Yamagata stopped in the doorway of the mess hall. Aside from the clinking of utensils and the occasional shuffle of a tray or chair, the room was quiet. Pilots and other personnel sat in small clusters at the long tables, not saying a word as they ate breakfast. A few just moved food around their plates. Yamagata wondered if similar scenes played out in mess halls in Japan and on the carrier George Washington.

A hole formed in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't personally known any of the pilots who died in the attack on Iwo Jima. Still, he felt their loss. It mattered not if they came from America, Australia, Indonesia, Japan or the Philippines. They were all fighter pilots. They all knew every time they went into the sky, there was a chance they may not come back, whether it was due to combat or some accident.

Jaw set, Yamagata walked to the serving line and grabbed a tray. He took some rolls, rice porridge and corned beef, poured a cup of coffee, and headed for a table in the middle of the mess hall. The Beastmasters, minus Norris and Caputo, sat together. Like everyone else, they ate in silence.

He sat next to McGovern, glancing at a TV mounted to the front wall tuned to the Filipino network ABS-CBN. The sound was off, but the images showed an Oniuingu standing in the middle of a street with a bus in its jaws. The graphic read, Vladivostok, Russia.

"Great way to start off the morning," Yamagata muttered.

The other Beastmasters followed his gaze to the TV.

"It gets worse," said "Blade" Sharpe. "They also hit Osaka, Busan and Shanghai."

Yamagata stabbed his fork into his corned beef, clenching the handle. Anger and guilt roiled within him. He lowered his head. How many people in Russia, Japan, South Korea, and China died because they failed to kill the damn Oniuingu?

"We need to get back in the air," said Lieutenant Kemp, Winter's weapons systems officer. "We need to make those SOBs extinct."

"Well, that won't happen until our planes get fixed." Blade sipped his coffee. "How's that going on your end, Ninja?"

"I talked to my crew before I came over here," replied Yamagata. "They should have new power couplings for the particle beams installed by this afternoon." He didn't bother mentioning the freeze ray. They all got the bad news shortly after returning to Atienza Air Base. The weapon needed a complete overhaul, and that could only be done back in the States.

"Even without your freeze ray, you came through this better than my poor plane," said Winter. Because of the damage to her wing, she hadn't been able to hook up with the tanker on the return flight to the Philippines. She had just enough fuel to reach Fuga Island north of Luzon and make a dead stick landing on its primitive dirt airstrip. Her freeze ray had also been damaged and her front landing gear had snapped off.

"You still walked away from it." McGovern spooned up some of his rice porridge. "That counts as a good landing."

Winter grinned. "Yeah, but we still have to wait for new landing gear to be flown in from back home, then chopper it up to Fuga. My crew chief says he might have my Excalibur airworthy by tomorrow, and that's a big might."

"Don't worry. We can handle those things without you." Blade nodded to the TV, which still show images from last night's Oniuingu attacks.

Winter lowered her fork and stared at the naval aviator. "Do I need to read between the lines of that comment?"

"If you want."

Blade ignored the Air Force pilot's glare and cut into his fish.

Yamagata's eyes flickered between the two. We don't need this crap now.

He opened his mouth to say something.

"Excuse me, Major?" said a female voice behind him.

He turned. A squat young woman with short brown hair and wearing an Airman Battle Uniform stood at attention. Yamagata recognized her as a member of General Torrez's staff.

"As you were, Lieutenant."

The woman, Schwabe according to her nametag, relaxed her posture.

"What is it?" asked Yamagata.

"General Torrez wants to see you, sir. Please follow me."

Yamagata stifled a grunt. He'd barely touched his breakfast.

Grabbing a couple of rolls, he stood, taking a final sip of coffee. "Someone put this in a doggie bag for me." He nodded to his food.

"I got you covered, Ninja," said McGovern.

"Thanks." Yamagata looked from Blade to Winter. "And you two play nice."

He followed Schwabe out of the mess hall. The lieutenant led him to a rectangular Delta Mini Cruiser driven by a Filipino airman. Yamagata used the short trip to the admin building to polish off his rolls.

Schwabe escorted him to the second floor, where General Torrez has set up his office. The door was open. Still, Schwabe knocked.

"Sir, Major Yamagata's here." She stepped aside and let him in.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Shut the door."

Schwabe nodded and closed the door.

Torrez pointed Yamagata to one of two metal folding chairs in front of the desk. He sat.

"I assume you've seen the news this morning," said the 1st Joint Special Combat Squadron commander.

"The Oniuingu attacks? Yes, sir. My groundcrew says they should have my Excalibur ready to go by this afternoon."

"Well that's good to hear. Given how active these new kaiju are, we need all the jets we can get."

"What about reinforcements?" asked Yamagata.

Torrez folded his hands on his desk. "The Stennis is being redeployed from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, but it won't be in theater for at least ten days. The Navy's rushing to get the Carl Vinson underway from San Diego, but it might take longer from them to get here."

"What about the Air Force? They can get some planes here quicker."

"The Pentagon says they should be deploying two fighter squadrons to the Philippines in the next forty-eight hours."

Yamagata frowned. "I'd like to have more."

"So would I." Torrez's shoulders sagged a bit. "But the Joint Chiefs also want to make sure we have enough aircraft available in case the Oniuingu attack the homeland. And let's face it, Major, between Gigan and Civil War Two, we don't have a whole hell of a lot of reinforcements available."

Yamagata's face tightened. Torrez, unfortunately, was right. All the attacks by Gigan and the battles between government and anti-Zamora forces had left American airpower severely depleted.

"I did get word," Torrez continued, "that the Russians and Chinese are sending their carrier groups to join us in any future anti-Oniuingu operations."

The news caused deep lines to dig into Yamagata's forehead. He managed to keep from shaking his head.

General Torrez seemed to read his mind, since he said, "I know. I don't trust them either, but right now, bolstering our air power is our top priority. We can't afford to be picky about where the planes come from."

"Yes, sir. Maybe we'll luck out and Godzilla will make another appearance. Lord knows we can use him, especially since we have both the Oniuingu and that damn flying turtle to deal with."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, the turtle."

"Did we find him?" Yamagata slid forward in his chair.

"No." Torrez shook his head. "We have subs sweeping the area where Godzilla and the turtle fought, but they haven't found any sign of them. We did, however, find that SEAL, or supposed SEAL, you were in contact with."

"Jim Rice? Where's he at?"

"The Australian Navy picked him up, along with five other men who claim to be SEALs and a female Japanese civilian."

Yamagata's face scrunched in puzzlement. What was a Japanese woman doing with a bunch of US Navy SEALs?

Or whoever the hell they really are. The Navy had not authorized any SEAL operations on Iwo Jima.

"They're all being detained on a frigate," Torrez continued. "HMAS Ballarat. I want you to fly out there and question them."

"Me, sir? Why?"

"In your report, you said Rice referred to the turtle as Gamera."

"That's correct," said Yamagata. "He also mentioned a Gyaos and a Thulgira. Maybe they're other monsters, but I never heard of them."

"That's why I want you talk to Rice, see what he knows about that giant turtle, or Gamera. I want to make sure we know as much as we can about it if we have to fight it again."

"You know I'm not a trained interrogator, sir."

Torrez turned up his palms. "All you have to do is ask some questions. How difficult can that be, Major?"

Yamagata nodded. "I'll see what I can get out of him."

"Good. A COD will fly you to the Washington." Torrez referred to the Carrier Onboard Delivery plane. "Then you'll be choppered over to the Ballarat. You better pack quickly, because your plane's due to land in an hour."

TO BE CONTINUED