Chapter 15: Battle in the Dunes.
As the Akagi sank, Akira and his newfound companion Shiro did their best to get some distance between themselves and the monster that had attacked their ship. The two men paddled as quickly as they could, never taking their eyes off the colossal Sea Dragon. As they watched, the creature slipped beneath the waves and disappeared.
Akira instinctively stopped rowing, and had Shiro halt as well, to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to themselves. They were sitting ducks. Several terrible moments passed as the two of them waited to see what would happen next. Akira could not shake the feeling that the monster was right below them, just waiting to strike again. The two men bobbed up and down helplessly, having no better recourse. Akira's face was drenched, either with seawater or sweat. In the heat of the moment, he wasn't sure which.
There happened to be a Japanese destroyer nearby the tiny lifeboat, and Shiro silently nudged Akira's arm, indicating that they should try to make their way over to it. Akira was uncertain though. It was possible that the monster was satisfied with the destruction it had already caused and was even now withdrawing beneath the surface. However, the creature could also easily be poised to attack again. At that point, there was no way to know for sure either way.
In the long term, Akira knew they would have to be picked up by one of the other warships. If they were not, he and his newfound friend wouldn't last more than a couple of days without supplies of any kind on the open ocean. They were too far away from land to get anywhere on their own. However, Akira also recognized that it was not worth the risk of moving at that particular moment. He shook his head to Shiro, letting him know to hold steady.
The wisdom in Akira's decision was fully illustrated only moments later. The destroyer they had been eyeing as salvation was suddenly and violently lifted up out of the water. The warship was just small enough for the monster to balance in its jaws. The sea dragon held the vessel high in the air, towering above the waterline with its long neck like a pedestal. The monster began to lose balance as more and more of its thin body rose further out of the ocean. The destroyer's weight finally became too much, and the creature teetered sideways. Little by little, momentum built up until both the ship and the monster attached to it came crashing down into the sea.
The bow of the destroyer stabbed into the ocean like a knife. After hitting the water, the monster let go of the ship, which capsized as saltwater poured into the multiple hull breaches that had been torn into the vessel during the attack. The impact of the monster's body hitting the surface of the sea, sent a powerful rippling wave rolling towards Akira's small lifeboat. There wasn't anything they could do to avoid it.
"HANG ON!" Akira shouted to Shiro as he gripped the sides of the boat and prepared for the surf to slam into them.
The barreling wave passed under them, nearly capsizing their boat, but luckily, the craft managed to stay right-side up. The wave ended up pushing them further away from the monster, which was a fact that did not bother Akira one bit. The lifeboat was left spinning in lazy circles. As it was, Akira spotted a squadron of destroyers and a cruiser positioning themselves to attack the sea dragon. The only trouble was, their lifeboat was between the warships and the monster.
The three destroyers began to fire their five-inch main gun batteries, but the first volleys were all over the place. Some shells overestimated their target, while others were near misses. A few of them even fell close to Akira and Shiro's lifeboat. One round came so close that it sent a jet of water splashing onto the pair.
While the gun crews were reloading ammunition for the five-inch cannons, the destroyers opened up with their anti-aircraft guns. Streams of high-caliber machine gun fire flashed just a few meters above Akira and Shiro's heads. Akira heard them whizzing by and could see the red-hot tracer rounds. It was far too close for comfort. The two men had to take cover, laying as flat as they could in the lifeboat. Akira knew it wouldn't save them though. If one of the powerful AA guns fired too wildly, and its arc of fire accidentally strayed and struck their tiny vessel, it would tear them to shreds.
Indeed, a string of one-inch rounds did come close at one point, hitting the water about ten yards away from the lifeboat. Akira popped his head up just in time to see it. At that point, he could also glimpse the destroyers deploying their most potent weapons. The warships had just launched a spread of twelve torpedoes at the monster. The long lance torpedoes rushed forward in the water, closing in quickly on their target. They were easily one of the IJN's most effective weapons.
Akira nearly panicked as he realized the path of one of the torpedoes was rapidly bringing it towards their boat. He could see the tracks in the water left behind as the torpedoes jetted along. There wasn't much time to act. Akira roused Shiro, making him aware of the new danger. The pair grabbed their oars and attempted to paddle out of the way, but it was too late. The torpedoes were closing far too fast for them to be avoided.
However, there was something important Akira had not accounted for in his hasty calculus. The oncoming torpedoes were traveling under the water approximately three meters below the surface of the ocean. Thus, when they reached the lifeboat, the torpedoes safely passed below. The draft of the small wooden life craft was far too shallow for any torpedoes to impact upon. As a result, the boat was only slightly disturbed by their passing.
Akira breathed a long sigh of relief. If he had known a little more about torpedoes, he might have realized there was nothing to be worried about from the beginning. However, he had spent most of his time as a fighter pilot on land, so he wasn't very knowledgeable about naval torpedoes. The feeling of relief was short-lived as Akira's attention shifted back to the main threat, the monster attacking the fleet.
The torpedoes that had passed Akira were continuing to close in on the Sea Dragon, a fact which hadn't gone unnoticed by the monster. He could see the lines in the water getting closer to him second by second. If the destroyer captains had launched their torpedoes first, they might have been able to surprise the monster. But since they had already drawn his attention with their cannon-fire, the creature spotted the white jets coming at him from a distance and had plenty of time to correctly judge that they were a threat.
The monster glided through the ocean more gracefully than Akira would have thought possible for something its size. The creature managed to maneuver his whole long body out of the path of the torpedoes, and then began to circle around, making his way towards the attacking destroyers. Since he had steered himself around the clump of torpedoes, the Sea Dragon didn't pass very close to Akira's boat, but the monster still caused a large enough wake to send the tiny craft bobbing up and down in ten-foot waves. The lifeboat drifted away from the action as the waves settled back down again.
When the colossal Sea Dragon reached the destroyers, he wasted no time. He bit into the first warship in the line and lifted it clean out of the water. He then smashed the vessel against the hull of the second destroyer, badly damaging both ships. After that, the Sea Dragon tossed the destroyer in his mouth about a hundred yards in the direction of Akira's lifeboat. Time slowed down as Akira saw the bulk of the ship drifting closer and closer to them through the air. He was frozen with fear.
The warship ended up landing about forty yards starboard of Akira's lifeboat. The impact of the two-thousand-ton warship hitting the water was more than enough to send Akira and Shiro spilling out of their own craft as water came crashing in all around them. They were both forced under the water. Akira felt like he had been hit by a truck and struggled to make his way back up to the surface. He used the light of the sun as a guide.
Akira popped back up and coughed out some seawater that he'd nearly inhaled. Slowly, he regained his bearings. He looked around, trying to locate the lifeboat and Shiro. Akira saw the destroyer that had been tossed at them on the water. It was severely damaged, but still afloat. He did not see any crew and assumed most of them had either been killed or injured during their sudden and unexpected flight. The warship was taking on water and didn't seem like a good option to go for.
Then Akira spotted Shiro floating on the water. He appeared to be injured, but conscious. Akira swam out and grabbed him around the torso to help him keep his head above the water. From there, Akira was able to relocate the lifeboat. It was positioned about thirty yards away from them, but in the direction of the monster. Seeing no better alternative, Akira began to slowly make his way towards it with Shiro.
Akira swam the best he could, encouraging Shiro to kick as much as possible. He only had one thought that dominated his mind: Get back to the lifeboat as quickly as possible. Akira had not forgotten the monster's electric attack. If the Sea Dragon used it while they were still in the water, they would be goners. Akira became fixated on the thought. His eyes darted to the monster while it attacked the remaining warships, and then back to the lifeboat, whose name took on a whole new level of meaning. Everything depended on him getting back to the tiny craft in time.
Luckily for Akira, the ongoing battle in the near distance was sending wave after wave in their direction, pushing the lifeboat closer to them and narrowing the gap. Akira finally reached the boat and pushed Shiro up over the edge. By that point, the monster had coiled itself around the cruiser that had been leading the destroyer group. At the same time, the great serpent was trying to smash the third destroyer with its tail. The destroyer, however, was just out of reach, and managed to fire off a shot with its main turret that hit the monster in the face, which gave the Sea Dragon a moment's pause.
The monster hissed in anger and Akira got an aura that something very bad was about to happen. He tried to quickly lift himself back into the boat, but he was nearly exhausted from swimming and helping Shiro. Akira continued to watch the monster as he struggled, feeling that time was running out. The upper half of his body was over the side, but he had to be careful not to tip the boat all the way over.
Finally, the Sea Dragon utilized his electrical attack. The hair on the monster's back stood on end, which signaled the powerful discharge. The cruiser that the monster was wrapped around, along with the destroyer that was right next to it, lit up as surges of electricity danced along their hulls. Akira's legs were still in the water, and he shuttered, anticipating his imminent death. Akira's heart stopped as he stared forward blankly. A funny thing though, the monster's electricity never reached him.
'Why am I not dead?' Akira thought to himself, almost numbly. After a moment of watching perplexed, he decided the why did not matter so much. He only needed to get himself into the boat and take no chances on a second miracle, should the monster attack an additional time.
From there, the battle progressed. It did not go well for the Japanese fleet. The monster was fast in the water and very evasive. It was able to avoid most attacks entirely and hearty enough to shrug off the ones that landed. The Sea Dragon went on to sink several more Japanese ships before he retreated, and he only seemed to do so because he was getting fatigued from using his electrical attack.
…
In Paris, Marcus was sitting in the French Army's Headquarters, keeping an ear out for reports about Mothra. German radio intercepts gave them pieces of information, but nothing concrete. The only thing that was clear was the Germans were having a hard time keeping track of Mothra. Given that there were so many gaps in their radar net, Mothra had plenty of blind spots to slip into. There was simply too much wide-open airspace, particularly over the ocean, where there was no radar coverage whatsoever.
Such as it was, the German High-Command sent out long range search planes and ships of the Kriegsmarine to search for any signs of either Mothra or Varan. It turned out they were unable to find a trace of either. Not knowing the whereabouts of the titanic insect made a lot of people in high positions very nervous. That led to Britain, France, and Germany all hastily making plans to expand their existing radar networks to fill in the gaps in coverage. However, it would be weeks before all the new emplacements could be built, and that gave Mothra free reign in areas without them in the meantime. No one was certain if she could detect radio waves like the Rodans could, or if she was able to take that ability a step further with radar.
Mothra's behavior thus far was certainly less predictable than her predecessors. It was still very unclear why she had chosen to engage Varan in combat. Some footage of their battle in Berlin, taken by a French spy, had arrived in Paris for study. The quality of the film was not particularly good though. It had been shot from a position outside the city, and only showed portions of the battle. It did however show the end where Mothra lifted off and carried Varan away.
Many of the French officers dismissed Mothra's actions as her simply attacking a rival monster and disposing of it. Something purely done out of self-interest. Marcus however noted that Varan wasn't actually killed though. He appeared to be still very much alive when Mothra carried him off. Marcus also pointed out that Varan likely would not have drowned when he was dumped into the ocean. Though he was stunned at the time, and not able to move, he was still an amphibian. Capable of breathing underwater. So Mothra's motivation for engaging in the battle could not have been for something as simple as killing Varan.
Marcus knew in his heart that Mothra had a virtuous reason behind her actions, but it was going to be hard to convince anyone else around him of that. He did not even bother to try. He couldn't be perceived as attempting to protect Mothra, or he would arouse suspicion about his own motives. He would just have to point out the facts where he could and let everyone else draw their own conclusions.
With Mothra out of French airspace, and no other official duties pressing them, Admiral Nimitz gave his men the liberty to do as they wished for the rest of the day. Marcus chose to spend it with Shauna. The two of them had already agreed that it would be safer for her to return to the States the next day, so they made the most of their limited time together. They had previously experienced most of the essential attractions in Paris, save one. Their earlier tour of the city had excluded the Eiffel Tower, because up until recently, it had been covered in Mothra's silk.
As it just so happened, French engineers had finished clearing the last of it off that morning. Though it was still technically not open to the public yet, Marcus was able to pull some strings and attain a special pass as a military observer that would allow him to go up to the top. He took full advantage of it and invited Shauna to meet him there.
As Marcus walked from Headquarters to the tower, he came across a fancy Jewelry store. He only had one thing on his mind at that point: a certain type of proposition to his fair lady.
'Could there be a more perfect place to propose marriage?' Marcus thought to himself, full of excitement. He proceeded inside.
However, as Marcus looked over the goods, he quickly realized how hair-brained his plan was. Even the most modestly priced engagement rings in the store were still far beyond the means Marcus could afford. Just like that, his impulsive plans for proposal were shot. Marcus still wanted to make some type of romantic gesture though and quickly came up with a backup plan. He found a more modestly priced love-knot necklace that was still quite striking. Marcus had to spend nearly every penny he had to get it, but made the purchase and then hurried to meet up with Shauna.
Even walking briskly, and briefly running when he thought no one was watching, Marcus was still ten minutes late to his rendezvous thanks to his jewelry store excursion. Shauna gave him a sharp glance when she spotted him coming. He gave her an apologetic half-smile and her irritation melted away in light of his sheepish charm. She took his arm, and the two of them proceeded towards the stairs that would take them to the elevators to get to the top floor of the Eiffel Tower.
As they began their climb, Marcus started to get nervous. Not due to his hidden gift, or the reaction Shauna might have to it, but rather the number of feet off the ground they were accumulating below them. They got a little higher with each step, and Marcus became acutely aware that the wind was growing in strength more and more in the open air of the tower. Although his fear of heights had lessened with his flying experiences, this was an entirely different set of circumstances.
Because he was with Shauna, Marcus tried his best to hide his fear. He hoped that he would simply get used to the heights the longer they were up there, but instead, it only grew worse as they went along. His anxiety subsided only for a moment after the door had closed when they got on the elevator that would take them to the top platform. However, it quickly returned when the lift shuttered and started taking them up.
Little by little, the car rose higher and higher. The buildings around the tower seemed to sink into the ground as the elevator rose. Marcus could feel his heart begin to pound in his chest. His breathing became less rhythmic as he tried to regain control of himself. The little clanks of the mechanisms moving the elevator were starting to unnerve him. It helped that they were not in the wind anymore, but Marcus knew that would change the moment they hit the top floor and the doors opened again.
Of course, after some time passed, the lift doors parted as they arrived at the top. Marcus' anxiety about heights reached an all-time high. His knees felt like jelly, and every time the wind hit him, he felt like he was going to tumble over. Luckily for him, Shauna had already walked out of the car, and she wasn't paying attention to him. She had immediately run over to the side of the platform and was looking over the landscape of Paris. Seeing her so close to the edge made Marcus feel even worse and he grabbed onto the metal frame of the tower next to the elevator for support. His breathing was quick and shallow, sweat was forming on his brow, and he felt himself beginning to panic.
It was finally beginning to become too much for Marcus to contain. He was literally starting to shake as his muscles tensed up and was becoming less steady on his feet. He cursed himself for being so weak. He wanted with all his being to enjoy the moment with Shauna, but he just couldn't do it. He was less of a man than he thought he was.
Though it shamed him through and through, the only thing Marcus wanted to do at that moment was get off the tower. He was getting so panicked that he even considered getting back on the elevator before Shauna could see him and leave her up there by herself. His plan of a perfect moment with her at the top of the Eiffel Tower in the most romantic city on earth was backfiring spectacularly, and what's more, there was not much he could do about it. He was barely holding himself together, fear overtaking him.
It was at that moment of weakness that Shauna finally noticed Marcus had not joined her at the edge of the gallery and looked back to see him in his sad state. She was confused for a moment and didn't understand what was wrong with him. Soon, however, she realized why he was carefully clinging onto the tower so far away from the edge. Shauna came back to Marcus and took his hand to help steady him. His hand was cold, clammy, and even a little sweaty, but she held onto it just the same.
"Shall we head back down?" She asked calmly. Not calling attention to Marcus' fear.
Marcus couldn't bring himself to answer verbally. He was worried his voice might crack if he opened his mouth, and he was already ashamed of himself as it was. So, he just nodded in agreement. Fortunately, the elevator was still on the top floor. The doors opened immediately when Shauna pushed the button, and they boarded the car. The doors closed again, and Marcus closed his eyes trying to regain his composure.
Shauna was blissfully quiet, seeming to understand that talking to him would not make him feel better at that moment. Perhaps it was her background as a nurse, but she sensed it was something he had to come to on his own terms. Marcus meanwhile could feel the elevator going back down under them. As it descended, he felt himself begin to calm down. He knew each passing second was getting them closer to the ground, and that was comforting. It gave him back a small sense of control over the situation.
The elevator arrived at the lower platform and the pair exited the car. Marcus was not back to his normal self yet, but well on his way to recovering. Shauna took him to a bench situated in the middle of the lower platform. She figured he'd need to rest and get his legs firmly back under him again before trying to make it down the stairwell to the bottom. Shauna finally broke the silence as they sat there.
"So, you've faced down giant monsters, but being a couple extra feet in the air bothers you?" She smiled, trying to be funny and lighten the mood.
"I think that was more than just a few." Marcus noted. He took a deep breath in, and exhaled slowly, feeling much better. "I wanted to give this to you at the top, but that clearly didn't work out." He handed her the jewelry box. Shauna's eyes lit up as she examined it. Then she untied the bow and began to open it. "It isn't much..." He began to say.
"Oh Marcus, this is very thoughtful of you!" Shauna cut him off, admiring the love knot inside. "I love it! Help me put it on!"
"Sure." Marcus stepped around behind her. Shauna lifted her hair away from the back of her neck and he secured the clasp. "There, that should do it."
"Let's have a looksee!" Shauna grabbed his hand and led him over to a window so she would see her reflection. "Does it suit me?" She asked eagerly.
"Why yes, I believe it does." Marcus answered. The pendant of the necklace ended up situated in just the right place aesthetically, proving that it was sometimes better to be lucky than good. The moment was broken by the sound of a gruff voice cutting in.
"Marcus, there's been an attack in Italy." Brock announced. "We need to return to HQ. We have new orders."
…
In the aftermath of the attack on Taranto Naval Base, the Italians were left reeling. The new squid-like monster had been given a name. Gezora. Gezora had gone on to attack several coastal towns following his raid on the harbor. He had eaten numerous civilians, perhaps needing their protein to help heal his wounds. On that point, there was some debate as to whether Gezora would survive the battle. The monster had been torn up pretty good by the firepower of the Regia Marina before it retreated. The Italian naval brass hoped that he would succumb to his wounds in the days that followed.
However, the military higher-ups were smart enough to realize they were hardly experts on the topic, which led to their next move. They brought in a well-respected marine biologist from the University of Bologna, which had the distinction of being the oldest university in the world. His name was Dr. Michael Orsini, and he was one of Italy's foremost experts on deep sea life. They felt that if anyone could help them understand the new threat, it was him.
When Dr. Orsini arrived on the scene at Taranto, he first set about examining the remains of the crippled battleship Giulio Cesare. The warship was still jammed into the shoreline were Gezora had pressed her. Dr. Orsini noted something odd lodged into the hull where the monster had gripped the ship with his tentacles. The creature appeared to have left a cluster of fleshy residue behind where the cups had been attached. Whatever it was, appeared to be imbedded into the metal.
The ship was resting low enough that Dr. Orsini was able to walk up and take a closer look at them, along with his military entourage in toe. Captain Garibaldi was among the men helping Dr. Orsini investigate. He was the officer who probably saw the most of the monster during the attack and lived to tell about it. He had a vested interest in finding any clues about Gezora which might give them an advantage in their next encounter with him.
Dr. Orsini produced a magnifying glass from his pocket and examined the residue. It was colorful, containing dozens of bulbus nodules. The doctor turned from the mass of goop and took out a notepad and pencil to write something down. Then he told one of the naval officers that they would have to take a sample for further examination in the lab. One of the brash and curious Ensigns reached up to touch the clump of fleshy material with his bare hand. Dr. Orsini looked back up just in time to see what the sailor was doing.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Dr. Orsini shouted, trying to warn him, but it was already too late.
The Ensign's fingers pressed into the colorful blue bulbs, and he immediately went stiff upon contact. Much like a boxer who had taken a devastating uppercut to the jaw, the sailor fell backwards, frozen in his outreaching pose. All his muscles were stuck in place. Within seconds, the man had stopped breathing and his heart ceased beating. His comrades wanted to rush in and help, but Dr. Orsini warned them against trying. It was already too late for him and anyone who made physical contact with the man ran the risk of succumbing to the same fate.
…
The fallen sailor and a sample from the Giulio Cesare's hull were both brought into a lab where Dr. Orsini could safely examine them both in a controlled environment using his equipment. He confirmed exactly what he had suspected to begin with. The chunks of flesh Gezora had left within the hull of the warship were a type of venomous barb. Something akin to what a jellyfish would use to stun prey. The barbs Gezora left contained a powerful neurotoxin. After some experiments, Dr. Orsini concluded it was the most potent example of a marine neurotoxin thus far on record. It was little wonder it killed the sailor so quickly. Clearly, it wasn't meant for the purpose of killing humans though, who would make poultry prey. The doctor wondered how effective the toxin would be on something bigger.
While Dr. Orsini continued his research, news of Gezora's attacks spread fear through all of Italy in the days that followed. So much of the country was coastal, and therefore would be vulnerable to another sudden attack from the ocean.
The Italian government was facing several immediate crises. First, their main battlefleet had been crippled. Only a handful of their most powerful warships had survived Gezora's assault. Second, their commercial fleets were terrified to even sail out of port, which had an immediate impact on their economy. Goods flowing in and out of the country slowed to a crawl. Finally, when word reached rebel groups in Italy's African colonies that the Italian fleet had been smashed and transport ships were stuck in port, they seized the opportunity to revolt, knowing that it was unlikely the colonial governors would receive reinforcements of any kind from the mainland anytime soon.
The uprisings were particularly large in the more distant colonies of Ethiopia and Somalia, where unrest had already been smoldering for years. The rebels there saw an opportunity to finally fight back. It began with isolated Italian garrisons being overrun in surprise raids, and the arsenals of weapons inside being seized. After that, the insurrection spread like wildfire. Absolute turmoil in the colonies followed.
The one notable exception was Libya. The indigenous population there had problems of their own to contend with. Kameras was still on the loose, moving eastward through their lands and wreaking havoc. The military forces Italy had in the area were already mobilized and on high alert. They were gathering strength for a counterattack near the city of Tubruq. As the Italians were working to repel the monster from Libyan lands, the rebels could hardly oppose them, as their objectives were temporarily aligned.
In mainland Italy, the Italian government responded as best they could to the threat of Gezora. They recalled all of their warships back to port and put their harbors on high alert. The coastal areas were continuously patrolled by small torpedo boats, who kept near constant contact with their bases on the shore. The Italian Army was also mobilized and deployed to key coastal areas, ready to counter any further incursions by the monster.
The Italian Airforce was also on alert and used to patrol the skies around the coast, which led to an unfortunate incident where a bomber squadron attacked one of their own submarines as it was returning to port. The submarine had been mistaken for Gezora. The pilots simply saw an object under the water moving towards the harbor and panicked. In the resulting attack, the submarine was sunk with all hands aboard lost. After that, all submarines were put on notice to surface before approaching the coastline.
The African question was a tougher one for the Italians to answer. Until Gezora had been dealt with, there was too much risk in trying to get additional troop-transports across the Mediterranean to defend their colonies. Libya had sufficient numbers of men and equipment for their planned attack on Kameras, but the rebels in Ethiopia and Somalia were a real problem. The only thing the Italians could do to counter those uprisings in the meanwhile was fly-in handfuls of troops at a time with transport planes. However, the numbers of soldiers that could be brought to the front that way was far short of what they'd need to regain the initiative over the rebels. For the time being, the best the Italian Army could hope for was to hold their ground until the navy was able to safely resume operations.
With two monsters actively roaming the Mediterranean, and so many of their warships already lost, the Italians were not strong enough to counter the threats on their own. The Italian Government did not have the money nor the time to rebuild their fleet, so they were left with only one recourse: They needed to request outside help. Fortunately for them, there were plenty of other world powers who had a vested interest in keeping the trade routes of the Mediterranean open and safe for merchant ships.
Thus, the Italians requested emergency talks with Great Britain, the United States, and France. A dialog was opened, and eventually led to an agreement of cooperation between the navies of the great powers. Together, they would hunt down and kill Gezora and Kameras. Along with their powerful Navy, the British Army in North Africa would also coordinate operations with the Italian forces. Their main goal was to defeat Kameras.
Kameras, however, had not been seen for over forty-eight hours since he destroyed a small coastal town thirty miles west of Tubruq in Libya. The Italian Army had gathered a respectable defense-force in the area around the city of Tubruq, expecting it would be the next place Kameras would strike. They were in place and ready if the monster should surface there.
As formidable as the Italian forces were, their strategic planners doubted they would be able to take down Kameras alone. The British were already moving their own forces towards the boarder of Egypt and Libya. They calculated that Kameras had probably already bypassed Tubruq, as it would fit into his previous established pattern of behavior.
The Brits were hoping to catch Kameras in a pincer maneuver between themselves and the Italian forces from Tubruq, who would undoubtably be in close pursuit. The British forces arrived at the border, but did not cross over, to avoid certain political pitfalls that would follow. Instead, they stopped short and waited for orders. Kameras, however, wasn't cooperating with their plan.
Another twenty-four hours passed with no sign of the monster on either side of the border. Then word finally came in from a British destroyer that they had sighted the monster in the water off the coast. Unfortunately, he was sixty miles further east than the concentration of British units. Alarms were raised, and the British scrambled to redeploy their men back into Egypt. The Italian forces in Tubruq were also alerted and given permission to enter Egyptian territory to join the English. The skies above the North African desert were filled with the long dust trails of British and Italian armored columns desperate to catch up with Kameras.
Meanwhile on the water, the British Fleet moved to try to intercept Kameras, but the monster made landfall in Egypt before they could arrive in force. The creature began marching eastward, unopposed. Kameras wasn't terribly fast on land though, and the British Army columns were quickly making up ground. Eventually, the British were able to catch up and even bypass the monster without him becoming aware.
After getting ahead of Kameras, the British looked for a place to stop and make a stand. There was a problem though. They wanted the Italians to take part in the fight, so they could wedge the monster between their two forces like they originally had in mind. Unfortunately, the Italians were still lagging behind, having to first undig themselves from their fortified positions in Tubruq, and then try to play catch up to the British who had started ahead of them to begin with. Such as it was, the British Army kept just ahead of the monster and avoided detection. But the Brits were being driven further and further into their own territory the longer they waited.
Eventually, Kameras had advanced to a point where the British were forced to turn and fight. He had emerged from the sparsely inhabited desert regions and was beginning to enter more populated areas where he could start doing significant damage. When Kameras was just stomping around in the sand, he was easy to ignore. But letting him damage Egyptian infrastructure was a different matter. In fact, the monster was getting uncomfortably close to the priceless and irreplaceable Pyramids of Giza.
The British decided they needed to slow the monster down with aircraft, trying to buy the Italians time to close the gap. Supermarine Spitfires, the newest and best fighter aircraft the British Royal Navy had to offer, were launched from the nearby carriers HMS Eagle and HMS Glorious. Together, with land-based bombers from the area, they harassed Kameras relentlessly.
The weapons on the warplanes were no match for Kameras' armor plates, but they did succeed in distracting him. The monster's already slow pace ground to a crawl. Whenever he heard the buzzing of plane engines, he would stop and look up, knowing that he was about to be attacked again. Kameras was angered and annoyed by the bombs popping against his shell. He would swipe at the fighters when they came in low enough. Kameras apparently didn't have the best eyesight though. He never came close to hitting the planes, even when the pilots got recklessly near to his face while strafing him.
There was one occasion when the air attacks did more than just annoy Kameras. A lucky hit from a bomb fell right on top of the monster's neck, striking him in the sweet spot between the protective shell of his body and the horned crest of his head. The monster shuttered from the explosion and pulled his head back towards his shell instinctively. Flight commanders took notice, and tried to replicate the attack, but bombing runs at the time hopelessly relied on luck for accuracy. Precision strikes were just not possible. Attack after attack failed to produce similar results, and Kameras trudged onward.
Finally, when Kameras was within just mere miles of the Pyramids, the Italian Army reported over the radio that the leading elements of their forces had made visual contact with the monster. They were only miles behind it and closing fast. The British commanders deemed it was the right time to stop, and began to dig in. Both the British and the Italians soldiers braced themselves for the impending confrontation.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was one hundred and forty-six meters tall. It was the only thing in the desert landscape that could make Kameras seem small by comparison. The Great Sphinx looked on as the battle began to unfold in front of her. She was over four-thousand years old and had witnessed a great many things throughout the ages. But even she had never seen a battle quite like this before.
As Kamerus approached, the British artillery opened up first, showering him with furious volleys. Their firepower was accurate, but otherwise useless. It simply wasn't enough against the monster's heavily armored shell. Next, Sexton self-propelled artillery pieces joined the fight, but to no avail. British Valentine medium tanks and heavy Churchills moved in from the left flank and began their attack. Their guns were equally useless against the monster's armor.
The British soldiers were starting to lose their nerve as Kameras continued to advance on their positions, but then the Italians arrived on the battlefield, and hastily moved in on the monster from the rear. Dozens of M15 tanks advanced and fired. Their shots plinked right off Kameras' dorsal shell. The monster did not even register the attacks, because that happened to be where his armor was the thickest. The Italian's assault went almost completely unnoticed in the fight.
Kameras advanced forward, smashing through everything in front of him until he was amongst the British artillery in the back lines. He stomped on anything too slow to get out of his way and swung his tail to the sides, sending sand, men, and machines flying in his wake. What was left of the British lines was crumbling as men abandoned their positions to avoid being crushed.
The fighting was rapidly dying down. The British were broken, and the Italians couldn't fire anymore without risking hitting British soldiers as they retreated. At that point, Kameras spotted the Pyramids and started moving in their direction. There were not any British units between the monster and the ancient monuments. If Kameras' intention was to topple them over, nothing was going to stop him.
Suddenly, there was a shrill shriek that filled up the battlefield. It not only caught the attention of all the soldiers, but also Kameras. Everyone looked up to see Mothra streaking down from above. She swooped in and buzzed over Kameras' head in an aggressive fashion. She nearly clipped him in the process, and he roared in anger, sensing the close call.
Kameras continued forward, trying to ignore Mothra, but she was not about to let that happen. She came back down directly in his path and beat her wings downward against the hot sands of the desert floor. The sand whipped up into a storm and flew into Kameras, blasting against his skin. In particular, the grains got into his eyes, which stopped him dead in his tracks.
Mothra used the opportunity to fly in behind Kameras unseen and grappled onto the back of his shell. She beat her wings furiously, trying to lift him. But it turned out the giant turtle monster was simply too heavy for her to budge. Kameras' eyes were closed, still burning from the sand, but he could feel where Mothra was positioned and used his tail to try to flick her off. His first swing was a near miss. Mothra just managed to dodge it.
Mothra let go of Kameras, sensing the imminent danger of being hit by his spiked tail. As she rose up out of range, Kameras' tail whipped straight up, trying to catch her, but instead, he ended up hitting himself square in the back. His armor protected him, but the force of the blow was enough to send Kameras stumbling forward. Meanwhile, Mothra escaped, flying off to the right and away from the Pyramids.
At that point, Kameras managed to get most of the sand out of his eyes and was beyond pissed off. He charged forward slowly, following Mothra away from the monuments and scattered soldiers. Mothra continued to retreat, flying above the wreckage of several vehicles Kameras had smashed through earlier. The soldiers who had occupied the machines were either already dead or had fled the field.
Mothra rounded after passing over them and waited for Kameras to close the gap between them. Once he had gotten near enough, Mothra once more beat her wings against the sand. Kameras remembered what happened the last time she had done that and closed his eyes to avoid a second dose of sand to spare his vision. However, it was a trap, and Mothra had been counting on him to close his eyes.
The vehicles littering the desert floor were caught up in Mothra's windstorm and flew up at Kameras. With his eyes closed, he never saw them coming. A fuel truck hit Kameras square in the face and then exploded. Then a tank crashed against Kameras' arm, which was less heavily armored, and made him flinch noticeably.
Kameras dashed forward in a surprising burst of speed and slashed at Mothra with his clawed hands. Even at his fastest though, Kameras was far too slow to catch Mothra that way. The attack did however force her to cease her own assault to avoid his. With the wind gone, Kameras opened his eyes and saw Mothra seemingly just out of reach. All of the sudden, Kameras' head sprang forward up at Mothra. His neck extended far out of his shell and caught her by surprise. Kameras' jaws snapped shut just feet short of catching Mothra's left wing. She hastily flew up to get clear, and then glided away gracefully to regroup.
However, Kameras sensed an opportunity to strike. He had yet another surprise waiting up his sleeve. With a flick of his tail, he sent three spines flying at Mothra. She did not see them coming, because her back was still turned towards him. Fortunately for Mothra, Kameras was not the greatest shot, even on his best day. The spines missed her body. One of the bolts missed entirely, while the other two sunk into Mothra's right wing.
Mothra only became aware of the missed attack after seeing the spikes sticking out of her wing. She immediately banked left, and then made a B-line back towards Kameras. She approached from his blindside. Kameras was sluggish while turning to face her. He managed to turn just in time to see Mothra appear right on top of him.
Mothra beat her wings resolutely against Kameras' upper torso. While she did, one of the imbedded spikes hit Kameras' hard shell and popped out of her wing like a long nail being hit by a hammer from the opposite side of a wooden board. The second spike, however, found its way into the fleshy space between the two halves of Kameras' shell, right between his neck and shoulder. The spike lodged itself into Kameras body, while at the same time pulling out of Mothra's wing. The pain Kameras felt was obvious and immediate. He used his arms to push Mothra away as blood began to pour out of his puncture wound.
Mothra backed away, giving him space. Kameras used the time to pull out the spine and dropped it to the desert floor. Once it had hit the sand, Mothra moved back closer to Kameras, but still kept her distance. Kameras stared up at her, as if he were contemplating his next move. By that point, Mothra had started flapping her wings to release some of her poisonous golden powder. Interestingly though, she wasn't close enough to Kameras for the powder to touch him, but rather seemed to be using it as a threat display.
Kameras stood there for only a moment longer before turning to leave. He began trudging along northward towards the Mediterranean Sea. Mothra followed behind, keeping a safe distance. She did not attack Kameras again but kept a close eye on him. The battle appeared to be over.