I only own my OC's!
Shatterdome Part 3
command center
"Pretty impressive."
"Yeah, he remembers how to turn it on."
"Oi, show some respect. When his brother died, he got the Jaeger back to shore on his own. I've known one other pilot that's been able to do that."
science lab
"Now, there are certain individuals whose business is the preservation and exploitation of Kaiju remains."
"Uh, yeah, right, um, black market dealers, right?"
Stacker pulls a video up on a laptop. "Yep. They're in and out in a matter of hours. They neutralize the acidic factor of the blood and they harvest what they need." He pauses it and points to a man. "Now, this guy, this is Hannibal Chau. He runs the Kaiju black market here in Asia. When our funding ran out, we turned to him for help and in return, I gave him exclusive rights to all Kaiju remains in the region."
"You did that?"
"Last days of war, gentlemen." He hands Newt a card. "Go to the corner of Fong and Tull. Show them that card. Look for that symbol. And a word to the wise, do not trust him."
Gotlieb pulls me aside. "What did you mean? Who is Sam?"
"Sam Witwicky was a teen that helped us up through Chicago. Two years after we met, he touch the All Spark and wound up seeing Cybertronian—the language of the primes—in a way eerily similar to Newt just now. Without Sam seeing those symbols, we never would have saved Optimus, because Sam literally brought him back to life."
"A drift?"
I shake my head. "No, but similar. It zapped his finger." I smile. "And I have the solution to ending them. I learned it in Chicago a few weeks ago, when we raided KSI."
"What?"
"I know what killed the dinosaurs." I pull a small bit of the Cybertronium out of my pocket and play with it.
"We already have a plan."
"Party pooper."
"Besides, don't you need that to save your guardian."
"Well, duh. I didn't mean the metal. I have a seed from the Knight's Teminos. It's a Cybertronium bomb, that turns stuff into this." I hold out the metal I'd been fiddling with.
"We'll stick with our bomb. We don't know your tech."
I facepalm once Stacker walks away, Newt following so he can go after Chou. "Sheyenne?"
"I'm just annoyed, Herman." I shake my head. "It hasn't been an easy day. I just learned we lost three more bots stateside last night, and now I have the idea of the century, that, combined with Newt's drifts, could save the world from these fiends forever, and it's not good enough for Stacker." I pause with an ear turned toward the bays. "I'm needed in the bays. Can you handle clean up?"
"Sure."
"Your legs' okay?"
"I'm fine. Go. You're needed."
bays
Calibration complete.
"The hull! It went through the hull!"
"Raleigh, listen to me! You need…"
Pilot out of alignment.
command center
"Both out of alignment."
"Both of them?"
"Both of them." He grabs the microphone. "Gipsy, Gipsy! You're out of alignment! You are both out of alignment."
conn pod
"I'm okay. Just let me control it."
Out of alignment. Code red.
"You're stabilizing. But Mako is way out. She's starting to chase the RABIT!"
"Mako, don't get stuck in a memory. Stay with me. Stay in the now. Don't engage in a memory. Mako. Mako! Listen to me. Mako?"
memory: Mako
"Mama! Mama!"
Conn pod
"Mako. This is just a memory. None of this is real."
Weapons system engaged. Plasma cannon powering up.
command center
"Oh, no."
"Weapon system engaged!"
"Go to fail-safe!"
"Fail-safe not responding. There's a problem with the neural blocker! Her connection's way too strong!"
conn pod
Fully charged.
"Mako! Mako, listen to me. This is just a memory. None of it is real."
command center
"The power line! The power line! Get the main power line!" Tendo and Herc ignore the fleeing screamers. "Take them offline! Take them offline!"
conn pod
Weapon system disengaged.
"Mako!"
Neural bridge exercise invalid.
"It's okay. It's okay."
Drift sequence terminated. Would you like to try again?
I run into the conn pod. "Mako?" I kneel beside her. "Mako, it's all right." I turn to Raleigh. "I know trauma better than most medics, because my guardian had PTSD, and I do too since Chicago. I need you to tell me what you saw."
"Her family… she lost her family to Onibaba. Stacker—he raised her—trained her."
I nod before glancing down, not really noticing that I'm in Gipsy Danger herself. "Like Ratch did me, after LA…"
"LA?"
I nod. "I ran away from an abusive family, and took my dad's car. I stayed with a boy named Sam for two days, before the Autobots arrived on Earth and took me in. I—wow, so much happened there… we lost Jazz—torn in half by Megs… Bee's legs got blown off… Ratch and Hide both got hurt by Screamer… Optimus couldn't even stand at one point—but we still ended Megatron and saved the day. The Autobots took me in, and in two months, I was training with Ratchet." I can feel a tear roll down my cheek at the memory. "Oh, Aid… We could really use ya now…"
"Who's he?"
"One of the Protectobots. He trained me, at the beginning. I was too… untrained, to be in the medical bay, and too small to risk it, plus, I've got a Praxian frame—er, doorwings—so…"
"It wasn't safe."
I shake my head. "No…" I look up at him. "They're a gestalt, Rals—a combiner team. They died, two months after I joined the 'bots. I'd been on a mission with Optimus, and…" I stand with a sigh. I've lost it enough on Raleigh. "Take her down and watch a movie or something, but don't let her get worked up. We may need you two."
hong kong Bone slums
Newt is walking through the streets of China, looking for the symbol: a dragon with whiskers. "Hmm…Hello." He smiles and walks into the building.
"Pss, pss." Newt turns to a man behind a counter. "You looking for some Kaiju bone powder?"
"Some…? Some bone…? Some bone powder? Uh, no, why would I want that?"
"Male potency." The man grunts. "I take it myself."
"I see. Uh, no, thank you. I'm looking for Hannibal Chau."
"Come. You want Chau, huh? Good luck."
They lead him behind a shelf, and into a room filled with people working on different parts from a kaiju. Tools are whirring everywhere. Newt is going mad. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God,
this place is heaven! That's a lymph gland from a Category 2!" He moves to another table, where they have a cuticle. "And what are you working on here? Is this a cuticle? In mint condition?" At a third table, a man is holding a cat-sized bug. "Is that a Kaiju skin parasite? I've never seen them alive before! They usually die as soon as the Kaiju falls! I thought you couldn't keep them alive!"
"You can if you soak them in ammonia." He turns to see a man with gold on his shoes, spurs, and a switchblade slinging around in his hand. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for Hannibal Chau. I was told he was here."
The man turns to him. "Who wants to know?"
"I really can't say." The man puts the knife in his nose, causing him to scream. "Stacker Pentecost sent me!" He groans, and grabs his nose. "Oh, that's great. That's real great. So I take it you're Hannibal Chau, right?"
"You like the name? I took it from my favorite historical character and my second-favorite Szechuan restaurant in Brooklyn. Now tell me what you want before I gut you like a pig and feed you to the skin louse."
Shatterdome dorms, hallway
Chuck, angry, and Herc are talking with Stacker in his room before waiting for him. "She can't control her Drift, and he went out of phase first!"
"We all know what happened."
"We can't afford mistakes. The Kaiju keep evolving, they keep kicking our asses! He's a has-been, she's a rookie. I don't want them protecting my bomb run, sir."
"You need to watch your tone, Mr. Hansen."
Herc sighs as they step out, and he moves to go with Stacker, telling his kid to wait for him. "Hey, stay there. Give me a moment."
The moment his father is away, Chuck verbally attacks Raleigh and Mako. "You two are a goddamn disgrace. You're gonna get us all killed, and here's the thing, Raleigh: I want to come back from this mission because I quite like my life. So why don't you just do us all a favor and disappear? It's the only thing you're good at."
"Stop! Now!"
"Yeah, that's right. You just hold back your little girlfriend. One of you bitches needs a leash."
"Apologize to her."
"Screw you."
Raleigh lunges at him. "I said apologize to her."
Herc and Stacker to pull the two apart. "Hey, hey! Enough!"
"What's going on?"
"On your feet, both of you!" Stacker steps over. "Becket, Mori, into my office."
"No, we aren't finished!"
"This is over!"
"You're a ranger, for chrissake. Why don't you start acting like one?"
stacker's office
"I went out of phase first. It was my mistake."
"No."
"It was my mistake."
"I should have never let you two in the same machine."
"So, what? You're grounding us?"
"Not you." Stacker nods toward Mako.
"Permission to be dismissed, sir."
"Permission granted, Miss Mori."
"Mako." Raleigh sighs and watches her. "Sir, what are you doing? She is the strongest candidate by far. What other options do we have?" He follows Stacker, trying to get him to listen to reason. "Huh? Tell me!"
"Do not let my calm demeanor fool you ranger! Now is not a good moment for your insubordination! Mako is too inexperienced to rein in her memories during combat."
"That's not why you grounded her. I was in her memories. I saw everything. I don't care what you think you saw. I know what she means to you. I saw it! Hey! Hey!"
"This conversation is over." Stacker starts to walk away.
"Marshal. Marshal, can we just talk about this…" He grabs Stacker's hand. "for one second? You rescued her. You raised her. You're not protecting her now. You are holding her back."
"One: Don't you ever touch me again. Two: Don't you ever touch me again." He turns to Raleigh. "Now, you have no idea who the hell I am or where I've come from and I'm not about to tell you my whole life story. All I need to be to you and everybody on this dome is a fixed point. The last man standing. I do not need your sympathy or your admiration. All I need is your compliance and your fighting skills. And if I can't get that then you can go back to the wall that I found you crawling on. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good."
