"What!?"
Inside Kony Albert's laboratory, which doubled as his private lounge, Albert stared at Marshal Stacker in disbelief.
"You let Mr. Natsuki use that Jaeger?"
He rose straight from the chair beside his workbench and looked at the marshal.
"That Jaeger can't... I mean, it hasn't been fully repaired yet."
"Letting him pilot it alone is far too dangerous."
He could not have disagreed more with Marshal Stacker's decision.
He had originally prepared that Jaeger for himself, so that if anything unexpected happened, he could intervene directly and change the course of the future.
He voiced a reasonable concern, his expression remaining refined behind his silver-rimmed glasses.
"Given Mr. Natsuki's physical capabilities, I don't think he'll be injured," Marshal Stacker replied calmly.
As he spoke, he looked Albert in the eye.
"You should understand why I'm standing here now."
Now, he needed an explanation.
An explanation for the earlier confrontation in the laboratory.
"I know." Albert's expression grew serious, and he nodded.
He spoke slowly, offering the explanation he had prepared well in advance. "I asked Mr. Natsuki those questions because I wanted to understand him better, so I could confirm the specifics of our future plans."
"To us, he is still an alien, with countless secrets we know nothing about."
"I cannot let anything unexpected happen to our plans. Absolutely not."
At his words, Marshal Stacker frowned, thought for a few seconds, then nodded.
He continued, "I understand your concerns, but as I said before, he saved many lives yesterday."
"His arrival is an opportunity for us. We need to do everything we can to get him on our side."
"And after interacting with him up close, I'm certain he has qualities worthy of our trust."
"I understand." Albert knew the marshal had only come to give him a reminder, so he nodded without hesitation. "I'll watch my words in my future interactions with Mr. Natsuki."
Seeing how cooperative Albert was, Marshal Stacker could hardly say much more.
After all, they were on the same side.
The base had originally housed dozens of scientists, but after its funding was withdrawn, only two remained in the impoverished facility: Hermann and Newton.
For Marshal Stacker, having a top scientific talent like Kony Albert join the base at such a time was a lifeline.
Whether it was repairing Jaegers or bringing intelligence about the kaiju, everything he did convinced Marshal Stacker that this man was willing to weather the storm with them, that he wanted to make it through the apocalypse.
"Do you remember what you told me when we first met?" Marshal Stacker suddenly asked him.
Albert paused at the question.
But he quickly recovered and answered, "I remember."
"That day, we stood in the Jaeger bay, facing those Jaegers, and I said, 'I'd rather die in this base's laboratory than watch the apocalypse come and do nothing.'"
He still remembered those words.
Marshal Stacker nodded in satisfaction.
"You'll make it through the apocalypse," he said.
"Not 'I.' It should be 'we,'" Albert said firmly.
That afternoon.
The Jaeger bay at Shatterdome Base.
Having just eaten his fill, Natsuki carried a thick book onto the steel catwalk in flip-flops and spotted a familiar figure leaning against the railing.
"Hey!"
He called out to the figure.
The man turned around. It was Raleigh, wearing a dark blue sweater.
"Xia?"
"Here to watch my test?" Raleigh asked casually.
Natsuki walked over to him, stood at the railing, and gazed down at the Jaegers below.
"No."
"I'm here to take the test," he said with a mysterious smile.
"What?" His answer left Raleigh baffled.
If he remembered correctly, Natsuki had only arrived on Earth yesterday.
And he was going to pilot a Jaeger today?
And the marshal had agreed just like that?
"I spent hours studying this manual." Natsuki waved the piloting manual in his hand and said confidently, "Don't doubt my skills."
"Uh..."
Raleigh took the manual from him and flipped through it. He remembered that they had never had anything like this back in the day. They had learned everything at the academy.
"Are you sure you studied it?"
He leafed through a couple of pages and found the book alarmingly new. Only a few pages showed any signs of having been opened. The rest could have passed for fresh off the press.
"Mm-hmm." Natsuki nodded.
Raleigh was speechless.
To be honest, he wasn't convinced.
At the same time, another question occurred to him.
"Which Jaeger are you going to pilot?"
Gipsy Danger's piloting test was about to begin, and the other three Jaegers already had pilots who had worked together for years. He couldn't think of another Jaeger available for Natsuki to pilot.
"That one." At the question, Natsuki smiled and pointed toward the gate at the far end of the Jaeger bay.
Amid a series of mechanical noises, the massive gate opened.
A silver-white Jaeger resembling a warrior monk stood on a conveyor track, slowly moving into the piloting bay.
"Shaolin Rogue?"
"They actually repaired him too." Raleigh recognized the Jaeger, surprise flickering in his eyes.
"But are you sure you really know how to pilot a Jaeger?"
He knew how important Jaegers were. Having one more for their upcoming mission would significantly improve their chances of success.
Were they really going to let Xia pilot him?
"After Gipsy Danger's test, it'll be Shaolin Rogue's turn."
"Just watch for yourself, and you'll know," Natsuki said confidently.
It was just piloting a Jaeger. How hard could it be?
"All right."
"I'll look forward to it." Raleigh figured that Natsuki's body was tougher than a Jaeger's, so nothing should go wrong.
The question now was who his own copilot would be.
Although he and Mako Mori had worked well together earlier, Marshal Stacker still had the final say on his copilot.
Meanwhile.
At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, inside the Breach.
"That went fairly smoothly." Quake emerged from a Purple Twisted Building and spoke to Yochi beside him.
The Precursors' council consisted not only of hotheads, but also of wise thinkers with foresight.
He had prepared two contingencies for the coming battle.
"Barring any surprises, the humans' Jaegers will bring a nuclear bomb into this Colonial Space. We need to prepare our response in advance."
"Also, even if the worst happens and this space falls, we need to retain the ability to carry out our subsequent plans."
Hearing how many preparations Quake had made, Yochi couldn't help asking a question.
"Is there really any need to be this cautious?"
"Even if they do manage to fight their way here, I can join the battle myself."
"Never mind those piles of scrap metal. That Ultraman looks like just another grunt. If you ask me, he wouldn't last five rounds against me."
As a Precursor, he was already prepared to control a kaiju and fight in person.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then I'll look forward to your performance," Quake said with a smile.
As far as he was concerned, this fellow's confidence was a good thing.
Before you continue