Chapter 9
One Step Forward
The Gotengo II continued its flight across the eastern hemisphere.
Jason Sterlington had been deployed in New Delhi to assault the armored monster Anguirus.
Anton Gorodetsky was dropped off in Moscow. He was given a special flying version of the G-Force gravity pack since he was taking on the flying monster Rodan.
Lastly, Philippe Roaché was deployed in Paris. He had it worse that Glenn. Philippe had been tasked with exterminating the six giant mantis monsters called the Kamacuras. He also had a flying gravity pack, but it hardly made his job easier.
With no G-Force members on board, the Gotengo was assigned to take on a monster in London; the serpentine monster Manda.
The ship arrived to a smoldering London. It was eerily silent in the metropolis.
"What is the monster's location?" Captain Emmerich asked.
"Radar isn't picking up anything, sir," said the radar engineer.
"He must be hiding somewhere in the city," Emmerich concluded. "Continue hovering over the city. Move slowly."
The ship floated through the burning city with caution. Inside, Emmerich was waiting nervously for the monster to show up. Gordon was being much more vigilant. He was looking at the monitor. Then he saw it.
"The river!" Gordon announced.
With an explosion of water, Manda leaped out of the river roaring. The length it was able to throw itself out of the river was astonishing. The serpent's maw flew towards the ship and sunk its fangs into the tough metal. The weight of the beast proved too much for the mighty airship.
The Gotengo plunged into the River Thames. Huge waves washed the shores.
The crew on the control deck grabbed hold of the railings as the ship was pulled and turned. Manda was wrapping itself around the ship, twisting it and attempting to crush it.
"What's happening?!" the captain cried.
He was starting to piss Gordon off. As the ship was rocked and jolted around, he made his way around the deck to the crew member at the flight controls. "Full speed ahead and use the gyroscope to pull up!"
The crew member listened to Gordon. The ship's thrusters lit up and propelled it down the river.
"We need to get up!" Gordon yelled.
The crew member at the controls used the gyroscope to orientate himself and pulled back on the controls. With that, the ship rose out of the river while speeding ahead at around ninety miles per hour.
Manda had itself wrapped tightly around its opponent. This caused the ship to lean to the side. It was traveling in an arch.
Gordon looked at the captain who was on the floor holding onto his chair. He was not going to be much good, Gordon thought. He knew that they needed to get the monster off of then, but using any of the ship's weapons would likely do more damage to the ship than the monster. Then he saw his solution on the monitor. It was the clock tower, Big Ben.
"Try'n stay straight and aim for the clock tower!" He leaned over to the weapons operator, "Activate the drill, high speed!" He braced himself on a railing and yelled "Go right into it!"
With a spectacular mess of glass, metal, wood, and gears, the airship drove straight into the clock face. As the ship's drill plunged into the tower, it struck the grant bell making it ring for the last time. Pieces of the tower fell all over the Westminster Palace.
When the Gotengo emerged from the other side, Manda was no longer on it.
Instead, the serpent had substituted for the top half of Big Ben. It flared its hood and roared.
Gordon looked over to Captain Emmerich. He was sitting on the floor by his chair with a dazed look in his eye.
"Captain!" Gordon yelled. He got no response. "Agh! Yu' spineless little…," he did not finish. Instead he stepped towards the captain's chair and spoke louder. "Captain's outa' commission. It's up to us now." He looked at the ship's diagnostics engineer. "How's the ship?"
"Stable," the engineer replied.
"Let's try some full metal missiles. Ready! Fire!" Gordon barked.
The missiles shot out from the sides of the ship. They flew out then curved in an arch towards Manda. The serpent quickly crawled off the half tower and dodged the missiles. The rest of Big Ben was obliterated.
"Shit!" cursed Gordon. "He's below us. Fire all guns at 'im!"
Dozens of deafening bangs came from the huge guns firing all at once. The projectiles pulverized the city streets below. Some hit Manda, but did no serious damage.
Manda looked up at it assailant and roared, flaring its hood yet again. It leapt up and over the Gotengo. Upon crashing on top of the ship, it began to constricting it.
Before Gordon could react, Manda had his whole body around the Gotengo.
"We can't stay up!" yelled the flight engineer.
"Stay airborne!" Gordon ordered. "We've got 'im in one place! Fire full metal missiles! Aim 'um at the son of a bitch!"
"What?! That could destroy the ship!" The weapons engineer stated.
"We're dead of he don't stop 'im from crushing us," Gordon said. "Now fire!"
Most of the missiles launched from their silos, some exploded while still inside because they were obstructed by Manda. These explosions made Manda wale in pain. The other missiles flew up and back down, locking onto their target. When they collided with the beast, it roared in agony. The missiles had not penetrated the monster as planned, but they did blow off some of its scales leaving serious burns. Some of the missiles, however, had impacted the ship.
Manda loosened its grip and slipped off; dropping to the ground.
"Status?!" Gordon ordered.
After checking a few things, the flight engineer reported "Barely staying airborne. One more attack from the monster and we'll have had it."
Gordon looked at the monitor. Manda lay in the street, wounded. It lifted its head and stared at the Gotengo.
"It looks done for," a crewman said. "Perhaps we could finish it."
Gordon's brow sat heavy as he pondered his next move. "And if he's still got some fight left in 'im, then we're done for." He brushed his mustache as he thought some more. "Let's retreat. He can't do much more. We've done our job."
"Yes, sir," said the flight engineer.
Gordon was not expecting a "sir" from anyone. He was neither a captain nor any kind of authority head. A leader was needed and Gordon felt confident enough to give the necessary orders. He was still standing next to the captain's chair. He felt tired after coming down from a combat high, so he sat in the vacant seat. Captain Emmerich was still clinging to a rail.
It was then that an alert popped up on the main monitor; an incoming call.
"Put me through," Emmerich said. He was standing. He then looked at Gordon. "I'll take my seat back privet."
"Right…"
"And thank you for your assistance, but it won't be necessary again."
Admiral Aso appeared on the screen.
"What the status of subject Manda, Captain?"
"It appears immobile for now. There's been heavy collateral damage. The ship had also suffered heavy damage. She can fly, but not as fast as we need. And she's not combat ready."
"That's unfortunate. Your next target is in Las Vegas. It just so happens that a nearby US military base should be able to do some repairs. The British Army can handle Manda from here. Get to Las Vegas."
"We're on our way, Admiral."
With that, the Gotengo II left London.
Things weren't looking good. The armies of the world were throwing everything they at at the monsters, but everything they had wasn't good enough.
The GFAAU wasn't holding up. Together, they were capable of (or at least trained to be capable of) taking down one of these monsters. But they were separated.