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Chapter 9.

She'd already sailed through the drift simulation test. Isabelle Duncan grinned like a Cheshire cat as she sent the last of the cadets tumbling to the mat with a muffled grunt. She ignored the niggling headache that remained a persistent throb behind her eyes and straightened as Marshal Pentecost continued to watch her training with a hawk like scrutiny. She wasn't going to fail this, she was utterly determined to face what ever the Kaiju threw at them, beside her twin. She had never realised just how bad the situation had become, the lack of funding had damaged the Jaeger Programme not just at the top of the tree with the pilots and the Jaegers, but right down at the root too. The cadets trying to come through the ranks were truly mediocre, worse than that. Now she understood some Chuck Hansen's frustrations. Ignorance was bliss, up to a certain point.
Running a hand through her short hair, she waited for Pentecost to issue another test of some sort for her to undertake. Another drift sim maybe, or another physical? It didn't matter, she'd jump through ever hoop he put in front of her, if it meant she returned to active duty. There was no way she was leaving Anna to hit the breach with a green co-pilot. It was her job to protect her baby sister, she was all the family she had left and nobody knew Anna better than she did. Even sick, she was still better than all the recruits combined. She knew it and the Marshal knew it too.

'Ebony Siren, neural test commencing in 20 minutes…Ebony Siren, neural test commencing in 20 minutes."
And there is was, Anna's brief rest bite from the shatterdome was over. She and Chuck had been back from breakfast for less than ten minutes and her sunny mood faded away, replaced by a bitter chill of dread, settling deep in her bones.
'Ebony Siren, neural test commencing in 20 minutes.' "I know. I heard you the first time," she snapped at the droning female A.I. As it continued to repeat the announcement across the depot area they used as a secondary entrance for easier access to and from the city. The large dock was currently a hive of activity as crews worked to unload fresh cargo from a newly arrived freighter. Ducking under Chuck's arm as he held the elevator door for her, Anna flashed him a tense smile. Suddenly wishing they could've stayed in the Bone Slums for a few more hours.
"Hey, listen you'll be fine," Chuck told her confidently, leaning against the elevator wall, as they began the descent into the depths of the shatterdome. Anna looked at him expecting to see him smiling, only to see his mouth set in a grim line. He looked as tense as she felt. Instinctively she reached out and traced her fingers soothingly along his jaw line, wanting to erase the tightness in his mouth. Surprising them both.
She dropped her hand abruptly at his startled look and offered another, less tense, smile. "I'll be fine, right?"
He returned her smile with a nod, "Yeah, I reckon."

"This is bloody insane!" Herc snarled, glaring from Isabelle to Pentecost and back again. Both looked irritatingly collected, Isabelle though pale had a definite, determined gleam in her eyes, while Marshal Pentecost looked resolute in his decision.
"Herc…" Pentecost started, his tone calm, almost serene.
"If you want to go and get yourself killed, then fine, but don't involve Anna," Herc continued pointing a finger accusingly at Isabelle. "Are you really that selfish, you'll risk her life because you're suddenly afraid?"
"I'm not going to get her killed," Isabelle retorted sharply, her features twisting with indignation, "I'm trying to stop that happening."
"Herc, we need every able pilot on board for this. Even sick, Miss Duncan is still by far the best choice for Anna to be able remain with Ebony Siren," the Marshal reminded calmly.
"You reckon?" Herc challenged, pacing the length of Pentecost' office. The small space was decorated to resemble a Japanese Zen garden, but the sand lined floors and trickling water features did little to calm the tense atmosphere.
"We're running out of options, Herc. Time, Pilots and Jaegers." Isabelle sighed heavily, rolling her shoulders against the ache that had settled there. "I was more than happy for Anna to take a new co-pilot, and then I realised just how badly trained the new cadets are and there's no time left to keep training them," she added softly. "Even sick I'm still the best matched co-pilot for Anna. You of all people know how this goes, 'The deeper the bond, the better you fight'."
Herc narrowed his gaze as she threw the old Jaeger Academy slogan at him. "You're not just sick Isabelle, you're dying and you are not the only pilot Anna's drift compatible with." His words were deliberately harsh, but he wasn't about to take them back. Was he the only one who saw how bad a plan this was?
"You'd rather she had a green co-pilot, over me?" Isabelle looked hurt.
Pentecost regarded him curiously, his dark eyes glinting, despite the drained look his features held. "Miss Mori's report, detailed each of the cadets Miss Duncan faced…"
"I said she was drift compatible with a pilot, not a cadet." Herc told them as he interrupted, casting the Marshal a slightly apologetic look, for not having broached the subject sooner.
"Who?" Isabelle questioned, a frown lining her brow.
'Ebony Siren, neural test, commencing in 20 minutes.'
As the A.I. announcement filtered into Pentecost's office, Herc straightened his shoulders and regarded the pair. "Anna and Chuck are drift compatible. I saw them training yesterday, they were damn near drifting in the Kwoon."
Isabelle shook her head, "how does that help us?"
Marshal Pentecost shifted slightly and straightened his suit clearly digesting what Herc had told him, "That may be, but it doesn't offer us a solution to our current problem. We need Chuck to co-pilot Striker Eureka with you, you two are vital for operation Pitfall. I need a co-pilot for a Mark 4 Jaeger, Isabelle fits the profile."

"Setting the harness to test mode," Anna lowered her hand from the console and regarded the conn-pod with a mix of affection and doubt.
Could she really drift with a new co-pilot? Releasing a heavy sigh, she flexed out the fingers of her left hand. The drive suit glove felt tight around her healing fingers, despite the fact Tendo and science team had worked on a prosthetic skin, specifically designed to protect burn injuries against the rigors of the drive suit. It was one of those things, Anna was glad they had been working on 'behind the scenes'. The thin layer, both protected and cushioned her wounds, without interfering with the synapses relays in her suit. It was impressive really.
Regarding the pilot rig, Anna hesitated momentarily, did she go back to the right or stay piloting the left hemisphere?
"I'd rather you stayed on the left."
Anna started at the sound of her twins voice and immediately looked towards the entrance hatch. Isabelle stood just inside the doorway, clad in their midnight coloured drive suit, with the scrawling script 'Ebony Siren' embellished on each shoulder, along with the traditional PPDC wings emblem. She had a wide smile on her mouth as she moved to the right side of the rig, giving Anna's arm a gentle squeeze as she passed.
"You actually passed," Anna murmured in soft surprise.
"Don't sound so surprised, Annie," Isabelle retorted as she locked her feet into place with a metallic snap. "I'm almost offended," she added with a wink.
Despite herself, Anna grinned and moved to take her position on the left side.

"Is this a good idea?" Raleigh Becket murmured to Tendo as he stood regarding the motionless, 'Ebony Siren' from Loccent.
The Jaeger technician glanced at him from where he was seated at the control console, "Desperate times, my brother." There was a quick glance over his shoulder briefly, before he added, "But in my opinion, no, this is not a good idea."
Raleigh nodded, and returned his attention to the inactive mech. "Pentecost must be really back into a corner, if he's willing to put a terminally ill pilot in a Jaeger and drag an ex pilot out of a five-year retirement."
Behind them the door opened to reveal, Herc Hansen the older man looked tense and a heavy frown darkened his usually patient features. He caught Raleigh's eye and offered a single nod in greeting.
"I can't believe, Pentecost is going through with this," Chuck snarled as the young Australian joined his Father. Crossing his arms over his chest, Chuck Hansen continued to glare at Ebony Siren through the observation window.
"We're out of options," Herc reminded sharply, though his tone indicated he agreed with his son.
"Marshal Pentecost, on deck."
As Pentecost moved to stand behind Tendo Choi and clasped his hands behind his back, "Initiate pilot to pilot protocol, Mr Choi."
Nodding Tendo turned his full attention on the screen before him, "Ebony Siren is aligned and ready, Sir."

Anna listened to the calming tone of Tendo's voice as he relayed Pentecost' instructions.
"Preparing for neural handshake, in 15…14…13…12..11…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1"
The familiar female, A.I. voice of Ebony Siren echoed through the conn-pod, "Neural handshake initiated."
With a gasp Anna found herself plunged into her twin's mind and immediately flooded with images, flashes of grey and white. Memories, most of which they'd shared together.

The first time they'd learnt to ride a bike.
Learning to swim in the local pool.
Their Mother's smile as they danced around the family living room, in matching pink tutu's.
Then there were memories of when they were older.
The bitter-sweet sensation of falling in love for the first time, and then the consequent heartbreak.
The grief of their Mother's death, her funeral.
The pride of graduating the Academy.
The thrill of piloting of Ebony Siren for the first time.
Yancy Becket and his brother, handsome and rippling muscle.
The memories flew passed flooding her senses, in flashes of colourless images, some Isabelle's, some her own.
Chuck's face, his laughter the sound rippling through the drift.
The sensation of his hands ghosting her skin, followed by his mouth.
The searing kiss, in the kwoon, that morning.
Breakfast in the Bone Slums, bowls of hot Congee laced with salted pork.
Chuck's face serene and his smile warm.
Isabelle's fear at her illness.

Then Tendo's voice filtered through the images, anchoring her back to reality.
"Neural handshake, strong and holding at 100 %. Looking good, Ebony." There was a pause as the HUD display flared to life. "Right hemisphere calibrating, left hemisphere calibrating."
Relief made Anna smile, as she looked at her twin.
" Drunken one night stand, my arse," Isabelle commented shakily, before she seemed to gather herself and smiled. "I told you, I could do it," She breathed, moving to stand in a traditional karate stance.
Anna ignored, the comment about Chuck and instinctively mimicked the pose, her arms and legs pulled by their shared drift. A drift that felt odd, she wasn't sure she could put a voice to the sensation, but it felt…stretched?
"Calibration complete."

In the Loccent, Chuck felt the rush of relief flood his system and he released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Jesus, I'm a ruined man, he absently mused as he took mental stock of his concern for Anna.
Beside him, Herc murmured a gruff, "Thank christ." Apparently he hadn't been the only one opposed to Pentecost's decision to reinstate Isabelle.
Even Pentecost himself seemed to slump slightly in the confines of his suit.
"That was a hell of a gamble, Sir," Herc growled, fixing their commanding officer with a cool stare, before striding from the control room.
Chuck watched his Father leave and quirked an eyebrow in the direction of Marshal Pentecost, who had his back resolutely turned away from them.
The old man's pissed.

As they made their way towards the canteen, after a successful neural test, Isabelle glanced sideways at her sister, forcing the ever-present headache to the back of her mind,"so you want to tell me about you and Chuck?"
Anna shook her head, a rosy blush colouring her cheeks, "Nope, there's nothing to tell you. You saw it all in the drift, anyway."
"I thought you said he wasn't your type," Isabelle pushed, pausing slightly to pull a small pot from her hip pocket and popping a yellow pill in her mouth.
Anna watched the movement and shifted slightly, concern flashing across her face. "He isn't my type…or wasn't, I don't know anymore," she murmured with a shrug as they continued in the direction of the noisy canteen.
Isabelle chuckled, "And yet I have the distinct niggle to jump his bones, which is I'm guessing, entirely your fault." She watched as the blush deepened on her twins cheeks.
The drift hangover, often left lingering sensations, they'd become used to the slight telepathic murmur. The finishing off each others sentences, sensing the others presence when they entered a room, all normal. The drift heightened, their 'twin thing', but this lingering echo of each others feelings was different. Isabelle had never had the slightest inclination of finding Chuck Hansen attractive. Anna, however, seemed to have not only caught the arrogant Aussie's attention but it was clearly a two-way thing.
"Sorry," Anna smiled tightly, "But I think you got the better trade-off, all I've got right now is a bloody headache.
The rippling round of applause as they entered the canteen, silenced whatever Isabelle was going to say.
With a half-smile, she accepted Aleksis' warm hug as the large Russian surged through the sea of teams of people coming to greet them.
"Never doubted you," he rumbled in Russian as he released her and moved to embrace Anna.
Isabelle blinked in confusion for a moment as she struggled to work what he'd said, and then like a whisper, her mind caught up and her understood. She shook off the uneasy feeling, the Doctors had told her one of the symptoms of the tumour was her grasp of languages would slip. Still, she'd prided herself on the fact she was bi-lingual.
"Come eat with us," Sasha invited, as the Russian tech team had already begun to drag, their table across the canteen.
"Sure," Anna chuckled, as their own tech crew moved to join the now double length Russian table. The two Jaeger tech teams, already joking and laughing in a flurry of English and Russian.
Isabelle observed the group as they merged together, a swell of raucous laughter and chatting as they all settled down to eat.
Though Anna didn't eat, she did happily accept a steaming mug of coffee from one of Cherno Alpha's crew, Misha, if she remember rightly. A burly muscled man in his late forties.
Isabelle smiled, somehow she knew Anna would be fine when she was gone.
Old friendships and no doubt rivalries, forged during Ebony Siren's stint at the Vladivostok Shatterdome reforming, as mashed potatoes and sweet peas were passed among the tables. The ever-present thud of Ukrainian hard house, providing the background music. This was family. Admittedly a slightly dysfunctional family, bound by experiences and war, and not blood, but still it was family.
The Jaeger Corp, was home.