Chapter 47: Hunger.
In Alamogordo, New Mexico, Sargent Peterson and Dr. Harold Medford had gathered all of the interested parties for a meeting to discuss what they'd discovered out in the desert the night before. Nobody would have believed their wild story, save for the fact that Dr. Patrica Medford had the foresight to bring a camera out with her, and she'd taken several photos of the giant ants who'd attacked them. The photographs were blown up and put on display on a board behind Peterson and Dr. Medford as they made their case. On hand were members of the FBI, the State Police, and a representative of the U.S. Army that Sargent Peterson saw fit to invite.
"So, you are certain these things are behind everything?" Chief Murrill asked. "How many do you suppose there are?"
"We think there could be as many as one hundred of them." Dr. Harold Medford answered.
"Holy smokes, and they're all as big as the ones in the pictures?!" Murrill added astonished.
"Some are probably bigger." Dr. Patrica Medford began to explain. "In ant societies, there are different types of casts. Workers, warriors, and scouts, just to name a few. Warriors tent to be bigger and more aggressive than the workers."
"If there are so many of them, and they are so big, then what are they living on out in the desert?" One of the FBI agents asked. "The few people and cattle that are missing absolutely couldn't sustain the nutritional needs of a colony that size. There's really not a whole lot to eat out there aside from sand."
"My theory is that they don't require oral nutrients to survive." Dr. Medford answered. "The mutation that created the giant ants may have changed them in fundamental ways. I suspect that they are able to survive strictly on the atomic energy that permeates the landscape out in the nuclear test zone."
"Wait, so why do they eat people if they don't have to?" Chief Murrill asked.
"Think about it like this: if you suddenly found yourself able to get all of the nutrients you needed to survive just from the sunshine alone… would you stop eating?" Dr. Medford asked. "Of course not." He answered his own question. "You still get pleasure from eating all of your favorite foods. People would naturally still have that instinctual drive to eat. And so it is with the ants. They don't have to eat people. They simply enjoy it." A few members of the audience could be heard squirming in their chairs after that statement.
"We have a more serious problem though." Dr. Medford went on. "Up until now, the ants have been limited in their movements. The extreme heat of the desert has kept them contained to a narrow radius around their nest, but forecasters say that a cold front is going to be moving into the area over the next couple of days. Cloud cover and a potential storm. If that is true, then the ants will be able to move around in the daytime for the first time since we've become aware of their existence, and their movements will be unlimited."
"You're saying the town could be in danger?" Chief Murrill asked.
"Yes." Dr. Medford confirmed. There was murmuring amongst the spectators.
"Colonel Ashton." Sargent Peterson addressed the Army Officer. "You were invited here to see the seriousness of the situation. We need the help of the Army. And we need to act quickly."
"Sir, I'm not certain how much I'll be able to help here." Colonel Ashton replied. "My unit is on standby waiting for orders to attack Godzilla. My superiors feel that he is the more serious threat."
"I'm not certain you've been watching the news lately Colonel." Sargent Peterson began. "But there isn't the slightest chance that regular Army units can stop Godzilla, but they might just make a difference in our fight here."
"I can't make you any promises, but I'll see what I can do." Colonel Ashton replied.
…
In the Arizona desert, two squadrons of Cobra Army helicopters were arriving at G-Force Headquarters. They were the first combat unit to be officially transferred to the fledgling G-Force to bolster their strength. A support unit of Chinook and Hueys were also arriving.
Sargent Brock was running on the surface of the base in the mild morning air before the sun had a chance to climb too high up in the sky. There was something magical about the desert at that time of day. It was cool and peaceful. So empty, and so serene. For a time, it made Brock forget about everything that was going wrong in the world. Of course, the arriving fleet of helicopters shattered that illusion, and brought Brock back to his harsh reality.
However, despite the disruption, the choppers had also brought Brock something that would prove well-worth the disturbance. He saw Mia disembarking from one of the Chinooks. She was wearing the uniform of a G-Force officer too. She saw Brock jogging and slowly started moving in his direction. Brock stopped exercising and began to walk towards her as well. The two met in the middle and greeted each other warmly. Brock wanted to embrace Mia, but he was covered in sweat. So instead, he just walked alongside her towards the entrance of the base. He thought she'd need a temporary guide, but it turned out she already knew the base's layout.
Mia informed Brock that she was being sent on an espionage mission into China. Brock felt very uneasy about that. Suddenly, the one thing in his life that felt stable and comforting was thrown into disarray. He couldn't help but think of the state of Marcus. Just how messed up his friend was because of his attachment to a woman. It was The Trap of Love. Allowing himself to develop any more feelings for Mia was starting to look dangerous, but Brock was conflicted. He'd never been so attracted to a woman before. At least not on just a pure physical level. Mia was more than that to him. He respected her for her intelligence, charm, and talent. She was so much more than just a pretty face.
"I have to be useful to the cause." Mia said, interrupting Brock's inner thoughts. "I can't just sit around here looking pretty."
"Well, if you did, you'd be doing a pretty good job of it." Brock complemented Mia with a smile. "It's just that I don't want to see you in harm's way."
"How do you think I felt when you went on your suicidal mission with Marcus into San Fransisco? It's not easy, but sometimes it's necessary to let go. In our line of work, you have to make peace with such risks. But that doesn't mean you stop caring either." She said, seeming to read his mind. She reached for his hand and took it affectionately. "You know, being as I'm one of the very few women here, I do have my own private quarters. They're just down the hallway... There's even a shower in there. Do you have anywhere you need to be right now?"
"No… no I do not." Brock replied coming to a full stop. She had gained his full attention.
"Then I suggest that we both take advantage of our limited time together." Mia smirked at him devilishly.
…
In Canada, Bagorah was on the move. He had left the remote wilderness of the Sunblood Mountain Range and was moving southward. What had motivated this migration out of the Nahanni Valley was unclear. Perhaps Bagorah's feeding grounds there were simply no longer fruitful enough to sustain his appetite any longer. Whatever the reason though, he was moving into more populated areas.
It didn't take Bagorah long to come into conflict with mankind. He downed a commercial flight filled with passengers and consumed them at the resulting crash site. The pilot of the ill-fated plane managed to alert the control tower of a nearby airport and all flights in the area were cancelled as a result. The military was on alert, but they were struggling to find ways to effectively counter Bagorah. Fighters couldn't even get close to him before he'd use his sonic attacks to short-out their electronics. Anti-aircraft guns were deployed, but they failed to inflict any meaningful damage.
Finally, the Canadian Airforce resorted to using their newly developed air defense stockpile of surface-to-air missiles. The rockets moved so fast that it was possible that the monster wouldn't be able to detect their approach until it was already too late. At that point, the Canadians didn't have much other alternative. Bagorah was starting to close in on several metropolitan areas. An attack zone was selected, and preparations were made. Bagorah was moving along a course that would put him within striking distance of several key defensive emplacements and many more mobile units could be rushed into place to augment their firepower.
The attack began, and dozens of anti-air missiles shot up into the sky. The radar-guided rockets quickly closed in on Bagorah, who was not yet aware that he was being targeted. The first missile slammed into his belly and gave him a rude awakening. After that, Bagorah sensed other projectiles were closing in on him. He used his sonic call to protect himself and the rockets' guidance systems stopped working. Some of them exploded instantly in the air while others just fizzled out and came crashing back down into the rural landscape.
The Canadian's best hope of defeating Bagorah had failed, leaving them reeling and trying to figure out what to do next. The monster was definitely going to reach a city before they could do anything else to try to stop him.
…
At the G-Force base in Arizona, Marcus had found a new outlet for his grief. He'd thrown himself into an intense training regimen. Focusing on improving his skills and strength was about the only thing he could do to try not to think about what happened to Shauna and his children. It never entirely worked for him though. They were never far away from his mind.
Marcus would run to the point of collapse. He'd do push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and lift weights until the point where he vomited. On the plus side, he was quickly gaining back all of the muscle that had wasted off of him while he was in the hospital. Physically exhausting himself did serve to help him sleep better. But then there were his dreams. No matter what Marcus did in the waking world, he could never shake the dreams.
When Marcus wasn't working on PT, he was at the shooting range improving his marksmanship. He'd never had much cause to use firearms outside of basic training, but he'd decided it was time to learn. Pistols, rifles, machine guns, and even heavier weapons. He wanted to be proficient at everything. He'd never be a top marksman, but he'd have a solid enough skillset for whatever life might throw at him.
Perhaps the thing that Marcus enjoyed the most out of everything he was learning though was hand-to-hand combat. He'd taken the base-level training Brock had taught him, and expanded upon it with anyone else who could teach him different techniques. Knives, fists, feet, improvised weapons. He wanted to learn it all. Sometimes it meant taking hits from people while practicing. Marcus didn't care about that though. Hard lessons were lessons that were remembered better.
After a sparring match with a marine, Marcus was sitting on a bench watching as his blood dripped from his face onto the ground from a small cut above his eyebrow. He just sat there staring at the red puddle forming below him, musing to himself what an interesting pattern it was making. Each drop changed it ever so slightly like a morbid piece of art.
"Jesus Marcus, what the hell are you doing?!" Brock came and stood next to him. "You're bleeding all over the place! You need to get yourself patched up."
Marcus said nothing. He just looked up at Brock and then nodded to appease him. He knew the big man would not let it go. In the near distance, there were other marines just watching Marcus who were obviously a little weirded out by his behavior. Marcus grabbed a towel and pressed it to the cut on his face and then got up and walked away with Brock.
Later, Brock was watching Marcus learning to fly one of the new Cobra helicopters. The recent arrival of the squadron presented him with a golden opportunity for actual combat training. Marcus had not been taught to fly an attack helicopter previously, and he probably shouldn't have been doing it then either. Brock was understandably concerned. Flying a high-performance Cobra wasn't quite the same as flying a search and rescue bird. The instructor appeased Brock by telling him that the Cobra was not armed with live ammunition, though that hardly settled his nerves.
As Marcus put the machine through its paces in the sky, Brock was watching him from the ground. He was thinking about how different Marcus was now. A big part of the friend he once knew was gone. Marcus had become a harder man. There was so much less life to him, and it was plain to see. The ever-present optimism Marcus once possessed had evaporated completely. It was replaced by a steely resolve.
As the training continued, Marcus was flying more and more aggressively, pulling off some dangerous maneuvers. Brock was worried that Marcus might be trying to push the machine too far on purpose, and he could guess at why. Just when he thought he couldn't watch anymore, Marcus brought the craft back down to land. Brock did not wait for him to emerge from the cockpit. He went straight to Admiral Malik's office to discuss his concerns. Malek, however, did not seem to care too much though. He concluded that helicopter pilot cross-training seemed like a good thing to him.
Shortly after Brock left Malek's office, Marcus appeared and requested to join the Cobras for what he assumed would be an imminent strike on Godzilla. The King of the Monsters was about to pass within striking distance of the base. Malik denied the request. Firstly, because Marcus was still undoubtedly too inexperienced. Secondly, because they had adequate enough combat pilots as it was already. And thirdly, because there was not going to be a strike on Godzilla. Malik regarded it as a waste of the limited resources they possessed. And he was correct. Attempting to strike Godzilla with just two squadrons of Cobras was obviously futile. It would accomplish next-to-nothing aside from wasting lives and tax dollars.
…
Reinhart and Dr. Orsini were sitting down and talking with Akira and Kiki about their exploits in England. Hedorah had never resurfaced, but he was undoubtedly still out there regenerating his battered body. Battra also had not been seen since. His current whereabouts were largely unknown. The radiation from Russia was starting to be picked up in other places in Europe. Contamination was becoming a real concern for everyone.
"So tell me something Akira, after so many run-ins with the Rodans, are you disappointed or relieved that you won't get another chance to engage them in combat?" Reinhart asked.
"Well, I guess I'd lean towards relieved." Akira admitted. "While it would be nice to have gotten some retribution for the many fallen friends I lost to the monsters, I wouldn't say I'd want to rush back into a battle with them again. Even with the advances we've made with fighter aircraft in the last couple of years, we still don't have a machine that can hope to defeat them in the sky. So, I suppose it's a good thing I won't be put in that situation again with their demise."
"I'm just glad they didn't show back up stronger like Godzilla did." Dr. Orsini pointed out. "Could you imagine having to fight a bigger and meaner version of the Rodans?"
"Yes, that would be a true nightmare to deal with." Akira agreed.
"So Kiki, your sister is back in Japan watching over your little boy and girl?" Reinhart changed topics. "I imagine that has to be a little tough for you being so far away from them like this."
"Oh, it's not so bad." Kiki replied. "I make frequent trips home. In fact, I have a contractual option to only join the team in times of active crisis. I might be wearing the uniform, but I'm still free to come and go at my own volition. My sister is great with the children though. She doesn't have a family of her own, so she's really enjoying the opportunity to take care of them and be a fill-in mother. Akira is stuck here full-time though." She smirked over to him teasingly.
As the conversation carried on, Kiki became aware of Marcus walking across the room with his flight gear on. He ignored everyone around the table and went about his own business. Kiki got a sense of something being off and went after Marcus to see what he was up to. She followed him all the way to the airfield where one of the Cobras was just sitting and waiting for him. Somehow, Marcus had talked the ground crew into preparing the helicopter for combat. It was loaded up with fuel, rockets, and plenty of ammunition.
Kiki realized that Marcus was going rogue and planning to go out after Godzilla alone. He couldn't hope to accomplish anything on his own. So what was he doing? Suddenly it occurred to Kiki that the hopelessness of the mission was entirely the point. Marcus was planning to get himself killed. She couldn't allow that. Kiki carefully crept up on Marcus and took his hand into hers from behind. Before he could react, she was already imposing her willpower on him.
"This is a bad idea…" She said to him calmly. "…and you don't want to do it anymore. You want to go back to the barracks and rest. You are very tired."
"Yeah… I think I could use a rest." Marcus agreed almost mindlessly. "I guess I am pretty tired now that I think about it." He turned without looking at Kiki and started to walk away.
…
In Alamogordo, the authorities were evacuating anyone who would voluntarily leave, but many of the citizens of the town would not go. They were planning to defend their homes and livelihoods. The majority of the people who lived in Alamogordo had done so for generations, going all the way back to the initial settlers who'd fought to stake their claims to the land. They were too proud to abandon what they saw as theirs by blood. So, despite the urging of the authorities, numerous residents stayed.
It was raining hard in town. It was a rare thing, but not unheard of. It added to the doom and gloom of the situation. Everybody knew the giant ants would be able to move freely now, but nobody knew exactly when they might arrive at town. They had scout planes patrolling the desert. So, they would at least have some advanced warning.
Sargent Peterson was visiting the little girl in the hospital. Through the FBI, he had learned that her name was Tilly. After a long day of helping to organize the evacuation of the town for people that did have the good sense to leave, Peterson was finally able to check on her to see if she had made any more progress towards recovery. While Tilly was talking now, she still said very little. She found great comfort when Sargent Peterson came to visit her though.
Upon entering the hospital room, Sargent Peterson found that Dr. Patrica Medford was already sitting there brushing Tilly's hair. He almost didn't want to interrupt them, but Patrica noticed him lingering in the doorway and waved him in to join them. When Tilly saw Peterson, she jumped up and ran over to him eagerly, hugging him around the waist. She was as quiet as a church mouse, but her enthusiasm made him happy none-the-less.
A nurse happened to come by to collect Tilly for a test, but she assured Sargent Peterson and Dr. Medford that it wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, and they could wait in Tilly's room until she was done.
"You're so good with her, do you have children of your own Officer Peterson?" Patrica asked, observing that he was wearing a wedding band.
"You can call me Ben, Dr. Medford." Sargent Peterson answered politely. "But no, I'm afraid not. My wife… she died three years ago during childbirth. I lost both her and the baby."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." Patrica replied embarrassed. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay, I've come to accept it." Peterson assured her.
"You can call me Patrica by the way." Dr. Medford said. "You needn't be so formal. Has the FBI located any of Tilly's family?"
"Sadly, no." Sargent Peterson answered grimly. "Best they can tell, she has no other living relatives. Though we haven't found any bodies yet, it's not looking promising that we'll find her parents or brother alive."
"What will happen to her then?" Patrica asked concerned.
"In this community, we take care of our own." Peterson replied. "I was thinking about adopting her myself… if they let me. They don't generally allow single men to do that, but since I'm an officer of the law, I'm told it will be taken into consideration. I'd hate to think what an orphanage would be like for Tilly. She's had it hard enough as it is."
"Yes..." Patrica agreed, looking pensive for a moment. "Do you know why they haven't evacuated her yet?"
"Her doctor still wants to keep a close eye on her, and he has other patients here that they can't currently move because they are too ill." Peterson replied.
"That's hardly a good reason to keep her in harm's way." Patrica said, bristling at the notion.
"I argued with him about it too." Peterson agreed. "But he won't budge. He thinks the Army is going to keep the ants at bay. He thinks they won't even make it into town."
"I'll stay here and keep an eye on her." Patrica volunteered. "They don't need me at town hall anymore now that they've figured out what we're up against. I'll get her out at the first sign of trouble, her doctor's opinion on the matter be damned."
"I'm staying too." Peterson said. "I joined the force to protect my community, and that's just what I aim to do."
"There's a horde of ants emerging from the desert!" A deputy came bursting into the room to inform Sargent Peterson. "Aircraft have spotted them. They're coming early!"
…
At G-Force Headquarters in Arizona, a flu-like illness was spreading around the base. It wasn't dangerous, but it was swiftly putting men out of action. Apparently, the newly arrived airmen had brought the bug in with them from there last post. They were the ones hit the hardest by it. Several pilots were sick enough to land themselves in the infirmary.
It couldn't have come at a worse time. They'd just received an order to help with the defense of Alamogordo. The Army was deploying ground forces, but G-Force had the closest air assets. Marcus took full advantage of the situation and talked his way into joining the attack with the pilots that were still well enough to carry out the mission. Admiral Malik didn't have much choice. They needed all the help they could get.
…
On the outskirts of Alamogordo, the U.S. Army was positioning a moderate force of vehicles to defend the town. Colonel Ashton managed to scrape together twenty tanks, eight self-propelled artillery guns, and seven platoons of infantry armed with heavy weapons. They aligned themselves along the highway in a defensive posture that overlooked the Santa Laguna River.
Colonel Ashton had to make a tough decision about where to position his troops. The highway was elevated and gave them a good vantage point, but it lay on the far side of the river which would have otherwise provided them with a barrier to slow down the giant ants as they attacked. Colonel Ashton determined that the wiser course was to take advantage of the heights of the highway. He was confident from that position they'd be able to drive off the ants before they even got close to the defense line.
The soldiers dug-in and built-up sandbag battlements which transformed the heights into a modest fortress. It turned out that they didn't have to wait long for the ants to arrive. An ominous cloud of dust off in the distance signaled their approach. It looked like a sandstorm coming out of the desert. It had not rained in the deeper parts of the desert yet and the approaching swarm was kicking up a lot of dry debris in their wake. The men hurried to their positions and then waited anxiously.
The spotters for the artillery quickly began to make calculations. They reported in, and soon after, the guns opened up. The artillery couldn't aim at specific targets due to the dust cloud, but they were using fragmentation shells in any case, so showering the general area would be good enough until they could get more precise targeting information.
A few minutes went by as the artillery pounded away, and the cloud of dust closed in on the Army's lines. Finally, they had gotten close enough to where dark masses could be identified amongst the veil of elements. Colonel Ashton used his binoculars to get a better look and was alarmed by what he saw. Dr. Medford had told him to expect perhaps as many as one hundred individual ant specimens. What he was looking at must have been closer to five hundred. The artillery was thinning them out, but not nearly enough to make a difference. The oncoming horde was definitely going to reach the defensive line before they could turn them back.
It was too late to retreat. Colonel Ashton would never be able to withdraw his infantry before the ants were upon them. No, he realized they'd have to make their stand where they were, and hope they'd be able to inflict enough damage to drive off the ants. Colonel Ashton radioed his tank commanders to prepare to engage. The ants would soon be in range of their cannons.
The order was given, and Colonel Ashton could see one of the lead ants go down as a tank shell hit it square in the middle of its head. It seemed as though they could at least kill the ants with a direct hit. If they could just keep up a high rate of accurate fire, then they might stand a chance. Ashton noticed something interesting, though it could hardly be considered good news. The ants that were charging the line were actually bigger than what he was told to expect.
It didn't matter. Being bigger would just make them easier to hit. The ants had closed into range of the mortar crews. They began to lob explosives into the horde. The mortars were less effective than the artillery though. They were able to injure ants, but not outright kill them. Still, it was slowing some of them down. The riflemen began to take shots at the swarm too. Regular rifles didn't have much effect. Only large volleys of concentrated fire that targeted the same individual ant seemed to be able to take them down.
The ant horde was getting uncomfortably close to the line now. Colonel Ashton had one final trick up his sleeve though. Positioned just below the main line, there were soldiers outfitted with flamethrowers. They only had one job: keeping the bugs at bay long enough for other units to pick them off. The insects couldn't handle the desert heat, so they definitely wouldn't like napalm being sprayed at them. Long streams of fire began to jet out as the giant ants got close. Finally, the leading elements of the horde stopped in their tracks. They could sense the inferno ahead of them and wanted no part of it.
At that range, tanks had no issue hitting their mark. Many ants were shot down on the spot. That didn't stop them, however. Casualties meant very little to the swarm. Like surging water parting around a rock in a river, the insects streamed around the defensive line. The Army soldiers were about to be flanked. The limited number of troops they had at their disposal was coming back to bite them. The ants enveloped the entire line from both sides and started to hit the artillery in the rear. The fighting got fierce as the ants could finally press their advantage in up-close combat. The soldiers fought on bravely, but the fight was effectively already over.
Infantrymen were snatched up into eager mandibles. Some were eaten right there on the spot, while others were simply sheered in two as the angry ants moved to look for other victims. One man resolved to take out his attacker with him, pulling the pin of a grenade as he was pulled into his attacker's mouth. The ant's head exploded a moment later. The onslaught otherwise continued around them mercilessly.
The tank crews weren't much safer. Once the infantry had been thinned out, the ants began to cut their way through the tank's armor to get to the crews inside. Even through the steel chassis, the ants could detect the men dwelling within the machines.
By that point, the battle was truly lost. There was almost no resistance left. Trucks were overturned as ants hunted men who were trying to hide underneath them. The last surviving soldiers ran to the river hoping to escape, but they ended up being trapped between the flow of the water and the ants that were pursuing them. Most of the men decided to take their chances in the water, keen on swimming across, but because of the recent storm, the river's current was fairly strong, and many were swept away or drown. Those who hesitated were snatched up and torn to shreds.
Colonel Ashton was one of the last men to die. He had concealed himself in a foxhole, but the ants could smell him hiding there and made short work of digging him out. To his credit, Colonel Ashton had kept his head and radioed to warn the people of Alamogordo that the attack had failed, and the swarm was coming for them next.
…
In Canada, Bagorah had arrived in the city of Vancouver. His voracious appetite needed to be sated, and to Bagorah, it seemed like as good a place as any to find food. The city was practically defenseless. The Canadian Army had deployed units to the city in a last-ditch effort to put up resistance, though what they hoped to accomplish was questionable.
Lieutenant Tremblay and Private Sassaba found themselves in the unenviable position of being part of the detachment sent to the city after completing their mission in the Sunblood Mountains. They, along with a platoon of soldiers, found themselves staring up and watching the monster as it stalked around in the skies above them.
Bagorah eventually found himself flying above one of the tallest skyscrapers in Vancouver's business district. He unleashed one of his sonic screeches. The few radar stations tracking him were instantly knocked out. All electrical equipment within a three-mile radius of the monster was shorted. People near the epicenter were temporarily deafened by the sound. Victims were left bleeding as their eardrums were ruptured. Even people at the edge of the affected area were left clenching their ears in pain. However, the worst thing that came of it was the shattered glass that came raining down from the buildings around the monster. People in the streets below had no idea of the deadly shower of shards that was about to pour down onto them. The results were gruesome and deadly. The lucky victims were killed instantly. Those who survived, were left wandering around cut from head to toe, grotesque and bloody messes suffering more-so with each step they took.
Oblivious to the suffering he had caused, Bagorah landed on top of one of the skyscrapers to get the lay of the land. The building he chose just barely held together under his weight. All the sounds of the city confused Bagorah's senses. There was too much information to process properly. So many strange sights, sounds, and smells. He was too sensitive to take it all in at once. It was simply overwhelming for Bagorah, and he found it hard to focus on any one thing.
Through the mess of it all, Bagorah's ears twitched as he detected something unique. Sensing danger, he dropped forward off of the building he was perched on just as Mothra flew into the space his body had been occupying. Bagorah's keen senses had tipped him off, allowing him to dodge Mothra's sneak attack. Bagorah dove down near the streets and then popped back up into the sky to get a look at his foe.
As soon as he caught sight of Mothra, she was already using her yellow antennae beams to blast him from the sky. She just narrowly missed as Bagorah dodged. She flew towards him at top speed, attempting to ram him again. Bagorah countered using his sonic call. The disruption was enough to confuse Mothra's senses and shift her off course.
"Look, Mothra has come to stop Bagorah!" Lieutenant Tremblay shouted. "That's funny, a moth is hunting a bat. Pretty ironic, eh Sassaba?" He noted, seeing that Mothra was at least twice as large as Bagorah.
"Yeah, but it seems like the big bat is able to disorient her with his soundwaves." Sassaba pointed out. "She can't get a bead on him." The size disparity was actually an advantage for Bagorah. It meant that he was faster than Mothra and was easily able to elude her.
"Disoriented huh… that gives me an idea." Lieutenant Tremblay announced. "Come on." The two Rangers ran into a nearby radio station.
"Why did Mothra wait until now to attack?" Sassaba asked. "Why not take out Bagorah while he was still in the Sunblood Mountains?"
"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say Mothra believes that other kaiju have the right to exist, so long as they stay in their own remote territories and do not come into conflict with mankind. But Bagorah sure is not sticking to his own back yard right now, is he?"
The Army Rangers found their way into the station's sound booth and Lieutenant Tremblay instructed the disc jockey they found there to play the loudest and most obnoxious piece of music he could think of. After just a moment of consideration, the DJ made his selection and put it on the air. Tremblay told the guy to pump up the music to its maximum volume and then increase the radio station's signal all the way up to the limit as well.
Tremblay and Sassaba then went to the window holding their ears to see if their gambit had paid off. It seemed to be working. Bagorah looked distressed as the powerful radio signal started to reach him. Bagorah was so agitated and distracted that he had to land. Slowly, he began to figure out where the signal was coming from and then made his way towards the station. Tremblay was starting to sweat. Bagorah was now quite angry, and he was coming right for them.
Mothra, however, was ready to take full advantage of the situation. She immediately soared above Bagorah and began to utilize her powder attack. Bagorah was only able to move a couple of steps forward before he was completely neutralized. Stunned and paralyzed, he was no longer a threat to Vancouver. Mothra came down and grasped onto him. She lifted Bagorah out of the city and began to fly off with him in a westward direction.
…
In Alamogordo, the swarm was approaching Jake and Ables ranches. The two men had put their differences aside and were working together to defend their land. All of their hands were out with their Winchester rifles. Unfortunately, they were woefully unprepared for what was coming at them. While only a small fraction of the ant horde was attacking their plots of land, it would prove to be more than enough to overcome the men armed with simple rifles. The skirmish was short, once sided, and brutal.
Elsewhere in Alamogordo, similar incidents were taking place. The giant ants had spread out all-over town and total mayhem had descended upon the community. Sargent Peterson was speeding through the streets in his squad car like a mad man, dodging around giant ants were he had to. He was determined to make it to the hospital to rescue Tilly and Patrica. The horde had descended on the town faster than anyone had expected. Chief Murrill was dead. The whole police department had died fighting them. Only Peterson managed to get away. Any man who tried to stand his ground against the invaders met with a quick end. Escape was the only option left.
It was just Peterson's mobility that was keeping him alive at that point. If he made any mistakes, he was done for. Everyone else in the town had either retreated into their basements or to the top of their roofs. For a time, it kept them safe while the ants looked for easier prey. Every block in the town was under siege by that point.
These ants were bigger than the ones Peterson had seen before, and he couldn't understand why. Maybe the ones they'd seen in the desert were just the scouts and these were the warriors? Or perhaps the radioactive ants were still in the process of growing to their full size. Whatever the reason, the gigantic ants were wreaking havoc in Alamogordo. It wouldn't be long until they started demolishing buildings to get to the people inside, and though it pained him, there wasn't a thing Peterson could do about that. The situation was well out of his control. At that point, the only thing he could do is try to look out for himself and the people he cared for.
Sargent Peterson arrived at the hospital, which had mercifully not come under attack yet. He screeched to a halt in the parking lot and then ran inside to find Patrica and Tilly. He found them waiting for him in the lobby.
"Papa!" Tilly shouted to Peterson as he reached down to pick her up. It warmed his heart, but he couldn't afford to waste a second enjoying it.
"We need to go, now!" He urged the girls to follow him.
By the time they got back to the front entrance, it was too late though. Three of the giant ants had already arrived behind Peterson. One of them was standing directly between them and the squad car. Peterson looked down to his sidearm thinking about taking his chances. He knew it wouldn't be enough though. He led the girls to the hospital's interior stairwell and then towards the roof. He knew that the military was still sending helicopters to the town. Maybe if they got lucky, and they held out long enough, they could be evacuated from the helipad once help arrived.
From the top of the roof, the three of them could see just how dire the situation had become. At least half of the initial horde of ants had survived the assault on the Army and they had overrun the entire town. Everyone left alive was just as trapped as they were. Things were looking bad.
It was at that moment that the calvary arrived. The air-calvary, specifically. The brigade of G-Force helicopters was approaching from the west. The helicopters began to fan out when they reached the outskirts of Alamogordo. The commander was designating targets for each of the gunships to maximize their firepower. The first helicopter to engage used a rocket pod to dispatch the nearest ant. The insect was blown in half, severing the thorax from the abdomen entirely. The ant was still alive, but it was crippled and out of action. That proved that the Cobras had the firepower necessary to put the ants down. There was still hope for the townsfolk yet.
The fleet of helicopters got to work clearing out the swarm were they could. Pretty soon, a whole section of Alamogordo was clear, and a large group of people who had taken refuge on the roof of the high school were evacuated by a Chinook. The situation was looking up, but then the helicopters began to run out of rockets. They only had their cannons left to rely on, and there were still well-over a hundred and fifty ants remaining.
Worse yet, the horde proved not to be entirely defenseless. A helicopter which flew too close to the ground discovered that the ants could spray formic acid from their stingers. When the giant ants felt a disturbance in the airflow above them, they would spurt the corrosive substance up into the sky. The unlucky pilot's Cobra got doused, and his engine compartment got flooded and conked out. The helicopter fell from the sky and crashed into a house below. After that, the other pilots were forced to keep their distance. Their machine guns just weren't as effective as the rockets had been, particularly at a greater range.
That didn't stop one of the pilots though. An individual Cobra was diving down wildly and hammering the ants with his nose cannon. The ants sprayed acid at him each time, but somehow, they just kept missing him. Peterson watched in awe. The pilot was either extremely courageous or simply had a death wish. The man fearlessly swooped down again and again, throwing caution to the wind. Soon enough though, he ran out of ammo.
At that point, Peterson became aware that the ants surrounding the hospital were beginning to climb up the walls of the building. Peterson pulled out his revolver and put six entire rounds into the eye of the first ant to pop its head over the side. The ant lost its grip and fell back to the ground. Peterson reloaded but he realized that he didn't have enough bullets to pull off that same miracle enough times to account for all of the ants.
Suddenly, a gust of wind filled the roof as a helicopter was landing. Peterson was hoping that it was one of the Hueys to extract him and the girls, but to his surprise, it was the same Cobra that had been diving down on the horde recklessly. The aircraft didn't have space to accommodate passengers, so Peterson was clueless as to what the pilot was hoping to accomplish. Soon, it became apparent. The airman hopped out of his helicopter armed with a bazooka. He loaded it and then took aim at the next ant to show its face. He fired an anti-tank rocket and the ant's head exploded.
"Help me out with this!" The pilot shouted to Peterson in a demanding voice.
Peterson snapped to it and loaded the next round. Sargent Peterson had been in the Army during the last war, and he had some prior experience handling such weapons. It immediately came back to him. At that point, all of the commotion had attracted more of the giant ants to the hospital. The pilot didn't wait for them to climb up the building though. He went to the edge and then fired down upon them. After firing off six additional rounds, he was out of ammo, but the ants were still coming.
"Get out of here!" The pilot shouted to Peterson, pointing back to the stairwell.
Peterson collected Tilly and Patricia who were both very frightened by that point. As they got to the stairs, Peterson looked back to the pilot who had not followed them. Instead, he had retreated back to his aircraft. To Peterson's shock, the pilot did not try to lift back off. Instead, he was pulling out yet another weapon that he had somehow stashed in his cockpit. It was a flamethrower! Peterson couldn't help but think that the pilot was absolutely nuts. Flying around with that had to be extremely risky, and why would he even think he'd be in a situation to land and use such a weapon in the first place? It was like he had planned out the whole thing to begin with.
One of the ants reached the top of the roof just as the pilot got the flamethrower ready. The airman saw it coming and doused it in flames. The creature screamed in pain as it was engulfed. It fell over the side of the building down onto other ants, which quickly dispersed, as they didn't want to get burned themselves. From the other side of the building, more ants were climbing up.
"Lookout!" Peterson warned the pilot. The man turned to see the threat and hosed them down in quick succession. Peterson caught a glimpse of the pilot's face and saw a crazed look in his eyes. The man seemed like he was prepared to fight to the death, even though he didn't have to. He still had the option to withdraw in his waiting Cobra, but it didn't seem like he was even considering that as a possibility. As it turned out though, Peterson wouldn't get the opportunity to see just how far the pilot was willing to go.
As the battle still raged on all over town, a loud roar echoed through the landscape. Godzilla had arrived on the scene. The ant's radioactivity had attracted his attention and diverted him away from his original destination. After battling King Ghidorah, Godzilla was feeling very hungry for a source of radiation to replenish his depleted energy stores. Godzilla picked up one of the fallen ants at the outskirts of town and his back spines sparkled as he absorbed its radiation. It wasn't enough to satisfy him though, not nearly enough. It wasn't even enough to be considered and appetizer for him. He needed more, much more.
Godzilla went from ant to ant, dead or alive, and then drained them of every ounce of their radioactivity. The live ones tried to put up a fight, but Godzilla was at least twenty times larger than any one of the individual ants, and they were spread-out all over Alamogordo and vulnerable. They had no hope of resisting him. The ants seemed to sense that they were at a disadvantage and began to withdraw from town.
Just like that, the Battle of Alamogordo was over. The town was saved. Ironically, it wasn't G-Force that had rescued the desperate citizens, but rather their principal opponent, Godzilla, who could take most of the credit. Godzilla began to follow what remained of the swarm out of town and back to their nest.
…
It didn't take long for the ants or Godzilla to cover the distance to the main entrance of the hive. The giant ants rallied to defend their home. Pheromone alarm signals alerted the rest of the nest to danger. Angry warriors and workers streamed out of the opening to face off against the intruder. The ground quaked as the queen ant herself came to the surface to engage in combat and direct her troops. She and the royal guard waited in the backline while the rest of the colony swarmed towards the threat.
At first, Godzilla was distracted by the overwhelming number of enemies he faced. He'd never found himself in a situation like this before. Through his recent experiences, he'd grown rather accustomed to one-on-one encounters. In stark contrast, this was like fighting a veritable ocean of opponents. His first instinct was to unleash his atomic breath, but he was still in a slightly weakened state. Godzilla decided that it would be better to hold onto his power moves until he absolutely needed to use them. Every moment he waited strengthened his position. The area he found himself in was a nuclear wasteland. It was still teeming with radioactive fallout despite the fact that the ants had been feeding on it for so long.
The Queen ant seemed to sense Godzilla was threatening not only her hive, but also their primary food source as well. What was at risk for them in this fight was nothing less than their colony's very survival. They couldn't just retreat underground to ride out Godzilla's rampage on the surface. If they did so, Godzilla would absorb every particle of the fallout and leave them with nothing left to subsist on. They only had one hope: They had to kill Godzilla before he could return to full strength. If they could manage that, not only could they absorb all of his radiation, but they could also feed the brood in the hive below with the flesh of his body, using his protein to replenish all of the numbers they'd lost that day fighting the humans. It would be a grand prize for them and ensure their colony's future.
With very high stakes at risk for both Godzilla and the ants, the battle ensued. The ants charged Godzilla and began to overwhelm him with their numbers. The giant ants had a difficult time penetrating Godzilla's hide with their mandibles, but that was far from the only weapon they had at their disposal. They hadn't needed to employ their stingers against the humans, but Godzilla was just the sort of threat which required their most-potent weapon. The ants latched onto Godzilla skin with their jaws, anchoring themselves down, and then injected him with their venom. Godzilla was punctured multiple times and the poison proved to be quite painful.
In his weakened state, Godzilla was more susceptible to the ant's attacks. It was testing his body's regenerative abilities. They were having a hard time keeping up and countering the sheer amount of toxin that was being pumped into his system. His defenses were rapidly being outpaced, and Godzilla was beginning to feel the effects. At that point, he had nearly disappeared under a wave of angry ants.
However, the close proximity of so many ants also presented an opportunity for Godzilla. The clustered mass of radioactive bodies was feeding fuel into his system. Godzilla had accumulated enough energy to use his own most-potent defense. Godzilla discharged his nuclear pulse, and each ant that had fastened themselves to him was blasted away from his body. None of them were durable enough to survive the onslaught of the supercharged attack. They were blown to pieces and showered down over their nearby hive-mates.
Godzilla stormed forward, stomping on ants as he went. He picked up one large warrior in his hand and then crushed the life out of it. He disregarded the body and then used his tail to send a group of nearby worker ants flying.
The battle was quickly getting out of control for the Queen and her forces. Every moment that passed meant that Godzilla was getting stronger. The ants shifted tactics, using their formic acid from a distance to rain down all over Godzilla's body. One lucky stream hit him in the eye and brought Godzilla's rampage to a stop. He brought a hand up to his face as the acid burned away at his eye. It didn't actually do a lot of physical damage, but it was quite painful.
Sensing an opportunity, the Queen ant herself engaged in combat, using her mandibles to bite Godzilla around the neck. She was much larger than any of her minions and her biteforce was much stronger too. She was actually beginning to close off Godzilla's windpipe. The royal guard joined in on the attack to support their Queen. Godzilla was having none of it though. He used both of his hands to grasp onto the Queen's head and then wrenched her head clean away from her body.
The Queen's body fell to the ground, though her head was still attached to Godzilla's neck. There was no strength in her bite anymore though. Godzilla's back spines began to glow, and he used his atomic breath to roast a score of warrior ants around him. Without their Queen to direct them anymore, and the searing fire burning nearby, the ants fell into a state of disarray. Many of them simply ran around in circles, unsure of what to do. Godzilla ended up killing most of them one by one. Some managed to retreat back into the hive.
With the fight over, Godzilla continued on towards the epicenter of the nuclear test site and then absorbed all of the radiation he found there. His appetite was finally satisfied.
…
In the aftermath of the battle, G-Force secured the assistance of more Army ground units for an assault on the remnants of the colony. With the radiation in the area all soaked up by Godzilla, they were now free to invade the hive to mop up whatever resistance the ants could offer. The Army was thirsty for retribution and committed an overwhelming force to the operation. The soldiers blissfully wiped out every ant they could find in the colony using flamethrowers. It was a one-sided massacre.
However, as the troops reached the lowest bowels of the tunnels, they made a terrible discovery. Dr. Medford had warned them that they needed to ensure the breeders in the colony were killed to guarantee the ants were wiped out for good. If they weren't, the giant ants could potentially start an entirely new colony somewhere else in the country.
Dr. Medford said that they'd be able to identify the breeders by their wings. Only future Queens and their consorts would have them. There was only one problem though, the soldiers infiltrating the colony found no winged ants inside the nest whatsoever. Not a single specimen had them. That meant that the breeders escaped the colony prior to the military's arrival.
An hour later, a civilian crop-duster reported seeing a gigantic winged ant flying over a rural area in Utah.
…
Above one of the Sollgel Islands, Mothra was arriving with the still unconscious Bagorah. She deposited him onto one of the high mountain peaks where he would be safe until he reawakened. On Sollgel, Bagorah would be free to feed on as much giant insect life as his heart could desire. He would never have a need to leave the island again for want of food. There, he could be content and not trouble mankind ever again.
...
Thanks for the reviews: godzillafan1, Yessssss, TREBOR.E, A Fellow Homie, and Crabman.
Thanks for the Favs and Follows: Various people. FanFiction made it kind of hard to keep track of you folks, but I still appreciate you.
For more chapters, please Favorite, follow, and above all, send me reviews. Let me know how I'm doing.
Higher Engagement = Quicker Uploads.