Mechagodzilla: Shiryu

-3-

The next day, after getting her father's phone number(a private one), Akane set out to return to the base.

Once there inside, she went to report to the commanding officer. He was now with another commanding officer, a Japanese one that was in charge of military operations in the base and overseeing the Japan division of Monarch. "First Lieutenant Akane Yashiro. Reporting for duty" Akane said, standing in the middle of the room in front of the desk and saluting. "This is Colonel Togashi. As of now I will transfer you to his command at this base. I expect that you follow orders thoroughly during your service here." the commanding officer said to her, turning to the Colonel that was sitting behind the desk and saluting before walking out the door without saying anything else.

Now Akane stood there in the room, waiting for further instructions "Please, take a seat." Colonel Togashi, gesturing Akane to the seats in front of the desk. Akane nodded and went to take a seat as the Colonel pulled up a file and began to look through its papers. "Akane Yashiro...an accomplished woman you have become. A very talented one with skills that include hand-to-hand combat, hardware repair, vehicle driving, and even piloting an advanced prototype aircraft. And not just any aircraft. The ACX-Heron. All pilots complained about its instability and the troubles handling it, yet you managed to master the aircraft as a natural without modifications. How did you manage to accomplish such feat?" Colonel Togashi asked, looking up from the files in his hands. Akane remembered that occasion clearly, which was one of her moderate experiences that were not remotely scary. "I was only doing what I was ordered to do, sir." She said with respect, hoping she sounded honest. "I see. All of these accomplishments...and yet, when you are in action against Godzilla or other titans, you seem to...tense up and stall. Why is that?" The Colonel asked.

This question made Akane freeze as she knew that one very frightening experience that she went through was cataloged in her file. She knew exactly what the Colonel was referring to, and she remembered that one mission. When Godzilla made landfall at one of the major cities, her team and others were tasked to use the mazer railguns to lure the titan away. When the time came...something made Akane be the only one not to pull the trigger while the others fired their mazer railguns. She didn't know what it was, but she was paralyzed with fear as she stared up at the massive titan she had seen before from afar. More so, there was this dread that held her back from firing at the titan as she remembered various things all at once.

Luckily, she survived the experience, even when Godzilla fired his atomic breath at the other mazer railguns from the other side and destroyed the other team members. Seeing such power and destruction from the alpha titan left Akane in pure shock. After the mission, some other operators blamed Akane for not shooting at Godzilla and causing the deaths of her comrades. The higher officers dismissed these claims and said that it was all an accident, that it wasn't her at fault on what happened. Still, Akane felt guilty when she saw the faces of her comrades and heard their accusations.

All of these thoughts distracted her from the Colonel, who was currently asking her something.

"Lieutenant? Lieutenant Akane?" Colonel Togashi asked, making Akane snap out of her memory trip. "My apologies sir." Akane said quickly, bowing her head down. "It's alright. I can understand that it's not an easy task when one is up against a creature of immense size. Us humans are not immune to fear when facing a threat. Not even the most well trained soldier. If you want to opt out of this mission, which will in no doubt involve being in close proximity with titans, you are free to leave." Colonel Togashi said in understanding. From what Akane could tell, this high-ranking commander would rather listen to soldiers rather than dismiss things like these as excuses. "There are others like you that are willing to take this position. And those are a few. In fact, all of you aren't on the official list of candidates. Under the request of Dr. Chen, that is. One of the leading representatives of Monarch." Colonel Togashi added.