Another Mark 3

Prologue Scene

"Echo Hound report to Bay 09, Level A-42. Kaiju. Code name, Rageripper. Category 3. 8,500 metric tons." I woke with a massive grown and I couldn't believe they where doing this. How could they send me out into the field without a co-piolet, it's absolutely ridiculous. Also everyone wouldn't want to go out because of what happened to the Becket brothers at the last attack, 4 months ago. These creature really like to take their time. I swear once I see Marshal or hear him, I'm gonna kill him for sending me out. I'm still only a rookie and a trainee and have only been in the field once before my so-called partner disappeared. Being in Alaska in 2020 doesn't give you a lot to do to 'disappear'. Pulling myself out to get in my gear I thought, maybe I should say goodbye to my sister, Josie. Walking out into the hallway I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see my sister, following me, in gear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked her. Josie just closed her eyes, walking past.

"Reporting to the bay." She looked back at me with a smile. Yep, I'm defiantly going to kill Marshal. I quickened my pace so I could walk next to her. Like the Becket brothers me and my sister Josie weren't your average hero's and we were nobody's until I joined the military. However Josie and I are drift-compatible, which is rare. Because of this we could drift easily with our Jaeger. Soon enough we reached our loading dock and we stepped into Echo Hound, helmets on, radio working and communicating with Tendo, the best guy you'll ever meet.

"Morning sisters." He greeted. Josie smiled and pushed the communicator.

"Morning to you too, Tendo." She replied. I could hear Tendo laugh but he suddenly got serious as someone else's voice came over.

"Engage drop, Mr Chio."

"Engaging drop, sir. Marshal Pentecost on deck. Securing the Conn Pod. Getting ready to drop."

"Girls, you ready for the drop?" Marshal Stacker Pentecost's voice, my heart started to beat furiously.

"I would have been ready straight away if you had of told me my new partner was my little sister, Marshal." I shot at him. I could tell he was a little taken back by my words. A sigh was heard, a deep, heavy one.

"We will talk about this when you get back." He replied. Getting my head back into the Jaeger I instructed the next move.

"Echo Hound, prepared for the drop." Our feet where then swept from under us as the head of the Jaeger shot down the gears to be attached to the rest of its body. Josie whooped at the sensation, she would have loved it if it was on a roller coaster, not a Jaeger getting ready to fight.

"Here we go!" she yelled, smiling from ear to ear. After being twisted onto our Jaegers body, Marshal's voice came again.

"Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol."

"Engaging now." Tendo obeyed and Echo's AI crowded our ears.

"Pilot-to-pilot connection protocol sequence." I felt the rest of our machine wake up and come to life as we lifted from the platform, being carried out into the ocean, ready to be dropped in the middle of nowhere.

"Echo Hound, ready for duty and aligned, sir." I said, making sure everything with Echo was running smoothly.

"Rangers, this is Marshal Stacker Pentecost. Prepare for neural handshake."

"Starting in 15 seconds." Tendo warned. I rolled my shoulders back a few times and prepared for the worst few seconds of my life. "Fourteen... Thirteen... Twelve, Eleven, Ten... Nine..."

"Remember don't get caught in the loop, Jo." I told her, turning to her. She seems a little scared.

"I know Kris...I know."

"Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One." "Neural Handshake initiated." Suddenly my mind became a blur. The Drift. Jaeger tech. Based on DARPA jet fighter neural systems. Two pilots, mind-melding through memories with the body of a giant machine. Your memories became its. Visions of my past with Josie came flushing out of her head and it calmed me to know she was my partner. My memories came and it showed our final times with our parents before they were killed by what seemed like the 100th Kaiju attack. The deeper the bond of the two pilots, the better you fight. "Neural handshake strong and holding." Tendo said, breaking me from my train of thought. I looked over to Josie.

"Good job, sis."

"Thanks." And she seemed to have smiled under her helmet.

"Right hemisphere calibrating." I told Marshal and Tendo.

"Left hemisphere calibrating." Josie copied.

"Proofed and transmitting." Our AI confirmed. Josie and I worked together to do our signature pose we do together. Soon enough Echo Hound was standing with both his arms flexed under his chest, in front of his stomach.

If only it had been that simple when fighting the Kaiju, Rageripper...