Kaiju Corps

by Matthew Dennion

  Nick and Miki stared at Michelle in wide-eyed disbelief. She shrugged at them. “Look, I know that this is a lot for you guys to take in since you finally just admitted your feelings for each other. If I know you two, you have been cuddling and haven’t even had sex yet. Jerome and I are not in love like you two and we don’t have the luxury of dating. We could all die on our next mission, and before that happens, we needed to take steps to ensure our chances of success in this war.” She turned toward Jerome. “The fact that we are having sex and trying to conceive doesn’t mean that you should` treat me any differently than you did before. I am not your girlfriend, and I don’t need you to put me in positions to try and protect me. Especially when doing so decreases our chances of success and increases the likelihood of another team member being seriously injured or killed.”

  Jerome looked at Michelle in stunned silence at the revelation that she had just given to Nick and Miki.

  Miki shook her head. “You are saying that the two of you are having sex because it’s part of a battle plan for us to have kids? Do the Instructors expect Nick and I to do the same thing?”

  Jerome quickly responded, “It’s not as cold and direct as Michelle made it sound.” He quickly looked at the outside feed on the wall of the TR-3B. “We are above Philadelphia.” He took a deep breath and he turned first to Michelle. “Look, maybe I was trying to treat you differently based on last night; honestly, I am not sure. I have not had the chance to process how I feel about what happened between us. You are right. Your skills would be better utilized, and it would be better for Nick if the two of you attacked head on.” He quickly looked at Nick and Miki. “What Michelle said shouldn’t change what is happening between the two of you. I am sorry that you found out about this right now, but as long as you two love each other, like I know that you do, then it doesn’t matter what the Instructors want to become of your relationship. Whatever the future holds for you two will come, and you will deal with it as best as you can when it happens.” He pointed to the colossus that was Carrier standing in the remains of the fallen city as if it were Atlas holding up the very heavens themselves. “We have a mission to complete and right now that is what we need to focus on. You three get ready to jump. Leviathan and Bearadon will attack Carrier head on. Chagon, you look for a chance to disable the robot. Do you understand?”

  Michelle continued to stare at Jerome while Nick and Miki just nodded. Jerome could see that all three of them were still thinking about their relationships with each other. He could also see that Nick and Miki were looking at him as a friend and Michelle was looking at him like a whatever their relationship defined them as now. Jerome realized that for their sake, he needed to change that mindset. He hardened his voice and shouted, “Soldiers, do you understand your orders?”

  Nick and Miki replied with a quick, “Yes, sir!” while Michelle nodded. Nick and Miki walked over to the hatch and opened it. They quickly kissed each other then they jumped out of the craft toward the imposing form of Carrier.

  Michelle took one last look at Jerome. “I may not love you, Jerome, but it’s leadership qualities like the ones you just displayed that are the reason I admire you.” The young woman then unzipped her flight suit, threw it to the back of the TR-3B, and then jumped out of the craft.

  Leviathan crashed to the ground in front of the gigantic Carrier. As soon as he looked at Carrier, Leviathan knew that the report of the mech being roughly a hundred feet taller than him was grossly underestimated. Carrier was twice the size of Leviathan and weighed more than four times what he did. The robot’s size and bulk did nothing to deter to Leviathan from his mission. As Bearadon landed on the ground beside him, the reptilian monsters roared and charged at Carrier. Leviathan ran up to the mech and began pounding on its right hip. While Leviathan’s punches were denting the huge robot’s leg, his blows were unable to penetrate its outer hull. Carrier threw a sweeping backhand that struck Leviathan in the chest and sent the kaiju flying over the rubble of what had once been Philadelphia. The blow carried Leviathan for three blocks before he came crashing back down into the remains of the destroyed building.

  The moment that Carrier struck Leviathan, Bearadon rushed in to attack. The kaiju spun around in front of the mech and used her spiked tail to tear a piece out of the mech’s right leg. Carrier ignored the damage to its leg and brought its fist crashing into Bearadon’s back. The blow forced the kaiju to her knees. With the kaiju stunned at its feet, Carrier reached down and grabbed Bearadon by her neck and the base of her tail. The mech then lifted Bearadon over its heads and slammed her into the ground with enough force to toss dust and rubble into the air over an eight-block radius.

  Carrier was reaching down to pick up Bearadon and repeat the move when Chagon wrapped her long body around the mech’s left leg. The serpentine kaiju was starting to constrict her body when the mech reached down and grabbed her by the throat, stifling her ability to breathe. Chagon was awed by the strength of the robot when it started to unwrap her body from around its leg. Chagon shifted her head as far to the side as she could then she bit down on the base of the robot’s thumb. Chagon attacked the robot’s thumb with every ounce of her waning strength. She knew that no amount of pain would cause the robot to release its grip. The serpentine kaiju’s only hope was to completely tear off Carrier’s thumb so that it was physically unable to maintain its grip.

  Swirling colors of blue, purple, and finally black flashed in front of Chagon’s eyes as she started to lose consciousness. She tried to keep her mind focused on simply continuing to bite the mech’s thumb, knowing that eventually she would inflict enough damage to cause the thumb to release her. Chagon had almost completely passed out when she finally managed to sever Carrier’s thumb from its hand. The serpentine kaiju slid out of the robot’s grip and fell hard on the ground. She was taking quick gasping breaths as her body tried to resupply itself with oxygen. Chagon looked up to see Carrier reaching down for her. She tried to slither away, but her body had not yet recovered enough oxygen to move itself. Chagon braced herself for the robot’s grip when she saw Leviathan slam into the mech with the force of a living earthquake.

  Leviathan had been dazed by the blow Carrier had struck him with to the point that when he first tried to stand up, he fell back down. When he lifted his head, he saw Carrier holding Chagon in its grip and choking her. Seeing Chagon in distress angered Leviathan and once again gave him a new sense of strength. He stood and charged the mech, determined to stop the mech from hurting the love of his life. Seconds before Leviathan was able to reach Carrier, he saw Chagon free herself from the mech’s grip. He then saw the mech turn and reach out to grab the dragon-like monster again. Leviathan roared at the robot then launched his body into the air. The saurian monster’s body slammed into the mech’s torso, sending both of them crashing to the ground.

  Leviathan found himself laying on top of the gigantic mech and immediately pressed his advantage. The kaiju delivered a series of hammer fists to the mech’s torso in hopes of crushing the CPU located within its chest. Leviathan was still pounding on Carrier when the mech reached up with its right hand, placed it on Leviathan’s ribcage, and then pushed the monster off itself.

  Carrier sat up and turned around to see Bearadon rear up on her hind legs. With carrier sitting down and Bearadon standing on her hind legs, the robot and the kaiju were roughly the same height. Bearadon wrapped her thick arms around the robot’s torso and then forced it onto its back. Bearadon roared, lifted her claw into the air, and then brought it down across Carrier’s chest, leaving three deep gouge marks in her wake. Bearadon was preparing to strike again when Carrier’s good hand reached up and grabbed the mammalian beast by the throat. Carrier maintained its grip as it pushed the kaiju off its chest. Carrier then stood up, lifted Bearadon off the ground by her throat, and then choke slammed her into the street.

  The mech was preparing to continue his attack on Bearadon when it was suddenly engulfed in flames. The mech looked to the right
just as Leviathan dove at its knees and tackled it to the ground. Leviathan grabbed the robot’s huge head, and with one twist, he yanked it off the mech’s torso. He then threw his weight onto Carrier’s right arm and pinned it to the ground. The reptilian monster turned his head briefly to see Bearadon standing up behind him. He roared and then motioned his head in the direction of Carrier’s left arm. Bearadon understood her teammate’s suggestion and crawled up on top of the robot’s body.

  Carrier was lifting its left arm to strike Leviathan when Bearadon wrapped her arms around it and then pinned it to the ground. Both Leviathan and Bearadon looked up to see Chagon crawling through the rubble toward the exposed cavity where Carrier’s head had once been. As strong and as heavy as both Leviathan and Bearadon were, they were having difficulty holding the powerful Carrier to the ground. Bearadon looked at Chagon and she roared, pleading with her friend to move as quickly as possible. Chagon doubled her speed, and when she reached the downed mech, she crawled into its body.

  The moment that Chagon entered Carrier’s body, the mech sat up and thrust its arms forward, sending both Leviathan and Bearadon tumbling down the street. The two kaiju rolled with the force of the attack and quickly regained their feet. Leviathan looked over at Bearadon who nodded. Then the two monsters sprang onto the robot. Bearadon attacked the robot’s left leg and Leviathan its right while Chagon continued to tear the robot apart from inside. Carrier backhanded Bearadon, knocking her over then it reached down and grabbed Leviathan by the throat. The mech had lifted the kaiju off his feet and then suddenly stopped moving. Leviathan pulled the mech’s fingers off his throat, and as he dropped to the ground, he saw Chagon crawling back out of the hole atop the robot’s body. She slithered down the side of the defeated robot just as Bearadon had finished standing up. The three kaiju looked to the waterfront and the naval base to see Garudasaurus engaged in battle with both Battleship and Cutter. Bearadon roared and then led the charge as the three kaiju raced to assist their leader.

  Jerome took an extra second to look at Michelle as she jumped out of the TR-3B. He had not consciously meant to try and put her out of harm’s way, but when she pointed out to him that he had done just that, he tried to own up to his decision. Jerome strove to be the type of leader who listened to those under his command and who could admit when he was wrong. The issue he was facing now was that his relationship with Michelle had literally evolved overnight from one of commander and trusted lieutenant to something that he couldn’t define. He also admitted to himself that a small part of him was concerned that he may just have sent Michelle off to fight the largest battle robot ever constructed with the possibility that she was carrying his child.

  Jerome had never considered having a relationship with anyone, let alone being a father and having a child with another member of his team. Granderson yelled that they were hovering over the naval yard and that he was bringing them in for a landing. Jerome made a note that in order to continue being as effective a leader as possible that he would need to better comprehend his own feelings about his relationship with Michelle and then to discuss it with her and what it meant for them. He also realized that part of that conversation would have to occur with Nick and Miki as their already new relationship was now affected by the revelation that the world was depending on them to reproduce as well. Jerome shook his head and convinced himself that for now all that he could do was to acknowledge that his inner turmoil was affecting his ability to lead and to make sure that he would address the situation as soon as he could.

  Jerome saw the hatch to the TR-3B open and knew that Thomas, Brian, and the rest of the people they had recruited in Chicago needed him to be totally focused on protecting them. Jerome reminded himself that none of the issues between himself and Michelle would matter if they failed in their mission to create the World Wide EMP and put a stop to the ever-increasing number of giant robots around the world.

  Captain Granderson landed his TR-3B next to the naval base and the other three TR-3Bs landed next to them. When the hatch opened, Jerome was pleased to see that while the rest of the city was utterly destroyed that the naval base was relatively undamaged. Thomas and Brian Linke were both relatively sure that this would be the case as the Signal was using the base to create its giant robots. Based on the destruction he had witnessed in other cities, Jerome had a hard time believing that the robots would leave anything intact but he was glad to see that the majority of the base and hopefully the detonators were relatively undamaged.

  Jerome jumped out of his TR-3B just as Thomas and his team were exiting Captain Okafor’s craft. The young soldier yelled to his mentor, “Run for the naval base. I will stay out here! We don’t want to alert the robots to the fact that we are here! I won’t transform unless if I see Cutter or Battleship heading over this way! Get in and out of there as quickly as you can. The world is counting on you!”

  Jerome watched as Thomas led the group of volunteers into the abandoned naval base. He then quickly looked to the center of the city to see his teammates engaged in a battle with the Gargantuan Carrier. He wished that he was able to help his friends in their struggle against the titanic robot, but he knew that his role in this mission was of vital importance. He turned his attention to the north end and west ends of the former city where Battleship and Cutter were rummaging through the remains of buildings. Both of the robots had numerous cannons and turret guns positioned on various parts of their bodies. It was obvious to Jerome that the robots were searching for any surviving humans that might still be hiding in the remains of the city. Every fiber of Jerome’s being screamed for him to transform into Garudasaurus and to destroy the robots before they found another human, but he knew that he needed to hold his position. As much as it pained him that the robots might be killing or capturing people that he could save, he knew that the fate of the entire species was resting on the success of his current mission, and his current mission called for him to ensure that Thomas and his science team were able to retrieve the detonators they need.

  Jerome’s fears came true when he saw Battleship move a pile of rubble to find a group of roughly five survivors. Jerome could see a man, a woman, and three young children. He watched as the robot pointed its gun at the family who had resorted to falling on their knees in prayer. Jerome wanted desperately to change into Garudasaurus and fly to the praying family like a guardian angel, but he knew that even if he was already in his kaiju form that he would not reach them in time. Jerome felt the urge to look away from the horror that was about to occur but he forced himself to watch it so that he remembered who and what he was fighting for. As he watched the family blown to pieces before his eyes, the image of he and Michelle holding a young child in their arms as a robot stood above them with its guns ready to fire flashed through his mind.

  Jerome gritted his teeth and made a small promise to the family that had just been slain by Battleship. “I may not have been your guardian angel, but I will be your avenging angel.”

  Thomas and his team were moving through the naval base as quickly as possible. While they knew that the detonators were within the facility, they were not sure exactly where they were located. Their first step was to locate the records department. The naval base and the detonators were both relics of a bygone era. The base had volumes of paper records that would tell them exactly where all of the resources and materials within the base were located. Thomas had guessed that the records room would be in the basement and he quickly lead the team there.

  The Instructor was pleased when he found a door marked Records Room and Archives. Thomas grabbed the door handle, but he was surprised when he found that the door was locked. He checked the handle to see that the thick metal door had an electronic lock that had been magnetically sealed. He turned around to the rest of his group. “The door lock must have been engaged when the EMP was dropped on the city. It appears to be sealed shut.”

  One of the volunteers shouted, “There must be something on the TR-3B that we can use to blow t
he door open!”

  Thomas shook his head. “Undoubtedly there is, but we cannot guarantee that when we blow the door that we won’t also inadvertently destroy the records that we need as well.”

  Brian Linke walked to the front of the group and he examined the locking mechanism. After taking a close look at the lock, he turned to Thomas. “This door is under tons of concrete. The lock itself doesn’t seem to have been damaged by the EMP. I think that it’s just stuck in the locked position because the network it is connected to was destroyed.” Brian reached into his backpack and pulled out his laptop. “I think that I can connect this laptop directly to the door and override the locking system, but if the lock is still intact, it will likely reconnect to whatever is left of the internet. There is a good chance that as soon as I plug this into the lock that the robots will know that we are here.”

  Thomas nodded. “Do it. We need those blueprints. Garudasaurus can protect us from the robots.”

  Brian took out several cords from his backpack. He attached them to his laptop then he pulled a panel off the wall that housed part of the locking mechanisms interior wiring. Brian used a knife to peel the covering off the wires in the panel and the wires he had connected to his laptop. He quickly spliced the wires together then he turned on his laptop. The expert programmer began feverishly typing on his computer, and in under three minutes, he had managed to get the door to unlock. The door slid open, and when it did, the entire building shook and the loud-pitched screech of Garudasaurus could be heard echoing through the empty base.

  Thomas helped Brian up to his feet. “We have to hurry!”