"If they've sent something new..." Raleigh said as they ran. "If we're right about the Kaiju being smarter than we thought, then we've got a real problem. It'll go for Striker Eureka!"
"If the Brains Trust was right and it was a Double Event, Stacker will keep Striker out of the fight!" Mako called back as they boarded the elevator.
"Listen, your post is the Control Room." Raleigh told her as the elevator started moving. "I don't have a Combat Post yet, so maybe-"
The elevator suddenly went still. An instant later the lights went out, plunging them into darkness.
"The emergency lights?"
"They should have come on by now."
"Then it's not a power failure."
"Give me a boost, I'll get the hatch."
In the total darkness, Mako honestly wasn't sure which of them was speaking, or in truth, if either of them were speaking at all. The words and plans exchanged could easily have been in her head. She didn't need to see him. She wasn't feeling around for him in the dark when he boosted her up to the ceiling. She just... knew.
Eventually, they made it to the Control Room. It sounded like the battle was going poorly.
"All our Jaegers are fried. Anything digital is fried." Tendo was telling him, even as he was yanking dead circuits.
"What's the range?"
"Just the harbour. All the cranes are shut down... Looks like the city is still up."
"Still up and lit like a Christmas Tree for any passing monster to notice." Stacker growled. "Guidance?"
His people started checking their consoles. "Weapon guidance is offline. Manual targeting is... available, but no chance of ignition. We're digital. We're all digital."
"Not all." Raleigh said, stepping forward. "Marshal, Gipsy's systems are analogue."
Pentecost hesitated, and looked to Mako. The look they shared said it all. Maybe the universe has a different idea of 'last chance' than we do.
Tendo briefed them as they suited up. "It was a Double Event alright." He reported. "Two Class Fours. Codenames: Otachi and Leatherback. We've already lost Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha."
"Both of them?!" Mako blurted as she jumped up to the Conn-Pod. "The Alarm only went off a few minutes ago!"
"We didn't pick up a direction until they reached the Miracle Mile." Tendo growled. "Your tax dollars being saved, one penny at a time."
"What about Striker?" Raleigh asked, cool as a glacier.
"Intact, but completely shut down. One of them had a natural EMP blast."
"Something they probably learned from us." Mako commented. "Geizler proved the Hivemind theory, and at least a few of the Class Ones survived long enough to see cities getting shut down by EMP blasts, back before we had Jaegers to fight back with."
"Well, that's for the High IQ guys to fight over." Raleigh told her. "You ready for this?"
Mako shivered. "I think we've seen where the Rabbits go. We don't have to chase them any more."
"It won't be as chaotic this time. All those neurons are already in place." Stacker said, adjusting her harness for her. "As much as I'd love to send you straight to the city, our spotters say that the two Contacts have divided. Leatherback is staying with Striker Eureka, studying it."
"Reporting observations back to the Breach via the Hivemind." Mako agreed.
"If we're ever going to have a chance at making a Bomb Run, we need Striker to survive. The Kaiju are taking the time to study what we've got. How long do you think the Hansens will allow that?"
"Not long." Mako agreed. "Though I don't know what they plan to do about it."
Stacker stepped back toward the hatch and gave them their marching orders. "You'll have no support from anyone in Locent, past a walkie-talkie. We're completely shut down. Keep Striker Eureka alive for the Bomb Run, and save Hong Kong. I'm sorry to say it, but it has to be in that order."
"Yessir." Team Gipsy chorused.
And then the door was sealed, and it was just the three of them. Mako, Raleigh, and Gipsy Danger.
"Welcome Back. I was getting worried about you." The AI told them in that oddly disquieting digital voice. "Would you like to try again?"
"Yes." Raleigh and Mako said together.
At that moment, Gipsy shifted, as the carriers lifted them out of the Dome's Hangar, and turned toward the water.
"We engage Leatherback in ninety seconds." Raleigh told her. "Begin the Neural Handshake."
They hit the controls together...
Mako was uncertain of where she was for a few seconds. She saw the ocean flying past beneath them, as thought Gipsy was her eyes. Which it was. She felt the wind rolling over her skin, as though Gipsy's hull was her body. Which it was.
She was also aware of Raleigh beside her, undergoing the same sense of duality.
But she also felt... like she was marching.
She was marching down a long street, toward a Kaiju. She was dressed in old-style armor, like a genuine Samurai of old. She had the hilt of her sword in her hand, ready to draw.
Mako knew that Raleigh was there too, but she couldn't see him. She didn't have to look for him. He was standing exactly where she was, literally. She could tell that Yancy was there too. So was her father, and Stacker, and Tasmin, and Jess; all marching with her, as she strode with strong clear purpose to war.
They were reaching the end of the road, and the Kaiju was waiting to meet them. But it wasn't a creature out of nightmares any more. It no longer stood hundreds of feet tall. She could look it in the eye. She could meet it as an equal.
Mako drew her sword. "I do not fear you." She told it in Japanese.
The Kaiju roared.
Leatherback roared when it saw the spotlights. It turned away from Striker Eureka to face the new challenger. Gipsy was released from it's transport harness, and landed in a combat crouch.
I've been waiting my whole life for this moment.
"Here we go!" Raleigh said, and Mako could feel the war cry behind it.
Replacing a cell phone battery was faster than getting the Shatterdome reactivated. Tendo had called up the Twitter feed of the nearest news channel, and handed his phone to Stacker.
Stacker took the phone and watched the battle play out in short, cold sentences, scrolling across the screen. But he didn't care after the first two tweets. Battle was joined, and that was enough.
Mako had handled The Drift. Enough that she was in the fight at last, and Stacker would have let out a war whoop if there weren't so many people around. Mako had made it as far as the fight. He didn't need to know any more than that. Mako Mori had finally stepped into the ring.
He gave a smirk that could cut glass. The Kaiju had no idea what humanity had just turned loose on them.
Images came quickly to match the news, and Stacker checked. Gipsy had made landfall, and had Leatherback in a body-lock from behind.
Leatherback reared up, and rolled back, trying to make itself too heavy to hold onto. But it wasn't being lifted by Striker Eureka. Gipsy Danger was something the Kaiju hadn't seen in seven years. Compared to a nimble machine like Striker Eureka, Gipsy Danger was an Ironclad... But that only made her fists heavier and her body harder to beat down.
Gipsy Danger was fueled by something a lot more deadly than her Reactor Core. Her soul was Mako's fury, and Raleigh's cool detachment. All of Mako's knowledge, and all of Raleigh's practical experience. All of Mako's reflexes, and all of Raleigh's timing. All of her fire, and all of his ice. The Soul of Two Warriors, in one Ironclad body. Too slow to catch a Category 4, but too smart to be pinned down. Too weak to wrestle Leatherback straight up, but too skilled to ever be taken by surprise.
Mako gloried in it. Exalted in it. She thought she was The Sword. She was wrong. Everything that come before was just her temper cutting loose in combat. With Raleigh she was a true Pilot, cool and deadly. She thought back to the Dojo, and realized what a child she had been, all her training, all her effort, and it was the military version of an angry teenager throwing a tantrum.
But now she had Raleigh, pulling her back without making her less than she was. He was her focus. He gave her focus. He made her obsession give way to concentration. The two of them together was Tranquil Fury unleashed.
Leatherback roared, and Mako let it scream. It was a wild beast, roaring outrage. A week ago she had been the same, looking to simply overpower, overcome, to overload a target with the force of sheer rage.
And as Leatherback slammed into them, Mako suddenly knew what as waste of energy it was.
Gipsy Danger held up one forearm, keeping its teeth away. Leatherback gripped Gipsy by the shoulders and started pushing her back. Gipsy didn't try and check the movement, letting the enemy skid her backwards toward the harbor again.
The Kaiju had made a full on assault, and in so doing had saved nothing for defense.
"Plasma-Cannon!" Raleigh directed Gipsy, and her lilting AI voice quickly responded. Mako could feel her right hand morph into something a hell of a lot more dangerous than a fist. Gipsy spat blue fire into Leatherback's belly, its chest, its shoulder...
The Kaiju roared and pushed harder, turning its pain into a more powerful assault, but strength had proven useless against Gipsy's strategy; and using more brute force wasn't going to save it.
"Empty the clip!" Raleigh shouted to her.
Mako's strange affinity for the Kaiju had never been stronger. A week ago, Leatherback's mad charge would have been her tactic too, responding with more aggression when faced with a losing battle. Suddenly it seemed so clear: She never would have had a chance if she'd fought that way.
The Drift spoke truth to her, and for once, Mako could embrace it. All her fury and rage would have devoured her whole, and now she was free of it. It would have cost her life. As Gipsy kept firing, she had the proof right here. Leatherback kept roaring, all impotent fury, even as its insides were torn apart with cold fire. And as Gipsy kept firing and whole limbs were blown off the Beast, it still didn't change tack, obsessed with its doomed offensive.
Leatherback fell, defeated.
Mako gave a silent War Cry. She'd done it. She was a Jaeger Jockey, and she'd won her first battle. She was a Steel Samurai. The Sword of the Human Race.
So. More than a third of the first timers don't survive their first Trial By Battle. Raleigh said in her mind. Feeling good?
Feeling great!
Good. Because Round Two is in about thirty seconds.
Bring it on!
Gipsy turned to march into the city, when suddenly a thought occurred. Yancy had been killed by a Kaiju that was considered dead. Mako's entire team had been killed by a Kaiju that was declared dead, and ready for dissection.
"I think it's dead... but let's check for a pulse." Raleigh suggested, and Mako heartily concurred, sharing the same thought.
"No pulse." Stacker said coolly, following the reports on his phone. "One down."
A moment later the Shatterdome Control Room lit up brightly.
"We're back up!" Tendo shouted, jumping clear over the console to get to his sensors. "We're rebooting, still rebooting..."
The whole Control Room was climbing the walls, except for Stacker, who was fixed and steady, using patience as a weapon.
After what seemed like a million years, they got their screens back.
Just in time to see Otachi spread its arms wide... and suddenly extend a pair of huge leathery wings.
A round of curse words in various languages rang out in shocked horror.
"Kaiju can fly." Tendo said blankly.
"Fly while carrying a full sized MK-3, no less." Stacker commented, as though such things happened every day.
"Did Satan feel the War was too easy?" Tendo asked rhetorically, as Otachi lifted Gipsy higher and higher.
High enough to vanish off their screens, and beyond the mounted cameras of the watching news helicopters.
Everyone froze for a moment, staring at the empty screens. Tendo wasn't sure, but he thought he could see Newt throwing up in one of the shots of Hong Kong.
"All right, let's take this to the Heliport." Stacker ordered. "Bring binoculars."
"We're out of options!" Raleigh grunted, still trying to break the hold that Otachi had on them. "What's our altitude?"
"Way too high!" Mako grunted. She could see the curve of the earth, above the clouds already. "We either kill this thing and try to use it as a parachute, or we try our luck with gravity!"
"Either way, we've got to kill this thing first, because if it can get this high carrying us, there's no plane that can catch it." Raleigh said. "And we're out of ordinance!"
She was a little surprised he hadn't picked it up from the Drift. She knew he didn't have everything, but the list of things left out was unpredictable.
"Not quite!" Mako grinned savagely. "We've got one trick left! Something the Kaiju haven't seen before!"
Mako keyed her controls... and unfurled The Sword.
It unrolled from their wrist, the huge steel plates trailing behind them like the tail of a kite, until the embedded cables retracted, and the plates were pulled tightly together, forming a blade longer than a complete railway train.
Mako felt the Sword like an extension of her arm. She was The Sword. She was The Swordmaker.
The movement came as easily to her as breathing. The moment, the machine, the enemy, the Co-Pilot, The Sword... Her whole life was an evolution to this exact moment, this exact night.
The slash took off Otachi's whole wing, plus most of the neck. Gipsy lunged for the body. Missed!
And suddenly they were in freefall.
And Otachi had lifted them high enough that they had plenty of time to think about it on the way down.
"Can this thing survive an impact like that?" Raleigh demanded. "I mean, it was designed to survive a lot of punishment!"
"From Kaiju. From gravity, I don't know. We've never actually tested for that before!" Mako called back.
And then, the voice of their savior, Stacker called over the radio. "Mako, open it up. Every flap, every joint, every cable. You've got to give the machine as much stretch as its got!"
This was a tall order. The Jaeger was meant to be unbreakable. It was meant to exist with no weaknesses. It wasn't meant to bend under any circumstances.
If we smash, at least we saved Striker. She thought. Even if that means saving Chuck, we may have given the world a chance.
Maybe. She heard Raleigh think back, and she smiled into it, glad to have him so close, especially now that they were freefalling toward a football stadium, fast enough to build up some re-entry flames.
"Aim for the fifty yard line!" Raleigh shouted, and Mako almost laughed at the thought. "Who plays football in Hong Kong anyway?"
They missed the fifty yard line. They came down like a meteorite and landed squarely on the goalposts, nearly taking out half the seats at the same time.
Touchdown! One of them thought, but Mako didn't know who.
And amazingly, impossibly, they got back up again slowly.
Damn, you really know how to build things. Raleigh thought to her.
Re-Build things. She corrected him absently.
Adrenaline had faded instantly, and Mako could barely stand. The impact had passed through to the pilots, but if Gipsy wasn't shattered, then they weren't either. Did that really just happen? Oh my god, I think it did!
When they returned after the battle; they returned as heroes.
After their disastrous first Drift, they had been cast out. The Shatterdome was a pretty tight knit group, and Team Gipsy was not welcome in it. But now, the roar of the crowd was almost enough to max out her ears when they returned. It was like something out of a movie.
Mako had never chased the position because she wanted glory and fame. But the battle had not only justified her whole life, it had vindicated her faith in both Raleigh and Gipsy Danger... And theirs in her. Mako looked to her partner. More than ten years of her life, and Becket was the first one to insist that she get her shot, and the only one willing to put his life on the line to make sure she got it.
We made it! The thought kept rolling back and forth in her head, and she didn't know if it was coming from her, her partner, or even from Gipsy. We made it! Finally made it!
Mako had heard about post-mission 'aftercare'. The adrenaline rush had faded, and she supposed she should feel exhausted.
She had been exhausted before, but things were different now. Exhaustion had always left a hollow, empty feeling inside her. But now she had something there, filling the gap. The Drift had made her more... more, than she had ever been. Exhaustion had diminished her on her own, but not them as a unit.
But The Clock had been reset, and the reminder had hustled everyone back to work. Stacker had retreated to his office, with a bleeding nose.
Without even having to speak of it, Mako squeezed Raleigh's fingers without looking. He could hear everything she wanted to say but couldn't put into words. She could hear every point of advice and counsel he could offer as someone who'd been through all this before. She knew which thoughts she would take to heart, and which would seem like platitudes...
And then, without having to discuss it, they knew what they had to do. Raleigh went after Stacker, to check on her Sensei for her.
In a lifetime where one person always had to do the work of three, Mako was finally able to be in two places at once.
Raleigh checked on her family. She went to check on Gipsy Danger.
Tendo was smiling at her as she marched up to Gipsy's Bay in the Hangar. "Shouldn't you be resting?" He asked her. "Or celebrating, or posing for photos or something?"
"Hey, I had to make sure my Gipsy was feeling up to Round Three." Mako waved it off, already looking over the diagnostics.
"I can handle it!" Tendo promised her. "Besides, you've finally got a dance partner; go dancing."
"I would, except for one thing." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, up at the clock.
Tendo's face hardened. "I hate that clock."
Mako nodded. "So do I. But it's only going to be ticking for so long. When this war is over? Then I'll relax."
Tendo handed her the tablet. "Well, there's not much to tell that you don't already know. The shock absorbers were maxed out, but easily replaceable. Same for the alloys and surface components. I mean, a Dome was designed to remove impact damage and send them right back out. It's what we do. The problem is the core."
Mako winced hard. "The coolant."
"You used up a lot of it shattering Otachi's tail. You used up a lot more of it when you 'burned up on re-entry'. There was barely enough to keep my guys from getting radiation poisoning when we hauled it back into the hangar."
Mako let out a breath between her teeth. "The coolant feeds run through the entire core, and the limbs."
"I know. We don't keep enough on hand. Coolant gets recycled through the coolant plant, but with it suddenly dry, the plant has cracked."
Mako's face fell. "We can't send her back into battle running without coolant. She'll fry. The core will melt right through the chest."
Tendo held up both hands. "I've already had words with Stacker and Hansen about it. They say that there's only one mission left, and Gipsy can handle it."
"The Bomb Run." Mako nodded. "Under half a mile of water, we might be okay." She let out a breath between her teeth. "Striker Eureka?"
"The control circuits got cooked by the EMP, but we've got components. Of all the spare parts we're running out of, we've got circuit panels to spare. The problem isn't the machine..."
"It's the pilots." She agreed, and glanced around the Conn-Pod. It was just the two of them. "I got a few messages from reporters."
"Congratulations, you're in the club." Tendo commented.
Mako shook her head. "That's just it. The ones calling for an Interview? None of the TV news, none of the Official Sources, none of the Government Press Agents, none of the Talk Shows. Everyone that has any kind of influence or ability to tell the world about something have already run for the mountains. The ones that are calling? They don't want to talk about the battle. Or even about me. They want to know why there were two of them this time. They want to know how far the Kaiju Blue fell like rain. They want to know if we're expecting three next time. They want to know how many Jaegers we have left in reserve."
Tendo looked down. "They're not covering a victory. They're covering the end of the world."
Mako nodded. "I hear there are mass suicides all over the planet. They're trying to deploy troops to hold back total anarchy, but there's not enough police and national guard units left after cutbacks and hunger got done disbanding them."
"If that freaks you out, try this." Tendo held up his phone. "We got an official advisory from the UN. They sent it out to the whole world. The Official Words is that nobody should travel more than five miles by car unless necessary. All the fuel tanks are running dry and blocking roads. Outside the cities, it's worse. Bandits on every highway, ambushing people."
Mako let out a breath. "And to top that off... there's something I need to tell you about Stacker."
"The nosebleeds?" Tendo looked around casually, making sure they were alone. "I already know. He asked me to... be ready."
Mako nodded. "The Doctors gave him only another few weeks." She sighed. "I'm starting to wonder if that's expecting too much."
"I've seen the scans of his brain. Frankly, I'm amazed he's not a complete vegetable."
Mako didn't smirk. "I think... I think Tasmin's keeping him together." She noted his look. "I know, it sounds like metaphysics. But I've done it now, and it seems... It seems like the only logical explanation. I have neurons in my head, and they aren't mine. So does Stacker. I don't know how they work exactly, but if Stacker's brain is melting... Maybe Tasmin's still in there somewhere, and that's why he can still think like a person."
Tendo almost gasped. "God, how did I not think of that?" He slapped his hand on the console. "There's just so much about the Drift we don't understand."
Silence.
"Have you told Stacker you're leaving?" Mako asked him out of nowhere.
Tendo froze for an instant, and then looked guilty. "How'd you know?"
Mako shrugged. "Just between us, I've been hearing the same thing from a lot of the staff. They're sticking around for the Bomb Run, and then they're going to leave."
Tendo shrugged helplessly. "What else can we do? What else can any of us do? The Bomb Run is our last chance to avoid extinction. If we fail this one, the Kaiju War is just them mopping up. Even if we win, the world's been kicked in the head so many times it may never get up again."
Mako nodded weakly. "I know. I know it. You've done more than... Everyone still here has done more than enough. Half the base had to leave when the Corp got shut down, but some of us stayed for another few rounds. Can't expect more than that. Especially not if we lose the last of our Jaegers."
Tendo nodded. "The Old Man won't see it that way. He won't leave his post. He'd fight the Kaiju with his teeth if he had to."
"I don't think he has anywhere else to go." Mako offered.
"What about you?"
Mako hesitated, and gently touched a finger to her temple. "A lot of things can change in the Drift. I... I may never be without my home again."
"Must be nice." Tendo said softly to himself. "To always know where you... fit."
Mako's tablet chimed, and she checked it. "Marshal Hansen wants to see me."
Tendo smiled. "There it is. Gipsy Danger just got promoted. You're running the bomb yourself."
"You think so?" Mako wavered.
"With Herc's shoulder busted up? He can't fight. So either Gipsy makes the run alone, or they put you and Raleigh in Striker Eureka... And I'm betting they're not getting you of that Jaeger without a crowbar." Tendo looked around. "Where is he, anyway?"
"Talking to Pentecost. About what, I'm not sure." Mako said absently, suddenly scared out of her brain. "You really think they'll give us the Mission?"
"Well, who else is there?" Tendo said reasonably.
Mako turned to go, walking like a zombie.
You'll go all the way to the Breach. You'll go right up to their gates and knock. Harker's voice came to her from beyond the grave. And they'll let you in. Because they want you.
Mako's hands were shaking at the thought that he might be right.
Herc's arm and shoulder had been treated. He kept the sling simple, but Mako could see the binders keeping his arm steady. There was no way he'd have any range of motion, and any impact would be agony.
"We didn't get much of a chance to talk before." He said when she came in. "But I wanted you to know... Your Old Man is so proud of you it's scary. And so am I."
Mako flushed. She had grown up with drill sergeants. She wasn't used to open compliments. "Thank you."
"How do you feel it went?" Herc asked her kindly.
Mako thought about it a moment. "You know the best part? It wasn't anything like I thought it would be."
Herc smiled at her. "What did you think of the Drift?"
Mako flushed and looked at her shoes. "Um... no comment."
Herc nodded, not surprised. "It's a very... personal thing. I ask, because if we manage to win this thing, you and Raleigh are going to be household names. You might want to get some of the answers ready for when the questions are inevitably asked."
"I don't care about that." Mako waved it off.
"Neither did Raleigh. He left it to his brother, as I recall. But it's not about what interests you. It's about what interests the entire world. And if we manage to live out the week, it's because we've won the war."
"I suppose so." Mako sighed. "I... I seem to be getting everything I want this week, and all I can think is that it's all going to be over so fast." She was silent a moment. "Which, is a good thing, I guess."
Herc nodded. "I know. I think about next week, and I can't wrap my brain around it. The war being over? Just can't see it."
Mako gestured at him. "You were there when it started. I've never lived in a world without Kaiju. It's... it's actually kind of scary, to think that it might all be over. I can't believe I'm part of it."
Tiny pause.
"And I really can't believe Chuck is part of it." Mako added, and both of them burst out laughing.
"The reason I wanted to talk to you..." He grunted, trying to settle his shoulder a bit. "I wanted to ask you... Did Stacker tell you why Raleigh Beckett is here?"
"Because Gipsy would accept nobody else." Mako said as though it was obvious.
Herc smirked. "You two just don't know how to talk to each other, do you?"
"Like you and Chuck, you mean?" Mako retorted.
Herc snorted. "Mako. Stacker didn't reactivate him for Gipsy, or even for the mission."
Mako blinked. "Then why is he here?"
Herc just looked at her like it should be obvious. "The Old Man brought him here for you."
The alarms suddenly went off.
Mako and Herc both jumped to their feet, the older man wincing painfully as the shock ran through his wounded arm. "A Breach? Again? So soon?"
"I think the Kaiju know it too. They know the game's over." Mako commented. "I think they know this is it."
Mako and Raleigh made their way to the Staging Room. All their gear was there, lined up in alcoves, side by side. Their names were written above their suits, their diagnostics, and their helmets, scribed on masking tape. To the left were suits for Herc and Chuck Hansen. Both untouched. She'd beaten them there.
Further along were the Russian and the Chinese teams... Their alcoves were empty too. None of them had returned to replace their suits.
She knew Raleigh was there before she saw him, and the two were back in their combat gear quickly. "Tendo tells me that there were two contacts, but neither of them were leaving The Breach. They're just... waiting."
"If they're standing guard, then that proves it." Mako said decisively.
"Proves what?"
"All of it. The Hivemind, the Anteverse, the Invasion Plan... It means the Kaiju know we're coming."
"It means the Kaiju are attack dogs." Tendo told them, suddenly appearing. He made his way to the back of the room and started digging his way through the lockers. "It means we just got a whole new idea of who the enemy is... And The Old Man says it makes no difference. We don't need to conquer a whole other dimension, we just have to keep them the hell out of ours."
"What? You think we can't pummel a whole universe into submission?" Mako grinned coldly.
Tendo snorted, pulling a crate out of storage and heading for the door at a quick clip. "If anyone could, it's you."
Raleigh got to the point. "If it makes no difference, then what's the plan?" Tendo hadn't even slowed down, and Raleigh had to shout after him. "Is Gipsy carrying the bomb now?"
Tendo was already on his way out. "Report to Hangar Deck!" He called back.
Mako felt cold all over. The crate Tendo had been carrying was the kind they used to store old combat suits.
It had Stacker Pentecost's name stenciled on the lid.
Mako knew that someone was always recording, and she was glad for it. She'd barely heard a word he said, even when his speech brought the whole Dome to its feet. The sound of the roar brought her back to herself. Raleigh was holding her hand tightly, and she squeezed his fingers back.
But she hadn't heard anything he said past those fateful words. "You are a brave girl, and I was lucky to see you grow up. If I'm going to do this, I need you to protect me now."
She had never, not once; heard him ask for anyone's protection. And from her least of all. He was her Sensei. Her father. He protected her, not the other way around.
She saw the determined hope on all their faces. Stacker was the soul of the Dome now. Where he went, the others would follow. In a world where even the mountains would tremble, Stacker Pentecost was the one fixed point they all clung to. If he was marching off to war personally, then as far as they were concerned, it was either a sure victory, or the last gasp of everything they had left.
"Or both." Raleigh whispered in her ear.
Mako came out of her thoughts suddenly, as they arrived at the Conn-Pod. The heat was sizzling off Gipsy Danger, enough that they could see the air quivering as they came closer. Unless they dumped her in the ocean, movement would be too much for her to take without melting down completely. "Sorry. Was I... thinking too loud?"
"A little." He smirked. "I have enough of you to know that a year ago you'd be losing your mind. You never get to Drift with your Sensei, but Chuck Hansen does? It's the ultimate insult made injury."
"It is." Mako nodded. "But I don't feel angry about it. In fact..." Mako almost laughed. "I haven't felt this 'right' in years."
Raleigh smiled, just a little. "Me neither." He looked at her sideways. "But you know you can't lie to me. Not any more."
Mako winced, just a little. "I know."
"Mako..." Raleigh said in what almost sounded like wonder. "You're afraid."
Mako nodded weakly.
"Of what?" Raleigh heard himself say it and rolled his eyes. "Okay, stupid question."
"I'm not scared of dying." Mako promised him. "And I'm not scared of losing, since I'd be too dead to care. I'm... I'm scared of what happens if we succeed. I guess... I'm afraid of the Breach."
"Why?"
"Because he might have been right." Mako said softly. "Harker might have been right. I'm going right to their Gates, and if they let me in... I'm not superstitious at all, unless you count empathic connections to dead Jaegers... But even so, I can't help but wonder, what if Onibaba did want me specifically? They came for Newton Geizler. They can carry out missions."
"Mako, you just used the words 'Harker' and 'right' in the same sentence." Raleigh told her. "Besides, we're not going into the Breach. We know for sure now that there's something on the other side, and we don't care about that. So you go to the Breach, then what?"
Mako nodded. "Right." She swallowed. "It's really happening, isn't it?"
Moira Leighton huddled in the Evac Center. Her son, Peter was sleeping fitfully, coughing and wheezing.
There weren't enough cots to go around, but that didn't bother people too much, because they didn't have enough of anything else, either.
The PA system was assuring them that there would be more food available in the morning, and that the buses were coming to send them on their way inland. But nobody really believed it any more. They could all get the news on their phones and tablets.
"Here."
Moira looked up in surprise. A young woman was holding out a blanket.
"I hear your kid is sick, and I figured you could use another blanket."
Moira took it gratefully and tucked the blanket around her son. "Thanks. I gave him mine, but someone stole it."
"It's getting like that all over the place." The younger woman nodded. "They say they're going to move us inland soon."
"You believe that?" Moira asked wearily.
"Not really." Her new friend sighed. "That's the problem with the world. Nothing left worth believing." She almost laughed. "Believe me on that one."
Moira was about to answer, when her phone chimed with the news alert. Moira pulled it out immediately. "It's happening." She whispered.
The battle did not go well.
We knew it'd be a bad fight. Raleigh thought to her, even as they clawed their way upright.
You want to make God Laugh, tell him you have a mission plan. Mako grit back. So, exactly which corpse are we supposed use?
I don't know, does it still need a pulse, or can-
WHAM! They were hit again.
I am really getting sick of fighting three enemies I can't see! Mako raged.
"There's nothing we can do!" Chuck was yelling.
Mako felt a chill of premonition. There was still one way to complete the mission. She knew both machines better than almost anyone. Except, maybe, for Stacker Pentecost.
Stacker's voice came over the radio just as she thought it. "We can clear a path... for the lady."
Mako squeezed her eyes shut for half a second, the inevitability of it hammering her. She could hear his voice getting more ragged. He was dying. Being in Striker was burning him alive, melting his brain... He was a hundred feet away, and he was dying. And he knew it would happen, but he volunteered anyway.
"Gipsy!" Stacker roared to them, even as they heard metal rupturing in the background. "You can finish the mission!"
You'll go all the way to the Breach. You'll go right up to their Gates and knock.
Mako felt her hands shake. It was happening. This mission was everything she'd wanted her entire life, and now that it was here, it was nothing but her worst nightmares coming true.
She could feel the weight of Gipsy shifting to Raleigh. He was taking over the most of the task, giving her the brain cells she needed to speak with her father, one last time.
Chuck knew it too. "My father said, if you've only got one shot, you take it!" He shouted over the growing sound of rushing water. "It was an honor, sir."
Mako felt Tasmin reach out from the Drift. For a moment, the wave of familiarity shocked her. It lasted only an instant, and then she was with Raleigh again. She felt the currents shifting, telling her that Kaiju were all attacking Striker Eureka.
"Mako!" Stacker called to her, voice going hoarse. "You'll find me! I promise! I'll always be there for you!"
Mako felt her face harden, and her eyes well up. But she would keep her eyes clear and open. She would do that for him.
"You'll always find me in the Drift!" Stacker shouted his last promise to her daughter.
"Sensei, I love you!" Mako choked out in Japanese.
And then the ocean exploded. The water boiled and tossed, out of control. Then the shockwave hit them. Gipsy bent low, taking it on like a tidal wave. Jaegers were meant to stand against the hurricane.
"Underwater explosion!" She shouted to Raleigh on autopilot. "After the shockwave, the water rushes back to where it was. Watch out for the implosio-"
An instant later, it hit them, and Gipsy had to hang on against the wall of water suddenly going the other way.
They didn't feel it in California. The blast was too far away.
But word came quickly enough. Amy peered closer at Moira's phone as the news shifted the picture back to the news-desk. "Who's he?"
"I don't know." Moira admitted. "Something must have happened..."
The kid behind the desk looked borderline terrified at the camera. "Um, my name is Nick Dawson. I'm an associate producer here at Channel 11. Um, your regular newscaster has... evacuated, to check on his family. I... Ahem, I'm pretty much the only one still here. We're getting a report from some of the Ocean Sensors. We can't verify it yet, but it looks like there's been a massive explosion at the Breach."
Moira felt her heart give a solid thump.
"Now, we don't know what that means yet." The kid on the screen said. "Obviously, we hope it's good news. Our source in the Tokyo Dome says there's a mission underway, but there's no word on how it's going, or exactly what the goal is, but the explosion has been measured in the multi-kiloton range. I'm afraid we can't be more specific than that."
"They did it." Moira breathed.
"Can't be." Amy said, her voice was low and borderline horrified.
Moira glanced over. "Why not?"
Amy said nothing.
The kid behind the desk wasn't finished. "There's... The Breach, of course, is at the bottom of the ocean, between two tectonic plates. You'll remember, from the first attempts to detonate the Breach, that such attacks have failed in the past. We're getting reports of massive underwater earthquakes as a response of the blast. If you live in coastal areas along the Pacific Rim, please get to higher ground immediately..."
"Think we're far enough away from the coast?" Amy asked.
"I don't know." Moira sighed. She looked around. She saw everyone looking at screens. There was no more terror here. Everyone had experienced their full measure. Numb exhaustion was all they had.
And then the ground trembled, and everyone woke up in a hurry. Some of them screamed, some dove for the floor, some of them ran for the doors...
Moira turned to the younger woman. The ground pitched again, just for an instant, and they both grabbed onto each other for support. "Listen... I don't much... I mean, I didn't come here because I figured this was any better, you know?"
Amy nodded.
"I know there's no food here, and frankly, I don't trust the soldiers any more than I trust my neighbors back home. But I thought that maybe there was still some medicine..." She gestured at her son. Petey was coughing, still pretty woozy. "There was a few antibiotics, but..."
"Not enough of anything." Amy nodded. "Look... I'll be honest with you. If that blast did close the Breach, then this might be a bad spot to be."
"I don't follow."
Amy leaned closer, lowering her voice. "A lot of people have done a lot of dirty things. And nobody has called them on it, because the world is ending. But if it turns out that the world is going to keep turning after all, then the rules change back, and all these..." She made air quotes with her fingers. "...these 'civilized people' might decide to start giving a crap about us again."
Moira swiftly understood. "And if the profiteers and the perverts realize that too, then they might start covering their tracks."
Amy shrugged. "I traded a few 'favors' to get... well, to get out of jail, to be perfectly honest."
Moira snorted.
The PA suddenly crackled to life. "People, we've just received a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific Rim. At this point, we don't know how severe it might be, but if you're concerned; I should warn you that we don't really have enough transport for everyone-"
Amy turned. "Word around the campfire is that you have transport?" Amy suggested quickly.
"If I did, would telling me you're a convict really be the way to get yourself a ride somewhere?" Moira shot back.
"Not for me, dummy. But if they figure out you've got a working car, they'll kill you for the keys, and then each other just to get a seat. A smart woman would run for it right now before they got that organized." Amy opened her jacket a little to reveal a concealed gun. "Would you like someone to walk you to your car?"
Moira considered her options and quickly gathered up Petey. "Let's move."
They hurried to the exits. People were already crowding, pushing and shoving to get past. Moira had been through enough riots to know when one was about to break loose.
There weren't a lot of cars in the parking lot. Most people that still had their cars couldn't afford to run them any more. Moira had been saving her rations for a 'rainy day.'
Three people had already made it to her car before she did. They came running up, just as one of them smashed out a window to get inside.
"That's my car!" Moira warned them.
The three turned and glared at her. "Then you must have the keys."
Amy brought up the gun faster than they could follow. "We've got a lot of things you didn't bargain for. Walk away, right now."
The man that had broken the window drew a knife. His two friends flanked him.
Amy pulled the hammer back on her weapon."Don't push me."
"You're bluffing." He sneered. "Nobody's got bullets any more."
Amy pulled the trigger and shot him dead. An instant later, the gun was pointed at the next guy. "Anyone else?"
The two thugs turned and ran for it.
Moira sent a glance back at the rest of the crowd. The shot had gathered some attention. "I suppose I can't just leave you here after that, now can I?"
"I'd appreciate it." Amy nodded.
"And I'd appreciate you handing over that weapon before I let you into a car with my son."
Amy checked the approaching crowd, and quickly held it out, grip first. "Decide fast, please."
Moira put her boy in the backseat and checked the weapon. Empty. "You got into a showdown with three guys and only one bullet?"
"One was all I needed."
Moira grit her teeth and started the car. "So. I guess it's a stupid idea to ask if you're dangerous to have around. What were you in for?"
Amy smirked. "Well, look at it this way, either the Blast just took out the Breach, and it doesn't matter, or the mission failed, and it really doesn't matter."
Moira snorted again. The War had cost her nearly the entire family, her home, her town, most of her friends, and she'd spent most of the last year either fighting or running from bandits that were after her scraps. She was far too jaded to pick a fight with Amy West.
The crowd saw the car was working, and started running towards them.
Moira put her foot down and outpaced them. "So, I assume we're heading inland?"
"We're heading anywhere you like, it's your car."
"In that case, we may as well go back to my house. We'll be pushing the fuel tank, but we can get there. As I said, the refugee center was just me hoping to find medicine."
Amy nodded.
Moira lowered her voice. "And once we get there, I can drop off my boy and we can get down to business."
Her passenger looked over. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
It had all come to the inevitable conclusion at last. The smartest people in the business had burned out their brain cells getting their knowledge needed for the final stage of the plan, telling them what they needed to get through. The life's work of a million engineers and trillions of dollars had been boiled down to one machine that could barely move. After decades of training, preparation and testing, there remained only two active pilots left in the world, both there to carry out the mission. After all the support and backup that the combined effort of the world's governments had been giving for ten years, the only people left that could offer them advice were either bankrupt or dead. The weapons of the ultimate war had all been used up, nothing left. A lifetime of training and hard work, driven by demons and obsessions that bordered on madness; all of Mako's skill rested on her ability to fall into the world's deepest hole.
"Oxygen depleted." The AI told them tonelessly.
Mako actually found herself giggling as her lungs fought for air that wasn't coming. It was like a macabre race. What would kill them first? The Kaiju? Their Masters? The Breach? The explosion? Oxygen deprivation?
Or worse, would she somehow survive, and wake up surrounded by whoever made the Kaiju?
Mako's world went fuzzy. Maybe Harker was right after all... She thought to herself. I'm doing exactly what he said I would do. I wonder how he knew... I wonder what I'll find when I get there.
"Like. Hell." She heard her partner say aloud with grim effort.
And they'll let you in, because they want you. Harker whispered to her from beyond the grave.
I won't be able to resist them... Mako thought distantly, at the very end of her strength. Whatever they want, they'll get it. After Onibaba failed, and their Minions failed, I actually walked up and fought my way in, God help me...
"Mako, I can handle it from here. All I have to do fall. Anyone can fall."
Raleigh? Oh. Right. Raleigh's here. So everything's okay.
She could feel air ticking on her face, darkness still surrounding her. She felt like she was in a dream, like she was moving. She felt her body shift as the walls closed in. It was oddly peaceful, Gipsy closing in on her protectively.
Mako, before we hit, I just want to say thank you. I never would have gotten back in the game if I hadn't found you here.
Yeah, I did you a big favor, didn't I? Mako thought back to him... and passed out.
She woke up, rocking gently. For a split second, she was a little girl, being rocked by her mother. For a split second, she could hear her father calling her name warmly.
Mako... Mako...
Then she heard the birds. Seagulls. So peaceful. She could feel Raleigh, somewhere. She didn't know where. But he was with her, so she wasn't alone. She'd never be alone again.
"Mako!"
She woke up fully. She was... in an escape pod. For a moment, she couldn't believe it. Jaegers came equipped with escape pods, but almost never got the chance to use them...
The ocean was relatively still, and stretched out in every direction. Dawn had broken, and clear blue skies shone around her. After so much violence, it was so peaceful and crisp and beautiful, that Mako honestly thought she had died and gone to heaven.
"MAKO!"
"Locent?" She responded, sitting up. "I'm here. Where's..."
A second pod exploded up from beneath the surface, and Mako knew instantly what had happened.
He had sent her back up, before they reached the Breach. He had released her, before they'd reached their Gates. Raleigh had gotten her out, before the point of no return. She dove into the water without hesitation, swimming as best she could in a combat suit.
"We can't get a read on his vitals."
Mako freaked. She could still feel him. He was there. He was there in her mind... except he wasn't saying anything. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that one of them had passed out. She was still so new at having a connection that ran so deep. Is this what it feels like? Is this what Stacker felt when Tasmin died? Sensing him anywhere and not getting anything?
She couldn't have lost him, could she? He couldn't really be gone, could he? They were woven so completely into each others souls now. If he was gone, wouldn't she be gone too?
She got the pod open and checked him. The pod hardware was fried. She planted her face into his chest, listening for a heartbeat, or a breath. Nothing. She dug her fingers in so tightly that she could feel her bones hurt, as if she could find a pulse by physically climbing inside him.
"He's not breathing!" She called back in panic. She knew it couldn't possibly be real. She knew he was alive. She still felt like she 'fit' somewhere in the universe. She still felt him, right there in the Drift... So why wasn't he breathing?
Raleigh, why aren't you breathing? You can't leave me alone. Not after all this. Not after everything. After Jess, and Yancy, we found each other and won eight lotteries and won the damn war, and why aren't you breathing?
Because...
"You're holding me too tight." He answered her, low and raspy from oxygen deprivation.
She released him instantly, a huge smile on her face. She could already hear the rescue choppers. The same one that had dropped them off, still in the area, still in formation.
If it had been a movie, they would have kissed. But such was not their relationship. Their connection went a lot deeper. Even so, they held each other tightly, letting their contact enhance what the Drift already provided. With her forehead resting against his, she couldn't even tell where she started and he finished any more.
Rescue came for them, and they could hear the whole Dome screaming hysterically in the background.
We won, didn't we? Mako thought to him.
Yes.
I don't quite believe it.
But he believed it, and she let the reassuring force of his certainty wash over her, as rescue came to carry them home.
Moira pulled up in front of her house. The gardens had been picked clean and trashed, every window smashed open. The neighbors houses were all abandoned, and the house itself was dark and quiet.
Moira reached between the front seats and shook Petey awake. "Pete. Time to wake up, sweetie."
Petey did so. "We're back?" He slurred.
"Yeah. Go inside, sweetheart. I'll be with you in a minute."
Petey nodded and opened the door. He was moving slowly.
Amy reached for the door handle, and Moira put a hand out to stop her. Amy turned. "Problem?"
Moira waited until Petey had entered the house. "A few years ago, a member of the Kaiju cult came after my daughters, back when I still had three kids. His name was Harker, and he was after a close friend of my girls. Her name was Mako Mori."
Amy's face hardened. "Mori warned you about me?"
"I haven't spoken to Mako in years. Long story. Not a happy one." Moira excused. "So. While we're waiting to hear the news, how about we get comfortable?"
Amy moved. Faster than Moira could react, she came up with a knife. "How about you give Mako a call?"
"How about we wait and see what the morning brings?" Moira growled, not intimidated. "If they've pulled it off and sealed the Breach, what are you hoping to prove? And if they didn't, what does it matter?"
"You think I'm trying to avenge the goddam Kaiju?" Amy hissed, completely feral. "You have any idea what they do to Cultists on the inside? You think I give a damn about them anymore? You have no idea what I went through in there. And you know what? Nobody came to help me."
"Not even your own personal gods?" Moira needled.
"Not even them. You know what kept me sane?"
"Plotting your revenge on the girl that brought you in?" Moira guessed.
Amy gave a single cold nod. "Not an easy battle plan to figure out. Mori never leaves the Dome and has no connections to anything or anyone. Then I saw on the news that a double event had hit Hong Kong, and that it was a Class Three Jaeger called Gipsy Danger that saved the day, and that her pilots were Raleigh Becket... and Mako Mori. So. Now she's got a really major connection. Now she's got something to lose. Something that'll put her on her ass a lot harder than what she did to your daughter."
Moira twitched. "That's your plan, then?"
"I've seen what happens to people who lose their partners, Mrs Leighton." Amy nodded. "It's almost as bad as what I went through, thanks to the goddam Tokyo Girl." She took a breath and gripped her knife tightly. "But there's nothing to draw them out of the Dome... except you."
"And how do you plan to let her know you have me? She's in Hong Kong now, if she survived the mission at all."
Amy turned the radio on. "Well then. Let's see what the morning brings."
Moira considered her options, and pressed a button on the console.
Amy heard the doors all lock, and was about to say something fierce, when Moira suddenly dropped the car into gear and floored the accelerator.
Amy pressed the knife harder against Moira. "You think I'm playing with you?"
"I know you aren't." Moira growled back. "But I've been threatened with death way too often to be scared of you, little girl!"
Amy roared, and Moira pressed the pedal right to the floor...
...aiming for a tree.
AN: Sorry I took so long. Next chapter will be the ending. I thought it would be this one, but I was wrong.