The hangar buzzed with muffled tension. Mechanics moved quietly, glancing more than speaking. Rumors had been swirling for days, but confirmation arrived like a punch in the gut. Kael stood before the reinforced digital map of R22, the once-red blotches representing Kaiju now outnumbered by flickering blue indicators — active squads. Unauthorized ones.
Three entire squads had breached R22's perimeter.
Without permission.
Without protocol.
And something was wrong.
"They penetrated without clearance?" Tyren growled, arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the floating tactical projection. "What the hell are the higher-ups thinking?"
"They're not," Kael muttered. "Or worse — they're ignoring the risks because now they think it's safe… since we survived."
Behind them, the metal door hissed open. Ryssa stepped in, dressed not in her usual crisp uniform — stripped from her — but in a sleek black field suit, light but durable. She walked like a soldier still, shoulders proud, eyes focused.
"I heard," she said. "R22's crawling with fools."
Kael didn't even turn.
"I wanted you to come with us," he said flatly. "But now..."
Ryssa raised an eyebrow. "Now?"
Kael pointed toward the energy readings on the map. The radiation scale had tripled since their last return. Red streaks overlapped blue.
"They triggered something. This isn't natural," he said grimly.
Just then, Ziya arrived, a little breathless from running, her field gloves half-on. She saw the map and her heart sank.
"Squads from different ships…" she whispered. "And none of them came back."
"None?" Tyren snapped.
Ziya nodded. "Only radio bursts. Static. One visual — it was just... screaming. Something big moved past the camera and cut transmission."
Kael's jaw tensed.
Tyren turned, dead serious. "We go now."
"But it's suicide," Ziya said, stepping between them. "If the radiation is really that high, and those Kaiju are... changing again…"
"Which is exactly why we have to go," Ryssa cut in. "Because if those squads die and whatever they awakened spreads… this isn't just a problem on R22. It could become a galactic-scale threat."
There was silence. Heavy. Cold.
Kael finally broke it.
"We're taking Ravager. Brawler. And Lugger."
Ziya blinked. "I thought Lugger was—"
"I upgraded it myself," Kael said. "Better shielding. Hardened sensors. But no offense. Strictly a mobile command base."
"And who's manning it?" Tyren asked.
Kael looked at Ziya.
She paused.
Then nodded.
"I'll take it."
Kael looked at Ryssa. "You're with me."
She met his gaze, her heart thumping louder than the sirens ever could. "I never left."
Hours Later – En Route to R22
The shuttle hummed as it slipped through the atmosphere. Outside, storms were building over the familiar hostile terrain of R22 — only this time, the skies bled deeper orange, and veins of violet lightning branched through unnatural cloud formations. The land below had changed — darker, meaner, twisted.
Tyren peered through the side panel. "Looks like hell's finally wearing its real face."
Kael stood near the drop bay, staring out. "Something's growing under this planet."
Ziya, from the control interface, added, "The radiation signatures… they aren't diffusing. They're moving."
Kael turned, his eyes cold.
"That means the Kaiju are absorbing it. Again."
Ryssa frowned. "We stopped that progression last time. So what changed?"
Ziya replied, "Too many people landed. Too much disturbance. Too many power cores deployed. The planet's reacting."
Tyren smirked darkly. "You poke a sleeping god long enough, it's gonna wake up hungry."
Kael turned toward his locker and pulled out the black reinforced exo-frame — a new piece he'd requested after the last battle. As he equipped the sleek gear over his body, he looked toward Ryssa, who sat silently — watching him, eyes full of storm.
"You sure about this?" he asked her.
Ryssa didn't answer. She simply stood, walked up to him, and fixed the last buckle of his armor herself.
"Let's show them what monsters do when others play god."
Moments Later – Planet Surface
The Ravager Mk III landed first, kicking up dust and ash as its legs crushed the loose gravel of the valley. Behind it, Brawler touched down with a heavy thud, steam releasing from its shoulder vents. Lugger hovered overhead for recon.
"Deploying survey drones," Ziya's voice echoed in their comms. "No immediate Kaiju signature within five klicks. But everything's… vibrating. Be careful."
As Kael and Tyren moved in a triangle formation with Ryssa flanking, something made all of them stop mid-stride.
A shredded mech helmet lay on the ground. Crushed.
A little farther, the scorched remains of a mech torso. Burnt — melted from the inside.
"Squad Four's marker…" Ryssa whispered, picking up a half-crushed ID chip.
Then suddenly—
A scream.
Not human.
It came from the north. Echoing. Heavy. Trembling the ground beneath their boots.
Ziya screamed through the comms, "Kael! Something's coming—"
And from the ridge, a Kaiju emerged.
But it was different.
Its skin was not scaled — it was crystalline. Glowing veins of metal ran across its body like circuitry. Its eyes weren't feral — they were calculating.
"It's learning," Kael muttered.
The beast roared — a deep, echoing sound that split their audio receptors. In one motion, it bent forward and released a shockwave — not air, not sound, but radiation.
"Scatter!" Kael barked.
The three jumped apart as the beam cut a glowing path through the earth.
"Ziya! Pull back Lugger!" Tyren yelled.
"Already on it!"
Kael stood before the beast. "Ravager, override: Combat Mode: Zero Interference. Target locked."
Ryssa rushed to his side.
"You're not doing this alone."
Kael nodded, but kept his eyes forward. "Then let's finish what they started."