//-------------------------------------------------------// A Conversion's Mistake. -by JawsOnYou67- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// The Actual Prologue: Riley's Side, and the Beginning of the End //-------------------------------------------------------// The Actual Prologue: Riley's Side, and the Beginning of the End "Agony" "Pain" Off the Coast of Anchorage Alaska The Jaeger heaved with every forced lurch.  Riley trying to keep the neural overload at bay as the Comm Pod shook and groaned. Several dozen feet of water was displaced with each step the damaged Goliath of steel and cables made. Blood dripped from his mouth as he forced Gipsy to continue to limp towards the beach. The pain was becoming unbearable, even as his right foot caught upon the sand and he began to fall. Gipsy's remaining arm reached out, trying to stop her own fall. Riley's arm jerked out, to the best of his ability he managed to slow the titans descent to earth. As it crashed he began to loose consciousness, a pain erupted in his side as well, looking down to see some of the control panel had pierced through his suit and in between his ribs. As the world began to grow black he stumbled out of the Comm Pod, groaning. An elderly man and a young boy stood before him, but no sound came. Slowly his mind receded into itself, or what remained of it. As he lay on the beach his mind rung with the sounds of Gipsy's clash with the Kaiju, the wail of its talons tearing into her hull, finally the pained cry of his brother as the Comm Pod as he was torn free of it, severing the Neural Hand Shake and their bond. He felt like dying, the pain began to grow with each second as he drifted through the endless void of the shattered pieces of his thoughts. As he drifted towards what he through to be oblivion, a pair of voices echos through his mind at once. "You must not give up!" the female voices echoed out at once, causing him to stop in his tracks, and for the shadows to cease their movement towards him. If anything they seemed to recede back and away from the fragments of his and his brothers lives that drifted through his mind. As Riley looked about for the source of the voices, he finally found them, a pair of small glowing lights that seemed to shine and illuminate the darkest sections of his mind. A calming breeze flowed through him as he gazed upon both, steadily shifting himself. He stood before them, the twin lights that had kept him from allowing his suffering to end. "Who are you?" Riley asked with some concern but curiosity had found a way to creep into his voice as he gazes upon them both, the twin lights seemed to glow with an intensity that put him at ease, yet he couldn't help but feel cautious around them. They had been able to keep his mind from shattering with ease, someone or something must have intervened on his behalf. The question that decided to make itself know as he asked them both. "We are the Shobijin, guardians of Infant Island." they state, their words causing the lights to radiate once more with each word before they slowly dull. They speak at once, causing some confusion to Riley who was already confused enough from just the appearance and their nature, but now that he had been able to put a name to them, they seemed to confuse him even more. Steadily they rouse up to look into Riley's face, though he himself could not look directly towards them, the lights to intense from the tiny spheres that he had to shield his face from them before he spoke once again. "Alright I'll bite, what are you doing in my mind? Why did you stop me from allowing this to end? I don't want to continue, with my brother gone I have nothing left in this world." he states, his voice beginning to rise with anger towards these so called Shobijin. Who ever they were they had robbed him of his ability to even see his brother once more. All he had left were what remained of his shattered thoughts, the memories that were left over from the Neural Hand Shake, and his final thoughts regarding his brother before he retreated into his own mind. "We could not let you perish from this world. You will be called upon once more. "When the Wall falls, and the Dome draws near. His eyes will alight once more, and all shall tremble." they stated at the same time. That synchronized speaking.that they seemed to be able to do was beginning to get on his nerves, though their choice of words gave him pause, as he cracked open an eye, he is assaulted by another blast of light, almost as if the two did not want to be viewed by him just yet. Steadily he works up the nerve to ask another question. "Dome? As in the Dome that surrounds the Ponies? What do you mean it will draw near? And Wall, what wall? The wall between the worlds? Are you saying that the Portal is just the beginning? That it will begin to expand?" he was receiving more questions then answers at this point in time from there two, yet they seemed to not want to reveal the truth to him just yet. Almost as if they themselves had something to hide. Then there was the final part of their words, that sent a shiver up his incorporeal spine, something about what they said filled him to the brim with dread. He institutionally looked behind him, like one would to make sure they were not being followed. "You will know when the time comes Human. For now it is time for us to depart. May the moth watch over you child. Stay safe." with that the twin lights extinguished themselves from existence, and Riley was allowed to drift through his mind once more, alone with just his thoughts. Yet another set of questions left unanswered, what did they mean by moth. Did they mean the little insects that flew into bug zappers? No that couldn't be, why would he need to be looked after by something that was stupid enough to congregate around light. Maybe it was symbolic, like a god or goddess or something. He groaned within his mind, holding his head as a new sensation blasted through him. Pain, much like when he had felt before he slipped inside his mind. Could he be waking up now? Could his body finally be giving in? Suddenly the sensations stopped as he began to be released form the hold of his mind, a sign he was either dying or he was waking up. 10:00 A.M. Major General, Quebec Canada Riley awakens with a groan, his eyes beginning to slowly flicker open as he was finally released from the suspended mental walk. Immediately after opening his eyes he jams them shut, the light filtering in to the room proving to much for his eyes to handle.He left his eyes closed for several minutes before steadily opening them once more, the light now blocked by a young, glassy eyed, brunet nurse. He could barely make out the name tag that sat upon her ample chest, but as he focused on it, he manages to catch a glimpse of the name before she moves off and he if forced to shut his eyes as light floods them once more. All he was able to take away from the name was a single letter. "I" "O your awake?" a voice echos out, at first Riley believes it to be the nurse I, who he had dubbed her since his sight had not returned to full optimal abilities. Then he noticed a subtle difference in pitch form that of the opposite gender. It was the voice of a male. Steadily he turns his head away from the light till he could no longer feel the heat of the sun upon his face, with that he was able to once more open his eyes. What greets his eyes is the scowling face of none other then Stacker Pentecost, his commander int he Anchorage Shatterdome. His mere presence sent a chill down Riley's spine as dread slowly welled inside of him. Steadily Stacker brought up his hands, resting his elbows upon his knees while he places his hands before his face. Intertwining the darkened skinned fingers within one another as he looks to the bed ridden Gipsy Pilot. "How long was I out for?" Riley asked, his voice cracking from disuse for who knows how long. "Three months." Stacker stated before sighing to look at him. "You disobeyed direct orders Riley." was all that was stated, a wall already put up around Riley's mind shattered even as he had begun to build it, preparing for the inevitable, he was not prepared for what was to come, but he had to listen, he needed to take responsibility for his actions. Slowly Stacker breathed out, looking to him. "Your actions cost not only cost us a Jaeger, but your brother. I say this with a heavy heart Riley, but from this day forth, you are relived of duty, and striped of your title of Jumper." he slowly stands up, looking down on the wounded warrior. Slowly he raises a hand up and places it up against his forehead. "It was an honor serving with both you and your brother Riley." the salute lasted for but a moment before Stacker turns on his heel and walked past the nurse, who's name Riley finally was able to read out. "Ingrid Standly" Her name no longer interested him, he was dead in the water. His actions had caused the death of his brother, but not only that, Earth had one less guardian now, which left them vulnerable to Kaiju attacks. Tears began to stream down the sides of his cheeks as he looked up at the ceiling, he couldn't even believe what his own cockiness had caused. A new voice slowly filters in to the room, a small and quiet voice, causing him to look down at whom it might be. What greeted him was not a human child, but a pony, normal stature, must mean full grown. One of those ponies he had read about and seen from time to time. Her coat was a muttled grey, her eyes a shining gold that seemed to stare off into opposite directions as she watched him, her flank was plastered with seven bubbles. The nurse had left as he had begun to cry, and in the lapse of that time, the filly had wandered to investigate the noise. "Whats wrong mister?" she asked, a slight lisp to her voice, which causes him to wince, though the tears never cease their endless caress down the sides of his face. "Did somethin bad happen?" she asked again, padding into the room, looking up at him. Even in his warped mind, he couldn't help but wonder where this little one's parents might be. His momentary lapse in concentration causes the Filly to tilt her head, before jumping up and onto the bed, looking over his multiple wounds. "Did you have a bad boo boo?" she asked as she sat down on the bed. "A very bad boo boo yes." a voice echos out from behind her, causing her to turn to look upon another pony who had followed her into the room. This looked to be a male, or stallion as he remembered them being called. A soft chestnut colored his mane and coat and an hour glass adorned his side. Slowly he walked over to stand beside the bed. "But nothing some good R and R shouldn't fix. Why don't you introduce yourself to the mister Riley." At first the fact the pony knew his name causes him some bewilderment, he just chalks it up to the sheet on the front of the board that hung from the end of his bed. "Ok! My bad, I'm Derpy, Derpy Hooves." she commented, though Riley was quite perplexed as to why this mare would be interested in him to begin with. Watching her eyes he noticed how one would focus on him while the other would stare off into the distance, a slightly unsettling feeling to begin with. "And this Time Turner." she states, pointing to the stallion. To say he was confused would be an understatement. Riley had no prior experience with Ponies, and yet here he was, right out of ER, and he was getting his first interaction with them. Slowly he nodded his head as the wall eyes mare introduced themselves to him. Though the other pony seemed to cringe at that name for some odd reason. "Now Derpy, we really must be going, you can't just wander off from the maturity ward like that." Time Turner chided the mare who jumped down and followed him out. Though before he left, Time Turner turned back and walked over to actually shake Riley's hand. Compared to skin, his fur was rather silky, which was strange considering how close to the ground it was in correlation to the rest of his coat. "You are going to do great things Mister Riley, great things." Before Riley could respond, he was moving out the door with a "Alloon-ys!" Once more Riley was left with his thoughts, his questions, what little answers he had, and a myriad of confusion. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: A Shifting in the Tide. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: A Shifting in the Tide. A Shifting in the Tide Time: 6:00 A.M. Date: April 12th, 2022 Location: Pointe du Hoc, eight miles from France's Shatter Dome Shatter Dome: Point du Hoc Shatter Dome Population Total: Two Thousand, Five Hundred Engineers: Three hundred Chiefs: One Hundred Maintenance Crews: Seventeen Hundred Scientists and Researchers: Three Hundred LOCCENT Personnel: One Hundred Current Jaegers Housed Within "Marteau du Peuple" Pilots: Alexandre and Alexis Tomas "Toucher de Midas" Pilots: Lilliana Hound and Gabriel Bonnet "L'Inquisiteur" Pilots: Frances Drake and Belitha Morinia Point du Hoc's Shatterdome, or as the locals call it, Hell's Jailer. Due its location on the landing site of Normandy, there are rumors that the dead from that rush up the beaches still linger, haunting the sands and the cliffs that the Shatterdome is built into. Most would simply dismiss it as rubbish, though most were not Frances. A young man, no older then thirty two, he stood relatively tall, about six foot two. Due to his time in prison, he had developed a physic to match the height he had gained during a growth spurt several years before entering the system. Due to past actions as a youth, he had spent most of his adult life within a six foot by five foot room of concrete. After being convicted of murder he was sentenced to life, though due to his abilities in prison yard fights, of which he had much experience with, he had garnered the attention of Gentry Falier the man in charge of the "Point du Hoc Shatterdome" as well as finding requites for the Jaeger Program for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. His hair was a filthy mess, specks of black line his other wise spotless brown mop that he called his hair. Though at the moment the condition of his hair was the last thing on his mind as he and Belitha raced through the winding tunnels of the Shatterdome towards the only still functioning Jaeger Bay. The other three having been shut down to conserve energy. "Attention, Attention, Catégorie Quatre Sighted! Cours actuel. Se dirigea directement vers la Shatterdome. Tous les pilotes Jaeger réchauffer les gros. Son show time!." A voice echos throughout the Shatterdome, driving the due to quicken their pace. Belitha, while not as tall as her partner, she was the brains and brawn behind their team. In truth, Drake was the envy of most of the Shatterdome's residence. Belitha had been a childhood friend of Frances'es since they were just three years of age. Their families had been very close back then, though as he grew up he began to develop some rather aggressive tendencies which drove most others away from the youth. Yet Belitha had stuck by his side, through the entire ordeal, even going so far as to try and coach him out of his anger issues. As one would guess, that went about as well as trying to teach a Kaiju to not smash buildings or cause genocide. When Frances had gone to jail, she had gone down a different road. Long before the ponies, and even before the Breach, she had gone into modeling. The woman stood five foot six, with beautiful fire red hair that pulled sight up to her emerald green eyes, easily catching many a man in their entrancing beauty. Due to her time in modeling, the woman had developed the curves that would probably make a Kaiju stop dead in its tracks to admire her, before eating her. Her hips slopped down to shapely legs that currently ended in a pair of bland white shoes. Never one for glam, due to her upbringing in a poor family, her wardrobe had always been sparse. Her waist was thin, but not to thin to give off the impression of starvation or anything, infarct, it was just the perfect hour glass figure most men wished they could hold. Her ample chest gave small bounces as she kept up with her larger partner in crime, drawing the stares of many of the personnel they passed. "Attention, Attention, Catégorie Quatre Sighted! Cours actuel. Se dirigea directement vers la Shatterdome. Tous les pilotes Jaeger réchauffer les gros. Son show time!."  Once more the female voice echos out, the same message repeated throughout the structure. As they drew down the hall way, they came upon the hanger, taking no notice of the two other Jaegers that stood within it, they made a B-line for the one off to the right. Nicknamed "The Spanish Inquisition" by many of the maintenance staff that worked on it, the "L'Inquisiteur" had gotten a reputation with them for having a knack to show up when unexpected. He, being one of the few male oriented Jaegers, was the odd one out of the bunch when it came to strategies against Kaiju, for it did not usually go for the standard doctrine of other Jaegers and their pilots. Instead it acted more akin to a heavy weapons platform or even a sniper, dealing with Kaiju from afar or providing support to its brothers and sisters. Currently they had three Kaiju to their name, the first being "Tidal Hunter" a four legged Kaiju CAT 3, back in the early days of the emerging Kaiju. An aquatic, it spent a good three days harassing Ocean Liners before the Jaeger was able to rig one with a Jerry Bomb, causing the Liner to act as a moving bomb/mine for the Kaiju. The second the Kaiju attacked, the Jaeger's pilots caused the rigged ship to detonate as "Tidal Hunter's" unhinging jaw latched onto the ship itself, resulting in its head being blown completely off, though this resulted in them sinking the several million dollar ship in the process. Their second Kaiju to their name was "Gong", a CAT 3 Kaiju that had found its way into the forests of India. Smaller then Tidal, this Kaiju used high frequency emotions from its mouth, which when recorded, sounded much like when a Gong is struck. They had to shove a termite charge down its throat and let the Kaiju burn from the inside out, while also keeping an eye to make sure no forest fires cropped up as the Kaiju was thrashing about in the center of it. Its organs liquefying within its own body. Luckily the fire did not spread outside its hide, making clean up easier. Finally, and most recently, was the CAT 4 named "Plop". A rather obese Kaiju, its main tactic was to roll over its enemies and cities. It got its name thanks to Belithia who recorded the sound it made when she pushed it over and into a volcano, mainly a very loud "Plop!" before it sunk below the Hawaiian Native Volcano. They had been joined during this engagement by "Striker Eureka" and "Marteau du Peuple"  to help deal with the CAT 4. "Attention, Attention, Catégorie Quatre Sighted! Cours actuel. Se dirigea directement vers la Shatterdome. Tous les pilotes Jaeger réchauffer les gros. Son show time!." The voice echos out once more, drawing the irritation as the crews who mull around the Jaegers. Frances ran a hand over the old boy's Steel Plated right leg. Which were much akin to Crimson Typhoon's own legs, though they housed what appeared to be three toed. As his eyes traveled up the leg, he is met with a pair of darkened cylinders, a single gleam eminating from within them. That gleam came from a pair of thirty foot, solid steel bars, ending in bladed points, the right one still had a little Kaiju blood from "Plop" from where they had found the Kaiju trying to drag them into the Volcano with it. They put it to the Kaiju's face before activating the barbs, both thirty foot long solid steel spikes were a large help in getting the obnoxious Kaiju off of the "Inquisitor". Frances had become distracted, so Belithia had pulled ahead, whistling to draw his attention. With a groan he rushes over to the elevator that would bring them up to their Conn Pod. Belithia turned to Frances with a smirk before she spoke up. "Sentiment peur Frances? She smirks up at the man, looking to him as he turned his head to look away from her. This single action causes her to let out a bright smile and prod him in the side. "Jamais de la vie." He literally spat as his hand gripped the guard rail on the elevator, looking over the Jaeger that loomed up beside it. The massive behemoth of lavender plates and grey fibers that sat below the machine of man kind. He sighed, for in fact he was afraid, never had a Kaiju come this close to a Shatterdome before, for what reason it was here confused him and put his nerves on edge. This did not go unnoticed by Belithia though, which causes her to place a hand on his shoulder. Frances, his mind being else where, nearly jumped as he felt the additional weight on his shoulder, causing him to turn and gaze into her eyes. "Hey, ça va bien se passer, nous allons passer à travers ce tout comme nous l'avons toujours fait." she stated with a reassuring smile which actually went some what to calm down the man in front of her. As he moves to say something, the elevator comes to a grinding halt, the rusted wheels sending sparks cascading down into the seventy three meter drop below them. The steel cable doors pulling apart to allow the pair movements, which they take full advantage of as they move towards the docked Conn Pod. The 28-Go/Cockpit, much like Crimson Typhoon's own Conn Pod, sat upon the broad shoulders of the Jaeger. To say that the old boy looked much akin to Crimson would be quite mild, the two shared the same factory of creation as well as chassis design, though there were some distinctions that differed in their construction. Mainly the larger chest as well as thicker plating on the legs as well as chest. The Conn Pod as well had been reinforced. In addition, the Jaeger sported a third leg, this one facing behind its body, almost as if to mirror the old "War of the Worlds" "Tri-Pods" that attacked most cities. They had received the same additional armor, much akin to the rest of the body, tripling its weight, which made it the slowest Jaeger to date. Though the main reasoning behind this was due to the way it functioned in battle. It was not like other Jaegers, in that it didn't get up close and personal with Kaiju, one might say it was the equivalent to Artillery support for its brothers and sisters. For this reason, the Jaeger was outfitted with only the highest caliber weapons, most to large or bulky for other Jaegers to handle while being able to remain atop a Kaiju attack and keeping their survivability in the fight. Another detail that set it apart from its brother Jaeger was the color scheme, which, due to its name, had received a dull grey coloring to its armor. This coloration had also given it the ability to blend in, despite its massive size, in specific environments, such as a rocky hillside, to some degree. Its chest along weighted some three hundred tons, due to the Midnight Orb 11.6 that are housed within its breast plate. Its Energy Core sat within the center of its chest, under sixteen feet of solid steel and wiring, to keep it protected from most attacks, due to the sheer thickness of its armor plating. This though added to its reduced speed, making it an easy target for most quick Kaiju. To compensate for its lack of movement speed, it boasted within both its right arm, a Type 12, Rotating Vertical Blade. The blade itself would remain nestled within a compartment within the arm, where it would be released with upon issuing a command to the on board Artificial Intelligence, which the two Pilots had given the name "Napoléon" due to it constantly criticizing the duos tactics during an engagement. The apply dubbed "Kaiju Cleaver", was a three foot blade that ran on a track system within the arm itself, which allowed it to be deployed from any angle when needed. To this effect, the entire lower section of the right arm's armor ran on the same track system, allowing for the armor to be rotated from any angle for the blade to emerge from within and push out. The blade itself was unlike Striker Eureka's own Assault Mount 3.25 "Sting-Blades" or Crimson Typhoon's own  "Thundercloud Formation's Triple Rotating Circular Saws. This is mostly due to the stroke of genius that came from one "Gorbichof Undlin" from Czechoslovakia. What sets the "Kaiju Cleaver" apart from the other close combat weapons that his brothers and sisters use, is that the weapon itself is made up of two different components instead of a single one. The base of the weapon which is housed within the arm of the Jaeger was categorized as a "GB-J". The twenty two foot slab of metal, complete with six diesel engine per ten feet, along with an abundance of cabling as well as wiring. While it may seem hefty length wise, the metal distanced only nine feet in width, giving it enough maneuverability within the arm to be shifted to new positions with minimal effort and time. Within the center of the "GB-J", between the twelve diesel engines, sat one "I-34 Electric Motor" and one "Omega Two-Stroke Gasoline Internal Combustion Engine", both of which powered the blade itself. The second part of the blade was a "Tesmec TRS 885 Chainsaw" usually seen on construction Trenchers. The belt was made up of interlocking segments, each with a pair of two foot steel blades. The chain wrapped itself around the main guiding bar of the blade, which meant that its length was around some fifty feel long. Its left arm was without any form of weapon, due to the vast amount of energy needed to run the "Kaiju Cleaver" when it is activated. During the time that Frances or Belitha are forced into switching to close combat, their main weapon at that time would be forced to eject, as it would slow them down considerably in close quarters combat and it would take to much energy to run both the blade and what their primary weapon they had chosen for that particular mission was. Belitha smiled as she looked towards Francis, shaking her head while the two of them entered into the Conn-Pod, quickly being met with the scent of sterile machine and coolant that perforated the area inside of the machine itself. Belitha quite liked the smell, it masked the scent of iron that occasionally would fill the room when ever one of them was injured, due to the small and confined space of the Conn-Pod, any scent would quickly becoming a dominating factor once they had left their Drivesuits in the aftermath of a battle. Between the section of space where both Francis and Belitha would stand before assuming control of the Jaeger during the "Dive. What hung from the ceiling was a collection of control panels, which allow them access to weapons and the basic functions of the Jaeger. two would be integrated into the machine itself during the "Drift before preforming their "Neural Handshake". The Control Panel was also the location of most of the "Inquisitor's" other features, such as coolant control for their weapons, hull paneling tracks for the right arm, as well as inter grading with the weapons that upon the section of space between the Conn-Pod and the shoulders. As the two walked forward, they each though over the days events, thanking God that the alarm had finally ceased its incessant chirping outside. This could be due to it being turned off or that the Conn-Pod's thick steel plating blocking any and all noise from reaching the inside of it. As both move forward, they take their way towards what they had dubbed the "Sièges Numérotés" or The Assigned Seats, which hung over a pit like area which led into the spinal connection that sat below the head. As the two of them move towards the center, motion sensors that line the floor cause both *Dive Harnesses to lower from the ceiling in front of the both Belitha and Francis.* The two of them  come to a stop atop what appear to be a pair of metal slabs, that responded quickly to the additional weight upon them by latching interlocking guard rails onto the feet, holding the two to that location.  Belitha had taken the left side while Francis had positioned himself to the right, the two looking at each other before nodding, their "Dive Suit's" visors having receded from in front of their faces. As the Dive harnesses lowered within reach of their backs, several engineers moved behind as well, pushing the neural receptors directly into their corresponding sockets within the Dive Suits. Both jerked forward as the connecting Rods were inserted directly into their backs, before the sounds of drills firing up were heard as well. The harness's then attached clamps onto Francis'es right wrist, which caused a discus like machine to magnetically be pulled towards that hand. He proceeded to grip it as Belitha's own left arm was given the same treatment, her wrist being locked onto by a clamp before another machine floated up and into her hand. A secondary pair of clamps latches themselves to Francis'es left arm as well as Belitha's right arm, to ensure they are able to compensate for the other pilot in the chance he is left unable to use his arm. Quickly they could make out some static echoing from within the Control Panel for a few seconds before a voice manages to echo through. "Son temps de vous deux a vos ânes vous. Nous avons eu une situation d'urgence ici et vous deux pris tout votre temps!" The voice jokingly pointed out as both pilots cringed at the voice from the other side. "Bonjour à vous aussi Kliner." Belitha commented as she smirked up towards the Control Panel, just a mass of commands and statistics on the Conn-Pod, not showing the whom she was talking too. It was at this time Francis decided to chime into the conversation before this Kliner could voice his opinion. "Quel est le problème? Femme vous expulser de la maison de nouveau pour amener les prostituées de la maison?" he chuckled as they could both hear papers being flung off the desk or consul of what ever sat on the other side of the screen. After several tense seconds of silence and Belitha giving Francis a slap to the back of the head the voice once more returns. "Non, en fait. Comme vous êtes tous les deux très bien, il ya une rubrique CAT 4 vers cet endroit. C'est la première fois que quelque chose comme ceci a eu lieu, où un Shatterdome a été directement attaqué par un Kaiju. Les deux Lilliana Chien et Gabriel Bonnet ainsi que Alexandre et Alexis Tomas ont activé leurs labbes et sont en attente de vous joindre à eux dans la baie. Alors dépêchez-vous le rythme, son dépassé le Miricle Mile déjà et se terminera rapidement." he shouted into the coms before it drops off with a twitch of static. The two look towards one another before they feel a sudden pull on their bodies. The track system that held the Conn Pod now begins to descend towards the rest of the Jaeger, only a ten foot drop. With a lurch the spinal connecters push into their appropriate socket within the Jaeger's body. In several seconds the connections are finished and the two can see that the Consul now sports the entire body in a 3-D image, running diagnostics in several seconds. The head begins to rotate before its brought below the shoulders, which makes it much less of a target for Kaiju to hit. The two look at each other, a glimmer in Francis'es eye before he looks towards the computer as it speaks the magical phrase. "Neural Poignée de main, Initié." was all the warning they both got before the entire world turned a light blue. Images of Francis in middle school as well as juvie flash through Belitha's mind while her own school life tears across the mind scape of Francis'es own link. Steadily the blue fades as the handshake finishes its task, the two returned to the Conn-Pod's inner structure. One lets out a groan as the other simply stands there, rolling her neck. As the two look around, they can see that both of the other Jaeger's crawlers have begun moving them towards the opening door of the Shatterdome. The first in line is *"Marteau du Peuple", piloted by none other then Alexandre and Alexis Tomas. The Jaeger had its back turned to the two as its Crawler moved inch by inch towards the opened doors. The next Jaeger to move into line was the immaculate form of "Toucher de Midas", who's pilots were a pair of women named Lilliana Hound and Gabriel Bonnet. As it slowly crawled past, the Jaeger's own Crawler, well, in this case it sported two crawlers to deal with its immense size. As it moved towards the opening of the Shatterdome, the watched as lightening streaked across the sky, illuminating the surrounding area and choppy seas. As Francis was preoccupied with monitoring the advance of the Kaiju, Belitha had taken the time to contact Kliner once more.* "Quels sont les systèmes d'armes avons-nous en ordre de marche pour nous aujourd'hui chef?" she asked as they came to a stop near the entrance of the Shatterdome. In between each side of the shoulders as well as the upper back, plates of carbonized steel slowly side aside to reveal a track system in place, with two large neural integration modules preparing to accept what ever gift is prepared for the two of them. She received static at first before an answer came through to them. "En raison de la gravité de la situation, vous serez équipé de la "OKLW du diable" est-ce clair?" the voice responded before static cut in once more. Both Belitha and Francis turned to one another and gave a nod before speaking up. Francis reached up to press the intercom button before speaking through it. "Roger séquence d'initiation Accueil pour la gauche épaule Serrures de neurones." Francis stated as he released the button, causing the com to go silent as Belitha spoke up once more. "Napoléon, commencer la fixation de la "OKLW du diable."* A few seconds of silence followed before three chirps and a single beep on the monitor told her the order had been issued. Above the Jaeger, where the mechanical arms hung low, simply motionless, two began to move, their rotors within the sockets of each arm steadily rising until they vanished back into the ceiling. After several seconds of waiting and a few choice words from Francis while earned him a scowl from his partner, the arms lowered back down. A pair of metallic plates slowly slide apart as the they returned, this time clutching within their pincers what appeared to be rather long rifle barrel. Solid black in coloration, the barrel gleamed in the dim lighting of the ShatterDome's interior lighting. A jagged six foot solid steel blade sat just below the barrel, to be used like a bayonet in the chance the Kaiju got too close. The barrel itself measured some sixty feet in length, making it easily as large as some of the other Jaegers. It held no trigger guard not trigger itself, not even a stock. The weapon was just one long barrel with a pair of neural up links within the center of the barrel's length as well as near the end. As the rifle was lowered, Francis ordered Napoleon to activate the left shoulder's Neural Receptors. With a groan of steel, four pairs of plates slowly moved out of the way as the Rifle came to to sit behind the Jaeger's vast frame. As they slid apart, it was revealed a socket looking structure sat right beneath it, though as soon as it was revealed it began to grind against itself, pushing out from within the Jaeger and opening. The rifle itself was tilted to the side, a bar of metal and cables slowly lowering from within its neural up links before being pressed inside of the two pairs of neural receptors that sat upon the back of the Jaeger. Both Receptors began to beep on the screen as the connecting rods were slowly integrated into place and attached, which caused Belitha to cringe and jerk forward as the rods inserted and connected, her nerves for her right shoulder hissing at her as pain raced through for a mere second before subsiding. As Belitha rolled her arm inside of the Jaeger, outside the left shoulder began to rise forward before rolling backwards, mimicking the pilot's own actions. Slowly the metal plates were once more slid into place as the rifle came to rest upon its shoulder, only for others to slide apart as it was brought to bare, the grip that would be held in a hand, rested between the Conn-Pod and the shoulder itself, metal plates once more sliding to lock it into place. Upon the back, the Connecting Rod that had been inserted into the second Neural Receptor extended out, like a bar to hold it up. The rifle itself did not fully sit atop the space between shoulder and Conn-Pod, but jutted out behind them.* With that completed the metallic arms slowly returned to the ceiling, once more being swallowed up by it. The Jaeger lurched forward and began to move again, though only for a few more feet before they reached the ramp that lead outside of the ShatterDome. As the three Crawlers came to a halt, both Francis and Belitha looked towards one another and nodded, Francis was the first to take a step forward, his right leg rising off its assigned Crawler and being placed upon the cement enriched sand that covered the coast line. The foot itself sank several feet before meeting solid ground once more. Belitha moved next, her foot rising off its own respective Crawler and being placed in the sand, this too sinking several feet. Finally third foot lifted off its Crawler and placed itself upon the center of all three, which caused them to groan before it was once more lifted as the Jaeger got into the swing of moving now. Its stride remained slow and steady, as it moved to catch up with its two comrades who had already taken up defensive positions along the beach front, awaiting the Kaiju's appearance. The ground trembled as the three legged Jaeger strode forward, each foot step causing the sand to heave and threaten to break apart under its tremendous weight. After six or seven steps, the Jaeger finally came to a halt, the other two Jaeger's turning their heads to look at the monstrous Jaeger they called an allie, both slowly nodding before turning back to gaze upon the surf of the choppy ocean. As lightning streaked across the sky, it managed to light up the gun metal grey chassis of The *"L'Inquisiteur", revealing a large black symbol that adorned its chest.* It began near the chin of the Conn-Pod, in the form of a black and white crown, a cross adorned the very top of if. It was separated into five sections or quarters, each quarter the hull itself, having nothing to do with the symbol. Atop each of these dividers there sat several ridging before meeting the base of the crown. From there it melded into a wreath like structure, intricate designs adorned the sides as a pair of doves sat perched on either side of the symbol. At the bottom hung what appear to be tassels, four in total, two on each side while drapes or cloth hung between the two. The bottom housed a large clam shell, a pair of gleaming white pearls sat within its grooves while a third adorned the very tip at the bottom. Sitting within the center of the empty wreath were three things. The first on the left being a blade, its handle painted gold and the cross guard a shining silver. On the right, bending around the middle object, was an olive branch, its many leaves spreading out. In the center, was an imposing black cross, nearly reaching to the crown. As the two pilots awaited their quarry, they began to discuss things with the others, until a loud beep echoed out across both Jaeger's Monitors. Looking out towards the waves, they could make out a bulge in the water, and with each passing minute, it continued to grow and swell, driving towards the three Jaegers with increased destructive force. This came to light when the water suddenly jumped into the air, splashing across the surface as the Kaiju manged to smash through an old World War 2 Mine that had somehow been missed. Yet it continued its advance towards them, unabated. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Actual Prologue: Celestia's Side, and the Hatred of Humanities Birth //-------------------------------------------------------// The Actual Prologue: Celestia's Side, and the Hatred of Humanities Birth Equestia, Earth Atlantic Sea, Year 2043 A choking sob echoed through the hospital room, followed quietly after by the quiet mutterings of a disturbed Princess. What followed after was the slowly flickering beeping of a heart monitor. Celestia sat beside the bed, her eyes blood shot, her fur matted with pain as tears streamed down the sides of her cheeks. Slowly reaching with a shaky hoof she stroked her sons head. Spike, now at the age of eighteen, was a strapping lad. He stood well over his adopted mother, at six foot three inches he stood well above any pony. But due to the stubbiness of his back legs he had been forced to walk on all fours. This is what had brought him to his current condition. “Spike…my sweet…misguided dragon.” Celestia sniffled before a new wave of tears trickled down her face. His body was covered from head to claw in bandages, blood caked each and every one of them, multiple lacerations and puncture marks adorned the maturing drake. Flash Back, Six months before the present, and three years before the first Bureaus were opened. Location: Washington D.c.  Military Airport. Time: 8:30 P.m. It had occurred just a few weeks ago, Celestia, Luna, as well as her personal student, turned additional Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her son Spike Dugal, had been invited to attend the U.N. Summit meeting that took place that very week. As for the remainder of the girls, who had been scattered across Earth, helping to make a foot hold on the humanoid dominated planet, they would be to preoccupied to join with them. The president of the United States, President Rick Harlson had made a point to meet the Dignitaries when they arrived within Washington D.C. “I’d like to welcome you to our grand country Princess Celestia.” President Harlson proclaimed as he held out a hand to her. She looked at it with a smile before taking the hand and gently shaking it. Harlson was a lightly over weight man, standing five foot nine. His hair was combed back till it seemed to resemble a mobster in appearance. His main attire was of a rather large tux over a spotless white shirt. He wore black slacks and a pair of grey dress shoes for such an occasion. He had such a friendly smile that Celestia, even in her misguided ways, had come to trust him. After a quick handshake and posing for the media for a few pictures the two had finally set off. Air Force One had been their transportation. The princess had just settled into watching one of the on board movies that Spike had chosen. He lay upon one of the couches that adorned the lavished airliner while Twilight was knee deep in reading up on Germanic heritage. The flight had left at 10:20 P.M. and was making grand time, quickly moving into the Atlantic from the sea side Air Base Obama, named after President Obama, who, during an attack on the White House, despite being shot in the right shoulder, had forgone hiding in the Presidential bunker, picked up a fallen Secret Services  Remington 870 shotgun. Managing to down at least three Terrorists before being gunned down. Though arguably the least favorite President since Nixon, this simple act of selfless heroism managed to forever enshrine him within the hall of America’s greatest Presidents.  Celestia herself had read about his selfless heroism and actually came to admire his bravery. Several thousand feet about the ocean, the plane was buffeted by strong head winds from an onrushing cloud bank. Celestia held close to the arm of the chair she sat in as “Hunt for the Red October” a classic that the Captain chose, continued to play. She felt a small blush coming on as she listened to the Russian Submarine Captain’s voice. In all her years, she had never heard someone with such a smooth accent. Several moments later a pair of F-35A Lightning II ascended through the cloud banks, pulling back up beside Air Force One. Spike waving at the one to the left as Luna watched with fascination as they came through the cloud barrier. The second one, which had emerged besides its sister, doing a Barrel Roll over Air Force One and spinning. It took only seconds before it came to a safe position on the other side of the plane. Rainbow Dash would have commented on how show boating they were. The Pilot in the right Lighting obviously showing off. But if she had been out there, even Celestia knew she would have been showing off as well. A light hearted chuckle escapes Twilight as she watches her aunt who in effect watches the fighter jet. Slowly they return to sitting and relaxing once more. Luna had commented on the movie when the side of the plane was lit up with a titanic explosion. A ball of flame engulfing the right F-35A Lightning II as it falls below the clouds, vanishing. The other breaks off to try and locate the offending attacker, only to receive a J.K.L. Slammer Smart Missile to its nose, causing the entire machines dorsal nozzle to erupt into an equally volatile ball of flame and spiral towards the ocean waiting blow. Luna let out a high whinny in anger as she watched the loss of life so close to her, but unable to do anything. Twilight was sprawled out across the ground as she tried to get up, books covering her back and wings. “W-What was that?!” Spike yelped, just being reawakened from his nap. Slowly the clouds below them began to shift and morph as a form began to rise from it, quickly signaling the approach of something to the surface. It was long in length, not very robust. Its end a twin tailed propulsion system that emitted little to no heat, as well as sound. Allowing it to sneak up on Air Force One’s escorts, its wings housed a pair of docking pods, the outer two contained two six chambered Smart Missiles, the inner four chamber tubes with Hammer Head Suppression Missiles. Above its wings sat two gravity-drives, keeping it hovering next to the Plane as its sides opened, a pair of solid black Umbilical tunnels connecting into the Presidential Airliner. One connects just in front of the large turbine that propels the aircraft forward, the other, connects to the window beside Celestia. The sounds of heavy boots can be heard echoing though the room as the ponies and dragon hold their breath. They had all taken shelter within the adjourning room as Secret Service members swarm the room, leveling their fire arms at the window. The sound stops within the night black umbilical cord before its lite up like a Christmas tree. Rounds puncture the side of the ship as the cord’s claws, on all four sides of the end, sink though the planes hull, attaching itself to the plane as bullets reduce the wall between it and the room into Swiss cheese. Killing most if not all the Secret Service members with a mail of led. Some pass through the members and punch holes in the other side, though most manage to only release H2O into the air, some puncture windows. As they shatter and threaten to decompressurize the entire room titanium plates shift and extend down over the now plexus glassless windows, cutting off the loss of oxygen. Celestia watched in horror the side of the plane at base level begins to turn Red. Soon the spots of heat give way to heated beams of plasma, the torch like appearance begins to slowly travel up the sides of the wall, Spike standing up as he looks towards the slowly glowing line of melted and super-heated metal that can be seen forming as the attackers continue to work. Gun fire erupts elsewhere within the plan, signaling the attackers have breached the interior of the  plane. But the sounds of gun fire appears to be different, clearly meaning that the Secret Service was still in action.  Though the other side, the “Pop” “Poping” sound of the Secret Services hand guns were being drawn out by the semi-automatic fire of the attackers sub-machine guns. This briefly distracts the Sun Goddess from the incoming attack as the Plasma Torches reach the top of the door way, before beginning to slide back down, moving towards the center of the bottom of the door. Spike steps out, much to the horror of Twilight and the assembled Princesses. He stays concealed behind the couch, moving out below the line of sight thanks to the fact he had to walk on all fours. With his back to the Diarchy he turns to Twilight, smiling sadly ad he places his back against the wall, right where the door would be made once the torches finished cutting. Twilight, hissing through her teeth, managed to get the drakes attention. “Spike!” she whispered through clenched teeth as well. “Get back here.” She pleaded with her brother who looked at her and shook his head. “No Twi, you and I both know that dragon’s scales are immune to most bullets. As well as strong enough to hold off any human.” He had become so confident after he stumbled upon a drunk human who had tried to attack him, claiming he was a son of Satan for his draconic visage. He easily over powered the human, and when the human drew a gun on him he managed to take the ground with only a minor buffing to his scale from the bullet.  Since then he had developed somewhat of a ego. Twilight was about to retort when the plasma torches reached the bottom of the door way. Spike stood there, awaiting the humans attempt to enter the room. “………………………” “………………………” “………………………” What followed was several seconds of pregnant silence before Spike could feel something placed against the side of the door. By now the Semi-Auto fire from farther in the plane had been replaced with simple silence. Slowly a quickly echoing beep began to fill the cabin. Spike’s eyes widen and he turned to Twilight. Time slowed down as he reached for her. Her eyes widened in fear as the door itself was blown across the room and into the adjacent wall, Spike letting out a strangled scream of pain as shrapnel and several hundred metric pounds of twisted steel cut through his scales and bludgeoned him before he is nearly crushed behind the projectile door. What followed was smoke and tears as, despite the growing danger. Twilight raced to her fallen brothers side. As she neared him a single shot echoed from within the Umbilical cord, the shot digging into the spot next to Spike’s head. “Don’t move Equine.” A voice echoed from within the darkness, full of hate and spite. Slowly a man walked into view, standing five foot eight, the man wore ragged jeans and Combat boots. His hands were covered in leather; cows hide from the look of it.  She cringed as she looked at what hung around his neck. A pierced Unicorn Skull. A metal bar through the eye sockets. Carved though its features were tribalistic markings as well as less…civilized words. He held in his hand what looked like a simple weapon, a dagger, carved from the very horn that once owned to the stull. Several blades formed from the horn looked slightly reddened; clearly it had been used before. He smirked as he looked at the Princess who had taken notice of her taking notice to it. "My late wife. Worked at a Conversion  Bureau. One of your abominations spilled that slop you use to transform good whole some people into those freaks you call ponies." he spat on one of the Secret Service Members. "And our own Government is willing to give you freaks shelter just tears me up inside." this man, this..human, clearly was off kilter, one hand held his semi-automatic rifle, the other, constantly stroked the Unicorn skull. "We are members of the H.F.B.E. Humans for a Better Earth." he leveled the rifle at Twilight's forehead, several other members doing the same. "And today, I will be your executioner. Remember my name in death, abomination I am Hadley Jefferson. And for the Preservation of our Blue and Pure World, I sentence you to death." He began to pull back on the trigger, when his throat erupted in a fountain of blood. Gurgling he gripped hold of the front of his neck, a jagged piece of metal jutting from it. At the same exact moment the wall section that had been crushing a certain dragon erupted from the ground, hurling into the air as it crashes into one of the members. Spike roaring in both pain and rage as the other humans turned their weapons upon him. His body dripping a pool of blood every time he stopped moving, yet he never stopped moving. Claws, strong enough to dig through cement, tore into the hull of the plane as he missed one of the humans, receiving a shattered dorsal spine as the man returned fire. By now the Princesses had thrown together a barrier to keep the humans, and the enraged Spike, from reaching them. "Pri-Princess. We need to be out there!" she pleaded with her teacher and Spikes own mother. "I'm sorry Twilight, but" she was interrupted as the shredded remains of one of the humans was tossed against the eldrish shield. "Not even I can stop him. Dragons are creatures older then even Alicorns, birthed in the creation of Equis, they are the very representation of the upheavals that the planet went through." she bit her lip, watching her son drown in the very bowls of anger and pain as he fought to get a hold of the humans. Who seemed equally at fighting him as they did with dealing with the Secret Service members.Her eyes caught sight of one of the humans, pull what looked like a Pinapple, something she had seen from Saddle Arabia, and partaken of. The woman pulled it back, ready to lob it. Luna took the chance in her distraction, to lower the field, managing to blast her into the umbilical cable. The cable itself was filled with flame as the grenade went off. The ship outside listing side ways as the explosion ripped its way into the large drop ship. The other humans manages to escape Spikes wrath, only to be caught and captured by the remaining Secret Service members. End of Flash Back, Back to Present Day Equestria. Celestia shed new tears as the memories came rushing back. Did she blame all of humanity? No, not at all. Did she trust them? Never again. A few days before she had stopped the advancing shield and called the newly opened Bureaus to close their doors. Much to the humans mixed reactions. Some welcomed the sight of the hated bureaus closing down. Others though that it was the beginning to an invasion. Night fell as Celestia as well fell, into a slumber, like so many nights before, clutching her sons claw and crying herself to sleep.