III: Argus
Miki adjusted the curls in her hair as she sat at a large conference table preparing to be briefed on the re-construction of the new MechaGodzilla. The young Psychic felt a bit underdressed compared to the G-Force officers in the room surrounding the table. High ranking Generals, Commanders and other officers gazed at her eerily. Miki could sense their thoughts and knew that they thought lowly of her—she after all was the self-centered fraud who preferred Godzilla to be living than dead. She had no choice but to ignore such rash judgments toward her especially since ninety percent of the people at the table had no idea who she was beneath the surface.
"Hey, Miki."
Miki snapped her attention toward the seat to her right. Daintily, Meru Ozawa placed herself in the chair and smiled. Her thick bushy black hair was held back by a headband like always, and she wore that typical school-girl outfit. Ever since she was persuaded into helping Meru lure Junior to Destoroyah a few weeks ago, she always felt a bit intimidated by her.
"Oh hey, how've you been? I haven't seen you since…" Miki's voice trailed off upon recalling Godzilla's demise.
"Since Godzilla died? Yeah, I've been relaxing."
Miki's eyes widened upon hearing how coldly Meru spoke of Godzilla's death. To her, being a Psychic was nothing but a job, a means of appeasing the masses by doing what she was told. Miki felt a slight smile form on her face when she recalled how Meru was 'trained' in America. One would think she would have developed a more individualized perspective regarding her abilities.
"I decided to step down as G-Force's Psychic Specialist." Meru's shrill voice broke Miki's train of thought.
"Is that why Aso told me that he wanted me back?" Miki asked somewhat sarcastically.
"Yeah. I just don't want to use my powers anymore. I still want to lead that normal life we once talked about."
Miki tried not shaking her head with all of her might. After further study over the prior month it was rather common knowledge among Psychics that their powers did not fade by natural aging. Powers would only fade based on disuse— in other words, a 'use them or lose them' scenario. Miki did not approve of Meru's simple dismissal of the gifts she was born with. Why she was even present at the meeting was beyond her knowledge.
"Everyone, I need your attention." General Aso's petulant voice belted over the dozen officers' individual discussions. With ease, Aso paced in with a tall Caucasian man dressed in a pinstripe suite following close behind.
"This is Dr. Reginald Tanis from the newly created United Nations Counter G Panel, he has overseen the entire construction of the new MechaGodzilla weapon." Aso introduced while sitting down at the head of the table directly adjacent to Miki.
Entire construction? Miki muttered to herself telepathically, careful to avoid Meru's ever-listening mind. She had no idea that the construction was already completed, according to her understanding it had just begun. Miki adjusted herself in the chair and listened to the eager scientist preparing to present the final product.
"Thank you, General." Tanis nodded and clicked a hand-held pad that activated the viewing screen at the end of the room, "as you all know, this new project has been fully funded by the United Nations with permission from the Japanese government."
A shiver went up Miki's spine as Dr. Tanis spoke. She could not completely be sure but she felt a negative aura about him. He seemed like a selfish man based on the manner in which he held himself, along with his rather boastful voice. Miki wondered if she was just being overly analytical for a moment, but that black feeling continued to fester about the room centered around him.
"As you all know the former MechaGodzilla, the Garuda, and the MOGUERA failed in their mission to eliminate various kaiju threats," Tanis began while clicking the remote pad that brought up images of all three mechanical weapons, "after much consideration we understood the primary problem in all three."
Everyone's eyes shifted away from the screen and onto Tanis who folded his arms confidently while pacing across the front of the room.
"MechaGodzilla and MOGUERA lacked the sufficient mobility to overwhelm Godzilla. Garuda… well… was a completely pointless endeavor in the first place. Why your government chose to construct it I will never know." Tanis grumbled while shaking his head negatively.
The comment about Garuda made Miki chuckle. She could only imagine how angry Kazuma Aoki would be to hear his pride-and-joy dismissed so callously. Then again, he hadn't worried about Counter G in over three years ever since both he and Asuza parted. The clicking of Tanis's hand-held pad stirred Miki from her nostalgia.
"While MechaGodzilla and MOGUERA both possessed superior firepower, they had difficulty combating their opponents physically and avoiding their offensive abilities. While the synthetic diamond plating on MechaGodzilla provided some protection, it eventually failed." Tanis brushed his brown hair back from his eyes and leaned against the wall next to the screen, "it's only logical that this new MechaGodzilla should possess both the firepower of its predecessors, but also enhanced maneuverability."
Tanis smiled excitedly like a child showing and telling his toy in a classroom.
"Now, you ready to see the finished product?"
"Mm, yes." Several people whispered impatiently.
"Behold." Tanis clicked another button on his pad that raised a large shade behind the screen that revealed a window facing the massive Counter G hangar bay, "MechaGodzilla 3, Codename: Argus."
Miki rose from her chair in astonishment at the appearance of this new super weapon. Unlike the bulky prior MechaGodzilla, Argus possessed a slimmed body. His arms, legs and torso seemed ridged in a skeletal way. Not only did it remove bulk from his overall mass, but it made the machine seem all the more intimidating.
"Tanis, please cite the weapon's additions." Aso commanded, sounding completely apathetic in his order.
"This MechaGodzilla possesses the same synthetic diamond armor equivalent to that of the Super X-III. We were inspired by the Mecha-King Ghidorah remains, and installed grappling arms in order to induce shock while at the same time apprehending any foe." Tanis seemed more and more excited with each ability he rattled off, "Argus's offensive weaponry consists of: a mega buster ray from his mouth, the plasma grenade which proved extremely effective against both Godzilla and Rodan, laser cannons from his optics, paralytic missiles, puncturing shock anchors, and spiral grenade missiles."
Miki covered her eyes. The only thing she could imagine was how brutally this machine would destroy the Little One. She remembered how Godzilla would have died if it hadn't been for Rodan's essence re-constituting his secondary brain. Not only was the Little One less experienced in battle, but he had no way of knowing how to defend himself against such horror.
"Review his tactile combat skills."
"Argus is equipped with an enhanced titanium musculature that's build to withstand pressures of up to 650,000 metric tons per cubic meter. The synthetic diamond plating around his claws are sharp as razors and we've equipped him with a chest drill piece equivalent to MOGUERA's cranial drill. His dorsal spines, also coated with synthetic diamond are adjusted to rotate at speeds of 150 rotations per second - we've dubbed the name of the weapon 'diamond blade'. And of course there's the grappling arms and the shock—"
"Are we aiming to eliminate the Little One, or brutally murder him?" Miki interjected sarcastically while jumping to her feet once again.
"Miki please sit down." Aso calmly ordered.
"I will not, Aso. How much money did it take to build this killing machine?" Miki directly addressed Dr. Tanis who refused to answer, he merely stepped back and allowed General Aso to handle the perturbed woman.
"Miki, a word with you in the hall." Aso pointed toward the door and ushered the flustered woman out into the windowed hallway.
Miki slammed her hands against a window sill and angrily stared at the flowers outside, as if their beauty seemed too much of a mockery for her current mood. She could not believe how Aso was allowing such brutal creation to take place.
"You need to keep quiet, this is a formal conference."
"I don't give a damn, General." Miki accented the world General, mocking his authority since in her eyes he was abusing it, "this has become more than just a means of defense. This is brutality. You can't expect the Little One to survive that thing in there!"
General Aso sighed deeply and collected himself before he retorted. He walked over toward the window and gazed at the dandelions springing in the courtyard, the same flowers Miki had reluctantly set eyes on.
"I understand the meaning of life, Miki," Aso began, "but I also understand that like those dandelions out there, Junior's life is abbreviated to a short existence. He's a threat to not only Japan, but the rest of the world. He has to be stopped."
"But he hasn't even attacked anything…What, so we're going to kill him without any provoca—"
"This conversation is over." Aso stopped her in mid-sentence. "You'll report to Argus's bridge at sixteen-hundred hours for training. Good day, Miss Saegusa." Aso completely ignored Miki's question and addressed her without any sense of empathy—something unlike Aso's normal behavior.
Miki folded her arms and let her thoughts drift toward the solemn warning the Elias rendered the night before. If humanity kills Junior, that would mean war not only from the Earth, but also Mothra. She was at a loss. What was she to do other than wait? Without ease she started pacing down the hallway until a familiar presence tinged in the back of her mind like an electrical shock. Her heart stopped for a moment and she cringed.
Godzilla had finally risen, and hungered for the nutrition cursed upon him by humanity.