GODZILLA EARTH
"Man, they did a number on this place."
Yamagata looked over at McGovern, who stared out the cockpit window of their MF-3 Excalibur. "I couldn't agree with you more, Gov."
They flew over the northern tip of Guam. Below, charred remains of buildings and planes littered Anderson Air Force Base. To the south, entire sections of the municipality of Yigo lay shattered and burning.
"Royal Palace, Beastmaster One," Yamagata radioed Joint Base Richard-Gebaur.
"Royal Palace. Go, One."
"Are you receiving our footage?"
"Footage coming through five-by-five. Request you make another pass over the base and the city for good measure."
"Copy, Royal Palace."
Yamagata circled the area again, as did Blade and Winter, who trailed him in their Excaliburs. Their cameras transmitted the destruction back to "Dickey-Goober" for the analysts to go over.
"Caputo," Yamagata called over his shoulder. "Any sign those monsters are still around?"
A few seconds passed before the sensor operator replied, "Nothing on radar, lidar or thermal. Guam airspace is currently Oniuingu free."
"Copy that." Oniuingu had been what the 1st JSCS analysts designated the flying monsters after viewing images of the attack broadcast by Guam's Channel 8. The name was a combination of the Japanese words "demon" and "wing." Yamagata recalled the footage he'd seen of the Oniuingu attack on the small Pacific island. The name felt appropriate. They did look like flying demons.
He looked back down at the rubble of Anderson Air Force Base and Yigo, thought of the dead and wounded.
The damn things act like demons, too.
"Beastmaster," said Royal Palace. "Squadron intel says they have enough footage. Proceed to Point Gilligan."
"Roger, proceeding to Point Gilligan."
Yamagata swung the Excalibur to the southeast, taking one last look back at Guam. Guilt scratched at him. He wished they could go down there and help. Thankfully, the U.S. naval base came through the attack unscathed. The Air Force also flew in disaster relief personnel and supplies from Hickam Field in Hawaii. The island's residents would be taken care of.
The blue waters of the Pacific stretched before Yamagata. He switched on the auto pilot, stretched, and settled back in his ejection seat. It would take roughly an hour and fifteen minutes to reach Chuuk Atoll, or Point Gilligan. He let out a brief chuckle.
"What?" asked McGovern.
"Just thinking. Point Gilligan. Someone back at base has a nostalgic sense of humor."
"Sense of humor my ass. Chuuk Atoll? You have to take a boat from there just to get to the middle of nowhere."
Yamagata shrugged. "General Torrez said it's a good strategic location to respond to any more Oniuingu attacks."
"I think the general could have sent us to a real tropical paradise, like Tahiti. And here I thought he was a good guy."
Yamagata cracked a smile. Despite not sending them to Tahiti, he had a lot of respect for General Torrez. The squadron's new commanding officer was smart, affable, and listened to the men under him. A vast improvement over the 1st JSCS's previous CO, General Griffin. Then again, considering Griffin sold them out to President Zamora's thugs to save his sorry ass, General Custer would have been a vast improvement over him.
Yamagata's stomach grumbled. He checked the chronometer in his helmet mounted display. Still about an hour before they reached Chuuk. He unzipped his breast pocket and dug inside for a granola bar. Hopefully that would tide him over until they –
"Beastmaster One, Royal Palace." An urgent voice burst from his headphones.
"One. Go."
"We have a change in mission objective. A Philippines Airlines flight to Hawaii spotted Rodan over the Philippine Sea, six hundred eighty miles east of Luzon, heading south." Royal Palace rattled off a set of GPS coordinates.
Yamagata checked the Excalibur's fuel status in his HMD. "This is going to use up most of the fuel in our droptanks."
"Understood, One. We're arranging a rendezvous with an Australian KC-30 tanker for you."
"Much obliged, Royal Palace. Beastmaster, flight of three, changing course for Philippine Sea."
The three Excaliburs wheeled around and rocketed northwest.
"Damn, first these Oniuingu, now Rodan?" Winter radioed. "This can't be coincidence."
"Think they could all be related?" asked McGovern.
Yamagata scrunched his face in thought. "I doubt it. Their body types don't match. Plus, you saw the footage from Guam at the briefing. Those Oniuingu can fire lasers from their mouths. Rodan can't."
McGovern shrugged. "Maybe this is, like, the next stage in Rodan's evolution."
Yamagata said nothing, just silently mulled over Gov's theory. He hoped his WSO was wrong. Rodan was dangerous enough as is. He didn't want to imagine the sort of death and destruction a new generation with lasers could inflict on the world.
Forty minutes later, the Excaliburs met up with the KC-30 and topped off their tanks without any serious problems. Calculating the course and estimated speed of Rodan from its last sighting, Yamagata set a course for north of the Moluccas Islands, one of the numerous islands that made up Indonesia. They should be able to intercept the giant bird there.
Hopefully.
The three jets raced over the Pacific. Yamagata's eyes swept over the clear blue sky, looking for any sign of Rodan. Nothing.
The brown-green dots of the Moluccas Islands soon appeared off his port side. The Excaliburs circled the area a few times, everyone scanning the sky with both eyeballs and sensors. No sign of Rodan.
They flew over the Molucca Sea without any luck. Yamagata contacted Indonesian National Air Defense Command. They had no reports of Rodan sightings.
Yamagata clenched his teeth. Did they miss the damn thing? And if they were busy flying all over Indonesia looking for Rodan, would that leave the Oniuingu free to attack somewhere else?
He tried to beat down his frustration and concentrate on the mission. The sooner they found and dealt with Rodan, the sooner –
"I'm picking up a large contact on lidar," blurted Caputo. "Sixty miles to the northeast. It's gotta be Rodan."
"Copy. Beastmasters, on me," Yamagata ordered.
The three jets banked right. They flew over a few tiny islands, entering the Celebes Sea.
"Tally on the kaiju," Blade announced. "Starboard, angels forty."
Yamagata looked to the right, then up. A large, brown shape soared across the sky at 40,000 feet. His heartbeat picked up as he noticed the stubby neck, the yellow beak, the two curved horns and the triangular wings.
"Positive ID," he told the others. "It's Rodan."
"My God," Winter stammered. "I can't believe how huge that thing is."
"Welcome to the wonderful world of monster hunting," replied Yamagata. "All right, Beastmasters, we hit him with Sunstrokes first." He referred to the Excaliburs' plasma yield missiles. "If they don't work, we climb to angels fifty and -"
"New contacts!" shouted Blade. "Six kaiju, port side, angels thirty!"
Yamagata rose a few inches in his ejection seat and looked down. Six winged creatures flew in tight formation over the water.
"New kaiju confirmed," he said. "They're Oniuingu."
His breathing quickened. Now they were outnumbered over two-to-one.
As one, the Oniuingu rose, flying toward Rodan. The enormous reptilian bird dove at the smaller creatures.
"Looks like they're having a little get together," noted McGovern. "Maybe they are related."
"Well, this is gonna be a very short reunion," said Yamagata. "Beastmasters Two and Three, you deal with the Oniuingu. I'll take Rodan."
Both Blade and Winter responded with double-clicks on their radios.
Yamagata banked right, keeping the Excalibur's nose pointed at Rodan. The other two jets swung right and dove on the Oniuingu.
"Gov, you have Sunstrokes."
"I have Sunstrokes." He tapped the multi-functional display on the console. "Weapons bay open . . . selecting three Sunstrokes."
Yamagata's eyes flickered between the monsters. The distance between them closed rapidly.
"I have tone," McGovern reported.
"Weapons free." Yamagata saw two of the Oniuingu open their mouths wide. Were they calling to Rodan? Or could it be –
Lasers shot from the Oniuingu's mouths. One beam missed. The other clipped Rodan's shoulder. The monster jerked and rolled to the right.
"Holy shit!" blurted McGovern.
The Oniuingu fired again. All their beams missed. Rodan righted itself. Its beak opened in what Yamagata assumed was a roar. The beast flew straight at the Oniuingu.
"Beastmasters!" Yamagata yelled. "Abort! Abort!"
He pulled back on the stick. Rodan dove under another barrage of lasers.
"Form up at angels forty-five." Yamagata clenched his gut as the g-forces piled on him like invisible weights. "Holding pattern."
A pair of double clicks came over his headphones.
They leveled out at 45,000 feet and flew in a racetrack pattern. Yamagata looked down. Rodan arced around, going for the Oniuingu again. The smaller flying monsters spat out lasers. One beam glanced off Rodan's left horn. It continued toward them.
"Ninja," said Winter. "Aren't we supposed to be blowing the crap out of these bastards?"
"Let 'em fight. We'll wait until they whittle themselves down, then pick off the survivors."
"Have 'em do the dirty work for us," said Blade. "I like it."
"Just make sure all cameras and sensors are picking this up. The intel weenies will want to dissect it."
Yamagata circled the monsters, eyes darting from straight ahead to the battle below.
Rodan flew over one of the Oniuingu. The hurricane-like winds generated by its wings sent the smaller creature tumbling end over end.
Rodan swung back, heading right for the out of control Oniuingu. Two others spat laser beams. One struck Rodan in the back. Smoke rose from its thick hide. The flying kaiju didn't waver. Yamagata held his breath, waiting for the collision.
Rodan snapped its jaws down around the Oniuingu's neck. A cloud of blood exploded around both monsters. Rodan whipped his prey back and forth. It then let go. The limp Oniuingu fell toward the Celebes Sea.
Two more beams struck Rodan's back. It dropped several hundred feet, flapped its wings and turned back on its attackers. The five remaining Oniuingu dove at Rodan. They shot more beams. One glanced off Rodan's right wing. It dipped to the side, leveled out and charged the Oniuingu.
They fired again. Rodan dodged the beams. The smaller monsters scattered as the larger winged kaiju plunged into their formation.
One Oniuingu wasn't fast enough. Rodan slashed with its talons. Blood sprayed from huge gashes in the Oniuingu's shoulder. Torn flesh flapped along its right wing.
Rodan swung around. Its talons ripped into the Oniuingu's neck and back. The smaller monster jerked back, then went limp and dropped from the sky.
"Yeah!" McGovern pumped his fist. "Two down. Keep goin', big guy."
Yamagata looked at his WSO. "You do know if Rodan wins, we still have to fight him."
McGovern hung his head a bit. "Crap. Makes it hard to root for anyone, doesn't it?"
Yamagata grunted. At least if Rodan won, they would only have to fight one monster instead of several. Still, that monster would be Rodan, and even seriously injured, it would be hard to defeat.
It's like asking which you'd rather be in, an earthquake or a hurricane.
Rodan slashed at another Oniuingu, missing. The larger kaiju came round for another attack.
Three beams sliced through the sky. All three tore through Rodan's right wing. The monster went into spasms. More beams blasted through the wing. Rodan's head shook, its beak wide open. Yamagata imagined the kaiju unleashing a piercing, squealing roar of agony.
Three more beams exploded against Rodan's chest. The monster pitched over and spiraled toward the sea, trailing smoke.
Yamagata's jaw tightened, waiting to see if Rodan recovered.
It didn't. It kept falling, falling.
He looked back at the four Oniuingu and drew a breath.
"Okay, Beastmasters. It's showtime."
TO BE CONTINUED