Chapter 36: Reclaimers

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Two days until detonation.

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Half of the defense turrets blocking their path have been taken out but not without cost. A wildfire has begun consuming whatever is left of the environment. Satellite imaging has revealed just the extent of the damage the fire and the fusion explosions have done to the environment. Every hour or so since the start of the crusade another fusion explosion is detected. The raging wildfire has spread deep into the Amazon rainforest and has burned down a significant amount of it. But even though this is a disaster that will take years to recover from, there is one good thing that has emerged from it.

Because of the jungle burning down, most of the defense turrets have been exposed. . This has allowed humanity to get more involved with retaking their continent. Battra and Mothra have perfected their killing move on the turrets. Nightfall though is when the things get difficult for the two of them.

At night Mothra and Battra have to search for a deep cave or chasm to hide in because both of them glow brightly in the night. They would take shelter below the tree line but because most of the trees are either burned down or too small they can't. Plus Mothra glows cyan and Battra is a mixture of red, yellow and purple. So far they haven't been attacked at night but things changed for them once they got halfway to Brazil.

Mothra and Battra were hiding out in a cave listening to the steady march of the troops over them. Motha had curled herself into a ball in the corner and Battra was lying face down in the stone. A slight rain had started that night so the two of them began to drift off to the rain when something felt off. Far off in the distance two heavy thuds were felt. These far away sounds woke up Battra and Mothra instantly. Six cracks were heard and just seconds later explosions rocked the cave. Soldiers shouted and began to fire into the howling dark. Battra stood up and flared his wings.

"Mothra get up! We're being attacked!"

Mothra got up and the two of them climbed to the edge of the cave and peered out. They saw the silhouettes of two jaegers in the dark just a few thousands yards from their position. The blue glow of their visors is easily noticeable in the pitch black. The duo jumped into the air and soared towards the two attackers. The first one fired a missile at Battra but he simply dodged the weapon. As he came closer it whipped out it's sword and slashed but Battra ducked just in time. Two well-placed slashes to the head later and the jaeger simply falls to the ground. Battra lands and watches Mothra land on the other one's back and carve it's neck open. Glowing fluid spurts out and it also crashes to the ground. Battra flies over to inspect the body.

"Where did you learn that move? I've only seen you do graceful slices and cuts but never something this savage."

"You aren't entirely useless Battra."

Battra chuckles and turns to take off. Mothra turns as well but something catches her eye. Something she didn't notice until just now. Her front legs cut through that jaeger's armor way easier than normal. In fact it only took a swing that was barely even lethal. She turns back towards her fallen foe.

"Battra wait! Something is off about this one."

She flares her wings and uses her bioluminescence to light up the body. Battra turns and he widens his eyes in surprise.

The usually bulky and armored jaeger was now skinny with most of its internal components showing. It's normal navy blue armor was stripped away. The only thing still protected is the now powered down fusion reactor housed in it's chest. The neck was also unarmored. The head was also stripped of it's armor panels. Battra got close to it's corpse and slowly dragged one of his front legs down the length of the chest.

"All it's armor is gone. Not even it's neck armor is there anymore. Judging by how only one of its arms has the railing for the chainsword makes me believe that it only has one. I don't see any plasma fuel canisters either. Not even any spare missiles."

Mothra stares puzzled at the jaeger.

"Why would Kiryu strip his army of their weapons and armor?"

I don't know. Very odd behaviour for someone who should be loading his men up with as much weaponry as they can carry."

Battra flew over to his fallen jaeger and found the same results. No armor and minimal weaponry. Why would Kiryu compromise his soldiers like ths? He thought. He flew over to it's severed head and also saw how there was also minimal internal plating around the brain unit.

"There's no brain armor either. Everything not vital for functioning has been removed. I've known Kiryu his entire life but I have no idea why he would do this to his soldiers. He could be desperate for soldiers so he's cutting corners but the majority of his jaeger factories were destroyed when we began our push into Mexico. I don't know why he's doing this but it's got me worried."

Battra flew back over to Mothra and the two of them flew back to their cave. The next morning they continued their march towards Kiryu's fortress. Turret after turret fell at their feet as the day wore on. By the time the sun began to set down, they spotted the silhouettes of Godzilla, Rodan, and Rax in front of them. Their journey, although perilous, was not nearly as hard as Battra and Mothra's.

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Two days until detonation.

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Just a few hours after landing in Brazil, Godzilla, Rodan, and Rax had cleared out the city of Salvador of jaegers. Landing craft arrived on the beaches and began unloading soldiers and weapons for the humans to use. One piece of equipment that was unloaded was also very important.

Shipped in dozens of different pieces, a new exo suit for Godzilla had been created for him to use in his fights. Designed to withstand a nuclear blast, this new and improved version fit him more comfortably and had more protection for his head, chest, arms, and legs. Mounted on it's chest sits a repurposed fusion reactor. Painted on the chest and on the arm plates is an image of Kiryu's head with a red slash through it. Although last minute, an image of Mothra was painted on the chestplate just above his heart. It was Rodan who suggested the idea. Rodan and Rax helped the Big G into his armor but he complained the entire time. Once he was suited up he stood against the shining sun for his friends to admire.

"Lookin good bro! Ready to kick some ass?" Rodan asks while clenching one of his fists.

"Yeah! I want to tear something apart!" Rax exclaims while jumping. Godzilla turns and faces the wilderness beyond the city.

"You two will get your chances but remember, we are in enemy territory and we have only two days to get to that bomb. We need to get moving now. If we continue our march west we should reach the ruined city of Brasilia by tomorrow night. That following day is the final day. From what our intel suggests, that "Mayan temple base" should be around that area. Once we spot the base we need to act."

"Wait, if that day we attack is the day the bomb goes off, do we know when exactly it goes off? Like does it explode at noon or like dinnertime or what?" Rodan inquires. Godzilla clenches his jaw.

"We don't have an exact time as of right now. As we get closer the humans can use their own technology to get a better view of the weapon. If I had to guess we have until the end of the day to stop the clock. Maybe around sunset because Kiryu might say something dramatic like "Your time on this Earth sets just like the sun does and when the sun rises there will be a new species to see it." or something lame like that."

The trio laugh at Godzilla's almost spot-on impression of the metal tyrant. Godzilla smiles and turns west and begins to move out of the city. Rodan and Rax take flight and follow him into the setting sun.

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One day until detonation.

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Godzilla, Rodan and Rax have encountered no resistance on their journey to the capital city but what they did find shocked them. Destroyed towns and villages were a common theme along with wrecked cars and hundreds of scorch marks on the ground. Rodan commented how they look identical to the marks that Gigan's heat vision makes when it hits the ground. What made it worse was the presence of bone fragments or even entire decaying corpses. Battra wasn't kidding when he said that South America was sterilized. As they got closer to the capital they finally spotted their first defense turret. Rodan was the one to spot it before anyone else. It was built on top of a 20 story apartment building. It's six metal barrels slowly swiveling from left to right.

"Godzilla stay here. Remember those missiles are anti-kaiju ones. Just one good shot to your shoulder joint and your arm is gone. I will take care of it."

"Wait, what about Rax? What's he going to do?"

Rodan turned and flared his wings. A grin forms on his red face.

"Watch."

Rodan screeches and takes flight. The turret swivels towards Rodan and begins to fire at him. It fires two missiles at him. Rodan does a barrel roll and the missiles fly right underneath his wings. Rodan laughs and banks around the building. The turret fires two more rounds as Rodan flies away from the building. As Rodan whizzes over his two friends below he suddenly shoots high into the air. Godzilla ducks as the two missiles fly right over his head and continue off into the distance. Rodan looks down and sees the missiles fly by and off into the distance. He screeches and goes into a dive. He tucks his wings in and, once he gets back to the original height he was at, sticks his wings out and starts to fly straight towards the building as fast as he can.

"Watch this!"

Rodan flaps as fast as he can and once he gets just a few hundred yards from the building he tucks his wings in. He closes his eyes and concentrates all his heat on his head and wings. He roars and, like a hot knife through butter, plows right through the building's center. He exits the other side in a ball of fire and spins around to see his work.

"YEAH! IT WORKED! TAKE THAT YOU WASTE OF PARTS!"

The building starts to implode. The top level where the turret is rested on collapses and swallows the turret entirely. The trio watch as the building is reduced to a pile of rubble below. Rodan, still simmering and leaving a trail of ash, lands next to the rubble and smiles. Godzilla rushes over along with Rax.

"Oh my god Rodan that was insane! I've never seen you do that before! When did you learn how to do this?"

"I didn't. I just closed my eyes and heated up my head and wings as hot as I could. Even if I couldn't heat them up I still would have plowed through that building."

Rax walks over to the rubble and prods it with one of his front legs.

"Are you sure it's destroyed? I'll pulse it just in case."

Rax raises his front leg and stomps it down. The clear dome of electromagnetic disturbance swallows the building. Godzilla braces and feels his armor power off. A tight pain hits him in the chest. He winces and grabs it.

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Tomorrow the humans will be here so we can't leave an active turret laying around. Rodan what are you going to call your new attack?"

"Probably the Bullet. I don't know what else to call it but that seems appropriate. I'm still so happy that this worked! I was expecting it to not work."

Godzilla chuckles and starts to move west again. The other two follow him until, right as the sun is setting, they get their first view of Brasilia. Just as they arrive at the border of the town they spot two very familiar glowing moths just a few miles to the right of them. Just as night sets in the two of them finally make their way to the trio. Battra and Mothra land next to Godzilla and shake their wings free of ash and dust.

"What happened to you two? Why are your wings covered in ash?" Godzilla brushes ash off of Mothra's wings. She climbs onto his back and rests her head on top of his.

"What happened was that we had to burn down nearly all of the amazon rainforest to get here. I wouldn't be surprised if all of it goes down."

"Wait what? Why is there fire? Did Kiryu attack you?"

"No. Every time we destroyed one of those turrets it exploded."

"The one we destroyed didn't explode…" Rax murmurs to himself.

The entire group goes silent. Battra's cold eyes stare at Rax.

"Why are you guys staring at me? Rodan knocked it down and I EMP'd it with my ability. Did I do something wrong?"

Battra steps forward and sticks out one of his legs.

"Wait...your EMP worked on those things? I thought you said it wouldn't?"

"I...erm...uhh...I meant...umm...I"

Godzilla grabs him and holds him by his neck. Anger welling up inside him.

"You liar! Why didn't you tell us this beforehand? We could have sent you with Mothra and Battra to help clear out these turrets without glassing the land!"

"I didn't want to put myself at risk like that! There were hundreds of those things! I could have died! It doesn't matter anyway because we are all here right?"

Godzilla tightens his grip even more. Rax gasps for air. Battra slices off one of his legs and grabs Rax from Godzilla. He throws him to the ground and shoots him with his prism beams. Rax cries out in pain.

"You coward! You dirty little coward! We could have done this so much easier but no you wanted to make sure that you weren't killed. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH DESTRUCTION WAS CAUSED BECAUSE OF YOUR LIE?" Battra opens up his pincer and gets on top of Rax. Before he can wrap it around his neck Godzilla pushes him off.

"STOP! Get up you!" He picks Rax up off the ground with serious force. He struggles to stand. Blood still gushes from his stub. Godzilla sticks out his finger and gets up in his face.

"How many more lies have you told us? Is there a muto death squad waiting for us over there? Have you been spying on us from the start?"

"N-None! I'm n-not doing anything w-wrong!"

"Get out of here. I don't trust you anymore." Rax steps back in shock. Tears start to well up in his eyes. "I said get out of here! You coward! GO!"

Rax takes a few steps back and then turns away from the group and flies off. Blood still dripping from his wound. The remaining kaiju watch him fly off. Mothra gets down and puts one of her arms on Godzilla's chest.

"You shouldn't have sent him away."

"I don't care. I need kaiju who tell the truth. If he lied about that then how do we know he hasn't lied about anything else?"

Mothra held her tongue. Her vision darted to Battra. He was staring off into the distance at the silhouette of Kiryu's fortress.

"What's on your mind?"

"It feels so strange to be here again. I used to rule this land and now I'm fighting to take it back."

Godzilla turns to face the fortress looming in the distance. Rodan and Mothra both turn to face it as well. In just a few hours they will be fighting there to reclaim their world. In just a few hours the fate of the world will rest in these four kaiju's hands.

The final battle has begun.