"Gipsy Danger has reached mission position!"
"Striker Eureka has reached mission position!"
Against the dawn's halo, two Jaegers descended from above. Rain hammered their outer armor as they carried their pilots' wills, plunging into the surging waves!
Striding through the surf, the two massive machines joined Crimson Typhoon and Shaolin Ranger. Four Jaegers stood shoulder to shoulder on the underwater reef, facing the terrifying beasts lurking in the shadows of daybreak!
This was all the strength they had.
"ROOOAR!"
"ROOOAR!"
Seeing enemy reinforcements arrive, Leatherback and Otachi showed no fear in their vicious eyes. Instead, their destructive savagery climbed higher.
"SPLASH!"
They moved simultaneously. Otachi leaped from the churning waves, burst through the rain, and lunged ferociously at the four Jaegers, its gaping maw full of fangs.
Leatherback dove beneath the surface. Weaker than Otachi, it chose a cowardly tactic—launching a surprise attack from underwater.
Facing the Kaiju assault, the four Jaegers each responded.
"Natsuki, Crimson Typhoon and I will hold off the Category Five!"
"You and Striker Eureka use the Category Four to break through into the Breach!" Inside Gipsy Danger, Raleigh made the most appropriate decision, charging straight at Otachi.
Even facing the strongest Kaiju to date, he didn't hesitate.
Crimson Typhoon did the same. The moment Gipsy Danger advanced, it opened fire, launching continuous bombardment at the massive Category Five.
Striker Eureka and Shaolin Ranger plunged underwater, immediately encountering Leatherback attempting its ambush. Striker Eureka reacted quickly, blocking the creature's bite with both arms, grappling in the depths.
"Don't worry. These two won't take me long." Natsuki looked at the Category Four, piloting Shaolin Ranger forward rapidly while speaking to steady their nerves—letting them know their combat power far exceeded the enemy's.
"No!"
Hearing this over comms, Raleigh realized Natsuki intended to eliminate both Kaiju here. He quickly refused: "We can handle this!"
"Listen to me, Natsuki."
"The situation inside the Breach is dangerous. That's a scenario only you can resolve."
"So... at least here, I want you to know—you're not solving these problems alone. We're fighting side by side!"
"Remember? Back at the base, I said I wanted us to fight together!"
Neither Marshal Pentecost nor Raleigh were people willing to push all their troubles onto others. Even if they ultimately had to place their hopes in Natsuki, Raleigh wanted to give everything he had first.
They were friends.
And precisely because of that, he had to do this.
Listening, Natsuki suddenly smiled.
The passion of youth was always most moving.
This guy... has the spirit I had when I was young.
"Alright."
"I'll leave this to you. As for the invaders... I'll make them understand the price of invasion."
With those words, Natsuki stopped watching the surface battle.
Instead, he piloted Shaolin Ranger, turbines blazing, charging at high speed toward Leatherback.
At that moment, Leatherback was locked in combat with Striker Eureka.
"This thing's hide is tough as hell!" Inside the cockpit, Chuck Hansen focused intently on the massive Kaiju before him, swinging his fists with all his might.
"Fists alone won't break its defense!"
"Deploy wrist blades!" Seeing Leatherback's injuries weren't significant, Herc Hansen immediately operated the controls, ejecting a pair of sharp wrist blades. These would definitely pierce Leatherback's armor.
Leatherback sensed their movement.
"ROOOAR!"
It immediately opened its gaping maw, lunging for Striker Eureka's cockpit.
They knew—once human Jaegers lost their pilots, they became scrap metal!
But before its jaws could close, a lightning-fast knife-hand strike arrived!
Shaolin Ranger's hand formed a blade. As it rapidly approached Leatherback, it stabbed directly into the creature's side. Ammunition hidden in the arm fired into its body. The hand withdrew. Detonation!
"BOOM!"
"ROOO... AAAAGH!!"
A muffled explosion, followed by Leatherback's agonized scream!
Its life force drained rapidly.
"Holy crap!"
"Is that even a Jaeger!?" Chuck Hansen stared at Leatherback, reduced to half-dead in mere seconds, his heart shaken.
Even the strongest fifth-generation Jaeger, Striker Eureka, couldn't fight like that.
"Give me the Kaiju. I'm heading straight for the Breach." Natsuki's voice came through comms.
Striker Eureka was still gripping Leatherback's body.
"I... I'm coming with you!" Chuck Hansen declared passionately.
In the cockpit, he stared at the one-armed Shaolin Ranger underwater, eyes blazing: "Striker Eureka is entering the Breach too!"
"You heard them. It's dangerous in there."
"If it's to cover me, fine. But on enemy turf, I can't guarantee I'll protect you," Natsuki said.
Human bodies were ultimately too fragile.
"Doesn't matter!"
"This is my decision!"
"If I can't make them taste pain with my own hands, then getting into this Jaeger means nothing!"
Chuck Hansen's attitude was resolute. Though his usual personality resembled a rebellious kid, on the battlefield he was a warrior who knew no retreat.
"My mother died because of them. That's why I've always been prejudiced against aliens."
"I'm sorry for throwing that prejudice at you before."
"Now I know you're completely different from those bastards. You're... a braver warrior than I am."
"So—together!"
Chuck Hansen spoke those words with fierce conviction.
Herc Hansen couldn't help turning his head to look at him, relief showing on his face.
"Together!" he echoed.
Then Striker Eureka handed Leatherback's corpse to Shaolin Ranger, striding toward the Pacific Ocean floor where the Breach lay.
Natsuki's ears rang with their voices.
Perhaps this was why his civilization maintained such attention and care for humanity.
This courage worthy of hymns—among the countless billions of civilizations in the universe—was irreplaceable.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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