Chapter Six: Escaping Janjira
/Janjira Central Business District, Japan, August 10th, 2029
Driving through the chaotic city streets, Hunter gripped the wheel of the car tightly as he saw the night sky lit up as the world burned. As he slammed on the accelerator, the black Land Rover DC-100 rocketed forward, weaving in and out of both occupied and abandoned cars which clogged the roads ahead. He knew his best chance was the Janjira Airforce Base if it had not already fallen, that way he could get a way out of Japan and to San Francisco. Worry gripped the man as he thought about the scale of this attack. He heard the President over the phone saying there were hundreds of them. Can humanity even survive an attack this large? He thought. Is this how the world ends?
Rounding a corner, the long road to the Airforce Base stretched out ahead of him. At the entrance checkpoint stood a handful of security booths and barriers, though security had since abandoned their posts, leaving it open for anyone to enter. As he got closer, he passed the sign outside and shot through the gate into the base.
The complex was in anarchy as choppers lifted off into the sky, colliding with planes which scrambled to get off the ground. Hunter was about to round a corner when a humvee slammed into the side of his car at full speed. The impact send the Landover end over end, wrecking the car. A wheel flew off and darted into the sky as the hood crumpled and tore off, along with the mirrors on either side. The vehicle stopped rolling and skidded upside down on its' roof across the tarmac, letting sparks fly. Eventually, it slowed to a halt and Hunter groaned in pain. Rubbing the side of his head, he reached for the door and saw his hand came away red. Going back to his head, Hunter could feel blood trickle from a gash just above his ear. Ignoring the pain, he went back to the door, kicking it open before stumbling out. Getting to his feet, he looked around, seeing that all of the aircraft had gone, leaving him abandoned in the facility. Looking over to the humvee which had crashed into him, Hunter saw that it had then hit a fuel depot and exploded. Limping across to a nearby hangar, hunter hoped to get to the roof where he could signal a passing chopper.
Stepping into the massive structure, he recognised it as the old Counter Godzilla Force Operations Centre. Walking through the desolate hangar, he stumbled through a briefing area and came across a vehicle repair bay. Memories came flooding back of seeing the Anguirus APC unveiled for the first time there, the bay now lay empty, with tools and engine parts scattered across the concrete floor. Up ahead was a doorway leading to a stairwell. Pushing open the small wooden door, he began to climb the stairs to the roof as he could hear the rumble of engines. From the sound of them, the vehicle had to be some sort of jet, though there was only a helipad on the roof, no room for a runway.
Finally, he reached a door to the outside. Kicking it open, he stepped out onto the roof of the hangar. From here, Hunter could see the whole apocalypse unfold. Burning landscape stretched out infinitely in all directions as MUTOs and JSDF forces engaged each other among the flaming ruins of buildings. Looking around, whatever was making the sound was gone. Knowing the aircraft must have taken off, Hunter realised he was stuck. There were no more planes or helicopters in the sky as the panicked evacuations were now ending, the last few stragglers escaping from the city. A monstrous cackle echoed behind him.
Spinning, Hunter flinched as he looked into the eyes of a grinning MUTO. The creature was different to the ones in 2014, with more reptilian features and chunky, bony armor jutting out at limb hinges. The glowing pigments in parts of its' body were now blue instead of red. The MUTO growled as it took a step closer. Hunter knew that all it would have to do is knock out a part of the hangar and he would fall to his death.
As the creature positioned itself to attack the hangar, Hunter closed his eyes, hoping for it to end quickly. He was expecting the ground to give under him when the roaring of engines faded in from behind. "What about me you ugly son of a bitch!?" he heard a voice yell from a loudspeaker. Opening his eyes and spinning, he could see a large aircraft hovering behind him. The VTOL's nose canon began to turn before firing at the MUTO. As the monster was distracted, the craft turned to the side as a hatch opened. He could see the pilot yelling to him from the cockpit. "Get in!" the man shouted.
Running towards the hatch, Hunter jumped the gap as the hangar collapsed behind him. Diving through the open door, he fell into the crew compartment of the craft. Getting to his feet, he heard the door shut behind him as the VTOL began to turn to leave.
"You alright there, bro?" The pilot asked as he turned to face him. The man was dressed in a standard military flight suit, with short blonde hair and green eyes. "Yeah, Thanks." Hunter replied. "Good. I was just about to leave when I saw you standing on the-…" The man gasped mid-sentence as he recognised him. "Wait…Are you Hunter Storm?" He asked. Hunter nodded. "One and only." He replied. The pilot saluted him. "Captain Levi Pravdin at your service, sir." He said before gesturing him to get in the co-pilots' seat.
"What's happening?" Hunter asked as he sat down and strapped himself in. "From what I heard, the whole worlds' gone to hell. There's MUTOs going for every major city on the planet; GDI forces are spread too thin." Levi explained. "So where do you wanna go for the end of the world?" He jokingly asked. "San Francisco." Hunter replied as he observed the cockpit of the VTOL. "Great. I just left from there this morning." Levi said as he flipped down the visor on his helmet. "Lemme guess, your girlfriend's there too?"
Hunter shook his head. "No I'm going to meet with my daughter, make sure she's alright." He answered. "Oh yeah, 'cus she's the Director of the GDI, ain't she?" he asked. "Well, lets' hope the people we're gonna meet are still there. 'Cus we're at war now."
At that moment, another MUTO roared into the sky as it clumsily stumbled against a skyscraper, causing the building to slowly lean and collapse in front of them. "Low bridge!" Levi quipped as he ducked the VTOL below the falling building, missing being crushed by inches as it hit the ground behind them. Hunter looked at the pilot with a stern face, as if to ask "Are you serious?" Levi shrugged. "What?"
….
Walking out across the airfield at the Arlington GDI centre, Dianna headed for a vacant plane up ahead when Locke turned to her, his group of guards stopping in their tracks. "We're going to NORAD, I'd recommend you'd come too." He said. Dianna shook her head. "No, I've got to get to San Francisco." She replied. "Are you sure? It'll be safer with us." The President responded with concern. "I'll be fine." Dianna said. "Good look Mr President." She said before Locke and his group departed towards the giant plane to the side of them; Air Force One.
In comparison, the jet Dianna was boarding was tiny, a twin-engined Learjet. "Welcome aboard." Max said as Dianna stepped into the plane behind him. Pulling on his headset, he began to spin up the engines of the plane as the door clicked shut. Turning to Maz, he nodded as the other pilot slowly turned the aircraft away from its' hangar, taxing it to the nearest runway. Good Luck Dianna thought as she watched Air Force One lift off the runway up into the sky.
"Alright, Air Force One is away." The voice of flight control spoke through Max's headset. "GDI Four-One-Seven, you are clear for departure." Nodding, Max throttled up the plane. "Copy that, Flight control." He turned to Maz again. "Lets' light this candle."
Dianna gripped the armrests of her seat as the plane accelerated, leaning backwards as it climbed into the air. Looking out of the window, she watched the ground quickly fall away. Taking out a tablet, she set it out on the table in front of her, powering up the computer device. The video on it was live from Air Force One. "Dianna?" Locke asked. "Can I help?"
"Where's the VP?" she asked him. "Rachel and her family have already left on another flight, I'll meet them there." The man replied. "Things aren't looking good. Let me be absolutely clear; we are now in a defensive war against the MUTO threat. May God help us all."
MrWorthARead here again. Unlike the Rise of Mothra, I wanted to make Age of Colossus be on a global scale, by actually showing the MUTO invasion being a real world-ending threat, much like the aliens in both Independence Day and War of The Worlds, where if they aren't stopped quickly, humanity will be wipd out.