Excerpt (2048) (3)
To the Descendants of Humanity who have Returned to Earth – the Children of the Oratrio and Aratrum
From: Colonel Akira-Sakaki, Earth Union Army
This message describes the final few months on Earth after you all set out into the distant cosmos. The information has been preserved as electronic data on the information-gathering satellites orbiting the Earth, the database servers built on the Moon to preserve human cultural assets, and the databases of the remaining Union military bases. It has also been entrusted to reliable individuals in the form of hardcopies. I sincerely hope that this message will one day reach our fellow human beings who have returned to Earth, be it 100 years, 1,000 years, or even tens of thousands of years from now. Please refer to the various information recorded there for the accurate details regarding the Aratrum and Oratrio’s departures.
The following is a summary, a personal message from me, an individual, to my distant descendants.
My name is Akira-Sakaki.
My current title is Colonel of the Earth Union Army, but in reality, I was just an investigator attached to the Intelligence Corps. That’s how desperate the situation was for humanity that they had to make a mere person like me a colonel (by the way, my wife has been promoted to Lieutenant General). The Earth Union Government no longer functions as an organization, and they can hardly keep track of how many cities and people are still surviving on Earth.
Today is August 15, 2048. The human population is estimated to have dipped below 200 million. The countdown to extinction has entered its final stage. We, the Earth Union forces, are about to launch what is probably the last large-scale operation against Godzilla, centered around the aircraft carrier Matthias Jackson, at dawn.
Due to the lack of time, let me briefly report on the events that occurred after the Oratrio and Aratrum departed in January and March, respectively.
After the departure of the Oratio in January, the Aratrum, which had been delayed in construction, also had its departure scheduled for the end of March. Crew boarding had begun, reaching its final stages. However, on March 11th, after decimating the Japanese archipelago, Godzilla, who had been missing, attacked the JSS3 Spaceport on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, before heading towards Rio itself.
Since an attack by Godzilla on the Aratrum in orbit was also anticipated, the Rio de Janeiro Defense Force launched a diversionary full-scale attack on Godzilla, and the Aratrum’s departure was moved up to March 14. In the early morning of March 13, local time, the Rio de Janeiro Defense Force’s final defense line collapsed, and Godzilla invaded the city. The headquarters made the last-resort decision to detonate the nuclear self-destruct of the command facility to attack Godzilla, and carried it out. The next day, March 14, the Aratrum departed for its destination, the Tau-e planet in the Cetus constellation. The extraterrestrial migration plan had concluded all operations on Earth.
My wife and I were originally scheduled to board the Aratrum. But due to various circumstances, we were delayed in boarding, and unfortunately, it did not come to pass, and we ended up sharing the fate of this Earth.
The only fortunate thing is that this has given me the opportunity to create this report, with a grace period of about four months. If the dedicated vehicle to the JSS3 Spaceport that we were riding in had not gotten caught in the nest of an insect-type kaiju (estimated to be a similar species to Kumonga), we would most likely have been burned by Godzilla’s thermal beam along with the spaceport. No, there is an even more fortunate thing. I was able to confirm that our young son boarded the Aratrum and set off into the distant cosmos. It is unbearable to have sent our young son alone into the distant cosmos, but… there are many trusted adults around him. I am confident that he will grow up healthy, and that one day, the descendants of my son will return to this planet.
I’ve gone on too much with the side comments.
The key thing to talk about is what happened after the Aratrum’s departure.
The completion of the “extraterrestrial migration plan” and the death of the key members of the Earth Union Government in the destruction of Rio de Janeiro triggered a military coup within the Union. The so-called “full-scale attack faction,” who advocated nuclear attacks on Godzilla without regard for the environmental impact, seized power and launched attacks on Godzilla with their secret strategic nuclear warheads. Cities like Sao Paulo and Salvador, where a large number of citizens still lived, were wiped off the face of the Earth simply because Godzilla came there. The rampage of the “full-scale attack faction” continued for about three months… until the submarine Goten, which had been secretly built in the Falkland Islands, and its infantry unit destroyed their base in the Indian Ocean (coincidentally, “nuclear suicides” by their sympathizers were confirmed in some cities in the Siberian Autonomous Region and North American Autonomous Region). It is estimated that over 200 million lives were lost in South America during those three months, and the vast majority of them were caused not by Godzilla’s attacks, but by the folly of the “full-scale attack faction.” The Goten sank along with the “full-scale attack faction” in the Falklands, but if it weren’t for its desperate attack, humanity would likely have ended its own history with its own hands…
My wife and I had barely escaped the total assault and Godzilla’s attack, taking refuge in Buenaventura, the former Colombian port city under the jurisdiction of the Human Survival Committee. Here, the last two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of humanity, the Matthias Jackson and the Saratoga, remained (the Enterprise was sunk when Godzilla landed in Rio de Janeiro), along with many remnants of the Earth Union forces. It might be an exaggeration, but one could say it became the new headquarters of the Earth Union. Here, we reunited with many people, such as Maria Caera, who became the chairwoman of the Human Survival Committee, or General Jinguji, who had been the captain of the submarine Goten, both heroes deeply ingrained in people’s hearts. My friend, Daiichi Tani’s former superior, turned out to be even more flamboyant than I had heard from him.
But our military might was woefully inadequate against Godzilla. Most of the advanced alien-derived technologies were gone, leaving us with only outdated military aircraft, vehicles, and a few hydrofoil boats. It was clear we wouldn’t stand a chance if Godzilla attacked.
And then,
on July 31st, 2048,
After crossing South America and laying waste to cities in Ecuador and Peru, Godzilla was approaching Buenaventura from the south. Maria Caera deemed the defense of the city impossible. She decided to evacuate a small number of refugees, mainly consisting of young children, aboard the aircraft carrier Saratoga. The rest of us adults prepared to be sacrificial pawns, building a feeble defense line to buy time for the evacuation.
But
just as Godzilla was about to reach our defense line, his dorsal fins suddenly began to glow. Before any of us could do anything, Godzilla fired his heat beam.
I averted my eyes, not wanting to witness the port engulfed in flames with so many children still there.
Yet, instead of the unbearable heat of the crimson flames, I felt a warmth like the sun’s rays on my back. When I turned around, I saw not the sun, No, exactly. What I saw there was.
A Kaiju like the sun.
A massive Kaiju, shining and glowing like a golden sun, appeared in the night sky.
It was a butterfly-like creature…no, or perhaps a silkworm moth, with a pair of wings.
Its golden wings were streaked with black and red, forming vivid patterns of brilliant colors.
Large, glowing blue compound eyes.
And a golden storm…microscopic, shining golden particles…probably like scales. Whenever the Kaiju flapped its wings, the golden light danced around, illuminating the surroundings with a radiant glow.
Something had happened, though it wasn’t clear what, but the Kaiju seemed to be shielding Buenaventura. Godzilla’s heat ray…the one fired towards the city, what had happened to it?
The answer became clear with the next shot fired in a straight line at the moth Kaiju. However, the blue heat ray, upon hitting the scales between the two Kaiju, was reflected in a complex geometric pattern, striking Godzilla itself.
Godzilla roared in pain. Yes! Godzilla was suffering!
It was probably a sight humanity had never witnessed before.
Godzilla continued firing more heat rays, a third, a fourth shot. The output seemed to be increasing gradually, but that was precisely the double-edged sword. The scattered beams reflected by the scales formed a cage of blue and gold, piercing Godzilla from all directions.
This exchange went on for who knows how long.
The battle appeared to have reached a stalemate.
The golden Kaiju could block Godzilla’s heat rays, but seemed to lack the decisive blow to defeat Godzilla. On the other hand, Godzilla could not attack the golden Kaiju either.
It was a battle between the ultimate sword and the ultimate shield.
Next to me, my wife was gritting her teeth. If only we could help that golden Kaiju, it would be the best chance to defeat Godzilla, she thought.
However, eventually that balance was disrupted.
Gradually, Godzilla’s body began exhibiting small electrical discharges. Rather than building up power, it seemed unable to control the force within, running out of control. The scales scattered by the golden moth Kaiju appeared to be interfering with Godzilla’s body in some way…
Finally, Godzilla unleashed its most powerful strike yet…a blast that painted the night sky blue. It pierced through the golden particle barrier, hitting the moth Kaiju, but at the same time…whether from the reflected heat ray or some internal disruption within Godzilla, its dorsal fins were blown off, unable to withstand the pressure from within.
And then, Godzilla let out an exceptionally loud roar, turned its back on Buenaventura, and vanished into the dark night.
I…we humans witnessed it for the first time.
Godzilla turning its back on an enemy…
I saw Gojira lose …….Godzilla was finally defeated…
How we exploded with joy….. The joy we unleashed is beyond words. For nearly 20 years, we had been relentlessly cornered by the threat of Godzilla, to the point of even considering him invincible. But to try and express that emotion now would take more time than we have. I want to focus on telling what happened next.
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The vividly-colored Kaiju was called Mothra.
That name was revealed to us by the envoys who visited the Buenaventura command center right after the battle.
Surprisingly, I was acquainted with one of the envoys, and thanks to that connection, I was able to sit in on their meeting with the high command.
They called themselves the “Kaiju Symbiosis Group”. According to them, the golden Kaiju’s name is Mothra, and deep in the Amazon, there is an indigenous people who have long worshipped the Kaiju Mothra as a deity. The Kaiju Symbiosis Group were a group who, like us, were born in the cities, but chose to abandon civilization and live in symbiosis with Mothra’s people. Their leader’s name was Alberto Ichiro Santos.
I had spoken with him directly before. He had told me about how he was once stranded in the depths of the South American jungle, and was saved by a mysterious local woman with strange powers. That experience led him to believe that there may be relatively friendly kaiju in South America. He had said he wanted to return to the Amazon rainforest in the near future to search for the woman who had saved him. Alberto had resigned from the United Forces 47 years ago and disappeared, so it was assumed he had realized that dream. But now, having seen Mothra with my own eyes, it’s clear that everything he said was true.
Along with the Kaiju Symbiosis Group, Alberto had brought a young woman – Lila, the priestess of Mothra. She was the granddaughter of Mira, the woman who had saved Alberto in his youth.
The Kaiju Symbiosis Group and the Mothra priestess told us that the current situation was not at all optimistic (or rather, Lila expressed this, but I won’t go into the details here).
Mothra was originally a pair of twin kaiju. If there were two Mothra, defeating Godzilla might have been possible, or at least they could have kept Godzilla away from South America. But the other Mothra had awakened earlier to defend the Earth from the approaching Gorath, and was killed in the battle against Godzilla.
A single Mothra is no match for Godzilla. Eventually, Mothra will be defeated by Godzilla, South America will be ravaged, and the Mothra people and the Kaiju Symbiosis Group will be destroyed. This was Lila and Alberto’s conclusion.
Mothra alone cannot defeat Godzilla.
Indeed, when Mothra landed at the Buenaventura airport, it was badly scorched and burned by the aftershocks of the battle, making it clear that the result was close to a draw. And yet, Mothra fought Godzilla to protect the hopes of the Mothra people and the Kaiju Symbiosis Group.
Alberto and Lila made us an offer.
They asked that we accept the young children under our protection as part of the Kaiju Symbiosis Group, so that the Mothra people and the Kaiju Symbiosis Group could shelter and raise them.
In return, they asked us to transport the egg.
They had the last remaining egg laid by the two Mothra. If they had this egg, and the new Mothra it would hatch, the Mothra people and the Kaiju Symbiosis Group could survive on this Earth. But as it is, Mothra will eventually be defeated by Godzilla, and the egg will suffer the same fate. To prevent this, they need to evacuate the Mothra egg as far from here as possible. That’s why they asked for the help of us, the remnants of the United Earth Forces.
Maria-Caera, the leader of Buenaventura, and General Jingūji, the de facto supreme commander of the United Forces, accepted the deal. We had already been planning to evacuate the young children using the aircraft carrier Saratoga, so adding some extra crew and slightly larger cargo was all that was needed to fulfill their request. And if we could gain the cooperation of the kaiju Mothra in return, there was no reason to refuse.
And so, the United Earth Forces’ final operation was planned.
Operation Cradle.
The transportation of the Mothra egg.
The destination was decided to be Japan – the farthest place from South America, and a small but functioning administrative and military center. We could use the abandoned Mechagodzilla development facilities to build a shelter for the Mothra egg. The Saratoga’s escort would be kept to a minimum, with the remaining forces focused on drawing Godzilla’s attention alongside Mothra.
The overall plan was decided in just 3 days. Mothra itself transported the egg to the Saratoga’s flight deck, and the departure preparations were complete. Furthermore, the Mothra priestess Lila predicted that Godzilla would return the next morning. Now it all comes down to how long we can hold off Godzilla alongside Mothra.
There is one regret I have.
If only a little bit of humanity’s fighting power and resources remained… We may have been able to unravel the mystery of Godzilla’s invincibility. We witnessed it – the moment Godzilla’s dorsal fins were damaged, and just before that, its body surface was emitting unstable electrical currents.
Theorizing together with the surviving scientists, we surmise that Godzilla likely possesses some kind of electromagnetic barrier or “shield” within its body surface. This shield – which one expert has proposed calling an “asymmetric transparency shield” – may be what allows Godzilla to neutralize all attacks. Perhaps the reason Mothra’s reflected heat ray was able to injure Godzilla was that Mothra’s scales disrupted this shield…
Regrettably, with our dwindling military forces, we lack the means to verify this hypothesis and find a way to counter Godzilla. Given our current situation, ensuring human survival under Mothra and the birth of a new Mothra to defeat Godzilla have taken priority.
But if only…
In the event that Godzilla still exists on the future Earth, I pray that you, the descendants, will discover the method to defeat it that we could not, using the combat data from Mothra’s battles with Godzilla.
….I hear a song.
Mosuraya Mosura Dungan Kasakuyan Indumu
(Mothra, ya, Mothra, Dengan kesaktian Indukmu)
As the priestess of the Mothra people sings this prayer song, she prays for the success of our operation.
It is a song I have heard countless times before. In the midst of this long war, it has continued to support our hearts, even now that the Exif priestesses who traveled here from their distant world have departed. To have a deity to pray to once again is such a help to those of us soldiers who remain…Even though the final battle with Godzilla is about to begin, strangely I feel no fear, only a calming peace.
According to Alberto, translated into our language it has this meaning:
Mothra, Mothra
With your radiant life
Be our protector and bring us peace
And protect us
Peace is the path of life left for us
Lead us to eternal prosperity
Now, I can only hope this prayer will be heard.
The operation is imminent.
I too will join the Godzilla decoy squad, riding aboard a Type 43 boat into battle. It is a rather inadequate weapon, but one even those of us with little training can operate. Thanks to it, even I can become one of the soldiers fighting Godzilla, for which I am grateful.
However, here are gathered veteran warriors who have survived long battles, like the commanding General Jinguji. My wife is one too – she did not survive Operation Eternal Light and the Japanese Decisive Battle for nothing. I must be careful not to hold them back.
At last, I too can fight. I can battle.
Until today, I have spent most of my time as an investigator for the Earth Union Intelligence Forces.
My duty was to interview those who encountered the kaiju, fled, or fought and barely survived. Many people cooperated readily with the investigations, but at times I was berated – that the terror is something only those who witnessed it could understand, not some bystander coming to a safe place just to listen. In truth, I always felt self-conscious about that. My wife fought as a tank crew in Operation Eternal Light, the Japanese Decisive Battle, and many other places against the kaiju and Godzilla and survived. But me…
I understood it was my role.
Not to fight with a gun, but to gather as much information as possible.
To return alive with that information.
That was my mission.
But…every time I listened to the stories of the survivors in a safe place, or was the only one to withdraw from what would become a battlefield the next day for the sake of information security, I felt resentful at having no choice but to be that way…at being merely a hearer of the stories of those who fought, a mere observer.
But now it’s different.
Now I can fight side-by-side with my beloved wife.
Even with Mothra’s aid, our forces are so meager, and we lack radiation protection suits. Any humans joining the decoy mission cannot expect to survive. But I feel no fear. This is a battle to connect humanity’s future.
To the descendants aboard the Oratio and Aratrum…To those who will return to Earth.
If you encounter the human-like race on this Earth that has accepted coexistence with the kaiju, I hope peaceful contact can be made with them. No matter how their appearance or culture may have changed, they are the descendants of us Earthlings.
And if you returnees to Earth also made contact with those who remained on Earth, then that would be…that would be proof that our operation, humanity’s final operation, succeeded in striking back against that King of the Monsters, Godzilla.
I am convinced of it.
That in the distant future, you and they will meet again on this planet.
The song has ended.
My wife is calling me.
The operation time is near.
I must go.
Thank you for reading this far.
And….
And finally,
though it may be a bit premature, let me say this:
To the descendants of the Earthlings aboard the Oratio and Aratrum –
To the descendants of my beloved son, Haruo-Sakaki.
Welcome home.
Akira-Sakaki
August 15, 2048
TL NOTE :
What a great novel, wish we are in the timeline where the anime movies were about these two novel instead. Make no mistake, I actually like the anime, especially Void Ghidorah. Please spread the words to any Godzilla fans that this great novel finally translated !!!
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