Out of Contact

Out of Contact
29 February 2020
Anchorage, United States
“What do we do now, sir?” When Marshal Pentecost doesn't turn or answer, Tendo Choi knows it's up to him to find Gipsy Danger and her pilots. Or at least recover the bodies, he thinks with a shiver.
That last plasma cannon burst blinded us and the storm is screwing with coastal radar, he thinks frantically, but there are eyes out there that might see something. Anything.
“Alert every asset in and around Cook Inlet! Cops, troopers, medevac, fishing vessels, lighthouses, goddamn seagulls, everything! Cut in on the emergency frequencies and broadcast a call! And stay on the channels in case someone volunteers something! Get me anything that might be able to spot Gipsy! And find that damn fishing boat!”
He whirls back to his station and calls for Shatterdome choppers to get to Gipsy's last known position. “What do you mean the weather's too bad to fly? I don't give a shit about storms, Chief! Get your birds in the air! We have pilots in trouble out there!” He slams the connection closed. He hopes there are pilots alive out there to be in trouble.
“Mr. Choi! I have the boat. The Saltchuck,” one of the LOCCENT techs calls.
“Gimme!” The tech transfers the connection to Choi's station. “Saltchuck, this is PPDC Anchorage LOCCENT. Do you have eyes on our Jaeger?”
“Negative, LOCCENT. Af-after the f-fight, it started walking ... uh ... south-southeast toward Kenai. We tracked it to the edge of radar range and lost it about ... six miles off the coast.”
“Did you get a heading for it?”
""Sorry, no. Too busy trying to get our butts to shore in one piece. [One moment--” The captain confers with another crew member. ""LOCCENT?""
"Copy."
""Our best guess is if it kept straight it would come in on the south shore of the inlet well north of Kenai.""
“Thanks, Captain. Do you need us to call for assistance for you?”
“N-no, we're fine. Headed back to Anchorage under full power.” He adds quietly, “Good luck finding your men. We owe them everything.”
“Radio us immediately if you see anything, Captain.”
“Will do.”
After that, there are only reports of seeing nothing. Nothing from the land; The storm has driven everyone inside. Nothing from the water; No boats are out in this weather. Nothing from the air; No one but the suicidal (and those afraid of the Marshal) are flying now. Minutes stretch to hours with no information. Tendo reaches for his ninth--or is it fifteenth?--cup of coffee. How hard can it be to find a 260-foot-tall mecha? he asks himself. The 0800 shift change comes and goes, but Tendo remains rooted at his position.
Another hour passes as the sun rises on an Alaskan coast wrapped in a snowstorm.
”MR. CHOI! WE'VE GOT HER!”
“Where? How?” Tendo is instantly across the room and leaning over the tech's shoulder.
“North of Nikiski. Local 911's got a report of a Jaeger collapsing on a beach. Some kid calling,” the tech reports.
“The pilots?” Tendo can barely speak around the lump in his throat. The tech strains to hear the staticky transmission.
“Kid only saw one pilot. Local EMS is dispatching a chopper to pick him up and medevac him to Soldotna hospital.”
“Get our guys down there to meet him. We've got better doctors than Soldotna and we can beat them to our pilot. And send some techs to assess Gipsy and start planning to collect her.” He crosses back to his station, takes a deep breath, and calls Pentecost.
“We've found Gipsy, sir. I've already got our guys in motion to recover her and her pilot.”
“Pilot, Mr. Choi?”
“Preliminary information is only one pilot made it to land with the Jaeger, sir.”
“I see. Keep me informed, Mr. Choi.
The minutes until the chopper pilots reach the Jaeger are some of the longest of Tendo's life. Finally, the report comes in.
“We've got Raleigh and are on our way back to base. He's beat up pretty bad and just keeps saying Yancy's name. No sign of Yancy. The Conn-pod was ripped open, looks like the Kaiju might have pulled him out.” Tendo thought he was ready for the news, but he still pales and tightens his grip on the edge of his station. He relays the information to Pentecost.
Tendo ends his report quietly, “Yancy's missing. Presumed dead.”
“Thank you, Mr. Choi.” Pentecost sounds cool and calm as he always does and he ends the call.
Tendo wishes he felt that stable. As it is, he feels like his heart is breaking.
Category:Ficlet
Category:Pages in need of tags
Category:Knifehead event
Category:Tendo
Category:Tendo (ficlet)
Category:Pentecost
Category:Pentecost (ficlet)
Category:Ficlets in need of language stuff
Category:Anchorage Shatterdome (setting)
Category:Saltchuck
Category:Team G Danger (mention)
Category:Yancy is dead
Category:Jumphawks