Girl in Red

Date/Timing: shortly before Pietr's removed from Striker pilotship
Setting: Sydney Shatterdome; Vaucluse, Australia
Inspired by the umbrella girl picture here
.
Drift-blue fades back and the simulated city—
‒ Hong Kong. ‒
—resolves in front of them.
Pietr flicks his eyes upper right as they march out into the harbour.
=<CO>LOCCENT STRIKER IN THE WATER AND READY TO ROCK TRACKERS ON
=<LOC>COPY EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD FROM HERE
=<LOC>STRIKER YOUR SPOTTERS ARE IN BOUND
‒ Δ? ‒ 
‒ d(^_^) ‒ 
=<CO>HAVE EM FLY STANDARD PATTERN DELTA
=<LOC>STANDARD PATTERN DELTA LOCKED IN
=<CO>KAIJU IS
=<LOC>ONE MINUTE OUT AND APPROACHING FROM YOUR TWO O CLOCK
=<CO>COPY
‒ [ ε-(´・｀) ﾌ ]? ‒ 
=<CO>HOWS THE EVAC
=<LOC>ALMOST EVERYONES ACCOUNTED FOR
‒ =/= (ˆ◡ˆ)(ˆ◡ˆ)(ˆ◡ˆ)(ˆ◡ˆ)? ‒ 
=<CO>ALMOST
=<LOC>WE NEVER GET EVERYONE
‒ (◞_◟) ‒ 
=<LOC>ITS IMPOSSIBLE
‒ (ಠ益ಠ) ‒ 
=<CO>MAYBE YOU NEED TO TRY HARDER
=<LOC>FOCUS ON THE MISSION RANGERS
=<CO>COPY THAT
‒ (ಠ益ಠ) ‒
‒ (づˆ ³ˆ)づ ‒
‒ /smoke-dust-ash—screamingscreamingscreaming ‒ 
‒ ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ ‒ 
Chuck eases. ‒ Thanks. ‒ 
‒ d(^_^) ‒
Deep breaths.
=<LOC>IN COMING BRACE YOURSELVES
They slide into a ready stance, right side leading.
Kaiju—
‒ Reckoner—grapples-throws-slow—eyes-belly-armpit ‒
—heaves itself from the water, swipes immediately for their head.
Sidestep.
Overhand smash to the top of its skull.
Reckoner staggers, steps back, haunches bunching—
‒ ε= づ•̀⌂•́)づ ‒ 
Too slow!
It gets them around the middle—
Whack at its face.
—plows them into waterfront buildings.
Gouge an eye, kick it away, throw self up—ready!
Reckoner shakes its head, stunned.
Movement!
‒ /red umbrella—alone—just a kid like Mako's red shoes ‒ 
Chuck turns—
‒ \(ʘᗩʘ\) ‒ 
‒ Q(⇀ꞈ↼)Q ‒ 
‒ (╯□╰) ‒ 
Reckoner gathers itself, charges.
They give their back, twist at the hips, bash its temple with a wing.
Stoop, scoop child onto Chuck's palm, curl their fingers (gently, gently)—lock all the arm muscles.
‒ d(^_^) ‒
=<LOC>WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET BACK ON MISSION
=<CO>WE CAN DO THIS
Reckoner—
Backhand under jaw.
—staggers.
‒ ε=┌(;￣◇￣)┘ ‒ 
They sprint, weaving between buildings, paralleling the shore.
=<LOC>RANGERS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOUR GOING TO GET YOURSELVES KILLED
=<CO>WE CAN DO THIS
=<LOC>HANSEN DONT BE STUPID
The ground trembles under galloping feet.
=<LOC>VOS GET HIM UNDER CONTROL
‒  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ‒ 
Chuck laughs.
=<LOC>THIS ISNT FUNNY YOUR DISOBEYING ORDERS
‒ →? ‒
‒ d(^_^) ‒
‒ d(^_^) ‒
Raise arm, uncurl fingers, let her slide to the rooftop.
=<CO>YOUR NOT A MARSHAL I CAN OVERRULE YOU
The child waves.
‒ ＼(＾O＾)／ ‒ 
‒ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ‒
They wave their fingers, whirl, and race toward the Kaiju.
=<LOC>WHAT THE FUCK GUYS
=<LOC>THE MARSHAL'S GONE A HEAR 
=<CO>WHATEVER LET US DO THE JOB
Reckoner stands on its hind legs—
Crash into it, shoulder-first—
—tips, flails—
—grab hold of an arm, roll, throw Kaiju—
—flies!
—somersault to feet, whirl.
Splash taller than the skyline.
They charge, weaving between buildings, into the surf, waves breaking against their knees.
Reckoner, eyes rolling, lunges.
Sidestep, flick out blades, slice right, slice left.
Kaiju staggers, falls on its side.
Chuck buries his blade to the hilt in its armpit—
‒ xꞈx! xꞈx! xꞈx! xꞈx! ‒
—drags it down through its belly.
‒ xꞈx! xꞈx! xꞈx! xꞈx! ‒
Reckoner twitches, lies still.
Blue spreads in a slick around their feet, tingling.
=<LOC> -ERROR: SPEECH UNINTELLIGIBLE
=<LOC>KAIJU SIGNATURE LOST GOOD
‒ ε-(´・｀) ﾌ ‒
‒ \( ﾟヮﾟ)/ ‒ Chuck squishes to ‒ d(^_^) ‒
=<LOC>GOOD JOB RANGERS
=<CO>STILL GONE A TATTLE TO THE MARSHAL
=<LOC>YES
‒ 凸(⇀ꞈ⇀) ‒
Pietr frowns, ‒ ( •_•)σ ‒
‒ ಠ_ಠ ‒
‒ (*ﾟ◡ﾟ*) ‒
‒ (╯□╰) ‒ 
‒ (づˆ ³ˆ)づ ‒
‒ (ó⇀ꞈ↼) =ó(#_Ó) ‒
‒ ◦°˚(ᗒᗩᗕ)˚°◦ ‒
=<SYS>NEURAL HANDSHAKE RELEASE IN
=<SYS>THREE
=<SYS>TWO
=<SYS>ONE
Drift-blue swirls away.
Pietr is /smaller.
=<SYS>NEURAL HANDSHAKE TERMINATED
=<LOC>THE TEAMS COMING IN TO UNHOOK YOU
Thumbs up!
D'arcy and the team come in; clips are unclipped, screws unscrewed, boots pulled off, suits wiggled out of, showers scurried into.
Pietr scrubs himself pink and honey-scented-fresh, then pads over to Chuck beside the lockers, gets himself dressed in clean kit.
Derek!
Pietr waves.
::Marshal wants to talk to you both. Soon as you can.::
Thumbs up!
Chuck huffs, rolls his eyes.
::Ready?:: asks Pietr.
Chuck shrugs.
Pietr bows, 'lead the way' to Derek.
They walk—strut, really—along the halls.
Derek stops—
Chuck plows into his back.
—flutters.
Pietr snags them both, holds them up, looks around.
Oh.
Jones brothers.
Pietr releases Derek and Chuck, sidles around so he can see everyone's face.
Derek slinks behind him.
Logan says, "Word is you saved the kid." and crosses his arms. 
"What? Why does that—"
"Did you or didn't you?"
"Well, yea." Chuck crosses /his arms. "What's it to you?"
The Joneses exchange a look.
"/No /one saves the kid," says Jackson. "The whole point of that sim is you /can't—not without dying."
Chuck puffs. "Well we did."
Joneses look to Pietr.
He nods.
"That's /impossible," scoffs Logan.
"Not for us," sneers Chuck.
Pietr digs out his mobile, taps away without looking—
"—must've toned it down to help you."
"Or maybe we're just better than you!"
"Yea, yea. 's probably a handicap."
"Was that a—"
—offers the screen to Jackson—
- weve done teh impossble & are mighty -
—pushes between Logan and Chuck.
A bunch of things flicker across Jackson's face, then it closes back up and he grumbles, "Yea, big damn heroes." Puts his shoulders back. "In the sim."
Pietr beams.
Chuck sniffs.
Category:Ficlet
Category:Sydney Shatterdome (setting)
Category:Pietr
Category:Pietr's POV
Category:Pietr (ficlet)
Category:Pietr's HUD's questionable accuracy
Category:Pietr's mobile
Category:Chuck H
Category:Chuck H (ficlet)
Category:Orenstein
Category:Orenstein (ficlet)
Category:Nguyen (mention)
Category:Mako (mention)
Category:Logan
Category:Logan (ficlet)
Category:Jackson
Category:Jackson (ficlet)
Category:Firefly (reference)
Category:Jackson is not a nerd
Category:Ficlets with images
Category:Reckoner (mention)