Jules watched the image begin to resolve. She leaned into the comm to update Jake. “We have it, Gipsy, but it’s still compiling.”
“No time,” Jake said. “Can you locate the brains?”
Gottlieb was working the scan now, taking over from McKinney. He zoomed in on a detail of the Mega-Kaiju’s head. Multiple layers of bony spikes and crests protected its brain, all under the final outside layer of the cyborg mechs that had woven themselves into a seemingly impervious exoskeleton. “Hostile’s central brain mass is heavily armored,” Gottlieb informed them. He waited a brief moment for the associated scanning programs to bring back a result about kinetic damping values and energy ablation, other defensive variables. None of the numbers looked good. “Your weapons won’t be able to penetrate.”
Lambert was following the conversation while he kept Gipsy hot on the Mega-Kaiju’s trail. He also had the benefit of being in Jake’s mind, thanks to the Drift, so he saw where Jake was going. “What about a secondary brain? This sonofabitch have one of those?”
Still working the holo screen as it compiled data from different local and satellite sources, Gottlieb swiped away a number of layers to get to the basic anatomical breakdown of the Mega-Kaiju as they understood it. The image on the screen was astonishing. Three Kaiju, stitched together into one. The skeletal structures of all three were still visible on the screen, along with the brutal modifications made by the army of smaller robots from Shao’s factory. Under other circumstances, Gottlieb would have spent hours or days marveling at the incredible research, intuition, and manufacturing skill that went into creating something like this—but today all he wanted was to kill it.
Three areas lit up on the screen, designating three points near the Mega-Kaiju’s hindquarters, at the base of its three tails. “Hostile has three secondary brains,” he reported. “One for each component Kaiju.” Jules captured the tactical scan and swiped it over to the Shared Intel Battlefield Server, available to all Jaegers in the field.
“Sending intel.”
Jake and Lambert watched as the anatomy scan consolidated on Gipsy Avenger’s HUD. “Intel received.” They were still chasing the Mega-Kaiju, and Jake wasn’t sure they were going to get there in time. But if they did, they were going to need to put it down fast.
“Taking out the secondary brains won’t kill it,” Lambert said.
“Maybe not,” Jake agreed. “But it’ll sure as hell slow it down.” He called out to the other two Jaeger crews. “Saber Athena, Bracer Phoenix. Check your HUDs for updated target package.”
There was a brief pause as Renata and Amara accessed the new information. “Package confirmed for Saber Athena,” Renata reported. Amara echoed a few seconds later.
“Follow our lead,” Jake said. “And stay frosty.” They had no idea what might be coming next.
Lambert did have an idea about some steps they could take to be extra prepared, though. “Might be a good time to fire up some of those Obsidian Fury weapons Liwen grabbed us,” he said.
Jake grinned. “Read my mind, partner.” He didn’t know what all those systems might be yet, since, as Jules had said, crews had kit-bashed them in as they worked, but he did know about one, and he was looking forward to using it.
They were gaining on the Mega-Kaiju. As they got close enough to attack, Gipsy Avenger snapped its arms out straight and Obsidian Fury’s twin plasma chainsaws slid out of their forearm housings and locked into place. Still running, Gipsy leaped forward, kicking up off a building as Guardian Bravo had to gain enough altitude. The Jaeger soared in a high arc over the Mega-Kaiju’s tails and slashed the plasma saws across its back as it came down. The saws tore through the extra layer of plating formed by Newt’s creatures. Pieces of them cascaded down the Mega-Kaiju’s back. Gipsy Avenger landed and ducked the sweep of the Mega-Kaiju’s tails as it rounded on them to strike back.
Saber Athena, right behind Gipsy Avenger, came flying in with another aerial attack, aiming for the spot weakened by the plasma saws. The Mega-Kaiju raised a claw to smash Saber Athena down into the ground, but a volley of missiles from Bracer Phoenix distracted it. It lumbered around to face Bracer just as Amara and Jinhai threw the Morning Star Hand. Its spikes snapped out as it flew straight and true into the Mega-Kaiju’s face, rocking its head back and snapping off one of its mandible tusks.
Thinking the Mega-Kaiju was stunned, Bracer Phoenix tried to jump onto its back, where the secondary brains were housed low along its spine. But the Mega-Kaiju reacted quickly, spinning around to swat Bracer Phoenix out of the air. The Jaeger landed hard in a block of low buildings, crushing them. Saber Athena tried to dance in and open the wound on its back wider. The Mega-Kaiju anticipated this attack too, swiping a claw around as Saber Athena lunged forward, extending its sword.
The Mega-Kaiju’s claws tore through Saber Athena’s legs, ripping them off just below the hip joints. Saber Athena hit the ground and the Mega-Kaiju loomed over her, roaring in triumph. Grimacing with the agony of biofeedback, Renata and Ryoichi tried to crawl away, dragging Saber Athena along by her arms. The shriek of alarms in the Conn-Pod drowned out the Mega-Kaiju’s roars. Jake saw the creature raising its double tail over its head. He shouted a warning, but even if Renata and Ryoichi had heard it, there was no way for them to avoid Mega-Kaiju’s attack. The twin tails snapped forward and down like a scorpion’s, impaling Saber Athena and stabbing deep into the ground. The crippled Jaeger spasmed as her power core flared from the damage inflicted by the tail spikes. Renata and Ryoichi cried out, feeling their Jaeger die around them.
Jerking its tail back, the Mega-Kaiju lifted Saber Athena off the ground and flung her aside. “Renata! Ryoichi!” Lambert called. “Status!”
There was no answer. Saber Athena, legless
