drear | god, he called for rain

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.

[ heine swipes a hand over his face before realizing that the glove of the jaeger suit isn't exactly conducive towards cleaning the sweat away in the first place. ]

So will you.

[ if he sounds grumpy, it's because he is, in addition to being incredibly... relieved. yes, that's the word for it. it's an unfamiliar feeling. ]

So what's your plan? [ after all the publicity and shit that's bound to come after... closing the rift. (they did it. they really--) ]

[Part of the reason perhaps she had been so interested in what Rammsteiner was going to do after all of this was it might give her some direction. Right now, the world had opened up to her, as expansive and peaceful as the seas. The possibilities were enough to engulf her, if she let them.]

Tie up odds and ends.

[There was her family to see. She wanted to see her sister's face, what expression she might have now that her spare had stepped out of her shadow. She wanted to see her father's face. She wanted to see the people she had left behind at her old base.

And then... She turned her gaze back to her fellow Jaeger pilot, shrugging slightly.]

Go out to eat somewhere that isn't the mess hall.

[ heine nods minutely. he understands that, at least, the desire to finally take the opportunity to make decisions now that their imminent death isn't so imminent anymore.

but... that second idea. ]

I guess they'll shut it down soon.

[ that's his reason for agreeing. ]

[There's a small moment of silence Naoto will give out of respect to the mess hall. She might not have been fond of the cuisine but it had done it's job reasonably well, so she couldn't really complain.]

I'll miss it.

[Not just the mess hall but everything. There was a sense of community on the base, everything might not work perfectly but everyone knew their roles. Now she wasn't so sure.]

[ it's true that the food was nothing to cheer about, but it was food. and heine hasn't been off-base for more than a week or two at a time for the last seven or eight years. ]

...yeah. [ an even more grudging pause. ] Me too.

[ finally, he punches a button inside the escape pod, replying curtly to the now-panicking mission control transmission. ]

You think we're going to have to do publicity tours again?

[ because he really doesn't want to. they're a huge pain, and he really just wants to lie down and sleep. ]

[While the admission isn't a surprising one, what is was the fact that Rammsteiner would willingly say so. She shot him a look that was half-amused half-curious as he replied to mission control, settling a bit in her pod.

The expression is gone however, at the thought of having to do publicity tours. She's a reticent person by nature, and being paraded around and patted on the back was more of a punishment than a pleasure.]

I'm sure a higher up would be happy to do all the talking.

[And taking the credit as well, but she would rather be a prop than a mouth piece.]

[ heine has to agree with that, but honestly, if it meant he wouldn't have to talk, he'd be glad to have someone else take the spotlight. he's... tired. he doesn't want to have to do with this anymore, but at the same time, he doesn't know what else he can do.

the noise of chopper blades overhead catches his attention, though, and ladders are thrown down. at this point mission control is cheering for them, congratulating them. ]

...here's our ride.

[ heine just wants to sleep. ]

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timeskip to a bit after return?