Chapter Four: Birth Island
/GDI Outpost, Birth Island, off the coast of Japan, October 10th 2029
In the days leading to the Battle of Tokyo in 2014, whilst in pursuit of two monsters, Mothra and Zilla; military officials agreed to the use of a tactical nuclear strike on the then-uninhabited Birth Island in an attempt to eliminate two of the three monsters which were laying waste to the Japanese coast. The strike itself failed to kill either monster and led to the creation of Empress Ghidorah, but the island was almost entirely wiped out including all plant and animal life, leaving it a desolate rock in the middle of the ocean. When reclamation efforts failed, a research outpost was established on the island to monitor the effects of the strike.
Dr Dmitri Markov stood atop of the giant crater where the nuclear warhead had hit fifteen years prior. "It should be right down there; at the bottom of the crater." He said to the scientist next to him, Dr Yukimura. "The readings have been crazy over the past few days." He explained. Yukimura shrugged. "Maybe the nuke hit an underground fault line. Could be looking at a potential earthquake epicentre here."
"I don't get it." Markov said, gesturing to the odd rock formations at the bottom of the crater. "The seismic readings have been practically null until the other day. What is causing it?" he asked. Kicking a small rock off the edge of the crater and watching it tumble all the way to the bottom, Yukimura turned to Markov. "We definitely need to report this." He said. "Go back to the comms room and contact Director Storm. I'll stay here and watch for any visible changes." Nodding, Markov spun and headed back to the jeep parked a few metres behind them. Climbing in, he started the engine and reversed, turning to go back in the direction of the outpost.
Driving across the dead island, the dirt-covered jeep bounced across the rocky landscape as the outpost appeared on the horizon. Looking around, Markov thought back to when he first arrived on the island, seeing pictures of it before the War. The island was once covered in a dense jungle with the odd clearing and cave or lake. He remembered theorising that animals could have survived the destruction by taking shelter in the cave systems that riddled the north end of Birth Island, but had since been proven wrong. Not even a single plant had survived as the blast had ripped up most of the soil, leaving the place to resemble a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Eventually, Markov reached the outpost and climbed out of the jeep. It was a large cluster of prefab buildings next to a large flat stretch of rock used as an improvised runway for planes. A small chopper sat on a helipad next to the control tower, which had been slapped together from several surplus laboratory structures, with essential resources such as consoles and radar shipped in from the Japanese mainland. The setting sun beamed down on the white walls of the outpost buildings, casting dark shadows across the arid landscape.
Walking along through the outpost, he passed several engineers working on extensions to the outposts' database building. It was a large prefab structure packed with several military-grade supercomputers that housed data they had gathered and connected the island to the wider international network used by the Global Defence Initiative. "How much longer do you think that'll take?" He asked one of the engineers who was stood to the side, looking at the construction from a different angle. "Not much longer, Dr Markov." He replied. "Two days, tops. We've got a few more workers coming in on tomorrow's shift so things'll speed up a bit." Whilst the outpost was always at top research personnel, the current shift rotation left the islands' engineers working as a skeleton crew. "Great. Glad to know it'll be ready for Thursday." The engineer winced at him. "Why Thursday?" He asked. "At oh-seven-seventeen tomorrow," Markov explained, "Is exactly fifteen years after the bomb fell, give or take a few seconds." He grinned. "Ah…right." The engineer nodded awkwardly before going back to his work.
Markov took off his sunglasses as he walked up the steps into the comms building. Greeting the two staff members who regularly worked there, he approached the monitor at the back of the room with a facecam wired up to it. Logging on to the device, he watched the small 3D-model of the Global Defence Initiative Insignia slowly rotate as the computer connected with the network.
….
/GDI Centre, Arlington, USA,
"Sorry, Mr president, could you give me a minute." Dianna said as her phone buzzed. Taking out her iPhone15, she looked down at the screen and rolled her eyes as she saw the caller ID. Answering the call, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hey, Dad. What's up?" She asked. "Yeah, yeah I know. I couldn't make it to the celebrations anyway but I'm busy, could you give me a minute."
Locke's eyes widened when her heard who Dianna was talking to. "Sorry to interrupt." He said. "Is that The Hunter Storm?" Dianna nodded. "Here, you can talk to him if you want" She said, putting the phone on speaker mode. "Dad, this is President Locke." She said as she put the phone down onto the table. "Mr President?" the man's voice asked. "It's an honor." Locke shook his head, leaning in towards the phone. "The honor's all mine." He replied. "I am talking to the Hero of Tokyo after all." He smiled.
"That was a long time ago. A different world. A different Me." Hunter said grimly. "I was planning on coming back to the United States, visit my daughter for a while for the end of Victory Week." Locke nodded. "I see. So did you here that the Japanese government are planning on statues of the heroes of the war; Godzilla, Dr Serizawa and, of course, you." Hunter laughed with surprise. "A statue? Of me? That's a bit excessive, Mr President."
One of the console operators stood from his chair and approached Dianna. "Uh, Director, we've got a video message from Dr Markov on Birth Island." He whispered. "Put him on." Dianna replied turning to face the giant screen, which promptly came alive with video of Dr Markov stood in the comms room of the outpost. "Dmitri, what have you got for me?" She asked.
"Over the past few days, we've been picking up some strange seismic readings from the crater." He explained. "We're doing our best to look into it but we have no idea what is causing it." Dianna folded her arms. "Could it be from the warhead?" She asked. Dmitri shrugged. "I doubt it. Fifteen years is a long time for any sort of reaction. But we have also seen a massive drop in the radiation levels in the last eight months. I don't know if they could be connected."
...
Markov jumped when he felt the ground shake. "Woah! Somethings' happening." He said. "Could be an earthquake." He looked over to another monitor with live camera feed of the crater. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed as he watched the footage. Clouds of dust and rock shot from the crater which collapsed in on itself. He watched with horror as he saw what looked like Dr Yukimura falling to his death when a massive dark shape emerged from the hole. "It can't be!"
A hideous, wheezing cackle of a roar echoed through the comms building as thunderous booms outside marked the movement of a monster. Looking to the facecam again, his eyes wide with panic, he shouted "Get the military on alert and evacuate the coastlines! Get everyone out!" He cried as the ground shook again, knocking the monitor and facecam off onto the floor.
Running outside, he saw them. Several giant creatures bounded along across the landscape, their heavy, chitinous bodies carried by dozens of insect-like legs. One of the MUTOs roared up into the air before grasping the Database Building in its' claws. Frozen to the spot in fear, Markov watched arcs of electricity surge up into the monsters' arm, as if it were absorbing it. Several of the other monsters cackled into the air as wings unfolded from their forelimbs and they took flight, disappearing off into the evening sky.
The MUTO which had destroyed the database building turned to see the tiny scientist standing beneath it. The creature roared at the man before raising its' clawed fist. "Oh crap!" the scientist said aloud before the huge foot came down, smashing him into the dirt, instantly killing him.