A race against time

Above the Pacific Ocean.

Inside a black Sikorsky military helicopter.

"Marshal, do you really think he'll come back?" A fully armed soldier holding a firearm sat beside Stacker Pentecost, who wore a dark blue suit, and asked the question.

"What do you think?" Stacker Pentecost looked up from the documents in his hands and asked in return, quietly waiting for an answer.

Stacker Pentecost was a Black man with close-cropped hair and a thick mustache. His bearing was upright, and he looked like a battle-hardened veteran-or, more precisely, a marshal who had once held high command.

Stacker Pentecost (former marshal of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps)

"Raleigh Becket was once an excellent Jaeger pilot." The soldier considered it for a moment before giving his honest assessment.

"He and his brother piloted Gipsy Danger together and personally killed five Kaiju. That was a tremendous achievement."

"But on a mission five years ago, they disobeyed orders to save a fishing boat. Though they successfully killed the Kaiju, their actions also led directly to his brother's death."

"The neural link transmitted the full agony of dying to Raleigh Becket. After that, he fell apart and left the Jaeger team. Now he makes a living at a Wall of Life construction site."

"I don't think he's recovered from his brother's death. He'll most likely refuse your invitation."

The soldier was Marshal Stacker's bodyguard as well as his assistant on this trip, and he knew a great deal of inside information.

After listening, Marshal Stacker's lips curved slightly upward.

"You're absolutely right."

"His brother's death hit him hard, and he's always believed his own recklessness was what got his brother killed."

Then his tone shifted. "But he'll definitely come back."

"Why are you so certain?"

"Because he has no choice," Marshal Stacker said firmly.

He turned to look out the helicopter window beside him, gazing down at the churning waters of the Pacific Ocean. His eyes were deep, as though he wanted to see through the water to the bottomless trench below.

He knew that everything had originated there.

"I once thought aliens would descend from the sky in spaceships, just like in science fiction movies."

"But we were all wrong."

"The real aliens came from beneath the sea."

"They established a passage on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and sent Kaiju to Earth, letting them destroy our homes."

"Twelve years ago, when we killed the first Kaiju, we realized that it had been deliberately sent to die at our hands."

"When a Kaiju is killed by conventional weapons, its toxic blood is exposed to the air and then spread by the explosions. That turned the land within a hundred-mile radius of San Francisco into a lifeless wasteland."

"If we want to eliminate Kaiju with minimal casualties, our only option is the Jaegers developed through the Jaeger Program."

At that point, Marshal Stacker sighed.

A trace of nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.

When the Jaeger Program first began, he could still obtain substantial funding from the United Nations, allowing his team to develop generation after generation of powerful Jaegers.

But now the Jaeger Program had been discontinued. He was no longer a marshal, and without United Nations support, he had to find funding himself. Only a handful of Jaegers remained under his command.

Now he was staking everything on one last gamble.

Even now, he could not understand why the United Nations had pinned its hopes on that idiotic Wall of Life.

Did they really think a lousy wall could stop the increasingly powerful Kaiju?

"The Kaiju are getting stronger. That idiotic Wall of Life is bound to collapse, just like it did in Sydney."

"We have to take the offensive. Only by going deep beneath the sea can we truly put an end to this disaster."

"Raleigh Becket understands that."

"He's an excellent pilot, capable of carrying out my next plan. And joining that operation is his only choice."

"He'll definitely come back."

Marshal Stacker continued looking down at the ocean, his gaze utterly resolute.

Raleigh Becket was worth traveling all this way to visit in person.

"By the way." He turned back and asked, "How are things in Sydney?"

Half an hour earlier, a Kaiju had broken through Sydney's Wall of Life. It had caught the United Nations by surprise, but Marshal Stacker had expected it.

He had immediately dispatched the nearby Jaegers to clean up the mess, hoping to save as many lives as possible.

"Echo Saber and Vulcan Specter are engaging the Kaiju. Eureka Striker has reached the battlefield too," the soldier replied.

"Three Jaegers against one Kaiju. That should be enough." Recalling Eureka Striker's combat capabilities, Marshal Stacker nodded and set his worries aside.

Next, he needed to reach Sitka, Alaska, immediately and bring Raleigh back to the base.

"Wait, Marshal!" another soldier suddenly called out, his expression tense.

"What is it?" Marshal Stacker immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly asked.

"Another Kaiju has appeared!" the soldier shouted urgently.

"What?!" Marshal Stacker's gaze sharpened. He snatched the headset from the soldier's hands and demanded loudly of the base, "Give me the details!"

He had to know every detail of any news involving Kaiju. They were simply too dangerous.

Upon hearing his voice, the person on the other end immediately provided the specifics.

"The passage on the Pacific Ocean floor has activated again. Judging by the magnitude of the fluctuations, it's another Category IV Kaiju!"

"Damn it." Marshal Stacker's brow instantly furrowed at the news.

Years of discipline allowed him to calm himself immediately and issue orders. "Have Cherno Alpha prepare to reinforce Sydney!"

"No, Marshal. This Kaiju isn't heading for Sydney!"

"Not Sydney?" Marshal Stacker was puzzled.

The previous Kaiju was attacking Sydney. Logically, this one should have been heading there to support it.

"Its target... is Alaska!"

"Alaska?" As soon as Marshal Stacker heard the name, information about one particular man flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened.

Alaska!

Raleigh Becket was in Sitka, Alaska!

"Deploy Cherno Alpha to Alaska immediately, and have Crimson Typhoon get ready!"

"Understood!"

Marshal Stacker had barely finished speaking when the helicopter pilot asked, "Marshal, should we still head for Sitka?"

Sitka was their destination on this trip. If they continued, they could very well run straight into the Kaiju.

If they encountered it, the guns in their hands would be nothing more than toys.

But Marshal Stacker's answer was unequivocal. "Keep going!"

"Move fast! We have to reach Sitka before the Kaiju does!"

He had decided to race the Kaiju against the clock.

He had to get Raleigh Becket out before the Kaiju arrived!