Quick note: Just a reminder that I use Google translate to give the characters more realism. These translations may not be accurate to the intended meaning. English text is provided in brackets under quotes with other languages.

It was a windy, cloudy day outside of the Shatterdome. Newt sat in front of his computer, whistling and typing along. He could barely hear the walls creaking from the heavy wind hitting against them. After all, he did like listening to loud music with his headphones, and he hardly looked away from the screen. He was running a model on Kaiju blood contents and its link to body mass, which made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside despite the strange pressure against himself.

Behind Newt, Hermann came stumbling around a corner with his cane. He pinned his lips back, forcing a maniacal expression on his face.

"Good golly!" he yelled, making his way toward Newt.

Papers were flying everywhere within the science lab, and Hermann could hardly stand up. He pinned one hand on a desk and clutched his cane with the other.

"Newton, I find it ridiculous that you're... No, I find it UNBELIEVABLE that you're sitting here like this!" he yelled, his hair waving violently side to side.

Newt looked up finally and removed his headphones, coming to the realization that wind was howling through the lab. He let out a quiet "eh" as he stood up, struggling to move toward the window. Outside, the waves were massive, and many pieces of debris flew through the air. It was like a tornado out there, and he had somehow sat through the beginning of it.

"Holy..." he muttered.

The wind was not just blowing hard. It was destroying buildings, moving cars a few feet, and whipping loose objects all over the city. Just as he stumbled back to his desk, the intercom system turned on.

"Employees, do not leave the Shatterdome. Remain inside until the weather clears."

Newt looked around at the chaotic room, pointing at a flying piece of cardboard and gasping in shock.

"I know you're about to say you were heading home," Hermann began, still clutching to the desk. "But I'll tell you that's no use! The helicopter bay is destroyed!"

"What?!" called Newt, his glasses slightly off center.

"I said that the helicopter bay is destroyed!" the other man repeated.

Newt cursed several times as he fell to the floor from a powerful gust of wind. A window must have broken in the science lab, allowing the breeze to get through.

"And Newt," said Hermann. "Now might not be the best time, but we better prepare to find a hiding spot!"

"Wha-what, you think?" scrambled the scientist with glasses. "It's a jungle in here, man!"

Hermann shook his head. "I don't mean to lay this on you now, but a lot happened while you were on that computer, including an important intercom announcement."

Technically, "a lot" happened while he was on the computer quite often. Newt would sometimes completely skip through meetings or forget to prepare a talk when he was invested in his research. This was probably his biggest fail yet-sitting through gusting winds without much of a thought behind it. He held his bottom lip slightly open, praying he didn't miss some big news. After all, what could have possibly happened while he was in another world for a couple hours?

"You see, my math is always correct!" Hermann shouted through the loud wind. "And I knew this would be coming. The first Kaiju is making its way through the sky tunnel, and-"

"Holy shit, it's happening!" called Newt, scrambling off the ground.

He didn't wait for Hermann to continue his sentence. Instead, he ran over to a projector and allowed it to show the tunnel model. A flickering light was showing at the top of the funnel, slowly making its way downward. The model zigged and zagged slightly, numbers zipping across it.

"Look at this thing!" Newt yelled back to his fellow scientist, tracing his finger along the funnel while papers flew by.

Hermann practically crawled to the projector. "It will be deposited into the ocean, and then-"

"We're dead because we have no way to get away from this place," finished Newt.

Hermann looked at him like he was an idiot, which was often.

"And with no helicopters, I'm sure there are no army guys getting ready to fight this thing!" added Newt. "We're sitting in a Kaiju oven, being cooked until it likes how we're gonna taste! The-there's gotta be..."

He went to work typing at a computer, neglecting to finish his sentence. Hermann watched on, a piece of paper eventually slapping onto his face.

"[Cherno...]"

The Jaeger hangar felt like it was rumbling with how powerful the wind was blowing. Technicians were running about, trying to find safe places to hide. It was a collective group thought that, in the event of the roof blowing off, nobody wanted to be crushed by a Jaeger if the wind somehow knocked one over. The technicians fully abandoned their equipment and escaped back into LOCCENT, leaving the room bare.

"[Cherno...]"

The Russian Jaeger woke himself up, his senses still wacky. He was nearly repaired, save for a gap in his reactor tower and messed up right arm. Even though he was still sleepy, he felt as though a voice was coming to him.

"[Cherno...]"

It was through the dark place again. That same place that doesn't really exist, but it's still somehow there.

"[Who says my name?]" he asked in the dark place in a deep, robotic voice.

"[I am Crimson,]" the voice replied. "[You are awake.]"

Cherno remained still. "[We should sleep again. We cannot move.]"

"[Turn your sensors on,]" Crimson whispered.

The Russian Jaeger couldn't help but feel like this was either a lame joke or a mistake that would get him caught by the humans. He hesitated, wanting to enter back into his slumber, but he continued to get a "knocking" sensation from the dark place. He soon turned his sensors on to low power, immediately becoming aware of the rumbling Shatterdome.

"[It's wind,]" added Crimson. "[It is different outside.]"

Cherno resisted the urge to move. He really had no idea what was going on or why he could suddenly hear voices from a dark place. He just wanted his mother and father by his side, and it hurt to know they were no longer around.

"[I've been awake all day,]" the Chinese Jaeger said. "[There was an announcement. A loud voice.]"

None of this made any sense. Cherno assumed Crimson was trying to be mysterious and create drama, and he began turning his sensors off.

"[A Kaiju,]" Crimson muttered. "[The voice said. Humans started running. No way out of the Shatterdome.]"

Well, now she says it. Cherno let his sensors run longer, giving them more power.

"[There are no Kaiju,]" he said. "[Just us.]"

"[No,]" the other voice quipped. "[They are coming. Helicopter bay is ruined, and humans are stuck. No defense.]"

Cherno wasn't sure what she wanted them to do about it. He had a big hole in himself, and she still didn't have her Conn-Pod attached. Normally, at the sound of "Kaiju," he'd take off with Sasha and Aleksis to beat them up. This time was different. He couldn't just run off without pilots, and he definitely didn't want anyone to see him move on his own.

"[And what?]" he finally asked.

"[We will fight,]" Crimson replied. "[And we will move. Humans will be hiding, will not see.]"

Despite their broken English, it was easy to tell what she wanted to do. Their systems were just now getting used to talking, and it would take a while to learn proper speaking techniques. Still, her comment was a tad surprising.

"[No pilots, I cannot move,]" Cherno countered.

"[I will go alone, then,]" Crimson retorted in the dark space.

She focused heavily on getting something, anything, to move. She felt somewhat hopeless in this big body, and yet she was stuck inside of it. Just a little twitch would be fine, and that could lead to bigger things... She felt one of her fingers shift, then another. Even without a Conn-Pod, she was beginning to make it work.

"[You better stop before humans see,]" cut in Cherno, his engine rumbling.

Crimson kept pushing for more movement, though. It was like breaking out of sleep paralysis, but Jaeger-sized. She got her arm to twitch, and then it swung a bit. Slowly but surely, she was regaining control over her long-lifeless body. She worked on her other arms, attempting to jerk them into motion.

"[We will be scrapped,]" the Russian commented. "[Remain still.]"

Of course, his message was ignored. Crimson bent her arms as much as she could, which wasn't a whole lot. She felt a sensation in her chest-plate from the pressure she was putting on herself to get going. Her foot slid forward a tad, then she limply held a leg up. She moved her foot out, placing it onto the floor as quietly as possible despite a thud still being emitted. Then, she did the same with her other foot, nearly kicking her Conn-Pod into the wall. She figured her body would fully awaken during the trip as she stumbled to the closed door.

"[Door in way. How to remove?]" she asked in the dark place.

"[Humans have opener,]" responded the sleepy Cherno.

Granted, Crimson didn't have time to figure this all out. She felt one hand against the door, pressing it slightly to test how secure it was. While it was made of metal, it was worth a try to break it open. She drew her arm back, forming her fingers into a clenched fist. Cherno heard a slight clunk when her arm locked into place, and she began building up power in her engines.

"[Too loud,]" whispered Cherno, the engine whirring getting more noticeable.

Finally, she swung her fist forward, busting it into the door. A colossal boom radiated throughout the room, followed by the door flying open. The room shook, and Cherno was sure the humans heard it. His sensers were now on high alert. Crimson sensed the outside with her scanners, checking the environment around her.

"[Zhdat',]" Cherno said in the dark place. "[Ty ne poydesh' odin.]"
[Wait. You will not go alone.]

Crimson spun her body around. "[Xiànzài nǐ shuōhuàle?]"
[Now you speak?]

"[Smotret', kak ty ukhodish' odin, znachit videt', kak ty snova umirayesh',]" the Russian responded.
[To watch you leave alone is to watch you die again.]

By now, an alarm was going off overhead. Cherno fired his engines up, making his metal body warm up. He put tremendous pressure on himself to get moving, allowing him to slowly raise his shoulders. His hydraulics hissed as he rolled them slightly, getting a sense of his body once more. Steam puffed out of pipes in his legs as he began his first step, swinging his foot forward and thudding it in front of himself. Although Crimson couldn't truly watch without her Conn-Pod, she could detect the larger Jaeger's movement.

Cherno continued his slow march forward, heading toward the door where Crimson stood. He swung his arms back and forth with every step, his metal creaking and groaning. The Chinese robot left her position and headed farther outside, and he followed suit. Every step they took let out a thump as they moved away from the Shatterdome.

"[You will be my eyes,]" she said, although her sensors were beginning to work better.

"[And I will follow you,]" replied a booming voice.

In the distance, a column of air was forming between the sky and the ocean. It swirled violently, streams of water circling up the tubular current. The clouds were gray and heavy, hanging over the city like a fog. Crimson's motors began warming up, allowing her to begin a slow run, her mechanics growling. Cherno tried his best to keep up, but he was nowhere near as fast as his fellow Jaeger. Instead, he moved in a brisk walk behind her, his footsteps leaving craters in the ground. His sensors picked up a signature falling through the tunnel.

"[Kaydzyu,]" the Russian muttered.
[Kaiju.]

Crimson's engines snarled as she jumped over a high bridge in the city, crashing down with a hole in the street's pavement.

"[Nǐ de tónglèi shāle wǒ de xiōngdì!]" she called through the dark place.
[Your kind killed my brothers!]

The Chinese Jaeger was now moving as fast as she could, her massive body swaying side to side with every step. Cherno could only watch from behind as the funnel rumbled, pieces of the Kaiju beginning to peak through. It fell swiftly into the ocean, still hidden by the air gust, and water flew into the air upon its impact. The landing shook the buildings nearby, including Cherno himself. The Kaiju let out a soft roar and turned inward to the ocean, its long tail sticking out of the funnel. It lifted its large front hand, streaking water through the air as it began stepping out of the wind tunnel.

"[It is going the wrong way!]" warned Cherno through the dark place. "[We cannot keep up if it moves out.]"

He watched Crimson begin dashing into the water, waves parting around her frame. She would never make it to the Kaiju at this rate, especially since she was not fully repaired. Cherno's processors rumbled, and he made his way toward the shore. Behind him, it sounded like several screams of fear, but he had no time to turn around. Instead, he planted his feet into the ground where the water met the land. His system let out some steam as he opened four doors on his chest plating, revealing four streams of light within each. As loud as he could, he blasted his low, steamboat-sounding horn across the port, pounding his metal fists together.

Almost immediately, the Kaiju's head jerked up. It turned its head toward the shore in search of the noise, quickly locating Cherno's whereabouts. It roared back, the noise echoing through the dim sky back to him. The Kaiju lowered its head and fully faced toward him, mist coming out of its nostrils with every breath. After a moment of pondering, it began carving through the water to shore, snarling on its way over. Cherno let out another horn blast, taunting the ugly creature more. It opened its blue mouth to bare its teeth, clearly taunting him back. But Cherno was not close enough to fight... It was a distraction.

From the side, Crimson pulled her two right arms back as she ran upon the Kaiju. As she swung, rocket fire blasted out of her back, allowing her to make harsh contact against the creature's face. It snarled and fell into the water with a crash, water spraying on the red Jaeger. She picked her heavy foot up, allowing it to crush down on the Kaiju's side several times.

"[This is for Cheung, Jin, and Hu!]" she yelled in a menacing robotic voice.

The Kaiju picked its head up and growled at her, but she wasn't finished. Not now. She flipped her fingers sideways, allowing them to transition into blade-like structures. Her engine roared as she put power into their spinning motion, smoke rising into the sky. With all her might, she raised her three arms up, locking them into place. The Kaiju jammed its hands into the sand below and began pushing itself back up, the water becoming murky through the tussle. Crimson dropped her arms down with a groan of her metal, her blades gashing the creature across the face, chest, and stomach. Blue fluids quickly entered the water around them, the Kaiju crashing back down into the water.

Cherno finally made his way over, his lights blaring over the fight. He delivered a booming punch to the Kaiju's neck, followed by a quick punch by extending his spring-loaded Tesla fists. The monster screamed and flailed, and it thrashed water high up in its struggle. Cherno grabbed ahold of its heavy body by the neck and upper tail, heaving it into the air. His motors puffed as the beast was hoisted up near his nuclear reactor tower, its arms and legs kicking above him. With a powerful jolt of his mechanics, he threw the Kaiju forward toward Crimson. She cocked her upper body to the side, spinning it a full 360 degrees around to allow her spinning blades to slash the flying body. The Kaiju let out one last blood-curdling scream as its head was sliced clean off, slamming into the tainted ocean water to Crimson's side. Its body toppled into the ocean on her other side, sending waves up that reached her chest. More blue streaked in the water around her as the head began to sink below the surface, the monster's tongue still sticking out.

Crimson swayed back and forth, her sensors scanning the area without the help of her Conn-Pod. Cherno moved his lights across the water, looking for any signs of movement. He swept his hands through the sea to clear the blue around them. It was a disturbing sight for sure, but the robots were used to it. This was among the smaller Kaiju they had encountered, but it left a hell of a mess behind.

"[Wǒ gǎnjué bù dào rènhé dòngjìng,]" the Chinese Jaeger said.
[I sense no movement.]

Cherno released more steam from his vents. "[Potomu chto yemu nadrali zadnitsu.]"
[Because it got its ass kicked.]

The flowing air funnel had been reduced to a small stream heading toward the clouds. With its weakening also came the weakening of the winds around them. Both Jaegers were somewhat surprised by the violence they came out with. They were expecting a long, difficult battle-this one was short and sweet. It had been around a year since they fell in battle, yet here they were standing over the remains of a Kaiju that, as Cherno said, got its ass fully kicked.

Crimson continued scanning the water. "[What do we do with the body?]"

"[We take it back,]" the older robot retorted. "[A prize.]"

He dug his hands into the sea and clutched onto the Kaiju's body, pulling it to the surface. Crimson took hold of the creature's head, and the two began to head to shore. As they got closer to civilization, the screaming noise that Cherno heard before returned. A small gathering of people remained near a building, children gripping onto their parents. They were too fearful to move, trying not to look at the massive robots ahead of them.

"[They are scared of the Kaiju?]" Crimson asked in the dark place.

Cherno's grip on the Kaiju's body tightened. "[They screamed at me before... They are scared of us.]"

The Jaegers made landfall, and the creature's body left a skid mark in its wake as it was dragged behind Cherno. The people continued screaming, which was an unfamiliar reaction to the robots. They were used to parades and celebrations in their names, not fear from the people they swore to protect. Their thundering footsteps on land earned heavier crying from the children as they turned to the Shatterdome,

"[Why do they fear us?]" questioned Crimson. "[We protect them.]"

A long pause occurred before Cherno answered. "[It has been a year without monsters. Without Jaegers. A year to forget.]" His engines hummed louder. "[To some, we are the monsters.]"

Crimson felt the dark place get colder. "[We fight. Blood. Kill. The people see war and cry. A Jaeger means war to them and years of Kaiju battle.]"

They walked in silence after that, coming to realize that the world was a much different place than when they left it. Even the celebrations from the end of the war meant nothing now. How could they expect people to cheer for them and love them when all they meant was war? They couldn't quite understand how to feel about this realization, as they had just become sentient. More importantly, they wondered what the Wei Tangs and the Kaidonovskys would think about this-how they would react to people screaming at their Jaegers...

As they approached the outside of the Shatterdome, they rested the Kaiju parts on a padding of metal nearby. Blue ooze was still leaking from its gash marks and mouth, trickling onto the floor around it. They went back through the damaged door, noticing that the alarm was still going off. Thankfully, there were no humans in sight, and the wind was barely noticeable at this point, anyway. Cherno and Crimson returned to their respective bays, resting their backs against the cold walls. Their engines let out slowing hums as they turned their lights and power off, allowing their body parts to lock into place with clunks. They may have been tainted with some Kaiju blue, but they would need to come up with an excuse some other time. Crimson fully powered herself down, entering a deep slumber. Cherno, however, kept his sensors on low for a moment, scanning the seemingly-empty area.

Then, he picked up a signal: a heat mark from above.

It was Herc perched on a catwalk, his arms crossed on a railing and his mouth hanging open. He took deep breaths, grabbing a walkie talkie and turning it on.

"Ya fellas might wanna come down 'ere..." the Australian stuttered.