Kaiju Apocalypse Read Online Free Page A
Author: Eric S. Brown, Jason Cordova
Tags: Science-Fiction, Horror
headed to, there would be no escaping her.
****
Staff Sergeant Smith suited up, testing out the controls of her new Mark II Dogkiller suit. She clenched and unclenched her left fist as the thick, servo powered armor covering it responded to her neural input. Smith, like every other man and women selected for the upcoming mission, was a longtime veteran of the war against the Kaiju. She was young, a mere twenty two, but the last four years of her life had been spent mostly inside armor and on the front against the Kaiju.
Her body count was staggering, a number that was usually associated with tactical nuclear strikes. She was a lethal machine on the field, moving with an ease and grace that had left many in awe of her skills. Behind her back, some whispered that she wasn’t really human, but a last-ditch genetic experiment by the old Federal Republic of Germany to fight against the Kaiju which had risen from the depths of the Baltic Sea before that country, and all others nearby, were systematically wiped from existence. The rumors had also led to her nickname: Volksrächer .
West's presence among the twenty-four soldiers deploying had not escaped her notice. Upon seeing Ryan, her guts twisted and went cold. Their relationship had been the rough and tumble sort that combat soldiers often filled the void between ops with. Yet, with West, she admitted to herself, she opened up. The geeky combat tech might be sloppy in the bedroom, but there was something about him, a childlike sense of wonder and a wide-eyed excitement that she had found infectious. As dark and terrible as the world had become with the Kaiju war, somehow West still found a way to see the beauty around him. No matter how much he pretended otherwise, the man was a romantic at heart. She often thought that if she had chased him a bit harder, maybe made a little more effort, their relationship could have grown into something beyond anything she had known before. However, the war, as it always did, messed everything up. West was reassigned to Gamma Squad when a Dog Kaiju shredded that squad's tech. Smith could have requested a transfer and followed him, but she was next in line for command of Alpha Squad. Alpha, being the best of the best, was the squad to be in. Her ego wouldn't let her abandon the need to prove she was the best, too.
Therefore, she had made a choice. Sometimes, though, she found herself wondering if it had been the correct one.
“All right troopers,” she ordered her squad, having adjusted as well as she could to the new Mark II systems, “Haul some tail.”
Alpha Squad, with Beta right behind them stomped up the ramp into the Trident that was waiting for them. Members of the squads secured themselves in the Trident's bay and got ready for takeoff. The squad would be making this flight inside their new armor. It would give them more time to piddle around with the internal controls and systems of the new suits before things dropped in the pot. If there really were such a thing as an Overmind controlling the Kaiju, it would surely be heavily defended. There might not be time to suit up once they arrived.
Smith settled in for the flight. Resting her head against the internal brace of her suit, she closed her eyes. They would have plenty of time to worry about the Kaiju they would be going up against when they were actually in the field. Right now, though, there was nothing to do but get better acquainted with her Mark II or sleep. Even through her suit and the Trident's hull, she could hear the ship's massive engines roar to life and the explosive force of its launch as it left Lemura behind.
****
Minister Yeltsin stood on the balcony of command observation tower and watched the two Tridents take flight. They streaked away from Lemura into the night like blazing rockets targeted at a distant enemy. When the two ships were over the horizon, he turned,
****
Staff Sergeant Smith suited up, testing out the controls of her new Mark II Dogkiller suit. She clenched and unclenched her left fist as the thick, servo powered armor covering it responded to her neural input. Smith, like every other man and women selected for the upcoming mission, was a longtime veteran of the war against the Kaiju. She was young, a mere twenty two, but the last four years of her life had been spent mostly inside armor and on the front against the Kaiju.
Her body count was staggering, a number that was usually associated with tactical nuclear strikes. She was a lethal machine on the field, moving with an ease and grace that had left many in awe of her skills. Behind her back, some whispered that she wasn’t really human, but a last-ditch genetic experiment by the old Federal Republic of Germany to fight against the Kaiju which had risen from the depths of the Baltic Sea before that country, and all others nearby, were systematically wiped from existence. The rumors had also led to her nickname: Volksrächer .
West's presence among the twenty-four soldiers deploying had not escaped her notice. Upon seeing Ryan, her guts twisted and went cold. Their relationship had been the rough and tumble sort that combat soldiers often filled the void between ops with. Yet, with West, she admitted to herself, she opened up. The geeky combat tech might be sloppy in the bedroom, but there was something about him, a childlike sense of wonder and a wide-eyed excitement that she had found infectious. As dark and terrible as the world had become with the Kaiju war, somehow West still found a way to see the beauty around him. No matter how much he pretended otherwise, the man was a romantic at heart. She often thought that if she had chased him a bit harder, maybe made a little more effort, their relationship could have grown into something beyond anything she had known before. However, the war, as it always did, messed everything up. West was reassigned to Gamma Squad when a Dog Kaiju shredded that squad's tech. Smith could have requested a transfer and followed him, but she was next in line for command of Alpha Squad. Alpha, being the best of the best, was the squad to be in. Her ego wouldn't let her abandon the need to prove she was the best, too.
Therefore, she had made a choice. Sometimes, though, she found herself wondering if it had been the correct one.
“All right troopers,” she ordered her squad, having adjusted as well as she could to the new Mark II systems, “Haul some tail.”
Alpha Squad, with Beta right behind them stomped up the ramp into the Trident that was waiting for them. Members of the squads secured themselves in the Trident's bay and got ready for takeoff. The squad would be making this flight inside their new armor. It would give them more time to piddle around with the internal controls and systems of the new suits before things dropped in the pot. If there really were such a thing as an Overmind controlling the Kaiju, it would surely be heavily defended. There might not be time to suit up once they arrived.
Smith settled in for the flight. Resting her head against the internal brace of her suit, she closed her eyes. They would have plenty of time to worry about the Kaiju they would be going up against when they were actually in the field. Right now, though, there was nothing to do but get better acquainted with her Mark II or sleep. Even through her suit and the Trident's hull, she could hear the ship's massive engines roar to life and the explosive force of its launch as it left Lemura behind.
****
Minister Yeltsin stood on the balcony of command observation tower and watched the two Tridents take flight. They streaked away from Lemura into the night like blazing rockets targeted at a distant enemy. When the two ships were over the horizon, he turned,
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