TL Note :
https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Zilla
https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Gorosaurus
Zilla, Gorosaurus
October to December 2039 – Old French Republic, Rouen to Paris
Haruka-Yasiro (former surname), Tank Platoon Commander (at the time)
In the long battle against the kaiju, many young lives were lost. Humanity no longer had the luxury to distinguish between young and old, and seeing female soldiers on the frontlines was no longer a rare sight. This was no different in Operation Eternal Light.
The European Reclamation Force that had successfully executed the Second Normandy Campaign had set their sights on the French capital, Paris. Numerous kaiju lay in wait along their path. Haruka-Yasiro, a female officer, led the tank platoon at the vanguard.
Yes, that’s right. It was my tank unit that reported the successful annihilation of Godzilla in the vicinity of Rouen. That probably caused quite a worldwide celebration, but what could we do? It had the characteristics of Godzilla – bipedal, three rows of dorsal fins, and a long tail… And none of us in the unit had actually seen Godzilla before, so… Of course, I couldn’t help but think it was a bit too easy when it fell from a simultaneous barrage of Maser cannons and rail guns, but…
But I want this to be clearly written down. I don’t know if this Zilla, as it was named, is a relative of Godzilla or a completely different species. The scholars can look into that (Note 1).
But it was a distinct and grave threat, especially in its reproductive capabilities. They could multiply anywhere. Hermaphroditic organisms? I see. Anyway, when our unit landed, they were reproducing at an incredible rate. Rouen had been spared Godzilla’s direct attack, so there should have been survivors, but we found none. They had probably all been devoured. The adults were dangerous, but the real trouble was the young. They acted in packs and had intelligence. Regular human soldiers couldn’t compete, and even with their Jaguar suits, they were still at risk from sheer numbers. The juveniles would act as bait to lure tanks, while the adults would attack from the rooftops. Yes. The adults were smaller than Godzilla, but their small, agile bodies posed a serious threat in urban areas. It wasn’t just Rouen. Many French cities had become their nests. Liberating cities controlled by Zilla was more difficult than dealing with any other kaiju. If even a single juvenile or egg was left behind, they would start breeding again.
To prevent that, the only option was to systematically clear each city block by block. But how much time and how many infantry would that require? Some idiots in the higher-ups even suggested just dropping a nuclear bomb to burn the whole city down. Yes, that’s right. Blow away Notre-Dame Cathedral and everything else. That would be utterly counterproductive… But the fact that such an idea was even considered shows just how formidable an enemy Zilla was.
In the end, we could only afford to surround and contain Rouen with a portion of the forces, while the main G-Force had to press on.
The absolute order was to liberate Paris before Christmas.
We headed south from Rouen towards Paris. Along the way, we were able to rescue many survivors in the historical castles and churches we passed through. Those structures built centuries ago had become fortresses sheltering the abandoned. They were loaded onto the Exif and Bilusaludo spaceships and immediately evacuated to the rear.
We encountered several Rodan swarms during the march, but they were shot down by our G-HEDs designed for anti-air warfare. Ah, our unit was equipped with a mix of Japanese-developed Maser-based weaponry and American-developed super electromagnetic guns, and in the beginning, they would bicker – “This keeps breaking down!” “We’re running out of ammo!” – but by this point, they were cooperating much better (Note 2).
We knew from reconnaissance that Paris had become the lair of Gorosaurus.
Like Zilla, a bipedal carnivorous dinosaur-like kaiju. Just as agile as Zilla, but even bigger. Fortunately, there was only one, and it wasn’t breeding, but otherwise it was a formidable opponent. Its terrifying jumping ability had already taken down several of our reconnaissance drones. The chosen battlefield was Vexin-Français Natural Park, but two Super X IIs had to be sacrificed to lure it there (Note 3).
We poured a hail of G-HED rounds to pin down the flying creature’s head, and then my tank platoon opened fire in unison. But it was still alive, and in one final desperate move, it rammed the Bilusaludo spacecraft – which had become the command post of our battalion – and was engulfed in the explosion of the burning spacecraft as it died…
I don’t know why my tank platoon was chosen to be the first to enter Paris. It was probably for propaganda purposes. They must have thought that seeing a women’s tank platoon fighting in Paris would inspire the men back home and make them eager to join the fight.
We advanced down the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.
The city was eerily quiet, like the dead.
We had liberated Paris, but unlike the black-and-white war footage from World War II, there were no cheering citizens to welcome us… or so it seemed.
So I couldn’t believe my eyes.
That’s why I was so surprised when I saw people waving the French flag under the Arc de Triomphe. They were ragged and thin, barely able to hold the flag, but they were undoubtedly Parisians. I immediately radioed command.
“Command post, command post, this is tank 1, they’re civilians! The Parisians are alive!”
And you know what they said back?
“Tank 1, are you sure you’re not mistaken? Trying to get the media excited again?”
They were still holding a grudge over the Jira misidentification.
So I shot back,
“Send a full battalion of reporters there immediately if you don’t want to miss out on another Pulitzer!”
I then jumped off my tank and ran to the flag-waving civilians.
I embraced the young man in the lead and started dancing with him.
I only realized he was also Japanese after a song or two.
Hey, Investigator Akira-Sakaki.
Can I ask you some questions this time?
How did you manage to survive there for 5 years?
Why were you, a Japanese person, waving the flag with the Parisians?
That’s what Haruka asks me.
The truth is, I crossed over to the continent in 2037, about 3 years after the devastation of Europe. But unlike other underground survivors, I only hid in the catacombs of Paris for a little over 2 years. At the time, Dr. Wilhelm Kieślowski, a leading Godzilla researcher, had braved the opposition around him and traveled to Europe in search of clues about Godzilla’s ecology, only to vanish. That search was my mission. Unfortunately, I could not find Dr. Meisner himself, but his research results were entrusted to one of the citizens hiding in the Paris catacombs. Being able to safely bring those back was my greatest source of pride.
As for how I wandered the devastated Europe and made contact with the people in the Paris catacombs, and how the Parisians endured 5 years underground, I shall save those stories for another time, as they stray from the purpose of this document.
In 2039,
within half a year of the launch of Operation Eternal Light, Paris was reclaimed by humanity. The Earth Union forces fought to use it as a springboard to clear the kaiju from Europe – Brussels, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow… one abandoned city after another returned to human hands (the decontamination made possible by the anti-nuclear energy bacteria provided by Bilusaludo was also a major factor).
Humanity was elated by the reports of successive victories. For the first time in nearly half a century since Kamacuras appeared in New York in 1999, the tide had turned in humanity’s favor.
The only concern was the unknown whereabouts of Godzilla, the greatest threat to humanity. But the optimism was that with the alien technologies now in our possession, and having liberated Europe, defeating Godzilla would also be an easy task.
Humanity was drunk on this rare victory. By the time the plan to return to Europe was initiated in 2041, the plummeting birth rate suddenly spiked, ushering in a global baby boom.
I was granted substantial leave upon returning to Japan from Europe, and I held a wedding ceremony with a female tank soldier who had also returned to Japan, and she took the surname Sakaki.
Neither Haruka nor I knew.
Nor did anyone else in humanity.
That this would be the last, happiest moment for humanity, before it was shattered again by its reemergence in 2042.
Note 1: There are theories that this bipedal kaiju with characteristics similar to Godzilla is either a close relative of Godzilla or unrelated, but no definitive conclusion has been reached.
Note 2: There was debate over whether to equip the Aratrum and Oratio with the Eastern or Western military systems, but the more maintenance-friendly Western systems were ultimately adopted.
Note 3: The Super X, which had achieved great results in the Normandy landings but suffered massive damage in exchange, was retrofitted as an unmanned drone on site.
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