Another Portal (Brandon / Avalon)

2020 the Kaiju War began, twelve years later...after the deaths of countless pilots and the destruction of cities, it was over. The portal that connected our world to the world of the Kaiju's was destroyed, and the last of the Jagears were gone, dead metal creatures that could be found lying at the bottom of the ocean.

It has been a thousand years since the Kaiju War, 3032. Not much has changed, perhaps better cell phones and more air pollution in the major cities, but other than that, most of the world's intelligence has turned to rebuilding and restoring the formally obsolete Jagears. Turning them into historical artifacts the size of sky scrapers. Most of the Pilot programs were canceled after a few hundred years, but a few programs lived on, five exactly. The Koreans, the Americans, the Irish, the Australians and the Russians. Each building their own unique Jagears and continuing to train pilots.

With the portal closed many years ago, it was coming into question why the programs were still running, however...it's been said that a new portal has opened. A level one Kaiju was spotted in the Swiss Alps, military planes took it out rather easily. But now, one thousand years later, Kaiju War II is just beginning.

The five programs have gathered in a base, close to where the new portal has opened, a large crevice in the mountain range that seems to release Kaiju's at a growing rate. The five Jagears kept in a new hangar. Two of these Jagears have not been assigned pilots, two teams waiting to be chosen.

The Kaiju's have started to appear again, flocking in higher levels, so far up to a level three. The active three Jagears are fighting, however, two are awaiting their pilots.

Both the Americans and the Australians have sent out for the best possible pilots, and many women and men have answered the call. Training and compatibility testing starts in the morning, with only one month to find the right matches to these two Jagears.

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The Sphinx Facility (Which is actually a real place, called the Sphinx Observatory in Switzerland) is where the Jagears will be kept, along with the research wing, and the training grounds. The facility rests on a mountan top a few thousand miles from the Kaiju portal, and reaches thousands of feet down, connecting train lines that lead to the closest civilazation. In the research wing, there is also a large observatory dome.

Ooc: I'll put the starting post up here now, no internet connection next week! Feel free to post your bio whenever.
bic:


Pinpricks of light made it difficult to see anything properly, but past the white light, was the feeling of something falling. Slowly, a crimson line formed, the trail of a drop of blood.
Naomi gasped, clutching onto the bar beside her and wiping the blood from her lip onto her palm, a weak nosebleed running down past her lips once more down her chin, threatening to stain her clothes.

“You’re working yourself too hard.” Dr.Franklin mused from a few feet away, where he stood in a starched white lab coat beside a monitor, looking at the results from his daughter’s latest simulation program. “You’re trying too hard to push past your memories in the Drift. Don’t. Just let them flow, stop trying to block them out.”
Dr.Franklin was one of the top researchers in the Jagear Program, however, that didn’t stop him from pushing his daughter in extensive training…simulations that were off limits to other recruits, probably because they weren’t quite…safe.

Naomi pushed off the simulation goggles, stepping out of the program and walking to grab a towel, wiping the blood off of her face. “If I don’t block them out, I’ll get caught following the rabbit. Isn’t that worse?” She responded, letting the towel drop as her hands went up to her long ponytail, tightening it.
Her father frowned at the blood, finally looking at her. “Not necessarily. If you keep pushing away your memories in the Drift, you might find yourself unable to become Drift Compatible with any other pilot. You need a partner.” His Australian accent sharpened his words until they weren’t just a warning, they were a threat.

“Fine.” Naomi looked down at her grey training top, which now had a patch of blood near the collar. Her nose had stopped bleeding, and she turned to the door, not wanting to get sucked into another simulation.

Dr.Franklin scoffed as he watched his daughter, her slim figure looking guarded as she was unable to meet his gaze. The swish-swish of her baggy cargo pants cut through the lab like a knife cutting butter. “Don’t be a child, Naomi. The American recruits are arriving tonight, if they haven’t already, which makes the last of them. Pilot training starts in the morning. Grab some supper and rest up.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” She murmured as she let the door close behind her, muscles weak from the simulation workout today. The dorm halls were nearly empty, everyone was probably in the dining hall by now. Stretching, Naomi let her tank top rise above her stomach, wincing slightly as her spine cracked. With a little skip up the steps to her room, she pulled her ponytail loose. Moments later, her boots made a faint crack as she walked toward the dining hall, dressed properly with jeans and a tight turtleneck, and a large book under her arm.
There seemed to be quite a bit more bodies filling up the dining hall that evening. It only took Naomi a second to realize that the Americans must have arrived. Grabbing a tray, she chose a table that held one of the other Australian recruits, a woman who was listening to music and seemed much too absorbed in her mashed potatoes. Letting her long, dark hair fall over one shoulder, Naomi flipped to a page in her encyclopedia, a small smile forming as she absentmindedly brushed her fingers over the page, her other hand bringing a spoonful of food to her mouth every so often.

He stands at six foot even and weighs around one hundred seventy pounds. JC, himself, feels he is more average in appearance. As most would disagree and say he is quite above average. However, he believes his ability in picking up girls is in more skill with the tongue, than his natural-born looks. To start on his appearance, JC's body is his strong point. Also, his favorite subject to talk about. Jaeger training has gotten him to a point that he is very happy with, muscles defined in places that he didn't even know existed. To the point of being able to see how well in shape he is through his shirts.

JC has a strong face; it's very angular in shape. A long jaw that is in line with his chin. Topped off with cheekbones that are at an average height. His eyes are an icy, pale blue. Some like to say they are silver; however James enjoys describing the color as 'Blue Steel'. However, despite how many things he has going for him in his looks, JC also has a good bit of scarring on the left side of his face. His father was right handed. The most noticeable are the multiple scars that cut through his left eyebrow and two scars that split the upper and lower lips on the left side of his mouth.

Generally JC wears ribbed long sleeve shirts of any color and style: V-neck; Button up collar; Zip up collar, with the collars usually open. His sleeves are usually a bit too long from being stretched out, with just the halves of his hands or even his just his fingertips showing. For his lower half, he will usually wear some kind of sweatpants or cargo shorts. Some simple vans or converses on his feet. When with the military types and has to change into training gear, he wears his black combat boots with loose, gray, straight leg pants tucked into them. On top of that, he wears a black, sleeveless under armor shirt with mesh in the back section so he doesn't get as hot.

JC finds himself to be quite smooth with the ladies. Every time he sees an attractive girl, he sees her as a bit of fun. A quick fix for when he feels like he needs to get laid. That's all, sexual objects. This is mainly due to what happened to him during his childhood, though. With the other side of him, if he isn't trying to talk up a pretty lady, he tends to be quiet and exclusive. Preferring not to get in anybody's business, since he wouldn't want someone in his.

Many see him as dangerous, a loose cannon. If they realize who he is, they usually will give him space. Only because he is known to flip at a moment’s notice, but not without a little pestering trust me. He doesn't just see red and attack everything in sight. Instead, he gets his reputation for his reaction to when someone won't leave him alone. If they push him past his limit, he will push back. Violently. He once beat a guy so bad; he ended up forgetting his own name. Blood was everywhere, and he loved it. The scary thing is that was done with only his fists. The main reason he has actually become so deadly is because of his intense dedication to becoming a Jaeger Pilot. He uses all of his pain from his childhood and turns it into rage and intensity for his training.

Appearance:

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A lot of thoughts were going through his head. The main one: Death. He knew it was inevitable, getting into this program. It's kind of automatically assumed you will die at some point. Fighting giant monsters? What the hell was he doing? He had nothing to go back to anyway, so I guess it made sense to him. His eyes opened as the plane with he and the other American recruits landed on the commercial airstrip somewhere in Switzerland. He stood, nodding to a cute girl he saw on the flight. She blushed and he assumed she couldn't speak a lick of english, that was okay though. Accents are a huge turn on for him. She left quickly and his group was going in a separate direction once they got off the plane so he didn't have time to deviate. Oh well, there's always more.

Next was a bus ride, he wasn't exactly sure how hush hush this program was. He knew the Jaegers were famous now, but I guess the training facilities were kept a secret in case a group of Kaiju radicals decided to crash the party. Dumbasses. Next there will be a group that feels they should riot about all the fish that are killed during the battles that take place in the oceans. JC rolls his eyes to himself. The guys sitting next to him was pretty rough-looking full beard, mohawk. Seemed like the real badass type that one would picture piloting these giant fighting machines. He grunted at JC once he saw him staring. "Fuck you want, man? You got a problem?" JC shook his head and sighed, trying to calm down while looking back out the window. He watched as the ice began gathering on the surface. Focusing on something small like that kept his mind off of blow up on this guy and smashing his head against the metal floor. He thought about it.

The buses pull up and everyone gets off, they were handed cold weather gear as they began towards a group of helicopters that were sitting at the base of a large mountain range. It was fucking freezing out here. JC put on his coat and layered pants on top of his training gear without hesitation. After he was done, everyone was guided to a different helo in groups of six. Ironically, one of the few American girls that were here actually got sat across from JC. Ironically as well, she was gorgeous. He didn't understand how there could be this many hot girls that were also actually badass enough to get into this program as well. A smile began to grow on his face as the blades began to spin up on top of the vehicle. It took her a few glances before she noticed he was smiling at her. A shy smile appeared on her face quickly, she broke eye contact to get her composure back before addressing this guy sitting across from her. "Do you need something?" His smile faded slightly as the conversation began, he had to yell to get his voice over the loud noises that were blasting around them. He hair whipped back and forth as they rose through the cold air. Jc simply spoke what was on his mind, "I'm sorry! I'm just curious as to how someone as beautiful as you came to find yourself doing this kind of work! You know....being a badass!" A short chuckle left her mouth, but it was mute as it was swallowed up by the surrounding noises. "Well-" she began, but was entirely distracted as the facility came into sight. "Woah!!" Her eyes light up and a large, open mouth smile covered her face.

JC turned from her to watch the observatory now also. It really did look like they were in a movie. This was ridiculous. The helo landed on the pad and everyone jumped out. One guy, one of the smaller ones, started freaking out because he wasn't acclimating to the difference in pressure, and couldn't breathe correctly. What a bitch. A large door opened, and everyone, save that small guy and a couple of his friends, entered a small warehouse looking thing. It was actually a large elevator. The girl from earlier came back to JC and held out her hand, "I'm Tina by the way. I guess I'll see you around, huh?" A cute smile from her followed before JC introduced himself. Tina then jogged back to the door and waited for it to open. Blonde hair, green eyes, and slight freckles. She will easily be remembered. The doors finally open and three paths are available, chow hall, dorms, and the hanger. To start, JC figured he would drop his stuff off and get out of these, now, hot clothes.

Soon, after exploring for a bit, he finally found his room and opened the door. It was kinda small, but he could see it becoming homely. Enough room for bringing guests over. He dropped his bag and went ahead and changed into his basic training gear, catching a glance of himself in the mirror though, he pulled the hood from his sleeveless onto his head so his scars went as noticeable. Too many bad memories associated with those. He left his boots loose, but still tucked his gray sweat pants into them and headed out to the chow hall. Eventually being able to figure out his way around the place, he came into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray. It looked like the nations were segregated, so he decided not to break the mold. Didn't need a fight on his first day. JC found one table with Americans and on the side he sat, he happened to be looking straight at another table with yet another attractive girl sitting at it. He was loving this. She sat next to another girl with a turtleneck sweater on. That one, he couldn't tell. Besides, she seemed like too much of a reclusive. The personality wouldn't work for him. JC began wondering what nation the table was of, what accent they would have. For now though, he ate. Occasionally glancing at the girl, hoping to get random eye contact. A few minutes pass and he can tell she notices him, JC just doesn't know how to make his first move.

A faint crash and a slip of the fingers makes Naomi blink, snapping out of the text she was reading and looking to the ground, where she had unknowingly let her spoon fall from the table. Sighing, and letting her hair brush over her eyes, she leaned down, snatching it up before it had the chance to bounce twice. Without the distraction of her encyclopaedia, she felt the unsettling feeling of eyes on her. Just for a moment, but there it was. That cold prickle of the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. Straightening, she lifted her eyes to peek past her long, elegant eyelashes, tucking her hair behind one ear to get it out of her face. It looked like the American recruits had all settled into their supper, finding their spots amongst each other. Most were the stereotypical beefcakes, all biceps and no brain cells. A few girls scattered around, no doubt in unbelievable shape as well.
Naomi's eyes finally fell upon a young man. One table away, fixated on the woman sitting at her own table, who was bobbing her head to the beat of her music. Well, Naomi assumed that's who he was looking at, but she was sure about her fleeting thought when the light fell upon part of his face, catching on a single steely eye. He looked like he was hungry for something other than potatoes and peas.

The moment Naomi had turned back to her encyclopaedia, unimpressed with the subtle hints of body language the guy seemed to be expressing, attraction, no doubt, toward the woman who sat at the other end of her table...had a sudden hush come over the dining hall.
Gaze lifting once more, her stormy eyes immediately fell upon her father. Tilting her head to the side faintly, she found him flanked by two other familiar faces. Commanding Officer Anthony Keith was one of them. He ran the show. Mid-to-late-thirties, his salt-and-pepper hair combed back neatly like was an officer in the 1950's, wearing a decorated suit and his usual hard look. The other person who walked next to Dr.Franklin was Colette Penderson. A lab assistant in the Jager program who worked close with Naomi's father. Her skin so dark it looked like she was a walking shadow, a contrast to her starched white lab coat which she now wore. She was close to Naomi's father's age, however she held no sign of whitening hair...probably because Colette's hair was about two millimetres long.

It was strange to see Commanding Officer Keith in the dining hall, even stranger with her father and a lab assistant. Stranger still was that they had stopped walking and stood directly in front of her. Naomi stood quickly, straightening her back and giving a proper salute, parting her feet until they were shoulder length apart and not daring to look around the hall to see who was watching them.
"A word, Franklin?" Officer Keith rose his eyebrows, as if daring her to object.
Lips parting with an unspoken question, Naomi stole a glance toward her father. He looked...excited. Cheeks working hard to force back a smile. One eyebrow raising, Naomi let her weight drop to one hip.

"Of course, sir." She made a motion toward the book that rested on the table, thinking whatever conversation they were about to have would be better out of the questioning gazes of the nearby tables.
Officer Keith's voice stopped her. "Here is fine."
Frozen, Naomi nodded, feeling her heart working as if it were a bird's wings against glass. All she could do was nod.
"Your father has been informing me of the work you have been doing in the training facilities we have here. I've also taken a notice to you, recently. And I have a proposition." Officer Keith, for once, didn't look like a stone block of ice. His demeanour broke, until half of his mouth was curved up in a rather charming smile, making him look ten years younger. Before Naomi could respond, he was speaking again. "I want you as one of the pilots in the Australian Jager."

Anyone who was close enough to eavesdrop gasped, or broke into a buzz. "But...I...sir." She stumbled over her words, realizing why her father seemed so excited. This was his dream. Their dream. Naomi dropped her gaze to the ground. "But I don't have a partner, sir."
Colette spoke for the first time. "Franklin, this is how teams are formed, we have to start somewhere. Out of all the new arrivals, we are sure to find you a Drift compatible partner within the next few weeks." She did not smile, rather, nodded her head.
Naomi exchanged a long look with her father. "I...I would be honoured."

The three left the dining hall after a few polite words, her father leaning in and speaking only to her as Colette and the Commander turned to leave.
"Tomorrow at training, look for possible partners. You will be compatible." He gripped her arm until it hurt, and then they were all gone, leaving Naomi standing with weak legs that stumbled back, catching on the edge of the bench and dropping her dead weight to sit where she had only moments before, as if nothing had changed. As soon as the doors to the dining hall were closed, she was surrounded. By faces she had never seen, congratulating her, suffocating her. Mostly she heard Australian voices, much like hers, but all she could do was sit there with her encyclopaedia pushed up tight to her chest.
She sat in the dining room until all of the faces were gone, until the sky was black and only a few others remained, no longer sitting at her table to ask questions. Until she was alone and all she could think was: Why me?

JC decided it was finally time and stood, running his hand over the top of his head to smoothly slide his hood off. A slight grin grew in the corner of his mouth as he began walking towards the table, just before he made it though some people of importance showed up. Lieutenant Colonel Keith accompanied by the famous Dr. Franklin and, JC assumed, an assistant of his. For her age, she still looked fantastic. From the beeline path they were making, as each and every soldier stopped and stood rigid, saluting the Colonel as long as their hands weren't full. Initially JC thought they were coming at him, he reacted slowly as he looked around a little nervously and began straightening up. However, to his relief, they all stopped before him. Strangely though, it was at the table he was headed towards and the person the chose to talk to was an even more strange event. The introvert, he noticed earlier.

JC remained where he was and glanced at the girl he was planning on talking to as she began more interested in what the important people were saying to this girl next to her. Oh well, maybe next time. After they were done, a lot of people began surrounding the girl and congratulating her. JC assumed she had been given a pilot's position. Nice. Never would have guessed HER though. She was from a different country though, so thankfully JC didn't have to worry about trying to figure out how to work with her.

As Colonel Keith was leaving though, in passing, he spoke to JC directly, "Be at compatibility practice tomorrow. And I don't care." the Officer didn't give JC any time to respond as he continued out the opposite way he came in. How did he know that JC was going to bring up the fact that he wasn't Australian? Wise bastard.

JC turned now to look at the newly appointed pilot. So much for not having to worry about her. He crossed his arms, his mouth opening slightly and his lower jaw moving to the right a bit as he thought. A sigh slipped through his mouth and he looked at the ground, shaking his head. Now though, he walked towards this girl and rustled her hair, "Good luck tomorrow." a fake wink was made and JC moved away from the cafeteria, rolling his eyes as he went out. Feeling a need to hit the gym, he went to his room quick to grab a change of clothes and soap for the shower after. Once he had all of his things, he headed to the gym. First, hitting the track to warm up and try to get pumped up for the weights he was about to push and the bags he was about to punch. He lost track of time and ended up being there late into the night. Everyone was in bed by now, but he remained, working in the combat training areas. For some reason, though, JC had one thought on his mind the entire night. No matter how hard he hit the bag, it remained: Why me?

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Shoulders sore and aching from her morning workout, Naomi dragged herself to the glass shower in her room, pressing a button on the wall and turning her face up to the water as it soothed her muscles. The water was hot, much too hot and it was making her skin turn a baby pink, steaming up the glass walls. However, she stood there until she heard her alarm, notifying her that compatibility training started in an hour. Stepping out onto the linoleum floor of the bathroom, she wrapped herself in a large, plush-white towel, smudging away the steam from the large mirror that rested past the sink.
Cheeks flushed from the hot water, her long dark hair clinging to her face as it dripped down her neck, she couldn't help but stare at herself. She was going to be a pilot in this war. Kaiju's were spilling out of the new portal almost every week now, and she had been handpicked to help stop them. Eyes icy, she leaned forward, until her lips were mere inches away from the mirror. She smiled at herself. "No turning back now." She murmured, breath turning the mirror foggy once more.

Soon, she was dressed and dried. A black sports bra hugged her chest, leaving her mid-drift bare all the way down to her hips, where her issued mud green cargo pants slung themselves. Jitters were causing her hands to shake nervously as she laced up her black docs, her long ponytail brushing her back as she walked out toward the hall. Not a soul was too be seen...she was going to be late. Naomi desperately wanted to see her father first, before the training started. But he was likely just going to make her more nervous, so she started off toward the lower levels of the Sphinx Facility.
"Don't push them away...you need a partner." She said under her breath as she reached the large set of double doors, where a room filled with trainees waited for her just beyond. Clenching and unclenching her fists for a minute, she got her nerve, pushing past the doors with a confident stride.

Colonel Keith was the first thing her eyes fell upon, as she walked toward the front of the room, where he stood. "Right on time, Franklin." He nodded at her. Naomi stopped beside him, with a salute, turning toward the group that stood in front of them. "I'll leave these trainees in your hands." He said to her, before taking a few steps backward to stand against the wall, hard eyes taking in everything. That was it? No introduction, no direction? What the hell was she supposed to do with these people?
She didn't hesitate, her Australian accent crisping up her words as she stepped forward, walking slowly amongst the group of around twenty-five men and women, eyes wandering over each of them. "In the Drift, two minds become one. Every memory, every emotion is shared between two people." Naomi couldn't help but notice how few women were scattered around them, eyes falling over some of the larger men as they seemed to loom over her as she passed.
"It's a difficult bond to form. Especially in such little time that we have. One of you is going to be inside my head in a few weeks, and you don't need to like it, or like me." Finding her place at the front of the room once more, she stepped out of her boots, feeling much more nimble in bare feet. "But you do have to trust me."

It was becoming more evident what she had done whilst she had been walking around. Now, there was a sizable space cleared in the center of the room, large enough for combat training. "One on one. Who'd like to go first?" She said, a crooked grin twisting her lips as a man stepped forward. He must have been a good ten years older than her, around her height, with a cocky strut as he came up to meet her in the middle of the space.
"I don't want to hurt you." He said, his eyes falling over her in a way that meant he intended to.
She floored him in under a minute, a murmur falling over the other trainees. "Dance with me, don't try to overpower me." She stood over him, her grin never faltering, but her icy eyes softening as she extended her hand. He took it, returning to his place. "Next?"

A bright flash of light an JC was sitting up in his bed. Eyes wide open, clothes and sheets wet from sweating in the night. He sat up and almost instantly began breathing heavily. Must've been a nightmare. JC swallowed and spun on his hips to place his bare feet on the cold, white floor as he attempted to calm himself from the stress he awoke in. The night before was pretty productive in his own opinion. It had been awhile since he just spent hours working the bag. It was very relieving and JC felt doing that regularly would definitely help him get more used to living in this place. Not to mention, doing the job he has now be officially recruited to do. JC. A pilot. Already? He figured that he would actually have had to DO something first. Apparently not...

Speaking of piloting, his first test for a partner was today. He still wasn't sure about her, but he figured that he might as well give it a shot. Standing now, as the initial chills from the cold floor leave his body, he went and gathered his training gear from the wash and got dressed. JC wrapped his old dog tags around a belt loop and dropped the slack into his left pocket. As he was walking to the training room he was assigned to, there were people walking to and fro. JC wasn't quite sure how many of them were going to the same place as he, nor did he care enough to pay attention.

Once he had finally made it to the room, he noticed a large group lined up at parade rest, facing the girl from yesterday. She had the Colonel and the good doctors standing behind her, staring intently. Apparently, JC seemed to be the last to arrive. But, who cares? This wasn't a formal event. It was owned by a private corporation for god's sake. JC fell into line and waited his turn. Many fell quickly, some seemed promising; however they would always end up trying to make it a contest in the end. Acting as such always led to their defeat. This girl was good, whether she knew it or not, subconsciously, her body knew who it wanted. Oddly, now though, after observing her fight, he felt attracted to her. Not in a romantic way, but in a weird destiny type attraction. It was almost magnetic.

It had now gotten to two prospects before it was his turn. It seemed to be Tina, the cute little girl from earlier, and the girl with the headphones that JC never was able to make a move on. He was interested to see how this turned out. Surprisingly Tina and this girl....Naomi, as it seems, had been going for a while now it actually seemed this whole thing was finally over. JC assumed Tina would now become the new pilot. They finished, both of them still standing a smile was made and Tina bowed slightly before turning and coming back to the line. JC was ready to leave when the Colonel stopped everyone, saying since there were only two left, Naomi might as well duel them as well to see if there might be a stronger connection. JC sighed and crossed his arms as everyone except he, Tina and mashed potatoes girl remained. The other Aussy failed miserably and her terrible fighting style really made JC wonder how she even got into the program.

It was finally his turn, he normal didn't get nervous. However, when he saw this girl, his heart began beating against the inside of his chest. Her sweat glistened her body, made it shine. He could see each and every muscle defined in her shoulders, abs, and arms. Naomi is very deceiving in her outward appearance. But when JC saw her in this light, in this scenario, her true colors were shown and deep down, he kind of liked it.

JC began mentally preparing himself and began loosening up, bouncing on his toes a bit. When he finally settled, JC slipped his ribbed long sleeve off from back to front and tossed it to a wall. Underneath, he wore a sleeveless underarmor shirt that showed off his powerful arms; the black and gray digital camo matched his sweatpants that were tucked into his black boots nicely. Cracking his neck slowly in a circle before bringing his hands up into a close boxer's guard, JC got into his Tai kickboxing fighting stance. He began inching himself to the right as he began to circle Naomi, waiting for her to make a move that he could respond to.