Conviction

Ever since the first Kaiju invasion, the bones they left behind had become landmarks in many places. Their flesh had been removed, the toxins in their blood neutralized, and small groups of displaced people had gathered around the remaining skeletons once more.

San Francisco, United States.

Near the skeleton of the Kaiju codenamed [Trespasser], traces of radiation from the nuclear explosion still lingered. But the homeless could no longer afford to care. They gathered in the area and formed a marketplace, with rubble and steel parts spread across the ground in utter chaos.

Beneath this marketplace assembled by homeless drifters, a hidden base lay concealed.

"The troops led by Stacker have begun their operation."

"What do you think their chances of success are?"

Inside a high-tech room filled with monitors, the image of the United States representative to the United Nations appeared on a screen as he questioned the man in the room.

"Zero," answered Zachary Lyman, his brown hair neatly combed.

He sat in a chair, holding a translucent tablet as he fine-tuned the system used to operate Jaegers.

"Destroying the Breach is no easy task. They have far too few Jaegers, and Stacker Pentecost refuses to accept my assistance. Their plan is doomed to fail."

"Their operation is nothing more than a waste of existing resources."

When Leatherback attacked Sitka, Lyman had realized that the Precursors also had a transmigrator among them. That meant Marshal Stacker's plan could never succeed. Those Precursors must already have known about the operation to blow up the Breach.

"But there's no need to worry, Mr. Taylor."

He set down his translucent tablet, looked at the image on the monitor, and spoke with confidence.

"The greatest drawback of Jaegers is that they require pilots. Training an excellent pilot is harder than building ten Jaegers. That fundamentally limits our strength."

"Unmanned Jaegers, which don't need pilots operating them from inside, have no such flaw. We can mass-produce them and rapidly increase our overall strength in a short time."

"I've already completed a batch of Mass-Production Unmanned Jaegers. With your funding, we've also expanded the factories, and more Jaegers are under construction. In less than a month, we'll be able to complete the global deployment of Unmanned Jaegers."

Jaegers were too expensive to manufacture, and two excellent pilots had to be trained before they could deliver their normal combat capability. With Kaiju growing stronger by the day, the force led by Marshal Stacker was practically a bottomless money pit. Jaegers were constantly being destroyed, and pilots were constantly dying. The United Nations had lost faith in them.

By comparison, Lyman's proposal was far more reliable. A Jaeger that required no consideration for personnel losses was a good Jaeger.

That was precisely why the United Nations had chosen to fund Lyman.

"We can increase our investment further. You must complete the deployment of our defensive forces as soon as possible," Taylor said after a few seconds of thought.

When the Giant of Light first appeared in Sitka, Leatherback's EMP attack had prevented any footage from being recorded. Only a handful of workers had witnessed the scene, and word had not spread.

When government officials asked about the incident, Marshal Stacker had withheld Natsuki's existence from the public to avoid further complications.

As a result, they all believed that Marshal Stacker's forces would fail. There was no reason to fund a plan doomed to failure when the money could be spent on something more reliable.

"I love how generous you get when you offer more money." As soon as Lyman heard that they intended to increase his funding, a smile curled his lips.

He picked up a glass of red wine from the edge of the desk and raised it to Taylor with a smile.

"To humanity's future."

"To... humanity's future," Taylor said firmly as well.

Meanwhile.

Shatterdome Base, command center.

"Mr. Natsuki has reached the battlefield."

"Crimson Typhoon is safe," Cai Tiantong said with a sigh of relief as he studied the information on the holographic screen.

Marshal Stacker also breathed a sigh of relief.

Misjudging the enemy Kaiju's strength had been a failure on his part.

He had not expected Otachi to counter Crimson Typhoon so thoroughly. Frankly, the combat power this Kaiju displayed was nothing like that of a Category IV Kaiju. Calling it a Category V would not have been an exaggeration.

"Looks like this battle won't last much longer." Raleigh, who had been ordered to remain on standby, folded his arms and smiled when he heard how Natsuki was doing.

He had seen Natsuki fight. Even calling it a crushing victory would have been an understatement.

Although he could not take part in the battle himself, hearing that his alien friend was tearing through the enemy still made him happy.

"After killing Otachi, Shaolin Rogue saved Cherno Alpha and is preparing to engage Leatherback and Raijin..." Cai Tiantong relayed the battlefield reports.

Suddenly, he spotted an anomalous signal on the radar.

"Wait... something is approaching the base!"

Everyone in the command center turned to look at him.

He immediately pulled up the detailed information.

"This is... a Kaiju?!" Cai Tiantong's eyes widened at the scan results. "There hasn't been any activity at the Breach. Why has another Kaiju suddenly appeared?!"

"What?" Marshal Stacker and Raleigh stepped closer at the same time, staring at the enormous figure in the infrared image.

"This movement pattern..." Cai Tiantong's fingers flew over the keyboard as he thought. "This Kaiju didn't come out of the Breach. That's strange. Why is that?"

Where exactly had this Kaiju come from?

"That shape..." Raleigh found the Kaiju's infrared image familiar. Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind.

"It's [Knifehead]!" He recognized the Kaiju. It looked remarkably similar to the one he had killed himself five years earlier!

"Knifehead?" Marshal Stacker frowned. "It was killed five years ago. Its body sank into the Gulf of Alaska. We confirmed it."

Raleigh frowned as well.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, Cai Tiantong offered a guess. "It might be a similar breed, like the second Leatherback that appeared today."

"There are countless unanswered questions about its appearance."

"But what we can say for certain is that it's heading toward this base. It'll arrive soon."

The Kaiju had appeared far too suddenly. They had to make a decision immediately.

"We'll deploy right away," Old Hansen said gravely as he approached Marshal Stacker with Young Hansen.

They could not let this base be destroyed. As a Mark V Jaeger, Eureka Striker was fully capable of killing a Kaiju on its own.

"No. The nuclear bomb needs another ten minutes to finish installation." Marshal Stacker rejected his request to deploy.

At those words, Young Hansen immediately stepped forward.

"If you won't let us go, are we supposed to wait for the Kaiju to come and tear this place apart?" he demanded, staring at Marshal Stacker.

"Or... are you planning to feed those two failures to the Kaiju?"

He had noticed Marshal Stacker glance at Raleigh. Just thinking about how those two had nearly blown up the base infuriated him. Why was the marshal still choosing to trust them at a time like this?

"Do not question my decisions," Marshal Stacker said coldly in response to Young Hansen's challenge. His commanding presence forced the younger man to swallow the rest of his words.

He turned to face Raleigh and Mako Mori.

"Mr. Natsuki left us with a few words before departing."

"He said that warriors who have not lost the conviction in their hearts are always worthy of trust. And he heard the conviction in both your hearts loud and clear."

"So I'm giving you another chance. One final chance."

Marshal Stacker issued his order solemnly. "This is an emergency. Both of you, deploy in Gipsy Danger immediately and eliminate the Kaiju approaching this base."

Raleigh's and Mako Mori's eyes lit up at once.

"Yes, sir!" ×2

"I'll prove he was right!" Raleigh said firmly.