A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but the next few are longer. (Perhaps I can be persuaded to update early tomorrow if there is interest. *wink*)
Canon Note: In Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero, Marshall Pentecost referred to the Beckets as his "star team" when they were in the Academy. Part of this story's aim is to explore how that came about, and why some candidates succeeded while others failed. I don't think drift compatibility could be explained by something as simple as love or even shared history.
Chapter Four: Teaming Up
Jaeger Academy, Class 2016-B, Term 2
October 2016…
Class 2016-B resumed the regular training schedule, though they now had a new set of combat data to chew on from Horizon Brave's duel with Reckoner. They also had the first round of scan and test results on potential drift compatibility.
No surprise, all the siblings' test results were promising, as were the other blood relatives and longtime friends. Knowing he was at a disadvantage from having started without a partner, Tendo was relieved to find himself not without prospects. He showed close range similarities with Cady Spencer, Antwan Ferrier, and little Lea Franklin, of all people.
Next came testing in the Kwoon as Marshall Pentecost looked on. The Gage twins put in an appearance to demonstrate. "It's not about beating your partner, but you shouldn't be holding back either," said one of them.
Tendo couldn't tell them apart. But he could see why Dr. Lightcap had mentioned things like dance as a way of measuring compatibility. When the Gages fought, it was almost like a dance, as if they had choreographed the fight. They matched each other hit for hit. Then they switched to synched drills in mirror image, side-by-side. When Tendo squinted, he could imagine Romeo Blue encompassing the two of them.
The family members were interesting to compare with the unrelated pairs. Chloe and Christian Warner were a little tentative, but they seemed to get into a good rhythm. Susanti and Devi Hassan went at each other like women possessed, which was incredibly fun to watch. Their cousin Indra came in next, and he matched up well with Devi, but not Susanti, which Tendo found intriguing. The cheerleaders, Kennedy LaRue and Stephanie Lanphier, were still adjusting to the form of the fight, but clearly could read each other well.
Raleigh Becket came at Yancy like a bat out of hell, but Yancy saw most of his hits coming. Out of all the pre-formed pairs, they reminded Tendo most of the Gage twins' motion.
Marshall Pentecost remained dispassionate through the whole thing, but Tendo saw his brow furrow as he watched the Beckets. When they finished their first round (four hits to three), he ordered, "Again. This time, Yancy Becket, attack. Raleigh Becket, defend."
The pair blinked at him, then Raleigh shrugged and wiped the sweat from his face. "Yes, sir."
Yancy had better mastery of the moves, no question. He was just a little bigger, just a little taller, just a little faster. But his advance on Raleigh was astonishingly similar to the attack Raleigh had launched earlier, and Tendo really doubted that he was consciously imitating baby bro.
The Gage twins' poker faces weren't quite as good as Pentecost's; they raised their eyebrows in unison. And the broad grin the Becket boys exchanged when they finished with four hits to three (again) was so like the Gages that Tendo would've pegged them for twins too.
"So that's what it looks like," he murmured to Cady. "Hel-lo second cut."
"Ten bucks?"
"You're on."
"While we're at it, want to take a stab at it ourselves?"
"You're on for that too."
Antwan shot them a pained look when he wound up with Lea as his only prospective partner. "Ooh, awkward," someone muttered. It really was: the biggest and smallest, also youngest and oldest in the class up against each other.
Lea wasn't as good as some of the other women, though she clearly knew all the positions and had strong form. But she kept winning because Antwan simply couldn't bring himself to go all out. Pentecost was looking irritated and even Little Lea was showing signs of annoyance. "I'm not made of glass," she muttered at him at one point.
"I'm sorry," he near-pleaded, turning to Pentecost. "I just... can't!"
Pentecost sighed. "And as a result, it is highly unlikely that you will be compatible in the drift. Compatibility is about trust, as Dr. Lightcap has already explained."
"It isn't that I don't trust you," Antwan protested. "It is myself!"
Lea avoided his eyes and glared at the floor. The other girls in the class were glaring hard enough at Antwan to make up for it. Most of the guys were just looking uncomfortable.
Another ice-breaker was called for that night, and things did thaw out through judicious application of table tennis. Lea won the tournament, much to the girls' gratification, and nobody believed her when she claimed she didn't intentionally peg Antwan in the nose.
Raleigh seemed more delighted than offended when she slaughtered him in the final round, and he and Yancy challenged her to a few rounds in the Kwoon. She was completely over-matched in sparring against Yancy, and admitted as much. Raleigh too was cautious at first, but gradually got over it, and Lea managed to hold her own and even took him down a few times.
"He's a good sport," Tendo murmured to Yancy as they watched Raleigh hit the mat, laughing all the way.
"He is that, always has been," Yancy agreed.
"Well, hey, if you two turn out to not be compatible, maybe she's a possibility for him," said Cady, but now Yancy shook his head.
"Uh-uh, then I'd have to kill her. I'm not letting him run off hunting kaiju without me."
Tendo laughed. "Mr. Protective over here! Fat chance of that if your tests results are any indication. You two are top of the class."
Sync testing was the moment that a lot of them would be eliminated, Dr. Lightcap warned them. "And bear in mind, ladies and gentlemen, that this is not a full drift. You'll experience some sensations, impressions, sights and sounds through your partner, but here is your analogy."
She was lecturing them in front of a video showing two streams of colored smoke, one yellow and one blue. Little wisps floated from one into the other and back. "A true drift would look more like this." The streams blended through each other into a column of green.
"This is the moment that you will also need to be honest with yourselves about what you can tolerate. Recoiling in your mind is a very normal, understandable reflex - and it can kill a drift. That's why most people aren't drift compatible. We'll be able to detect some of that reaction in the instruments, but part of your job and your duty here is to be truthful with the analysts about your tolerance."
"Uh, Tendo?" said Cady awkwardly when they got their test time assignment. "I, uh, think I ought to warn you about something."
Tendo frowned, then slapped his forehead and started to laugh. "I think I can guess, but go ahead." Cady hesitated. "Man, just say it."
"I like guys." Seeing no shock, Cady eyed him, as if he wasn't sure whether to be offended or relieved. "What do you mean you could guess?"
Tendo shrugged "Well, of all the confessions you'd want to make before you mind-meld with somebody, sex preference has to rank in the top three. Seriously, it's cool." He clapped Cady on the shoulder. "I like women, but it's not like I'd want to kill myself if I changed my mind all of a sudden. At this point, I just figure we'll let it run its course."
They came in behind Chloe and Christian Warner, who hurried out of the pons room with embarrassed expressions. "Oo-kay, I don't think that went so well," muttered Cady.
Then it was their turn. It was by far the weirdest experience of Tendo's life.
He did feel like he'd suddenly turned to liquid or smoke and was spreading out, and his impulse was immediately to suck himself back in. Holy shit! Had that been him or Cady? There were flickers, like reminding himself of something he'd forgotten, faces he didn't know - he saw single, then he saw double and squeezed his eyes shut. Sensations - body memory - fuck! - impulses - "oh my god!" Who'd said that?
"Focus, Spencer, you're resisting too much," said a strange, echoing voice.
"Good, Choi, good..."
"Raise your right hand." He did - no he didn't. "Now the left." He/they did. "There you go." He couldn't breathe. "Inhale, Spencer. Breathe deeper." Now he could. "Good. Okay, dialing it back down."
They were side by side in the testing units, blinking at the doctors, then at each other. "Holy shit," Tendo breathed. "That was weird."
And from the look Dr. Lightcap gave them as she examined her screen, Tendo guessed he knew it was coming. "Well, this is only the first test."
"But?" asked Cady.
"But... you're at forty-seven percent. Starting range for a promising match is above eighty."
"Ay-ay-ay," muttered Tendo. "His fault or mine?" Cady winced, and he raised a hand. "I'm just kidding, bro. No hard feelings either way."
They ran three more tests that week, and Tendo Choi and Cady Spencer peaked out at sixty-eight percent. Good improvement, but not enough. Ironically, when they switched out partners, both of them tested higher with Lea Franklin than they had with each other. Antwan Ferrier of Jamaica, the eldest of the class, jovial and friendly to all, seemingly with little interest in being reserved or restrained, was even less compatible with his partners. He was one of the first ones to admit defeat when he didn't crack fifty percent with anybody.
Tendo and Lea peaked at seventy-nine percent, but they had almost no improvement. Tendo had to admit to himself that he felt some private reservations about partnering with the girl, not merely her size or age or gender, but that she was so damn quiet. It made for a, well, boring prospect. They went a number of rounds in the Kwoon trying to improve their rapport, but although they could learn each other's styles on the mat or at table tennis, it just... wasn't fun. Tendo wanted a partner he could have fun with, laugh the way Raleigh and Yancy did.
On the other hand, drifting didn't seem as fun for a lot of the related pairs as expected, even the ones who were close. Raleigh and Yancy tested at eighty-eight percent on their first round, which was excellent, but they looked no less shell-shocked than anybody else. Chloe and Christian improved a little, but their match percentage was a lot lower than the instructors had hoped for.
Tendo noticed the people from conservative backgrounds had a lot more trouble. The Australian-Indonesian sisters were an exception; they were another pair that broke eighty percent, albeit on the second try.
By the end of the fourth week, more than half of the class had been cut, Tendo included. Twelve pairs remained, and four of those were struggling.
"You bummed, man?" asked Cady as they all mulled over their formal letters that they were no longer eligible to proceed in Jaeger pilot training.
"A little," Tendo admitted. "I knew it was a long shot, we all did." He only needed a few minutes to think about his next step. "I'm staying, though. I'll take the Corps Aptitude Test now, see where they want to steer me."
"Yeah, me too."
"Me three," said a voice behind them.
"Hey, there, Little Lea! I'm sorry," Tendo told her sincerely. "I'd buy you a drink, but you're not legal yet."
She was quiet as usual for several minutes, watching their fellow now-ex-candidates reading and re-reading their dismissal letters, and finally asked, "Do you think anyone will actually leave now?"
"Brandon's going back to El Segundo; he said if he didn't make Jaeger pilot, he was staying with the Air Force. We may see him again on support, just not with the Corps. Mariella was pretty upset. She sounded like she might go home."
Cady was scribbling on a napkin. "So here's who's still in." He shot them all a wicked grin. "Gambling's not against the code of conduct, and I think we all know why."
"Heyyyy, we may not be drift compatible, but I like the way you think! Only one question: bracket or no bracket?"
Thus commenced the betting, which Tendo later learned was almost the exact same process that every Academy class had engaged in since the procedures had started. It was part pool, part March Madness (well, October madness) bracket with everyone contributing fifty dollars. The bet was on which teams would be declared Ranger Ready, and in what order, not unlike horse racing.
Some, like Lea, spread their pots around more than one team. Indra Hassan was out, but he happily bet his entire pot on his cousins. Tendo bet his entire fifty on the Beckets being the first team to land a Jaeger.
He won.
To be continued...
Coming Soon: Back to Raleigh's POV for the results of the second cut! The Gage twins give the Becket brothers some serious advice, and then devastating news from home leaves Raleigh and Yancy with some hard choices to make in Chapter Five: Peaks and Troughs.
PLEASE remember to review!
Original Character Guide
Cady Spencer - mid-20s, Filipino-American from Portland, Oregon. His mother's family is from Manila, and she lost all contact with them after Hundun attacked in 2014.
Brandon Pines - early 30s from Monterey, California, Air Force PAVE Hawk pilot. Flew missions against Trespasser on K-Day, one of the few surviving pilots.
Antwan Ferrier - Jamaican national, age 38, was a cruise ship steward in Cabo San Lucas when Kaiceph attacked.
Lea Franklin - age 17, lived in San Jose, California. Sole survivor of K-Day out of her family because she was traveling abroad with a school group. Has intense social anxiety due to PTSD, but trained for military service to avenge her family.
Christian and Chloe Warner - African-Americans from Atlanta, Georgia, ages 25 and 23, half-siblings from a blended family.
Devi and Susanti Hassan - first-generation daughters of Indonesian immigrants to Australia, ages 26 and 24.
Indra Hassan - Devi and Susanti's cousin, born in Jakarta, Indonesia, age 37.
Familiar Faces
Kennedy LaRue and Stephanie Lanphier - childhood friends from Seattle, age 18, high school athletes and cheerleaders who opted to try the Jaeger Academy after their college plans were derailed by the war. (If you don't know more than that, well, wait and see!)
Dr. Caitlin Lightcap - age 30ish, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, inventor of the pons neural bridge and co-pilot of Brawler Yukon, the first Jaeger, until its destruction.