Mechagodzilla: Shiryu

-20-

Akane's ears rung and her eyes were blurry as she slowly woke back into reality.

Every screen around the cockpit was blaring some alarms that indicated damages once the hearing returned. Akane grunted as she moved weakly, having received quite the bruises and hits despite having a protective suit. Her hands gingerly reached out to tap on the keys and see what was happening. From the looks of things, Shiryu's body had suffered some superficial damages, and some internal frame repairs were needed. The mechagodzilla had some substantial damages around some parts, and most importantly, as Akane saw around her thanks to the still functioning cameras, the unit was buried under a heap of large boulders. Akane grabbed the controls of the machine and began to move them, trying to make the mechagodzilla move, but the only thing she got was restrained movement. She tried again in order to make Shiryu move again, still nothing. "Come on...move. Get up, please..." Akane said in a weak and soft manner, trying to move Shiryu. Despite her best efforts to move the mechagodzilla, the large and heavy boulders had trapped Shiryu under tremendous weight. "Damn it!" Akane yelled, slamming her fists over the control panels on the sides in frustration.

Immediately she tried to contact the command base, seeing that the communication module was still functioning. "Shiryu to command, this is Akane, I am trapped under a vast amount of rubble. Requesting help immediately, over" Akane said, hoping that she would get a response. However, all that she received was static in both radio and video feed. "Shiryu to base, this is Akane Yashiro. I am stuck beneath a whole amount of rubble. Please respond." Akane tried again, and she got the same response. She tried several times over and over again before she gave out another frustrated yell and slammed down her fist over the panel again. From what she could tell...she was stuck under this rocky and metal prison, unable to move until help arrived in some way. Which would take days or longer than that in order to accomplish. If it were delayed, Akane might not make it, which made her more worried as panic started to set in. Oxygen would deplete rapidly if something were to happen to the life support, another boulder would come crashing down and crush Shiryu, with Akane inside, or she would starve to death.

In any ways...she would not make it out alive once help arrived. "Damn it...why did I end up here...?" Akane said mainly to herself, covering her face with her hands as she felt some tears escape her shut eyes. Desperation and despair began to invade her mind, more than what her own training could handle due to the situation she was in. Before any of her thoughts could take her into more depressive route, she heard something outside. Or rather...beneath the mechagodzilla as Akane lifted her head and listened to it intently. She raised the volume in her headset in order to listen to it, and gasped when she recognized the sound. It was Chibisuke squeaking softly, as well as giving some small scratches around underneath Shiryu and the surrounding boulders. Akane realized that Shiryu had successfully made a safe spot for the small Godzilla hatchling underneath its body. Adding to that, Chibisuke was heard moving freely, although a bit restrained, around the space giving squeaks and chirrups to call for anyone outside. From outside, Akane heard the faint growling of Gojirin using her claws to try and pick up the boulders. At least, Akane hoped it was Gojirin and not the bird creature or a MUTO. Hearing the little one struggle instantly made Akane forget about getting stuck and have her mind be replaced with survival instincts once more. "Don't worry, Chibi. I'll try to get us out of here." Akane said, grabbing the controls once again and trying to move Shiryu.

When that didn't work, she analyzed the options still available; left drill mode and maser blade damaged, right drill mode and maser blade fully operational, maser canon operational. Those were good enough for Akane to use. If one or two of them were used to make a hole right through, then they might have a chance of making an exit. The battery of the entire mechagodzilla was [40%] shown in the screen. Just about enough before the whole energy from the batteries depleted in its totality. Akane switched the right hand to drill mode and began to excavate, the hand being freed and starting to move more around as more space was made. Chibisuke gave a surprised squeak when the drilling commenced, and now Akane could hear that his claws were scrabbling a bit in front as he began digging. "That's right. I'm getting us out of here." Akane said, renewed with the will to see things through once more. After the hand had room to move, Akane moved it in order to push some smaller rocks out of the way. Just enough to reach up and move other boulders to free Shiryu's head. "Okay, Chibi, I know you don't understand me much, but please move underneath me again. I'll blast through so we can be free." Akane said on the mechagodzilla's loudspeakers while she "felt" around with its free hand. There was a squeak heard as Akane felt Shiryu's clawed hand make contact with something solid and moving. Making sure it was Chibisuke, due to the remaining restricted movement of Shiryu's head, Akane held the hand in place with the Godzilla hatchling behind it. "Here goes. Let's hope this works...and I don't mistakenly hit your mother..." Akane said, hoping that she would keep that promise to the hatchling. Chibisuke, not understanding her completely, thankfully remained where he was and didn't move. "Alright...here goes..." Akane breathed, moving the controls to aim Shiryu's head in front. The mouth opened and the mazer canon slowly began to charge up so it was ready to fire.

When it was time, Akane grunted as she pulled the trigger and fired.

The mazer energy tore through the rocks that were in front of Shiryu's head, blasting away the obstacles. With the blast, the rocks around Shiryu's body began to crumble and fall down, and soon the mechagodzilla began to be slowly freed from the crushing weight. Akane carefully moved the machine to straighten up, looking down to check on the baby Godzilla. The squeaking of the hatchling and the sight of it moving out beneath Shiryu made Akane give a sigh of utter relief. Which was the replaced with a small gasp as the sound of growling was heard up front. Gojirin was spotted standing above them, glaring down at the mechagodzilla as Akane saw a slight burn mark across the titan's chest. An accidental maser hit on the female Godzilla which she was not happy about. "Sorry about that..." Akane said, making Shiryu bow its head down apologetically. Gojirin's face soon softened when Chibisuke came into her view, the titan lowering down and making a deep crooning noise. Akane watched how the mother and hatchling were reunited with a happy and relieved smile. "Glad that you are okay" Akane said before slowly moving Shiryu back to go around.

However, when the mechagodzilla began to climb out, something tugged from behind, which made Akane turn Shiryu's head around. She spotted that the mechagodzilla's tail was the only part that remained stuck under the rubble. As much as Akane wanted to twist Shiryu's body around, there was a risk that more damage would be done if the limits were tested in the current state. Furthermore, she wasn't going to waste the remaining energy of the mechagodzilla that would be used to returning back to the outpost. "Ummm...a little help? Please?" Akane asked on the loudspeakers, catching Gojirin's attention. The head of Shiryu was moved by Akane to face back at where the tail was stuck. The female titan stared at Shiryu for a moment...before turning back to nurse Chibisuke. Akane sighed and thought for a moment, wondering what could gain the titan's attention for assitance, before she remembered the acoustic resonator. Luckily the resonator was intact, and Akane flipped through all of the sound options in order to search for the right frequency. Unfortunately...there wasn't an exact one for "help", but rather distress. So Akane pressed on the selection and raised the volume to a good level for the resonator to begin. Except...the one selected didn't play at all. It remained silent, and continued when Akane pressed it several times. When she was about to find out what was wrong, the AI of Shiryu took over once again. Instead of making the mechagodzilla go into berserk mode again, it began to automatically flip through all of the other selections. Most strange of all, from Akane's perspective, the AI...began to combine specific fragments of acoustic sound recordings at lightning speeds and make it into a new one. Once finished, the AI of Shiryu played the new sound on its own. The sound was a sort of warble/moan, a mixture between distress and pain, as Shiryu turned its head to the stuck tail and then back at Gojirin again. "You really are something...wether you are glitched or not. I'll be grilling the engineers about this" Akane said to herself, watching with awe.

The female Godzilla straightened up after hearing the distress sounds made by the mechagodzilla, stomping over closer to the machine. Gojirin looked at Shiryu, then at it's stuck tail, before going over to it. Akane turned Shiryu's head to see what the titan would do when the sensors detected a rapid increase in the female Godzilla's radiation levels. The dorsal plates on Gojirin's back began to glow with energy, and Akane knew what was coming. So, covering her eyes with her arms, Akane braced herself as the female Godzilla let out an atomic breath at the rubble. There was an explosion as the atomic breath bore through the large boulders and freed the tail of Shiryu...at the cost if destroying its tip. The alarms of damage blared again in the cockpit as Akane braced when the mechagodzilla lurched forwards, feeling the explosion as the tail tip broke off. Once recovered, she shut off the alarm as she stared at the damage. It looked grave but it didn't really matter as Shiryu was now completely free. "Thank you" Akane said to Gojirin, making Shiryu nod its head to the female Godzilla. Now free, she piloted Shiryu towards the place where she and the team had once entered...and soon began receiving a signal from the command center. ["Akane....Akane Yashiro...do you copy?] Colonel Togashi's voice said, a bit incomprehensible but solid. "Yes. I can hear you, Colonel." Akane said, a wave of relief washing over her. ["...Thank goodness you are alright..."] the Colonel said with a relieved sigh. "There are so many things that happened right after, pertaining Shiryu and the AI, sir. But I am more concerned of what we have discovered." Akane said, focusing back on what needed to be addressed.

["Indeed. The Monarch team and scientists are looking into it as we speak. As of now, head back to the outpost immediately for repairs"] Togashi said. "Yes sir" Akane said, nodding.