Author's Acknowledgement: This chapter contains some heavy discussion and introspection on the issues of race, class, respect, and privilege. NOBODY is one hundred percent in the right here, and there is a lot of unreliable narration going on, especially from the Beckets' perspective. Everybody means well, but stereotypes and assumptions can color even well-intentioned people's viewpoints, and as Bruce Gage says in this chapter, a person who's grown up lacking for nothing can make ham-fisted attempts to understand what it's like for those who did grow up marginalized and impoverished. Hell, that applies to me. Maybe this chapter is rather ham-fisted in itself, but it felt wrong to not address these issues at all.

Chapter Nineteen: The Best and the Brightest

Los Angeles Shatterdome…

June 11, 2017, one month prior to opening day…

The crews of Yankee Star and Gipsy Danger wondered for years after if they'd been set up (and if so, who was betting how much money on what outcome.) With all the Psych Analysts in the PPDC employ reporting straight up the chain, somebody must have seen it coming.

Tendo was one of many crew members who smelled a problem from Minute One. The introductions to LA's Marshall, Ana Ramirez, went smooth enough. But Tanisha Davis and Caleb Mitchell, while polite, definitely didn't give the welcome that a crew used to the Gages and Tunaris expected.

"Kind of standoffish, aren't they?" Cady mused as the Shatterdome tour wound to an end.

At first, Yancy and Raleigh shrugged it off. "Could be a little territorial. We're the newbies here – again."

Carolina and Yankee Star's PR Rep, Brady Harris, suggested that some of Gipsy's support crew get to know some of Yankee Star's. That was promising – at first. Team Yankee was a less varied crowd than Team Gipsy. Most of them were former Marines like their two Rangers, direct transfers in the early days of the Jaeger Program.

The pilots of America's second Jaeger tended to incite curious questions from the well-intentioned… and gross questions from the not-so-well-intentioned. Tanisha Davis of south central Los Angeles and Caleb Mitchell of Shady Point, Oklahoma could not have seemed a more unlikely pairing. "Bruce Gage was pilot for their unit in combat," Yankee's support chief explained. "They came over to the PPDC with him."

"There's got to be more to it than that if they're drift compatible," Yancy reasoned.

But she didn't elaborate, and Raleigh got a little blunt (and tactless). "Are they together?"

The woman shot him a disbelieving look. "Didn't the whole world hear Mitchell come out of the closet last year? Where were you two on the Fourth of July?"

"Getting ground into the dirt by the Jaeger Academy," Yancy retorted.

Yankee's PR rep broke in with a forced laugh. "Okay, fair enough."

Tendo was startled when he saw the two teams heading for the simulator. "Are you four sure you want to dive right into the sims?"

The quartet in question exchanged glances, then shrugs. "Sure," said Mitchell.

"How hard can teamwork be?" Raleigh agreed.

Famous last words.

Virtual Trespasser killed both Jaegers dead. And that was after Yankee shot Gipsy (twice) and Gipsy tripped Yankee and knocked the kaiju on top of her.

PPDC Internal Network

RBecket: Online
SHassan: Online

RBecket: Hey, Suze, you there?

SHassan: Hi, Raleigh! How did your first day in LA go?

RBecket: OMG. This is a nightmare.

SHassan: Uh-oh.

RBecket: We're on Davis and Mitchell's bad side just by being here! They HATE us!

SHassan: Breathe, Baby Becket, breathe. It can't be that bad.

RBecket: It IS that bad! We got our asses kicked in the sim.

SHassan: You did a sim on the first day?

RBecket: It seemed like a good idea to see where we stood.

SHassan: So where do you stand?

RBecket: Nobody could keep track of anybody else. We knocked them over, and they shot us instead of Trespasser.

SHassan: LOL!

RBecket: SHUT UP!

GTunari: Online

SHassan: Hey, Gunnar, Gipsy Danger got shot by Yankee Star today!

GTunari: LOL!

RBecket: Goddamn it, Suze! Tell the whole world, why don't you?

SHassan: I intend to!

CWarner: Online

CWarner: You guys still up in Anchorage? It's midnight in Hawaii!

RBecket: STOP INVITING PEOPLE, Suze!

SHassan: Chloe, the Becket boys got their asses kicked by Yankee!

CWarner: Heard about it, Christian told me. Is it true you swung at Trespasser and hit Yankee? LOL!

RBecket: Offline

SHassan: LOL!

GTunari: Don't laugh too hard, Missie. You'll be trying to tag-team with Lucky Seven before the month is out, and a lot of the crews are having trouble.

SHassan: Chloe, what did Christian say about it? Isn't he down in LA with them?

CWarner: He says Raleigh and Yancy think they're the shit, Davis and Mitchell don't want to admit they exist, neither one wants to follow the other's lead, and somebody must have set this up for a laugh.

SHassan: Uh-oh. Gunnar, tag-teamed with anyone yet?

GTunari: Yes, Ronin and Horizon.

SHassan: How did yours go?

GTunari: That's classified.

SHassan: LOL!

CWarner: That bad?!

SHassan: Come on, Gunnar!

CWarner: Well?!

GTunari: Okay. Horizon froze us, and we kind of shot Ronin's leg off.

CWarner: LOL!

Jaeger Program Command Teleconference Re: Progress on Jaeger Team Exercises…

June 19, 2017…

A week into team training with Yankee Star and Gipsy Danger, Marshall Ana Ramirez could draw the consolation that nearly every other commanding officer was reporting an equal lack of progress. "I'd hoped to have Lucky and Vulcan bringing in a decent simulator team score by July," Sydney's Marshall, Blake Ketteridge, fumed. "At this rate, it's a long shot to get the Hassans and Hansens into the same room again."

"Didn't the Team Vulcan just arrive? What happened?!" Gagnon demanded.

"What usually happens when Scott Hansen sets eyes on a pretty young woman. Only this time it was Susanti Hassan, and Vulcan's entire bloody crew took offense."

Stacker Pentecost shot a pointed look at his Australian counterpart over the video feed. "The younger Ranger Hansen is going to cause this program a serious problem if he continues this behavior."

"I've had a word with him. He's a philanderer, but the women he pursues are all of legal age."

Ana snorted. "Yes, but he seems to take it as a challenge when they ask him to cease pursuit, and Marshall Pentecost isn't just talking about criminal charges. Do we really need a reputation as yet another military that condones harassment of female officers?"

"I'll have another word with him."

The Chinese and Japanese Shatterdome commanders were politely hiding their amusement. "After four months, all of our teams are showing improvement. There is a learning curve involved here," Tokyo's Admiral Yamamoto said patiently. "For over three years, all focus has been upon drift compatibility between two halves of one being. Learning to work as a team with another pair, without the benefit of the drift to instantly transmit thoughts is a new adjustment, or at least forcing them to re-learn."

"And like the neural load, the ego load has only increased," Pentecost sighed. He raised an eyebrow at Ana. "Has Yankee Star managed to stop shooting Gipsy Danger yet?"

"We've now gone two rounds without friendly fire, but sadly that's our record. How are Puma Real and Solar Prophet doing?"

"They've improved…somewhat. However, Diablo Intercept pulled Romeo Blue off the continental shelf during our first underwater sim."

"And the kaiju got away. Nor did Romeo do any better with Coyote Tango, and it's not as if those two crews have trouble getting along outside the simulator. My god, if I hear one more repetition of 'why are you blaming us,' I will not be responsible for my actions," Gagnon groaned.

"Obviously, you need to revisit your strategy," said Yamamoto. "The clear policy directives on Ranger conflict resolution have made great strides in improving crew performance. Perhaps we should expand that to teams interacting with each other."

"We've tried that!" the Australian protested. "Sparring just leads to the Hassans and Hansens trying to kill each other."

"Sparring isn't the only test of compatibility," Yamamoto pointed out. "Doesn't the Academy train the teams to drill in unison? Not against each other but in mirror image?"

Pentecost and Gagnon nodded. Ana mused, "At this point, I'll try anything. I'll pull them off the simulators entirely for a few days, although that will have both teams even more agitated."

Pentecost gave her a weary half-smile. "You have one big gun available to call on, Marshall Ramirez." She frowned. "We know there's one Ranger that both of your teams will definitely listen to."

Los Angeles Shatterdome…

June 21, 2017, twenty days prior to opening…

Bruce Gage wondered exactly who he was supposed to be having the Come to Jesus talk with in LA – and whether Marshall Ramirez had seen how abysmal Romeo's team exercises had gone so far when she asked for him. But orders were orders, and even if it hadn't been an order, he'd have gone as a favor to both the Beckets and his pre K-Day comrades.

Somebody in the Western Hemisphere ought to not completely suck at group ops. He and Trevin could use a break, after ten days of getting their ass handed to them with nearly every partner they attempted. How pathetic.

He decided to start with Team Yankee.

Combat deployment, whether against kaiju or human insurgents, left a mark that no one ever forgot. The casual observer might not have sensed it when Tanisha Davis and Caleb Mitchell shot to their feet and saluted as Bruce Gage came into their drive suit room, but all the veterans on staff did as he returned their salute. "Lieutenant on deck!" one of the sticklers announced.

"At ease," Bruce told them. "It's Ranger now, that's all."

Caleb smiled; Tanisha didn't, but she told him, "Good to see you, sir."

"And you." He gave them a sly look. "So, how are you treating the new kids?" The temperature dropped, and everyone avoided his eyes. "Yeah, I heard."

Yankee's support chief, Penelope Jefferson, was another veteran of their deployment days. She stepped forward with a scowl. "With respect, sir, it's not their fault. The Beckets are a couple of arrogant yahoos who think combat's a video game."

Military versus civilian. Check. Outwardly, he kept a neutral expression. "How've they been to you?"

Caleb and Tanisha exchanged a look. "They're civil enough outside the sim. In the sim, they don't listen."

"Yeah? Have you talked strategies beforehand?" Gotcha. "You're not drifting with Gipsy Danger, guys. They can't read your minds."

"We ain't giving orders inside our heads, sir!" Caleb protested. "They don't even notice, let alone do what we tell 'em!"

Argh, this is excruciating. "Like you've noticed, they haven't been in real combat. Of course, they're not going to take orders instinctively. You've got to - "

" - Why the hell is this on us and not them?!" Penny snapped. "Gipsy's crew got officer training at that fancy new 'Jaeger Academy.' We all know how this conversation's gonna go: everyone cater to the rich white kids and their entitlement!"

"Penny!" Tanisha and Caleb snapped in chorus.

Education, class, race. Check, check, check. Bruce willed himself to be invisible as the Marines locked eyes, then Caleb jerked his head at the door. Tanisha turned to him as soon as they were on the elevator. "She ain't wrong about them, Bruce."

"She ain't right about them either. They're good guys."

She put her hands on her hips. "I never said they weren't! But why are they here and not you?"

And this is what it all boils down to, isn't it? You all assumed it would be Trevin and me coming to LA, and you wouldn't have to go through all this getting-to-know-you stuff again. They wandered outside for some air. It had to be ninety-five degrees. Ah, California, Bruce missed it. "We don't get to pick and choose our deployment company. Not in the Marines, not in the Army, not in the Jaeger Program. Duty's the same."

"What about theirs?" Caleb huffed.

Bruce rounded on him. "They are a couple of green schoolboys; I know that and so do you. So, yeah, the responsibility for teaching the new guys the ropes is on you. What you and Tani know is something no Academy can teach."

The pair were avoiding his eyes now. Tanisha leaned on the railing. "We haven't had an engagement yet."

"That's up to the kaiju, and the fuckers haven't given us their timetable. Insurgents weren't too polite about that either, remember?" That actually got a chuckle out of her. Bruce was pleased with himself; it was damn difficult to get Tanisha Davis to laugh. "I've got more silver spoons in my mouth than all four of you put together, but you still put up with me."

When it came down to it, the Beckets weren't as wealthy as Caleb and Tani might think, but Bruce didn't bother trying to make that distinction. "You didn't just talk the talk; you walked," Caleb pointed out.

"You can walk and talk with 'em before you're deployed. That's the point of all this." Bruce pointed southeast past the Santa Monica Mountains. "These are your people, Tani. This is your city. Are you really gonna let personalities put them in danger?"

She glared into the distance. "You talked to them yet? You tell me the phrase 'angry black woman' hasn't come out."

Assumptions. Check. "I haven't talked to them yet, and if it does, I will kick their asses. Or I'll hold your and Penny's jackets so you can. Maybe that's what it'll take to get through to them."

Caleb was still frustrated. "Why the hell are we a Sociology lesson?"

"You're not. You're active-duty Rangers, and part of that means drilling the juniors. You've got seniority. Use it. They'll respect it - well, Yancy will, but Raleigh follows Yancy's lead. You don't have to tell 'em your life stories, just the Ranger part."

Now they were a little more thoughtful, so he decided to let them chew on it. "I'll go chat with them now. So far this is just advice. Don't make me pull rank and turn it into an order, Mark Twobies."

"Aye-aye, cap'n." Tanisha saluted him with one finger. Two years ago, she'd have had her ass on report. Today, it was the most promising sign he'd seen yet.

Returning to the dome for Gipsy Danger's bay, Bruce took careful note of the interactions between the support staff. Hmm. The ground crews were working together calmly enough, some even casual. Gipsy's team really did have a lot of former civilians; they all tended to do a double-take when Yankee's crew saluted Bruce. Penny Jefferson was out in Scramble Alley with Gipsy's LOCCENT crew, explaining deployment procedures; a bunch of the spotter crews were drilling together down on Gipsy's empty bay.

So the support staff will probably pull it together just fine if we can break the ice between the jockeys. Technically, the Rangers were the ranking officers behind the dome's Marshall, but many of their support crew had more military experience. It was a combination of loyalty and protectiveness that kept the crews following their pilots' lead on relationships. Meaning it's all on us.

He found the Beckets down in K-Science. "We've seen almost every one of these beasties using their tongues like a snake or iguana; it's definitely a major sense organ," one of the white coats was explaining to Yancy. "Even if you can't rip it out, get him in the mouth with your plasma, and that might be just as effective as putting out an eye."

Yancy was nodding. "I like it. So when they roar, we'll just pretend they're saying 'ah.'"

"Bruce!" Raleigh exclaimed, dropping a model claw. "What're you doing here?"

"Seeing how my Alaska boys are handling the California summer." Bruce shook his head in mock-disgust. "A fine, sunny LA day, and you're indoors while Trev and I are stuck in Anchorage. Is this gratitude?"

"We'll swap you," muttered Yancy.

"Ahem," he gave the younger Ranger a warning look. Not in front of the white coats, Yance. Yancy caught the message and needed no urging to head for the door. Once safely outside and out of earshot, Bruce turned to them. "So, my sons, I am here to preach the gospel."

Both of them went red and looked everywhere but at him or each other. "Devi and Suze Hassan say nobody's doing well at the group ops," Raleigh mumbled. "Maybe it's just a bad idea."

Ooh, Baby Becket is discouraged. Not good. "Did you know we torpedoed the Breach three days ago?" Both of them froze and looked instinctively to the west. Bruce shrugged. "Damn things didn't even shake it. It was mostly a test run, just seeing if we could hit the target, but..."

The boys stared, and Yancy wrinkled his nose. "Nothing?"

He shook his head. "Now K-Watch has to get back in there double-time and replace all the instruments we blew, and the Breach itself is completely intact. Nil for one at bridge-burning." He gave them a pointed look. "So the tacticians and weapons experts are going back to the drawing board. We'll try again."

"I think we see what you did there." Yancy heaved a sigh. "Look - I know by rights we have half responsibility, but it's not all our fault! They won't give us the time of day!"

Raleigh nodded, looking equally put-upon. "And yeah, we do try to talk to them. It's one-word answers outside the sim and them snapping out orders when we're in it. It's like they want this to be a disaster."

An idea occurred to Bruce. "When's your next duty assignment?"

"We're off all day; Ramirez kicked us all out of the sims last night," said Yancy. "Hence catching up on our kaiju science; it's not like we're putting our feet up."

"Well, you are now. Sort of. With me." He checked out a jeep and drove them down the Santa Monica Mountains along the water. "We're heading right past the residence of Tony Stark, you know, Yance?"

"Oh, he knows!" Raleigh snorted. "That was the first thing he noticed!"

"Shaddup, brat! You were the one whining to go to the air museum."

"At least my hobbies involve stuff that actually happened!"

"I'm going to take a hard right turn off these cliffs if you two start that up again!" He took them past the mountains, until they reached the Getty Center above Santa Monica and LA. Tanisha and Caleb didn't need help visualizing it, but Raleigh and Yancy could stand to see the view of the cities below. "You been up here yet?"

They shook their heads, the humor and ease of the drive slipping away. They knew the point he was making. "We got a flyover in the chopper on the first-day tour, but it's been sims and drills the rest of the time," said Yancy.

"It never hurts to know what your job really is. We fell into that habit in the military before. We got assignments, tours, checkpoints, all these details you have to internalize, know inside and out, but you can lose the big picture: what you're trying to protect. Out in the desert, Middle East, Africa bush, it can be even easier to forget."

"We read up on it," Raleigh murmured. "Five million people down there."

"That's a lowball figure, Ranger." They both looked sharply at him. "That's if you just count LA's city limits. South of us, Santa Monica, LA, Santa Ana? What you flew over last week? Eighteen million plus. This is one of the biggest urban metro areas in the world, sixth biggest on the Pacific Rim."

Yancy turned his gaze to the west, towards the ocean. "Last year, our first term, they were just starting to parcel out the urban runoff theory. I know it's only gained ground since then."

"Right." That means it's coming. It's only a matter of time and tides and currents. They'll be coming. "You know Tanisha's from here. South side, less a mile from the beach. Let the map talk if you won't take my word for it; she and Caleb don't want this to fail."

But while Raleigh was looking contrite, Yancy was scowling, turning his eyes from the skyline to meet Bruce's. That was interesting; usually Raleigh was the hothead. "Maybe they're not sabotaging the sims, but they sure as hell aren't trying to work with us, Bruce. I don't know if it's a chip on his shoulder or hers or both."

Attitude accusation. Check. "I've watched some of your sim vids, Yancy. You ignore her when she gives you orders."

"Since when is 'get the hell out of the way' a standard order? I thought the Jaeger Program wasn't just typical military bullshit."

Civilian versus military. Check. Again. "I'm a product of that military bullshit, and when a sharpshooter tells you 'get the hell out of the way,' it's usually for a reason."

Yancy's hackles were up as the wind ruffled his hair. "The reason is Davis and Mitchell think they're too good for us, with their hometown connection and inner city - " He caught himself even as Bruce straightened up to full height and Raleigh's breath caught, eyes huge.

Bruce didn't take his eyes off Yancy. "Finish that sentence, Becket and I will kick your ass right here and right now." Classism, check. City versus suburbs, check. Race... yeah, check. You know you wanted to go there, son. Penny and Tani may have chips on their shoulders sometimes, but people like you and me do the chipping.

"Yance." Raleigh dared to speak up, voice low and intense. "Stop it. This isn't helping."

Yancy wasn't ready to back down yet. "You know I'm not a racist, Gage. You fucking know it." His tone was dead-earnest, low, and hard. From his perspective, it was because he was telling the god-honest truth.

A little simmer of sheepish amusement eased the hot edge of Bruce's frustration; it was like looking in a mirror, back in time. Himself and Trev at twenty-one, all book-smart and educated, thinking themselves aware of the world and how it worked, never having lacked for everything and only making ham-fisted attempts to understand what it was like for people who did go without. "I never said you were. And no, I don't think it either."

There, he'd taken a metaphorical step back, and calmed Yancy down enough for him to take one too. "Do they? Is that what they think?"

"No. I never said it was all your fault, either. They're the seniors here; they're supposed to be giving you some guidance. They haven't taken a kaiju yet, but they've had eighteen months' practice in their Jaeger, and before that, they were both in combat." He pointed at the Beckets. "On the other hand, you two've got officer training, too. You know they're the senior team, so they're ones supposed to be making the calls in a fight. Hell, Davis and Mitchell don't even like pulling rank; why do you think they haven't put you on report?"

That brought them both up sharp. Bruce could tell they'd never even pictured that. You're problem isn't that you're racist or even that you're classist. You're just clueless. "I was pilot for their unit for eight months. I've seen them in action. There is no one I'd trust more going into combat, and I don't say that lightly, because I'd trust every one of our Jaegers. The strike group teams don't have to be drift compatible, don't have to even be friends. But if we can't work together like Ronin and Lion did in Osaka, Guayaquil's going to happen again."

"How'd Ronin and Lion train for it?" asked Raleigh. Bruce could tell from Yancy's expression that that question had never occurred to him.

Sometimes I wonder if Little Bro's actually the smarter one. Unfair, maybe, but Yancy was Mister Straightforward, the literal one, the guy who could follow the data and get the answer, but couldn't always take it when people didn't make neat little quantifiable patterns. Ironic that left-brained people were better suited to the right hemisphere of the conn-pod. Raleigh was definitely the creative one on the team; their sim results were proof of that.

"I know, they made it look easy. I don't think any of us were prepared for how hard it is to have to worry about friendly fire with a kaiju in our faces," Bruce sighed. He smiled and confessed, "Trevin and I've done remote sims with Diablo Intercept and Coyote Tango - so far, nobody's made it back alive, and we've only killed the kaiju half the time."

Both brothers tried and failed to stifle their laughter. "That makes me feel better," Yancy muttered, but he was grinning.

"But it can be done. Ronin and Lion proved it in spades, so we need to figure it out - before the next attack. Gagnon is having the fightmasters expand the synched fighting drills at the Academy. Trev and I started doing it yesterday with the Ranger Ready crews."

Relieved, Yancy observed, "We're back up there this week to log more time in Gipsy."

But it was Raleigh who ventured, "Maybe we should try some Kwoon work here before we go. With Yankee." He shot Bruce an appealing look, and Bruce chuckled, getting the message.

"I've called cadence before; I can call katas easily enough." Bruce pointed south once more. "If you need some air, come get it here. Nice museum up here, restaurant too. You're three weeks from launch, and there'll be a lot of pomp and circumstance. Don't forget what it's all for."

It reminded Yancy of those peace talks in period movies, set in some clearing of the forest between kings and their guards - and maybe a wizard trying to broker it all. He made himself smile with the sudden mental image of Bruce Gage as Gandalf or Merlin. It was a wary pair of elder Rangers that joined them in the Kwoon, but they acquiesced immediately to Bruce's proposal of drills.

We will if you will. Part of Yancy still felt resistant and defensive; he swore he could smell the judgment coming off those two in waves. Okay, so you're superior officers. Fine, we can deal with that. But you're not better than us.

There had been some snide looks thrown Team Gipsy's way when they talked about the Academy; it occurred to him that Yankee's team hadn't had the benefit of a lot of that training, especially the first term beatdown. Still, they obviously knew their Jaeger Bushido. The drill sequences passed quietly, if awkwardly, with Bruce Gage giving commands. They picked up an audience along the way, first crew, then Marshall Ramirez too.

After an hour of individual katas, side-by-side - no real challenge since they were no closer together than they'd been in Academy drills - Bruce switched it up and had the two teams do it in mirror image. Right-hand, left-hand just like they were in a Jaeger, next to each other. Yankee was on Gipsy's right, so Yancy had to check himself during some of the wider maneuvers, and saw Mitchell doing the same. But they managed it without any collisions, and Raleigh and Davis also avoided it when Bruce had them switch places. It was harder with hanbōs, and both teams bonked staffs a few times.

Then Marshall Ramirez said, "The fightmasters have begun mixed-team sparring. Initially two on one with the instructor standing in for the kaiju."

Yancy grimaced, but Bruce just laughed. "It'll be all their dreams come true, getting to beat up on me. Okay, Raleigh left, Tanisha right. Call your shots, right-hand," he added, giving Davis a meaningful look.

"Uh-oh, should we just sit on you now?" Cady murmured as Yancy came off the mat. He didn't answer, but caught a lot of smirks from the people who'd witnessed Raleigh's Final Spar a year ago - and Yancy's reaction.

Bruce started slow, which was a good thing, because Raleigh and Tanisha were having a hell of a time adapting. "You're not a single Jaeger this time, you're two," Bruce pointed out. "You can separate."

"Oh, right. That's simpler. Left flank... that's you, Becket!"

"Copy," Raleigh muttered sarcastically, but obeyed. It was as aggravating to Yancy as to him, but he could see they were making some progress.

"If I call it, I mean you! I ain't calling my own moves!"

"Then how can I keep track of you?"

"Let me worry about that. Just be where I want you," she snapped.

Raleigh shot Yancy a look, which Yancy had no trouble interpreting (or agreeing with), but again, did what she said. It was annoying, it was galling... but it was working. As Bruce sped up his attack, Raleigh and Tanisha adjusted to their pattern and finally started impeding him. After several rounds of simply following Tanisha's orders, Raleigh started slipping in a few shots of his own where he knew he wasn't interfering with her moves. She noticed, but didn't tell him to stop.

Caleb stepped forward after the fifth round. "I got an idea." The fighters paused from toweling off, and Bruce nodded. "There's a thing we used to do when we first got Yankee. She's a marksman's Jaeger, but we have to time the shots right. Most of the weapons can't discharge simultaneously."

Tanisha's eyebrows shot up, and she went for a hanbō. "No, not you," she told Raleigh. "Just me. Gipsy's close quarters."

"Except the plasma cannon," Yancy pointed out.

"One thing at a time, Mr. Becket," said Marshall Ramirez.

Bruce was also denied a hanbō, and Yancy suspected he was feigning his alarm, but it at least lightened the mood a little. Tanisha didn't wield the bō the way they'd been taught, but everyone worked out that it was standing in for a firearm. "Same formations, same calls as before," she told Raleigh. "But if I say to freeze, you freeze, got it?"

"Got it."

It worked. Gradually, not entirely smoothly, but it worked. Raleigh swept inside and occasionally even in front of Tanisha, admonished by her and Bruce to "move like Gipsy," but listened for her commands and assumed whatever position she ordered so she could take her "shot." Yankee was bottom-heavy, meant for stability rather than speed, but Tanisha Davis had internalized her range of motions to a degree Yancy envied.

He was champing at the bit for his turn by the time Bruce had them switch up. It wasn't easy, especially since he and Caleb weren't taking their usual "hemisphere" roles; Caleb was still in command as Yankee's pilot. But he had that same unconscious mastery of his Jaeger's moves that Tanisha did, and quickly adjusted to giving Yancy orders. At least he didn't sound quite so much like he was constantly pissed off.

Around midnight, Bruce called it quits with a melodramatic roar of "BLEHHH, I'm dead" and hurled himself backward onto the mat, getting a round of applause and laughter.

Even Marshall Ramirez applauded, nodding with a faint smile. "Rangers, well done. You've made serious progress today. I want this drill regime to continue for a few days before you resume simulations."

Yancy sighed. He'd been looking forward to a break, but now knew the issue of "commuting" would disrupt their efforts. "We're due back in Anchorage the day after tomorrow, ma'am."

Raleigh nudged him, and gave him a look. Oh, Rals, seriously? Ugh - no, Yance, get your mind off that line of thinking. Bruce is right; they're our teammates, and we've got a job to do. So he sighed internally and addressed Tanisha and Caleb. "What about coming up with us?"

The pair blinked. "To Anchorage?"

"Yeah. So we can keep this up. Maybe do another sim run, see what the fightmasters have the other teams doing," Raleigh urged.

Look at you, wooing our allies for training. FDR would be proud.

Marshall Ramirez frowned. "I like that in theory, but coverage of Los Angeles is a concern. The public wants to know their protectors are present and ready for action."

Yancy looked from her to Bruce to Yankee's team. "It's been less than two weeks since Osaka, ma'am. If there's movement in the Breach before we're back from Anchorage, public opinion'll be the least of our problems." He turned back to Tanisha and Caleb. "In less than a month, we launch, and we should be ready to do deployment drills together. You've been working Yankee for a year - it shows," he added, hoping they could sense he meant it respectfully. "Give us a week in Anchorage, let us get our time logged, and see if we can work some more kinks out while we're there."

The pair exchanged a brief look, their silent communication as quick and clear as anything Yancy had seen between the Gages, the Tunaris, and D'onofrios. "Ma'am?" Caleb asked Ramirez.

She considered it for only a moment longer, then nodded. "Done."

To be continued...

Coming Soon: Even as fences are mending between the Jaeger teams, a new (or maybe old) source of conflict causes friction between Raleigh and Yancy. And the means they try to use to resolve itisn't exactly without problems inChapter Twenty: Really Great Ideas!

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Original CharacterGuide

Tanisha Davis and Caleb Mitchell: The pilots of Yankee Star, America's Mark II Jaeger. Enlisted Special Ops Marines who saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, their battalion worked with an Army unit where Bruce Gage was pilot, and formed a close bond with him and each other. After K-Day, they were in Warrant Officer training as sharpshooters when the Gages transferred to the Jaeger Program, and were among the veterans who joined him as recruits and support troops. Late 20s, Tanisha is African-American from south central Los Angeles, while Caleb is white from a small, rural town in central Oklahoma. Both grew up poor and untrusting of outsiders, but found common ground first in combat, then as Ranger candidates, and were drift compatible. Caleb had hidden his sexual orientation most of his life, but bolstered by his partner's acceptance, declared it in 2016 after Yankee Star launched.

Penelope Jefferson: Yankee Star's LOCCENT Support Chief, former Chief Warrant Officer with the US Marines. Once a superior officer to Tanisha and Caleb, she is fiercely protective of them, although she trusts other officers once they've worked together (such as Bruce Gage). Mid-30s, African-American from Los Angeles.

Brady Harris: Yankee Star's Public Relations Representative/Team Liaison. Mid-40s, African-American from San Diego, his cousin's daughter, Nicola, is an EMT with Gipsy Danger's crew. He works closely with Gipsy Danger's PR Rep, Carolina Olivares.

Marshall Ana Ramirez: Commanding Officer of the Los Angeles Shatterdome. Mid-40s, formerly a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, first-generation daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Marshall Blake Ketteridge: Commanding Officer of the Sydney Shatterdome, formerly an Air Vice Marshall with the Royal Australian Air Force. Around age 60.

Devi and Susanti Hassan: Indonesian-Australian sisters, ages 26 and 24, who graduated the Academy along with the Beckets. Newly assigned to Vulcan Specter, Australia's Mark III.

Chloe Warner: A classmate of the Beckets and the Hassans who failed to make the second cut at the Academy, now a K-Watch trainee in Hawaii. She and her brother Christian are African-American from Atlanta, Georgia. Christian is now a drivesuit technician for Gipsy Danger.