The Green Berets advanced through the nocturnal jungle, kitted out with hazard gas masks and night-vision goggles. The dense bamboo forest was lush and fragrant, abloom with wild orchids, hibiscus, and plumeria. Hidden waterfalls cascaded in the background, but any wildlife was anusually silent, as though the local fauna had made themselves scarce.
They were only miles away from lively beaches and night life of Waikiki, but, from the looks of things, they might as well as have been deep in the Amazon rain forest. The dense underbrush made for hard slogging, but the soldiers maintained a brisk pace. They hacked their way through the jungle with machetes.
The leader of the team, Captain Bill Cozzone, was a combat veteran who had taken part in a wide variety of missions over the years, ranging from counter-terrorism to humanitarian assistance, but this assignment was a new one. Nothing in his extensive training and experience had involved tracking down a "Massive Unknown Terrestrial Organism," let alone a missing nuclear submarine.
He used a Geiger counter to guide them through the jungle. It clicked faster and faster as they zeroed in on their objective. Spotting something ahead, through the green-tinted view of his goggles, he raised his hand to signal a halt.
Whoa, he thought.
There's something you don't see every day
The Alexander Nevsky, a fourth-generation nuclear submarine, was standing upright among the trees, as though dropped from above. Nearly six hundred feet tall and more than forty feet across, the sub was encrusted with a hardening resinous secretion that dripped slowly down its side. It nose was buried deeply in the earth, amidst smashed and pulverized greenery. In theory, the submarine housed a crew of 130 officers and men. Cozzone found it hard to imagine that any of them could have survived the drop. They were almost certainly crushed to a pulp inside the towering metal shell.
The twelve-man team spread out around the base of the misplaced sub, gazing up at the surreal sight. Cozzone didn't like the look of this. Submarines belonged in the ocean depths, not perched upside-down in the Hawaiian jungle, only a short hop from Diamond Head. This was wrong with a capital
"Guardian 3, this is Sparta 1," he reported via radio. "We've located the Russian sub. Break—"
Something stirred above the jungle canopy high overhead. Craning his head back, Cozzone spied the MUTO itself, crouched above the upright sub. Despite his earlier briefing, the soldier was taken aback by the sheer size and freakishness of the winged monstrosity, which looked like a cross between a giant bug and a dinosaur. Its shiny black wings were folded in behind it like an ominous dark cloak. A thick orange secretion oozed from the creature's segmented underside. The photos he'd been shown before had failed to capture how truly monstrous this "organism" was.
Holy mother of—
"Guardian 3, we also have eyes on your bogey."
The command center aboard the Saratoga immediately responded.
"Sparta 1, Guardian 3. Six Actual requests a sit-rep, over."
To Cozzone's relief, the MUTO ignored the stunned Green Berets down on the forest floor. Instead it had torn open the hull of the
Alexander Nevsky and was gorging on the glowing plutonium core of the nuclear reactor, gobbling down the red-hot fuel rods like a pelican downing a fish. Cozzone was suddenly very thankful that the MUTO supposedly consumed nuclear radiation. Otherwise he and his men would be fried for sure, gas masks or no gas masks. He tried to convey to Command what he was seeing.
"Guardian 3, tell the Six it's... uh... well, it appears to be eating the reactor."
***
"Of course" Serizawa thought. "Just as it fed on the nuclear fuel at Janjira before."
A momentary hush fell over the CDC. Admiral Stenz looked at Serizawa, who nodded grimly in confirmation of the Green Berets' on-site assessment of the situation. Stenz absorbed this new intel with admirable calm and efficiency. He stepped briskly to the center of the war room and raised his voice to be heard above the general hubbub.
"Cat's out of the bag, people," he declared. "New protocol is safety, not secrecy. Get me eyes in the air. Notify Coast Guard District Fourteen and Hawaii Civil Defense. There are a million people on that island."
Serizawa recalled the devastation at the M.U.T.O. base and in the Philippines years ago. He could only imagine the consequences of the creature invading a major population center. They were looking at a catastrophe in the making.
"General quarters, please, skipper," the admiral instructed Captain Hampton. "Set condition one."
The order spurred the entire naval strike group into action. Crews reported to battle stations as the carrier's various support ships rotated their huge artillery guns toward the shore. Seeking fresh air, Serizawa stepped out onto the busy flight deck in time to observe the commotion. Flight crews scrambled as several F-35 jet fighters screamed off the runway amidst loud blasts of blistering exhaust. The Lightnings were one-seat, supersonic aircraft capable of reaching the island in seconds. Catapults hurled them into the air at a breathtaking pace.
Covering his ears, Serizawa turned his attention away from the runway to the nearby island. The strike group was positioned off the shore of Oahu in response to the distress signal from the Russian sub. He could see the sparkling lights of Honolulu and Waikiki, as well as the lush green mountains rising up beyond the beaches and resorts.
The landmark volcanic cone of Diamond Head dominated the southeastern tip of the island, overlooking the most popular tourist spots. Only a few miles of ocean separated the fleet from the island. Serizawa gazed out over the moonlit waves and the white caps churned up by the coursing battleships. The slumbering Pacific struck him as deceptively placid, hiding an entire undersea ecology with its own unplumbed secrets, such as...
His eyes widened as he spied a large, dark object slicing through the ocean toward the islands. At first he thought that maybe his eyes were deceiving him, that it was just an illusion born of darkness and the restless motion of the waves, but the huge shape began to rise from the water, growing higher and higher with each passing moment, like the fin of some enormous beast.
Serizawa swallowed hard. He remembered the colossal skeleton they'd discovered in the Philippines fifteen years ago, as well as the decades-old photos on his desk below, the ones he'd been studying his entire career. The ominous silhouette of that long-unseen leviathan remained burned into his memory, even though they were taken before he was born.
Could it truly be her?
***
The train glided toward the next terminal along the elevated track, which ran approximately thirty feet above the tarmac below. Rows of jetliners were parked wing to wing away from the runways. Ford lifted Akio onto a seat to await their stop. He wondered what would be faster and more efficient: getting off at the next stop and trying to catch another train heading in the opposite direction, or staying on this train until its circuit brought it back to their starting place, where, hopefully, the little boy's parents were waiting anxiously for his return? Ford could just imagine how frightened they must be right now.
He'd once lost sight of Sam at the mall; it had only been for a few minutes, but he still remembered how panicked he'd been at the time, all the terrifying scenarios that had flashed through his head before Sam had turned up over at the food court, perfectly fine. Those had been some of the longest minutes of his life, including his time on the front. He knew exactly what sort of hell Akio's parents were going through right now. The sooner he got their child back to them, the better.
Akio sat quietly, watching the planes taxi below, until he suddenly sat up and pointed in excitement at a flight of military jet fighters roaring past the airport toward the densely forested hills beyond. Ford held onto him tightly, alarmed by the sight. Those had looked like F-35 Lightnings, probably launched from the Saratoga offshore. He could think of no reason why the supersonic fighters would be zooming inland at full speed.
Unless...
***
Streaking through the sky, the Lightnings flew in formation toward the mountain range overlooking Honolulu. The lead pilot, Captain Douglas Lang, readied himself for combat against an entirely new type of threat. As the jets crested a rocky jungle ridge, the MUTO came into view, crouching above the bamboo trees like the world's biggest praying mantis. Despite being prepped for this mission, Douglas gulped at the sight of the enormous winged monster. It was hard to believe that such a creature actually existed outside of science-fiction movies or comic books. Yet there it was: right in front of them, rippling with some sort of eerie bioluminescence.
"It's still just an animal. Not kaiju", he reminded himself, keeping his focus on his mission. "And animals can be put down."
The F-35 was armed with both guns and missiles, which ought to be more than enough to take out the dangerous creature. "Niner-niner," he reported over the radio built into his helmet. He aimed his cross-hairs at the MUTO, but, to his surprise, they bounced and wavered erratically, as though unable to lock onto the target.
"What the--?"
The cross-hairs kept sliding off the target. It was like trying to thread a needle with a wobbly piece of thread.
"I'm getting all sorts of guidance errors," he reported. "Switching to manual."
He reached to flip the switch, just as the MUTO reared up on its hind legs and began glowing brighter than before. A rippling aurora charged the air around it, only a heartbeat before it slammed its upper limbs down, generating a visible electromagnetic pulse.
No!
The captain's entire cockpit display went black. He fought to maintain control of the plane even though all of its electrical systems had shorted out instantaneously.
This can't be happening. It's just an animal...
Flaming out, the disabled aircraft spiraled down toward the jungle floor, where the Green Berets scrambled to get out of the way. The crashing fighter jet slammed into the earth with stupendous force. The impact knocked the fleeing soldiers off their feet.
Seconds later, a huge orange fireball billowed up above the trees.
***
Aboard the Saratoga, Serizawa commandeered a pair of binoculars from a passing seaman. His heart racing, he placed the long-distance lenses to his eyes and searched the moonlit sea for the enigmatic shape he had spied before. He quickly relocated the mysterious object, only to discover that the jagged protrusion had been joined by two smaller points on either side. Recognition dawned in his eyes as he grasped what he was seeing: a row of gigantic dorsal fins.
Racing straight toward the fleet.
Warning sirens sounded as observers aboard the various ships spotted the oncoming threat and braced for impact. Serizawa suspected that few aboard the vessels, except perhaps Graham and a handful of others, knew exactly who or what was surging their way, but it was obvious that something very large and solid was on a collision course with the Saratoga and the other ships. Serizawa grabbed onto a safety rail, not that he expected it would do much good, not if this was indeed what he surmised.
"It must be her", the scientist thought. "What else could it be?"
Torn between scientific curiosity and fear for his life, Serizawa prayed that he would at least be allowed to behold the legend in all its majesty before it laid waste to the floating super-carrier. Through the binoculars, he watched as the giant fins came closer and closer.
Then, at the last minute, before the mighty battleship could even attempt to avoid the collision, the fins dipped rapidly beneath the waves, diving beneath the
Saratoga
and the rest of the strike group. The ship pitched back and forth as something impossibly massive passed beneath it. Baffled flight crews shouted to each other in confusion. Only Serizawa understood the awesome force that had just passed them by. Only he understood that it was not her, but someone else. Nature had spared them, at least for the moment.
Drained, he lowered the binoculars and let out a sigh of relief. Part of him was actually disappointed that the owner of the fins had not fully revealed himself, but he suspected that that fateful moment would be upon them soon. He turned toward the unsuspecting island only a few miles away. He had visited Oahu before. It was a beautiful island, full of friendly locals and vacationing tourists.
Little did they know what was heading toward them.
***
Little girl was enjoying her family's vacation in Hawaii. A blond, six-year-old girl from Seattle, she kept close to her parents as they strolled along the beach at Waikiki, along with dozens of other people. Palm trees swayed above the shore. Tiki torches lit up the night while the mouth-watering aroma of roast pig wafted on a balmy breeze from a nearby luau. Hula dancers in grass skirts put on a show for the tourists. A busy beachfront bar offered drinks, both grown-up and otherwise.
The rolling surf lapped at the shore, while the white sand was cool and squishy beneath Jenny's bare feet. Rows of multi-story hotels, condos, and resorts faced the water, while thickly forested hills rose up further inland, beyond the shops and nightclubs. Laughter and music filled the warm night air. An ocean breeze had a salty flavor. It was past Jenny's bedtime, but her parents didn't seem to mind. They were on vacation after all.
The festive scene was suddenly disturbed by a flight of fighter jets zooming overhead, heading inland from somewhere out at sea. Sonic booms shook the night. The jets came in so fast and so low that their passage whipped up the sand on the beach. Startled tourists looked up in surprise. Even the hula dancers stopped swaying and stared up at the jets. Contrails of exhaust streaked the night sky. Bartenders stopped serving drinks.
"Wow", she thought. "Nobody told me there was going to be an air show!"
The jets were just the beginning. Police helicopters arrived next, swooping in from downtown. SWAT team members, equipped with rifles and body armor, belayed down on ropes from the hovering choppers to the hotel rooftops, staking out sniper positions. They aimed their weapons at the wooded slopes of the Koolau Mountains, almost as though they expected something bad to attack from the hills at any moment. The helicopters buzzed above Waikiki.
Girl was captivated by all the excitement, until her mom grabbed her and hugged her tight. Her parents exchanged worried looks and whispered anxiously to each other, as did the many others vacationers frozen in place upon the beach. People pointed and stared at the unexpected invasion. Jenny heard someone speculate about "terrorists." Despite her tender years, she felt the mood changing all around her. Grownups were acting confused and scared, which scared her, too.
Suddenly it didn't feel like a fun vacation anymore
***
All at once, the entire airport lost power.
Agitated voices filled the train as the overhead lights sputtered out, leaving the passengers in darkness. The train slowed to a stop upon the track, stalling between stations. Ford kept a tight grip on Akio as the boy pressed his face up against the window, looking out towards the mountain slopes none too far away.
The hellish red glow of rising flames could be seen from the airport, lighting up the night. Confused passengers murmured anxiously as they spied the distant inferno. No one else seemed to know what was happening, but Ford had a likely idea. His memory instantly flashed back to the creature from the pit.
"I think we found it", he thought.
***
Girl and her family jumped as an explosion went off in the hills. Thick black smoke rose from the dark jungle, followed by bright red flames. Her father swore under his breath while her mother stifled a frightened sob and scooped the little girl up into her arms. All around them, people were acting scared and confused. Nobody seemed to know what to do or even which way to run. Their hotels were even closer to the hills where the explosions were, so there was nowhere to run except into the ocean.
"I don't like this", girlthought, hugging her mom. "I want to go home."
Looking away from the menacing flames and smoke up in the hills, she stared out at the sand and surf instead. Her eyes bulged as she spotted something peculiar. The tide appeared to be retreating rapidly from the shore, ebbing back into the bay, as though it, too, was afraid of all the scary noise and commotion on the island. Her brow wrinkled in confusion.
Was it supposed to do that?
She tugged on her dad's arm, calling his attention to the fleeing waters. His sunburnt face went pale at the sight. Her mom turned around and gasped out loud. She thrust Jenny into her daddy's arms and they took off running inland, away from the shore, as fast as they could. Her mom shouted at the other grownups and children on the beach. The girl had never seen her mother so afraid before, even when attacked by kaiju, she remained somewhat calm. But not this time.
"Run!" her mother yelled. "RUN!"
***
A huge tidal wave crashed onto the shore. Terrified beachgoers, including a girl and her family, ran in panic, seeking higher ground as the tsunami swept over the beach, inundating the crowded streets and buildings beyond. The surging water washed over blocks of bars, nightclubs, shops and restaurants.
Screams and shouts mingled with the roar of debris being carried along by the current. Cars, motorcycles and trash cans swirled chaotically in the brown, murky water. Those who had not escaped clung to anything that would keep them afloat, praying for rescue.
The wave didn't seem to be going away. It kept rolling, penetrating deeper into the city like a hungry beast devouring everything in its path. People who had reached the rooftops watched in horror as the chaos unfolded before them. The girl clutched her father's hand, feeling him tremble. He wouldn't let go, his grip was like steel, but the fear he was trying to hide was palpable.
"What is it, Dad?" she whispered, her voice shaking as much as his hand.
He said nothing, just pulled her forward, away from the beach, into the city. Each thunderclap reverberated in their chests, making the ground vibrate. They reached a strip of shops, most of them destroyed, their windows blown out. Inside, chaos reigned.
And then she saw it. An incredible wave, much larger than the first, was bearing down on them, like a living thing devouring everything in its path. She knew it was the end. Her father tightened his grip on her hand, and together they ran, knowing there was nowhere to hide. In that moment, they were just two small figures running from the wrath of the ocean, hoping for a miracle that seemed to be nowhere in sight.
And suddenly...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
...loud footsteps were heard.
Her heart pounded in her chest, echoing in her ears. Jenny stood frozen in place, paralyzed with terror. Her legs refused to move, as if they were rooted to the wet sand. She knew she should run, she should hide, but fear paralyzed her, turning her into a helpless victim.
The shadow was getting closer, and the rumble was getting louder and clearer. Jenny could feel the salty air become electric, as if before a thunderstorm. She could make out individual details of the silhouette: scaly skin, sharp claws, glowing eyes. It was a nightmare monster made real.
Flashes of light shot up from the hotel rooftops like fireworks. Flashes of blood-red light gave glimpses of a gigantic creature emerging from the bay and stomping through the flooded streets. The monster was literally too big to take in in its entirety. Girl caught only bits and pieces of a colossal whole.
***
It had been years since he had fallen asleep. His sleep was filled with anxiety. The Many would return and wreak havoc. The Outsiders would come for him and feast on the remains of the world. His home world, but at the same time, utterly alien. He heard the echoes of battles and smelled his kin. But their scent was different.
The scent was a mixture of familiar notes and human parts. It was new to him. When he woke up, he saw one of them. He saw a cub that froze when he saw him and he froze too. The cub looked and looked like a member of his species. He saw parts of his species and parts of humans, but he didn't pay attention to it.
At that time, his attention was captured by the awakening of the parasites. He felt one of his kind approaching the female, so he went to the male. Today, he would end this abomination once and for all.