Forged in Fire, Chapter 45: Meet the New Boss

PPI R&D Offices

Sacramento, CA

August 18, 2025

0711 PDT

"Mr. Choi, What are you doing to that poor coffee machine?"

Tendo looked up at the new voice and saw Miriam Ramirez leaning against the doorway of the break room. "Oh, sorry, ma'am. Didn't realize there was anyone else in at this time."

"Wanted to get an early start on reviewing some reports from the last war. I want to see if there's any areas for improvement this time." She walked over to Tendo's table. "What did the coffee machine do to deserve a complete teardown?"

"Well, it can't make what Icebox survivors call 'milspec' coffee." Tendo picked up one of the components and held it up towards the ceiling lights for inspection.

"'Milspec'? Okay, color me curious."

Tendo put the component down and began to inspect another. "Term came from an old Navy sailor who I worked with before K-Day. He'd somehow managed to find out what the best parts of each military branch's coffee was, and rolled it into a single blend. He taught me how to make it while I worked the ferries in the Bay, and I took it with me into the PPDC. We ran on the stuff in Alaska, guzzled it like a tank burns fuel." He leaned back in his chair and eyed the new Marshall. "The big issue is doing it in small quantities, like for here. Most 'domestic' machines simply can't make it happen without some mods. Thus, teardown." He gestured at the dismantled appliance. "I'll have it back together in another ten minutes or so, and coffee will be ready by the bottom of the hour."

"Fast work, Mr. Choi." Miriam walked over to the sink and filled a teapot with water, then set it on a hotplate. "I'll have to try it later, but for now, I'll settle for instant coffee."

"Yuck. Can't imagine trying to survive on that stuff. No disrespect, of course." Tendo turned back to his work on the coffee machine and began to adjust several controls on a circuit board.

"Well, I developed a tolerance for the stuff in Syria, back in '17 and '18. CASEVAC missions for our 'limited' boots on the ground presence." Miriam looked past the wall in front of her. "Stupid leaders making stupid decisions, getting people hurt or killed." She turned to face Tendo. "That's why I'm digging into the reports from the first round of this war, trying to see if there's places we can improve. Ranger safety, repair times, anything."

Tendo set down his tools and frowned. "Well, I know Mako's working on completely revamping the Conn Pod designs to reduce the chance of a hull breach, but there's still room for improvement on that front. I mean, you heard what happened to Steph, right?"

Miriam nodded.

Tendo looked at the parts on the table, frowned again, and looked up at Miriam. "Y'know, just had a thought. There were only two fallen Ranger teams that didn't get taken down by a crew injury or Pod breach. And both of those were prompt radiation poisoning."

"How many drowned in the Conn Pod?"

Tendo's face fell. "Too many. Far too many."

"So, possible solutions for that are... what?"

Tendo furrowed his brows and started reassembling the coffee machine. "Well, we could do drysuit-style Drive Suits, and completely seal them. Maybe... hmmm. I'll get back to you later on that. Need to make some calls to Hong Kong, talk with the techs there. Maybe rope our Rangers in on that, too."

Miriam smiled as the tea kettle began to whistle. "Sounds like a plan, Mr. Choi. Keep me informed."

"Yes, ma'am."

-.-.-

0815

Mako settled in front of her computer and pulled up the design for the Conn Pod. Let's see what the team in Tokyo has done with the syntactic foam applique panels...

Miriam poked her head in the door. "Ms. Mori, sorry to intrude like this..."

"Please, call me Mako, ma'am. And it's okay, I'm just getting started for the day, so it's not an intrusion." Mako gestured to a chair in front of her desk. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I'm going to be a Shatterdome Marshall, so I figured I should have at least a passing understanding of Jaeger engineering. And who better to ask than yourself?" Miriam looked at the holographic display between her and Mako. "I take it that this is the new Conn Pod design?"

"Yes. Just looking over the updates from the team in Tokyo." Mako keyed in a few quick commands, and several areas began to blink brightly. "Hmmm... looks like they added a few centimeters to the syntactic foam."

"Pardon my ignorance, but... Syntactic foam?"

"Oh! It's a mix of glass microspheres and epoxy that is lighter than water, but able to withstand significant pressure. We're using it to provide positive buoyancy for the Conn Pod if it gets separated from the Jaeger, either by battle damage or by ejection as a last-resort escape method." Mako pulled up the changelog and skimmed through it. "The team of engineers from Fuji Heavy Industries added 2.7 centimeters of thickness to the layer of the foam, to give some extra margin for floatation. Can't argue with that."

"So, you've started contracting out some of the engineering work?" Miriam watched as Mako began to review the other changes.

"Yes, it's getting to be too much for me to handle on my own. I knew this point would come, but I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so early on in the design phase." Mako paused her review and looked at Miriam. "It's hard to let go of complete responsibility of your personal project and let others in on it... but it needs to be done, especially as I lack experience in a lot of engineering fields that will have a direct impact on the production of the Jaegers."

"From what I've heard, that's normal, Mako. And yeah, it is hard to hand off a project you've sunk a lot of time and energy into. But, as you said, it does need to be done... especially since I need you to help with stuff that your personal experiences will be invaluable in. Well, you and Mr. Becket both."

"Such as?"

"I want to make sure we get our Rangers back from combat as fit and healthy as possible."

Mako instinctively rubbed her right shoulder, feeling the circuitry burns beneath her shirt. "That may not always be possible. We're soldiers, ma'am, albeit of a very different breed than most. Injuries come with the job."

"But, we can prevent or minimize some of those, correct? Things like sprains, broken bones, dislocated joints, those kinds of injures, right? I mean, look at Ms. Lanphier. That injury should have been preventable."

Mako fixed Miriam with a fiery glare. "Until you step into that Conn Pod, ma'am, you have no idea what we face, or the risks we have to take in combat."

"Then show me. Show me, at full scale, the current pilot rig."

Mako sighed, shrugged, and pulled the appropriate schematics up. "This is the ones we are currently planning on using. They're legacy Mark V rigs. Yes, you get tossed around a lot, but you're secure."

Miriam stepped "into" the holographic model of the rig, and it "snapped" to her arms, back, and feet. "God, this is some serious Tony Stark stuff. Can't wait to see what other firms can do with holographic interfaces like this." She moved her arms, and the arm segments of the rig followed her as if she were wearing a Drive Suit. "Motion matching is great, but how much protection against shock loads do these provide?"

Mako tried to stifle the wince that she felt as she remembered her two combat drops, but some managed to make it to her face.

"I take it that it doesn't provide a whole lot."

"We... do get bounced around a lot."

"And why the separate foot locks, rather than having them integrated into the rest of the rig?"

Mako bit her lip as she thought. "I remember that Brawler Yukon had that kind of rig, but... I don't know why exactly we moved away from it. I know that it's caused some issues in the past, sprained ankles and such." She turned her attention to the computer and called up a new file. "Here, I'm going to swap the left rig for a Brawler Yukon rig."

There was a knock at the door and both women looked at the source: Raleigh, holding a steaming coffee mug. "Hey, Mako... Tendo finally fixed the coffee machine. There's a fresh pot of the Good Stuff."

Mako grinned as she heard the capital letters and hurried to the door. "It's about time he got those mods done." She took the mug from Raleigh, the took a deep whiff of the steam coming off it. "Ohhhh... Thank you, Tendo."

Raleigh stepped into the office proper and eyed the projection. "Working on a new rig, huh?"

Mako let out a contented sigh as she took a sip of the coffee. "Marshall Ramirez wants to see if there's any spots we can improve the safety of the rig."

Miriam nodded and stepped beyond the reach of the holographic rig, which returned to a ready position. "Combat-ready Rangers are an incredibly valuable resource, as they're, what, one in 10 million?"

Mako looked over her coffee mug. "Try an order of magnitude more rare. Current research puts that figure closer to 1 in 100 million."

Miriam let out a respectful whistle as the fact sank in. "So, only 75 pairs in the world?"

"That's based off of some old data, though. Mako and I kinda threw a wrench in that formula. Our best projections at the moment are still pointing to less than 200 pairs, though, so pairings are still hard to find." Raleigh eyed the rig that Miriam had been in. "Well, a good starting point would be putting dampeners on these, to help soften sudden shock loads, like from taking a solid whack to the Conn Pod. Not only would it help prevent injuries, it'd get us back into stance and into alignment that much faster." He looked at Mako. "How hard could that... Oh. Heh." He grinned. "I'll leave you to your brainstorm."

Miriam watched as Mako grabbed a stylus off the desk and hurried over to the computer. "What's going on?"

Raleigh tilted his head towards the doorway. "Mako's got this... 'Lightbulb...' face."

Miriam chuckled at his decent impression of Gru, and walked out of Mako's office. "So, what, come back in a few hours and see what she's come up with?"

"Pretty much. When she gets totally focused, I'll have to go in and break her train of thought to get her to eat. Kinda cute, actually." Raleigh settled into his own office. "So, going on a bit of a safety witch hunt, I hear."

"More than a bit. In my review of the first phase of the war, I've found that there were a lot of cases of 'we don't have time to come up with a better solution' being thrown around the Jaeger program. I want to try and remove as many as practical, as quickly as possible. After all, Jaegers are replaceable. Rangers? Not so much."

Raleigh looked Miriam in the eyes. "Ma'am, it's rare to lose the mount and get the riders back. As the old meme went, I'm the outlier and should not be counted."

"Well, then consider my mission to be making you the start of a trend, and not an outlying data point." Miriam gestured to Raleigh's computer. "How goes the training syllabus?"

"Coming together nicely. Need to pester Mako to finish with her section, but I'm willing to wait a little to let her hand off most of the Jaeger engineering before bothering her with that."

"Fair enough. Any other projects you're busy with?"

"Not really. The curriculum is starting to come together nicely, so I'm finding myself having some spare time. Why, you have something in mind?"

"I've tasked Mr. Choi with coming up with improvements to the Drive Suits to better protect the Rangers who wear them. Perhaps you can provide some insight from the Ranger's perspective to help refine the design and identify other areas for improvement?"

"Sure. That'll mesh well with Mako's current fixation." Raleigh smiled and nodded in the direction of Mako's office. "Anything else I can do to help, ma'am?"

"Not today, no. But in a few days, I may be having you and Mako in my office for a conversation about some stuff. Not sure exactly what yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and Mako's going to be out the first week of September, and I'm probably going to be gone for the first few days to help her."

"So I heard. Wisdom teeth suck."

"Eh. She's simply having them pulled, not extracted like I did."

"Ditto. Alright, I'll let you get to work, Mr. Becket." Miriam headed out into the hallway and towards her office. Moving up in the world, Miri. An office to yourself? Boomer will have a field day with that...

-.-.-

1224

Miriam walked into her office and settled into the seat behind the desk. "Let's see what brush fires I need to put out over lunch..."

As if on cue, a knock came from the doorframe. Miriam looked up to see Herc standing in the doorway. "Come on in, Herc. What's up?"

"We... have a small problem." Herc settled into a chair and closed the office door.

Miriam raised an eyebrow. "Explain, please."

"You familiar with the V-50 Jumphawks we use for transporting Jaegers?"

"Not by professional contact, no, but I've seen one up close at an airshow back in, oh, 2021? Something like that. An uglier mishmash of technologies and upgrades you'll be hard pressed to find."

Herc sighed. "Yeah, they're not pretty, but they've gotten the job done for the time being."

"I hear that 'but', Herc. Spill."

"The fleet's tired and worn out, Miriam. We need new lift capacity. I turned some of the aviation branch in Hong Kong loose on getting quotes for a second SLEP and new build Jumphawks." Herc rubbed his temples. "It's not good."

"On a scale of 'depot overhaul' to 'JSF boondoggle', how bad are we talking?"

"The responses on SLEPs range from 'You don't have that kind of money' to flat out 'We won't even lay eyes on your birds, let alone quote you for a SLEP.' And Boeing Vertol is asking an arm and a leg for new build. Jaeger limbs, I might add."

Miriam leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "Well, shit. Any bright ideas?"

"Yeah, but promise you won't laugh."

"Right now, anything is on the table."

Herc leaned on Miriam's desk. "Okay, did you see that project from Imabari Shipbuilding a few years back, right after the Wall began to get built?"

"Imabari... rings a bell but can't peg why. Refresh my memory."

"Think Marvel Helicarrier, but real life. Imabari wanted to use a fleet of what they called HULCs, or Hovering Utility Large Carriers, to carry containers and bulk goods across the Pacific after the Wall sealed it off. The project got put on hold due to the reduced need for shipments across the Pacific, but there's still three nearly complete airframes sitting in 'drydock' near Hiroshima."

Miriam sat back upright in her chair. "You have my attention now."

"I dropped them a line about three weeks ago, asked if they thought there was any chance of converting them into Jaeger carriers. They said that they would look into it."

"Go on."

"They just called back."

Miriam tried to stifle the smile on her face, without success. "Quit teasing, Herc. Out with it."

Herc grinned and leaned back in his own chair. "They said that they can fit three Jaegers and lift equipment inside the holds, no sweat. They've even started to cut metal on the refits and have ordered long-lead components for another three frames."

Miriam's jaw dropped. "Sonofabitch. Right, what's the price tag?"

"They're chipping the first one in for just about free."

"Just about?"

"They want to choose the name for it."

"So long as it's appropriate, I don't see why not. What'd they have in mind?"

"They want to call it the Kaori Jessup."

Miriam stood up and paced around her office. This could be a massive win-win for both of us. They get to show off their latest and greatest technology, we get to honor one of our fallen in epic fashion. Not to mention the PR angle of THREE Jaegers dropping into combat from a Helicarrier. "Herc, I still feel like there's a boot over my head, waiting to crush me like a bug. What's the cost on the other carriers?"

Herc winced. "$75 billion a piece."

Miriam whirled around to face Herc. "Jesus. That is steep. Any chance we could demob them after the war and turn 'em loose on the market?"

"Imabari seems to think so. They said that the costs were the whole package, too. Repair, refuelling, upgrades, that sort of stuff, all included up front. That's some sharp customer service, if I do say so myself."

Miriam nodded slowly, thinking over the situation. "How long to get the Jessop ready for service?"

"One year, tops. She should be ready before the Jaegers are. The other two partials should be ready before the deadline of April 2027. The three fresh units would take until August or September of that year."

"Okay, that works... Hmmm. We'll need to get them to team up with Fuji, as they're working on Jaegers, get them both on the same page for umbilicals and interfaces. Mass and balance could be a bitch, though."

"They said they have that under control."

"Good. Thank you, Herc. That's a crisis I am glad never reared its head. Keep me posted on that, please."

Herc smiled, sketched a quick salute, and departed Miriam's office.

Miriam picked up the phone and consulted the cheat sheet of numbers alongside her computer. "Hey, Samuel? It's Miriam. Got a few minutes?"

-.-.-

1701

Miriam sighed as her computer shut down for the night. God, this program's a mess right now. Projects and people scattering everywhere. She rubbed her face and rocked back in her chair. "Now I know why they wanted me on board..."

A familiar soft chuckle came from the doorway of Miriam's office. "All hail Miriam, the cat wrangler. How you doing, boss?"

"Sergio." Miriam stood up and walked over to the former Ranger. "Been a few years, hasn't it."

"Yeah, it has. Would have been, what, Brandon's memorial service, right?"

"Yeah... Yeah it was." Miriam nodded slowly. "God, time flies these days." Miriam paused, then looked over to Sergio, horror and apology evident on her face. "Sorry, that..."

"It's okay, Miri. I've gotten a second chance... and a third, and a fourth, and... y'know. Seriously, it's fine." He gestured to the door of the office. "C'mon, Cait and I haven't hosted a friend for dinner in a while."

Miriam's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "You sure, Sergio?"

"What, you already have plans for dinner?"

"Not really, no. I'm just..."

"Relax, I've been having a good day today. Lots of energy and all. It's worth celebrating at this point."

Mako bolted from her office right in front of Sergio and Miriam. "Ooops! Sorry, didn't meant to almost run you over, Sergio."

"Ahhh, it's okay Mako. Say, you and Raleigh have any plans for dinner tonight?"

"Not... really? Miranda's having dinner with Herc tonight..."

"C'mon. It'll be good to let your hair down with your new boss, if nothing else."

Mako eyed Miriam, then nodded once. "Okay. Still at the address on Arden?"

"Of course. You really think that we'd get a house right now?"

Mako winced. "Sorry. I ... didn't think that through very well."

"It's fine. Cait may be having trouble with the whole 'impending death' thing, but I'm just... resigned, I guess? Accepting? Whatever." Sergio shrugged and headed through the door. "See you there, Mako!"

Mako frowned and looked at Sergio with concern. "You knew him before K-Day, ma'am?"

Miriam nodded. "A little, yeah. He had just joined the squadron a few weeks before it all went down. We got to know each other a lot better over those six days." She paused and took a deep breath. "You learn a lot about people when you're in situations like that... racking out when you can in tents just off the tarmac, grabbing meals during fuel breaks... I imagine you know a little about that kind of stuff."

Mako held the door open for Miriam as they headed out. "The last year of the war was... hard. But nothing like what you put up with, I suspect."

Miriam's gaze grew haunted for a few seconds, and Mako felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. The things she would have seen... I can imagine pretty well what it would have been like.

-.-.-

Aaaaaaah! Sorry, been sitting on this chapter for a while, and I'm finally happy enough with it to post. Yes, I'm still alive. Been busy with life, school, that sorta stuff. I'm still working on this story, I promise.