Humanity's Stand
Digging Through the Depths
"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!" Taiyou roared as she telekinetically lifted a computer monitor and hurled it at a nearby wall, shattering the poor device into a thousand pieces. The table the monitor had sat upon was next, crumpling into a wretched pile of tinder wood under Taiyou's glare. From the other side of the room Captain Gondo and Miki watched as the telepath continued to toss around everything that wasn't nailed down and smash everything that was.
"Should we try to stop her?" Gondo questioned as his eyes tracked an empty bookcase's flight into the far wall.
Miki just sighed and said dejectedly, "You want to try Captain? Be my guest." The two then ducked as a flurry of large textbooks came flying their way.
"She's lucky there's nothing of value to break in here," Gondo muttered as he eyed the telepath warily, waiting to dodge again if necessary.
"If there was something of value here she wouldn't be breaking things," Miki argued.
The assault on the Red Dawn base had been organized as soon as Taiyou had informed the GDF of its location on the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa and put into motion immediately after. They still weren't fast enough though as their arrival had been met by a completely empty warehouse and a very upset ebony-haired telepath. Even this hidden room underground was lacking in any useable intel, prompting Taiyou's current rampage.
After watching yet another disconnected monitor be destroyed by high speed impact against concrete Miki steeled her will and said, "Just stand back Gondo. I'll try to get her to calm down."
"You do that. I'ma head back upstairs, see if the squad might have missed anything." With that Gondo exited the room and headed up the stairs, leaving Miki alone with the enraged and destructive telepath.
Why am I doing this again? She asked herself as she leaped out of the way of a flung table. Memory of shadowy individuals grabbing up a small girl and carrying her away rose up in her mind to answer her. That's why. Because she needs help, and I'm the only one who can understand her. She grimaced while blocking several power strips with her own telekinesis. Lucky me.
Somehow Miki managed to get next to the other woman without getting smacked by anything and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. Taiyou sensed the movement and hurled to face Miki, hand raised to strike out at her perceived attacker. Thankfully Taiyou noticed who it was and held back, only to slump to the floor in exhaustion as her anger was extinguished. "They knew we were coming," she said as she glared up at the ceiling above her. "She must have told them to evacuate before we even left." She faintly slammed a fist against the floor dejectedly.
"Probably," Miki agreed. "Sarah said they've probably been gone since yesterday if the food on the dining room table is anything to go by." She carefully squatted down next to Taiyou, making sure to stay out of the woman's previously defined 'personal space' of three feet. "It's not your fault you know. Even if we'd left immediately they still would have gotten away. It takes time to cross continents after all."
Taiyou growled in answer. "Don't you get it? They got away! Everything they had, all their intel is gone and we have no idea where they went. This is the only location I knew about and now it's useless!" Taiyou had briefly leaned up as she spoke but fell back again when she finished, her face fading into muted sadness.
"For now, maybe," Miki said. "But we know a lot more about how they operate now because of what you gave us. We know how they've been avoiding us in the past and what sort of places they're likely to hide in. It's just a matter of time before we find them again."
Taiyou looked with narrowed eyes at Miki. "I know what you're trying to do."
"What am I doing?" Miki said, genuinely confused.
"You're trying to make me let go of getting revenge by saying stuff like 'You've done your part' and 'Leave it to us'," Taiyou said while making air quotes with her hands. "Well it's not going to work. If I do nothing else before my time on this planet is over I will get back at those bastards for what they did to me, and nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise."
Miki quirked an eyebrow down at Taiyou and said, "What makes you think I was going to stop you?"
Taiyou gaped at the other woman for a moment then stuttered, "B… but… That's who you are!" She sat up and waved her arms as she spoke. "You're the good guys! You're supposed stop me from doing that. That's how this sort of thing works!"
Miki couldn't help but laugh at Taiyou's reaction. "In what, an action movie? I'm not sure if you've noticed but reality is somewhat different than Hollywood likes to pretend."
"What are you saying?" Taiyou asked with narrowed eyes.
"I'm saying that if we captured the Red Dawn terrorists they would be brought to justice in the normal and legal way, but if they were to resist capture…" Miki trailed off with a knowing look.
Taiyou scoffed and stood up, saying, "And you would just let me do that? Let me have my way with them? Somehow I doubt a 'moral' person like you would appreciate what I would do."
"I don't," Miki said as she rose to her feet as well. "But I know that it is the only thing you care about right now, and denying you your chance would just turn you against us." She paused as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Just… please don't let your need for revenge consume you. I've seen it happen before and I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone."
Taiyou saw a flash of sadness pass over the smaller woman's face. Huh, sounds like she has some kind of personal experience with that. Wonder what Miss Goodie Two Shoes could be referring to. She pretended to mull Miki's words over for a second before saying with a bored look, "Well that's what you're here for right? Keep me from going too far?" She highlighted the statement by looking at her fingernails as if examining them for damage, not that she would have cared if they were.
Miki smiled back at her and replied, "I guess you could call it that. You could also call it babysitting if you wanted to."
Taiyou eyes glinted dangerously as the grabbed up an old TV with her TK and twirled it at head level. "Say that again and you'll get to watch some television up close and personal."
Miki smirked back at Taiyou but was spared the opportunity to answer by a shout from the stairs outside the room. Pat walked in soon after, his rifle hung back over his shoulder and his helmet carried in his hands. "Miss Saegusa, Captain Gondo wants you to come upstairs. We think we've found something." He then noticed the state of the demolished room the two telepaths were standing in, his gaze resting suspiciously on Taiyou. "Any problems here?"
"None," Miki said easily. "Just a quick TK lesson. Let's go." Miki let Taiyou lead the way out, flashing the concerned Pat a look saying that she had things under control. Pat shrugged his shoulders at the message and followed after them, pausing for a moment and looking back at the devastation as a shard of glass from an impaled monitor fell to the ground behind him. And I thought my wife was bad when she's upset. Jeez.
The three finished climbing the stairs and followed Pat to what had once been the command center of the building. Unlike the secret computer room in the basement the main areas had some hints of decoration, though taking a closer look at them Miki thought she preferred their absence. There were a variety of posters listing darker moments of human history, showing everything from bombed out cities and burned down forests to what looked like a wall of dead bodies piled together with all the grace of an avalanche.
"Really cheery place," Pat remarked as he passed an ancient painting of a city on fire.
"Wonderful place for a child to grow up in," Taiyou deadpanned back at him. "The entertainment in particular was very stimulating. Nothing like a documentary talking about what a horrible creature man is to motivate a six year old to murder their own race."
Miki wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the fact that Taiyou had just made a joke like that. Pat was much less conflicted. "Man no wonder you're so fucked up." He flinched and looked back at the woman apologetically. "No offense."
Taiyou just rolled her eyes at him. "Oh none taken. It's very heartening to know that one of my captors thinks I'm insane. I'm all giddy inside right now at being so well understood."
Pat's face fell flat and he said, "You know, I almost preferred it when you we shooting at me. Somehow that hurt less."
The ebony-haired telepath smirked, while behind her Miki stared at Taiyou in surprise at how calmly she had taken Pat's words. Perhaps all that sarcasm has a use after all.
They managed to make it to the others without further incident, though Miki could have sworn she saw Taiyou glare at a few rooms as they passed with a look of extreme hatred. When they entered the command center the other members of the squad looked up from a pile of shell casings gathered on a previously clean table. "Glad you could join us," Amanda said with a smile. "You didn't happen to find anything under the dirt by any chance did you?"
"Nothing," Taiyou said irritably.
"Not even after ripping everything in the room to shreds in case they hid something in the furniture," Pat jokingly said. "You know, just to be thorough."
Sarah and Amanda shared a look of bewilderment while Gondo stoically nodded his head understandingly. "Too bad," he said. "But we do have some good news. Check out these shell casings here. What do you see?"
"A wasted effort," Taiyou responded with crossed arms, "given how easily you dealt with my team."
There was an uncomfortable silence for several moments before Gondo cleared his throat and said, "Well, that's one thing it could mean. I was more thinking about where they came from. Sarah?"
The brunette nodded and pulled a tablet out of her pack. "Those Red Dawn guys may not be able to shoot for crap," she said as Taiyou growled slightly in the background, "but they also didn't do that good a job of covering their tracks. These casings were littered all over the place in that firing range up on the top floor. They didn't even bother trying to sweep them up or anything."
"So what?" Taiyou said dismissively. "What could you possibly learn from bullet casings?"
"You'd be surprised," Sarah said before bringing up a series of specs for an assault rifle. Tapping a few more times yielded a low-resolution hologram hovering over the table. "The guns that fired these rounds were Russian AN-94's, a design that was proposed for the Universal Rifle project but rejected back in 2006. You can tell because of the extra warping of some of the rounds caused by the rifle's unique 'double tap' firing of its first two shots." She held up two such casings. "Despite some commercial interest by gun enthusiasts it had a very limited production and is extremely hard to find."
"In other words we can use the rifles to find Red Dawn's supplier, then track down leads from there," Amanda explained laconically.
"And I already know who it is," Sarah stated as she swiped through the tablet. "You're probably not gonna like this Cap. I know Pentecost won't." One last tap and a face replaced the gun in the hologram. The image showed a gray-haired man shaking hands with the Marshall in an office at the Shatterdome while he mugged for the camera. He had a wicked smile, courtesy of his gold teeth, while his eyes were hidden behind similarly gold-rimmed dark shades.
Gondo's eyes narrowed angrily while Pat and Amanda both gasped. "Hannibal Chou," Gondo said threateningly, "you have a lot to answer for."
Global Defense Force Kaiju Categorization (Updated 05/16/12)
Category 1 Unnaturally Large Creatures (50-100 feet, no or minor special abilities):
The smallest category of monster, most creatures within this range are simply normal animals who have been mutated by either large amounts of radiation or are the results of alien experimentation. Due to this most Category 1s are very hostile towards humanity and their environment and should be eliminated quickly. Those that are not immediately dangerous may be moved to Site Omega, but only if risk of damage or threat to humans is negligible. Conventional military force is generally adequate for eliminating monsters of this size, though it is still recommended that foot soldiers and lightly armored vehicles keep their distance due to the limited effectiveness of ordinary small arms and non-antitank weapons. Common examples of monsters in this category include the swarms of Meganula and Gyaos, revived dinosaurs and insects on the Solgell archipelago, etc.
Threat level: Local only.
Category 2 Small Kaiju (100-200 feet, no or minor special abilities):
The first size category that can truly be considered kaiju, monsters of this type are surprisingly uncommon, being mostly made up of adolescent kaiju or oversized ocean dwellers. Category 2s are usually characterized by their peaceful nature, harboring no ill will towards humans or their environment and thus requiring little more than a watchful eye for the defense. Should they become hostile for some reason normal military force would generally prove inadequate save for the heaviest weapon platforms such as bombers, battleships and submarines, though jaeger intervention would be likely unnecessary. Examples include Godzilla Jr. (prior to his ascension), Mothra larvae (mostly peaceful but ferocious fighters when provoked), Kamoebas, and funnily enough some larger whale species despite not exactly fitting the size requirements.
Threat level: Local only if hostile.
Category 3 Regular Kaiju (200-300 feet, no or minor special abilities):
The most common form of kaiju and the point at which size invulnerability sets in. Kaiju in this type run the gamut of alignments and personalities and are thus split into separate factions based on their feelings towards humanity. Earth Defenders are allies of humanity and fight to help defend human settlements from other kaiju in return for being left alone by the GDF. Mutants by contrast will often terrorize humanity at every possible opportunity and are marked by their pursuit of personal power above all else. Alien kaiju act as the heralds of the numerous alien invasions Earth has suffered and lead their armies into battle. Neutrals neither attack nor defend humanity, preferring to live and let live far from the others' conflicts.
Kaiju in this category are near immune to conventional military weaponry (save a few exceptions and most Anteverse kaiju, who are markedly weaker than Terran kaiju) and thus must be engaged either by jaegers, mechs, or superweapons. Category 3s are the first kaiju level at which use of WMDs may be authorized at the behest of the besieged nation and with permission of the GDF Security Council. Engagement with Cat 3 kaiju generally is not intended to eliminate the monster, merely to force it away, but a successful kill may be pursued if human settlements are not at immediate risk. Examples are myriad but in general may include any kaiju that does not have extreme abilities or has shown capabilities of defeating numerous other monsters at once, which would push it up to Category 4.
Threat level: Local to regional depending on territorial natures.
*A note on addition of examples to this list. A kaiju's placement in a category is based on its potential threat level to humanity, not on flashiness or relevance within their own faction or your own personal opinions. On that note, please stop trying to say Zilla is a Category 4. Yes he is fast, no he is not supernaturally fast. Let it go James.
Category 4 Greater Kaiju (200-300 feet, significant special abilities):
The kaiju that drive most scientists utterly insane and make kids want to grow up to be jaeger pilots, Category 4 kaiju are determined by their remarkable abilities that extend well beyond the physical. Most kaiju of this type are not much larger than Cat 3s but are significantly more dangerous to both other kaiju and to humanity in general. Common powers take the form of energy beams of various types, everything from plasma, lightning, fire, magic and even gravity in one case. Other abilities include extreme resistances to damage, releasing energy on contact and incredibly enhanced healing. Also, any flying kaiju with a wingspan of more than 150 feet is automatically considered a Cat 4 regardless of other abilities due to their range of possible attacks.
Cat 4s should not be attacked by any less than two jaegers or mechs working in tandem, with more than two very much recommended. Usage of WMDs may be authorized by the GDF Security Council without permission of the local government should the situation deteriorate far enough. Pursuit of a kill is prohibited unless threat to both human settlements and attacking human assets is considered negligible or target cannot be forced off. Pilots are suggested to approach with the utmost caution and not take unnecessary risks.
Sadly most Cat 4s are in the employ of the alien faction or allied with the mutants. The only Earth Defender Cat 4s are Mothra (powerful as a Cat 5 but too fragile to last against them), King Caesar, and all of the Guardian Beast Kaiju.
Threat level: Regional to Continental
Category 5 Super Kaiju (300+ feet, immense special abilities)
The strongest of the strong, Category 5 kaiju are powerful enough to easily match or exceed any lesser kaiju they meet. Cat 5s are characterized by their extremely powerful special abilities and high level of skill in their use. These kaiju are some of the most powerful beings to exist and should absolutely not be engaged except with overwhelming force. A minimum of three jaegers or mechs should be used in an engagement with WMDs waiting in immediate reserve at the slightest sign of enemy advantage. At this time there are only very few kaiju befitting the rank of Category 5, and disturbingly enough most of them are in the employ of the alien faction or are the two heads of the mutant faction. Current examples include Godzilla (current incarnation), Xenilla, Destroyah, Grand King Ghidorah, and Monster X (due to his apparent martial abilities and bizarre similarity to human hybrid soldiers in combat style).
At the time of this writing every attempt to permanently eliminate any Category 5 kaiju has failed despite our best efforts and technology. As such it is recommended that no further attempts be made until the full fleet of battle platforms is completed in late 2014. Should an attack come before that point, usage of WMDs may be unavoidable. Recommend Dimension Tide Mark 2 as best option for permanent removal if termination of local area is to be avoided.
Threat level: Hemisphere to Global
Marshall Pentecost paused in his reading of the document before him, his mind traveling back to the day of the battle of Solgell. He'd watched as Monster Island, a place where kaiju were supposed to be free to live in safety and peace, was thrown into chaos and madness under an endless assault of mutants, Anteversers and aliens whose sole purpose for being there was to kill the creatures who had defended humanity for so long. Even after throwing every jaeger and mech in the hemisphere into the fight to try and stem the tide the situation just got worse and worse with every hour. If any had been available he would have sent in the battle platforms but Mjolnir was the only one in range and it couldn't get a clear shot in the melee.
He had known since the battle began that his hand may be forced into launching a WMD into the fighting at some point, but accepting that the time had come had been much harder to acknowledge. His heart feeling heavier than the dark mass he ordered launched, Pentecost had watched his jaegers and mechs retreat and the black hole seed streak downward through the atmosphere. Despite the years of research saying that the monsters hit by the hole would just be transported unharmed, he worried about where they would end up, how they would survive on a potentially hostile world. It was one of the hardest decisions he'd ever had to make, but make it he did.
Even though he now knew that they were safe – as safe as they could be while stuck as tiny magical horses that is – he still felt a tingle of unease as to what had sent them there to begin with. The Earth had been at relative peace since the end of Final Wars six years ago, with the mutant faction severely depleted and the alien armies decimated. Then out of nowhere practically every monster on the planet shows up in one place and they all start fighting each other, only for the strongest of every side to disappear completely under a series of wormhole shots to a place that shouldn't even exist. Something out there was making plans, but what and who the Marshall had no idea.
The closest thing they had to a lead was the word of a possibly deranged ex-terrorist who claimed it was a kaiju god from the ancient past returned to exact his revenge. According to her story this god was determined to wipe out all human life on the planet, and to do so he had directed 'his Lady' to lead the Red Dawn on a genocidal crusade. Taiyou professed to know nothing more about either of these entities aside from the fact they were supposed to be holy and their word was divine command, but she had said that she suspected there was more to their plans than she or any of the Dawn were aware of.
Even with all of the crazy things that had happened to the planet over the last century Stacker would have been very hesitant to believe the woman's tale, were it not for what Miki had experienced just the day before. The telepathy signal that had attempted to reach Taiyou had been traced back to a telepath enhancing communicator used for long distance conversations between bases when radio contact was difficult. The disturbing part was that the device itself was not being used by a telepath at the time. Instead, an electronic signal had somehow interfaced with the device and generated a telepathic presence from it, something that as far as anyone knew should be impossible. Even worse, analysis of the electronic signature showed that it was near identical to that of the virus that hacked into Dimension Tide, which had all sorts of disturbing indications. Combining Taiyou's descriptions of these supposed gods' powers and what they had experienced suggested that there was more than likely plenty of truth to her stories.
And now this thing appears, he groused as he looked at the sonar report Tachibana had left him after Gordon had left. Back in 1997 sonar nets in the southeast Pacific had picked up an ultra low frequency sound off the coast of South America. Initial impressions for the sound, nicknamed 'The Bloop' by sonar operators, made it seem like simple iceberg calving from the Antarctic glaciers and the sound had been ignored. That turned out to be a mistake many years later, as the sound was later identified as the creation of a Rift by the Anteversers, with the 97 sound clearly being a test bed for the real deal. The same sound had been recorded again closer to the center of the Pacific where the first Rift had appeared, which had thankfully been dealt with by Godzilla due to a lucky fluke of him beaming an Antverser as it was leaving the Rift, wrecking the facility on the other side. Ever since then sonar sites around the globe had kept a close watch on the seas for any sign of another Anteverser incursion.
And here one was.
Stacker sighed again and pinched his nose. The GDF really did not have the time or resources to spend on dealing with another campaign of Anteversers, not with everything else that was going on. About the only good news was that this new Rift was discovered just off the coast, meaning it was in submarine territory. Kaiju may own the land for the most part and at the very least disputed control of the skies with the GDF's air forces but one place where humanity held true dominance was the seas. More than any other theater of war humanity was able to build on a scale that could match the scale of the enemies arrayed against them, and with the enhancements of Mysterian technology, even exceed them. Battleships, carriers, submarines; all were capable of fielding weaponry that could defeat or deter kaiju.
But a brand new Rift... It had been quite some time since new Antversers had appeared. There was no telling what new creations they had in store on the other side of that Rift. He couldn't dare risk some of his submarines against the target without knowing more. And that meant sending a kaiju in to scout out the situation.
But sending in Zilla by himself is too dangerous, especially if the Ants are able to send through multiple kaiju at once. He'll need some backup. Pentecost paused for a moment as he went through his mental lists of allied kaiju for one with the right skill set to aid the giant saurian in the depths of the ocean. The answer was just as he'd thought it would be, though he'd held out hope of a simpler solution.
Gamera's busy negotiating with Kong, and Raiga is pursuing Agon in the Indian ocean, so neither of them is available. There's no other kaiju that fits the requirements. It has to be her. A frown appeared on his face as remembered the kaiju's less than glamorous history with the GDF. I'm not sure which will be harder; convincing her to go on the mission or the mission itself.
Pentecost picked up his phone and called for the telepath Xavier to come to his office. With Miki off in Africa trying to track down the ex-terrorist's home base he was the telepath on deck for interfacing with Zilla. Once he was assured the man was on his way he turned back to the Categorization document.
(Addendum by Analyst [Redacted on request of writer]. Updated 07/23/13)
Category 6 Ultimate Kaiju (400+ feet, insane special abilities):
This category is purely hypothetical in nature as of this time, based on personal research done by [Name Redacted]. Several areas across the planet show signs and scars of extreme amounts of environmental damage that bears striking similarity to modern day kaiju battlegrounds. Carbon dating at each of the sites puts the general age of the scarring at 73,000 years ago (+ or – 4000 years), the same period of time in which the Toba super volcano is thought to have erupted and caused a significant period of global cooling. Initial thought concluded this to be a mere coincidence, but further research generated indications that the two phenomenon are in some way related.
Within the last five years archaeologists across the globe have issued reports of discovering the ancient ruins of highly advanced civilizations with technology and architecture far in excess of what historical humanity was believed to be capable of, all of which appear to have died out within or near the same time table as both the Toba eruption and the suspected kaiju battlegrounds. In addition many of the battlegrounds themselves carry evidence of intelligent life having lived there prior to whatever catastrophic events unfolded at each location. Close studies of the ruins and battlegrounds reveal pieces of machinery and metallic alloys equivalent in strength and complexity to modern day technology, and in several cases devices were found that appeared to function on some form of energy beyond current understanding.
Although none of the evidence has yet been confirmed in any official capacity and there are many critics of the discoveries, it is the personal theory of this writer that there existed at some point in ancient history a terrifically advanced civilization that disappeared around the time of the Toba catastrophe. The likelihood of such an advanced civilization failing because of the eruption of a single super volcano is unlikely, thus it is my position that there was a war of some sort between kaiju that precipitated their fall.
Analysis of the battlegrounds seems to show a single combatant engaging multiple other kaiju at once and winning. Scars left over from energy attacks appear similar to those generated by kaiju like Godzilla and Xenilla but vastly more powerful. If the calculations of this theorized kaiju are correct then this creature was strong enough to defeat the equivalent of more than four Category 5 kaiju in a single battle multiple times at different places around the world. Such a concentration of energy, if released all at once in the right place, would be more than enough to set off a super volcano deliberately.
There are many questions this theory leaves open, including where exactly this kaiju went and why it was fighting as it did. The other researchers I shared this theory with have poked innumerable holes in it but something keeps me coming back to it, some feeling of horrible truth to the idea of such a monster existing in our forgotten past. Maybe I'm completely wrong and this whole thing is just me wasting time. I sincerely hope so. Because if I'm right and this thing ever reappears… God help us all.
Zilla hissed under his breath as he ascended out of the ocean onto the bright, sandy beach, shaking his body back and forth to rid his scales of excess water. He never really liked leaving the ocean. It always felt like leaving his comfort zone.
Though his body was technically designed for land travel Zilla had always been at his best when swimming. As a rule no kaiju he had ever met or heard of could match his speed and power in the ocean depths, could find or catch him when didn't want to be found. The only two exceptions to that rule were the reason for him being on this island out in the middle of nowhere. And he was trying to recruit one of them.
Zilla paused in his grumbling when he felt the familiar tingling of a telepath poking at his mind. Hello Mr. X, he called out along the tendril he felt. Been waiting for me long?
Circling several thousand feet above the giant saurian was a medium sized tilt jet with a smiling Charles Xavier sitting in the copilot seat. Not long, Zilla, not long, Charles answered affably. Nick here was just telling me about his girlfriend subtly pushing him to propose and how he plans to do it. Very interesting stuff.
You humans and your romance, Zilla chuckled before getting down to business. Is she here?
Yes, Charles answered while looking at the map on the jet's control board. Just at the end of this small valley here. A bit more than a mile to the west.
Zilla nodded and began to make tracks along the indicated direction. He tried to keep his footsteps from trampling the various palm trees and other clumps of vegetation, for the most part following a small river flowing downward from the fainting smoking volcano at the center of the island. Are we sure it's a good idea for me to be here? Tanty doesn't exactly have much reason to like me after that, uh, confrontation we had.
It's been years since then Zilla, Charles reasoned. She knows it wasn't the GDF's fault that she was… oh what was the term they used again? Oh right. 'Mentally Directed', that's what it was.
She was brainwashed, Zilla replied frostily. Don't bother sugarcoating it. The fact that it was a GDF developed technology doesn't help either.
Charles sighed over the mental link. I know Zilla. I did not agree with the program. None of the telepaths did. It was only supposed to be used in an emergency, and never on a kaiju. Then he got a hold of it...
Yeah, yeah I remember, Zilla grumbled. It would be hard to forget his first fight as an Earth Defender, especially when it was against a kaiju he should have been allies with.
Years ago, just after Zilla officially joined the ranks of the Defenders, one of their number had attacked a GDF base. Zilla was the only one who was able to respond in time and had rushed to the scene, confused as to why an Earth Defender would attack their erstwhile allies. He had arrived to find Titanosaurus stumbling through the minefield surrounding the base, trying to divide her attention between where she was stepping and the numerous aircraft harassing her at every angle. Zilla had managed to drag her away from the battle to the open countryside and drive her off after a multi hour fight that had greatly injured them both.
He'd later found out that the semi-aquatic dinosaur had been forced to attack the base against her will by a disgruntled scientist who'd developed the telepathy enhancing technology. Originally he'd been a strong supporter of the GDF but when his wife died in a defense operation he blamed the military. Eventually the grief drove him over the edge and he used his telepath daughter to enact a plan of revenge, wanting to hurt the GDF in same way he'd been hurt. Titanosaurus had the misfortune of becoming his puppet and suffering the damage of his insane scheme.
Eventually the scientist was found and prosecuted, his daughter removed from his custody and his technology withdrawn from the public eye, later to be redeveloped into the drifting tech jaeger pilots used to meld minds. Titanosaurus herself was incensed with humanity for the pain she had suffered, both physical and mental, and so left the Earth Defenders and refused contact with either for years afterward. This visit would mark the first time anyone had done more than keep a cursory eye on Titanosaurus' general location since she'd left, and somehow Zilla doubted the years out of contact would make her any more forgiving of humanity.
Growling softly to himself Zilla came around the side of hill at the end of the valley; only to take a long webbed tail to the face that knocked him clear off his feet.
Zilla! Xavier yelled over the mental link as he felt the sudden rush of pain from the saurian. What happened? Are you alright?
Fine, the saurian responded as he warily got to his feet. Not sure for how long though. Thankfully for Zilla he wasn't struck again and had a chance to look at his attacker.
Titanosaurus stood a tail swipe's length away, her scaled arms folded over her chest as she glared at him angrily. She was a tall kaiju, her erect gait leaving Zilla's head barely reaching her shoulder in height. Her skin was red, covered all over with black spots and bright yellow scales reaching from her neck to the end of her tail and large orange fin-like crests stretching off her head and back, lending her a slightly fishy appearance. Most concerning for Zilla was her hands and their very sharp claws, especially when the look in her eyes promised further violence.
What in the name of Tanaka do you think you're doing here? she declared in tone as cold as the bottom of the ocean.
Hello to you too Tanty, Zilla responded then immediately leaped backward to avoid the retaliatory swipe in his direction.
Don't call me that, Titanosaurus said. Now answer the question. Why. Are. You. Here?
Zilla sighed before looking up at the hovering jet and asking, Mind fielding this one prof?
Xavier cleared his throat unnecessarily to buy a moment figure out what to say. Oh, ahem, yes of course Zilla. Our purpose here, yes. Well, you see Miss Titanosaurus we were hoping to enlist your aid in…
Forget it, Titanosaurus interrupted. Not interested. Now get the Daei off my island before I get irritated.
Please miss just hear us out, Xavier begged. All we need is your help in scouting out a possible Anteverser Rift with Zilla. We hope that we've caught the Rift before it's big enough to send any full kaiju through, so there might not even be any need for combat.
And why would you need me for this? she questioned. Or are you saying Zilla is too chicken to do it on his own?
Zilla objected strongly to that, saying, Hey I'm no chicken! Birds came after dinosaurs, so if anything, they're related to me. If Zilla didn't know better he would have sworn he saw Tanty roll her eyes at him. Besides, wanting help from one of the strongest swimming kaiju out there is pretty reasonable in my opinion.
Yeah sure, Titano said while folding her arms over her chest. And you just want me there as backup? the female kaiju clarified. In case Mr. Chicken here can't handle it by himself?
Correct, Charles said over Zilla's objections. We understand you're reluctant to trust us after what that man put you through but I promise that this is all we would ever ask of you. Help us complete this mission and you have our guarantee that you will be left alone after that, never to be bothered by us again.
A guarantee huh? Titanosaurus huffed. How comforting. She fell silent for several minutes as she contemplated their proposal, her tail twitching back and forth as she thought. Zilla noticed her tail's movement and made a point to back up outside of its reach just in case. Finally she looked back up at Zilla and said, Not interested.
Zilla gaped at her for a moment before roaring in annoyance and shouting, Oh come on! We just promised to leave you alone no matter what! What more could you want?
I don't want anything from you, Titanosaurus said while glaring darkly at the other kaiju. Just as Zilla was about to turn tail and flee to a safe distance the female kaiju's anger suddenly faded. She looked down at the ground and said in a reluctant tone, But I will help you.
Wait what? Zilla asked, stupefied.
I'll go on your damn mission, but only if you help me with what I need in return.
Charles smiled as a sense of hope returned to him. They were finally getting somewhere. And what help would you require of us miss?
Titanosaurus heaved a great sigh before asking, You remember Obsidious right?
That giant lava monster that Xenilla created? Zilla said. How could I forget? That thing nearly burned down half of Solgell before G punted him out to sea. What's that thing got to do with anything?
Titanosaurus growled threateningly and said, That thing is a he, you know. And he is a close friend of mine.
So Obsidious is intelligent? Charles asked with interest. I had no idea such a creature could form sapience.
Neither did Xenilla apparently, cause Obsidious wasn't built to last. Whatever crystal magic he used to create him is beginning to fail and Obsidious is running out of energy.
Zilla tilted his head at that. But don't all of his creations absorb radiation and stuff like that to keep going?
They do, but whatever thing Obsidious uses to do that is failing. He needs to absorb a large amount of energy to fix it.
Charles rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before suggesting, What about thermal radiation? Given he's a creature of fire and rock it should be very easy for him to live in a volcano and absorb the heat of the magma to sustain himself.
Titanosaurus shook her head and replied, It's not enough. He needs more. A lot more.
But volcanoes are some of the most powerful natural forces on Earth, Zilla said. How much more could he ne…
You need to nuke him, Titanosaurus interrupted. Repeatedly.
A moment of silence passed over the mental link, both Zilla and Xavier trying to come to terms with what the female kaiju had said. Finally Zilla managed to find some words to speak with, saying incredulously, You want us to nuke him? Like, the real deal? No reactors or nothing-just straight up bomb him?
Yes, Titanosaurus answered without hesitation. It's the only thing we think will work. Reactors are too efficient to give off the radiation he needs quickly and volcanoes are too slow. Absorbing a bomb should be enough to kick-start his regeneration and keep him alive.
And you're not worried about him dying from the nuke? Zilla asked.
Titanosaurus shook her head. No. He's spent the last few weeks in the lava tubes gathering as much heavy rock material as he can. He'll should be able to handle the explosions without a problem.
Zilla and Charles excused Titanosaurus from the mental link for a few minutes while they debated the point back and forth. Zilla argued against the plan, as he thought that bringing Obsidious back might be a bad idea. He'd been on Solgell during Xenilla's attack with his trio of artificial mutants and had only just escaped with his life during the huge firestorm the lava monster had created. Who was to say that letting him live wouldn't result in yet another enemy for the GDF to worry about.
Charles disagreed. He pointed out that there had been a long period of time in which Obsidious could have been an active menace. Xenilla's other constructs, after failing in their assault of Solgell, had gone semi-rouge and joined the general mutant faction, freely attacking whenever the mood suited them. Obsidius by contrast had all but disappeared entirely from the world's view. The GDF had thought him dead for years until seismic activity in a volcanic hotspot had been matched to his signature. If Obsidious was as violent and power hungry as the other mutants he would have acted long before now. Besides that was the fact that Titanosaurus seemed to trust him, and despite her amenity towards the GDF she was still a kind kaiju (relatively speaking) and thus unlikely to befriend a potential enemy.
Eventually the two came to an agreement. They would recommend to Pentecost that Obsidious be nuked with several kiloton strength warheads, but with the stipulation that a megaton warhead be kept on hand in case things went south. They informed Titanosaurus of the plan and, to both their surprise, she agreed.
Just out of curiosity, Zilla said while looking back and forth at the forested hills around the two kaiju, where is Obsidious anyway? We lost track of him ages ago and haven't found him since.
A smug smirk appeared on Titanosaurus' face. Oh he's nearby. Right around here in fact.
Zilla took another look around, trying to spot any barren hills or maybe a trace of smoke, but there was nothing to see. Uh, where?
Titanosaurus did not answer, instead leaning down to the ground and emitting a piercing hum through her hand into the ground. Zilla tilted his head in confusion at this, unsure what exactly she was doing. He didn't have to wait long to find out.
High above the two kaiju the mountain at the center of the island began to shake violently, deep cracks and crags opening up along its bare slopes. Zilla's eyes widened as he watched the top of the new volcano blow open in a massive explosion, showers of rock raining down on the forests below. Charles' jet pilot noticed the eruption and quickly banked away to escape the blast sound. After several minutes a deep, rumbling roar sounded past the echoes of the mountain's detonation. Soon a massive molten hand reached up from within the open caldera.
Zilla's mouth hung open freely as Obsidious climbed out of the volcano he had made and slowly descended the mountain, drops of lava searing the ground behind him as they fell from his sides. Eventually the mutant rock creature arrived near the other two kaiju, small portions of the forest catching fire from the sheer heat of his presence. Zilla could feel his scales searing even several hundred feet away and was beginning to question the intelligence of his earlier decision. Uuuuuuh, he droned as he tried and failed to find something to say.
So, Titanosaurus said as she sported a nasty smirk, how long till those nukes can get here?
I… Xavior tried to say, nearly at a loss for words. I think we can get some authorization for the nukes fairly quickly once we explain the full situation to command. After that it may take a few hours for the bomber to arrive and find a good location to drop the bomb. I'll… get to work on that right now. His voice and signature then left the link while the tilt jet drifted off to get a better signal.
Zilla looked up at the retreating aircraft reluctantly, not very eager to be left alone with the fire titan. Um…
You do remember how to talk, right Zilla? Titano taunted.
A brush of irritation sliding over him Zilla glared right back at her. Oh and what am I supposed to say right now? 'Hello Obsidious, nice to meet you again. Totally don't hold a grudge over that time you nearly burned me to death while we were all fighting for our lives against each other'.
No grudge, Obsidious boomed at him. Good. Grudge is bad. No grudge with friend.
If Zilla had been shocked before, now he was going into cardiac arrest. He talks! He actually talks!
Well yeah, Titano drawled. Talking kinda comes along with the whole 'is intelligent' thing. And you're right Ob. Holding grudges isn't something a friend does.
Says the kaiju who still holds the GDF responsible for the actions of one guy, Zilla remarked in his own head. Speaking again to the two of them he asked, So… you consider each other friends then?
Obsidious gave a nod, small globs of rock slurry dripping off him and scalding the ground below. Titanosaurus friend. Met after Big Battle. Did not hurt. Did not attack. Talked. Learned. Grew friends. The living fire mountain paused, his face turning down somewhat. Felt heart weak. Need energy. Fire not enough. Need help. Human help. He waved his arm at Zilla, who resisted the urge to shrink back from the heat. You help. No care fight in battle. Zilla friend too.
Zilla slowly nodded, much to Titano's apparent approval. Part of him was still focusing on the fight he had been a part of, the damage that had been done to his home by this kaiju and his 'siblings'. But the rest of him could feel the innocent happiness and pride that emanated from Obsidious, his mind almost that of a young child stepping out on the playground for the first time. He's younger than me, Zilla realized. Younger than any of the Defenders. And Titano was the only one to show mercy and kindness in the mutant's short life, especially if what she said about Xenilla's lack of care for the beast was true. Zilla couldn't help but feel a pang of empathy for Obsidious at that moment, and thus said to him, Yeah… I guess I'm your friend too Obsidious. Or Ob I guess. Oby? Which do you prefer?
Obsidious projected a sense of confusion at the saurian, all while Titano was busy laughing her tail off at the two of them. When Obsidious asked her what Oby meant she completely lost it and collapsed to the ground, prompting Obsidious to ask if she was alright, making her laugh even harder.
I'm now friends with a giant walking lava blob, Zilla said as he joined in with Titano's mad chuckling. I love my crazy life sometimes.
"FUUUUUUCK!"
"Oh shut up!"
Master Sergeant John Chief ignored both of his back seat passengers' shouts as he mashed the accelerator to the floor and hauled his vehicle around a sharp corner, narrowly avoiding a burned out car sitting at the edge of the street. Driving around the streets of Mogadishu during normal times was an exercise in insanity due to the tiny streets being crowded with throngs of people moving from place to place and ancient, half-gone cars roaring through the gaps. Now it was still crazy, but for a very different reason.
"Is that fucking gun up yet?" Alcatraz demanded while jamming another magazine into his hybrid-sized assault rifle and firing it over the back of the open topped jeep. The Indominus Rex following them round the corner took the shots in her shoulder and roared with pain as the tungsten-steel rounds ripped through her hide and into the muscle. The massive mutant dinosaur clutched her now limp arm and screeched at them before retreating, only for her mate to burst through a building further up the street from them and race towards the vehicle for revenge.
Chief saw the dino coming head on at them and immediately made a hard right, smashing the jeep through a low wall into a (thankfully empty) courtyard and continuing out of it onto a parallel street. The Rex followed soon after, knocking down numerous store stalls as it went. Once Chief was in the clear he zoomed forward to put some distance between them and the Cat 1 monster behind them.
"Fixing a jam is hard outside of combat," Ramirez complained as he repeatedly pulled the charging handle on the M2 Browning machine gun mounted in the vehicle's rear bed. "Trying to do it while Chief is bouncing over every single rock and pothole this city has is just a mite more difficult."
If there was one kind of place Chief hated fighting in, it was cities. Far too many obstacles, line of sight was nearly nonexistent, and the presence of civilians made everything that much more complicated. Although given how many random bursts of automatic fire came erupting from the open windows of the various buildings around them, it was hard to tell who the noncombatants actually were. "Just get the gun working," Chief ordered gruffly while spinning the wheel around to evade a shell crater.
"I blame the suspension," Alcatraz said after bumping his head on the overhead frame for the umpteenth time. "The suspension on these damn things is freaking ridiculous. Graceful like a big cat my ass. I've known warthogs that handle better than this."
Ramirez scoffed and pulled the charging handle one last time, putting his full shoulder weight into the effort. Finally the jammed round was ejected and he could fire on the Rex following them. Before he could train the gun sight on the target though the monster turned down a side street to avoid the barrage. "Damnit! It got away. These things are tough enough already, why'd they have to be smart too?"
"Wouldn't be a challenge otherwise," Alcatraz responded as he used his thermal sight to try and spot the huge animal in the gaps between buildings. Indominus Rexes had a fairly strong natural camouflage that made visual spotting difficult, and even highly sensitive thermal scopes had trouble picking them up with their heat control. Eventually the soldier shook his head and said, "No go Chief. Scalely must have buggered off."
"But I didn't even get to shoot at it yet!" Ramirez said with a pout.
If Chief wasn't busy with both of his hands on the wheel he would have face palmed at the invitation to fate Ramirez had just given. Instead he activated his radio and said, "This is Sergeant Chief to Command. We've attempted to push in towards the engagement zone but were delayed by a pair of Rexes. Request air assistance for spotting and supporting fire."
The radio crackled for a moment before a tough female voice said, "Sorry Chief, no can do. We've got an entire pack of these things attacking the marketplace and the drone's firepower's the only thing keeping them from reaching the Marines. You're gonna have to get there on your own."
"Is that Shepard?" Alcatraz asked. "I'm surprised she hasn't crashed yet. She's a worse driver than you Chief."
There was a moment of silence on the radio before Shepard said, "Chief, do me a favor and slap Alcatraz for me when you have a chance."
"I'll see what I can do," Chief added without any change of tone. "We're headed your way to link up and make a combined push. ETA two minutes."
"Roger that. We'll roll out the red carpet for you. Shepard out."
Chief turned his vehicle down a larger main street while his two passengers took the chance to reload their various weapons. "You aren't actually going to slap me are you Chief?" Alcatraz joked as he picked up an AT4 and cradled it to his shoulder.
"Of course not man, he's the Chief," Ramirez told him. Then he smacked Alcatraz lightly on the helmet and said, "He'd just order me to do it for him. Like he does with everything."
"Ramirez," Chief barked, "keep your eyes open. We don't know how many Rexes are in this pack."
"Well now that you said that one of them is going to show up any second now," Alcatraz said as he looked back down at his scope and began checking their flanks. "As soon as you mention the monster they're going to show up."
"Not if you knowingly invoke the rule man," Ramirez argued. "You talking about how it's gonna happen means it won't happen."
"So wait, would that be like double awareness or something?"
"Enough," Chief said. "We're almost at Shepard's position so get ready."
"Oh I was born ready sir," Ramirez said eagerly, fairly bouncing up and down in his turret position.
"That is so cliché," Alcatraz complained.
"Quiet!" Chief ordered as the jeep barreled onto the next street.
Sitting at the end of it was a large, heavily armored truck, an auto-turret on top spinning to watch them approach. The trio's jeep came to a halt next to the wheeled behemoth, a door on its left opening up to show a tall crimson haired woman smiling down at them. "Hey Chief, took you long enough."
"We had a few delays," the Sergeant answered. "Any ideas for getting into the market zone?"
Shepard smiled and patted the metal panel she was leaning on. "Simple. Use this beauty to smash our way in and shoot everything that isn't human. While we're doing that, you guys get to the Marines and do what you can to set them up. That many people and guns in one place is sure to bring in the whole pack, and once we've hooked them all in finish the job with all the daka we can muster."
Ramirez groaned and bumped his head against the headrest of his seat. "Using ourselves as bait. Why does that sound so fucking familiar."
"Cause that's what all of our plans degenerate to eventually," Alcatraz remarked. "Every time, all the time. Heck I think it's part of our job description at this point."
"Well then you should have plenty of practice then, don't you boys?" Shepard laughed and waved behind the giant vehicle. "Just stick on our ass and keep us clear of any beasties from behind, alright?"
"Oh I'd love to stick to that ass," Alcatraz muttered, only to get slapped by Ramirez on the helmet.
"Understood," Chief said. "Let's get going. The sooner we get there, the more likely those Marines will make it out alive."
With that the pseudo tank started up and began to roll down the street with a throaty roar, the dirt street beneath it crumbling under its weight. The first few moments were relatively quiet as the group made their way towards the sound of heavy fire in the distance, but it didn't remain quiet for long.
As soon as the two vehicles reached the first intersection a Rex smashed against the side of the armored truck, lifting it into the air for several seconds until the weight proved too much and it landed flat again. Before the Rex could strike again Alcatraz and Ramirez opened up on the dino, the heavy rounds ripping into the creature and prompting it to scream and back up. Several lucky hits reached up along its neck and struck the thing's spine, snapping its nerves and sending the beast collapsing to the ground.
"Alright! Another one bites the dust."
"Don't celebrate yet, there's bound to be more of them out there."
Sure enough no sooner had they passed the next intersection did another Rex run in, this one coming in from around a building and assaulting the front of the convoy. At the same moment a Rex appeared behind them, snarling at its fallen sibling then dashing at them with hate in its gaze.
"Chief, pedal to the metal please!" Alcatraz said before flipping his gun mount around and firing on the approaching monster. The beast saw the gun turning around and ducked as low as it could while activating its camouflage, weaving back and forth to avoid the gunfire.
"Hang on!" The Chief mashed the accelerator into the floor and wheeled around the larger vehicle, prompting the Rex to turn to follow, drawing it into the range of the APC's auto-turret. The machine's laser-sight locked onto the Rex's movement and unleashed a barrage of .50 caliber lead at its center of mass. The rounds torn into its ribcage and shredded its organs even through the creature's enhanced skin. At the same moment its sister fell the first Rex ran head-on into the APC, angling low to come up underneath it.
It wasn't enough.
At the last moment Shepard stomped on the gas and sent her vehicle surging forward into the Rex and sending it under the wheels. Several highly bouncy and crunchy seconds later the APC had completed its travel over the Rex and continued on, leaving a rather messy corpse behind.
"Hell, man, she even drives like a badass woman!" Alcatraz said with a disturbing amount of admiration. Ramirez groaned to himself as their vehicle fell into step behind Shepard again. The rest of the trip passed in relative quiet, though several times they could swear they saw a Rex moving along a parallel street or a group of locals wandering about waving their guns at any sound they heard. Said sounds grew louder and louder as they reached the middle of the city and stumbled on a battleground.
The central marketplace, usually crowded and busy in its own regard, had devolved into a scene of utter insanity. Almost half a dozen Rexes were circling around a group of turned over or wrecked jeeps backed up against a multi-story building. Quick flurries of automatic fire lanced out from the convey every few seconds, just barely keeping the monsters at bay. With his hybrid-enhanced vision Chief could see the desert pattern camos of the Marines shifting back and forth through the wreckage.
"Worry not, folks," Shepard shouted over a speaker in her APC. "The cavalry is here! Light 'em up boys!"
"Yes ma'am!" Ramirez let rip with the Browning, running a trail of tracers across the back of the nearest Rex, tearing its spine apart and sending it to the ground. In the passenger seat Alcatraz took aim with his rocket and fired. The projectile streamed out of its tube and flew into a Rex's side, the detonation blowing a massive hole in the dino's midsection and killing it instantly.
The remaining Rexes noticed their new assailants and turned to attack it, only to face a wall of bullets from Shepard's APC as well as renewed fire from the Marines behind them. The Indomni rushed at the giant vehicle and smaller jeep, roaring and screeching in unholy pitches. Chief lead his car on a long track around the outside of the courtyard, his two passengers letting rip with every bullet and explosive they had at the pack. Meanwhile Shepard just rolled forward without relent, weapon ports on either side openning up and adding to the hailstorm. Rex after Rex fell under the withering hail of fire, their artificially engineered bodies no match for the concentrated force arrayed against them. Several Rexes tried in vain to shove, scrape, and bite their way through the APC's armor but to no avail, while Chief's driving kept the rest of the horde from touching them.
The last Rex saw death surrounding it and decided it wasn't going into the dark alone, rushing towards the Marines with murderous intent. Chief saw the Rex's intended target and drove towards it, knowing the APC was too busy to notice the Rex in time.
"Uh, Chief," Ramirez said with a hint of concern, his empty Browning for the moment forgotten. "What are you doing?"
"Helping," was the Chief's laconic answer.
"Chief. Chief tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing." When the Master Sergeant did not say a word in response Ramirez turned to Alcatraz and shouted, "BAIL OUT!"
Alcatraz, who had run out of ammo with his rifle and had switched to his Hammer sidearm, immediately realized what Chief intended to do and replied, "Bailing!"
Both hybrids jumped jeep and rolled along the broken ground, Alcatraz actually bouncing atop one of the fallen Rex corpses along the way. Chief barely noticed his squad mates abandoning him, his attention laser focused on driving his jeep. Just as the Rex was about to reach the convoy, Chief launched his jeep off a fallen statue and wall, the multi-ton vehicle ramming into the dinosaur in midair. As soon as metal made contact with flesh Chief jumped out of his seat, using the built up momentum of the jeep to fly forward over the monster and out of the way of the crashing vehicle, rolling along to ground to distance himself from the damage.
The Rex screeched in pain as the car landed atop its neck, pinning the creature under its weight and breaking its weaker arm and leg bones from the impact. It did not have long to scream its pain as the Marines poured their fury into it for nigh on a minute. Some distance away from the dead dinosaur the Master Sergeant stood up, brushing off a faint coating of dust he'd gathered from his fall. His squad mates approached from either side of the trapped Rex, both keeping their guns trained on the creature just in case. "You okay there Chief?" Ramirez inquired.
"I'm fine," John answered simply. His gaze fell to a brown clothed body lying nearby, a broken rifle stretched over its lap. "Wish we could say the same for these troops."
Ramirez nodded in agreement then kneeled next to the fallen soldier and withdrew a cross necklace from under his uniform, muttering a prayer and closing the man's eyes.
Alcatraz sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "We did the best we could Chief, same as them. Nothing else we could do. Sometimes there's a price to be paid in our job. That's how it goes." He grew a smirk and gave his Sergeant a sidelong glance. "Though turning a jeep into a flying battering ram is a new one. Didn't figure you for an adventurer there Chief. That was one hell of a fancy trick."
If Chief ever bothered to actually emote he probably would have rolled his eyes at his subordinate, but his stoic nature prevented him from caring enough to do so. A voice then called from the other side of the courtyard. "Nice work there Chief," Shepard said to the Sergeant with a genuine smile on her face. "Guess your stiff ass has some fancy moves after all."
"Had to be done," was Chief's response. "Couldn't have stopped the thing in time otherwise."
"Speaking of time," Ramirez said with a cheeky smile, "it seems to me we got here just in the nick of time for these poor Marines. What does that make us do you think?"
Alcatraz immediately caught on and said in return, "I do believe that makes us big damn heroes, Ram."
"Ain't we just," the two said in unison while throwing a friendly arm over each other's shoulder.
Shepard just stared at the two, her face utterly deadpan before turning to the Chief and asking, "Are they always like this?"
Chief shrugged in a helpless 'what can you do' kinda way. "You get used to it." His tone became serious again as he said, "Are these the last of them?"
"Should be. Last word we got off the drone before it ran out of ammo was that the rest of the city was clear except for this pack and the two your squad was engaged with."
"But one of ours escaped," Ramirez observed. "So where did it—"
A loud crash came from the west entrance of the courtyard as the final Rex came rushing towards them. Chief and his squad were scrambling for their forgotten weapons when a massive report rang out from behind them. A bright white tracer arced brilliantly through the air before impacting the Rex's forehead, punching straight through the monster's skull and pulping its brain. Dead before it could even finish its final step the still moving corpse tripped over its lifeless legs and collapsed, its momentum sliding it forward until it came to a stop just a few feet short of the group. Everyone turned to the source of the shot to see Shepard blow away some wafting smoke from the end her sniper rifle's barrel. She smiled at the stunned look on the others' faces and said, "Mission complete, gentlemen. Let's get out of this shit hole."
As Shepard turned and activated her radio to call for a ride out Alcatraz said faintly to himself, "Dude… I think I'm in love."
Ramirez laughed and patted his friend on the back, saying, "You have a better chance of bringing down Xenilla by yourself then getting with her man."
"Oh shut up Ram."
A/N: Hello again readers! Sorry about the longer-than-a-month update. The early parts of this chapter were done quite quickly but I couldn't figure out how to end it given I moved the original ending to become the majority of the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed the run and gun battle you guys got instead. Next time things are going to heat up as certain enemies take notice of humanity's plans. Til then, happy reading!
Edit: Having seen Jurassic World on its opening weekend I can only look at this scene I wrote and think 'Damn, I'm some kinda prophet or something'. Seriously, the IRex's basically being giant raptors is almost exactly a match to what I did here, along with the point of proper military force (not just small arms fire) being enough to bring these things down. That said, there is one point where I diverge from the movie which I will stand by. I don't care what DNA they say Indomius has, a creature that big cannot hide from thermal vision. A small amphibian lowering its heat emission to hide from insects does not scale up to a 50 foot long dinosaur masking its thermal signature from highly advanced cameras designed to see exactly that. It simply does not math. Aside from that, awesome film and definitely worth the price of admission, especially if you are a Jurassic Park fan.
(Edit 03/31/16) Hello folks. Those of you here from the latest chapter may notice several changes to the last couple scenes in this chapter. The first change is adding in a sequence where Obsidious actually speaks and we get to know him better. I felt like that was a bit of a wasted opportunity when I looked back on it so I decided to add more of him in [and not just because he's my fav character in Godzilla Unleashed]. The second change was an expansion of the Indominus Rex scene. Recently Tarb came to me and told me that, while it is unlikely the I Rex could completely hide itself with its thermal control in an ideal environment, in the warm and humid atmosphere of a jungle it would be much harder to spot even with military grade equipment. Alongside that he expressed a bit of disappointment that the battle here seemed so... simple and was over so quickly, so I decided to spice it up somewhat, along with showing that normal military forces aren't necessarily going to have an easy time against a pack of 50 foot long intelligent Dinos. So there's that.
(2017 edit: I just keep having to edit this chapter for some reason. Hopefully this will be the last time. Edits this time were alterations to the foreshadowing of the later part of this arc and a few details of world building here and there.)