Well, the order was delivered, and the order was carried out. After I was informed of our guests to be expected, we bent over backwards to get a place set up for the giant mechanical fighters. Each had their own power station, deployment area, the whole package really. As far as the welcoming for them is concerned, they had a mixed reception when they arrived. A lot of us thought they would do nothing but dishonor everything we stood for. But a lot of us were also ecstatic to have not one, but three fully functioning Jaegers in our division. I can't deny, that they would make any potential MUTO attack seem like a walk in the park. We had more diversity. Didn't need to solely rely on Kiryu.
The pilots, as predicted, were pretty active, and energetic. You knew where to find them. It wasn't hard, sometimes all you had to do was follow the noise. If they weren't training in the dojo, sometimes they were just off playing Ping-Pong. I was happy to stay out of their way, and even happier that they stayed out of mine.
Gamera however, was still on my mind. My mind was put at ease after I got the confirmation report that Subject One was still in hibernation. Subject One was an informal name given to Godzilla, as he was the first Kaiju made known to the world. The first one we could actively study, the first we had to fear. With him still in hibernation, I didn't have to worry about the tide turning against us. With Gamera potentially awake though, my kind was full of questions. Was he indeed awake? If he was, why was he awake?
Would he stand with us as he had in the past, and fight off the MUTO monsters that continuously attacked us?
...
Or was he a threat that would fight us alongside our enemy?
Price rushed down the stairs amidst a rush of chaos and commotion. "What the bloody hell is going on?!" He shouted out in alarm.
A man in uniform looked up and called out, "Officer on deck!"
Price called back, "At bloody ease! What's going on?!"
The man in uniform, an Army Marshal who went by the name of Stacker Pentecost went to meet him. He was tall, dark skinned, and spoke with a slight British Accent. He and Price would get along fine, it was the pilots that Pentecost brought with him that Price was mainly worried about. Pentecost, had Price been under his division, would be by rank, his superior, but Pentecost still looked to Price to call the shots. He told him he had very little idea to how the EDF ran things, and said he would help in many way he could. Price liked that, and gave him much more respect because of it. Pentecost at one point was a Jaeger pilot, and Price was thankful he at least knew how to keep his discipline. Pentecost spoke up, "We are receiving alarming tremor signals originating near Osaka. And plenty of unconfirmed reports that a MUTO is in the area."
Price went behind the main screen. "Category?"
"Category unknown, sir. We received no signal from a Breach opening."
One of his lieutenants looked over, and said, "We've sent a couple fighter jets in to get a look at the area, we should be getting visual contact of target in minutes, sir."
Price nodded, and said, "Keep that on screen, if we got a visitor here, I wanna know what we are up against." He also wanted to know if it was perhaps Gamera, but he still had his doubts. He felt there would be more signs that would point to Gamera if it were him. On screen, you could start to tell that there was something off.
"There..." Pentecost said, pointing out a small hole in the ground. "Something dug out there."
Price pointed to an officer. "I want Gipsy Danger ready for deployment on my mark."
Pentecost gave him a look. "You're using Gipsy Danger? May I ask why?"
Price just crossed his arms, not taking his attention away from the screen. "I may not be fond of Jaegers here, Commander, but they're here, and Kiryu's maintenance is not yet finished. Let's see what your boys can do."
"Very good, then." He replied nodding, but he also replied, "Though, Gipsy Danger's team consists of a female as well."
"Whoever the team is, just get them suited." Price replied, waving off the comment. He then added, "You may not know how we go about here at the EDF, but I also have no idea how you command your pilots. I leave them in your hands, and we will update you with information as it comes in."
Pentecost nodded and punched a button. "Raleigh, Mako, suit up. Meet at Gipsy Danger in ten minutes."
Price sighed and looked at the screen at the trail of damage that was left by whatever had passed through. Gamera was out of the question. Gamera didn't burrow. He was trying tom think of any known MUTO that could burrow, when a voice called out on the radio, "Target sighted, looks of an average Category Two or Three, over."
Price looked to the screen and saw the monster they had seen, and craned his head in some surprise. Pentecost looked up and frowned. "That's Anguirus." He said.
"Yes. Yes it is." Price replied, arms crossing. "What I don't understand though, is what it's doing there. We had a confirmation report claiming it was in it's known habitat in Iwo Jima. How did it get here without warning?" Price looked over to one of the officers, and said, "Get Base 538 on the line. Something's not right. Either something isn't in our picture, or someone messed up."
Pentecost picked up the radio. "This is Pentecost, Raleigh, what's your status?"
A voice came in over the radio, "Just heading out, we'll meet you at the docks shortly."
"I'll be down shortly." Pentecost replied, before putting the radio down.
Price looked to him and said, "I'm gonna go meet them with you."
"Very well, but may I ask why?" Pentecost asked.
"You may indeed. I want to make sure they're not going to try anything funny."
"I can assure you, Major, that the soldiers under my command do not disobey any order given, or-"
"I want to tell them that myself." Price said abruptly. Normally Price would not dare interrupt a superior officer, but he was already not too happy with the Jaeger pilots presence here. He wasn't happy how there was no choice in this matter, and the Marshal knew full well how Jaeger pilots behaved sometimes. If the Marshal wanted to assure him his soldiers would behave, fine. But Price wouldn't put it past any pilots to try something funny.
Pentecost sighed and nodded. "Come with me, I'll take you to them."
The walk down to the hangars wasn't too long, but it was longer than likely either Price or Pentecost would have wanted. More than the original ten minutes. Price was starting to regret coming down here. Would these pilots have reacted any different to his words over a radio than they would face to face?
Price followed Pentecost through the hangar, which housed three new gigantic metal titans. Price didn't recognize two of the metal machines, but soon one overshadowed him and Pentecost, and the familiar metal hulk of Gipsy Danger came to his sight. Pentecost caught him looking up to the head of the fighter, and looked back at him.
"Quite a marvel, isn't she?" he asked.
"I cannot deny that the mechanics of any Jaeger is enough to marvel me, but don't ask me to compare any Jaeger to Kiryu."
Pentecost gave a small chuckle. "Fair enough, Major."
"Marshal Pentecost, sir!" a voice called. Price and Pentecost turned to see two Jaeger pilots, one male, one female, suited up and ready for combat. Price recognized the unique plastic armor-like suits of the pilots, and didn't question it too much. He had no clue how they worked, or what benefits they gave to each pilot. All he needed to do was give these two a little talk. The soldier who had called them, whom Price recognized as Raleigh, gave a small salute to the Marshal, and said, "Reporting for duty, sir."
Pentecost slightly returned the salute, and said, "I'll brief you both shortly, but first, this is Major John Price, head of the Kiryu Division here in Kyoto. He wanted to briefly talk to you both in person."
Raleigh nodded to Price, "Heard about you, sir. It's a pleasure to be working alongside Kiryu."
Price shrugged a bit, and replied, "The feeling is mutual." He took a breath in, trying not to show any annoyance toward the two pilots whom he barely knew at all, but he crossed his arms, and looked to them both.
"I'm sure both of you are a well put together team. A team that wouldn't be here if such ability to combat MUTO threats was in question. But I must make myself absolutely clear that here in the Kiryu Division, the protection of of humanity against such threats is of our highest concern. Know that we take orders here very seriously, and do not tolerate any behavior that indicates insubordination, treason, or anything related. Sometimes you will be given a challenging choice...and we will have to live with such choices." He said that last part almost instinctively eying Raleigh, remembering how he and his brother had disobeyed an order to save a small amount of civilians out at sea. Raleigh likely saw him eyeing him, because the next thing to come out of his mouth was a question that Price really didn't want to answer.
"Sir if I may ask, why are we being told this?"
Price didn't want to answer that at all, but he gave Raleigh a direct enough answer, "Because I am well aware of certain actions that the teams of Gipsy Danger is known for, and I don't want to have to be held responsible for such actions. Do I make myself clear?"
There was a pause between the two. Raleigh likely knew what Price was talking about, and likely didn't like how he had brought it up. That wasn't Price's fault. Raleigh had a record, and Price had an obligation to protect Japan, and sometimes he had to make difficult choices. If Raleigh knew half of what Price lived with, maybe he'd understand.
Raleigh took a breath in and replied, "Crystal clear, sir."
Price nodded and looked to Pentecost. "They're all yours." And he left them.
Raleigh exhaled and just shook his head, "The guy looks at me like I'm out to play Superman or something."
Pentecost just started walking with the pilots toward the giant machine, and said, "Raleigh, let it go, the Major has his reasons for saying what he said."
"Yeah, and I can't help but feel half of that was directed at me."
Mako nodded, "Marshal, I can't help but feel the Major did have some displeasure in his words."
"Oh a bit more than that, he's not too pleased there are three Jaegers here." Pentecost said, entering an elevator with the two pilots.
Raleigh pressed a button and the elevator lifted and began to take them higher up the mech, passed mechanics and other technicians doing the last few checks and diagnostics on Gipsy Danger. "Why?" he asked. "The Jaegers are just as good as that antique they've been using the past decade, if not better!"
"He's well aware of the capability of Jaegers. He respects them, and believes they are more than capable of defeating a Kaiju. It's the people who pilot them that concern him."
Raleigh heard that and almost shouted, "What does he have against me, I haven't done anything to him!"
Pentecost got stern. "Becket!" Raleigh breathed and straightened out. He certainly wasn't afraid of pushing his own authority , but that didn't mean he didn't respect others. Pentecost took a breath in and replied, "I think it's best you drop it. The Major remains cautious for reasons you should already know. I'm not exactly thrilled we were moved out here either, it is run differently here, and I know it's been a rough couple days, adapting to the way of life here. But like it or not, we are here, and that's all there is to it. The board is changed a bit, but the name of the game is the same." The elevator slowed and came to a halt, and the doors opened to a small ramp leading into the interior of Gipsy Danger. Pentecost looked to them both. "You've both come far, and both gave me reason to recommend you for this project. You two are a great team, and if you play the cards right, you're going to go far here."
Mako gave a small bow to Pentecost, while Raleigh just gave a brief nod. Mako replied, "Thank you, Marshal."
Pentecost nodded and replied, "Things might get rough, be careful out there. Go get 'em."
With that, Raleigh and Mako walked into Gipsy Ganger, and Pentecost closed the doors and began the descent down. As he did, Gipsy Danger began to hum to life, and the mechanics and technicians finished their checks, before leaving the area. Pentecost watched them, before reaching inside his coat, and pulled out a handkerchief as he began to cough softly, but repeatedly.
Price stood in the room, the usual screen displaying landscapes, information on the position of Anguirus, and the faces of certain officers of ground infantry. Price knew why infantry were always in the area, but it was quite frustrating to know that both him, and every person in the infantry were near powerless to defeat these huge creatures. They mainly were there to assist in civilian evacuation nowadays, and provide fire when necessary to perhaps distract the monsters from civilians.
An officer spoke up, "Gipsy Danger is ready to depart, sir."
Price nodded. "Stand by. Is communication set up with them?"
"Yes, sir, we are online with Gipsy Danger."
"Good..." Price replied. As he said this, Pentecost entered the room, and stood beside Price, eyeing the screens. "Get them up."
Pentecost looked to Price and spoke softly, "You didn't have to be that hard on the boy, did you?"
Price shrugged, and replied "Maybe not, I'm just hoping they have that same fighting spirit they had in Hong Kong. We might need it."
"You're online, sir." one of his officers spoke up.
As he said this, Raleigh's voice came through the intercom, "This is Gipsy Danger, we are green-lit, and ready to go, do we have permission to depart?"
"Good afternoon." Price spoke up. "I won't keep you. Here's what we're up against. Documented Kaiju Anguirus was sighted 24 minutes ago thirty miles outside Osaka. If our projected paths are correct, he may head straight through Osaka. We need you to guard the city limits if Anguirus does indeed come near, and defend the city while we evacuate civilians. Anguirus is an estimated Category 2 or 3, but is no easy opponent. We've documented instances where he can curl up and launch himself as a speeding projectile. His back is heavily armored, so any projectile weapons may have little effect. Keep in mind, that he may look very formidable, but Anguirus has been known to be shy and usually won't attack unless threatened. Our priorities once again are defending Osaka as we evacuate civilian life. Do not, I repeat, do NOT engage Anguirus, unless he either threatens the city or engages you."
"Understood, Major." Mako's voice replied.
"Preparing the neural bridge." Raleigh spoke.
"Good luck." Price replied, "And we'll see you when you get home."
Price turned his back to the screen, and pulled out a cigar. "Care for one, Marshal?" he asked, lighting it up. Pentecost look to Price and shook his head. "Suit yourself." Price replied. He didn't usually smoke on the job, but he was known to do it occasionally. It he mainly did it to help settle his mind. He was relatively calm, but there were times his mind was jumbled with worst case scenarios, and other nonsense, and it was just a coping method. He dragged an ash tray toward him after a few puffs and placed the smoking stogie in the dish.
"Commencing neural bridge...now." Raleigh's voice spoke up.
"I never understood that crazy method." Price said, smoke exiting his mouth as he spoke.
"I'm not sure I'm the guy who can exactly explain it for you, Major." Pentecost replied.
Price shrugged. He knew that Pentecost was a former pilot of the Jaegers, but he wasn't too curious to the method.
An artificial voice chimed in, "Two pilots engaged in neural bridge."
"Drift successful." Mako called in. "Ready to depart."
Pentecost took the radio. Make your way toward the launch pad. Three Class D Battleships will escort you to Osaka. You should be there in thirty minutes."
Price picked up his own radio. "Gotengo, Yamato, Norad, are you in position?"
Three voices came in on separate frequencies.
"Yamato is ready and waiting."
"This is the Gotengo. We're awaiting orders."
"Norad reports, all systems go."
Price nodded. "Confirmed. Stand by. Gipsy Danger, move onto the platform. You will be carried via battleship to Osaka's perimeters."
"Confirmed." Raleigh's voice chimed in. Price and Pentecost watched as the giant Kaiju fighter slowly began to walk onto the platform, surrounded by three huge battleships. Once on the platform, it slowly turned to face south, and stood tall. A voice that Price recognized as Captain Gordan came in as it gave an order, "This is the Gotengo to Gipsy Danger. We are beginning the hooking procedure. Brace yourselves for air lift shortly."
As he said that, the battleships began to shoot what looked like harpoons into the fighter. The cables of each looked strong enough to the point where they may have been able to carry the Titanic at one point perhaps. Each Battleship shot about three cables into them before they began to lift off. Price gave them one last wish of good luck before he sat down and smoked some more. He was only hoping this mission would be a success.
"I'm taking my gamble, Marshal...think they're up to the task here?"
"Without a doubt...they can take Anguirus."
"And leave Osaka standing, I hope..."