Gaston remained in the lab ship for the following hours until the next day. When the storm came and passed, he already made an extensive report on the situation of the lab ship. His report was composed of the data gathered through the mining process and the harvest of the floating monsters that were collected by the lab-ship.

It was early in the morning and the smell of seawater air made Gaston snort. Gaston remained in the lab ship for the following hours until the next day. When the storm came and passed, he already made an extensive report on the situation of the lab ship. His report was composed of the data gathered through the mining process and the harvest of the floating monsters that were collected by the lab-ship.

Along the way, they met patrol ships and drones monitoring the perimeter. Gaston was quite used to heavy security, though he wished he didn’t have to show his identification code too much since it was honestly tiring. No event happened other than the usual splash coming from the sea every time the boat makes a dip.

Gaston got out of the motorboat. He landed his feet on the concrete and then bid the motorboat driver goodbye. He walked beneath the container cranes and passed several warehouses until he stopped upon meeting someone.

That blade. That bloodied appearance would make weaker creatures falter. Gaston met eyes with the Red Valkyrie. She bowed her head to him and plunged her sword into the skull of the creature. Gaston looked around the area. He saw that other creatures were scattered around. Did something happen while he was in a lab ship? The comms were silent.

“Oh, you’re here?” a voice said.

Gaston looked to the side and saw Jakob walking to him with a drawn blade. He sheathed his blade and locked the black in place. There was a humming sound coming from the sheath which made Gaston think that the blade was charging up.

“Looks like the place has been busy.”

“It is.”

There was a frown on his face. His eyes were on the creatures. Almost as if he wanted to tear them apart more. Gaston could inspect the security footage, but he rather not waste the operator’s time.

“What happened?”

“Split-realm openings,” said Jakob. He pulled on the device on his waist. “Around the evening we noticed that biomass signatures were popping up everywhere. The first one to notice it was the members who were close to the right of the harbor. We managed to keep some of the staff from being harmed, but these openings were rather volatile.”

His eyes were on the corpses that were placed on the side. They were being covered by canvas to block off the wind coming from the sea. Some wore protective gear while the others had jumpsuits and hardhats that didn’t come off their heads despite their deaths. Gaston thought that there was a sense of self-mockery that Jakob had. The failure to protect those who are under them. It hurt the Black Lion’s pride. But there was more to this trouble, Gaston thought as he looked at the Red Valkyrie making sure that the rest of the type-class monsters were dead.

“Looks like the situation isn’t clear yet.”

“It isn’t. You’ll hear it soon.”

Gaston waited and then he heard it. That awful boom sounded like a groan that came from the sky. Gaston activated his AR-module’s zooming function and spotted the giant beast that stood taller than most of the buildings. It was still a few miles away from the shore of Japan.

“A behemoth...this close to Japan?”

Jakob nodded. Gaston immediately made a command to gather information by typing keywords regarding the appearance of a behemoth-class monster. It took him only ten seconds to gather thousands of articles written in different languages to know a summary of what had happened. CERN was right. The pacific ring of fire acted up and a behemoth-class beast that could destroy nations was approaching. The last time the world had a behemoth-class monster. It was a disaster that cost many lives and annihilated a small nation within a few days.

“Shit,” Gaston thought. “Is the nation going to be evacuated?”

There was a layer of bioshield that shielded the beast. The most awful thing about this gargantuan beast was the size of the split-realm that it caused. From the looks of it, stealth drones were hovering like flies around the behemoth-type. There were restrictions on the live stream and anyone who didn’t have stealth-class drones was shot down by drones.

Jakob, who was looking at the beast on the horizon, frowned. He placed the palm of his right hand on the pommel of his sword. He looked at the beast, frustrated. Gaston separated the compilation and had his bot make a summary of it.

“We have a plan to neutralize the beast.”

Jakob started walking to one of the warehouses. Gaston followed while keeping an eye on the Red Valkyrie who was stabbing her sword on the downed beasts. The workers were starting to collect the corpses.

“And what is that plan?”

“Defeating the beast in pure combat would cause collateral damage. Many nations right now are aching to pull a trigger and detonate a nuke on the back of that beast. It’s terrifying that other humans might kill us before we could worry about taking down the beast. We have every nation on the United Earth to watch out for the problem.”

Gaston eyed the minimized screen. Multiple news sites and broadcast stations were reporting on the problem. Footages were being displayed that even a coverup was going to be impossible because of the sheer size of the monster. The world was looking at the pacific ocean and the world wasn’t liking what they were seeing. Gaston thought about the consequences of this monster to their already dying world. A beast of the end.

Jakob entered the warehouse. They entered the decontamination room before they were let in. The staff members of the Babaika Company were focused on the monitors that showed the behemoth on the screen. The data on the screen reads that it was 400 km² in measurements and would stand, possibly 400 feet if it climbs up on land. The exterior of the beast made it resemble a snapping turtle.

“The Kaiju now named Chelydra is floating next to the shores of Japan. Reports indicated that there were no movements of the beast after it appeared. Scientists and the Otherside Research Institution ORI has declared that studies are now being conducted on how to appease the beast or neutralize it.”

“Neutralize it?”

Gaston said out loud.

Jakob turned to where the screen was. “It’s a valuable specimen after all. I doubt the Prime Minister would allow it to be alive though.”

Gaston noticed the frustration in Jakob’s face deepened once more. It was not a surprise considering that this beast is considered valuable whether it was dead or alive. Each biomass entity contains bioenergy that is harvestable. Not to mention that it is producing sparticles on every breath and if it does die. The ichorium that will be produced from its carcasses and the materials made will benefit it. Gaston doubts that the Babaika Company, despite its jurisdiction in the protection of the nation of Japan, will be able to do anything when nations under United Earth, AETF, EC, and ORI are probably eager to get a piece of the pie.

“What’s the lady’s opinion about this?” Gaston asked.

Jakob leaned on the side of the wall. “She’s busy negotiating it out with our competitors, governments, and subcontractors who want a piece of the pie. Right now we are offering slots to the highest bidder.”

Gaston expected that. “So someone already has a plan to take down this behemoth?”

“Someone has. The United States and the Russian Federation, despite their differences, are willing to fire their rod of gods and thermobaric weapons on the bioshield and carapace that the beast has. We are technically buying support from them in exchange for a piece of the carcasses and the harvest of ichorium. Once we stab the heart of the beast we’ll be able to keep it intact. Fighting the beast on, firing a nuclear strike on it will only result in disadvantages that would waste our planet’s resources in the long run.”

Nuclear fallout. The destruction of the ecosystem and the natural resources. The cost that will be paid to make repairs on the damage. The destruction of nature and many reforms on how to handle behemoth-class monsters will make it a tiring operation. Not to mention that the city-sized monster will take years to clean up. And a dead rotting corpse is going to be everyone's problem. It’s not the defeat of the giant beast that was concerning. The aftermath of the defeat was the troubling part.

But to think of the aftermath, the beast must be stopped first. There was another problem when dealing with monsters of these sizes. These monsters from the otherside were like wanderers finding themselves in a foreign land. No one knows what dimension they came from while some theorize that they came from an alien planet or universe that was so untouched that creatures like them were able to grow in size. Only these beings could enter this unknown realm. The split-realm are places where one would need specialized equipment to enter. To enter said realms without jump ships would be like trying to swim down the deepest ocean floor with only a diving suit.

The thought of split-realms where these giant creatures existed made Gaston feel trouble.

Jakob was called by someone. Gaston followed him to one of the reinforced rooms where the head of the Babaika Lions just finished a call. Lady Romanov had quite a joyful expression, she took a sip of her glass filled with red wine as if basking in the opportunity given to her.

“Ah, Adjutant, and Jakob? You smell awful, Jakob,” she settled herself on her swivel chair. “Your report was the least interesting thing that I’d seen today, Adjutant.”

“I will be needing reports and a course of action.”

“You’ll do what you have to do. I expected something when I came to this nation. But do you know what we have here, gentlemen? We have a behemoth-class entity here that could fund a nation. Every nation that has the spending money, corporations that are willing to make a trade are now eager to sign a contract. We are the tip of the spear in this operation.”

She slammed her hand gently on the desk. Her bio-energy made her look like she was covered in a thin layer of energy that alternated between white and gold. Jakob glowered at the sight of the Lady releasing her energy unconsciously. Seeing Jakob groan, she lowered her energy levels and continued.

“So I’m expecting that all members of my company shall be doing their utmost best in this endeavor to make profits. Of course, it is in our best interest as well to keep the people of Japan from harm.”

“Roger that,” Jakob left first.

Lady Romanov stared at Gaston meaningfully. “Adjutant Gaston, I hope that our agreement still stands. You must know that great opportunities such as these means that there are also hyenas and vultures waiting to take part in the meal. Talk nicely to our friends, will you? Assure the Consortium that the Babaika Company will do its utmost best to help the nation of Japan defend it from the Behemoth-class entity, code-named Chelydra.”

Gaston brought out his left wrist and typed in an extensive message before nodding. “The Earthside Consortium will be managing the affairs regarding the Behemoth-class, code-named Chelydra,” he spoke robotically. “All documents regarding the operations will be sent through the Adjutant involved in the operation and will be reported to the Branch Manager.”

“Command accepted,” his bracer’s external speakers said. “Adjutant Gaston Hardy shall be the designated personnel...creating data storage, assigning database location, assigning foreign keys...encrypting...biometrics accepted.”

“Thank you,” said Lady Romanov.