The Bridge: Humanity's Stand

by BlazingPhoenix17

Terra has been at war for years. Decades. Against foes far beyond human power and understanding. Through the strength of our industry, growth and technology we have persevered. But we cannot continue to do this alone. The time has come to forge alliances, gather our forces, and stand together as one against the coming darkness. Humanity Stands. And it won't stand alone.

4. Chapter 4

Humanity's Stand

Chapter 4

Shifting Tides

A/N: Hello again everyone! It's been a while since I posted, huh? Well no worries. It hasn't only been for this one chapter. I've actually been doing work on the next three chapters, with 5 ready to go and 6 on the way. So why did I delay this one so long? Well for a while I was agonizing over a particular scene in here and whether or not to replace it with a similar but very different scene based on another part of the Amalgamverse canon. In the end (after some pushing from my co-writers) I decided to stick with my original plan and just publish. Next chapter will be up soon. How soon? Don't know! Anyway, have fun with this one!

Everything shook as the piece of midnight sky fell to the earth, the air itself being rent into hurricanes of turbulence, throwing any monster that wasn't steady off its feet. Up high in the sky, Gamera had to apply full thrust to keep himself from being pulled down towards the surface, watching as the horde of gyaos he'd been chasing got away. He swiftly had to turn attention to his own survival, however, as the weight of pressure pulling down on him increased. He ignited his thrusters at full force, angling himself away from the hungry pull, at last gaining some distance from the malevolent force.

Then, as suddenly as it began it stopped, leaving him thrusting away from the island at full speed. He pulled an about-face and came to a halt, observing the scene from above. The results were enough to stun his mind into silence.

A full square mile of the land was simply gone, wiped clean of trees, plants, bluffs, and any other features. In their wake was a gradually deepening depression of unnaturally smooth ground. A hemisphere of void where once existed a place of life. There was nothing left, not even…

No… no! Godzilla… Mothra… Rodan… Anguirus…

They were gone. Not a single trace left of them or the enemies they had been battling. Swallowed up by some unseen menace, disappeared as if they had never been. The leaders of the Earth Defenders… his friends… were gone.

(Page Break)

Gigan studied the radical change in landscape dispassionately, brushing off a length of tree which had attempted to impale his shoulder. His scanners rapidly flipped through various detection modes, picking out bits and pieces of evidence to try and calculate the most likely cause of the event. When he finished his studying and put the theory together he couldn't help but be a bit impressed, even as he started to feel a hint of worry creep into his circuits.

So the humans built themselves a black hole projector. Who'da thought?

'Heeey brootheeer!'

Gigan swiveled his head around to meet Megalon's gaze, keeping his body primed and ready to act in case of a repeat performance. 'Yeah?'

'Did the humans just suck up all the important defendy and mutant monsters?'

Gigan paused for a moment, swiveling his head around to take stock of the suddenly silent battlefield, running the visible profiles against target lists in his brain. Six were deemed missing, four of them from the very top of the two faction lists. One in particular stood out, and Gigan had one of his rare moments where he wished his creators had modified him just a little bit more, as he dearly desired to wear a nasty but proud smile.

'Why yes, it appears they did.'

An instant later a familiar signal beeped inside his mind, which he answered on reflex.

"All units, retreat from the field. Return to the Southern Base immediately."

For once Gigan agreed with his commanders wholeheartedly, as he did not want to be anywhere nearby in case the humans tried to fire another shot of that projector in their direction. Megalon gave off a quiet whine behind him, muttering to himself about, "missing the good part". Gigan sympathized, but reasonable orders were reasonable, so he turned towards the coordinates for their departure portal and walked away from the fight.

'Come on, X, we're leaving,' he told the bone-armored titan, who was standing stock still looking at the blast zone.

X stoically looked upon the island, a fist clenched from thoughts he left unspoken. His eyes briefly turned to the sky as his clawed fingers uncurled.

'... I was hoping to test myself against him, again' X said, his audible disappointment the closest the former xillian ever came to emoting in Gigan's presence.

'Maybe in the next life,' Gigan answered back while hoisting a half-decapitated Gryphon to its feet. He stepped into the portal a moment later, X following after a final grim stare at the shattered battleground. His last glance at the distant shimmer in the night sky to indicate the satellite Dimension Tide was attached too.

'Idiots…'

**HS**

How did it all go so wrong?

Krystalak's mind was filled with that question as he looked upon the ravaged landscape where once the two most powerful of the mutant faction had been dominating the battlefield, only to have completely disappeared under a wave of foreign power he couldn't begin to try recognizing. An act of a vengeful god, or the interference of those aliens? Regardless of the source, there was no ignoring the reality in front of them. The mutants had lost their leaders, and the effects were already being felt.

A glance to either side showed his fears were coming true. The remaining mutants were all abandoning their place on the battlefield while their opponents were distracted, scattering in all different directions without sparing a single thought to the others supposedly on their side. Looking upward showed the opposing contrails of the two swarm leaders, disappearing into the clouds without a single glance back. Before long every mutant that had fought here that was still alive would be like leaves in the wind, carried away to all corners of the world, not giving a damn about their former allies. Caring only about themselves, as they always had.

Krystalak snarled but gave in to the reality of his situation, picking his moment to flee and pulling away from his opponents. Yet even as he fought to preserve his own life, he thought back to the dream of conquest he had followed here mere hours before.

How did it all go so wrong?

(Page Break)

Stacker waited, his body as still as stone, as the whole room watched the static filled screen in a hush. As expected visual tracking of the isle had been disrupted by the firing of Dimension Tide. The huge wave of EM signals left in the wake of the black hole would interfere with communications in the space around the DT satellite for hours, preventing them from even checking on the status of the satellite itself.

"Drone ETA five minutes," a technician called out. "Link with submarine Seattle still strong."

Stacker gave a mute nod of acknowledgement. There was always at least one submarine off the coast of Solgell at any given time, monitoring the coast to observe the passage of its inhabitants to and from the area. Now it would give them their first look at their handiwork. The consequences of his decisions.

It took him a moment to wrestle his emotions back into place. He'd have time to deal with the fallout after he knew what it was. After he knew just how much damage he had caused.

The minutes dragged on slowly, only the quiet conversations between techs and the Jaeger crews they supported being audible. Next to him Stacker could see Serizawa rubbing the face of his broken watch almost lifelessly, out of obligation more than habit. The other members of the council lacked such obvious ticks, but Pentecost knew them well enough to recognize their individual moods. All of them were apprehensive, each for their own reasons. So much hinged on the outcome of this action. The world felt like it was in a standstill until they got their answers.

Finally the drone broke through the scattered remains of the hurricane that had been ravaging the island, its cameras flipping through several viewing modes as it collected its data. Eventually it swapped to the visual spectrum, zooming in on the crater left behind by the Dimension Tide's black hole blast. The room somehow became even quieter, as if everyone around him had stopped breathing as they observed the destructive power they had unleashed. That he had unleashed.

"Who did we hit?" Stacker asked in a flat monotone.

"Examining now sir…"

Pale white outlines appeared around the monsters visible on the screen, which gained new colors as they were identified by their faction. Red mutants were leaving in droves, the purple alien monsters disappeared into a portal just as they were marked, and the green defenders were standing around in the same kind of stunned silence the command room was feeling.

"Analysis complete. The monsters we can confirm as missing are as follows. Of the mutant faction: Destroyah and Xenilla."

An audible sigh of relief passed through the room and a few muted cheers appeared sporadically. The rest of the room and especially the council weren't ready to celebrate just yet though.

"Defender losses?" Pentecost said sternly.

The technician gulped, saying slowly, "Defenders confirmed missing… Rodan. Anguirus. Mothra… and Godzilla."

Any joy that had been about to sprout was cut off at the root, ashen expressions spreading everywhere around them. The council members all swore or flinched in their own ways, but Pentecost kept his face stoney and still. No one could be allowed to see the turmoil he felt inside as a result of what he'd just heard.

4 for 2… 4 of the most powerful defenders for the two worst enemies. He closed his eyes and tilted his head down in regret. Not in the slightest a fair trade…

It took a few seconds for Stacker to realize all eyes in the room had turned to him, some faces looking unsure, others clearly wondering if it was safe to place the blame on him. They were correct to, Stacker knew, but he couldn't admit to that. Not to them, and certainly not now. He couldn't let himself react to the full gravity of his mistake, lest it crush him when the rest of the world was still riding on his shoulders. He couldn't be the man who betrayed the trust of his erstwhile allies.

He had to be Marshall Pentecost, the head of the Global Defense Force. The man chosen above others to keep the world safe in the face of gods and titans far beyond human capacity to face alone.

"What is the status of the other monsters?" he asked firmly, aiming to get everyone's minds off of the tragedy and refocused on the broad scope of the ongoing disaster.

It took a few moments for the techs manning the communication station to relay his question. "It seems the aliens have already left the field, and the mutants are all scattering. No other Defender casualties are visible at this time."

"The battle's over," Gordon concluded. "Everyone's fucking off back to where they came from."

"Including us," Stenz noted. "How many mutant casualties?"

"Several dozen minor members, nearly all of them sub Cat 3s," came the answer. "No clue as to injuries on longer term members."

Stacker considered the information as he started planning the press releases and governmental meetings ahead of him. He didn't want to think about the rpm of the information spinning he'd have to get up to in the coming days. Perhaps if we leave it ambiguous how clear the situation was… no, that would just make them see us as negligent. Maybe-

"Hey, sir?"

Stacker looked up, seeing Tendo Choi poking at his shoulder.

"What is it?" he rumbled, irritated at having his thoughts interrupted and removing the necessary distraction from his mind.

"If the mutants are all leaving… and their leaders are gone… Where are they going?"

Stacker stared at Choi in silence for a moment before his eyes widened in panicked realization. He shot to his feet and slammed his hands on the desk before him, drawing all attention to him.

"Start scouting plots on the paths of every mutant leaving the island now! Mobilize all defensive forces along the Pacific Rim and get our Jaegers back to base immediately for redeployment!"

"Stacker, what's wrong?" Tachibana asked.

Pentecost waved his arm at the central viewscreen, still showing the massive crater left behind from the Dimension Tide's landing. "We just decapitated the Mutant faction's leadership in a single shot. Now every single one of those murderous beasts has been let off the leash after having their big victory cut out from under them. They're likely to be pissed and filled with aggression." He entered a command into his station, bringing up a map of the planet centered on its largest ocean, every human settlement lining the edge of the sea highlighted in red. The code color for an imminent attack.

"Who do you think they're going to take their aggression out on?"

**HS**

"The humans have WHAT?!"

Sub-Controller 437, now going by Controller 437 in the privacy of this base, dragged Skitter away from the console with a mental hand on his carapace, resettling in her seat.

"You were saying, Gigan? Something about a black hole device of some kind?"

"Has to be, only thing that makes sense," the cyborg titan answered in an electronically projected voice. "Radiation readings afterwards are consistent with Xillian experiments into the process, though on a much larger scale."

Kabo chuckled to himself as he stroked his furry chin, a sly grin on his face. "Those humans, clever as usual. Pushing the bounds of their capabilities in unexpected ways."

"Respect the enemy after we design a countermeasure," 437 reprimanded flatly. She turned back to the screen to address the titan on the other end. "I presume that the surprise appearance of this weapon is why you and the others have so suddenly returned to our base?"

"No, we forgot Megalon's blanket and had to come back and get it."

437's eye twitched as she wondered to herself why some tech with too much time on their hands back home had bothered to program a sarcastic tone into this voice projector program. "Do you have any new orders now that the situation has changed?" she asked, unwilling to feed into the cyborg's humor.

"Nothing yet. Probably going to hide out here for a while til we can find a way to neutralize that thing. That's more your job than ours at this point."

Internally 437 despaired at that, knowing that the 'resources' they had at their disposal in this base were so paltry their only defense was not being found and the sheer oppressiveness of the environment. Admittedly having four very powerful kaiju around would be enough to dissuade any attacks, but after they were gone…

A thought slid into her mind, a memory of another coming problem causing her to visibly wince.

"That… may not be viable long term. We have news that one more titan is coming to Terra in a few days time."

Gigan's cybernetic eye narrowed at her on the projection screen. "Who?" he asked, though from his tone it was likely he had already guessed.

"The Dragon."

"... shit."

"Appropriate response," Kabo said with a wry grin. "And no, we don't know why he's coming. No word if he was ordered here or came of his own volition."

There was a pause on the other end of the connection filled with garbled data noise, though if Skitter's claws jittering was anything to go by there was a kind of message she did not want to understand in the middle of it. Eventually the signal cleared and Gigan's synth voice came through again. "There's so much wrong with this situation I can't even begin to go over it with you. Suffice to say that X and that bastard should NEVER be in the same system as each other under any circumstances. Unless you want to watch an entire planet go up in flames."

"Considering we are currently on said planet I can confidently say I do not want that to happen either, but there is little that we can do about the situation on our end at the moment. Our connection with High Command is…" She glanced at Kabo and Skitter, who both tried to look innocent and failed in their own particular ways. "... fragmentary at the moment."

"Is the ship that dropped you all off still in the system?" Kabo asked. "Perhaps we can convince them to remove you all before the Dragon arrives."

"No. The ship left as soon as we were landed. Apparently the navies are still skittish about being near this dirtball after what happened during the failed invasion. Can't imagine why."

An unpleasant silence settled in as they all examined the situation, trying to think of how to get themselves out of the corner they'd been unwittingly backed into.

Damn him and his petty impulsiveness, 437 cursed in her mind. This recklessness is exactly what put the empire into this mess to begin with!

A familiar hatred brewed up in her mind, recalling the many ways she'd seen the Prime Controller take dangerous and insane risks with the development of the Xillian empire, dragging the rest of the Coalition along with him out of fear of earning his ire. Compared to those colossal errors her personal grievance with his shuffling her off to this icy hellscape barely rated on the same scale. And now this. Sending the best titans the Coalition had available to this planet seemingly on a whim with no apparent plan of action beyond being there. His arrogance was really showing this time.

And I've had enough of it, she decided in that moment. No more paying for his mistakes.

"Gigan. You said that X should never meet with Ghirodah?"

"...Yes. The results are almost certain to be catastrophic."

"Then we will ensure they will never be in the same place at any time," 437 declared firmly, drawing curious looks from her two teammates. "The long range projector is more than capable of shifting X from one place to another faster than Ghidorah can follow. It would mean having a more difficult time relocating the rest of you in certain situations, but it should keep X out of Ghidorah's reach."

There was no response from the titan for some time, but when his voice returned 437 thought she could detect a hint of respect coming from him. "And when the golden bastard comes to obliterate you for getting in his way?"

437 glanced at Kabo and Skitter, whose faces and posture gave away nothing of their thoughts on the question. The Controller herself wasn't sure what her own feelings were on the subject, but she knew what her answer was for the moment.

"We'll consider that result if the situation arises," she said flatly.

It was hard to tell the thoughts of any of the titans at the best of times, given the inxillian nature of each of them, but in this moment 437 could tell that Gigan's expression was occluded far more than the norm.

"Understood. We'll… be here. If you need us."

"Confirmed. Signing you out." The screen blanked out, leaving the command room in silence. For all of five seconds.

"So… rebellion is it?" Kabo asked, an eyebrow raised and a curious tone in his voice.

437 smirked back at him, letting some of her inner rage leak through. "It's not rebellion if we don't get orders." She turned to the projector for the base's AI and asked in a mocking tone. "Do we have any orders to allow Ghirodah and X to come into close proximity?"

"No such standing order exists at this time, Controller," the AI confirmed.

"You know that won't stop them from punishing us if they find out," Skitter vocalized quietly.

"That's only if this is something High Command intended to happen," 437 retorted, "which we have no evidence for. We are merely acting on our own prerogative as recommended by one of the titans themselves. No harm in that."

Kabo let out a booming laugh. "I've been talking with you too long, Controller. You're starting to pick up on my bad habits."

437 knew that absolutely wasn't true. She'd always had a devious streak in her. She'd simply forgotten how to use it after rising to the position of Controller. It wasn't supposed to be necessary for a Controller to manipulate from their position. They were placed in command and that was that. Their orders were absolute, the trust in them secure. But her trust had been destroyed as thoroughly as could be, as was her respect for the Controllers above her. So now she felt it was necessary to call upon old instincts, behaviors she had once set to the side.

She looked back to Kabo with a grin, her eyes glittering with pent up power.

"Oh believe me Kabo… I'm just getting started."

**HS**

Theodore let out an annoyed sigh, lifting his cane onto his shoulder, finally returning to the APC they'd arrived in. He was still plucking chunks of gore out of Pepper's hair, with Gabriel right behind, scorching them to ash in mid-air. Once he was done the electrical humanoid vanished in a flash of lightning, giving the pair a wave as she disappeared.

The entire BSL mission was a farce and a half, far more of a hassle than any of them had expected going in. The old battlemage, one of the last and only on the planet, was beyond tired after a three day long hunt in a nearly-abandoned lab for some sort of cyborg killing machine, a brutal fight to the death with said machine, and an intense test of his and his brother's skills not only as fighters but as the mages in their own respective ways.

Others could have done the job, perhaps, but their unique talents allowed them to get through without being overly hurt, something that might not have happened with a more conventional team. A situation he was well experienced with, but considering how many other responsibilities he had it was getting somewhat obtrusive. Right now, all the old engineer wanted to do was go home and rest. It was getting to the point he longed for grading papers and helping young minds learn about robotics, or to go back to his workshop to make new toys to make people happy.

But the safety of the world was at stake, and he and Gabe were among the few who could help fight against a threat too long ignored, hidden in the shadow of the chaos and destruction of kaiju battles. Such was the life for the leader of Langoud.

Still better than paperwork.

"Can't believe that prick just left us with the fugly corpse," Gabe complained, patting himself down and pulling out one final magazine to the battered rifle hanging from his chest. "Those bullets aren't fucking cheap."

"How you can be concerned about the expense of bullets, I will never know," Theo remarked as they finally reached the APC. "Honestly, I thought that MARS being involved would have pissed you off more."

"Oh it does," his brother retorted, putting the magazine away and then stretching upwards, several audible pops coming from his back. "I'm just too tired to give a flying fuck right now." Gabe went around to the driver side of the vehicle, while Theo slipped into the passenger's seat. Looking to the console on the dashboard Theo snapped his fingers, activating the computer as he spoke up.

"Hanakumon, status update. Any important information we missed?"

The vehicle's AI assistant chimed in response, a hologram forming of a fox-masked woman in a biker jacket popping up from the console.

"Nothing good, boss. While you were in the petting zoo from hell, we had dozens of alerts of high-risk missions going off. Apparently Solgell just became a warzone… wait, new update. You were late for a high priority call. The Security Council didn't have time to wait."

"That's a first," Gabriel said dryly, letting himself slump in the spartan seat in a close approximation of relaxation. "SC normally takes forever and day, plus a debate that goes nowhere to do anything."

Theodore sat up ramrod straight, knowing such a call would be beyond vital if everyone on the Council was needed and it had to be severe to justify simply skipping over him like this. "What was it?" he asked, voice on the verge of anger. Not at being overlooked, but at having missed such an important call cleaning up Winters' company's latest mess, all with the smug bastard never once losing his overinflated ego.

"They fired the Dimension Tide."

"THEY DID WHAT!?" he roared, nearly knocking Gabriel from the driver's seat. "Who, where, why? I need this info now!"

"Looks to be in the middle of Solgel island. A full-on kaiju war broke out with the entire Mutant faction led by Xenilla and Destroyah. Both were terminated in the blast, as well as… oh no."

Theodore bit back a grimace. "You know I don't like it when you go 'oh no', Hana."

"Six total casualties." The black-coated cyborg bristled at the number. "Xenilla and Destroyah. Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus… and Junior."

Theodore stopped breathing for a moment, ears ringing as the news settled in. He could FEEL Gabriel's boiling rage across the driver's seat.

"Theodore. I am suddenly finding myself in the position of being exceedingly cross with select members of our esteemed international community," the soldier said slowly, with a careful cadence that would have fooled most into believing him calm. The reality was much, much worse.

"You and me both, bro." Theodore growled and turned back to his brother's assistant. "Tell Stacker I'll be there promptly, I've got some words to share and they're going to need PR and damage control to keep from getting sunk. Sorry, bro, but it looks like you're alone with Hana again."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Theo jumped out of the APC, moving well clear of the vehicle before lifting an arm to his mouth and letting out a particular whistle. All was quiet for half a minute before a form burst through the low clouds and settled onto the ground.

Landing with a deafening thud, the form stood tall, easily twice or more Theodore's height, soft blue plas-steel armor flexed over advanced mechanical muscles, feathers shuddering with restrained power, ready to leap into flight. The semi-humanoid dragoness robot known as Aurora stood proud and let out a strong, powerful roar.

"Enough showing off, we're on a tight deadline, it's a Class X situation." Theodore spoke, killing the machine-dragon's bluster.

"That bad?" she asked, dulcet, sing-song tones filtering out, "No, tell me on the way, hop on! Next stop Hong Kong, I presume?"

Theodore gave a sharp nod and leapt onto her back, the armor shifting to form a discrete saddle as the dragon rocketed off at near-sonic speeds, straight vertical, before looping off and screaming away towards the Shatterdome. Down in the APC, Gabe could only roll his eyes as he keyed the ignition.

"Drama queen," he muttered, getting the APC in gear and starting to drive off. "Then again, must be a mage thing."

"And you're any better?" Hana inquired, a teasing tone filtering into her voice. Gabe grunted, holding up a single finger in front of the camera on the dashboard while muttering something under his breath. "Oh come on, even if I don't speak Xilian, I know when you're being nasty."

"Frontline boot, I'm not paid to be nice."

"You're also an officer. You're paid extra to be classy."

"Classy doesn't help when all you have are twelve M-16s chambered in 5.56, an LMG chambered in the same, and only two grenades to try and take out another one of Tiptree's freaks of nature. I swear, that misanthropic bitch has caused more death and destruction than the goddamn crystal Antichrist space lizard," Gabe complained. There was silence in APC as for once, the AI was struck completely silent by what he had just said.

"...did… did you seriously just refer to Xenilla as a-"

"I didn't fucking stutter."

"O-okay." She fell silent for a moment, then said, "So… how bad did the Council just mess up?"

"On a scale of one to a boot in the ass?" Gabe sighed. "Bad enough that quite frankly, I find the prospect of fighting Tiptree herself buck ass naked to be far, far less intimidating than seeing what the rest of the world will do to the Council when they find out about this. Fucking Pandora's Box just got smashed to bits, and we don't even know just what was even sealed in the fucking thing. I'm saying it now, the only thing that can even remotely make this situation worse is if the Council somehow woke up some pissed off war god or some shit."

"Wait, would it be Tiptree or you that's naked in this scenario?"

Gabe looked at the hologram flatly. "...you were definitely programmed by Theodore."

**HS**

The mood in the debriefing room was somber, to say the least. On the flight back from Solgel most of the crews of the anti-kaiju force were somewhat hopeful. They'd all take some part in the fighting, whether in the thick of it with the gojiform mechs or against interfering Anteversers for the Jaegers. They were doing their job, fighting the good fight, but all that got cut short when word came down that the Dimension Tide would be fired. All of them knew what the weapon was capable of, having been briefed of its existence in case of a scenario in the field requiring its firing. They knew it was a weapon more powerful than anything else humanity had ever made… and that there was no escaping it once you got inside its range.

The division in reactions amongst the pilots was obvious, at least for those looking for it. Some were perfectly content with the change in strategy, certain that any monster sucked in by the black hole was a valid target and thus progress was made. Others… not so much.

Akane watched with downturned lips as Miki moved past her to sit in a chair at the front of the room, displeasure radiating off the telepath in waves. Everyone in the room could feel it, and it was starting to piss her off.

"Miki, could you turn that off already?" she asked bluntly, drawing several eyes her way. "I know you're upset, but you don't need to force it down our throats."

Miki turned back to face her, and Akane found herself struck by the sheer anguish the woman was displaying on her face. Tear tracks stained her cheeks, her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She even gave a little hiccup as she tried to restore her breathing to normal.

So much grief over monsters? Akane pondered in bewilderment. She barely had time to think her own thought than she saw Miki's face twist into rage, the woman flying to her feet in a second.

"They were not monsters!" she roared. "They were our allies, our friends! And we betrayed them!"

Akane stepped back unconsciously at the verbal assault while the whole room felt silent to look at the two women in shock. At least, for a moment.

"Monsters? Our friends?" Eren Yaeger said with clear discontent as he stepped up beside Akane. "Get real Saegusa! Those creatures are all the same. Potential threats to humanity if unchecked. And it's our job to take them out when they get so."

Murmurs abounded as the other pilots had their reactions, but one stepped forward in front of Miki.

"The mutants and aliens are our enemies, yes, but the residents of Solgel have only ever been our allies against those threats!"

Eren sniffed dismissively. "Figures you'd side with your mentor."

"And you're not doing the same?" Raleigh Beckett shot back.

"Okay, look, before y'all punch the hell out of each other to compare penis sizes, how about y'all do a sortie or two in an ASP before casting judgment on the big kaiju, hmm?" The room went dead silent as the Jaeger pilots looked over to a scrawny pilot with brown hair.

"And who are you?" Eren asked.

"Corporal Monnot, Second Armored Support Battalion, Alpha Company and Second Platoon," the pilot said. "I'm one of the guys who has to deal with the Gyaos and Meganulon swarms that Gamera and Godzilla don't get to in time. Like the swarm up in Illinois a couple months back. Anyone recall that?"

The silence was answer enough to the man's question, but Akane decided to fill it with something else. "Even if those monsters got in the way of those hives they didn't do it to protect us, just themselves. Monsters fight monsters because that's what threatens them. We threaten them too, so they'll fight us just as much."

"That may be true for some monsters, but the Solgel kaiju care about humans," Miki stated. "I know that because I've seen their thoughts, been inside their minds. And I know for a fact that they want to protect us."

Akane narrowed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "So you say, but how do we know you aren't just letting your sentimentality get in the way, Saeguesa? Weren't you 'friends' with Godzilla when he was a baby? No way he's the same creature now that he was then, you're letting a bias color your views. You saw the magnitude of the fight on the island, if just half of that happened in a major city with this escalating monster war, can you grasp the damage? Can you?!"

Monnot looked at Akane and snorted. "We can always strap you into a telepath chair… ma'am," he commented, finally acknowledging Akane's rank. "You know, give you first hand evidence yourself. Besides," he added, shrugging and heading to the door, "I'd rather trust Tricorn Head with my back than you any day. Godzilla Senior and the giant flower thing in the case of Yaeger there."

Eren bristled and started to advance when his sister Mikasa held him back by the shoulder, shaking her head at him. Eren huffed then turned away, clearly trying to pretend the conversation was beneath him. "Whatever, small fry. Keep thinking that way and see how long you get lucky enough to not get stepped on by your 'heroic monsters'."

"Bitch, I pilot an ASP, that's part of my job. But I forgot, you sit in an air conditioned control pod in a three hundred foot tall robot." Monnot paused by Miki, giving her a consoling nod of his head before continuing out.

"What's the point of arguing about this?" Chuck Hansen asked. "Council made the choice, not us. Nothing we can do about it, so why bother caring?"

"Because how are the rest of the Solgel kaiju going to react when they find out we did this to them?" Sasha Kaidanovsky said tersely. "They may be on our side right now, but if they learn we killed four of their friends that may not last."

Akane stepped forward, drawing attention back to her. "And that's why we should be willing to consider all of them our enemies if we have to, regardless of their past behavior. If ever they suddenly decide to attack us the damage could be as bad or worse than anything the mutants have ever done. Trust isn't something we can afford when dealing with monsters, like it or not."

Miki's displeasure flowed through the room again as the smaller woman walked right up into Akane's face, glaring up at her. "Trust is the only thing that we can offer them that will solve these problems for good. Trust that they care about us, that they want to defend us against the monsters that mean everyone harm. Trust that one day humans and kaiju can set aside their differences and finally find peace."

Akane glared right back at the telepath, a familiar wellspring of rage rising within her.

Fine. You wanna read my mind? Read THIS!

With barely an effort Akane let her mind drift back to that night, the one that always lingered in the back of her thoughts. Inescapable, consuming, enraging. Guilting.

**HS**

The night was dark even around the floodlights of the convoy. Rain splattered the road, the cliffside, the windows. The tension was so tight it almost tore at her. No one spoke a word more than was needed. Everyone knew what was about to happen. What they had to do. What was depending on them.

In the darkness lightning flashed, highlighting a moving mountain in the shadow. She didn't know which one it was. There hadn't been time to identify it during the briefing on the road. Some mutant abomination no doubt, one of dozens that attacks the cities and towns humans had spent years, decades, centuries building. Leveled in minutes. She'd seen the aftermath enough times it appeared in her dreams.

Not tonight.

They were close enough. The convoy came to a halt, pylons locking them down into the road as their mounted weapons turned about, aiming at the distant creature. The command to fire happened, blue streaks of blazing energy lancing out into the storm. Each hit, naturally. Her unit wouldn't accept anything less. The form turned their way, an ungodly roar reaching them through the armor plate and window screens. They kept firing. It got closer. She tensed in her seat. Praying that it would be enough. That something would stop the beast. Them. A mech. Something.

Anything!

The first vehicle in the convoy got smashed by a burning fist. The second was pushed off the cliff by the wreck of its sibling. The convoy detached their pylons, retreating as fast as their wheels would allow. Recoil wasn't a concern anymore, neither was accuracy. They poured out fire as fast as they could, their heat sinks quickly filling to capacity as the generators whined behind them.

It wasn't enough.

Another vehicle crushed, the next scooped up and tossed away like a toy. She could hear the screams of the crew inside suddenly cut off, replaced by a muted explosion. Her vehicle was the only one left. A last second swerve saved them from the fist, but the road and ground couldn't take the pressure, the cliff starting to collapse under them. She got one last shot off as she fell. She might have hit its eye. Then they landed. She felt something snap. Her breath left her. Her mind was blurry, vision going dark, but not enough to miss the sight of her driver's head missing from his shoulders.

She looked up through the window, tilted up towards the sky, only to see no rain was falling on it. Then the monster leaned down, looking at her directly through the plane of glass. She saw nothing in that eye. Only madness and thirst for blood. Her blood. It reared back and a foot replaced the face. She closed her eyes, hoping to join her crew. Then a flash of blue, and then nothing...

**HS**

Akane came to being held up by several other pilots, blinking away spots in her vision. As the haze cleared she looked across to find Miki had collapsed to the floor, Mako hovering over her in clear distress. Someone shouted in her face, asking what she'd done. Akane looked at the face in confusion. Done? Done what? All she'd done is think, and…

Oh.

New shouting, everyone straightening up. Akane felt her eyes focus as Gordon walked into the room, followed quickly by Stenz and Tachibana.

"What the hell happened in here?" Gordon asked, his voice terse and calm. That was dangerous. Gordon being angry yet calm always was.

"There was a… disagreement, sir," Chuck reported. "Miki and Akane were arguing, got in each other's face. Then… that."

Akane looked back down at Miki, the woman finally starting to stand to her feet, helped by Mako and Raleigh. Her eyes flicked to Gordon, who kept his level stare fixed at her. In that moment Akane knew she was in deep trouble.

"Akane… report to the medical wing," Gordon said. "Get yourself checked in and await fu-"

"No."

The room stilled, everyone looking at Miki in shock. A thin trail of blood was leaking from one nostril and her eyes were bloodshot, but her stance was firm. Akane found herself frozen as the woman turned to look at her. Akane didn't know what to expect to see in those eyes. Rage. Betrayal. Fear. None of it could be good.

But instead it was something worse, something that filled her heart with ice.

Miki was looking at her… in sympathy.

Akane tried to find something to say, something to feel, but her mind was utterly blank. Then Miki turned away, looking back to Gordon.

"We have a war to fight, General. We don't have time for our best pilot not to be out there."

Gordon said nothing for a long time, glancing sideways to his fellow council members who were equally quiet. Then sighed and shrugged. "Fine. Your call, Miki. Alright you fucks, listen up. We made a bad call and things are going to shit. Get in your mechs, get your mops, and get ready to clean it up. We'll have tasking orders for you in twenty, feet lifted in forty, clear?"

"SIR YES SIR!"

The pilots filed out of the room one by one, Akane doing the same almost mechanically. As she reached the door though she stopped, glancing back at Miki, who was talking with the other council members. The telepath sensed her gaze and looked back, Akane flinching at seeing the exact same look in her eyes. She fled the room an instant later, but not soon enough to avoid hearing the words in her head.

I understand… but you are still wrong.

**HS**

The storm was fading away, revealing the stars in the sky above. The contrast between the chaos of hours before was staggering, enough that Gamera was halfway wondering if he was hearing the phantom roars and cries in his mind. He'd prefer it that way. The silence was far more deafening.

He sighed to himself, limiting his thrust and lowering his altitude, his scan of the island complete. No more foreign monsters left, they were all gone. But they weren't the only ones. He landed in the midst of his fellow guardians, huddled together a short distance from the chasm that had been carved out of the island by a force they'd never seen before. Other kaiju lingered outside the circle, some keeping close together for company, others standing alone with their thoughts. As he came in for a landing he caught the tail end of an ongoing conversation.

"-at's left is… dust and debris," Manda reported. "No sign of any bodies or… parts of bodies. So whatever it was swallowed everything whole."

"So there's a chance they're alive?" Baragon asked, an inkling of hope in his voice.

"Even if they were, they're still gone Bar," Raiga said softly. "And none of us know the first thing about what happened. Dead, alive, it doesn't matter. They're… they're not coming back."

Disquiet fell upon them all, and Gamera felt his heart fall even more. But sitting around being sad was getting them nowhere.

"I scanned the island," Gamera said, getting his siblings' attention. "All of the invaders are gone. We are safe… for the moment."

"For the moment, until that weapon strikes again," Varan said. "We need to find out how that happened and stop it… somehow."

"Easier said than done, as we all know," Yon commented. "Though the fact that another blast didn't happen while the other monsters were here suggests another one won't happen again right away."

Raiga huffed. "That's just a guess. We can't know anything for sure right now."

"What do we tell everyone?" Baragon asked. "They already know… know who is gone. But how can we explain it to them?"

"For now there's nothing to explain, because we just don't know," Yon said. "If they ask we'll just tell them we're looking into it."

Manda looked to the crater, flinching back as her senses took in the emptiness of it once again. "And if they want to know if it will happen again?"

"There's no point lying to them. All we can say is that we don't know."

"There's far too much we don't know," Varan replied in a huff. "Why the mutants attacked us, why the aliens were here, and why the human robots left before the blast hit. Did they know something? Did they do it?"

"We have no proof of that, Varan," Gamera said, hoping to appease his sister. "Perhaps some of their satellites or planes detected something we didn't and they didn't have time to warn us."

"Or chose not to," Varan insisted. "You can't tell me that the humans wouldn't love to be able to kill some of us just to make sure they can stay on top."

"Are you forgetting the fact that you fought with a human war machine in the battle and it never targeted you even once?" Raiga asked pointedly. "Because I noticed. I was paying attention to make sure they didn't try something, and they didn't."

"Of course not, they were right where we could see them," Varan argued back. "If they attacked us then we'd have attacked right back. But something like this? It might be deniable. They can pretend they don't know and lie to our faces about it."

Gamera moved forward, unwilling to sit back and listen to Varan's venom anymore. "What if the humans aren't responsible for this, Varan? What then?"

Varan didn't back down, staring right back at him unrepentantly. "What if they are?"

The two guardians stared each other down, for how long Gamera wasn't sure. Gamera knew he could have faith in humans. His friend Asagi was proof of that. Godzilla i… was another. And yet… he had to acknowledge that Varan had the potential to be right. As much as some humans could be trusted, that of course meant some could not. But Gamera knew the leaders of humanity, the only people who could possibly control a weapon of this scale. And he knew those individuals would never betray them, no matter what.

Right?

"Whether or not the humans did it we need to decide what to do," Yon said, trying to get everyone back on track. "Now… we've lost three guardians. Rodan and Angurius. Mothra."

"Godzilla was practically one of us too," Baragon said. "We never even got to tell him about why we were made."

"Which brings us to the problem." Yon looked about the circle, counting the numbers they had left. "There's only six of us left. Six."

"We were supposed to be ten," Gamera said in a hollow voice. "And we were supposed to be stronger than we are now…"

"There's no way we could stop him if he escaped now," Manda said.

Gamera felt himself freeze as the words were said, as did the rest of his siblings. Their purpose, their reason to be, the one goal they had above all others. It might be impossible… No. It was impossible for just them.

"We need help."

Gamera felt the eyes of his siblings upon him.

"Help from who?" Varan asked. "Who could be strong enough to help against his power?"

"Everyone," Gamera answered immediately. "Everyone we can ally with. The neutral kaiju, the humans, hell, even the aliens if we have to."

Raiga's voice shook as she said, "Gamera, that's not…"

"What? Possible? Sane? What other choice do we have? If we won't be enough by ourselves then we need to find allies to be able to do it. The other choice is… to accept that we have failed. And let everything die."

The others had no answer to that. It wasn't a possibility they could accept and they all knew it. Meaning Gamera was right. They had to act, find whatever help they could.

"This means we'll need the humans' help," Varan said with a growl.

"It does," Gamera confirmed.

"And if they are responsible for… what happened?" she challenged, eyes blazing emerald in the darkness.

"... then we deal with it. Find out why and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Varan looked at him searchingly for a time, trying to divine something Gamera wasn't sure of himself, before looking away and giving a sharp nod.

"So now that we've figured that out… now what?" Yon asked.

Nobody answered right away, each considering their own options. Gamera was in the middle of trying to determine if Asagi was awake at this time or not when he felt someone approaching him from behind. He turned to see Zilla walking up to him, followed at a distance by Gomora and… Gabara?

"Zilla? What's wrong my friend?"

"You mean aside from the obvious?" the saurian asked in a tired voice. "Well… damnit, I'll let them explain."

Gamera looked over to Zilla's companions, who stepped forward. Gomora seemed to have come through the battle perfectly fine, but a glance at Gabara showed that the oni's magical body was lacking some of its regular integrity. In fact the kaiju was almost more spiritual than physical at the moment, though that was slowly changing even as he looked at him.

"Yes my friends?"

Gomora started first, saying, "Gamera… I want to say I'm sorry I wasn't here to help stop the… the big blast thing. I just… I saw a couple mutants leaving the fighting and I knew they were going in Gorgo's direction so I had to follow them a-"

"Gomora, please… you did the right thing," Gamera assured him. "Besides… there was nothing any of us could have done to stop what happened tonight."

"Right… right, okay. Anyway, I helped Gabara here out when he was getting swamped-"

"Fucking insect queen bitch blindsiding me like a damn cheating coward. I'll show her what a fucking cheap shot looks like next time I see her."

"- and together we saved Gorgo," Gomora finished. "So yeah."

"And well done I must say," Gamera praised. "I'm sure Orka will be delighted that her child was kept safe."

Gamera blinked in surprise at Gomora turning away, poking his claws together for some reason. Gabara's poorly concealed snickering only added to his confusion.

"A-anyway, that's not what we need to talk about. See, I was talking with Gabara-"

"Surreal fucking experience, let me tell yah," Gabara said dryly.

Gomora glared at Gabara for a few seconds before continuing. "And Gabara said something that got me worried. See, the bad guys all split after the big sky bomb thing happened, right?"

"Yes, though not all at once," Gamera said.

"Yeah, of course. So, like, the aliens all did their alien thing and popped out of here, and the humans flew away… but what about the mutants? Did they just kinda… wander off?"

Gamera nodded, but a sense of unease was creeping up his shell. "Yes, the mutants all left separately, with no real organization to it."

"So that means all the meat-head bastards are wandering around with nobody holding their leash," Gabara said, speaking up. "And what's the first thing those freaks are gonna do if tall, dark, and crystal isn't holding them back?"

Gamera paused as he digested the oni spirit's words, then the cold reality of the statement hit him.

"Oh my Reijuu, they're going to attack the humans."

"Looks like the turtle isn't as slow as he looks," Gabara said snarkily. "So what are we gonna do about it, shelder?"

"H-hold that thought," Gamera said shakily, turning to address his siblings. They seemed to be in a conversation concerning the neutral kaiju they knew about and how hard it would be to convince them to join their side. "We have a problem," Gamera announced, breaking the flow of discussion.

"New or old problem?" Baragon asked.

"Old one in new skin. The mutants are now leaderless and nothing is stopping them from attacking the humans at will."

"Oh shit."

"Manda!"

"No time for language discipline, Gamera," Yon said, cutting the turtle guardian off. "We need to go now, right? Right now."

"Yes, now now. Immediately. As many of us can afford to leave."

Raiga smirked, smashing her fists together. "Let's get going then! We've taken a hit, but we're still here, and I'm itching to give out some payback!"

The guardians started to shuffle off, but Yon called for them to stay for a moment. "Before we leave, we need to confirm who our new leader is. I nominate Gamera."

Gamera blinked in surprise at the suggestion, then balked harder as his brothers and sisters started agreeing. "Now hold on a moment, why me? Shouldn't it be you Yon?"

The metal being shook his head. "No. I'm no good with command. I'm better supporting someone else, and I think you're the best one for the job. Angurius told me as much himself before… before tonight. And I agree with him."

Before Gamera could stammer out anything else Raiga grabbed him by the arm and lifted him into the air. "All hail Regent Gamera!"

"Hail!"

Gamera's mind felt like it was spinning more than when he actually spun around while flying. Him? The new leader? That… it felt unearned, and yet… If they felt he was up to it…

"I won't let you down. I promise." He looked at Raiga dryly and said. "Now please let me down."

"Sure thing bro."

Gamera looked around the circle of his siblings, then turned around to see the gathered forms of the inhabitants of Solgel. So many kaiju relying on him, looking to him for guidance and direction. Could he give it to them? Yes, he could, because he had to. Anything less was unacceptable.

'Everyone!' he shouted to ensure he was heard by all. 'It has been a hard night full of hardship, pain and sorrow, but the fight is not over yet. The mutants have lost their leaders and now have split up to all go their own way. There is no doubt that they will go to attack any human city they can find, and the only ones who can stop them are us. We all came to this island to find peace, but also because we believed in Godzilla. And Godzilla's goal above everything else was to protect the innocent from those who would hurt them. I say we carry on that tradition! To protect those who cannot protect themselves. To be their guardians, their protectors! Their Defenders! Who is with me?'

A cacophony of roars and cheers met him, and for a moment Gamera felt the melancholy of the night fall away as hope returned. They had lost much, but they couldn't give up yet. Too much was riding on them, too many lives at risk. They had to act. For the sake of the world. And for the sake of the honor of their lost leader.

Wherever you are Godzilla, Lea… I hope you'll both be proud of us.