Raythe

Raythe
Technical Information
Breached	November 6, 2018
Category	II
Status	Deceased
Origin	Anteverse
Kaiju Specifications
Height	About 280 ft (85.34m)
Combat Specifications
Behavior	Highly unpredictable route pattern Avoid large urban centers Obsession with decapitating its targets
Power	Extendable neck Sonic scream
Weakness	Eyes vulnerable to sunlight
Target information
City Targeted	Tomari Sea of Okhotsk
Jaeger Targeted	Cherno Alpha

Raythe is a Category II Kaiju that attacked the Sea of Okhotsk on November 6, 2018.

Biology

Raythe is a large, bulbous-bellied, vaguely humanoid Kaiju with long, sinewy limbs. Its eyes have a strong blue bioluminescent glow and are wide-set and sunken into its immense, tri-lobed skull armored with overlapping plates and spikes that extend into a snapping turtle-like beak. The Kaiju's neck is extremely long and covered in fleshy tendrils, and can be thrust out like a spear to allow Raythe to bite its opponents and quickly be pulled between its heavily plated and spiked shoulders for protection. Its limbs end in claws and all its joints are extremely flexible, allowing it to bend and contort in different directions and attack its targets from afar due to its length. Raythe's legs are powerful and can leap out of the water and kick with force.

The Kaiju primarily uses its arms during attacks and when necessary throws its head at opponents, biting them with its beak sharp enough to break Cherno Alpha's hull. Like the early Kaiju, Raythe seems to have an obsession with attacking the heads of its targets, dedicating much of its efforts to trying to decapitate them. It is one of the most resistant Kaiju, with its hide capable of withstanding all of Cherno Alpha's punches, not being pierced by the Foot Spikes and being able to completely resist the Jaeger's Incinerator Turbines, being vulnerable only to electric shocks directed at its brains.

Perhaps one of its most notable characteristics is its subsonic roar, which is too low to be heard by humans and creates powerful vibrations capable of knocking down aircraft and even causing pilots inside the Conn-Pod of Cherno Alpha, the most protected Jaeger, to feel their bones shaking along with the entire Jaeger's machinery.

Unlike other Kaiju, Raythe avoided large population centers and had a highly unpredictable path that was difficult to track. While it is unknown whether this was intentional or not, the Kaiju targeted energy production locations, such as nuclear power plants and oil rigs. It also had light-sensitive eyes, preferring to swim in deep water and becoming disoriented when exposed to sunlight.

History

Chase in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk

Raythe emerged from the Breach and initially remains submerged, traveling in deep waters far west of the main Japanese islands on a direct course toward Kamchatka. In response, the PPDC deployed Cherno Alpha near the Kamchatka coast to intercept the Kaiju. However, Raythe abruptly shifted course westward toward Hokkaido. As Cherno waited for redeployment by helicopters, Raythe once again changed trajectory, this time heading north, bypassing major cities and eventually arriving on the sparsely populated island of Sakhalin. The Kaiju ignored the island's southern capital and made landfall in the small town of Tomari, devastating it and killing most of its inhabitants before returning to the sea. It then moved through the Strait of Tartary, inflicting little to no damage along the coastline, before entering the Sea of Okhotsk and heading toward a series of oil platforms.

After some time, Raythe comes face to face with Cherno, who had been implanted in its route. It immediately attacked with its long arms, but Cherno blocked the strike and countered with a punch. The monster counterattacked by striking the side of Cherno’s head, then let out a deep subsonic roar before grabbing the Jaeger's head in an attempt to rip it off. It launched its hind legs out of the water and pressed both feet against Cherno’s chest to increase leverage. In response, the Jaeger broke free by prying Raythe’s limbs apart, then grabbed one of its arms and a leg and slammed it into the sea.

Raythe took advantage of this moment to swim to Cherno's back and deliver a surprise attack with its claws against the opponent's head, but the Mark-1 instinctively turned and struck the Kaiju in the chest, knocking Raythe down and making it scream even more. While it was knocked down, Raythe was stepped on by the Mark-1 who activated the spikes on its feet in an attempt to nail the Kaiju to the ground, but the creature's hide prevented the blow from being fully executed, resulting in Raythe stunned on the ground while receiving several punches from Cherno in the shoulders and torso. The Kaiju retaliated by stretching its neck and pecking the area between Cherno's chest and head, breaking the Jaeger's hull and kicking it, making the target fall to its knees and taking the opportunity to grab onto its back, wrapping all of its limbs around the Mark-1 while trying to literally tear it in half, but being caught by the arm and thrown away.

Raythe fled toward the oil platforms. Cherno pursued and intercepted it just in time. As the sun rose and impaired Raythe’s vision, Cherno took advantage, delivering a powerful headbutt and a series of blows that knocked the Kaiju back into the sea ice. Despite this, Raythe continued to fight, showing little damage from the assault. In response, Cherno activated its Incinerator Turbines, unleashing streams of burning gel onto the Kaiju’s face. Raythe dived to extinguish the flames but emerged still burning and lunged at Cherno, setting the Jaeger on fire as well.

The two giants grappled. Raythe extended its neck and began biting into Cherno’s armored head, coming dangerously close to breaching its main energy core. In a final desperate move, Cherno Alpha trapped the Kaiju’s head between its fists and rerouted all remaining power to its Tesla Fists, delivering a devastating electrical discharge of 415 kW that fried Raythe’s three brains and finally killed the Kaiju before being completely shut down.

Aftermath

Although it managed to kill the Kaiju, Cherno Alpha was unable to stop it from wiping the city of Tomari off the map, resulting in several deaths including Viktoriya Malikova's parents. This tragedy caused many of the residents of Sakhalin to completely lose trust in Aleksis and Sasha Kaidonovsky, doubting their ability to protect them from the growing Kaiju threat.

Trivia

• Raythe is the thirteenth Kaiju to emerge from the Breach.
  • It is the second known Category II Kaiju.
  • It is the first Kaiju to attack Russian territory.
  • It is the first Kaiju to be killed by Cherno Alpha.
• Despite having an important role in the novelization, Raythe's Category is only revealed in the fifth issue of Aftermath.