text: An alert pops up on my monitor. They call it an "alert" because it alerts us to something important but in reality it looks more like an email notification. I can even swipe to dismiss it. The "alert" tells me about seismic activity located near the center of town. It's my job to determine if any seismic readings are in fact earthquakes or... something else. Luckily I have some of the best technology known to man at my disposal. I type in a few commands which give me access to the five satellites hovering over the region. Almost immediately three satellites give me the details I need. Definitely not a quake. Well, not a natural one anyway. Sometimes this job is too easy. I take a sip of my coffee and hit a button to sound the alarm. Red lights flash all around the facility. Klaxon alarms blare at an almost defeaning volume. Notifications are sent to every single smart device in the building. There isn't a soul in the facility who isn't aware of the imminent threat. As soon as I hit the button, four highly trained pilots rush to their mechs. Right now they're going through pre-deployment procedures and within 5 minutes should intercept the target. I take another sip of coffee and pull up a live feed on my computer. This is the part of the job I love the most. Sure these attacks can be scary but we have the best pilots in the world defending us. That allows me to push that fear aside and fulfill my childhood dream of watching giant robots fighting giant monsters. The Kaiju first emerged 17 years ago right here in Kaijutown. Of course, it wasn't called Kaijutown back then. Back then it was simply known as Oklahoma City. Some people refer to that day as K-Day but I always thought it sounded silly. I just call it The Day Mankind's History Was Irrevocably Altered For The Remainder Of All Time. See, rolls right off the tongue. When the first Kaiju burst from the earth in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City there was, of course, shock and awe. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Immediately we knew two things: we weren't alone in the universe (or even this planet) and mankind would never be the same. The first Kaiju destroyed most of the city before it was stopped. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. The initial shock and awe soon gave way to anger and vengeance. The military was quick to react and after a bombing campaign that lasted almost 24 hours the Kaiju was finally brought down. So now we knew a third thing: they could be killed. Naturally the Kaiju corpse was studied for any vulnerabilities. It was quickly discovered they had very thick skin covered in some areas with armor-like scales. I remember seeing it on the news as a boy and thinking it resembled a large crocodile spliced with a T-Rex. When the second Kaiju emerged, we realized a fourth thing: the first Kaiju wasn't an isolated incident. Not only were we all now living in an Ishiro Honda film, but now we had to deal with multiple giant monsters living beneath the surface. The government quickly evacuated most of Oklahoma and began to devise additional methods to defeat the Kaiju. As luck would have it, halfway across the world Japan was working on an actual life-size Gundam. Initially they led the world to believe their Gundam could do nothing more than move a leg. When actual Kaiju started to appear, the Japanese government informed the United States government that their Gundam was more battle ready than previously thought. Naturally the US Government wanted all of the technology used to build the mech. Naturally Japan refused. Eventually an agreement was formed. The two countries would work together to build battle mechs, train mech pilots, and develop any additional technology needed to combat the Kaiju. Soon, other countries offered their expertise and technologies. Everybody wanted to be in the inner circle regarding this crazy new threat. Thus, the Allied Nations Kaiju Liberation Enforcement Service was born. Yea I know it spells ANKLES. I've told my boss. He told me to shut up. I continue to sip coffee as I watch the live feed. The Kaiju emerged from the ground just like all of the others. It gets it's footing then looks around. The four mechs approach, their metal chassis glistening in the sun. This is the 70th Kaiju attack since they first emerged 17 years ago. Well I guess it's unfair to call it an attack. We've gotten Kaiju fighting down to a science so this is just another Wednesday for us. Kaijutown has been abandoned for years which allowed ANKLES to build an impenetrable defense around a perimeter totaling 50 square miles. No Kaiju has gotten more than 3 miles before our mechs bring them down. I've been lucky enough to witness most of the takedowns right here from the command center at ANKLES HQ. The mechs reach the Kaiju and flank it from all sides. Shoulder mounted missiles are fired and a flurry of explosions blanket the Kaiju. It roars that ungodly roar they all do when they are first attacked. I can feel it all the way here at HQ. The missles should weaken the Kaiju enough for the deadly blow to be inflicted. All of our mechs are equipped with a special blade designed to penetrate the tough Kaiju skin. One of the mechs deploys their blade and strikes. This was it. This was the final blow. It would all be over soon. But... the Kaiju dodges the strike and grabs the mech's arm. Then it opens it's mouth and vaporizes the mech with what I can only assume was some kind of fire breath. I drop my coffee mug. This has never happened before. Kaiju don't have fire breath. The three remaining mechs pilots keep their cool but I can hear the fear rising in their voices. They just witnessed one of their teammates killed at the claws of a Kaiju. A fire breathing Kaiju. All of the mechs strike at once. Multiple notifications pop up across my screen. Everybody at ANKLES wants to know what's going on. Kaiju specialists are frantically recalling any information they have on these things and nobody can find anything about fire breath. In addition to that, this Kaiju seems to be faster and more agile than the ones before it. It is effortlessly dodging the blows from the mechs even returning a few blows of it's own. The mech pilots are well trained but it's been years since a Kaiju has given them this much of a challenge. Usually a shoulder missle attack and a blade strike seals the deal. Now the mech pilots are literally out there fighting for their lives. Another alert pops up on my screen. I almost dismiss it until I realize it's a seismic alert. Oh no. Not now. I type a few commands and the satellites confirm it. Another Kaiju is emerging from the earth. I patch into the mech's radio feed and warn the pilots. It's too late. The second Kaiju attacks a mech from behind with a vaporizing blast of fire breath. I can't believe what I'm seeing. The Kaiju must have... evolved. I have an idea but the area needs to be clear. I tell the two remaining pilots my plan and to evacuate the area. They acknowledge my message, land a few remaining strikes on the Kaiju and begin to run back to HQ. The satellites I use to track Kaiju seismic activity are also low-orbit defense weapons. Each satellite is equipped with a nuclear missle. Well not technically nuclear because there's no radiation but they do pack a similar wallop. I sweat as I type the commands I need to access the defense capabilities of the satellites. I stop for a split second when I realize these missles have never been deployed before. Today is definitely a day of firts. A notification pops up on my monitor from the head of ANKLES giving me the greenlight to launch. In my haste I didn't ask for permission so I'm glad they're covering all of our butts by giving me the required approval. I type the final command and the missle is launched. It takes 5 seconds for the missle to enter Earth's atmosphere and reach the Kaiju. The blast is blinding, the shockwave deafening. The entire building shakes and I have to hold on to my computer console to avoid being thrown to the ground. Once the explosion subsides, I sit down and sigh. I can't believe what has happened today. Two mech pilots killed. Evolved Kaiju. Me launching an explosive from space. This is definitely one for the history books. I wipe sweat from my brow and start to type up an after action report. There will be a lot of people studying the events of today for a long time. Halfway through typing the first sentence I freeze. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I could have sworn I heard a... there it is again. That ungodly roar. Impossible. I switch to a live feed of the missle impact area but there's still too much dust in the air. I switch to a thermal view and my heart drops. The two Kaiju are still standing and roaring into the sky. Alerts pop up on my screen. More seismic activity. This time it's off the charts. No no no no no. I pull up the satellite data and the blood drains from my face. More Kaiju are emerging. We've never dealt with more than one at a time before. Now there are at least a dozen in full view with more bursting out of the ground every few minutes. I sit back in my chair and tears form in my eyes. If the mechs and the missiles couldn't stop them then we're doomed. Soon the Kaiju break through our defensive barrier, tearing it down as if it were tissue paper. We deployed the remaining mechs. We deployed the remaing missles. It was of no use. There was now nothing standing between the Kaiju and the rest of mankind. For the second time in my lifetime, the Kaiju have risen.