drear | god, he called for rain

[Naoto doesn't have a moment to feel grateful or to heave a sigh of relief to know that she has Rammsteiner watching her back, because her systems are going haywire, alerting her to the presence of three level three Kaiju. She briefly takes note of the names before she's drawing her sword, the metal chinking into place.]

I'll take the left one.

[They're approaching rapidly in a triangular formation, and while normally she would meet them head on, the nuclear payload makes her Jaeger less responsive and not as acrobatic as it usually is.]

I'll go right.

[ that's all the commentary heine offers before he does as stated, moving gladiator cerberus to the side, steps thudding on the ocean floor. there's a long way to go until they reach the rift, and more than a few obstacles on the way.

heine readies one of the cannons. he can't see in the dark water aside from a few flashes of movement and a faint blue glow moving quickly in the shadows. he tracks it as closely as he can. turning on the spotlights would mean risking light blindness if he can't follow the movement quickly enough; he fires experimentally and sees a burst of fluorescent color as a result.

category three. he can handle this. they can handle this. maybe. ]

[The kaiju on the right is a huge hulking beast, with a trunk like appendage on the front of his face. Naoto lunges forward, her jaeger slowed due to the added weight, but her arms are still quick. The creature is slow, but any time it connects Naoto feels it all the way to her bones, but she refuses to make any sound of complaints, nor will she ask for help. Rammsteiner has his own mess to deal with.

After a few close calls, she manages to stab her sword straight through the beast's eyes, her breathing harsh.]

Rammsteiner?

[She can't see him in the storm, in the darkness. The third kaiju is still out there and they should coordinate-

That's when the third one rises up from behind her and sends her flying.]

[ heine watches the kaiju—calciter—swim further away, tracking the bright blue streaks as closely as he can. its silhouette fades into the distance, but it'll come back soon enough. he turns slowly, trying to track where it might reappear.

calciter's hand slams into his side before he attribute a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye to the kaiju. clenching his teeth, heine takes a few steps to the side in gladiator cerberus, steadies himself, and fires again. the cannons are even louder underwater.

it takes a few more shots, but calciter moves more slowly than his jaeger. eventually it's a corpse slowly floating away in the tides. heine's still checking the state of his jaeger at the moment that fuyumine's voice coming through the comm system, trumping the rattling off of coordinates and information from mission control. ]

What?

[ he's about to elaborate a bit on what's happening when he hears a crackle through the audio channel. ]

—what was that? Michi? [ the name of the third kaiju, though he's pronouncing it not quite correctly. he can see the lights on fuyumine's jaeger in the distance and he starts moving towards them, wary of any movement in the roiling dark waters. ]

[There are so many alarms ringing so loudly that she can't properly respond, trying to get her bearings. The lights on her Jaeger only offer a small window of vision, and all she sees is the ocean churning chaotically around her.]

I can't get a visual.

[Her voice is calm, her grip on her sword unbroken.]

Do you see anything?

[ it's loud even in the cockpit, with the tides pushing against everything and clouds of silt rising from the ocean floor as he takes a few steps closer. ]

Negative. [ he squints as if it'll help. swiveling in place, he tries to place if the movement he sees in the darkness is a fish or something much, much bigger. ]

Is that— [ it is. heine barely sees the bubbles forming from quick motion in the water, the tail of the kaiju coming towards the front of the jaeger. as quickly as he can, he fires twice, clipping the tail's end and nearly severing it from the kaiju's body. ] —fuck. Move back.

[ the kaiju has retreated, but its blood helps to leave a trail. ]

[Naoto turned, sword still gripped tightly in one hand, as she searched for Rammsteiner in this mess, quickly pinpointing him when she heard his canons going off.]

Did you get him?

[The blue blood is illuminated between their lights, and every hair on the back of Naoto's head feels like it's standing at attention. While both of them had taken out their level threes with relative ease, it only takes on Kaiju to tear through the hull of a Jaeger.

For now it seems that Michi has gone into hiding, and for once, just killing one monster isn't their mission.]

I'm continuing.

[The more they fooled around here, the more Kaiju would come bursting through the rift.]

No, it's still out there.

[ heine scans the area in front of him cautiously, switching viewports to a camera on the back of his jaeger for a moment to check. it seems like he's in the clear for now, but that won't last. ]

Got it.

[ they don't have any time to waste. jaw tightening, heine reloads his arm cannons and follows. ]

Call out if you see anything.

[ he doesn't say so, but he'll be doing the same from a bit behind. ]

[While it's not comforting in the least that Michi is still out there, hopefully they can dispose of him after closing the rift. If the blood is any indication, he shouldn't put too much of a fight or would succumb to his wounds.]

Roger.

[She starts forward again, submerging fully into the water, the churning ocean offering no better clarity, but at least she doesn't have to contend with the waves.

It's eerily quiet, her sensors not picking up anything more harmful than a few schools of fish, and the rift is in sight after what seems to be only minutes.]

Ready?

[There's a tremor, the rift suddenly bursting to life, and Naoto's breath catches in her throat as she sees the a clawed hand reaching out. She's fought large monsters before, but this one...]

[ heine follows wordlessly, keeping an eye on their surroundings and especially what's behind them as they go deeper and deeper into the water. this is the first time he's ever seen the rift in person; he rarely goes this deep on deployments.

is he ready? he doubts he'll ever be ready for something like this, but they don't have any time. ]

Yeah.

[ but the size of that thing means they'll have much more to contend with before they're able to finish their mission. heine switches one arm to a plasma cannon, eyes narrowing at the huge kaiju that starts to pull itself up out of the rift. ]

...I'm on your six. We'll have to deal with him first.

[Before, Naoto might have frozen, might have gotten them killed. But now she just steels herself for the battle to come, tightening her grip on her sword as she charges forward. It's more difficult to cut through his skin, her blade barely slicing through a few talons at her first pass.]

It seems like this one is more heavily armored than the others.

[It might be stating the obvious, but sharing any and all information could be the difference between living or dying.]

[ heine watches, feeling the hum of the plasma cannon arming, the vibration it sends into the frame of his jaeger, a sort of comforting base frequency. he can't shoot from back here and risk hitting fuyumine. heavier armor, huh? ]

If it's got armor plates, it has to have weak points.

[ which makes the plasma cannon less likely to be helpful, but it might be useful in another case anyway. a loud beep from the jaeger system warns him of a rapidly approaching mass from behind, and heine barely has enough time to half-turn and catch a glimpse of michi returning for vengeance before it slams cerberus in the gut with a vicious headbutt.

heine doesn't swear, just sucks in a breath through teeth gritted in pain, and rights himself with an effort. michi's coming back for another blow, but he's readier this time, firing with his other arm cannon to slow michi down. ]

I'll find them.

[Perhaps it's the creature's joints? She's not so ready for death that she'll go for it's eyes right off the bat, it's jaws large and formidable, but she aims for it's wrist next, already attacking when out of the corner of the eye she spots the other kaiju.

She's torn between trying to slow this gigantic beast down or helping Rammsteiner out with Michi.]

Are you all right?

[She believes he can take care of a wounded kaiju, but if he needs her assistance she'll go to him.]

[ it takes him a second to respond, but he sounds the same is before, if slightly bothered. ]

I'm fine. Focus on your own fight.

[ michi's already coming at him again, and he grapples for the stub of its tail, taking hold with an audible crunch so that he can hold it in place as he aims with the plasma cannon. the bolt goes clear through the kaiju's neck, sending up a flurry of debris and kaiju gore so thick he can't see through it.

but it's dead, and that's what's important. he turns his attention back to fuyumine, already preparing to fire again. ]

[If that's what Rammsteiner is saying, Naoto will believe him, hacking away at the newest kaiju as quickly and efficiently as she can. She tries to strike at a new area with each new attack, her blade barely drawing blood in some parts and cutting deeper in others.

If she stops to think about it, it's a bit hopeless, like trying to stop the tide with a toy bucket, but she's determined.

Then her sword gets implanted deep between the juncture of the kaiju's back leg and hip. She glances up just in time to see Rammsteiner disposing of Michi, and she lets out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.]

Aim for the joints.

[ he watches michi until it falls, using searchlights to pierce through the shadows and dust to make sure that it's dead. ]

—got it.

[ heine leaves the corpse and starts circling around to get a better angle on the big kaiju, watching as it roars in rage and starts to lash out again. ]

[It's easier, two on one, but this monster has an astonishing range of motion and has a quickness that is unexpected despite its size.

Naoto started to steel herself for an extended battle when she hears the newest intel from headquarters. She nearly scoffs, half tempted just to find the carcasses of the already defeated kaiju. It might be easier than trying to take this one out and use it.

Still, the rift only opening for creatures with kaiju DNA made sense, in a terrifying sort of way.]

Think he's big enough for the both of us?

[As far as she's concerned, they're both going through the rift.]

[ huh. that... makes things kind of more difficult. but it isn't like they haven't done things others called impossible in the past. heine switches one cannon to a grabbing hand, edging around to the kaiju's other side. ]

If he isn't... [ well. ] ...we'll deal with that later.

Let's get this over with.

[ the kaiju stirs, its mass forcing its way through the water. heine angles around, preparing the blades on his jaeger's hand to dig in. ]

I'll get its tail.

[ detailed planning: not his strong point. ]

[Naoto can't say that her plans are any better, and really, when fighting a monster, the battlefield can change no matter how much of a home advantage they have.

She grits her teeth, squaring her shoulders, sword drawn.]

I'll keep it distracted.

[By that she means dancing around it's maw, slicing at what she can.

They've been chosen for this mission because they work well together, their fighting styles complimentary, but even Naoto is a bit surprised that neither of them die in this fight, when the kaiju finally stops struggling.

She grabs one part of the corpse, looking into the rift, trepidation skittering across her skin.]

What do you think is down there?

[Not that it mattered, they'd see soon enough.]

[ cerberus' left arm is badly damaged and he's slowly running out of power, but it's over. or—it's almost over. whether or not they make it back from that rift in their world, it'll be over soon. ]

More alien assholes, probably.

[ he picks up another appendage of the kaiju and holds on tight to it, taking a last step towards the rift. ]

...that won't be around for much longer, if this works.

Come on. [ they can destroy them—all of them, this way. it doesn't register as a problem to heine that they might not make it back. ]

[It's almost enough to get a small smile out of her, that answer, and she only shakes her in amusement.]

Right.

[Once she's sure that they both have a tight enough hold on the corpse, she jumps. Every sensor and screen is going crazy around here, her vision awash with color as she looks around the inside of the rift.

It's only when they're safely on the other side that she lets go of the corpse, manually setting off the nuclear load with a bit of difficulty.]

See you back on the other side.

[Like there's no doubt that their tiny escape pods will get them back through the rift.]

[ he follows suit, taking a few electronic records for later investigation on his jaeger as directed just before he sets off the payload.

it's over, he thinks, and when she says 'the other side', it takes him a second to pull himself away. heine starts disengaging to the escape pod. ]

Right.

[ there's a rush of mechanical clicking, the whoosh of the pod doors closing properly around him, and before he knows it there's a sensation of falling in his stomach following the ripples of the explosion. funny, because he's not falling anymore but being pushed through meters and meters of ocean water. it's hard to see or even think straight.

when the pressure stabilizes he's looking up at the stormy sky. the clouds are clearing; he takes a slow, deep breath as the voice from mission control makes contact again through the static. for a long time he doesn't reply, just lies there in the escape pod staring through the tiny window. ]

[Honestly, Naoto didn't think they would succeed. It doesn't sink in right away as she sits up in her pod, her hair whipping around her face, the air heavy with the scent of a storm. She's sure that headquarters is in a frenzy, trying to get in touch with them ( because she's sure they both survived, there's no way she could make it back and Rammsteiner wouldn't ), but she waits patiently, quietly.

Even though she didn't have any doubts, it's still a relief when she spots the other pod. Feeling a bit silly and apprehensive, she paddles her own over, the two pods bumping gently together. She reaches out, knocking politely on it, as if they're back at headquarters and she's knocking on his undecorated door.]

[ he hears the knock. it echoes weirdly through the contained space, and he struggles not to roll her eyes. there's no need to be polite, really. they've been through enough.

all the same, it takes him another moment to disengage the airseal and trigger the opening mechanism. heine sits up, looking around for a moment before his gaze fixes on her. he's got nothing to say, but for the first time he really looks at her. it's over, but it hasn't sunk in yet.

the transmission comes back to life, made unclear by the waves slapping against the side of his pod. still, he doesn't respond. ] Mission control to Cerberus... status, pilot?

[For once, communication to their base is the furthest concern from her mind, and her face is awash with relief when Heine emerges safely from his pod, his expression still as disgruntled as ever. It's starting to sink in then, that somehow they managed to complete their mission and that somehow they both made it out alive. It was a scenario she had scarcely entertained.

She's sure their pods will be picked up soon, so she doesn't bother with the radio, instead a small smile blooming on her face.]

Guess you'll have to think about what you want to do seriously, now.

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