PAN-PACIFIC DEFENSE

CORPS

PERSONNEL DOSSIER

NAME Jazmine Becket

ASSIGNED Rangers, ID R-JBEC_482.22-V
TEAM

DATE OF January 25, 2021
ACTIVE
SERVICE

CURRENT Active; based Hong
SERVICE Kong Shatterdome
STATUS

BIOGRAPHY

Born November 30, 2003, youngest of three. Older brothers Yancy (q.v., also an active-duty Ranger, KIA February 29, 2020) and Raleigh Becket (q.v., currently inactive). Parents deceased. Entered Jaeger Academy at Anchorage April 7, 2020 after eldest brother was KIA during engagement with Kaiju Knifehead. Younger brother, RB, survived and assumed solo control of Gipsy Danger but left shortly prior to Becket joining the Academy. Assigned with co-pilot Hannah Jones to Gipsy Danger following the Mark-III restoration programme. No deployments to date due to problems with neural handshake (see notes).

NOTES

Exceptional skills in all areas, excluding neural handshake. PPDC psychological staff have determined that Becket's inability to set up a firm neural handshake is due to memories concerning YB's death and RB's subsequent abandonment. Becket remains angry at her brother and is unable to reign in her emotions in the Drift. Marshall Pentecost is certain that this is a temporary affliction and that, despite her emotional fragility, Becket's skill set suits her to a Conn-Podd more than anywhere else.

Jazmine sat with her back against the wall that she normally sat on. She didn't care about the view today, certain that its usual calming effect would do nothing for her. She was freezing, which wasn't surprising. Early January was hardly known for its balmy temperatures. Apart from actually leaving the Shatterdome (which had been such a huge success last time, right?) the roof was the closest she could get to avoiding people. The only person who knew about this bolthole was Chuck, and she doubted even he would come looking for her up here at this time of year.

She hated him. Raleigh. She wanted to bash his head into a wall, snap his neck with her bare hands. She wanted to make him feel physically, the way that she had emotionally when he'd left. She hated him. That's what she told herself over and over and over again, knowing full well that she didn't actually hate him at all. She was angry because she loved him. He was her brother and she'd always love him, no matter what, but he'd hurt her in a way that only he could. With their parents gone, Jazmine had been terrified that Yancy and Raleigh would leave her too. They were still so young themselves, why would they want to be lumbered with their younger sister? Their parents certainly hadn't given it much thought. Mom could have stopped smoking, she could have at least tried to beat it, Jazmine had thought to herself more times than she cared to admit. But she didn't. She didn't care. Maybe if the boys had still been at that age where they needed caring for, she would have, but for me? No chance. And as for dad, he was no better. Waking up the morning after mom's funeral to find dad had upped and left was a real eye opener. You can't trust anyone, Jazmine thought bitterly. She'd expected Raleigh and Yancy to do the same, to go off and live their lives however they wanted to, but they'd stayed. They'd stayed and looked after her and assured her that whatever happened, they would never leave her behind, and she'd believed them, she'd trusted them, and they'd left her too. Yancy had had no choice, but Raleigh…Raleigh could have stayed. Should have stayed. Why hadn't he stayed? Was she not good enough for him to stick around for? Hadn't he cared that she was sixteen, afraid and alone and, more than anything, needed her brother? Her only living family.

Chuck was right, she needed to deal with this. She couldn't push it to the back of her mind and pretend that it wasn't happening, like she did with everything else. It wasn't healthy and it wouldn't help anyone.

Chuck. Oh, shit. She remembered their last encounter, briefly forgotten as she sifted through her emotional baggage with Raleigh. He'd either be angry or hurt, either one was reasonable. He'd been willing to help her and she'd shot him down for no good reason. Why did she do that? Why was she so intent on pushing people away? People that she genuinely cared about. How exactly Chuck had made it onto her very short list of people that she genuinely cared about, she wasn't quite sure, but he had, which was exactly why she had to swallow her pride, find him, and apologise.

Jazmine rapped sharply on the cold, hard metal of Chuck's door. There was no answer, so she knocked again. And again, to no avail. Perhaps he wasn't in, although she'd looked almost everywhere else that she could think of and hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, so where else could he be?

She was about to give up and go back to her own room with her tail between her legs when Chuck's door swung open. When he saw that it was her, he leant against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest, looking down at her with a cold expression. If looks could kill…

"Hey," Jazmine said.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was no warmer than his face.

"You're angry—"

"I'm not angry."

"Well, you should be. What I said, it was out of line. I know that you were just trying to help."

He sighed. "Out of line, yes, but everything you said was true."

"That's not the point. I shouldn't have said it, Chuck. It wasn't my place, and I'm sorry."

Chuck stared at her for a few moments. He seemed to be struggling with himself. That made Jazmine nervous. What was it that Chuck wanted to say that was causing him to struggle with his words? Chuck, who knew what to say in even the most awkward of situations, was looking at her like he had something to say, he just didn't know how to say it.

Chuck chewed on his bottom lip. He didn't want to say the words that he'd spent the last hour and a half practicing in the mirror above the wash basin, but he had to. God knows he'd tried to talk himself out of it, but at the end of the day, there were bigger things at stake here than his happiness. The fate of the world rested on his shoulders, quite literally. Jazmine had gotten under his skin, and since then his head had been all over the place. He didn't need anyone to tell him that if he didn't stay focused, he'd end up dead. They all would.

"Look, Jaz," Chuck began, just the way he'd practiced about fifty times. "This thing between us, whatever the hell it is, it has to end."

"Oh," the colour drained from her face and she took a step back. "Ok." She looked upset. No, no. Oh, fuck. Chuck hadn't been prepared for that, which seemed foolish, really, given the current climate of things. Had he not spent the entire night before holding her as she wept her heart out over her brother? Yes, her brother, he reminded himself. Raleigh was somebody she actually cared about, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Chuck hadn't considered himself as someone of import in Jazmine's life, regardless of how he felt about her. Don't cry. Don't cry. Please don't cry. If she cried, he knew that his resolve would shatter, and the world would suffer. He couldn't have her in his head. He couldn't. "Why?"

Chuck shrugged. "This was never supposed to be permanent. It was just a bit of fun. Besides, bigger picture, Jaz. The world needs saving, and I'm supposed to be the one doing it. How can I be expected to drop a thermonuclear bomb down a breach at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean when I'm too busy wondering when I'm gonna get my next shag in?" He sounded like such a dick, which wasn't hard considering he was a dick, but whilst he had no problem acting that way towards other people…well, Jazmine wasn't other people.

"'Just a bit of fun'?" Jazmine echoed in a voice devoid of any emotion. "For you, maybe." She turned without another word and walked away. Chuck opened his mouth to call her back, before remembering that this was what he wanted. Well, no, it wasn't what he wanted, but it needed to be done. That didn't stop the urge to run after her and beg her to forget everything that he'd just said to almost overwhelm him. Nicely done, Chuck, he berated himself. Good one.