Someone once asked Chuck Hansen what he wanted to do with his life if the war against the Kaiju ended. They were experienced men, comrades of his father, and soldiers that were older than him. They all said what they wanted to do, which consisted of various forms of 'settling down' and 'having a family' and 'helping rebuild it all.' It was like they were doing a round table discussion about how they were going to live their lives in they never had to pilot Jaegers again. Chuck dismissed them all and said how pointless it was to think about things like that, and all of his comrades rolled their eyes at him. However, the question stuck with him for a long time, and Chuck was unable to let it go. He tried to think of what he wanted out of life and what he would do if they closed the rift tomorrow, but he couldn't come up with anything.
Chuck divided his life into Before and After though, which Before he was normally addressing varied. He was ten when the first Kaiju attacked America. He remembered sitting with his Mom, watching the footage, and being horrified by it all. Chuck watched as buildings fell to ruin, and countless lives ended. Some of the footage was live, and his Mom had to explain to him that he might have watched people die. That didn't sit well with him, not at all, and he thought about how his Dad was in the military. Watching that first attack was the first Before in his life.
The second Before came a year later when Scissure attacked Sydney. He was twelve, he was at school at the time, and the evacuation notice had just been given. One of his teachers handed him off to a military man while everyone else raced off with their families. Chuck's blood ran a little cold when he saw his Dad. His Dad was a pilot, and Chuck would have been lying to himself if he didn't think the world of the man. Yet, at the same time, he remembered the fights over the phone with his Mom and how his Dad never visited them. The teacher released Chuck's arm, and suddenly he was in the care of the military. The world around them was burning down already as Scissure ripped through the city, but his Dad put him in a chopper and took him away from it.
"Where's Mom?" Chuck had asked, but no one would answer him. Not even after they finally killed Scissure. No one would answer because his father had chosen him over his mother, and now she was dead. Nothing else became relevant in that Moment, nothing else mattered, and Chuck hit his Dad's armor with his fists until his knuckles bled. Dad never explained why he rescued Chuck and not Mom, but it didn't matter. She was dead regardless, and everything. Before that attack, Before that Moment, it no longer mattered. There was a war, and Chuck refused to sit by and let something happen to another family. He bottled up that loss and set it aside, compartmentalized it, and used it to fuel his body through training.
Chuck was sure that sometime before he was twelve someone, had asked him he wanted to be when he grew up. It was a normal question, average, one that he should have been able to answer at the time, yet for the life of him, Chuck could not remember what that answer was. Any evidence written on school papers or computers were ashes buried up, wrecked houses, and crushed schools. Chuck wondered if he couldn't remember what he wanted to be before he knew he was going to be a Jaeger pilot because it didn't matter and, to him, there was no 'after the war' ends.
It seemed like a logical decision to pair him when his Dad when Chuck became a pilot three years later. It wasn’t uncommon for blood relatives to become co-pilots. That was not to say that Chuck was entirely happy by the prospect. Despite the fact that they were in the same building most of the time, it didn't seem like he and his Dad had much in the way of conversations. His Dad would see everything in the Drift; how much Chuck idolized him as a kid, witnessing the fights on the phone through Chuck's eyes, and how he never really forgave his Dad for choosing him over his Mom.
"Are you ready?" Dad asked. They were going to Drift for the first time, and everything they didn't say to each other would be out in the open. "It's a little intense the first time. Don't get caught up in any memories. Don’t chase the RABIT."
"I know," Chuck replied, maybe a little shorter than necessary. "I'm ready." Dad nodded, and suddenly they were one mind. Chuck was no longer Chuck but also Herc. He saw his Dad watch his brother and former co-pilot slowly crumble under the weight of fame. He watched his dad make a split-second decision to 'save my boy; he's at his school, we need to get to him now.' There were other things, Chuck saw some of his Uncle's memories as well, and it was all so intense that it stole the breath from his lungs. He was fifteen, and he knew, in that second, that he and Dad were going to be co-pilots.
"Neural handshake is stable," a voice said from the LOCCENT, but Chuck didn't really hear them. Dad wanted to ask if he was okay, Chuck didn't really want to reply vocally, and they didn't need to. "Looking good Hansen's; I think this is going to work out fine." The comedown was harder than Chuck expected, and he was a little dizzy afterward. His commanding officers let him leave the hanger and go lie down. His mind was spinning, and it was too much, it was way too much, and the nightmares that came from his Dad staring down a Kaiju made him sick.
For three days, Chuck slowly moved around his father, carefully, as if he wasn't sure where to go from here. Now his Dad knew everything, and that made him uneasy. Chuck was watching potential pilots fight with his feet hanging over the edge of the walkway. He wasn't sure how he knew that Dad was approaching, but Chuck looked up and saw his Dad holding something in his arms.
"A few of the guys were out helping the civilians clean up, and they found this guy," Dad said. It was a puppy, a bulldog, who looked like a little pile of wrinkles in his Dad's arms. Dad didn't say that he knew how Chuck had always wanted a pet growing up, but Mom's allergies were terrible and limited their options. Of course, he knew.
"Every good team needs a mascot," Chuck replied, taking the puppy from his Dad's arms. "We'll call him Max." Dad nodded, and things felt a little less tense after that moment. While the neural connection in the jagers had remained strong, it was in this moment that Chuck truly felt like a co-pilot to his Dad.
They were one of the best, and Chuck strived to make sure it stayed that way. They protected cities of millions and saved countless lives. Their connection was strong, their abilities were almost perfect, and their kill count was nearing the double digits. They had a Mark V Jaeger, and only a few people rolled their eyes when Chuck requested a picture on the armor. His Dad rolled his eyes when he came to get his armor, and there were Kaiju heads on it like a kill list. Things were changing; though, the Kaiju were getting smarter and learning their weaknesses. Chuck heard the story of Gispsy Danger and how it seemed like the Kaiju knew that tearing an arm off would render pilots immobile. For too long, everyone felt like they were winning, but now jagers and crews were dying. The number of Jaegers and crews in the world dwindled, and when word came down that the program was being shut down, Chuck tried not to think about it. They got their tenth kill and left those cities vulnerable.
Dad knew Marshall Stacker Pentecost better than Chuck did. He was the one that was wrangling all of the remaining crews together in Hong Kong. There were whispers that Pentecost had some sort of crazy, last-ditch effort because the Wall was not the answer. Chuck knew that Dad knew that; anyone with half a brain knew that, but it took a category IV breaking that wall to get people to pay attention.
"He has a plan," Dad said when they arrived. Max was asleep in his case at Chuck's feet, and he reached down to pet him through the case door.
"So where is he now?" Chuck asked.
"Picking up another pilot," Dad replied. There were four of them, Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha, Striker Eureka, and a rebuilt Gipsy Danger. Whatever Pentecost had planned, it must have been big and likely insane if it involved four of the only remaining Jaegers in the world.
The plan was insane, and everyone seemed to know it, but no one was willing to say that to Pentecost’s face. Chuck wasn’t that surprised by that fact, but the sheer reality of what they were going to do seemed obvious to anyone but Pentecost. They were waiting for a double event, and then they were going to drop a bomb into the portal between their world and Earth. Chuck assumed that Gispy, Crimson, and Cherno were going to defend Striker from two Kaiju’s at once. There wasn’t anyone to pilot Gipsy, though, and that’s when Chuck found out that Pentecost was out collecting Raleigh Beckett.
That was not the best news in the world because Raleigh didn’t have a co-pilot, and it had been years since he had even been in a fight. Raleigh wasn’t the first person Chuck would have chosen to go on this mission, probably not the fifth, but Dad said that Raleigh was the last pilot left for the Mark III’s. That didn’t stop Chuck from thinking it was a terrible idea; between the Wei triplets and the Kaidanovsky's, Chuck saw no reason why they needed a has been with a brand new pilot at their side.
“The Beckett brothers were really good in their hay day,” Tendo Choi said as he stared at a screen. Max brushed up against Tendo’s leg, and he reached down to pet him without looking away from whatever he was doing in the LOCCENT. “Besides, it’s not your call; it’s Pentecost’s. He’ll want Gipsy right there with the rest of you.”
“We’ll see what ends up happening when he gets here,” Chuck replied.
“They’re landing now, so we’ll know sooner than later,” Tendo said. Chuck had spent a majority of the morning in the cockpit of Striker, so he was still in his suit when he saw Raleigh Beckett walk by. He was being led about the Shatterdome by Pentecost and Pentecost’s best student Mako Mori. Max immediately went for Mako because he knows when someone is going to give him lots of attention. Chuck already knew that Raleigh and Dad had worked together before, and now they were greeting each other like they had some sort of long standing history that included more than just killing a Kaiju together. Chuck watched, and he didn’t like the way Raleigh walked. It reminded Chuck of how he walked six years ago when he became a pilot. Chuck made no move to introduce himself; there were more important things to do.
Chuck didn't make his feeling known until Dad invited Raleigh to sit with them at dinner. This mission was too vital to leave in the hands of someone who hadn't been in the field for five years. Chuck wasn't sure who he resented more at that moment; Raleigh for being there or Pentecost for bringing him back at all. If he was a little meaner than he needed to be, Chuck really didn't care. There was too much on the line as it was. The fact that Raleigh would be piloting with someone he didn't know just made it worse, and, later, as Chuck watched Raleigh fight his potential co-pilots, it only seemed worse. There was zero connection here; anyone who had any experience in a Jaeger could see that. If the link failed in the middle of the mission, it could endanger everyone. It wasn't until Pentecost let Mako into the ring that things changed.
In his many years in the Pan Pacific Corps and growing up around pilots, Chuck knew a connection when he saw one, and Raleigh and Mako had one. It was a new connection, but there was something there. The Wei Triplets and the Kaidanovsky's seemed to agree, which made it very strange that Pentecost said Raleigh and Mako wouldn't be piloting together. Pentecost had experience; he was in one of the first Jaegers ever put together; he should have been able to see that connection right away. Yet, he acted like he could make the decision for Raleigh as to who his pilot could be. It was bad enough that Mako had never been in a Jaeger before, but for someone else to determine a co-pilot was just insulting.
Chuck stood in the LOCCENT, waiting for a test run to commence. There were whispers amongst various members of the Shatterdome about how Pentecost was acting when it came to this mission. They were saying that he was taking chances with things they couldn't leave to chance, and Chuck had to agree. If anything, he hoped that Pentecost would just ground Raleigh and Gipsy all together. Instead, Mako walked in, and a dark feeling settled in Chuck's stomach. He barely heard Dad tell him to keep his mouth shut when he made a snide comment because he was too busy watching the connection. It was strong, but a test run wasn't the same thing as a fight.
Then it all went to hell, and it took him, Dad, and Tendo to bring Gipsy offline before she blew the entire Shatterdome to pieces. Chuck was so angry he couldn't see straight and decided that now was not the time to go easy on anyone. Chuck let it all out, told Pentecost how he didn't want a has been and a rookie on this mission, and it didn't take long for Dad to kick him out with the implication to cool his head. Instead, Chuck turned his fury on Raleigh and Mako. He was a little surprised when Raleigh punched him in the face, but Chuck never backed down from a fight.
Instead, he went after Raleigh with everything he had. With every punch, Chuck unleashed the feeling of helplessness from not being there to save his mother. He let out his anger that this was the only life he knew, and he couldn't remember Melbourne or Sydney anymore. He let out that the only time he could remember his mother's face was in the Drift. Chuck let out that he didn't want anyone to die because they didn't bring the best on this mission. Despite the fact that they never seemed to talk, Chuck couldn't lose his Dad. It wasn't surprising that the moment he thought about his Dad, the door opened, and he was being hauled away from the fight by Herc. Dad pushed him away from the fight, and all Chuck could do was hope Pentecost did the right thing for this mission.
When Raleigh and Mako entered the mess hall hours later, everyone went silent. Chuck had to clench his fists to keep from finishing their fight from before. It wasn't worth it, and he had to keep his priorities in line. Chuck had to focus because the war clock kept ticking, and every second brought them closer to the next attack. The next attack was a double event. Two category IV's heading for Hong Kong. No one else seemed to find it odd that they were heading for the only protected city in the entire world or that instead of splitting up, the two Kaiju remained together. It didn't really matter because Pentecost put Striker in charge of guarding the coastline while Cherno and Crimson took care of the Kaiju called Otachi and Leatherback. It felt a bit like getting put on the bench, but at least they were there if they were needed.
It went wrong, so fast Chuck wasn't sure anyone really knew how to handle it. He hated that he stood by and watched Crimson Typhoon and the Wei's get killed right before his eyes. Dad didn't seem so keen on the idea either, and when Otachi shoot what appeared to be acid at Cherno, he could stand idle no longer. It seemed like they were going to be okay, two Kaiju's was going to be difficult, but Chuck was confident in their abilities until it unleashed Leatherback unleashed what looked like some sort of EMP. Everything in Striker died so quickly that Chuck could feel the backlash from the neural handshake breaking down to his bones. Everything was down; they had no backup and no way to defend themselves.
Dad was in the middle of trying to get out of the harness when he was thrown across their cockpit. Perhaps it was lingering effects from the handshake ending so abruptly, but Chuck swore he heard a bone snap. He could hear Leatherback moving around outside, but it didn't attack. It was like it was waiting for something, and there was no time.
"Now you and I are the only things standing between that ugly bastard and a city of 10 million people. Now we have a choice here; we either sit and wait, or we take those flare guns and do something really stupid.." There really wasn't any hesitation when it came to whether or not they were going to do this. Even if they managed to distract it for a few seconds, it would give people more time to get to safety. Chuck knew that every second counted when it came to shelter and hiding from the Kaiju. Mere seconds could save or end lives.
“How’s your arm?” he asked as he helped Dad onto Striker. Leatherback was right there, practically breathing down on them, yet it wasn’t attacking.
“Ah, just give me the gun,” Dad said. “Hey, you.” He called out to it like he was calling out someone to fight and not a creature that could kill them in seconds. So he stood on Striker’s shoulder with Dad, and they shot two flares directly into Leatherback's eyes because it really was a stupid thing to do.
"I think we just pissed it off." It screamed at them, and Chuck braced himself to die. There was really no other way for this to end. Instead, he heard choppers approaching, and he wanted to tell them to get away, that it wasn't safe, but Gipsy came into view. Raleigh and Mako were in that Jaeger; for some reason, Chuck could just tell, and maybe they stood a chance. Otachi was already in the city so that Gipsy could fight one on one instead of two on one. Gipsy dropped into the water, and suddenly they were no longer interesting to Leatherback. It was raining; he was soaked through and a little freezing, but that didn't stop Chuck from stepping forward and screaming 'kick it's ass' as loud as he could. He knew that Raleigh and Mako couldn't hear him, but he was angry that everyone fell so fast. He was furious that these monsters that took two crews with them. Chuck hated these things for what they took from everyone.
From there, he could only watch. Gipsy tore the organ that knocked their systems offline, but Leatherback threw Gipsy halfway across the bay in response. The choppers came down and tried to coax Chuck into coming with them, but he didn't want to. He could barely see the fight but leaving felt wrong. Raleigh and Mako were fighting two category IV's one right after the other.
"Ranger Hansen, we need to go!" someone on the chopper said over the faraway sounds of destruction and fighting. Chuck might not have agreed that Raleigh and Mako were right for Gipsy or this mission but getting on that chopper felt a lot like abandoning his comrades in arms. "Ranger Hansen!" Chuck clenched his fists but got onto the chopper. They lost two crews, and if they stayed with Striker, there was a chance they could get wrangled into the fight without any way of defending themselves. Chuck climbed into the chopper but kept an eye out the window the entire time. He couldn't see Otachi anymore though there was a line of destruction in the direction he went. Chuck could see the edge of the dock and Gipsy fighting Leatherback. There was an itch beneath his skin that was too much to ignore, he wanted to be out there, but he couldn't. The remaining choppers were in the process of picking up Striker and bringing her back to the Shatterdome.
"They did it," Chuck said as he watched Gipsy empty an entire clip into Leatherback near the docks. By the time they got back to the Shatterdome, Chuck was ready to jump out of the chopper and go help Tendo reroute the entire system himself if it meant they could keep tabs on Raleigh and Mako. Before he could make it more than two steps, Pentecost cornered him.
"You need to get to medical," he said.
"What I need to do is help get the system online, so we know whether or not they're dying out there," Chuck snapped.
"We still need you to do the mission, and we can't do that if you're hurt. Go to medical, Ranger," Pentecost said. It sounded like an order, and Chuck knew it was true; he needed to be in top form, and they needed to get Dad better, but he hated feeling helpless more. Chuck nodded and allowed himself to be escorted to medical. The doctors muttered things about how he was 'lucky,' and he only had some superficial wounds. He asked about Dad, but they wouldn't give him a straight answer. Instead, they talked around it, said they were running tests, and made sure everything was okay before telling him anything, but Chuck already knew the prognosis. Dad emerged in a sling, and Chuck wanted to set the entire world on fire; they couldn't pilot Striker now.
The entire Shatterdome was in a frenzy when they emerged. Chuck threw on a jacket and followed the large group out into the rain. 'It grew wings,' someone said, 'it grew wings, picked up Gipsy, carried her away.' These things had wings; they were strong enough to carry a Jaeger. Now the wall was completely useless. Everything truly revolved around closing the Breach, and they were down two Jaegers with half of the third crew injured. Gipsy fell out of the sky like a bomb, and everyone held their breath until Tendo announced movement. Pentecost ordered everyone to get Striker and Gipsy back to 100%, and Chuck didn't know why. He didn't have a co-pilot, and he couldn't do this on his own.
There was a lot of cheering when Raleigh and Mako walked in, but it was a sad type of cheering. Dad went over to talk to them, but Chuck kept his distance. Whatever Dad said made Raleigh glance at him, and, for the first time, Chuck felt a sense of camaraderie with Raleigh. Pentecost came out and told everyone to reset the war clock. They had one double event, and now it was just a matter of time before the next. They had to do the mission now. They told him to suit up like he was going on this mission. There were two category four Kaiju's hovering around the Breach by the time they were all ready to leave. Chuck knew strategy when he saw it; they were guarding it.
Chuck couldn’t pilot Striker on his own, and they were all acting like this wasn’t an issue. He needed a co-pilot, and when the door to the Shatterdome opened, Pentecost and Dad walked in with Pentecost suited up. Chuck had a co-pilot, apparently, and it was not the one he was expecting. Mako spoke Pentecost out of earshot briefly until Pentecost called everyone together. He took control of the room, no one said a word, and he said that they were canceling the apocalypse. Chuck couldn't just walk into this. He had seen what happened when two people who weren’t compatible were in a Jaeger together. He'd seen handshakes fail at the worst possible time. There was no moment, no mission, more important than this, and he was going in with a stranger.
"You're flying with me? How are we supposed to match up?" Chuck asked as they walked toward Striker. It was a legitimate concern for him, and it should have been for Pentecost as well. They could not fail in this mission.
"I carry nothing into the Drift. No memories, no fear, no rank." Pentecost said before he turned and faced Chuck to look him dead in the eye. “As for you, well, you’re easy. You’re an egotistical jerk with Daddy issues. A simple puzzle I solved on day one." Pentecost looked over his shoulder and saw Dad walking toward them with Max in tow. "But you are your father’s son. So we’ll Drift just fine." Pentecost once called Dad one the best pilots ever, and the fact that he had enough faith that Chuck was enough like his Dad to put the fate of the human race on the line nearly knocked Chuck off his feet.
"Works for me," Chuck said, offering his hand. Pentecost nodded and walked toward the lift. Chuck turned and, for the first time since Mom died, Dad looked like he was on the verge of tears.
"When you Drift with someone, you feel like there's nothing to talk about," Dad said softly. It was true; there was so much that they never said to each other, and it was not until now that Chuck truly realized that he never really needed to hear it. “But I don’t want to regret all the things I didn’t say out loud.
"No need; I know them all," Chuck replied. The day Dad took him from Sydney and saved his life, Dad hugged him so tight Chuck couldn't breathe. That day he hadn't hugged back; too angry and resented Dad far too much for not saving Mom. This was different, though. This felt a lot like 'goodbye.' Dad wanted to be in Striker with him more than anything, Chuck could tell, but they couldn't risk the mission. Chuck hugged his Dad back but made sure not to hurt his arm. He knelt down and kissed the top of Max's head. “Hello, handsome; I’m going to miss you.” Max let Chuck shower him in much-needed affection until he had to stand. "Take care of him for me." Chuck joined Pentecost in the lift.
"Stacker," Dad called out just as they were about to leave. "That's my son you've got there. My son." The door closed, and they were on their way.
They did Drift just fine, but it was strange. There were brief flashes of Mako and a woman named Luna, but Pentecost kept his word and didn't bring much into the Drift. At this point, Chuck didn't even try to hold back. Pentecost understood, their handshake was solid, and let Chuck have his peace. They dropped into the water and began the long walk across the ocean floor. Nothing was attacking them, though. They took the jump and made their way toward the Breach. Once again, it all went to hell faster than Chuck could comprehend.
Scunner appeared out of the darkness and attacked Gipsy. His first instinct was to turn around and help, but Chuck remembered the mission. They had to get that payload to the rift before Raiju attacked. They were right on the edge, ready to finish this when Gottlieb and Geiszler started screaming over the intercoms. It wouldn’t work; they needed to find a way to ride one of the Kaiju's corpse into the Breach and do the drop there. If anything else, Chuck felt a little better about the fact that they could turn around and help Gipsy until the Breach began to act up.
“Marshall, we have a third signature emerging from the rift,” Tendo said.
“What? How big?” Pentecost asked, but Chuck could only stare as the Kaiju began to emerge.
“Category V; first-ever,” Tendo said softly. It was right in front of them, blocking the rift like it knew what they were trying to do. Gipsy said they were on their way to help because Scunner retreated, but the category V, Slattern is what they called it, slapped Striker hard enough that Chuck was sure he got whiplash. There was a scream over the comms as Scunner tore off one of Gipsy's arms. It was going all wrong, far too fast. Slattern was in the way, so they were going to have to move it one way or another. Vaguely, Chuck heard that Gipsy killed one of the category IV’s just as they managed to land some blows on Slattern. Scunner was sweeping in to take out Gipsy until Slattern let out a roar that nearly threw off all of Striker’s systems. Water was coming in.
“The hull is compromised; we cannot deliver the payload,” Pentecost said as Chuck tried to find some way to keep Striker standing on two feet. Scunner was coming toward them, both Kaiju’s swimming around them.
“Hold on, we’re coming for you,” Raleigh said.
“No, listen to me.” Pentecost said, and for the first time, Chuck felt something through the Drift. He also knew exactly what they needed to do.
“We hear you,” Raleigh said though he sounded devastated by all of this. They were going for the Breach. Over the sounds of Striker barely holding himself together, Chuck heard his Dad say that they were ‘finishing the mission.’
“Arms are offline; what can we do?” Chuck asked.
“We can clear a path. For the lady.” Pentecost replied.
“My father always said if you have a shot take it,” Chuck said, and he grinned. “It’s been an honor, sir.” Somewhere in the Drift, Pentecost thought it was a little amusing that Chuck chose to show proper respect now of all times, but he also didn’t ask if Chuck wanted to take a chance in an escape pod. It made Chuck smile as they began the detonation sequence. Slattern and Scunner moved in for the kill, oblivious to the fact that Gispy was making her way toward the Breach with every intention of ending this. It seemed like everything slowed down just a little as the payload was about to detonate. In the Drift, he saw his Mom’s face but also Dad’s and how it felt when they Drifted together for the first time. How proud they both were of their first kill. How communicating how much they cared about each other through Max like two stunted men they were worked far too well. He thought about his Dad, his father, who was the perfect man to help rebuild this new world free of the threat of annihilation. Dad knew what he wanted to do when the war ended; Dad had a plan.
Someone once asked Chuck Hansen what he wanted to do with his life if the war against the Kaiju ended. In some way, he always knew it was going to end like this. Maybe not in this way or at this time, but Chuck always knew he would die in a Jaeger fighting a Kaiju until his last breath. Chuck just hoped that Raleigh and Mako were able to complete the mission; he was not.
The payload detonated, and Chuck’s world went white.