Mechagodzilla: Shiryu

-17-

The whole scene left Akane and the others speechless with horror and dread.

"My god...this place...is a graveyard..." Akane said with a slight tremble in her voice, covering her mouth. ["More than that...it's the scene of a massacre..."] Rick said, his voice hollow with the same shock as the rest. Chen looked equally as spooked and terrified as Akane when seeing the whole scenery. ["But...how? How can the MUTOs have defeated all of these Godzillas?"] Rick asked as he scanned the place around via the video feed he was getting. The whole place was littered with bone corpses, and the spores over them as a few began to pulse. Once their pulse finished, their slight EMP resonance was emitted and interfered with the electrical systems. Thankfully the Shiryu units were able to smoothen out the effects of the EMPs, but there was no telling when everything would short circuit. On the other hand, there was no telling when the cocoons would hatch. All of this and the memories of her past began to mix around in Akane's head. They made her zone out for a moment, remembering how she saw the creatures first arrive and descend over the city years ago. The thought of facing against these same creatures from the past...made Akane begin to stall again and freeze up in fear.

Only the voice of her friend Chen on the radio helped Akane snap back into reality. ["Akane?...Akane. Are you alright?"] Chen asked, making Akane blink and focus again. "I'm alright. Just...remembering something" she said, rubbing her eyes. Akane could see that Chen had noticed her worried expression. ["Lieutenant Akane, this is Colonel Togashi. Due to the potential threat that these creatures have been known for, I order that all units leave the area and return to the outpost. Effective immediately."] Togashi said on the radio. ["It's best to leave this place pronto. None of us want to have a repeat of 2014 at a larger scale."] Rick said. "...Understood." Akane said, a wave of relief washing over her back as they have ordered not to advance. No more further exploration or studying here, as it would surely bring a large risk due to the growing cocoons. Who knows when they would hatch and emerge, and then it will spell disaster. Akane now piloted Shiryu and ordered Shiryu Kai to follow her, but then another pulse was made by one of the spores. This one was much more stronger and happened much more sooner than expected. It affected both Shiryu units, frying some non essential instruments while leaving the others intact. The mechagodzillas stalled for a moment before recovering from the strong pulse that went through them. [Akane? What happened?"] Togashi asked as the radio and video feed signal was disrupted momentarily due to the pulse. "Another pulse. Don't worry, I'm fine." Akane said as she straightened Shiryu back up and resumed walking.

However...Shiryu Kai began to move on its own, slowly turn around, and head back to the MUTO cocoons. "What?" Akane said to herself, typing on the panel and looking to see what was going on. The signal from the unmanned unit was still active, but...something was off. The signal was starting to glitch in the same pattern from that of the pulses. ["Lieutenant, what's going on? Why is Shiryu Kai not following orders?"] Togashi asked on the radio. "I don't know. I'm trying to order it to come back but-" she said while typing a return order to Kai...only to get an [ERROR] message on the screen. "It's not accepting my commands. I swear I am not doing this." Akane said in a worried tone. ["Im getting the same thing here. The commands don't work."] Rick said, visibly concerned as he was also seeing the same thing as everyone. ["Engineering team, find out what is happening and stop Kai from advancing."] Colonel Togashi ordered.  ["Yes sir!"] Simon said as he began to work on analyzing the data from the unmanned unit. Akane also did her best to send several orders in an attempt to stop Shiryu Kai, only to get the same [ERROR] messages. Having no choice but to follow while the others worked nonstop to find a solution, Akane piloted Shiryu to follow Shiryu Kai. The unmanned unit made its way through the cocoons, walking as if it was searching for something.

Some time passed while Kai navigated through the dormant spores and cocoons, until they reached what looked like the center.

This cocoon above on the cavern ceiling was much more larger than the other cocoons and spores around on the ground, taking much more of the space. It was massive, and some sort of red energy was flowing from the ground, to the other spores on the ground, and up to where the larger main one was. Akane had a bad feeling that this particular one didn't look right. It was either a MUTO in its Prime form...or something else much more larger. Shiryu Kai continued to advance towards the larger one, still not obeying commands from Akane or the base. ["Akane! Listen to me. Shiryu Kai is in an autonomous loop. I don't know what error happened, but the pulse must have fried its logic program. It cannot receive outside orders anymore. The only way it could be stopped is by pulling the power override handle on the left side of its torso. That will cut off its main power."] Simon said on the radio, the display cursor on the screen moving to lock on to the target. "I'm on it!" Akane said as she got the information and made Shiryu rush towards the unmanned unit. Suddenly, without warning, as she was reaching to the side of the torso, Shiryu Kai suddenly twisted around rapidly and delivered a punch right in the side of Shiryu's head. Akane grunted as Shiryu was thrown to the side and crashed down. "What??" Akane said, utterly confused as to how the unmanned unit did that as she then quickly brought Shiryu back upwards.

Shiryu Kai, now seen with red eyes, clenched its mechanical hands and gave out a loud roar. ["It's out of control! Akane! Get out of there now!!!"] Colonel Togashi barked on the radio as the rouge Shiryu unit began to charge up its mazer cannon before firing. Akane moved Shiryu to the side to dodge the attack, starting to rush towards the unmanned unit as it charged again and fired. Despite the orders, Akane set herself to disable Shiryu Kai before it did any more damage around. "I'll try to disable it!" Akane said as she charged at the other mechagodzilla. When she neared close, she piloted Shiryu to block a hit from one of Kai's attacks in order to give it a blow. However, despite that, the unmanned unit was much more quicker than Akane and Shiryu. Even with the AI aiding Akane, Shiryu Kai either blocked the attacks and counterattacked with powerful hits with its arms, hands, and even tail. Trying out another strategy, Akane piloted Shiryu to go to close quarters once more and immobilize Kai's arms in order to search for a window. The unmanned unit deployed its missile launchers and fired two missiles from its shoulder pods at Shiryu. One missile hit Shiryu on the side, making Akane grunt and regain the composure quickly, while the other missile exploded near a spore. Not minding that, Akane made Shiryu continue to tare across the ground to get close to Shiryu Kai. Seeing that the other unit was getting close, it deployed its two long vibrating swords to swing at Shiryu. Seeing this, Akane piloted Shiryu to lower down and let the blade pass above, before moving up and clamping both mechanical hands on Kai's arms. She struggled to keep both swords from reaching Shiryu's head as she found the opening and spotted the override handle. Kai tried to bash Shiryu's head with its restrained arm, but Akane shoved it away and ducked down as she grabbed the handle to twist and pull it. Just in time as Kai had finished charging up and fired its laser cannon at Shiryu's chest.

The entire body of the mechagodzilla shook as it was thrown back, smashing against another one of the MUTO cocoons. Akane grunted as she held on and managed to brace for the impacts, recovering quickly and making Shiryu stand up again. Seeing that the other unit was still recovering, Shiryu Kai turned around and stood in front of the large ceiling spore, standing still and then switching its hand to drill move in order to tare into the cocoon. Akane groaned and tried to get up, though not very fast as the fall temporarily damaged Shiryu's motors. Seeing that she couldn't get up quickly, Akane moved Shiryu's arm and tried to aim the mazer cables at the override handle, to try and pull it out from the unmanned unit. Just when the unit was about to drill its way through into the cocoon, and Akane about to fire the cables, Shiryu Kai stalled,  glitching before powering down and stopping completely. ["Shiryu Kai...has ceased operation."] Simon announced on the radio as everyone saw the unmanned unit power down. Akane set the arm down and have a huge sigh of relief and tiredness, thankful that it was all over. ["Good work, Lieutenant. You did well. Retrieve the damaged unit's panel to prepare for repairs."] Colonel Togashi said. "Yes sir" Akane said, making Shiryu stand up once again and then walking over to Shiryu Kai. She reached out to grab the override handle and remove it from the autonomous unit, but a cracking sound made her her retract the hand and look to the side. Where Shiryu Kai's drill had been inserted in the surface of the hard cocoon, a crack formed, the inside starting to glow with a sort of red energy. Then the crack enlarged and began to spread all around, making Akane's eyes widen and move Shiryu back.

A moment too late before the entire ceiling spore glowed bright red and exploded in a shower of debris