Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

[mpsoldier]

I just rewatched it and I was half wrong. Gorosaurus isn't too bad. It's just Kong who was awful. The eyes expression is all wrong, a mixture of creepy and comically. Gorosaurus looks like you would kind of expect a 60's monster to look. All the blames on Kong.

[Ashram52]

…

Oh yeah… the Kong suit is terrible in King Kong Escapes, which is odd, because both the Mechanikong and Gorosaurus suits are both decent. It’s kind of a well-known meme that the Kong suit looks super stoned in that film. If I had to guess, it’s probably because they needed Kong to look hypnotized in the middle section of the film when he was under mind control, but still, the look carries over into scenes well before and after that. Somehow, it’s actually a downgrade from the Godzilla vs. Kong version which had its own issues. I don’t think you’ll get too many defenders to counter argue that point.

The sea snake puppet from that movie is also a little dodgy looking in my opinion. The head is disproportionately too big for the body. It just hits my eye wrong. Makes me wonder if they had more than one person working on suits for that film.

Anyways, maybe by the end of ‘next’ week I’ll be able to find my much anticipated figure locally. If not, I can always make an online order. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be all that rare, so I shouldn’t have all that much difficulty in getting my hands on one.

Well, my family Christmas is tomorrow. So after that is all over, I can try to refocus on getting the next chapter moving forward again.

Happy Holidays everybody!

…

[mpsoldier]

Maybe next year you could do a short scene like you mentioned where Jet Jaguar is on that super important mission that turns out to be delivering presents.

[Ashram52]

Maybe next year you could do a short scene like you mentioned where Jet Jaguar is on that super important mission that turns out to be delivering presents.

It could happen.

[mpsoldier]

I was feeling creative and wrote a short sequel to the Jet Jaguar piece if you would like.

[Ashram52]

I was feeling creative and wrote a short sequel to the Jet Jaguar piece if you would like.

Sorry, it took me a sec to see this. I’m been pretty distracted lately.

But yeah, go for it.

Incidentally, with the holidays now over, I got the first draft of the next chapter finished yesterday. I’m prepping for draft #2 as we speak. Should be able to get it out before the end of the month. Probably sooner….

[mpsoldier]

Here it is. It's a parody of several Kaiju movies.
Makoto Saito flicked her hair in profound irritation as she sped down what passed for the roadway in this part of Japan. Normally a well kept beauty, today Makoto had barely even bothered to comb her hair before getting into her car and setting out. It was a thinly veiled measure of her contempt for the assignment; one she was absolutely certain would be missed and/or ignored.


For she was once more on her way to visit the maker of “Jet Jaguar.” Despite her brutally scathing review of Goro Ibuki’s work last time the “theft” of the Jet Jaguar prototype had inexplicably confused her superiors at the IJA enough to think that if Goro’s work was worth stealing it was worth developing. While most blamed the Russians after their blatant theft of the Maser technology Makoto herself suspected the absent minded Ibuki had simply misplaced or even accidentally melted the hideous robot. Nevertheless despite her views she had been designated the liaison to Ibuki, sent occasionally to monitor his “work” and “progress.”
“Damned fool’s probably blown up his lab.” She hissed to herself. “That would be the most effective way he could serve our country.”


Despite her obvious disdain Goro continued to greet her with severely misplaced enthusiasm.
“Welcome Makoto, welcome!” He threw open the door and clearly missed both her dishevelled state and the death glare she directed at him and unwisely tried to shake her hand. She ignored his pleasantries and got right to the point.
“I’ve been sent to see to what degree the millions of Yen the government has unwisely invested in you has been wasted. Please just show me the shoddy, ineffectual results of your menial labour.”
“Of course, of course! I expected you last Tuesday but, er, traffic eh? Come to the lab. I’ll show you what I’m working on.”


“As I’m sure your aware the heavy armour coating of most Kaiju renders conventional explosives quite ineffectual. I’ve been developing a workaround. Its a ground delivered bomb. Four rockets placed around a circular payload ignite, sending the explosive rolling straight towards the Kaiju and enabling the explosive to be placed precisely at the feet.” Goro gestured to a full scale model he had laid out against the wall.
“That...sounds kind of niche. But against certain Kaiju, particularly Anguiros, I can see it being of potential use. It could be a useful tool in our efforts.” Makoto was pleasantly surprised at both his project and her words. “Have you run any tests on it?”
“Oh yes.” Goro beamed with pride. “Dozens!”
“...And?”
“Total failure. Every time. You see the four rockets have to be precisely the same thrust ratio or else it just spins in a circle, probably killing the users. And each rocket has to deploy exactly at the same time or else it veers off course and completely misses the target. We’re decades away from achieving that level of precision in rocketry.”
“So what your saying is it’s a completely unworkable failure in every way?”
“Not completely. On the occasions it’s just blown up at random; I assure you, the explosion has been spectacular!”
“That checks out. Lets move on.”



“Professor...why is there a...goat in your lab?”
“Oh him? That’s...” Goro paused, presumably to build dramatic tension. Makoto wasn’t feeling it. At all. “Goatzilla!”
“Goatzilla.” Makoto echoed sadly.
“Yes...GOATZILLA! You see a while ago I hit upon the idea that goats have the most adaptive biology in the animal kingdom.”
“Is that true? I’ve never heard that.”
“Of course it’s true. I think. I mean, they can eat tin cans, phone books, plastic bottles. Thats super adaptive! And we keep running against Kaiju with crazy powers. So I thought maybe we could develop our own animal with super powers to counter them!”
“Mr Ibuki, I can speak six languages fluently. And yet even I cannot even express how deeply flawed that entire concept is.” Makoto sighed and slid her beautiful face into her palms and sighed deeply. “And I assume you’ve had absolutely no success?”
“Quite the opposite! Through liberal usage of radioactivity I’ve been able to have the goat reproduce Godzilla’s vaunted atomic breath!”
“Really? That’s terrifying. Cruel, unusual, unethical but...wow.” Makoto stepped back a number of paces from the doubtlessly dangerously radioactive animal.
“There is a small possibility that it was in fact simply vomiting up it’s own dissolving radioactive organs but think of the weaponized possibilities!”
“Mr Ibuki...” Makoto sighed deeply. “Your idea’s; in addition to being wildly idiotic; are ridiculously impractical.”
“Ugg. You Japanese. Impractical this; uneconomical that. Well Mrs Saito, I have an idea that should appeal to even your practical nature! I propose we hold a summit of all the wealthiest, most powerful countries. We’ll call it the “Godzilla Summit” or “G10 Summit” if you prefer. Officially it’ll just be to discuss the Godzilla/Kaiju problem. We’ll hold it in...whats a nice place? How about Sapporo? But then when the world leaders arrive...BAM! A Kaiju attack! Caught in city, the world leaders will witness the attack first hand! They’ll all then react, and their countries can split the bill for Kaiju research and destruction instead of us!”
“And where exactly are we supposed to get this Kaiju to attack the summit? They are like 100 foot tall Avatar’s of chaotic destruction. They don’t exactly grow on trees and they aren’t the easiest thing to control. So we could kiss Sapporo goodbye.”
“But thats where the genius is! It won’t be a real Kaiju. It’ll be a fake one! Well sort of. Have you ever heard the idiom “like a chicken with its head cut off?”
“Mr Ibuki, during the Chinese war I became aware that my husband was cheating on me with a common bar maid. I called my Uncle; and after he thrashed my husband severely he held the unfaithful ******* down so I could put five Arisaka bullets into him. Three were in the groin. I am telling you this to illustrate how exactly bad an idea it is to waste my time.” At last Ibuki was taken aback and he simply stared at her, perhaps attempting to judge her sincerity but finding no untruth.
“Umm...yeah. I’m, ah, sorry for your loss.”
“Indeed. Get to the point.”
“Well anyway there are numerous documented cases of chickens, despite being decapitated, of them running around for a long time. Also of chickens who had been gassed and buried later waking up and digging themselves out. Clearly they have powerful, uncharted regenerative abilities like many Kaiju. So I propose we genetically engineer some kind of giant space chicken...perhaps call it ChickenLala; so it can attack and be disposed of but later come back to life creating the illusion of...”
Goro was stopped mid sentence when Makoto slammed her open palm into his face, stunning him. He fell backwards as she gripped him by the wrist and twisted his body over her shoulder as she ducked, hurling him across his so called lab so he smashed into the counters with a crash. It was a classic Tegumi move and it brought her enormous personal satisfaction. Shaking her head, she stormed out of the lab. Ibuki stumbled to his feet, limping after her.
“Wa...wait! Perhaps operation “Scree!” We design this device to emit an annoying high pitched sound...! Aliens will hate it! Maybe some for of anti cockroach insecticide...!”
Makoto slammed the door in his face.

[Ashram52]

…

I have to admit, that was pretty funny.

You know, in the last paragraph, it suddenly dawned on me that this mini-chapter felt a lot like an episode of ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’. Have you ever watched that? It’s a pretty amusing comedy show with like 10-15 min episodes. It ran on a Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim for like a decade. It’s a pretty fun time.

Anyways, there’s a “straight man” character named Frylock who pretty much always has to listen to the outrageous (and often insane) schemes of his two roommates who annoy him to no end. Most of the time the schemes make no practical sense whatsoever, but he still listens to them anyways, and then points out why the the plans won’t work or are far fetched. He always he’s tries to keep them grounded in reality, but rarely can. Ibuki’s wild ideas kind of crossed the line into something you’d see on that show by the end. Giant Radioactive Chickens and whatnot.

Now that I think about it, there was even an episode of ATHF where they are trying to summon “Ultra Mega Chicken” who is ‘almost’ Kaiju sized. And they ‘do’ manage to accomplish that in the last few seconds of the episode too btw. Sometimes the schemes work, (even when they shouldn’t).

But Makoto’s constant annoyance with Ibuki’s “out there” ideas is kind of on that same level as Frylock’s with Master Shake and Meatwad’s.

Anyways, good job.

…

[mpsoldier]

No I actually never saw that show. The story is mostly just parody of Kaiju movies. Goro Ibuki is the inventor of Jet Jaguar. Jet Jaguar and operation Scree are vs Megalon and Destroy all Monsters. The Radioactive Chicken is Guilala attacks the G8 Summit. The exploding wheel is in fact a real attempted military device called "the great Panjadrum." It was designed to roll up beaches and explode land defences for D-Day and Operation Unthinkable. It failed miserably for the listed reasons. Goatzilla is my own invention. Makoto and her backstory is my own creation.

[Ashram52]

…

Aqua Teen is entertaining. There isn’t much plot or episode to episode continuity, but the characters are funny and memorable. Given your affection for comedy and wacky characters with wacky ideas, I suspect you’d get a kick out of it.

Btw, what were the two movies you said I should watch ‘Gappa’ and ‘The X From Outer Space’? I think I found the X movie free online. Not sure about Gappa though.

…

[mpsoldier]

Yes the X from Space is the one with Guilala. If you like the 60s/70s sci Fi monster era you'll love it. The 2007 sequel "Guilala attacks the G8 Summit" is also incredibly good, but in a completely different way. Huge genre shift into comedy. But it absolutely works. The other movie is Gappa the Triphibean. It's cheesier but if your into that sort of thing worth a watch. That's a category Toho hasn't really tapped. About the closest they have to a Triphibean is Varan or Megalon.

[Ashram52]

...

Chapter 48: Bostar’s Gambit

In the depths of the Pacific, a submerged warship had just cleared an Aulius Ring. The massive structure had a diameter ten times greater than the craft itself. Though it was over a millennia old, the metallic ring showed no signs of wear or tear. It looked as new as the day it was completed. Any and all sea life instinctively knew to keep well-clear of it, lest they be caught up in its peculiar effects which somehow seemed to defy physics.

The warship was approaching a dark city. The sub’s sonar echoed through the dim and ominous sea, searching for contacts. At these depths, sunlight was a near-alien concept. There was only enough illumination coming from the city to see things within a narrow radius around it. The city had stood for thousands of years, and it had never been seen by the eyes of an outsider. It had successfully remained hidden for the entirety of its existence since its founding.



This was in no small part due to the efforts of its protector. Still bearing the mark were its scales had been damaged in battle, the guardian monster continued to perform its most sacred duty, acting as a sentinel to oppose anyone or anything approaching the underwater metropolis that was its home. Over the years, many a vessel had been crushed by its coils, creating legends of sea monsters which would eventually pass into myth. But his image would long-decorate maps to warn travelers of terrors hiding within the depths. That was his legacy.



The Black Shark warship slowed and began to emit a series of lights and sounds that identified it as a friend. The sea dragon was placated, and he resumed his rest and healing at his post on a mountainous outcropping of rocks. The monster had been disturbed frequently that day, as many ships from the outside had arrived.









The warship continued on course until it came to an opening at the front of one of the large structures within the city. It turned out to be an enclosed port. The vessel entered and came to a docking ring. As the doors closed behind it, water within the dock began to be pumped out until the vessel was resting comfortably on top of a shallow plane of water. It was poised neatly next to another warship of similar proportions, but of a slightly different design. With a pocket of air established within the harbor, the seals of the ship were decompressed, and the crew and passengers began to disembark. At the head of the group were two hooded figures. One taller, and one shorter.

There was a lot of tension in the air. The soldiers guarding the entrance of the city eyed the new arrivals, but they did not oppose their passing. Everyone could sense it. War was coming, and it was coming soon. For the last couple of years, things had been steadily escalating. There had been numerous spy missions, then skirmishes, and most recently, a couple of outright battles. Now full-scale warfare was on the lips of every citizen of the Empire. The latest incident could not be ignored. Action needed to be taken. A meeting had been called to discuss that very thing. The Aquila Council was convening to discuss that very thing.

The two hooded figures entered the city proper. It was so beautiful inside. They had entered the dome of the original colony, which was created to be a veritable paradise for its inhabitants. It was speckled with ancient-pillared buildings to honor their heritage. There were huge golden statues, stone bridges, aqueducts, and waterfalls. Everywhere, were hanging gardens and trees. The plants were first utilized as a source of oxygen, but now they were mostly for decoration. Long ago, machines were built to synthetically renew their oxygen supply, making the plants redundant.

At the top of the dome, high above on the ceiling, an artificial sun beamed down at them. It warmed the air and provided the city with a source of power which had sustained their ancestors throughout the ages. It was not unlike a massive heat lamp, though its bulb would never burn out. It was powered by a self-sustaining fusion reactor. The very technology which allowed humans to survive underwater when they had no biological rights to do so. The sky inside was a projection, something to give the people of the city a false impression of being on the surface. It was blue, but with a shimmering gold hue here and there. Though it might have been an imitation of the real thing, it was still quite beautiful.

From the seed of that original dome, the city had grown and expanded. New sources of food were cultivated outside of the dome and allowed the first underwater colonists not only to survive, but to prosper. Still, the colony was limited by the resources they could acquire. Expanding the city and its population was a slow process. Several early attempts to return to the surface met with disaster in the face of opposition by the monster Battra. Entire resettlement outposts disappeared overnight. The ongoing threat of the monster would keep them where they were indefinitely. Perhaps this was their perpetual punishment for throwing off the balance of nature.

The recently arrived party from the Warship travelled to a large temple at the center of the old city to join a meeting that was undoubtably already in progress. They had been delayed on their way there. Hopefully, they had not missed anything of import. The guards outside of the temple recognized the two hooded figures and allowed them inside to join the proceedings.

Once within the council chambers, the sound of numerous voices could be heard echoing throughout the hallways. Many competing with one another for attention. The meeting had already begun without them. They had been late, but it was unavoidable. The two hooded figures came to a balcony which overlooked the debate floor.

“The future of the Empire is at stake.” A man wearing a decorative ceremonial toga exclaimed. “We can ill-afford to make rash decisions.”

“We also can’t make cowardly ones.” One of his chief detractors replied slyly.

There was a minor uproar in the chamber as competing factions made their support clear. The right side of the chamber seemed to agree with the second man, while the left supported the viewpoint of the first. Between the two of them was a middle faction of council members who was mostly just sitting quietly and watching the argument play out. They didn’t seem to favor either side at that moment. This third bloc had a narrow majority over the other two parties. Whoever could sway them in the end would undoubtedly carry the day.

“Order!” A central figure who seemed to enjoy a degree of authority called, imposing his will to settle down the unruly council members. He peered up to a woman who was sitting high above everyone else in the chamber. She nodded in approval.

Like the men in the middle of the council, she was sitting quietly, listening to the arguments and counter arguments. She was the central figure of everything that was going on. While she said very little at that moment, it was her voice that actually carried the heaviest amount of sway. The council members could argue and counter-argue amongst themselves, but in the end, they were all just trying to influence her decisions. She was the Emperess of the Mu Empire. Her crown gave her absolute authority over her subjects, even those in the nobility.

This council meeting was particularly important, not only because it concerned the future of the Empire, but also because all of the men in the chamber were trying to impress the Empress herself. Her father had recently died without making a marriage-pact for his daughter. So conceivably, she could choose to marry anyone amongst them if she wished.

At that point, it didn’t seem likely that she would wed any of the numerous suitors from the other kingdoms. Marrying another royal would make Mu the subjects of any would-be king, and the Empress had no appetite for such a thing. No, it would undoubtedly be a citizen of Mu who would be elevated to the rank of royal consort to produce an heir to the throne. The Empress’ family had been rulers for over a millennium, and she intended to keep it that way. The Mu Empire was the strongest of the Undersea Kingdoms, and a lack of a male heir couldn’t be allowed to erode the power they held.

“Our enemies are on the move.” The second councilmen, named Malchius, pressed his advantage. “We have to do something to counter them.”

“We can not fight a conventional war with the surface nations.” The first councilman, named Phameas, replied. “Our forces may be superior, but they are hopelessly outnumbered. We don’t even have sufficient enough numbers to occupy and hold a quarter of the surface as it is, let alone fight a full-scale war for it. It’s simple math. We can win small engagements when they are of our own time and choosing, but a full-scale war on land where we are completely out of our element? No, it is folly.”

“If we pool our resources with the other kingdoms, we can more than match them.” Malchius countered.

“In a war of attrition, we’re outnumbered a hundred thousand to one.” Phameas wisely pointed out. “With thousands of years, and endless territory to expand into, the surface dwellers have spread themselves far and wide. They have countless multitudes to draw upon, and they’d fight for every inch. It’s pointless to attack them. We’d be drowning in a sea of blood, and in the end, we’d still lose.”

“We don’t need to conquer all of them.” Malchius retorted with a sneer. “If we can crush and subjugate the three strongest nations among them, then the rest should come to us willingly. With the surface population under our thumb, we can put up strong resistance against anyone who might think to invade.”

“You’re right in the sense that we need to unite with the surface dwellers, but you’re wrong about how.” Phameas countered. “It needs to be done through diplomacy, not conquest. Even without the threat of war, we need them to survive in the long term. We’ve already waited too long to reintegrate with the rest of humanity as it is. A large portion of our population is already infertile. We’ve been declining for years. We need to infuse some fresh blood into our gene pool. We’ve been isolated for too long and it’s starting to catch up with us.”

“I think we all know your feelings about the surface dwellers.” Malchius scoffed. “Your deep-cover intelligence operatives have a tendency of getting too close to the primitives that they are simply meant to spy on. They spend too much time up there and start becoming sympathetic.” His eyes darted up to the new arrivals, whose presence had not gone unnoticed by him. Malchius had a personal hatred of Phameas and his agents. His hatred was not entirely unfounded. It was considered dishonorable in Mu society to pose as someone you were not. But at the same time, those agents were vital to their success and ongoing intelligence operations. It was an odd contradiction. Both respected and loathed at the same time.

“They are no less human than you or I. I think you forget that they are essentially our long-lost cousins.” Phameas argued. “The only thing that separates us, is a bit of technology and years of isolation. And they are rapidly starting to catch up with us in technology. We have stagnated down here while they are advancing and adapting quickly. There are even rumors that they have captured some of our best technology and are in the process of reverse engineering it.”

“How could that be possible?” Malchius replied dismissively.

“So, you don’t want us to investigate it then?” Phameas posed shrewdly, knowing that Malchius’ warriors had lost a ship to Battra and that it had been discovered by military forces from the surface before it could be destroyed.

“You think we’d be fighting them man to man?” Malchius darted away from the snare. “All we need do is send out our guardian monsters against them. Wipe out all of those who won’t submit.”

“We don’t have the right to commit genocide!” Phameas said sternly. “There is no honor in it. And as I have mentioned, we need them.”

“We can take what we need from them once their warriors are defeated.” Malchius said with an unsavory grin on his face.

“I see even less honor in such an approach...” Phameas eyed up to the Empress, hoping to draw a sympathetic gesture from the one figure in the room who had a distinctly feminine point of view. He had outmaneuvered Malchius, drawing him into a trap which he hoped would offend the Empress’s gentler sensibilities. Though if Malchius had done so, it was unclear. The Empress remained largely stone-faced. She would have made for a talented card player. “In any case, there are too many variables to make such a bold move at this time. We need to continue to operate from the shadows. Can we afford to throw away more resources at a time like this? How many ships did we lose fighting Battra? And what did that accomplish? Trying to make bold moves is always costly. And we can ill-afford such losses. It can’t be a coincidence that Battra has reappeared when our plans to return to the surface have just begun to unfold. He’s been waiting for us.”

“Would Mothra intervene for us like she did before?” A voice from the middle camp of the council asked.

“I think it’s unlikely that she would help.” Phameas answered truthfully. “For the time being, she seems to be working in tandem with Battra. Or at least the two of them are too busy to oppose each other openly at this point.”

“If only your people had destroyed Battra when you had the chance… then he wouldn’t even be an issue for us anymore.” Malchius seized upon an opportunity to regain some ground for himself. Again, he eyed up to the new arrivals.

“I think we all know that plan was destined to fail.” Phameas dodged the jab gracefully, unshaken. “We simply got there too late. Battra was already too well developed by the time my agents got to him. At the point that the bomb went off, Battra was only minutes away from hatching. Even with his softened armor, he undoubtably would have been able to absorb the blow. It would just be one more reason for him to come after us. He might even have been emboldened to attack the city itself.”

Malchius switched gears, sensing that his opportunity to meaningfully undermine Phameas had past. Above in the spectator’s box though, Samara felt shamed and embarrassed. She was the one who had failed to kill Battra while he was still within his egg. She felt guilty for not taking the shot. But she was impressed with the surface soldier’s courage. It felt wrong to shoot such a brave man. And like Phameas, she realized the bomb probably wouldn’t have killed Battra in any case. So why take the life of an honorable warrior needlessly?

“We need to prepare before the wider war arrives at our doorstep.” Phameas suggested. That statement caught the attention of everyone in the room. Everybody knew it was coming, and yet, no one was quite ready to take it on. “It’s just a matter of time now. Ghidorah’s appearance here is all the proof we need. They’re already making moves against us.”

“The war is taking place far away from us.” Malchius took advantage of everyone’s fear to help deflect the matter. “An attack on the primitives is not the same as an attack on us.”

“Are you blind?!” Phameas countered angrily. For the first time during the debate, he showed that he was actively agitated. “Can you not see the implications of his arrival? That’s not just any space monster that landed on earth. His presence demands our attention. Like it or not, there are a lot of powers with their eyes on this world, and not all of them are friendly. There are whispers that they are already establishing secret bases on this planet. Gaining the necessary footholds to establish staging grounds for a larger invasion. We can’t afford to ignore that.”

“What of the Seatopian’s new alliance?” A voice rang out from above, from a man standing nearby the Empress. It was Bostar, the Empress’s closest advisor. “Their new friends are already demanding a pretty significant slice of the surface for themselves. Can they be trusted?”

“I have to admit, I have no idea.” Phameas responded. We need to get eyes and ears closer to King Antonio.”

“Isn’t it your job to already have someone in a position like that?” Malchius prodded irritably.

“We do have agents in the Seatopian Royal Palace, but not that close to the King himself.” Phameas answered. “It’s not so easy to penetrate the inner circle of a ruler. But I can understand why Antonio did what he did. His people needed a new guardian monster after the surface dwellers killed Kanitra with the Oxygen Destroyer, and the one they were given more than makes up for the loss… but still, it’s dangerous to side with these outsiders. This separate alliance of theirs could draw all of us into the larger war.”

“It might have been better for them, and us, if the Mu Empire had simply swallowed them up and brought them under our protection.” Bostar said plainly. “But the pride of King Antonio wouldn’t allow that I suppose.”

“He’s the ninety-eighth ruler of the Seatopian Kingdom, and I guess he just couldn’t stand the thought of being the last one.” Phameas pointed out. “Maybe he made the right choice though, even if it was by accident. The wider war may be unavoidable. And now at least we have chosen a side and made some allies in the process. Alliances or not though, sooner or later, they will be coming for us. Earth is too big of a prize for any of them to resist. There are too many resources here. Whoever controls Earth will have a great advantage. It could even swing the scales in their favor and win them the galactic war. Once the surface world is conquered, do you think they are just going to ignore us?”

“Perhaps we should ally with the primitives?” Malchius suggested. “As you pointed out, their population has exploded in the last one hundred years. Why not use that to our advantage? Use them as cannon fodder while reserving our best for when the crucial moment comes. Quantity is a quality all of its own. We also wouldn’t have to risk exposing ourselves to Battra if we remained below the waves and let them fight the hard battles.”

“I think you are looking at the problem from entirely the wrong point of view.” Bostar pointed out. “Sooner or later, we’ll have to fight and defeat Battra. We can’t remain under the water indefinitely. As Phameas pointed out, our people need to reintegrate with the surface population. The sooner we do that, the better.”

“So how do we fight Battra and win?” Malchius asked impatiently. “We’ve tried it once and failed miserably.”

“We need to take advantage of the opportunities that fate presents us.” Bostar said confidently. “You are all aware of the monster that drove off King Ghidorah. A monster that can go toe to toe with the great space dragon and fight him to a standstill should have strength enough to humble Battra. Indeed, Battra already chose to retreat from him once already. He was freshly hatched, and only in his larval form, it’s true, but in all of our recorded history, when has Battra retreated under any circumstances? And Battra has not tried to attack him since assuming his adult form either. That’s either fear or respect. We need to harness that power. If we can capture this Godzilla, then we will be in a position to impose our will on any of our would-be enemies. If we can control him, then we can fight them on equal terms.

“Why stop there?” Malchius jumped back in, seeing merit in the idea. “There are so many other new opportunities. In the last two decades, the number of active kaiju has skyrocketed. We could build an army of monsters to rival any force in the galaxy. We’d be able to make our own rules and control our own destiny.”

“It seems as though that thought has crossed the minds of the rulers of Atlantis as well.” Bostar observed. “They made an attempt to recapture Gamera and bring him back into the fold. The attempt failed, but it was bold. They did not ask permission to do so. They should have sought approval from the Empress first. That, and the Seatopians making a separate alliance. It seems as though all our vassals are growing too independent these days. Perhaps its time we reminded them all who rules the seven seas?”

“Gamera is their own guardian monster by right.” Phameas came back in as the voice of reason. “It was only natural for them to try to reclaim him. Fighting our brothers at this dire hour would be a fruitless endeavor. Why feast upon ourselves when there are plenty of other threats at our doorstep?”

“What of the signal?” Bostar was suddenly reminded of the worry that was constantly gnawing at the back of his mind.

“We have not been able to pinpoint it yet.” Phameas was forced to admit. “We need to find it before we can do anything else. It might be too far down in the depths even for us to get to… at least by ship. The pressures are too great. But the right monster might be able to retrieve it…”

…

In the aftermath of the Battle for Alamogordo, many of the town’s citizens had been killed. It looked as though a natural disaster had passed through. Most of the buildings were damaged, and a few were even outright destroyed by the ravaging ants. However, the town had survived its ordeal and would prosper again one day.

Sargent Peterson was checking on the brave pilot who had rescued them during the fight. He was inside the hospital being treated for a minor burn on his hand he had received when the wind blew a fireball back at him during the heat of battle. It was only a superficial wound, but there was always the risk of infection to consider and, as he was already so close to the hospital, it wasn’t much of an inconvenience to have the medical staff take a look at it. Peterson insisted.

The pilot was oddly quiet. He looked so strangely at Tilly and Patrica. It was almost like he had seen them before. At first, he couldn’t stop staring at them, but after a time, he couldn’t bring himself to even look their way. He had a similar reaction to a little boy brought into the hospital who had been injured during the battle. The child had been allowed to bring in his family dog to comfort him, and they walked by the room they were occupying. The dog happened to bark, and the pilot was visibly shaken by it. Peterson couldn’t begin to understand what was going on in his head, but he recognized a look of distress and trauma. He’d seen it so many times before in his line of work.

Peterson pulled the curtain while the pilot was being patched up and then quietly ushered Tilly and Patrica out of the room to help ease the man’s anxieties. Patrica had also picked up on the weirdness of the situation.

“That soldier has seen a lot.” Patrica noted, concerned.

“Yes, I’m afraid you’re right.” Peterson agreed. “Whatever demons he’s facing up to, I think it’s best to let him do it alone for now. If you want to take Tilly to the cafeteria, I’ll join you guys in a little while. After everything we’ve been through, lunch is on me today.”

“You know Officer Peterson, I’ve been thinking about the future. A close brush with death will do that for you. And a man who’s courting a nice young lady might just have a better chance of adopting a sweet young girl than a man who is noticeably single.”

“Yeah… you know, you might just be on to something there.” Peterson agreed. “Maybe we should talk about that more over lunch?” He smiled warmly. “You guys head down, I’ll catch up.” Peterson could see the pilot quietly exiting the hospital room and heading for the stairwell. He had to have been aiming to get in his helicopter and leave unnoticed.

“Hey… Lieutenant!” Peterson eyed the patches on the pilot’s uniform. “Lieutenant, wait up a sec.” He ran up to his side, gaining the airman’s attention. “I just wanted to say thank you for what you did. I don’t think that story would have ended too well for me and my… friends if you hadn’t done what you did. You really bailed us out of a sticky situation. I’m going to be sure to pass along a report to your superiors. You should get a bucket of metals for how you conducted yourself today, but the best I can offer you at this point is a handshake.” He extended his hand, offering it to him. The pilot took his hand and shook it in a proper manner. “I never caught your name though.”

“You can call me Ryan.” Marcus said flatly.

“Well, Lieutenant Ryan, I won’t forget what you did for us today.” Marcus just nodded politely and then moved on, leaving Sargent Peterson standing at the doorway to the stairwell.

Marcus began to ascend the stairs, reflecting on the little girl he saved. She reminded him so much of his daughter Lilly. She often wore her hair in pigtails just like that. And the little boy was much like his son Oliver too. He loved them more than life itself. Losing them was a degree worse than losing Shauna. There wasn’t a single thing in life that was worse than burying a child, let alone two. It was an unspeakable loss.

Marcus’ footfalls grew hard and heavy. He seemed to slow down with each step he took. His legs were shaky and unsteady. Finally, he came to a stop on one of the staircase’s landings and sank to the floor. He crumbled, resting his head against the wall and wept. He couldn’t stop the tears from pouring out of him. Luckily, no one else came into the stairwell, otherwise they would have found the mess that was Marcus. He sat there for over a half-hour before he could summon the strength to move again. He just wanted to stay there until he died, but ultimately, he knew he had to carry on.

…

Godzilla had turned south, crossing back into Mexico. This gave endless relief to the beleaguered U.S. Army who was still struggling to find ways to address Godzilla stomping through America’s Southwest without any clear course of action to take. However, Godzilla’s change in course was terrible news for the Mexican Government, who was even less prepared for such a scenario. Having nothing to even threaten Godzilla with, they had little other alternative but to allow the monster to roam about as he saw fit.

At first, Godzilla wasn’t causing too much havoc. He seemed happy with the radiation he’d absorbed from the nuclear test site and the monstrous ants. He was mostly staying in rural areas which were sparsely populated and neatly evacuated well ahead of his arrival. But then Godzilla turned and appeared to be on course for Mexico City. Everyone feared a repeat of the devastation Godzilla had visited on Tokyo. Mexico City was one of the most densely populated cities in the world. An attack there would be devastating.

Everyone in the Mexican Government panicked and Mexico’s National Defense Army was fully mobilized for a delaying action against Godzilla. They had no illusions about winning, but by sacrificing the lives of a couple thousand soldiers, they might save the lives of millions of civilians in the capitol. They’d just have to distract Godzilla long enough to empty out the city.

As it turned out, such a bloodbath wasn’t necessary though. Godzilla again changed course of his own volition and moved east until he had entered the Gulf of Mexico. Where Godzilla might go from there was anyone’s guess.

…

On a sugarcane plantation in tropical Costa Rica, Mateo and Enrique were out helping to bring in the harvest. The two young men had been friends since they were boys and were quickly blossoming into healthy young men. The two of them had big plans to strike out on their own. They had been working for Rodrigo, Mateo’s uncle, for years. He had just acquired a smaller neighboring plantation. The former owner had over-extended his finances after getting into trouble gambling. His misfortune was a golden opportunity for Mateo and his family though.

The sugarcane business offered a steady and reliable source of income. It had a legacy going back hundreds of years into the early Spanish colonial days. Costa Rica’s mild environment offered ideal growing conditions for the crop, boasting moderate temperatures, regular rainfall, and rich soil that was supplied by volcanic activity. All of those things led to the exceptional quality of the product.

Rodrigo required an overseer to manage his new acquisition for him. While there were men with more experience under his employ who could take up the position, Mateo was blood, and that alone guaranteed that his name would float to the top of the list. If he could just prove himself, in time, the smaller plantation might be his for the taking.

After lunch, Rodrigo sent Mateo and Enrique in his work truck to inspect the newly obtained plantation to get a feel for how the existing crop was coming along. Apparently, the previous owner had been neglecting the sugar cane fields since he discovered that he was ruined. Despite that, the crop was apparently growing well enough on its own.

As Mateo and Enrique came over a hill which led down into the valley were the plantation was located, they made a terrifying discovery. The entire crop was ruined. There was an enormous trail of displaced dirt which cut right through the middle of the valley and all of the vegetation was gone. The two young men stopped on the dirt road and just stared in disbelief, not sure what to make of the sight.

They got out of the truck to get a better look at the scene. From their vantage point, the two young men could see that the manor house below was also destroyed. There were only remnants of white painted stone where the structure once stood. Neither of them had a clue about what happened there. Mateo’s face was burning red. He was staring down at a wealthy future that had been stolen away from him.

Suddenly, the earth quaked. Mateo and Enrique were thrown to the ground as the soil beneath them became unstable. A massive crevasse tore through the road in front of them. The two young men scrambled to their feet and began to run away from the source of the disturbance, leaving their truck behind.

Within seconds, they had retreated fifty yards up the road. They were forced to the ground again by a strong tremor from below. They looked back to see the soil beneath the truck crumble. As the ground fell away, the truck disappeared into a massive circular chasm that was thirty meters wide in diameter. The young men were frozen in fear. Neither of them knowing what to expect next.

As Mateo and Enrique sat there, frightened out of their minds, a figure began to rise from the void like a towering column. Within seconds, it was blocking out the afternoon sun. Loose soil rained down on the two young men, who had seen more than enough already. They fled once more on foot.

…

Brock was pacing back and forth. He was waiting for Mia to come out of Admiral Malek’s office. She was receiving her final instructions before departing on her mission to China. Brock didn’t like the idea of her going, but he’d already lost that argument. Now he was just hoping to get some details to help put his mind at ease.

Marcus was also back from his mission and speaking with Malek. The MPs had brought him straight to Malek’s office after he’d arrived, interrupting Mia’s meeting. By all accounts, Marcus’ outing had been a pretty wild affair. Apparently, he’d gone berserk during combat. He’d killed a lot of bugs, but he’d also taken some extreme risks in the process. He’d fought in an unorthodox way, but he’d fought like a demon from hell. Half the base personnel were ready to bow down to him for being an absolute badass, but the other half were simply afraid of what he might do next. It was clear to most of the officers that he was a loose cannon at best.

Unfortunately, a police Sargent in Alamogordo had written up a hell of a report describing Marcus fighting courageously like a lion. It put Admiral Malek in a difficult position, making it hard to discipline Marcus, at least publicly. To the average Joe, Marcus came out of the battle looking like a hard as nails All-American Hero. He was, in essence, elevated to the position of poster-boy for the newly formed G-Force. He had made them look very good during their first official outing in combat. This particular point of view was compounded by the failure of the regular U.S. Army to prevent the attack on Alamogordo in the first place. It was a very unfair position to take in light of the Army soldiers who laid down their lives in the fight outside of town, but that is what the optics appeared to be from far away.

G-force looked like a reliable fighting force straight out of the cradle. After what happened on the West Coast of the United States with King Ghidorah, the American public needed to have something to give them a feeling of security. None of this was lost on Marcus. He couldn’t bring himself to feel any satisfaction with his hero status, but he did understand that it would help keep him in G-Force for the time being, and he needed that. They could hardly kick him out now that he was in the public spotlight.

Admiral Malek dressed Marcus down for his cowboy antics, but he was also secretly delighted. Marcus had given them just what they needed at that juncture. Positive publicity. For Malek, it was well-worth keeping Marcus around for the time being. Even if Marcus was a risky bet the next time he was sent into combat, a fallen hero was just as useful as a live one. Even more-so in reality. A martyr could be even more valuable than a hero for their cause, and Admiral Malek lacked the scruples to mind letting Marcus get himself killed if it furthered his own goals in the process.

Marcus came out of the Admiral’s office after taking a beating to his eardrums. But the look on his face showed little concern. He had come out of it fine after all. His position in the organization was still secure. He and Brock made eye contact as he started down the hallway and Brock couldn’t help but prod him about the tongue-lashing he had just taken for being reckless. Even through the door, he got the gist of it.

“How was your debriefing?” Brock asked mockingly with a smirk. Marcus paused, considering his response only for a moment before replying.

“I don’t know, how was your de-briefing with Mia earlier?” He asked with a sleezy expression. Brock turned red when he took Marcus’ meaning. How Marcus even knew about his rendezvous was a mystery to him that took him off guard. “You know, you’re pretty shy for such a big guy Brock.” He noted after seeing that his barb had landed.

“Yeah, well I guess I’m glad to see that you haven’t entirely lost your sense of humor.” Brock tried to recover. He was still a little mad, but the joke was funny enough, even if it was more mean-spirited than Marcus used to be, but he didn’t want him thinking that it actually bothered him all that much.

Still, if anyone else had said that to Brock, they probably would have found themselves in a fight. As it was, Brock just let it pass, and Marcus continued on his way to nowhere in particular.

Soon after, Mia emerged from Malek’s office and Brock’s attention was diverted to her. She had a file in her hand which outlined her mission specifications. She wouldn’t let Brock see them, but at its core, she was to ascertain what the Chinese were up to in the wake of the Red Bamboo Organization being gutted. No doubt, they were starting over anew, much like how G-Force was replacing Archimedes.

There were already rumblings about the Russians starting a new special weapons program too. The had a second site beyond Murmansk and they were rumored to be continuing development on even bigger weapons than their Hell-tanks. The Chinese likely had some insights into what the Russians were up to. They might even be cooperating with them again considering the desperate state of both of their weapon programs.

Mia could be instrumental in discovering what they were up to. One downside of the Red Bamboo being so thoroughly wiped out was all the Chinese spies the U.S. had recruited to infiltrate the organization had died right along with it. The cupboard was now bare and information coming out of East Asia was quite limited.

…

Off the coast of Belize, Godzilla was being tracked by elements of the Armada de Mexico. A cruiser, a corvette, and a frigate were following him. Godzilla wasn’t making it difficult for them. He had stayed consistently close to the surface the entire journey since entering the Gulf of Mexico. The Mexican ships were almost at the edge of their coastal waters. Once they came to the boarder with Belize, they would be able to turn back. They were only required to track Godzilla so long as he was a threat to Mexican interests, and he was quickly moving towards waters controlled by Central American nations.

Captain Santiago, the commander of the Mexican squadron, was relieved. He knew only too well that they stood no chance of fighting Godzilla should he decide to turn and engage them. So far, they’d given him no reason to do so. After a couple more miles of sailing, it wouldn’t be their problem anymore.

Captain Santiago was sipping a cup of morning coffee. He’d been up all night keeping an eye on the King of the Monsters. Aside from his tail occasionally popping up out of the water in front of them, it had been a relatively dull affair.

Suddenly, Godzilla came to a stop. His spikes, which stuck out of the water, began to rise. The rest of Godzilla’s body breached to the surface.



“All Stop! Reverse course!” Captain Santiago called to his helmsman urgently. Godzilla was now standing upright in the water, and he looked angry. Captain Santiago couldn’t understand what was happening. They had done nothing different to provoke him. Why was he so agitated now? What had changed?

Captain Santiago was not given a chance to figure it out. For only a second later, his ship was blasted out from underneath him. A green ray cut its way through his cruiser from stem to stern, detonating ammo stores along the way which tore the ship apart in a cascade of explosions. The frigate and corvette escorts were destroyed in short order too, leaving Godzilla alone on the surface of the water.



It didn’t stay that way for long though. Bubbling up to the surface were three Black Shark Battleships along with an assortment of smaller craft. They had Godzilla surrounded. Each of the vessels rose up until they were skimming the surface.



Godzilla snarled out a warning, which was promptly ignored. The warships opened fire on him. The green rays of the fleet packed more of a wallop than he was used to from a traditional military force. Being hit by so many powerful beams all at once reminded him of fighting King Ghidorah all over again. One of the warships was trying to wheel around behind Godzilla. He sensed allowing it to do so would be a mistake. Godzilla turned and used his tail to thrash at the vessel. The armor of the Black Shark battleship was able to absorb the blow, but the crew inside were thrown about and dashed against the walls, killing many. Whatever they were planning was thwarted for the moment.

Godzilla decided to test their metal and unleashed his nuclear breath against one of the other battleships in front of him. The ray cut through one of the smaller escorting Angelfish ships in front of his target, and it exploded within seconds. However, the Black Shark battleship was able to absorb the first blast without a hull breach. Its armor had been melted away and badly damaged, but the craft remained largely intact. Godzilla, not willing to let the matter stand as it was, unleashed a second blast which finished the job of the first.

The Black Shark battleship exploded, killing all hands aboard. The rest of the Mu warships seemed to hesitate after that. But the fight wasn’t over. As Godzilla turned to target another warship, four monstrous tenacles sprang from the water and latched onto him. A large blue bulbus head emerged from the surf, revealing Gezora. Godzilla was taken by surprise, and fell backwards into the water, dragging Gezora along with him.





Godzilla came thundering back up to the surface with Gezora still attached to him. Gezora’s suction cups gave him a very strong grip, and it proved particularly difficult for Godzilla to dislodge him. Gezora’s jellyfish-like poisonous barbs were digging into Godzilla’s flesh and starting to enter his blood stream. It was slowing him down, which gave Gezora the opportunity to reposition himself away from Godzilla’s mouth. He did so not a moment too soon. Godzilla blasted away only moments later, but Gezora was already clear.

“Is he actually able to resist Gezora’s venom?!” Commander Scytima exclaimed aboard the lead Mu battleship, surprised by this revelation. He’d expected Godzilla to be paralyzed by that point in the fight.

Gezora had moved to Godzilla’s side by that time and was continuing onwards around towards Godzilla’s back. Once there, Gezora wrapped his two primary appendages around Godzilla’s neck. He didn’t have the strength to choke Godzilla out, but that wasn’t the plan in any case. The surviving Black Shark warship took advantage of Godzilla’s distraction to get in position. Once there, they fired off a harpoon with a special type of mechanical apparatus attached to it. The missile struck Godzilla in the head behind his left ear. They had scored a direct hit to the target area. The mechanism deployed itself and began doing its work.

The device in question was a control beacon, through which the Kingdom of Mu planned to gain mastery over the King of the Monsters.

“Begin transmitting control orders!” Commander Scytima ordered. “He’s nearly ours…”

“Transmitting now sir.” The display in front of Scytima came alive. It showed a computerized progress bar with a percentage which highlighted the device’s progress towards imposing its will on Godzilla. They were already halfway there within just a couple of seconds.

Through the main view screen, they could see that Godzilla was trying to pick out the harpoon. He’d just begun to understand the level of threat it posed to him. Gezora held Godzilla’s arms down though, keeping them away from the device while it was doing its work.

Just as the machine had nearly completed its task, the entire apparatus stopped transmitting and began to short out.

“What is happening?!” Commander Scytima demanded. “Why have you stopped?!”

“I didn’t!” His subordinate replied, rattled. “I’m not doing this! Something is interfering with the signal!”

On the viewer, they could see that something was happening with Godzilla. His back spines were lighting up as though he were planning to use his atomic breath again, but nothing was coming from his mouth. Instead, jolts of power were surging through the anchor cables connecting the harpoon to the Black Shark warship.

“Disengage the cable!” Commander Scytima ordered frantically, but it was too late. The energy was already streaming through all of the ship’s systems, burning them out one at a time. Sparks were flying from every station inside the ship.

The view screen was about the only thing inside the warship that had not blown up. Through a fuzzy and distorted picture, Commander Scytima could see that Godzilla had utilized his nuclear pulse to detach Gezora from his back. Gezora had lost both of the tentacles that had been holding onto Godzilla’s neck. His body had also taken a beating from the discharge of energy at such a close range. Gezora was still alive, but only just. He was stunned by the attack and his body was heavily damaged. He couldn’t hope to stay in the fight and survive. He withdrew, leaving what remained of the Mu fleet in dire straits.

The mission had failed disastrously. Many of the smaller Mu craft had been destroyed by Godzilla’s nuclear pulse. What other ships that did remain were hastily ordered to retreat. Commander Scytima’s flagship was too badly damaged though. It could not withdraw, which left it to the mercy of Godzilla.



Godzilla, however, wasn’t feeling particularly forgiving at that point. In fact, he wanted to send a message to anyone who might think to impose their will upon him and desire to make him a slave. He closed in on the remaining Black Shark battleship, ready to demonstrate to them his highest level of condemnation for the actions they had chosen to take that day…

...

[mpsoldier]

Wow. Impressive work on the Underwater city. Its got a real science fiction quality to it; kind of beautiful and yet inhuman at the same time. Probably what such a place would actually look like. You really went all in on the underwater kingdoms angle. The story always has had a strong international intrigue sub plot going on; so introducing new players to that does fit well. I had forgotten a lot of the much earlier stuff with Battra, Thats some impressive foreshadowing and character arcs. And it was nice to see Antonio in a much more serious take then I used.

[mpsoldier]

Also good to see Gezora back! He's been AWOL for awhile. I'm not precisely sure why but the giant boneless mass has the reputation of being a pushover and a bit of a joke Kaiju. While I can see other Kaiju making a mess of him on land he is primarily aquatic and if confronted there I can see him being a terrifying opponent. He's also usually depicted as being quite dumb which is surprising when squid and octopi have very high intelligence. Nice to see him being at least an obstacle for the top Kaiju.

[Ashram52]

…

I have been slowly building that underwater city for years. (Even before I posted chapter 1 here.) If you go back to page 1 of this topic, early on I told somebody that I was still holding back some of my best stuff. The city of Mu is just ‘one’ of the things I was talking about. There’s still more to come.

This is one of those chapters where having the pictures really pays off. I knew I had to shake things up a little bit, but the folks over on Fanfiction can’t see one of the best features. Hopefully their imaginations can get the job done over there.

Antonio might be a little more serious in the mainline story, but he’s still managing to mess things up. Seatopia is one of the weaker undersea kingdoms and generally looked down on. Antonio’s political maneuvering is quite risky. Eventually, we’ll see how that plays out.

I think maybe part of the reason Gezora is perceived as weak is the Godzilla NES game. It’s been a long time since I played it, but I’m not even sure Gezora can damage the player’s monsters in battle. He can pin you up against the screen and be super annoying about it, sure, but I don’t think he can ‘actually’ damage you.

Also, in the original movie Gezora is in, he’s killed off pretty easily by normal everyday people. Not even the military. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, but I think they just set a field on fire and that was enough to mortally wound him.

I also wrote Gezora a lot more ‘squishy’ than most monsters myself, but I tried to compensate in other ways. I think the only other media I can remember Gezora being in was Godzilla Rulers of the Earth and he didn’t do so great in that one either. He was fighting Godzilla with 3 other Kaiju and they still managed to lose.

Am I forgetting anything?

…

[mpsoldier]

Your sort of wrong but also right on the NES Godzilla. He is the first opponent encountered and is a threat. He jumps around so is harder to dodge with Mothra and like you said can stun lock you on the side. He can be deadly, but only at the start. You fight him first and most so you learn his patterns and as you level up in that game he goes from a threat to a rival to easy and then just a punching bag and experience dummy. A high level Godzilla can just roast him. I have not seen the movies he's in but it sounds like they do make him out to be only a minor Kaiju. But if you think about it creatures like him have no armour and almost no bones. So yes, easy to hurt. But the flip side is that almost nothing can break, less internal organs and everything is squishy. Broken bones, concussive force, sprains and hydrostatic shock don't really apply. He would be hard to actually kill. And many octopi species actually have quasi brains and organs in each tentacle. This lets each one operate independently and thus even severed tentacles can still fight and be dangerous. For a few hours anyway. So unlike most Kaiju even a knockout blow against him doesn't necessarily mean he's out of the fight. Couple that witg Kaiju's almost universal regeneration ability and you can really see how he could be a true nightmare. Godzilla or Ghidorah could always just fry him but for most Kaiju he'd be a real danger. On land he'd be awkward and I can see him being taken out by a suitably large fire attack but in the water he's a nightmare. Impressive aquatic modeling. Boats, subs, buildings, half submerged Kaiju, you've got it all.

[Ashram52]

…

Maybe it’s just my ‘super aggressive’ play-style, but Gezora was never much of a challenge for me on NES. As long as I could keep him from pinning me up against the wall, I usually would tear him up pretty quickly. Moguera was a little more of a challenge with his projectiles, but still pretty easy to vanish when you back him into a corner. Varan was a little more of a fighter. He’d do more stuff to try to counter you.

Hedorah was easy if you could just past his wall of bubbles. Usually would take two rounds to kill him, just because he could hold you off for so long.

Baragon could be annoying the way he would post up on you and constantly spam his beam. He could do some damage, but I don’t think he ever beat me.

Gigan was where things started to get interesting for me. That F*cker could and would kill you with his buzzsaw if you weren’t being careful. He got me at least once. Again, the trick with him was to be aggressive. If you used your fire when he started using his buzzsaw, it would kind of disrupt his pattern. He couldn’t corner you that way, and even if he did, he’d run out of power way before he could do much damage.

Mechagodzilla could also be pretty dangerous. Even an experienced player is gonna take a lot of damage fighting him. With him, it always feels like two prize fighters squaring off. He would get his licks in, but I could generally out-damage him. But still, when you were done with him, you knew you had been in a fight.

And of course King Ghidorah. He was the nastiest of them all. He killed me at least once too. But I figured out a good trick for tackling him. Made him a lot less dangerous. What you do is get in next to his character on the map and let him attack you first.

If you were fully leveled up with Godzilla, and you fought well in the first round, he would ‘generally’ only get you down to about half HP during the battle. Now if you started the fight, he’d instantly counter attack and you’d be stuck fighting him in round 2 with half HP, but… if didn’t engage first, then you could move back and forth through the stages next to Ghidorah and recollect energy and life. Then you could go back into the 2nd round fully healed… and he wouldn’t. From there, you just beat his ass into the ground.

I always found the key thing with any of the enemies in that game was to keep them in their own corner. Only back away from any enemy If you absolutely have to. The computer was funny, if you’d stayed on the attack, most of the time it would retreat into it’s own corner and let you pummel it. If you retreated though, it would follow you and be more aggressive. Several of the enemies could get stun locked if you could just keep damaging them rapidly enough. I found Punches were the most effect thing because you could just hit them over and over again so fast. Hedorah was one of those characters you could just punch into oblivion due to his damage animations.

The other interesting thing about that game was it felt like they were missing a boss. There was a level near the end where they didn’t add an additional boss like all of the others. Sad, because I think Megalon would have fit into the roster pretty nicely.

…

[mpsoldier]

Wow. Impressive breadth of knowledge. I own the game but these days it's hard to get it to work. The NES never was the most reliable system. Strangely they completely turned it around and the SNES is probably the most reliable system ever built. I beat Godzilla a few times but haven't mastered it the way you have. The GameCube Godzilla Melee is my Kaiju game of choice. It's incredibly well done. Well balanced, every monster has strengths and weaknesses against each other and do better in certain levels. I beat it with every monster but fittingly Anguiros is my favorite and Godzilla second. Rodan is kind of the weakest but he flies and is so fast he can scoop up the power ups and dominate that way. Or fly to the weapons and clobber everything.

[Ashram52]

…

Did you ever play the weird ‘Super Godzilla’? I never had that system growing up, but I’ve watched a couple playthroughs. The visuals are a little derpy and the combat seems a little clunky too. You just expect more from the Super Nintendo, but what they did seem to have was a reasonably good cast of characters. Seems like all of the Heisei era monsters made an appearance and at least some Showa era monsters as well…?

…

[mpsoldier]

Actually no. Though I'm a SNES gamer my tastes run to RPGs. Never tried super Godzilla though. But it did give us Space Godzilla!