> No Safe Haven > by Rexzilla > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: New Toys > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the year 2021, a program came underway from the PPDC to produce two enhanced replacements of their best jaegers. Their choices. Gipsy Danger, and Striker Eureka. The engineers dusted off the old blueprints and decided on what to improve and what to leave alone. Gipsy Dangers replacement had a digital core similar to Strikers, while keeping an improved triple nuclear vortex core for the main power source which increased the reaction time of the jaegers movements. The conpod was retrofitted with a better gyro-stabilization system to keep the pilots facing forward while looking around. The forward windscreen was tinted a dark shade of blue to improve visibility in bright areas and could also be switched over to a green to operate the night vision capabilities. Strikers twin, on the other hand, was the opposite in terms of the power core. Keeping a much improved digital core while receiving a triple nuclear core for better reliability. It too had a more adaptable windscreen with the same shade of blue and night time capabilities. While keeping the even more improved maneuverability, plus similar upgrades to the conpod. The original brass knuckles were kept as they were, due to effectiveness in combat. But, however, the main improvements they made were to fit specific pilots they had in mind. Both sluggers had extra armor on the outsides and tops of the forearms and the back of the hands, as well as the front of the legs. This, was because the pilots fighting styles were a perfect balance between offensive and defensive moves. Not a fighting style that can just be simply learned from a martial arts class. No. This was (and still is) the best style around if used correctly by the right people. A style that people who grew up on the farms would understand. More specifically, the old school farms. The way the lifestyle was for them. not the fact that they didnt go to school as the most popular, or most respected but still one every fight they fought while not being built football players or anything of the such. But the fact that those fights were against the popular kids, the kids who played football, and lifted weights until they cant feel their limbs. The guys who portrayed themselves as "tough shit" because they had an entire group of followers to help back their bitch asses up when they jumped in too deep. There is no specific name for the fighting style. But all I can say is guys like Jason and Kyle could kick the shit out of literally anyone who messes with either one of them. Its all in experience. The more you fight, the more accustomed you become to fighting in general. "So, what do you need us for this time, Marshal"? Kyle hesitantly asked as him and his brother, Jason walked at a rapid pace through the shatterdome hallways in order to keep up with Marshal Herc, who was looking through some files handed to him earlier that day. "Just put on your suits and meet me near Western Belles hanger bay and we will discuss the matter then" Herc replied with an ever so slight hint of irritation in his voice. "Yes sir" Jason and Kyle replied in unison. "What do you think they need this time"? Jason asked with a chuckle mixed in with the sentence. "I dont know, lets get this done though". Kyle said with a sigh. "Alright, lets do it". The two walked down the hallway that led to the shatterdome waiting for them behind thick iron walls that opened up before the pilots reached it leading into a bustling world of machines, guards, and mechanics all doing their own part. A few men were up on Belles shoulders installing loudspeakers that Kyle and Jason secretly got permission for on the massive bruiser of a machine. Off to the right, another jaeger designated, 'Vertigo Delta', was standing in a hanger of its own. "Gentlemen". Came a voice from behind them. "Marshal?" replied Jason who was pulled out of his thinking. "Your mission is to intercept a Category 4 kaiju that seems to be lingering right outside the portal, but the thing is, is that its not moving rapidly". "What do you mean, sir"? Jason replied with a look of confusion and concern on his face. "Well, it moves a few hundred meters, stops for a few seconds, and swims back to where it was". "So we just go in and put it out of its misery"? "If you want to put it like that, then yes, Vertigo Delta will go in with you incase shit goes sideways". "Yes sir". Kyle responded in a shocked, quite tone. As the pilots walked into the conpod and placed themselves in position, they were faced with Vertigo alredy heading out to see and a massive storm producing waves high enough to lap at the jaegers hips. A voice piped up over the conpod at that moment, bringing both pilots back to there own responsibilities. "What did it say"? asked Kyle looking over to Jason for a reply. "I have no idea" Immediately afterwards they were caught completely off guard by a blue whisp of memories and events from both minds ranging from their first memories to the conversation they just had with each other. "What the hell"?! Kyle yelled after they came back to the present. " Son of a bitch"! "What the hell was that for"? A male voice came in over all the noise "I thought it might get you guys' attention for us". "You owe us for that one, John". "No problem fellas, drinks are on me tonight if you get back before 'nine". "Yeah right, jackass". Jason said with a laugh. "Alright, lets get out there before they finish the job without us". As they stood, waiting for the nuclear core to spin up in the torso of the goliath fighter they stared at an asian cart driver who flipped his cart over and spilled everything he was hauling in the back. "What the hell happened there" Jason shouted to his brother as they both prevented themselves to fall on the floor laughing and bringing the jaeger to its knees in the process. "I dont fucking know, man but for the last time, lets get our asses out there". "Pilot one calibrating left hemisphere" left was Kyles side considering he had a better left arm than Jason. "Pilot two calibrating right hemisphere". "Two pilots engaged in neural bridge, ready to activate the jaeger in 3.. 2... 1" The jaeger was connected to the transports and lifted up out of the shatterdome with relative ease. ''Lets get some music playin' up in this shit"! Jason yelled, being the music junky he is. Kyle reached over and flipped on the playlist and left it on whatever song was already on. > First Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jason and Kyle waited in the head of the giant monster, watching the shining pacific ocean fly by under them as the transports moved them and the "twins" jaeger. "The twins" was what all the other jaeger pilots called Anderson and Jay. Like Jason and Kyle, they were the closest of brothers and never hesitated to step in for one another even when they were in the wrong. The only difference was that instead of spending their entire life out in the country working on a farm, the twins were just your average, run-of-the-mill kids. They always stirred things up with teachers and would constantly get kicked out of class. But the one thing that made them capable to be pilots was their military background. Both had been in the Marine Corps. Each one even made it into Force Recon. "You boys ready back there"? Jay asked, preparing to disengage the jaeger from the transports. "Little too late to ask now, dont you think"? Jason replied in a sarcastic but joking voice. "Alright then, heres the plan. I want a one hundred yard spacing between both of us. You watch our back and we'll return the favor". The thought of being at the bottom of the pacific ocean raised a question in Jasons mind. "Sir" He said back to the former Marine. "Will we even be able to see that far once we're at the ocean floor"? "Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there"? "Well it would be hard to miss a three hundred foot tall walking tank with L.E.D. light's shining from every corner". "Yeah, so dont fuck it up", Jay responded as he laughed at the whole conversation. "Alright you two", Kyle interrupted the 'fun-time' Jason and Jay were having. As the jaegers were released into the warm ocean water. "Lets just get in there, fuck this thing up and get back to the shatterdome before breakfast". "Since when did you care about timing"? Jason asked Kyle. "Its three thirty in the morning, why shouldn't I care"? "True, true" By this point, both hunters were reaching the ocean floor. "Belle! Im getting a signature at at your seven o'clock"! Jason and Kyle whipped Western Belle around in a blocking stance preparing to be met by a multi-thousand ton behemoth hurling itself at the jaeger...... But instead, they were faced with an empty wall of black. No sign of any kaiju were visible. "Nothing there"! Kyle shouted through the intercom. ''Well im still picking up something moving faster towards you guys"! Andersons sentence was cut short as their hunter erupted in a vicious jerk, followed by the conpod shaking as if Mt. Saint Helens was having another chunk of itself being blown off as the jaeger slid across the mud-like ocean floor. "Anderson! Jay! You guys alright over there? What the hell happened"? Kyle got no response, but seen a black mass rush between Western Belle and Vertigo Delta and disappear into the black sea. He seen Anderson and Jays jaeger stand up and get into a fighting position ready for a second attack. "Anderson! Jay! Whats your status? Out". No response. "Damnit! Their comms must be down". Western Belle and Vertigo Delta scanned the ocean looking for whatever bushwacked them. "Jason, what's that on the scanner"? Kyle noticed a second signature lingering just beyond their range of sight. "The breach is closed, where did this one come from"? Jason gave Kyle a look of utter confusion as they tried again desperately to reach Anderson and Jay to warn them. "Hes on our left"! Kyle screamed to Jason as they swung Belles arm in a huge right hook catching a hard blow on the kaiju's face before it grabbed the jaeger and smashed it into the bottom of the ocean. "Delta! He's right on top of us! We can't get him off"! The two pilots struggled to free themselves from the kaijus grip by grabbing its limbs trying to protect the jaeger from any critical hits. Right then they heard Vertigos horn, muffled by being under water, as it rushed to their aid catching the kaiju off guard. The massive brawler jabbed the kaiju in the face trying to stun it, then grappling the beast and body slamming it into a group of jagged rocks breaking them and injuring the monster at the same time. The ordeal bought Jason and Kyle enough time to get Western Belle back up on her feet. Vertigo had the kaiju, that was identified as "Sukauto", pinned in the mud repeatedly hitting it with a right hook. Then out of nowhere, a lumbering mass swooped in to its companions assistance grabbed Delta and drug it into the pitch black ocean. The last hint of either one was a light being drug straight down and disappearing as it went behind something that was in no way visible. Kyle and Jason watched in horror as the experienced pilot's were lost but could not be seen. "You bastard!" Jason hollered as both him and his brother took off in a weighed down sprint towards their friends last known position. When they got to the spot, they found a massive whole that spanned out at least enough to swallow a coal mine. But what made it so unusual was a light coming from the bottom. A bright, multicolored light that had a purple center bordered with a twisting green and orange ring. "Oh my God. What the fuck is that"? Kyle thought in unison with his brother. But their chance to do anything was cut short as the first kaiju, followed by yet a third, smashed into Western Belle dragging it into the light. After they went through, everything went pure white. Nothing inside nor outside the jaeger was visible. But regardless, Jason and Kyle kept Western Belles' head protected with its arms preparing for he worst. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ It was a nice, quite morning as Fluttershy woke up from a deep sleep to prepare everything for the days events. She slid herself off the bed and went downstairs to feed the hungry critters that were roaming throughout her cottage. "Good morning little ones" She said in her usual quite, calm voice. "You must be hungry by now". Angel, as usual, was grumpy and being just an over all douchebag to Fluttershy by refusing to eat with the others due to him being used to having his own special food. "Knock, knock, knock" "Oh, Twilight must be here already" Fluttershy trotted over to the door and opened the door for her friend ho was waiting there with her saddlebags and a large smile on her face. "Good morning, Fluttershy" Twilight said somewhat quietly in fear of bothering her friends animals who, by now, were nearly done with their breakfast. "Good morning Twilight. You're here early. Could you not sleep last night or something"? She asked in a hushed voice. "Actually, I slept great last night. But I just happened to wake up early. How was your night, Fluttershy"? "Oh, it was good. After all that walking yesterday, I was really tired. But this is the time I normally wake up so I can take care of everything before it gets too late" Fluttershy responded as her and Twilight walked through the house and to the back door putting. "You ready to go Twilight"? "If you are". "Okay". The two ponies started their walk into the Everfree Forest. After about five minutes of walking, they reached the treeline that extended for miles in bothe direction. "Are you sure you want to do this, Fluttershy"? Twilight asked with a concerned tone and worried look on her face. "Don't worry, I have friends out here that would help us if we need it" The yellow and pink pony tried to convince herself. "Well, if you change your mind just tell me and we will go back". "Alright Twilight. Thanks". Out of nowhere, there was a violent shaking in the ground that went on for what seemed for a few seconds. Birds flew up and out of the forest and small animals rushed into there "Was that an earthquake"? At this point, Fluttershy had hid herself behind Twilight not knowing what to expect. "I, don't think so. An earthquake usually lasts for several minutes. That wasn't nearly long enough to be an earthquake". In the distance they heard an ear piercing sound that was felt all the way back in Canterlot. "Ummm, Twilight? I think we should go back now. Maybe inform the Princess about this". But it was too late. By the time they had made up their mind's, it was there. A giant reptilian-like behemoth that seemed tall enough to be able to reach up and touch the clouds with extreme ease. And even worse yet. It was staring them down with its narrow, blue eyes that watched them with pure hatred and destruction. They were frozen with fear. They couldn't think straight, they couldn't move, they could hardly even keep their balance let alone run away from it. It released another roar that was even more terrifying than the last and followed up with a claw that came down just feet from the two ponies. Then it stopped. For no reason, just stopped. The two seen it look up straight in front of it. Twilight and Fluttershy turned around expecting to see another beast just like the one that was now behind them. But what they seen was different. Instead of a leather appearance it showed a dark gray color with lights coming from the torso, arm's, and head. And its main difference. Was that it was bipedal. And it was coming straight towards them. It got closer, and closer, and soon they could make out numbers on it and even see marks from what they assumed came from previous fight's the monster had gotten into. It let out a sound that very highly resembled the horn on a ship, a low sound that could be heard for miles on end. The footstep's that it made shook the ground and they could here some kind of mechanisms working inside the monster with every move it made. It reached the attacker and immediately struck it with an uppercut that appeared to stun the giant lizard. It then grabbed it by the horn the came out of the others forehead and stepped on the tail, stretching it out in a vertical fashion and continued to hit it in the head. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Anderson and Jay had adrenaline pumping through their bodies as they continued to throw the kaiju down onto the canopy of the forest. They stood back, equipped it's electrically charged blades that slid down from the forearm's of the jaeger. Waiting for the monster to get back on it's feet, which it struggled to do, they decided to end the fight. They walked over to the wounded kaiju, placed one of the blades on its head and shoved it into its brain killing it right then and there. "Well. That marks our tenth kill" Anderson got out between breathes. "Yeah. But do you have any clue where we are"? "Well I can't get any reading of our position. So that's a pretty shitty start". "Hey, Andy. You seeing what I'm seeing"? "Those...... animals down there. One has wings and the other has a horn and wings. But they look like ponies". "Wait, what? Hows that possible?" "Damned if I know". "The digital core needs to reset, so lets shut her down for a bit until it gets it's shit back together". Andy and Jay both shut down the digital core that powered the jaeger and disengaged themselves from the conpod. They climbed out of the hatch that was at the top of the head and took off their helmets to get some fresh air. But had to wait until the dust settled from the brawl they just had with the scout kaiju. Then they saw it. The purple pony disappear in a bright, purple flash. "Okay, what the fuck is this shit"? Jay shouted as his mine was literally blown. Before they knew it, the pony that was just moments ago sitting on the ground somehow teleported itself in a flying position about fifteen yards away from the jaegers conpod. "What the hell"?! Anderson yelled with a huge sense of shock in his voice. What the fuck just happened"? ''I don't know, but this doesn't look like any forest I've ever seen". Jay replied to his brother as they looked out at the forest and seen plants and colors that they never witnessed in a forest before. ''So what about those things over there"? Anderson pointed to the animals that were closely inspecting the massive war machine. "HEY"! Anderson shouted in an attempt to scare the beings into doing something. But what they did do was not expected by either one of the pilots. The yellow gasped and flew straight down to the nearest bush that she could find hid in it, while the purple one screamed in horror, but didn't retreat like the other one did. Instead it froze in terror and looked straight towards the humans. "Jay. What just happened. Those things didn't just do what I think they did, did they"? Anderson nodded his head slowly while keeping his eyes on the one pony that was still flying there out infront of them. Twilight, on the other hand, flew very slowly towards them after seeing that they didn't pose much of a threat. Both sides stared at each other intently for what seemed to be hours. "So, did you just talk"? Jay asked the wide-eyed pony as it hovered in the same spot. "Did you just talk"? Twilight answered both questions in a rather odd way. "Shit. Andy, do you have any clue where we are"? "Nope, not a clue. The navigation systems went blank after we fell through that thing back there". "Wait, you fell through something"? Twilight asked both of them. "So you just decide to talk to us now"? Jay was confuse, yet frustrated because he had no idea where they were or how they got there. "Well, you killed that monster there and saved us. Why should I just run away and not even thank you for doing so"? At that point, Fluttershy came flying up behind Twilight and whispered something to the men. "Um, what did she just say"? Anderson asked Twilight. "She is very worried that you may try to hurt us or our friends. You wouldn't do that, would you"? "Yes". Jay replied in his smartass remark Anderson took the moment to try and speak to the pegasus seeing how it seemed to be terrified of them and what they just done. "Don't worry, we have no intention's of hurting you. Unless you try to hurt us". "But. That monster over there. You, you killed it"? They could tell Fluttershy was upset and about to cry, so Anderson explained why they had to put it down. "Well, you see. A few year's ago, those monster's started attacking us with intentions on exterminating our race. We came up with these beasts that we call 'Jaegers', and the jaegers are our best means of defense against these things". "But, why do they want you gone"? Fluttershy asked, a little more comfortable than she was a minute ago. "Because they got too greedy and fucked with the wrong planet". Jay shot yet another smartass comment. "Jay, just relax. Don't get too violent here". Knowing his bother had a point, Jay asked Twilight where they were. What he got for an answer made his heart sink. "You mean to say we aren't even on the same planet anymore"? "That's what it seems" Twilight told the truth knowing how nervous the human's must have been. A huge flash came from in front of the four who were on the jaegers head. Anderson and Jay stood up from their crouching position ready to get into the conpod if needed. > Long Odds > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sight they were met with sent a surge of adrenaline through their bodies. "Wh-whats that"? Fluttershy asked from behind part of her mane that drooped down covering most of her face. "It's them"! Anderson though to himself. But Belle was not alone. Kyle and Jason had carried the kaiju through the portal, dragging it by its half broken neck as it scrambled desperately to escape the death hold that the jaeger had on it. The two brothers, like always, were blasting music from the loudspeakers mounted on the shoulders of the beast. "Excellent fucking job boys"! Jay shouted knowing the other two pilots could not hear him. "Alright, let's finish this bitch off" Jason took the right hand that was holding the kaiju, and slammed its face into the forest as it roared out in pain and anger. The four on top of Vertigo Delta were witnessing the whole thing. Western Belle then gave a final blow to the kaijus jaw by kicking it as hard as it could. "That's how it's done, ladies" Said Jay as he climbed back down into the conpod to get the jaeger started up again. "Hey! Kyle! Look, it's Vertigo"! "It's about time". Jason and Kyle guided the jaeger over to the others so they could communicate directly. The jaeger stopped parallel to the other jaeger facing the opposite direction. The pilot's of Western Belle disengaged and walked out the back of the conpo onto the left shoulder. Kyle was the first to notice the two ponies as he stopped dead in his tracks. "Anderson, what the hell are those"? "Excuse me"? Twilight replied with frustration. "Well we aren't exactly on earth anymore" Anderson broke the news straight up, due to the lack of knowing how to explain it to the other pilots. "Okay, so what is that supposed to mean? And did she just talk"? Jason was shocked that an animal was speaking to him. But yet he came from a world where aliens were sending monsters through a portal into the ocean so they could colonize earth. "Damn, where the hell are we"? "You're in Equestria. The Everfree forest outside Ponyville to be exact" By this point, Twilight was doing all the talking because Fluttershy was far too scared to do so herself. "The Everfree forest? Ponyville? Marshal must have drugged us before we went". "If you don't mind, could I take you to Canterlot to meet the Princess"? Twilight enthusiastically "You have a Princess"? "Yes, in fact we have two princesses. One is the princess of the night and the other is princess of the day". "So they have shifts they have to work? I wish our leaders back home done that". Jason was still the only one talking to the ponies. "Here. I probably need to inform them about this. Can we take you to them"? "No, we'll take the jaegers. Thanks though" Jay quickly shot down Twilights idea in fear of being separated from Vertigo Delta. "Are you sure? I don't know how the ponies will react to these things". "Well they can just get over it. No offense ma'am, but we prefer to stay with our machines". "Very well". Kyle came up with an idea that if the purple pony was that interested in the jaegers, then why not let her ride in the conpod with the pilots? "I didn't get your name" Kyle jumped on the opportunity. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight. This is my friend Fluttershy". Fluttershy let out a high pitched noise that no one understood. "Twilight, how would you like to ride with us? She can go with us too". "You expect us to immediately want to ride in that, thing with you"? "Well, or you could just muscle it back". "I think we can make it back on our own. But do you think there are any more of those things here"? "I don't know. I'm as new to this world and that portal as you are to this type of war". Kyle responded in a calm voice. "Well can we stick close to you in case more of them appear"? Twilight was obviously concerned at this point and turned around to speak with Fluttershy away from the humans who were now getting anxious about the whole situation. "Well, I have no clue why you're asking us about that. So go ahead". Jason and Kyle stepped back into the controls and started up the jaeger. Twilight and Fluttershy flew up and ahead of the jaegers so they could keep their distance. "Initiating launch operations, Western Belle. Two pilots engaged in neural bridge. Ready to activate the jaeger in 3.. 2.. 1. Have a nice trip". Twilight was awestruck by the technology the monster possesed. The giant, iron, monster whirred to life as the pilots began stepping in perfect sync with each other. They looked over and seen Vertigo Delta turning around to follow them. "So are we heading the right way"? Jason asked through the loudspeakers on the jaeger.. "Yes, keep going this way until you see a castle on the side of a mountain. That's where Canterlot is". Western Belle and Vertigo Delta shook the ground with every step, traversing the heads back and forth in a scanning motion. Very soon after they started the trip to Canterlot, the mountainside castle became very clear. White, with gold and a waterfall dropping down from it. Down below at the base of the mountain, was a medium sized town. But what they saw, was not just the town. But yet a third kaiju on the other side of it clawing at a hole in the side of a hill. "Vertigo! We have eyes on a third kaiju! We're moving in to take it down"! Jason was yelling over the intercom. The kaiju highly resembled Knifehead. But this one had more of a blunt weapon on it. It swung around noticing the jaeger. It immediately charged towards Belle. Belle lowered it's center of gravity preparing for the impact. The club-headed kaiju was caught by the jaegers hands that grabbed the kaijus arms right at the point where they meet the shoulder, holding it back as it bit and swung it's head side to side in desperate attempts to kill the jaeger. Western Belle lifted it's knee up and struck the kaiju in the lower jaw, a second knee strike hit the monsters throat which stunned it long enough for the pilots to throw the kaiju into the side of the mountain and hitting it with a left hook then a right uppercut in a rapid succession. It then went on to grab the kaijus neck in a choke hold, strangling it. The beast thrashed and whipped in every which direction but to no avail. It was running out of oxygen, dying slowly and painfully. The same death that it wanted to inflict on these beings. > Guardians of the Gods > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The monster flipped over and onto the ground. Belle still had the neck in the hold and was now being dragged across the ground away from the mountain and into the town. "Kyle! We can't let this fucker use us to destroy that town! We're going to burn a hole through him, alright"? Jason didn't need to say anything, Kyle had all the confirmation he needed by reading Jasons mind through the drift. Kyle reached over and armed the turbine in the center of the jaegers chest and waited for it to charge up. The kaiju was slowing down and struggling to drag the jaeger. Kyle and Jason took the initiative to stand the jaeger up and bring the monster with it while still yet in the grip around its neck. "Hit it"! Jason yelled over to Kyle. Kyle slammed his fist into the button, nearly cracking the panel that it was on. The turbine lit up and shot a focused ray of pure heat straight into the monsters back and out its stomach sending chunks of it flying out to different directions. The kaiju roared for its last time and went limp right there in the jaegers arms. Kyle and Jason dropped it and watched its head bounce off the ground just a few yards from the first building on the outskirts of the town. ______________________________________________________________________________ Princess Celestia was up in her watch tower watching the two massive beings slug it out with each other. She quickly pulled her eye away from the telescope as she gasped at the thought of such a gruesome death. "Sister"! She hollered down the stairs into Lunas' room. "Get up! We have a problem"! Luna slowly climbed up the staircase and walked over to her sisters side. "What was that horrible noise"? Luna asked with a concerned look. "See for yourself". She spun the telescope in the direction of the scene. Luna closed an eye so she could see down the telescope. She couldn't see clearly through all the dust that was stirred up from the death match. But when it did, both of her eyes shot open in horror. What she saw was beyond anything she had ever seen in dreams or in real life. A massive, bipedal giant was standing at the base of a mountain looking out towards Ponyville. At its feet was another, more natural looking monster that had a gaping hole in its upper torso. Its bones and insides were visible as well and put off a glowing aura around the creature where the blood was running out. She then turned to look at her sister. "Get the elements. We have to keep those things from doing anymore harm"! She told the princess of the sun in a panicked tone. "Luna, I'm not so sure they are here to hurt us". "Are you mad? It just killed that other giant like it was a walk in the park"! By this point Luna thought Celestia had finally lost some of her marbles. "Yes, but unlike the other one, it has made no attempt in attacking the town or the ponies who live there. For the monster that it killed was trying to kill a filly who was caught outside". "And you just sat there and watched it do so"?! Luna was now infuriated at the thought that her sister was going to stand back and watch an innocent filly be ripped to bits by an alien being. "I had no time to react before I seen the others. Twilight was with them so I knew that these were different". Luna stared at her intently as she began to regain confidence in her sisters actions. She knew that if it hadn't tried to hurt Twilight and saved a little filly from the other and stopped right after that, then it must not mean harm to them. In fact, it may even mean the exact opposite. ________________________________________________________________________________ Jason and Kyle stood there looking at the kaiju that was now a pathetic pile of mush sitting at their feet. "Jesus, that's the second one today" Kyle was wondering why things seemed different. But before he could continue the thinking, his brother interrupted it. "Wait, Kyle. This is a town, right? And kaiju blood is toxic, then shouldn't we try to warn them"? "Probably. Vertigo, we're stepping out of the conpod to discuss this with the residents". Kyle said through the direct coms to the other jaegers pilot's. "Copy that, we'll stand guard to make sure you guys are safe". Jay replied. By this point, ponies from all around were creeping closer to the giants. When they seen the two smaller individuals emerge from the things head, some flinched while others stood there looking in awe. At that moment, Twilight came flying over to the jaegers shoulder that Kyle and Jason were now standing on but still kept her distance from the pilots. "That was amazing"! She shouted. "Miss, we don't have time to celebrate. That monster we just killed. It is very toxic and you need to warn the others to stay away from it". Jason put his joking aside and got straight to the point. "Toxic? What do you mean"? Twilight responded. "It's blood is very toxic and can make you very sick if you get too close. Now get them away from it"! Jason was getting agitated at this point. Twilight flew down the chest of the Jaeger in front of the citizens and told them what Jason had told them. "So you think we're in trouble by their higher-ups"? Jason was a little concerned for there own safety too. Who knows what these princesses would think of a couple three-hundred foot tall war machines killing monsters and polluting their cities. "I don't know. But if they have any sense in them, then they will realize that we saved all their asses." "Well, either way we need to get back home". Right then they seen two ponies fly down next to Twilight and the rest of the ponies. But these were different. They were wearing crowns and their horns were considerably longer than the others who had horns. Their wings spanned out far more than any others in the crowd. And the ponies in the crowd bowed down in front of them. "Jason, get a load of this". Kyle said as he lightly hit his brothers shoulder to get his attention. "Are those the princesses she was talking about"? Jason seemed amused in a slight way. "Looks like it. Maybe they know how we got here". The two large ponies flew up to the shoulder of the jaeger and stood there in the presence of the two pilots. Their hooves made a clanging sound as they touched down against the thick-skinned jaeger. "Umm, hello"? Jason asked as he slowly lifted a hand in the direction of the the bright colored pony. There was an awkward silence between the two sides. At the base of the shoulder stood two bipedal beings that saved the lives of many. And more towards the right shoulder stood two goddesses who's mane waved in the breeze like a kid holding a sheet over his head as he ran through the yard. Neither of the sides knew what to say. "So, are you the princesses that we were informed of"? Said Jason as he slowly retracted his arm back to his side. "That would be us"? The taller pony spoke with a voice that contained what seemed like magic. "Well, I'm just going to say right off the bat that we have no clue what's going on. One second we're defending a country and the next we're falling into a pit and end up here". "Well we are sorry to hear of this inconvenience. But I may ask, why did you just kill this thing hear? Surely there was another way, rather than introducing these ponies to such horrors". "With all due respects, ma'am. We just saved your entire town plus your palace thing up there". "But couldn't you have loured it elsewhere and exterminated it there"? The dark blue pony chimed in with an evenly majestic voice. So majestic, in fact, that the pilots were almost speechless. "I don't think you realize how these these things work. They go from planet to planet, taking control of each one and colonizing them. They want you dead. All of you". "But, what would they want with Equestria"? "Beats me. What do they want from our planet"? "Is there any more of... whatever those things are"? "Probably, but I don't know where they are coming from". Jason was still talking to the ponies. "Hey! Belle, we're picking up another signature on the scanner! Do what you gotta do and we'll take care of it"! Jay spoke to the pilots of Western Belle from a distance by external comms that allowed them to speak directly to people (or ponies in this case) "Copy! We'll get them to safety and be there as soon as we can"! Kyle replied by stepping back into the conpod and speaking through the standard, radio-link communication system. "Listen, we are going to take you to a safer area. But first, you have to get your people-or whatever they are away from this area". Kyle was very stern with his words looking the two princesses straight in the eyes. > Guardians of the Gods: II > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vertigo Delta was positioning itself directly in front of the signature on the scanner so the Kaiju would have to see them before it seen Western Belle and her crew who were basically standing there naked. Vertigo stopped right at the edge of a forest with the town about half a mile behind them. They looked back and forth in a slow scanning-like motion making sure there wasn't anything that would attack them that was unseen. The mass was larger than the average Kaiju signature, but the two pilots paid no attention. Just focusing on finding the Kaiju. Off in the horizon, they seen a rather dark object moving in an irregular pattern. It was moving slowly but did not appear to be a completely solid mass. It was whipping out on the sides and along the top. As it moved closer they could make out two glowing, green eyes with a purplish fire coming out of the outer corners. It was closing at a rapid pace, appearing to glide over the ground devouring all the trees into its dark mass. Then about a quarter mile out, it slowed to a halt. They could tell it was looking them down by the way its eyes were scanning over them. Anderson and Jay both engaged the Assault Mount 3.25 "Sting-Blades" on each forearm and waited motionless keeping the opponent in their sight while continuing to scan around the forest. They waited, the mass waited, looking them straight into the eyes and hovering there. The black waves on the outskirts of it tightened up and formed a solid mass. Four legs formed out of the black cloud. When it was done forming, it highly resembled the two princesses back at the town they were just at. Except this one was black. And it only had a horn that merged into a bright red color as it neared the end. Its eyes were still locked on the conpod of the Jaeger as if it could see through the forward windscreen. After waiting for what seemed to be hours, Vertigo Delta released a loud blast from the warning horns and began walking forwards to the monster. The giant 'pony' lowered its head and let out a growling noise. The giant began shuffling side to side as if it were getting nervous. Vertigo got within striking range and as it pulled its left arm back to take a swing at the monster, the thing lunged forwards piercing the chest armor right below the digital core. "Aw damnit"! Anderson shouted as he felt the Jaeger be shoved back by the blow. But between the two pilots being very experienced in fighting and the stabilization that the Mark V Jaeger has, they recovered from the setback by pivoting back in front of the monster and stabbing the "Sting Blade's" deep into its front left shoulder plate sending it in a horrible noise of pain. The giant then charged forward, shoving Vertigo backwards but this time onto its back. Dust rose up all around the two and almost entirely blocked out the sun. While the pilot's were getting the Jaeger back up, they seen their opponents horn light up with an aura around it that rapidly increased in size and brightness. Then everything went dark. No lights, no drift, no visual on what they were just fighting. Just darkness. "What the hell? We fucking dead"? Jay asked in an amazed but terrified voice having never been in this kind of situation. "No, the digital core shut down. I'm starting up the backup core now"! Anderson proceeded to pull some manual starter buttons for the backup nuclear core. As this was happening, the monster outside was bashing the torso of the Jaeger with its front limbs. Rearing back onto its hind legs and coming down with all its weight directly on the Jaegers chest, it managed to cause some damage to the upper torso. The bay that held the WMB2x90 AKM Chest launcher's was jammed shut from the crushed outer door's. The pilot's felt a vibration underneath them. Then followed by all the lights and electronics being flipped back on. Whatever it was that they were locked in combat wit, was now beating furiously at the torso. "Initiating launch operation, Vertigo Delta. Two pilot's engaged in neural bridge. Ready to activate the Jaeger in 3... 2... 1". Vertigo came back to life in a violent roar from its fog horn's. The pilot's moved around getting space between the Jaeger and the aggressor. When they got a considerable amount of spacing between them, the reached out and grabbed the horn of the giant and yanked its head down into the dirt. While using the advantage, Anderson and Jay got the Jaeger up onto its feet. The monster looked back at the Jaeger with its teeth showing in a fierce manner. It gave out a window-shattering roar before forming back into the black mass it once was and taking off towards Western Belle's position. "We can't let that thing get Kyle and Jason! Get them on the horn"! Anderson shouted over to Jay as the limped back towards the town. "Belle! We got a Kaiju heading your way! We can't catch it and it's closing rapidly! How copy?" Jay said over the commlinks. ______________________________________________________________________________ Kyle stood up on the right shoulder of the battle-proven Jaeger watching the two princesses get everything in order far below. "Where exactly the fuck are we?" He thought to himself. "Things have gotten pretty messed up back home, but not quite like this." "Kyle! Get your shit together! We have a Kaiju heading our way. And by the sounds of it, it really messed Vertigo up." Jason said to Kyle as he tossed him his helmet from the rear hatch to the conpod. "Are they alright though"? Kyle asked his brother as he walked back into the head of the machine. "Yeah, they're fine, but their Jaeger apparently took a pounding". "Alright, let's get to it then". Kyle said with a sigh of relief. Both pilots stepped into the braces inside the conpod and made sure everything was secure. They flipped some switches on the console between them and the AI chimed in with its Jaeger start-up sequence. After they engaged in the neural bridge, the reactor's inside the Jaeger began to roll to life. The turbine in the chest spat out a blue flame, then turned to a yellowish color as it began to heat up. The ponies stared in horror as the machine came alive before them. All they could do was stand there and watch as it turned itself around to meet the monster that was now in front of the Jaeger. The crowd gasped as they looked out and seen the black mass form into the solid being. Others ran into the town in hope of finding shelter. "It can't be". Celestia mumbled to herself. "I thought Twilight and the element's of harmony took care of him at the Crystal Empire". Luna said to her big sister who was staring in shock at the stand-off between the two monster's. "They did. But apparently he is back". Celestia said quietly. The giant blue machine stepped in towards the "Kaiju" in an attempt to get the attacker to get nervous and mess up. Their hopes came true. The black behemoth opened its jaw's and jumped up at the Jaegers shoulder which was countered by Belle giving a solid punch right into its mouth, knocking loose the beasts front teeth. It fell down onto its stomach in a daze. Western Belle reached down and grabbed its horn, tearing it clean off the head and jabbing back down into the throat of the now suffering monster. The giant pony-like creature stood back up and was met instantly with a hard right hook that nearly ended the fight then and there. Once gain, it lunged back up at the Jaeger but to no avail. Kyle and Jason hit the beast right behind the same shoulder plate that was wounded just minutes before. It let out a howl in pain and returned to its previous form of a black cloud. Belle stood there with the sun to its face watching the wounded creature retreat into the horizon. This time, everypony seen what happened. And there was no doubt that they had an ally on their side so far at this point. Which eased some fear among the town. But some were still unsure about the arrival of the new beings.... > A New War > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Jay, you alright over there?" Anderson asked from his side of the conpod. At this point, Jay was struggling with each step of the right leg due to the knee being heavily damaged. "Yeah. I'm fine." Jay said as he grunted with each step. Vertigo was slowly limping back to Western Belle and the rest of the city with the right knee buckling under each step. The highly agile Mk. V Jaeger was now struggling to stay up at a slow walking pace. Every single step sent a sharp burning pain through Jays right leg. The reactor was now working over to make up the full loss of the digital core that was the primary power source of power for the Jaeger. At that time, they could see Western Belle standing off in the distance. The giant depleted uranium plates that reflected sunlight off of it. The three massive rear headplate's to protect the Jaegers conpod from attack. The huge group of ponies huddling around the Jaeger in celebration of the defender. "So where is the body?" Anderson asked his brother who was now completely silent as he suffered from the pain. Vertigos limp was now getting worse. This time the knee was now barely holding up the metal monster. Loud cracking noises came from the joint and three of the diesel engines powering it were no longer functioning at all. "I don't know" Jay said while he gritted his teeth taking another step. "Just set her down here." Anderson said to Jay knowing the Jaeger wouldn't be able to hold itself up after they shut it down. Just keep it clear from the town." "With pleasure" Jay grunted as he dropped down on his right knee. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The ponies who were gathering around Belle moved away and watched Vertigo drop down on one knee with a loud crashing noise as the metal made contact with the ground kicking up dust all around it. Then it fell forward onto the ground, loud moans came from the insides of the machine as what was left of the inside of the leg was strained. The conpod shook and jumped forward almost breaking the pilots from the braces. The town stood quiet, watching the Jaeger in awe not knowing what to do or how to help it. Suddenly a clanking, metallic noise came from the head. The hatch in the rear of the head twisted and lifted up and to the side on its hinges followed by two bipedal creatures climbing out of it and standing on the rear of the head, ones arm around the others shoulder "Sheesh, what the hell happened here?" Jason asked in a sarcastic tone as his brother held him up off his injured knee. The ponies continued to stare at them not fully comprehending the situation. "Hey! Y-you just saved us!" A random voice came from somewhere in the giant carpet of ponies. "Oh really? I didn't notice!" Jay replied in his usual sarcastic way looking over to his brother. The ponies began to cheer and stomp their hooves on the ground as the tidal wave of them creep closer to the Jaeger that Anderson and Jay were standing on. Kyle chuckled as he looked over at Jason who was smiling as he looked down at Vertigo and her crew from up on Belles right shoulder. Kyle walked back into the conpod and got on the intercom that was connected to the massive loudspeakers on Western Belle. "So lets give it up for Vertigo Delta and her crew, Jay and Anderson!" Kyle leaned over from just next to his set of braces onto the center control panel and turned on the playlist. The ponies looked up at the Jaeger for a moment before returning to the pilots who were now climbing down onto the ground next to Vertigos head. The ponies were now carrying the injure pilot into the city with Anderson following closely behind them keeping is brother very close to him in case they tried anything funny on them. Kyle returned to his position next to his brother on the shoulder of Western Belle. "So how are we going to fix her up?" Jason asked nonchalantly. "Damned if I know. Maybe we can find one of them who knows what we could do." "Yeah, maybe." Jason said as he thought of how they were going to get down from Western Belle. About that time, a pegasus flew up to them. A light blue color with a rainbow pattern for its mane and dark violet eyes. It stared at them for a moment. "Uhh, can we help you." Jason asked the random pegasus. "That. Was. The most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life" It replied to them in a raspy female voice. "Well, thanks. But it's no big deal. We deal with this stuff on a regular basis back home. Just. Without being in a completely different world. Like this one" Jason said nervously, not really knowing what to say. "But. The way you went up to Sombra face-to-face! You just beat the hay out of him like it was your job!" "Well it sort of is ou-" Kyle was cut off by Jason who seemed confused by what the little pony was telling them. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold up a second here. You have a name for that thing? You have dealt with it before then haven't you?" "Yeah! Back at the Crystal Empire, he tried to regain control over it and enslave all the ponies who live there." The pony said as the two pilots tried to comprehend what she was saying. "Soooo, he tried to enslave them? He would need a lot of power to do so wouldn't he?" "Duhh, why do you think he's a king?" The pony said back as she gave them an odd look. "Wait, wait. You mean to tell me we just beat the shit out of a king?" Jason asked as a smile started to appear across his face. "Uh-huh" It was becoming obvious the pony was becoming annoyed by the humans ignorance. "So what was it like? Did you feel a rush of energy when you were fighting him?" The pilots turned to each other toning out the overly excited pegasus. "Excuse me miss, but I didn't get your name" Jason said to the still hovering pegasus. "My name's Rainbow Dash! The greatest flyer in all of Equestria." She said as she spun around doing a few tricks trying to impress the two pilots. "Right, so do you have any clue how we can get down from here?" Kyle asked her, almost completely ignoring her actions. "Uhm, sure thing. Be right back" Just like that, she was gone. A rainbow marked her path as she took off to get assistance. "Jason. This is one strange planet. Animals back on the farm were in no way close to this smart". Kyle said, watching the trail disappear. "Yep" Said Jason, not knowing what to say to that. > Force Build-up > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash reappeared again with two other pegasi. The other two were pulling what looked to be a cart, with a gold color to it. Rainbow was flying slightly ahead of the others and stopped in front of Jason and Kyle who were still standing on the Jaegers shoulder. "So, where do we set this down at?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking the giant machines upper torso over. "Right here." Jason replied, a little confused of why she would ask that question. The blue pegasus motioned for the other two to fly up closer and rest the cart on the Jaeger. Both of whom were staring at it in shock at the massive figure. Knowing that they are the only two who can pilot Western Belle, Jason and Kyle leave the the Jaeger and ride down onto the ground in the cart. Once they got out, they immediately started looking for Jay and Anderson. They asked a couple of ponies if they knew where the other pilots were. They didn't know. One unicorn was standing across a street staring at them with wide eyes. Kyle wave a hand at it and kept walking. A little ways farther, he noticed it was following him and Jason from across the street. Every time he looked towards it, it would stop what it was doing and act like it was just waiting for somepony. Kyle ignored the pony and kept walking down the dirt road through the town. Soon, they came across the same purple pony as earlier. She was talking to an older looking pony who wore glasses and has a light gray mane. They decided to ask if they knew where the other Jaeger pilots were. "Uh, excuse me. But do you know where our two friends are? We can't seem to find them and we have no clue where we are." Kyle said, Which was a partial lie considering they could see their Jaeger looming over the entire town and could use it as a reference in direction. "Yes, I believe they went to the hospital". Twilight motioned her hoof in the direction of the forest. There, they could partially see a multi-floor building that looked to be what they were looking for. The two continues to the hospital. A few ponies stopped to look the humans over, but none of them posed a threat or anything of that matter. Once they reached the entrance, the doors slid apart automatically as they walked on in. Behind the front desk, stood a white unicorn with scrubs on. "Ma'am, we are looking for our two fiends. We were told they should be here". Jason said, leaning against the desk with his helmet help down by his hip. "Yes, they should be in the second to last room on the right, straight down that hallway". She said as she nodded her head in the right direction. "Thanks". Jason replied as him and Kyle started down the hallway. "Second to last". Kyle thought to himself. "Right here". He looked in through the door and seen Jay sitting on a chair next to Anderson. They were both speaking to what Kyle assumed was a doctor. "You do not have any major or minor injuries, but I have never dealt with anypony like you two before". The doctor said as he gave a strange look at the two in the doorway. "Yeah, we get that a lot". Jay chuckled as he stood up to greet his friends at the door. "Good to see you guys again". He said, shaking their hands and giving each one a pat on the shoulder. "What do you mean?" The unicorn asked with a confused look on his face. "Nothing, so you think I'll be fine then?" Jay asked, shrugging off the doctors conusion. "Oh yes, in fact. You didn't really even need to come here". "Alright, so what's this gonna cost us"? Anderson asked, standing up to move to the doorway. "Do what?" The doctor asked. "How much do we pay you for all this?" Jay said in a slightly louder voice without being disrespectful about it. "This? This doesn't cost you anything? You're good to go now". The unicorn said. "Well alright then." Jay said as he thanked the doctor and moved out of the room with his knee still bothering him. ________________________________________________________________________________ "They were too strong. Both of them obviously are experienced in fighting." Sombra said as he went back to his original size that was caused by the spell that took him, Chrysalis and Discord to muster up. "So what do you propose we do next?" Chrysalis said as she walked out from the dark corner of the room. King Sombra sighed. "We send in the next tier of Kaiju that the Precursors lent us. But backed with our own monsters this time". None of them knew what this decision was about to bring to Equestria. ________________________________________________________________________________ As the four pilots reached the base of their Jaegers, They started thinking about how they were going to get Delta back on her feet. They knew how to fix the hydraulics and engines, but not the digital core. "Maybe we could be some help." The four pilots turned around to see the white alicorn that spoke to them earlier that day. "No offense, but I don't think there is much you could do." Jay said as he looked back at the Jaeger as it sat face down on the ground on its stomach. "Well, it looks like we are your only chance on getting it back up. Surely we can do something to assist you." Celestia said. At that time, six more ponies came up from behind her and stood there looking at the four humans. "Well, hello there." Jason said with a chuckle in his voice. Celestia, not knowing the human's names, asked them what their names were and began introducing the six smaller ponies at her sides. "This is Twilight Sparkle, my student who recently became a princess herself". Celestia said as she looked over to Anderson with a slight grin. "Well congratulations." Jason said as he looked down to the pony who stood just above his waist. "Umm, thanks." She said as she blushed a little. "And this is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity." Each pony stood there smiling at the pilots in a welcoming manner. Except for Fluttershy, who was curled up behind the princess. "It's nice to meet you. All of you." Kyle said. "But, how do you propose we fix our Jaeger." "A what now?" Applejack said. "A Jaeger." Kyle repeated himself which would normally irritate him, but didn't in this case. "You know, these things?" He said, motioning towards the Jaegers. "Oooooooo, those are shiny! Can I touch them?" Pinkie Pie said in an abnormally enthusiastic voice. "Well, if they can take punches from a twenty-five hundred ton monster, I don't see what you could do wrong to it." Kyle said. "In a flash, the pink pony was already crawling on the head of the downed Jaeger struggling to lift herself up onto the hatch, which provided the only grapeling point on it at the moment. "You do realize that pony will destroy anything in a heartbeat, right." Rainbow said as she hovered in front of the humans and gazed past them at Pinkie. Right at that moment, a loud banging noise came from the head. The pilots turned to see what was going on and found Pinkie Pie lying on the ground on her back with a hunk of metal held in her hooves. "What does this thingy do? Is it some kind of high powered laser weapon made by aliens?" She said with a gasp. "No, that would be the hatch..." Jay said in a surprised tone. "How the hell did you pull that off? Four full grown men couldn't even do that!" "Told you", Rainbow said nonchalantly. Suddenly a purple glow illuminated the hatch that was ripped off from the hinges. It gracefully floated up and back in its original position. There, the bolts were replaced on the hinges and the hatch resealed on the head. All four men turned around in shock. "And I told you we could be some help", Celestia said, grinning. Jason sighed. "Well that beats anything I've ever saw." "Agreed", Anderson replied. "Okay.... Okay, so how do we know we can trust you. Why should we just grant you full access to a multi-billion dollar machine?" Jay asked. "First of all, we do not posses the technology you have to build these, things. Even if we did, we would have no way of knowing how to create it." Celestia responded. "Mister, I know how you feel about somepony else working on your stuff. But by the looks of it, you ain't got a whole lot of options. Why don't you let us help you." Applejack said. "Well letting someone else work on your machine is different from letting whole different species wor-!" Kyle said back to them but was cut off by a high pitched mumbling-like noise from the yellow pony behind the princess. The ponies stood aside and looked at Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane that hung down in front of her face. The scene made Kyle feel bad. They scared the little pony with the yelling. Kyle sighed. "Okay. Do you have anypony who can work on electrical circuits?" He asked the princess. "We do, we can have the unicorns help with that." Celestia said as she began to smile at the thought of helping an alien race. "Sounds good, we can do most of the mechanical work on our own. But we may need a little help on it." Anderson stepped in to help coordinate. "I do not think we have anypony who can help with the mechanical parts. This is far ahead of our technology. But Twilight might be able to assist you there." "Well it's better than no help. Welcome to the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. then ladies. Glad to have you on board." Jay said, jokingly. ________________________________________________________________________ The week or so was nothing but grease, hydraulic fluid, and sweat. For the pilots at least. They lied their drive suits near Western Belle and worked in the thin layer of clothing the wore underneath them. Which consisted of white T-shirts and the light jeans that were just right for keeping the pilots from overheating. The unicorns slowly worked their way on the digital core, repairing any kinks or shortages within it. The pilots repaired the three engines that were down. As for external damage, the only thing was a hole in the chest. But nothing some pegasi welders couldn't fix after the pilots stood the Jaeger back up. On the first day, they worked on the knee. Their access to it was limited due to the Jaeger being face down on the ground. With the help of the unicorns and a few pegasi they were able to roll Vertigo just enough to give the pilots room to work on it. The four of them were up to what they estimated to be around one in the morning working on it. That night, they slept on the ground next to their machine. When they woke up, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. The bright sun made the Jagers look like black masses, which looked amazing to them from on the ground. The rest of the week went by slowly. Kyle, Jason, Anderson, and Jay had the knee repaired and was ready to test it. "Wow, I've never seen anything like this before. I mean, the largest animals we have around here are dragons." Tilight said to Kyle one day. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have, we sort of built these things in a spur of the moment type of deal" He said back to her while she was using her magic to help repair the electrical system. Over the final night of repairs, the pilots of Vertigo hitched a ride to the top of Vertigo to get back to the conpod. "Good as new, Jay!" Anderson said as he and his brother stood at opposite ends of the conpod making sure everything was in check. Jay turned to the center control that sits between the pilots and hit the horn. A low rumble erupted from Vertigo as the fog horn blasted across Ponyville and the outer edges of the Everfree forest, causing birds to flee and ponies to cover their ears. "Haha, music to my ears," Jay said as he grabbed his drive suit off of the floor in the conpod and continued to put it back on. Jason and Kyle were both sitting in the conpod with the rear hatch open. They were sitting, staring out across the town, the forest, and the mountains out in the distance. "These things are smarter than I thought," Kyle said. "Yeah. They have a pretty good leader though. Leaders back home would want to put aliens in a room and poke them with shit to see how badly we can piss them off. We're lucky these things didn't try to attack us" Jason said. "Wouldn't say we're lucky, we got transported to some random place that we never would have dreamed existed" Kyle aid, standing up to go check on the other crew. "The panara what now?" Pinkie said from behind the pilots. "Nothing, don't worry about it" Jason said. ______________________________________________________________ The Kaidonovsky's released Cherno from the transports off the coast of the Shanghai Shatterdome. They were on a joint interception mission along with Romeo Blue and the Gage twins. Both Jaegers were brutes. Thick, strong armor. Both possessed immense power and could come close to knocking out even a category IV Kaiju. Cherno stayed to Romeo's back and to its right. They continued to advance in the direction of the category III Kaiju. But this Kaiju, however, was even heavier and stronger than Knifehead, which was the biggest category III up to this moment. Once they reached their destination, they stopped and waited for the Kaiju. "Loccent, Cherno watch yourselves out here. This things closing fast" One of Romeo's pilots said over the radio. "Approximately one nautical mile out and closing." The signature disappeared. Romeo turned its head to the left just in time to catch the beast in mid air as it jumped out of the water at the Jaeger. Both pilots were shoved back in the braces and immediately went to grab the beast and threw it back down into the water. The Kaiju, which resembled a dog with incredible forward body strength and had a flat-like tail to propel itself through water, took its long front claw's and pulled itself forward at insane speed for a thing its size. Romeo bent its knees to prevent the Kaiju from pushing them back and breaking them and prepared for the second strike. When it turned back around, Cherno maneuvered onto its right side to prevent chances of it flanking Romeo again. The Kaiju, which was given the call sign "Foxbat", lunged up at Romeo grabbing the back of the conpod and wrapping its hind legs around the torso to keep the Jaeger from gaining leverage. The Gage twins struggled to pry the monster off of them, but finally did so by getting the elbow between the two monsters and shoving it off. As it ripped the enraged animal off, Foxbat tore its claws across the Jaegers sides, pulling apart cables and hydraulics, then fell into the water. Cherno Alpha spread its arms out and rammed its fists into each other with a ear-shattering banging noise. The panels on the Jaegers torso fluctuated independently as the sheer power of the slugger was displayed. The Kaiju roared once again as it took the action as a threat. The Russians took the initiative and drew closer to the dazed Kaiju. Clenching the "Stack of Nickels" in the fists, Cherno inched its way closer to the Kaiju. It eventually walked up to Foxbat with its right fist pulling back and slugged it in the face with a massive punch. The Kaiju rolled around in pain and got back on its feet after twisting and turning its heavy tail. It let out a high pitched roar and swiped out at Cherno with one of its front claw's. The Russians back stepped just in time to miss the attack. Cherno retaliated by charging each fist with the Tesla coils and sandwiching the Kaijus face between both hands after drilling its giant stakes into the ocean floor to prevent the Kaiju from dragging down the Jaeger, which it was more than strong enough of doing so. The Kaiju then fell to the ground as it began to foam at the mouth from the head wound. The pilots of Romeo walked up to make sure the crazed beast didn't get back up. After waiting a few minutes, the pilots of Cherno Alpha called in with the after battle report. "Loccent, Marshal we have successfully intercepted the Kaiju and are returning to the Shatterdome." One of the Russian pilots said. They switched over to communicate with Romeo Blue. "Great job guys." One of the Gage's chimed in soon afterwards. "And to think that's coming from a Russian," the voice said. "Well good job to you too." Both of the Jaegers began to walk their way back to the Shatterdome. But they noticed something odd. The water movement was still irregular. The waves were still lapping up furiously at the Jaegers lower torso's. "Cherno, you seeing this shit?" Romeo's pilot came in again. "This water's still acting strange." The pilots stopped and observed the ocean. Indeed it did still act strange. All Jaeger pilots knew that every Kaiju that came through the breach had a massive water displacement. And the unnatural event's would end shortly after a Kaiju was brought down. Just at that moment, a second undetected Kaiju popped up out of the ocean and grabbed Cherno. With that, Cherno Alpha disappeared in a bright white flash, no warning, no sign of the Jaeger, just gone. The mysterious Kaiju turned to look at Romeo and appeared to smile a disgusting smile that did nothing but enrage the American pilots. But there was something odd about this one. It seemed as though it was laughing at them and was not anywhere close to being the size of a normal Kaiju. With that, it vanished as quickly as Cherno did and another monster came up where it was standing. This one, however, resembled a crocodile. And was much larger than the last. In fact, it stood slightly taller than the American brute. It stood up on two, long hind legs with a long thick tail. The front arms extended out and prepared to attack. "That son of a bitch!" One of Romeo's pilots cried out infuriated at the loss of their fellow Jaeger pilot's. Both of them began moving in place, charging the Jaeger into the giant lizard. They ran the long forward fin into the Kaijus chest, knocking it back down into the water. The pilots began feeling around under the water which was up to the Jaegers hips for something to use as a weapon. They felt a large rock and ripped it up from its position. Romeo walked up to the Kaiju and stood over it. The monster lashed out at the machine trying desperately to inflict damage on it. The massive metal monster lifted its arms over its head and brought the giant boulder down onto the Kaiju's neck. They proceeded to drop the rock and crush its neck with the foot of the Jaeger. It backed up and watched as the Kaiju stood back up and shook the pain away. Romeo Blue then rushed up to the Kaiju, lifted itself up a few meters by stepping on a small underwater plateau, and rammed one of its fists into the side of the crocodiles jaw. The fist popped forwards like Chernos, but not quite as much, which inflicted heavy pain on the opponent. The hard hit was followed directly after a second, then an even heavier third which was followed yet again by the hardest hit yet, a right uppercut that knocked the Kaiju unconscious. > Next in Line > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So then Gipsy had to come in and save all of their asses." Kyle said setting his cup down on the table. The pilots of Western Belle had been introduced to Sugarcube Corner earlier that day. "So good 'ole Gipsy dropped in, beat some shit out of the gorilla, grabbed an oil rig, and went after Otachi". "Wow. I never would have imagined they are that strong". Twilight said in shock. "Well don't stop there! What happened to the other one"? Rainbow Dash said. As a mare of sport, competition, and over all winning, she couldn't stand having this story go unfinished. "Did your friend win?" "Yeah, but took some beating themselves. You see, the second Kaiju actually had wings. During the battle, it got a hold of Gipsy in its massive claws and took off. Took Raleigh and Mako way up almost into space. Their oxygen was running out due to battle damage and couldn't free themselves from". Kyle continued in a zoned out way. "So that means.... They died?" Rainbow's excitement was drained from her. "Ha, Nope." Jason replied with a smile spreading across his face. He had just gotten back from outside and had turned a chair around backwards to lean forward on the back of it. "You see lucky for Raleigh, his girlfriend was head of the old Mark III restoration program. And she had new weapons installed and everything. Chain swords including. They whipped those bad boys out, cut the bitch clean in half, fell back to earth, end of story". They had the full attention of the six ponies crowding around the table. And even Mr. and Mrs. Cake who were listening from across the little bakery. "Would have lost Striker, Cherno, and Crimson all in one night if it weren't for those two. Then it would have been all up to a few Mark I Jaegers. They can still put up a hell of a fight and lay on the hurt though. Hell, I heard one of them held off against a CAT IV Kaiju. But nothing like Leatherback and Otachi". Jason said tapping his fingers on the sides of the warm cup nervously. The cider he ordered was delicious, it didn't taste like plastic like earth cider. He glared down into the swirling, steaming liquid. It was relaxing. Nothing was this peaceful back at the Shatterdome. "A lot more peaceful than the Shatterdome." Kyle repeated as if he was reading Jason's mind. But after drifting with another person for a while, that sort of thing tends to happen. "So, what's this, Shatter-thing you mentioned?" A very curious purple alicorn asked. All the other ponies didn't seem to know what to say. They never encountered anything like this before, let alone actually meeting something with that kind of power. "Well, it's basically just a massive garage that can hold multiple Jaegers, and even serve as a home to the engineers, commanders, pilots and all." Kyle said looking up at Twilight. "You mean, you practically mass produced those things?" Asked an anxious blue pegasus as her eyes grew wide with exitement and surprise. "Well, define mass produced. We built around thirty Jaegers. And thats damn good amount for how long it took to build each one and how much money it costs." "So how y'all coming along in this war ah yours?" Applejack asked, slightly suspicious. Kyle sighed. He knew the truth, he hated to admit it. But there was no point in lying to them since they weren't even on Earth anymore. "Not too well ma'am," He said looking down and past the orange pony. "We were winning for a while. When they didn't expect us to fight back. But then eventually our Jaegers were dropping, one after the other. Lost quite a few friends. But thanks to them, the Precursors still think they're fighting older Jaegers. Which give our Mark three, four, and fives a fighting chance." "So what are your Jaegers out there?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stared out the window at the enormous machine that was standing over Ponyville. "Well, ours is a Mark three, built off of Gipsy Danger's blueprint. Then Anderson and Jay's Jaeger is a Mark five, also built off of another Jaeger called Striker Eureka." Jason said, after taking a sip of his cider. "So how do you just walk into it and start controlling it?" Rainbow asked, she seemed to be taking far more interest in the whole ordeal than any of the others. "Well, it's complicated. It would take a while to explain it and for you to understand it." Kyle said, still sitting in his chair. "No offense or anything, but it's just easier to leave it how it is." At this moment, the guards had specially equipped ponies cleaning up the Kaiju leftovers. All that was left by now was just the bones, which sat right outside of the town. Vertigo and her crew were out testing the repaired knee and making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. They maneuvered around in basic boxing stances and styles. The massive monster was drawing much attention from the town's populace. Most were standing on a hill watching it move with its own natural flow. The vents on the back of Vertigo opened every time it made fast movements in order to keep the inside at a low temperature. Blue and red lights glowed on the chest of the Jaeger and caught the attention of many of the ponies. "Alright, lets try the bay doors." Anderson said. The two pilots widened their stance and pulled their hands down next to their mid torso. Immediately afterwards, the doors on the Jaegers chest moved out and down exposing large metal gears that rolled out six launch barrels. "Look fine to me." He said as he looked over at the ponies standing on the small hill. _____________________________________________________________________ "Is it ready to go?" Chrysalis asked Sombra as he stared up at the hellhound that was bashing itself against the cave walls trying desperately to break free. The layer was built into the side of one of Equestrias largest mountains. It was positioned about five-hundred kilometers away from Canterlot which was the priority one target. The inside was lit by massive fires conjured by magic from the servants who served the leaders. Sombra had a bandage wrapped around his horn as it slowly healed from the clash with the Jaeger. The two looked satisfied at the demon that was clawing furiously at the walls of the containment area. "You know we will take our revenge. We will destroy everything in our way. Only then, will we reclaim what was ours." Chrysalis continued. They turned around and walked out to the small platform the rested just below the mountains top. They gazed out across the land at the small mountain just barely visible on the horizon. "They should be here any minute. When they arrive, we let him go." Sombra said as he moved his wounded shoulder to a more comfortable position. ____________________________________________________________________ The next morning, the four pilots were asleep in their conpods. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the morning birds were already singing their songs. The early warning system Vertigo possessed rang the alarm inside of the Jaegers head. Lights flashed through the conpod as the Rangers hopped to their feet and almost instantly began throwing their pilots suits on. What was usually a multi person job, had to be done by only two. One helped the other. Once they both got there black suits on they stepped into the braces and locked themselves in. They looked over at the accompanying Jaeger to see it calabrating itslef with the pilots. Vertigo quickly followed. "Loccent, what category is this one guys?" Jason asked over the com link between them and Vertigo. "It's not saying!" Jay quickly replied as the behemoth duo turned out away from the town. "But he's a big bastard." Out in the distance they could see not one, but two moving figures. They moved in rapidly destroying everything in their path. The Jaegers advanced out farther to increase the distance between the fight and the town. The two Kaiju were close enough for the pilots to tell they were bipedal. They had sharp edges of hard skin on an arrow-like head. They had long, thin arms each ended with large thick claws. Their tails spanned out with a "T" shape at the end with sharp ends. The stood tall and slowly advanced toward the town. "You guys take the one on the left, we got the other one!" Anderson ordered as Vertigo dug itself into a defensive fighting stance, bringing its fists up to its upper torso area. The first Kaiju closed in on Belle and immediately began lashing out at the Jaeger. The Rangers shrugged off the hits as the backs of the arms were thick enough to deflect any major damage. They hit one of the Kaijus arms away as they connected a hard uppercut at the bottom of its jaw. It retaliated by swinging its sharp tail around, penetrating the side of the Jaeger. The iron monster stumbled sideways and through a right punch at the Kaiju. The blow caught it off guard as it was hit by another hard hit from the Jaegers other arm. Belle proceeded to grab the Kaijus neck, squeezing it as hard as it could. The giant amphibian dug its rear claws into the front of Belle. It tore downwards, ripping off chunks of the armor. The monster threw the Kaiju into the ground. "Elbow rocket, engage!" Kyle shouted out as the rocket in the monsters arm rammed the fist into the Kaijus face with twice the original power. The Kaiju fell backwards onto its back unconscious. Delta lunged at the second Kaiju and tackled it like a football player. It picked the Kaiju up over its head. The pilots then tossed it into the side of a nearby mountain and stomped the side of its head in. At that same moment, the first Kaiju jumped back up at Belle, grabbing onto its right shoulder. It used its legs to push at the Jaeger, cutting into its armor and with its arms, ripped off Belles arm just above the elbow. The dismembered arm fell to the ground and crushed anything underneath it. The Kaiju continued to dig its legs intot he side of the Jaeger as Kyle screamed in pain every time it ripped parts off of Belle's side. Jason swung the right arm onto the back of the Kaiju's neck and attempted to pull it off. Vertigo turned to face the incident but was met with a giant multi-headed beast. Cerberus. It growled and snarled with saliva dripping from each of its three mouths. The heads glared directly into the Jaegers conpod with a hatred that only the devil himself could posses. The crazed monster snarled at the Jaeger. "Air missiles, now!" Jay yelled as the pilots widened their stance while the chest plates moved out and folded downwards exposing the six barrels. Before Cerberus could react, massive school bus sized shells slammed into its center head and upper chest. It roared as the fur on its middle head burned off exposing the burning flesh. It then charged towards Delta and bit down on both of its sides with the two outer heads. Each one took turns biting into the Jaegers thick armor. "Belle! We could really use your help over here!" Jay shouted over the radio as each of the three heads bit into the machine. "Hold on Delta! Be there in a minute!" Jason responded as he moved his hand outwards deploying the plasma cannon. Jason moved hi arm over to the back of the Kaijus head while the energy caster grew brighter by each passing second. "Jason! Kill it, now!" Kyle shouted to his brother. Belle released the charging energy blowing the back of the monsters skull out exposing the insides. The pilots released another shot. And another. And on the fourth shot, the Kaijus head was nearly missing. The only chunk left of it twitching and gurgling while it sprayed blood onto the ground. Jason shoved the monster off of the side and watched as the cannon twisted and retracted back into the hand that formed the weapon. "Hold up! We're coming!" Jason said. Belle turned around to see the hound ripping out one of the chest plates off of Delta. The left head ripped off one of the thigh plates chewing it in half before it was cut from the leg. The head on the far right whipped almost completely around, revealing its long, dirty snout. It backed up off of Delta, shoving the brawler backwards. "Alright Kyle, better us than them, right?" Jason said as he watched his brother nod in agreement. The one armed fighter moved its left arm horizontally out in front of its lower chest. The hell hound rushed the threatening Jaeger with its heads roaring an snarling. The pilots held their ground and pulled the arm back right as the hound got within striking range. The slugger's fist came crashing down on the dogs center head, knocking it out cold. The other head grabbed the fist in its mouth and shook violently trying to shred the other arm off. "Adjusting the torque!" Jason said as he punched the buttons on the control panel. The machine twisted its entire upper torso, using the extra force Jason pulled the dog back as it was flung through the air watching it crash to the ground just below where Canterlot is propped up on the mountain. The machine was not in any way authorized to fight at this point. The legs were giving out and Kyle was beginning to black out, but that made little difference to them. "Stick with me Kyle! We have to finish this!" Jason urged his brother. The beast slowly crawled back onto its giant paws and shook off the dirt from its black fur. It slammed its front claws into the ground as it showed its rage. Jason could feel the turbine grinding and clunking around indicating something was obviously wrong. Just then, Kyle blacked out. The right side of Belle went limp and Jason struggled to keep his side up. The monster bore down on the helpless pilots. With the Jaeger down on one knee, the hound stood just barely under eye level with the forward visor. Jason watched as it began grabbing the iron monsters chest and tore a large armor plate off of the left side. The opposite head grabbed one of the rear head plates and yanked it down over the conpod. With his last bit of strength, Jason took his arm and grabbed the dogs neck and watched as it began to choke. They other head, however, was still clamped down on the right side directly under where the arm would be. Jason used the leverage to lift the right side of the dog up using the other heads bight as the fulcrum to flip the dog onto its back. As he let go the Jaeger collapsed and rolled over the hound only to rest beside it. "Come on Belle, don't give up now, we have to kill this ugly bastard!" Jason thought to himself. He lied there pressing every button he knew could start some kind of weapon or even the reactor. The beast rose over the top of the conpod blocking out all the sunlight. With a large front swipe, it dislodged the dangling conpod sending it rolling away across the fields. > Punishment > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia looked down across the land watching the now two headed Cerberus stand over the limp body of the Jaeger. It sniffed at the body making sure it was down for the count, then looked towards the castle. Celestia knew what was to come. "Sister. Get everypony far away from Cantrlot. Now." "But." Luna was cut off by her older sibling. "Not now, Luna. We have to get them all to safety before it gets here." Luna obeyed her sister. She was right, with their new comrades gone they had no way to stop the monster. _______________________________________________________________________________ "Everpony move west! It's the quickest way!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she and the other weather ponies helped evacuate the town. Twilight and the other four where at Fluttershy's cottage watching the threat move to the outside of Ponyville. Cerberus pushed into the outskirts of Ponyville, crushing a couple houses. Fire erupted from each one showing no signs of survivor's. The giant claw's dug deep into the ground, crushing and shredding anything in their path. The five ponies huddled inside the cottage hoping that the monster wouldn't roam over to that area. Off in the distance they could hear ponies screaming in pain and fear. Fluttershy began crying harder than ever before while Applejack and Rarity tried soothing her as much as possible. The air was filled with dust and smoke as the beast pushed onward toward the main part of the town. "Twilight, do you have any idea what that thing wants?" Applejack asked from across the top floor while Twilight watched the incident from the balcony. "Twilight, what do we do?" A panicking Rarity asked. Twilight just stared out at the chaotic mess. A building went up in flames sending off a bright light that lit up the surrounding area. It turned and crushed through another block of buildings resulting in a similar fate. "Twilight!?" Rarity was anxious at this point. "Twilight! Do something!" "There isn't anything we can do." Twilight replied. Starswirl the bearded warned us of this. This was meant to be." Rarity sat there staring with her jaw hanging open in disbelief of what she just heard. "Darling, what has gotten into you? We have to leave or we are done for?" Twilight just stared endlessly at the town. A look in her eyes. One that Rarity never seen in Twilight's eyes before. ____________________________________________________________________________ Out of nowhere a low rumble broke through the air, followed by a series of loud thud noises. Rarity looked over to where it was coming from and seen another monster. This one, however, appeared to be very ugly, looking like a brute instead of a fashion model. It sounded the thick noise a second time, this time catching the dogs full attention as it slowly turned around to meet its new chew toy. It let out an equally loud roar and rushed the Jaeger. Trashed buildings were shattered by its steps while it barreled in on the Russians. The outside heads clamped down on the fists, barely putting dents in them. This action was exactly what the pilots wanted it to do. "Tesla coils, engage!" Sasha shouted in Russian. The began pulsing with green electrical currents as the voltage began frying the insides of the dogs mouth. The mighty Cherno Alpha lifted both of its fists over the reactor that sat atop the Jaeger. The hound shook wildly in mid air as it was unable to grip anything nor effectively bite a vital part of the Russian giant. Sasha and Aleksis took a step forward, bringing the opponent down onto the ground with a force so great it shook the surrounding land causing already weakened buildings to collapse. Cherno walked up to the battered foe, placed a foot on its last surviving head, and pressed most of their weight on feeling the crunching from the shattering skull. _______________________________________________________________________________ Rarity looked in awe as blood and brains spilled out onto the ground. She felt sick, like she was going to vomit. She turned around to where Twilight was standing. As she looked, she realized that the place her friend was standing, was empty. Twilight was gone.