Ultraman Daxium

[scikaiju]

“Who said I was bluffing?” Bridge did want to do a little more digging. But not because of Brooks. He wanted to get some more ammunition to help defend Ken. “But what about you? I've hardly ever seen anybody else stand up to him like that.”



“Are you kidding?”, Reid went as they continued walking. “I was shaking in my boots.”



“Right,” Hawk said in disbelief. “I was standing right next to you and didn't even see a bead of sweat on you.”



“I'm really good at hiding it,” was his answer.



“Remind me to never play poker with you with a face like that.”



***
And he thought being alone with a brainless monster was boring. Granted that was before one of his masters stepped through the vortex to test a device to keep him stable on this side of things. It got to the point were Brooks had timed it out. Every twenty minutes, exactly he might add, the Zetton would examine his extremities just to see if they were still structuarlly stable. Then he, she, whatever the hell it was, would do a check on the device. After it did all of that then ithe Zetton would stand in place staring at the vortex until the next check. And he was pretty sure it kept doing it while he slept as well. And that's all his “guest” did, Brook sure hadn't seen him eat in the the couple of days it had been here, outside of that single eye there wasn't anything to indicate that it had it had any sort of facial features. Not any that he recognized at any point.



Out of the corner of his eye he saw it move. Brooks glanced at his watch, twenty on the dot. The Zetton went through it's usual motions before returning to it's usual standing state. Despite knowing he wasn't going to get any sort of response from the alien Brooks still went, “Everything still in working order I presume. Not going to fade away or whatever happens when out of your dimension?” The Zetton didn't even move a fraction of a millimeter than he could tell. Granted he only said something because the near silence was starting to get a little maddening. “Just assuming you're the same one in the vortex every time, you seemed much more chatty on the other side of things.” Brooks eyed narrowed a bit, maybe he was going crazy but he would have sworn it turned it's head, just a little. But that was about it as it kept up the million mile stare it had been doing.



The other major drawback was it gave Brooks more than enough time to think. Mainly about the device on it's shoulder. If they were going to use that to stay in this universe, and probably use it to invade the giant's universe as well depending on it's strength, what did that mean for him? They originally made their deal because they needed someone on this side to help stabilize their creatures as they came through. If they could do it mechanically then why would they still need him? For the immediate future he should be fine be, at least that what he told himself since given the size difference between this particular being and the creatures that were usually sent over a little tweaking would be needed to compensate for that difference given how new the technology actually was. And in some of these quiet moments he had almost convinced himself that it was true.



But the actual situation meant his days of being useful was probably coming to a close. And somehow he doubted his masters would let him keep the power they had given him as a parting gift, nor would his youthful appearance stick around much longer after that. And Charles Brooks was no match for anyone at the UNDF, someone from sanitation could probably take him out without much effort. So while he sat there contemplating how much damage he could do before they drained these abilities from him he looked over as the vortex started to do something, returning to the state it usually had when communication was happening. He stood next to the Zetton and waited for another of his masters appeared, which made him wonder once again if he dealt with the same being each time.



When one did there was no pretense, no greeting, no attempt at small talk, granted that last one may be too human for them, just a single word was uttered, “Report.” So far this one sounded the same as before.



“The device is working as designed,” his visitor replied. Paying close attention Brooks couldn't notice any difference in either voices. So as far as he knew there was no difference in the voices between Zetton to Zetton. “There has been no derogation to the test subject.”Did he just refer to himself as “the test subject”? There was cold indifference then there was that.



“Excellent,” came the reply. “Do you think the next stage of the plan is feasible?”



“I do believe it is.” Brooks raised an eyebrow. He knew there was a plan since they previously mentioned a new plan of attack. But that was about it. He had a idea what it might be with all the time he spent in his head since the experiment began. So he was curious at how close he actually got to the actually plan. “We will commence with the planning stage now.” The shadowed image faded away as the Zetton turned toward him.



“We?”, he asked. Now he had a part to play in this situation, interesting.



“Yes,” the Zetton said as it walked away from the vortex as it finally disappeared, “your knowledge of the base you used to inhabit should be extremely useful.” So far this was in line with the idea he had come up with.”



“Anything I can do to help,” he said as he followed. Holding out a hand the Zetton created a very rough image of a hallway. If he had to guess one they thought existed inside of Castle. Granted based on what was hanging in front of him that could have been any hallway in the building. Or any building, anywhere.



“This is what we believe is the main corridor of that base.” Again he had to raise a eyebrow. He vividly recalled that particular hallway, it looked nothing like this. “Any information you can provide to correct and expand on this image would be useful.”



Again with the useful. Not appreciated, just useful. He'd show them just useful. Smirking just a bit he activated his own power and took over the image without the Zetton's permission and immediately made the necessary changes, expanding the image into a small model of what he recalled of the inside of Castle. As the Zetton looked around at the adjusted image Brooks crossed his arms, “So what do you want to know?”

 

[scikaiju]

The whole mess with Stanberry blew over fairly quickly for the most part. Just about everybody he came across on base seemed to be backing him and Jess for the most part. Even the old Jamira regulars, which surprised Ken a bit. All right it surprised him a lot. Apparently there was a rule Richardson was getting ready to try and get into place, according to rumors, and it was not sitting well with a lot of the men and woman around him. But at least Stanberry went in another direction every time she saw Ken now. Yes Hawk chewed him out for it but it was worth it as far as he was concerned.



But more importantly as far as he was concerned Jess readily forgave him for the incident. And to be honest he was more worried about that than any thing Hawk was going to do to him. Okay it wasn't his fault to begin with but he was so worried about losing her again he didn't want to take any chance to risk it. He dated a few women in the past 10 years since their first go around and none of them made him feel like she did. And the same was true for her based on some of the things they talked about since getting back together. So yeah he was making damn sure he didn't do anything to screw this up. Maybe a little too hard according to Jess. Just another thing to keep in mind. But he told himself to try and not think about so much, she loved him, he didn't have Jeff trying to push his buttons to get what he wanted at their expense any more, and, at least according to her, he was being the type of man she knew was on the inside whatever that meant. As far as he could tell he was just being himself. But if she was happy with what she was seeing he'd take it.



But those were thoughts for when he was alone, sitting in the cafeteria with her and the others he just learned a new bit of information that he never knew about. “Since when has there been a Tabitha?” Ryo looked embarrassed at the question.Bill looked just as uncomfortable for some reason.



“Sorry Ryo,” Jess told him looking apologetic. “It just slipped out “



“Okay who is Tabitha and how long have her and Ryo been a thing?”, Ken asked still feeling confused over this new bit of information. Ryo had a girl? When in the hell did that happen? He barely left Castle as far as Ken knew.



“This had to be how you felt when you were telling us about Dax,” he mumbled as he retrieved his wallet and showed him Tabitha's picture. “It's been a little over a month. And I'm surprised she didn't tell you before now.” he said indicating Jess as he put his wallet back.



“I don't tell him everything,” she said a little defensively. And that drew a look from Ken. She ended up telling him something similar to what she told Hawk, “It's not my story to tell.”



“That never stopped you in high school,” he informed her. “I knew who people I never even heard of were dating because of you.”



“I was a teenage woman back then,” she told him. “Gossip was a second language for me and my friends.”



“Oh trust me I recall how fluent you use to be back then,” he told her. Then he returned his attention back to Ryo, “But dude a month and you never said anything?”



“He didn't tell me either,” Jess informed him. “I'm pretty sure he told us to shut Bill up.”



And now he was confused all over again. “Why?”, he began.



Bill sharply answered with, “Don't ask,” before he could even finish the question.



“Okay, now I really want to ask,” Ken told the group. Ryo smirked at Bill as he started burying his face in his hands. “That's not making me want to ask any less.”



“Leave him alone Ken,” Jess told him. “There's plenty of time to hear about it later.” Bill went from looking grateful to betrayed pretty quick. Okay he really wanted to know what was going on now.



“Bill, I'll make you a deal,” Ken told him. When Bill looked interested he continued, “I'll drop it if you tell me how you convinced whomever it was back at Tower to send those barricade plans?”



“What barricade plans?”, he asked. And he wasn't the only one at the table who was confused.



“Those expanding Barricades they used during that assault back at Tower,” he reminded them. “I seem to recall you asking to get me the plans at the time.”



At this Bill perked up a little. “Dude are you serious? You got the plans?” Realizing everyone at the table was staring at him now he quickly said, “I never talked to anybody after we saw them that one time. I mean Bridge is the only person I know with any regular contact with anybody at Tower and I didn't go through him. Ask him yourself.”



“We will,” Ryo told him.



Waving him off Bill asked Ken, “But seriously they sent the plans?”



“The Chief showed them to me before I headed here,” Ken answered him. “And he has no idea why we got them either.”



“Maybe they're sending them to all the UNDF bases,” Jess offered. “Making them standard equipment now since they worked so well during that assault.”



“The Chief considered that,” Ken told her. “He's contacting the other bases to see if they got the plans too. If they didn't, and if Bill didn't pester anybody to get them, then Greenberg still trying to rntice me to come over for a bit.”



“So a little sample of what you could be working on,” Jess said while shaking her head.



“Doesn't give up easy, does he?”, Ryo quipped.



“It's literally the first time I've heard from him since Japan if it's true,” Ken told them. He glanced over at Jess, “But since we have the plans the Chief wants me to take the lead on building the first one, just to see if it'll work like people who where there said it did. He wants to get started as soon as possible, like right after dinner”



“Hey that's great,” Jess told him with a big smile. “Taking the lead on a big project like that. See I told you you had it in you.”



“I know we didn't have any plans or anything,” he started to say.



:Go,” she told him, “I know you're salivating just to build one as much as Bill is to get them. Go and have some fun, just don't make Windam jealous. Just remember I'm here once this part of your career takes off.”



He had this same exact thought several times back when the dated the first time around. Ken just never said it out loud for anybody else to hear before, “I don't deserve you.”



“You probably don't,” she said. “But I think I'll stick with you anyway.” They both leaned in for a kiss. Then both of them stopped and looked around the room.



“You see Hawk any where?”, Ken asked, standing up a little to survey the area better.



She looked around him to see behind him, “I'm not seeing him anywhere.”



“If he just pops up again than he fucking teleported,”, Ken muttered as he sat back down.and kissed her. Both of them lingered on it for a bit before pulling away. “Well teach?”



“Better,” she told him. “Much better.”



“I for one,” Bill suddenly spoke up, “can't wait until you two get out of this phase of the relationship,”



While both of them stared at him, and Ryo slowly trying to move away from Bill, Jess was the one who asked the question, “What stage are you talking about?”



“This whole touchy lovey dovey thing you guys are doing now.” Ken and Jess just looked at each other, both wondering what the hell he was talking about. “It's getting sickening. There's no way you two could get any worse.”



Ryo mumbled, “You had to say it.”



“I'm suddenly seeing why Ryo hadn't mention he was seeing somebody before now,” Ken told him, still feeling confused.


“Mr. Scott,” Jess said as she turned in her chair to face him, “I don't know about you but that sounded like a challenge to me.”



“I do believe you are correct Miss Wade,” he joined in. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “Shall we take up the gauntlet snuggle bunny?”



“And here we go,” Ryo said pushing away from the table, While Bill looked at him, face full of worry.



Jess grinned at him, “Yes we should honey dove.”



“My cute little angel.”



“My big, strong hard working man.” She got in close, “I wuv you.”



“I wuv you more,” he said tapping the tip of her nose lightly.



Bill started patting the table. “I'm tapping, I'm tapping. You guys win.”



“You brought it on yourself,” Ryo told him as he brought his chair back to the table.



“Thank God,” Ken said said after Bill stopped tapping out, “I was making myself sick there.”



Still grinning Jess said, “I'm pretty sure that was you in high school.”



“No way,” he said in full disbelief. And surprised when she actually nodded. He thought hard and fast, there was no way he acted like that the first time around. Was there? Eventually he ended up going, “How did you stand me?”



“I don't know,” she answered him, “but you're lucky I did.”



“Oh I fully realize that, thank you very much.” Then he felt something from Dax. Several somethings almost all at once that made him look around. These were close, too close for comfort. And more were still popping up. What the hell was going on?

 

[scikaiju]

“Ken?”, Jess asked. All around them communicators were going off about some sort of invasion happening. But that made no sense. Then he got another spike, one that made him whip around to face the far end of the room. A few started to back away as some sort of portal formed out of thin air. Then some sort of one eyed being started to walk through. Ken tensed up, he had seen something like that before. At Kyrie's lab not that long ago, it was one of the creatures Dax's people were at war with. He barely heard Dax's warning as he saw the creature hold up some sort of device and fire it, in his direction. Jess reacted before he did, grabbing him by the jacket and throwing both of them to the ground. Ryo and Bill were right behind them as more of those creatures came through firing at anything that moved, which was just about everybody in the room who was trying to run.



“I'm guessing friends of Brooks,” Bill said as the four of them tried to crawl toward the closest door since none of them were armed. And there were way too many witnesses to let Dax out and play..



“Did you have to ask?”, Ryo snapped at him. Before long a group of guards burst through that particular door and started firing at anything that didn't look human.That particular number was growing by the moment as the portal stayed open. The creatures started concentrating their fire at them.



From Ken's perspective it looked like both sides took hits but only the UNDF soldiers were going down. Then something caught his eye while on the ground. A light on the creature that kept going on and off. Once drawn to the device on it's shoulder his mind went into overdrive trying to figure it out. And he wasn't sure if it was because it was alien technology or the stress from the situation or both but how it worked was staying just outside his mental reach, but he understood their function right away. They were using them to stay in this dimension. He looked over to where he thought Jess and the others were but quickly realized they had moved on without him. Seeing Jess head toward one of the fallen guards he hurried up to catch up with them.



She grabbed the man's gun when he did. “You gotta aim for the device keeping them stable in this dimension.”



Ryo grabbed a weapon as well and knelt next to Jess as they joined in. Bill just looked at him as he gtabbed a gun for himswlf, “Aim for the what?”



For the love of... Taking a quick breath Ken tried to remember that despite telling them all he knew he still knew these things longer than they have. So he told him, “Shoot the blinky thing!” Jess paused just long enough to hear what he said. Then she took a quick aim on one and fired off a single shot. It hit the device and caused it to spark a bit then the creature screamed a bit as it dissolved away into nothing. Ken watched the whole thing and a couple of others as she scored a few more bull eyes. “Geez Dax was that going to happen to you if we didn't bond?”



He didn't hear a response as the invaders suddenly all turned in their direction and increased their fire. “Move!”, Ryo shouted as they made it for the door. Once in the hallway and seeing it was clear for the moment they finally stood and ran away from the cafeteria as did others who were able to escape. Toward the armory if Ken recalled correctly. Hitting his communicator Ryo kept moving as he looked around, “Watanabe to all units still fighting, aim for the blinking device on the creatures' shoulder. Damaging that will make them go away.”



“Ryo,” Hawk called out over the line, “are you absolutely sure about that?”



“Saw it happen myself Captain,” he said. He glanced back at him before saying, “Ken was the one who figured it out.”



“Understood, Hawk to all units, aim for that device.”



“You heard him Beta Team,” Reid joined in. “Sounds like the best plan we have for the moment.” There were several rounds of acknowledgement. Then another group of creatures came around the corner. They seemed surprised enough that they didn't fire right away. That didn't stop them however as they quickly opened fire on the group, with Jess hitting the target the most.



While the sound of things made it seem like these creatures were all over the place that group sudden appearance made him ask, “Dax can you sense these guys?” The others looked at him, with Jess in particular looking at his communicator then stopped, realizing now was not the time to worry about him being listened in on.



In his head he heard Daxium tell him, “No, I have no idea where any of them are after they exit those portals.”



Nodding a bit Ken said, “Probably means they can't sense us either.”



“It's a likely possibility,” he heard in his head.



Outside his head he heard Ryo go, “What are you thinking Ken?”



“I'm still piecing it together,” He answered and tried to think fast. “That's the way to the armory right?” When they said it was he tried to get out what was in his head. “That last group came from that way. Granted it was probably chance but you have to think Brooks told them where stuff was around here.”



“The stuff he knew about when he was here,” Jess took over for him seeing his line of thinking. “It's 101, keep the troops away from the weapons.”



“But we have more than one armory,” Bill said.



“Now,” Ryo said. “We added several weapon stockpiles on every level since Brooks. He wouldn't know about them.”



“So we hoof it to another floor,” he said in understanding. “So which way do we head, up or down?”



“Both,” Ryo told them. “we split up,You and me will head up, maybe try and meet up with either Hawk or Reid. Jess, you and Ken head down.”



“The garage is pretty close,” Jess offered. “I'm sure the chief has the area secured right now. And them maybe we can coordinate a pincer movement of a sort and try to trap them between the two groups. Catch them in a crossfire if we can.”



“Maybe I can get Windam involved too,” Ken offered. “His battle computer is active and we could use all the help we can get.”



“Sounds like the best play we have for the moment,” Ryo told them. “Keep you heads down and eyes wide open. Be safe guys.” They all acknowledged him and continued on until they found a stair well. After making sure both ways were clear they split up and headed toward their destinations.

 

[scikaiju]

“Bridge do we have whatever these things are on sensors?”, Hawk said from his post. There was a lull in the attack they were facing for the moment, the invaders backing away once they realized they figured out what to target now thanks to Ken's observation. Everything in his body told him to take the breather, and many of those with him were doing just that. Especially with the wounded and fallen they pulled in here with them. But he didn't get this far by not being aware of what was going on elsewhere in a battle.



“Barely,” was the eventual answer. Right now Hawk was just grateful none of those portals had opened up in Command Room, otherwise the entire outfit would be blind and deaf to must things going on in the complex. “We have some sort of energy signature we can follow but mainly we know were they are based on the reports that are coming in.” Not ideal but it was better than nothing at the moment. As it was Hawk had barricaded both ends of the hallway that lead to the Command Room, but he didn't dare leave and talk to the man himself. “If I have to be honest Captain,” Bridge went on, “Whatever they used to get in is similar to the portal Brooks used to bring that monster down on us when we found out about him. They're wrecking havoc with our electrical systems but not on the same scale.”



“So that's who he'd been working for,” Hawk muttered, mostly to himself. Thanks to Ken he knew about this strange war that made it's way to their world. But outside of the ones like Daxium he wasn't all that versed on the combatants. Well, outside of finally getting a good look at the one Kyrie some how produced he had no idea what they looked like. “Okay Bridge, keep trying to lock in on them and keep me updated.”



“Yes sir,” Bridge replied before cutting the link. The one question he really wanted to ask the man was could the enemy listening in on them. It would be so easy to walk into the room and ask him face to face. But he couldn't leave his post in case they renewed their attack. He didn't even know what there goal was. The portals just showed up at seemingly random places so it was hard to figure out the objective they were after. So he went on instinct when he set up shop here as soon as he could, trying to guess what the potential targets could be.



Speaking of potential targets,“Stanberry,” he called out over his communicator, one more concern he had to worry about, “Location report.” He intentionally kept the question as vague as possible, not giving away where she was just in case they were listening in



“Secured,” was her reply. Whatever the issues between them were she knew her responsibilities was to protect Richardson and the board. And hopefully the men he and Reid allocated to support her were going to be enough, as it was he had Janet and the other secretaries and civilian staff on base hold up in whatever office they were in. “No sign of the enemy anywhere.” Another small favor there, if they wanted to disrupt them or get them to surrender then there was no faster way than to capture the Board. Then again that was thinking in human terms, who knew what these invaders thought. The fact none of the portals appeared in that section at least told Hawk they didn't consider them a priority, at least for the moment.



“Understood, it goes without saying but keep your eyes open for anything.” There wasn't any response as the link ended.



“Captain Hawk,” he turned around when he heard his name called, and was relieved when he saw Ryo, Bill and a few more men come toward him.



“Good to see you Ryo, Bill,” he told the men and acknowledged the others. The fear started to set in as he realized some were missing“Were's Jess and Ken?”



“They headed for the garage,” was Ryo's answer. Then he quickly filled him in on Ken's observation when he last saw him. Hawk would have to remind himself to be happy at how far Ken had come with thinking like that. Right now he had to go over his original strategy with what he knew now. If it was right they're initial goal was to try and cut them off from the main armory. And if Ken was right about Brooks' involvement in this attack then some of their information would be out of date. How could he use that?



“Hawk to Bridge,” he said suddenly. “Those reading you're able to get, how wide spread are they?”



“Not very,” came the surprising response. “Outside of the occasional burst here and there, readings and reports have them primarily around the main armory. With a group near the hanger and garage.” Hawk looked at Ryo and knew they had the same thought, Jess and Ken were headed for the garage. “They are trying to separate us from the weapons from the look of things, heavy or small.”



“Looks like,” Ryo agreed. “But how come they haven't tried to gain a foot hold somewhere else? We were caught off guard and they could have wiped us out without even trying, at least set up a base of operations before we could stop them.”



“I'm not sure,” Hawk told him. And that was driving him insane at the moment. Something like this there had to be a goal, even if it was just confusion. Then it hit him, that was the plan . “They want us confused,” he said softly. “This is a diversion. This whole thing is just a diversion for something else.”



“What could this be a diversion for,” Bill asked. “I mean there's usually a giant monster of some sort.”



“Brooks,” Hawk told him. “Brooks had to do something when that other monster showed up. Why else he unleash that massive amount of energy before it came through. He's around somewhere. They want to make sure we couldn't detect him,” he talked a little softer so only the two of them could hear him, “or Ken for that matter.”



“If this is what they're doing to distract us then.. .,” Ryo started to say but stopped. Bill paled slightly as he thought about it. Hawk couldn't blame him, after all the monsters that were sent their way what was coming up if they were going to this length to get their attention?

 

[scikaiju]

Oh how she wished Ken was able to sense where these things were. At least it would make each corner they approached a little less nerve wreaking. She had them stay close to the wall and gave him a weapon and told him to keep an eye on their rear as they made their way to the garage. He was at least aware of how serious the situation was to reframe from making the obvious joke. Actually Jess didn't think she would have minded it that much if it broke the tension a bit. Reaching yet another intersection she motioned for him to take the other corner and check it, almost there she told herself.



Ken carefully peeked around the corner then nodded at her, all clear. She nodded in response then checked the hall leading closer to the garage. She motioned for them to keep going. They made their way then a sound made them stop and look behind them. Several of those things turned a corner a little further down an headed in their direction. “Move!”, she ordered Ken as she pushed him in the other direction. He didn't argue as they ran away from the invaders. In moments both of them ducked as they started firing at them. Jess still ran as she fired off a quick shot when she could, not even stopping long enough to see if she hit anything. They were almost to the garage she kept telling herself, almost to a fresh set of ammo and reinforcements. Almost there just a few more corners.



A shot from whatever they were using went past her and almost hit Ken. Then he dove for the floor as another one almost hit him. And that's when the thought hit her, maybe he couldn't detect them but maybe they could detect him and Daxium. And all things considered they were going to need the two of them more than they were going to need her in this mess. She stopped and quickly turned around and took aim. A single shot nailed the device as the creature began to dissolve but they kept coming, so she kept firing. “Jess!”, she heard Ken cry out when he realized what she was doing.”We're almost there come on!” But she kept firing at the invaders, seeing one disappear and more keep coming. She should have told him to get going, that she'd cover him but she was too busy concentrating on her moving targets. She should have said she loved him one last time.



When they were close enough that she was sure this was it Jess felt a hand grab the collar of her uniform and pulled her back. She was vaguely aware that it was Ken 's doing as he kept pulling as he forced her behind him and and spun toward the horde as he pointed his right hand at the invaders. He was quickly engulfed in an orb of light that finally caused the invaders to halt their advance. When the orb faded away Daxium stood where he was and quickly fired off what she recently learned was called a Flashbolt at the creatures. It hit the closest one and exploded on impact as the creature fell to the ground unmoving. Then all she could do was watch as Daxium charged at them, launching an attack they weren't expecting. They tried to swarm him but he was holding them off, not easily but he was holding them off. A few starting to dissolve made her notice were he was attacking them, at the device, either he learned through Ken or Ken was telling him where to focus his attacks. The creatures started to retreat after a bit as Daxium kept tearing through them. Then he grabbed one and slammed it against the wall. As it gripped with both hands at the hand wrapped around it's throat Daxium quickly reached up and tore the device off it's shoulder. As it faded away like the others he looked at the device in his hand.



Cautiously she stepped forward and said, “Daxium?” She took a quickstep back as he became solid light that expanded into an orb shape. Then it shrunk down again, breaking away revealing Ken once again. He looked around before looking back at his hand, he was holding the device. She saw a look cross his face that she had seen before, most recently in Japan, he was figuring it out, or trying toev. “Ken?”, she asked to get his attention, mainly because now was not the time for his brain to go into overdrive piecing this particular puzzle together. When he looked at her she went, “I thought you said he only comes out for something a bit bigger.



He looked back down the hall making sure they weren't coming back. “He made an exception given the circumstances.” Taking one last look at the device he pocketed it before hugging her, “Do not do anything that stupid ever again.”



“Pretty sure that's my line,” she told as she hugged him back.



He pulled back going, “You okay?”



“I'm fine,” she told him, although she was trying not to think about how sure she was that she was going to die before he pulled her back. “Come on, almost there.” He didn't say anything as he followed her the rest of the way. They finally turned the last corner that lead to the garage and were immediately met with a bunch of UNDF soldiers aiming their weapons at them. Both of the held up their hands with Jess going, “We're friendlies!”



“Stand down!”, they heard the Chief call out before making his way past the group to wave the two of them forward. Once past the line she finally tried to get herself to relax a little. “What are you two doing here?”,the chief asked as he ushered them into the garage.



“We figured they basing their attack on information they got from Brooks,” Ken told him as he walked away from the two of them.



Jess picked up were he left off, “ They don't know we have more than one armory station now. We're trying to use that to our advantage some how.”



“Do we have any idea where these bastards are coming from?” the Chief asked. She shook her head despite having an idea from what Ken told her. She hated keeping information from him but telling what she knew would cause more questions than what they needed at the moment.



Suddenly Ken shouted out, “Windam!” After a bit the robot came out othe lab it was in and walked toward him. Ken reached into a pocket and pulled the device Daxium grabbed a bit ago and showed it to him. “You see this, attack anything that doesn't look human that has one of these. Is that understood?” Windam seemed to study the device before nodding. Pointing at the way they just came in he told him, “Good, now guard that door until I tell you otherwise.” Again the machine nodded and took up position at the door. Ken started looking at the device again.



“Is that the thing I heard Hawk and the rest talk about over the line?”, the Chief asked.



“Yeah,” Ken said eyeing a lab before heading toward it. With her and the chief following he went on, “I'm hoping I can use this to disrupt the other ones being used, at least be able to detect them.”



“I'd concentrate on that last part if I were you,” The Chief said. “That sounds more doable with what we have down here.”



“One thing at a time Chief,” Ken told him.



“I'll let Ryo know we made it,” Jess told him before hailing Ryo over her communicator,hoping she wasn't detracting him at a bad time.



It looked like those fears were put to rest as he answered back. “Good to here from you Jess. Me and Bill made it to Hawk. What's your status?”



“Everyone in the garage seems to be in one piece if a little rattled,” she told him. “We were able to get one of the devices off the creatures. Ken has a couple of ideas for it that he's working on right now.”



“Good,” he said. “Whatever they are it better be good. Captain Hawk just figured out something about their attack that you need to hear.” She shared a brief glance with the Chief, now what?

 

[scikaiju]

Ken and a few others carefully made their way down the hall. In his hands was something he had quickly put together using that device and anything he could get his hands on in the garage, fortunately it had labs with equipment that was comparable to the labs found on the upper levels. Still he might have been a little more confident if he threw this thing together up there than down here, but beggars couldn't be chooser in this this situation. He kept his eyes on the device in his hands, only stopping when he got a reading. He looked over to the man next to him and nodded. As he quickly went forward to the upcoming intersection the others with him drew their weapons and took up positions. Anxiously he watched the man go up to the corner and take a peek using a small mirror to see around the corner. Pulling the mirror back he looked at Ken and held up three fingers. Ken looked back at the readout on the device and held up three fingers of his own. He was getting three hits and the other guy was seeing three of the invaders. Holy **** the thing worked, it actually worked.



The other man quietly rejoined the group and they made their way back the way they came. It seemed like forever but they made it back to the garage were he immediately hit his communicator, “Scott to Hawk, the prototype worked like I thought it would. We can fully detect them now”



“That's great news Ken,” Hawk responded. “Bridge and his staff are already looking over the base's schematics to see if there's a way to connect that device to the internal sensors from down there. But get ready to haul it up here if you have too.”



“Understood Captain,” Scott said before the link ended, they still weren't sure if the enemy could listen in to their comm frequency yet so they tried to keep things as brief as possible. Going over to a near by workbench he set the device down and started undoing the straps to his wrist scanner. Once off he started to unscrew the back cover of the device.



Jess came up to him and watched him for a bit before going, “What are you doing now?”



Getting the cover off he studied the insides a bit as he told her, “It occurred to me that if we got to move this to the upper floors then it might be useful if more than one person had access to the readings, maybe get a wider field of coverage to detect them” He really wished he had something to call the invaders outside of them, even Dax didn't know what they were called. Finding the receiver unit he was looking for he turned his attention back to the device he created. Then his hand sort of just paused, hovering by it.



Immediately Jess was concerned, “What is it.”



“I'm scaring myself here Jess,”he admitted to her. “I'm a builder, a fixer, a damn grease jocky. Hell I told Greenberg that I was more of a hands on type than a think something up type. Now here I am figuring out how to use alien tech with ours to figure out where they are. Jess never in my wildest dreams...”



She immediately held him by putting an arm around his shoulder, “Hey strange circumstances Ken. This is pretty much the deep end we've been thrown into. It's sink or swim, and boy are you swimming.” She started rubbing his arm to get him to relax a little. “If anything you better hope Greenberg never hears about what your pulling off here. Otherwise your inbox is going to explode everyday.”



Despite the situation he snorted a bit. He reached out and held her closer, grateful she was there to calm him down a bit. “I really don't deserve you.”



Unlike her answer from before it all went to hell she told him, “Yes you do.” Leaning in to give him a quick peck on the cheek she looked around. “I better pick some guys to help me escort you to the command room in case we have to.”



“Actually, I better show you how to operate this first,” Ken said, just soft enough that only she could hear him. “Just in case Hawk's right and I gotta get away real fast before we get there.” What he didn't say was that he probably should have been out there already looking for him.



“You think he's out there too?”, she asked him.



“It makes sense,” was his answer. “Despite the tech they got here,” he gestured to the device he cobbled together. “it's pretty easy to take out. Going from the output it has it's not strong enough to cover something the size they usually send. They're still going to need Brooks to stabilize whatever is coming.”



“I guess you're right,” Jess told him, then quickly added, “I wouldn't get use to hearing that by the way. Okay show me how to run it.”



“Okay,” he said turning back toward the device, “I made sure the display was easy to read and figure out, I also realized that thing has different frequencies, so in case they get the bright idea to change what they're using you can use this dial to go through them. This dial can extend or shrink the sensor range...”, she kept nodding as he went over each component and what it did. After he was done and she started to repeat everything he just showed her his communicator beeped, “Scott here.”



“Ken,” Hawk said, “bad news. Bridge just told me there's no way to hook it up to the sensors from down there.” Ken had a feeling that was going to be the case but still he did sort of hoped, just so he could get away and track down Brooks. “You'rte going to have to get it up here and install it.”



“Understood Captain,” he looked around “Let us finalize a few things down here then we'll be on our way.”



“Don't take too long son.” Again the link ended. And Ken went back to work on his wrist scanner, he was going to have to work fast. Jess had already started looking for volunteers for the goup.



“Why don't we hook it up to one of the Scan Tracks?”, Ken and a few others looked over at the guy who asked the question. “They got a sensor package.



“It's not as good as the sensors installed inside the base,” Ken answered him as he went back to his previous task, “And I'm kinda doubting how many levels they can actually get through. Besides I'm not sure how far away the wrist scanners can be be away from this thing and still get the signal.”



“Windam,” Jess called out. “You're with us.” The robot nodded and walked away from the door.



Ken's mouth dropped for a moment as he watched this, “What the hell, he listening to you now?”



“Apparently,” Jess said just as stunned as the rest of them. “I didn't even think I just said it and well,” She gestured toward Windam who was still coming toward her. Everyone just watched as the robot finally stopped in front of her, waiting for further orders. Okay this day officially couldn't get any weirder.

 

[scikaiju]

“Any sign of them?, Hawk asked as he checked with the guards he posted on either end of the corridor. The guard didn't look at him as he shook his head. That was the same response the ones on the other side had given him. He tried not to worry, they did say they had to finalize something, whatever that was, before heading in this direction. And he was pretty sure they weren't going to take the elevators so it was going to be by stairwell and that was going to take time, especially if they took a less than direct route from the garage to best avoid the invaders as much as possible. It was good strategy and it was what he would have done or told them to do if they called in to let him know they were off. That's what he told himself, still didn't calm his nerves though. And that was almost an hour ago. “Keep you eyes open,” he told the guard who nodded.



Almost as soon as he turned around Ryo called out, “Captain we have incoming!” Then he ducked a little as something by his head exploded. A few more explosions started to heppen as it took Hawk a second to realize it was incoming fire. The invaders had gotten here first.



“Make sure they don't come up behind us!”, he told the guard, who nodded although they kept looking back at where the attack was coming from. The last thing they needed was to be attacked from two different direction, which he knew was a possibility when he took up position in this here. Ryo, Bill and the others were already returning fire when he made it to them. “How many?”



“Too damn many!”, Bill quipped as he took a few shots before going back behind cover.



“Just aim for the thing Ken pointed out,” Hawk ordered as he drew his side arm. He was able to get a quick look at what was coming and found himself agreeing with Bill's not so professional estimate of the situation.



“Argh,” Ryo cried out as he took a shot to the shoulder. Bill quickly grabbed him and helped him down behind cover as he and the others laid down more fire “I'm fine,” Ryo insisted as he tried to get up.



“You're starting to sound like Civilian when he's hurt,” Bill told him as he grabbed a medkit from somebody and opened it. He quickly had the wound bandaged and wrapped and was back trying to hold off the invaders as someone else pulled Ryo back from the assault. Hawk pulled back and took a quick glance at the other end. So far it didn't look like they were coming that way, a small favor at least.



“Windam, go!”, he heard somebody call out. He risked a look to see the robot come up behind the invaders and attack. As soon as they turned to the new threat a few shots came from behind the robot, at least two hitting the device the aliens wore. As they started to dissolve away Hawk and the rest of them started firing again. He hoped this was going to be enough of a distraction. And it was as the combined attack started whittling down the invaders numbers. When the last one was gone he stood up as Jess and the others rushed forward. Ken was with them but he stopped to check on Windam along the way. “You okay buddy?”, he asked as he did a quick visual inspection of the machine. “They didn't damage anything did they?”



“Ken come on,” Jess called out to get him moving again. To him she said, “Sorry we're late Captain. Ken was able to hook his device to our wrist scanners so we did our best to avoid any conflicts we could to avoid being detected.”



“Completely understandable,” Hawk told her hiding the relief he he was feeling. “Ken hurry up and get to Bridge to get that thing hooked up to sensors.”



“On it,” he said. But he turned around first to face the robot. “Windam help guard this end.” As soon as the robot nodded he went into the control room while sparing a worried look as he past Ryo.



Just then Jess noticed him as well. “Ryo,” she went as she knelt next to him. “This is what happens when I'm not around to watch your back. “



“It's only a flesh wound,”: he grunted as he re-positioned himself.



“Let me hear that from a medic first,” she told him as she stood back up. “Henry, Phil bring the package up here,” she suddenly called out. The two men hurried forward carrying a crate. As they set it down she told Hawk, “I figured it be a good idea to bring some fresh supplies and ammo while we made our way here.”


“Good thinking,” he said. Then he got a better look at the crate. It was for an automated defense turret they had recently received. He looked at her, “We had one of these in the garage armory?”



“It was the Chief's idea,” she told him. “He remembered the armory a couple of levels up had a couple of these stored in there. We made a stop and collected one to bring up here. The Chief had a couple of men come with us to grab another one to set up down there.”



“We needed this a few moments ago,” Bill said as he an another started to undo the latches on the crate. And open it



“Better late than never,” Hawk told him as they began assembling it. “we'll set it up on this end. “Martin, Roberts get on the other end and help keep watch.”



“Yes sir,” they replied and hurried to the other end taking some of the supplies with them.



Ken came back out into the hallway, “We got it hooked up,” he announced. “It's picking up the alien devices clear as a bell. The information should be transmitting to the wrist scanners now.” Hawk and a few others did just that. So far he was only picking up a scattering of signals around the area. “The only drawback is we're getting signals from every floor at the same time. Bridge is working on it though. But if you set the scanner to this,” Ken took Hawk's arm and started pressing a few things and before too long the various readings started to fade away, most of them at any rate, “it'll put you in map mode so you'll get a hit if any of them come in this direction.”



“Map mode?”, Hawk asked.



Ken immediately jerked a thumb back toward the door to the controll room, “Bridge's idea. He and the others were working on it once they found out what I was doing. He's also texting direction to the scanners themselves so everybody on base can switch over to it.”



“Do you people even need me at this point,” Hawk muttered with a slight grin. “Good job Ken, this is going to help a lot.”



“Just make sure Greenberg doesn't find out about it, please,” was his response. Hawk chuckled despite himself. Of all the things to be worried about in this situation. But Hawk was still wondering how he was going to word it in his reports as it was. He didn't want to give Greenberg any fresh ideas to try and take Ken for his Tower staff. Then Ken got a look on his face right before his head whipped around in a certain direction.



“Ken?”, Jess asked right before the lights started to flicker. “Here it comes,” she whispered. Hawk nodded, this is what happened when Brooks brought that other monster over.



“Captain,” came Bridges's staticy voice over the communicator. “We got a reading outside of the base.” Hawk looked back at Ken who was looking around before locking eyes with him. Hawk saw it in his face.



“There's a stairway to the roof that way,” he pointed down the hall he and the others came from. “Go.” He nodded and shared a quick look with Jess before running down that way



Bill who had stop assembling the turret long enough to walked up to help support Ryo as he walked up to join him and Jess to see him go. “I'm really starting to hate this part.”



“Tell me about it,” Ryo joined in.



“Get in line boys,” Jess told the two of them, having figured out that Ken was Ultraman before any of them did.



“Just keep an eye on those scanners,” Hawk told them. “And finish getting this thing together, I wouldn't put it past them to try and attack thinking we're distracted. By what's going on outside” The all complied but silently Hawk was in agreement with them.

 

[scikaiju]

He found the door Hawk had mentioned soon enough, not even slowing down as he bashed the door open and started up the flight of stair that led to the roof. The only thing that halted his progress was when the base started to shake a bit and he held on to the guard rail to keep from falling off. As soon as it seemed to stop he headed up again. The invasion, now what ever was out there, this was going to be big. And if Brooks was still out there then this might be his chance to finish things once and for all. “One thing at a time,” he told himself, “stop the giant threat first then worry about Brooks.”



Reaching the door to the roof, again he didn't stop as he rammed his shoulder into it to bust it open. He heard a deep voice go, “Zetton”, before he actually spotted the creature. He looked up at what was sent over this time around, black with white limbs with glowing orange spots on it's chest as well as a slightly flashing orange strip going down it's face. It seemed to look right at him as Ken tried to stare it down. Then there was several small explosions that made Ken rush to the the railing and look down. Some Scan tracks got mobilized and started firing at the monster, who promptly ignored the attempted assault.



Ken looked back up at the creature who stayed in place, still apparently staring at him, almost like it was waiting.”You ready for this one Dax?”, he asked not taking his eyes off the monster. And remembering that he let his usually giant friend loose earlier to help Jess deal with the invaders that almost got the two of them. While he wasn't out long Ken wasn't exactly sure how much energy he used and how much had built back up in the meantime.



“I'm as ready as I'll ever be,” came the response in his head. “I do believe the phrase you 'be been so fond of recently is 'Let's do it'.”



Ken didn't even hide the smirk after hearing that. “I am corrupting you,” he said still keeping his eyes on the monster. Reaching into his jacket he retrieved the Spark Magnifier and held it over his heads as he activated it.

 

[scikaiju]

Zetton looked up at the column of light that formed on top of the base. It faded to reveal Daxium who quickly jumped off in case the creature tried to attack him while he was on it. Making sure he landed to the side of the monster he quickly rushed in and pushed it away from the base. Once far enough away from Castle he didn't have to worry about it for the moment he backed up and took on his usual fighting stance, “Shiah!”



The creature barely reacted, only repeating, “Zetton,” and came toward the giant. Daxium saw it raise it's arm back and jumped back again to avoid the blow. He went for a kick the creature easily blocked and pushed back making the giant stumble slightly. Daxium went in again and tried to attack. The creature just stood there absorbing each punch that impacted it's body. After a bit, and since he was too close to dodge the blow properly Daxium was knocked to the ground by a backhand. Before Daxium could get up Zetton grabbed him by the back of the neck and hauled him off the ground.Then swung with it's other arm to knock him down again. In desperation Daxium kicked out with a foot and caught his opponent at the knee.



As it staggered a bit Daxium rolled backwards to get to his feet. Before he could do anything fireballs like objects shot out of that strip on it's face. Rocked by the multiple impacts he was able to dodge a couple long enough to start bac kflipping out of the way as more came at him. Once there was a pause in the attack Daxium landed on his feet and quickly fired off a Flash Bolt. Zetton held up both arms, bent at the elbows and some sort of field surrounded the monster blocking the bol and catching the giant by surprise. When the field dropped it fired those fire like energy balls again. Daxium dove to the side to avoid the attack and quickly fired off another Flashbolt at the monster.Just as fast as he fired it off Zetton formed that barrier again. He rushed in again hoping to catch the monster off guard as the field lowered. The creature ended up grappling with him as it seemed to be fully prepared for this change of tactics and easily threw him to the side.



The creature didn't follow up with another attack of it's own, almost like it was daring him to attack it again. Daxium held back a bit, not falling for the obvious bait, trying to go over his options, No matter what he did next one thing was for certain he had to figure out a way to disable that field before he did anything else. Then the creature turned toward Castle and fired more of those fireballs at the upper levels. Daxium quickly grabbed it from behind and tried to pull it away from the base. Again it easily shrugged him away and knocked him to the ground.



Closer to Castle Reid had stepped out of the Scan Track to watch the two giants battle and not for the first time felt like an ant looking up at something. After witnessing Ultraman battle monster after monster after he took over Beta Team he was still in awe of seeing it at this level. Even feeling the ground shake under his feet as they struggled against each other still blew his mind slightly. He doubted he would ever get use to it.



But seeing Ultraman basically on the ropes stunned him most of all. Reid was aware that one of his men walked up beside him. “That thing seems to have a counter for everything Ultraman is throwing at it.”



“Looks like,” he was forced to agree. “But get ready to get the hell out of here in case he goes red.” Which meant going in to the strong form of his and that really destructive weapon he uses in that mode. His man nodded as he went back to the Scan track, Reid slowly started to make his way back to the vehicle as well when the monster grabbed Ultraman and literally throw him further away. Reid tensed as he saw Ultraman position his arms to go into that stronger form but the monster fired those fireballs again to stop him.



“Come on fight back,” Reid mumbled as he witness the giant just stand there and take the attack. Then he set up his arms as he did when he used the main beam weapon in his starting form. Reid look back at the monster, could the beam shatter that field it could put up. Ultraman crossed his wrist and fired the beam. But the monster put both hands to it's chest as the beam hit. After a bit Reid's mind finally processed what happened, “Did it just absorb that beam?”, he asked the air. Ultraman looked easily as shocked as well.



There was a deep, “Zetton,” before he held up both arms and fired a beam of it's own. Ulteaman was hit before he could react. A pained grunt filled the air as he hit the ground. But he still got back up to fight the creature. The monster fired the beam again but Ultraman quickly spread his arms to put up his own field. It blocked one shot, and a second but Ultraman ended up taking a step back. A third destroyed the field with a minor explosion. “Zetton,” the monster fried another blast in the confusion but Ultraman was apparently expecting it and tried to move out of the way. But he wasn't fast enough as the beam hit him in side, apparently ripping him open. Reid lost his breath as he heard Ultraman cry out in pain as he was spun to the ground.



“****,” he heard some one say. He couldn't reprimand anyone since it was him as he watch Ultraman grab at the open wound that seemed to be bleeding light as that jewel on his chest started blinking red.



Daxium tried to heal the bleeding gash in his side, even if it was just a little, but he was assaulted by those fireballs before he could concentrate enough to do it. Another cry of pain was canceled out by another volly that exploded around him. He banged his forearms together and mode shifted into power mode and ran toward the monster. Ignoring the new assault he kept going forward finally punching the monster right in the face. It rocked back so he kicked it in the stomach to cause it to stumble even more. Daxium tried to keep up the attack trying to keep the creature rocked and to keep it from firing off anything else. Then it stuck one of it's hands right into the gash and twisted. A loud cry of pain came from Daxium as he grabbed the monster's wrist. With some effort he slowly pulled the offending hand out of his wound then punched it in the head again.



“Zetton.”, it said again as it grabbed him by the throat. He was barely able to pull the hands away as the side of his body with the gash threaten to give away from the pain. Ignoring it he quickly turned around and hurled the monster away from Castle. Bringing his hand close to the jewel he began drawing in energy. The monster raised it's forearms again to create the field one more time. Expecting it Daxium ran toward the monster, this Zetton. It didn't move. Just watching the giant get closer. Then Daxium reared back with the fist and punched the field with the full force of the Giga Wave. The field exploded but still saved the monster although it seemed stunned. Sent back from the explosion Daxium crossed his arms and threw them out as he rolled to his feet and was kneeling in Hyper mode. Drawing in energy one more time he flinched a bit and was suddenly behind the creature as the light whip retracted back into his fingers.



Behind him the monster had a glowing gash of it's own across it's body. It stood there for a moment before finally exploding. Daxium stumbled a bit as he looked behind him and held the gash in his side. He would have taken the time to heal it but the quick flashing of the jewel told him he didn't have the time. He apologized to Ken for the state he was about to leave him in then looked at Castle. The roof was destroyed thanks to the monster's assault, he couldn't return his friend in that mess. He apologized one more time before looking up at the sky and flying off, “Shiah!”

 

[scikaiju]

“The creatures are disappearing back into the portals!”, Hawk announced over the communicators. “All units keep an eye out for any stragglers just in case.”



Turning to the men with him, who looked as ecstatic about the news as he felt, Reid said, “You heard the man. Let's get back in there and sniff them out of hiding” He heard them comply but didn't pay attention to it. Something behind them caught his attention first. At first he thought it was one of the invaders as his hand went for his weapon. His men seeing the motion quickly turned around and did the same. Fortunately for the individual they quickly realized the person was human and held their fire. Walking through the group as he got a better look at the individual he said, “Scott, what are you doing out here?”. Then he noticed how pale the young man looked. He stumbled to a stop and for a moment and looked like he was going to say something. Then his face twisted like he was in immense pain and grabbed his side right before he dropped to the ground.



“Ken!”, One of his men shouted as all of them ran toward him. Keeping an eye open in case this the work of one of the invaders.



“Easy Ken,” Reid said as he knelt next to the unconscious man and holstered his weapon. Carefully they flipped him to his back, trying not to cause any more damage, whatever it was he was suffering from. As soon as he was on his back Reid immediately pulled up his shirt trying to figure out what the problem was, he was just grateful he wasn't apparently bleeding. At least on the outside, who knew what kind of internal injuries he could have suffered. Lifting the shirt up he and a couple of others with him gasped at the ugly red welt on his side.



“What the **** caused that?”, one of them said. He went to touch it but Reid stopped him in case he made the situation even worse.



“I don't know,” he said then paused. He suddenly recalled Ultraman getting hit and ripped open in the same general area. Then he lost his breath again as he remembered Hawk asking his opinion about Ultraman possibly being one of them. He lowered the shirt as he stared at the man, realization quickly dawning on him.



Holy ****.



Immediately he hit his communicator, “Reid to medical. I need a team at my location now!” he ended the call then turned to his men. “Get a med kit out of the Scan Track.” One of them ran for he vehicle as he and the others stayed with Ken. “Hang in there Ken,” he said hoping the young man could hear him on some level as he ripped off his uniform jacket and balled it up to place under his head, “help's coming. Or there's going to be hell to pay.”