A long, rusted boat knocked into a wooden pier, a clunking noise ringing through the humid air. Tendo stood at the bow, clicking his pen as he glanced over a paper on a clipboard. Visibility was low due to the dense fog around the area, but there was no time to complain. The boat had arrived at Oblivion Bay only a week after Tendo announced his trip to the location. The boat rumbled under the weight of two Jaegers standing at its center. The tech found the ride over somewhat unsettling, especially since it was just him and two giant machines going to this hell hole.
Engineers had finally attached Crimson's Conn-Pod to her body, allowing her to get a better feel of the area around her. The Jaeger looked much better that way, Tendo imagined. Cherno's gashes in his nuclear tower had been patched, another "thank goodness" moment in the tech's mind. Most importantly, the Jaegers had been set up with vocal synthesizers that allowed them to speak. Or so Tendo thought. Neither of them had said a word so far, so he didn't really know if his inventions worked or not.
Tendo stood near the edge of the bow and leaped to the dock, nearly dropping his pen into the sliver of water behind him.
"Let's go, fellas," he called, hearing the boat creak as the Jaegers stepped onto dry land.
Tendo looked at his clipboard again. He had a paper detailing Striker Eureka's design on it, as well as a map of which Jaegers were stationed at Oblivion Bay. He circled some parts on the map, writing notes as he went. Suddenly, Cherno let out a low hum, causing the tech to whip around with a gasp. Scared shitless again, no surprise.
"Sorry, boys," he exclaimed, tapping his pen on the clipboard. "This is what I'm thinking... The parts don't need to match a Mark-5 'cause our engineers can mold 'em into it. We just need good, solid pieces to serve as the foundation. I've got a map with locations circled-they're Jaegers I'd most like to steal from. Here's the deal: we need Horizon Brave's legs, Tacit Ronin's arms, and Romeo Blue's chest piece. I'll get some abdomen and Conn-Pod scrap metal from the old training bots. Load the parts up onto the ship, then we can get the hell outta here."
Blinking lights went off on the Jaegers, similar to how humans would nod their heads. Crimson and Cherno turned inward to the junkyard, their hydraulics spurting as they took heavy steps forward. They began scanning the scrap heaps for the desired parts, but they found mostly trash from illegal dumping situations. Cherno felt a nudge in the drift.
"[It is not good here,]" whispered Crimson. "[Our friends, we steal.]"
Cherno's metal creaked as he took a large step over some scrap. "[To be here is to be in a graveyard. Our brothers and sisters remain silent. Rusted, lifeless.]"
"[Like we were,]" the red Jaeger added.
"[Thrown away. No eyes on them, just bugs and mist,]" Cherno said.
The two continued their walk, breezing through the dense air. If they could feel anything, which they were certain they could to an extent, they would feel uneasy. This was a place they could have been if the humans decided upon it: standing here, metal rusting, as the dim light rushed over them for a few hours every day. Not a single sound.
Oblivion Bay… What a fitting name. Anyone who graced these Pentecost-forsaken grounds came back with a story of being watched, of being stalked. Many people swore up and down that there was the faintest beeping noise in the distance, but no one had dared to venture too far into the graveyard. Back there was a pile of undocumented Jaeger scraps, at least if they remembered correctly, but it had remained untouched for what seemed to be forever. One of the Shatterdome's so-called "crazy techs" told Tendo he had noted something moving on a radar system near the scrap heap, but he was dismissed almost immediately. Whether that was because he was crazy or Tendo didn't want to be freaked out… No one was for certain.
Crimson's sensors soon picked up a large object to their right. As they drew closer a few steps ahead, a great metal blade emerged through the fog. It was dark and falling apart, situated high up on a figure.
"[Romeo,]" called Crimson. "[He is unwell.]"
The rusted Jaeger was still standing, although he was slightly titled to one side. Any little breeze could knock him over, she presumed. He had been there for a while, completely lifeless for who knows how long.
"[We will remove his chest piece,]" Cherno commented. "[But then we leave him for nothing. Not a Jaeger, just torn apart.]"
"[He is friend. We steal from friend. I hope he understands,]" Crimson replied.
Cherno opened his massive hands and grasped them against Romeo's shoulders, effectively stabilizing him. The Russian could feel flecks of rust falling onto his metal and onto the ground. Romeo was such a fragile thing now. Crimson held a right arm out, exposing her blades and starting up the saw. A whirring noise echoed through the silent air as she brought the blade closer to the lifeless Jaeger. She first made contact with his "neck," sparks flying and metal screeching. She was sure it would take some effort to remove Romeo's Conn-Pod, but he was so weak and frail that the metal just gave way easily. She made a clean slice through, allowing the Conn-Pod to drop down to the ground with a thump.
"[It is sad,]" she muttered. "[I do this to my own kind.]"
She picked her sawblade up again and began whirring it through Romeo's abdomen, just under his chest piece. The noise sounded like a cry, more sparks shooting up at the machines. Cherno soon felt Romeo's lower body become limp, then it toppled to the ground in front of him. With a deep growl, Crimson activated the sawblade on her left arm. She positioned her two blades at Romeo's shoulders, pushing forward to cut through the weak metal.
"[I enjoyed his company,]" Cherno noted. "[He was always good to me.]"
Crimson pushed the blades fully through, both arms dropping to the floor and crashing into other scraps. She zipped her saw through the large blade on Romeo's chest, cutting it clean off, as well.
"[I'll take this to the boat,]" Cherno quietly stated. "[You find another.]"
Crimson slowed her saws, positioning them back to normal as she watched Cherno walk off to the boat. The only reason she kept going was because this was for Striker, a friend near and dear to herself. She pummeled through more mounds of dirt, each step flattening clumps of scrap and debris. Her scanner continued to graze the area in search of more pieces, although a part of her didn't want to continue. Her lights blared through the mist, and she realized she was actually feeling things. Guilt, uneasiness, and fear... It all traced through her wiring and shocked her circuits.
Another figure began appearing through the fog. It was positioned on its side near a large pile of bolts, barely noticeable against the rusty ground in the area. The destroyed Jaeger's Conn-Pod sat in front of the body, a broken point searing into the sky.
"[Tacit, I'm sorry,]" Crimson explained. "[Know it is for a good reason. I would never hurt you. Not in a million years.]"
She grabbed one of Tacit's shoulders with her left hand, holding steady as the rotting metal began caving in instantly. One right hand transitioned into a sawblade, nearing the weapon toward Tacit's arm. She finally made contact, the metal breaking away as easily as Romeo's. A terrible, high-pitched sound came through, enough to make any living creature nearby cringe. With a jerk, the arm came off into Crimson's other right hand, and she caught the body with her left. This was difficult to do, especially since Tacit's Conn-Pod appeared to be watching.
Crimson manipulated the body to bury her saw into the other arm. It screeched and groaned with every twist, rust flaking to the ground by her feet. A loud whirring noise echoed as she cut straight through, collecting the arm with her open hand and dropping the body down. Tacit landed with a thud near her original resting place, set to stay motionless for another long slumber. For some reason, Crimson felt the need to move Tacit's Conn-Pod against the body, making the Jaeger nearly whole again. It was the least she could do, anyway.
The Chinese Jaeger turned her Conn-Pod toward the boat, and she began moving to it. Her joints moaned with every movement as she dragged Tacit's arms behind her, carving a path in the dirty ground. She could see a light shining through the mist in the distance, and she figured it must have been Cherno. She pulled her legs over a large pile of scrap, steam hissing from her back vents. On the way back, she accessed her visions from the drift. They were views from Cheung, Jin, and Hu as they grew up, played pranks on each other, and fought Kaiju alongside her. They had memories of seeing Jaegers like Romeo, Tacit, and Horizon... back when they were standing proud and not heaps of junk.
Crimson nearly hit Cherno before stopping in her tracks. The Russian Jaeger was loading a pair of metal legs onto the boat. They were Horizon Brave's, equally as rusted as the other pieces. She stood by him and leaned over the boat, gently placing Tacit's arms near the other pieces.
"Can I get some help over here?" a voice called near a pile of metal behind them.
Cherno's engine rumbled as he turned around, and he moved over to Tendo. The tech had gathered various pieces of metal to graft for Striker's Conn-Pod and abdomen, but outside of gathering them together, he couldn't hardly move them to the boat. Cherno sunk his hands downward, scooping up the pile of materials. Dirt fell from the load as he marched back to the boat, scanning for an area to put it. There, next to Romeo's chest piece. He reached over and dropped the scrap down, producing a "clank" upon contact.
Tendo wiped his hands off when he returned to the dock. "Well done, gentlemen. We got all we needed, and Herc's gonna be a happy fella." He paused for a moment. "Why don't you two speak to me, anyway?"
The Jaegers stood motionless before a loud, static noise came from Cherno. Tendo covered his hands over his ears, grinding his teeth together. The noise ended in a low, reverberating growl, hanging in the air like the mist around them. Tendo looked up at the Russian machine.
"Well, I guess that's why," he commented, his ears still ringing. "I'll get that fixed up for you two so you can talk without... that... happening."
He jumped onto the boat, taking his place at the bow again. The boat rocked back and forth as the Jaegers got on, and Tendo prayed that the ship wouldn't capsize. It would be a long trip back to the Shatterdome, but the mission was complete. They were this much closer to bringing back an old friend, one who already knew his time was coming.
Hermann scratched a piece of chalk across a blackboard, causing Newt to cringe heavily. They had been camped in the K-Science Lab for a few hours, the sound of chalk squeaking going on for almost the whole time.
Newt shot a look back, finally done with the noise. "Hermann, could you-"
"Dr. Gieszler! I've let it slide for a while, but that's enough! I am a doctor, and you will call me by my appropriate title," Hermann shouted, still focused on his work.
Newt stuck his chin in, imitating the other scientist quietly. He looked at the phone in his hand, one that he had been working on for the last 40 minutes. He gave a sigh and dialed a number, pulling the phone up to his ear.
"You know," began Hermann, "just because you call him 20 times with a new number doesn't mean he'll respond."
"Damn it, Hermann!" Newt hissed back. "Can't you be quiet for a minute? You're always ripping chalk or running those fat flibs of-"
The phone let out a strange noise when no one answered the call. "Please leave a message for Raleigh Becket at the tone."
A long beep rung out, and Newt rubbed his temples. "Hey, uh, Raleigh, it's Newt from the science department of the PPDC. We're tryin' to reach you, man, but you never return our calls. Let us know if you're alive, err, still using this number... Well, if you're not, I guess this would be awkward. Sorry to whoever this is."
Hermann rolled his eyes as it went quiet for a moment.
"Uh, OK, I'll hang up now. If you get another call in five minutes, that's probably me again. Just pick up your phone, dang it," he said, clicking the end button.
"How professional of you," muttered Hermann, earning a glare from the other scientist.
"Who put me in charge of this, anyway?" yelped Newt. "I'm a Kaiju scientist, not a housekeeper!"
"You heard Herc..." came a reply.
Newt mocked the other man again. "I think I'll have to show him a piece of my mind!"
"Unfortunately, that's not much," Hermann quipped.
The younger man gaped his mouth open, furrowing his eyebrows. "Do you always have to be stupid?"
A slight chuckle came from near the chalkboard, and Newt decided to leave it at that. He tightened his glasses on his face as he left the science lab, looking like an outsider among the racing engineers in the hallway. He didn't know exactly where Herc was, but he figured it was worth a shot to check the Jaeger hangar. After all, the engineers seemed busy, and that somehow gave him confidence to stroll on over there. He straightened his tie upon walking through a set of large, metal doors. The smell of smoke hit his nose immediately, earning himself a small gag.
Newt cocked his head back to look at the red and dark green Jaegers. Engineers were positioned around them, welding extra plating to areas they saw fit. Sparks rained down from the machines they were using, and churning noises filled the air. The scientist quickly dodged out of a cart's way, motioning his hand in an "I'm sorry" manner. It was bustling today, and he had an idea of why. From what he understood, they were building-or rebuilding, he thought-another Jaeger. It would be in the last bay to the left, but he honestly didn't care much. He was much more into Kaiju, and everyone in the Shatterdome knew about it. That's why he was always late to hear about Jaeger news.
"Ay, Newt," called a voice from the side. "Ovah here!"
Newt followed the sound and eventually made it to Herc. They smiled at each other and shook hands, although the scientist was still incredibly awkward with that gesture.
"How's the phone callin' going?" Herc asked.
Newt loosened his collar. "Nothing yet, but I know a reply is coming soon. I can feel it!"
Herc frowned. What else was he expecting? He turned away from the scientist, tilting his chin upwards. Newt followed his gaze high into the air.
"What is that thing?" his scraggly voice coughed out.
Herc laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "He's a handsome bludger, ain't he? Top of 'is class, mate."
That didn't really answer the question, so Newt tried again. "So, what is it?"
"That there is Striker Eureka," came an Australian accent. "Mark-5, energy core X16 supercell chamber, fastest and strongest Jaeger ever built."
There were at least double the number of engineers working on this half-built machine than the other two, Newt thought. It looked like a thrown-together kids' toy, colors not matching and pieces not fitting together. It didn't really look anything like the original Striker, if he had to say so himself.
"It's been a few days since we brought this old bugger back here. Now look at him, coming along just fine and dandy," Herc added, wiping sweat off his forehead.
Newt sniffled and glanced around the room. He wondered why they positioned Striker two bays away from the other Jaegers. Maybe it was evil and wanted to kill the rest of them. He extended a finger toward the empty bay.
"Why is that one empty?" he asked.
Herc followed the other man's finger with his eyes. He snorted slightly. "That's Gipsy's bay, mate. An' nobody takes that one. See that there?" He nodded his head toward the bottom of the empty bay. "That's a little thank ya to 'er and the pilots."
Newt moved closer to the bay, noticing a faded logo halfway up the wall. It was a woman holding a gun with ammo wrapped around her body. Another object quickly grabbed his attention. He saw a piece of granite laying on the ground, cards and gifts scattered near it. He squatted down to take a closer look, squinting his eyes heavily.
"Are these thank you cards?" he questioned.
"Sure are," came a woman's voice, causing him to jump back to his feet.
Newt shakily looked over to see Mako's face, and he gave a sigh of relief. His heart was pounding out of his chest as if he saw a ghost.
"I see you like the monument," Mako continued. "I find it to be very nice."
The scientist nodded, his glasses shaking on his head. "Oh, right. I just wanted to, uh, see what was going on over here."
The woman laughed quietly, motioning toward the granite slab. "It is for Gipsy, my beloved Jaeger."
Silence hung in the air before Newt cleared his throat. "He blew up, didn't he?"
Of course, when Newt was involved, things always turned awkward. Even he was surprised by that sudden comment, sucking his cheeks in and trying to look anywhere but in Mako's direction.
"She..." came the woman's voice. "Gipsy is a she."
Honestly, that note could have been much, much worse. Somehow, he was still alive and breathing.
"How do you know?" the scientist retorted.
"She is strong but loving," came the quick reply. "It is easy to tell when you drift. She told me all about it many times."
Newt would have spat his coffee out if he had any. He whipped his head around to look at her like she had five eyes. All he could get out were a few "ah, ah" noises before placing his finger over his mouth, trying to phrase his next move.
"Wait... Gipsy could talk?" he finally questioned, extending his arms out.
"I think she could," Mako responded, looking down at the granite. "And she still does, even when I'm sleeping."
"That giant piece of metal was SENTIENT?" the scientist nearly screamed before catching himself.
"Shh," Mako whispered. "To me, she was. To others, she was not. That is all I will say."
With that, the young woman bowed slightly, turned around, and began walking toward the door. She really didn't speak much to the Shatterdome crew, but when she did, it was either a threat, a cryptic message, or the most wholesome thing in the world. Newt wasn't quite caught up with the whole "Jaegers are sentient" news yet, but the idea piqued his interest.
"Holy crap, that's awesome..." he quietly said to himself while nodding.
A low creaking noise emitted through the room. Newt cocked his head around to see Crimson's Conn-Pod pointed directly at him, the bright light beaming in his eyes. He would know soon enough about the Jaegers, but first, he felt like he was about to soil his pants.