Pacific Rim Uprising

by Becky Matheson

  BOOM! Kaiju-blue tinted flames erupted from the thruster pods. The Jaegers started to rise on pillars of flame and smoke. Inside, the conn-pods shook violently, like they were about to come apart. The cadets looked like they were about to puke.

  Warning alarms blared. Suresh swallowed hard. “That’s not a good sound!”

  Even Jake and Nate exchanged nervous glances. “Come on, girl. Hold together . . .” said Jake.

  Gipsy, Bracer, Guardian, and Saber launched triumphantly into the sky!

  Jules and the rest of the war room cheered. Gottlieb exhaled in relief, grinning weakly at Jules. “Knew it would work,” he said.

  Raijin, Hakuja, and Shrikethorn rampaged through the megacity of Tokyo. People on the street were running to the nearest Kaiju shelters.

  Raijin paused as he spied something up ahead. He roared at Hakuja and Shrikethorn. The Kaiju were communicating! These weren’t mindless beasts. They were intelligent and working together.

  Mount Fuji loomed in the distance. Raijin started for it, with Hakuja and Shrikethorn following.

  WHOMP! Gipsy Avenger dropped out of the sky. Her thruster pods dropped out as she landed on Raijin and threw the Kaiju into a building. She skidded to a stop and rose.

  “Gipsy to Command. Targets acquired,” said Nate.

  “Um. Roger that, Gipsy,” said Gottlieb.

  Gottlieb worked the holo screen, scanning the city for people. The scan came up negative.

  “Everyone in the city is secured in underground shelters. You’re cleared to engage.”

  “Solid copy. Going hot,” said Jake.

  Guardian Bravo, Saber Athena, and Bracer Phoenix rocketed down, backing Gipsy up.

  Jake spoke into the comms: “Bracer Phoenix, on me. We’ll take Raijin. Saber Athena, Guardian Bravo, you take the other two.”

  “Copy that,” said Suresh. “We were born to save the world.”

  “On my mark. Three, two, one—mark!” said Nate.

  Amara tightened with determination as they hurled into battle. The four Jaegers stormed down the empty streets toward the three Kaiju.

  Saber was the fastest in the fleet and surged ahead. She whipped out plasma swords from her back and attacked Hakuja. Hakuja tried to counter, but Saber spin-kicked the Kaiju in the face, sending it crashing back!

  Gipsy streaked past the fallen monster. She reared back her truck-sized fist and launched it at Raijin. Armored plates suddenly snapped closed around the Kaiju’s head, protecting it. Gipsy’s fist connected with the plates and WHOOM! The kinetic force from the hit was absorbed and transferred in a flash of energy to Raijin’s claws.

  Raijin roared! Its superpowered claws raked across Gipsy and sent her flying back. Bracer ducked just as Gipsy sailed back overhead.

  Gipsy crashed against the side of a building. Bracer continued on, firing missiles as she barreled toward Raijin. Raijin roared and backhanded Bracer, sending her sailing through a building.

  In Guardian Bravo, Suresh and Ilya ran full tilt toward Shrikethorn, firing missiles. But Bracer Phoenix landed right in Guardian Bravo’s path. Guardian tumbled to the ground and skidded to a stop, his giant metal fist just bumping an abandoned car. Its alarm went off.

  Gipsy started to rise, finally recovered from Raijin’s superpowered blow.

  Gottlieb eyed Raijin’s data streaming across a holo display. “Gipsy! Raijin’s faceplates are absorbing your hits and throwing the energy back at you!” he said over the comms.

  Jake and Nate regained their senses. “Let’s see it absorb this,” said Jake. He activated the gravity sling. The sling latched onto a building, and he yanked it down on top of Raijin. Raijin shook it off and kept coming!

  Gipsy pulled another building down on Raijin. And another. And another. But the Kaiju was unstoppable! Jake and Nate strained with all their might to pull another building down on the unstoppable Raijin.

  One street over, Hakuja recovered. The Kaiju tensed to pounce on Gipsy Avenger but WHAM! Saber Athena hit Hakuja with a flying knee, driving the Kaiju’s head into a building! Hakuja surged up and Saber attacked again, pummeling the beast.

  Gipsy gravity-slung another building down on Raijin. The beast staggered, but it kept coming.

  Guardian started to rise as Shrikethorn rounded the corner two streets away from Saber. Shrikethorn launched armored quills from its tail at Saber. The quills smashed into Saber, ripping at the Jaeger’s metal body.

  Renata and Ryoichi grunted in pain as holographic quills smashed into them. Hakuja seized the distraction and leapt onto Saber, driving her back into a Kaiju museum. Renata and Ryoichi struggled to keep Hakuja’s snapping jaws from ripping them apart. Ryoichi spotted Shrikethorn on its way to help Hakuja.

  “Shrikethorn inbound!” said Ryoichi.

  “Hey guys! We could use a little help over here!” said Renata.

  “Copy that!” said Amara.

  Amara, Jinhai, and Vik rose inside Bracer. They had only just recovered from the hit they took from Raijin.

  “Vik! Take out Shrikethorn!” said Amara.

  “On it!” said Vik. The floor under her drift cradle opened and she dropped down into position behind mounted rail guns that swiveled 360 degrees around the Jaeger’s midsection. She opened fire on Shrikethorn!

  Bracer’s rail guns tore into Shrikethorn. The Kaiju bellowed in pain and turned away from Saber and Hakuja to face Bracer.

  Suresh and Ilya ran as fast as they could to help Saber.

  “Saber Athena! Guardian Bravo coming to assist!” said Suresh.

  “Activating arc whip!” said Ilya.

  Power surged inside their conn-pod. Guardian Bravo unleashed an unbreakable graphene arc whip that crackled with energy! She leapt into the air.

  Ilya and Suresh snapped the holographic whip in midair, and it slashed Hakuja across the back! Hakuja roared and let go of Saber.

  Guardian landed, spun, and unleashed a devastating blow with the arc whip. Hakuja smashed through a building! The Kaiju bellowed angrily. Then, it burrowed into the ground.

  “Yeah, that’s right! You better run!” said Suresh. Then looking at Ilya, “These things ain’t that tough!”

  Gipsy, who was still pulling buildings down on Raijin, was knocked off-balance when Hakuja passed underground beneath her.

  On the next street over, Bracer managed to drive Shrikethorn back with her rail guns.

  Jake tensed as he spotted Hakuja’s designator on Gipsy’s screen. The Kaiju was moving underground toward Bracer Phoenix.

  “Bracer, check your six! Hostile inbound!” said Jake into the comms.

  “Copy that!” said Vik. She punched her holo screen, and her turret suddenly rotated and swiveled around to Bracer’s back just as Hakuja burst out of the ground behind them. Vik opened up with the rail gun, blasting Hakuja point-blank in the face. Vik hooted with adrenaline-pumping joy.

  “Yeah! Get some!” she said gleefully.

  Gipsy toppled another building onto Raijin with her gravity sling. Raijin shrieked this time, momentarily trapped. Gipsy took advantage and unleashed a barrage of plasma missiles at the Kaiju.

  Saber stormed past and attacked Shrikethorn. Bracer continued blasting Hakuja with her rail guns. The Kaiju were on the ropes!

  Drenched in sweat, with grease all over her, Shao eyed a holo screen. “They’re winning,” she said, in disbelief.

  “That’s what we do,” said Gottlieb. “Most of the time.”

  The holo screen flickered in the war room. The data from the battle was replaced by Newt speaking into his data pad’s camera from the Tokyo rooftop.

  “Hey buddy. Moshi moshi,” said Newt.

  “Newton,” exclaimed Gottlieb.

  “So you finally figured out your little rockets. Good for you, Hermann,” said Newt.

  “That’s not all we’ve figured out,” said Gottlieb.

  “We know what you’re trying to do,” said Jules.

  “It’s not him. It’s those things in his head,” said Gottlieb
.

  “Everybody has things in their head. Mine are just a lot more fun,” said Newt.

  “I’ve been in your mind, too, Newton. You’re stronger than they know,” said Gottlieb.

  Newt twitched, his real self trying to break through. “I couldn’t stop drifting with the Kaiju brain. I tried but she made me feel so . . . alive. They’re in my mind. They’re controlling me. I’m sorry, Hermann.”

  Newt jerked, the Precursors seizing control again. “Nice try. You don’t even know what this is. How all the pieces fit together. Want me to show you? Want to see what else I was whipping up in Siberia? Yes? No? How ’bout yes.”

  Newt pushed a button on his data pad screen with flourish. “This is gonna be so cool. I mean, not for you guys. For you it’s gonna suck. Sorry. But not really.”

  Newt disconnected. Lance Corporal McKinney tensed as her tactical screen flashed. “We got movement! Multiple hostiles! Three kilometers, southeast!” she said.

  McKinney swiped the intel to the main holo screen. Little red dots clustered near the raging battle sprang to life.

  “Command to strike team. Are you reading this?” said Gottlieb into the comms.

  Gipsy Avenger’s display lit up as it zeroed in on the rippers.

  “Where’d they come from?” asked Jake.

  Shao looked at the holo display and tensed. “That’s one of my automated factories,” she said.

  SCREECH! The rippers—biomechanical, tentacled nightmares the size of SUVs—surged down the street, sending cars flying.

  Gipsy’s holo screens flashed, indicating rippers surging toward their position.

  “It was Newt! Triangulating his signal—” said Nate.

  Jake spoke into the comms: “All Jaegers, disengage from Kaiju and brace for contact!

  Gipsy, Bracer, Guardian, and Saber disengaged from the battered Kaiju and turned to face the tidal wave of rippers hurtling toward them.

  Newt tracked the ripper swarm on his data pad from the rooftop. Just as they were about to slam into the Jaegers, he swiped his data pad, abruptly changing the rippers’ course.

  Instead of attacking Gipsy, Bracer, Guardian, and Saber, the rippers swarmed the Kaiju! The Kaiju roared in agony as they fell down. The rippers tore into their flesh.

  Ilya shared a confused look with Suresh.

  Gottlieb and Jules tensed as the Kaiju and ripper indicators on their holo screen began to coalesce. The rippers weren’t defeating the Kaiju—they were stitching the three Kaijus’ flesh together to make one massive Kaiju monster!

  The mega-Kaiju rose. Two Category IVs and a Category V joined together into one multitailed, metal-enhanced monster nightmare. Its head literally scraped the clouds and blocked the sun!

  Jake and Nate felt shock course through them as they stared at the abomination that now loomed over them.

  Newt grinned. “This is the way the world ends. Not with a whimper. But with a bang. A very, very big bang,” he said to himself.

  The mega-Kaiju roared! Windows across the city shattered. The monster lumbered toward the Jaegers, toppling buildings with its ripper-encrusted tail as it moved.

  “All Jaegers, advance and fire everything you’ve got!” said Jake.

  Gipsy Avenger rushed forward. She fired everything she had at the mega-Kaiju! The cadet-piloted Jaegers flanking her did the same. Missiles, particle beams, and plasma blasts all slammed into the gigantic beast!

  But the ripper plating absorbed and deflected all the hits. The mega-Kaiju roared and smashed a giant fist into the ground. The shock wave threw the Jaegers into the air!

  The Jaegers crashed to the ground—but Guardian Bravo miraculously landed on its feet. Ilya and Suresh surged forward to attack the mega-Kaiju.

  Jake and Nate struggled to get up. “Guardian, stand down!” screamed Jake into the comms.

  “We got this!” said Ilya.

  “Go for the eyes!” said Suresh.

  “Which ones?” said Ilya.

  “All of them!”

  The mega-Kaiju slammed the ground again but Guardian leapt up, kicking off a building as he swung his arc whip.

  The mega-Kaiju caught the whip. It swung Guardian around and then smashed the Jaeger through a set of buildings.

  Suresh and Ilya desperately hung on to the arc whip.

  Newt watched as the mega-Kaiju hurled Guardian across the city. Guardian crashed into a final skyscraper that collapsed on top of the critically damaged Jaeger.

  Newt laughed at how easily his creation took out Jake and his team. The mega-Kaiju headed for Mount Fuji!

  Jake and Nate wrestled to stabilize Gipsy. Their Jaeger had taken a serious blow and their conn-pod showed it.

  “Guardian Bravo, sitrep! You guys okay?” asked Nate.

  Nothing but static came over the receiver.

  “Ilya. Suresh. Report!” Jake said with urgency.

  Ilya lay bloodied and dazed, tangled in the wreckage of the conn-pod. He weakly clicked his comm on. “Guardian’s down. I’m pinned in the conn-pod. Suresh—”

  His voice broke as he glanced over to his copilot. “Suresh didn’t make it, sir.”

  The news hit Jake and Nate hard. It was terrible enough when a battle-tested pilot fell, but Suresh was only a cadet—young and not trained for this kind of battle. They felt the pain of losing him deeply.

  “Copy, Guardian,” said Jake.

  “We’ll send help soon as we can,” said Nate.

  “Bracer Phoenix, report,” said Jake.

  Amara and Jinhai tried to process the loss of one of their own. “We’re a little banged up, but still in the fight,” said Amara.

  “Us, too,” said Renata. She and Ryoichi struggled to keep it together after hearing the news about Suresh. “S-Saber I mean. Saber Athena, sir,” she said.

  Jake permitted himself a moment of relief, taking whatever miracles he could get. He punched coordinates.

  “Bracer, Saber, prepare to intercept at the following coordinates,” he said.

  Amara’s eyes gleamed. It was time for payback.

  Gipsy Avenger took off across the city. Bracer Phoenix and Saber Athena followed suit. Guardian Bravo lay weakly in the rubble. She began to stir, struggling to rise.

  “Sir. I’m gonna try to pilot Guardian myself,” said Ilya over the comms.

  “Negative. Stand down, Cadet,” ordered Nate.

  Ilya strained in his drift cradle. “I can help, sir—”

  “Ilya, stand down. That’s an order!” said Jake.

  Ilya ripped off his helmet, frustrated and angry.

  “We know how bad you want back in the fight, but even a seasoned vet can’t pilot a Jaeger without help—” said Jake. Then he tensed. An idea struck him.

  “Gipsy to Command. Do you have a tactical scan of the hostile?” asked Jake.

  McKinney hurriedly pulled up data on her tactical display and pushed it to the main holo screen. “Assessing data from their sensors . . .” she said.

  A partial scan of the mega-Kaiju appeared on the holo screen.

  “We have it, Gipsy, but it’s still compiling,” said Jules.

  “No time. Can you locate the brains?” asked Jake.

  Gottlieb zoomed in on the mega-Kaiju’s head. It bristled with bony spikes and crests that protected the skull. “Hostile’s central brain mass is heavily armored. Your weapons won’t be able to penetrate.”

  Nate realized where Jake was going with this. “What about a secondary brain?” he asked.

  Gottlieb worked the holo screen. Three areas lit up in the mega-Kaiju’s hindquarters near the monster’s tails.

  “Hostile has three secondary brains. One for each component Kaiju,” said Gottlieb.

  Gipsy Avenger flexed her arms and dashed through the city. FHOOM! Twin forearm plasma chain saws whipped out, courtesy of Obsidian Fury.

  Gipsy kicked off from a building and soared into the air. She slashed the mega-Kaiju across the back!

  The mega-Kaiju turned to attack Gipsy. But Saber A
thena flipped over the behemoth and slashed it with her sword.

  The mega-Kaiju raised a giant claw to smash Saber Athena, but then Bracer Phoenix attacked it from behind with missiles. Bracer threw his morning star hand. The spikes on the giant weapon rotated quickly and then smashed the mega-Kaiju in the face. The blow broke off one of its mandible tusks.

  Amara and Jinhai retracted the morning star and leapt into the air to attack the mega-Kaiju’s secondary brains, which were inside the monster’s back. The mega-Kaiju spun around and swatted Bracer in midair, which sent the Jaeger flying.

  The entire group strained in their conn-pods as they battled the mega-Kaiju.

  Then it suddenly lashed out at Saber Athena, ripping both the Jaeger’s legs off. Saber tried to crawl away, but mega-Kaiju shot its double tail out like a scorpion and pinned the crippled Jaeger to the ground. Then, it tossed her aside.

  Renata and Ryoichi grimaced in agony as the biofeedback of the Jaeger death surged through them.

  But the distraction gave Gipsy an opening to strike deep into the beast with both plasma chain saws. Gipsy took out one of the secondary brains! The war room erupted in cheers.

  The mega-Kaiju screeched as a section of its flank went dead. The strain from the deadweight tore apart the ripper sutures. The mechanical monsters tumbled to the ground—most were destroyed in the process. Jake’s plan was working!

  “One down, two to go,” said Jake over the comms.

  Suddenly, Gipsy Avenger was slammed backward as the mega-Kaiju snapped off one of her plasma chain saws. Gipsy flew across the city and went down hard.

  Bracer Phoenix circled the mega-Kaiju. Amara and Jinhai pressed forward to attack while Vik viciously worked her rail gun.

  “I can’t punch through!” said Vik.

  On the display, Jinhai spotted a spire atop a neighboring building.

  “Target that spire! I’m gonna try something!” said Jinhai.

  Vik’s rail gun sheared the spire off the building. Bracer Phoenix ran, leapt, and caught the spire as it fell. Then it slammed the spire deep into the mega-Kaiju’s flesh.

  Amara completed the move with a holographic spire. Another secondary brain faded out.

  The mega-Kaiju bellowed. It whipped around and snatched Bracer Phoenix up in its jaws. The conn-pods started to break apart!