Chapter Twelve: Hail To The King
/Not far from San Francisco, October 11th, 2029….
SKREEONGK
The roar echoed for miles up and down the coast as windows shattered and the port fell silent as all heads swivelled to the mouth of the harbour. Colossus slowly turned to face the source of the roar, baring his teeth as his gaze met that of the other monster for a brief moment. Before Colossus could act, a jet of blue radioactive fire struck the beast's face, knocking him backwards, growling in pain.
Godzilla roared again and charged towards Colossus, tackling the huge monster sideways. Lashing out against the attacker, Colossus swiped a clawed fist at Godzilla, who ducked out of the way evading the attack. In retaliation, he clawed at Colossus' armored carapace, trying to bite through the thick armor. Colossus was not phased as Godzilla couldn't break through his protective shell-like armor. Swinging his claws again, he struck Godzilla in the side of the head, propelling the monster over against the shore. Waves crashed up onto the land, destroying most of the port as Godzilla got to his feet again. Swinging his tail, the monster smacked Colossus in the head as he turned to face him. Charging up his atomic breath again, Godzilla's spines glowed a bright blue as inhaled. The blast shot from his mouth, landing directly on target as Colossus stumbled back again.
Colossus roared into the sky before turning to the ocean. Leaping towards the water, the giant monster disappeared beneath the waves, leaving an immense surf in his wake. As the monster fled, the remaining MUTOs circled Godzilla, who bared his teeth at the four new opponents as he racked their movements.
The first MUTO, a smaller winged creature, made the first move, blindly lunging into attack. Before the creature could strike, Godzilla grabbed the MUTO by the throat with both hands, swinging it to the side. Using the creatures' momentum, Godzilla slammed the MUTOs' head into the ground with blinding speed. The impact crumbled the MUTOs' elongated snout, shattering its' skull and crushing its' brain. As the monster went limp, its' three comrades moved in to attack, each grabbing Godzilla simultaneously.
Growling as he reeled away from them, Godzilla ripped at the MUTOs that clung to his body. He roared in pain as the largest of the three creatures broke off a handful of the monsters' spines, letting molten radioactive blood spill into the water. Thrashing wildly as the largest MUTO reared to bite at his throat, Godzilla managed to lock his grip around the leg of the monster, tearing it from his body, flinging the creature ashore. As the smaller creatures hopelessly tried to bite through his tough skin, Godzilla charged up onto land towards the larger MUTO, who was getting to its' feet again.
….
"Godzilla?" Hunter exclaimed as he looked out of the bridge at the monsters fighting. He looked to Rosa. "Where has he been this whole time?" he asked. The woman shrugged. "I don't know. For all I know, he could have been chasing that other monster." Hunter turned to Commander Ellsworth, "We need to give him some help. Can you get me in contact with any pilots?" He asked. Ellsworth nodded, tossing him a headset. Catching it, he put the headset on, putting the mic to his mouth. "Is anyone left out there? This is Hunter Storm, please respond."
"I'm still here." He heard Levi's voice reply. "Mr Storm," a second voice answered. "This is Rave One of Raven Squadron, ready for tasking." Hunter nodded. "Copy that, R-One. We need you to lay down suppressive fire on the MUTOs attacking Godzilla. Do not target Godzilla, repeat, do not target Godzilla." There was a brief pause. "Rog. All systems, check. Guns spinning up."
….
Before the monster could fully regain its' footing, Godzilla swung a punch at its' head, knocking it down to the ground again. One of the smaller MUTOs on his back began to claw at the bloody stumps where some of Godzilla's spines had been ripped off. Yowling as pain shot up his back, he grabbed the monster by the stomach, pulling it off his back so they were face to face. Godzilla butted the MUTO with his head, knocking several teeth from the creatures' jaw. At that moment, there was a low rumble as a swarm of fighter jets screamed across the sky, unloading a barrage of missiles at the MUTO he was clutching. As the creature was peppered by the explosions, it screeched in anger before Godzilla spun and threw the monster into the water, killing it.
The second MUTO on his back leapt off, taking flight to pursue the jets. The formation of the planes split up to try and confuse their attacker. Unphased by the strategy, the MUTO continued to chase the closest plane to it at the back of the formation. Turning and rolling, the jet flew low across the ground trying to lose the creature. "I can't shake him!" The pilot cried out. "Someone help!" The man screamed in fright as the monsters' jaws clamped down on the tail of the craft, sending it spinning out of control. "Bailing out!" He roared, pulling the ejector lever. The cockpit of the plane burst open as the tiny chair shot out of top of it, parachute unfurling seconds after. Watching the plane spiral to the ground and explode, the MUTO turned to the other jets.
"Come and get me!" Levi taunted as the Varan rocketed past the airborne monster, firing at it. Rolling to chase the VTOL, the MUTO cackled as it flapped its' wings again, gaining speed. Flying low over the coast, Levi led the creature away from the port as it snapped at the craft. "Easy, buddy." Levi said, seeing a steep cliff emerge on the horizon, growing as they rapidly approached. "Just need your attention for a few more seconds." Flipping several switches, he watched the Varans' missiles detatch from the underside of its; wings, disappearing behind it as they had not been directly launched.
The MUTO swerved to try and avoid them, but the cluster of missiles struck the creature in the face, the mass of explosions disorientated it. They were metres away from the cliff face now. "I really hope you've got an airbag, dude!" Levi roared as he pulled back on the stick, lifting the nose of the Varan. Scraping the underside across the top, he cleared the cliff as the MUTO screamed in surprise, smashing face first straight into the rock face, instantly killing itself as chunks of rubble rained down.
Passing the other pilot with his parachute as he headed back, Levi watched Godzilla face down the final MUTO, cheering wildly.
….
The larger MUTO clawed at his chest as it fought to restrain the beast, Godzilla began to inhale as he charged up his breath again. The MUTOs' blue eyes went wide with fear as it realised its' defeat moments before the beam exploded across its' face. The entire head of the monster was incinerated in the heat of the flames as its' decapitated body slumped over. Roaring into the air victoriously, Godzilla dropped the dead MUTO and looked over the surrounding area.
The ruins of the port, surrounded by a debris-covered coastline was a picturesque image of the apocalypse, with the remains of a destroyed warship crumpled on dry land as flames belched out the ruptures in its' bent and twisted hull.
The William Stenz had survived the conflict, the Carrier had only sustained minor damage when it struck against the docks. One by one, the remaining fighter jets dropped to a landing height onto the ships' runway, speeding across the deck before coming to a halt. Hovering over the nearest helipad, the Varans' engines turned and the VTOL slowly lowered down onto the pad, its' wheels bouncing as they hit the deck. Climbing out, Levi took off his helmet and greeted the nearest deck hand as he headed for the bridge.
"It's a good thing Godzilla showed up when he did." Commander Ellsworth said, folding his arms. "Even with all of our fighters in the air, we wouldn't have stood a chance against that big one." Hunter walked across the bridge to him. "What was that thing anyway?" he asked. "I don't know." Ellsworth answered. "But its' still out there somewhere." Stepping away from the window Ellsworth looked to the rest of the crew on the bridge. "Alright, get us out of this port. I want to be at San Francisco by sunset."
….
The convoy en route to San Francisco had stopped to refuel. As the Cage family stayed in the back of the large truck waiting to get moving again, Dianna decided to climb out of the vehicle and walk around as groups of soldiers established a perimeter. With the VP injured, they had even more incentive to get to the city as fast as possible. Squinting, she could see the tiny skyline on the horizon, silhouetted by the setting sun. Dianna yawned. She had not gotten much sleep on the plane and had been up since the previous morning and she was extremely tired. Guess there's no rest for the weary… She thought.
"Director Storm!" A soldier addressed her as he jogged over. "President Locke is on the line. Says he wants to speak to you." He said, pushing up his helmet. Following the soldier, Dianna saw that the lead Humvee had been modified into a portable command centre, with a series of monitors and radios unfolded out of the rear of the vehicle. Jefferson, Zack and a few others were standing around the screens as she approached. Stepping out of the way, Jefferson gestured to the centre screen, on which Locke was on the other end of.
"Mr President?" Diana asked. "Dianna, good to see you. I hear you linked up with Rachel, yes?" she nodded. "Yeah, she's hurt pretty badly, sir. We have to get her to a doctor." Locke nodded. "But, sir, there's more to our enemy than we think." Dianna added. "I managed to interrogate a MUTO; they work as a hive mind, Mr President. And they're all controlled by a leader; Colossus." Locke furrowed his brow as he folded his arms. "I see. I'm tasking all forces on the West Coast to San Francisco. From there, we can launch a counter offensive against this 'Colossus'. I'll run this intel through to the other world leaders. Good luck, Dianna." He said before flicking off his camera.