[Mako Mori is a living legend and a cautionary tale all wrapped into one. She and her dad were basically the best pilot team ever, if you asked Raleigh, not really because of their kill number which was high but because of the way they fought. The way it wasn't about the fame and money and shit like that. It wasn't about them, it was about saving lives. It was about protecting people.
Raleigh lost his whole family to a kaiju, the same one that crawled out of the Pacific and took Angela Hansen from her son and husband actually. The Beckets were in Sydney, arrived a week before the attack because Richard got a new position there. Then just seven days later, everything changed, everyone he ever knew was dead and he was dirty, scared, crying at the foot of Coyote Tango. Stacker Pentecost took him in after that, didn't drop him off with the American authorities for reasons that Raleigh still actually doesn't know. Hasn't asked because it never occurred to him, not until years later when the Marshal puts his foot down about Raleigh getting into a Jaeger and by then, he's more irritated with that then concerned about asking why didn't you just leave me somewhere.
Stacker has reasons too, which makes it that much more annoying. He's too impulsive, rash, risky. He's more focused on getting revenge for his family than he is about saving lives. He's stubborn and insubordinate and literally everyone who's ever tested with him hasn't been able to even remotely reign him in, so how can he expect to work well with them in the cockpit of a Jaeger if he can't even match them in the kwoon.
That effectively shuts Raleigh up. For a while anyway, maybe a couple of years but he wouldn't be Raleigh if he didn't circle back around to the idea. If he didn't get bored with just helping Jaegers be built and start itching to get into one. He can fight, he can do this. He just needs the chance to prove it. And maybe a large part of him wants to make Chuck shut the fuck up too, the annoying Australian prick. He's like the little brother that Raleigh never had and never wanted, and a thousand times more irritating since he is a pilot and he really doesn't ever hesitate in reminding Raleigh of that every chance he gets, when they're in the same Shatterdome, via text at four in the fucking morning.
Raleigh starts pouring through academy records, every single cadet that's come through Kodiak's doors, he reads up on, comparing their fighting styles and sim scores to his. And the Marshal is right, most of them don't really match up. There's maybe a handful but most of those he's already proven don't work, surprise surprise but there is one-- getting her to agree to a trial might be tricky but since when has he backed down from a challenge.
Fuck it. Here goes nothing. Worst that can happen is that she'll say no-- actually, no that's not true. The worst that could happen is that she'll inform Pentecost of this conversation, after he expressly ordered Raleigh to drop it, several times, and made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to tolerate the question anymore.
You're not getting into a Jaeger, Mister Becket, that's final.
With all due respect, sir-- it's not yet. Mako might really be his last shot at it and that's if she even agrees to trial with him, which is a long shot, but at least he'll be able to say that he gave it his all. And then he can take the frustration out on Chuck's face the next time he sees him. Yeah, good plan.
It's a month before Raleigh is able to overlap his duties with Mako's, where they're in the same Shatterdome at the same time. He's fairly certain she has no idea who he is, despite his status as the Marshal's adopted son because that's not really an advertised fact around the PPDC but oh, he knows exactly who she is. He and Chuck used to stay up watching news feeds about her and her dad and Gipsy Danger. The old girl's almost completely restored now, Raleigh's been working on the project for years like it's his baby, pretty much ever since she was wrecked off the coast of Alaska, and that's kind of how he intends to get Mako to agree.
It's her Jaeger, she should be in it. And why not with him?
He follows her back to her office after lunch, shifting his weight as he knocks on the door. Here goes nothing.] Miss Mori?
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writes you a small novella
Raleigh lost his whole family to a kaiju, the same one that crawled out of the Pacific and took Angela Hansen from her son and husband actually. The Beckets were in Sydney, arrived a week before the attack because Richard got a new position there. Then just seven days later, everything changed, everyone he ever knew was dead and he was dirty, scared, crying at the foot of Coyote Tango. Stacker Pentecost took him in after that, didn't drop him off with the American authorities for reasons that Raleigh still actually doesn't know. Hasn't asked because it never occurred to him, not until years later when the Marshal puts his foot down about Raleigh getting into a Jaeger and by then, he's more irritated with that then concerned about asking why didn't you just leave me somewhere.
Stacker has reasons too, which makes it that much more annoying. He's too impulsive, rash, risky. He's more focused on getting revenge for his family than he is about saving lives. He's stubborn and insubordinate and literally everyone who's ever tested with him hasn't been able to even remotely reign him in, so how can he expect to work well with them in the cockpit of a Jaeger if he can't even match them in the kwoon.
That effectively shuts Raleigh up. For a while anyway, maybe a couple of years but he wouldn't be Raleigh if he didn't circle back around to the idea. If he didn't get bored with just helping Jaegers be built and start itching to get into one. He can fight, he can do this. He just needs the chance to prove it. And maybe a large part of him wants to make Chuck shut the fuck up too, the annoying Australian prick. He's like the little brother that Raleigh never had and never wanted, and a thousand times more irritating since he is a pilot and he really doesn't ever hesitate in reminding Raleigh of that every chance he gets, when they're in the same Shatterdome, via text at four in the fucking morning.
Raleigh starts pouring through academy records, every single cadet that's come through Kodiak's doors, he reads up on, comparing their fighting styles and sim scores to his. And the Marshal is right, most of them don't really match up. There's maybe a handful but most of those he's already proven don't work, surprise surprise but there is one-- getting her to agree to a trial might be tricky but since when has he backed down from a challenge.
Fuck it. Here goes nothing. Worst that can happen is that she'll say no-- actually, no that's not true. The worst that could happen is that she'll inform Pentecost of this conversation, after he expressly ordered Raleigh to drop it, several times, and made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to tolerate the question anymore.
You're not getting into a Jaeger, Mister Becket, that's final.
With all due respect, sir-- it's not yet. Mako might really be his last shot at it and that's if she even agrees to trial with him, which is a long shot, but at least he'll be able to say that he gave it his all. And then he can take the frustration out on Chuck's face the next time he sees him. Yeah, good plan.
It's a month before Raleigh is able to overlap his duties with Mako's, where they're in the same Shatterdome at the same time. He's fairly certain she has no idea who he is, despite his status as the Marshal's adopted son because that's not really an advertised fact around the PPDC but oh, he knows exactly who she is. He and Chuck used to stay up watching news feeds about her and her dad and Gipsy Danger. The old girl's almost completely restored now, Raleigh's been working on the project for years like it's his baby, pretty much ever since she was wrecked off the coast of Alaska, and that's kind of how he intends to get Mako to agree.
It's her Jaeger, she should be in it. And why not with him?
He follows her back to her office after lunch, shifting his weight as he knocks on the door. Here goes nothing.] Miss Mori?