"Mako, find a way to release at least one of the drones from the Kurtulo and place it on Slattern or inside its body. Then, get away with Gypsy Danger," Luke Field said, his fingers flying across the keyboard so fast that it seemed like he was leaving afterimages, while communicating with Senmazu and the Dangerous Wanderer via the PPDC's tactical communication platform.
"Understood."
Although Mako Mori had no idea what Luke Field was planning, her training had taught her to follow orders. So, without hesitation, she set out to execute the task without asking why.
"How do we get close?"
Raleigh Becket's scalp tingled. Despite the upgrades to the Gypsy Danger from Mako, Tendo Choi, Luke, and others, their options were limited when facing the formidable Slattern. In fact, if it weren't for Mako repeatedly holding Slattern back during critical moments, Raleigh's Gypsy Danger would have been torn apart by the three spear-like tails trailing behind it, leaving the battlefield long ago.
Facing the threat of those three quick, elusive, and deadly tails, Raleigh Becket couldn't help but want to stay as far away from Slattern as possible. Even without the tails, its enormous body and seemingly invulnerable skin made the situation feel hopeless.
Gypsy Dangerous had tried various attack methods but still hadn't found Slattern's weakness. Whether it was physical attacks or the specially designed projectiles meant to pierce Kaiju skin and explode within their bodies, none of them had any effect on Slattern. Especially the specialized warheads, designed to penetrate the skin of a Kaiju and explode inside, causing maximum damage, they couldn't even get through its skin.
Slattern's hide was thick and highly elastic, and normal physical attacks against it felt like hitting cotton—extremely tough and resilient. Even the special weapons that were supposed to penetrate Kaiju skin only dented it but couldn't break through.
So far, his only weapon capable of hurting the Slattern—making it wary—was the upgraded energy chainsword that Mako Mori had assembled and Luke Field had enhanced. However, the damage caused by the energy chainsword was still far from a fatal blow when dealing with a massive opponent like Slattern, who stood nearly two hundred meters tall and had formidable defenses.
Most of the wounds on its body, except for a small part of which was caused by him, the rest were all caused by Kurtulo driven by Mako Mori.
Raleigh Becket thought of the intricate energy attack methods of the Kurtulo and finally understood what Mako had meant when she said, "Kurtulo has six energy cores."
"Just leave it to me," Mako Mori gritted her teeth.
…
At the PPDC main base, the conversation echoed through the communication channel to everyone's ears. Stacker Pentecost turned to Luke Field, who was waiting beside him.
"Dr. Field, does the Kurtulu have any other secret weapons?" Stacker Pentecost couldn't help but ask. After seeing the battle, he realized that the Category 5 Slattern, the most powerful Kaiju humanity had ever faced, had almost no weaknesses. Even its massive size allowed it to be incredibly nimble in battle.
During the previous twenty-minute battle, Slattern had shown remarkable speed and reaction. While Kurtulo, the only sixth-generation Jaeger, had demonstrated its strength, its speed was no match for Slatterns three tails, and trying to fight it in close combat was akin to dancing on the edge of death. Any mistake or failure to react could result in catastrophic damage, and Kurtulo might have been forced out of the battle.
If Kurtulo, the main force against Slattern, was forced out of the battlefield, Stacker Pentecost dreaded imagining what the battle would look like in front of the freed Slattern! And if the five main Jaegers outside the base were damaged or retired, the best-case scenario for his ultimate plan would undoubtedly be delayed indefinitely.
But would the Precursor civilization give them more time to prepare?
Stacker Pentecost couldn't bring himself to think about it.
"Do you know its full name?" Luke Field didn't answer Stacker Pentecost's question. Instead, he pointed at Kurtulo in the virtual projection and asked him back.
Stacker Pentecost was momentarily stunned.
Isn't it called Kurtulo?
Stacker Pentecost and others, including Tendo Choi we, who were listening, subconsciously thought.
"Its full name is Kurtulo Manus," Luke Field explained.
"So what?" Stacker Pentecost frowned, puzzled by Luke's cryptic behavior.
"So, it has two forms: the heavy armored artillery form Kurtulo, and the agile assassin form Manus."
As Luke spoke, Kurtulo in the virtual projection suddenly exploded out of its armor, revealing a much thinner and sleeker form. Two high-energy ion blades appeared in its hands as it swung its mechanical arms. The mechanical pieces that fell off Kurtulo combined in midair to form two cross-shaped structures, with four tails spewing flames, hovering in the air.
"It can transform?" Raleigh Becket was shocked. He had seen many Jaegers, but he had never seen one that could change shape like Kurtulo.
"Don't be surprised. It's just modular assembly," Luke Field shrugged, nonchalantly.
Although Luke Field made it sound simple, both Stacker Pentecost, who didn't understand it and Tendo Choi, who could understand the technology, knew that achieving such modular transformation was not easy. It was like Luke Field had single-handedly opened a new path for Jaeger manufacturing.
Kurtulo's Manus form brought an astonishingly high speed that even Mako Mori found surprising. Connected closely with the Jaeger, she could clearly feel that the entire Jaeger seemed to have shed the burden it had long carried, becoming light, agile, and fast! It was as if it had been liberated, like the wind set free. The speed that erupted when the Manus form was activated in an instant even shocked its pilot.
Mako was almost hesitant to fully pilot the Manus in this form because she felt that at full speed, it might exceed her mental control. The general consensus was that her eyes could barely keep up, but her body couldn't follow.
But that was enough.
Mako Mori's sudden burst caught even Slattern off guard, and the price of that surprise was the loss of two of its tail blades, which were sliced off by Manus as it rapidly closed in and swung two plasma swords around.
Defense broken!
Injured!
This was the greatest injury Slattern had sustained since the battle began.
It let out a furious roar, and it's only remaining tail struck at Manus like a poisonous snake. However, Manus' retreat was faster than the tail's strike.
Slattern missed its strike and turned its body, the massive, glowing blue mouth unleashing a fierce azure beam of light. The beam directly hit Manus, which had already retreated.
Seeing this, Raleigh Becket furiously piloted Gypsy Danger, trying to rescue Manus—or rather, to save Mako Mori, who was piloting it—from Slattern's attack. However, Luke Field's cold voice came over the communication line: "Fall back, soldier!"
"Mako Mori is fine; her life signs are still stable," Luke Field added.
The Gypsy Danger halted its charge and steadied itself by planting its chain sword into the seabed.
At that moment, the sky, shrouded in dark rain, suddenly brightened. A massive light beam descended from the heavens, slamming into the furious Slattern. Its enormous body was instantly knocked down, and as its head was thrown back from the impact, the light beam shot upwards, leaving a straight line in the sky before disappearing.
Slattern's unprecedented scream reverberated across the battlefield. Its strong limbs struggled to support its massive body, but the giant light beam that had descended from the sky was pressing down on it.
In the next second, the immense light beam split into five, closely arranged together, spinning and engulfing Slattern in its glow.
The blindingly bright, towering light beam stunned everyone watching the battlefield. Some people on the island who had arrived too late to reach nearby shelters, or those kneeling outside temples built with Kaiju skulls, witnessing this divine-like phenomenon, immediately clasped their hands together and knelt.
The five rotating light beams swallowed Slattern's form, making it scream. On the other side of the battlefield, Raiju and Scunner, seeing their leader's plight and cries for help, immediately abandoned their opponents and rushed toward the scene.
Especially Raiju, which ran while opening the shell on its head, revealing the glowing organ beneath. Layers of blue energy surged through its veins, gathering in the head, preparing for an enormous explosion. But just before it could release, a flying thermal battle axe precisely struck the Kaiju's glowing organ.
The tremendous energy that had been brewing inside Raiju's glowing organ detonated before it could fully release, and from afar, the beast, resembling an enraged gorilla, suddenly exploded with blue light from its head. Its massive body, unable to halt its charge, tumbled into the sea, sending waves crashing around.
After throwing the fatal axe, Cherno Alpha moved through the sea, reaching the convulsing, dying Raiju. It knelt down, pulled the thermal battle axe out of its head, and then delivered a final blow. Raiju breathed its last.
The intense weakening of its leader's life signs, combined with the death of its shield-like companion, made Scunner, who was also quite intelligent, feel a tremendous sense of danger. It quickly realized it was blocked by two Jaegers, and there was another one—Cherno Alpha, that had just killed its partner. The Kaiju froze in place.
The brilliant light beam lasted about ten seconds before vanishing into the sky.
The battlefield darkened once again, with only the lights of the Jaegers and the light emitted by Kurtulo's lighting system illuminating the area.
However, the towering light beam that had existed for only ten seconds had left a deep imprint in the minds of all who witnessed it. Even the officials, who had been monitoring the battlefield and satellite movements since its authorization, fell into a deep silence. On the other hand, the soldiers observing nearby had eyes that gleamed with excitement.
Slattern, who had endured the satellite beam's brutal assault for ten seconds, was no longer the domineering force it had once been. Although it hadn't died, its body was battered as if crushed by a giant stone, and it could no longer stand. Slattern's massive form was faintly tinged with red, giving off the scent of cooked meat.
Surviving the satellite beam, a weapon that could rival humanity's ultimate weapons, without dying was a testament to its full armor and incredible vitality.
"Too bad it wasn't an ion cannon," Luke Field remarked, gazing at his masterpiece with some regret.
"Was that a laser weapon?" Stacker Pentecost asked, still stunned by the dominant and beautiful display of power.
"That was the orbital particle cannon. A laser doesn't have that level of destructive power, not to mention that many factors affect its power," Tendo Choi murmured in response.
"What about an ion cannon?" Stacker Pentecost clenched his fist, feeling an impulse to use such a weapon on the Precursor world.
"Ion cannons are a type of particle cannon, but they have much greater destructive power than others. If that had been an ion cannon, I don't know if this planet would have survived, but we'd certainly be gone along with those Kaiju," Tendo Choi replied, clearly shaken.
On the battlefield, the two cross-shaped towers created by Kurtulo locked the dying Slattern to the seabed. Mako Mori piloted Manus to its side and used the plasma swords to deliver final blow to end its life.
On the other side, Scunner, surrounded by three Jaegers, couldn't escape its fate and, alongside its partner Raiju, died beneath the axe of Cherno Alpha.
Double kill!
The crisis was completely resolved.
"I thought you were dead," Raleigh Becket said, looking at Manus over the communication channel.
"Kurtulo's Manus form has an energy shield module," Mako Mori simply explained over the channel. Although this form appeared fragile, its defense was still very high. It just consumed a lot of energy, making it unsuitable for prolonged battles.
At the PPDC base.
Stacker Pentecost sighed in relief. "Get them back, and carry out repairs and maintenance as quickly as possible! Dr. Luke, how long will your work take?" Stacker looked at Luke Field, who was sitting nearby.
"One day will be enough. I've already created the coating, and the spraying work can be completed quickly. If you're still not reassured, you can also make use of the bodies of these three Kaiju." Luke Field responded. The dimensional energy that allowed him to stay here was also nearing its limit, and unless something unexpected happened, he would soon need to return.
"Two days, two at the latest! We're executing the final plan." Stacker Pentecost gave the order upon hearing this.