1st
of July 2010 - Northern Washington DC, in a seemingly abandoned
Industrial Estate
General
Carter watched the media feeds... Everywhere Chronos had invaded
the life of his country men and women. Politicians were mostly
all zoanoids; the former President, while he was not one at the
beginning of X-Day, was soon turned into one. Most of the United
States Military was either wiped out on that day or simply
disbanded when Chronos took over. It was not even just the
leaders of the country or its military that Chronos now
influenced. Rock bands, celebrities, the news media had all been
largely turned into zoanoids to make them more acceptable to the
wider public. But always Chronos would say they had done so by
choice. Over the last few years they had even targeted science
fiction loving sectors of the public, promising that those that
were Zoaformed would be allowed serve on the Ark, the giant
living spaceship that Chronos had literally grown in the Dead
Sea!
Watching
it all, General Carter knew one thing; Chronos would pay for what
they had done and the revolution would begin very soon as he
looked at another screen. There a man in a mechanized Red Armor
combat suit fought with Guyver US, who was clearly holding back
but not as much as he would normally. The Red Armor’s arm
cannons fired forcing Guyver US to dodge the projectiles being
fired that splattered paint like pellets off the wall. A Guyver
might be something he has come to understand is incredibly
powerful but the last thing he wanted was some fool in training
to get a lucky shot and hit his control medal with a live round.
Their ultimate secret weapon was him! The General didn’t
know if Chronos had even an inkling of his existence, but at the
very least they did not know where the hell they were, deep in
this underground facility. Soon, though, his secret army would
strike, soon his country would be free of Chronos!
Chronos
USA Branch – Pillars of Heaven – Washington DC
It
had been many years since Gigantic Dark struck Washington’s
Chronos buildings and brought down one of the three Pillars of
Heaven, since then any sign of his assault or that of Guyver II
F’s birth and escape have since been removed and damaged or
destroyed buildings rebuilt to their former glory. Apprentice
Zoalord Taylor Smith was the man put in charge of these
operations. It had taken years of this man’s life,
overseeing the reconstruction of not just Washington DC but also
standing in for the vacuum in the leadership of Chronos that now
seemed mysteriously restored.
Taylor
Smith sat in the top office of the Pillars of Heaven thinking of
the past events that led up to now... Zoalord Purg’stall
was the first to go, unknown to Chronos at the time he was not
killed by the Gigantic Guyver but the Trio of Rogue Zoalords. But
his supposedly dead body disappeared from the battlefield in a
flash of light that none of the four witnessing Zoalords could
understand. What exactly happened is unknown to all but the
Supreme Zoalords, but Taylor knew one thing, Fried’rich von
Purg’stall died that day and his body disappeared before
the eyes of the four observing Zoalords.
Then,
only a short while later, on the same day but on different sides
of the world, Chronos darkest day struck. Cablarl Khan initiated
what was now called the Dragon Lord event, turning into an
incredibly huge giant monster like dragon by absorbing countless
Chronos Japan Zoanoids and Hyper-Zoanoids... He was defeated by
the Gigantic Exceed, the Gigantic Guyver’s most powerful
form, but despite his apparent annihilation he too somehow
survived but this was again a secret of Chronos only the Twelve
knew the details of... While on the other side of the world,
Guyver 3 unsuccessfully tried to capture the Control Spheres of
the Relic at the heart of Chronos Arizona. But it was at nearly
at the cost of both Waferdanos and Li Yentsui. Again, how they
survived was something the Twelve kept to themselves. It angered
Taylor Smith that he was not trusted with that information but
yet he was placed here to clean up their mess!
Now
these bastards had somehow returned too, adding insult to injury!
The twelve Supreme Zoalords of Chronos were whole again. All of
them, even including Purg’stall!? Now he and the other
Apprentice Zoalords would be expected to stand aside as those
losers returned to take their power! Taylor Smith sat in what he
viewed as ‘HIS CHAIR’ knowing today he would now be
the number two man in Chronos USA! The phone on the desk rang...
“Hello
Annabelle,” said Taylor Smith, seeing the name of his
personal assistant show up on the display of the phone.
“Sir,
he’s here, arriving
into the lobby now!”
“Thank
you,” said Taylor Smith, putting down the phone. He was
sooner than planned, Shin Rubeo Amniculus one of Twelve Supreme
Zoalords of Chronos has arrived.
Taylor
Smith liked the level of free reign given to him over the last
few years, it allowed him to show his talents but he had
miscalculated. Alkanphel had not promoted the Apprentice
Zoalords. Taylor Smith, though, calmed himself; he knew he
couldn’t be feeling such strong emotions when a Supreme
Zoalord would sense his disquiet... Less than a minute later
Zoalord Amniculus entered the room.
“Hello
Apprentice Zoalord Smith,” said Zoalord Amniculus as he
reached out his right arm to shake his hand. This was the first
time Taylor Smith had met the Supreme Zoalord in person.
“Greetings
Zoalord Amniculus, welcome to the Pillars of Heaven. I believe
this was formally your primary headquarters?”
“Yes,
it was, but after events in Japan, that has been my
primary assignment until now,” said Zoalord Amniculus.
“What
has happened to change that Lord Amniculus?
“You
do not need to know the full details. Alkanphel has a new
assignment for you.”
“I
am to lose command of Chronos USA?!”
“Yes,
Alkanphel has different plans for you. You will be joining Alfrid
Drano at Chronos Island, you have one more week to finish up your
projects here before you join him there.” said Lord
Amniculus as he looked out a window that overlooked the city.
Below, in the city, he could see the rebuilt complex of the 3rd
Operation
Plant of Chronos, formally known as the Pentagon.
Taylor
Smith sat in ‘his chair’ smiling to himself as Lord
Amniculus re-familiarized himself with the view from the Pillars
top floor. He, nevertheless, was very happy with what was said,
this was no demotion as he had feared, Chronos Island was the
code name for something much greater that he hoped would bring
him opportunity for further glory.
Chronos
Island
In
the vast sea of the South Pacific Ocean, the tiny island of only
ten square miles would be easy to miss to any plane flying
overhead. Unclaimed by any nation it laid below sea level until
two years ago. Under the direct orders of Alkanphel a massive
contruction project began, bringing the island above sea level.
Once that was completed massive excavations into the center of
the island began. Alfrid Drano, director of Chronos Mexico City,
was put charge of the project. He did not question why the Master
Zoalord would want such a massive undertaking or why he would
want him to give up his office and live away from his wife and
daughter for two years. He was simply there to make sure it was
completed for him and on time!
The
date Alkanphel wanted this project completed by was a mere two
months away but Chronos Island was completed on schedule. While
what is contained in the islands core soon became common
knowledge to those working on the project. Alkanphel referred to
it as the “War Relic” but Alfrid Drano had discovered
something that was of concern to him that he considered to be
also a concern for Chronos! Having called Lord Valkus, they had
scheduled a conference call together to discuss the matter.
“...
and the excavations are finished. The Chronos Island base is an
almost perfect reconstruction of the design used for Relics Point
Lord Valkus,” said Alfrid Drano to the perfect 3D image of
Dr Hamical Valkus. In the Ark the oldest of the Chronos Zoalords,
bar Alkanphel, looked at the display of the base until his gaze
stopped at
its core where the pyramid shaped War Relic lay.
“You
have some concerns over this living ship?” questioned
Zoalord
Valkus.
“Yes,
I do. I’ve compared soil samples around the War Relic to
that of the Ship that was once inside Relics Point and
what
I’ve found was surprising. Carbon dating of the War Relic
surroundings show that it is only approximately twelve to
thirteen thousand years old,” said Alfrid Drano, looking
for any signs of surprise on the face of the old Zoalord, but
there was none. There was a silence of a few moments while they
both thought
about what to say next.
“Alfrid,
you have been a
loyal member of Chronos and now Apprentice Zoalord, what I am
about to tell you is a secret known only to the twelve Supreme
Zoalords of Chronos...“
Tokyo
Japan - Shinjuku
It
had been nearly three years since the battle between Guyver 1 and
Cabral Khan ravaged the city. Reconstruction of the ruined areas
was at full pace but the emotional scars of the battle are still
felt by the people who survived. In one of the remaining ruins of
derelict building three men met in secret. To look at them you’d
not think of them as all that different from any normal Japanese
person, they all knew how to dress in common clothing and not
draw any undue attention.
“Sho,
we’ve done nothing to Chronos since you killed Guyot over
six months ago,” said Agito.
“That
was a favour we did for Chronos then, but I understand we needed
to destroy the Unit Remover,” said Aptom, as he pulled his
hood
off his head, revealing his birth marked face.
“It
was the lesser of two evils,” said Sho.
“Has
either of you
seen or heard of Guyver II F since then?” asked Agito.
“No,
since she disappeared that day, I’ve not seen her since,”
said Aptom, as Sho shook his head, signally that he too had heard
nothing of the mysterious female Guyver with the artificial
control medal.
“We
have been waiting
for Chronos to make a move for too long,” said Agito.
“I
agree, that is why I called you both here, Chronos is up to
something in the south pacific, Zoanoids here in Japan are being
deliberately kept in the dark about it,” said Aptom.
“Why
would they do that?” asked Sho.
“So
he wouldn’t absorb one and know what they are planning.
What have you found out Aptom?” asked Agito to an annoyed
Sho beside him. He knew why they’d do that, the question he
should have asked was what they were hiding.
“I
do not know exactly, but from what I’ve found out Chronos
has invested a lot of resources in
building a new base in the South Pacific that they call simply
‘Chronos Island’,” said Aptom.
“Do
you know any details about the
base?” asked Agito.
“No,
only it’s name and that this has delayed the launch of the
Ark,” said Aptom.
“We
need to find out more then,” said Sho, knowing that if
something delayed the Ark launch that it must be important.
Though, neither of the Guyvers nor Aptom knew that the ship
required Twelve Zoalords to command and control it for being
another deciding factor on not to launch the ship yet.
“I
have split part of myself onto this other zoanoid, he is on the
way to the Island unaware I am along for the ride,” said
Aptom.
“How
is that possible?” asked Agito.
“When
Sho and I fought the Dragon Lord, I found it was possible to
control parts of a zoa-form’s body. Though that was on a
large being made up of countless number
of bodies which allowed me to get partial control over him. But
I’ve since learned it is possible to be like a parasite and
not fully take over a zoanoids body and unknown to them remain
there while they receive orders from Zoalords and go about their
daily work for Chronos...” said Aptom just before his voice
trailed off...
“Has
your host discovered anything interesting in the last few
minutes?” asked Agito, noticing Aptom’s facial
expression suddenly change to that of shock, not something he had
seen Aptom do often.
“He
has just overheard his supervisor saying something
interesting, the supervisor has compared the Island to the former
Relics Point,” said Aptom, upon listening to what he had
just told them they too shared his shocked expressions
as
the implications quickly sunk in for them all.
6am
the 3rd of July 2010 - Northern Washington DC, in a
seemingly abandoned Industrial Estate
Jason
awoke in his living quarters. He was one of the few people inside
this secret base that didn’t have to share his quarters
with someone. It was something he appreciated a lot, as it meant
he could have some semblance of home here and not worry about
someone moving what few possessions of family he had left.
Looking at the picture taken a few days before his wedding, of
Fiona, his sister Jenny and his mother, he let out a deep sigh.
“I wish you all were back,” he said as he walked into
the bathroom. Jason wasn’t made of stone, and would have
shed a tear for his loved ones that had been killed on his
wedding day but simply put he felt he had already cried enough
for them and now the feeling of loss had turned to anger...
As
he washed his face flash backs of that day filled his head. That
golden being that saved him that day still haunted his memory.
Who or what the hell was he!? Jason did not know, but if not for
him that falling beam would have killed him instead of Fiona as
it fell from the church ceiling. Jason didn’t know to this
day, though, if he should thank him or not. He would have gladly
given his life if it meant Fiona, the woman he was about to marry
that day, would have lived. Jason continued to think about this
as he did every morning since that day as he got dressed. He was
badly hurt that day, but as he lay in a hospital bed Atkins found
him. Jason being one of the few FBI members to survive the early
phase of the war on Chronos was then drafted into the ACTF, the
Anti-Chronos Task Force.
Since
then he spent a lot of time buried under ground like the other
five thousand odd members of the ACTF group, getting ready for
the day they could bring their movement to the USA. To him,
though, it just meant he could get some level of revenge on those
that ruined his life. His new best friend Sean would ensure that!
Jason looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed once again and
focused on today’s task, to assist Sean in whatever he
needed to be the best Guyver possible. Jason got dressed and then
left his room.
The
room beside Jason’s was Sean’s and his girlfriend
Cori Edwards. Jason liked Cori; she was an unexpected surprise
when he found out about her. An archaeologist who specialized in
what was called at the time fringe archaeology, looking into old
stories of werewolves and other shape shifting monsters of myth
and legend to look into the truth about them and ultimately made
what would be the greatest discovery no one would ever hear of
with her Father in Utah... They discovered a living Relic ship
but that ship was now lost, sent back to wherever it came from by
Sean. He understood why, but it was a sore subject with some
members of ACTF as the ship possibly contained a lot of dormant
Units and now more than ever they would need that power to fight
Chronos...
Moments
later Jason walked up to Sean’s and Cori’s room, he
knocked on their door. Sean opened the door, like Jason he was
already dressed. Cori stirred a bit on their bed and mumbled
something resembling ‘hello Jason’ and went back to
sleep. Sean quietly left the room and closed the door.
“Good
morning Jason,” said Sean.
“Morning
Sean, she’s still
not used to waking up early?”
“No,
and she’s
has no plans to
get used to that either if she can help it.”
“I Don’t
blame her, there aren’t many creature comforts here. She’s
a good morning sleeper and it’s not like the General has a
training program for her.”
“Yeah,
that honour is
for me! I did not think joining ACTF would mean I’d be
running around the base every morning
at six AM.”
“Well,
today will be different. We’ve only about thirty
minutes
of running as at seven AM we’re meeting with the General.”
“It
must be important if he’s interrupting my normal hour run
through the base.”
“I
believe it is, at the very least he sounded a little different
when he talked about it.”
“In
what way was he... Different?”
“I
don’t know, just different Sean,” said Jason as he
broke out into a run and Sean in turn increased his pace
to
a run. Not everything was complete in this underground base when
they moved into it at first, to Jason this was one of the best
improvements, sections of the
underground base that had been converted
into a pathway where
they could run around and get exercise. While treadmills may do
the
job, looking at the same wall for over a year as they ran
endlessly was getting to them. Coping with living underground was
something everyone here had to get used to. Though, this was
nothing too fancy, basically a group of underground corridors
that made a circle around the outside of the underground base. At
certain times of the day personal kept to a minimum so that the
military and others who liked to exercise could run around the
base.
Chronos
Island – The Docks
At
the same time as Sean and Jason exercised in their secret base a
huge cargo and personnel ship had landed at Chronos Island. Aptom
could sense the relief in the man that he was finally on land.
The Gustav that Aptom had chosen was a leader of a group of
thirty zoanoids. Aptom had become a parasite to this hyper
zoanoid, but was surprised that the Gustav wasn’t fond of
travelling by sea at all. The hyper zoanoid was one of thousands
being sent now to re-enforce the base now that its construction
phase was finished and was operational.
Aptom
lay quietly as the Gustav arrived at the entrance of the base and
was checked into the base and given induction training. Soon he
and his men were travelling in a lift to their living quarters.
Windows on the lift allowed the person inside to see into the
centre of this amazing facility. The base was huge by any
standard. It dawned on him very soon, though, which base this
reminded him of, with the huge open area in the centre of the
base and the rest of the base built around it, this place
reminded him of Relics Point. However, Aptom knew he had to be
certain of this before he acted and fully consumed Gustav.
Hours
passed by and Aptom still lay there quietly with Gustav totally
unaware that he bought one of the most dangerous beings to
Chronos inside their most secret base. But as of yet he had not
yet learned of what was inside this new base. He was reasonable
sure, but that was not enough. Gustav was now eating with other
zoanoids in a canteen area of the base. Another Hyper Zoanoid had
joined him, judging by the man’s power level and uniform,
but he wasn’t sure yet what type he was but something about
him was very familiar and he didn’t like that fact at
all... As he talked with Gustav the subject of their conversation
went onto the base itself. Until, finally, he heard what he
wanted to hear as the man said “deep in the Core of the
base is one of the Living Relics of the Advents!” Aptom
said nothing and remained quietly attached to the Gustav
contemplating what to do next. The only action he could think of
was simply that it was time for him to take control and see this
Living Relic.
“What’s
wrong with you?” asked the Hyper Zoanoid as Gustav’s
face was gripped in pain. But he had lost control to speak and
couldn’t reply.
9am
the 3rd of July 2010 - Northern Washington DC, in a
seemingly abandoned Industrial Estate
Sean
and Jason finished exercising, had a quick shower and had just
finished their morning breakfast and were walking towards the
General’s room for the morning briefing.
“Do
you think it’ll be soon?” asked Sean.
“I’d
guess so, we’ve been down
here a long time,” answered Jason, as they arrived at the
General’s office. He hoped it was time for action, like
most people in the base he was reaching the limit of how long he
could stay down here no matter how determined he was in doing so.
“Welcome
gentlemen, how are you two doing today?” asked General
Carter from behind his desk.
“I’m
doing fine general, getting a little stir crazy down here
though,” answered Sean, knowing that Jason would never
admit something to the General so he did it for him.
“Doing
well general, how are you sir?” answered Jason.
“I’m
doing well Jason and Sean, it’s understandable why you feel
like that but I have some information for you that will take your
minds off being stuck down here,” said General Carter and
both Jason and Sean looked on attentively as he continued. “We
have the final proof we have been looking
for that Sean is not the only Guyver out there battling Chronos.”
“After
the Washington DC event you said we weren’t sure on what
attacked Chronos there, but it was what we suspected?!”
said Sean a little surprised now that it was certain he was no
longer the only Guyver out there.
“As
you know Sean, the Washington DC event, due to the destruction
caused, left us with few leads. But after that day I knew we had
to take some risks and have sent men out to find what it was that
attacked Chronos. One of them, a man you both know well,
discovered a lead that brought him to Japan. He has sent an
interesting report about the Guyvers from there. Chronos calls
them aliens in their propaganda war,” said General Carter,
waiting for the reaction of his most trusted and powerful asset.
“Sorry
but when you said Guyvers there General did you mean just this
Japanese Guyver and me or did you mean there’s more than
one Japanese
Guyver?” asked Sean.
“I
meant two Japanese Guyvers there Sean. To be more precise one of
these two Guyvers has also somehow evolved into a more powerful
and larger from.”
“What
do we know about this larger form?” asked Jason.
“Not
much, our operative in Japan has not seen this being. But he was
able to find out about it from a source that was close to a
major
battle in Tokyo where it fought
with a giant Dragon like monster and
saved a number of people. The descriptions vary from source to
source but Atkins is sure what they describe is a Guyver,”
said General Carter.
“If
that is coming from Atkins, he wouldn’t have said that to
you unless he was absolutely sure,” said Jason who knew
Atkins well from his FBI days, he would have been
his
best man at his wedding if not for Chronos.
“It
is more than just that, though, Jason, we know Chronos was
attacked here in Washington DC two years ago. But at the time the
only image we had of their attacker was from a hacked Satellite
feed. It showed a dark being firing on the Pillars of Heaven.”
“I
remember that, but we couldn’t make out exactly what that
thing was,” said Sean.
“We
have found evidence of what it was. Between five to three years
ago, we were not the only resistance group in the United States.
We found an abandoned site in the Florida Mountains that was used
by the Thunder Bolt. We’ve confirmed that they have been
wiped
out by Chronos, but their leader, who they apparently simply
called Boss, was in fact a Guyver. Intel believes it was he who
attacked Chronos in Washington.”
“Then
it would be them who are responsible for Chronos having to send
forces from the USA to Japan?” asked Jason.
“Yes,
that is also what Intel believes. We’re not too sure
exactly why but Chronos suffered heavy losses in
Japan and they had to be reinforced from their US Forces. If the
Red Armor or our new high powered Anti-Zoanoid Rifle had been
ready
then it would have been an
ideal time to strike, but they were not so even with less of an
army here Chronos would have slaughtered our resistance
movement.”
“I
agree General, but at least we know they exist out there but will
they change what you’ve planned?” asked Sean.
“No,
they will not, we still need to prove to the world that we will
stand against Chronos and that there is another voice out there.
At least we know we will not be doing it alone. Gentlemen, the
time to strike is finally here. Tomorrow we will strike back and
re-take Washington DC!” said General Carter.
Chronos
Island – Central Complex
Aptom
had fully consumed the Gustav hyper zoanoid. But Chronos was not
without their answer to him. The man he had been chatting to had
a huge surprise of his own, turning into a Neo-Zektole as Aptom
took form!
“How
is that possible?” shouted Aptom, looking at what looked
like a perfect reproduction of a Lost Number, a Lost Number that
took the first appearance of the Gigantic Guyver to defeat.
“Chronos
has not laid idle waiting for you or the Guyvers to strike Aptom!
Neo-Zektole was a Lost Number, but Zektole was not! Dr Hamical
Valkus discovered a way to reproduce my Neo-Zektole form in
stages!”
Aptom
knew now he could be at a serious disadvantage, remembering his
battle with the first Neo-Zektole. But he had acquired two
important new powers since then! Aptom then vanished from the
sight of Neo-Zektole as he activated his cloaking ability. Aptom
quickly moved from where he was standing as Neo-Zektole fired his
arm beams at where he once stood. Aptom was not hit and the
blasts went on, killing two nearby Chronos soldiers still in
their human forms.
Aptom
knew it would only be a matter of time before they found a way
past his cloaking and made his way quickly to where he thought
the Relic would be. In the canteen Zoanoids looked around
nervously for any signs of one of them being absorbed by Aptom.
The only person not afraid was Neo-Zektole, knowing his type of
zoaform was designed to counter Aptom. But since then Aptom had
updated his battle from and could now hide from him.
<“Neo-Zektole!”>
said the voice of Alfrid Drano telepathically.
<“Yes
my lord?”>
<“You
are unaware of this but your type has been updated, your eyes can
adjust to see through Aptom’s cloaking field. According to
research he will look like a red blotch in humanoid form while
cloaked to you. Go search for him!”>
<“As
you command!”> said Neo-Zektole, as his eyes adjusted
from the command of the Apprentice Zoalord and everyone around
him looked now to have an odd haze around them. But after quickly
looking around him he could not see Aptom. There was only one
entrance to the canteen. Neo-Zektole ran out looking for Aptom
but could not see him. But as he looked at the ground he could
see what looked like heat traces on the ground that where already
beginning to fade.
Aptom
didn’t have much of a head start. He turned around sensing
the powerful zoanoid behind him and realized somehow Neo-Zektole
was sensing him. Knowing his cloak was now ineffective Aptom knew
he needed to act fast, blasting open a wall into the central
section of the base. Two large fly like wings then extended from
his back as he flew out towards the open centre area of the base.
Below him he could see two massive blast doors beginning to
close! With all the speed he could muster Aptom flew down towards
them. The two massive steel shutters did not take long to close
despite the size of the large base. But just as they were about
to close Aptom flew through a gap just wide enough for him as
they slammed closed behind him. Neo-Zektole was too late as he
was cut off from chasing Aptom by the base defences.
Aptom
knew this moment of calm was only temporary and soon Neo-Zektole
would be after him and he flew down closer to the ship itself. It
was then he noticed something different, this ship wasn’t
the usual rounded dome shape that he understood the Ancients
Relics normally were. This ship looked like a biological pyramid
and, as in Relics Point, here in Chronos Island they had built
the huge base around the living ship.
Aptom
landed by the ship looking for research labs, hoping to see
x-rays or something similar of the inside of the ship that would
normally be close to the ship itself. But to his surprise there
was none, just solid walls of concrete. Why would Chronos not
have a extensive research facility down here examining the Ship?
Above him he heard the sounds of the massive base defense doors
opening. Seconds later Neo-Zektole landed in front of him.
“You
should have tried to escape the base rather than getting yourself
trapped here Aptom,” said Neo-Zektole. Above him other
bio-blaster zoanoids ran out to the railings above them and aimed
at Aptom.
“Why
would Chronos build a base and not have a research team examine
the Relic?” asked Aptom, hoping that with them having
trapped him Neo-Zektole would be willing to give away something.
“What
does it matter, you will die soon!” said Neo-Zektole
“Amuse
me before I kill you.”
“You
will not kill me Aptom, you will die here by the War Relic all
alone!” said Neo-Zektole as he extended his forward
vibrational swords and ran towards him as Aptom fired his head
beam which bent around the shield that appeared around his body.
However, Neo-Zektole’s speed dramatically decreased as his
feet got covered in ice. Within seconds his body had frozen to a
halt before Aptom.
“You
are nothing compared to the original Neo-Zektole!” said
Aptom as he raised his arm and fired bio-missiles at the frozen
from of Neo-Zektole. But out of nowhere a series of laser beams
blasted them out of the air before they hit Neo-Zektole. Behind
Neo-Zektole two Zoanoids appeared, one very large, the other
thinner, and both
types that
Aptom recognized but these two were different to when he
originally saw them years ago.
“Neo-Zektole
isn’t the only hyper-zoanoid to be reprocessed and
enhanced,” said Neo-Thancrus, as he emerged from the
darkness. His shoulders now had small but enhanced laser pods and
his head now had a head beam similar to that of a Guyver. Though,
it is not as efficient as a Guyver’s head beam, it was
perfect for rapid fire lasers that took out Aptom’s
bio-missiles.
To
the other side of Neo-Zektole the large Neo-Darzerb walked into
view, his shoulders now contained the bio-missiles similar to
that of a Gaster hyper-zoanoid but his lower arms had pods
similar to that of Zektole. He didn’t say anything, only
started to breathe fire unto Neo-Zektole to melt his frozen body
as Neo-Thancrus attacked Aptom.
Japan
– Setagaya Prefecture – Odagiri Mansion
Two
minutes later, in the mansion that Guyver 1 and his friends had
made their home Aptom flinched in pain as he felt the death of
his clone on Chronos Island at the hands of the three Neo-Hyper
Zoanoids. Together they made a potent lethal team, all resistant
to his absorption ability.
“Are
you okay Aptom?”
asked Sho.
“Yes,
but the other me that was on Chronos Island is dead. The Island
is heavily protected by not just an army of zoanoids, but by
three Neo-Hyper Zoanoids reproductions,” said Aptom. Sho
rarely saw it but there was a look of concern on his face.
“What
Zoanoid types were they?”
“One
was a reproduction Neo-Zektole, Chronos found a way to re-make
the original Zektole and from there they reprocessed him into a
Neo-Zektole. But they did not just stop there and also made a
Neo-Thancrus and a Neo-Darzerb. Similarly, they have improved
them like they did Zektole and both have additional weapons from
other zoanoid types adapted and enhanced for their enhanced
battle
forms.”
“Did
you find out what is on Chronos Island before your other self
died?”
asked Sho.
“It’s
a Relic Sho, a living ship like the one your Unit came from. But
this one is different and from what I could see is pyramid in
shape. Chronos calls it
the War Relic!”
6am
the 4rd of July 2010 - Northern Washington DC, in a
seemingly abandoned Industrial Estate
Today
was D-Day for men and women of the ACTF. The ACTF had learned
from the harsh lessons of the FBI during the Utah incident where
one Zoanoid ripped apart Commander Atkins entire support team and
many other engagements with Chronos before X-Day. The ACTF
soldiers were doing their weapons checks before the battle with
their equipped Anti-Zoanoid rifles, which fires a high powered
round capable of ripping through the thick skin of most Zoanoids.
Around them commanding officers checked with their soldiers that
they are ready and go through the plan of attack with them,
reminding them of their two primary targets even though it wasn’t
really required. Every man, woman and child knew of the Pillars
of Heaven, the huge building dominated the Washington skyline,
and below it, across the Potomac river, was the former Pentagon
building that was now the largest Zoanoid production base on the
East Coast of the USA.
Around
these, teams of three to four men help prepare the Red Armours, a
group of five hundred men that will be using Dr Drake’s
experimental Anti-Zoanoid Combat Armour. Basically a heavy
armoured
power combat exo-suit with heavier Anti-Zoanoid rifles attached
to their arms. These are the ACTF’s answer to some of the
powerful Zoanoids capable of taking anything up to the most
heavily armoured standard Zoanoid. But it is not very effective
against the Hyper Zoanoids that lead the Zoanoids.
But
those Hypers would face the Guyver US himself, their ultimate
secret weapon. Guyver US is an experienced Guyver having already
faced and defeated a Zoalord of Chronos and a Guyver Zoanoid.
ACTF, though, since the day he met back up with Atkins, have kept
him secret. With his help the battle armours had something that
they could train against over the last five years and it was no
secret that even though the ACTF had built up an impressive array
of weapons the coming battle with Chronos would depend on him!
Sean knew this but years of training for this day meant he did
not feel the full stress of it.
Jason
O’Conner worked with four other men readying his Red
Armour.
His was an experimental in that he had two very large high
calibre cannons that were mounted over the armour's
shoulders. This would hopefully give him the firepower needed to
support Sean. But due to the limited amount of rounds his armour
could carry that it only permitted six shots per cannon.
Reloading mid battle, while possible if he found a supply truck,
wasn’t something Jason thought of as a practical
possibility, today’s battle was going to be fast moving and
very lethal. He simply wondered if he would survive and if he
would get to kill some Zoanoids for what Chronos did to his wife
and family!
Jason
was not alone in this feeling; all around the ACTF almost every
member of the team had suffered losses to Chronos either
personally or through family members. Being around others like
that fed that feeling, keeping them all determined that on this
day they would get their revenge on Chronos!
“Squadron
1 move to exit point A, ten minutes until submersion!”
echoed through the bases speaker system. It was time. The teams
of people helping the Red Armours to get ready stood back as the
first twenty five, including Jason and Sean, moved towards the
exit lift. Behind them another twenty five Red Armours were moved
into the large room and soldiers and technicians started to prep
them as Squadron 1 stepped into Exit Point A.
“It
won’t be long now guys, we will be the first to hit back at
Chronos, remember your training and make every shot count!”
said Captain Stone the leader of Squadron 1. “Yes Sir,”
echoed through the lift. Jason stood their quietly focused
looking at the timer on his HUD screen. The only person not
armoured in Exit Point A was Sean, but simply put he did not need
to be yet and stood leaning against a wall. Everyone was quite
now, waiting, contemplating what was about to happen. Minutes
later their timers finished and the lift started to move up on
schedule.
Above
ground level the lifts pushed open doors leading into a large
abandoned factory. Silently Captain Stone ordered his men to the
perimeter of the building as the lift went back down to bring up
the next group of men. Sean stayed around the middle of the group
as they moved towards the south entrance to the building. All
around was rusted equipment from the former factory. The factory
was huge and took a full five minutes for the team to reach the
exit of the building. As they expected no one, including Chronos,
had yet to notice their existence.
“Okay
men,
you know the plan! We’ll wait here keeping an eye out for
Chronos as Squads 2 to 5 get to the ground level and then we’ll
proceed to spearhead the attack,” said Captain Stone, as
his HUD fed him information on what little movement was outside
the building. Nothing, only strays and rats seemed to be out
there. The General has really done well in picking this location
and making sure it remained obsolete and uninteresting to those
outside. Sean and everyone else simply nodded. The plan was
simply to take the most direct route to The Pillars and cripple
Chronos command of the area before moving onto the former
Pentagon and capturing the largest processing centre
in
the northern USA. Only problem was the countless Zoanoids between
their ACTF site and the Pillars.
Soon
Squadron’s 2, 3, 4 and 5, which made up the only pure
armoured squads, were all on surface level. Behind them Squads 6
and 7 made up of two, one hundred men, teams all with light body
armor and Anti-Zoanoid rifles joined them. Just as five large
Abram's Tanks armed with an array of high powered modified machine
guns on top of the turret capable of automatically targeting and
firing Anti-Zoanoid rounds on multiple targets now came up the
lifts, everyone knew it was soon going to be time to attack.
Jason
signalled Sean that it was time as he moved to an open area away
from the squads and shouted “Guyver!” The blast field
surrounded him, indenting the ground, and from the boost
dimension appeared his Guyver Unit as it then wrapped around him.
The natural high of being a Guyver filled Sean, but he calmed
himself thinking of the plan. In front of him the large doors of
the factory opened, it was time!
Chronos
USA Branch – Pillars of Heaven – Washington DC
Even
though it was Sunday, to Taylor Smith there was no reason not to
be in the office. He had given up many things to become an
Apprentice Zoalord and while his personal life suffered he had
exceeded in Chronos. Today, to him, was like any other. The
former day that used to mark the USA’s Independence was
just like any other in Chronos controlled USA. Taylor was looking
at a massive regeneration plan of the northern edge of the city,
wondering if this plan put forward by Chronos planners would have
the desired effect. Poverty may have been eliminated by Chronos
but there were still areas of the city and country that where
disarray prevailed, as he saw it, and that went against his view
of a perfect world to leave it that way. But Taylor Smith’s
line of thought was completely lost as the doors of his office
burst open and a Hyper Zoanoid walked in, it was a Zerebubuth,
still in his human form, who is the leader of his Zoanoid forces
in the area and his personal protector.
“My
Lord, Chronos is under attack!”
“Who
would dare attack Chronos!?”
“They
are men in robotic suits and a Guyver!”
Taylor
Smith looked almost in shock at the statement. But quickly the
look disappeared as he reached out with his mind to connect to
those fighting the battle. His Zerebubuth was correct, these
where men in large Red Armours armed with high impact explosive
rounds that were killing the zoanoid that he had connected
with... As he over looked the battle from different Zoanoids he
realized this was quite a large armed force with soldiers with
similarly armed rifles capable of killing Zoa-forms and in their
mist a Guyver! At first he thought it was Guyver 1 but he soon
realized, looking at his face, that it was not, this one was
different...
“What
is happening,” asked the Supreme Zoalord Amniculus as he
walked into the board room, beside him the Zerebubuth
knelt
as
he felt the presence of a full zoalord.
“Chronos
forces are under attack from a Guyver and a large advanced armed
human force equipped with weapons capable of killing Zoanoids!”
said Taylor Smith.
“Which
Guyver is it?”
“It
is an unknown Guyver,” said Taylor Smith as Zoalord Sin
Rubeo Amniculus also
reached out with his mind to see this Guyver. What he saw
surprised him, it was indeed an unknown Guyver! He was similar to
Guyver 1 but was not the same Guyver.
“I
must inform lord Imakarum of this!” said the Supreme
Zoalord.
8am
- Northern Washington DC City Centre
The
battle between ACTF forces and Chronos Zoanoids was over an hour
old. With a mixture of surprise and sheer firepower the tide of
the battle was with the resistance movement. Zoanoid after
Zoanoid was cut down before they got too close to the troops.
Supply lines to the underground base were still secure, keeping
the army’s ammunition level high. Chronos bases and
centres
on the way to the city had been target fired, mostly these were
made up of police stations and other former centres of law
enforcement.
Guyver
US had trained for this day for over a year. He was making sure
that he did not use weapons that drained him too much, but most
of these Zoanoids fell easily to either head laser fire or to his
vibrational swords. Off in the distance he could see the huge
towers of the Pillars of Heaven, it was odd but the closer he got
to it the larger and larger it got but it always seemed districts
away. He knew the battle to capture that building would depend on
him!
A
short distance behind Guyver US Jason was getting his Red Armour
re-armed with the explosive rounds that fired from his arm guns.
Like Sean he was in the spear head of the ACTF push against
Chronos. The Zoanoids seemed to be coming from everywhere. But
casualties to his team were still light. Civilian casualties had
so far been avoided, thankfully, because any person with common
sense was keeping away from the battle on the street and being
that it was the 4th of July, despite Chronos rule,
many still planned to celebrate the event later that night and
were still home...
Now
fully loaded the ammo truck disconnected from Jason’s
armour
and as he rejoined the battle another from his team left the
battle and went towards the ammunition truck to be rearmed. Ahead
of them a fifty strong team of mixed muscle type Zoanoids were
charging towards the group. But they were being cut down by a mix
of Guyver US and Anti-Zoanoid rounds from the Armours. “Men,
they are testing us, seeing how much fire power we have! Soon
they’ll come at us with real force!” shouted Captain
Stone. Jason agreed with that, Chronos were testing them, they’d
heard of a type of zoanoid called Bio-Blasters that could shoot
laser beams from pods on their bodies, but had yet to see any of
this type of zoanoid!
The
battle continued to rage on, Zoanoid after Zoanoid fell as the
Red Armours and their other ACTF forces made their way to the
Pillars of Heaven. It was not without great cost too for the ACTF
as even with the raw firepower they had sheer numbers of Zoanoids
at times broking through their lines, killing soldiers and the
odd Red Armoured pilot before they could be struck down. It did
not help when the odd Zoanoid would sneak within our perimeter by
either using the surrounding buildings as cover or literally
digging through the ground but Guyver US was able to warn against
most of those, if not already directly dealing with them, and
heavy fire from the Abram's easily made short work of them,
regardless of whether they hid behind a building or not…
While
deep within the Underground HQ of the ACTF General Carter sat in
his command centre overlooking a custom table fitted with
screens. He looked on at the live video feeds coming from both
the Red Armours and the field helmets of the soldiers. He had
trained them well, he hopped. But would it be enough he wondered?
Would the raw numbers of the hordes of Zoanoids out last their
supply of ammunition? Would they keep up the battle and force a
Zoanoid retreat to give his men rest? It had to work, America
would be the start for the war for Independence!
“How
goes the battle?” asked the distorted voice behind General
Carter as he appeared from the blackened area of the room. The
only sign of the figure was his two pink glowing eyes.
Taking
a second to mute his headset before replying, “It
goes well, the raw firepower of the Anti-Zoanoid rounds is
killing the Zoanoids before they get to the men,” said
General Carter.
“You
seem worried Mr Carter,” said the voice.
“You
know me too well, yes, I am worried. I’m worried if I have
done enough to train the men and if we have enough resources to
last us through the battle.”
“There
is no point in worrying about it now Mr
Carter, you have trained them to the best you can, they are armed
with the most modern weapons humanity can yet create.”
“I
will keep them organized and I will keep them armed.”
“Let’s
hope that is enough Mr Carter!” said the voice as the eyes
disappeared into the darkness. General Carter un-muted his
headset and shouted orders at the supply depots captain to make
sure another supply truck would be on its way to Battle Group
1...
Chronos
USA Branch – Pillars of Heaven – Washington DC
<“...and
that is what Lord Alkanphel needs from you,”> said
Zoalord Imakarum telepathically to Zoalord Sin Rubeo Amniculus.
<“I
will insure that it is done!”> he responded.
“Taylor
Smith, prepare the defence of the Pillars of Heaven. You,
however, are not to engage the Guyver or his allies directly!”
“Are
we to be reinforced by Hyper Zoanoids?”
“No,
you are to only use what zoanoids are available locally. The
Enzyme 3’s located in this building and in the 3Rd
Operations
Plant are being moved to Arizona.”
“Is
this some sort of challenge to my command Lord Amniculus!?”
shouted Taylor Smith, clearly annoyed by what the Supreme Zoalord
had said.
“You
do not know the full picture of what HQ want us to do, you do NOT
need to, you simply OBEY what is commanded of you!” said
Lord Amniculus. It was not just words as he pushed the telepathic
command on the Apprentice Zoalord. The response was immediate.
“Zerebubuth, go prepare the bio-blasters for war with the
Guyver and his allies and stop them from entering the building!”
ordered Taylor Smith, not once looking away from Lord Amniculus.
The Zerebubuth simply
bowed and left as the two Zoalords looked uneasily at each other.
“We
may very well lose this City to these upstarts and that Guyver!”
“If
that is the will of Alkanphel that is what we will follow!”
answered Zoalord Amniculus.
Outside
the main entrance of the Pillars of Heaven the Zerebubuth soon
arrived. Beside him twenty two personally hand picked Zoanoids
stood ready to join him. All of them bio-blasters, they would be
the Pillars last line of defence!
Less
than an hour later the forces of ACTF were preparing their final
push on the Pillars of Heaven. Systematically they have taken
over large sections of the city, destroying Chronos installations
on the way there to insure their supply lines would not be cut
off or subject to a rearguard action from Chronos. Guyver US was
kept in constant update of where he was needed from Jason who
continued to work with Captain Stone and his men to killing as
many Zoanoids as they could, supporting the Guyver as best they
could without accidentally shooting him by mistake.
Now,
within one city block of the Pillars, squad one could see the
huge base of the building just ahead of them. Just as another
swarm of Zoanoids rushed towards them Guyver US’s head
sensors twitched, making him focus ahead of the Zoanoids. The
Zoanoids surrounding the base of the Pillars were not normal at
all, they where shooting laser beams at them!
“Get
to cover now!” shouted Guyver US but it was too late for
five members of his team, including Captain Stone himself, as
they where flash incinerated. Disorganized and with the sudden
realization that Captain Stone had been killed
they retreated behind cover as another group of muscle type
Zoanoids ran over cars or anything else in their way to close in
on the ACTF lead group.
“My
God, he didn’t have a chance,” shouted Eric towards
Jacob, his army buddy for years, both had been
members
of ACTF for years waiting for this chance to strike back at
Chronos.
“We
don’t have time to mourn, they’re going to fuck us up
if we do!” shouted back Jacob, pointing towards the
wave
of Zoanoids racing towards them.
From
behind the cover of an overturned car Jacob took aim with his Red
Armour's arm guns and blasted apart Zoanoid after Zoanoid
but there was simply too many. But, just as they were about to
give up hope, there were two loud simultaneous sounds coming from
behind them before they saw two of the closing zoanoids chest
explode and going on to hit a further two behind them.
Both
men in their Red Armours turned to see the modified form of
Jason’s Red Armour, the two barrels above his armoured
shoulders smoking. From behind him appeared Guyver US, who
immediately responded with head beam fire, cutting down dozens
more of the charging Zoanoids within seconds but more still were
still charging towards them and the Vamores still prevented them
from advancing... but that turned out to be only a momentary
issue as Jason had already fed the Vamores target coordinates to
the Abrams and seconds later a barrage of tank artillery fire
arced over their heads before coming down and obliterating the
Vamores and cratered the ground that they had stood...
Guyver
US then charged forward past the Red Armoured men to engage the
Zoanoids in hand to hand combat. With his vibrational swords
extended they stood little chance against an experienced Guyver
as he cut down any that went against him.
“REGROUP
TO ME NOW!” ordered Jason and as the remainder of Squad 1
moved towards him Jason looked back through his armours enhanced
ranged vision at where the bio-blasters that had ripped the squad
apart once stood. There was one Zoanoid that artillery
fire
hadn’t killed and the large spiky Zoanoid in the distance
was now pointing his arm at Guyver US...
“SEAN,
WATCH OUT!” roared Jason, pointing off at the large
Zoanoid. Guyver US looked back at the Red Armoured form of Jason
but before he could turn his head back around at the zoanoid it
started to fire its blaster. In that split moment before the
beams were actually fired, Guyver US’s head sensors
twitched, sensing the danger, and he instinctively jumped out of
the way just before the beam fired
and reached
his previous position. Guyver US quickly retaliated and returned
fire with a quick spray of
head laser blasts but none penetrated the Hyper Zoanoid’s
thick armour. Jason fired both of his shoulders mounted cannons,
capable of ripping apart standard zoanoids, but as both shells
hit the Zerebubuth the
force of impact was easily absorbed and
the spent rounds fell
harmlessly to the ground. They both knew then that whatever this
zoanoid type, this creature was, it far exceeded that of a normal
Zoanoid.
“JASON,
get the squad back out of this fuckers range, I’ll take
him!” ordered Guyver US. Jason agreed, he and Squad 1 would
only now get in the way of the battle, at worst be used against
him. Reluctantly he ordered the retreat as Guyver US ran towards
the Hyper Zoanoid...
Japan
– Setagaya Prefecture – Odagiri Mansion
It
is ten o’clock in the evening and while normally this would
mean Sho and his friends would be getting ready for bed instead
all inside the mansion were wide awake looking at either the TV
or live video feeds that Tetsuro had found of events happening in
Washington DC that were for the moment not being censored by
Chronos or being simply blocked by them. Most shocking of all was
that a Guyver, somewhat similar in look to Guyver 1, was leading
the attack against Chronos.
“Where
did this other Guyver come from?” asked Tetsuro. It was a
general question, though they all wondered and he didn’t
really expect an answer.
“I
do not know Tetsuro but he is not an artificial Unit like the
Guyver II F,” answered Sho, as a picture focused on his
face revealing the perfectly intact control medal.
“There
must have been a
Relic Ship in the USA,” said Tetsuro, as there was a knock
on the door.
“It’s
Agito and Shizu,” shouted down Mitzuki from upstairs.
“I
still do not trust him Sho.”
“I
know you don’t Tetsuro, but he helped Aptom save you and
Mitzuki from Guyot and his Unus Zoanoids.”
“There
is still something I don’t trust about him Sho.”
“I
can’t do much about that Tetsuro, we do not know what
happened in the USA, but with Shizu being okay
and
still human and not what we feared at all, we have to accept him
as an ally,” said Sho, now only a few feet from the main
door of the mansion. Tetsuro nodded in agreement with him
reluctantly as Sho opened the door to Shizu and Agito.
“Good
evening Fukamachi and Segawa,” said Agito, as he entered
the house with Shizu beside him holding what looked like bags of
groceries.
“Good
evening Agito,” said Sho.
“Hello
Agito, it is indeed a good evening, I doubt what is happening in
the USA has gone unnoticed by you,” said Tetsuro.
“It
has not Tetsuro,” said Agito, as beside him Shizu bowed as
she then went on towards the back of the house with the bags of
groceries.
“Your
Zeus Thunderbolt was primarily based there, did you ever hear
anything of this other Guyver and the army he fights with?”
asked Tetsuro, realizing as he asked that this might be still a
very sore subject for Agito after Chronos destroyed and killed
most of the members of Zeus Thunderbolt.
“I
heard from my contacts with Zeus Thunderbolt that before X-Day
that parts of the US government battled in a secret war with
Chronos. But they were thought destroyed by X-Day.”
“Seems they
just wanted people to think they were dead.
Do you think they stand a chance against Chronos?” asked
Sho.
“No,
without the Gigantic the American Guyver will sooner or later
face the full force of Chronos. It will be either be by a team of
Enzyme 3’s or a powerful Zoalord like Imakarum. They will
eventually face him and his chances of success against them are
extremely slim.”
“What
would you suggest Makishima?” asked Tetsuro.
“I
would recommend Sho goes to Washington DC as soon as possible to help
the resistant movement there. While he is there Aptom and I will
protect this house,” said Agito, just as from a room at the
side appeared Aptom. Agito was not surprised he would be here.
“The
events in Washington DC are not our only concern Makishima,”
said Aptom. Agito looked on curiously as Aptom explained what
happened on Chronos Island and what he faced there.
“We’ve
a choice, we either support this rebellion and by doing so then
run the risk of Chronos gaining entry to the War Relic,”
said Agito.
“Yes,
that is the choice,” said Sho.
“We
know how Chronos recovered our Units, I’m guessing the same
trick did and will not work on a War Relic,” said Agito.
“What
makes you say that?” asked Aptom.
“This
War Relic is newer than the fossilized Relic that Chronos Arizona
is built over and newer still than the Relic found at Relics
point. It is of new design, you described it as pyramid in shape,
not oval like. Chronos named it the War Relic and wouldn’t
do so without reason,” answered Agito.
“I
am aware of that, what I meant is
what trick Chronos used to gain access to the Relic at Relics
Point?” asked Aptom.
“Chronos
sent large teams of
Zoanoids into an opening they cut into the Relic. All were killed
by the defences of the living ship, one survived just long enough
to escape out holding three Unit-Gs as he died,” answered
Agito.
“Then
it is only a matter of time before they do sooner or later gain
entry into the War Relic,” said Aptom.
“So Choice
is then, do we help this new resistance movement or do we assault
Chronos island,” said Agito, looking at Sho as he said it.
Sho knew the choice lay with him as the holder of the Gigantic
Armour...
9:17am
Chronos USA Branch – Pillars of Heaven – Washington
DC
Zerebubuth
fought well, initially surprising Guyver US with its armour's
ability to absorb his physical attacks and head beam fire. While
nearly hitting him with its acid spray and multiple bio-laser
blasts that were clearly more powerful than the Vamore’s,
but Guyver US had managed to avoid any serious damage as he
looked for any weaknesses he could exploit, but he also knew he
couldn’t afford to waste too much time on this fight.
So,
betting that the Zerebubuth wouldn’t be as durable against
his more powerful weapons, Guyver US exploded forward with a
rapid burst of acceleration as he charged towards his target.
Even the Hyper-Zoanoid’s combination of bio-laser and acid
attacks was not enough to stop the fast moving Guyver, who easily
anticipated the attacks and deftly dodged them, as he
simultaneously closed the gap until just as he was within arms
reach he extended his vibrational swords and quickly did a full
body horizontal to ground spinning motion that created a saw like
motion that sliced off Zerebubuth’s left and then right
forearms in a single continuous motion that the Zerebubuth
clearly never saw coming.
The
now forearmless hyper zoanoid fell back in pain and shock as
Guyver US then jumped over it in a downward facing arc, with his
arms towards the Zerebubuth’s head and hands cupped
together, and fired a gravity ball at close range, hitting the
Zerebubuth squarely in the head, obliterating it spectacularly.
The large body of the Hyper Zoanoid then collapsed to the ground
as a cheer roared from the ACTF forces observing the battle.
“This
base has fallen,” said Zoalord Shin, looking down towards
the ground and seeing the ACTF forces running towards the
building with nothing left alive to stop them.
“What
do you mean the base has fallen!?” shouted Taylor Smith at
the Supreme Zoalord. He was clearly angry with his response to
the death of his trusted assistant.
“Your
forces are destroyed Taylor Smith, outclassed by a human
underground force ready to face the might of your Zoanoids.”
“We
are two Zoalords of Chronos! We can easily face and kill this
Guyver!”
“Did
you not listen to me Taylor Smith? We were only to send the
Zerebubuth and
the rest of your forces against the Guyver and his allies. They
failed!”
“They
failed, but we can still win this day!?”
“Have
you not worked it out? Are you too absorbed by the goal of
winning that you are not to be able to read between
the
lines? You were never meant to win!”
There
was a very awkward silence as the Apprentice Zoalord tried to
grasp what the Supreme Zoalord was telling him. But it made
sense, the Enzyme 3’s being removed from Washington DC and
leaving only at most lower level Hyper-Zoanoids, the most
powerful of which was his Zerebubuth, had almost assured this
outcome. He did not yet understand their reasoning but Chronos HQ
had planned this downfall. It only left him with one question...
“Why?”... He got no answer.
Two
weeks later in the now free Washington DC
ACTF
had won its first military engagement with Chronos. With the city
secure ACTF quickly moved into both a full recruitment drive and
fully putting into production their factories at their former
underground facility to produce more battle armours. It was no
surprise to General Cater that there was no shortage of willing
people looking for payback at Chronos. The issue now was using
those now veteran members of the ACTF movement to train and
organize them into proper fighting groups capable of taking on
squads of Zoanoids.
In
the weeks since their capture the former 3rd
Operations Plant, which before that was known by most simply as
the Pentagon, was being returned to something more akin its
original purpose, the head quarters of ACTF was being transferred
here along with their research and development centre, which
would be headed by Dr Drake. This expansion was surprisingly
quick and taking advantage of the time it took Chronos to build
up an army north of the city that would be capable of retaking
it. ACTF was now reinforced and ready to fend them off. Soon they
hoped they would be ready not just to fend them off but to take
their next major targets, the States of Maryland and Virginia.
ACTF
HQ – Formerly known as the 3rd Operations Plant
It
was early morning. Jason awoke as per usual at zero five hundred
hours. He hadn’t set his alarm, but his body woke like
clock work as he had done for the last near four years. But now
the worst of the battle was over and he, like the other members
of ACTF, were having to get used again to seeing daylight often
again. Waking up early proved more of an inconvenience now. He
did not like waking up while it was still dark outside. Even more
so when he didn’t have to, it was the day of rest after
all, though, religious reasons out of the way, simply this was
his off time to rest and he wasn’t able to do so.
As
his body woke up he’d no choice but to go to the toilet.
Not wanting to admit he was awake yet, he washed his hands, dried
them and went back into his bed. But, as he lay there in the dark
room looking up at the ceiling, he couldn’t help but think
about the last few years. The 17th of August, X Day as
most knew it, was a day most people hated. Almost every family
who had a member of the family in the military or law enforcement
suffered a terrible loss that day as Chronos took over the world.
He, though, wondered if he was feeling some sort of special pity
that he felt he lost more than others? Was it wrong to feel that
because he lost so many family members, his parents, his sister
and his soon to be wife and her family and their friends on that
day he felt more wronged by Chronos than anyone else he ever met?
This
was why Jason did not like free time. He liked being busy as he
could simply not think of the past and focus on the tasks at
hand. Keeping Sean up to date on events around the ACTF, keeping
his combat skills up to date, staying up to date with the Red
Armours advancements and working with Dr Drake all tended to take
a lot of time. But the General was concerned he and Sean were
working too hard and needed some downtime. Now that he could
afford to do so he’d made it an order. Jason knew he was
right, but never liked to admit he needed any downtime at all.
With the City being free of Chronos and a decent percentage of
the surrounding states soon to be he had to find a way to deal
with downtime. Otherwise he feared, he’d not be useful to
the ACTF and would lose his chance to get revenge on Chronos.
Realizing
he needed to focus on the present and to prove his worth and
usefulness Jason thought it best that he get himself familiar
with the city. Before Chronos he never really had much of a
reason to visit Washington DC. When he fully joined ACTF after
X-Day he basically didn’t even travel to the city, only the
outskirts where the underground ACTF base was. From there he
heard, and felt the fall of the Pillars of Heaven tower. He
wondered now how much the city had changed since or what was left
of the original city? Maybe Cori and Sean would also like to
explore as well?
USA
border between West Virginia and Pennsylvania
It
was nine AM and Sho was asleep with his face pressed against the
window of the Greyhound bus as it drove towards the still mostly
Chronos controlled State of Pennsylvania. He’d left Japan
over a week ago and had been since travelling as close as he could
get to Washington DC. Agito, Aptom and he had all agreed that the
best course of action was to help out the resistance movement in
the USA. Sho would naturally make an ally of the Guyver there and
once they were secure he would be needed in recovering the War
Relic. Traveling through underground contacts of Agito it had
taken longer than he had expected to get here. But Agito kept him
up to date on events in both Japan and the USA. He was still
uneasy about trusting Agito, ever since the battle with
Purg’stall and his removing the Gigantic it was hard for
Sho to trust Agito. He would never allow him to use the Gigantic
again that was for sure. But for now he’d no reason to
betray Sho again and he believed what Agito was telling him,
pretty much nothing had been happening in Japan since he’d
departed.
A
commotion on the bus woke Sho. First, he realized he was leaning
against a window which was not very comfortable and straightened
himself. He moved so he was almost standing and looked over the
seat in front of him. There were two men arguing about something
two seats up from him. He couldn’t quite catch it yet,
there was no one on the seat beside him so he moved out between
the seats. There he overheard more of the conversation. The older
of the two men said “...think that the USA is really gone
forever?”
“You’re
a fool Dad to think that. Chronos destroyed the idea of the USA
years ago. Look out the window and tell me if you think those
poor men will survive that?” said the son.
Sho
looked out the window to his right. The person sitting there
still asleep didn’t obstruct the view much. What he saw
made him wipe his eyes to check if he was still dreaming. In a
huge open area, a short distance from the main road, Chronos
uniformed men were everywhere as far as the eye could see. Sho
stood up to get a better view. He knew US geography enough to
understand the obvious, Chronos was amassing a huge army to crush
the USA resistance movement.
Sho
had hoped of meeting the US Guyver quietly without Chronos
knowing he was here. But that choice was gone. With so many
zoanoids in one area he didn’t need to be Agito to make
ruthless choices. Sho stood up grabbed his rucksack and walked
towards the driver. As he walked by the two arguing men he
couldn’t help but say “listen to your father, he’s
correct!” The younger man was about to stand up as his
father held onto his shoulder as Sho continued towards the bus
driver.
“Let
me out please,” said Sho to the driver.
“Are
you mad son, there is nothing around for miles other than this
Chronos army!”
“I
know, but they will not be around for long. Take my bag please;
I’ll catch up with you when I’m done here!”
“Huh?”
said the confused bus driver as he slowed down his bus, getting
ready to drop off the crazy passenger.
“What
do you mean?...” asked the driver as the bus stopped and
the door opened.
Sho
placed the bag on an empty row of chairs. “Remember I’ll
be back for this”, said Sho as he then left the bus. This
only confused the bus driver more. But as Sho cleared the bus he
roared “GUYVER” and the bus driver and everyone else
looked on in both shock and awe as Sho was surrounded by a black
energy field and his bio-boosted armour then wrapped around him.
Moments later Guyver shouted “Gigantic Come” as then
between Guyver 1 and the bus the Gigantic Cocoon appeared and
Guyver 1 then formed the Gigantic Guyver. The huge form of
Gigantic Guyver turned back to the startled bus driver.
“I’ll
keep it safe!” said the bus driver as Gigantic Guyver
pointed off into the distance. The bus driver didn’t need
any more of a hint as the door closed and he drove off. Looking
in his rear view mirror the bus driver saw the Gigantic Guyver
release carnage on the forces of Chronos he had not thought
possible.
The father and son who had been arguing
about Chronos now looked back in almost a state of shock, their
argument now settled, there was something out there that could
fight Chronos.
One
Hour Later - Washington DC - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – Aka
the White House
When
Gigantic Dark struck the Pillars of Heaven the collapse of one of
the major towers caused a shock wave that reduced the centre of
the Capital City of the USA to rubble. That included the White
House. In one moment centuries of work and history disappeared
thanks to Gigantic Dark. It was an obvious scar on the leadership
of Chronos and a sign of their weakness. As such it was something
Taylor Smith had talked with all his ambition. Within a year of
their destruction Chronos had rebuilt most of the destroyed
Landmarks, though work still continued to this day. Today, Sean,
Cori and Jason were visiting the place most American’s
viewed as the place where their leader should reside.
“Do
you think we can see inside the grounds?” asked Sean,
looking in from the guardrail that surrounded the White House.
“I
think we’ll get to see more than that Sean,” answered
Jason. As Sean turned around to look at him he found Jason
chatting with an ACTF soldier. Moments later they were being
ushered towards the gates by the ACTF solider.
From
the outside the White House looked like how they remembered it.
But as they walked closer they realized it was not just the
military that was here. There were whole teams of tradesmen and
other civilians going into and out of the building.
“Chronos
didn’t just rebuild it, they turned it into a mix of what
the building formally was and merged it with Chronos symbolism,”
said the solider.
“Do
we know if they used the White House as part of their command
structure?” asked Jason.
“No
sir, from what we’ve heard from the day the USA fell to
Chronos; the White House was never really part of the Chronos
command structure. It was just a symbol of their control over the
USA.”
“Not
anymore!” said Cori, smiling as she walked holding hands
with Sean towards the entrance of the White House.
“Sir,
do you speak with the General often?” asked
the
solider as he walked along side Jason.
“Yes,
you could say that,” answered Jason.
“The
civilians, sir, they all want to know when does he plan to let
them vote for a new President?”
“When
there is enough of the country free for there to be a fair vote,”
answered Jason, as the group then entered the White House itself.
ACTF
HQ
Inside
the command centre of the building General Carter stood looking
at a display with his command team. They still had a few
satellites that they had managed to put in override codes in
before X-Day that they now controlled. So it wasn’t long
before they had some spy satellites orbit every day at this time
over the Chronos army that had been amassing on the boarder of
Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This army was going to be the
next challenge for the ACTF, if they could defeat it they had a
chance to hold onto Washington DC. But that army was now gone,
the army wasn’t attacking them and the images they were
seeing told them only one thing, they had been obliterated! But
what could have been capable of doing that?
“General,
something is incoming!” shouted a young solider looking at
a feed from a mobile radar station setup by the base.
“How
soon will it be here?”
“Within
a minute!” said the young solider as over head the display
from the Satellite now tracked this humanoid being as it now
closed in on the ACTF HQ.
“Time
we introduce ourselves then,” said General Carter as he
walked towards the exit.
“Sir,
shouldn’t we alert our forces?” asked Colonel O’Neil
“Whatever
this thing is, it wiped out an entire Chronos
army by itself... let’s hope it’s here to talk!”
said the General as he left the command centre.
Gigantic
Guyver travelled at speed over the city carrying in his left arm
his bag he had collected from the bus driver. The army he had
faced was huge in not only raw numbers of Zoanoids but the amount
of Hyper-Zoanoids he had faced. It would have been capable of
retaking the city but what made him wonder was the lack of an
Enzyme 3 in their forces? Was the reason they had not attacked
the city yet was because there was a shortage of that type of
Hyper Zoanoid?... But such questions would have to wait as in the
skyline ahead of him he could see the Pillars of Heaven, below it
was the 3rd Operations Plant, formally the Pentagon,
would be where he and Agito had guessed would be the new base of
the USA Anti Chronos forces. News reports from the rest of
Chronos controlled USA now largely ignored the fact there even
was a new resistance movement, no one knew for sure what was
happening in Washington DC.
He
wanted to come here in secret, meet with this new resistance
movement and their Guyver without Chronos knowing he was here.
But in attacking the army Chronos had built up close to
Washington DC he had given away the element of surprise but that
was a lot more favourable than facing them in the city. Landing in
front of the 3rd Operations Plant Gigantic Guyver
didn’t know what to expect. Any sense of wonder that this
was one of their main bases quickly disappeared. His eyes and
head sensors quickly picked up all the armoured and armed forces
of the ACTF in the area. It was all of a few seconds later that
all that pointed at him. Gigantic Guyver stood there and waited
hoping this would end well as armed soldiers ran towards him.
Miles away Jason received a call on his cell phone telling him of
what happened. Moment later Guyver US was running from the White
House grounds, jumping over the gate like it was not there
towards ACTF HQ.
Gigantic
Guyver stood silently as he waited, not reacting to the soldiers.
His enhanced head sensors could now pick up the Guyver running
towards him. General Carter also did not keep him waiting as in
moments he was ordering his men to make way for him to talk with
Gigantic Guyver.
“Hello,
I’m General Carter. Leader of the ACTF,” said the
General, looking up at the very tall form of the intimidating
form of Gigantic Guyver. It would have been nothing
for him to simply reach forward and kill this man and the General
knew it. At the moment, though, he simply hoped this Guyver
understood English.
“Hello
General Carter, my name is Sho Fukamachi, I am the Gigantic
Guyver.”
“Welcome
to the free city of Washington DC, Mr Fukamachi,” said the
General, looking up at the large being’s face. It was
basically to him a larger, more armoured, version of Guyver US.
After hearing this, the soldiers of ACTF that had their guns
trained on Gigantic Guyver lowered them. He could see the large
being visibly relax his shoulders and stand more at ease as he
heard his greeting. It reminded the general no matter how
powerful a Guyver was that at their core was a human being and he
had not
come to them for a fight.
“Thank
you General Carter,” said the Gigantic Guyver, as his head
sensors twitched again and he turned his head towards the
incoming threat, Guyver US. Guyver US slowed shocked at the size
of the Guyver standing in front of General Carter. What they
heard about the Japanese Guyver was true. Somehow he had upgraded
his Guyver armour! General Carter ordered the soldiers to stand
down as he slowed down and walked up to them.
“Sean
Barker, this is Sho Fukamachi the Gigantic Guyver,” said
General Carter.
“Hello
Sho, you must be one of the Japanese Guyvers we heard of?”
“Indeed
I am, how did you hear about us?” asked Sho, picking up on
the fact the US resistance movement somehow knew he was not the
only Japanese Guyver.
“We
have some agents in the field in Japan, one of them confirmed
your existence and that of another Guyver,” said General
Carter.
“It
is good to hear that you know of us, though for us your attack on
Chronos held Washington DC was a complete surprise,” said
Gigantic Guyver.
“We
had hoped that in doing so would get your attention,” said
Guyver US.
“Indeed
it did, let’s disengage our armour, go inside and talk some
more?” said Gigantic Guyver. It was what everyone
wanted
to say but didn’t quite know when the situation would be
relaxed enough to say it. Sean then deactivated his armour quickly
followed by Sho with the Gigantic Armour leaving first into the
giant Cocoon, leaving only for a moment a Guyver unit somewhat
familiar to his before it too disengaged.
"Your
English is excellent" said Sean.
"Thank
you,” said Sho.
“Where
did you learn English?” asked Sean.
“In
school, it was one of the few useful languages I had learnt well
before Chronos entered my life,” said Sho, as they entered
the ACTF HQ building. Behind them Jason and Cori had finally
entered the grounds of the base and had found a jeep that was
giving them a lift.
One
hour later – ACTH HQ Main Conference Room
General
Carter had spoken with Jason; he was to have a new
responsibility. The responsibility was to help Sho be of best
possible use to the ACTF and them to him. Jason would be the
chief liaison officer, point person, so the growing ACTF movement
was not trying to give the Guyvers mixed signals. There would be
a clear line of communication and it would be him that would
filter that. Sho had been given a basic introduction to the ACTF
and had just finished a tour of the still under re-construction
living quarters. This section of the base which used to be part
of the processing centre was now being turned into living
quarters for ACTF high value guests like himself. It amazed Sho
that they were so organized but how long would that last when
Chronos showed its full might?
“General
Carter, how did the ACTF manage to stay hidden for so long?”
asked Sho, still amazed that any part of the pre-Chronos
controlled world still managed to be a military force capable of
taking a capital city from them.
“It
is thanks to Sean, the Guyver US as we call him now. When he
destroyed the Zoalord in Chronos LA we got our first
idea
of what we faced. Though, this ultimately proved to be barely an
inkling as the FBI
was initially only tasked with forming a special task force to
investigate Chronos,
as the true scope of what Chronos represented had yet to be
revealed. It wasn’t until
once again one of our agents met Sean in Utah that the
realization of what we truly faced started to become clear and it
was then that it
was decided to form a
covert task force of only our most trusted as we
realized
if we were ever to survive the coming war with Chronos that it
would have to be covert at first, it was then that the ACTF was
formed. We used an abandoned, off the books,
underground
Cold War base, took it off the grid and used it to house our
organization as we allocated as many resources as we could to it
before Chronos struck on X-Day.”
“The
ACTF then is a mix of parts of US Agencies that knew of Chronos?”
“Yes,
at first primarily it was made up of the FBI but I was brought in
to lead it and brought with me the military arm of ACTF.”
“How
did you manage to keep it secret and secure, though? Chronos has
zoanoids everywhere?”
“At
first we didn’t know who, if anyone, we could trust
but
thanks to our scientists we were able to install scanners into
our buildings that allowed us to tell who were zoanoids and who
are not,” said General Carter. The look of shock on Sho’s
face that the ACTF had such technology was obvious.
“How
did ACTF develop that?” asked Sho.
“It
was developed by our two lead scientists, the scanner can pick up
markers in a person’s DNA that only zoa-forms would have.”
“Has
it ever been wrong?”
“I
can answer that one, no, speaking from bitter experience it has
never been wrong,”
said Jason.
It
was a lot of information to absorb for Sho. ACTF had technology
that could tell if a person was a Zoanoid. How was that possible?
In all his years of fighting Chronos Sho and his allies, who
included former Chronos scientists, never encountered such
technology other than the Guyver itself... They continued to talk
and discuss what they had faced against Chronos. But as they
talked elsewhere in the world Imakarum entered the command
centre
at the bottom of Chronos Arizona, close to probably the most
important Uranus Relic in the possession of Chronos.
“Welcome
Lord Imakarum,” said Zoalord Amniculus.
“Thank
you Lord Amniculus,” said Zoalord Imakarum as he looked
around at the other trusted Zoalord of Chronos, Hamical Valkus,
once the man who found Alkanphel over four hundred years ago,
Edward Caerloen one of the other trusted Zoalords of Chronos who
saved the Arizona base from Guyver 3, along with Zoalord
Imakarum. The last member of this group was Tuatha De Galenos, a
powerful looking man who looked like he was made of stone. Apart
from Alkanphel these were viewed by many as the “surviving”
members of the 12 Elite Supreme Zoalords of Chronos. The rest of
their brethren had either fallen in battle or turned against
Chronos.
Imakarum
sat in the chair to the right side of where Alkanphel would
normally sit. To the opposite of that seat sat Valkus and in the
rest of the seats of the round table sat the other Zoalords. It
was obvious to all that the rest of the chairs where left idle,
empty, as a sign to those that were missing.
“I’ve
called this meeting today to discuss the recent events,”
said Valkus.
“If
you mean by “recent events” the appearance of a new
Guyver and the fall of Washington DC to his comrades then please
let me know when you want me to intervene and I will deal with
these upstarts!”
said Edward Caerloen.
“You’ll
do no such thing Lord Caerloen, Alkanphel has something else in
mind for these “Upstarts”,” said Imakarum.
“Can
you let us know what this plan is? It seems strange that he would
pull back our most dangerous Anti-Guyver assets and allow one of
our most important bases to fall,” asked Edward Caerloen.
He had been at
the meeting of the Apprentice Zoalords and heard Taylor Smiths
version of the fall of Washington DC. In it he was at pains not
to blame Lord Amniculus and blamed an unknown person in HQ that
took away the Enzyme 3’s that protected the Pillars of
Heaven.
“What
I can tell you does not leave this room. It is not to be relayed
even to the most trusted of our Apprentice Zoalords or to any of
their more annoying members,” said Imakarum looking at
Edward Caerloen as he said the end of that sentence. He
understood who the effective second in command of Chronos was
hinting at. He simply nodded his head in understanding as did the
other Zoalords. They had not survived for so long by not learning
when something was important to keep only to them.
“Alkanphel
does not want us to interfere with the revolution in the USA. We
are to leave Taylor Smith to fight the battle alone with the
resources he has available to him in the USA except, for Arizona.
No Enzyme 3’s are to be involved, any that were in the USA
have already been redeployed
to Chronos Island,” said Imakarum.
“Is
this a test of his abilities?” asked Lord Caerloen.
“No,
I only know what Alkanphel was willing to share with me. He made
it clear in what he wanted and said that no matter the cost, we
have to follow this through until he says otherwise!”
Caerloen was happy with that, he knew Imakarum shared a close
link with their Leader, so much so it could be taken as the his
very word when repeated by Imakarum.
“Now
that is settled, I will move onto our other business,” said
Lord Valkus as the other Zoalords around him nodded their heads
in agreement. “It was roughly seven years ago when the LA
Branch fell. We are all aware of who ran the branch, the natural
Zoalord Fulton Balcus who was discovered after we were already 12
Zoalords. But what you are not aware of was that he had a secret
Guyver project before even the three Unit-G’s went missing
in Relics Point,” said Valkus. All apart from Imakarum
looked shocked at the news, they had known the branch had fallen
before X-Day but not the full details of what happened there.
“Surely
this should have been brought
to our attention long before now?” said Zoalord Amniculus.
“Indeed
it should have been Lord
Amniculus, but the full details of what happened and how it is
linked to the new American Guyver that his comrades have
codenamed Guyver US have not
been fully
known until now,” said Lord Imakarum.
“That
is where…” said Zoalord Amniculus, stopping then to
let Lord Valkus continue.
“Yes
Lord Amniculus, the Guyver Unit that the new Guyver came from was
from the LA Branch. But the fact is he was active before Guyver
1. What we know now is this; Fulton Balcus was discovered in a
Ruin in Canada. What was not known was that inside the Ruin was a
dormant Unit-G. After being put in charge of the LA Branch he
began a research project to discover why the Unit would not
activate for him,” said Lord Valkus, stopping at this point
to invite any questions from the now very curious Zoalords.
“But
if that happened seven years ago, what has happened since then?
How did he and this project of Fulton Balcus not come to light
until now?” asked Tuatha De Galenos.
“After
the fall of Chronos LA commander Guyot was sent to investigate.
He blamed the incidence on a wayward prototype Hyper-Zoanoid Lost
Number that slew the Zoalord.”
“I
remember that event. Cablarl Khan remarked on how Fulton Balcus
was not a very advanced and not a very powerful Zoalord and
laughed at the idea of him being killed by his
own creation,” said Tuatha De Galenos.
“Cablarl’s
own judgment was
very flawed,” said Lord Valkus.
“Indeed,
continue on please,” said Tuatha De Galenos.
“Guyot
took over what remained of the LA Branch. We know how he
discovered what Fulton Balcus had kept secret, a group of Chronos
Scientists that had worked on the Guyver project. They knew more
about the Unit than those that examined the Units in Relics
Point. Guyot took charge of the group and built up their numbers
giving them zoanoids to command to retrieve the lost Guyver unit.
He called this entity the Tempus Group.”...
One
Week Later – Manhattan Island - Battle of New York City
Most
of the human population had either taken it upon itself to
evacuate the city or was staying off the streets and away from
their windows. Not a car was being driven on the streets.
Everyone knew a battle for the city was coming. This time Taylor
Smith was ready and ACTF did not have the element of surprise.
With the Gigantic Guyver in America Taylor Smith wasn’t
going to make the same mistake of leaving his forces in the open.
In the middle of the crossroads where Manhattan’s streets
linked he had set up makeshift bunkers that gave the bio-blaster
Zoanoids inside them cover and a commanding view of the city.
They were not alone, Zoanoid numbers in the city increased as the
human population evacuated and sleeper Zoanoids awoke and hid in
the buildings of the city.
With
Washington DC free the ACTF’s numbers had been boosted.
Their former base now was a fully operational factory producing
weapons and armour for the growing army. And while not everyone
wanted to see Chronos gone and many mourned the loss of family
members that were turned into Zoanoid by choice or not their
recruitment had seen their numbers increase tenfold. Two thirds
of their total forces were now within striking distance of the
city and Jersey had already fallen with relative ease to the
ACTF... Gigantic Guyver and Guyver US looked across the iconic
Manhattan Bridge to lower Manhattan.
“Intelligence
reports that most
of the State’s Zoanoids are located on Manhattan Island.
They have made make shift bunkers at the crossroads of major
streets and have Bio-Blasters in each of these” said Jason,
now inside his modified Red Armour.
“It’ll
be a bloodbath,” said Guyver US, looking back at the ACTF
Armours. He knew from bitter experience that Bio-Blaster Zoanoids
were the main weapon Chronos had that was inflicting losses on
their army.
“There
must be more than that? They know I’ve joined your forces
and will be fighting beside the ACTF. By giving me such an open
target even if there are great numbers of
them isn’t a wise tactic,” said Gigantic Guyver.
“It
isn’t just them; the team that gave us that report was
spotted by Zoanoids and wiped out. Their last bit of useful
information is that there were Zoanoids hiding inside the
skyscrapers,” said Jason.
“What’s
the plan Jason?” asked Sean.
“The
General would like to know how you two would want to attack and
then for us to adjust our plans to fit,” said Jason,
looking up at Gigantic Guyver when he said that. Sho could
understand why, they had trained with the Guyver US and knew what
he could do. But he was an unknown and all they simply understood
was that he was a larger more powerful Guyver.
“Guyver
US and I will go in first, I will strike the bunkers and he will
target the Zoanoids in the skyscrapers. Does that sound good to
you?” asked Gigantic Guyver, looking down at Guyver US
“Sounds
fine to me,” said Guyver US.
“Can
you both start clearing Zoanoids around the other end of
Manhattan Bridge and move on from there?” asked Jason.
“Yes,”
said both, nodding in agreement and looking back at the ACTF
forces behind them.
Moments
later Gigantic Guyver and Guyver US where flying along the
Manhattan bridge above street level. Every person they either saw
or sensed on the bridge was trying to get away from Manhattan
Island, but they didn’t sense any Zoanoids.
“Gentlemen,
they are coming!” said Taylor Smith to the two men dressed
in the uniform of a Hyper-Zoanoid behind him as he looked out the
window of a skyscraper towards Lower Manhattan. They stood
emotionless at the news, then bowed and turned towards the door
and stood guard.
These
were the best zoanoids Taylor Smith could muster from his Chronos
forces in the USA. Two Powered-Zerebubuths would work in tandem
with Hyper-Zoanoids and face the threat of a Guyver and also the
Gigantic Guyver! He knew he was asking the impossible. The
Gigantic Guyver had faced and defeated in separate battles two
powerful Supreme Zoalords and had seen to the end of the threat
of Guyot! Guyver US was no less lethal and news of his exploits
had finally reached Taylor Smith. This Guyver was not the unknown
he had originally thought it was to Chronos.
Jason
and his squad of mostly Red Armoured men did not try and follow
the Guyvers. No human, armoured or not, could match them as they
flew ahead of the ACTF army towards their targets. The last he
saw of Guyver US was of him flying into the fifteenth floor of a
building. Not something he could do even with this armour. That
changed the plan that worked so well in Washington DC and he was
now clearing Manhattan Bridge of Zoanoids and moving into lower
Manhattan. Ahead he could see the odd glimpse of the two Guyvers
but he now focused on the Zoanoids that the Guyvers had not
killed.
Taylor
Smith continued to look out the window towards Lower Manhattan.
He could sense the Zoanoids being killed by the Guyvers and the
approaching ACTF Army. With the Gigantic Guyver here he knew
nothing he had would do anything more than delay the inevitable.
The killer of Zoalords would not be stopped by mere
Hyper-Zoanoids. It angered him more and more as he thought about
it. Why the hell did high command give him such an impossible
situation to defend? He wondered if he presented his case to
Alkanphel would it change the situation. But knew even without
all the facts that deep down these orders came from him!
The
battle raged for another hour, the only thing delaying the
Guyvers being the sheer number of Zoanoids and that they were so
embedded into their bunkers or the surrounding buildings making
them harder to target. The odd Hyper-Zoanoid would slow them down
from time to time but not for long. In an hour Taylor Smiths
building was surrounded, the last sign of Chronos in North East
USA was about to be destroyed by the Guyvers. Anger clouded his
judgment. He ordered the two Powered-Zerebubuths to change into
their Neo-Hyper Zoanoid forms and to ready themselves for the
coming battle!
Chronos
Arizona HQ
Chronos
Arizona, now the main Chronos command centre in the USA, lay deep
within a huge base hidden inside a massive rock formation looking
no different than any of the other mountains nearby. The base of
Chronos Arizona was as old as Chronos itself, the foundation of
it being the very day Alkanphel commanded Valkus to make an army
of him using the zoanoid designs that lay within the Memory
Module inside the Uranus ship. That was over four hundred years
ago. Since then the Relic at the core of the base is a secret
shrine to Chronos and only the highest members of Chronos get to
see the Relic from the outside and fewer still get to touch the
Relic Control Medals itself. The base survived an attack from the
Gigantic Dark and now with the arrival of the Gigantic Guyver
helping the fall of Chronos in the North Eastern USA it was the
only main base in the Region.
Zoalord
Imakarum stood in the main command centre. All around him the
room was full of huge screens showing the battle in New York from
different angles. If this had happened a year ago it would have
been viewed as a disaster for Chronos. Now it was part of some
larger plan of Alkanphel’s. But even he was vague on the
details of this plan. Despite their close link there were some
things that he did not know of Alkanphel’s past. But in the
end he would do as Alkanphel asked, as to not do it would spell
the end of everything! Dr Valkus entered the room. He too found
it odd to be looking at images of Chronos forces being decimated
but like Imakarum did not question the plan before them.
“His
forces are being decimated by the Gigantic Guyver” said
Lord Valkus, as he walked up beside Imakarum.
“It
is how Alkanphel foresaw it,” said Lord Imakarum. Valkus
did not rise to the bait and held back saying “It was not
Alkanphel who foresaw these events.” If Alkanphel had not
yet shared what happened fifty years ago with Imakarum it was not
for him to say now. The main worry for Valkus was it took many
years for her to reveal what she knew, her alien DNA making it
near impossible for her mind to be dominated until recent years
and advancements made by the Tempus Group allowed them access to
what she knew. Even then he couldn’t help but feel she
actually wanted to be broken and only to Alkanphel. Not only that
but did not share everything, only what she deemed he needed to
know.
“Indeed
it is Imakarum,” said Lord Valkus.
“I
find it ironic that after years of trying to destroy or capture
the Gigantic Guyver we must now leave him free to destroy our
forces,” said Lord Imakarum.
“The
irony isn’t lost on me,” said Lord Valkus looking at
Imakarum, seeing the same irony in the form of Imakarum himself,
the former friend of Sho Fukamachi, the Guyver 1, and his allies
now possibly the most powerful Zoalord in Chronos after Alkanphel
used the Ark’s stored energy to repair Imakarum’s
cracked zoalord crystal.
“I
know of Neith,” said Lord Imakarum to the now stunned Lord
Valkus.
“When
did he tell you?”
“He
trusts me with more than you are aware of ‘Old Bal’.
I’ve seen the failure of the first Guyver and what he did
to the Uranus eons ago through the link we share. Their
Federation tried to destroy this world! It was Alkanphel that
stopped them from doing so but the destruction of the massive
planetoid they sent to crash into the Earth did more than cause
the last ice age. Alkanphel paid for rebelling against them and
for using his awesome power in shattering it,” said Lord
Imakarum.
“Alkanphel
saving the world is the reason why he has to sleep for long
periods of time?”
“Yes
it is the reason or at least one of the reasons and furthermore
you are one of only two Zoalords to know the reason why,”
said Imakarum, moving his arm in motion between the two Zoalords
to signal only Valkus and he were the ones that knew.
“You
have been our
greatest success Imakarum.”
“Thank
you Hamical. You did not tell the others about the current status
of the Tempus Group?”
“No,
I did not think it appropriate to inform them as the situation is
yet to be resolved,” said Lord Valkus.
“When
he is discovered, do not hold back our resources against him,”
said Lord Imakarum.
“I
will send one of our healed comrades against him?”
“Yes,
that is a good idea Old Bal,” said Lord Imakarum.
Manhattan
Island - Battle of New York City
Taylor
Smith stood almost emotionless as the Gigantic Guyver and Guyver
US burst through the large doors of his office. Gigantic Guyver
looked surprised at the two large Zerebubuths looking zoanoids.
What Aptom had told him was correct! Chronos was reproducing
Zoanoids and, from what he could see, improving on them.
“You
have no idea what you have done?” roared Taylor Smith at
the two Guyvers. Guyver US looked up at Gigantic Guyver and back
at the man behind the huge Zoanoids and shrugged his shoulders in
confusion.
“I
think we do Mr Chronos leader, we’re destroying Chronos!”
said Guyver US, still not sure this was the response the man
wanted.
“You’re
an idiot Sean Barker! Sho and you deserve everything that Chronos
has planned!”
“Fuck
you and your Chronos horse you road in on!”
Before
Taylor Smith could reply Guyver US head beam fired. The blast
should have hit Taylor Smith square in the forehead, killing the
man. But a shield appeared in front of him blocking the laser. If
not for the armour covering his face the look of surprise and
shock of what just happened would have been obvious on Sean’s
face.
“He’s
a zoalord!?,” said Guyver US. Gigantic Guyver simply
nodded. The two Powered Zerebubuths raised
their left arms and fired at Guyver US in retaliation. Gigantic
Guyver’s shield extended over the close by Guyver US and
blocked the blasts and responded with head beam fire, but both
were surprised to see the Powered Zerebubuth’s
shield
the laser blasts as it dissipated around them. Guyver US ran
towards the closest one, extending his vibrational sword, as
he
dodged its arm laser as he got in close only to find his sword
stopped by the creatures aura.
“I
will succeed where others have failed! I will kill both of you
Guyvers!” shouted Taylor Smith as his body began to
transform to his Apprentice Zoalord form. The room was filled
with a blinding light coming from his forehead’s
Zoacrystal. His sized increased rivalling that of the Powered
Zerebubuths and
the Gigantic Guyver. Elements of his design looked familiar to
Gigantic Guyver. The parts of his skin that had grown more
armoured were similar in look and shape to that of an Enzyme 3 but
his head was clearly that of a Zoalord...
Elsewhere
in the Chronos controlled building Jason and his team had fought
their way towards the top floor. Unlike the battle outside this
was close quarter fighting and they were relying much more on the
non-armoured troops within the limited internal space of the
building. While even in the larger, areas with all the sensors
they had in their armour, Zoanoids could and did repeatedly get in
close. Loses were heavy but this building had to be cleansed of
zoanoids, the option of bombing it to the ground was not there
given the possibly intelligence that could be gained from
capturing the building, along with any Chronos human personnel
that may remain alive...
Before
Gigantic Guyver could warn Guyver US about what this Zoalord
could be Taylor Smith fired two plasma balls. One at Gigantic
Guyver the second aimed at Guyver US. This time Guyver US was
outside the shield of the Gigantic Guyver. Guyver US fired his
head beam at the green energy ball coming towards him but as it
impacted the energy ball exploded sending a spray of small green
liquid balls towards him and the Powered Zerebubuth close by,
which as they impacted on the Guyver US the reaction was
immediate as the liquid dissolved his armour at the points of
impact all over his side. To the Powered Zerebubuth it was like
being hit by water and the creature suffered no damage at all!
The
Powered Zerebubuth closed in on Guyver US but as it did Gigantic
Guyver leapt with amazing speed towards the creature and power
punched its head, obliterating it. The now headless body was
knocked backwards against the wall of the office. Gigantic Guyver
then moved between the Guyver US and their opponents ready to
shield him from their next attack.
“What
the hell was that,” said Guyver US, as he began to realize
just how badly he was effected by the green liquid as his right
leg armour was dissolving and his body registered the pain caused
by it.
“They
would not let me use the Enzyme 3’s! So I had my scientists
combine the best attributes of the Enzyme 3 with that of my
Zoalord form. In short I am now the perfect Guyver killer!”
said Taylor Smith, grinning knowing his plan had worked.
“Are
you mad?” asked Gigantic Guyver.
“What
would make you say that?” asked Taylor Smith.
“The
Enzyme 3 has a heightened metabolism but at the cost of a
shortened lifespan! Why would you do that to yourself?!”asked
a clearly shocked Gigantic Guyver.
“Yes,
that would be the case for an Enzyme 3. But I am an Apprentice
Zoalord of Chronos! My Zoa-crystal negates the effects of the
reduced life span and keeps control over the animalistic nature
of the Enzyme 3 form.”
<“Be
careful Sean, he’s extremely dangerous.”> said
Gigantic Guyver telepathically.
<“You
don’t need to tell me twice,”> replied Guyver US,
looking at his wounded body.
“I
don’t care who you are or what deluded belief in Chronos
made you do that to yourself but I will kill you!” said
Gigantic Guyver.
“It
is no ‘deluded belief’ that made me join Chronos!
You’re an idiot Gigantic Guyver, you don’t see that
the world has changed. Chronos has rid the world of war, famine,
boarders and politics that crippled it and the human race for
millenniums. You
fight for a cause that is already failed,” said Taylor
Smith.
“Don’t
pretend to know what we fight for,” said Guyver US, as he
stood back up his body healing enough so that he could just about
carry his own weight.
“I’m
impressed you can still stand Guyver, you truly are as resilient
as the data says. But I do know what you fight for and that world
is gone!”
“I’ll
show you who’s gone!” said Guyver US, as he fired his
pressure cannon towards the head of Taylor Smith. The Zoalord
raised his shield which absorbed the gravity ball. Gigantic
Guyver, using the distraction, charged his own pressure cannon
using the three gravity orbs on his body, this, though, was much
more powerful than a normal Guyver’s. The larger gravity
ball traveled at speed forcing the zoalord to shield that too.
But as it hit the shield, which absorbed the brunt of the attack,
he was still forced back knocking him out and through the large
window overlooking Manhattan. However, Taylor Smith didn’t
fall the fifty stories to his death and as the momentum of
Gigantic Guyver’s pressure cannon faded the Zoalord simply
floated in the mid-air looking back at the two Guyvers.
Seeing
his master being attacked the remaining Powered Zerebubuth raised
his left arm and aimed at the Guyvers. At that very moment Jason,
in his Red Armour, had bashed through the door entering the room.
Seeing the Hyper Zoanoid raising his arm Jason fired his two
shoulder mounted cannons targeting its left arm. Powered
Zerebubuse caught by surprise didn’t move in time and the
charging blaster section of his arm was hit, ripping a hole into
it and lodging the large round in his arm as it hit his arm’s
armour on the other side. Powered Zerebubuth roared in pain as
Gigantic Guyver closed in on him.
“I
don’t know who you are but you should not interfere when
gods fight!” said Taylor Smith, firing a laser from his
Zoa-crystal towards the Red Armoured Jason.
It
was like as if time slowed down. Guyver US saw what was about to
happen but could do nothing about it in time. Gigantic Guyver had
already moved towards the Powered Zerebubuth and was out of range
to do anything other than sense the laser beam pass by him. Jason
had just enough time to close his eyes and flinch. But the laser
blast did not hit Jason but warped around him blasting into the
wall behind him! In front of Jason it was like as if reality had
ripped as a line appeared in front of him and opened up! Jason
stood in shock as Alkanphel himself stepped out and stood between
the Guyvers and him in his human form!
Alkanphel
looked at Taylor Smith and with a simple flick of his arm used
his psionic power to pull the Apprentice Zoalord and the
remaining Powered Zerebubuth towards him and flung them through
the portal. In all of one second Gigantic Guyver and Guyver US
were left facing the single most powerful Zoalord of Chronos!
“Who
the hell is that?” asked Guyver US.
“Alkanphel!
The Leader of Chronos!” answered Gigantic Guyver. <“Sean,
he’s too close to Jason and can twist our attacks to hit
him.”>
Alkanphel
said nothing, walking around the tear in reality to look at the
Red Armoured Jason O’Conner. Jason knew as he felt the
presence of whatever this man was arrive that he was the being he
had met before!
“Why?”
asked Jason as he pressed the release to open his armour head
piece so he could look at Alkanphel with his own eyes.
“You
will find out soon enough,” said Alkanphel as he looked
curiously at the man before him. Then he turned around and left
the portal closing behind him. The room now empty of Chronos
stayed quite for a few seconds as the three of them tried to
understand what Alkanphel had meant.
“Why
didn’t you attack him,” asked Jason.
“You
could have being killed if we did,” said Guyver US.
“It
would have been worth
it!” shouted Jason, turning around and leaving the room.
“What
was that about?” asked Gigantic Guyver.
“I
don’t know… I’ve never in all the time I’ve
known him seen him lose his cool with me like that before,”
said Guyver US.
ACTF
HQ – Washington DC
It
was twenty one hundred hours. After their victory in New York
Jason, Sho and Sean had returned to what was now the ACTF’s
primary base. It had been a very long day but since the battle
Jason had been unusually quiet for him. He’d usually talk
with Sean after the battle and go over what happened and see if
there would be any lessons to be learned for either him or the
ACTF troops supporting him. But tonight was different, he was
keeping to himself. Sho was in Sean’s quarters with Cori
and had just explained who Alkanphel basically was to Cori having
already told Sean in New York.
“Have
you faced Alkanphel before?” asked Sean.
“Yes,
once a long time ago. You could say he was responsible for the
creation of the Gigantic Armour,” said Sho.
“How
could Alkanphel be responsible for that,” asked Cori but
before Sho could answer Sean said “Sorry honey but we can
come back to that in a minute.” “Sho I think Jason
has met or seen Alkanphel before.”
“Indeed,
I was thinking the same,” said Sho.
“Are
guys going to beat around the bush, as they say, or invite him
over so you can talk about this?” asked Cori.
“We’re
guy’s hon, we like to bury things and not talk about it!”
said Sean. “SEAN!” shouted Cori as she then slapped
his shoulder.
“Either
go to him and invite him over or I will!” said Cori.
“Actually,
that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” said Sean to the glare
of Cori. She sighed and got up off their bed that she’d be
sitting on and left them.
Jason’s
room was next to theirs. Jason lay there on the bed staring at
the ceiling, his army style boots thrown uncharacteristically to
the side of the room. “How could it be him?” said
Jason to himself thinking of the elf eared man that had haunted
his memories who he now knew to be Alkanphel. But before he could
dwell on it any more there was a knock on his door. He wasn’t
expecting anyone and he hoped Sean and Sho would leave him alone
until the morning. He would be better able to cope with seeing
Alkanphel and keep his feelings to himself. He waited a moment,
hoping whoever was at the door would go away but there was
another knock on the door. Jason got up and opened the door
expecting it to be Sean and thought through ideas of what to tell
him that would make him go away without insulting him. However,
he opened the door to see Cori’s face staring back at him
and all his excuses disappeared.
“Can
I come in Jason?”
“Sure
Cori,” said Jason only noticing then as she walked in that
compared to normal his room was not the orderly sight it should
have been.
“How
are you?” asked Cori as she sat down on an office style
chair by his desk.
“Sean’s
being sneaky by sending you here to check up on me isn’t
he?” asked Jason in response, knowing it was best to cut to
the chase if Cori was here to find out what was wrong with him.
“That’s
not the answer I was expecting Jason, but yes he is. Common
Jason, this isn’t like you. You’re normally so
focused on “the mission” and are so straight and
narrow about it I’m surprised I like you,” said Cori.
“Thanks
Cori, but I’m… Okay, I guess it’s best I tell
them about it, isn’t it?”
“Yes,
whatever it is that has you not being yourself you need to tell
them about it!” said Cori and in response Jason nodded and
went to go over to his boots. “We’re only next door
Jason. You won’t need your boots.” Jason said nothing
and simply followed Cori out of his room.
“Hello
guys,” said Jason as he entered the room and leaned against
the desk which like his own was at the front of the room so he
was in eye contact with both Sean and Sho.
“Hi
Jason, let’s be direct about this, you’re not acting
like your normal self,” said Sean. There was a moment
silence between them all as Jason looked a little flustered about
the situation. Everyone in the room knew he really didn’t
want to talk about what happened. But even Jason realized he was
going to have to tell them.
“I’m
sorry, you two are the closest I’ve got to having new
friends since X-Day, but I shouldn’t be unloading my
problems onto you two especially,” said Jason pointing his
finger at Sean and Sho.
“What
does he mean Sean?” asked Sho.
“Jason
doesn’t want to trouble us with his problems because he
views us to be too important,” said Sean. Jason nodded in
agreement.
“Jason,
I do not know you as well as Sean. But in the end we’re all
human. I don’t view myself to be above others that I can’t
hear what’s bothering you,” said Sho.
“Yeah
Sho, and to add to that I know your mission in life is to hurt
Chronos Jason. That I am basically your best hope in that and
that you do your best to make sure nothing distracts me from that
purpose in life. But common man, you’re a friend now. Out
with it and let us know why you’d be willing to throw away
your life to kill the Zoalord Alkanphel,” said Sean.
“So
that is what the elf ears bastard is called?” asked Jason.
“Yes,
he is Alkanphel the leader of Chronos,” answered Sho.
“Can
you please tell me more about him Sho?”
“Alkanphel
is the leader of Chronos, possibly the most powerful man on the
planet and possesses amazingly great abilities. Guyver 3 and I
faced him once as we tried to take a Relic Ship from Chronos. We
both used our mega-smashers on him at the same time. Alkanphel
somehow is powerful enough to twist the combined mega-smasher
beams sending
it all back
against us and destroying
most of the Relic we stood on,” answered Sho, to the
shocked look on the face of everyone who heard what he said.
“How
did you survive that?” asked Jason, the look of anger
disappearing as he refocused on the hope that this Japanese man
that was a very powerful Guyver held some hope of revenge against
the man he wanted revenge against and a being Sho referred to as
the most powerful being on Earth.
“I
barely did Jason. Chronos had built a huge base around it called
Relics Point. My friends and Guyver 3 had found allies there.
They were inside the ship as we fought the Zoalords. The combined
mega-smasher beam Alkanphel sent back at us smashed into the
Relic. It also reduced my body to just my head. Somehow the Relic
Ship under my semi-conscious direction teleported my friends and
our allies to a safe place. Guyver 3 and I were not so lucky, my
damaged body and the Control Spheres of the Relic were placed in
a Cocoon. Guyver 3 was also placed in Cocoon of his own and we
crashed to Earth many thousands of miles away. According to the
Guyver 3, who awoke months later, it was the Rocky Mountains
where we landed. As for me, I awoke some time later during a
battle as the Gigantic Guyver. The Relic’s Control Sphere
had merged with my Control Medal to give me the power to face
Alkanphel.”
“How
can he be that powerful?” asked Jason, realizing that
Guyver US, who he’d witnessed dismantling countless
zoanoids, wouldn’t be capable of killing such a foe
alone.
“I
don’t know how. But I can only tell of what I’ve
witnessed. Now that I’ve told you my history, can you let
me know how you already recognized him?” asked Sho.
“How
did you know?” asked Jason.
“I’ve
never seen you that angry before Jason. You wouldn’t
sacrifice yourself to kill someone you didn’t know,”
answered Sean.
“Okay…
I’ve
never told anyone about this apart from my counsellor and General
Carter. I have seen Alkanphel before. Years ago, he is the one
responsible for the death of my family,” said Jason to the
shock of everyone there.
“You
were attacked by Alkanphel and survived?” asked a very
surprised Sho.
“Yes,
I believe that is the case! During my wedding day a glowing
yellow man burst through the ceiling collapsing the church. He
killed everyone including my soon to be wife... I can still
remember his elf like ears as he floated down towards me as I
blacked out,” said Jason. The anger in his tone as he said
the words was clear to all that heard them.
“When
did that happen?”
“It
happened on X-Day Sho, the same day Chronos took over the world.”
“I’m
not asking this to be insulting Jason, but why would the Leader
of Chronos bother attacking a church?” asked Cori.
“I
do not know, all I know is his face has haunted me ever since! It
was him!”
“In
New York Jason, what did Alkanphel say to you?” asked Sean.
“I
asked him, “why” and the elf bastard told me “you
will find out soon enough.” What he means by that I’ve
no idea, he’s only made me angrier and annoyed!”
answered Jason. The anger in his voice relaxed as he admitted it
and then sighed.
“Why
didn’t you tell us about this before?” asked Sean.
“My
councillor and I thought it was all in my head. Something I
either imagined as I blacked out or lay in a coma from my
injuries,” said Jason.
“I’m
surprised you acted so calm and quite. I’d not have handled
my emotions as well as you Jason!” said Cori.
03:48
AM – ACTF HQ - Command and Control Room
It
was night-time in Washington DC. The City itself was quite. The
curfew put in place by ACTF, since they had taken over, was in
full effect and the only people wondering the city were the
patrols of ACTF troops. Each patrol was made up on a group of
five men with anti-zoanoid rifles and one in the Red Armour who
not only provided them fire power but communications with HQ.
It
was the graveyard shift and a marine named Stephen Cain looked on
attentively at the screens around him that were being fed by the
cameras around the ACTF HQ. To his sides five others viewed their
quadrants. Most of the guys in his unit hated this. But after
years of being cooped up in the old underground ACTF base and all
the fighting the last few weeks this was relaxing. His Unit did
not fight in the battle of New York instead it was given the
mission of base defence. He viewed himself as one of the lucky
ones, his family lived nearby only a half hours drive from the
city and compared to others in his direct family hadn’t
suffered any loses to Chronos. Though, his older sister Caroline
couldn’t forgive him for deceiving the family and letting
them think he was dead his mother and father understood why.
Caroline, his only other sibling would forgive him someday, he
hoped.
Along
with camera feeds from various points inside and around the base
Stephen could also see the live feeds coming from the different
Red Armours patrolling around the base. Stephen then saw something
odd, one of the cameras at the perimeter of sector 4 stopped
working. Using his control panel he immediately reversed the feed
to see if it was just a malfunction or something to be more
worried about. Slowing the video down and repeating the image he
still couldn’t tell what hit the camera. Then another feed
went dead.
“Patrols
to sector 4, something is happening to the cameras there guys, be
alert!” said Stephen through his head set.
“Stephen,
should we alert the General?” asked Cameron the private who
sat beside Stephen.
“No,
not yet but I’ll alert Captain Rosa of this now!”
said Stephen.
Outside
the main building two patrols that were closest to the failed
cameras walked towards them. No one could see anything around the
cameras being out of place. But as they got closer it became
obvious as the Red Armoured men in their team focused on where the
cameras used to be. They’d been completely destroyed
leaving only a soldered wreck at the top of the poles they were
positioned on! Immediately at seeing this Captain Rosa trigger
full alert! Every light came on around the base. From the bunkers
situated around the grounds of the base flares shot up into the
sky. But the patrols couldn’t see anything, and on the
radar station setup near the base the screen was also clear.
Whatever it was that attacked the two cameras remained unknown.
General
Carter arrived in the Command and Control room, he was dressed in
his uniform but it was not buttoned together as it normally
would. Simply put he’d not had the time to go through his
morning ritual of tidiness as he was awakened by the base alarm.
“What’s
the situation?” asked the General, as he walked up to
Captain Rosa.
“Sir,
we’ve two cameras down. Images from the patrols show this
was done by something capable of leaving nothing behind but the
melted top of the pole,” answered Captain Rosa.
“Any
sign of whom or what did this?” asked the General.
“No
sir, whatever it is it is very capable of hiding from radar and
sight,” answered Captain Rosa. As she was answering that
question, Sean, Sho and Jason arrived into the room. Jason was
holding an anti-zoanoid rifle ready to fight whatever was coming.
“I
heard what she said to you General. Chronos has some pretty
powerful zoanoids capable of cloaking. Sean and I should get out
there. We’d probably be the only ones capable of sensing
what it is that’s out there!”
“Sean
and Sho, go find out what you can. Jason you need to get your
team ready and offer whatever support they can to the Guyvers!”
Guyver
US and Guyver 1 both arrived outside less than a minute later.
But like the Red Armoured troops they could not see anything out
of the ordinary.
Then
three beings fell out of the sky to the ground below. Guyver 1
and Guyver US could see the two patrols close by them suddenly
come under fire from them. Laser blasts from them made short work
of the two Red Armours in both patrols. The rest of the men and
women from the patrols ran for their lives, but to no avail as
their screams were quickly cut short as the three beings cut them
down!
“Damn,
I’ll
take on these guys, you
stay
here and protect the base!” shouted Guyver 1 as he flew up
into the air and towards the three beings. At the same time he
summoned the Gigantic Cocoon becoming the Gigantic Guyver and
in moments his enhanced
eyes
and
head sensor orbs focused
on the three foes he was about to face. He was somewhere between
surprised and shocked to find
that they were Guyver based
beings
all right but not human. They were humanoid but
of
some kind with four arms, on the top pair of
arms were
two clearly visible vibration swords, on the bottom pair of
arms
he had what looked to be the same spherical laser emitters as the
head lasers, and it
was at least fifteen foot tall, even when hunched over.
<"I've
never seen anything like that before,"> said Gigantic
Guyver, sending a mental image of what he saw to Guyver US.
There
was no immediate response from Guyver US as above Gigantic
Guyver, as he flew towards the three beings, he could sense a
large void moving towards him above the ACTF HQ building. A
second later another one of these large Guyver beings dropped out
of the ship and crashed into the building behind him!
<“One
of them is inside the base Sho, kill those other three fast!”>
said Guyver US, as he turned around and chased the unknown Guyver
like being into the ACTF HQ. There was no debate about these new
foes, they were the enemy...
Guyver
US ran after his foe, his head sensors giving an image of what it
was he was going to face even though there was floors of concrete
between him and it. Whatever this thing was, it was Guyver like
but sensed different to a human Guyver and it was looking for
something. This creature, like him, had head sensors that it was
using to scan for some unknown objective but this meant the
creature could also sense him closing in on it. Even so it did
not change its pace or direction. But then, as Sean thought of
what may lay in its projected path, he realized where it was
heading! He had to close the distance fast and climbing up stairs
or taking a lift was not an option!
Quickly
sensing above him to confirm no one was directly above him,
Guyver US then created but held a pressure cannon as he
jumped/dived through the concrete ceiling above him and
consecutively all of the remaining floors that separated him from
his target, using the pressure cannon to effortlessly penetrate
and burst through to the floor after floor above before bursting
through the last and then releasing the pressure cannon after the
Guyver like being. But the creature merely countered with a
single handed pressure cannon without breaking its stride and
continued on its way, forcing Guyver US to continue his chase,
desperately hoping he could stop it before it could reach its
objective!
Guyver
US could see the creature now in front of him. But before he had
ran two steps the red Guyver like creature finally paused and put
both pairs of its arms down towards the gravity control orb and
charge a presser cannon with each and then fired the two gravity
balls at the charging Guyver. Guyver US jumped over the first one
aimed at him and then sent a gravity ball of his own to counter
the second as he landed a few feet away. Guyver US then extended
his vibration swords and jumped once more towards the creature.
It countered Guyver US's attack with one of its upper arm blades
and grabbed him with two others. In an instant the creature was
crushing the life out of the surprised Guyver US when he
countered with multiple head lasers shots. Most simply lightly
burned the creature’s bio-armor but Guyver US managed to hit one of its eyes and this gave Guyver US the second he needed
to break out of its grip.
Outside,
Gigantic Guyver had engaged his three foes. Like him, they were
fast, clearly Guyver based and their control medals were larger
than normal and pretty much like his. But these red Guyver
creatures all had what looked to be technology enhancements to
their bio armour and had some sort of small gun attached to their
shoulders. <What are these Guyver creatures?> He thought
quickly. But any sense in wonder quickly disappeared as two of
his foes, who had stood back, fired four gravity balls at him as
he chased another member of their team. Gigantic Guyver knew he
had to disable one of them fast and simply activated his full
shields, absorbing the impact of the other two creatures’
attacks, and then fired an enhanced gravity ball of his own after
the one in front of him.
The
creature shielded it, but with great cost to the technical parts
of its armour which overloaded and appeared to have burnt out.
However, the creature did not have a second to contemplate what
this meant against the Gigantic Guyver as Sho sensed he had an
opening. The Gigantic’s chest spike extended into a spear
and the Gigantic’s back thrusters fired, rocketing the
Gigantic towards the alien Guyver…
All
three alien Guyvers attempted to hit the charging Gigantic with
their combined laser fire but the Gigantic’s barrier field
easily shielded these and in an instant it was too late for them
to try anything else as the Gigantic smashed into the damaged
alien Guyver, spearing through the creature’s Gravity
Control Orb, destroying it, and unleashing the destructive power
of the Gravity Ram… The alien Guyver torso was nearly
caved in as it was blasted back by the powerful attack and shot
backwards hundreds of feet before crashing into the ground below.
The
now nearly mangled creature was effectively left with only it’s
beam orbs and swords to defend itself with. While the Gigantic
flew towards the fallen alien Guyver the other two still attacked
the Gigantic with pressure cannon and plasma blasts as they
chased after him, forcing him to keep his barrier shield up but
proved insufficient to keep the Gigantic away from their fallen
comrade and unleashing a final pressure cannon blast at the
creature’s Control Medal and obliterating it with an
effectively unwelcomed lobotomy, leaving a hole through the
creature’s head where the Control Medal had been...
The
other two red alien Guyvers stopped there attack and roared in
rage. Gigantic Guyver turned to face them thinking it would take
a while for the creature, whose control medal was destroyed, to
turn into a bio-creature of some sorts now that its control medal
was destroyed, but it happened much more quickly than expected.
Without the control medal the creature was literally eaten alive
as the Unit consumed the host completely, leaving nothing behind,
like as if it were a Zoanoid...
Guyver
Gigantic didn’t have time to wonder as the remaining red
Guyvers then renewed their attack. One rapidly firing all three
of its laser orbs, which like the Gigantic’s were more
powerful than a typical Guyver’s and could have caused some
level of damage to even the Gigantic’s armor and thus
forced him to remain shielded. While the other reached with all
four of its arms and opened the four different chest compartments
holding this creature’s version of a quadruple mega-smasher
celled blaster. Gigantic Guyver didn’t wait to test if his
shield would hold out against such an attack and quickly fired
the two adjacent beams to the side of his primary head laser
twice, hitting and rupturing the four cells before they could
fire. The creature was now badly wounded with internal injuries
and slumped to the ground. Gigantic Guyver, though, was all too
aware of how temporary that would be given the fact he was a
Guyver with amazing regenerative abilities...
Inside
the ACTF HQ base Guyver US was hurtling backwards through the
air, the recipient of a double right arm punch from the red alien
Guyver creature that he was chasing. He had managed to wound the
creature with a lucky hit with his vibrational sword across the
head, nicking the outer layer of its control medal, but it was
far stronger than him and deceptively fast for such a large
creature. In short he knew he was outclassed but he had no choice
but to fight on!
Focusing
past the pain, Guyver US activated his gravity controller and
landed back on his feet and fired his head beam, quickly followed
by a gravity ball, at the creature but the head beam was
ineffective and it easily shielded against the gravity ball.
Changing
tactics, Guyver US quickly scanned the environment and sensed
what was above and below them before unleashing two rapid fire
gravity balls. The first blasting the ground below the creature
and causing the floor to give away, though the creature
immediately activated its gravity control orb and started to
float to prevent itself from falling. Just as the second gravity
ball ruptured the ceiling and caused a one ton industrial
building air conditioning unit to fall down on top of the red
Guyver, who simply caught it and tossed it aside but that was the
distraction Guyver US was hoping for and had fired yet another
gravity ball that smashed into the creature’s chest and
knocked it back and down the hole in the floor he had created.
However,
the creature soon smashed back up through the floor. The
creature’s eyes flared and its face vents spewed out,
giving Guyver US the impression he was starting to annoy it but
this thought barely crossed his mind before the creature’s
shoulder weapon turned back around towards him and fired three
times in return. Guyver US managed to dodge two of them. But the
third hit him in the chest, blasting him backwards, down the
hall, and away from his foe. Guyver US tried to get up again but
to his shock he could not. It was only then he looked down to see
the damage the blast had caused to his chest and upper abdomen...
As he started to black out, he realized then that his heart had
been destroyed.
The
Red Alien Guyver did not close in on him to finish the job,
instead doing what Guyver US feared the most as he smashed the
door in to his chamber. Guyver US could faintly hear Cori’s
scream as the creature took her away before the darkness took
him...
The
End of Part 1
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