"Oh, no."
The tremor in Gottlieb's voice made Analia freeze for a split second. Around her, the hangar was a nightmarish landscape—bodies moving in chaos, fire leaping toward the sky, and the acrid smell of burning fuel thick in the air. Her heart pounded in her chest, and the crackling comm was the only clear thing cutting through the noise.
"Oh, no what?" she asked, breathless. She was already moving again, her boots slamming against the cracked concrete of the hangar floor, dodging twisted metal and shattered debris with the instinctual agility of a seasoned pilot.
"Three Kaiju have gotten through," Gottlieb's voice came through the static, barely concealing his panic. "South Korea, Russian coast, and East China Sea. Two Cat-Fours and a Cat-Five."
The weight of the news hit her like a freight train, a cold shiver running through her spine despite the heat of the burning wreckage around her. Analia's mind spun, trying to process the enormity of what she was hearing. Cat-Fours and a Cat-Five—three monsters, all at once, and they were coming fast. Her pulse quickened, a knot of dread tightening in her stomach, but she shoved it aside.
"Copy that. Get back to the dome," she ordered, her voice clipped and urgent, masking the fear gnawing at the edges of her thoughts. "We're gonna need all the help we can get."
The ground beneath her shook from a nearby explosion, but Analia pushed harder, running through the smoke-choked hangar as the scale of the destruction unfurled around her. Flames danced across the ruins of fallen Jaegers, their once towering forms now crumpled into twisted metal carcasses. The air was thick with smoke and dust, reducing visibility to a fog of orange and black, while the distant sound of screaming alarms and shouted orders created a jarring backdrop of noise.
She couldn't afford to slow down, couldn't afford to let herself feel the crushing weight of grief sitting in her chest. Raleigh was gone. Grace—where was Grace? Panic flared, but she buried it deep. There would be time to grieve, time to find her daughter, but not now. Not while the base teetered on the edge of collapse. Not while three Kaiju were ripping through the world.
As she sprinted through the chaotic maze of destruction, she glimpsed familiar faces—people she knew—bleeding, working, some barely clinging to life. She pushed the rising fear back down. Her people needed her to be strong.
She caught sight of Amara and Vik, their faces streaked with grime and ash. They were hunched over, lifting a heavy slab of metal off of a trapped crew member. The strain on their faces was clear, the physical effort immense, but they didn't stop. They couldn't stop.
"You girls okay?" Analia called out, her voice rising above the noise as she slowed for a moment, just enough to check on them without losing momentum.
"Yes, ma'am!" they shouted back in unison, their voices tight with determination, though their movements were sluggish with exhaustion. They were battered, covered in cuts and bruises, but they kept working, pulling the debris free to save the trapped crewman.
Analia gave a curt nod of approval before continuing forward, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. The air was hot and thick, her lungs burning with every inhale, but she couldn't stop moving. The shattered dome around her was a battlefield, a testament to the catastrophic attack they'd barely survived, and she could see that everyone was working beyond their limits just to hold things together.
Her boots crunched over shattered glass and twisted metal, the sounds of the world around her barely registering as she focused on getting to the control center. She felt the heat from burning wreckage radiating off of ruined Jaegers and collapsed buildings as she dodged around fallen beams and heaps of smoldering debris. Each step felt heavier than the last, but she powered through, adrenaline coursing through her veins, keeping her on her feet.
As she rounded a corner, she spotted Nate, Jules, and Jake huddled together near a terminal that was barely functional, the screen flickering between static and a feed of the disaster. Their faces were lined with exhaustion, sweat and grime caking their skin, but they were still strategizing, still trying to figure out how to fight back.
She approached them, her eyes scanning the devastation around her as she caught her breath for a moment. Everything was burning—destroyed. And yet, she could feel the fight still simmering inside her.
"All right, what do we got?" Nate asked, his voice hoarse as she joined them, his gaze not leaving the damaged terminal.
Analia stood among the chaos, trying to steady herself as the weight of the world seemed to press down on her shoulders. Fires roared in the distance, smoke billowing up into the sky as the shattered remains of the Shatterdome stretched out before her. The distant echoes of shouting and the metallic groans of damaged machinery filled the air, yet everything felt muffled as if she were moving through a fog. Every breath felt heavier than the last.
"The reports are still coming in, but drones took out Jaegers and Shatterdomes across the Rim," Reyes said, rushing up to her, her voice strained and breathless.
"How many Jaegers do we have here?" Analia asked, her voice steady despite the rising panic gnawing at her. She couldn't let herself fall apart, not now. Not when so many lives depended on her.
Reyes shook her head, her expression grim. "Operational? Gipsy Avenger. Barely."
"That's it?" Nate muttered, the disbelief heavy in his voice as he surveyed the carnage around them.
Before Analia could respond, a familiar voice cut through the noise, causing her to freeze mid-step.
"No. We have one more," the voice said.
She turned, her heart stopping in her chest as her eyes locked onto the figure emerging from behind a pile of rubble. Raleigh. Alive. Dust and dirt clung to him, his face smeared with grime, but he was unmistakably Raleigh, and in his arms, Grace clung to him with wide, tear-filled eyes.
For a moment, Analia couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. The world around her seemed to tilt, and her heart hammered so loudly she could feel it pulsing in her ears. It had been a nightmare, believing he was gone, believing she might never see either of them again. And now, here they were—alive. It felt like a miracle.
"Mommy!" Grace called, her tiny arms reaching out, her voice both a relief and a balm to Analia's frayed nerves.
Analia gasped, the tears she'd been holding back all day suddenly welling up in her eyes. "Oh my God, thank God!" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion as she rushed forward.
She practically collided with them, her arms wrapping tightly around Grace, pulling her from Raleigh's grasp and clutching her close as tears spilled down her cheeks. She kissed Grace's forehead repeatedly, the relief so overwhelming that her body trembled. She held onto her daughter as if afraid that letting go might mean losing her all over again.
"I thought—" she choked out, her voice barely a whisper, "I thought I lost you both."
Raleigh gave her a soft, knowing smile, his eyes full of the same relief. "We're okay, Ana," he whispered, stepping closer, his hand gently brushing her arm.
She reached up, tears still streaming down her face as she cupped his cheek with her free hand, her thumb brushing against the dirt and grime on his skin. "I can't believe you're here," she murmured, her voice trembling with the weight of everything she'd been holding in. "I thought I'd lost you."
Before he could respond, she leaned in, pressing her lips to his in a desperate, emotional kiss. It was filled with all the fear and relief she hadn't been able to voice. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close as he kissed her back with just as much intensity, his fingers tangling in her hair. The world around them faded for a moment as they clung to each other, grounding themselves in the safety of this fleeting moment.
When they finally pulled apart, Analia rested her forehead against his, her breath coming in shallow gasps. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come back," she whispered.
"Hey," Raleigh said softly, pressing another kiss to her temple. "I'm here. We're here. And we're going to get through this. Together."
Ezra couldn't wait any longer. He rushed forward and threw his arms around his father, nearly knocking him over as he embraced him tightly. "Dad!" he cried, his voice thick with relief, burying his face in Raleigh's chest.
Raleigh laughed softly, wrapping one arm around his son while keeping his other arm around Analia. "Hey, buddy," he said, his voice rough with emotion as he kissed the top of Ezra's head. "I'm here. I've got you."
It was a moment of pure, unfiltered love, the kind of moment Analia had feared she would never get to have again. She held onto Grace, kissing her daughter's cheeks and forehead again as she whispered reassurances, her tears dampening Grace's hair. For this one brief, beautiful moment, her family was whole again.
But even as the warmth of their reunion filled her, the urgency of the situation began creeping back in. There was no time to waste. They had work to do. She couldn't allow herself to dwell on her relief for too long—not when they were still fighting for their survival.
She pulled back from Raleigh, wiping the tears from her face. "We need to move," she said, her voice steady but still laced with emotion. "We have Jaegers to fix."
"Yeah," Raleigh agreed, his voice taking on a more serious tone as he shifted into mission mode. He glanced at Nate, who was still staring at them in confusion. "There's one more Jaeger," he explained. "It was supposed to be a surprise for our anniversary, but I had a new one commissioned. It's under all this wreckage."
"You built us a new Jaeger?" Analia asked, surprise cutting through her lingering emotions. "When did you—"
"Next month," he said with a sheepish grin. "But we're going to need it now."
"What about Jake?" Analia asked, glancing back at him. "Who's going to pilot with him in Gipsy?"
"Nate," Raleigh said without missing a beat. "Are you up to it?"
Nate straightened, the determination in his voice clear. "Yes, sir."
"Good," Raleigh said, nodding. "We need all hands on deck. This is going to be one hell of a fight."
Her eyes flicked briefly to Jake, whose face was set in a grim frown. His arms were crossed, a tension rippling through his posture that mirrored the frustration they all felt. "Even if we get them up," he said, his voice low and tinged with frustration, "all of our other pilots are either dead or severely injured."
Analia could feel the weight of his words settling on her shoulders like an invisible burden. It wasn't just the exhaustion from the battle; it was the fear that they were running out of time, out of hope. But she couldn't let herself think like that. Not now. Not when so much was at stake.
She shook her head, pushing the doubt aside with a firm resolve. "One disaster at a time," she said, her voice steady and unwavering, even though her heart was still pounding in her chest. The sight of Raleigh and Grace alive had momentarily lifted her spirits, but the task ahead of them was immense. "Let's focus on getting those Jaegers operational first."
Her gaze swept over the hangar, taking in the battered machines lying motionless across the wreckage. The once-mighty Jaegers, the very machines that had been their salvation, were now scattered like broken toys. The base had become a graveyard of metal and smoke, and the grim reality of how quickly things had fallen apart gnawed at her.
She spotted Amara, who had made her way over, the young girl's face still smeared with dirt and sweat, but her eyes were alert, scanning the destruction. The sight of the young cadet stirred something protective in Analia—the memory of her own early days, thrown into battle before she was ready. She knew that feeling of being unprepared, of being asked to do the impossible.
"Smallie," Analia called, her voice carrying across the distance between them. "Come here. I need you to help Jules with the repairs. Can you do that?"
Amara blinked, looking momentarily confused, as if she wasn't sure she had heard right. She hesitated before speaking. "I thought I was on probation," she said, uncertainty flickering across her face.
Before Analia could answer, Jake stepped in with a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'd say probation is over," he said, his tone light but urgent, as if there wasn't time to argue about it. "She's good at turning junk into Jaegers. You good with that?" he asked, glancing over at Raleigh, who gave a quick nod of approval.
"I need all hands on deck right now. No exceptions," Raleigh added, his voice carrying that same note of authority that always commanded respect.
"Okay," Analia said, her voice sharp and commanding again as she pulled herself back into the moment. There was no room for hesitation. "We've got a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time."
The sounds of machinery whirring, people shouting orders, and the distant roar of fire filled the air, pressing down on her from all sides. She could feel the tension in her body, the strain of keeping it together, but she pushed it all down. There would be time to grieve later—for Raleigh, for the lives lost, for the uncertainty of Grace's safety. But not now.
Just as Analia turned to leave, a shout rang out from one of the cadets—Ryoichi—his voice slicing through the noise. "We got incoming!"
Analia's head snapped up, following his gaze to the sky. The thudding roar of helicopter blades filled the air as about a hundred Shao Industries helicopters descended upon the base, their dark forms cutting through the lingering smoke like shadows.
The sound was deafening as the helicopters began to land, the force of their arrival kicking up dust and debris that swirled around the hangar like a storm. Analia shielded her eyes for a moment, squinting through the haze as the doors of the lead helicopter slid open.
Through the dust, she saw Hermann Gottlieb step out, his usually neat appearance disheveled, but there was a triumphant glint in his eyes. He rushed forward, shouting over the noise of the engines.
"I brought some help!" he called, a wide grin breaking across his face.
Behind him, more personnel and equipment began to unload from the helicopters, teams of engineers and mechanics spilling out onto the base, ready to dive into the work that needed to be done.
Analia exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Reinforcements. Maybe they still had a chance. But even with the reinforcements, she knew the battle ahead wasn't just about repairing machines—it was about holding on to hope, even when everything felt like it was falling apart.
She turned back to her team—Jake, Nate, Amara, and the others—and nodded, her expression firm. "Let's get to work."