PROLOGUE - The Predator

"It is important to realize that the Earth has been severely altered. We must assume that another Godzilla will emerge in the near future. We must also assume that many other organisms will be affected by nuclear testing, resulting in similar mutations. Although we will remember today as a victory, I fear we have entered into an age of monsters."

-Dr. Kyohei Yamane 1954

X-X-X-X-X

The ocean was stained with blood, where lifeless eyes stared up from hollow corpses. Bones and skulls tumbled and sank into the abyss while entrails and flesh littered the waves. Miles and miles of the surface had been transformed into a hell on Earth.

He had seen worse. Such grizzly sights no longer bothered Commander Frank Randolph. Still, it was hard to believe that only a few hours ago this massacre had been alive and swimming through the ocean. Intelligence told him it was a pod of blue whales, but the state of the carnage made it difficult to know for sure. Sometime between then and now, the intricate network of bones and organs were viciously ripped apart. The predator had eaten its fill and moved on, leaving behind this morbid sight. G-Force didn't know which kaiju had been responsible for the killing, but it certainly wasn't friendly.

Commander Randolph had enough. He passed his binoculars to another sailor and moved on. The balcony was packed with curious onlookers, all pushing to get a good look at the nightmarish slaughter. They quickly moved out of the way as their Commander plowed through.

He bellowed over the chatter of his crew, "Don't you maggots have anywhere else to be?"

Three G-Force ships trudged through the red waters. Leading them was the JDF Susanoo, the Commander's enormous destroyer of fifteen years. Susanoo was equipped with row upon row of maser turrets and artillery batteries. It was a striking spectrum of G-Force weaponry. Above the guns stood the control bridge, and it was where the Commander spent most of his time shouting orders and pacing around in frustration.

Following in the Susannoo's wake were two smaller ships, the USS Athens and the USS Washington. Both looked downright juvenile next to the Susanoo, but they were all that was available.

Satellite images from G-Force's orbital station, Moonlight SY-2, had shown that a massacre took place just north of Hawaii at 9:30 am on August 4th 2010. The only creature capable of such carnage was a kaiju. Normally, an event like this would take place far out in the open ocean, but this was dangerously close to Hawaiian shores. The trio of ships were sent out thirty minutes later to investigate. But if Randolph's suspicions were correct, three destroyers wouldn't be enough to withstand the kind of trouble they were in for.

Inside Susanoo'sbridge, the air was choked with radio chatter, the hum of machinery, the typing of keys. Randolph marched down the aisle, came to a stop, and stood over a young Officer. The Officer's name escaped Randolph at the moment, but the boy was in charge of monitoring chemical patterns. Right now there was only one reading Commander Randolph cared about.

"Any spike in radiation?"

"We're getting something from the carcasses. Reading a steady increase in Strotium-90."

"Shit." Randolph rubbed his brow.

He hurried to another young Officer and gripped his shoulder, "Anything on the sonar?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Keep an eye on it."

The crowd of sailors were still wasting time out on the balcony, fighting to get a look at the blood-streaked ocean. Randolph stormed out, crashing through the door, "Stop fucking around and get to your stations! Now!" His voice was like a can of tear gas, and the crowd immediately dispersed.

Randolph locked himself back in the bridge. He double checked the bolts on the door, then took a deep breath.

The kill was too fresh. The blood hadn't dispersed. The predator was still in the area.

And if the predator had left traces of Strotium-90 in the carcasses, Randolph knew exactly who the culprit was.

"Commander!" An Officer across the bridge yelled, "Something just broke the surface, twenty kilometers west!"

"Do we have a visual?"

No need.

Blue light flooded the windows. A tremendous blast punched into the port side of the Susanoo, threatening to rip the entire ship apart. Randolph clutched the side of a console, barely managing to stay on his feet. Others weren't so lucky. Bodies hurled across the room. Men slammed into the walls.

The ship recoiled as the blast finally eased. Randolph stumbled. Officers climbed back into their seats. Warning klaxons blared overhead.

"Damage report!" Randolph demanded, hurrying down the aisle.

"MBT Masers thirteen through twenty are offline!"

"The port hull is caving in! Initiating failsafe operations!"

"What about the Firilium Shield?" Randolph asked.

"It's holding up, sir!"

They were still floating. After a direct hit from a nuclear ray, that was an admirable achievement. Thank God for the Susanoo. She had seen worse.

"Turn those klaxons off!" The Commander shouted.

The sirens went dead just as a deep boom rattled through the ship's steel. The sound of thunder, but they were okay. Someone else had taken a hit.

"The Athens has been cut in two!" An Officer shouted in utter disbelief, "She's sinking!"

"Quick, fire our batteries and draw the target's attention! Order the Washington to retreat!"

"Sir, what if it attacks us again?"

"Fire! Now!"

Their cannons went off in a non-stop succession of ear-splitting blasts. Randolph hurried to a window, still struggling to keep his balance as the ship swayed in the rough waters. Skidding to a stop, the Commander grabbed a railing.

He felt his heart skip a beat.

Its body looked like a dark mountain on the horizon, gigantic and framed in artillery smoke. It stood perfectly still, unfazed by the assault. Even from twelve miles away, Randolph could feel the predator watching them. Its dark eyes were fixed, hunting prey.

"USS Washington is retreating from the battlefield." An Officer confirmed, "What about us sir?"

"The Firilium shield can withstand another blast. We'll be fine." Randolph assured his crew, but deep down he was terrified. They were ants fighting against a lion.

Artillery detonated all around the monster in a storm of smoke and fire. Apathetic to the assault, the predator turned away. It ducked and vanished beneath the surface, slipping out of sight. Randolph knew it wasn't injured. Organizer G-1 didn't allow for its host to sustain injury. Mankind's arsenal was useless. Always had been.

"Hold your fire!" Randolph ordered.

Weapons Officers repeated the command into their headsets. The cannons ceased their barrage. An eerie silence settled on the battlefield, broken only by the red waves lapping at their hull.

"Sonar report, the target is retreating!" An Officer confirmed from somewhere behind the Commander.

The crew took a collective sigh, relaxing into their seats. Some had to get up and walk around. Others just stared off into space, stunned. Randolph hung his head and said a silent prayer.

"Did we scare him off?" Someone asked.

"No." Commander Randolph knew better, "He just got tired of us. Begin rescue operations for the crew of the Athens."

While the rest of the crew scrambled to salvage their fellow sailors, a young Communications Officer pressed her palm up to her earpiece. She blinked, a little startled to hear the voice on the other line, then she called her Commander over.

"What is it?" Randolph barked, marching across the bridge.

"Admiral Yoshiyuki is calling from Headquarters. He says it's urgent."

The Officer didn't have to clarify that last part. A direct line from the G-Force Admiral was always urgent. Randolph hurried to take the call, unaware that today's encounter with the king of monsters would be nothing compared to the sinister task awaiting him.