That Courage

"Gipsy Danger has reached the mission coordinates!"

"Eureka Striker has reached the mission coordinates!"

Against the glow of dawn, two Jaegers descended from the sky, rain battering their outer armor. Carrying their respective wills, they plunged into the raging waves!

Striding through the waves, the two enormous Jaegers reached Crimson Typhoon and Shaolin Rogue. Standing on the reefs beneath the surface, the four Jaegers lined up shoulder to shoulder to face the terrifying beasts lurking in the shadows of dawn!

All the strength they had was now gathered here!

"ROOOAR!"

"ROOOAR!"

As Abomination and Poison Woman saw the enemy reinforcements arrive, their savage eyes showed not a trace of fear. Instead, their destructive bloodlust only continued to rise.

Splash!

They moved at the same time. Poison Woman leaped clear of the raging waves, burst through the curtain of rain, and lunged viciously at the four Jaegers, her gaping maw filled with fangs.

Abomination plunged into the sea. Somewhat weaker than Poison Woman, it chose an underhanded approach, launching a surprise attack on the Jaegers from underwater.

The four Jaegers each reacted to the Kaiju's assault.

"Xia, we'll hold off this Category V Kaiju with Crimson Typhoon!"

"You and Eureka Striker use this Category IV Kaiju to get into the Breach as quickly as possible!" Inside Gipsy Danger, Raleigh made the best call for the situation and charged straight at Poison Woman.

Even against the strongest Kaiju they had ever faced, he did not hesitate.

Crimson Typhoon did the same, immediately opening fire as Gipsy Danger advanced and unleashing a relentless bombardment on the enormous Category V Kaiju.

Eureka Striker and Shaolin Rogue then plunged underwater, where they immediately encountered Abomination attempting its ambush. Eureka Striker reacted quickly, blocking its bite with both arms and grappling with it beneath the surface.

"Don't worry. It won't take me long to deal with these two Kaiju." Watching the Category IV Kaiju, Natsuki piloted Shaolin Rogue swiftly forward. He spoke to steady their nerves and let them know that their side's fighting power far surpassed the enemy's.

"No!"

Hearing this over the comms, Raleigh realized that Natsuki wanted to deal with both Kaiju here and hurriedly refused. "We can handle this!"

"Listen to me, Xia."

"It's dangerous inside the Breach. You're the only one we can count on to handle what's in there."

"So... at least here, I want you to know you're not solving all these problems for us on your own. We're fighting side by side!"

"Remember? Back at the base, I told you I hoped we could fight side by side!"

Neither Marshal Stacker nor Raleigh was willing to push all their troubles onto someone else. Even if they ultimately had to place their hopes in Xia, Raleigh wanted to give everything he had before that moment came.

They were friends.

But that was precisely why he had to do this.

Listening to him, Natsuki suddenly smiled.

The passion of youth was often what moved people most.

This guy... reminds me of myself when I was young.

"All right."

"I'll leave this to you. As for the invaders... I'll make them learn the price of invasion."

With that, Natsuki stopped paying attention to the battle above the surface.

Instead, he piloted Shaolin Rogue toward Abomination at tremendous speed, propelled by the turbines on his back.

At that moment, Abomination was locked in combat with Eureka Striker.

"This thing's hide is seriously tough!" Inside the cockpit, Young Hansen kept his eyes fixed on the enormous Kaiju before him, throwing punches with all his strength.

"Our fists alone can't break through its defenses!"

"Deploy the wrist blades!" Seeing that Abomination had suffered little visible damage, Old Hansen immediately operated the controls to extend a pair of sharp wrist blades. These would surely penetrate Abomination's defenses.

Abomination noticed what they were doing.

"ROOOAR!"

It immediately opened its gaping maw and snapped at Eureka Striker's cockpit.

The Kaiju knew that once a human Jaeger lost its pilots, it would be rendered useless!

But before its jaws could close, a lightning-fast knife-hand strike came hurtling in!

With his hand held like a blade, Shaolin Rogue rushed up to Abomination and drove it straight into the creature's body from the side. He fired the munitions hidden inside his arm directly into its body, pulled his arm free, and detonated them!

BOOM!

"RO... AAAARGH!"

A muffled explosion was immediately followed by Abomination's agonized scream!

Its life rapidly ebbed away.

"Holy shit!"

"Is that even a Jaeger?!" Watching Abomination get brutally battered half to death in a matter of seconds, Young Hansen was stunned.

Even Eureka Striker, the strongest Mark V Jaeger, could not fight like that.

"Give me the Kaiju. I'll head straight for the Breach," Natsuki's voice came over the comms.

Eureka Striker was still holding Abomination's body.

"I... I'm coming with you!" Young Hansen declared, his blood burning with passion.

Inside the cockpit, he watched the one-armed Shaolin Rogue beneath the water, his eyes flickering. "Eureka Striker is going into the Breach too!"

"You heard him. It's dangerous in there."

"If you're just covering me, that's fine. But on enemy territory, I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep you both safe," Natsuki said.

Human bodies were simply too fragile, after all.

"That's all right!"

"This is my decision!"

"If I can't make them suffer with my own hands, then there's no point in me getting into a Jaeger!"

Young Hansen was utterly resolute. Though he usually behaved like a rebellious child, on the battlefield, he was a warrior who did not know how to retreat.

"My mother died because of them, so I've always been prejudiced against aliens."

"I'm sorry I took that prejudice out on you before."

"Now I know you're nothing like those bastards. You're... a braver warrior than I am."

"So let's go together!"

Young Hansen spoke those words with exhilaration surging through him.

Old Hansen could not help turning to look at him, a trace of pride and relief on his face.

"Together!" he echoed.

Then Eureka Striker handed Abomination's corpse to Shaolin Rogue and strode toward the Breach on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.

Their voices echoed in Natsuki's ears.

Perhaps this was precisely why civilizations as advanced as his had always maintained their affection for and interest in humanity.

This courage, worthy of being celebrated in song, was irreplaceable even among the countless billions of civilizations in the universe.