said, cutting to Frozen Heart against Bilgesnipe again. "Being that Frozen Heart's ranged weapons are liquid and gel based, we believe that this explains the relative lack of effect from the incendiary gauntlet and the cryo-cannon. If you zoom in and slow down, you'll see that rather than adhering to the kaiju as in past sorties, a somewhat substantial amount of the incendiary gel and the cryo-shot simply sloughed off, and much of the resulting damage were surface level injuries rather than the devastating fight-finishers in previous sorties."
Sevarius did not ask for a pause this time, but one still existed as Kerensky thought about the implications of all this.
"Doctor," Hans called out, suddenly. "From what you're saying...it seems almost like this kaiju had evolved specifically to counter Frozen Heart."
Sevarius shook his head.
"Evolution does not work that way, Your Highness," the doctor said. "It a million generations for even a single adaptation to spread among a population, and the sheer variety in kaiju phenotypes indicate the impossibility of that. The traits seen on this particular kaiju are advantageous to any creature, especially one that shares a habitat with all the other kaiju we have seen so far. The prevalent theory still holds that they are but pre-existing organisms of an alien ecosystem, escaped to ours via the Breach."
"It does not matter," Kerensky cut in. "They adapt, we adapt. They grow bigger, we will build more powerful Jaegers to fight them."
"Indeed," Sevarius replied. "Physical adaptations can be countered by the boys in J-Tech as they appear. I personally am more concerned about the turning point of the sortie."
"What, Queen Elsa, coming through even when piloting solo?" Hans asked.
"No, the thagomizer strike that led up to that."
"The - wait, what?"
"Thagomizer, Your Highness. It is the scientific name for the spiked tail that Stegosaurid dinosaurs have." Sevarius explained. "There are those who theorize that that the kaiju might not be the mindless beasts we thought they were, and this recent battle does lend some credence to that notion."
"Doctor, regarding this last piece, what about it makes it noteworthy?" Hans asked. "It had one more weapon at its disposal, and then it used it. I should hardly think much intelligence is required for that."
"Oh, they certain pass the mirror test, as all those smashed skyscrapers can attest. And of course they have a degree of bestial cunning," Sevarius said. "But no, that is not why I think that. If you review the tapes, you will notice that all the time, whenever it rose or dove, it always kept that tail underwater. It could be instinct…or it could be holding its trump card. Considering that it had that weapon the whole time, and held it in reserve until an opportune moment when it could do the most good, I'm more inclined to believe the latter." The doctor paused. "Or harm, I suppose, depending on how you look at it."
"Interesting analysis," Kerensky mused. "Excellent work, doctor. I must admit, I had not witnessed this side of you. Though given your civilian employment, it really should not surprise me."
"Xanatos Industries hires the best at every level, Marshal," Sevarius replied with a curt bow. "Thus concludes K-Science's part of the debrief. If there are no additional questions, I will pass it on to J-Tech?"
Kerensky nodded, and Sevarius stepped down to be replaced by Major Dell Conagher, head of J-Tech, who promptly pulled up a PowerPoint deck of his own.
"The problem, from what I see, is twofold - how do we rearm Frozen Heart, and how do we arm our future Jaegers," Conagher said, his light Texan accent lending a soft-spoken genteelness to his words. "With regards to the former, we've identified the following vulnerabilities and potential solutions." The display changed now to Frozen Heart grappling with Bilgesnipe, throwing the occasional elbow that cut wounds across the beast's upper body. "The elbow-mounted sawblade housing is advantageous in grappling, but as we're seeing here, it lacks stopping power against larger kaiju. Can't penetrate deeply enough into vitals, and they're only getting bigger." The screen now shifted to Frozen Heart being constricted in the Kaiju's coils, the saws still spinning but no longer biting into anything. "I recommend replacing it with something longer and more bladelike, so as to improve penetration."
"Good point," Kerensky said. "Anything else?"
"Personally, I believe removal of ranged weapons may have been premature. Like my daddy always said, best way to stop some mean mother-hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind is a gun, and when that don't work, use more gun. Gone are the days when something like Coyote Tango's cannons could blast kaiju from afar...but there's no reason we couldn't, say, saw some length off those gun barrels on the storm cannons, stick an improved cylinder choke in there, and then load them up with K-shot. Heck, you give me some time and I reckon I'd probably be able to wrangle up some kind of multi-barrel apparatus. Shells for distance, slugs for mid-range, shot for close quarters."
"Very well, make it so," Kerensky ordered. "In fact, you can start on it after this. As I understand, the Angel Wings were damaged and will take months to fully repair due to lack of parts, but storm cannons still in storage. Have Engineering mount those on to reduce wait time."
"Will do, ma'am," Conagher replied, snapping off a salute. "Now, all that worrying about blubber armor and flexing spines aside, blunt force weapons won't ever go away from Jaegers. After all, when you run out of ammo, and all you got is a fist, then you put up your dukes and make your daddy proud. But there's no reason we couldn't put some studs or cesti or something over them, so as to concentrate all the force over a smaller area. Creating kind of a 'brass knuckle' effect, as it were."
"That makes sense," Kerensky said. "In fact, I believe Australians are already doing this for their Mark-5."
"Well, who do you think gave them that idea?" the department head said, grinning as he turned off the presentation. "That's all I got. Any questions?"
"Beautiful, powerful, dangerous, cold! Ice has a power can't be controlled!"
The working song echoed through Maintenance Bay 04, and Chief Engineer Pabbie Stein found himself humming along as work crews clambered all over the damaged Frozen Heart, the din and clangor of their tools and equipment providing harmony to the throaty melody. His crews were in high spirits as they saw to the repairs that would bring Frozen Heart back online again, and Pabbie envied them for their enthusiasm. Command aged a man in its own way, and where his subordinates could simply look upon the progress they made towards restoring the Jaeger to battle-ready condition and be content, Pabbie could only look upon their work with worry. It seemed that his department had been getting continuously busier since the early days, and the damage...the chest was a relatively simple thing, but the Conn-Pod, full of delicate instrumentation, was more difficult.
Better bracing, he thought, I'm going to have to forward that to the crews in Sydney. Striker Eureka was going to roll out in two months, the first of the Mark-5s, and any known vulnerabilities in existing technologies needed to be ironed out before deployment.
"Stronger than one, stronger than ten, stronger than a hundred men!"
Pabbie's thoughts turned back to his own Jaeger, and he looked down to his clipboard and grimaced. The Marshal had not been happy when he informed her of how long the repairs would take. Each Jaeger was designed to be a unique machine of war, the intention being to keep pace with the variety of adaptations that each new kaiju seemed to bring to the table. That had its advantages, but recently the disadvantages of that decision were coming to the forefront. Frozen Heart had been a relatively late addition to the Jaeger force and constructed to be more modular, utilizing many pre-existing parts already in use on other Jaegers, and even then it still had its logistical issues.
Pabbie shuddered to think what would happen to the more specialized Jaegers should they encounter similar strokes of bad luck.
"You know, Marshal, I can't help but think upon Dr. Sevarius's observations," Hans said as he and Kerensky marched out of the meeting room, "and note what a terrible coincidence it all is. I understand that given the timespan of, well, the universe, the idea that something evolved with all those traits is not impossible or even improbable...but then having it turn out to be a kaiju which then gets into a fight with the very Jaeger that would have the worst chance against it?"
"It is nothing to be worried about. We will simply build bigger and stronger Jaegers," Kerensky replied. "You seem concerned about something. If it is about Elsa and Anna, you have my assurances that I will do everything I can to keep my Rangers safe. Well, short of keeping them on bench, that is."
"I understand, and I appreciate your efforts," Hans said. He paused, as if unsure whether he should continue on the subject, before deciding to go ahead. "Still, I'm just not sure we've considered all the options. There was an idea floated in the Huffington Post yesterday-"
"Defeatist garbage," Kerensky snorted. "Tactical advantage of defense never holds against strategic advantage of offense. You know my mentor back in service, he always told me - 'an enemy avoided becomes obstacle, an enemy destroyed ceases to be threat.' It was the same during Great Patriotic War, it will only ever be same here."
"With respect, Marshal...a war of attrition only favors the kaiju."
"Striker Eureka will roll out in two months. More will follow, until we can finally follow them home and hit them where they live." She paused. "We are the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. We were there when first Jaeger killed beast from the pit, and we will be there when life is strangled from last beast's throat. Whether it takes one year or hundred, we will kill them all or die in attempt."
"That's very inspiring, Marshal," Hans replied, after a brief pause. "I see why you hold command here."
"Thank you," Kerensky said, smiling lightly. "I try."
For Elsa, the next few days went by with a blur, seemingly one test or interview or checkup after another. It had been hectic, and she barely had time to think about anything by the end of the day, but now she finally had enough strength in her to run through the basic calisthenics battery that resulted in a sign-off from the Shatterdome physical therapist. The psychs and the other doctors had looked her over as well and cleared her from bedrest. There had been a round of clapping from Aleksis, Sasha, Kristoff, Oaken, Pabbie, Hans, plus Pang So-Yi and An Yuna of Nova Hyperion as well as the Volk brothers who now piloted Eden Assassin when Elsa finally took her first shaky steps outside the hospital bed that had restrained her, and then there had been an expression of utter shock on her face when stern and businesslike Marshal Kerensky had come in bearing a cake.
"What?" she asked, pulling out the combat knife she always carried and cutting the first slice for Elsa. "Am I not allowed to do nice things for my Rangers?"
They had laughed, and eaten, and joked for the next half hour or so before one by one, the others filtered out of the room for late-night training, leaving only Kerensky, Hans, and the Kaidanovskys. Elsa knew there was one more thing she had to do.
"Thanks for everything, Marshal," Elsa said, smiling. "Really, I'm glad to have met you, all of you." She looked down at the ground, at her own two feet that she was now standing on. "But now there's something I've been waiting to do ever since I woke up." The young blonde looked back up, beaming with happiness. "Aleksis, Sasha, I know you've been visiting Anna when I couldn't, and I'm grateful for that, so could you do me one more favor and take me there please?"
"Yes, of course," Aleksis replied, clearing his throat. "Come, follow us."
Down the hallways they went, the five of them, quietly, calmly, until they had finally arrived. Elsa took a deep breath and reached for the handle. She paused as her hand neared it, afraid that it was all just a dream, that as soon as she touched the brass grip in anticipation of looking upon Anna's bright face again, she would wake up only to find herself supine in her hospital bed, with nothing but her pain to keep her company.
"Lapushka-"
Elsa turned to Sasha, who too had paused.
"Is something wrong?" Elsa asked. She was used to being called that by the Kaidanovskys by now, even though she never knew what the word meant, but right now the tone seemed different from all the times that they had referred to her and Anna as such in the past. Sasha exchanged a glance with Aleksis at this, which only pushed her suspicions further. "Sasha? What is it?" Suddenly, she found herself in tight embrace from the older Russian woman, and then in an even tighter one when Aleksis joined in.
"Elsa, please understand that we had to do this. We didn't like it, but it had to be done for your recovery."
"Wait, what? Sasha, Aleksis, I don't understand," Elsa said, confused as the two Russian pilots let go, and she finally went for the door. "What do you mean-"
In a way, not being in the Drift made it worse.
At least in the Drift, when you chased the RABIT, you weren't really aware of it all, and it was like being carried along for a ride in the river, and then someone would pull the plug and you'd wake and tell yourself it was just a memory, it wasn't real, not any more.
In real life, there was nothing, only the gnawing pangs in her gut as Elsa's vision narrowed in on a comatose Anna still in her sickbed, the oxygen mask affixed to her face removing any hope that it was okay, that her sister was just sleeping and if she came a couple of hours later everything would be fine. A strangled cry escaped from Elsa's throat, and the next thing she knew she was on her knees by Anna's bedside, stroking her sister's hair and whispering to her that it was okay, that they won, that why?
"I'm sorry, Elsa," Aleksis said softly, placing a heavy hand on Elsa's shoulder. "She took a bad hit to the head in the Conn-Pod, but she - she was stable."
How dare you.
She wanted to lash out, to scream, to hurt someone, everyone for putting her through this.
What gives you the right-
"Please understand, lapushka, we did not like having to do this-"
Stop calling me that! I am not your daughter, and you are not my parents! What right do you have to go behind my back like this, for my "own good"? I am a grown woman! How dare you do this to me?
"Do not blame them, Elsa," Kerensky's voice cut in, sharp as ever. "They acted on my orders. Such measures deemed necessary for benefit of your recovery, undistracted by other things."
You. I trusted you. For the past two years I've trusted you to watch over me, to watch over us, and I never knew you could be so cold. Is this what command does to someone?
But she kept it all in because the good girl she always had to be knew, deep inside, behind the rage and grief, that they were right, to some extent. As distraught as she was now, knowing back when she was still on her sickbed would have been worse. The cold calculus of war made it painfully clear what the answer to that question was - yes, this is what command does to someone, because one pilot up and running was always better than none.
Yes, Elsa understood, but it did not make it any easier.
"Just...leave us be for a while," she whispered, blinking back the tears welling in her eyes. One by one, they acquiesced. First Kerensky, turning abruptly, the click-clacking of her boots clearly audible as she strode back to her office. Then the Kaidanovsksys, though Sasha had pulled up a chair for her and hugged her again before they left. Hans was the last, but he too had something for her.
"I'm sorry," he said in Danish, moving in to drape his jacket across Elsa's shoulders. "I didn't know."
"Thank you," Elsa replied, pulling the jacket tight around her before turning her attentions back to her sister. Hans gave a light bow, then exited the room as well. The doors closed, leaving only the sound of Anna's oxygen mask, the steady beeping of an electrocardiogram, and Elsa's sobs. Soon, though, a mournful voice could be heard, its melancholic melody filling the room and seeping out into the halls.
"Let's go build another snowman...
We haven't done it in so long...
I never wanted it to be this way, Anna, please be okay,
Don't leave me on my own...
Had I known I'd have come sooner
To be by your side...
Talk to me, tell me you're fine…"
"See the beauty sharp and sheer, split the ice apart...and beware the Frozen Heart…"
It was the end of night shift at Maintenance Bay 04, and the last few bars of the working song hummed along Pabbie Stein's lips as he prepared to consolidate the logs and close out. His crew had done good work; they were on schedule, and a recent directive had come down to use some of the older parts, reducing the needed delivery time even further, though privately he worried that doing so was a compromise of Frozen Heart's combat effectiveness in favor of getting it back on its feet. All of his technicians had left already, leaving him alone with the Jaeger before he locked up.
Suddenly there was a purring noise that flared briefly into a full-on roar, followed by a blast of warm air and the sound of groaning steel. Pabbie's heart nearly jumped out of his chest as his head snapped up to assess and his hand leapt to the comm set at his waist in case it was something bad. The chief engineer's immediate first thought was that someone had been negligent, had improperly secured a cable hook or left a pulley rig unlocked, and a multibillion dollar war machine was about to crash into the ground. Strangely, though, the sight that greeted him was nothing out of the ordinary, just the Jaeger sitting in its repair dock.
Well, maybe something just a little out of the ordinary.
Could have I saw that left hand open and close like it was grabbing at something, Pabbie thought. His mind briefly went to an old bit of Ranger folklore. When you dreamt, your Jaeger dreamt with you.
And then Pabbie admonished himself for entertaining the thought. Such a thing was, of course, not possible, seeing as how the Jaeger's Conn-Pod was empty and disconnected, and all the failsafes were working normally. There were indeed stories from other Shatterdomes of maintenance crews being surprised on their night shifts by supposedly deactivated Jaegers twitching and turning while their pilots slept, but every time it was always something that happened to someone the storyteller knew, never a primary account. He never believed the tales himself, and had told off more than a few senior techs for passing such rumors around and giving impressionable newbies ideas. I must be getting old, Pabbie thought as he suddenly got a strange urge to take a closer look. Further diagnostics revealed nothing as well, but something bothered Pabbie as he punched in his time card and left the maintenance bay.
If he had imagined it all, did he imagine the heat shimmers emanating from Frozen Heart's power core, too?
A/N: Just want to thank everyone for the reads, faves, and especially the reviews. I've pretty much never gotten this much fic attention within such a short period of time (so you could say...that this was the first time in forever YYYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH that this happened), and y'all are all kinds of great. On a sidenote, this story has made me learn a LOT more about Norway than I will ever need to know for the rest of my life.
