The Return of Rodan
Part II
By C. L. Werner
"A few more salvos should finish him!" declared Ibn, a fierce smile splitting his full black beard. Steel Rain's gigantic missile battery cycled another batch of Full-Metal Missiles into the launch tubes. Godzilla staggered across the beach, his back plates glowing feebly as the great reptile began to summon enough energy for another futile blast of radioactive fire.
"Sir," the sensor officer cried out. "We have a better image of the object! It is not Mothra, it's some kind of flying dragon."
Major Azhid switched the view on his monitor screen and saw the computer-generated image of the approaching monster. "Th…that's Rodan!" he said, shocked. "But that is impossible! Rodan died years ago."
Impossible or not, the winged reptile was advancing on their position, threatening Steel Rain. Major Azhid ordered his crew to switch the focus of their assault. For the time being, they would have to ignore the badly wounded Godzilla and deal with this new threat. After the damage Steel Rain had been able to dish out to Godzilla, the Saradians were confident that Rodan would fall after the first few salvos and then they could return to their primary target. As the giant pterosaur neared the hulking robot, Steel Rain trained its massive missile launchers on Rodan. A flock of steel death exploded from the robot's over-sized cylindrical arm and raced toward the oncoming target.
The Full-Metal Missiles never met their target. Executing maneuvers impossible for any aircraft ever designed by man, Rodan decreased his speed drastically and juked to the right, away from the path of the screaming projectiles.
"Negative impact!" shouted weapons officer Ibn.
"Reacquire the target!" snarled Major Azhid. But there was no time.
Rodan continued to execute the graceful circle begun with his dodging of the salvo from Steel Rain's missile batteries. Now the giant monster closed the circle, slamming into the upper body of the Saradian war machine from behind. The enormous reptile's weight and momentum overbalanced Steel Rain and the robot toppled to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Rodan circled the battlefield, cackling his unearthly cry as he passed over the staggering Godzilla and the rising Steel Rain. At last, the flying monster landed before the wounded Godzilla, looking at the wounded beast with curiosity. Godzilla returned the pterosaur's gaze, his eyes filled with pain and defeat. Rodan drew his wing back and then extended it forward violently, striking Godzilla upon the side of the reptile's muzzle.
"Report!" barked Major Azhid within the command room of Steel Rain.
"Minimal damage, Sir," replied the damage control officer.
"Major, Rodan is ignoring us. It is attacking Godzilla," reported the soldier manning Steel Rain's sensors.
"Very well," smiled major Azhid. "Fall back and let Rodan finish our work for us. We only need Godzilla's cells."
Rodan continued to buffet Godzilla with his mighty wings. The wounded monster shrieked in rage, his dorsal plates glowing feebly as he attempted to summon enough energy to roast the giant pterosaur. Rodan cackled as he took wing and flew over the staggering Godzilla, his claws slapping the monster's skull as he passed over Godzilla's head. Godzilla again attempted to blast the pterosaur. Rodan responded by knocking Godzilla down with a blow from his wing as he flew back. When Godzilla attempted to rise, Rodan repeated the attack.
Filled with fury, Godzilla rose a third time, his dorsal plates glowing brilliantly. In his rage, Godzilla called upon every bit of strength left in his weakened body to muster an attack upon the swift Rodan. Seeing Godzilla's dorsal plates aglow, Rodan landed before the monster, bellowing his weird cackle. Rodan disappeared in a miasma of sparks and flame as Godzilla's blue column of atomic fire struck the giant pterosaur. In a moment, the assault ended and the flying monster was again visible. Only it had changed, its brown scales had turned a dull red.
"Rodan deliberately egged Godzilla into attacking him," marveled Dr. Otani within the Ogasawara facility. "Somehow, Rodan knew that his body would channel the radiation from Godzilla's attack, just as it did before with the old Godzilla. The radiation has made him evolve into Fire Rodan."
Rodan turned from Godzilla. For his part, following the furious atomic assault, Godzilla sagged to the earth, like a withered plant. Rodan cast a sidewise look at the helpless monster and then returned his attention to the silent figure of Steel Rain. The pterosaur's center horn glowed as crackling energy sped from Rodan's open beak. The beam struck Steel Rain's chest, apparently without effect. The robot responded with another salvo of Full-Metal Missiles, a salvo the flying monster easily avoided as he returned to the sky.
Again, Steel rain trained its cylindrical missile arm at the circling pterosaur. The launch tubes irised open. At that instant, Rodan changed the direction of his flight, spitting crackling energy at the robot's exposed launch tubes. The beam struck home, detonating the missiles before they left Steel Rain's launcher. The resulting explosion blew away the front quarter of the robot's arm and detonated the remaining Full-Metal Missiles in Steel Rain's armory. The weapons detonated, exploding within the giant cylinder and scattering shards of metal across the island and far out to sea. As its left arm was blown apart, the robot was thrown violently to the ground, gouging a seventy-meter long ditch in the earth as it was hurled away from the explosion.
Blood poured from a cut in Major Azhid's forehead. The Saradian officer wiped the crimson from his eyes and looked around him. The control room was a shambles; exposed wiring crackled and hissed everywhere. He could see the damage control officer sitting rigid in his chair, cooked by the unleashed electricity around him. A twisted metal support beam had impaled the sensor officer. Of the crew, only himself and the weapons officer Ibn appeared to still be alive and conscious.
Major Azhid engaged the robot's jets. It was time to retreat.
Steel Rain rose slowly into the air, preparing to take flight, to fall back to its homeland. Seeing his enemy attempting to escape, Rodan flew into the hovering robot, knocking it back to earth. The pterosaur alighted atop the prone robot and began savagely pecking at the smooth face of Steel Rain.
Within the robot, the control room shook from side to side as Rodan continued to batter Steel Rain. Finally, the left side of the command center buckled under the assault, caving in the entire side. Major Azhid shrieked in horror as he saw Rodan's gruesome eye staring at him from a rent in Steel Rain's hull, the reptile's sickening musk overpowering even the stench of scorched flesh in the control room. Major Azhid smashed his fist into the button that activated the robot's jets.
Steel Rain's thrusters ignited and the robot began to fly horizontally across the beach, slowly rolling as it did so. Startled by the robot's sudden movement, Rodan was slammed into the ground as Steel Rain rolled. The thrusters failed and the robot's heavy body fell atop Rodan, stunning the pterosaur.
"Ibn!" shouted Major Azhid. "Activate the Mega-blaster!"
The panel in Steel rain's chest opened, exposing the crystalline face of the Mega-blaster. Only a few meters separated the weapon from Rodan's body. It was a point blank shot that the flying monster would not dodge this time.
Suddenly, the control room was rocked once again. Powerful reptilian hands closed about Steel Rain's chest, lifting the robot off of Rodan. The Mega-blaster's shot went wide, scorching a stand of palm trees. Godzilla hurled the robot away from him and Major Azhid struggled to keep the damaged vehicle standing. When he had managed to stabilize the robot, Major Azhid stared in horror at the scene before him.
Reptilian eyes glared hatred at the disabled Steel Rain. Rodan had risen from the ground, standing near the partly recovered Godzilla. Major Azhid saw Rodan's horn and Godzilla's dorsal plates begin to glow. He knew that Steel Rain's armor had been compromised and would offer no protection from the coming attack. Would the escape pod launch in time? Had Rodan's attack disabled it?
Streams of yellow and blue energy struck the broken and battered Steel Rain. His body's amazing regenerative powers already renewing some of his strength, Godzilla plied his flame with vigor, Rodan matching each of his attacks with one of his own. Soon, there was nothing left of Steel Rain save a mass of twisted, burning metal.
The great beasts stared at one another. Rodan cackled softly as he rose into the air, Godzilla replied with a roar that was without malice, a roar of triumph. Rodan circled the island for a few moments and then dove towards the beach, picking something from the sand in his talons. Still cackling to Godzilla, the giant pterosaur flew toward the craggy crater of Ogasawara's extinct volcano. Rodan settled into the bowl like depression.
"I don't understand," Dr. Otani confessed. Miki Saegusa smiled at the scientist. It was a grim smile.
"As you know, the egg Godzilla hatched from was found beside that of Rodan," the young psychic stated. "Apparently, there is a connection between the two, like brothers. It is that connection which brought Rodan here to fight beside his brother. It is that connection which has made him decide to remain here."
"Godzilla, Mothra and now Rodan," Dr. Otani mused aloud. "This is becoming a regular island of monsters!" His joking comment did not bring a smile to Miki's face. Dr. Otani noted the severe expression.
"What is wrong?" he asked after a moment.
"I can feel the mind's of Steel Rain's crew," Miki confessed. Dr. Otani looked at her, puzzled. "Rodan does not feed on radiation like Godzilla." The young psychic tried to bloat out the screams in her mind. "That was the robot's escape pod Rodan retrieved from the beach."
Chairman Carmichael angrily put the last of his shirts in his suitcase. It was over, the Saradians had failed in their effort to destroy Godzilla, and lost their robot in the process. Not that Carmichael was overly concerned with the Saradians' problems. MARS had already been paid for developing and constructing Steel Rain, and the Emir would find it very difficult to collect a refund. No, Chairman Carmichael was bemoaning the other side of the Saradian contract, the side that most concerned MARS.
Saradia was but one country in a politically unstable part of the world. With such a super weapon in the hands of one of their neighbors, MARS was certain that all the other oil-rich countries would fall in line, ordering their own robots to counter that of Saradia, and Israel would commit to still more than any of the others to protect its fragile borders.
Chairman Carmichael cursed the arms race that was not to be. Still, tomorrow was another day and for MARS there would always be another customer. Another war.
