Chapter 4: Rodan Awakens, Military's First Assault!
Wednesday March 24th, 5:08 a.m.
Niseko, Hokkaido, small mountain range

As the rising sun that made Japan famous and gave it's world-wide title slowly began to inch its way into the sky, a few of the people an animals of Hokkaido were beginning to awake from their slumber, nearly all due to the ringing of alarm clocks. But nevertheless active life was beginning to return to northern Japan as morning came on. There was a bit of fog rolling around the fields, hills, forests and mountains of Niseko, while a blanket of dew began to sodden the ground as it did every morn. Birds began to chirp as they now were awake, singing quite beautiful songs in their own tongue that even soothed a human being while listening to them. The air was cold though, like that of a fall evening, but that was no surprise, as after all it was normally cold in the early hours of the day and not to mention it wasn't quite spring yet in Japan. Nevertheless though it was a beautiful morning in Niseko, the silence lingering and keeping an aura of tranquility about.

But that was soon broken as a helicopter came flying through the air, the blade on top spinning around at speeds like no other, propelling the smaller aircraft as two younger Japanese men piloted it inside. It was a helicopter for a special wildlife watch association, a company that tried to uphold peace with the animals of southern Hokkaido and protected them. A helicopter like this flying around the area was common, as patrols were always made to try and find new animals or look for any situation or matter that might be significant to be discussed or looked into by the S.H.W.P.A, or the Southern Hokkaido Wildlife Protection Agency. It continued flying over, flying at about two-hundred fifty to three hundred feet in the air, not causing too much noise to would startle or awaken any sleeping animals.

"Hey Nobuhiro have you spotted anything yet?" one of the men asked as he continued to look around and also steer the helicopter.

"As a matter of fact yes, I just spotted a Sika Deer mother with two babies, they look very young, so I thinks he just had them. I'm writing it in the records now" Nobuhiro, "how about you Kazuhiro?"

"Actually right now I think I just saw a small flock of Narcissus Flycatchers fly by, looked like about ten to fifteen, they all seemed to be heading away from those small mountains over there" Kazuhiro replied. Nobuhiro also quickly wrote what his friend said in the notebook that they carried with them. "Hey we got the cameras running on this thing right?" Nobuhiro quickly glanced at the switches for the cameras.

"Umm, yep, but only the one on your side isn't on" he answered. Kazuhiro looked a bit surprised as he pressed the button to activate the camera on his side of the helicopter.

"That's strange, wonder why's that..." he said. Nobuhiro smirked.

"It's no matter, let's just continue looking. Kazuhiro nodded, and with that the two got back to their watching. As they went on, Kazuhiro managed to catch a small wave of rocks and boulders come tumbling down one of the mountains, and when he looked up saw more and more falling down the slopes as the petite mountain actually seemed to break apart slowly. His eyes narrowed with curiosity and bemusement. He tapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, whata ya make of that?" Kazuhiro inquired. Nobuhiro shrugged as they continued to gaze at the breaking mountain. Suddenly then, a great deal of it broke apart neat mid-region of it, and inside could be seen a giant bird-like monster; none other than another Rodan. The two men's' faces lit up with terror as they cried out in fight, and inside the mountain Rodan could be seen squawking in fury as it continued to try and escape. Nobuhiro fumbled with the radio speaker.

"This is chopper 7 to base, do you read!?" he yelled from panic. Someone quickly picked up the message and answered.

"Yes chopper 7 what's the problem?" a person asked. He looked back at the Rodan.

"We're in eastern Niseko by the small mountain range, there's a giant monster trying to break out of the mountains repeat there's a giant monster trying to escape!!" Nobuhiro exclaimed. The Rodan unleashed another loud, long squawk of anger, but that was all it got out, as a huge avalanche of rock, dirt and stone came tumbling down before it, caving it in and blocking its exit of the mountain.

9:32 a.m.,
JSDF base 20 miles outside of Kushiro

Inside the large structure was the Hokkaido Japanese Self Defense Force were military officers and soldiers working frantically as trouble began to brew with the appearance of this new Rodan. Sergeant Major Shogo Kawakita was now in charge of the whole mess, keeping the land of Hokkaido together as he and his military colleagues worked non-stop to try and find some solution to this problem. Currently the man sat at the head chair in one of the meeting rooms, to his bottom right the younger Corporal Yugo Haino, who had only a couple weeks ago been promoted from a Lance Corporal. To Shogo's bottom left was a pretty young woman named Misato Uehara, who was the head of the control and communications of the base there. Going down the table then were mere privates and lower workers at the base, but higher than the norm. Shogo's face was as stern as ever, as his eyes lay narrowed.

"We have a big problem on our hands now my friends, a little more than four hours ago another monster was spotted by a wildlife association helicopter" Sergeant Major Shogo Kawakita began as he stood up. "This beast seems to be enormous and have amazing strength, as it actually tore through a good deal of the mountains it seems to be "trapped" in. There is the possibility that this creature will cause damage like no other to Hokkaido, destroying major cities, wiping out towns and industrial zones, killing thousands and leaving millions homeless. Even worse, it could shatter Japan alone. This thing seems to want out, and that's what we'll give it..." Gasps arose from the table, as many of the military workers there all began to murmur to each other in shock.

"Sergeant Major, wouldn't that be putting Japan in danger?" Corporal Yugo asked. The man shook his head.

"Not at all, because we won't be just letting it out so easily..." Kawakita replied, and with that the lights in the room went out as a screen behind him lit up and showed a picture of the mountains, like a video. Shogo pointed a pen at the one area of the mountain. "This is where the monster seems to be, as it when it breaks out that's where you can see it" he spoke, and with that as the video played the mountain broke apart, and the Rodan stuck it's head out as it continued to try and break through the rest of the rock before the avalanche came and trapped it once again. The video then stopped, and switched to a long ranged picture of the mountains. Shogo pointed at the spot where the Rodan tried to come out from. "The monster seems to be dwelling in the mountains right here, almost at the center of it, close to the grassy hills and such. What I want to do is form a good-sized attack of tanks, missile launchers and cannons that will blast the mountain to bits, along with the Rodan, if we break apart the mountain the Rodan can be freed and seen better, being able to be attacked easier by our forces."

"Sir, not to be contradicting, but wouldn't it be better to possibly leave it in there?" Yugo inquired. Shogo took a pause before answering.

"I was contemplating that before, but I then realized if we wish to protect Japan, it will be better to take it out now" the Sergeant Major answered, and after a moment turned back to the screen as he pointed to a spot south west of the mountains. "Right here, I would like a small line of seven Type 74 Tanks, and then over here to the east, right south of the mountains, five of them again. Miss. Misato, do we have those here?" The young woman nodded, her blackish-russet hair going with her head.

"Yes, we have twenty overall, armed with one hundred five millimeter cannons and twelve point seven millimeter machine guns." she responded.

"Good, then I'll want three more then in northern region, in line with the five below. Also up there I'll want four missile launcher trucks, loaded with four rocket shells per cannon, and then four more down south from the mountains. Then, on the north east side, I'd like five more of those Type 74 tanks, and finally on the north west and south east sides five Honest John Missile launchers" the Sergeant Major explained.

"If I may make a suggestion Sergeant Major, the Honest John's are still fine launchers, but the Ballistic Missile Launchers can fire the same distance as Honest Johns for this operation, and are loaded with two missiles instead of one" Corporal Yugo stated. Shogo nodded.

"Hey you're right, I forgot about those. We can use those instead. Okay, that's the, I'd like to get everything there and ready by one-fifteen this afternoon. Misato, got everything?" he asked. She nodded again.

"Yes sir, I'll get right to work and make sure all the tanks and missile launchers get out there. Then if you need me during the attack I'll be at the communications center ready to receive any messages" the young woman explained. He nodded back.

"Alright good, and thank you. Okay people let's get to work!" Shogo exclaimed, and with that everyone got out of their chairs and left for their tasks as they murmured all over.

1:05 p.m.
Niseko, small mountain range

The entire force of military power was surrounded around the mountains, each tank and missile launcher in exact place as the tacticians inside and outside prepared for attack. The barrels and launch pads were all aimed with perfect precision at their main target; the mountains. Sergeant Major Shogo stood by the south side of the area, binoculars to his eyes as he waited for the iniative of attack. As he stood gazing at the petite cluster of huge rock piles, he could see a diminutive mess of dirt and rock slide down the mountain as more rocks followed. He watched on, knowing now the Rodan was probably trying to escape. A large part then broke apart, and soon an entire avalanche was beginning to descend down the mountain.

"Are we going to attack now sir?" the one soldier by Shogo queried. He shook his head.

"No, we should wait a second" the man answered. One of the other soldiers thought of a possible reason why the Sergeant Major was delaying the attack.

"Sergeant Major Shogo, are you waiting to see if its truly trying to come out yet?" the younger man questioned. Shogo nodded then nodded.

"Yep, that and so we don't waste much ammo tearing apart those mountains" he explained. Just then another soldier ran over to him, and stopped a few meters away.

"Sir, all groups report ready for attack" the one private stated with a salute. Kawakita took down his binoculars, and nodded.

"Right then...here we go..." the man spoke quietly, and then walked over to the one loudspeaker. As he did so, all the men seemed to be overcome by apprehension, almost tense as they now waited for the attack. Trepidation began to thicken around the area, becoming like fog on a wet, dismal morning. The Sergeant Major soon came to the loudspeaker, and put it close to his lips. "Alright men! Aim at the central area of the spine, if it comes out, blow it away..." Shogo then took a pause to allow any tank or launcher to get ready. "Fire at will!!" he yelled, and almost instantaneously the entire JSDF forces opened fire. A hail of shells and rockets sailed over to the mountains, soon striking them altogether as they shattered the walls of rock and dirt. Huge explosions ripped all over, sending messes of stone, dirt, sand, grass and trees soaring into the air. Type 74 tanks fired all over, while the ballistic missile launchers added to monstrous offensive as the rain of explosives destroyed the mountains and grounds beneath them. As all transpired, a huge wing broke through the side of the one mountain, and soon a bird-like head escaped. It unleashed a loud cry of fury that all could hear, even amidst the all the firing and detonations. Men all over froze in awe when they saw the Rodan emerge into their line of sight, the gigantic bird-like reptile striding out of the mountain as the shells and rockets exploded by it and flew by. Shogo took the loudspeaker again. "Aim at the monster! Take it out!!" he commanded.

All the launch pads and barrels now perfectly aimed at the kaiju, and soon opened fire once again in attempt to destroy the Rodan with their rain of shells and missiles. Countless explosions ripped across the Rodan's sepia, scaly body, and it squawked in irritation from the attacking forces. More clumps of rock and grass flew up into the air, as smoke shrouded the mountainside from the incredible military assault. Tanks and missile launchers went on with the attacks, incessantly firing off more ammo as the Rodan was pelted by shells and missiles. Though, not one of the multitude of explosions managed to break his skin, and by now it seemed almost vexed by the constant bombardments. It squawked again, and began to tear up the terrain with its talons and wings as the ground opened up in large abysses. Out from the mouth of the earth shot out torrents of grass, rock, dirt and even fire, and the Rodan reared its head back as it emitted a loud cry of vehemence. With a flap of its wings, it began to ascend into the air, and as it continued on for a few seconds it was now flying in the sky above most of the attacks. With another cry of fury, it took off like a bullet to the east, soaring away at speeds beyond human comprehension. The grass swayed like never before to the side, as dust and dirt flew about from its flying. A few men were carried off by the massive wind-gust it brought with it, while most dropped to the ground and held on for dear-life. The tanks held up fine, but several of the missile launchers that were barren of rockets tipped over or flew off several meters due to the intense winds. The eyes of Shogo lit up with an irate look, and he felt his blood boil from the anger of the failed attack. Sergeant Major Kawakita gritted his teeth, and then grabbed the one speaker on the radio.

"Misato! Misato do you read!?" he yelled frantically. Inside the communications center at the base, the young woman sat with her headphones on as she turned the one dial to get on the same channel as the Sergeant Major.

"Yes sir I read, what do you need?" she questioned. Shogo looked back at the soaring Rodan as he breathed heavily from his agitated actions.

"The attack was of no avail, the Rodan has escaped and is now flying off towards Tokachi. We need to intercept it with an air-force squadron" the man explained, "I need as many F four EJ Phantom 2 Jet Planes you can get" The woman nodded as she speedily typed on her one computer to search for the Sergeant Major's request.

"We're in lucky Sergeant Major, we have eight here, all equipped with a 20 millimeter gun and air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface missiles. They're all here at the base. Want me to send them out?" Misato replied. On the other side, Shogo nodded.

"Yes, thanks a lot Misato" he responded.

"No problem sir" the young woman spoke, and quickly got to work. Kawakita put down his speaker, and then looked out into the distance as he saw a bit of the Rodan still flying off, though mostly just a brown spot in the sky. His eyes narrowed...