Chapter Text
“Remind me to beat the tar out of whoever mislabeled this thing as a Class Two,” Pitch growled in the cockpit of the jaeger known as Blacksand. It was holding its own against the kaiju, but the creature’s monstrous tentacles had dragged it miles from its original coordinates and already disabled one of its whips.
“Just keep it from shore,” Marshall Lunanoff replied over the intercom. “We’re sending Jackrabbit to assist.”
“Wonderful,” Pitch muttered.
He heard his co-pilot’s laughter in his head, bright as the chime of a crystal bell. Sandy flashed him a gap-toothed grin. Why don’t we make sure they don’t have anything to do once they get here?
Pitch smiled back wryly. “Good idea. Let’s get this done.”
Both pilots turned in sync, tracking the monster as it righted itself from their most recent blow. “Activating spear,” Pitch announced. A reticulated metallic structure, black as tar, slithered out of the jaeger’s inner arm before straightening, its pointy end curved like a beak.
Sandy controlled the other arm as it defensively wielded its remaining whip. It’s coming for another attack. Nightmare formation?
“Nightmare formation,” Pitch agreed. Speaking aloud with Sandy was redundant, but a difficult habit to break. “Get ready.”
The kaiju rose up to its full height and roared. It was built like a tank, but the wriggling tentacles on its back were disturbingly agile.
Pitch deployed the spear and Sandy lashed out with the whip, a seamless motion that left the kaiju off-balance and defenseless as the projectile imbedded itself into its chest.
The kaiju screeched in pain and sank into the ocean. The jaeger rushed forward, glinting golden in the sunlight, but by the time it arrived where the kaiju had fallen, there was no sign of it.
Pitch felt Sandy’s confusion in his head. “Where did it go, Phil?” he asked the control room’s Chief Technical Officer, who was tracking the kaiju’s movements back at base.
“It’s using some sort of cloaking field to scramble our sensors,” Phil replied. “Switch to visual and scan your surroundings.”
“Switching to visual.” Pitch focused on the camera display. “Damn it, where did you go,” he muttered, looking for some sign of the kaiju.
Something that big shouldn’t be able to hide so easily, Sandy mused.
“Nothing about this kaiju is following the rules,” Pitch replied. “We’ll have to—“
“Behind you!” Phil shouted over the intercom. “Blacksand, the kaiju is emerging directly behind you!”
Pitch and Sandy, both consumed with their search, failed to react in time. The kaiju had somehow removed the barbed spear from its chest and with deadly accuracy threw the weapon at the jaeger.
The projectile ripped into Sandy’s side of the jaeger, where its heart would be if it had one. Blacksand crumpled to its knees and Pitch grunted as the force of the impact slammed into his own body. He swore audibly as his holographic display lit up like a Christmas tree, warning lights flashing everywhere.
And then a wave of fear crashed over his mind, so palpable that he could taste it in the back of his throat.
“Neural handshake compromised,” the eerily calm voice of the A.I. announced.
Pitch looked over at Sandy who was slumped forward, eyes open but unseeing. “Sandy!” he called out. “Sandy! You’re leaving the Drift! Come back!”
It wasn’t a memory that Sandy had lost himself in, but pure emotion – fear and loss and a profound sadness that couldn’t be articulated in words or even images. Pitch felt it all, tried to swim against it, but the tide was too strong and was carrying him away. “Sandy,” he nearly sobbed, reaching out with one arm knowing full well the gesture was useless. “Don’t leave me.”
“Blacksand, fall back!” Marshall Lunanoff yelled over the intercom. “Jackrabbit will intercept! Fall back!”
A whisper-soft apology passed through his mind on butterfly wings.
And then nothing.
“Right hemisphere offline,” the A.I. intoned.
Pitch bit back a scream and tried to get the jaeger up on its feet, but with its left side dead weight, it would barely move. He watched on the screen in horror as the kaiju approached, something dreadfully similar to a grin appearing on its bony, alien face. A few tentacles poked tauntingly at the robot’s gaping wound.
“Hang on, mate!” Aster’s voice rang in his ears. “Frostbite and I are almost there!”
The kaiju turned its head as Jackrabbit, the fastest jaeger in the fleet, bounded towards them, resplendent in silver and blue. With a dissatisfied roar, it began to move away.
Blacksand shot out a hand and snatched one of the tentacles, holding it in place.
The monster struggled to free itself, but it was too late. Jackrabbit had already activated the plasma cannon in its chest. The air crackled with electricity as Jackrabbit fired, the kaiju screaming as it took the full brunt of impact and collapsing once more into the water.
It was the last thing Pitch saw on his monitor before everything went black.