Pacific Rim Uprising

by Becky Matheson

  Obsidian tried to counter with its chain saw. Gipsy dodged the blow and ripped the broken chain sword from Obsidian’s leg, burying it in the Jaeger’s neck.

  Jake and Nate completed the stab to the neck and went in for the kill: Gipsy Avenger punched through Obsidian Fury’s chest and ripped out its power core! The resulting energy surge fried Obsidian! The rogue Jaeger crumbled to the ground.

  Jake surged forward. It was time to meet the pilots who had caused him so much pain.

  Gipsy roughly grabbed Obsidian Fury and ripped the Jaeger’s face off. Then Nate and Jake’s expressions changed to horror. Inside Obsidian Fury’s conn-pod, there were no Kaiju worshippers. No pilots at all!

  Instead, it was a mass of Kaiju brain tissue with nerve tendrils that webbed out into the conn-pod’s electronics! The brain, which was damaged in the energy surge, convulsed and died.

  Jake felt robbed of his vengeance for Mako’s death. There wasn’t a human behind it, no one to blame. Just an even more confusing and ever-deepening mystery to solve . . .

  Jake and Nate stood inside Gottlieb’s lab. Gottlieb set a goo-dripping chain saw down and peeled off his thick industrial rubber gloves.

  “It’s definitely Kaiju,” he said. “A secondary brain. Used to control the hindquarters.”

  “Like the dinosaurs?” asked Nate.

  “Actually, that’s a persistent myth. Sauropods did have a sacra-lumbar expansion that was once thought—”

  “How’d it get into our world?” interrupted Jake.

  “Hasn’t been a breach in ten years. Sensors would have picked it up,” said Marshal Quan.

  “I don’t think there was a breach. Kaiju flesh has a distinct radioactive half-life signature, particular to the Anteverse. This specimen doesn’t,” said Gottlieb.

  “You saying it came from our universe?” asked Nate.

  “The genetic fingerprints indicate distinctly terrestrial modification techniques. Probably engineered from Kaiju tissue left over from the war,” said Gottlieb.

  Marshal Quan’s eyes widened. “Precursors didn’t do this. Humans did.”

  “How’d a bunch of crazy Kaiju worshippers do all that?” asked Jake.

  “Doubtful they could have. Only a dozen or so biotech companies in the world could even take a run at it,” said Gottlieb.

  “We need to narrow that list down. Fast,” commanded Quan.

  Gottlieb got to work. Quan nodded at Jake and Nate. “Good work. Mako would be proud,” he said. Then he distinctly turned to face Jake and said, “So would your father.”

  Jake’s face twisted into thought. He wondered if his father would have echoed that sentiment.

  Shatterdome security stood watch over Obsidian Fury, which lay broken and inert on the tarmac. Jules and a tech crew crawled over it like ants.

  Amara, Jinhai, Meilin, and Suresh stared at Obsidian Fury in awe from across the tarmac.

  “That hunk of Kaiju was part of a Jaeger?” asked Suresh.

  “Really thought it was going to be ballerinas,” said Jinhai.

  Amara looked at the strange Jaeger, mesmerized. This was technological catnip to her. “We gotta get a look inside,” she said.

  “Inside?” asked Suresh.

  “That thing’s part Kaiju. Come on, guys. When are we ever going to get a chance to see something like this again?”

  “Never. Never would be good,” said Suresh.

  “Stay here if you want. But I’m going,” said Amara. Her eyes blazed with determination.

  The group followed Amara. Their flashlights stabbed through the gloom.

  Amara concentrated her light on the Kaiju tissue striated through the advanced Jaeger tech.

  “It’s fused all the way through the system. Like . . . muscle tissue,” she observed.

  “That’s how it was able to move like it did. Cool,” said Jinhai.

  “Yeah, cool,” said Suresh, who clearly wanted to get out of Obsidian as fast as possible.

  An odd bundle of cables caught Amara’s attention. “Shine your light over here,” she said.

  Jinhai aimed his flashlight at the cables as Amara wrestled to pull a cable loose.

  “Oh, great, yeah. Let’s go yanking on the guts of the weird Kaiju kill-bot,” said Suresh.

  Amara succeeded in ripping the cable loose. No one noticed that her yanking ruptured a Kaiju blood vessel running along the ceiling. She eyed the inside of the cable, her brow furrowing.

  “What is it?” asked Jinhai.

  Before she could answer, blue Kaiju blood dripped down. It just missed her—but it caught Jinhai in the arm! He grunted as the caustic blood ate through his jacket and seared his arm.

  “Jinhai!” screamed Amara.

  Jinhai dropped to the floor in agony, trying not to scream. Amara tore at his jacket, avoiding the caustic blood.

  “I told you not to yank on those!” said Suresh.

  “Go get help! Go!” said Amara. Meilin and Suresh bolted off.

  Jinhai gripped Amara’s arm, grunting in agony. Amara kneeled next to him, her face twisted in sorrow and fear.

  Jake argued with Marshal Quan out in the corridor. Quan stormed off. Amara sat alone in the holding room. Jake walked in to talk to her.

  “Is Jinhai okay?” she asked.

  “There’s gonna be some scarring, but yeah. He’ll live,” said Jake. “Marshal’s put him on probation. Meilin and Suresh too. They blink wrong, all of ’em are out.”

  “It wasn’t their fault. I talked them into it. Jake, listen, there’s something—” Amara started, but Jake interrupted.

  “Amara, I tried to talk to the marshal. I’m sorry. You’re dismissed from the program,” said Jake.

  “Doesn’t matter. Never belonged here anyway,” said Amara.

  Jake saw the pain her words attempted to cover. He crossed to sit next to her. “I said the same thing, long time ago. But I didn’t want to be here. Not like you.”

  “Then why’d you sign up?” asked Amara.

  “We were at war. My dad was leading the charge. I thought . . . I dunno. Maybe I’d see more of him. Maybe even drift with him . . .” Jake smiled. It was a happy memory.

  “Then one night Nate—Ranger Lambert—and I get into it. Over something stupid, don’t even remember what. So I climbed into an old Mark IV to show him I didn’t need him or anybody else to be a great pilot.”

  Amara eyed him, stunned. “Wow. That was stupid.”

  Jake shook his head and laughed. “Yeah. Took two steps and blacked out from the strain. First thing I saw when I woke up in the infirmary was my dad. He told me I was out of the program. Said I didn’t deserve to be in a Jaeger. He said—he said a lot of other things. And so did I. Soon as I could stand up, I left and never looked back.”

  Jake paused. A quiet moment passed. Then, he continued.

  “A year later, he was gone. I never got the chance to prove him wrong. More importantly, I never got the chance to prove it to myself. Because I was angry. And hurt. Don’t let what other people think define who you are. You won’t like where that takes you. Do you understand? And keep your head up, and you might just be as good-looking as me in this type of situation. Seriously, this face is set up well. Beauty is a burden. You’ll be alright.”

  Jake got up to leave. Amara stopped him.

  “Shao Industries. That’s what I was trying to tell you. Obsidian Fury has tech in it made by Shao Industries,” she said.

  “Jules and her team scanned every centimeter of that Jaeger. Didn’t find any serial numbers or identifying markers,” said Jake.

  “Insulating metamaterials wound counterclockwise in the shunt cabling. Shao’s the only company that winds them that way,” explained Amara.

  “Amara, are you sure?” asked Jake.

  “Yeah. Stole a ton of it to make Scrapper. Thought it might be important,” said Amara.

  Jake tightened at the revelation. He rushed out of the holding cell.

  It was night at the Moyulan Shatterdome. Jake
, Nate, and Gottlieb hustled down the corridor.

  “Shao Industries? They don’t even have a bio division,” said Gottlieb.

  “That we know of,” said Jake.

  “Cabling could have been stolen, just like in Amara’s Jaeger. We need more than that to link Obsidian Fury to Shao,” said Nate.

  “What about Newt? He’d have access to internal records, shipping manifests . . .” said Gottlieb.

  “Go see him. Keep it low profile,” said Jake.

  “A mission. I have a secret mission!” said Gottlieb excitedly.

  Amara sullenly looked on as PPDC security emptied out her locker in the cadet barracks.

  “This isn’t fair,” said Suresh.

  Jinhai stepped over with his arm bandaged from the Kaiju blood burn. “I tried to talk to my parents. But they wouldn’t listen,” he said.

  “It was my ‘mission.’ This is on me,” said Amara.

  Security finished and started to lead Amara out of the barracks. Vik called to her, “Amara. The next Jaeger you build. Make it a big one,” she said, supportively.

  Amara nodded, choking back the emotion of leaving people she was beginning to feel were her family.

  Shao Liwen strode through the lobby of her offices in Shanghai. It was time for drone deployment. Her eyes focused on a data pad in her hands. Chief Kang fell into step with her. “The building’s secure, ma’am,” he said.

  “No visitors without the proper credentials. I don’t want anyone interfering with deployment,” said Shao.

  Her data pad beeped. She eyed something on it and frowned—suspicion clouding her face.

  Meanwhile, inside a remote room owned by Shao Industries, Newt worked a holo screen. He punched in commands to track the drones in the field.

  “. . . aaaand delivery at one hundred percent! That right there, that’s the way you do it—” he said gleefully.

  Warning lights flashed! Burke wrestled with his controls.

  “Losing uplink to drone 375!” said Burke.

  Newt whirled around as more warning lights flashed. Now several remote pilots lost their uplink connections.

  At the Moyulan Shatterdome, Xiang tensed. A holo map of Jaegers in the field flashed red. Out on the tarmac, two drone Jaegers were being flown in via Jumphawks. Amara glanced up at them as PPDC security escorted her out.

  Jake, heading to a Jumphawk with Nate and Quan, locked eyes with her across the tarmac.

  “Give me a second,” said Jake.

  He started toward her, but an urgent comm stopped him.

  “Marshal, the drones in the field are malfunctioning! We need to stop the ones coming in from deploying!” said Xiang over the comm.

  “There’s something wrong with the drones!” said Marshal Quan.

  WHOOM! The drones being flown in lit up with Kaiju energy. Alien flesh stabbed out between their metal plates. They thrashed in midair, destroying their Jumphawks. Then they immediately unleashed a barrage of plasma missiles as they hit the ground!

  “Get to Gipsy! Go!” screamed Marshal Quan.

  Jake and Nate took off for Jaeger Bay.

  “All pilots! Man your Jaegers and engage hostiles—” said Quan.

  BOOM! The Kaiju drones destroyed Valor Omega. Debris cartwheeled across the tarmac. Amara dove out of the way as Valor Omega’s severed head slammed into her PPDC security escort.

  The Kaiju drones started blasting at everything in sight: Jumphawks, equipment, fleeing personnel. There was no remorse. Amara’s eyes widened with the terror of war . . .

  In Shanghai, the main building of Shao Industries erupted into chaos. Staff and techs rushed through the corridors. Newt hurried in the opposite direction of everyone else, mumbling to himself.

  “Okay, okay, you got this, it’s cool. You cool? Yeah, I’m cool. I’m super cool . . .” he said.

  Qingsheng, one of the lab techs, shouted as he passed, “Dr. Geiszler! She’s looking for you.”

  “I know! I know! I’m heading up!” said Newt.

  Newt rounded the corner, and WHAM! Gottlieb yanked him aside.

  “Hermann? How did you get in here?” asked Newt.

  “I do have PPDC credentials—and besides, everyone here seems a bit preoccupied with the killer drones your boss just set off,” said Gottlieb.

  “It’s not her fault!” said Newt. “Maybe they found a way to hack—”

  “This has nothing to do with Kaiju worshippers!” said Gottlieb. “We found evidence linking Obsidian Fury to Shao Industries.”

  “This Shao Industries?”

  “No, the Shao Industries that makes knickerbocker glories. Yes, this one. I came to see if you would help corroborate from the inside, but now that Shao has shown her hand with these drones—”

  “Why would she build drones to go bananas and attack?” asked Newt. “It doesn’t make any sense. And what in the world is a knickerbocker glory?”

  “She used you. Lured you with money and a fancy title. And while you were basking in the glow, she took your research and twisted it,” Gottlieb hissed at Newt as they walked through the corridor.

  Newt chewed his lip. His eyes flicked around nervously.

  “You really believe that?” he asked.

  “It’s not your fault. She’s been playing all of us. Help me stop her, Newton. Help me save the world, like old times,” said Gottlieb.

  “Well, you were technically helping me last time—” said Newt.

  “Fine. Help me help you save the world. What do you say?” asked Gottlieb.

  Newt wrestled with that. An internal conflict raged inside him.

  “I say—DON’T SHOOT!” said Newt.

  He threw his hands up. Chief Kang and his men rushed in with their guns drawn. Shao had found them.

  At Jaeger Bay, explosions boomed from the tarmac. Amara rushed alongside with a flood of other personnel. Jinhai, Vik, Meilin, Suresh, Ilya, Tahima, Renata, and Ryoichi intercepted her.

  “What’s happening?” asked Jinhai.

  “Are those Jaegers?” asked Ryoichi.

  “Drones, from Shao Industries!” said Amara.

  “What are they doing?” asked Tahima.

  “I don’t know! They just went crazy!” said Amara.

  Jake and Nate hustled past, dodging debris as they tried to get to Gipsy Avenger.

  “Clear the deck!” ordered Nate.

  “Get to your quarters!” said Jake.

  BOOM! Plasma missiles slammed into Titan Redeemer as she came out of her dock. The blast crippled her leg. Thrown off balance, Titan Redeemer groaned and teetered over them.

  “Go! Go!” Nate shouted, as he and Jake tried to get the cadets out of the way of the falling Jaeger. But Nate didn’t clear in time. Falling metal was about to hit him when . . .

  WHAM! Jules tackled him out of the way just as Titan slammed to the ground. She lay on top of him as the shockwave hit.

  “Hey,” said Jules affectionately.

  “Hey,” said Nate back.

  Jake frowned in disbelief at the timing. “Seriously? Now?” he asked.

  Back in Shanghai, Newt and Gottlieb were in an elevator surrounded by Shao security. Newt caught Gottlieb’s attention, and shot his eyebrow toward Gottlieb’s cane. Gottlieb frowned, confused. Newt motioned at the cane again. Gottlieb understood. He coughed, half doubling over.

  Then he swung his cane! It broke a guard’s nose. Newt grabbed Kang as the chief whipped out his sidearm.

  Shots rang out! Then DING! The door opened right as Newt smashed Kang in the face with his own sidearm. Newt and Gottlieb dashed out, leaving behind a pile of unconscious officers.

  “Thank you, Newton! I’d hug you if I didn’t have a rule about public displays of affection—oh to hell with it!” said Gottlieb. Then, he hugged Newt. Newt was surprised at the gesture.

  “You’re welcome, Hermann. Now if you’re done groping me, we need to take care of these drones,” he said.

  They burst into the lab at Shao Industries, where everything had be
en thrown into chaos. Newt waved the gun he took from Kang.

  “Out!” he said. Then in Mandarin, “Go! Now!”

  The lab techs fled. Daiyu shouted at Newt as he dashed out, “Always knew you’d go crazy!”

  “You’re fired!” said Newt.

  “What do we do? How do we stop this?” asked Gottlieb.

  “Back door!” said Newt.

  Newt set the gun down as he rushed to a terminal and punched in commands.

  “To what? The lab?” asked Gottlieb.

  A holo screen flared to life. The Kaiju drones were pinpointed around the Pacific Rim.

  Newt kept inputting commands. “To the drone subroutine,” he said. “I slipped one in just in case I wanted to get in there and poke around down the road.”

  “Sneaky!” said Gottlieb.

  “I know, right?” replied Newt.

  Then he stabbed enter. But the Kaiju drones didn’t deactivate. Instead, an ominous message flashed across the holo screen: COMND LIMA VICTOR 426 CONFIRMED. INITIATING BREACH PROTOCOL.

  Gottlieb’s face dropped. “What did you just do?” he asked.

  “What I’ve been planning for the last ten years. Ending the world,” said Newt. Then he grinned. Something dark and malicious welled in his eyes. Gottlieb stiffened in horror. It wasn’t Shao Liwen who was behind all of this. It was Newt!

  A Kaiju Jaeger emerged from the ocean, joining four more that gathered just off the shore of the Santa Monica slums. They formed a circle as blue-tinged particle beams erupted from their chest reactors. The beams slammed together in a thunderclap of raw energy. The water between them churned. They were opening a breach!

  At the Moyulan Shatterdome, Marshal Quan rushed to the command center, a bit roughed up from his journey. “Where are my pilots?”

  Red circles popped up across a holo screen map. Kaiju drones were opening up breaches all around the Pacific Rim!

  “Breaches detected! Multiple locations! It’s the drones, sir!” said Xiang.

  Quan’s eyes widened in shock. “All pilots! Breaches detected! Drones in the field—” said Quan over the comms.