Thank You to everyone who read, followed, favorited etc. It means a lot even if it's just clicking a button. Still not 100% sure on the path of the story but it is expanding into something real rather than just a prompt. This chapter is a bit rough but acts as a decent bridge into the main plot. Any reviews help!
The group had been dismissed by Marshall Hansen a few minutes later. Hermann and Newton stayed behind to discuss scientific research options with Herc while Tendo and Nikki Reese left with a vague comment about needing to oversee dredging operations. This left Raleigh and Mako to walk back to barracks alone.
After several minutes of companionable silence, Raleigh breached the topic he knew Mako wanted to avoid. "You okay with this?" The vague 'This' being her role as a Ranger, their partnership, and continuing Jaeger combat. Mako, despite her abilities had been thrown in the deep end of a war, chased a rabbit into her worse memories, and then seen the man who mentored her die; all in just a few short days. It would be enough to drive anyone crazy and make them regret their choices. Raleigh knew how strong Mako was, he just needed her to remember it.
Mako stopped in the middle of the hallway and glanced at Raleigh before looking away. He could see the line of her lips thin in concentration as she considered his question. Turning to face him again she gave him a curt nod. "Yes. I will be okay" Raleigh almost spoke again but was stopped before he could utter a word. "Can we not talk of another subject?" Mako asked politely with a slight smile before she resumed walking. Raleigh hesitated then followed. He knew her now. They had drifted together enough for him to know that she refused to fail and if she said something, she would succeed. He knew she learned it from Pentecost.
Walking quickly to catch up to his partner and her smooth stride, Raleigh asked the other question that had been bothering him, though nowhere near as much as his concern for Mako. "So what's the deal with Nikki Reese?" Mako's stride slowed slightly, allowing them to walk side by side easily. "What do you mean?" She watched him, almost gauging his knowledge. "I remember her from the Icebox. Well Yancy does. She was on the support Chrome Brutus…." Raleigh trailed off, unsure of his words. Yancy's memories were jumbled and confusing. They rose to the surface in fragments at strange times before disappearing for months on end.
Mako nodded. "She started out on support teams for several jaegers but quickly became an expert in jaeger structure and engineering. She worked with Tendo on repair and restoration for all the Jaegers." Raleigh nodded as she spoke then stopped in confusion. "I thought Stacker said you were responsible for the restoration of Gipsy Danger." Mako nodded again. "She focused on repairing Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha while I worked on Gipsy Danger. Cherno Alpha was derelict when she arrived with the Kaidonovskysin Hong Kong. It required everything the support teams were capable of in order to keep her operational."
They reached their quarters and Mako stopped outside her door. "Tendo Choi is close with her I believe. I have had little interaction with her until the Jaeger program was condensed here in Hong Kong. I always travelled with Marshall Stacker to other shatterdomes and she was purposely stationed at others. Separation of knowledge in case of attack is vital in wartime." Mako opened her door then slipped inside without glancing back. Raleigh hesitated then went to his own room, realizing Mako needed space and rest rather than his persistent questions. His time away from the PPDC had left him with little knowledge of the Jaeger teams and when Pentecost brought him back on, he had had little time to learn anything other than vital information. A flaw he needed to rectify before any future attacks.
Restless now, Raleigh ventured towards the command center for the shatterdome, hoping to find Tendo. His curiosity had been stirred and it wouldn't settle till he had answers. Wandering through the halls he found a technician who informed him that Mr. Choi and Ms. Reese were both currently overseeing operations on the main deck that overlooked Victoria Bay.
Walking out onto the metal platform, Raleigh was shocked by the crowd of workers. Massive screens were set up overlooking the water while a swarm of helicopters hovered over a number of ships. After a moment he realized they were in the region where Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon had been defeated.
Scanning the bustling crowd on the deck, he found Tendo by the monitors. He began working his way through the workers and yelled "Choi!" to catch the man's attention. The LOCCENT Officer partially turned away from the monitors, still speaking into his headset and gestured for Raleigh to join him. "What's going on?" Raleigh was amazed he had missed this operation while it was being set up but remembered how the depths of a shatterdome could lead anyone to lose track of time.
Tendo Choi held up a hand to silence Raleigh, all his attention now on the screens and distant helicopters. "Everything clear?" He spoke into the headset.
"Good to go!" Nikki Reese's voice came through the speakers on the edges of the screens. With those words, almost every person on the deck stopped moving and turned towards the bay. For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening but then Raleigh realized that the ships were moving away from the hovering air craft and cables were being retracted into the cabins of each helicopter. With groans that echoed across the water and bounced off the sides of the shatterdome and buildings of Hong Kong, large segments of the two lost Jaegers rose from the depths of the bay, shedding water and Kaiju blood.
"We recovered what we could of the pilot remains with divers following the attack but didn't have the manpower to raise the jaeger remains before now." Tendo's voice dropped several octaves as he spoke to Raleigh, his face grim, gaze still focused on the movements out in the bay. Despite standing next to him, the younger man could barely make out his words.
The pair continued to watch the progress of the helicopters as they brought the ruins to the empty lower deck and dropped their load onto the metal with a crash. Several men in heavy gear repelled down from one helicopter to land near the cargo.
As it came to a creaking halt on the isolated deck, the torn metal and ruined forms of each Jaeger was haunting, forcing Raleigh to remember Gipsy Danger's similar shape years ago following the attack of Knifehead. The Jaegers were more than just weapons to their pilots and this wreckage was a harsh reminder of the cost of the Kaiju war to anyone who saw it.
Tendo had turned back to his screens, barking orders into his headset for the departing helicopters and vessels as well as the teams of workers that now descended on the two Jaegers. Cherno alpha's lower half had been salvaged in almost one piece. The upper portion of the Jaeger and the conn-pod where entirely gone due to the reactor explosion caused by Leatherback. A large portion of Crimson Typhoon's chest and a single arm had also been salvaged.
"What will be done with the pieces?" Raleigh found his voice and directed the question at Choi.
"Head to the contamination showers!" Nikki Reese's command to the salvage team on the lower deck followed Raleigh's question and drew his attention as she walked up the stairs connecting the two decks, heavy boots pounding on the metal stairs. Her lower half was covered thick gear meant to protect from Kaiju blue while her upper body gear had been stripped off to reveal a simple t-shirt. "PPDC: Cancelling the Apocalypse since 2025" was scrawled across the front in sloppy letters.
"It is all for your interim jaeger." Nikki answered his question as she passed him and moved towards Tendo's station. Gloved fingers typed coordinates into one of the screens before she looked back at him and continued. "All the factories were shut down and it will take time to get them running again. We're under orders to get a Jaeger in battle condition asap and a combo form is our only option for the moment. I can promise you'll get a real jaeger again but until then, you and Mako are stuck with a Frankenstein version. We're out of other options at the moment." Nikki stripped gloves off of each hand, exposing a strange blue tattoo encircling her left wrist. Raleigh was distracted from it though as she and Tendo continued discussing the salvage. "The silt shifted under the other arm we reached, cables snapped. Not sure we'll be able to reach it again. There's a lot of Kaiju blood trapped in the wreckage now. No way to send divers in to reattach the cables."
Tendo frowned Nikki's words. "We'll figure something out. We can work with what we have for now." He glanced at Raleigh, "We're meeting first thing tomorrow morning in the same conference room. Can you tell Mako?"
The Ranger nodded and the pair turned back to their operation. Raleigh knew he could do nothing to help here and left the rushing workers on the deck to their tasks, with more questions than he had arrived with.
