The Second Battle of Hastings
He could remember it all so clearly.
It was just like that night years ago, when that thing came to Earth and proceeded to annihilate England in the space of a day. That gigantic, three-headed, golden dragon that had come to be known as Monster Zero had caused an event that had come to be known by many as 'the Second Blitz'. The name had come about slowly, apparently because several veterans had drawn up those comparisons with those horrific nights when the country was bombed during World War 2, and now it just kind of stuck.
Commander Peter Hutchinson, of the recently-formed Biohazard Countermeasure Unit, was now beginning to wonder if this was the sort of feeling those veterans had gone through that time. Right now he was feeling the same way, drawing up comparisons between the past and the present. After all, he was one of the few survivors from Monster Zero's attack, and had played a small part in the creature's defeat. His unit had now been called out of shore leave for this latest threat. It was small wonder he remembered the past so vividly, given what was happening now.
Twenty minutes earlier, at about 1943 hours, numerous reports had come in of an enormous object, cutting a path through the English Channel towards the coast just off Dover. Tracking stations had all confirmed the sighting, and several Navy destroyers had been sent out to investigate. The object had passed right by them, but eyewitness accounts all stated that it was another giant monster of some kind. The order had been given to evacuate all towns and cities along the south coast, and everyone in cities not far away such as London and Birmingham had been ordered to be ready to leave at any minute. Hutchinson and his old unit, several of whom were from the same unit that assisted in defeating Monster Zero, were called to the area around Hastings, just in case the fighting should spread there.
Sure enough, not long later, an enormous monster had made landfall just outside Dover. Eyewitness accounts stated it to be some kind of dinosaur, a quadrupedal reptile with a back covered in sharp spines, and a long tail with sharp barbs on the end. The creature had to measure at least 200 ft. from snout to tail-tip. Some of the more educated people who saw the monster suggested it to be an enormous ankylosaur, but how something like that could still be alive, let alone much larger than fossil findings had suggested, was beyond anyone's comprehension.
As it had made landfall, units from the Territorial Army and Royal Air Force had been waiting, and had opened fire on the creature. The armed forces had learned from the Monster Zero attack that it would be too much to hope that they could kill this creature, but they could at least try to drive him off. As it turned out though, any hopes of deterring the monster proved false. The monster's armour was like a tank; machine-gun fire proved completely pointless, and shells and missiles from tanks and fighter jets served only to aggravate the creature further. No matter how many shells exploded, they didn't even dent the creature's thick hide. It had then suddenly released a loud, high-pitched roar, and suddenly charged, running on all fours away from the area, flattening an entire tank battalion in the process. The fighter jets had flown straight after the rampaging ankylosaur, but they were having difficulty keeping up. The creature was incredibly fast, despite its size, and soon it had arrived at Hastings. Hutchinson saw the monster's arrival first-hand, could see it charging straight at them from several miles away, could hear it's loud footfalls drawing ever closer. He had given the order to evacuate the area, even knowing that monster would soon be upon them.
However, even as the order had left his mouth, there was a loud squawk and a sound like a rush of wings. The noise clearly startled the ankylosaur, which suddenly stopped and jerked its head around, trying to identify the source of the noise. It was then that the humans witnessed a huge pterosaur swoop into the area, heading straight at the ankylosaur. The new arrival's wingspan was huge, and it was hundreds of feet tall to match. As it rushed overhead, a sudden violent breeze ripped through the area, almost lifting the frightened humans off their feet. Hutchinson could only pray that there would still be buildings standing from those gusts; the nearest town was only a few miles away.
As he watched, the pterosaur flew straight at the ankylosaur, suddenly stopping and hovering in front of its opponent, flapping its huge wings to keep it airborne. Hutchinson couldn't clearly see what was happening; even with the searchlights set up, the pterosaur's back was to the humans, blocking the ankylosaur from view. The ankylosaur let out a loud wail, and raised a front claw to swipe at the pterosaur. As the flying creature quickly took itself higher to get out of the way, Hutchinson could now clearly see a large gash on the ankylosaur's snout. The pterosaur must have swiped at it with its sharp talons. The fighter jets had now caught up to the ankylosaur, and were now taking pot shots at both creatures, with neither machine guns nor missiles proving to have any noticeable effect.
Those had been the events of the last few minutes. Now, back in the present, the pterosaur was falling back. Everyone at the large garrison inadvertently ducked as it suddenly swooped overhead. It stopped and hovered scant yards from the garrison, which was no more than a couple of miles away from the ankylosaur, seemingly paying no attention to the humans cowering in front of it. This struck Hutchinson as odd; neither creature seemed overly bothered by the humans unless they opened fire, whereas Monster Zero had sometimes gone out of its way to kill anybody who tried to escape it. Were these things little more than animals? Around him, he could see the vehicles in the garrison moving, trying to get the men and machinery out of the zone between the two creatures.
However, they would never have the time to evacuate. For the pterosaur suddenly flapped its enormous wings in front of it repeatedly, and all at once vicious winds began ripping through the area. The soldiers were knocked off their feet and forced to scrabble for cover, as several tanks were caught in the blast and dragged along the grass. Some of the tanks even turned on their heads, one or two even started rolling away with the gusts. Several trees in the area were uprooted, crashing to the ground. In the midst of the howling winds, Hutchinson could hear the pilots of the fighter jets over the radio, hearing their agonised yells. Looking behind them, he saw the planes get caught in the hurricane-force winds and be forced back, spinning into oblivion. He also saw the ankylosaur laying flat to the ground, remaining firmly rooted to the spot. At last the winds died down, the garrison now a wreck, but with surprisingly few casualties. That attack had sent the pterosaur backward some considerable distance, but Hutchinson saw it spread those wings, and take off in the direction of the other dinosaur. The ankylosaur was still bent low to the ground, as if getting ready to charge again.
"Damnit!" Hutchinson yelled as he picked himself up, seeing the crews of the wrecked tanks come running back to the main unit. "How many guns do we have?"
"Seven tanks still operational!" one soldier called out. "We can't take much more of this! We've got to drive them back or we've had it!"
Hutchinson cursed under his breath. In one fell swoop most of their artillery had been decimated. The Air Force were no doubt scrambling more fighter jets to replace the lost men, and the Navy was certainly taking its time to arrive and provide backup. No doubt they were still debating the use of long-range missiles, given that they were not far from populated areas. He could hear a lot of garbled speech over his radio, and a number of yells as furious orders were given, but nothing was distinct. It was hard for him to fathom what was going on amidst the confusion. All he knew for certain was that this had to end quickly, before they lost too many men. Hutchinson picked up his radio.
"All units!" he called, "Aim for the flying monster! Open fire!"
At once all of the remaining guns sounded, the shells flying straight at the pterosaur's flight path. However, at the last possible instant the creature suddenly flew straight up, pulling off a loop-the-loop, dodging clear of the tank shells which all exploded uselessly in midair. It released a loud cry as it did so, and resumed its course for its opponent.
As it reached the ankylosaur though, the ground-based creature suddenly sprung forward, actually leaping little over a hundred feet off the ground. Hutchinson figured that its back legs had to be extremely powerful to allow it to make such a jump. As it jumped, it tackled the pterosaur in mid-air. Both creatures let out loud shrieks as they fell to the ground. The ground shook violently as they impacted on the ground, sending the soldiers sprawling. Mounds of earth flew up as the two monsters, seemingly locked in a deadly embrace, came crashing quite close to the garrison.
The soldiers quickly picked themselves up. Shouts of "Fall back!" could be heard, and the tanks were pulling out. Hutchinson turned back to see the two monsters slowly picking themselves up, now sporting numerous cuts and bleeding profusely. As the two creatures started dragging themselves to their feet, the soldiers ran for their lives, as the ankylosaur's tail suddenly swept dangerously close to the battalion. Hutchinson ran too, fearing that at any second the battle between these two was going to send them straight into the retreating soldiers.
"Cmdr. Hutchinson!" a scared voice resounded over the radio, as the two creatures began swiping each other frantically with their claws, "This is the HMS Endeavour! What's your battalion's status?"
"We're getting hammered!" Hutchinson yelled furiously, "Where the fuck is the long range support?!"
"We're sorry sir..." the seaman responded. "All of our armaments have been disabled! We can't fire long-range weapons!"
"What?!" Hutchinson said, stopping to look back out across the dark waters of the Channel. "How did you let that happen?!"
"The truth is..." the seaman stammered, "... they... they were disabled... gummed up... by..."
Even as the words were leaving the poor man's mouth, Hutchinson could hear something else. It was faint, but he was sure it was becoming clearer. The sound was a strange, unearthly singing. Glancing around, he noticed he wasn't the only one who seemed to be hearing things, as the rest of the surviving soldiers were gazing all around them, looks of extreme puzzlement on their faces.
"Sir!" one of the young corporals shouted, "Can you hear that singing?! Where the hell's it coming from?!"
All Hutchinson could do was shake his head in reply. Looking at the two monsters, it seemed they too were hearing the singing, and were equally at a loss to explain it. It was then that Hutchinson heard a loud, high-pitched cry; a cry that he'd heard before two years ago.
As he looked back out across the Channel, he could clearly see the outline of a gigantic moth creature against the star-strewn sky. As the surviving searchlights spun round to identify it, Hutchinson could see the brightly-coloured gossamer wings, with the very same markings as the moth that helped the humans to battle Monster Zero two years before. It had to be the same creature; there couldn't be any possible doubt. Hutchinson could scarcely believe his eyes. Neither could any of the other soldiers present.
Hutchinson began to see that this was a distraction he could use, as the two dinosaurs were now gazing intently at the moth, curious about the new arrival. He could see the tanks getting ready to fire again. They all had a clean shot. The young soldiers nodded, signalling they were ready to fire. It was now or never. Suddenly, as he was about to give the order to open fire, Hutchinson heard a loud female voice in his head, an ancient voice that sounded wise beyond the years.
"Cmdr. Hutchinson! Cease your attack!"
Hutchinson held his head in his hand. He was now hearing voices in his head, telling him not to fire, though looking around him no-one had spoken. He decided that he had to have imagined it; this was doubtless a result of stress.
"I can lead these beings to a safe place, away from humans!" the voice spoke again, more determinedly, "Please, I must ask you not to fire!"
Hutchinson actually doubled over as he heard the voice in his head, louder this time. He wasn't imagining it. He really was hearing voices in his head, and now he feared the very real possibility that he was going mad. One of his unit saw him, and ran over.
"Sir!" he shouted. "What's going on? What's wrong?!"
Hutchinson slowly rose, looking back at the three creatures, who were gazing at each other intently, seemingly preparing to attack. The moth creature moved closer, and Hutchinson could hear the ankylosaur give a low snarl. He shook his head, trying to shut the voice out. If they didn't open fire now, they wouldn't get another chance.
"Please..." the voice spoke, more reassuringly, "They do not know that this land is no longer theirs to roam. They do not even know what humans are. Death should not be dealt so swiftly as punishment. This isn't like the events that destroyed your home all those years ago. They can still live in peace away from humans. Please... do not be so quick to judge."
Hutchinson shook his head. Now the voices were sermonising to him, but at present he was in no mood to listen to any form of preaching. He had sworn to help defend this country from any monster invasions after the Monster Zero attack. He would not allow a repeat of the horrific events of that fateful night.
As he watched, he saw a soft light emanating from the moth. The other two creatures seemed to undergo a radical change. Their eyes drooped slightly, almost like they'd suddenly being drugged, they were moving slightly, out of the aggressive stances they'd taken before. Now that he saw them like this, Hutchinson couldn't help pitying them, even if he couldn't make sense of what was going on. They looked like lost children, just looking for somewhere to call home. He looked around him, seeing the rest of the battalion was completely in awe at this event.
Finally, one of them came to his senses long enough to ask, "What now, sir?"
For a few seconds, Hutchinson didn't answer. He was still awestruck by this sight, at this silent exchange between the behemoths. They all seemed to be waiting for something, though to Hutchinson it looked like some kind of silent conversation. He was finally snapped out of his entrancement as his radio buzzed loudly, as the seaman on HMS Endeavour spoke again.
"Sir!" the seaman began, "All artillery has been repaired! We're ready for your order, sir!"
Hutchinson was torn. If he didn't act, there was a danger these creatures could go berserk again, and if that happened, the battalion would almost certainly get wiped out. Yet if he fired on them, he started to wonder if that would make him responsible for murder. Even if he didn't kill them, there was nothing to stop them retaliating on the nearest populated area.
"Sir?" the seaman asked, "Do we fire?"
Hutchinson closed his eyes, knowing that he would regret what he was about to say.
"Negative," he said, receiving a number of startled looks from the soldiers around him. "All units, stand down. Repeat, stand down."
"Sir?" the soldier nearest him asked, "What are you saying? If we don't fire now, we-"
"I know!" Hutchinson half-shouted. "I know... My order stands. All units are to cease fire immediately."
Even as he said this, he saw the moth monster release a loud chirrup, before turning, and flying back out towards the Channel. The pterosaur instantly reared, taking off from the ground and following. The ankylosaur meanwhile released a hollow barking sound, before it stomped over the edge of the cliffs, landing with a resounding splash in the water below. Hutchinson could see its huge form swimming through the waters, following the two airborne creatures.
"The creatures are retreating!" the seaman radioed in, "Heading out towards the Atlantic. Do we set a pursuit course?"
"That's a negative," Hutchinson replied, now feeling slightly more confident in his decision. "Just let them go."
"Yes, sir," the seaman said, though he sounded like he was unsure of Hutchinson's orders. "Making for port."
The soldiers around him seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief, just happy to be alive after that encounter. Hutchinson knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do; the military top brass would no doubt be unhappy at his inaction, after everyone's reports were filed. His main worry though was the owner of that voice; who was she? Why did she want them to spare the monsters? What was going on here? As he watched the trio of monsters leave, he heard the voice come again, much fainter now.
"Thank you..."
Soon enough, the outlines of the three creatures faded completely into the night.
He dropped down onto the grass, feeling exhausted. He heard no victory cheers from the rest of the unit; their celebration was much quieter, more restrained. Maybe they felt it was a hollow victory. Hutchinson knew he was leaning towards that idea himself. He could hear them all, moving away, pulling the tanks out. Maybe some of them were grieving for the men they had lost, even though the death toll was nowhere near the level of Monster Zero's.
"Are you okay, sir?" he heard a voice ask. He turned around, seeing it was a young, blond-haired soldier. Pvt. Livingston, he recognised him to be.
"Oh... oh nothing," Hutchinson said, "Just tired..."
"I still can't believe it..." Livingston said, in a faint voice, "This'll be the second monster attack I've been involved in, and the second time I've seen that moth-thing save our arses. What is it with that bug?"
"Dunno," Hutchinson shrugged. Eventually, he managed to decide that there was no point sitting here. Keira would be waiting back at home, no doubt she'd seen any news reports and was waiting for her husband. He knew he couldn't keep her waiting. So he pulled himself up to his feet, and he and Livingston left to rejoin the troop.
"The top brass are never gonna believe this..." he muttered.