Adventures of an Employed Planeswalker

Knowing that these creatures are machines is a shock. I was thinking about analyzing this body (since I didn't get permission to get the other two I killed. Fuck bureaucracy.) with biokinesis and seeing what makes them tick. Maybe learning a few new things.

But this... This demands a radical shift of power focus.

'Caby, prepare for a deep scan of this Kaiju. Isolate any signals it might send, search for communications relays, and cut it off from the world. Whatever it stores its data in, I want it secured, decoded, and ready for viewing. Be careful of firewalls or viruses it might have.'

|On it.|

As Caby sets off to do what I asked, I take another look at the squad and see them Jujutsu jumping the other Kaiju. I almost feel bad for it, but then remember that it's a treasure trove of information and that it's better for me dead rather than alive anyway.

As they finish putting that thing through hell, chatter comes in from the comms. 

"Heh, we got the bastard good!" Comes Carina's curious choice of colorful conversation. Huh, alliteration. 

"It was very focused on Gypsy Danger, for whatever reason." Miko seems particularly interested in this tidbit.

"No matter, we still have the other one to handle. Matt, you there!?" Why do you scream on the comms, Yancy? 

"Yeah, I'm fine! I got this one. It tried going invisible!" I get to scream because I'm a weird alien, hello.

They all disengage from the sliced, diced, minced, and burnt body of the poor crocodile Kaiju and approach me.

I must look so appalling right now. I'm roughly 5 meters (16~ ft) above the Kaiju, appearing to be suspended by my 12 tentacles that pierce its body and the sand around several points, most notably the base of its neck. 

"Hi! This one was a bit tricky," Would be, for them, "but I got it in the end!"

"Yeah, you saved us from that big blast back there. Thanks, little buddy." Phill McCardy, you're a decent guy, huh.

"No problem!"

"So can we proceed with the mission?"

'Can we?'

|Preliminar analysis is complete. Deeper scans show nanorobots of many different kinds working in distinct frequencies, and no clear pattern has been recognized yet. Further analysis is needed.|

Damn. 'Would a sample suffice for now?'

|It would allow for continued scans, but without the whole, pattern recognition will suffer severely in its accuracy.|

'I just need to complete this mission. They'll see how valuable I am when willing to help and allow me more freedom. If they don't, we'll fly solo.'

{Oh~ I want to fly!} 

Ripping the tentacles out of the Kaiju's body, I make it extra gory to get as much of the material and blue liquid on my tentacles.

{It sizzles!! Ouch ouch ouch!!!} 

As the tentacles get closer to my back, part of the Scarab armor detaches from me to contain the material. I wave and gesticulate excessively in the rift's direction to take away their attention.

"By all means!"

"Does it always behave like that? It moves and sounds like a chibi version of an anime character... it's cute!" I knew my charm was not lost to the wind. There are still people out there who recognize how great I am! I am truly touched by your opinion of me, young Kanna! How about we-

|Approaching Spacial Rift's location.|

Ahem.

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Nearing the rift, I am reminded of the time I got here. It wasn't long ago, hardly a week has gone by, but this is where I was effectively reborn. In the depths of the Gulf of Alaska, being chased by a murderous mechanical creature. Good times.

As we near it, Caby informs me of something.

Apparently, there's some kind of resonance or connection between the samples I collected not long ago and the rift.

|Some primitive ways of communication are being attempted. It appears to have no message, only wishing to check something. Compatibility?|

'You're not sure? Then don't allow it for now.'

As we all stare at the faintly shining blue line, the professional Yapper himself breaks the silence.

"So... is it supposed to do anything? Do we reach into it and spread it open ourselves? Maybe it's a time thing, we missed the 8:30 passage, and now we gotta wait for the next time. Where do we buy a ticket-"

"Yancy, please. Shut up." Way to go, Raleigh!

"What he said, Ranger. This is Pentecost, what's your status?"

"We dealt with the Kaiju and reached the Rift, sir! It's just... sitting there, however. We don't know what to do to open it."

"Try approaching it carefully. You got through the hard part, now get the bomb in there and blow it up!"

"""Yes, sir!"""

Victorian Nemean is the impromptu test subject to approach the Rift since the only other tank has our nuke strapped to their backs.

Vic gets close to the Rift and extends their arm into it as if to touch it.

Nothing happens. 

The blue line is still there, brighter than the sea around it but unmoving. 

|Scans show a weak signal passed from the Rift over to this side when Victorian Nemean approached it.| 

Approaching it myself to get a better look and scan, Caby once again chimes in.

|The Kaiju sample is reacting to the signal emitted by the Rift.|

The Scarab Armor opens up in a section containing a few drops of Kaiju blue blood and the Rift shimmers before slowly widening.

Right before our eyes, we see a distorted laboratory filled with green vats with shapes within. Right on the other side of the Rift, I see a 3,5 meters tall (12~ ft)... thing with a chitinous carapace for skin, four stubby legs, four long arms, and a flat face.

|Warning! Warning! Divergent dimensional frequencies were detected on the other side of the Rift! Analysis commencing. Caution is recommended.| 

I hear a strange, intermittent hum and buzz in my mind and ears, deafening to the point I almost couldn't hear my own thoughts.

The thing seemed to look right at me for a moment before it gestured with its hand and started walking away. All the vats got blurrier as their see-through material descended and the forms inside started to move.

"Come one, quick! Get the bomb in there! I'll delay them!" I yell with urgency and boost through the Rift.

|Frequencies analyzed, adapting armor.|

As I passed through the Rift entrance, the world shifted around me.

For a moment, I felt the different gravity trying to squeeze me in or pull me apart. The lack of oxygen was felt, though it wasn't a problem. The lights were a weird green glow that stung my eyes and the hum and buzz got louder to the point I almost felt pain.

Then it all stopped.

|Adaptations complete. Scanning area.|

I formed a blast in one hand and a long energy sword in another, 'Adjust cannon intensity to 80%, I don't want to have any mishaps.'

I look around at the things coming out of their vats. They were all lizard-like in some ways but were in different development stages. A few of them even flopped to the ground as the vats opened completely, not mature enough even to sustain themselves.

I quickly took aim at the ones more developed and the cannon fire took out a chunk of the creature's shoulder, making it scream and thrash around. 

I could just keep shooting them, but there were a bit over 50 movement-able creatures and they were all rushing towards the Rift. I have to take them all on.

Manifesting my black tentacles and transforming my two arms into whips, I boosted around the Kaiju as I slashed, cut, tripped, and restrained them. Some of the smaller and lighter ones I even threw at the ones up front.

The strategy was working. These Kaiju were clearly weaker than any other one I've fought with so far, and it wouldn't take too long before they were all dead. That was when I felt a slight tingling in the back of my neck. Not knowing what it was, I turned around but didn't see a thing—only to be hit from above by a laser beam.

"Ugh..." This is the first time I've been hit since I got in this world and that packs quite the punch... It might have been bad without Scarab armor or Aura, but with these, I only get pushed around. 

Still, I don't have time to play pinball.

|Frequencies have been detected from various waves passing through the room, indicating the presence of a language pattern. Decoding...|

[... Experiments... running... breached...]

Ok, but what the fuck hit me?

Looking up I see that this whole lab has weird panels on the walls. One of these panels, the one right above me, was shining with a yellow light, and the ones next to it were also beginning to shine.

'Well, Caby can you invade their system?'

|Entrance is possible but risky. Very little is known about their technology to attempt a breach safely.|

'Got it. So just kill the Kaiju while dodging the lasers. Easy...'

Engaging my boosters again, I started to slice through the Kaiju again. They were now on the cusp of going through the Rift and I could see Hawaiian pushing the nuke through it.

'Symby, help me with 6 of the tentacles.'

{Sure thing~!}

A few of the lasers got very near me, but I weaved and dodged it all, following the predictive algorithm of the Scarab armor. Sometimes I felt that tingling sensation, like hair standing up, and surprisingly it was always when I had to dodge a laser.

'Not so surprising... this must be Haki.' I try to lean on this feeling more as I keep dodging but other than sometimes warning me of the incoming lasers, it doesn't tell me where it comes from.

The Kaiju are slowing, getting bogged down by the bodies of their fallen fellows as I throw them and getting tripped by tentacles and whips left and right. The lasers are getting more frequent, the tingle in my neck not fading for a second making it harder to discern from where they are coming.

For future research, I take a few Kaiju samples here and there when the hectic fight allows me to but I wanted far more than these to have a good knowledge base about these things...

Finally, I see Hawaiian finish pushing the nuke into the Rift and immediately it falls to the ground with a resounding 'thud'. Its little visor blinks a frantic red and it looks just about ready to-

|Explosion in 10...9...|

That's our cue!

Going as fast as my armor allows and my mind can keep up, I push through the portal.

It feels like swimming through molasses first, then it lets up slowly until finally, I'm back at Earth's gravity. Right in front of me is Hawaiian booking it as fast as it can away from the Rift.

Knowing how slow that bigass robot can be, I pick it up with all my tentacles and the two whip-arms and drag it as far away as my boosters would let me... which is quite far, considering their weight.

'The explosion should be going off right about now, no?'

Checking out the Rift, a bizarre show of lights and shapes greets me from the other side. Just as it seems ready to spill onto this side, the Rift starts shrinking and widening in infrequent intervals until it finally snaps shut. No light blue line in sight this time.

|The Rift's immediate vicinity shows increased radiation levels and abnormal amounts of heat. Nothing concerning in the long-term. Good job, Matt.| 

'Thanks, buddy. It was a team effort. Thank you both as well.'

{Yay~! Bonding time!}

"Everyone ok!?" Comes Raleigh's voice through the comms.

"Yeah..." Hawaiian looks at where the Rift used to be, then looks at me, "Yeah, we're all good over here. Matt's back too. Thanks again, little man." The big robot even nods at me.

"That means the operation is successful! Oh boy, you should've seen the other side! It was all lasers and goopy, weak Kaiju, and a lot of weird stuff!" 

"I'm sure it must have been an... otherwordly experience for you... huh? huh?? Not even a snort!? Come on guys, we did it!" 

Comms stays silent for a bit, until a few giggles from Menace and a chuckle from Hawaiian come through, followed by a heavy sigh and a big smug aura radiating from Gypsy Danger.

"I guess he's right! We did it!" Kanna says, excited.

"Finally, we can fight back against them..." Kelani is giving mad revenge-focused anime character vibes right now.

"And it's all thanks to the little alien right there! Give it up for Matthew, the alien!" Yancy needs to learn the commendable talent of staying silent.

"You can commemorate back here at the base. Good job, pilots."

That's a big first step for mankind but the war is far from over.