Of course there was no station for me to report to. I just like my fellow journalists had been briefed on what to do in such situations. We were to meet by the top elevators leading to the surface, ready for deployment. Our pilot would give us all the instructions we need, failure to comply meant he could call off the mission at his own discretion.
I listened with rapt attention as the pilot who looked like he had just graduated from college, barked orders at us. I could sense he was nervous, but who wouldn't be? We might not be fighting the Kaiju, but tailing the Jaegers did not leave us out of harm's way.
To make matters worse, it was raining terribly that night. There were doubts as to whether we would be allowed to fly, but after much deliberation, we were green lit but told to stay a safe distance from the bay. We knew whatever Kaiju had come up was one of the stronger category types when Crimson Typhoon, Cherno Alpha and Striker Eureka were all loaded up to tackle this creature. We were barely on board our chopper when it was announced that another Kaiju had come out of the breach too. This was unheard of, to have multiple sightings in one night talk less the same month. Apparently Hermann Gottlieb's postulations were being proved correct. Soon we would be inundated by these beasts and there would be no way to stop them at all.
Now it made sense why the PPCD had sent out multiple Jaegers to cut off these threats before they made it to the city.
If you've never had the privilege of being aboard the shatterdome then you might underestimate just how much work and preparation goes into getting a jaeger ready for battle. Gigantic Choppers, much larger than the one used to convey us, are used to lift them off the shatterdome and into the sky. Tons of workers on ground make sure every weapon and armament is properly loaded before takeoff. Engineers pore over mountain of information to ensure Jaeger is working without a hitch. It is an awe inspiring scene, watching metal birds haul even larger metallic giants through the sky to fight off gigantic beasts in situations most people can never fathom in their wildest dreams.
Our chopper consisted of the pilot, a gun man and four other journalists. The gun man was strapped to a weapons rig stationed by the door just in case things got dicey whilst we were given the liberty to position ourselves wherever we want as long as we didn't impede the gun man's vision.
Things got odd when Striker Eureka stopped outside the city and was not allowed to advance with the other Jaegers. Logistically it made no sense that the strongest and fastest machine was being held back especially when two creatures were bearing down on the city. Days later we would realize why but on that night, everyone in that machine was baffled by the decision.
Our chopper was some distance away from the fray, yet we could make out how big the two alien creatures were from our position. Both would later be dubbed Otachi and Leatherback, the latter being the smaller of the two.
The Jaegers were released into the body of water, and immediately Otachi, a scaly reptilian looking creature that moved on all fours with increasingly amazing speed bore down on the machines. I cannot properly put this into perspective; I can only hope my pictures do these creatures enough justice. This Lizard like Kaiju, had to be a least 200 or so feet tall, but because it only moved on all fours it made it look just a tad bit smaller. Its skin looked extremely dense, once again marked by a weird luminous glow all down its spine. This thing was created for carnage as even its tail looked like a weapon on its own. Even more amazing was the fact that it didn't hesitate to go after Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha at once.
The other Kaiju at first was nowhere to be seen, which I attributed to it either lurking beneath the waves or bad vision on our path. Either way, it stayed out of the fight and let its Reptilian cohort do most of the engaging at first.
We watched in horror as Otachi made quick work of Crimson Typhoon, shutting down one of our most skilled fighters with such ruthless efficiency. In a matter of moments we had lost three experienced rangers to one Kaiju. The brother trio from China were some of the most respected fighters in the PPCD, those three brothers had been responsible for many wins against the enemy. Their loss was a major blow to the human front, their value and that of their machine would not be easily replaced.
To make matters worse, Striker was still not able to budge living poor Cherno to take on Otachi alone, with the other Kaiju still staying out of sight. The odds could not be worse at that moment. Once again, that queasy feeling of being at the front row to a slaughter had crept up again. Things were about to get ugly.