As news broadcast droned on about the terror and devastation in Tokyo, the bar patrons watched in numb horror. All but two.

"Don't you love when all your hard work pays off?" said X.

"Yes," said Mifune. "Seeing the fruits of one's labor is oh so sweet."

"You think your ex-employers will fight it?"

"Who cares? Whatever the AMF do, the damage is done, the city decimated. And unless they find what we did, Godzilla will kill them all. Best served cold as they say."

X grinned. "I'll drink to that."


Akai stared at his photo of his wife and infant son. He kissed it, sealed his helmet then swallowed an iodine tablet.

This was his first engagement with Godzilla. He'd fought class 3 kaiju like Gargantuas before, even a Class 4 (Ebirah) on rotation the Pacific. But Godzilla? Akai never had the misfortune of meeting him. Even in the Pacific he never saw the thing. However, he'd heard the stories. And those made him hope he'd never see that thing.

Now he was here, and they were all the AMF had to throw at him. This motley force was gathered from various parts of the mainland. They dealt with quirked animals, Gargantuas, and maybe one or two genuinely strong kaiju. Only a few had faced Godzilla, and most of them in a supporting role.

Fortunately, Togashi was in charge. He was a veteran of G-Force who'd led maser teams against Godzilla for three years. He knew how to handle that bastard. But …could even he lead them to victory?

Akai fidgeted with his controls as he looked up at the smoke billowing from the edge of Minato and Shinjuku.

Each passing second it looked more and more like a mushroom cloud.


Togashi checked his readout again, focusing on Godzilla's current heading and the AMF's positions. His eyes glided along their preferred route back to the ocean. It was doable, but they had to be cautious.

These soldiers were much less experienced than the ones he'd led before. Their equipment less suited, and their training less intense. Also, Togashi himself was out of practice. He hadn't fought Godzilla in years. He needed to be smart. Godzilla did not suffer fools lightly.

The infantry would be important to distracting him long enough for the masers to escape or get into optimal positon. However, losses were inevitable from both.

Togashi sighed. He hated this. Where no matter what happened, he was ordering people to their deaths.


The AMF infantry rode down the road. They were the AMF's mosquitos, tiny little annoyances to distract Godzilla from his real targets. Hard to see, hard to hit, but annoying as hell. They fired, ran, then let the masers do their thing.

They stopped and dismounted from their motorbikes.

"Let's get this shitshow on the road," said Hiro. He lifted his launcher. "Damn it Kai…"

"Who's Kai?" someone said.

"Childhood best friend. When I was young I wanted to be a Hero you see, thought it was destiny given my name."

"Maybe your mom just had high expectations."

"Shut up. Anyway, Kai wanted to join the AMF. When I didn't get a quirk, I gave up on the whole Hero thing and decided to join him here."

"And?"

"He became a Hero. Sellout."

A few guys chuckled. That faded as they walked past the burning buildings. Hiro made sure his uniform and helmet were properly sealed. He had no interest in radiation poisoning today. It was eerily quiet, the only noise being a single radio playing some song in Indian.

"Sagkalpa Samvada Sevala Karma, ishwara Pooja hair hara gana…"

They took positions around a corner. They waited for the masers to get into position and listened.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Finally, they saw it. Godzilla in all his scaly glory advancing through the abandoned streets, lording over the flames.

The word came. "Masers are in position! All units, engage!"

Maser beams crisscrossed around Godzilla from his left. Intentional misses to draw his attention without provoking him too much. Godzilla roared, turned, and followed them. His massive foot landed meters from the AMF infantry, then continued onward.

Hiro and the others ran down the next block, taking position again. Godzilla continued his advance. They did this again. This time, the word came. The masers needed to redeploy. Distract him.

"Fire!"

Hiro and the others fired their rockets and ran, not even waiting to see them hit their target. They rounded the corner, with one guy leading the pack by a good margin. He heard the masers firing again, this time followed by Godzilla's atomic breath.

Hiro and his group returned to their bikes, then drove further down the planned path. They took up positions by another corner. Several rockets from another infantry group were hitting Godzilla. The explosions were so small they looked like firecrackers on him.

Godzilla turned and roared, then followed. Soon maser shots crisscrossed around him, further drawing him down the path.

As Godzilla focused on one maser, another hit him in the stomach. Godzilla fired his atomic breath down the street. Hiro wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a tank exploding.

Godzilla continued forward, a dark mountain in the flames. No need to interfere. Just watch and wait.

"He's turning after one of the masers! Distract him!"

They fired their rockets and ran, the guy who'd outpaced them before executing the action in a single fluid motion. This time, Godzilla's beam fired hit the street behind them. The ground shook. Hiro staggered but did not fall. He and the others kept running until they reached their bikes.

"Shit!" said the guy who'd outpaced them. "I am out of shape…"

"No need to rub in that you're ex-G-Force, asshole!" said another panting.

"Well it's true! I used to be way faster than this…"

"What are we doing?" said yet another. "What are we doing? We're shooting Godzilla with bazookas and running on foot!"

"What, like armor makes a difference?" said the ex-G-Force guy. "He usually barely even notices us, let alone shoots at us."

"And when he does shoot at us?"

The ex-G-Force guy shrugged. "Same as when he hits anyone else."

They took position again. This time, Godzilla passed by their location without incident. They followed, taking up positions in case they were needed. They fired several times, but they only received quick glances before he returned his attention to the bigger guns.

Then a stray atomic blast hit the building above. Hiro looked up as massive chunks of concrete rained down.

"Scatter!"

Hiro ran for his life, diving as the rubble hit the ground behind him. The ground settled. Hiro got to his feet, and looked around while his comrades did the same.

"Shit. That was close," someone said.

"Yeah, you're telling- Hey. Where's Koji?" said one.

Hiro and the others looked around.

"Shit."

They all turned. Someone pointed at a pile of large chunks. Near the bottom of the pile, two boots jutted out.

Oh.

The ex-G-Force guy walked up and gently kicked the boot. Nothing. He looked up at the large pile and back at the others.

"He's gone," someone said.

They all looked amongst themselves. First death. They turned to their commanding officer. He simply said, "Let's move."

They obeyed.

They'd all experienced death before. They knew it would happen here. But the first one still sent an uneasy feeling through Hiro's stomach. Like this would be the start of a really long night.

They kept following Godzilla, firing when they had to. Occasionally, some of the other infantry groups would fire at the same time. The first time they attacked, no atomic breath came. Ditto for the second.

The third time they weren't so lucky.

Godzilla's beam ripped through the side of the building next to them and slammed into the street. Hiro's back felt the heat of the explosion while the force sent him flying. Hiro tumbled on the ground and finally came to a stop.

"Ow…" He slowly got to his feet. "Anyone get the number of that bus that hit us?"

"1954?" said someone.

They got up and looked around. All the crew were accounted for. None dead nor injured beyond scrapes and bruises. They'd been fast enough. More importantly, they'd been lucky enough.

They continued their work as the masers continued take up the majority of the fighting. Every so often, masers were destroyed. Hiro winced every time.

The scattered infantry groups did their best to help, but they could only do so much. They were barely a blip on Godzilla's radar. Still, the threat of death constantly hung over them.

Hiro and the others sat behind the corner. As they waited to fire, Godzilla turned. For a moment, he seemed to look right at them.

Hiro stopped breathing, waiting for death as those yellow eyes seemed to glow in the firelight. Then, Godzilla turned away, not even noticing them.

Hiro breathed heavily. That was close.

Time dragged on. They kept at it, kept firing then running. They ran faster than they'd ever done in training. The occasional charred bodies gave them plenty of incentive for that. Slowly but surely, Godzilla was nearing the sea. They dodged atomic breath and falling rubble, not always successfully.

The infantry fired once again. This time, Hiro saw Godzilla whipping his head around, atomic breath already charging.

Hiro threw himself forward as fast as possible, going from near the back of the group to the front. The roar of the beam filled his ears as a wave of heat threw Hiro to the ground. Everyone around Hero was knocked down. A few even went flying.

Groaning, Hiro got to his feet. He helped a fellow soldier up. Then they noticed the screaming.

Near the back of the group, one soldier had caught fire. He frantically rolled around, trying extinguish his burning uniform while two others tried to beat it out. Finally, they succeeded and helped their friend to his feet. He was singed, but alive. They checked his uniform for holes.

"I was just running when that damn car exploded," he said pointing.

"Your uniform doesn't even have any holes. Lucky bastard!" one of the ones who'd beaten out the fire said. "Given how close we were, I was sure you'd be spending your last days in a medically induced coma!"

"The way you were panicking we were sure you'd be dead!" said the other.

"Let's see you stay calm when you're the one on fire!" said the one who'd caught fire. He turned around. "Three more were lagging behind me. Where-oh."

They all looked. They saw the charred body. Everyone took an involuntary step back.

"Where are the other two?"

"If I had to guess…" one of the guys pointed at the blast crater. The atomic breath had cut a deep groove into the street. Everything around it was smoking. If anyone had been too close…

Nobody said any more. They just went and took their positions once again.


"Fire maser!" Emi fired a blue beam into Godzilla's chest. Her bulky '92 rounded the corner, sideswiping a building. No sooner had they cleared it when Godzilla's atomic breath ripped into the spot they'd just been, leaving a crater.

"Shit!"

Emi checked her viewing screen. Godzilla was now following the other masers.

"Aoba, take us around," he said.

Aoba complied, taking around Godzilla until they were once again in front of him. Aoba sneared the corner in a three way intersection, then stopped. Godzilla would be right in front of them when they pulled out. Emi lined up her shot, ready for the moment they pulled forward.

She watched her viewing screen as Godzilla charged his atomic breath and turned toward one of the other masers.

"Aoba!"

Aoba gunned the engine. Their tank shot forward, giving Emi a clear shot at Godzilla. Emi fired her maser, raking Godzilla's neck before they pulled past the intersection. Godzilla fired back, tearing away large chunks of the corner just behind them.

They pulled onto another street where Emi could see the top of Godzilla's head. Godzilla began to turn from the desired path. Emi fired several shots just by his face. He slowly turned toward them.

For a moment, his eyes locked on their maser. Emi held her breath while they darted around a building. After several moments, no attack came.

Emi sighed. That was too close

Shortly after that, she and another maser tag teamed Godzilla. He turned around and charged his atomic breath. The two masers bolted for cover. Emi and Aoba escaped unharmed. The other didn't. The beam slammed into the ground near the maser, the force of the explosion throwing it on its side.

The maser lay there spinning its treads. Using comms, Emi checked that its crew was still alive. They were unharmed, but out of the fight for now.

Lucky bastards.

The AMF continued to drive Godzilla toward the bay, hitting and running, using themselves as live bait. Between them, the infantry and the occasional missile strike, Godzilla grew more and more irritated. However, that just kept him going in the direction they wanted. However, this came at a cost. As Godzilla reached the docks, they'd lost four masers.

Emi raked Godzilla's legs. She and Aoba ducked behind a corner as the beam hit behind them. Emi flinched as the maser bounced from the force of the blast. She could have sworn it felt warmer inside too.

That was way too close.

Another maser attacked Godzilla. This time he didn't miss. Emi winced at the piercing scream over the radio while the maser exploded. At least it ended quickly.

Five masers lost, three of which scrapped, leaving them with thirteen remaining. However, their losses were not in vain. The bay was now in sight.

Emi finally fired her last shot while Aoba drove them into a corner.

One by one the masers hid until one remained mere meters from the docks. The tank fired its final shot, then jerked sideways, narrowly avoiding Godzilla's blast. It hurried down the side streets, leaving Godzilla alone at the edge of the water.


The Arashi

From the ship's bridge, Commander Tachibana observed live footage of the battle occurring just over the horizon. Godzilla was finally in position. The Arashi's bow may have been damaged, but its most important component still functioned, the launchers.

"Fire Frontier Missiles!"

"Target locked on! Firing!"

Two missiles shot out of the launchers toward the city. Tachibana smiled at the screen as they collided with Godzilla's chest. He roared.

But did not enter the water.

Tachibana frowned. "Fire two more, then activate the remote platforms"

Two more launched. Closer to Godzilla, the bay, several remote platforms fired smaller missiles, acting as more visible bait.

Tachibana watched, and waited.

Come on. Come chase us. You know you want to. Come chase us into the sea.


Emi gripped her controls as Godzilla blasted the floating platforms. He roared at them, but every time he approached the water he stopped. Two more Frontier Missiles hit him.

Godzilla roared again. Again he fired his atomic breath but remained on shore.

"Come on!" said Aoba. "Take the goddamn plunge!"

Godzilla began to turn around.

"No!" Aoba said. Emi's face fell. He had to leave. Come on! Just leave!

A maser came out and blasted Godzilla in the back. Godzilla whipped around and turned it to scrap, then moved inland.

Why wasn't it working? Why wasn't he taking the plunge?!


These are the regular grunts of the AMF. They've trained for this, they can do the job, but at the same time they're not Izuku and his group. They don't know Godzilla as well, they don't have the experience they do (barring Togashi).

Next chapter you'll see them fight now that they know getting him out easy is no longer an option. It gets...difficult.

By the way, I'm wondering, do you guys want longer chapters? Some readers have expressed interest in it, but if I were to do so it would require me to spend more time between posts. What do you think?