“All pilots, eject! Eject!” said Jinhai.
Amara, Jinhai, and Vik’s escape pods blasted free just as Bracer Phoenix was crushed between the mega-Kaiju’s jaws.
Amara’s escape pod smoked as it landed roughly on the ground. She managed to scramble out just before the mega-Kaiju thundered past and crushed the pod.
She turned to see Jinhai rushing up to her with a bloodied Vik.
The mega-Kaiju thundered toward Mount Fuji. Then out of nowhere, Gipsy Avenger appeared. The Jaeger jumped on the mega-Kaiju’s back.
The two wrestled. Then the mega-Kaiju got the upper hand. It rose, grabbed Gipsy, and dragged her across the pavement.
Gipsy fired her plasma cannon and blasted it at the beast. The mega-Kaiju roared in pain and anger and lashed out with its tail.
The tail slammed through Gipsy’s conn-pod. It tore up the back wall. Nate grunted in pain as the tail punctured his side.
“Nate! C’mon, stay with me, brother—” said Jake.
Nate tried to maintain control, but he lost consciousness.
Jules’s heart leapt into her throat as she viewed Nate’s fluctuating vital signs on her holo screen. “Warning. Neural handshake lost,” said the computer.
Jake grimaced as he suddenly absorbed the double neural load of piloting Gipsy solo.
The mega-Kaiju slammed Gipsy Avenger aside. Then, it roared in triumph.
“Yes! Oh! Get up from that, you pile of junk,” said Newt, watching.
Newt stiffened as the mega-Kaiju noticed him. The giant beast came face-to-face with the tiny human. Sniffed. Then turned away, lumbering toward Mount Fuji. Newt chuckled in relief.
“Bye!” he said.
“Shao? Is there anything you can do to help?” asked Gottlieb desperately.
“I need more time!” she replied.
“We don’t have any. If the hostile reaches Mount Fuji—” Gottlieb’s voice weakened.
Then Jake’s voice came over the comms! “Gipsy to Command,” he said. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
Jake strained to get Gipsy to her feet. His nose started to bleed from the neural strain of piloting the Jaeger alone. He was going to stop Raijin or die trying!
“Jake, you can’t operate Gipsy without a copilot,” said Gottlieb.
“Gipsy Avenger. This is Amara Namani. Stand by for assist!” said Amara over the comms.
Amara sprinted across the roof of a partially destroyed building. Gipsy Avenger staggered to one knee right beside the building, giving Jake a clear view of what Amara was about to attempt.
“Amara, don’t! You won’t make it!” he screamed.
“I’m gonna.” Amara sprinted to the edge.
“Don’t!” yelled Jake.
“Gonna!” said Amara.
She leapt off the roof, aiming for Gipsy Avenger’s head, but fell painfully short and plummeted toward the ground.
Gipsy Avenger whirled and just barely caught her in the palm of its massive hand. Gipsy Avenger raised Amara up to her ripped-open faceplate.
Amara scrambled into the conn-pod. Jake shot her a look that was half rebuke and half admiration.
“Told you,” said Jake.
“Since when do I listen?” asked Amara.
Nate grimaced. He was barely clinging to consciousness. “Amara . . . you’re up,” he said, smiling. Then, he winced in pain. Amara rushed to his side and initialized the ejection sequence.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked Nate.
“Getting out of the way,” Nate grimaced. “Glad it’s you. You’re crazy enough to kick that thing’s butt.”
Jake nodded. His friend’s words gave him strength.
Amara punched the final command. “Ejection sequence initiated,” said a computer voice. Nate was ejected from Gipsy Avenger via an escape pod.
Amara climbed into Nate’s now-empty drift cradle.
“You ready for this, smallie?” asked Jake.
Amara finished locking herself into the cradle. “One way to find out,” she said.
Jake frowned, but he fired up the controls. “Stand by, Command. Initiating neural handshake . . .”
Gipsy Avenger was still on one knee among the debris, as beaten up as the wrecked city around her. A beat passed and nothing happened.
Then suddenly, WHOOM! Gipsy Avenger surged to her feet, rising from the ashes. Gipsy slammed her fist into her palm. She was ready.
WHAM! Gipsy’s right leg buckled. It was severely damaged from her battle with the mega-Kaiju. The Jaeger crashed back to one knee.
Alarms wailed. Amara frantically punched holo commands.
“WARNING. CASCADE FAILURE. MULTIPLE SYSTEMS,” said a computer voice.
“Reboot!” screamed Jake.
“I’m trying!” said Amara.
Gottlieb tensed. He tracked the mega-Kaiju’s position. “The hostile is two kilometers from the summit of Mount Fuji!”
Trees toppled as the mega-Kaiju thundered forward. The beast was wounded but determined. The snowcapped summit of Mount Fuji glistened in the distance.
Amara frantically tried to reboot Gipsy’s systems.
Jake spoke into the comms: “Gottlieb, is there enough fuel left in any of your thrusters to get us into the atmosphere?”
“The atmosphere?” said Gottlieb. He punched commands into the computer. “Possibly, but there won’t be enough to slow your reentry.”
“Not going to slow down. We’ll come in hot and drop Gipsy right on top of that thing,” said Jake. Then he looked at Amara. “We’ll use my escape pod, smallie.”
Gottlieb worked his data pad. “Jake, there’s only one thruster pod with enough fuel remaining to reach the troposphere. Sending location . . .”
The intel popped up on the holo screens. Amara stiffened. “It’s too far away. We’re not gonna make it.”
Then, Shao’s voice came over the comms: “Gipsy Avenger—my systems are online!”
A familiar, brightly colored holo display flared to life and a message flashed across it: REMOTE UPLINK ACTIVE. “Sending help!” said Shao.
The cargo doors of a heavy-lift Shao V-Dragon opened. Something rolled out of the back and unfurled in midair, the sun flaring behind it.
“Scrapper!” Amara exclaimed. It was her Jaeger!
Scrapper curled into a ball in midair, smashed through a building, and landed on the ground in one sleek movement.
This was what Shao had been working on! She had been modifying Scrapper’s conn-pod rings to remotely operate the Jaeger from the Shatterdome.
A Shao data core sat where the pilot rings used to be. That’s how Shao was remotely operating Scrapper! Her holo screen locked onto a thruster pod.
“I’ve located the thruster pod! Stand by,” she exclaimed.
The air was thick from all the destruction.
WHOOSH! Scrapper surged out, with the thruster pod slung across her back.
Jake and Amara watched Scrapper closing in with the thruster pod through Gipsy’s destroyed face shield. Amara punched commands, doing quick calculations.
“Thrust is too strong. We won’t be able to hold on to it,” said Amara.
“I upgraded Scrapper’s weapons. I can weld the thruster to your hand,” said Shao.
“Nice!” said Amara.
Scrapper tossed the thruster pod down, and Gipsy reached out and grabbed it!
Plasma blasters with Shao Industries markings sprang from Scrapper’s shoulders. Metal sizzled as Scrapper scrambled onto Gipsy’s arm, using the blasters to weld the thruster pod to Gipsy’s hand.
“We’ll only get one shot at this,” said Amara.
“Then we better make it count,” said Jake.
KA-THOOM! Scrapper’s blasters accidentally ignited the thruster pod. Gipsy surged forward, careening out of control. Jake and Amara were slammed hard.
Shock spread across Shao’s face. The remote conn-rings shuddered from the uplink feedback. “Ignition! We have ignition!” she said.
Gipsy blas
ted horizontally through the city, tearing up the street and scraping buildings in its path. The Jaeger was completely out of control!
Scrapper tumbled. The little Jaeger’s foot got caught on Gipsy’s rear fin.
Gipsy careened through the city and then started to climb into the air. Scrapper flailed—unexpectedly along for the ride.
“I’m stuck!” said Shao, who was remotely operating Scrapper.
Jake and Amara struggled to adjust their trajectory. “Stay there,” said Jake to Shao. “You’re an extra ton we can drop on that thing.”
Gipsy Avenger burst through the clouds. They were headed for the upper atmosphere now. Pieces of the battle-damaged Jaeger were ripped off by extreme forces.
Warning alarms wailed. The conn-pod shook and threatened to disintegrate.
“She’s coming apart!” said Amara.
“Almost there!” said Jake.
The thruster pod flamed out. Its fuel was spent. Gipsy reached the apex of her trajectory. Gravity momentarily ceased to exist. Jake and Amara floated into the air. Then, Gipsy started to plummet. They were headed back down!
Jake and Amara were slammed hard as Gipsy plummeted back to earth. A holo screen flashed. “We’re locked on target!” said Amara.
“Get out of there! Eject!” said Gottlieb over the comms.
“We’re drifting off course,” said Jake.
Amara thought fast. “Use the plasma cannon!” she shouted.
Jake grinned and punched the commands. “Disengaging safety protocols!” he said.
Gipsy’s plasma cannon fired. The continuous stream of energy began to correct the Jaeger’s course, but Gipsy’s arm started to glow from the intense heat. Pieces started to break off.
Jake and Amara struggled to maintain control. Warning alarms wailed. “Warning. Exceeding structural limits!” said a computer voice.
The plasma cannon flared out. It took a hunk of Gipsy’s forearm with it.
Gipsy shuddered. Alarms wailed. Jake threw a worried look at Amara. Were they going to make it?
Amara punched holo commands. A reticle adjusted and locked onto the mega-Kaiju on the side of Mount Fuji.
“Target locked!” said Amara.
Gottlieb eyed the rate of Gipsy’s descent. “Jake! Amara! You need to eject!” he said.
Gipsy screamed toward earth. At this point, it was glowing from the friction of reentry. Pieces were still falling off. Wind slammed through Gipsy’s destroyed face shield. Flames ignited just outside!
“Disconnect!” Jake screamed at Amara.
Amara froze, terrified. Jake stretched out his hand. “It’s okay! I got you!” he said.
Amara swallowed the fear and punched a holo command. The drift cradle disconnected from her drivesuit. Amara leapt for Jake, fighting the howling wind. Jake barely snagged her hand.
He pulled Amara close. She clung to him, heart racing.
Jake grinned and punched holo commands. “Gipsy to Command. We are getting the hell out of here.”
“WARNING. ESCAPE POD INOPERABLE. WARNING,” said a computer voice.
Gipsy plummeted like a skyscraper dropped from space. Jake eyed a holo indicator counting down the kilometers to impact. It was moving fast! He looked at Amara, eyes filled with the knowledge of their impending death.
“I’m sorry, smallie,” said Jake.
Amara pushed her fear aside and mustered a smile. “For what? We got to save the world. Your dad would be proud.”
Jake nodded. The sentiment hit him hard.
ZZZTTTTTT! A plasma beam interrupted the moment as it cut into the conn-pod behind them. They whirled in surprise.
Scrapper was using her plasma blasters to cut a hole in the back of Gipsy’s head! The little Jaeger made it into the conn-pod. “You guys need a lift?” asked Shao, her voice coming over the remote link. Jake and Amara felt relief pulse through them.
“Twenty kilometers to impact! Get out of there!” said Gottlieb.
Jake and Amara scrambled into Scrapper. Amara dove into one of the counterbalance ear alcoves and Jake dove into the other.
The mega-Kaiju thundered up the side of Mount Fuji. It reached the snowcapped crater at the summit. It roared, about to leap in and start the world-ending chain reaction. But then, it paused. A sound drew its attention to Gipsy Avenger hurtling toward it.
“Hang on!” said Jake.
“I am hanging on!” said Amara.
“Hang tighter!” said Jake.
Scrapper jumped off Gipsy and then curled into a ball just as the Jaeger slammed into the mega-Kaiju. The impact went off like an atomic bomb. Scrapper bounced and careened off trees. Then she unfurled as the shock wave hit her. Jake and Amara were thrown hard by the blast!
The mega-Kaiju slid to a stop. It was smoking and damaged. It started to rise, but then it collapsed. Its skin had been torn apart and smeared across several miles of Mount Fuji—all that was left of it was its head and upper body.
The mega-Kaiju’s locator dot winked out on the holo screen. The war room techs cheered! Jules smiled, but she was still worried about Nate. Gottlieb sighed in relief. The end of the world came a little too close this time.
Shao beamed. She was exhausted but triumphant.
Jinhai, Vik, Ryoichi, Renata, and an injured-but-standing Ilya cheered. It was a costly victory, but the Jaegers and their pilots had saved the world once again!
Above Tokyo, Newt seethed at his loss.
“All right. Okay. Sure. Plan B then. Always a plan B,” he muttered. He turned to escape to his V-Dragon and WHAM! A fist cracked him in the face and knocked him out. It was Nate! He was worse for the wear but still on his feet. He grimaced from the effort and growled at Newt, who was now laid out on the ground.
“That’s about enough of that,” said Nate. He activated his comm. “Command, this is Lambert.”
Jules exhaled in relief at the sound of Nate’s voice.
“Be advised, I just caught us a Newt.”
At Mount Fuji, snow continued to fall, creating a surreal winter scene. Jake and Amara were walking away from Scrapper, who was splayed out in the background. The little Jaeger was damaged from the force of the blast.
“Copy that, Nate. Good to hear you’re still with us,” said Jake.
“You, too, brother. Knew you could do it,” said Nate.
“I had a lot of help,” said Jake. He grinned at Amara as he pulled his helmet off.
“Nice work, Ranger Namani,” said Nate. Amara smiled.
“I’ve never seen snow before,” she said to Jake.
“Yeah . . . almost makes you forget the giant dead monster over there,” he teased.
“I feel like you’re about to make another one of your big dumb speeches,” said Amara.
“Dumb? That speech was inspirational. It literally saved the world.”
Jake nailed Amara with a snowball. She shrieked and threw one back.
“Wait. Did everyone really think it was dumb?” asked Jake.
Amara just laughed. She looked up as the sun set over Mount Fuji. The dead mega-Kaiju’s tattered body hung off it in the distance. Snow glistened in every direction, and at that moment, she felt happy to be alive.
Jake Pentecost, former star cadet and son of Jaeger pilot war hero Stacker Pentecost, makes a living in the criminal underworld of the Santa Monica slums.
Jake and his new friend Amara, an orphan who grew up in the streets of Santa Monica, get into trouble when they steal a valuable piece from a scrapped Jaeger. Using her homemade Jaeger, Scrapper, they put up a valiant fight before they’re caught by the PPDC.
Jake’s adoptive sister, Mako Mori, who followed in their father’s footsteps to become a PPDC hero, gives Jake two choices: Go to jail or rejoin the PPDC as a Ranger to train new recruit Amara and the other cadets. Jake reluctantly accepts her offer.
Amara meets the other cadets and struggles to fit in at first. She has a lot to learn about becoming a cadet, and who not to pick a fight with!
Jake r
eunites with his old friend and former copilot, Nathan Lambert. Nathan isn’t pleased to see Jake at first, still upset about a falling-out they had as cadets 11 years before.
A mysterious rogue Jaeger, Obsidian Fury, attacks PPDC headquarters in Sydney, causing massive destruction.
Jake and Nathan head to Siberia. Together, they pilot Gipsy Avenger and defeat Obsidian Fury after an intense battle.
Prominent tech executive Shao Liwen unveils her plan to replace piloted Jaegers with drones that can be safely controlled remotely from anywhere in the world.
During delivery of the Shao drones, they are hacked and begin attacking the PPDC, destroying Jaegers and Shatterdomes around the Pacific Rim.
The drone Kaiju begin opening multiple breaches around the world.
Three Kaiju make it through the breach heading towards Tokyo. Jake and Lambert assemble a team of humanity’s last hopes to save the world: the cadets.
In the aftermath of all the destruction, they deploy the remaining Jaegers and launch into action.
When it looks like the Jaegers are winning the battle, the three Kaiju turn the tables by combining together into one gigantic mega-Kaiju!
When Nathan is injured, Amara comes to Jake’s rescue to copilot Gipsy Avenger, the last standing Jaeger. At the last minute, they’re able to work together to destroy the mega-Kaiju and save the world.
Finally living up to his father’s heroic legacy, Jake realizes that he was always destined for greatness as a Jaeger Pilot.
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All rights reserved. Published by Insight Editions, San Rafael, California, in 2018. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Pacific Rim Uprising Page 8
