Disclaimer: I do not own Godzilla: The Series or the 1998 movie; they are the property of Fox studios. The exceptions to this rule are characters of David Elric and Steven Tenecora, who are of my creation. Anyway, enjoy the prologue to this epic tale!
Godzilla: Legacy of David Elric
Prologue
The door is opened slowly by one of the guards; he sweeps through the entire room looking for any sign of the intruder. It is a long and narrow meeting room, where the officials would come to hold their biweekly meetings. As he searches around the room, part of the ceiling gives way and reveals a pair of legs, dangling from the newly-made hole. The guard reaches up and pulls him down, discovering that the corpse is of one of the guards he was associated with. Shocked, he grabs his radio and presses the transmit button.
"HQ, this is patrol unit 1104."
"This is HQ, report your status."
"One of the missing units has been discovered in the sector A-3 meeting room. It looks like they were killed by the hands of the intruder."
"… All units, be on the lookout for non-personnel, the intruder is on he move. Permission to open fire on the target is granted." The guard puts away his radio and walks out the door, leaving without showing any concern for his fallen comrade. On the way to his post, he tries to calm himself down.
"Take it easy; you're a soldier. Death is the essence of your life; a sight like this shouldn't be new to you." The guard pauses for a moment and thinks about the person he found in the ceiling. He recognized him as one of the new recruits that were hired only weeks ago. Why would an experienced infiltrator dispose of new recruits so harshly? The guard shakes his head. "Poor rookies, they never stood a chance. I mean, they barely-" Before he can finish his sentence, the guard is grabbed from behind and restrained. He attempts to break free, but it ceased to be of use.
"Apparently, neither did you." The intruder snaps his neck and drags the body back to his earlier victim, and slams the door shut. The intruder is a middle-aged man; he is Caucasian with a blonde ponytail and green eyes behind small rectangular glasses. He dons a long blue coat that rides down to his ankles as well as a gray neckerchief. He wears a thick belt across his waist and baggy grayish-black pants with heavy duty boots. Not the optimal choice for a stealth mission, but it was his signature outfit.
He navigates through the maze-like corridors and past several guards until he locates a room where file cabinets lay at every corner. He begins digging through each one, but stops suddenly as he locates a folder marked with a small, yellow tag. Inside are documents detailing secret nuclear experiments taking place under the eye of the French government and reports on the experiments written by the very scientist that conducted them; this was what he was looking for. He pulls the folder from the cabinet and reaches for his earpiece:
"This is agent jira reporting. I have successfully recovered the files."
A female voice responds, "Great work agent, but you're not, how do you say, 'out of the woods' yet. Your last goal is to destroy the base and everything within it."
The intruder scoffs. "That's too bad. I don't think I packed enough explosives to bring down the entire place, but I can manage."
"Don't worry, there's a self-destruct mechanism this time around. Head to the main control room in sector G-7, there you can start the initial sequence. Your extraction point is on the pier, there is a speed boat that you can use to sail back to base."
"You know, I never understood the purpose of a self-destruct mechanism. It makes my job almost too easy."
The contact sighs. "Did I just hear a complaint? This is coming from a man who spends his 'hard-earned' salary on low-tech weaponry and alcohol?"
"Hey, my weapons are absolutely fine; not once have they broken down or jammed up on me."
"Whatever. Spare me your defensive comebacks and just complete the assignment."
"Alright, fine. Keep in mind the last time I used the equipment given to me, I could barely finish the mission with all of the noise it was making. I'm proceeding with the mission objective; Jira, over and out." He disconnects the earpiece and leaves the room. On the way to his destination, Jira takes a moment to reflect on why he is in this situation. He recalls that in exchange for his service and cooperation, he would be given protection and support for his past actions. In a deep state of mind, he loses his place and triggers a laser trap, sounding the alarm.
"The intruder has been spotted in sector F-4! All units are to report to the area and bring down the intruder!"
"This isn't right! I've seen guards pass by that area several times, why didn't the alarm go off for them?" A surprised Jira begins charging through the narrow hallways to flee the scene. Moments later, he arrives at the G-7 control room. After clearing the room of the workers, he takes a place in front of a monitor and begins typing in the self-destruct sequence. He hears a gun click behind him as he nearly finishes his mission.
"You almost did it. Had you not been so careless, you would probably be on your way out of here by now. Answer me this: did the sensors go off because you weren't fully focused, or have you finally been outsmarted?" Jira turns around to see a young man in his 20s. He is slightly tan and outfitted in a military commander's uniform. "I'm not sure whether not it's good to see you again. It's been years since we last met, but here we are in opposite factions."
"Steven Tenecora." replies the stealth operative. "What exactly are you doing here?"
"I would ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer. Much like you did, I left the military to pursue something greater. I, at least, didn't leave everyone asking questions. That reminds me, the area you were spotted in has sensitive laser sensors all along the walls. They don't affect my men because they are wearing a specially designed uniform that reflects the beams from the sensors. Weren't you just asking yourself that?" Jira gives the man a cold stare. "What's wrong, old friend? Did my superior planning leave you speechless?"
"No, I was just wondering why you haven't killed me yet. It's a bit odd that-"
"That's because I don't have the reason to do so right now. Are you really this impatient about death, umm, 'Jira' is it? Such a strange codename you would give yourself. It wouldn't have anything to do with why you left the army, right major?"
"That's none of your concern. Steven, don't make me kill you. I trust you, and I just want to finish this mission and get out of your way."
"Maybe that's what your problem is, major." Steven points the gun at his head. "You're TOO trusting."
"Commander!" shouts a voice from Steven's radio. "Something's been spotted in the south-east area of the island!" Taking advantage of his rival's distraction, Jira disarms him and throws him to the floor. Shocked, the commander gives his former commanding officer a blank look.
"It's funny how quickly the tide can change in the midst of battle. A soldier is supposed to be trained to stay focused and on task, otherwise they end up in a position similar to yours." An angered commander tries to stand up, but is held back by a loaded gun. "Feel free to answer your radio, I'll be right back" He walks to the keyboard to finish the sequence, keeping a close eye on his downed opponent. Steven reaches for his radio and presses down on the transmit button.
"Report, soldier."
"Sir, no one knows what ran through the island, but the locals aren't pleased with it. Whatever it is, we've lost sight of it. As of now, we're searching-" There is a violent trembling throughout the building. The two former U.S. soldiers take note of the loud explosions nearby. "Oh my god! What is th--" too much static and background noise keeps the signal from coming in clearly. "Sir, it's destroying… brushing off… no effect on… we need…" The transmission ends abruptly; the commander repeatedly attempts to get a response, but there is no such luck. He can't help but notice a smirk on the intruder's face.
"What do you know about this!?"
"I'm not saying anything, but what I will tell you is that I hope you have a reliable transport out of the area." Jira slams down one of the keys, and a robotic voice echoes throughout the base.
"Warning, the self-destruct mechanism has been activated. All personnel must evacuate the area within 5 minutes."
Steven chuckles lightly. "What makes you think you can escape in less than 5 minutes?" He pulls out an object blinking a bright red; a distress signal. "No hard feelings, old friend." He begins laughing maniacally
"None taken." Jira pulls the trigger, releasing a bullet straight in to his rival's kneecap. Steven yells in pain and curses his name as he tries to suppress the bleeding. "Don't worry, old friend, it's just business." The agent states as he charges through the door. Shortly afterwards, several guards rush in to the room; they immediately run to their commander's aid after seeing his wound.
Jira runs through the corridors, impressed that every soldier was either dead or preoccupied with their commander. The rooms near the exit are destroyed and filled with the fresh bodies to the guards. Most of the area is aflame, but he pays it no mind. Outside, there is a heavy storm with occasional thunder and lightning. Jira sees a small speedboat in the outskirts of the island. Storms weren't very common in Jamaica, but some of them were worse than this one. He hops into the boat and looks at his watch; he escaped the building in two minutes flat, a new record.
Inside, the guards are carrying Steven out of the room when he notices a man in a blue coat fleeing the island; documents in hand. He is then brought to the controls, where he punches in several keys. This brings up a targeting reticule that locks on to the speedboat. He watches the man sail away from his base as he finishes typing in the command.
"Just business." He exclaims as he presses the final buttons. One of the soldiers points to a timer on one of the monitors that count down from 1:30. The men leave the room when the words "torpedoes fired" flash on the screen. Disappointed that he cannot see the rest, Steven is carried out of the room and into his escape boat. He sails away from the island, pleased with the idea that payback has been achieved.
On the other side of the island, Jira gazes at his watch and counts down from 5. On 0, he hears a satisfying explosion behind him. Feeling triumphant, he cheers and reaches for his earpiece.
"Agent Jira reporting, my mission is complete. I'm on my way back now."
"Congratulations. Perhaps next time, you can try and keep the alarms from going off. That is the purpose of a stealth mission, no?
"Come on, give me a break. At least my 'low-tech' weapons didn't-" He hears an obnoxious beeping noise in the background.
"Agent! They have fired several torpedoes locked on to your boat!" Surprised, the agent turns around to see oval-shaped bulges propelled in his direction. "Get out of there!"
"Then what? You want me to swim out in the open ocean in a storm like THIS?"
"Just do it!" Jira jumps into the ocean, just dodging the explosion of his escape vehicle. This pushes him deep underwater and knocks the air out of his lungs. Struggling to ease the burning pain in his chest, he swims to the surface only to have the tides push him back. The result is having his head clash into a rock uncovered by forceful tide. As he loses consciousness, a voice calls to him from the earpiece.
"Agent, are you all right? Respond, say something! David, come in! David!"
The agent slowly sinks to the floor when he hears another voice calling to him, but it isn't coming from the earpiece. It's almost as if the voice is in his head.
"David, don't be afraid, you will be fine. I can take over from here, just hold on a little bit longer David. Please, do it for me…"
