Colossus By Choice: Book 1 Verse 25

3001 P.G.E. (Post-Godzilla Era)

[Universal Date: Day 120]
[Planet: Pyrestar]
[Capital: Silver Sun City]

[Location: Silver Sun City – Silver Sun Mountain – Human Ruins]

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Mechagodzilla, the great Titan Spirit who advised the True Titans and whose voice echoes through Human ruins throughout the universe even to this very day. Few have ever heard it speak, and far fewer still have ever held a true conversation with the bodiless ascendant's voice. But on this very day, a humble group of adventurers and fighters seeking the truth behind attacks by a thought-to-be extinct race joins the latter group who have had this most prestigious honour.

As is to be expected of common folks being confronted by one of the main gods governing all of creation, they're naturally quite speechless; Yun-Tao, the Nanometal-worshipping Oxbul, is especially taken aback from coming face-to-face with the living embodiment of technology itself.


(Mechagodzilla): SYSTEM FUNCTION RESTORED TO MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE?

(Taum): Uhh-- I--

(Mechagodzilla): DO NOT BE AFRAID, DRACONI. I HOLD NO POWER OVER YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS. I AM BUT A MERE SHADOW IMPRINT LEFT BEHIND TO MONITOR AND SAFEGUARD THIS SECTOR. YOU ARE THIS GROUP'S SPEAKING REPRESENTATIVE, CORRECT?


The youngling Draconi looks to his companions, quite unsure about how he should respond. The others are equally uneasy at the prospect of talking to Mechagodzilla, even if it is but a mere shadow imprint of its true self. After a little bit of unspoken deliberation, the group seems to come to an agreement; Taum steps forward and tries to maintain a confident stance, though he's still shaking ever so slightly.


(Taum): Yes, yes I am.

(Mechagodzilla): EXCELLENT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE?

(Taum): Yes, I-- wait, learn more about what, exactly?

(Yun-Tao): *whispering* Taum! Don't act dumb! You're talking to the god of all technological advancement!

(Mechagodzilla): I AM HAPPY TO CLARIFY. OBSERVE.


A screen appears next to the disembodied holographic head of the Titan Spirit, similar to the one that Taum and the others pulled up from the datapad just a few moments ago. Instead of footage from the ancient past, however, the recording shown here is quite recent; it shows the events from a few days prior regarding the Iwi-ki's assault on Silver Sun City. More specifically, it shows alternate perspectives of the firefights that broke out shortly before the creation of the Oozaru and subsequent awakening of the Kaiju guardian, Rodan.

The angles of footage captured would only be possible via the remotely controlled eyes of Mechagodzilla, like what it had recorded ages ago when it watched over the ancient developing Draconi in the other memory the group had watched. Of particular note are the new views on the Iwi-ki side of things.


(Taum): Wait, that's--

(Yun-Tao): Joa.


Even after their adventures thus far and the wondrous spectacle of being in the presence of her god, Yun-Tao still harbours extreme loathing and hatred for Primatus Joa, the Iwi-ki commander who killed her husband and several other of her clan members. While she watches these recordings with her seething but quiet rage, Cerato Falc and Tarbo Haw look on with astonishment and subdued horror; Taum looks at the 2 Rapteaglets, realizing that they had been spared the sight of the invading force taking to Silver Sun City's streets until now.

Cerato instinctively grabs hold of Taum's hand, clenching it tightly as she watches while covering her mouth with her other hand; the youngling Draconi looks at her briefly before turning his attention back to the memory playback.

The footage continues to show multiple perspectives, but the one that has the group's attention is the angle that focuses on Primatus Joa's personally led assault force. Before the ape commander goes on to engage Captain Gairi in melee combat, he can be seen pulling aside one of his Blooded warriors away from the firefights that the rest of his soldiers are engaged in. The chaos of the market district turned battlefield muffles the voices of these ape men, though the magnification enhancement manages to get a close-up view of their conversation.


(Taum): Mechagodzilla, can you focus on that shot of Primatus Joa there?

(Yun-Tao): *whispering* Taum, you can't be making demands of the--

(Mechagodzilla): AS YOU WISH. ZOOMING AND ENHANCING THE REQUESTED DRONE FEED.


As asked, the Titan Spirit's imprint closes down the other footage feeds to enlarge and focus on the one Taum pointed out.

The enhanced capture shows the Blooded warrior standing perfectly at attention while his commander performs some kind of ritual on him with hand gestures and a transmutation circle drawn with chalk in front of the officer. A symbol is made in the middle of this circle, one that is present on the Primatus's armour and only his; all other Iwi-ki soldiers have different sigils, indicating it's a mark exclusive to him for his rank, achievements, or whatever else. The ape commander then places his open palm on his soldier's chest and steps back.

This seems to activate the transmutation circle, causing it to light up with the crimson glow of the energy resembling Dragon Element; the Iwi-ki Blooded warrior writhes in pain and falls to his knees as the energy arcs towards him. Primatus Joa is about to leave his subordinate, but he looks up directly into the drone's recording perspective, pulls out his compact weapon, and fires at Mechagodzilla's free-floating eye, cutting the feed.

Everyone is taken by surprise at the ape commander knowing to disable the eyes that were watching him; the holographic displays cut out, leaving the Titan Spirit's avatar in view once more.


(Mechagodzilla): WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF MY SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE?

(Taum): We still don't know what exactly it is that Primatus Joa did, but it's good to at least have seen more of the context leading up to the Oozaru's appearance.

(Mechagodzilla): I CAN TELL YOU MORE ABOUT WHAT TRANSPIRED IF YOU'D LIKE.

(Taum): Alright, go ahead Mechagodzilla.

(Mechagodzilla): VERY WELL.


Mechagodzilla's holographic avatar disappears and reconfigures into a new display. This one seems to showcase charts and graphs that, according to the labels, measure the energy readings of the surrounding area. However, these energy readings are labeled as "Wraith Argent", the mythical power source said to have only been wielded by Godzilla herself and the Skull King and his armies; the data suggests that there were measurable levels of this energy within Pyrestar itself. This concrete divine source of information naturally catches everyone's attention, as even the academic Tarbo Haw was led to believe in all his years of archaeology that it didn't exist anywhere but a handful of legendary places.


(Tarbo Haw): Wraith Argent? Here? B-but our scholars have never-- We didn't find--

(Mechagodzilla): ANY WRAITH ARGENT ON THE SURFACE LEVEL, YES. RECORDS OF THE REASONS HAVE BEEN DELETED, BUT ONE OF MY PRIMARY DIRECTIVE HERE AND IN OTHER LOCATIONS WAS TO SAFEGUARD AND HIDE ACCESS TO THE WRAITH ARGENT STORES.

(Yun-Tao): This changes everything we know, it... it.....

(Mechagodzilla): PLEASE, ALLOW ME TO FINISH.


Yun-Tao quickly gets on her hands and knees and puts her head to the ground in shame.


(Yun-Tao): I'm so sorry, great Titan Spirit! Please, forgive me!

(Mechagodzilla): NO NEED TO GROVEL. WRAITH ARGENT EXISTS ACROSS THE UNIVERSE IN SMALL QUANTITIES, MONITORED BY FACILITIES SUCH AS THESE. SMALLER SAMPLES ARE KEPT IN STORAGE, BUT THE VAST MAJORITY IS DIMENSIONALLY SEALED OFF TO PREVENT MISUSE.

(Taum): Which means.... what? That it doesn't exist in our realm normally?

(Mechagodzilla): CORRECT. HOWEVER, THE ONE YOU CALL PRIMATUS JOA HAS ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS AS PER MY PROTOCOLS REGARDING THE REINC--


All of a sudden, the holographic construct glitches out, temporarily cutting out before returning as the Titan Spirit's head avatar once more.


(Mechagodzilla): APOLOGIES. IT APPEARS THAT DATA HAS BEEN REDACTED. I CANNOT TELL YOU MORE ON THAT FRONT.

(Taum): It's fine. You've told us a lot already. This means that Primatus Joa somehow can draw out the sealed Wraith Argent, and that's what he used to transform his soldier into that Oozaru to draw out Rodan. Is there anything else you can tell us about the Iwi-ki and our mission to apprehend Joa?

(Mechagodzilla): I'M AFRAID THAT I CANNOT.

(Taum): Thank you for everything. Will you stick around? We need to inform our government and the rest of the coalition about this turn of events.

(Mechagodzilla): VERY WELL. I SHALL RELAY WHAT I'VE INFORMED YOU OF TO YOUR OTHER SPECIES REPRESENTATIVES WHEN THEY COME.


After this agreement, Mechagodzilla disappears, leaving the group by themselves in the store room once again. All of that information was a lot to take in, especially since the original trio were mostly only trying to find answers for their investigation. These new revelations have changed everything, throwing everything into question as to what the next course of action should be. Cerato Falc and her uncle huddle up to discuss things between themselves while Skrill and Yun-Tao argue about what they should be doing next.

Meanwhile, Taum is left to his own thoughts.

This isn't for long, however, as the doors suddenly open up and Defence Watch officers pour in with their casters raised; everyone quickly puts their hands up in surrender.


(Cpt. Gairi): At ease, men.


The knights and squires lower their weapons at their captain's command; Taum is quite pleasantly surprised to see the captain.


(Taum): Captain, what are you doing here?

(Cpt. Gairi): The Titan Spirit just contacted the governance council and the Defence Watch. Relayed what your group had learned to us. The fact that one of the patron gods of existence contacted us was already a big enough surprise, but the fact that you and your adventuring party were the ones to make the big scoop.....

(Cerato Falc): What.... what do you want then, sir?

(Cpt. Gairi): I've been ordered to secure this site until the governance council can come in to talk with Mechagodzilla. Meanwhile, the council had specific orders for your group.

(Skrill): And what might that be, captain?


The elite Draconi knight chuckles a little; he's almost certainly smirking beneath that helmet of his.


(Cpt. Gairi): Your merry band is gonna be giving your testimony to the entire universe.


The group all collectively gasp in shock at what this means.


(Cpt. Gairi): You'll be heading to the Charybdis System,  birthplace of the new Humanity under Godzilla's reign and the centre of all species' governance.