Pacific Rim: Against the Tide

The fight against the Kaijus is becoming more desperate, and ever more sacrifices are demanded.

[Author's Note: This story takes place several months after the story Terror Australis.]

"Are we having fun yet?" said Summers, next to Eun in the command chopper.

"It stopped being fun about three Kaijus ago," said Beatrice over the radio.

"Nevertheless, a good job," said Eun. "We can mark Whiteface as down."

"We took a lot of damage from this one, boss," said Dorothy. "The plasma cannon took a hit, most of the links on our right side are out, and power is shaky in three quadrants."

Summers switched off the intercom and turned to Eun. "They sound exhausted," she said. "Can't we give them a break?"

"God knows they've earned one," said Eun, as she called for the transport choppers. "Six fights since we came back from Hong Kong. Yeah, I know, they need a break. We all do. Terror Australis is going to need some repairs, by the look of things, so maybe I can send them on some leave while that is happening. Maybe they'd like to go back to Tasmania for a while, visit their parents."

"Uh, no," said Summers. "That's the last thing they want. You know, I can arrange for them to spend a couple of days in Adelaide, where they will happen to meet two handsome guys who just happen to have a thing for – "

Eun held up her hand. "Spare me the details, just send me the invoice," she said. "Of course, that plan depends on the Kaiju letting us alone for a bit. Damn things are coming through the Breach faster than we can put them down. Lucky Punch won't be back from the Manilla op for a while yet, and the repairs on Golden Mile are taking longer than we had planned. It means we're pretty open."

"But there are two more Jaegers about to come online up north, aren't there?"

"Yes, Yu Chang in China and Lotus Blade, the one built in Thailand by the Japanese there. But that will only replace the two lost in the past month."

Summers nodded. "We're not winning, are we?" she said.

"Not at this rate," said Eun.

Eun was sitting in her office, a map of the Pacific Rim area spread over her desk. On it were marked the sites of Kaiju attacks, fights between Kaijus and Jaegers, and estimated locations of Kaijus. She looked at a handwritten list on a pad: the Jaegers currently operational, the ones currently out of service for repairs, and the ones under construction.

Not good, she thought. Yes, three Kaiju are going down for every Jaeger lost. But the Kaiju are appearing faster than Jaeger can be built. So they can afford a three-to-one ratio. We can't.

There was a nagging sense of the tide turning. Not in the right direction.

She put the map aside and rubbed her eyes. God, I'm tired, she thought. She wondered if she might be able to take a day off soon. She glanced at her work schedule. Between overseeing the endless cycle of training, monitoring repairs, keeping track of the new construction projects, the huge burden of the base administration … well, maybe next month there might be some time free. Maybe.

She hoped that Dorothy and Beatrice were enjoying their time in Adelaide. She wondered if Summers had been able to arrange what she had called "the short-term boyfriend experience". She smiled: she had developed a great deal of affection for the two Tasmanian women. They were both on the squat, plain side, unlikely to attract much in the way of male attention in ordinary times. But these were not, of course, ordinary times.

Herman jumped up onto her desk and rubbed against her. She stroked him. He gave a purr.

"Thanks, buddy," she said to him.

The red phone on her desk buzzed. Coulson, Satellite Control in the US. Eun picked it up.

"It's Hammerhead," said Coulson.

Hammerhead. The largest, most dangerous Kaiju yet seen. It had destroyed five major cities and a dozen smaller ones, and had ravaged the coast of Vietnam in a protracted procession of destruction. It had wiped out an American carrier group and sunk a huge number of ships trying to make the cross-Pacific run. Worst of all, it had already destroyed two Jaegers, the Chinese Imperial Guard and the American South Central – both Mark Twos.

And now it was, according to Coulson's satellite tracking, heading towards Darwin, the city perched on one of Australia's northern tips. Darwin's population had been vastly swollen by millions of refugees from Indonesia, the Philippines, and elsewhere, and the city was a crucial hub for the resources projects that ultimately underpinned the defence effort. It had not been attacked before – but everyone knew that one day it would happen.

Eun studied the video that Coulson had sent and examined the extrapolation figures. She checked the data again and then made some calculations of her own. The answer came out the same. "Damn," she muttered to herself.

She called Summers. "Get in touch with Dorothy and Beatrice," she said. "We're going to need them."

"Sorry we had to recall you from leave," said Eun. "If there had been another way, I would have let you stay there for a bit longer."

"Couldn't be helped," said Dorothy. They were in a helicopter skimming over the expanse of pre-fabricated trailers that housed the millions of refugees clustered around the core of Darwin. "But we had some fun anyway. Met some guys on our first day there."

"So you can thank Summers for organising that," said Beatrice, laughing. "We got your money's worth. Tell her we appreciated the thought but we know professionals when we see them. Where is she, anyway?"

"With the advance team, prepping Terror," said Eun. "Sao and his team are still working on repairs. I should tell you that he was not confident about being finished in time."

"Not surprised, Whiteface was a very tough customer," said Beatrice.

Dorothy was staring down at the people below. Some of them waved; they knew who was in the chopper. An evacuation was under way, but there were a lot of people to move, and very little time.

"So many," she said softly. "So many."

They were coming up on Terror Australis, on the fringe of the populated area, where the land turned to dry grasslands. They set down, and an RAAF colonel, whose shirt said Connell, came up to them. She opened a laptop computer and showed them a map of the area.

"Commander Park, Hammerhead came ashore here, about twenty klicks away," she said, pointing to the screen. "Stopped to take out the gas production facilities on Melville Island, apparently. That gave us another hour or so. We've had planes from Coonawarra Base harassing it the whole time but I can't say they been able to do much. Broke the armour in a few places, made some wounds on the chest and shoulders. That's about it."

Sao and Summers came up to them. "We've done everything we can," said the engineer. "Couldn't get the plasma cannon above seventy per cent power, and I'm really worried about the shoulder armour. But we got the Woomera missiles loaded, all four."

The mobile elevator unit arrived. Dorothy and Beatrice started for it.

"Wait a moment," said Sao. He stepped up to them and gave them each a hug. "Take this," he said, removing a chain with an amulet from around his neck. "For luck."

Dorothy took it. "Right," she said. "For luck." They got into the elevator and it began to ascend.

Connell led them to a large military trailer, a mobile command base. But there would be no need to follow the battle on the monitors: it was going to be within visual range. Connell led them up a ladder to the roof of the trailer. There was communications and surveillance equipment there. The technician at the console gave Eun and Summers a radio headset each.

Eun glanced at Summers. "First time I've seen you not smiling," she said.

"We're about to fight the toughest son-of-a-bitch on the planet with a Jaeger held together with duct tape, paperclips, and hope," said Summers. "So, no, I don't see much to smile about."

"The girls told me that they had a good time in Adelaide," said Eun. "They told me to thank you."

Summers managed a weak smile.

"Terror Australis coming online," said the technician. "Neural handshake initiated, all systems go."

Hammerhead emerged on the horizon, its distinctive T-shape head silhouetted against the sky. The Kaiju was surrounded by buzzing planes and choppers but it was moving fast towards Darwin, swatting at its attackers with massive fists. The Jaeger began to stride towards it. The Kaiju saw it and gave a roar. Dorothy and Beatrice, as they usually did, smashed the Jaeger's fists together.

"It's on, bitch," said Dorothy to the Kaiju.

"Junior rodeo on," added Beatrice.

The planes and choppers broke off their attack. There was no more they could do, now.

Eun glanced at Sao. He did not look a happy engineer. He said: "Maybe we should tell them to – "

"There is nothing more they need to know," said Eun to him.

"Charging plasma cannon," said Dorothy. "As much as we can, anyway."

Hammerhead came running forward. But then the bolt of energy from the cannon smashed into it, knocking it off its feet. Before it could get up, Terror Australis charged forward, punching. Hammerhead lashed out, sending the Jaeger back a few steps. Terror Australis charged again, but this time Hammerhead grabbed it by one arm, swivelled, and threw it through the air. The Jaeger landed with a crash.

"Strong fucker," muttered Dorothy. Terror Australis struggled to its feet. The plasma cannon began to charge up again.

But Hammerhead was familiar with Jaeger weapons. It seized Terror Australis by its left arm and twisted. There was the sound of cables breaking and metal bending. The plasma cannon disintegrated into fragments.

With its free arm, Terror Australis punched Hammerhead, again and again, looking for places where the armour had been broken by the planes. The Kaiju howled in pain. It lashed out again, slamming into the Jaeger. Terror Australis broke free from the Kaiju and fell back a few steps. The two of them stared at each other.

"Missile launcher!" said Beatrice.

Nothing happened. The armour plates over the Woomera had been bent out of shape. There was no way to launch the fuel-air missiles.

Hammerhead charged again, punching. Dorothy and Beatrice tried to parry the blows, but the Jaeger's movements were becoming slower, its counter-punches weaker.

"Energy capacity down to fifty per cent," said the tech. "And dropping."

Summers turned to Eun. "You have to tell them to break off," she said. "They can't do anything now. If they break off now they might be able to get away."

Eun looked at the sprawl of Darwin. Then she looked at the Jaeger, being battered by the Kaiju.

"Sorry," said Eun. "I can't do that." She touched the switch to open the link to the Jaeger cockpit. "Dorothy, Beatrice," she said. "Use the missiles."

"We can't launch them!" cried Dorothy.

"No," said Eun. "But you can detonate them. All at once."

"But if they do that," said Summers, "it means that – "

"I know what it fucking means!" snapped Eun. Then, softly: "I know."

"Detonate … the missiles," said Beatrice. "All of them. At once."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Yeah," said Dorothy. "We can do that."

"But we have to keep this prick close," said Beatrice.

With a mighty effort, the Jaeger pushed the Kaiju away. Then it opened its arms wide.

"Come on, big guy," said Beatrice. "Give us a kiss."

Hammerhead charged forward again, but Terror Australis, instead of punching or falling back, wrapped its arms around the Kaiju. Its fingers locked together behind the Kaiju's back.

"Starting detonation sequence," said Dorothy. "Goes boom in fifteen seconds."

Hammerhead was smashing its fists into the Jaeger. Armour plates buckled and coolant gushed from the wounds in the metal. But Terror Australis was not going to let go.

"Twelve seconds," said the tech.

"Hey, boss," said Dorothy. "Tell our parents … something … something … "

"I will tell them," said Eun, "that you fought bravely today. Very bravely. Today and every day."

"Yeah," said Beatrice. "Tell them that. And also tell them … fuck you."

Dorothy gave a laugh. "Yeah, tell them that," she said. "Tell them we said hello … and fuck you."

"Five seconds," said the tech.

Hammerhead had realised the danger and was now trying to pull itself away from the Jaeger. But Terror Australis' embrace was tight.

"No, you're not going anywhere, fucker," said Beatrice. Then: "Goodbye, Dot."

"Goodbye, Bea."

"Two seconds," said the tech.

Eun turned away.

She was sitting on the flat, expansive summit of Uluru, staring out over the red desert. It was dusk; the scorching heat of the day had dissipated, and there was a cool breeze.

"Hi," said a voice behind her. "Got room for another one?"

Eun looked around. It was Herc Hansen.

"Pull up a chair," she said. "When did you get back?"

"Half an hour ago," he said. He sat down on the rock next to her. They looked at the desert.

After a long while, he said: "Had to be done, you know. Probably won't be the last time you'll have to make a call like that."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Doesn't make it easier."

They were quiet again for a time. Then she said: "Command is a bitch, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but someone's got to do it. Speaking for myself, I'm glad it's you. You know, even the person in charge is allowed to be human, once in a while. I won't tell anyone."

"Good," she said. She leaned against him. And then she began to cry.

END