In the very darkest deep of the ocean, there was a small pinprick of light. A small pod of plankton swam up to it, curious. The light twitched, and the plankton followed. It bobbed and the plankton bobbed with it. It pulled back, and back, and the plankton-

-were swallowed up by the net-like mouth of a gulper eel.

The gulper eel was a typical deep-sea predator, three feet long, with a bio luminescent tip at the end of its tail. The eel was not an especially skilled swimmer and relied on that light to attract its latest meal. It was a competent predator, but at the end of the day it was a small light for a small fish, and it functioned best alone in the darkness.

So the eel became a bit alarmed when the sea began to brighten up considerably.

It was an indistinct blue haze, a long trail like a glowing snake. As it approached, the glow became more distinct, separating itself into regular shapes. But this wasn't a pod or a swarm—it was the running lights of a singular creature. The shapes grew into spiky formations, a moving, glowing mountain range. The eel scuttled away, its candlelight of a tail irrelevant against this sun. Not that the creature would have paid it much thought. The eel was a typical non-entity for this three hundred foot long predator. The glowing plates sliced past hammerhead sharks, giant squid, and humpback whales as it made for the surface.

It was hungry for bigger prey.

With a thunderous crash the once calm and serene surface of the ocean shattered. Drops of salt water glistened in the silver light of the full moon as gravity quickly pulled them back down.

Gigantic steel arms swayed in time with titanic legs, as the massive crimson and gold torso purposefully carved it's way through the sea. On the left shoulder blade of the metallic giant, painted in a bright gold, were the words Wyrm Ravager. That was the machine's name, a Mark II Jaeger built to defend the Earth from an invasion of otherworldly monstrosities.

There was a portal across time and space, known as the Breach, deep down in the Pacific Ocean that allowed monsters commonly known as Kaiju to invade Planet Earth. All forms of attack on the portal itself had proven ineffectual, so humanity had opted instead to destroy the invaders before they had the chance to make landfall.

That was where the Pan Pacific Defence Corps came in. An organisation forged in the fires of war, with every nation of the world contributing in some way shape or form. It was almost inspiring how in the face of certain doom, humanity could throw aside it's petty squabbles and stand together against an anything but common foe.

The biggest weapon, both literally and metaphorically speaking, in the PPDC's arsenal was the Jaeger. A gigantic machine piloted by two humans linked together via a neural bridge. It required perfect synchronisation and cooperation, even the tiniest hiccup could have disastrous consequences.

The colossal metal hunter surveyed the still ocean around it, searching for any sign of it's prey. At three AM local time, a Category II Kaiju had been spotted exiting the Breach and making it's way towards the island nation of Japan.

Within minutes, the Shatterdome in Tokyo had mobilised and within the hour, the Wyrm Ravager had been launched. The crew and the pilots had done this same procedure at least a dozen times before, it had become routine.

There was one thing slightly unique about this mission though, instead of making a beeline straight for a coastal city, this Kaiju had instead elected, for whatever reason, to swim towards a small island just off the Japanese coast.

But this little fact didn't really concern the pilots of the Wyrm, it just made it easier to keep the Kaiju outside of the Miracle Mile, so called because if a Kaiju entered it, it was a miracle for the Jaeger to intercept it before it made landfall.

The massive lights on the Wyrm pierced through the darkness as the gigantic frame turned in every direction. The island was in view, and less than a mile away from it's current position and there'd still be no sign of the Kaiju. A fact which was somewhat troubling as the beasts were not well known for their subtle tactics.

Finally the machine came to a halt as it's pilots stared intently at their instruments. So focused on the screens dotted around the Conn-Pod, they almost failed to notice the bright flash of blue in the water behind them.

The Jaeger turned around just in time to see the water erupt violently as a mass of, shining azure flesh smashed into the machine. The Wyrm staggered backwards as it tried to hold back the wildly thrashing creature.

Gigantic Jaws snapped viciously at the Jaeger's head, but try as it might, the beast could not overpower the Wyrm. The boosters on the back of the Jaeger ignited and with an almighty shove, it threw it's attacker off.

The Kaiju hit the water, sending waves rippling outwards all around it, as the creature rolled onto it's small, insect like legs. Wyrm Raveger stared down it's foe, a large rotund creature with three pairs of burning white eyes and a bright blue, luminescent body, with a pair of large black fins flapping angrily behind it, all the while a scorpion-like tail swayed too and fro, in a menacing, serpentine dance.

The Kaiju codenamed Shinomura hissed at it's mechanical foe and reared up on it's hind legs, before suddenly charging forth, screeching like a banshee. This time however, the mech was ready for Shinomura's attack and began to move accordingly.

With a satisfyingly loud sound, Wyrm Ravagers right fist smashed into the Kaiju's face. Shinomura let out a shriek filled with surprise and pain as it struggled to stay on it's misshapen legs. However the Jaeger took no pity as another fist slammed into the Kaiju, knocking it over again.

The machine loomed overhead, preparing to deliver another blow, but the beast was too fast. Rolling back onto it's legs at an almost impossible speed for its size, Shinomura leapt at Wyrm Ravager again, wrapping it's legs around the Jaeger's torso and biting into the machine's neck.

Had it been a living creature, the Kaiju would have ripped into Wyrm's jugular, thankfully however, it had missed a lot of the vital circuits and joints in the initial bite.

The Jaeger and Kaiju violently grappled, Wyrm Ravager let lose punch after punch into Shinomura's abdomen, and the creature responded by lashing out violently with it's prehensile tail. Pitch black wings beat against the night sky as the titans wrestled amidst the restless ocean. One of the the strikes from Shinomura's tail came dangerously close to piercing the Conn-Pod and revealing the pilots trapped within.

The Kaiju let go of the mechanical neck and reared back, preparing to strike again. Taking the opening, Wyrm Ravager thrust it's left hand up towards Shinomura's face. A panel within the machine's palm slid open, as a long, thin tube quickly slid into place just in front of one set eyes.

With a brilliant flash, a bright blue flame ignited and carved it's way through one of Shinomura's piercing white eyes. The Kaiju let out an unearthly scream as it let go of Wyrm Ravager's torso and fell back into the water.

It howled and gurgled as it's luminescent flesh burned and sizzled, as it's eerily blue blood leaked into the sea water.

The Wyrm recovered and steadied itself, it's flare cutter still burning brightly against the night sky. It was damaged, but still functional enough to kill the Kaiju and return back to the Shatterdome before sunrise, and so it prepared for the next round.

Five white eyes glared hatefully at the machine, as equal parts laboured breathing and enraged snarls, drowned out the sounds of the waves crashing. Shinomura pawed at the sea floor and lowered it's head, ready for it's final charge, it's fins flapping threateningly.

But the charge never came.

The water beside the Kaiju suddenly burst up, covering the creature in a cloud of sea spray, blocking it from Wyrm Ravager's view.

However while the pilots could no longer see the Kaiju, they could hear it, more specifically they could hear it's pain and panic filled shrieks and cries. A low, guttural growl overruled the Kaiju's dying screams, as a spray of luminescent blood burst from the cloud of water, landing on Wyrm Ravager's chest.

The machine took a combat ready pose, staring down the rapidly dwindling veil of spray as the Shinomura's cries grew weaker and weaker. With another primal growl, something long and thin burst out from the cloud and smashed into the unsuspecting Jaeger.

With a heavy thud the machine fell back into the water, the armour plating ground and bent as the internal machines sparked violently.

The Jaeger tried to climb back up to it's feet, but something heavy knocked it back down, something far, far heavier then the Jaeger itself.

Inside the Conn-Pod was a mess, the view screen was totally black, warning alarms blared loudly as the computer failed to keep up with the ever increasing list of faults and malfunctions to the Jaeger's systems.

Stricken with panic, the machine lashed out at it's attacker, however the punches seemed ineffectual. With a last burst of effort, the Wyrm reactivated it's cutter in the left arm and forced the flame into the attacker as hard as it's dwindling power systems would allow.

A deep, booming roar echoed throughout the Conn-Pod and the night sky, as finally something began to show up on the main monitor.

A tiny ember of blue light appeared in the darkness of the view screen. At first it seemed soft, almost gentle, but quickly the light began to grow larger and larger, till it became an azure inferno that blinded the pilots inside.

And then, just as the light became too bright to look at any more, there came another growl, and finally there was a microsecond of searing pain, and then nothing.