Satellite Ray

Rain poured from the sky.

The base's dome slowly opened to the sky, and more than forty heavy transport helicopters lifted the Jaegers hanging in their bays into the air, carrying them toward the coastline.

Second by second, before the Kaiju arrived, the Jaegers were successfully deployed.

"Striker Eureka is in position." Herc Hansen and his son reported after stabilizing Striker Eureka in the seawater.

"Stay at the one-mile continental shelf. Do not engage lightly." Inside the PPDC base, Stacker's voice sounded in the Hansens' ears through the communications system.

"Cherno Alpha has reached the designated area and is disengaging from the transport aircraft." As Alexis Kaidanovsky and his wife spoke, the heavy Cherno Alpha crashed down onto the sea. Its balance and stabilization systems activated immediately, helping them steady themselves.

"Crimson Typhoon is in position." Wei Tang and his brothers reported their status as well.

"Gipsy Danger has been deployed successfully." Raleigh Becket controlled the Jaeger and bumped its fists together, drawing the attention of Cherno Alpha's pilots.

"Kulturo has secured the coastline. Lighting system activated." Mako Mori spoke from Kulturo's cockpit. Though this was her first real battle, her mind was calm. After casting aside unnecessary distractions and memories, Kulturo's somewhat hunched rear storage compartment opened, launching a ball of blazing white light into the sky. It unfolded in midair, becoming a light source as dazzling as the sun and illuminating the dark surroundings.

"Nicely done," Raleigh Becket praised.

"Listen, this Kaiju attack is no simple matter! There are two enormous Category IVs of comparable size and weight, along with a Category V we have no intelligence on whatsoever, except that it possesses the greatest size and weight in history. Stay alert in battle. Do not let your guard down!" Inside the PPDC base, Stacker issued a stern reminder over the communications system.

Of the five Jaegers, Striker Eureka remained at the one-mile coastline as the final line of defense, while Cherno Alpha and the other four Jaegers spread out to guard their assigned sectors.

Blinding spotlights swept through the darkness. While patrolling the surrounding waters, the pilots also had to watch for changes in the waves.

Suddenly, a wave surged up to Crimson Typhoon's left. Beneath the towering swell seemed to lurk a colossal creature moving swiftly through the sea. Crimson Typhoon noticed something was wrong immediately, but before it could react, a tail burst from beneath the surface and slammed into its waist, sending it flying.

A snarling, hideous beast roared as it shot up from the seabed. It resembled a gorilla overall, covered in a thick carapace of keratinized armor. Its massive arms braced against the seawater, and when it rose upright, its clenched fists looked like a pair of giant iron hammers.

The Tang Brothers piloted Crimson Typhoon to its feet with its Mechanical Arms braced against the seabed and assumed a fighting stance. Three huge spinning blades, faster and made of tougher, more resilient material, whirled from its three arms, slicing the air into shrill, threadlike screams. When the Kaiju codenamed Leatherback charged again, Crimson Typhoon deftly swung its high-speed spinning blades, delivering a left-right combo around the creature's neck.

Blinding sparks erupted where the spinning blades struck Leatherback's skin, astonishing even the Tang Brothers, who had gained plenty of experience cutting Kaiju apart.

Too hard!

Even the upgraded spinning blades failed to inflict the damage they had expected. If this had been Crimson Typhoon before its blades were upgraded, those two strikes would likely have caused only some seemingly vicious but ultimately insignificant wounds.

Cherno Alpha, the closest Jaeger to Crimson Typhoon, began striding through the waves to help. But the water before it churned violently again as a reptilian Kaiju leaped out. Its body was covered in dense, transparent blue fluorescent veins, and its tail bore scissor-like keratinous structures. Like a sharpened greatsword, it whipped through the air with ferocious force as it pounced on Cherno Alpha, blocking its path.

The second Category IV beast, codenamed Otachi, had appeared.

Just as Gipsy Danger and Kulturo prepared to approach the battlefield, the sea nearby swelled into a massive bulge. As droplets scattered in every direction, a Kaiju with a hammerhead shark-like head and three swaggering sword tails burst from the surface with its head held high.

At first sight of it, everyone—from Raleigh Becket, Mako Mori, and the Hansens on the battlefield to Stacker and the others at the base—could not help drawing a sharp breath. A sense of danger before a deadly creature swept through their bodies.

Jaegers over eighty meters tall were metal giants in anyone's eyes, but before the Category V Kaiju codenamed Scunner, a Jaeger was like a child standing beside an adult.

Mako Mori looked at Scunner's projection on the Virtual Screen, along with the information beside it, and felt as though she could barely breathe.

Height: 90–182 meters, crawling posture and upright form

Length: 274+ meters

Weight: 6700+

Threat Level: Extreme

More than a decade of fighting Kaiju had given the PPDC some understanding of them. The higher a Kaiju's classification, the stronger it was. There was another rule as well: the larger a Kaiju was, the greater its lethality and destructive power. The first Category V Kaiju ever to appear, Scunner, was the most dangerous Kaiju in all the information gathered by the PPDC, whether in classification or size.

Scunner did not attack immediately. The four blue pupils on either side of its head swept across the battlefield with what seemed like intelligence. Only then did it collapse from its upright posture into a crawling stance. Its three long, flexible tails swayed back and forth like willow branches in the wind, while its gaze remained fixed on Mako Mori and Raleigh.

"I'll go first and test what it can do," Raleigh Becket said to Mako over the communications channel.

"Be careful!" Mako nodded. As the maintenance technician for Gipsy Danger, which Raleigh was currently piloting, Mako knew Gipsy Danger's capabilities very well. She had also witnessed Raleigh Becket's recent intensive recovery training. With her providing support nearby, they could indeed test it out.

Gipsy Danger's massive frame began to move, then broke into a sprint toward Scunner. Every step kicked up an enormous spray of water.

Scunner roared and charged straight at it. It slammed violently into Gipsy Danger, and without any suspense, Gipsy Danger's huge body was sent rolling by the impact. Then Scunner rammed it sideways with its momentum, launching it into the air before it crashed heavily onto the water.

As for Scunner, after taking two punches from Gipsy Danger, it was as unharmed as if it had been struck by an ant.

As Scunner tried to rush in and finish it off, a gigantic beam of light struck it from the side, making it stagger and leaving a scorched black patch on its skin. Its hammerhead shark-like head whipped toward the source of the beam. Another three-eyed Jaeger stood there, its right arm shifting through a complex transformation of Parts as the dim Cannon Muzzle turned back into a mechanical hand.

Roar!

Scunner let out an enraged howl, its tremendous sound waves whipping up turbulent waves. Then its enormous body twisted in the sea and, with agility utterly mismatched to its immense size, turned and raced toward Kulturo, piloted by Mako Mori.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Detonate!"

Mako silently counted down. Just as the approaching Scunner tried to leap forward and pin Kulturo beneath it, Mako piloted Kulturo two steps back. Then more than a dozen golden pillars of light shot up from the water beneath Scunner, striking it in a dense formation before its startled, furious eyes.

Energy Mines!

They bound high-density Energy Beams into spheres of light. Upon detonating, they produced pillars of light with devastating destructive force. Any brave soul who dared stand beneath the pillars unleashed by Energy Mines would be blasted to nothing by the high-density energy columns.

Before Gipsy Danger charged in, Mako had already switched to hand cannon mode. But she first deployed more than a dozen Energy Mines around herself, then used the Ion Beam Cannon to support Gipsy Danger.

"Did that hurt it?"

Stacker, who had been watching the battle closely from the PPDC, looked at Scunner screaming after taking more than a dozen Energy Mines and asked Cai Tiantong nervously.

"It did." Cai Tiantong's answer brightened Stacker's expression, but the next second, Cai Tiantong continued with a bitter face, sounding almost despairing. "Its vital signs have fluctuated and declined, but none of its critical areas were damaged. With a Kaiju's vitality, these injuries will only make it more violent. Preliminary assessment: Scunner's hide is extremely thick, highly elastic, and provides excellent energy protection. Neither Gipsy Danger's physical attacks nor Kulturo's energy attacks have inflicted a fatal wound on it!

If we rely only on our fists, I don't think we can defeat it."

"Damn it!"

"If nothing unexpected happens, this may be the most perfect Kaiju we've ever encountered. It has virtually no weaknesses. High lethality, high mobility, high defense, and according to the combat data sent back by Mako and the others, a certain degree of intelligence as well." Cai Tiantong gritted his teeth. "It may be the kind of Nightmare we never want to face—the most troublesome opponent possible."

"Striker Eureka requests permission to engage. Let us help Crimson Typhoon and the others. We'll eliminate those two Category IV Kaiju first, then focus all our strength on Scunner." Herc Hansen suddenly spoke over the communications channel. The battle had already been going on for nearly twenty minutes. Their Companions were fighting fiercely at the front, constantly in danger, while they could only watch from afar. That left him dissatisfied.

"Herc, you must understand that we need at least one high-performance Jaeger to carry out the Final Plan. We do not have the time or funds to build another Jaeger." Stacker Pentecost spoke heavily.

"I know. But if we fail to stop them this time, I doubt the plan can even be carried out afterward. This attack is extraordinary. Whether it's Scunner or the other two Category IV Kaiju, none of them are ordinary Kaiju. They're stronger! Smarter! They even understand tactical coordination! Clearly, the Drift Program has made the Precursors desperate." Herc Hansen said.

"Are you going to disobey orders?" Stacker asked.

"You know as well as I do that opportunities in battle are fleeting." Herc Hansen exchanged a look with his son, Chuck Hansen, then activated Striker Eureka and sprinted toward Cherno Alpha's battlefield.

"Where is Dr. Luke?" Stacker Pentecost slammed his fist onto the table and asked.

"He should still be in the Jaeger base's repair factory," Cai Tiantong said.

"Bring him here! As the designer and The Maker of the Sixth-Generation Jaeger Kulturo, I want to ask him whether Kulturo has any chance of defeating the Category V Kaiju Scunner." Stacker Pentecost said solemnly. "If Kulturo can defeat Scunner with help from Gipsy Danger and the other Jaegers, then we won't need to take the final step."

"And if it can't?" Cai Tiantong realized immediately after asking that he had asked a stupid question.

"If it can't, then we'll find a way to lure them away. I'll treat it to the big one in the base." Stacker Pentecost said viciously.

"One Nuclear Warhead won't be enough to deal with that thing."

After being summoned, Luke Fielder heard Stacker's plan and glanced at the projected image of Scunner. It picked on the weak, seized every opening to strike Gipsy Danger, tore off Parts from its body, and had nearly dismembered it several times. Luke replied softly. This was a Category V Kaiju capable of surviving a Nuclear Warhead through defense alone.

"Can Kulturo handle Scunner, then?" Stacker Pentecost looked at Luke Fielder.

"If the pilot is good enough." Luke Fielder replied, then shrugged. "Don't worry. As Kulturo's designer and The Maker, I can tell you this is not its limit. Besides, before coming here, I applied for something better."

"Something better?" Stacker repeated the words twice.

"Because it's somewhat sensitive, it needed approval before it could be used. But I took the fast-track process. They should know about the situation here by now. There's a good chance it will be approved." Luke Fielder said with satisfaction.

The past few years here had kept him busy, but fulfilled. Now, Dimensional Energy was being consumed faster than he had expected. He would be leaving this world soon—very soon—and Luke felt somewhat reluctant to go. After all, in this world, he could spend other people's money on his own research, raise his own level, and had the support of at least two major powers behind him. They might not have supported him wholeheartedly, but whenever a suitable project arose, they gave him whatever he asked for—people, money, or backing.

Here, Luke could research whatever he wanted and test whatever technology he wished, so long as it did not exceed this world's technological limits.

Here, no superhero or supervillain would suddenly appear. There were no Dimensional Demon Gods, no so-called mages, and no absurd things like the Infinity Stones to disrupt his research and leveling plans.

There were only Kaiju after Kaiju.

After being active in this world for the past few years, his final settlement upon returning would probably bring greater gains than five years of leveling up in the main world!

Of course, this world's nations would not lose out either. Though Luke Fielder had consumed enormous resources here for his own research and advancement, he had also left this world with a considerable amount of technological products and technical reserves.

A communication request connected to the PPDC contact channel. A stern-faced man appeared in the projection.

"Dr. Luke, your application has been approved," the man said to Luke Fielder.

"Thank you. I thought I would need to wait another hour or so." Luke Fielder shrugged.

"What exactly is it?" Stacker Pentecost frowned as he looked at the disconnected communication.

"Just an Orbital Particle Cannon. Though I prefer to call it the Satellite Ray." Luke Fielder began operating the PPDC system.

PS: The arc should be finished tomorrow...