Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Ashram52
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

Post by Ashram52 »

Bessie… is that you? :lol:

Well done. A nicely self-contained story that still fits into the larger narrative. I can tell you had fun writing it.

I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like the Canadian Lock Ness?
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Your pretty much right on with the Canadian Nessie comment. It is Champ, the lake Champlain monster. Its been around for who knows how long; Native residents of the area claim its been sighted before the French even landed in the area. It is spotted every so often. Usually described very Nessie like, long serpentine head, round body, way too big, reptilian, sometimes w flippers or claws, sometimes without. Generally very pleiosaur-esque. Accounts differ on behavior. Usually its very calm and just watches people, though it has been known to flip fishing boats and try and eat the catch though leaves the fisherman themselves alone. It has been blamed for a few disappearances though accounts of it actually being aggressive towards humans are very rare. Some people believe it can go on land. Explanations have included large eels, a manatee, misunderstood floating logs, and of course, aliens.


If your talking Kaiju in Canada it's really our version. It or Ogopogo. Though to be fair with our staggering amount of lakes there are plenty of other water monsters supposedly here. We also have occasional spotting's of extinct dire wolves and a pre historic giant bear species known to have lived in Alaska, Yukon, Northwest territories and the Northern part of the Canadian Prairie's. Given our huge swathes of unexplored Arctic and sub arctic, as well as access to three oceans Canada is a pretty likely contender to host Kaiju and other cryptids.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Oddly enough, I’ve never heard of that. Not watching the right shows I guess.

Pretty cool that your short story is based on real folklore. Or… (who knows) maybe based in reality. Those sorts of mysteries are what keeps the world an interesting place to live. It would be pretty neat if one day at least one of those legends turns out to be real. Long shot, but not impossible.

Well, I’ve had a little time off this week, so I’m already pretty well done with the outline of chapter 34 and I’m already two scenes deep into the first draft. The next chapter is very closely tied to the previous one, so I’m hoping to get it out a little sooner. Chapter 33 was all about set ups and chapter 34 will start the process of payoffs, though it will take an additional two chapters to entirely round off the present storylines.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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As soon as you opened with the scientists, I knew immediately where you were going. You got pretty deep into Rodan before it clicked in but this time I caught the movie immediately. I wondered if you were going to use it. Its a little light on plot but still a favorite of mine. Even though it has Manilla. I like the Kamacuras and the mantis. The Kaiju doesn't have to be mysterious or alien to be freaking terrifying. It can be just what you know, just a whole lot bigger. There is an early Kaiju film called "attack of the giant killer mantis" that Toho didn't actually do but seem to have been inspired by. I was watching for any hints of it in the story. You fit the science station into your work pretty good, slight plot differences but overall recogbnizable. When I was looking at the silos in the first few pics I noticed they looked like pistol ammunition? The russians used a bizarre "gas seal" revolver called the Nagant. Its actual bullet was seated inside the casing so the bullet itself formed a gas seal of its own. Its a strange looking thing but incredibly distinctive. I wondered if it wasn't a subtle reference? Good work as always.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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I believe I’ve seen that one, but I don’t remember for sure. Must have been awhile ago. Maybe I’ll have to look it up. The Kamacuras aren’t going to be one off characters, so I could use some outside inspiration for future plots.

But yeah, I’m a big fan of the Showa Kamacuras. They were just a neat design and brought to life in a cool way. Son of Godzilla is one of the first Godzilla movies I can remember seeing. It gets kind of a bad rap in some circles, but overall I think it’s a fine entry into the franchise, flaws notwithstanding. It definitely has it’s charm.

The shape of the towers are a total coincidence. I had to throw all of the Island base buildings together quickly at the last minute, so it was just easier to make them a simple shapes. But that is an interesting fact about Russian bullets.

Well, I’m done with the first draft of the next chapter and I think it’s shaping up to be a good one. Last chapter was mostly about set ups, the next one will be more about payoffs.

Well unfortunately, I’m back to work tomorrow. So the next chapter will probably be put out in a few weeks.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Chapter 34: Power Struggle.

Warning alarms all over the station were going off. The overhead lights had all been blow out by the frequent and continuous power surges, only the red-tinged emergency lights were illuminating the interior of the power plant. Ethan was manning the primary control console, examining the readouts. The monitors were registering a massive power loss. The facility’s energy stores were rapidly being depleted.

“Shut down the turbines!” Ethan ordered the few remaining workers who were brave enough to still be at their posts. A shower of sparks flew out of the nearby outlets as another energy wave surged through the facility.

The kaiju that had risen up from the earth followed Ethan back to the power plant and was now assaulting the station. The monster had just got done draining the facility’s main capacitor and had turned its attention to siphoning off power directly from the spinning turbines. Ethan hoped the creature would simply move on once it had consumed all the power it was able to. Cutting it off from the turbines was the best idea he could think of at that point.

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The system came to a halt and the monster seemed to immediately register the difference. It roared and knocked over both of the plant’s exhaust towers in a fit of rage. Clearly, he was not pleased with the change of circumstances. The falling cement tubes crumbled and plunged downward, crashing through the ceiling of the main plant building in several areas. Workers caught below them were crushed to death. Dust and debris quickly spread throughout the complex.

Ethan recognized that it was time to get out. The industrial carnage around him was quickly getting out of hand. He had done all he could to hamper the monster and now he had to think about what was best for his family.

Before the monster had caught up with Ethan at the plant, he had made two important phone calls. One to his wife, warning her to pack up anything she couldn’t live without at the house and prepare to leave town. The second being to the police, warning them about the monster and to get word out to the military. Sadly, the monster had arrived before Ethan could give them much useful information about it.

The creature seemed to feed on raw energy. In a way, it was much like a capacitor itself, absorbing and storing power. That would have likely be invaluable information to the military, but Ethan didn’t have enough time to tell the police as much before the monster’s electrical attacks knocked out the phones at the plant. Ethan been cut off mid-call. Too late did he realize that the monster could not only absorb electricity like a leach, but also discharge it at will as a weapon. Within seconds of making contact with the connecting wires, the kaiju had disabled every available method of communicating with the outside world.

As the plant continued crumbled around him, Ethan ran as fast as he could, avoiding any and all hazards along the way. Several fires had broken out in the facility due to the monster’s electrical impulse discharges. Ethan saw the bodies of several people he knew as he made his way out. He couldn’t stop to see if any of them were still alive or not. There was simply no time. The monster stepped through the roof of the building behind Ethan and kicked out a large section of load bearing wall. The entire structure destabilized and collapsed.

Ethan ran out of the front entrance of the plant covered in soot and made for his truck in the parking lot. Meanwhile, the monster swiped its clawed hand at the damaged remnants of one of the cooling towers, knocking it the rest of the way over. A hail of shattered concrete hammered down over the area. Ethan was struck by a piece in the shoulder. He went down in a heap, not realizing what had hit him. As he got back up, his shoulder throbbed from the pain of the impact. He reached back to touch the area and found that he was bleeding. Ethan didn’t know it yet, but his shoulder blade had been fractured in several places from the blunt force trauma. Adrenaline was pumping through his system though and kept him moving. Ethan finally made it to his truck and started the engine. His windshield had been cracked by the flying debris, but it wasn’t bad enough to impair him from seeing through it.

By that point, the monster was already moving away. Ethan knew exactly where it was going. Darwin was the closest place that had sources of power the monster to draw energy from. It was only logical that the monster would go there next.



In the Sollgel islands, Maki and Fuji were preparing to land their float plane in a small lake that happened to be located in the vicinity of the Russian base. Putting down there was a little risky because they didn’t know for sure how shallow the water was and they could run out of watery runway fast, but it would take them at least an hour of hiking through the jungle if they landed along the island’s coastline. They felt like it was worth the risk.

Fuji carefully glided the plane in and splashed down gently. After that, he slowly motored the aircraft to the edge of the lake, driving the nose up into the muddy bank. As they slid to a stop, Maki hopped out and took their mooring rope further up into the grass. He planted it in the ground and then pounded the long stake at the end further into the soil until it was well secured. Fuji stopped the engine and looked pleased with Maki’s work, giving him a thumb’s up from the cockpit window. Fuji grabbed their equipment and handed Maki a rifle and a backpack. Though the island was supposed to be deserted, they couldn’t be too safe. There was no telling if a Russian soldier had been left behind or if anything else was still in the base waiting to surprise them.

The pair had one primary objective, to secure a working radio, or failing that, at least some spare parts for one. As they approached the base grounds, they quickly discovered several disquieting details. First, the buildings the Russians had constructed on the island were simply not up to the task of keeping out the elements. The dilapidated condition of the structures was far worse than they would have ever guessed. Some of them were just barely left standing. Second, the recent heat storm appeared to have claimed many Russian lives. There was a long line of fresh graves that must have been dug by the survivors. There were at least twenty of them all together. It must have been a terrible experience. Small wonder that the Russians has decided to pull out of the area.

Building by building, Maki and Fuji searched for anything of use. They stuck close together for safety. For Maki, being there gave him an odd feeling of excitement. It was something that went back to his childhood. The thrill of going somewhere you knew you weren’t supposed to be. Like walking around in the rundown old building in your neighborhood, just to see what you’d find there. Or looking inside of your parent’s closest trying to find hidden Christmas gifts. A mixture of excitement and fear of getting caught. There was something very invigorating about that feeling.

After going in and out of three buildings, it was starting to look like the Russians had cleared out any working equipment. Anything they left behind was in an extremely degraded state. There weren’t many clues as to what the Russians had been up to in the buildings either. Maki and Fuji decided to move on to the mine the Russians had been working in.

The mountain proved to be a more fruitful endeavor. Right away, Maki could tell that the Russians had been active there recently. Their footprints in the soil were still fresh. The Russians who had survived the heat storm must have taken shelter inside one of the numerous caverns cut into the mountainside. They had clearly moved some of their gear within the interior. Interestingly, it appeared to Maki that the Russians had done so prior to the disastrous experiment.

As Maki and Fuji ventured further into the tunnels, it still wasn’t becoming any clearer what the Soviets were digging for. They had built tracks and brought in mine carts to move rock and soil out, but there didn’t seem to be any veins of precious metals, coal, or any other valuable resources present. Before too long, the pair came upon a vast vertical shaft which cut right through the top of the mountain. It traveled down into a large empty chamber below. Whatever the Russians had found, it must have come from that cavity of rock because the digging had stopped right there. A large crane had been built at the top of the mountain to hoist their prize out from there.

Fuji and Maki stood there for a while studying the chamber with their flashlights before deciding to move on. They made their way out using an adjoining tunnel. On the far side of the mountain, they finally found something useful. There was a workstation that had almost been entirely cleaned out, except for a desk and a radio sitting upon it. Fuji got excited, sitting down and fiddling with the radio’s dials trying to turn it on. He didn’t have any luck though. It appeared to be non-functional, which was probably why the Russians had left it behind in the first place. However, it still might yield the spare parts they required to repair their own radio. Otherwise, the whole team would be waiting an entire month for the next supply ship to visit the base.

Fuji placed the radio in Maki’s pack and then the pair carefully made their way out of the mountain. They kept an eye out for any other items that could be of use, but they didn’t find anything else. At that point, they had pretty well combed over the entire Russian base. While they hadn’t salvaged much, they had found something fairly worthwhile. It was time to report back. They uprooted the mooring spike and pushed the seaplane back into the water. Fuki re-started the engine, powered through the lake, and got them back into the air.

“I hope this Russian junk gets the job done.” Maki said to Fuji over the hum of the engines as they got on their way.

“Me too.” Fuji agreed. “Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to get off of the main island, but I’d hate to think we wasted our time on this trip.”

“So, what do you suppose the Russians were digging for?” Maki asked. “It’s weird that they would just bug out like that, right?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t figure a few dead grunts would bother the Russian brass enough to keep them from continuing to spy on us, especially if they knew they could hide out in those caves next time if another experiment were to go wrong.” Fuji answered. “Whatever they found in there, which I have to admit I have no idea what it could be, it must have been something pretty important. I’ll tell you something though.” He went on. “There’s something really odd about that mountain they were digging in.”

“Oh, what’s that?” Maki inquired.

“Well, I’m not a geologist, but for being a mountain, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of actual rock in there.” Fuji answered. “It was more like a dirt hill that just happened to have some rocks throw in. You ever see those samurai movies where they have to bury a comrade out in the middle of the wilderness, where they place rocks over the soil so animals can’t get to them? It’s kind of like that. Mostly soil with rocks around the outside. Those tunnels we were walking through were mostly just dirt.”

“That might explain how the Russians were able to excavate it so quickly.” Maki noted. “You said they only started digging there after your team had already been here for a while. Seems to me that they got really far really fast.”

“Yeah, and they didn’t have to dig out that main chamber in the middle either.” Fuji agreed. “There weren’t any cutting marks from tools on the inside. So that hollow area existed before they got there. I’d pay real money to know what was inside.” A buzzing sound distracted Fuji from the conversation. It was getting louder. “Shit, I hope that isn’t coming from the engine. We can always make an emergency landing on the water, but I don’t fancy swimming all the way back to base.”

Maki noticed the noise too. It didn’t seem to be coming from the plane though. It was coming from somewhere outside of the cabin. Maki turned to try to look out the window but didn’t see anything around them. The noise seemed to be coming up from behind them. It was closing in and getting louder. Maki started to get worried. They were a sitting duck for whatever was coming at them.

“Fuji…” Maki began to say, but before he could continue, the plane was rocked as something collided with the tail.

“What the hell…?!” Fuji fought to keep control as the whole plane shuttered.

Maki looked back and saw the tail of the plane plummeting away towards the ocean. Something had cut clean through it. Without the tail fins, Fuji was having a hell of a time keeping control of the aircraft. They started to loose altitude quickly.

“Fuck!!!” Fuji struggled to pull back up on the stick, but it was little use. He could slow the plane’s descent, but not stop it. They were dropping closer and closer to the waves below. Fuji did manage to maneuver them towards the main island. Sweat was pouring out of his forehead from the strain. “Maki, help me pull up!” Fuji demanded urgently.

Maki leaned over in his seat and grabbed one side of the controls while Fuji took a hold of the other. With each of them using both hands, pulling with all of their might, the plane started to level out. They were approaching the shoreline of the island, but only feet above the water. At that point they were going too fast to properly land. Fuji advised Maki on the steps they needed to complete next to slow down. However, the controls were still damaged and couldn’t be relied on. The plane dipped down too far too soon, and it careened across the surface of the water. The nose of the aircraft bit down and the whole plane flipped forward upside down.

The seaplane skidded to a stop in the shallows just off of the beach. Fuji and Maki were left hanging from their seatbelts as water crept into the cabin from a window broken during the crash. Fuji was already out cold from the impact, and Maki was close behind him. Slowly, he was slipping out of consciousness. Maki could hear the door to the plane being forced open next to him, but he couldn’t find the strength to turn his head. The edges of his vision grew darker until black was all he could see.



Ethan had made it back to Darwin, but the monster had gotten to the city first. The streets were a spectacle of pandemonium. There hadn’t been enough time for a concentrated evacuation effort to take place, so there were people running in every which direction trying to escape. Bad motor vehicle accidents were occurring regularly, which only cluttered up the streets more. The panic was palpable even from a distance. By that point in time, most people had listened to broadcasts of prior kaiju attacks, and they knew how deadly they could be. No one wanted to be there while it happened to their own town.

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The monster, who had only just entered the city, reached out to a nearby power line and grasped it tightly. Ethan was confused. That particular line was tied to his plant’s grid, so the monster wasn’t going to be able to obtain any energy from it. But Ethan misjudged the creature’s purpose. As the monster gripped the line, it discharged an impressive volume of electricity through the cables. The flow of energy spread throughout the city, overloading anything it was connected to. Almost all at once, sparks flew from every conductor bundle in the city and power boxes exploded within virtually every home and business. Traffic lights rapidly changed signals at random, and some even blew out entirely from the overload.

The top spike on the monster’s head lit up as he continued to pour more energy into the attack. Scattered fires broke out all over Darwin. What was already a chaotic scene was quickly descending into hell on earth. The overheated wires also started on fire. They burned until they finally snapped off. Power poles caught fire too, especially the ones that were covered in tar to preserve the wood. At that point, power was completely knocked out of the entire city.

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The city’s only defense at that moment were the Royal Australian Navy warships floating in the port of Darwin. The battlecruiser HMAS Repulse, the carrier HMAS Eagle, and the cruisers HMAS Australia, Canberra, and Sydney. All of the vessels called for general quarters and began to turn their turrets towards the monster. Numerous destroyer escorts followed suit. The fleet commander was well aware of the collateral damage fighting upon the monster would inflict on the city, but he decided that it was worth the risk.

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The ships began to bombard the Kaiju, but naval shells aren’t precision weapons. Anything and anyone in the vicinity of the creature were also being bombarded by the cannons. Buildings were blown to bits in the first barrage. A few direct hits got the monster’s attention, but they didn’t stop him. He continued towards the heart of the city.

At the nearby airfield at Darwin, the Royal Australian Air Force was scrambling attack aircraft, primarily Mirage III fighter planes. The damage to the city was growing worse with each passing minute and the pressure to repel the monster rose right along with it. After a full squadron was up, the warplanes were ordered to attack on their own ahead of the rest of the air groups.

By that point, Ethan had driven well into town and was having to dart around in the streets to avoid people and obstacles. His home was on the far side of the city. Presumably his family was still waiting for him to arrive. As bad as things had deteriorated, Ethan hoped that his wife had ignored his instructions to wait for him and instead got out of town already.

Ethan was only driving a few blocks away from the monster, dangerously close, but he didn’t have much choice. The road he was on was the most direct route to his house. He didn’t figure he’d have time to go the long way around. Moving through the city, and being hampered by the military, the monster had slowed down enough for Ethan to catch up to him. The kaiju was taking its time. He seemed to enjoy wreaking havoc. A naval shell landed about a hundred feet away from Ethan’s truck, making him jump. Dirt and debris rained down upon the vehicle as he gritted his teeth and powered through. His already cracked windshield became even harder to see through.

Ethan’s wipers weren’t working, so he was forced to poke his head out the side window to see what was in front of him. At that moment he could hear the Mirage fighters approaching overhead. The monster noticed them too and turned towards the oncoming threat. The jets launched their rockets from a distance before the creature could react. The projectiles rushed forward ahead of the planes, leaving a trail of smoke in their wake. Half of the rockets hit their massive target, resulting in red and black burning plumes bursting against the creature’s skin, while the other half impacted in the neighborhoods around the monster. The rockets that did hit the creature mostly exploded against his armored chest, neck, or abdomen, doing little damage.

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Before the jets could pull up or fly over the monster, it retaliated. The creature spread its arms out, extending his fingers in what almost looked like a welcoming sort of way, but the welcome was sort lived. The monster’s horn lit up once more, and from its outstretched hands, bolts of blue electricity shot out. The lighting danced along the sky, splintering, and spreading out into smaller branches. One by one, the aircraft were struck as they entered within a certain proximity of the beast. The monster wasn’t directing the energy though. The metal frames of the airplanes were simply attracting the energy currents to them like lightning rods. After a series of deafening crackles, every single plane was either falling to the earth with their electrical systems shorted out or they simply exploded midair.

Ethan was so distracted by the display that he didn’t see an oncoming bus that was on fire rolling towards him. He dodged his truck out of the way just in the time to avoid a head on collision. He hopped up onto the curb and ran over a fire hydrant in the process. A fountain of water gushed up behind him. Ethan’s truck shuttered as the hydrant passed under it. He just hoped it would get him the rest of the way home, the vehicle had taken a lot of abuse already.

Ethan carefully navigated the streets of Darwin, avoiding fleeing pedestrians and other vehicles as he escaped the battle behind him. The mayhem was at its peak, with jets falling out of the sky and crashing all over the place. The warships were also continuing their shelling.

At last, Ethan pulled into his neighborhood and found his wife outside the house with Cooper in toe. She had packed up their SUV and was eagerly awaiting him. She was overjoyed to see Ethan arriving. There was no time for words though, Ethan motioned with his hand, indicating that he wanted her to get inside their other vehicle immediately.

Wasting no time, Ethan parked his truck and then jumped out running for them. He scrambled inside, started the engine, and torn through the lawn to get moving again as quickly as possible. Ethan’s wife said something to him he didn’t hear. He was too distracted by the ongoing turmoil around them, looking back in his mirror to see where the monster was. He did however take her hand and bring it up to his mouth kissing it to show he was relieved to see that she was ok. Ethan turned down a street and again looked to see which direction the monster was moving. The creature was continuing eastward so Ethan took another sharp turn and started to head south away from it.



Maki woke up disoriented. He was somewhere dark and cool. He looked up to see a rockface above his head on the ceiling. Maki sat up, not understanding where he was or how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was hanging upside down in the seaplane as it was filling up with water. Had Fuji pulled him out? He turned and saw Fuji laying next to him. His leg was bandaged up. He must have been hurt pretty bad during the crash. Fuji didn’t look like he was in any shape to have helped him.

Suddenly the events leading up to the crash came back to Maki, making his heart race. What had attacked them? Maki grimaced, bringing a hand up to his face. He had a real bad headache. He realized that he might have a concussion from the sudden jolt of the rough water landing. Maki rubbed his eyes, trying to reacclimate to the waking world and remember all that had happened. He looked around and realized they were in a cave. By the looks of it, someone must have been living there for a long time. There was a table with a pile of freshly plucked topical fruits and coconuts, a desk with some old navigational charts, and a bookshelf filled with a small dusty library. Fuji and himself were laying on worn down cots.

Maki could see a nearby passage which contained a pool of seawater. It appeared to be a secret entrance that lead out to the ocean. He could see sunlight emanating from under the water. There was also a large opening in the rockface which lead outside that was allowing even more natural light inside the cave. Above Maki was a small crevice in the ceiling which was allowing another sliver of light in. Directly below it was a fire pit. The cave’s occupant was wise enough to know they needed to let their smoke ventilate. Maki saw a pot nearby which could be hung over the fire for cooking. Someone had put together a pretty nice set up for themselves.

Just then, Maki heard someone coming into the cave. He turned to see a beautiful girl who appeared to be in her mid-twenties walking down the stone carved stairs carrying a bag slung over her shoulder. Maki thought he must be hallucinating from his head trauma. With the light gleaming in behind her, she looked like an angel. The girl had long raven black hair and was wearing a red and orange dress, which well suited her slim figure. She stopped on the steps when she realized that Maki was awake and looking at her. For a second, she just stared back, seemingly not knowing what to do next.

“Hello…?” Maki said sheepishly. He wasn’t sure she’d understand him.

“Hello.” The girl repeated back to him almost in a whisper. There was a brief awkward silence before Maki realized that she wasn’t just mimicking him. She actually seemed to understand Japanese, despite appearing to be some sort of native island girl.

“I’m Goro Maki.” He went on as cordially has he could. “Who are you?”

“I’m Raeko Matsumiya.” She answered politely.

“Glad you meet to Raeko.” Maki tilted his head with a slight bow of respect. “Did you pull me and my friend from the plane?”

“I did.” Raeko confirmed. “You landed right next to my home.”

“Thank you.” Maki smiled. “I’m not sure what would have happened without you being there. I am certainly in your dept.”

“Your friend has a broken leg.” Raeko observed. “I did my best for him, but he needs more help that I can provide here.”

“I’m afraid I’m not any more knowledgeable than you are.” Maki replied. “But as soon as I regain my legs, I can set out to find the rest of the research team. Professor Kusumi might be able to do something for him.”

“Alright.” Raeko responded simply. Then she just stood there quietly, not seeming to know what to say next.

“Are you alone here?” Maki asked, moving the conversation forward. Raeko nodded. “How did you find yourself isolated on an island like this?”

“My father was an archaeologist.” Raeko began. “Many years ago, there was a tribe of people living in these islands. The next island over, there are ruins of a temple. The tribespeople worshiped a spider deity there and practiced human sacrifice. Their people died out long ago, but they left behind many artifacts to study. My father was doing so when both he and my mother became ill. They died when I was twelve. I have been here by myself since.”

“I see...” Maki replied. “I’m sorry. It must have been difficult to see that happen to your loved ones and be on your own for so long. If you like, when the next supply ship comes, we can bring you back to civilization. You wouldn’t have to live here alone anymore.”

“I’m not sure.” Raeko’s guard seemed to go up at the suggestion. “I’ve grown accustomed to living here on the island. I don’t know if I could adjust to living around so many other people. The idea is a little scary to me.”

“Oh, I guess I can understand that.” Maki replied after giving it some thought. “Well, maybe we can help you in other ways. You know, to thank you for helping us out. Do you know what happened to the bag my friend was carrying?”

“Yes.” Raeko answered. “It’s right over here.” She pointed to the chair near the desk. The bag was hanging off of the top rail.

“That’s great.” Maki said delighted. “Once we get back to base, we can repair the radio and call for help.”

“You need to eat something before that to regain your strength.” Raeko pointed out. “I got you some meat.” She set down the bag she had carried in which contained six decent sized crabs. She threw them in the pot and began to ignite a fire only using two rocks.

“Marry me…” Maki muttered to himself impressed, but Raeko’s sharp ears heard him speaking.

“What did you say…?” She asked curiously.

“Oh, nothing, just thanks is all.” Maki blushed. Clearly island life had honed Raeko’s senses. “I’m just impressed you can do that by hand so easily.” He clarified.

“Oh, ok.” She smiled at him.

After an hour, the crabs were pretty well cooked, and the alluring smell roused Fuji. Maki explained what happened to them and introduced Raeko. Shortly thereafter, the two of them were cracking open their crabs and eating with Raeko. She preferred the fresh fruit over the crab meat. Maki told Fuji that he and Raeko were going to set out in the morning for the base, but he’d have to remain behind.

Maki actually wanted Raeko to remain behind with Fuji, but she appropriately pointed out that he didn’t know the terrain of the island well enough to get there on his own. The Sollgel research base was on the far side of the island, which was more than nine miles away. At best, it was going to be a four hour walk through wild territory. Maki would definitely need Raeko by his side.



The next morning, Maki and Raeko set out. Maki was still a little dizzy, but he was well enough to get by walking. Raeko thought they should wait one more day to give Maki more of a chance to recover, but he didn’t want Fuji to wait any longer than necessary for treatment. Fuji had a fever that morning and Maki thought he looked a little worse than the day before. That was enough to settle the issue for him, they were going.

As they got on the trail, it quickly became evident that Raeko knew the island very well. She took the lead but was careful not to go too fast for Maki. The morning sun was bothering him a bit, but Maki would never admit it to her. He wished to present the imagine of a tough, able man. Maki however wasn’t quite up to the task physically. His head was still throbbing, and he was loose on his feet. At one point Maki slipped on some loose soil and Raeko had to catch him by the hand to steady him. The pair locked eyes and there was something shy in Raeko’s expression as she stared at him. Raeko looked away before Maki could say anything.

At that moment, it occurred to Maki that Raeko had been alone on the island for a very long time, and she’d probably never seen a man before that wasn’t her own father. She’d never been kissed, hugged, or even held hands before. Raeko was still a woman though. Even if it was only by instinct, she had to yearn for that sort of intimacy with another person. For her whole life, she had no outlet for such feelings.

Maki could see that Raeko’s confidence had been shaken a little. She must have felt awkward. All it took was one unfamiliar feeling to throw her off. It was no wonder she was worried about the idea of going back to Japan. If one person could discourage her with just a simple touch, it was plain so see how a whole city full of people could intimidate her so much. Maki decided to help her out a bit. Make what made her anxious more palatable with familiarity. Present her with some measure of control over it.

“Hey Raeko, could you give me a hand again?” Maki asked. “This hill is kicking my butt.” He stopped, pretending to be winded. Raeko nodded warmly and came back to him. The two of them climbed up over the rocks together and Raeko didn’t seem to mind the physical contact quite as much this time. Once they had reached the top, Maki left her go. “Thank you, that should do it for now.”

“Maybe we should rest for a while?” Raeko suggested.

“Yeah, I think that might be a good idea.” Maki replied short on breath. After the steep climb, he was now legitimately winded. He leaned up against a tree for support. “You know…” He began to say but stopped when he turned and saw Raeko pulling out a knife. ‘What the…?’ Maki thought as Raeko threw the knife at him. The blade flew over his shoulder, and with a thud, impaled a jungle snake’s head into the truck of a tree behind him.

“You have to watch out for these things.” Raeko said bluntly. “They’re poisonous.”

“Sure…” Maki replied, his heart was pounding. “Maybe we should keep moving, eh?”



Hours later, just after noon, Maki and Raeko made it back to the Sollgel Weather Research Base. The sentries were surprised to see them walking out of the jungle and alerted everyone else. The presence of a woman on the island was a cause for much stir among the men. They were practically falling over themselves to caught a glimpse. They barely contained their excitement until Professor Matsuki arrived and hushed them up so that he could talk with Maki.

Maki concisely explained everything that happened to Professor Matsuki, presenting him with the radio parts and pointing out the direction of the hidden cave where Fuji was waiting for them. Upon hearing that, the professor immediately began to organize a retrieval expedition. He had some of the guards get a stretcher with enough food and water to handle with the long hike while he gathered up medical supplies from the infirmary.

While they were doing that, Maki took Raeko to the bunkhouse so they could drink some water and rest. Maki had every intention of going back with them for Fuji. While they were sitting there, Raeko noticed one of the bright red island shirts Maki had hanging up just outside of his window. Maki had washed it right before he and Fuji had gone out scouting the day before and left it out to dry. Maki saw Raeko admiring it. He also noticed that her own dress was a little worn out by comparison.

“You like it?” Maki asked, looking back over his shoulder at the colorful shirt. Raeko nodded. “Well, it’s yours then.” He reached out and plucked it off of the line. “A small token of appreciation from me to you.”

“Really…?” Her eyes lit up with excitement as he presented it to her.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” He smiled. “I think you’d look great in red.” He added, helping to unbutton it and then drape it over her shoulders.” Raeko smiled wide. “In fact, I have a few other things I think you might like. Hold on a second…” He pulled out one of his suitcases. “You know, the trouble with living on an island is there aren’t many places for you to shop.” Maki noted with a chuckle. Raeko looked at him funny, she clearly didn’t understand what he meant. “Never mind, it’s not important. Just let me grab a few more things.” He found a pair of shoes, socks, a belt, and khaki pants that just might fit Raeko. He also found a red ribbon for her hair to round things off.

“Where can I put these on?” Raeko asked.

“There’s a curtain right over there.” Maki guided her over to the corner of the room. He pulled the curtain around Raeko, giving her some privacy. Little by little, Raeko figured out how everything was supposed to fit and then came back out. She was still fiddling around with her hair, getting it up into a high ponytail using the ribbon. The clothes were just a little big on her, but overall, they fit surprisingly well.

“What do you think?” Raeko asked coyly, obviously a little unsure of herself in what she perceived as strange clothing.

“Wow, it’s really very nice.” Maki replied, instantly restoring her confidence. “Would you like to see?”

“What do you mean?” Raeko asked confused.

“Well, there’s a mirror right over here.” Maki directed her towards it.

Raeko saw herself and got a peculiar look on her face. Maki quickly realized that she had never seen her own reflection before. She was fascinated with it, reaching out and touching her image and understanding it was like looking into water, only much clearer. Raeko studied herself and admired her new clothes.

“You know, if you were to come back to Japan with me, there are many more things like this I could show you.” Maki pointed out. “You might even have family there.” Raeko turned to him with misty eyes. She was just starting to understand everything she was missing out on living on the island. “I mean, you can still live here.” Maki walked his words back, misunderstanding what she was feeling at that moment. “But you should maybe give it some thought.”

“If I don’t like it there, could I return?” Raeko asked timidly.

“Well, yeah.” Maki answered. “It wouldn’t have to be a one-way trip. I mean, we could just go get you some of the modern comforts of home and then bring them back here for you if that’s what you wanted to do.” He reassured her.

“I’m afraid I’d be just and lost there as you are here.” She replied cautiously, let hopeful.

“I promise, if you come with me, I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you.” Maki pledged. “I’d protect you there like you’ve protected me here.”

“I’ll think about it.” Raeko answered reluctantly. “I just need a little time to process all of this.”

“No worries, it’s not like we’re going anywhere fast anyways.” Maki assured her. “Even if we can get the radio working, it’ll still likely be weeks before a ship can get out here. That will give you plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. Nothing has to be decided today.” Unexpectedly, Raeko stepped forward and gave Maki a hug.

“Thank you for understanding.” She squeezed him tight.

“Hey, it’s no big thing.” Maki said, feeling a little awkward, not sure what to do with his hands. At the same time though, it felt really nice. He certainly wasn’t fighting to get out of her embrace. Just as he was really starting to settle into the hug, Raeko let Maki go and brushed past him going to the window.

“Oh no….” She said with a crack of fear in her voice.

“Huh, what’s the problem?” Maki said as he came up next to Raeko, looking out of the window alongside her.

Raeko didn’t need to answer him though. The problem was already plain to see. It was one of the Kamacuras approaching the base, and it had grown considerably. The creature was at least ten times larger than it had been before. The base’s security fence had been knocked down by the storm earlier, but it wouldn’t have mattered if was still intact, the Kamacuras was tall enough to step clean over it now.

Maki turned to go outside and warn everyone, but Raeko stopped him by grabbing his arm tightly. She looked him in the eyes and shook her head to discourage him from doing so. Given a moment to think about it, Maki could see that Raeko was right. Going outside would only draw attention to themselves. It was too late to alert the others anyways; the monster was already in their midst. Gunshots rang out as the soldiers fired upon the giant insect. The Kamacuras did not seem impressed by a rifle’s firepower anymore.

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One man was quickly scooped up by the monster, and just as quickly, consumed alive. As horrified as he was, Maki noticed that it was the same Kamacuras specimen that he had wounded earlier. He could see that it had a damaged compound eye from where he’d hit it with the shovel. More and more men tried to fight back, but the monster was unstoppable. Small arms fire had virtually no effect on it. The soldiers gave up fighting the Kamacuras after two more of them were picked off. One unlucky soul was skewered right through the torso by the monster’s pointed claws and suffered horribly as it carried him around. Eventually, he too was devoured by the Kamacuras’ gnashing wet mandibles.

Several of soldiers ran inside of the headquarters building trying to escape the monster’s appetite for human flesh. Sadly, the structure provided them little refuge. The giant mantis was nearly as big as the building itself and it had no difficulty tearing the roof off to satisfy its hunger. A fourth man was snatched up and eaten. The rest of the men inside scattered, realizing buildings were no safe haven.

Witnessing what just went down himself, Maki wasted no time. He grabbed Raeko by the wrist and rushed her out the back door of the bunkhouse and into the jungle for cover. Maki knew that from that point onwards, the monster could turn his attention to the barracks at any moment. He wasn’t going to let either of them get caught there when it did. The jungle would at least conceal them, and they could always retreat further into the jungle if they had to. It was there best option.

Maki carefully peaked out to see if the Kamacuras had seen them made a break for it. His heart was hammering away in his chest. He tried to keep a level head though. Fortunately, the monster hadn’t noticed them. From there new hiding spot, Maki and Raeko watched the enormous insect use its arms and mandibles to shear through other buildings looking for more victims. Unfortunately, it found a few more. By the time the monster was done with its attack, at least four additional men were lost. Seemingly satisfied, the Kamacuras turned and went back out into the jungle.

“We need to get back to my cave.” Raeko whispered into Maki’s ear. He heartly agreed, nodding to her. Sollgel base obviously wasn’t safe for any of them anymore.



The monster in Australia had been given a name. Gabara. Since his attack on Darwin, he’d disappeared into the wilderness of the Outback. Efforts were well underway to find and eliminate him. The British immediately began to mobilize their military to aide their Commonwealth brother. The Far East Fleet, including the battleships HMS Lion, HMS Vanguard, and HMS Hood, the carriers HMS Arch Royal, HMS Illustrious, and HMS Glorious set sail from Sydney and were on their way north with a number of support craft. The Archimedes fleet was also requested, as well as their Masers residing in Hawaii. The request was granted, and the heavy machines were flown out ahead of the ships.

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Ethan meanwhile had found refuge for his family in the hills nearby Darwin. He now prioritized trying to contact the military to inform them what he knew about the monster. From the slopes above, the damage Gabara had inflicted upon the city was on full display. Darwin hadn’t been destroyed, but almost every block of it had suffered some damage during the attack. Gabara’s ability to strike through powerlines made him extremely dangerous. That much had been well-demonstrated during his attack. The authorities however had no idea that Gabara was able to absorb energy too. They’d only seen him unleash it during the battle.

If the government knew of Gabara’s craving for power, they could predict where he might go next. Ethan knew he had to leave his family behind and find a working phone. Only trouble was, every electrical device in the area had been fried by the monster. Ethan’s best chance was to find a farm with a generator that wasn’t connected to the main power grid. He had his work cut out for him.



It didn’t take much discussion to convince Professor Kusumi that moving camp was the right course of action. The Kamacuras, who had attacked them twice now, undoubtedly would return again as soon as it got hungry. It knew where to find a steady supply of meat. The extent to which the insect had grown in such a sort time astounded everyone. Kusumi theorized that the combination of heat and radiation from the accident likely caused a mutation within the Kamacuras DNA. He was almost certain that was what ultimately lead to the creature’s incomprehensible increase in size.

The team got to work stripping what was left of the base for anything useful they could bring with them. Raeko’s cave would be a better place to hide out while they waited for help to arrive. Even if the Kamacuras did somehow find them there, it would have a much harder time digging through the layers upon layers of solid stone. The monster had too easily opened up the metal frames of the compound’s buildings to risk remaining there.

By late afternoon, the team had secured everything they could carry and formed a caravan to set out for the opposite coast. Professor Kusumi walked with Maki and Raeko near the front of the column and told them about some of the other worrisome discoveries he had made over the last two days. He said that it wasn’t just the Kamacuras that were changing. The entire ecosystem on Sollgel Island was evolving. It was a slow process, but it was adding up to something bad on the horizon. Other insects were increasing in size too, as was the vegetation. There were now species of carnivorous plants that hadn’t been cataloged during the initial island survey. The overall trend was everything was getting bigger and more aggressive. Kusumi said they had a ‘Monster Island’ in the making. They needed to repair the radio and get off of the island as soon as possible.

The march through the jungle was a slow process with all of the gear they were carrying. It was already getting dark by the time they were halfway to Raeko’s cave. Dr. Kusumi tried to encourage his men by telling them it was better that way. Moving during the night would help to cover their movements. However, the bravery of the remaining men was starting to faulter. The shadowy jungle unnerved almost all of them. Kusumi insisted that they didn’t use flashlights, torches, or flares to give themselves away. Insects were instinctively attracted to light and drawing the attention of the Kamacuras or anything else out there was ill-advised.

Most of the men in the party were able to accept the hinderance, except one, Furukawa. He was by far the most disgruntled member of the team. Even before the weather control accident, he was very unhappy with the conditions on the island and wanted more than anything to just go home. Furukawa hated the heat, he hated the food, and he hated the Kamacuras most of all. The guard who had died in the tower was a good friend of his and even more of his buddies had died during the attack on the base just hours before. One of them died right before his eyes after they pushed him out of the way of the monster grasp. Furukawa was mere feet from death and the experience clung onto him like a weight around his neck. His friend had died in his place. He couldn’t stomach the guilt.

The heat, the darkness, and the fear of the monsters were driving Furukawa towards the edge. His uneasiness as he marched through the jungle at night was obvious for everyone to see. His eyes darted all around, his breathing was erratic, and sweat was pouring out of him. He ignored anyone who tried to talk to him. His fear was contagious, unsettling everyone around him. The tension in the air was thick.

Maki himself was starting to get scared again. After his own recent experience at night with the Kamacuras, walking through the jungle with an even bigger specimen lurking around wasn’t easy for him either. Having Raeko there by his side went a long way in steeling his resolve. She seemed to sense that Maki had a bad experience and took his hand supportively to comfort him. Maki looked over and gave her an appreciative smile. If they just stuck together, they might just be alright.

As Maki was preoccupied, exchanging meaningful glances with Raeko, Furukawa finally lost it. He screamed, running out ahead of the group, fumbling to set off a flare he was carrying. He simply couldn’t take the darkness or the jungle anymore. Maki ran after Furukawa, trying to calm him down and prevent him from setting off the flare. Raeko took off too, following Maki. The three of them cleared the dense section of jungle they had been walking through and found themselves in an open plain. It was still very hard to see where they were going though. Furukawa tripped over the roots of a bush and fell to the ground. That gave Maki and Raeko the chance to finally catch up with him.

Furukawa was in full scale panic mode, babbling to himself almost incoherently when Maki and Raeko got close. They could see that Furukawa was in tears, but before they could reach him, he finally set off the flare. It shot up into the sky high above them. The flare cracked as it ignited and a bright blue light illuminated the entire area around them, revealing a terrifying sight. Maki, Raeko, and Furukawa were standing directly in the middle of three gigantic Kamacuras figures. Furukawa completely lost his shit upon seeing them, falling all over the ground in terror. Maki and even Raeko froze with fear. Their fates seemed sealed.

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Just as it seemed all hope was lost, Maki noticed something odd about the monsters surrounding them. None of the Kamacuras were actually moving. The flare, which was gradually falling back down to the ground, gave the illusion of moment due to the monster’s shadows shifting in the light, but the monsters weren’t physically active in any way. Could they be asleep? Maki wondered. Then he noted something wrong with the color of the monsters. The Kamacuras weren’t the brownish-tan hue that he had seen earlier that day. Instead, the bodies were more like a stoney gray shade. There was no life in the monster’s eyes either. The normal bright yellow simply wasn’t there anymore. Finally, it hit Maki and he understood what they were looking at.

“Furukawa, calm down!” Maki ordered sternly, shaking him to get his attention. “These are just shells, shed skins, they can’t hurt you! Like cicadas.” Maki actually went as far as to walk over and touch one of them to prove his point. “See, it’s not alive.” Seeing that, Furukawa started to settle down. Professor Kusumi caught up to them, marveling at the enormous shells that had been left behind.

“This isn’t good at all…” Kusumi remarked warily. “If they’ve molted, it means they’ve gotten even bigger than before, and there’s more than one.” He added ominously. The professor’s point didn’t have any time to settle. In the nearby jungle, a Kamacuras’ screeching cry could be heard, announcing its proximity. Furukawa’s ill-timed flare had given the group’s position away.

“Get up you son of a bitch!” One of soldiers angrily grabbed Furukawa by the scruff of the shirt and pulled at him. “You might have just killed us all!” There was no time for that though. Trees could be heard snapping and giving way as the Kamacuras rapidly approached.

“RUN!!!” Maki shouted to everyone, grabbing Raeko and leading the group onwards towards the caves.

Maki didn’t dare look back, but he could hear two more Kamacuras closing in on the group from other directions. The secret was out, and they were being hunted. Within moments, Maki could hear men at the back of the line being taken by the monsters. Their screams were terrible. Maki could only imagine the dreadful things that were happening behind him and never wanted to find out firsthand. The men’s last agonizing moments were heartbreaking to listen to, but there was nothing Maki could do for them. It was every man for themselves. Maki could only afford to look out for himself and Raeko from that point onward.



In Australia, Gabara had been found. The monster was moving east towards Numbulwar located near the coast. The Australian army had no intention of letting Gabara get there and moved to intercept him. The Masers from Hawaii had arrived and joined the massing Australian units. The Archimedes fleet was still several days away but Admiral Malek, Marcus, Dr. Orsini, and Brock flew out with the Masers to be on hand for the battle.

Night had fallen and Gabara was advancing quickly. In Numbulwar, there were new sources of energy for him to feed on and he seemed intent on getting there. He was close enough to see the twinkling lights of the city. The defense forces however had calculated his trajectory and set up a trap. They were lying in wait for him. The Australian military had learned a few lessons from the first encounter. The Aussies planned to engage Gabara at maximum range to counter his ability to project electricity. The range of the monster’s electrical attacks seemed to have limits. At no point during the previous battle was he able to attack the Australian warships in the harbor, only the jets when they had closed within a certain proximity.

All was ready and word had come in from the scout units that Gabara was advancing towards the main defense line. Everyone got to there posts. The Mazers raised their cannons and rotated them to the hill where Gabara was expected to emerge. Marcus and the rest of the team were up at the forward command post overlooking the battlefield. They would be watching the action as it unfolded. It wouldn’t be long now.

Elsewhere, Ethan had been trying to make contact with the Australian military for some time. Unfortunately, he was having a hard time getting a hold of someone who would take him seriously. He simply couldn’t reach high enough in the chain of command to get anywhere. Finally, Ethan decided to try the Archimedes organization, as they were supposed to be the authority on fighting giant monsters. It took a little while, but eventually he got routed to Marcus at the command post, who took the call for Admiral Malek.

By that point Ethan had become aware that the military were planning to use Masers to fight against Gabara and he urgently warned Marcus that it was a terrible idea. Ethan recounted his entire story, in particular Gabara’s assault on the power plant. He emphasized that the monster was able to absorb electrical energy. Ethan was certain that the beams from the Masers would only make Gabara stronger. Marcus listened to Ethan closely and believed what he was saying, but he could hear the defense line’s artillery starting to open up. Gabara must have closed within firing range already. There wasn’t much time before the Mazers would join the fray.

Marcus immediately dropped the phone and ran to Admiral Malek to alert him to the danger. It was already too late though. Bright flashes were flickering across the dark battlefield, which could only mean the Masers were engaging. Marcus looked up and saw energy bolts being discharged and hitting the monster. Curiously, Gabara was reacting to the shots as though they were hurting him, but his bulbous green skin was absorbing much of the energy as well.

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As Marcus frantically tried to explain what he had just found out to Admiral Malek, a squadron of Australian jets flew over their position. The roar of their engines made it impossible for the pair to hear one another. The jets approached Gabara on an attack vector, but they were careful to keep their distance while unleashing their rockets. Unfortunately, the power Gabara had already stolen from the Masers had increased the strength and range of his own electrical attacks. He could now project them twice as far as before. Gabara’s horn lit up and he lashed out savagely, downing half of the planes in an instant. Marcus knew he had to call off the Masers before the monster became even more powerful.

“How the hell is he even aiming that attack?!” Brock yelled to one of the Australian officers, irritated.

“He doesn’t have to…” The Aussie captain began to yell back to him. “…the damned buggar can simply fire them off like a static shock. Get too close and poof!” He motioned with his hands.

“Sir, you have to call off the Masers.” Marcus said as the noise had finally calmed enough for him to be heard. “That monster can absorb electrical energy, and then turn it back against us. Every hit we land makes him more powerful.” Admiral Malek just stared at Marcus for a moment, seeming to digest what he was saying. “We’re just supercharging him. He’s like an energy vampire!”

“You are sure of this?” Malek asked with a frown.

“I think the results are speaking for themselves.” Marcus gestured out to the battlefield where Gabara was letting loose with another powerful electric attack. Front line units were exploding.

“Well blast damn it!” Malek cursed exasperated. “Very well, hurry up and call them off then.” He told Marcus.

“Yes sir!” Marcus saluted and got to work, reaching for the radio.

Within moments, the Masers fell silent. Regular tanks and artillery kept pounding away at Gabara, but they weren’t having much effect. The battle already seemed lost. Gabara was closing in on their position. He seemed especially interested in getting his hands on the Masers. They were an irresistible source of nourishment for him.

A general retreat order was issued to all ground forces. However, actually getting away would prove to be complicated. The Masers were blocked in by conventional units on both sides and couldn’t escape. Behind them were some rocky hills, but the Masers were simply too heavy, they had no chance of climbing up them. Their lack of mobility was coming back to haunt them.

Gabara closed in step by step until finally the Mazer crews lost their nerve and were forced to bail out of their vehicles. Just as Gabara was leaning down to snatch up the first unit he was interrupted by a blast of blue nuclear fire. Gabara stumbled backwards, falling on to his back. Marcus turned to see Godzilla marching out of the ocean. In all of the turmoil of the battle, no one had detected the King of the Monsters coming.

Godzilla roared, issuing a challenge to Gabara. Gabara got back to his feet and glared menacingly at his attacker. Gabara was so enraged that he released an involuntary jolt of electricity which danced along the spikes on his head and even behind his eyes. Gabara roared back, seeming to accept the challenge. He was pulsing with freshly acquired power.

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Godzilla advanced towards Gabara, unintimidated by his flashy light show. Between the two titans was a small body of water. Gabara saw this and sensed an opportunity. Just as one of Godzilla’s feet plunged into the lake, Gabara reached down with his hands and discharged a powerful electrical shock. The voltage rapidly travelled through the water and gave Godzilla a nasty surprise on the other side. The King of the Monsters shuttered as he was electrocuted. He pulled his foot out of the water just as quickly as he could and then glanced down suspiciously, as if the lake itself had attacked him.

Gabara cackled from across the field, moving his arms up and down tauntingly. He was very satisfied with himself. Godzilla slowly began to understand what had happened and it made him mad. He resumed his march towards Gabara. Gabara stopped cackling when he noticed his attack hadn’t stopped or even slowed down his opponent. Gabara focused his energy, and his fists began to glow furiously with raw power. As Godzilla got halfway to him, two bolts shot out from Gabara’s fists and hit him in the chest. Godzilla stopped in his tracks and convulsed. All of the muscles in his body were contracting, including those within his heart.

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Gabara kept the power flowing for as long as he could before he was forced to stop. Gabara was highly resistant to electricity himself, but he wasn’t immune. If he wasn’t careful, he would start to damage himself right alongside his opponent. Godzilla stood there stunned as the flow of voltage ceased. He suddenly realized that his enemy was more powerful than he had anticipated. But it didn’t matter, he wasn’t about to walk away from a fight.

Gabara watched Godzilla, both surprised and impressed. His adversary was still standing, which was much more than he was expecting. Gabara wasn’t worried though. He still had so much energy left in him. He’d just have to wear his enemy down. Godzilla started forward again. Gabara let loose with a series of smaller electrical attacks that were meant to drive Godzilla back, but they failed miserably. Godzilla was gaining momentum, unbothered by the pain. As long as he could still move, he was going to crush Gabara once he reached him.

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Gabara realized too late that his new strategy wasn’t working, and Godzilla bulled him right over. Without a tail to balance him, Gabara had no chance of staying on his feet. He ended up flat on his back with Godzilla pummeling him relentlessly. Gabara was pinned down and taking a lot of punishment. He realized he had to act quickly. Gabara let out another concentrated strike of electricity which stunned Godzilla long enough for him to be pushed away.

Godzilla was quick to recover this time. As he rolled over, he used a certain amount of finesse to get right back up. Gabara was also fast to get back on his feet. At that point, the two monsters stood there facing off, looking at each other eye to eye. There was a brief standoff.

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Godzilla was the first to make a move. He came forward, clenching a fist and punching towards Gabara’s face. Gabara reacted, moving just enough to avoid taking the impact on his nose, but he still got hit in the shoulder. Gabara struck back, using some energy to charge a counterpunch. Godzilla blocked the strike with his arms, but he still absorbed the energy of the attack anyways.

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Enraged, Godzilla bite down into Gabara shoulder at the base of the neck. Gabara was taken by surprise, and again, unleashed an electrical attack by reflect. It was a mistake. The power rushing through Godzilla’s jaw muscles constricted them tightly, forcing him to bite down even harder. Blood began to pour out of Gabara’s shoulder as Godzilla’s sharp teeth penetrated even further down. In desperation, Gabara punched Godzilla in the face repeatedly until the King of the Monsters was forced to let go.

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Godzilla stepped back a little to avoid any follow up strikes. At that point, he decided to change tactics and attack Gabara in a way which wouldn’t require physical contact. He reached down for a boulder and then heaved it at his opponent. The rock struck Gabara in the face and knocked out one of his front teeth. He brought a clawed hand to his mouth to swipe away the pain.

Gabara soon recovered and then rushed towards Godzilla, grabbing him around the waist and hoisting him upwards into the air. Gabara locked his hands together behind Godzilla’s back and held him up in a grand spectacle of a bearhug. The raw strength was impressive. Once he had Godzilla up there, Gabara hit him with the biggest shock of the fight, pushing himself to the limit. Godzilla convulsed again, this time, foam was forming at the sides of his mouth. Gabara struggled to keep the intensity of it going.

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Eventually, Gabara was once again forced to stop his electrical attack, but he didn’t let Godzilla down. Instead, he started to absorb the nuclear energy from within the King of the Monsters. The nuclear fission within Godzilla’s body was a nearly endless source of energy for Gabara to feed on. He could never actually drain Godzilla completely, but that meant Gabara could recharge himself endlessly as well.

Godzilla however had no intention of letting himself be fed on that way. With his free hand, he hammered down on Gabara’s defenseless face until his adversary was obliged to let him go. As he landed on his feet, Godzilla let loose with his nuclear breath once more, which drove Gabara even further away and put him on his back. Gabara had taken the shot to his armored plates though, which kept him from sustaining any serious damage.

While Gabara was still recovering, Godzilla looked around and saw something that would help him end the fight swiftly and decisively. Godzilla turned and withdrew in the direction he had initially come from. As Gabara got up, he saw Godzilla retreating and thought that he’d given up the fight. Still feeling hungry for more power, Gabara gave chase. Godzilla changed direction when he reached the beach and began to clamber up the nearby rockface. Once he was at the top of the plateau, he turned to face Gabara. Godzilla was happy to see that his opponent was in hot pursuit.

Gabara was feeling very confident at that point. He’d corned Godzilla against the side of a cliff and thought that he had him trapped. Gabara rushed forward eagerly, gaining momentum as he went. Power was surging through his outreached arms. Just as Gabara reached Godzilla, he prepared another powerful electrical attack. Godzilla however ducked down and got under Gabara, taking him entirely by surprise. Godzilla lifted Gabara up onto his back and then flipped him over the cliffside.

Gabara plunged downward until he finally hit the water hard. Upon impact, all of the energy he had stolen came pouring out of him all at once. In the water, Gabara couldn’t control the surging power and electrocuted himself intensely. He shuddered, jerked, and wrenched violently.

Image

As the electricity in the water finally died away, Godzilla looked down from the cliffs at his fallen enemy. Gabara lay in the surf motionless. He just stared aimlessly up into the sky. Godzilla couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead. One thing was for certain, there was no more fight left in him. That was enough for Godzilla. He’d won another hard-fought battle and once again reigned supreme. He walked down the hill and came around until he was wading into the waves.

Godzilla spared one more glance towards Gabara, who still lay there immobile. Satisfied with the outcome, Godzilla departed.



By the next morning, the British fleet arrived to confirm Gabara’s demise. However, in the darkness of the night, the monster had disappeared.

---
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

Post by mpsoldier »

Nice update. I was kind of surprised earlier when the Son of Godzilla section was finished so soon. Good to see you continued it in the new chapter. Though I wouldn't call it a good film or particularly culturally significant I like it personally. As a boy I read Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss family Robinson a dozen times. Somehow the notion of island survival intrigues me. And as I said earlier giant spiders and manti are just terrifying on a primal level, though in the movie it all comes across as just cheesy fun. And you managed to get Gabaras personality across despite him being a Kaiju. He comes across as spiteful and a bully. That's not always easy to do with no human characters who can't talk or converse. The modeling was again quite impressive, the ships arrayed in formation was like something right out of a WW2 film. If you ever wanted to do a close up shot most WW2 vehicles or common designs have a model of them. But of course those are $, but perhaps you could reach out to the modeling community. Some people really get into the modeling, especially the rail road collectors. Just an idea. You did a good job with some of the allusions the characters mention to sort of reinforce concepts with the readers or foreshadow. Great chapter..

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Ashram52
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

Post by Ashram52 »

Well, I got very good news if you like the Monster Island section. It’s going to be one of the main story focuses for at least two more chapters still.

Speaking of which, I have a big surprise coming next chapter. I don’t think anyone knows what it is yet. I dropped one ‘very’ subtle clue. No one has commented on it yet over one Fanfiction, so I think it’s flying under the radar. I’d tell you what it is, but where’d the fun be in that? I will say this much: It has nothing to do with oversized arachnids. Though that might be a thing too. ;)

I’ve considered doing close ups in larger scales, particularly for those moments where having a human in the shot would up the drama. Think scenes like in Attack on Titan where the Colossal Titan first peaks over the wall in episode 1. I’d like to be able to do stuff like that, but $ is definitely an issue. Working in a smaller scale is definitely more cost effective. If I was using monster arts figures for instance it would balloon my budget ten fold and I doubt I’d be able to find figures of many of the obscure characters like Gabara, Gezora, Kamacuras, etc…

I had a fun time with Gabara. It was interesting expanding on what he could do and exploring his personality. I could be wrong, but I don’t think he’s been used outside of ‘Godzilla’s Revenge/All Monsters Attack’. Both very poor titles if you ask me. :lol:

Anyway, I’ve finished the outline for chapter 35. Maybe by the beginning of next month it will be ready.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

Post by mpsoldier »

Yeah only some monsters are really feasible for more detailed models. And yes Gabara has not really actually been used so he is kind of a blank slate to take in whatever direction you choose. I was wondering when the giant spider would show up. I think both iterations from Kumonga in Son of Godzilla and the Daddy long legs from Kong Skull island are cool monsters. Spiders are just inherently scary and alien. They scale upwards very well. Good job with the small details like the hair ribbon. Nice shout outs to the source material even as you take things in a different path.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

Post by Ashram52 »



Chapter 35: Godzilla Vs. Mothra.

Marcus and Brock returned to the USS Independence with Admiral Malek. The Archimedes fleet, along with the British and Australian navies, swept the northern coastline of Australia in search of Godzilla and Gabara. There hadn’t been any sign of either monster since their battle near Numbulwar. The city had avoided destruction, which was worth celebrating, even if it had been the intervention of Godzilla that ultimately stopped Gabara and not the efforts of the military.

Marcus was resting inside his helicopter in the hanger of the Independence. He’d just finished a long search mission and was catching up on some sleep while mechanics were servicing his machine. Most likely he would be going right back out again after they’d finished their tune ups and refueled the helicopter. As such, Marcus didn’t see much point in going all the way to his bunk. Admiral Malek was obsessed with reacquiring contact with the monsters. Patrols were running twenty-four seven. As Marcus rested there, Brock came up and shook his seat firmly, giving him a very rude awakening.

“Blast damn it Brock!” Marcus flashed him an irritated glare, jolting back into reality. “I was having a nice dream, now I can’t remember what it was.”

“If I had to guess, it was probably about your wife.” Brock smirked at Marcus, ignoring his superior officer’s irritation. He wasn’t worried about retaliation. Aside from the usual obvious reasons that Brock wasn’t concerned about Marcus’ wrath, he had a particular ace up his sleeve on this occasion. “I have some news I’m sure is going to interest you boss.” He remarked.

“Oh yeah…?” Marcus grimaced, unimpressed. “And it couldn’t wait for me to be conscious?”

“I didn’t think you’d want me to wait that long.” Brock replied. “Word came in from Japan while you were still out on patrol. Some company is building a giant incubator to house that Mothra egg they found. They’re using the same design specifications Dr. Jacquier used over in France.”

“You think they mean to hatch it?” Marcus asked, his tone changed almost immediately. Brock was correct, he was indeed very interested.

“Not sure.” Brock answered obtusely. “Information is still sketchy. All we know for sure at this point is that they are building it. Rumor is that there is a lot of debate about who has true ownership of the egg.” He went on.

“Weird that the Japanese government hasn’t stepped in to take charge.” Marcus observed.

“Haven’t they learned anything from what happened in France?” Brock asked annoyed. “If they were smart, they’d set that egg adrift on the ocean as soon as possible, and then forget about it.”

“That might be in their best interest, but as for me personally, I hope they don’t do anything so rash.” Marcus replied.

“Ha, I knew it!” Brock smirked. “I figured you’d be itching to get back there and take a look at it yourself. I can hear it in your voice.”

“Guilty…” Marcus admitted. There was no point in denying it. “Only trouble is I have no idea how I’m going to get there. Our forces seem kind of committed here at the moment.”



After an hour of thinking it over, Marcus saw little other alternative. He decided the best thing to do was go to Admiral Malek himself to ask his permission to go to Japan as a representative of the Archimedes organization. He would present the request as a mission to investigate what the Japanese were planning to do with the egg. It just so happened that his personal and professional interests aligned nicely in this regard.

Marcus went to the bridge and didn’t find Malek there, so he went to his office next. Upon knocking and entering, Marcus didn’t find Malek there either. Marcus decided to wait for him in the office, thinking the admiral might have gone down to the mess hall. Most given days, Malek would bring his meals back to his office so he could work while he ate. Marcus sat down in the chair in front of his desk, telling himself that he’d given Malek about ten minutes to come back before he moved on.

As Marcus was sitting there, he could help but see a file sitting on Malek’s desk. It read: ‘Sollgel Island Intelligence Report’. Marcus tried to ignore the dossier, tapping the arm of his chair with his finger, thinking of a song to pass the time. Whatever the folder contained, it was none of his business.

As the minutes rolled by, and Marcus continued to have nothing to do, the temptation to see what was inside of the file was building. His old high school penchant for mischief started to resurface. Finally, Marcus couldn’t resist any longer and decided to have a peak. Malek was usually up to no good, and something told him this was no different. If he and the rest of the sailors on the Independence were going to be caught up in another dangerous operation, like the Matango fiasco, he’d like to know something about it ahead of time.

Marcus looked into the hallway through the door that he left cracked open, peering outside to ensure no one was in the corridor. When he was satisfied that there wasn’t, he stepped back inside, leaving the door ajar so he could hear anyone coming in advance. Marcus then turned his attention to the file, opening it and reading through the first page. The word espionage quickly jumped out at him. Malek was up to something.

Marcus read on until it became perfectly clear that Admiral Malek had an inside man on the weather control team on Sollgel Island, wherever that was. This person was apparently keeping a close eye on the weather experiments that were taking place there and passing along the information to Malek. Marcus saw a handwritten note Admiral Malek hand placed in the dossier. It said that he saw a lot of potential in the system as a weapon against monsters like Godzilla. The report correctly observed that extreme cold was a possible weakness of the King of the Monsters. It might be a vulnerability they could exploit.

Marcus wasn’t so certain. The iceberg they had buried Godzilla inside certainly did slow him down, but it hadn’t stopped him for good. None the less, the report theorized that if they could reduce the temperature low enough, it could prove lethal to Godzilla. The weather control system described in the report was theoretically able to drop the temperature far lower than mother nature was capable of doing on her own.

The second page in the file went on to say that if they couldn’t induce lethal levels of cold, then they could hypothetically force Godzilla into hibernation with the weapon, or at the very least, deter him from going to places by blocking his path to with inhospitable weather. Godzilla was seen to retreat south out of Russian as the winter was approaching.

Marcus was impressed. What he was reading sounded reasonable and feasible. But there was one major problem. This wasn’t an Archimedes Organization project. It was being developed through an entirely different United Nations program. If it was discovered that Archimedes Organization had infiltrated a civilian project and were spying, it would make them look very bad in the eyes of the world. But it seemed like Malek wasn’t concerned about that. He just wanted another weapon at his disposal, even if it meant perverting a peaceful scientific project meant for agriculture.

Marcus hated to admit it, but in this particular case, he was torn over the ethical dilemma involved. Part of him agreed with the idea of trying to use this weather control system to fight Godzilla. It was a far better idea than some of the alternatives Malek had been exploring.

Marcus read on, trying to find the name of the spy embedded in the U.N.A.C. Just as he thought he was on to something, he heard footsteps coming down the metal corridor. Marcus quickly closed the file and put it neatly back on the desk just the way he’d found it and then took his seat. A moment later, Admiral Malek walked in carrying a cup of coffee.



On Sollgel Island, Maki and Raeko made it back to the cave, but only a fraction of the men from the march had survived to join them. The Kamacuras had seen to it that only about twenty-five members of the original science team lived through the night. Fortunately, Dr. Kusumi was among them. They group was going to need his leadership if they were going to endure long enough for a rescue team to arrive.

With Maki and Raeko’s assistance, Dr. Kusumi patched up Fuji’s leg. The break was displaced and required resetting. Kusumi pumped Fuji full of morphine and antibiotics ahead of the procedure. With a lot of force and an unpleasant crackle, it was done. Fuji struggled and cried out despite the medication. Maki held his hand to support him the only way he could. After a minute, Fuji settled down enough for them to apply a splint. They let him rest from there. He was going to have a rough night, but in time he would make a full recovery.

With that done, Kusumi got to work on the radio, if only to keep his mind off of all the men they’d lost. Fuji was really the technical guy. Once he was feeling well enough, he’d have to be the one to try to get it working again. In the meantime, Kusumi put Raeko and Maki in charge of recovering whatever materials they had lost during the night. Many of the men who hadn’t made it to the caves were carrying supplies that would be useful to their newly established operation, including food stores. Even with only around twenty men to feed, what resources had made it through the journey weren’t going to last long with so many mouths to feed.

Most of the other survivors recognized how urgent that issue was and were quick to volunteer to go out to forage along with Maki and Raeko. The one exception was Furukawa. He refused to move from his spot in the cave. He was curled up in a dark corner in the fetal position, unwilling to do anything useful. Some of the surviving security officers decided that they should stay behind and keep an eye on him. There was no telling what he might do if left to his own devices.

The rest of the men got organized and set out gather any resources they could. The highest ranked security officer left alive elected to take a few men back to the trail. It was considered the most dangerous assignment, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He was an honorable sort of man and would not let others do what he wasn’t willing to do himself.

Raeko and Maki, along with a few others, were assigned to areas of the jungle where Raeko frequently gathered fruits. It was only natural since she knew the lay of the land so well. It was still considered dangerous, but less so than the trail. The luckiest group of men were assigned to fishing in the ocean and gathering anything else they could find along the shoreline like crabs and coconuts.



Once they were out in the jungle, Maki and Raeko could see the changes that Dr. Kusumi had warned them about. The trees were noticeably bigger than they’d been before, perhaps as much as a third larger. Even the underbrush was overgrown and unruly compared to before. There were plants growing amongst the shrubs that Raeko had never seen before in all of her time living on the island. In particular, she saw enormous pods with spiky vines that were very out of place. She had a bad feeling about the unusual flora and ensured that the men stayed well clear of them.

The group eventually came upon the fruit-bearing trees that Raeko frequently visited. They too had undergone a change, enlarging considerably. However, this benefited the party. For the fruits had grown in size right along with the rest of the tree. The only trouble was they were now out of reach. Before, Raeko could have easily walked right up and cut one loose with her knife without much effort. Now she’d have to climb up the trunk to get at them.

It took Raeko a moment, but once she was at the top, she got to work cutting the fruit loose one at a time. Maki positioned himself below so he could prevent them from hitting the ground and splattering on impact. Other members of the party spread out and followed their example. Eventually, there was a pile of fruit big enough to fill each sack they’d brought with them.

The job done, Raeko began her descent. As she climbed down, her foot slipped, and she fell. Raeko’s landing was soft enough. She managed to avoid the outcropping of roots from the tree. She didn’t sustain any injuries, but she found herself entangled in some vines next to one of the strange pods. Raeko carefully tried to free herself, but the vines refused to let her go. Raeko reached for her knife to cut herself loose, but she had lost it during the fall. It was blade-down sticking into the ground just a few feet out of reach.

As Raeko fought, the pod split in half and opened up wide, revealing its true nature. It was a carnivorous plant. The outer edges of its mouth were filled with what appeared to be teeth. To Raeko’s horror, the vines started to move, pulling her towards the open maw of the pod. The vines were surprisingly strong, and the thorns dug into her leg keeping a tight hold. Raeko knew she was in real trouble.

Help was close at hand though. Maki sprang into action, taking up Raeko’s knife and hacking away at the vines. A few sharp chops later, Raeko was free. The damaged vines recoiled, spilling out green sap. They retreated towards the pod, which closed back up again. Maki and Raeko just stared at it in shock. Raeko was bleeding from the thorn puncture wounds on her leg. Fortunately for them, Maki still had some supplies on him from Fuji’s procedure. He used some alcohol prep pads to clean Raeko’s wounds and then began to wrap up her ankle.

The alcohol stung as Maki applied the pads, but Raeko didn’t complain. She knew it was for the best. They couldn’t risk an infection out in the jungle. Maki would see to it that she got a round of antibiotics when they got back to camp, just to be sure. As he finished wrapping her ankle, Maki looked up to see Raeko staring at him. Their eyes met and they just gazed at one other for a moment. An unspoken feeling passed between them.

“Thank you.” Rako finally said. Maki smiled and then stood up.

“Ok, lets see if you can put any weight on it.” Maki suggested. Raeko got to her feet and had no issues. Luckily, the punctures weren’t very deep. The damage turned out to be mostly superficial.

Maki and Raeko’s private moment was broken up by the buzzing sound of a large insect. For a second, Maki feared the worst, but as it turned out, it wasn’t one of the Kamacuras. Instead, he saw a beetle about the size of a dog fly by. It landed near one of the pods. Regrettably for the beetle, the vines ensnared it and dragged the bug inside one of the waiting pods. It was fascinating, though a little disturbing to watch. Overhead, an enormous hornet, half the size of the Kamacuras, flew over the jungle canopy, alarming everyone in the party.

“Come back with me to Japan Raeko, this isn’t the island you grew up on anymore.” Maki observed solemnly as the huge insect disappeared into the distance.



An hour later, Maki and Raeko returned to the safety of the cave with their bounty. Aside from some minor injuries, their group hadn’t taken any casualties. The other foraging party that had gone to the trail wasn’t as lucky. Several of their men didn’t make it back. The research team was down to around seventeen members now. Going back to the trail again for any reason was out of the question. They’d have to rely on whatever they could take from the sea and the surrounding area.

If there was a silver lining to the loss of men, it was only that there would be less men to feed and more living space room in the cave going forward. Still, the hit to morale was pretty bad. All of the men knew one another well. Every casualty was felt. Dr. Kusumi was still fiddling around with the radio, but he hadn’t made any significant progress toward fixing it.

Everyone started to settle in for the night, making do with what they had. Raeko and Maki decided to eat before turning in. They’d worked up an appetite during their jungle misadventure. While sitting at the table, Maki noticed a statue sitting in the corner of the room that he hadn’t seen before. It was an intricate carving of a spider. Raeko saw him looking and turned to see it for herself.

“So, I suppose that’s the Spider-God who lived on the next island over, right?” Maki inquired.

“No…” Raeko began. “He lived on this one.”

“I thought you said the other day that temple was over there?” Maki asked confused.

“I did.” Raeko agreed. “The natives wouldn’t live on the same island as the Spider-God though. They feared his hunger too much. Occasionally, they would send sacrifices over here, marooning them to appease him.”

“Oh… well, that’s comforting.” Maki scoffed. “You’ve never seen anything like that before, right?”

“No, just the Kamacuras.” Raeko answered.

“Good…” Maki sighed in relief.

“But my father said he did once.” Raeko went on. “He called it Spiga. Said that the monster wakes up once in a while to feed, usually on the Kamacuras. There is a barren valley nearby where my father said it sleeps. He told me never to go there. I’ve been avoiding it ever since. I never knew for sure if my father was serious, or if all of that was just a story he made up to scare me into behaving. But he said that if the monster were to be disturbed, he might rise up again.”



Marcus found himself wandering down a long passageway inside of a huge stone temple. He could hear music radiating from down the corridor. He could make out voices but couldn’t quite understand the words. He followed the alluring melody further inside. As Marcus came closer to the source of the sound, he realized that the song was familiar. It was becoming louder and clearer as he went. He was certain that he had heard it somewhere before.

Marcus eventually found his way into a huge open chamber. The music was echoing throughout space, although he couldn’t locate the source of it. There were no singers to be found in the room, though the melody was unmistakably the work of at least two vocalists. Natural light was pouring into the chamber from numerous openings near the top of the domed stone roof. The room was shadowy, but Marcus could still easily make out everything in the space around him. The halls of the temple were covered with writing that Marcus couldn’t read, as well as crude images that had been etched into the walls and painted over. Marcus soon realized that the whole thing was some sort of mural. There were worn out traces of people and animals. They must have been there a very long time. The paint was quite faded.

One iconic image stood out from the rest and Marcus recognized what it was right away. Dead-center in the mural, positioned high above the rest of the figures, was a visage of Mothra. Her brilliant wings spread majestically across the carving, dominating the work. Marcus stood there admiring it for an instant before moving on. As Marcus continued to scan the area, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been there before. He could see a stone slab which served as an altar. There were glyphs carved into it. Marcus approached the slab and took a close look at it. Suddenly it hit him, he’d seen this very altar before in a dream.

Marcus’ attention shifted to the sound of the music again. He could tell the source of it was nearby now. It was coming from somewhere behind the altar. Marcus walked up the few stairs in front of the platform and made his way around it. Once there, he could see a pair of statues near the back wall of the temple. They were life-sized sculptures of two young women. They had the appearance of priestesses, with elaborate flowing gowns and ornate headdresses. Their craftsmen had some serious skills. They almost looked alive. Each of the sculptures mirrored the other, posed in a kneeling position, as if they were offering prayers. Both statutes were holding out a hand in front of them. Their hands came together in the middle, each with their palms up, as though they were presenting something to anyone who stood in front of them.

As Marcus drew nearer, he could see that there was something in each of the statue’s stone hands. He saw two faint lights, resembling burning embers, in the middle of the palms. As Marcus came even closer, the cinders burnt a little brighter, flickering into twin flames. It didn’t stop there. Before long, each statue was holding a solid pillar of light. Marcus realized what he was seeing was not fire at all. Instead, he was witnessing strands of pure yellow energy, almost as if they were radiant beams from the sun itself. And they moved as though they were alive.

Marcus’ pupils grew wide. He got the urge to reach out and try to touch one of the shafts of light. He stopped himself short though. The twin energies started to change shape before his very eyes, forming themselves into what appeared to be tiny female figures. Their bodies were abstract and lacked distinguishing features, but they still undoubtedly resembled young women. They were avatars of radiant energy, ancient and primordial beings. Marcus knelt down close to get a better look at the spirits. From a few inches away, he could make out eyes. An incredible sensation tingled from the depths of his inner mind to the very tip of his fingers.

‘Return the egg.’ Marcus heard a voice in his head.

Suddenly, Marcus jerked forward. He opened his eyes alarmed and confused. Around him were rows of seats. Beside him, Ling was sitting in a cushioned seat. Marcus realized that he was on an airplane. The jolt of the tires hitting the runway as they landed had woken him up. Marcus must have had quite the expression on his face because Ling was staring at him funny.

“We’re here…” Ling finally said. “You were having some dream, huh?”

Finally, it all rushed back to Marcus. Admiral Malek had agreed to his proposal to go to Japan. He regarded Marcus as an ideal candidate to investigate the egg because he knew he’d take the assignment seriously and would work diligently towards that goal. Malek sent Ling with Marcus on the mission because his Japanese wasn’t nearly good enough to get by on his own. Brock, however, was ordered to remain behind with the fleet. He wasn’t the best man to send on a diplomatic assignment. His colorful personality simply wasn’t suited for that type of work.

Marcus’ mandate was simple: Fly out ahead to investigate the egg, gather all information possible and the fleet would follow soon after. The probe into Gabara and Godzilla’s disappearance wasn’t proving fruitful. An unhatched Mothra egg, however, just might be worth their attention.

After the landing, Marcus was slow getting off of the plane. He was having a hard time shaking off the visions. As he and Ling entered the terminal, they found a familiar face waiting for them there. It was Akira. The Japanese government had chosen him as a military liaison to represent them. Given Marcus and Akira’s shared history, he was an obvious choice. He warmly greeted Marcus and then escorted them to their hotel. A short drive later, they were pulling up to it. Marcus could see that the Japanese had spared no expense, it was a ritzy joint. It made him feel like a real VIP. They were treating Marcus like a bonafide foreign dignitary. Ling on the other hand wasn’t very impressed. In fact, he’d been very quiet for the most part since they arrived in Japan. Akira knew some English, so his services weren’t yet required.

After settling in, Marcus and Akira met in the hotel lounge for drinks and to catch up. Ling elected to sit it out. He told Marcus that he intended to stay in his room and not come back out unless he was needed for official duties. Marcus just shrugged and respected Ling’s wishes. Clearly his animosity with the Japanese as a whole hadn’t died down quite yet. Once in the lounge, Marcus and Akira traded stories. Akira had married Kiki and the two of them had a twin boy and girl. Kiki had co-founded an ESP Institute for people like herself with extraordinary gifts. The Japanese government was sponsoring the Institute. They had a vested interest in developing the skills of the students there.

With the pleasantries out of the way, Akira got to work bringing Marcus up to speed on what was going on with the Mothra egg. The egg had been brought to shore by a group of fishermen who sensed an opportunity to make some money. They were right. Within days, the fishermen had struck a deal with a local businessman with a disreputable reputation amongst the community. His name was Mr. Kumayama. Akira slid a picture across the table for Marcus to look at. The man in the photo certainly looked like a sleazeball. He had what Brock would refer to as a very punchable face. Mr. Kumayama was sporting one of those tiny ugly mustaches that Hitler made popular. The dislike was instant for Marcus.

Akira explained that Mr. Kumayama represented a corporation called Happy Enterprises. Apparently, they were planning to build a theme park around the Mothra egg, using it as the main attraction. It seemed like a very bad idea to Marcus for several reasons, but the construction was already well underway by that point. The casing for the egg had, in fact, just been completed the day before.

Akira continued, informing Marcus that the Japanese government was planning to undercut Mr. Kumayama, but he had the backing of a shady, yet influential, character named Jiro Torahara. He was a rich powerbroker with lots of political connections. Jiro was using his network of associates to slow down the process of handing over the egg to proper authorities. He had gone as far as to bring a lawsuit, under Kumayama’s name, to block the immediate transfer of the egg. Fighting the government in the courts would slow things down, but it was really just a matter of time before they’d be strong-armed into relenting. What Jiro was doing was a delaying tactic at best.

There were other people trying to persuade Happy Enterprises to give up their hold on the egg. A scientist by the name of Miura wanted to study the egg, but he couldn’t persuade Mr. Kumayama to give him access. Akira presented Marcus with some notes he had acquired from Professor Miura. The information in the report was very limited, but the professor did note some striking similarities between the Japanese egg and the egg found in French waters years earlier. Though Miura observed that there were some distinguishing variations in the egg’s color. Otherwise, the proportions and markings were nearly identical.

Besides Professor Miura, there was a local newspaper that had put out several scathing articles about Happy Enterprises. Mainly, it was two members of their news team who were behind it. A reporter named Ichiro Saki and a photographer named Junko Nakanishi. They had taken it upon themselves to launch a public crusade against Mr. Kumayama and Happy Enterprises. They’d managed to garner a good deal of popular support, but they hadn’t landed a significant blow to the corporation yet. Marcus told Akira that he’d like to meet Professor Miura, Saki, and Junko to see what information he could get directly from them.

Over the next couple of days, Marcus and Akira traveled to Shizunoura and made arrangements to interview everyone relevant to the case. Professor Miura, Mr. Saki and Mrs. Junko all happened to be conveniently gathered at the same place when Marcus arrived. Marcus discovered something astonishing while questioning them. It seemed that each of them had a dream very similar to what he’d experienced. They all described having visions of twin fairies, creatures of light which compelled them to get involved with the egg.

Marcus started to sweat as he realized what it meant. The things he’d seen in his dream were not a dream at all. It couldn’t be a coincidence that four separate individuals all saw the same thing. The vision had to be real. Marcus knew the next step in his mission was to confront Mr. Kumayama and Jiro.



On a beach near the suburbs of Nagoya, a small Japanese boy was building a sandcastle. He had made the outer wall, the keep, and was nearly finished adding towers on top. His mother was nearby, sitting under a parasol reading a book. She enjoyed the view looking out over the water, but she was the cautious type and wouldn’t allow her son to play in the bay. Off in the near distance, there was a large industrial complex. She was concerned that oil and chemical runoff might contaminate the water.

A series of rumblings distracted the woman from her book. She looked up to see where the noise was coming from. She assumed it was simply machinery operating from inside of the industrial zone. Perhaps they were erecting a new building and using a pile-driver to hammer steel rods into the ground? She didn’t see anything like that though, so she went back to reading.

A moment later, her son cried out angrily and the woman sat up in her chair to see what was the matter. It turned out that the boy’s sandcastle had crumbed right before his eyes. Strong vibrations resonating from the tremors had shaken it apart. The woman could feel the quaking in the frame of her folding chair as well. She realized that something was very wrong.

Out in the ocean, a huge column of water erupted and churned. The sea roiled with white foam until three rows of spikey dorsal plates rose out of the water. Godzilla breached to the surface, roaring. The woman’s heart nearly stopped. She acted almost on instinct alone, snatching up her son and carrying him to their car in terror. An air raid siren started to sound off in the distance, adding to the anxiety and tension. Godzilla paid no mind to the woman and child though. Instead, he turned and began walking towards the industrial zone.

It took no time at all for Godzilla to reach the coastline. He soon found himself walking amongst rows of oil storage tanks. In front of him lay several factories with tall smokestacks sticking out of them and a large oil refinery complex. Godzilla mostly ignored his surroundings and just kept moving forward. For a time, he only inflicted damage to things that were directly in his path, simply trampling over them. Godzilla did however manage to sever the main oil pipeline, which spilled hundreds of galloons crude throughout the complex.

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Perhaps it was the smell of the oil, but Godzilla suddenly got the impulse to cause destruction. He turned sharply, allowing his tail to collide with one of the main refinery hubs, knocking over the silver tower and igniting a blaze. Godzilla then unleashed his atomic breath onto a factory in front of him. The oil at his feet caught fire from both directions, causing the whole area to erupt into a firestorm. Godzilla walked on unbothered by the flames.

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Local firefighters quickly responded to the emergency, their long red trucks rushing out of the station with men clinging onto the sides, but the situation was already far beyond what they could control. They best they could hope to do was contain the flames and prevent the fires from spreading further into the oil storage units.

Godzilla meanwhile was moving onwards towards Nagoya. In the city, alarms were already sounding. A newsman was broadcasting over the emergency loudspeakers, warning everybody of the monster’s approach. He urged all citizens to evacuate as quickly as possible.

In less than a half-hour, Godzilla was strolling into the streets of Nagoya unopposed. Despite the warning, there were still plenty of people in the city fleeing before him in a panic. Perhaps it was a good thing there wasn’t a military presence in Nagoya to challenge him. Godzilla seemed content just to walk through the metropolis. If he were to become agitated and start using his atomic breath, there was a lot of potential damage he could inflict on the city and its people.

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Godzilla’s path took him right by Nagoya Tower. He passed it harmlessly enough, but his tail twitched just the wrong way and it got caught up on one of the legs of the tower. As Godzilla noticed his entanglement, he pulled hard to free himself. In so doing, he swept away one of the main support pillars, causing the tower to collapse towards him like a massive falling tree. The metal framework collided with Godzilla’s shoulder, pushing him forward and angering him. The King of the Monsters shoved the tower off of him and then turned around to smash it as though it had willfully attacked him. The distraction gave people ahead of Godzilla more time to get away, but it cost the city one of its most recognizable attractions.

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Once Godzilla was satisfied that the tower had been thoroughly defeated, he resumed his trek across town. The next landmark he came across was Nagoya castle. Unfortunately, Godzilla wasn’t minding his footing as he approached it. He stepped into the deep moat surrounding the fortress and fell forward into the castle. Godzilla clipped into the side of the building, stripping away a large section of the roof with his forearm. Again, Godzilla seemed to take umbrage with the building itself and used his claws to smash the majority of the structure down into ruins. Just like that, another priceless piece of Japanese heritage was lost forever.

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In Shizunoura, Marcus and Akira were not yet aware of Godzilla’s landing in Nagoya. They were proceeding as planned to Happy Enterprise’s theme park. They’d been joined by Professor Miura, Saki, and Junko. Marcus made sure to wear his formal black and yellow Archimedes uniform. It made him look more formidable, which was exactly what he was banking on. His plan was to intimidate Mr. Kumayama and Jiro into yielding to his demands. Marcus even put on his aviator sunglasses to enhance his look. If he had Brock along, the charade wouldn’t be necessary, but he’d just have to make do in the big man’s absence.

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Akira’s credentials as a member of the Japanese armed forces were enough to persuade the guards patrolling the facility’s exterior to let them into the headquarters building to speak with the management. As they entered the main office, Marcus saw something that would’ve made him grin widely if he was willing to break character. Jiro was not present, only Kumayama was. Mr. Kumayama was far less sure of himself in the face of adversity. The plan could work if Marcus put on a good performance.

Focusing on what he had to do, Marcus marched right up to Kumayama’s desk and stood directly in front of him. In his menacing uniform, Marcus did his best impression of a stern hard-assed officer, making demands in English which Mr. Kumayama couldn’t possibly understand. The tone alone was enough to frighten Kumayama though. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck, confused and unsure what to do. Marcus just glared at him through his sunglasses, towering over the Happy Enterprises president as he sat in his chair, waiting for a response. Kumayama was already on the back foot, visibly uncomfortable with the situation.

At that point, Ling stepped forward and translated Marcus’ request. Ling made it clear that Marcus’ wish, as a member of the Archimedes organization, was to closely inspect the Mothra egg. Kumayama’s first instinct was to say no. Upon hearing his response translated, Marcus thundered and growled, as though he was Brock himself. He spit, cursed, and made threats. Mr. Kumayama was so frightened he almost fell out of his chair, and that was before Ling even translated what Marcus actually said.

Marcus’ threats centered around the idea that there was a large fleet of Archimedes warships on their way to Japan, and if Kumayama denied him entry to the hatchery, there would be hundreds of angry marines beating down his door looking for answers within days. It was a bluff, but Kumayama swallowed the story whole. Under Admiral Malek, the Archimedes organization had garnered a certain unsavory reputation. Marcus let his jacket slide open, revealing a service revolver sitting on his hip. At the same time, Marcus noted that the Archimedes organization had authority over anything related to Kaiju, including the egg Kumayama had bought. In that, Marcus actually had a legitimate point. The Japanese Government had agreed to such a stipulation with the U.N.

At that moment, Akira stepped in as a IJN officer to protest an American overstepping his boundaries on Japanese soil, but as per the script, he allowed Marcus to shout him down, pointing out the folly of his argument, which violated international treaties. With what seemed to be his sole defender backing down, Mr. Kumayama was sweating profusely. Finally losing his nerve, Kumayama capitulated. He agreed to allow Marcus and his entourage full and free access to the Mothra egg. He scrambled to find the correct key that would open the doors to the incubation-housing.

Marcus seized the key forcefully as soon as he saw it and thanked Kumayama for his cooperation. He then turned and left the office like a conqueror. His gambit paid off, his victory secured, Marcus could now enjoy the spoils. He was quite eager to get a up close look at the egg. As he came out of the office, Professor Miura, Saki, and Junko all looked astonished that he had pulled it off.

Kumayama sent one of his men to supervise Marcus and his entourage. The chairman then left Happy Enterprises headquarters, no doubt to go meet with his partner Jiro. Kumayama’s man guided the group through a tunnel which took them directly from the HQ building to the egg chamber. In the tunnel it was dark and cool. Overhead lights dotted the walkway. The whole facility was still under construction, and it showed. Kumayama’s man was acting like a tour guide, telling them about the park and what it was going to be like once it opened. Ling translated so Marcus could understand him, but Kumayama’s man abruptly stopped talking.

“I’m curious, why would an American choose to bring a Chinese dog into our midst?” The man asked Ling vulgarly.

Apparently, he must have put together Ling’s background. Ling usually spoke with very few flaws, so how he gave himself away was a mystery. Marcus didn’t understand what was going on, but it was obvious something was wrong. Ling and Kumayama’s man stopped walking and just starred at each other. It felt as though a fight was about to break out. The tension was palpable.

“The war is over!” Akira said sharply, coming up and striking Kumayama’s man hard in the face with an open hand. The sound of the slap echoed throughout the tunnel. “These people are our guests.” He scolded furiously. Akira’s red handprint was already plain to see on the cheek of Kumayama’s man. There were tears in his eyes and the rest of his face was quickly catching up with the handprint. Akira was prepared to go further if the man tried to retaliate. “They are to be treated with respect, apologize!” He demanded.

“I take it back…” Kumayama’s man grumbled, relenting. He apparently didn’t see any advantage starting a brawl in the tunnels without any backup. Akira was satisfied and they moved on from there.

After a short walk, the group finally came to the final door between themselves and the egg. Kumayama’s man unlocked the entrance and opened it wide for the party to enter. Light poured into the dark tunnel. It took a moment for all of their eyes to adjust. One by one, each member of the group stepped inside. Marcus immediately stopped in his tracks when he set eyes upon what lay within. It shocked and baffled him. Just not what he was expecting to see.

“That’s not a Mothra egg...” Marcus said ominously. Everyone gathered around to see for themselves.

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The object which sat before the group had all of the same markings and patterns as a Mothra egg, and it was roughly the same size, but the colors were all completely wrong. The base color of the egg was red instead of blue, the stripes running along the length of it were black, not yellow, and the small speckles of color found throughout were yellow, not white. Whatever was hiding inside the egg, it wasn’t a Mothra Larva.

“What does it mean?” Junko asked.

“I’m not sure.” Marcus replied. He could feel something in his bones. The sensation was much like his experience in France with the Mothra egg, but it was somehow very different, darker… “I think Happy Enterprises made a big mistake bringing this egg here.”

“What is that?” Professor Miura asked from the back of the group, raising his arm, and pointing a finger. Everyone’s attention shifted to the base of the red and black egg, where a strange mechanism had been planted on it.

“Is this part of the heat regulation system?” Marcus turned, asking Kumayama’s man. He shook his head no. Marcus had a bad feeling about the device. Upon closer inspection, he found that it had writing on it, but it was a language that he didn’t understand. “Ling, can you tell what this says? Ling came up close and studied it for a moment.

“It’s not any language I’ve ever seen before.” He answered.

“Really…?” Marcus frowned, finding that very hard to believe considering just how well-versed Ling was in linguistics. Then he noticed something else that was even more troubling. The device had several dials that were moving. On them, there were more letters, or numbers, that he couldn’t understand. However, the symbols appeared to be diminishing, as though they were counting down. Marcus finally had a terrible moment of clarity. It was a bomb! “EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!” Marcus barked.

His shouting took everyone by surprise, and after a second of getting over the sudden jolt, everybody else began to understand the situation and ran out through the tunnel. Marcus remained behind. He was determined not to abandon the egg. He had no idea how to disarm the device though and wasn’t even going to try. Instead, he looked around for a place to dispose of the explosive.

Marcus ran to the side of the plastic casing of the incubator, trying to break through and make a hole to throw the bomb through. Despite his efforts, the hard thick plastic refused to budge. Marcus started to panic, realizing that his time was running short. At that crucial moment, he saw a potential solution. Nearby was one of the large air vents that was meant to pump warm air into the egg chamber. The conduit attached to it slanted down a steep slope that led away from the hatchery.

Marcus got to work, prying off the metal cover of the vent and using his legs to kick a bend into one of the fan blades inside. Luckily for him, the system was not in operation yet. After a few more hard kicks, Marcus had made a gap large enough for the device to pass through. He scrambled back towards the egg with hast.

Unbeknownst to Marcus, he was being watched by a hooded figure outside of the incubation chamber. In the hills above, they were following his every movement through the scope of an advanced sniper rifle. The hooded figure fingered the trigger when Marcus stopped to pull the mechanism from the egg. It was a perfect shot, and yet they hesitated.

Back inside of the chamber, Marcus was sweating bullets as he carefully pulled on the bomb. He couldn’t know if it had an anti-tampering device built in. He might accidentally set it off by mistake by detaching it or by tilting it one way or the other too far. The bomb came free without incident. Marcus quickly and carefully rushed it towards the vent. The sniper’s crosshairs followed him all the way. Marcus held his breath and then flung the bomb into the duct. It clanged against the metal walls as it slid down the pipe. It didn’t instantly go off; Marcus had caught a break. He took in a huge breath of relief.

Marcus realized that he wasn’t out of danger though. The pipeline flattened out about a hundred and fifty yards down the track. That was where the bomb was going to explode. When that happened, it was going to send fire and shrapnel right back up line towards him. It was very much in his best interest to get away from the end of the pipe before then. Marcus turned and got about seven paces away from the vent before the bomb at last detonated. The force of the blast did indeed in part funnel back up the tunnel and knocked Marcus to the ground.

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Fortunately, the vast majority of the concussive force of the explosion burst through the sides of the thin metal pipe. An enormous fireball erupted through the middle of Happy Enterprise’s theme park. Several buildings immediately caught fire. The blast definitely would have destroyed the egg if it had gone off inside, but the fire that now rained down couldn’t get through the plastic casing of the hatchery. The egg was perfectly safe thanks to Marcus.

The sniper on the hill was still watching Marcus, waiting to see if he was going to get up or not. Slowly, but surely, he did get to his feet and dusted himself off. Once the hooded figure saw that, they turned and shouldered their weapon. They wouldn’t be killing Marcus this day. His display of valor and selflessness had impressed them, even though the end result had ultimately ruined their mission. The wind picked up, blowing back the sniper’s robes. It revealed them to be the masked woman from Kushiro who’d beaten up two Japanese officers and kicked Marcus in the face.

Inside the egg chamber, Marcus stood there trying to calm down. There were only three questions on his mind: What was inside the egg? Who had tried to blow it up? And why?



Since Godzilla’s arrival in Japan, he’d been making his way southeast along the coast towards Shizunoura. The Japanese military was quick to get organized but slow to concentrate their forces. They wanted to focus on one big effort instead of multiple anemic attacks. Thus, Godzilla had so far marched through Japan entirely unchecked. However, the Archimedes fleet had arrived between Godzilla and his perceived objective. Admiral Malek was planning to use the newest anti-kaiju weapon against Godzilla, Frontier Missiles. The system had the largest non-nuclear warheads ever developed. They were dual purposed. In more conventional military conflicts, they were built to be armor-piercing battleship killers.

Considering the immense power of the missiles, the Japanese army employed tanks to lure Godzilla to an uninhabited section of the coast were they could avoid causing too much collateral damage to civilians or infrastructure. There, the Archimedes fleet was waiting for the King of the Monsters out in the ocean. Admiral Malek and Brock were watching Godzilla through binoculars just was he set foot on the beach. A delegation of Japanese naval officers were also present to witness the assault firsthand.

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“Begin the attack.” Admiral Malek commanded, and the fleet quickly went into action.

On the decks of the Archimedes cruisers, Frontier missiles began to launch from their racks. One by one, they flew forward through the air until the whole area was filled with smoke trails left behind in their wake. The high-pitched shriek of the rocket engines announced their proximity to Godzilla just before their arrival. The first missile screamed in, pounding down at Godzilla’s feet. It exploded, kicking up a tremendous amount of sand and smoke. It left a crater seventy-five meters wide and twenty deep. More and more missiles found their mark in a cascade of explosions around Godzilla.

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Through the smoke and soot of the first barrage, Godzilla could be seen falling to the ground. It looked as though the attack was having an effect. The second assault was launched and hammered down on the fallen King of the Monsters. Unfortunately, the fleet was already starting to run low on missiles. The ordinance was so heavy and bulky that each ship could only afford to carry a couple volleys worth. They’d only be able to sustain the attack for a little while longer. Nothing on earth was meant to tank so much punishment.

After a few more launches, the ammo was finally all spent. The results were unclear. The coastline was obscured by curtains of smoke and debris. The beach had certainly been blown to bits. The sand was scarred and pockmarked with huge craters from the bombardment. It resembled the surface of the moon, lonely and lifeless. However, a shadow soon arose from the carnage. It was Godzilla. He got to his feet and roared in defiance. The attack had failed.

Though disappointed, Admiral Malek was wise enough to have foreseen the outcome and had several flights of Phantoms waiting on standby to cause a diversion while the fleet withdrew from the coast. The fighters hit Godzilla from inland, drawing his attention away from the surface ships.

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While the Naval assault in the morning had failed, the Imperial Japanese army had not given up the fight so easily. They’d been in the process of throwing together a last-ditch effort to kill or repel Godzilla. In the fields ahead of the King of the Monsters were long rows of electrical towels. Several of them had been specially modified to discharge powerful bolts of electricity.

By the afternoon, the IJA’s opening moves had begun, and they were much like the last operation. The Japanese again planned to lure Godzilla into the designated operational area by using tanks as bait. The units were waiting for Godzilla in an open field, and attacked from a distance, drawing his attention. At first, the tanks were charging towards Godzilla through the valley, firing along the way, but they quickly reversed course once Godzilla started after them. There was no sense in getting too close.

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As the minutes passed, Godzilla was catching up with them regardless. The tanks had to fight to get up and down the various hills in the area. Sabre jets were waiting on standby to support the tanks for just such an occasion. They launched several harassing raids to distract Godzilla. Jeeps equipped with long cannons around the perimeter of the battlefield joined the attack. When that proved ineffective, a second wave of fighters rushed in to help. They were armed with napalm bombs. The Sabres flew over close, dropping them on Godzilla. One very lucky hit landed directly on his head, setting his entire upper torso on fire as the gelatinous fuel ignited and spread.

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The fighters had bought the tanks enough time to escape. They passed under the power lines and beyond to their rally point up in the hills. Godzilla was still pursuing them. The flames on his head were just starting to burn themselves out. The King of the Monsters soon reached the unassuming power lines. He didn’t make much of them. He’d seen electrical towers before, and they’d only ever managed to slow him down slightly in the past. What Godzilla couldn’t know though was that the whole area around the cables were rigged with pads that were wired to trigger the electrical discharges from the top of the towers. Godzilla happened to find himself sandwiched between a pair of them.

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Godzilla’s left foot found its way onto one of the pads, activating the trap. The two towers in front of him came alive with arching streams of electricity. Each of them had a round toroid built in, which acted like a huge tesla coil. The electrical current raked up and down against Godzilla’s body and he shrieked in agony. Painful as it was, it didn’t stop Godzilla from moving forward. He rammed his body into the nearest tower and toppled it over with his weight. The wires broke off and the connection to the power source was severed. Neither tower could function anymore.

However, the Japanese army hadn’t put all of their eggs into one basket this time. After their previous encounters with Godzilla, the military better understood what he was capable of and had anticipated failure. They began to fall back to their secondary line of defense, which was even more formidable. To cover this retreat, high level bombers from the Japanese air force made an attack run. The bombing wasn’t particularly accurate, but it didn’t need to be. The ensuing torrent of fire and smoke simply hampered Godzilla’s field of vision for a time.

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As Godzilla got close to the second Japanese line, a flight of chinooks helicopters carrying a heavy wire net approached from behind. Just as they passed over Godzilla, the helicopters released the metal net which fell directly onto him. Godzilla stopped in his tracks once he realized something was covering him. He fought to get the net off, but it was designed to stay on for as long as possible. The net was also designed to attract electrical discharges from the tesla towers. The two closest pylons started to emit energy bolts.

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A second flight of Chinooks came over and dropped another net on top of Godzilla. It made the signal strong enough for a third tesla tower to activate and join in on the attack. A third flight of helicopters dropped yet another net on Godzilla, which confused and angered him off even more. The electric attacks were getting stronger.

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The final part of the trap was revealed. All three Archimedes’ Mazers had been brought over from Australia and rolled forward to add their firepower to the already considerable assault. Under so much pressure, Godzilla went down. Sensing an advantage, the commanding Japanese general demanded an increase in voltage output from the tesla towers. His subordinate in charge of the technical operations warned him that the system was already pushing its limit and running at maximum capacity. The general, however, disregarded his junior officer’s caution and insisted that he push it even higher yet.

Reluctantly, the officer did what he was told, increasing the current. The system briefly discharged electricity at two hundred percent efficiently, but it couldn’t sustain that much power flow for long. The wires began to visually overheat, glowing bright red until they melted and snapped. The system had completely burnt out and stopped working.

It only took Godzilla a second to take advantage of their mistake. He used his atomic breath to destroy one of the towers. The heat of the attack made the steel girders burn red hot until they melted and folded over onto themselves. Godzilla got to his feet, ripping off the nets, and then angrily started to pick off tanks one at a time with his breath. The men inside the machines died horrible burning deaths. The Maser crews were trained well enough to know when it was time to retreat. They backed away as five additional tanks were melted into slag.

Godzilla had claimed another battlefield win. He seemed unstoppable.



On Sollgel Island, Fuji had woken up following his procedure and immediately got to work on the radio. His technical expertise was far beyond that of Dr. Kusumi’s. While his leg was still hurting badly, he recognized how dire the group’s situation was and he worked feverishly to fix it. By that point, everyone recognized that contacting the outside world was their only real hope for survival.

After two hours of experimenting and trading out parts, Fuji finally got a signal transmitting. There was a brief moment of cheers, jumping around, and general excitement before Dr. Kusumi calmed everyone down. It was unwise to draw too much attention to themselves, even from the safety of the cave.

To boost the signal, Fuji had the others feed an antenna through the opening in the cave’s roof where smoke escaped. The transmitter was taken even higher and secured up in a tree growing above the cave. Upon testing it, everything seemed to be working normally. Fuji tuned in the correct frequency and broadcast a distress signal. They didn’t get an immediate response, but that didn’t discourage anyone. Fuji said that he would continue to try every half hour until someone picked up. It was getting late by then, so everyone else turned in for the night.



Several hours later, Marcus was woken up by the sound of a voice. He sat up and saw Furukawa messing around with the radio. Fuji had fallen asleep at his post. The pain medication for his leg had knocked him out cold and even Furukawa standing right next to him talking apparently wasn’t enough to rouse him.

“Furukawa, what are you doing?” Maki asked.

“What..?!” Furukawa jumped; Maki’s voice startled him.

“You shouldn’t be fiddling with that.” Maki warned Furukawa. “If you break it, we’re all screwed.”

“I’m trying to contact my family.” Furukawa snapped back defensively. “I haven’t seen my wife in over six months. I just want to hear her voice.”

“That’s fine.” Maki replied. “But wait until the morning, and have Fuji help you. He’s the expert.”

“Fine…” Furukawa answered with a grimace, heading back to his sleeping bag.

Maki lay back down himself. He wasn’t sure what to make of Furukawa’s midnight radio misadventure. It was damned strange, but Furukawa was becoming a strange person. He hadn’t seemed right from the moment Maki met him. Hopefully getting back to Japan would set him straight again.



After a long trek, Godzilla was finally nearing Happy Enterprise’s half-finished theme park in Shizunoura and the egg. He’d just smashed his way through a nearby hotel. Marcus and the rest of his group retreated into the neighboring hills to avoid the King of the Monster’s wrath. There was simply nothing else they could do. Marcus and the others could only watch as Godzilla got nearer and nearer the defenseless egg waiting for him in the incubation chamber.

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When Godzilla reached the plastic shell, he just stared for a moment before smashing his way through it. Within seconds, he’d ripped away the protective framework, exposing the egg itself. Again, Godzilla paused. There was a gleam of hunger in his eyes as he looked over the egg. It was obvious to the onlookers that he was savoring the moment.

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Godzilla’s pleasant moment however was disrupted by the shrill cry of another monster approaching. He turned to see Mothra soaring on the horizon. Godzilla roared, outraged that Mothra would dare intrude upon his feast. Mothra however wasn’t intimidated by Godzilla. Quite the opposite in fact. She came directly at the King of the Monsters and buzzed right over his head, distracting him from the egg.

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Mothra flew right over the hill where Marcus and the others were standing. They had to duck down and hold on to whatever they could to stay on the ground as a great rush of wind battered them. Mothra wheeled around to face Godzilla again, hovering and waiting for him to make a move. Godzilla took the bait, smashing his way through some pipes and buildings in pursuit of Mothra.

Mothra went to work, beating her enormous wings hard to create hurricane level winds. They proved strong enough to put Godzilla off balance. Everything remotely close to Godzilla was affected by it. Trees snapped in half or were entirely unrooted. Buildings were torn to pieces. Godzilla tried to retaliate by using his breath, but he was so off balance that he couldn’t properly aim. The beam simply struck the ground. Debris was getting into his eyes, impeding his vision. Pieces of buildings were also smashing into him.

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What remained of the plastic casing surrounding the egg caught the wind and was blown away by the violent windstorm. The egg itself even started to roll away, which in a way was good because it was moving away from Godzilla. Before long, Godzilla himself was having a hard time maintaining his balance. He finally lost his footing and fell over. Unfortunately, he started to roll towards the egg. As he got up, he saw it and went after it a second time.

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That was intolerable for Mothra. She moved in close and deterred Godzilla by increasing the intensity of her wind attacks. Godzilla again fired off his atomic breath, but he didn’t aim particularly well. His posture was awkward, hunching over the egg and turning his head, trying to blast over his own shoulder. He simply couldn’t turn his neck far enough to hit Mothra from that position.

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Seeing that the extra wind power hadn’t stopped Godzilla, Mothra buzzed around his head, distracting, and annoying him. In response, Godzilla threw up his tail, trying to sweep Mothra from the sky, but her reflexes were too good to get caught out that way. Godzilla hit nothing but air. Mothra sensed an opportunity and the second time Godzilla attacked with his tail, she allowed it to make contact, catching it with the numerous tiny legs on her underbelly.

Mothra then used her leverage to start dragging Godzilla away from the egg. She displayed an impressive amount of strength, beyond anything anyone thought her capable of. Mothra was able to drag Godzilla along by the tail with seemingly little difficulty. Godzilla naturally tried to resist, clawing at the dirt trying to hang on, but nothing he found was strong enough to anchor him. Unfortunately for Godzilla, he was being dragged belly down, so he couldn’t even fire up at Mothra. He was virtually helpless, getting dust in his mouth every time he roared. Mothra kept it up until both of them were very far away from the egg.

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Mothra finally let Godzilla go and he rose to his feet with a head of steam. He was thoroughly pissed off by that point. No one had ever put him in a position like that before and he wasn’t about to stomach it. Godzilla quickly fired a third time with his atomic breath, but he was in too much of a rush and missed yet again. Mothra made sure to punish him for it. She circled around and rammed Godzilla in the back of the head, keeping him off balance. Godzilla retaliated with a fourth and then a fifth atomic blast attempt, but he was way too off kilter to be effective with either effort.

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Mothra wisely chose to attack Godzilla from behind, using her tiny, yet oddly strong legs scratch at his head while beating him with her wings. Mothra used her legs to grasp on and ensure that Godzilla’s front side, in particular his mouth, stayed pointing away from her. Godzilla again tried to use his tail to counter Mothra, but she was simply flying too high and out of reach for that to be effective.

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Mothra next used her body to slam into Godzilla’s back, knocking him forward. Godzilla threw his hands up, trying to claw at Mothra, but that too wasn’t proving useful. For the most part, Godzilla was missing because he couldn’t see where he was aiming. Godzilla was so preoccupied with Mothra behind him that he couldn’t see he was being forced towards a huge open pit ahead of him. He stepped into the hole, failing to find any footing, and so he fell hard into it.

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Godzilla had been overwhelmed by Mothra for the entire fight so far, and yet, she hadn’t done a whole lot of damage to him. If he could just land a meaningful blow, he could turn the battle around. Mothra wasn’t letting up though. As Godzilla struggled on the ground, she came down at him again. Godzilla defended himself, firing off a short a sixth and seventh atomic breath at her in quick session, but he missed yet again. He simply couldn’t get a bead on Mothra. She was very fast and could dodge exceptionally well. She wasn’t giving Godzilla a moment’s reprieve to find an opening to counterattack. Mothra was all over Godzilla, dominating the fight.

And Mothra was about to up the ante. As she hovered just above Godzilla, Mothra began to use her most potent weapon, the yellow wing powder. It floated down onto Godzilla as he struggled to get off of his back. When he sensed it, Godzilla fired a seventh and eighth blast of atomic breath, each missing. He didn’t seem to want any part of Mothra’s dust, but the strong wind gusts Mothra was producing from her wings were preventing him from getting up.

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The powder, however, didn’t seem to be having any effect on Godzilla. Considering just how quickly it took down Varan in the battle in Berlin, that was surprising. The paralyzing effect on him was nearly instantaneous. Was Godzilla immune to Mothra’s poison? Perhaps his healing abilities were countering it. Mothra herself didn’t understand. She poured more and more of the dust onto him with no discernable results.

While Mothra was distracted, Godzilla finally landed an atomic breath hit on her. The beam struck Mothra in the face and on the right wing. She didn’t like it one bit. Mothra immediately stopped using her powder and backed off. Her wing had taken some damage. A section was charred and smoking, but otherwise intact. After that, Mothra was not as fast or agile as before. She circled around the pit and knocked Godzilla back into it just as he started to climb out. Mothra didn’t resume her attack though. Instead, she puts some distance between herself and Godzilla.

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“It looks like your faith was misplaced.” Ling said to Marcus. “Mothra isn’t strong enough to beat Godzilla.”

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Away from the battle, where the egg was still resting, something was happening. A colorful outpouring of yellow and purple light drew everyone’s attention over to it. The eggshell was beginning to crack, revealing that it was hatching. More and more fissures appeared on the egg’s surface until finally something forced it way out of the top. The first thing anyone could see was a single yellow horn piercing the eggshell. Following it was a black armored head with fierce red eyes. As the body emerged, the creature could best be described as a horned armored worm. Its body was primarily black, but it had splashes of red and yellow throughout its carapace. This new creature saw the battle going on in the distance and immediately started to move towards it.

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As soon as Mothra saw that the armored worm had hatched and it was approaching, she flew over and started to chirp down to it, seemingly communicating. The armored caterpillar called back to Mothra, as though they were having a discussion. Whatever was said was brief. The angry looking worm started forward again towards Godzilla, but Mothra came down and landed directly in its path, blocking his way. The armored caterpillar looked annoyed, but Mothra wasn’t moving. Finally, it turned and started in the other direction.

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Godzilla by this point had climbed out of the pit and was starting towards Mothra and the armored larva kaiju. Mothra took to the sky and took a wide path circling around Godzilla. The King of the Monsters had spotted the new arrival and was intent on getting a better look at him. Mothra, however, had no intention of letting that happen. She committed to stopping Godzilla then and there.

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Mothra stealthily glided towards Godzilla from behind. He sensed her coming just as she landed on his head, but it was already too late. Mothra’s legs grasped tightly onto Godzilla’s face. He fought against her, even firing off another atomic blast, but Mothra wouldn’t be displaced.

As Mothra clung on tightly, yellow strands of energy materialized between herself and Godzilla, forming a connection. Watching from the hillside, Marcus swore he could see some type of energy being transferred into Godzilla’s body. In a flash of light, it was gone and Mothra detached from Godzilla. Mothra’s body glided down and skidded into the ground. The life had left her eyes.

At that moment, Marcus knew Mothra was dead. His eyes welled up uncontrollably, his heart was breaking. Marcus didn’t really understand what had happened. One second the divine moth seemed to have the advantage, the next, she was just gone. Her lifeforce evaporated before his very eyes. The loss Marcus felt in his heart was heavy, and he was utterly unprepared for it. Behind his eyes, the world was falling down around him. Marcus sank to his knees in anguish.

Godzilla meanwhile still stood right where he was like a statue. It was as though he hadn’t even noticed what happened. The King of the Monsters was seemingly in a trance. Godzilla finally blinked a few times and then slowly started to move again. He appeared calm and at peace, turning towards the coastline and making for the water. He didn’t make a sound, not even to roar of victory. No one watching understood what it meant.



On board the USS Independence, Admiral Malek was just getting word from the Japanese authorities Godzilla was retreating and learning of the emergence of the new Kaiju. He was sitting down in the captain’s chair processing the news when the radio man gave him a slip of paper containing an encoded S.O.S from his agent on Sollgel Island. His spy reported that their mission was badly compromised. He was urgently requesting extraction as soon as possible.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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...

Oh, I forgot to do this earlier. Here are some alternate photos I took with '64 Godzilla. (Just to prove I could have done this chapter with him).

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I don't remember if I ever got into this or not, but the reason I'm using GMK Godzilla for my Showa Godzilla character model mostly just comes down to two things:

First, he was about the right size. I have a few Showa era Godzillas in my collection to choose from. The '62 and '64 versions in particular were both considered for the final candidate as they are neat and popular designs amongst the fanbase, but unfortunately neither of them size up all that well with the other Godzilla monsters I have for the project. The '62 and '64 I do have are from a 'Hyper-real' set and just outsize the various Gashapons and Iwakuras (amongst others) that I'm using for the rest of the Showa cast. Hyper Reals are about 4" on average while Gashapons tend to be more like 3". They just don't look right on the table next to each other.

Second, GMK Godzilla does somewhat resemble the original Godzilla. And that's what made him the ultimate winner in this case. It should go without saying at this point, but the character is not supposed to be GMK Godzilla. (I doubt anybody was confused about that anyways, but just to be safe, I'm officially saying it.)

At one point, I actually considered using a different Godzilla figure for every section of the story that has a corresponding movie, but the headaches of finding figures that scaled up properly for each version, as well as the associated costs, are more than I'd like to bite off at this juncture.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Read the first two parts of the update. I guess I got my request for more monster island. I somehow never made the connection that the Weather island was monster island. Was that canon? I thought they picked the island for the test because it was small and remote. But then it supports Godzilla, Minilla, Kamacuras and at least a pair of giant Mantis. It's been stated in some canons that Godzilla eats radiation, thus it seems likely Manilla does to some degree even if he eats fruit. But the insects are definitely carnivores so the islands got to be big to support that kind of population. Of course your story has the manti growing abruptly so it makes alot more sense. Good homage to some of the early canon.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Yes, I do believe it is cannon. Maki from the original ‘Son of Godzilla’ remarks something to the effect of Sollgel becoming a ‘monster’ island after the Kamacuras, Minya, Godzilla, and finally Komunga/Spiga all emerge. I’m paraphrasing, but: “This is turning into a ‘Monster Island’.”

The Kamacuras growing was part of the original story too. I stayed pretty close to the original concept, because honestly, it works pretty good. I know a lot of Godzilla fans don’t really care for Son of Godzilla becuase of the goofier elements, but the base story is actually really solid. I do believe they chose the island because it was remote and for little other reason. The only thing weird about the island in the movie was the man-sized mantids roaming around, but they didn’t seem to be particularly dangerous.

I beefed up the regularly-sized Kamacuras in my version of the story to made them seem like more of a threat, and it allowed me to write some scary scenes for them. (Sticking to my concept of a more serious take on the Godzilla universe). In the original movie, one shot with a rifle (a miss btw) was enough to scare Kamacuras away from camp. They also didn’t have a fence or a large security detachment either.

The scientists did cause the Kamacuras to grow to Kaiju sized monsters in the movie too, then Minya called daddy Godzilla to the island when the Kamacuras dug up his egg, and Spiga showed up later in the film when his nest was disturbed by Minya and the Kamacuras. So the scientists didn’t know what they were in for when they started. It was kind of a domino effect with monsters showing up. Good film overall. I’d give it a go if you haven’t seen it in awhile.

Anyways, Monster island will be getting one more big chapter in the next installment of the story but then it’s going to the back burner for some time. It may factor into the story again at some point in the future, but four chapters worth is enough for now I think. I’m sure everyone will enjoy a change of venue going forward. Next chapter will have some real nice payoffs.

Speaking of which, I did just finish the first draft of chapter 36 this morning. And I feel like it should be a crowd pleaser. Going to round off a lot of things. Bring the four chapter mini-story to what I hope will be a satisfying conclusion. At the very least, it’ll be much more original than chapter 35 was. I leaned a little too much on Godzilla vs. Mothra for the last one, though I also made one pretty big change to spice things up.

After the next chapter, I think I’m going to take a longer break again. As much as anything, I need to take some time to re-read all of my previous chapters to remember what the heck I was planning to do going forward. From here on out, I don’t have any old notes to work from. I’ve reached the point of no more pre-prepared material. So I need a refresher on what it was I was planning to do. What I do recall are big developments for Godzilla, the Rodans, and Marcus in the near future. Can’t say too much about any of that though without spoilers.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Finished it. Its really good. The modeling was superb. You added the things like the dump truck and construction cranes and its that detail that really makes it come through. You really feel like its an active construction site, as it should be. The Godzilla you used looks much more serpentine then dinosaur like, especially the face. Its a unique interpretation. Which version is he? Given that he was trying to eat the egg, I wondered if that was an intentional stylistic choice since it fits the mood. I had some theories on what the egg was, I'm just thrilled it wasn't Manilla. I figured a Mothra baby, or maybe even a Ghidorah since it seemed to have an evil color scheme. I'm not too familar with Battra, so it came as a surprise. I look forward to seeing what you do with him since he's one of the few new borns the story has used.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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The version of Godzilla I’m using is the GMK version (Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All-Out Attack).

That movie came out around 2001, part of the millennium series of Godzilla movies, (which I’m sorry to say is my least favorite era of Godzilla movies). There are definitely some nice highlights to them, but from one movie to the next, the continuity is pretty loose which is annoying for me. I think they actually reset/reboot that timeline several times, which I’m not a fan of. I had gotten pretty used to the Heisei era by that point where everything connected together very nicely. Considering how I write this story, it shouldn’t come to the surprise of anyone that happens to be the way I like things to flow.

Anyways, the Godzilla in that particular film was very different from every other version. He was supposed to be kind of like a ghost or spiritual representation of all of the people the Japanese military killed during World War 2 (China in particular) come back to seek revenge against the people of Japan. They designed him to resemble the original Godzilla, which is why I used him. He looks like a meaner version of the ‘54 monster to me.

I was trying to keep who was in the egg mystery, but I figured the color scheme would give it away. Glad someone was surprised. Battra never had an egg of his own in his one and only movie appearance, but he did in one of the comic series. I wonder how many readers put it together ahead of time? At least one person on Fanfiction called it out of the 45ish readers who have seen the chapter so far.

In the next chapter, we are going to have a very through examination on who and what Battra is. So you won’t have to do much digging on him between chapters. Anyone who is unfamiliar with him is going to get a good review. I’m a fan of Battra’s backstory and of the character in general. There are a lot of interesting things I’m planning to do with him that I think people will like. I’ve been looking forward to getting around to his arch of the story for some time now, so I’m pleased to finally get to it.
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Yes I do remember seeing that movie with my brothers and although it was nowhere near as disappointing as the American Godzilla that preceded we also were a little confused and weirded out by it. Godzilla being evil and some kind of ghost thing didn't really work for us, although I did enjoy the amount of monsters and the action. I'm more of a fan of Godzilla being more of force of nature. Most don't call a hurricane or tsunami evil, though when your house is in the way of it you really don't notice the distinction.


So yeah while you got me with Batra, I in fact was the first one to call Bat Man. So I look forward to their imminent alliance. Batra, Bat Man, Anguiros, Champ, and of course Professor X's equivalent in this universe (Kiki) forming the new Kaiju Justice league to lead man and Kaiju into a new era of prosperity and peace is of course the only possible ending.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Yeah, the Baragon fight was the highlight of that film.

I wish they had kept the original concept of the guardian monsters being him, Varan, and Anguirus. We certainly could have used newer versions of each of them and it might have been more of an original fight. Mothra and Ghidora debatably would sell more tickets, but we’ve seen those fights time and time again. Godzilla vs. Baragon was great, Godzilla vs Varan would have been great, and a rematch with Anguirus could have been great too.

I do like the Godzilla 1985 idea that Godzilla is like a force of nature (thank you very much Raymond Burr).

I’ll see about getting around to that A-Team style team up. Might take a couple chapters to put that together though… :lol:
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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Are you kidding? He's BATMAN. He wills it; and it happens. Because he's BATMAN. But yeah the monster fights were good in that Ghost Godzilla, but the story just didn't feel right. It's just too much a genre shift. There's only so much leeway that can be taken with established characters. And Godzilla being bad and Ghidorah being good are just so far out there it just doesn't work. You can take the plot in a wildly different direction but the characters should behave relatively consistent. For example I think a Godzilla movie set in pre modern times could be interesting. Imagine Godzilla in the Japanese Warring States period, or Mothra being the Kamikaze that destroyed the Mongol invasions of Japan. I think that would make for a great movie.

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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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mpsoldier wrote: Sat May 20, 2023 12:59 pm Are you kidding? He's BATMAN. He wills it; and it happens. Because he's BATMAN. But yeah the monster fights were good in that Ghost Godzilla, but the story just didn't feel right. It's just too much a genre shift. There's only so much leeway that can be taken with established characters. And Godzilla being bad and Ghidorah being good are just so far out there it just doesn't work. You can take the plot in a wildly different direction but the characters should behave relatively consistent. For example I think a Godzilla movie set in pre modern times could be interesting. Imagine Godzilla in the Japanese Warring States period, or Mothra being the Kamikaze that destroyed the Mongol invasions of Japan. I think that would make for a great movie.
I think IDW ‘maybe’ have done that story in the more recent comics. I’m not as well read on those, but I’m almost positive they did a warring state timeline involving Godzilla and samurai, and the Mongol invasion being turned back by a monster sounds like something they’ve done too, but i’m not quite as sure on that one.

Darkhorse comics had this great storyline where Godzilla was jumping through time. He turned back the Spanish Armada trying to invade England during Queen Elizabeth the 1st rein. He also destroyed the Titanic, caused the volcano to erupt in Pompeii, caused the famous earthquake in San Francisco like in 1901, and did a few other things I can’t quite recall. He ended up in a futuristic city at one point. It was a pretty wacky and creative story. Not bad overall.

I know what you mean about the genre shift though with GMK. It was a big gamble on their part and I’m not sure it paid off. Ghidorah being a good guy was very weird. :lol:
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Re: Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

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I'm not sure about the rest of the stuff with Godzilla time traveling but Godzilla/Mothra/Maybe King Ceasar destroying the Mongol fleet is just perfect. It's a historical event and the timing of this massive storm hitting just at the moment a massive invasion fleet is descending on Japan is just so unlikely it seems ridiculous. If it happened in a movie the audience would groan and shake their heads. But yeah, those one in a million moments do happen.

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