“Run,” repeated the man in black, and run she did.
Richard stood on the observation deck and stared at the carnage below, the odd recording stick he had been given capturing everything. Most of the city had been evacuated, but not all of it, and even from this height, he could still see the monsters below attacking the few defenseless people who had fallen behind in the evacuation.
Defenseless. That word definitely applied here. Richard had briefly wondered why the military had not responded to the attack yet, only to remember that Japan no longer had a proper military to respond with. There was a self-defense force, but it had far too many restraints in place to keep them from responding in time, and Richard had the distinct feeling that any regular military would be easily overwhelmed by the Kaiju anyway.
In short, Operation Red Dragon was on its own. This fight would see a single flying battleship, six advanced-but-still-puny fighter jets, and a trio of government-brand superheroes holding their own against a quartet of demigods and their prehistoric legions of untold thousands.
And here he was in the middle of it all, a reporter who could do absolutely nothing but bear witness to this madness.
Richard watched as the tiny resistance launched dramatically from the Akira, charging into a fray they knew they were not likely to win. It all seemed so unreal, more like a movie than history playing out before his very eyes
“Best seat in the house, don’t you think?”
Richard jumped in surprise at the voice. It was Nancy, who had just entered. Although her question sounded as casual as ever, her voice carried some concern in it. She was clutching the cross on her necklace tightly.
Richard was surprised at this sign of concern until he realized that this experience with the Daikaiju was new for her as well. Indeed, how brave could anyone be in the face of Armageddon?
As the moment of surprise passed, he nodded. “I guess.” His tone was even less confident than hers. “Do you really think the other Daikaiju will show up? Kozerah and the others?”
“I have no doubt of it.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Faith.”
Richard frowned. “Faith in monsters like that? I find that a bit hard to buy into.”
“It’s no different than faith in God, if you ask me. The Daikaiju are just as unknowable and unpredictable, but they come through when we need them.”
Richard looked at Nancy with inquisitive, skeptical eyes. “You believe in God? Like, the traditional Holy Trinity God?”
She nodded. “Yeah, among other things. It’s gotten me through some pretty rough patches in my life.”
Richard’s eyes darted from Nancy’s face to the cross around her neck. He had been wondering why she wore that, and now he had an answer. Even so, he shook his head. “That’s great for you, Nancy, but frankly, I’m having a hard time reconciling all of this insanity about dragons and mutants with the Bible.”
“You just haven’t read the books they left out like I have,” Nancy said. “Vatican Secret Archives, Section Fifty-four. Besides, after everything you’ve seen so far, is the idea of God really that outlandish?”
“Everything I’ve seen so far already is outlandish!” Richard exclaimed, and in so doing, he saw exactly what she meant. “Okay, I guess I get what you’re saying. Nonetheless, Kozerah, Andrea, and Armadagger still aren’t here yet.”
Nancy pointed out the window. “No they’re not, but he is.”
Richard followed Nancy’s finger, expecting to see X flying by.
Instead, he saw something completely new to him.
Marching across the top of the Akira as X and the General had done before, Richard saw something that looked to be equal parts machine and creature. The upright torso was covered in pale blue armor separated into three pieces, each of which met at the top in a thick upturned spike. This same pale blue metal also formed the entirety of its four limbs. At the ends of each arm, enormous pairs of scissor blades jutted out in place of hands, and dull silver hooks took the place of feet. From its back rose a pair of forward-facing membranes that looked like sails, and nestled between them was a large rocket that almost looked like something out of a cartoon. Any exposed skin was leathery and colored a rich but flat yellow. Swaying behind it was a tail as long as its body, at the end of which spun a circular sawblade.
The head was the strangest part of all. There appeared to be the beginnings of a natural dark-brown beak, but it was broken off in odd places, and the rest of it had been replaced with the pale blue metal, sculpted to match the missing organic parts and serrated at the edges. Over the top of its cranium, something like a helmet was fused to the skin, from which rose spikes arranged like the points of a crown. Over where the eyes should have been was a visor that glowed with a singular blue light that somehow conveyed a great intelligence.
Richard realized that he had seen this glowing blue eye before. “Wait a minute…” He thought back to the corridor where he had first seen the light. “Is that what was behind those doors with, uh, the letters on them?” So much had happened that he had forgotten what the letters had spelled.
Nancy nodded. “Yup. That’s our ace in the hole, the only Daikaiju on the government payroll. He was torn to shreds when we found him in the Arctic, so we patched him up, and now he protects us in return. Behold the Cybernetically-Integrated Giant Ornitho-Robot, better known as CIGOR.”
With a piercing metallic screech like the sound of a thousand church organs, CIGOR took to the air as the rocket on his back ignited, and then he did the impossible.
He grew.
CHAPTER 17
CIGOR landed hard on the pavement, crushing several Kaiju under his clawed feet. Now at his true height, roughly two-hundred and sixty feet tall, he stood equal to Barracudasaurus, who was greatest among his foes.
CIGOR’s ability to grow and shrink at will was a natural part of his physiology, a power that the humans who had revived him still did not understand, especially since it defied the known laws of physics on nearly every level. He not only increased in size, but mass, and even the inorganic portions which now comprised so much of his body had adopted this power once they were attached. It was as though the governing forces of nature meant nothing to CIGOR.
This power’s implications toward man’s understanding of the universe aside, it was undeniably useful in a fight.
A few Kaiju snapped at his metal legs, but he paid them no heed. The armor on his body may have been manmade, but the alloy’s strength intensified with his height, so he could not even feel the biting and clawing of the lesser beasts. His tail swayed behind him in a fashion similar to an angered cat, the spinning blade on the end slicing through any creature in its path.
Soon enough, the humans he resided with distracted the Kaiju, drawing them away to another part of the city, and they left CIGOR’s thoughts entirely. The Kaiju were not his concern. He was a Daikaiju, a living demigod, as were the four titans who stood before him. He was here for them.
CIGOR took a step towards his enemies and struck a fighting pose, screeching a challenge at his enemies.
Exoskel replied by spitting a fireball from his strange mouth.
Instantly, a beam of blue light shot from CIGOR’s visor, and spread out in front of him to form a wavering force field. The fireball exploded harmlessly against the energized wall.
CIGOR took another step and lurched forward. As though it had been pushed, the projected force field shot ahead of him, slamming into his opponents with incredible power and knocking them into nearby buildings, which collapsed and covered them in debris. Now too distant to be maintained, the shield dissipated into the air.
CIGOR took stock of his work. Barracudasaurus, Exoskel, and Allorex were down, struggling to pull themselves from the rubble.
He realized too late that Wanirah had avoided the attack by falling flat on the ground.
With shocking speed, the crocodilian leviathan lunged at him. His jaws snapped shut just shy of CIGOR’s be
ak, but the momentum still carried him forward into a successful tackle. CIGOR stumbled backwards and extended his arms out straight to either side. The blades dug deep into the buildings which flanked him, slowing his backward descent enough for him to regain his footing and stay partially upright.
Wanirah was too close to twist his head around and bite his biomechanical foe, so he flailed his stubby arms about, clawing at CIGOR’s armored torso. Sparks flew at each strike.
For an instant, CIGOR’s eye changed from blue to blinding white, and a searing laser bolt flared and struck Wanirah in the chin. It was not enough to pass through him, but it burned, scorching the soft skin of the gator’s underside. Wanirah fell back, half pushing himself away, half repelled by the blast, and landed flat on his belly in a protective stance.
Now believing the advantage to be his, CIGOR pressed his attack, firing an unending volley of pulsing white laser bolts at his foe. Though Wanirah’s armored back protected him from serious injury, he was nonetheless pinned.
CIGOR might have been able to wear the beast down if a fireball had not caught him in the shoulder. Unprepared for the blow, he fell into a building which collapsed its full weight onto his back.
He had been careless in losing track of the other three. While Wanirah had been on the offensive, they had recovered.
Allorex charged, mouth agape, intent on taking a bite out of CIGOR. His sights were set on the cyborg’s tail, which was clear of debris and resting limply on the cracked street.
Reacting as quickly as possible, CIGOR lifted his tail into a defensive poise just in time for Allorex to clamp his jaws on the spinning sawblade. The massive dinosaur instantly reeled backward, sparks flying from his mouth as the metal scraped at his teeth. He shook his head as the vibrations rang through his mouth with disorienting fury, but wasted little time before striking again, to similar effect.
With Allorex occupied, CIGOR began pulling himself out from under the rubble.
Barracudasaurus and Exoskel circled around him, ready to strike while he was still vulnerable.
They never got the chance.
A prehistoric chorus sang out from the ocean, silencing every Kaiju and human in Tokyo.
*****
On the Akira’s observation deck, Richard felt chills run up his spine as the sounds echoed across the city. The windows around him shook so violently he was afraid they might shatter, destroying the only barrier between him and the chaos below.
Nancy, on the other hand, smiled at the sound. She looked almost overjoyed to hear it.
Apparently, her faith had been rewarded.
CHAPTER 18
Michael Sun burst into the control room overlooking the hangar where Panzer Indigo was housed. Colonel Stingray and Sam Sigma were already there, the latter looking rather like a very satisfied eel.
“What are you doing?!” Mike shouted, not because he had to be heard over the mechanical cacophony in the hangar, but because he was angry.
“We’re preparing to launch Panzer Indigo,” Stingray said as though the matter were settled.
Sigma walked towards Mike, getting uncomfortably close simply so he could rub his victory in. “In case you haven’t heard,” he said, “Tokyo has gone from the world’s most crowded city to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s worst nightmare, so we’re responding, just like the rest of the world expects us to do. Somebody has to save mankind from these monsters, wouldn’t you agree?”
Mike was having none of it. He pushed Sigma out of his way with more force than was needed, knocking him into a standing coat tree with a thud which would have been more satisfying if Mike was not in a rush to prevent a disaster.
He ran to Stingray’s side. “Colonel, we’ve got people there who are already responding! Operation Red Dragon can handle it, and the Daikaiju-”
“The Daikaiju don’t share our interests, Mr. Sun,” Stingray interrupted. His sunglass-shaded gaze remained transfixed on the giant robot beyond the observation window. “As for your Red Dragons, they’re a freak show full of loose cannons.”
Mike massaged his temples in frustration. “That’s Sigma talking, Stingray! They’ll protect us! I told you what happened earlier when-”
“Oh yes, earlier,” Sigma snarled as he reentered the conversation. He was rubbing a part of his arm which had been bruised by his fall. “Your little fairy tale where you think the giant echidna protected you from the dinosaurs. And I suppose Kozerah is a friend to all children, right?”
“Shut up!” Mike yelled, then turned back to Stingray. “I’m telling you, Colonel, sending Panzer Indigo to Tokyo will just make things worse! You have to trust me!”
Sigma let out a short, sharp laugh. “Hah! Yes, trust him! Trust that human ingenuity means nothing against a bunch of mindless lizards and bugs! Trust that a bunch of science projects know more about the cosmos than the scientists who made them! Trust the inconsistent man who, just the other day, voiced his full support for the very thing he’s now trying to stop!”
“And what are you in support of?” Mike shot back. “You just want this to happen so you can have more power! That’s all you’ve ever wanted! Even if this crazy scheme does work, it’ll start a new arms race, and as head of America’s top secret weapons development program, you’ll get to be in charge of it!”
“In your opinion.”
The intercom buzzed to life as an electronic female voice crackled through. “Panzer Indigo prepped and ready to go. Awaiting permission to launch.”
Mike took a step that placed him right in front of Stingray, obscuring his view of Panzer Indigo. “George,” he said, his voice softer and filled with pleading. “Don’t do this. Please.”
Deafening silence filled the observation room. Colonel Stingray’s brow furrowed as he thought.
He inhaled slowly, then exhaled just as slowly.
“If mankind’s survival is to have any meaning at all,” he said, “then we need to win it for ourselves.”
He pressed the intercom button. “Permission granted. Launch Panzer Indigo.”
Everything in Mike’s perception became fuzzy as he fell into a nearby chair, defeated. He was barely aware of the massive robot rising up behind him. He refused to acknowledge Sigma’s haughty smile. He was only somewhat cognizant of when Sigma and Stingray left for the command center.
As his senses returned to him, he found himself full of energy once more.
He ran out of the control room, knowing what had to be done. There was a chance it would get him charged with treason, but for the greater good of the world, it needed to be done.
He had to contact the Akira immediately.
Barracudasaurus waded into the water of Tokyo Bay, swatting a fighter from the sky as one might swat a mosquito, knocking it hard into the water. He barked – at least, the noise sounded like barking – three times, and the hundreds of monsters that lived in the sea swarmed around him.
Ahead, Kozerah and Armadagger broke the surface of the water, their emergence sending tidal waves smashing into the shore. Andrea flew overhead, her flock trailing behind her in an ever-swirling thunderous cloud. She ignored Barracudasaurus, passing into the city where the half-metal cyclops had regained its footing to re-enter the fray.
As Kozerah and Armadagger drew closer, Barracudasaurus roared a command, and his legions of sea beasts charged forward. This was a sacrifice, he knew, and a part of him hated to do it. Few, if any, would survive this assault, but it was necessary for victory. Besides, the oceans of the world were teaming with millions more of his subjects.
The Kaiju hit their enemies with everything they had, digging teeth and claws into reptilian flesh.
Armadagger was barely affected. His armor did its job perfectly, injuring any creature that managed to avoid getting swatted aside.
Kozerah had no armor, but no wound inflicted on him was too severe. Surface scratches, nothing more, each one healing instantly. No Kaiju that managed to score a hit on him evaded his own lethal strikes.
The w
ater of Tokyo Bay ran dark red within minutes.
Barracudasaurus gave his enemies no time to recover from the onslaught. He was upon them instantly, moving with a speed that belied his tremendous size. He rammed his shoulder into Kozerah’s chest, knocking him back. Simultaneously, his tail swept toward Armadagger, the vertical fin at the end scooping up water that shot in sharp bolts towards the synapsid’s eyes. The cold, salty, blood-soaked impact stung, causing Armadagger to instinctively rear back and raise his hands to shield his face, exposing his unprotected belly.
One extra kick ensured that Kozerah was down, at least for a moment, then Barracudasaurus struck at Armadagger, his needlelike claws tearing at the exposed soft flesh over and over.
A shift in the water told him that Kozerah was recovering. Swift as the breeze, Barracudasaurus delivered a series of rapid fire punches to Armadagger’s wounded underside, stunning him, then spun and leapt, driving a nasty right hook into Kozerah’s jaw.
The advantage belonged to him.
He would win. He was sure of it.
A flicker of light caught his eye.
Kozerah’s horns glowed brighter and brighter, and a matching glow shone from inside his mouth.
Barracudasaurus wailed as purple fire seared his silvery scales.
Steel groaned and concrete buckled as Andrea landed atop a building which, prior to that, had been untouched by the battle. A jet of flame poured from her beak, sweeping across the streets below to ignite any opponent who was not smart enough to flee. Her children were swarming through the air in a twisting cloud, grappling with the flying insects the same way they had done on the other side of the ocean.
Two strange things caught Andrea’s eyes as she took in the battlefield. The first was the oblong metallic log floating above the city. Thinking about it, she had seen this thing before, though only from a distance, and never with so many sparks flying from it. Yet at each spark, an enemy fell.
Operation Red Dragon: The Daikaiju Wars: Part One Page 15