007: Umbra IV, 2019
It was roughly nine days from Christmas, but Yancy's expression was that of a boy who just discovered his presents locked in the closet somewhere. Manila was the target of yet another Kaiju attack, this time a Category IV Kaiju with all the looks of a porcupine. Marshall Pentecost code named the creature "Umbra", Tendo, however, was content with calling "Spike". "I figure, of all the Kaiju this year, it should be the one with the least romantic name," Tendo argued when it was apparent Pentecost's name would stick instead of his.
"Tell you what, we promise to use yours instead of the Marshall's, how's that?" Raleigh was willing "compromise" in name of their friendship; Yancy was content with watching their friend pout in his chair with a cookie in his mouth as Pentecost stoically ignored his protests and relayed mission details. Spike was Umbra whether he liked it or not.
However, that wasn't the reason Yancy was struggling to maintain his composure and a straight face. Straight across from them was a man considered only second to the legend of Stacker Pentecost himself: Hercules "Herc" Hansen himself and with him, Striker Eureka. A Jaeger said to outclass just about every Mark series on the market (so to speak), theirs included. Not that their pride would allow them to admit that, of course; nothing beat Gipsy Danger in a fight when they were her pilots.
They'd heard all about Hansen at the academy and their gradual rise to stardom as Jaeger pilots; Yancy kept a big damn notebook of old Jaeger pilot exploits right up until after their Academy days and Herc was in quite a few clippings. There were more than a few instances where their paths might've crossed at the PPDC's behest to promote their surviving pilots in the name of maintaining positive public opinion, but Herc declined more often than not. His son was just a few years younger than they were and they were already hearing "ace pilot" circling the drain. To find out they were not only serving with him, but the pilots of the Horizon Brave, Lo Hin Shen and Xichi Po, was exciting.
To say the least, they were couple of guppies swimming among sharks and couldn't be happier.
Yancy was all smiles, failing spectacularly to keep a straight face as Herc comes to greet the two of them. "It's an honor to work with you sir," He said. Herc's gaze shifted over to Raleigh, Raleigh smiled knowingly as he listened to Yancy ramble on with compliments. "Likewise, boys, heard all about your fight in Los Angeles," Herc responded, keeping his grip firm.
Raleigh threw an arm around his brother's shoulder as he nodded his head. "Yeah, that was pretty gnarly for a first mission, but handled it, didn't we, bro?" Yancy meets his brother's expression with a look of good-natured annoyance; Los Angeles and Yamarashi were anything but "handled". he considered it their worst outing ever, considering what almost happened to their Conn-Pod. One hundred percent emotion and no strategy outside of "rip the fucker's head off". "That, we did, Rals," He answered evenly.
"Not to worry, first time's always the worst," Herc released Yancy's hand and gave him a firm slap on the arm. As they followed him toward Shatterdome, Raleigh made kissing noises that earned him a punch in the side.
"What brings you two all the way from Hong Kong?" Yancy inquired as he fiddled with his side of the control panel, double checking the systems.
"Special request. Pentecost believes the nature of the Kaiju requires our Jaeger's particular ability," Xichi Po replied over the communicator. In the corner of his eye he saw his brother lips curl into a smile. Horizon Brave's power moves were the stuff of legend. News feeds capturing the wicked strength of its sucker punch and flash freeze moves were nothing short of amazing. "Lo believes, of course, we should be in Hong Kong, but we go where we're needed."
"What happened to Lucky Seven?" Raleigh felt the need to pry into the issue.
"Seven went down six months ago," Lo Hin Shen replied tersely. "Typhoon's pilots are too inexperienced to be left on their own."
"I dunno, I'd say their track record says otherwise," Yancy grinned as a bit of turbulence rattled the Conn-Pod. There were was a short grunt on the other end from Lo, Raleigh chuckled.
"That's enough of that, boys. Lo's worried about home is all," Herc's co-pilot, Michael, chided.
"I hate to be away from the homestead myself, but what's done is done," Herc chimed in. "Let's just kill this bastard and call it a day."
"Sir, yes, sir," Yancy responded.
The plan was simple; isolate Umbra's range to the coastline and keep it from the city. Same plan as always, only this time they needed three Jaegers to do accomplish the job. Horizon Brave would act as a backup, Gipsy the decoy; Striker was the quarterback. Defend the Miracle Mile. But with Category IV Kaiju, there wasn't any real idea what to expect outside "unexpected"; they were faster and far smarter than Category I and Category II Kaiju, and a step up from III's to the point of increasing difficulties.
This, of course, they knew all their studying. This would be Gipsy Danger's first Category IV. III to I's were all they'd been fighting and they were challenge enough. Yancy felt his breath leave his body when he caught a glimpse of the massive creature; it stood on all fours, sported a long prickled tail with a flat end that resembled a dry leaf and scales that reminded him of small rock formations and shingles welded together on the back of an animal. The way it moved made it appear as though every scale on its back was moving individually.
Its eyes were clear in the daylight of the afternoon; wide and without eyelids. It seemed to focus exclusively on them as the harnesses on the back and shoulders of Gipsy Danger were released in sync with Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave. The helicopters moved out the area to a safe distance; in the background they could hear the ringing alarms warning everyone to get to safety. The Kaiju howled mournfully as it moved through the water. "Get, ready, kiddo," He breathed as the water rose up around them from the impact of their landing.
"I was born ready, Yance," Raleigh declared. "Let's do this." Gipsy Danger stood upright in the water as Horizon and Striker began to approach from their respective sides, titans of a different class. This was what it was all about; coming together and fighting as one on multiple levels. Yancy smothered his boyish enthusiasm and focused on the mission. Gipsy Danger marched toward the others with all swagger of his younger brother, her loose suspension giving it the right amount of cowboy jingle as her armor adjusted itself to their environment. Horizon Brave pounded its fist into the palm of its right hand, Stirker Eureka rolled its shoulders. The Kaiju observed them all with its wide and lifeless eyes, seemingly undaunted by their intimidation tactics. Raleigh shared a look with his brother. "Looks like he doesn't wanna play, Yance," Raleigh remarked with a grin.
"Well, that can be fixed," Reaching over, Yancy pressed the button on the side of the console. The horn blared in succession with Umbra's howl; Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave did the same. Its body trembled, its head swung wildly as if try and dismiss the sound they were making. Horizon Brave leapt into the fray; its cryo canons releasing a blast of coolant from its exhaust vents as its fists charged. The Kaiju swung its tail at the Mark-1; Horizon shouldered the brunt of the attack with its side and barreled forward into it.
Umbra growled fighting against the added force of the Jaeger's boosters as it pushed it further into the water. Striker followed after them, its blades rolling out from its wrists and shielding its brass knuckles; the Mark-5 charged forward and brought its blades down on the armor of the Kaiju. Umbra used its body weight against the Jaegers, pushing upward and against them at the same time. They stumbled backward, moving to catch themselves as Umbra zeroed its attention on Gipsy Danger.
"Get ready, boys, its coming right for you," Herc shouted.
They fell back into their defensive stances, Gipsy Danger's arms raised and its gauntlets shifted, moving closer around the opening of the wrists. They braced themselves, stepping sideways the closer Umbra got, leading it away from the coastline just a few miles behind them. As they made a move to grab the Kaiju around the neck, Umbra ducked under their arm rammed their side. They stumbled, taken aback.
Emphasis on smart. They didn't panic; rolling with the force of the blow, they used the momentum pushing against them to maintain their footing. Striker and Horizon moved in to attack, Umbra struggled to get its flat feet up against the Jaeger's waist. Yancy grit his teeth against the pain flaring up in his side from the circuitry suit. He raised his right arm in sync with his brother and began to swing in rhythm.
The Plasmacaster unfurled around Gipsy Danger's hand; this thing took far too long to warm up, but the power behind it was worth the wait. Pulling their arms back they rammed downward; Gipsy Danger's canon fired as it smashed against the back the Kaiju. They braced their feet against the ground; Umbra was using all its strength to push them back, howling as its scales took the brunt of their blast. Its' body heaved upward, its scales dragging against the armor of the Jaeger.
The alarms went off in second, every system was reading a critical energy mass. Raleigh stopped pounding on the back of the Kaiju long enough to stare at the screen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that-"
Yancy didn't the chance to tell Raleigh to keep punching, even as his arm moved to push the Kaiju away from them. Its neck stretched out from behind the armor protecting it and leaned to the right. Its teeth clamped down hard on Gipsy Danger's right arm and its eyes glowed red. Yancy's fingers reflexively grabbed the controls harder as the senors relayed Gipsy's pain through his suit. The body of energy was large enough that the discharge of what looked and felt like electricity didn't confine itself to their Jaeger; everything around them exploded in blast of yellow light, black smoke and fire.
He couldn't tell who was screaming, him or Raleigh. He knew the arm burning was his own, but he couldn't tell who the pain was coming from. The attack only lasted for half a second, but the pain racing through the Conn-Pod made it feel like an eternity. Horizon Brave socked the Kaiju in the face at risk to its own structure; Striker Eureka grabbed it from behind and, using its T-16's, sent the Kaiju flying across the harbor. Yancy felt himself falling backward into the black before he could stop himself.
Striker Eureka charged after Umbra without hesitation, the intensity of the Jaeger's speed startled Horizon's pilots.
Po watched Gipsy Danger sink to its knees, groaning as the last of the Kaiju's discharge dissipated from its body. Lo swore angrily at the realization that they were down another fighter and looked to his partner. "We have to help Striker," He said.
Po didn't think any differently, but the idea that they weren't going to try and rouse the MK3 pilots from whatever state they'd fallen into, seemed wrong to her. "There isn't time," Lo stated firmly. Po nodded and together they realigned themselves and charged after Striker Eureka and Umbra.
When Raleigh came to, Gipsy Danger was dark. He was hanging forward, hands still gripping the controls. The smell of burning wires and whatever the hell their armor was made out of brought him to complete awareness. A flash hit the back of his memory; his brother, his side of the cockpit had lit up brighter than Christmas lights and overloaded everything. Opening his eyes he tried to get a sense of where he was.
The Conn-Pod; that much for starters was obvious. The ache in his legs told him he was still standing upright, if not leaning forward. Outside, he could hear the irate howls of the Kaiju still railing against Striker Eureka and Horizon Brave. His head was ringing, he's only been awake for five minutes give or take, but he could tell that Kaiju didn't have any plans of lying down any time soon. Looking to his right, he found Yancy leaning forward in the same position that he'd been in only a few minutes ago; the smoke from his suit was still visible.
- Neural Link Recalibrating –
Yance.
"Gipsy Danger, Gipsy Danger, do you read?"
Yancy! Yancy, wake up, man.
"Gipsy, are you alright?"
Yancy, c'mon, you gotta get up.
"Raleigh? Yancy?"
I can't pilot this thing on my own.
"I hear ya, Tendo. LOCCENT, this Gipsy Danger. We're-" He stopped when he saw his brother's left hand loosen and reassert its grip on the left control.
Ugh.
- Reinitiating Launch Operations. Power back at 50 percent –
Yance?!
Oooowwwww….
Yancy lifted his chin from up off his chest. Slowly, the lights inside the Conn-Pod booted up, but the HUD was struggling to recalibrate.
Holy shit, Yancy, you scared the hell out of me.
"LOCCENT, we're at fifty percent power, we're okay… I think," Raleigh reiterated.
"You think?! You went red over ten minutes ago. We thought you two were dead!" Tendo's voice was strained.
The fuck did I drink?
You didn't drink anything, man. We're still in the Pod.
...Right. What hit us?
About 1.21 or so gigawatts of electricity, I think. Don't quote me on that.
Fuuuck.
"Can you talk?"
"Kinda," The words came out in a slur. His hand still clutching the hand control he raised his arm. Gipsy Danger responded in kind. "What… what happened?"
- Plasmacaster offline. Power at 58 percent –
"I think we got fried or something."
"Where is it?"
"I can't tell, the HUD's down."
"Try rebooting the system, direct power to the screen and the left arm."
"Yancy, are you alright?"
"Are you?"
"I dunno, I mean, I couldn't tell-"
"I know, me either, but we can't focus on that right now," Yancy struggled to pull himself into an upright position; Gipsy Danger's joints groaned from the movement. Hands on his legs, he stopped to move catch his breath. "How's it going over there, Rals?"
"Right side of the screen is only showing up."
"And?"
"Well, it's still alive, but so are Horizon and Striker, so maybe we weren't out for too long,"
"Ten minutes," Tendo chimed in.
"Whatever, Tendo," Yancy huffed. "Alright, let's go."
"You serious?"
"Aren't you?"
Yancy, you can barely move.
We don't have time for this, Rals. "My Plasmacaster's down and I'm not even sure my rocket is working, but we can't let them fight that thing on their own," Yancy argued, raising his arm.
I dunno, they seem to be doin' good without us. As the thought reached his brother, Horizon was bowled over by the rampaging Kaiju.
Shut up and move. Yancy's arm twitched from a muscle spasm as he slammed his fist against the console. The horn roared overhead, vibrating the Conn-Pod. He gritted his teeth against the pain his leg when he stepped forward. Can't do this on my own, Kiddo, need your help.
"Hang tight, man, I got ya," Raleigh pushed onward with his brother, bringing Gipsy Danger back onto its feet. Yancy's felt the extra weight of the Jaeger roll off his shoulders and fall back into balance. Umbra slapped Horizon Brave across its broad shoulders with its half broken tail, rupturing its tank and sending the Jaeger across the water. It stared down at the lumbering Jaeger with its wide lifeless eyes, its armored prickled with electricity and it charged forward. Raleigh watched the blur of the animal move through the screen. "Uh, it's comin' this way," He said.
"Where's Hansen and Courbet?" Yancy deadpanned.
"Right on its ass," Raleigh responded.
"I thought you boys were goners!" Herc's voice crackled over the static in their communicators. Raleigh felt the tightness in his chest alleviate when he heard the older man's voice. "Yeah, sorry about the nap; wasn't expecting that," He apologized.
"None of us were, but nevermind that. That thing is almost on top of ya," Hansen remarked.
"Then, let's not disappoint it," Yancy started to move faster, gritting his teeth against the pain spiking up his legs. Raleigh followed suit, his mind racing on pure instinct that was fueling his brother against the pain. Water seemed to part all around Umbra as it began to outpace Striker Eureka. It let out another roar, one that almost sounded aggravated that they were still moving under their own power.
Do the boosters still work?
I think they might, yeah.
Fire 'em up.
You're not seriously-
"Do it, do it now!" Yancy shouted against the pain in the chest. Raleigh raised his arm and locked it back as they kneeled and jumped against the restrains of the harnesses. Gipsy Danger sailed out of the water, boosters firing at maximum. Umbra raised itself up on its haunches and opened its mouth to fire another volley of electricity. The Mark-3's fist came down into the mouth of the Kaiju as the thruster on its arm fired up. "Elbow Rocket!" The propulsion of the fist sent the Kaiju's falling backward; the momentum of the fist forced head down into the water.
Electricity fired up and out of the water, Gipsy Danger leaned out of the way, avoiding the brunt of the attack, but receiving it nonetheless through the fist stuck in the Kaiju's mouth. The Conn-Pod rattled from the discharge, Raleigh pulled Gipsy's fist from Umbra's mouth. Using both its arms, Gipsy Danger proceeded to pummel the Kaiju relentlessly with every jab that jumped to her pilot's minds. Rising up from the water, they grabbed it by the horns atop its head and pulled it out of the water.
The Kaiju, dazed from the blow had no chance to retaliate as the right arm coming straight for its throat. Gipsy Danger's fist punched through the soft flesh and stopped against the armor protecting its head. Freeing one hand, Raleigh fired up the Plasmacaster and blasts its neck not once, but three times. Umbra twitched lifelessly in their grasp, its throat sparking from cauterization and its own power. From behind Striker Eureka and a recovering Horizon Brave watched the Mark-3 Jaeger, impressed.
"Is it dead?"
Raleigh gave the Kaiju a shake. It didn't even twitch. "No pulse; its dead," He breathed, dropping it in the water. Yancy exhaled, unsure whether to cry or laugh with relief.
Herc laughed in spite of the situation. "Not bad," He remarked after a moment. "A little messy, but not bad."
"Yeah? You try fighting after being electrocuted," Raleigh huffed turning to face his brother. Instead of a reflection of relief, his brother was sinking to ground. Raleigh's face fell immediately, disconnecting from his harness he rushed to Yancy's side, helmet falling to the wayside seconds after. Pulling Yancy's helmet from his head, he ducked under his arm and braced his back with his leg. Reaching over, he pried his brother's hand away from the control. Yancy winced, the blood was slowly returning to his arm and fingers. Opening his eyes he regarded his brother's pallor expression with a weary smile. "You okay?"
Raleigh stared at him for a moment before he let out a small laugh. "Am I okay? You take the brunt of a shock- I think- and you ask if I'm okay?"
"Just tryin' to make conversation," Yancy leaned forward.
"What? What's wrong?" The question was redundant; he could feel his brother's pain spiking as he tried to calm his breathing. Had the Kaiju's attack hurt him - them?
"My chest hurts."
"I know, I know, just hang in there okay?" Raleigh responded, resting his forehead against his head. "LOCCENT. Tendo, Herc; I need some help. Yancy's… we're hurt pretty bad…"
Raleigh hung in the back of the Conn-Pod with his brother as Gipsy Danger was airlifted back to the Shatterdome. He managed to get them both out of parts of their armor before Yancy passed out next to him. The shell of the suit may have taken the brunt of the attack, but first layer was ruined beyond repair.
Everything had shorted out and if they tried to pull away bits that were falling off, he could see angry red burns on his and Yancy's skin. Yancy never woke up, not even when Raleigh tried talking through his sleep, recounting the good 'ole days before monsters crushed buildings and they weren't strapped to a walking nuclear powerhouse. When they were dropped into the Shatterdome, the first person to enter the Pod was Herc. Raleigh tried his best to keep his defenses in check when the older man pulled his brother away to look him over.
"You'll be alright," Herc murmured, mostly to himself.
"Alright? We got fried by a Kaiju; they shouldn't even able to do something like that! How is this fine?"
"It's fine because he's still alive and you've got something to complain about. Now be a sport and help me get him out of here." Raleigh did as he was told, for his brother. As he and Herc descended from the top of the Shatterdome with Yancy between them, he tries to ignore Pentecost's expression as he overlooks the smoking exterior of Gipsy Danger, his tin box twirling in his hand. "Mr. Becket, a word!" His voice boomed over the noise inside the Shatterdome. Raleigh stopped following Herc and the medics crowding around them long enough to respond, "Not right now, Marsghall."
"That wasn't a request, Mr. Becket."
"My brother is hurt, and you want-"
"Your brother, Mr. Becket, will be looked after. I want you in my office in ten minutes," Pentecost left before Raleigh has a chance to say something he'll regret. With an irate frown, he marches back over to Herc as his brother is fastened onto the stretcher the medics brought with them. The look on Herc's face told him he knew what was going on (and, really, who didn't?).
"I've gotta take care of this. Look after my brother," He said and moved to get himself cut out of the Drivesuit's remains.
What Raleigh received wasn't so much the third degree as it is review of the mission. None of them followed the plan to an exact T. If anything, their eagerness around the Category IV Kaiju got them throwing the first attack they could think to use. Pentecost didn't like a lack of formality. Raleigh, wanting to get out of the office as quickly as possible, kept his lips pressed together and his back strait, answering only when questioned.
Once he stepped out of the office, Raleigh ran through the Shatterdome, slipping through closing and opening doors as different areas prepped for various situations and drills. He made it to the infirmary as Herc stepped out, his expression weary and distracted.
"Is he alright?" Raleigh asked, breathless from running.
"Doctors seem to think so," Herc answered, slowing his pace. "A few burns; exhaustion from piloting and electrocution. They want a look at you, too." Raleigh nodded without hesitation. As long it got him into his brother's room, he'd do anything just about. "What about his chest- is his…?"
"Is his what?" Herc's face goes blank for a moment, not sure what the boy is asking until Raleigh taps the left side of his chest. "Oh, yeah, no damage to the heart. He's alright. You on the other hand-"
"I'm gone," He grasped Herc's hand with both of his and uttered a quick, "Thank you" before he headed for the door.
Yancy woke two days later, cotton mouthed and light headed from a lack of food. Raleigh, after days of sitting in a chair, dealing with his own burns and sleeping with his face pressed into the sheets, was rewarded by the sensation of a gentle tug in his mind that spurred his eyes open. With his face halfway into the covers, he followed the motion that roused him and found his gaze locked with Yancy's.
"Hey, kiddo," The nickname, often a knock against their three year age difference, was more endearing than anything in the world. He grabbed Yancy by the forearm and grinned. "Yance, damn good to see you awake!" He said.
"Yeah? I feel awful," Yancy remarked.
Pulling himself out of the seat, Raleigh made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed. "Well, then, I got some good-bad news," Raleigh responded.
Yancy, eyes only half open, quirked an eyebrow. "Good-bad news?"
"Uh, yeah. Gipsy's out of commission. It's gonna take a least a couple months to get her back up and running to full strength. Until February, I think,"
"Jesus, really?" Yancy pressed his head against the pillows that supported him. "It was that bad?"
"Mark-3's weren't exactly designed to battle Category IV's, Yance," Raleigh deadpanned. "She took a hard hit. I don't like it any more than you do, but this'll give us time to recuperate."
"Or go mad from cabin fever, whatever comes first," Yancy grimaced. "They take care of those burns?"
"Yeah, pretty much; I'm covered in more minty ointment then I care to think about," Raleigh smiled. "That and hopped up on pain pills. They patched me up as soon as they were done with you. We got a clean bill of health, mostly."
"Good to know," Yancy closed his eyes, drowsiness hitting him again. "…You did great out there, Rals. I'm real proud of you."
"Pentecost doesn't think so."
"Pentecost's a hardass, that's why. You saved my ass back there; the whole time I was dark, I didn't think I was coming out of it. You got me goin' again, so thanks."
"That wasn't anything; you'd done the same for me."
"I know, but I'm just sayin'… Thank you," Raleigh looked down at his brother as his eyes closed and his head rolled to the left. His hand still clasped around his forearm, Raleigh took a moment to study the bandages wrapped around his arm and his hand.
Away battles always left them in some kind of physical state of less than perfect. The first in LA nearly exposed them to Kaiju Blue; the second was the first armor breach Gipsy ever suffered; and now all three them were out of commission for recovery. He nudged his brother; Yancy scooted over without ever waking to ask why and moved his arm out of the way.
Lying on his side, he lifted his legs onto the bed, not particularly caring that his feet were sticking out past the footboard. Their quarters were a couple floors up, but he was too tired to move. Yancy could gripe about being jabbed in the side when they woke up, right now he needed a nap.