"Monster appears in Yokosuka Port!"
This news spread across the world like wildfire.
"A monster!... It's actually a real monster!"
"A monster just showed up in Tokyo! So Ultraman was real all along!"
"Is the world really going to end in 1999..."
"What's going to happen to us?"
"God has sent punishment to the Japanese and Americans..."
"How could God send such an ugly creature as punishment? That's Satan's work!"
"What are you all so scared about? A sea monster that size would be taken out by a single bombing run from two F-15s."
"Ever heard of GBU-28 bunker busters? Or BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles?"
"Do something useful with your time. Stop watching those ridiculous monster movies."
"Everyone knows movies aren't real. Only you think otherwise. Military nerds are really... lol"
"Is it just me or does the monster look kind of cute?"
"It has a shape that might appeal to girls."
"Are you being serious right now?"
Meanwhile, across the Pacific Ocean on another continent, the Pentagon was hosting an emergency meeting. The President, Secretary of State, and several generals gathered in an atmosphere more tense than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The entire meeting lasted barely 25 minutes. After a brief fifteen-minute discussion, the most powerful nation in Earth's history unanimously reached an obvious conclusion: intercept the monster.
On one hand, the Japanese government was strongly requesting intervention; according to agreements between the two countries, the United States was obligated to protect Japan's territorial waters. More importantly, it was a matter of national pride and dignity, not to mention the... benefits that wouldn't be discussed in front of the media.
In the White House, the President gave passionate interviews, delivering a speech about "fighting the monster to the end and protecting our allies!" Meanwhile, the frontline forces received orders from headquarters and quickly mobilized.
On the dark, churning sea, three Aegis destroyers moved in unison toward the sea creature. Dozens of F-15 fighter jets took off from Okinawa Air Force Base, flying below the speed of sound through the clouds toward Tokyo waters. At Yokosuka Port, the closest point to the incident, numerous F-14s were rapidly launching from the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier No. 4 stationed there.
...
Flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the pilots dispatched to Tokyo Bay to eliminate the monster chatted over their radios.
"Are you kidding me... a monster? That's ridiculous."
"This isn't some movie we're filming."
Despite being told from the beginning that they would be facing a monster, the soldiers operating the most advanced modern weapons showed no fear.
"I mean, isn't a monster just a big target?"
"Come on—nobody actually believes a creature made of flesh and blood can stand up against our thermal weapons, right?"
"I'm tired of these uneducated people from these underdeveloped countries. A bunch of school dropouts."
"My girlfriend is exactly like that. She just called me from overseas, and when she heard I was being deployed, she couldn't stop crying."
"Aren't you supposed to go home and get married next week? Haha, congratulations in advance!"
"Let's wrap this up before sunrise!"
"...Oooohhh!"
With this casual banter flowing over the radio waves, the steel predators dove fiercely toward the monster.
…
They're Coming. Deep inside the Great Sea Demon's massive body, Ryuuto, the monster's core, slowly opened his eyes. Through the thousands of tentacles of various sizes covering his body, he could sense electronic signals within a twenty-kilometer radius. His natural biological radar at work.
He smirked. "Let's see what our friend Clinton has sent as gifts."
"Hmm... F-14s, F/A-18s, F-15s—over 40 aircraft total. Ten Apache helicopters. About a dozen Type 90 tanks on the shore of Tokyo Bay." He paused. "Oh, those are from the Self-Defense Forces providing ground support. And for the main course: three Aegis destroyers and one Forrestal-class aircraft carrier."
"Not as much as I expected. Looks like we'll be done before morning."
The Great Sea Demon let out a deep roar as it rode the massive waves, surrounded by thick fog, continuing to move toward the shore.
To be honest, Ryuuto didn't hate humans enough to want to destroy them. He certainly wasn't planning to crush Japan or America. Today, he just wanted to have some fun.
"Now, let's see if they have any weapons of mass destruction." Chuckling, he closed his eyes again. "You better have something good."
…
"Impossible... the radar's not working...?"
Looking at the malfunctioning dashboard in the cockpit, the elite pilots on the carrier were too stunned to speak. While reporting the problem to command center, the officers frantically considered every possibility. Was it because of the unusually heavy fog this morning? Did the monster have some special skin that couldn't be detected by radar? No. None of these would cause the fighter jet's entire dashboard to fail. The monster had to be putting out some kind of bioelectric waves or something similar that was interfering with their equipment. When this realization hit, cold sweat broke out all over the elite pilots' bodies. If something like that really existed, it was definitely beyond anything in current Earth technology.
A younger pilot then thought of something even more frightening: "What if this monster is actually intelligent?"
...
Soon, new orders came from the tower. "Drop altitude and begin attack. Take out the monster before it gets any closer to Yokosuka Port."
"...Are they serious?" Hearing such an aggressive command, one of the pilots inhaled sharply. "Shouldn't we watch the situation first before we make a move?"
The reason headquarters had issued such a hasty order was because the sea demon was heading directly toward the aircraft carrier docked at the port. The monster's target was the aircraft carrier.
"We cannot let it succeed; it must not even get close!" The Naval Operations Chief slammed his fist on the table, shouting in the Pentagon meeting room. Of course, the soldiers on the front line had no idea about these behind-the-scenes discussions.
…
"What, are you scared?" The voice crackled through the static-filled radio as storm clouds gathered on the horizon, darkening the already turbulent waters below.
"Even if it can mess with our radar, it's still just flesh and blood." With a casual smile, this pilot completed the standard fighter jet maneuver, the F-14's engines screaming as it banked sharply, moving from slow circling to descent.
"W-wait! Ghost-II! Don't go in so far ahead!"
"I really don't get what you guys are so worried about—" The voice on the radio suddenly cut off with a burst of static, and along with it, the F-14's shadow vanished into the dense fog bank that clung to the water like a living shroud. The remaining pilots watched in horrified silence as their radar screens flickered with interference patterns.
"Hey! Answer me, Ghost II!!!" The desperate call echoed through every headset, accompanied only by the rhythmic beeping of warning systems and the howl of the wind outside their cockpits.
The moment the enemy entered his attack range, Ryuuto sensed it through the countless nerve endings that connected him to the creature's consciousness. The cold seawater parted as he lifted a massive tentacle from the depths. Though the movement looked slow from a distance, its tip broke the sound barrier like a whip, creating a visible shockwave in the misty air. The fighter jet was immediately caught by a sucker lined with sharp teeth.
After ejecting the pilot who tumbled through the air, the jet was yanked violently from its trajectory. Metal screamed in protest as the aircraft's wings crumpled under pressures they were never designed to withstand. In an instant, the pride of modern military technology became nothing but twisted metal, buried deep in the sea demon's surface protoplasm, then consumed with a sickening series of crunches that carried across the water. Bubbles and oil slicks rose to the surface as the remaining pieces sank beneath the waves.
"■■■■■..."
After finishing its meal, the Sea Demon slowly rotated countless eyeballs across its body surface, each one gleaming with intelligence as bioluminescent patterns pulsed across its enormous form. It looked up at the remaining prey in the sky, their engines now sounding tiny and insignificant against the creature's primal breathing.
At the same time, in a windowless room thousands of miles away, the leaders sitting in the Pentagon all shuddered as their coffee cups trembled on the polished table. Even from the opposite side of the planet, they somehow felt the monster's overwhelming gaze through the satellite feeds on their screens, as if the ancient being was looking not just at their aircraft, but directly into their souls...