Category V Kaiju!

Although it was their first actual battle together, the Gipsy Danger piloted by Raleigh and Mako Mori displayed power far beyond expectations.

Bam!

The reactor in Gipsy Danger's chest spun furiously as the Jaeger stomped through the coastal shallows and slammed into the charging Knifehead, the tremendous impact sending waves surging across the sea!

"Raleigh, Mako, Eureka Striker's nuclear bomb is almost installed. You have to hold on!" Cai Tiantong told them over the comms.

Five years ago, the battle between Gipsy Danger and Knifehead had been brutal. Even victory had come at a heavy price.

Marshal Stacker expected them to destroy the Kaiju outright, but as Raleigh's old friend, Cai Tiantong was still worried.

Having the Mark V Eureka Striker join the fight for a two-on-one battle was the safest option.

Gipsy Danger twisted sideways to evade Knifehead's piercing charge, then seized one side of the creature's body, clamped an arm around its extraordinarily long head, and hammered its skull with punch after punch, producing a rapid series of dull thuds.

"We can handle it!"

"Send Eureka Striker straight to rendezvous with Mr. Natsuki!" Raleigh shouted as he swung his fists with all his might inside the cockpit.

He didn't want to delay the entire plan because of himself.

Their operation concerned the future of all humanity.

Natsuki had placed his trust in him, and he would give everything he had to repay that trust. He... no, they would destroy this Kaiju!

"I killed Knifehead five years ago, and I can do it again!"

"Trust me... trust us!"

After Raleigh shouted those words, Knifehead struggled free of Gipsy Danger's hold. This creature was stronger than it had been five years ago!

"...All right!"

Hearing the fighting spirit in Raleigh's reply, Marshal Stacker nodded solemnly. This was also the right decision.

He was gratified to see Raleigh and Mako Mori perfectly demonstrate their resolve as warriors at this moment.

"Open the gates. Deploy Eureka Striker to rendezvous with Shaolin Rogue and Crimson Typhoon."

"Continue the mission. Our target... the Breach on the floor of the Pacific Ocean!" Marshal Stacker ordered in a deep voice from the command center.

They had already come this far. Retreat was no longer an option.

With humanity's future resting on their shoulders, success was the only path left!

"Understood!" × n

The technicians in the command center answered in unison. As soon as the nuclear bomb was loaded, they began Eureka Striker's deployment sequence.

Outside the base, on the sea mottled with light.

"Graaar!"

Knifehead opened its cavernous maw and roared, spraying saliva that mingled with the rain and fell into the sea.

Inside the cockpit, Raleigh and Mako Mori focused intently on the enemy before them.

"Something's strange..." Raleigh said with a frown.

After several exchanges, Gipsy Danger's outer armor had sustained some damage, while Knifehead had suffered even more.

Yet he saw none of the familiar blue blood in its wounds, as though something other than blood flowed through its body.

"Is that... machinery?" Mako Mori asked, her eyes widening as she spotted an arc of electricity suddenly flash beneath Knifehead's skin.

As far as they knew, Kaiju were biological creatures, with blood, skin, and internal organs. They had never possessed any mechanical structures.

"How is that possible...?" Raleigh noticed it too and was equally shocked.

At the same time, a bold idea took shape in his mind.

"Could it... not be a new individual, but... the Knifehead from five years ago, converted into a machine by someone!?"

Once that thought emerged, it refused to go away, echoing in both their minds.

Who would modify a Kaiju that was already dead!?

Were the Precursors not their only enemy!?

"It's coming!" Mako Mori warned as Knifehead lunged at them again.

Both pilots focused their gazes, and Gipsy Danger immediately sprang into action.

The right hand transformed into a Plasma Cannon and began charging, blue arcs instantly illuminating the seawater below.

Bam!

Knifehead tried to pierce the reactor in Gipsy Danger's chest with its sharp head, but the battle-hardened Raleigh immediately recognized its intent. As it closed in, he delivered a perfectly timed left uppercut, and the collision thundered!

The blow interrupted Knifehead's attack, leaving an opening.

Gipsy Danger seized the opportunity again, driving its massive mechanical body forward and swiftly pressing its right-hand Plasma Cannon against Knifehead. Fully charged, the Plasma Cannon flashed with dazzling blue light!

For an instant, Raleigh felt as though he had connected with his older brother again, returning to that night five years ago, that night of torrential rain.

Once again, he faced this terrifying beast, this enemy returned from the underworld.

Mako Mori, too, felt as though she had returned to the past, watching the beast kill her family. The emotions of those days welled up within her.

But unlike before, they now possessed the power to change it all!

Well done... Raleigh. His older brother Yang Xi's voice echoed in his mind.

Whether Raleigh or Mako Mori, their reason for fighting at that moment was the same.

For humanity, for... their families!

"Plasma Cannon, fire!!!" they shouted in unison, piloting Gipsy Danger to unleash the fully charged blast!

Boom!!!

Dazzling blue light erupted in an instant. At such close range, the full force of that immense energy poured into the beast's body, ravaging its internal structures!

"Graaar!" Knifehead let out a mechanical-sounding scream.

It tried to break free, but Gipsy Danger's assault did not let up!

Boom, boom, boom!

After the charged Plasma Cannon shot came several rapid, uncharged blasts, riddling Knifehead's body with holes and sending it toppling backward into the dark sea, trailing black smoke.

Knifehead had once again fallen to Gipsy Danger!

At the same time.

Clank, clank, clank-

The gates of Shatterdome Base opened again. With its nuclear bomb loaded, Eureka Striker slowly rose into the air with the assistance of several black helicopters and headed for the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

Up ahead.

Having finished off three Kaiju, Crimson Typhoon and Shaolin Rogue were collecting their corpses. They would need a Kaiju corpse as a pass to cross the Breach later.

"Nicely done, Raleigh," Natsuki praised him over the comms.

The man had lived up to his expectations.

But before Raleigh could reply, another startled cry rang out in the command center.

"The Breach is expanding again!"

"Two Kaiju this time."

"One Category IV, and the other... is Category V!"