Kaiju Corps

by Matthew Dennion

  Jerome smiled at her. “Hey, it’s all good. We are fighting a war where the best outcome we can hope for is to save less than twenty percent of the world population. The stress is getting to all of us in different ways.”

  Michelle took several deep breaths to stop herself from laughing. “It’s not the war, Jerome. It’s the other thing we have to do.” She walked closer to Jerome, knelt down in front of him, and grabbed his hands. “I talked to Susan after my battle in Buffalo and before coming out here. Do you know what the rest of the plan for our counter-attack is from here?”

  Jerome nodded. “We are going to secure several other cities along the Great Lakes and then the East Coast. The Instructors also have some type of plan to use nuclear bombs to create EMPs in the upper atmosphere that will stop the production of the robots.”

  She stopped him from talking. “Think about right now and tomorrow, Jerome. At best, we can secure two cities, and even if the Instructors are able to successfully enact their plan tomorrow, we are still facing insurmountable numbers. Think about how many giant robots have already been created. Then think about how many more robots will be created by the end of tomorrow in cities that have yet to be exposed to an EMP. We have seen factors generate a robot every half an hour in some cases. Even after we secure the Lakes and the East Coast, there will still be hundreds if not thousands of robots across the planet. After those robots clear out the human population around the area they were created in, they are going to look for more people. Their programming will not be complete until they have set up their fully functioning farm here on Earth.” She looked away from Jerome. “We are going to spend the rest of our lives fighting to protect what’s left of the human population, and even then, it won’t be enough.”

  Jerome shook his head and he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Michelle, we can’t look at this war like that. We can only address each battle as it happens and all that we can give is ourselves and everything that we have. We have to believe that we can win this war. We have to believe that one day we will once again live on a relatively peaceful planet.”

  Michelle stood up and walked away from Jerome. She was silent for a moment as she collected her thoughts. She shook her head and turned around to face her team leader. “Jerome, I have never been good with approaching issues in a delicate fashion.” She sighed. “The truth is, I thought that I could accept what we have to do without issue, but now seeing you here, this is more difficult than I ever would have imagined.” She took a step back in Jerome’s direction. “I have talked to the Instructors about the next phase of their plan going forward. The truth of the matter is they firmly believe that this war will rage on long after we are gone. With the destruction of the Horsemen facilities around the world, they lack the means to create more soldiers like us.” Michelle moved slightly closer to Jerome so that she was standing directly in front of him. “Jerome, we need to ensure the continuation of our species so that humanity will still have a Kaiju Corps to protect them after we are gone.”

  Jerome’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened as the realization of what Michelle was saying dawned on him. “Wait, what? Do you know what you are saying? Do you know what you are asking of me?”

  Michelle nodded. “I know what I am asking of you. I am also fully aware that neither of us fully understand what the full implications of what I am asking means to either of us.”

  Jerome stood up. “Michelle, only yesterday we first entered into a war. Since then, we have lost millions of people, we have lost our home, and we still have countless battles ahead of us. We could die in any one of those encounters.” He began to pace around the room. “Then they want me to be a father in all of this? Not only to be a father who could die at any second, but a father who is raising a child specifically to be a weapon!” He looked toward Michelle. “How are we supposed to be parents when we never really had parents ourselves? Then why are you and I just supposed to breed? Don’t we get any say in who we love and who we want to be with?” Jerome realized what he had said and he looked at his teammate. “Michelle, I am sorry that wasn’t meant as a slight against you. I do love you as a friend and a teammate. You are a stunningly beautiful woman. It’s just that the thought of being with someone and of having a family… These are things that I thought I would never have. I have always focused on the mission. On what I had to do to win a battle. This is just something that’s out of my depth, something that I am not prepared for.”

  Michelle walked to Jerome and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know how you feel, Jerome. Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. You know that I more than anyone have been a person who was focused on my mission and on doing what I had to do. I had thought that this might come up when the war first started. I was preparing myself for it, and I was preparing for you. It looks like Nick and Miki have finally admitted their feelings for each other. It won’t be long until those feelings lead them to having a child on their own.” She placed her forehead against Jerome’s. “This may be something that we have to do as part of our mission, but it can also be more than that. This war has caused all of us to reevaluate our lives. I had never thought about having a child, let alone who I would have it with, but you are correct when you said that we could die tomorrow. There is a good chance that we won’t make it to the end of this war. I don’t want this war to be my life. I want someone to fight for other than just the faceless numbers that are the human race. Whatever life we have ahead of us, I want it to have as much meaning for us as possible. I know that we don’t have feelings for each other the way that Nick and Miki do, but I do know what feelings I have for you. I feel that you are the bravest, most selfless person that I know. I know that you are a born leader and that your sense of determination is second to none. I am proud to call my friend and my commander. If there was anyone whose traits I would want to be a part of my child, it would be you. If there was anyone who I thought would be the best possible father to a child, it would be you. Do you find any of those traits in me?”

  Jerome nodded slightly. “You are the bravest person I know. You would fight until every last ounce of energy left your body to protect someone that you love. When everything crumbles around me, you are the rock that I look to for stability. I have no doubt that you would be a loving and devoted mother.”

  Michelle kissed him. “We can work out how we feel about each other later. Right now, let’s focus on ensuring that we have more to life than just endless war. You and I are always focused on other people around us and what they need. For now, why don’t we focus on each other and take our next step from there.” She kissed Jerome again, and as she did so, she pulled him over toward her bed.

  Nick had slept for six hours when there was a knock on his door. He eagerly sprang out of bed, hoping that he would open his door to find Miki standing there. Nick was surprised to see Thomas standing in his doorway. It had been over an hour since he had spoken to Thomas, but every word of their conversation still resonated within his mind. He found himself running one sentence through his mind over and over again.

  “I am sorry, Nick, to have to be the one who tells you this, but Timothy is gone. He died a hero. He and many other people sacrificed themselves to prevent an army of TR-3B based robots from being constructed. You should be proud of him just as I know that he is proud of you.”

  Thomas would go on to tell Nick that if he needed him that he would be there for him. That Nick could always come and talk to him especially now in light of what had occurred. Nick’s already overwhelmed emotions caused him to shut down. He thanked Thomas for the information and then asked for so time to himself.

  Nick couldn’t fathom the fact that Timothy was gone. Everything in his life that he trained for and longed for was occurring and the one constant in his life, the one person he could truly confide in, was gone forever. Nick wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. His mind was beginning to fill with anger. He could feel his muscles and bones shifting beneath his skin and he knew that if he didn’t do som
ething soon that he would change into Leviathan in the middle of the hotel. He ran out into the hallway and toward Jerome’s room. Nick pounded on the door and called for his friend, but there was no answer. His spine cracked as it was in the process of realigning itself. Nick strained his back as he tried to fight the transformation. He then ran to the stairs and sprinted down to the floor that Miki and Michelle were staying on.

  He ran into the hallway to see that his foot had already turned green. He rushed toward Miki’s door and he went to knock on it, but instead of a hand wrapping on the door, a clawed fist burst through it.

  Miki was immediately awoken from her sleep when she heard Nick yell, “Miki, I need you!”

  She ran to her partially destroyed door to see Nick’s changing face through the hole he had punched in it. She flung open the door, grabbed the man she loved, and pulled him into her room. She cradled him just as he had cradled her the day before when her emotions had overwhelmed her. She whispered to him, “Nick, calm down. You have to calm down.”

  Nick screamed, “I can’t! Timothy is dead.”

  Miki gasped. “Oh my God, Nick.” She could feel him changing in her hands. She knew that he was only moments away from reaching a height and weight that would destroy the floor they were on and then the entire hotel. She whispered in his ear, “Nick, the anger is causing you to change, but that’s not what you really feel. The anger is just what’s easiest for you to express, but it’s the pain and sadness at your loss that you need to let out. Look at how far you have come in being able to control both your emotions and your kaiju-self in the past few days. You have shifted in and out of your kaiju form with ease because you were in control of your emotions and you expressed them. You expressed your love for me, you directed your anger at the robots, and now you have to let yourself feel the sorrow that is within you from losing Timothy. Please, Nick, let the pain come out.”

  Nick wailed loudly as tears burst out of his eyes, “Timothy is gone! I need him now more than ever and he is gone!”

  As he cried, Miki could feel his body shifting back into place in her arms. She whispered to him, “I have got you, Nick. I will be here for you from now on.”

  When Nick’s body had fully settled back into his human form, he hugged her. The two of them cried for several minutes as Nick let loose his pain. Miki held him the entire time, and when it was over, he looked into her eyes. He smiled at her. “Miki, I love you too. I have loved for years, I just didn’t know how that applied to us. I didn’t know how the Horsemen or Jerome and Michelle would react to my feelings, but I have learned over the past two days that none of that matters. The world that we knew is gone and the only way that I can face this new world is with you. I love you, Miki, and whatever lies ahead of me for the rest of my time on this planet, I want to experience it with you.”

  Miki kissed him back and said, “We will be there for each other, Nick. I have loved you for as long as I can remember. No matter what this world has in store for us, not matter what battles we have to fight, I will love you.”

  The two of them hugged then Miki pulled Nick over toward her bed. She gently laid down on the bed and then she pulled him close to her. The two of them embraced each other as they slowly drifted back to sleep.

  Chapter 16

  The Atlantic Ocean

  Captain Erik Creany was piloting his TR-3B over the ocean with the other remaining seven TR-3Bs flying in a V pattern behind him. The last communication that any of the TR-3B pilots who were operating outside of the US had received was from their squadron leader Captain Richards. Richards had ordered them to deliver their last EMPs then to meet at Horsemen facility in Spain. When the pilots met outside of the facility, they were instructed to follow the directions of a civilian programmer who had sent them instructions on how to disconnect their craft from external communications. The programmer’s instructions were easy to follow, and it took the pilots less than an hour to protect their craft from possible take-over by the Signal. With the TR-3Bs secure against the Signal’s influence, the pilots’ final order was to fly to the Great Lakes area and to search for the Kaiju Corps, the remaining Horsemen, and other TR-3Bs. There they would join the insurgency and aid in the war against the machines.

  Captain Creany was doing his best to keep the fleet in a tight formation, as visual confirmation was the only way that the TR-3B pilots could keep track of each other. Beyond their line of sight, the pilots had no idea what was in the sky with them. As their lead pilot in the formation, Creany took it as his personal responsibility to lookout for any potential threats. There was a good deal of cloud cover in the skies below them, but the air in front of them was clear.

  The middle-aged pilot was staring intensely at the sky in front of him when he thought he saw some sort of oddly shaped dark black object flying toward them from the east. He tried to focus his vision to get a better look at the object when it dove down and flew into the clouds. Creany cursed because he had no idea if any of the other pilots had seen the object, and he had no way to contact them to warn them of the potential threat. Creany said a quick prayer that either his eyes were playing tricks on him or that he had seen something as mundane as a flock of geese. Creany decided that in the current environment that it was better to proceed with caution. The pilot banked his craft to the left and away from the cloud bank he had seen the object fly into. Once he was sure that the other TR-3Bs had followed his lead, he increased the speed of his craft beyond the capabilities of any other craft on the planet. Creany shifted his chair around and was glad to see that the other crafts in the squadron had also increased their speed. Creany wasn’t sure what he had seen, but now he was not overly concerned about it. Whatever he had seen was now behind the squadron, and there was no way possible that the object would be able to catch up to them let alone engage them.

  The pilots continued to make their way toward the United States for another five minutes when Creany looked down to see the black object flying roughly a thousand feet below them. He shook his head in disbelief as he realized that he was looking at a giant robot that was constructed from the parts of TR-3Bs. The ace pilot felt a cold chill run through his body when the robot’s pitch black and pointed head turned toward him and stared back at him.

  Creany cursed, “Damn it! The Signal must have compromised the TR-3B plant in the Catskills!” Creany pulled his ship hard and to the left as he engaged in evasive maneuvers. While his craft was shifting its position in mid-air, he saw the robot point its arm at the squadron. Creany screamed when he saw what looked like circles of pure force pulsating out of the robot’s arm and streaking toward the TR-3Bs. The two TR-3Bs that were directly behind Creany were ripped to pieces when the robot’s sonic blast came into contact with them.

  The remaining five TR-3Bs followed Creany’s lead, and they engaged in evasive maneuvers. Creany circled his craft around; he didn’t need to have radio contact with the other craft to know that they were following his lead. Despite the fact that no one could hear him, Creany talked to the robot, “All right, you metallic bastard. You now have the attention of the top pilots in the world behind our most advanced weapons. Kiss your alien-controlled ass goodbye!”

  Creany armed his rockets and machine guns then he opened fire on the oncoming robot. He saw the missiles and bullets of the other TR-3Bs streak past his ship on their way toward the robot as well. Creany cursed when he saw the robot make a ninety-degree turn straight down to avoid the bombardment. Creany and the rest of the TR-3Bs also performed the ninety-degree dive as the pilot yelled, “You’re not the only one with TR-3B technology. We can follow you wherever you go!”

  Creany unleashed another torrent of bullets at the robot. His first few bullets hit the robot, and as soon as they did, the robot began spinning and then it veered to the left. The robot turned around and fired another of its sonic blasts. Creany veered to the right and the other TR-3Bs behind him also veered off course to avoid the blast. Creany laughed. “Fool me once…” Before he could fini
sh his sentence, the robot streaked past Creany and grabbed one of the TR-3Bs behind him. The robot pulled the TR-3B off its flight path and then it tore the craft in half. Creany could see the face of his fellow pilot as he fell past him and the G-force from the speed he was traveling at shredded him to pieces.

  Creany flew his TR-3B in a circle then he flew straight up toward the robot who was positioned above him. Creany launched two more missiles at the mech while a second TR-3B that had positioned itself above the robot opened fire with its machine guns. Creany couldn’t believe his eyes as the robot curved up and out of the path of the duel attack. The robot flew directly at the TR-3B that was firing its machine guns on it and then with a single blow, it sent the craft tumbling to the ocean below. The robot then turned its sonic cannon at another of the advanced craft that was pursuing it, and when the blast struck the craft’s propulsion system, it exploded.

  Creany was moving his craft into position to try and attack the robot again when he saw it dive toward one of the other three craft with a speed and precision that he had never seen exhibited by a TR-3B. When the pilot noticed the robot coming toward him, he veered his craft to the left and accelerated to top speed. Despite the fact that the TR-3B was moving at top speed, the robot was able to catch up to it in a matter of seconds. The robot flew over top of the fleeing TR-3B then it pulled its fist back and drove it through the hull of the craft, causing it to explode.

  Creany shook his head in disbelief as he realized that he was engaging an enemy that was beyond his capabilities to defeat. The robot had the combined speed and power of multiple TR-3Bs, and in addition to that, it obviously had some additional weapons that most TR-3Bs didn’t possess. While the robot’s superior weaponry and speed made it formidable enough, the mech was made all the more dangerous by the fact that it possessed more processing power within its CPU then the combined minds of every human brain on the planet combined.