January 2nd 2025

6:00pm

The trip to Hong Kong was as exciting as one would expect with a two year old passenger. Ezra was excited for the first twenty minutes of flying over the ocean before he became bored and sat back in his seat with a frown on his face. The pout was adorable and Analia had a hard time ignoring it. She met Raleigh's gaze beside her and he gave her a loving smile. He reached over and laced their fingers together. With a sigh she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. A few moments later she felt Ezra curl up in the seat and rest his head in her lap. She put her arm over him and rubbed her thumb on his arm to help soothe him. Before too long she was drifting to sleep.

She woke later on in the flight to Raleigh moving around a bit. She sat upright and looked around momentarily. First her eyes caught the fact that her son was still asleep on her lap and then she saw Raleigh looking at her.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked him as she yawned.

"About twelve hours." He replied, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Did you sleep at all?" She inquired.

"I just woke up as well." He told her with a smile

"How much longer?"

"Two hours Mrs. Becket." Pentecost suddenly spoke up, causing her to jump slightly. She quickly looked down to make sure her jolt hadn't cause Ezra to wake and she was thankful he was such a heavy sleeper like his father.

"Thank you sir." She replied. He gave her a nod and as he looked out the window again she caught the smirk that had barely lifted the corner of his mouth.

"I think he likes me." She leaned over and whispered to Raleigh who looked at Pentecost and chuckled.

"You called him sir, yet you are not a pilot. I think he is more amused than anything." Raleigh responded.

"So he doesn't like me?" She asked with a smirk.

"Don't get your hopes up sweetheart." He whispered back and gave her a peck on the lips.

"Whatever you say smart ass." She rolled her eyes and looked out the window.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye and soon she was waking up Ezra so he could get a good look at the Shatterdome. It took her a few minutes but once she knew he was awake she told him they were arriving and he jumped up and pressed his face against the glass. She chuckled and got close enough to see out the window as well. From where they were she could see six bay doors where the Jaegers were deployed. Above that was the helipad where people were also just arriving and getting equipment inside.

The landing was a bit rough but once they had landed she took a deep breath. She had never liked drops. Ezra was a bundle of energy and when she picked him up he fussed for a few moment until she explained why he couldn't all around on his own. As she exited the Helicopter she realized it was raining and with a puff she quickly shuffled to Raleigh's side where Pentecost was introducing him to a young japanese woman.

"Mr. Becket, this is Mako Mori. One of my brightest, also in charge of the Mark 3 restoration program. She personally handpicked your co-pilot candidates." She hears Pentecost say and she feels a bit left out as he doesn't introduce her but she wasn't really important in this environment. Mako spoke quickly in a different language but what surprised her was when he husband replied back in fluent Japanese. She looked at him with wide eyes. She had known him for over five years and the fact that he spoke another language had never come up in conversation.

"Who is this?" Mako asks, her eyes fix on the little boy in her arms. Analia surprisingly doesn't feel threatened by Mako. Usually when other women looked at Ezra she got this overwhelming urge to keep her son as far away from them as with Mako she felt that at ease. It was as if she knew Mako would never hurt her son or take him away from her.

"Ms. Mori, this is my wife Analia and our son Ezra." Raleigh introduces, placing an arm around her shoulder and giving her a kiss on her temple. Not sure what to say she just bows her head in greeting.

"You'll get the tour of the facility first and then Miss Mori will show you to your Jaeger, Mr. Becket." Pentecost announced as they walked out of the Raina bed into an elevator with large cylinders filled with yellow liquid to keep what looked like Kaiju body parts intact. She got close to one of the containers to get a better look at what was inside when two voices startled her.

"Wait for us!" "Hold the door, please!" She quickly moved out of the way as two men rushed into the elevator, shaking off the rain. She continued to back up until she bumped into Raleighs chest. His hands find her hips and she looks up at him to see an amused look.

"Stand back, Kaiju specimens are extremely rare, so look but don't touch, please." The younger man of the two spoke. Taking off his leather jacket and rolling up his sleeves, revealing tattoos on both his wrists of two different Kaiju. She raised an eyebrow at his choice but said nothing.

"Mr. Becket, this is our research team. Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler." Pentecost introduced.

"Call me Newt. Only my mother calls me doctor." The younger one spoke again before turning to his colleague. "Hermann, these are human beings. Why don't you say hello?" She snorted but quickly quieted her laughter when Newton looked her way with a smirk on his face.

"I have asked you not to refer to me by my first name in front of others. I have more than 10 years..." The older one sneered and she gathered that he was a realist. He prefer things proper and organized and she instantly knew that Newton was more of a go with the flow kind of guy.

"I'm sorry." Newton apologized sarcastically.

"Please." Hermann scoffed.

"What is that, Yamarashi?" Raleigh asked pointing at the tattoo on Newton's arm.

"This little Kaiju? Yeah, you got a good eye." Newton replied and she felt Raleigh stiffen behind her, his hands gripped her hips just a littler hard.

"My brother and I took him down in 2017." Raleigh replied. She didn't have to see his face to know his jaw was clenched.

"You know he was one of the biggest Category 3's ever? He was two thousand five hundred tons of awesome." As soon as the scientist had spoken, Raleighs fingers clamped down on her hip painfully hard and she fought to keep the grimace off of her face. There was a pause and she could feel the cold glare going cover her head. She places a hand over his and he instantly releases his grip on her hips.

"Don't listen to him." She says, looking up at her husband.

"Or awful, you know, whatever you wanna call it." Newton quickly corrected and she gave him a shake of her head, signaling for him to just shut up.

"Please, excuse him. He's a Kaiju groupie, he loves them." The other doctor said, also glaring at his partner.

"Shut up, Hermann. I don't love them, okay? I study them. And unlike most people, I wanna see one live and up close one day." Newton defended and she gave him a bewildered look. She had seen one up close or at least as close as a civilian could be without trying and it had been terrifying.

"Trust me, you don't want to." Raleigh bit out. Moments later the elevator opened and let the doctors out leaving the five of them in the small space. "So that's your research division?"

"Things have changed. We're not an army anymore, Mr. Becket. We're the resistance. Welcome to the Shatterdome." Pentecost replied as the elevator opened once again to reveal the main hangar. They walk into the large room, earning plenty of stares from the people milling about.

"Wow. This is incredible." She gasps, shifting Ezra to her other hip gently seeing as he ad fallen back to sleep in the looks down at her and smiles. He turns around and she follows his gaze as he spots a clock that was counting up from 14 hours.

"War clock. We re-set it after every Kaiju attack, it keeps everyone focused. The frequency of attacks is accelerating." Pentecost informed them. That made her bristle. The attacks were becoming more frequent which meant there were more opportunities for her husband to be deployed with the chance of her never seeing him again.

"How long until the next re-set?" Raleigh asked.

"A week, if we're lucky. Our experts believe there will be a Kaiju attack even before that. This complex used to launch thirty Jaegers in five days, just like this one. Now we only have four Jaegers left." Pentecost replied.

"I didn't know it was this bad." She could hear the guilt in his voice. She knew that he had been hiding all the years from Pentecost. He didn't want to be a pilot anymore but when it came down to it he was the only Mark 3 pilot left and his morals went against saying no. He was here because he felt it was his duty to the world. Not because he wanted to be.

"It is that bad." Pentecost affirmed, continuing on to introduced Raleigh to the pilots of the jaeger that were in the hangar.

Each machine was unique in its own way and standing below them was intimidating. It only made her wonder what it was like to be in one. She looked at Raleigh as she thought what it would be like to pilot a jaeger with him. She knew that it meant they would mind meld. He had taught her the meditation tricks to clear her mind of any and all memories in order to drift. He had explained what it was like being in the suit and to control it. He had even drawn out a very rough sketch of the interior and what each control did. Back then it was as if he had been training her to be his pilot but at some point she realized that he didn't want to go back so it was impossible to tell why he had taught her everything he knew about the Jaegers.

"Herc! Chuck! Welcome to Hong Kong!" Pentecostal voice pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see two men approaching them. They looked similar but by the age difference she guessed that they were a father and son pilot duo. She sees Mako crouch down and she gives her an odd look until she sees the dog that the older man was leading.

"Max! Come here!" Mako called out to the dog as the man released the leash. The dog came running over the the woman instantly, excited to get some attention.

"Don't drool over Miss Mori." Pentecost ordered the dog who didn't exactly listen.

"He sees a pretty girl and he gets all wound up.

"Raleigh, this is Hercules Hansen, an old friend from the Mark 1 glory days." Pentecost introduces.

"I know you, mate. We rode together before." Here said as he shook her husband's hand.

"We did, sir. Six years ago, my brother and I took three Jaeger team drops." Raleigh smiles at the man.

"That's right, Manila. I'm sorry about your brother." Herc replies sincerely and she smiles at the exchange.

"Thank you, sir."

"Who is this young Lady?" Here asks looking at her for a moment she wonders why he doesn't say anything about Ezra when she realizes she is turned to the point where he can't see their child.

"Oh, this is Analia, my wife. She took care of me after..." He trails off not wanting to think about it too much. His gaze finds hers and she gives him a comforting smile.

"I still take care of you kid." She finally fully faces the new man and his eyes widen seeing the sleeping boy in her arms.

"Who are you calling kid? I'm older than you!" Raleigh exclaims.

"I already like her mate. She's a keeper. Who is this little guy?" The smile on his face makes her relax knowing the man understands her protective nature for her son. She looks at her sleeping boy and smiles

"Oh...this little bundle of joy is Ezra." She kisses the side of her sons face.

"How old is he?"

"He just turned two." She replied just encore Pentecost interjects before the conversation becomes a full fledged talk about children.

"Herc and his son Chuck will be running Striker Eureka, the fastest Jaeger in the world. First and last of the Mark 5's. Australia decommissioned it a day before the Sydney attack." Pentecost told them.

"Yeah, it was lucky we were still around." Herc breathed out and she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Yep, now it's running point for us." Pentecost said and she looks over at him confused.

"Wait, running point on what? You haven't told me what we're doing here yet." Raleigh demands.

"We're going for the breach, Mr. Becket. We're gonna Sheppard two thousand four hundred pound thermonuclear warheads onto Striker's back, detonating equivalent of 1.2 million tons of TNT. And you, and two other Jaegers will be running defense with him." Pentecost explained.

"I thought we were the resistance. Where do you get something like that up here?" Raleigh asked.

"See the Russians back there? They can get us anything." Pentecost said matter of factly. A few moments pass before the Marshall sighs and heads off away from them. "Herc, shall we?"

"Good to have you back, Lieutenant." Here says as he parts Raleigh's shoulder and follows Pentecost.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Analia." Herc says to her and she inclines her head in acknowledgement. Miss Moro began to say something but before she could get two words out Raleigh interrupted.

"Miss Mori, will you give me a minute?" Raleigh says before running off after Pentecost.

She stands there with Mako for a few moments in silence as Raleigh speaks to Pentecost about something. From this distance she couldn't hear not read his lips so she just opted for looking around the hangar. There were a lot of people passing by and each one gave her an odd look. She couldn't blame them though. She was holding a two year old. She had no business in the Shatterdome. She was a civilian, a medic, not a Jaeger pilot or technician. She felt out of place but it wasn't a feeling she was unfamiliar with. She just had to act as if she belonged.

"So you found him after the crash?" Mako asked.

"No...a family friend did. I was a part time nurse at the time so they brought him back to house where I stitched him up and took care of him." She explained as she continued to look around. As she finished speaking she met Mako's gaze.

"He is very lucky to have you." Mako said. In her eyes Ana could see the sadness and slight jealousy. She knew it was just jealousy that she had found someone and had even had a child with him.

"Indeed." She mused, watching her husband. "He probably wouldn't be here without my help."

"Do you know what happened?" Mako inquired.

"Every detail." She doesn't elaborate and they fall into a slightly uncomfortable silence. She liked Mako but she was sensing that the Japanese girl was a bit nosy. Though she couldn't blame her. She would be curious about the pilot that had gone missing for five years too. Not soon enough Raleigh came back and she smiled at him. The look he gave her told her he would explain later.

"Shall we?"