Emergence: Kaiju Invasion

[Zarm]

Compromised mid-transformation, Asyrax had no ability to liquefy its mass to avoid the blow. The impact was significant- and in its unstabilized state, there were consequences.

The molecular disruption from the kinetic force of Kronos atop it jarred Asyrax with painful force- and Asyrax registered an immediate loss of density control. Its main body shifted immediately into an increased-density, armored state; protecting it from the further grinding of the creature atop it, but leaving Asyrax unable to absorb further materials through it to replenish lost mass, now approaching a full quarter of its normal operating volume.

One of its arms assumed increased density, as well; the other taking on liquid properties, as did the left leg; the right leg remained at normal density; the only aspect of Asyrax still capable of absorbing new materials.

Though the divisions of its form into these structures were entirely arbitrary based on the configuration it had currently chosen, the material allotted to each was now frozen in its current molecular configuration- reshapable, but locked into its current density. No matter what form Asyrax assumed, nearly three-quarters would be at an increased density- which would preclude sufficient buoyancy to swim- and the remainder would be one-third normal and two-thirds liquid. And the processing of absorbed materials for self-repair was still several minutes from completion.

This was inconvenient.

Above it, the creature grunted and cackled in an apparent emotional response to the torment it erroneously believed it was further inflicting; past initial impact damage, its continued presence was doing more to dig a hole in the soil with Asyrax’s body than it was doing damage to Asyrax’s inadvertently-armored form.

Without the ability to alter density to aid in reconfiguration, shifting the shape of its form was ponderous- but Asyrax only needed to form a simple shape. The solid arm rose into the air- and with spasmodic fits and starts, the material that had been the solid leg reshaped and rose up to meet it.

As Kronos grunted with satisfaction and shifted sadistically back and forth, the limb and the arching bracket that had been a limb met together- a primitive, inelegant clasp joining the two in a wide bow around the near-stationary foe… and then, its makeshift-vise completed, Asyrax tightened it, intent on squeezing the life out of its would-be tormentor.

But even as the metal band began to contract uncomfortably into the kaiju’s sides, a third combatant, temporarily forgotten- having endured an organic disintegration beam and Asyrax’s most powerful incendiary bomb- was stirring; undoubtedly recovered enough to act, if he so chose…

[Andrew the Gojifan]

Thanatos reared up, his purple glow lighting the pool like a star. All sound ceased... and then:
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The beam roared forward, impacting the ground near Asyrax and Kronos. A massive blast shakes the Earth, and then...

[Dawsbfiremind]

Ba-Pef clicked his mandibles together.

My Swarm is acting under my orders to open on of the remaining Gates of old, an activity they shall repeat until we are all present and ready to defend your world like guardians around their charge.

We have no concrete guess as to when Khepri will make its attack. And we deem him to be a greater adversary than the Primals.

"But they're-" Kiara began.

They are capable o slaying Titans. That alone makes them worthy allies. Which brings me to the only thing we wish for in return: we wish to re-ignite our alliance with the beings of Earth.

Shambala

Ganesh gasped, his pupils widening.
The Ancient dead, the cloud destroyed, the five hearts of suns missing.

"Ganesh!"

The elephantine being blinked, seeing Bellona looking up at him. "Yes, the soul of Khakis...you'll find it-"

"What did you see?" Bellona interrupted, glaring at him.

[JAGzilla]

"I take that to mean a single alliance?" Li spoke up. "Your people, ours, and the 'Primals' working side by side? Many of us would be skeptical that such a thing is even possible, let alone desirable. These creatures view us as food. Do you have some means of ensuring their cooperation?"

[Zarm]

"Or do you mean," Bridgewell added, cringing as Li's spine stiffened; he'd have to find a way to smooth over the undercutting later- "That you desire to ally yourself with us in opposing this 'Khepri' but consider our kaiju problems to be a non-issue to be ignored in the face of that, regardless of our feelings on the matter? And that you likewise intend to use this swarm to open other portals and bring your kindred to our world, regardless of our feelings on the matter? Because I have to warn you- an alliance between our peoples may well be contingent on both issues."

*****

Location: Marianas Island

Asyrax skidded to a halt by the shore of the lake, in a deep furrow carved by its own body. Smoke rose off of it. Its armed form had helped to defray the impact of the beam- but its surface had still been scoured by the powerful forces; more than enough to break the simple clasp and release the captive from its vice. Now, its limbs flexed spasmodically, momentarily out of control in the aftermath of the powerful attack.

Thanatos had decreased in mass once again, as was its nature; but Asyrax had no statistics on its recovery time, and the resource of ambrosia was plentiful here. It was possible that it could re-activate that power after a very brief interval, or that it would need minutes before it could act again.

Kronos seemed to be wasting more time- dragging himself toward the weary reptile that he now dwarfed. Between the tissue-shredding, incendiary attack, and expenditure of resources, Thanatos had to be exhausted...

As Asyrax regained control of its limbs, its lolling optical organs noted an unusual phenomenon- a localized patch of separation in the molten pit. Like oil and water separating, the nearest waves were a different coloring and texture, only slowly starting to re-mix with the whole around the edges.

The ambrosia. Thanatos had used up the ambrosia in the local region, apparently vaporizing it to fuel its powerful attack.

Asyrax felt the stirrings of the closest it had yet experienced to the sensation that seemed to dominate its duplicated memories; the thing Mike Robbins had known as 'rage'.

What a stupid, idiotic waste of such a precious, seemingly non-renewable resource! Thanatos was a cancer; a parasite that diminished the very world for short-sighted personal gain...!

Unaccustomed to such chaotic thought processes, Asyrax skipped two full processing cycles- nearly an entire blink of a human eye.

Its mind did not function this way. Such perceptions existed in its extensive memory- not its active buffer.

Logic reasserted itself. Thanatos had remotely vaporized ambrosia out of a local portion of the molten sea... leaving behind pure marianasium. No refining needed.

As Kronos and Thanatos went about their organic rivalries and rituals, the singular limb that Asyrax could still re-shape fashioned itself into a long, hollow tube; a straw that extended slowly into the discolored dross that floated atop the molten mix...

[JAGzilla]

Kronos jerked in surprise as two of the ring-creature's limbs rose up and clamped tightly around his midsection, squeezing painfully. What was wrong with this toy? Was there anything it couldn't do?

Wailing in fear and defiance, he awkwardly bent back his tentacles, seizing the clamp and pulling at it, but he couldn't exert any real force from his current angle. The clamp, on the other hand, was exerting a lot of force, and the pain was building quickly to intolerable levels. Abandoning his tentacle effort, Kronos dug his rear flippers into the ground, pushing himself upward as hard as he could, straining for all he was worth even as he slapped uselessly at his enemy with his front flippers.

It wasn't working. The pressure built ever higher, the pain reaching a crescendo as he felt his ribs bending agonizingly inward, clearly about to shatter. He couldn't take any more, and screamed breathlessly as blood spurted from his injured eye-

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A flash of light blinded his other eyes and a tremendous blast blew the whole world into chaos. The clamp snapped, and Kronos yelped in shock as he found himself cartwheeling backward from the combined force of the explosion and his own straining. Dirt, ash, and vegetation erupted in his face as he slammed to a brutal stop, his mind a whirl of confusion and nausea.

He had no idea how much time passed before his vision cleared and he was able to make something like sense of his surroundings again. One thing immediately stood out from the surrounding jungle landscape, just feet from his snout: an animal. It was small, not even as large as the hairy, horned thing he'd killed a few hours ago. Two legs, a long tail, a sail on its back. Nasty-looking teeth and a mean glare in its little eyes, like it thought it was tough.

It wasn't big enough to be tough. And it was about to find that out in the worst possible way. Kronos was sick of the ring toy's tricks, and easily showing this stupid lizard who was boss would be so sweet right now.

With a roar of anger, Kronos lunged. He saw the lizard's expression change, fear flicker in its eyes as it realized what was about to happen, and it turned to run- too late, as Kronos' tentacles slammed down to bar its path. It stopped, and SNAP!

Massive jaws slammed shut on the tiny thing, and Kronos tasted blood as his teeth pierced its flesh. It shrieked in pain and he shook it gleefully, its limbs and head flailing.

Whirling around, Kronos powered his flippers, scrabbling across the scorched and trampled beach, past the now-forgotten ring monster... and plunged with his prize back beneath the surface of his warm, sludgy home...

[JAGzilla]

Li stiffened slightly at Bridgewell's interruption. Not so much out of insult, he wasn't so petty as that- but because once again, his colleagues were displaying an embarrassing lack of decorum by hurling questions at Ba-Pef too quickly for him to answer. And far worse were Bridgewell's actual words; it took effort for Li to maintain a straight face, and he now regretted standing up and stepping away from the table at the start of the meeting. Had he been seated, he might've been able to subtly talk sense into the American, but that wasn't an option now.

Bridgewell's questions had been one small notch away from point-blank accusations, and needless ones after the alien had clearly stated his organization's desire to form an alliance with humanity. Fully placing their trust in an unknown foreign power this quickly (as Gamal seemed worryingly close to doing) would be foolish, of course, but to so blatantly and belligerently look what seemed to be a desperately needed gift horse in the mouth was no smarter. Not least of all given the quick temper Pef had already displayed in response to McClain's outburst. Had Bridgewell not been watching that? Was he trying to provoke an extraterrestrial ambassador (possibly humanity's only hope for survival) into leaving the negotiation table?

Folding his arms behind his back while they awaited Pef's response, Li casually turned to the side and glanced toward the table. Bridgewell and Gamal had adopted dangerously extreme opposite approaches to this conversation, and Hunter seemed to lean close to Bridgewell's side of open suspiscion. Li would try to serve as the voice of sensible moderation if he had to, but it would be helpful if he had someone backing him up. And in any case, one member of the Council had been conspicuously silent thus far. He quickly caught Ewaschuk's eye and raised a questioning eyebrow a fraction of an inch. How would the mysterious Russian spy choose to act in this delicate situation?

………………………………..

On the balcony above, security guard Ricardo Jimenez quietly and subtly wove his way through the crowd of observers, coming to a stop just behind and to the left of the mouthy British diplomat, easily identifiable in the throng by her short stature and tacky lock of blue hair. Glancing to his right, he ensured that his partner, Sandy Travers (who had missed her calling as an NFL linebacker), was also in position, ready to haul their target bodily from the room if it became necessary.

"Ms. McClain?" he murmured, tapping her shoulder. "We're with security, Ma'am. We're going to need you to come with us."

[Godzilla165]

Amelia turned to find Jimenez and his hulk of a partner staring back at her. She could have tried to resist and stay right where she was, but Amelia also knew that such would’ve been absolutely impossible given her... Less than stellar stature, and either officer would have no problem literally carrying her out of the Strategy room. So, Amelia turned from Jimenez over to James and tapped on his shoulder.

“Hey, James, I need you to-” Amelia paused mid sentence as she began to reconsider what she wanted him to do. Finally, she looked over James and at Hugo. “Hugo,” she whispered, “Could you at all write down some cliff notes for me while I’m gone? I don’t want to miss anything.”

Hugo winked at her, “you got it”, he responded.

Amelia gave the man a smile and then felt James tug on her sleeve.

“Why didn’t you ask me to do that for you?” James asked.

“Because, your penmanship is bloody horrendous. I mean seriously, James, you write like a preschooler!” Amelia whispered tauntingly, which caused for James to kindly mouth the words, “fuck youuu”.

Amelia choked down a laugh, straightened herself up and turned back to the awaiting security guards. She motioned her hand to point behind them. “After you.” She said.

[Zarm]

Before the insect could answer, Gamal spoke up- and Bridgewell winced again, knowing full well that he was getting a taste of his own medicine.

"We have your assurance, then, that your swarm will not harm human beings? And the others, once they arrive, will presumably secure the vicintity around the portals by driving out any 'primals' in the region?"

Bridgewell rankled. This was devolving into an absolute debacle- and while the British woman had started it, he shamefully recognized his own recent contribution.

But he could hardly help it; the alien's words were maddeningly obtuse and cryptic, but it had seemingly just described an occupation force. An army of alien kaiju that didn't care one fig about human lives lost to terrestrial kaiju rampages. Who planned to occupy the Earth whether the Earth liked it or not, to ignore any of the ongoing concerns of immediate extinction that occupied humanity, and conscript humanity to help fight their war- a war which was necessary, too, but might not even come untill humanity was nearly extinct already. In short, this was an invasion cloaked in a friendly smile, if aliens words were to be taken at face value- and neither Li nor Gamal seemed to be able to see it. Hell, the british adviser was looking more right ny the moment- either just a moment premature in very accurate accusations, or simply perceptive enough to spot the hidden threat before any of the rest of them could.

This was an alarming paradigm, and while Bridgewell did not preclude the possibility that an alliance could still be worked out, a few priorities would have to be significantly straightened out first before they could even consider continuing negotiations over this absurdly-unequal alliance. Much less bending over backwards to lick the aliens' boots like Gamal seemed to be willing to, so long as Egypt was safe.

A quick flick of Bridgewell's wrist summoned his overburdened aid once more. "That woman that security is escorting? Have them escort her here," he ordered quietly. "I think we might need someone like that at the table after all."

Then, quickly rising as the aid scurried away, Bridgewell spread his arms out in a gesture across the table.

"My apologies, Ba-pef. It seems we're getting ahead of ourselves in our zeal to speed communications. Gentlemen, let's give our guest a chance to answer the questions. In order, if you could, please."

[JAGzilla]

"No, after you, Ma'am," Sandy replied in as polite an intimidating growl as she could manage. She maneuvered behind McClain and gently nudged her in the direction of the door. "Wouldn't be doing our jobs if we turned our backs on ya, would we?"

"Not that you're likely to pull a gun on us or anything," Jimenez put in, rolling his eyes at the enforcer's overzealousness as he took a position at McClain's side as they started to move. "Protocol is what it is, though. Thanks for your cooperation."

They were halfway to the door when Jimenez's earpiece crackled. "Change of plans," the security chief's voice reported. "General Bridgewell wants her down at the table."

"Copy," he replied automatically, even as he did an internal double-take. If he'd been in charge, this lunatic would be picking herself up off the sidewalk by now.

McClain was looking at him questioningly, now, and he shrugged. "General Bridgewell's changed his mind," he relayed, gesturing toward the stairs leading down to the Council's table. "I guess you're getting a front-row seat for this circus."

[Dawsbfiremind]

Ba-Pef, taking another deep breath, manipulated the sand again.

You still have bears and other such predators, yes? We do not concern ourselves with the deaths they cause because they are a natural part of your world. We view your current situation with the Primals likewise. After all, you were among them in the past and did not die out.

As for the Primals working with us...ensuring their constant co-operation is impossible. They act on base urges, instincts. Your only hope of them joining an alliance with us is in their recognizing the Titans as invasive threats as they did long ago.

And my Swarm will only fight to defend itself. Leave them alone, and they shall leave you alone. And the Gates have their own guardians, especially the one they are about to open now.

Central Nile Region

Tiamat raised her head, the sound of the strange flying devices growing nearer. She briefly considered taking refuge in the Nile before remembering.

He's still in there. She rose up on her hind legs, extending her hood. Looks like they'll get the fight they want.

Nile Delta

The Swarm hovered in an iridescent cluster, staring into the water below.

"Gate," one said.

"Gate. Gate. Gate. Gate." The word travelled through the entire Swarm, each individual chanting it in their buzzing voices.

"Open," another said.

This too, they began to chant as they dove to the circular indentation under the water.

[Godzilla165]

Amelia raised an eyebrow at this new development. Why would Bridgewell of all people request her presence down at what was without a doubt, the most important table in the world at this very moment? She would have to mull about that later as she didn't wish to keep Bridgewell, or any of the other generals waiting. Amelia hurriedly went to gather her notes and gave an obviously jealous James a sympathetic shrug. She stopped at the edge of the steps and looked back at the two guards.

"I guess our little affair will have to be postponed for another time." She said, trying to lighten the tone a bit. "Shame, as I'm sure I could've made you both like me more, eh?" Amelia gave an especially pleasant smile and wink at Sandy, and started off down the large stairs.

When she arrived at the Council table, Amelia tentatively took a seat in one the empty ones, took out the necessary paperwork she needed and focused on the words of their questionable, interstellar guest ahead.

[Zarm]

Teeth gritted, Bridgewell struggled to reign in his temper.

Diplomacy. Diplomacy.

"Bears, we can deal with. Bears don't stomp through population centers. Bears cannot kill over fifty million people in a single moment. But that happened, yesterday, in a place called Beijing."

"Actually, sir," the aid murmured nervously at his side, "That's looking like a typographical error on the original report. The total population of Beijing is only-"

Bridgewell waved him off.

"Perhaps our ancestors possessed some secret. Perhaps their population was less dense or more mobile. Perhaps the kaiju just woke up angry this time. But millions of our people have died in the last several days; close to an entire percentage point of our population in a single rotation of our world. You speak of a threat that could spell our demise; from our perspective, we already face one. You seem to have the power to help us stop this; yet you treat it as none of your concern and compare it to a creature far smaller, far weaker, far less deadly and far more within our capabilities... yet you seek an alliance with people you seem to care nothing for the suffering of. We don't wish to ignore this threat, or reject your offer; but can you see how we would be disinclined to trust someone who seems so... callous, over deaths in such numbers? You say you are opening more gates, and guarding them; setting up beachheads on our planet, whether we wish it or not. Were we doing these things on your world, and disregarding the pleas of your dying as irrelevant- would you see us as friends? Or conquerors? If we are to be allies, we need an act of good faith- and we need to have priorities in alignment. To save our world from one threat only to see it annihilated by another is the prospect we now face; addressing the former but not the latter does not represent that alignment; it is not the accord that allies need. Is there room for negotiation in your priorities?"

As he awaited an answer, Bridgewell doubled back, leaned low toward Amelia, and muttered sotto voce, "I think we have a lot to talk about. For the time being, you seemed to perceive a hidden agenda before anyone else. You see something else like that, flag me down. We have to play this one in real time, and any edge in foresight could benefit the entire world."

[Godzilla165]

Amelia listened on with pleasant surprise at Bridgewell’s rather blunt, yet absolutely correct and understandably concerned retort to Ba-Pef’s previous statement. There wasn’t a whole lot that the being was saying that made Amelia feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and she was glad that someone else at least audibly felt the same way. This was a time for diplomacy and democracy, not immodesty and rather condescending ideals from a being whom they didn’t even know. Obviously learning from her previous error, Amelia kept her mouth firmly shut and her expression one of professionalism and neutrality. The firecracker inside her though was currently fuming.

And, when Bridgewell then voiced his trust?, in her ability to perceive and call a spade a spade, Amelia nodded and returned to the screen. She wouldn’t let him down, and if Ba-Pef had anything else hidden that could be deemed questionable and a cause for concern, then Amelia would make sure she was the first to catch it.

[Godzilla165]

Planítis ton gigánton
65 million years ago



The Planet of Giants: a world that look closely resembled that of Earth itself. Though, whereas Earth is a planet covered mostly in water, the gigantis world was the inverse; it was a planet covered in foliage and vegetation of all shapes and sizes. It nourished and cared for its larger than life inhabitants: humanoid beings that ranged from 30 meters tall, all the way up to several hundred meters in height. These creatures had an uncanny resemblance to ancient humans during prehistoric times, but these giants had much more reptilian faces and skin, rather than the sapien appearance of their extremely distant cousins. These leviathans were peaceful creatures, only using violence as a last resort to resolve any and all confrontations. They were farmers and caretakers, both male and female, utilizing the ripe plantation that their world had gifted them. The air was always fresh and renewed from the countless trees acting as receptors to recycle the air and keep all life healthy. A lot of the giants themselves even had miniature trees and foliage of their own growing in various parts of their bodies.

The giants built their own villages and small towns to gain structure and organization, using woods and mud and plant life to craft their homes. They had leaders for different tribes, and even a crude government system that was put in place to support the people and whatever problems that arose, to be properly taken care of. The giants would chant, dance and clap their hands together every night underneath the starry sky, celebrating their great wealth of subsistence and well-being. And then, once morning came again, they would set off to farm the land, take care of the children, and do it all over again. The Planet of Giants: a world that was rather simple compared to other, more exotic planetary neighbors in this specific solar system. But, it was without a doubt the most unified and inhabited the most advanced and smartest creatures in the solar system. It was a planet oozing with flourishing life, beautiful lands, and amazing people. A world of goodness and peace.

Or so it was....

When Hanjiru arrived on the Planet of Giants, she didn't find a world of peace, a world of unification, nor one of flourishing life. What she instead was met with, was a planet that had been completely and utterly decimated and molested. Fires that spanned for miles on end enveloped the once green foliage that covered the landscape, raging balls of flame rained down from above and cratered the earth, and whole sections of the planet had been razed from their roots from massive torrents of energy. Smoke blotted out the sun, the sky was a deep orange in color, and embers the size of golf balls hung suspended in the air. Giants of all shapes and sizes littered the ground, a great number were burning, more had been vaporized, while others had been brutally mauled and eviscerated. Their towns were erased from existence, their government had collapsed in an instant, and their land... Was now reduced to fire and ash.

Hanjiru immediately went to work trying to put out the fires with her icy breath and frigid abilities; a part of her knew that it was already too late to do anything, but that didn't stop her from trying. As she continued to desperately attempt to halt the towering flames, Hanjiru witnessed a heart-wrenching site. A mother giant was on her knees cradling her already dead child, as she herself burned alive. Her miserable cries pierced through Hanjiru's very soul, and as the crystalline dragon made a beeline to try and save the being, the mother collapsed with her baby still in her arms, into the fire. Hanjiru silently floated in mid air as the flames licked her heels. Her head hung low, her eyes were dark and full of sadness and depression. She began emitting green healing energies from her body, just as a last attempt in order to save this world from the undeserved turmoil it had received. Hanjiru knew, though... She knew deep down, this world and its people were finished... And that hurt her.

Just then, Hanjiru looked below to notice that the ground had begun to literally fracture and tear itself apart, slowly and bit by bit. She emitted a heavy sigh, so the final nail had already been struck and the Planet of Giants had begun to fall apart before her very eyes. Hanjiru slowly ascended higher and higher into the atmosphere, whilst humming a melodious tune of regret and sorrow; she had been too late to save yet another race from total destruction. Before Hanjiru turned to shoot off into the stars, she gave the dying world one last look, and headed off. As much as it pained her, she couldn't delay; there were other worlds in this system that needed saving immediately. Hanjiru had hoped that they were still untouched, but as far as the dragon knew, those worlds might've already met the same fate as the one of the giants.

[MinorBone Good]

Al Basra, Iraq

Suigam was lost in his own little world. He wasn't even paying attention to the people screaming below, nor the small structures in front of him. Ever since the dream occurred, he felt like something was missing. That dream was far too real. Was that something that happened? Or is it something to come? The past.. Suigam tried to concentrate on the past, but he couldn't remember it. There was just a void. Nothing.

Going back to the dream, he tried to focus on the key details of it. Eyelids, feathers, islands, the fog. The Fog. The Fog. The Fog! There was a spark in his mind, remembrance. That fog, so cold against his feathers, it still gave him chills. Even after he stopped thinking about it, he felt cold. The fog held the answers. And he would seek it out soon.

Binghamton, New York

Ceokiri landed down on the ground, her red eyes glaring directly into Ghost's being. The few unlucky cars that were near Ceokiri's landing point was sent off road. With an cannibalistic howl, she began her chase with Ghost. Ghost quickly turned back around from Ceokiri, running for their life. More gunfire came from the small, military vehicles towards the beasts, but neither paid them no mind. Ceokiri quickly stampeded after Ghost, quickly gaining on them. Ghost quickly screamed out as they felt immense pain from their tail. And it being pulled off..

Quickly chomping down on the smaller being's tail, Ceokiri jumped onto Ghost's body, clamping her jaws around Ghost's neck. Her prey was captured, and she would soon be complete. With a strong bit, she snapped the neck of Ghost, there was no need to take time. Ceokiri quickly bit into Ghost's torso and started to eat his organs. Shortly after, the smoke coming out from behind slowly started to change color, changing from the colorful mist to a bright cyan blue. Ceokiri snarled out of pain, twisting her neck back and forth, digging her claws into the dirt. Her red eyes suddenly changed into the cyan blue, beams of light shooting out from the eye sockets. Ceokiri's body started to deflate like a balloon, leaving only a skinned remnant of Ceokiri remained.

In the blue mist behind, the fog slowly formed into the shape of Ceokiri's old self, complete with her back legs and wings. She looked down at herself in confusion, wondering what happened to herself. Maybe others could help. She closed her eyes, trying to sense if there are any nearby kaiju. She sensed activity nearby. She turned towards the direction. She howled loudly as she floated her way to New York City.

[Godzilla165]

Without warning, Ba-Pef became as stiff as a board and seemed to almost become panicked and nervous, evident by his soon erratic and abrupt movements. And then, in a move that shocked the entire audience in the Strategy room, Ba-Pef exploded into a dark mist, and in his place, a spinning disk rose forth. As the humans watched on, the disk remained suspended in place for just a moment, before shooting off into space faster than a speeding bullet. Left in his place was a cloud of manipulated sand that inquired a simple message: How did they get them?

Across the globe, within the central Nile region, Tiamat had also becomed panicked and frantic, as did the other sentinels. As if to follow in Ba-Pef’s lead, they soon all condensed into clouds of mist as their physical bodies left the embrace of Earth forever. Then, in literal seconds, said mist dissipated, leaving nothing behind.



Amelia looked on in shock and confusion at Ba-Pef’s abrupt exit, her mouth hanging slightly agape. “He sure left in a hurry...” She murmured quietly, which to Amelia, didn’t exactly help the alien’s case in suspicious intentions. But before long, she shrugged the sudden leave of absence off and opened her laptop to check up on some things.

Upon doing so, something caught Amelia’s eye right off the bat. A new email notification had popped onto her screen, and while getting several of those a day was honestly a part of her job, this one in particular stood out. Amelia opened her emails up, and there, at the very top of the list, was one that read, ‘TOP SECRET’, in big and bold lettering. Now, normally Amelia would instantly disregard emails like this as mere spam from a corporation or private company that tried to get one’s information, or sell them something, and delete them accordingly. But, on the same token, those types of emails would also always be relegated to the dedicated spam folder for that very reason; this one wasn’t. It was sent straight to her primary folder, and that gave Amelia brief pause.

Eventually though, after some pondering, Amelia ultimately just kind of scoffed at the message, and quickly deleted it without having even opened it. With that, she leaned slightly back in her seat and awaited whatever else the Strategy room had in store.

[Zarm]

Bridgewell let out a curse in the sudden silence of the strategy room- then slowly turned to his contemporaries.

"It would seem this oncoming threat is graver than we expected. Best case, the issue of an ongoing beach-head on Earth has been eliminated, leaving only a thousand other crises. But that leaves us to face whatever did that and gave African kaiju a voice... on our own. It would seem our job... is now to prepare for the impossible."

Bridgewell turned to the gallery.

"Get us everyone we have on linguistics working on the transcripts of this conversation. Not just translators, medeival literature historians, egyptologists, science fiction authors. Don't ignore the quirky, seeming-crackpots; in the movies, they're always the ones with the key. pull in whoever you need, pore over that text, try and get us something rational out of that gibberish. We're looking at an alien cosmology cloaked in terms of a mythology and esoteric terminology we now have no way of clarifying, so we extrapolate from terms used, correlate to known scientific concepts and details of the kaiju ecosystem from our own planet, and context-clues within the references to try and puzzle out what the poetic language means in real-world terms. You have U.N. authority to co-opt whatever resources you need; refer obstacles to our staff. The five best theories on this desk in twenty-four hours; if you need judges or a tiebreaker, see the personal aides for each of us." He gestured around the table at his fellow generals... then turned back to the crowd.

After a thoughtful pause, and a glance at the last wafts of Ba-Pef disappearing on the monitor, he added, "The first person to make a 'Thanos' joke is banned from this chamber for life."

With a satisfied nod, Bridgewell turned back to his fellow general- the front he was putting on for the gallery, his responsibility as one of the nominal leader-defenders of the entire free world, concealing insides turned to ice. He was running on autopilot, despite doubting that the maybe-dead alien's words would contribute anything but historical context to the demise of humanity and Earth; the likelihood of any practical knowledge or tactical advantage contributing even fractionally to their survival was so far-fetched that he'd already dismissed even the hope of it.

This was an unstoppable force to the already-unstoppable forces they were facing; a problem so far beyond him that a Lovecraft-protagonist-style breakdown into hysterical lunacy seemed the only sane response. It was a problem so far beyond any knowledge or capability that he could even imagine that he didn't have the first clue what to do, beyond the full-time job of holding off crippling despair. He could only hope that one of his colleagues had an idea... or preferably, a miracle.

[JAGzilla]

Li saw through Bridgewell's mask at once: the American was clearly as shaken as anyone else in the room, and had done all he could to assert a semblance of 'control' over the situation for the moment. Li was feeling much the same way (the suddenness of Ba-Pef's demise had been the worst of it; there had been no warning, no indication at all of how the kill had been achieved), but someone had to keep things moving along and assume there was some kind of hope for a future.

"So," he began, addressing the room at large. "We have the how and why under investigation. Now we need to focus on the who. Specifically, who were the targets of this attack? We know Ba-Pef was killed, and Tiamat" -he gestured to a monitor across the room, where the snake-creature's disintegration had been broadcast to the world by an Egyptian news station- "but I want a full rundown of the casualties. What's left in Egypt?"

"The Swarm is gone, sir," an Egyptian intelligence officer reported. "Or at least, it's looking that way. Hundreds of deaths have been visually confirmed, and recon units are being scrambled to search for stragglers. Valse is still active, no change in heading or behavior."

"Valse was one of 'ours', then," Li acknowledged. "Oh, well, we'll deal with it ourselves when the time comes. Everything else?"

Responses came in from all around the room as teams responsible for tracking and observation checked in.

"Trintaurus still holding position."

"Ceokiri's changed course but is still active."

"No change from Suigam."

"All British Columbia and Marianas Island kaiju accounted for."

"We have another KIA," a colonel piped up. "Makara. Visual and instrument confirmation from three separate aircraft. It's gone."

"Interesting," Li replied. "But then, even Newton noticed that kaiju's resemblance to the creature from Hindu mythology. That must not have been a coincidence. I want a search of its Emergence point carried out immediately. If it came through another of those transdimensional gates, we need to know."

The rest of the reports were quickly rattled off, revealing the continued existence of all kaiju which could be tracked, on down to-

"The Spanish Air Force has Arugas in sight, General, but something's going on with him. He stopped dead when the... uh, dust incident occurred. They say he looks confused...."
.....................................................................................

Arugas was confused. Mere moments ago, the mysterious stranger's confounding mind had been clearly perceptible to his own, and then, quite abruptly- nothing. The contact was lost with a sudden totality that could signify only one thing: she had died. Been killed, most likely, given the swiftness of it. But whatever had happened, if some battle had unfolded, he'd sensed nothing of it.

He growled to himself, mulling the strange happenstance over. What to do? His hopes of a battle with this aggressive enigma had been dashed, but... perhaps there was yet a chance? He deemed it unlikely that she had dropped dead of her own accord, so perhaps her killer would linger at the scene of the slaughter. And if it could destroy with such rapidity, it would likely be a worthy challenge, indeed.

His mind made up, Arugas continued on his way, intent upon seeking combat in the desert to the east...

[Andrew the Gojifan]

The instant Thanatos touched the molten cocktail Pain took over his whole body. Through the pain he glowed purple, he was getting bigger, his only hope was that his quickeningly growing body size would give Kronos the pause he needed to launch himself back onto dry land.