To Fight Monsters, We Created Monsters (Pacific Rim)

Chapter 6: Lionheart

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2017, October 19 – 02:35 – The Ice Box, Anchorage, Alaska, United States

"I've never felt so alive, man!" Yancy Becket strutted by, clad still in his DriveSuit after coming back from their first ever deployment.

Raleigh beamed, the happiest Greyson had seen him in a long time. "What time is it? Feel like I can run a marathon!"

"When you get a chance to fight Godzilla toe-to-toe and not get killed, Mr. Choi," Yancy said, "make sure to call us."

"For what it's worth," Tendo Choi started, "you're giving the engineers a run for their money." The chief officer snickered a bit, giving the person behind him a badly executed high five.

The elder Becket punched their friend on the shoulder, telling him and Greyson Darcy a quick goodbye before he and his brother started toward the mess hall.

She curtained her hair in front of her face when Yancy passed, noting the brief hand on her arm and the chaste kiss he left on her cheek. Greyson shook her head in amusement, picking through some files that were imported to her holoscreen.

After a few moments, Tendo walked to the woman's side. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, raising her head. "Can I help you with something?" Greyson inquired. "Was there something wrong with Gipsy's—"

"So. You and Yancy, huh?" he muttered, amused. His eye brows went up and down mockingly. "Have you done the horizontal tango? I hear it strengthens the bond."

"You are a child." Greyson smacked him with a stack of papers.

Tendo left the LOCCENT, cackling to himself.

2018, March 10 – 07:30 – The Ice Box, Anchorage, Alaska, United States

"Scenario concluded. Calculating score..." The Jaeger AI quietly ran over the Drift Simulation. The suit was hot; they were sweating from the exertion and it was becoming more and more humid. Heavy breaths, sore muscles – I have to pee.

Greyson Darcy shook her head, rolling her eyes. She wasn't sure which of the boys had thought it, but it was out there now.

We did it I think it went well. That other thought flitted by so quickly she didn't have a chance to figure out who conjured it either — was it her? She was tired, but her blood was pumping through her heart, and she heard it in her ears.

The Conn-Pod echoed with the voice of the Jaeger AI after another moment. "Engagement time: twenty-four minutes and twenty-three seconds. Collateral damage within expected parameters. Kaiju Blue threshold maintained. Total score: 92.7 percent."

Two weights shifted on her; minds continually melding with hers. Raleigh Becket crowed, unhitching himself from the rig assembly. And then it was gone.

"That's a personal best!" He threw his arms up, stepping off the platform.

"Hell yes it is!" Yancy cheered back, beaming. He shot finger-guns in spite of himself.

Greyson merely chuckled at their excitement, taking her helmet off. "I say, impressive for 12 drops and 9 kills, boys. We should probably work more on that last formation. If—"

"C'mon, Sonny," the oldest Becket loudly said, too stepping down from the platform in the Simulation Room. "We did good. Let's go out to the bar tonight. Drinks on me."