Locked Out storyline

Pietr and Chuck lose Chuck, Pietr, and Striker. 
==Politics==
-Explain, sir.-
"I'm sorry, Pietr. Command made the call. I fought for you; I really did."
-Did they give a reason?-
"No, but it's politics. Pure politics. Striker's the last Jaeger. The last Australian Jaeger. The Australian government wants her to have Australian pilots. When we found Herc was Drift-compatible with Chuck, they twisted Command's arm until they ordered the change over my strenuous objections. All I could save for you was your Ranger status and paycheck and even that was a near thing. I'm sorry."
-I see. Thank you, sir.-
"Take the rest of today off, Pietr. Go to a park or the harbour. Get out of the 'Dome."
-Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.-
.
"Old man, you seen Pietr? He didn't show for lunch."
Herc doesn't twitch.
"Oi! I asked you a question."
Herc passes him a letter from his desk.
Chuck reads.
Chuck spins on his heel and sprints from the room, paper clenched in his hand.
Max cocks his head and sits at Herc's feet.
.
"What the fuck is this?! Sir."
"Command overruled me, Chuck. They want you and your father in Striker."
"They promised Striker to me and Pietr! The old man had his chance and wrecked Lucky!"
"Command doesn't agree."
"Command is a bunch of idiots!"
"Maybe, but we have to follow orders."
"We'll have to see how much longer all of that will be the case."
"Is that a threat, sir?"
"Think of it as food for thought, Nguyen. /Striker, Hansen, and Vos are only 'yours' as long as they're under your roof, as you say. If Australia or Command changes assignments, well ... "
"Sir, I respectfully submit separating /Striker Eureka, Ranger Hansen, and Ranger Vos would /greatly impair PPDC effectiveness in this region."
"Noted.
He picks up his phone and selects a contact from the list. "Lightcap? Nguyen. We need to talk. You free?"
"Sure, Marshal. What's up?"
"I just had the 'pleasure' of visiting with Goodman from PPDC Command."
"I heard those air quotes."
"Hopefully you heard the eye roll, too. He said without saying Command's going to yank Vos from Sydney—and Striker—to use him as temp to fill in for Rangers otherwise out of commission."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
"You're kidding."
"Still not kidding, Doctor."
"Are they /stupid?"
"Possibly. Is there anything you can do to help?"
"You mean, is there a scientific reason separating Vos and Hansen is a /terrible idea?"
"More or less."
"And 'Vos is the only one who can work with Hansen' didn't cut it?"
"Nope."
"/God. Well, the first problem I can see is that we have no idea what subjecting Vos to a large number of different Drift partners will do to him. So far, all Rangers have had only a single partner after we've found someone capable of a stable neural handshake. After that, we've left them the hell alone. So, as time goes by, the memory exchange slows down as more and more of their experiences are shared ones."
"As it should be."
"/Amen. But Goodman's talking about continually switching Vos' partner. Obviously, he's going to wind up with a headful of others' most powerful memories and emotions. That's going to be a /massive stressor. He's got an A rating for stability, but God knows if he can maintain it under that sort of pressure. Then there's the chance he'll pass those additional memories on to his partners. Think of /every Ranger in the PPDC swallowing a dose of Chuck Hansen's survivor's guilt. Vos could spread trauma like a virus."
"Not good. Not good at all."
"Oh ... "
"What, Doctor?"
"Umm ... you know how old memories are lost as newer and stronger ones are made?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Vos would face a constant flow of new and strong memories. What if he starts losing important memories of his own? What if they get pushed out in favor of his co-pilots'? What if we wipe out part of what makes him Pietr Vos?"
==Old Job==
::What's happened?::
::Not a pilot anymore. They replaced me.::
::What about all your work?::
Pietr gestures 'poof.'
::What will you do now?::
::Go back to teaching fighting, I guess.:: He brightens. ::Still coming home in a few days.::
::That's good news.::
::Yep.::
::Are you alright? I know how excited you were for this.::
::No, I'm not. I will be once I'm home, though.::
Griet smiles. ::Had my final checkup today. The doctor says everything is beautiful.::
::Wonderful! I can't wait to meet our little one.::
==Heads Up==
"Monkey? You working on that report like I asked?"
Caitlin pokes her head out of her nest.
"Chuck? You okay?"
"Brass's sending us Pietr. Next month."
"My Hypothetical? They're sending us the Hypothetical?!" Caitlin swings herself over the server.
"Yea." Chuck's fingers twitch on the keyboard.
"What about his Rangering? Isn't /Striker supposed to launch next month?" Caitlin skims the message on the monitor over Chuck's shoulder. "I don't know if I should cheer or not. He's all mine, but he'd make a brilliant Ranger. Benching him. Must be politics."
And she's standing at the monitor, torn between cartwheeling down the hall and acting nonchalant when Caitlin hip-bumps her and says, "He's not a Ranger anymore; you can be happy to see him and still not like them." (or something. baby steps towards recovery.) and Monkey bounces about the lab for a bit and grins like a fool for the rest of the day.
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