Godzilla: Tactical Assault.

[Ashram52]

…

Also (sort of) Proto-Destroyah, though Bagan is now a separate cannon character too.

But, yeah, I don’t think that game is particularly loved. Some odd choices were made. There were some ‘better’ Super NES Godzilla games made for Japan, but they were never ported over to the States.

…

[Ashram52]

...

Chapter 49: The Mole Rat.

Brock found himself cautiously leading a platoon of men through the abyss that was the tunnels of the hive. Only small flashlights on the tip of their weapons provided them with a source of light. But even with a full squad of men, they could only ever illuminate half of the tunnel at a time, leaving many dark patches for enemies to hide within. To compensate, the soldiers constantly panned the streams to plug the gaps.

To Brock’s chagrin, Marcus was among the squad. He couldn’t understand why Malik would ever allow him to act as a front-line soldier when he was clearly a pilot, but the Admiral just shrugged and said it would be good for members of G-Force to be cross-trained for those times of dire straits. In his opinion, agents with wider skillsets were more valuable. Brock had his own suspicions about Malek’s motives, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He had to accept that Marcus was among them and try to keep him from being a hinderance to the mission.

Surprisingly, Marcus had not gotten out of line yet. In fact, up to that point, he’d been quite useful in combat. Where some of the rawer recruits had faltered, Marcus stood his ground and set an example to the rest. He’d gotten dangerously close to their inhuman enemy a couple of times but fought with enough guts for the whole squad. Since the initial engagement, the rest of the boys were now fighting harder to try to match his prowess and courage.

Brock and his men were on a cleanup mission. The giant ants of Alamogordo had spread to several other locations in the United States. Since the new colonies were established in areas where there were no sources of radiation, the second wave of ants were smaller, but also much more aggressive towards people. They needed an ample amount of protein to feed their colonies, and human beings just so happened to be the most abundant natural resource available to them.

The newer colonies did not contain nearly as many ants as the original, but they were still dangerous. Well over two hundred people had already perished, and the military was called in to stamp them out. G-Force had grown considerably in strength since their last battle with the bugs. New Masers had been completed and put at their disposal along with a variety of other more conventional ground forces. They were now at a brigade’s strength. A battle had taken place above the hive were the ants tried to put up resistance. But it was a big operation that had been launched to exterminate them. Along with Masers, tanks, and ground troops, fighters, bombers, and attack helicopters had been dispatched to soften the ants up ahead of the ground assault. What remained of the ants didn’t stand a chance. A single shot from a Maser was enough to make the giant ants explode on contact.

After the firefight, what remained of the ant swarm retreated into their tunnels and were being hunted down one at a time by Brock and his men, along with a dozen other G-Force platoons which were clearing out different sections of the hive. The ‘Big Bug Hunt’ was nearly over. Brock’s squad were approaching the lowest bowels of the nest.

“I think this is the last chamber we need to clear.” Brock announced to his men.

“Are you positive?” One of the skittish privates asked.

“No, but I’m pretty damn sure.” Brock replied tersely. “This smells a lot like the last egg chamber I was in. Hope it’s the last one too. These damned bright lights in these dark tunnels are starting to get hard on my old eyes. Get the heavy artillery ready boys. I think we’re about to meet the Queen-Mother herself.”

“Sounds like a great party Sarge.” One of the other privates chimed in sarcastically.

“Just be glad she won’t be as big as the original.” Brock eyeballed the belly aching Marine. “Sucking up all that radiation in the desert for as long as she did, she got to be ninety meters long by the time Godzilla killed her. We wouldn’t even be able to scratch that bitch with the stuff we got here. Get ready with frag grenades. I want to put whatever is in there on the back foot before we step inside.”

“Uuuuoootttt…” One of the soldiers in the back of the squad grunted. Everyone turned to see blood running down his mouth. An ant had crept up on them in the dark and stabbed its stinger into the man’s back. Its poison was sinking in, but the puncture wound by itself was already enough to assure the soldier’s demise.

“Sons of bitches!!!” Brock roared as he saw more ants emerging around them. They’d been drawn into an ambush. Giant ants were descending upon them from all sides. “Kill’em all!!!” Brock barked as he opened fire. The tunnel lit up with the chattering of his M-16 assault rifle which was set to full-auto. The weapon rattled in his hand and the stock pushed against his shoulder with each round he fired.

With targets now lit up for everyone to see, the whole squad went to work hammering out rounds as fast and furiously as they could. Suddenly, there was a whoosh of fire as Marcus unleashed his flamethrower. All of the attacking ants stopped to take notice. They had a universal fear of fire, and one of their brethren suddenly found itself entirely doused in flames and screaming in pain. It gave the rest pause. The brief respite gave the squad the opportunity they needed to get into ranks. They formed a circle to guard each other’s backs.

Marcus, however, was still out on his own, holding three ants at bay all by himself. He was isolated and vulnerable. Brock could see an ant drop down from the ceiling and get in behind Marcus. He tried to shout to warn him, but Marcus couldn’t hear Brock over the sounds of machine gun rounds echoing throughout the tunnel. Brock carefully aimed for the creature that was sneaking up on Marcus, but his gun suddenly jammed.

Marcus had sprayed down the three ants in front of him and was watching them burn when he was knocked down from behind. He suddenly felt a liquid running down his back. It smelled like gas. An ant was crunching its way through his pack. If he had not been wearing the heavy metal cylinder containing the napalm for his flamethrower, he’d already be crushed in the jaws of his attacker, but he was still in trouble, nevertheless. Marcus was sitting in a pool of gasoline and holding an open flame in his hands. If he tried to use his weapon at that point, he’d burn up right along with his attacker.

Suddenly, Brock came flying in with his thirteen-inch combat knife and plunged it into the head of the attacking ant. Brock hit the bug with all of the force he could muster and buried the knife all the way to the hilt. It entered the ant’s brain and dropped the giant bug where it stood. Marcus was careful to slip out of the straps of his pack and left the weapon behind before it all went up.

Marcus took up the machine gun of their fallen comrade and rejoined the fight. He covered Brock as he retreated back into the platoon’s ranks. Soon enough, it was all over. The ants were slain. The attack had been their last gamble by the Queen’s royal guard to repel the intruders. With a number of grenades and a few bazooka rounds, the queen ant herself was killed, and her last surviving eggs were destroyed. The mission was over.

Afterwards, the platoon had to make the tedious ascent back to the surface. After such a hard fight, it wasn’t something any of them were looking forward to doing. Brock started a conversation to pass the time.

“You were pretty well behaved today.” He remarked to Marcus. “What gives?”

“I might not care much about what happens to myself, but I’m not willing to endanger my comrades.” He replied. “If I go, I won’t be taking anyone else with me. Especially not my friends. I’ve been a pretty lousy friend lately Brock. You’re still important to me. I’m sorry.”

“Oh…” Brock had not been expecting that response. He had no idea what to say at that point. Even if they weren’t surrounded by other soldiers, Brock would have struggled to find a sensitive way to respond. He just left it as it was, silently walking the rest of the way to the surface.

With this most recent G-Force victory, two new ant nests had been wiped out in total. They should have felt good about it. But none of the men could escape the anxiety of thinking there could still be more out there waiting for them. Had they truly gotten them all this time?

…



In the underwater city of Mu, Samara was waiting with her mentor Esmer for word about the attack on Godzilla. The whole city was waiting with bated breath. The last contact Mu Central Command had with their attack fleet read: “We have engaged Godzilla...” Then nothing else followed. It had been over a day now and still no word.

Samara was waiting in one of the high towers near the edge of the city which had a great view of the Aulius transport ring. The circular structure was cold, lifeless, and idle. Too long had she been watching it do nothing. Samara looked over to the city itself, admiring its beauty. There was an elaborate tube system which connected the various buildings. At the center of everything was the Royal Palace. It housed not only the Empress, but also much of the nobility. The palace was covered in ornate statues which included golden lions, vestiges of old Mu heroes, and most prominently, statues of the city’s guardian, Manda.

All around the palace were other large towers, smooth cylindrical monoliths rising out above the city. Most of the middle-class citizens lived in such places which dotted the metropolis. One particular building that really stood out in the city was the Temple of Reconciliation. It had a huge metallic hand which grasped straight up towards the surface. It symbolized the desire of every Mu citizen to one day return to the surface world. It personified hope for a better future. Perhaps one day they would be forgiven for the sins of their ancestors.

Other notable structures in the city were the expanded agricultural domes. As the capital grew, so did the need for more crops. Thus, more were constructed to mirror the original colony’s bio-dome. There was also the Great Games Center, a place where the citizens of Mu could partake in the various state sports, which sometimes included bloodsports.

The most humble buildings in the city were the living quarters for the poor. They were easy to distinguish from the rest as they had the lowest stature out of everything. Generally in Mu society, the higher your station in life, the closer you lived to the surface. Thus, the poor lived right at the bottom of the sea.

Suddenly, the Aulius Ring came to life, catching Samara’s attention. The ring wheeled around, rotating in place. A light formed in the center of the circle and spread out until the entire gateway was filled. A form materialized in the middle of the aperture. On one side of the ring there was nothing but sea water, but on the other, half of a ship had already slipped through the portal.

Samara sprang to her feet, putting her face right up next to the window to get the best view. Behind her, Esmer’s response was much more measured. He quietly got to his feet and joined Samara. He could see one of the Angelfish destroyers limping away from the structure. It seemed to be on its own and damaged. Samara waited, hoping to see more ships emerge from the portal, but there were none. There was no captured Godzilla either.

It was at that point both of them knew something was amiss. Though in truth, it only confirmed Esmer’s suspicions. Manda came to investigate the craft, but it was too badly damaged to transmit its friendly signal. To Manda, this ship was now an intruder, and he acted accordingly. It was crushed in his jaws before the crew could even alter course. A single life pod shot away from the craft before it imploded under the pressure of the depths. A lone survivor aboard the pod made it back to the city to tell the bloody tale of the doomed expedition. Godzilla had entirely wiped out their forces.



Word spread quickly, and it wasn’t long before everybody in the military knew about the failed mission. Now there were two wounded guardian monsters, and an additional fleet lost. Empress Nimaria was furious. Mu could not replace those losses easily. A Black Shark Class Battleship took a full year to build. In the last six months, they had lost seven of them and double the number of escorts. There had been so many losses that their naval superiority was now at risk. If the other undersea Kingdoms became aware of their weakness, banded together, and rose up in rebellion, they could likely contest Mu’s mastery of the seven seas.

The first thing the Empress needed to do was ensure that no one outside of the military or Central Command became aware of the most recent loss. The truth had to be suppressed to ensure their security. Information had to be treated as airtight as the city’s own oxygen supply. Communications in and out of the capitol were severely limited and closely monitored. Travel permits to other cities were cancelled. Nobody was allowed to leave Mu’s capitol. The Empress stopped just short of declaring martial law to avoid a panic.

Bostar wanted to be punished for his failure. It had been his idea to try to capture Godzilla. He would have been a hero if it succeeded, but unfortunately, it had failed magnificently. The dishonor was too much for him. He wished to perform a ritual suicide in public with a blade, but Empress Nimaria forbid it. She didn’t want to draw any more attention to the disaster, and in her heart of hearts, she did not wish to see her treasured advisor come to such a terrible end. To satisfy his honor, Bostar was demoted from his position as Chief Advisor. He would retain his station in the council at the Empress’s request though.

Bostar wasn’t the only one touched by the failure. Malchius also came out looking bad. It was his forces which failed, though they had at least died honorably in the attempt. Malchius maintained his position in the military, but he did take a hit to his prestige and pride. Until the assault on Battra and Godzilla, his forces had not suffered any significant losses since he took command. Now they were seeing nothing but failure and defeat. His position was at risk, but that just made him more dangerous.

Phameas joined Samara and Esmer in their tower. The look on his face revealed that he had just gotten out of a long session with the council. As the head of Mu’s Intelligence Branch, much of the responsibility for keeping the dire situation under wraps was going to fall on him, and it wasn’t going to be an easy job. His department was going to be busy, but that wasn’t what brought him to visit Esmer and Samara. He had another task that was just as important.

“As bad as the circumstances are here, I need the two of you elsewhere.” Phameas informed them. “There is a situation developing that is just as important that I need trusted eyes on. I’ve gotten worrisome reports coming out of South America. I think the enemy is on the move there. There’s no time to waste explaining it now. These data pads outline each of your mission’s specifics. You can read them enroute to your destination. You two are my best agents. I know you will not let me down. Go now.”

“Long live the Empire.” Esmer saluted in the proper Mu fashion. Samara was quick to follow suit.

“Long live the Empire...” Phameas echoed Esmer, then watched as the two of them left.

…

Marcus and Brock arrived back at G-Force Headquarters in Nevada. They needed a bit of a rest after two days of intense combat. Brock was moping about, visibly a little sad that Mia was gone. He could only hope that she was safe in China and that her espionage mission was going well. Perhaps sensing that both Marcus and Brock could use a distraction, Reinhart approached them about going to a section of the base that neither of them had been to before. Both Reinhart and the engineer who’d been rescued from Dr. Who’s artic base were at G-Force Headquarters to present Admiral Malek with a progress report on Mechani-Kong’s repairs.

Reinhart brought Marcus and Brock to the manufacturing wing of the base where some new parts for the robot were being fabricated that had to be custom made. He showed them the plans. Reinhart was really excited. After a couple of weeks of working on the project, he was learning all sorts of new engineering tricks. Things that were beyond his base-level of experience. While he had been skeptical about the captured engineer at first, he turned out to be the genuine article. He knew everything about the Mechani-Kong robot, and they were making rapid progress with repairs. The Engineer’s name was Wolfgang Klaus, and he was very excentric, but none the less, also quite brilliant.

“It’s already that far along?!” Brock asked perplexed.

“Like our former organization’s namesake, we improvise, innovate, and cultivate new technology. We strive to advance forward.” Reinhart said proudly. “All we really had to do was reattach the head and then install a cockpit for a pilot. Not so difficult given a couple weeks to hammer it out. Most of our time has been dedicated to rerouting and adapting the control system. It’s not so easy to convert a machine that is supposed to be radio controlled to a direct interface. The original apparatus carried an advanced artificial intelligence program which carried out verbal instructions. We did keep some of those systems in place to help with the fine motor controls, but overall, when this is all said and done, the pilot himself will have overall command and control of the mech. So long as we don’t run into any hiccups, we could be operational within mere weeks. We’re here to discuss how soon we’ll be ready for an actual test-run demonstration.”

Before Reinhart could go on or introduce Wolfgang to the others, Brock and Marcus were called for over the PA system. Admiral Malek wanted to see them. After they arrived at his office, it didn’t take Admiral Malek long to get right to his point. He wanted Brock and Marcus to go on another mission south.

“I thought our policy going forward was to let Latin America deal with Godzilla on their own.” Brock remarked impatiently.

“It’s not Godzilla this time.” Admiral Malik answered. “The problems are happening in Costa Rica. The President is concerned about this because of its proximity to the Panama Canal. I don’t need to tell two ex-Navy boys just how important that traffic hub is to international trade, not to mention the impact it would have on transferring our own warships from the Pacific to the Atlantic should something happen to that key waterway. Shipping would have to divert all the way around the bottom of South America. The economic ramifications alone would be disastrous. We simply can’t afford to take the risk.”

“Swell.” Brock noted aloofly. Marcus just sat and listened.

“I don’t expect you to do any fighting.” Admiral Malek assured them. “You’re mostly just going to be down there to observe. Evaluate the threat for me. We’re not sure what we are dealing with yet. You boys have got the most experience with monsters. This new organization is filled to the brim with rookies. I need someone who knows what they are doing out there. It’ll probably be dangerous, but I’m sure you won’t mind that much.” He glanced over to Marcus. “We need to keep an eye on what’s going on in our own backyard. You guys look like you could use a little sun anyways. So how about a vacation south of the border?”

“So, just the two of us against an unknown threat?” Brock grumbled.

“Not at all.” Admiral Malik smirked. “Even now, we’re moving assets of our own into the area, but in the meantime, the Government of Panama is offering their full cooperation. It’s in their own best interest to do so, after all. I’ll be flying you two out ahead of the fleet to get a sense of what is happening down there. For obvious reasons, Dr. Orsini and Ling will be joining you too.”

…

Admiral Malek ended up sending Brock, Ling, Dr. Orsini, and Marcus to Costa Rica via a civilian commercial flight. It proved to be the most efficient method. During the trip, there was an in-flight movie which included a propaganda film about kaiju. It was a thinly veiled recruitment film to drive enlistment into G-Force. Marcus watched as the feature showed men in rubber suits smashing through miniature model cities. Aircraft on strings, remoted control tanks, and wooden warships all were there to oppose them. They were using fireworks to simulate artillery.

It looked a bit cheap, and yet, it was still somehow entertaining. Marcus could see the other passengers were enjoying it. This was as close as any of them had been to a real monster. Thus, they found it thrilling. If he hadn’t seen the real thing up close himself, then Marcus too might have found some enjoyment in it. But even with the crude effects, it reminded him too much of the things he’d seen with his own eyes. Countless traumas. He found the whole thing distasteful and tried to block it out.

The film, however, was effective on the young men aboard the flight. It captured their imagination and made the prospect of fighting Kaiju seem romantic in a way. Something along the lines of an old timey knight facing down a dragon and rescuing a princess. Marcus assumed recruitment wouldn’t prove difficult. The film made fighting monsters look so appealing. Every man in it was a hero with a perfect jaw line. Nobody got hurt or died. If those boys only knew how it really was though, they wouldn’t be so eager to rush in. The film didn’t show the price you pay. The friends and family lost, and the parts of yourself that quietly died away.

…

The group arrived in Costa Rica and were met by local officials. They were taken to the devastated rural area were the reports had come from. They saw the destruction firsthand. It reminded Marcus of the sort of trails Baragon would leave in his wake, but Baragon was last seen thousands of miles away in Central Asia, and according to the locals, human casualties were relatively light. It was their crops that had taken the brunt of the damage, and that simply wouldn’t fit Baragon’s pattern.

A Mothra larva might cause such extensive losses to crop yields, but not only were both of the known Mothra in their adult form, but their larvae were never known to travel underground. A Battra larva might, but he was also currently in his adult form, and he never showed much interest in vegetation either. No, they must be dealing with something new. Something that was fairly shy for a Kaiju. Nobody who had seen it was still alive to tell anybody about it.

“Baragon?” Brock asked Marcus. He was following Marcus’ own thought process, only a few steps behind.

“Nope.” Marcus answered bluntly. “I don’t think so.”

“What do you want to do?” Brock asked. “At the very least, Admiral Malek expects us to I.D. the threat. How do we go about doing that when it won’t show itself?”

“Our target seems to have a sweet tooth.” Marcus eyed a fallen sugarcane stock. “What is it they always say… You catch more flies with honey?”

…

Twenty-four hours later, with the cooperation of the Costa Rican Government, Marcus had constructed a crude lure. They chose a flat plain to the south nearby the coast which appeared to be in the path of the unknown entity. There, they erected four tall metal poles fifty meters apart from each other in a square pattern. Between them, a patchwork of linen sheets was hoisted up, spanning the distance. Finally, transport helicopters loaded up with pure granulated sugar dropped bundles into the makeshift net. Some of the sugar was blown over the confines of the sheets, but that was part of the plan. Marcus wanted a portion of it in the air and on the ground to draw their target.

After several loads were delivered, the sheets began to sag down towards the ground. That was the moment Marcus knew it was time to halt the operation. There was no sense in overloading the bait. It the poles or fabric gave out, it would ruin the plan. If the creature wanted to taste the sugar, it would have to come above ground and reveal itself to do so.

From the shadows of the jungle, a hooded figure watched the operation taking shape. It was Esmer. He was impressed by the ingenuity and simplicity of the trap. For the simple cost of a pile of sugar, the surface dwellers would be able to identify the danger that faced them. Whoever had thought it up was going to save Esmer the trouble of luring out the culprit himself. His mission was also to evaluate the nature of the threat. He just hoped it wasn’t what Phameas thought it was. Otherwise, everyone in the valley, himself included, was in for a very nasty surprise.

…

After three hours of waiting, the unknown entity finally arrived. From there hiding spot amongst a rocky ridge, Marcus and the rest of the party watched as the events below played out. The metal poles shook, which resulted in some sugar spilling over the sides of the sheet, but they managed to stay upright despite what felt like an earthquake rumbling all around them. Costa Rican military officers got on their radios to report the events to their superiors.

After a minute, a sinkhole opened up about a hundred meters away from the trap, and a gargantuan worm emerged from the earth. It was indeed a new monster. Its body was long and segmented. The top half was blue, and the underside was tan. It had bristly armored spines protruding from its back which ran down the length of its body. The creature had ten tiny, hooked legs. It had five small yellow and orange eyes all lined up in a row on its brow, but its most prominent feature was its enormous mouth which was nearly as wide as its entire body when open, and it was filled with sharp teeth.



“El Gusano Gigante!” One of the Costa Rican officers exclaimed in horror.

Without wasting much time, the newly emerged creature made its way over to the sugar pile and slammed its head directly into it. The poles snapped and the giant sheet spilled to the ground. That was when the Costa Rican military sprang into action. Hidden units emerged from the jungle and fired on the giant worm.



American made jeeps with mounted fifty caliber machine guns charged in bravely to point blank range and unloaded on the monster. Tanks fired from further afar. It was difficult to say whether or not they were having much effect, but what was certain is how the monster replied. From his mouth, a noxious toxin emerged. The men in the jeeps dropped from their posts as the deadly cloud engulfed them.

From further away, the tanks continued their assault and were joined by jets which had been scrambled from nearby bases. The worm didn’t have much of a defense against them, but their rockets also didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the creature either. It seemed as though they were at a stalemate.





Before anyone could do much of anything else, the skirmish was interrupted by the arrival of one of the Mothras. She instantly dove down and scooped up El Gusano Gigante and began to carry him away from the battleground. The giant worm squirmed and attempted to use his toxic breath on Mothra, but between the beating of her wings and the constant strong air flow from their flight, the gas wasn’t effective at all.

Mothra was much larger and stronger than El Gusano Gigante, and he didn’t have the slightest chance of overpowering her. And even if he did, he had nowhere to go but down into the ocean. He gave up just as they were beginning to disappear out of sight. They were headed west into the Pacific.

“Looks like another future inmate for The Monster Islands.” Brock noted with a smirk. “I guess we’re done here then, eh?”

“Yeah, looks like it.” Marcus shrugged.

…

As it turned out though, they were not done in Central America yet. Before Marcus, Brock, Dr. Orsini, and Ling could return to Nevada, there were more reports of unusual tremors coming from an island off the coast of Central America. The Island in question was further north by about four hundred miles. The closest mainland to it was Honduras. Admiral Malek wired orders for them to investigate there as well.

Nobody was happy about it. Brock in particular was fairly pissed off, but there was no choice. They had to go. If the second mission proved as easy as the first, then it wouldn’t matter much. Ling and Dr. Orsini made the best of it, enjoying the tropical climate and seeing the trek through the jungles as an adventure, so long as they could return to the comforts of a relatively nice hotel at the end of the day.

After a flight to the coast of Honduras, the group rendezvoused with a small passenger ship which would take them out to the Island of Resortes de Plata. Isla Resortes de Plata was isolated and underpopulated. The topography there didn’t make it a very desirable place to settle. At one point, the island had a thriving silver mining industry, but the natural resources there had given out decades earlier which led to an exodus of businesses and the people supporting them. Those who remained were the descendants of those who were either too poor to leave, or those who simply liked the quiet island life.



There was only one primary settlement on Isla Resortes de Plata. It hugged the old docking area where silver ore was shipped out for processing. Now it was just a hub for local fishing boats. Sometimes tourists would come out to the island to enjoy one of the last things that made the island truly special, the dormant volcano and the resulting hot springs from underground pockets of magma.

Pedro was a local fishman who was trying to improve his standing in the world. When fishing was bad, he would use his boat to ferry tourists to and from the island. One of the hot springs was located just adjacent to his property and he had built a rudimentary hut for tourists to rent. It wasn’t the Ritz, but for the island, it was one of the nicest places you could stay. It was within walking distance of the beach and had a great view of the volcano too. Slowly, Pedro was making a tidy profit for himself.

One evening, Pedro went out to check on a couple from the mainland who were spending their honeymoon on the island. They were paying him extra to pamper them by bringing them food and drinks. Pedro didn’t so much mind acting like a waiter. They were paying him particularly well and the wife was exceptionally attractive. That made waiting on her hand and foot pretty easy for Pedro.

To his pleasant surprise, the couple were at the hot spring and the wife was wearing a skimpy bikini. Pedro tried his best not to stare, but she didn’t seem very modest, and her husband simply did not see Pedro as a threat. They were both pretty tipsy in any case, too drunk to much care who was looking at them.

“Buenos tardes!” Pedro greeted them, announcing his presence.

“Oh, hello Pedro!” The woman greeted him warmly.

“How are were doing out here?” Pedro asked politely. “Is there anything I can get you?”

“You know, I think we are doing just fine on our own.” She replied with a devilish smirk, putting her arm around her husband. There was a subtle hint that Pedro might get a show if he stuck around for too much longer.

“Okay, you two have a nice evening then.” Pedro excused himself.

“Oh!!!” Pedro heard the wife take a sharp breath in. He was half-tempted to look back around. Then she shrieked. Pedro stopped in his tracks and turned around to see both the husband and wife dashing out of the water. The lower half of their bodies were mildly burnt. Their skin was noticeably reddened.

“What the hell…?!” Pedro murmured as he stepped up to the edge of the pool. The water had grown so hot by that point that it was boiling. Pedro looked around confused, peering up at the volcano. It seemed quite inactive still. The husband and wife had joined him watching the water curiously.

By that time, the water was boiling so furiously that steam was rising up from it and scalding droplets were hitting their skin. They all retreated away from it for safety. There was a rumbling coming from the ground, and again, Pedro looked up to the volcano, worried about an eruption that wasn’t happening. There had been tremors on and off again on the island for days, but nothing that was this intense.

Suddenly, a tree at the edge of Pedro’s property caught fire spontaneously. It was very strange. Not least of all because the fire seemed to burst forth from the base of the tree, burning its way upwards. Then another tree caught fire, and then another. Within moments, a whole patch of tropical forest was burning, threatening to consume Pedro’s entire property.

Pedro and the tourists retreated into town and yelled out warnings for anyone who would listen. Before long, everyone was aroused by the commotion. There was an even stronger rumble, followed by a crash, and Pedro looked back just in time to see a huge hunk of mountain disappear in a massive landslide. His property was engulfed in flames by then.

In the village, there was confusion, fear, and chaos. The fire was moving in their direction. It had become massive by that point and spread much quicker than should have been possible. The outer buildings of the village were aflame now. Pedro rallied his people and led them to the only safety he could think of. The docks. They needed to get as many people as possible onto boats. Anyone who couldn’t fit could hopefully ride out the disaster in the surf.



As people boarded his boat, Pedro looked back to see the settlement awash in flames. No one who stayed behind could be alive. There was a vast wall of smoke rising up over the inferno. Pedro thought he could see something moving in the shadows behind the smoke, though it could have just been his eyes playing tricks on him. It was almost formless, like a dark phantom, though there was one notable feature he could make out. It had a sharp beak-like nose. Almost like a bird’s.

…

By morning, there wasn’t much of a town left to go back to. The people of Resortes de Plata had lost everything. The fires had scarred a large section of the island to the point where it was unrecognizable. Pedro started to ferry anyone with family on the mainland across the sea one boatload at a time. The fires had subsided, but the earthquakes and landslides had not. It was not safe for anyone to return to the settlement and try to pick up the pieces.

On his third trip of the day, another ship unexpectedly came to the island carrying curious visitors. They appeared to be military men from the United States, though their uniforms were a little strange. They wanted to talk to anyone who knew anything about what happened the night before. And they wanted to go onto the island itself to investigate. Pedro agreed to talk to them, so long as the large ship that brought them carried the last remnants of the other islanders back with them. As best as Pedro could tell, he was the person who’d seen the most during the incident. The husband-and-wife vacationers had left on the very first trip back to the mainland, so they wouldn’t be of any help.

The strangers agreed to Pedro’s terms, and he took them back onto the island to recount his story. There were four of them. Some type of naval officer, a big burly marine, a scientist, and an interpreter that they really didn’t need because Pedro already spoke fairly good English.

The Americans were under the false impression from islanders who’d made it back to the mainland that the fire had been triggered by an earthquake which had caused flammable material to ignite, but Pedro was able to refute that claim as he had first-hand knowledge of what happened. Pedro told them what he saw, and the leader of the expedition went over to one of the trees to check it. He knelt down and dug under the soil line to confirm that the roots of the tree had indeed been burnt. It was a clever way to verify Pedro’s claim. A normal fire certainly wouldn’t do that. The scientist amongst them took a photo of the roots as evidence. The marine looked surprised that Pedro story was true.

The naval officer asked Pedro if fires were common on the island. When Pedro informed him that they were not, he didn’t seem very surprised. Indeed, given the tropical environment and the plentiful rain, Pedro couldn’t recall a single forest fire occurring on the island in his entire lifetime. The leader of the group just nodded and moved on to the next point of interest, the hot spring.

When they got there, the water was not boiling over like it had the night before. The naval officer was bold enough to put his hand into the water to test it out. He found it warm, but not hot enough to scold anybody. If it was volcanic activity which had super-heated the water, it wouldn’t likely have subsided in just a few hours. The naval officer also peered up to the volcano to see that it wasn’t even smoking. The scientist took photos of both for further documentation.

Finally, the group came to the site of the landslide. The displaced soil almost covered up the fact that the topography of the area was far different than it had been the night before. Pedro recognized it immediately. And oddly, the naval officer seemed to recognize it too. Something had burrowed underground, and it left a visible trail where the soil was now sunken in.

“It appears to be an oh so familiar story.” The marine noted ominously to the rest of the group.

“Yep, this has to be the work of a Kaiju.” The naval officer agreed.

“But I thought El Gusano Gigante was captured and relocated.” The interpreter noted. “Is there possibly more than one?”

“It’s possible, but this feels a whole lot different.” The naval officer said. “I think something else is at work here.”

“Marcus, I’m detecting something here that I shouldn’t be.” The scientist spoke up warily. He was using the wand of a Geiger counter to examine the edge of the trail. “There’s radioactivity.”

“Enough to be dangerous?” The naval officer asked concerned.

“No, it’s just residual.” The scientist replied. “But definitely more than there should be.”

The group followed the trail which led them to a creek where some dead fish were floating on the surface. It was unclear if the radioactivity had killed them, or if the water there had also boiled over the night before. Across the creek, there was a gigantic hole where something appeared to have emerged from the ground. Whatever had passed through the area left a trail of destruction in its wake.

Nearby, the whole conversation was being recorded by a cloaked figure. It was Samara. The surface dwellers seemed to be on the same mission she was, and they were doing a great job of collecting intelligence for her.

‘I’ve encountered this warrior before, but he has changed.’ Samara thought, looking at the naval officer. ‘He has such sad eyes now.’

Unfortunately for Samara, everything the surface dwellers had uncovered pointed to the worst-case scenario. What happened on the island was no accident or coincidence. The villagers had been intentionally driven out of their homes. Someone did not want them on the island. It had to be the Invaders. They were no doubt planning to use the island as a secret base and staging ground. No doubt, they were at that very moment underneath their feet, digging out tunnels below the surface to utilize for their dark purpose. They couldn’t very well have any witnesses around while they were getting their base established. So they engineered a natural disaster to drive out the residents. The landslides had been sloppy. They couldn’t have planned that. It was already drawing unwanted attention to them.

This was terrible news for Samara. It meant that Phameas was correct, and war was already at their doorstep. The only question was, which faction was behind this? Who was so bold as to make the first move? Whoever it was, hostilities would ensue between her people and them as soon as they were exposed. Their uninvited presence was a violation that could not be tolerated. The good news was that the Mu Empire wouldn’t have to be concerned with internal politics anymore. This incident would ensure that all of their vassals and own internal factions would unite against a common foe.

Samara wanted to leave with the information she’d already acquired, but it wasn’t enough. She knew that she had to confirm who the interlopers were before she could withdraw from the field. But how could she draw them out? She looked to the still investigating surface dwellers. If they stuck around long enough, poking their noses where it didn’t belong, they’d likely provoke a response, and she could wait and watch safely from the shadows.

As it turned out, something far more provocative was already developing nearby. The trail of radioactivity had attracted something that demanded an immediate response. Godzilla had just risen from the ocean on the North side of the Island and was preparing to come ashore. Everyone on the island could hear an echo of his roar and instantly knew what it meant. They all stood there looking at each other, everyone more than a little frightened.

Before anyone could react, the earth shook, and the scientist’s Giger counter response spiked. Then suddenly, the side of the nearby volcano crumbled to pieces as a giant monster crashed through it. But this was no ordinary monster. To the shock of everyone standing there, it was another robotic kaiju. Only it was bigger than Mechani-Kong. Whatever this machine was, it stood just as tall as Godzilla, making it around one hundred meters in height.

“What the hell is that thing?!” Brock broke the silence.

“I don’t know… but run!” Marcus ordered. Ling, Dr. Orsini, and Brock immediately took off while Marcus took an extra moment to get a picture of the robot with Dr. Orsini’s camera.



The machine was beginning to walk towards the beach where Godzilla had just landed. It was stiff and slow in its movements and there were odd mechanical noises with each step it took. The robot had a golden head with two peculiar silver antennae poking out the top. It had a prominent nose, or rather, an extended protruding drill that formed its nose. The feature gave the robot’s face a very beak-like appearance. Almost as if it were trying to mimic a bird. The next most noticeable feature was an enormous silver buzzsaw sticking out of the machine’s back. Between the nose drill and the buzzsaw, it was small wonder this machine was able to burrow so easily.

The body of the robot was very boxy and bulky in its proportions. It had overlapping layers of armored plating on its chest, abdomen, and thighs. The machine had stubby legs, which visibly limited its movements and speed. The lower legs and upper arms were painted in a soft metallic blue-green color. The feet and lower portion of the arms were both gold like the head. The robot had a pipe-like tail which didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose other than to perhaps help balance out its weight. It had yellow circular eyes which suddenly flashed, catching Marcus off guard, reminding him that he needed to get a move on. The machine let out a roar, which drew Marcus’ attention to a small transparent mouth flap that he might have otherwise overlooked in the design.

The robot didn’t have arms in a traditional sense. Where it should have had hands, it instead had cone-shaped appendages with odd gaps in the center which gave the vague impression of fingers. Again, what purpose they served was unclear. The entire design was rather odd and alien.

Nearby, Samara was getting images of the robot herself using a pictograph recorder. She could capture every detail of what came next with it. Her superiors would no doubt want as much information about the enemy as possible. The fact that this machine was going to engage with one of the most powerful Kaiju on the planet would give Mu a very good sense of the enemy’s capabilities. While it would undoubtedly be dangerous to document this encounter, it was also vital.

A sudden cascade of wind blew past Samara. She turned to see four men running by her on the trail. They had nearly crashed into her, but they had not seen Samara due to her chameleon cloak, which proved to be a near-perfect camouflage. Only in certain light would it give off a shimmer, betraying its user’s position. Samara’s face was showing through, but she had been turned away from the men when they went by, so they couldn’t have seen her face. She was disappointed with herself for letting them get that close to her. She had been so distracted with the mechanical monster that she never even heard them coming.

Unfortunately, Samara had also forgotten that there was a fifth member of their party, and he was lagging behind the rest. Now that she was turned, her face was visible to him as he came thundering down the trail. He didn’t notice Samara until he was nearly on top of her, and when he did, his eyes widened as he tried to stop. He looked terrified, as though he had seen a ghost. Before he could fully stop himself, the soldier collided with Samara and knocked her to the ground. The two of them went down in a heap together.

Samara instinctively used their momentum to throw the man up and over her as they tumbled backwards. She still hit the ground hard though. Samara was ticked off. She sprang to her feet and leveled a kick at the naval officer just as he stood up. Surprisingly, the man managed to block the blow which made Samara even more angry. She took great pride in her prowess in hand-to-hand combat, and this simple soldier was able to counter her.

Samara thought about running at that point, disappearing into the jungle and resuming her documentation of the impending fight, but her warrior vanity would not allow an opponent to claim the field of battle, even under these circumstances. She had to humble this man first. She threw a punch which connected, but the soldier took the hit well and stayed on his feet. Samara tried to sweep his leg, but he jumped back and out of the way. The soldier did not try to fight back, which also hurt her pride. She threw another kick, which the soldier caught. Though once he did, he had no idea what to do next. He couldn’t bring himself to strike her.

Samara left her feet, using her free leg to kick at her opponent’s head. The man let go of her other leg to dodge. Samara’s foot came within inches of his chin, which would have likely knocked him out if it had connected. Samara couldn’t tell if this soldier was extremely lucky or good. The last time she had fought him, he didn’t seem to have a whole lot of self-defense skills. Either way, she was starting to get frustrated. Her dissatisfaction wasn’t to last though. As a result of the battle taking place in the background, a coconut had been dislodged from a tree and hit Samara in the head. It struck her temple with just enough force to knock her unconscious.



Meanwhile, Godzilla and the giant robot were coming to grips. The bird-like machine used one of its most potent weapons. Blue bolts of energy emitted from its eyes in rapid pulses. They struck Godzilla’s chest and neck with explosive results. Godzilla shrugged off the attack and responded in kind with his radioactive breath. His attack hit the robot in the shoulder. The metal frame of the machine was quite sturdy and held up to the punishment. The alloy glowed where the fire was concentrated, but did not melt or warp.

Unsatisfied with that outcome, Godzilla closed the distance to get into melee. The robot had one obvious design flaw: It was very top heavy. Much of its weight was carried above its center of gravity. Godzilla slammed into the robot’s chassis, attempting to push it over, but the machine was surprisingly heavy and absorbed much of the blow. Godzilla didn’t give up and pushed even harder until the robot finally started to tip, but then a rocket booster in its tail fired and kept it from teetering over at the last second.





Angered, Godzilla tried to bite into the robot’s shoulder, but his teeth simply could not penetrate the metal armor. The machine countered Godzilla by lifting its right arm and then hammering down onto his left shoulder. The chop hit harder than Godzilla was expecting. It staggered him. The machine then used its left arm to stab into Godzilla’s chest. Between the gap of the robot’s rudimentary fingers, a band of electricity sparked to life. The gap in the limbs widened and allowed the naked current to make contact with Godzilla’s skin, giving him a powerful jolt.





Godzilla was forced backwards, and the robot used the blue energy bolts from its eyes to attack once more. Coming forward again, the machine reached out with its right hand to try to zap Godzilla a second time. Godzilla, however, had no intention of letting that happen again. He ducked under the robot’s arm and punched it in the mid-section. The robot stumbled backwards, but the metal frame wasn’t even bent. The metal was proving very resilient to damage. The robot used its eye beams again, but Godzilla ducked and dodged out of the way. Godzilla countered with his own beam, which washed over the body of the robot. The machine gave off a cloud of steam, and the metal armor sizzled.



The robot advanced once more and the drill in its nose sprang to life with an unnerving sound. This caught Godzilla off guard and the machine plunged its nose into his neck, penetrating down into the muscle tissue. Godzilla punched with his left arm, knocking the robot away from him before it could do any more damage. Blood was already beginning to stream down onto his shoulder though.



Angered, Godzilla moved forward, using his tail to sweep around and behind the robot. This time, when Godzilla slammed into the machine, even the thruster in its tail could not keep it from crashing down to the ground. It collapsed and impacted onto the earth with a thunderous boom. Once on the ground, the machine had a very difficult time getting back up. Even without Godzilla there pummeling it, its clunky design would prevent it from getting upright again from a laying position. The robot had no hands to support it, and its stumpy legs didn’t have enough leverage on their own to get the heavy metal frame upright again. Godzilla took advantage of the situation by stomping on the machine with his feet.



To ward off Godzilla’s beatdown, the buzzsaw on the robot’s back came to life. While still on its belly, the robot began to dig down into the dirt. Its drill beak began to spin again in unison with the buzzsaw, and the forked arms began to quickly displace soil. Within moments, the machine had disappeared underground. The earth shook as it moved through the terrain unseen.

The robot’s thin buzzsaw breached to the surface like the fin of a shark and put itself on a collision course with Godzilla. The King of the Monsters moved to get out of the way, but the sawblade caught the edge of his shin, drawing more blood. The buzzsaw wheeled around and came at Godzilla a second time. Godzilla’s back spines ignited as he built up a powerful attack. He used his beam to cut a gap in the soil ahead of his attacker. He made a gap big enough for the attacking robot to fall into, halting its momentum.

Godzilla unleashed a second volley of atomic breath as his opponent struggled to right itself. The machine gave off a huge cloud of steam as it got to its feet, and it was still glowing where Godzilla’s ray hit it. The battle was testing the limits of its internal cooling systems. The robot always ran hot to begin with, but the extended use of its weapons and Godzilla’s heat ray were exacerbating this issue. Godzilla’s back plates glimmered as they started to absorb radiation the robot was giving off from being overtaxed.

Godzilla’s neck wound began to visibly heal, as did his leg. His opponent’s very own energy discharge was feeding him. Reenergized, Godzilla went on the attack again. He grabbed the robot’s antenna and punched it in the eye. The antenna bent under the strain, and one of the internal energy-focusing mechanisms within the robot’s eyes shattered from the blow.

The robot fell backwards out of control. The antenna was not just a decorative feature. The machine was remote controlled, and the receiver was directly connected to the antenna. Without it, the transmitter sending it orders couldn’t properly direct the machine. A recall order was sent out and the robot once again disappeared underground. Only this time, it didn’t come back. Godzilla had won.

In the nearby jungle, Marcus was carrying his unconscious attacker away from the fray. Now that the battle was over, he finally stopped to rest, exhausted. He put her down and tried to catch his breath. His face hurt from where she had punched him. For just a girl, she hit particularly hard.

Now that Marcus had saved her, the question was what to do with her next. He knew she was an agent of one of the underwater peoples. They weren’t exactly friendly, and she was definitely dangerous, but if he took her back with him, he didn’t want to even think about what Admiral Malek might do to get information out of her. Marcus simply couldn’t stomach the thought. He wouldn’t allow a woman to be tortured, even if they were an enemy.

‘She’s so young.’ He thought sympathetically. ‘Just a girl really.’

“Marcus!” A voice rang out. It was Brock. He was nearby and getting closer. Under pressure, Marcus made an impulsive decision. He found a nearby rockface which had a large inward groove. He took the girl and dragged her over to it to conceal her. She was still too exposed though. He needed to do more to cover her up to ensure she wasn’t found. He frantically cut away from the jungle brush with his knife and methodically started to cover the opening of the rockface with leaves.

At that point, Samara started to come back around. She was a little out of it, but she could see the soldier working hard to conceal her. She didn’t understand why he was doing it though. It made no sense to her. Marcus was too focused on what he was doing and didn’t notice that she was awake and watching him. He got the last few branches in place just in time. Brock arrived on the scene looking for him.

“What are you doing?” Brock asked confused. All he could see was Marcus knelt over a rock and some brush. “Didn’t you hear me calling you? What did you do to your face?” Brock saw that Marcus’ eye was starting to swell up.

“I just fell trying to get away.” Marcus said getting to his feet. “Sorry Brock, I must have hit my head, but I’m okay now.” It was the only excuse he could come up with on short notice.

“Alright, fine.” Brock answered, not fully believing him, but not having much other recourse but to go along with it. As long as Marcus wasn’t trying to get himself killed again, whatever he was doing didn’t really matter.

“Come on, the ship is waiting, let’s get the hell out of here.” Brock said with a sigh.

...

[mpsoldier]

Snow day and a new Godzilla chapter! My lucky day!

[mpsoldier]

Good work on the new chapter. One change though. Not sure where exactly the date of the story is hovering but the G Force wouldn't be using the M16. I pointed out earlier that heavier caliber rifles would have stayed or at least stayed longer in your universe. For a mission like fighting the giant ants it would be a very poor choice. The M16 was designed to defend a clean airbase. In that role it's perfect. It fares poorly out of clean environments. The initial production models were so prone to malfunctions that the Vietnamese stopped taking them off American bodies and the Americans soldiers went to great lengths to keep their old weapons. Some of the test models were deliberately sabotaged by US troops wanting the weapon to fail and prohibit general issue. Some of that was lack of training on the weapon but the fact is it's the spoiled diva of assault rifles. Taking it underground into an ants nest to do battle would be very unwise. Secondly it was designed to wound a 150 pound human, not kill. Using it on a thousand pound+ giant ant would not work very well at all. Many states and provinces outlaw the use of the 5.56/.223 on big game like bear or moose as it's considered dangerous and inhumane. It's certainly possible to kill one with it and it's been done successfully but it's far from reliable. Third one of the biggest selling points for the M16 is superior accuracy. It beats out most comparable designs easily in that department. But underground in a tunnel it's long range accuracy is completely wasted. And given that it's intended targets are in fact jeep and car sized abominations the ability to shoot a pop can at a few hundred meters isn't what you would call necessary. For all those reasons it's a terrible selection for the mission. The only way I can see it happening is if there's no warning and the army just has to respond. You can't use what you don't have and if that's what the unit has it's going to be used. But for a planned operation it would be a colossal oversight. And G Force is specifically created to oppose Kaiju. The adoption of a small caliber rifle would be folly. If it's an American operation they likely would have the M14 , or if G Force is supposed to be more of an International force the FN-FAL. Or possibly an original design of even larger size then we commonly see. My unit was issued the M14 and/or the Mossberg 590 tactical shotguns with large slugs to use against bears. Even some older WW2 weapons would be preferable to the M16 for the giant ant hive. The English BREN or the American BAR browning automatic rifle come to mind. Smaller magazine size but proven and much more effective. The anti tank rifles of pre WW2 would also be a common weapon for G Force, though too large to be carried on a raid like that.

[Ashram52]

…

The story is somewhere in the 60s at this point. I’m intentionally keeping it vague for story flexibility. That way when I’m ready to move on to the 70s, I can make that jump. And honestly, we’re probably on the verge of that. A character that is going to show up in next chapter is definitely associated with the 70s. Of course, for this story’s purposes, monsters from specific eras aren’t necessary limited to those time periods. So far, it’s just made sense in my own head-canon for the monsters who have appeared to show up where they have. Battra appearing 30 years early is a good example. He’s simply too invovled with the overall plot to wait for the 90s.

Anyways, you probably got a point about the M-16s. If it makes you feel better about it, think about it these these terms/context:

G-Force as a military organization is only a couple weeks old in the story and they were thrown together using spare equipment. They only got their first ground units this chapter (including replacement Mazers). Archimedes as an organization was so throughly decimated that G-Force inherited almost no equipment from them. What they have now is borrowed or hand-me-downs from surplus. Whatever they could get their hands on really. They’re only starting to gain traction. Still very much in their fledgling stage. The cool stuff comes later. G-Force just doesn’t have their shit together yet.

Also, it won’t be unusual for the US government to send their boys into combat I’ll-equipped for the situation they’re facing. You already mentioned the ‘perfect’ example. Sometimes they just go about using the wrong tool for the wrong job until they learn.

…

[Ashram52]

...

Chapter 50: The Demonstration.

Marcus, Brock, Ling, Dr. Orsini, and Pedro were running towards the docks in haste. Godzilla had won his battle and was now moving in their direction. Even if he wasn't specifically pursuing them, he'd still poison the group with his passive emissions of radioactivity if they let him get too close. It was unclear how close would be too close, so they planned to give him a wide birth.

Fortunately, Pedro's boat was still anchored right where he had left it. The five men jumped aboard the vessel and sailed out of the lagoon at flank speed. Pedro's boat wasn't meant for recreation though, and it puttered along slowly at only fifteen knots. Everyone was looking back at the island, keeping a close eye on Godzilla's progress. He was definitely moving faster on land than they were at sea.

Marcus only hoped that he had made the right decision leaving the girl were he had. Even if Godzilla didn't step directly onto her, she could still meet an unpleasant end if he got too close and contaminated her with his radioactivity. Perhaps it would have been better to bring her along with them and take their chances with Admiral Malek. Marcus also could have let her escape at any point after they reached the mainland, but it was too late for such thoughts now. The dye was cast. He'd just have to live with the consequences, whatever they might be.

Marcus struggled with this though. If he had been in his right mind, he shouldn't have even let her go to begin with. But he was thinking about Shauna when he'd made his decision. He still couldn't see a woman at that point without thinking about his dead wife and couldn't see children without thinking about his own either. At that moment, Marcus realized just how emotionally compromised he was. This left him with a terrible dilemma. He didn't want to leave the military, but any mistakes he might make could impact his friends, and he still cared about them.

Meanwhile, Pedro's thoughts were fixated on the island. He was nearly in tears. His village being destroyed was bad enough, but now the whole island was devastated, its natural beauty ruined. Perhaps one day the vegetation would grow back, and the houses could be rebuilt. It might once again resemble the paradise he'd previously known. For now though, he was just one more person who had lost everything.

"Who do you think built that robot?" Dr. Orsini asked, breaking the tension. "The Russians? The people from under the sea?

"I don't think it was the sea people." Marcus answered. "The machine's weapons are simply too different." He reasoned. Having seen one of their agents spying on the mech right before he ran into her in the jungle helped Marcus rule out that theory. He didn't feel like sharing that particular piece of information with the others though.

"The Russians then…?" Ling suggested.

"Possible, but I doubt it." Marcus replied. "Why would they be so far away from home when there are still so many monster threats in Asia to contend with?"

"It could be another one of Dr. Who's projects." Brock proposed. "Maybe he did actually manage to give us the slip back in the Artic."

"Perhaps, but I don't see how." Marcus countered. "We captured or destroyed everything attempting to leave that base."

"Well, whoever made it, that machine gave Godzilla a heck of a fight, and I think that's a cause for some concern." Brock said warily.

"He did fight it off though." Dr. Orsini pointed out. "Godzilla was a plague on mankind during his early years. Now maybe, just maybe, he can make up for it by keeping these sort of things from happening anymore."

"I don't think our new friend Pedro would agree with that statement." Brock noted grimly. "There isn't much of a home left for him to return to at this point."

Suddenly, there was a series of loud swooshing sounds coming from the ocean about five hundred yards away that cut the conversation short. The disturbance came from the direction of the island. Marcus turned just in time to see three objects rapidly moving up into the sky, though they were moving so fast that he didn't really get a good look at them. They were silver and circular in shape like hubcaps. They were gone in a flash, but even Godzilla stopped to take notice of them.

Marcus looked back down to the sea and noticed three large ripples on the water expanding outwards. Apparently, whatever they were, they had popped straight out of the ocean. No one aboard the ship said a word, though they were all thinking the same thing. Everyone had heard the rumors about the incident in Roswell, but nobody was sure if there was any truth to the matter.

Back on the island, Samara was emerging from her hiding spot. Godzilla had bypassed her position and was safely leaving her behind. With her mission complete, she started for the beach, being careful to avoid Godzilla's contaminated path through the jungle. After reaching the sand, Samara called for her personal submersible. The crab-like craft immediately came to the surface and drove itself onto the beach where she could easily reach it. Out in the distance, Samara could see the ship carrying the surface dwellers. They had managed to escape. Part of her was glad for that. Godzilla too was moving off in the water, already shoulder deep in the ocean.

Samara entered her craft and tiny little legs sprouted from the shell and lifted the pod off the ground, walking it back into the water. Once in the surf, Samara engaged the main engine, and the vehicle disappeared into the sea. She set a course and immediately let the craft's autopilot function take over. The nearest Aulius Ring was hours away. Samara didn't have much else to do at that moment, so she reflected on the mission, the things that went right and the things that went wrong.

Samara couldn't believe that she had been bested in combat, even on a technicality. What was even more troubling was how the surface dweller treated her after her capture. He'd gone to great lengths to ensure she was not found by his comrades. Entirely inexplicable behavior. She had spent enough time amongst the surface dwellers to know this was not a common custom she'd just misinterpreted. It was wholly odd, bizarre even. The soldier must have had a personal reason for doing what he did. Maybe he just thought she was attractive and was planning to come back for her for his own carnal pleasures? No, that didn't seem to fit. There was something else in his eyes. A legitimate concern for her well-being.

'Perhaps he just respected me as one warrior to another?' Samara thought pridefully. 'Yes, that must be it. His warrior vanity wouldn't allow him to win without honor. What he did was an act of contrition since he hadn't actually defeated me.' She decided.

…

A day later, Admiral Malek's reinforcements arrived on Isla Resortes de Plata. Grunts in radiation suits were sent into the tunnels below the island to investigate their secrets. There was no trace of the giant robot, nor anyone who might have been controlling it. An enormous hole flooded with sea water was found in the deepest depths. At that point, it became clear that the mysterious robot could be anywhere. Marcus and the others reported what they'd seen. Despite the obvious implications, nobody was quite willing to commit to the theory of an extraterrestrial presence yet.

…



Back in the capital city of Mu, Samara had returned and submitted her report. She was having a meeting with Esmer and Phameas to discuss her findings. The three of them were watching footage she had captured of the giant robot. She made sure to edit the video to avoid showing her superiors the moment she was knocked over and captured. The incident was embarrassing enough with only herself being aware of it. She could live with the shame of the disastrous confrontation as long as nobody else knew about it.

"I did some checking, and based on the footage you were able to acquire, I've learned a few things." Phameas began. "King Antonio's alliance is starting to bear fruit. His outside sources have confirmed that the robot belongs to the Avian faction, or as they are sometimes referred to as, the Mysterians." Phameas pushed a button and projected an image of one of their soldiers. The most striking feature was a fierce hawk-like helmet which entirely covered the face of the warrior who wore it. "They rarely take their helmets off in front of outsiders, and thus, nobody is quite sure what they look like underneath. What we do know is that they are aligned with the Xiliens who control King Ghidorah."

"The surface dwellers have dubbed the Mysterian's robot: Moguera." Esmer observed. "It's as good of a name as any, I suppose."

"It has some meaning." Samara pointed out. "I believe it translates to dirt dragon in Japanese." Having previously been employed to infiltrate the IJN, Samara had picked up quite a lot of their language while spying in Japan.

"Seems fitting." Esmer noted with a smirk.

"It's not all good news today though." Phameas went on. "Antonio's allies are using this incident as an excuse to move in their own forces. They're already mobilizing. It's too late to stop them now." Samara and Esmer exchanged concerned glances. They both knew this was a major escalation.

"It's going to get awfully crowded around here before long." Esmer noted darkly.

"How long do you think we have before our planet becomes an all-out warzone?" Samara asked.

"Difficult to say." Phameas replied. "This dirt dragon robot is not meant as a primary combatant, despite its successes against Godzilla. Its fundamental mission is to establish secret bases and defend them when necessary. I can't see them trying to take the whole planet with just those. But now that the Mysterians have been discovered, the first skirmishes could happen at any time. The bulk of both sides' forces will certainly take time to arrive. May the Gods help us when they do though. Samara, I'm sending you back out. I have a different sort of mission for you this time."

…

Elsewhere, Godzilla was detected moving through the Caribbean Sea towards South America. His projected course put him on a path to either Colombia or Venezuela. Each country was hoping he would land in the other. In fact, both countries sent out their navies to try to steer him towards the other. In a bizarre turn of events, both fleets engaged Godzilla at nearly the same time, but they were not trying to coordinate their efforts. Instead, they were getting into each other's way, hampering the overall effort to deflect Godzilla. Godzilla didn't bother with either of the flotillas though. He dove down and ignored the surface ships. Ineffective torpedo or depth charge attacks would occasionally hit the mark, but it didn't trouble Godzilla or slow him down in the slightest.

Ultimately, Godzilla landed in the Gulf of Morrosquillo in Colombia, which delighted the Venezuelans. His purpose there was unclear. After making landfall, Godzilla bypassed the cities of Sincelejo and Monteria and continued southwards towards some unknown goal.

…

At G-Force Headquarters in Nevada, Brock, Marcus, Ling, and Dr. Orsini were just returning from their mission in Central America. Admiral Malek had no interest in sending them back down to Colombia to pursue Godzilla. The South Americans were being left to fend for themselves. Luckily, the King of the Monsters didn't seem keen on inflicting destruction in Colombia. At present, he was crossing through the Northern branch of the Andes Mountain Range and hadn't hit any settlements along the way. He was getting dangerously close to Bogota though. As soon as Godzilla passed through the world's largest mountain range, he'd be within striking distance of the Colombian capital if he had a mind to attack it.

Marcus monitored Godzilla's progress via a news feed from a helicopter that was shadowing him. He couldn't help but wonder what the big lizard was up to. He'd traveled hundreds of miles and just seemed to be wandering through the mountains aimlessly. There were no nuclear test sites to visit down there to feed off of, and there weren't any nuclear power plants to attack either. There were no unusual reports of monster activity, aside from his own. So, what was Godzilla up to?

The broadcast was just a distraction for Marcus. He was still very anxious about the girl he'd left on Isla Resortes de Plata. He was disturbed by the fact that he didn't know if he had caused her death or not. It was bringing back all of the horrible feelings Marcus felt right after Shauna and his children had died. Try as he might, he could not banish the dark visions from his mind. It was making him uneasy and agitated.

For the longest time, Marcus had forced himself to act like a normal soldier, trying to hide his emptiness and hurt from others. But he was living a lie. He could only do so much to disassociate himself from the trauma. Pretending to still be a normal man could only take him so far though. The trouble was, he lacked vitality. Day to day, he was just going through the motions. Mimicking what a normal person would say and do, but not really feeling it. He was just a shell of a living breathing person, possessing none of the passion required to make the act genuine.

Marcus had tried throwing himself into the military, never leaving the base or taking time off. He did his best to avoid civilians because he knew seeing women and children would trigger his memories. It had happened in Alamogordo, and it had happened on Isla Resortes de Plata too. Each time, he was not able to keep up the facade of being alright. Trying to be a good soldier was not working out. Marcus knew he couldn't keep up the act for much longer. His past was still chasing him, and he was tired of running from it. He glanced down at the sidearm strapped against his hip. He was just tired, and he wanted a way out.

Unknown to Marcus, he was being watched at that very moment. Kiki was observing him from afar with mounting concern. She could feel his strong emotions bubbling up to the surface. While she typically tried to respect people's privacy, such intense feelings were always hard for her to block out. Marcus might as well have been signaling her with a flashlight with as loud as he was broadcasting. Marcus looked dejected and burnt out, and suddenly, she could sense what he was thinking. He'd reached the end of his rope. Death had kept him waiting too long.

"He always seems so far away these days." Ling observed, talking with Akira around the corner. "You just can't engage with him the way you used to. I'm not sure to what degree he's broken, but Marcus is not okay. Something triggered him while we were out on our last mission, and he's been distracted ever since. He's all broken up inside. It's written all over his face and body language. I'm worried."

Kiki decided that she needed to do something. Marcus couldn't be left to his own devices anymore. She began to creep up on him while he was distracted watching another news story about a Japanese construction company that had gone from a small-time local operation into a multinational corporate juggernaut. They had gotten lucrative government business contracts to help rebuild Tokyo and Osaka following Godzilla's initial attacks in the fifties. The man running the company, Santori Kenchiku, had taken advantage of the situation to buy out his competitors one at a time and absorb them into his own business. He'd made a killing off of rebuilding both cities. In a world of giant monsters, the man who could quickly and cheaply rebuild things was a man with limitless potential. There was discussion about the Kenchiku Group expanding their operation over to the West Coast of the United States to help rebuild the destroyed sections of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Marcus felt a hand touch his shoulder and turned to see Kiki standing there next to him.

"Find peace." Kiki said to him firmly. Her eyes were staring into his own intensely. Her words were not a pleasant suggestion. She said it as if she were giving Marcus a command. Something akin to a hypnotist instructing a subject. Marcus understood what she was trying to do, and even tried to fight it, but he had no defense against Kiki's willpower. He felt paralyzed and suddenly couldn't breathe. He could feel his control slipping away and the burden of his anxieties and pain easing. Slowly but surely, she soothed his sorrows.

Kiki took her hand off Marcus' shoulder and he could breathe again. He couldn't help but feel violated, but he also felt a miraculous sense of relief as well. The despair he'd felt so keenly only moments before had been entirely banished from his mind. She had shut it off as easily as he might flick down a light switch. Marcus still felt all of the love for his lost wife and children as he had before, and he could still feel the sadness of his loss, but his overwhelming grief no longer dominated his state of mind.

Marcus didn't know what to say. He was in a mild state of shock. Kiki also didn't know what to do next. She'd never used her powers to so drastically alter the mind of one of her friends before. Even though she knew it was necessary, and she meant nothing but the best for Marcus, there was still something unethical about it. It was done though, and there was no going back. Each of them would have to accept it going forward.

…

Several days later, Samara was creeping through the dark. She had infiltrated the base's outer security fence and entered the grounds. She still had to walk several miles to arrive at her objective, but at least it was a pleasant enough trek. She had entered a valley that was surrounded by forest and mountains. The evening air was filled with the sights and sounds of nightlife; owls hooting, frogs ribbiting from a nearby pond, and lightning bugs flashing their colors to attract mates.

After an hour, Samara was closing in on her goal. Off in the distance, she could make out the outline of large bleachers set against the moonlight. Light was reflecting off the metal poles which made up the stand's superstructure. It was at that point where Samara ran into her first major obstacle. There were armed men patrolling this area of the grounds. She could see their flashlights darting around in the dark. They didn't seem alarmed though. From what Samara could see, they were moving around casually on their predesignated patrol routes. This helped her relax. It seemed as though she was still entirely undetected. The flashlights made it easy for her to see where the guards were. Therefore, avoiding them would be very little trouble.

Samara quietly closed in. Her destination was a special observation box at the top of the bleachers which had been carved into the side of a mountain. She needed to gain access to it. It was at that moment that Samara noticed something that was going to make her job a whole lot more difficult. Some of the security men were not alone on their patrols. A few of them had guard dogs in tow with them. Her chameleon cloak could keep her from being spotted, but it would not hide her scent from dogs. If she wasn't careful, they'd be able to sniff her out.

Samara stopped and watched. Over time, she was working out the paths of the guards with dogs. She'd need to approach the target area from a route where the dogs didn't cross, otherwise they'd pick up her scent and could follow it. Samara quickly realized that the guards were covering all of the approaches. Thus, she'd need to be creative to circumvent their defenses. Fortunately, she had just the thing.

Samara closed in until she'd come to one of the patrol routes. Once there, she pulled out a special pheromone spray. She turned to a nearby tree and squirted the base thoroughly with the substance. Then she repeated the process numerous times until there were several locations with the scent. Once that was done, Samara moved on towards the objective. She used the steps of the bleachers to move up towards the top, but she had to be very careful to tread lightly. The metals steps reverberated even the slightest sounds.

Halfway up the climb, Samara could hear one of the guards reach the area with the pheromones. His dog stopped at the first tree and was enthralled with the smell. The two of them came to a complete stop. At first, the guard assumed his partner just needed a pee break and waited for him to do so. After a couple of moments with no action, he was becoming inpatient. The dog just kept sniffing around endlessly.

"Come on, hurry up!" The man snapped irritably. The dog ignored him and just kept sniffing. "For crying out loud, lets go." He tugged the German Shepard along, forcing it to move on. Only a couple of steps later, they came to the next tree in line and the dog stopped again. The guard tugged on his leash, but the dog fought to stay where he was. "Seriously?! What is wrong with you?!" The guard said frustrated. "Did you find a damn skunk or something?!"

Samara smiled and had to stifle a laugh. Her ploy was working perfectly. The dog would never even notice her scent at this rate, and the guard was being significantly delayed from his patrol. She was free to operate uninterrupted. Carefully, she reached the top of the stands and found a side door to enter the viewing platform. There was a lock on the door, but she was able to pick through it with ease. Once inside, Samara looked around. The room was set up with tiered sections with chairs facing towards large observation windows. Each tier had a table bolted to the floor. Samara produced a small round device from her pocket and planted it on the underside of one of the tables. Once it was secured, she prepared to leave the same way she'd come in.

There was a complication though. The observation deck was connected to a tunnel where its future occupants were meant to come from. From the tunnel, another guard was on his way to the room. He would be inside before Samara could leave again. Thus, she was forced to hide. She found a corner and tucked herself into it.

The guard entered the observation deck and began to look around with his flashlight. Luckily, he did not have a dog with him in toe, or Samara would have already been discovered. The man was being very thorough looking around. He was checking every corner of the room. Samara had her chameleon cloak engaged, but that wouldn't stop the man from making contact if he ran into her, and he was already way too close for comfort.

Samara readied herself. With the advantage of surprise, she'd easily be able to take him out, but if she did so, it would put the mission at risk. Even if Samara knocked out the guard or killed him, the rest of the base would know something was amiss when he didn't report back in, and they'd turn the base upside down looking for an intruder. The operation had a much higher probability of success if she was never detected at all.

The guard came within a foot of where Samara was standing, and he was looking right at her. She kept as still as a statue and breathed as quietly as possible. The man stood there for an uncomfortably long time before he was distracted by the sound of the other guard yelling at his dog. They were just outside and still stopping at every tree. The second guard went out the side door to investigate, missing the fact that it was already unlocked.

"Just what in the hell is going on out here?!" The second guard yelled down to the first as he thundered down the steps.

Samara slipped out behind him and then moved on to her secondary objective. All she had to do now was find a nice quiet spot to hide out for the next couple of hours and wait for the next phase of the operation to begin.

…



The next morning, a huge crowd descended upon the area. They were entering the proving grounds for the recently rebuilt Mechani-Kong. In just over an hour, the giant robot was going to demonstrate its capabilities to the general American public. The proving grounds were twenty miles outside of Seattle, Washington in the rugged wilderness. A perfect location to allow the robot to stretch its legs.

It was a big event. It had the atmosphere of a summer festival. The stands were filling up with people carrying balloons, and even though the main attraction had yet to appear, people were already cheering. Mechani-Kong was developed to be the first anti-kaiju mech, and everybody was eager to see what it could do. The level of enthusiasm was palpable. Having equal footing with the kaiju for the first time was something well-worth getting excited about. Marcus was walking around the grounds to check things out ahead of the demonstration. There was more optimism in the air than there'd been in a very long time. Even Marcus himself couldn't help but feel it. But in part, that was due to his forced attitude adjustment. A spark of hope had been reignited within him though.

There were a lot of VIPs at the demonstration. Many Congressmen and their families were in attendance, and the sitting President, Andrew R. Foley, was apparently going to be on hand too. Marcus saw women and children amongst the crowd, and he had to pretend that they didn't bother him. He felt sad, but not entirely debilitated like he'd been before. Marcus was surprised to see them at all though. Security protocols had been intentionally loosened up by a Presidential decree. The Commander in Chief wanted as many people as possible to see the robot in action. It wasn't like the Mechani-Kong Project was some big state secret. Everybody knew that it was being developed. In fact, the sitting President was using it as a political tool to help keep people calm. After what happened on the West Coast, many were still scared that it could happen again anywhere in the United States. This demonstration was not just for the few men at the top of the power pyramid, but rather the country as a whole.

That didn't mean just anybody could get into the grounds though. Every single person in the crowd had to pass a rigorous background check. It was limited only to U.S. citizens who had no criminal records as well as no affiliations with anyone in the Communist Party or any other radical political groups. They only wanted clean-cut people who would go home and spread positive opinions about the giant robot and boost morale and support for the Mechani-Kong Project.

As Marcus approached the stands, he saw one of the security guards and their dog stopped at a tree. The German Shepard was intently sniffing around. The dog did not seem alerted to anything, and his master simply looked annoyed, so it didn't concern Marcus much. It was a little weird, but he didn't really have time to investigate the matter. Admiral Malek wanted him to meet him in the VIP box to help entertain the politicians who were gathering there since he was still the poster boy of the organization. Marcus hated the idea, but it wasn't optional.

Marcus ascended the stairs and presented his ID badge to the guards who were standing at attention next to the side entrance of the VIP gallery. The guards allowed Marcus in, and he found that the President himself had just arrived with some level of fanfare from the senators. Admiral Malek was walking in toe with President Foley, chatting him up.

…

Nearby, Samara was monitoring the VIP gallery through the lenses of an enhanced type of binoculars. She had also noticed the President's arrival and was thumbing her finger over the activation button for the device she had left sitting under the table in the box. She just needed to wait for the President to get a little closer, so he'd be within the device's effective range. He closed to within ten meters and then she depressed the button. The listening device activated itself and she could crisply hear every word that was spoken within twenty yards of it. She needed to adjust the settings though. With so many people talking all at once, she was having a hard time cutting through all of the background conversations.

Finally, Samara got it dialed in and could begin to gather valuable information about the surface dweller's new robot. She knew when the demonstration began, the G-Force representatives would start describing every detail about its capabilities to the men in that room. They'd want to really sell them on what their tax dollars had bought them. Samara began recording. There was no telling what other information might slip out during a gathering of so many powerful men.

"Ah, that must be Lieutenant Ryan!" President Foley noticed Marcus entering the room. "Now there is a man who has had a very distinguished career. I see his name come up all of the time in reports." He said to Admiral Malek.

"Yes, Marcus is one of my absolute best men Mr. President." Admiral Malek agreed.

Samara adjusted her binoculars to focus on him. A warrior who carried such high esteem might just be worth documenting. She was surprised to see the very same soldier from the island.

'Him again…' She thought irritably. Her pride was still stinging from the embarrassment of being captured. From a technical standpoint, she felt like she owed him a debt of honor since he'd let her go. 'No, I spared his life once too. We are even.' She reasoned, trying to ignore him and focus on the mission. To her dismay, Marcus was called over to talk with the President, forcing her to pay attention to him once again. Samara could see that Marcus looked quite uncomfortable talking with his superiors and got a mischievous sense of satisfaction from it.

"So, Lieutenant Ryan, tell me about your exploits fighting monsters." President Foley invited. "You must have a lot of crazy stories to tell." Marcus stood there, struggling to reply. The President didn't know he was hitting on a sore subject. The reports he read said nothing about the recent personal tragedy that Marcus had endured. Admiral Malek was staring at Marcus, waiting for him to reply. He wanted everybody under his command to put their best foot forward, and Marcus simply wasn't living up to that expectation.

"Lieutenant Ryan, it's so good to finally meet you." A senator stepped forward and took Marcus' hand to shake it, bailing him out of the awkward situation. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your family. Particularly your father-in-law. He was a colleague of mine and a good friend. He'd be very proud of the way you are carrying on."

"Marcus lost his wife and children during King Ghidorah's last raid." Admiral Malek felt compelled to explain for the sake of the President who was still ignorant of everything. "But that has only strengthened his resolve to fight even harder for the cause." Malek assured him.

"Oh, I see." President Foley finally understood the folly he'd made. "Well son, keep your chin up. We are all very proud of the work you are doing." He added, trying to keep up a sense of decorum while turning his attention elsewhere to escape any further embarrassment.

From afar, Samara was still listening in and gained a little understanding of her enemy. The sadness in his eyes was apparently well-justified.

Marcus meanwhile was trying to extract himself from the VIP gallery. He knew Malek could handle things on his own, and he'd probably even prefer that Marcus made himself scarce at that point after embarrassing the President.

After leaving the VIP gallery, Marcus made his way down towards the Command-and-Control center of the base. The facility had been cut into a mountain side to camouflage it from the sky. On the way to C , Marcus passed close by Mechani-Kong's hanger. In the hallway, Marcus saw the test pilot getting his gear on. His name was Johnny. Marcus said nothing to him because he didn't really like Johnny very much. In fact, he was just the kind of guy Marcus despised. Extremely arrogant, cocky, and intentionally obnoxious. A real hotshot. Of course, those same qualities tended to be desirable traits for a test pilot. A man needed confidence to perform such dangerous tasks in the field day-in and day-out. But those guys were a real chore to be around back at the barracks and Marcus didn't like having to put up with his antics. Most of the time, he didn't have to. Fortunately, Marcus out-ranked Johnny and could order him out of his sight whenever he became too grating.

"Hey, aren't you going to wish me good luck today, Lieutenant?" Johnny called to Marcus as he went past. He knew it would annoy Marcus, and it did. Marcus stopped, turned, and summoned all of the patience he could muster.

"Good luck with the test airmen." Marcus said flatly before moving on.

…

An hour later, everybody was in position and Mechani-Kong was preparing for launch. Huge doors opened up from the mountainside, revealing a secret hanger within. The crowd in the stands started to get excited as they sensed that the demonstration was about to begin.

"Okay Johnny, take her out." Dr. Klaus, the robot's chief engineer, instructed from the command center. Marcus was standing behind Klaus watching the monitors.

Mechani-Kong stepped out into the daylight with a mechanical clank and the crowd began to cheer. They were in awe of the silver colossus. From her hiding spot, Samara was likewise fascinated. A mechanical monster was not something you got to see every day, and even though she'd seen one recently, she was still impressed that the surface dwellers were able to construct one in the first place, though she suspected that they'd had outside help. What she was seeing now was a restoration of what others had originally constructed. It was very sophisticated. The question in her mind was: Who was the initial designer? She ensured that her video recording device was operating properly and took footage of the robot as it continued to march forward.



Up in the VIP gallery, Samara could hear a voice addressing the capabilities of the robot. It was Dr. Steiner. It was a big moment for Reinhart. A weapon he'd help to create was on the verge of directly combating Kaiju. He could sense that his revenge was nearly at hand, and the spectators could hear it in his voice as he spoke. For the moment, Reinhart was focusing on the mechanical specs of the robot. He was explaining to the politicians how such a heavy machine was able to operate. New alloys that were lighter and stronger were mostly behind it, but also a revolutionary engine and mechanical musculature that made the robots' movements more fluent.

Reinhart explained the complicated process through which he and Dr. Klaus were able to adapt what was a remotely controlled machine into one that was run by a pilot. The largest benefit of doing so was to prevent an enemy from being able to disrupt or jam the control signal, thereby causing your mech to suddenly shut down in the heat of battle. With a pilot in control, that was one glaring weakness that could no longer be exploited.

Of course, having a pilot wasn't an easy proposition either. Several test pilots were injured, and one was even killed while they were trying to work out all of the bugs from the control system. Mechani-Kong had an advanced gyroscopic module which helped to keep the robot balanced and upright. The machine fell over several times before they could perfect it. Mechani-Kong could take the crashes without any major issues, but the organic pilots were put through the force of a serious car wreck each time it happened.

While Reinhart was talking, the crowd and the VIPs were all just watching Mechani-Kong traverse through a series of barriers that were meant to push the machine's abilities and the pilot's skills. Both were up to the task. The long arms of Mechani-Kong were quite useful in negotiating the various obstacles. The robot came to a stop in the middle of the proving grounds where it waited for the next portion of the demonstration to begin.

Reinhart explained that Mechani-Kong had been outfitted with the most advanced targeting system ever created by the U.S. military, and most likely, by any military in the world. It featured an onboard computer tracking system which aided the pilot's own aim.

"Okay Johnny, show them what you got." Dr. Klaus instructed from the command-and-control center.

"Roger." Johnny replied, activating the weapon systems of the robot. From the forearms of Mechani-Kong, slits opened up and duel laser cannons adapted from the technology of the salvaged Black Shark warship became visible.

In her perch, Samara's jaw clenched angrily as she immediately understood what she was looking at. Malchius had slipped up. The surface dwellers had indeed stolen some of their technology and were already weaponizing it. There would be hell to pay when she got back to Mu and reported this.

"Here come the dummy planes." Dr. Klaus alerted Johnny. "Get ready."



Mechani-Kong turned east as planned. The entire demonstration was being carefully choreographed to impress the spectators, and this part was no exception. Three out-of-service Sabre jets were being sacrificed for target practice. Johnny eyed them through his targeting scope and raised the robot's right arm to take aim. Three shots were taken, and three kills were achieved. One by one, the Sabres exploded in quick succession.

"Excellent Johnny." Admiral Malek said, letting him know he was pleased with his performance. "Now use the cutter." He instructed.

"Yes sir." Johnny replied. He focused his attention to a grove of trees that were nicely lined up on a nearby hill. The laser in Mechani-Kong's forearm fired again. This time, instead of a series of pulsating shots, the laser's beam was focused into a single strand of energy. It sliced through the base of the trees and toppled them over as the stream cut through them with ease. Everyone was impressed with the firepower.

"Now for the durability test." Dr. Klaus said. "This time it's the real-deal Johnny. Let them plink you good."

A flight of F-4 Phantoms came over the horizon while a platoon of tanks emerged from the hanger. The vehicles got themselves organized and then threw several volleys of fire at Mechani-Kong. Within the machine, Johnny could hear the sound of rounds clanking off of his armor harmlessly.



"Okay, that's enough, cease fire." Admiral Malek radioed to the soldiers in the tanks and fighters.

When the smoke cleared, Mechani-Kong hardly had a mark on her. Just a few patches where black powder had clung onto the metal.

"Let's move on to the next phase." Admiral Malek said. "Get the grenades ready."

"Sir, we're picking up something weird on radar." One of the technicians warned, cutting into the conversation.

"Standby Johnny, we need to check something out." Admiral Malek turned to look over the shoulder of the tech, surveying the radar screen himself. Marcus quickly joined him. Together, they watched as the blip got closer.

"Whatever it is, it's big." Marcus noted. "Maybe we should recall Mechani-Kong until we are able to identify it."

"No… I think we are about to have our first real field test." Admiral Malek noted ominously. "Brock, get up to the VIP gallery and have them evacuate the President immediately."

In the gallery, it was starting to become apparent that something was wrong. The demonstration had come to a complete halt. Reinhart was getting nervous. He didn't know what to do at that point without further instructions. He kept waiting for the presentation to proceed so he could continue his prearranged speech. Suddenly, an object appeared in the sky from the north. Something was approaching the test area and doing so very rapidly.

"Is this part of the test?" One of the Senators asked. Confusion spread throughout the VIP gallery.

Samara, who was still listening in, also became concerned. She turned her binoculars towards the oncoming object to get a better look at it. She could see light glinting off of the unknown entity as it approached. She quickly realized that it was a kaiju. For an instant, she thought that it was King Ghidorah returning to continue his rampage, but she was mistaken. This monster was silver, not gold.

"What in the hell is that?!" She could hear men in the VIP gallery beginning to panic. The regular spectators were also growing nervous. The crowd in the stands began to disperse as it became apparent that this wasn't part of the show.



Inside of Mechani-Kong, Johnny turned to face the oncoming threat. At that point, the intruder was landing about three hundred yards away in the forest. What everybody saw shocked them. It was another mechanical monster, this one vaguely resembling Godzilla. It had three rows of spines on its back, only they were very simple in design compared to the intricate structures of Godzilla's back plates. In reality, they were little more than smooth thin grooved metal columns which arced inwards forming a modest crescent shape.



The new robot had a pointed and hooked control antenna sticking out the top of its head, which gave its crest a distinct and decorative design. Its facial features were sharp and bold. They were gaunt and vaguely skeletal in appearance. It had yellow mechanical eyes which lacked pupils. Taken together, all of these elements gave the machine's face a very menacing look. On either side of its temples, there were red circular nodes which gave the robot just a splash of color that stood out from the metal frame. The rest of its body was almost entirely bright silver, aside from one other red patch on its arms were the letters 'MG' were prominently displayed.

The body of the machine was covered in bolts which served to hold its frame together. One of the most notable features of the design was the fingers of the mech. They were sharp, pointed, and disproportionately large. They were also aligned in oddly straight lines. The knee joints of the robot each had a single spike protruding out of them. There was a boxy compartment sticking out of the machine's chest. The exact purpose of this section was unclear. Despite being a robot, the machine had a distinctly malicious aura about it, almost demonic in nature.

"First there was a Mechani-Kong, now it appears that someone else has built a 'Mecha-Godzilla' as well." Admiral Malek noted flatly.

His observation was cut off by the sound of Mechagodzilla making its presence felt. The robot let out an ear-splitting cry. The piercing sound even reverberated inside the control center of the mountain. Mechagodzilla lifted his arm, and his right hand spun around three-hundred and sixty degrees at the wrist before locking into place. The moment it stopped, the tips of his fingers went flying away from the knuckles and rocketed towards Mechani-Kong. Before Johnny could maneuver out of the way, his robot was struck in the chest. Fortunately for him, Mechagodzilla's finger missiles were not particularly accurate. Only one out of the four shots actually hit its mark. The other three were near misses, blowing up against the ground around Mechani-Kong's feet, sending torrents of dirt and debris flying up.



"Shit, those rockets pack quite a wallop Admiral!" Johnny reported from his cockpit. The individual missile that had managed to hit him left a sizable pockmark in his machine's armor.

"Return the favor, let him know you can hit back." Admiral Malek ordered.

Johnny utilized the green lasers in Mechani-Kong's forearm and the beams hit Mechagodzilla in the neck. The robot shuttered as the lasers exploded on contact, but it withstood the beam's effects. The shiny silver armor was scuffed, but otherwise intact. Johnny was anxious after that. The lasers were the most potent weapon Mechani-Kong carried, and they'd barely made a scratch. That did not bode well for the rest of the fight.

Mechagodzilla fired off a second volley of his finger missiles with his left hand. Through the monitors, Admiral Malek and Marcus could see that Mechagodzilla's right hand was already in the process of replacing the missiles it had fired previously. They were being reloaded from within, emerging directly from the empty weapon ports. Mechagodzilla apparently had a large stockpile of missiles in which to replenish itself. How many it had stored within its body, no one knew for sure, but it was definitely another disadvantage for Johnny and Mechani-Kong to contend with. They couldn't simply hope for Mechagodzilla to expend all of its ammunition at the beginning of the fight.

A second missile caught Mechani-Kong in the abdomen, causing minor damage. Meanwhile, one of the other missiles from the second volley sailed past Johnny and impacted into the bleachers behind him. Members of the audience who hadn't yet evacuated were caught up in the resulting explosion.

"Johnny, get him away from the crowd!" Marcus urged him. "Move the fight away from the proving grounds. The mountains around you will be more to your advantage anyways."

"Roger." Johnny replied. He pulled two grenades from the ammo belt around Mechani-Kong's waist and tossed both of them at Mechagodzilla. The first was a fragmentation grenade meant to do some damage. The second one contained smoke intended to help cover his retreat. They both went off and Mechani-Kong scampered away.

"How'd that grenade do?!" Johnny asked as he moved into cover behind a tall hill.

"It's not enough against that armor." Admiral Malek reported. "The smoke seems to be working though. It can't seem to target you at the moment."



"He's coming after you Johnny." Marcus warned. "But your robot is more limber, use that to your advantage." He suggested. "Maybe try for its eyes. It can't be so heavily armored everywhere."

"Yes sir!" Johnny replied.



Johnny found a nice cluster of trees to hide in and then waited for Mechagodzilla to clear the hill so he could get a good shot at him. The moment finally came, and Johnny aimed carefully. The green laser shot out and hit Mechagodzilla right between the eyes. Unfortunately, the beam didn't actually hit either of them. Mechagodzilla was knocked off balance for an instant, but it recovered very quickly. Afterwards, it utilized a new weapon in retaliation. Each of Mechagodzilla's eyes emitted a rainbow-colored beam. This weapon proved to be much more accurate, and even more powerful than the robot's finger missiles. Mechani-Kong's armored right shoulder took the brunt of the hit, but the exposed laser in its right arm was grazed by Mechagodzilla's beam and badly damaged. It was knocked out of action for the rest of the fight. Mechani-Kong fell down after being hit by the force of Mechagodzilla's eye lasers and Johnny found himself in pretty bad trouble.



At that dire moment, jets that were still carrying live ammo from the demonstration screamed in from above and lent Johnny a hand. They couldn't hope to damage Mechagodzilla, but they could distract him for a few seconds to give Johnny a chance to recover. The ploy worked perfectly. Mechagodzilla turned his attention away from the downed Mechani-Kong. He once again employed the rainbow rays in his eyes to fire at the fighters as his unguided finger missiles had next to no chance of hitting a moving target. Mechagodzilla managed to shoot down one of the jets, but the pilot was able to eject in time.



While Mechagodzilla was distracted, Johnny used Mechani-Kong to climb up a steep mountainside and was preparing to make his next move. Once the jets had moved out of the area, Mechagodzilla looked around trying to reacquire him. The robot walked forward towards the mountain, which played right into Johnny's hands. From directly above, Mechani-Kong jumped down, clenching the trunk of a redwood in its hands. Johnny used the massive tree like a club, bashing it over Mechagodzilla's head. Between gravity, the weight of Mechani-Kong's body, and the force of his swing, Johnny snapped the redwood in half and forced Mechagodzilla to the ground. It fell on its face and was motionless afterwards.





"Got'em!" Admiral Malek cheered, sensing victory. "Now we get to claim the spoils." He added confidently, thinking about the technology they might acquire from their fallen adversary.

The celebration was premature though. Mechagodzilla seemed to fire back up and then started moving again. Johnny tried to keep it down, using Mechani-Kong's long arms to hammer down on Mechagodzilla's body, but to no avail. Mechagodzilla got back to his feet, despite the pounding its frame had taken.

"Stay behind him!" Marcus warned. "Don't let him hit you with his projectiles at that range!"

Johnny was too busy to respond, but he followed Marcus' advice, ensuring that Mechagodzilla's eye beams and finger missiles were safely pointed away from him. Johnny used Mechani-Kong's arms to wrap around Mechagodzilla's neck, holding him in place. Seeing an opportunity, he did his best to try to wrench Mechagodzilla's head away from its body. Perhaps if he could decapitate his enemy, that would be enough to ensure victory.

Johnny could hear the metal frame of Mechagodzilla's body creaking from the strain it was under. He realized that he might actually have a chance of pulling it off. Just then, Mechagodzilla's head snapped around one hundred and eighty degrees, and was suddenly staring him right in the face.



"Holy Jesus ass-crackers!" Johnny shouted, having been caught completely off guard. "Somebody call for an exorcist!" Johnny joked, trying to recover his wits and hide his fear.

Before he could do anything else, Mechagodzilla blasted Mechani-Kong in the face. This broke the clench between the two robots and sent Mechani-Kong reeling. Mechagodzilla quickly turned its entire body around and initiated a melee assault while Johnny was still recovering. Mechagodzilla chopped at Mechani-Kong viciously over and over again with its hands.



"Back off Johnny." Marcus instructed him. "You've got a reach advantage, make use of it. Try to keep him at arm's length and jab."



Johnny used Mechani-Kong's long arms to push off against Mechagodzilla and then slapped the machine across the face to disrupt its assault. Then he balled Mechani-Kong's fists and carefully picked his moments to strike, making sure to stay just out of Mechagodzilla's reach. This went well for a few moments until Mechagodzilla revealed its next surprise. The entire front portion of its chest opened up, revealing a massive ray emitter. It blasted Mechani-Kong in the torso, sending him flying backwards into a grove of trees. Johnny's readouts were registering internal electrical damage from the blast. Johnny himself had been injured during the impact. His safety gear had saved his life, but he could feel several broken ribs, and likely, what were other internal injuries. He'd nearly been knocked out as well. He undoubtably had a concussion.

"Fuck…" Johnny moaned as he struggled to focus.

Mechagodzilla was showing no mercy though. He began to bombard Mechani-Kong with all of his projectiles at once. Johnny could feel the various impacts against his armor, which was quickly getting riddled with holes.



"Use your eye flash!" Johnny could hear Marcus shouting to him over the radio.

"It's not an organic target, that's not going to work!" Admiral Malek pointed out.

"Do it anyways Johnny!" Marcus repeated.



Johnny resumed control and sat Mechani-Kong up, even though he was still being constantly bombarded. He used the eye flash and suddenly Mechagodzilla's accuracy diminished significantly. The bright light was confusing Mechagodzilla's targeting sensors. It couldn't get a solid lock. Several shots missed, giving Mechani-Kong just enough of a break to get back to his feet.

"Go evasive." Admiral Malek ordered. "Hide if you can."

Johnny did as he was told. He found a good spot in the mountains with thick tree cover. Mechagodzilla scanned the area but failed to find him. Unfortunately, his sensors did pick up on other moving objects nearby. A huge line of cars were trying to escape the battle area. They were gridlocked together in a big cluster on a mountain pass. The traffic jam happened to include the President's very own limousine and escorts. Mechagodzilla started to move towards them menacingly. His ill-intent was clear.



"Oh shit, its going for the President's motorcade…" Marcus noted with a chill in his tone.



From his hiding spot, Johnny made a decision and acted on it. He broke his cover and began to make his way over to intercept Mechagodzilla.

"Wait, he's trying to bait you out!" Admiral Malek warned him urgently.



Johnny ignored Malek and moved to put himself between the President's car and Mechagodzilla. As he had been drawn out of hiding, Mechagodzilla shifted targets and reengaged Mechani-Kong. The simian machine was on terrible ground now, out in the open without any cover whatsoever. Mechagodzilla's first shots were aimed at his legs. The right knee joint took damage which slowed Johnny down. It was a death-sentence. The only real advantage Mechani-Kong had was his speed.

Now that he had a good clear shot at a slow target, Mechagodzilla launched a full-scale assault with his projectiles. Every weapon in the machine's considerable arsenal was utilized. The eye beams, finger missiles, and chest cannon were now joined by missiles from Mechagodzilla's mouth, toes, and even knee joints. It was a near-endless barrage.

Mechani-Kong began to faulter under the overwhelming stream of firepower. Its already damaged armor could not hold up against the onslaught. Little by little, it was shredded, allowing Mechagodzilla to target the more vital operating systems below.

"I'm registering a critical engine hit!" Johnny announced, trying to sound calm and collected, despite the dire straits he found himself in.

"Punch out Johnny!" Marcus said. "There's nothing more you can do. Get out of there!"

"That system has not been implemented yet…" Admiral Malek revealed, making everybody's blood run cold as they realized what it meant.

From there, everyone in the control room could only watch as Mechani-Kong was torn to pieces. In the end, when Mechagodzilla finally let up, only portions of the robot's torso were left. Johnny was somehow still alive and trying to drag what was left of his machine towards the hanger out of desperation. Mechagodzilla had no intention of letting him do so though. It brought its foot down onto the now vulnerable cockpit and ruthlessly crushed Johnny.

After that, Mechagodzilla blasted what was left of Mechani-Kong's components until what remained of the robot was entirely unsalvageable.

...

[ConvergeTakedown]

So, the invaders decide to make the first move?

Mechani-Kong (and its pilot) suffering wear and tear over the course of the fight was a nice touch. It made me think of Battletech and all its adaptations.

[Ashram52]

So, the invaders decide to make the first move?

Mechani-Kong (and its pilot) suffering wear and tear over the course of the fight was a nice touch. It made me think of Battletech and all its adaptations.

…

Would it shock you greatly if I said I followed Battletech a little bit?

In fact, a lot of my orignal paper buildings I got from the Sarna website. If you got some cardstock paper and a printer, they have a lot of free building templates there. It’s relatively easy to make some small scale buildings for a Godzilla diorama and/or terrain for a Mech-Warrior tabletop battle.

As the story goes on, you’ll probably see more stuff that is going to remind you of Battletech. Possibly even some of the mechs themselves. In the beginning, I had a grand idea of how to incorporate a few, but I’m not sure anymore. Since my original story notes got lost on a bad thumb drive, it’s one of those things that kind of went by the wayside. I still got a box of Battlemech minis sitting around somewhere collecting dust.

If you know who ‘Tex of the Black Pants Legion’ is, I was going to make him a character in G-Force. (With his permission if possible). Specifically a mech pilot. He’s a pretty entertaining YouTuber. He covers a lot of Battletech related material. He’s got such a strong personally and is full of funny one-liners. I was going to use him, but all of his funny quotes got lost. So, I’ll either have to start again, drop him as a character, or maybe just scale down his role some.

Out of all of the things I lost on that disc, Tex’s comedic lines are the thing I get the most bent out of shape over. It was ‘pages’ of dialogue that I’d collected over the course of a couple years that I just can’t recreate. I think a fair criticism of my writing is there could be more comedic aspects, and Tex as a character was one way I was planning to fill that gap. So I was pretty frustrated loosing that stuff. In fact, I’m a little still mad about it.

…

[mpsoldier]

Good entry. Mecha Godzilla vs MechaKong is such an incredibly obvious match up I'm genuinely surprised it never made it into a movie. Or one where they work together. It's about time someone decided to make it happen. Or perhaps some kind of interaction with MechaGhidorah. Excellent modeling work. The robots look impressive.

[Ashram52]

Good entry. Mecha Godzilla vs MechaKong is such an incredibly obvious match up I'm genuinely surprised it never made it into a movie. Or one where they work together. It's about time someone decided to make it happen. Or perhaps some kind of interaction with MechaGhidorah. Excellent modeling work. The robots look impressive.

...

Oh yeah, MK vs. MG is one of the founding ideas I had for this project. It was one of those concepts that easily survived the now infamous: 'Thumb Drive Incident'. There was actually a piece of fan art that helped to inspire the idea.

Part of what made me want to explore the matchup was a question that someone poised on a Godzilla FB group. They asked who would win in a fight between the two. I think it's a no brainer. From my perspective, Mechagodzilla would easily win hands down. Mechani-Kong, as seen in 'King Kong Escapes', has no projectile weaponry whatsoever (Unless you count his hypnosis pod or eye flashes, neither of which would be very effective against another robot.) and Mechagodzilla is just flush with so many powerful beam and rocket options. MK has got grenades, but again, I didn't figure those would be terribly effect against MG's armor. So, MK doesn't have a reliable long-range option in battle. He 'might' do a little better in melee combat, but Mechagodzilla has also been shown to be very competent in hand-to-hand combat as well. The big difference in the two is one of them was designed with 'mining' in mind, and other specifically to defeat Kaiju. I tried to upgrade Mechani-Kong a bit to make the fight seem a little more completive, but I still think MK would lose that fight in 9 out of 10 battles.

A team up would have been interesting for a movie but think the problem with that was probably a 'Rights' issue. I know King Kong was leased to TOHO by Universal for a limited amount of time back in the 60s. By the time MG came about a decade later, it just might not have been an option anymore. But then again, I think Mechani-Kong was a TOHO original character. Of course, it wouldn't make much sense for them to bring him back in a movie if they didn't also have Kong featured too. But yeah, definitely missed opportunities by TOHO. I would have loved to see it.

(This piece of art btw):
 


Anyways, I am working on the outline for Chapter 51, but I've run into a 'major' problem. Namely, Microsoft's greed. I'm using 'Word' to write at this point, and they want me to renew for over a $100 each year, which I think is highway robbery. I'd be okay with paying for software once for $100, but every damn year...? Really...? WTF? That seems pretty unreasonable to me. My product code has expired, so they've got it to where all my documents are locked down. I can't ever edit them or even copy information out of them at this point. So, I have to come up with an alternative going forward.


...

[mpsoldier]

To be fair MechaGodzilla has been used many times and in many iterations. Movies always try to one up themselves. And even his first movie he was meant to fight two Kaiju while MechaKong has been underused and only really used to fight Kong. Still I don't think we would have gotten a MechaGodzilla without the Kong version. And of course the obvious tool vs weapon advantage. I'm not a fan of MechaGodzilla, he really seems to be the start of the whole "not feeling creative so let's just have Godzilla fight some kind of Godzilla" and his first movie is laughably bad. But he's earned his place in lore and it's nice to see the incredibly obvious yet unused matchup play out. For me part of the fun of Kaiju is being exposed to something truly colossal and the very definition of legendary. When they are alive and in some way linked to your past you can somewhat relate and empathize with them even while really being some an ant to them. Robot Kaiju just feel cheap and cheating in comparison so in general I prefer the real thing. Still I like the angle your working. In a roundabout way the aliens using robots kind of rams home their otherworldly nature. And in a way America's use of MechaKong kind of also illustrates the atomic era and the reckless pursuit of technology. You can work thematically with robots with a little thought. Looking forward to Gigan and Megalon.

[Ashram52]

To be fair MechaGodzilla has been used many times and in many iterations. Movies always try to one up themselves. And even his first movie he was meant to fight two Kaiju while MechaKong has been underused and only really used to fight Kong. Still I don't think we would have gotten a MechaGodzilla without the Kong version. And of course the obvious tool vs weapon advantage. I'm not a fan of MechaGodzilla, he really seems to be the start of the whole "not feeling creative so let's just have Godzilla fight some kind of Godzilla" and his first movie is laughably bad. But he's earned his place in lore and it's nice to see the incredibly obvious yet unused matchup play out. For me part of the fun of Kaiju is being exposed to something truly colossal and the very definition of legendary. When they are alive and in some way linked to your past you can somewhat relate and empathize with them even while really being some an ant to them. Robot Kaiju just feel cheap and cheating in comparison so in general I prefer the real thing. Still I like the angle your working. In a roundabout way the aliens using robots kind of rams home their otherworldly nature. And in a way America's use of MechaKong kind of also illustrates the atomic era and the reckless pursuit of technology. You can work thematically with robots with a little thought. Looking forward to Gigan and Megalon.

Yeah, you’re probably right. No Mechani-Kong would likely mean no Mechagodzilla down the road either. The idea of a mechanical monster is just fun to me and I like a good variety of characters.

I do like Mechagodzilla as a character, but he is definitely overused. He’s probably the most reimagined/reoccurring Godzilla character there is. Mothra and Ghidorah are up there too. All part of the ‘Big 5’. Some of the iterations of MG I’m not very fond of.

It’s probably an unpopular opinion, but I’m not that big of a fan of Legendary’s interpretation of Mechagodzilla. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good that he’s a legitimate threat and everything, but I just don’t like the aesthetics and portions of his design. It just doesn’t do it for me. Legendary’s designs are very hit or miss for me. Rodan… great. King Ghidorah… great. King Kong… great.. Godzilla… okay. Mothra… nope, not for me. Mechagodzilla… also a nope.

The worst has to be the ‘Mechagodzilla City’ from the Anime though. (Including the robot mode that we never actually got to see fight) But to be fair, I didn’t like much of anything from that series. I appreciate that they were trying to do something different, but it was a little too far out there for me. Most of the characters were changed so much that you couldn’t even recognize them anymore. The best part of the series was the opening credits in the first film where you got glimpses of the backstory, the global ‘Monster War’ which I think was eventually novelized. Go figure that a guy like me writing a story like mine agrees so much with that premise.

Oh, I forgot to mention it in last post MP, but the next chapter is definitely going to have elements you’ll enjoy.

[mpsoldier]

Well nice to hear. Life's been a little difficult lately and some Kaiju fun always improves it. Been craving some monster battles. I figure the arcs are leaning towards everyone's two favorite Kaiju bullies. It's about time they made an appearance. I've been debating an idea for Gigan myself. We've had two very different iterations of him, but in both he's a cyborg. I was considering what a pre cybernetic Gigan looked like, what kind of character he was. A 100% organic Gigan.

[Ashram52]

Well nice to hear. Life's been a little difficult lately and some Kaiju fun always improves it. Been craving some monster battles. I figure the arcs are leaning towards everyone's two favorite Kaiju bullies. It's about time they made an appearance. I've been debating an idea for Gigan myself. We've had two very different iterations of him, but in both he's a cyborg. I was considering what a pre cybernetic Gigan looked like, what kind of character he was. A 100% organic Gigan.

I think we discussed this previously, but one of the cooler ideas from the first Godzilla Anime series was that Gigan was an Earth monster the military used to fight Godzilla multiple times, and each time he lost, he became more and more bio-mechanical. Of course, they didn’t implement this idea into the ‘actual’ movies. Just lore from the prequel novel I think. Too bad too, because it was fairly interesting and tragic at the same time. A heroic Gigan who just kept losing, badly.

Here’s a little link with an artist’s rendition of what it was supposed to look like:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GODZILLA/comme ... to_cyborg/

…

[mpsoldier]

Thanks. I was trying to picture an all organic Gigan and my brain wasn't quite settled on an appropriate visage. That picture looks correct and also somehow very natural. But while I want to regress him to a purely organic creature in other areas he's not far from what fans are used to. In his appearances Gigan struck me as someone who likes what he's doing, who genuinely enjoys destruction. The control the nebula aliens have over him does not seem to be full on mind control. More like a dog raised to keep pests out of a farm. The dogs instinct is to protect and hunt, it's just being provided with an outlet that is appreciated by another. Gigans instinct seems to be to bully and destroy, he relishes in it. He also displays a genuine bond with Megalon. Teamwork seems to be enjoyed by him, perhaps his species operates in a pack or tight family unit. While he doesn't display the same level of cohesion with Ghidorah he also doesn't look like an unwilling partner.

[Ashram52]

…

Yeah, I think you’re right. You just need to look at Godzilla vs. Gigan. When the mind control device is destroyed in that movie, there are a few seconds where Gigan and Ghidorah just sit there stunned. At that point, the audience is waiting to see what they will do with their own free will restored. And what do they choose to do? Immediately go right back to be A-holes, attacking Godzilla and Anguirus. In both of their cases, I think the mind control is just used to point them in the right direction and not much else.

…

[Ashram52]

…

Btw MP, I found a little something today that should interest you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dvDHp9FE_Y

…

[mpsoldier]

Indeed. That was beautiful. The villains sabotage of Batgirls Bat anti Godzilla repellant was brilliant. And let us all thank the flock of Rodans who selflessly flew in front of the Batcopter that Batman might live.