I only own my OC's!
This is part one of at least three, so the next 3-4 are in order!
Shatterdome Part 1
September
I sigh heavily before moving to grab another bin, having ten others already filled and loaded into the old beater I bought soon after the fiasco that took my guardian. I'm wearing a black yin-yang T-shirt and blue jeans, with a black hoodie, and black socks with my black tennis shoes. With the sun setting quickly, I'm preparing to head back to my apartment for the night, but I need to collect as much of the Cybertronium as I can. I never know when we'll need more.
I look up when I hear a siren. "Slag. That can't be good." I sigh heavily. "But… China doesn't have tornadoes… Does it?" I Google it using my phone before glancing up to the sky. "Clear skies…" I look up when I feel the ground shake. With Optimus off world… "It's not Optimus… Grimlock?" I look up to see beady blue eyes, and blue around a monster's mouth. "Nope…" I run, and duck behind a silo before shifting to my Cybertronian form. The monster grabs a couple of the workers who had been repairing the silo and quickly devours them. "Oh scrap." I glance over to my beater, but it's still intact. However, driving it, right now, isn't a good idea—not with that—that kaiju.
Suddenly, a three-armed robot appears, and starts tearing into the kaiju with three saw blades, like one of the cons in Transformers: Prime. I'd watched it, growing up at the Autobot Base, and, while some of it was so off it wasn't funny, I did find a few true facts beneath the gentler-than-reality, darker-than-normal-cartoons show.
When I turn my attention back to the battle, the kaiju's dead, and the robot kneels. I shift back to human form before they see me, and step over to it nervously. Three men climb out of the top, and one of them walks over to me before laying a hand on my arm. "Nǐ shānghài? Nǐ shòushāng?"
One thing I'm grateful for is, though I never was able to learn more than Spanish and Cybertronian—both the Autobot language and the Language of the Primes—I did learn how to tell people of other languages I don't speak theirs. "Wǒ bù shuō zhōngguó." (I don't speak Chinese.)
"My apologies. Were you hurt?"
I shake my head. "I'm fine, thank you. Just shaken." I sigh heavily. "What was that thing?"
Another man walks over. "Kaiju."
The third joins us. "Do you have a place to stay?"
The first steps back over. "If not, we can take you back to the Shatterdome."
I smile to them. "I'd be grateful, but…" I motion to the beater. "I've got a lot of…a special metal, and I have to find a place to store it."
"Special metal?"
I sigh heavily. "Have you heard of the Cybertronians?" They give me a confused look. "Transformers?"
"Yes. They destroy."
I shake my head. "Not my faction. The Autobots try to prevent destruction, um…"
"Cheung, Ma'am."
"It's Miss. I'm only twenty-three, and unmarried." I nod. "Cheung. The Autobots fought for us—with us." I glance to the robot. "I'll use the question: "who is the monster and who is the man?" The monsters in your case are the kaiju, and even though…whatever that is…is huge, it's the man, because it protects life. In our case, the Decepticons are the monster, like that kaiju, and the Autobots are the man, like that robot."
One of his brothers steps over. "Our jaeger, Crimson Typhoon." He holds out a hand. "My name is Hu."
I shake it. "Good to meet you, Hu." I smile before continuing to explain. "Crim's the man, just like my mentor, Optimus Prime, because both protect life. The bad guys… they killed my Guardian…" The three give me confused looks. "We had a bond, like…" I sigh heavily. "Where I could sense him, no matter how far he was from me, and we could communicate through it, and…" I sigh heavily. "I could feel his pain, when Lockdown killed him." I growl out the mech's name, even as tears roll down my cheeks.
"I am Jin." The third brother smiles. "So it is like the drift?"
"Drift?" I raise an eyebrow. "Only Drift I know is in Texas with the Yeager family." I blink before giggling. That cheered me up a little. "He's a Cybertronian samurai."
Cheung starts to explain. "My brothers and I operate Crimson together, using a neural bridge that allows us to communicate in the same way. We have been jaeger pilots since we were fifteen."
"Ten years?" They nod. "I've trained as an Army Ranger since I was fourteen. My first battle was Chicago…" I sigh heavily. "When I was eighteen."
Cheung—I think—sighs. They're identical, but they haven't changed positions, so I'm pretty sure it's Cheung. "Would you like to follow us to the Shatterdome?"
I shrug. "Sure. No problem."
Hong Kong Shatterdome
"The Kaiju are learning our defenses. They're adapting. Evolving. And we're losing Jaegers faster than we can build them. Lima. Seattle. Vladivostok. Category 4 Kaijus…are now coming through the Breach. I think even you can see, marshal, this is no longer…a sound strategy. The frequency of the attacks has increased. The Jaegers are not the most viable line of defense anymore."
Stacker steps over to the monitor. "I am aware. Those are my rangers that die every time a Jaeger falls, which is why I'm asking you for one last chance."
The British representative tries to get his attention. "Excuse me, marshal."
"One final assault with everything we've got."
The American representative steps up to the plate. "The Jaeger program is dead, Marshal. On the other hand, the coastal wall…program is a promising option. The world appreciates all that you and your men have done…but it's over. We will authorize you to take all remaining Jaegers…to the last battle station: Hong Kong. We're prepared to fund you…for the next eight months while the coastal wall…is completed. After that, you will receive no further support. You have your answer, marshal."
Tendo stands and walks over to Stacker and "So that's it? It's over?"
Herc steps over to Stacker. "Suits and ties, flashy smiles. That's all they are, Stacker. We don't need them."
The triplets lead me into the shatterdome and to the Marshal. "Sir?"
He turns to them. "Cheung?" He notices me. "The Autobot Princess."
I rub the back of my neck. "Commander now. Good to meet you." I smile sheepishly. "Apparently General Morshower updated you…to a point."
"We are Rangers."
"Right…" I sigh heavily. "I'm looking for a place to store the Cybertronium KSI stole from us, and to repair, and hopefully revive, my Guardian."
Stacker sighs before glancing around. "Come with me. I'll help you get settled."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Marshal?"
He sighs heavily. "This is my brightest student, Mako Mori. Mako, this is Sheyenne. She's the Autobot Princess, from America."
"Hajimemashite."
I sigh heavily. "Watashi wa nihongo o hanashi ikemasen."
"It sounds like you do."
I shrug. "Some of the NEST team taught me enough to tell people I can't speak their language, in their own language."
"Ah." She sighs before taking a bin from me and following us. I'm carrying one under my arm, and the other eight on a cart. "I can show you to our executive suite."
"No thank you. I'll take a normal crew room." I nod toward the bins. "But first, I'll take a storage room, if you don't mind."
"Yes, Princess."
"Sheyenne."
"You are very humble."
I shrug. "I didn't know I was Cybertronian royalty until I was fourteen, and I didn't want to be treated any different than the others. I'm a field medic, and a Ranger in my own right." I shrug. "Only special treats I got was to pick the colors of my uniform." I smirk. "It's pink."
"That does not aid in hiding."
I shake my head. "Why hide? I'm a soldier. It's my job to fight."
I set the bins into a storage room before looking around. "I can set this up nicely for a medical bay. Thank you, Stacker."
"Your room is this way."
I simply follow her, and set my bags—which had been on the cart as well—on the floor before turning to Stacker. "You need any help? I can always unpack later."
He sighs heavily. "There is one thing…"
"By the All Spark…" I follow the steel blue leg to a hip, and finally a chest and head. "She's huge."
"This is—"
I step up and run a hand over the humongous foot. "Gipsy Danger, last of the Mark 3's. 260 feet and 1,980 tons of pure awesome."
"Thank you."
I'm used to that by now, so I barely flinch. She's sentient. "Whoa."
"Sheyenne? Are you—"
"I'm fine." I turn to him. "What did you need me to help with? She looks great."
"Thanks again." I pat the foot, not wanting to tell them for fear she'll be harmed.
"It's not her, it's her pilot. I want you to come with me when I go after Raleigh Becket next week."
I nod. "Yes, Sir."
Alaska, one week later
"Eight hundred more beams. Ration cards, guys! Come on, come on! Let's go! Now, I got good news and I got bad news, fellas. Which one you wanna hear first?"
"Bad news!"
"Bad news: Three guys died yesterday working the top of the wall."
"What's the good news?"
"The good news is… I got three new job openings. Top of the wall." The foreman sighs. "Okay, who wants to work? Who wants to eat? Come on!"
Raleigh turns to the screen above him, having just walked in from working on the wall. "I am here in Sydney, where earlier today…yet another Kaiju attack took place. The Kaiju, an enormous Category 4…broke through the coastal wall…in less than an hour." The monster on the newscast roars. "The Wall of Life had been deemed unbreachable by its builders."
"Why the hell…are we even building this thing? That thing went through the wall like it was nothing."
"Ironically, it was…the recently decommissioned Jaeger, Striker Eureka…piloted by Herc…and Chuck Hansen that finally…took the beast down."
People panic on the newscast as the jaeger attacks the monster, and the sounds of its' missiles firing activates car alarms.
"Look, they decommissioned the Jaeger program…because of mediocre pilots. It's that simple. That's Striker Eureka's tenth kill to date. It's a new record."
"And you're still going to Hong Kong, even at a time like this?"
Chuck shrugs. "Well, orders are orders. What else am I supposed to do?"
"Chuck Hansen, one of the pilots…of Striker Eureka…the Jaeger that took down the Kaiju."
Marshal Pentecost and I walk over. "Mr. Becket."
"Marshal." He nods. "Looking sharp."
"Long time."
Raleigh nods to me. "Who's this?"
"Sheyenne. Princess of Cybertron and current Autobot commander." I shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Raleigh turns back to Stacker. "Five years, four months."
"Can I have a word?"
"Step into my office, Marshal."
"Took me a while to find you. Anchorage, Sheldon Point, Nome…"
"Yeah, a man in my position…travels with the wall, chasing shifts to make a living." He sighs. "What do you want?"
"I've spent the last six months activating everything I can get my hands on. There's an old Jaeger, a Mark 3. You may know it. It needs a pilot."
"I'm guessing I wasn't your first choice."
"You are my first choice. All the other Mark 3 pilots are dead."
"Look…I can't have anyone else in my head again. I'm done. I was still connected to my brother when he died. I can't go through that again, man, I'm sorry."
"Haven't you heard, Mr. Becket? The world is coming to an end. So where would you rather die? Here, or in a Jaeger?"
"I'd say the jaeger, Mr. Becket." I sigh heavily. "Ghost drifts and broken spark-bonds are a lot alike, I've heard."
"What?"
I sigh heavily. "Mr. Becket, I lost my Guardian a few weeks ago. I know how you feel. Yet I'm still doing what I can to help end this war, while everyone else is defending a family, on Optimus' last orders. Mine were to watch over them, and I am—remotely." I pull on the helmet before turning to him. "Trust me, I see where you're coming from. I could have gotten eaten last week, but I didn't. That tells me that, even though my spark is broken, and literally killing me, I still have something to live for, and so do you, so man up, soldier!" He gives me a surprised look, causing me to shrug. "Bee's close to Optimus, and feels the need to protect someone. I had to be tough with him, or he never would have left. His place is with the Yeager family, mine is gathering Cybertronium and keeping an eye and ear out for a place to move them to if things go south."
"That won't be necessary."
I turn to the Marshal with a surprised look. "I thought—"
"We are more than willing to house the Autobots for as long as is necessary."
"Thank you, Sir."
"There is no need for that." I raise an eyebrow. "You may be younger than me, but you out-rank me."
I shake my head. "You are older than me, Sir, and I was taught to respect my elders."
Hong Kong Shatterdome
We land outside the shatterdome in the rain, with several people on the helipad, all talking amongst themselves. I reach up and pull my hood up. I hate rain.
"Mr. Becket…this is Mako Mori. One of our brightest." She smiles under her umbrella. "Also in charge of the Mark 3 restoration program. She personally handpicked your copilot candidates."
"Watashi wa chigatta kare o sōzō shimashita."(I imagined him differently.)
"Hey." Mako turns to him. "Yokumowarukumo?" (Better or worse?)
"Watashi wa,-shi Beketto o owabi mōshiagemasu.Watashi wa anata ni tsuite ōku no koto o kikimashita." (I apologize, Mr. Becket. I've heard a lot about you.) The two nod to each other.
We start through the doors. "At ease." He turns to Raleigh. "We will tour the facility first…and then Miss Mori will show you to your Jaeger, Mr. Becket."
Two scientists rush up to us. The one with the cane—the polite one—speaks first. "Wait for us, please!"
The ruder one runs up behind him. "Hold the door…please!"
The polite one nods to Raleigh. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
We take an elevator down to the main level.
Science Lab
The ruder one huffs. "Stay back. Kaiju specimens are extremely rare…so look but don't touch, please."
"Mr. Becket, this is our research team—Dr. Gottlieb and Dr. Geiszler."
"Oh, no, call me Newt. Only my mother calls me Doctor." He turns to his fellow scientist. "Hermann, these are human beings. Why don't you say hello."
"I have asked you not to refer to me by my first name around others. I am a doctor with over 10 years of decorated experience…"
Newt, ever the childish one, mocks him. "Ten years! I'm very sorry."
"Oh, please."
Raleigh then notices the Kaiju on Newt's arm. "…Yamarashi?"
"Oh, this little Kaiju? Yeah, you got a good eye."
"My brother and I took him down in 2017."
"You know he was one of the biggest Category 3's ever? He was 2,500 tons of awesome." Raleigh and Mako give him a look. "Or awful. You know, whatever you wanna call it."
Gotlieb comes through for us, thankfully. "Please excuse him. He's a Kaiju groupie. He loves them."
"Shut up, Hermann, I don't love them, okay? I study them. And unlike most people, I wanna see one alive and up close one day."
Raleigh pats his shoulder. "Trust me…you don't want to."
I glare at the man. "Trust me, he's right."
We leave the room. "So that's your Research Division?"
"Things have changed." Mako types in a code. "We're not an army anymore, Mr. Becket. We're the resistance." He motions forward, through the opening door. "Welcome to the Shatterdome." Raleigh and I turn to look at a clock on the wall. I'd missed it earlier, and he just got here. "War clock. We reset it after every Kaiju attack. Keeps everyone focused. The frequency of attacks is accelerating."
"How long till the next reset?"
Raleigh almost gets hit by a small vehicle. "A week, if we're lucky. My experts believe there'll be a Kaiju attack…even before that." He turns to catch up with the others. "This complex used to lodge…30 Jaegers in five bays just like this one. Now we only have four Jaegers left."
"I didn't know it was this bad."
"It is that bad." Stacker points up to Crimson, who's in the process of being cleaned. "Crimson Typhoon, China. One of the greatest. Assembled in Changzhou. Full titanium core, no alloys. Fifty diesel engines per muscle strand. Deadly, precise fighter. She's piloted by the Wei Tang brothers. Triplets. Local lads."
"Good men. Saved me last week."
"They've successfully defended Hong Kong port seven times. They use the Thundercloud formation."
"Hell, yeah. Triple-arm technique."
"Very effective." Stacker points up to Cherno Alpha. "That tank, last of the T-90s. Cherno Alpha. First generation Mark 1. The heaviest and oldest Jaeger in the service. But make no mistake, Mr. Becket, it's a brutal war machine." He motions to Cherno's pilots, whom I haven't met yet. "And those two: Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky."
"Yeah, I've heard of them." We stop. "Perimeter patrol, Siberian wall."
"On their watch it stayed unbreached for six years. Six years."
I step over and shake their hands. "Nice to meet you both."
The man smiles. "I am Aleksis. Is nice meeting you too. We will be working together?"
"I hope." I turn when I hear a dog barking, then spare one last look at Cherno.
"Herc! Chuck! Gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong!"
Herc turns to his son. "Wait here.
"Max! Come here! Remember me?"
"Don't drool…all over Miss Mori." He sighs. "Sees a pretty girl…and he gets all wound up."
"Raleigh, this is Hercules Hansen, an old friend from the Mark 1 glory days."
"I know you, mate. We rode together before."
He's an Aussie. I love their accents!
"We did, sir. Six years ago. My brother and I. It was a three Jaeger team drop."
"That's right. Manila. Sorry about your brother."
"Thank you, sir."
Stacker continues. "Herc and his son Chuck'll be running point using Striker Eureka. Fastest Jaeger…in the world. First and last of the Mark 5's. Australia decommissioned it a day before the Sydney attack."
"Yeah, it was lucky we were still around."
"Yep.
"Now it's running point for us."
"Wait, running point on what? You haven't told me what I'm doing here yet."
"We're going for the Breach, Mr. Becket. We're gonna strap a 2,400 pound thermonuclear warhead to Striker's back. Detonate an equivalent of 1.2…million tons of TNT. And you and two other Jaegers…will be running defense for them."
"Thought we were the resistance. Where'd you get something that big? See the Russians back there? They can get us anything. Herc, shall we?"
Herc lightly socks Raleigh on the arm. "Good to have you back."
"Thank you, sir."
Mako smiles. "I'll show you to your Jaeger now."
"Miss Mori…will you give me a minute?" Raleigh runs after Stacker. "Marshal! Sir, we've hit the Breach before. It doesn't work. Nothing goes through. What's changed?"
"I've got a plan. I need you ready. That's all. Let's go, Herc!"
Chuck follows his dad. "Max, come here!"
Crew 17…please report to the fifth floor.
Medical Room
I step into the now-furnished medical bay. All that's left is having the last of Ratchet's frame, hidden in storage in the old NEST base and guarded by Lennox, shipped out on a C17. "Home, sweet home." I pick my way around the boxes, and start putting away the new medical supplies that came in today. I'm gonna be busy, being the only medic here, but it'll keep my mind off Ratchet.
Science Lab
"Zero minus two. XY minus two. R-E-Q…" Gotlieb climbs down from his ladder. "In the beginning, he Kaiju attacks were spaced by 24 weeks. Then twelve, then six, then every two weeks. The last one in Sydney was a week. In four days…we could be seeing a Kaiju every eight hours…until they are coming every four minutes. Marshal, we should witness a double event within seven days."
"Mr. Gottlieb, I'm to drop a 2400 pound thermonuclear bomb…I need more than…a prediction."
"Well, uh…that's a problem, then…because see, he actually can't give you anything more than a prediction."
Newt throws some kaiju intestines at Gotlieb, who kicks them back to Newt's side of the room. "No Kaiju entrails over my side of the room. You know the rules. Every bloody day. It's incessant."
Herc snaps at the two. "Gents! On point."
I step into the room behind Stacker and lean against the wall.
"Numbers do not lie. Politics and poetry, promises, these are lies. Numbers are as close as we get to the handwriting of God."
"What?"
"Oh, please! I know the Language of the Primes!"
"Would you give me a moment?" He turns to glare at me. "And what are you doing in here?" He turns back to Stacker without waiting for an answer. "There will be a double event. And then, shortly thereafter, three. And then four…"
"And then we're dead. I get it."
"Alas. This is where the good news comes." He steps over to a holographic computer. "Here is our universe…" He draws a circle. "And here is theirs." He draws another, then connects the two. "And this is what we call "The Throat", the passage between the Breach and us. We know that it's atomic in nature. I predict that the increased traffic…" He turns something, causing the tunnel between the two to open. "Will force the Breach to stabilize…and remain open long enough…" He moves a bomb-shaped something over the hole and drops it. "To get the device through…and collapse its structure."
"Yeah, and that's…where I gotta chime in because, really…I wouldn't wanna go in there with that limited amount of information."
"Newton, don't embarrass yourself."
"Just hear me out for a second. Give me a second. Please." The three of us move over to Newt. "Why do we judge the Kaiju
on a category system? It's because each one…is completely different from the next, right? You see what I'm saying? Like, one looks like a shark and one looks like a fish…"
"Dr. Geiszler. Just get to the point."
"Yes." Gotlieb whispers.
"The point is…I don't think they're all completely different after all. These are some samples I collected, all right? Now, this one here was harvested in Sydney. And this was harvested in Manila. Six years ago. They have the same exact DNA. They're clones."
"And this is…the point where he goes completely crazy."
I wave a hand at the annoying math-based scientist, almost swatting him. "Shush. I think he's onto something."
"There's so much more to the Kaiju than we understand. And we've really only scratched the surface." He steps over to a tank filled with yellow fluid, and a brain. "This is a piece of a Kaiju's brain. Now, unfortunately, it's damaged. It's a little bit weak. But it's still alive. Now, I think…I can tap into it…using the same technology that allows the two Jaeger pilots…to share a neural bridge. Now, think about that. I could tell you exactly…how to get through the Breach yourselves."
Herc is less than impressed, while I'm intrigued. "You're suggesting that we initiate a Drift with a Kaiju?"
"No, no. No, no. Not like a whole Kaiju, you know, just a tiny piece of its brain."
"The neural surge would be too much…for the human brain."
"I agree."
"I don't agree."
"Me neither." My comment falls on deaf ears.
"Gottlieb…" Stacker turns to the scientist. "I'd like your data on my desk ASAP."
He salutes. "Sir."
"No, but his is so…"
"Thank you, Newt." He turns to leave.
"Guys, now, this is the most amazing thing…"
"Newton, I know that you're desperate to be right…so you've not wasted your life being a Kaiju groupie…but it's not going to work."
I actually slap the crippled man. While not as violent as Ratchet usually was when he got aggravated, I still tend to hit people when they annoy me. "Shut up, you." I huff. "Primus, I'm going into town first thing tomorrow and buying a stash of plastic wrenches."
"It is going to work, Hermann. And I'll tell you…something else. Fortune favors the brave, dude."
"You heard them. They won't give you the equipment and even if they did…you'd kill yourself."
"Or I'd be a rock star."
I glare at the two. "Hermann, listen to reason. I'm the slaggin' medic here, and I'll tell you what the human brain can and cannot handle. Newt, I believe you're on to something, but I need you to prove it to me."
"You believe him?"
"Hermann Gotlieb!" I scoff. "I lived with alien robots for almost ten years! I'm fraggin' techno-organic! My bond-uncle was a fraggin' scientist, just like Newt, who got so excited about his work that his experiments usually blew up. Trust me, when I say, that he's on to something. Newt, let me know when you decide to do it, because I need to be here." I turn to storm to the door. "And I'm serious about the plastic wrenches." I stomp out.
