Author's Note:

I guess the plot bunny bit me in a very big way after I saw Pacific Rim, which the whole premise was to bring the giant robot and giant monster genre into the western culture, mechanics and all. Well, obviously not all of it could be integrated into a way that would be scientifically sound, but since when was the super robot genre scientifically sound in any way?

So, just to satisfy the geek in me, I'm just going to write this out. Don't get me wrong, Guillermo del Toro did an absolutely phenomenal job with the movie, graphics, action and all, but if you ask me, what would make this show utterly epic would be a light dash of…Guts.

Take it in all seriousness or none at all; that's your decision.

I do not own the film Pacific Rim nor any recognizable show mechanic in this fanfiction. Enjoy the ride!

WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND.

Pacific Rim: Super Version

When the reports came in that the Breach had opened and a double Kaiju event had taken place, emotions in the Shatterdome and in the Jaeger project in general were noticeably high. Marshal Stacker Pentecost of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, in particular, was so incensed that his nose had almost started bleeding again.

No one could blame him though. With his ace, Gipsy Danger, unable to function properly due to the inexperience of the only possible candidate able to Drift with its remaining pilot, he had to rely on the three remaining Jaegers, Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha, and Striker Eureka to defend Hong Kong. But as his research team had been demonstrating to him, they were potentially severely outmatched by the rapidly evolving Kaijus.

He shook his head, a small part of him wishing that Raleigh Becket hadn't hit so close to home; he was overly worried for Mako Mori's safety, having raised her since she was a child. That same small part wished that Mako was as far away from this event as possible, to had never gotten her fate entangled with the Kaiju and the Jaeger Program.

Still, it was a very small part. The rest of him was wondering how to even the odds with Gipsy Danger, when he clearly knew the cons of letting Mako into that robot completely outweighed the pros.

So when a call actually came to his personal cell phone, he was almost too preoccupied to answer it. Almost. 'Pentecost.'

'Zero. Golf. Mike. Delta. Golf. Uniform.'

Pentecost stopped dead in his tracks. Almost by instinct, he replied, 'All Systems Go, Operation Approved.'

The voice on the other end chuckled. 'I knew you'd answer, General P! How long has it been – three years – since we last talked? Man, do I have news for you!'

'Quiet!' growled Pentecost. 'It's too public now. Give me a moment.'

It took almost no time at all to duck into his office. Once he was sure that the room was secure, he continued. 'Alright then, Captain, state your report.'

'General P… we've got it.'

'Got what?'

'It! Y'know, the thing that the Japanese thought could change the tide of the war? Max and his team has been working on it all this time, and he's finally cracked it!'

Pentecost couldn't believe his ears. 'You're sure?'

'Beta testing was successful, simulations are promising, and the prototypes are purring like kittens, but with all the Jaegers destroyed or under your command, we haven't had the opportunity to field-test them. Unless of course you have a spare lying around that we could use?'

For the first time in five long years, Stacker Pentecost felt a seed of hope sprout in its chest. 'You might just have a chance. Reports of a twin Kaiju event have just come in, targeting the Hong Kong shoreline. Get into range, but stay hidden. If you're our last trump card, I don't want the Kaijus finding you first.'

'Roger that, General P, the Ouryu will be there by the time the Jaegars are deployed in the shallows, and it'll stay that way until you say so or until they're in deep shit. See you in a few hours!'

Pentecost stared at his phone for a moment, before muttering, 'It's Marshal, junior.'

The waters off the Hong Kong coastline were stirred up like a typhoon as the 24 Chinooks deposited the three Jaegers into the sea, the water barely coming up to the knees of the gigantic robotic mechas. Two of them, the Chinese Mark-4 Crimson Typhoon, and the Russian Mark-1 Cherno Alpha, stormed into the waters, while the Australian Mark-5 Striker Eureka kept back, nearer to the coastline.

Inside the Conn-Pod (cockpit) of Crimson Typhoon, the three Wei Tang triplets churned the controls, scanning their equipment diligently. The three siblings, Cheung Wei, Hu Wei and Jin Wei were always close, sticking up for each other no matter what came their way, and being linked through the Drift only made that bond stronger.

Cheung Wei, the eldest, was the only one with black belts in three different forms of kung fu as opposed to his brothers' one each. Disciplined and focused, he was the support that his family gathered around in times of peril.

Hu Wei, the middle child, was studious and gifted, a graduate of Shanghai University with Doctorates in mechanics and Chinese military history. As a result, he was the tactician behind his team's seven consecutive Kaiju repulsions.

Jin Wei, the youngest, was kind-hearted and filled with a determination that outmatched both his brothers when it came to doing the right thing, in particular protecting those who couldn't do so themselves. Being the one who got them into the Jaeger Program when it started, his tenacity was the fuel that led the Wei Tang Clan to victory.

Between their 5 black belts, the triplets fought so well in sync that during their days growing up in a rougher part of Shanghai, the three of them were known collectively as Nezha, from the mythical Chinese warrior-boy with three heads and six arms. Although their titanium Jaeger, Crimson Typhoon, only had three arms and one head, the ferocity and skill that it beat back the Kaijus with, using Hu Wei's patented Thundercloud technique, would've made Nezha proud.

None of them knew what the Kaijus, Otachi and Leatherback, looked like, but they were on edge all the same.

'Crimson Typhoon, Kaiju Otachi is almost on top of you!' called Tendo Choi over the comms. '12 o'clock! 12 o' clock!' The single-eyed head of Crimson Typhoon scanned Victoria Harbor, looking for even the slightest bit of movement.

'Watch your 3 o'clock!' shouted Hu Wei in Mandarin, noticing his brothers was too focused straight ahead. '3 o'clock!'

Too late for Crimson Typhoon to react, a gargantuan creature looking like a lizard with oddly long, thin forearms exploded from the waves in front of them, its distended mouth a shimmering blue. Otachi's long, prehensile tail lashed out from their right and clobbered it, knocking it to the seabed. The Jaeger shook its head as the brothers regained their bearings, before getting back to its feet.

'Thundercloud formation!' barked Cheung Wei. The brothers activated their weapon systems, extending their Jaeger's signature titanium rotary sawblades on each hand. With Hu Wei controlling the single left hand as a gunner, and Cheung Wei and Jin Wei controlling the legs and lower and upper right hands respectively, they lunged.

The spinning buzzsaw blades sheared and dug into the Kaiju's tough skin, forcing it backwards with loud roars. Cheung Wei and Hu Wei lashed out with their cutters, but Otachi managed to catch both of them in its fore-claws. For such thin arms, they were tough.

But Crimson Typhoon was far from finished. Its rear boosters ignited, giving it enough of a push to leap straight over it. Jin Wei lashed out with the Jaeger's free arm, scarring the beast's hackles while their mecha completely turned its legs 180° and landed behind the Kaiju, twisting its arms up behind it and pulling it off balance. This was the benefit of the Thundercloud formation, to allow for complete maneuverability and no unprotected spots.

'Now!' yelled Cheung Wei, and all three triplets heaved in unison, flinging Otachi off its feet and within range of Cherno Alpha, who pounded into the fray and started pummeling the Kaiju with its massive hydraulic fists.

'So this is a Category IV,' breathed Jin Wei. 'But didn't LOCCENT say there were two of them?'

'Look out!' shouted Cheung Wei as Otachi smashed Cherno in the chest and slam it sprawling, then turned around and swiped at Typhoon with its tail, jarring the controls for just a second. That second was all the Kaiju needed to seize hold of the Jaeger's head with an articulated talon on the tip of its tail and start squeezing.

Sparks flew from all around them as metal creaked, groaned, and finally gave way. The brothers' blood ran cold when they saw the tips of the claw appear around them through the hull. The capsule lurched and twisted like a storm-caught sailboat as the Kaiju threatened to rip Typhoon's head off its shoulders. They dimly heard Striker Eureka starting to move forward, but they knew it was too far away.

'We're caught! We're caught!' Jin Wei screamed into the comms, even as titanium alloy buckled under the pressure. Cheung Wei frantically worked the controls but Typhoon didn't respond; the claws had severed the link between the Conn-Pod and the body. 'The Kaiju has breached the hull! I repeat, it has breached the Conn-Pod! Controls unresponsive! Send help! Help!'

But it was all in vain. With a final twist, Otachi's tail wrenched Crimson Typhoon's head free of its body and hurled it through the air. Even through the uncontrolled head-over-heels flight, the Wei Tang triplets managed to hear their beloved Jaeger splash lifelessly into the ocean. Eyes shut, Cheung Wei reached out to take his brothers' hands in his own, willing himself to stay calm for their sake, just as he had done ever since his father had gone.

'So we come to join you now, father,' he numbly thought, 'I pray that you will watch over mother, and I am glad we have lived our lives with courage and honor, just as our ancestors wished!'

Then all of a sudden, the Conn-Pod stopped moving.

'Damnit! Crimson Typhoon's down!'

'Cherno, you've got to hold the line!'

'Crap! One of them's been downed! Kam, get Suzaku to them stat! Kam? For God's sake, where's Kam!?'

'Way, way ahead of ya, chief!'

Seeing Crimson Typhoon's head go spiraling through the air while its body splashed into the waves was a deathly, sobering thought to Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky, but it only strengthened their resolve to get the job done, as was the way of their home country.

Both Sasha and Aleksis were members of Spetsnaz even before the Kaiju attacks started, both having reached the rank of Squad Leader in their respective divisions within their late 20s. Sasha first caught the rather boorish Aleksis's eye during an inter-squad gathering, when he found out that she could hold her liquor better than any other man in both their squads (and tying with himself). After several years of rather-one-sided courting, Sasha finally reciprocated his feelings after a joint operation went sour and Aleksis ended up saving her life from a Russian mob boss. The two of them finally married after a whirlwind romance.

When the Kaiju attacks began and the Jaeger program reached Russia, Sasha and Aleksis were one of the first pairs in line to being testing for Drift compatibility and Ranger training. Once they were accepted and assigned a Jaeger, they rose to be one of the best crews around due to their unprecedented Drifting time of 18 hours straight, and the fact that their hulking Jaeger, Cherno Alpha, was one of the biggest of its time, didn't hurt their cause either. It was one of the reasons they were the only active Mark-1 crew left.

Right now, seeing their fellow Jaeger get downed just made Sasha's blood boil. 'Let's get this bastard!' she snarled in Russian, both she and her husband sending Cherno stomping forward, its massive Tesla Fists clashing together.

But before they got within striking distance, Otachi's throat suddenly swelled with a luminescent blue glow, before spraying a stream of fluorescent liquid from its mouth right into the Jaeger's face. Both pilots heard the hissing as the liquid started to eat away at their armor.

'Cherno Alpha, we've been hit with some type of acid!' Sasha frantically reported, seeing their instruments spark wildly. 'Hull has been compromised! We need backup immediately!'

'Just hold on, Cherno, we're on our way!' she heard the Australian Striker Eureka team respond.

The married couple worked their controls as hard as they could, managing to block a bite from Otachi with their massive arm. Aleksis watched the rearview camera and saw Striker Eureka approaching from behind; if they could get there in time they might have a chance.

'Striker, Cherno, second Kaiju Leatherback is right between you! Look out!' yelled Choi from the comms.

The warning came too late. The sea between the two Jaegers exploded as the second Kaiju, Leatherback, leapt clear out of the water and onto Cherno Alpha's back. Aleksis only saw a gargantuan chest and upper body and arms the size of container ships before the whole Conn-Pod rocked and thrashed about as the new Kaiju pounded the Jaeger's head like a hammer pounding a nail.

Otachi ripped a chunk out of Cherno's arm before turning and swimming off, leaving Cherno beneath Leatherback's devastating fists. The Jaeger's legs gave out underneath the Kaiju's weight and pressure, driving Cherno's upper body beneath sea level.

Alarms blared as seawater poured in through the breached hull, flooding the chest section and Conn-Pod. 'Water is getting into the reactor!' Sasha shrieked, trying to ignore the water pooling around her feet and watching the power levels drop like a stone as the nuclear reactor started to cool.

Even as Otachi engaged Striker Eureka before they could reach the melee, Leatherback threw its weight forward, sending Cherno Alpha toppling over onto its front. Metal armor buckled under Leatherback's assault, filling the mecha with more cracks and even more water. The monstrous Kaiju placed one house-sized fist on the Jaeger's head, and twisted.

Both pilots yelled as their Conn-Pod was flash-flooded. The older Drivesuits did not come with full-head helmets and an oxygen supply, just eye-goggles and skull protection, so the Kaidonovskys were subject to the full effect of drowning. Even as her head blurred and her lungs burned, and her ears echoed with one last underwater explosion, Sasha still heard her husband's last thoughts echoing through her mind.

'I love you, my Valkyrie.'

'We just lost Cherno, sir!'

'Dammit!'

'They're getting creamed out there! Max, I don't care if you're calculations aren't finished, get in Genbu and get them out now!'

'They were finished seconds ago, sir! I'm on my way there now!'

One last uppercut from Striker Eureka's Brass Knuckles sent Otachi reeling, but both Hercules Hansen and his son Chuck were still infuriated from the falling of both Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha. Grabbing the Kaiju by the spine, the massive Mark-5 mecha lifted it clear out of the water, over its head, shifted its actuators, and then hurled it 50 feet across the ocean.

As a veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force before the war even began, Hercules Hansen knew the perils of war and combat all too well, and his son Chuck knew that them just as well having followed in his footsteps into the Australian military before both of them entered Ranger training (Chuck having gone in right after graduation as an ROTC). As one of the Jaeger program's most experienced pilots, Herc had piloted several of the massive mechas around the world before being partnered with his son behind the newest Mark-5 Jaeger.

Although brash and hotheaded, the kid was an ace, and the Hansen team quickly grew to be one of the best Jaeger pilot teams in history, at the controls of the only Mark-5 Jaeger Striker Eureka, one of the most powerful and successful Jaegers ever produced.

Both had only been relocated to Hong Kong from Sydney a few months ago, after the Kaiju Mutavore had attacked the city, crashing right through the Anti-Kaiju Wall the UN had put so much hope in. The Jaegers Echo Saber and Vulcan Specter had been casualties of the attack before Striker had finally finished the job, but Herc and Chuck were still chafing having let two of their comrades fall in battle, and seeing it happen again only intensified their aggravation.

'Ignite your air missiles!' yelled Herc. Striker's chest plate slid aside, revealing its 6-barreled AKM missile launcher where its collar bone should've been, all loaded and primed for firing.

But even as the ports extended and aimed at Otachi, behind them, Leatherback gave a massive bellow and spines on its back started to arc and surge with bluish energy. The Hansens only had a second to see, in their rearview camera, the building energy suddenly expand outward like pond ripples before their Jaeger convulsed like it had a seizure. Both pilots yelled in pain as electricity arced all over the Conn-Pod, between the leg controls, the heads-up display, and their own armor.

When the arcing finally stopped, Striker Eureka was completely inert and their Conn-Pod was completely dark. It was almost like the Kaiju had used an EMP on them.

'What the hell was that?' Chuck shouted. 'I've never seen that before!'

Herc yanked off his helmet and tapped frantically at the comms. 'LOCCENT! LOCCENT!' But to no avail.

'What happened?'

'The blast, sir! It jumbled all the Jaeger's electrical circuit! It was like some sort of EMP!'

'They're adapting; this isn't a defense mechanism, this is a weapon!'

'Get me Striker!'

'Nothing, sir; the Mark-5's digital, it's fried. It'll take two hours to reroute the auxiliary. All the Jaegers, they're digital!'

'Not all of them, Marshal. Gipsy's analog. Nuclear.'

'… Alright. The two of you, suit up and head for the Hong Kong coastline, and stand guard there. I do not want those Kaijus getting into the city. That's a direct order, Becket!'

'But what about Striker? You mean you're just going to leave them there?'

'I did not say that. Let's just say I have one more card left to play. You don't need to worry about them this time.'

'Sir? Where are you going? Marshal!'

'Raleigh, we don't have time to ask! Come on!'

'Are we all right?'

'It was a close one, sir, but our EMP shields managed to hold. Good thing we got them up in time, but they're not going to survive a second.'

'Then let's not give it a chance. We may be okay, but that Jaeger definitely isn't! Kuni, get to Byakko and prepare to launch!'

'You got it, Chief!'

*ring* 'Yes? Hah! Final Fusion – Approved! Good to hear from you, General P! Oh, is that the case? Right, I'll get Kyodai to the port for backup. Don't worry, old friend, TALOS will not let you down!'

'Alright people, new orders! Helmsman, surface and prepare to launch Byakko! Kuni, you need to get to Striker Eureka and re-energize them! Kyodai, you're coming with me in Seiryu! We need to give backup to Gipsy Danger; one wrong move from that Kaiju and they're history!'

'Ryoukai, Guy-taichou!'

Seeing its opponent incapacitated, Otachi turned and swam off towards the Hong Kong coastline, leaving Striker Eureka a sitting duck at the mercy of Leatherback, which was prowling around the slumped mecha.

Inside, the two pilots were doing all they could to bring life back to their incapacitated machine. 'No emergency power!' groaned Herc in frustration. He released his connecting harness. 'I'm going to try something else…'

'No! Don't disengage!'

His son's warning came too late. Leatherback's massive fist pounded the mecha's Conn-Pod, the shock throwing Herc right off his feet and into the wall right-arm first, with a painful bang and a softer crack.

'Argh! My arm!' groaned Herc as he cradled his injured limb. From the feel of it, it seemed like it was completely broken.

'Dad!' shouted Chuck, disengaging himself and rushing to his father's aid. 'Come on! Get on your feet, old man!'

'Don't call me that!'

As Gipsy Danger landed in the waters off the Hong Kong coastline, Raleigh couldn't help but think about his last foray in a Jaeger. It was not more than yesterday, when the attempt at Drifting with Mako Mori had failed dismally, on account of their painful memories forcing them out of sync. The time before that was five years ago, when his brother Yancy was ripped... right out of their Conn-Pod and right out of his head…

He shook his head. Now was absolutely not the time to think about that, and especially not the fact that this mission uncomfortably paralleled his last one in Alaska. But whatever the case, he was not going to make that mistake again. Yancy died because they engaged the Kaiju too early. He was not going to lose another co-pilot again – especially not when he knew how much Mako meant to Pentecost.

But even if they did decide to aid Striker, Otachi wasn't going to give the pilots that option. The reptilian Kaiju rocketed out of the sea to find its path blocked by the Mark-3 Jaeger, who met its advance with a titanic right cross that knocked it reeling. The beast retaliated with a roar and a jet of acid that Gipsy barely dodged. The liquid splashed into a stack of containers, melting them down into mush. Thrown off balance by the attack, Gipsy Danger was subject to a second strike, this time from Otachi's tail, which sent it tumbling head over heels through an overhead bridge and down the docks.

The giant mecha managed to catch itself and skid to a halt on its hands and one knee. Both titans faced each other off like colossus-weight prizefighters for a second, before they charged.

Both Mako and Raleigh knew that if they broke off to assist the damaged Striker, Otachi would lay waste to the city, and it didn't look like the Kaiju was planning on letting them off any time soon. They would just have to hope that whatever card Pentecost decided to show would get all of them out of this mess.

Neither of them noticed a humanoid shadow climb onto the docks, run to a nearby shipping crane, and scramble up it like a monkey, a silvery object clutched in his hand.

They say a near-death experience would make one's life flash before one's eyes. Living with a middle-class single mother, studying in a community school, getting into street fights almost every week, and finally getting accepted to Shanghai University on a martial-art scholarship would normally come to mind.

Right now, all Cheung Wei could do was wonder why he and his brothers were not dead, and why the Conn-Pod they were in appeared to be floating in mid-air. The foot controls were utterly mangled, with several gaping holes in the apparatus showing the roiling sea below them. They had managed to get to the more solid floor around the hole before anyone had fallen through or lost a leg.

'Are we dead?' asked Jin Wei shakily. With the power cut to the synaptic systems, the Drift didn't connect the three of them anymore.

'I don't think so, but we've lost all connection to Typhoon,' said Hu Wei, frantically checking whatever instruments were still intact. 'You can see it; we were torn off her head! But if we're not connected to Crimson Typhoon, what the hell is carrying us?'

'I got your answer right here!' suddenly came a loud voice from above them, followed by what sounded like a drill bit boring straight through the metal hull. A moment later, said drill bit pierced into the Conn-Pod, and quickly disappeared, followed by someone dropping into the Conn-Pod.

Someone wearing body armor and a helmet with the strangest angular visor ever seen. The greenish-tinted visor actually resembled sunglasses!

'What the – who are you?' asked Jin Wei, instantly on edge.

The man gave a thumbs-up, light reflecting off his visor. Jin Wei even swore he heard a ting. 'I am the man who will pierce a path to the heavens, the one who paves a path for others to follow! When the world speaks of the trailblazer to new worlds – the best fighter of TALOS – they're talking about me! My name is Lieutenant Kamina 'Kam' Lagann! REMEMBER THAT!'

The Wei Tang triplets could only stare at this odd newcomer, but Hu Wei was suddenly distracted by the damaged power systems suddenly flaring back to life, as if re-energized by something. 'What – our systems are back online! And it says we are connected back to Typhoon! But how?'

'That's the power of one's will! The might to make anything happen! If something doesn't work, we make it work! If a Jaeger doesn't move, then we make it stand! If a Kaiju is in our way, we take it down!' The man's crazy visor even lit up a bright green at his words.

He spun towards the Conn-Pod window and pointed forward. 'Suzaku, take us down! We're bringing the Typhoon back to life!' Almost instantly, the Conn-Pod lurched, as if whatever was carrying it had suddenly started to swoop downwards.

'You're crazy!' yelled Cheung Wei over the rushing of wind through the hole. 'I LIKE IT!'

The last thing Sasha remembered was her vision fogging over and her lungs filling with water, and her brain slowly succumbing to the murkiness of death…

…so it was surprising when she found herself coughing, spitting out water and resting against the side of Cherno Alpha's Conn-Pod, her fingers entangled with her husband's own.

'This is why I love machinery,' came a rather quiet voice with the hint of a British accent above her, and she turned to see a tall man wearing an armored wetsuit working at the somehow-still-active controls of her Jaeger, 'All it takes is the right equipment and controls, and you can dredge an entire 20-storey mecha while still underwater. Though I wish this one had a proper escape hatch; getting through that ruined chest plate was murder.'

'What… who are you?' Sasha managed to cough. 'What are you doing here?'

'Oh, you're awake! Good!' the man turned around to reveal a shock of blue hair and bluish-tinted spectacles. 'My name is Officer Maximilian Attenborough, but everyone calls me Max. Pleased to meet you.'

'But how? Cherno Alpha was sinking, nothing could manage to drain the Conn-Pod and… the reactor!' she gasped.

'No need to worry. I have already drained and stabilized the core, and Genbu should be restoring power to your systems as we speak. It's amazing what Spiral Energy can do… simply amazing.'

'But… the Kaiju, it's still attacking Hong Kong… we've got to stop it…' she tried to pull herself to her feet.

'Easy there, you're still not in fighting condition, but you should be by the time the GS-Stone finishes interfacing with the Jaeger. Amazing how the Mark-1 still has its strengths over all these years… its robustness is extraordinary.'

'Urgh… Sasha…' Aleksis suddenly groaned as he started to come to.

'Aleksis!' Sasha shook off the light-headedness and knelt next to her husband. 'Are you okay, darling?' she murmured to him in Russian.

'I am fine… somehow… how are we still alive? And who is that? Who are you?' he growled, switching back to English.

'I believe I'll let you explain, Mrs. Kaidonovsky,' Max replied, turning back to the controls, where an odd device with a glowing green stone was embedded in the central panel. 'Right now, I think now would be a good time to get… brave.' As he turned over his shoulder to glance at them, light reflecting off his specs blanked out his eyes for a moment, making his smile all the more mysterious.

Then, without warning, the Jaeger started to shift, as if something was lifting it to the surface.

Ignoring the burning pain in his arm, Herc marched over to a section of wall panels in the rear of the Conn-Pod. 'He's right outside! We've gotta get out of here now!' said Chuck, looking around.

'No-one's going anywhere!' snapped Herc. 'Now you and I are the only things standing between that ugly bastard and a city of 10 million.' He knocked at the panels with his uninjured arm, opening them up. 'Now we have a choice here: we can either sit around and wait for something to happen, which odds are is that Kaiju using us as a before-city appetizer, or,' he snatched a pair of black cylinders from the panels as they slid open, 'we can take these flare guns and do something really stupid.'

As he locked eyes with his father, Chuck knew which choice both of them would make.

A few minutes later, father and son were clambering out of the emergency hatch on Striker Eureka's shoulder, to face the massive Leatherback as it stalked around the inert Jaeger. 'How's the arm?' shouted Chuck over the pouring rain, as he helped his dad climb one-handedly off the ladder.

'Just give me the gun,' groused Herc as he grabbed one of the flare guns from his son.

Both Hansens turned to face the giant beast. 'Hey, you! Ugly!' bellowed Herc at the monstrosity, and when Leatherback turned to eye them, the two of them fired the red flares right at its face.

The strontium-magnesium flares impacted with the Kaiju's eye and chin, burning into its hide. It bellowed in irritation, rearing back and raising its massive fists.

'I think we just pissed it off!' Chuck yelled.

But before the fists came down, the night sky was suddenly lit up by a pair of blinding spotlights, a loud bang rang out and the Kaiju's right side was suddenly lit up by a massive plasma explosion, sending it staggering. The shockwave almost knocked the Hansens off their feet, and when they looked where the explosion came from, all they saw were several bright lights shining from a massive aircraft-carrier-like vessel floating on the stormy sea, long and wide enough for two Jaegers to lie down flat on its deck, end to end. A giant smoking-blue plasma cannon mounted on its bow showed where the blast came from.

'What the hell?' uttered Chuck in surprise. 'What ship is that?'

'No idea,' replied his father. 'I've never seen anything like that before. But whatever it is, I hope it's on our side.'

At that point, lights flicked on the ship's deck, lighting up a square platform lined in shadow. Then, with a rumbling, something started to emerge from the square. Both Hansens stared as an oft-white robotic tiger, lit up by fluorescent lines streaming across the beast's muzzle, back, limbs and tail, emerged on the platform. It only came up to a Jaeger's waist, but the claws and fangs that the machine sported looked capable of tearing through Leatherback's massive hide.

The mechanical beast gave a deafening roar as it leapt off the ship, causing it to rock violently and sending waves splashing across the sea, and onto the stunned Kaiju, where it tore violently at the beast's hide with tooth and nail. Leatherback bellowed in pain, trying to grab or throw the new threat off its back.

As the two men watched the melee in awe, a shadow suddenly appeared next to them out of nowhere, dressed in armor and a tinted black helmet similar to their own Drivesuits.

'What the –' Chuck reacted violently, almost throttling the newcomer in shock.

'Hold on! I'm not your enemy!' the person called, holding up his/her hands in defense to show his/ her unarmed status. 'I'm here to help.'

Herc stepped in front of his son. 'State your name and rank, soldier. How did you get on this Jaeger, and how can we be sure we're on your side?'

The figure snapped to attention. 'Sergeant Kuichino 'Kuni' Jyusenki of TALOS. For one thing, that beast Byakko over there belongs to me and dropped me off, and for another thing, my superior was requested to send me here from Marshal Pentecost. But if you want to get your communications back and stay alive long enough to confirm it with him, you're going to have to trust me and let me do my job.'

Chuck fixed the person with a death glare. 'No way. I don't care who you are, there is no way you're commandeering Striker, sir.'

The figure stared at the Australian, before reaching up and removing the helmet, to reveal flowing brown hair, sculpted features, full lips and brilliant feminine blue eyes. 'That's ma'am to you, Ranger. And for your information, I'm not commandeering Striker Eureka, I'm reviving it.'

While Chuck swallowed his next response, Herc fixed the woman with a calculating gaze, before nodding. 'Excuse my son, Sergeant. Do what you need to; we need to get this girl moving again and stop that Kaiju.'

'Aye-aye, sir,' said Kuni, turning to the melee, where the vaguely simian Kaiju had managed to throw off the robotic feline. Reaching into her armor collar, she pulled out a chunk of green crystal fashioned into a diamond pendant. 'Come, Byakko!'

The machine gave another roar and lunged, this time almost gouging out the Kaiju's eyes in mid-air, before twisting and landing behind Striker Eureka. Kuni raised her amulet to the air. 'Mina-san, ikuze!' she shouted, before slamming the amulet into the metal of the Jaeger.

Herc and Chuck watched the strange actions of this newcomer, before turning their eyes to Leatherback, which had by now shook its blue blood out of its eyes and had turned, snarling, towards them. But before it could make a move, the seas behind it to its right suddenly split, and the familiar cylindrical head of Cherno Alpha suddenly surfaced, itself clinging to a floating black dome as tall as its own chest. The lights from the giant carrier trained on it, revealing to be a gigantic black robotic tortoise. The mechanical beast let out a bellow, before a section of its shell rose up on mechanical pistons and exposed a massive tank gun. The following 1m-caliber bombshell tore through the Kaiju's shoulder in a shower of glowing blue liquid, shattering one of its back spikes.

If that wasn't enough, an eagle's screech suddenly split through the storm, and the Hansens turned in the other direction to see lights appearing below the clouds like a hovering UFO, revealing a crimson-colored, bird-shaped mecha with a Jaeger-length wingspan and long, segmented tail-feather-like stabilizers hovering a mile above the sea, kept aloft by a pair of gyroscopic propellers. Clutched in its large talons was the familiar cyclopean head of Crimson Typhoon, and the avian machine seemed to be lowering a cable into the water. As the two stunned Australian pilots watched, the bird started to rise into the air and retract the cable, salvaging what appeared to be the headless body of the Chinese Jaeger. Leatherback gave a frustrated roar when it found itself completely surrounded.

'You gotta be kidding me,' said Chuck in disbelief. 'No way can things be going so well for us.'

'Believe it, Ranger!' The voice of Kuni snapped the staring pilots out of their funk, and they turned to see the female sergeant already standing on the ladder to the escape hatch. 'Better get inside; things are about to get wild!'

Meanwhile, in the command center of the Shatterdome, Pentecost watched anxiously as Tendo Choi worked as hard as he could to revive the systems from the EMP. As auxiliary power was rerouted to the monitor, the technician breathed a sigh of relief as the holographic display screen reappeared on the console.

'Power's rerouted and navigation's restored, sir,' he declared, 'trying to establish contact with Stri – holy crap! Marshal, sensors have detected a massive shape two miles off the Hong Kong coastline! It – it's not a Kaiju, nor is it a Jaeger, but the power output from it is massive – sir, what is it? What should we do?'

Pentecost almost let out a sigh of relief. 'We'll do nothing, Mr. Choi. That vessel is one of our allies, and I thought it would never resurface after so many years.'

'Sir?'

'Don't worry; everyone will be debriefed after this incident is over. Right now, all we can do is keep trying to re-establish contact with the Jaegers and keep feeding them Intel.'

'But how? Typhoon and Cherno are KIA, and Striker's still out of commission – what the? Sir! Sensors have detected the signals of Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha! They're still alive! But that's impossible!'

Pentecost's small smile actually became noticeable. 'Not for them it's not.'

Right before the point of contact, Raleigh and Mako pumped the controls. Gipsy Danger leapt into a flying axe-handle blow that flattened Otachi into the ground. Despite being stunned by the blow, the massive Kaiju managed to recover long enough to snatch a tractor trailer from the ground and use it as a bludgeon, knocking the Jaeger sideways to its hands and knees.

'Come on, Mako! Let's get this son of a bitch!' Raleigh bellowed, twisting the arm controls in unison with his co-pilot. Gipsy grabbed two handfuls of shipping containers in its massive hands, before spinning back around and swinging them at the beast, smashing it upside the head. Not missing a beat, the Jaeger crushed the Kaiju's head between both handfuls of containers, sending their contents scattering everywhere, before finalizing it with a kick that knocked Otachi all the way back into the sea.

But as Gipsy Danger stepped forward to finish them off, Otachi twisted its head, swelled its throat glands, and sprayed, not the mecha, but the dock with acid. The Jaeger's foot landed on the weakened portion of the dock, which crumpled under its weight, sending the robot's leg down into the water and throwing both pilots off balance. Then it was the Kaiju's turn to follow up, lashing out its tail and wrapping it around Gipsy's torso and arm, yanking it all the way down to slam facedown into the dock. Otachi wasted no time in leaping out of the water and pinning it down.

As Raleigh and Mako strained against the Kaiju's hold, the commlink suddenly came to life with Tendo's voice. 'Raleigh, Mako, I've just got word that Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha have somehow been rescued! They're almost back up and ready to join the fight!'

Raleigh had no idea how that was possible, but he had no time to think about it now. 'Well, can you send someone this way? This Kaiju's got us pinned!' The rear camera showed the monster's throat starting to expand and glow a luminescent blue.

'…KYOKAN HENSHIN!' suddenly came a deafening bellow from the external microphone, and both pilots caught sight of a sudden burst of light off-camera, before a giant silver blur streaked through the camera's view and slammed the Kaiju clear off Gipsy Danger's back. This was quickly followed by a screech from Otachi, whose grip suddenly slackened and allowed the Jaeger to pull free.

When Raleigh and Mako got back to their feet and caught sight of what exactly had saved them, neither of them could believe it. Standing between them and the Kaiju was a humanoid giant, its skin smooth, polished silver, almost like an armor of liquid metal. It didn't look mechanical or organic in any way whatsoever, given that it was as tall as a Jaeger and perfectly proportioned in human standards, but without any visible machinery, vents or joints. Red and purple streaks formed a spiral shape on its back, and when it looked back, both pilots saw almond-shaped yellow eyes and a back-arching head fin on the being's head.

'Holy crap,' breathed Raleigh. 'What the hell is that?'

'Sugoi,' Mako couldn't help but whisper.

The being turned back to the Kaiju. 'Listen and listen good, creature!' he boomed in a voice that the US President could've heard from the White House. 'Your presence is a stain on this world, and it befalls to me to exterminate you! When you face me, you face the might of the entire UNIVERSE! My name is ULTRAMAN HELIX! SO WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!'

When the giant actually struck a pose with that last statement, the air practically rippled and even Gipsy Danger staggered at the sheer amount of charisma the being was putting out. Both Raleigh and Mako were speechless.

The Kaiju was seemingly unaffected (if a bit perplexed)by this new arrival's shouting, and roared its defiance in its face. If the being's face could move, it would've smirked. 'You think you can face me and live? Well, hate to break it to ya, but you don't have the GUTS!'

The Ultraman pounded his chest at that last word, and this time the dock beneath his feet fragmented with a bang. The Jaeger actually flinched and almost collapsed from a shockwave of raw pressure that seemed to stem from Helix's words, while Otachi was literally knocked off its feet.

'Come on!' With one mighty leap, the Ultraman had leapt above the buildings and did a somersault over the ocean. 'Meteor Guillotine!' A glowing outstretched leg hammered Otachi into the seabed, while Ultraman Helix leapt off and landed neatly in the sea himself.

'What the hell is that guy?!' said Raleigh as he and Mako shifted Gipsy Danger back to face the Kaiju. 'He's throwing that thing around like a toy!'

'It's called Spiral Energy, Mr. Becket,' an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke up through the comms, prompting both pilots to stare at it, 'an energy source that relies directly on a person's will. The stronger a person's will, the more energy he outputs, and the more he can harness it to accomplish the impossible! That is the way of TALOS!' What sounded like an electric guitar riff followed that statement and almost deafened Raleigh.

'Spiral Energy?' repeated Mako.

'Who the heck are you, and how did you get this frequency?' Raleigh asked, trying to make sense of this entire situation.

'Take a look up!' replied the voice, just as the sound of 10 Chinooks was suddenly heard through the melee. When Gipsy Danger aimed its cameras at the sound, both pilots got a look of a bright blue robotic dragon coiling through the sky, with a serpentine body twice as long as a Jaeger and lined the whole way with helicopter rotors. Although its arms and legs were short, its maw looked just as capable of crushing a Kaiju carapace in one bite, and its tail was armed with a deadly blade that resembled a xiphos sword.

'Captain Guy Green of TALOS at your service, Ranger!' the voice, despite its authoritative, baritone timbre, was practically overflowing with excitement. 'Request permission to link up and show this beast just how much GUTS humanity has got!' More guitar chords followed.

Raleigh hesitated. As much as he relished the assistance, he wasn't about to let an unknown take control of his girl. He quickly contacted the Shatterdome. 'Marshal? I've got a Captain Guy Green requesting permission to… link up. Can we trust this guy?'

'I see you've met my trump card, Ranger,' Pentecost's voice sounded happier than Raleigh had ever heard him speak before, 'By all means; let him show you his tricks.'

Raleigh and Mako exchanged looks and nods. 'Permission granted, Captain, show us what you've got!'

'Alright!' the Captain almost sounded like a kid as the dragon swooped in low and aimed its mouth at Gipsy Danger's nuclear core. 'StarMachines Seiryu, Byakko, Suzaku, Genbu, Arming Combination – APPROVED!'

A sudden roar and a splash showed the silver giant being flung 50 feet backwards by a raging Kaiju, but a moment later he was right back up. 'Go for it, Guy-taichou!' Ultraman Helix boomed. 'I'll keep it busy! Gravity Doping!' The entire upper torso of the 20-storey tall being suddenly flared with a deep purple light, literally rippling the air around him, and when Otachi lashed its tail at him, he sidestepped, snatched it in both hands, and heaved. The gigantic beast was lifted out of the sea, swung around like a hammer-toss event, and flung 10 miles down the coastline and out to sea.

The draconic mecha gave a deep, booming roar, as a beam of twisting green light shone from its mouth and into the core of the Jaeger. The two pilots could almost hear Captain Green's shit-eating grin from his next two words.

Kuni and Chuck helped Herc back into Striker Eureka's Conn-Pod, which was somehow back up and running. As Chuck strapped himself back into the Jaeger's controls, Kuni suddenly stopped and put a hand to her ear.

The grin that appeared could've split her face in half. 'Roger that, Chief! Boys, hang on to your servos, it's gonna be one awesome ride!'

'Maybe so,' Herc groaned, locking his boots onto the foot controls, 'but would you mind telling me how the hell I'm supposed to pilot this thing with one freakin' arm?'

'Willpower,' answered Kuni as if she was telling him how to talk to an angel. 'You got to will your arm into working. You have to believe it with all your heart, scream at it to start working, and it will move.'

'You're cracked, lady,' snorted Herc, 'I want to fight as much as you do, but all the willpower in the world is not going to repair a busted arm bone.'

'That's because they didn't have a GS-Stone as a catalyst,' answered Kuni, grabbing at her amulet. 'The conversion of willpower and passion into raw energy, energy that can be manipulated at the owner's command, to make anything, anything, happen. How do you think I'm powering this Jaeger of yours? So if you want to join your son in kicking that Kaiju's can, will your arm to work. And put some GUTS into it!'

The last statement was shouted so loudly it almost left both Hansens dumbstruck. Chuck was the first to recover when he started chuckling. 'I don't know about guts, lady, but you've sure got some balls to talk to my old man like that. And hey, dad, what've you got to lose? Now come on, Striker's getting impatient!'

'Kids,' muttered Herc, 'No respect.' But his son was right; now was not the time for questioning, and really, what did he have to lose? 'Come on you stupid arm, I need you to work! Move, dammit!'

He suddenly felt the pain vanish and his arm feel like it was worth a million bucks at the same time four things happened. Striker's energy levels went through the roof, the air was suddenly filled with a deafening mechanical whirring, Kuni's amulet lit up like a road flare, and she shouted one of the strangest things ever.

As he and his wife locked themselves back into their controls, Aleksis Kaidonovsky was still intrigued by the strange man was riffling away around the Jaeger's Conn-Pod. 'Fascinating,' he kept saying, 'to think that only a few years and the whole world working together would yield in such magnificent pieces of equipment.'

'You didn't work on the Jaeger project, tovarisch?' asked Sasha curiously.

'Alas, no,' replied Max, 'I was assigned to a different project when the Kaiju attacks started, as an alternative means to fend off the attacks. Unfortunately, it only bore promising fruit a few months ago.'

Sasha was impassive for a moment, but then turned back to the screen. 'I see. Yet the capabilities you have demonstrated to us with your own mecha have surpassed everything the Jaeger has ever accomplished in the same amount of time. It is unfortunate that you were never assigned to the Jaegers; maybe then more lives could've been saved.'

Max's expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to darken. 'Maybe… but orders are orders. Plus, even if I was working on the Jaegers, who's to say that it wouldn't take me just as long to find a viable weapon to do this?'

The blue-haired man suddenly blinked, and raised his head as if listening to something. 'Understood, sir,' the two heard him mention. 'But that's in the past, and even Spiral Energy cannot turn back time. For now, I believe that we have some monster ass to kick.'

'What is Spiral Energy?' asked Aleksis, trying to calibrate the recovering systems of Cherno Alpha.

'Spiral Energy is a form of power that originates from human emotion. A special extraterrestrial ore that was discovered only three years ago is able to convert such emotion, specifically passion and fury, into energy that can be harnessed by the originator of the emotion. Such energy can literally make the impossible possible.'

'So how can you use it?' questioned Aleksis gruffly, 'You don't seem like the type to get mad.'

Max's mouth curved into another smile. 'I don't need words to be outgoing. All I need are guts.' With the intensity of the last word still vibrating the Conn-Pod, he raised his hand and thrust it into the glowing green stone attached to the main console, sending Cherno's power reserves skyrocketing, all the while saying a very simple phrase in a calm, yet strength-radiating tone.

'Oi! Crimson Typhoon! Yeah, I'm talking to you!' Kam bellowed down through the hole at the Jaeger his ship was hauling up. 'ON! YOUR! FEET!'

'Man, can't you ever speak normally?' Hu Wei half-groaned.

'Absolutely not! It is my passion and raw badassery that is keeping this operation going!' Kam shouted, not lowering his voice a decibel. 'To let the lava of my will cool off will spell defeat for us all!'

'Hey, I like a good fighting spirit as much as anyone, but what does your passion have to do with anything?' asked Cheung Wei.

Kam whipped around to face the eldest triplet. 'What does it have to do with anything?! It has everything to do with it!' he jabbed his finger at his visor-sunglasses. 'The GS-Stone forged into this visor is what converts my indomitable spirit and determination into pure, unadulterated power! THAT IS WHAT'S KEEPING THIS MISSION GOING!'

'Alright, alright already,' said Hu Wei, 'But how are we supposed to pilot Crimson Typhoon when our controls are junk?' He gestured to the lack of Jaeger interfaces in the center of the Conn-Pod.

Kamina paused, looked down, and then grinned. 'You just watch. All I need are my fighting spirit and a whole lot of GUTS!' With that, he slammed both hands into the Conn-Pod floor, his visor glowing like a neon light, and to the utter disbelief of the Wei Tang brothers, the ruined metal of the floor started to warp and flow, twisting together like cloth being twisted by a child into a long cone shape.

'This is my symbol! The drill that pierces the unknown and drives us closer to the future with every turn! Now let it spin! AND OPEN THE WAY TO VICTORY!' Kam was nearly frothing at the mouth with his enthusiasm, and as if to mirror it, the twining metal beneath their feet started to spin at high velocity and causing the whole Conn-Pod to shake.

The siblings grabbed the scaffolding to steady themselves. 'I must be seeing things, I must be seeing things!' Jin Wei muttered over the sound. 'What the hell did I hit my head on when we crashed?'

'SUZAKU!' bellowed Kam, 'DROP!' The machine carrying the Conn-Pod gave a screech above their heads before, to the horror of the other pilots, letting go of the cockpit.

'ARE YOU INSANE?!' yelled Cheung Wei as the Conn-Pod head plummeted towards its body.

Kamina only responded with a growing a near-maniacal grin and holding on to a cable for support as the drilling metal crashed into what appeared to the ruined hole in Crimson Typhoon's torso and continued to bury its way into its body as its power cell suddenly reignited to higher than full potency. The next words out of his mouth almost deafened them.

'KOUKEN BUSOU!' Four rousing calls echoed through the night.

To any observer watching the fracas from the docks, the motions that the three Jaegers and their new allies were going through would probably be the most awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping sight they had ever seen, bar none.

Striker Eureka stiffened, as it stretched out its arms to its sides, its Angel Wing stabilizers extended and its twin Sting-Blades ejected from each wrist. Meanwhile behind it, Byakko gave one last roar as its front legs detached from its body, and its rear and part of its inner body disconnected from the rest of it and rotated on an axis, so its hind legs were curved and positioned above its head. Then, its body split in half and reconnected around the Jaeger like a belt, before rising up to lock in place around its chest, under the arms, the tiger's head placed over its solar plexus. Actuators hissed and metal plates shifted to accommodate the new armor, as the hind legs arched over Striker's shoulders outside its rear boosters, to lock in place on either shoulder. The hind paws folded over to reveal a pair of cannons, the Jaeger's twin blades shifted to either side of each wrist like scissors, and the front paws finally affixed to its forearms like bracers, culminating in the forearm claws extending out into even longer talons the length of Striker's own forearm, giving it a total of six blades on each hand (two parallel to its fist and four perpendicular).

As Cherno Alpha let go of the tortoise and rose to its feet under its own power, Genbu gave another bellow as its feet folded under its shell and its head and short, hooked tail extended fully, before detaching from the rest of it entirely. Genbu's main body then moved in front of the Jaeger, and a section of its shell lifted up as if on a hinge. Metal cables shot out of it and affixed to Cherno's torso, before the shell top detached and locked onto its body, reorganizing itself to form a huge, heavy breastplate to cover its acid-eaten armor. Genbu's bottom chassis then split, realigned, and moved to latch onto the Jaeger's lower half, forming waist armor and added leg support to accommodate the extra weight. As final equipment, Cherno Alpha picked up the detached head and metal tail and locked them over its own shoulder turbines, making them resemble tortoise-headed cannons.

Crimson Typhoon's new armament was one of the most unusual of all. Even as new metal connectors actually fused its Conn-Pod had back onto its torso, above it, Suzaku's main body rotated perpendicular to the ground, while its propellers remained parallel to keep it aloft. Its front breast extended out on pistons, before it lowered itself onto the Jaeger's torso, locking its body between the bird mecha's two halves. Then, the outer third of the bird's wings actually detached, separating from the main body entirely as the inner sections of the wings realigned themselves with the Jaeger's own rear boosters. Suzaku's talons extended out into fully articulated (if slightly smaller) arms, while the detached, propeller-mounted wing sections affixed themselves onto Typhoon's shins like spurs, and Suzaku's bird head folded back into its body to reveal a gleaming spearhead. To finish it off, the five arms reached for its back and detached the segmented tail feathers as they realigned into three different weapons: a wrist-mounted chain whip on its main left arm, a huge steel ring between its two right arms, and a long spear grasped in its front two.

Leatherneck roared, whirling to face one, then another, then the third of the newly-armed Jaegers, but it was obviously cornered, and looked to be ready to fight to the death to get to the city.

As Herc powered up the interface once again, Chuck reached for the comms. 'Cherno Alpha, Crimson Typhoon, this is Striker Eureka. I don't know what our friends did, but our energy levels are through the roof! How are all of you?'

Sasha Kaidonovsky's voice came in first. 'This is Cherno Alpha, we're back to full capacity, and we seem to have acquired an entirely new arsenal in the process. Ready to engage on your orders.'

Cheung Wei came in next, metal shifting as he and his brothers locked themselves into newly-regenerated Jaeger interfaces. 'This is Crimson Typhoon, the same goes for us. The three of us are back in the Drift and ready to re-engage. I don't know how we got these new weapons, but I am itching to use them!'

Herc took the comms. 'Don't get cocky, people, we still don't know how extensive this arsenal is, and you know what they say about cornered animals.' His face hardened, 'But that being said, I do not want to give this bastard any more breathing room! Light it up, people!'

The night sky was lit up by Striker's Anti-Kaiju Missiles, Typhoon's Plasmacaster, and Cherno's Incinerators, blasting bloody-blue chunks out of Leatherback's hide from all sides. Wounded and infuriated beyond belief, the Kaiju tried to charge up another EMP blast, but the missing spike disrupted its charging organ and the feedback instead sent electrical ripples surging across its skin, paralyzing it.

'Cherno, punch its lights out! Typhoon, send it back!' Chuck yelled, heating up Striker Eureka's Sting-Blades along with Byakko's sabre claws. Lunging forward, the energized cutters sliced searing gouges into the Kaiju's face; all the while Cherno Alpha's Tesla Fists were charging up with electrical energy.

In a blind rage, Leatherback knocked Striker aside and lashed out at the Russian Jaeger, but all it did was badly dent the new chest armor with its fists, barely shifting Cherno's footing by a step. Sasha and Aleksis pumped their controls, retaliating with a lightning-charged "Roll of Nickles" power punch that sent Leatherback lurching towards the now five-armed Crimson Typhoon.

'Igniting Fire Wheels!' Hu Wei declared, punching in commands to the weapon systems while Kam made the Jaeger plant the speartip into the seabed, his brothers grasping hold of the pole with their own arms. As the propellers now mounted on its ankles started to spin, using the polearm as a pivot, Crimson Typhoon fired its rear boosters and vaulted out of the sea. Even as the whirling propellers channeled glowing-blue plasma into the Jaeger's new spurs, the Chinese war machine whipped around the spear-shaft and hammered the beleaguered Kaiju with a spinning, jet-charged roundhouse kick, gouging out all three of its left eyes, most of its jaw, and knocking it backwards.

Inside Cherno Alpha's cockpit, Max gripped the control panel to stay upright. 'Aleksis, might I suggest we withdraw slightly? I believe Genbu's long-range artillery will provide the perfect coup de grace.'

Slightly confused, Aleksis called up the artillery detail on his console – and gave a rather maniacal grin when he saw what was available, fondly remembering his time as a Spetsnaz grenadier specialist. 'Striker, Typhoon, keep that thing busy while we pull back, then on my signal clear the area; Cherno's got some new long-range toys she wants to try out.' When his wife looked quizzically at him, he showed her the console, causing her to grin as well.

'Roger that, Cherno, this Kaiju's not going anywhere,' responded Herc. As the hulking Jaeger started to stomp backwards, the two remaining mechas circled the snarling Leatherback, jabbing and swiping with their weapons whenever they had a clear shot.

Enraged, the wounded Kaiju snatched at the spearhead when Crimson Typhoon next thrust it at its head. Ignoring the sting of the carbon-titanium blade, the Kaiju wrenched it forward, intending on disarming its adversary. But instead of resisting the pull, the Jaeger instead relaxed its servos and got pulled along with its weapon.

The three brothers moved in perfect sync, even as Kam retained his grip on the polearm. Cheung Wei, who was holding the steel ring, slashed at the Kaiju's arm with its razor-sharp edge, forcing it to relinquish its grip. As Jin Wei flared the boosters and used his free arm to vault Crimson Typhoon off the ground and over Leatherback's shoulder once again, Hu Wei lashed out with the long whip, coiling it around the behemoth's neck and pulling tight. Jin Wei grabbed the other end, flipped the Jaeger's abdomen and legs around again, planted both feet into the Kaiju's back, and pulled, using the whiplash as a steel garrote.

As the Chinese Jaeger struggled with its oversized captor, scrabbling at its neck with its meaty hands, Striker Eureka stormed in, claws flashing in a dangerous blade-filled dance. Herc flexed his patched-up arm and sent them right into the beast's gut in a shower of Kaiju Blue. Using the embedded arm as an anchor, the father-son team retracted the claws on the Australian Jaeger's free arm, and simply started pummeling the crap out of their opponent with its Brass Knuckles. Bit by bit, the Kaiju was forced to its knees under the furious onslaught of its two opponents.

It was at that point in time that Sasha's voice came over their radios. 'Boys, Cherno Alpha is armed and locking on now. Disengage if you don't want to be blown to kingdom come!' Both mechas turned to look at their inactive comrade, and all five pilots' eyes flew open at the sheer amount of weaponry the older Jaeger was exposing. Between 1m-shell turrets on either shoulder, both Incinerator Turbines whirling with barely restrained plasma energy courtesy of Genbu's attachments, exposed 36 AKM rocket batteries on each pectoral, long-barreled 100-caliber Gatling cannons on both hips, and 10 Inferno-class missile tubes on both shins, Cherno Alpha looked ready to literally unleash hell.

'Crikey,' murmured Herc. 'What the hell was that tortoise packing?'

Crimson Typhoon, meanwhile, was trying to pull away, but its whip's chainlinks had somehow got snared in the Kaiju's flesh. 'You shall not hold us here!' Kam yelled to the world, hitting the Jaeger's cockpit once again. The entangled whip started to steam as the links started to heat up, burning itself free of the Kaiju's now-smoking body, tearing painfully across Leatherback's face.

Kuni jabbed in another set of commands, forcibly retracting Striker's embedded claws. 'Jump!' Chuck shouted, both Jaegers flaring their boosters and propelling themselves off the damaged behemoth.

From the Conn-Pod of Cherno Alpha, Max watched as the two mechas leapt backwards, away from the writhing Leatherback, which had about a dozen targeting reticules on top of its on-screen image. 'Allies free of blast radius, all armaments locked on. Unload full arsenal at your discretion.'

'For Mother Russia!' both Kaidonovskys bellowed, slamming the triggers. Cherno Alpha literally exploded with firepower as missiles, bullets, bombshells, and plasma bursts erupted from their launchers. The hulking Russian Mark-1 barely shifted a foot due to Genbu's reinforced shock absorbers and its own foot spikes, but for the wounded Leatherback, it was all over. The arsenal descended upon it like the wrath of God, enveloping it in a maelstrom of fire, thunder and explosions, as its last dying roar echoed across the sea.

'Hell yeah!' crowed Chuck, watching the fireworks display.

Once the last missile had detonated, the three Jaegers cautiously approached the cloud of smoke, their sensors turned up to maximum. As the cloud of smoke cleared, the mangled, smoking carcass of Leatherback appeared, floating on the sea, scorched beyond all recognition, and its body so burnt by the plasma that only a small puddle of Kaiju Blue had appeared around its body.

As Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon turned to leave, satisfied, Striker Eureka held out its hands. 'Hold it, better check for a pulse,' Chuck said. Before either Kaidonovsky could object, it had turned to the corpse and fired both its shoulder cannons, blowing a final chunk out of the skeleton with a burst of shell fire.

Satisfied, Striker stood up. 'No pulse,' Chuck declared. When he was met by silence, he said, 'What? That arsehole knocked out my girl's power core!' Herc just slapped him upside the head.

'A trifle excessive, don't you think?' Max's voice came over the intercom.

The Hansens didn't recognize the voice, but they were still bemused when Kuni, the Kaidonovskys, and another voice from Crimson Typhoon dissolved in roaring laughter.

Herc shook his head and radioed LOCCENT. 'LOCCENT, this is Striker Eureka. Typhoon and Cherno are okay, and the Kaiju has been terminated.'

'Good,' said Pentecost, as the laughter died down. 'Gipsy Danger and another of her allies are engaging the second Kaiju at the port. The three of you are to assist them immediately. I'll radio a clean-up crew to handle the carcass.'

'That won't be necessary, Marshal,' A new voice suddenly crackled to life along the airwaves. 'This is the Ouryu; that huge carrier you saw just now if you don't know. We have full Kaiju Blue neutralization capability; we'll take care of the cleanup, and then return to the Shatterdome for debriefing.' Herc's eyes suddenly widened; he recognized that voice…

'Will do, Ouryu,' responded Pentecost, in a voice that sounded more pleased than Herc had ever heard him before. 'Over and out.'

As both radios shut off and all three Jaegers made for the shoreline, Sasha contacted Herc, 'Herc, that voice just now… was that who I think it was?'

'I think so, Sasha, I think so,' agreed Herc. Catching his son staring at him as he caught the memories through the Drift, he nodded. 'Yes, that is who I'm thinking about.'

While half of Raleigh watched Ultraman Helix as he wrestled with Otachi, the rest of him was too busy watching the screens as they lit up with new schematics and connections, the Conn-Pod rocking as the combination occurred.

As the dragon coiled in the air in front of Gipsy Danger, its head and jaw separated from each other on long pistons and then detached from the rest of its body, before reattaching around the Jaeger's right wrist, covering its hand in a dragon-headed glove. Its tail-tip section then detached from the rest of it, and locked itself around the right forearm as a metallic bracer. The remaining five body segments separated from each other, hovered around the Jaeger on their helicopter blades, before unfolding into different pieces of armor. As Gipsy somehow realigned its own components to form the exposed corresponding connections, the pieces locked into place one by one, to form armored greaves, reinforcement for its front and back abdomen, and a combination reptilian-fashioned helm and shoulder armor that further protected the Conn-Pod's chin and neck joint. The helm even came with a greenish-tinted visor that locked over Gipsy Danger's current vision port.

Before Raleigh could even wrap his head around what had just happened to his Jaeger, the back door to the cockpit suddenly opened up, allowing someone to enter. When the pilots turned around to look, they got a good view of a tall man with spiky blond hair, gold body armor, and carrying what looked like a giant green electric guitar.

'Er… Captain Green?' Mako was the first to recover from the sight of the man's shiny equipment.

'You bet!' the man declared, releasing a power chord on his guitar and moving to the front of the Conn-Pod. 'Ranger Becket, Ms. Mori, great to finally meet you. Now, I'd really like to say how awesome this is, but we have a battle to win, and I don't think Kyodai over there can hold it off forever!'

A loud yell proved his point; Otachi had managed to catch Ultraman Helix in the face with a burst of blue acid, causing him to retreat and dive into the sea to try and neutralize it.

When Otachi turned back to Gipsy Danger, Raleigh acted on instinct, pumping the Jaeger's muscles and sending it forward. Its dragon-mounted fist slammed the reptilian beast on the side of its head, knocking it for a loop. Snatching it around the neck with the dragon's powerful jaws, Raleigh activated one of Gipsy's new armaments, causing its leg armor to suddenly sprout a terrifying spike. With that, both pilots drove the Kaiju into a vicious knee strike, piercing a hole in its gut.

'Elbow Rocket!' yelled Raleigh, drawing the Jaeger's dragon fist back. The Jaeger's AI responded, igniting a powerful retro-rocket on the back of Gipsy Danger's right elbow. This sent the dragon head shooting right into the Kaiju's face with earth-shattering force, knocking it clean off the docks into the harbor's dark, murky waters.

Powering down its rocket, Raleigh extended the Jaeger's Plasmacaster from inside the dragon's mouth, aiming it down at the water. He frowned; the scanners weren't detecting the Kaiju anywhere in the water, and firing a plasma bolt down into the water would only flash-boil it and make visibility worse.

But before anyone could respond, Gipsy Danger's leg was suddenly yanked out from under it, sending it crashing to the docks once again, as Otachi clambered onto solid ground once again, crushing trucks and container boxes under its feet.

'Not this time, you overgrown bat!' yelled Guy, snatching for the weapon controls and selecting a certain function. Even as the Kaiju pinned the Jaeger under its feet, Seiryu's scaled chest armor slid aside to reveal four incredibly oversized speakers on the mecha's abdomen.

'TASTE ROCK!' bellowed the captain, letting loose with a guitar chord that exploded from Gipsy Danger's external speakers in an explosion of sound. All glass in a mile's radius exploded from the sonic concussion, and Otachi staggered backwards, shrieking in agony.

'Nebula Javelin!' came Helix's bellowed voice, and what looked like a spear of glowing red energy suddenly struck the Kaiju's shoulder, blowing it to one side and further inland. Gipsy Danger untangled the tail from its leg and stood up as Ultraman Helix stomped to its side, his chest smoking and scarred but otherwise unharmed.

'Mako, we're not gonna get anywhere with this guy until we neutralize its acid and its tail,' Raleigh commented. 'Which one do you want to get first?'

Ultraman Helix turned towards them, apparently having heard his query. 'Leave the mouth to me… that gecko isn't going to have much of one when I'm finished with it. Shall I leave you the tail, then?' It was interesting how he managed to talk without moving his mouth.

Raleigh smirked. 'Whatever you say, big guy. Mako?'

His co-pilot gave a small smile. 'I did rebuild your Jaeger, remember? I have just the thing.'

Both giants stood, and then charged at the Kaiju. Otachi hissed again, and its acid sac started to glow once again, but this time Helix charged ahead, lunged for the Kaiju's neck, and twisted it to one side just as it fired, sending the acid spewing into the sea. Now facing the other way, Otachi raised its tail, prepared to strike, but Gipsy lashed out with its dragon fang, seizing the tail-tip and throwing all its weight into reverse.

Mako whipped through the weapon selection until she found the right one, then activated it. 'Chain Sword selected,' spoke Gipsy Danger's AI, before a long chain of razor-edged chevrons extended from its gauntleted left wrist and solidified into a gleaming sword. What Mako didn't expect to happen was for the sword embedded in the dragon tail to deploy, separate into halves, and reattach on either side of the blade to form a thicker, tougher broadsword with curved edges and a tapered tip.

'For my family!' Mako shouted, causing Guy's guitar to shimmer and the Jaeger's power levels to suddenly spike. Gipsy Danger leapt forward and drove the heavier sword right into the Kaiju's tailbone, causing it to erupt in a geyser of blood and pinning it to the docks. When Otachi opened its mouth to screech in agony, Helix made his move.

'Corona Collision!' he snarled, his fist flaring with a bright blue light. But instead of punching, he instead opened it into a claw and shoved it straight down the beast's throat, grabbed its acid sac, and tore it clean out of its mouth. As he chucked it to one side, Gipsy pinned the thrashing tail with one foot, let go of it, charged up its dragon-mouthed cannon, and let loose one powerful burst at the Kaiju's rear, blasting its tail clean off. Raleigh grinned at the aftermath, the augmentations allowed Gipsy's Plasmacaster to do with one shot what it would've taken three to do normally.

'Now, where were we?' Raleigh said as Mako pulled the blade free. But before they or Helix could make a move, Otachi gave a screech filled with fury and pain, and flexed out its arms, revealing, to everyone's surprise, huge, leathery bat-like wings the size of a jet plane. The sudden motion sent both giants sprawling, and the Kaiju pounced for Gipsy Danger like an owl on a mouse. Its rear feet both crushed its sonic projector and incapacitated the Plasmacaster, and its jaws kept the bladed arm out of reach. Gripping Gipsy's arms and torso powerfully, Otachi flapped its wings and took to the air.

Inside the Conn-Pod, Guy growled at the 'Incapacitated' message on the sonic projector. 'Dammit! They put me on mute!' The Jaeger rocked wildly as the flying Kaiju smashed the Jaeger against cranes and highrises.

Both Raleigh and Mako flailed against the g-forces as Otachi pulled the Jaeger higher and higher into the sky. 'Come on,' growled Raleigh, scanning rapidly through the weapon schematics, 'Isn't there anything we can use to get out of this?'

'Temperature and oxygen levels are dropping,' Mako called out, glancing at the displays, 'If we're going to do something, we need to do it now!'

'We're almost at 50,000 miles already! Any higher, and if that thing drops us, all it means is that we die from falling rather than oxygen deprivation!' cursed Guy. 'Kyodai, get your ass up here and get this thing lower!'

'Ah, screw this!' Raleigh snapped. 'Mako, vent the coolant on the right, now!' Punching in the commands, Gipsy Danger expelled its coolant from vents under its armor in a spray of subzero gas, coating Otachi's talon in ice. Coupled with the rapidly-dropping temperatures from the altitude, the claw soon grew so brittle in a matter of seconds that a simple flex shattered it.

'Now!' yelled Raleigh, shoving the freed Plasmacaster at the Kaiju's head. Charging in a matter of moments, the blue-hot burst of plasma erupted from the muzzle like dragon-fire, but at the last second the beast swerved, swinging the arm off target and instead obliterating the remaining talon in a burst of Kaiju Blue. The resulting gravitational force tore the remaining arm free of Otachi's ruined mouth and sent the Jaeger plummeting back to Earth, face-down.

As the metal armor of the Jaeger started to heat up, the three people in the Conn-Pod rapidly tried to keep track of all the readouts. '40,000 miles to impact!' shouted Raleigh. 'We're falling out of alignment; we need to straighten out!'

'Let me try something,' Guy said, entering another command to the system. On the Jaeger's dragon-armor helm, the Chinook-sized helicopter blades extended out the top like a bizarre propeller beanie, and started spinning at maximum speed, trying to grip the air.

'30,000 miles! It's not working; the air's too thin!'

'Come on, come on!' growled Guy, shoving the handle of his green guitar into the wall of the cockpit and almost deafening the pilots with the riffs he was belting out, trying to force more Spiral Energy into the propellers. 'Faster! Faster, I say!'

Just then, Mako scanned the rearview cameras and gasped, 'Kaiju in pursuit! 1,000 miles and closing!' Sure enough, Otachi was diving for them, wings folded to provide a more streamlined profile, and head outstretched, clearly intent on becoming a dive-bombing missile.

'20,000 miles to impact!'

'Come on, grip! Grip the damn air already!' bellowed Guy. 'KYODAI, WHERE ARE YOU, GODDAMMIT?!'

'RIGHT HERE, GUY-TAICHOU!' the welcome voice boomed through the thickening air, and the silver shape of Ultraman Helix shot past their view like a rocket, heading straight for the pursuing Kaiju.

'You're not going anywhere, buddy!' the pilots heard the showy giant being bellow out. 'SYZYGY SUPERNOVA!' From the rearview camera, the pilots caught a glimpse of Helix's silver skin glowing a blinding white, before he flexed his arms, crossed them, and sent a blinding beam of spinning cosmic energy streaking from his upright arm. For a split second, the pilots saw a whirling drill-tip on the end of the beam before it blasted right through the Kaiju's throat in a shower of blue.

Then, the camera juked downwards as the blades finally caught air, and metal screeched as it started to wrench the falling mecha upright. '10,000 miles to impact!' Raleigh was nearly hoarse from yelling. 'We're still falling too fast; we need to bleed off more velocity!'

As Guy scanned the screens, he suddenly had the solution. 'I've got it! If we purge the vortex turbine at 40% power, it should boost us upright, and then we can shunt the power to the elbow rockets to slow us down further! The internal gyros should take care of the rest!'

'But with our coolant at 20% capacity, there's too high a chance that the core will overheat!' Mako protested.

Guy flashed them a blazing look. 'That's not how I roll! I didn't hear you say there's no chance that it won't overheat, and that's good enough for me! With courage and willpower, even 1% becomes 100%! If you want to live, then SHOW ME YOUR GUTS!'The green guitar was glowing so brightly it looked like it was made of a fluorescent tube.

Raleigh was silent for a second, and then looked straight at the captain. 'I got guts to spare!' he yelled back, causing Guy's guitar to flare brighter still. 'LET'S DO IT!' He hammered the controls, and the nuclear vortex turbine belched out a blistering tongue of flame, forcing the Jaeger fully upright in one short burst.

'ELBOW ROCKETS, MAXIMUM BURN!' bellowed Raleigh, pushing Gipsy Danger's arms out to the side and igniting the rockets. As soon as the fuel ignited, the drag force threatened to yank the Jaeger's Hyper-Torque Drivers clear out of their sockets. Raleigh and Mako gritted their teeth against the incredible g-forces, straining to keep the rockets vertical, as bit by agonizing bit, the descent started to slow. The screaming of core overheat alarms grew louder and louder, but somehow, the core still held.

'5,000 miles!' Raleigh finally grated out, seeing the altimeter. 'Brace for impact!' Guy grabbed the frame and held on for dear life, but almost didn't miss a silver blur trailing blue liquid shoot past the cockpit.

When the Jaeger finally hit, Guy vaguely felt something stop them, sag, then give way before he was almost thrown across the Conn-Pod by the thunderous jolt. He almost felt Gipsy's legs give way with a groan of straining steel, but a moment later, they slowly, shakily, raised the smoking, ravaged, dust-covered mecha back to its full height as the rockets died down at last.

Both Jaeger pilots were breathing as if they'd run a marathon. Raleigh was the first to pull off his helmet and press the comms. 'LOCCENT, this is Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori of Gipsy Danger. Kaiju is terminated and we are safely back on Earth.'

As an explosion of cheering came from LOCCENT, Herc Hansen's voice appeared. 'Nice job, Raleigh, Ms. Mori.'

'Couldn't you have left him for us? He tore our head off!' muttered Cheung Wei in mock grumpiness.

'Chief, are you okay?' Kuni asked over Striker's radio.

'I'm just fine,' replied Guy, 'Thanks to Kyodai. Great job out there, buddy!'

Ultraman Helix's silver face appeared through the Jaeger's visor. 'Defeat was never a possibility, Guy-taichou, not when TALOS combines its forces with the Jaeger program!'

'Just one thing,' Mako spoke up, 'What did you do with the Kaiju?'

Helix paused for a moment, glanced down at its feet, and pointed down. When Gipsy angled its face down, it found itself standing in the middle of a crater that was once the Hong Kong docks, and its metal feet ankle-deep in steaming Kaiju Blue and Otachi chest.

'I used it to cushion the landing,' shrugged the silver giant. 'I don't think it minded.'

The reception back at the Shatterdome was thunderous, as the nine Jaeger pilots received a hero's welcome from the entire staff, ushering them back into the main room like they had just won the World Cup (not that it had been played since the Kaiju attacks had been intensifying several years ago). Herc only managed to soak up a few moments of glory before the medics whisked him away to examine his arm.

Marshal Pentecost was waiting for them in the main hangar, as the de-armored Jaegers were wheeled in one by one for rapid repairs. 'In all my life, I have never seen anything quite like that, and I don't just mean TALOS's new equipment. Well done. Well done, all of you!'

A moment later, his gaze turned sour. 'We may be able to call this a victory, but we don't have time to celebrate. Our researchers have predicted an event sooner than we think.' Mournfully, he turned to the giant War Clock on the wall, which counted the length of time between each Kaiju attack, and shouted, 'Reset the clock!' Everyone watched gloomily as the clock ticked back to zero before it started counting upwards again. 'Get the Jaegers back to working condition, I need them operational yesterday!'

As the miscellaneous workers shuffled off and the Marshal turned around to exit the room, Raleigh spoke up, 'Marshal, you said we'd be debriefed when this battle is over; well, we're all waiting. What exactly is TALOS?'

Pentecost stopped walking and stood still for a moment, during which Raleigh noticed him wipe his nose and swallow a small pill. Then he nodded and gestured for the pilots and the lead technician, Tendo Choi, to follow him. As they walked, he started talking, 'TALOS stands for Titanic Automaton Launching Organization of Safeguarding, a branch of the Japanese government devoted to devising an alternate strategy for fighting the Kaijus. It is the reason Japan, despite known for its robotics success, never constructed the best Jaegers in the world.'

Chuck blinked. 'Wait, you're telling me we just got our butts saved by the reason the Japs have been doing a half-assed job in Jaeger development? How come something like that didn't get shut down?'

'It's because due to a few... complications, the world government saw the project as such a hopeless enterprise that it literally was ignored for the past 10 years, while the Japanese government, determined to prove its worth, kept it alive out of its own pocket. It was only three years ago that the project started to bear fruit, and only a few months ago that a real promising solution was found,' replied Pentecost. 'However by the time it did, the situation had gotten so bad that the leaders decided that enough was enough and contacted me directly, offering their aid for free.'

They emerged on the docks where the massive carrier Ouryu was anchored, the dawn sky rising behind them, as Pentecost continued his explanation. 'My partner and I came across the organization after both of us were withdrawn from duty and my old Jaeger, Coyote Tango, was reassigned. They explained to me what they were trying to do, and although I declined to join, I still kept in close contact with the organization.'

As they drew closer to the gangplank of the carrier, they saw a familiar group of people waiting for them: the tall, blond, captain Guy Green, leaning on his signature green electric guitar, Kamina "Kam" Lagann, his green visor replaced by a pair of identical, large, angular, green sunglasses and his helmet removed to reveal a messy mop of spiky black hair, the spectacle-clad bluenette Maximilian "Max" Attenborough, the attractive, long-haired brunette Kuichino "Kuni" Jyusenki, and the towering shape of Ultraman Helix, kneeling on the seabed, looming over them like another Jaeger.

But while the unfamiliar pilots gawked at the massive, silver being, the Marshal's eyes were fixed on the last person in the group. Sitting in a wheelchair at the forefront of the group was a middle-aged woman, dressed in an RAF flight jacket and black skirt, her face and body frail, weather-beaten and aged both from war, time and the long battle against her body's ailments. Her flaming-red eyebrows were the only evidence of her original hair color, for the rest of her head was completely hairless. But despite her seemingly fragile stature, she exuded so much calm, unwavering determination and charisma that it felt she could make a Kaiju bow to her.

As Pentecost stopped in front of the group, the guitar-holding Guy Green stepped forward with a large grin. 'Great to see you again, General P! Glad we could finally help out the Jaeger program!'

Pentecost glanced at him. 'For the last time, Captain Green, it's Marshal.'

'Captain Green, if you don't mind, I'd like to take fore on this one,' said the woman, wheeling herself forward, causing the exuberant captain to apologize hastily. She raised her head to observe him with a sense of quiet familiarity. 'It's good to see you again, Marshal,' she said in a faint British accent like Pentecost's.

'Indeed it is, Ranger Sevier,' the Marshal responded quietly. Raleigh blinked in realization; he recognized the name. Glancing beside him, he noticed Mako staring at the woman as if she was her long-lost mother.

'Tamsin Sevier?' repeated Aleksis in surprise, turning his gaze from Helix and to the woman sitting in the wheelchair. 'The Marshal's old co-pilot? I thought you died only a few months after you were retired from duty!'

'You are half-right, Ranger Kaidonovsky,' said Sevier smoothly, 'I was indeed retired after… complications arose from all those times piloting Coyote Tango. But when the Japanese government approached Stacks and me with their offer to join TALOS, I chose to accept their offer while he declined. Since I was never seen in public as a member of that organization afterwards, the media assumed I had died.'

Ignoring the interested (and slightly amused) glances shot at him by a few of the pilots at his old nickname, Pentecost continued, 'She's the reason I stayed in contact with TALOS all these years. But it was only right before the double event that I heard anything from them about all their hard work finally paying off.'

'And it's all thanks to this,' Max spoke up, holding up a large chunk of green stone. 'A special glowing ore found in a small meteorite found off Japan's coast. No stronger or tougher than guitar or sunglasses plastic, but malleable and ductile enough to be shaped into virtually anything. Not much use against the Kaijus at first glance until…' he paused, '… they're exposed to high levels of emotion. At that point, they give off energy that the people producing the emotion can control at will to do anything imaginable. TALOS figured out its potential, and used it as the power source of the StarMachines – the mecha you saw us using. Given that the first view of it was a rising spiral, we dubbed it Spiral Energy, and the stone called Guts-Spiral Ore, or just GS-Stone for short.'

Guy added, 'And don't think this is just something to power a digital watch; even from a chunk as small as this, one person's emotional output is enough to fuel something at least as powerful as a Jaeger. Different emotions give off different amounts of energy; the ones that release the most energy are passion, righteous anger, courage and undying will. Obviously, the more emotion you put out or the more strong-willed you are the more energy can be produced.'

'Which is exactly how a woman as amazing as Sevier-shirei was chosen to be Field Commander of TALOS,' declared Ultraman Helix, 'for even in the face of death, her burning will to survive and tactical skill makes her the perfect woman for the job! It is enough to make even me cry!' The giant actually wiped away a trickle of tears that sparkled in the morning sun.

Hu Wei gave an incredulous glance up at the giant. 'And this is what Spiral Energy is capable of?' he asked, jerking a thumb up at him.

'Indeed it is! The noble soldier Shichiba "Kyodai" Masukuro has a control over Spiral Energy unlike anyone that has passed through the decks of the Ouryu, able to use such energy to generate an avatar of Spiral Energy around himself, which he has dubbed the mighty Ultraman Helix!' Kam declared in his over-the-top fashion, 'allowing him to fight the likes of the Kaiju as real men should – face to face, man to monster!' Striking a pose, pointing directly at the giant, he finished, 'There is no one more worthy than him of being my younger brother!'

The giant pointed right back at the young man, declaring, 'and there is no one worthier of being my older brother as Kamina-aniki!' A freak gust of wind made the waves crash against the docks behind them, framing the scene quite nicely.

Before the two could exchange any more words and unnerve the watchers any further, Sevier cleared her throat pointedly. 'As much as I enjoy the drama between you two, Kyodai, perhaps you'd want to come down to our level to continue this conversation before your energy runs out?'

Ultraman Helix promptly saluted. 'Hai, Sevier-shirei!' His body instantly started to glow with a bright green light, before the tip of his crest fin started to unravel, like his body was made of twisted-up strings of green energy which were now coming apart and vanishing into thin air. As his body shrank in size, he stepped onto the dock and continued shrinking, until the remaining energy faded away and another person stood in his place, with smooth black hair, Asian features, and wearing a silver jumpsuit.

And who looked to be about 16.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the Jaeger pilots stared at the teenager, before Cheung Wei broke it in a stream of incredulous Mandarin. 'A kid? You're telling me that silver giant, who could serve as a Jaeger's back-up with his bare hands, is a kid?'

'HEY! Just who the hell do you think I am?' Kyodai demanded, marching right up to him. 'It doesn't matter what my age is! The duty to protect our earth falls on everyone's shoulders, regardless of age! I had the potential, the ability, and the dream to use the Spiral Energy to protect humanity, and TALOS let me live out that dream even now, in our darkest hour and on the cusp of defeat! Power is not judged by one's tools or by one's muscles, for in the face of Spiral Energy, your will grants you as much power as you needs!'

'I wasn't insulting your age, I was just surprised!' the eldest Wei Tang defended himself.

'Corporal Masukuro, stand down,' said Sevier calmly. 'I'm sure he wasn't condescending in his outburst.' As the young Japanese kid bowed smartly and strode back, Sevier wheeled herself forward. 'So, if there aren't any more questions, Marshal, what's our next move?'

Pentecost nodded and turned to the other pilots. 'Our research team has predicted that the next attack might even come within the next four days, so we've got to be prepared. Rest up, get what respite you can, for before they make it that far… we are stopping this war. Commander, a word?'

'Of course, Marshal,' Sevier nodded, wheeling her chair around. 'Max, work with the technicians to integrate what GS-Ore we have into the power systems of the Jaegers. The rest of you, we need your StarMachines fully repaired and modified for underwater transformation as soon as possible. Dismissed!'

As the group started to disperse with Chuck saying something about seeing his dad, Raleigh moved to the two leaders. 'Sir, when you're done with the conversation, might I have a word?'

Pentecost nodded again. 'Very well, Mr. Becket. Meet me in my office in two hours.' With that, the two leaders vanished up the gangplank and into the Ouryu. Mako almost made to move after them, but a last, fleeting glance from Pentecost kept her where she was.

Sevier's office was Spartan, like many other soldiers' quarters. The only pieces of furniture were a desk with a holographic desktop and a visitor's chair. Pretty much the only decorative piece in the room was a picture frame on the desk.

It was this picture frame that Sevier now tilted to observe in the morning light streaming through her office porthole.

'Do you miss it?' she asked.

In the visitor's chair, Pentecost gazed out the window. 'Piloting a Jaeger? Sometimes. The feeling when the two of us were connected through Coyote Tango is not something I'll ever forget, especially not since Tokyo. You?'

'With the Jaeger, I felt invincible. Able to move mountains with my bare hands and cross seas just by walking.' She looked down at what she was sitting in. 'Now, thanks to it, I lost a good 9 years of my life just rolling around in this chair.'

'The treatment worked, didn't it?' he asked, 'Won't you be able to walk again?'

'The TALOS medics say that it would take at least 5 years for my leg muscles to be strong enough to hold my weight; no thanks to the bone cancer or the chemo…' Sevier muttered, rubbing her scalp, 'and another 5 for enough rehabilitation for me to walk on my own. But you and I both know that I won't have another year if we don't win this war. And for that matter, if you go to the front lines, neither will you.'

'And all that's due to not having enough radiation shielding,' said Pentecost ruefully. 'I know the risks, Tam, but if it came down to it, you know I would do it in a heartbeat to save the rest of the world –' He broke off when Sevier tapped the bridge of her nose pointedly, upon which he hurriedly swiped the blood off and swallowed another pill.

Sevier leaned forward. 'But assuming you didn't have to, and that we all made it through this in one piece, how long do you think you have, Stacks?'

Pentecost was silent for a long, long while, before finally saying, 'If I can stay healthy, as long as I want. But honestly, I don't put much stock in that happening; with Hansen's arm out of commission, there's no way he can pilot Striker, which means there's only one person who can step in.'

'But assuming you didn't have to,' Sevier repeated, 'and this war did end with you living through it, what would you do with your life?'

Pentecost remained conspicuously silent on that issue. 'Well?' pressed his old friend.

After another long, long moment, the Marshal stood up, walked over to the desk, and picked up the photo. 'I would like to have Mako as a daughter again. To be there for her as a father, and not just a teacher or a mentor. She never even had the chance to enjoy life, and I plan to do something about it.'

It was lucky Stacks had his back to her, or he might have noticed the small smile growing on her lips. 'Marshal, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're going soft.'

Pentecost visibly stiffened. 'As I said to Ranger Becket the other day, the only thing I need to be at this time is a fixed point – the last man standing, the one everyone draws their support from. After the war… I guess we'll see.'

A small squeak told him that she was wheeling herself closer. 'So… when we all get out of this mess, does that mean you'll do everything to give Mako a family again?' Her tone went from friendly to sly. 'Would that include giving her a mother?'

A normal person wouldn't have noticed it, but Tamsin Sevier smirked at the twitch that jolted through Pentecost's huge frame. 'I'd rather not speak of it, Commander. Now if you'll excuse me, I probably need to speak to Mr. Becket about his earlier question.'

Sevier smiled as her old friend placed the framed photo down and stepped out of her office, old memories flooding back – both from her time spent with him and from joining him in the Drift. Her eyes drifted down to the photograph.

A tall, strong black man in a military uniform and a red-haired woman resting in a hospital bed smiled at the camera, a short, Asian girl standing between them and beaming like the sun.

'What do you bloody mean I can't go on the next mission?'

'As we've explained, Ranger Hansen, piloting your Jaeger with a simple fracture will cause the broken bones to lacerate the flesh around the break. It is possible to set and cast the break, but there is no way it will heal in time before the next mission unless you wait another three weeks. If you go on to pilot again, you could lose all use of your arm.'

'Well, why didn't it do that during the last mission? That Spiral Energy seemed to do the job just fine!'

'With all due respect, sir, the presence of the GS-Stone had stabilized the bones for the duration of the battle, but as soon as you left its proximity its effect faded, leaving the bones free to cut into your muscles. Given the existing damage to the tissue, even if you stabilized the bones using more Spiral Energy, the strain from the Jaeger could permanently damage the nerves and you would lose your arm for good.'

'Better my arm than to let my son be sacked from the action or stuck with some sub-standard cadet that could get us all killed. Now stop sitting on your arse and get one of those GS-Stones!'

'But, sir–'

'No buts, doctor! Listen, Sergeant Kuni, you and your crew are the ones going on and on about willpower; well, let me tell you that no one knows it better than I do! The first Kaiju attack on Sydney forced me to save my son, but it cost me my wife! I've Drifted with four co-pilots over the last 10 years excluding my son, and all of them are either dead or crippled in the line of duty! It's taken me all my will and strength to not just give up and join them – and I'm sure as hell not gonna stop now! You've shown me what that green rock can do when given a strong will, and I'm gonna use it to help win this war – even if I have to duct-tape it to my arm while piloting!'

'…That will not be necessary, Mr. Hansen. Don't worry; I'll get started on integrating the GS-Stone your Drivesuit right now. But for now, get that arm set – any healing is good healing.'

'You got it, ma'am.'

Two days later, late evening.

It had taken a lot of hard work for the past few days. The crew of the Hong Kong Shatterdome had worked for 63 hours straight to get the Jaegers back in working order and in full fighting condition, and the TALOS crew had done their part in integrating the molded GS-Stones into their reactors, with conduits to allow the pilots' emotions to reach them.

The repairs were completed just in time. No sooner had the last weld been secured than reports had started coming in regarding two Category IV Kaijus circling the Breach. Pentecost had given the order to begin the final operation at exactly 0000 hours on January 12th, 2025, which was why all the pilots were in their Drivesuits in the middle of the Shatterdome hangar. Well, almost all of them.

'Chuck, how come you're not suited up?' asked Tendo, who was walking alongside the group.

'Why bother, Elvis?' replied the Australian pilot bitterly, who hadn't changed out of his flight jacket, his bulldog Max drooling beside him. 'I'm not going anyhow. Last I saw of him, Dad's hurt, I can't pilot Striker on my own, and I definitely do not want to be stuck with some greenhorn cadet that will get us all killed.'

The bay doors to the hallway suddenly opened, and a familiar chuckle made Chuck turn around. 'Why am I not surprised you'd say that?' The pilot's eyes widened when he saw his father standing there in his Drivesuit, with a shaped GS-Stone embedded in his shoulder armor.

'Dad? What are you doing up? I thought your arm-' Chuck started to say, but his dad cut him off gruffly.

'You heard what they said about GS-Stones, right boy? What do you think's keeping my arm intact?' Herc flexed his arm without even wincing. 'Now why aren't you in your suit? I expect you to be in Striker's cockpit with your pants on, or I'm leaving you here, got that?'

Chuck stared at his dad for a moment, before smirking, nodding, and turning to leave.

'Just a moment, Mr. Hansen,' came the authoritative voice of Marshal Pentecost as he strode into the room, Commander Sevier right beside him. 'We have something to say to everyone. Listen up!'

All activity in the hangar stopped and turned to the two leaders. Pentecost took a deep breath. 'Today, today… at the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we've chosen not only to believe in ourselves but in each other. The world working as one has gotten us to this point, and it is what will drive us to the end of this war!'

Sevier took up the speech. 'The resources of TALOS have granted us hope, and the Jaegers have granted us strength! Those that have died before us; their dreams are a promise that we all must fulfill, and their souls support us with their memories! Today, there's neither a man nor woman in here that shall stand alone. Not today.'

Pentecost nodded, his face fixed in a picture of utter determination. 'Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them! Today, we touch another world, and declare ours off limits!'

Sevier shared with him a look that was blazing with emotion. 'Today we prove to our invaders that we are not going anywhere! Today, we make our own tomorrow, our own future, with our own hands!'

'TODAY, WE ARE CANCELLING THE APOCALYPSE!' the final, unified, defiant declaration left the whole hall ringing and all GS-Stones present to shine like stars. Every man and woman that heard the speech burst into rousing and roaring applause, a clarion call for all of humanity to lend them their courage.

Only an hour later, 32 Chinook helicopters were hoisting the four Jaegers over the Pacific Ocean towards the horizon, with the Ouryu carrier skimming the surfaces below them, at speeds a regular ship of that size should not be capable of.

The same time, back on the Hong Kong docks

Chinese workers scurried like ants around the carcass of Otachi, trying to salvage what material they could and cart it off themselves. After the apparent demise of their boss at the teeth of a newborn Kaiju earlier that evening, the workers had decided it was every man for himself, and were grabbing whatever they could and hauling it off to try and sell themselves.

To the curly-haired, bespectacled Newton Geiszler, it had not been a good couple of days. After his experiment a few days ago had managed to Drift with part of a Kaiju brain, he was sent to back-alley Hong Kong to rendezvous with the Kaiju black market broker Hannibal Chau. Then, after Chau had discovered he had Drifted with the brain and that the two Kaijus attacking were after him and what he knew, he was almost literally kicked out at gunpoint and into a public shelter, waiting in panic for the Kaijus to dig him out. But after reports came in that the four Jaegers and reinforcements had flattened both of the beasts in the harbor, Geiszler had stormed back to the hideout, in one piece, to demand that the Kaiju's secondary brain be harvested and given to him for his experiment.

It had taken the scavenging crew 2 whole days to both neutralize the ammonia and dig their way to the secondary brain, but when they got there, they found part of it crushed by the Jaeger's foot when it landed. Disappointment quickly turned into sheer terror when they found out that the Kaiju was freaking pregnant and the underdeveloped baby Kaiju performed an internal Caesarian, clawed its way out of its dead parent's corpse and made for Geiszler like a fox on a rabbit, before a combination of underdeveloped lungs and umbilical cord strangulation caused a premature death. However, it had managed to swallow Chau before it perished, and that was a fate the scientist would not wish on anyone. Then again, considering how much of a jerk the guy was…

He pushed the thought away as he hauled his jury-rigged, freshly-upgraded Pons System apparatus up to the corpse of the newborn. It was not as fanciful or as streamlined as the Jaeger's own Pons System, the conduit for the pilots into the Drift, but having been a doctorate researcher working under Jasper Schoenfeld and alongside Caitlin Lightcap when they were designing the first Pons System, he admittedly understood it better than half the technicians in the Shatterdome.

That being said, part of him wished he had severed his ties with his mentor and his colleague a bit better when he decided to focus more on Kaiju biology than Jaeger development.

'Two signatures? Two?' said a stuttering voice from behind him, and Newton sighed. When he had made the request that the Shatterdome send his portable Pons System to the Kaiju carcass, his associate Dr. Hermann Gottlieb had insisted on coming along. Fastidious, analytic and neurotic to a fault, the two Kaiju Scientists rarely saw eye to eye.

Even now, Hermann was hobbling around the carcass on his walking stick, muttering loudly into a phone. 'There… there are two Kaiju signatures in the Breach, not three like I predicted?'

'Hermann,' Newton cut the other K-Scientist Officer off as he unlatched a giant cable-connected probe from the portable apparatus, 'I haven't exactly had a good few days, okay? I've had my brain almost short-circuited, been dragged down here into Little China, had my nose hair almost ripped out by a megalomaniac, shoved into some dingy shelter while petrified with fear, and then almost became an appetizer for Otachi Jr. over here!' Grunting, he scrambled up the side of the corpse and jammed the probe through the underdeveloped skull into where all his analysis said the brain stem should be.

'There should be three…' Dr. Gottleib didn't seem to be listening.

'And now I got about five minutes before brain-death occurs here and this guy's lights go out for good! I don't have time to stand here talking about your theories!' He jumped down and scuttled back to the Pons System.

'We've had it all wrong! There should be three Kaijus coming through, not two!' Hermann tried to put his observations to his colleague but Newton wasn't having any of it.

'Oh, there should be three, and there's two!' he said sardonically as he prodded buttons and pushed levers. 'I'm sorry; it hurts to be wrong, doesn't it?'

'I'm not wrong,' insisted Hermann, 'but there's something here that we don't understand!'

Newton finally turned exasperatedly to his companion. 'Okay, Hermann, hopefully we can argue about any mistakes you've made in your predictive model in the future, but in the meantime, the neural interface is way off the charts, and it's only going to stay that way for the next few minutes, so if you want to help, help with this!' He detached its rudimentary synaptic helmet from its casing.

Hermann stared at Newton as the latter fumbled to strap the helmet on. 'I'm not wrong, but there is only one way to make sure,' he turned to enter a few lines of code into the console, 'and that is to do this – together. I'll go with you.' He grabbed a spare headset and turned to see his colleague taking his turn to stare at him, this time in disbelief. 'That's what the Jaeger pilots do, right? Share the neural load?'

'You're serious? You would do that for me?' Newton stammered, before hurriedly amending, 'or, you… you would do that with me?'

The older man slowly gave a rueful, but determined grin, 'Well, with worldwide destruction a certain alternative, do I really have a choice? Besides,' he reached into his pocket and removed a chunk of green ore, 'if I didn't, Max's little gift would go to waste.'

Newton stared at the flickering stone in Hermann's hand, before grinning like the excited kid he made himself to be. 'Then say it with me, my man: We are gonna get in there and own this bad boy!'

'B-by Jove, we are going to… own this… thing for sure!' Hermann managed to get out, gripping his colleague – no, friend's hand with his own, clasping the GS-Stone between them and causing an ethereal green light to filter out from it, which in turn caused the Pons System's machinery to vibrate in anticipation.

'This is so awesome!' Newton said, taking the stone and hooking it up to the Pons System, while Hermann strapped his own helmet on. The bespectacled K-Scientist Officer grabbed the activation remote and turned to the Kaiju and the now-pulsing probe. By his estimations, the brain wasn't going to last for much longer without preservation, and they definitely didn't have time for that. 'You ready for this?' he asked his older counterpart.

'Oh, yes… yes…'

'Initiating Neural Handshake in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1!' Closing their eyes, the two German scientists braced their brains as Newton hit the big, red button.

To a newbie, Drifting is a unique experience. First, there's the numbing jolt when your brain is suddenly hit with a controlled burst of electrical current. Next, there's the rapid flash of memories that whirl past your eyes like an out-of-control movie reel, playing in childhood, studying in high school, dating in adolescence, working in adulthood and everything in between. Before long, you start seeing memories that you don't recognize, emotions that you've never felt, things you've never known or learnt, until the lines between "you" and "your partner" become very, very blurry. Your identities begin to merge and synchronize with each other, until the two of you almost feel like one mind, one being. And all the while, your brain begins to throb, thump and vibrate as you try to keep everything in order, until everything finally straightens out or your mind shakes itself to pieces.

Both Newton and Hermann had gone through the Jaeger academy several years ago, but both were in the research divisions rather than the pilot divisions. Then again, Newton's earlier experiment had given him a cursory (and strenuous) experience of the Drift so he vaguely knew what to expect. Hermann did not.

Memories flashed through their eyes like wisps, never lasting more than a few seconds. One moment they were looking at a child Hermann enveloped in his studies, the next they were seeing Newton's interactions with Schoenfeld and Lightcap in the research lab, the next they were viewing Hermann talking with his wife Vanessa as they caressed her enlarged abdomen, then Newton teaching a class in an MIT classroom, then both of their memories in the Hong Kong Shatterdome…

… and then everything started to become more surreal as a green glow suddenly permeated their memories, before the scene shifted to a memory so vivid it was like they were seeing it in person, sharpened by a connection into the Kaiju's hive mind. They watched 12-foot-tall creatures with huge crests – Precursors, the connection gave them the word translated into the tongue of the world to be colonized – stand before a whole line of biological rapid-growth chambers…

They saw the creatures pile together muscle tissue, organ tissue, and other biological material like wet clay, building the Kaijus from the ground up and using the Kaiju Blue as a synthesis agent to give them life…

They watched as the Kaijus were sent into the Breach, the bridge between the Anteverse and the Earth, knowing that the Breach would automatically seal itself from the other side against anything not of Kaiju flesh, and knowing that in a few days' time, the portal dimension would become stable enough to send the beasts through by the hour and clean the vermin from their new home…

… and then the connection cut out as the Kaiju brain finally died, and both men were standing shakily in front of the corpse, twitching rampantly as if they had just been Tasered. Dr. Gottleib, in particular, had blood streaming from his nose and was shuddering so much it looked like he was having a seizure.

'Ah geez,' Newton choked out as he removed his helmet. He was shaken, and had a nosebleed and a headache the size of a Kaiju, but otherwise in much better condition than his first run. 'Are you alright?'

'Yes… of course … I'm completely… fine…' Hermann managed to burble out, numb fingers unstrapping the helmet, before his stomach gave a violent churn and the world almost flipped upside down. He managed to totter to the waterside before his stomach contents evicted themselves.

Newton limped over and handed him a handkerchief as Hermann turned to him with an expression of horror. 'The Drift… you saw it… did you?'

The younger scientist nodded frantically. 'Listen, we have to warn them! The Jaegers… the Breach… the Plan!'

His friend looked up with bloodshot eyes and a worried expression. 'It's not going to work!'

By the time the Chinooks had reached the area almost over the Breach, the dawn light had fully illuminated the sky into early morning, coloring the sea below them a mix of blue and gold. Inside the Conn-Pod of each machine were the GS-Stones that fed a constant stream of emotions into the power cores, allowing the pilots to manifest their own will around them. Striker Eureka just had one specific upgrade: that of a thermonuclear payload affixed to its back, in between its Angel Wings.

'Striker Eureka, standing by. Payload locked and ready for delivery,' Herc declared over the comms. 'All Jaegers report in.'

'Gipsy Danger, standing by.'

'Cherno Alpha, standing by.'

'Crimson Typhoon, standing by.'

'Kyodai here, ready to dive on your call.'

'This is the Ouryu. All StarMachines fully armed and ready for deployment.' The bay doors were open and Byakko was standing on deck, with Seiryu and Suzaku waiting in their hangars and Genbu below deck, waiting to be launched. Kyodai was barely visible on the prow of the carrier, his Spiral Driver gripped in his hand.

Pentecost and Sevier waited on the bridge of the mighty battleship along with Tendo. 'Alright, everyone, this is it. Disengage Jaegers now!'

'Ikuzo, mina-san! KOUKEN BUSOU!'

'Yes sir! / You got it, Chief! KOUKEN BUSOU!'

'KYOKAN HENSHIN!'

As the four mighty mechas dropped into the ocean below, the StarMachines leapt off the Ouryu, Genbu launched underwater and rose to the surface, and Kyodai leapt off the deck as he was enveloped in a spiraling corona of light. In the space of a few moments before they sank, the four mechanical beasts moved to their respective Jaeger and started to combine once again. Servos whirred, steam hissed, metal clanged on metal, and bolts, gears and shafts grinded against one another as the StarMachines split into their armor components, glided through the water, and locked on their bodies piece by piece.

'Batten down the hatches, we're going down!' declared Guy as he moved into the cockpit, now outfitted with a spare harness and console to keep him on his feet. Valves closed and openings sealed themselves to prevent sea water from getting in, as one by one, the colossal Jaegers strode along the ocean floor and sank below the surface, the equally mighty Ultraman Helix swimming along beside them.

Once below the surface, all the Jaegers flipped on their powerful headlights as they marched deeper and deeper into the abyss. Gipsy Danger took point, striding in front of Striker Eureka, who was flanked on either side by Cherno Alpha on the right and Crimson Typhoon on the left. Helix took rear guard. In the space of a few steps, the ocean surface was miles above them and barely any light could be seen at all. Huge watery stalactites stretched around them like small mountains.

Pentecost's voice came over the comms. 'Two actives still in circle formation in one quadrant, codenames Scunner and Raiju, both Category IV. Move 'em out!'

'It's half a mile to the Mariana Trench, then a big jump to the Challenger Deep, then 3,000 meters to the Breach,' Herc muttered, scanning his maps.

'Half a mile? I can't even see a damn inch ahead!' said his son back. 'How are we supposed to deliver the bomb?' Even with the spotlights, the sea was so murky and the water so heavy that it was like walking through a fog made of molasses.

'Visibility's zero,' scowled Raleigh, 'switching to instruments now.' The external sensors and sonar on the Jaegers were vastly inferior to the cameras and monitors, but since the latter were pretty much useless underwater, they had to make do.

'At this rate, we'd be lucky to even see the Kaijus, let alone the damn Breach,' grumbled Hu Wei to his brothers. Even Typhoon's telescopic Conn-Pod was only doing them marginally better than the other Jaegers, which were almost blind in this environment. 'And even if we do, they have the advantage down here.'

'Advantage or no advantage, underwater or city fighting, the magma of our souls shall not be extinguished by mere seawater!' said Kam determinedly as the Chinese mecha kept all its weapons at the ready, kicking up dust with every step.

Just then, Tendo's voice came over the comms, shouting frantically. 'Cherno, you have movement on your right! 3 o'clock! 3 o'clock!'

The Kaidonovskys scanned their sensors, but detected nothing in a 100 foot radius. 'What are you talking about?' asked Sasha. 'All sensors are clear; there's nothing there.'

Ultraman Helix grunted, his yellow eyes shining like a ghost's in the dark. 'I can't see anything in this blasted water! Corona Collision!' He held up his fist, which started to glow a bright blue and the water around him started to bubble slightly. But the light emitted was still enough to cast the mountains around them into more detail.

The five giants looked around for any sign of life, but the most either their eyes or their sensors managed to pick up was a dark shadow slipping in and out of view on either side. 'We can't see anything,' reported Jin Wei, Typhoon's telescopic lens whirring in and out. 'Either there's nothing there or it's moving faster than our sensors can pick up.'

'Eyes on the prize, boys!' called Chuck. '600 meters from the drop!' Sure enough, ahead of them was a line of light in the seabed, a crack in the earth's crust with the light from the magma in it seeping out.

Onboard the Ouryu, Pentecost, Sevier and Tendo watched the holographic display as the five signatures drew closer and closer to the jump. The Breach had opened into a crack of the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth, which was a large plateau covered in small volcanic vents. The screen also showed two huge Kaiju signatures that circled around the Jaegers, while the latter remained unsure of the former's locations.

One by one, the Jaeger signatures and Helix took the jump, plummeting down into the Challenger Deep and dropping onto the plateau with thuds that echoed through the control room. The Kaijus only responded by speeding up their circling, as if waiting for their prey to draw closer to their nest.

'400 meters and closing!' declared Chuck over the comms.

Suddenly the two Kaiju signatures stopped circling, both positioned behind the formation of Jaegers. 'The bogeys, they're stopping!' Tendo called to the Jaegers. '4 o'clock! 8 o'clock!'

Instantly Striker's position on the screen halted, causing the rest of the group to stop too. 'Dad, what are you doing?' snapped Chuck.

'They're stopping! Why the hell are they stopping?'

'I don't give a damn, old man! We're 300 meters from the jump!'

'Something's not right!'

Helix's icon shivered warningly. 'There's nothing there! I can't even see shadows!' The other Jaegers shifted their positions cautiously.

Pentecost grabbed the mike. 'Striker, the bogeys aren't moving! Take the leap now!'

'Don't do it! Don't do it! It's not going to work!' suddenly screamed a voice, and everyone on the bridge turned to see the scientists Geiszler and Gottleib scramble frantically into the room. A helicopter landing on the flight deck showed how they got there; they had commandeered a Chinook and flown right after them. Newton hurried ahead and rudely shoved Pentecost out of the way to snatch the mike himself. 'Move, Marshal! The assault on the Breach; it's not going to work!'

'What do you mean? What's not going to work?' asked Hu Wei in concern.

'Sir, just because the Breach is open does not mean you'll be able to get a bomb through!' Newton managed to puff out due to his mad dash from the helipad to the bridge.

Hermann pushed himself beside the mike. 'The Breach genetically reads the Kaijus like a… a barcode at the supermarket and then lets them pass!'

'So you're gonna have to fool the Breach into thinking you have the same code!'

'And how are we supposed to do that?' asked Aleksis.

'By making it think you are a Kaiju!' Newton answered.

'So you'll have to lock on to a Kaiju, ride it into the Breach; the throat will then read the Kaiju's genetic code and let you pass!' Hermann added.

'And if you don't do it, the bomb will deflect off the Breach like it always has and the mission will fail!'

Sevier interjected them, 'So you're saying they'll have to subdue a Kaiju and drag it into the Breach with them?'

'That's exactly it!' both scientists said in unison.

Pentecost elbowed the two scientists out of the way. 'Alright, men, now that you've heard all that, you know what to do!'

'Sir!' Tendo suddenly called out. 'There's a third signature emerging for the Breach!' He enlarged the icon on the display to reveal a huge red dot emerging from the Breach.

Pentecost shouted the information to the Jaegers as the two scientists looked at each other in horror. 'A triple event,' breathed Newton.

'I was right…' murmured Hermann.

'How big is it? What category?' asked Herc.

Tendo turned to Pentecost, eyes bulging. 'Category V.'

'Striker, it's a Category V, codename Slattern. The first ever.' Herc and Chuck shared a look when the news came over the radio.

'A Category V?' repeated Cheung Wei.

'Bozhe moy,' said both Kaidonovskys in unison.

Guy's fingers tightened on his guitar. 'So they've stepped up their game. So what? We've already stepped up ours.'

'But how do you know that it's enough?' asked Raleigh concernedly.

Guy shot them a look. 'Because I believe that it is.'

'Boys? Incoming,' said Kuni, as she watched the Breach from the screen start to darken.

All five giants watched as in the glare of their headlights, a gigantic head resembling a hammerhead shark rose from the crevice like a bad dream, its massive frame and tree-trunk arms towering almost twice as tall as the Jaegers. Its eyes fixed balefully on its assailants as it let out a deafening bellow.

Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka defiantly engaged their blades and armaments. 'Gipsy, we see him. You and I will take point on this guy and buy the rest time to get in position,' Herc instructed. 'Cherno, Typhoon, get to our 9 and 3 and try and flank him. Helix, I need you to act as rear guard-'

'ENEMY AT 9! ENEMY AT 9!' Helix suddenly yelled, cutting him off. Cherno Alpha wheeled around to see the Ultraman get blindsided by another dark shape, throwing him violently to the side of their formation. Although taken by surprise, the silver giant managed to regain his footing, and slam his already-glowing fist into a devastating uppercut, driving the creature backwards. Cherno's headlamps showed a pair of massive horns built for ramming, as the creature backed up to do just that.

'Helix has been engaged by Kaiju Scunner!' Sasha reported. 'Typhoon, continue to assist them, we'll aid Helix! Aleksis, prepare Roll of Nickles!' The Mark-1 pumped its fists as the tesla coils in them started to surge.

As Crimson Typhoon marched into position, their camera whirred to see Slattern's three tails start to whirl around, as if building up for a powerful attack. 'Gipsy, Striker, the Kaiju's about to attack!' Cheung Wei shouted. 'Thundercloud formation, brothers!'

Even as Jin Wei propelled Typhoon forward, the Jaeger dropped its ring around its shoulder, drew in its whip and engaged all three of its sawblades. Twisting in mid-jump, Typhoon crashed into the Kaiju's shoulder, whirling like the storm it was named for, drawing Kaiju Blue with every slash. The beast gave a violent bellow, but it still didn't stop it from lashing its tails out right at the two main assailants.

'Look out!' Raleigh shouted, twisting the controls. Gipsy shoved Striker out of the way and slashed out with its own sword, managing to shear several meters off one into a bloody stump. But the other two lanced past and struck it in the chest, knocking Gipsy back across the plateau.

Snarling, Kuni engaged Striker's tiger claws as Herc and Chuck lashed out, grabbing one tail and slashing down, slicing it clean off. The Jaeger whipped around and made a grab for the other tail, but it managed to evade its grip and instead wind around Striker's outstretched arm, torso and neck, pinning its limbs before hauling it clean off the seabed.

At the same time, the massive Category V reached behind it and grabbed Crimson Typhoon around the upper right arm joint, pulling it off its back and holding it in mid-air. Jin Wei gritted his teeth at the strain exerted on his controlling arm.

'You think you can smother our spirit with your bare hands!' Kam bellowed, 'Think again!' With a flourish, the spear that Typhoon's front two arms grasped was thrust right through the Kaiju's wrist, drawing a gushing stream of blue. The monster bellowed in agony and its grip weakened. A toxicity meter in the Conn-Pod started to blink warningly.

But before Crimson Typhoon could pull free, the second Kaiju suddenly shot out of the shadows like a living torpedo and clamped its powerful tripartite jaws around the Jaeger's captured arm, and with a sickening wrench, ripped it clean off. Alarms blared and Jin Wei howled in agony as the feedback laced his real arm with nothing but pain.

'Jin Wei!' yelled his brothers in dismay.

'ONORE!' yelled Kam in fury, twisting the spear and using it to try and lever Typhoon loose. Cheung Wei, his brain still rattling from the feedback, simultaneously started charging the wing spurs and flipped the Jaeger's legs around. But despite the abundance of high emotion, Kam vaguely wondered why his sunglasses weren't shining any brighter.

Meanwhile, Ultraman Helix managed to catch the charging Scunner's horns and braced himself, but he was still pushed backwards, crashing through rock formation after rock formation. But before the smaller Ultraman took too much damage, Cherno Alpha crashed powerfully into its side, discharging a powerful surge of electricity into the beast.

'Hold it!' Helix growled as Cherno put all its weight onto the Kaiju's neck, flattening it down to the ground. 'Just who the hell do you think I am, a pushover? Big mistake! Meteor Guillotine!' Boosting itself into the air, the silver giant stretched out its leg and came down, intent on a heel-drop kick right on Scunner's neck. But suddenly, Raiju once again charged out of nowhere, spitting chunks of metal out of its jaws, and seized Helix around the waist in mid-water, driving him away from Scunner and Cherno.

'Kyodai!' gasped Max, quickly calling up the targeting systems. While the Kaidonovskys focused on keeping their own Kaiju pinned, Max aimed Genbu's shoulder turrets at the retreating Raiju and sent a salvo of bombshells hurtling at it, but the bad positioning meant that they couldn't get a good aim and instead blew apart several rock formations.

Gipsy Danger struggled to its feet and saw the Kaijus holding all its allies at bay. Raleigh's eyes swung from one to the other. 'Damn it! Who do we help?'

'Cherno needs to keep that one busy, but Striker and Typhoon need us the most,' answered Mako.

'But what about Helix?'

'Don't worry about Kyodai; he can take care of himself,' Guy reassured. 'Now get this thing moving and let's give that beast a deafening!'

Raleigh and Mako pulled their Jaeger around and stomped towards Slattern. The giant Category V, still holding the other two Jaegers, roared and lunged at them with its free arm, but Mako had already deployed Seiryu's sonic projector.

'Sound off!' yelled Guy as he blasted another riff from his guitar, sending the sonic pulse surging through the water. Slattern flinched as the sound hit its eardrums, and its fist veered to the side, only catching Gipsy on its shoulder and knocking it sprawling. Seizing their chance, the Hansens blasted Striker's shoulder cannons at the beast's head at the same time the Wei Tangs acrobatically whipped Typhoon's legs around, driving the now-glowing spurs into the monster's arm. The combined agony was enough for Slattern to loosen its grip on both its captors.

'Now!' shouted Chuck as Striker managed to free one claw, extend its heated Sting-Blades, and sever the last tail from Slattern. Typhoon pulled itself free of the fist and dropped to the seabed, as Gipsy struggled to its feet. The three mechas regrouped as Slattern writhed in pain, its wounds gushing blue blood.

'Damage report,' said Herc, scanning the screens. 'Those tails of his shattered our AKM-Launcher, and walking speed is down 50%. It's only luck that the bomb wasn't damaged.'

'Speak for yourself, Ranger Hansen,' Cheung Wei reported bitterly, watching Jin Wei sag in his harness, drifting in and out of consciousness. 'Our upper arm is gone and Jin Wei is almost out of commission. Our boosters are shot and our spear is still stuck in its arm.'

'That last blow shattered our sensors,' answered Mako, 'Unable to sense anything beyond 50 meters; we can't even detect the Category V. It also knocked out our Plasmacaster, but we're lucky that's all that's knocked out.'

Raleigh glanced at their co-pilot/passenger. 'Can't that Spiral Energy of yours patch us up?'

Guy's expression was a mix of confusion and frustration. 'It should be… but I can't feel the GS-Stone putting out any more energy than it is now. It's like something's shoved a glass ceiling over it – like I've reached a limit.' Still, the fire in his eyes did not fade. 'But there's got to be an answer, and we're going to find it!'

'Well, isn't that just lucky?' groaned Raleigh.

'Lucky is right; things could've been much worse – like all of us being scrap by now. Cherno? Helix? How are the two of you fari-' Herc's voice was suddenly deafened by the wounded Slattern suddenly rearing up, and starting to bellow like a foghorn. The water visibly trembled as the sound wave pulsed through it.

'…that can't be good.'

Helix's body was wracked with pain as Raiju's external jaw clamped on his torso like a vice, whipping him back and forth as the Kaiju swam in and out of stone formations like a crocodile, not caring what abuse Helix took from the rocks crumbling around him. If that wasn't enough, the bioluminescent head inside Raiju's jaws tore viciously at Helix's incapacitated chest.

Helix could feel his strength ebbing away, but the surge of fury quickly made that irrelevant. 'You… think… you can hold ME? Gravity Doping!'he bellowed, surging Spiral Energy through his upper body. His body shining bright purple, he grasped the lower jaw with his one free hand and with an almighty wrench, tore it open and freed his other arm. As the Kaiju scrabbled with its webbed forearms, the Ultraman kicked them away and pulled himself free, flipping onto Raiju's back.

'Grabbing me was the last mistake you'll ever make!' he snarled, raising both hands over his head, now glowing radiant silver. 'GALAXY GATLING!' his deafening roar made the water ripple around him, and was finalized by his fists pounding into Raiju's back at machine-gun speeds, scales splintering, bone cracking, and Kaiju Blue flowing with every strike. Bellowing in agony, the Kaiju started to sink lower and lower into the water, its struggles becoming weaker and weaker.

As the Kaiju drew closer and closer to the seabed, Helix caught sight of Cherno Alpha grabbing Scunner by the horns and hauling him across the ground towards one of the volcanic vents. Genbu's armor kept the Kaidonovskys safe, and Cherno's glowing turbines and Scunner's scalded hide showed their attempts in keeping it subdued. As Helix watched, the Russian behemoth shoved the beast's flesh right into the vent, and Kaiju flesh sizzled and smoked as the creature was cooked alive.

It was at that point that Slattern's echoing call reached the ears of their two captive Kaijus. Distracted, Helix didn't notice Raiju's body stiffening, before the beast did a furious death roll like a crocodile, as if rallied by the Category V's roar like a clarion call, this time managing to dislodge the rider from its back. Even as Helix thudded into the seabed, Scunner gave an almighty wrench and twisted its body to the side, throwing Cherno Alpha off balance and sending it crashing through the same volcanic vent it was trying to roast the Kaiju in. Both Kaijus then turned around and charged in the same direction as the roar.

'What was that?' called Helix, staggering to his feet. His silver chest was scarred from Raiju's jaws, and the small jewel over his chest was blinking like a hazard light.

Cherno Alpha's hydraulic muscles churned as it levered itself upright. Sasha gasped as she scanned her instruments. 'That was the Category V; it's calling the other Kaijus to its aid.'

'The others must have it damaged badly if it's calling for help,' agreed Aleksis, 'but I don't like their chances if it's three on three.'

'I do not either,' nodded Sasha, reaching for the comms. 'This is Cherno Alpha; the other two Kaijus have gotten away from us and are headed in your direction. We'll be there in a moment to give you backup-' A metallic whine filled the air as the Russian Jaeger tried to take a step, its left leg buckling under its weight, and the resulting surge of joint-twisting agony through both Kaidonovskys' left legs bit off her last words.

Max quickly analyzed the damage and hissed in annoyance. 'This is Max; that last attack damaged Cherno's left knee servos; we can still move, but there's no way we can get there in time.' His mind whirled for a few more moments. 'But maybe we can still assist them…' he spun to the console and started entering in coordinates.

Hissing as the pain slowly faded, Sasha glanced at him while Aleksis hailed the Ouryu. 'What are you doing?'

'Planning to use one of our salvos to cause some real havoc,' Max replied, planting targeting reticules on what seemed like thin air (or water in this case).

'The sensors can't scan that far! How are you going to aim?'

Max just flashed them a serene smile. 'Call it… genius intuition.' The GS-Stone in the cockpit flared and the servos started to growl as the Jaeger turned to face the retreating Kaijus.

'Kyodai, I know you're running low on energy, but prepare to get us there ASAP,' Max instructed. 'Sasha, Aleksis, just trust me. Fire now!'

The couple shared a look, before nodding. 'Inferno missiles, fire!' barked Aleksis, launching the leg-mounted rockets in a wide-spread targeting pattern. As they rocketed after the beasts, Helix moved behind Cherno and grasped it by the waist.

'Even if I only have a sliver of life left, my willpower will not let you down! Hold on to your helmets!' he boomed before his powerful legs launched both of them off the seabed.

'Now, what the hell is going on with the GS-Stones?' the genius muttered. 'Why aren't they putting out more Spiral Energy?' His eyes fell on the water toxicity meter, and he started to wonder.

Onboard the Ouryu, Pentecost and Sevier listened anxiously to the information over the comms. 'This is Cherno Alpha,' came Aleksis's voice over the comms, 'Left leg is damaged, all three Kaijus converging on Striker, Typhoon and Gipsy. Max has a plan to delay them, but there's no way we can reach them in time.'

Pentecost scowled at the news. 'Then hurry up! We can't let those Kaijus disable the bomb… or worse, force Striker to detonate it.'

Sevier was silent, before turning abruptly to Tendo. 'Where are we in relation to the battle?'

Tendo scanned the sonar. 'We're about a kilometer directly above them right now. Why do you ask?'

Pentecost cast his old partner an interested look. 'One more thing up your sleeve?'

'Two things actually,' answered Sevier, turning to another microphone. 'This is just one of them.' Flipping it on, she spoke to the crew of the Ouryu at large. 'This is Commander Sevier of the Ouryu. All personnel, secure vehicles, report to safe zones and prepare for ship transformation.'

'Transformation?' asked Newton as sirens sounded and crew members scrambled around the bridge. 'What transformation?'

'The Ouryu is more than just TALOS's flagship; it's also one of our last lines of defense,' Sevier answered, wheeling herself to the central console and tapping a few controls. Mechanical clamps sprang up from the floor to anchor her wheelchair to the ground, as a Pons system with a corresponding helmet lowered from the ceiling.

The Marshal's eyes widened at that. 'Tam, are you trying to…'

'I am,' agreed the Commander, slipping the helmet on. 'My mind is still strong enough to produce the necessary brainwaves for the Pons system to sync with it, even with my natural legs incapacitated. And if any difficulties arise, the GS-Stone should be able to give me the energy needed to withstand it.'

'That's too big of a risk, Tamsin,' Pentecost's eyes had become hard, staring black dots, 'Between the strain of Drifting by yourself, the cancer, and your frailty, even the GS-Stone's energy might not be enough!'

'But it will be enough,' Sevier replied calmly, 'because that is my will. I didn't give up when Trespasser showed up, I didn't give up when my friend crashed fighting that bastard, I didn't give up when the cancer hit me, and I'm certainly not going to give up when victory is so close! If there is a chance that we can end this war and bring back everyone in one piece, you damn know as well as anyone that I'm going to take it! What happened to Luna is not going to happen again!'

The last part wasn't spoken with any more volume, but with the intensity she was giving out, she might as well have been yelling loud enough to be heard in space. Newton, Hermann and Tendo were still trying to wrap their heads around what Sevier had said, but Pentecost was nothing but emotionless… for the next five seconds.

'Well, Commander, if that's what you're planning, then I just have one request.' A smirk that Sevier hadn't seen in a long while appeared on his face. 'Get me another Drivesuit, and I hope that system of yours has another Pons interface.'

Sevier smirked as well, and gestured to a closet at the other end of the bridge. 'I was waiting for you to say that, Stacks.' A few more taps of her console lowered another Pons system helmet and harness from the ceiling to her side, as the metal deck beneath it slid aside to reveal a set of Jaeger foot controls.

'Mr. Choi, mind giving me a hand?' asked Pentecost.

'Y-yes, sir!' the technician answered, snapping to attention.

'Doctors, prepare the Neural Handshake,' Sevier spoke to Newton and Hermann, who immediately moved to the console, 'You two, help the Marshal suit up,' she gestured to two other technicians on the bridge. 'And you two,' she pointed to two more, 'get me the Spinal Clamp.' With a flourish, she pulled off her flight jacket and skirt to reveal a fully-prepared circuitry suit.

It normally takes seven minutes to fully outfit a Drivesuit from head to toe – Pentecost stepped back onto the bridge, fully armored, in three. As he clamped himself into the foot controls and harnessed himself in, Sevier finished entering the initiation codes into the console.

'Boys, strap yourselves in; things are going to get stormy in a moment!' Sevier announced. As the assorted technicians and researchers strapped into whatever harnesses they could find around the bridge, the Commander flashed her partner a look. 'Still remember what my head feels like, Stacks?'

The Marshal's smirk didn't move. 'I should be asking you that. A lot can change in nine years.'

It was at that point that Herc Hansen's voice came over the comms. 'LOCCENT, all three Kaijus are converging on our position. No feasible way of escape possible – request permission to detonate thermonuclear charge to clear a path for Cherno. Its nuclear reactor should do the job.'

'Denied, Ranger,' Pentecost replied, 'Cherno just called; a plan's already in motion. You all should think of ducking right about now – and don't worry, reinforcements are on the way.' Before Striker, Typhoon or Gipsy could inquire further, Sevier interrupted them with the final corrections.

'Mechanical calibrations complete. All crew secured. Preparing to dive in 5… 4…'

Tendo looked up from his harness in front of the Drift console. 'Calibrations complete. Initiating Neural Handshake in 3… 2…'

'1!' Both Marshal and Commander felt the long-familiar jolt as their brains were pulled into the Drift, at the same time the entire ship gave a lurch and started to sink beneath the ocean's surface, bow first.

'Denied?' Chuck repeated incredulously, 'Not that I mind not blowing ourselves to bits, but how the hell are we supposed to get out of this now?' The silhouettes of Scunner and Raiju started to grow out of the gloom, even as Slattern reared back its massive arms for another charge.

'And what did he mean by Cherno's plan?' Raleigh asked, retuning the comms. 'Cherno, what did the Marshal mean by a plan and ducking?'

'… ducking would be a good idea, tovarisch,' answered Aleksis tonelessly, 'Since our leg's out, Max apparently took it upon himself to send a salvo of Infernos your way – without proper aiming.'

'WHAT?' echoed all the pilots in disbelief, followed by a groan from the three TALOS members.

'Why am I not surprised that he'd pull something like this?' muttered Kuni, seeing the approaching missiles light up on Striker's still-working sonar. 'Hit the dirt!'

'That mad scientist of yours is gonna get us killed!' Chuck shouted angrily as all three Jaegers flung themselves to the seabed.

'…are you kidding?' Kuni snorted. 'If Max gets us killed with this stunt, I'll eat my new halo when we get up there.'

Slattern actually paused in confusion at its opponents' strange tactics, even as the other Kaijus got within striking range. But before any of them could actually land another blow, Cherno's Inferno missiles streaked into range and their timed detonators blanketed the ocean floor with explosions, engulfing all the giants in a cloud of smoke and silt.

Although only mildly injured by the shockwaves, Slattern still ended up staggering backwards from the prone mecha. Scunner and Raiju, on the other hand, were so disoriented that they charged right over the three crouching Jaegers and ploughed instead into their Category V counterpart, knocking all three over in a tumble of limbs, teeth, claws and scales almost to the edge of the Breach.

The Jaegers staggered to their feet, silt drifting off their bodies. When Crimson Typhoon's telescopic view caught a better view of the aftermath, all the Wei Tang triplets could do is stare. 'You have to be joking. You absolutely have to be joking,' muttered Hu Wei. 'That trigger-happy scholar pulled it off?'

'Hah! As expected from Maximilian!' crowed Kam gleefully, 'When it comes to guns and missiles, his fighting spirit blazes almost as brightly as my own!'

Jin Wei almost succumbed to the urge to cackle madly. 'That almost makes the pain worth it. So what are we waiting for?'

'We're waiting for what little sensory equipment we have to clear up,' replied Raleigh, watching the screens shudder and fritz with static, 'That concussion muddled them a bit; they'll be up in a few seconds.'

'Same here,' muttered Herc, 'I'm as amazed as you are that that crazy stunt actually worked, but unless you want to charge in with two half-blind Jaegers, Ranger Tang, be my guest.'

'Make that two half-blind Jaegers, a half-crippled Jaeger, and a wounded Ultraman, up against three creatures that have taken our shots like nothing, and are at worst twice as tall as one of us,' came a radio response, as Cherno Alpha, half-supported by Ultraman Helix, limped up to them.

'Remind me to kill you for that stunt when we get out of here,' deadpanned Chuck at Max, who merely chuckled in response.

'Talk about that later,' Herc said, as the Kaiju's enraged bellows echoed through their scopes. 'Typhoon, your scopes are the best out of all of us, and with your boosters and one arm out, your regular moves aren't going to work. Your best bet is to run recon and feed us intel, as well as what fire support you can. Striker's arms are still working, Gipsy's the most intact armor-wise, and Helix isn't going down anytime soon, so the three of us will take point and try and subdue one each. Cherno, that leg isn't going to do you any good up close, so try and find a good vantage point to use your weaponry; we need to keep them all in one place.'

'Sounds good to me,' Hu Wei agreed, Typhoon engaging its working Plasmacaster with its left arm and drawing its ring with the other.

'Those behemoths are not getting away this time,' declared Helix, pulling himself up straight despite his blinking chest light.

'It's a good plan, Ranger Hansen,' came Sevier's voice over the commlink, 'and reinforcements are on their way. Do what you can, and we'll be there in a moment.'

'You'll be there?' repeated Mako, 'Commander, what do you mean you'll be there-'

'They're up! They're up!' Guy cut off the rest of her question. 'Take your targets!' The three Kaijus had finally untangled themselves and were now charging for the Jaegers like runaway trains, Slattern bellowing like a living thundercloud. Gipsy Danger, Striker Eureka and Helix once more took point as Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon backed off.

Unfortunately, Slattern turned out to be more cunning than the Jaeger pilots gave it credit for. Even as Gipsy moved to intercept them, Scunner intercepted it and sent both of them tumbling away, leaving Slattern and Raiju to turn their full attention on Striker, either noting its sluggish leg movements as easy prey, or recognizing the significance of its payload. Helix managed to wrestle Raiju away from the melee, but Striker was driven to the ground under the full weight of the massive Category V.

The Hansens grunted as their Conn-Pod shook under the weight of the behemoth, and alarms started blaring all over the cabin. Drawing back both arms, Striker shoved all twelve of its blades into the Kaiju's ribs, staining the water blue, and then tearing and wrenching at them to cause even more trauma. Despite the loss of its boosters, Typhoon leapt onto Slattern's back and encircled its head with its metal ring, using it as a handhold while its Plasmacaster fired point-blank shots into the Kaiju's shoulders, trying to incapacitate the creature's arms. Without its tails to multitask, Slattern was torn between tearing the blades out of its body and throwing its unwanted passenger off.

As Helix slammed Raiju into the ground, he raised an arm, summoned a Nebula Javelin with a yell, and stabbed it right into its neck joint. Despite the agony, the oversized crocodilian Kaiju gave a massive twist, gouging the silver skin with vicious claw marks and throwing the weakened Ultraman clear before turning back to Slattern. Luckily for Helix, the javelin detonated before it could aid its alpha, spraying Raiju with a shower of its own Kaiju Blue and stopping it in its tracks. Seizing his opportunity, Helix charged forward with a bellow of 'Comet Dynamite!' catching the Kaiju in the side with an energized flying knee, knocking it across the seabed.

Gipsy rolled with the impact and managed to use its legs to propel Scunner off it before driving its extended broadsword into the creature's side. Enraged, the bull-horned Kaiju grabbed at the arm and dragged it closer to pummel the Jaeger with a devastating head-aimed cross that sent the cockpit rattling. Guy growled, and countered with another guitar blast that stunned the Kaiju long enough for Gipsy to pull itself free in a spray of blue blood. The American Mark-3 threw itself backwards as Cherno braced itself and plastered Scunner with a barrage of high ordnance.

As the Russian Jaeger turned to aim its shoulder cannons at Slattern, Scunner charged out of the resulting cloud of silt and blindsided it, badly denting the back armor and sending it sprawling. The misaimed cannon shell ended up just shooting past Slattern's eye horn, even as Scunner, despite its numerous injuries, laid a devastating hammer blow on the Jaeger's reinforced abdomen as two smaller arms kept it pinned. Gipsy threw itself blindly back into the fray, this time forcing its broadsword through the back of the Kaiju's lava-scorched skull, latching on its neck with its dragon-headed hand, and jerking backwards.

Cherno managed to gain enough leverage to slam Scunner off itself with its fist, but the pilots soon found other problems. 'Waist servos' been crushed!' cursed Sasha. 'We can't stand up!'

Herc bit off a swear word at the alarms that were going off in his ears. 'Reactor core's starting to flood – the bastard's crushing our chest-plate! Typhoon, you've got to get this guy off before he ruptures our reactor completely!'

'We're trying!' snapped Cheung Wei, their Jaeger pulling with all its might. 'We just don't have enough leverage with only two arms!' Digging into the beast's flesh with its spurs, the Chinese Mark-4 hung on for dear life as Slattern resorted to thrashing it off.

'Goddammit, what does it take to bring these things down?!' groaned Jin Wei.

'Do not despair!' yelled Kam. 'Never back down, never surrender! That's the way TALOS rolls!'

Raiju roared and lashed out, this time grabbing Helix around the leg with its jaws and swinging it around, smashing him into another volcanic vent. Turning, the massive crocodilian Kaiju surged for Slattern like a rocket.

Helix tried to stand up but his chest light had already grown too weak and he barely had enough power to keep his body intact. 'Kuni, Kamina-aniki, the magma of my soul has cooled! ' he gasped out, 'I couldn't stop my foe – and he's coming for you!'

Cherno and Gipsy's Conn-Pods turned to the melee and the growing silhouette of Raiju in dismay. In Striker's cockpit, the struggling Chuck was a picture of frustration. 'Dammit, woman! Shouldn't that Spiral stuff have fixed our AKMs by now?'

'It should've…' gritted Kuni, 'but I don't understand why it's not! It's like the power output from the GS-Stones has been capped!'

'Well how the hell is that possible?'

'How am I supposed to know?'

'Shut up, you two!' barked Herc. 'This isn't helping us at all! LOCCENT, where the blazes are those reinforcements?'

'… Right above you, Ranger!' came the sudden boom over the comms, and a pair of blinding spotlights suddenly appeared overhead like sunbeams, illuminating Jaegers and Kaijus alike. Before the optics of the stunned mechas, the giant bow of the Ouryu appeared out of the darkness, falling towards them like a divine spear. All battle froze, and even the charging Raiju slowed down.

'Holy crap,' whispered Raleigh.

Guy watched the giant machine descend on them, a large grin etched on his face. 'So Commander, you've decided to add your courage to ours?'

'Indeed I have, Captain,' answered Sevier. 'After all, if this is to be the last battle, we must hold nothing, absolutely nothing back if we are to win!'

'Then Commander, you know what to say!' At Guy's words, his guitar, which hadn't changed in brightness since first blood, started to shimmer once again, even as its owner grabbed it and let loose a long electrical riff.

Commander Sevier's smile would've unnerved even Slattern if it had seen it and her next words even more so. 'TETSUJIN HENKEI!' she barked out.

At her command, the bottom third of the carrier ship suddenly split down the middle, extended slightly, and separated into a pair of legs, the lowermost part unfolding into feet, as the deck segmented into several sections and rotated to act as armor plating. At the same time, the upper third slid apart and folded down, morphing into a pair of articulated arms, and a pair of metal plates on the end reformatted into giant hands. As mechanical pistons and struts extended and locked the new parts into place, forming new robotic joints and muscles, the bridge and a few runway segments flipped over to hide inside the new body, exposing plated gold armor. The cylindrical keel on its back disassembled into a set of back armor, and the bridge, now reformatted into a Conn-Pod, emerged on the top of the new robot, as a robotic head with a vaguely gold, draconian helm, even as the remaining metal around it reconfigured to form neck and shoulder armor.

The center of its chest slid apart to reveal a massive green chunk of GS-Ore, as the mecha's eyes flared a blazing emerald. As both feet touched down with a crash, a powerful mechanical voice boomed out, 'STARBRAVE OURYUJIN, KENZAN!' The sheer pressure from its presence alone sent the water around it bubbling like a riptide, and was enough to propel the three Kaijus head over claws through the water, bellowing like wounded beasts.

The four Jaegers and one Ultraman regrouped around the new arrival, which towered over them at the same height as Slattern itself. For the most part, all the regular Jaeger pilots were speechless.

'Never mind what I said just now,' Raleigh mumbled. 'Now I say "Holy Crap."'

Guy was grinning so hugely his face looked about to split in two. 'Ever since TALOS first came up with this beauty, I have had dreams of seeing it in action someday.'

'Subarashi!' crowed Helix, who despite his battered armor, looked like a kid on Christmas day. 'Sevier-shirei, your willpower officially has no equal! The magnificence of the StarBrave Ouryujin will never be equaled in my lifetime!'

Mako, however, was torn between amazement at the reinforcements and dismay at who was driving it. 'Sir, with all due respect, you didn't have to risk your lives like this; we could've eventually won against them…'

'I know the risks, Ms. Mori, and so does the Commander,' replied Pentecost, shifting his controls to get a better feel for them, 'but if fourteen lives are the cost to protect billions, then surely two lives may be the cost to save fourteen. Besides, with what TALOS has provided us, do you really believe my will to live can be broken so easily?'

His student was silent on that issue.

'Sir!' Tendo called from his position at the scopes, 'Kaiju Raiju has recovered and is approaching! 6 o'clock!'

The giant Ouryujin turned around to see Raiju violently strike aside Gipsy and Typhoon with its claws, sending them staggering into more stone vents, as it propelled itself towards the new arrival's leg. Unfortunately for it, the size disparity was finally on the side of the PPDC, and the comparison was like a crocodile against a hippopotamus. As the Kaiju lunged with three-part jaws wide open, the massive StarBrave kicked out and deflected the charge as if it was passing a soccer ball.

The crocodilian Kaiju shook its skull, its small luminescent head shrieking from within its jaws, before it swam off, looped around and made another charge at Ouryujin, this time aiming for the head. Her lip curling, Sevier punched in several codes into the control panels, Pentecost instantly shifting the mecha's stance.

'Selected: Gigantes Smasher,' spoke the StarBrave's AI, a booming, masculine voice that was a contrast to the calm, female tone of the Jaegers' AI. Spiral Energy whirled around Ouryujin's right fist, coalescing into the shape of a giant sledgehammer, before the metal of its arm grew and twisted out like a tree growing on fast forward, to mold to the template of the new weapon. Raiju opened its powerful jaws only to receive a mouthful of titanium-alloy hammer head, causing it to recoil, utterly stunned, its tripartite jaws crooked.

The cockpit still shuddering from the recoil, Pentecost gritted his teeth and flicked a few more controls, causing the head to start heating up and boiling the water around it. Drawing it back like a player at a carnival bell-ringing game, the Marshal let out a bellow of his own as his new mecha brought the hammer down in a massive arc right onto Raiju's head, flattening it into the seabed and pulverized every bone in its skull. A second strike utterly crushed it in a shower of silt, flesh and Kaiju Blue, and a third finally ceased its struggles altogether.

'Sergeant Kuni?' said Chuck, blinking. 'If this is what TALOS and the Japs have been building for the past 12 years, I take back everything bad I ever said about your organization.'

The other Jaegers could only stare, until a battered, burned, and beaten Scunner suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took a swipe at Gipsy's head. With the Jaeger's compromised sensors, the others out of range, and Tendo still dazed from being involved in active battle, no-one had enough time to react as the behemoth's fist cold-cocked the Conn-Pod, knocking the American mecha sprawling. Raleigh, Mako and Guy were jerked violently to one side as the sensors flickered and finally died altogether.

The other Jaegers realized this too late to stop it, but not too late to intervene. A few shots from Striker's and the prone Cherno's artillery managed to force the creature backwards, and only Tendo's panicked recovery managed to guard Ouryujin from Slattern's giant arm. A retaliating swing from the massive hammer sent the Kaiju retreating with a roar.

'Gipsy!' Pentecost snapped, his stern voice underlined with just a hint of worry, 'damage report! Becket, Mori, do you copy? Mako!'

'… Just a bit rattled, sir,' Raleigh muttered, managing to get to the comms, 'but that last blow knocked out whatever remained of our sensors. We're completely blind here.'

Sevier hissed at that. 'How long until your GS-Stones produce enough Spiral Energy to repair it?'

'They're not, Commander,' replied Guy. 'Ever since first blood from that behemoth, our GS-Stones haven't been putting out any more energy than now. It's only enough to sustain our energy levels, but that's it. It's like something's put a cap on them and preventing them from increasing their output rate.'

'Well, what could cause that? Officer Attenborough? Do you have an answer?'

Max's mind was in overdrive from the moment he had noticed something wrong with the energy levels, and only now had come up with an answer. 'Maybe, Commander,' he answered, 'it's just something I remember from the initial tests with the GS-Ore. One of the reasons it wasn't accepted by the world government coalition as a viable weapon was its volatility to extreme alkalinity. High enough levels would cause the mineral to react and prevent it from producing any more Spiral Energy from that point on, without an exponential increase in the emotional environment.'

'But Kaiju Blue is ammonia based; 100% alkaline! Almost all their flesh is saturated with it!' blurted Newton from where he was listening to the conversation. 'If your ore is that reactive to bases, there's no way it could be a viable weapon against the Kaiju!'

'Which is why TALOS never got off the ground until the researchers discovered an alloy composition that kept Spiral Energy output but counteracted the toxicity of Kaiju Blue!' replied Max. 'The GS-Stones were then able to handle the corrosive environments from the Kaiju and thus were put into use at Hong Kong!'

'So what the hell's going on?' gritted Cheung Wei as Typhoon unloaded another plasma bolt in Slattern's direction. 'If that fancy alloy works against Kaijus, what happened to it?'

Max glanced again at Cherno's toxicity meter. 'I think the toxicity of a Category V is higher than what the researchers accounted for, so when its blood was spilled, it started to overwhelm our GS-Stones, which is why they're not working now!'

'Well that's just great, Einstein,' snapped Chuck, firing Striker's last two cannon shells at the Kaijus, forcing them back another few steps, 'so how the hell are we supposed to get out of this alive now? Our reactor is leaking, Cherno's a sitting duck, Gipsy's blind, Typhoon's crippled, and your jolly silver giant looks like he's running on empty! If you ask me, you all should get out of here and let the big guy take care of the rest, while I take that crushed one down into the Breach, release the bomb there, and hope I can get out in time!'

'Not a chance, Hansen,' Raleigh snapped back, 'Even if that StarBrave-whatever could take on all of them solo, I'm not about to just get out of here and leave you to face them!'

'That would be a viable option, Ranger Hansen, if I was interested in letting anyone else put themselves at risk,' answered Sevier sternly. 'Enough people have died for this already, and I plan on getting all of you out of here alive. Besides, we still have one trick left, and it might give us enough power to blast right past the Kaijus and get you to where you need to be.'

The members of TALOS all fell silent, even Kam and Helix. 'Commander, are you proposing that?' Kuni asked.

'Indeed.'

'But for that to even work, everyone here would need to Drift into one body for the neural load to even be bearable; and who knows what could happen then?' said Max, theorizing the probabilities. 'And with the GS-Stones stifled as it is, would we even have enough Spiral Energy to pull it off?'

'Didn't you hear yourself, Officer? You said "an exponential increase in emotion", and I believe that the sum of everyone's emotional levels should do the job. Are you saying that your bravery isn't enough to break even these limits?'

Guy's fingers tightened on his guitar neck. 'Of course not, Commander. It's like you told me when we first met: with courage, even 1% becomes 100%! Even if fate itself tells us the odds, we break them anyway!'

'You're right, chief,' Kamina gritted, his shades starting to glint again, 'If all of fate's options say that someone might die, we say screw it, and make our own destiny where we all live! Not even fate tells us how we live or how we die… we do!'

'So when we say that we will live, then destiny better wise up and let us!' Helix agreed, his flickering chest light starting to brighten.

Max was silent for another moment, then he started to chuckle. 'Of course. What am I saying? I'm a genius; no-one should have to tell me the odds.'

'Stacks, do you believe it will work?' Sevier asked.

The Marshal didn't even pause in his answer. 'You're in my head, Tam, you should know that already.' He turned to the comms. 'All Jaeger pilots, prepare for a unified Drift.'

Almost all the pilots were struck dumb. 'A - a what?' Tendo stuttered, 'Sir, that's never been done before! With so many different teams, it should be impossible to synchronize all of them…'

'Mr. Choi, you've been in this battle long enough to get with the program,' Pentecost said calmly, 'Since when has anything with these people ever been "impossible"?'

'… Since never, sir,' finally answered Raleigh, his jaw set. 'I've seen enough to believe, and you know I've got the will to make it happen. Mako, you in?'

'I was never out, Raleigh. Sensei, you can count on me.'

'Hey, if these people can keep my arm in one piece, I've got faith in them to spare. How about you, boy?'

'… Ah, what the hell? Like you always say, old man, if you have a chance, you take it, right?'

'We're in too. There's three of us in one head already; what's a few more?'

'Agreed.'

'Let's do it!'

'And we've never known to give up either. Right, Aleksis?'

'Never have, my Valkyrie. Let's do this, comrades!'

Helix hurled two more Nebula Javelins at the two circling Kaijus, who were by now infuriated at their attackers' persistence. 'I will use what power I have to buy you as much time as you need. These two will not get past me! Just remember to grab my body before I drown, alright?' Before anyone could object, the Ultraman leapt at the two monsters, throwing one with all his might into the other, trying to keep them together and away from the rest.

Sevier was silent for only a moment. 'Good luck then, Corporal Masukuro. Mr. Choi, Dr. Geiszler, Dr. Gottleib, begin the Drift synchronization with the other Jaegers.' As Tendo's fingers rattled over the keyboard and the two researchers began calibrating other instruments, the Commander started entering more commands, forging connections between the GS-Stones in the cores of the other Jaegers.

As she hit the final key, the power levels of all five mecha shot through the roof as their collective energy and the Spiral Energy from their GS-Stone cores were pooled together. She closed her eyes, preparing for the Drift of a lifetime and letting her thoughts spiral…

'Spiral Energy maximized!' stated Tendo. 'This is it, guys – initiating Neural Handstack in 5…

No one at the bottom of this ocean has gotten here by themselves.

4…

The world working together gave us the Jaegers,

3…

The addition of TALOS gave us the StarMachine armor and the StarBrave,

2…

And now everyone's minds uniting will give us the key to winning this war,

1…

Forces that not even those of another world can hope to surpass!

0!' Tendo stabbed the final red button, and the eyes and visors of the four Jaegers and one StarBrave lit up as their pilots was hit with the biggest brain jolt of their careers as all their minds were pulled into the same Drift frequency. The next few seconds were sheer chaos, as jumbled images, sounds and memories, too fragmented to comprehend, flickered by from unsynchronized minds and thoroughly incompatible personalities. The mental strain grew so intense that all eleven participants felt their sanity start to come apart at the seams.

But before anyone suffered a complete mental hemorrhage, the blurs started to calm down as a familiar green energy started to weave its way into the memories. Slowly but surely, the pictures and sounds started to clear…

Two young boys playing in the snow together, each content to be with the person who was both best friend and family, all the while keeping an eye on the toddler trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue… the younger pulling the older out of his cot as a siren called them to the front lines…

A young girl joyfully popping bubbles with a kendo shinai, as her stoic teacher/father figure looked on, trying not to smile…

A young man proudly accepting an honors graduate diploma from the Australian Defense Force Academy, while determinedly not looking at an older man standing in the audience, his expression a mixture of pride and sorrow…

The same older man looking at a row of photos on a wall, each showing him standing beside a different man and a different Jaeger in the background, while sorrowfully remembering a ten-year-old boy sobbing in front of the last photo in the row, which showed a beautiful woman smiling into the camera…

Three boys exiting, battered, bruised, but victorious, from an alley filled with unconscious Chinese teens, only to be chewed out by their mother later that evening…

The same three boys, now fully grown men, peeking around a corner to see a woman in a wicker chair gazing up at the myriad of diplomas, certificates and trophies mounted around an old family photograph…

A burly, bearded man in his late 20s accepting an award as Squad Leader of the 2nd Independent Spetsnaz Brigade, even as his gaze was fixed on a haughty female observer wearing a maroon beret…

A Russian woman in body armor lying prone on the ground as the same man protected her from the gunfire exploding above them, almost aware of the emotional sparks flickering in their eyes…

A tall man climbing out onto the shoulder of a Jaeger, gazing down at a ruined Japanese city, before catching sight of a weeping girl amongst the debris…

A once red-haired woman gazing out the hospital window at a balmy Hawaiian sunset, before turning to see a Japanese official ask to come in, with five letters emblazoned on his uniform breast…

The man and the woman gazing forlornly at a picture of a smiling black woman in an RAF uniform, a sister to one and a near-sister to the other, as a mahogany coffin were buried in an English graveyard…

The images suddenly froze, and then suddenly warped into a spiral as the eleven minds were suddenly filled with a brilliant clarity unlike anything ever experienced in a Drift. Despite being from different backgrounds, different worlds, and maybe completely different temperaments, they were all now parts of a greater whole; different sections of the same collective mind. It was only now that they understood exactly what Sevier's plan was… and they liked what it entailed.

The chief technician couldn't help but gasp at the readout. 'Calibrations complete! Neural Handstack working at 100%!'

Guy's blood surged when he heard that. 'Yosha! Everyone – Final Fusion – APPROVED!'

A collective cheer rang through the Conn-Pods. Kuni's eyes were shining like stars. 'Yatte yaruze!' she hollered.

No communication was needed for all eleven pilots to utter the same thing, picked straight out of Sevier's mind. 'SAISHU GATTAI!'

Helix was thrown back by two gigantic fists colliding with his face, smashing painfully into the ocean floor in a cloud of dust. With another bellow, the two wounded Kaijus, fighting with bestial ferocity, lunged forward to double-team him, even as metal started to shift behind him.

'Just… a little… more… time!' Helix gritted, forcing his wounded body upright, and focusing all his remaining energy into his core for one last attack. 'Feel the might of my resolve! Thousand… STARS!' he roared, thrusting both arms forward, the Spiral Energy surging into his palms and then rocketing out as a dazzling array of blinding-white energy comets, some twisting like streamers through the air and some shooting out like bullets. Scunner and Slattern howled as every star that struck them or the ground detonated with the force of a tank shell, driving them backwards step by step.

Even as Helix pushed his powers to the limit and then beyond to keep them pinned, he still had enough sense of awe to turn around and watch the amazing transformation take place behind him.

The bodies of the four smaller Jaegers turned to face the larger StarBrave as it drew itself to its full height, its hammer dissimilating back into its armor. Cherno Alpha moved first, its conical false head, armored legs and arms separating from its body, which then split in two, revealing the Conn-Pod floating in the middle of the ocean. Strands made of Spiral Energy lashed out from Ouryujin's body, clutching the separate pieces of the dissembled Jaeger and pulling them to the appropriate places on its own body: each leg and hip fused with its corresponding arm and fist side to side before mounting on the mecha's shoulders as longer arms, the head separated into halves, turned over, and reconnected on Ouryujin's hips as waist armor, finishing with the body halves reformatting and affixing onto the StarBrave as thigh armor.

The next thing that happened was that Ouryujin's own arms and mounted shoulders separated from its torso to reaffix on its back, now resembling a pair of steel cannons. Striker Eureka was next to start changing, its head detaching from its torso, its arms and claws outstretching and its Angel Wings and cannons realigning so they all pointed straight up. Its legs folded up, its torso extended, turned 90° and bent at the waist, before the Jaeger's limbs locked in place, making it resemble a giant right arm topped with a vicious array of steel blades. More strands gripped it and secured it to the prong protruding from the StarBrave's right shoulder, culminating in a giant steel hand extending from Striker's neck and clenching into a fist.

Crimson Typhoon underwent a similar transformation, first with its left Plasmacaster realigning to lock onto its back, and the remaining right arm fusing to its torso. Its legs folded in half at the knees, aligning the wingtip spurs against its rear, before the torso extended, rotated and bent as well, forming another arm. More Spiral Energy connected it to the giant mecha's left shoulder, as the cyclopean head was ejected and replaced by another giant hand. Two more strands snagged the discarded spear and ring, folding up the latter and affixing it to the new upper arm, while the former was attached to the Jaeger's chest, now the underside of a wrist.

Gipsy Danger was the last to change, its chest and upper torso detaching from the rest of it and its dragon-armored forearms detaching from that. The Jaeger's lower body and legs split in half and folded over, to resemble a pair of armored shins and feet, while its Conn-Pod detached as well. The last bundle of strands stretched out from the StarBrave to collect the remaining parts and attach them: the dragon head separated to reaffix on the end of Typhoon's Plasmacaster, the chain sword and dragon blades separated to attach to Striker's shoulder cannons like bayonets, the forearm remainders armored the two transformed Jaegers like bracers, Ouryujin's leg sections grew to make room for its new reinforced shins and feet, and the torso unfolded into a set of armor that affixed around the StarBrave's own torso, the nuclear turbine aligning with the chest-mounted GS-Stone. Hisses and clacks echoed over the robot's body as mechanical locks, grips and clamps secured all the new parts firmly in place.

The finale occurred when four strands emerged from around Ouryujin's Conn-Pod and attached to all four free-floating Conn-Pods, drawing them close to each other. A spinning cone of Spiral Energy whirled up from around the five heads, and when it dissipated, in its place was a larger, better-armored Conn-Pod, with gold scales melding with blue, crimson, olive, and silver.

Inside the bridge, the pilots and the technicians present jolted when the walls suddenly collapsed around them, revealing the other pilots in front, behind, and to either side of Pentecost and Sevier, the Conn-Pods somehow having combined into one large cockpit. Outside, the draconian helm and the turbine-covered GS-Stone lit up with a blinding emerald light, as both the Jaeger's female AI and the StarBrave's male AI boomed out in unison, 'STARJAEGER GINGA OURYUJIN, KENZAN!' The resulting charismatic blast of pressure almost blew out all the volcanic vents in the area, and actually blew both Slattern and Scunner right back into the Breach crevice.

Helix grinned tiredly, as his attack finally fizzled out, somehow managing to stay upright through the pressure. 'Amazing, everyone… I've done all I can… I leave it to you all… win this war!' With that, his metal skin started to dissolve as his body finally ran out of energy.

The massive Jaeger gestalt reacted instantly, stepping forward and grasping Kyodai's emerging form before the seawater could rush in and fill the void left by his vanishing avatar, which would've either drowned or crushed him. A few commands later, and the unconscious Corporal was drawn into a small hatch in the mecha's hand, transported into a small chamber somewhere on the ship for preservation.

Kuni observed her comrade be drawn into the hatch with a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness.'

Everyone observed the new combined cockpit with a sense of awe. 'And I thought I couldn't be any more amazed after Hong Kong…' commented Raleigh.

Herc gave a low whistle. 'Reminds me of when I first saw a Jaeger… now the sight of something like that will take your breath away… but this is just as amazing!'

'You can say that again, old man,' nodded Chuck.

'So, this is what comradeship can achieve? The ability to control a Jaeger of this power and complexity?' mused Sasha, staring around the large room. 'Truly spectacular.'

Hermann, who had managed to keep his sanity throughout the whole ordeal, turned to his partner to ask his opinion, only to find him staring wide-eyed and jaw-dropped around the conglomerate Conn-Pod, looking like he was suffering from overexposure to awesomeness. Sighing, he just gave him a nudge with his cane instead.

'Marshal, Commander, the Kaiju signatures are rising again!' Tendo reported. 'They're climbing out!' He enlarged the viewscreen for a closer look. Sure enough, the Kaijus, pushed to the brink of defeat, rose out of the Breach, refusing to even give an inch, prepared to defend the Breach to the very end.

'Alright, people,' Pentecost declared, fingers clenched tightly on the controls, 'it's time to show these beasts that humanity is done being pushed around. They think to evict us, well; they've got another thing coming!'

'City after city, Jaeger after Jaeger, life after life has fallen to those before them and our hope has been frayed to a strand,' Mako whispered, the dirge of a fallen Tokyo echoing in her ears, 'but that's all that we need to win this war!'

'We've lost friends, loved ones, family, and more people than we can imagine to these bastards,' gritted Herc, sharing a look with Raleigh. 'But now, their dreams will be granted!'

Guy's eyes blazed, the power levels on all screens rocketing. 'Unity gave us wings, courage gave us rockets, and willpower will give us the hands that will write our own future!' His fingers blazed across his guitar strings, sending out electrical riffs with every stroke.

'This war will end!' Aleksis boomed loudly.

'We've played all our cards to prevent the loss of a single life today!' added Jin Wei, his brothers nodding, 'Losing is not even a question!'

'So right now, my little brother Kyodai just has one question for you monsters climbing from your pit!' Kamina snarled.

The entire bridge rattled with the statement from everyone's mouths. 'JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!'

Ginga Ouryujin rumbled with energy and charged at Slattern and Scunner like a linebacker from Jotunheim, the seabed quaking with every step. The Kaijus screeched and bellowed and charged back.

Two unstoppable forces met with a crash, as reinforced steel collided with otherworldly muscle. Blocking a bestial arm swing, the giant StarJaeger dug one arm into Slattern's gut and flung it head over claws, before turning to catch Scunner's damaged horns in its hands.

The eleven pilots moved as one, mixing and alternating their individual fighting styles with perfect synchronicity, the Drift making any verbal or mental coordination instant and involuntary. One moment, the mecha was twisting the horned Kaiju to the seabed with the Kaidonovskys' Greco-Roman wrestling techniques, the next, it was using the Wei Tangs' martial arts to spin around and catch a recovering Slattern in the face with a bone-shattering roundhouse kick. Raleigh's street fighting and Chuck's dirty boxing combined with Striker's mounted claws to both shatter a few Kaiju ribs with a knee strike and tear a multitude of gouges out of its flesh, and one of Cheung Wei's spinning back kicks from an oversized foot sent the Category V shooting backwards through the water.

Before Scunner could get back up, Mako engaged one of the weapon arrays and twisted the controls. The AIs once again blared in unison: 'Selected: Avalon Driver,' as the multitude of blades on Ginga Ouryujin's right arm started to seethe with heat. A surge of Spiral Energy caused all 16 mounted blades to lengthen and fuse together, culminating in a 100ft long sword blade extending from its wrist. A flash of steel later, and Scunner was roaring and missing one large horn and one main arm. From his harness, Max grinned grimly, the amount of Spiral Energy given off by the GS-Stones was too much for even a Category V toxin to neutralize.

Infuriated beyond all belief, the bull-like Kaiju lunged, its three remaining arms propelling it through the sea, intent on mangling its target to pieces. This time, it was Guy who responded, engaging Seiryu's sonic speakers that were now mounted on the mecha's upper chest. A deafening burst of guitar music later and Scunner was hurled backwards from the powerful concussion. Without missing a beat, Hu Wei called up another weapons system, and at the call of 'Selected: Predator Magnum,' the spear-tip mounted on the left wrist started to spin at obscene speeds, before the Chinese tactician flicked his wrist and sent the blade shooting at the Kaiju like a torpedo, trailing its still-intact chain whip like a grappling cable.

A moment after the blade pierced the monster's sternum, Ginga Ouryujin simultaneously boosted itself off the ground and retracted the cable, sending both giants hurtling towards each other. The extra-long blade on the mecha's right wrist soon found itself embedded in the beast's stomach up to the hilt courtesy of Mako, with the tip jutting out its target's back. But knowing how robust this monstrosity was, Herc didn't waste time in executing an appropriately-named coup de grace.

The AIs did not disappoint, 'Selected: Hand of Heroes.' Crimson Typhoon's Plasmacaster, equipped with Seiryu's dragon head and parts of Gipsy's own blaster, suddenly expanded into a menacing, draconic full-arm bazooka, its muzzle large enough to fully engulf Scunner's head, with the maw fully expanded and crackling with supercharged plasma energy.

'Turn to dust, dirtbag,' snapped the Australian veteran, clenching his fist to release the deadly payload. The viewpoints were briefly obscured by a blue-white flash as the cannon unloaded all five loaded charges in near-unison, each burst 10 times stronger than an ordinary Plasmacaster, directly into the monster's face. When the camera finally cleared up, all that remained of the Kaiju's head was a bubbling, smoking, cauterized stump.

No sooner had Ginga Ouryujin kicked the carcass off its blades than a recovered Slattern was almost upon it. But Pentecost's military training served him well, as he managed to block two slashes that would've taken the StarJaeger's head off, before he and Sevier countered using Suzaku's spurs, now mounted on Typhoon at the elbow, to carve yet another bloody gash in the beast's stomach. However, this didn't stop the creature from lashing out another hammer blow, this one making contact and throwing the mecha to the ground face-down

When the StarJaeger got its feet back under it, Sasha saw another weapon opportunity when Cherno's mounted fists aligned themselves with the lunging Kaiju's shoulders. With a call of 'Selected: Thunder Grandem,' by the AIs, the fists, expanded to twice their size from the energy channeled to them, erupted on their pistons to painfully send Slattern staggering backwards.

Using this brief respite, Pentecost and Sevier entered another set of commands, causing the arms mounted on Ginga Ouryujin's back to shift and turn, the attachments on the upper ends reformatting into cannon muzzles. The Marshal couldn't help but notice the similarity between the new weapons and those of Coyote Tango, before he and Sevier juked the massive mecha back to its feet, and with a command of 'Selected: Ironhide Special,' sent two energized shells arcing straight at the stunned beast, the resulting explosion catapulting the beleaguered Slattern straight upwards.

Max instantly followed up by engaging yet another weapons array. With 'Selected: Panzer Massacre' still echoing in the cockpit, Aleksis watched as the screens showed Genbu's missile arrays, now mounted on Ginga Ouryujin's thighs, deploy and target the Category V. Without missing a beat, the Russian ex-grenadier sent the entire storm of missiles arcing at the target, Spiral Energy propelling them through the water as if it was air. Explosion after explosion churned the seawater as the munitions blew the Kaiju higher and higher.

'Full power to rear boosters!' barked Sevier, reformatting the rear cannons so that the opposite ends which were Ouryujin's original hands morphed into a pair of rockets. A burst of flame propelled the massive machine off the seabed and up through the water, until the badly damaged Kaiju was directly in between it and the glowing Breach in the ocean floor. A sharp twist of the controls later, and the StarJaeger was diving straight at the Kaiju, seizing it by the shoulders and driving it straight for the Breach.

Slattern bellowed in a mixture of rage, pain and desperation, slamming Ginga Ouryujin with hammer-like blows, any one of which would've incapacitated any one of its lesser brethren. Despite alarms rattling the cockpit and their harnesses tossing them about like leaves, no-one in the cockpit – save perhaps the hyperventilating researchers – lost even a microgram of their nerve, as they bore the monster towards their target at high velocity. The gigantic Kaiju finally resorted to grabbing the Conn-Pod and trying to tear it off, roaring into its face.

'No chance!' shouted Raleigh, activating two of the old Jaegers' weapon systems in rapid succession, causing both Gipsy's Vortex Turbine and Cherno's Incinerators started to whirl as energy was focused into them. Slattern shrieked as plasma bursts torched its sides, its grip involuntarily loosening, right as the final burst of nuclear energy blasted both behemoths apart.

Even as the cockpit roiled violently from the recoil, Sevier turned an eye on Kam. 'One more thing, Lieutenant Lagann, your request for one of the Ouryujin's finishing weapon systems was approved and installed. Perhaps you'd like to take it out for a spin?' When Kam saw the weapon in question, his eyes and his sunglasses literally lit up with glee, and he activated it so fast that the AIs' voices drowned out whatever he said next.

'Final Selection: Quantum Drill.'

Once again, the spear shiv mounted on Typhoon started to spin at blinding speeds, but this time, the StarJaeger thrust it into the seething stream of nuclear energy, the spinning blade actually drawing in the energy like dust into a tornado. Spiral Energy blazed up around the speartip, melding with the atomic force from Gipsy's turbine and growing larger, and larger, and larger still… until Ginga Ouryujin carried, on its left arm, a truly colossal conical drill twice as large as its own body and shimmering a radiant green.

'Maximum burn! Take it down!' bellowed Pentecost, and all the pilots flared their controls, the booster rockets flaring like volcanoes in response. With the full propelling force of the StarJaeger's Spiral Energy behind it, Ginga Ouryujin shot for the floundering Kaiju like a drill-headed missile, the bit spinning like a blender from Hell's kitchen, everyone yelling at the tops of their voices.

'ULTIMATE… SPIRAL… BREEEAAAAKEEEEEEERRRRRR!' Kam shrieked like a man possessed as the tip pierced Slattern's stomach, slowed down by about 10%, and then bored right through it like a plasma cutter through whipped cream. The vibrating forces drowned out Slattern's final screech as the top and bottom halves of its body separated, while the remainder of it was mulched into a mass of blue pulp. As the giant warrior shot through the mess, Jin Wei had enough memory to impale one still-intact half of the Kaiju on the still-extended sword blade and drag it along with them.

None of the pilots had much time to exult over their victory over the Kaiju, as the massive drill bored through the stone of the crevice and plunged the entire StarJaeger straight into the Breach. The people in the cockpit only saw for a moment electrical bolts bouncing off the mecha, the cockpit, and the Kaiju carcass before the yellow glow of the Breach was suddenly replaced by the blues and purples of the dimensional rift.

Whatever the Precursor Ambassadors overseeing the creation of the Kaiju colonizers were thinking at that point in time, it flew right out the window when the Kaiju-release valve in the ceiling of their facility suddenly exploded in a shower of slime and flesh as one of the vermin's accursed metal creations, larger than any ever encountered, burst in, carrying half of one of the exterminator Kaijus on one arm and a gargantuan drill on the other.

The metal entity cast aside the Kaiju piece, as its visor fixed three of the Ambassadors in its emotionless gaze. The voice of one of the vermin controlling the monstrosity suddenly boomed from its head. 'This is a warning to all you scum in this place. You have underestimated our courage, our potential, our will to survive, for it is what has brought us here! This drill you see here is our weapon, born of our will, which allows us to break even the barriers between worlds! Even if you send every chunk of Kaiju flesh you have after us to claim what is ours, we will not falter! We will annihilate every last one of them, to protect our home, our lives, our destiny! You do NOT control our future; WE DO!'

Before any of the Ambassadors could even imagine contacting one of the Cardinals or Bishops to warn them, a section of the entity's right arm suddenly detached and floated away from it in the thick atmosphere of the Anteverse, a yellow symbol on it blinking ominously. The visor of the machine lit up with a glowing light as its final words echoed through the facility. 'Take this gift as a message and a promise: that if you bastards ever show your face on our world in the future, WE WILL COME HERE TO YOUR DOORSTEP AND EXTERMINATE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! FOR OUR WILL, OUR COURAGE, OUR GUTS… ARE THE WEAPONS THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS!'

A panicked Ambassador let out a piercing screech, signaling the Kaiju growth pods around the factory to suddenly burst open, releasing dozens of half-grown Kaijus of every shape and size. But before any of them even got close, the monstrosity's engines flared and it shot back out the hole it had created in the ceiling, charging right for the Breach drill-first.

The deformed Kaijus swarmed for the device it had left behind, even as the symbol started blinking faster and faster, pylons extended on its top, and steam started to vent from ports all over it. The Ambassador retracted its eye hood to lay its beady eyes on the device, as a sense of panic flooded the hive mind when it realized exactly what it was.

Then a flash of light like a planet exploding and an unholy wave of heat wiped all else from existence.

Ginga Ouryujin burst from the Breach, back into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and rocketed out of the Challenger Deep as if running from the gates of Hell themselves. Beneath them, the glowing crack that was the Breach crackled and churned like a lightning bolt, spitting fragments of sizzling quantum energy.

A moment later, a surge of heat and light shook the ocean bed and encompassed the entire crack in a cloud of glowing bubbles, right before the glow dimmed out altogether and the Breach dissolved and faded away. The mini-quake caused the crevice that contained the Breach to cave in, completely filling it in and leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

Onboard, Tendo watched the holographic display, as the rotating column that was once the Breach completely and utterly dissipated. 'The Breach has collapsed! The Breach has collapsed! You did it!'

The assorted technicians around the Conn-Pod that could only monitor the battle and hold on for dear life burst into raucous applause at the final victory. The eleven Jaeger pilots let out one collective breath, as the light of their final victory hit them all at once, while the TALOS crew whooped and hollered in excitement.

The torso of the StarJaeger breached the ocean surface, its visor gazing up at the blue sky after so long underwater. Hermann and Newton exchanged a victorious glance as the two men shook hands at a job well done. Tendo wiped a river of sweat from his brow, having literally collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. The Wei Tang siblings shared a victory group hug as if they had just won the basketball tournament of the century, yelling and laughing at the top of their lungs. Aleksis and Sasha tore off their helmets and shared a blazing look, before the married couple embraced in a kiss full of relief and passion. Chuck and Herc stared at each other for a moment, breathing hard, before they clasped hands and exchanged a bruising familial man-hug.

Raleigh pulled off his helmet and reached for the collar of his Drivesuit, extracting a photograph locket showing two men grinning and waving for the camera. 'That was for you, Yancy…' he whispered, before being distracted by a smiling Mako giving him a huge hug on his side.

'We did it…' she whispered, eyes shining with barely restrained tears.

'Yeah,' agreed Raleigh, looking around at everyone celebrating, 'We all did.' Mako glanced down at the locket of the Becket brothers and smiled, before turning and moving towards the man that was her idol, her teacher… her father.

The Marshal returned her daughterly embrace, smiling like he hadn't smiled in the last 12 years. Casting a glance to one side, he found a deeply-breathing Tamsin grinning at him. 'So,' she said, 'Hawaii, next week, the three of us?'

Stacker nodded, before releasing his student… daughter and activating the comms. 'This is Marshal Stacker Pentecost calling Hong Kong Shatterdome. The Breach has been neutralized; the War is over!' His voice rose in victory. 'Stop the clock!'

A deafening cheer echoed through both the Shatterdome and the Conn-Pod, as on the wall and the screen, the War Clock's reels dropped down to zero for the final time.

One week later…

As soon as Raleigh Becket entered the old bar in Anchorage, the place went silent for a millisecond before exploding with cheers and congratulations. The pilot was mobbed by a crowd of fans and admirers, clamoring for autographs, stories and even marriage proposals.

After a few autographs, the pilot managed to extricate himself before finding a space at the bar. 'I don't think I'll ever get used to that,' he muttered.

'What did you expect, Raleigh?' laughed the old bartender, already pouring an enormous pint. 'Once a Jaeger pilot, always a superstar! Here, on the house!' he slid the foaming tankard at him.

Raleigh grinned, accepting the drink. 'Thanks Pete,' he said, taking a swallow.

Tendo slid into the seat next to him, gazing back at all the fans that were still sneaking glances at him. 'So, Raleigh, how many autographs tonight?' He asked, flagging down the bartender.

'Eleven,' answered Raleigh, sighing, 'I can't believe it's already been a week; it still seems like only five hours ago we were being fished out of the ocean.'

'I still can't believe that I was on the front lines for the last part of the war…' Tendo shuddered, accepting the glass of mead poured for him, 'I still get nightmares being that far underwater with those Kaiju.'

'Well, just be glad you'll never have to see one ever again except in museums,' replied Raleigh, taking another draught. His eyes flickered to a line of photographs on the top shelf of the bar, a particular framed one catching his attention. 'I only wish he was here to see it happen…'

Tendo followed his gaze, before nodding. Pete the bartender saw the photo and sighed in agreement.

'So, Raleigh, what brings you to this little dive in your hometown?' he asked curiously. 'Not that I'm not glad you came in and all.'

'Just came in to collect a bottle of crabapple mead to share with someone,' Raleigh answered, glancing quietly out the window, 'it's a special occasion, and it always was his favorite.'

Pete paused for a moment, before nodding in understanding. 'I see. Well, consider that on the house as well.' He brought the bottle in question out from under the counter.

'What? No, I can't, you've already given me one on the house,' the pilot tried to insist, but the old bartender waved it off.

'Yeah, but that was for you. This is for him. You're just the delivery boy.'

Raleigh stared at the bottle, before nodding in thanks. He picked it up and moved for the door, only to almost bump into someone coming in.

'Oh, I'm sorry… Raleigh?' gasped the woman, a brunette with slightly Russian features, 'Is that you?'

'Naomi?' blinked Raleigh. 'Wow, I haven't seen you in ages!' he laughed, giving her a quick hug.

'Me neither!' chirped the woman. 'I saw your return with the other pilots! It's been the talk of the century! I've never had so much inspiration before!'

'I bet,' Raleigh said, ruefully remembering the issues he and Yancy had with her when they were first starting out as Jaeger pilots. 'So, still in the news business?'

'Yep!' Naomi answered, 'I've been working on getting in-depth interviews to perfect my final article: "Triumphant Return of the Hunters!" ' Her expression suddenly turned apprehensive. 'That is, if you don't mind giving me a first-hand account?'

'Sorry, I'm sort of in a hurry,' Raleigh said, showing her the bottle, 'I was just going to have a drink with someone. But maybe we can talk some other time?'

'Sure!' agreed Naomi. 'Is your number still the same as before?' At the pilot's nod, she said, 'Okay, then I'll call you when I have time. I'm actually meeting someone tonight… I think you know him?' She glanced towards the bar, where Tendo was watching them with interest.

Raleigh noticed. 'Business or pleasure?'

Naomi winked. 'Yes,' she giggled before heading to the counter, giving Tendo a smile as she sat next to him. The two of them waved at him before turning their full attention on each other.

Raleigh looked at the two of them in bemusement, before chuckling and heading for his motorcycle, starting down the road towards a certain stone-filled place.

Yancy never did like waiting.

Hercules Hansen stood on his balcony, gazing out at the Sydney sealine. The Wall of Life was already in the midst of being disassembled and the materials recycled. The world had lost too much to let anything go to waste.

Glancing down, he observed the clamor of people waiting expectantly outside his penthouse, as if it was the home of very famous people. Oh wait…

Chuckling, he ducked back inside before anyone caught a glimpse of him, looking around at the home shared by him and his son, decorated with the multitude of medals both had achieved over the years. Max (the bulldog) woofed and scrambled towards him, his claws clicking on the tile.

'I know, boy,' the veteran said, bending down to scratch at his ears with his free arm, the other one in a sling. 'It's been a long time since we actually had time to relax.' Glancing at the clock, he turned to where the sound of running water could be heard. 'Boy, shouldn't you hurry up? She's going to be here soon!'

'I know that, old man, I'm not 16, y'know!' answered his son loudly, the water sound shutting off.

'Well, if you're not out when she gets here, I hope you don't mind if I cut in instead!' Herc quipped.

'You do that and I kick your ass! She's way too young for you!'

'Like you ever could, boy.' Any further commentary was interrupted by the doorbell suddenly ringing. Max barked excitedly when he heard it.

'I'm out! I'm out!' yelled Chuck, dashing out of his room, throwing on a leather jacket over an ADFA t-shirt and jeans, a comb in one hand. Before his dad could even turn around, he was already opening the door.

A familiar Asian female in a body-hugging dress and high heels stood outside, looking bemusedly at him. 'A little busy, were you?'

Chuck just grinned, running the comb through his dirty blond spikes before throwing it aside. 'Just some finishing touches. I can see you're all ready for our date.'

'Your date?' Kuni asked. 'I thought I was taking Maxie here for walkies to let your dad and you have some father-son time together!' She bent down to let the panting bulldog lick her hand.

Chuck gave a dry snort as Kuni stood up to say hello to Herc. 'Evening, Ranger Hansen. How's the arm?'

'Doing just fine…' Herc answered, tapping it gently, 'it was a near thing; the doctors told me I was this close to losing it for good. Only another 3 months before it comes off again, and then it's back to rehab.'

'Well, just be glad that you didn't; I don't think your son needs to lose anyone else,' said the sergeant, offering her elbow. 'Shall we?'

'You won't be sorry, Kuni,' Chuck answered cockily, taking the offered elbow. As the two of them headed out the door, he turned back to his father, his face uncharacteristically concerned. 'You sure you're okay for the night?'

'I'll be fine,' waved Herc, moving towards a glass-fronted cooler. 'You just enjoy yourself. I'll have my date next week.'

His son scoffed humorously and shook his head. 'Don't hold your breath, old man. See ya!' With a wave, the two of them headed off, leaving Max staring at the door.

'He'll never learn, will he?' muttered Herc, retrieving a bottle of wine from the cabinet and moving to the living room table, where a photo album and wine glass were already waiting. As he settled in, the bulldog jumped clumsily on the sofa next to him.

Herc stared at the pooch disapprovingly before chuckling. 'Alright, I guess it's okay for one night.' Pouring himself a glass, he opened the album to a certain page, where a tall man in RAAF uniform and a beautiful brunette woman stood proudly in front of a Boeing Hornet jet fighter, a five-year-old boy wearing his father's flight helmet in between them. Max gave a small whine at the picture.

'I know, Max, I miss her too,' Herc said, raising his glass. 'Here's to you, Angela,' he softly toasted, before taking a long swallow.

The streets of downtown Shanghai were not places where one would generally find military personnel, least of all Jaeger pilots. Yet that was exactly where the famous Wei Tang Clan was at the moment, strolling down the numerous alleys and streets that they'd known since childhood. People from all walks of life watched and followed the three young men, clapping and cheering. Every now and then, someone would come out to thank them personally before ducking back into the crowd.

'Finally, back home,' said Cheung Wei, 'I am so glad we finished all our business in Hong Kong.'

'I almost missed this,' Jin Wei commented, watching the crowd while absently rubbing his arm, which was recovering in a sling, 'All those years in the streets, all we were known for was getting in trouble. Now look at us.'

'National wushu champion, professional warfare historian, famous social activist, and now global heroes…' Hu Wei counted off, 'Not bad for a trio of street fighters.'

'I agree,' Cheung Wei agreed, scanning the crowd lazily. Every so often, he recognized an old opponent that he and his brothers used to run in with all the time, only now they gave a respectful nod and continued watching.

Soon, they rounded the corner to see their destination: the local community center that the three of them almost considered a second home, the one place they could go and not constantly run into trouble. Only now, it had a new feature: a bronze statue located just outside the porch, depicting the famous boy warrior Nezha, holding his ribbon, ring and spear with his six arms and the fire wheels dancing over his feet. However, this statue was unique in that the warrior's three heads were replaced with three familiar faces, and his Oriental armor was reminiscent of a certain one-lensed Jaeger.

'Not bad,' said Hu Wei, tilting his head appreciatively. As they drew closer, he read the plaque: "In honor of Tang Cheung Wei, Tang Hu Wei, and Tang Jin Wei, for all they have done to preserve our precious world. This community gives its utmost thanks, and wishes them great prosperity in their future."

The triplets couldn't help but share a smile as they entered the center. As they turned into the main hall, they found it filled to bursting with almost everyone in the community, from the middle-aged woman that used to babysit them in childhood, to the one-armed Chinese man who ran the herbal shop downstairs from their apartment, and numerous childhood friends that they hadn't seen in many years. Cheung Wei flashed a charming grin at the young women vying for his attention, causing them to dissolve into sighs and squeals.

To the Wei Tang triplets' delight, the four people that they were most looking forward to seeing were standing right in front of them: Cheung Wei's old martial arts sifu, the one who instilled in him the virtues of discipline and honor, Hu Wei's old personal tutor, a retired professor without whom he would never have gotten the opportunity to study in Shanghai University, and Jin Wei's old social worker, the woman who revitalized his virtues when the evils of gang violence were starting to cloud his ideals.

But most importantly of all was the lady standing in front of them. Dressed in a gorgeous Chinese cheongsam, and despite barely reaching 5 feet and in her late 50s, she was beaming at the brothers as if they were gifts from heaven.

The triplets did not waste any time running up to her and almost smothering her in a giant hug.

'My sons, my sons…' Madam Liang Bai Hua sobbed, clinging to them with all the love a mother could afford, 'I am so happy you are safe, and I couldn't be more proud of all of you!'

None of the triplets could stop their own flow of tears as they returned their mother's embrace, united as a family after so many years. The other three offered their own comfort as the hall respectfully and happily watched the reunion.

The January snowfall in the Vladivostok forest was truly something to enjoy, especially when one was not caught out in the middle of it. Such was Aleksis Kaidonovsky's thoughts as he watched said snowfall from the comfort of his family's woodland cabin. He'd wanted to take Sasha up here the moment they got married, but the attack on San Francisco had put a stop to all those plans. Now, with everything else out of the way, he and his wife were having the honeymoon they so rightfully deserved.

Taking the two glasses of vodka from the wooden countertop, he moved back into the living room, where Sasha sat on a huge, fluffy rug in front of the rustic, wooden fireplace, her form enshrouded in a thick fur robe, half watching the flames cast their beautiful, flickering light over the room, and half flicking through a tablet that she'd brought along.

Smiling, the burly, bearded man sat down next to her, quietly handing her one glass. 'Twelve years,' he murmured, 'Twelve years, I've dreamed of bringing you here ever since you accepted my ring. Now, I can hardly believe that I finally have.'

'It's beautiful,' agreed Sasha, her gaze drifting down to the tablet, and smiling in remembrance. Aleksis examined the image, recognizing all 30 members of their old squads in Spetsnaz as they toasted the returning battle couple in the middle of their favorite bar a couple of nights ago.

'Oh, the memories,' purred his wife, scrolling to the next picture. Both their smiles grew when they saw a grinning Sasha sitting at the bar, eight tankards stacked in front of her, and six other soldiers slumped in states of unconsciousness on the counter, while Aleksis guffawed from his place to the side. 'To think, Kuznetsov, Sidorov, Petrin, Borisky, Feodor, and Ivanev still thought they could outdrink me, even when they failed miserably when we first met.'

'Yes, and then I had to take part just to save my squad's face,' Aleksis chuckled, 'and on that day, I met a woman who could actually match me drink for drink.'

'Is that the only reason why you fell for me?' Sasha asked, smirking.

'That was one reason,' demurred her husband, 'along with your tenacity, your discipline, your tongue, and your otherworldly beauty and strength. You are truly one of a kind, my Valkyrie.'

Even after so long, his compliments still put color in her cheeks. 'Vashe zdorov'ye,' she whispered, raising her glass.

'Cheers, indeed,' echoed Aleksis, clinking glasses with her and both taking a long draught. After a moment of quiet companionship, he scrolled to the next picture, where he was proudly slamming down a winning poker hand in front of another group of groaning Spetsnaz troops. 'I've been meaning to ask,' he said suddenly, 'during this game, I noticed you slipping out for an hour or so. The others told me not to worry, but they didn't say why you left. Mind telling me why?'

'Oh, that,' said Sasha, coloring slightly, 'I just had a doctor's appointment to keep.' At Aleksis's prodding look, she continued, 'Remember that issue we brought up a few years ago? The one regarding Cherno's reactor and what it could do to us?'

Aleksis's expression darkened as he remembered the issue, in particular the effects on one's hope for progeny. 'I remember we did see someone about it. Why?' he asked, somewhat apprehensively.

Sasha's eyes shone. 'The results came back. The doctor said there are no problems whatsoever! Everything is in perfect order!'

Aleksis was struck silent. 'Really?' When his wife nodded, he pressed, 'How sure are the results?'

A blazing, lust-filled look appeared in her eyes. 'Sure enough to prepare for a little one when we get back,' she whispered seductively. Standing up, she let go of her fur-lined robe to let it pool around her feet.

Aleksis's voice froze in his throat when he saw Sasha gazing down at him with nothing more than a smile. She held one hand out to him. 'Want to start making her?'

The Jaeger pilot had just enough cognitive functions to release his own robe, stand up, and gather his wife into his arms in one single motion. She sighed in contentment, enjoying the feeling of strong muscle on female suppleness. 'Him. It's going to be a him,' he said firmly.

Arms with almost as muscle as his own twined around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his bleached-blond hair. 'Don't bet on it, darling,' she murmured just before their lips met.

'… please give a warm thank you to Dr. Newton Geiszler!' the emcee announced as the spiky-haired professor staggered down from the stage, loosening the collar on his tux as he did so and patting away copious amounts of sweat.

'Newton!' called a familiar voice, as Dr. Herman Gottleib hobbled up to him, smiling proudly. 'Marvelous speech, my friend! I was held in interest for the entire length!'

'Thanks, Hermann, so glad you could make it,' breathed Newton, shaking his hand. 'You think that was good enough to regain tenure at MIT?'

'Good enough?' laughed his old colleague. 'They'd be mad to not give you your position back! Extra-dimensional Biological Engineering indeed!' Clearing his throat, he added, 'but I just thought, since I knew you were going to be here, I might bring along a few people, all of whom have expressed great interest in meeting you.'

'Hermann?' called a female voice with a hint of a German accent, and both researchers turned to see a brown-haired woman with spectacles walk up to them. Dressed in an elegant formal gown, her perfectly coiffed hair and glasses almost made Newton think she was a librarian encouraged to take one night off, if not for the loving look she was giving Hermann and the obviously rounded abdomen that she caressed lovingly. 'Is this the friend you wanted me to meet?'

'Indeed he is,' Hermann said, beaming at her. 'Newton, may I introduce to you my wife, Vanessa.'

'Oh!' Newton said, recognizing her from the time he and Hermann had Drifted together. 'It's good to meet you!'

Vanessa smiled, shaking his hand. 'It's good to finally meet you too, Dr. Geiszler. Hermann has been going on and on about his amazing colleague who pioneered Drifting with a Kaiju brain.'

'T-thanks,' mumbled Geiszler, obviously not used to such praise for his work.

'Come, come,' Hermann said fastidiously, beckoning his friend over. 'The people I want you to meet are over here.' Newton followed him outside the MIT ballroom, where three people were waiting patiently for him.

Newton's jaw dropped when he saw them. 'Professor Schoenfeld? Dr. Lightcap?'

The blue-eyed blonde with stylish spectacles gave a bright, trilling laugh. 'It's actually Dr. D'onofrio now. Sergio and I tied the knot two years ago.' She shared a look with the Hispanic-looking man with the close-cropped hair.

'So, this is that Kaiju-groupie that you worked with all those years ago, Caitlin?' he chuckled. 'Gotta admit, he's exactly how you described him.'

'Uh… thanks,' mumbled Newton. 'But why're you here?'

'Because Dr. Gottleib was a Jaeger consultant while I was in DARPA,' answered Caitlin, 'and we communicated wirelessly while he was in Germany, and when the project came through he signed up for the Jaeger Academy. He was integral in creating the programming code for the first Jaegers.'

'When he told us of all your achievements in this year alone, we had to come and congratulate you,' the tall, silver-haired Schoenfeld said. 'Drifting with a Kaiju brain? Witnessing first-hand the technology of TALOS and the ending of the war? How could we not be impressed?'

'Yep,' said Caitlin, 'so welcome to the unique family of "those who have Drifted!" Remembering it almost makes me miss Yukon.' Sergio shared a look with her, remembering the first Jaeger ever built: the Mark-1 Brawler Yukon that the two had piloted together and what brought the two of them even closer.

'Thanks Caitlin, Professor Jasper,' Newton said, the memories starting to flow back, on the rather painful words that were exchanged when the relationships between the professor and his old student were exposed to him at the tail-end of his doctorate. 'Er… listen, about what I said the last time we met…'

'It's fine,' Schoenfeld waved it off. 'I've gotten over it, and I fully support Caitlin and Sergio. It's interesting what Drifting does to one's relationships; it brings people closer, and that's why we kept on fighting in the first place.'

Slowly, Newton smiled. 'Yeah, I can see that. So, what have you all been doing?'

'We're trying to expand the Pons system to other areas,' replied Caitlin, eager to discuss the fruits of her labors. 'Transportation, communication, psychology… sure, there are issues when the two objects aren't the same shape or have the same muscles, but really, the future is looking really bright! Hermann's actually been an amazing help to us!'

'That's great to hear!' Newton said, now grinning hugely. However, when he noticed a trio of people enter the hallway, scanning the rooms as if looking for someone, his grin froze and the blood drained from his face. 'And on that note, I think I really need to hear what everyone else has to say about my tenure. If anyone asks, I've been in there for the past two hours and I'm too busy to talk to anyone. So thanks, great-to-see-you, JasperCaitlinSergioVanessaHermannbye!' He ducked back inside the ballroom like a scared rabbit.

Before any of them could ask what Newton's behavior was about, an odd metallic chime from behind them made them turn around. Hermann blinked. 'Can… we… help you?'

A burly man with a salt-and-pepper beard stepped forward. 'We were told a Dr. Geiszler is talking here today. You know where he is?'

'He's around somewhere,' Sergio responded, his instincts starting to prickle. 'Who wants to know? And why?'

'The name's Hannibal Chau. And your doctor owes me a new shoe.'

The Hawaiian beach was what most people would consider an ideal vacation spot, even though four years ago it was ravaged by the Kaiju Ceramander. Coyote Tango and Gipsy Danger were integral in taking it down, leaving Mauna Loa with a very unique skeletal formation in its crater due to the two Jaegers having to throw it in there to kill it.

Stacker couldn't help but remember watching that battle on the news, watching his old Jaeger in the hands of new pilots after both he and Tamsin were retired from duty. After so long as Marshal of the PPDC, he was finding it really hard to relax, even while wearing a loud, flowery holiday shirt and standing on a beach of black sand looking at the glorious sunset over the horizon.

A short distance away, a smiling Mako dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sarong accepted a pair of leis from a vendor and turned to glance at her father figure, sighing at his overly rigid stance despite the relaxing atmosphere. A cellphone pressed to her ear indicated her current status. 'Yes, I'm alright, Raleigh, just watching him not relax.'

She smiled at her friend's comment about her father's rigidity. 'Don't worry, I'll make sure he's fine. Thanks for the wishes, and give your brother my best. Bye.'

As she hung up, a squeaking made her turn around, where Tamsin was rolling up in her chair, wearing a chain of flowers of her own over a pretty red sundress.

The two women looked in bemusement at the man that had been their constant companion for most of their lives. Tamsin smiled ruefully. 'He called himself a fixed point; the last man standing. Now, when he has the freedom to move, he's forgotten how to sit down and relax.'

Mako nodded, remembering her many lessons with him, where Stacker had managed to interlace discipline with playtime for her as she grew, all the while never letting himself be seen enjoying himself, for the sake of the men under his command. In his entire lifetime, he had only let three people see him at his most vulnerable, and the only one missing now had been the closest of all. 'Do you think he would appreciate the company?'

'He doesn't get a choice in the matter,' answered Tamsin simply. 'Give me a hand?' she asked, gesturing to her wheelchair handles. The younger woman nodded, taking the handles and wheeling the chair across the sand.

'You know, Stacks, a holiday actually means you should be relaxing, not standing like one of those Tiki poles staring out to sea,' commented Tamsin mildly. 'After a week of putting everything back in order, you ought to enjoy the first few days of retirement.'

'Tiki is from New Zealand, not Hawaii,' Stacker replied without changing his gaze, even as Mako slipped one of the leis around his neck. 'And I am relaxing; I'm enjoying a nice sunset.'

'Then could you perhaps look it?' asked Tamsin, smiling slightly. 'If I didn't know better, I'd almost say you've forgotten how to have fun.'

'I haven't forgotten,' Stacker huffed, before starting to look melancholy. 'It's just that, we've been at war for the past 12 years, it almost feels unreal not being in conflict anymore.' He turned towards the girls, 'It's a good feeling, and I just wish my sister was here to experience it.'

Tamsin nodded quietly, remembering the headstrong, outgoing RAF pilot that was her best friend and wing-woman all through the academy, before the very first Kaiju attack on San Francisco had taken her away from both her and her brother.

'You've never actually talked about her before,' Mako said hesitantly. 'What was she like?'

Stacker closed his eyes for a moment. 'Adventurous, outspoken, noble, hotheaded… she actually referred to it as "slaying a dragon". If she had survived the first attack, she would've made a magnificent Jaeger pilot.'

'Would she have liked me?'

Stacker looked his adoptive daughter right in the eye. 'Luna would've adored you. Actually, she would've spoiled you to death… she'd always wanted kids to dote on, but was just too free-spirited to settle down.'

Mako smiled at those words, as did Tamsin, until her smile turned teasing. 'So she'd have been a good aunt figure in your life, Mako. But how about me? Another aunt?'

Mako thought for a while, before leaning down to hug her gently. 'No… if you hadn't been away for so long, I think you would've made a great mother. That's what I thought when I first met you.' She turned her gaze onto Stacker. 'Don't you agree, sir?'

Tamsin's teasing smile turned victorious as Stacker blinked rapidly, trying to come up with a suitable response. But before he could say anything, a deafening whoop shattered the moment like glass.

'YES! I got it! See Chief, even your throws cannot match my awesomeness!'

'Get back here and we'll see about that!'

The three of them turned around to see Guy and Kam, both in swimming trunks, chasing each other across the beach like teenagers, an oversized Frisbee in Kam's hands and Guy lugging a full pail of water. Stacker actually sighed. 'Did you actually have to bring them along?'

'They deserved the holiday, Stacks, you can't blame them for wanting to come along,' replied Tamsin, 'but you're right; Luna would've wanted to see the end of this war.' She suddenly gave a sharp blink as she realized what she was thinking. 'Oh, bloody hell, Stacks, you got me all melancholy! I was supposed to get you to relax, not for you to make me start sobbing!'

'Not my fault,' shrugged Stacker. 'You always did end up overthinking things.'

A small spark appeared in the wheelchair-ridden woman's eye. 'Really now?' She raised her voice. 'Then overthink this! Lieutenant Kam, give Stacks here a soaking! Commander's orders!'

'Roger that!' Before Stacker could react, Kam had reversed direction, grabbed the pail from his superior, dashed up behind the Marshal and dumped its contents over his head. Mako couldn't help but burst out laughing at her mentor's dumbstruck, seawater-drenched expression.

Stacker didn't move for a full moment, before turning around and fixing the TALOS Lieutenant in his laser-like gaze. Kam's guffawing was abruptly choked at the glare he was receiving, one that had cowed the entire PPDC for more than a decade. 'N-Now Marshal… be reasonable… you heard her…. C-Commander's orders… AAAAARGGHH!' He dropped the pail and took off running like a madman the moment Stacker took one step forward.

Guy, who had retreated to the small beach bar, cackled madly at his Lieutenant's plight, while Max chuckled beside him, taking another sip from his coconut shell. Kyodai, who had just regained consciousness yesterday and practically heckled the nurses until they let him go for the afternoon, was resting nearby on a beach chair, shaking with tired laughter.

Mako collapsed to the sand, giggling helplessly, while Tamsin merely smirked at her old partner. But it was Mako's turn to choke on her laughter when Stacker turned her gaze on her instead. 'Um… sir? Just what are you – eep!' Her last words turned into a squeak as Stacker reached forward and threw her onto his shoulder.

'Just something every father has to do to his daughter sometime,' Stacker answered, in a tone Mako had never heard him use before, before marching straight to the ocean's edge and tossing her in with a splash.

Tamsin sputtered in laughter as Mako emerged from the shallows, brushing her hair from her face and beaming at her father, who had a smile so large it was almost foreign. Stacker turned on the bald woman, who was in slight danger of collapsing out of her wheelchair in hysterics, and his eye fell on the bucket that Guy left behind in his hasty escape.

Tamsin noticed it too and her giggles abruptly died. 'Stacks, don't you dare…' Smirking, the Marshal strode over to the bucket, picked it up and started filling it with seawater. 'This is a direct order…' When Stacker held up the full bucket, Tamsin tried to reverse but her wheelchair wheels just ended up digging into the sand.

'Sorry, Tam,' said the Marshal, walking right up to her. 'No ranks on holiday.' One splash later, Tamsin was blinking water out of her eyes while Mako dissolved into another series of giggles. The TALOS men were laughing like idiots as they watched the debacle.

While Tamsin was spitting out water, her old friend knelt down next to her, a grin she hadn't seen in twelve years etched on his face. 'Well, I couldn't very well throw you in,' he quipped.

Tamsin merely laughed gaily and embraced her friend from her wheelchair, glad that the Stacker Pentecost she had first met all those years ago had finally returned. Mako ran out of the sea to join them, wrapping her arms around her father and the woman she had long hoped to be her mother. The three of them stood there for a long time, oblivious to the beaming gazes of their four onlookers, as the sun started to set on the dawn of a new age.

Wow, what a trip.

In the middle of July, I first saw Pacific Rim, and given what genre it is supposed to entail, I instantly started re-imagining it with the elements of the Super Robot Genre, and this is the result after three weeks of hard work. That said, I might tweak a few things here and there if I reread it again, but for a first time, I really like it. I actually completed it yesterday, but Internet problems delayed it by one day.

I know the idea of "no deaths" in a war like this is absolutely unrealistic, but it's part of the Super Robot idea, as opposed to the Real Robot idea.

See if you can figure out how many different series inspired me and the "original" characters in this story, and if you can find all the Easter Eggs I lodged in here as well!

I hope you all enjoyed the ride; whether you took it seriously or not, so please give me your positive (or at least politely criticizing) feedback, and thank you all so much for reading!