He pulled Amara close. She clung to him, heart racing.
Jake grinned and punched holo commands. “Gipsy to Command. We are getting the hell out of here.”
“WARNING. ESCAPE POD INOPERABLE. WARNING,” said a computer voice.
Gipsy plummeted like a skyscraper dropped from space. Jake eyed a holo indicator counting down the kilometers to impact. It was moving fast! He looked at Amara, eyes filled with the knowledge of their impending death.
“I’m sorry, smallie,” said Jake.
Amara pushed her fear aside and mustered a smile. “For what? We got to save the world. Your dad would be proud.”
Jake nodded. The sentiment hit him hard.
ZZZTTTTTT! A plasma beam interrupted the moment as it cut into the conn-pod behind them. They whirled in surprise.
Scrapper was using her plasma blasters to cut a hole in the back of Gipsy’s head! The little Jaeger made it into the conn-pod. “You guys need a lift?” asked Shao, her voice coming over the remote link. Jake and Amara felt relief pulse through them.
“Twenty kilometers to impact! Get out of there!” said Gottlieb.
Jake and Amara scrambled into Scrapper. Amara dove into one of the counterbalance ear alcoves and Jake dove into the other.
The mega-Kaiju thundered up the side of Mount Fuji. It reached the snowcapped crater at the summit. It roared, about to leap in and start the world-ending chain reaction. But then, it paused. A sound drew its attention to Gipsy Avenger hurtling toward it.
“Hang on!” said Jake.
“I am hanging on!” said Amara.
“Hang tighter!” said Jake.
Scrapper jumped off Gipsy and then curled into a ball just as the Jaeger slammed into the mega-Kaiju. The impact went off like an atomic bomb. Scrapper bounced and careened off trees. Then she unfurled as the shock wave hit her. Jake and Amara were thrown hard by the blast!
The mega-Kaiju slid to a stop. It was smoking and damaged. It started to rise, but then it collapsed. Its skin had been torn apart and smeared across several miles of Mount Fuji—all that was left of it was its head and upper body.
The mega-Kaiju’s locator dot winked out on the holo screen. The war room techs cheered! Jules smiled, but she was still worried about Nate. Gottlieb sighed in relief. The end of the world came a little too close this time.
Shao beamed. She was exhausted but triumphant.
Jinhai, Vik, Ryoichi, Renata, and an injured-but-standing Ilya cheered. It was a costly victory, but the Jaegers and their pilots had saved the world once again!
Above Tokyo, Newt seethed at his loss.
“All right. Okay. Sure. Plan B then. Always a plan B,” he muttered. He turned to escape to his V-Dragon and WHAM! A fist cracked him in the face and knocked him out. It was Nate! He was worse for the wear but still on his feet. He grimaced from the effort and growled at Newt, who was now laid out on the ground.
“That’s about enough of that,” said Nate. He activated his comm. “Command, this is Lambert.”
Jules exhaled in relief at the sound of Nate’s voice.
“Be advised, I just caught us a Newt.”
At Mount Fuji, snow continued to fall, creating a surreal winter scene. Jake and Amara were walking away from Scrapper, who was splayed out in the background. The little Jaeger was damaged from the force of the blast.
“Copy that, Nate. Good to hear you’re still with us,” said Jake.
“You, too, brother. Knew you could do it,” said Nate.
“I had a lot of help,” said Jake. He grinned at Amara as he pulled his helmet off.
“Nice work, Ranger Namani,” said Nate. Amara smiled.
“I’ve never seen snow before,” she said to Jake.
“Yeah . . . almost makes you forget the giant dead monster over there,” he teased.
“I feel like you’re about to make another one of your big dumb speeches,” said Amara.
“Dumb? That speech was inspirational. It literally saved the world.”
Jake nailed Amara with a snowball. She shrieked and threw one back.
“Wait. Did everyone really think it was dumb?” asked Jake.
Amara just laughed. She looked up as the sun set over Mount Fuji. The dead mega-Kaiju’s tattered body hung off it in the distance. Snow glistened in every direction, and at that moment, she felt happy to be alive.
Jake Pentecost, former star cadet and son of Jaeger pilot war hero Stacker Pentecost, makes a living in the criminal underworld of the Santa Monica slums.
Jake and his new friend Amara, an orphan who grew up in the streets of Santa Monica, get into trouble when they steal a valuable piece from a scrapped Jaeger. Using her homemade Jaeger, Scrapper, they put up a valiant fight before they’re caught by the PPDC.
Jake’s adoptive sister, Mako Mori, who followed in their father’s footsteps to become a PPDC hero, gives Jake two choices: Go to jail or rejoin the PPDC as a Ranger to train new recruit Amara and the other cadets. Jake reluctantly accepts her offer.
Amara meets the other cadets and struggles to fit in at first. She has a lot to learn about becoming a cadet, and who not to pick a fight with!
Jake reunites with his old friend and former copilot, Nathan Lambert. Nathan isn’t pleased to see Jake at first, still upset about a falling-out they had as cadets 11 years before.
A mysterious rogue Jaeger, Obsidian Fury, attacks PPDC headquarters in Sydney, causing massive destruction.
Jake and Nathan head to Siberia. Together, they pilot Gipsy Avenger and defeat Obsidian Fury after an intense battle.
Prominent tech executive Shao Liwen unveils her plan to replace piloted Jaegers with drones that can be safely controlled remotely from anywhere in the world.
During delivery of the Shao drones, they are hacked and begin attacking the PPDC, destroying Jaegers and Shatterdomes around the Pacific Rim.
The drone Kaiju begin opening multiple breaches around the world.
Three Kaiju make it through the breach heading towards Tokyo. Jake and Lambert assemble a team of humanity’s last hopes to
