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“Will you turn that junk down already!”

Under normal circumstances, Marshal Terekhov’s voice was loud and imposing enough to carry through the Jaeger bay without resorting to a megaphone or loudspeaker. Today, however, his voice was little more than a thread of sound woven through the cacophony that filled Cherno Alpha’s hangar, ringing from the retractable ceiling and pulsing strongly enough to make one’s bones vibrate. Even the Jaegers’ armor seemed to be rattling slightly in response to the noise, as if they, too, could hear it and were itching to break free from their hangars and flee for a little peace and quiet.

The targets of the Marshal’s ire were oblivious to his demands at the moment – they were tightening bolts on Cherno Alpha’s ankle, their heads bobbing ever so slightly in unison to the beat of the music. Terekhov bellowed the order again, but when they didn’t respond he sighed in exasperation and made an abrupt gesture toward the LOCCENT. A technician made an adjustment to the controls, and the music cut off.

Aleksis and Sasha glanced up, at first wearing expressions of irritation. But they spotted Terekhov storming closer and hastily composed themselves, dropping their tools and standing at attention.

“When I give you an order, I damn well expect it to be followed,” he snapped. “And your Jaeger is NOT to serve as your personal sound system.”

“No one has complained about the music before,” Sasha pointed out, smirking slightly.

“As if you could hear their complaints over this… noise,” he muttered. “What IS that racket anyhow? Was there even a tune in there?”

“Titanus,” Aleksis replied. “Ukrainian hard house band. Their new album, See You in the Breach.”

“You have no objections to other Rangers sharing their music with the entire hangar,” Sasha pointed out with a bit of a scowl. “Why is it so wrong when we do it?”

“There is a difference between bringing in your own stereo or personal music system and using your Jaeger to blast it loud enough to be heard at the Breach,” Terekhov retorted.

“Maybe we SHOULD play that stuff at the Breach,” a mechanic who probably judged himself to be out of punching distance laughed. “Make an effective Kaiju repellent.”

Sasha’s normally pretty features wrinkled in a scowl, but she didn’t argue. “Very well. We will turn the volume down from now on.”

“See that you do.” He nodded sharply. “Ukrainian hard house… bah. Don’t think much of it if every song sounds the same.”

Aleksis raised an eyebrow. “It shouldn’t. Not every band sounds the same… and even we don’t listen to ALL hard house.”

“Could have fooled me. I’ve been listening to the junk you’ve been playing for twenty minutes, and I could have sworn it was just the same three-minute loop.” He stalked off, muttering to himself. “For God’s sake, why couldn’t we have gotten Rangers who like some honest rock for once…”

Once their commander was out of earshot, Sasha and Aleksis shared a look. It had happened again. Not the complaint regarding their choice and volume of music (though this wasn’t their first complaint, or even their first complaint coming from the Marshal), but the fact that the same song had gotten stuck on repeat in Cherno’s speakers.

It wasn’t as if they were the only Rangers who played music in their Jaegers, even if their commander liked to act as if they were. They had met a pair of Jaegers from the Philippines who liked to pipe, of all things, Celtic music into the audio feeds whenever they set out to confront a Kaiju, claiming it helped them calm their nerves and maintain the neural handshake without hiccups. American Rangers often bragged about listening to classic rock anthems or thrash metal in their Conn Pods to get pumped up for a fight, and went into battle still blasting “Eye of the Tiger” or “Living On a Prayer” on a regular basis. And it was rumored the pilots of one of the Japanese Jaegers, Echo Saber, had been members of a J-Pop band before becoming Rangers, and liked to play their own songs in battle.

But despite hearing stories about their quirk of bringing their favorite tunes to a fight being shared among other Rangers, they had yet to hear of any other set of Rangers having this particular issue – that of their Jaeger apparently developing its own taste in music.

At first they had thought it was an issue with their music player – the iPod 7 was infamous for being obnoxiously buggy, after all. But the glitch continued even after changing players. The music would progress normally for awhile, but when it hit one of a particular handful of songs, it would get stuck on repeat.

Rather than irritate them, however, the quirk only made Sasha and Aleksis all the more curious. They began keeping track of which songs would get repeated, and soon had compiled a short list – “Baba O’ Riley” by The Who, “Separate Ways” by Journey, “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce, and just about anything by Titanus or Nightwish, among others. And though it took them a little longer to notice, they soon realized that there were songs in their collection that somehow got skipped over whenever they plugged their music player into Cherno’s speakers, such as most songs by Queen or Black Velvet Rabbits.

Naturally they kept their findings silent. If they had told the Marshal that the reason they were hearing Titanus’ “Red Star Rising” on an endless loop was because it was Cherno’s favorite song and he insisted on listening to it fifty times, he would have them shipped off for a psychiatric evaluation on the spot. For now, it would remain a private joke between the two of them. Or rather, the three of them.

“Is he gone?” asked Sasha.

“He’s gone,” Aleksis replied.

Sasha smiled, and she patted Cherno’s leg. “It’s safe, love. Just play it softer for now.”

As if on cue, the music started up again. This time, though, it wasn’t Ukrainian hard house playing from the Jaeger’s speakers, but Nightwish’s “Walking In the Air.” If any of the maintenance crews or other Ranger teams noticed the change in music, they gave no sign of it.

“Good lad,” Aleksis murmured, giving the Jaeger’s foot a fond pat before returning to his work.

Sasha might have imagined it, but it almost felt as if Cherno was smiling through their shared neural bond. And she thought she detected a hint of smugness in there – a feeling that he was going to enjoy his favorite songs for however long he wanted, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop him.

***

Raleigh and Mako had just sat down for a quick lunch, hoping to get a bite to eat before going to watch the Rossi’s first neural handshake in Mustang Omega’s Conn Pod, when Newt charged into the mess hall. The Kaiju biologist looked somewhere between eccentric and deranged on the best of days, but right now there was a wildness to his eyes that sent a pang of fear through Raleigh’s gut. He dropped his half-eaten sandwich and stood, ready to… what? He wasn’t sure, though from Newt’s hysterical expression he got the feeling he’d be leaping to some sort of action very soon.

“Dr. Geizler…” began Mako.

“Y’guys, get to the hangar, quick!” Newt shrieked, and he unceremoniously plunked the load in his arms – a package of meat scraps and a canister with some sort of Kaiju giblets floating around in it – onto their table. “Bad juju’s goin’ down!”

“Bad what?” Despite being proficient in English, Mako still missed the occasional slang word, especially given Newt’s tendency to make up new slang terms right and left.

“What is it?” asked Raleigh. “Kaiju? So soon?” They didn’t even have a functional Jaeger ready! Well, Mustang was technically ready, but you could only throw a completely fresh team into the cockpit of an untested Jaeger and fling them directly into combat so many times before your luck ran out.

“Ya just gotta see this!” Newt’s eyes glittered with a sort of panicked glee, as if he couldn’t decide whether to be excited or terrified. “This is just… nuts! Oh man… is this what that chick was talking about, did she foresee this…” He bolted out, then dashed back in. “Come on already! What are you waiting for? Christmas?”

Raleigh made a mental note to ask about “that chick” later and hurried out after him. Mako got up and followed close behind.

“What is it?” she asked as they ran for the hangar. “Have they already started the drift sequence?”

“They better not have,” Tendo put in – Raleigh hadn’t realized the Shatterdome commander had joined them until that moment. “Hermann just radioed me with some garbled mess about Cherno, though.”

“The Kaidonovskys got it to move!” Newt exclaimed. “Maybe it’s fixable after all!”

“What?” demanded Raleigh. “That’s impossible! I’ve never seen a Jaeger that wrecked get back up on its feet! Even Gipsy needed a complete overhaul before…” He stopped himself. Talking about Gipsy was still too painful – a machine she might have been, but it still felt as if part of him had been torn away at her destruction.

“I have seen it,” Mako replied. “If the Rangers are determined enough. Perhaps the Kaidonovskys did what we couldn’t. Perhaps they worked a miracle.”

The four of them burst into the LOCCENT to find utter chaos in the hangar. Cherno Alpha was indeed on its feet – barely. The ruined Jaeger wobbled precariously from side to side, struggling to keep its balance, its arm outstretched and smashing through catwalks and scaffolding. Supply carts and maintenance drones lay scattered all over the floor, many smashed to pieces, and sparks flared from torn cables and snapped wiring all over the place. The maintenance crews were fleeing in panic, and the few technicians who remained behind were pressed flat against the walls as if that would somehow grant them safety.

“What the hell…” Tendo demanded softly.

“Christ,” Raleigh breathed. “The Kaidonovskys couldn’t handle the neural handshake in a damaged Jaeger.” He’d never heard of an experienced Ranger team suddenly chasing the RABIT during a routine drift, but then, no one had ever tried to drift with such a severely damaged Jaeger before.

Hermann shook his head, and Raleigh realized the scientist had gone white as a sheet. “There’s nothing wrong with the handshake, sir.”

“Then kindly tell me what in hell is wrong here!” Tendo snapped, his usual businesslike manner gone. A vein was pulsing in his temple, and there was a tight look to his features that Raleigh hadn’t seen since… well, since the battle that had taken out Crimson and Cherno in the first place.

Outside the LOCCENT, a weird groaning wail rang through the bay, and Cherno shuddered so hard its plating rattled. It took another step, remaining arm outstretched like a blind man groping for something to guide him, only for its foot to catch in a snarl of tangled cables and machinery. Bailey shrieked as it stumbled, making a grab for the closest object in an attempt to keep its balance – Crimson Typhoon. The scarlet Jaeger shook under the blow, tilting dangerously to one side as Cherno pulled itself back upright.

“Pull the plug!” Tendo ordered, taking command when it became obvious no one was going to answer him. “Cut off its power and make sure the Kaidonovskys come safely out of the drift! Then get them out of there.”

“We’ve already pulled the plug!” Herc protested. “It’s movin’ on its own!”

“That’s impossible!” Newt protested.

“It’s possible, sir,” Hermann replied. “We’re dealing with a self-governing being now, not a Jaeger.”

“You can’t possibly mean…”

“That Cherno’s alive?” asked Bailey. “That he’s sentient? If he’s not, how do you explain that?” And she jabbed a finger at the readout, which was spilling out an endless stream of Cyrillic text.

Tendo leaned in close, mouth moving silently as he skimmed through the text. Then he abruptly thumped down into the nearest chair, going pale. “Jesus…”

“What is it saying?” Mako demanded, her eyes flicking over the text.

“Cherno’s calling out for help,” Hermann explained. “And… it is calling out for its parents. Its Rangers, I’m assuming is what it means.”

Her jaw dropped. “I-incredible… just incredible…”

“This can’t be happening,” Tendo murmured.

“It’s happenin’,” Herc retorted, “an’ while y’all are rubberneckin’ at the thing, it’s destroying the Shatterdome!”

Raleigh opened his mouth to say something, but found himself at a complete loss of words. He could only stare at the mangled titan before him as it staggered into a wall, letting out another inhuman wail. So many times he had joked with other Rangers about their Jaegers having their own personality quirks, even fantasized about Gipsy being alive and aware… but never had he dreamed that he would see a Jaeger walking about under its own power.

Cherno stumbled again, and fell heavily on to its knees and remaining hand. The impact shook the LOCCENT and made everyone inside stagger. Another wail filled the hangar, followed by a sputtering sound like a massive engine coughing… or a metallic giant sobbing.

“Dammit, get this thing shut down!” Herc demanded. “There’s got to be some kinda kill switch-“

“No!” Mako’s eyes flashed as she turned to glare at the elder Ranger. “You have no right to do that!”

“It’s either the Jaeger or the entire damn base, girl!’ Herc barked. “Live or not, that thing’s outta control! We gotta shut it down before it kills someone!”

“He is only scared!” she retorted.

“How can something that huge be scared of anything?” Newt demanded, unable to take his eyes off the enormous mech.

Before anyone could respond, a voice sounded over the radio feed between the LOCCENT and Cherno’s Conn Pod – Sasha’s. In all the excitement, everyone had forgotten the Kaidonovskys were still inside the Jaeger. Raleigh wondered if they were okay… or if Cherno’s sudden transformation from a piloted mecha to a living creature had overwhelmed their minds. Had their consciousnesses fused together to form Cherno’s new mind, or had it – he – hijacked their brains to gain his own sentience? Every possibility seemed worse than the last…

But Sasha’s voice didn’t sound panicked or in pain. It sounded peaceful, almost soothing, as if she were trying to calm a hysterical child. He couldn’t understand the words, but the tone was evident all the same. She was all right… and trying to salvage the situation.

“No.”

It took a moment for Raleigh to realize Tendo hadn’t been answering his thoughts. “No what?”

“We won’t shut him down.” Tendo had scraped together some measure of calm by now, and he was regarding the mangled Jaeger with interest… fascination even. “We wait.”

“Wait while it rips Crimson and Mustang apart and comes after the LOCCENT next?” demanded Herc. “There’s a mind there, sure, but it ain’t sane…”

“We wait,” Tendo insisted firmly. “The Kaidonovskys are talking to him. We have to trust that they know Cherno well enough to talk some sense into him. Wait, and see what they do.”

A hush fell over the LOCCENT, and everyone moved as close to the windows as they dared, watching and waiting.

***

Under normal circumstances the drift was a refuge – thoughts and emotions swirled deep, but the surface remained tranquil. Sasha and Aleksis had grown adept at keeping stray memories and feelings from breaking the calm, and as such they were able to maintain their connection for far longer than most Rangers. If it weren’t for their physical needs, they believed they could have maintained their neural handshake indefinitely, content with simply each other and Cherno.

Now it was bedlam. Pain and fear swamped the neural handshake, searing through their nerves and staining the world of the drift bright red. One arm felt entirely numb save the shoulder joint, which burned as if someone had thrust a red-hot brand against it, and their backs and shoulders blazed in agony as if chunks of their skin and flesh had been gouged out. Bursts of memory flashed before their eyes – teeth, claws, glowing blue acid, ice-cold waves crashing over them – alternated with a suffocating, silent blackness.

Cherno was still with them… and he was utterly terrified.

“Cherno!” Sasha cried out. “Cherno, we are here!”

A horrific wail, like the sound of tearing metal, was their answer.

“Calm down, Cherno!” Aleksis barked. “Cherno, hold still! You are going to hurt yourself!”

HELP ME. His mental voice was stronger than ever, but ringing with terror. DARK… IT’S DARK. HURTS… CAN’T SEE, CAN’T HEAR… HELP, PLEASE HELP…

The Conn Pod rocked wildly around them as Cherno staggered upright, and the Kaidonovskys would have fallen had it not been for the control mechanisms holding them upright. A burst of alarm passed through the drift, but this time it came from the Rangers. Cherno should not have been able to do that… he could only move if they assisted him, but now he was standing on his own, albeit clumsily.

“My god,” murmured Aleksis.

Had this occurred under any other circumstances, Sasha would have been thrilled beyond words. Here was proof, honest and solid, that their Cherno was truly alive, that his sentience wasn’t simply a trick of their minds. No one would dare laugh at their claims now, or think their devotion to their Jaeger eccentric and foolish. But her fear for Cherno overtook her joy.

“Cherno… you must calm down,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “You will worsen your damages.”

DARK… QUIET… TOO QUIET… His voice quivered, and his claustrophobic terror swept over them in a wave, threatening to suck them into the black and silent prison his mind now inhabited. HELP ME… MOTHER… FATHER… HELP, PLEASE…

Mother and Father… A burst of pleasure filled her at that. He thought of them as his parents… But she pushed that aside for now. There would be time for rejoicing later.

“Cherno, calm down,” she urged. “Please… we are here. I promise you, you are safe.”

A jarring thud rocked the Conn Pod and jolted both of them painfully, making their bones vibrate from the impact. Cherno had fallen to all fours (threes?), but he didn’t attempt to get up again. His entire chassis shook with pain and fear, and though the viewscreens of his Conn Pod clearly showed the bay floor, the horrible sense of blackness remained in their minds.

Sasha understood… and tears welled up in her eyes. All the high-tech visual and audio sensors built into his body had been designed for the benefit of the Rangers, piping sensory input directly to the viewscreens in the Conn Pod and the headsets built into the Rangers’ armor. There was nothing in place that would allow Cherno to see or hear for himself… and now that he had gained full control of his body, he was left senseless and terrified.

“It’s all right,” she assured him, and reached her hand out, wishing she could touch and console him. “Cherno, we are here. We won’t leave you.”

The great body around them keened in fear, but the terror in their minds ebbed slightly. Don’t leave me… please, I don’t want to be alone…

“We will not leave you,” Aleksis vowed, blinking back tears of his own. “You did not leave us during our moment of crisis. We would never leave you.”

It’s still so dark… I can’t see… I could always see when you were with me, why can’t I see now?

“It will be all right,” Sasha promised. “Cherno… look through our eyes. We will find a way to fix your sight, but until then, let us be your eyes.”

Hesitation… uncertainty… then finally a rush of relief as the blackness drained away. Something in the back of Sasha’s mind tingled, a strange pressure she had never noticed before, but she shook it off. She had no idea if letting Cherno have access to part of her body like this was safe, but Cherno had given them control of his own body too many times to count. The least she could do in return was loan him her sight for a little while.

Don’t leave me… please, stay with me…

“We would never leave you,” Aleksis repeated. “Cherno… you are our son. We would do anything for you.”

Promise?

“Promise.”

Again the Conn Pod shifted, and the world righted itself as Cherno pushed himself upright. He sat there on the floor of the Jaeger bay, rocking slightly back and forth, keening softly as Sasha and Aleksis continued to talk to him, keeping their voices soothing and gentle. Fear still tinged the drift, but it no longer threatened to overwhelm the three of them, and it continued to fade away as they consoled him.

“Aleksis, Sasha, respond. Repeat, Aleksis, Sasha, if you can hear me, respond.”

They exchanged the briefest of looks, then Aleksis nodded and switched from their native tongue to English. “Speaking.”

“Thank god, you’re all right,” Tendo sighed. “What the hell is going on in there?”

“Cherno is scared,” he replied simply. “He woke up unable to see or hear, and it scared him. Sasha is keeping him calm.”

Silence. Sasha kept up the steady stream of chatter to keep Cherno distracted, but inside she felt a twinge of irritation. Would they continue to deny that he lived, even after all this?

“Whatever you’re doing, Sasha, keep it up,” Tendo said at last. “It seems to be helping… him. We were going to shut down the neural handshake …”

“Do not shut it down!” Aleksis snapped. “We need to be here for him!”

Tendo sighed. “Fine. I don’t like putting you in danger like this, but it seems we have no choice if we’re going to keep Cherno Alpha under control. Now… what under the sun just happened in there?”

***

Tendo supposed that eventually, they were going to have to inform the PPDC at large about this new development. He suspected that their reaction would be one of two things – ordering Cherno Alpha terminated and scrapped, or keeping the entire episode under wraps and slapping the Shatterdome with a gag order. Perhaps both. He rather doubted any sort of gag order would keep this from leaking out to the general public, however, and given that pro-Jaeger activity was at an all-time high in the wake of the strike on the Breach, it was bound to cause an uproar.

He would worry about how to phrase this to the council later, though. Right now he had a science team and several Rangers to calm down.

The moment he stepped into the conference room he was assailed by what felt like dozens of voices, each demanding to know what was going on and what was going to be done about the current situation. Newt sounded excited to the point of being nearly hysterical, while Hermann sounded angry, as if it offended his sensibilities to have a Jaeger suddenly come to life on his watch. Lance, like Newt, seemed nothing but giddy at the news, while his sister looked and sounded exasperated that this issue was going to delay their first drift with Mustang. Everyone else wore an expression of mingled shock, wonder, and just a little fear.

When the chaos showed no sign of diminishing on its own, Tendo shot Hercules a look. The ex-Ranger sighed, then raised his voice and bellowed over the din.

“Everyone just SHUT UP!”

The babble of voices petered out, and with a thankful nod toward Herc Tendo went to sit down.

“I know we’re all a little shocked right now,” Tendo told the gathered scientists and Rangers. “But rest assured that we have the situation under control.”

“How can a situation like THIS be under control?” demanded Hermann.

“The Kaidonovskys are keeping Cherno Alpha calm,” he explained, “and Bailey and the other technicians are monitoring the situation. They’ll let us know if anything changes.”

“Is it true?” asked Lance, looking like a little boy convinced he had seen Santa Claus. “Is Cherno Alpha really… alive?”

Tendo nodded at Hermann, deferring an explanation to him. Hermann rolled his eyes but answered the new Ranger.

“Yes, the Mark I Jaeger is, as far as we can tell, sentient and acting under its own power,” Hermann replied. “It is operating without being controlled by its Rangers, albeit rather erratically. The good news is that so long as the Sasha and Aleksis maintain their neural interface with Cherno Alpha, chances are good that they can keep it stable for the near future.”

“The bad news?” asked Raleigh.

“The bad news is that according to Sasha and Aleksis, Cherno Alpha is functionally blind, deaf, and mute unless it is in direct link with its Rangers,” he answered in an aggrieved tone. “Its sensory systems…”

“His sensory systems,” Mako corrected.

“Excuse me?”

“If Cherno is truly alive, call him by the right pronouns,” Mako insisted. “It is demeaning to call him an it.”

Hermann grimaced at being corrected by the young Ranger, but continued. “His sensory systems are programmed to deliver information directly to its – his – Rangers, and not to the Jaeger itself… himself. Without the link to his Rangers, he’s virtually helpless. Add that to his previous damages, which we still haven’t fixed…”

“We haven’t fixed them because it would have cost more than it was worth to fix him,” Herc pointed out. “Could’ve built an entire new Jaeger for what it would have cost to repair him.”

“But things have changed!” Raleigh pointed out. “This isn’t just a wrecked Jaeger anymore – this is something alive, that can think for itself. Are we really going to just let him suffer because it’s expensive to fix him? He’s got to be in pain and scared… we can’t just leave him like that.”

“You’re right,” Tendo replied, “but the biggest question is what do we do now? Yes, we can fix him… but what do we do with him afterwards? There’s absolutely no protocol for a situation like this. And we can’t leave the Kaidonovskys in the drift forever – sooner or later they will have to come out, and that leaves Cherno in worse straits.”

“Isn’t there something we can install to give him sight and hearing?” asked Raleigh. “Cameras, recording equipment… hell, even some kind of speech software?”

“How do we even know if they’ll even work?” Herc countered. “You can’t just stick cameras into his Conn Pod and hope for the best – they’ve gotta be hooked up to somethin’. An’ as far as I know, we never gave Jaegers the equivalent of a brain. That was always the Rangers’ job, to do the thinkin’ for them.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do?” asked Raleigh. “We can’t just leave him to suffer!”

Tendo took a deep breath, hating himself for what he was about to suggest. “You’re right. We cannot, in good conscience, allow a sentient creature to live in agony and fear. Which is why, in the long run, it might be best to do as Hansen suggested in the first place.”

Mako gasped. “You can’t…”

“We can’t just kill him!” Lance protested. “He just came to life!”

“What kind of a life can he hope to live?” Tendo asked, keeping his voice level as possible. “In the long run, is it fair to make him live, blind and in pain, simply so we can study him? Or is it better for us to be… merciful, and not prolong his suffering?”

Mako’s eyes flashed in shock and anger. Raleigh and Lance, too, looked angry at the suggestion.

“And as much as I hate to make this a financial issue… no, we don’t have the funds to fix Cherno Alpha. All our remaining funds were spent repairing Crimson Typhoon and designing and constructing Mustang Omega. Even the proceeds from selling Cherno Alpha to the Sydney museum… which will need repaid now, as the deal was for a decommissioned Jaeger, not a sentient one.”

“So you’ll kill Cherno just so we have a corpse to give to the museum?” asked Newt. “Geez, I thought Hermann was cold…”

“He is only trying to think logically!” Hermann snapped. “No, none of us like the thought of putting the Jaeger down – a phrase I never thought I would have to say – but when we haven’t the resources to repair him, what choice do we have?”

“Pentecost had resources,” Raleigh pointed out. “Why not make use of those?”

“Most of those resources dried up after the Breach was closed,” Herc replied. “Let’s face it – we’re out of options.”

“No,” Mako said, her voice full of steel. “We are not. The Marshal would NOT have given up on Cherno. He would have done everything possible to help him.”

“The Marshal isn’t here,” Tendo said gently. “We’re doing the best we can…”

“He may not be here… but I am.” Her eyes flashed determinedly. “I knew him better than anyone else. And I know how he would think in this situation.”

“Even he couldn’t work a miracle without the resources…” Hermann insisted.

“He would have FOUND the resources,” she retorted. “Tendo, I know you are very busy with Mustang Omega, and with finding new Rangers for Crimson Typhoon. Will you let me take charge of Cherno Alpha?”

Tendo hesitated a moment… but only a moment. While it went against protocol to put such a young and inexperienced Ranger in charge of something this big, he had to admit that she had valid points. She knew how Pentecost had thought, and knew more about what sort of channels and resources he worked with than anyone else. And she had done a masterful job of restoring and upgrading Gipsy Danger, surpassing even Pentecost’s expectations. And perhaps most importantly, she was bright and tough, but compassionate as well. If anyone could take this mess of a situation and turn it around, it was her.

“Very well,” he sighed. “You and Raleigh will be in charge of restoring Cherno Alpha. Hermann, Newt, I want the two of you assigned to him as well – the more we can learn about what made him sentient and why, the better.”

Newt nodded eagerly. Hermann just looked pained.

“Use whatever resources you can find – WITHOUT dipping into the funds needed to finish Crimson and Mustang. And above all, keep detailed records of every step of the process, and every finding you make. I have no idea what’s going to come of all this… but whatever it is, I have a feeling it’s going to change the Jaeger program forever.”

Description
“Will you turn that junk down already!”

Under normal circumstances, Marshal Terekhov’s voice was loud and imposing enough to carry through the Jaeger bay without resorting to a megaphone or loudspeaker. Today, however, his voice was little more than a thread of sound woven through the cacophony that filled Cherno Alpha’s hangar, ringing from the retractable ceiling and pulsing strongly enough to make one’s bones vibrate. Even the Jaegers’ armor seemed to be rattling slightly in response to the noise, as if they, too, could hear it and were itching to break free from their hangars and flee for a little peace and quiet.

The targets of the Marshal’s ire were oblivious to his demands at the moment – they were tightening bolts on Cherno Alpha’s ankle, their heads bobbing ever so slightly in unison to the beat of the music. Terekhov bellowed the order again, but when they didn’t respond he sighed in exasperation and made an abrupt gesture toward the LOCCENT. A technician made an adjustment to the controls, and the music cut off.

Aleksis and Sasha glanced up, at first wearing expressions of irritation. But they spotted Terekhov storming closer and hastily composed themselves, dropping their tools and standing at attention.

“When I give you an order, I damn well expect it to be followed,” he snapped. “And your Jaeger is NOT to serve as your personal sound system.”

“No one has complained about the music before,” Sasha pointed out, smirking slightly.

“As if you could hear their complaints over this… noise,” he muttered. “What IS that racket anyhow? Was there even a tune in there?”

“Titanus,” Aleksis replied. “Ukrainian hard house band. Their new album, See You in the Breach.”

“You have no objections to other Rangers sharing their music with the entire hangar,” Sasha pointed out with a bit of a scowl. “Why is it so wrong when we do it?”

“There is a difference between bringing in your own stereo or personal music system and using your Jaeger to blast it loud enough to be heard at the Breach,” Terekhov retorted.

“Maybe we SHOULD play that stuff at the Breach,” a mechanic who probably judged himself to be out of punching distance laughed. “Make an effective Kaiju repellent.”

Sasha’s normally pretty features wrinkled in a scowl, but she didn’t argue. “Very well. We will turn the volume down from now on.”

“See that you do.” He nodded sharply. “Ukrainian hard house… bah. Don’t think much of it if every song sounds the same.”

Aleksis raised an eyebrow. “It shouldn’t. Not every band sounds the same… and even we don’t listen to ALL hard house.”

“Could have fooled me. I’ve been listening to the junk you’ve been playing for twenty minutes, and I could have sworn it was just the same three-minute loop.” He stalked off, muttering to himself. “For God’s sake, why couldn’t we have gotten Rangers who like some honest rock for once…”

Once their commander was out of earshot, Sasha and Aleksis shared a look. It had happened again. Not the complaint regarding their choice and volume of music (though this wasn’t their first complaint, or even their first complaint coming from the Marshal), but the fact that the same song had gotten stuck on repeat in Cherno’s speakers.

It wasn’t as if they were the only Rangers who played music in their Jaegers, even if their commander liked to act as if they were. They had met a pair of Jaegers from the Philippines who liked to pipe, of all things, Celtic music into the audio feeds whenever they set out to confront a Kaiju, claiming it helped them calm their nerves and maintain the neural handshake without hiccups. American Rangers often bragged about listening to classic rock anthems or thrash metal in their Conn Pods to get pumped up for a fight, and went into battle still blasting “Eye of the Tiger” or “Living On a Prayer” on a regular basis. And it was rumored the pilots of one of the Japanese Jaegers, Echo Saber, had been members of a J-Pop band before becoming Rangers, and liked to play their own songs in battle.

But despite hearing stories about their quirk of bringing their favorite tunes to a fight being shared among other Rangers, they had yet to hear of any other set of Rangers having this particular issue – that of their Jaeger apparently developing its own taste in music.

At first they had thought it was an issue with their music player – the iPod 7 was infamous for being obnoxiously buggy, after all. But the glitch continued even after changing players. The music would progress normally for awhile, but when it hit one of a particular handful of songs, it would get stuck on repeat.

Rather than irritate them, however, the quirk only made Sasha and Aleksis all the more curious. They began keeping track of which songs would get repeated, and soon had compiled a short list – “Baba O’ Riley” by The Who, “Separate Ways” by Journey, “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce, and just about anything by Titanus or Nightwish, among others. And though it took them a little longer to notice, they soon realized that there were songs in their collection that somehow got skipped over whenever they plugged their music player into Cherno’s speakers, such as most songs by Queen or Black Velvet Rabbits.

Naturally they kept their findings silent. If they had told the Marshal that the reason they were hearing Titanus’ “Red Star Rising” on an endless loop was because it was Cherno’s favorite song and he insisted on listening to it fifty times, he would have them shipped off for a psychiatric evaluation on the spot. For now, it would remain a private joke between the two of them. Or rather, the three of them.

“Is he gone?” asked Sasha.

“He’s gone,” Aleksis replied.

Sasha smiled, and she patted Cherno’s leg. “It’s safe, love. Just play it softer for now.”

As if on cue, the music started up again. This time, though, it wasn’t Ukrainian hard house playing from the Jaeger’s speakers, but Nightwish’s “Walking In the Air.” If any of the maintenance crews or other Ranger teams noticed the change in music, they gave no sign of it.

“Good lad,” Aleksis murmured, giving the Jaeger’s foot a fond pat before returning to his work.

Sasha might have imagined it, but it almost felt as if Cherno was smiling through their shared neural bond. And she thought she detected a hint of smugness in there – a feeling that he was going to enjoy his favorite songs for however long he wanted, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop him.

***

Raleigh and Mako had just sat down for a quick lunch, hoping to get a bite to eat before going to watch the Rossi’s first neural handshake in Mustang Omega’s Conn Pod, when Newt charged into the mess hall. The Kaiju biologist looked somewhere between eccentric and deranged on the best of days, but right now there was a wildness to his eyes that sent a pang of fear through Raleigh’s gut. He dropped his half-eaten sandwich and stood, ready to… what? He wasn’t sure, though from Newt’s hysterical expression he got the feeling he’d be leaping to some sort of action very soon.

“Dr. Geizler…” began Mako.

“Y’guys, get to the hangar, quick!” Newt shrieked, and he unceremoniously plunked the load in his arms – a package of meat scraps and a canister with some sort of Kaiju giblets floating around in it – onto their table. “Bad juju’s goin’ down!”

“Bad what?” Despite being proficient in English, Mako still missed the occasional slang word, especially given Newt’s tendency to make up new slang terms right and left.

“What is it?” asked Raleigh. “Kaiju? So soon?” They didn’t even have a functional Jaeger ready! Well, Mustang was technically ready, but you could only throw a completely fresh team into the cockpit of an untested Jaeger and fling them directly into combat so many times before your luck ran out.

“Ya just gotta see this!” Newt’s eyes glittered with a sort of panicked glee, as if he couldn’t decide whether to be excited or terrified. “This is just… nuts! Oh man… is this what that chick was talking about, did she foresee this…” He bolted out, then dashed back in. “Come on already! What are you waiting for? Christmas?”

Raleigh made a mental note to ask about “that chick” later and hurried out after him. Mako got up and followed close behind.

“What is it?” she asked as they ran for the hangar. “Have they already started the drift sequence?”

“They better not have,” Tendo put in – Raleigh hadn’t realized the Shatterdome commander had joined them until that moment. “Hermann just radioed me with some garbled mess about Cherno, though.”

“The Kaidonovskys got it to move!” Newt exclaimed. “Maybe it’s fixable after all!”

“What?” demanded Raleigh. “That’s impossible! I’ve never seen a Jaeger that wrecked get back up on its feet! Even Gipsy needed a complete overhaul before…” He stopped himself. Talking about Gipsy was still too painful – a machine she might have been, but it still felt as if part of him had been torn away at her destruction.

“I have seen it,” Mako replied. “If the Rangers are determined enough. Perhaps the Kaidonovskys did what we couldn’t. Perhaps they worked a miracle.”

The four of them burst into the LOCCENT to find utter chaos in the hangar. Cherno Alpha was indeed on its feet – barely. The ruined Jaeger wobbled precariously from side to side, struggling to keep its balance, its arm outstretched and smashing through catwalks and scaffolding. Supply carts and maintenance drones lay scattered all over the floor, many smashed to pieces, and sparks flared from torn cables and snapped wiring all over the place. The maintenance crews were fleeing in panic, and the few technicians who remained behind were pressed flat against the walls as if that would somehow grant them safety.

“What the hell…” Tendo demanded softly.

“Christ,” Raleigh breathed. “The Kaidonovskys couldn’t handle the neural handshake in a damaged Jaeger.” He’d never heard of an experienced Ranger team suddenly chasing the RABIT during a routine drift, but then, no one had ever tried to drift with such a severely damaged Jaeger before.

Hermann shook his head, and Raleigh realized the scientist had gone white as a sheet. “There’s nothing wrong with the handshake, sir.”

“Then kindly tell me what in hell is wrong here!” Tendo snapped, his usual businesslike manner gone. A vein was pulsing in his temple, and there was a tight look to his features that Raleigh hadn’t seen since… well, since the battle that had taken out Crimson and Cherno in the first place.

Outside the LOCCENT, a weird groaning wail rang through the bay, and Cherno shuddered so hard its plating rattled. It took another step, remaining arm outstretched like a blind man groping for something to guide him, only for its foot to catch in a snarl of tangled cables and machinery. Bailey shrieked as it stumbled, making a grab for the closest object in an attempt to keep its balance – Crimson Typhoon. The scarlet Jaeger shook under the blow, tilting dangerously to one side as Cherno pulled itself back upright.

“Pull the plug!” Tendo ordered, taking command when it became obvious no one was going to answer him. “Cut off its power and make sure the Kaidonovskys come safely out of the drift! Then get them out of there.”

“We’ve already pulled the plug!” Herc protested. “It’s movin’ on its own!”

“That’s impossible!” Newt protested.

“It’s possible, sir,” Hermann replied. “We’re dealing with a self-governing being now, not a Jaeger.”

“You can’t possibly mean…”

“That Cherno’s alive?” asked Bailey. “That he’s sentient? If he’s not, how do you explain that?” And she jabbed a finger at the readout, which was spilling out an endless stream of Cyrillic text.

Tendo leaned in close, mouth moving silently as he skimmed through the text. Then he abruptly thumped down into the nearest chair, going pale. “Jesus…”

“What is it saying?” Mako demanded, her eyes flicking over the text.

“Cherno’s calling out for help,” Hermann explained. “And… it is calling out for its parents. Its Rangers, I’m assuming is what it means.”

Her jaw dropped. “I-incredible… just incredible…”

“This can’t be happening,” Tendo murmured.

“It’s happenin’,” Herc retorted, “an’ while y’all are rubberneckin’ at the thing, it’s destroying the Shatterdome!”

Raleigh opened his mouth to say something, but found himself at a complete loss of words. He could only stare at the mangled titan before him as it staggered into a wall, letting out another inhuman wail. So many times he had joked with other Rangers about their Jaegers having their own personality quirks, even fantasized about Gipsy being alive and aware… but never had he dreamed that he would see a Jaeger walking about under its own power.

Cherno stumbled again, and fell heavily on to its knees and remaining hand. The impact shook the LOCCENT and made everyone inside stagger. Another wail filled the hangar, followed by a sputtering sound like a massive engine coughing… or a metallic giant sobbing.

“Dammit, get this thing shut down!” Herc demanded. “There’s got to be some kinda kill switch-“

“No!” Mako’s eyes flashed as she turned to glare at the elder Ranger. “You have no right to do that!”

“It’s either the Jaeger or the entire damn base, girl!’ Herc barked. “Live or not, that thing’s outta control! We gotta shut it down before it kills someone!”

“He is only scared!” she retorted.

“How can something that huge be scared of anything?” Newt demanded, unable to take his eyes off the enormous mech.

Before anyone could respond, a voice sounded over the radio feed between the LOCCENT and Cherno’s Conn Pod – Sasha’s. In all the excitement, everyone had forgotten the Kaidonovskys were still inside the Jaeger. Raleigh wondered if they were okay… or if Cherno’s sudden transformation from a piloted mecha to a living creature had overwhelmed their minds. Had their consciousnesses fused together to form Cherno’s new mind, or had it – he – hijacked their brains to gain his own sentience? Every possibility seemed worse than the last…

But Sasha’s voice didn’t sound panicked or in pain. It sounded peaceful, almost soothing, as if she were trying to calm a hysterical child. He couldn’t understand the words, but the tone was evident all the same. She was all right… and trying to salvage the situation.

“No.”

It took a moment for Raleigh to realize Tendo hadn’t been answering his thoughts. “No what?”

“We won’t shut him down.” Tendo had scraped together some measure of calm by now, and he was regarding the mangled Jaeger with interest… fascination even. “We wait.”

“Wait while it rips Crimson and Mustang apart and comes after the LOCCENT next?” demanded Herc. “There’s a mind there, sure, but it ain’t sane…”

“We wait,” Tendo insisted firmly. “The Kaidonovskys are talking to him. We have to trust that they know Cherno well enough to talk some sense into him. Wait, and see what they do.”

A hush fell over the LOCCENT, and everyone moved as close to the windows as they dared, watching and waiting.

***

Under normal circumstances the drift was a refuge – thoughts and emotions swirled deep, but the surface remained tranquil. Sasha and Aleksis had grown adept at keeping stray memories and feelings from breaking the calm, and as such they were able to maintain their connection for far longer than most Rangers. If it weren’t for their physical needs, they believed they could have maintained their neural handshake indefinitely, content with simply each other and Cherno.

Now it was bedlam. Pain and fear swamped the neural handshake, searing through their nerves and staining the world of the drift bright red. One arm felt entirely numb save the shoulder joint, which burned as if someone had thrust a red-hot brand against it, and their backs and shoulders blazed in agony as if chunks of their skin and flesh had been gouged out. Bursts of memory flashed before their eyes – teeth, claws, glowing blue acid, ice-cold waves crashing over them – alternated with a suffocating, silent blackness.

Cherno was still with them… and he was utterly terrified.

“Cherno!” Sasha cried out. “Cherno, we are here!”

A horrific wail, like the sound of tearing metal, was their answer.

“Calm down, Cherno!” Aleksis barked. “Cherno, hold still! You are going to hurt yourself!”

HELP ME. His mental voice was stronger than ever, but ringing with terror. DARK… IT’S DARK. HURTS… CAN’T SEE, CAN’T HEAR… HELP, PLEASE HELP…

The Conn Pod rocked wildly around them as Cherno staggered upright, and the Kaidonovskys would have fallen had it not been for the control mechanisms holding them upright. A burst of alarm passed through the drift, but this time it came from the Rangers. Cherno should not have been able to do that… he could only move if they assisted him, but now he was standing on his own, albeit clumsily.

“My god,” murmured Aleksis.

Had this occurred under any other circumstances, Sasha would have been thrilled beyond words. Here was proof, honest and solid, that their Cherno was truly alive, that his sentience wasn’t simply a trick of their minds. No one would dare laugh at their claims now, or think their devotion to their Jaeger eccentric and foolish. But her fear for Cherno overtook her joy.

“Cherno… you must calm down,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “You will worsen your damages.”

DARK… QUIET… TOO QUIET… His voice quivered, and his claustrophobic terror swept over them in a wave, threatening to suck them into the black and silent prison his mind now inhabited. HELP ME… MOTHER… FATHER… HELP, PLEASE…

Mother and Father… A burst of pleasure filled her at that. He thought of them as his parents… But she pushed that aside for now. There would be time for rejoicing later.

“Cherno, calm down,” she urged. “Please… we are here. I promise you, you are safe.”

A jarring thud rocked the Conn Pod and jolted both of them painfully, making their bones vibrate from the impact. Cherno had fallen to all fours (threes?), but he didn’t attempt to get up again. His entire chassis shook with pain and fear, and though the viewscreens of his Conn Pod clearly showed the bay floor, the horrible sense of blackness remained in their minds.

Sasha understood… and tears welled up in her eyes. All the high-tech visual and audio sensors built into his body had been designed for the benefit of the Rangers, piping sensory input directly to the viewscreens in the Conn Pod and the headsets built into the Rangers’ armor. There was nothing in place that would allow Cherno to see or hear for himself… and now that he had gained full control of his body, he was left senseless and terrified.

“It’s all right,” she assured him, and reached her hand out, wishing she could touch and console him. “Cherno, we are here. We won’t leave you.”

The great body around them keened in fear, but the terror in their minds ebbed slightly. Don’t leave me… please, I don’t want to be alone…

“We will not leave you,” Aleksis vowed, blinking back tears of his own. “You did not leave us during our moment of crisis. We would never leave you.”

It’s still so dark… I can’t see… I could always see when you were with me, why can’t I see now?

“It will be all right,” Sasha promised. “Cherno… look through our eyes. We will find a way to fix your sight, but until then, let us be your eyes.”

Hesitation… uncertainty… then finally a rush of relief as the blackness drained away. Something in the back of Sasha’s mind tingled, a strange pressure she had never noticed before, but she shook it off. She had no idea if letting Cherno have access to part of her body like this was safe, but Cherno had given them control of his own body too many times to count. The least she could do in return was loan him her sight for a little while.

Don’t leave me… please, stay with me…

“We would never leave you,” Aleksis repeated. “Cherno… you are our son. We would do anything for you.”

Promise?

“Promise.”

Again the Conn Pod shifted, and the world righted itself as Cherno pushed himself upright. He sat there on the floor of the Jaeger bay, rocking slightly back and forth, keening softly as Sasha and Aleksis continued to talk to him, keeping their voices soothing and gentle. Fear still tinged the drift, but it no longer threatened to overwhelm the three of them, and it continued to fade away as they consoled him.

“Aleksis, Sasha, respond. Repeat, Aleksis, Sasha, if you can hear me, respond.”

They exchanged the briefest of looks, then Aleksis nodded and switched from their native tongue to English. “Speaking.”

“Thank god, you’re all right,” Tendo sighed. “What the hell is going on in there?”

“Cherno is scared,” he replied simply. “He woke up unable to see or hear, and it scared him. Sasha is keeping him calm.”

Silence. Sasha kept up the steady stream of chatter to keep Cherno distracted, but inside she felt a twinge of irritation. Would they continue to deny that he lived, even after all this?

“Whatever you’re doing, Sasha, keep it up,” Tendo said at last. “It seems to be helping… him. We were going to shut down the neural handshake …”

“Do not shut it down!” Aleksis snapped. “We need to be here for him!”

Tendo sighed. “Fine. I don’t like putting you in danger like this, but it seems we have no choice if we’re going to keep Cherno Alpha under control. Now… what under the sun just happened in there?”

***

Tendo supposed that eventually, they were going to have to inform the PPDC at large about this new development. He suspected that their reaction would be one of two things – ordering Cherno Alpha terminated and scrapped, or keeping the entire episode under wraps and slapping the Shatterdome with a gag order. Perhaps both. He rather doubted any sort of gag order would keep this from leaking out to the general public, however, and given that pro-Jaeger activity was at an all-time high in the wake of the strike on the Breach, it was bound to cause an uproar.

He would worry about how to phrase this to the council later, though. Right now he had a science team and several Rangers to calm down.

The moment he stepped into the conference room he was assailed by what felt like dozens of voices, each demanding to know what was going on and what was going to be done about the current situation. Newt sounded excited to the point of being nearly hysterical, while Hermann sounded angry, as if it offended his sensibilities to have a Jaeger suddenly come to life on his watch. Lance, like Newt, seemed nothing but giddy at the news, while his sister looked and sounded exasperated that this issue was going to delay their first drift with Mustang. Everyone else wore an expression of mingled shock, wonder, and just a little fear.

When the chaos showed no sign of diminishing on its own, Tendo shot Hercules a look. The ex-Ranger sighed, then raised his voice and bellowed over the din.

“Everyone just SHUT UP!”

The babble of voices petered out, and with a thankful nod toward Herc Tendo went to sit down.

“I know we’re all a little shocked right now,” Tendo told the gathered scientists and Rangers. “But rest assured that we have the situation under control.”

“How can a situation like THIS be under control?” demanded Hermann.

“The Kaidonovskys are keeping Cherno Alpha calm,” he explained, “and Bailey and the other technicians are monitoring the situation. They’ll let us know if anything changes.”

“Is it true?” asked Lance, looking like a little boy convinced he had seen Santa Claus. “Is Cherno Alpha really… alive?”

Tendo nodded at Hermann, deferring an explanation to him. Hermann rolled his eyes but answered the new Ranger.

“Yes, the Mark I Jaeger is, as far as we can tell, sentient and acting under its own power,” Hermann replied. “It is operating without being controlled by its Rangers, albeit rather erratically. The good news is that so long as the Sasha and Aleksis maintain their neural interface with Cherno Alpha, chances are good that they can keep it stable for the near future.”

“The bad news?” asked Raleigh.

“The bad news is that according to Sasha and Aleksis, Cherno Alpha is functionally blind, deaf, and mute unless it is in direct link with its Rangers,” he answered in an aggrieved tone. “Its sensory systems…”

“His sensory systems,” Mako corrected.

“Excuse me?”

“If Cherno is truly alive, call him by the right pronouns,” Mako insisted. “It is demeaning to call him an it.”

Hermann grimaced at being corrected by the young Ranger, but continued. “His sensory systems are programmed to deliver information directly to its – his – Rangers, and not to the Jaeger itself… himself. Without the link to his Rangers, he’s virtually helpless. Add that to his previous damages, which we still haven’t fixed…”

“We haven’t fixed them because it would have cost more than it was worth to fix him,” Herc pointed out. “Could’ve built an entire new Jaeger for what it would have cost to repair him.”

“But things have changed!” Raleigh pointed out. “This isn’t just a wrecked Jaeger anymore – this is something alive, that can think for itself. Are we really going to just let him suffer because it’s expensive to fix him? He’s got to be in pain and scared… we can’t just leave him like that.”

“You’re right,” Tendo replied, “but the biggest question is what do we do now? Yes, we can fix him… but what do we do with him afterwards? There’s absolutely no protocol for a situation like this. And we can’t leave the Kaidonovskys in the drift forever – sooner or later they will have to come out, and that leaves Cherno in worse straits.”

“Isn’t there something we can install to give him sight and hearing?” asked Raleigh. “Cameras, recording equipment… hell, even some kind of speech software?”

“How do we even know if they’ll even work?” Herc countered. “You can’t just stick cameras into his Conn Pod and hope for the best – they’ve gotta be hooked up to somethin’. An’ as far as I know, we never gave Jaegers the equivalent of a brain. That was always the Rangers’ job, to do the thinkin’ for them.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do?” asked Raleigh. “We can’t just leave him to suffer!”

Tendo took a deep breath, hating himself for what he was about to suggest. “You’re right. We cannot, in good conscience, allow a sentient creature to live in agony and fear. Which is why, in the long run, it might be best to do as Hansen suggested in the first place.”

Mako gasped. “You can’t…”

“We can’t just kill him!” Lance protested. “He just came to life!”

“What kind of a life can he hope to live?” Tendo asked, keeping his voice level as possible. “In the long run, is it fair to make him live, blind and in pain, simply so we can study him? Or is it better for us to be… merciful, and not prolong his suffering?”

Mako’s eyes flashed in shock and anger. Raleigh and Lance, too, looked angry at the suggestion.

“And as much as I hate to make this a financial issue… no, we don’t have the funds to fix Cherno Alpha. All our remaining funds were spent repairing Crimson Typhoon and designing and constructing Mustang Omega. Even the proceeds from selling Cherno Alpha to the Sydney museum… which will need repaid now, as the deal was for a decommissioned Jaeger, not a sentient one.”

“So you’ll kill Cherno just so we have a corpse to give to the museum?” asked Newt. “Geez, I thought Hermann was cold…”

“He is only trying to think logically!” Hermann snapped. “No, none of us like the thought of putting the Jaeger down – a phrase I never thought I would have to say – but when we haven’t the resources to repair him, what choice do we have?”

“Pentecost had resources,” Raleigh pointed out. “Why not make use of those?”

“Most of those resources dried up after the Breach was closed,” Herc replied. “Let’s face it – we’re out of options.”

“No,” Mako said, her voice full of steel. “We are not. The Marshal would NOT have given up on Cherno. He would have done everything possible to help him.”

“The Marshal isn’t here,” Tendo said gently. “We’re doing the best we can…”

“He may not be here… but I am.” Her eyes flashed determinedly. “I knew him better than anyone else. And I know how he would think in this situation.”

“Even he couldn’t work a miracle without the resources…” Hermann insisted.

“He would have FOUND the resources,” she retorted. “Tendo, I know you are very busy with Mustang Omega, and with finding new Rangers for Crimson Typhoon. Will you let me take charge of Cherno Alpha?”

Tendo hesitated a moment… but only a moment. While it went against protocol to put such a young and inexperienced Ranger in charge of something this big, he had to admit that she had valid points. She knew how Pentecost had thought, and knew more about what sort of channels and resources he worked with than anyone else. And she had done a masterful job of restoring and upgrading Gipsy Danger, surpassing even Pentecost’s expectations. And perhaps most importantly, she was bright and tough, but compassionate as well. If anyone could take this mess of a situation and turn it around, it was her.

“Very well,” he sighed. “You and Raleigh will be in charge of restoring Cherno Alpha. Hermann, Newt, I want the two of you assigned to him as well – the more we can learn about what made him sentient and why, the better.”

Newt nodded eagerly. Hermann just looked pained.

“Use whatever resources you can find – WITHOUT dipping into the funds needed to finish Crimson and Mustang. And above all, keep detailed records of every step of the process, and every finding you make. I have no idea what’s going to come of all this… but whatever it is, I have a feeling it’s going to change the Jaeger program forever.”