Alright, we are back with another chapter. Now as promised, this will be the last chapter before I get back to work on my Forced Unleashed story so I'll try and make this one even better than normal as odds are, I can maybe write and post another two or three chapters for this story. Something I want to point out that this chapter proved so long that I separated it into two chapters, the second one should be up within minutes of this one so I won't answer the reviews like a normally do here but in the following chapter. Now, some of you thought that I put too much of the spotlight on Raleigh last chapter but I did that to give another POV and because he along with Mako are the stars of the Pacific Rim movie and I thought bad if I didn't have them have major roles, it would be like writing a Star Wars story set in the Clone Wars and not having any of the main cast have large roles, it's nearly impossible. Also, something I forget to mention but in the movies, they never tell us how much power a single diesel engine has since anyone who knows anything about diesel engines can tell you they came in many sizes and can be as small as the ones found in scooter to the ones found in large commercial ships. So that leaves a very big gap in power so for the sake of it, here the lore is that 1 diesel engines is equal to around 235 horsepower hour(630 MJ or 175,239 watt-hour).
Chapter 11: All the ways things can fail
17th July 2025
Pan Pacific Defence Corps Command – Hong Kong
"For points to zero." Mako announced after Raleigh landed the finishing blow and dropped his opponent. At present, most of the pilots, the marshal, Mako and members of the ground crews were in one of the training rooms of the Shatterdome, their goal as to observe as they tried to match up Raleigh with a suitable partner which hadn't be going well.
"Well, I would say those years on the farm didn't diminish his physical skill." Viktoriya pointed out as in his sleeveless grey shirt, one could see that he kept himself in great shape, the burns from his last mission still visible on his upper left hand and his chest.
"It takes more than muscles to pilot a jaeger, Colonel." Lelouch, who like his partner, was closer to the Stacker and Herc, replied as he was more impressed by the fact Raleigh was still in practice with martial arts.
"Your skinny ass should know that better than anyone." Herc joked as even now, as a 25 year old veteran of the PPDC, Lelouch was still on the skinny side compared to the rest of them. He couldn't reply to that job at his 'lacking' muscle mass since Raleigh just finished taking down another potential partner.
"Four points to one." Mako called out, though if you listened, she sounded unimpressed by what she was seeing. Raleigh seem to notice too since his gaze lingered on her a moment longer before he got up and let the third and final pilot of Crimson Typhoon to step forward to bat, so to speak.
"What is the point of this, all these pilots already have machines to man, just because they have three pilots doesn't mean they can sacrifice one, not unless we remove one of those arms." Kallen asked her partner as she stood with him and Suzaku and Chiba. All four of them had already gone up and last with Suzaku getting the best score of three points to Raleigh's four, Gino got the worst of the four with not a single point. Either way, the latest guy didn't last long either, though he got some hits in.
"Four points to two." Mako announced like a bored announcer at a small town store. Something that Raleigh didn't really appreciate as he turned to face her.
"He looks pissed." Viktoriya said softly as Raleigh approached the girl and started to question her on her tone and opinions.
"Oh oh, looks like Mako got some bite to her." Lelouch replied with a smirk as he and the rest of them heard Mako's reply.
"No way Raleigh isn't going to respond to that." Viktoriya sighed as she knew that he was nothing if not a brawler, though she hoped that he found another way to prove himself like all men seem to do whenever questioned.
"How about we change this up?" And low and behold, that was exactly what Raleigh did as he gestured towards her with his staff before turning it to point at the ring he stood in. "Why don't we give Ms. Critic a shot?" Hearing this, everyone started to whisper and talk about it as Mako gave the Marshall this look that resembled one child gave a parent when they wanted something, Lelouch had come to know that look well. Stacker for his part, looked ready to deny her but he spotted Viktoriya and Herc who gave him a shrug and a look which got him to recall that he did promise to give this a shot.
"Fine." Stacker said as he took the digital clip board out Mako's hands and gestured for her to get ready to fight. "You better be right about this." He told the small group next to him without looking at them.
"I don't recall ever saying I was, only that she deserves the chance. She screws it up, end of story. She doesn't, she gets her shot at killing monsters." Lelouch answered as he wasn't in the business of giving those underserving or unequipped chances. Mako had done the training, she had the skill, she only needed the chance to prove she was ready for it and if she failed, well he won't lose any sleep over it.
"Either way, let's see what Stacker's baby girl can do." Herc said Mako came back into the ring, having removed some clothing and her boots as well and picked up the staff that the last person dropped when they stepped out of the ring. The two of the soon got into position to start.
"Well, this is unexpected, but not unwelcomed." Lelouch pointed as he like most of them were impressed that she didn't even flinch when Raleigh brought down his staff on her head and only stopped it an inch before impact, to add to that, she was easily able to counter and bring him into the same position, leaving them both with one point each.
"Yeah, she really knows what she's doing." Herc said as his son, Chuck kept quiet since there was nothing to mock about the two as the moved and handled their staffs well enough. Not masters but enough to be able to fight which was the point of the whole thing. The two of them went on for another minute, blocking and striking at the other with both strength and accuracy, though those who knew Japanese didn't miss how Stacker reminded her to control herself more as her movements seemed to have more emotion in them and while fighting with heart was a good thing, forgetting to think and plan ahead was a quick way to die.
"Enough. I've seen all I need to." Stacker called out when Mako pulled the win and even managed to pin Raleigh. The feat proving great enough that those who watched gave her a hand of applause seeing how she was the first to pull a win from the old pilot.
"Yeah, me to." Raleigh said, slightly winded as he got back up and patted the girl on the back. "She's my co-pilot."
"That's not it." Stacker shot that down, surprising them all.
"Why not?" Raleigh asked him, wondering what the hell could be stopping him from going with that when she proved to be the best out of his potential partners.
"Because I said so, ranger. Report to the simulation room in two hours to find out who your co-pilot will be." Stacker said as he dismissed them and left himself, not staying long enough to hear and objections. Recognising this, the rest of them left, even Mako who seemed sad about everything as she gathered her things and made her way out, leaving the farmer alone with his thoughts.
'In hindsight, this should have been obvious.' Lelouch thought to himself as it was one thing to let her try, but clearly their boss wasn't willing to let her fight.
"I'll talk to him, get him to see reason." Herc said to them as he and Chuck left them to chase after Stacker, though Chuck was most likely heading off to play with Max.
"Oh he sees it alright, he's just one stubborn mule." Lelouch said as he and Viktoriya left to head off to inspect their own jaeger. They may not be the ones that maintain it but they did have a healthy relationship with its ground crew.
(Later - Kirihara Estate – Outskirts of Tokyo)
"In the woke of the Sydney incident that made it clear for all to see the ineffective nature of the wall of life program, many are questioning the government's motives and wondering why the jaeger program has been discontinued." As this was happening, back in Japan, Kaguya watched the news. Like with her husband, she had aged through the years and grown into a strong and capable businesswoman, wife and mother. While her face had matured and lost the last vestiges of baby fat of her youth, she still was a beauty as her eyes still shined like precious polished gems, she kept the make-up down but didn't need it to begin with, wearing only the bare minimum. She had also finally hit her growth spurt when he had hit 18 and it showed as she had gone her petite and cute 157cm(5'1") to a still petite but more sexy 169cm(5'5"), her curves, which she already had had also developed even more. But what she was most proud about was that she didn't get her mother's bust and now sports a very appealing and notable C-cup bra size. Her hair wasn't too different, having cut it a bit so that it was bit shorter but largely stayed the same.
At present, she was seated with two others in her living room as they watched the news. As she was at home, she wasn't wearing anything fancy, only her white socks, a red knee length skirt and pink blouse. She didn't let it show on her face for the sake of her present company but she was concerned about the mounting unrest following the news breaking that the jaeger program was decomposed. Images of riots and clashes between heavily armed police and mobs becoming something of an unwelcome regularity. "Riots have broken out along the coastline of several pan pacific cities including but not limited to: Brisbane; Townsville; Mackey; Sydney; Melbourne; Christchurch; Wellington; Port Moresby; Taipei; Kagoshima; Tokyo; Honolulu; San Francisco; and Los Angeles." Oh she recalled those ones, she was lucky that she travels via limo with armed escort as downtown Tokyo is not the best place to be right now.
"We have now relocated millions of civilians and supplies, 480km inland to the safe zones." The feed switched to a recent event from the previous day where Euphemia, now 24 and the minister of welfare in Britannia, addressing the concerns of the people in a televised address.
"Safe zones for the rich and powerful, what about the rest of us?" Someone in the crowd called out, no doubt a reporter from one of the man news networks no long beholden to the will of the government and nobility.
"I ask that you all please keep yourselves calm, these safe-zones were not made just for the upper class but for all citizens of the empire." Euphemia responded to his concerns, showing both grace and strength as she kept herself collected, a far cry to when she first started public appearances where her aides or sister had to bail her out more often the not.
"What about the numbers, are you leaving us all to die?!"Another called out, either a number themselves or one of the people that stood with them as they fought for equal rights, a fight that even no threaten to tear the empire apart as many areas had entered martial law and never left it, either the people being too divided to stop the fight or the government and military officials using a hammer instead of a scalpel which just made things worse, at present, the only stable areas were the north American continent, the rest….well, the less said the better.
"No! Any and all are welcome to the zones and we have had an considerable effort to ensure that even though number don't have full rights under the law, that has not and will not affect the odds of anyone entering these safe zones, that is all I can say right now." Euphemia responded to the accusation, looking visible upset that such a notion could affect things.
'She's really improved, hasn't she?' Kaguya thought to herself as she stopped listening at that point as the princess kept taking questions. She could admit that she didn't really know her, having only met her every now and then but she could appreciate what she was trying to do. It was due to her efforts that the imperial government had to rescind many of the policies that allowed unjust and cruel treatment of numbers, fighting to get better living and working conditions as well as equal representation before the law. This drive was what got the girl enough support to be nominated to House of Lords where she become the Minister of welfare almost immediately. From what she recalled of last time they had spoken, she was in the works of banning the entire number system all together. But it was slow going as just because police had to treat every equally didn't mean they actually did, and with courts and judges still very biased it was an uphill battle. She did manage to push through a new bill that ensured that all children, no matter their heritage, from birth to their 16th birthday would receive free healthcare, three meals a day, not be allowed to work more than 8 hours a weekend they would receive a mandatory 10 years education.
Speaking of children, she felt a nudge on her boob and looked down to see her precious daughter, a babe not even a year old yet, starring up at her as she used her little hands to pat her mother's chest with a giggle. The child was tiny, but a healthy ball of energy, having been blessed with her eyes but her hair style seemed to lean more towards her father's, to the point where she would joke that she'll grow up to a girl version of him with the only difference being that she had green eyes like herself and her cousin, the Godfather, Suzaku. She wore a little white onesie, with a pink elephant printed on the back and a pink flower on the back. It was once her and when she fell pregnant, her mother had given it to her.
Her youngest, given the name of Rukia in honour of the woman that had grown to become the loving grandmother to the girl's father. She had a long name but that came with the territory of being of noble birth, even if her she agreed with her husband that his bastard of a father had no right to him or any of his siblings, not after what he had done to them….to Nunnally. Little Rukia's full name was Rukia Cornelia Sumeragi of house vi Britannia. It was the funniest sight she had ever seen when they told Cornelia that they would honour her by giving their first girl her name as a middle name. The poor women nearly fainted and cried tears of pure joy as she brought the couple into her embrace and thanked them, over and over.
'Never thought that I would be mother so young, always imagined this part will come when I'm old, like mid 30s or something.' Kaguya joked to herself as she looked down with a smile at her bundle of joy as she bubbled away, trying to say something but quite there yet, though of she was anything like her brother, she utter her first word soon and she would be there, ready to capture the moment on video. It wwas a serious thought, as though she was prepared from a youth age for the possibility that she would marry for political or momentary gain for the sake of her family, she was quite adamant growing up that she wouldn't allow herself to have children until later on in life. And then she had met the prince, this closed off, secretive prince that cared for his sister and her alone. She would never have thought that he'll be the one, or that they'll actually fall in love. Looking back on it, it was only a year into their marriage when she realised she wanted kids and she wanted them bad. Her mother wasn't too pleased with the notions of her being a mother at 18 but she consented to her wishes.
Her husband on the other hand, was a hard sell. She could see that there was a part of him that also wanted to start a family, to have children of his own, but there was also another part of him that felt like he wasn't worthy, that he might turn out like his father, and his grandfather. It didn't help that he had feelings for his co-pilot and she for him, he didn't want that whole harem thing his father had going for him as he saw it as unfair to the women involved and a act of unfaithfulness to your first wife. Kaguya thought back fondly to the night she sat him down and got him to admit to that, to all of it, to every insecurity, every fear, every risk as he put it. When he was done and in tears at the notion that he would turn out anything close to his father, she took him into her arms and soothed his soul in a way only a wife could. She assured him that she loved him as he loved her and that she would always be there, his rock and light if need be. She made sure he knew that the fact he was scared, didn't make him weak, quite the opposite. The fact he was scared to be anything close to Charles was proof enough that he was a far better man then he ever was. She ended it by telling him she didn't mind that he had feelings for his partner, she honest to God, found it attractive and felt thankful to the woman as she was the one that watched his back every time he stepped into that machine.
After that, she got him into bed and soon found herself pregnant with their first born. Now if only she could get the papers through to get Viktoriya dual citizenship then she can live with them, she would much appreciate if she and her fellow (future)wife could grow closer.
"Oh well, I don't regret a thing, not when I have such cute babies, you hear that Ruki, your mamma's little angel." Kaguya gushed as she turned her attention back to the babe on her laugh as she tickled her nose with her little finger, drawing more laughs from the little one, and a pout for attention from the second person seated next to her.
"Mom! What about me?" The little boy next to her called out with a cute little pout which she couldn't resist wanting to poke. He unlike his sister, looked more Japanese then his sister with his facial features but had his father's eyes and their shared hair. He was short, but that came with the fact he was still young, being only 4 years old. Unlike his parents, they allowed him to act his age in both thought and deed, the fact he dressed in a simple grey tee with a picture of Obsidian Knight on it and blue shorts showed them as at his age, they both had to be dressed to match their ranks in life.
"Oh I didn't forget about you, but you're not my angel," Kaguya couldn't help the urge to tease him but before he could break down in tears, she scooped him up and placed him over closer to her as she hugged him close with her one hand. "You're my loving baby boy, don't you ever forget that." She told him as she bent over and kissed him on the head and she tickled his side.
"Mom Stop! It tickles!" The boy, Augustus cried as he laughed and struggled to try and escape his mother's grasp. Like his sister, he also had quite the long name of Augustus Suzaku Sumeragi of house vi Britannia but seeing how he was young, he preferred the nickname Augi.
"Oh, you mean here?" She asked him as she targeted the part of his ribs she knew was extra ticklish and low and behold, he started to laugh even harder. This was the sight Nunnally and her guest walked in on.
"What is this all about?" Nunnally asked as she walked in, supporting herself via a cane but still no longer needing her wheelchair. Hearing this, Augi escaped his mother's hold and looked over the couch at the door. When his eyes saw her, they shined even brighter as his grew happier than he was before as he jumped off the couch and raced of towards her.
"Aunt Nunna!" Augi cried as he all but jumped into her arms, Nunnally having been careful and balancing herself so that they wouldn't fall over, her friend helping her with that but she didn't mind. She could never be angry with her nephew for that.
"Oh, someone's fast." Nunnally noted with a laugh as she gave the boy a big hug, one that he returned with even more force. Now most would wonder just as to how she could even do all this and well, she had done it. After years of therapy, surgeries and carefully selected supplements and dieting, she had regained the ability to walk again, though she would forever need a cane. With her vision, well…..that came later after she had learned the truth, and had broken whatever spell that was placed on her. Still, as a woman of 22 years, she was in her prime with the figure and beauty to show for it. Though most boys….and some girls were put off by her brother's gaze. Even now he felt the need to scar off any potential dates. Cornelia said she was as beautiful as her mother, with brown flowing silk like hair and regal but kind violet eyes, different from her brother's harsh, hawk-like visage.
"I missed you, where did you go?" Augi asked her as she had to cut her last trip short due to other pressing matters, though she didn't like the fact she had to do it.
"I'm sorry Augustus, but I had some things I had to take care of. I did run into a friend though." Nunnally said as she gestured towards the woman that had entered the house with her, ever being thoroughly checked by security of course.
"A friend?" The little boy asked as he turned his gaze to the woman that until now, he hadn't even noticed. She was big, like his mother and auntie but she looked different, different in that she was a fair-skinned woman with straight, shoulder length platinum blonder hair that curled at the ends. She also wore a headband to keep her hair in order and had green eyes, different to those of his mother, uncle, grandmother and his own but still wide and kind. Where her mother wore simple clothes and auntie wore a white, red and pink summer dress, she wore a brightly kimono with equally colourful haori. She wasn't wearing shoes like the rest of them and rather was wearing white sandal socks.
"That's right." The blonde lady answered him as she waved at him with a smile. "Hello, my name is Shiemi, what's your name?" Shiemi introduced herself to the boy as he took to hiding using his auntie as a shield. He wasn't all that good with strangers.
"….Augustus." Augi replied to her after a while gathering his courage and poking out from his place in his auntie's arms.
"Come now, Augi, there's no need to be shy, she's very nice." Kaguya, who had walked up to them while carrying her baby girl, spoke to the boy to get him to come out of his shell a little.
"Really?" Augi asked as he turned to his mother as Nunnally combed her hand through his hair to soothe him.
"Hmm, no nice that I brought you," Shiemi said as she reached into her kimono and pulled out a box of chocolates, the sight of candy sparking interest in the boy which lead to the three women smiling even more at the childish act. "This, would you like some?" She asked as she opened the box and revealed over a dozen chocolate balls being held in small cupcake like packaging. Augi seemed to weigh his options but they all knew that the candy won out over whatever fears or misgivings he may have had before he did.
"Hmm." Augi nodded his head as he slowly reached over a little arm with an open hand, allowing Shiemi to give him a full smile as she dropped two of the chocolates into his hand.
"Right, then here you go." She said as he pulled back and looked at his sugary treats, no doubt waiting to consume them with haste.
"Thank you." The little one thanked her as he took his time removing the wrappers and eating the chocolate. As soon as the treat touched his tongue, he hummed in delight at the flavour and texture, which a good thing seeing how that was very high quality, very expensive chocolate to begin with. Much better to anything you could just find at a shop.
"Nunnally, Shiemi, it's been ages. How have you two been?" Kaguya greeted the two women as they sat in the tea room where they normally received guests. It had been some time since they arrived and she had handed off Rukia to one of the maids to look after while she had this meeting. Augustus had been left with another one of the attendants as he watched some cartoons in the living room, Shiemi had even left him the rest of the box of chocolates which he was really happy about when they left him watching Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse.
"Hectic, that is what. Father has me running about doing company work nearly all the time now." Shiemi sighed as she fell into her seat. She had been a long-time friend of Kaguya but as of late, had been extremely busy with her family's pharmaceutical company, like her own family's holdings, Moriyama Pharma was a giant of its field, having been involved in pharmaceuticals for the last 100 years, leading to the fact her family were in the top 20 richest in Japan, they didn't have a seat in Kyoto but their own political pull was nothing to scoff at. Still, she had kept in contact with her and had even become fast friends with Nunnally back in the post invasion days.
"I've been studying a lot and don't get all that much time to just relax these days." Nunnally added as she took a sip of the tea that had been served to them, that along with cookies.
"You're a 3rd year medical student, I didn't think you would have free time period." Kaguya pointed out as after Nunnally had regained her sight, she found a newfound determination to help others just like her and switched from trying to going for a law degree to a medical one. It meant she had to play catch-up but like her brother, she was a genius and studious learner, all of which landed her a spot as a medical student at Tohoku University, the same university that Shiemi attended as a biochemical engineering student.
"You heard the news as well?" Nunnally asked her, though they all knew what she was referring to.
"Yeah, things have been hell back home with my parents, they're concerned that I live so close to the coast." Kaguya mentioned as her parents as called her more than once about leaving with the kids for Kyoto.
"What did you tell them?" Shiemi asked her as she took a cookie and ate a bite of it.
"That I trust that my oblivious cousin and uptight husband will keep us safe and protect us all." Kaguya relied, getting a chuckle from them as she looked out the window towards the gardens. The same one she, her husband, cousin and sister-in-law had sat in so many times as they made pottery. "Besides, we've made this our home, both for us and our children, it'll take more than a little scare and standard government screw-ups to get us to just leave it all." She finished.
"Yeah, you are certainly as stubborn as brother, though he can fold at the dumbest stuff. Remember when you told him you're were pregnant?" Nunnally asked them as she recalled that day fondly for the laughter.
"Oh my God! That was so funny, he nearly fainted." Kaguya laughed as she remembered the look of sheer shock on his face at the news and how his nearly fell over.
"I still think it was mean for you to not tell him you stopped taking birth control." Shiemi muttered as she didn't find it all that funny, though she did have to hide her smile with her sleeve.
"We agreed on kids, I just left out that part that I was already trying, he is a beast in the sheets after-all." Kaguya sang out as she took a sip of her tea.
"Oh my." Shiemi blushed a bit at the last bit, Nunnally though didn't look pleased. Not one bit.
"Stop! I refuse to talk about brother's sex life." Nunnally yelled back with a redness to her cheeks as she hated whenever the woman brought it up. She told her one time, ONE TIME that she and Euphemia once got into a fight over who would marry him and she would never let her forget that, never-mind the fact there were little girls who didn't understand that there was different kinds of love and that siblings shouldn't have such relationship. Heck, it was a phase she grew out of by the time she was 11!
"Oh but Nunnally, you're going to need the info sooner or later, you can't hold off on a man forever." Kaguya teased her, reminding the girl that she hadn't even had a steady boyfriend ever. She didn't mind that she was still virgin and the longest relationship she ever had was with a boy back in junior high, one that lasted a grand total of two weeks before they broke it off. Still, it was kinda lonely whenever her friends went out with their respective lovers and all she did was head to the library to study or hang out with the swim team and get some laps in.
"That's not the issue!" Nunnally blushed as she hated whenever Kaguya put the image of her brother in such a situation in her head. His sweaty, muscular frame over her-DAMMIT, KAGUYA! Now she has the image in her head again!
"Oh, are you into girls then? You don't to worry about me, I don't judge, though I wonder what your type is." Kaguya didn't let up as she laughed as she laid onto the poor girl as she wanted to just sink into the couch and never come out. Honestly, if this kept up, steam would start shooting out of her ears.
"You said your cousin is oblivious, right? What did you mean by that?" Shiemi asked, trying to turn her teasing friend's attention away from the tomato faced princess. Lucky for them, it worked.
"I mean is that there is a certain girl pinning for him and he doesn't even seem to notice, it's so frustrating!" Kaguya of all things, pouted at the fact her cousin had only two serious girlfriends, with the last relationship lasting 5 months and ending over 2 years ago.
"It can't be that bad, right?" Shiemi asked as she knew that he wasn't as…observant when it came to girls but he wasn't a bad guy, quite the catch really.
"This has been going on for like, two years." Kaguya told the girl with a straight face, getting both to wince that such an extended periods of singleness.
"Yikes, that is bad. Who is it?" Nunnally asked now that she had time to calm down somewhat and banished the forbidden thoughts from her mind.
"His partner of course." Kaguya told them as if it were obvious.
"You mean Nagisa Chiba?" Nunnally asked as she thought back to the lady that had been assigned his partner for the better part of 6 months, when she got a nod, she let her have it. "Are you insane, she's like 40 or something?"
"She's 30 and there is nothing wrong about this, they are both of age." Kaguya corrected her seeing how as adults, the age gap wasn't that bad to deal with, he fell well into the range of age Chiba could date.
"How do you even know she has a crush on him? This could just be another one of tour schemes to mess with him." Shiemi asked as she hadn't met the two yet and only knew Suzaku in passing so she didn't have much of a picture to work with here.
"Maybe it is, but I saw what I saw, she has the spark in her eyes. She wants him and she wants him bad." Kaguya told them with a smile that just spelt trouble for all involved. She may be a wife and mother but she would always be Kaguya.
"Why do I have feeling this will be just a mess? You're gonna scare the poor woman way you know." Nunnally sighed as she was quite used to the girl's antics, it was the reason that Lelouch kept her away from Milly for so long since when they did met….it wasn't something he liked, the ideas those two came up with.
"Alright, little Ms. 'I know everything', tell me if this isn't the look of a lioness on the hunt." Kaguya said as she pulled her phone out, unlocked the device and quickly went to her pictures before showing the two other women the picture she managed to snap. In that picture, Suzaku was facing away as he talked to someone off screen but Chiba seemed to have her eyes on him and only on him.
"I don't know Nunnally….that is quite the intense look she has." Shiemi had to agree that that look was one that alluded to something…more from the woman.
"So she gave him a look, so what? We don't know the context." Nunnally disagreed with her as she looked away.
"You know, you are awfully insistent." Kaguya stated as she started forming her own ideas as to why Nunnally was so resistant to this.
"That's righ-" Nunnally never saw it coming and walked right into the trap.
"Does that mean you're interested in my cousin instead and don't want to admit you have competition?" Kaguya asked her, as smile honest and pure….on the surface as she smelt blood and pounced.
.
.
.
"Kaguya!" Nunnally cried out as her cheeks grew even redder then they were before at the accusation.
(Meanwhile)
'Why so I feel something people are talking about me?' Chiba thought to herself as she washed her hands in the sink, looking herself in the mirror as she inspected herself, wondering if she should start wearing make-up to get a special someone's attention. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard someone ramping on the door.
"Chiba, hurry up! There're going to start the simulation soon!" She heard her partner call out to her.
"R-right! Be right out." Chiba replied as she finished up washing her hands before walking out of the women's bathroom as they both made their way towards the simulation room.
(In another part of the base)
"Newton, you're a sharp one." As this was happening, Newton, Rakshata and her team worked in a small lab, the work in question was the fact that they were hooking up the Kaiju brain sample to some equipment.
"Well thanks-" Newton started since it was pretty rare that he even got a compliment from the woman but she wasn't done looking through his notes.
"But your plans are crazy, with little to no basis on what we even know." Rakshata finished as she put the notes down and took a puff from her pipe, not that impressed with his theories about drifting with Kaiju, she could see why Stacker said no.
"But not impossible, otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to help me." Alas, Newton was nothing if not an optimist as he didn't hear her say that they wouldn't work.
"Does this have something to do with the fact pudding and Cecile are busy helping Nina with her bomb?" Rakshata asked him with a raised eyebrow seeing how the other two were (thankfully) not present and rather finishing up the final preparations on their little explosive surprise for the kaiju.
"What? No, no! I mean, you're the best of the two, clearly, and you share my opinions since you agreed to help me." Newton back up denying that, leaving out the part that he did in fact want to ask Lloyd first but Rakshata was the only one available. However, she had a background in medical cybernetics and by extension, know more about neurology then both he and Lloyd did.
"I agreed to make sure you don't fry your brain, even as you are, we need as much brains as we can get and losing one of them few remaining we have left on the payroll won't do to well for our species odds of not going extinct." Rakshata told him as she only agreed to this to be present in case he has an accident, which going by the odds, was very likely to happen. "You said yourself that this specimen might be too far gone for any use." She said as he walked over the tap the glass of the containment unit for the brain piece in question.
"True, but even then, if it's like a human brain which we already know is just like a biological computer, I might be able to get some valuable data." Newton replied as he and the rest of them finished up setting the connections before Rakshata moved towards the computer and started imputing commands and directives.
"You can also get some kind of virus." She threw back his computer terminology at him.
"Oh come on, you can't tell me you not the least bit interested in learning more about the Kaiju, especially after our findings on how they are all clones." Newton asked her as he had shown her his work and the two samples and after she ran her own test, he found the same results he did.
"I still find it amazing that all Kaiju follow the same base design, are made from the same material, they are just….different from others, almost like members of the same species were dropped into numerous, varying environments and they let natural selection take care of the rest." The genius bombshell of a scientist mused to herself as she was quite fascinated by that discovery.
"On fast forward, the time needed for one of the changes to occur naturally would be decades, maybe centuries seeing how we have no clue to their reproductive nature. That's not even factoring in the fact there are all still nearly genetically identical." Newton had the same thought but for the differences observed between the Kaiju to be remotely possible, they would need an extended period of time to.
"Thank heavens for that, the last thing we need is a Kaiju laying some kind of egg somewhere." Rakshata said with a wince as they could only imagine the destruction a new born could bring. The only good thing would be that he would smaller, slower and weaker, meaning that they might not even need to call for jaegers to kill it, just regular military.
"Alright, we're set. Let's begin." Newton said as they finished up the set-up. He took his seat in a repurposed office chair which they had secured to the floor. Along with that, they also tied his arms and legs down to prevent him from moving too much in case something….unfavourable happened. Once that was done, the finally started to put on the head harness that he would use to connect his mind to the kaiju's.
"Kaiju drift experiment, tape 1." Newton started as he had asked them to set up a microphone to record everything that happened for future's reference. "The brain segment is question if the frontal lobe harvested from the corpse of a category 3 Kaiju. Chances are the sample is far too damaged to drift with." He started as he had to admit to that point, that all this could be pointless if the brain was too damaged but he had to press on.
"Science aside, Herman, if you're listening to this then one of two things happened. The first being that I've either alive and I've just proven what I just did worked and in that case, you owe my future self an apology and a soda." He couldn't help that one bit. "The second being that this failed and I'm dead and in that case, please don't be too hard on Rakshata, she warned me against this and odds are, did everything she could to save my brain but you should feel ashamed of yourself. You drove me to this so in that case, I also win…..I think."
"Really, you recording that?" Rakshata asked him as she stood by the console, ready to turn the thing on.
"I want to cover all my bases, that's all." Newton covered that as he slowed his breathing and kept himself calm as she started counting down.
"Kaiju-human drifting experiment commencing in 3….2…..1…..start." Rakshata said as he pressed the button and activated the bridge. For a while, Newton was stick watching his life play out before him, from his earliest memories as a child to his awkward teenage years and his time at university. He saw it all and wondered for a brief moment if this was what jaeger pilots saw and felt everything they booted up their machines. The thought passed as soon as it came as he started to see memories that weren't his, ones he didn't know and could only come from once source. It was…hard to describe, it was like a space, but gravity seemed to be much weaker. There were other Kaiju there but some roaming around some jungle but rather, they were being…housed, as if they were livestock. He didn't understand but then he saw it, he saw that Kaiju were being tended to, being built as pieces were added to them like how one would built a house, only a fast forward. Then there were these…he didn't know what the hell to make of them but they didn't look anything close to human, but one thing were clear. They were in control, they were building the monsters that had been attacking them for ever a decade.
This was all in the span of only a few minutes.
"Dr. Greiszler, Dr. Greizler. Newton! Newton!" He heard someone calling out to him, he be didn't know who. He didn't even know where he was.
"His vitals are stable, he's still alive." One of the technicians said as they went to work turning everything off and getting him out of the chair as he jolted from side to side as if his muscles tensed and released in random order.
"And his brain?" Another asked as Rakshata kept her eyes on the screen monitoring just that.
"I don't see anything concerning on the screens." She replied as she got the guy loose and set him aside.
"What have you all done?!" Someone demanded as they all turned to see Herman along with Lloyd and Cecile walking into the room, moving as fast as he could with his limp and cane.
(Later – Shatterdome Simulation Facility.)
"They're about to start, aren't they?" Lelouch asked as he along with Viktoriya, stood on the main viewing platform for the simulation room. Calling it a room was to be fair, a bit of a stretch seeing how it was the size of a small concert hall. The walls had been covered over with panels and along with hologram technology, allowed a crowd of 3,400 to view any one of dozens of combat exercises up close and personal. The pilots in questions would enter the pod located where the stage would be, like the flight simulator found in many pilot schools, the pod itself could move about in real time to the simulation to bring as much reality onto it as possible.
"Yup, any minute now." Viktoriya answered him as waited for both the Marshall and Herc to arrive on deck. They had already spoken with Raleigh and he was already suited up and in the pod, waiting for his co-pilot to arrive.
"Room for more?" Herc asked as he and Chuck entered the viewing platform, being careful not to interfere with any of the crew working.
"Help yourself." Viktoriya gestured to the open space next to them as they came up and waited for the exercise to begin. "Did you manage to get him to change his mind?" She asked as Lelouch and Chuck started to talk a bit.
"Don't know, He's always been headstrong. He and Raleigh share that at least." Herc answered as he had found Stacker but the man was as stubborn as they came.
"I don't know about that but I don't see Mako anywhere and she's always on time." Viktoriya noted as Mako would normally be the first one on deck, yet she hadn't arrived yet and they were due to start any minute now.
"That means he might have taken my advice." Herc concluded with a small smile before he focused on what was really the issue here.
"Almost everyone gathered for this." Lelouch said to Chuck as the two stood away from their respective partners as they observed how the seats filled by pretty quickly.
"Of course, this will be a rookie's first simulation outside of the academy. Closest thing to an actual fight we can give her." Chuck said, though keeping his usual bite out of his tone, maybe he was willing to give her a chance, after-all he like Lelouch lost to Raleigh earlier that day. "I wonder which test module they're use, the Marshall seemed to have soft spot for her, so I wouldn't think he'll give her anything hard. A category 1 maybe."
"The commander isn't like that, he'll give them something challenging, nothing before category 3." Lelouch countered as though the Marshall may like her better than the rest of them, he wouldn't pull punches with her seeing how this is a test.
(With the two pilots)
"You ready?" Raleigh asked as he was pleasantly surprised when Mako was the one that walked into the pod and took up the left side.
"Of course, are you?" Mako shot back at him with a smile of her own as she put her helmet on and got into her harness, same as Raleigh as the crew strapped them in.
"Engage neural handshake." They both heard Tendo announced through the comms as they prep things on their end. It may not be real but they treated it as such.
"Remember Mako, this may be a simulation but treat it as a real combat drop. Don't chase the rabit," Raleigh warned her but when she gave him a confused look, he saw that he had to explain what he meant. "Random Access Brain Impulse Triggers, memories, important emotions, don't latch on to them let them floor like water off your hands. Stay in the drift, the drift is silence, you got that?" He told her Tendo counted down to connection.
Entering the drift again, it was an odd experience for the old pilot, he was used to seeing his own memories but where he normally see Yancy's, he saw something unfamiliar, memories of a childhood he wasn't a part of. He knew that these were Mako's memories and though curious as all humans, he didn't latch on and let them all slide off him. Though that proved easier said than done when he started hearing the same voice saying the same lines that had hunted his nightmares for years.
Ollie, listen to me!
Ollie, listen to me!
All at once, as if this all took place within a second, they were out of it as they found themselves back in their bodies, inside the pod. "Right hemisphere….calibrating." The automated prompts started as Mako started to move her right arm, with Raleigh lifting his in tandem.
"Left hemisphere…calibrating." Raleigh then moved his left arm which Mako copied, the two, now as one moved the armed of their machine into a standard boxing stance.
"Ready to activate the jaeger." The automated prompts continued on as the simulation begun to take shape, with the hologram projectors and hundreds of screens powering up and changing the dark hall into a vibrant and busy city area with everything from the people walking about to the birds in the skies. To the audience, they could see that the jaeger chosen for this exercise was the upgraded Gispy which stood in the a park as the two worked on their activation and warm-ups.
(With the Marshall)
"Alright, everything is riding stable and strong. Preparing to commence simulation exercise. Category 3 Kaiju, environment, Los Angeles." Tendo called out as Stacker and Herc watched on as Chuck, Lelouch and Viktoriya stood by the side, also observing.
"Marshall!" They all paused as they heard Cecile call out to them as he rushed into the viewing area. "Marshall! Sir, there is something I need to tell you!" The woman started out, out of breathe as if she had ran all the way there.
"Not now, Major Croomy. We are in the middle of a simulated combat trial. I'm sure you can appreciate all important this moment is to me." Stacker told her as he turned back to the simulation.
"Sir, Rakshata and Newton created a neural bride and he drifted with the Kaiju brain we have." Cecile blurted out to them, drawing all their attention as they faced her, no longer worrying about the trial and more concerned that their scientists just went up and done some really stupid move.
"He did what?" Herc asked to make sure he heard clearly.
(In the lab)
"When we came in, we found them in the middle of it, with Newton looking like he was having a seizure. He's awake now, Rakshata says there is no damage to his brain on the screens but he's still dazed." Cecile relayed to them as both she and Stacker entered the lab to find that Newt was seated on a chair, still looking shook up while the rest stood nearby.
"I never thought you would do something like this, Ms. Chawla." Stacker stated as he entered and took stock of the situation and frankly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to lock them up or just fire them for this blatant act against his orders.
"I was here to make sure he didn't turn his brains to mush, something I succeeded at." Rakshata defended herself as she rose both hands up, one of the few times she didn't have her pipe as she figured now wasn't the time to indulge her habit.
"I told you it would work." Newton said to him with a weak but present smile as he struggled to hold his glass of water steady.
"Yes you did, so what did you see?" Stacker admitted to that since he did think anyone who was dumb enough to make the attempt would be dead or a vegetable by now.
"Well it was a fragment of a brain so I was able to get was…." Newton started and it was clear that whatever he saw was still messing with him as he found it hard to put it into words. "Series of images or, or impressions you know, like when you blink your eyes over and over, all you see are like…frames." Before he could continue rumbling on, Cecile stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder to both stop him and draw his attention.
"Newt, look at me. Calm down, have some water, take a deep breath and start again, from the top. Alright?" Cecile instructed him as she waited for him to get his breathing under control again before he nodded his head and took a sip of water.
"A-alright, sorry, that was….surreal." Newton said with a weak chuckle as he was sure that he'll be seeing that in his nightmares for years to come.
"I can imagine." Lloyd said as he took the now empty glass of water from him to go and refill it in case he got thirsty.
"Okay, so I don't feel like they're following some sort of animalistic urge, you know just like hunting and gathering. I think they're attacking us under orders." Newton told them all, to which Herman disagreed with him on the spot.
"That's impossible." Herman stated, not entertaining the notion that these beast could even comprehend a master/servant relationship.
"You say impossible?" And clearly Newton didn't take kindly to that as he got ready to argue with the man for what felt like the thousandth time, something none of them wanted to have to sit through.
"That's right." Herman stood his ground as he refuted him.
"You know what, WHY DON'T YOU DRIFT WITH A KAIJU AND PROVE ME WRONG!" Newton yelled at him as he nearly jumped to his feet and actually start throwing hands if not for Cecile keeping him in place before Stacker decided they didn't have time for this.
"You! Shut up!" Stacker yelled at Herman, his volume and tone loud enough to get the man to comply instantly. "And you! Keep on talking." He then turned to Newton again but soften his tone as he finished the command.
"These beings….these….masters. Their colonists. They don't just invade continents, they invade whole damn worlds. They just consume them and then they move on to the next, and the next, I don't know how many times but know they don't this enough that it might as well be an extract science and they've been here before, and it was the dinosaurs but the atmosphere was conducive enough, wasn't to their liking so they pulled back and waited it out and waited it out." Newton told them all but took a quick pause when he realised that he was starting to ramble one and one like an old record.
"Newton, the dinosaurs died out over 65 million years ago. Are you telling us that these 'masters' have been around that long? What species would even hope to last half that time unchanged?" Lloyd asked him, speaking up for the first time since he got there as this was big news, VERY big news.
"I don't know, but I'm telling you what I saw, what I...felt when I drifted with the Kaiju brain sample. And you know with ozone depletion, carbon monoxide and polluted waters, will we practically terraformed the planet for them. Cause how they're coming back, and its perfect for them." Newton told them all as he wanted to rip his hair out at the fact they unknowingly did all the leg work and now were being forcible removed from the equation.
"That doesn't sound good." Cecile voiced as that would mean that this wasn't a recent thing, far from it, this was an issue that predated not just the human race but most mammals in general.
"More like our worst nightmare." Rakshata voiced, this was proven even more when Newton started to chuckle as it that was a funny joke.
"That's not the worst part. The worst part is that up till now, they haven't been taking us seriously, the first waves, everything up until now, those were nothing! Those were just the hounds, categories 1 through 4, their sole purpose was to aim for the populated areas and take out the vermin-us. The second wave, that is the exterminators, category 5s and above, they are the real monsters, and they will finish the job. And then," he had been building up speed as he spoke but just paused, as if whatever he was about to say scared him even more than it did them. "The new tenants will take procession."
Hearing this, Stacker got up from his own chair to think about this and the implications and consequences this now showed them, all the while Newton kept on talking. "See that is the reason that we found the same DNA in the different Kaiju samples is because they are grown, built just like a jaeger. I didn't see much but from what I did see, I saw that they can produce Kaiju on mass and with the resources of multiple worlds at their disposal, they have the capacity to mass produce. We don't." he let that last piece as he they knew just how screwed they were, being up against an enemy that had no real way of engaging in a meaningful way and that could out produce them, something that was major thing now since the world governments had shut down all jaeger production plants. Even if they could get this info to them and restart them, it took months to build even just one unit.
"Newton, Rakshata, I need you two to do it again. We need more information." Stacker ordered them, seeing that their little gamble paid off in more ways than one but now they needed more than that.
"We can't do it again….I mean, not unless you have a fresh Kaiju brain laying around." Newton told him there wasn't anything more he could get from the brain they had but Stacker had look in his eyes that said he knew more than he was letting on. "Do you?"
(Back with the others)
Back in the simulation room, Raleigh and Mako had finished going through all the motions needed to get used to their new machine and were now being told that the actual combat part of the exercise would be beginning soon.
"Pretty impressive." Herc noted as they hadn't thought the two would sync this well on their first time.
"Yeah, they remember how to turn it on." Chuck, on the other hand, wasn't that impressed. Something his father didn't like as he gave him a light smack on his arm.
"Hey, show some respect. When his brother died, he managed to get the jaeger back to shore by himself. I've know one other pilot do to that." Herc told him as that feat alone made Raleigh a legend among pilots as most wouldn't have been able to pilot a jaeger solo, never-mind one that was damaged as much as it was way back when. However, as the countdown to the combat exercise, Tendo noticed that something was off.
"What is it?" Lelouch asked as he stepped forward.
"They're both out of alignment." Tendo replied as the simulated jaeger stopped when the two pilots fell out of alignment.
"Both of them?" Viktoriya asked as this was a rare thing to happen, they expected Mako as a newbie would have some trouble but Raleigh should know what he was doing, so what was going on?
"Gipsy, Gipsy! You are out of alignment, you are both out of alignment." Tendo told them over the comms as he worked on his end to fix the problem.
"Sorry, sorry, just….give me a moment to gather myself." Raleigh replied over the speakers as he seemed out of breathe, like he had seen something that came out of no-where and shocked him. At least the charts showed that he was falling back in but Mako seemed to be going even further down the deep-end.
"You're stabilising but Mako is way off." Tendo told him as he couldn't understand just what the hell she was seeing.
"She's starting to chase the rabit." Herc said as this was the only thing that could the culprit. Dammit, she was making a rookie mistake at the worst of times.
"Can you hear me, Mako? Mako respond!" Tendo asked her hoping she'll snap out of it but to their dismay, she didn't react to them at all. She did react to something as she activated Gispy's left Plasma cannon.
"She's activating the weapons!" Lelouch called out as this was serious, simulation it may be, there were protocols for a reason.
"But the simulations hasn't even started yet!" Viktoriya cried out as they hadn't even loaded in a target yet, there was nothing there for even fight.
"What the hell is she seeing?!" Chuck demanded as it didn't seem to matter to Mako that there was no target, whatever she was seeing was enough of threat that she was about to fire on a populated civilian area. The AI people in the program reacting to this as they begun to panic and started to ran away as fast as they could.
"I don't care, cut the exercise, now! Go to failsafe!" Herc yelled at the staff as one of them nodded his head before smashing the kill switch but to their shock and growing concern, nothing happened even after the guy kept hitting the button.
"We can't failsafe's aren't responding! There's a problem with the neural blocker, her connection's too strong!" He reported as Tendo tried using his master controller to see if he couldn't end this but got the same result. All while, they could hear Raleigh trying to calm her down, get her out of whatever nightmare she was in as the weapon charged up.
"Cut the power, now!" Herc ordered them as the plasma cannon fully charged up and to their horror, discharged into a nearby building, not only smashing it but sending debris raining down onto the streets, killing and injuring whoever was unlucky enough to be nearby. It didn't stop there as the canon kept on cycling, fire shot after shot into their general direction even as Raleigh tried to override her controls himself.
"But sir, that might damage them if pull them out now." One of the controllers reminded them as the crowd watching could only watch on in anger, shock and horror at how horrible this simply exercise was turning out as they got a front row seat to the devastation a rogue jaeger could inflict upon the very city and people they were built to protect.
"Better that then whatever she'll do to herself if she stays in whatever nightmare she's in!" Lelouch cut in as he stepped forward to assist Tendo in shutting this shit show down before it somehow got worse.
"Right, cutting power!" Another said as he tried to kill the main power line to the simulation but found that it wasn't responding. Of all the times for faulty equipment to hear it's head! "Dammit, not responding!"
"Oh for the love of-! Give me a hand, we'll just pull out as much cables we can need to!" Lelouch said as he pulled Chuck with him around the main console as they started pulling out whatever cables they could. Tendo soon joining them as he knew which wires and plugs to remove which really sped things up. As they rushed to end things, Mako started going on a rampage as she piloted the jaeger to move about and both fire and punch at whatever she was seeing, leading to even more destruction.
"Take them offline!" Stacker yelled as he rushed into the room, having heard the commotion on the way over back from giving Newton instructions on who to speak to on getting that Kaiju brain. It was a heartening sight for him to see the girl he took in and raised as his own losing control like this and firing on a target that wasn't there. The thing ended when Tendo, which help from Chuck ripped out the main power line, killing the exercise as the holograms died out, the screens frizzled out and the pod stop moving about.
"We just did." Tendo breathed out as he stood, holding the line in hand as the crowd that had gathered couldn't help but stare forward as they broke into conversation about the disaster they had just seen. If that was an actual city…..hundreds would be dead by now even though it was only a simulation, the fact is that once upon a time, they didn't have that tech and would have had to give her a test drive in the actual thing, meaning she would have killed the lot of them and heavily damaged if not destroyed the shatterdome.
"Jesus Christ, of all the ways this could have failed, this might just be the worst of the fucking bunch." Lelouch cursed to himself in Japanese as he kicked the console.
"Get medics down there now, I want both of them to get a full check-up." Stacker ordered them, though they all noted the look in his eyes wasn't a pleasant one but chose to ignore it for now. "You three stay here and see just what the hell stopped you from preventing this from happening." He finished as he pointed towards Tendo, Lelouch and Viktoriya.
"Sir!" All three saluted him as they quickly got to work inspecting everything, looking to find whatever prevented them from stopping the entire mess.
"That was her only chance." Viktoriya muttered to herself as she looked down through the glass at how everyone was being ordered to leave and get back to work, all while a stretcher carried off a unresponsive Mako.
"We did all we could. She had her shot, and sadly, she blew it." Lelouch cut her down as he may have wanted her to have that shot at payback, he wasn't willing risk both her and their health over it. It looked like she'll never become a pilot.
If the follow-up chapter hasn't appeared yet, give it about 20 minutes, this site can have its issues.