//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Meanwhile, in Kamchatka... 
// Story: A Midsummer Night's Dream. 
// by Killbles 
//------------------------------//

	Meanwhile, in Kamchatka...

April 7th, 2024
Vladivostok

The factory-city of Vladivostok was dark and sullen, heavy patches of grey clouds crowded in the sky like fans at a football stadium, letting only a few streams of determined sunlight through to caress the cold earth. Despite being mid-April, the temperature was still hovering in the low single-digits, made colder by the occasional blast of cold air which howled through the empty streets. The city had grown dramatically over the last year, a steady stream of Japanese and Korean refugees streaming into the city as the Kaiju's inexorable attacks grew more frequent. While otherwise a fairly unimpressive footnote in the Russian Federation, the city housed the last remnants of the Russian Jaeger program, the massive, ugly Pan Pacific Defence Corp Shatterdome clinging to the edge of the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula like a stubborn limpet to a rock.
The Shatterdome was almost eerily empty, many of its staff laid off as the facility’s Jaegers slowly fell one by one. Now only one remained. Cherno Alpha. There were rumours bouncing around the facility that the shatterdome was going to be sold off or abandoned, the upkeep costs too high to justify for only one Jaeger. These mutterings, although whispered earfully by the inhabitants of the city, were ignored completely by the last two pilots that called the base home. For them it didn’t matter where in the world they were stationed, a Kaiju would have to go through them before Vladivostok would fall. 
Standing over seven feet tall in his drivesuit, Aleksis Kaidonovsky  looked like he could break any of the technicians scurrying around the shatterdome's LOCCENT over his knee like a twig. His hard jaw, thick beard and massive physique, even visible under his drivesuit, gave him the appearance of a bear standing up on two legs. While intimidating, anyone who halfway knew the Ranger also knew that he was as harmless as a butterfly. Make no mistake though, if someone was stupid enough to threaten his wife or his Jaeger, his calm demeanour and docile mood evaporated almost instantly and the offender would find themselves spending a long time in the shatterdome’s infirmary or in the case of a Kaiju, usually in several pieces. 
“I wish they would get this over with.” Sasha growled from next him, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder and glaring down at the command staff that milled around. Her head held back proudly, she measured a little over six feet tall, taller than most of the men that worked in the LOCCENT. Unlike her husband, Sasha was much scarier than she looked, her lithe features hid a brutal cunning honed by years guarding a Siberian prison and her clean, simple makeup gave the pilot a charming aura which many of the shatterdome’s men had learnt to avoid lest they suffer her wrath.
“Have you ever know Marshall Borsky to be on time? He is probably still crying over his smashed yacht.” Aleksis rumbled.
“It’s not my fault he moored it there.” Sasha countered.
“No, no it’s not.” Aleksis grinned, remembering the dull crunch as Cherno Alpha had crushed the boat to splinters underfoot. They wasn’t been much left other than kindling after Cherno’s foot had gone through the boat, much to the Marshall’s ire.  
“Maybe he slept in.” Sasha remarked as she spotted the short Marshall limping towards them. Borsky had been one of the first Russian Rangers and although his diminutive frame and almost childish voice had earned him more than enough jokes at his own expense, Sasha and Aleksis respected him. He had piloted Cherno’s first sister T-90, Siberian Advance for several years before being moved to Vladivostok’s lead Marshall. Although he deeply loathed the position, he would probably be dead if were not for the change; Siberian Advance had been destroyed along with both of its pilots late last year.
“Sasha, Aleksis! You mongrels! You stood on my boat!” He growled, looking up crossly but not getting much further than Aleksis’s broad chest. 
“Da.” Sasha said back simply, struggling to hold back a wicked smile. 
“Govniuk.” Borsky muttered under his breath before spinning on his heel and tapping on the shatterdome’s tactical display. “This is from Oska. Small Kaiju, only Category III. Designation, KM-24. We expect the bastard will make landfall about here.” He said, pointing a stubby finger at the Kamchatka Peninsula. “You will deploy and intercept.” He finished, the screen fuzzing with static as it jumped to the uninhabited length of the Russian coastline. The so-called ‘Wall of Life’ was some hundred kilometres distant from the projected landing site and the nearest settlement was long abandoned. 
“Is it lost?” Aleksis puzzled. It was unlike Kaiju to simply target what he took as an empty beach.
Borsky shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you kill it and bring Cherno back. You’re too valuable to lose now.”
“Mr. Fish will not know what hit him.” Aleksis affirmed, banging his armoured fist against his chest plate.
“Good. Now get to your Jaeger.”


***


Aleksis and Sasha wasted no time getting to their charge, either of the pilots would practically jump at the chance to get in their Jaeger.The trio had fought together for so long now that the two Rangers considered the massive machine family, almost akin to a son the couple had never had.
They rode the waiting elevator to the conpod in silence, the partners were so in tune with each other that there was no need for simple pre-deployment conversation, Aleksis knew what his wife was thinking and she, him.
With a strained hiss to doors slid open and the two Ukrainian pilots stepped out in tandem, making the twenty metre walk to the Jaeger’s conpod with all the casualness of a Sunday stroll. Within a minute of entering the conpod they were linked n, the bundles of fibre-optic cables snaking down from the roof plugged into their drivesuits and the heavy, thick harness slammed down on their backplates. The two technicians that accompanied them, the same two that had for the last nine years, gave the two pilots a silent salute before striding out and locking the conpod door behind them. 
Unlike most Jaegers which had their conpod mounted where their head would be, Cherno Alpha’s was mounted in his armoured chest, affording the Jaeger’s pilots a measure of protection most others lacked. The design came with a few drawbacks though, the mounting prevented the pilots from looking over their shoulder and lacked an escape system in the case that Cherno Alpha was disabled. 
That last fact hardly bothered Sasha and Aleksis, if they died, they would die together with Cherno Alpha. 
“Conpod secured.” Sasha confirmed, as the status lights pinged a solid green. Above them, the massive flower-like roof opened wide, a pair of thick, heavy cables snaking down as Cherno’s squadron of Carryalls maneuvered into position. 
“Safeties engaged.” Sasha radioed, locking the giant’s limbs in place and popping the hatches for the cable mounts. A minute later a pair of solid thuds echoed through the hull and another light flickered on, pulsing a bright green. For a brief moment the Carryalls strained against the cables before the machine rose off the ground, slowly rising through the shatterdome’s roof and out into the still chilly Russian spring air. A few squadrons of heavily armed attack helicopters rose up from the shatterdome, a pair of oversized missiles hanging from each helicopter. 
“We do not need them.” Aleksis rumbled, eyeing the helicopters grumpily.
“Da, but they make the small people feel more useful.” Sasha pointed out pragmatically. That and a few extra eyes never hurt if they encountered a particularly slippery Kaiju. 
“Suppose.” Aleksis mumbled.
The massing air fleet formed up over the harbour before turning north-west, the chatter of nearly thirty pairs of rotor blades cutting through the overcast sky..



***


Cherno Alpha felt stiff, even after a full refit of his arm motors and a recalibration with the neural synapse, the Jaeger still felt like it was suffering from arthritis. The technicians and lab rodents had said it was simply the pilot’s imagination, but Aleksis knew different.
Cherno Alpha felt old. After nearly a decade of service, the Jaeger was starting to show less of the spark that had drawn Aleksis and Sascha Kaidonovsky to it. Every time Aleksis drifted he felt  twenty years older, his joints ached and his head started throbbing in synchronisation with the cycles of Cherno’s massive reactor.
“He is tired of war.” Sasha said, her voice almost bouncing around inside his head as well as in his ears.
“Da.” He replied simply, giving the aging machine’s control surfaces a comforting pat. The old buttons and consoles had been swapped for a state of the art holographic projection, a hundred lights blinking and flashing they read off Cherno Alpha’s vital signs. Aleksis had never been a man of words, usually letting his headstrong wife do the talking for him. She was right though, Cherno Alpha had been fighting nonstop for nearly nine years now, he had seen his brother and sister T-90s torn apart and had broken the backs of four Kaiju across his knees. He was the last Russian Jaeger standing, a lonely sentinel standing watch over the factory-city of Vladivostok. Aleksis could feel the machine’s aging spirit aching for a rest in his bones.
‘Once more my son’, He thought. ‘Just once more.’
Cherno purred softly in the back of his mind and Aleksis felt the joints loosen and the throbbing ease. He felt bad lying to the Jaeger, but the PPDC needed them now more than ever. Cherno Alpha had more than enough fight in him to last another century if needed, but deep down, Aleksis knew the machine just wanted to rest.
That would have to wait though, there was a Kaiju to kill.
“Cherno, we’re approaching the drop zone. Prepare to disengage.” The carryall pilot said, his slightly broken Russian giving him away as one of the Japanese refugees that had started trickling into Vladivostok since the war had started going badly.
“Copy.” Sasha said curtly, punching a few blinking lights in preparation to disengage Cherno Alpha from the roaring Carryalls. Aleksis brought the idling reactor up to full power, feeling a surge of power course through his veins as Cherno Alpha growled to life.
“Disengaging Transport.” Sasha said as the Carryalls jerked to a halt. There was a momentary feeling of weightlessness before nearly three thousand tons of Russian iron hurtled to the ground like a thunderbolt, impacting gracelessly into the water with a tremor that shook the pilots in their harnesses.
Cherno’s horn bellowed out across the deserted landscape, there was no one but the helicopter pilots to hear it, but it was tradition. Sasha grinned wickedly at her husband and removed her finger from the button, silencing the giant’s horn almost immediately. A brief spike washed over Cherno’s sensors as the Kaiju brushed across the edge of their scanners. They took an unflinching step forward, the Jaeger’s heavy traction pads leaving a two metre deep imprint in the frozen Russian lowlands.
As if feeling their footstep, the Kaiju, now flashing as KM-24 on their sensors, powered towards them, breaking the surface of the water and screeching at them like a banshee of legend.
Cherno Alpha growled back, its sensors sweeping over the foul Kaiju and giving the machine a rough idea of what the beast looked like. A slick, slimy body like an eel perched up on two thick legs. The horn bellowed again and with a well practised motion, Cherno smashed its fists together twice, sparks flying as the heavy, electrically charged fists bounced off each other.
“Leave this one to us.” Aleksis rumbled over the radio to the chopper pilots. “Stay out of our way.”
The two dozen helicopters buzzing noisily behind Cherno Alpha seemed happy to oblige, spreading out and gaining a little more altitude but none moving an inch closer towards the Kaiju.
It was good thing too, the gills on the creature’s neck pulsated and the frigid water that lapped around the Kaiju’s feet turned into a raging torrent, water rushing towards the Kaiju like it was going down a drain. A moment later KM-24’s eyes exploded, water shooting out of them like a high pressure cannon.
The torrent of water crashed into Cherno Alpha, making the machine rock back slightly, the foul mixture of water and Kaiju blood making the Jaeger’s paint sizzle and pop. Ugly black welts sprung up across the machine’s cooling tower, streams of water pouring down over the armoured conpod. A cloud of steam rose around Cherno Alpha, the icy cold waters of the Bering Sea heated to boiling temperatures by the Kaiju.
They took another step forward, struggling forward against the jet of pressurised water like a man struggling to walk against a strong gust of wind.  Cherno Alpha growled in protest, irritated by the lack of progress it was making. The jet of water seemed to double in strength and the Jaeger was forced back half a step.
“Is it going to drown us to death?” Sasha chuckled, raising a bulky fist in front of the conpod and splitting the jet of foul, noxious water. The internal temperature of the conpod had risen noticeably but neither pilot paid it any heed, digging their feet into the hard earth and slowly but surely plodding towards the Kaiju like an implacable glacier.
Noticing that Cherno Alpha was getting uncomfortably close, the Kaiju switched targets, directing its blasts of water at the Jaeger’s armoured legs. Aleksis and Sasha grunted and dug the massive stabiliser pins built into the back of Cherno Alpha’s feet into the ground, three metre long pins driving like piles into the frozen Russian earth.
“Cherno needs his hard house.” Aleksis grunted, using his free hand to turn on the jury-rigged sound system he’d personally installed in the Jaeger several years ago. Strictly against regulations, but the shatterdome’s Marshalls tended to look the other way, allowing the grizzled veterans a small measure of peace unless they blasted their ‘music’ too loudly.
“Da.” Sasha agreed., her face locked in a savage grin.
Neither quite knew why, but Cherno Alpha seemed to adore hard house, its systems often running beyond their theoretical limits when the pilots blasted the loud, grating, music from their sound system. Not that they would complain, both of the Russian pilots enjoyed the heavy beat, often finding their own movements syncing up with the beat of their favourite dance track as Cherno Alpha pounded into battle like a mobile mountain of iron.
Aleksis grinned, punching on the dance track and listening contently as the rumble of Cherno Alpha’s fog horn boomed out again without either of the pilots touching the trigger.
“Go!” Sasha yelled, planting a foot into the frozen mud and taking off like a sprinter. It was incredible to watch, three thousand tons of iron, grit and good old Russian engineering breaking into a sprint. It boggled the mind how a machine like Cherno Alpha could run, its cooling tower bent down low and its legs pounding the earth like an earthquake.  The fog horn boomed again and Cherno Alpha broke through the swirling mist which surrounded it, pushing through KM-24’s jet of water like it was a mere trickle. The Kaiju screeched in surprise and tried backing away but it was far too slow, the Jaeger roaring out of the mist like a vengeful spirit and slamming a fist into its flat face with a crack of discharging electricity and reinforced iron against bone.
The Kaiju’s face crumpled from the blow but it was tough, lunging forward and swiping a webbed talon at the machine’s cooling tower. Aleksis brushed it off like it was a requisition form, using Cherno’s left fist to swat it aside and allowing his wife to give the snarling creature a vicious backhanded slap.
“My grandmother fights better than you!” Sasha jeered, grabbing the creature by the long fin which ran down the back of its head and lifting it as high as she could.
With the Kaiju held open, Aleksis swung low, his armoured fist slamming into the Kaiju’s chest with a sharp crack of snapping bone and splitting skin. He swung again and again, each blow striking in memory for one of Cherno’s fallen siblings.
Battered and bloodied, KM-24 brought up one last reserve of strength, a horrendous rumble sounding as it sucked in another jet of water. Its gills pulsed open and a wave of pressure forced its way out of the Kaiju’s eyes, aimed directly at the Jaeger’s conpod. With a sickening squelch, KM-24 put everything into one last desperate attack
It pattered harmlessly off the windscreen.
“Our turn.” Aleksis whispered, cycling Cherno’s incinerator turbines open. An alarm howled as fuel was shunted upwards, pressure building behind the vents until it finally blew out in a billowing ball of nuclear fire. KM-24 got to enjoy a brief surge of heat before the superheated slag washed over it, burning its skin away in an instant and boiling its insides away before the Kaiju could draw breath to scream. Sasha released the Kaiju instantly, carefully keeping Cherno’s hand away from the river of molten fuel.
The Kaiju twitched twice more before finally falling still, its bloated body sinking to the ground at Cherno’s feet with a soft thud.
“Another well done barbeque.” Sasha laughed, reaching across to give her husband a loving caress. Cherno growled in a satisfied manner, it had been too long since it had made a kill.
Aleksis grinned. “Da, if only fish-man ha.”
A squeal of static burst out of the short range radio, a cacophony of gibberish, white noise and other, less identifiable sounds that screeched painfully in their ears.
“-̸̷̧͡n҉͠y̛͢͜͟ǫ̴ņ̢͟ȩ̴̨͞ ̴̸̴̀;҉̵'̢́͞r̴̨͜͝é̸͘ç͢͜-̷̡̨̛͜ ͠v͞͏į́n̸̢͝g҉͘͞?̸̸̕͢ ̷͝A̴̸̡͜҉n̵͠҉̶̕c̴̷͜͡;̵̛h̶o̡r͘ą̛̛̕͢ǵ̶̨e̷̸̕͏͠,̸̵͢͝ ̸̀͞d̷̡o҉̢͡ ̀͡͞ỳ͡-̢̛̀͞ ̧̨҉̨͟r̛͢͝͠e̶̵̷͜͞-̢̛͢͝͝?̷̷͘͘͞ ̸̧L̶̀̀͟o̵҉́́'̨̨̡͜;̸̨͢s̷̛̀͡ ̢̛̀͜;̨̀͠'̷̀A͏҉̕̕͏n̴̵͢͢͜g̸̵̢-̡ ́͝`̴͢'̕҉̨͟;̕͜ ́͏̕͝d̷͝͝o͏̶ ̵͘͟͢͜y̵̕͟͏̛o̕͟͠ư̵ ̨͝ḉ̴̀͘o̕҉p҉͏̀͜͡y̨͟͟͡͡?̧̧ ̷̕͜ ̴̸̢̛͝Ţ̧́͜h̴̴͢į̶̨-̸̢̡;̛́̕͡'̸̨́͜ ͟M̡͞i̸͢͠d̴͝s̶͠u̷̡̢m̨͢͞͠m҉͡͏-͜ ̵͏҉͘i͏̡̕̕͝'̸̡̧͞;̨̛͜ǵḩ̷́͡͞-̧͟ ̀̕͜҉̀f̧̀r҉̶e͝҉g̵̶̨͡-̧̛́͘͟ ̸̢̛'̡͟͞;́́͝͏͡c͟҉ą̢͘n̛̛͜͡ ̶͘҉-̴̨̨͞n̷̨͞҉ý͢͞ò͘ǹ̀-̡͝͏;͏̢́͢͟'҉̴̴̸͝ ̛҉҉͞h̨ȩ̷ą̶͞r̴̨͘͝͞ ̢́͞m̴̧͢͢-̸͘͟?̶̀͢҉̷̢̧̛͏W̶̧͜͟a͏͏͘̕͝ŕ̴h̴́́a̴̛͢m̢̀m̧̀̀͟-̷ ̧͡s̶̛͘q͠u͢a̛͝d̡͘͡o̶̧̕-̷̡.̡̀͡ ̸͏s̶̕͢t̢̡̀͘͠a̶͘͡n̵͢'̡͢;̶̵̸͡͝'̷̢͠;̢̛̕`̸̧́͢;̨҉̴̵ļ̸̡̕ ̧̛b͠͏̴̡ý̵͞.̴̵̢҉̶̸͘W̸̸̢̨̡í̡l̡͘͜-̵̡ ̷̧͜M͜͡ų̛̀͢s͏̷̡͡'̡͢͏҉͘;̛̀̀͟t̸͏̡̀;̷́͢͝-̶͘͞a͞͠n͏̧́'̡̧̕͏-̷̢ ͘͘͜i͏-̷͜͜͏ ̵͞d̛́o͠҉̶̛ẃ̸̢̛͟n̨҉̸!̶̷̶̕͢͜À̴̶͞ĺ̸̀͝-̵̛͢ ̷̛͝͝p̧͠'́͜;̶̡́͜͠ó̸̷̴̸r͢͝͞҉t̸̸̀s͠͠͠͠ ̸́͘͜s͢͏̸̀͡e̵̵̢͟'̵̕a̧̛͠͠ĺ̡͘͜e̷̶͏͠d̡̢,̡̛͡͝ ̀̕͢͞҉r̡͘e҉̢a̛͜d̕͠y̵̨̛͜ ̷̵̨͘t͜҉̸̛͡o̵̕ ̢͢s̡̡̨̢͟u͠҉͢-͏̸̴̕͡;̨͡'̵̴̡̕͝-̵̕m̸̵̸e̸̴͠r̷̢͢҉g̡̀͢͟é̷̕̕!͟͏̨̀̕͢͝T̨ḩ̶̡́͡e͟҉̧'̶̨;̵̨̛̀͏-̸̧͟͝ý̀'̀͟͞r̷̶̛͝͡e̴̴̷̕͟ ̸̛͠ś̢̀͘ţ͢o̢͢͟͢ṕ҉̛͏'̵̸́́p̡̧̛͝i͏̸̡͠n̕҉g̨͟,͝͝ ̵̡͝҉͜w̶͟͢͞h̶̢̡͡ỳ͘͢ ͝͠a͞r͏́ę̴ ̕̕͝t҉h͏͠e҉̧͏́͡y̢͢͞ ̵̵̀͠s̴̛͝͏̛-͟'̧͟;̴̨̧́͡'͏̕t̷̴͝o̸̵̢͞-̷́͘͜i̢͏̵͘͠n̨͏̷͘g̶̡͢͞͡?̶͢'̴̵́́͢͟͞Ǵ̵̛i̶͝ṕ̛̕s̀͞'̢͝;̢͟;̢͞҉͠͠y̸̧͟,͏҉͏̷ ͜҉͠c̷̵͘͝'̨́͟;̧̢̢͜͞-̷̷m̀ì̢́͜ǹ̴̨͜g̷̀̕͟҉ ҉̧̢ú̶̶͘̕p̵̶͜͝͏ ̡͘͟͡͞ơ̴̵͢͞n̛͝͏̷͟;͏̷;̵́͟͡͝'̷̢̢̨͘ ̴̧͡͠͡ý͠͡'̵҉;҉͏'̶̛͘͟͞;̢̨̨͢o̴҉̷͞ù̸́̕r̴̡̧͜͢ ̴̴̛̛T̵ẁ̴̡͏̵e̡̛̛͡l͠'̀̀͘͠͡'̨̕;̛͘v̷̸̢̢͠e͞͡͝ ̧̛̀O̴̡͠'̶̡͡͞c̨͜͡l̀̕҉̵ò̡̧͘c͢͡͏k̷͝!̵͜;̡҉̡̢͘ ̢̀F҉҉ù̢͟͟͞l̵̡̨̕ļ̵̛͢ ̛́́̕͝s̶̀҉p̸̷͘͝͏ę̷e͞͝'̷̢́̕'̴̶̨̛́;̡͢͝-̷̷̢!̧̨̕͟ ͏I̸̵͘t̢͏͡'̨̧̨͢͠s̕͏͘;̷͟͝͠͞'̸̴̛͝ ̶̧́͜c̡͞h̨̕̕-̸̧͜;̷̸͡'̵̵҉̸̵'́͘͜͠͡;̨̧-̢͝á̧҉̧r̴̵̢̕g̢͘͏í̡͟ǹ̸̸ǵ͡҉̸͡ ̷̢͘;̴͢ś́͜͟͝ò͘͢;̡͏'̶̧͜;̴́҉m̀́͞e̸͜ ̶̴͞s̨͘͡;҉̢̛̀͞o͠҉̶͟r͘͡҉̨͞ţ̴̀͜ ҉҉̡o̶̢͜͞͡f̛́ ͟͡w̴̵͡҉e̷̶͢a̴̵p̧͠'̀͟͠͝;̴ơ̴n͘͏͞!̶̡̧̛͠ ͝͡͠;̷̨͜͝'͠҉҉Í͠t̷͠͞͞'̶҉ş̴͘͟͞ ̶̴̶̛́a̷̴̡̛ ̶̛͟͞M̸̡a̸̡̕͠-̴ ̧̧͏f͢i̸v̸̨͏̀-̷̢̨͘͢;͏̢'̢́͠é!̶̸̨͏W̸̢͢e͡ ́́j͏̷̛͞͞u̕͜͜҉́'͡͏҉̸͘;̶̕͝s̷̢;̡҉̧͏;̶͘͠͝t̷̴̨͢ ҉ĺ̸̨́-͟͜;̵͟'̛̀ ̸̧̡c͏͝-̴͜'̷̴̧t̵̶̀͜;̀͝;̴̀͜a̸̕͜͞͞c̶̵͏̶̷t̡̛͘͟͝ ́͞w̨͠͝ì̷̡͝'͘;͠͏t͢;̸̨͠͠h̸̨̛͘ ̸̶̢҉͠;̨̨͟͡H̸͘;͡҉͏Q̡͞;̴̢̀͟'̶͝.̛͜͢͢͝ ̕͜͢W̴̨h̴̡́͜e̴̛r̶̡è͜҉'̷̕͟s̸҉̢̀ ̸̴ò̶̡̕ú̵̶͠r҉̨͘ ̀́͡s͘͡͞u͜͝p̛҉̡p̷̸̢̀͜o̶̡͟͞͠r̀t̶͟͞?̴̷̛͘!҉̶͘͟ ̀͘͘̕I̷̛͘s͏͝ ̧̀͡t̛͏̴h͘͏̶̡̀è̶̶͢ŗ̶̢͜e̴̢ ̀͞a̡n͟҉҉y͝͞-҉҉̸ ͠͡'̷̨̀͜;̸̧́͝y̷͘͝'̨̨̛ņ͜͟ ̸̀e̢̨͜͝͞ĺ̨͜s̵͘͘;͘͟҉̡'̨̢҉ȩ̛͠ ̴̷̕͞o̷͘͠͠n̴̨̨͝ ̢̛̀̕͡t̷̷̢̢̛;̷̢́̀͏'͠'͞h̶i̴̶̛s͘͢͝ ͏̴n̴͘͟-́҉̷҉̴;̨́͘'̶̸̕̕͠t̡҉?̶͞͝ ҉̸̧͟Ẃ̨͢'̵̢̧͘'̶͞͏͢e͏̨́͜;̷̧̛́͜'͏̷͠͡;͏̀͢͝'̢́ ̶̀̀͡͡j͢͡ừ̵͢͢s̵̢̀̕͢t̷͢͠ ̛ĺ͘̕͢o҉̨s̴͝҉͝ţ̡ ̵͘͟͞a͝͡l͏̧̛l҉͢;̨̛͠͝'̧̀;͡'̵͜ ̨͝-͏w͏̶̡͡e͠͡ŕ̷̛͟,̵̨ ̨͟b͟҉͢r̨̀͟͝ ̸̷̀͢'͘҉҉̧͢;̕͞͞;̢̀͡'҉̡f̷̛́o͜r͘͢ ̸̡a̢̧̕͏ ̶͢h̷̢̡à̴'͘͜͞͏;̵҉̕'̕͜r̸̀d̴͜ ͢͝l̸̀́͠à̧̢'̢͟;͘͜͝͝͝n҉͏'͢͏n̛͘g̷̶̛͜͜!̶̧̕̕͡ ̴̢҉͝T̢́̕͏h̶̨͢͟͏e̷̸͜͏͢y̡'̨̢̡r̛̕̕͟;̨̛͟͝'̶͘e̴̵͠ ̴̀͜e̵̡v̶̧͠è͏;̸͢'҉̢͡;̨͘͜͟҉;̷͞͞;͢͟'̷́͘͜͞h̢̨͟e̵̸̴̴͟r̷̢͘e͏́͡!̴́̕͝ ̸͜͟҉ ̢͞͏̨̛ ̶̶̕͝”
The sound lasted barely a second before the line cleared again, leaving the two pilots staring at the device in confusion.
“Was that English?” Aleksis asked cautiously, the dead Kaiju lapping at their feet quite forgotten. It twitched again and Sasha quickly stomped down on it just to be sure, driving the stabiliser spike straight down through the remains of the creature’s neck. 
Sasha tapped the side of her helmet gently but could coax nothing further out of the machine. “Sounded like it. Maybe a ghost signal?”
Aleksis grunted in agreement, the warbling message had set his hair standing on edge, even his beard felt like it was humming with electricity. Still, there was nothing to be gained worrying about it, he hadn’t been able to glean anything from the mysterious message and it seemed unlikely that he’d ever hear it again. Dismissing the signal from his mind, he reached down for KM-24’s corpse, gripping it firmly around the neck and hauling it back to the shore.
“Vladivostok Control, Cherno has his fifth kill.”