Chapter 2: Training

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone's alarm. I put my pillow over my head, trying to block out the noise.

"OI! GET UP!" I heard someone shout as they pulled the pillow off my head.

"What!?" I shouted.

"Training! You think you'll be able to beat the shit outta a Kaiju without an fighting skills?"

I opened my eyes, seeing Kai on my bed.

"Get off, I'm going," I sighed as I made my way to clean myself up. After breakfast, Kai brought me to a training area where Sensei Wu was waiting.

"Your late," he said, to both me and Kai.

"No thanks to her," Kai mumbled, shooting a sideways glare at me. I cross my arms.

"Kai, go spar with Anakin, Ahsoka and your sister. Ember, you're staying with me," Sensei Wu said. Kai nodded and went over to the side.

"If you're gonna fight in a Jaeger with Kai, you need to know how to fight like Kai," Sensei Wu said. "He's usually aggressive, goes all out on the things he fighting."

"Sounds like something I would do," I smirked.

"And that is why you two are drift compatible."

Sensei Wu brought me to a punching bag, and instructed me to hit it.

"So uh, I just hit it?" I asked. Sensei Wu nodded.

"Ok then." I use all my strength and hit the punching bag, turning to Sensei Wu and smirking as the punching bag flew up.

And the suddenly, I got hit back in the face by it, knocking me over.

"OI!" I shouted. I saw Sensei Wu sighing in the corner.

"You have to expect a counterattack. Never assume your enemy is down."

"Okay."

I punched the punching bag again, this time when it came back, I was ready and hit it again. Just to say, it didn't go very high.

"You have to time your breathing with your strokes. Breathe in when you're getting ready, and then breathe out when you strike. Here's a demonstration."

Sensei Wu hit the punching bag and it went flying. I was shocked. I didn't know an old man was capable of such strength.

"Lemme try again."

We did this drill for a few hours, until it was time for lunch. Before that though, Sensei Wu told me to meet back at the sparring area. During lunch, everyone sat together, so I joined them. The two people sitting in front of me, well actually one person and one weird-looking girl, around my age, seemed familiar.

As we ate, the weird-looking girl introduced herself to me. "I'm Ahsoka," she said. "Ahsoka Tano."

"Wait, are you the Ahsoka on television yesterday?" I asked. "The one piloting Titan Grave?"

"Yep, that's me," she smirked proudly.

"Then you must be..." I turned to the guy sitting beside Ahsoka. "Anakin Skywalker! Oh my god, I am such a big fan of you both!"

Anakin and Ahsoka laughed.

"Well, you're gonna be one of us soon enough."

I was sitting next to another Jaeger pilot-in-training. Her name was Nya, and she was Kai's sister. She seemed really friendly, and we got along quite well. It was pretty fun, during lunch. Everyone was talking about their old lives before the Jaeger program, and even I joined in. Kai was the only one that didn't, and after he finished eating, he silently walked away.

Anakin and Ahsoka told me that they were from a different world: A world where there were aliens and cool space stuff. I didn't really understand the concept of "The Force" though, so Ahsoka decided to give me a little demonstration.

She, uh, well, stretched out her hand and did some sort of motion and a piece of food on her plate floated in the air, moving with her hand. I was amazed that Anakin and Ahsoka could both do that cool trick.

Soon, 3 other dudes joined us. They told me that they were good friends with Kai. Some guy called Jay also told me that he was a pilot-in-training, and that he wans gonna pilot Nya's Jaeger with her. The 2 other guys, Cole and Zane, seemed pretty chill. They were piloting the fourth Jaeger.

"We're the only Jaeger pilots left," Zane said.

"So, you're piloting with Kai," Cole said. "Hes been known to use...different tactics. I kinda like it."

"Seems like you should be the one piloting with him then."

"I can't. I ain't drift compatible."

After lunch, I headed to the place Sensei Wu told me to meet him. I saw Kai standing beside him, looking kinda pissed off.

"Do I really have to train with her, Sensei?" Kai asked.

"Yea, do I really have to train with him?"

"You're drift compatible with each other. And I enjoy a good show," Sensei Wu smirked.

"Wait, WHAT?!?!"

Just to say, it didn't go very well. I ended up getting a black eye and everywhere hurt like hell. This was my daily life for a few weeks, train, lunch, training and getting beaten by Kai. But I never felt like quitting. It was a change from my life before this.

I also got almost daily calls from my parents, who interrogated me about how my "school" life was going along. Obviously, I couldn't tell them that I was in the Jaeger program, otherwise they'd kill me, so I had to come up with a complete lie.

The days rolled by, same routine every day. I felt myself getting stronger, fitter by the day. I managed to hold my own against Kai for a few minutes, still eventually losing to his aggressive tactics. I also kind of knew Kai's way of fighting now, having fought with him so many times.

And after a month of joining the Jaeger program, I managed to defeat my co-pilot in training.

It was a usual training day, lunch was shit because Jay and Cole were chilling out of town, and they were the life of the party. After lunch, as usual, I went to meet Kai for sparring session.

"I won't go easy on ya today, Em," Kai said.

I smirked. "Don't need it."

Yes, Kai also called me "Em" because he thought "Ember" was too long of a name.

The sparring match started, and as usual, Kai attacked first. He threw a punch at me but I was quick to dodge it, moving behind him as he whipped around. He moved to throw a kick, but I knew his tactics too well. He wanted to distract me so that he could use his arm to get a shot on. I ducked under the kick and hit him in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching the place where I hit, groaning. He quickly recovered as I threw a punch at him. He grabbed my hand and flipped me over his head, almost slamming me on the floor. Almost.

Mid-air, I twisted his arm and he released the grip on my arm. After that it was easy, I just kicked him in his nuts (You know where it is right)and he fell to the ground.

And with that, the sparring match ended, and I was about to leave for the gym.

"Ain't gonna help me up?" I heard Kai say. I rolled my eyes, turning around and extending a hand to help him up. He took it and by the glint in his eye, I already knew what was gonna happen. Before Kai could even throw a punch, I kicked him in his stomach again and he winced.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR???" he shouted.

"Sensei Wu taught me well. Never let your guard down." I looked to the side and saw the others snickering. I smirked.

"Meet me and the simulation area tomorrow." I turned around and Kai looked up from the floor, and saw Sensei Wu standing behind me, smiling. Kai scrambled to his feet as he and I faced him.

"Yes, Sensei."