Soldier Boy || Newt & Thomas
He swore that he was never going back, but there he was standing in the same mess hall with the same jar-heads and science geeks that he wanted nothing to do with. Nothing had changed about them in the time that he was gone, and nothing would ever change so long as they were able to keep fighting. Everyone had to keep fighting these days after all.
There was something good about the Jaeger program. It brought the world together in it's time of need, but the people...well Newt had seen the best of worse of them too. It was hard to keep a small ego when you were a rock-star, a hero, a celebrity, everything that the people worshiped. You protected the people against the Kaiju, kept them safe so they could go back to the families you'd never see again. Yet, people started getting cocky, started dying off as the Kaiju started to evolve into bigger and badder things. Then suddenly his kind wan't as impressive anymore.
The worst part was that only a few truly cared about what happened to the people inside of those suits.
He could still clearly the remember day of his retirement, of his undoing. He was only twenty at the time, young for a Jaeger pilot, and he was matched with his partner, a guy named Alby. Together they were a force to be matched with. He had the speed and Alby had the strength, a perfect combo of quick actions and a steady hand. They didn't have to be the smartest out there because they could move around the situation and make it work. It was unusual, but it worked and that's what the boss wanted. Alby became his best friend, the guy he shared everything with, and the guy he needed most in the world. Maybe it was because of this that Newt didn't see the change in him, and maybe if he had he could have prevented what happened next.
It was supposed to be a simple mission. The Kaiju only read a category II, and all they had to do was take it out. Yet, there was something different about this one. It was smart. It adapted. It killed. Newt knew something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut, but Alby insisted on going on. No other Jaegers could be send in, and they couldn't let it get to the coast. So they fought despite the blonde's fears. The Kaiju's attacks were relentless, and each time he could feel it hit like it was hitting his own body. The right leg, his leg, was ripped off and pain surged through his body as the suit burned him due to the suit translating the Jaeger's problems into his own. He could hear Alby yell at him as he fell to the ground, and by the time he recovered the Kaiju was on top of him. It ripped their Jaeger apart, and it was only by sure luck was he able to make it to the escape pod. Alby had reached the pod and just as they were about to launch it malfunctioned and he was trapped.
Newt never screamed so loudly in his life and never cried so hard afterwards.
His body was destroyed just like the Jaeger was. Burns from the suit and the fall from his place in the Jeager damaged his right leg to the point he'd have to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. Other bones and muscles were broken and burned, destroying more of the nerves on that same side. But no matter how bad his body was his mental status was even worse. The attack wrecked his psyche, and the program could do nothing more but let him retire. Yet, four years later times were different, and with every Jaeger destroyed the program became more desperate.
So Newt stood in that same mess hall that he once called home, searching for the person who'd be his next partner. People pointed him towards a boy, and he headed over to him. They'd already matched the figures, saying that the drift would be seamless, and all that was left was to get into one of those suits and try it out. "I'm guessing you're Thomas?" he asked once he was close enough to the younger boy. "I'm Piers Newton, Jaeger pilot A5, but you can call me Newt."