Chapter 5: Fiery Arrival

Amuro had kept his head down for a good quarter of the flight. Several things began to run rampant through his mind. The biggest of them was the recurring thought he was not going to make it out alive and share the same fate as his father. He was lucky to have escaped Godzilla's wrath in the past, however, he doubted luck would save him again.

"Hey."

Amuro felt somebody nudge his shoulder. He turned to see Murakami.

"Yeah?"

"What's on your mind right now?" Murakami asked, his voice slightly digitized through his helmet's speaker.

"A lot." Amuro made sure to keep his response as blunt yet straight forward as he could.

"Really?" The half-Liyari prince could just imagine his fellow soldier raising an eyebrow beneath his faceless mask. Apparently, his answer wasn't enough for his brother-in-arms. Amuro sighed. There was a time and place for him to elaborate, just not right here and not right now. However, before Murakami could speak again, the speakers of the dropship crackled on.

"Approaching destination." Sure enough, Amuro looked out the window again and was greeted with the sight of gnarled trees and foliage of the Throne Room. It also cemented the fact there was no turning back now. Especially since he could hear the bomb-bay doors open, shaking the inside of the dropship.

Koji growled in frustration as he attempted to shoo away the winged creatures on his jeep. The creatures in question were a species of flying reptomammals known as Dorats. They had fish-like golden scales which reflected the mid-noon sun while a plume of brownish-green hair ran down their backs. They also sported a bat-like face as well as wings which resembled organic sails. While these creatures weren't uncommon around the Throne Room, they were the only species not to share any genetics with Godzilla or Rin. Rather, they shared their DNA with a Kaiju regarded as much worse than the King and Queen of the Monsters; the three-headed, gold-scaled dragon-Kaiju known as King Ghidorah. However, despite sharing genetic roots with the King of Terror, wild Dorats, even at their absolute worst, didn't retain his malevolent nature. If anything, they were just annoying. Though, domesticated ones did make excellent pets.

Koji growled as he waved off the flying reptomammals from his jeep, sending them into panicked squeaks as they flew away from his flailing arms. However, the moment he turned his back in what was short-lived satisfaction, the Dorats returned and settled back on the roof of his vehicle.

"Koji, just give it a rest," Kimiko told him, somewhat bored by her boyfriend's antics which had been going on for twenty minutes, "they're just gonna keep coming back no matter how many times you try to scare them off."

Koji sighed before turning his attention to his girlfriend, "Y'know, I can't believe how casually you're taking this, Kim, your sister is risking her own life in the Throne Room and you're just standing around here watching me dealing with Dorats. Aren't you a little bit concerned for her safety?"

Kimiko shrugged, "After nine or so visits to that place, I've just come to accept her as a big girl who can take care of herself. Besides, she has Kagura and Tril'Qua with her, she's not exactly what you'd call 'alone', Koji."

Koji shook his head, "Okay, whatever you say, sweetheart," he told her, "but just so you know, I'm not gonna be the one to tell your mom or Tril's parents their daughters were killed while we just sat by trying to fend off Dorats."

Kimiko was about to reply until she noticed her boyfriend's gaze was turned upwards. She turned her eyes skyward and noticed a large gathering of black dots headed toward the Throne Room.

"What are those?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as to catch a glimpse of the objects.

Koji rummaged his pack for a few seconds before pulling out a pair of binoculars. He gazed through them for a bit before paling.

"Well?" Kimiko asked.

Koji bit his lip as he thought about how he was going to level this to his girlfriend. "Yeah, Kim? If you weren't worried about your sister before, you're definitely going to be worried now. Those are E.R.F. ships."

"What?" Kimiko immediately snatched the binoculars out of Koji's hands, ignoring his protest, and gazed through the eye holes. Sure enough, there were at least a grand total of ten dropships bearing the Earth Reclamation Force logo, each flanked by squadron upon squadron of Devonian fighter ships. Even worse, she noticed their bomb-bay doors were wide open and ready to drop an entire payload of primed and readied thermobaric warheads. Upon seeing this, Kimiko could only let out one single, panicked word, "MANA!"

"See, this is why we have something like the Buddy System." Tril'Qua lectured her friend as she gathered up the dead Floral-Wings, including the one that had been impaled on her spear. Mana sighed, "Okay, next time, I'll remember that when we take another trip." Tril'Qua groaned at her friend's response. "I'm only telling you this so that we'll have a next time. Trust me, the last thing I want to hear from your sister or your mother is 'Why did you let Mana die in the Throne Room?' or 'Why didn't you keep her safe?' or-"

"Alright, Tril, I get it! Sheesh!" Mana groaned.

"I'm just saying, I don't want blood on my claws," Tril'Qua shrugged, "especially if said blood is from my friend."

"Duly noted," Mana replied, slipping in a dead Floral-Wing in her pack, "that being said, we have something to bring back to Nara. At least it's not a total loss, eh, Tril?"

She noticed her friend had gone silent. "Uh, Tril? You okay?" Mana turned around and noticed Tril'Qua and Kagura's gazes had turned skywards. She followed their gaze and gasped at the sight of an entire fleet of Earth Reclamation air-ships approaching their position.

"What's the E.R.F. doing here?" Tril'Qua asked.

"What do you think," Mana replied, "trying to reclaim Earth from Godzilla."

Sure enough, Mana noticed the bellies of the dropships were open as something dropped out of them... and landed with a deafening eruption of fire.

They're dropping bombs. Mana thought in horror. If that wasn't enough, all ten of the ships began dropping their payloads as the explosions got closer and closer. The sounds of panicking Throne Room fauna added to the cacophony of mayhem. With the explosions still far away, Mana turned to Tril'Qua and yelled one word before she was drowned out.

"RUN!" It was all that was needed to send the human, Devonian, and G-Wolf into a run, Mana and Tril'Qua even jumping onto Kagura's back as they tried to gain speed to escape the approaching conflagration.

Deep within the center of the forest, a leviathan slept in a cave large enough for him to fit. He dreamed of the days he once ruled the planet and how he was awakened by humanity's bloodthirsty corruption of discoveries. For thousands of years, he had waged his war with humankind and their allies and even then they had not come to understand this was not a battle they would ever win. However, just as he had gotten deep in his sleep, a dulled, yet still present boom disturbed him from his sleep. The humans had come to declare war on him within his own territory for a third time in several years. A mistake. A very, very big mistake. He would show them the consequences of such a brash and reckless decision the best way he knew how.

The creatures within the cave scurried for their lives as a pair of orange-red eyes opened, slightly illuminating the darkness with a hellish, fiery glow followed by a thunderous growl. The tenant of the Throne Room had awakened.

"This is Company B reporting in. Payload expended," Amuro heard the voice of Company B's leader crackle through his dropship's radio, "setting coordinates for convergence point."

"Roger that, Company B," Takashi replied, "our payload's been delivered as well as Companies C, D, and E. We are headed to the drop point as well."

Amuro felt a sudden turn as the dropship banked, following the set coordinates for the drop point. It took them at least a minute to arrive. Amuro felt a sudden lurch as the dropship's landing gear touched the ground. He, like all the other gathered men and women, stood up as the doors opened and the green light switched on. At that moment, the soldiers exited the ship and set foot on the Throne Room's soil.

Through his helmet's camera, Amuro watched the other dropships' crew depart as the Sky Wings hovered in place. The Quad-Tanks detached from the ships' sides while the bulky Power Suits strode outwards, their thick, bird-like feet leaving three-toed prints in the soil. Amuro got out his rifle from his back and fell into position.

"Alright," Takashi announced, "let's move out!"