Chapter 2

Another long chapter! It took me at least 4 days to write this and to tell you the truth, I kinda enjoyed it. :) Shout outs to CSM101 for submitting such a badass Jaeger! Unfortunately, it won't be appearing anytime soon. But it will someday! :)

To Neo Dragon X, you can somewhat catch a glimpse of your Jaeger here. And in the next chapter, you will all see Scarlet Wrath in all its glory!

Now, I believe it's time for the story!


Previously...

"But that's not the only problem..." Newt said nervously.

"Oh great." Tendo muttered while Raleigh groaned.

"Please, what is worse than the opening of a new Breach?"

Newt and Hermann looked at each other before speaking in unison.

"A second one."


Now...

Stunned silence filled the room as soon as the rest of them heard this new revelation. And then, Raleigh, Tendo and Chau all yelled at the same time.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A SECOND BREACH?!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU INFORMED US SOONER?!

"HOW BIG IS IT?!"

"SILENCE!" Herc roared, shutting up the trio immediately. Only Mako stayed silent during their entire outburst, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.

Drawing a deep breathe, Marshall Hansen spoke.

"Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler, can you please explain to us why you didn't tell this sooner and most of all, what are the dangers of having another Breach?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.

"We haven't told you sooner, Marshal, because we just detected it less than 3 days ago. We thought it's just an excess energy burst coming from the new one. Only last night did we managed to ascertain that it is indeed a different Breach." Hermann answered.

"How big is it?" Mako asked from her seat.

At this, Newton replied quickly. "As big as the first one back in 2013 when it becomes fully stable, which will happen in a month or two."

Hermann nodded grimly. "And with two active Breaches at the same time, we can expect an increase of Category IVs and Vs emerging from them, as well as Double and Triple events. In fact, we may even encounter a "Multiple Event" as the portals matured."

Silence engulfed the conference room once more.

"How many Kaijus should we expect then in a Multiple Event?" Herc finally asked.

The german scientist shrugged helplessly. "We don't know, Marshal, since we haven't seen yet what this larger Breach can do. All we can say is, the second one can release three or four Kaijus, just like the last time. If that's the case, then the larger one could possibly spawn twice that amount and in a Multiple Event, we would have eight to ten Kaijus attacking at the same time."

Herc sighed at the news while Raleigh and Tendo groaned in unison.

"Marshal, we had barely survived a Double Event, much less a Triple Event." Raleigh said exasperatedly. "But a Multiple Event? That's crazy!"

"Raleigh..." Mako spoke softly, trying to calm him down.

Hannibal Chau merely grunted. "Be that as it may, we will just kill them again and bomb these two Breaches as soon as we get the chance." The businessman said casually as if it were as easy as swatting a fly.

At this, Raleigh stood up in anger. "How dare you say that as if it is so easy to do! You don't know how much we suffered just because of one Breach! Now, you are acting as if we can just walk in there and drop a bomb to destroy two of them!" He snarled. Mako and Tendo then stood up and tried to push him back down on his seat.

"Calm down, buddy..." Tendo muttered.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN?" He yelled, making his two companions winced. "WE HAVE LESS THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE TWO BREACHES OPENED AND YET WE STILL DON'T HAVE ANY JAEGERS! WE DON'T EVEN HAVE PILOTS! NOW TELL ME, HOW SHOULD I CALM DOWN?"

Herc sighed in annoyance. "Mr. Beckett, please return to your seat first and I assure you I will explain why we should not panic."

Grumbling inaudibly, the Ranger sat down.

"Good. Now before I begin, Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler, can you please tell us where this second Breach is located?" He asked the two scientist.

Newton nodded. "As far as we can tell, the Breach is located opposite the larger one. At least 1,200 miles west of San Francisco."

The Marshal's eyebrows shot up at this news. "That means we are going to have two Breaches at each end of the Pacific Ocean, correct?"

"We're afraid so, Marshall." Hermann said grimly.

Herc nodded once more then turned to Chau. "Mr. Chau, I believe we don't have much time left. We must have that Shatterdome soon."

"Don't worry, by tomorrow or the day after, we will have it. The owner has already contacted me and he's just waiting for the payment. Within the next month, the Shatterdome should be fully functional." Chau said.

Raleigh frowned at this. "Wait, what Shatterdome?"

"The Los Angeles Shatterdome." Chau said simply.

"What do you need a second one for?" Mako asked curiously. "We don't have any Jaegers yet."

As soon as she said this, Herc stood up and smiled. "If you would please follow me to the Jaeger Bay, I will explain along the way." He said as Tendo, Chau, Hermann and Newton stood up.

Looking at each other in confusion, Raleigh and Mako followed the group.

===LINEBREAK===

Hong Kong Shatterdome, Hallway

1500 hours

"Just a few hours after the UN Council gave us the go signal to reform the PPDC, Dr. Geizler immediately called Mr. Chau here for help." Herc explained as they walked through a hallway.

"It turns out, he has somehow anticipated this kind of scenario and did some... precautionary measures." Herc said as he glanced at the dealer, who just grunted in acknowledgement.

"What sort of measures?" Mako asked as they rounded a corner, heading deeper into the base.

"Well..." Herc looked at Chau again, who answered the question for him instead.

"I didn't believed for one bit that these Kaiju bastards would give up that easily. So, I did the most logical thing to do." The businessman said.

"Which is?" Raleigh asked.

Chau suddenly grinned. "I built my own robot factory. It's going on for about a year now." He said, shocking the two pilots greatly.

"You mean to say that you were building your own Jaegers in secret?" Raleigh asked in disbelief.

"Well, not exactly." Chau said as he looked at the Marshall.

Herc cleared his throat loudly. "You see, Raleigh, the Jaeger Program aren't the only thing the private sectors are funding."

"Huh? But the Jaegers are the only ones capable of killing a Kaiju! We've already proven that." The pilot argued as they approached the huge doors leading to the hangar.

"I know that. In fact, we've already started construction of six units. But you need to realize, Jaegers cost at least a hundred billion dollars. And it takes a long time to produce. We need something cheaper and easier to make." Herc said.

"I don't understand, Marshall." He said with a frown.

"You'll see once we enter." Herc said as all of them finally stood in front of the large Jaeger Bay doors. Punching a series of codes, the Marshall opened it to reveal a shocking sight.

"What are they?" Mako whispered in awe.

"Mr. Beckett, Ms. Mori, may I present to you, the mass-produced version of the Jaegers."

"The Sentinels."


The couple stared in shock at the eight towering forms in front of them.

Each Sentinel looks identical to one another. They all have a more humanoid shape than the Jaegers with a slim, almost skeletal build and a sloping Conn-Pod. Their visor is also different as it starts from the "forehead" and covers the entire front, offering a large view of their surroundings. Each of them were colored silver, standing inside their individual bays while hundreds of workers and personnel were milling about doing their assigned tasks and duties.

"Mr. Chau and his engineering team started working on these Sentinels a few months ago, before we even detected the new Breach. As you can see, we are nearing completion for all of them. Further down the hangar are where the Jaegers are." Herc explained as they walked forwards. "You may noticed they looked skeletal, that's because they were made to be modular. Makes it easier to maintain them. Each Sentinel can be change into four different types of configuration, depending on the current situation." He continued as they saw a Sentinel being outfitted with a full armor set and two mortar cannons at the shoulders.

"Since they are a scaled down version, all of them doesn't possess an energy based weapon and thus, are weaker than the Jaegers. However, they all run on advanced electric power generators and systems, making their movement almost as fluid as with the pilots. Combined with their incredible speed when not wearing an armor, they are fast enough to evade most attacks." He said as they finally reached the parts where the Jaegers are.

"Now, here are the Jaegers." Herc said while they watched the personnels worked on each one.

Raleigh saw they are not yet complete, most didn't even have a Conn-Pod yet and some still have no arms at all. But he could make out a rough visualization as to what they will look like when finished.

The first one looks like it was inspired by the Japanese Mark I Jaeger, Tacit Ronin, judging by the shape of its torso and legs.

The second one seems sleek, with a sloping Conn-Pod similar to the Sentinels, and a strange hole at the chest area.

Beside it was a huge torso and thick legs, obviously having Cherno Alpha in mind. But this one was slightly larger and bulkier.

The fourth one was a bit more complete than the others, having a head, torso and legs. But it still lack arms like all the rest. However, what caught Raleigh's attention was a horn-like potrusion from the Conn-Pod, similar to a unicorn.

The fifth and sixth one were just two legs, but based on what he was seeing, the last two Jaegers would be lean and fast.

"We started construction of these six units just three weeks ago. As such, most of them aren't yet recognizable, much less functional. Even with 30,000 people working round the clock, it will still take at least two months to finish them." The Marshal said as they enter a door leading to the LOCCENT Mission Control Room.

"That's why we have those Sentinels. Because they only took a month each to build. We needed something to keep us safe while the Jaegers are still being constructed. At least six more are expected to come out of the factory in US, which is why we wanted another Shatterdome." He supplied further as they finally entered the Control Room. Tendo immediately barked some orders to the junior officers regarding their computers and consoles.

Through the glass windows, the group saw the entire construction of the Jaegers and Sentinels.

"Marshal," Raleigh asked as he approached him, "If the Sentinels aren't as strong as the Jaegers, why would the private sectors be willing to spend money for them? I mean, they can be easily destroyed by a Kaiju. It would seem useless then."

At this, Tendo answered. "Raleigh, do you remember what I said while we were heading here? Most of them are willing to pay as long as their businesses are protected. That's the reason why Mr. Chau thought of the "Sentinel Program". To make sure they didn't always have to rely on the Jaegers and risk losing a lot of money when they get destroyed."

"To put it simply, we didn't build the Sentinels to actively engage a Kaiju on sight. That's the Jaeger's job. We made them to watch over our coastlines, oil rigs and trade routes from the Kaijus. With these set up, the Rangers won't have to worry anymore about protecting anything or anyone while they hunt the Kaijus." Chau explained.

"Sentinels as "Watchers", Jaegers as "Hunters"." Mako nodded as she finally realized what he meant.

"That's right, Ms. Mori. And because of them, I would finally become the richest man in the world." Chau grinned broadly.

"How come?" Raleigh asked as he stared at the workers below.

"It's like this; the governments and private sectors will fund the PPDC so they can make Jaegers. The Jaegers kill a Kaiju, which I will buy from you guys at a low cost. However, I'm also going to supply you with the Sentinels which you will use as coastline defense. But, if ever a private company wants some protection for their business, they will need to pay a fee for PPDC to provide protection. Being the supplier, I will obviously get a commission which I will use to build more of them. With the cash flowing in to both PPDC and my company, we will have more Jaegers and Sentinels which means lots of dead Kaijus. I harvest the corpses for my Kaiju Remedies then sell the by-products to the consumers and anything that has military value back to you. The cycle repeats, and voila! I'm now the richest man in the world." He said smugly.

Both Raleigh and Mako raised an eyebrow at him.

"So you are using this war as an excuse to make more money?" Mako asked while crossing her arms in annoyance.

Chau merely chuckled. "War is a business, Ms. Mori. That's how we dealers work. Without war, no one will buy from us. And if no one buys from us, we can't give weapons. And if we can't give weapons, you're countries will not be safe."

"He's kinda right..." Raleigh muttered.

"That's still wrong." Mako said while she glared at the floor.

"Wrong or not, it's essential to survive." Herc suddenly said as he turned back on them. "Mr. Beckett, Ms. Mori, I know that you are thinking this set up is like taking advantage of people, but we simply have no choice. We need more funds if we are to win this war again. Money is nothing compared to the lives we are saving. It may be against our code of ethics, but sometimes, we need to go beyond the rules in order to protect our loved ones. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Marshal..." The two pilots murmured.

"That's good to hear, then. Now, I believe you are both tired from your travels. Mr. Choi, if you would please escort them to their quarters." He motioned to the two.

"Of course, Marshal." Tendo nodded as he opened the door. "Come on, guys. I'll show you to your room." He said as Raleigh and Mako followed him outside.

"Mr. Chau, Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Geiszler, please follow me back to the Conference Room. We still have some matters to discuss." Herc said. The trio only nodded in acknowledgement.

"Oh, and Raleigh? Mako?" Hercules Hansen called to them one last time before they close the door.

"Yes, Marshal?" Raleigh inquired as he and his co-pilot looked back at him. The Marshall then smiled at the two.

"Welcome back to the Hong Kong Shatterdome."


And so, another one of my surprises! I hope you guys enjoyed it! All I can say about the Sentinels is that they have a major part in the plot. But I won't reveal anything for now. Just to clarify though, it's not the Sentinels from other franchises! It's my own take on another weapon to be used against the Kaijus. After all, I believe that Pacific Rim shouldn't be just about the Jaegers, but rather about humanity trying to think of more ways to eliminate the Kaiju threat. Don't worry though, the Jaegers are still the main weapon here! :D

To mavericksawyer: Haha! Well, you can catch a glimpse of the first six Jaegers in this story. :)

To knightpheonix2: Thanks for your support! Don't worry, little Alice will have a role in this war. But again, no spoilers! :)

Now, dear readers, I need your help! Our Jaegers need some pilots, and only you can provide that. I mean, I can make my own OC, but it's better if I can get some outsider's input. After all, I want this story to be good, and I can't do it alone. So please see my profile to learn how to submit your OCs.

Please Read and Review!

Until next time! :D