Chapter 20: "Big and Terrible."
In the ready room aboard the USS Essex, Admiral Malek gathered the investigative team to discuss the most recent developments in the Pacific. In particular, they were deliberating whether or not they should remain on the scene to further probe into the killing of Kameras or set out to investigate the sinking of the Japanese merchant ship Eiko Maru.
"Ling, do you have a copy of the distress call from the Eiko Maru?" Admiral Malek asked.
"Yes Admiral." Ling replied.
"Could you read the translated transcript for the rest of the team?" He invited. Ling nodded, then stood up and cleared his throat.
"Mayday, Mayday, blinding flash of light." Ling began to read aloud. "The ocean has burst into flames. Ship burning, Sinking fast. It ends there." He put the paper back down on the desk.
"It is very strange." Dr. Orsini remarked. "I only wish there were more information. This could be something, or it could be nothing." He shrugged. "For all we know, it could simply have been an accident. Maybe something as simple as a leaking fuel line that someone threw a burning cigarette into. There's nothing definitive to suggest that it is anything more than just an awful mishap."
"Dr. Orsini makes a fair point." Captain Hillard observed. "We don't know if there is a connection to the SOS and our new mystery monster. There is nothing conclusive in the recording. The ship could have been sunk by a drifting sea mine left over from the war, or even an underwater volcanic eruption."
"I still think it's worth investigating." Admiral Malek remarked, eyeing Dr. Orsini and Captain Hillard. "We have received no reports of unusual seismic activity, and a mine would have had to drift a very long way from the coast to end up all the way out here."
"If we rush over there, what would we even find?" Dr. Orsini countered. "That patch of ocean is quite different than our present location, far deeper water. The Eiko Maru reported that it was sinking to the bottom. We may have diving teams aboard the Essex, but I have some experience in that area. I've logged quite a lot of time diving for my marine biology research, and I can tell you, that wreck would be much too deep for divers to explore."
"Captain, how long would it take us to get there at full speed?" Admiral Malek's gaze shifted over to Captain Hillard, ignoring Dr. Orsini.
"If we left right now, I'd estimate just over three days Admiral." Captain Hillard replied.
"I think there is more value to staying here at this point Admiral." Dr. Orsini persisted. "We can collect tissue samples from Kameras and perform a chemical analysis, try to figure out what made him tick. There is a lot we could learn. Maybe we would even determine what makes these creatures so darn resilient. If we can identify what makes them so durable, then we might be able to devise an effective countermeasure."
"Sir, shouldn't we at least leave a research team behind to study Kameras' body?" Captain Hillard asked.
"Admiral, the Japanese will no doubt send a search vessel of their own to go looking for the Eiko Maru." Marcus pointed out. "We've already found something of value here. Given that a component of our mission is to gain a better understanding of Kaiju, we shouldn't pass up on a golden opportunity to do so. I suggest a compromise. We have ample ships and men to pursue both tasks. What if we dispatch a few of our destroyers to help aid in the search for the Japanese ship instead of committing the whole fleet? We can easily monitor the situation from here as it develops."
"Marcus, I think you have the right of it." Admiral Malek grinned. "Dr. Orsini, begin making preparations for your tests. You will begin in the morning. Captain Hillard, signal the destroyers Laffey, Phelps, and the Hoel, to break from the fleet and resume search operations with the jeep carrier St. Lo. Ling, you will be joining them in case they run into any Japanese warships. That way, we can avoid any international incidents due to a miscommunication."
...
The next morning, the radioman on board the Essex intercepted more Japanese transmissions. With Ling's help, they quickly deciphered that the Japanese had indeed dispatched a rescue ship to find out what happened to the Eiko Maru. As it turned out, it was her very own sister ship, the Bingo Maru. The two vessels were both owned by the same Japanese shipping firm, the Southern Sea Steamship Company, and they were anxious to find out what had become of their missing crew and 7500-ton freighter.
The Bingo Maru had already been in the area searching for schools of tuna anyway, so she was the ideal choice to get on the scene quickly. The most recent transmission indicated that the Bingo Maru was quickly approaching the last known coordinates of her missing sistership.
Meanwhile, Dr. Orsini was preparing for his scientific expedition to the island. He chose Marcus to be the pilot to taxi him over. The two men were hard at work packing gear into the helicopter from the deck. Before the rest of Dr. Orsini's research team could join them, there was a call over the intercom ordering both of them to report to the bridge of the Essex. They dropped what they were doing and briskly answered the call.
When they arrived, Captain Hillard told them that the Essex had picked up another live Japanese radio broadcast just a few minutes earlier. This time, it was in morse code, so it did not take them very long to decrypt it. The transmission was another SOS, this time from the rescue ship Bingo Maru. The Bingo Maru's message read almost identical to the Eiko Maru's. Captain Hillard let them see the transcript for themselves. It read: 'Distress, bright light, flames, fire.' Then stopped abruptly. Whatever happened to the Bingo Maru apparently had wiped the ship from the surface of the ocean in just a matter of seconds.
"Admiral, I'll happily stay here and continue the analysis with just a small team." Dr. Orsini offered, turning to Malek who was sitting quietly in his command chair.
"No, I'd prefer you stay with the main fleet." Admiral Malek answered. "But we will leave a detachment behind for research purposes. Captain, signal to the St Lo that there is a change in orders. They are to remain here. I'll be sending over Dr. Richards once I've had a chance to brief him."
...
An hour later, the fleet was formed up, and Admiral Malek walked back onto the bridge of the USS Essex.
"Course is set Admiral." Captain Hillard reported. "Dr. Richards is on his way over to the St. Lo. All is in readiness. We can depart as soon as you give the word."
"The word is given." Admiral Malek replied. "Full speed ahead."
"The search helicopters we dispatched earlier have picked up on a renewed radiation trail sir." Captain Hillard relayed.
"Well… what do you know, we have a trail to follow again." Admiral Malek mused. "Does it follow our established course?"
"Roughly." Captain Hillard replied.
"Have the choppers stay on it, but keep our heading as is." Admiral Malek ordered.
"Aye sir." Captain Hillard answered.
The fleet began moving forward, picking up more and more speed until they were going thirty-three knots. The scout helicopters were out in front, looking for any signs of trouble. Now that it was clear they were on the trail of a monster, the air crews were being extra cautious and taking no chances.
The caution grew into anxiety as the day pressed on. Some worried because they thought they wouldn't be able to find the monster, and others worried because they thought they would. It only got worse as the daylight faded and evening set in. The chopper crews switched on their search lights to scan small patches of ocean at a time. To make matters worse, the strength of the radiation trail began to dissipate, getting weaker and weaker until it finally vanished altogether. It not-so-coincidentally happened to coincide as the fleet hit the deeper waters of the open ocean.
In no time at all, the flight leader of the scout helicopters came to the realization that they had lost their only means to track the monster, meaning it could be lurking anywhere in the vast ocean around them and they wouldn't know it. The commander had his pilots spread out in a vain attempt to reacquire any trace of the signal. They did not succeed, however.
When the flight leader finally reported in the bad news, Captain Hillard asked Admiral Malek if he wanted to press onward under the circumstances. Malek didn't answer him right away. He seemed to be weighing the options carefully. He sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his thighs while his hands were clutched together. All of the time, he was resting his chin on them thoughtfully. The admiral stared forward blankly, looking at nothing in particular, his brow furrowed. Ultimately, he decided to keep the fleet on course.
...
As the evening pressed on, a radio signal was detected coming from a small and remote Japanese island named Odo. The natives stated that they had found a survivor from the Bingo Maru. One of their small fishing boats discovered him floating on a piece of debris and had brought him home to try to save his life. Unfortunately, the sailor succumbed to his wounds before they could do much for him. The man had been very badly burnt. The islanders recounted one thing the man said about the incident before dying: "The Ocean just blew up."
The USS Essex continued to monitor the radio chatter from the island, and that evening, a fishing boat from Odo went missing as well. The only clue was a fire out on the water the villagers could see from the beach. Signals from Odo became more and more frequent as the anxiety and agitation from the attack spread. The radio men aboard the Essex enlisted the help of Ling once more, and through him, learned that the fishing catches on Odo Island had dropped to practically nothing over the last couple of days.
After a third incident in less than three days, even Dr. Orsini came around to the idea that the new monster was responsible for the missing Japanese ships. And in addition to that, the monster was also likely to blame for the missing Russian ships, Kamera's death, the contaminated fish, and the attack on the Red Bamboo's base. Whatever this new monster was, one thing was for sure, it was extremely bold and aggressive.
The Archimedes fleet made a slight course correction, adjusting its heading to redirect towards Odo Island. Unfortunately, they were still about two and a half days away from the island.
...
The next morning on Odo Island, one of the native fishermen turned up floating on a raft. He had miraculously survived the destruction of his vessel. Upon being revived, the sailor confirmed that his boat had been attacked by a monster. Through further intercepted radio signals, Admiral Malek learned that the Japanese Government took the man's story seriously enough to dispatch an investigative team on a fact-finding mission to try to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.
Regrettably, before the team could interview the man, the island was rocked by a monster storm which badly damaged seventeen homes and killed nine of the natives, including the fisherman who had allegedly seen the new monster. The investigative team's helicopter had also been destroyed during the storm. It had been seemingly smashed against the rocky cliffs near the beach by the wind.
However, there was also some good news. Following the storm, the investigators swept the island for clues. The natives insisted that the storm alone could not have inflicted all the damage to their isle, and it looked as though they were correct. Giant footprints were found, and radiation was emanating from them. For Admiral Malek, it was far too similar to what they had encountered at the Red Bamboo base to be a coincidence. In his eyes, it confirmed what he had suspected all along.
As the investigators continued their sweep of Odo, an alarm was raised from the village tower, and everyone was drawn up into the foothills on the far side of the island. It was there that they finally found their definitive answer.
The crowd was making their way up a narrow dirt path when a monster's head rose up over the peaks of the hills. The creature turned and spotted the crowd. The monster's mouth opened up and scattered the villagers with just one massive roar. Dr. Yamane, the scientist leading the investigative team, managed to keep his composure long enough to get a photo of the creature before it disappeared from the hill and back into the ocean.
...
"Do you think that's our creature?" Brock asked as he read through the intercepted radio logs that Ling had translated.
"There's no doubt about it." Marcus answered. "We have been at least two days behind it every step of the way so far, and Odo Island is roughly two days of sailing away from where we are now." He pointed out. "Then there's the radiation and the footprints, it unquestionably has to be the same monster we've been tracking."
"Captain Hillard said they took witnesses from the island to interview on the Japanese mainland." Brock noted. "Not sure what they hope to get out of them that we do not already know. But if nothing else, they have given the monster a name." Brock pulled the report he was holding closer to him. "Godzilla..." He read it carefully to be sure he got it correct. A chill ran up Marcus' spine as Brock read it, as if someone had walked over his grave. "The name comes from a mythical creature from the local's folklore." He noted.
...
At Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, a Japanese fleet was preparing to depart. Their mission was simple: Sail out to the waters off of Odo Island, locate the monster newly christened Godzilla, and depth charge him into oblivion to neutralize the threat. The fleet was comprised of only cruisers and destroyers. There was talk of bringing the battleships Yamato and Musashi down to join in the attack, but it was determined it would take too long to get them battle-ready and sail them down from their home port. The admiralty wanted the strike to commence as soon as possible.
The Japanese had developed their own version of Neptune depth charges and had kept them in storage for years while the war had been going on. There had been no monster threats to combat, and the Neptune charges were considered overkill to use on a standard submarine when regular depth charges were more than enough to get the job done. However, with the newly risen threat of Godzilla, the Neptune charges had a purpose once again, and were brought out of mothballs.
As the evening progressed, the Neptune depth charges were moved into the main floor of several ammo warehouses in preparation for loading them onto the warships in the bay. The fleet was to sail out in the morning, but as the witching hour approached, the quiet naval base was rocked by a series of explosions. The ammo warehouses were going up one after another. Fortunately, nobody was inside them at the time, but there were some injuries in other parts of the base as burning debris came raining down.
The ensuing fires threatened to engulf the base around them. Firetrucks were swiftly summoned to douse the flames and avert disaster. The firefighters managed to get the situation under control, but not before thousands upon thousands of pounds of ordnance in the ammo warehouses had detonated in a chain reaction that sounded like an over-the-top fireworks display. It took the rest of the night to ensure all of the fires were totally extinguished.
In the investigation that followed, it was found that every single Neptune depth charge had been detonated in storage. At first, it was thought to be some type of terrible accident. Perhaps the weapon crews had improperly stored the ordnance? However, an explosives expert was brought in, and he quickly ruled out that the charges had gone off by themselves. In fact, he found fragments of an unknown device inside the remnants of one of the warehouses. It was starting to look like someone had intentionally sabotaged the Neptune charges.
Figuring out who had done it, and why, was a different matter altogether though. There was not much left of the suspect device to incriminate anyone in particular. It was no doubt some type of an incendiary charge, but it wasn't wired like anything the explosive expert had ever seen before. The incident made the Japanese Government very paranoid, and as a result, the permission for Malek's fleet to enter Japanese waters was rescinded. No foreign ships would be allowed to enter or exit Japanese ports until they had a better understanding of who had attacked them.
The order also denied Admiral Malek access to the area around Odo Island, which was just within the perimeter of Japanese jurisdiction. Such as it was, the Admiral's next best recourse was to move the fleet to Utagawa Island, a forward U.S. naval and air base located near the southern tip of Japan. It was about forty miles outside of their formal territorial waters. The base had been granted to the U.S. by the Japanese during the war, during which time, it had been used as a springboard to launch countless attacks on the Chinese. Through some savvy negotiations and political maneuvering, the U.S. government had managed to hold on to the base after the war.
...
Because Admiral Malek was sidelined and had to rethink what his next move would be, the crews of the fleet were given some shore leave. The port at Utagawa was jammed packed with ships and sailors eager for some time off-duty. The island was small, but it had restaurants, nightclubs, and other entertainment businesses nearby the base. Because it was a major U.S. military hub, the islanders saw a steady enough stream of personnel pass through to support a healthy strip of businesses.
The Utagawa shopkeepers were on full alert with such a massive influx of new patrons flooding in all at once. They could smell fresh dollars in the air and came out to meet the new arrivals. One by one, the businesses filled up to capacity, and then beyond. In some cases, owners of restaurants resorted to sending their youngsters home to collect their own personal chairs and tables and set them up outside to increase their space. An opportunity like this could not be passed on.
There was excitement in the air. The population of the island increased by ten-fold in the space of one day and business was booming. Goods were flying off shelves, drinks were flowing like a stream, and kitchens were rushing out plate after plate of hot cuisine. The dance clubs sprang to life. It was an absolute frenzy. The sailors were happy to be there, and for the most part, the islanders were happy to have them there too.
Marcus' first priority was to call home and talk with Shauna, but Brock convinced him to get a bite to eat first. They found a place called The Blue Oyster Club at the end of the business strip. It was a seafood place run by some of the Japanese locals and the only place that wasn't already overrun by sailors. Captain Lennox and a bunch of marines tagged along too. Marcus agreed to go, but he was out of his element. He had never tried Japanese cooking before and had no idea what to order.
The group settled in, and Brock ordered fried calamari for Marcus. Marcus did not know what calamari was, but he thought the name sounded interesting. Only after the server had brought it out to him, did he discover that calamari meant squid. Marcus' stomach turned just thinking about it. Eating slimy, suction cupped limbs was simply not appealing to him. Marcus eyed Brock with distain, realizing that he'd been had.
Brock smiled sinisterly and insisted that Marcus at least try one bite before calling in the firing squad. The other marines joined in with a mixture of taunts and encouragement. Marcus finally relented, and to his surprise, he found that it actually wasn't that bad. It was very different from what he was used to, but not bad. The breading made the squishy meat much more palatable. The marines cheered for Marcus as he finished the first bite and then went for another. None of them had any qualms about eating oriental cuisine, and they dug in. Marcus learned an important lesson about expanding his horizons. One shouldn't be afraid to try new things.
After Marcus finished his squid, he went to go sit in the lounge to rest. There, he noticed a newspaper printed in English sitting on one of the tables. It was a copy of 'United World News'. The front page had a huge attention-grabbing headline that read: "BIG AND TERRIBLE." It was written by an American journalist by the name of Steve Martin. Below the headline, there was a picture of Godzilla taken on Odo Island courtesy of Dr. Yamane.
The picture was only from the neck up, and it wasn't the best possible quality. However, it did give a good impression of what the monster looked like. The photo gave Marcus pause. He could see that Godzilla's skin appeared to be badly burnt. It was uneven and coarse. The monster's mouth was open in the photo, and Marcus could see it had sharp rows of nasty looking teeth. There was something very unsettling about the monster's eyes too. Even though it was just a photograph, the eyes seemed to pierce right through him. They were accusing in a way that Marcus could not comprehend.
As Marcus sat there staring, the photo tapped into a primal fear inside him like nothing else in his life had previously. Though he had seen several other kaiju in the past, he could tell that this one was different. He somehow recognized that what he saw before him was significantly more dangerous than the others. Marcus started to remember his dream in Paris, it felt like a warning and...
"What are you reading?" Brock slapped a hand on Marcus' shoulder, making him nearly jump out of his seat. "Woah, at ease sailor, I didn't mean to scare you. Must be a pretty intense article, huh?"
"It's about the new monster." Marcus adjusted in his chair, regaining his composure. He quickly found something to talk about to draw Brock's attention away from his discomfort. "It says here that Godzilla is estimated to stand fifty meters high, the tallest monster yet by a wide margin. Unlike most of the Kaiju we have encountered so far, he stands upright."
"You're too easily impressed Marcus." Brock grunted. "So he's tall…? Meh, what else you got? I'll tell you one thing though. He isn't much of a looker. Check out that mug, yarggg... Someone was left in the oven too long." He smirked. "You think that's why he's so grumpy?"
"I don't think you're taking this seriously enough Brock." Marcus frowned at him.
"Hey, don't sweat it Marcus." Brock shrugged. "We've overcome monsters before. This one won't be any different."
"I hope you're right Brock, I really am." Marcus looked back at the picture in the paper.
...
A few minutes later, Marcus was leaning against a wall, holding a phone up to his ear, and staring off out of a window.
"Marcus, are you alright?" Shauna asked on the other side of the line. There was a long silence.
"I just miss you is all." Marcus finally spoke again.
"This phone call has got to be costing you a fortune, and you've barely said a word so far." Shauna pointed out. "You've let me do all the talking."
"I don't mind, I like listening to your voice." Marcus replied. "Reminds me of home. Listen sweetie, I'm going to have to go soon, but give the kiddos a kiss for me and tell them I love them. Tell Lily, papa is going to come back home just as soon as he can."
"I will." Shauna replied. "I know it's been hard for you to be away this long. Your daughter misses you too, but she is proud of you. She knows you are keeping the monsters away." The statement hit home with Marcus. Made him feel a little choked up.
"Okay..." Marcus said gruffly, keeping any tears at bay. "I love you."
"I love you too." Shauna replied.
Marcus slowly and reluctantly hung up the phone, cutting off his lifeline to home. He stood there and took a deep breath, having to reacclimate to the reality of where he was. The marines had already left the restaurant. Marcus assumed they were trying to get into the nearby nightclub. They weren't likely to succeed though.
...
As Marcus came out of the restaurant, he saw Ling walking towards him. His face was red. Behind him, were two Japanese merchants who had been trying to sell him some of their wares. Judging by the stunned looks on their faces, Ling must have told them no in a harsh manner.
"Ling, you good?" Marcus asked as Ling trudged up on him.
"I just want to get back to the ship." Ling said sharply and uncharacteristically bluntly.
"What happened?" Marcus began to walk alongside him. "Those guys bothering you?" Ling stopped and exhaled as if he was letting out some steam.
"They thought, because I'm wearing an American-styled suit, that I am an American." Ling remarked.
"Well… you 'are' an American." Marcus observed. "Strictly speaking, you are an American citizen now, I mean."
"That is technically true." Ling agreed. "But in my heart of hearts, a part of me will always be Chinese first. And while the Japanese might be allies to the United States now, they are still being led by the same men who invaded my country. Their soldiers are still the same men who butchered my people, raped our women, and defiled our temples." Ling stood there for a moment, subduing his anger and collecting his thoughts. "It's hard for me to say who I hate more, the communists who took over my home and forced my family out, or the Japanese Imperialists who made it possible for them to do so. I'd lean towards the latter. It's not easy for me to be here on Japanese soil, having to tolerate the smiles of people who are by all rights my enemies."
"I'm sorry Ling." Marcus began. "It had not occurred to me. I guess I have too many other things on my mind."
"It's fine." Ling replied. "I'm getting well-paid to be part of this mission, and I'm happy to be doing something that will make a difference in the world. I thought I'd be able to get off the boat stretch my legs a little, but it was a mistake. I'll just be happier when we leave this place."
...
Over the next few days, the shipping lanes between Odo Island and Japan became extremely hazardous to traverse. The monster Godzilla attacked several more times, and it was worse than before. No survivors, no maydays, no traces. Just utter carnage.
After being delayed by the ammunition explosions at their Tokyo base, the Japanese fleet finally dispatched seventeen warships armed with regular depth charges to Odo. None of the Neptune charges had survived the fires, so to help compensate for the loss of armaments, the warships were overloaded with more than double their standard loadout of regular depth charges. While it was dangerous to do so, they wanted to bring as much firepower to the fight as possible.
The Japanese fleet steamed its way to the target area and proceeded to saturate each and every sonar ping they could detect with explosives. With seventeen warships continuously firing, huge pillars of water exploded up to the surface constantly. Detonation after detonation cascaded, bursting high up into the sky like fountains. They kept up the water show for seven hours straight until they had exhausted their entire supply of depth charges.
With their ammo expended and the fleet commanders satisfied that there was nothing left alive below, the Japanese ships began to turn and set course to return to port. Back home on the mainland, the Japanese public breathed a sigh of relief. For them, the attack alone was enough to presume they were safe and could return to their normal lives again. After all, what could withstand such an overwhelming barrage of the Imperial Navy's firepower?
Some in the scientific community felt very differently though. The paleontologist Dr. Yamane in particular was angry. He had been against attacking Godzilla altogether. Above all, the doctor wanted to study the monster. He reasoned that there was a lot they could learn from him.
...
The research team aboard the Essex gathered together in the ready room to listen to a national radio broadcast from Japan. It was a recording taken from Dr. Yamane's briefing about Godzilla in Japan's National Diet Building. The doctor was speculating about the origins of the monster. While the world had seen giant monsters before, this one stood out for a variety of reasons. In particular, the enduring presence of radiation wherever the monster went. The very existence of the contamination raised an alarming question. Where did it come from, and why was the monster swimming in it?
Dr. Yamane proposed a possible answer. He theorized that Godzilla had been awakened by, or was possibly even created through, the repeated testing of nuclear bombs in the Pacific. He pointed to the traces of Strontium 90, which was a product of the H-bomb tests, as a strong piece of evidence. The isotope was found in Godzilla's footprints on Odo Island. This was a revelation that people were not ready for. At that point, there was some commotion in the recording as several outbursts came from members of the audience who had been listening. Various people began to argue with one another and had to be settled back into their seats by security.
As the ruckus died down, Dr. Yamane continued. He described Godzilla as being a mutation. That prior to his exposure to radiation, he had been a type of dinosaur which lived both on the land and in the sea. An 'intermediary animal' was the way he put it. Dr. Yamane estimated Godzilla was four-hundred feet tall based on the photo he had attained on Odo Island. The remark drew more audible reactions from the audience.
A member of the military spoke next, asking how they would be able to kill such a monster. Dr. Yamane replied that he didn't think they would be able to. He inferred that the creature was indestructible. That comment did not go over well with the crowd either. Once more, there was noticeable shouting and arguments breaking out in the background of the recording. The report wrapped up and Dr. Orsini turned off the radio.
"Do you take that theory serious Doc?" Captain Hillard asked. "Seems a little out there."
"I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility." Dr. Orsini replied. "Dr. Yamane's theory may be a little premature, and will require follow up investigation, but it's also too soon to dismiss it. We have seen a great many odd things in the last decade. This would be just one more step further into the realm of the extraordinary. There is plenty of evidence to support Dr. Yamane's theory. The traces of radiation, for instance, and what appears to be scarring on Godzilla's epidermis."
"Yeah, I guess it would explain why his face looks like a burnt potato." Brock smirked.
"I wouldn't take this new monster too lightly, sergeant." Dr. Orsini warned ominously. "We've already seen some evidence of what it can do. It flattened the Red Bamboo's base, somehow fought off a squadron of modern jets despite a lack of wings, and it killed another Kaiju. As best as we are aware, that is a first. There is no doubt in my mind, we are dealing with a powerful entity, one we know very little about so far. We need to be cautious."
"So, you don't think the Japanese naval attack was successful?" Marcus asked.
"I very much doubt it." Dr. Orsini replied. "Though I obviously have no proof one way or the other, my gut tells me that it was not."
...
About twenty miles off the coast of Japan, a small fishing boat, the Lucky Dragon, was on the trail of a school of tuna. Her crew had been waiting for a big catch, and it looked like one was finally within their grasp. The Lucky Dragon's captain eyed the fish jumping out of the water ahead of his vessel with his binoculars. He turned the ship to port and had his crew readied the nets.
A light squall was moving in from the east, but the captain judged that it wouldn't prove much of an obstacle for them. He was determined to prevail in any case. The company he worked for had not had a decent catch in weeks, and this would quickly turn their fortunes around. The nets were put down just as it started to rain.
The crew started to settle in while the nets did their work. It was too rainy to be out on the deck, so they crowded around a card table in the lounge until the captain was ready for them to return. The captain, meanwhile, was at the wheel, keeping an eye on things. As he anticipated, the storm had not amounted to much. The sea was relatively calm, aside from the pitter-patter of rain on the seawater.
Suddenly the fishing boat came to a halt on the water, making the captain and the crew lurch forward. The captain looked around confused. He had no understanding of what was happening. Had they snagged their nets on a reef? He had been careful to study charts outlying the position of reefs in the area before putting the nets down, so that shouldn't have been a problem. The captain did not have any more time to think about it though. The Lucky Dragon began to move again, only in the opposite direction that it was meant to be going.
The captain tried to increase power to the engines as he fought with the wheel to keep control, but it was no use. Their nets were caught on something, and it was simply overpowering them. The Lucky Dragon was being dragged over the waves by something that was tremendously strong, and they were helpless to do anything about it.
At first, being pulled along was fairly smooth, but then the line connecting the ship to the nets began to tug violently and the vessel shuddered. Seawater poured over the side of the Lucky Dragon as she tipped, sending the crew into a panic. If they took on too much water, they'd certainly sink. The crew manned the pumps and grabbed buckets to scoop out water little by little. The captain grabbed an ax and started to chop at the net lines, hoping to cut them free. It went on like that for a few terrifying moments until there was finally a snap.
The tension on the line slackened and the Lucky Dragon began to lose speed as their momentum died down. The ship came to a halt and the crew regained their composure. The captain ordered their nets to be brought up only to discover that they had been sheared in two.
...
A half hour later in Tokyo Bay, a party boat full of people was taking a pleasure cruise across the bay to celebrate the Japanese fleet's triumph over Godzilla. There was music and dancing on the deck. Drinking was plentiful and there was an all-around sense of relief. The peace was not to last though.
There was a tremendous thump on the seafloor along the port side of the ship. The noise was loud enough to get the attention of everyone aboard, and the passengers all ran to the side just in time to see a gigantic head breaching to the surface. It was Godzilla. His unmistakable silhouette was outlined against the glow from the outer harbor lighthouses behind him. There was no sign of damage from the IJN's prior attack.
The passengers all panicked and ran as the crew tried to keep them calm. There was nowhere to go though. They were sitting ducks should Godzilla decide to turn his attention in their direction. However, after a moment of looking around, the monster's tail flailed aimlessly, and he dove back down beneath the waves without further incident.
...
The next day, the Tokyo newspapers had a field day, streaming out headlines about Godzilla being spotted in Tokyo Bay. The city was on high alert. The Counter-Godzilla Headquarters, which had been established in Tokyo only a few days earlier, started mobilizing all its forces to respond to the threat. They calculated it was just a matter of time before the monster made landfall.
The Japanese Army began to move into the city. Tanks and artillery cannons massed around the harbor district. Infantrymen filled the streets to help the police oversee and direct those civilians who chose to leave the city, though an official evacuation had not been ordered yet. Most impressively, a colossal electric fence was being built. Forty-five-meter-tall towers with fifty-thousand volts of electricity were being erected to encircle the heart of the Japanese capitol.
Japanese air defense units were also brought into the fold. At Yokota Air Base, the fighter squadrons were put on standby. They would be ready at a moment's notice to be called into action. The Japanese main attack aircraft was the American-made F-86 Sabre. During the previous war, the Americans had lend-leased their fighter designs to Japan, along with tanks and other equipment that was mass produced. The Japanese still had an impressive stockpile of war materials, an arsenal that was to be utilized in the defense of Tokyo.
Akira found himself assigned as the flight commander of the 1st air defense squadron. He and his men would be the first called into action when the time came. Like Marcus, Akira also served as a fighter pilot during the war, though more successfully so. Akira had racked up a significant number of air-to-air kills against the Chinese Airforce and was already a triple-ace. He'd easily adapted over to jet fighters and developed a very high-level of skill behind the controls.
Akira's new squad-mates, on the other hand, were not as accomplished as him. When the war had ended, many of his experienced comrades had retired to civilian life. Akira stayed on, deciding to go career-military. When it came right down to it, he could not see himself doing something mundane like being a grocer after having lived in the skies for so long. The new crop of pilots Akira had taken on in the meantime had not fought in the war. Whatever came to be over the next couple of days, it would be their first taste of real combat.
Akira sat in his bunk reading through the front page of the newspaper. The headline was about Godzilla being spotted close to Tokyo, but a couple of lines below that, there was a story about a scientist named Dr. Serizawa going missing. His home near Tokyo had been found ransacked and the police suspected foul play. The investigation revealed that there was a hidden laboratory in Serizawa's basement that had been trashed. Any documents about what the good doctor had been working on were gone and his equipment was smashed. There was no ransom note to be found, but the police's theory was the doctor had been kidnapped.
"Who would do such a thing?" Haruki asked as he read over Akira's shoulder. "Who is Dr. Serizawa?"
"I think in this case, it's more of a question of what he was working on." Akira replied, looking over his shoulder annoyed with Haruki for invading his personal space.
"Oh, what was he working on then?" Haruki asked, seemingly oblivious to Akira's annoyance. Haruki was a good-natured young man. He looked up to Akira like an older brother, but like many younger brothers, he could be intrusive and irritating. He followed Akira around like a puppy, and it infuriated him.
"Dr. Serizawa was known to be a bit of a recluse, and nobody knows for sure what he was studying." Akira replied. "He worked from home and had yet to publish any papers. You can read it for yourself." Akira handed the paper over to Haruki. "There are very few clues and no leads. The only thing they know so far is the doctor is missing and his home is a disaster. But with a monster on the loose, I'm not sure why he's so important anyway."
"He's Attacking! He's Attacking!" Sasomori ran into the bunkroom shouting frantically. "Godzilla is attacking the trainyard in the Shinagawa docks!"
"What, why hasn't the alarm been raised?" Akira asked impatiently. "Why aren't we being scrambled?"
"The attack started twenty minutes ago." Sasomori answered. "They say that Godzilla is already withdrawing back to the bay. By the time we'd get there, the monster would already be gone. He just stomped through the station, wrecked everything, and then turned back around."
...
"Jesus, can you believe this…?" Brock murmured.
Marcus, Brock, and the rest of the team were watching footage that a cameraman had captured from the hills nearby the trainyard in Shinagawa. They were sitting in front of a television in the officer's club at the naval base, hundreds of miles to the south of the attack. The broadcast showed Godzilla rampaging through the yard. He was stepping on and crushing train cars with people still inside them. Those who had managed to escape, were scrambling in terror at his feet. The monster moved on, kicking up debris with each step he took.
The cameraman panned up, and they could see that Godzilla had a train car clutched in his jaws. The monster opened his mouth, releasing the car and allowing it to drop down to the ground. The resulting impact killed both the survivors inside the car and more people below that it landed on. There was no sound, but they could see Godzilla roar as he left a trail of destruction in his wake. The dead quiet of the black and white footage flickering in the dark was an eerie sight.
Marcus watched the screen carefully with a grimace on his brow. The silver monitor followed every movement of Godzilla. The monster thrashed his tail, easily knocking over a water tower. Finally, Godzilla smashed his way through a set of bridges before disappearing back into the waters of Tokyo Bay.
With that, the picture came back to a Japanese newsman who began to comment on the attack. Ling offered to translate for the group, but no one else seemed interested. Everyone already understood well enough. Most of the group just sat silently, reflecting on what they had just seen. For some of them, it was the first time they had ever seen a Kaiju. Even if was only on film, their reaction was a mixture of shock, awe, and horror. Before, it would have been hard for them to imagine anything dwarfing the power of man so blatantly, but not anymore.
...
After viewing the broadcast, Marcus went back to the Essex and was walking along the deck to think. As he did, he accidentally kicked something with his boot. The item slid along the floor until it hit the metal frame of the wall, making a metallic clank. Marcus bent down to see what it was, and found a gold pin. It had the insignia of the Red Bamboo on it.
'How the heck did this get here?' Marcus thought intrigued. He did not dwell on it too long before a voice called out to him.
"Hey Marcus, did you hear?" Brock came up to him. "They cracked the Red Bamboo Officer. I heard from one of the marines on duty that he spilled everything he knew to the Admiral. They said they're going to release him now, since we're so close to the Chinese mainland." Marcus looked down to the pin in his hand pondering, and then his face grew dark.
"Brock, I've never thought of you as being naive." Marcus remarked bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Brock glowered at Marcus, not appreciating the perceived insult.
"If that man really did break, and gave up information about his organization, there isn't a chance that Admiral Malek will release him." Marcus began. "What would stop him from telling his superiors everything he told us? The Admiral wouldn't risk it. He would want to keep any information he's learned a secret."
"Well, who cares about him anyway?" Brock remarked dismissively. "He's a commie."
"He's just a soldier like you or me Brock." Marcus countered. "He didn't choose to be stationed where he was any more than you or I chose to be under the Admiral's thumb. If we don't act with more morality than our enemies, how are we any better than they are?"
"Alright." Brock waved his hand, seeming to surrender. "What do you want to do about it?"
"Nothing." Marcus replied calmly. "I don't think there's anything we can do about it now." He tossed the pin over to Brock.
...
From his command bunker in Tokyo harbor, General Nigao Gokita watched the dark waters of the bay through his binoculars. Gokita was in charge of the city's defense, and he felt confident that he had the tools at his disposal to do so effectively. The electrical lines were up and running at full power. The final testing had been completed just hours prior. His artillery was in place just beyond the wires. The General's plan was for Godzilla to be held up by the power lines so his artillery could concentrate all their fire on him and cut the monster to pieces.
However, before Godzilla could even get to the powerlines, he would have to pass through the first line of defense. General Gokita had dug out machinegun and mortar emplacements all along the harbor's entrance in overlapping fields of fire. Any landing would be met with a thunderous barrage of firepower. The general thought that it just might be enough to turn back the monster's attack on its own if they were lucky.
In the unlikely event that both defensive lines failed, General Gokita had tank platoons stationed in key positions all over the city to counter-attack the monster. He figured a strong, concentrated counterstrike at the right moment could drive the monster back. If all else failed, the General had airwings at his disposal on standby. He could bring in wave after wave of fighters armed with powerful rockets should the need arise. However, General Gokita was hesitant to call the fighters in right from the get-go. While their rockets were powerful, they were also unguided and hard to aim with precision. The rockets would undoubtedly cause lots of collateral damage to Tokyo once deployed.
General Gokita sat patiently, looking for signs of the monster. The wait was a short one. At about 8:00pm, Godzilla's head sprang from the water and into view. He had used the darkness to get in close to the harbor undetected. The alarm quickly went up in the city, and in the darkness, units began to mobilize. Search lights came on and narrowed their beams on Godzilla, making him easier to spot for the front-line defenders.
A young soldier by the name of Shoji was in the front line and was one of the many machine gunners who sprang into action. He was excited as he aimed his weapon. He looked to each of his sides and saw dozens of other gunners readying their weapons. Shoji felt confident, he had been looking forward to this moment. The opportunity to defend the city and show the monster what the Japanese Army was made of was now upon him.
The soldiers on the shore had standing orders to shoot on sight, but Godzilla was still pretty far off in the water, and out of range. It was difficult for Shoji to resist the urge to open fire immediately. From where he was, Godzilla's head just look like a melon with a target on it. Shoji started chewing on a piece of gum to help pass the time. All he needed was an order, and then he'd get after it.
A minute went by, and Godzilla got closer. And as he got closer, he got bigger too. The melon Shoji had been targeting at the end of his machine gun had grown into the size of a truck, and yet, Godzilla was still very far away from his position. Shoji's confidence had shrunk from where it had been before. He was beginning to understand what they were truly up against.
Godzilla finally came within range, and the order to open fire was given. Shoji's confidence rose again as he let lose, rattling off some rounds with his heavy machine gun. Red tracer ammo streaked from the harbor into the bay. Shoji quickly shot through an entire belt of ammo and his loader rapidly fed a second one in. Shoji resumed firing and swiftly used up the second belt. By this time, Godzilla's body had started to emerge from the water.
The end of Shoji's gun barrel was red-hot from the non-stop firing, and he was starting to sweat. He continued shooting, starting to eat into his third belt of bullets, but Godzilla just kept coming. Over two-dozen machine gun teams were concentrating everything they had on him, but the bullets were having no visible effect on the monster.
Civilians who'd chosen not to evacuate earlier took to the streets as they heard the sirens. They began to panic as they heard the machinegun fire, realizing that Godzilla must be closing in on the city. General Gokita had planned for such an eventuality and had his troops stationed to direct them away from the oncoming threat. However, despite the General's preparations, the sheer number of people jammed up the streets, which slowed the evacuation and prevented military units in the city from maneuvering effectively. Too many people were concerned with their material possessions and trying to bring them along with carts instead of just getting themselves out of harm's way. Some individuals even tried to get to the dock area, foolishly trying to get a better look at Godzilla. General Gokita had to divert some of his infantry to block the way.
Back at the front line, Godzilla had closed the distance to the harbor and the mortar crews began to join the fight. Their ordnance rained down and exploded all around Godzilla, sending up jets of water high enough to reach his face. Shoji had been shaken by the complete failure of the machinegun attacks but thought the mortar's extra firepower might make a difference. However, Godzilla did not seem impressed by them and continued his march towards the docks. The monster roared, and the sound echoed throughout the defensive line, testing the courage of even the bravest men.
Shoji and the other soldiers of the front line dutifully stood their ground as Godzilla closed in, but it was clear to General Gokita, who was now watching from his command tank, that their attacks were pointless. He radioed for the front-line troops to withdraw behind the second line of defense. Word of the retreat order spread fast, and the sandbag nests emptied out rapidly.
Shoji grabbed his heavy machine gun, threw it up over his shoulder, and ran as swiftly as he could towards the perceived safety of the powerlines. He and the rest of the front-line soldiers got out with only a few moments to spare. Godzilla came to shore, smashed through the docks, and then trampled right over several of the empty positions as he made his way towards the electrical towers of the second line.
Shoji's heart was pounding by the time he reached the protection of the second defense line, in part because of the strain of running with heavy equipment on his back but also due to the fear that was growing in his mind. He tried to re-center himself and regain his poise. He was still a soldier, and he still had a job to do. Sure, the monster had sent his unit running, but they had only been using infantry weapons against him. They hadn't really been expected to stop the monster, just to slow him down. Shoji assured himself the second line was where all the strength of the defense lied.
Shoji repositioned himself with his weapon on a small rise about thirty yards ahead of the artillery, and then waited. In front of him, he could see the electrical lines bouncing more and more with each footfall Godzilla made. As Shoji lay on the ground in firing position, he could feel the thumps of the footsteps vibrating in the ground below him too. The confidence he had regained was beginning to faulter again. He could see Godzilla in his entirety now, and the massive fifty-meter monster was stomping his way right towards him.
As Godzilla approached the powerlines, he slowed and seemed to survey the towers curiously. He came to a complete stop for a few moments, looking past the wires and towards the lights of the city beyond. Suddenly, Godzilla stepped forward and entangled himself in the powerlines. Sparks flew and hissed. The surging electricity erupted, popping as the energy burst against the monster's skin.
Godzilla did not stop, but unlike the machine gun fire, the shocks from the powerlines did get his attention. He roared in anger and the sound reverberated in the bones of every soldier within earshot. As Godzilla struggled against the wires, Shoji and the other machine gunners resumed their fire, hoping their added attack would be enough to drive the monster back, but it was not.
Godzilla thrashed with his claws against the wires and broke several of them. It looked as though the tower defense was going to fail after just a few seconds. General Gokita recognized the need for immediate action and ordered his artillery cannons to open fire. It no longer mattered if they hit the towers or not. Their best chance of containing Godzilla was already slipping away anyways.
When the first barrage of cannon fire hit Godzilla, it temporarily distracted him from the powerlines. Unfortunately, it was already too late. As the monster pulled back, he tore loose the only remaining power cables. Thus, he could move forward again at his leisure. Oddly enough though, Godzilla didn't. Instead, he focused his rage on the power towers, as if they were a living enemy to crush. It was like he wanted retribution for the pain they had caused him.
Godzilla stepped forward and grappled with the tower to his left, toppling it over. Then he turned his attention to the one to his right, knocking the top portion clean off the base. Some residual power from the wires crackled as Godzilla touched them, giving him another strong jolt. The artillery cannons meanwhile continued to hammer away at him, but he either did not notice or simply did not care. He was fixated on the power towers. He kicked the bottom out from one with his foot, and then knocked down another one with a swing of his tail.
General Gokita could see that the cannons alone were not enough, so he sent in his first platoon of tanks to join the fight. While the tanks did not possess stronger firepower, they could adjust their aim much more easily than the artillery. Gokita instructed them to target Godzilla's face. Their only hope for victory now was a lucky shot to a sensitive area.
The tanks rolled up and started picking their shots carefully. The General watched with his binoculars to see the effect, and soon, a shell did go off just next to Godzilla's ear. The monster paused for a moment, and then something bizarre happened. The spines along his back began to light up. Gokita was confused. Was the lightshow an odd defensive mechanism the monster possessed? Was it meant to distract or intimidate his enemies? Very promptly, the general found out that wasn't the case.
Only a few seconds after his spines began to glow, Godzilla opened his mouth, and from it, came a stream of blue fire. The fire hit two of the remaining power towers that were still within close proximity of the monster. The pylons instantly turned red-hot, and shortly thereafter, became white-hot. At that point, the metal girders of the towers began to melt like cheap wax. The superstructure of each tower bent backward from the force of the heat-ray. Shoji could feel the skin on his face sting from the intensity of the attack. When the heat ray ceased, what was left of the towers looked like molten slag.
Godzilla seemed satisfied with the damage he inflicted and turned away from the towers. He began to advance towards the city again. General Gokita ordered the second line of defense to fall back, but it was already too late for the soldiers directly in Godzilla's path. He was striding faster than they could retreat. Shoji was one of those men. He abandoned his equipment and position even before the retreat order could reach the line. Any notion of victory for Shoji was gone, it had turned to ashes in his mouth. Inevitable crushing defeat, however, was right behind him and gaining ground. There was only the shrinking hope of survival now.
As Shoji ran for his life in terror, he looked back. He could see the hulking figure of Godzilla in the dark closing in on him moment by moment. He could feel each step the monster took bringing him closer. There wasn't any chance for escape, and he knew it. One final step, and it was over for an entire regiment of soldiers. Godzilla's foot came down and he didn't even notice their deaths. He just kept moving towards the city, trampling anything and anyone in his way. General Gokita could only watch in horror as his men died step by step.
Shoji looked up as he lay on his back. Godzilla's foot had landed just a few feet from where he had been running and knocked him to the ground from the impact. It had missed him, but only just. The monster stopped to roar, announcing his arrival to all of Tokyo. Shoji was frozen to the ground, so frightened that he could barely even breathe. Every muscle in his body was paralyzed. His only hope for survival was that the monster did not notice him.
Godzilla began to move again, and left Shoji laying there. Still frozen, Shoji watched helplessly as Godzilla's massive tail hung above him in the air, trailing behind the monster. If it came down upon him, that would be it for Shoji. His relatively brief life would be cut short. Shoji still could not move, but he teared up contemplating his death, trying to understand his final thoughts as they flashed by. There was so much he had not accomplished. So much he had not gotten the chance to do with his life.
As Godzilla's steps got further and further away, the threat of his tail to Shoji's existence faded. The young soldier's muscles began to relax, and his paralysis waned. Shoji turned on to his side and curled up into a ball. The trauma of what just happened hit right away. He wept and could not even begin to imagine getting up at that moment. It was all he could do to contain himself. He just stared off into the near distance.
As his conscious mind began to reassert itself, Shoji became aware of the numerous bodies of his former squad-mates crushed just a few yards away from where he lay. There wasn't much left to identify who they were anymore. The bodies of his friends were little more than clumps of broken flesh congealed around red stained uniforms.
The background sound of air raid sirens going off throughout the city greeted Godzilla as he entered Tokyo proper. The monster paused, scanning the skyline. Then he turned to his right, rearing back his head, and unleashed a blast of his heat ray. His target was a large apartment complex. The wooden building went up like a box of matchsticks as the stream of fire hit it. The monster's breath also hit several other buildings behind the apartment. The intense fire that followed immediately grew out of control, spreading to other nearby structures.
Turning to his left, Godzilla let loose with another spray of lethal fire. He was aiming for a department store, but a large group of soldiers and civilians who were running away got caught up in it too. They immediately burst into flame and fell over. The people at the center of the blast were evaporated down to the bone, while those on the outer edges merely cooked on the pavement. The building behind them burst into a raging inferno.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze and rushed onto the scene. Meanwhile, Godzilla ran wild with his heat ray, unleashing its destructive force upon anything nearby that had been untouched up until that point. Two large grain silos exploded as the grain dust inside ignited. The resulting blast spread flaming debris around for hundreds of yards in all directions.
Between the massive detonation, and catching his first glance at Godzilla, the driver of the first firetruck lost control. His fire engine skidded off the road and slammed into a nearby store's front window. The second truck, which was following closely behind the first, had to swerve to avoid the wreck and lost control after hopping a curve. The second engine rolled over several times, tossing most of its crew off before crashing into a parked car.
In the aftermath, all of the firefighters were either killed or too badly injured to carry on. Just like that, any chance to contain the fires was gone. Other fire crews would follow, but by the time they got on the scene, they would be too overwhelmed by the monstrous inferno to do anything about it. An ambulance came wailing down the street next, but the driver had the good sense to turn around once he saw Godzilla. The fires had spread over the entire block by that point anyway.
The onslaught continued unabated. Godzilla marched forward tirelessly and flattened everything in front of him. He smashed through buildings and trampled people as he went. General Gokita watched the carnage unfolding and radioed the nearest tank platoon forward to confront Godzilla. Gokita realized that there was little hope his tanks could stop the monster, but he wanted to at least slow down his advance some, if only to buy the fleeing civilians a little time to escape.
The tanks rolled forward and thundered off several shots at Godzilla with their main cannons. They hit home, and the monster stopped in his tracks taking notice of them. The tanks continued firing, landing several more hits each. Godzilla roared, seemingly angered that they dared to challenge him. He changed direction, coming for the tanks. The tank commanders were smart enough to know that it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. They turned their vehicles around and began to withdraw. Unfortunately, Godzilla was not about to let them escape. He turned his heat ray on them, not stopping until he had hit every single tank. One of the commanders popped out of the top of his tank, desperately trying to escape. The intense heat around him was too much though and he dropped into the fire burning below.
The massive fire Godzilla had started spread until it was encroaching into other districts of the city. Anyone who was not fast enough to stay ahead of the blaze was consumed by it. Wood, clothing, and flesh, it all burnt. Even the buildings made of stone would burn if Godzilla's heat ray hit them directly, such was the intensity of his atomic blast. By contrast, the monster itself seemed impervious to the fires he created. He moved around freely in it with impunity.
Godzilla's attacks were relentless, and before long, the very heart of Tokyo was little more than a sea of flames around him. The smoke from it choked the night sky. General Gokita could only watch from a hill in shock. It was unreal. This was worse than he could have possibly imagined, the whole city was burning. Beneath the flames, thousands of people lay dead or dying. Even from the relative safety of where he sat, embers were drifting up to him. Gokita could swear he smelled burning flesh. The flickering yellow light of the fire reflected in his eyes. He could hear the terrified shrieks of survivors as they struggled to endure the ever-worsening conditions. A tear formed in the corner of his eye. Seeing Tokyo, the pride of his nation, going up in flames was too much for the old soldier.
'This must be hell.' He thought bitterly.
Below, Godzilla's shadow loomed over the city from the light of the fires. To Gokita, he looked like a demon reveling in the inferno. To make matters worse, the monster was moving towards the capitol building. It looked as though the National Diet Building's destruction was imminent. That was a step beyond what General Gokita could personally endure. He had seen too much already. Gokita ordered his second in command to take charge of the city's defense and to call in the planned airstrikes. Gokita meanwhile sped away down into the smoldering city streets in his command tank.
Godzilla continued on his path of destruction, shattering buildings as he walked right through them. He happened upon a group of police officers and soldiers gathered around a squad car listening to their orders. Godzilla roared, announcing his presence, and then unleashed his heat ray down upon them. The men tried to run when they spotted him, but it was already too late. The officer inside the car died instantly as the gas tank exploded. Those who ran caught flames and then began to burn too. Attempting to run away had only made their deaths slower and more drawn out.
A block away, a woman and her three children sat helplessly on the pavement, trapped by the flames around them. Her husband had been killed moments earlier by falling debris. The woman pulled her children's faces close to her, shielding their eyes from the horrors closing in around them.
A clock tower began to chime the hour, and it drew Godzilla's attention. He went over and grabbed the tower, pulling it away from the rest of the building to silence the bells. Little by little, the structure crumbled in his hands. General Gokita's tank arrived on the scene just in time to see the rest of the building collapsing. Several people had been hiding inside and were running out, trying to avoid being buried alive.
Gokita pressed his tank forward, firing at Godzilla's face. Inside the tank, the General yelled a war cry at Godzilla, incensed that the monster destroyed so much of his city and killed so many of his people, both of which he had failed to protect. If he could only prevent the monster from destroying the capitol building, he might retain some of his honor.
Godzilla turned to face the tank, and in doing so, knocked loose a large chunk of building with his hand. The debris fell down towards several of the fleeing people. For the individuals at the front of the pack, they were already in the clear, but for three men in the back, they were in the drop zone. The men stopped and looked up just in time to see the wreckage coming down at them at terminal velocity.
Time slowed down for the trio. The grey cement blocks grew closer second by fragmented second. The man in the middle of the group fell backwards while the other two tried to move forward out of the way. The concrete finally found its mark and crushed the two men in front. The third man was spared death but got spattered by the droplets of his two companion's blood. The poor man sat there in disbelief as red tears dripped down his face. In front of him was a twisted mixture of masonry work and body parts. As the reality of what happened sank in, the man shrieked in horror and frantically tried to get the blood off of him. He tried to use his shirt to dry his face, but it also had blood on it, which just smeared more on.
Meanwhile, General Gokita's tank continued to rush forward. It thundered passed the man sitting on the street in a suicidal charge against Godzilla. As he closed, Gokita opened the hatch from the top of the tank and used the machine gun mount to fire on the monster. He got about ten rounds off before Godzilla's foot came crashing down upon him, killing both the General and his loyal crew.
Undeterred by the distraction, Godzilla resumed his rampage towards the National Diet Building. The capitol was empty, but it remained the symbol of the Japanese Government, and its destruction would be a major blow to their national pride. Godzilla advanced on it slowly but turned just before reaching the main dome. Instead, he crashed through the west wing of the building. The solid grey stone walls fell to pieces under Godzilla's weight. The monster passed right through, toppling the granite wall in front as he came out the other side. In the end, the building was badly damaged, but not completely destroyed.
Godzilla's next target was a radio tower where a group of newsmen and photographers had gathered to get the best view of the monster's rampage. The cameramen were very foolishly taking pictures of Godzilla with their flashes on, which attracted his attention. Their lack of wisdom would cost them all dearly. Any chance of going unnoticed was gone, and their fates were sealed.
As Godzilla got within striking distance, he lashed out with his fangs and bit into the metal framework of the tower. The steel beams instantly started to buckle under the strength of his jaws. Godzilla came forward and leaned his weight on the tower. It was more than enough to bend the frame in half. Those reporters who were fortunate enough to still be alive came crashing down as the tower split in two and collapsed.
Seeming to be satisfied with the damage he had inflicted upon the city, Godzilla made his way to the river which would lead back into Tokyo Bay. He destroyed a bridge on the way out, apparently not able to ignore one last opportunity for destruction. As the bulk of the structure fell into the water, it sent out a large wave that crashed into the small boats anchored in the nearby harbor. The boats rode the wave over the wall of the pier and crashed into the buildings beyond.
Just as Godzilla got hip deep in the waters of Tokyo Bay, a noise arose in the skies over the city that drew his attention. His gaze drifted upward, and he spotted three full squadrons of Japanese Sabre fighters surging through the smokey night air. The sound of their engines cut through the still of the night.
From his cockpit, Akira surveyed the situation. The city below was a hellscape of crumbling buildings, flames, and death. It was worse than anything he'd witnessed during the war. Even the most bombed-out cities he had seen were never this bad. Akira could see Godzilla retreating, and hatred swelled up in his heart. He was not about to let the monster leave without a fight.
"All wings on me!" Akira ordered firmly. "Arm rockets and ready your cannons." He waited just long enough for his squad-mates to get into position before dipping down into a thirty-degree dive. He grasped the stick tightly and thumbed the safety switch off. Akira wisely chose to approach Godzilla from behind so the monster could not see the line of planes coming at him.
When Akira's Sabre was within two hundred yards of Godzilla, he let loose with everything he had. Rockets came shooting away from their racks and the cannons began to roar out rounds. Most of the salvo poured into Godzilla's back, but some of the rockets whizzed by him. Godzilla impulsively batted at a rocket that came close to his ear like he was swatting at a fly.
Akira pulled up and away, watching out the side of his cockpit to see how the follow up attacks went. In general, the rest of his squadron got lower scores for their marksmanship but given the sheer amount of firepower coming down at Godzilla, enough was hitting the target to keep Akira happy. However, to Akira's frustration, the attacks only seemed to annoy the monster. Godzilla was easily shrugging them off.
As Akira regrouped with his squad, he saw something that annoyed him even more. The second squadron had not followed his cautious example and were attacking Godzilla from the front. Haruki was part of the second squadron, and his plane was the third in line to attack. Akira fumbled for his radio.
"Togo wing, pull up!" Akira warned them. "Disengage!" But it was too late. The fighters were already diving down for their attack run. Godzilla immediately spotted them and reared his head back. His spines lit up and his heat ray erupted forth. The first two planes burst into flames and rolled over into Tokyo Bay. One of them exploded as it hit the water nearby Godzilla.
Haruki pressed the attack and fired his rockets before banking out of the way of Godzilla's atomic breath. The monster roared as some of Haruki's rockets popped against his skin. Water splashed up over him as one of the stray rockets detonated in the bay. The other fighters behind Haruki's plane heeded Akira's warning and broke off their assault. The third squadron attacked from Godzilla's flank while he was still concentrating on the second wave. However, their attack was not any more successful than the first two had been.
After the three strikes, Godzilla was still moving forward unabated. Akira ordered any fighters who had not expended all of their ammunition on the first pass to swarm the monster. The surviving members of the second squadron rallied and rounded on the monster, soon joined by elements of squads one and three. They were closing in on Godzilla from every direction.
Godzilla, however, was already shoulder deep in the waters of Tokyo Bay and dipped down just as the fighters began to unload on him. Fountains of water exploded upwards as rockets rained down where the monster had been. The battle was over. Godzilla had retired from the field.
"We did it!" Haruki's voice crackled over the radio. "We won!" He announced triumphantly. Akira could hear other pilots joining in with cheers.
"What are you idiots celebrating!?" Akira bellowed over the intercom exasperated. "The capital is lying in ruins below us, thousands of our countrymen are dead, the monster is alive and far from defeated, and you fools are acting like we just won some great victory!?" Silence fell over the radio. "All wings return to base. This is far from over." Akira growled.