BIONIC Rim
Chapter 9
"I guess we really did it," Jaller announced back at the Coliseum. The whole of BIONIC Rim was still in an uproar after the glorious victory.
"Congratulations," commended Vira, walking directly over. "First confirmed kill for you guys. Not even Nidhiki and I could score a kill in my first outing with him."
Hahli tried to cover her mask with her hands.
"No need to hide, Hahli, you're a national hero. Also, you are a perfect Jaeger pilot. You did what no Matoran have accomplished."
"I'm not perfect okay," Hahli exclaimed tearfully at Jaller. "I just have three years of training and rode with Tuyet for several years, so I know some of the basic tricks. Vira is so much better than me."
"Well, Vira doesn't think so," Jaller observed.
"And don't discredit yourself, Jaller! You were the one who melded with my mental functions. You kept us both from losing it."
Jaller widened his eyes and backed way slightly. Toa Nidhiki walked over then, and repeated the notion Hahli made.
"You two have the best chemistry-work of any two pilots ever. I could have never imagined a fire-spitter with no think-training and a Ga-Matoran who had-held everything could make Searing Tsunami big-mighty."
"It was nothing really…" Jaller began.
"Nonsense," Nidhiki interrupted. "The Kaiju in Karzahni don't stand a chance."
Jaller gulped. Karzahni, really? Only their second outing and they were to wipe out the Kaiju at the source. Had Lhikan gone too far? Possibly, but Jaller was determined not to disappoint.
Lhikan had called the entire BIONIC Rim into the Coliseum the next morning. He was intent on announcing a plan for attack and motivating the Jaeger pilots for the biggest event of their lives.
"Hello, pilots. We are gathered here to attack based on information our Onu-Matoran researchers gave us recently. A portal of darkness is open within the realm of Karzahni, and the Kaiju are drawn out seemingly led by the greatest Kaiju of all. The Destral Kaiju only sighted once, the Zivon. Our Makuta said his brother in that realm has a Jaeger of his own stationed to aid us in our journey, though he will be attending as well. We will be using only dual Jaegers for this mission as two minds working together are better than one. I even modified Flaming Fury for my own brother Nidhiki to serve by my side in our finest hour. Our best, most capable pilots were selected for this mission, because I feel we can win this.
"We never felt we could even come this far, to go from running in fear to knocking at their very door seemed a daunting task. But in the face of a greater evil, former enemies banded together and served as each other's allies, complimenting on our weak areas and battling as one. We served the Great Spirit and his Three Virtues well."
As Lhikan said this, a banner containing the familiar symbol of these virtues descended in the background.
"To come together in animosity but turn into allies due to necessity followed the teachings of UNITY. Together in this UNITY, we were able to service our DUTY of holding back the Kaiju as long as we possibly could, ultimately pushing them to their last stand. And through this DUTY, we realize our DESTINY of closing the portal and realizing our goal. Through the three virtues, TODAY WE ARE CANCELLING THE APOCALYPSE!" Lhikan raised his fist in pride.
"UNITY, DUTY, DESTINY!" The crowd chanted in response. Jaller raised his hand too, suddenly proud to be a part of this greatest of wholes.
Deployment began immediately after this rousing speech. First to deploy was the Makuta, still disobeying orders and flying with no copilot. "I told you, My mental capacity is more than sufficient for flying this Jaeger solo," was his only reply when pulled aside for comment.
Second came two Xian Jaegers. One was Spinning Saber, the other was Colossus Cannon, piloted by Roodaka and her manservant. She was saving this one only for a Category 5, but it seemed wise as there would most likely be several. Jaller always felt Roodaka was gunning for a fight, but never knew how.
Third came the Skakdi. Four Skakdi Jaegers emerged, including Nektann's personal, which towered over the moderately-sized Zakaz fleet. Nektann's personal Jaeger, now housing someone named Reidak as well, was called Electric Sword and certainly looked it.
The Matoran deployed next. Metru Nui had by far the largest fleet with twelve Jaegers. There was one per Metru and six other specialized Jaegers, including Searing Tsunami. Jaller saw on his radar Flaming Fury took the lead. Vira took control of Tepid Tornado with a rookie named Matau, who was just slightly more serious about the war than Jaller had been. For this reason, they brought up the rear. Also deployed was Wicked Wave 2.0. with the two Water Toa named Tuyet and Naho piloting, the four legged Onu-Jaeger, Burrowing Bane, and the double ice Jaegers called Freezing Foe and Snow Specter.
Last came the Dark Hunters. Though several Kaiju were stored on Odina, only the three best were selected by the Shadowed One for this special mission. Lariska of course took the lead with Spinning Sands. The hulk simply known as Giant Gladiator followed suit. Staying in the background with his Jaeger, Searing Shadow, piloted by the Dark Hunter leader and his cronie called simply "Darkness" sat behind keeping all other Jaegers in line.
Together, the motley crew of warriors descended into the grotesque wasteland of Karzahni, somewhere even the Makuta of Metru Nui feared.
"See anything?" asked the Kakama-clad worker. Two Onu-Matoran had been tasked to extract a brain from the slain Kanohi Dragon. Any other intact organs would go straight to Mavrah for his business.
"Nope, just lots of nothing," replied his companion, a fellow archivist named Onepu. They were centered near the hip region, where a clump of nerves acted as a second brain for the massive Kaiju. "I think this might suffice," Onepu said in his microphone to Nuparu outside the beast.
Suddenly, there was a rustling from inside. "You heard that?" Kakama Matoran asked. "I think it may have been pregnant, but even for a Kanohi Dragon, gestation is never this brief."
As if on cue, a Kanohi Dragon no more than one bio long erupted from a wall of flesh. Panicking, the two Matoran raced out the hole they tore, with the creature keeping pace well.
Outside, Mavrah gazed on the discovery in awe. A juvenile Dragon, the likes of which had not been seen in the Archives yet, had just emerged. It was known Kaiju had to come to land to breed, but offspring retreated to the ocean shortly after birth, so very few were actually sighted and none had been captured. This one still was attached to its egg chord, so its motions were limited. Perfect, Mavrah thought, the perfect new specimen. Maybe it could give details to the whereabouts of the Holy Grail of Kaiju hunting, the elusive Zivon.
Mavrah extended his arms and stood before the beast. "Come to papa," he yelled. The Kaiju paid no heed to his announcement and lunged for the Matoran, swallowing him whole. As the beast reared back its head, it gagged a bit, and spat out one of Mavrah's studded boots. It continued its charge towards a frozen Nuparu. Before it could reach him, the egg chord wrapped around the creature's neck. It still continued its advance, but eventually strangled itself on this disability and fell dead on the slippery ground.
Nuparu observed the carcass in detail. "It's a bit risky, but we do have a brain. And I could try to read the brain of this Kaiju. Even a juvenile should have some mind link and tell us more of what the attack on Karzahni is headed for."He wired up his helmet attaching it to the Kaiju. He was about to place it on his head, when Avak jumped in front and stopped him.
"No," Avak shouted as he showed his own helmet to Nuparu. "If we do this, we shall do it as one. Let's go!"
And they began in unison.
