This was the thing Herc hated most about being the Marshall, conference calls with the council. Thankfully this could very well be the last time he'd ever have to suffer through their ignorance and incompetence.

"I must say Mr. Hansen, your first operation as Marshall was certainly...Unique" L. Taylor spat, not even trying to hide the disdain he felt.

"I would call it a rousing success" Daisuke Serizawa suddenly interjected, a slightly smug smirk on his face.

"Hardly" L. Cole shot back "An entire fleet was wiped, Tokyo is lying in shambles, every single Jaeger we has been destroyed and worst of all one of those creatures is still alive!".

"With all due respect councilman" Herc began, meaning no respect at all "My experts theorise that Godzilla will not attack humanity without provocation" he pointed out.

"Oh yes, you're experts" Cole replied, emphasising the word experts with a great deal of irony filled spite "An old fool, a stuttering wreck and a narcissistic egotist"

"Yes, they do have their quirks don't they?" Herc half laughed.

"Be serious about this Marshall!" Taylor snapped.

"I am being serious sir, I've taken into account my own experiences and the thoughts and opinions of my science team, and I've concluded that Godzilla is not a threat at this moment in time" Herc said exasperatedly.

"But that doesn't mean he couldn't become one in the near future" Cole replied with an icy tone "I don't understand why you are putting so much stock in the goodwill of a monster, these things have been destroying our world for a decade".

Herc smiled again "Don't you listen to the radio councilman? He's not just any monster"

Cole glared daggers through the monitor at the Marshall and looked ready to blow, but Daisuke Serizawa suddenly spoke up "Regardless, I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you".

The council members all turned to look at Serizawa's monitor as the old man continued to speak "The men and women of the PPDC have worked tirelessly for over a decade in the defence of our planet, and for that we are eternally grateful".

There was a murmur of approval from the rest of the assembled politicians, nobody wanted to be caught out disrespecting those who had laid down their lives in the war.

"It was a pleasure to serve in the PPDC" Herc said, saluting.

"Was?" Serizawa said curiously.

"I assumed the PPDC would be dissolved with the world no longer under the threat of the Kaiju" Herc pointed out.

"We cannot be certain there is no longer a threat" Cole suddenly said, having calmed down slightly "If one Breach was opened, who's to say another won't appear somewhere down the line?".

"Not to mention the constant worry that your precious Godzilla will one day turn against us and attack" Taylor agreed "No Marshall, the PPDC will remain active, in fact the plans for a new batch of Jaegers have already been approved".

Herc was silent for a moment "Very well" he sighed "And what of me?" he questioned.

"You've proven yourself a capable leader with good judgement, we'd like you to stay on as Marshall for now" Serizawa said and from the looks on the faces of Taylor and Cole, he'd strong armed them into keeping him around.

"I see...In that case, I look forward to working with you again councilman Serizawa" Herc said, before ultimately ending the transmission.

Herc wasn't sure why he'd accepted the job so readily. Hadn't he been fighting so hard for all these years so he could return to a normal life? What possessed him to remain in this thankless position working directly under a group of people he openly hated?

A cough brought Herc back to reality, and he pushed his thoughts away for now, he had more important things to worry about.

Chuck Hansen stepped up to face his father "So you're the Marshall for real now?" he asked rhetorically.

"What can I say? I'm an old man, I don't belong on the front lines any more" he joked.

"Finally acting your age huh? That's a first" Chuck laughed.

"So how about you? What're your plans now that the war is over?" Herc asked.

"I think I'm going to apply to be an instructor at the Jaeger Academy, train the next generation. won't be easy, but I think I can make them ALMOST as good as me...helluva lot better than Raleigh, anyway" The younger Hansen laughed.

Herc smiled "What will you do if one of the rookies shows you up?".

"As if that'll happen" Chuck shot back "I'm the best pilot the PPDC has ever produced".

Herc laughed and shook his head "Yes, yes, fine, good luck Instructor Hansen" he chided, before grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Chuck yelled at his father.

"To see your uncle" he said simply, before closing the door and leaving the conference room.

"You didn't have to come all this way I'm fine, really!" Raleigh said, before biting into an apple.

Mako Mori sat uncomfortably beside her partner, his arm still in a cast, supported by a sling tied around his neck. After she'd been pulled from Tokyo Bay, and once the situation had calmed down, she'd taken the first chopper to Raleigh's location "I'm sorry" she apologised.

"Nah, it's fine, I like having company" he said with a short laugh. The grin fell from his face though as he looked at Mako "Are you doing okay?" he asked concernedly.

"Not really, but I'm keeping it together...For the Marshall's sake" she said solemnly.

"I'm sorry Mako...If I hadn't been hurt, I could have-" Raleigh began.

"There's no point dwelling on what could have been" she interrupted "What happened has happened and nothing can change that. All we can do is carry on going forward".

"I guess...Still I'm here for you if you need me" Raleigh said, he had a pretty good idea of what she was going for.

Mako smiled slightly "Thank you...But you need to concentrate on getting better" she said, offering a bag to her partner. "Whenever I was sick or wounded, the Marshall would bring me a bag of grapes, he said it was a tradition where he came from"

"Well then" Raleigh said, grabbing a handful of grapes and putting them in his mouth "If the Marshall says these will help me get better, guess I'd better get to eating" he joked. Mako laughed softly at Raleigh's antics.

"Monarch?" Newt asked "Does that stand for something, or is it meant to just sound cool?"

"The latter I'm afraid" Serizawa laughed "It's an independent group being created to monitor and research Gojira and any other creatures like him"

"Creatures like him?" Gottlieb asked "You think there could be more?"

"Who's to say?" Serizawa admitted "We know so little about Gojira and his origins, for all we know there could be dozens of monsters on planet Earth just waiting to be woken up like he was.

"Well good luck with that Doc" Newt said, offering a handshake, which Serizawa accepted "Me and Herman are going to stay with the PPDC"

"Yes! We're actually getting commendations from the scientific community for our theories on Kaiju brain patterns" Gottlieb said, shaking Serizawa's hand as well.

"That's great news, the PPDC needs more people like you two...Well it needs people with your sheer gut instincts at least" he joked lightly before turning towards the nearby helicopter and preparing to board.

"You do know that if we ever need any advice, we're going to call you right?" Newt laughed.

"That's fine, as long as you're both aware that if I need a pair of assistants to help me chase monsters, I'm calling you two in" he said before shutting the door on the chopper.

The aged doctor waved through the window, as the helicopter took off, Newt and Herman disappearing from view very quickly. Serizawa leaned back in his seat. Everything had changed, the war was over and the world was at peace.

Yet some things remained the same however given that he was once again, stuck inside a helicopter chasing monsters. It was strange though, five years ago he'd have given anything to no longer jet set around the world hunting Kaiju, and now here he was, willingly doing it again.

He supposed in a roundabout way, he owed a lot to Godzilla. He'd found a new lease on life, made a plethora of new friends and reconciled with his father, all thanks to his research on this mysterious animal. For that reason, he was greatly intrigued as to what the future would hold if he continued to follow Godzilla.

He looked through the window at the great, blue ocean. Somewhere amongst he was out there, resting and recovering from his long battle. There was no telling how long it'd take to find him, nor how long he'd be gone for, but Serizawa was sure that one day, he would see Godzilla again.

Leaning back even further into the chair, Serizawa closed his eyes, and for the first time in a long while, he drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Far underground, amidst a shelter of rock and stone, something stirred in the darkness. A large, solid shape twitched and shuffled, as loud snapping sounds reverberated throughout the cave. Cracks formed on the surface of the object as low, muffled growls emanated from within.

All around, subterranean creatures scurried in every conceivable direction away from the shifting, pulsing mass. The ground shook, and lumps of dirt and rock came loose and fell to the ground. The growls and scratching grew louder and louder. The noise filling the dead, stagnant air.

Finally the object gave way and something burst out from within, roaring and screeching wildly as the new life took a breath for the first time.

TO BE CONTINUED?

A/N: And thus the tale comes to an end...Sorta. In my profile, there's a short segment that will discuss some of the finer points of Ascension and it's development. Thank you very much for reading my silly little fic, I hope you enjoyed it.