[EXO] Compatibility (2/2)
<--- PREVIOUS
“Kaiju. Detected. Category. Three.” The feminine robotic voice broke into Sehun’s musings, as a red light began beeping around him. It registered as the Kaiju warning systems.
In a blink of an eye, both men jolted from their immobile state, and hurried down the hall, straight into the Control Center, where most of the others were already standing. Jongin gave Sehun a strange look, but a cough from Suho brought him back to his professional self.
“There is a Category III, codenamed Grandfisher, rising out of the waters between here and Jeju. The island is being cleared, and so are all nearby places.” Jongin typed a few keys in and a screen popped up, where the Kaiju suddenly came into view. True to its name, it had a shark fin on the top of his head, and two bulging eyes popping from the sides. While the bottom was clunky and thick, Grandfisher’s hands on the contrary were more defined and elongated. Suho nodded, as he looked at each Ranger team, contemplating.
“I want Mystical Empress front lining the attack. Cosmic Phoenix, stand guard around Jeju; they don’t have an advance protection shelter. Xiumin, Chen, you guys stay here for now. We don’t need that many Jaeger’s out for a Category III.”
“Yes sir!” Everyone hustled out to their respective assignments.
“Sehun, go input the Neural Handshake for Cosmic.” Suho said without a glance towards the younger. Sehun moved briskly to the station, waiting for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to give him the all clear.
“Initiating drop in three-two…” The head of the Cosmic Phoenix slid down its passageway, securing onto the rest of the robot.
“Hey Sehun, you never did answer the question from before,” Chanyeol’s voice rang through Sehun’s headset. “Why’d you drop out of the Jaeger Academy? That shit you pulled back there, it was hella good!”
“No one says hella anymore ape-brain,” Baekhyun cut in. Sehun could hear the beeps of their display screen in the background. “But legit Sehun, you could be a Ranger, and a damn good one at that.”
“I have no intention of joining the Jaeger program.” Sehun responded curtly. Chanyeol snorted in his headset as Baekhyun let out a giggle. “Come on guys, I really don’t-“
“That was such a Suho answer though…” Baekhyun guffawed. “Come on Sehun, we’re really curious.”
“Yeah, Sehun, we’re really curious.” Chanyeol mimicked, earning a hard slap from the other.
“Guys, just get ready for the Neural Handshake,” he sighed, typing in the code needed. Both males grumbled at his change in topic, but settled back into their stands.
“Hey Chan, don’t chase that RABIT you got it?” Sehun heard Baekhyun mumble, a slight lilt in his tone. “I know you really like that memory of winning the science fair, but it’s really not worth making me remember losing.”
“It’s not my fault I’m better at science! Besides, shouldn’t I be worried that you’ll go chasing after that one where you had sex for the first time, which is seriously the most embarrassing thing to watch since you were obviously really bad at it and-“
“Neural Handshake beginning in three-two-“ The two Ranger’s finally stopped talking, as they started the drift needed.
“Neural Handshake complete, ready for take off.” Without even waiting for Sehun to finish his sentence, the Cosmic Phoenix took off at high speed, both Ranger’s pushing forward towards their needed position.
Sehun watched in awe. Watching the Jaegers move was one of the most interesting things he’d ever seen. Knowing that two Rangers moving in tandem concurred in the robot’s movement to be so precise was fascinating to him.
A sudden roar filled the air. Both the Empress and Cosmic paused in their steps.
“Guys, I don’t think Grandfishie likes us,” Chanyeol joked, but both him and Baekhyun transferred into a defensive mode. Almost instantly, the Kaiju exploded from the water, grabbing onto Cosmic’s front. The two Rangers grabbed the sides of the Grandfisher’s skin, wrestling it back into the water. Releasing punch after punch, the fist delivering the blows transformed into a pair of steel knuckles, the impact making the Kaiju scream out in pain. Grandfisher pushed its way out of the Cosmic’s grasp, and while the Jaeger still managed to deliver blows, the giant monster had begun clamoring back onto its body, breaking parts of Cosmic’s armor.
“Cosmic! Send it over here and get over to Jeju!” The Empress had joined them, sticking an arm out in front of her, which transformed it into a giant sword.
“For sure, definitely, take it Empress!” Chanyeol shouted back, throwing one more hard punch to its stomach, before flinging it towards the Chinese Jaeger. Grandfisher roared at the hard treatment, before stomping over at the three-armed robot. Taking the sword that materialized in their hand, the robot swung it in the Kaiju’s direction, gashing its arm. The monster stumbled back, screeching in pain.
“Dragon Formation!” Kris yelled out. All three of them positioned their hands, and the three arms on the Jaeger transformed into spikes. Spinning around, the Empress delivered blow after blow, sending the Kaiju stumbling back even more. In retaliation, it grabbed onto the right arm, breaking the spikes off and trapping the Jaeger in its grasp.
Kris shouted something in Chinese, and the three began to increase their pace. Simultaneously they raised their left arm, their control pads charging up to a bright red. Both the left and back arm of the Mystical Empress transformed into giant cannons, a blazing whirl spinning inside them. Using the hold that Grandfisher had on their arm, the Empress raised their arms at the Kaiju’s neck, and aimed the two blasters at it. Two shots later, Grandfisher was stumbling back, roaring in pain, clearly injured but not dead. It opened its mouth, neon blue liquid spilling out.
"Watch out for the acid!" Chanyeol called out.
“Why don’t you do your own job first!” Yixing answered back. The three let out a chuckle before grabbing the Grandfisher’s neck, constricting the acid from spilling out anymore.
"Suho." Jongin sat up suddenly. His eyes were wide, staring at the monitor. The Marshall leaned in to where he was pointing at.
"We're picking up a weird signal," Sure enough, another red dot was faintly beeping, moving closer towards Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the Cosmic Phoenix.
"But that's impossible!" Kyungsoo sputtered. "Doesn't red mean a Kaiju is coming-"
A high-pitched screech sound abruptly rung in all their ears. Two forest green wings broke the surface of the waters; the arms attached grabbing onto the back of the Jaeger and ripping the armor straight off.
"Shit!" Suho cursed. "What category is it?" Kyungsoo glanced at the Serizawa scale, and his face visibly paled.
“Kyungsoo.” Suho repeated.
"Category IV." The trembling whisper Kyungsoo said it in scared Sehun.
Suho growled, and grabbed the microphone. "Cosmic! Do not engage! I repeat, do not engage the Kaiju-"
From Sehun's view however, it was a little too late for that. The bat-like creature had attached itself to the Jaeger's head; it's sharp talons clawing ferociously on the glass front. It broke through, sparks flying from the point of damage.
"Chanyeol!" Everyone heard Baekhyun scream from inside the Conn-Pad. A spark from the Jaeger hit the Kaiju's leg, sending it back in shock. Baekhyun used the opportunity to throw it off the Cosmic’s head, but his screams continued.
"Suho! Chanyeol-Chan- He-He's hurt!" The mood darkened even more at Baekhyun's stifled sobs. The Ranger didn’t go into detail, but judging by the state of the Jaeger after the surprise Kaiju attacked it, there was no doubting the severity of Chanyeol’s state.
"Baekhyun! Are you alright?" Luhan's voice shouted through the intercom, the Mystical Empress frozen in place after hearing Baekhyun’s screams. All of a sudden, a giant crash roared in the speakers, followed by colorful yells in Chinese.
"Guys, what happened?" Jongin shouted into the mic, typing furiously into the monitor.
“We’re fine,” A faint groan sounded from the Jaeger’s intercom. “The bastard just caught us by surprise in the-“
Another screech cut into Kris’ voice, followed by a series of bangs. Looking on the viewing screen, Sehun could see the Grandfisher bashing in the Empress’ back. With great force, it ripped off the back arm completely, disposing it into the sea behind them.
“Shit!” Shock waves hit all three Rangers, tripping them up on their step panel, and the Jaeger stumbled. The Kaiju continued to bash in the back, despite the Mystical Empress’ attempt to shake it off. It delivered one last brutal blow, before grabbing the sides of the robot.
“Yixing!” Luhan screamed in terror. Jongin brought up another monitor of the inside of the Jaeger’s head. Yixing had been launched out of his step panel, flying into the glass front. There was blood seeping from a cut the helmet made, rendering him unconscious. Kris immediately reached to detach himself.
“Don’t Kris-“ Luhan was cut off as the Kaiju shook the Empress to the side, sending the now unconscious Yixing tumbling to the left, dangerously teetering over the slight open panel in their head overlooking the black waters. Luhan screamed again, but both Rangers remained strapped into their step panel.
“Damn-Suho, we’re losing the drift-“ Kris gritted his teeth, and Luhan’s eyes had begun to glaze over. “Luhan, stay with me-“
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” his eyes remained glossed, but he continued to push, moving his arms with Kris together to grab onto the Kaiju and send it flying to the side. “But this isn’t going to work Suho, we-we can’t drift w-without-“ Luhan bit his lip, and Sehun could see him glance over at the still dormant Yixing on the floor. Kris had finally left his step panel and was helping the other male up.
A roar brought everyone’s attention back to the main camera. “Watch out!” Sehun wasn’t sure who screamed it; maybe it was Suho, maybe Jongin or Kyungsoo, maybe even himself. All he knew was that Grandfisher had launched itself up and was charging once again at the Empress.
Kyungsoo let out a whimper. “Kris…” he stuttered. Neither Kris or Yixing had any grip, and if the Kaiju made contact with the Empress… It was a horrifying thought.
One that they wouldn’t have to think about, as a sudden whoosh sounded in his ears, seemingly coming out of nowhere. No one could see the source at first, but then two giant Jaeger boots flew out of the sky, slamming down on Grandfisher.
“Noctis Shadow, when the hell did you guys get deployed??!” Suho questioned loudly, his eyes wide in confusion. They heard Chen scoff in the background, as the two Rangers sent a fist flying into the Kaiju’s head.
“We’ve been waiting in the Drivesuit Room for ages now, and as soon as we heard a second bastard appeared, got into the Jaeger since obviously they need us now.” Xiumin made an tsking noise at Chen’s sarcastic tone, but nodded in agreement. Suho leaned back, sighing in slight relief.
“Initiating Ninja Tactic now!” Xiumin and Chen simultaneous shouted. The two held their arms out in a defensive position, with four pointed knives in both hands. It threw one arm out, which hit the Grandfisher straight in its chest. The dark grey Jaeger darted from side to side, sharp jabs coming out of nowhere, as the Kaiju roared in pain.
“S-Shi- Kris we need to go help them-“ Sehun heard Luhan start, but Suho cut him off.
“No. Luhan, you’re main objective is getting the Empress back to base.” He stated firmly.
“B-“
“You and Kris can’t do anything at this moment. Yixing is unconscious, and therefore your drift is unstable. Escort the Cosmic back to the Shatterdome, I don’t think Baekhyun can hold out any longer. Shadow will hold the Kaiju’s off.” Sehun could see the slight uncertainty in Suho’s eyes however, and heard the worry in Luhan’s sharp breaths.
“Luhan, do it!” Xiumin called, his voice rushing out in large pants. The Shadow was running, before delivering another slash into the Grandfisher side, then grabbed a hold of its arms, pushing it into the water. “We don’t have much time before the other starts attacking again!” True to his word, the second Kaiju, which had remained dormant since being thrown off, had begin pacing, it’s wings flapping low to the water, creating giant waves.
Luhan looked to protest, but nodded curtly, as both him and Kris began moving the Jaeger at a quick pace back to the Shatterdome behind the slower moving Cosmic Phoenix. Suho looked at the rest of the team.
“Sehun, Kyungsoo, go report to Tao. We have two major injuries, and three others that are probably hurt as well. He’s going to need all the help he can get.” The two nodded and turned out the room, running down the hall towards the medical center.
Sehun could hear soft sniffles from his side. Looking down at his side, he saw tears rolling down Kyungsoo’s face, as he tried hard not to cry. Sehun put an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.” He murmured. Images of the Kaiju ripping apart the two Jaegers flashed into his mind, the sounds of the splintering metal still ringing in his ears. “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
If only he could believe it.
The hospital bay was in frenzy, nurses’ running back and forth between rooms as the five Rangers were taken off the Jaegers and transported within. Sehun saw Tao in a corner, directing a group of them to their respective areas. Glancing up, there were tear stains distinctly rolling down the Chinese’s eyes, but Tao remained calm, motioning for Sehun to come over.
“Help get Yixing into ER room 2.” The said male was currently being stripped of his suit, and laid down on a gurney. Sehun grabbed the front handle, and with two other men, pushed Yixing down the hallway.
A soft groan sounded from the stretcher. Sehun looked down in shock, as Yixing thrashed his head slowly.
“Yixing, you need to remain calm-“
“Where are Luhan and Kris?”
The question shocked Sehun. Yixing had just woken up after that terrible ordeal, and his first question was about his teammates?
“Don’t worry about them, they’re in good hands-“
“NonoNO!” the sudden shout frightened Sehun. “L-Lu-Luhan is scared of doctors, they can’t send him in one and Kris is he-“ Yixing’s body had begun trembling, his breath increasing rapidly.
“Yixing, don’t worry about them okay? I’ll personally go and make sure they’re in the best hands, so you just focus on saving yourself.” Yixing wasn’t even paying attention anymore, his face contorting in pain. Unconsciously, Sehun grabbed Yixing’s hand and squeezed it for comfort. It was shaking uncontrollably.
The two nurses pushed Yixing into the room and then all put pushed Sehun out. The door slammed behind him, but he could see the doctors inside bustling around the now thrashing Chinese Ranger.
Sehun felt numb, especially as screams began erupting from behind the doors. Forcing himself to turn away, he jogged back down the hall.
“Chanyeol! Chanyeol!” The shrieks came from another open door, where four nurses were wrestling Baekhyun down into his bed. “Where is he! Let go of me, where is he! CHANYEOL!!”
“Sir, you need to rest-“
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME AND LET ME SEE HIM!” Baekhyun had begun kicking and swinging his arms around. He looked wildly around, and met Sehun’s eyes for a second. Sehun became paralyzed at the deranged look.
“SEHUN WHERE IS HE SHOW ME WHERE CHANYEOL IS-“ Forcing himself away once again, he nearly crashed into Tao.
“Good, there you are I need you to stand guard by the door. Don’t let anyone in, you hear me? No one.” Tao raced off, leaving Sehun confused. However, he obeyed, and pushed open the hallway doors.
His questions were soon answered, as a clearly furious Luhan lunged at him. “Where is Yixing.” He demanded, his tight grip on Sehun’s shoulders causing the younger to wince.
“H-He’s in there but he’s in surgery right now you can’t-“ Paying no heed to the rest of Sehun’s sentence, Luhan pushed past Sehun and slammed against the hallway doors. They didn’t budge, allowing Sehun to drag Luhan away from them.
“Let me fucking go you asshole, why aren’t they opening damnit-“ Luhan tugged at Sehun’s grip, but he held on with dear life.
“They’re pull but Luhan you can’t, they need peace and quiet in order to operate on Yixing- Luhan!” With a giant yank, Sehun pulled Luhan away, sending the other stumbling back a few steps. Kris had appeared at Luhan’s shoulder, his own face warped with worry. Sehun gulped, and held his arms out to cover the whole door.
“Goddamnit Sehun you better fucking let me go and see Yixing or I swear I will tear you apart and pound every piece into the ground.” Sehun helplessly stood in front of the blond, blocking both him and Kris from entering the hallway to the E.R. room.
“Luhan, you can’t!” he pleaded, gulping nervously. There was nothing actually stopping the two from passing him however, because he could hardly hold off Luhan alone, and Kris was much bigger.
Luckily, Kris seemed to get the message, and put a trembling hand on Luhan’s shoulder. “Luhan…” the other swung his arm around and pushed Kris off.
“Get your fucking hand off me! You feel it too right? Yixing is hurting! He’s fucking dying and this little asshole here isn’t letting us fucking go see him!” Sehun could feel tears springing to his eyes. He couldn’t understand their pain, and he wanted to let them go, but Tao had instructed him to stop them from going past the doors, as they could possibly obstruct with both Chanyeol and Yixing’s surgeries.
The doors slide open. Chen and Xiumin walked in, looking worse for wear and still in their Jaeger suits. However, both walked determinedly up to Sehun.
“Xiumin, Chen, you guys don't have to be here, you should go change and-“
A loud smack cut Sehun’s words off, as Xiumin landed a fist straight into LuHan’s cheek, pushing the other back a few steps.
“Sit down Luhan.” He growled. LuHan glowered back, clutching at his face, but obeyed.
“You freaking the fuck out isn’t going to help Yixing at this time, okay? You guys are fucking ghost drifting, and right now, filling his head with all your goddamn worries ain’t going to make anything better. So calm the fuck down and please, for Yixing’s sake, don’t attempt anything brash okay?” Xiumin was shouting at Luhan now, who shrank back in his seat in surrender, tears springing from his eyes. He remained silent as Xiumin stood threateningly over him. Next to him, Kris collapsed into a seat, his head in his hands. Sehun could see his shoulders trembling.
“Chanyeol!” A new scream joined the fray, as it echoed from down the hall. Suddenly, Baekhyun busted through the doors, pushing past Sehun. His eyes were wide with terror. “Where is Chanyeol, where is he?”
“Baekhyun, you need to be in bed!” a nurse ran up behind him, but the male just pushed her aside, stumbling back and forth as he attempted to walk to the ER room. Sehun chased after him, but it was Chen who held a steadying arm out.
“Baekhyun, you need to be in bed right now,” he responded calmly. The other looked up at Chen, eyes full of panic.
“B-But C-Chan-“
“Yeol needs you to be strong for both of you.” Chen sighed, his eyes down casted. “You gotta rest up and stop causing trouble, so they can work on your partner more quickly.” Baekhyun shook his head no and looked as if he wanted to protest, but two nurses had grabbed his arms and were already leading him back down the doors he came through.
“You better be fucking right Chen or I’ll kill you! You hear me, I’LL KILL YOU!” his screams still echoed from down the hall, however, Chen still nodded as if the other could see him.
Tao appeared out of the ER room. There was blood all over his scrubs, and Luhan let out an audible screech, looking horrified. Tao himself wasn’t looking any better.
“Xiumin, Chen, Suho called. He wants you guys back at LOCCENT right now.” Tao nodded over at Sehun. “Sehun, you better go too, they’ve got to discuss what to do now.” As soon as Tao finished, Luhan pounced on the younger, his facial features wild.
“Tao, where’s Yixing?” he gasped out, grabbing onto Tao’s arm frantically. The last thing that Sehun could hear as he was leaving the ward was Tao’s attempt at reassurance that Yixing was perfectly fine and why don’t you sit down?
He was pretty sure Luhan didn’t believe the medic’s trembling voice either.
He saw Xiumin and Chen walking ahead of him. Running ahead, he came up next to Xiumin, figuring out of the two, Xiumin was least likely to kill him.
"Hey umm..." Sehun started off quietly. “Thanks for your help back there…” he mumbled. Xiumin gave him a weary smile in return.
“It’s alright, this is your first major accident here right? I wouldn’t know how to react if I were in your place too.” Xiumin’s grin was kind, despite the tired undertone in his voice.
“I know but… it’s my job, so I feel like I should have been able to do more-“ Xiumin patted Sehun on his back.
“Seriously, don’t take it to heart though. That’s one of the consequences of drifting, the bond between partners being strong like that.” Xiumin said, glancing over at his own co-pilot, who was deep in thought. Chen lifted his head and stared at Sehun.
"Were you scared though?" Sehun jolted at Chen's sudden question. The elder held his hands up in defense. "I'm not judging you or anything, I genuinely want to know.”
“What- What do you mean?” Chen halted in his steps.
“Did seeing how painful a drift is scare you?” Chen continued. “Right now, Lu Han is suffering internally because he can feel all the pain from the aesthetics being used on Yixing. Kris is probably being plagued with the fears that the two others are feeling; Xing could be permanently injured, or even worse -dead. Neither of them can escape it, ‘cause their Neural Handshake is strong, so strong to the point they’re Ghost-Drifting right now, can’t leave the drift ‘cause they’re afraid, afraid that something might happen to Yixing if they even dare to leave his mind.
Baekhyun though, he has it the worst. He can’t even feel Chanyeol, because Chanyeol can’t feel himself. He’s probably in his room right now, pacing… his head in his hands… right now all of Chanyeol’s memories are stuck with him, and if Chanyeol doesn’t make it, Baekhyun’s going to have to live with it… for the rest of his life.”
“Jongdae-“
“So are you scared?” Chen stared dead straight into Sehun’s face. “This isn’t a game to us. It’s life or death. When we become pilots, we’re basically signing both our and our partner’s lives away, for as long as we are in the program. We’re forever connected with our drift partner, a sense of abstract communication that binds us together. Mind-melding? It’s not easy; to give your memories up to someone, open your whole entire mind to an outsider. There are benefits of course, but there are a lot of detriments too. The biggest of them all? You become dependent on them, to the point where life isn’t possible without them by your side. You feel their fear, their pain, their helplessness-“
“Jongdae stop-“
"It doesn't scare me." Both Xiumin and Chen paused in shock. Sehun bit his lip, afraid of being reprimanded, but the silence told him to continue on.
"I know the dangers of being a pilot, I learned it all in the Academy. Neural Handshakes. Ghost-Drifting. I can name all the attacks since the San Francisco one. I know all the parts of the Conn-Pad. You can quiz me on the differences in the Mach types. It's all in the books. All in hours of studying my ass off, taking dozens of tests, logging in hundreds of hours at the training centers, that's how I got so good.
But being good at the books doesn’t even come close to comparing how it is here. I never had the actual experience. Never saw how it feels to be so connected to someone, to the point where you know everything they are thinking, how they are feeling, what is troubling them. Never saw an emotional bond so strong, to the point you can’t imagine what it is live without them.
I saw that today. Yixing, the first thing he said when he became conscious was Luhan and Kris’ name. Baekhyun fought an army of nurses looking for Chanyeol. I’ve been seeing it all these two weeks. The two of you never leave each other’s sides. Kris is always looking out for Yixing and Luhan. Baekhyun and Chanyeol spend hours just telling dumb jokes to each other.
I don’t think the dependence you talk about is not necessarily bad. The fact that there is someone in your life, someone that you can’t imagine being without, that’s not bad at all. Rather, that’s trust. Being able to trust someone to that extent, it’s a powerful tool, something that helps you accomplish things in life. There’s someone there, being both moral support and your worst adversary, all in hopes of helping you grow as a person.
That's why it doesn't scare me. Because I saw it with my own eyes, how painful it is to have someone you would die for. And that pain, there’s something powerful about it, to know there is someone who cares about you so much that they feel pain when you feel pain. And it’s not only the negative feelings. You experience their happiness, their joy, their elation, they feel every single of your emotions and can understand them, understand you. That trust, and faith you have in your partner to be able to support you, both in battle and outside of it, its one of the greatest things you can have, and… well… I’m jealous of it.”
Sehun faltered off, suddenly aware that he had just told off his senior at the base. However, neither seemed angry, on the contrary, Xiumin was smiling and Chen had a serene look on, different from the various glares Sehun was used to receiving from the Ranger.
“You’re not bad kid.” Chen grinned slightly. Xiumin slowly turned his head towards his partner, face in astonishment.
“Seems you really aren’t scared,” Chen chuckled, reaching out to pat the younger on the shoulder.
“Sehun…” Xiumin started. He paused.
“Sehun, don’t give up on the Jaeger Program, don’t give up on your dream of being a Ranger. I know you want to be one; I saw it in your eyes when Jongin was talking about it before. Please, pass whatever obstacles you’re facing right now, and make it.” He halted, right outside the LOCCENT room. Slowly, Xiumin turned to face Sehun. His face seemed older, wiser, as the other male had on a serious look unlike anything Sehun had seen on him before.
“I really want to someday be working alongside you Sehun. Please help me make that come true, okay?”
The mission booth was silent for once. Everyone stood there, nonmoving. Sehun glanced from side to side. Tao, Kris and Luhan had all returned there, and everyone was waiting for Suho to show up.
The Marshall walked through that door, adopting a quick pace to the center of the group.
“Give me the details Tao. No skimming on anything.” Tao stepped forward.
“Yixing has a couple of cracked bones still, but I managed to stabilize his mind from his unconscious state. Baekhyun has two fractured ribs and a broken leg, not to mention his mental exhaustion, but he’s also okay. Chanyeol though…” Tao paled. “H-He-“
“Chanyeol’s going to need major medical attention.” Kyungsoo interjected, putting a comforting arm around Tao. “The Kaiju claws are pretty sharp, and I think one of them managed to get Chanyeol when it hit them on their conn-pad. Not to mention they have some form of toxic on them that I haven't managed to figure out.”
“There is no way I can fix him up here.” Tao shook his head, regaining his voice. “He’s going to need major medical attention, from a real hospital.”
“But how can we get him to one?” Kris interjected, his eyes dark. “Right now there’s a Kaiju still roaming around out there. It’s headed for the Korean mainland, around the Busan area. Korea sounded the warning, and everyone’s in shelters, but that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have any Jaegers to take it down.”
“Aren’t any of the other bases sending some?” Jongin questioned. Suho shook his head no.
“Tokyo’s got a Category III themselves, and Hong Kong’s two Jaegers are out of commission at the moment from an attack. The other Shatterdomes are sending in Jaegers, but it’ll take a while for them to get here.”
“With each minute that passes, Chanyeol loses life!” Tao cried out. “He needs the medical attention as soon as possible, he needs to be in a hospital within the next two hours or else-“ Tao choked up.
“I understand that.” Suho remained calmed, but Sehun could see him shaking. “Okay, we have Shadow still online, so Kris, Luhan, you guys can take-“
“No.” Kris shook his head. “That’s not going to work.” Luhan bit his lip, tears forming at his eyes. “You know we can’t drift without Yixing, me and Luhan have no compatibility. We’d be more of a liability out there.”
“Yeah I know,” Suho sighed. “Okay then, Tao you go with Luhan-“
“If you really are going to send the emotionally unstable Tao out there right now I’m going to stab you.” Luhan growled. “Do you see him?” Sehun could see Tao quivering in Kyungsoo’s arms, and reached out to rub his arm soothingly.
“Then I’ll go with Kris-“
“Suho I’m not letting you out either, you’ll die if you step into a Jaeger again, remember?” Kris firmly argued. Suho glared at the taller male.
“But what other choice do we have?” he suddenly exploded, and Sehun jumped back in shock. “Chanyeol is dying, and you’re not helping by refusing all my suggestions!”
“I don’t want to lose either you or Chanyeol!” Kris responded back with equal ferocity. “I don’t want anyone to die! But what if you pass out right in the middle of the battle? Then you’re not only putting your life in danger, but mine, and Xiumin’s, and Chen’s and all the people on Busan-“
“But then what can we do?” Suho was sobbing now. Jongin wrapped his arms around the Marshall. “I don’t want to lose Chanyeol, and we need to take care of those Kajiu before they start destroying the city even more! But how?”
“Sehun.”
Everyone froze turning towards Kyungsoo. The male blushed at the sudden attention, but straightened up and grabbed Sehun by the arm.
“We all saw Sehun and Luhan back then. You even admitted it afterward Suho, they were a pretty good match.” Sehun looked at the Marshall sharply. When did he say that?
“Right now, we only have the Noctis Shadow that has actual pilots. But there are still other Jaegers that are active right now. All they need is able pilots right? Well,” he motioned to the younger male besides him. “We have one. Right here.”
The rest of the people in the room seemed to be warming up to the idea, slight nods and murmurs passing between the other members. Kyungsoo seemed to gain confidence from this, and he pushed Sehun forward.
“Suho. You know that Kaiju needs to be taken care of, and taken care of fast. Why are you hesitating?”
The Marshall looked troubled. Sehun knew that he wanted to use Kyungsoo’s plan, but there laid a major problem that only Sehun knew about. His father.
But is it really a problem? A tiny voice inside whispered. Your father just doesn’t want you to be a Ranger because of his image. He doesn’t want the brutality and masculinity of the Jaeger Ranger tainting him. He never cared about your feelings, about what you wanted or felt.
But they did. Sehun glanced around at all the people in the room, who were still arguing over whether to use Sehun or not.
In the past three weeks, he had finally felt like he belonged, like he had an actual family that loved him and cared for him, more then he had ever before in his life. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t come to the Shatterdome for any other reason other then defying his father and experiencing a Ranger’s life, but in the process, had met such amazing people.
There was Jongin, who had welcomed him with open arms. Kyungsoo, who babied and chided him over everything he did. Tao, who had made him feel young again. Suho, who acted like a father to him, more then his actual dad ever was.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who brought laughter and joy in his life with every antic of there’s. Xiumin and Chen, whose wisdom and snark gave him new insights on life. Kris, Yixing, Luhan, the three that dragged him out of his shell and forced his personality to come out the most.
This was his family now. And he didn’t want to live without any of them.
“Let me do it.” Everyone froze.
“S-Sehun?” Suho stuttered. He nodded in confirmation.
“Please Sir. We don’t have any time. Let me and Luhan go out with Shadow, defeat those Kaiju, and get Chanyeol the medical attention he needs.” Sehun spoke with a firm and strong voice. He hoped that no one could hear the slight tremble.
Even if they did, no one commented.
“Suho, the kid’s got a point.” Kris inputted. “Luhan’s the only one of us three who is capable of drifting with only one person, and here we have a perfectly able body that matches with Luhan. You don’t need to worry about either being inexperienced, since Luhan’s done it before, and he can definitely lead Sehun. I don’t see a problem, especially since we really need another Jaeger out there with Shadow.”
“But he’s inexperienced-“
“You didn’t see him in the Kwoon Room Suho,” Chen interjected. “The kid is more then ready for this. He and Luhan are magic together, maybe even better then me and Minseok.” The elder elbowed his partner. “But seriously, this could actually work.”
“But can we really trust you Chen?” Jongin feebly joked. Chen narrowed his eyes.
“I wouldn’t joke about this shit. The kid, he’s not only physically ready for a drift. He’s emotionally ready too.” Chen stared at Sehun. “He knows what it means to be a Ranger, he knows what is expected of him if he steps into that Conn-Pad. And he’s prepared for it. There isn’t any other person here I would trust more then him to be a good co-pilot with Luhan.”
“Luhan do you have any objections?” Kyungsoo cut in. The blond had been silently looking at the floor. “You’re a part of the deal, what do you think about drifting with Sehun?”
The male in question raised his head. There was a fire in his eyes, his lips set in a tight line.
“Yes.” He announced. “Anything to save Yixing. I’ll do anything.”
“So it’s settled!” Jongin clapped his head. “They both want to do this, they’re more then willing and definitely able, let’s get them into a Jaeger asap!” Everyone else nodded in fervent agreement, but Suho remained unconvinced.
“But your-“ the sentence remained unfinished, but Sehun knew what Suho was thinking.
“Please don’t worry about him sir.” Sehun whispered, almost pleadingly with the Marshall. That seemed to break Suho’s resolve, and slowly he nodded.
“Okay. Okay.” The Marshall’s voice grew stronger. “Jongin, you suit Sehun up, and run the two of their stats in the machine. We’ll have the Noctis Shadow go out first, to draw the Kaiju away from the mainland, and then Sehun and Luhan will join them for a double attack.” Jongin bobbed his head curtly, before grabbing Sehun’s hand and walking him out the room.
“But wait.” Everyone paused. Sehun looked around confused. “What Jaeger are we going to use? Jongin couldn’t have fixed the Cosmic that fast, could he?”
For the first time that evening, Suho broke out into a smile. “Sehun…” he began. “You do know that this base has four Jaegers?”
"Does it fit good?" Jongin asked, attaching the Spinal Cord to Sehun’s back.
"Yeah." It felt surreal to him, the fact that he was standing in the Drivesuit Room; being fitted into a suit he could only dream about before. Sehun knew his father would not approve of this at all, that he would be in so much trouble when word got out, but at the moment, he could care less. All the years of intense training at the Jaeger Academy, of even more fervent pleading at home, every single moment of his life he had dedicated to making it to this point, it was all proving fruitful. Here he was, about to get into a Jaeger and operate it, a chance he thought he would never get.
“Where’s Luhan?” Sehun asked as Jongin drilled in the bolts in his back.
“Kris is helping him into his suit right now.” He finished the last screw, and patted Sehun’s back, satisfied. “You and him will meet at the Exotic Love’s cockpit.”
“How come no one’s ever told me about it before?”
“It’s Suho’s old Jaeger, a Mach-3. It’s a long story and brings up a lot of unwanted emotions, but that’s something you should hear from Suho and not me. Lets just say in the end, he and his co-pilot were retired from the program, and Love’s been sitting around here, waiting for another set of Rangers. It’s been a while, and most trainees that graduate prefer the Mach-4 and 5 series then this old sucker. Shame too, it’s got a really good defense system.” Jongin pushed in the breastplate, securing it to Sehun’s chest.
“So listen. The Exotic Love’s not that hard to operate, she's the standard Mach-3 model, and doesn’t have any specialties that you’re going to need at the moment. This battle is gonna be pure brute and force, so as long as you know how to operate the plasma blasters, and can do it while drifting with Luhan, you’re good. She’s got 60 missile engines on each foot, and the right arm has the better gun. I actually recently installed a new cooling engine, which means you can shoot 20% more shots then before-“
“Wait-wait repeat that?” Panic hit Sehun. Jongin chuckled.
“Don’t worry too much about it, trust Luhan and you’ll be fine.” This didn’t help calm down Sehun’s nerves. Suddenly the weight of the situation hit him. Was he really ready to do this?
"You know, my mom operates a Jaeger as well." Sehun's eyes went wide at Jongin's casual statement. The elder was not looking at him, instead focusing on Sehun’s suit, but there was a faint smile on his face.
"She operates the Nova Hyperion, has been doing so for a while now. I actually went to the Jaeger Academy, 'cause they hoped being a kid would boost my Drift capabilities.
I didn’t cut it though.” Leaning down, he strapped in Sehun’s boots. “Didn’t have the strength for the program, plus I was always more interested in building Jaegers anyways. My mom was pretty pissed. She was this close to disowning me, but I managed to get a job as a tech here. She still hasn’t accepted it, but I can care less right now. This is my life.”
Jongin paused, as he pushed himself off the floor. He grabbed Sehun on the shoulders, and looked the younger in the eye.
“I love been a technician, I really do. But sometimes I look at the Rangers, and Jaegers, how much they do, all the danger you guys put yourselves in to keep others -like me- out of it, and I just… I just really respect that about you.”
“So I really admire you Sehun. What you’re doing… its just…” Jongin bit his lip and stepped back.
“I don’t know your situation, and why you came here, but I know that it was never in the plan to put you in a suit, and set you up on one of the Jaegers. Maybe it was your idea, that you just didn’t want to get in one. Maybe someone else out there in this world made that decision. You didn’t have to accept, you don’t have any obligation to do so.
“When you first came here, I didn’t know what to think. All you were was some scrawny-ass kid who was apparently here to ‘experience’ a Shatterdome. For all I knew, you were some rich politician’s son, who only wanted to come for some brownie points back home. I didn’t really like you then, ‘cause a guy like you didn’t seem the type to be really interested or passionate about the Jaeger program and everything that comes with it.”
“But you proved me so wrong these two weeks.” Jongin chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “As soon as you dug your hands into that Kaiju for Kyungsoo, and listened to Tao’s two hour long lecture on Kaiju poison, and especially when you got slashed when we were testing the new throwing knives… man, I thought I found my soulmate. You’re really motivated about everything, really enthusiastic in your own way. You took in all the good and bad consequences of working on a Shatterdome, and didn’t judge us on that. And now, you’re about to go drift with someone you literally just met, all so you can help save someone you first saw two weeks ago. I…” Jongin paused. “I really respect that. And I don’t want you to worry about anything, because to be honest, I don’t think there is anyone else better then you for me to trust my life with.” He patted Sehun on the back, and started for the door.
“I really respect you too, you know.” Jongin froze and slowly turned back. Sehun gave a genuine smile through his helmet.
“You’re wrong when you say the Rangers are the only one who put their lives on the line for the civilians. Everyone here has a role in saving people, in defeating the Kaiju. Just think of all those upgrades you made on the Noctis Shadow. You think they could have held off Grandfisher if it weren’t for the turbo thingy’s you added? And the new battery you gave the Mystical Empress, do you think they could have lasted that extra twenty minutes after Yixing went out? It was all thanks to you man, you and your ingenuity for making sure the Jaegers here are at top-notch quality. You’re always making sure they’re at their best, that they are in perfect condition.
But really Jongin, I admire you because you got to this point in your life despite all the obstacles you faced.” Sehun took a step towards him. “Just like you said, you had your mom’s expectations, and all the people at the Jaeger Academy too. Everyone wanted you to become just like her, to grow up in her heroic footsteps.”
“I’ve felt those too.” Jongin’s eyes were wide at this point, his focus completely on Sehun. “I’ve never shared this but… it wasn’t my decision to take myself off the Ranger program. I got… pressured into doing so. It was a compromise, coming here to be an assistant only. I wasn’t suppose to get anywhere near the Jaegers. You’re sort of right, in the whole… rich kid thing. But not in the whole ‘not interested’ business. All my life I wanted to be a Ranger, but as soon as I faced opposition to that, I just abandoned that dream.
“You didn’t though. You kept driving on, not letting anyone stop you, and look where you are now?” Sehun gave a light punch to Jongin’s shoulder. “Head technician of the J-Tech crew! And honestly, we would be nothing without all the work you put in. So…” There was a feeling of shyness passing through him, as he looked down to the floor with a blush.
“Thank you man. Because for the first time in my life, I’m actually happy with where I’m going, and it’s all thanks to you.”
Suddenly Jongin pulled Sehun into a tight hug. Despite the cold armor separating them, Sehun could still feel it, the warmth that radiated from the technician. Everything he said was true. How much Jongin had changed his life in these past few weeks was something Sehun would never be able to thank him enough for.
They separated, both red cheeked and blushing from their actions.
“Go get them.” Jongin patted his shoulder one last time, before turning out the door. Sehun followed behind, as they walked to the entranceway into the Exotic Love’s head. Suho was already standing there, hands firm behind his back. Jongin whispered a ‘Good luck!’ before heading over for the LOCCENT booth.
Suho walked forward in front of Sehun, inspecting the younger’s suit. He nodded in approval.
“Are you ready Sehun?” he asked. It was directed at more then just the mission that laid ahead, but also the consequences that would follow afterward. Sehun knew Suho was scared of what his father could do, and a part of him knew he feared the same thing.
And yet, Suho was smiling at him proudly, as if deep in his heart he had hoped for this moment to come, he -like Sehun- was waiting for the day where the younger could finally prove his worth, prove his talent, and follow his dream. Never in a million years would Sehun have thought this could come true, but here he was, wearing a white suit, about to enter a Jaeger of his own to defeat a Kaiju.
Is it worth it Sehun? Yes. Yes it was.
“Yes I am, Sir!” Sehun saluted. Suho smiled fondly at him. He stepped closer and placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder.
“Just call me Suho.”
Locking himself into the step pads, he felt the clasps tighten around his foot, as a technician manual did the same for his shoulders. Holding his hand out in front of him, a control pad zoomed into his hand, before yet another brace was attached to both wrists, securing him to the robots own arms and legs.
“Preparing for the drop in five-four-three-two-one…” The Jaeger head slid through the panels, attaching onto the rest of the robot. Sehun could see Jongin typing at the monitors, before swiping at something on the monitor.
“Engaging pilot to pilot protocol.” Luhan motioned at Sehun, the two of them lifting the control pads. Following the elder’s movements, he tapped on the screen, where a green light blinked up, signaling it being on.
“Don’t forget the to start the HUD display screen, since me and Kris aren’t there to remind you,” the soft voice rang into the Exotic Love’s headset. Sehun turned to the mission booth, where a weary looking Yixing smiled back at him. He could hear Luhan gasp from his side.
“Yixing, you should be in bed!” Yixing merely chuckled.
“Shut up Luhan. As soon as I heard you’re drifting with someone else, I had to come and see. I can’t believe you betrayed us Lulu. My feelings are so hurt.” It was a relief to hear that Yixing’s sarcastic self didn’t suffer from the attack. Luhan snickered.
“Awww you’re so cute Xing,” Sehun could hear Luhan’s voice over the intercom. “As soon as I beat the crap out of that Kaiju, me and you are going to go to Vegas and get married okay? Kris can be best man.” Said best man scoffed in annoyance, but Yixing had a wistful smile on his face instead.
“There is going to be a marriage Luhan.” Everyone froze. Luhan’s crinkling eyes had widened, as he looked into the mission control booth with shock.
“I’m planning to propose to my girlfriend Lu. As soon as you beat that Kaiju, and we get sent to the mainland for surgery. I had Jongin make the ring for me.” The tan male bit his lip in shyness. “It’s a beauty, I’ll show it to you guys when you get back in okay? Oh yeah and…” Yixing raised his head, tears in his eyes as his grin grew from ear to ear.
“I want both of you to be my best men.” Luhan gasped.
“Prepare for Neural Handshake.” The robotic voice sounded from the screens in front of them. “In fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…” Sehun turned to look at Luhan, but the other was merely staring straight ahead, an emotionless face plastered on.
“Sehun,” he said quietly. The younger held his breath.
“Neural Handshake, initiating.” The drift sequence begun, and suddenly they were both thrown into a white space, as flashes of memories float in front of their faces.
A younger Luhan, sitting at a table. A smaller version of himself, walking to school. Luhan running around, kicking a soccer ball, which melded into Sehun watching a group of boys play it from his window. A girl, her arm wrapped around the Chinese male. Sehun’s first kiss. Luhan graduating from the Academy. Sehun and Suho’s talk from before.
The light passed, and everything returned to reality. Luhan finally turned and looked at him. He smiled slightly.
“Let’s get out there and kick some Kaiju’s ass, okay?” There was a glimmer that flashed through his eyes. Sehun’s own lips began turning up. They could do this.
“I have a wedding to plan.”
(too bad everyone dies in the end)
WORD COUNT 16807
“Kaiju. Detected. Category. Three.” The feminine robotic voice broke into Sehun’s musings, as a red light began beeping around him. It registered as the Kaiju warning systems.
In a blink of an eye, both men jolted from their immobile state, and hurried down the hall, straight into the Control Center, where most of the others were already standing. Jongin gave Sehun a strange look, but a cough from Suho brought him back to his professional self.
“There is a Category III, codenamed Grandfisher, rising out of the waters between here and Jeju. The island is being cleared, and so are all nearby places.” Jongin typed a few keys in and a screen popped up, where the Kaiju suddenly came into view. True to its name, it had a shark fin on the top of his head, and two bulging eyes popping from the sides. While the bottom was clunky and thick, Grandfisher’s hands on the contrary were more defined and elongated. Suho nodded, as he looked at each Ranger team, contemplating.
“I want Mystical Empress front lining the attack. Cosmic Phoenix, stand guard around Jeju; they don’t have an advance protection shelter. Xiumin, Chen, you guys stay here for now. We don’t need that many Jaeger’s out for a Category III.”
“Yes sir!” Everyone hustled out to their respective assignments.
“Sehun, go input the Neural Handshake for Cosmic.” Suho said without a glance towards the younger. Sehun moved briskly to the station, waiting for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to give him the all clear.
“Initiating drop in three-two…” The head of the Cosmic Phoenix slid down its passageway, securing onto the rest of the robot.
“Hey Sehun, you never did answer the question from before,” Chanyeol’s voice rang through Sehun’s headset. “Why’d you drop out of the Jaeger Academy? That shit you pulled back there, it was hella good!”
“No one says hella anymore ape-brain,” Baekhyun cut in. Sehun could hear the beeps of their display screen in the background. “But legit Sehun, you could be a Ranger, and a damn good one at that.”
“I have no intention of joining the Jaeger program.” Sehun responded curtly. Chanyeol snorted in his headset as Baekhyun let out a giggle. “Come on guys, I really don’t-“
“That was such a Suho answer though…” Baekhyun guffawed. “Come on Sehun, we’re really curious.”
“Yeah, Sehun, we’re really curious.” Chanyeol mimicked, earning a hard slap from the other.
“Guys, just get ready for the Neural Handshake,” he sighed, typing in the code needed. Both males grumbled at his change in topic, but settled back into their stands.
“Hey Chan, don’t chase that RABIT you got it?” Sehun heard Baekhyun mumble, a slight lilt in his tone. “I know you really like that memory of winning the science fair, but it’s really not worth making me remember losing.”
“It’s not my fault I’m better at science! Besides, shouldn’t I be worried that you’ll go chasing after that one where you had sex for the first time, which is seriously the most embarrassing thing to watch since you were obviously really bad at it and-“
“Neural Handshake beginning in three-two-“ The two Ranger’s finally stopped talking, as they started the drift needed.
“Neural Handshake complete, ready for take off.” Without even waiting for Sehun to finish his sentence, the Cosmic Phoenix took off at high speed, both Ranger’s pushing forward towards their needed position.
Sehun watched in awe. Watching the Jaegers move was one of the most interesting things he’d ever seen. Knowing that two Rangers moving in tandem concurred in the robot’s movement to be so precise was fascinating to him.
A sudden roar filled the air. Both the Empress and Cosmic paused in their steps.
“Guys, I don’t think Grandfishie likes us,” Chanyeol joked, but both him and Baekhyun transferred into a defensive mode. Almost instantly, the Kaiju exploded from the water, grabbing onto Cosmic’s front. The two Rangers grabbed the sides of the Grandfisher’s skin, wrestling it back into the water. Releasing punch after punch, the fist delivering the blows transformed into a pair of steel knuckles, the impact making the Kaiju scream out in pain. Grandfisher pushed its way out of the Cosmic’s grasp, and while the Jaeger still managed to deliver blows, the giant monster had begun clamoring back onto its body, breaking parts of Cosmic’s armor.
“Cosmic! Send it over here and get over to Jeju!” The Empress had joined them, sticking an arm out in front of her, which transformed it into a giant sword.
“For sure, definitely, take it Empress!” Chanyeol shouted back, throwing one more hard punch to its stomach, before flinging it towards the Chinese Jaeger. Grandfisher roared at the hard treatment, before stomping over at the three-armed robot. Taking the sword that materialized in their hand, the robot swung it in the Kaiju’s direction, gashing its arm. The monster stumbled back, screeching in pain.
“Dragon Formation!” Kris yelled out. All three of them positioned their hands, and the three arms on the Jaeger transformed into spikes. Spinning around, the Empress delivered blow after blow, sending the Kaiju stumbling back even more. In retaliation, it grabbed onto the right arm, breaking the spikes off and trapping the Jaeger in its grasp.
Kris shouted something in Chinese, and the three began to increase their pace. Simultaneously they raised their left arm, their control pads charging up to a bright red. Both the left and back arm of the Mystical Empress transformed into giant cannons, a blazing whirl spinning inside them. Using the hold that Grandfisher had on their arm, the Empress raised their arms at the Kaiju’s neck, and aimed the two blasters at it. Two shots later, Grandfisher was stumbling back, roaring in pain, clearly injured but not dead. It opened its mouth, neon blue liquid spilling out.
"Watch out for the acid!" Chanyeol called out.
“Why don’t you do your own job first!” Yixing answered back. The three let out a chuckle before grabbing the Grandfisher’s neck, constricting the acid from spilling out anymore.
"Suho." Jongin sat up suddenly. His eyes were wide, staring at the monitor. The Marshall leaned in to where he was pointing at.
"We're picking up a weird signal," Sure enough, another red dot was faintly beeping, moving closer towards Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the Cosmic Phoenix.
"But that's impossible!" Kyungsoo sputtered. "Doesn't red mean a Kaiju is coming-"
A high-pitched screech sound abruptly rung in all their ears. Two forest green wings broke the surface of the waters; the arms attached grabbing onto the back of the Jaeger and ripping the armor straight off.
"Shit!" Suho cursed. "What category is it?" Kyungsoo glanced at the Serizawa scale, and his face visibly paled.
“Kyungsoo.” Suho repeated.
"Category IV." The trembling whisper Kyungsoo said it in scared Sehun.
Suho growled, and grabbed the microphone. "Cosmic! Do not engage! I repeat, do not engage the Kaiju-"
From Sehun's view however, it was a little too late for that. The bat-like creature had attached itself to the Jaeger's head; it's sharp talons clawing ferociously on the glass front. It broke through, sparks flying from the point of damage.
"Chanyeol!" Everyone heard Baekhyun scream from inside the Conn-Pad. A spark from the Jaeger hit the Kaiju's leg, sending it back in shock. Baekhyun used the opportunity to throw it off the Cosmic’s head, but his screams continued.
"Suho! Chanyeol-Chan- He-He's hurt!" The mood darkened even more at Baekhyun's stifled sobs. The Ranger didn’t go into detail, but judging by the state of the Jaeger after the surprise Kaiju attacked it, there was no doubting the severity of Chanyeol’s state.
"Baekhyun! Are you alright?" Luhan's voice shouted through the intercom, the Mystical Empress frozen in place after hearing Baekhyun’s screams. All of a sudden, a giant crash roared in the speakers, followed by colorful yells in Chinese.
"Guys, what happened?" Jongin shouted into the mic, typing furiously into the monitor.
“We’re fine,” A faint groan sounded from the Jaeger’s intercom. “The bastard just caught us by surprise in the-“
Another screech cut into Kris’ voice, followed by a series of bangs. Looking on the viewing screen, Sehun could see the Grandfisher bashing in the Empress’ back. With great force, it ripped off the back arm completely, disposing it into the sea behind them.
“Shit!” Shock waves hit all three Rangers, tripping them up on their step panel, and the Jaeger stumbled. The Kaiju continued to bash in the back, despite the Mystical Empress’ attempt to shake it off. It delivered one last brutal blow, before grabbing the sides of the robot.
“Yixing!” Luhan screamed in terror. Jongin brought up another monitor of the inside of the Jaeger’s head. Yixing had been launched out of his step panel, flying into the glass front. There was blood seeping from a cut the helmet made, rendering him unconscious. Kris immediately reached to detach himself.
“Don’t Kris-“ Luhan was cut off as the Kaiju shook the Empress to the side, sending the now unconscious Yixing tumbling to the left, dangerously teetering over the slight open panel in their head overlooking the black waters. Luhan screamed again, but both Rangers remained strapped into their step panel.
“Damn-Suho, we’re losing the drift-“ Kris gritted his teeth, and Luhan’s eyes had begun to glaze over. “Luhan, stay with me-“
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” his eyes remained glossed, but he continued to push, moving his arms with Kris together to grab onto the Kaiju and send it flying to the side. “But this isn’t going to work Suho, we-we can’t drift w-without-“ Luhan bit his lip, and Sehun could see him glance over at the still dormant Yixing on the floor. Kris had finally left his step panel and was helping the other male up.
A roar brought everyone’s attention back to the main camera. “Watch out!” Sehun wasn’t sure who screamed it; maybe it was Suho, maybe Jongin or Kyungsoo, maybe even himself. All he knew was that Grandfisher had launched itself up and was charging once again at the Empress.
Kyungsoo let out a whimper. “Kris…” he stuttered. Neither Kris or Yixing had any grip, and if the Kaiju made contact with the Empress… It was a horrifying thought.
One that they wouldn’t have to think about, as a sudden whoosh sounded in his ears, seemingly coming out of nowhere. No one could see the source at first, but then two giant Jaeger boots flew out of the sky, slamming down on Grandfisher.
“Noctis Shadow, when the hell did you guys get deployed??!” Suho questioned loudly, his eyes wide in confusion. They heard Chen scoff in the background, as the two Rangers sent a fist flying into the Kaiju’s head.
“We’ve been waiting in the Drivesuit Room for ages now, and as soon as we heard a second bastard appeared, got into the Jaeger since obviously they need us now.” Xiumin made an tsking noise at Chen’s sarcastic tone, but nodded in agreement. Suho leaned back, sighing in slight relief.
“Initiating Ninja Tactic now!” Xiumin and Chen simultaneous shouted. The two held their arms out in a defensive position, with four pointed knives in both hands. It threw one arm out, which hit the Grandfisher straight in its chest. The dark grey Jaeger darted from side to side, sharp jabs coming out of nowhere, as the Kaiju roared in pain.
“S-Shi- Kris we need to go help them-“ Sehun heard Luhan start, but Suho cut him off.
“No. Luhan, you’re main objective is getting the Empress back to base.” He stated firmly.
“B-“
“You and Kris can’t do anything at this moment. Yixing is unconscious, and therefore your drift is unstable. Escort the Cosmic back to the Shatterdome, I don’t think Baekhyun can hold out any longer. Shadow will hold the Kaiju’s off.” Sehun could see the slight uncertainty in Suho’s eyes however, and heard the worry in Luhan’s sharp breaths.
“Luhan, do it!” Xiumin called, his voice rushing out in large pants. The Shadow was running, before delivering another slash into the Grandfisher side, then grabbed a hold of its arms, pushing it into the water. “We don’t have much time before the other starts attacking again!” True to his word, the second Kaiju, which had remained dormant since being thrown off, had begin pacing, it’s wings flapping low to the water, creating giant waves.
Luhan looked to protest, but nodded curtly, as both him and Kris began moving the Jaeger at a quick pace back to the Shatterdome behind the slower moving Cosmic Phoenix. Suho looked at the rest of the team.
“Sehun, Kyungsoo, go report to Tao. We have two major injuries, and three others that are probably hurt as well. He’s going to need all the help he can get.” The two nodded and turned out the room, running down the hall towards the medical center.
Sehun could hear soft sniffles from his side. Looking down at his side, he saw tears rolling down Kyungsoo’s face, as he tried hard not to cry. Sehun put an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.” He murmured. Images of the Kaiju ripping apart the two Jaegers flashed into his mind, the sounds of the splintering metal still ringing in his ears. “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
If only he could believe it.
The hospital bay was in frenzy, nurses’ running back and forth between rooms as the five Rangers were taken off the Jaegers and transported within. Sehun saw Tao in a corner, directing a group of them to their respective areas. Glancing up, there were tear stains distinctly rolling down the Chinese’s eyes, but Tao remained calm, motioning for Sehun to come over.
“Help get Yixing into ER room 2.” The said male was currently being stripped of his suit, and laid down on a gurney. Sehun grabbed the front handle, and with two other men, pushed Yixing down the hallway.
A soft groan sounded from the stretcher. Sehun looked down in shock, as Yixing thrashed his head slowly.
“Yixing, you need to remain calm-“
“Where are Luhan and Kris?”
The question shocked Sehun. Yixing had just woken up after that terrible ordeal, and his first question was about his teammates?
“Don’t worry about them, they’re in good hands-“
“NonoNO!” the sudden shout frightened Sehun. “L-Lu-Luhan is scared of doctors, they can’t send him in one and Kris is he-“ Yixing’s body had begun trembling, his breath increasing rapidly.
“Yixing, don’t worry about them okay? I’ll personally go and make sure they’re in the best hands, so you just focus on saving yourself.” Yixing wasn’t even paying attention anymore, his face contorting in pain. Unconsciously, Sehun grabbed Yixing’s hand and squeezed it for comfort. It was shaking uncontrollably.
The two nurses pushed Yixing into the room and then all put pushed Sehun out. The door slammed behind him, but he could see the doctors inside bustling around the now thrashing Chinese Ranger.
Sehun felt numb, especially as screams began erupting from behind the doors. Forcing himself to turn away, he jogged back down the hall.
“Chanyeol! Chanyeol!” The shrieks came from another open door, where four nurses were wrestling Baekhyun down into his bed. “Where is he! Let go of me, where is he! CHANYEOL!!”
“Sir, you need to rest-“
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME AND LET ME SEE HIM!” Baekhyun had begun kicking and swinging his arms around. He looked wildly around, and met Sehun’s eyes for a second. Sehun became paralyzed at the deranged look.
“SEHUN WHERE IS HE SHOW ME WHERE CHANYEOL IS-“ Forcing himself away once again, he nearly crashed into Tao.
“Good, there you are I need you to stand guard by the door. Don’t let anyone in, you hear me? No one.” Tao raced off, leaving Sehun confused. However, he obeyed, and pushed open the hallway doors.
His questions were soon answered, as a clearly furious Luhan lunged at him. “Where is Yixing.” He demanded, his tight grip on Sehun’s shoulders causing the younger to wince.
“H-He’s in there but he’s in surgery right now you can’t-“ Paying no heed to the rest of Sehun’s sentence, Luhan pushed past Sehun and slammed against the hallway doors. They didn’t budge, allowing Sehun to drag Luhan away from them.
“Let me fucking go you asshole, why aren’t they opening damnit-“ Luhan tugged at Sehun’s grip, but he held on with dear life.
“They’re pull but Luhan you can’t, they need peace and quiet in order to operate on Yixing- Luhan!” With a giant yank, Sehun pulled Luhan away, sending the other stumbling back a few steps. Kris had appeared at Luhan’s shoulder, his own face warped with worry. Sehun gulped, and held his arms out to cover the whole door.
“Goddamnit Sehun you better fucking let me go and see Yixing or I swear I will tear you apart and pound every piece into the ground.” Sehun helplessly stood in front of the blond, blocking both him and Kris from entering the hallway to the E.R. room.
“Luhan, you can’t!” he pleaded, gulping nervously. There was nothing actually stopping the two from passing him however, because he could hardly hold off Luhan alone, and Kris was much bigger.
Luckily, Kris seemed to get the message, and put a trembling hand on Luhan’s shoulder. “Luhan…” the other swung his arm around and pushed Kris off.
“Get your fucking hand off me! You feel it too right? Yixing is hurting! He’s fucking dying and this little asshole here isn’t letting us fucking go see him!” Sehun could feel tears springing to his eyes. He couldn’t understand their pain, and he wanted to let them go, but Tao had instructed him to stop them from going past the doors, as they could possibly obstruct with both Chanyeol and Yixing’s surgeries.
The doors slide open. Chen and Xiumin walked in, looking worse for wear and still in their Jaeger suits. However, both walked determinedly up to Sehun.
“Xiumin, Chen, you guys don't have to be here, you should go change and-“
A loud smack cut Sehun’s words off, as Xiumin landed a fist straight into LuHan’s cheek, pushing the other back a few steps.
“Sit down Luhan.” He growled. LuHan glowered back, clutching at his face, but obeyed.
“You freaking the fuck out isn’t going to help Yixing at this time, okay? You guys are fucking ghost drifting, and right now, filling his head with all your goddamn worries ain’t going to make anything better. So calm the fuck down and please, for Yixing’s sake, don’t attempt anything brash okay?” Xiumin was shouting at Luhan now, who shrank back in his seat in surrender, tears springing from his eyes. He remained silent as Xiumin stood threateningly over him. Next to him, Kris collapsed into a seat, his head in his hands. Sehun could see his shoulders trembling.
“Chanyeol!” A new scream joined the fray, as it echoed from down the hall. Suddenly, Baekhyun busted through the doors, pushing past Sehun. His eyes were wide with terror. “Where is Chanyeol, where is he?”
“Baekhyun, you need to be in bed!” a nurse ran up behind him, but the male just pushed her aside, stumbling back and forth as he attempted to walk to the ER room. Sehun chased after him, but it was Chen who held a steadying arm out.
“Baekhyun, you need to be in bed right now,” he responded calmly. The other looked up at Chen, eyes full of panic.
“B-But C-Chan-“
“Yeol needs you to be strong for both of you.” Chen sighed, his eyes down casted. “You gotta rest up and stop causing trouble, so they can work on your partner more quickly.” Baekhyun shook his head no and looked as if he wanted to protest, but two nurses had grabbed his arms and were already leading him back down the doors he came through.
“You better be fucking right Chen or I’ll kill you! You hear me, I’LL KILL YOU!” his screams still echoed from down the hall, however, Chen still nodded as if the other could see him.
Tao appeared out of the ER room. There was blood all over his scrubs, and Luhan let out an audible screech, looking horrified. Tao himself wasn’t looking any better.
“Xiumin, Chen, Suho called. He wants you guys back at LOCCENT right now.” Tao nodded over at Sehun. “Sehun, you better go too, they’ve got to discuss what to do now.” As soon as Tao finished, Luhan pounced on the younger, his facial features wild.
“Tao, where’s Yixing?” he gasped out, grabbing onto Tao’s arm frantically. The last thing that Sehun could hear as he was leaving the ward was Tao’s attempt at reassurance that Yixing was perfectly fine and why don’t you sit down?
He was pretty sure Luhan didn’t believe the medic’s trembling voice either.
He saw Xiumin and Chen walking ahead of him. Running ahead, he came up next to Xiumin, figuring out of the two, Xiumin was least likely to kill him.
"Hey umm..." Sehun started off quietly. “Thanks for your help back there…” he mumbled. Xiumin gave him a weary smile in return.
“It’s alright, this is your first major accident here right? I wouldn’t know how to react if I were in your place too.” Xiumin’s grin was kind, despite the tired undertone in his voice.
“I know but… it’s my job, so I feel like I should have been able to do more-“ Xiumin patted Sehun on his back.
“Seriously, don’t take it to heart though. That’s one of the consequences of drifting, the bond between partners being strong like that.” Xiumin said, glancing over at his own co-pilot, who was deep in thought. Chen lifted his head and stared at Sehun.
"Were you scared though?" Sehun jolted at Chen's sudden question. The elder held his hands up in defense. "I'm not judging you or anything, I genuinely want to know.”
“What- What do you mean?” Chen halted in his steps.
“Did seeing how painful a drift is scare you?” Chen continued. “Right now, Lu Han is suffering internally because he can feel all the pain from the aesthetics being used on Yixing. Kris is probably being plagued with the fears that the two others are feeling; Xing could be permanently injured, or even worse -dead. Neither of them can escape it, ‘cause their Neural Handshake is strong, so strong to the point they’re Ghost-Drifting right now, can’t leave the drift ‘cause they’re afraid, afraid that something might happen to Yixing if they even dare to leave his mind.
Baekhyun though, he has it the worst. He can’t even feel Chanyeol, because Chanyeol can’t feel himself. He’s probably in his room right now, pacing… his head in his hands… right now all of Chanyeol’s memories are stuck with him, and if Chanyeol doesn’t make it, Baekhyun’s going to have to live with it… for the rest of his life.”
“Jongdae-“
“So are you scared?” Chen stared dead straight into Sehun’s face. “This isn’t a game to us. It’s life or death. When we become pilots, we’re basically signing both our and our partner’s lives away, for as long as we are in the program. We’re forever connected with our drift partner, a sense of abstract communication that binds us together. Mind-melding? It’s not easy; to give your memories up to someone, open your whole entire mind to an outsider. There are benefits of course, but there are a lot of detriments too. The biggest of them all? You become dependent on them, to the point where life isn’t possible without them by your side. You feel their fear, their pain, their helplessness-“
“Jongdae stop-“
"It doesn't scare me." Both Xiumin and Chen paused in shock. Sehun bit his lip, afraid of being reprimanded, but the silence told him to continue on.
"I know the dangers of being a pilot, I learned it all in the Academy. Neural Handshakes. Ghost-Drifting. I can name all the attacks since the San Francisco one. I know all the parts of the Conn-Pad. You can quiz me on the differences in the Mach types. It's all in the books. All in hours of studying my ass off, taking dozens of tests, logging in hundreds of hours at the training centers, that's how I got so good.
But being good at the books doesn’t even come close to comparing how it is here. I never had the actual experience. Never saw how it feels to be so connected to someone, to the point where you know everything they are thinking, how they are feeling, what is troubling them. Never saw an emotional bond so strong, to the point you can’t imagine what it is live without them.
I saw that today. Yixing, the first thing he said when he became conscious was Luhan and Kris’ name. Baekhyun fought an army of nurses looking for Chanyeol. I’ve been seeing it all these two weeks. The two of you never leave each other’s sides. Kris is always looking out for Yixing and Luhan. Baekhyun and Chanyeol spend hours just telling dumb jokes to each other.
I don’t think the dependence you talk about is not necessarily bad. The fact that there is someone in your life, someone that you can’t imagine being without, that’s not bad at all. Rather, that’s trust. Being able to trust someone to that extent, it’s a powerful tool, something that helps you accomplish things in life. There’s someone there, being both moral support and your worst adversary, all in hopes of helping you grow as a person.
That's why it doesn't scare me. Because I saw it with my own eyes, how painful it is to have someone you would die for. And that pain, there’s something powerful about it, to know there is someone who cares about you so much that they feel pain when you feel pain. And it’s not only the negative feelings. You experience their happiness, their joy, their elation, they feel every single of your emotions and can understand them, understand you. That trust, and faith you have in your partner to be able to support you, both in battle and outside of it, its one of the greatest things you can have, and… well… I’m jealous of it.”
Sehun faltered off, suddenly aware that he had just told off his senior at the base. However, neither seemed angry, on the contrary, Xiumin was smiling and Chen had a serene look on, different from the various glares Sehun was used to receiving from the Ranger.
“You’re not bad kid.” Chen grinned slightly. Xiumin slowly turned his head towards his partner, face in astonishment.
“Seems you really aren’t scared,” Chen chuckled, reaching out to pat the younger on the shoulder.
“Sehun…” Xiumin started. He paused.
“Sehun, don’t give up on the Jaeger Program, don’t give up on your dream of being a Ranger. I know you want to be one; I saw it in your eyes when Jongin was talking about it before. Please, pass whatever obstacles you’re facing right now, and make it.” He halted, right outside the LOCCENT room. Slowly, Xiumin turned to face Sehun. His face seemed older, wiser, as the other male had on a serious look unlike anything Sehun had seen on him before.
“I really want to someday be working alongside you Sehun. Please help me make that come true, okay?”
The mission booth was silent for once. Everyone stood there, nonmoving. Sehun glanced from side to side. Tao, Kris and Luhan had all returned there, and everyone was waiting for Suho to show up.
The Marshall walked through that door, adopting a quick pace to the center of the group.
“Give me the details Tao. No skimming on anything.” Tao stepped forward.
“Yixing has a couple of cracked bones still, but I managed to stabilize his mind from his unconscious state. Baekhyun has two fractured ribs and a broken leg, not to mention his mental exhaustion, but he’s also okay. Chanyeol though…” Tao paled. “H-He-“
“Chanyeol’s going to need major medical attention.” Kyungsoo interjected, putting a comforting arm around Tao. “The Kaiju claws are pretty sharp, and I think one of them managed to get Chanyeol when it hit them on their conn-pad. Not to mention they have some form of toxic on them that I haven't managed to figure out.”
“There is no way I can fix him up here.” Tao shook his head, regaining his voice. “He’s going to need major medical attention, from a real hospital.”
“But how can we get him to one?” Kris interjected, his eyes dark. “Right now there’s a Kaiju still roaming around out there. It’s headed for the Korean mainland, around the Busan area. Korea sounded the warning, and everyone’s in shelters, but that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have any Jaegers to take it down.”
“Aren’t any of the other bases sending some?” Jongin questioned. Suho shook his head no.
“Tokyo’s got a Category III themselves, and Hong Kong’s two Jaegers are out of commission at the moment from an attack. The other Shatterdomes are sending in Jaegers, but it’ll take a while for them to get here.”
“With each minute that passes, Chanyeol loses life!” Tao cried out. “He needs the medical attention as soon as possible, he needs to be in a hospital within the next two hours or else-“ Tao choked up.
“I understand that.” Suho remained calmed, but Sehun could see him shaking. “Okay, we have Shadow still online, so Kris, Luhan, you guys can take-“
“No.” Kris shook his head. “That’s not going to work.” Luhan bit his lip, tears forming at his eyes. “You know we can’t drift without Yixing, me and Luhan have no compatibility. We’d be more of a liability out there.”
“Yeah I know,” Suho sighed. “Okay then, Tao you go with Luhan-“
“If you really are going to send the emotionally unstable Tao out there right now I’m going to stab you.” Luhan growled. “Do you see him?” Sehun could see Tao quivering in Kyungsoo’s arms, and reached out to rub his arm soothingly.
“Then I’ll go with Kris-“
“Suho I’m not letting you out either, you’ll die if you step into a Jaeger again, remember?” Kris firmly argued. Suho glared at the taller male.
“But what other choice do we have?” he suddenly exploded, and Sehun jumped back in shock. “Chanyeol is dying, and you’re not helping by refusing all my suggestions!”
“I don’t want to lose either you or Chanyeol!” Kris responded back with equal ferocity. “I don’t want anyone to die! But what if you pass out right in the middle of the battle? Then you’re not only putting your life in danger, but mine, and Xiumin’s, and Chen’s and all the people on Busan-“
“But then what can we do?” Suho was sobbing now. Jongin wrapped his arms around the Marshall. “I don’t want to lose Chanyeol, and we need to take care of those Kajiu before they start destroying the city even more! But how?”
“Sehun.”
Everyone froze turning towards Kyungsoo. The male blushed at the sudden attention, but straightened up and grabbed Sehun by the arm.
“We all saw Sehun and Luhan back then. You even admitted it afterward Suho, they were a pretty good match.” Sehun looked at the Marshall sharply. When did he say that?
“Right now, we only have the Noctis Shadow that has actual pilots. But there are still other Jaegers that are active right now. All they need is able pilots right? Well,” he motioned to the younger male besides him. “We have one. Right here.”
The rest of the people in the room seemed to be warming up to the idea, slight nods and murmurs passing between the other members. Kyungsoo seemed to gain confidence from this, and he pushed Sehun forward.
“Suho. You know that Kaiju needs to be taken care of, and taken care of fast. Why are you hesitating?”
The Marshall looked troubled. Sehun knew that he wanted to use Kyungsoo’s plan, but there laid a major problem that only Sehun knew about. His father.
But is it really a problem? A tiny voice inside whispered. Your father just doesn’t want you to be a Ranger because of his image. He doesn’t want the brutality and masculinity of the Jaeger Ranger tainting him. He never cared about your feelings, about what you wanted or felt.
But they did. Sehun glanced around at all the people in the room, who were still arguing over whether to use Sehun or not.
In the past three weeks, he had finally felt like he belonged, like he had an actual family that loved him and cared for him, more then he had ever before in his life. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t come to the Shatterdome for any other reason other then defying his father and experiencing a Ranger’s life, but in the process, had met such amazing people.
There was Jongin, who had welcomed him with open arms. Kyungsoo, who babied and chided him over everything he did. Tao, who had made him feel young again. Suho, who acted like a father to him, more then his actual dad ever was.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who brought laughter and joy in his life with every antic of there’s. Xiumin and Chen, whose wisdom and snark gave him new insights on life. Kris, Yixing, Luhan, the three that dragged him out of his shell and forced his personality to come out the most.
This was his family now. And he didn’t want to live without any of them.
“Let me do it.” Everyone froze.
“S-Sehun?” Suho stuttered. He nodded in confirmation.
“Please Sir. We don’t have any time. Let me and Luhan go out with Shadow, defeat those Kaiju, and get Chanyeol the medical attention he needs.” Sehun spoke with a firm and strong voice. He hoped that no one could hear the slight tremble.
Even if they did, no one commented.
“Suho, the kid’s got a point.” Kris inputted. “Luhan’s the only one of us three who is capable of drifting with only one person, and here we have a perfectly able body that matches with Luhan. You don’t need to worry about either being inexperienced, since Luhan’s done it before, and he can definitely lead Sehun. I don’t see a problem, especially since we really need another Jaeger out there with Shadow.”
“But he’s inexperienced-“
“You didn’t see him in the Kwoon Room Suho,” Chen interjected. “The kid is more then ready for this. He and Luhan are magic together, maybe even better then me and Minseok.” The elder elbowed his partner. “But seriously, this could actually work.”
“But can we really trust you Chen?” Jongin feebly joked. Chen narrowed his eyes.
“I wouldn’t joke about this shit. The kid, he’s not only physically ready for a drift. He’s emotionally ready too.” Chen stared at Sehun. “He knows what it means to be a Ranger, he knows what is expected of him if he steps into that Conn-Pad. And he’s prepared for it. There isn’t any other person here I would trust more then him to be a good co-pilot with Luhan.”
“Luhan do you have any objections?” Kyungsoo cut in. The blond had been silently looking at the floor. “You’re a part of the deal, what do you think about drifting with Sehun?”
The male in question raised his head. There was a fire in his eyes, his lips set in a tight line.
“Yes.” He announced. “Anything to save Yixing. I’ll do anything.”
“So it’s settled!” Jongin clapped his head. “They both want to do this, they’re more then willing and definitely able, let’s get them into a Jaeger asap!” Everyone else nodded in fervent agreement, but Suho remained unconvinced.
“But your-“ the sentence remained unfinished, but Sehun knew what Suho was thinking.
“Please don’t worry about him sir.” Sehun whispered, almost pleadingly with the Marshall. That seemed to break Suho’s resolve, and slowly he nodded.
“Okay. Okay.” The Marshall’s voice grew stronger. “Jongin, you suit Sehun up, and run the two of their stats in the machine. We’ll have the Noctis Shadow go out first, to draw the Kaiju away from the mainland, and then Sehun and Luhan will join them for a double attack.” Jongin bobbed his head curtly, before grabbing Sehun’s hand and walking him out the room.
“But wait.” Everyone paused. Sehun looked around confused. “What Jaeger are we going to use? Jongin couldn’t have fixed the Cosmic that fast, could he?”
For the first time that evening, Suho broke out into a smile. “Sehun…” he began. “You do know that this base has four Jaegers?”
"Does it fit good?" Jongin asked, attaching the Spinal Cord to Sehun’s back.
"Yeah." It felt surreal to him, the fact that he was standing in the Drivesuit Room; being fitted into a suit he could only dream about before. Sehun knew his father would not approve of this at all, that he would be in so much trouble when word got out, but at the moment, he could care less. All the years of intense training at the Jaeger Academy, of even more fervent pleading at home, every single moment of his life he had dedicated to making it to this point, it was all proving fruitful. Here he was, about to get into a Jaeger and operate it, a chance he thought he would never get.
“Where’s Luhan?” Sehun asked as Jongin drilled in the bolts in his back.
“Kris is helping him into his suit right now.” He finished the last screw, and patted Sehun’s back, satisfied. “You and him will meet at the Exotic Love’s cockpit.”
“How come no one’s ever told me about it before?”
“It’s Suho’s old Jaeger, a Mach-3. It’s a long story and brings up a lot of unwanted emotions, but that’s something you should hear from Suho and not me. Lets just say in the end, he and his co-pilot were retired from the program, and Love’s been sitting around here, waiting for another set of Rangers. It’s been a while, and most trainees that graduate prefer the Mach-4 and 5 series then this old sucker. Shame too, it’s got a really good defense system.” Jongin pushed in the breastplate, securing it to Sehun’s chest.
“So listen. The Exotic Love’s not that hard to operate, she's the standard Mach-3 model, and doesn’t have any specialties that you’re going to need at the moment. This battle is gonna be pure brute and force, so as long as you know how to operate the plasma blasters, and can do it while drifting with Luhan, you’re good. She’s got 60 missile engines on each foot, and the right arm has the better gun. I actually recently installed a new cooling engine, which means you can shoot 20% more shots then before-“
“Wait-wait repeat that?” Panic hit Sehun. Jongin chuckled.
“Don’t worry too much about it, trust Luhan and you’ll be fine.” This didn’t help calm down Sehun’s nerves. Suddenly the weight of the situation hit him. Was he really ready to do this?
"You know, my mom operates a Jaeger as well." Sehun's eyes went wide at Jongin's casual statement. The elder was not looking at him, instead focusing on Sehun’s suit, but there was a faint smile on his face.
"She operates the Nova Hyperion, has been doing so for a while now. I actually went to the Jaeger Academy, 'cause they hoped being a kid would boost my Drift capabilities.
I didn’t cut it though.” Leaning down, he strapped in Sehun’s boots. “Didn’t have the strength for the program, plus I was always more interested in building Jaegers anyways. My mom was pretty pissed. She was this close to disowning me, but I managed to get a job as a tech here. She still hasn’t accepted it, but I can care less right now. This is my life.”
Jongin paused, as he pushed himself off the floor. He grabbed Sehun on the shoulders, and looked the younger in the eye.
“I love been a technician, I really do. But sometimes I look at the Rangers, and Jaegers, how much they do, all the danger you guys put yourselves in to keep others -like me- out of it, and I just… I just really respect that about you.”
“So I really admire you Sehun. What you’re doing… its just…” Jongin bit his lip and stepped back.
“I don’t know your situation, and why you came here, but I know that it was never in the plan to put you in a suit, and set you up on one of the Jaegers. Maybe it was your idea, that you just didn’t want to get in one. Maybe someone else out there in this world made that decision. You didn’t have to accept, you don’t have any obligation to do so.
“When you first came here, I didn’t know what to think. All you were was some scrawny-ass kid who was apparently here to ‘experience’ a Shatterdome. For all I knew, you were some rich politician’s son, who only wanted to come for some brownie points back home. I didn’t really like you then, ‘cause a guy like you didn’t seem the type to be really interested or passionate about the Jaeger program and everything that comes with it.”
“But you proved me so wrong these two weeks.” Jongin chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “As soon as you dug your hands into that Kaiju for Kyungsoo, and listened to Tao’s two hour long lecture on Kaiju poison, and especially when you got slashed when we were testing the new throwing knives… man, I thought I found my soulmate. You’re really motivated about everything, really enthusiastic in your own way. You took in all the good and bad consequences of working on a Shatterdome, and didn’t judge us on that. And now, you’re about to go drift with someone you literally just met, all so you can help save someone you first saw two weeks ago. I…” Jongin paused. “I really respect that. And I don’t want you to worry about anything, because to be honest, I don’t think there is anyone else better then you for me to trust my life with.” He patted Sehun on the back, and started for the door.
“I really respect you too, you know.” Jongin froze and slowly turned back. Sehun gave a genuine smile through his helmet.
“You’re wrong when you say the Rangers are the only one who put their lives on the line for the civilians. Everyone here has a role in saving people, in defeating the Kaiju. Just think of all those upgrades you made on the Noctis Shadow. You think they could have held off Grandfisher if it weren’t for the turbo thingy’s you added? And the new battery you gave the Mystical Empress, do you think they could have lasted that extra twenty minutes after Yixing went out? It was all thanks to you man, you and your ingenuity for making sure the Jaegers here are at top-notch quality. You’re always making sure they’re at their best, that they are in perfect condition.
But really Jongin, I admire you because you got to this point in your life despite all the obstacles you faced.” Sehun took a step towards him. “Just like you said, you had your mom’s expectations, and all the people at the Jaeger Academy too. Everyone wanted you to become just like her, to grow up in her heroic footsteps.”
“I’ve felt those too.” Jongin’s eyes were wide at this point, his focus completely on Sehun. “I’ve never shared this but… it wasn’t my decision to take myself off the Ranger program. I got… pressured into doing so. It was a compromise, coming here to be an assistant only. I wasn’t suppose to get anywhere near the Jaegers. You’re sort of right, in the whole… rich kid thing. But not in the whole ‘not interested’ business. All my life I wanted to be a Ranger, but as soon as I faced opposition to that, I just abandoned that dream.
“You didn’t though. You kept driving on, not letting anyone stop you, and look where you are now?” Sehun gave a light punch to Jongin’s shoulder. “Head technician of the J-Tech crew! And honestly, we would be nothing without all the work you put in. So…” There was a feeling of shyness passing through him, as he looked down to the floor with a blush.
“Thank you man. Because for the first time in my life, I’m actually happy with where I’m going, and it’s all thanks to you.”
Suddenly Jongin pulled Sehun into a tight hug. Despite the cold armor separating them, Sehun could still feel it, the warmth that radiated from the technician. Everything he said was true. How much Jongin had changed his life in these past few weeks was something Sehun would never be able to thank him enough for.
They separated, both red cheeked and blushing from their actions.
“Go get them.” Jongin patted his shoulder one last time, before turning out the door. Sehun followed behind, as they walked to the entranceway into the Exotic Love’s head. Suho was already standing there, hands firm behind his back. Jongin whispered a ‘Good luck!’ before heading over for the LOCCENT booth.
Suho walked forward in front of Sehun, inspecting the younger’s suit. He nodded in approval.
“Are you ready Sehun?” he asked. It was directed at more then just the mission that laid ahead, but also the consequences that would follow afterward. Sehun knew Suho was scared of what his father could do, and a part of him knew he feared the same thing.
And yet, Suho was smiling at him proudly, as if deep in his heart he had hoped for this moment to come, he -like Sehun- was waiting for the day where the younger could finally prove his worth, prove his talent, and follow his dream. Never in a million years would Sehun have thought this could come true, but here he was, wearing a white suit, about to enter a Jaeger of his own to defeat a Kaiju.
Is it worth it Sehun? Yes. Yes it was.
“Yes I am, Sir!” Sehun saluted. Suho smiled fondly at him. He stepped closer and placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder.
“Just call me Suho.”
Locking himself into the step pads, he felt the clasps tighten around his foot, as a technician manual did the same for his shoulders. Holding his hand out in front of him, a control pad zoomed into his hand, before yet another brace was attached to both wrists, securing him to the robots own arms and legs.
“Preparing for the drop in five-four-three-two-one…” The Jaeger head slid through the panels, attaching onto the rest of the robot. Sehun could see Jongin typing at the monitors, before swiping at something on the monitor.
“Engaging pilot to pilot protocol.” Luhan motioned at Sehun, the two of them lifting the control pads. Following the elder’s movements, he tapped on the screen, where a green light blinked up, signaling it being on.
“Don’t forget the to start the HUD display screen, since me and Kris aren’t there to remind you,” the soft voice rang into the Exotic Love’s headset. Sehun turned to the mission booth, where a weary looking Yixing smiled back at him. He could hear Luhan gasp from his side.
“Yixing, you should be in bed!” Yixing merely chuckled.
“Shut up Luhan. As soon as I heard you’re drifting with someone else, I had to come and see. I can’t believe you betrayed us Lulu. My feelings are so hurt.” It was a relief to hear that Yixing’s sarcastic self didn’t suffer from the attack. Luhan snickered.
“Awww you’re so cute Xing,” Sehun could hear Luhan’s voice over the intercom. “As soon as I beat the crap out of that Kaiju, me and you are going to go to Vegas and get married okay? Kris can be best man.” Said best man scoffed in annoyance, but Yixing had a wistful smile on his face instead.
“There is going to be a marriage Luhan.” Everyone froze. Luhan’s crinkling eyes had widened, as he looked into the mission control booth with shock.
“I’m planning to propose to my girlfriend Lu. As soon as you beat that Kaiju, and we get sent to the mainland for surgery. I had Jongin make the ring for me.” The tan male bit his lip in shyness. “It’s a beauty, I’ll show it to you guys when you get back in okay? Oh yeah and…” Yixing raised his head, tears in his eyes as his grin grew from ear to ear.
“I want both of you to be my best men.” Luhan gasped.
“Prepare for Neural Handshake.” The robotic voice sounded from the screens in front of them. “In fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…” Sehun turned to look at Luhan, but the other was merely staring straight ahead, an emotionless face plastered on.
“Sehun,” he said quietly. The younger held his breath.
“Neural Handshake, initiating.” The drift sequence begun, and suddenly they were both thrown into a white space, as flashes of memories float in front of their faces.
A younger Luhan, sitting at a table. A smaller version of himself, walking to school. Luhan running around, kicking a soccer ball, which melded into Sehun watching a group of boys play it from his window. A girl, her arm wrapped around the Chinese male. Sehun’s first kiss. Luhan graduating from the Academy. Sehun and Suho’s talk from before.
The light passed, and everything returned to reality. Luhan finally turned and looked at him. He smiled slightly.
“Let’s get out there and kick some Kaiju’s ass, okay?” There was a glimmer that flashed through his eyes. Sehun’s own lips began turning up. They could do this.
“I have a wedding to plan.”
(too bad everyone dies in the end)
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