//------------------------------// // Bonus Chapter: Unbekannte Soldat // Story: The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover // by Tarbtano //------------------------------// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roughly 300 Nautical Miles from Honolulu, 6 minutes before GDF hacking incident ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bow of a speeding, yacht sized boat sliced through waves as it kicked it's engine into a burst of speed to reach its maximum pace. Not a single human hand was on deck outside of some remote, EMP shielded cameras giving the only view points to the ship's overseers. The engine and steering wheel were mechanically set to a course with a series of mechanical arms and ropes. The entire operation looked both highly technological and highly jerry-rigged. To any looking at said operation, that would not be the first thing they'd notice however. The real catch to the eyes was on the main deck of the ship. Strapped to the surface was a large cargo of material clad in the same iconic yellow and black radiation labels. It was a mix of disarmed warheads, stocked waste from power plants; and several dozen barrels of heavy water. The pure radiation emanating from the boat could have killed any human pilots and was leaving a trail of contaminated water that could spoil the waves for miles until the days had passed enough to disperse it. Sacrifices were being made, all for the plan. Gaira, the green, sea going gargantua had been sighted heading straight for the Hawaiian capital two hours earlier. It was the worst possible timing. Having been one of the first active kaiju incursion in progress, after the incident at Solgell; the GDF and US forces were caught completely unprepared. Most of the fleet was far out to sea investigating a possible Gyaos swarm forming off the coast of Indonesia, and no Mech units were stationed in the island chain at the time. Normally there would be enough time to evacuate the citizenry and call in the armed forces and Mech divisions to fend off the attack, but Gaira had managed to evade the outer perimeter undetected, presumably by diving low and walking on the bottom. There was no time, from the first instant the inner perimeter sensors had detected him, the man-eater was less than 3 hours from civilian vessels and half an hour more from the jewel city of the islands. The few military assets on hand would have been ineffective against a foe who was just as adept righting in the deep sea as he was on land, and intense winds from a typhoon made transporting a mecha neigh impossible. Bluntly put, the state of Hawaii got caught with its pants down at the worst possible time. Thus the plan was put into order. It was a suicidal, idiotic, and outrageous plan. But it was the only plan that seemed workable at the time. The island of Hawai'i, often called the 'Big Island' for its size and to avoid confusion with the state's moniker, housed something. It had awakened several months earlier, and after some devastation, landed on the island. The passive radiation given off by Mount Hualālai and Kilauea had attracted it, and by routinely dumping loads of waste from Yucca Mountain and other similar facilities from across the world; it had stayed there. Friend to humans it most certainly was not, so the entire island was quickly evacuated to avoid incurring it's wrath. For the second time in history, humanity had given way to a kaiju in the name of study, making the entire island something of a nature preserve to learn everything they could about it. If it attempted to leave or attack, special precautions had been made to minimize damage, with lethal force to the subject if needed. For once, those precautions were turned off, both for fear the oncoming Gaira might damage them, and for the plan to work. Sometimes when a coyote is advancing on the sheep, it's best to unchain that aggressive dog one kept contained in a barn, and let it run free. Speak of the devil however, and he might just appear. A mountain of green broke the surface as an enormous hand lashed out at the boat. Jagged, black, claw-like nails cut into the hull as Gaira brought the boat into his grasp, the scale between making the transport boat resemble a toy more than anything. Shrieking, hate filled snarls filled the air as the sea going gargantua thrashed the boat to and fro. He knew what he was here for. He had previously been on his way to the human city to entertain a feast for himself, but had heard the boat coming and opted to take a small detour to enjoy an appetizer. That was, if he could find any hands on deck. Despite his frustrated thrashing of the boat, tossing radioactive material all across the deck, Gaira's gaze refused to gleam even a single soul. -------------------------- Back at headquarters Dr. Io Shinoda frantically attacked at the control keyboards and joysticks, trying to keep the boat's onboard cameras on view. Every other muscle twitch she loosed to bat the controls, she glanced over at Dr. Graham, hoping and praying for word about a telltale blip or pinging on the radar and sonar screenings Graham was manning. "The boats not going to last much longer! Several ruptures on the hull, motors is knocked out, some of the bait is being sloshed overboard. Has he showed up yet?!" Graham nervously eyed the paneled screens displaying a myriad of short and long range sonar and radar. Then she smiled. Not at any blips that she smiled at, it was what happened to the radar and sonar themselves. Static. Heavy, thick, steadily gaining in strength static. First the long range radar shorted out, then the medium range; and then final the short range as something flew over the buoys, heading on a path straight at the boat. Straight at Gaira. "The buoys are being EMP'd from the north.... he's there." Io turned the one camera on the far side of the boat northward, seeing a familiar black shape flap it's wings as it flew straight at Gaira, partially obscured by the nightly clouds. She held her breath, hoping that Pele was offering her blessing. ------------------------- Gaira didn't know the boat was automated, that it was without his food. But it was loaded with something else's food, and it was not happy about him manhandling it. The gargantua didn't have time to look up before a pair of twin recurved talons stabbed into his shoulders, yanking him away from the boat before they released, sending the giant tumbling into the sea. Banking hard, the winged HokMuto cackled as he came around for another pass. Gaira snarled, getting back up and after a moment to wipe one of his wounds and look at his blood, charged the winged monstrosity in a rage. Swinging his forearms down, the mutated humanoid brought down dual hammerfists upon the HokMuto's plated skull with an audible bang. Dazed, the ancient parasite couldn't react before another fist was brought down on the side of his skull with enough force it could topple a building. Gaira grinned vilely, grabbing the lanky kaiju by an arm and bringing him close enough to sink his fangs deep into its black and white shoulder, his weight forcing the two of them underwater amidst much thrashing. There might have been no humans on board the boat, but this replacement would do nicely. The sea began to fill with dark color ichors. Gaira eagerly drank down the blood, relishing a new meal. The HokMuto on the otherhand, had other ideas. The eyeless line of lights on the side of its head ignited once more and the primordial demon roared back to life. He was wounded, and he was enraged. The smallest pair of arms, often used for handling small objects, arched back before baring their claws and slashing Gaira repeatedly across the chest, cutting deeper and deeper grooves with each cut. Adding pain to agony, the HokMuto's main arms raised amidst the tidal wave of bubbles and gouged into the titan's back, raking across it and filling the seas with the gargantua's blood. Gaira screamed and roared as he stumbled back, his world alight in pain that only increased as some of his teeth broke off from ripping away from the Muto so quickly. The HokMuto had intended to attack Gaira enough to drive him off and away from his food, but now the sea beast had tried to make a meal out of him. It wasn't a matter of territory and resources now. Hoofed feet kicked off from the ocean bottom, wings flapping in slow motion through the sapphire realm like flippers. Now it was a matter of hatred. Gaira was not so easily beaten however. Though the wounds still inflicted mountains of pain and hundreds of gallons of blood loss, the wounds closed rapidly. Gaira grimaced as he grabbed and tore off a spire of sandstone, wielding it like a club. While he didn't have enough energy to keep his healing factor going for as long as a pair of radioactive saurians, he thought it more than enough to outlast this spindly aggressor. Belching out a torrent of bubbles from an undersea roar, Gaira brought the club down again and again on the charging Muto's chest and head. Loud crashes were audible through the waves as stone chipped and reinforced exoskeleton began to crack. The Muto jolted down from the sharp pain and beating. Half knocked silly, his vision locked onto the first moving object and in a flurry of motion, locked his jaws down on it. It so happened the object was Gaira's ankle, and the HokMuto clamped down with his beak and fangs with enough force for the audible cracking of Gaira's cartilage and bone to send fish scattering. Gaira shrieked in pain, dropping his club and falling back onto the sea bed as the tendon controlling his foot was hamstrung. HokMuto however couldn't afford to capitalize on his success. Aside from sporting a gnawed shoulder, fractured skull, and cracked exoskeleton; he was no aquatic. He could dive deep and hold his breath for quite some time, but getting knocked silly by Gaira's brute force had been a shot to his lungs and he was running on empty. Releasing the mauled limb, the black beast spread his wings and attempted to kick off the ocean floor with a mushroom cloud of sediment, looking up to the surface as he swam up. He shot up roughly 100 feet before a barrage of pain shot up his leg as he was yanked back. The Muto cackled in pain and surprise as he looked down, beating his wings rapidly in the dark waters. Gaira snarled as he held the Muto by its leg, stabbing his nails into the limb between the exoskeleton's plates to gain a grip. The green gargantua's leg was slowly healing but he was still half crippled, and yet he simply refused to let go. Perhaps sensing his foes oncoming drowning, the sea beast cocked back his other arm and swung out, raking his nails across the Muto's chest to try and speed matters along. Instantly though, Gaira's sight was shut out when HokMuto's free leg swung its hard hoof down with murderous intent, smashing into his skull each time Gaira's fist contacted his foe's chest. Neither of them noticed the mass sphere of black energy crashing through the waters above them.... ------------------------------------- Io nearly fell back at her computer in shock at what she saw. "What! Was! That!?" Graham answered her colleague as she frantically tried to call up her superiors at what had just happened. "Dimension Tide shot. Unregistered. Getting something on the sonar, due east of the boat!" Io regained her composure and cracked the camera's controls over to the left just in time to catch HokMuto exploding out of the sea like an erupting volcano. The primordial beast was bleeding from numerous wounds and obviously hurt, but otherwise in decent health. He'd live. The black titan hovered above the patch of ocean it rose from, as if catching his breath before flying back from whence he came. As it passed over the boat, dark colored blood splattered the last surviving camera, shutting out Io's view in a disgusting display. Io couldn't help but both wince and roll her eyes at the same time, spinning her desk chair around as she rubbed her temple. "Well Bug Boy's had a bad day, he'll be eating more to heal sooner. Best double his lunchbox this week to keep him on the island. Where's our not-so-jolly green giant?" Graham bit her lip as she typed away at the keyboards before her, the sonar reading coming back online as the Muto left the vicinity. There wasn't a single blip on the readings larger than six feet. "Absent, not even a body.... He must have been sucked into the vortex." Io shrugged as she took up a tally for the costs of cleanup operations needed to recover the radioactive elements, as well as make a new shipment to keep their 'pet' contained. The numbers already weren't looking good, but comparing it to the damage estimates of Gaira arriving at Honolulu; the latter should shut the governor up. "Then he's not our problem anymore..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Present time, several miles outside of Hollow Shades ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Starfall was not an adventurous stallion, but that didn't stop him from journeying deep into the forest glades. Dusk was afoot and it would be night soon. However the exact time and place were in order for him to put his talent to use. Starfall was a pegasus, but his talent dealt only with the sky in regards to source. He was a collector before he was anything at all resembling an athlete. He was out for star dust, glimmering fragments, no smaller than beads of sand, that befell to portions of the forest as night fell. They were small and shiny, sparkling not unlike their sources when put to the right light, and often gathering up in mounds that he'd gather up each night. Uses ranged from potions and medicine derived from their composition, to fashion designs making use of their glimmering light. Starfall was the chief supplier for the merchant center of the town, and he knew he'd have plenty of orders coming up. Though he had enough to meet demand, hunting for the sparkling treasure was a past time he enjoyed and tonight would be no different. As he passed an embankment of ferns, thoughts shifted to recent events. Odd goings-on had been occurring around town and a particularly bizarre happening had occurred earlier that day. -Mr. Mosaic definitely was torn up about the robbery. Then again with a theft like that who could have seen it coming. What kind of whacko-crook would have thought a full ton of broken glass shards would be worth stealing while leaving the stash of gold leaf untouched? Why is it this town has to have the thieves who are always off their meds? What's next, is someone's cache of rubber ducks going to go missing? Probably some sporadic middleschoolers playing off a weird bet- When he fully turned around a bend in the dirt path he was on however, the shimmer of something shiny in the road caught his eye. The pegasus raised an eyebrow as he trotted over to the offending object. -A bit early for stardust, what is that?- He tilted his head as he reached and loomed over the shiny fragment. He raised a hoof and brushed aside the dirt, revealing it to be a small, bit sized shard of fractured glass. Looking up the game trail it happened to be on, he spied another tiny fragment glimmering in the dimming sun about eight meters up the trail. Instantly the realization as to what exactly he was looking at hit him, and after a moment of hesitation; he started up the path. -I don't remember this trail being here earlier, but the thief must have gone through and dropped a 'bread crumb trail'. I-I'll just follow it to see where they are and report back to the sheriff- Opting to avoid flying over to gain a better vantage point but risk his wing beats giving him away, Starfall proceeded on foot and slowly followed the tell tale hints that someone had moved through the area recently. Hoping his hypothesis about some prankster kids was right, he took extra mind to avoid brushing into any foliage; keeping as silent as he could be as he walked for several minutes. Whoever had stolen the glass was being very careful about moving it. Despite the trail being bumpy enough to make any wagon rickety, he was only finding individual shards over a very spread out interval. To move such a large load down such an unruly and narrow path and lose so little pieces seemed impossible. As the trail came to an end, turning around a large fallen tree, Starfall heard something. Turning his ears as he halted behind the tree trunk, he could detect the occasional drag and shifting that gave away movement on the other side. -The thief must be on the other side! M-Maybe it's somepony I'll recognize- He slowly began to peer around the trunk. - Pleasebejustsomekids- Pleasebejustsomekids- Pleasebejustsomekids- It was a group, but it wasn't just some kids. There were four of them in total. Four identical, wagon sized forms. The closest thing the terrified pony could compare them too, sighting their numerous spikes and horns; were enormous, demonic looking beetles. They were primarily black in color, with stripes of yellow trimming the edges of their exoskeleton. The one that was facing towards him enough revealed a single, alien red eye at the center of a three pronged head. They hissed and uttered a ticking sound to eachother as one of them dug its way into a gaping tunnel entrance at the base of a tree. To their side was a small mountain of assorted objects. Mirrors, windows, sand, all mixed into the recognizable small mound of glass shards that seemed to be the leftovers of Mr. Mosaic's order. He'd found the thieves, and what he saw terrified him. Scattered along the ground were bones, animal bones. The wings and tail of a manticore, some deer antlers and ribs, the arms of what used to be a bear. But what he saw at the center caused his black coat to turn white. A unicorn's skull, the horn having been broken off as something jabbed into the head for a quick kill. They weren't just glass thieves or carnivores, they were pony eaters. Starfall held in a scream as his entire body shook. -Sheriff would be way out of his league... I-I-I need to call the princesses! Alert the royal guard and army! I need to- Starfall froze as he heard the crack of a branch to his left. Quickly looking up he could see one of those nightmares, holding a glass statue in its blade-like forelimbs as it glared at him with its single red eye. Though the pegasus didn't know the creatures' name, they were not of this world. They arrived from their queen, who arrived from the burst of a weapon that shouldn't have ever existed. They were the swarm, the Legion Soldiers whom symbiotically served their monarch. And the one who just saw the horrified pony just signaled its entire company. ------------------------------- Some distance away ------------------------------- A cloaked, hooded figure retracted its claws from the punctured and bent metal of the train roof. It's covering flapping in the wind, it took only a small glance at a nearby patch of tall grass before kicking off the roof. Much to the surprise of the train attendees below it whom happened to have been looking out of the window at the time, the figure flew through the air and hit the ground with a skillful roll. Within a flash of a second, it had disappeared into the tall grasses. After taking a few moments to let the train pass, the towering figure raised back to his full height and waded through the foliage, his height being so large the grass only came up to his shoulders. It was a quiet field, cast in a gentle amber tone from the evening sun. The entity hardly paid it mind as he walked over to a stream. After taking a moment, as if to judge the depth, it let out a low shrug. Mist or smoke billowed out from where a maw would have been, the very air around the being becoming still as its body shifted. If one squinted, they'd see a faint line border the being's figure as it began to rise a few inches off the ground. Twin tails slipped out of the cloak as their owner began to use his telekinesis to levitate himself up, intent on hovering over the stream. He had moved forward a few inches when something halted his advance. The being looked down, and into the waving eyes of his own reflection. Instantly, concentration was ruptured and the figure fell down feet first into the cold waters, unchanging in posture. He stared down at the being that stared back at him, the image clearing as the ripples from his splash dissipated. In a few moments, it was like looking in a mirror. A hand shifted, reaching up and gently touching a face that was obscured to any onlookers. Retractable claws ran over hard bony plates and craggy spines as eyes narrowed and a jaw filled with recurved fangs quivered in a mix of anger, confusion, and shock. -This face... How did I become like this?...- His eyes widened as memories and visions hit their recipient like a block of dropped concrete. Scattered, shattered shards of recalled events came at him in a unorganized flurry. A gray planet. Fires, fires everywhere. A monster, that nightmare, a three headed demon setting everything ablaze. A crowd of beings, obscured by bright lights, looking at him at eye level. Enormous pain. Fire in his veins. The same crowd, now appearing as ants would appear too a lion. A battle. The demon leaving. Entrapment. A meteor. A weapon of war. Blackness. His mind had become a hateful, raging maelstrom. The reflection in the stream morphed as the nightmarish visions replaced reality. It spoke in a cold, echoing, hateful voice, staring back at the being with three sets of red eyes. It laughed at him. -There is no controller here. No one to keep me away and from probing further...- -SHUT....UP!- The nightmarish visions worsened as icy cold and mocking gold began to surround his vision. A cackling roar ripped through his mind like a gong, heralding pain that soared through every cell in the cloaked one's body. Snarling and sneering in rage and agony, he grabbed at his head as he stumbled back. -You bear my blood, my life. For an eternity, your mind shall be mine....- The specter chuckled a hellish laugh as he closed in. Golden light sparked amidst the hooded figure's red eyes, their owner whipping around to face the stream as trails of gold followed his movements. Energy built as the agonizing soul screamed and roared into the still air. "SILENCE YOU FIEND!" Torrents of light ripped out from the figure's body and repeatedly struck the stream in barrages. Hundreds of gallons of water were blown up into the air with the same force as a depth charge explosion, growing stronger with each blast. The visions ceased and the voice silenced. -So... nearly... free- The figure huffed and snorted to catch his breath, the reflection reverting to normal as he got to his feet and turned away. He refused to look at his image any longer. Just as he was about to proceed across the stream, he heard something that made his head perk up and face the forest. A scream.... ----------------------- Starfall was in an erratic panic. Ripping past shrubs and ferns, he barely had time to steal a backwards glance, regretfully assuring him his pursuers were hot on his trail. The legion soldiers were shredding every scrap of foliage in their way, cleaving through shrubs and shredding through the overhanging branches in their relentless pursuit. Gasping for breath, the black stallion spread his wings and took to the air. It increased his pace, so long as he could move in a straight line. Had it been an open plain he easily could have outsped his pursuers, but the winding, twisting forest kept him at a slowed pace. And whereas the insects were barely slowed down by the dense overgrowth, Starfall couldn't risk even clipping a tree for fear of being knocked to the ground. The dense overgrowth in the canopy and the speed at which the alien insects climbed barred him from merely flying up and away to safety. At best, he was keeping about two meters from the forest floor. -I have to lose them first! If I head back to the village with them on me I'll just lead these things to the townsfolk. There has to be a clearing somewhere!- There was a clearing a few dozen yards ahead, but it wasn't the only truth. Unfortunately, the two other truths played out against the pony's favor. For one, not all of the Legion were behind him. Secondly, Legion Soldiers can jump three meters into the air with ease. He found out the first part in a few moments, he found out the second when the hidden Legion Soldier leapt out from the shrubbery and swung out its sword-like arm, slashing the poor pegasus across the side of his back leg. Starfall barely had time to yell out in pain before he was sent tumbling across the ground in a heap, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt for several yards before falling to a stop in a clearing. His vision was blurred and distorted as he weakly careened between consciousness and unconsciousness. The landing had knocked him senseless and he couldn't muster a muscle beyond his blinking eyelids to move. The bugs were getting closer, and he couldn't muster the strength to get up. They stopped, looking up at something Starfall could sense was coming up behind him. A flash. Light, golden light. Streams of golden light shot over him and impacted the nearest insect, combusting it in a miniature explosion of exoskeleton and hissing gas. Something leaping over him, a brown cowl or cloak obscuring its form beyond some bits of black and white. It was attacking the monsters. Some of the insects tried to fight back, but were cut down easily from a mix of physical attacks and golden flares. The remaining bugs were soon either dead or scattering, running like frightened mice before a hungry cat. The hooded form turned, walking over and looming over him as the sun set. It stared down at him with glowing, evil, ruby colored eyes that chilled his breath and horrified the mind. Then Starfall passed out. .......... ....... .... .. . ------------------------------------------ The creature he was carrying over his arms was surprisingly light weight for something of its size and height. Wading through a familiar patch of tall grass, the cowl wearing rescuer approached a patch of a clear stream. The peacefulness of the waters betrayed the blast marks and patches of sand turned fused glass, let alone the lashes of gravitons and plasma that scorched the waters less than an hour earlier. In spite of all he'd thrown at it, it seems this world was quick to reassert itself. Still, the stream's returning visitor paid it about as much mind as he did his reflection this time around. Needless to say, next to none. Avoiding the fused glass, charcoal black hands set the wounded stallion down on the shore as their owner crouched down and looked Starfall over. Eyes drifted down to the bloodied leg, it's muscle twitching every now and then in spasms. The cut wasn't very deep, but it was blotted with as much dirt and dust as it was scabbing blood, surely to get infected if undressed. The answer to the last part's outcome was a matter of if the wound's onlooker cared. -Legion attacking a foe that couldn't hope to stand a chance to fight back....deplorable- The entity rose back to its feet and paced over to the stream. Minding not to look into its reflection, it grabbed a corner of its cloak with one hand and held the other out over the cloth. A recurved, razor edged claw unsheathed itself on the tip of the index finger in a manner akin to a switchblade. Nodding to itself briefly, the figure slashed at its own clothing, cutting two strips of fabric from the cloak. After kneeling down to soak them in the clean waters, it walked over to the still twitching pony. -Be glad you are no fighter kid...- As soon as the first rag touched the wound, the cold waters and smooth cloth wiping away the dirt and grime, the muscle spasms ceased. Tossing aside the dirtied wipe, the black beast retracted his claw and with the same hands that crushed in a Legion Soldier's exoskeleton minutes earlier, picked up Starfall's leg and bandaged the wound, keeping the binding tight to halt the bleeding and let it clot up. The pony's benefactor rose up to his feet, nodding at his handiwork. -You will be alright now...- The squeaking of wagon wheels caused him to whip his head up and glare down the trail that went past the stream. Several dozen yards away a cart, a carpenter's based off the supplies onboard, had just come across the bend and into view, a large earth pony stallion and unicorn mare pulling it. The hooded one knew when to make an exit, and that time had come. Telekinesis boosting his movements, he bolted up hill and into the forest. In his haste however, the bindings to the cloak Marigold had given him came loose and slipped off. For a split second, the carpenters saw the creature running off the path before them completely unobscured. What they saw made their heart stop for a moment in shock. "What in Faust's name!" "I don't think Faust has a-anything to do with that thing..." ------------------------------------------ He'd been running full sprint for some time, rushing past patches of woods and fields. He was heading no particular direction, so one could say his actions were akin to high speed wandering. He was only looking for one thing: Familiarity. The flash of red light gave him that, and he skid to a halt. Twin tails and red eyes snapped around to face the dark figure standing before him, leaning against a tree with its arms crossed. Instantly, the runner's arms dropped in a laid back manner and a deep chuckle uttered out while he turned his head to the side. "Thought you might be around here somewhere." "Well between you running around every which way and me teleporting about, we were bound to bump into eachother eventually." "You picking up any others on your sensors?" "Hm...." A light flickered on a red visor, options clicking to life on an internal heads up display. "Well my 'baby brother' was in the blast radius, and if both of us ended up in this loony land so he'll probably here too... He's probably on his way here now that I think about it... Spotted some Gyaos on the way here coming up southward about 200 clicks out. Picking up a large cluster building up about 50 clicks southwest from here, Godzilla and Mothra definitely amongst them. You?" "Least we now know where that mongrel ended up... I took out some Legion soldiers that were in my way so that queen bug is probably here too." "So there's about ten or twelve of us all together on a continent full of talking ponies. And either this planet is filled with kaiju sized life forms or we've been shrunk down to about 3 meters high... This is almost as bad as that radio incident with the Kilaaks at the race meeting. What has the world come too?" The runner staggered out a shrug for a moment in what could almost be taken as a chuckle at memories past. "We'll find out soon enough. Might as well keep moving though until we do." He turned and began to walk calmly down the forest path, passing through a moon lit glade. Gigan shrugged, rotating his mechanical, scythe tipped arms as he walked after his wartime comrade. "You never stop moving do you X? Got nothing better to kill time on." ------------------------------------------------- Starfall Monster X ?????????? Gigan (Millennium)