Chapter 36: “Battle of the Bugs”
In Shizunoura, Marcus sat quietly by himself at the top of the hill overlooking Mothra’s remains. Wind was blowing through the tall grass around him. He just couldn’t believe what had happened. He stared off at nothing in particular, his mind working through everything. There were so many questions floating around in his head. Why hadn’t Mothra retreated, or at least tried to fight with the new monster that had emerged from the egg? Together they may have stood a chance. In the final moments of the battle, what had Mothra done to Godzilla and why did it seemingly kill her doing it?
What was the armored caterpillar that had emerged from the egg? How did it relate to Mothra? Clearly there was some type of connection. Who wanted it destroyed, and why? Who were the spirits from Marcus’ dream and why did they want the egg protected? Why would Mothra go to such an extreme, going so far as to sacrifice herself, to protect it? The end of the battle had certainly left more questions in its aftermath than it answered.
Marcus’ innermost thoughts were disturbed by the thumbing of helicopter blades. He looked up and saw an Archimedes helicopter arriving above him. When it landed, he could see Brock inside. The burly marine got out, walked over, and informed Marcus that he was there to collect him and take him back to the USS Independence. The new monster was being tracked moving out to sea and Admiral Malek wanted Marcus to take part in the operation.
Akira and Ling had spotted the helicopter and were making their way back up the hill. Marcus watched them for a moment, and then slowly began to rise. Brock could tell he was upset, so he waved to the pilot to give him a moment so Marcus could explain what had happened. Marcus then summarized it all very quickly and concisely for Brock.
“Wow, you threatened a civilian?!” Brock asked incredulously when he was done.
“Well, he was an asshole.” Marcus replied defensively.
“Hey, I’m not attacking you, in fact, I couldn’t be prouder.” Brock waved a hand, belly laughing. “I only wish I was there to see it myself. That would have been classic.”
“Yeah, well I just hope he doesn’t raise a complaint.” Marcus countered anxiously. “It could reflect poorly on the organization if it were to get out.”
“He won’t.” Kiki cut in, standing behind Marcus and Brock. Somehow, she snuck up on them and had been eavesdropping on their conversation. They both turned to face her. “And his partner won’t either.” She followed up, anticipating Marcus’ next question. “They are both dead. They were in a hotel nearby that Godzilla crushed on his way here. Their broken bodies are being pulled from the wreckage by emergency crews as we speak.” Marcus peered behind Kiki and saw that she had been brought to the site by the IJA, who were fanning out. They must have needed her in to consult in some fashion.
“How do you know?” Brock asked suspiciously. He was very leery of Kiki, not forgetting about their last encounter together. She simply took her index and middle finger and tapped them twice on her temple, smiling at them knowingly.
“I see.” Marcus replied, understanding perfectly.
“Don’t fret, they were both scum.” Kiki said in a somewhat indifferent tone, which was very uncharacteristic for her. “They died fighting each other like animals. The two of them lived hateful and greedy lives, exploiting those around them. Trust me, they had it coming.”
“I suppose that’s what they get for having the hubris to try to keep a kaiju captive.” Marcus agreed.
“Marcus…” Kiki stepped forward unexpectedly. “I know that you are distraught about what happened to Mothra, but don’t be sad. It’s all going to work out in time. She simply gave something to Godzilla, and she took something in return.” She added cryptically.
“What do you mean?” Marcus asked confused. “How is she supposed to use anything she gained from Godzilla? She’s dead…” Marcus’ words trembled; he was starting to get upset again. His eyes welled up.
“I don’t know, actually.” Kiki answered, looking off to the side unsure of herself. Then she leaned forward and touched Marcus’ shoulder, quietly using her powers to sooth his sorrow. She did not take it away entirely, but rather made it more manageable. “I just have this feeling. Sorry, I don’t mean to be so ambiguous. All I know for sure is something was given, and something was taken away.”
“What are they going to do with the body?” Marcus asked, shaking off the strange feeling that was coming over him.
“I suppose that’s for the authorities to decide.” Kiki replied.
“Admiral Malek wants it studied.” Brock cut into the conversation. “He’s having one of the cruisers remain behind to begin the process. Dr. Orsini is going to be part of the team of scientists. She’s too big to move…” Brock hesitated before going on, he could see the news was hard for Marcus to hear. “…so they are going to build a facility around her.” Marcus found the notion distasteful, but at the same time, he understood. They had made a several breakthroughs understanding Kaiju through studying Kamerus’ body. They couldn’t waste this opportunity. Marcus could tolerate it, just so long as he didn’t have to be part of it.
“I guess it’s time to go.” Marcus noted, seeing that Ling and Akira had arrived at the top of the hill. Knowing what was going to happen, he didn’t want to be at the site anymore. He knew they shouldn’t keep the admiral waiting any longer anyways. Marcus, Brock, and Ling began walking towards the waiting chopper. But Ling stopped and turned back, facing Akira.
“Thank you for defending me.” Ling said simply, nodding to Akira in respect.
“It was nothing.” Akira replied, taken a little by surprise. “A man should be judged as an individual, by his own merits, not by his race or creed.”
Ling stared for a moment considering those words before nodding a second time to Akira. Then he got inside the helicopter and the side door closed behind him. The chopper lifted off, offering Marcus and the others one final look at Mothra as they began to rise up high into the sky.
“Thank you…” Marcus whispered to Mothra peering down. Then the chopper started forward, carrying them away from the area.
…
Their helicopter arrived at Suruga Bay sometime later. The Archimedes fleet was already beginning to break up. As Brock said, one cruiser was heading to the nearest harbor to remain behind with Mothra and set up shop. Another was setting a course to Sollgel Island. Marcus assumed Admiral Malek was dispatching them to retrieve his wayward spy. Brock had filled him in about the S.O.S. during their helicopter ride back to the fleet. Finally, the cruiser they landed on, the USS Olympia, was earmarked to pursue the new monster, who was heading away from Japan and out to sea due east. He was swimming on the surface of the water, so he was easy to track. The rest of the Archimedes fleet were spreading out to locate Godzilla, fearing that he was still lurking in Japanese territorial waters.
…
On Sollgel Island, events were moving forward. Despite help being enroute, the troubles of the survivors were far from over. A strange tropical illness had descended upon the party. Three-quarters of the men were stricken with high-fevers, extreme fatigue, and hallucinations. Fortunately, Raeko had already encountered this disease in her time on the island and she knew how to treat it. Near the center of the island was a lagoon of red water which had medicinal benefits. If they could obtain enough of it, they could essentially cure everyone overnight.
Out of necessity, Raeko had to go since she was the only one who could locate the pool. Maki wasted no time in volunteering too. Dr. Kusumi decided it was best to keep the number of personnel on the expedition to a bare minimum to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Two people on their own might have a better chance of remaining undetected compared to a large group. At first, Maki wanted to set out at night and stick to the forest to avoid discovery by one of the larger predators, but Raeko was quick to point out that they’d need to see and avoid the man-eating plants they had encountered on their last outing.
Raeko instead suggested an alternative that seemed safer, and yet carried some risks of its own. If they were to take the path that ran through the Spiga’s presumed lair, they could avoid the killer plants entirely and potentially the Kamacuras too. The expanse around the Spiga’s nest was rocky and unsuitable for vegetation to grow, and when they were normal sized, the Kamacuras avoided that area like the plague. However, it was possible that the giant mantids had grown bolder with their newly found stature. Nothing was certain.
Maki found Raeko’s reasoning suspect. The justification for taking her route lent weight to the theory that Spiga was more than just an island legend. If the Kamacuras avoided the area, it meant that they perceived a real threat residing there. However, the possibility of awaking a giant spider that could be imagined versus the near-certainly of encountering one of the Kamacuras, or something else equally dangerous in the jungle, undoubtedly was the lesser of the two evils. Thus, Maki agreed to Raeko’s plan.
The pair departed early in the morning to avoid the worst of the island heat. They soon found themselves traversing the outer ring of the stony crater which was allegedly Spiga’s home. There were no signs of activity, which made Maki feel better, but Raeko wasn’t feeling the same level of confidence he was. Her apprehension was written all over her face. Maki could hardly blame her. For Raeko, this was a dark, deep-seeded fear from her childhood that had never been properly confronted. Raeko thought she heard a noise below and froze. She stared down into the valley, watching for movement.
“Don’t worry Raeko, I’m right here with you.” Maki said quietly, coming up from behind, taking her hand supportively. “I won’t let anything happen to you, but we’d better keep moving.” He suggested. Raeko said nothing, but she looked at him and nodded.
Before long, they had made it to the other side of the crater and were moving onwards towards the waiting pool of red water. The path between them and it was surprisingly clear. They saw more animal-sized insects along the way, but nothing that was particularly threatening to them.
“The whole ecosystem here is changing, becoming sinister, and savage.” Raeko noted solemnly.
“Yeah, you can’t throw a rock around here without hitting at least three of these bugs.” Marcus replied, stepping over a three-foot-long millipede scurrying below him.
“I thought about what you said.” Raeko went on. “This really isn’t the home I knew anymore. I will return to Japan with you.”
“That’s great.” Maki exclaimed, trying to tone down his enthusiasm. “I was thinking too. You know, there are a lot of green places in Japan out in the countryside I’m sure you’d love. That might be a happy medium between this island and a city. There are still insects, but they certainly aren’t as big.” He quipped. Raeko smiled back at Maki as they came over a hill revealing the lake they sought. “Hey, look over there, it’s the red water. Let’s get some and then get the heck out of here.”
Raeko and Maki ran over to the shore of the red lake and took out their various canteens. One by one, they dipped the containers into the water and filled them up to the brim. As Raeko was finishing filling her final container, she took a healthy swig of the red water and then refilled it again. Maki was quick to follow her example. They might as well get ahead of any infection that could already be brewing inside of their systems.
The two of them rested there for a moment securing all of their cargo. As Maki was helping Raeko strap a container to her thigh, he noticed something troubling in the water next two them. Before they arrived, the surface of the lake was relatively still, but now Maki could see consistent ripples on the water. They were rhythmic, consistent, and getting stronger. It instantly dawned on Maki what could be causing it. He grabbed Raeko by the hand and took off with her running for the nearest cover.
Just as Maki and Raeko reached a line of trees, they heard the shrill call of one of the Kamacuras behind them. The steady impacts of the monster’s twin pairs of legs hitting the ground were what was causing the wrinkles on the water. Maki peaked out from their cover and saw that the monster was still a little ways off and hadn’t noticed them yet. He looked at Raeko, and without words, could see that they agreed the best thing to do was to keep moving away from the monster through cover.
By mere chance, the Kamacuras seemed to be going the same direction Maki and Raeko were. The monster was unknowingly closing in on their position. The mantid stopped briefly to drink at the lake but then kept moving forward towards them. After a few minutes, the Kamacuras was getting very close. Raeko and Maki started to run, recognizing that stealth was no longer the best option. They hoped if they could make it back to the Spiga’s lair, the giant mantis wouldn’t dare to follow them there.
The Kamacuras’ compound eyes picked up on Maki and Raeko’s movement amongst the trees and it shifted course, coming right for them. Any possibility of going unnoticed was gone. Worse, the water Maki and Raeko were carrying was starting to slow them down. Just as the came to the edge of the jungle, the monster used one of its hooked claws to sheer away the canopy over them. Trees tops popped off like dandy-lion heads, and fell all around Maki and Rako, fully revealing their presence.
Raeko and Maki kept going, desperately dashing to get away. They were nearing the outer edge of the stone valley. Now that the Kamacuras had seen them, nothing was going to stop him. The giant mantis took to the air and flew out ahead of Maki and Raeko. As he landed, Kamacuras found himself on the uneven surface of the inner edge of the crater. The monster slid slightly, displacing an entire section of boulders, sending the rocks tumbling down into the valley below.
Eventually Kamacuras found solid ground and regained his footing. He started to wheel around to face his prey. Maki and Raeko came to a halt, nearly out of breath and cut-off from their escape route. Neither of them was sure what to do next. Seeing very few options, Maki made a decision. He stepped in front of Raeko and began to take off his water bottles.
“When I say so, you take off to the left and try to make your way around the monster.” Maki instructed Raeko. “I’m going to charge it to get its attention and then break right. If I can keep it occupied long enough, you might just be able to escape.”
“What?!” Raeko exclaimed as Maki’s meaning sunk in. Clearly, he meant to sacrifice himself for her. “No, you can’t do that!” She objected.
“I’m sorry, Raeko.” Maki looked over to her with regret. “I didn’t want it to end like this. But one of us might make it this way.” Maki was tearing up, realizing these were likely going to be the last moments of his life. But if he was going to die, at least it was going to be doing something worthwhile.
“I can’t go along with that!” Raeko came up and put her arms around Maki, preventing him from going. “You can’t ask me to.” She was weeping too.
“There’s no time to argue.” Maki pleaded with Raeko. “Please, just do this for me.”
Meanwhile Kamacuras was still trying to climb back out of the crater. The loose soil there was giving him a hard time. With all of the monster’s weight being focused on the shaft-like tips of his thin legs, the dirt just couldn’t hold up to the stress, giving out again and again. The mantid was literally facing an uphill battle. Unbeknownst to all of the parties involved, something sinister was ensuing at the bottom of the pit.
All of the commotion Kamacuras’ struggling was causing had provoked the apex predator of Monster Island. Its domain encroached upon; Spiga was beginning to stir underneath the ground. No longer just a myth or a legend, he was awake. Suddenly, a massive hairy leg breached the surface of the pit. Neither Raeko, Maki, nor the Kamacuras were yet aware of the looming threat, even as it continued to emerge. More and more legs of the giant spider sprouted from the earth. Once enough of them had gained a foothold, Spiga pulled the rest of his body up to the surface. He took shape as rocks and dirt rolled off of his back.
Once in the open air, Spiga wasted no time. He quickly identified a target and began to clamor up the side of the crater towards it. Unfortunately for Kamacuras, he was the target. The giant mantis finally started to detect the oncoming threat and turned its head to see the massive spider heading right for him. Kamacuras acted immediately, using its wings to fly up and over the edge of the crater, getting entirely clear. He landed a hundred yards back, facing towards Spiga. Instinctively, Kamacuras knew it was facing a lethal threat, but he was himself a predator, and hungry to boot. Spiga would make a grand feast if he could defeat him.
Kamacuras, however, had made a crucial error in judgement. If he was wise, he should have just kept flapping his wings and gotten away while he still had a chance to. When Spiga finally crested the outer ring of the basin, Kamacuras could see that the spider-kaiju was in fact quite a lot larger than he was. Spiga had looked considerably smaller when he was at the bottom of the pit climbing up. Now face to face, Kamacuras knew that he was outmatched. Perhaps if his two companions were with him, together they might stand a chance, but what lay before him was not a winning scenario.
Seeing no other choice, Kamacuras rushed forward bravely, clamping down on one of Spiga’s front legs, trying to force him back into the crater. If he could just push Spiga back onto the loose soil, he could perhaps knock the giant spider back to the bottom of the pit, then escape into the sky while he was recovering. Spiga, however, was heavier than Kamacuras and had far more legs to push back with. He steadily pressed forward, forcing the mantid-kaiju backways until they were both on solid ground.
Out of desperation, Kamacuras tried to take flight, but his effort was short-lived. Spiga unleashed one of his most potent weapons, a strong and steady stream of webbing flowed forth from his mouth. Almost instantaneously, the webbing obstructed Kamacuras’ wings, preventing them from flapping anymore. Kamacuras sank back to the ground, landing almost exactly where he’d taken off from. Spiga spurt even more silk on him, which incapacitated Kamacuras even further. His every move became stiff and difficult.
Sensing that Kamacuras couldn’t put up much more resistance, Spiga moved in for the kill. However, as the giant spider closed in, Kamacuras used all of its strength to rip through the web holding back its claws. The mutated mantid used its pointed claw to stab into Spiga’s face while using the hooked one to try to hold him back. Neither effort stopped Spiga for long though. The spider powered forward until he was right up next to Kamacuras’ face. Only then did Spiga deploy the venomous stinger from his mouth. The spike-like projectile pierced into Kamacuras forehead and injected poison inside. The toxin worked incredibly quickly. Within seconds, the light left Kamacuras’ compound eyes and his body collapsed to the ground, leaving Spiga to consume his meal at his leisure.
Maki and Raeko were both relieved and horrified at the same time. Raeko had always been scared of stories about Spiga, perhaps then it was ironic that he had just saved her. Just the same, he could hardly be looked upon as a friend going forward. As the battle ended, Maki and Raeko took up the red water and slipped around Spiga’s blind spot, making for the safety of the cavern. The remaining Kamacuras on the island were certainly still a threat, but they paled in comparison to Spiga. The rest of the science team needed to be warned about his emergence.
…
Several days later, Marcus was sailing out in the Pacific Ocean on board the fastest cruiser in the Archimedes fleet, the USS Olympia. They were on the trail of the armored caterpillar kaiju. Per Marcus’ suggestion, the new monster had been dubbed Battra. Much like Mothra before him, Marcus somehow just knew that was his proper name. Given that Marcus was the first person to realize that Battra wasn’t simply another Mothra larva and was also one of the few people present when he hatched, the higher ups decided to go with his name recommendation.
Japanese long-range aircraft had lost contact with Battra two days prior, but they reported that he was moving back out along the same trajectory Mothra had flow into Japan on. Thus, if they followed the flightpath long enough, they might just catch up with Battra. He was last seen continuing to swim on the surface, so they had a good chance of spotting him once they got close. The USS Olympia could only accommodate one helicopter on her aft helipad. Thus, they couldn’t send out dozens of search aircraft at a time. They needed to wait until they had something promising to investigate before launching.
Finally, at the extreme edge of the cruiser’s radar range, they detected something large out in the water ahead of them. It had to be Battra. The blip was enormous and still moving along the predicted path. Marcus had been waiting on standby in his flight gear and immediately scrambled to his helicopter as soon as he heard. He wanted to visually confirm it was Battra himself.
As Marcus’ chopper got a few miles away from the Olympia, the captain radioed to him that there were now multiple contacts out ahead of them. Marcus didn’t know what to make of that, but he figured it probably meant trouble. He’d have to be careful. As the minutes passed, and Marcus closed in on the targets, he thought about what Admiral Malek told him. The admiral wanted him to stick to Battra like glue. Gather as much intelligence on the monster as he could. He wanted a good feel for Battra’s capabilities. Marcus was essentially assigned to formulate a threat assessment. Too many times before Kaiju had managed to surprise them. Surprises in their field of work were generally very costly in men and material.
As Marcus scanned the sky ahead of him, he couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be a thunderstorm on the horizon. There were numerous flashes of purple and green light in quick succession. Marcus called in the strange sighting back to the Olympia, checking to see if there was supposed to be any inclement weather that day. The radio man reported back no storm activity was forecasted, only slightly overcast skies. That worried Marcus. He was getting closer to whatever was happening and could still see intense flashes of light.
In time, Marcus could make out plumes of smoke and explosions. A battle was taking place and Battra was at the heart of it. Marcus couldn’t yet identify who or what Battra was fighting against though. Another minute rolled by, and Marcus was nearly able to make out the action. He wished he’d remembered to take his binoculars with him. It looked as though he had missed the vast majority of the fight already.
Finally, as Marcus got closer, he came in low to investigate. What he found was mostly just burning wreckage. What Battra left in his wake appeared to be ships, but the hull designs weren’t like anything Marcus had ever seen before. They looked weird to him, almost too ornate for military vessels. Perhaps it was simply that the ships were so badly damaged, but Marcus couldn’t place the type of craft or their country of origin. Even the metal was darker than what was common for most navies. Very strange.
The question of who had attacked Battra and why was likely going to remain a mystery. The battle had taken place in a deep part of the Pacific and the seafloor was far below what any navy divers were going to be able to reach. Salvage of any form was unlikely. Marcus didn’t have a camera ready, so he just took a mental note of the ship designs. The ill-fated fleet had already started to sink. There were no less than eight battleship-sized warships. The lion’s share of each ship was already well-underwater.
Marcus couldn’t quite understand why the battle was necessary. There were no great powers in the area who could possibility feel so threatened by Battra as to dispatch such a large fleet. And Battra wasn’t threatening anything whatsoever as best as Marcus could tell. There was nothing remotely in the vicinity to fight for. It just didn’t add up. Battra meanwhile had already resumed course to wherever his destination was. His head aggressively chomped up and down in the water as he glided through the ocean. Marcus redirected his helicopter to pursue. One thing was for sure, Battra could certainly be assessed as a legitimate threat.
As Marcus flew over Battra, he noticed a detail that helped explain something he hadn’t understood about the previous battle against Godzilla. The armored plates which made up Battra’s exoskeleton looked different than before. They were darker and looked more rigid than previously, as though they had hardened in the time since he hatched. A deeper understanding washed over Marcus. That must have been why Mothra didn’t want Battra to fight Godzilla alongside her. As a fresh hatchling, Battra simply wasn’t ready for a difficult fight. In his exposed state, he would have been quite vulnerable. The more Marcus thought about it, the more it made sense. When regular-sized insects molted or hatched, their new exoskeletons needed time to harden and dry. Mothra’s sacrifice was now somewhat understandable, though Marcus knew there was something more to it that he simply wasn’t seeing yet.
As the moments passed and Marcus pondered on what Kiki meant by something lost and something gained, he became aware that Battra and himself were approaching a landmass ahead of them. It was an island. Marcus radioed back to the Olympia to see if they had the isle on their charts. It took them a moment, but eventually they informed Marcus that it was on the charts and its name was Infant Island. A mysterious feeling shot up and down Marcus’ spine as he heard the name. A sensation of foreboding was building up in his gut. It was not a mistake that he had found himself here.
“It’s charted, but largely unexplored.” The radio man clarified, but Marcus wasn’t really listening to him.
Below, Battra made landfall and then did something Marcus was not expecting. The armored larva immediately began to dig into the soil of the beach and quickly disappeared underground. Perhaps Battra had realized that he was being followed and wanted to shake off his tail, but whatever the reason, he was gone. If Marcus couldn’t figure out where he went, he was going to be in hot water with Admiral Malek.
…
Off of the East coast of Japan, one Archimedes’ scout helicopters was following up on a lead. They were investigating a report which might indicate Godzilla’s presence. A local fisherman claimed to have seen an inexplicable spurt of foam and bubbles in one of his favorite fishing spots. There had been a lot of reports flowing in about potential Godzilla sightings in the last forty-eight hours. Most of them were well-meaning, but people were scared and jumping at shadows, leading to lots of dead ends.
As the helicopter closed in on the coordinates, the pilot could see a Japanese passenger liner passing through the area. Its crew must have missed the hazard bulletin that had gone out urging all shipping to avoid the area until it could be properly checked out. The chopper pilot, who was named Reggie, had a bad feeling. If Godzilla were to appear, things would go very badly for the liner and all abroad. Reggie’s helicopter was a standardly outfitted search and rescue bird, it lacked any heavy weaponry, and certainly lacked anything that was even remotely capable of getting Godzilla’s attention. Since there had been so many false sightings, the rest of fleet was spread thin. No other Archimedes assets were close by. Reggie was on his own. The civilian craft would have no real defense should the worst take place.
Reggie detected something in the water out ahead of the liner. A small area of white water, an irregularity on the surface of the ocean. It was about twenty meters wide. Not huge, but absolutely noticeable. Perhaps this was what the fisherman had been talking about. The anomaly was small and stationary. Reggie wasn’t certain what he was looking at, so he came a little closer to get a better view. The ship meanwhile was getting closer to the disturbance as well. Reggie switched on his radio and started to cycle through the channels on his receiver trying to raise the radio officer on the ship. Unfortunately, there was no answer no matter what he tried. Either he was on the wrong channel, they weren’t listening, or they simply didn’t understand him.
Suddenly, the worst-case scenario presented itself. The small anomaly came to life and grew until Godzilla ultimately came bursting up to the surface. He must have been sitting on the ocean floor and the proximity of the ship had roused him. Only then did the crew of the liner realize the danger they were in and started to alter course to avoid colliding directly with Godzilla. The ship’s collision alarm began to blare out a warning. Reggie was watching it all form above.
“Jesus, those people down there don’t stand a chance.” Reggie whispered to himself dismayed. There wasn’t a thing he could do about it either except for broadcast a mayday.
Down below on the liner, the passengers and crew alike were panicking. Many people leap from the ship into the choppy ocean water. The wisest among them at least tried to grab lifejackets, ringed life-preservers, or even untie the lifeboats before abandoning ship, but many of them didn’t take the time to think about what would happen until after they had already hit the water. It was pandemonium.
Godzilla turned, seeing the ensuing chaos, drawn to it by all of the noise and commotion. To the shock of everyone present, Godzilla just ignored the vessel, starting to turn and move away from it. The worst thing that happened during the encounter was Godzilla’s tail popped up next to the liner and nearly swiped against it. His tail didn’t end up making contact though. However, the resulting wave sent the ship careening off course. After that, Godzilla paid the ship and the people floating helpless on the water very little mind. He just didn’t seem interested in them.
Reggie couldn’t believe it, this behavior was notably divergent from Godzilla’s normal pattern, seemingly less aggressive. Godzilla had an opportunity to destroy a ship and didn’t take it? Very strange indeed. Reggie suddenly remembered himself and called in the incident, sparing no details.
...
Back at Infant Island, Marcus was still searching for Battra. He circled the island interior with his helicopter, looking to see if the monster had resurfaced somewhere. Marcus found no traces of Battra, but he had discovered something else instead. On top the highest mountain of the island, there was a large stone temple built right into the peak of the rockface. Once Marcus laid eyes upon it, he had an irresistible urge to go inside. He sensed that there was something important waiting for him within.
By that point, Marcus’ helicopter was running low on fuel though. He’d need to return to the ship and replenish his tanks before he could investigate further. The Olympia was trailing behind him, but closing in. If Marcus told the captain that Battra had disappeared on the island, it wouldn’t take much to convince him to allow a team to explore the area. That was Marcus’ in for the temple. He knew exactly who he’d hand pick for it too. Having Ling and Brock at his side would certainly be beneficial before proceeding any further. Reluctantly, Marcus turned his helicopter around and radioed the Olympia to update them on what he had found.
Within two hours, Marcus had returned with a team on board. As they passed over the jungle, Brock noted that a bad storm must have hit the island recently. There were trees down all over the place, most of them had been snapped in half from strong winds. That got Marcus to thinking about how far away Sollgel Island might be from there. The failed weather experiment had far-reaching effects and consequences, perhaps even more than they yet realized.
As the helicopter got close to the mountain at the center of the island, Marcus started to look for a place to set down. The jungle below them was thick with vegetation. However, as they got to the mountainside, the options opened up a bit. No one wanted to make an extended climb up the mountainside, so Marcus looked for a flat stable spot as close to the mysterious temple as possible. He soon found a suitable location, but the party would still have a fairly elevated hike up the rockface to get to the shrine.
None of that bothered Marcus too much though. He was just eager to reach the temple. As soon as they landed, Marcus got out ahead of everyone and vigorously began to scale the mountain path. Brock actually had to call up to Marcus to slow down. Unlike Marcus, Brock’s top priority was safety. He didn’t want anyone to get separated from the group or risk falling off the side of the mountain because they weren’t being careful.
Marcus did his best to heed Brock’s warning, but he felt like a kid getting out of the family car at the entrance to a theme park after a long road trip. He anxiously waited for the others to catch up, feeling a mixture of excitement, nerves, and impatience all at once. The island was hot and humid, and for everyone else besides Marcus, the climb was a chore. Finally, everyone arrived at the huge temple doors. The structure was impressive to say the least. There was no telling how long it had stood, but it was massive and looked ancient.
Marcus only marveled at the temple for a moment before proceeding to the huge wooden doors. He immediately started pushing against them. Unlike the stonework of the temple, the doors were not ancient. They weren’t exactly new, but they couldn’t have been there more than a couple years. Someone had to have replaced them relatively recently.
“Hey, be careful would you!” Brock growled. “There’s no telling if there are traps or something. We need to take this slow.”
“Would you just give me a hand with this?” Marcus scoffed annoyed. “You sound like an old woman.” Whatever kind of wood the doors were made out of, they were extremely heavy.
“Are you sure it’s not a pull door?” Brock replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes, and walking up next to Marcus. Brock put his shoulder into the door and began to press forward using his legs, digging his boots into the dirt. Even with Brock’s considerable assistance, the door was slow to open. The hinges creaked and finally gave way, opening up the temple to the outside world. Clearly, no one had come into the temple though the main doors in a long time.
The air inside of the temple was at least thirty-degrees cooler than the outside. The rest of the team stepped inside and were relived to be out of the heat. Marcus, however, wasn’t impressed with the change in temperature. He was already going forward, starting down the main passageway. It was just like his dream. He could feel goosebumps on the back of his neck. This was Mothra’s temple, he could feel it. He was treading upon sacred ground. Marcus could almost hear Mothra’s music reverberating in the walls. There was something in the air too, it might have just been ancient dust, but Marcus swore there was a golden shimmer to it. After a moment, Marcus felt Brock following behind him, no doubt trying to keep him out of trouble.
“I can feel the power of this place.” Marcus’ voice echoed back to Brock. He had a certain reverence in his tone. “Brock, keep an eye everyone else. Make sure they respect the temple. Don’t allow them to leave any trash in here and ensure nobody steals anything valuable they might find. When we’re gone, I want it to be like we weren’t even here.”
The group eventually found there way into the main chamber, and everything was just as Marcus remembered it. Only now he had the time to take a closer look at things. Ling was very interested in the murals and accompanying writing on the walls. He’d brought a camera along to document everything they found. He was overwhelmed by the sheer about of material he discovered.
“These are very old…” Ling remarked awestruck. “They have to be thousands of years old.”
“Can you read any of it?” Marcus inquired curiously.
“I think so.” Ling replied excitedly. “Give me a couple of minutes to wrap my head around it though. This language looks somewhat similar to Malaysian, but it’s older, more like the root-language. I need to concentrate for a bit to figure it out.” Ling was clearly enthusiastic about the discovery.
“Alright.” Marcus responded, letting Ling go about his business.
Marcus looked through the etchings in the wall. He could almost understand the stories without the words. Each mural depicted an event. Many of them appeared to be battles Mothra fought in. There was no way of knowing how far back some of them went and many of Mothra’s adversaries were truly bizarre. Marcus couldn’t decide if they were real or just myths the craftsmen of the temple had dreamt up. One of them was a three-headed dragon with gold painted scales. Could such a creature really exist? Another depiction close by looked like some sort of blueish-green mutant chicken with hook hands. Other illustrations were more reasonable, seemingly grounded in reality. One very closely resembled Anguirus, perhaps it was one of his ancestors?
Marcus circled the whole room until he found the statues of the twin priestesses, they were indeed real. The flames in their hands were real too. Marcus approached them with caution, not certain what to expect. The flames only sat there burning though. Marcus wasn’t sure what fed them. There were no candles, no wicks, no sticks with incense. There was nothing at all that was physically burning. The flames were seemingly sustaining themselves, burning eternally on top of the naked stone.
Marcus soon moved on, looking at yet more murals leading down a side hallway. The carvings down that section of the temple looked newer. They were old, but not ancient. As Marcus continued onward, the fresher the etchings got. He came up to an intersection and heard a noise around the corner. It seemed as though someone was there.
“Hello…?” Marcus said coming around the corner. He half-expected to see one of his men standing there, but whoever had been around the corner bolted when they heard him coming.
Marcus found a newly carved mural that was actually still in progress. Amazingly, it seemed as though someone was actively working inside the temple. The new mural depicted the fight Mothra just had with Godzilla in Japan. It was rudimentary, but all of the key hallmarks were there.
“I think I got it!” Ling’s voice echoed from the main room. When Marcus arrived, he could see that Ling had been standing there writing notes to himself the whole time he’d been off exploring.
“Ok, lets have it.” Marcus said eagerly to Ling.
“Ok, this isn’t going to be perfect, but here’s the story.” Ling began. “Mothra is the guardian monster of Earth. She is immortal so long as the lifeforce of the Earth itself endures.”
“Literally, or just like this is a myth and they are using creative license?” Brock asked, interrupting.
“I don’t know, that’s just what is says.” Ling replied. “The people who carved it could be exaggerating, but they seemed to have believed it. In any case, every battle Mothra has ever fought in is on these walls.” He went on. “She was created to maintain the balance and order of nature. Mainly, she was meant to control the Earth’s monsters. Ensure they never got too out of hand and keep them in check. She was also chosen to keep outside threats at bay.”
“That seems to track to me.” Marcus agreed with Ling. “When you consider the battles she’s fought.”
“Outside threats…?” Brock asked suspiciously. “What exactly does that mean?”
“Not sure on that point.” Ling answered. “The murals say something about the stars above though. Read into that what you will. It could be simply hyperbole. Anyways, all of the monsters in the carvings are opponents Mothra is said to have vanquished.”
“So, she was our protector.” Brock remarked. “Not anymore though, and it’s our own damn fault. We… mankind I mean, created something that nature could not, a kaiju Mothra couldn’t defeat.”
“That… seems so.” Marcus agreed. “What about this big mural in the center.” He asked Ling, quickly changing subjects. “It seems awfully important.”
“This temple was erected at about that time.” Ling replied. “Supposedly twelve thousand years ago Mothra won a great victory. The temple was erected to commemorate that triumph.”
“Holy smokes!” Marcus exclaimed. “That old…?” That predates the Romans, Egyptians, and even the Mesopotamians. This very well might be the oldest recorded human civilization to ever exist.”
“Yeah, well until we can get some sort of archologist in here to do some carbon dating, we’re just going to have to take their word for it.” Brock grumbled dismissively.
“So, what about the mural?” Marcus asked, trying to steer them back on topic.
“That is the story of The Black Mothra.” Ling went on, gesturing towards the huge mural with Mothra facing off against what appeared to be a dark version of herself. “At the time, there was an advanced human civilization populating the Earth. They had nearly perfected a device to control the world’s climate. This device, however, was throwing off the natural order of the planet and the Black Mothra appeared to challenge the might of this civilization.”
“Battra...” Marcus asserted.
“Battra.” Ling confirmed. “Well, a devastating war ensued between Battra and this advanced culture. At its climax, Battra destroyed the weather control device which inadvertently caused massive flooding across the globe. The floods all but wiped-out humanity. However, even this wasn’t enough for Battra. Protecting the planet was his one and only goal. To ensure humans never had another opportunity to build a second device, Battra sought out the survivors. He virtually wiped out all civilization. Mothra, however, was created to preserve all life, even flawed ones like mankind. So, she fought with Battra to protect us. In the end, she prevailed after an extended duel. Mothra didn’t kill Battra though. She simply sealed him away from the rest of the world. After the flood waters receded, the survivors began again from scratch. But many portions of the land remained permanently under the ocean, even to this day. A terrifying reminder of the cataclysm that came before, and a dire warning to those who would tamper with mother nature.”
“Hang on a moment, if they were such big enemies, why did Mothra sacrifice herself so that Battra could get away in Shizunoura?” Brock asked.
“I don’t think they are enemies.” Ling responded. “They share many of the same goals. They just disagree on one big issue, us.”
“I hate it when family gets divided by politics.” Brock quipped.
“I think I finally understand something.” Marcus announced to the group. “Battra first appeared because mankind created a weather control system, right? Well, isn’t that more or less what they are trying to perfect on Sollgel Island? What if the reason Battra has reappeared is because of their weather experiments? Yes, that has to be it.” Marcus convinced himself. “I know where Battra is going.”
“Sir, I’m getting a message from the Olympia.” Private Clemins reported, holding a radio. “They say a massive unidentified flying object is approaching!”
The group hastily made their way back to the temple’s entrance. By that point, a new monster was flying directly over Infant Island. It passed right over the temple, unnerving everyone and forcing them to retreat back inside. The creature came in for a landing, it was unclear if it had detected them or not, but it was blocking the path between the temple and the helicopter.
The newcomer was a giant brown and burnt orange insect kaiju. It resembled a cross between a fly and a hornet, though it didn’t really favor one over the other. The monster clearly had a stinger at the rear end of its striped abdomen. Its wings were thin and had a transparent orange hue. The head was proportionally large compared to the body. Spikes were protruding from the back of its cranium. It had large round orange compound eyes, two antennas, and an oversized set of mandibles with a proboscis sticking out of its mouth. Overall, it could be best described as a hideous mutant.
“It must have flown in from Sollgel.” Marcus observed. “Reports coming out of there say it is crawling with giant insects like this. Maybe Battra has a point about wanting to destroy mankind. We have a penchant for creating new threats to ourselves and others.”
“How are we supposed to take off with that thing flying around?” Brock asked agitated.
“First we need to see if we can find another way out of the temple.” Marcus replied. “If we try to go out the front, that thing will see us for sure. There was someone else in the temple with us. If we can figure out where he went, maybe we’ll find the back door out of here.”
The group turned around and quickly marched back through the corridors of the temple until they came across the new wing. Beyond the works in progress, Marcus found a stone staircase leading downward. His instincts told him that was the way to go. As the group descended, it got very dark and hard to see. They had to be very mindful of where they stepped. However, as the group reached the bottom of the stairs, they could see a dim light in the tunnel ahead of them. They followed it until they entered an enormous underground chamber the size of a football stadium. Light was coming in from the top of the cavern where there was an opening in the middle of the ceiling.
In the center of the space there was an enormous brick staircase which vaguely resembled the pyramids found in South America. The stone steps led up to a raised pit which was flanked on all sides by a great stone wall. At the center of it all was a colossal blue and yellow egg. Marcus and Brock had seen one just like it before and they instantly recognized it for what it was, a Mothra egg. In Marcus’ heart, his hope and faith were restored. Perhaps the Great Moth Goddess really was immortal after all.
There was a rumbling coming from above. Soot and soil fell from the ceiling. The giant insect from Sollgel was moving around above the temple, disturbing its very foundations. In so doing, the intruder provoked a strong response. Marcus could hear the music of the temple coming to life, stirring the spirit of his very soul, as well as other things around him. The egg up on the platform flashed with bright yellow light, drawing the attention of everyone in the cavern. As they all watched, the egg began to hatch. But instead of a single Mothra Larva emerging from the shell, there were two. It was easy to distinguish between the two siblings. One of them had red eyes, the other blue.
Though they had just been born, the twin larva wasted no time. They began moving. One after the other, they made for the exit. There was a large tunnel on the far side of the egg’s shrine which allowed them to leave the temple and move into the jungle outside. Marcus and the team stood there for a moment before they ran to follow them out. The larva had shown them the back door out.
By the time Marcus and the others got outside the battle had already begun. The intruding insect monster had taken to the sky and was circling the Mothra larva, sizing them up. It decided that they were a potential meal, but it had badly underestimated what it was up against. The creature dove down, intending to sting and carry off the blue-eyed Larva. However, the red-eyed larva defended its sibling, raising its head and spraying a solid jet of silk at the attacker when it came close. The intruder didn’t expect that. One of its compound eyes ended up completely covered by the silk, hampering its vision. The flying predator retreated out of range towards the coast trying to clear the blockage over its eye, but its front legs couldn't reach its face. Thus, it just kept circling in a tight pattern over and over again.
The Mothra larva weren’t idle during this time. They pursued the giant insect to the beach and waited. As the invader continued to circle, they lined him up for a second volley. When he came around, both Mothra Larva launched a coordinated strike, each of them targeting one of his wings. Their silk quickly found its mark, entailing the wings of the intruder. Very quickly, the monster’s wings were gummed up and stopped flapping. Practically paralyzed without the use of his wings, the monster fell from the sky into the ocean. His legs were virtually useless for keeping himself afloat on the water and the monster’s own weight rapidly pulled him below the waves. As he sank, the monster let out one final dead cry as his mouth filled up with water.
The threat was vanquished, but the Mothra larva didn’t sit around to celebrate their victory. Instead, they took to the ocean themselves and began to swim on the surface. Marcus was impressed as he watched their heads bob up and down. For worms that lacked any significant arms or legs, the Mothra larva took to the water remarkably well, as though it was second nature to them.
“Where are they going?” Brock asked.
“Same place we are.” Marcus answered. “Let’s get back to the Olympia so we can get underway.”
…
Three hours later off of the coast of Sollgel Island, the USS Clarkstown was arriving for its retrieval operation. The cruiser slowed as it crept towards the coastline until it stopped entirely. Her captain looked through his binoculars and sighted the dilapidated weather towers, confirming their location. The helicopter on the back deck was being readied, and the radio officer was preparing to make contact with the science team to let them know they had arrived.
No sooner had the Clarkstown put down its anchor than Battra burst out of the ocean right next to the ship. He slammed his body down across the middle of the vessel like a hammer. The crew of the Clarkstown never even had a chance to respond, Battra’s weight split the ship in two. Both halves of the ship exploded as the ordinance inside ignited. The cruiser was demolished, no possibility of survivors.
Inside of the cave on Sollgel, Fuji had picked up the Clarkstown’s initial hail, but the ship was gone before he could even acknowledge them. He tried to raise them again and again and only got dead air in response.
Having eliminated the first obstacle in his way, Battra landed on Sollgel and proceeded towards the ruins of the research base. When he arrived there, Battra began to flatten every building he found. Any equipment that had been left behind was lost for good, nothing was left standing. Satisfied with that, Battra turned and started to scour the rest of the island for people. Anything that valued its life got out of his way.
As Battra searched, he was eventually confronted by a group of Kamacuras, the two remaining full-sized specimens, and a number of smaller ones who had joined them. The troop had just finished consuming a giant hornet they’d ambushed and torn to pieces. Now they were eyeing Battra as a potential second course. It was getting crowded on Sollgel island, small wonder there were individuals who were starting to branch out to other places. The various islands in the Sollgel chain were already being infested at a rapid rate.
Battra recognized the Kamacuras as aberrations, the unnatural offspring of the weather experiments. Therefore, he had very little respect for their continued existence. One of the two larger Kamacuras lunged at Battra, hoping to take him by surprise, but it was the giant mantis that was in for a surprise. Battra’s head lit up with powerful yellow jolts of power as he charged up for an attack. A moment later, Battra unleashed intense bolts of purple energy from his eyes. The prism beams cut right through Kamacuras’ carapace, dismembering the insect in a violent spectacle.
The body parts fell to the ground, innards staining the soil. The other Kamacuras, in particular the only remaining full-sized one with the damaged compound eye, witnessed what happened to their companion and were a lot less willing to test Battra’s resolve after that. Battra however didn’t wait for them to make the next move. He released even more purple prisms which slaughtered several of the smaller mantids.
The alpha Kamacuras wisely took to the air and retreated. But it didn’t just fly to another part of the island. Instead, she just kept flying, leaving Sollgel behind entirely. Some of the other smaller Kamacuras took their que from her and followed behind. They had left behind a parting gift though. A clutch of eggs had been laid just days before, ensuring that there would be a second generation of the monsters on the island in the months to come.
With the threat dispatched, Battra moved on continuing his sweep. He was on course to pass right over the hidden refuge of the scientists but had to cross through Spiga’s territory to do so. The spider Kaiju detected Battra approaching and came out to challenge him when he arrived. Spiga managed to surprise Battra, emerging from its pit in front of him seemingly out of nowhere. He began to spray Battra with his webbing. Pressing his advantage, Spiga poured more and more webbing on top of Battra.
Before long, Battra’s head was nearly covered in the silk, and he couldn’t see. Spiga saw his opportunity and closed in for the kill. He came right up to Battra’s side and launched his stinger into his neck. However, things didn’t remotely go the way Spiga had intended them to. His needle-like stinger bounced right off of Battra’s heavily armored exoskeleton and shot painfully back into his mouth. Battra then used his prism beams to burn right through the webbing covering his eyes.
Now able to see a target, the horn on top of Battra’s head burnt bright yellow, melting away much of the remaining silk. Battra brought the still burning horn down upon one of Spiga’s exposed legs, slicing it clean off at the most distant joint. Spiga shrieked in pain and backed off. Battra oddly did not escalate the fight further, even though he could have easily unleashed more of his deadly prism beams at close range. Instead, Spiga retreated back into its hole and Battra moved on.
…
Meanwhile, the USS Olympia, trailing behind the twin Mothra larva, arrived at Sollgel. The wreckage of the Clarkstown was still in the area, clueing them into the fate of their sister ship. Marcus just hoped the scientists weren’t already on board when it happened. The Olympia’s radio man attempted to contact the scient team. Fuji instantly responded, giving them exact coordinates of where to land. Marcus told the scientists to be ready to evacuate in ten minutes, sensing a certain urgency in the air.
The Mothra larva had already crawled onto the beach in the meantime and were disappearing into the jungle beyond. The Captain of the Olympia contacted Admiral Malek and brought him up to speed on the situation while Marcus ran to the helipad to get into the air.
Inside of the cave, Fuji told the rest of the survivors to pack up anything they couldn’t live without and get topside for the evacuation helicopter. Everyone was overjoyed to hear the news. After all of the hardships and horrors they had gone through, they were finally being rescued. Dr. Kusumi and the majority of the team immediately went to the surface. Raeko and Maki told them they’d bring up the rear, helping Fuji walk since his leg was still pretty banged up.
Above the cave, high upon the rocks, was a plateau which would be an ideal landing spot for the helicopter when it arrived. The men started to climb up to it, so they’d be easy to spot from the sky. Some were even carrying spare articles of clothing to wave.
Maki, Raeko, and Fuji were still lagging behind at the entrance as the others reached the crest of the hill. What waited for them there wasn’t the helicopter though. Two huge menacing red eyes were staring the men in the face. Battra had been waiting there for them all along. As the whole science team stood there in shock and horror, energy began to dance along the jagged crests of Battra’s head until finally his purple prism beams shot out and vaporized them.
Maki could see the discharge of energy fly above his head and felt the heat of it. He knew something terrible had just happened. But it wasn’t over. Furukawa, the lone survivor of the attack, ran down the side of the hill towards them shouting. Battra was climbing up the far side of the hill in pursuit, caving in the cavern below them. There was nowhere to go now, and Furukawa was leading the monster right to them. Battra was closing in fast. When Maki caught sight of him, he didn’t know what to make of Battra. All he saw was a vast black mass of rage. It felt like death was coming for them. So close to escape, only to die like this.
Maki looked over to Raeko with remorse. If Japanese scientists hadn’t come to her island, she could have lived a long, full life there in relative peace. Their experiments had cost her everything. They deserved their fate for tampering with nature, but she hadn’t, and she didn’t. If Maki could only have one final wish, it would be for her to be spared.
Their absolution was already at hand though. Before Battra could deliver a death blow, he was struck by the sticky silk of another monster’s attack. Maki thought perhaps it was Spiga, but he was wrong. Two new monsters had arrived on the scene, a pair of ugly brown worms. They confronted Battra and drew his attention away from the last survivors of Sollgel. As Battra moved away, Maki could hear the pitter-patter of helicopter blades beating against the air from the direction of the sea. Their rescue had finally come.
Meanwhile, the Mothras were calling to Battra to keep his interest. Battra called back, sounding disgruntled with them. Finally, Battra lost his cool and lashed out, firing his prism beams at his cousins. The Mothra twins had anticipated such a response and made sure to position themselves close to cover that they could duck behind. The grey rockface in front of them absorbed a healthy dose of punishment in their place.
“Holy smokes, I didn’t know he could do that!” Marcus exclaimed from his cockpit, seeing the flashy yet brutal attack unfold. He pulled down the visor on his helmet to compensate. Below, Marcus could see the last four survivors of the science team running towards him. He put down as fast as he could safely. “Come on, get in!” He shouted through his open window.
Furukawa was the first one inside the helicopter, leaving Raeko and Maki behind to help Fuji. Furukawa had a wildness in his eyes. A part of him definitely wanted Marcus to take off right that second and leave the others to their fate. Eventually Maki, Raeko, and Fuji finally made it on board too. Marcus pulled away as soon as they shut the door. Battra finally noticed the helicopter and turned towards it. Marcus hit the throttle and pushed his machine as hard as he could to get distance between them and Battra.
Battra unleashed his prism beams, but the rays were hard to focus on such a small target. The beams missed both left and right of the helicopter, slashing up and down wildly in the air. Battra had missed. They’d gotten very lucky, but Battra wasn’t done. He prepared to take another shot at them but was prevented from doing so. One of the Mothra larva employed a new trick. She had spit out a line of silk as usual, but it was more concentrated and remained connected inside her mouth. The larva attached the strand to Battra’s head and used it to pull his face away from the retreating helicopter. When Battra unleashed his attack, it ended up blasting the ground around his feet.
After recovering, Battra glared over the Mothra larva. The helicopter was now too far away to target again properly. They had gotten away, and Battra was not too pleased about it. The blued-eyed Mothra released the line, but it was already too late. Battra retaliated, striking her with his prism beams. The larva took the hit well, but it still hurt. Battra then started towards the pair of Mothra larva, looking to inflict some punishment. The Mothra larva had other ideas though. They both unleashed their silk spray, beginning to cover Battra with it.
Aside from physically slowing down an opponent, the silk had another more subtle purpose. It was coated with a tranquilizing pheromone formulated to calm and sedate a target. For Battra, this meant soothing his rage. The beauty of it was the silk didn’t have to penetrate his armor to be effective. Battra was breathing it in through the spiracles on his abdomen.
As with Spiga, Battra countered the silk attack using a combination of his prism beams and the heat of his horn attacks to burn it off. However, Battra had no way of counteracting the pheromone itself. Vaporizing the silk only put more of it in the air around him. Battra started to slow and then finally stopped. The pheromone vapors were having an effect on him. Battra however wouldn’t allow the Mothras to win a decisive victory over him. He crouched down and began to burrow underground to escape. He was gone in thirty seconds, leaving the twin Mothras alone on the battlefield to claim victory.
…
A day later, the USS Olympia was rejoining the rest of the Archimedes fleet. Admiral Malek was personally waiting the on the flight deck of the USS Independence to interview the survivors before they were transported back to Japan. Marcus flew them over himself; he wanted to see how the Admiral would react to them. While flying back to the Olympia from Sollgel, Maki had told Marcus all about what happened on the island. The failed experiment, the giant insects, and the mysterious cargo the Russians had hauled away.
When they landed, Furukawa lay down on the deck of the carrier and wept. For the first time in a long time, he finally felt safe. Marcus could tell Furukawa’s experience on Sollgel was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. He’d never fully get past it. Fuji, who was now on crutches, moved past Furukawa, sparing him a glance of distain. Admiral Malek walked towards the two men as soon as he saw them. Marcus made sure to get himself within earshot of the conversation.
“Do you have it?” Malek demanded impatiently.
“I have some of it.” Fuji replied, opening up the satchel hanging from his shoulder. “Here are the full notes on the chemical composition of the freeze-formula. From this, the compound can be reproduced. It got pretty hairy on the island when giant bugs started attacking. Most of the other technical notes were lost during our march through the jungle. There’s nothing I could do about that. They got eaten with the men carrying them.”
“Dr. Kusumi was killed for certain...?” Admiral Malek asked coolly.
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.” Fuji confirmed. Malek seemed very disappointed by that news.
“I suppose there’s nothing for it.” Malek grumbled. “We’ll just have to do the best with what we have.” When Marcus heard that, he knew he had to say something, even if it meant risking exposing himself for reading the file in Admiral Malek’s office. The stakes were just too high, lives were at risk.
“Sir, we can’t risk pursuing the weather control system.” Marcus said earnestly. Malek looked over at him sternly, obviously annoyed that he already knew about it. “If we do, we will bring down that new monster Battra upon ourselves. He simply will not allow anyone to complete such a device. He destroyed an entire civilization to prevent it in the past. I found strong evidence to support that theory. If you’d just give me a moment to collect it.” Admiral Malek held up his hand to quiet Marcus down.
“I see that you have been talking to the other survivors.” Admiral Malek noted. He immediately assumed Maki and Raeko were Marcus’ sole source of information. “When I debrief them, you can bring your evidence along and present it to me. You are one of my very best men, I’ll certainly hear you out.”
“I don’t think we could reproduce the system again at this point anyways Admiral.” Fuji cut in. “Dr. Kusumi was the heart and soul of the project. With him gone, it’s a major setback. However, I think we could potentially produce a focused and directable cryo-weapon.” Malek stood there considering it.
“That might be worth something.” Admiral agreed.
running around. When I was 10 I rented Godzilla (think 1989?) For my birthday and I thought it was great.