Crimson Fall - An Equestrian Rim Story
The Baltimare Shatterdome
Kaiju (Old Pony Dialect from Japony) Giant Beast
Jaeger (Old Pony Dialect from Germaney) Hunter
"Warning! Kaiju, category III. Rangers Gung Ho and Blitzkrieg, you are needed on deck. Warning! Kaiju..."
Gung Ho rolled out of bed with a bounce. He grinned and rapidly tapped on Blitzkrieg's sleeping form. "Come on, bro. We gotta go!"
"Scheise." Grumbled Blitzkrieg. "Vhat do zey vant?" He too, rolled out of bed, looking much worse for wear.
"Category III." The brown stallion beamed, before exiting their bunk room. "Come on, let's gooooo."
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." The dark gray stallion quickly trotted after his partner, trying his best to blink the sleep away.
"RANGERS!" A loud voice crackled over the intercom.
"Ma'am!" Gung Ho and Blitzkrieg snapped to attention. One thing they learned in cadet training, even if the Marshall isn't around, she will know.
"You are needed on deck, why are you delayed?"
"There is no delay, ma'am!" The two chorused, yet again.
"Then get on deck!"
"Ma'am!" The two earth ponies bolted to the Jaeger hanger, Gung Ho chuckling all the while.
"You are terrible, you know zat?" Blitzkrieg wheezed out, definitely awake now. Marshall Insomnia has that effect on creatures.
"Quicklyyyyy, otherwise she might get even more mad!" Gung Ho sped up, still with a grin. Blitzkrieg sighed and galloped faster. It wasn't long before the two entered the hanger and without any instructions or any acknowledgement with each other, the Rangers stepped into the conn pod. Behind them, mechanical and magical devices started to whir. The stallions were wrapped with protective gear, so as not to strain their muscles too much. Then, in sync, they placed their hooves onto the walking struts, then called for take down.
There was a loud clang, then the room shuddered. With a loud whoosh, the head of the Jaeger plummeted with precision, right onto the body of Crimson Fall. A sleek Mark IV. Painted red for the base and black stripes around the joints and seams. Magical alloys were used to construct the absolute beasts called Jaegers, mechanical warriors, taller than skyscrapers, and strong enough to blast a hole in a mountain. Since Jaegers were so large, they required megaspell reactors to function as well as two or three creatures, who are in perfect mental sync, to pilot Jaegers.
"Rangers, are you ready for the drift?" Marshall Insomnia's voice crackled overhead.
Blitzkrieg detached a hoof from a walking strut, flicked on the communications. "Affirmative."
"Beginning the drift."
"Activating Drift...Right hemisphere stable...Left hemisphere stable...Neural bridge stable."
"What are you looking at?"
"The name's Gung Ho!"
"I didn't ask."
"Too bad."
"Looks like we're in each others head again." Gung Ho chuckled, greenlighting all the systems with the Marshall.
"Vouldn't have it any other vay." Blitzkrieg allowed himself a smile, then as one, the pilots of Crimson Fall moved. An artificial monster to fight a monster from worlds beyond.
***
"Detaching. Good luck, Crimson." With that, the cables that suspended Crimson Fall over the Celestial Sea, disappeared, sending the Jaeger into free fall.
Crimson landed with a heavy thud, large waves rippled outwards. Behind them stood the city of Baltimare, and all that stood between their destruction and safety, were the two stallions.
"Don't get overconfident, ja?"
"You don't need to tell me that!" Gung Ho chuckled. "I'm in your head."
"Rangers. The Kaiju has been nicknamed Riese for it's abnormally large size for a category III."
"Copy that, Marshall." The two fell silent as they surveyed the silent sea.
"I don't like zis. It's too quiet."
Then, out of nowhere, the sea erupted and a heavy impact sent Crimson careening backwards.
"Contact! Contact!"
Gung Ho and Blitzkrieg roared back, twisted around and bucked the Kaiju. A solid hit. Riese cried out in pain, allowing for Crimson to regain its footing and get battle ready. They finally got a good look at what the monster in front of them looked liked a large toad-like build, complete with the wide face and blubbery neck. It had four glowing eyes and a massive tail, lined with spikes. The Kaiju shrieked and charged, its fanged mouth wide open.
Thinking of no other choice, Crimson Fall reared up on their hind legs, and essentially allowed themselves to use gravity to thrust a hoof down the throat of the Kaiju. The momentum being too great for Riese to stop, it took the full blow to the back of the neck. It let out gurgling noises as Crimson drove their hoof deeper down its throat. While Gung Ho was occupied with the left side of things, Blitzkrieg lifted his right hoof and slammed it into the Kaiju's side, again and again. With each heavy impact, Riese let out a guttural choke.
"Warning! Left foreleg heatshielding has been deactivated."
Then Gung Ho started screaming, staring at his left foreleg. He instinctively pulled back, forcing Blitzkrieg to do the same. That gave Riese an opportunity, it clamped down on the foreleg, not allowing for Gung Ho to retract all the way. Through the drift, the brown stallion's nervous system imitated the Jaeger's left vital systems, the same with Blitzkrieg on the right. But since, the drift requires two minds of sound mentality, it meant Blitzkrieg felt Gung Ho's pain as well.
"Detach ze arm!"
"I...! I can't!" Gung Ho reached out with his free leg, but then screamed out, making him go limp with pain. Through the head's visor, Blitzkrieg was able to see that Riese had gotten through half of the leg already, sparks were flying out of Crimson's wound, the mental pain reflected on Gung Ho.
"Schiese!" The dark stallion yelled, pushing back against the mental strain, ignoring the blood trickling down his nose.
"Warning! Drift unstable."
Blitzkrieg ignored everything and heaved with his right foreleg and slammed it on top of Riese's head, to no effect. So he tried again, this time lifting his leg higher. The mechanical joints popped and sparked from the strain, so did the pilot's. He slammed the metal leg over the Kaiju's eyes this time. It was this time that the monster let go, allowing Crimson to stumble back.
"Detach ze arm, now!"
"Right..." Gung Ho, his sandy mane plastered against his head from his sweat. His eyes dulled with pain, and his left foreleg hung useless against his body. With his free hoof, he pulled on a lever, and now the destroyed leg fell off at the joint, into the ocean, leaving a three legged Jaeger against a relatively unharmed Kaiju.
"Marshall!" Blitzkrieg called over the intercom.
"We read you, Ranger. Wrap this up quickly, Ranger Gung Ho is in shock. At the very least, hold on for another thirty minutes. We can't get another Jaeger out there quick enough."
"Understood, Marshall." The dark stallion looked over to his friend and partner. "You heard zat, ja?"
"Yeah. I heard." Gung Ho put on a weak smile and heaved himself up to a proper battle position, but clearly favoring his stronger legs. "Let's get this son of a hydra."
Author's Note
Was that a copout? Yes, yes it was. Sorry, but not really. :)
Now, let me explain. Since this is going to be a short series/story, there won't be as much downtime as the original story. So, keep the action to a minimum at the beginning, and then the heavy stuff at the end. I think it's a good idea. Plus, I'm a little rusty on the whole Kaiju vs Jaeger thing, gotta get back into the groove.
Anyhoo, hoped you liked it. Stick around for more.
Crimson Fall - An Equestrian Rim Story
Gung Ho munched on his dinner. Blitzkrieg was doing stretches next to him. The two had just returned from their battle with Riese. Gung Ho's foreleg was wrapped in gauze, but all in all, he looked good. Blitzkrieg was also wrapped in bandages, although it was in the chest area. Riese threw a lucky punch before Crimson ended its life. They dealt another blow to make sure it was dead before they collapsed. Another Jaeger from the Baltimare Shatterdome had to come out and drag the Jaeger back to the hold.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Blitzy."
"Please refrain from calling me zat."
"Why? I think it's a cute nickname." Gung Ho grinned, his partner just harrumphed and continued with his stretches. "No, but really, I'm okay."
"If you zay so."
The two finished with their respective activities. After clearing away their equipment, the two Rangers made their way to their bunks. Gung Ho was careful with his leg as he crawled underneath the blankets. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Blitzkrieg doing the same. It went quiet for a moment, then Gung Ho rolled over to face Blitzkrieg.
"When do you think this will end?"
"Vhat do you mean?"
"This war. The Kaiju."
"...never."
"Never?"
"Never."
***
"What's happening?" Gung Ho asked a pony. The pegasus shrugged and trotted away. The two Jaegers woke up a few hours past the required time to wake up. One of the privileges after a fight with a Kaiju the night before. When they exited their dorm, however, they were met with a large crowd of ponies in the common area.
"Line, vhat's happening?" Straight Line turned around with a grave expression.
"Marshall Insomnia says there's new intel on the Kaiju. As well as plans for another breach run."
"A breach run? But the past three all failed."
"Right, but somehow scientists at the Griffish Isles Shatterdome figured out a way to successfully close the breaches. They also said that a Kaiju horde will appear in a week or so, so we need to be prepared."
"..."
"Yeah." Line sat down with a heavy sigh, "it's heavy stuff. I suppose it'll be Equestria's last stand?" She let out a strangled laugh. "The Marshalls are drafting up plans to encircle the entirety of Equestria with Jaegers and then the bomb carriers will drop it down the two breaches, ending the war...supposedly."
"Zhat might be the biggest BS I've ever heard and I've heard a lot. Zhen again, wars are won by zhe mad." Blitzkrieg grinned like a maniac. Gung Ho merely chuckled, if his partner was alright with this, then so was he.
"So what do we need to do?"
"We train and wait for Judgement Day."
Author's Note
Part of the Vishapocalypse of May 19
Really short chapter, just a tiny bit of calm before the actual battle. The real battle. That might just be 4,000 words. Who knows
