Chapter 7: Skirmish
San Francisco, California, USA
37°48'05.6"N 122°35'39.8"W, off the coast of California
April 7th, 2019, 6:10 PM
Making his way to America was quite a breeze, the journey for Godzilla was like a little road trip from his hometown to a neighboring one. His swimming speed is something that the Japanese and the world scientific community consistently are mesmerized by. In fact, the mobility he displays in a maritime environment such as the open sea is astounding compare the size of his body. Godzilla can feel the ocean's current being interrupted by his snout as he approaches the shore of San Francisco. The world through his eyes was but a tint of ocean blue color, with some shades of grey and stones at the bottom of the ocean.
However, his journey has not gone unnoticed, for a creature with such a size, any movement across a significantly large portion of water would be detected. Conversely, the US Navy's spy satellites were able to pick up his movements from the den; Godzilla's movement and trajectory was mapped out by PACOM as heading towards San Francisco.
Accordingly, the entire US Navy's Pacific Fleet was put on high alert and were ordered to hunt down and stall Godzilla's movement until the Marine's MFS units were ready for combat. Beneath the ocean waves, the US Navy used their Seawolf submarines in conjunction with ASM assets to hunt down Godzilla. With one submarine named Los Angeles tailing Godzilla at the speed of 30 knots, closing in from behind with her torpedoes at the ready.
The XO asked the captain for permission to fire and elderly officer gave the word without a second thought, thus, sending two torpedoes into the water and heading towards Godzilla's feet. At breakneck speed, the Mark-48 Torpedoes (Author's note: Any US Navy servicemen and women out there feel free to correct any glaring inaccuracies in the review/comment section. Thanks.) speed their ways towards the massive radioactive Saurian's feet, they detonated with a bang, the shockwave of the strike shook its way through the out the vacuum environment of the sea, so powerful was the blast that the water surface splash upward to mark the exact location in the vast body of water.
"Torpedoes hit. Target is still operational. Repeat, he is still operational, Big Fish is still in play, all hands prepare for course 3-9-5. Attempt to intercept Godzilla at point 0-5-4 has failed. Moving on to Phase Line Trident, over." The captain instructed his crew on the ship's intercom system. The Los Angeles likewise alerted her sister ships to move along to the next phase line where they can intercept Godzilla with greater support from ground based long range Artilleries of the Marines.
A scene of panic never before seen to the Americans soon spread through out San Francisco as the entirety of the Richmond District area, the Golden Gate Bridge were evacuated in a rush. Civilians hastily left their homes, packing bare necessities and try to hop on public transports and buses to leave the city. As they leave their homes behind, the Marines and their heavy artilleries were brought into play at the Golden Gates Park, where batteries were set up and prepare to fire at Godzilla as a last ditch defense attempt.
At Point Bonita Lighthouse, a team of Marines ATC and Spotter quickly ascend the height of the lighthouse and set up their observation post with binoculars and optics to scope out Godzilla's possible approaches. Navy's Seahawks and air assets from all branches of the Armed Forces flew overhead. Their payloads consisted of either bombs, anti surface weapons or anything that can be used to engage Godzilla once he has surfaced from the depth of the ocean.
The sight was of intense fear and suspenseful waiting, the Marines anxiously await where could Godzilla surface, their own strategic assets such as satellites and UAV drones can spot traces of his radiation, but the worst thing they can think of at the moment is Godzilla surfacing at a different location than they had anticipated and they themselves are caught off guard in the process. "I got something here, one big bulge coming out of the water. Range 3 clicks West of here, bearing 2-7-0." The spotter spoke on his radio, consequently, his teammates and all units focus their attention to Godzilla, unleashing a barrage of missiles and artillery shells on the Saurian.
USMC Anti Megalosaurus Command West Coast Reaction Base, Alameda Point Naval Air station, San Francisco
While the chaotic battle was raging beyond the San Francisco Bay, a scene of sharp contrast was playing out, calm and serenity flow by as usual with the atmosphere of controlled panic well within the intended parameter. While the ground crew were preparing the runway for the ordered deployment of the MFS units, the Marine guards at the gates saw a vehicle, a black SUV approaching their guardhouse at a steady pace, showing no signs of fear or panic that the civilians wear on their faces. As the vehicle came to a proper halt, a Marine came by the door of the SUV with his M16A4 on stand-by slung by his torso. He waited for the window to rolled down, subsequently, the sight of the driver came into view. An American he can tell by the look of his eyes, but an Asian in the shell, he couldn't tell if the driver was a Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
"ID, sir? The Marine asked as his teammates paced around the vehicle to inspect its chassis for security concern. "Will this do?" The driver asked, handing over his identification papers to the Marine, inspecting its content closely, he was surprised to find the middle aged Asian man turned out to be an American-Vietnamese. A CIA analyst even, something that nobody in America would have expected to see as a normal occurrence, "I am told that my reassignment here has been informed to your superiors." He spoke with perfect English, pitch perfect even. None of the stereotypical broken English that American usually associated with Asian. "Oh yes sir, your paper seems to be in order, have a good day." The Marine returned the paper to the Vietnamese and lifted the gate, letting the SUV enter the base's parking lot.
The Vietnamese CIA agent, Trần Thánh Nhân, exited his now parked car and head on over to the main Administrative Building with a briefcase tight in his grip. His security clearance meant he was allowed to enter the facility, after all having a resident specialist who analyzes the intriguing knowledge behind the enemies of the East. But a specialist on Godzilla, he is not. His transfer here has been made clear to Major Glasgow who was busy preparing himself for combat with Godzilla, however, he has little to no interest in the Analyst's post here in San Francisco and thought that it is of no significant to him. As Glasgow was putting on his uniform, his phone rang with a text message sent to him from an unknown source whose name is obscured by the various random numbers that in no ways, resemble a phone number.
Mindful of the possibility of malwares or scammer, Richard picked up his phone and view the number, his education told him that these random numbers are merely a code. A Maverick Code acted as a thinly veiled shroud over the user's identity. He took noticed of the numbers 8-5-18-1 (Space) 7-9-18-25-9-1 on the ID tag, he then deciphered the code by replacing the numbers with letters correspondent to the numerical values, consequently, the result he has was none other than "Hera-Giryia..." Richard said in absolute shock and awe. He swipe the screen on the phone and view the text message and found himself a rather tempting reading material. "I know you want to know who is responsible for your mother's death. Would you believe me if I tell you who or show you the culprit in action?"
Simple as it was, it caught Glasgow's curiosity, the Major promptly sent a reply message "How can I know you're not lying?" the suspenseful atmosphere was augmented when the Giryia sent another message in reply saying "You don't know. But I can assure you who is. Turn on the monitor system of the Athena unit, watch her in action as she pursues Godzilla. Then you will know..." Vague as it was, but tempting nonetheless, Richard promptly boot up his PC to monitor MechaGirain's point of view as the albino mecha unit was being prepared for combat.
Out on the runway, MechaGirain was being loaded with her weapons and ammos, ground crews were running back and forth hauling supplies for the first mecha deployment. But deep under the pale white armor, Girain was deeply concerned. She knew nothing of what Giryia had done to her, the twin could have left a virus inside her system, waiting for the time to be activated and destroy her. She contacted Jason Brody and with his help, was able to run diagnostics on her systems to repair any damages she might have been inflicted. "Are you certain that there is no virus left in me by Giryia?" She asked Jason on the radio.
"Absolutely not. I've been working on you back and forth for God knows how long already. The one program Giryia left behind in you seems to be a link between the two of you, something for her view your memories and in return you can view hers. I don't understand why, but I'll have a look into it later. For now, good luck out there." Jason turned off his radio and watch as Girain being airlifted off to face Godzilla out in the open water as the Saurian was still hiding from the constant watchful eyes of the Armed Forces. Richard was monitoring Girain as she deployed her jet thrusters along with the jet packs of her MFS pack; the albino machine flew up to the blue sky before angling herself into the ocean, crashing down into the war with one grand slam into the water surface. The water splashes upward before subsiding once again and Girain was soon under a thick, murky veil.
Underneath the ocean's surface, she was safe from the prying eyes of the humans, in her blue tinted POV, the aqua world underneath the waves was an eerily quiet void with little to no sunlight. This is a world, where eye contacts is reduced to the immediate surrounding and the sound can be even more deceitful than that on land. The only way to keep track of progress underwater was for her to turn on her Sonar system. Accordingly, the various submarines of the US Navy were present on her scope, with the pinging sounds of the sonar scope show her the location of Godzilla. Much to her anticipation of his reaction, he was leaving the coastal area, still being bombarded by depth charges and tracked by airborne sonar buoys dropped from P-3 Poseidon ASM aircrafts.
She followed his movements out to the open water where the submarines and frigates scowl for miles and miles to pin point Godzilla's position. "Sir, should we deploy the second unit?" The ground crew asked Major Glasgow on his radio, he was distracted for a second but did not miss anything of significant. "Negative, keep the Hera unit on stand by. You can't go all out on one place." The engineer nodded upon hearing Richard's instruction, he then signaled his teammates not to deploy the purple mecha unit right away. Returning his attention to the screen, Richard saw how MechaGirain gave a single minded drive to catch up to Godzilla just outside of Phase Line Trident. He watched with the morbid curiosity of a child as Godzilla slowly came into view of MechaGirain, Giryia's words in the text messages rung in his mind once again, he cynically sat down and watch how events unfold.
Conversely, MechaGirain was closing in on Godzilla before she skidded to a halt as the black Saurian turned his head around to greet her. Godzilla grumbled and let out muffled growls in the water, calling for her to come close and communicate with him. She subsequently swam closer to him, refusing to fire off her weapons; Richard watched with his eyes browns tensed as he felt like he was watching not a defective product but a traitor under his command and the murderer of his mother conversing and collaborating with the enemy. Richard clenched his fist and grit his teeth in anger, the cell phone in his hand was gripped by a hand of anger and hatred.
Nonetheless, Girain was unaware that Richard was observing her, she came up to Godzilla without a hint of aggression on her face. Godzilla gently came up to her with a stroke of his tail, the two were levitating underwater, feeling the ocean current ripple through their body as Godzilla looked into her sapphire blue optics. "What are you doing here Godzilla? Don't you know it's dangerous for both of us that you go on rampage anywhere?" He let out a grumble, telling him her disapproval of his sudden arrival in America. Godzilla conversely growl back at her, "I understand that Girain. But Kiryu wants me to keep an eye on you, he is worried about your well being."
Girain went silent when she heard what he said. But knowing that sooner or later one of the Submarine or frigates might engage them, she needs to get rid of Godzilla. "Godzilla, you need to stay clear of this place. If you come any closer, then they will force us to engage one another." Her growl was taken with a prepared mind by Godzilla, he then promptly feint an attack with his claws and talons on her face. Consequently, Girain backed off from his strike before lashing her tail out to slapped his hands off.
As usual, Godzilla quickly recovered from the attack, waving his hands in the water before returning to the fray with a carefully thought out stroke that propelled his body close to her as he pinned her down on the ground, mocking punches at her and bites on her neck. Girain jolts whenever she felt his teeth burrowing into her neck but not too deep in to damage her circuitry, she kicked him off of her body with a powered thrust by her legs. Getting back on her feet, Girain fired off her torpedoes from the MFS packs at Godzilla, causing him to swim off. He stroked as fast as his strength allow, running away from the incoming projectiles until they all detonated near him, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and water splashes. His signal was off of her sonar and with luck, the Navy's sonar.
As for Richard, he had seen it all, how she communicated with Godzilla how their fight was merely a mock battle to give the impression that she was performing admirably. His hatred has finally found its target, but not necessarily found its source of existence. Consequently for a man, hatred blinded his judgement, and its first for emotional satisfaction shall become Richard's undoing. For now MechaGirain can return safely but things would never be cordial between her and Richard ever again. In the midst of this Cold War, one question lingers on between them and Giryia.