Chapter 5: Extraction

Outer Space above Japan:
As the satellites orbited over Japan, their cameras started to take numerous pictures of the island nation. After that, they transmitted the information to stations all over the globe where the people there processed the information before transmitting it to Tokyo. Once the Prime Minister and the generals received the information, their faces paled at the images of the map.

All four islands contained enormous black patches, which symbolized a gathering of Gyaos creatures. Surrounding the islands via maintaining a distance of several hundred kilometers or more were scores of warships from all nations in the Pacific. Interspersed among the blockade were civilian ships attempting to escape from Japan with as many refuges they could save.

After looking at the images, Prime Minister Nagahara turned to the generals and asked, "Can they find the number of Gyaos for each of the islands"?

Otani replied, "The only way would be to send scout units into the areas and the Gyaos creatures are alert for such threats". He then said, "Even if we can ascertain such information, it could change every day if they find more victims on each of the main islands".

The Prime Minister took a deep breath before stating, "We have to get as much information about the concentrations of these beasts before we move against them". He then turned to ask, "Any word about the remains of other Gyaos creatures"?

Takagi replied, "I would advise you not to get much hope since these creatures have key differences in genetic structure that separate them from the original Gyaos creatures from 1995". He paused before stating, "We'd need to gain samples from these particular birds", "The attempt to gain access to those samples has yielded unsuccessful results thus far for we can't get to the dead carcass and those that are destroyed by Gamera have their remains scattered into the wind".

That brought more gloom to the room and Nagahara then said to all of the commanders, "I want you all to work as long as possible to figure out how to defeat this crisis". He then said, "The fate of the world is on the line and we must take the lead here since we have the most experience". He left the somber room to head back to his quarters.

As they all considered their options, General Takagi said out loud, "First we have to gain a full picture of forces at home before we can proceed any further". He paused before stating, "After that, we have to figure out how these creatures function and figure out their weaknesses before we go on the offensive".

Everyone in the room nodded for after the Gyaos creatures entered Japanese airspace, the commanders lost contact with all of the bases on the main islands and ran into difficulties in finding out the extent of the heavy losses. The main headquarters attempted to restore communications with its main bases but only managed to raise a few of them due to the breakdown in communications and the Gyaos overrunning several bases almost immediately.

Takagi then turned to the American general named Ferguson and then asked, "When can we expect aerial reinforcements from your end"?

The American gulped before stating, "Right now we're still positioning all of our assets but if you want to commit our units to joint operations with yours then I think they're capable of commencing operations". He paused before asking, "You're thinking about an operation".

Takagi nodded before turning to the other international generals and asked the same questions. He got varying answers with some being very unsure of their commitments to the new campaign, which worried him since he knew the Japanese military could not afford losses like they had and needed help fast. Taking a deep breath, Takagi turned to a large map highlighting the positions of the military forces as well as the Gyaos creatures with black patches on all four main islands. The only thing missing was a location for Gamera, who was last seen spiraling downward into the sea near the Bonin Islands.

"Alright, I want all squadrons to launch on CAP (combat air patrol) around these areas and I want them armed with as much weapons as possible". He paused before continuing, "After that, send helicopters to these coordinates". The Japanese general paused before stating, "Get as much rest as you can for within a few days, it will be hell for us all".

As the general walked out of the room, he suddenly spotted Minister Okino waiting down the hall while talking with several other politicians. He immediately ran up to the minister and immediately took him aside for a moment before asking him, "You said that you sent your contacts to Kyoto right".

Okino nodded and said, "They're in the vicinity of Kyoto train station".

Takagi nodded before saying, "Get on the line with them and warn them to prepare for evacuation". Okino ran off and then while Takagi considered several other ugly thoughts before he headed to his makeshift quarters to clear his head.

At airfields and on the ships near the vicinity of Japan:
All over the periphery of the Northern Pacific, the airbases swarmed with activity. Crews rushed to ready fighters while base commanders briefed their pilots on the nature of the enemy. Many winced and a good portion complained about having to bail out the Japanese as well as their odds of surviving. While the airfields were busy, other installations readied missile defenses for fear of any stray Gyaos flying randomly about.

The activity was pretty much the same, if not more busy for the ships in the sea around Japan. Steaming around in groups with weapons aimed at the sky, they waited for word of a new offensive or if anymore Gyaos headed their way. Meanwhile, the three US carriers on station steamed between Kyushu and Okinawa while their crews readied the fighter compliments to join in any future offensive.

Only the submarines could get close for they remained underwater almost indefinitely, thereby shielding them from the Gyaos, as they sailed through the waterways of Japan while relying on periscopes to observe the activities of the enormous birds. Knowing that torpedoes were useless, the subs reloaded with a full complement of cruise missiles in the torpedo tubes on the off chance that they could snag one of those beasts.

Near the wrecked train station in Kyoto, a few days later:
Among the many cities hit was the already devastated city of Kyoto. Some creatures flew overhead while others sat on the ground with their eyes closed. It seemed no one remained alive in the city and anything attempting to move through the rubble would immediately attract the Gyaos and at least one of the birds would pick off the target.

In one of the enormous underground shelters, both Nagamine and Kusanagi sat with many others as they waited for news from the outside. To many, it felt like a prison for the shelters were desperately crowded with only limited supplies and ineffective means to communicate with the outside.

Along with the civilians were stragglers of the JGSDF that managed to escape into the shelters before the Gyaos arrived. They became the victims of endless questions by frightened civilians and it took much to restrain both sides. The stragglers attempted to reestablish contact with their parent formations but communications became all but impossible.

Nagamine and Kusanagi sat together silently observing as Ayana and her friend talked to each other about Ayana's dark experience and the consequences. Though it seemed Ayana had recovered, she still shuddered as she recounted her experiences. Nagamine was surprised by her statements that she turned to an equally surprised Kusanagi and asked, "Does this feel similar to when you were connected to Gamera"?

Kusanagi shook her head before saying, "I don't know exactly the differences but I could sense that the connection between Ayana and the creature is very different from my connection with Gamera". She paused before stating, "It seems that the influence of the monster focused on unleashing darkness within her via her own fears and guilt". The young girl and former psychic finished by saying, "It will take a very long time for her to recover from the experience". Nagamine's face turned sour at her friend's remarks.

Just then, a soldier ran up to the two women and saluted before whispering, "Dr. Nagamine, we've just received word for you to prepare for extraction from Kyoto to Tokyo".

Nagamine's eyes widened at the thought and she immediately asked, "Can you get contact with the messengers then"? The soldier nodded and led both Kusunagi and Nagamine to the small center where the communications gear was set up. Nagamine immediately made her way to one of the phones and dialed the number to the command center. Within a few minutes she managed to reach Okino, "What is going on here"?

On the other end of the line, the minister replied in a calm voice, "We need your assistance as soon as possible and it won't do with you and your associates trapped in Kyoto". He paused as she explained the risks before delivering his own reply, "The generals have looked at every aspect and feel that this will succeed". Before Nagamine could reply, Okino said in a cold voice over the line, "This is a direct order doctor so I suggest getting yourselves ready for the evacuation".

Nagamine gritted her teeth before saying, "Fine, then along with me and the girl, can you extract two other people as well". There was silence on the other end of the line before the voice on the other end of the line nodded in agreement. With that, the scientist turned to the former psychic and said, "You better get to Ayna and her friend and warn them that we're evacuating". The girl nodded and headed off while the scientist thought about the insanity of the next few hours.

Deep Pacific Ocean near Bonin Islands:
Within the depths of the Pacific Ocean, the turtle monster's strength finally began to recover with his chest moving at a faster rate and bubbles leaking out of his mouth in a large form, Gamera almost completed healing himself from his wounds. The monster roared in pain as his cells completed their regeneration and formed a new right arm. As the pain started to fade from his regenerated arm, Gamera rose from the ocean floor and let out a roar before setting course and heading towards Japan, intent on resuming battle against his arch nemesis of many millennia.

Underground Command Center, Tokyo:
Despite having slept for many hours, the occupants in the room still felt bone tired as they observed the maps and the symbols of aircraft and ships moving into position. All knew that it would be a very big gamble and with the deadlock in the United Nations still continuing, to launch an attack on this scale would eat up the last of their resources for the moment.

The plan would be for the ships to engage first with missiles to scatter the Gyaos creatures. Once that happened, the fighter and helicopter squadrons would emerge from their bases and conduct a reconnaissance in force of all four islands. Also the helicopters would extract key people from the battle zone and fly them back to Tokyo for consultations on the Gyaos.

Takagi observed the movements of the air units with worry for he knew that the only chance was to move exceptionally fast so as to limit losses. That meant timing everything right and he knew that to coordinate an enormous aerial fleet in chaotic conditions would be enormously difficult. He turned to JMSDF Rear Admiral Minechi Koga and asked, "Are all of your remaining ships in position".

The haggard admiral nodded and said, "We have locks for our missiles on the largest concentrations of the Gyaos creatures and are waiting for you're command". He then snarled quietly to his air force counterpart, "Just make sure to provide fighter cover for the ships after they launch their weapons".

Takagi nodded in agreement and looked at the other generals before turning back to the screen as the next round of fighting got underway, "Here we go again".

In the Seas around Japan:
During the past few days and despite the deadlock in the UN, ships from the different navies of the world began to take up station with their targets already locked in. When the ships received word to launch the attack, the officers looked at each other in alarm and their faces said the same thing, "Are they insane"? Despite that, the gathering fleet immediately sounded battle stations and with fighters providing some form of cover overhead, the warships launched their first wave of missiles.

In the Inland Sea and the Tusguru Strait, numerous periscopes peered out from the calm dark waters and they scanned the costs in front of them before enormous plumes of smoke rose from the water. As soon as the last wave of missiles rose from the Pacific, the submarines immediately dove deep and maneuvered out of "dodge" as soon as possible for they did not want to test the theory of the water providing a sense of stealth against the bird monsters.

Many of the Gyaos creatures rested on the ground with their eyes closed. When they sensed the arrival of trouble, their eyes all opened at the same time and they attempted to take to the air. However, the missiles fired from the submarines arrived first with some impacting on the Gyaos directly and others splitting apart into little bomb lets which exploded all around the Gyaos swarm. Yellow energy beams soon flew across the sky as individual Gyaos fired on the numerous missiles, and in the process killing several of their own. Before they decided to turn on each other, their ears picked up the familiar noise of jet aircraft heading their way. As one, they took off into the sky in preparation for more food to feast upon.

Already airborne, the pilots looked out into the dark sky with worried faces as they observed for any giant black birds. They soon spotted a wave of Gyaos creatures on radar and the squadron leaders immediately yelled out, "All pilots, weapons free and engage".

The assembled air groups broke into smaller sections with some engaging from high altitude while others dove for the deck, all at maximum speed. Soon explosions lit up the sky as the numerous fighters tangled with creatures from another time in Earth's far distant past. Within seconds, the battle turned immediately in favor of the Gyaos creatures and the single-seat fighters barely stood their ground against their more numerous, maneuverable and larger opponents.

Although a good portion of the Gyaos took to the sky, enough remained on the ground that the next wave of missiles would not miss once they reached their targets. Once the munitions detonated in the midst of a sea of black, it shredded more birds by impacting on their softer areas.

Now roused by the sudden explosions, huge swarms of Gyaos took to the air, their mouths screeching non stop and wings flapping rapidly as they searched for prey. They soon joined up with their fellow creatures and soon it turned into an all out aerial brawl with missiles, bullets and yellow energy weapons exploding in the sky.

And the horror had only just begun for more combatants waited over the horizon to join in with even more deadly firepower. With satellites and AWACS aircraft operating as close as they could to the battle zone as forward guides, the awaiting heavy bombers unleashed their loads.

The ground shook as missiles and bombs exploded all around the landscape, taking out even more Gyaos here and there but the numbers seemed endless and the large bombers immediately gunned their engines to full power in the hope of avoiding the attention of the rampaging birds.

As soon as most of the Gyaos took to the air, troops on the ground began to move their anti-aircraft weapons out into the open and in the face of the overwhelming number of targets in the sky and despite the fact that they would most certainly die, the gunners opened up in support with bullets and missiles.

A helicopter squadron from Tokyo:
If the fighter pilots felt very frightened about taking on the Gyaos, the helicopter pilots were scared absolutely shitless about flying in such a hostile airspace. They were flying at very high speeds and low to the ground in the hope that they would blend in as they flew towards their assigned designations.

As a squadron of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters headed towards Kyoto, their pilots looked all around the sky while keeping their ears glued to their headsets for any future updates. When they started to approach the devastated city, the helicopters descended even lower to avoid the battle above them.

Everywhere they looked, they saw devastation that surpassed the scale what they all saw before during the past few years of war against the monsters. It seemed that nothing was alive down there and several pilots already tightened their hands on the controls in preparation to flee. However all thoughts fled as the lead helicopter spotted their destination and they soon began to descend with many praying to their ancestors to protect them.

High above them, a ferocious air battle raged as the international fighter squadrons fought to stay alive against their foes, relying on every trick they knew. Sometimes, they would lead their opponents on chases and lured them into the line of fire of their comrades. Such tricks managed to help them barely hold on against a seemingly relentless enemy. The random firing of the Gyaos also partially assisted them for when roused and in close quarters, the birds would sometimes kill each other with their long range weapons. The fighter pilots hoped that the helicopters would finish up with their extraction as quickly as possible for the Gyaos were cutting their ranks down at a voracious rate.

Once the Blackhawks landed, their troops streamed out and took up defensive positions as they made their way to the shelter where their "VIP" waited.

Inside the shelter itself, Nagamine, Kusunagi and their two companions waited at the door pensively as the soldiers in the room attempted to keep the gathering crowd back. When the noises of the battle and that of the helicopters started to filter through, the occupants became agitated as the hope for escape began to rise. As soon as the guards heard a knock on the door, one of them immediately motioned to the evacuees and they soon made their way to the exit while the guards kept everyone back. After leaving the bunkers, the soldiers directed the small group to the awaiting helicopters while making sure no one else made a run for the choppers from the shelters or from the rubble. Once all four took their seats inside, the troops fell back and immediately jump in before the last of the Blackhawks took off for Tokyo. Several civilians did manage to grapple onto the rails of the helicopters and the soldiers reluctantly struggled to pry them off. As they ascended for the long dangerous journey towards Tokyo, both Nagmine and Kusanagi felt guilty for the people still left in the devastated cities and small teardrops began to fall from Kusanagi's eyes as she absorbed all of the horror witnessed thus far. Soon several stragglers of F-15Js assumed positions of flying fighter cover.

Unfortunately, several Gyaos spotted the flight and headed towards it at full speed. Immediately, the fighters peeled off and the helicopters accelerated to gain distance from the rampaging birds but it was useless as the Gyaos outflanked the fighter screen and began to bear down on their prey. Kusanagi closed her eyes and prepared for death when she suddenly sensed a nearby presence. Opening her eyes, the young woman spotted a large fireball impacting on the Gyaos with the bird screeching in surprise. After two more fireball blasts, the Gyaos exploded in midair and a large turtle shape flew right by them before heading off to deal with other nearby enemies.

The other combatants turned in surprise before the Gyaos turned around as one and headed towards their arch-nemesis while blazing away with their yellow beams. As for the fighters, they scattered as while emptying the last of their ammunition on their now distracted foes before retreating along with the helicopter squadron.

Knowing that he was outnumbered, Gamera flew towards his foes at a savagely fast pace with the rocket flames emanating from his legs at red hot while spitting fireballs in rapid succession. Whenever he managed to fly right next to one of the Gyaos, the turtle monster thrust his arms and sliced his foe with his claws. The Gyaos creatures on their part ganged up on Gamera with yellow energy fire and slices from their own claws, forcing the turtle monster to keep his distance and eventually retreat back towards the sea with the black birds in hot pursuit.

As she saw the turtle monster in which she once had a psychic connection with retreat once again for the sea, Kusanagi watched Gamera fly away with the Gyaos in hot pursuit and she whispered a small prayer. Nagamine put one of her hands on the younger girl's shoulder in support as the sky flew right by them, "The monster has fought through ugly battles before". Kusanagi nodded in agreement at that statement.

Underground Command Center, Tokyo:
The occupants of the room watched with trepidation as the battle played out on the map. Although several clusters of Gyaos disappeared from the map, a larger number of fighters disappeared from the map with many died fighting their way back to their bases while others attempted to block and stray targets from heading to the sea. Meanwhile, the naval blockade ring continued to fire intermittent waves of missiles towards designated targets.

The appearance of Gamera in the battle zone surprised the generals and politicians but they welcomed it for the turtle monster's appearance pulled the Gyaos away from their forces and gave them a chance to escape. As the swarm pursuing Gamera started to increase in numbers, they started to empty to a partial extent out of the main islands. This gave the military forces time to complete their missions and get clear of their pursuers although the remaining Gyaos hammered away them as they fled back to their bases.

One of the aides ran up to the commanders with a message in hand and whispered, "Sir, we've just received word that the helicopters have extracted the cargo and are heading back here now". All turned back to the map to see the helicopter heading towards Tokyo with battles occurring all around it for a few moments before Otani yelled out, "Pull some fighters away to protect the helicopter squadrons and signal all others to fall back to base". The room rushed into action while both Takgai and Otani continued to observe the map for a few more minutes before Otani replied, "Either way we look at this, we've already lost a lot of units".

Takagi nodded before stating, "And also we may have also killed more of our own countrymen for debatable reasons". Both men knew that he was referring to the use of heavy bombers in the attack for though they did inflict damage on the Gyaos, they also inflicted collateral damage on a nation already suffering horrific damage at the hands of the monsters. Takagi paused before stating, "Ensure that everyone get out of there safely". Otani nodded and headed off to conduct the defense while Takagi continued to observe the action with worry as dots representing military forces continued to disappear from the screen at a rapid rate.

Skies over Japan: The air fleets of the world were embroiled in a life or death struggle against murderous odds. For every Gyaos shot down, its brethren killed a good number of aircraft in retaliation. Also, the high intensity air combat exhausted the ammunition of aircraft within minutes, leaving them vulnerable to the birds swarming all around them. Caught up in staying alive against the Gyaos, the pilots barely received the word to fall back and some could not flee for the swarm of bat-like bird monsters had them virtually encircled and they had no choice to stand, fight and die. The rest immediately gunned their engines to maximum power and headed away from the slaughter. Aircraft from Japan soon joined in the retreat for they knew that they could not return back to their bases without their foes picking them off as well as their home bases.

At the same time, the missile launchers shut down and the crews disassembled them while those manning machine guns provided covering fire. After that, the anti-aircraft units scurried about back to their hidden bases but some weren't fast enough as the Gyaos swooped down like dive bombers and picked them off.

Pacific Ocean, south of Shikoku: The ancient turtle monster Gamera waged his own dogfight against his numerically larger foes. Flying at maximum speed, Gamera continued fired shots of his fireballs against the bunched up swarm, killing several with each blast. In return, his numerous nemesis blanketed the area with yellow energy fire.

As the battle moved farther out to sea, Gamera started to descend down into the ocean when he saw the increasing number of Gyaos heading straight for him. Realizing what was about to happen, several Gyaos drove down to fly to block Gamera's path to the sea while blazing away with their yellow beams. Although suffering immense pain from the constant yellow blasts, Gamera continued to descend and he barely managed to reach the safety of the ocean before the Gyaos inflicted any more damage. Several of the Gyaos dove into the water in pursuit and paid for that when Gamera pounced on them and sliced them up with his claws. Overhead, the Gyaos that flew after Gamera circled around the area where he crashed into the water for a few moments before heading back to mainland Japan.

Beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean, Gamera floated down to the bottom of the ocean as he healed his wounds from the recent battle. His eyes closed as the wounds and his spirit started to heal from the constant battle he endured against the creature his creators designed him to exterminate many millennia ago.

Author's Notes:

-This chapter was one of the harshest for me to write and I fear that I may have not done as good a job as I have done on my other chapter or my other stories. Due to lack of research on the subject matter and more importantly other matters to deal with (mainly school and personal life) may have impeded me from attempting to flesh this out. For that, I truly apologize.

Author's questions:

-I haven't done this yet but I was wondering whether I should put in more characters who are leading the actual units out on the front lines in order to help enhance the fighting scenes even more. Anyone think that this is a good idea or the fact of having way too many characters should persuade me to squash it now.

As always, please read and review.