Tracking
March 30th, 2026
The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong
0237 hours
Satellite imagery had confirmed Hansen's fears: the Marianas Facility had been destroyed, melted into radioactive glass. He was ready to send out word to the rest of the world, but only when he knew just how big the kaiju was and where it was headed.
"Sir, I think we've found something." Speak of the Devil. Hansen hurried over to the scanner as the technician zoomed in on the Mariana Trench. "We missed it on our initial scan, but we definitely picked something up."
"Can you get a visual?"
"Working on it, sir." the technician made a few keystrokes before the image zoomed in. Now, Hansen could see a noticeable radiation blip, still formless but unmistakably a kaiju. The blip held position north of the Marianas Trench before beginning to move towards Japan, leaving a small trail of radiation signatures behind it to mark it's progress. Initial readings showed that, length-wise, the kaiju would have been close to a Category 3, possibly a Category 4. The radiation readings, however, were way beyond even the Category 5 encountered at the Breach, and the residual radiation given off by the kaiju as it moved was also fairly severe. I'm sure they can give Gipsy better radiation shielding to protect from that thing.
"Anything we can do to slow it down?" he asked.
"The JSDF has formed a defensive perimeter around the main islands. It's not much but it should keep the kaiju busy long enough for the cities to be evacuated." Hansen nodded, even though it was still a bad prospect. He moved away from that monitor before he was approached by another technician.
"Sir, the upgrades for Gipsy Danger have been delivered and we're installing them as fast as we can."
"Get everyone off duty working on those upgrades; hopefully we can get the Jaeger ready before the kaiju makes landfall." the technician nodded before relaying Hansen's orders. He was half tempted to find Becket again and try to win him over, but he was interrupted by another technician.
"Sir, Representative Madison would like to have a word with you."
"Tell him I'm busy."
"He said it was urgent." For him, maybe.
"How can whatever problem he's dealing with be more urgent than stopping a potential Category 5 from destroying half of Japan?"
"I'm not the kind of person to wonder about that, sir." Hansen growled.
"Can you stall him?"
"I tried that, sir. He doesn't really know when to give up." I like this one; Pentecost must have worn off on him a little.
"I'll deal with him." the technician nodded, and after a few keystrokes Madison appeared on the monitor.
"Hansen, we have a situation here."
"Really? Do tell, I think I was distracted by the kaiju heading towards Japan." Madison frowned, but continued on regardless.
"You do realize that this is on your head."
"I do. I also realize that it was one Joseph Kroeger that first alerted us to the location of the egg."
"I do not know a 'Joseph Kroeger'." Hansen noted that the representative's lip twitched slightly. "And you cannot deflect the blame away from your mistakes. You told me that it was your man that moved the egg from the Marianas-"
"I said we had the egg; I never said we had moved it." Another twitch. "And how do you know the egg is the reason we've got a kaiju on our hands?"
"It seemed like a likely theory..."
"I'd leave the theories to the scientists, Representative. I've already sent word to Japan, and they are preparing for that kaiju to make landfall."
"And if you had listened to my original proposal, you would have had at least one Jaeger to combat the attack."
"I sincerely doubt that a Mark 1 could take out a Category 5, which this one may very well be. As such, Gipsy Danger is almost ready for combat, and should be able to drive the kaiju back before it does too much damage."
"I am still not convinced that your revived Jaeger Program is a practical option for defense, especially when you insist on having so few Jaegers."
"If you would rather go cower behind your Wall and hope the kaiju are polite enough to stop, be my guest." Madison frowned.
"I am not going to argue with you about this, Hansen. I presented a viable plan and you constantly undermined my authority, and now the world will suffer for it."
"At least I'm trying to do something about it."
"Not enough. What do you have, a collection of weaponry and a semi-completed Jaeger? What good will that do against a kaiju?"
"You would be surprised."
"That doesn't matter. If you don't find a way to stop this kaiju-"
"I have a way; it's just not finished yet."
"You know what I mean." Hansen shrugged as Madison hung up.
March 30th, 2026
Pan Pacific Research Facility, Tokyo
0913 hours
The base was a flurry of activity, with soldiers and scientists running to and fro in preparation for the upcoming kaiju attack. Newt and Gottlieb had their research moved into a more secure facility underground, the kaiju egg joining them as soon as it arrived from Osaka.
"And make sure that the shielding is set up just far enough that I can get some instruments in." he said as the girl the Pan Pacific Defense Corps had supplied helped secure the egg.
"Yes, Mr. Geiszler." she replied. Newt nodded and turned to look at Gottlieb, who was fussing away with some kind of mathematics Newt could not identify.
"Don't suppose you'll help out here?" Newt asked.
"I am not going anywhere near one of your little specimens. Last time gave me some very unpleasant and unwanted memories."
"Whatever." Newt turned back to the girl. "Thanks for the help, Miss...?"
"Saegusa," the girl replied. "Miki Saegusa."
"Thank you again, Miss Saegusa. We'll get back to you if we need anything else." Miki smiled before bowing and exiting the room. Once she was gone, Newt turned to his improvised Neural Bridge, pushing it closer to the egg.
"Do I even dare ask what you are doing?" Gottlieb asked.
"Science, primarily." Newt took several parts from the Neural Bridge and began to rearrange them. "I'm trying to increase the neural intake of the device so it can better handle inputs from a kaiju brain. That should make drifting with it a bit easier and not end up with one of us frying their brain."
"That is, assuming, I decide to go along with your plan again." Newt finished with his tinkering and turned towards Gottlieb.
"Hey, you helped out last time."
"That was because we were at a time where desperate measures were needed."
"And because you were freaking out about why your theory didn't seem to be working?"
"Yes, and because-" Gottlieb caught himself, staying silent as he realized what he was about to say. "... It doesn't matter. I do not like the idea of having to subject myself to more of your memories."
"Then how am I supposed to conduct the experiment if I only have one person?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something." there was a pause. "How exactly are you going to conduct the experiment if you don't have a kaiju brain to work with?"
"I've got an egg." Newt gestured to the egg to emphasize his point.
"Just because you have an egg does not mean you have a kaiju. You can't possibly think that your device will generate enough energy to allow you to Drift with an unborn kaiju."
"You'd be surprised." Gottlieb did not respond. Instead he rolled his eyes and left the room while Newt focused on the Neural Bridge. "Now, where am I going to find another person to share the neural load...?"
Down the hallway, one Miki Saegusa was feeling an inexplicable sensation of dread.
...
"I do not believe I am qualified for this sort of experiment, Mr. Geiszler." Miki said as Newt typed in the last calibrations for the Neural Bridge.
"Don't worry, it's only a test; we won't have the device on full power." Newt turned his attention to the egg, which was now draped in a net containing several dozen sensors. He tugged at the net to make sure it was secure before connecting several wires to the machine. "Besides, I've done this before; it'll work."
"But I am not a scientist, Mr. Geiszler-"
"Please, call me Newt."
"... I am not a scientist, Mr... Newt. I would not know what to make of what I would be exposed to."
"I'll handle that part. I just need you to help me with the neural strain of the Bridge."
"I have not had proper training."
"Neither did I when I first tried this out."
"... I have fainting spells."
"Listen, don't worry about this, really." Newt passed her a headset. "No one's ever died from Drifting, and you should be back to normal in an hour or two if you do get all... twitchy." Miki swallowed, but said nothing. "Hey, if something goes wrong I'll find a way to make up for it... just as soon as the possibility of us getting stepped on by a kaiju is out of the picture."
"If you say so..." Miki gently put on the headset while Newt grabbed the controls.
"Alright. Kaiju Egg Drift take one, starting in three... two... one..." and he hit the button.
Memories, emotions; all flood through in the Drift. None in any particular order, most just blurs of sound
His first broken arm.
Her baby brother.
High School.
Moving.
San Francisco.
Seoul.
Genetics.
Hong Kong.
Volunteering.
Then the Drift changes. It darkens, no images gracing their minds, but it is there.
A sound like tearing metal.
Fire. Radiation.
A roar. A kaiju.
Fear.
Rushing water.
Another roar, this one in pain.
Another sound of tearing metal.
Care.
Rage.
Newt was the first to recover, yanking his headset off as fast as he could. He was sweating profusely, but was not suffering from the usual side effects of an impromptu Neural Bridge.
"Woah..." he muttered, reaching out for a chair. "That worked better than I thought it would." he wiped away some sweat from his brow. "Still, woah... we're not dealing with a normal kaiju, what with no link to the others, but still there is some link there otherwise all the external information wouldn't have gotten through so there is something there and just... woah." Newt was getting exited, his hands trembling a little from the stimulus. Part of him wished that Gottlieb had stuck around so that he could either gloat or explain new theories, while another part was happy that he was gone so he would not get chewed out for using the Neural Bridge again.
Wait... Crap. Newt spun around and looked at Miki. The poor girl was laid out on the floor, her legs and hands twitching. Newt hurried over to her and pulled her up, and fortunately she was not bleeding as far as Newt could tell. That being said, her eyes were glazed over and her breathing was rapid, and the twitching was not helping in the slightest.
"My head hurts..." Miki forced out once her breathing calmed down.
"Blame me for that; I think I might have gotten my energy inputs wrong." Newt pulled Miki to her feet and sat her down in a chair, the girl still twitching from the Drift.
"My head... the sound... the... thing."
"I know. Freaky, isn't it?" But also cool, Newt added in his mind.
"What the hell is going on in here?!" Newt turned as Gottlieb hurried into the room. "I was on my way back when the lights started flickering-" Gottlieb stopped talking when he saw Miki. "Oh God, you used that Neural Bridge again, didn't you?"
"Hey, at least it worked and nobody got hurt."
"Would you say that this-" Gottlieb pointed to Miki. "Means nobody got hurt?"
"My head..." Miki muttered, the two scientists not paying her much attention.
"Look," Newt said. "We've got bigger problems. The egg isn't from a kaiju."
"What do you mean, 'isn't from a kaiju'?"
"It's not... well, sort of. It's not one of the ones that came through the Breach, as far as I can tell. There was... something, with nukes, and there's a bigger one out there..."
"What is that supposed to mean-"
"It means that there already were kaiju here before the other ones came through the Breach and now we might have just pissed it off!" there was a pause before Miki slumped over in her chair.
"My head..."
"We should get her to a doctor." Gottlieb said, taking Miki and draping her over one of his shoulders. Newt rushed in to steady the other two, dragging the semi-conscious woman out of the room and down the hall.
Why does everything kaiju related I touch end up turning bad?
March 30th, 2026
The Shatterdome, Headquarters of the Jaeger Program, Hong Kong
1439 hours
"Sir!" Hansen turned as Choi hurried towards him. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that since you put all focus on getting Gipsy Danger ready for combat, we've managed to cut our time down to two days."
"And the bad?"
"... The kaiju will make landfall at Osaka tomorrow night, give or take a few hours." Hansen turned away, watching the monitors as they tracked the kaiju. The blip had turned away from Okinawa and was now headed straight for Osaka, picking up speed as it neared land.
"Can the defensive ring try to hold it?"
"With the rate the kaiju is moving, it might make it through the perimeter before the JSDF has a chance to react. Even if they did manage to intercept the kaiju, there's no telling if their weapons will have any effect." A prettier way of saying Osaka will burn. Hansen sighed and looked down, closing his eyes.
"If I had spent less time arguing with Madison and more time making sure the Jaegers were ready, we'd have had a chance. Now we just got caught on our asses and an entire city's going down with us." Choi did not answer, instead silently waiting for Hansen to speak again. When he did not, Choi moved on to a different section of the room, speaking to a few technicians about a matter Hansen did not really care about.
Above him, the screen showed the blip slowing slightly as it neared the defensive perimeter, as if it had been waylaid by the JSDF. It held position for a second or two before continuing on it's advance towards Japan. As it slowed, a small square formed next to the blip, reading off Category and Designation of the kaiju.
Category: 5+
Designation: Godzilla.
I decided not to give Godzilla some overly huge rating because I felt that doing so had a potential to make Godzilla too much of a Mary Sue esque character (or maybe it's because I'm paranoid). So we have Category 5+; not a set category like, say, 9, but still workable within the universe of Pacific Rim.
And I'm trying to flesh out this particular universe a little more with some other characters from the Godzilla franchise... they may or may not have a major impact on the story.
Anyway, I don't own Pacific Rim or Godzilla. Reviews and favorites are welcome, and if I screwed something up please let me know.
