Author's Note: Sorry but this one is a bit of a shorter chapter.

Chapter 5: Preparation

Strategy Room, AMF/Azur Lane Joint Base, Sendai, Japan

"How are the evacuations coming along, Commander?"

Tachibana sighed deeply as he replied to the screen in front of him, "Although most of them are confused, the civilians are compliant for the most part. The plant operators and staff, on the other hand, are taking a little more convincing."

On the screen was Captain Gordon. "I expected this. I sent you the recommended strategies to use against the big guy, therefore, I'm officially putting you in charge of all AMF operations in Sakura Territory."

Tachibana stood up straight as he said, "Understood, I'll do the best I can with what I have and whatever help Azur Lane decides to lend us."

Gordon nodded and said just before cutting off the call, "Good luck out there, you're gonna need it against one with his reputation."

Tachibana turned to the holographic table in the room and looked at the display. There was a hologram of the nuclear plant, the surrounding facilities, the docks nearby, and the waters surrounding the area. There were dots and arrows representing the various weapons, aircraft, and ships deployed along the shoreline and docks.

He heard the door open and close, followed by hurried footsteps. "Commander, why is Gojira coming here!?"

The Sakura commander rubbed his face in exhaustion before replying, "That plant is the nearest food source for him, Nagato."

Said kansen looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Tachibana looked to her, "Gojira's been asleep for a long time without feeding and used up the little energy he had left against the sirens. His heart is a biological nuclear reactor, meaning he needs nuclear energy."

Nagato looked in surprise, before her expression turned to concern at the holo-table. "And you mean to fight him."

The commander knew where the conversation was going to go. "There's too many innocent lives on the line, we have to do whatever we can to drive him away."

Nagato looked conflicted, "You know nothing we have can hurt him, so how do you plan to drive him away?"

Tachibana walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know what I'm about to ask of you and the girls under your command is a lot, but kansen are much faster and far more agile on the water than conventional ships."

Nagato looked up to him in shock, "You're asking that we willingly fire upon our savior to lure him away and pray he doesn't slaughter us the same as he did the sirens."

Tachibana sighed deeply, "Can you willingly watch innocent people die? Can you keep your composure hearing the terrified screams and the shrieks of people being burned alive?"

When he saw he was getting through to her, he continued, "What would you tell the families of those who would perish in his rampage? That the reason you left them at his mercy is because you thought he would be our savior? We've been fortunate that the sirens don't often go after heavily populated cities. Gojira is different, he's worse, more akin to a typhoon, destroying everything with no care who or what is in his way."

Nagato lowered her head to where her hair casted a shadow over her eyes. Tachibana made one last point, "I was a young child that night in Tokyo, when he attacked. I can still hear that terrible roar followed by the screams of terror. I can still see the sky burning red from the raging inferno he created in the city. Not even the destruction the sirens are capable of bringing compare to it. Ever since that night, I've had constant nightmares. Gojira saving you was simply a byproduct of his goal of exterminating the sirens."

Nagato recalled the old images she had seen of Gojira's first awakening. She remembered how horrified she was with seeing the devastation the beast had left behind. Although she still felt conflicted, Nagato knew she had no other choice. "How long before he arrives?"

Tachibana looked to the circle representing a storm on the holo-display. "Within three to four hours, we have little time left to prepare. I have a strategy that should hopefully work and keep you girls safe."

Sendai Shoreline

Zuikaku and Shoukaku were looking out at the sea as they stood on the beach. The rumbling of engines sounded as dozens of tanks rolled into formations across the shore. Mass produced ships formed up in the waters surrounding the shore. They could see the approaching storm, they could hear the thunder from it, yet the wind was eerily calm. The older sister, Shoukaku spoke first, "I've never seen this kind of reaction from command, what could the sirens be doing to cause this."

"It's not the sirens we're preparing for. It's something far worse. I hear you two were there when he introduced himself to the sirens."

The two carrier sisters turned around to see a man dressed in a black jumpsuit covered in grey combat armor, it looked more akin to a biker outfit. He had brown, wavy hair. "The name's Kazama, part of AMF's special forces."

Zuikaku looked concerned. "Are you implying Gojira is coming here?"

Kazama nodded, "Yep. Right now we're the only thing standing between him and a nuclear buffet."

Shoukaku looked around at the tanks and ships more clearly. "It all makes sense now, the ship formations are not what would usually be used against sirens and we wouldn't be using ground vehicles. But the question is why bother when we clearly don't have the power to hurt such a creature."

Kazama smirked a bit and said, "The objective is to hopefully irritate him enough to leave as highly unlikely as that is."

Zuikaku didn't like what she was hearing. "I thought Gojira was supposed to be our savior, guess I was wrong to make that assumption."

Shoukaku closed her eyes in thought and said, "It would seem our supposed 'God of Destruction' lives up to the title a little too well."

Kazama sighed before saying, "That's going to be a common trend with kaiju like Gojira, worshipped as gods but in actuality are extremely large and powerful animals that run mostly on instinct."

Zuikaku looked at Kazama with curiosity, "You seem to know quite a bit about Gojira and other creatures like him, why's that?"

Kazama smirked and replied, "I'll tell you two pretty ladies all about myself over dinner if we get through this operation."

Zuikaku's face turned bright red with a flustered expression, "Wha- Uh um!"

Shoukaku giggled a bit before replying, "How brave of you. Alright, we'll take you up on that offer. I'm sure Zuikaku would love it."

Zuikaku let out a high pitched squeak as she buried her head in her hands and her face turned even more red.

Before the conversation could continue, the radios in the kansens' riggings went off. "Nagato to Fifth Carrier Division, report to the docks immediately. Suruga, Shimakaze, the same goes for you. It's time for a brief of our mission here."

Kazama looked towards the storm and said, "Sounds like that's your cue. Damn, that's going to be a nasty storm to fight in."

Shoukaku still held a smile as she said, "I guess we'll see you after this is over."

Zuikaku sighed in relief at the escape from embarrassment presenting itself. Shoukaku looked to the docks nearby. "Nagato sounded more on edge than usual, that can't be a good sign."

The pair ran towards the water and jumped onto the surface and sped towards the dock. Zuikaku looked to her sister as they moved, "What do you think has Nagato so worried? Aren't the AMF in charge of this operation?"

Shoukaku's expression turned serious before replying, "If I had to guess, it would have to be something to do with Gojira coming here and the possibility of us having to try fighting him."

Zuikaku did not like the sound of that and said, "But that would be suicide, why would she even consider that?"

Shoukaku replied, "Well, the AMF don't have as much of a naval force as us, and we're more agile than the mass produced ships they deployed."

Zuikaku looked down in thought. She wouldn't admit it, but she was terrified at the thought of fighting Gojira. After witnessing his one sided battle against the two Orochi-Class Battleship Carriers and the combined siren fleet, it was clear to her nothing any ship girl could do to even put a scratch on the beast. She didn't even think the sirens could come up with anything to stop him after he destroyed the most powerful ships ever created. Zuikaku was so deep in thought she failed to notice they were nearing the docks.

The carrier was was snapped out her trance by Shoukaku, "Zuikaku, are you alright? We're at the docks."

Zuikaku let out a sigh before replying, "Yeah, I just can't shake the feeling of dread. I don't see this ending well."

Shoukaku nodded in understanding, "I feel the same way. Gojira is the most powerful thing we've ever seen."

The two carriers jumped onto the dock when they were close enough. They immediately spotted Nagato with Suruga, Shimakaze, Kawakaze, Mikuma, and Mogami. Nagato saw the pair approaching and got the attention of the rest of the group. "Alright, we're all here, so we can get started."

Suruga immediately put a hand up to interrupt her senior battleship, "If I may ask first, why are we deploying such a small force if Gojira is as dangerous as the legends say?"

Nagato breathed deeply before explaining, "Precisely because of how dangerous he is. We don't want to risk losing a significant number of our navy in this single operation. Using a larger force would guarantee high kansen casualties."

Suruga didn't like the sound of that, "Then surely we need more ships with heavier firepower than just two battleships and two carriers."

Nagato shook her head, "No, our objective is not to try and kill Gojira, if the Sirens' most powerful ships couldn't even hurt him, then we definitely don't have the firepower either."

This time it was Shimakaze who spoke with surprise, "Whoa! He's really that strong?!"

Shoukaku nodded, "Yes, we witnessed it first hand. It could hardly be called a battle, in fact, it was more of a slaughter."

Suruga sighed, "Then it seems I have greatly underestimated the threat we are facing. So Nagato, if we're not going to be trying to defeat him, then what exactly is our objective?"

Nagato's expression softened a bit. She knew it was a lot she was about to ask, "I know I'm asking a lot from you all, but there's many innocent lives at stake here. The level of success of this mission is going to be dependent on us mostly. We are to draw Gojira's attention away from land as long as possible so that the AMF can evacuate as many of the remaining civilians as possible."

Zuikaku tightened the grip on her katana and said, "So we're to act as bait? I think I speak for everyone when I say this sounds more like a suicide mission the more we hear about it."

Nagato unknowingly clenched a fist as she replied, "It very well may be, but it won't have to be if we do this right. Commander Tachibana has given us a strategy to use developed by the AMF."

Shoukaku then spoke up, "Then we should hear it as soon as possible, we don't have much time, correct?"

Nagato nodded and continued, "Alright, Fifth Carrier Division, your air power is going to be vital in this. You two are to hang back closer to safety and continue launching every fighter and bomber you can muster. As for the rest of us, this will be a constant hit and run operation. Fire off enough shots to get Gojira's attention, then run. It will be in constant rotation, one of us distracts, the next in line will do the same to take the attention off the ship he's focused on. I cannot stress enough how important it will be to keep up your top speed constantly and do not stop until his attention is on something else."

Shoukaku nodded in understanding and asked, "And what about our aircraft?"

Nagato's expression turned serious, "When it looks like he's about to strike one of us, attack, we cannot let Gojira focus on one attacker at a time. Keep his attention changing. One mistake is almost a guaranteed death, let's do our best not to lose anyone."

Suruga still had her concerns with the plan, "How do we know he will behave the way this strategy is suggesting?"

The reply came from a voice behind Nagato, "With the reports from his encounters with the sirens recently and our own encounters when he first awakened in the 50s, we know Gojira is almost always extremely aggressive against anything that attacks him. He usually shifts his attention immediately to whatever attacks him regardless of if he was already pursuing another foe."

It was Commander Tachibana who spoke. He walked over to the group of kansen and stood next to Nagato. The other girls stood at attention and began to salute before he waved for them to stay at ease. "Like I already told Nagato, this a lot to ask and probably the most dangerous mission you'll have, but this is a threat far more destructive than the sirens. With the little help you'll be getting from the mass produced ships and the AMF's air support, I hope you all will make it out of this alive. With that being said, stick to the strategy and keep good communication, then come back to me alive. Understood?"

The ship girls all saluted and shouted, "Yes Sir!"

As if on queue, there was a flash of lightning followed by loud thunder. The wind started to pick up and the ocean waves were starting to crash against the docks. The storm was about to hit. Tachibana looked out towards the ocean and said, "It's almost time, Gojira is going to be inside the storm, there will be heavy rainfall so your vision will be limited. Be extremely careful out there, you may be more maneuverable and agile in the water than a standard ship, but he is in his element. Don't try outmaneuvering him, just evade his attacks."

Nagato's expression turned to one of determination as she stepped forward and said, "We won't fail you, Commander. Let's get into position girls."

The kansen all summoned their riggings as they ran and jumped onto the water's surface. Then they sped away from the docks and out to sea. Shoukaku and Zuikaku eventually stopped and began launching their planes. The further the remaining kansen got, the heavier the wind got and the rougher and bigger the waves became. They then hit heavy rainfall and stopped.

Nagato motioned for the others to spread out. She then spoke into her radio, "We wait until the confirmation that Gojira has arrived. It should be any moment now."

Nagato breathed deeply to try and calm her nerves. She could tell that just like herself, the others were on edge and terrified of the coming battle. Neither of them wanted to participate in what they knew would be a one-sided and suicidal fight. Nagato had always faced the siren threat with little hesitation, but one of Sakura's gods was something she would have to use every ounce of will to keep her fear from taking control and running.

Suddenly, the battleship saw movement ahead of her in the heavy rain. She tensed up and readied her cannons. She gasped in surprise when she saw Amagi appear from the shadows. The kitsune had a look of worry and pleading to her expression, "Please Nagato! Don't do this, I've already tried reasoning with him! He refuses to listen and he will not hesitate to kill anyone of you that gets in his way!"

Nagato recovered from her momentary shock and had a determined look, "I'm sorry Amagi, but there's innocent people here and I can't just leave them to suffer Gojira's wrath."

Amagi's ears drooped further down than they were, she didn't want to see any of her old friends and allies fall to Godzilla. If he wouldn't listen, then she had to at least try to get Nagato to see reason, "You know what he will do, this is suicide. Please, I don't want to see anyone hurt."

Nagato was about to respond when her comms went off. It was Shoukaku, "Nagato! I see some movement ahead of your position, but with this weather, my planes can't get a clear view."

Mogami spoke into the comms next, "I can confirm Fifth Carrier Division's report, my radar is picking up the movement. Whatever it is, it's big."

Before Nagato could respond, a loud rumbling roar sounded off.

"SKREEEEOOONGK!"

Amagi let out a sigh of defeat, "I'm too late, he's already here."

Nagato could hear what sounded like tons of water being displaced and it was getting closer. She quickly readied her cannons and yelled into the comms, "PREPARE FOR BATTLE! GOJIRA HAS ARRIVED!"

Author's Note: Things are about to heat up. Will they be able to get out of the battle with no ship girl causlties?