Eye Of The Storm

One

“Abby is going to skin me alive,” Raven Reyes had been muttering those seven words, over and over, for the last hour of their chopper ride. Each time the mechanic said them, the tone became more scared. Not that Clarke couldn't blame her, her mother was not a force to be reckoned with. Once Abby Griffin was angry, she was angry. But Clarke was used to it. She'd been used to it since she first enrolled into the Rangers Academy. Four years later and Clarke was used to the clipped tone in every phone call she got from her mother. And she was going to get it in person when they finally reached their destination.

But Raven wasn't. Abby had always been fond of Raven, so much so that Reyes had become Clarke's adoptive sister when they were fifteen. And now it was six years later and things hadn't changed. They'd both enrolled into Ranger Academy, Raven into the Jaeger Tech, and Clarke as a Ranger Cadet, they'd both graduated and now they neared their destination.

The Polis Shatterdome.

One of the last standing Shatterdome to be functional. Set right into the Anti-Kaiju wall that protected the eastern coast. The Shatterdome of the legendary Heda Jaeger. Clarke didn't know if she more excited to see that famous Jaeger or just be inside the Shatterdome.

“Seriously, when she skin's me, make sure she doesn't touch my face,” Raven muttered again, shifting in her seat next to Clarke. The blonde rolled her eyes and gazed out the chopper window. The lands below them where misty and almost unrecognisable, Kaiju damage was littered everywhere. While the world was still trying to pick itself up in the brief time between attacks, they were heading right into the eye of the storm. To protect and serve. Or be skinned alive. Whichever came first.

“Ray, you're gonna be fine. I'm pretty sure the Marshall won't let the chief medic kill the beat damn mechanic as soon as we get there,” Clarke teased, settling back against the cushioned seat. She was going to enjoy the rest of the ride, it would probably be the last time they had cushioned seats. Shatterdome were infamous for being cold and cramped. With very little cushioned seats. But Clarke Griffin knew she was ready. So, so ready.

“We’ll see,” Raven muttered, gripping the straps of her duffle bag tightly.

“You okay there techie? Looking a little green around the edges,” one of the other inhabitants asked across the travel compartment of the chopper, he spoke clear and confident into the microphone attached to the helicopter headphones. Both Raven and Clarke looked to him, their eyes narrowed. He was wide shouldered, yet slim, with floppy dark hair and an easy grin. His clothing was exactly the same as Clarke and Raven's, military green jumpsuit. Only his came with an almost excessive amount of patches down his right arm. He was a Ranger, a combat Ranger.

“I'm a mechanic, not a techie,” Raven grumbled in the small microphone, her knuckles white on the bag strap. Clarke's blue eyes darted from her sister's hand to the grinning guy. Raven's discomfort in the helicopter was getting more apparent as the air vehicle shuddered in the air, jolted about by the oncoming sea air. The Ocean had been so unsettled since the second rift opened, the almost constant threat of tsunami and earthquakes filling the airwaves daily. Everything was going the south side of good.

“Well, sorry, my bad. I'm Bellamy, by the way, Bellamy Blake. And this is my baby sister, Octavia,” the floppy haired guy introduced himself, while giving the slip of a girl besides him a nudge in the ribs. The girl had been asleep most of the chopped ride, her forehead pressed to the small window besides her, helicopter helmet rested in her lap, her straight hazel hair covering her features. As her brother nudged her, Octavia had jolted awake, revealing her young face. Clarke knew them then, they were both Combat Rangers, for a different Jaeger, even though they were siblings. Clarke had been under the impression that siblings were the best bet for Drift Compatibility, but the Blakes had somehow been an exception.

Bellamy Blake was a couple years older than his sister, he'd been one of the very few Rangers to pilot solo back when the first rift opened. When the Marshall’s and the Jaeger programme board members realised that solo piloting was doing more bad than good, they shut that down and put all the work they could into the Drift. Bellamy Blake had helped set that up. Helped created the tests and programmes to assess a person's mind, to see who they could be drift compatible with. As far as Clarke could recall, Bellamy Blake hadn't been inside a Jaeger for years.

But his sister, Octavia Blake, was one of the youngest Rangers to live. She co-piloted the Trikru, a Mark 4 digital Jaeger, with her partner, Lincoln Lake. Trikru was fast, deadly and top of the line. The complete opposite of the infamous Heda Jaeger, which was a Mark 3 nuclear reactor beast. Old, tough and almost indestructible. In Clarke's opinion, the Mark 3 Jaeger would always be more dominant to any other. But the Trikru machine had nearly ten Kaiju kills to date.

“We there yet?” Octavia grumbled, rubbing her eyes slightly. She barely made eye contact with anyone in the compartment.

“No kiddo. I was just making introductions to our companions here,” Bellman laughed as his sister grumbled, her grass green eyes darting over Clarke and Raven, “So you're fresh out of the Academy huh? Off to your first Shatterdome?” Blake kept up with his questions, even as his sister turned her attention back to her window, and Raven looked anywhere but at him. Clarke took it upon herself to hold Bellamy's gaze, stare him down if she could,

“The only Shatterdome we want to be at,” The blonde shot back quickly, grinning wide,

“Heh, confident. You know who's ‘Dome it is right? You know she eats cadets like you for breakfast “ Bellamy laughed, 

“ETA 10 minutes Rangers,” the pilot's voice rang out through their chunky headphones. Bellamy grinned wide,

“This is when it gets real bumpy!” Bellamy laughed as the chopper began to swoop about. Besides Clarke Raven gasped and gripped the edge of her sweat and bag strap tighter than before. Even Clarke felt her stomach roll. But Octavia Blake still pressed her forehead to her window, breathing even and steady. Bellamy laughed and grinned, which only infuriated Clarke more,

“The Marshall hasn't met a Cadet like me before!” the blonde shot back, her tone confident and determined. Bellamy stopped laughing and grinned wide,

“We’ll see!”

“The new recruits are inbound, five minutes but caught in brief turbulence Marshall,” Marshall Lexa Woods nodded and folded her arms tightly behind her back. She didn't know the techies name, and didn't bother learning it, he gave her the information about the inbounds to the 'dome and that's all she needed.

Two new recruits and the Blakes, just what she didn't want nor need. The council had decided their arrival, not her. Much to Lexa's annoyance. Too much of late had the council been making her decisions for her. The Polis Shatterdome was working just fine with what Jaeger they had, they didn't need another one.

The three working Jaegers they had were defending the wall and city that lay behind it just fine. Though Lexa suspected that bringing in the Mark 4 Jaeger, Trikru, was to bench her own, Heda. The council hadn't been fond of her continuing to be a Ranger after she ascended to the Marshall command. They believed that once you became a Marshall, you gave order instead of followed them.

As Lexa moved to the huge window that surveyed the interior of the ‘dome, she scanned over the four present Jaegers. From the new addition of Trikru, to the bulky black form of Pauna, a Mark 2. Then there was Natblinda, a small and deadly Mark 5, and finally there was her own pride and joy. The last standing Mark 3, nuclear powered, might Heda. Seeing her own mecha craft made Lexa's lips twitch slightly at the corners, the only signs of a smile anyone would get.

“Commander?” a familiar, curt voice came from behind Lexa, pulling her to turn and face the weathered face of her once fellow Ranger, Indra,

“Ranger, it's Marshall now, remember?” the younger woman replied, her face straight. Indra inclined her head slightly, her dark eyes briefly flashing with apologies,

“Marshall, the chopper has landed and doctor Griffin is outside to greet them. She seems rather upset by the new cadets,”

“Why would that be?” Lexa questioned as she began to move out of the command deck and towards the elevators. She couldn't have the chief medic losing her head over a couple of fresh cadets.

“I believe one of them is her daughter.”

“What the hell are you doing Clarke? What has possessed you?” Abby Griffin roared at her daughter as the blonde Cadet exited the chopper, followed closely by Raven,

“Hi to you too Mom,” Clarke muttered with a roll of her eyes. She slung her duffel over her back and strode forward confidently, her head held high, “Not even gonna ask why Raven is here? Or does she get a free pass?”

“Don't drag me into this!” Raven muttered in a low tone, her eyes on the floor as Abby reached them. Her doctor's coat billowed around her in the harsh wind, her hands on her hips and face set like stone. Abby was clearly calculating how to punish her two daughters,

“No. You're both fools, why come to Polis? Why now?”

“Well, mom, there is thing call graduating the Academy, and applying to be a Ranger at a Shatterdome. And oh, it looks like we got picked for here!” Clarke shot back angrily, her eyes narrowing,

“You're a fool. A Ranger? You're still on this foolhardy dream to get yourself killed in action! What would your father say!” Abby argued back.

“I would imagine he'd be all for it, since he was a Ranger too!”

“Um, guys, I think you should stop -”

“Raven, I'll get to you,” Abby cut Raven off with a quick look, causing the Latino girl to gulp. Her hazel eyes flicked down to the toes of her polished black boots and then up again to meet the approaching emerald greens of the Marshall.

“Your father sacrificed his life so you could live yours! Not go and follow in his footsteps! He wanted you to live!” Abby argued, her arms waving erratically as she spoke. Raven shifted from foot to foot, feeling awkward in the situation between mother and daughter. Clarke only argued back that her father, Jake, would have praised her and supported her decision to join the Ranger Cadets. But Abby was having none of it. The two Griffin women continued to argue as Marshall Woods reached them. Raven admire the Marshall as she stood and waited patiently for the Griffins to notice her.

Raven knew that Lexa Woods had become the youngest Ranger Marshall after she solo piloted her own Jaeger, Heda, back to the Shatterdome. Like most Jaeger pilots, Lexa Woods was a bit of a celebrity. Every pilot gained fame and fortune, a following that made them rock stars in the world. Not many liked it though, who would want fame for killing a godzilla like creature?

Lexa had gained most of her fame from taking down a class 3 and 4 Kaiju with her co-pilot in Heda. They'd hit over fifteen kills in under five years. A record that even Jake Griffin couldn't beat. Ranger Lexa Woods was who every Ranger Cadet wanted to be. Tragedy had struck though when she and her co-pilot, Costia Green had been on a mission to tackle two class 4 Kaiju, and they had been winning. Raven remembered listening to the radio report as it happened. She remembered the sickly silence as the commentator informed the listeners that Ranger Costia Green had been torn from the Jaegers control pod. That Ranger Lexa Woods was now solo in there, putting her body and brain under tremendous stress to protect her people, her country.

In the end Lexa had won the battle, dragging the carcass of one Kaiju back to base to be studied. Rumours had been told that she'd promoted to Marshall right away, others said it was to bench her from any more battles. That her own recklessness had killed Costia. But Raven didn't believe that, no-one who purposefully went out there to die would solo pilot their Jaeger back home. Not when the outcome would be internal and external damage that they'd carry for life.

Marshall Woods cleared her throat then, just as Raven began to wonder what scars her body carried. Her eyes scanned up the Marshall, over the pressed, neat navy suit, with its Marshall insignia sewn over the right lapel, along with four golden stars. Lexa's hair was pulled back into tight braids down the sides of her head, keeping her emerald green vision clean and crisp. Her face was all angles and sharp beauty, one that was currently frowning hard,

“Doctor Griffin, do I need to give you leave for stress?” Raven held back a snigger. The Marshall’s tone was so curt, yet hung with sarcasm. Abby Griffin snapped around so fast that her white jacket slapped against her own daughter. Clarke grumbled and glared, her face wrinkling,

“Marshall! I'm – um –“

“Doctor Griffin was our welcome wagon Marshall Woods, she was just acquainting herself with the new Cadets,” Bellamy Blake stepped in, his easy grin still there and right hand outstretched, “I'm Ranger Bellamy Blake, on order from Chancellors Jaha and Kane,”

“Hmm. I was expecting you. And your sister, but you two –“ Lexa ignored Bellamy's hand, opting to turn on her feet to face Raven and Clarke, her emerald eyes scanning their green jumpsuit clad forms. Clarke felt her breath catch as Marshall Woods eyes found her own. They were ridiculously breathtaking, just like the rest of her, clad in that pressed suit and stern expression. The young Cadet stared as she tried to stop her mouth from falling open.

Marshall Woods was hot!

“Ranger Cadet Clarke Griffin and Jaeger Tech Mechanic Raven Reyes, Reporting for duty Marshall,” Raven barked quickly, her military issued heels clicking together loud enough to wake Clarke from her daze. The Ranger Cadet straightened herself, jaw jutting, back straight and chest puffed out as Marshall Woods looked them over,

“Cadet Griffin? Your daughter I assume Doctor?” Woods spoke softly, yet Clarke could hear the authority on her tone. She also hear her mother grumble and clear her throat before speaking.

“Yes, Marshall, I was just in the process of sending her home before you arrived,” Abby's tone was still dripping in anger as she spoke, Clarke could feel the elder woman's eyes burning into her skin,

“I don't think there's any need for that now. Do you Marshall? The 'Dome always needs fresh Cadets, besides she might be of use eventually,” Bellamy voice cut through the conversation, like a soft breeze. Clarke couldn't help but let her lips twitch a little.

“Hmm. I shall speak to the Council, for now, head inside, get warm and assigned a bunk. Reyes, find Anya Woods, she'll be your CO,” for a moment the two cadets didn't move, too scared or too shocked, “Dismissed!” Marshall Woods barked and the two were gone, diving into the Shatterdome with Abby glaring after them,

“I'm sure I can take Cadet Griffin under my wing, show her a thing or two Marshall,” Bellamy Blake continued, eyeing the retreating form of the blonde.

“I know why you’re here Blake, I know it's not to show pretty Cadets around. You're intentions are not welcome here, and I will be speaking to the Council and chancellors about your relocation here. Immediately,” Lexa snapped, more angrily then she meant to. Bellamy eyed her, his brow knitting tightly as they stared one another down,

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but my papers actually say I'm supposed to be here and they are signed by you Marshall, so can I just go find my Jaeger?” Lexa rounded her green eyes to meet ones that were only slightly paler than her own. The girl who spoke, in a soft yet questionable tone, stared back at her, her long hair flowing in the wind. Bellamy's sister, the second pilot to Trikru,

“A pleasure. Ranger Blake, Ranger Lake is waiting inside for you, he has been eager for your arrival,” Lexa held out her hand and Octavia took it warmly, eyeing her brother as the shook quickly.

“Pleasure is all mine Marshall, you’re a legend,” Octavia dropped Lexa's hand, grinning wide, “You’re the reason I joined up,” Octavia pale eyes flicked to her brother quickly and Lexa easily picked up the teasing tone the younger Blake sibling had. Clearly the two had some rivalry between them. Bellamy stiffened and sniffed hard, turning his now dark expression to Lexa,

“I believe we have a phone call to make Marshall.”

“Well that went better than expected,” Raven muttered low, a groan on her lips. Clarke groaned and elbowed her adoptive sister sharply on the ribs,

“Yeah, so much better,” Clarke grumbled, leaning back against the steel bar on the wall. They were the only two inhabitants in the elevator heading down into the belly of the Shatterdome. To the landing floor. Clarke could feel the buzz of excitement coursing through her as the lift groaned and shuddered with each metre downwards.

“At least the Marshall sent us inside, else I think Abby might have throttled you,”

“Maybe it was the googoo eyes you gave the Marshall?” Clarke laughed, teasing her sibling. Raven's cheeks flushed a deep red as she kicked out at the blonde.

“You can talk. Drooling where you stood,” the Latino tried to defend herself, but Clarke only shrugged and smirked,

“Well, no-one said that Marshall Lexa Woods was hot. I expected some gnarly old woman, twisted and scarred up, the way the Academy talked about her,” Clarke reasoned, sighing low, “But damn. She's like, hotter then Heda's nuclear core!” Raven scoffed at that and the lift shudder to a heavy halt. Clarke held her breath as the door groaned open, revealing their destination.

Polis Shatterdome was everything Clarke had expected and wanted.

Deep underground and ocean, the Shatterdome was tall and wide enough to accommodate 200 plus Military personnel and four hulking Jaegers, the tallest standing at 80 meters high. That being the mighty Heda, Commander of all Jaegers within Polis. Above Clarke's head walkways criss crossed, the clanging of boots against metal grating filling her ears constantly. She could hear shouting, music, laughter and machinery at work. The 'Dome was full of life, ready to protect and serve. As the blonde Cadet strode forward, taking it all in, her cerulean blue eyes found the alcoves where the Jaegers slept.

Clarke could see the old Mark 3 titan as she and Raven stepped forward, it's towering body staring down at them as it lay in slumber. Only the head of Heda was viewable behind a wall of steel, closing it off from everyone else. But Clarke knew the specs, she knew every mission Heda had run, every weapon she had carried, every kill and every loss. Her heart felt heavy to see such a magnificent Jaeger locked away.

To the left was the small, black and deadly Natblinda, her crew dotted about the flat metal feet, playing the loudest trash metal Clarke had ever seen. The Jaeger seemed to fit in just right with the tone, his arms outstretched as the Natblinda pit crew worked furiously to strap new bladed weaponry to its appendages, Clarke eyed what looked to be a 30 foot long chainsaw like sword as the pit crew slid it along the underside of Natblinda's left arm underside.

To Heda's right lay the mossy green Trikru, splashed with browns and greys, perfect camouflage. That was Octavia's Blake's Jaeger, and Clarke could see why. The machine was built in a slim way, making it small and skinny, agile and fast. She could see why Trikru had amassed so many kills, it's easy, fluid movements made it hard to catch, plus the backpack of heat seeking missiles and reinforces 'knuckles', made it perfect for close combat.

Then came Pauna, a beefy old as hell Mark 1 Jaeger. The last of its kind. Built nearly 15 years ago, it's conn-pod was set into its chest for better protection, surrounded by layers upon layers of metal and hydronics. Pauna had four thick arms and a body of compartments that hid nuclear weaponry. An utter war machine.

“Really something huh?” Clarke's eyes snapped down from the Jaegers to meet steel greys. The woman they belonged to was grinning wide, lighting up her angular face completely, “I could stand here and stare at them all day. But the boss has radioed down and told me I've got fresh blood. Which one of you is Reyes?” the woman asked, Raven waved her hand awkwardly in the air as Clarke took her in. The woman was lithe and muscled, tattoos winding down her muscular arms, she wore an oil stained white vest that clung to her body tightly, and dark blue combat trousers tucked into the same styled boot she and Raven wore,

“Well, nice to meet you. I'm Anya Woods, chief Mechanic of the ‘Dome. Marshall has give me permission to put you two to work, so let's get started,” Anya clapped her hands together quickly, grinning impossibly wide,

“What's first?” Raven asked, her dark eyes darting from Jaeger to Jaeger. Anya laughed and stepped between the two of them, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders. She pulled their heads close together, still smiling. Clarke counted six heart beats before Anya spoke,

“The most important thing,” again Clarke counted six beats, before Anya laughed quickly, slapping their shoulders,

“Food!”