Atlas Destroyer

Atlas Destroyer
Technical Information
Launched	2017
Mark	Mark-3
Status	Destroyed
Jaeger Specifications
Height	262 ft (80 m) (est.)
Combat Specifications
Equipment	Conn-Pod Chamber, Loa
Pilots	Taylor Travis, Hayley Travis, Mei
Kaiju Killed	8
Out-of-Universe information
Appeared In (canon)	Pacific Rim: The Black
Designed by	Jūki Izumo

Atlas Destroyer was a Mark-3 Jaeger.

History

Early Combat History

Atlas Destroyer is a Mark-3 Jaeger, launched in 2017. After an unspecified period of service, Atlas was retired from active combat and reassigned as a training Jaeger. It underwent a refit at the Brisbane Shatterdome where it was stripped of its weaponry.

As a training Jaeger, its was used to acclimate cadets to the systems of a Jaeger over a period of six months. Its operations were overseen by Loa, the Jaeger's onboard artificial intelligence. Atlas Destroyer was stationed at Shadow Basin, located on the outskirts of Meridian City.

Pacific Rim: The Black

Operation Blackout

Following the Uprising War, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps execute Operation Blackout. All personnel and civilians evacuate, and steps are taken to "bury" all operational bases to protect vital data and weaponry created for the PPDC.

Atlas Destroyer is among the sensitive material considered expendable, and is abandoned inside Shadow Basin which is buried. However, the base remained largely intact and Atlas Destroyer's hangar undamaged. Sydney Base believed that Atlas Destroyer had been detonated after the fall.

Rediscovery

Five years after Operation Blackout, Hayley Travis happens upon the buried base after falling through a sinkhole. Atlas Destroyer activates as soon as she enters the Conn-Pod, rebooting its A.I.. Loa. After her brother enters the base, Loa tries to open the base's bay doors, drawing the attention of Copperhead, a roaming Category IV Kaiju.

Atlas Destroyer is activated as Copperhead proceeds to kill the survivors situated around Shadow Basin. Taylor and Hayley establish a neural handshake just as Copperhead breaches the hangar from above. Atlas Destroyer is thrown out of the base and over the cliff. Taylor, assuming the Jaeger is armed, attempts fire all of Atlas Destroyer's missiles only to be told that the Mark-3 was a training apparatus only.

With no weaponry defense, Atlas Destroyer is forced toward the edge of a cliff by Copperhead's relentless attacks. Loa instructs Taylor and Hayley to drop flat on their bellies to avoid Copperhead's lunge. The Jaeger drops to the ground as Copperhead lunges for it, and pitches itself over the cliff behind the Jaeger. With Shadow Basin destroyed, the Travis siblings decide to search for their parents using Atlas Destroyer.

Captured by Bogan

After its power cell is exhausted, Atlas Destroyer shuts down. Taylor and Hayley enter Meridian City in search of a replacement and find one in the PPDC Recruitment Center powering a tank holding a little boy. Though they rescue the boy, the power cell is damaged. Spotting a pair of PPDC trucks in the distance, Taylor and Hayley follow them and inadvertently draw their attention. Taken to the group's camp (called Bogan), Taylor gives away that they're looking for a power cell. Bogan's leader, Shane, interrogates Taylor using the Drift and discovers the whereabouts of Atlas Destroyer.

Returning to Meridian City, Joel Wyrick, a former J-Tech officer working for Shane, replaces the depleted power cell. He's ordered to find a Drift compatible co-pilot in order to relocate Atlas Destroyer. When his endeavor fails, Shane allows Taylor to pilot with his right hand, Mei, in order to leave the city before the approaching Copperhead can catch up. Mei and Taylor choose to fight Copperhead in the hopes of killing it, but the Kaiju overpowers them, tearing the right arm from the Jaeger. Atlas Destroyer leads Copperhead through a minefield, and barely escapes.

Joel works to repair the Jaeger while suffering the effects of a multiple Drifts, and is given the end of the day to fix Atlas Destroyer before Shane kills him. Mei sneaks Taylor back into Bogan to steal Atlas Destroyer back. Joel devises a plan help Taylor pilot Atlas Destroyer on his own while Mei goes to retrieve his sister and the Kaiju Boy from Shane. After retrieving his sister, the boy, and Mei, Taylor collapses. Hayley and Mei pilot Atlas Destroyer, destroying Bogan's vehicles to ensure they're not followed.

The Boneyard

Atlas Destroyer is nearly swallowed by the opening of a Breach following the disappearance of Kaiju Boy. Taylor and Hayley are barely to return to the Conn-Pod to escape the maw the portal. Following the last known position of the boy, Atlas Destroyer is lead into a boneyard full of fallen Kaiju and Jaegers from the Uprising War. Moving toward an active Breach, Atlas Destroyer attacks Acidquill as it emerges, but is easily bested by the Kaiju.

Atlas Destroyer is saved at the last minute by Apex, a roaming Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid previously encountered in Meridian City. Taylor and Hayley assume the worst when Apex approaches the Kaiju Boy, and try to retaliate. Apex overpowers Atlas Destroyer, prepared to destroy the Jaeger. His attack is halted by the Kaiju Boy, who keeps its fist at bay in a show of superhuman strength. Apex bonds with the boy through the Drift, and chooses to spare Atlas Destroyer. Before leaving, Apex gifts the siblings the arm of the Mark-4 Jaeger, Chaos Nemesis and the Saber Chain weapon.

Clayton City

Picking up on a distress signal in Clayton City, the Travis siblings enter the city, and leave Atlas Destroyer at the Clayton City Café at the request of Mei. They discover the abandoned Hunter Vertigo, and Atlas Destroyer is attacked by Copperhead who happens upon the Jaeger.

When Hayley is injured by Copperhead, Taylor and Mei fight the Category IV Kaiju alongside the Boy, a Human-Kaiju Hybrid. Atlas Destroyer uses its Saber Chain to pierce Copperhead's chest, and cleave its paw from its arm. With the help of Hunter Vertigo's nuclear missile, Atlas Destroyer is able to kill Copperhead.

Final Run

Chased by a horde of Rippers, Breacher, a Category VI Kaiju and the Sisters of the Kaiju, Atlas Destroyer attempts to reach Sydney Base who at first thinks that the Jaeger's return is a ruse as Atlas Destroyer was recorded as having been detonated. As a result, the base's sentries bomb both Atlas Destroyer and the Sisters' forces, destroying most of the latter while the Jaeger is saved by Boy. After Taylor identifies himself and Hayley as the children of Rangers Ford and Brina Travis, Sydney Base ceases fire.

Atlas Destroyer engages Breacher who proves to be more than a match for the Jaeger, causing heavy damage to the hull. Recognizing that her pilots won't survive, Loa ejects both Taylor and Hayley and activates Atlas Destroyer's self-destruct. The explosion obliterates both Atlas Destroyer and Breacher while Taylor and Hayley make it safely out and are picked up shortly thereafter by the PPDC along with Mei and Boy.

Features

Atlas Destroyer was designed with the intent to fight and kill Kaiju. However, its "demotion" to driving instructor for cadets stripped it of its weaponry, which included an arsenal of missiles. Without weapons, Atlas Destroyer's success or failure in battle is reliant on the combat abilities of its pilots, and their ability to wield the Jeager's strength. Jaegers, traditionally, are designed to kill Kaiju without causing major damage their bodies in light of the toxicity of their blood.

Atlas Destroyer is able to eject its broken original arm and be retrofitted with Chaos Nemesis's arm given by Apex, which uses a Vanadium steel forged Saber Chain to pierce the hide of a Kaiju. It can also be used like a whip to hit targets from a distance, and sever limbs. Its onboard A.I., Loa, is capable of independent thought, critical thinking, and expressing emotion (such as exasperation or panic). It makes precise decisions as an assistant to its pilots. Like all Mark-3 Jaegers, Atlas Destroyer is powered by a nuclear reactor.

Kaiju Killed

The following is roster of named Kaiju defeated by Atlas Destroyer, assisted or on its own.

Kaiju	Date	Location	Jaeger Team
Acidquill	???	Boneyard	Apex
Copperhead	???	Clayton City	Hunter Vertigo
Acidquill	???	Never Never Valley	Solo
2 Kaiju Hybrids	???	The Divide	Solo
2 Kaiju Eels	???	The Divide	Boy
Breacher	???	Near Sydney Base	Solo

Trivia

• The name "Atlas Destroyer" could be seen in reverse during the first full length trailer for Pacific Rim: The Black.
• Atlas Destroyer and Hunter Vertigo were designed by concept artist Jūki Izumo.
• Due to being a training jaeger, Atlas Destroyer has a vibrant orange and blue color scheme with a complex design that stands apart from with the simpler color designs of other jaegers, as it wasn't expected to see real combat. It was inspired by air force jet color schemes.

Gallery

An image gallery is available for Atlas Destroyer