Mercenary Black Mamba

"What?"

His round eyes glinted through his glasses. Kaeda could not take this man for a soldier. He belonged to some red light district, promoting some nightclubs and luring people in.

"Stupid! Request an armed helicopter right away."

Kaeda yelled. To think that this kind of person was allowed to join the Defense Force was absurd.

"Yes, sir!"

The officer, startled by the yelling, called the comms operator.

"Nobuyuki, what number is Itazuma?"

"What?"

Kaeda felt rage. A troop commander didn't have such a vital number memorized. Also, he addressed his subordinates formally. Kaeda felt deep rage. Only half a century had passed yet the Yamato spirit was gone, which used to rule the entire Asia and build an empire.

The previous generation sacrificed themselves in the North Sea and bled out in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The younger generation now only cared about dating and traveling overseas. This is why he joined the far-right political organization.

The walkie-talkie rang when Kaeda was glaring at Yoshida menacingly.

"Sir, the electricity supply vehicle cannot access the second reactor. The debris is blocking its path."

The voice of the head of security mixed with the static fueled his anger.

"F*ck! Access the external transformer."

"We can't. The axle cable's access plug doesn't fit the second reactor's emergency power transformer."

"No!"

Kaeda felt exasperated. Such a problem was unheard of in the glorious Japanese empire. This was not China or Korea.

"What are you saying, idiot?"

"The transformer is made by Westinghouse. Compared to domestic products, the plug's shape itself is different."

"Ugh!"

Kaeda was engulfed in rage. This was why the young ones could never be of any use. This meant that they didn't check the equipment after installing it. The one responsible should be fired right now but the current circumstances didn't help.

"Enter the second reactor and connect it to the emergency water supply pump yourself."

"Sir, the radiation is over 20 Sv. It's way above the lethal amount."

The head of security said with a teary voice. Kaeda stared at the second reactor which was fuming cumulus-like vapor. The inner pressure must have been over 400 kPa. Soon, it would explode and Shizuoka would turn into hell. They laughed at the Soviets when they couldn't handle Chernobyl. Now it became their problem.

"Shut up! My father and grandfather ran into the enemy in his Zerosen with his bomb. Wear the suits and enter! No questions asked."

Kaeda cut off the communication without waiting for a response. There was another problem. This was nothing compared to the imminent meltdown but quite troublesome nonetheless.

The problem's roar resounded across the yard. Kaeda turned his head. A great silhouette shimmered beyond the flames. The enormous gator's head against a backdrop of a burning building didn't seem realistic.

"No! It ended up happening."

Kaeda gritted his teeth. In a month, they were going to unleash the matured nureonna near Dokdo. It was amphibious. The handful of Korean guards were going to be eliminated in five minutes.

If South Korea deployed its military in Dokdo, Japan could sue them. The Korean navy could be kept at bay by the first guarding squad at Yokosuka. The United States promised not to get involved. If Japan could get the island redefined as a disputed territory, it would be an advantage.

"Heavens, why have you abandoned Japan?"

Kaeda yelled at the dark sky. Their secret weapon turned into a catastrophe. It was maddening. It was said that the heavens granted a person's planning. The wretched earthquake ruined all of their plans. The culprit was underwater in Suruga Bay but Kaeda only blamed the heavens.

The nureonna wielded its 15-meter tail. The debris of the buildings and flames were scattered with sparks. With one strike, the burning repair room collapsed.

"Whoa!"

"What is that?"

"Is it Godzilla?"

"Are we on a film set?"

"It looks too real to be CG!"

The Defense Force officers' eyes widened. They had experienced earthquakes in the past but not such a monster. Even though they were seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn't believe it to be real. The unrealistic visual confused some and piqued others' curiosity. Yoshida's reaction was the latter.

"Yoshida!"

"..."

Kaeda yelled but Yoshida's attention was engrossed in the giant monster.

Its giant body could easily crush an elephant. Its grotesque appearance was nightmarish. There were countless blade-like teeth in its maw. It jumped on its hind legs. Yoshida, a collector of action figures, felt like he could flaunt this experience to the club members. Yoshida wanted to throw his pistol away and open his sketchbook right there.

"Shoot! You idiot, shoot now!"

Kaeda yelled. This is why the far-right organization he joined was founded. The Defense Force was not military. Only the dredges of society who couldn't get any other job flocked here.

The nureonna charged. Its strides were easily over 10 meters wide.

"Shoot at once!"

Yoshida, coming to his senses, shot his pistol. Then the M2 and 62-style machine guns fired at once. Then the 64-style rifles followed. Reddish light shone across the night sky. The 7.62mm rounds afflicted barely any damage but the 12.7mm bullets penetrated the monster's body, splashing blue liquid.

No one liked to be hurt. The nureonna, after getting hit by the bullets, began thrashing about. One strike with its tail sent the parts storage room away in pieces. With one kick, it tore away the pipes blocking its path. With vaulting strides, it closed the 200-meter gap between them. Kaeda's face paled. Now it was just going to be a feasting ground for the nureonna.

"Shoot! Shoot!"

Yoshida yelled. His face was pale too. It was not a scene in a comic book but a reality unfurling before his eyes. As soon as he smelled the putrid stench from the beast's maw, he felt like his soul fled his body.

Bullets rained down. No order was needed. No one wanted to be stomped to death by a monster.

The nureonna jumped over the police line. Its crimson eyes glinted at its prey, the Defense Force soldiers. A soldier was stomped to a pulp by a cauldron-sized foot. Its enormous tail slashed the air.

"Aargh!"

"Aargh!"

They were no different from flies crushed by a swatter. The ones caught in the orbit of the tail had their upper bodies crushed, their heads burst, and their backbones severed. Its big maw held a heavy machine gun shooter and lifted him to the sky. Then its blade-like teeth crushed the human and his rifle at the same time.

"Shoot its eyes!"

Kaeda roared.

"I can't!"

Yoshida threw away his pistol and ran off.

"No!"

With their leader fleeing, the rest of the Defense Force followed suit and scattered like spiders. The nureonna stretched its head backward and roared. It was a victorious one, after subduing its prey completely. After decimating the Defense Force squad, the nureonna began its feast. It fell buildings, stomped on humans, and gorged itself on humans crawling on the ground, desperately trying to flee.

"Long live the Emperor!"

Still, there were some courageous soldiers among them. One soldier emptied his magazine on the nureonna with a yell. All of the bullets in the magazine buried themselves in its body. The nureonna made a strange, laughter-like sound. It seemed to be laughing at him. With one stride, all the bullets in its hide fell to the ground like pebbles.

"Mom!"

The courageous Defense Force soldier shed tears, forgetting completely to change his magazine. He missed his mother's nagging: stop reading comic books and get a job, wash your hands before eating, stop collecting war vessel action figures, take off the Imperial flag on your wall, etc. The nureonna stepped on him nonchalantly. His foolish courage turned him into an okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory seafood pancake.

The nureonna glanced at Kaeda just to pass him by. Predators were made with human genes spliced into the beast's. It was not a simple-minded beast thirsty for blood.

"My God!"

Kaeda's eyes followed the nureonna. It was smart. It hunted the armed soldiers first, leaving behind the unarmed ones. Kaeda couldn't understand why it spared his life and let him go.

* * *

From within the sea in front of Hamaoka, the giant head of a creature soared. Its beak was as big as two King-sized beds. Blue sparks exploded between its two horns. The Garuda was emerging after finishing recharging itself. It already missed Mu-ssang's scent. There was no more tritium underwater.

With a roar, it made a great hole in the seawater as it took off. Its giant wings struck the sea surface. The Garuda had activated anti-gravity measures. It soared 2,000 meters directly above the sea surface.

[I smell something good. Something smells tasty.]

The Garuda sensed the radiation and tritium concentration leaked from the waste treatment facility. A vast shadow flew around the Hamaoka power plant. The sleet let up. In a newly cloudless sky, a half moon shone elegantly, oblivious to the clamor on the ground.

The Garuda lowered its altitude. A vast, monstrous bird flying across the night sky against a moonlit backdrop was a legend in itself. Of course, the humans battling two nightmares at the same time on the ground had no time to appreciate that magnificent display.

The nureonna looked up from the massacre it was committing. Instinctively sending danger, the monster's eyes glinted. The nureonna inhaled deeply. Its small-pool-sized stomach swelled. A great din sounded from its vast maw. It was a Predator's only ranged weapon, Sonic Wave.

The ball of compressed air tracked the flying Garuda and exploded nearby. It was much more thunderous than real thunder itself. The deafening din sent the humans on the ground covering their ears and rolling on the ground. Due to the cavitation effect, the Garuda was showered with extreme heat and compressed waves. Its artificial intelligence was interrupted.

[How dare they cross Purple Chicken!]

The Garuda, disgruntled, glared at the Nureonna. It glared back. The Garuda's scouter measured its tissue composition and combat power. It had vermin genes and a combat power of 1,000 MF. It was but a vermin weakling with a puny combat power.

[Decimate!]

The Garuda determined the right course of action was elimination. An ELF tangled like a length of thread beamed from its vast beak. The incandescent air shimmered.

In the Nureonna's lower abdomen, directly struck by the ELF, a 500-millimeter hole was made. Its enormous body fell like an old big tree onto the chaotic ground.

[How weak. Wait, what?]

The Garuda's eyes widened. The weakling stood back up. Bubbling black liquid blocked the hole in its belly. It was weak but possessed great regenerative power. The AI looked up relevant information in the database. There were a few tissues similar to its own in the weakling's body. The radiation-soaked tissue also seemed appetizing and nutritious.

[I needed more tritium and strontium anyway.]

The Garuda shot downward like a fighter jet.

"Dear God, what is that?"

Kaeda felt like he was in a nightmare. When the black dot became bigger and bigger, he thought it was the Cobra helicopter from the 34th Regiment. But it was a monstrous bird, dwarfing the Nureonna. Since something like the Nureonna existed, surely something like that monster bird could too. But it was too much. The wind it caused as it shot downward pushed Kaeda away as if he was a fallen leaf. A human caught in a fight between monsters was indeed something like an ant.

The Garuda descended upon the Nureonna as if a hawk descended upon a rabbit. Great metal flaws grasped the Nureonna's head. The three-meter-long claws crushed its skull which had proved impervious to bullets. The Nureonna's head was distorted unrealistically and a thick tentacle crawled out of its maw. The tentacle wound around the Garuda's feet and strangled them.

The Nureonna shook its head. One metal and another rubbed against each other with a great creaking sound. The Garuda, relatively lightweight, was swung around. The Nureonna was 30 meters tall, and Garuda 60 meters. On the other hand, the Nureonna weighed 50 tons and Garuda five tons, a mere tenth.

The Garuda was lightweight because its body was optimized for flying. The metallic polymer nanotubes comprising its hide was micro lattice. It absorbed shock well and could regenerate. Its weight was a hundredth of titanium. The 20th century's science was not going to be able to replicate it in any way whatsoever in the near future.

The Garuda activated its gravity field. A 1,000-ton pressure crushed the Nureonna. It fell without any real resistance. The Predator thrashed about but it was now indeed a lizard caught by a condor.