neverbelievedintheend | (no subject)

(no subject)

There was a time when Stacker Pentecost had access to enough aircraft to make Hugh Trenchard jealous. This is not that time; it hasn't been that time for nearly a year now. When the PPDC's funding was pulled and diverted to the Wall-building efforts, personnel transports were dropped from the list of things Pentecost felt it was necessary to find funding for almost immediately. he had priorities. He's always had priorities.

The helicopter he's in now isn't much by anyone's standards, a small single-rotor Sikorsky, but that's all it has to be. It just has to make it to Sitka.

Not his favorite part of Alaska by any means, but he doesn't plan on being there very long.

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None of this makes sense.

"I'm guessing I wasn't your first choice."

Seeing as how the Marshal looks like he's running himself ragged more days than not.

"You were," says Pentecost. He knew this would be coming. "All of the other Mark III pilots are dead."

Of course they are.

Yancy was still there. All the time, just inside his own personal Conn-Pod of hell and Kaiju.

"I don't need anyone else in my head again." Can't. "I'm not a pilot. Not anymore. Without Yancy I have no business being one."

Raleigh is done with this conversation all of a sudden, so he turns to go.

Damn it, they don't have time for this-

"Haven't you heard, Mr. Becket?" Pentecost calls, raising his voice above the wind. "The world's ending. This is your last chance. Where would you rather die- here, or in a Jaeger?"

Raleigh doesn't respond right then.

But when he comes back, he is ready to leave. Very quickly.

But he's also very surprised to see the helicopter hasn't even taken off yet.

The door slides open. Pentecost leans out a little ways, enough to make his inquiry of "Change of heart?" audible over the sounds of the Sikorsky's engines.

"I lost my job!" Raleigh yells over the chopper noise. "Why did you wait?"

"It's been five years and four months," says Pentecost, and smiles properly for the first time in a very long time. "Another five minutes wouldn't hurt."

Becket climbs aboard the chopper, and with one upward lift --

Raleigh Becket was a Jaegar pilot again.

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