October 11th, 2036

China, Asia

Hong Kong

Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. Shatterdome

Jaeger Bay Alpha-Bravo-Foxtrot (237)

11:43:33 AM

Private was humming happily as he left to his lunch break. He had just witnessed Tooth paint a new tick mark under the III category for Blue Winter's score card.

Every Jaeger Bay had a score card, that kept tabs on how many kills they made. It was a simple designed chart. Four diagonal columns for categories I-IV. Each time a machine scored a kill on its own the crew would happily paint in a tick mark under the category it belonged to.

Blue Winter had just scored her twelfth kill. A lot came with that. The 'Penguin Crew,' was bolstered, Jack and Tooth were considered honorary Rangers, and people began to respect them now.

Then a huge jolt rocked the Shatterdome, knocking Private on his face. He picked up his head as the sirens went off.

"Kaiju!"

He heaved quietly as seven and a half foot long claws tore the Shatterdome apart like tissue paper.

The Kaiju named Shockwave, a new category IV, had slipped through the waters undetected mimicking a seismic displacement of what was considered 'usual' movement and therefore turned 'invisible,' to the human sonar grid. It decimated the entire base to rubble in a matter of minutes. Jaegers were utterly crushed by the foul monster. With the Jaegers down for the count and nothing standing in its way, it made headlong speed to the unfinished Anti-Kaiju Wall in Anchorage, Alaska. However in its attempt to leave its prey defenseless it overlooked one crucial detail; Blue Winter.

This was its thinking destroy the base and then it would be free to complete its master's bidding. So it waited until it believed all the Machines and crews were inside. Blue Winter had been out completing a standard drill and had been delayed by a rain squall. This one act of nature would save the Jaeger from certain destruction.

Shockwave had just entered the squall, when it was suddenly lifted out of the water by a double fisted blow to the mouth. Inside the Conn pod the two pilots seethed. They were going to rip this Kaiju apart. Bit by bloody bit.

The waves tossed around the two leviathans as they sized each other up. Shockwave was actually more akin to a jaguar than anything else. It had four gleaming blue eyes on either side of its armored head and a larger one in the center, its jaw was in an overbite like position and it had two upward pointing fangs that gleamed dangerously, the rest of its body was streamlined and smooth. The crew however didn't care at all. They only wondered how many piece they could dice this beastie into. They circled each other slowly waiting for the other to jump.

The Jaeger flinched first and swung at the Kaiju. It easily jumped out of the way and dug its claws into the Jaeger's steel back. From its new position the Kaiju began tearing off armor like it was just slapped on instead of welded.

Jack was panicking his Jaeger wasn't meant to be totaled like this. His readout was in the red zone, and Tooth wasn't faring any better. She had tried to elbow the thing off of them, but it took her arm and tore it out, making her scream as her side's systems crashed. He knew she'd be burned badly and in need of medical attention. Then they heard it, saw it, and felt it tear into Tooth's side of the Conn pod exposing her to the open air. The beast leaned in close its blue eyes glowing at her hungrily, while hers widened at its approach. Jack thought for sure he would pass out from all of her fear she was putting into the Bridge, that didn't happen. What did happen was that he got very angry.

Just as it was about to pounce, Jack reached up, and threw it into a nearby undersea mountain that crushed its neck in a vice. Jack ripped out its skeleton with one powerful roar. He held the eerily glowing skeleton as the rest of the body sank into the froth.

Jack and Tooth limped their Jaeger home to find utter desolation. What had once been their HQ, Home, and Launching Bays was now twisted steel and scrap. They were the only Jaeger left in operational status, and that put the weight of the world on their shoulders.

They walked into the shallows and were met by a cheer of the survivors, it didn't lift their moods as they were soon directed elsewhere to be airlifted to a new base of operations. The tolls were staggering, but there were survivors. Jack and Tooth were silent as they were flown to a new island that was in the middle of the Pacific itself.

They jostled gently as they flew to the new island base named Enterprise. Radio reports flooding their comms.

"Cherno, Crimson, Striker are wrecked. Blue Winter still viable. Diverting all assets to Enterprise Shatterdome. ASAP!"

Jack reached up and clicked it off as they flew, Tooth was near tears, because of her still present pain and no reports had anything on her parents. When they landed and Blue Winter's crew was able to exit, Jack gently eased Tooth out of the pod as she fainted from pain and exhaustion, her left side systematically burned from the Kaiju's attack.

Her parents were there and embraced their daughter, they looked at Jack briefly and then turned away. Jack handed Tooth to a medical crew and fell to his knees, battle weary. He looked up to the starry heavens and watched as the rain squall that had saved his life move away to reveal the ethereal gleam behind them and passed out on the white sandy beach barely aware of people calling out to and rushing to him.

For a brief moment he would have sworn the stars glowed brighter than ever.

November 10th, 2036

Pacific Ocean

Enterprise Island

Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. Shatterdome

Office of the Marshal

13:00:44 PM

North sighed as he checked his newly reformatted crew roster. So many of the original people who had kept this program running were either dead, forced into retirement, or transferred thus leading to his promotion to Marshal of the last operable Jaeger on the Earth, and it was maddening.

Countless new Jaegers being assembled, equally as many Battle. Artificial. Intelligence. units were in development. Hiccup, now a Jaeger tester, was replaced by a new lad come in named Tintin. He helped oversee the creation of the A.D.'s, or Assistant. Droids, which were speeding up things in their new tropical base nicely. The 'Penguin Crew,' of course would never flee their new Jaeger so they stayed on as well. They had also taken on several new recruits to their tiny home. A few were ex-detectives, soldiers, or delinquents, and by delinquents he meant Pirates.

Then there was the news that an important royal figure from Sparta was arriving to observe the progress of her investment, as well as supply newer workers to relive the current ones who had just wrapped up their tasks of creating this new base faster than anyone thought possible. It was simple, fortified, and enough for an army of Jaegers, but at present there was only one, and that was really stretching it.

Since October 11th the Blue Winter underwent a massive repair overhaul, from the bottom of its steel foot to the top of its Conn pod. Now that the crew was established there were no concerns about there being another aborted Drift. They had been given a new gel armor that gave the Jaeger a slightly grey rather than blue, but it could now take the beatings of the heavier Jaegers, as well as dish out its own brand of pain. New in its armory were twin wrist cannons that fired time bombs into the Kaiju. Once firmly lodged inside the warheads spewed a new chemical concoction courtesy of Kowalski. Working in tandem with Newt's research, he developed a spray that froze only Kaiju tissue and caused a literal explosion.

While leaving the rest of the environment unharmed, as well as turning Kaiju Blue exposure to a minimum since his chemical mixture practically reduced the Kaiju to dust. The trick was getting them to lodge into the Kaiju.

There was one last touch. A creation that came surprisingly from Private. The Jaeger now had a small fight force. Launched from its arms they flew at the Kaiju and fired the same shells from the wrist cannons at close range. Nicknamed 'Fairies' because of their design, they were fierce fighting droids.

And then there was a change to the Jaeger's name due to its new color. It was now designated: Grey Ghost. Much to Jack and Tooth's chagrin.

North sighed and rubbed his eyes as he leaned back spying a painted sign in the cargo bay.

"The Grey Ghost vs. The Breach."

'How very correct.'

He thought to himself as the new and improved Jaeger returned from its first experimental walkabout. Jack and Tooth were now the only battle ready crew in the Pacific zone.

Always so busy his new workshop.

Jack and Tooth had to stay on alert 24/7 and pummel whatever else the Rim hacked up.

He knew the other Jaegers and crews who had survived went to Oblivion Bay, where another detachment of Spartan workers were hammering away at the wrecks, and making them new again. Someday he hoped that it wouldn't just be Blue Winter leading the fight punch and swing. But for now they were going to have to. The Human race was finally beginning to work together rather than butt their heads, he hoped Jack and Tooth could survive long enough for the rest of the world to catch up.

That's all they need now. Time. As they hung on by their teeth and toenails.

November 10th, 2036

Pacific Ocean

The Breach

Anteverse

Approximately 2200 Hours 18 Minutes.

A Precursor leaned forward, unbelievably bored as his protégé constantly paced to and from the DNA imagery captures.

He and the other Cardinals were becoming concerned for, what they had originally believed to be, a strong Cardinal for countless ages to come. The Precursor in question was conceived during their first expedition to this back water world. Upon return he had already distinguished himself among his peers for his depths of decisive, brutal, attacks.

He was brought forth to the Cardinals instantly, and proved himself by delivering a fatal blow to a childhood friend of eons past. All because he had shown the tiniest bits of compassion to the Oomans. They saw in him their future, a people that were unrelenting to no being.

Now they feared that they had created something worse, a being that would slaughter all his people if it meant bringing the Machine called Blue Winter, down with them.

He knew his reasons for his obsession for vengeance. Using his ailing daughter as a base, he crafted a new 'Hunter' body for her spirit to dwell in, the result was an almost perfect beast. The Cardinals, Bishops, and Ambassadors showered him with praise for his unorthodox method in his first craft.

'Almost perfect' was too correct in the situation. Now he went every breath to the DNA imagery captures from other Manufacturers across their realm; after he had finished stripping his beast of knowledge, then forcefully putting new information in its place of course. Once he had done that he'd stalk off and repeat the cycle once more. He was off again and knew he'd not return for several cycles so he stepped forth to examine his 'pet.'

Its six eyes opened at him and it seemed to bear teeth against him, he didn't so much as flinch as it did. It was truly growing rampantly, but its release was always delayed by the input of new memories. He huffed his boredom.

This beast could rock the world above and cease the Oomans of all hope. He turned to the nearby consol. Just hovering in place was the activation key codex. One input of code and it would be caged and shipped up to the world it was crafted to destroy, not some petty Machine.

He casually walked over to it and grasped it in his left pincer, he absently punched in a specialized genetic code that would send the creation to the forefront. He looked up as he finished. The beasts eyes were glowing furiously at him. He felt a slight shudder rumble across his body and shook it off. Just as he reached out to place the crystal into the beam that would relay the orders it roared at him mutely, as it soaked in its bloodbath.

That was the distraction. The next instant his hand and the key were gone. There stood his protégé holding the crystal with absolute glee. He looked as his hand twitched in his apprentice's lowered right arm while his two upper limbs examined the crystal in a hunger.

He stumbled back in shock as he examined his brutally ripped arm. He didn't notice his student touch a few keys, nor did he realize the head of the beast had emerged behind him.

The Precursor examined the key in great detail while his former Master screamed in agony as he was consumed him. Slowly.

It clawed at the ground hungrily. Ready to hunt, longing for its true prey. He shook his head and patted his child before tapping a series of orders that pushed it back into the cocoon. He gave it more of his blood to bathe in and upload new memories.

Soon, he would release it. He looked at the crystal with undeniable hunger. Thanks to his former Master he now had the means to execute his plan whenever he wanted, but for now he needed time, as did it. It had just eaten its first solid meal after all, it needed to digest.