Chuck Hansen growled as another needle was inserted in to him, the final one thank goodness, before he jumped off the sterile bed in a hurry, despite Herc's disapproving glare. He had spent a total of 24 hours in the hospital wing since returning, and Chuck was chomping at the bit to get out of there. While the Striker Eureka pilot loved going out on missions, he hated returning, if only because ever since his injury, he was confined to the hospital wing for at least a day each time he came back.
"So can I go now?" he muttered in a hurry, his therapist chuckling as he was used to his patient's behavior. "Go ahead Mr. Hansen. But don't over exert yourself and no missions for you for a week."
As if he didn't hear that enough. Without even a word, Chuck stalked out, grabbing his coat from the chair on his way as he hurried towards the main wing of the Shatterdome, and headed out to the work area. He was anxious to see how Striker Eureka was doing, as he always was. Chuck never trusted the mechanics to do a proper job on his precious girl, and he always oversaw their repairs. Not that any of the mechs liked him breathing down their necks, but they have to deal with it cause Chuck Hansen wasn't about to leave his pride and joy in the hands of strangers.
The metal staircases clattered loudly in the dead of the night as his heavy boots landed on each step, but Chuck barely noticed as he pushed the door to the main hangar opened… and his jaw dropped.
Standing on the shoulder of Striker Eureka, with seemingly no safety feature and no way she had gotten up there, was one Jasmine Becket, whistling to a tune as she tinkered away at a neck bolt that had gotten loose and damaged the connecting metal plates of the Eureka's neck.
"What are you doing up there?"
His sudden voice made Jasmine jump, almost losing her footing and causing Chuck's heart to almost stop, before she found her balance again, and scowled as she turned to face him, looking down. "And I'm quite sure you'd be happy if I fell off your robot and never got up, wouldn't you?"
Part of Chuck was mildly hurt at how she could think he was so insensitive like that, but brushing that away in favor of his curiosity and morbid worry, he yelled up again. "What are you doing up there? How did you even get there?" his bafflement was clear in his voice as he just stood there, trying to figure out the logistics of a girl barely five feet two getting up on a robot several stories high, with seemingly no equipment.
"From there." She waved her screwdriver in a general direction, and Chuck gazed up, only to have his jaw drop further as he saw what she was gesturing at. The viewing platform they had all been on several days ago to see the Desert Mustang deployed.
A platform a good five feet away from the Striker Eureka.
"How?" Chuck echoed again, fairly sure he sounded like a parrot this time. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact.
"Oh, put him out of his misery and just show him already." A voice laced with amusement came, and Chuck noticed Tendo walking in with Herc. Yet he barely paid them heed, as Jasmine finally displayed just how good she was at acrobatics and balance.
Letting her equipment drop to the ground, she jumped from the shoulder plate to a section jutting out from the Striker Eureka's chest, and then did a double somersault down to slide on her feet across the Eureka's arm all the way to its fists. From there, she grabbed one of its fingers and swung herself to land on her feet, hands on floor to brace, and then straightened up with a grin. "Surprised?" the girl cheekily asked Chuck (much to Herc and Tendo's surprise and confusion), flashing him a grin before taking a place next to Tendo.
The girl went to a control panel, and pressed a couple of buttons to keep the Striker Eureka in its hangar, before turning to Herc. "She's up and running, I just fixed the last of the busted neck plates. She'll be fine in her next deployment."
"Thanks Jazzy."
"What are you guys doing here? And where's the Gipsy and Mustang?" Chuck asked, when he suddenly realized how empty the hangar was. This was part of the reason why he hated being cooped up in the hospital wing, since he had no idea what went on whenever he was there. Amused at his reaction, but not so hostile now, Jasmine merely flickered at eye over at the confused Ranger, and fell silent as she let Herc do the explaining.
"The Desert Mustang has been deployed to Sydney, and Gipsy Danger along with Raleigh and Mako has went with Elijah and Jamison to assist them in their first week of duty, help them get the ropes and such."
"I wanted to send you and Marshal Hansen initially, since you were both stationed in Sydney before, but due to… yeah, Raleigh and Mako will work just fine. They'll be back before the week is out." Jasmine offered, shrugging. "But we have more pressing matters… and they're here."
At her announcement, the large main doors to the hangar was dragged open by technicians, and only then did the sounds of choppers and yelled commands over the cacophony reached Chuck's ears. Backing away to stand next to Jasmine as he squinted at the sunlight, a little joy sparked in his heart, as he saw another new Jaeger being airlifted in to the hangar.
"Another one?" he asked her, leaning closer so he didn't have to yell over the noise. A little surprised by the proximity when she turned at his voice, Chuck could imagine a frog getting stuck in his throat when he was flashed her signature cheeky grin at such a close distance, barely gathering his senses as she spoke. "Hold your horses, Hansen. I have a lot to work on this one, since I left before I could assemble the blueprints for my team to build her."
As the last of the choppers left, Jasmine grinned as she saw the appreciative glances and looks in the eyes of the Hansens and Tendo. This was one of her newest, and best creations to date, her flair for creativity evident in this experimental piece.
"Don't get all twisted up yet guys, she won't be ready for a while."
"You might as well introduce us to her first." Tendo exclaimed in excitement, and Jasmine laughed at his childlike joy, before nodding.
"This is the VS11 Nighthawk, a prototype I'm still experimenting. I have a lot to work on her, so I made my team bring her here for me to work on." Jasmine walked forward, looking up as she saw her pet project gleaming, looking slick in its pitch black armor. "She will be equipped with jetpacks and Gatling guns, reminiscent of the fighter jets we have. She's still in an experimental phase though, and I have a lot of work to do on her, so she won't be ready anytime soon."
"But didn't you say you have a new Jaeger for me?" Herc asked in surprise, blinking in confusion. At that, Jasmine grinned again, confidence oozing out of her every pore as the sound of choppers came in to hearing again.
"I do. She's coming right now."
"Two?!" Tendo exclaimed, but was given no chance at a reply, as the sun gleamed off one of Jasmine's more preppy work of arts. The golden Jaeger was a sight to behold as she was airlifted in to the hangar, placed next to the VS11 Nighthawk before the choppers retreated, and the technicians could finally close up the hangar. Grinning at the gaping jaws from the Hansens, Jasmine had to admit, as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked up, her golden Jaeger was rather awe-inspiring.
"Guys, meet the Golden Ambrosia. My boys call her Amber."
"What's with the armor?" Chuck couldn't help but ask, taken aback by just how golden the Ambrosia was.
"That's her specialty. Her armor is one of a kind, reflective surface which is also heat resistant. Should the EMP wave Kaiju appear once more, Ambrosia is capable of deflecting the waves back on to the Kaiju. She's fully digital powered, without the need for an analog backup because she won't be affected by the waves." Jasmine grabbed a couple of files, and handed one to each of the guys with her, and continued with her explanation. "Her metal plating generates heat, and she has a large spear hidden in her right arm, which can be used to cauterize and maim Kaiju's. Ambrosia moves at heightened speed, faster than the Mustang, and has a high resistance to heat."
"No specific specialties?"
"Other than its reflective abilities, none. She'll need a pair of very capable fighters."
"Very well. You're going to have to takeover Raleigh and Mako's class, since they're both not available. Pick your crop from any of our classes when they're in session." Herc instructed, before leaving with Tendo, the technician more than happy to update his Jaeger files with more information. When both had left, Jasmine finally turned to Chuck, and raised an amused brow when she noticed he was still checking out the two new Jaegers, particularly the Nighthawk.
"See something you like?" she asked cheekily, only to have him look over, and smirk with his gaze trained steadily on her. "Maybe."
"Fool." She retorted just as quickly, ignoring the way heat flooded her neck at his gaze with the implications behind his words, and walked forward to pick up the file on Nighthawk the technician had left behind. The Nighthawk was her pride and joy, a project Jasmine had been working on for ages. She was more than happy to have her work back, if only she could keep her mind off… "Hey!" she snapped, when Jasmine finally noticed Chuck had been reading the file over her shoulder.
"I'm curious. What is so special about the Nighthawk?"
At his question, Jasmine stilled, and then stared at the sleek black Jaeger, wondering just how much she could tell him. Yet, what was it about Chuck Hansen which infuriated her to heaven and back, but whose presence was still a comfort? Maybe because he knew how it was to come back from a dead or alive situation. Or maybe just because he was Chuck Hansen.
"It was a dream. A vision my cousin and I shared. The Nighthawk was a Jaeger we used to talk about for ages in to the night, and … I just want to make our pointless night conversations come true."
For a second, Chuck felt a flash of bitter feelings. What was it, jealousy? He didn't know what jealousy felt like, but if this was it, Chuck Hansen sure as hell didn't like it. Nor did he like the fond, reminiscent, gentle way in which she referred to a guy Chuck could barely remember. Curse him and his arrogance, and his ways of not remembering people he didn't deem important back then. Surely he had come across Jasmine and her co-pilot and cousin before he was killed and she was decommissioned?
"What happened?" he couldn't help but ask, a question stemming from the desire to learn as much about her as he could now. She was a mystery, someone he never bothered noticing, but now someone he seemed to want to learn everything about. Why is she so acrobatically inclined? How did her co-pilot die, and why did she drop off the radar afterwards? So many things about Jasmine unanswered, and Chuck suddenly wanted to know everything.
It was, apparently, the wrong question to ask. Immediately, Chuck could see Jasmine clamming up as her lips became a thin line, and Chuck curse himself inwardly as she muttered a quick "Not my story to tell." Before turning on her heels to walk off. Scrambling for a way to repair the situation, he quickly called out just before she got out of earshot. "Do you mind if I came by sometimes while you worked on the Nighthawk?"
She paused in her steps, back towards Chuck as he bit his lip, crossing his fingers she would response, and breathing a sigh of relief when she turned to him with a smile, albeit waner and softer then the usual grin he preferred. "Sure."
For now, that was enough.