Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery golden dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads."
Revelation 12:3
Forty million kilometers from Earth, aboard the Venus Spin-Stabilized Space Station, Dr. Alex Yang watched the latest transmission from home with growing unease. The high-definition footage played on his tablet, showing scenes of unprecedented destruction.
"The enemy of humanity, the colossal beast that annihilated the entire Far East... Godzilla." He shook his head. "This isn't good. This is really not good."
Alex's stomach tightened. His family still lived in East Asia, likely in Godzilla's path if the creature continued its rampage. With each passing day, the monster grew stronger, and Alex's worry deepened.
'I hope they evacuated in time,' he thought, so absorbed in the footage that he failed to notice his surroundings.
"What are you watching?"
The voice startled him, though he didn't show it. Dr. Emma Edwards stood beside him, her blonde hair pulled back in a practical ponytail. She removed her hand from his shoulder when he glanced up.
"The latest Earth report," Alex replied, gesturing to his tablet.
The connection between Venus Station and Earth wasn't perfect. Large data transfers happened only during scheduled windows each day. Live broadcasts were available anytime at standard definition, but Alex preferred waiting for the 8K version of important briefings.
Emma leaned closer. "You mean that big government address today? What's the story?"
"What else?" Alex sighed. "Godzilla."
"And what did they say about our favorite city-stomping lizard?" Emma asked.
Alex summarized the briefing, watching Emma's interest fade with each detail.
"Hey," he said, "why aren't you taking this seriously? This is about humanity's survival. Don't be so flippant."
Emma rolled her eyes. "It's just humanity's survival. What we're doing here also concerns humanity's survival, you know." Suddenly, her expression changed. "Speaking of what we're doing..."
Her face drained of color. "Shit! I completely forgot! The demolition plan was approved! Commander wants us in control—now!"
"What?!" Alex jumped to his feet, tablet forgotten. Together, they sprinted toward the ground probe control center on the other side of the station.
Venus Station was massive—the second largest human outpost in space, even bigger than Lunar Base. By the time they reached the control center, everyone else had already assembled.
Commander Naomi Chen stood at the command console, arms crossed. "Edwards, Yang. I was debating whether to use the PA system to hunt you down. Glad to see you made it before I needed to. Progress."
Her sarcasm was cutting, but there was no real anger behind it. Alex and Emma found seats among their colleagues without further comment.
"Now that we're all present," Commander Chen continued, "let's begin."
The main screen flickered to life, displaying an image captured by their largest exploration vehicle on Venus. The image showed an enormous alloy gate covered in strange, weathered sculptures.
No one gasped. No one whispered in amazement. Every person in the room had seen this gate before—many times. The existence of extraterrestrial artifacts on Venus was common knowledge among the station crew, but on Earth, only a handful of high-clearance individuals knew the truth.
If these images were released publicly, they would cause a sensation second only to Godzilla himself. But the United Earth Government had classified everything. The gate was evidence of a civilization destroyed by monsters—precisely the kind of news that would amplify global panic about Godzilla.
"This massive structure remains our final obstacle," Chen explained. "According to Venusian records recovered from Maxwell Montes, this is where they sealed away King Ghidorah."
She brought up a new schematic. "Our mission is simple: breach the gate and gather firsthand data about the monsters inside. This information will be crucial for humanity's defense against Godzilla and any future extraterrestrial threats."
"Teams Six through Ten will launch and control the unmanned vehicles carrying explosives to Maxwell Montes. Teams One through Three will place the existing explosives at designated locations. Teams Four and Five will conduct eleven geological surveys of the surrounding area. There's no room for error."
Commander Chen's voice hardened. "This operation is tied to humanity's future. Failure is not an option. Let's begin."
The control room erupted into coordinated activity. This was the culmination of eleven years of work—ever since they'd first discovered the gate containing King Ghidorah.
Fifteen hours later, a countdown appeared on the main screen:
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0!
BOOM!