Chapter 5

Fallen Knight

"My Erzherzog, the kaiju known as Godzilla has vanished," one of lesser rank reported, "Monster X fled the scene before finishing his objective. He chased a large flying creature to the planet's moon."

The superior stood silent for a moment looking out his window. He wore a long black duster that looked like shiny leather. He wore black gloves and boots as well. Under his duster was a dark blue uniform similar to what the one of lesser rank was wearing. His skin was pale and his hair was black and combed down in front of his forehead. Over his eyes were what looked like black, super thin sunglasses.

"Why?" he indirectly asked with fiery frustration, "Why, at the dawn of our plan has this… other kaiju risen?"

"The Keizer has proposed that we activate the Gigan earlier than originally planned," the lesser explained. "His hopes are that it can eliminate this Godzilla so it does not interfere with the other kaiju when they are activated."

"Yes, Godzilla will be extremely bothersome unless dealt with soon," the superior began. "Evan X had difficulty handling him."

"I will inform the Keizer of your conclusion, sir," the lesser replied.

"Will you now..." a devious grin grew on the superior's face. "You trust your Keizer blindly, don't you?"

This question confused the lesser for a second. "Of course, sir. He is Zero One: the closest to Zero. He is the Keizer."

"We are steps away from total deletion and he hopes to rely on time wasting schemes and diplomacy!" the superior exclaimed. "He is an old fool."

"Is there any further use for me here, sir?" the lesser asked nervously.

The lesser's ignorance and loyalty irritated the superior. "No. Zero shall reign," he stated as the customary closing statement for a conversation.

"Zero shall reign," the lesser exited.

The superior was Zero Two: the Erzherzog. He was just below the Keizer in rank. If the Keizer were to be deleted somehow, then Zero Two would become Zero One: the new Keizer. This fact ran through the Erzherzog's head often. He attempted to relax his anxious mind by looking down on the planet Mars from his observation window. "Zero shall reign…" he whispered to himself.

Deep underneath the land once known as Mesopotamia, a knight lay dormant. This knight hung upright from thick chains attached to the ceiling of an immense cave. The position he was hung resembled one crucified.

Hard clay coated the knight's entirety like an ancient mummy. Two long scythe-like blades took the places of hands. Three broad fins adorned its back. Long spikes ran up its neck to the top of its head. One long, narrow eye has a fixed look of rage. For a mouth, it had a sort of beak. It had a deadly tail with a trident on the tip. The thing was armed from head to toe; literally to the pointed teeth.

The fallen knight's name was Gigan. His eon long slumber was about to come to an end.

His body was discovered in the 1970's. Since then, a top secret facility, similar to Site-G, had been established. It had been discovered by the scientists that Gigan was some kind of cyborg; part machine, part living animal. What particularly puzzled the research team what that Gigans organic parts were still alive, operating at a near death pace. About once a year, the heart of the creature could be heard making one beat.

Along the walls of the cave were faded paintings; depictions of history according to the ancient Mesopotamian people. There were drawings of pyramids with smooth sides like the Egyptian pyramids.

There was a scene of two creatures facing each other in combat. One was Gigan. The other was a massive vibrantly colored moth: Mothra. The opponents were shown flying over a crushed pyramid and a burning city.

The next scene depicted Mothra, surrounded in flames, diving towards Gigan.

The final scene was of Gigan, fallen, and Mothra high up in the heavens. An emblem was over Mothra. It was a cross with waves of light coming from it.

An ugly crack then split its way down the image of Mothra. It felt like a sudden earthquake.

Everyone in the base jumped and stumbled. The quake only lasted a few seconds. It left the researchers puzzled and shocked. Then the emergency sirens rang.

Topside, over the base, the armed security guards shot frantically at a giant monster.

Monster X had fallen from the sky and landed with a boom that caused everything not grounded to jump.

Monster X was crouched down, looking down at the puny humans attempting to harm him. His bony claw reached out for a group of scared men.

Before he could grab them and crush them into nothing, and RPG missile hit his hand. He pulled his hand back. The menacing monster sighted one who had the RPG in a tower and glared at him. His eyes, including the eyes on the half-heads on his shoulders, began to glow with a bright yellow. Lightning shot forth. The bolts hit the tower, destroying it entirely. Monster X swept his head around, obliterating every soul in sight.

Monster X wanted to stick around and kill more humans, but he was here for a reason. He rested his hand on the ground. Below him, he detected life.

Monster X spoke through telepathy. "Gaigan… Rise."

It took a moment for Gigan's brain to activate and reach consciousness. "Who are you to make demands of me?" Gigan asked, extremely aggravated.

"I come on behalf of the Keizer, the leader of the Xilian Empire." Monster X answered.

Gigan's thought processes were slow, having just awakened after a few thousand years. "I serve the Space Hunters of the Nebulan Empire."

"The roaches?" Monster X scoffed. "You've been asleep for a long time. The Nebulans are a pathetic shell of what they were."

"But they had built the largest and most powerful armada in the galaxy," Gigan said. "What was their downfall?"

Monster X took a second to think of how to answer. Not being seen by Gigan, he had a vague look of knowing something in his eyes.

"... A demon befell them," Monster X answered.

"What does that mean?"

"It's not important. Not to you."

"Even if I wanted to leave, I am trapped here. The moth sapped my energy. Chains bind me here."

"The moth… she is the nuisance, isn't she."

Monster X's eyes lit up bright yellow.

"Allow me to lend you a hand," Monster X said.

They his eyes released their lightning. The bolts traveled straight through the earth and rock. These bolts were not simply lightning. They were a controllable combination of bent gravity and electromagnetism.

They reached Gigan's cave and gripped the chains that held him. They surged through Gigan and made him convulse in agony. All of his systems, organic and cybernetic, were force activated. The chains broke and the hard clay fell of him in chunks.

His legs caught the ground as he fell and his scythes supported him. His long, single eye illuminated with a deadly red. He saw the many researchers in the observation window frozen in horror. One heavy scythe rose up and was swung into the room, taking out all within.

"Now rise, damn you!" Monster X screamed telepathically.

Gigan looked up. His eye illuminated brighter. Out shot a wide, red laser blast that completely destroyed the earth above him.

Monster X's eyes widened as he quickly leaned away as the ground cracked beneath him.

The laser reached the surface and shot up into the sky. A gaping hole sat in the middle of a desert valley.

Out leapt Gigan in all his glory. His scythes glistened in the sunlight. They were made of unique form of titanium, "space" titanium, and would never rust, tarnish or dull. His skin was black and appeared to be covered in circuitry. His three fins were a blood red.

Monster X stood before him. "The humans are far more advanced than they were before. There is a great city southeast of here. There, you will show me what you are capable of."

"I will do this..." Gigan complied. "But tell me, who are you?"

"You shall refer to me as X...for now."

The two Monsters rose into the air and flew off towards an unsuspecting metropolis.

Vincent and the others had arrived at G-Force Base in Tokyo.

Vincent had taken a moment to watch the Gotengo II dock in the massive hangar. Vincent thought it was pretty thrilling. Gordon was telling him all about the ship as it landed and was locked into place.

G-Force Base was impressive too. It was a huge dark grey complex that resembled a bomb shelter. It took up about nine city blocks not far from Tokyo Bay.

Vincent had been introduced to his office and laboratory. No expense was spared in this dire situation.

He knew his G-cell samples would be arriving soon, so he took advantage of the little free time he would have for a while.

He called his family.

The phone rang at the Martin residents in New York City.

Someone picked up the phone. Vincent recognised the voice as his younger teenage sister, Taylor Martin.

"Hello?" Taylor answered.

"How's it going, Taylor Tot?"

"Vinnie! Do you know what's going on?! Spill the beans!

"Oh, thanks for your concern. I'm doing just fine."

"Vince, my phone is blowing up because most my friend know you research Godzilla! I need some dirt! My reputation is at stake!"

"Well sorry to leave you dry, but I'm in the dark too," Vincent lied.

"Ugh! You're worthless! You want mom?"

"Yah, go get her."

Taylor sat the phone down.

A moment later, Tanya Martin picked up.

"Vinnie! What do you know about Godzilla?" his mother asked.

"It's nice to know Godzilla gets more love in the family than I do."

"Oh dear, you know I worry about you."

"How are things at the base? Are you keeping warm?"

Vincent's mother, nor any family member of anyone who worked at Site-G knew the real reason for the base's existence nor did they know what had happened. No one did outside of a small few in the UN.

"I'm actually not at the base anymore. When all this started, they moved me to this base in Tokyo."

"Tokyo?! Oh my! How is it, dear?"

"Um. Couldn't tell you. I haven't been outside yet. Kinda just got here."

"Oh! I can't wait to come see you! I've always wanted to see Japan!"

"I'm sure I'll be able to show you guys around whenever you come. How's dad do-"

Sirens suddenly went off in the base. Red lights flashed in Vincent's office.

"Vinnie, what's that? What's going on?" his mother asked.

"I don't know, but I think I've gotta go. I'll tell you later. I love you guys!"

Vincent hung up and left his lab.

In the halls, people were rushing about. They weren't rushing in one direction, but many. So, Vincent concluded, this wasn't an evacuation.

Vincent saw Gordon approach him.

"Gordon, you have any idea what's going on?" Vincent asked.

"Think I got an idea. Overheard a few people talking about deploying the GFAAU."

"And what's that?"

"G-Force Advanced Assault Unit. Small group of guys, the best guys, with the best equipment, to fight Godzilla."

"A few guys? An army couldn't stop Godzilla before."

"The idea is that a few smaller and faster targets might stand a better chance."

"And all this is for Godzilla? So he's made landfall. Where?"

"I don't… oh man." Gordon stopped as he saw who was coming down the hallway.

It was five men. They were all in black uniforms and heavy looking black armor. It looked like some kind of power armor.

The GFAAU consisted of the best soldiers from around the world. Their identities were wiped clean from the grid. Their only close acquaintances were each other. They had completely devoted their lives to their duty. That sole duty was to combat Godzilla, should he reappear, which he has.

The team leader was a former American black ops agent Glenn Adams. Next was the JSDF's Masahiro Ozaki. Then there was Jason Sterlington from the British Special Forces, Anton Gorodetsky from the Russian Spetsnaz, and Philippe Roaché of the French Foreign Legion.

That was it, five men, five of the world's best soldiers. They made their way to the Gotengo II.

Once aboard, they were debriefed by Admiral Aso.

"I was hoping that this day would never come, men," Aso began addressing the skilled soldiers, "but it's here. A giant monster, confirmed to not be Godzilla, is heading towards Dubai."

A projector turned on and displayed footage taken from a helicopter. It was Gigan racing through the sky with his back fins extended. The video paused when Gigan was most visible.

"Ugly wanker," Jason Sterlington commented.

Admiral Aso continued. "The United Arab Emirates armed forces are on standby ready to launch the attack, but I know they won't keep him back for long. If it's anywhere near as powerful as Godzilla, it's completely capable of leveling that whole city if we don't take it down."

"The situation will soon be in your hands, men," Aso continued. "This is what you've all been living for. My ship will be there offering our full support. Check your equipment. Our ETA is thirty minutes. Good luck."

The admiral left the room. The men relaxed and continued to check their gear. Jason Sterlington spoke up. "I thought we were supposed to be fightin Godzilla. What the hell we doing here."

"If it's something you cannot tackle, Jason, I could do enough work for the two of us," Philippe commented. His English was very good, but his French accent was still thick.

"Shut it!" Jason retorted.

"The beast has many knives. I would get angry and destroy a city if I had knives for hands" Anton exclaimed with a thick Russian accent.

"And we all know your hand is the only thing giving you comfort at night," Philippe joked.

Jason released a loud laugh. Masahiro couldn't help but smirk.

Glenn Adams addressed them all. "Do I need to remind you ladies that we're on a job?! Focus on your mission briefings. We've been training for Godzilla, not this. This is something new… a completely new cell…"

Jason smiled like a jackass at Glenn, "Group photo afterwards?"

"Maybe," Glenn replied with his own subtle grin.

Masahiro remained silent and focused on his equipment.

The city of Dubai: one of the world's most extravagant and fastest growing metropolises. Home the famous Burj Khalifa Tower standing at 2,717 feet tall. Downtown Dubai felt like it was a megalopolis from the future. It practically was.

This paradise in the desert would have grown larger and grander had it not been for Gigan. The city was in flames behind the scythe wielding reaper. Most the military vehicles and aircraft of the United Arab Emirates were destroyed with little effort by Gigan before he even reached the city. The nation's forces were thin. Gigan wasn't even out of breath.

There were still almost 1.5 million citizens in the city. Gigan had arrived so suddenly that no evacuation could even take place. The streets were jammed with cars. Many people tried to get out of the monster's path on foot, but Gigan worked fast.

Five jets screamed past Gigan's head. His glowing red eye targeted each of them in an instant. A red laser burst forth from his eye. As the blast shot out of his eye, a thin layer of his eye propelled with it. The thin layer then shattered and refracted the laser. The separated like a cluster bomb, and hit each of the jets before they could turn around.

Gigan released a screech to the city.

"Gaigan!" Monster X called out telepathically. He was floating just above the spire of the great tower. "Is this puny structure too much of a challenge for you, or have you been dragged down to homasaipan standards?" Monster X taunted Gigan as he outstretched his arms.

"Do not ever question my abilities," Gigan replied.

He stood in the vast shadow of the Burj Khalifa. His eye illuminated with a blinding hot red as he charged his laser for a high powered concentrated blast.

The hellish beam shot forth towards the top of the building. It would have hit Monster X if his reflexes had been slower. The beam blasted away at the side of the skyscraper as it made its way down towards the base. Fiery explosions caused glass, steel, and concrete to rain down on the courtyards below. Gigan then concentrated his fire at the base of the tower, eating away at the substructure. As the subterranean legs of the tower were blasted away, the structure began to wobble and sway. Window panes shattered as the tower bent and buckled under its own 500,000 tons.

Gigan halted his laser as he noticed he no longer needed it. The Earth's tallest tower was falling.

Gigan had managed to only destroy the supports on one face so that the tower would topple over rather than fall into itself.

Both Gigan and Monster X were thinking the same thing: "This is going to be beautiful."

Gigan was standing in the path of the falling skyscraper, scythes outstretched, ready for it. He actually had to wait for a short while as the colossal construction made its way to the Earth. Segments of the tower buckled and crunched all at once. The people that were unfortunate enough to be in the shadow of the tower saw the reflection of the city descend upon them in a wave of dust and chaos. When the tower was about to fall on Gigan, his blades went into a furious blur.

The ground continued to quake after the tower was down collapsing. A two and a half thousand foot long hill of debris and dust stretched across the city.

When the dust cleared, Gigan could be seen standing in the same spot he had been. He had managed to chop and slice the tower as it fell over him, leaving a clean circle around him.

However Gigan's skills were not spot-on as one steel beam had struck him in the head, leaving him dizzy and disorientated as he leaned on his scythe.

Then something inside Gigan's organic brain was forced into his consciousness.

He saw an alien vista with a sky of swirling stars. It was a valley filled with strange foliage. The sky was a strange swirl of orange and red. This almost felt like a dream to Gigan; everything seemed very unclear. Gigan concluded that this was not some kind of fictionalization within his mind. The vision was coming from the area of his brain used for memories. Gigan was highly metacognitive and was able to determine this. This was a memory. And along with this memory was an overwhelming feeling of despair and tragedy. This confused Gigan even more. He knew he must have experienced this, but he didn't know when or where this experience took place.

Gigan snapped out of his vision to see what he had done. The Burj Khalifa was no more.

"Excellent, Gaigan," Monster X said as he hovered high above the crippled city. "Your work is done for the time being. It is time to report to your Keizer."

Gigan collected himself and got to his feet. "Very well," he answered coldly.

In the corner of his eye, Gigan spotted something big and dark flying towards him. He turned to see the Gotengo II speeding towards him. He took a defensive stance and readied himself for a fight. This human weapon would be no problem for him.

But before the ship could reach firing distance, Gigan's form began to spin around uncontrollably. And in a quick flash of light, he was gone.

"Where did he go?!" Aso yelled from the command deck of the Gotengo.

"He's vanished, sir!" one of the crewman responded.

Another crewman announced "No! There's something hovering above the city!"

"Visual!" Aso demanded. The main monitor displayed a video feed of the sky. The camera zoomed in on Monster X glaring directly at the ship. "What in the hell…" Aso began, unable to finish. Then with another bright flash, Monster X was gone. "Stay on alert status. No one let their guard down," Aso ordered his crew.

But the threat was gone for now. The Gotengo was too late.

After almost an hour, Aso lowered the ship's alert level. He instructed the GFAAU and the rest of his crew to head to the streets and aid in the recovery of survivors.

"Awaken, Gigan," said the Erzherzog.

Gigan's eye illuminated as he came to consciousness. He was in a dark, dingy hanger of sorts. He looked to his left and right to see that he was hanging in chains. The massive, thick, and shiny chain links were wrapped tightly around his whole body, especially around his arms and scythes. They were made of space titanium. The chains led into holes in the wall.

"Gigan, acknowledge!" Gigan heard the Erzherzog demand.

Gigan saw the Erzherzog standing on a catwalk several meters in front of him. He quickly lunged forward as far as the chains would allow.

"Ever since I was awoken from my silent sleep," Gigan hissed, "I have been ordered around by beings I do not know. I ask: who are you to make demands of me?"

The Erzherzog didn't flinch an inch when he made his sudden lunge. He stood with his hands behind his back and wore a serious brow over a black visor hiding his eyes. "So, the legends of your hot temper are true," he said. "But I'm damn sure that if you knew who I was, you would cool down pretty quickly."

Gigan glared at the Erzherzog intently awaiting an answer he didn't need to ask.

"I am the Erzherzog, Zero Two of the Xilian Empire," he introduced himself. "And you are the glorious Gigan! It's hard to believe the roaches created such an amazing creature.?

"How did I get here? And why am I in chains?"

"Can't have a naughty boy like you off your leash."

"No one leashes me. You've made a grave mistake."

Gigan's eye began to light up.

The Erzherzog snarled at Gigan. He raised his hand up into a fist. With that motion, sparks and electricity surged through the chains of space titanium and into Gigan's body. His cybernetic circuits frenzied and his organic systems convulsed and burned. A hellish screech ripped through his throat and out of his mouth.

Within his mind, the scene he saw before flashed before him. He saw the alien vista again with a sky of swirling stars. An overwhelming feeling of despair and tragedy flowed over him. He looked down to see a vast forest with huge rivers. The trees were ablaze. The light of the fire outshined the stars. Hideous screams of dying things thickened the moist air. Gigan returned to agonizing pain of the dark hanger.

"Rewrite your software," Erzherzog demanded. "You're mine now."

"What was that?" Gigan grunted, recouping from the shock. "What did you show me?"

Erzherzog looked puzzled. "What are you dribbling about?"

"So real," Gigan whimpered, exhausted from the torture shock.

"Decrepit old machine."

The Erzherzog left, and the lights went out on Gigan.

These visions Gigan were having made him feel something he had never felt for as long had he could remember. He was not programed to feel it. Gigan felt very afraid. He was afraid of a truth that may still exist in his organic memory, a truth that threatened his reason for being.