Chapter 10
More Steps Back
The entire city was nearly leveled. It was about five in the morning in Paris. Dust thickened the air, not being allowed to settle because of the Kamacuras' flying all around.
Philippe was hiding out in a ruined building. His maser was dead as well as his gravity pack. He had started out strong. He had almost killed one of the mantises, but when it cried, the other five converged on Philippe all at once. After that, he was tossed about from monster to monster in midair before managing to hide.
He hated giving into the stereotype of the surrendering Frenchman, but he was beat. He could not do anything. Bloodied and bruised, he sat spent.
He peered out a window. What he saw filled him with disappointment. It was a symbol of his failure.
The Eiffel Tower had been toppled over. It's killer, a Kamacuras, rested atop the mangled mess of metal.
Philippe didn't want to look at it anymore.
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace he was wearing. He found comfort in it during times of stress. It had a small golden pendant of a fleur-de-lis that had been in his family for many generations. When he held it, it was like his whole family was there with him. He just hoped that they weren't disappointed in him.
"Philippe. Do you read me?" the admiral's voice came over his comm unit.
"Oui, Admiral."
"I'm sorry I put you in this position in the first place. Paris never stood a chance. We're moving you out of there ASAP."
"I'm sorry."
"Say sorry when the world's lost. We're still in this fight, soldier."
Anton Gorodetsky had been a formidable opponent for the flying monster Rodan. During their dog fight (which was much more one-sided than a typical dog fight between two planes), Anton managed to shoot a hole in Rodan's wing. This significantly slowed the great pteranodon down. If it went too fast, it would spin out of control.
This did not stop it from trying to eat the little pest that was shooting at it, though. As Rodan swooped in towards Anton, he dodged the beak, but was met with the wing.
His special flying gravity pack took the brunt of the blow, but it was incredibly painful. He felt something sharp pierce his back.
Anton was falling from the sky. Though the clouds and towards a ruined Moscow. He figured that that was how he would die; in the embrace of Mother Russia's capital. Saint Basil's Cathedral came into view. The morning sun shone through the dust and onto the cathedral. It was a glorious sight. Anton was thankful to see it.
He continued to plummet. Three hundred feet, two hundred feet, one hundred feet, fifty feet…
Then there was a beeping on his chest.
Anton's decent slowed down. Slower and slower he went until he landed on his back on top of a building.
He had thought the collision with Rodan had wrecked his suit, but the emergency landing generators had kicked in.
He would be given nothing that day. First he discovered that someone had taken a few swigs from his vodka (he suspected Jason), then his beloved Moscow was destroyed, and then he wouldn't even be given the sweet release of death.
He went to sit up. Then he screamed in pain and laid back down. Tears ran down the sides of his face.
It was his back. Something was seriously wrong.
He tried to turn himself over, but the pain was too great as he let out another agonizing scream.
He swore up into the sky repeatedly.
Once again, Anton tried to turn himself over. Through struggling and a lot of screaming, he was finally got in his stomach.
He pushed himself up so he could look at the city.
He was left in shock. Moscow's skyline had been slashed down. Rubble and debris was thrown everywhere. It was as if the mother of all hurricanes came roaring through.
Anton broke down crying. He had failed his mission. He had failed his country.
The shadow of Rodan encompassed the land.
Jason's Maser was almost dead. No matter how much he shot at Anguirus, the monster would not even flinch. It seemed as though every inch of the beast was armor plated. Jason could barely get a clean shot on him.
Anguirus kept rolling around curled up in a ball. While curled up, the monster was a serious juggernaut. He bounced from block to block, crushing everything in his path, nearly including Jason in a few instances.
The headstrong soldier was stumped. He had only succeeded in being a minor nuisance. He stood where a parking garage once was. The great ankylosaurus stepped into view about half a mile away. Jason looked at his maser and saw that he had enough juice for one more shot. Jason quickly took advantage of the brief moment Anguirus was still. He aimed his maser steadily using an aiming system he wore in front of his eye. He aimed for the monster's eye. Even it was protected by a plate covering the brow. It was a tough shot inside a very small window of opportunity.
"I may notta' been able to scratch yu', but you could at least bloody look at me, you bastard!"
With that curse, he took the shot. The blue electric stream jumped through the air erratically towards Anguirus. It was a bulls-eye.
Anguirus cried and wailed in pain as it jerked its head into a building next to it. Its good eye turned towards Jason. It stepped to face the agent slowly, each step with vengeful intent.
Jason became a little scared, although he would never admit that to himself. He looked down at his maser and saw that it was completely dead, then looked back up that the angry Anguirus readying to charge.
"Bloody brilliant," Jason said to himself. He dropped the heavy maser at his side.
Anguirus charged forward.
Jason ran forward towards the monster.
Anguirus picked up the pace.
Jason broke into a sprint.
Anguirus leapt up and into a ball, the spiked on his back pummeling everything in front of him.
Jason roared out loud as he charged the massive beast.
Before the two adversaries collided, a maser blast shot over Jason's head and struck Anguirus's side causing him to swerve and crash into a nearby office building. The building teetered and crumbled, then fell on top of Anguirus, stunning him.
Jason looked back to see a maser tank. The hatch opened up to reveal Philippe.
Philippe contacted Jason via the com link. "Did you need assistance?"
"No!" the Englishmen yelled. "I had the god damned situation under control!"
"Were you, uh… going to headbutt the beast, Jason?
"Well I wa'nt about to let it flatten me without a fight!"
"You're probably right. Your head is hard enough to butt with the likes of him," Philippe replied.
"Shut it, frog!" Jason exclaimed.
The trap was set. An electrified net was placed inside the empty square space in the China Central TV Headquarters building. The building had a unique design; like a square doughnut. It was perfect for what Glenn had in store.
He had instructed the People's Liberation Army (the troops that were left) to set the trap while he lured one of the beasts into it.
Glenn was leaping like a frenzied rabbit as Queen Caesar chased after him. The game of gigantic cat and mouse ran half way through Beijing. Glenn's gravity pack was overheating. He needed to wrap the race up quick. The CCTV building was in sight. He pushed for the final stretch. With a great leap, Glenn flew into the air and through the dangerous net, managing not to touch the thick threads.
Just as planned, the Queen followed. As she leapt through the square hole in the building, she was ensnared in the net. With flashes and sparks, the beast suffered electrocution as it wailed around, getting further ensnared.
Glenn took the opportunity to unload his maser on the monster, multiplying the pain tenfold.
But the Queen would not be out of power for long, for her King had arrived.
King Caesar ran up and immediately started tearing the CCTV building apart. He then reached his Queen and started slashing away at the net, fighting through the pain it caused him.
Glenn attempted to stop the King by firing his maser at him.
King Caesar wailed in pain. He then turned his head towards Glenn.
Something unexpected happened. The maser beam curved, not to Glenn's will, towards King Caesar's face. Then the beam split in two and flowed directly into the beast's eye.
This wasn't hurting the beast at all.
Glenn let go of the fire trigger, but his maser didn't stop firing. It violently vibrated as its energy was quickly sapped into Kint Caesar's eyes. Then it was dead.
King Caesar snarled as blue electricity sparked around him. His eyes, glowing with immense energy, stared down towards Glenn. And then all the electrical energy King Caesar absorbed was fired back out his eyes. Trucks and tanks exploded all around. The huge power cables the military had used were destroyed. Glenn was blown back a few hundred feet by an explosion and covered in rubble.
The King removed the net from the Queen and the two ran off, pouncing through city blocks like felines on the hunt.
Glenn pushed the rubble away. He took off his gravity pack and dropped his maser; they were dead.
Dirtied, bloodied, and spent, Glenn sat down and took a pack of cigarettes from his suit and lit one up. All he could do was watch as the monsters decimated Beijing.
He was assigned to protect Beijing from monsters and he failed. He took it personally. He had taken an oath when he was a young boy scout. The first part of the Scout Oath was "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty." He had not done his duty when it was most needed. He felt that he had broken his scout oath.
Masahiro Ozaki slowly opened his eyes. He looked around. He was in a large medic's tent. The Korean Armed forces had been evacuating citizens and taking care of the injured who could not be moved.
All his armor and supplies had been removed. He looked down at his severed leg. It had been tied off and bandaged. The bandaging was done hastily, so some blood was still seeping out.
He had failed his mission. Ending up in a military tent with wounded civilians was beyond embarrassing.
He turned his head and saw a family on a cot embracing one another; a father, a mother, and a son. It was hard for him to look at.
Masahiro tried to think of why he was afraid. Other men were able to do it perfectly well. Maybe it was because he never knew what a father was. His own father had left him before he could even remember. Fatherhood was a completely alien concept to him. But fighting wasn't. Instead of being a father for his growing child, he went off to war; any war he could find. Then, through many victories, he found himself fighting giant monsters. Even that was less scary to him than being a father.
"Ozaki!" a voice said.
It took Masahiro a second to realize that the voice was Admiral Aso's.
"Ozaki! Subject Ebirah is closing in on your location! What is your status?!"
But then he noticed something amiss as more of his senses came back to him. People were fleeing the tent. Military personnel and volunteers were rushing to get as many people as they could out of the tent. And the ground was shaking.
Despite losing a lot of blood, Masahiro's adrenaline gave him the strength to get up. He immediately fell over having just lost a leg. He tried repeatedly to lift himself up with his phantom leg until he finally comprehended. He grabbed the standing hook his IV was hung on and used it for support.
The quacking grew stronger and stronger just before the large medical tent went flying up from above Masahiro and the rest of the civilians and military personnel. They all stood in the shadow of Ebirah.
"Admiral," Masahiro spoke into his com unit, "my armor is done for. So is my maser."
"Get out of there, Ozaki! I'm calling in all GFAAU agents!"
Ebirah shrieked as he waved the tent around in his claw.
Masahiro stepped back. Then he felt something in his back holster. It was his sidearm; a pistol.
"Is Glenn on this channel, Admiral?"
"Yeah, Ozaki," Glenn came in. "What's up? Can you move?"
"Not fast enough… Glenn, I need you to do something for me."
Ebirah slammed his big claw down into the pavement not far from Masahiro.
Masahiro flinched.
"Glenn," Masahiro continued. "Glenn… There's a boy in Okinawa. I need you to give him my tags."
"A boy? Ozaki, what are you saying? Me and the guys are coming to get you! Just hold on for a few more minutes!"
"His name is Shin'ichi Ozaki."
Masahiro pulled out his pistol and pointed it up at Ebirah and aimed down the iron sight.
"Please do this for me, Glenn," Masahiro concluded.
He then opened fire at the monster before him.
After three shots, Ebirah had noticed he was being attacked from below. He looked down and saw the familiar little human.
Masahiro took several more shots. He was aiming for the monster's left eye, but his bullets only chipped away at the thick shell around it.
Ebirah plunged down at Masahiro with the intent of crushing him with his pointed nose.
Masahiro kept firing as he counted his shots. He had one round left, at least he hoped. His target was coming towards him horrifyingly fast, but that was a good thing.
With his final shot, Masahiro succeeded in shooting Ebirah in his eye. The tiny bullet shot into the protruding weak spot with a wet crunch. Despite being tiny, it still caused Ebirah to rear back in pain.
The soldiers moved in while Ebirah was held back. They had just enough time to get the rest of the immobile civilians away from the area and onto a truck.
Once the area was clear, more Korean soldiers moved in alongside Masahiro. They opened fire.
A Korean soldier put a side arm into Masahiro's hand. The two made eye contact, both understanding it was time to give it all they had. They both aimed up and started firing.
Ebirah flailed side to side. But he wasn't about to take the assault much longer. While still shielding his injured eye with his small claw, he slammed his big claw down hard. It took out a few of the Korean soldiers. Then he dragged it across the street, taking out everyone. The soldiers shot at the claw, but it was futile.
Masahiro Ozaki watched as the wall of red shell plowed towards him. He had no protection. He had no escape. He had no chance. He knew this, but he had to do something for once in his life as a man and only a man. The fear of death was not present in his heart. He filled the last beats of his heart with his one regret: Shin'ichi.
Ebirah's claw slammed into Masahiro and then into the solid concrete side of a pillar of a parking complex.
"Ozaki!" Admiral Aso shouted. "Ozaki, respond!"
"Ozaki!! Talk to us!" Glenn yelled.
On board a carrier in the sea of Japan, the agents of the GFAAU had finally been rounded up. The original plan to split them up was devastating.
The other three G-Force agents were in the med bay.
Philippe and Jason had a few scratches, but were recovering. They sat with Anton who was in bed unable to move. His vertebrae had been severely damaged.
The door opened. It was Glenn.
Glenn couldn't bring himself to look his comrades in the eyes. He only leaned against the doorway with a painful wince.
No words were needed. They all could tell.
The agents of G-Force had a long moment of silence for their fallen brother.
The Erzherzog was watching multiple news feeds from Earth. He saw not paying full attention to the channels showing the rampaging monsters. What really had him pacing the floor and pulling at his hair were the news stories covering the death of the Pope. The Pope had planned to lead a mass prayer the next day for the people who had died in the monster attack in Dubai. He was killed when Monster X decided to show up.
Monster X floated into view outside the large window of the Erzherzog's quarters. He spoke telepathically. "You wished to see me, Erzherzog?" Monster X asked without moving his mouth.
The Erzherzog heard his voice as if he were in the room with him. He had two fingers on his forehead, thinking of what to say. "I must say, X, you did some lovely work down there."
Monster X said nothing.
"Who… who told you to attack that city? That city in particular?" the Erzherzog asked with a kind of cracked smile. "Do you know who lived in that city?"
Again, Monster X had no response, only a cold stare with his red eyes.
The Erzherzog avoided looking at his eyes as to not snuff his fuming anger.
"The leader of the humans' largest religion, that's who! You killed him! Once we had replaced him, the takeover would have gone smooth, but now we need to replace every last one of the cardinals to make sure our agent becomes the new Pope! There are two hundred cardinals! You have jeopardized the whole plan!"
"Why are you so upset?" Monster X finally spoke. His voice boomed, unlike before. "I thought you would like seeing the Keizer's plan fail. You'd rather go in and wipe out the humans in one massive attack, wouldn't you?"
"That is blasphemous!" the Erzherzog exclaimed, trying to deny it.
Monster X narrowed his eyes. "I am waiting to learn why you summoned me here."
The Erzherzog had not actually summoned Monster X to scold him over killing the pope. Something X had said telepathically (which Xilian technology could record) when he invaded the Vatican.
"God..." The Erzherzog said. "What did you mean by that?"
There was no reply.
"I don't know who you think you are, but you agreed to serve of the Xilian Empire when we saved you from the emptiness of space." The Erzherzog explained. "If you don't like that, then the void of space is where you can return!"
Monster X's eyes grew redder and brighter. "You do not know who I am or what I can do. And do not forget that it was I who led you to this planet and saved you from starving in the emptiness of space!"
"I still don't trust you," the Erzherzog put bluntly. "How am I supposed to trust you when you refuse to tell us what you are?"
"In due time, Erzherzog," said Monster X. "Now, you have an invasion to oversee. Better get to it."
"That is all," the Erzherzog said through his teeth. "Zero shall reign," he concluded the conversation.
After a second of hesitation, X replied "...Yes." He flew away towards the dark side of the moon.
The Erzherzog thought his hesitation strange, but did not have the time to think on it further.
He did not want to turn back to the monitors after being told to do so by Monster X, but his duties forced his attention. The Earth was burning. Everything (except for the dead religious leader) was going according to plan.