And ladies and gentlemen, we are back with another chapter. As I promised in the last chapter, this chapter will kick things off from the movie-wise, I can't say the whole movie as the whole thing with Knifehead has already happened. In this chapter, I'll try to cover as much as I can without making things feel bloated but seeing how I like to write within limits, don't expect a chapter larger than 11K. That being said, this is the chapter where I can finally bring back Raleigh and introduce other cast members from the Pacific Rim movie. I don't have much more to say other than this chapter was checked over using Grammarly. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 10: The Game is Changing.
8th June 2023
Pan Pacific Defence Corps Command – Hong Kong
"It is as we feared. The Kaiju are learning our defenses, they're adapting….evolving, and we're losing Jaegers faster than we can build them." The representative of Italy spoke up. At this time, we find ourselves in the heart of the PPDC headquarters located in Hong Kong. The group was in the main boardroom having a meeting with the representatives of the nations charged with oversight over them. While the PPDC personal were on location and were seated at a large steel desk, the reps they were talking to were not and rather were present via video call with numerous screens set up for each of them along with speakers.
"Panama City." He went on as one of the screen changed to show the destruction left in the wake of every city he rattled out. "Seattle." That one was pretty recent, having happened only the previous week. "Vladivostok." And that was the hardest hit of the three, with the city losing two-thirds of its people in the ensuing battle and fall of the jaeger charged with protecting the port. "Category 4 Kaiju are now coming through the breach, I think even you can see, Marshall, but this is no longer a sound strategy. The frequency of attacks has increased, the jaegers are no longer a practical line of defense anymore." He finished as he looked at the group of PPDC personal that had been gathered. That group being made up of Marshal Stacker Pentecost; the wheelchair-bound General Tamsin Sevier; Lieutenant General Hercules 'Herc' Hensen; Colonels Lloyd Asplund and Rakshata Chawla; Colonels Lelouch Kirihara and Viktoriya Serebryakov; Major Cecile Croomy and Second Lieutenant Tendo Choi.
"I am aware, those are my pilots that die every time a jaeger falls. Which is why I am asking you for one last chance, one final assault with everything we have." Stacker started speaking, though midway through his statement, the representative for England tried to cut him off.
"The Jaeger program is dead, Marshall. On the other hand, the coastal wall program is a promising option." The old and displeased man told them as the so-called 'Wall of Life' had been in construction for around two years now. A project that all in attendance had been against when they found out why they would be getting budget cuts.
"[Tick]" Lelouch, now 23, sounded as he turned his head to the side. Like Tasmin, Stacker, and Herc, both he and Viktoriya now wore the higher-ranked black service uniforms, having gained them with the rank.
"Do you have something to say, Commandant vi Britannia?" The rep from Korea, a middle-aged woman asked they all caught that little move from the young man. Seeing that he had to say something, Lelouch stood up from his chair and gave them all a respective salute, they were the ones they worked for after-all.
"I would like to start by stating my heart goes out to those brave pilots that lost their lives protecting the people." Lelouch started, he may not have known those crews but he would respect them for making the choices they did. Their sacrifice saved lives. But he didn't stay on that thought as he pulled out his laptop and quickly brought up the info on the lost units. "That being, they were piloting older generation Jaegers, mark 3 and below. It is common that in war, equipment needs to be updated to meet the ever-changing demands of the battlefield, some as this." He reminded them as they were at war with these things as whether they liked it or not, in warfare, equipment always need to be updated.
"That is isn't the issue here." The rep of Scotland started, not even trying to deny him, which irritated him but he was great at hiding his feelings.
"No, but some stupid wall is. How many times in human history have walls been effective long term solutions, ask the Mongolians. They aren't that effective in keeping people out. They are just a waste of money and resources, resources that can be better spent on developing and constructing better jaegers for us to field." Herc spoke up, not even attempting to try and sound respectful. And to be honest, none of them felt like they had to.
"And where do you think the capital for such would come from? The air?" Belgium's rep asked them as he waved around himself. Their jaegers cost tens of billions of pounds just to develop and build. Even those outdated Mk Is had been quite the investment for them.
"Sir, with all due respect. I don't think anyone will give two shits about capital if Kaiju are rampaging through their country, their cities, and their neighborhoods." Herc responded, speaking of the plight of the people they had been charged to protect. A duty they were struggling in as the monster they faced kept getting smart and stronger with each attack while they were stuck using the same equipment, something that was costing them the lives of experienced pilots and scaring others from joining piloting schools across the world.
"He is right, sir. We already know that the Kaiju are adapting to our defenses and larger, stronger, and faster ones are coming through the breach at increasing rates. How could a wall stop that?" Viktoriya, having come a long way in her years serving and was now much more assertive of her opinions.
"The crown is willing to provide an additional 80 billion pounds in funding for the next two years to the PPDC. A wall would be a pointless endeavor when mankind developed ways to smash through them centuries ago." The Britannian rep, some mid-ranked noble that Lelouch didn't know, spoke up as it had been a thing for a while now that the emperor was a supporter of their cause, so much so that even while applicant numbers dropped in other parts of the world, they remained strong within Britannia, but it was concerning that many recruits were from noble houses.
"Japan can provide 18 billion pounds to the program over two years as well." The Japanese rep agreed with their imperial counterpart. This one Lelouch knew as he had met them in passing during his time mingling with Japanese high society, though her name escaped him.
"The people of Australia hate violence but are ready and able to do that part. We can provide 10 billion ourselves." That one seemed to make Herc feel better, though he was good at hiding the relief in knowing his homeland was still willing to back them, even if the funds they could provide were rather meager, relatively speaking.
"This is insane." The French rep told them all.
"That's easy to say when you're country isn't in the splash zone. If the people of France can't handle some rationing, then make them." The Britannian rep shot back, which those in attendance knew meant that they would start arguing among themselves, without them.
"Our government isn't a dictatorship." The French rep countered as they all knew the long-standing feud between the empire and France but they hated that it was coming up now of all times.
"And because you babied your people. They don't know how the let go of simple luxuries." The Britannian rep added fuel to the fire, though it was rich that he said it when he was most likely raised with a silver spoon in his mouth.
"Portugal agrees with France on this. Just throwing more money at this won't make the problem go away." The Portuguese rep spoke up as their country had been struggling to keep up payments for the PPDC, they had long since stopped being a player on the world stage and as a result, didn't have as much funds in their coffers as they once did.
"And hiding behind a wall will?" The German rep spoke up, Germany had been one of the most vocal supporters of the PPDC and hosted many of their research and development centers, granted they couldn't put up a lot of funds but they did offer support in other areas.
"Denmark can't afford anything more than providing 340 million pounds, our economy can't handle anything more." The rep from Denmark reluctantly joined the pro-active defense side as they were heavily dependent on Germany for trade.
"I can't believe this is what they arguing." Lelouch muttered to himself as he wished that he hadn't been summoned to attend this meeting in the first place, leaving Viktoriya to poke him in his side to prevent from being caught saying something that came off as disrespectful.
"Well, money makes the world go round and for some of them, this wall project will boost their economies and put some serious cash in their coffers." She reminded him as they all knew that when the 'Wall of Life' had been proposed, many contractors the world over rushed to lobby to be the ones awarded the multi-billion pound contract. It was a modern-day wall of china, only on a much….much larger scale.
"Of course, because why wouldn't short-sighted greed play into this?" Lelouch answered as they continued to watch the representatives argue among themselves for what felt like hours but was a couple more minutes before Stacker got tired of this.
"Ladies and gentlemen. This isn't the time to discuss our varying budgetary restraints. I think it would be best if you all decide among yourselves if a wall is the best option. I only leave you with the advice walls as a defense, can't avoid being hit nor can they hit back." Stacker said as he pressed a button which ended the video call with them before leaning back into his seat, visible tired and annoyed by what was two hours of wasted time. "God, I hate these meetings."
"Suits and ties, waves and smiles. That's all they all, Stacker." Herc spoke up as he passed his old friend a bottle of water via Tamsin. The Leader of their group giving him a thankful nod as he opened it up and took a large gulp of water.
"Sir, if I may ask, why are we present?" Viktoriya asked as they had been something she had been wondering about ever since they had been called up to the board room.
"You two are high ranking officers, are our highest ranked active pilots, and are celebrities. We need as much ammo stacked in our corner as we can get to make sure they approve." Stacker told them as unlike the rest of them, they were active pilots. Who, despite their losses to Kaiju continued to bring in victories and favor with the general public.
"Lelouch, could you try and procure more sakuradite for us? It would go a long way in our experiments for newer machines." Lloyd, for the first time since arriving, spoke up as he once again, asked for more resources, if he hadn't already seen what the man was capable of building, this would be far more annoying than it was.
"I will speak with my grandfather, but don't expect too much. He is already giving us special treatment." Lelouch responded, though he wasn't sure how much he could get from this as Taizo had been leaving more and more of his duties to others as time went by, the guy was old, in his late 70s old. Running such a large operation had started to take its toll on him. Honestly, he was already informed that the day was approaching when the reigns of the company would be officially passed to him.
"It would help if we obtained more funding." Rakshata, the more observant of the two genius scientists, stated as she took a puff from her pipe. "I can't believe they try to cut our funding when their budget cuts are what lead to us being forced to field outdated machines."
"The cost of war is mounting, and they want to have enough finds for when this is all over." Tamsin said as no-one had thought things would go this far in the beginning anyway. The PPDC was supposed to be a short-term thing, maybe to last a decade but with the Kaiju threat only growing as time went on, they found themselves being called upon more often. In return for this, they had been granted much more authority and influence than originally planned, to the point where the area their headquarters was built in was considered to be theirs and not part of either the City of Hong Kong or Mainland China.
"If we don't get enough, then there won't be a 'us' to worry about money and resources when this is over." Choi pointed out a though it was great to plan for the future, they needed to secure that future first.
"It doesn't help that we have lost 30% of our pilots in the last year alone." Cecile pointed out as the unprecedented wave of category IV Kaiju entering their world had left them without significant counters and as a result, they had been losing ground on just about all fronts.
"We need to speed things up. I'll have a chat with research and development. Hopefully, those new jaegers can be completed soon." Stacker said as he eyed both Rakshata and Lloyd, letting them know when the meeting was over, he expected them to stay behind.
"We need additional pilots. Not newbies fresh out of the academy but ones who have proven their skills in combat." Lelouch pointed out as though they needed better jaegers, they equally needed professional pilots, and the only way they could get their hands on such would be if they moved pilots from older frames into these new ones first.
"It'll be hard to come by such, most of them are died." Herc said as it was bitter pill to accept but one they had to accept.
"I know a guy. But it's been a while." Stacker stated as he seemed to have someone in mind, though only Tamsin and Herc seemed to guess who he was thinking about.
"You sure?" Tamsin asked him, worried that this was a rash choice on their part.
"We don't have that many options now do we?" Stacker asked her back as they faced a threat that could mean the extinction of their species, to win, they would need to be willing to do anything necessary.
"I'll trust your judgment on this, Stacker. But be careful about this. There was a reason he was discharged after all." Herc reminded him as a great many pilots had to be let go due to lingering PTSD or some other physiological problems that seemed from being an active pilot fighting against monsters.
14th July 2025
Holy Britannian Empire – Duchy of Montana: Town of Eureka
"Alright, we have 30 apples and 5kg of green grapes. That'll be 25 pounds." Raleigh, a discharged servicemen, told the woman he had been serving at his family's store in the small town of Eureka. As one would expect, he wasn't wearing anything fancy but rather dressed up like someone who spent most of their time out in the fields. The woman had been a long-time customer of his folks and an old family friend so rather than pay the full price of 32.80, he decided she deserved a discount.
"Oh thank you, Raleigh. Your family has the best produce in town." The woman, one Mrs. Andre Kendrew replied with a smile as she took out her purse to pay as Raleigh packed her foods into some plastic bags.
"Thanks, Mrs. Kendrew. Pa and ma are proud of the farm." Raleigh responded as he had enjoyed his childhood on that farm, and was content with working on it now, though his folks had been bothering him about getting married and having a kid of his own soon, they weren't growing any younger and in a couple of years, the farm's duties would largely fall to him alone if he didn't get some help.
"I heard that you're thinking of expanding, is that true?" Mrs. Kendrew asked him as she handed him the required amount of money.
"I heard them talking about it, but we need permission from the local lord before we can do that." Raleigh replied as he handed her shopping.
"Oh I sure you'll get the permission you need, but wouldn't you need help if the farm gets any bigger?" She waved it off, everyone had high praise for his family and their produce, even the local lord often purchased their fruits and vegetables, getting him to agree to increase their land and therefore production shouldn't be too hard.
"Yeah, we'll need to hire some help. Right now it's just the three of us." Raleigh said as he thought back to how it had once been the four of them, but he tried not to think about it too hard, painful memories, and all that.
"Don't fret, Raleigh. I'll see if my nephew can't help out." Mrs. Kendrew, noting that he seemed sad about thinking of his brother, brought him back to the light as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. She may have been in her 60s and had never been blessed with her children but most of the townsfolk knew her as the kind aunt figure to them all.
"Thanks, Mrs. Kendrew." Raleigh said as she gave him one last smile before moving on. It didn't take all too long for another customer, the local librarian to make an appearance as well as Raleigh fell into practice.
"Welcome to the Becket family farmer's market. What can I get for you today?"
(Later – Becket Family Farm)
"How was your day, sweetie?" Raleigh heard his mother call out to him as he entered his family's farmhouse via the front door. Going by the sound of rushing water and plates being moved about, she was in the kitchen right now.
"Busy, people have been buying more and more lately," Raleigh said as he took off his work boots and started heading up the stairs to take a shower.
"It just means that have more funds to put into feeding themselves." His mother replied, sounding happy at the prospect of more business. "Wash up, dinner will be ready soon."
"Thanks, ma, where's pa? Still working on the tractor?" Raleigh asked as he opened the door to the bathroom but didn't enter yet.
"Yeah, old girl may just have reached the end of the road but he refuses to accept that and get a new one." His mother sighed as they had owned that tractor for 35 years, some of his first memories of their father using it to tend to their some 40 hectares worth of farmland.
"You know him, odds are he doesn't want to waste money when he thinks he can fix it." Raleigh laughed as also recalled how whenever the old girl broke down, he never once thought to replace and rather broke out the tools and fixed it himself, even teaching him and his brother to do it once they got old enough to not hurt themselves trying. After that, Raleigh entered the bathroom and went to work cleaning himself up, dumping his clothes into the basket before taking a shower and letting the warm water soothe his body after a long day's work. Around 20 minutes later, Raleigh was downstairs again, on his way to the kitchen as his mother watched the news on their old TV set. As he did this, the news switched over to something major.
"Breaking news!"
"Oh, dear." His mother, a woman well in her early 60s with greying blonde hair, uttered as the weather report was interrupted.
"Ma, turn it up." Raleigh said as he stood behind the couch as his mother reached for the remote and turned up the volume. The news report was something that hit them both of them hard.
"I am here in Sydney, where earlier today yet another Kaiju attack took place. The Kaiju, an enormous category IV, broke through the coastal wall in less than an hour." The news reporter on the ground reported as video images of the Kaiju were shown for the world to see as the giant monster, quite literally smashed through the massive coastal wall before letting out a loud and terrifying roar, as if to announce himself. "The Wall of Life had been claimed to be unbreakable by its builders." Yeah, they could both recall hearing people saying that but it looks like they were all wrong.
"Jesus, help us." His mother prayed as she looked at a creature as if it rose from the depths of hell itself. These….these demons had taken her child from her and let the other scared, she hated them. She hated as much as everyone else who lost family to them did.
'Holy shit….it just….it just broke through, like it was nothing.' Meanwhile, Raleigh was thinking about this from another perspective as that wall was built to last, from what he had heard they had spared no expense in both hiring the best architects and supplying them with the best supplies they could find. There were even jokes going around that the wall was just a bunker on steroids seeing how test showed that it could survive extensive bombardments from both air and artillery for long periods. For a Kaiju to break through that in the time it took to eat a small meal….it was alarming, to say the least.
"It was the recently decommissioned Jaeger, Striker Eureka, piloted by Herc and Chuck Hensen, that finally took the beast down." The news report as it cut to show Striker Eureka battle the beast in the heart of Sydney. He didn't know this Chuck but he did now Herc and he was impressed but not surprised by the fact that they kept the damage to the city to an absolute minimum. With only minor damage to some buildings and the streets they fought over but that could be repaired pretty quickly.
"Look, they decommissioned the Jaeger program because of mediocre pilots, it's that simple." Chuck, the younger of the two pilots and son to Herc, told the news crew in what appeared to be a surprise interview after the battle. Though both Beckets knew he wasn't talking about him, they couldn't help but feel a sting at the slight against their fallen son. He was far from mediocre, one of the best he was. "That striker Eureka has ten kills to date, that's one of the highest in the world." He bragged with was a high kill count….or at least it was back in the day when Kaiju attacks weren't as common as they are now.
"And you're still going to Hong Kong, even at a time like this?" The reporter asked him, though both stopped paying attention when they started to hear something approaching their farm. Still, it didn't sound like a car.
"Well orders are orders, what else am I supposed to do?" Chuck asked her back, but at this point, both Beckets had gone to the window to see what was going on. Though it was dark out, the sun had set about an hour ago, they could still make out something flying towards them but it didn't look like a normal helicopter.
"What the…" Nancy Becket, mother of Raleigh and Yancy Becket, asked as they both started to make out more details of the craft and for Raleigh, he could make out that it was a VTOL, one painted in the colors of a group he didn't ever expect to visit him. "Is that one of those military aircraft?"
"I'll handle this, ma." Raleigh said as he walked towards the door and out of the house into the open area that made up their driveway. The VTOL quickly touched down and the side door opened. From it, two armed soldiers wearing the badges of the PPDC came out, behind them as a man that he was very familiar with, even if he wasn't wearing his uniform and had swapped it out for an elegant suit and dark blue overcoat. Behind him another two men came out, forming around him his security detail, though Raleigh found it amusing that he brought them with him when he was only going to a family-owned farm in Britannia.
"Mr. Becket." Stacker, the man in the suit stated as he walked up towards the retired pilot.
"Marshall, looking sharp." Raleigh felt the need to point out as he was sure he didn't have anything nearly as nice as what Stacker was wearing but he supposed being the head of the PPDC was a well-paid job.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Stacker pointed out. It was weird as though one knew why he was here and the other could only guess, both didn't feel like their little small talk was annoying, more like they were testing the other before they sat down and talked.
"6 years, 1 month, a couple more days and it'll be 2." Raleigh replied as he had been years since he was honorable discharged due to mental issues that made him unfit for service.
"Can I have a word?" Stacker asked him as he gestured towards the farmhouse where he spotted a woman watching them talk from the window.
"Sure, come on in." Raleigh agreed with a nod as he led the marshal into his home, the four-armed men staying back. It didn't take long for the two to be back inside and seated in the living room as Nancy poured Stacker some tea before handing the cup and plate to him.
"Here you go." Nancy said as he kept herself calm and collected as a host. Even if she had her suspicions as to why this man had come to see her son. Raleigh's father, Robert sat in the armchair watching this, having returned to the house after hearing the VTOL coming in as Nancy made the tea.
"Thank you, Mrs. Becket." Stacker replied as he held both the cup and the plate before he took a quick sip of the tea, it was a sweet blend, with a taste of honey and grapes.
"You know, I wouldn't have guessed your family runs such a farm." Stacker started slow referring to the fact that most farms were owned by some members of the nobility with commoners working on them as labor, sure there were cases of commoners farming themselves but it was mostly small scale, for their families, nothing like this place.
"The Beckets have been in the family for four generations, ever since my grandfather won a portion of this here land from the local lord's son in a poker match. We've been increasing its size ever since but I doubt that's why you came here." Robert, a man who appeared to be in his late 40s though he was riding towards 70. Unlike his wife and sons, he wasn't blonde but rather had rapidly greying red hair along with a well shaved trimmed mustache and beard. He was still wearing his dirty overalls as he hadn't had the time or interest to change yet.
"No it isn't. I've spent the last 6 months gathering as much material and manpower as I could. One of which is a shiny new jaeger, Mk V, needs a pilot." Stacker informed them all, though as he expected, none seemed to flock to the idea of it.
"I'm guessing I wasn't your first choice." Raleigh asked him.
"You are my first choice, Mr. Becket. Just about every other able-bodied pilot is dead." Stacker replied, putting the harsh truth down that they were lacking in suitable pilots, even if they broke up already established teams to pair veterans with rookies, that brought down their combat effectiveness.
"Look, I tried to be a pilot again after what happened. We both know how that went, I can't have someone else in my head again. I was still connected to my brother when he died." Raleigh told him as he turned him down and got up from his seat and started walking towards the stairs, not feeling as hungry as he did before all this. "I can't go through that again man, I'm sorry."
"Haven't you heard, Mr. Becket? The world is coming to an end." Stacker asked him as he turned in his seat to face him, locking eyes with the younger man as he got up. "So would you rather die? Here…or in a jaeger?" he asked him, leaving Raleigh to think about it for a moment as he locked eyes with his parents before looking back at Stacker, he had made his choice.
16th July 2025
Pan Pacific Defence Corps Command – Hong Kong
"The place is a lot bigger than I thought it'll be." Raleigh noted as he along with Stacker sat in the VTOL that was ferrying them from Hong Kong International towards the beating heart of the PPDC. Unlike the other shatterdomes facilities he had seen during his service, this complex was both larger, grander, and more imposing than any he had seen and bustling with activity.
"It has to be, this is the nerve center of the entire Pan Pacific Defence Corps. Our beating heart….and one of the few remaining shatterdomes still operational." Stacker told him as they both made out the many, many weapons placements shattered across the facility. Everything from large repurposed naval guns to Hadrons cannons and missile banks refitted with specially made anti-Kaiju missiles.
"I heard, funding has been redirected towards the wall of life, the assholes that made that choice must be shitting their pants right now." Raleigh said as they had both seen the news about the growing unrest both in Australia and
"You don't know the half of it. Civil unrest had been rising the world over, the people didn't approve of their choice then and they now have deadly proof that some wall will not protect them." Stacker told him as he had access to more….sensitive information and he knew for a fact that most of the politicians that voted for the wall were in hot water with their people seeing how most didn't want the damn thing, to begin with, seeing it as the coward's way out, and now that it had proven a colossal waste of time, money and resources that could have better spent elsewhere, more than a few have either voluntarily step down, been arrested or in some isolated cases, been lynched by pissed off mobs. After that, the two were silent for a while as the VTOL came in for the landing on the platform. As it was raining, when the two men stepped out of the VTOL onto the platform, the marshal made his way over to a young woman who seemed to be waiting for them with two umbrellas, one open and protecting herself from the rain, the other closed.
The Marshall was handed the closed umbrella which he then opened up before handed to Raleigh so he could stay dry while the Marshall shared the other with the young lady who held it over both their heads.
"Mr. Becket. This is Mako Mori, one of our brightest, also a member of our jaeger development think tank in charge of selecting pilots. She handpicked your co-pilot candidates." The Marshall introduced them as he gestured towards the woman who know that Raleigh had a closer look art, could say she was quite fetching. She was younger than him and shorter than both he and Stacker, she had a short bob cut black hair which was styled to be a little wavier, more lively then the norm, which he supposed was what she wanted as she even dyed the tips of the front bangs blue.
"I imagined him differently." Mako told Stacker, speaking in Japanese to not offend their guest who, to be honest, didn't look the part of a pilot.
"Hey." Raleigh said to draw her attention again. "Better or worse?" He asked her, speaking in perfect Japanese which let her know that not only was he versed in the language(Thank you, Kallen) but he had also heard what she said to him. Seeing her mistake, Mako sought to correct it.
"I apologize, Mr. Becket. I have a lot about you." Mako apologized, still speaking her mother to which Raleigh gave her a nod that said he didn't mind.
"We will tour the facility first and then Ms. Mori will show you to your jaeger, Mr. Becket." Stacker stated as the group entered the service elevator that would take them into the facility proper. As they entered, Raleigh stopped to observe the clear Kaiju samples being contained in vats filled with some kind of greenish, yellowish liquid. He could only assume that the solution was there to help maintain the samples for later study. It was also at that same time, that they both heard two people calling out to them as they all turned to see two people rushing into the elevator before the doors closed.
"Stay back, Kaiju specimens are extremely rare so look but don't touch." One of the people that had a run-in with them, the one wearing glasses and a leather jacket, told them as he fiddled around with the containment unit for one of the Kaiju samples.
"Mr. Becket, these two lead our research team in all things Kaiju, Dr. Gottlieb." Stacker introduced him as he gestured first towards the one that had yet to speak and was wearing a black raincoat and looking over the other containment. "Dr. Geiszler, They have flown in with both their teams from Germany." He finished as he gestured towards the one that had spoken as he turned to them with a rather friendly smile as he lifted one hand to Raleigh for a shake.
"Call me Newt, only my mother calls me doctor." He told them with a pretty bad joke as Raleigh gave him a firm shake before he turned to the other one. "Hermann, these are human beings, why don't you say hello."
"I've asked you not to refer to me by my first name around others." Dr. Gottlieb as he preferred to be called, told his colleague in such a manner that it was pretty clear that this wasn't the first time this had happened. This led the two to have something of a spate as Raleigh turned to face the two with him, the question clear on his face.
"This is normal, they tend to bicker." Mako answered his unanswered question as this was something of a norm, they were only lucky that neither had ever turned violent, the same couldn't be said about Rakshata and Lloyd as those two couldn't be in the same room together for any extended given of time without someone to act as peacekeeper.
"Don't mind him, he's not much a...people person." Newt told them as he turned back to them, leaving that little argument behind as he took off his jacket and started folding up his sleeves now that they were out of the rain and cold. In doing so, he exposed the tattoos he had on both his arms.
"Is that Yamarashi?" Raleigh asked him as he recognized that most of the tats were of Kaiju.
"This guy? Yeah, you got a good eye." Newt said as he pointed out the tattoo that Raleigh was talking about.
"My brother and I took him down in 2017." Raleigh told him as he recalled that fight and how hard it was won.
"You know he was one of the biggest category III ever? He was 2,500 tons of awesome." Newt told him without thinking...until he noticed how awkward the elevator got from his comment before he tried to correct himself. "Or awful, I mean-"
"You'll have to excuse him, he's a Kaiju groupie, he loves the things." Dr. Gottlieb told them with a smile as he went back to his work.
"Shut up, Hermann, I don't love them, I study them. And unlike most, I would like to see one alive so I can better study them. After all, we need as much information on them as we can get and there is only so much samples of vital organs and muscle tissue can tell us." Newt told them as he pointed towards the relatively small Kaiju remains they had with them. it was that this same time that the elevator came to its stop and Stacker, Mako, and Raleigh moved to walk out but not before Raleigh could give him a piece of advice.
"Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near a live one." Raleigh told him as he placed a firm and a little threatening hand on the scientist's shoulder before he patted him and walked away.
"So those two head your research division?" Raleigh asked Stacker as the group walked off, heading towards a location that Raleigh didn't know.
"Things have changed, Mr. Becket. They came here because most of the research labs in Germany have been closed while the rest had their budgets cut." Stacker told them as that had been a rather heavy blow to them and their cause.
"Wait a minute, doesn't Germany-" Raleigh stopped for a second to grasp the implications of such a move.
"Host 90% of all Kaiju research centers, yes. But with politicians and governments starting to waver, their funding like our own has let us say, wavered as well." Stacker said as they approached a giant bulkhead door, one so massive that it was clear it wasn't meant to be moved by humans as Mako walked up to the control pad and typed in a code which caused the door to open to them, revealing what laid beyond it.
"Welcome to the Hong Kong Shatterdome." Stacker told them as they walked into what Raleigh was sure was the largest shatterdome complex he had ever stepped into. All around them there was activity as both mechanics, ground hands and soldiers carried out their tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. He also spotted several jaegers in their docks, all of which he knew had reputations to them and their crews. As he walked into the area, he heard a ticking sound behind him and turned around to see that above the main door that he entered through, was a giant clock with numbers representing everything from second to days. The time displayed currently showed was 14 days, 35 minutes.
"The war clock, we reset it after every Kaiju attack. Keeps everyone focused, the frequency of attacks is escalating." Stacker explained before Raleigh could ask as they two moved on without him, leaving Raleigh to stand in slight awe and nostalgia for the place.
"How long till the next reset?" Raleigh asked him as he turned and was almost hit by a trolley carrying supplies that had stopped just in time, he quickly moved out of the way of it as the driver flipped the bird at him and continued to wherever he was going.
"A week! If we're lucky! My experts believe there be a Kaiju attack before that." Stacker told him, speaking louder now as there was a forming distance between them and due to all the activity happening around them. Raleigh, seeing this, picked up the pace to catch up with them.
"This complex used to launch 36 jaegers from 4 bays just like this one. Now there are only 8 left stationed here." Stacker told him as they both looked around in disappointment while Raleigh looked around in shock as he noted that though there were jaegers present, there was still an open spot and three other bays that must have been empty.
"I didn't think things were that bad." Raleigh said as the news hadn't reported much on it and Gino and Kallen weren't too forthcoming in their letters.
"It is that bad." Stacker said as they started walking towards one of the jaegers present. "Crimson Typhoon, one of the greatest. Assembled in Changzhou. Full titanium core, no alloys, 50 diesel engines per muscle strand. A deadly, precise fighter." Stacker stated as they all looked onto the sleek, three armed red menace that had the cockpit design that had somewhat become famous with any designs coming from Rakshata.
"She's piloted by the Tang Wei brothers, triplets, local lads. They've successfully defended Hong Kong port seven times, they use the thunder cloud formation." He said as they walked past the small station at Typhoon's feet as its crew watched the three pilots play a game of basketball. They weren't identical twins but Raleigh could see the resemblance.
"Oh yeah, triple arm technique." Raleigh agreed with him as Typhoon was the only jaeger never built with such a design as all before and after had the two arms, two legs of a humanoid body.
"Very effective." Stacker noted as it was that unprecedented design that had allowed the three-man team to confront and defeat every Kaiju that had ever faced. As they walked on, they saw that another jaeger was in the middle of being pulled into the bay. It was a hulking beat, grey and white but didn't seem like an elder of the group. If Typhoon was a martial artist, then this one was a bouncer to a trendy club.
"That one is a direct successor to Cherno Alpha, goes by Cherno Delta. Mk III, it's the oldest one here but make no mistake Mr. Becket, it's a brutal war machine." Stacker told him as they stopped for a minute to watch as the beast was carried in one a specially designed platform, its two pilots walking in front of it as their crew walked behind them.
"Those two, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky." Stacker pointed out as the two pilots were both tall, blonde, and had an air of seriousness to them.
"I've heard of them, perimeter patrol in Siberia." Raleigh replied as they had been pilots since the Mk I days and were pretty well known in Russia.
"Under their watch, not a single Kaiju ever made landfall for 6 years. 6 years." Stacker said as that was no small feat, not when they had lost entire jaegers and their crews trying to protect that blasted wall as it was built. Men and women that had died for nothing seeing how that wall wasn't strong enough to keep their enemy out. Moving on, they continued onwards and as they did, Raleigh spotted another red machine, this one similar to Typhoon in that it seemed like it had a hutch to it but only had two arms. One of which, the right one was silver from the elbow down and ended with a clawed hand with a red orb-like object in its palm. He knew which machine it was but his attention was caught by the two pilots he could see conversing with their ground crew.
"You might remember those two, Kallen Stadtfeld and Gino Weinberg." Stacker asked him as he already knew that they were friends so he could appreciate that it must be good for him to see them again after he was discharged.
"How can I forget? I still keep in contact with them. They still pilot their Mk III?" Raleigh asked as it took in their features as it had been years since he last saw them and much like himself, they had aged with Kallen looking much more mature than she did when was 19. She had cut her hair a bit was still kept it on that rebel cut of hers. Gino seemed more of an adult them he remembered but that was obvious. He hadn't cut his hair and instead it grew out a bit and now he had five of those braids as well as the making of a mustache which somehow made him seem like that fun uncle almost everyone had.
"No, they were upgraded last year to their new Mk V. Guren Trickster. Built by both India and Britannia, it's fast, agile and aggressive with 55 diesel engines per muscle strand. Its right arm is armed with the Radiant Wave Surger. Even the toughest Kaiju hide can't stand up to its power." Stacker told them as they walked on by without the two ever seeing them.
"I'll have to say hello later." Raleigh said to himself as they approached another machine. This was much different to the rest as it stood straight like a knight or soldier at attention. It was white and gold in color and just oozed imperialism from how it was designed like a man in a suit of armor. The unit seemed to be armed with duel bladed attached to its sides and a large cannon-like attachment to its right side.
"Shinjuku Lancelot. A Mk V as well. Armed with Master Vibration blades, 55 diesel engines per muscle strand. Piloted by Suzaku Kururugi and Nagisa Chiba." Stacker said as he gestured towards the station where the two Japanese pilots could be looking something over on a data-pad. Raleigh didn't know the two of them but from where he stood, he could see that Chiba was the older of the two but Suzaku was the taller of the two.
"Figured they'll want to pilot a Japanese made machine." Raleigh stated as clearly Britannian made jaeger having two Japanese pilots was an odd sight.
"They didn't have a choice, we need our experienced pilots in modern machines. Same story with our next one." Stacker told him as he recalled how the two didn't like the idea but as Rakshata had been busy with another project at the time, they didn't have time for her to develop one for them when Lloyd had nearly finished his Lancelot. The next machine he was talking about was the slimmest present, but also the tallest as it was white and blue with a head design like a feminine insect
"The pilots are Leila Malcal and Zhou Xianglin. Their machine was the last ever built by German factories but was done with Chinese aid. Mk IV by the name of Alexander Liberte, quick and efficient, it has only 40 diesel engines per muscle strand but makes up for it with its speed." Stacker told him as the two pilots were in the process of disembarking from their machine on the guide walk next to its head.
"That brings us over to symbol of our fighting force, the successor to Obsidian Knight, Obsidian Zero, Mk V. It has the most kills here with 12 and 15 assists, making it the most decorated machine still in the service." Stacker said as they approached the other side of the bay where two machines had been docked, both of which two of the greatest in action. The one was Obsidian Fury, an Mk IV but had gone through some upgrades to make up for it being a bit older and Striker Eureka, the first Mk V to have ever been built. "The pilots, Kirihara Lelouch and Viktoriya Serebryakov are our second most seasoned crew, having piloted machines as far back as when the Mk II were considered to be new." Stacker finished as they all knew who he was talking to, even if the two hadn't been present neat their machine while Chuck and Herc were.
"You can't know about the PPDC and not know about them. They have been involved in some of the most well documented Kaiju events in history." Raleigh said as the PPDC had been quite liberal in using the two of them had their poster people to rack in the good PR and support.
"Herc! Chuck!" Stacker called out to the two Australians as they walked up to them. Chuck still wearing his pilot gab. "Gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong!"
"Wait here." Herc told his son as he started to walk towards the trio with his dog on a leash.
"Max! Come here, did you miss me." Mako called out to the small dog as it started to run towards her as Herc had let go of the leash to allow him and Mako started to play with the adorable animal.
"Don't drool over Ms. Mori, she's a pretty girl and he gets all wind-up." Herc joked as he approached the group as Max slobbered away like the happy dog he was.
"Raleigh, I believe you remember Hercules Hensen, an old friend from the Mk I glory days." Stacker reintroduced them as Herc and Raleigh shared a quick handshake.
"It's been a while since we rode together, hasn't it?" Herc said as did remember fighting alongside Raleigh and his brother.
"It has sir. 6 years ago, my brother and I, it was a three jaeger team drop." Raleigh confirmed for him, happy that he was speaking with a living legend of the pilots of the PPDC.
"Oh yeah, Manila, I'm sorry about your brother. He was a good man." Herc told him, having lost a partner himself, he knew it was a hard thing to swallow which must mean it hit Raleigh very hard as his partner had passed from cancer while Becket lost his brother in combat.
"Thank you." Raleigh replied, taking his word for it, unlike others who didn't know that pain and just said that to be polite.
"Herc and son Chuck will be running point using Striker Eureka, the first Mk V ever built. Australia decommissioned it a day before the Sydney attacks." Stacker said as he gestured to the green and grey behemoth that stood in front of them as its AGM missiles were reloaded.
"Yeah, well they were lucky we were still around." Herc told them as if the order had come a couple of days sooner, they would have been too far from the city to be of any use.
"Yes, now it's running point for us." Stacker agreed with him with a head nod.
"Wait, running point on what? You still haven't told me what the plans is, Marshall." Raleigh asked him as he hadn't been told a lick of what their big plan was or why there were gathering jaegers from other shatterdomes into a single point.
"We're going for the breach, Mr. Becket. A researcher by the name of Nina Einstein found a way to harness the power of nuclear fission. I won't bore you with the details, if you want them you can speak with her yourself in the research division but the point is that she has combined that power with refined sakuradite to create what she calls F.L.E.I.J.A." Stacker told him as he had been present when the prototype was detonated and was very much impressed by the power of such a weapon. "Detonation equivalent of 120.3 metric tons of TNT and you and all the other machines present, will be running defense for them." He explained to them as they had yet to finish building the weapon system needed but he had been assured that it would be done by the end of the week.
"I thought you had budget issues? Where did you get something that big?" Raleigh asked as even he knew that weapons programs always cost a pretty penny and something that strong must have cost billions to development, never mind build.
"Our resident prince asked a favor of his brother and an old friend of his, turns out that the brains behind our new bomb is a friend to one of his friends. He got her in contact with us and his brother, Schneizel." Stacker explained as it was by sheer chance that they came across this as the granddaughter of the man that gave birth to the whole idea had mentioned it in passing during a conversation with Lelouch. The boy was interested and met with Ms. Einstein, saw the potential, and immediately contacted him. "He bankrolled its development." He then approved the idea and contacted Prime Minister Schneizel seeing how Britannia was their largest donor and had the best-funded military in the world, so they could spare the funds if the project had merit.
"Herc, shall we?" Stacker said as he gestured toward his old war buddy.
"Good to have you back, Raleigh." Herc said to the two as he walked off with Stacker to discuss their plans.
"I'll show you around so you know the layout." Mako told him as she turned to lead him away but Raleigh still had some questions he wanted answered.
"Ms. Mori, could I have a moment?" Raleigh asked of her and when she didn't refuse, he quickly walked over to his superiors.
"Marshall, we've hit the breach before, it doesn't work. Nothing goes through. What's changed since then?" Raleigh asked as though they had a fancy new bomb to test out, what could be different about this attempt to blow the breach to hell?
"I got a plan. I need you ready, that's all." Stacker told him as he walked off, not giving him anything but having served under him in the past, he knew that if Stacker didn't want to say, he wouldn't say so he decided to cut his losses and turned around so that Mako would continue with his tour.
(Later – With Mako and Raleigh)
"There she is." Sometime later, in the early evening, Mako had roundabout finished his tour of the facility and was now showing him something he never thought he'll ever see again.
"Oh my god…..I can't believe." Raleigh said as he walked towards the sight of his machine, his strength, and what had allowed him and his brother to bond on a level they never thought possible. Even if she looked different and her chest was open to the world as people worked on her, he could still recognize her. "Gispy Danger."
"God, she beautiful. She looks even better than I remember, like a brand new day." Raleigh noticed as she wasn't as bulky as he recalled and her chest had an odd addition to it, almost like a window into her at present, un-beating heart.
"Better than new. She has gone through extensive upgrades to just about every part of her. From her structure to the materials. She also has a state of the art, double core nuclear reactor as her power source. She is one of a kind now." Mako told him, though he caught how she spoke about Gispy as if she was her child or greatest creation.
"She always was." Raleigh agreed with her as he some of his best memories in that machine. But before he could get into that, a certain someone made himself known.
"How you like your ride, Becket boy?" Someone that Raleigh recalled asked as they walked up some stairs towards them, wearing that classic bowtie and smirk that he was known for. "Solid Tungsten Carbide hull. 45 engines block per muscle strand. Hyper-torque drivers for every limb and a new fluid synapse system." Tendo told him as his smirk grew by the minute before he opened his arms to him and went in for a hug. "Come here buddy." One that Raleigh returned after seeing his old friend again.
"Tendo, buddy. Good to see you again." Raleigh said to him as the two release the other from their little hug to look the other down to see what had changed over the years.
"Good to see your, brother. Just like old times." Tendo said with a small smile as he was happy to see that Raleigh was still in one piece. And he wasn't the only one as Gino popped out from the stairs as well, followed by Kallen, Lelouch, and Viktoriya, all of whom looked very happy to see him.
"Did you have to rush ahead of us?" Kallen asked as she approached the two. Now that she was closer, Raleigh could see more of her, including the scar that she had on her face from her right brow to her just under the right side of her lip, it was thin so it wasn't one to stand out but once you noticed it, you noticed it.
"Not my fault you guys are slow." Tendo said to them as he stepped aside so that the others could greet their old comrade.
"As I live and breathe. What are the odds?" Lelouch said as he stepped forward and came the guy a pat on the back, like his partner, he was wearing his black uniform but not the cap as he looked Raleigh over.
"Good to see you again, in person I mean." Kallen told him as she hugged him, getting a small laugh outta him as she was stronger than he remembered.
"You got my last letter?" Gino asked him, the years have done seemingly nothing to that 'can' do attitude and upbeat nature of his.
"It's great to see all of you again too. And no, I didn't get your letter, Gino." Raleigh told him as if his math was correct, Gino's letter wasn't due to arrive in Eureka for another two days.
"That's alright. I can just tell you what it said." Gino, never one to stay down, didn't seem to mind as he just about started telling him what had happened with them since the last time they wrote to one another.
"You never change, do you?" Raleigh, happy to see them all again outside of the news, asked as he knew that once Gino started, he didn't stop until someone made him.
"And I never will. That's a promise." Gino laughed, which soon the rest of them joined in as Gino was just that kind of guy, always happy and always making things feel better than they were.
(Later – Barracks)
"So what's your story? Upgrading old jaegers, showing has-beens like me around. That can't be it, you a pilot?" Raleigh asked as Mako showed him to his quarters. He had spent some time catching up with his old pilot friends and Tendo before they all had to get back to their duties. After that, Mako continued his tour of the base before they made it to the barracks.
"No, not yet. But I want to be one, more than anything." Mako told him, appearing bashful as she held her data-pad to her chest.
"What's your simulator score?" Raleigh asked her as he took off his rucksack and put it next to the bed as he started taking out pictures that he had packed for the trip.
"51 drops, 51 kills." Mako told him, seemingly shyer but also proud of herself, which was a feeling she deserved as that was very impressive.
"That's amazing, when I was in the academy, my best score was 50 drops, 39 kills. Are you not one of the candidates tomorrow?" Raleigh told her as he and his brother may have linked well but they were far from elites or prodigies during his time in the academy.
"I'm not. The marshal has his reasons." Mako told him, though he was once more able to catch something of her real thoughts on that topic as she seemed angry at not being given a chance, frustrated really.
"Well, he always does but with a score like that. I can't imagine what those reasons are." Raleigh told her as he couldn't think of the 'why' she couldn't but he didn't know everything like the Marshall seemingly did.
"I hope you approve of my choices. I've studied your fighting techniques and strategy even…Alaska." Mako told him as she looked away at that part. To be fair, that was a night that he tried to forget for years now.
"What do you think?" Raleigh asked her, wanting her honest opinion on his performance and combat techniques. Mako looked at him and saw that he seemed to want her honest thoughts so she took a breath and gave him what he wanted.
"I think…. You are unpredictable. You have a habit of deviating from standard combat techniques. You take risks that endanger yourself and your crew." Mako told him flat out, not holding any punches though she didn't wish to hurt his feelings. "I don't think you are the right man for this mission." After that, Raleigh took a moment to think over what she said for himself.
"Thanks for your honesty. You might be right. But one day when you're a pilot and you're in combat. You're gonna see that you make decisions," Raleigh said as he went through his pictures, stopping at the one that showed himself and his brother the day they graduated and become pilots. "And you have to live with the consequences. That's what I'm been trying to do for years now." Raleigh said as Mako walked towards the door and left him.
Her room was just across from his and she quickly entered it before taking off her coat, revealing that like most of the crew present, she wore a green and white uniform sans jacket. She turned around and saw that Raleigh had kept his door open, letting her see that the years had done nothing to take away from that figure of his, with his scars from his last deployment on full display and while she saw herself as a worker first, pleasure later kind of girl, she couldn't deny that he was one piece of eye candy. Unfortunately for her, Raleigh looked up from drying his hand and saw her staring at him, leading to her quickly closing her door in embarrassment, though she still watched him through the pip hole as the shirtless man walked up to his door and closed it as well.
(On the Bridge)
"The candidates are ready. We will commence the trials immediately." Mako, having calmed down from that embarrassing little incident fit for a rom-com based around teenagers, reported to the Marshall as the two walked along the central command station of the base.
"Good." Stacker replied, his mind seemingly somewhere else as he was handed a report by a passing officer to look over.
"But there is one thing." Mako started but Stacker stopped her in her tracks as he could see where she was going with this.
"Mako. We've talked about this. We will not be talking about it again." Stacker told her, his tone gentle but his stance firm on this as he turned around to continue walking, though Mako didn't look ready to give up on whatever she wanted.
"You promised me." She reminded him, throwing back whatever promise he made "I should be the one piloting Gispy with him." She continued in Japanese as she marched right on over to the man as he and Tendo talked about something.
"Mako." Stacker stopped her in English, oddly not sounding like a commander but rather a father as he waved Tendo away, the Chinese Britannian catching on quick and leaving the two to themselves as he got back to work. "Vengeance is like an open wound. You cannot take the level of emotions into the drift."
"For my family." She replied in English, close to tears as she seemed insistent but the Marshall wasn't having it.
"If he had more time." He cut her off, speaking in Japanese to get her to stop before he walked off. The conversation seemingly over. As he left the bridge, two people approached him, having following him out.
"Marshall, may we have a word?" Lelouch asked him as he and Viktoriya walked to keep pace with the Marshall.
"What is it? I don't have a lot of free time." Stacker told him as they took a corner.
"Then we'll make it quick." Viktoriya started before she took a breath and said what she wanted to say. "We think you should give Mako a chance." She told him, getting him to stop as he resisted to urge to sigh in annoyance at this point.
"I'm not discussing this." Stacker told them as he turned around to face them.
"Then just listen, please….sir." Viktoriya begged him, just asking for a chance, and against his better judgment, he waved for her to continue on.
"Sir, with all due respect. She needs this. She needs the chance to be part of this, to get justice for her family." Viktoriya told him as she and her partner was one of the few that knew the backstory between their commander and Mako and how the two had met. They understood her desire to fight.
"And how do you think she'll manage in combat with that kind of mindset?" Stacker asked her as pilots needed to keep a level head and stay calm, emotional baggage like the kind Mako was carrying could be a detriment out there in the field.
"I manage just fine. We all know how messed up I am, how much hatred is in me. But I manage it, because of my partner. She is my rock that keeps me grounded and level headed." Lelouch spoke up, gesturing to his partner who over the years was the main reason something like PTSD or his vast wells of rage and anger hadn't taken him like it had taken others.
"And you think that Raleigh Becket can be that rock?" Stacker asked as they all knew that Raleigh, though good, wasn't the first person to think of when you think 'emotional rock'.
"He as experience with loss, and has a great level of mental fortitude." Lelouch pointed out as Raleigh would know what to look out for in the drift. "Sir, all we're asking is that you give her the chance, if none of the candidates match up, let her have a go."
"We have a simulator on-site where they can practice together. What's the worst that can happen?" Viktoriya reminded him as they had a training room with a simulator. They could test them out there without the risk of harming them or anyone else. They could even load in an outdated, but easier Kaiju combat simulation to test the waters. Stacker looked like he wanted to say now and continue with whatever he was before they stopped him but he took a moment to think about it before he turned around and started walking off, making them think they failed to convince him.
"I'll think about it." Stacker told them, making them feel better about the fact they had just gotten Mako a chance, even if it was small.
"That's all we ask, sir." Viktoriya said to him as they high-fived and walked off in the opposite direction.
(Later – Cafeteria)
"Raleigh." Raleigh heard Herc call out to him as the man walked down the stairs from the lunch line, carrying two trays of food as he handed one to the younger man as he started leading him through the hundreds of people getting their meals, eating and discussing and leaving the cafeteria. 'Sit with us."
"Oh I'm okay, thank you." Raleigh didn't want to be rude but Herc didn't seem to mind it.
"Oh, come on. There's plenty of room at our table." Herc told him as he led the lad back to his table where Chuck was already seated, tending to Max as he didn't look all too happy about seeing Raleigh but a look from his old man stopped him from making a scene.
"I haven't see bread in a while." Raleigh said as he took a seat at the table, looking at the 3 slices of bread that were on his plate along with peas, rice, and soup. His family didn't grow wheat and from what he knew, wheat imports into Britannia were dangerous with the seas at risk of Kaiju. Because of that, grain produced locally was pretty expensive which made it something a rare food outside the homes of the rich and privileged.
"Hong Kong, we have an open port and first dibs on everything that comes through it, even if the budget is tighter than ever." Herc replied to him as he took a seat as well. "Potatoes, peas, soybeans, pass the potatoes." He asked as one of the other people handed him the frying pan with a generous helping of mash potatoes on it before he started putting some on his tray.
"Raleigh, this here is my son, Chuck, he's my co-pilot." Herc introduced him as he gestured towards his son who like his father, was blonde and blue eyes but he seemed more….of an asshole somehow.
"He's more my co-pilot, right dad." Ha, there it was, the first thing Chuck says and it's to make himself seem big. "So, you're the guy? You're the guy that gonna run defense for me and the old man, right?" He asked as he turned his attention to Raleigh.
"That's the plan?" Raleigh responded as he took a spoonful of soup into his mouth.
"So, when was the last time you jockeyed mate?" Chuck asked as his eyes slightly narrowed. He didn't recall ever hearing about any Raleigh beckets during his time as a pilot, it could be that he was simply stationed far away from him these past 6 years but the odds of that were pretty low as someone would have said something about him by now.
"About 6 years ago." Raleigh, a little embarrassed by this line of questioning, decided to be honest to try and not start some shit.
"What have you been doing for 6 years? Something important I reckon." Chuck asked him as he didn't seem too impressed by such a large break from the saddle.
"I was in agriculture." Raleigh, now getting a little agitated himself, responded to him.
"That's great. That's useful. If we get into a fight, we can make sure we don't go hungry, right?" Chuck asked him, though it was clear that he was mocking him but before anything else could happen, someone new spoke up.
"Well, look who it is." Raleigh heard Lelouch call out as he approached and though he almost missed it, he caught how Chuck's face twitched a bit at hearing him. "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Been a while." Lelouch asked him in a manner that seemed like this was a recurring joke between the two of them, though Chuck didn't look pleased by it….at all.
"Well, if it ain't the royal asshole. Came to grace us with your presence, your highness?" Chuck asked him as he and Viktoriya, out of their coats and dressed like most of those present, sat down at their table with Lelouch taking the seat next to Max and Viktoriya taking the one next to Raleigh, the smirk on the dark-haired man's face mocking as he eyed Chuck as he stabbed his meatloaf with his fork but didn't put it in his mouth.
"Nothing of the sort. I just saw an old friend and thought, why don't I pop over and say hello. And by the way, we're both assholes. The only difference is that I'm a likable asshole." Lelouch replied as he put the food into his mouth and chewed away as Chuck looked ready to jump him.
"Alright break it up to you." Herc sighed as he ordered to the two stand down. God, it was hard enough dealing with his son's abrasive attitude on most days but whenever Lelouch showed up, it was like he enjoyed pushing his buttons.
"Nothing to worry about, just two guys have a…friendly discussion, ain't that right Chucky?" Lelouch asked him, his eyes shining with a light that said this wasn't over while Chuck looked to be plotting the same thing but they could see this battle was over.
"Yep, just a friendly chat with my friend, Lulu." Chuck said as he watched as the lips of the prince twitched at that nickname, making him regret that Chuck had been present the last time his wife had visited them as ever since he had been using that damned nickname to get under his skin.
"Nice try, but most 'friendly chats' you two have ended in brawls." Viktoriya told them as she couldn't count the number of times the two got into fights during training or took a sparring match too far. Raleigh in his case was very much confused by this was clear there was a running rivalry between the two but he couldn't tell what it was though it was funny seeing the guy with a high-class Britannian accent get into a verbal spat with the Aussie from down under. But it didn't seem like they all got the tension in the air as Max wobbled over the bench towards Lelouch and started to pay at him for attention, leading to the prince to laugh as he played with the dog and gave him some of his meatloaf.
"Traitor." Chuck muttered as his dog didn't seem to care or the fact he and the damned prince weren't friends.
"Oh come now, not my fault he likes me-oh dammit Max, not the face, not the face!" Lelouch started to gloat but then Max got the idea to show him how much he liked him and quickly climb up him to lick at his face. Making Chuck laugh at him.
"Looks like he likes you a whole lot." Viktoriya joked as the dog licked at his face as he tried to hold him back without accidentally hurting him by making him off the bench.
"Dammit, some of it got in my mouth." Lelouch spat as he used his cloth to try and wipe away the dog slobber all over his face while the rest of them laughed at his misfortune.
"Herc, Raleigh. Good to see you two again." Viktoriya said to him after the drama of their two partners calmed down.
"Viktoriya. You're looking well." Raleigh said as Viktoriya, like the rest of them had really matured yet somehow still looked the youngest of the group despite being older than her partner. Maybe it was the eyes.
"Thanks, I try my best but please remember that you're my friend, call me Vicky." Viktoriya told him with a smile as he went back to eating her food.
"Right, sorry about that, Vicky." Raleigh said to her, getting s happy sound from her as her mouth was full.
"So Chuck, you still going steady with Kendra?" Lelouch asked after he finished cleaning himself up or at least, to the point where he didn't taste dog slobber.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Chuck asked him, not turning to him as he kept at his food.
"Just asking. Just didn't think you would go for a girl that knocked your ass out flat but hey, you do you." Lelouch said as he took a drink of water.
"What?" Raleigh asked as that seemed to be quite the story.
"He met her at a bar, he was super drunk and didn't take no for an answer. Long story short, she serves in the Australian Navy and knocked him out with a single punch." Viktoriya explained to him as she had already heard the story and while it was funny, she did give the guy a firm talking to about 'no meaning no', being drunk wasn't good enough as an excuse.
"Then how did they?" Raleigh asked as that seemed like how relationships ended, not started.
"We met again at the bar, I didn't recall her. She recalled me. We got into a fight, it was a draw!" Chuck started when his father seemed ready to contradict him. "But we started to respect one another after that. We kept meeting up for drinks and bing, bang, boom. We started dating. Happy?" He finished as he gave him a very edited, every summarised version of what went down.
"That was interesting." Raleigh said as he couldn't think of anything else to say, only to get a chuckle out of Herc.
"You should have seen it when he brought her over to dinner and my wife asked how they met." Herc said as he, against the wishes of his thoroughly embarrassed son, started telling them the story of how Chuck brought home Kendra and the antics that came with it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, with that, the chapter is done! This one took me a while to write as normally I set aside a few hours each day to write these things and I'm done with 3 to 4 days but this one, due to my schedule being more packed than normal with exams and covid running amok combined with how other things happening, took two weeks. To make up for it, I made the chapter longer than normal to fit more into it.
As you all read, I made many changes to the movie with those changes being that Marshall having a counter-argument to why they were losing jaegers. With the argument for better jaegers, the people said it themselves that the Kaiju were learning their defenses and more category IIIs were coming through the breach. I'm surprised that the Marshall didn't make that argument in the movie as warfare, modern warfare especially has shown that your tools need to be adapted, updated, or replaced to keep up with the changing nature of combat.
In CG itself we see this was in episode 1 of R1 alone, we see how the Glasgow went from being the best to being the worst as the Sunderland replaced it in all military duties with Glasgows being reduced to being used by terrorist cells, slightly modified into Burai or being stripped down for police work. The Gloucesters were units used by their world's equivalent to shock troops or Special Forces with the Lancelot, Gawain, and Guren being advanced prototypes units.
In R2, we see the fruits of those prototypes as Vincents and Gareth have largely replaced the Gloucesters and Sunderlands as main battle units while Akatsukis make up the bulk of the Black Knights Units. Real-world examples of war it necessary for change would be tanks throughout WW2 as the war started with small, light tanks mostly build for infantry support like the Panzer I and II being the main tanks and ending with giants like the Tiger I and II for the Germans, same with the Americans as they went from the M3 Stuart to the M26 Pershing. The longer a war is, the higher the odds that the mindset and equipment you started it with would need to be updated or just replaced.
I also tried to give Chuck a little more to him as though I didn't like him when I first watched the movie as he comes off as a asshole, when i watched the movie again, i saw that he's just a 'acquired taste', some as Lelouch can be at times as in R1, he loved screwing with Kallen and to some extent, did the same in R2. Another person I know in anime that is hard to work with unless you know them would be Jean from Attack on Titan as even the man that trained them, Keith points out that he has a pretty abrasive personality that makes it hard for him to work with others.
Another large change was the fact that they are still receiving support from the international community, just not as much as the wall isn't as far along as it is in the first movie so they still need the PPDC to properly defend their coasts and the wall as it's being built, however, they diverted most of their funds towards that project. I also made Hong Kong their HG so that I could get away with increasing the size and number of jaegers it could hold.
Another change was placing Raleigh with family as the movies don't tell us much about them so I'm going on the assumption his parents are alive so like I said in a previous chapter, I gave them a farm. Eureka is a real town in the US BTW. With the pilots that I added in, I paired up Suzaku with Chiba rather than Tohdoh just because it's a random pairing that normally would never work as in cannon, she would hate him for not just being an honorary Britannian but also because it was his efforts that defeated their plans nine out of ten times. Here that feud could never grow and while Suzaku is certainly smarter and more mature, he is still quite patriotic about being Japanese and his culture.
Leila is from Akito and the Exiled and is known as a great military commander who cares for those she commands, unlike most of her peers. Zhou Xianglin is Xingke's assistant in the actual series. As Xingke's first duty is to the empress, he can't become a pilot as that would mean long periods away from her. He piloted in series as he was one of the best in the world but here, there are plenty of ace pilots fighting already seeing how many of the pilots in cannon became Jaeger pilots, there would be urgency for Xingke to rush to join them as well when his main duties as to the empress and protecting her.
Other things you might have picked up on was the fact that Herman and Newt aren't the only scientists present, they are just the ones that specialize in Kaiju specifically as you can guess that Lloyd and Rakshata focus on creating the jaegers and the weapons to fight against Kaiju. Nina…..will be different as though I don't like her in cannon, this is a different world and if there can be a world where the Joker is a good guy, I can make a Nina that is likable. We'll see her and the rest of the science branch in the next chapter.
Speaking of Nina, the F.L.E.I.J.A according to the show's wiki page which said and I quote 'It has the destructive power of fifty mega-collapse effects and is reinforced with sakuradite by twenty units. Its range is at least 3,000 meters within a cylindrical zone, preceded by a 1,300-meter radius spherical zone, and a tertiary range of 5,000 to 8,000 meters' I chose the 1,300m radius as that was the only one that accounts for the sphere of punk death we see whenever a F.L.E.I.J.A is detonated.
To completely demolish any brick building in that radius, according to the UN's Explosion Consequence Analysis (ECA) site you would need 40,1 metric tons of TNT. As the F.L.E.I.J.A leaves a crater as deep and clean-cut as it does in canon, I'm going to triple that number as blowing though that much earth and concreate would take A LOT of force, meaning that the F.L.E.I.J.A used by Suzaku to wipe out Tokyo Settlement had a blast yield of 120,3 metric tons of TNT.
This is much….much weaker than the thermonuclear bomb they used in the movie as that had a blast yield of 1,2 million tons of TNT, making the movie bomb over 9 times stronger but as Nina was the pioneer in this field and with thermonuclear technology only coming into being after fission bombs such as Fat Man and Little Boy, there was no way that they could have such tech without first going the fission phase like we did.
With the jaegers, I had to upgrade them as this scene was based two whole years after the first part of the chapter, that's enough time to scarp older models, especially when those older models were starting to show their age against the increasing threat posed by bigger, faster and smarter Kaiju crossing through the drift. Still, the Russians have the oldest unit, even if it's the same gen as cannon Gispy while the rest were a mix of Mk IV and Mk Vs with the Lancelot and Guren of course being Mk Vs. People had been asking for them but all of you thought they make appearances as nightmares and while the idea was appealing when I was writing this back in the beginning when I first drafted it, it seemed more appropriate if they were modified and sized up to the threats they would in all honestly, be designed to fight as there is no way that both Rakshata and Lloyd had the ideas for the Lancelot and Gurn floating in their heads when the Glasgow was still state of the art and brand new, that'll be like something thinking of jet aircraft during WW1 when planes still were made of wood and canvas and didn't fly any faster than 163mph(262km/h).
Another change as that the fact that Mako has people in her corner who also want her to get that chance and unlike cannon, they don't need to use Gispy for the practice run as that was very dangerous seeing how she almost fired their plasma cannon….in the middle of the base. I get why they have to do that since they would need to travel to a piloting school where they presumably had a simulator but to save them the trouble, I just had one in the base itself.
Reviews:
Perseus12: It's less he didn't have a heart and more that he was too stupid and childish to realize that he has become just like his own father when it came to his children and wives. Sure it took an actual alien invasion to get him to realize that but don't think for a second I'm petting him or Marianne off the hook. More will be explained on that front as the story goes but for now, we're focus on the Kaiju action. Also, you are right about the state of Britannia as that is something that will come up as the story goes seeing how with all Charles created a situation akin to that of an internal Cold War between his children and their allies.
Vein Bloodborne: As I said in the last chapter(or was it the other story) I'm been using Grammarly to catch any mistakes I made writing this. And as you guessed, the family drama brewing within the Imperial family will get its time in the sun but that would first start with some flashbacks when the time is right.
Vegito is King: Thanks, writing that part of the chapter was pretty hard but as Lelouch is a genius, I figured it wouldn't be too hard for him to put two and two together once he heard what Viktoriya had to say. With his parents, I have only ever seen two stories on this site where they get screen time for us to see their POVs and their feelings towards their children and their own choices regarding how they messed up, and one of those stories was a post requiem story where Lelouch was reborn into another world which was pretty close to his own(except for the fact he was a she, the God that sent him over had a sense of humor it seems)
With C.C. Lelouch trusted her as he had no reason to think otherwise as she took a bullet for him, gave him powers, and was like a confidant to him, being the only person in canon that he never lied to. He didn't need to wear a mask around her and she never gave him a reason to think otherwise, even though she knew the answers he wanted from her, by the time he found that out, he had already cornered his parents though I would have thought he would have shown some kind of reaction to knowing that C.C could have told him what he wanted to know but didn't, that she could have given him a way around two years of bloody fighting and loss. I can't recall but there was a story where they addressed that and she had a lot to explain since as you say, she purposely kept information from him to increase the odds his geass would evolve to a point where he could kill her. Though you do raise a good point of why she didn't have Charles take her code as he was capable of it and already an old man, no-one would notice him not getting more wrinkles as time when on, especially since Ragnarok was not too far away.
With his marriage to Kaguya, it was something I found to be funny in the series as she was one of the few anime characters who didn't mind her husband 'being manly' with other women for purely logical reasons. She believed him to be at least in his 20s and while they could sleep together, that would have been a big no-no. In stories where she finds out who Zero is, she is more open to the idea was the age gap isn't too large but still insists he take lovers. With his love life, the four girls that always pop to mind to me would, in order of likeliness of them getting together: C.C.; Shirley; Kallen and Kaguya. C.C since as I said, he was completely honest with her, he never told a single lie to C.C and he cared about her, enough that he wanted her to die with a smile on her face. Shirley since she could see past his sins and masks on her own and could love the person he was, not the person or persona he acted as. Kallen was his strength, he always wished to defend and cared about him hence his apparent betrayal of them and lies hurt her so much. Kaguya is less personally since they barely knew one another, even in the audiobooks so their relationship would be akin to the political marriage set-up I had here, granted one that would grow into an actual healthy relationship as time went on and they got to know one another but political none the less.
C.C is the rock or will that keeps him grounded; Shirley was the love; Kallen was the strength and Kaguya was the intellect seeing how she was shown to be smartest and most resourceful of the four.
With the Power of the European King, I don't think Shirley is even a character since Ashford is based in Europe so unless her folks sent her abroad to study in university, the odds that she is even a thing is very…very low. Leila and Lelouch in that story certainly have the chemistry as they bounce off the other well which was the whole reason Smilas thought she was the best fit for the job as just a pretty face wouldn't have even blipped on Lelouch's radar. Kallen is also a strong contender for that since she has proven to be his most loyal out of the BK since the rest abandoned him for the guy they KNEW killed their boss. Kaguya also has a good chance in that one since she and Lelouch actually had something a friendly relationship growing up and she knows he's Zero, which only made her his most vocal supporter amongst the Six Houses. Like cannon, any relationship between them would be heavily based on a military/political alliance as like in my own story, the people of Japan love him since it was his actions that lead to them being freed from invasion…..for five years. Heck, I would argue that his relationship with Kaguya was stronger than the one he had with Suzaku even if you don't take into account what happened to Nunnally since unlike her cousin, she could speak the language(topics and tone, not actually language) he was used to and proved to be better at conversations. If she knew what happened to Nunna, she would have been just as pissed with her cousin as he was.
YuukiAsuna-Chan: His reunion with his parents will both interesting and revealing since that would be…a lot to dump into him.
Blaze1992: The second movie already proved that the drift system works just fine with smaller machines so yes, a knightmare would benefit from such a control system. The only problem would be flight since humans aren't made to move like that so they'll still need some other type of control method along with it to make up for it.
JCarrasco: I will, hope you liked the chapter.