Frozen remains... a ridiculously simple file header that massively understated the images that I was seeing. A gigantic corpse was curled up near the center of the chamber. It displayed several insectoid characteristics such a hardened exoskeleton, compound eyes and jointed limbs. The creatures head was dominated by a large star-shaped horn and powerful mandibles. Though the creature was laying on its back it appeared to have a curved shell and wings capable of flight. The arms were another matter; one of them was missing all together, seemingly ripped off and the remaining limb ended in a drill like structure.
Overall the creature seemed to have suffered massive injuries from not only teeth and claws, but burns consistent with Godzilla's signature atomic breath. Only about 60% of its structure was still recognizable. One would expect such ancient remains to be fossilized however this was not the case. Frozen was an appt description. Sometime following the attack on the city and the creatures eventual defeat the remaining citizens had sought to preserve it. At several points across its body were attached devices akin to refrigeration systems. These devices along with the apparent lack of fauna or flora within the chamber perfectly preserved what remained of this massive insect.
Leaning back from the moniter for a moment I took another sip of my cola. [Another Kaiju...At least this one's dead.] I shook my head. [No... even if it is just a corpse that's still bumps up the total to 25. How many more of these things are we going to find?] With a sigh that had become nearly habitual at this point I resumed reading. Unfortunately due to the time restrictions imposed by the radiation in the main chamber there was a little more of interest. One question the researchers couldn't answer however was why had the Atlantean survivors bothered to preserve the apparent destroyer of their civilization?
A few keystrokes later and I returned to the main repair schedule page, figuring out a timetable for the vehicles with the lightest damage. The ones that were worse off would have to be fully assessed and possibly decommissioned. [Gorgo's not going to like that.] I chuckled despite myself. [Hmmm. Looks like one of the U.R.A.V.'s also had a minor note of some sort of contaminant on its front-right stabilizer. [Easy Peasy. A control module swap out and a full decon cycle and this unit will be ready for service again.] Click. Click. Click. A few command prompts later and the first repair of the day was all qued up.
It's worth noting that a group with access to advanced technology such as Monarch calling Base 74 a repair center is like calling Home Depot a lumber distributor. We are so much more. Base 74 is capable of maintaining, repairing and rebuilding every vehicle that is currently fielded by Monarch, from the smallest drones to our flagship command craft Argo. In fact if the Argo were ever destroyed, we have enough parts and material to rebuild her two times over. Only one other such base (Monarch's main headquarters) can boast of the same capabilities.
With all the damage and destruction our vehicles seem to suffer you would think only two repair facilities wouldn't be enough to handle them all. You would be partially correct. We also maintain two secondary repair facilities (much smaller in scale) as well as two mobile repair bays (essentially modified drilling platforms). The primary repair facilities mainly deal with more significant damage that the smaller facilities are simply not equipped to deal with... except in rare cases where an order like this one is handed down.
There is no reason why one of the secondary facilities couldn't handle everything except for the Multi-Command Vehicle... unless they're being hush hush again. From what I recall we had informed the world at large that the "underwater cavern" that Godzilla was discovered in, had little to no scientific interest. [That's one helluva lie, especially considering the new information I just saw. [I can understand their general need for secrecy, but some of these discoveries could have the scientific community buzzing for the next decade.] Hitting sleep mode on my terminal I headed toward the door to my office and walked over to the balcony that overlooked the repair bays...10 stories below me.
I might have to do some digging. The experienced mechanic in me knew there was more to this story and more that I was going to need to find out in order to do my job properly. Suits always love the line, "need to know". Well...I need to know every detail of this mission in order to understand exactly what these vehicles went through. A small smile curled my lips. [I know just the person to ask. If you need to find out something there is only one name in our department that comes to mind... Mia Bronson, a junior technician that had been with us for about 4 years now. She's like a bloodhound when it comes to unraveling the truth... and she should be on break right now.]
