Chapter 12: Aftermath

Dr. Andrews watched the monitors as the blips indicating various titans began to dissipate. The entire control room at Castle Bravo sat in disbelief. It was as if the day was a bad dream. Different incursions all across the world. Chaotic attacks with nary an acceptable response. The loss of several Monarch facilities and the destruction of the Argo. And now it was suddenly over. Director Hampton was on the phone, her voice quiet as she spoke but her face was plainly showing her concern. She nodded as she finished her conversation and hung up. She moved to stand next to Ilene.

"In the 7 hours that the event occurred, we lost 10 of our facilities and over a third of our military including the Argo. 30 different cities were also devastated and there's no telling how many towns or civilians that have been lost in between," Hampton said, her voice carrying the weight of shock and sadness.

"This is absolute insanity. How did this happen," Dr. Andrews replied.

"We're looking into everything. We've clearly lost our outpost in Hollow Earth and every outpost we've had stationed near a port..."

Dr. Andrews cut her off.

"I mean how did the EDF pull this off? Shimo killed? All of this can't be a coincidence. What I can't figure out is how they could have done this."

"Ilene, there's no way they could have done this. I agree that this is insane but there's no way they could actually trigger an event like this. And even if they could, it would probably take an incredibly powerful signal to do so. And we would have detected it ourselves. There's no way we couldn't have."

"You're either not listening or you're blind. With everything I've told you and now this? How do you not see it?"

"Look Ilene, I'm not saying nothing happened. Clearly something has. But until we can get a definitive answer, we have to keep looking. We can't just go around making accusations. We have to be smart about this. If you were to outright accuse the EDF of this without anything to back it up, Gordon could end your career or Monarch with his influence."

"With all due respect Hampton, if we couldn't do anything about this, Monarch could already be finished."

Kong was more worn out than he had ever been. He had continued fighting against his ape brethren for what seemed an endless amount of time. He had done all he could to try and dissuade them, trying to fight them off without serious harm. Kong had managed to wear Faye down by enduring her fury while trying to prevent more attacks from hitting her. The planes withdrew once their numbers had dwindled. Kong managed to hold his own against the others but only barely. As the King of the apes began to tire, he felt the faint pain in his head disappear. At that same instance, the aggression of the other apes ceased. Confusion took the place of anger. Kong stood and roared, pulling the remaining apes' attention to himself. Then he led them back down the portal to Hollow Earth. Once they had returned to their home, Kong quickly fell to his fatigue and passed into darkness.

Once the signal had faded, Anguirus was able to think for itself once more. Godzilla was still hot on his trail. The two titans cleaved through the water at high speed. Anguirus' lungs began to burn as he needed another breath. That would be when he would strike. He rose from the depths towards the surface. Godzilla snarled as he rushed to give chase, closing the gap between the two quickly. Anguirus' head burst from the water, taking in a huge gulp of air. He could feel his pursuer closing in. As Godzilla's jaws opened wide, Anguirus raised his tail. The tail came down with a mighty splash. The spikes on the end collided with Godzilla's face and head. Anguirus then pushed off Godzilla's body while he was still reeling and shot forward quickly through the ocean. Godzilla tried to regain his composure but by then his prey was already a distance further from him. He growled once more and began to follow again.

Madison paced back and forth, impatiently waiting for Martin to arrive. With the chaos of the sudden emergence, she was quick to leave as soon as the program had finished it's search. She had tried to keep in contact with her father as well but the temple that he had been at was attacked by a Warbat. The local military had arrived to combat the creature and eventually succeeded in driving it back down the recent portal that had opened. Mark Russell had managed to survive but most of the crew and equipment had not. Madison was desperately worried the whole time, trying to reach out to Monarch for any word from the site. It didn't help that she was getting constant updates from not only the news but Monarch as well on the chaos that was gripping the world. San Francisco itself managed to avoid any titan attack but the crowds of people in fear took over. Theft, vandalism, and other forms of human destruction took the city. The cleanup was still going on even now with reports of the titans returning to their underground domain. That's probably what was keeping Steve Martin. She had to call him several times before he finally answered. He had also been swamped with updates from work as well as trying to keep information flowing. It had been a couple hours since the attack ended and she was a little nervous that the program that had been used could be or would be traced.

Madison's apartment was on the third floor of a 5 story building with a full window that slid open to a balcony. It offered a nice view and a was modestly priced for where it was. While not exactly rich, Monarch did pay fairly well. The white walls of her dwelling carried all manner of family photos along the walls and was furnished well with a couch and chairs that appeared pristine, a clear sign of little use. A knock on her door broke Madison from her concentration. She answered and found a clearly stressed Steve Martin. He made his way inside her home with a quick hello. She closed the door as he opened up his laptop bag and placed the computer onto the kitchen counter.

"What took you so long," she asked as he powered it on.

"All the cleanup going on slowed all the traffic throughout the city. Not to mention the crowds all around that still believe the end of the world is happening."

"It very well could be at this point. We've not had anything this massive happen since Ghidorah."
Steve finished getting his computer started up. He looked over at Madison and held out his hand. She pulled out the flash drive and handed to him. With one swift, fluid gesture he inserted the flash drive.

"Ok, let's see what we have going on here," he said.

Madison stood next to him as they began to decrypt everything the program uncovered.

When the Gotengo had finished docking, General Gordon and his crew emerged to cheers from the other workers and soldiers. Gordon wore a humble face as he waved and greeted the others, but inside he was filled with pride. Everything had gone to plan extremely well. Not only had they been able to instigate a massive exodus of titans toe the surface to wreck havoc, but the Gotengo had also performed incredibly well. Now it was time to begin preparation on the next step. The General nodded and smiled in acknowledgement as the crew and crowd dispersed. He made his way to his office and took a seat. He started typing and began going over data the EDF collected while out. Each of the Super Xs and the Gotengo were all outfitted with exterior and interior cameras so they could record and capture data in real time. Dr. Mafune would receive the data streamed to his console at the main base for evaluation. Gordon wanted this so that they could use their findings not only for training more troops but also to develop strategies against the titans encountered. He was going over what they had collected from the attacks when his phone rang.

"Splendid work on the signal. Everything worked perfectly," he said as he answered.

"That's great. Are you done with me now? This is getting riskier for me here at Monarch," the voice replied.

"Not just yet. I may need more of your services at some point. And remember, I have all the cards so there's not much in a way of refusal on your end."

The voice snapped back.

"I'm not stupid Gordon! I know you think you have me at your beck and call but I can only take so much of this!"

"You will continue to take it until I have no other use for you or you decide to try and back out of our agreement. And let's face it, a traitor to Monarch spouting about an imagined connection to the head of the EDF? Even after it's leaked that you were selling secrets for profit? Not likely. Don't forget I can do so much more than ruin your reputation."

There was a pause on the other line. Gordon was growing irritated at the silence.

"Was there a reason for this call or did you just want me to put you back in your place," Gordon asked, annoyed.

"I was calling to inform you there was a security breach within Monarch. We haven't found where it came from just yet but files have been downloaded. Someone was looking for something."

"Sounds like you should be dealing with that instead of bothering me. Monarch can't handle it's own issues?"

"There's no telling what they may have found! There could be evidence of my involvement in your sabotages! I told you things are getting too hot for me here and it could show my connection to you!"

"Then solve this damn problem and find the parties responsible. Now if there's nothing else..."

"What if I can find something worthwhile," the voice cut Gordon off, "Would you let me go then?"

Gordon chuckled.

"Even with your high position within Monarch, I doubt you've got that kind of pull."