Jake nodded. His friend’s words gave him strength.
Amara punched the final command. “Ejection sequence initiated,” said a computer voice. Nate was ejected from Gipsy Avenger via an escape pod.
Amara climbed into Nate’s now-empty drift cradle.
“You ready for this, smallie?” asked Jake.
Amara finished locking herself into the cradle. “One way to find out,” she said.
Jake frowned, but he fired up the controls. “Stand by, Command. Initiating neural handshake . . .”
Gipsy Avenger was still on one knee among the debris, as beaten up as the wrecked city around her. A beat passed and nothing happened.
Then suddenly, WHOOM! Gipsy Avenger surged to her feet, rising from the ashes. Gipsy slammed her fist into her palm. She was ready.
WHAM! Gipsy’s right leg buckled. It was severely damaged from her battle with the mega-Kaiju. The Jaeger crashed back to one knee.
Alarms wailed. Amara frantically punched holo commands.
“WARNING. CASCADE FAILURE. MULTIPLE SYSTEMS,” said a computer voice.
“Reboot!” screamed Jake.
“I’m trying!” said Amara.
Gottlieb tensed. He tracked the mega-Kaiju’s position. “The hostile is two kilometers from the summit of Mount Fuji!”
Trees toppled as the mega-Kaiju thundered forward. The beast was wounded but determined. The snowcapped summit of Mount Fuji glistened in the distance.
Amara frantically tried to reboot Gipsy’s systems.
Jake spoke into the comms: “Gottlieb, is there enough fuel left in any of your thrusters to get us into the atmosphere?”
“The atmosphere?” said Gottlieb. He punched commands into the computer. “Possibly, but there won’t be enough to slow your reentry.”
“Not going to slow down. We’ll come in hot and drop Gipsy right on top of that thing,” said Jake. Then he looked at Amara. “We’ll use my escape pod, smallie.”
Gottlieb worked his data pad. “Jake, there’s only one thruster pod with enough fuel remaining to reach the troposphere. Sending location . . .”
The intel popped up on the holo screens. Amara stiffened. “It’s too far away. We’re not gonna make it.”
Then, Shao’s voice came over the comms: “Gipsy Avenger—my systems are online!”
A familiar, brightly colored holo display flared to life and a message flashed across it: REMOTE UPLINK ACTIVE. “Sending help!” said Shao.
The cargo doors of a heavy-lift Shao V-Dragon opened. Something rolled out of the back and unfurled in midair, the sun flaring behind it.
“Scrapper!” Amara exclaimed. It was her Jaeger!
Scrapper curled into a ball in midair, smashed through a building, and landed on the ground in one sleek movement.
This was what Shao had been working on! She had been modifying Scrapper’s conn-pod rings to remotely operate the Jaeger from the Shatterdome.
A Shao data core sat where the pilot rings used to be. That’s how Shao was remotely operating Scrapper! Her holo screen locked onto a thruster pod.
“I’ve located the thruster pod! Stand by,” she exclaimed.
The air was thick from all the destruction.
WHOOSH! Scrapper surged out, with the thruster pod slung across her back.
Jake and Amara watched Scrapper closing in with the thruster pod through Gipsy’s destroyed face shield. Amara punched commands, doing quick calculations.
“Thrust is too strong. We won’t be able to hold on to it,” said Amara.
“I upgraded Scrapper’s weapons. I can weld the thruster to your hand,” said Shao.
“Nice!” said Amara.
Scrapper tossed the thruster pod down, and Gipsy reached out and grabbed it!
Plasma blasters with Shao Industries markings sprang from Scrapper’s shoulders. Metal sizzled as Scrapper scrambled onto Gipsy’s arm, using the blasters to weld the thruster pod to Gipsy’s hand.
“We’ll only get one shot at this,” said Amara.
“Then we better make it count,” said Jake.
KA-THOOM! Scrapper’s blasters accidentally ignited the thruster pod. Gipsy surged forward, careening out of control. Jake and Amara were slammed hard.
Shock spread across Shao’s face. The remote conn-rings shuddered from the uplink feedback. “Ignition! We have ignition!” she said.
Gipsy blasted horizontally through the city, tearing up the street and scraping buildings in its path. The Jaeger was completely out of control!
Scrapper tumbled. The little Jaeger’s foot got caught on Gipsy’s rear fin.
Gipsy careened through the city and then started to climb into the air. Scrapper flailed—unexpectedly along for the ride.
“I’m stuck!” said Shao, who was remotely operating Scrapper.
Jake and Amara struggled to adjust their trajectory. “Stay there,” said Jake to Shao. “You’re an extra ton we can drop on that thing.”
Gipsy Avenger burst through the clouds. They were headed for the upper atmosphere now. Pieces of the battle-damaged Jaeger were ripped off by extreme forces.
Warning alarms wailed. The conn-pod shook and threatened to disintegrate.
“She’s coming apart!” said Amara.
“Almost there!” said Jake.
The thruster pod flamed out. Its fuel was spent. Gipsy reached the apex of her trajectory. Gravity momentarily ceased to exist. Jake and Amara floated into the air. Then, Gipsy started to plummet. They were headed back down!
Jake and Amara were slammed hard as Gipsy plummeted back to earth. A holo screen flashed. “We’re locked on target!” said Amara.
“Get out of there! Eject!” said Gottlieb over the comms.
“We’re drifting off course,” said Jake.
Amara thought fast. “Use the plasma cannon!” she shouted.
Jake grinned and punched the commands. “Disengaging safety protocols!” he said.
Gipsy’s plasma cannon fired. The continuous stream of energy began to correct the Jaeger’s course, but Gipsy’s arm started to glow from the intense heat. Pieces started to break off.
Jake and Amara struggled to maintain control. Warning alarms wailed. “Warning. Exceeding structural limits!” said a computer voice.
The plasma cannon flared out. It took a hunk of Gipsy’s forearm with it.
Gipsy shuddered. Alarms wailed. Jake threw a worried look at Amara. Were they going to make it?
Amara punched holo commands. A reticle adjusted and locked onto the mega-Kaiju on the side of Mount Fuji.
“Target locked!” said Amara.
Gottlieb eyed the rate of Gipsy’s descent. “Jake! Amara! You need to eject!” he said.
Gipsy screamed toward earth. At this point, it was glowing from the friction of reentry. Pieces were still falling off. Wind slammed through Gipsy’s destroyed face shield. Flames ignited just outside!
“Disconnect!” Jake screamed at Amara.
Amara froze, terrified. Jake stretched out his hand. “It’s okay! I got you!” he said.
Amara swallowed the fear and punched a holo command. The drift cradle disconnected from her drivesuit. Amara leapt for Jake, fighting the
