Kaiju Apocalypse (2 page)

That all changed with the flood. The weather patterns of the southern Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans respectively and abruptly shifted, caused by something unexplainable that the Kaiju did or the toll of mankind's ill treatment of the Earth, and the storm surges came, washing away the land. Rain was endless for months, drowning the crops and changing the landscape as mudslides eroded the overpopulated coasts around the world. The west coast of the United States disappeared, the oceans driving all the way inland until it stopped against the western face of the Rocky Mountains, linking up with Lake Mead and the Colorado River. England completely disappeared, swallowed by the Atlantic and the Thames, save for scattered hills in Scotland. France, Space, Malaysia, China... billions died when the seas rose, and the Kaiju continued their assaults with renewed vigor.  Latin American had disappeared, and the Amazon River had devoured much of Brazil.  India and Pakistan had both blamed one another for the Kaiju, and nuclear missiles had flown at both the Kaiju and between the neighboring enemies. Tibet, once a forbidden land, had become an enclave of hope and refuge – until the day when two Mother Kaiju had waded ashore and stampeded through the beleaguered land.

Over half of the human race perished in those dark days, but those who survived fought on.  The United States became the United World as humanity forgot its petty disputes in the face of extinction.  The best and brightest were gathered across the globe on the largest of the remaining islands.  There the great bases like Pacifica, Alantaica, Lemura, Iceitca, and Nor-wic were built.  Technological growth exploded as humanity's numbers dwindled.  Beam cannons replaced nukes as the first line of defense against the mother Kaiju and for a while, they worked, keeping the great domed bases safe.  Human breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the tide of the war turned once more.  The smaller Kaiju, the Dogs, began to show themselves.  They were the foot soldiers and cannon fodder of the Mother beasts, and their numbers knew no bounds.  Armies of the Dog Kaiju stormed the great domed cities in crashing waves that began to wear them down in a war of sheer attrition.  Alantica was the first to fall, and in the months thereafter, the others fell like dominoes. Even the state-of-the-art Dogkiller suits weren’t enough to stem the tide, and now all humanity had left was Lemura Base. Dilapidated, ancient, rusted and almost ready to fall down, but it was the last hope on Earth.

“We have to do something, sir,” Yeltsin said, when he could stand Lanstum's silence no longer. 

Lanstum leaned forward in his chair towards Yeltsin.  “What can we do?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Pacifica Base had been the strongest, the most fortified, with three full battalions of Dogkiller suits at its disposal and twice as many energy weapons as Lemura. If Pacifica fell, then Lemura had little chance against the incoming storm.

“I'm not just going to sit here and wait to die,” Yeltsin countered.  “Maybe it's time we went on the offensive for a change.”

Lanstum's laugh was long and loud.  Yeltsin suffered through it out of respect for the man's office.  He hid his dislike of the governor well, though he would never deny that the man was good at his job.

“You would have me send what remaining forces we have at our disposal away from Lemura and leave us defenseless when we both know it’s only a matter of time until the Kaiju hordes show up on our shores?” 

Yeltsin shook his head, keeping his infamous temper in check.  “No, Governor, I would not.”

“Good,” Lanstum snorted.  “Because you know what my answer would have to be. What my answer would always be.”

“I'm not asking for
all
of Lemura's defenses, sir, only the men and women I need to carry out an assault on the Kaiju Overmind,” Yeltsin grinned.

Lanstum blinked.  Yeltsin felt the governor's eyes looking him over as if to see whether or not he'd gone insane.

“The Overmind is a myth.  Just a wild theory some egghead thought up in a lab somewhere.  There is no proof that such a controlling intelligence over the Kaiju exists.  If there were some magic bullet to stop the Kaiju, I’d expend all our resources to finding it.  It.  Is.  A.  Myth.”

“I believe it's real,” Yeltsin admitted after a moment.  “Do you know of Doctor Bach's research into the Overmind theory?  Or the evidence which supports his theory and the conclusion he has drawn up that goes with just about everything we know about the Kaiju?”

Lanstum shrugged.  “There is little here in Lemura that I don't know of, Minister Yeltsin. But...”

“No buts, sir.  Doctor Bach has managed to conclusively detect a psychic form of energy that appears amongst the ranks of the Dog Kaiju during each of their attacks.  Bach believes he has found the means to trace that energy to its source.”

“And I take it you imagine destroying that source will bring the Kaiju armies to a halt and end their relentless attack,” the words were more of statement than a question as Lanstum spoke them. 

Yeltsin nodded. “Cut off a snake's head...”

“I see your point, Yeltsin, I do.  You've been in search of a miracle to end this war, and you think you've found it in Doctor Bach's work,” Lanstum said carefully, “I, however, am a realist, and it's ultimately my responsibility to keep the people of Lemura safe.  More so now than ever, as we are the last.  If Lemura falls, the scattered, small colonies of man will surely crumble in our wake.”

“I understand that, but if I am right...” Yeltsin pleaded.

“If you're right, then perhaps you
could
end this war with a single, decisive blow to the Kaiju.”

“Fine,” Lanstum relented. “Tell me your plan, and what you need, and I'll consider your request.”

****

Technical Specialist First Class Ryan West sat staring at the lump of white and gray that was supposed to be potatoes on his plate.  It rested next to the green soupy stuff that the cooks claimed to be the main course of his meal. He picked up his fork and poked at it, uncertain.

“Hey! West! You gonna eat that or what?” Sergeant Parris’ voice boomed from across the table.  Parris was a big man, and everything he did ended up being loud.  Talking, eating, killing.  A good man in a fight, though, West allowed. Parris was so big that his Dogkiller armor had to be specifically remodeled to accommodate the well honed mass of muscle that he was.  Parris glared at West, waiting for an answer.

Food of any kind that wasn't fish or some sort of kelp was hard to come by these days, and West still couldn't eat fish.  The smell of it reminded him too much of the stink of Kaiju.  The things stunk so bad up close, not even the atmosphere scrubbers of a suit of Dogkiller armor could keep one safe from the odor. It wasn’t the smell of Kaiju, or the potato substitute, or even the green soupy stuff that had ruined his appetite.  He had pre-mission jitters, and he knew it.  If he ate the pseudo-potatoes, he'd just spray them all over the inside of his armor when he geared up.  With little hesitation, he scooted the plate towards Parris.  “Have it,” West told the big man.

Parris took the plate greedily and started shoveling the white stuff into his gaping maw. 

“You spooked or something, kid?” Parris asked as he chewed with his mouth open.  Bits of the potato substitute flew from his lips as his words came out.

“Aren't you?” West asked.  “It's no secret that Pacifica fell two weeks ago.  The news is all over the World Net.”

“Lemura ain't Pacifica,” Parris growled.  “No Kaiju have
ever
gotten through these walls and they ain't gonna.”

“Doesn't really matter to us, does it?” West frowned.  “We're heading out and leaving the city behind.  No walls for us.”

“Where did ya hear that, kid?” Parris was clearly surprised by what he'd said.

“I have a friend in logistics,” West smiled.  “Based on the manifest of equipment, they're getting ready for us, there ain't no way this is just a patrol or special defense duty.”

“You have a
friend
in logistics, eh?” Parris grinned at his own cleverness.  “Would that be the cute redhead I been seeing you hanging around with?”

West felt his cheeks flush.  He ignored Parris' question and cleared his throat before continuing.  “Maybe they're assembling an extraction unit to save those they can from Pacifica. I mean, they had some top-notch Dogkillers over there.  They’d sure help out around here. That's the best I can figure, anyway.”

“Don't matter where we're headed.  One Kaiju is just as good as the next when it comes to blowing the fraggers away.”

“Yeah, sure,” West said, seeing that he wasn't going to get any speculation out of Parris. The big man just didn't think about things like he did. For him it was simply kill. “Catch ya later.”

West got up from the table and headed towards the barracks.  There were still a couple of hours until their squad was slated to ship out, and getting a little extra sleep was never a bad idea.

****

West stood at parade-rest in the bay alongside the rest of his squad.  There were three other squads present as well.  No one seemed to have a clue where they were shipping out to.  They'd been ordered not to suit up and that fact alone was driving West to distraction.  It didn't make any sense.  Wherever they were headed, Dogkiller armor was called for. 
What use is a Dogkiller without his or her armor?
 

“Atten-
hut!
” a voice bellowed out. West, along with every other man and woman in the room, snapped to attention.  He perked up with attentiveness as Minister Yeltsin entered the bay. 
What in Hades?
West thought.  The Minister of War, possibly the most powerful man in all of Lemura, had shown up to address a mere platoon?  In all his experience, he’d never heard of that happening. Whatever was going on, it
couldn't
be a good thing.

Yeltsin walked down the line of gathered soldiers, inspecting them.  His expression was that of a man playing his last hand in a game where the odds were stacked against him.  When Yeltsin reached the end of the line of troops, he doubled back to stand facing the center of the line of the four squads.

“Parade rest!” the same voice called out and West relaxed slightly, shifting his right foot out and placing his hands on the small of his back. His eyes locked onto Yeltsin as the Minister began to speak.

“I'm sure you're all wondering what your mission is,” Yeltsin's voice echoed off the metal walls around them.  “I'll put it to you as simply as I can.  In the next hour, you'll be leaving Lemura.  Not for Pacifica, as some of you may have speculated about.  You'll be boarding a pair of Tridents. . .”

It was all West could do to keep himself from whistling at that statement.  Tridents were the fastest, most combat capable vehicles in use by the United World joint military.  Tridents were originally designed as interceptors to engage Mother Kaiju before they made landfall, but ended up becoming the du jour combat vehicle for anything that involved raining death and destruction on Kaiju from the skies.  The planes were also submersibles, able to shift from air to water, and could engage the Kaiju below the waves as well as above them.  Each individual Trident packed the firepower equivalent to that of a squadron of old world F-16s. The downside of the Tridents were that they cost a fortune to make, and often became the primary focus of a Mother Kaiju in a prolonged engagement. Because of their rising cost, as the war with the Kaiju escalated, the Tridents were phased out of production in favor of more ground based defenses in the city domes themselves. With Pacifica gone, it was likely that the half dozen stationed in Lemura were the last ones left on Earth.  If the brass was planning on deploying two of them, instead of holding them in reserve as a means of escape for the politicians and scientific personal should Lemura fall, it definitely meant something big was in store for them. 

“We don't know the exact location of your target at this time,” Yeltsin admitted.  “But it is a vital one.  Perhaps the most vital target of mankind's entire war with the Kaiju, if our calculations are correct.  The target?  The Kaiju Overmind.”

Yeltsin paused as if to allow his words to sink in before he continued.  “Doctor Jacoby Bach, the world's leading expert in Overmind theory, will be accompanying.  He believes he has found a means to locate this intelligence controlling the Kaiju.  Your job, once the doctor completes his, is to make sure that the Overmind is destroyed. By any means necessary, people. By any means.”