Tokyo. Japan. May 15, 2016.
Mako Mori stood alone in an empty street, crying out loudly as her mind tried to come to terms with what she was seeing, or rather, what she was not able to see. Her parents.
Her father was sick. The little girl knew that much. For his treatment, they moved from her town to Tokyo.
Her young mind did not understand all the talk about 'cancer' and 'payments' and 'affordability'. To her, she believed he would be healthy again very soon, just like she recovered from many of her own fevers.
That is why she did not think much about things when her parents brought her out shopping.
She felt very happy when her father bought her a pair of bright red shoes. They were exactly what she had always wanted but could not find in her town.
Then, things suddenly changed.
Mako did not understand the reason for the alarms that rang out across the city, or why the orderly people around her suddenly fell into chaos and ran around without any order.
It was during this commotion that the strap on her new shoe broke, making her fall to the ground before running back to retrieve the shoe, breaking away from her father's grip.
There was no way the little girl was leaving behind the gift from her father.
However, by the time she retrieved the shoe, she found herself all alone in the streets with nobody in sight.
So, she cried, calling out to her parents who were nowhere to be seen.
Then, she heard it.
An inhuman roar that she had once heard on the TV.
Then, she saw jets flying overhead, heading right behind her.
With fear now consuming her heart, the little girl turned around, just in time to spot the colossal invasive creature staring down at her.
A Kaiju. An invader, according to her parents.
Without hesitation, she ran away, seeking a place to take refuge from the monster now hunting her.
Unfortunately, her movement provoked the cruelly intelligent creature who spotted easy prey.
The crab-like Kaiju, nicknamed 'Onibaba' let out a strange screech and surged forward. It's colossal form running through the area and demolishing everything caught in its way.
With primal terror now coursing through her heart, Mako spotted a set of trash bins nearby and decided to hide behind them, her little mind hoping that the monster would not spot her behind them.
However, just as she hid there, the monster spotted her, screeching in delight.
Then, she heard it.
The noise of a lot of helicopters moving at once.
The noise attracted the attention of the monster as well, who looked up and screeched in irritation, knowing that its fun was interrupted by the pesky humans.
Mako watched with awe as a large group of choppers flew in a colossal robot, a Jaeger, and dropped it right in front of the Kaiju.
The Mark-1 Jaeger, Coyote Tango, was here to save the day.
And it was not the only thing there either.
Suddenly, Mako heard a strange screech, completely distinct from the Kaiju, as the very sky lit up with blinding yet soothing rays of light.
Mako shielded her eyes from the light before letting go when the intensity reduced to manageable levels.
Then, she saw a beautiful sight that she would remember as long as she lived.
A colossal moth-like creature hovered in the air, its every flap sending dust scattering in the area. Its presence unnerved the Kaiju to such an extent that it now started to back away step by step while hissing and screeching in warning and fear.
A sight that finally made the little girl's heart calm down, knowing that she was now safe.
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"Pentecost to Base. We have Onibaba in our sight, and Titanus Mosura is on the field as well."
"Copy. Proceed with the mission."
Pentecost looked up at Mothra before glancing at his partner, Tamsin Sevier, or Tam for short.
"Ready?"
Tam grinned.
"Ready. Let's kick some Kaiju ass."
Stacker chuckled before they moved as one. Their minds melded through the body of a giant machine.
With each movement, the ground cracked beneath their feet while Mothra moved with them.
She screeched loudly and shot out webs from her mouth, confusing and terrifying the Kaiju in equal measure with her actions.
A distraction that the PPDC rangers took full advantage of.
With each punch and cannon fired, Coyote Tango shattered the hide of the Kaiju. Then, the lasers would come online and sear its skin shut, preventing its blood from leaking.
Similarly, Mothra would grab onto the significantly lighter Kaiju and fly it a good distance in the air before dropping it on the ground, causing a lot of damage to the Kaiju that was never built to handle that kind of kinetic impact.
Then, the Jaeger would be on the Kaiju the moment it made landfall. Its punches once again shattering the beast's body, making it roar in agony.
Then, Mothra would be on the helplessly stranded Kaiju that was like a turtle flipped onto its back, slashing at its belly with her limbs and then webbing up the wounds to prevent blood flow.
However, things suddenly changed when Stacker felt a searing phantom pain in his chest, the source of which was his partner, who went into a seizure and passed out.
Suddenly, the neural load on the man doubled as the Jaeger's movements became sluggish.
At the same time, the Shatterdome picked up on the vital spike from both pilots and panicked.
"Marshal! We are picking up-"
"I know, Tendo."
Stacker gritted his teeth and replied to the young communications officer who was recently assigned to the Shatterdome.
Standard procedure dictated that in this kind of situation, he was to shut down the Jaeger and await extraction.
Yet, as he watched through the viewport, seeing Mothra continue fighting the Kaiju on her own, and spotted the little girl still huddled away by the trash bins in a street nearby, he refused to give up.
He will save the girl and kill the Kaiju even if it is the last thing he does.
Because he is a Pentecost, and a Pentecost never abandons their duty.
For his sister, for his family, and for humanity as a whole, he will continue fighting to his last breath.
Forcing himself to stay conscious under the immense neural strain, he moved.
And as if responding to his will, Coyote Tango moved as well. Sluggish and less agile than before.
Yet, it still moved nonetheless, acting as the extension to her pilot's unbreakable will.
And so, Stacker Pentecost became the first pilot ever to run solo. A feat that would not be repeated until years later, cementing his name as a legend alongside one other that would never be surpassed.
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Coyote Tango: (Click here for image)
Onibaba: (Click here for image)
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