Chapter 7: Countdown to Counter-Offensive
Underground command center, Tokyo:
As he finished up some paperwork, Prime Minister Matsumoto rubbed his eyes as he felt the strain of the last few weeks catch up to him once again. Ever since the crisis began and he moved into the underground complex, Matsumoto felt as if he entered a prison. Already several people had succumbed to madness while others were forced to take breaks every few hours. The only few times anyone could move outside and above ground would be when the military would make a supply run to the area and they only had a window of a few minutes before they had to scuttle back inside or die at the hands of the Gyaos.
So busy with his own thoughts and the work in front of him, it took time for the Prime Minister to notice the aide waiting at the door. When Matsumoto saw the aide, he asked somewhat annoyed, "What is it"?
The aide said calmly, "Sir, its time for the briefing".
Matsumoto immediately looked at his watch and groaned before he got up from his seat and headed to the main conference room. On the way there, he stopped by the makeshift cafeteria to grab a small bite to eat.
In the makeshift conference room, everyone was busy own private discussions as they waited for the Prime Minister to arrive. Once he did, they all stood at attention before Matsumoto signaled them to rest easy before they all took their seats. He then turned to Nagamine and said, "I hope that those results that we discussed earlier have borne fruit".
Nagamine nodded before she said, "Although we've mainly conducted lab tests as well as only a few live exercises, the results seem promising". She looked over some of her papers for a moment as several large screens came on as they displayed information about the Gyaos creatures.
As footage from 1995 and from the recent engagements began to play, Nagamine began her briefing, "As we all know, the skin of the Gyaos creatures is impervious to most of our weapons". She paused before continuing, "From our tests of the cell samples, we have determined that that the skin is enormously stronger than even the best titanium alloy", "However, recent footage has perhaps revealed a way to counteract this problem".
She then turned to the screens where everyone saw the gun-camera footage from the battle playing. As the audience watched, it showed that several pilots using a mix of their guns and missiles to take down their targets. Although the combination took down a few Gyaos, it did at a faster rate than buy using only guns, missiles, or rockets. Nagamine continued to speak while the footage played itself out, "As you can see, even the strongest protection can crumble under a combined assault by different means". Pausing for a moment, the scientist then finished by saying, "Of course it depends on the type of weapons used to take down a Gyaos".
Everyone looked at each other in the room before Takagi asked, "Is there any news about combating the Gyaos creatures by other means". All looked at each other in the room as they considered the general's words.
Nagamine considered this for a few moments before she said, "Right now the scientists in America and Europe have not had much luck in using other measures to engage the monsters". She turned back to the screens which showed samples of the Gyaos DNA exposed to different types of chemicals and that after a few hours, it returned back to normal".
That produced several groans among the people in the room before Matsumoto said to Nagamine, "Keep trying to find anything you can on that end".
The scientist nodded before the matter switched to the eggs, "From the tests that we gathered, right now it seems that the eggs have some time to go before they hatch". Pausing for a moment, the female scientist continued on, "From what we can tell, the Gyaos inside of those eggs are virtually defenseless so they should be easy to destroy".
The others talked among themselves at the combined news while Nagamine retook her seat. After several minutes, the Prime Minister of Japan turned to his generals with a hard look in his eyes before asking in a blunt voice, "So what do you think would we need to pull this off, how long will it take to build up and what damage can we expect".
The Japanese military officers and the American air force general looked at each other for a moment before Takagi replied, "It will be difficult to do and most of it rests on the help we get from the outside". Before anyone could ask, Takagi replied, "We only have enough ammunition to supply a small portion of our fighters for such an effort according to what Dr. Nagamine has stated in her report".
He then turned to Ferguson who began to speak, "Although the president is debating with Congress at this moment, he has given orders for Pacific Command to provide as much assistance within limits". The air force general paused before saying, "If there is a forthcoming operation has a good chance at success then we'll assist as best we can".
The others looked at each other in resignation for a moment before Matsumoto nodded in thanks to the American General before he turned to his Foreign Minister, "Any word from our ambassadors".
The foreign minister shook his head, "From what we heard, the other countries are willing to jump in but they're asking a lot in return and they're asking to operation in their own manner". Pausing for a moment, the old man continued by stating, "Others have their own problems with this crisis or just want to sit this one out".
Everyone groaned at the statement before Matsumoto had to quiet them down. Once he did, he turned to the commanders, "Right now concentrate on weakening them as much as possible". He then turned to the foreign minister and said, "Find a way to bring them on our side on our own terms since we can't deal with this type of issue at the moment". Pausing for a moment as his eyes grew cold, he said, "Remind them that if we fail, then sooner or later it will be their turn". The foreign minister grimly nodded while Matsumoto turned to everyone else and said, "Alright anything else we should know"?
The people in the room looked at each then they all looked at Nagamine and Kusanagi before Takagi said, "Right now we've spotted the most recent location of Gamera and have managed to shadow him". He then said, "The monster seems to be healing up at a fast pace".
With that, the meeting ended as the people headed out of the conference room and back to their own quarters. As Nagamine walked beside to Kusanagi, she could see the sad look on her face, "You didn't seem to be surprised about what the military said about Gamera".
Kusanagi shrugged and said, "At least they aren't thinking about killing him out of hand". The older woman nodded before Kusanagi continued on, "Whatever way this goes, I know in my heart that Gamera still has a decisive role to play". Both women remained silent as they headed down the hallway.
Kaneda Air Force Base, Okinawa
Ever since the crisis began, the enormous American air base was a hive of activity as it now serviced a large number of squadrons. Though it was one of the largest in the Pacific, the sudden influx seemed to overwhelm the air staff at times although the constant reshuffle of the forces in the area helped take some of the heat off.
That provided little comfort to the base commander as he surveyed the chaos playing out on the tarmac. Putting a hand to his eyes to ward off a headache, he turned to one of the other officers and asked, "So what is the weather report for today"?
The officer replied, "Right now we have storms hovering near the area but we should have clear weather in transit but we'll have cloud weather over the target zone".
Scratching his head in worry, the Air Force general nodded before he said to everyone else, "Alright, signal the squadrons to launch within one hour", "That should give time for the men to get some food before they head into the air". The others nodded and they all went about their duties while the commander looked out at the ominous gray sky.
In the pilot ready rooms, then men attempted to catch whatever rest they could or catch up on small talk with each other as they waited for their leaders to brief them on their next mission. Though still young, most had haunted looks in their eyes as they tried to shake off the images of their foes. Ever since the early 1990s, the US naval and air forces felt invincible in comparison even to their army counterparts. Now though, it seemed that air force and, to a lesser extent, the navy occupied the spot the army once occupied in being the most dangerous branches of the service. Soon though, the conversation ceased as several squadron commanders arrived in the room.
Once everyone settled themselves in, the briefing got underway with the wing commander starting them off, "Alright men, you've all been doing this for the past few weeks so other than the usual opposition, hopefully this one will go smoothly for a change". He then turned to a satellite photograph which showed the northern half of Kyushu around the Sasebo Naval Base, "While we help clear a path through, we'll launch supply runs to our people already in country".
Everyone groaned at the prospect to the point where one of the squadron commanders said angrily, "Hey everyone quiet down alright". When the pilots all shut their mouths, the squadron commander continued by saying, "I know you all want don't like this work but we just don't have the forces available for anything else at the moment".
The wing commander waited for a few moments before he said for everyone in the room, "We launch in two hours so check your gear and get some food since it's going to be a long one once again". The pilots started talking among themselves once again before following their commanders as they filed out of the room.
Soon a gaggle of fighters, transport aircraft and helicopters began to take off from Kaneda air base as well as Iwakuni air station. Once the helicopters arrived at the rendezvous point, the aircraft soon joined up and they proceeded to their targets.
South of Kyushu:
Several hours later, they arrived in Japanese airspace and the many air units soon split up for their respective missions with the pilots looking out at the night sky for any sign of yellow beams or large black birds heading straight at them. Those very creatures would soon oblige them as ground radar and AWACS aircraft detected a large number of Gyaos heading up to meet them.
The squadron leaders radioed the transport planes to keep going before they joined in engaging the Gyaos. Soon major air battles began as the fighters tried to keep the numerous Gyaos birds at bay while the cargo helicopters and transport planes flew on to their destination. Even then, some of the birds ignored the fighter escorts and jumped the slow moving larger aircraft.
On the ground, squads of men emerged from their hidden shelters as they heard the sound of airplanes and helicopters right above them. They emerged with weapons drawn as the aerial transports landed on the airfields and started to unload their cargo. With the explosions around them as well as the sound of engines hammering away at their ears, the troops quickly unloaded the supplies and scurried back to the shelters before the Gyaos came upon them. Unfortunately, some weren't fast enough as the Gyaos spotted the movement on the ground and some of the birds dove straight at their prey. Even when the men managed to get to their underground shelters, they still were not safe as some of the birds attempted to dig their way through, the resulting tremors turning the underground facilities into tombs.
Meanwhile, the fighters desperately tried to stay alive against a more numerous and stronger enemy. Even in groups, the pilots had a very ugly time as the birds swarmed around them at speeds that they could not match while a web of yellow energy beams sliced them to pieces. Once a fighter unloaded all of its ammunition, sometimes within seconds, its pilot immediately gunned the engines to full power to get the hell out of dodge.
In the AWACS aircraft and the hidden ground radar stations in Kyushu, everyone watched with grim worries on their faces as aircraft symbols disappeared from the screen in rapid succession. Although they had drowned their own share of the Gyaos creatures the ratio of fighters killed for every bird was still too high for the pilots and their superiors.
Once a helicopter finished unloading all of its supplies, it immediately took off and headed out to sea in a random direction before it changed its course to South Korea. As for the cargo planes, they gunned their engines to full power and headed back to Okinawa while several fighters circled them to provide what protection they could.
After what felt to the pilots to be an eternity of non-stop combat (it only lasted for several hours) the survivors heard the welcoming words, "Supply runs complete". Wasting little time, they dumped all of their weapons at the Gyaos before heading back to their air bases at full power. Though the barrage killed a good number of the birds, some pursed and killed several stragglers before they broke off and headed back to Japan.
To the people who watched from the AWACS and the ground radar sites, air missions such as these revealed the scale of the problems they were facing. Some of the Japanese even whispered to each other the hope that Gamera would come back into the fight and soon for they wanted the giant turtle kaiju to do their dirty work.
USS John C. Stennis, Part of UNTF 58.
150 miles southeast of Yokosuka
Watching one of the radar screens on the bridge of the American carrier, the commander of the United Nations task force felt a sense of awe at the sight of the ships he had under his command. While a large number of warships from several different nationalities surrounded the carriers under his command, an even larger group of warships surrounded the score of transport vessels now sailing close to the coast of Japan.
After watching the radar screens for several more minutes, the rear-admiral turned to the others and said, "What do our recon reports say about the opposition"? One of the officers handed him a satellite image and then began to speak while the admiral looked at the photograph. It showed a relatively small number of Gyaos near the landing areas that they would be targeting for this particular operation. The carrier task force commander then asked, "Is everyone ready to go" to which they all nodded before he said, "Sound general quarters, launch all our aircraft and signal the ships to proceed".
Throughout the water, ships began to get underway as aircraft and helicopters took off from the larger vessels before they headed east with the fleet following right behind it. On their decks, sailors manhandled every weapon they could find for they had learned through harsh experience that the only way to beat a kaiju was with massive firepower.
Inside the large transports, scores of men hauled equipment and supplies to the helicopters or landing craft that they would use to get to shore. Once they checked everything, the crews sat down and waited for the inevitable contact.
Sometime after 1:00am, the lead ships soon had the shoreline of Japan on their radar screens and they immediately relayed this back to the flagship while signaling their crews for battle stations.
As the commander of the task force looked at the message for several minutes, he looked out at the night sky for a moment before thinking that now they would have to go in even without surprise and stealth on their side. After checking the status of his carriers, he then turned to the other officers, "Do the people on shore know that we've arrived"? One of the others nodded in the affirmative and the commander turned back to look at the radar screen for a moment before he said, "Signal all units to begin the attack".
Almost instantly, scores of cruise missiles leapt out of their launch tubes before they flew towards mainland Japan. Following that, the three aircraft carriers launched all of their planes into the air while the other ships sailed towards the coast.
Near Yokosuka:
Right beneath the waves of the devastated harbor, several submarines continued to patiently observe the Gyaos birds as well as the devastated terrain while they waited for new orders. Although they had taken individual potshots at the enemy onshore, they mainly sat tight at the bottom of the bay while gathering information.
When word of the delivery of another batch of reinforcements came through the communications net, the captains of the submarines immediately ordered action stations while they looked at the periscopes at the shoreline. Once everyone was ready to go, the weapons officers on the submarines made the final checks before the captains gave the order to begin firing and soon the subs shook as they launched their entire complement of cruise missiles. With only a few seconds flying time, they would certainly not miss their targets.
On shore, the Gyaos slept in a circle around their eggs but their keen senses picked up danger approaching. Almost acting as a single entity, the birds took to the sky as a hail of cruise missiles exploded all around them. While the barrage killed some of the Gyaos, the rest emerged unharmed although very angry as the constant explosions devastated the nests.
In their hidden shelters, the waiting troops watched with wide eyes as explosions continued to pound the area around them. While some cowered under the vicious hail of explosions, others watched the skies and the ocean for any sign of the attackers.
With no enemy in sight, the crazed Gyaos began to tear into each other with wild abandon. However once their eyes picked up the sound of aircraft heading their way, the creatures turned as one towards the new prey as missiles exploded all around them.
As the huge armada of fighters approached the swarm, the pilots winced at the scale of the opposition and several said small prayers before they headed in to engage their foe. Soon, an enormous air battle began in which the fighters attempted to take out the Gyaos already in the area before more arrived.
As the soldiers in the shelters looked out at the aerial show, a colonel walked in behind them and said in a loud and harsh tone, "Alright men, you all know that we'll be receiving a supply run in an hour so you all know the drill". He then paused before saying, "When the ships arrive, establish a perimeter and hold as best you can until the operation is complete".
The people in the room looked at him as if he was crazy but the look in his eyes told otherwise and they quickly shuffled out of the room with the colonel following them after he took one last look at the shoreline with binoculars.
The air battle continued to rage on unabated as the air fleet used its temporary numerical superiority to kill as many of the black birds as possible. Using a rapid combination of machine gun and missile fire, the fighters managed to take on the beasts with some measure of success.
When the ships caught sight of the shore and the air battle, they immediately added their own firepower into the action although it caused trouble for the pilots due to fear of friendly fire. For their part, the few remaining Gyaos suddenly went berserk as they started to blaze away at everything in sight with their yellow energy beams. It lasted for a few minutes due to the sudden shock but the combined missile fire and the rage of the Gyaos helped blow the rest of them out of the sky.
As soon as the transports got close enough to shore, landing craft and small boats began to emerge before they headed towards the beach with helicopters flying overhead. Meanwhile, the fighters and ships formed up into a perimeter to defend against long range threats.
With the skies cleared and the ground secure, the troops emerged out of the rubble. The sight of ships coming in and the devastated city of Yokosuka provided a stark contrast to the haggard men as they made their way to the beaches and docks. Soon all focus turned to the task at hand as supplies and equipment flowed in and the civilians and wounded flowed out. Unfortunately, while the flow of people inward proceeded smoothly, the flow heading outward ran into trouble due to the swarm of stranded civilians now attempting to flee from the hell they've been stuck in during the past few weeks.
Back on the ships, the crews kept watch and attempted to process the wounded through as quickly as possible before trying to squeeze them into any space they could find. The radar operators had the most important job for right now, the ships were putting up enormous energy from their radar systems as they attempted to look for any incoming hostiles.
From the bridge of the carrier, the task force commander watched as the operation continued to proceed at a brisk pace, hoping that it would finish soon but unfortunately, that wish was not fulfilled. For after two hours, the radars picked up more Gyaos heading for them. When he heard that, the fleet commander signaled the other ships before he called his counterpart on the ground with an agitated tone to his voice, "We've just spotted a swarm of Gyaos heading our way, how much longer do you need"?
To the ground commanders, the news struck them like a thunderclap and they said as much before yelling for their men to get to cover. It came just in time for a new swarm of Gyaos descended wildly onto the landing zones and even before anyone opened fire, the Gyaos had already made fresh new kills by either grabbing them with their claws of using their yellow energy beams. Once they pulled out of their dives, a storm of fire greeted the giant birds sending them into a rage as they dove after the new targets.
Though very much surprised, the fighters and anti-aircraft defenses fought back hard as they tried to kill as many of the large birds before more arrived. However soon the speed and strength of the beasts as well as their large numbers began to tell as they forced the fighters and ships into a desperate defense as the ground forces scurried back down to cover.
As yellow energy fire raked the landing zones, the commanders on the ground as ordered their troops to get back into the shelters while the air defense units attempted to cover the withdrawal of the ships. While most of the large cargo and transport vessels managed to clear out of the area, some were not fortunate as the yellow beams sliced ships in half or when swarms of Gyaos ripped the ships to pieces. When the Gyaos spotted the remaining air defense units, they wiped them out within seconds.
As the ground commanders observed the last of the ships heading back out into the ocean, they radioed the UN fleet, "All ships and troops have evacuated to safety, repeat, all ships have evacuated to safety".
Once the AWACS aircraft received the message from the ground, they immediately radioed the fighters to clear out. While the enraged Gyaos nabbed several stragglers, most managed to escape though they had almost ran out of ammunition and were low on fuel. As the skies began to clear of friendly aircraft, one of the air force commanders looked at his colleagues before he whispered to them all, "How long can we keep this up"? Some of the other commanders knew what he meant for they had taken a long look through the passages of history before they settled on the Battle of Britain.
United Nations, New York City
11:30pm Eastern Standard Time
Ambassador Okino sat in the room watching the permanent members of the Security Council privately talking with each other as they waited for the UN secretary general to arrive. As he looked down at his watch, the Japanese ambassador considered the latest reports that Tokyo had sent him as well as the news from the other ambassadors and it wasn't good. Already the combatants had lost a lot of their forces against the enemy during the past few weeks and it seemed that it was getting even stronger.
Suddenly, an aide announced the arrival of the UN secretary general and Okino stood up along with everyone else once the man arrived and sat down at his desk. After taking a sip of water, the secretary general got down to business, "I know that right now it seems foolish to consider launching an all out offensive but after reading the reports that you've all seen yourselves, I do not really see any other choice".
A view-screen activated behind him and it soon showed Japan and the red marks which designated clashes between either the air fleets or Gamera and the Gyaos swarm. There were also large blotches of white on the map as well which designated sightings of nests of Gyaos eggs and although they had already crossed off some of the nests, others had appeared to take their place.
Turning back to the representatives, the secretary general continued on, "Before we go on the air, I wanted you to see the information and ask for your own advice". He waited as everyone else looked at each other in the room for a moment before the small conversations began. It lasted for several moments before everyone turned to look at the Japanese ambassador who winced at the others for putting him on the spot.
Regaining his composure, Okino turned to the secretary general, "I understand but it may be difficult to persuade the prime minister of the necessity of the action". Noting their grim looks, the Japanese ambassador hastily continued, "However he understands what you've all done and he may be receptive to your inquires on the matter". "Let me contact my government and I'll get back to you on that".
That seemed to satisfy everyone in the room and the secretary general nodded at the Japanese ambassador before he turned to everyone else in the room, "We'll reconvene with the rest of the council to discuss it more before we go to the press". All nodded and with that the meeting concluded as the Secretary General walked out of the room with the rest following behind him before they departed for their own consulates.
Underground Command Center, Tokyo
When Okino's report arrived in Matsumoto's hands, he summoned everyone for a meeting to discuss the contents. As everyone looked through their copies of the report, Matsumoto carefully observed their emotions for several moments before he asked the others in a grim tone, "After the recent engagements, do you think that we can actually launch a general offensive"?
Everyone looked at each other for several long moments before Takagi answered the Prime Minister, "If it can benefit us in the long run then I'm all for it". Before the others could reply, he added, "Although we have been holding our own, the Gyaos seem to sprout out of the ground". The general then finished by saying, "Eventually we'll be overwhelmed by the kaiju".
The others listened carefully for several minutes before Matsumoto asked, "Do you have the exact location of each one of the Gyaos nests and can you take them all out"?
The commanders in the room looked at each other for several long moments before Otaki replied to the Prime Minister, "We've located most of them but some are more heavily defended than other nests". The Lieutenant General paused for a moment before continuing on, "Even if we launch a perfectly prepared offensive, we'll lose a large portion of our forces".
That sent a chill through the room before one of the other ministers told the Prime Minister, "Sir, the re-supply runs are barely meeting our requirements and if we don't do something soon, we'll have a large problem with the civilian population".
Taking a deep breath, Matsumoto turned to Minister Saito, Nagamine and Kusanagi and asked them, "Since you three have the most experience dealing with the menace, do we really have any choice here"?
The three looked at each other for several moments before Nagamine told everyone in the room, "I may not have much experience in such matters but I have to agree that we have to move now". She paused to let her words sink in before she continued to speak, "Once those latest eggs hatch then we've lost". Turning to Kusanagi, the Japanese scientist then finished by adding, "However, the operation will cost us all heavily anyway".
The unspoken meaning of her statement hung over everyone's head before Matsumoto stood up from his seat and announced to the room, "After carefully hearing all of your opinions on the matter, I have decided to agree to the request of the UN". Before anyone could intervene, the Prime Minister told them all, "I want you all to begin plans for the operation while the foreign minister talks with the other nations as well so that we can easily coordinate our plans". Seeing that there was not much to say, the rest nodded in agreement before everyone departed out of the conference room.
As Nagamine and Kusanagi headed back to their own quarters, Kusanagi took a deep long breath before she whispered to the older Japanese woman the thick chilly air, "Soon the storm will truly break upon us all".
Author's notes:
The supply missions in this chapter are similar to trying to supply the Resistance during World War II. In this case, it is the Japanese military which is acting as the Resistance against the Gyaos.
The reference to the Battle of Britain was due to the fact that it was basically an aerial version of a war of attrition between the Royal Air Force and Hitler's German Luftwaffe. Of course you can also compare it to the aerial version of guerilla warfare in terms of whoever has the better staying power.
I had to draw on remembering what I read about invasions and providing air cover for the scene where the fleet helps supply those groups that were on the coast.
Considering the fact that the fighting is about to get very rough even though it already has, well I had to use the old "A storm is coming" line.
If the battle scenes seem to lack detail in this chapter then I apologize, I also tried to make them take less space in the hope that it will help me on the matter.
Next chapter: The first stages of an enormous air offensive get underway.