Chapter 29: A Watery Grave.
Brock sat up from his cot in sickbay. It was the dead of night, and the room was dark. He looked over to where Marcus had been sleeping and noticed that he was gone. Brock looked around the room and discovered that it wasn't just Marcus. Sickbay was entirely empty. He was the only one still there. Brock saw that the metal door that led out of sickbay was left open. A thin sliver of red light was creeping in from the corridor outside. The ship's emergency lights appeared to be on.
Brock slipped out of his cot and then crept towards the sickbay door quietly. When he reached it, he could see the door had been forced open from the inside. The metal hatch was bent out of shape, as though it had been crushed by something with immense strength. Brock carefully pushed the door further open and then peaked out of the door into the passageway.
In the red lights, Brock saw a body lying on the ground a few feet down the hallway. It was one of the marines who had been on guard duty outside of sickbay. His head was slanted awkwardly to the side in an unnatural position. The marine's neck had obviously been broken. The dead man's eyes just stared vacantly up at the ceiling. A small patch of blood pooled around his head. It gleamed grotesquely in the emergency lights.
The dead marine's weapon was resting next to him. It looked as though he'd never had a chance to fire it. Brock snuck over to the marine's body, closed his eyes, and then took up the rifle. From there, he wandered down the hallway, creeping in and out of the shadows as much as possible to stay hidden. Brock controlled his breathing to make as little noise as possible. He didn't want anyone or anything to know he was coming. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end and his adrenaline was starting to kick in.
Weapon ready, Brock came around a corner and found someone standing at the far side of the corridor. He saw a silhouette of a man with their back towards him. Brock stepped forward to get a better look at them, but as he approached, they seemed to sense his presence and turned to face him.
Brock was surprised to see that it was Marcus. Even in the dark, he could recognize him. Marcus smiled at Brock, seeming to acknowledge him. Brock let out a sigh of relief and was about to ask Marcus what was going on, but then the smile melted away from Marcus' face. He looked sort of melancholy. Brock stopped in his tracks, recognizing that something was wrong. There was an otherworldly look in Marcus' eyes that he didn't like.
All of a sudden, Marcus' face began to contort out of shape. He had been infected with the Matango spore, and it was starting to transform him. Brock was horrified. He took aim again with his rifle, but then lost heart, letting it slump down. The Matango-infected form of Marcus grinned at Brock in a malevolent sort of way, and it was clear that Brock's friend wasn't there anymore. Brock hardened his resolve, and then raised the rifle barrel again. He hesitated though, and Marcus raised a hand pointing at him. There was nothing in his hand. He was simply pointing a finger at him. Brock didn't understand the gesture.
Just then, Brock felt an intense itch in his hand that was holding up the stock of the rifle. The sensation rapidly intensified into a burning. It grew until he couldn't ignore it anymore. Brock turned his wrist over to look at it. Suddenly, a Matango mushroom erupted from his flesh, tearing his skin open. It was painful and Brock yelled out.
Brock sprang forward on his cot in sickbay. He was covered in a cold sweat. He instinctively looked at his hand, which was perfectly fine. The color of his skin was normal and there were no blemishes to be found. It had all just been a nightmare. Brock looked around to see if anyone was watching him. All of the men around him, including Marcus, were still fast asleep. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and tried to relax. His heart was still pounding though.
'Fuck…' Brock thought to himself, letting out a sigh. 'What a nightmare.' His chest felt tight as he began to calm down.
As he sat there, Brock could hear voices coming from outside of sickbay. He got out of his cot and crept up to the door quietly, trying to listen. He peaked outside of the window and could see Admiral Malek was there along with a marine officer. Brock recognized the officer. It was Colonel Slater, the man who was in overall command of the marine forces in the Archimedes fleet. He was a bad-tempered officer, even by Brock's high standards, and he was already red in the face as he began to speak with Admiral Malek.
"Those were my men on that boat you ordered blown up Admiral!" Colonel Slater said, obviously very upset.
"Your men didn't die for nothing Colonel." Admiral Malek said in a somewhat dismissive voice. "I can assure you; it was very much necessary. We were able to salvage 'half' of the shore party. The rest were simply beyond saving."
"Well, I sure do find that comforting." Colonel Slater replied in a gruff manner. "I'll be sure to mention that when I'm writing letters to those soldier's families. By any chance, are you going to enlighten me as towhyyou felt it was crucial to do such a thing in the first place?"
"What is it…?" Marcus asked from behind Brock. The shouting had roused him from his sleep. "What's going on?"
"If you'd shut up for a moment, I'm trying to hear." Brock answered, annoyed.
"Need I remind you that you are speaking to a superior officer?" Admiral Malek asked Colonel Slater.
"Only in terms of rank." Colonel Slater countered coolly without missing a beat.
"The Colonel is my kind of guy." Brock mused with a smirk.
"I see the Navy/Marine rivalry is still alive and well." Marcus observed, creeping up next to Brock to listen.
"My men are not disposable." Colonel Slater warned. "If I find out you've misused them, it won't matter how high your rank is, I can promise you that. You're not the only one with friends in high places Admiral." Slater stormed down the hallway making his exit.
With Slater gone, Admiral Malek came right up next to the door outside of sickbay to look in on the survivors. Brock and Marcus had to quickly hide around the corners of the door to avoid being spotted by him. Malek stood there for a moment and then moved on. They could hear his footsteps moving away.
With the situation outside settling down, Marcus and Brock both took a seat in the chairs lined up near sickbay's entrance, which was meant to serve as the waiting area. Both of them were feeling anxious and needed someone to talk to, if only to feel a little normal again. The last twenty-four hours had been particularly intense for the two friends. Brock, who normally took everything with a stiff upper lip, even looked a little tense.
"I know what happened to Lieutenant Lennox is still eating you up Marcus." Brock spoke first. "But if it makes you feel any better, what you did on that island is nothing compared to me. I'm the one who really did some fucked up things during the mission." He clasped his hands together, looking down at the floor. "Sure, you killed a few men, and that's a terrible thing, especially when you're not used to doing it, but what I've done is far worse. I brought back samples of that shit that turns people into walking atrocities. That goop could potentially kill millions if it ever got out, and I made that possible."
"Well, you couldn't have known that at the time…" Marcus began to reason.
"No… I actually did." Brock interrupted. "I saw first-hand what that stuff could do, and I read through Dr. Veers' notes about it. I had all of that knowledge, and still, I brought a sample out. And do you know why I did it…? Just to save my own skin… and my men. That's all. Nothing more noble than that. Simple self-preservation. I told you Admiral Malek would not have let my squad back on board the Essex without that sample, and I meant it. The admiral would have demolished that island with us on it if he didn't think we were coming back with something valuable. For him, it was a high-risk, high-reward proposition. Maybe we were infected and maybe we weren't, but without the reward, there's no way he'd take that risk."
Brock took a moment to collect his thoughts. Marcus just listened.
"Look what Malek had you do to Lieutenant Lennox." Brock went on. "The slightest hint of infection, and bam, he executed him and his men on the spot. He didn't even try to see if they could be saved. That's how dangerous this stuff is, and I put it in the hands of a man without any scruples that I'm aware of. There's no telling what Malek might do now that he has the Matango spores. Dr. Veers' research notes indicated that they were planning to use them against Godzilla, but he's gone, and there's no guarantee that those spores would work if they tried to use it against a Kaiju either. Chances are, they'd just end up spreading the spores in the process. After what I've done, I deserve to be infected with that junk."
"I don't think that's fair..." Marcus tried to interject, but again, Brock just ignored him. This was the most intense outpouring of emotion Marcus had ever seen Brock express that wasn't anger. He decided it was best to just let him get it out.
"And that prisoner we rescued…" Brock continued. "I didn't do him any favors either, just bought him a little more time, that's all. Maybe kept him from becoming a monster, but I doubt that is much comfort to him. You remember the last one we captured? He didn't last very long after he stopped being useful, did he? It won't matter what this one tells Malek either. There's no way he is walking out of here and going home. It boils down to just one key thing: He knows about the Matango. Malek can't let him go with that information. His fate is sealed no matter what he does now. We've been in sickbay for almost an entire day. He's most likely already dead. The majority of the crew never saw him, and those who did, have no doubt been ordered to keep quiet about it. It'll be like he never existed."
"Listen Brock, if I was put in your position, I don't know what I would have done." Marcus put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "It's easy for other people to say: Do the right thing and make the sacrifice for the greater good. But unless you are there yourself, it's unfair to throw stones after the fact. Who am I to judge you? You made the best call you could at the time. We're both going to have to learn to live with the consequences of our actions."
"I've done some bad things in my life Marcus." Brock remarked. "But this might just be the worst thing… I could use a smoke."
"Maybe both of us will have the opportunity to make up for our mistakes, given time." Marcus replied.
…
After three days of quarantine, Brock, Marcus, and the rest of the marines were screened one final time and then released back to active duty on board the Essex without any restrictions. However, each man was brought before Admiral Malek individually for debriefing. They were ordered not to discuss any of the details of the mission with anyone or face a court-martial. The whole affair was considered highly classified.
When it was Marcus' turn, Admiral Malek wasted no time informing him that Lieutenant Lennox and his men had indeed been infected by the Matango fungus. Their bodies had been recovered and disposed-of to prevent any possibility of the Matango spreading. The spores couldn't survive very long in salty seawater, Dr. Veers research concluded as much, but if they sheltered inside of a floating corpse, they might one day find a new host to inhabit. Every trace of the Red Bamboo yacht was collected and burnt. Nothing was left to chance.
It seemed as though Admiral Malek was justified in ordering the strike, but Marcus still couldn't look him in the eye. The experience was still quite traumatic, and fresh in his mind. Malek informed Marcus that the truth of Lennox's demise, and that of his men, was to be covered up. The official record would reflect that they were ambushed by Red Bamboo forces and killed in action on the island and their bodies were incinerated by the subsequent napalm bombing and burnt beyond the point of any meaningful recovery.
Obviously, Admiral Malek wanted to keep the existence of the Matango fungi under wraps, and to that end, have as few people as possible aware of it. Marcus wasn't certain to what lengths the Admiral would go to guarantee its secrecy, so he offered no resistance to that idea whatsoever.
Even so, Malek made a veiled threat that if word got out about what had transpired during the mission, the stigma of killing his fellow soldiers would follow Marcus for the rest of his career in the Navy. Marcus couldn't help but imagine it. Every man on the Essex watching him and whispering behind his back. Even though he was well-aware that Malek was trying to manipulate him, there was still a part of him afraid of the implication. It wasn't like he could claim that the Admiral was lying about it. If it came down to it, Marcus was bound by the part he played in Lennox's death.
Perhaps to placate Marcus' fears, Admiral Malek downplayed the dangers of the Matango fungus. He assured Marcus that it wasn't as dangerous as he thought it was. Malek reasoned that Matango could be killed by things that were as basic and simple as fire and seawater. Because of that, containment was very much feasible. Case in point, they had all but wiped out a massive infestation on the island in just a few short hours.
If Matango ever got out into the civilian population, there would no doubt be outbreaks and casualties, but once it was identified, it could be quickly contained and eradicated. The Admiral argued that a boy scout with a lighter and a can of hairspray could single-handedly take down a patch of Matango.
The Admiral then went on to list the potential benefits of using the Matango spores as a biological weapon. He specifically used fighting Kaiju as an example. He suggested that if a monster were to be infected with Matango, the fungus might actually kill it. At the very least, it could weaken a monster. Since Matango is so susceptible to fire, a monster infected with it could also become more vulnerable to fire. In particular, if the mushrooms broke through the notoriously tough hide of a Kaiju, that would open up a breach in their defenses which could be exploited. Or, in a more extreme case, the Matango might be able to entirely take over their Kaiju host's body, as it was shown to be able to do with smaller animals, then a little napalm could destroy it. The gigantic Matango entity the marines had encountered on the island was certainly imposing, but it proved to be just as vulnerable to fire as the rest.
Admiral Malek was making a good case for a very questionable idea. In the back of Marcus' head, he couldn't shake the idea that Matango was too dangerous to use as a weapon. There were likely still a lot of things Dr. Veers hadn't discovered about the nature of the Matango yet. A mistake made through ignorance might prove fatal. Using Matango on a larger landmass may open up a Pandora's Box that they couldn't shut again and could lead to more devastation than a typical Kaiju attack.
Dr. Orsini had written up a report of his own about Matango. He compared Matango to Cordyceps, a parasitic fungus common all over the world. Cordyceps was mainly known for the grotesque way in which it infected insects, in particular, ants and caterpillars, with its spores. Cordyceps propagated its species by infiltrating the bodies of host animals with a network of roots that would slowly spread throughout their muscle tissue. Once it had taken root, it released chemicals to affect the brain of its host, in effect, drugging them. Then Cordyceps would compel the ant or other organism to go wherever the light and humidity were ideal for the fungus to flourish. Once there, Cordyceps would make the ant anchor itself down with a bite to hold itself in place while its body began to die.
Meanwhile, the Cordyceps fungus starts to emerge from its host, piercing through the exoskeleton and growing larger and larger until it is able to start producing spores of its own and then restarting the whole process over again. An interesting transformation from a scientific point of view, but simply monstrous for the host species enduring it.
…
An hour after his debriefing with the Admiral, Marcus was called in for yet another briefing. Apparently, there was already another mission on the table.
As Marcus walked into the ready room, he saw something that put him on edge right away. Brock and all of the surviving marines from the previous mission were already sitting there in the front row. The pilot from the other helicopter that had been carrying Lennox's team was there as well. It was the same lineup as the last operation, but with some additional men sitting behind them.
It made Marcus nervous. Whatever the new mission was, Admiral Malek could be using it as a cover to kill off all of the men from the previous operation covertly. What better way to ensure the secrecy of Matango's existence than to kill off everyone who knew about it? Perhaps Marcus was just being paranoid, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to be in danger on this mission from enemies within their own ranks, in addition to the foreign opposition they might face. Marcus took a seat with Brock and his boys. At least he knew he was amongst friends with them.
Before long, a crowd of additional soldiers started to file in and began to fill the numerous seats behind them. Marcus immediately deduced that this was going to be a much bigger operation than the previous one. There were a lot of marine NCOs present from various squads. They were the kind of hard-nosed ground-pounders used primarily for assault missions. Coming behind them were fighter pilots from the Essex, as well as helicopter pilots from the jeep carriers. Captains from several of the surface ships joined them too. Even Colonel Slater came to sit in on the briefing. It felt as though most of the important officers in the fleet were present. Whatever was going on was big.
Finally, Admiral Malek and Captain Hillard entered the briefing room and addressed the gathered men from a podium.
"Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. I'll get right to the point." Admiral Malek began. "We have recently acquired intelligence of the upmost importance. The Red Bamboo Organization possesses a weapon of immense power. In short, they cannot be allowed to retain this weapon, or it could upend the balance of power in Asia. We are reasonably certain that the weapon, and the scientist that is responsible for creating it, are both being held on a nearby island. Through interrogating a POW captured during our last operation, we have learned that the base he came from is relatively close by. That base is the Central Headquarters for the entire Red Bamboo organization."
"So, you plan to attack and crush it." Colonel Slater remarked.
"Not exactly." Admiral Malek answered. "In the end, the destruction of the base is one of our primary goals, but there is also a great opportunity here. The weapon itself could be an invaluable resource. If we were able to seize it, along with the scientist, it could give us an edge in the battles to come." Marcus could detect a certain amount of lust in Malek's eyes and voice as he was talking about it. Whatever this weapon was, he wanted it badly.
"The scientist's name is Dr. Serizawa." Captain Hillard added. "The Red Bamboo abducted him from Tokyo some time ago and are holding him against his will. You will be able to distinguish him by the black patch he wears over his right eye. The project he is working on is of paramount importance. We need to capture him at all costs."
"You mean rescue, right?" Colonel Slater observed.
"Yes, of course, naturally." Admiral Malek corrected. "Any equipment and research notes are to be secured as well. This is top priority gentlemen. Pull this off, and I'll be handing out metals and promotions by the bucket."
"Here is our target." Captain Hillard revealed a large chalk drawing of the island behind him. "The operation will begin with a surprise assault by our fighter planes. They will strategically hit targets to cripple the island's defenses: Troop barracks, hard points, pill boxes, and AA guns. The island is defended, but not well-fortified. If we hit the Red Bamboo hard and fast from the outset, they won't stand a chance. The big guns of the fleet will target their larger facilities and pound them to dust, being careful to avoid the research facility where Dr. Serizawa is being held. There is an airstrip on the island, but there are not any enemy fighters present at this time. We'll have a squadron fly a surveillance flight over it at the outset of the raid just in case our intelligence is not one-hundred percent reliable."
"Helicopters carrying marines will closely follow the initial attacks to gain a foothold on the ground." Admiral Malek noted. "They will clear out any pockets of resistance that remain, being supported by close air cover and naval guns. Each marine squad will have their own dedicated destroyer assigned for shore bombardment duty and at least two jets a piece. If you run into anything you feel you can't handle, call them in. You should only be dealing with enemy infantry. The Red Bamboo has not deployed any armor to the island yet. This base is still under construction, and full-scale defenses have not been implemented. We're going to exploit that weakness." Admiral Malek started to point out specific areas where targets were likely to be found and went about assigning individual units to each of them.
"This sounds pretty risky." Brock leaned over and whispered to Marcus. "No matter how soft he says this target is, none of us have seen it for ourselves. We have no idea what we are walking into. Admiral Malek has to be planning this whole thing around the word of the prisoner alone. That certainly can't be counted on to be reliable. If the Admiral is willing to take that kind of risk, this weapon must really be something. Three days ago, he was all about the Matango samples, and now he's completely set that aside for this. What the hell could this new weapon be…?"
"The operation will commence in two days." Captain Hillard wrapped up the briefing. "Report back to your units and fill them in on what is expected of them. Good luck out there men!" He saluted, dismissing them.
…
Two days later, Brock and Marcus were making last-minute preparations on the deck of the Essex. The weapon modifications to Marcus' helicopter would definitely come in handy. Despite his initial misgivings, it gave them a lot more tactical flexibility, and the means to answer threats as they came.
"I've got some reinforcements for you Sargent." Colonel Slater came up to Brock with a pair of marines in toe. "The Admiral wants to make sure you have enough muscle for the mission, seeing as your team has been selected to be the one that's going to raid the research facility."
"I guess you can't have too much firepower on your side when you're in the shit." Brock noted with a smirk, looking over to the new soldiers. Marcus eyed the two men suspiciously from the background. He was eavesdropping on the conversation, and he didn't like the fact that there were going to be new faces joining them. It might just be that these new men were there specifically to ensure none of them made it back from the operation. Marcus took the precaution to hide an extra service pistol inside of his flight suit, just in case. "Marcus, you think we've got enough space for these two Devil-Dogs?" Brock asked.
"I think we can make do." Marcus turned, summoning a smile.
Meanwhile, the Sabre fighters were already lined up to go on the deck of the Essex. The general quarters alarm began to ring out, letting everyone know it was time to begin the operation. Marcus, Brock, and the marines scrambled aboard the helicopter and began to strap themselves in. Marcus noted the scent of some type of heavy cleaning residue inside the cabin. Admiral Malek must have had every inch of the helicopter scrubbed down to ensure there were no left over Matango spores still inside. The whole thing had a stale clinical aroma as they settled in.
"It's got that new car smell, doesn't it?" Brock noted sitting down. "Not sure I care for it. Pine would be an improvement, though I don't much care for that either."
"Keep an eye on your new men." Marcus leaned over and told Brock quietly. "I got a bad feeling about them." Brock didn't say a word, but he stared at Marcus curiously for a moment.
"Alright boss, whatever you say." Brock finally replied, before leaning back into his seat.
Outside, the jets were taking off past them down the runway, one by one. On the waves, the huge warships of the fleet began to rotate their turrets, angling and elevating them. Marcus waited just a few more moments. He wanted to ensure the jets got a sizable head start to ensure the island's defenses were well-softened up per the battleplan. He saw other helicopters beginning to rise from the jeep carriers and he knew he couldn't wait any longer. They got underway and joined the back of the pack.
Once the swarm of helicopters had gotten several miles away from the fleet, they could hear the opening salvo of the bombardment beginning. The heavy guns of the USS Nebraska started things off with a thunderous report. The shells were being lobbed over the helicopter strike group. A moment later, Marcus could see the massive glowing yellow shells arcing over their formation on the way to the island. A few seconds later, he saw plumes of smoke and fire rising up from the island as dozens of them landed.
As the formation of helicopters drew closer, Marcus could see the jets diving down on targets. There were several Red Bamboo warships in the harbor. One of them took a significant hit from the attacking aircraft, but its armor belt held up against the punishment. The island's defenses started to come alive as the attack progressed. AA fire rose up, trying mostly in vain to hit the fast-moving Sabres. The dotting lines of tracer fire only served to reveal their positions and made it easier for the fighters to target them. Some shore batteries also started to return fire, dueling with the Archimedes fleet, though they were heavily outgunned. A five-inch shell managed to hit the side of the Nebraska, but it simply bounced off of her heavy armor.
The group of helicopters had closed to the point where they could make out individual pill boxes and bunkers near the beach. Quite a few of them had not been taken out yet. The formation would be entering firing range within moments and most of the helicopters did not have the same modifications that Marcus's did. Therefore, they would have to rely only on their door-mounted guns to defend themselves with. Marcus realized they needed to give the fleet and fighters more time to thin out the enemy's defenses.
"This is Raider-One to squadron." Marcus addressed the other helicopter pilots. "I don't know about the rest of you boys, but I think we outta circle the block one or two more times to give the Sabres another minute to clean up the streets."
"Affirmative Raider-One." The leading chopper replied. "I concur. Still looks like a mess down there." One by one, all of the choppers reported in agreeable.
"Okay, everyone start banking to the left on my mark." Marcus replied. "Just play follow-the-leader and circle for the time being."
Down in the bay, the small Red Bamboo fleet started to make its way towards the open water and out of the kill zone. They were just sitting ducks in the port. To have any chance at all, they needed to be able to maneuver. Most of them were smaller torpedo craft which could cause havoc in the Archimedes Fleet if they could get in close enough to utilize their weapons.
As Marcus watched the warships escaping, he noticed something very odd in the bay. There were some type of markers spread out all over the cove. They were wooden poles with painted tops in a color-coordinated pattern. Their purpose was unclear, but there were hundreds of them all over the place. They couldn't have been there long. The wooden poles looked fresh and untarnished by the water. Something was very off. Marcus had never seen a harbor with these types of markings before. It was like some sort of experiment.
As the Red Bamboo vessels continued out of the bay, something else caught Marcus' eye. At the mouth of the harbor, a dark mass was moving in under the water towards the ships. The water of the bay churned as the object began to rise to the surface. As Marcus suspected, it was a Kaiju, but it wasn't one he had ever seen before. In fact, it was the strangest one he'd laid his eyes upon yet.
The monster's head was crimson red and was vaguely humanlike. The rest of its body was onyx-black and covered in spikey crustacean-like armored plates. The kaiju had entirely pale blue eyes with no signs of pupils, which gave it an other-worldly appearance. It lacked any sort of traditional mouth and instead had some sort of tendrils hanging down from its face. The monster had vestiges of a nose, though it looked rather corpse-like, whittled down to just a sinus cavity. The creature had two disproportionally large arms, each with serrated claws which closely resembled a crab. The monster also had four nodules on its head that Marcus could not identify a purpose for. Finally, it had two rows of pleopods on its abdomen which appeared to be one of the methods by which it propelled itself through the water. Under those, there was more black carapace armor protecting its underbelly. Overall, the monster had a very menacing and malevolent look to it.
The Red Bamboo ships saw the monster coming at them and began to maneuver out of the way, but it was no use. The creature quickly closed the gap and snapped up the lead destroyer, slicing it in half with its claws. The two halves of the ship came splashing back down to the water and the surviving sailors began to swim away for their lives. Seeing that there was no chance of escape, the remaining Red Bamboo ships opened fire on the monster. Most of their rounds bounced harmlessly off the black armor, but the creature took notice when a shell exploded against his face.
The crustacean monster turned towards the offending vessel and the nodules on its head lit up, emitting thin yellowish-green rays. The rays cut right through the armor of the ship and sliced it into three separate sections. After that, there was only one Red Bamboo ship remaining and the monster simply smashed one of its claws down upon the vessel before making its way towards the shore.
As the monster reached the middle of the bay, the Red Bamboo shore batteries prioritized targeting it over the Archimedes fleet. Shells exploded all around the creature. The Sabre fighters hammering the island's defensive emplacements had taken notice of the monster as well and pulled away, not certain what to do next. The best course of action was to withdraw and wait for additional orders from Admiral Malek.
The monster paused in the bay and again let loose with its deadly cutting rays. The beach area was torn up and sand and soil were blasted high into the air. What remained of the shore guns fell silent as their crews recognized a losing battle and abandoned their positions. It seemed as though the monster had triumphed. Now unopposed, it began to move once more, but something was amiss. The monster paused again, as though it sensed something happening.
The waters around the monster were unsettled. There were bubbles rising to the surface all over the bay. Slowly, a chemical chain reaction was taking place below. The reaction intensified and the monster on the surface began to respond to it. The gurgling foam in the bay continued to build more and more until it was raging so intensely that it appeared to be boiling. After just a few seconds, the huge creature sitting in the water was clearly showing signs of distress and pain.
The monster shrieked out horribly, and then made a desperate effort to get to the shore and out of the water. Its every movement looked agonizing. A trail of blood was left in its wake. Before long, flakes of the monster's shell began rising to the surface. Shortly thereafter, large chunks of its flesh and vital organs bubbled up like some sort of meaty red soup. Every moment that passed seemed to get worse.
Finally, the creature halted in the water, not able to push itself any further. It slumped over and began to sink into the bay. As it fell, the lower half of its body was exposed, or at least what was left of it. The monster had been eaten down nearly to its core, which was almost completely gone by that point. Remnants of muscle were the only solid things left. The shock of it to the soldiers watching was intense. No one had expected to see such a disturbing sight.
The Red Bamboo sailors that had been in the water swimming away from their wrecked ships were also melting away into nothing. They had been further away from the epicenter of the chemical reaction, but by that point, only their skeletal remains still endured. The other tissues had already melted away from their bones. It was a grisly sight. What was left of the monster by that point sank down and began to degenerate. Within moments, only a red stew remained, staining the gushing unstable waters. In time, even the blood was consumed by the water. Finally, no trace of the monster was left. The remains of the Red Bamboo sailors had entirely disappeared by that point too.
"I think I'm going to be sick…" One of the raw recruits remarked in the cabin behind Marcus. It was no idle threat. Seconds later, he indeed vomited. Marcus mostly ignored him though. He was still captivated by the carnage unfolding below. This had to be the weapon Malek was so keen to get his hands on. A weapon that was capable of killing a Kaiju with such ease was valuable beyond measure. The sheer magnitude and terror of such a weapon.
As he watched, Marcus noted something else curious. The wreckage of the Red Bamboo vessels seemed unaffected by the chemical stew. The metal hulls just floated on the surface, while anything remotely organic was disintegrated. Even the wooden poles that had been placed in the water forming the outer ring of the experiment were gone. The device only seemed to destroy organic tissue. Metals could withstand it. That was very noteworthy.
"This is Captain Hillard to Raider-Flight, proceed with your attack!" His order came over the radio as the chemical reaction was starting to subside in the bay.
With that, the lead helicopter changed course and the operation was renewed. The soldiers all tried to focus on the mission, but the shock of what they had all just seen still persisted none-the-less. There was no forgetting it. The helicopters at the front of the group hesitated to fully commit to the attack. Little by little, their courage rallied until they were throwing themselves at the island's air defenses.
The frontline defenses of the Red Bamboo base had been smashed. Only a handful of their soldiers were still at their stations actively trying to resist. The first wave of helicopters bypassed many of those positions before landing, choosing instead to take them from behind with relative ease. The marines couldn't simply ignore all of the defensive positions though. If they flew too far into the island's interior, they would risk their landing zones being surrounded from the outset of the battle, which could be a lethal mistake.
Between the heavy bombardment, the air strikes, and the monster's assault, the island's defenses were in pretty poor shape overall. Many positions were outright abandoned, but some of the braver Red Bamboo soldiers had held on tenaciously through everything that had been thrown at them. Pill boxes came alive with machine gun fire as the helicopters approached them.
From the second wave of helicopters, Marcus could see marines dispersing and taking the fight to the enemy from the first wave. The leading squad on the ground advanced until it got pinned down in front of a concrete bunker. Marcus saw two marines get gunned down as they tried to charge it. His blood rose to his face. He couldn't let that stand. Marcus took the opportunity to dive down and use one of his rocket pods to attack the fortified Red Bamboo position. Out of the four rockets he fired, one of them found its way inside of the bunker and exploded, silencing the machine gun fire. Satisfied with that, Marcus held back the second pod for later.
Marcus' door gunner meanwhile was hammering away at a lightly defended machine gun nest that only had sandbags protecting it. Sandbags were a great defense for slowing down infantry, but it was next to useless against an enemy attacking from above. The two machine gunners dueled with each other for a few intense seconds. Some of the enemy fire actually ricocheted against the chopper's side, but in the end, the gunner in the chopper held the advantage and won out. He mowed down the Red Bamboo soldiers below.
The Red Bamboo's second defensive line was already weakened beforehand, but losing those two key positions badly compromised their network. Marines were already breaching through in several places. Soon, they'd be able to flank around and start folding up what was left of the line. It was just a matter of time before the rest was overrun. Shattered Red Bamboo units were already beginning to run, seeing the writing on the wall. Door gunners from other helicopters were mowing them down wherever they could. Allowing them to reach their third defensive line would only make the rest of the fight that much harder.
Marcus' wave had reached their designated landing zone and began to descend. Resistance in that area was much stronger. There were more Red Bamboo positions hidden amongst the trees that the planes had missed. An AA-battery managed to down one of the helicopters as it approached. Attacking the third defensive line was turning into more of a proper fight. The marines were approaching the outskirts of the actual Red Bamboo base. With nowhere else to go, their troopers had to hold the line right there or die trying.
Marcus landed and Brock's boys piled out, getting themselves into the fray. Those first few moments of the landing were chaotic. Everyone was scrambling to get to cover as quickly as possible. The chopper's blades muffled the sounds of shouting and gunfire. Brock heard several bullets whiz by him. Way too close for comfort. As he got further away from the chopper, he could hear the crackle of machine guns in the near distance. He finally got to a boulder and found refuge. The rest of his men either followed him there or found their own places to take cover.
Marcus pulled the helicopter back out quickly; he was taking way more fire than he was comfortable with. There were three Red Bamboo soldiers nearby who were taking potshots at him. With the squad all hunkered down now, they were in a position to fight back effectively. The marines had the numbers advantage, and they knew it. Brock rose up first, using his Thompson to suppress the enemy troopers for a moment, which gave his men the opportunity to look out and start selecting targets.
When Brock's clip ran dry, the other marines had taken aim and were ready to start picking off the Red Bamboo soldiers. The first Red Bamboo trooper to peak around the tree he was hiding behind caught a bullet in the chest for his trouble. The second Red Bamboo soldier got a shot off without taking much fire in return. Brock reloaded quickly and then perched himself waiting behind the rock. Sure enough, the third man popped up and Brock was ready for him. He put a round right into the man's forehead. When the second Red Bamboo soldier noticed what had happened to his two buddies, he made a run for it, but in so doing, left his back exposed. Brock turned his weapon and immediately shot him down.
From there, the marine squad was able to advance unmolested and found a nice fallen coconut tree to hide behind. The tree had been taken down by a random naval shell from earlier. The bombardment from the ships had not only taken out several key defensive positions, but also given the marines the benefit of extra cover, as well as holes to dive into as they moved forward.
Brock's squad advanced from cover to cover until they ran into their first major challenge. Opposite of them was another enemy pillbox with two heavy machine guns inside. The Red Bamboo defenders had spotted the marines coming and were just waiting for them to make a move. After a moment, one of them tried to provoke a response by putting a few rounds into the log. That rattled one of the replacements who Brock had to hold down, but everyone else knew well enough to stay put.
Just then, the marines could hear a sound getting louder. It was a wheezing and whistling noise. From past experience, Brock knew exactly what was about to happen. Those were big shells coming in from naval cannons. One of the other marine squads must have called for artillery support nearby.
"Everyone down!" Brock shouted urgently.
The shells came in and landed about a hundred yards away, bracketing another target. There were three explosions in quick succession, each one of them massive and shaking the ground. The concussive force was apparent even from that far away. The shells missed whatever they were aiming at, but debris came raining down all over the place from the mass of displaced dirt. It clanged against the helmets of Brock's squad. It had to have been the eighteen-inch guns of the Nebraska.
"Maybe we should call in naval support too sir?" One of the replacements suggested.
"No, they're not that precise." Brock said dismissively. "They'd end up shelling us right along with the enemy. Whoever called in that attack is probably learning that very lesson right now."
"Ever gotten out of a tight situation like this before Sarg?" The other replacement asked.
"He managed to fart his way out of church once, does that count?" Eddie snickered with a smirk, unmoved by the seriousness of the situation.
"Shut up private." Brock glared over to him. "We got just the thing right here." He waved at Richards who brought up his bazooka. Brock didn't even have to tell him what to do. Richards found a nice safe spot to take aim, while the rest of the squad popped up to provide covering fire. The Red Bamboo machine gunners were completely distracted while Richards prepared to fire off his round.
"Bend over and kiss your dreams goodbye you yellow commie bastards!" Richards fired. His projectile found its mark. It blew up inside the concrete bunker, filling it with dust and debris. However, the explosion only killed one of the Red Bamboo soldiers. The other man was only stunned for a moment and wasn't out of the fight.
One of Brock's replacements popped up and saw the seemingly empty machine gun nest and then hopped over the safety of their cover. With a rebel yell, he charged forward.
"We got'em now boys!" He shouted confidently.
"What are you doing?!" Brock shouted furiously. "Stay down you idiot!"
The Red Bamboo machine gunner came to his senses and saw the marine running towards him. He quickly took aim. Brock and the rest of the squad tried to cover the lone marine, but it was useless. The machine gun roared into action and round after round tore through the solitary soldier until he crashed face down into a bloody mess in the dirt. Richards was ready to fire off a second round by that point and put down the Red Bamboo soldier for good with his second shot. The bazooka round hit the Red Bamboo soldier directly, turning the top portion of the man's torso into a juicy red mist in less than a second.
At that point, other marine squads were coming up around on either side of Brock's flanks. Together, they carefully advanced forward upon the main facility.
…
Marcus meanwhile was still drawing a lot of groundfire and was doing everything he could to avoid it. His evasive maneuvers eventually took him to the far side of the Red Bamboo base where he spotted an airstrip. Marcus could see that there was a runway for planes, but no facilities for operating jet fighters in any meaningful capacity. However, there did happen to be a cargo plane taking off though. It was an ilyushin il-14. Marcus reached for his com to call it in.
"This is Marcus in Raider-One." He began. "I see an ilyushin il-14 escaping the island heading northeast. I'm too slow to catch him. I'd recommend one of the Sabres goes and takes him down before he gets away. I might be able to hit him from here though."
"Negative Raider-One, Dr. Serizawa could be on board that plane." Admiral Malek himself came in over the radio. "His strategic value is absolute. Do not, I repeat, do not fire upon that craft. Let it go for now. If that is indeed an ilyushin il-14 cargo plane, then it's very slow and it does not have radar capability. I can put a Sabre with drop tanks on its tail. That ilyushin will lead us right to the next Red Bamboo base. The range of a plane like that is just over eight-hundred miles and I doubt it will go that far."
"What about the doctor?" Marcus asked. "Isn't this party all about him?"
"Even if we lose Dr. Serizawa here, there will be other opportunities." Malek replied. "If that plane is headed northeast, then it's not headed for mainland Asia. It has to be going to another island base. If they do have Serizawa aboard, we'll catch up to them there. Focus your efforts on capturing the facility for the time being."
…
Back on the ground, Brock and his men were closing in on the facility grounds. Red Bamboo soldiers from the far side of the island figured out that their headquarters was on the verge of being taken and left their positions to try to defend it. They were at a major disadvantage though. The marines were massing on the outskirts of the jungle while they were running into the open grounds surrounding the compound. Worse for them still, the Sabre jets had returned and were hammering the few safe positions where Red Bamboo soldiers were taking cover. It was turning into a bloodbath.
Brock felt the heat of a canister of napalm exploding ahead of them. It wiped out an entire unit of Red Bamboo soldiers who were all huddled together. He almost felt bad for them. He could see one survivor running away on fire. The strafing was so frequent and intense that he couldn't risk advancing his own men into the open area until the Jets had finished up or they'd risk taking friendly fire themselves. Such as it was, the marines stayed put and sniped at the Red Bamboo when they had opportunities to do so.
Finally, the jets pulled out and left the rest of the attack to the marines on the ground. The area immediately ahead of Brock's squad had been pulverized and offered no resistance whatsoever, so they moved in. As they advanced, they saw that the Red Bamboo compound was in ruins. Not many of the buildings had been left standing.
About halfway to the Red Bamboo Headquarters, Brock's squad saw a fresh batch of enemy soldiers charging towards them. Brock's men were just cresting a small rise in the grass, so he signaled for them to lay down and hold their position. They did exactly that and started to pick off enemy soldiers who were still bravely charging at them despite men falling out of their formation regularly. Brock tossed a grenade out into their path which exploded just as the first few men passed it. The resulting explosion broke the enemy charge. Those few Red Bamboo soldiers who weren't wounded or killed outright, took cover and started to exchange rifle fire with the marines.
"Sarg, there's more of them coming from this way!" Eddie announced in an urgent and unsteady voice.
Brock turned to see that Eddie was indeed correct. Another full squad of Red Bamboo men were advancing on them from the side. Brock's marines were about to get flanked. One of the surviving Red Bamboo soldiers from the first charge lobbed a grenade of his own at the marines, which exploded nearby Eddie who cried out in pain. Brock crawled over to him to examine the damage. It was bad.
"To think I made it through that walking fungus nonsense, just to die here on this shithole island." Eddie complained with a grimace. It was the one time he was right about something. He was bleeding out from several wounds and Brock couldn't do a thing to stop it. Not in the middle of a firefight anyway.
Brock rose up and unloaded his Thompson towards the second group of Red Bamboo men, cutting down enough of them to persuade the rest to hug the ground. In doing so, Brock exposed himself to the first group of Red Bamboo soldiers though, and he took a round to the arm. The bullet tore through his deltoid and passed right on through. It hurt a lot, but the bullet had only grazed Brock. It was enough to convince him to get back down into cover again though. Brock spared a moment to look at Eddie again. Eddie was already dead.
The marines were in trouble. The Red Bamboo were closing in on them from two sides and had them outnumbered. Brock patched himself up the best he could, while the other marines kept up the fight. By that point, blood had streamed down his arm all of the way to his hand. It made his weapon slippery to hang on to. Without the suppressing fire of Brock's Thompson, the second Red Bamboo squad renewed their charge and were only forty yards away from being on top of the marines with fixed bayonets.
At that moment, a series of explosions ripped through the Red Bamboo ranks, sending several of them flying, while tearing others to pieces. Marcus' helicopter passed closely over the marines on the hill. His carefully aimed rocket strike had made the save. Marcus banked around hard and came back using his nose cannon to tear up more Red Bamboo troopers. His side gunner focused on the other bunch. Together, they tore their ranks to pieces and set them to flight. There were only a few of them left by that point. Brock's squad was out of immediate danger. They could now proceed to the Red Bamboo base unopposed. Marcus stayed close by, just in case, but the compound was nearly empty aside from bodies.
Finally, the marines reached the headquarters building itself. By that point in the battle, the structure only had the semblance of being a building. It still hadmostof its four walls, but a large section of the roof and the upper floors had been blown out. A shell from one of the naval cannons must have strayed off course and struck it. Fallen debris from the upper floors had collapsed around the doors of the rear exit, blocking them off.
"Sorry guys, I can't help you once you're inside." Marcus noted. "Call me down when you need me again. I'm going to see if I can find a secure landing zone nearby." Setting down on the roof of the facility certainly wasn't an option, and the area around them was still too hot for the helicopter to remain there.
"Roger." Brock replied. "Thanks for your help, Marcus."
Left with only one clear way in, the marines approached the front entrance of the Red Bamboo's HQ. Brock thought he saw movement through one of the dark windows and he wasn't going to take any chances. He had Richards take out his bazooka and blow open the doors. Richards wasted no time in doing so, and a sizeable explosion ripped them apart. The windows around the entrance were also shattered by the explosion. Brock directed two of his men to cover each while the rest of his marines charged forward towards the entrance. Once they reached the threshold, Brock motioned for his squad-mates to stop. He took two grenades, pulled the pins, and threw them inside. He waited for them to go off, and then signaled for everyone to move in immediately afterwards.
There was no resistance to speak of, but as the smoke started to clear, Brock found several bodies. There had indeed been Red Bamboo men waiting to ambush them just inside the doors. One of them was crawling away with only one leg. The man was dragging a bloody stump, leaving a streak of blood behind him. Brock took out his service revolver and put one round into the back of his head, ending his suffering. Brock heard more shots. His men took down two other enemies who were still alive and disoriented from the explosions.
With the room seemingly secured, Brock took a closer look at the fallen defenders. These Red Bamboo men were not actually soldiers. Brock could see from their uniforms that they were security officers specifically meant to guard the headquarters building. There had been eight of them in all. Brock hoped that they had gotten all of them already. He was tired, dirty, and banged up. If there wasn't any more resistance from here on out, he'd be just fine with that.
It didn't take Brock's squad long to locate the lab area. Interestingly, the door leading into it was heavily reinforced. Wasting no time, they shot off the lock and forced their way inside. To his surprise, Brock was immediately greeted with a heavy layer of smoke billowing out of the lab as he stepped inside. There was a fire burning within. Brock let the worst of the smoke escape the room before he went in. He took a rag and put it over his mouth. His eyes still stung though.
The room was shrouded in smoke, but Brock could make out the source of the fire. A Bunson burner had been left on and seemingly knocked over, perhaps it had fallen when the shell hit the facility. The walls of the room were made out of concrete, which was the only thing that had kept the fire from spreading out of control, but some paperwork and the wooden counter were blazing away.
Brock saw a sink nearby the fire and turned it on. He quickly found a bucket under the sink and started to fill it. While he was waiting on that, he turned off the gas to the burner to keep the fire from spreading any more than it already had. There were other stations with sinks in the lab and the other marines set about filling up additional buckets. When Brock's was almost full, he tossed the water onto the flames which slowed the fire down some. Little by little, the marines got the fire under control. With the source of the flames subdued, the smoke began to clear out of the room.
On the floor, they found a man in a white lab coat passed out from the smoke. He had a black eye patch and appeared to be Japanese. On the far side of the room, Brock could see a holding cell. The door had been forced open. That must have been where the Red Bamboo were keeping the kidnapped Dr. Serizawa. They were apparently forcing him to do research for them. Brock guessed that when the fire broke out, Dr. Serizawa must have escaped from his cell to try to put it out, only he didn't make it there before the smoke took him down.
"Salvage whatever you can." Brock ordered his men, looking over some paperwork. "Bring it with us."
"Hey Sarg, he's still breathing!" Richards called over to Brock. Dr. Serizawa coughed from the floor and started to stir. Brock came to take a closer look at him. Dr. Serizawa opened his one good eye and stared at Brock disoriented.
"Well… he's a tough old son of a bitch." Brock smiled down at him. "Help him up. He's coming with us too." Two of the marines helped Serizawa to his feet. "Richards, get Marcus on the radio and let him know we're coming out. Find out where the hell he landed, and we'll come to him. And while you're at it, tell the other squads not to shoot at us when we come out."
As the marines slowly made their way out of the facility, Dr. Serizawa was starting to come around more. He was able to walk, rather than just be dragged.
"Sarg, Marcus says that he sat down to the northeast of here." Richards reported. "He found a nice quiet spot on a cliff overlooking the sea."
"Leave it to him to make us climb up a damn hill." Brock groaned. "It'll do though."
Brock's squad carefully left the grounds of the Red Bamboo base. There was still scattered fighting here and there, but the marines were firmly in control now. They were just mopping up pockets of resistance by that point. Brock and his men kept Dr. Serizawa in the center of their ranks to protect him. They crept into the cover of the jungle.
"How far is it?" Brock asked. "Did Marcus say?"
"Only about a quarter of a mile." Richards answered. "So, maybe five or six minutes of walking, even through this thick bush."
"Good, the sooner we're on our way the better." Brock remarked.
Suddenly, a shot rang out, and one of Brock's men dropped. The rest of the marines immediately ducked for cover. Brock looked over to the fallen soldier. He was facedown and motionless. The exit wound through his back put the point of entry right by his heart. Whoever had fired on them took the marine out with one precise shot. It had to have been an enemy sniper. The shot had come from in front of them. Brock could determine that much from the entry and exit wounds. There wasn't any more gunfire. The sniper was waiting for them to make a move and break cover.
Brock decided to give him a target to shoot at. He took off his helmet and put a coconut inside of it, then raised the helmet up and outside the safety of his hiding place. The sniper took the bait and put a round right through the side of the helmet. Coconut milk spilled onto Brock's hands. He quickly looked up and saw a small puff of smoke in the trees ahead of them. The sniper had climbed up there to avoid detection.
"I've got him boys!" Brock announced. "The bastard is up in that big tree to our one o'clock! I think we are dealing with just one man. Snell and Hansen, take out your smoke grenades and prepare to throw them to give us some cover. I'm pretty sure he's still focused on my position. On the count of three, I'll distract him for you."
"Ok Sarg." Snell replied. "I'll be ready on your count."
"Me too." Hansen confirmed.
"Alright." Brock prepared his Thompson again. "One… two… THREE!" Brock aimed his gun over the rock, and without exposing himself, fired off about five rounds. Snell and Hansen came out from their hiding places and tossed their grenades, and then retreated back to safety. Smoke began to billow out and rose up to impede the sniper's vision. Brock sat there and waited to allow the maximum amount of smoke to fill the air. "Everyone get ready!" Brock shouted. "We hit that tree together in three. One… two… three!"
The marines all broke cover and unloaded everything they had into the tree simultaneously. Through the smoke, they could see something fall down. The marines cautiously approached through the hazy jungle to ensure they killed their target, but another shot rang out. The sniper was still alive. It was unclear if they had hit him or not. His second shot hadn't found a target. He was just firing out of desperation. At that point, all the marines could do was aim for his muzzle flash and return fire. Everyone was fighting blind.
As the chaos ensued, Brock saw a shadow flash pass behind him in the smoke. He turned and realized that Dr. Serizawa was running away from them.
"God damn it!" Brock cursed. "Hey, fresh meat!" He was addressing the other surviving replacement marine. "Get on his ass!" He pointed to Dr. Serizawa. "We can't afford to lose him!"
"Yes sir!" The marine left the firefight and went after him.
At that point, Brock was sick of getting shot at and took matters into his own hands. Since no one could use a precise weapon and was just taking shots in the dark, he decided something a little less precise might be just the thing needed. He took out a grenade and waited for the sniper to fire again. Once Brock saw another muzzle flash, he threw his grenade as close to it as he could.
"Everybody down!" Brock alerted his men, not wanting any of his marines to catch a stray piece of shrapnel. The grenade went off and all was quiet afterwards. "Everybody hold your positions." He ordered and then began to crawl forward cautiously with his weapon out in front of him. A breeze from the ocean blew in and slowly the smoke started to clear. Little by little, the jungle ahead of him was becoming visible.
Finally, Brock could make out something that wasn't natural. There was a big black boot sitting on the ground about fifteen yards in front of him. Inside of the boot there was a foot. A foot that had been blown off the person it belonged to. Nearby, Brock found the rest of the body. He had gotten the sniper with the grenade. He was dead.
"Alright everyone, it's over." Brock announced. "Let's find Dr. Serizawa and then get back to the chopper."
…
Up on the cliff, Marcus was waiting for Brock's squad inside of the helicopter. His door gunner kept a wary eye towards the jungle for any signs of movement. He had heard the nearby gunfire and was taking no chances. Finally, something did grab his attention. He held his fire just long enough to identify who it was.
"Sir, I got something." The gunner reported. "Out there, a man in a white lab coat."
"Hold your fire." Marcus requested. "That might just be what we came here for. Why is he wandering around by himself though?" He wondered out loud. "He looks exhausted." Dr. Serizawa stumbled as he made his way up the hill. "Stay here, I'm going to go try to talk to him. Keep me covered though."
Marcus exited the helicopter and started to make his way towards Dr. Serizawa. As he got closer to him, he saw a fresh blood stain on his lab coat.
"Are you hurt?" Marcus asked. Dr. Serizawa ignored his question entirely. He was acting strangely. Serizawa had a blank expression and appeared to be a little delirious. Sweat was pouring down his face. The doctor walked past Marcus without a word, almost as though he didn't see him. At no point did he make eye contact. Marcus looked over Serizawa closely as he passed by and saw no visible wounds. The blood did not appear to be his own.
Dr. Serizawa went up to the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean and then sat down on a small boulder he found there. He rested, looking out at the setting sun. Marcus kept his distance, giving Dr. Serizawa a little bit of space, but he carefully kept watch over him. The doctor just observed the waves coming in and going out. A soft breeze was blowing through the grass around him.
As he stood there watching, Marcus became aware that someone was standing behind him. He turned and saw it was one of the newly assigned marines with his rifle. There were no signs of the rest of the squad, it was only him. Marcus did not like that. He thought about the pistol he was still hiding in his flight suit. If he was quick enough, he might be able to get to it before the marine knew what was happening. Marcus decided it wasn't a good idea though. The butt of the marine's rifle was already pulled tight into his shoulder and at the ready. He only had to raise the weapon slightly and he'd be able to take Marcus out. He decided to take a more diplomatic approach.
"Do you mind lowering your weapon Private?" Marcus asked, trying to hide his anxiety.
"What…?" The marine asked, confused by the question. He looked down and realized he had his weapon pointed in the general direction of a superior officer. "Oh, sure. Sorry sir." He quickly changed his posture to a more relaxed stance, then walked up to join Marcus. "Has he said anything to you?" The marine asked. "We haven't gotten a word out of him since we picked him up. He was caught up in a fire in the lab. That's where we found him." The marine explained.
"Where's the Sargent?" Marcus asked, still suspicious of the marine. He was careful to keep the marine in front of him at all times.
"A sniper pinned-down the rest of the squad on the way here." The marine reported. "The doctor bolted on us. At that point, Sargent Brock sent me after him, and here we are."
"I see." Marcus replied. 'That does sound somewhat reasonable.' He thought to himself. 'It would explain all of the gunfire we just heard. He didn't hesitate even for a second thinking about his answer. If he's a liar, he's a heck of a good one.' Marcus stood there looking him over and thinking. 'If he wanted to shoot me, he had every opportunity to do so a moment ago when my back was turned.' Marcus reasoned. 'He could have easily fired from the cover of the jungle so the side gunner on the chopper couldn't see him do it. Maybe this guy is okay...' He concluded. "What's your name soldier?" Marcus asked.
"I'm Crosby." He replied, holding out his hand for Marcus to shake. Marcus paused briefly, but eventually did accept the gesture of good faith. "Should we try to converse with him?" He motioned to Dr. Serizawa. "The Admiral said that he studied in the states for a while. So, we can assume he understands a least some English."
"I tried already." Marcus answered. "He's either unable or unwilling to speak with us at this time. I think we should just give him a little space for now. Until the rest of the squad makes it back, we aren't going anywhere anyways. Looks to me like he is trying to work through some things." Marcus observed. He could see that Dr. Serizawa had come out of his daze and was now visibly upset.
The clunking and shaking of equipment announced the approach of the rest of the squad as they double-timed it up the hill. Marcus could see that they were two men short of what they had set out with, but Brock was still there in the lead. Marcus was relieved that Brock was not dead somewhere out in the jungle. It meant that he could finally relax. Crosby's story appeared to have checked out. Brock saw Dr. Serizawa sitting idly by the cliff as they got close.
"What the hell…?!" Brock barked irritably. "Is he on some sort of break over there or what?!" Brock cupped his hand and raised his voice. "Hey doctor, if you're just about done with your moment of Zen, we're ready to get out of here now!" He said impatiently.
"Try to relax Brock." Marcus said, attempting to soothe him. "Something is wrong with him."
"I'll tell you what's wrong with him!" Brock took a big breath in, which meant he was building up towards an extended rant. "My boys got all torn up in the jungle fetching him, and literally pulled his ass out of a fire! Then the first chance he got, he rabbited, making us chase him through all of the unholy bush on this island, enemy snipers and booby traps notwithstanding!"
Just then, Dr. Serizawa suddenly stood up and turned around. The abrupt motion stopped Brock, who paused to look at him. All of the marines were watching along too. Dr. Serizawa stared back at the marines with a clear head and tears in his one good eye. He took a step back towards the edge of the cliff. Some loose soil crumbled away and went over the side.
"Hey, relax, we're on your side!" Brock assured him, raising a hand and putting his weapon down on the ground. "Nobody is going to hurt you. We were sent to rescue you. Come with us, and we'll take you home, I promise." Dr. Serizawa just stood there looking over the marines. He took another step back, putting himself right on the edge. A stiff breeze would have been enough to push him over. "Hey, don't do that!" Brock said with an uncharacteristic degree of urgency in his voice. Dr. Serizawa closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
"Doctor, what are you doing?!" Marcus joined Brock's pleas.
"Jibun no sakuhin wo buki ni suru koto wa yuruse mase ne. gomennasai." Dr. Serizawa spoke, then bowed with respect to the marines. None of them understood a word of what he said.
They didn't have time to think about it though. Dr. Serizawa straightened up, opened his eye, and then he got sort of a strange look of relief on his face. It was as though a weight had been lifted from him. He stepped back one final time. In a fraction of a second, he was gone. Marcus had been looking right into his eye as he dropped and disappeared over the edge. Serizawa hadn't even blinked when he jumped.
Brock and Marcus ran up and looked over the rim of the cliff. Down below, they saw Dr. Serizawa's body dashed against the jagged rocks in the water. He had fallen at least sixty feet, and his body was slowly sliding into the water as the waves rocked it back and forth. There was no question about it, Dr. Serizawa was dead.