Chapter 33: Name Games

PPI R&D Offices

July 2, 2025

1030

Miranda was busily going through documents sent to her from the Hong Kong Shatterdome, figuring out the ones that Herc really needed to see. Thus, when the door chime rang, she didn't look up right away. "Hello, welcome to… Oh. Hello."

Representative Baxter was back, along with the rest of the Pan Pacific Working Group. "Hello, Ms. Schaeffer. Is the Marshall in?"

Miranda quickly nodded. "Let me go get everyone." With that, she walked down the hall. "Guys, we've got company. PPWG's here."

Raleigh and Mako stopped their fiddling with the designs for the control interfaces on Gipsy Danger II and froze. "Now? We're not ready!"

Crunch and Aki poked their heads out of their offices just down the hall. "Doesn't matter if we're ready or not. Brass says jump, we jump."

Herc sighed. "Chau's downtown talking to people about the San Francisco Shatterdome. Really bad timing…"

Jazmine smiled and stepped out of her office. "Doesn't matter. Time to face the music, folks." The younger Becket led the way down the hall, where she then greeted the Group. "Sorry about the small offices, but we don't have a main office yet."

Baxter nodded. "However, you have the hangar across the way, yes?"

Jazmine nodded. "Yes. Mako, you get the holodisplay set up there?"

The younger Ranger nodded, relieved that something was going according to plan this morning. "Ready to go and sync'd to the server here."

The Japanese representative gestured towards the door. "Then let us begin."

-.-.-

Herc started off with recap of the final days of the War, despite the fact that most of the representatives had seen the official reports. "Operation Pitfall was a plan that Pentecost had created back in 2022. We updated it to work with the Jaegers we had on hand: Cherno, Gipsy, Crimson, and Striker. However, if it had not been for the timely breakthrough of Dr. Newton Geizler, we would not have realized the gravity of the situation, nor would we have been able to penetrate the defenses around the Breach. Long story short, we made it to the Breach and closed it.

"However… The closure of the Breach is not permanent."

Herc waited for the uproar from the representatives to die down before continuing. "I know it's a bitter pill to swallow, everyone, but I don't like it any more than you. So we're not sitting back and enjoying our pensions. Instead, we're already preparing for the next attack."

Herc walked over to a nearby computer terminal and powered up the holoemitters that could turn the entire hangar into a 3D display, then displayed an image of the planet with the potential Breach sites in red. "Gentlemen, these are the areas we believe that the Breach could reopen. Yes, there's one in the Atlantic in the Puerto Rico Trench. However, our intelligence indicates that the Kaiju's masters, the Precursors, are still aiming for the Pacific."

The Japanese representative frowned. "And what is your intel source?"

The Rangers looked at each other nervously before Raleigh continued. "It turns out that Dr. Geizler's Drifts with the two Kaiju brains also unlocked a Ghost Drift with the Precursor Hivemind. He's had two lucid Ghost Drifts so far, and both times he's brought back vital information."

"What kind of information?"

"What kind of Kaiju we'll be facing, and their timeline for the next attack."

Before the Japanese representative could respond, Herc jumped in. "They'll be back in two years, two and a half tops. So it's crunch time, people. We need Shatterdomes and Jaegers as soon as we can get them built."

The Chinese rep spoke up next. "Can we see the Jaegers you have planned so far?"

Mako nodded enthusiastically and took over the controls of the holoemitters. "All the Jaegers are going to have common features, as well as a semi-modular approach to speed up repairs and overhauls, as well as cutting construction times and costs."

A lineup of more than a dozen basic Mk VI Jaeger silhouettes spawned at ground level for the Working Group to inspect. Each one had an ID above their head indicating production order. A few had names as well. The one at the front of the line had a familiar name. "Gipsy Danger II?"

Raleigh shuffled his feet a little. "Well, it's just a working title… We don't have an official name yet."

The Canadian representative smiled. "I understand the logic of it. I think we can make an exception to the naming conventions for now." He continued down the line to the second one to be produced. It was named Sierra Guardian. "I'm guessing he's going to stay at the San Francisco Shatterdome?"

Herc nodded. "That's the idea. Part training Jaeger, part permanent defender."

The third one was named Sigma Thunder. "And where's this one planned to be based?"

Mako shrugged. "Depends on where the next Shatterdome is."

"Can't you use the Hong Kong Shatterdome?"

Herc frowned. "Depends on if we can get the museum board to settle for only a part of the hangars for the duration of the war."

The Canadian smiled. "That can be arranged. Just ask nicely and explain why."

Baxter got down to business. "Now, how much is this going to set us back per copy?"

Mako looked a little sheepish. "$10 billion U.S. each if we do a run of 20 or more."

The representatives all gathered into a cluster and began to talk for a while, while Crunch and Aki disappeared across the street to do something.

Finally the representatives broke up their mingle session, and the big four players came forward. "Will the price go down further if we run a few more units?"

Mako frowned. "Not by much. Couple tens of millions."

"Then we have a deal. Twenty solid orders, ten options."

Herc's jaw dropped at that. "We're going to be funded?"

Baxter wandered over. "Marshall, we just need to speak to Mr. Chau to nail down details." He looked at Jazmine. "Unless you're authorized to deal on his behalf."

"I am."

Then let's get to business. Charles, Liang, and Belov? Pick a Jaeger and name it, then let's go to the office. America calls Gipsy Danger and Sierra Guardian."

Crunch smiled and held out a hat with a large collection of words that could be used to make a Jaeger name, and Aki held out another hat with numbers in it. Belov Valintin, the Russian representative, grabbed two words and a number. "Number 7…" He shuffled the words back and forth for a few moments. "Nitro Glow."

A round of applause filled the hangar, then Liang Zhilan, the Chinese representative, stepped forward.

"Number 5… Cobra Sentinel."

Another round of applause.

The Australian rep stepped up. "Number 14. Bugger." A laugh as he shuffled the words, trying to pick a good one. "Quantum Cinder? Cinder Quantum? Really not a good match. Can I try again?"

Crunch nodded. "Gimme one, then draw another."

A brief swap later, the representative smiled. "Much better. Quantum Colt for Australia."

The Japanese representative stepped forth. "Number 4… Zephyr Angel."

And so it went until all twenty of the confirmed Jaegers were claimed and named.

-.-.-

1230

Hannibal walked into the office to find a large crowd of PPWG reps waiting behind a sheepish Jazmine Becket. "What in the name of God is going on here?"

Jaz looked at the floor. "We… kinda got caught off guard. The Working Group came by for a visit."

"And?"

Herc poked his head up over the shoulders of the back row of politicians. "We're funded. We just need 'Domes ad we're good to go."

Chau looked at his intended protégé with and inquisitive look. "What's the deal, then?"

"They want to see what the 'Domes will look like before they fund them."

"So show them."

"I… wanted to make sure that we would be able to build one in San Francisco first. After all, that's going to be the cornerstone of the network, right?"

"It is. So, let's pull up the plans on the big display." He headed out across the street to the hangar.

-.-.-

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming all the way out here. I hope that your visit so far has been enjoyable. However, we're not in the business of having a good time, now are we? No, we're here to save our planet from an alien invasion. And for that, we need a base, right?"

Hannibal fired up the holoprojector and the hangar was once again filled with the image of the Earth. The view tightened in on the San Francisco Bay Area, showing it as it was now as it settled to the floor, with a ghost of the pre-K-Day city overlaying it. "This is the Bay Area. Now an Exclusion Zone due to long-term contamination from both the radiation from the triple nuclear strike and the Kaiju Blue. Both of these issues are fixable now, thanks to more than a decade of research. However, the ruins of San Francisco remain as a reminder of what we have lost.

"That said, we need to move forward. We can't afford to dwell on what once was. Instead, we need to focus in what can be. And, with your help, what will be. I ask you to direct your attention to the Marin Headlands, and Kirby Cove in particular." Hannibal zoomed in on the area in question. "As you can see, Highway 101 and the surrounding area are largely uncontaminated, despite Trespasser's passage just to the south as he destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, I know that there have been calls to rebuild the bridge rivet for rivet. I say that those who want a faithful reproduction can go build one elsewhere. We need a Shatterdome, and the Los Angeles one just isn't going to cut it anymore. So, we build it here."

A model of the proposed Shatterdome complex appeared in the display. It was a traditional Shatterdome design for the most part: the Scramble Alleys opening out onto the water to the south; large helipad located above the hangars; and an extensive lodging and administrative center placed back from the pads. That was where the similarities ended, however.

The most noticeable part of the design was the new Golden Gate Bridge that was anchored on the north end by the Shatterdome. The heritage of the iconic (and now long-destroyed) bridge was clearly evident, but it was not a precise replica. Perched atop each of the towers was a turreted ID-25 Plasma Cannon, straight off of a Mark VI Jaeger. Alongside those were paired, turret mounted Anti-Kaiju Missile launchers derived from the ones used by Striker Eureka.

"Yeah, we armed the Bridge. Because if the Kaiju gets past the Jaeger, this setup will stop it cold before it hits the city. Again."

Samuel Baxter frowned. "What are you planning on powering the cannons with?"

"Very good question." Chau blew up the base and showed them a large complex at the back of the base. "This is a Gen IV pebble bed nuclear reactor. Triple core, shock isolated, EMP hardened. Also meltdown proof. Not resistant, proof. No other reactor design boasts such a capability, due to the completely encapsulated fuel elements. It also runs hot enough that we can use the heat of the reactor coolant to directly desalinize seawater for use not only in the 'Dome, but in a rebuilt San Francisco as well. Provides a city's worth of excess power, too, even when the cannons are running full tilt. Both of those are carried through conduits along the bottom of the bay, by the way. So even if the bridge goes down, the water and power still flow."

"But what about earthquakes?"

"See these here?" Chau circled a set of absolutely massive shock absorbers that carried the entire reactor complex. "These are taken straight off the Jaeger designs. Best shock absorbers out there. The whole base will move around these reactors, which will stay rock steady even in the worst of earthquakes. The base itself is armored against the effects of the quakes, too, so it'll remain up and running."

The Japanese representative frowned. "Tsunami?"

"Scramble Alley doors have always been heavily armored and watertight, so we'll just lock it down and ride it out. Plus, with the immense amounts of water and space available, we'd be a perfect hub for Search and Rescue and disaster recovery."

The representatives milled about for a while, taking in the plans and talking. Finally, they reached a decision, and Baxter spoke for the group. "Give us the bill, and we'll fund it."

Jaz ran over and hugged Chau. "Well done, David."

Everyone froze, staring at Jazmine, who was mortified at her gaffe.

Herc rounded on the younger Becket. "Who?"

Chau coughed. "You all knew that my name of Hannibal Chau was a chosen name, right?"

Herc nodded. "Favorite historical character and second favorite Sichuan restaurant in Brooklyn, if I remember correctly."

Chau nodded. "Well, Jaz used my real name… David Ashburn. I was a businessman here in San Francisco on K-Day. After we killed Trespasser, I realized that there was a business opportunity even in the death of a Kaiju. And once the Jaegers started doing their jobs so well, the market for Kaiju black market goods exploded. I… saw an opportunity and I took it. Made me insanely wealthy, too."

Raleigh walked forwards. "Hey. You didn't need to hide your past from us. We're in this together, right? We're all a team here."

Ashburn looked down. "No… you are. I'm just the man with a plan to get it started. Jaz here will see it through."

Baxter looked at Ashburn, concerned. "Kaiju Blue, isn't it."

David nodded. "A particularly slow-burning version, yeah. Serves me right for being so damned cocky around Baby Otachi. Docs give me a year, tops."

A respectful murmur fluttered around the group.

"And I will not let that year go to waste. I might not live to see the end of the Kaiju threat, but I'll be damned if I don't pitch in to help while I can."

Mako and Raleigh nodded, understanding the feeling.

Suddenly, a familiar but unexpected voice rang out. "Then let's get started."

Everyone whirled around to see the D'Onofrio's standing in the freight door of the hangar.

Caitlin smiled broadly and continued. "We've got a hell of a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in."

-.-.-

Author's notes: Whew! that was a hell of a case of writer's block. Thankfully it's been broken, and we're back in action.

I'm going to start naming my chapters from here on out, and might even go back and add names to the others already published.

Also, BIG news for you all... Forged In Fire is NOT going to be the only major story I do: Instead, it's the first of four major story arcs.

That's right. FOUR:

Forged in Fire (aftermath of the First Kaiju War)

Calm Before the Storm (preparations for the Second Kaiju War)

Once More Unto the Breach (Second Kaiju War proper)

Reap the Whirlwind (Aftermath of the Second Kaiju War)

Anyways, now that I have that bombshell out of the way, want the Jaeger names, in order of production, with funding nation? No problem! I need to line them up for head canon usage anyways.

Solid orders:

1. Gipsy Danger II (GD-601) (USA)

2. Sierra Guardian (SG-602) (USA)

3. Sigma Thunder (ST-603) (Australia/New Zealand) (given to relieve the delay in coverage due to Quantum Colt being #14 in production.) (Kudos to CSM101 for the name idea.)

4. Zephyr Angel (ZA-604) (Japan)

5. Cobra Sentinel (CS-605) (China)

6. Python Exile (PE-606) (Mexico)

7. Nitro Glow (NG-607) (Russia)

8. Amber Herald (AH-608) (Philippines)

9. Shotgun Blackout (SB-609) (Central American Coalition)

10. Nebula Vixen (NV-610) (South-East Asia Alliance)

11. Castle Ember (CE-611) (South American Conference)

12. Maple Tiger (MT-612) (Canada)

13. Shockwave Harpoon (SH-613) (China)

14. Quantum Colt (QC-614) (Australia/New Zealand)

15. Sparrow Dynamo (SD-615) (Japan)

16. Eagle Shadow (ES-616) (South-East Asia Alliance)

17. Prometheus Dawn (PD-617) (Canada)

18. Phoenix Enforcer (PE-618) (Russia)

19. Ivory Dragon (ID-619) (China)

20. Ruby Canyon (RD-620) (USA)

Options:

USA: 2

Japan: 2

Russia: 2

China: 1

Australia/New Zealand: 1

Canada: 1

South-East Asia Alliance: 1

Each nation or group of nations gets at least one Jaeger, though it might not be based in their country: Even small Shatterdomes are expensive.

The two letter, three digit code is inspired by a scene from the Anchorage fight, where the Gipsy shows up on Tendo's display with the code GD-34. I'm assuming its Mark and production order, but I'm not positive that's the numbering in official canon. But that's my head canon, so it applies here.

Central American Coalition refers to a fictitious alliance between Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. They don't have enough funding to field a Jaeger each, so they pool their resources to field Jaegers.

South-East Asia Alliance is similar to the Central American Coalition, but is comprised of Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

The South American Conference is comprised of Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru.

If you have any suggestions as to weaponry loadouts, body language, crews, logos, etc., feel free to let me know via review or PM. I'm gonna need some help with that. ^_^

EDIT: Missed the crossover on Castle Echo with Echo Saber. Now renamed to Castle Ember.