As Gipsy reached for another building, Saber Athena was tracking Hakuja, and found the armored Kaiju tensing to spring on Gipsy Avenger from behind. “Oh no you don’t,” Renata said, leaning into a sprint. She and Ryoichi timed the last steps to hit Hakuja with a flying knee, smashing into the side of its head just below the row of eyes. The other side of its head crushed several floors of the building it had been using as cover for its planned ambush of Gipsy Avenger, who was slinging down more buildings on Raijin. The Cat-5 was moving more slowly now, but it was still coming. Gipsy backed away before it, drawing it on.
Hakuja pivoted round to attack Saber Athena, hooking its claws into the Jaeger’s armor. Saber Athena drove punch after punch into Hakuja’s bony head, pummeling the Kaiju down. Renata and Ryoichi were so focused on their target that they didn’t notice Saber Athena’s HUD showing Shrikethorn coming around the corner two blocks behind them. Shrikethorn roared and its twin tails snapped up over its head. Dozens of armored spikes launched from the tails. Most of them crashed through the buildings still standing near Saber Athena and Hakuja, but several punched into Saber Athena’s armor, burying themselves deep. Renata and Ryoichi cried out at the holographic impression of pain, momentarily losing their focus on Hakuja.
The Kaiju was quick to seize the opportunity. It leaped up on Saber Athena, gripping with its front paws and raking with the rear. Its immense mass drove Saber Athena back and she fell, demolishing the front of a Kaiju Museum erected near the spot where Onibaba had once fallen. The Ranger who put it down was Stacker Pentecost. Somewhere around here was the alley where Mako, terrified and wearing one shoe, had survived the battle and seen her adoptive father for the first time.
Too many echoes, Jake thought. We’ve done this too many times. It has to end.
Saber Athena was deadly on her feet, but grappling on the ground, Hakuja had the advantage. The Kaiju snapped and tore at Saber Athena’s armor as Renata and Ryoichi fought to fend it off. They were keeping it from Saber Athena’s head, but if they couldn’t get up, they wouldn’t be able to hold on forever. And things were about to get worse, because Shrikethorn was loping toward them, aiming to finish Saber Athena off. “Shrikethorn inbound!” Ryoichi shouted.
Renata activated their comm. “Hey, guys! We could use a little help over here!”
Bracer Phoenix had suffered a system brownout when Raijin nailed them with the stored kinetic energy of Gipsy Avenger’s punch. They were just now back online and on their feet. “Copy that!” Amara answered. “Vik! Take out Shrikethorn!”
“On it!” Vik touched a screen and the recessed floor under her Drift cradle opened. She dropped down, fifteen stories in a flash, still linked to her partners, slamming to a halt in the firing emplacement behind the quad-mounted railguns built into Bracer Phoenix’s midsection. They were built on a track that gave them a three-hundred-sixty-degree field of fire, and Vik had them powered up and locked in on Shrikethorn before the spiky Kaiju could get its claws into Saber Athena.
The barrage of railgun shells tore into Shrikethorn, blasting away pieces of its armor and splattering the street with Kaiju blood. Shrikethorn reared back and sprang away from Saber Athena to come after Bracer Phoenix, who held steady, forcing Shrikethorn to come straight through the railgun fire.
Guardian Bravo had also heard Renata’s distress call. Suresh and Ilya were coming in hot, skirting the valley of collapsed buildings where Gipsy Avenger still battled Raijin. “Saber Athena! Guardian Bravo coming to assist!”
“Activating Arc Whip,” Ilya said calmly.
Power surged inside Guardian Bravo’s Conn-Pod, brightening all the displays as the Arc Whip came online. Guardian Bravo slung the whip out to one side, flicking it out to its full length and leaping forward. They came down just behind Hakuja, slashing the whip down across the Kaiju’s back. The unbreakable graphene strand cracked the armored plates on Hakuja’s back and delivered a staggering punch of energy besides. Hakuja spasmed, letting go of Saber Athena. As the Kaiju turned to face Guardian Bravo, Ilya and Suresh were already spinning through a full turn, sweeping the whip around to snap into Hakuja’s midsection. The force of the blow lifted the Kaiju off its feet and smashed it straight through a building back into the main avenue where Gipsy Avenger was still dropping buildings on Raijin.
Hakuja bellowed in wounded fury, the sound shaking down rubble from partially destroyed buildings. Then it bent and dug into the ground. Seconds later, it was gone.
“Yeah, that’s right! You better run!” Suresh crowed, seeing the Kaiju flee. He looked over at Ilya, all of his normal diffidence swept away by the euphoria of the battle. “These things ain’t that tough!”
Behind them, Bracer Phoenix was still holding Shrikethorn at bay with her railgun. Before them, Gipsy Avenger snapped the Gravity Sling again, and another skyscraper fell, crushing Raijin to the ground once more. The street heaved under Gipsy Avenger and the Jaeger lost her balance momentarily. Inside, the Conn-Pod HUD showed Jake the locations of all Jaegers and Kaiju in the field. He saw Hakuja on the move, passing directly beneath them… and headed toward Bracer Phoenix.
“Bracer, check your six!” he called, amazed that a creature that size could move so fast underground. “Hostile inbound!”
Vik was on it. “Copy that!” she answered, watching her own HUD inside the railgun turret. She spotted the approaching Kaiju bogey and kicked the turret into a one-eighty, swiveling it around just as Hakuja burst up through the street behind them in an eruption of concrete, earth, and water spraying from broken pipes. Vik was already firing as she saw the Kaiju, blasting it point-blank in the face with all four barrels. “Yeah!”
