1941539114 (S) (35 page)

Katsu,
he said.
The battle is not going well.

I know,
came the reply.
Hyperion...is damaged. I cannot move.

This was unwelcome news, but perhaps there was still a way to keep her in the fight.
Do you have any functionality left?

Power is online,
she said.
Weapons systems charging. But until our legs are repaired, I’m stuck here, half buried.
Then she made an observation.
What’s wrong with the sky?

Endo slipped back into Nemesis’s conscious mind and glanced up. Storm clouds were forming overhead, swirling to life with unnatural quickness. A flash of stabbing pain gripped him, as the tentacled Gestorumque got its short limbs up under Nemesis’s core, dug in and heaved. Nemesis flew backward, tumbling without a hint of the grace normally provided by Endo’s experience.

Nemesis swiped her massive claws through a building and sent it toppling towards the Gestorumque, but its raised wings blocked the impact. With a quick thrust of its long arms and wings, the creature bounded back to its feet. It took up a defensive posture and surveyed the battlefield, looking toward Karkinos’s still form and then the writhing Giger on the far side of the city, caught in the grip of some kind of attack, while yellow beams of light from a nearby rooftop pummeled the Kaiju. The Gestorumque then turned skyward, observing the clouds. This last gesture ended with, what looked to Endo like a smug smile. In the mind of this Kaiju, or at least its Voice, the battle had already been won.
But why? Because of some storm clouds?

Maigo’s faint voice tickled his mind.
Are you there?

As Nemesis lunged again, Endo retreated back into the connection with Maigo.
I’m here.

I’m going to trust you with something,
she said,
but I need to know you will not use it against me, or Hyperion.

We are not your enemy,
Endo said.
Nemesis would never harm you.

And with that, Endo felt a dump of raw information fill his thoughts. He knew everything about Hyperion, its functions and its weapons.

What do we do?
Maigo asked.

I have an idea,
Endo said, and he projected it to her.

I—I think that could work,
she said, and she set about getting it done on her end.

Knowing he had several steps to achieve before the plan could work, Endo left the conversation and slammed back into Nemesis’s mind. He wrestled with her powerful emotions, while she wrestled with their enemy. But while all of Nemesis’s frenzied strikes and tail slashes were deflected by the broad wings and countered with painful effect, Endo broke through the creature’s defenses and showed her what to do.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure he’d reach her, but while she was a being of primal emotion, Nemesis was far from stupid. She understood the attack, and her physiology began to change as a result. A layer of mucus began to seep between the smooth flesh of her sheltered white skin, and the thick armor of her black outer flesh. It grew thicker, weakening her defenses, while freeing her to execute her highest purpose: divine retribution.

Then the first swath of flesh was knocked away by her opponent, revealing gleaming white skin that matched the large Kaiju’s. The molting had begun.

43

My rushed and panicked landing would be embarrassing if anyone was actually watching me. I stumble for a few steps, trip over my own foot and fall flat on my masked face. But the bumbling move worthy of Clark Kent also keeps me from getting hammered by a flung Ferox. The alien soars over my head, broken and bloodied, its midsection open and trailing a rainbow of entrails. I don’t need to ask what could have done that to one of the powerful and savage Ferox. I’ve already seen it. And it’s bearing down on Collins.

The thirty-foot-tall Aeros, which from what I understand is fairly short for their race, reaches down for her, its two broad fingers nearly at her waist.

“Get out of there, Ashley!” I shout.

But she doesn’t leap away. Instead, she ducks. A black blur descends behind the creature, slamming into the back of its feet first. The big alien topples forward, its head and torso crashing into the second floor of a brick building. Collins dives out between its legs, and rolls to her feet. The maneuver was planned. While I seem to have lost my comms, they’re still communicating.

When Collins turns to me and starts making hand gestures, I can see that she’s talking, but can’t hear her. I point to the side of my helmet, shake my head and shrug.

She yanks off her helmet and shouts, “The Ferox charged right in, all savage and no plan.”

No doubt they saw the lone pilot as an easy target. Seven on one, even thirty-feet-tall, should have been easy. But they clearly underestimated the Aeros, who has been alive for thousands of years, and who’s accustomed to battle and reigning in a Gestorumque.

I pull off my mask, and I’m struck by how much smoke is in the air. The mask’s vision system has been compensating for the fading light, as smoke and clouds cover up the sun. And it’s been removing the smog from my vision. “Is Cole dead?”

“Last I saw, he’d been tossed over there.” She points to a three story building with a restaurant on the first floor and apartments above. There’s a hole in the third floor wall. “Two of his team went after him. The rest are dead.”

Lilly lands between us and pulls her mask off. “What’s the plan?”

“We can’t let this thing leave,” Collins shouts, as the Aeros pulls itself free and stands up.

“We can’t let it live,” Lilly says.

While I don’t disagree, I’m having a hard time seeing how we’re going to kill it at all.

Lilly sees my apprehension, raises her hands and extends her claws. Then she pats the suit she’s wearing. “They made us better than we were, Jon.” When she smiles, I know she’s quoting again. “Better, stronger, faster.”

“For the record, these suits cost less than six million dollars,” I say. I twist and face down the Aeros as it turns to look at us. It’s built like Lovecraft, but without the wings, longer legs that end in tree trunk-like feet, and far fewer tentacles. In fact, the wriggling tendrils from its mouth look more like starfish limbs. Closer to a spiny Zoidberg.

“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Lilly says. “You two keep it busy, I’ll get up on its ugly head and break its neck. And before you doubt I can do it, remember, these suits made me stronger, too. I can get it done.”

“It’s not a question of whether you’re capable,” I say. “It’s that I’m not sure you—”

“Remember where I grew up?” she asks. “I’ve taken lives before. I won’t lose any sleep killing this asshat, will you?”

She’s got me there. “No.”

“Then, FC-P Action Team go!” She gives a wink, moves in slow motion while making a “Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh,” sound effect, and then leaps away, rising into the sky and disappearing over the roof of a nearby building.

“She’s having too much fun with this,” Collins says.

“What? You’re not?”

The Aeros leans toward us and roars, its tendrils warbling over its open mouth. Then it’s stomping toward us.

“Scary,” I say, holding my ground.

“I’ve seen worse,” Collins says. “Also, put your mask back on.

Just after we both pull on our masks, the Aeros attacks, swinging both hands down like a sledgehammer. The strike shakes the ground and shatters pavement with enough force to make me question how much Aeros punishment the combat suits can absorb.
Time to find out,
I think, as I roll to my feet, spinning around and diving for the Aeros’s leg.

The limb is solid and takes the impact of my body with just the slightest flinch, but then I start punching. I see the flesh bend under each blow. By the time I’ve landed my third punch, the first has left a growing purple welt. Then I feel pressure wrap around my body. The pressure goes from tightening to steady when the suit’s fibers start resisting, but I’m still having a hard time breathing. I’m lifted up, at the mercy of the Aeros who appears ready to consume the top half of my body.

But then Collins strikes, throwing herself at the creature’s exposed midsection and boosting with her repulse discs. She hits like a cannonball, and as the Aeros pitches forward and stumbles back, I get the bright idea to trigger my own repulse discs. I’m launched forward, but still held by the Aeros. The big fist spins on the elbow and smacks into the creature’s jaw. I feel the impact on my head, but the suit goes rigid and keeps my neck from snapping. The blow keeps the alien off-balance, so I do it again, forcing the Aeros to repeatedly punch its own face.

“Stop hitting yourself,” I say, and I give it another boost, slapping against its face again. “Stop hitting yourself.” Then I realize my comms still aren’t working, and my perfectly timed gag is lost.
I can tell the story
later
, I decide, and I trigger the repulse discs again. This time, the alien lets go. I catapult into the side of the building.

When I recover and crawl back to the fresh hole in the wall, I look down in time to see Collins launch an attack. But with the creature’s attention focused solely on her, it easily backhands her away. She tumbles across the pavement and stops against a fire hydrant. I cringe at the way her back strikes the hydrant. Without the suit, she’d be dead for sure. With it...I’m not sure.

Like an angry shot, I leap out of the window, intent on pummeling the thing’s face in, but this must be how the Ferox attacked. The Aeros swats me down like Serena Williams against a tennis ball. I hit the ground hard and roll to a stop at the giant’s feet. I get a good look at the Aeros’s sole, as one of the feet rises up, about to squash my head.

Then Lilly arrives, dropping down from above with enough force to stumble the Aeros down and forward. I roll out from under the foot, as it makes a crater in the pavement. Then I get to my feet. Lilly has one hand buried in the alien’s back, riding it like she’s at a rodeo, and she’s slapping its head.
What is she doing?
I thought she was going to break its neck, but it looks like she’s trying to go Gallagher on its melon. She hasn’t anticipated its long reach though, and it has no trouble reaching up over its head, grasping hold of her and pitching her across the street. She crashes through a building, and at the speed she’s going, I’m pretty sure she’s gone through the far side as well.

A savage roar announces a new attack, but not from the Aeros. Three Ferox leap through the building behind the Aeros and attack in unison. Each lands a few fast swipes with their claws, but one is swatted away, another is caught in its massive hand and crushed and the third, after being shaken free, is stepped on. The Ferox might have savagery on their side, but they need to dial it back.
It’s no wonder they need our help
, I think. The evolution of their species over the millennia has been closer to a devolution.

The Aeros charges toward the fallen Ferox and Collins, both of whom are slowly recovering, but nowhere fast enough. And as fast as I now am, there’s no way I’m going to reach them in time. But I don’t have to. Chased by a streak of dust, Lilly flies—literally—through the building she’d been thrown into and crashes into the Aeros, lifting it off the ground and slamming it into the building on the far side of the street.

I join her in the middle of the street, as the Aeros leans back up. I lift my mask.

“You want to try that again?” I ask.

She lifts her mask, smiling, yellow eyes burning with excitement. “Why bother?”

The Aeros climbs out of the rubble and stands. I motion to it with both hands.

She mirrors my gesture, but adds a dramatic openmouthed smile. As though in response to her action, a sizzling sound fills the air. It’s followed by a high pitched wail from the Aeros. It arches its back and grips its head for a moment. But then the hands snap away, and I see the thick fingers dissolving to mush and falling away. The alien collapses back into a sitting position. Its head lolls to the side and then folds inward. Liquefied brains ooze out of its eyes, and then its mouth. Then the whole head implodes on itself. We’re seeing the devastating effects of a bacteria bomb designed to take out a Kaiju, never mind something a fraction of the size.

As the body sizzles and is consumed, Lilly smiles and says, “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.”

And with that, the sky opens up and drops down softball sized balls of ice.

“Get Woodstock down here!” I shout to Lilly. When the girl pulls her mask back down, I run for Collins. She’s groaning and sitting up when I reach her. “You okay?”

“Well, I can wiggle my fingers and toes,” she says, “but everything hurts.”

When a ball of ice whacks my shoulder, I say, “We’re getting out of here,” and I lift her up.

“Is it dead?” she asks, but then she sees the still dissolving body behind me. “Gross.”

“He’s on his way!” Lilly shouts from under her lifted mask, and then she runs to help up the lone Ferox.

I pull down my mask in time to save myself from being knocked unconscious. I hear Future Betty’s approach as ice balls strike her hull and bounce off. Then her cargo bay door opens, revealing the craft as it settles down thirty feet away.

I get two steps toward the aircraft, when I hear Nemesis roar in pain. It sends chills through my body, but there isn’t time to reflect. The Kaiju topples toward us, crushing buildings with her body, which I quickly note is cracked and bleeding, showing several patches of her more fragile white skin.

We dive inside the X-35, and I rip off my mask. “Go! Go! Go!”

The X-35 accelerates so fast that we nearly tumble out the back, but the hatch closes fast enough to catch us. I look back through the hatch, which shows a projection of what’s happening behind us, and watch Nemesis crash to the ground. She’s definitely hurting.

But she’s not done yet.

Quick to her feet, Nemesis sides steps toward the Luminox, putting herself between the Gestorumque and the building. Hyperion isn’t too far away, but the big robot is still unmoving, trapped beneath half a building.