EPISODE 5: SAVE KIRYU! BRI'S DESPERATE STRUGGLE!

     The dragon-like Kaiju, Manda, roared triumphantly over the disabled mechanical body of Kiryu. In the sky above, Akane circled in the Super X-3 looking helplessly down on the battlefield.

               “Bri!” Akane called out into the mic. “Can you hear me!?” There was no response. “Pero-2, run a diagnostic scan of Kiryu’s systems.”

               “Running scan!” Pero-2 said.

               Akane waited patiently as she continued to circle. By that time Manda caught sight of the Super X-3 and watched with a vengeful stare as it did not forget how the super-jet interrupted its fight with Kiryu. With the aircraft keeping its distance, Manda’s attention became short-lived. It slithered its way to a higher elevation on the small island.

    Once it found a good spot in the sunlight, the massive serpent came coiled around itself until it was in tight spiral form. Upon coming to a rest, Manda closed its eyes and began to bask in the sun’s rays.

    Akane watched curiously for a moment before Pero-2 chimed in, “Scan is complete, Captain.”

    On one of the monitors, a schematic of Kiryu’s internal Mechanisms came up.

    Pero-2’s avatar came up with a pointer in its hand and began to explain, “So there is good news and bad news.” It began pointing to an area in Kiryu’s chest. “The bad news is that the energy discharged by Manda had an effect on Kiryu’s power systems similar to that of an EMP. It’s power core has been completely shut off as well as its auxiliary power system.”

    “That would explain why we lost contact too.” Akane said.

    “Correct.” Pero-2 replied before pointing to Kiryu’s gut. “The good news is that scans indicate that Lieutenant Johnson is alive and it would seem her emergency power supply was unaffected as well. All she needs to do is manually connect it to her console and she’ll regain both radio contact and her Auto-Program.”

    “What about getting Kiryu’s power back?” Akane asked.

    “Running through options,” Pero-2 said, “our best choice would be giving Kiryu a jumpstart. Once the Lieutenant activates her emergency power supply she will have to connect the power resupply cable to her auxiliary power line and we will have to have one of the Heron-units supply it with enough power to start it up.”

    “Good.” Akane said with a bit of relief, before speaking into her mic. “Heron-1 and Heron-2, begin lift-off. We need an immediate power-resupply.”

    Meanwhile, in Kiryu’s pitch-black cockpit, Bri was regaining her bearings. She couldn’t see anything but she could feel that she was sideways. The only thing she could hear was her own panicked breath; heavily inhaling and exhaling in the darkness.

               “Ok…” She said between breaths. “Stay cool… You’re still alive.”

               Gradually she began to calm her breathing. Once was she was able to slow it down considerably, she felt around her pouches along her belt and found a small LED flashlight. She pressed the small button on the stalk, letting out a click, and the incredibly bright light instantly illuminated the dead consoles in front of her.

               “Now…” Bri said to herself, “Everything is completely off… meaning both the main power and auxiliary power are gone…”

               She panned the light around the cockpit. The dead-silence was both a welcoming and haunting feeling.

               “Manda’s not attacking… or at least not now…” Bri said. “I have to get my radio back on… that would mean…” She panned the light back to the console, down to a small metal cabinet below the monitor to her right. “the emergency power!”

               Being on her left side made getting into the cabinet a little awkward to do, but she was able to unlatch and open it. Inside were 2 red and yellow wires connected to a base next a red button with the message below it that read IN CASE OF EMERGENCY CONNECT CABLES AND PRESS BUTTON.

               As the instructions said, Bri connected the wires to the two ports on the console above. Once again, the sideways position made it uncomfortable and awkward but she was able to complete the task and immediately pressed the button thereafter.

               On the monitor, the words STARTING UP appeared in bright blue against the black background. Bri sighed in relief.

               After a few seconds, Ollie’s face appeared on the screen and greeted, “Good to see you in good health, Bri!”

               “Thanks Ollie,” Bri said. “We’re still in trouble though.”

               “I gathered that much.” Ollie said. “Activating your shortwave radio in your helmet now.”

               Flying overhead, Akane heard Bri’s voice, “Kiryu to Super X-3, do you read me?”

               Akane’s attention perked up and she replied, “Yes Kiryu. I read you. Are you injured.”

               “No ma’am.” Bri replied. “But Kiryu is completely disabled.”

               “Roger.” Akane replied. “We’re already working on a way to get you operational again. There will be something you need to do first.”

               “I’m all ears.” Bri said.

               “You need to make your way through Kiryu’s innards to the power junction and manually connect the power resupply line to the auxiliary power line.”

               “I can help with that.” Ollie said.

               “I’ll get right on it then.” Bri said.

               “Roger.” Akane replied. “Let me know when you have the cable connected then. Super X-3, Out.”

               Bri said Ollie, “Well Ollie, you’re my guide. Where do I go from here?”

               “Look above you.” Ollie said. “Er, wait, you’re sideways. Look to the left.”

               Bri looked to her left with the light and saw a hatch.

               “Go through that door. It’ll take you through a network of airducts that lead to Kiryu’s internal systems. I’ll verbally guide you to the power junction.”

               Out at sea, off the coast of the island, the trawler with the Monarch Team watched in stunned silence.

               “Looks like this one is going to take a while…” Ken said.

               “This is incredible!” Akira observed, drawing an annoyed stare from Ken. Even when they captured Baragon, the fight wasn’t THIS suspenseful!”

               “Who’s side are you even on?” Ken asked.

               “I’m on the winning side of course!” Akira said, smug with his arms crossed.

               “Which would be?” Ken asked.

               “To be determined.” Akira replied with a big smile.

               Before Ken could whack his ill-humored friend, one of their colleagues called out, “Doctors come quick! I think Sarah fell overboard!”

               The group followed their frantic colleague to the bow where their gathered at the railings.

               “It was around here!” Their colleague said.

               “You’re sure?” Ken asked.

               “Yes!” The scientist said. “I saw her head out here and then heard a loud splash! By the time I got here, she had gone under!”

               “Have the captain carefully circle around!” Akira ordered. “Some of you go around the sides and back in case she went under the boat!”

               The group scattered about the sides of the boat and scanned the water intensely. Meanwhile the Captain did as requested and slowly circled the boat around a 50 meter area. All the while, like alert meerkats the group kept a sharp eye out for Sarah.

               As the boat came around not far from the original position, a member of the group on the port side shouted, “I see something!”

               The boat came to a slow halt as the group hurried to the port side to see what it was. A figure drifted slowly and ominously to the surface of the water. At first it looked like a torso which raised a bit of alarm, but as it got closer, it was revealed to be the green jacket that Sarah was wearing. Akira quickly snatched up a pole with a hook on the end. He reached out and snagged the jacket with the hook.

               As he brought it in, Ken observed. “That’s definitely hers…”

               “What could have happened?” Akira asked as he removed the jacket from the hook.

               “Likely a riptide…” Ken said. “Amidst all the commotion she likely fell overboard and one suckered her out to sea or under the boat before she had a chance to react.”

               “This…” Akira said with a distraught tone while clenching the jacket. “I can’t believe this happened…

               Everyone took a moment to comprehend what just happened to their teammate. A wave of grief swept over them so tightly that none of them could get any words out.

               Ken could do little more than to put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and say, “Do not blame yourself for this.”

               Akira replied, “All these years of investigating… Never once have I lost anyone under my leadership…”

               “This was not your fault.” Ken reminded him.

               “Still…” Akira said somberly. “I am responsible for my team’s safety. And what’s more, it was her first investigation…”

               Akira continued to stare out morbidly at the water while clenching the jacket in his hands.

               Back inside Kiryu, Bri forced a door open to a narrow corridor. The shaft was only about four feet by four feet which forced her to move in a hunched manner.

               “Well, this is fun.” Bri said sarcastically. “With my luck I’ll find some acid-bleeding creature ready to pounce.”

               As she hustled down the corridor, Ollie’s voice chimed in over her headset, “No acid-bleeding creatures on file. However, Shockirus can be a potential problem.”

               “Shockirus?” Bri asked.

               “Mutated sea-lice that have fed on Kaiju. First discovered in 1984 when the Titan-Kaiju Gojira reappeared after 30 years. They can range in size from 3-5 feet in length and have been known to feed on humans as well. They paralyze their prey with a cocktail of various toxins with their front pincers and then proceed to feed by inserting a proboscis and sucking the bodily fluids out.”

               “How colorful.” Bri said with a disgusted look on her face.

               Soon she reached a 4-way junction with another adjoining shaft.

               “Not to worry.” Ollie said as Bri searched the 3 other corridors with her light. “Kiryu was built with an automatic repellent system to keep the pilots safe from any kind of infestation.”

               “Thanks.” Bri said. “I’m at the first junction.”

               “Continue down.” Ollie said. “At the next junction continue forward and your next stop will be the hatch to the power junction.”

               Bri climbed down the shaft. Just as she reached the next junction, there was a noise above her; a fleeting series of clicks and taps. She looked up with her flashlight and froze. The beam illuminated the shaft above but there was no source of the noise. Slowly she panned the beam of light around but still saw nothing except the metal walls and ladder bars. She paused again to see if the noise would start up again but heard nothing but her own steady breath.

               “Is everything alright, Bri?” Ollie asked.

               “Ollie, you said that Kiryu has a built-in repellent system right?” Bri asked.

               “Correct.” Ollie said. “A special system that scans for any parasitic organisms and then electrocutes… Oh dear.”

               “Shit.” Bri said climbing into the next forward shaft.

               “You have your side-arm handy, yes?” Ollie asked.

               Bri pulled her pistol out of its holster on her thigh and said, “Got it right here.”

               Just then she heard what sounded like a bat’s screech ahead of her. She panned her light onto the ground ahead; her pistol held tightly next to it. Nothing but the metal floor was in the beam of light. Suddenly something leaped at her from the ceiling!

               The ambush knocked Bri to the floor; her hands pushed against her chest. She couldn’t see what just pounced on her, only felt a large shelled body on her with crab-like feet pulling against her. Feeling the creature’s elongated body, she was able to pull her feet up against it and kick it off.

               Bri quickly got to her feet and shined the flashlight on her attacker. The creature was just in the process of flipping itself back onto its feet. Resembling an insect or crustacean, it had a body like a horseshoe crab, 4 feet long with 2 long thorn-like tails, 6 spider-like legs protruding from the sides and 2 needle tipped pincers extending from the front.

               The creature stood poised for another skirmish with its pincers open and the two thorns arched up like a scorpion. Just as it looked like it was about to charge again, Bri fired two shots from her sidearm. Her attacker was struck in the head by both bullets. Pale blue blood and pieces of its shell splattered across the floor and wall as it collapsed onto the floor dead.

               “Shockirus?” Ollie asked.

               “I’m assuming so.” Bri said.

               “Once the auxiliary power is restored, the repellent system will function again.” Ollie said.

               “Moving on then.” Bri said.

               Right as she turned back down the shaft, she heard another screech. She looked back at the junction with the light to see 3 more of the large parasites crawling from both above and below the tunnel system and it sounded like more were on their way. Rather waste time and ammo, she hurried down the shaft towards the hatch at the end.

               Bri moved as fast as she could down the uncomfortably tight space. All the while she could hear the dozens of taps and clicks from the Shockirus’ feet as they crawled after her in hot pursuit. She knew there were more after her than what she saw, but she couldn’t tell how many more. The clicks and taps of their feet echoed endlessly to the point where she couldn’t tell if it was a few dozen, a few hundred, maybe even a few thousand of them.

               Not a moment too soon, Bri reached the hatch for the power junction room and frantically got it open and raced inside. Just when she went to pull the door shut, one of the parasites, managed to catch the door with its forelimbs leaving it open by a few inches. Bri struggled to pull the hatch closed, but the persistent creatures put up a strong resistance; leaving them at a stalemate. Suddenly another one’s forelimbs appeared on the door’s edge. The door began to open wider in the Shockirus’ favor. Before it could get any wider, Bri reached for her weapon with one hand.

               She shouted, “Eat this!” before shooting at the wall outside the hatch from an angle.

               Several of the creatures shrieked from being hit by her ricocheting bullets and the hatch became free from their grasp. Bri slammed the door shut and latched it. She took a moment to catch her breath. From the other side of the door she could hear the remaining Shockirus pounding and scratching in feeble attempts to get inside.

               In the skies above, the two large white planes from the Saratoga broke through a few clouds. Piloting the first one was Nakajima and co-piloted by Hayama. In the second was Mizaki and Peterson. The two planes came into view of Kiryu and the island below.

               “Herons 1 and 2 are on station.” Nakajima said.

               Akane, flying at a lower altitude, looked up at her approaching team members and replied, “Roger, I have visual. Form up on me.”

               The Herons joined the Super X-3 in a v-formation and continued to circle at low altitude.

               Back in Kiryu, Akane’s voice said over the radio, “Bri, are you at the power junction?”

               Bri snatched up the flashlight and responded, “Yes ma’am, I just arrived.”

               “Good.” Akane responded. “Let us know when you have diverted the resupply line.”

               “Roger.” Bri responded. “Ollie, talk me through it.”

               Ollie’s voice responded, “Yes ma’am! Look to your right, there should bee a large power line and a double line built into the wall.”

               Bri shined the light on the wall and saw just what Ollie described and the addition of a middle component that appeared to vertically adjustable. Bri was a little surprised by the size of the lines as they were at 2 feet wide and the middle component retaining the same width but with a length of about 3 feet.

               “I see them.” Bri said.

               “Good.” Ollie said. “The middle connecter should be in the neutral position. You need to manually move it down into the auxiliary position.”

               “Understood.” Bri said.

               She grabbed the handlebar on the connector and began pulling it down. For several seconds, she pulled and pulled. The connector wouldn’t budge. She tried pushing it down, throwing all her wait down from above on it. The connector remained still as a stone. Bri attempted to pull it down again, bracing her feet against the floor and used all her strength in her arms and back. Nothing would back the large component move though.

               “Ollie.” She said with a slight sigh. “This thing isn’t moving. I think its stuck.”

               “It’s not stuck.” Ollie said. “It’s a 300 pound component. It’s going to take a significant amount of force to move.”

               “Well then, I’ll try to apply more force.” Bri said.

               She began looking around the small room for something that could assist her. There were no tools or even spare parts. Her attention then turned upwards where her flashlight shined on a metal railing or pipe. She looked down on the handlebar on the connector and an idea came to her. Bri took off her helmet and then began undoing the top of her flight-suit, revealing the white tank top underneath. She tied the sleeves around her waist and then climbed up to grab ahold of the railing.

               “Time to put all those leg days to good use.” Bri said as she pulled her legs up and placed the arch of her boots against the handlebar.

               She began pushing down on the connector with every ounce of strength in her body. Every muscle in her arms, core, thighs, and calves was at work trying to press the connector down into the appropriate position. After a few seconds she paused to release her breath and then began to start pushing again. Like before, the connector wasn’t budging. After a short while longer, she paused to catch her breath again for a few seconds. She started up again but still to no avail. Her muscles tensed and tightened. Despite undoing her top, her body began to heat up to the point that sweat was starting to build up on every area of exposed skin. A wet spot began to form on the chest area of her tank top.

               “Come on…” Bri growled through her teeth as she continued to push. “Come on!”

               She began stomp on the handlebar repeatedly. The component was not moving at all. Upon landing one of her frustrated stomps, her feet slipped off the edges of the bar. In addition to her sweaty palms slipping off the railing above, she was thrown to the ground by her own force and fell back hard against the wall behind her.

               Bri rubbed the back of her head in pain as she sat against the wall feeling embarrassed, frustrated, and hopeless.

               At that moment she began hearing her own words from the night before in her head, “I found myself questioning if I made the right call.”

               Her doubts started to overwhelm her once again. The image of Manda shocking Kiryu came to mind as well.

               “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” Her words echoed again.

               Though she was not outside looking at it, she started feeling as though Kiryu was looking down on her from the inside. It didn’t help that she could hear the Shockirus outside the hatch still clawing and pounding to get at her. She could hear the faint voices of her teammates over the headset calling out to her. She almost wanted to cry with how desperate her situation felt.

               Just then she began seeing an image in her mind. A large silhouette against a bright sky. It seemed to form out of connector. She blinked her eyes and shook her head thinking she was hallucinating, but the image came more into focus.

               Outside on the trawler, as the group continued to look somberly over the battlefield, Akira still holding Sarah’s jacket, Ken began to feel something. It was like a wave or rush over his body and his senses. He too, shook his head and blinked his eyes wondering what it was he just felt. It suddenly dawned on him what it was that he just sensed. He looked around and pulled away from the group.

               As Ken understood what it was, he uttered to himself, “Auntie?”

               Back in Kiryu, Bri stood up a little alarmed and at the same time curious about this image she was being subjected to. The large shadow came more into focus and her eyes widened as she realized who it was; Godzilla. She stepped back in fear at the sight of the King of the Monsters and suddenly realized she wasn’t inside Kiryu. She had somehow been transported to a helicopter pad out in the middle of the ocean. Furthermore she was not alone with Godzilla staring down at her a hundred yards away. There was teenage girl standing next to her with her eyes closed.

               Bri felt like she knew this girl somehow. It soon dawned on her that it was Director Miki Saegusa but 35 years younger.

               “What’s going on?” Bri asked.

               She came to the realization that Godzilla and Miki were not aware of her presence. Bri watched as Miki stood firm and defiant before the mighty kaiju who stared down this young adversary. Suddenly the world began to flash in a vibrant display of colors as the two engaged in some kind of extrasensory clash. The psychic battle went on for about ten seconds before Miki collapsed against the concrete.

               Bri gasped in fear and then looked up at Godzilla. The beast let out a deep bellowing roar and Bri braced for the worst. Unexpectedly, he did not finish off his foe. He instead turned away and slowly disappeared beneath the waves. She looked back at Miki lying on the ground unconscious.

               “She just stood toe-to-toe with Godzilla…” Bri said. “She didn’t hesitate… Even though she couldn’t win she gave it her all…”

               Bri turned back towards Godzilla only to find that she was back in Kiryu’s cockpit, but there was someone else at the controls. Whoever it was appeared to be in a desperate situation as well. When she walked around to see who it was, she was shocked to see it was Akane.

               “Captain..” Bri uttered.

               “Kiryu!” Akane shouted before pushing forward on the controls. “Power! More Power!”

               “Both of them.” Bri said as she suddenly faded back into the power junction room. “They never doubted themselves… They kept pushing onward no matter what… They never stopped…” Bri looked up at the railing with a new fiery determination. “And neither will I.”

               Bri stood up and wiped her hands on her pants until there was not a hint of sweat on them. She jumped up and grabbed ahold of the railing and then planted her feet on the handlebar. After taking a moment to take in a couple deep breaths she began pressing down on the connector once again. Every muscle in her body tensed up again. With every once of strength, she continued to push. Her face and arms turned bright red.

               “I…” She said through her teeth. “Won’t… Stop! I won’t stop!”

               After a few seconds there was a metallic creaking noise coming from the connector. She good feel it beginning to move. Sweat began to build up once again but she kept pushing. She could feel it starting to move. Her sweat turned into hot steam and her muscles ached to the point where she began to holler.

               Finally, with a loud bellowing creak, the connector went down into the appropriate position. A loud metal thud echoed through the room. Bri dangled from the bar catching her breath; exhausted, relieved, and refreshed.

               She dropped down and spoke into her helmet’s mic, “The connector is in place… Ready to receive a jumpstart.”

               “Good job.” Akane replied. “Hang in there, Bri. Power is on its way.”

               Bri sat down to catch her breath and waited.

               Looking upward she said, “If you can hear me… Thank you…”

               Overhead, the three aircraft began circling back around to Kiryu.

               “Nakajima, deliver the power to Kiryu.” Akane said. “Mizaki, we’re going to cover them.”

               “Roger, Captain.” The two men said.

               The first Heron flew down to Kiryu and Hovered 80 feet over its back plates.

               “In position.” Nakajima said. “Hayama, you ready to deliver the payload?”

               “Already on it.” Hayama said flicking a few switches.

               At that moment, Manda opened its eyes. It’s vertical-slit pupils looked around; it could sense something was going on. The massive serpent rose its head to get a better look and quickly spotted the Heron hovering over Kiryu. At first it seemed curious about the Heron; slightly tilting its head. On the plane’s underside a small radio dish emerged.

               “Microwave energy transfer,” Hayama said, “Initiating now.”

               The dish began sending a blue tinted ray down to Kiryu’s plates. As if Manda knew exactly what was happening, it tightened its glare on the aircraft and let out a roar that caught both pilots’ attention. It slithered down from its resting place towards them. It’s advance was halted, however, by a barrage of rockets striking the ground in front of it with a sudden burst of dirt and explosions.

               Manda reared back in a flinch from the attack and whipped its head in the direction that the rockets came from to see the second Heron and the Super X-3 flying low over the water.

               “Oh no you don’t.” Mizaki said.

               “Pero-2.” Akane said. “Ready freezer missiles.”

               Manda rose up and snapped at the two aircraft as they flew by. The two planes evaded the massive serpent’s strikes and flew upward.

               Meanwhile, the resupply line and the auxiliary line began to light up in front of Bri in the junction room while she recomposed her flight suit.

               “Auxiliary power is back online.” Ollie said over her headset; bringing a smirk to Bri’s face. “We are regaining auxiliary functions.”

               Bri looked to the hatch where the Shockirus were still making commotion on the other side. Suddenly all at once the commotion silenced. She proceeded to the hatch and opened it to find the airshaft now dimly lit by LED lighting fixtures. The Shockirus were all dead and steaming from the electric shocks of the repellent system.

               Outside, the Super X-3 launched 2 missiles at Manda. Now wise to what Missiles and Rockets do, the Kaiju dodged them. However, when these two struck the ground, they did not explode like regular missiles but instead combusted with a burst of white smoke that covered their impact areas with ice. Though Manda did not receive any direct hits, the burst of cold was still close enough to it that it jolted back as if someone had poked it with a giant ice-cycle.

               In that moment it caught sight of Nakajima and Hayama’s Heron. Its glare tightened on the aircraft once again.

               Nakajima looked over to see Manda, and cursed, “Kuso…”

               The Kaiju raced down to the position. Nakajima hit the throttle to elevate the craft out of Manda’s reach, but it was too late. By the time the thrusters pushed the Heron up, the giant serpent was within striking distance. It lunged up at them and it seemed as though it was all over for the two pilots.

               Manda’s jaws snapped shut with a loud, heart-stopping chomp. However, its bite fell short of its target. The monster had been stopped in the middle of its lunge. As the Heron pulled away to safety, the men and Manda looked back to see what stopped it; Kiryu’s clawed hand grasping its midsection.

               Nakajima and Hayama cheered when they saw who saved them. Kiryu’s yellow eyes were lit-up once again.

               “Sorry for the delay.” Bri said over the radio.

               Kiryu, not releasing its grip, swung its opponent around and slammed it hard into the ground before Manda could react. Manda writhed a little in pain before Kiryu threw it in the opposite direction; launching the serpent back out into the water. Splashed down into the shallows and thrashed in its disoriented state.

               The waves it generated reached the trawler that the Monarch team it was on.

               “Everyone hang on!” Akira shouted.

               The group clenched whatever they could as the boat was rocked back and forth by the waves. Though it was a rough swaying motion for the boat to go through, nobody fell overboard and it soon settled back down. Once everyone reestablished themselves, they watched in awe as the massive serpent rose out of the water. Back on shore, Kiryu had gotten to its feet and the two began to square off again.

               Inside the MechaGodzilla’s cockpit, Bri said with a more determined smirk, “So, where were we?”

               “All systems are ready to go!” Ollie said with an enthusiastic tone.

               Kiryu let out its challenge call. Manda, arching into its cobra pose, returned the call.

 

-TO BE CONTINUED-