Chapter One: New World
/1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington DC, October 9th, 2029
Fifteen Years Later…
Walking down the long halls of the White House, VP Rachel Cage checked her watch. She was right on time and the conference would start soon. Rounding a corner, she saw a familiar face exit from a nearby room and approach her. "Good morning, Mr President." Cage said, greeting him.
"Hey, Rachel." President Hudson Locke replied, shaking her hand. "How's the kids?" He asked. Locke himself was not married, and there had been no First Family in the White House in the two years he had been in office. Though Rachel had married another man and started a family of her own, the two were still close friends. "They're alright." Cage replied. "Leon and I just saw them off to school this morning." She said. "Great. I was wondering if tonight you all wanted to come round for dinner if you're not busy." He asked.
Cage smiled. "Yeah, if you want to. We'd love that." Locke nodded. "Alright, you ready for this conference?" He asked. Cage simply shrugged. "Let's hope it isn't as bad as that sit-in we had last week. Congress was packed and they just wouldn't leave." Locke sighed. "Yep. Let's hope for the best." He pushed open the door to the conference room, insisting on holding it open for Cage before stepping in himself.
As he entered the darkened room, Locke saw the various video screens spanning the curved back wall beyond the desk several that other members of the US government were already seated at. Pulling out a chair he sat down at the far end of the table and flicked on the camera as the video conference began. At that moment, various other screens switched on one after the other, each showing live feed of another national leader; all of which being members of the international security council; the Global Defence Initiative. "G'morning everyone, sorry I'm late." Locke started. "Now, where do we begin?"
One of the leaders spoke up, Premier Chernov of Russia. "It's been exactly fifteen years, now. I think it is time we start searching for Godzilla. I want some answers to where he went." Another member of the council nodded, Prime Minister Ogata of Japan. "I agree. We need to be able to locate, track and predict the path of any monster, be it friendly or hostile. That is what the Global Defence Initiative was formed for." Various other members nodded and chatted in agreement. PM Jameson of the UK sat up and cleared her throat. "Who cares where Godzilla went? A search form him would cost ridiculous amounts of money, and the GDI's budget is strained as it is." Several members of the council began to argue, shouting over each other trying to be heard.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Please!" Locke roared. The usually quiet and calm Presidents' sudden outburst cast silence over the other national leaders. "I think the best thing we can do now is call business-as-usual until Victory Week is over. After all, it's a time to honour those who gave their lives protecting this planet, not to scream and shout at each other." He explained. "Anyone else agree with me? Mr Ogata? Fifteen years ago, the entire east coast of your country was left in ruin by Godzilla, Mothra and Ghidorah. I don't want to think of how many casualties there were." PM Ogata nodded solemnly. "You do have a point. I think we should put our disagreements aside just for this week." Several other members, China, France, Germany and Australia mumbled in agreement.
Locke smiled. "And besides, I'm sure that everyone here would prefer to be at their local anniversary celebrations. Am I right?" He asked. "No argument from me." He heard someone say before various leaders began logging off, their screens going black. Standing, Locke flicked off his facecam and turned to the others in the room. "Well that went better than expected." He smirked.
….
Later that night, the Cage family were sitting in the White House dining room with Locke. The three adults at the table had finished their food and were talking. "So, about your speech tomorrow…" Rachel said to Locke. "Have you got it finished yet?" she asked. Grinning, Locke shrugged. "Yeah." There was a long pause. "Kind of…" The man began to laugh.
"Are we gonna see the fireworks tomorrow, mommy?" Rachel's daughter, Sarah, the youngest at the table, asked. "Yeah, and we're going to go to the park and have a picnic there while we watch." Rachel replied, smiling. "That is; only if you finish your vegetables."
Rachel's husband, Leon, turned to his son. "James, get off your phone. It's rude." He said quietly. Locke heard and saw the teen staring down at the screen of his iPhone 15. "It doesn't matter," He said to Leon. "Kids'll be kids." Locke turned back to James. "Social Media, right? Good ol' Snapchat or Instagram?" James Cage shrugged, "Yeah. Fotomedia." Sitting up, Locke grinned as an idea came to mind. "Great! Want an awesome photo to show off to your friends? Turn on your camera." He said. As the boy flicked on the camera mode on the small device, he lifted it up so the dining table was in view. Leaning into shot, Locke suddenly pulled a funny face as the photo was taken, causing everyone at the table to burst into laughter. "Go ahead and put it online, you'll become famous overnight." He grinned. "Fox News will probably grill me over it but I don't really care."
"Anyway, about tomorrow." Rachel spoke up. "Do you know who is attending?" she asked Locke. "I don't really know." The President shrugged. "I heard that Captain Wilkes is going, along with Dr Serizawa." Leon raised an eyebrow. "What about that other guy, Commander Storm, I think it was."
Locke shook his head. "Nah, I don't think he's going. After he left the military he bought an apartment in Japan and left the US. I've never heard from him in years." He said. "It's a real shame, but at least he's over there in Japan. He was the Hero of Tokyo, after all."
….
It was another dream. But this one felt more real than the other ones. Hunter Storm sighed in frustration as he trudged through the burning Iraqi desert with an M16 in his grip. Looking behind him, he saw the other members of his team; Lisbeth, Dom, Chris and Wiki. The five of them were at the front of a formation heading through the desert to the nearby city, taking a shortcut through the Oil Fields as aircraft roared overhead, disappearing up into the cloudless blue sky after making their low pass.
"Holy Hell, would'ya look at that!" He heard someone shout. "The oil wells; they lit 'em up. They're burnin'." Looking across the endless plains of sand, he saw the wide line of metal towers in the distance ablaze, huge black smoke pillars rising from each of them. "Well ain't that effin' brilliant!" Chris roared. "Just to make our goddam day worse!"
Within a matter of minutes, the sky was pitch black with smoke as tiny dark droplets rained from the sky, turning the sand into thick swamp-like muck. "Everyone, goggles on!" He shouted. "Don't let that stuff get in your eye." Again, taking the lead, Hunter pushed on through the raining oil as soldiers behind him began to erupt into chat. Someone was saying that the oil was the only reason they were there whilst another soldier imitated a deep-southern accent, cheering "It's rainin' oil fellas!" before quietening down again when their CO barked at them to do so.
Wandering through the hellish environment, fear began to creep up Hunter's back as the man held his rifle at the ready. Spinning, he froze when he saw the entire battalion behind him had disappeared. "Chris?!" He called out. "Wiki! Sound off!" No response. Turning back around, everything in his view changed. The burning oil towers melted away into ruined behemoth skyscrapers that surrounded him, the thick oily mud morphing into cracked asphalt and stone. The buildings began to shift, parting to the sides to reveal a gigantic tower far ahead of him, burning bright. Hunter watched in terror-infused awe as the scorched black Tokyo Tower burned. Then it began to move.
It wasn't like the others, shifting like blocks being pushed aside, it tensed and flexed as if it were alive. Huge wings unfolded from it as three gigantic heads rose up. Ghidorah let out a long, cackling screech, shaking the earth itself with the sound. Frozen in place, Hunter simply stared up at the monster as it bounded down the ruined Tokyo towards him, roaring in fury.
As the size of the creature blocked out his vision, the world changed again, this time to an army base in Afghanistan. It was FOB Geronimo, the place that for a good portion of his life, Hunter called home. The base was empty. Walking through, he could hear someone's voice whispering in the distance. With his M16 aimed, the soldier cautiously advanced into the structure ahead of him. Passing through the desolate mess hall, the voice grew louder, and louder still as he left the large room and into a long corridor. He couldn't make out what the whispering actually was, but it was as if it was calling to him. At the end of the corridor, a figure appeared with their back to him. Approaching the figure, he saw it was his mother Zoe Storm. But it couldn't be her. She died when he was still young. Could it be her?
"M-Mom?" Hunter asked, voice trembling. The figure turned around to face him. It was her, but in a deep, demonic voice that wasn't her own, Zoe Storm spoke quickly.
"They are coming. There is not much time. This is how the world ends."
Hunter jumped awake, shouting aloud in fear as he quickly sat up. It was just a dream. He was still in his bed, in his apartment. The sun was up and filled the room with light. It was late in the morning. As his heart rate slowed to normal, the man climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he was a sorry sight. Since his departure from the Counter-Godzilla Force, he had let himself go. His tanned skin had gone a pale white giving him a ghostly appearance, amplified by his dull blue eyes which didn't seem to show any emotion or life anymore. His hair was long and unkempt, filled with thin grey streaks as a thick black beard had formed around his mouth and hung by his chin. It had been fifteen years since the Battle of Tokyo and the hero who had fought in it had since almost faded from memory, leaving behind a pitiful shadow of his former self; once a legendary warrior; now a paranoid old man.
Coming back out of the bathroom, he turned on the television and listened to the news as he got dressed. Once he was done, Hunter collapsed onto the sofa and stared blankly at the screen. It was showing footage of celebrations of the beginning of Victory Week around the world, from across Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas. US President Hudson Locke stood behind a podium as he gave a speech to a giant crowd of reporters and bystanders.
On a side note, Age of Colossus will have an ever so slightly more gritty tone than RoM but not going too far off the rails
:)