Chapter 1: Monster Hunters
What the heck am I doing? Ford thought to himself, staring out of the C-17's window. The ocean was rolling past him, oblivious to the cares of the MAMCU officer. He had to wonder what he was thinking, taking an officer's position in the new unit.
The Monarch Anti Mega-fauna Combat Unit was established in the wake of the San Francisco attack the year before. After that attack, more giant animals made their presence known, making an anti-mega-fauna unit necessary. They were a small unit, but they were armed with the most advanced weapons science could produce. The reason for said arming was that nukes or other expensive missiles were not preferable for dealing with monsters that could be safely handled by other means. Also, there were monsters that, for various reasons, could counter the missiles and required boots on the ground and extreme precision. Ford was invited to the unit at its conception. His work in San Francisco was noted by the brass, particularly admiral Stenz, and he was offered the job, along with a significant promotion and pay raise.
Which brought him back to his current dilemma. He didn't come away from San Francisco unscathed. He had lost a lot. He had lost the monster-free vision of the world. He had lost the idea that humanity was the most powerful force on the planet. He had lost his confidence in what he could do. But, most of all, he had lost his father. So why was he here? It wasn't that he was a greedy man, he just wanted to get by. He knew that his family would benefit from his increased pay, but was that the whole reason? He was emotionally damaged, darn it! Why would he continue to mix with monsters like those that had caused his pain?
"Mr. Brody," Dr. Serizawa said, interrupting Ford's train of thought.
The older man was assigned to MAMCU as a consultant. His information had proven vital for several take-downs, some of which spared major cities from certain disaster.
"Yes, doctor?" Ford acknowledged.
"We are nearly at the drop zone," Serizawa informed. "It is time for the final briefing."
"Right," Ford muttered as stood, preparing to address his men.
Ford moved from where he was to where the men were. They all stood at attention as soon as Ford was visible. Ford scanned their faces. All of the soldiers wore the same 'at-attention' expression. Their unity was a key part of what made the unit function. Despite the many different backgrounds of the men and women standing at attention, they all united for their common purpose: slaying monsters.
"At ease," Ford said, preparing to give the final briefing. "We are nearing the drop zone in the Ryukyu Islands. The monster we're hunting first appeared on the southernmost of the islands, and has been reported to be island-hopping, making its way to the Japanese mainland. Its movement patterns indicate that, should it arrive on the Japanese mainland, it could possibly cause significant damage to several major cities, including Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and Kitakyushu. We're intercepting it just north of Okinawa to prevent this. I know we've been over this, but you all need to know the plan. We drop into the combat zone and pump lead into all the creature's weak spots. Keep your distance, as this one's a bit different. Dr. Serizawa will explain all that we know about the creature's biology."
Ford stepped back as Dr. Serizawa, wearing a simple outfit consisting of jeans, a nondescript shirt, hooded jacket, and hat, stepped forward. He had some sort of tablet in his hands, likely displaying the information that had been collected about the creature.
"This creature is in the reptile family," Serizawa began. "It greatly resembles geckos, but on a much larger scale. The creature rises to a height of approximately 75 feet and is over 200 feet long. The creature is capable of focusing its vocal capabilities into a concentrated sonic attack, which has caused missile attacks to fail. Beware of that ability as you approach, as you will not survive that attack. This attack is also the reason for the increased insulation in your helmets. Its hide is tough, but its belly is vulnerable, as well as the joints. But these weak spots will not be easily exploited, as the creature carries itself low to the ground, and moves very fast for a large animal."
Serizawa concluded and stepped back, allowing Ford to once again take control.
"All right," Ford started, "any questions?"
There was silence. A few of the soldiers looked at each other, and Ford could hear murmurs go throughout the group.
"Speak up," Ford ordered. "If you wait till the mission to ask questions, it'll be too late."
"Sir?" a young woman spoke up, raising her hand. She was no older than 22, with dark brown skin and straight, black hair. She had large eyes that were almost as brown as her skin.
"Ridgeway?"
"Wouldn't the sonic attack that the doc mentioned be dangerous for a drop?"
It was a legitimate question. Fortunately, Ford had the answer. "We'll be dropping one-and-a-half klicks ahead of the creature's current location," Ford explained.
"That should be out of its range," Serizawa added.
"Anything else?" Ford asked his men.
There was a unified, "Sir, no sir!"
"Then finish prepping your equipment. We drop in five mikes at fourteen-thirty-one."
Ford dismissed the unit, moving to get his own equipment. He slung a bag full of ammo to his back, making sure to properly secure it. He then secured a parachute. He fastened an oxygen mask to his face, preparing for the jump. He checked his MAR to be sure it was in working order.
MAR stood for Magnetic-Accelerator-Rifle, a first-of-its-kind next-gen weapon. The rifle shot traditional .223 ammunition, same as the standard military issue, but this gun had an electromagnetic system surrounding its barrel. The magnets would accelerate the bullets up to Mach 4, or nearly 3,000 miles per hour. The intense speed of the bullets allowed them to pierce the extremely tough hides that were common in many of the monsters. Despite the advanced equipment, the rifles had proven extremely durable. Not one member of the unit had needed to get any sort of maintenance for it aside from routine cleaning. However, Ford wasn't sure how the weapons would fare against something as tough as Godzilla. He hoped that Godzilla would never get on Monarch's radar in a bad way, as he was confident that MAMCU couldn't stop him.
"Ford," Serizawa's voice called.
Ford turned to look the Japanese scientist in the eye. The man looked troubled, like something wouldn't go right in their mission.
"Yes?" Ford responded, securing his MAR to his pack.
"We were not able to study the creature in great detail," Serizawa informed. "It may have surprises in store. Make sure you are ready."
Ford nodded as the jump warning sounded. The captain took his place with his troops. The rear door of the C-17 opened, allowing the pressurized air to rush out of the plane, taking with it all the warmth. Ford was briefly reminded of his jump into San Francisco, but shook the thoughts off. He had a mission to complete.
The plane blared the signal to jump. With a crashing of boots, the soldiers all rushed towards the open skies. Ford ran off the edge of the ramp with no second thoughts. Following what was fast becoming a reflex, Ford spread out his arms and legs, slowing his fall. Unlike the San Francisco jump, the day was clear, and Ford could clearly see the island below. It was a small island, no more than 5 klicks in total diameter. The bright blue ocean contrasted with the deep green of the island's foliage. Ford could also see a brown trail, about one klick long, that went from the shore to somewhere in the island. That would be the monster.
Ford mentally braced himself as the air rushed past, practically letting him hear the distance between himself and the ground shrink. The temperature was fast increasing, as Ford could feel the warm, sub-tropical air penetrate his suit. The wetness in the air didn't help any, and Ford knew that his uniform would be soaked by the time he touched ground.
They were almost down now. Ford could make out trees as the ground rushed up to meet him. He could catch glimpses of little streams and rivers. But he also caught glimpses of their monster. Serizawa's report had been accurate, the creature shared remarkable similarities to a gecko. The creature wasn't moving as fast as the preliminary reports suggested it could, so Ford hoped that it was a sign of exhaustion.
He pulled his chute, turning his fall into a glide. Ford looked around, and saw that the unit was following his lead. One trooper had problems with their chute, and, for a second, it seemed that the trooper wouldn't make it. Then the reserve chute popped open, and Ford gave a sigh of relief. He guided himself to an area of the local forest that wasn't as dense as the rest.
As Ford touched down, he shucked the chute, letting the thing fall to the ground a little ways behind him. He took a few quick steps forward to compensate for the landing energy, then watched for the rest of the unit. They all landed in quick succession, regrouping with Ford within minutes.
"The monster's about one klick south of us," Ford told them. "We cut it a little close. Let's move."
Several soldiers drew machetes as they moved into the sub-tropical forest. There were many rather large bushes, containing dense clusters of green leaves. The soldiers in front removed those obstacles rather quickly. The trees were rather large, and just had to be avoided altogether.
The monster's screech could be heard now. Ford was glad for the extra padding in his helmet, as the roar was very high pitched, worse than the sound of tea kettle going off or a soprano in falsetto. The sheer volume of the creature's roar caught Ford off-guard, though it should not have, as the creature's main weapon was a sonic attack.
15 minutes ticked by. The soldiers were moving more warily now, as the creature had stopped releasing its roars. Everyone looked at the foliage, as if the giant lizard would jump out at them from anywhere. If there were any local animals, they had long since fled from the monster's path. The island was making no noise. It was a deathly silence, and Ford didn't like it at all.
Gradually, the loud crashing of footsteps uprooting trees came into focus. The troopers tensed, waiting for either orders or for the creature to make an appearance. Ford decided that they would stop advancing and wait for the creature to come across their path.
"Stop here," the captain whispered. "Scatter, and attack it from all sides when it passes us. Keep your MARs in standard fire mode. We don't need the hum of the magnets giving away our position. Switch only when you're about to fire."
The team hurried to follow his orders, quickly spreading out and disappearing into the forest. Ford ducked into an area of bushes along with one other soldier. Ford briefly noted that it was Ridgeway. She seemed excited.
"You ready to kick some monster tail?" Ridgeway whispered excitedly.
"This is your first real mission, isn't it?" Ford whispered back.
"Yep" Ridgeway replied, still whispering in an upbeat tone. "I'm ready to pay back those pains-in-the-rear that destroyed 'Frisco."
Ford went silent. Memories of that day were a sore spot for him, and the members of the unit that had been there longer all knew not to bring it up. Hopefully, Ridgeway wouldn't press the issue. Otherwise, she'd find out firsthand about Ford's distaste for the subject. It briefly brought back the dilemma of why he was here at all.
"It's a real honor to work with you, sir," Ridgeway whispered respectfully. "You're a hero to many people like me."
"I'm no hero," Ford told her. "I'm just a man trying to do what's best for his family."
"Understood, sir."
The crashing that Ford had noted earlier was practically on top of them. This conversation was over.
"Get ready," Ford ordered, shouldering his rifle.
A massive head went right by where Ford and Ridgeway were encamped. It was followed by an even larger body, supported by legs that were as thick as the trees around them. The monster was coated in a smooth armor of green scales, and had spinal protrusions along his back, not unlike Godzilla's, just on a smaller scale. The feet were wide and had sharp, large, retracted claws. The creature's eyes were scanning around, searching for any threat.
Ford held his breath, moving the index finger of one hand onto the trigger and the thumb of his other hand onto the switch that turned on the magnets. Ford was vaguely aware of Ridgeway doing the same. The bulk of the creature's body slid by, and Ford saw none of the weak points that Serizawa had explained. The creature seemed to be aware of the fact that showing his weak spots could result in it getting killed.
It was time to lead by example. In less than a second, Ford had activated the magnetic coils in his rifle, releasing a satisfying hum, and begun pulling the trigger. The automatic fire and the high velocity rounds hitting its hide made the creature stop, hissing in annoyance. Before it could fully face Ford, more automatic fire opened, confusing and enraging the creature. Suddenly, it was being pelted from all sides and had seemingly nowhere to go.
Ford began moving, making careful sidesteps to avoid the creature's massive tail and legs, which it kept thrashing everywhere, knocking over trees with great wooden cracks. The creature let out a massive roar. Ford ducked, dropped his gun and pressed his hands to his ears. The roar was ear-splittingly lout. Even with the extra padding in his helmet, he felt like his head was going to explode.
Suddenly, the com lines went abuzz. The troops were panicked, asking for orders. Ford tried to focus on something in the chaos, but it was difficult. After a moment, he gathered that the creature had used its sonic attack, and that two of the troops were now dead. However, the creature was still stuck, as the rain of gunfire continued, giving it nowhere to go.
Ford picked his gun back up, trying to aim at the joint between the creature's right-rear leg and its body. Ford pulled the trigger, eliciting a pained howl from the creature as it rapidly rotated to face him. Before Ford could do anything, the massive reptile was staring him in the eye, ignoring the pelting fire coming from all around it.
Crap, Ford thought as the creature took in a deep breath. He'd only have a split second to dodge this. Ford darted to the side, just as the debilitating roar tore through the forest. As he hit the ground with a thud, he saw the effect that the creature's sonic attack had. It was a focused, beam-like disruption of the air. The air affected by the sonic attack looked cloudy, and swirled as if Ford was staring through water and not air. There was also the painfully loud howl.
The creature stopped the attack rather quickly, having noted that it missed. Ford saw that it was sucking in another breath, but this time it was rearing up to do so. Ford shot it just below the throat, causing it to recoil in pain. The other troops wasted no time, pumping lead into the exposed creature. It roared in pain, and Ford saw the distortion of the sonic attack rise into the sky as the creature died.
The dead creature collapsed to the forest floor with a massive thud, breathing its last. The troopers slowly emerged from hiding. Ford did a quick headcount, and saw that a total of five men had been killed. Their losses would be mourned, but that was the best casualty rate of any mission yet.
"That was intense," Ridgeway said from somewhere behind him.
Ford nodded. The adrenaline was still running, and his head felt a little cloudy. "It was a rush, but it wasn't the worst mission we've ever been on."
"I can't imagine what the worst would be," Ridgeway muttered, moving off to do who-knows-what.
He looked at the carcass of the creature. That had been one of their smoothest missions to date. Everything went according to plan and losses were minimal. Ford had to be grateful for that. There had been other missions that had not gone so well. He shuddered, recalling a mission that had gone wrong in nearly every way. The team had dropped in the Sahara, and the monster evaded them. They spent a brutal week hunting it back down. The casualties from that battle had been severe.
Ford shook his head of the memories. Right now, he had to extract his team from the island. If the troops left on the C-17 had followed his instructions, and he was sure that they did, there would life boats waiting for them on the nearest shore. Ford rallied his team and ordered them to press towards the beach. He also ordered his strongest men to gather the dead. The least they could do for them was give them a proper burial in their respective homes.
Darkness surrounded. It was cold. What life there was took strange forms to live. The ocean-scape where HE rested was barren. Most life avoided the titan's lair. They knew he didn't like trespassers. Even the mightiest of sea creatures quailed before him.
Godzilla was resting. The battle against his ancient foe had taken much from him. He needed to recharge. To heal. And his wound had closed. His strength had returned. He would need it. He could hear his most ancient foe returning. Godzilla had to end this eternal battle.
A/N: Here it is, the highly anticipated first chapter. At least, that's my impression based on the response to the prologue. Here I show a little of what Ford has done with his life after the San Francisco attack. I also show a dilemma that should wind up becoming a major part of the plot. And, also, I show that Godzilla is stirring, preparing for Ghidorah to arrive. Let's see how this plays out. Anyway, leave a review, and tell me what you think. Hearing your voices gives me motivation to write.
On another note, I'm happy to announce that my friend, RonnyBravo the Breadghost, has signed on to co-author/edit this story. I'm glad to have him along, as his non-Godzilla-fan eyes may be able to help me bring out a believable story, even if it's not exactly realistic (what's realistic about giant monsters?). He'll also be giving me character advice and story ideas. I may even let him helm a chapter or two, depending on the needs for the chapter. Since I'm an uber-Godzilla fan (I drove my family and friends nuts with my hype for the 2014 film), having his non-fan eyes will help me temper down some things that would otherwise be too extreme to believe. So, let me know what you think of this development. I look forward to hearing the response.