Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Knifehead

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"Move, move!"

"Kaiju's heading this way—run!"

"Damn kaiju!"

"Run!"

"I finally found a job and a kaiju's ruining it again!"

Moment kaiju alarm sounded, entire worksite erupted into chaos!

All workers evacuated immediately, fleeing from shadows beneath Wall of Life's steel framework. Fought to climb onto construction vehicles; those left behind had to run on foot. Scene descended into total disorder.

People living in this era knew terror of kaiju.

They all knew what happened to those who ran too slow.

Even collapsing Wall of Life alone could kill them.

When kaiju made landfall, tens of thousands died. Before those colossal bodies, humanity was far too small. Even running with everything they had, could only watch helplessly as massive feet descended from above, crushing them into paste, making them part of rubble.

In this age, kaiju were synonymous with despair!

"Shit!"

"Why the hell would a kaiju come here!?"

"Didn't the news say a kaiju was attacking Sydney!?"

Supervisor Miles shouted in despair. His project wasn't finished yet. If half-built Wall of Life got destroyed by kaiju, he'd never see dime for rest of his life!

"Get back here!"

"All of you get your asses back here!"

"Just because alarm went off doesn't mean kaiju's definitely coming!"

Miles stood in bed of truck, megaphone in hand, shouting at scattering workers.

As truck passed them by, fleeing workers couldn't help but curse: "Fuck you, Miles!"

"You're the one running fastest!"

"Fuck you too!" Miles's truck was way out front; other workers' beat-up construction vehicles couldn't keep up with his speed. He stood in truck bed, continued shouting back at them, face twisted. "My life's worth more than yours!"

No one dared delay at time like this.

Even workers on top of wall slid down steel beams, joined main group fleeing from Wall of Life closest to coastline.

"We need to run—now!"

"Trust me, kaiju are way more terrifying than you can imagine."

Raleigh, with extensive experience facing kaiju, grabbed Natsuki and pulled him along at first opportunity. Running with evacuation crowd, spoke seriously to Natsuki beside him, breath puffing white in cold.

Right now, he wasn't Jaeger pilot—just ordinary person.

Facing incoming kaiju, had no power to resist. Only thing he could do was run.

"Okay."

"Hope this thing isn't as strong as Zetton..." Natsuki nodded, ran alongside Raleigh, silently praying this kaiju wouldn't add to his workload.

Transforming before even seeing kaiju clearly wasn't smart move.

Besides, he'd already learned from Raleigh that enemy was formidable existence.

First, put some distance between them. Once kaiju appeared, he'd observe it, then consider transforming to engage.

They ran.

Then suddenly, sound of rotors and engines roared overhead—like helicopter passing above them.

Familiar sound immediately caught Raleigh's attention.

He looked up, saw black military Sikorsky helicopter fly over their group, slowly descend onto open ground ahead.

Cabin door opened, revealing face he knew all too well.

"Marshal!?" Raleigh exclaimed in shock. Arrival was none other than his former commanding officer—man who'd led Jaegers in counterattack against kaiju—Stacker Pentecost!

"Why are you here!?"

He couldn't understand why Marshal Stacker would appear before him at such critical moment.

"I'll explain later!"

"Get on—now!" Marshal Stacker waved at Raleigh, expression urgent beneath falling snow, signaling him to board helicopter.

Raleigh was crucial piece of upcoming plan. Nothing could happen to him here, or all of humanity's future would suffer.

"Right!"

Raleigh knew time was critical. Exchanged glance and nod with Natsuki, both ran toward where helicopter had landed.

Shouts of fleeing workers, piercing alarm, roar of rotors and engines, crunch of boots on snow-covered pavement—all these sounds converged in this moment into overwhelming noise.

But next second—

One massive sound seized main melody, drowning out everything else.

"BOOM!"

Waters of Gulf of Alaska surged upward. Colossal creature broke surface, seawater rolling into giant waves that crashed against half-built Wall of Life.

Accompanied by thunderous thud-thud tremors, everyone could see through gaps in Wall's hollow steel framework—massive silhouette, savage head unmistakably prominent, corrosive saliva dripping from gaping maw.

"ROOOOAR—"

Kaiju rotated six green eyes, gaze locking firmly onto black helicopter behind Wall of Life and Raleigh Becket sprinting toward it at full speed. Let out deafening roar, raised thick arms, aimed at Wall of Life before it.

"CRASH!"

Two strikes, and unfinished Wall of Life collapsed and shattered. Concrete and steel flew through wind and snow. This wall—on which humanity had pinned such high hopes—was no different from foam board in this moment!

"It's here, it's here!"

"God, please don't catch me!"

After wall collapsed, panicked crowd finally saw kaiju's full form.

It crawled on thick limbs, skin dark green that looked impossibly tough across every inch. Tail churned seawater into surging waves. Movements resembled those of giant gorilla, but mountain-ridge-like arched back and head—hybrid of shell and coral—marked it unmistakably as kaiju.

Knifehead (Category IV Kaiju)

This was Category IV kaiju designated Knifehead by Shatterdome!

It trampled over Wall of Life's debris, came ashore, closing in relentlessly on black helicopter. Each step landed on hearts of crowd, bringing tremendous tremors.

Seeing Raleigh getting closer and closer to helicopter, it realized target might escape.

"ROOOAR!"

After thunderous roar, mountain-ridge-like back suddenly lit up—this was weapon designed specifically for dealing with humans.

Energy gathered briefly. With resonant hum, powerful electromagnetic pulse expanded outward in ring. Snowflakes in air were swept away violently. Collapsed Wall of Life suffered second round of devastation. Marshal Stacker's helicopter lost all functionality instantly!

People who'd run farther away were also hit by shockwave's aftereffects, fell to ground. Fortunately, this was attack aimed at machinery—didn't take their lives.

But they weren't far from death either. Hunter Jaegers hadn't been deployed to this location yet. Sooner or later, they'd all be crushed into paste by kaiju!

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