Godzilla: War Stories

by Locutus6

A gritty, mature, and serious take on Godzilla with horror elements. Written in the form of an ongoing television series. The military wages a desperate war to defend humanity against monsters who begin to appear around the globe. (FYI: If you liked 'Godzilla: Minus one', the plot to this story is actually pretty similar.) Latest Chapter: (The Demonstration).

31. Chapter 31: Electricity in the Air

Chapter 31: Electricity in the Air.

Without Godzilla to contend with anymore, Anguirus had a free hand to raid up and down the eastern coast of Japan as he pleased. The Japanese military was doing their best to drive him off, but all of their efforts were in vain. Anguirus' heavily armored hide was simply too sturdy for them to make any significant headway. The monster was following a predictable pattern, slowly moving southward and smashing his way through anything in his path.

The Japanese Government wasted no time in requesting for the Archimedes fleet to return and aid them against Anguirus. Per Washington's orders, Admiral Malek weighed anchor and put the task force on a course back to Japan. The Archimedes' shore party had wrapped up their preliminary investigation of the Red Bamboo airbase anyways, but Malek still left a single jeep carrier and group of trusted officers to carry on and see what else they could learn in his absence. Malek wasn't satisfied leaving behind so many unanswered questions, but there was no other alternative. In time, perhaps more facts would be revealed on just what had gone down there.

As Marcus read through the damage reports coming out of Japan, he began to regret saving Anguirus from Godzilla during their battle in Osaka. Anguirus had set about on his own path of destruction, as if he had decided to take on the mantle of 'King of the Monsters' for himself since Godzilla's icy imprisonment.

"You think we can lure Anguirus on to an iceberg too?" Roger Joked, sensing Marcus' morose attitude, and trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't be ridiculous." Brock grumbled. "That was complete dumb luck with Godzilla. No way lightning will strike twice. This is going to be a hard fight. Pure and simple."

"I'm not so sure about that." Marcus interjected. "I heard Admiral Malek telling Captain Hillard that 'Project M' is finally ready and on the way to Japan. It's being transported in pieces to Miyazaki even as we speak. They are going to assemble it over here and then test it in open combat."

"Well, if it's still in pieces, I'd hardly call that ready." Brock countered. "And if it hasn't been tested in conventionalproving grounds, then they're taking an awful risk of something going wrong in the field. I know Anguirus is an urgent threat that needs addressing, but it sure feels like they are wheeling out thissecret weaponof theirs in a terrible rush."

"Well Brock, as the old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures." Marcus reasoned.

"Assuming this new miracle weapon works out the way they think it will, are we going to sail to China afterwards?" Roger asked. "The radio officer tells me they are getting inundated with distress calls from Chinese merchant ships. Since the attacks on their military bases, nothing sailing through China's territorial waters has been safe. There's been at least twelve attacks so far. Military… civilian… it hasn't mattered. If it normally floats, it has been sunk."

"Admiral Malek made it clear that we are staying far away from Chinese waters." Marcus answered. "He said, and I quote:'I'm not risking a single one of our ships for those treacherous bastards.'Even if we knew what we were dealing with, which we don't, the Admiral doesn't want to take the risk of the Chinese thinking we are somehow involved with the attacks. In the long run, sailing that way might cause more harm than good."

"Do you still think it is some kind of organized entity behind this Marcus?" Roger asked.

"More than ever." Marcus replied confidently. "All of the attacks have occurred along the Chinese coastline or in their coastal waters. A Kaiju certainly would not respect borders or International Waters. And so many incidents have taken place within such a short time all over the map. A single Kaiju simply couldn't be at each of these places at once. Something else is definitely going on here."

"Whatever is happening out there, one thing is clear, the Chinese are on their own." Brock noted ominously.

…

In the East China Sea, a group of Chinese merchant vessels clung together as they made their way towards the city of Ningbo. The small fleet was roughly one-hundred and fifty miles away from the port and racing at flank speed to get there. Each captain waswell-awareof what had been happening over the last couple of days. They had pulled together with the notion of safety in numbers. In times of war, merchant ships who operated in convoy systems tended to have better odds of survival. It was near dawn, but still dark.

Captain Wu-Li's cargo freighter, the Wayward Traveler, was sailing at the rear of the convoy. Wu had been in the middle of his return trip from New Guinea when reports about the attacks in China began to come in. He hadn't taken them lightly. Wu and his crew had grown more nervous and fearful with each new incident. They all just wanted to make landfall at Ningbo and then go home to their families. Wu sat at the wheel with just one thing on his mind. He wanted to transmit a message to his wife to let her know that he was okay and on his way back to her, but he was afraid that any radio signals might draw attention to them.

Over the course of the last three days, the crew of the Wayward Traveler had met up with other ships and signaled them using morse code via their deck lamps. The makeshift fleet had grown larger and larger as more vessels joined them. Altogether, there were six ships of various sizes and configurations. The largest one was a tanker in the center of the formation. It served as the de-facto flagship. It had the biggest crew and best equipment out of all of them. It also sat significantly higher on the water, which allowed them to have the longest line of sight out of any of the vessels. The tanker kept up regular contact with the rest of the flotilla, letting them know about course corrections and any other potential problems that might come up.

It was cold on the bridge of the Wayward Traveler. One of the ship's windows had been broken out during a storm and it was letting in a constant flow of chilly sea air. Wu had meant to do a temporary patch job until they could carry out proper repairs in port, but he had been so overwhelmed with the stress of staying alive that the broken window had fallen by the wayside.

Wu's first mate was slumped over next to him, asleep at his post. All of his crew were exhausted from constantly being on the lookout for danger. The days of endless vigilance and anxiety were starting to take their toll. Wu was a tough and experienced sailor, but even his nerves were just about shot. He'd been trying to keep everyone calm and together, but it was getting tougher by the day. Wu had only gotten in a few catnaps here and there, and he was strung-out. He promised himself if they could just make it home, he could sleep for days to make up for it.

From the stern deck of the tanker in front of him, Wu saw a message flashing over from a signal lamp. He was to correct his course two degrees starboard to maintain formation with the rest of the flotilla. He turned the wheel slightly, compensating as directed.

As Wu kept the Wayward Traveler on course, he heard a deep reverberating sound that seemed to penetrate every section of the ship. The very metal of the hull was vibrating; Wu could feel it in his toes. Wu's first mate was stirred by the sensation and jumped to his feet, not understanding what was happening.

Wu looked out of the windows on the bridge into the darkness. His heart was racing as adrenaline began pumping through his veins. He didn't see anything unusual though. The first mate said nothing, but he looked to Wu for guidance and strength. He looked like a child who had been frightened by thunder. Wu decided he needed to take a look around the ship for himself. Perhaps what they had heard, and felt, was simply a problem with the ship's engines. They had been pushing the machinery pretty hard for days, maybe it was just straining to keep up with their demands.

Wu had his first mate take the wheel while he went outside to investigate. He looked at the smokestack. It was still spewing out dark fumes at a regular rate. The ship was also maintaining its speed without any difficulty. Perhaps they had hit something? Wu circled around the outer rails checking the hull. He started on the starboard side of the ship and didn't stop until he was on the portside. No obvious issues to be found.

Wu looked up at the horizon, there was nothing to be seen as far as the eye could see. There was another noise coming from below. Wu looked back down at the water. He leaned his head over the guardrail. Suddenly, two huge lights came on under the surface. It startled Wu, and he pulled his head away from the water. A dark silhouette, outlined by the light, began to move beneath the water towards the tanker. Some of the sailors on the tanker took notice of what was going on and began to shout panicked warnings.

Wu ran back to the bridge of the Wayward Traveler. He felt a little more secure inside of the cabin. Wu sounded his horn as a warning to the rest of the ships. Warning bells and search lights began to go on all over the flotilla. It was pointless though. There wasn't anything any of them could do to avoid what was coming next. For a brief moment, there was a gleaning light emanating from under the water which mesmerized all the sailors who saw it. The light show was swiftly followed by green energy beams which shot out to the surface. The beams tore open a twenty-foot breach into the tanker's hull. The fuel within the ship instantly ignited and the entire vessel went up in an enormous cascading explosion.

The giant fireball reflected in the windows of the Wayward Traveler and in Wu's eyes. He held his breath as he felt the heat. Within seconds, flames began to rain down over the entire area, including onto the deck of the Wayward Traveler. By that time, Wu's crew had all been alerted and were running onto the deck to see what was happening. They tried to beat out the fires and suffocate the flames, but it was like trying to stamp out napalm. Wu saw at least one of his men go overboard after catching his pants on fire. The best they could do after that was use buckets of water. Wu, however, was not so concerned about the fire on his own vessel so much as what was continuing to happen to the rest of the fleet out ahead of them.

The large fishing boat that was positioned in front of the tanker was the next victim in line. A second volley of green energy beams sought it out and cut the vessel clean in half. Wu had his binoculars out and saw one unfortunate sailor caught up in the ray as it passed through the freighter. The beam burnt through him like a hot knife through butter. The man only felt it for a split second before it killed him. The look on his face was that of utter terror. Each half of the fishing boat sank very quickly after that, as the various exposed compartments were filled with seawater. The surviving crew had no choice but to take their chances in the clutches of the cold dark water.

The lights beneath the sea moved on towards the next target, a cargo vessel very much like Wu's own ship. It was at that moment that Wu decided to change the Wayward Traveler's course and try to escape whatever was attacking the convoy. He maneuvered around the still burning wreckage of the tanker and then made a run for it. Wu could see the flashes of green light behind him, followed by the orange burst of the exploding cargo ship.

Wu pushed the throttle of the control stick as far forward as he could. The Wayward Traveler was already going full speed ahead, but in his desperation, Wu thought maybe if he pushed a little harder, he could get some extra performance out of the engines. It was an irrational thought of course. The ship was running as hard and as fast as it was capable of. Willing it to go faster wouldn't make it happen.

Another explosion registered behind them. It was far away, but still too close for Wu's comfort. The Wayward Traveler just wasn't built for speed, and it had no weapons to speak of. They were practically defenseless. One of the few remaining ships behind them got aggressive and attempted to ram their attacker. They lined up the target and closed the gap. They got closer and closer, only to pass above the enemy harmlessly. Their foe was too deep in the water for them to even touch.

The aggressive captain got his ship blasted out from under him for his trouble. A sad reward for his bravery. The only other remaining ship of the convoy was making a run for it too, but they didn't get very far. Moments later, they too were destroyed. Out of the six original ships of the flotilla, only the Wayward Traveler remained.

Wu could feel the unknown enemy closing in on them. The specter was racing after them under the water like a shark. It was astonishingly fast. Wu's first mate was shouting to him that it was already coming up behind them, but Wu didn't know what else to do at that point. No matter what course of action he took, it was going to get them. He instructed his crew to take the lifeboat and abandon ship. Maybe he could buy them a little more time to get clear. Prevent their deaths if he was lucky. But somebody had to stay at the wheel.

The sun was just starting to rise, and Wu could see something coming towards them from the other side of the horizon. A dark figure with enormous flapping wings was approaching. It was a monster advancing on them. Wu's heart sank. He asked himself, how much worse could his luck get? All he wanted to do was save his crew, and he couldn't even accomplish that minuscule task.

A few moments later, Mothra arrived over the Wayward Traveler. She looked down upon the tiny ship and cried out shrilly, flapping her wings. The burning pools of petroleum on the deck were blown off and out into the water. The sailors were forced to hang on for dear life while she did so.

The unknown entity that had been chasing the Wayward Traveler halted under the water and held its position a hundred yards away. A harmonic sound resonated from the water and Mothra seemed to respond to it, calling back. Wu and his men could only watch in astonishment. Mothra was gently hovering over the ship, seeming to extend her protection over it as she chirped and squeaked. The entity reverberated in response. From where it was, it couldn't attack the cargo ship without risking hitting Mothra along with it.

Finally, the entity sank lower into the water until it had disappeared. Mothra lingered only for a moment longer before moving on herself. She flew off heading northward. Just like that, it was all over. The sun came up, and the grateful crew of the Wayward Traveler set a course for home.

…

Two days passed, and the Archimedes fleet arrived in the city of Miyazaki. Miyazaki was located on Kyushu, the landmass which made up the southernmost portion of Japan's island chain. Anguirus seemed to be on his way there. The monster had continued moving southward, marching through the outskirts of Kochi, and then surfacing nearby the harbor of Nobeoka. Miyazaki was the next large city in his path.

A defensive line was being put together around Miyazaki. The Archimedes fleet laid anchor in the harbor, while elements of the Japanese fleet were on patrol outside of it. If Anguirus wanted to enter the city through the bay, he was going to find significant opposition there. The USS Nebraska's heavy guns were already waiting for him, and IJN Yamato and Musashi were on their way as well. The firepower of the three massive battleships combined could do some real damage, even Anguirus might think twice about engaging them.

Mine layers were booby-trapping sections of the bay nearby the mouth. Anguirus would not be able to sneak into the harbor without setting them off. The defenders would have ample warning of his approach by sea. On land, there was a steep ridge southeast of the city facing out towards the ocean which would make an excellent defensive position. The Japanese had already closed down the highway running along it to civilian traffic and were fortifying the area. The citizens of Miyazaki were advised to evacuate north before the monster arrived.

The nearby airport was taken over by the Japanese air force to be utilized as a forward operating base. Civilian aircraft flew out as many Miyazaki residents as they could in one long line of departing flights, and then didn't return. In their place, fighters, bombers, and support aircraft flew in and set up shop. A fleet of large American cargo planes had arrived earlier in the day. They were carrying the mysterious'Project M'weapon that everyone was buzzing about. The airport hangars quickly filled up as various flight groups claimed them. Inside one of the hangars, the secret weapon was being assembled.

Space was tight, and Akira's squadron just so happened to be sharing half of their hangar with the American engineers. The two sides of the massive hangar were separated by a series of large curtains, hiding the true nature of the weapon. Everyone was eager to see what the finished product was going to look like. Akira, on the other hand, only hoped it would be enough to defeat Anguirus. After days of hammering ordinance down upon the monster without much success, he was starting to get disheartened.

No one wanted to see the new weapon assembled more than Admiral Malek though. He had Marcus fly out with him and brought Brock along too for security. Captain Hillard decided to tag along as well. The four men flew over Miyazaki on their way to the airbase. Marcus peered down to get a good look at what they were defending. He was horrified to discover that there were still many civilians in the city. Some who had yet to evacuate. Those who could not evacuate. And those who had willfully chosen not to leave.

"The attacks on Chinese shipping have stopped." Captain Hillard said, relaying a report that he had been given earlier. "And no more military installations have been hit either."

"I heard the radio operator say that he got a transmission claiming that Mothra had been sighted a couple of days ago." Marcus replied. "I don't know if it's true or not, but maybe it's related?"

"That's interesting…" Captain Hillard said. "The identity of the attackers remains unclear. I wonder why they would care about Mothra interjecting herself into the situation?"

"Beats me…" Marcus answered.

"Maybe they have some kind of history together?" Brock suggested.

Admiral Malek had just been sitting there listening to the conversation. He saw that Brock had a freshly inked tattoo on his upper arm. It was a Marine Corps emblem. Brock had gotten it while they were sailing back to Japan from one of the guys who was talented with a needle. Just something to help pass the time in his mind. Malek looking at it made Captain Hillard notice it too.

"Did that hurt Corporal?" Hillard asked curiously, continuing to make small talk. Despite his many years in the Navy, the straight-and-narrow Captain knew very little about tattoos.

"It didn't feel like angel-kisses, I can tell you that." Brock replied with a smirk, drawing a good laugh from Captain Hillard.

The rest of the flight was relatively quiet until they reached the makeshift airbase. Officers of the Japanese air force were hard at work getting everything organized. With well over a hundred planes jamming up the small airport, they had quite the task. Admiral Malek pointed out the hangar earmarked for their use. With all of the paved areas on the base already spoken for, Marcus simply found a flat spot in the grass to land on.

The hangar containing the weapon was the largest one on the base. It was meant for housing and servicing the biggest planes the airport could operate at any given time. The ingenuity of such enormous structures always impressed Marcus. As the group walked towards the entrance of the hanger, they had to pass through a security checkpoint. There were two Archimedes guards wearing their imposing black uniforms. The pair had obviously been picked due to their impressive size and stature, though Brock still edged both of them out slightly. The two soldiers seemed to size Brock up as they met. Admiral Malek presented the guards with his I.D. and they saluted, allowing the group in.

Once they had entered, Marcus saw dozens of military engineers hard at work. The hangar was filled with sights and sounds. The clanging of metal on metal, the bright flashing of welders, pieces of machinery being moved around and ratcheted together, and men shouting to one another. It looked unbelievably complicated. Parts were strewn about everywhere, and Marcus couldn't even begin to understand what it all was.

Amongst all of the engineers, there was a man wearing a dirty white lab coat who seemed to be supervising the process. He had to be the man in charge. Malek walked towards him. The gentleman in the lab coat had his head buried in a schematic, pointing out technical details to his chief assistant.

"Doctor Steiner?" Admiral Malek addressed him, drawing his attention away from his work.

"Yes…?" He turned to face Malek. "Oh Admiral, you have already arrived." He said in a heavy German accent. "I'm afraid we are still hard at work getting things put together. I know you wanted to see the finished product, but that's going to take a little while yet. You're going to have to settle for a presentation for now." He informed Admiral Malek, who looked disappointed.

"Well, under the circumstances, I'll take it." Malek replied. "But first, let me introduce you to Captain Hillard. Captain, this is Dr. Reinhart Steiner, the designer and chief engineer of Project M. He's our advanced weapons expert. The heart and soul of the department."

"Pleased to meet you." Dr. Steiner shook Captain Hillard's hand before turning his attention back to Admiral Malek. "Sir, I must advise you; I think it might be premature to deploy these units here."

"What good would these weapons do Stateside?" Malek replied. "I need them over here where the action is."

"It is not a matter of location. It is a matter of timing and testing." Reinhart retorted. "Because you moved up the timeline, we were forced to skip many of the final checks. It could be dangerous."

"A necessary evil." Malek replied dismissively. "All of us are going to have to make do with what we have at this point." There was an awkward silence.

"What the hell is that even supposed to be…?" Brock asked from the back, looking over to a partially put together prototype. "A big flashlight?"

"Perhaps it is a good time to begin the slideshow." Captain Hillard suggested.

"Yes, I have a projector all set up." Dr. Reinhart agreed. "It will help everyone understand what we are doing here.Illuminate things,so to speak." He smiled at Brock.

…

A few minutes later, everyone had gathered in an improvised projector room. Some Japanese officials were present as well. The Japanese contended, quite reasonably, that if the weapons were to be deployed on their soil, they needed to know how they worked, and if there were any potential risks involved. Dr. Steiner came in and fumbled with the projector's remote to get things started.

"For those of you who don't already know, I am Dr. Reinhart Steiner." He began. "I work for the Archimedes Organization's experimental weapons division. You have no doubt noted my accent. My country of origin is Germany. Growing up, I had the unfortunate luck to live in the village of Essenheim, where the Kaiju Varan first appeared. I was there the night he emerged from the lake. I went through some terrible things at that time, saw first-hand what a Kaiju is capable of."

Reinhart clicked the first slide and a picture of Varan roaming the German countryside projected on the screen.

"I learned a very valuable lesson that night: Real life isn't some fairytale." He clicked through several more pictures of Varan rampaging. "Good does not always triumph over evil just because you think it should. If you want to see good prevail, then you have to fight to make it happen. The German military tried everything within their power to kill the monster Varan, but failed time and time again." Reinhart clicked through several more slides of the tanks and planes attacking the monster. "Varan was eventually defeated by Mothra and hasn't been seen since. When the Second Great War broke out with Russia, many people forgot about the monster, wrote him off as a fluke, but I've never forgotten about him."

Reinhart cleared his throat and took a sip of water before going on.

"During the war, I helped to design new weapons systems for the German military. Our slogan in the weapons division was:'Weshape history through violence'. They wanted to kill men, but I never lost sight of my own true goal. I wanted to kill monsters. I meant to design weapon systems that didexclusivelythat. To give humanity a meaningful way to fight back when the time came again to defend ourselves from menacing giants. I left Germany after the war. My goals simply did not align with theirs. When I learned of the Archimedes Organization and its purpose, I knew I found my calling and my new home. Like-minded individuals who shared my mission in life. I was accepted in, and the work began. What you see being built in that hangar behind us is the fruit of all those years of labor."

Reinhart clicked the remote to push the next slide up.

"I present to you: The Maser Cannon." Reinhart declared with pride, the prototype model appearing on screen. "Maser stands for: Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In essence, it is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through the amplification of radiation. Those energies are funneled and concentrated into a directed-energy weapon. But to put it in simpler terms that everyone can understand, it's a ray gun." Reinhart smiled widely. "What will make this weapon succeed where other conventional weapons have failed is its ability to effectively bypass a monster's armor and damage the tissues below. The stream of energy the Maser cannon fires acts similar to a bolt of lightning. A monster like Anguirus can shrug off rocket attacks with his heavy armor like they were just firecrackers, but all that armor will provide little defense from Maser beams. He will feel every single hit, I promise you that."

"The finished product appears to be pretty exposed." Captain Hillard noted, eyeing the frame of the weapon.

"Yes, there is that." Reinhart acknowledged. "Unfortunately, since we rushed these units into service, there was not time to hammer out certain issues related to the armor schemes. What you are seeing here is the skeleton and muscle of the design. At first, I was just like you Captain, uneasy about how vulnerable this design appears, but then it occurred to me: A Maser cannon is not meant for conventional warfare. If a monster were to trample over it, a thin layer of tank armor would not prevent it from being crushed, so why worry about it? If Godzilla, God forbid, were to return, his atomic breath would melt right through any protection we could weld on to this chassis, so why even bother? Firepower and mobility are the strengths of such a weapon, and we can pair these units with regular armor companies to help take hits in their place, to increase their longevity on the battlefield. Now, that is not to say that later models won't be outfitted with armor, but for today, we simply have no alternative."

"You said units?" Captain Hillard replied. "Am I to assume there is more than one?"

"Why yes." Reinhart answered. "There are in fact three prototypes here. While they look identical in design from the outside, each of them has minor engineering variations under the hood. They haven't been extensively tested, again due to time constraints, so to figure out which works best, we'll be testing all three prototypes live out in the field."

"Is there any danger?" One of the Japanese observers asked. "You mentioned them being nuclear. Is there a chance they could explode if something goes wrong?"

"They could definitely explode." Reinhart answered blatantly. The color drained away from the man's face. "But not a nuclear explosion, just a regular run-of-the-mill explosion, like in any typical weapon system. Nothing all that extreme." He clarified. "You can feel safe utilizing these for your defense. The worst thing that can happen at this point is they fail to fire."

"So, what I'm getting out of this, is these Masers are going to be great for attacking. They have a lot of pow-pow, but they are basically glass cannons." Brock noted. "They take the slightest hit, and poof, millions of dollars gone up in smoke."

"Yeah, if you are going to deploy them, you have to ensure that they are well-protected." Marcus agreed.

…

Akira and Kiki were walking around the airport terminal talking. The whole area had been converted into a barracks for the Japanese air force. The hard tile floor wasn't particularly nice to sleep on, but they weren't likely to be there for more than a day. Anguirus had been spotted nearby, approaching the area from the sea. The monster would be there by midday tomorrow at the latest. Akira was troubled. After so many failed assaults, he wasn't really sure what they were going to do different this time.

There was some reason for hope with the new American super weapon, but the common Japanese soldiers had not been brought up to speed on what it was or how it worked. At that point, information about it was strictlyneed-to-knowonly. The curiosity of knowing its nature was eating away at Akira.

"Why don't we just go check it out for ourselves then?" Kiki suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Akira stopped in his tracks. "We can't just go waltzing in there."

"We won't know until we try." Kiki replied casually. "It ishalf your hangar, is it not? You get us that far and I'll do the rest." She assured him.

"My plane is in there, sure, but I doubt they are going to let you in." Akira pointed out.

"We'll see." Kiki answered, seemingly unconcerned.

Kiki and Akira went out to the hangar and approached the pair of Japanese guards on their side of the building. Akira was getting more nervous with each step. He knew they were about to get into a confrontation. As they drew near, one of the men held up a hand indicating he wanted them to stop and identify themselves.

"You boys don't mind if we go in and take a little tour, right?" Kiki said with a wink before either of the guards could say anything. There was a moment of silence. The first guard got a strange look in his eyes and lowered his hand. He stepped aside to make way for Kiki and Akira. The other guard just stood there like a statue. "Thank you." Kiki said taking Akira by the hand and walking in past them.

Akira couldn't believe what he was seeing. How had she done that? Could Kiki be some sort of government operative that he was oblivious to this whole time? Did she have some type of secret clearance? At that point, all he could do was follow her in. Kiki's footsteps echoed throughout the hangar as she confidently walked through it. At that time of the night, there were only a handful of mechanics tinkering away at the aircraft, performing routine maintenance. Since Kiki had made it past the guards outside, and she looked so confident with Akira in toe, they all just assumed she was allowed to be there. No one said anything to them.

Kiki kept walking until she had finally reached the curtain separating the two halves of the hangar. She didn't think twice about crossing over to the other side of the threshold once she found an opening. Akira went in after her, somewhat caught off guard. He thought maybe Kiki would just have peaked through to get a look at what the Americans had cooked up, but she just boldly crossed the line. He had little choice but to follow.

"Wow… this is impressive, don't you think?" Kiki asked Akira as he came to her side. In front of them was one of the nearly completed Masers. It was the largest land vehicle either of them had ever seen. It was like a semi-truck on steroids outfitted with a massive laser cannon. For a moment, Akira forgot that they weren't supposed to be there.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Brock happened to spot the pair from the other side of the vehicle, which brought Akira crashing back to reality. Brock was coming at them with a full head of steam.

"I'm allowed to be in here… my plane is in this hangar…" Akira stammered out nervously, it was the only thing he could think to say on such short notice.

"Okay, fine, but you can't bring a civilian in here." Brock growled impatiently, getting even closer.

"It's okay, I'll handle this." Kiki told Akira confidently.

However, before Kiki could turn back to address Brock, he was already on her. Brock seized her wrist forcibly, which took Kiki by surprise. Both of them shuddered upon contact. Kiki stared into Brock's eyes, and he stared right back at her. Neither of them said a thing. Everything just stopped for a moment. Akira was unsure what was happening. It was all very bizarre. Then it started to scare him.

Finally, Brock let Kiki go and seemed to relax his body. His face, however, told a completely different story. He looked like he was in a state of shock. Kiki also looked a little shaken. Brock turned and walked away without saying another word.

"What the hell was that all about?" Akira asked as quietly as he could, as there were still other Americans lingering on the other side of the hangar who hadn't noticed them yet.

"He saw his death…" Kiki said solemnly.

"He saw what…?" Akira asked, not certain he had heard Kiki correctly. "How could you know that?"

"Because I saw it too." She replied softly. "I read his mind."

"This isn't the time for jokes." Akira said irritated.

"Come sit with me." Kiki invited, climbing up onto the side of the Maser where no one could see them. Once it became apparent that she wasn't joking, Akira joined her. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. I would have told you from the beginning, but I had to be sure you liked me for me first." Kiki began.

"Okay…" Akira took her hand as a sign of confidence.

"I have abilities." Kiki hesitated before going on. "Abilities that most people don't have."

"What kind of abilities?" Akira asked.

"Well… I can tell you, despite how he just acted, that man has a certain level of respect for you, though he won't ever say it." Kiki answered.

"It's because I helped one of his friends once." Akira noted.

"I can sense people's feelings." Kiki went on timidly. "And sometimes, even push feelings onto them. I can make people feel a certain way; happy, sad, impatient. It's easy to make people trust me, like those guards we passed getting in here. I can also tell when someone is lying, particularly if I'm touching them." She looked down at Akira's hand. He didn't move an inch. He only sat, listening patiently. "I can implant ideas or notions in someone's head. A mild form of suggestion if you've ever seen someone hypnotized. I can hear people's thoughts from a distance when they are feeling intense emotions. But if I touch them, I can read them without the person being upset. If someone is having trouble remembering things, I can help bring it back to them. If I'm looking for someone, I can usually sense where they are. Ineverlose my keys." She smiled. She pulled out a coin and placed it on the flat metal chassis of the Maser. "I can move small objects without touching them…" The coin slid towards Akira.

"Woah…" Akira exclaimed as the coin hit his pant leg. He almost jumped up from his seat. Up until that moment, Akira wasn't entirely certain that Kiki wasn't just putting him on. Clearly, she was being one-hundred percent serious.

"But moving things is pretty hard." Kiki took in a deep breath, looking slightly dizzy from the effort. "I sometimes see things that haven't happened, but will happen. Just now, with that American soldier, I had a glimpse of his future. If I'm around most people long enough, usually something will come through about them."

"You haven't used any of these powers on me, have you?" Akira asked coyly.

"I haven't needed to." Kiki smiled. "Actually, that's not entirely true…" She corrected herself. "That one time, I did help you find your way out of the mine at Kitamatsu. I wanted to make sure you picked the right path out of there for your own safety. I hope you don't mind. Other than that, I haven't tried to sway you in any way. I didn't want to use my gifts to influence you into liking me. It's been important to me that you do that all on your own." She caressed his hand. "The day we met; I knew you were coming to my door well in advance. That's how I was so well-prepared for your arrival. Our meeting was predestined, and I wanted to impress you."

"If you can see people's futures, what can you tell about me?" Akira asked.

"If I told you, it might not happen." Kiki replied with a soft smile. "My powers are a family trait, passed down from generation to generation. Just the women though." She noted.

"That doesn't quite seem fair." Akira remarked with a smirk. "Can you sense what I'm feeling right now?" He asked. "I mean, do you know what I've been meaning to ask you?"

"Yes." Kiki answered. "Yes to the feeling, and yes to your question." Kiki leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"You know, I don't have any exceptional powers, but I've always known there was something special about you, right from the start." Akira dug into his pocket and produced a ring box. "I've been meaning to propose for weeks now but I hadn't worked up the gumption to ask you."

"I knew you would understand me." Kiki began to weep. She had been waiting all of her life for that moment, and it had finally arrived.

"As soon as this fight is through, we'll make it official, you'll be Mrs. Kiki Saegusa." Akira kissed her fully.

…

Marcus saw Brock leaning on a wall, his head resting on the cold concrete. Something was wrong. He began to walk over to talk to him. Brock heard the footsteps approaching.

"You doing okay…?" Marcus asked, but Brock blew right past him as soon as he heard his voice. Brock's eyes looked red. 'What was that all about?' Marcus thought perplexed. Whatever was bothering Brock, he obviouslydid notwant to talk about it. The burly marine marched outside pulling out a cigarette as he went. 'Maybe I'll try again later.' Marcus thought to himself.

A minute after Brock had gone out, six American MPs came into the hangar. One of them immediately split off on his own while the rest approached Dr. Steiner. The doctor didn't see them coming. He was helping to assemble one of the Maser components. Marcus eyed the MPs; they were clearly on a mission. From a distance, Marcus could see the officer out front addressing Dr. Steiner. Marcus started to make his way over to see what was going on. Dr. Steiner looked as though he was getting agitated as he responded to the MP officer.

"Please just come with us quietly." Marcus heard the MP officer say as he got closer.

"I will NOT!" Dr. Steiner replied, raising his voice to draw the attention of everyone in the hangar. "You think you have me fooled, but you do not!" Reinhart shouted angrily. The MP officer pulled out his service pistol and pointed it at Dr. Steiner, escalating the situation. Marcus stopped in his tracks when he saw the gun.

"Cuff him." The MP officer ordered one of his underlings. At that point, Dr. Steiner lunged for the pistol, wrestling with the soldier for possession of it. For a thin man, Reinhart was remarkably strong. The MP officer lost his grip on the gun, and it flew out of his hand. The weapon hit the ground and went off. The other MPs rushed to restrain Dr. Steiner. Reinhart fought like a madman and bit into the hand of one of the soldiers. The man cried out and cursed loudly in Russian. The soldier reeled back and punched Reinhart in retaliation. Reinhart fell to the floor dazed.

"They're damned Russian infiltrators you fools!" Reinhart called out from the floor to everyone in the hangar. The jig was up as three of the MPs looked around warily to see how everyone would react. That was enough proof for the mechanics who had been assisting Reinhart. A brawny engineer rushed at the MP soldiers from behind and bashed one of them in the back of the head with a wrench. The soldier went down in a bloody heap. One of his comrades fought back, striking the engineer in the abdomen with a powerful punch, knocking the wind out of him and putting him on the floor.

The adrenaline hit, and Marcus rushed forward, throwing himself into the fray. He put all of his strength behind a punch which connected to the face of the closest Russian to him. The soldier was a head taller than Marcus, but that first punch really put him on the back foot. He was too stunned to dodge Marcus' follow up strike to the body, which cracked one of his ribs. Marcus could feel the crunch of the bone under his fist. In the meantime, the MP officer had not given up on taking Dr. Steiner. He grabbed him by the scruff of the coat. Reinhart retaliated by elbowing him in the face.

"You think because I'm a scientist that I don't know how to fight?" Reinhart cursed and thrashed angrily. "I learned a long time ago, if you want to live, you have to learn to fight!" He threw a halfway decent punch of his own. The MP Captain took the hit well though, and he worked Reinhart into a headlock. He began to incapacitate Reinhart with a strong chokehold. Another soldier took Reinhart off of his feet and they began to carry him away.

Marcus meanwhile was also starting to lose ground in his fight. A second Russian had squared up to him and it was now two on one. Marcus managed to dodge one punch and block another, but both of his opponents were bigger and stronger than him. It was just a matter of time before they overwhelmed him.

Suddenly, Akira entered the skirmish, kicking hard into the right thigh of one of the Russians. The man was hobbled by the blow and angrily struck back at Akira. Akira was lightning fast though and had no problems sidestepping the attack. Kiki also appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. She crept up behind the other Russian soldier, who was too focused on Marcus to notice her. She grabbed the man near the base of his neck. The instant she made contact with him, the man went stiff. His pupils dilated, he wet himself, and finally, the Russian went limp before dropping over like a falling tree.

The other Russian soldier had managed to get a hold of Akira by the shirt. Marcus turned his attention to helping his ally. Without hesitation, Marcus threw all of his weight at the soldier, tackling him onto the concrete floor. The Russian still had a hold of Akira and pulled him down on top of them both. Once on the ground, Marcus held down one of the Russian man's arms by sitting on it with his knees while pummeling away at his face. Akira had a hold of the man's other arm, preventing him from protecting himself. Marcus beat the tar out of him until his face was a bloody mess. Akira ended the struggle with a well-placed knee strike to the man's temple. The Russian man's hands went stiff, and it was clear that he was knocked out.

Marcus and Akira then turned their attention to the two men carrying out Dr. Steiner. Reinhart was still putting up a respectable struggle. The Russians had to fight for every step they took towards the door. Just as they got close, Brock stepped back inside, blocking the exit. He'd heard the gun shot fired and had returned to investigate. He surveyed the scene, seeing Marcus and Akira entangled with the men they had taken down and saw the other pair trying to make off with Reinhart. Brock quickly put together what was going on. He stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, looking eager to join the brawl.

With Brock now in their way, the two Russians decided to drop Reinhart to the floor. They came at Brock, intending to remove him as an obstacle. It was agrossmiscalculation on their part. Brock caught the arm of the Russian officer as he threw a punch. He used the man's own momentum against him, tossing him aside with a Judo-style throw. The officer landed hard on his back against the unforgiving cement. He grunted after the impact and was slow getting back to his feet. Brock meanwhile started to lay into the other Russian soldier battering his face with some well-aimed jabs.

A bloody nose and a cracked lip later, the second Russian soldier got frustrated and pulled out a combat knife. He slashed wildly at Brock in his fury. There were several near-misses and even a patch of Brock's uniform got cut before the big man saw his opening. He seized the Russian's wrist holding the knife and then bulled him over onto his back. The Russian took the worst of the fall and Brock took full advantage. He slammed the man's fist into the ground over and over again, forcing him to drop the knife. Brock seized the weapon for himself and, in a rage, buried it into the man's chest.

The Russian officer, the only man left standing on the infiltrator's side by that point, saw that his cause was hopeless, and tried to make a break for it. Brock, however, refused to allow him to get away. He grabbed a hammer from a nearby workbench and threw it at him like a tomahawk. The hammer hit the Russian officer in the right shoulder, and he went down. Brock was on him before he could get back to his feet. The fight was over. As he had clearly been the leader, and also happened to be the only man left conscious, Marcus came over to question him.

"Who are you?" Marcus asked, knowing that the officer could speak fluent English. "Who are you working for?" The Russian officer looked up defiantly at Marcus and made it clear that he had no intension of talking. Brock wasn't having any of it though and pulled the man's arm behind his back and started to wrench down on it. The man cried out in pain. The pressure Brock was applying could break his arm at any moment.

"KGB!"The man finally yelled out. But Brock kept up the pressure until he heard a pop anyways.

"Guess that answers that." Marcus remarked. "Ease up Brock, he's not a threat anymore." Brock eyed Marcus for a moment before finally relaxing his grip.

"Thanks." Dr. Steiner walked up. He turned his attention to his would-be kidnapper and kicked him in the face while he was down. "Bastard..." The Russian groaned in pain and let out a slew of curses.

"Are you crazy?!" Marcus asked. "What were you doing earlier going for that gun? They could have killed you."

"No, they wanted to take me alive." Reinhart replied nonchalantly. "They had no intention of shooting me."

"Fine, but it was still a risky move." Marcus noted. "You got lucky as hell."

A few yards away, Akira was checking on Kiki to make sure she was alright. His concern though was entirely unfounded. She didn't have a scratch on her. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"It looks like you can do a little more than you let on." Akira frowned at her.

"I wasn't really sure that would work." She replied sheepishly.

"These ID badges are obvious forgeries." Brock announced, huffing and puffing, trying to calm down after the fight. He kept a firm knee on top of the Russian officer's back as he examined one.

"Wait, where did the other one go?" Marcus asked, suddenly realizing that they had only accounted for five of the six imposter MPs that had entered the hangar.

"He's gone." Reinhart replied. "The design blueprints for the Maser are gone too, along with some of the technical notes. He must have used all of the commotion to make off with them."

The group collectively heard a noise, and all turned to see Admiral Malek standing there with a cup of coffee. He was studying the fallout from the brawl, eyeing the bloodied military policemen who were still strewn about the floor. Malek quietly looked over at Marcus with a scowl, as if to demand an explanation. Akira worried about Kiki being seen, but she had already ducked behind one of the Masers to avoid Malek's notice.

"They're Russians sir!" Marcus began to explain. "They are KGB agents who were attempting to kidnap Dr. Steiner and steal the Maser blueprints."

"Yes, I caught that part." Admiral Malek replied. "And it seems that they succeeded." He sat down his coffee and went to pick up the pistol from the ground. Brock brought up the KGB Captain to his knees. Marcus dragged one of the other imposters next to him. "You boys managed to fight them to a standstill…?" Malek noted with some surprise. "Good job. I'm going to have a little chat with the head of base security though."

"This one is dead." Marcus reported, checking his pulse. He had been the man the mechanic hit in the head with his wrench at the beginning of the fight. He had bled out from a cracked skull.

"I can't say with certainty from here, but I'm pretty sure the one I put down with the knife is gone too." Brock added, still holding onto the Russian Captain.

"This one is just out." Akira said, referring to the one Kiki had subdued. He dragged him over and sat him next to the other survivors.

"This guy is alive, but most likely wishes he wasn't." The brawny mechanic dragged the last bloodied man towards the other survivors.

"Let them go." Malek ordered. Everyone in the group looked over to him, not certain they had heard him correctly. "Let them go..." He repeated calmly. Brock released the KGB Captain and allowed him to get to his feet. The officer eyed Admiral Malek, unsure what was going on. "It's okay, you're free to leave." Malek gestured towards the door. The KGB Captain helped his still-dazed, bloody-faced subordinate to his feet with his good arm, and then together, they picked up the third unconscious man. Slowly, they made their way to the exit. Malek just watched them go. Marcus did not understand what was happening and was getting angry.

Suddenly, Admiral Malek raised his pistol and gunned down all three of the Russians from behind. The shots made everyone in the room jump in surprise.

"The Geneva Convention does not apply to spies." Malek declared coldly. "In particular, spies who have been successful." He added. "Let the record reflect that they were killed while trying to escape." Malek said, setting the pistol down on a table. Marcus and Brock both just stood there shocked. They didn't know what to do. Malek turned to Akira. "Tell your superiors to lockdown the base and search the area. Most likely, that little Russian shit has already made his get-away, but if we can recover that information, I want it back." Akira didn't speak. He only nodded in understanding. "This nonsense has put us behind. Those Masers will be needed on the battlefield by 0800 hours tomorrow. Clean yourselves up, and then get back to work." Malek ordered before grabbing his coffee and walking away.

The door closed behind Admiral Malek, and the hangar was as silent as a grave. No one knew quite what to say after what had just happened. Marcus decided to take charge and get things moving. Malek was correct, their next priority had to be to get the Mazers up and running. They were vital to the coming operation. Actual military police came in to collect the bodies of the dead Russians and remove them from the hangar. After that, Marcus and Brock pitched in to help assemble the weapons as best they could.

…

By 0700 hours the next morning, all three Masers were assembled, serviced, and ready to go. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any time to test-fire them. So, the Masers would indeed have to be christened in the field. The crews got their orders to move out, and that was that. The engines were started up and they rolled out. Marcus was just coming out of his makeshift barracks around that time and saw the huge vehicles moving forward. The green and silver behemoths were impressive. Marcus only hoped they performed as good as they looked.

As the Maser units all passed across the road, Marcus resumed his walk towards his waiting helicopter. He was having a bad morning. His muscles were sore from the fight last night, the morning air was very cold, both of his fists hurt from landing punches, he hadn't gotten enough sleep, and the sleep he had gotten was on the hard floors of the airport terminal. Putting in the extra work helping Dr. Steiner didn't help either. Marcus was simply tired, sore, and cranky. He put on his helmet and lowered the sun visor, despite the fact that there was no sun out yet. In fact, the whole area was overcast and wasn't likely to see any sunlight for quite some time. Marcus simply didn't want to interact with anyone, and he could avoid eye contact that way. He just climbed into the cockpit and did his pre-flight systems checks.

One by one, his passengers arrived. Marcus greeted none of them. Brock climbed in next to him and also wasn't feeling chatty. He had bags under his eyes and obviously hadn't slept well either. Marcus never had gotten around to asking Brock what was going on with him before the fight broke out, but that moment certainly wasn't the time or place to do so. However, whatever it was, it very likely was contributing to his surly disposition.

Japanese Sabres were starting to launch from a nearby runway. The repetitive passing of their whiny high-pitched engines, one after another, was starting to get on Marcus' nerves. He just wanted to take off so he could get away from it. Marcus shifted in his chair, stretching out his back, and trying to ignore them. Finally, Admiral Malek arrived, and they could proceed toward the Japanese defensive line near the coast.

Marcus waited for Malek to get buckled in and then immediately took off. Seeing the Admiral brought back flashes of the incident from the night before. What happened wasn't right, but who could he go to about it? It wasn't like Malek was just a common soldier who had gotten out of line. He was at the top of the chain of command. There wasn't anyone who outranked him in the entire fleet, and from a technical standpoint, he was arguably justified. Those men had been spies. Still, the whole ordeal didn't sit well with Marcus.

Marcus' helicopter passed over the Masers as they rumbled down the road. The massive machines had been joined by a number of escorting Japanese jeeps, which really demonstrated just how big they were compared to normal-sized military hardware. After the Russian espionage, security had been tightened across the board. Any number of hostile foreign governments would be happy to see this mission fail and watch Anguirus continue to tear up Japan's eastern coast.

A squadron of Japanese fighters thundered pass the helicopter towards the defensive line. It surprised Marcus a little bit. He hadn't heard them coming. He suddenly remembered that they were heading towards genuine danger. With all of the many distractions in the last twenty-four hours, the very real threat that Anguirus posed quickly shot back to the top of Marcus' list of priorities. Off in the near distance, Marcus could see the city of Miyazaki. If this defensive effort failed, the citizens there would be the ones to pay the price.

Marcus soon found a landing zone for the helicopter located nearby the frontline. The group would have to pass through a short mountain trail to get to the ridge, but it wasn't too far. After they landed, Marcus looked at his watch. It was 0730 hours. They were playing a game of beat-the-clock to get the Masers to the battleline on time.

…

"Okay, I just want to make sure I got all of my facts straight…." Captain Hillard remarked. "How the hell did a ninety-pound Japanese girl knock out a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound Russian soldier?" Marcus and Hillard were walking ahead of the rest of the group on the path towards the highway so Admiral Malek wouldn't hear the conversation. The mechanic had spilled the beans about Kiki's involvement in the fight.

"Perhaps it was a nerve pinch…?" Marcus lied. He didn't know how Kiki had actually managed to incapacitate the man, but he knew darn well it wasn't that. Somehow, he felt it was smart to downplay Kiki's role in what happened, and to just shrug it off. Captain Hillard just stared at him, waiting to hear a better answer.

"Seriously…?" He finally said when one didn't materialize.

"She's stronger than she looks." Brock chimed in from behind, catching up with them. Marcus felt there was something more to what Brock said but didn't want to carry on the conversation any further around Hillard. For the moment, Captain Hillard let it be.

The mountain trail had ended, and the group found themselves at the center of the Japanese defense line. The Japanese had placed tanks, jeeps with anti-tank cannons attached, and artillery all up and down the road, leaving just enough space in the back lane for the Masers to get into place. The Masers had not yet arrived, however. The line extended from the road cut out of the rockface all of the way onto a nearby bridge that spanned across a wide chasm.

Marcus and Brock walked up to the guard rail which overlooked the sea. The landscape was quiet and peaceful. Below, more Japanese units were getting organized on the beach. The mountain highway simply couldn't accommodate all of the vehicles, and it would be foolish to over-crowd the road in the event they needed to move out in a hurry. Shouting from the Japanese defenders brought their attention back to the ocean.

On the water, what looked like a mountain full of spikes was rising out of the sea. It had to be Anguirus. The thorny mound advanced closer towards the coast until the monster's head popped up into view. Anguirus greeted the Japanese army with his honking bellowing, roar. The Japanese sprang into action, getting their heavy weapons ready. The soldiers trained their guns towards the oncoming threat. The Masers still had yet to arrive. Marcus looked at his watch, Anguirus had arrived at 0745 hours. Earlier than anticipated. He only hoped there was still time.

Anguirus continued to approach the coastline until he was only shin-deep in the water. At that point, he noticed the Japanese defenders dotting the highway. Anguirus stopped to take in their numbers, but the surge of water he left in his wake rushed onwards. It spilled up and over the beachhead. The tidal wave continued onwards until it hit against the base of the mountain and splashed up towards the overpass. The bridge's durability was tested, but it held strong.

Marcus, Brock, and many of the defenders on the highway got soaked by the chilly seawater as it splashed up onto the road, but they fared much better than the men below on the beach. Some of the tanks and other units were smashed against the rocks at the base of the ridge, others were simply pushed around and out of position. The remainder were completely swept away by the current and out to sea. Many of the soldiers were forced to abandon their vehicles as water filled them up. The overall result was the bottom detachment of defenders were already in complete disarray and effectively out of the fight.

Anguirus meanwhile held his position. He'd noticed the Sabre fighters flying over the mountains. He watched them for a moment, distracted. By that point, Anguirus was pretty used to fighters buzzing down at him and attacking. He was curious as to why they were not this time. The planes were being held back as a reserve, only to engage if the primary attacks by ground units were unsuccessful. Anguirus got moving again, threatening the defensive line.

Akira was in overall command of the fighters and was watching the chaos unfolding on the beach. His instincts were telling him to attack to cover the retreat of the men on the shoreline, but those weren't his orders. Just as he was starting to get frustrated, he spotted something that renewed his hope. The Masers were making their way up the mountain road to join the rest of the defenders. Akira decided to do a flyby over Anguirus to buy them just a little more time to get into position. Anguirus had no means to attack the jets from afar, so there was no risk in doing it.

Akira flew in aggressively, dipping down low so there was no possibility of Anguirus ignoring him. The monster certainly did take notice of Akira and the planes following him, though he wasn't particularly threatened by them. Anguirus paused, roaring up at the fighters. He was more-so annoyed than anything else. As the fighters passed over him, Anguirus splashed around in the water, sending torrents of water up at the aircraft. Curiously, he didn't notice any snaps, crackles, or pops. The planes had not fired upon him like usual, and Anguirus couldn't understand why. He turned slightly and watched the Sabres arc their way back up towards the clouds.

After the fighters had gone, Anguirus got on the move again. However, by that point, the Masers had reached their positions in the line and were deploying their impressive cannons. Anguirus saw the silver machines and didn't know what to make of them. They were something he hadn't seen before. Anguirus wasn't concerned though. He was rearing for a fight now.

The tanks and artillery opened fire on Anguirus. Their volleys bounced off or exploded harmlessly as usual. Then the first Maser opened fire. The bolt of energy it unleashed struck Anguirus in the left shoulder. The force of it caught Anguirus off guard and obliged him to take notice. There was no visible damage to the monster's armored scales, but the jolt was obviously painful. A second volley came from another Maser. This shot hit the armored back of Anguirus where his protection was even thicker. It still got his attention, but it clearly had less impact. One thing was certain, Anguirus was mad now. He charged the coast, more determined than ever.

Marcus and Brock felt the heat from the Masers as they fired. There was a lot of power being unleashed by the weapons. The whole area lit up around them when they fired. The cannons themselves surged with light as they unleashed their blue energy bolts. It was an impressive sight.

Out in the water, Anguirus was not having a fun time. The electrical nature of the Maser attacks were amplified even further by the fact that he was dripping wet and still ankle deep in water. His advance had lost a lot of its initial steam. The Masers were hammering Anguirus over and over again. One strike hit him in the face, and Anguirus came to a complete stop. His front paw kneaded at his nose. For a moment, it looked as though Anguirus was considering turning around. His armor was offering next to no protection from the withering fire of the Masers. He simply wasn't used to taking such a beating.

Just as it seemed that the defenders had turned the tide of the battle, one of the Masers abruptly stopped firing. The crew was scrambling around to identify what had gone wrong. There was apparently some type of mechanical issue with the weapon's firing mechanism. Dr. Steiner was on hand and rushed over to see what the issue was, fearing sabotage. There was smoke starting to pour out of the back portion of the Maser's chassis. Dr. Steiner took a look and quickly determined that the primary conduction cord had burnt out due to the continuous firing of the weapon. It was not sabotage; the problem was simply a technical issue.

Because the Masers were rushed into service, they hadn't had enough time to test-out the durability of the weapon system components under stress. They had simply fired the weapon so many times consecutively that the conductor had overheated and burnt out. This news was actually worse than sabotage, because it meant that the other two Maser units had the same defect with their firing mechanisms, and they didn't have any spare parts on hand to fix them on the spot. Dr. Steiner tried to warn the crews of the other two Masers to slow down their rate of fire, but it was already too late. The second Maser's cannon fell silent as its conductor also burnt out.

Out in the water, Anguirus had taken notice of the decreased amount of punishment he was taking and renewed his advance. He was keen to inflict some damage of his own. Only the third Maser unit was still firing on him now, and it just wasn't enough to stop him. Predictably, the final Maser unit burnt out its own conductor too due to its crew desperately trying to hold Anguirus off alone. The Japanese defenders were as good as defenseless now.

"Damned German Engineering…!" Brock cursed. "All it really amounts to, is expensive and temperamental!" He grabbed Marcus' arm and pulled him away from the railing, preparing to retreat back towards the helicopter. The whole defensive line was thrown into panic. Anguirus was about three-hundred yards away and closing fast.

Marcus sensed something and stopped, looking up to the sky. Brock was shouting at him to get moving again, but Marcus wasn't hearing him. The cloud bank overlooking the mountain top split open and Mothra came gliding down through the opening. She refrained from flapping her wings whatsoever and floated down onto the mountain top for a perfect landing. Mothra's tiny little legs were very strong and took hold at the top peak. Mothra came to a halt there, overlooking the defense line and Anguirus.

Anguirus ceased his advance and took stock of the situation. The two monsters faced off and stared each other down. Mothra made the first move, calling to Anguirus in a series of non-aggressive chirps and squeaks. Anguirus called back with his deep-toned honks. Sunlight was pouring through the break in the cloud cover behind Mothra. Marcus got excited and yelled up to Mothra like a grade-schooler cheering on his favorite sports team. Brock looked at him embarrassed, but even he couldn't disregard the majestic aura that Mothra was giving off with her beautiful wings. She was a sight to behold. Anguirus hesitated to engage, and Mothra just held her position in return on the mountain top. It looked like a standoff. Mothra and Anguirus continued to chatter back and forth.

"Mothra could tear up her wings in a melee with Anguirus." Brock shouted to Marcus over the sound of the monsters. "But Anguirus has no defense against Mothra's dust. Do you think that's what's holding them back?" He asked. Marcus just watched for a moment. Then something very unexpected happened. Anguirus backed off. He turned and withdrew back into the deep water of the ocean. There would be no fight between the two titans that day. "Is Anguirus punking out?" Brock asked confused.

"No… I don't think that's it." Marcus replied. "This might sound strange, but I think it's respect."