Chapter 17 - The Beginning of the End

She found herself walking into the cockpit of Gipsy Danger for the second time that day. This time was different though. She could feel the tension and the fear that they wouldn't return to their son. She was scared. The world was at stake but all she could think about was getting back to Ezra. She knew the possibility was slim she she had asked Herc to watch over Ezra if they didn't come home.
"You know, Analia, all these years I've spent with you has made me see that there's more to life than just fighting in a jaeger. You've given me something I never thought I would have after the first Kaiju came through the breach. You've given me a family. And now all I want is future with you and our son." Raleigh told her as he started flipping switches and starting Gipsy up. They were already harnessed in and she had to push down the urge to walk over and kiss her husband.
"You've given me the same thing Raleigh, and so much more. We have to come back from this. It's not an option. We have a growing family to take care of." She told him. He looked at her for a minute in confusion and she waited patiently. She saw the recognition in his eyes. He understood what she had just told him.
"You're...you're pregnant?" he asked, just for confirmation.
"Yea." She said, her eyes tearing up.
"You shouldn't be here then." He said, but he didn't move to get out of the harness.
"I didn't know until after our first drift. I'm not that far along and the doctor assured me that I'll be fine." She told him. He nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before but now that we may not come back I wanted to give you something to fight for."
"You've never have very good timing." He told her and she laughed.
"No. No I haven't." She chuckled, shaking her head.
"I love you." He said, reaching out to take her hand. They could barely touch his fingers as she reached out to meet his touch.
"I love you too." She said, just before they were dropped and connected to the rest of Gipsy. As soon as possible they were hooked up to the cables and transported to the breach. Her stomach lurched as Gipsy was dropped into the ocean. They sank to the bottom and began walking towards the target, wary of the "guard dogs" that were lurking in the water.
"Loccent, all ports sealed, ready to submerge." Stacker announced over the open com.
"All ports sealed,, ready to submerge." Raleigh said, flipping more switches on the console in front of them.
"When this is all over you're going to have to show me what all those switches do." She retorted and Raleigh looked over at her with an amused smile on his face.
"Sure thing sweetheart." He replied, as they continued to move toward the breach. Movements took twice the amount of effort as they walked through the water.
"Two active solid circle formation with one quadrant, code name Scunner, Raiju. Both category 4." Herc said over the com.
"Roger that." Stacker affirmed, but she could barely focus on Stackers words. They could barely see and she was focused on trying to spot the kaiju around them.
"Visibility zero. Switching to instruments now." Raleigh said. The screen changed and suddenly she could see a little better. They were in sync. She closed her eyes and focused in on the feeling of being connected to Raleigh and the jaeger. Raleigh was leading their movements and she trusted everything he did. Suddenly something caught her eye on Raleigh's side and she was on edge.
"Did you see that?" She asked him and he shook his head. He was about to reply when Herc spoke over the com again.
"Gipsy, there's a movement on your right. Three o'clock. Three o'clock!" The panic in his voice didn't phase her and she prepared for the attack.
"One hundred feet radius clear." Gipsy told them and she looked at the computer, confused.
"Right side's clear, I got nothin!" Raleigh told Loccent.
"Left now! It's moving fast! Fastest Kaiju on record!" Tendo yelled at them, just as something swam past her side. This creature was making her nervous. The movements were too fast for her to track.
"I don't see anything! It's moving too fast!" Raleigh yelled back.
"Eyes on the prize, Gipsy! Six hundred meters from the drop." Chuck told them.
"Something isn't right." She told Raleigh. "They want us closer to the breach."
"Four hundred meters and closing!" Chuck informed them as they jumped down into the first level of the fissure on the ocean floor.
"Boggies are stopping." Tendo said, a hint of confusion in his voice. They were at the edge of the breach, ready to jump into the depths. She stopped Gipsy where they were, behind Striker. Something was off and she didn't want to get any closer to the edge. Raleigh looked over at her in confusion, but she kept her eyes trained on their surroundings. She couldn't risk not seeing an attack.
"Striker, Kaijus have stopped. One o'clock." Herc told them. Striker stopped in front of them as well and waited. She could imagine that they were arguing inside the hull of Striker. "Striker, the Kaiju aren't falling. Take the leap, now!" Herc ordered, but in the background they could here the two doctors yelling for them not to do it.
"Move, you fascist!" She heard Dr. Geiszler mumble."Blowing up the breach, it's not gonna work!" The doctor told them through the mic.
"What do you mean? What's not gonna work?" Stacker asked urgently. They couldn't stand around forever getting new information.
"Sir, just because the breach's open, does not mean you'll be able to get a bomb through." Newton told them and she looked over at Raleigh concerned.
"The breach genetically reads the Kaiju like a bar code at the supermarket and then lets them pass." Gottlieb said.
"Okay, so you're gonna have to fool the breach into thinking that you have the same code!" Newton finished.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Raleigh demanded.
"By making it think you are a Kaiju." Newton replied, not at all phased by her husband's tone.
"You have to hold onto the Kaiju, ride it into the breach, the throat will then read the Kaiju's genetic code and let you pass." Gottlieb interrupted.
"If you don't do it, the bomb will deflect off the breach, like it always has, and the mission will fail!" Newton finished and she wondered how they had figured all this out. Orders were being thrown around and she wasn't really paying attention. Something was going on with the breach, the light that was coming from it was suddenly shining brighter than before. She knew this was bad.
"Sir,there's a third signature emerging from the breach." Tendo yelled and she froze. A third kaiju? They hadn't even started fighting the other two yet. Not they had three to worry about.
"How big is it? What category?" Stacker asked, starting to sound unsure about what they were about to do.
"Striker, it's category 5. The first ever." Herc replied. Her blood ran cold at the thought. How were they going to do this? Especially with her. She was a rookie and they expected her to be able to fight off a Category 5 with Raleigh. Their eyes were on the breach as the third one emerged and she held her breath.
This kaiju, whose name flashed across their screen, Slattern was massive and had thick, leathery skin. She could see three triple-crowned tails coming from its backside and something told her they were capable of doing some serious damage. She could see a spike-like protrusion on its chest that she assumed was another weapon. Slattern's face was rather unique compared to the other two kaiju she had seen up close. It's face was symmetrical, similar to that of a hammerhead shark with a slanted chin and two striking blue eyes on each side.
"Striker, we see him. We're right behind you, about a hundred meters. We're gonna come around you three o'clock and try to flank him, standard two team formation. Just keep him busy..." Raleigh said but he didn't get to finish as another one attacked them from the left. This one had two horns like a rhinoceros and they quickly had to grab on to them. With a metallic hand on each horn the couple pushed down fighting the creatures strength to keep its head down. Raleigh deployed the sword, ready to end the beast but he was too slow as the third Kaiju came from behind them and ripped Gispy's arm from the socket. Raleigh screamed in pain and her instincts took over. She deployed the sword on her side and stabbed it through the Kaiju's neck.
"Let's get this son of a bitch!" Raleigh yelled and together they dragged the kaiju over a hydrothermal vent. The kaiju wasn't over it for very long before it retaliated and pulled away from them.
"Gipsy, the kaiju twelve o'clock. Full speed! Get out of the way!" They heard Chuck yell and they looked in that direction. Sure enough the kaiju that had ripped the right arm off. They got into a fighting stance and held the sword up at the last second as the kaiju swam right into it. The sword sliced right down the middle but about halfway down they were met with resistance and their arm came back, bending at the elbow and locking in place. She leaned forward so they wouldn't fall back and Raleigh followed her lead, grunting with the exertion. They got a chance to take a deep breath and looked for Striker. They were battling Slattern and they were winning. Slattern pulled back and gave a loud cry. The noise caught the attention of the Kaiju that was near them and it began to swim towards Striker.
"Both Kaiju's are converging on Striker, fast!" Tendo announced over the open com.
"Just hang on, Striker. We're coming to you." Raleigh called out and they began limping towards their comrades using their sword as a cane to help support the damaged right leg.
"No, Gipsy do not come to our aide! Do you copy?" Stacker ordered and they hesitated looking at each other but Raleigh kept pushing on.
"Hang on!" Raleigh yelled determined to help.
"Stand as far back as you can!" Stacker ordered once again, desperation in his voice.
"We can still reach you. We're coming for you!" Raleigh argued but she forced him to stop moving. He looked over at her incredulously.
"Raleigh listen to him." She urged quietly and he looked at her knowing she was right.
"No, Raleigh. Listen to me! You know exactly what you have to d! Gipsy is nuclear, take her to the breach!" Stacker ordered and her heart sank. That meant suicide.
"I hear you, sir. Heading for the breach, now." Raleigh replied. She had tears in her eyes when he looked at her and he understood her tears. She was pregnant and they were about to sacrifice themselves, the family to save the world. All the while leaving Ezra to grow up without parents. "We're a walking nuclear reactor. We can destroy the breach."
She nodded before reaching out to open the com link again.
"Herc, you look after Ezra. Promise me that he'll be looked after. Tell him his parents died heroes." She spoke and had to hold back the sob that bubbled up in her throat.
"Ana..." She knew he wanted to protest, to tell her that she would make it out alive and that everything was going to be okay. But he couldn't. "I promise." He finally told her, his voice quiet.
They knew what Striker's pilots were planning and they rammed the sword into the ocean floor and waited. Suddenly, the payload on Strikers back detonated. A bright orange dome expanded around Striker and Gipsy ducked to avoid the impact of the blast as best they could. When the blast had passed them they looked up to find they weren't in water any longer and there were fish flopping around on the ocean floor. They barely had a moment to bend back down as the water hit their back. If it weren't for the sword they were using to keep them grounded they would have gone tumbling through the water.
"Systems are critical. Fuel's leaking. Our right leg's crippled! Let's finish this!" Raleigh yelled. They moved towards the breach, grabbing onto the carcass of one of the kaiju and began dragging it towards their target. "Loccent, we have the Kaiju carcass. We're heading for the breach. You guys, I hope you're right. Cause one way or another, we're getting this thing done." Suddenly, Slattern appeared in front of them and Raleigh dropped the carcass they were dragging. She knew exactly what he wanted to do and she prepared herself for their next move.
"On my count, release the jets. Three, two, one... Now!" They both pushed buttons on the console and they were launched forward. They tackled the creature and at the last second, deployed her sword, stabbing the kaiju straight through the torso. They were falling towards the breach and Slattern was throwing a fit. The beast was using all it could to get Gipsy to let it go. A tail swung up and stabbed them in the back and she cried out from the shocks that went through her suit. It was steadily getting harder to breathe and she could only guess that the kaiju had punctured her oxygen tank.
"Hold on, Analia! I'm gonna burn this son of a bitch!" Raleigh yelled, but she barely heard it. She was losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen. The last thing she remembered was a bright white light and Raleigh yelling for her to hold on before the darkness took her.

When she woke she could see the sky and she sat up, taking in a deep breath of air. She had to keep herself from hyperventilating as she looked around at her surroundings. She was in the middle of the ocean in an escape pod. She was the only one though. She couldn't see Raleigh's pod anywhere and she began to panic. Suddenly Raleigh escape pod surfaced and she jumped into the water and swam towards it. Climbing on top of it she opened the pod to find Raleigh unconscious. She quickly pulled his helmet off, tossing it in the ocean and searched for his pulse but couldn't find anything.
"I can't find his pulse. I don't think he's breathing." She murmured, her panic continued to rise as she pulled him up into a sitting position. She wrapped her arms around him and cradled him in her arms. "Raleigh? Raleigh?"
"Analia, listen to me. I think it could be the sensors not working. We can't be sure." She heard Tendo tell her but she ignored him.
"No. No. Don't you dare leave me!" She cried out, tears streaming down her face. "You're all I have left, asshole!" She sobbed, holding him tight. She couldn't lose him, not when they had another child on the way. They had made it out alive and now she needed him. His family needed him.
"Ana..." She heard quietly and at first she thought it was are do talking so she ignored it. "Sweetheart, I can't breath. You're squeezing me too tight." She gasped and let go of the man in her arms. He leaned back and took a deep breath. "I couldn't breath." He told her and she laughed despite her tears. She grabbed his face in her hands and put her forehead to his.
"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered.
"You can't get rid of me that easy." He retorted and she leaned forward and kissed him before he pulled her into his embrace. They stayed this way until the choppers came to get them.

Hi guys! This is the final movie verse chapter. I'm going to see about writing one or two more chapters that shows the aftermath of the battle. I need suggestions. What do you as my readers want to see after this chapter! Let me know in the comments or PM me. I hope you've liked it so far and when the second movie comes out next year (crossing my fingers) I WILL be writing a sequel. I'm super excited for it! Let me know what you want to see!