An attempt to Lighten Things Up....

[genericbiggerbrother]

[1]


Shortly after the battle of Manilla, people get this message on the U.G. comm channel:

"Ranger Yancy Beckett here! To all those that helped hold the Miracle Mile at Manila, I just want to say, good work. I'm proud to have fought alongside you. And on that note...

Beckett raises a clenched fist. "We should try forming a social club! You know, to strengthen our bonds and all that!

So what do you think: should we set up a Kaiju-Slayers club, or a Motion-Capture Piloting club?"

Comments

[herodrawing]

That's a great idea!

... I don't know if I count as a member for any of those, though.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Well, it doesn't have to be literal Kaiju, per se!" Yancy amends. "I mean, there's those PRAYERS, and the Noise, and the BETA: they all qualify as large, mindless, natural disaster beasts, right?"

[herodrawing]

I'm supposed to fight Wulgaru mostly, but I already battled those other things several times. I guess that makes me a honorary member!

[genericbiggerbrother]

"That's the spirit!" Yancy says with gusto. "I hereby appoint you Honorary Secretary of the Kaiju-Slaying Club!"

[herodrawing]

Awesome.

[dolorous_sensei]

Will there be hazing? There will be hazing, right?

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Uh..." Yancy says. "Would you believe me if I said No?"

[dolorous_sensei]

And they sounds kinda exclusive...

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Well...you fought those freaky flesh monster zombies that came from the Black Domes." Yancy points out. "Aren't those pretty Kaiju-esque?"

[dolorous_sensei]

That's still pretty exclusive! Don't you think making these social clubs will only make a gap between pilots?

[genericbiggerbrother]

"That's strange." Yancy mutters to himself. "I wanted to start this club in order to build solidarity among our pilot roster."

He strokes his chin. "We need to crunch the numbers. How many pilots in the U.G. haven't gone on missions that involve fighting giant natural disaster-type beasts?"

[dolorous_sensei]

Not many, that's true. But I can only see this ending in two ways, and both bad.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"What's the first way you see this ending?"

[dolorous_sensei]

First of course, is that the base will be split up into two camps, those who have fought a kaiju, and those who never fought a kaiju. Those who never fought a kaiju will look at this elitist newfangled club with resentment, and there will be bad blood in the base.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Okayyyyy......" Yancy says, looking at you sideways. "And the second way you see this ending?"

[dolorous_sensei]

Everyone would want to join this club, and because of that, everyone would race each others to fight kaijus everytime they appear! Kaiju-fighting would become the "in" thing to do for new pilots. Kaijus would defeated quick of course, but casualties will skyrocket!

[gold_four]

S-Sounds a little exclusive...

[Dammit, he's fought alongside these people once, and neither of the suitable circumstances!]

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Well, didn't you guys fight one of those PRAYERS a while back?" Yancy points out. "That's pretty Kaiju-like, if I do say so myself."

[gold_four]

Well... I suppose, maybe. And Kaiju does just mean 'strange beast', so...

[Ataru briefly wonders if that's how the Jaeger pilots were taught it.]

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Eh." Yancy says with a shrug. "As long as the monster's large and destructive like a natural disaster, and you managed to save people's lives by fighting it, you'd definitively qualify for the Kaiju-Slayers Club."

[abugslife]

How very appropriate. All Gebian mecha, including Scaraber, are motion-controlled.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Interesting!" Yancy says, stroking his chin. "What sort of Feedback system do you use?"

[abugslife]

There is no physical feedback system of any kind. The pilot merely receives information on the mecha's status through displays, and information directly uploaded into the piloting chip.

[keep_your_dignity]

RANGER BECKET, YOU CLEARLY HAVE WAY TOO MUCH FREE TIME.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Well, you know the old saying about soldiers." Yancy says with a shrug. "Long periods of boredom followed by moments of stark terror."

"That's not to say that I don't keep up with personal training." He hastily amends.

[keep_your_dignity]

AS SAVES GO, I'VE SEEN BETTER, BECKET.

BUT I CAN'T GIVE YOU ORDERS TO HELP WITH ALL THE PENDING WORK, SO YOU'RE SAFE. ENJOY WHATEVER HAREBRAINED ACTIVITIES YOU THINK UP FOR YOUR LITTLE TREEHOUSE

[genericbiggerbrother]

"Of course Major Kagura." Yancy says in a dignified fashion. "For a hard-assed officer you're surprisingly...tolerant."

[keep_your_dignity]

YEAH, I'M A GENTLE AND FRIENDLY SOUL. [Kagura's synthesized voice can't really DO sarcastic, but the sentence somehow manages to drip with sarcasm anyway]

BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG. I STILL THINK YOU ARE WASTING VALUABLE WORK HOURS. BUT YOU'RE UNDER COMMAND OF MARSHALL PENTECOST, WHO UNLIKE MOST OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS OPERATION HAS A BRAIN INSIDE HIS HEAD. I'M NOT GOING TO GO UNDERMINING HIS AUTHORITY.