Chapter Text
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Cold
Shinji felt *cold*.
He feels lightheaded too, everything feels off, and on top of everything he can’t help but feel a sense of looming dread.
He hated this dream
The dream itself was just like any normal day back in 2016, he had just gotten off of school and was heading to the parking lot where his mother was waiting in the car, like any other day, Shinji was just about to head out the main doors when an alarm went off.
“ALERT, INBOUND KAIJU, TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY”
He had heard it countless times before but he wasn’t worried, his father, Gendo Ikari, and his copilot, Koso Fuyutsuki, and their jaeger “Enforcer Basilisk”, one of the first mark 2 Jaegers. Had a kill record of 3 kaijus in under a year, 2 of them solo and the other in a multi-jaeger operation with coyote tango and cherno alpha, he had confidence in his father to decimate this kaiju with little to no collateral damage.
Then he opened the door
Immediately something felt wrong, everyone in the parking lot was standing still and looking up into the air off towards the coastline, he followed where they were looking and brought his gaze to the same place to see something truly horrifying, the severed arm of Enforcer Basilisk flying through the air. Badly damaged.
He hears screams and panicked cries as people begin rushing around and as he runs into the parking lot he hears his mothers voice shouting “SHINJI!!” through the crowd, he turns to where he heard the voice come from and then—
-Flick!-
“Wake up idiot, we’re being deployed. Category 3 Kaiju inbound.”
It was Asuka, his fellow Ranger and co-pilot of their Jaeger, Monarch Cicada.
Shinji glanced at the wall-mounted computer screen across from his bunk.
October 23rd, 2019, 3:42 AM.
a little over a year after he and Asuka had become jaeger pilots, just 4 years ago and all you’d ever see of the both of them doing is awkwardly bumbling past each other and exchanging weird glances, now their relationship is… a little more complicated to put it lightly…. They had some shared experiences that forged an underlying bond between them which as it turns out made it so they were drift compatible, arguably the single most critical component of being a jaeger pilot
If this mission goes well it’ll be the duo’s 3rd kill so far in just over a year and a half since officially becoming pilots, and according to reports and news footage that shinji has observed they have some of the quickest successful kaiju takedowns out of all jaegers stationed in Japan, something Asuka loves to brag about to the other rangers whenever the opportunity presents itself.
But that’s neither here nor there, he’s wasted enough time in his own bed, time to get to work, he tosses the covers of his bed to the side and vaults over the edge, landing on the floor before promptly springing back onto his feet, walks over to the wall adjacent to his and Asuka’s shared bunk bed.
Shinji reaches for a panel on the wall housing various buttons and switches and flicks the topmost one, which has the wall slide open to reveal a clothing rack, a dozen white T-shirts, a green jumpsuit, a dozen pairs of socks, boots, and a custom leather jacket identical to the one Asuka has with their jaeger’s logo on the back. He quickly dressed himself in the standard attire of a Ranger and flicks the switch again, sealing the clothing rack up.
He turns to head out of his and Asuka’s shared quarters and he quickly links back up with his Co-Pilot, the two of them begin walking down the halls of the Tokyo shatter-dome, as they walk down the corridor to the preparation chamber they get a good view of the main hangar bay and their Jaeger, “Monarch Cicada” in all its glory, 255 feet tall, carbon steel frame with a nickel-tungsten based alloy making up the exterior armor plating, the very same jaeger that took down 2 kaiju within 9 months.
They enter an elevator at the end of the hall and Shinji presses the button for the top floor, straight up to the preparation chamber, the elevator ride is nearly silent save for the fluorescent lights illuminating it, once they reach the top both shinji and Asuka share a glance before the door opens and they enter right into the chamber, as they walk inside they are greeted with the sight of dozens of technicians, engineers, and hazard coordinators all running around checking on various pieces of equipment and machinery.
“You ready to secure Monarch’s 3rd kill?” Asuka asks in a cocky, snarky attitude.
“As ready as you are.” He asks in a more reserved, soft spoken voice.
He knows full well that it’s just a front she puts up to hide her insecurities and vulnerabilities but it’s not like he’s much better off with his own problems, both of them have acknowledged that they’re deeply unhealthy in terms of mental state but neither of them are really willing to take any action to help with their issues, they simply agreed to make sure it doesn’t interfere with their combat effectiveness, and so far they’ve successfully managed that much.
They step into the center of the preparation chamber and wait for the technicians to set up their gear, lightweight plated armor with neural attachments and biometric sensors that allows the two pilots to properly connect with the Jaeger and each other, theirs was colored similarly to Monarch Cicada herself.
a primary coating of purple with accents of Maroon, with all the lights including the helmets visor emitting a neon green hue that is straining on the eyes at first but easy enough to adjust to after a few moments, the suits are fully pressure sealed in case the pilots wind up being submerged in water, their helmets also have matching heads up displays relaying critical information like jaeger structural integrity, a compass for a better sense of direction, and proximity sensors that will link up with the Jaeger once they’re fully set up.
The technicians finish securing the armor onto their bodies and after the foreman gives a thumbs up the two pilots step away from the center and begin moving towards the catwalk, as soon as they head through the door they’re assaulted with both the change in temperature, air pressure, and the insane amount of sound reverberating and echoing from around the ginormous hangar bay, hundreds of workers all around operating heavy machinery prepping the Jaeger for deployment, Asuka can’t help but look down the side and admire all the effort being put in to set up her and Shinji for a successful battle.
“I’ll never get tired of this!”
Asuka shouts with a level of bravado that shinji finds both endearing as well as aggravating given that he was still pretty tired, he already wasn’t sleeping well the past couple nights and being deployed for combat at 3 in the morning certainly wasn’t helping. Still he managed to avoid groaning and complaining, at least, *out loud*, he fully reserved the right to complain within his own mind.
While he still can anyways.