Chapter 11: Sheer Slaughter:
Interior of Antarctica:
As far as the human eye could see, the battle between man and monster devastated the continent. Explosions rocked the landscape incessantly as the fighting continued to rage and above the howling winds and detonation of munitions, everyone heard the unmistakable chilling roar of the king of monsters as the battle wore on.
Godzilla roared in anger as the forces of humanity cornered him and pounded away at him. In such a constricted area, the tanks and other AFVs prevented Godzilla from again bringing his main weapon to bear while exposing the ground forces to close quarter combat. Miniature avalanches constantly occurred as the explosions and the constant tremors shook and shattered the huge glaciers. Many units simply disappeared in the enormous white mists the avalanches created all around them, burying many of the vehicles and their crews in the rubble.
In the gray sky, the air forces of the world used the remaining Gotengo as a rallying point to gather their strength as they observed the battle zone. With the density of the smokescreen and the intensity of the fire at an all time high, the air forces could not dive back into the killing zone without risking heavy losses. So many planes headed back to their bases while the rest landed back on the remaining Gotengo, while the huge airship continued to bombard the general area around the kaiju.
From the view of their APC, Generals Kitagawa and Reynolds watched as the tanks attempted to pin Godzilla in place (and hopefully overwhelm his cell defense system), while the artillery pounded the mountainsides. But Godzilla still fought savagely and although he could barely advance, every attempt to push him back cost even more lives.
As more explosions lit up the sky, Reynolds turned to Kitagawa and said, "With the firepower we have at our disposal, we can't seem to be doing something as simple as burying him in an avalanche of ice". The American general then said, "What we're fighting here is an abomination".
Kitagawa replied, "Haven't we have had enough abomination to plague us for the foreseeable future"? He then looked up to the smoke-filled sky and after spotting the Gotengo and only a few squadrons and swore before yelling out loud, "It already seems that one element has already given way". They both knew what that meant and after a few minutes of observing battle, Kitagawa returned to direct the battle and prepare for the eventually of retreat.
By this time, Godzilla had enough of the resistance the human forces on the ground threw up against him and his eyes burned blood red as he prepared to strike back. He immediately charged his back and closed in his mouth before letting loose another nuclear pulse from within his own body.
The blast dispersed the icy dust and blinded the surrounding ring of steel, both in the ground and in the air. Wasting no time, Godzilla turned to the remaining Gotengo class warship and instantly unleashed a full blast of his atomic breath on the blue airship.
The blue beam cut across the sky, killing several aircraft before it impacted on the starboard side near the bow. Within seconds, secondary explosions occurred along the hull as heavily damaged systems shorted out. Soon the ship started to loose altitude and several smaller engines stopped functioning. Yet she continued to fight back, her guns firing full broadsides against the monster and keeping his attention on her as her crew attempted to safety land their damaged craft.
Unfortunately, they attracted Godzilla's ire and he fired another fatal blast at the beleaguered airship. The beam melted through the ruptured armor and destroyed her critical systems as well as igniting the ship's magazines. The ship exploded in a huge fireball and her remains rained down on the horrified ground troops as they realized that Godzilla had almost gotten free of the trap and that they were his next target.
Before the commanders could react to the losses of the air units, the monster's roar attracted their attention and they turned to see blue death rain down on their forward units. When their eyes managed to adjust up to the sudden flash of the explosions, they saw that the first line of the ring of steel thrown up around Godzilla was now nothing more than a ring of blasted hulks. Above them, Godzilla roared in victory before heading towards the rest of the ground forces at a fast speed, his feet and tail shaking the ground even more and his eyes focused completely on them.
The commanders immediately got on the line to inquire about the status of their units but after hearing the grim news, they all wished that they hadn't for the reports their subordinates transmitted stated that their units were incapable of any offensive action. Realizing that there was nothing they could do, Kitagawa gave the order he most hated to give in all his time in the service, "All units fall back".
For those in the front line, it could not have arrived at a better/worse time for it started to break down the morale of the troops. They had been fighting continuously for nearly five hours and many units were mere skeletons while the troops in those still relatively intact were dead tired. Many of the sub-units commanders had already feared that the men were on the point of breaking and the order now just spurred their fears on further.
As he observed his foes preparing to disengage, Godzilla charged his back and fired another blast against them, first aiming the beam at the rear and directing it back to the forward units. The beam sliced through scores of tanks and other AFVs reducing them to molten puddles while incinerating their crews into their most elemental forms.
When the troops saw the blue beam incinerating those in Godzilla's line of fire, the panic really started to seep in for unit discipline started breaking down and the withdrawal became a retreat. The sudden flood of the retreat of the international force soon created a traffic jam, leaving those in what was now the rearguard completely vulnerable to the monster's wrath.
As he took another peek at the rear guards, Kitagawa got on the line to the beaches. It took a few minutes due to the confusion of battle but once it began to clear, he immediately radioed to the beaches and to the fleet to prepare for the monster's arrival. His American colleague also got on the line to confer with the air fleets and figure out what went wrong on their end.
JMSDF Amatsukaze/Costal sectors:
When the first reports of the deteriorating situation on the mainland began to reach the fleet, Admiral Sakai immediately jumped into action. He got on the line to the rest of the fleet and yelled out, "All units prepare to engage the enemy". He hoped that the ground units could defeat Godzilla without the direct assistance of the fleet but the constant stream of reports from the battlefield dashed that hope.
Throughout the international fleet, crews from all nationalities rushed to their stations and soon every possible weapon bear in support of a still friendly coast. For the Americans, this brought back memories of the battle off the Japanese coast one year earlier. There as part of the US-Japan security treaty, the American Navy brought in cruisers armed with a new type of cruise missile, codenamed Frontier, to attack Godzilla. Unfortunately due to the guidance systems, the rockets proved useless and only created dust around the monster while driving their target to commit more destruction. This time though, all ships carried a mix of guns and enhanced missile systems to use against the monster.
On the beaches, chaos reigned as the report of the retreat filtered back from main forces. Fresh reserve units, although battered by the cold that everyone else dealt with, rushed to the defensive positions while supply runs between the ships and the shore ceased so as to limit confusion once the fighting returned to the coast.
In the midst of the fleet, the Gotengo floated silently while replenishment ships and repair crews swarmed around her. With the news that Godzilla was heading back to the coast broadcast all over the command net, the ship's crew struggled to put her back into action. As they worked, everyone had their ears glued to the radios and speakers as it continued to relay updates from the front.
On the front line, explosions continued to rain down everywhere around both men and beast. Although the numerous explosions did harm Godzilla, it was momentarily and his cells compensated for the damage. The explosions occurring around the humans had much more permanent effects, killing and wounding many of them.
As they looked at the map, the American commander and Japanese commander of Operation Final Strike felt the Damocles sword hanging over them as the ground force made its way back to the coast. Reynolds poked his head up to see the enormous form of Godzilla gaining on them, his mouth growling and blood-red eyes focused on them all. He sat back down and turned to his Japanese counterpart, his face shaking as he said, "I hope this dammed race ends soon". An outside explosion gave confirmation to the desire of the statement proven and Kitagawa immediately got on the radio to inquire on the distance to the beaches and the answer he was given disturbed him.
All along the line, chaos reigned as the retreat towards the beaches continued while gun and missile fire rained overhead from prepared positions that lead all the way to the beaches. As the tanks passed the artillery guns, their crews looked on with open mouths as the gunners stood their ground and several Type 66 maser tanks soon broke off from their parent formations and added their firepower to the rearguards.
Godzilla snarled as his foes continued to offer resistance, though the intensity of the firepower was much smaller than even a few hours earlier. He soon switched his attention and started eliminating the gun positions one by one with a blast of his atomic breath. When the kaiju fired his atomic breath on a gun position, the result was the position enveloped in numerous explosions before a huge plume of smoke in the shape of nuclear explosion rising up from the flames. He continued on his march to the sea while blasting every makeshift strongpoint in sight, mostly with one blast of his atomic breath.
Although they could not hold their common enemy in place for more than a few seconds, the artillery and maser tanks were doing an invaluable service for by pinning Godzilla down for a few seconds, they took the pressure off their colleagues. More importantly, the delays bought time for the survivors to reach the beaches, where they planned to make their stand. As he passed by the remaining artillery positions, Kitagawa could not help but salute them for they acted in the best codes of bushido, the way of the warrior. For Brezarin, it was more personal for it reminded him of the sight of artillery and anti-tank gunners standing their ground in the worst possible odds in an attempt to kill more of the hated Germans during the darkest days of World War II.
The battle soon made its way back to beach Omega and as soon as Kitagawa saw the preparations he communicated with the flagship of the fleet, "I hope that you'll be ready to greet our visitor properly".
Admiral Sakai replied on the line, "We're just hope that our guest won't be late". He then paused before asking, "Is General Reynolds there"? Kitagawa nodded and gave the radio transceiver to the American and then Sakai asked him, "If I recall general, you fought at Inchon in Korea right? Reynolds nodded before Sakai continued, "Then I hope that you'll be impressed by the firepower we're throwing at the bastard".
Reynolds laughed at the surprising promise the Japanese admiral made, "I'm sure that I'll be impressed at the entertainment you'll provide for the audience". He then sat down and looked at the supreme commander for a moment before saying very seriously, "I truly hope that Sakai is right". Kitagawa nodded in grim agreement as their APC made its way to the "rear" area.
As Godzilla approached the coast, the mist started to thicken from the constant battle, blinding the kaiju somewhat and providing some camouflage to the awaiting defenders. Despite the gradual thickening of the sky around them, the troops could not miss Godzilla's huge form closing in on them.
After a long period of silence with only the sound of the howling winds, Godzilla's eyes adjusted to the dark landscape and then widened in surprise as he spotted the tanks and The monster picked up speed as he closed in on more potential victims, his fleet and tail shaking the already brittle ground.
Seeing this, Admiral Sakai turned to his weapons officer and nodded before he turned back to observe the oncoming storm while the alarms started to go off. Then the ship shook as her guns started to roar along with the rest of the entire fleet.
When everyone on the beach heard the immense noise of gunfire, they turned to see the sea behind them erupt in smoke and flame. They then turned to watch in horror as the shells exploded around Godzilla and right in front of them.
Godzilla's eyes widened in surprise as the enormous explosions occurred all around him. Some shells actually landed in places in and around the monster and actually forced him back for a few moments. He growled in anger at the surprise assault and roared out as if challenging another creature before heading straight for the defense line.
Guns chattered, bombs and shells exploded, and rockets roared straight for the kaiju as the armies attempted to coordinate their fire at different points on his body, hoping to eventually overwhelm his cell defense system. For the inexperienced fighters, they hoped that the immense fire they had at hand now would defeat the bastard once and for all. The veterans did not share that sentiment and many suspect that it would be their turn to die.
Godzilla resumed his advance but the savage firepower started to really slow him down. His red eyes burned with hatred as the explosions occurred all around him and it prevented him from brining his main weapon on to bear. The storm of fire soon generated so much smoke that it blinded Godzilla once again and he roared in hellish anger as he blinked to clear the flash of explosions from his eyes.
In the sea, the water around the ships flashed yellow as the guns continued to roar. Destroyers headed in close to the shore while cruisers hanged back to deliver their salvos. The ships zigzagged across the water while their turrets and rocket launchers kept their sights on Godzilla.
Despite undergoing hurried repairs, the Gotengo added her firepower to that of the fleet, the ship shaking from the recoil of the guns. On her bridge, Nakano and Udea looked at the screen as shellfire slammed on his hide. After another wave of explosions pushed Godzilla back, the XO turned to one of the other officers and asked, "What is the status of the repairs". One of the engineer officers replied that repairs were almost complete. Both men smiled as they awaited the chance to really return back and engage the target head on.
As Kitagawa observed the combined firepower stopping Godzilla in his tracks, he considered his options for his forces could not keep this up forever. The previous attempt to bury Godzilla had come close to success but Godzilla managed to free himself and drive them back to the beaches. The general immediately unveiled one of the maps and looked for any mountain formations similar to the ones inland. He then looked back to Reynolds who was busy arguing with the air commanders and asked, "Any chance on getting the air support up and running".
Reynolds turned to him with a haggard look on his face and said, "Right now they're willing to but that is it, if we have to withdrawal again then don't expect anymore air support".
Kitagawa cursed and looked back at the map for a few moments before deciding on the next plan of attack, "Signal all units to launch an all out attack and push the target back to the ridges", "All ships are to coordinate with the ground forces in luring target towards designated point". As he got off the line, the Japanese general felt a shiver go up his spine as he realized the enormity of what he was attempting pull off and the consequences should it fail.
For some time, the stalemate continued with Godzilla attempting to move forward and the combined forces throwing him back at a heavy price. However, soon the fire began to switch from direct fire to general bombardment, blanketing the area around Godzilla in white smoke. The kaiju roared in annoyance as the direction of the fire blocked his line of sight and he could barely retaliate against his now hidden opponents. His maw opened up and he started firing several random blasts of his atomic breath. Although the beam did not kill anyone, the sight of the energy weapon unnerved them as they continued to blast away.
Kitagawa observed the bombardment for some time and once he believed that Godzilla was virtually blind, he nodded to an equally worried Reynolds who then got on the line and said, "To all tanks, drive like hell". Saying those words seemed to have prematurely aged the American and he said quietly to the Japanese general, I hope that this will be worth all of the sacrifice".
Acting as if linked together, the forces on the front line suddenly emerged from their positions and headed into the thick man-made mist surrounding the kaiju with guns blazing. Directed by aerial controllers and a lot of luck, the tanks and other fast AFVs drove through and around Godzilla before resuming their fire and directing his attention towards them. Meanwhile, the artillery and remaining Type 66 maser tanks continued to bombard the general area around the creature, pinning him in place as the rest began to advance.
Despite the numerous explosions blinding his face, the monster was still full of fight and he started to move at a faster pace, as he resumed his advance, his feet and tail creating an obstacle course the tanks plunged blindly into as they attempted to outflank him. Although virtually blind, his ears picked up the sounds of armored units massing behind him and ignoring the stinging fire behind him, the kaiju turned around and started to pursue the tank units now hammering him from behind.
Once Godzilla started to head straight for them, the tanks began to fall back while maintaining formation and maintaining fire on him. At the same moment, the units still on the beaches began their own march while the fleet began to sail while attempting to keep the monster in range of their guns.
As Nakano observed the fleet breaking formation, he angrily turned to Udea and yelled out, "Aren't the repairs completed yet"?
Udea spoke calmly, "The engineers are almost finished, they just need a few more minutes".
Nakano slammed his right hand in his chair and said, "Finish up as soon as possible since I want to get in there". The others on the bridge agreed with that particular statement but it could not speed up the progress of the repair crews while the rest continued their pursuit of the beast.
Interior of Antarctica:
For the next few hours, it seemed that the new push had gone well since despite suffering heavy casualties as always, the ground forces managed push Godzilla back towards the designated ridges. When the mountains came into view, the tanks maneuvered around the monster again so that nothing was between the glaciers and Godzilla once the gunners switched their fire. Shells from the sea soon joined in the bombardment, creating huge avalanches that started to hamper Godzilla's movement.
Unfortunately, the constant fighting had only served to enrage Godzilla further and soon he had enough of this resistance. His blood red eyes glowed hot with fury as he observed the ring of steel thrown around him for a moment before charging his back. This time though, the glow of his dorsal fins was not blue but red, which not even the veterans had seen thus far in the war against Godzilla. Before anyone could react, Godzilla unleashed the worst form of hell on them with his maw dropped open and hellish red death rained down upon his foes. This time, the red flame really did incinerate its victims into their atom forms, their remains scattered across the wind.
Godzilla growled in glee at the devastation and began his advance, firing his now red-atomic breath in rapid succession despite the intense fire still bombarding him. Now though, the blame cut down the ranks of his enemies by the score while smashing the others aside.
The commanders watched in horror as the now crazed monster really take the offensive against them. Realizing that humanity had actually lost, Kitagawa got on the command net and yelled out with a heavy heart, "All forces are to make their way to the coast and evacuate, ships and airplanes are to provide cover". He slammed the radio back as he considered the consequences of his decision, lost in his own thoughts as the battle now continued around them. Each one of the others now had similar macabre thoughts about the horror they were common witnesses to.
Bridge of Gotengo:
The repair crews had just about finished patching up the last of the damage when news of the disastrous turn in the land battle arrived over the command net. Stunned at the report and feeling the need to see it personally, Nakano yelled out, "Can you display the image of the battlefield". The crew fulfilled the request and soon they all saw the devastation.
Scores of vehicles lay along the landscape, smashed to pieces with some still burning and many with the corpses of their crew lying in their seats as Godzilla's main weapon killed them all. Standing in the middle of it, Godzilla roared in triumph as he spotted the rest of his foes scattering away like mice. He turned around and resumed pursuit, his eyes now back to normal and his atomic ray transformed back into its standard color of blue and white.
With anger boiling within him, Nakano turned to Udea who had the same look in his eyes as he did before stating, "Signal all to prepare for a do-or-die attack". Udea nodded and then repeated the order as alarms started to ring around the ship.
The crew on the bridge looked at him in horror for a few moments before Nakano explained his decision, "With the air forces badly hammered and the ground units utterly destroyed, we're the only thing standing in Godzilla's way". He then eyed the non-Japanese crew members for a moment before stating, "But if you feel that you're not up to it then you have my full permission to depart the ship".
The wait lasted for a few seconds before Douglas Gordon spoke, "Sir, I don't know about you but from what I seen here, we all prefer to stay here until we finally defeat the bastard or he kills us in the process".
Nakano smiled at the American's surprising statement before yelling out, "All right then, and all hands to battle stations and prepare to engage the enemy". Within seconds, the great warship lifted from the water again before heading into the mainland, her drill spinning rapidly, her engines roaring within the winds and her hanger doors closed as she flew towards a rendezvous with destiny.
Author's Notes:
This was one very long battle and I felt that I had to pull out everything but the kitchen sink to give this a chance of making it work.
As you can see, I think I may have put in a few clichés that many of you have seen in other movies, Godzilla or otherwise.
As you can see, I put in some references from the Godzilla series (in this case, its mainly the earlier ones).
Author's Questions:
Since we all know what is coming, anyone have any really good ideas on brining a closure to this.
What did you like overall about this story?
Summary of next chapter: The first few minutes of Godzilla: Final Wars.
Notes on ground formations:
Army group:
Command group,
Heavy artillery, Mortars and Rocket Launchers
Light vehicles Maser tanks Light vehicles
Tanks
As always: please read and review.