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“Becket boys, meet Gipsy Danger.” Marshal Pentecost introduced, pointing with his chin up at the Jaeger outside the window, surrounded by j-techs carefully working on her, drilling plating into place, running diagnostics, and whatever else.
Raleigh stared at her, feeling his heart somehow both expand and constrict at the sight of her. Bold anticipation made its way into his mind, backed almost immediately by numbing awe that someone was about to put him in charge of this beast of engineering.
“She’s impressive, Marshal.” Yancy put in, reaching out to set a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder for a second before drawing away again. “What’s she powered by?”
“Nuclear core. Makes her more manual than the others, but from what we’ve observed, you two seem like you like to be hands-on.” Pentecost explained, not sparing either brother a glance. “Her frame may have already been constructed, but she’s been heavily modified specifically for your fighting styles.”
“That’s impressive,” Raleigh said, elbowing Yancy off of him as subtly as he could. With commanding officers surrounding them, they were supposed to act more stiff and at attention, but it was hard to focus on anything else now that they’d finally gotten their own Jaeger after years of intense training. “When can we take her out for our first mission?”
“Slow your roll, Becket.” Marshal Pentecost scolded, but there was no real heat in his voice. “It’ll be another week, at least, until the j-techs will be finished installing everything. Then it’ll be a period of system checks before the first tests. Once those tests are done, you’ll have a series of field tests before actually being allowed to fight a Kaiju. Your first deployment is a month and a half off, ”
Yancy nudged Raleigh, a quiet “I’m impatient, too” rolling off of him.
“Yessir,” Raleigh agreed, dismissing the wave of frustration that threatened to choke him.
“But,” Marshal Pentecost continued, turning just enough that Raleigh was able to catch the twist of a smile on his lips before it was smothered in professional stoicism. “If you two want to try your first drift in her, you’re more than welcome. The techs are avoiding her conn-pod for the time being.”
“Ready to handshake inside an actual Jaeger?” Choi asked, grinning over his shoulder at them.
“We were born ready,” Yancy reassured, lifting a fist for Raleigh to mash his own against. “And our suits?”
“You won’t need them for this.” Marshal Pentecost reassured. “Whenever you’re ready to enter, go ahead. We’ll be watching from here.”
Raleigh was already turning to go before Yancy got in his last “yessir,” but his brother was no less eager to hurry up and get inside Gipsy’s head. They exchanged a couple of smiles as they dashed through the hallways, trying to dodge between j-techs.
A couple of j-techs yelled at them as they dashed through them, but neither Raleigh or Yancy cared. If Pentecost didn’t care that they were being reckless and inattentive in the hallways, then why would they care what everyone else thought?
“Gipsy Danger,” Yancy said over his shoulder, grinning at him as they finally arrived at the elevator that would bring them up to their conn-pod. “A good name.”
“I know,” Raleigh agreed with swirling anticipation. “If only the Kaiju could understand us, they’d be running back to the Breach, tail between their legs.”
“We’ll have to put some weight behind that name first.” Yancy grinned. “Then maybe they’ll recognize us on sight. Maybe their name for us is something worse.”
“If they even have a language.”
“If they even have a language.” Yancy placated, rolling his eyes at Raleigh.
The elevator doors dinged, and they stepped off, calming their run to be more of a hurried march through the hallway. Although they had yet to see Gipsy Danger in all her glory – she must’ve been transported in from her manufacturing facility – they knew the base like the back of each other’s hands. It was easy to turn and find which room led directly to her.
The j-techs within, surrounding the suits of armor as they diligently worked on them, greeted them merrily.
“Gipsy’s ready for you.” One told them, pointing at the door ahead before handing them their helmets. “Try not to stay in there too long; we’ve got to start working on her conn-pod again before too long.”
“We’ll try.” Yancy said, a troublemaking note to his voice that Raleigh didn’t need to drift with him to know meant he wasn’t going to try at all. Raleigh certainly wasn’t trying to obey orders here, either, so he couldn’t fault his older brother with that.
All he wanted was her.
The conn-pod, in comparison to the constant noise outside from j-techs and officers, was quiet. Soundproofed, layered, padded. Raleigh, up until now, had only seen simulations and pictures of what the inside of one looked like, seeing as how actually being in one was confidential even to most j-techs.
To actually stand in one, for the first time, with his brother and his Jaeger, was close to surreal.
She was slightly blue, even on the inside. There was padding and grates across the ground, screens and displays waiting to be activated even though Gipsy Danger wasn’t. The mounting stands waited for them, adjusted specifically for them already.
She was technically nothing too marvelous compared to the pictures, but she was special, somehow. He didn’t know if it was because she was his, or because there was something else that Raleigh had yet to place consciously.
But, there was one thing he did know. “She’s beautiful,” Raleigh said out loud, catching Yancy’s smile as his brother dragged his fingers over the mount.
“She sure is.” Yancy agreed. “Can’t wait to beat some Kaiju with her.”
“Hear that?” Raleigh teased Gipsy Danger, grabbing hold of the mounts and carefully securing himself in. The helmet came on, locking in with the technology.
Yancy joined him a second later, raising his fist again for Raleigh to tap again. “Choi, we’re ready for the handshake.”
“Perfect.” Choi’s voice echoed from the speakers, a bit distracted as he worked on his end to get the process started. “Initializing the handshake in three… two… one…”
The jolt of the drift was always welcome.
It felt like being smothered in the memory of their mother’s hugs, of being grappled in the middle of the floor with each other, of sharing a joke that had Yancy shooting soda out of his nose. Christmases spent hiding gifts from each other, grumbling to one another about Dad in the cover of their own room, being raised together to the point they could read each other’s minds, with or without drifting.
It felt like drifting was what they both were born to do, falling into each other with ease. And, for the first time, something else was there, too.
Consciousnesses merging and collapsing in on itself, rebuilding and reintegrating, Gipsy Danger came to life from a fusion of their minds. Lights and switches began to glow as she came into herself, given a thought of her own that was equal parts Raleigh and Yancy.
The first thoughts of a Jaeger was something special, born from their drift, born from two distinct people, but the same in heart and spirit.
Gipsy Danger’s first weren’t anything in words. Just deep confusion, worry and terror leeching off of her, clawing for purchase, for understanding. She was overwhelmed and scared and–
Yancy was the first to speak, smiling up at her as he tipped his head back as far as he could so that it could press firmly against her mounting structure. “Hey, Gipsy. Nice to meet you. We’re your rangers. I’m Yancy. This is my little brother, Raleigh.”
More confusion, and then understanding as their minds continued to fuel hers. Raleigh pointed his own eagerness to get into the field into her, letting her know just how much he was ready for her. How much he liked her already.
Slowly, Gipsy Danger dipped her consciousness into his, feeling it, thinking, before letting out a quiet agreement. She wanted to fight with them, too.
In fact, her raging spirit was just as strong as the Beckets’ own, a bold eagerness to leave her station and punch something with her pilots, and love love love.
“We’re going to make a great team.” Yancy continued, sharing a broad smile with Raleigh. “Us and you.”
Gipsy Danger responded in gusto, some combination of “I am you” and “nice to meet you, too” rolling through their drift. She held them as best she could, with a consciousness she was still learning to wield, letting them float in her mindscape. Raleigh and Yancy. She told them. Mine.
“Yeah, Gipsy.” Raleigh responded, smiling at both her and the empty space in front of him at the same time. “We’re yours, too.”
He hoped her eagerness to kick Kaiju butt would never go away, because it was harsh and exuberant all at once, and it was infectious. He was almost mad Pentecost was making them wait.
Gipsy met his impatience with her own.
Even though he already knew, naturally, that they were going to get along, because she was him, and she was also Yancy, it was confirmation that he didn’t know he sorely needed.
From here on out, it would be the three of them in everything, and he couldn’t be more excited.
(:)
“Can I have a moment alone with her?” Raleigh asked eight years later, dithering in the bay, staring at the door that would lead to Gipsy’s conn-pod.
One of the j-techs, a different lead from the one that used to work there all the years ago, gave a tight nod before pulling out her radio and ordering the others to move away from their repair on Gipsy’s conn-pod. “Go right ahead, Ranger Becket.” She told him, taking a step to the side and waving her own team out of the room.
Raleigh took a breath to calm himself, carefully approaching the bay doors that would lead him back to her, to his Jaeger. He didn’t imagine she’d be happy to see him.
The part that was Raleigh would scold him for abandoning her, the part that was Yancy would be just as raw and hurting as his brother was in his final moments. She would feel betrayed. Raleigh knew that, but the world needed him to be able to pilot her. The world needed him to be able to drift and not be rejected.
He was expecting the frigid coldness when he actually stepped inside her, and winced in anticipation as it washed over him. Drifting was only allowed with two or more people, but he could still feel Gipsy’s spirit, thick and abrasive. It was hard not to.
He could read her just as easily as he could Yancy, and as easily as Yancy used to be able to read him.
“Hey.” Raleigh said, unsure where to begin, crossing his arms over his chest. “Been a while, hasn’t it.”
She unspooled, as if surprised, turning her attention to him.
“I’m sorry for leaving you alone in Alaska.” Raleigh told her, staring straight ahead stubbornly. “I was in a bad place. I didn’t want to be a Ranger anymore, not without Yancy. So. I left. Pentecost came and beat some sense into me, and I’m back. I’m sorry that–”
It felt like Yancy’s arms coming around him. Gipsy’s lights glowed, soft warmth billowing from her ventilation.
Raleigh blinked, heavily, caught off guard by her immediate warmth and acceptance. “I know I ditched you,” he quietly told her, and some part of her rumbled in agreement. “I thought– I thought you were in Oblivion Bay, too. I didn’t think you could be saved.”
His eyes drifted over to the side of her that had been ripped apart when Yancy had been plucked from his mount. The metal there was different then the rest, welded and grafted on. It was easy to recognize, after spending as much feasible time as he could in here for three years straight, even when he wasn’t allowed.
Mako did the best she could, but Gipsy’s armor was not as pristine as it used to be in some places. A patchwork quilt would still have some seams showing, no matter how skilled the crafter. The tapestry of Gipsy’s plating was no different.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen her heart?” Mako had asked, referring to Gipsy Danger’s nuclear reactor. She did not know that it was, perhaps, the least interesting thing about Gipsy, even if it did set her apart from the other Jaegers. No, her true heart was with him in her conn-pod, nestled among the machinery and formerly shared consciousness.
It used to belong only to Raleigh and Yancy, but…
When Yancy died, it only felt like Raleigh had lost half of himself. For Gipsy Danger, that was real.
“I’m so sorry, girl.” He whispered, taking a few slow steps forward to wrap his hand around her mounting stand. The metal of it trembled beneath his touch. Gipsy Danger creaked as she leaned into him all but physically.
Raleigh tightened his grip quietly, reaching up to pull his hand down his face. “You shouldn’t have needed to be saved from Oblivion Bay. If I had stayed, maybe you wouldn’t have been out of commission for so long. Shouldn’t have needed Mako Mori to take point.”
Gipsy, if she was a person, would probably be laughing at him. Her biolights lit up, and Raleigh shook his head. “Yeah. I like her, too. She’s a good person. Smart. Helpful. She’s really got something there, you know?”
Gipsy couldn’t exactly respond, but Raleigh felt her agreement strong against his very soul.
Raleigh sighed, making his way towards the wall and slumping against it. He crossed his arms over his knees, leaning his head backwards. He felt like Yancy, trying to get what little contact he could with a giant robot.
He felt ridiculous, seeking comfort in her even though he knew she was sentient. She was just… fundamentally different than a human was.
“They want me to pilot you again, Gipsy.” Raleigh told her, exhaling long and deep. “I’m not sure how they expect me to without Yancy. It was almost impossible for us to be drift compatible. It’s a billion-to-one chance. Why does Mako think she can find a replacement that easily?”
Gipsy Danger was silent. Sometimes, even back before everything turned on its head, he wouldn’t be able to tell if she was letting him finish, or if he just couldn’t feel what she wanted to be saying.
“I want to pilot you, too, but without Yancy, I don’t know how it’s going to be possible.” Raleigh admitted to her. “They’ll have better luck finding a whole new team to pilot you then someone to replace him. Maybe you’ll get triplets, too. But, the best I can do is advise. I’m old news.”
And wasn’t that a sad thing to say, creeping up on twenty-six years old, and already feeling pathetically washed up.
Gipsy rumbled quietly. Her biolights lit up again, a signal if ever he had seen it.
“Mako?!” Raleigh spluttered indignantly. “She’s… she’s great. I know why you like her, but she’s a tech head, Gipsy. She’s not a fighter.”
Raleigh could feel the indignation pulsating from her, an offended “how do you know” that filled the air in her cabin.
He stalled, trying to figure out the right answer for that. He didn’t really know, but there were… two types of people, far as he could tell. The ones who fought and the ones who played support.
Mako was the head of Gipsy’s restoration. That was a support role. It didn’t matter how much Gipsy liked her. If she had no killer instinct, it was a lost cause, and she’d be a liability in the field. She was too neat and clean for this kind of work.
Raleigh doubted she had ever got dirt under her fingernails from any type of real labor, and even if she had, he couldn’t see her letting it remain longer than a few minutes before scrubbing them clean.
“It’s obvious.” Raleigh tried to explain anyway. “She’s… tools are her language, not action, not like it was for Yance and I.”
Gipsy pressed against him again, prodding and poking. She unraveled him and took a good long look. She was always good at that, in the way Yancy had been. There was nothing Raleigh could hide from her, with or without actively drifting.
The memory of his brother made his walls snap back into place. “Gips. Do not tell me you want her to replace Yancy. She’s not…”
Mako wasn’t Yancy. Nothing like him at all. Nobody ever would be. It didn’t matter how much Raleigh wanted to get back into the field – and the memory of Yancy’s death was strong enough he barely did – if his partner wasn’t a perfect match, a perfect foil, they’d be dead within ten seconds of their first encounter.
He didn’t tell Gipsy any of that. Instead, he said “…trained.”
Gipsy didn’t take that. She shoved back, firm and rigid. “Do not accuse me of replacing him” and “how do you know she’s not?” ripped through the air.
Raleigh shuddered. He knew it wasn’t fair to place the blame on Gipsy, to call her that… Maybe she got more healing from Yancy’s sudden departure than Raleigh had, in more ways than just physical. Yancy didn’t tend to get held back from loss the way Raleigh did.
Maybe Gipsy took that part of him away, too.
Maybe that was another reason Raleigh had run from her; he didn’t want to be met by the shattered remains of his brother still living in her mind.
Gipsy did not let him sit in his misery for long, shoving another wave of decisiveness towards him. Mako, she pressed. Give her a chance.
And suddenly, Raleigh could understand why Gipsy loved Mako so much. Alone for all this time, broken pieces pulled from Oblivion Bay, she must've been dying from loneliness as much as a being like her could be. J-techs didn’t tend to be conversational, and rangers didn’t talk to any Jaegers but their own.
If Mako spent her time within her, laying out plans, actually talking to Gipsy with every slow repair…
Raleigh could understand where the adoration came from.
Gipsy likely knew Mako better than Raleigh did. A quick conversation or two with the quiet woman was probably so meager next to whatever time they spent together. Mako wouldn’t have even been able to understand Gipsy, either, yet she had been here anyway and put in an attempt.
Mako. Gipsy’s biolights flickered again, and this time Raleigh listened.
“We’ll try her out for size.” Raleigh promised. “I have a sparring match with a couple “candidates” later. I’ll catch her then, and give her a shot. But if she’s not a good fit…”
Understanding rolled off of Gipsy. She would not force Raleigh to try again. An actual attempt at establishing a bond was all she wanted, and if it fell through she’d accept it.
Raleigh gave her a quick nod, and privately, though he was sure she could feel it, he found himself hoping Mako would be a good one, for Gipsy’s sake if nobody else’s.
Maybe Mako, tech head or not, would want this, too. Raleigh would just have to see.
(:)
Raleigh delayed only long enough to watch Mako be ejected into her pod. He offered a silent thank you to whatever j-tech decided to add escape pods that could survive this deep underwater, in the Breach, before pulling away from his rig.
His drift with Gipsy was still holding strong, and this time he could feel everything she felt with no room for uncertainty. Most prominently was her blind panic as she watched him move across her conn-pod.
Raleigh? She asked. What are you doing?
I have to prep you for manual detonation. Raleigh responded, detaching himself as much from her as he could without leaving the drift. He would not be leaving her to die alone. Not fully, anyway. Alone physically, but mentally…
He didn’t want to feel someone else die while still connected to them, but he’d survive it. He didn’t know if it gave Yancy any amount of security to not have to die alone, but… He could tell it would give Gipsy something.
She had come back from death once. Perhaps, never again.
You are leaving? Gipsy asked him in mounting confusion, sounding like Mako for just a second.
Raleigh winced to himself, twisting the first lever to the side, preparing his own pod for launch as soon as he came back to the mounting rack. Yeah. I’m sorry, Gipsy. I’ll still be with you until it goes off, but… It’s our only shot. We have to stop the Breach for good.
His heart felt cold at the idea of it. Robot or not, she still had thoughts independent of his own. SHe was still a person, in the barest sense of the word, even if she was the last one remaining. No more Jaegers would be alive anymore. They’d all be in Oblivion Bay, or buried deep in the ocean.
As he felt her fear begin to swirl and build up, Raleigh stalled for a moment. If she wanted, he’d stay with her through this, die alongside her. The nuclear reactor would take them both out, but also every last Kaiju in existence.
Whatever you want, Gips. I’m right here with you. He promised her, stalling even as the countdown began and his comms erupted with orders and yells.
Gipsy wavered. She thought about it. And then, irritably, she pushed him away, as stubborn as he himself could be. Go. She ordered him. This is a sacrifice only I can make. You being here would be pointless.
Raleigh agreed, but this wasn’t about honor or sense or anything else anymore. If she preferred that he stayed, he would, regardless of the practicality of it.
I do not need you. She repeated, but pressed her mind against his. But, please, remain in the drift with me. For a while longer.
“I’m with you,” Raleigh said out loud, running across the conn-pod to twist at another latch to push all the fuel into the nuclear reactor. “Until you explode and bring it all down with you.”
“What?” Asked a voice from his comm, but he shrugged it away. They weren’t important right now. No amount of yelling and questions would make this go faster, or would make much of a difference. Either way, they would reach the bottom of the Breach, and Gipsy would explode.
If Raleigh was on it or not, who cared? Mako was knocked out cold. She wouldn’t feel them die. She wouldn’t feel them die in the way Raleigh had felt Yancy. And even if she did–
She was a fighter. She’d survive, claw her way through the dirt to a better day. Raleigh had faith in that.
Try to live. Gipsy told him, even as he pulled the final lever that set off the detonation for the nuclear reactor. I want you to live. I am concluding my purpose. I am content. But I will not be if you are still with me. Go, Raleigh. Live the life you deserve.
She sounded like Yancy. All sibling affection wrapped around him, wanting the best even when everything was falling apart–
Raleigh hated that he was leaving her behind. That he had made the choice without consulting either her or Mako, but this was the way it had to be.
You’ll live on forever as a hero. He told her, running back to the mount to begin bracing himself to be lifted into his pod. Nobody will ever forget you.
Go. She repeated, firm and steady. Now.
There was nothing else to do. Raleigh went.