EPISODE 6: ABSOLUTE ZERO! READY! AIM! FIRE!

 

On a small island off the coast of Vancouver, the midday sunlight reflected off the metal alloy body of Kiryu with a silver aura as the Mecha-Godzilla stood in a braced stance along the sandy shore. The waves crashed slightly against one of its clawed feet while the other was dug slightly into the sand and rocks of the beach. The mech was standing as still as a statue but braced for battle. In contrast, 150 meters ahead of it in the water, the serpentine body of its opponent, Manda, swayed like a cobra. The kaiju had its head and upper half of its body arched up high enough to be staring Kiryu straight in its glowing yellow eyes.

               The two contrasting opponents remained locked in a standoff like two giant dueling Samurai. They remained locked in the tense moment of time waiting for some signal to strike. The only noise on the battlefield was the sound of the crashing waves. Even Manda’s deep breaths through its nose were only faintly heard.

               From the trawler, offshore, where the Monarch group watched, even the dozen people on board were in complete silence. Their eyes and heads would pan back and forth between the two monstrous competitors. The same could be said for the Super X-3 and the two Heron-units circling overhead. Every single onlooker watched anxiously but silently.

               Inside Kiryu’s cockpit, Bri’s eyes stared down Manda through the monitor with fiery determination. Though the giant serpent was really staring at Kiryu’s eyes she felt like it was really staring at her. For the first time she felt like her and this massive mechanical kaiju were one whole being. Bri and the Mecha-Godzilla were Kiryu.

               After a prolonged standoff, Manda suddenly lunged forth; attempting to strike Kiryu’s head. Bri pulled back and reared out of the monster’s range; effectively dodging the hit. In retaliation Bri fired 2 rockets at Manda, but the kaiju swayed its body out of the projectiles’ path. In the distance behind Manda, the two rockets crashed into the water and exploded.

               The Monarch team watched as the two explosions produced two eruptions of foam on the ocean’s horizon. After a few seconds, the sound of the explosions reached them in the form of faint thunderous booms.

               “This is extraordinary…” Akira remarked; his normally energetic nature subdued into a quiet awe.

               “Manda is no ordinary kaiju.” Ken said.

               “What do you mean, Doctor?” One of their colleagues asked.

               “Just look at it.” Ken said. “While its normal for kaiju to learn from their opponents, Manda has learned enough from its first fight with Kiryu to know the sound of the rockets ignition and anticipate their trajectory.”

               “I agree.” Akira said. “There is something almost divine about this creature. It looks at humans with curiosity and recognition that is unique. Your own ESP scan revealed it was once worshipped. The only other kaiju known to man with such history is Mothra.”

               “Once we have it secured back at the preserve, we should look into its past a little more.” Ken said.

               “Hai.” Akira said, acknowledging his friend in their native language.

               “Overhead, Akane looked over the battlefield with the same curiosity as the Monarch crew.”

               “Captain.” Mizaki’s voice said over her headset. “Should we try a diversion? It could give Bri and opening to attack.”

               “Negative.” Akane said. “Stay on station for the time being. This is their battle.”

               Inside Kiryu’s cockpit, Bri sat poised for another skirmish. Her hands tightly gripped the controls. Her eyes, sharply locked on the screen, into the yellow reptilian eyes of her opponent.

               “It’s easier to read…” Bri said to herself. “But it’s reading us easier too…” Her eyes wandered around to the different weapon systems. “The Maser Cannon doesn’t work… The gatling guns aren’t strong enough…”

               “If it learned to dodge the rockets,” Ollie chimed in. “Maybe indirect hits could work.”

               “Good suggestion.” Bri said. “We must lure it onto land though. Water gives it a better-” she suddenly paused. “Wait…That’s it!”

               Kiryu aimed its rocket launchers downward and fired a barrage of five in the area around where Manda’s lower half was anchored. Caught off balance by the change of tactics, the force of the rockets’ impact caused the kaiju to lose its foundation and topple over. A second volley knocked the mammoth serpent around several times. The eruption of foam and mist from the monster’s thrashings and the force of the explosions caused it to temporarily become perfectly concealed again.

               As the commotion settled, Manda had disappeared under the ocean’s surface.

               “Oh no,” Bri said, “Not falling for that again.”

               She positioned Kiryu into a more braced fighting stance, its body slightly more crouched and its arms slightly more raised. The mechanical titan remained poised in its stance and waited patiently. Bri watched the screen, calmly scanning the surface of the water, taking every detail, and looking for even the slightest sign of her opponent’s location.

               A few seconds later, there was an eruption of water fifty meters in front of Kiryu; Manda attempted to ambush it again by springing out at its opponent.

               “Gotcha!” Bri shouted.

               With a perfectly timed strike, Kiryu intercepted Manda’s attack by swinging its hand down and smacking the monster’s head down into the shoreline.

“That was a good hit.” Akane said aloud from the Super X-3’s cockpit.

“And down goes Manda!” Akira shouted from the trawler.

Before the giant serpent had a chance to react, the mech then kicked it back out into the water. Manda crashed hard upside down in the shallows with a large splash. For a few moments, the kaiju thrashed and flailed about in a violent frustrated fury. Its violent thrashings were so strong that it was causing the surf to pick up as far out as the Monarch Team’s trawler.

While Manda attempted to readjust its stance, Kiryu began backing away from the water’s edge. The monster soon was back in its cobra-stance, but this time it was visibly enraged; reeling its jowls back to show its sharp needle-like fangs. It roared at its mechanical foe before chasing it up onto island; slithering with the upper third of its body arched up.

               “Good…” Bri said. “With any luck it will-”

               Suddenly Manda sprang at Kiryu.

               “BINGO!” Bri shouted.

               Kiryu stepped to the right and smacked Manda’s head to the ground once again. The giant sea-dragon’s head bounced and slid against the ground, stirring up dust and debris; the momentum of its lunge carried it further on land by a hundred meters. Kiryu grabbed Manda’s lower half and began to turn and hurl it further in land. Just as it tossed the kaiju, in a quick maneuver, the monster managed to latch its rear limbs and tail onto Kiryu’s arm.

               “Oh shit!” Bri shouted as Manda managed to use the momentum from Kiryu’s throw to pull the mech forward and onto its side.

               The ground rumbled from the force of the mechanical titan’s fall. With its opponent down again, Manda took a moment to catch its breath.

               “If Kiryu could feel pain and talk,” Ollie said. “I’m sure it would be saying OUCH right now.”

               Bri, rattled by the fall, groaned “Agreed.”

               Kiryu stood back up. Manda was coiled and arched in its cobra-like pose, ready to strike again. However, its maw was panting slowly and heavily like an exhausted canine.

               “She’s doing it.” Hayama said peering out the window of Heron-1.

               “Yes, just a little more and she can use Absolute Zero.” Nakajima added.

               “Bri,” Akane said. “Begin prepping Absolute Zero.”

               “Roger.” Bri responded, flicking a few switches. “Powering up the diamond core.” She then grabbed a dial to her left. “Opening the chest plates.”

               Upon turning the dial, 3 hatches, which formed the front of Kiryu’s torso, opened up revealing a circular object at the center that resembled the top of a cannon’s barrel with a convex lens inside the rim. The opening of the hatches caused Manda to rear its head back in surprise.

               Bri, taking notice of the kaiju’s reaction, uttered, “No… it’s not the right time to use Absolute Zero.”

               “What makes you say that?” Ollie asked.

               “In the time it takes to use the weapon, Manda is either going to attack or flee.” Bri said. “We can’t have it doing either.”

               “Perhaps the Super X-3 could fire freezing missiles?” Ollie asked.

               “No, it knows the sound of Missile ignition and it would be more likely to flee at that point.” Bri said. “We need to keep it still… something that’ll make it want to stay in place.”

               “I got it!” Ollie said, a light bulb appearing over its head on the screen. “Maser energy!”

               Bri’s eyes lit up and she shouted, “That’s brilliant!”

               As the lens in the center of Kiryu’s chest began to glow and spark with the charging power of the Absolute Zero, its mouth suddenly popped open and a bolt of Maser energy shout out. 

                                  

Manda, being struck by the bolt, became pinned to the ground but began absorbing it.

               Akane, seeing Manda’s reaction, said, “Bri! It’s going to weaponize your attack again!”

               “I know,” Bri responded, “it won’t work this time though!”

               The lens in Kiryu’s chest began to glow and spark with a brilliant light blue color. Eventually a ball of some kind of plasma energy began to form against the lens. Manda, focused on absorbing the Maser bolt, did not notice the energy building up. As orb of energy grew, Manda began to glow with a brilliant gold coloration.

               “Absolute Zero is fully charged, Bri!” Ollie said.

               “Absolute Zero…” Bri said, as the crosshairs on the screen locked onto Manda’s body, “…FIRE!”

               She pressed a red button to her left with her index and middle fingers. Suddenly, the Maser stopped. Manda opened its eyes right when the bright blue plasma orb suddenly launched from Kiryu’s chest. The spiraling ball of energy rocketed towards Manda with great speed. The kaiju attempted to flee but it was too late. The orb struck the sea-dragon directly at its center and there was a sudden explosion of white mist. In a 500-meter radius the mist billowed out into a small mushroom cloud that rose about same distance into the air.

               Though it mostly dissipated after about 700 meters a cold gust of wind that accompanied the explosion, blew out for several kilometers; far enough to reach the Monarch Team’s trawler. The frigid wind was enough to cause some damp areas of the ship’s hull to frost-over a little.

               Akira, shivered intensely while holding himself, and said cursed through his chattering teeth in Japanese, “KU-SO!” He rubbed his hands up and down his arms before continuing in English, “I forgot how cold Absolute Zero can get! Even this far away it feels like walking into a freezer!”

               “Maybe you should wear warmer clothes?” Ken said, virtually unphased.

               At that moment Akira looked around and saw everyone was in sweatshirts, jackets, and pants. He was the only one wearing just a shirt and shorts. He could not help but awkwardly laugh in embarrassment.

               Everyone’s attention shifted back to the island where the mushroom cloud of mist was sinking and slowly fading. A dead silence fell over the area. Even the wind given off by the force of the cold eruption sounded quieter than a breeze. As the edge of the mist began to fade, Kiryu’s silhouette began to materialize; still standing with its chest plates open. The cloud of mist continued to flutter down and smooth out across the ground. Suddenly the prolonged silence was broken by the mechanical hiss, hum, and clang of Kiryu’s chest closing.

               Shortly after, a downward draft caused the clouds of mist to billow outward from the explosion’s epicenter. As the clouds cleared and smoothed out, Manda’s body was slowly revealed, frozen solid in a thin layer of ice that incased its entire body. Even a few ice sickles hung from the tips of its claws and fangs. The Absolute Zero was triumphant.

                                        

               Inside Kiryu’s cockpit, Bri cracked a slight smile and said, “Manda: Neutralized.”

               Everyone on the trawler cheered and applauded.

               Akira, more excited than anyone else shouted, “We did it!”

               “Excellent work, Bri!” Nakajima said over the radio.

               “Congrats on your first successful capture, Lieutenant.” Mizaki added.

               Akane, looking over the scene, smiled like a proud older sister.

               Pero-2 chimed in, “An ingenious maneuver. By allowing Manda to absorb the Maser, it gave them enough time to power up the Absolute Zero. Doesn’t matter how much Manda absorbed, the rapid temperature drop neutralized the energy once it was struck by the weapon.”

               “Super X-3 to Saratoga.” Akane said, not losing her smirk. “Manda captured. Send the SS Venture for retrieval. Heron-1 and Heron-2 stand by for retrieval operations.”

               Back in Kiryu’s cockpit, Bri leaned her head back and sighed in relief.

               “You did an exceptional job, ma’am.” Ollie said, prompting Bri to look back at the screen where Ollie’s avatar was throwing confetti. “10 out of 10 in my books!”

               Seeing the cartoon cat holding up a 10-sign provoked a slight giggle from her.

               “Same goes for you, Ollie.” Bri said. “I look forward to more missions with you.”

               Meanwhile, back at the control room on Ogasawara, Miki, Colonel Hayashida, Master Chief Barnes, and General Kuroki were observing the battle on one of the main screens through the vantage of the Super X-3.

               “It goes without saying that Lieutenant Johnson is an ideal choice for Kiryu’s pilot.” Barnes said.

               “Indeed.” Hayashida said. “She did an outstanding job on her first mission.”

               Miki and Kuroki looked on in silence. Kuroki maintained his usual expressionless focus as did Miki. Although Miki did break her normally serious expression with just the slightest smile.

               From a doorway to the right, Kuroki’s son, Goro, watched with the same hard stare as his father. He was joined by Captain Shaw, who was leaning with his arms crossed against the wall. Shaw also had a cold expressionless stare, but with a slight inquisitive squint in his eyes.

               “Not bad.” Shaw said. “Makes me curious to see how you will do in your first assignment.”

               Goro said nothing. Even when another soldier suddenly ran into the room through the doorway, they were standing next to, his gaze was locked on the screen.

               The soldier raced over to where Miki and the other high-ranking officers were sitting. The young trooper was out of breath and hasty but still delivered the formality of halting at attention and saluting.

               “Director, please excuse the interruption ma’am.” The soldier said, drawing her attention. “TK-01 is showing signs of life.”

               The normally calm Miki suddenly stood from her seat. She was not alone, every one of the officers she was with snapped their attention towards the soldier upon hearing the news.

               “General Kuroki, Master Chief Barnes.” Miki said. “Come with me to the G-zone.”

               The three left in a hurry after the soldier.

               Roughly 10 minutes later, over the island where Operation Manda was taking place, the 2 Heron aircraft were hovering in position over the still frozen Manda. They began lowering pairs of cables down to the frozen kaiju. Just offshore a large barge, the SS Venture, was anchored while the Monarch Team’s trawler was sitting in the shallows while the team itself was already on shore getting as much data as they could.

               Overhead, Akane observed everyone from the Super X-3. On her main monitor, Pero-2 was displaying a 3-d scan of Manda.

               “Diagnostics complete.” Pero-2 said. “Manda is indeed alive and in perfect hibernation.”

               “What’s the estimated time of revival looking like?” Akane asked.

               “Given its thin body-type,” Pero-2 explained. “I would estimate that it will take about three hours to thaw. Consciousness should return only two hours afterward.”

               “Good.” Akane said. “Transmit that information to Ogasawara, please.”

               “Yes ma’am!” Pero-2 responded with its avatar saluting her on the main screen.

               Akane smirked with a slight chuckle before returning her focus down to the activity going on below.

               Watching the whole scene, sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of Kiryu’s shoulder and eating some rations, was Bri. Kiryu was still standing in the same spot where it finished the fight, giving her a perfect seat to observe the activity going on around her first catch. Though her helmet was off, she could still hear the radio chatter from everyone down below as it sat next to her.

               While Bri took a bite of a cracker with cheese on it, the cables from the Herons lowered down to Manda’s upper and lower half. Upon reaching the frozen kaiju, the ends of the cables suddenly latched together as if by some powerful magnetic force, looping around the monster’s body.

               “Cables latched.” Nakajima’s voice said over the radio. “Begin lifting.”

               The Herons began putting extra thrust through their lower engines. As they rose higher in the air, they began lifting Manda off the ground. Once the kaiju was 300 meters off the ground, they began moving over to the SS Venture. The massive, 200-meter barge sat with its large upper cargo doors open. Slowly and carefully, the large aircraft began lowering their catch into the cargo bay of the Venture. The barge sank slightly into the water as Manda’s body came to a rest inside. Once the monster was perfectly nestled in the cargo bay, the cables detached and retracted back into the Herons.

               Bri downed the last bit of water in her bottle as the Heron’s flew off back to the Saratoga. With the cargo doors on the Venture closing with a deep bellowing creak, she took it as her exit cue. She picked up her helmet and latched it back onto her head, and then paused for a moment to admire the view once more.

               While watching the monarch team boarding their small launch boats to go back out to the trawler, she said, “They look like ants.” She then looked up at Kiryu’s head and asked, “I suppose you think the same thing every time you see us too, don’t you?”

               “Bri, time to return.” Akane’s voice said over her radio.

               “Roger, heading back now.” Bri replied.

               At that moment she noticed two people standing on the shore. The pair, though their facial features were undistinguishable, appeared to be looking up at her. In good manners she gave them a friendly wave. The two onlookers returned the wave.

               Unbeknownst to her, the two Monarch members were Ken and Akira.

               “I’d like to meet the new pilot.” Akira said as they watched her re-enter Kiryu’s cockpit.

               “Come on,” Ken said, “Let’s get back to the ship.”

               They climbed onto the launch boat with the rest of their group. The teammate at the outboard motor began pulling at the chord. After two good tugs the engine began gurgling. Using a long pole, another teammate pushed the boat away from the shoreline. As they became clear from the shore, the man at the engine began steering the small craft out to the SS Venture.

               “Doctors.” One of their other colleagues said, getting Ken and Akira’s attention. “What are we going to go about Sarah?”

               A somberness came over the two doctors as they remembered her tragic loss.

               Ken sighed and responded, “Once we arrive onboard the SS Venture, we will send word back to home base about her passing. We will also try to locate her contact information and inform her family.”

               Akira, more somber than Ken, added, “Agreed… we’ll also see if we can gather any of her personal belongings as well, that she brought to base camp.”

               In the many years that the two had been friends, Ken never saw Akira take on such a distraught state of mind. His ESP was becoming triggered once again by Akira’s deep state of thought. It was not merely because of Akira’s bad habit to become overly enthralled with every attractive woman he saw that was hurting him. Akira felt a tremendous sense of duty with every member of his team to ensure their safety when out in the field. It was unthinkable that he could ever falter to the point of losing someone he was responsible for. Ken could tell from the overwhelming grief that this would not be something he would not easily overcome.

               “You’re hearing it all right now, aren’t you?” Akira asked.

               Ken replied, “Yes. I’m sorry.”

               Akira responded, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about me either.”

               Ken said, “As you wish my friend.”

               The two friends sat as comfortably as they could, looking ahead to the SS Venture as the launch boats glided across the waves.

               Back at the Ogasawara reserve, a group of scientists were gathered at the underwater viewing area for the lagoon that Junior was resting in. The group was headed by a tall slender Japanese researcher with combed-back grey hair in his sixties who stood ahead of the others waiting patiently for something while holding a tablet in his hands at the ready; his eyes were locked on the dark blue abyss that lied beyond the window.

               While his colleagues continued to chatter behind him, Miki, Barnes, and Kuroki suddenly entered the room in a hurried stride.

               “What’s happening?” Barnes asked the group.

               The slender man, not taking his eyes away from the window replied, “Our topside observers reported a disturbance on the surface. We arrived down here to see a few faint flashes of light.”

               Miki then asked the gentleman, “How long did this go on for, Dr. Kirishima?”

               “At least 3 flashes every 6 seconds for the duration of about two minutes.” The Doctor answered.

               Miki stepped up to the window. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate her ESP ability. Everyone watched and waited as she continued to mentally reach out with her special sense. For thirty seconds there was an anxious wait that befell the room.

               Kuroki then asked calmly, “Director… do you feel anything?”

               Miki remained silent for a few moments, further.

               She then opened her eyes and sighed slightly with disappointment, “Nothing. He is still dormant as always.”

               Her disappointment was shared by everyone else in the room. Even Kuroki, normally emotionless, seemed let down by her response.

               Dr. Kirishima, with a slightly more optimistic tone, said “it’s possible that years of ultra-violet radiation is causing a mild discharge in his dorsal plates then.”

               “A discharge?” Barnes asked.

               “Correct.” Kirishima replied. “Gojira’s biology requires radioactive sustenance. For a while we believed he only got this sustenance from nuclear radiation. However, its possible that he can get a small amount of this sustenance from ultra-violet radiation as well; absorbing it through his dorsal plates.”

               Miki turned away from the glass, visibly disappointed. She began to step towards the door as Kirishima explained more about Godzilla’s biology. Suddenly, the room lit from a flash of blue light that flickered in through the window. Everyone in the room froze. Their hearts raced.

Miki waited for a moment before turning back towards the window. There was nothing but the same blue abyss as before. She slowly approached the glass once again. The whole group watched in stunned silence. Kirishima readied the tablet once again with his finger ready to press a button.

Following a nerve shredding wait, the window lit up from another flash of light. Kirishima pressed a button on his tablet which started a timer. Miki’s heart jumped at the sight of the light and a few of the other scientists gasped. Barnes and Kuroki looked on with wide eyes of stunned awe. The flashes of light continued. Although the source was at least 400 meters away, they could see clear as day that every flash was coming from the familiar oak-leaf shaped dorsal plates on Junior’s back. A dozen more times, they lit up with a bright blue coloration. Every time they flashed, the sea floor and the outline of the kaiju’s shoulders and side were revealed.

                              

Kuroki approached the glass as well. For the first time in thirty years, he was staring at his old nemesis.

For a moment, the seam of his mouth opened slightly, but all the General could say was his old adversaries name, “Gojira…”

As the light show continued, Miki closed her eyes and tried to focus her ESP once more.

Barnes then approached the glass as well. In all his years with G-Force he had never witnessed Junior or his father before. He was awestruck at the very idea of what he was witnessing.

“The prince himself.” Barnes uttered.

Kuroki then corrected, “No longer a prince. It is the new king.”

“After all this time though.” Barnes said. “What would cause him to wake, now?”

No one had an answer. After a few moments of silence and wonder, Miki slowly opened her eyes with relief and, at the same time, reluctance.

Miki finally gave an answer to Barnes’s question, “He senses danger.”