Godzilla Lives!
A Godzilla fanfiction by Travis J. DeSantis
Chapter Twenty-Two
Commander Aso's fist slammed down on the desk, various items of his station bouncing from the impact. A report had just come in from Shizuoka Prefecture, citing the complete devastation of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station. The vicious storm that was now slowly crawling over Kanagawa Prefecture had knocked out several communication and transportation lines. Coupled with the massive power loss throughout much of southern Chubu, this report had come two days too late.
"Godzilla?" the commander asked through gritted teeth.
Standing before him, Major Kuroki wore a very grim expression. "Almost certainly."
"Of course. It would have been foolish to think a little thing like a nuclear explosion could destroy Godzilla," the elder soldier replied bitterly. "What's the status of our preparations?"
"Structural repairs on the Super-X2 are complete and all six turbofans are back to peak performance," Sho answered. "Most of the weapon systems are being replaced and the necessary customized parts have been ordered from our manufacturing contractors. The Fire Mirror crew has run into some complications with the power conversion unit. Estimated time of completion is July 18th."
Aso sighed. "Three days without an effective weapon... And the sonic transmitter project?"
"Ready to go. We can't test it, but Yashiro is confident it will do the job."
Aso clasped his hands in front of his face and leaned on the desk. "Good. If Godzilla attacks another city, it would be better to draw the beast away than to risk innocent lives confronting him immediately. Make sure the Defense Force has this information. We'll need their immediate support quickly, unlike the Izu-Oshima fiasco."
"Yes sir," Sho said with a salute.
As the major exited his superior's office, a pair of chatting secretaries looked up and favored him with their most coy smiles. He noticed neither, striding purposefully down the hall. While one was merely irked, the other was relieved. A good double agent was always careful to a fault, but the constant state of paranoia put a serious strain on the nerves.
Like her brother on the Special Ops Strike Team, the secretary was of sufficiently mixed ethnicity that she didn't look out of place surrounded by Japanese. She quickly finished her conversation with the actual administrative assistant, then covertly snuck away. Security at G-Force had tightened noticeably in the past few days, so it had become increasingly difficult to gather information that might prove vital to the Red Bamboo.
Oh, well. It's just a matter of patience.
~~~~~
*BLAM!*BLAM!*BLAM!*
With three clean squeezes of the trigger, three 9mm bullets left the barrel of Amane Higa's sidearm and three uniform holes were punched through the paper target's torso in a clean triangle formation. The sergeant ejected the spent clip and inserted a fresh one with the smooth action born of constant practice. He pressed the button that would switch out the paper target for an unpunctured sheet, then proceeded to perforate the new one with the same cold efficiency.
The shooting alley echoed with the sounds of Amane's firing. Few G-Force personnel carried a sidearm, let alone practiced so diligently, so the redheaded pilot was by and large the only occupant on most visits. Today, Yashiro sat behind the soldier on a bench, watching Higa dispatch targets depicting various criminals and hostages. Actually something of a pacifist, the programmer preferred his target practice in a virtual space. However, it still amazed the teen how accurate a human could be in this world devoid of positron rifles and plasma grenades.
"How'd you get so good?" Yashiro shouted. Amane had stopped firing, but they both still wore the heavy protective earmuffs.
The sergeant removed his, then set his goggles on top of his head. "Constant practice helps, but I'm a natural," the redhead replied in a normal speaking voice. "Back when I served at Gifu D&T, some of the upper-ranked test pilots challenged me to a pick-up game. Bento boxes at ten meters," he added with a grin. "They all had more experience than me, but I showed 'em." Higa aimed his finger like a pistol and pretended to fire, mouthing a soundless 'pow.'
"A natural, huh?" Honda replied suspiciously. He got up and walked over to the shooting booth, pressing a few buttons on the keypad to call up another target sheet. "Well, let's just see how good you are. How about...maximum range?"
A paper target traced with an outline that looked remarkably like Godzilla's zoomed out across the shooting alley, all the way to the back wall twenty meters away. Amane raised an eyebrow at the image and the teen responded with a smile and a shrug.
The sergeant smirked, leveling his sidearm at the target. After a moment, he fired a single shot that rang loudly in the quiet hall. The paper sheet followed the metal tracks back to the shooting booth and a single hole could be seen right through where the monster's nuclear reactor of a heart would be. Higa wiggled his trigger finger at the programmer and both young men shared a laugh.
The walkie-talkie on Amane's belt chirped and he pulled it out. "Sergeant Higa speaking," he answered.
"It's Kuroki," replied the major's voice, crackling slightly on the short-range communication device. "Where are you?"
"In the shooting alley, sir. You should stop by some time, we can have a contest to see who's better," Higa replied, smirking at Yashiro knowingly.
"I'll take a rain check, sergeant. Right now I need your help organizing some plans with the JASDF. Is Yashiro there with you?"
"Yes sir."
"Tell him to get back to work. The commander isn't pleased with the Fire Mirror's progress. We need that weapon back online before Godzilla's next attack. Got that?"
Yashiro cringed. "Yes sir," the pair replied in unison.
