The Crater's Edge
Molten rock filled the colossal crater as a massive mushroom cloud of debris and ash blotted out the sky. The impact zone stretched nearly two miles across and several hundred yards deep—a testament to Godzilla's devastating power.
The blast had reshaped the landscape. Within a six-mile radius, the hills were stripped bare, and closer to ground zero, entire elevations had been wiped from existence. The western forests of Hokkaido burned like a sea of torches. When Godzilla's atomic breath detonated, every tree within sixty miles of the epicenter ignited simultaneously.
Thick smoke obscured even Godzilla's vision as the titan trudged forward. The world had taken on an apocalyptic orange glow through the haze, as the creature advanced toward humanity's final defensive line in the Far East.
The military's main force had established their position behind the peaks of the Yubari Mountain Range. While the western face offered gentler slopes, the eastern side presented a formidable natural barrier—steep cliffs rising over 3,000 feet into the air.
Here, Godzilla's breath weapon couldn't slice through the mountains as easily as before. These weren't mere foothills—these peaks stretched over 3,000 feet high with bases two to three miles wide. The energy required to penetrate such masses dwarfed what was needed for the smaller ridges. The monster's effective range was severely limited by these natural barriers.
The terrain proved challenging for both sides. While the eastern Yubari Range offered one of the best approaches to engage Godzilla in Hokkaido, it was a double-edged sword. The same mountains that blocked Godzilla's breath also restricted the human snipers' lines of sight.
Three strategic firing positions remained—the only places where the super-electromagnetic cannons could target beyond Hokkaido's borders. The first two positions, despite their mountainous location, offered superior high-ground advantages. However, Godzilla remained unaware of these positions, unfamiliar with Hokkaido's topography.
This advantage had been severely compromised. The first two positions had lost their tactical value—while they could still target Godzilla, a single shot wouldn't be enough. They needed to trigger an internal detonation. Now, only the third position offered any hope, though its firing solutions were far more limited than the other two.
As Godzilla entered the mountain range, something caught its attention. "Snow," it might have thought, if such creatures could think in human terms. The first snow it had seen since awakening.
The ground was chaotic—not the pristine white blanket one might expect, but a jumbled mess from recent events. Godzilla's attacks had triggered massive avalanches, so thorough that even the creature's enormous footfalls couldn't trigger more slides.
The remaining Far East forces launched their assault as soon as Godzilla entered range. Their barrage, though less intense than previous encounters, still filled the air with rocket artillery. Godzilla, barely acknowledging the attacks, attempted to demonstrate its power by melting through a 3,000-foot peak. But the mountain proved more resilient than expected.
Several seconds passed before the peak began to give way, collapsing as Godzilla's atomic breath depleted. The titan needed time to recharge—a weakness the defenders noted. What had taken only a second with smaller obstacles now required significant effort.
Adapting its strategy, Godzilla chose to navigate around the peaks instead of through them, moving with surprising agility for its size as it continued to disrupt the human defensive positions.
The order came through the military channels: "Initiate the induced operation."