Kaiju Uprising

[yaburu]

Kaiju Uprising (Tentative Title)
By Yaburu


Prologue

The Year: 2017. Our story takes place in a world very different from the one you know and live in. It’s a world where giant monsters have left a permanent blemish on the face of civilization. Since 1954, when a monster named “Godzilla” wreaked havoc on the Japanese city of Tokyo, massive beasts have cropped up all over the world. Sometimes, the beasts were fought off. Sometimes…not. Countless thousands perished by their actions.

It wasn’t until 1993 that a plan was undertaken to get the problem under control. In a joint effort by the countries of Japan and the United States, the two countries most frequently targeted by Kaiju, the bones of Godzilla were salvaged out of the bottom of the Japanese sea and shipped to a secret facility in the United States. Using modern cloning techniques, cells of the first, and still most powerful, monster ever seen were produced under strict control. Metal and flesh were combined, and a weapon of supreme power was born. Named Mechagodzilla, this new machine/animal hybrid sported state-of-the-art weapons and technology.

It’s first victory, over a monster known as Baragon in 1995, was a resounding success. Between 1995 and 1999, it scored over 24 confirmed Kaiju kills across the globe. It seemed that at last, the Kaiju scourge was coming under control. But then, ominously, on January 1st of 2000, what appeared to be a ghost of Japan’s past came back to haunt it.

A second Godzilla, seemingly even more powerful then the first, rose from the ocean depths and attacked and razed the same city his predecessor had almost 50 years prior. Mechagodzilla was dispatched and sped to the island nation as fast as it could. When it arrived, it quickly squared off with the new nuclear terror. But before it even got a shot off, something odd happened. The machine itself took control away from the pilots inside, and killed them by lowering the radiation shielding from their cockpit. It then joined Godzilla in an orgy of destruction, leveling Tokyo completely and killing thousands.

Eventually, the power cells within Mechagodzilla ran out, and it shut down. Godzilla returned to the ocean, and Mechagodzilla was taken in for repairs. Engineers eventually came to the conclusion that Godzilla’s roar somehow triggered dormant cells within Mechagodzilla’s body and caused it to revert to what it was: The original Godzilla. This theory was close to what actually happened, but not quite accurate…

Mechagodzilla’s systems were overhauled to prevent the catastrophe in Tokyo from happening again, and it was once again sent after Godzilla. This time, the long-awaited confrontation happened. The battle was epic, and both combatants suffered greatly seeking victory. But in the end, Mechagodzilla stood over Godzilla, ready to land the deathblow. But before it could, the same strange takeover happened within it. Mechagodzilla grabbed the critically injured Godzilla, and flew with him far out to sea, before plummeting into the ocean.

No one quite understood why Mechagodzilla did what he did. Many eccentrics claiming to have ESP and powers of the like claimed that Mechagodzilla had the soul of the original Godzilla in it, and it no longer wished to fight, or harm another of it’s kind, so it flew out to sea with him, to prevent him from harming others. Again, they were close, but not quite right…

After that, Kaiju attacks ceased. Except for one horrific assault in 2001 from a three-headed dragon that came to be called Grand Ghidorah, Kaiju became a thing of the past. Ghidorah was driven off by the combined efforts of the guardian deities Mothra and Battra and what was believed to be possibly the last surviving Kaiju on Earth, Anguirus. Though he was driven off, Grand Ghidorah killed Mothra and Battra, and it was believed Anguirus later died of his wounds, as he took several point blank blasts from Gravity Beams while viciously ripping out the throat of the middle head.

This brings us to today, where a generation is growing up not knowing the horror capable of being wrought by Kaiju. But they’re about to be re-introduced to that horror…

[yaburu]

Chapter 1:
BIGOR

Millions of years ago, Dinosaurs ruled the Earth. But an asteroid from the heavens ended their rule swiftly and viciously. Scores of the beasts were killed instantly. Hundreds more fell to the harsh conditions of the changed Earth in the days and weeks that followed.

We focus on one piece of land in what will millions of years from now be known as Los Angeles. Starving beasts roam this land, the last remnants of a once mighty species. Many have already succumbed to their hunger, and died. One such Dinosaur lies directly in the path of a fault line deep under the Earth. So it comes as no shock that when a huge Earthquake rocks this piece of land, the ground opens and swallows the beast into the abyss below.

It falls for miles and miles, finally landing on a large piece of rock surrounded by molten lava. The fall is enough to shatter most every bone in the Dinosaur’s body. Had it not already been dead, the fall would have killed it.

At first glance, this cavern is a sight of beauty. The bright colors of the lava light the walls and bounce of the strange crystal-like stones that adorn it. These crystals are, in fact, a type of highly radioactive ore. The entire cavern is filled with radiation in fact. And over the course of the next several million years, the radiation will inexplicably preserve the corpse of the Dinosaur perfectly. And if it weren’t for one man, this would be the Dinosaur’s permanent resting place…

[yaburu]

Chapter 2:
GODzilla

Many, many years ago, in another dimension…

“Dagahra! Dagahra, where are you?” The commanding voice of the God of Atlantis echoed through the entire city. When he was looking for someone, the entire populace knew it.

“I am here, Lord Godzilla.” Dagahra replied, entering the throne room, scurrying along as fast as he could. “You were supposed to be here over 10 minutes ago.” Godzilla said, annoyance foremost in his tone. “Is it to much to ask of you to be punctual?”

“Please forgive me my liege.” Dagahra said, trying his best to hold back the anger in his voice at being dressed down by Godzilla in front of the entire throne room.

“You hold a vital position in my court, and your presence is required for all royal hearings. I understand that your body is more suited for water then land, but please compensate for this in the future.”

“I will my lord.” Dagahra responded meekly.

It was right then that Dagahra snapped. He’d had enough. For years, he’d served this pompous, arrogant fool simply because he had no other choice. Many, many years ago, he attacked this undersea kingdom in hopes of plundering its riches, but his attack was stopped dead in its tracks by the same being that just now humiliated him. How could he compete with a God? He was brought before the ruler of Atlantis, and offered a deal; Godzilla would spare his life provided he helped repair the damage he caused in his attack.

And so, Dagahra was reduced to menial labor, for simply doing what he did best, what came naturally to him. After that, he became a servant in the palace for a year or so, and then he slowly climbed his way up the ranks, eventually settling in as a high-ranking advisor to Lord Godzilla himself.

As far as Dagahra could tell, Godzilla spared him mainly because he wanted another Kaiju around. There weren’t that many of them in the world, fewer still in the water. Dagahra watched Godzilla rule with a fair and just hand. He’d listen to the complaints and grievances of the pathetic insects that inhabited this place, and he’d offer them pacification. Then those same insects would be come back and complain about the pacification. It would be far more efficient to simply kill those who complained, Dagahra thought. The problem would then be permanently solved, and none of the other inhabitants would bother complaining for fear of being killed.

But no, that’s not how Godzilla ruled. The fool. But Dagahra had had enough. He’d been thinking of ways to overthrow Godzilla for some time now. Until recently, he’d come up empty. After all, how does one harm a God? There were instances in the past. Godzilla himself once attacked Mt. Olympus when the Greek God Zeus insulted him. Godzilla proved himself to be more then a match for Zeus, beating him badly and plundering much of Mt. Olympus’ riches and treasures. Those same treasures were now stored deep within Atlantis’ vaults, a testament to Godzilla’s victory.

It was then that Dagahra remembered that among the many things Godzilla took for himself from Olympus were a variety of magic trinkets forged by the Greek Gods, as well as a wealth of books on the magic arts. Dagahra immersed himself in these books, searching desperately for something, anything, that might reveal to him that secret of secrets: How to defeat the most powerful being on Earth.

With so much knowledge at his flipper tips, it was only a matter of time before he came across what he’d been searching for. It would require two pieces of Ambrosia, the food of the Greek Gods. Ambrosia was easy to find in the vaults, as Godzilla had taken a large supply of it. After that, a simple spell was all it took to prepare the food to be Dagahra’s instrument of victory.

That was over a month ago. Dagahra had been sitting on his secret weapon this entire time, savoring the sweet knowledge that at last, he had a way to defeat his ruler. And the best part was that thanks to the spell, HE’D be in control of all those fantastic powers Godzilla was currently commanding!

[yaburu]

Chapter 3:
Nuvi

200 years ago…

The news was grim. Very grim. If current predictions were correct, Nuvi Prime would be a cold dead rock within well under 100 years. The sun that heated their planet was due to die out completely in about another 70 years or so. And the entire Nuvian race with it.

Koh, ruler of the planet Nuvi, skimmed over the reports for what felt like the thousandth time. He almost regretted taking the place of his predecessor, for it was he who proclaimed the need to study Nuvi’s sun and find out how much longer it had before it would start to die out. Koh had long suspected that Nuvi’s sun was starting to run out of steam, but he didn’t have a clue it was THIS close.

Koh called an emergency meeting of every high-ranking official on the planet. The top scientists, military leaders, province leaders, and their aids attended the largest meeting of leaders in the history of the planet.

Looking out at the faces of his peers, Koh delivered the dismal news.

“My fellow Nuvian leaders” he began, sweat already forming on his brow. “I have called this emergency meeting to deliver news most urgent. As you all know, I recently funded a study of our sun, to find out it’s age. Our race has always been a scientifically strong one, but we’ve never seemed to have much interest in what lay beyond our sky.” Koh took a deep breath, and tried to steady himself.

“I have always felt in my two hearts that there are treasures in the vastness of space that exceed even the wildest imagination. When I took over as Nuvian ruler, I decided that we’d start to explore space, and try to find these treasures. Researching the sun, I felt, was the first logical step. Sadly, it appears it will be our last as well.”

Worried murmers came from the others in attendance. They clearly didn’t like where this was going. And they were bound to like it less when they got there. “I was recently handed a report…” Koh paused, gathering himself. “…that Nuvi’s sun will completely die out in a little over 70 years.”

No sooner did those words leave his mouth then all hell broke loose. Koh attempted to calm the various leaders, but a mob mentality had taken hold of them. Thankfully, Koh had anticipated this, and gave a nod to the guards on either side of him. They unholstered two special guns issued to them before the meeting and fired them. The guns were made specifically to create a loud noise, and get the attention of the panicked mob. In this they worked splendidly. Every head in the room turned toward Koh. “That’s Enough!!” He bellowed, in as deep and authoritive voice as he could.

“Panicking will accomplish nothing. I didn’t call you all here to watch you act like frightened idiots!” He said.

“Then what the hell did you bring us here for!?” Hollered one Provincial Leader.

“To come up with a plan. Something to save the lives of 6 billion Nuvians. Take a seat, all of you.”

Everyone took a seat. And the brainstorming began.

[yaburu]

Chapter 4:
Aiya

“Kay-Mar! You…you can’t be thinking of trying to preach to HIM!”

Holy One Kay-Mar had been one of the leading religious figures on the planet Pantra for decades now. In that time, he’d brought the teachings of the Supreme Spirit to countless others. Even those who others had given up all hope of, he’d reached. He had always had a gift for communicating to others. But this was going to be his greatest challenge…and the Supreme Spirit’s greatest victory.

“Worry not, my young apprentice.” Kay-Mar said reassuringly, patting his assistant on the head. “I am protected by the Supreme Spirit, no harm will come to me.”

Haims had been studying under Kay-Mar for years, and had seen him do some things others would deem suicidal, all in the name of the Supreme Spirit, whom he always believed shielded him from danger. But he had to shake his head at this. He had a terrible feeling within him about this one.

The Holy One walked forward, a smile on his face and the Book of the Supreme Spirit in his hands. “Greetings friend!” He called out.

One blood-red eye opened up on the recipient of Kay-Mar’s greeting. He snorted and wiped the drool from his face. “What the f**k do you want?” He sneered, looking down at the tiny speck that was talking to him.

“I wish to know if you’ve found the Supreme Spirit within you my fine sir?”

Aiya grinned “Well, if I did have him in me, he’s probably now in that pile of shit I pushed out last night.” He said, pointing to a two-story high pile of excrement.

Kay-Mar laughed rather nervously “Ah…Ha-ha, a sense of humor, a-always an admirable trait for someone to have.”

Aiya just sighed “Look pal, if you’re gonna jerk me off verbally, why don’t I just pull out my dick and you can get down to business and do it literally to.”

“My apologies good sir, I wish you no offense. I just see in you a tormented soul, and I believe the Supreme Spirit can help you.”

Aiya raised an eyebrow, then put his hand out on the ground, palm up. Taking the hint, Kay-Mar climbed on, and Aiya raised him up to eye level with him. “So, you’re pretty serious about this Supreme Spirit stuff, huh?”

Kay-Mar smiled “I am at that.”

“And you think that when it’s your time to check out, you’ll see the Supreme Spirit?” Aiya enquired.

“When the Supreme Spirit feels my work is done, he will call me to be at his side, and I will answer.”

An evil smile crossed Aiya’s face “Why wait till then?” he said. With that, he released an energy blast from the palm Kay-Mar was standing on, vaporizing him completely as a horrified crowd that had gathered looked on.

“KAY-MAAAAAR!!” Haims’ anguished scream cut through to the very soul of anyone within earshot. Except Aiya.

“What’re you bitchin’ about, he didn’t suffer…I think.”

“You…you…ABOMINATIOOOOON! You soulless beast! You wretched demon!”

By now, the crowd was starting to join in. Aiya knew it was a bad idea to put in for repairs here. Pantra was an awfully religious planet, and a kaiju like him just wasn’t going to go over well there. But his ship needed repairs, and the price was right. He just figured he’d find some place to lay low and avoid the annoying little shits that inhabited here.

And it worked…for about an hour. Then a cute little Pantra chick just had to ask him if he’d like to help her spread the word of the Supreme Spirit, and he just had to respond the only way he knew how…by telling her the only condition he’d help her spread the word of the Supreme Spirit was if “the word of the Supreme Spirit” was a nickname she had for her legs.

It was all downhill from there. Now, as the enraged crowd started pelting him with rocks and anything else they could get their hands on, Aiya figured that if he was going to be drummed off a planet for killing one lousy religious figure, he might as well get some bang for his buck…literally. He stretched out one palm, and unleashed another blast, vaporizing half the crowd. The rest started to scream and run away, but it was far, far to late. It took Aiya only a few seconds to take care of the rest of the pests.

“You’d think people would know better then to screw with a guy that goes around calling himself ‘Mr. Kill You.’” He muttered.

Suddenly, he saw a virtual cavalcade of high-tech weaponry barreling down on him. The Pantra Defense Corps had been watching Aiya with an eagle eye, just waiting for him to make a wrong move. “Here comes the cavalry.” He said with a smirk.

Aiya stood to his full height, almost 100 meters tall, his pale skin and heavily muscled body tensing up as he cracked his neck. He pressed a button on a small device on his hip as the various weapons came within firing range.

The commander of the attack squad, a large man in a heavily armored vehicle, gave the command to fire. “Hmm, no offer to surrender, they must be really pissed at me.” Aiya chuckled. But as the command to fire was issued, nothing happened. The commander repeated the command several times over, but still nothing.

“Energy nullification!” Aiya shouted at the commander. “All energy attacks within a half-mile of me are snuffed out. Lucky for me I don’t need energy attacks to do business!”

And with that, Aiya charged in, crushing the machines and those within them. His offensive was swift and final. As soon as he was done with them, Aiya switched off the Energy Nullification device on his hip…and unleashed Hell itself on the city. Buildings crumbled, fires raged, and Aiya had a grand time.

It took him only a half hour to level everything around him. With his bloodlust temporarily satiated, Aiya turned on the communicator in his vest. “Need pickup, lock on my coordinates.”

Aiya’s ship, docked in an orbital space station, powered up and shot down towards the planet and Aiya’s position. As another wave of vehicles came speeding towards him, Aiya activated his anti-grav boots and levitated up to his ship. The last thing the people of Pantra saw of him was the infamous writing on the back of his vest: “Aiya 3:16 says I just f**ked your mom”

[yaburu]

Chapter 5:
Armada P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

For hundreds of years, the planet Bartosi had been a desolate wasteland, left untouched as a testament to the foolishness of a power-hungry race. Untouched, that is, until now. 2000 years after the fall of the cruelest race in the history of this sector of space, an expedition crew has started exploring the remains of the Bartosian Empire, hoping to find some long lost artifact that will make them famous. Little do they know that they’re about to discover an artifact unlike any they thought existed.

The team had been exploring for several days before the team leader, a woman named Shrika from the planet Taroo stumbled across what she believed to be the Bartosian military headquarters. “Karo!” She hollered to her assistant “Come look at this.”

Karo, a young man from Taroo’s neighboring planet Ceear Prime, hurried over to where Shrika was standing. “Find something?” He asked.

“I think I may have. Look at this mound of dirt.” She said, pointing to a small hill in front of them, no more then 8 feet tall. “Doesn’t look natural, does it?”

Indeed, the dirt hill didn’t roll out naturally, as if it’d been created through weather or such. Rather, it looked more like a camel’s hump, jutting up sharply. Shrika ran her hands across it, hoping her sense of touch could fill in the missing piece of the puzzle her sense of sight denied her. She gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Karo asked.

“This isn’t even dirt…” She said quietly.

Karo quickly marched over and felt it himself. “By the sand lakes of Ceear, you’re right!”

The rest of the five members of the team came over and started looking for something that might give them a clue what the strange mound was, their hearts racing over the prospect of what this find could be. It was Shrika who eventually pressed whatever she needed to press to activate the mound, revealing it to be a passageway, leading down into the underground of Bartosi.

Wasting not a moment, all seven headed down the steps, eventually coming to a large room housing all sorts of consoles and monitors. “Karo,” Shrika whispered, “Please tell me you remembered the portable power generator.”

Karo said nothing, rather he quickly got into the large backpack he’d been carrying and produced a two-foot rectangular object, handing it to Shrika. She tapped a few keys on the object and placed it on one of the consoles. Within seconds, lights started to come on, and the consoles sprang to life. Shrika covered her mouth, almost unable to believe all the equipment still worked after so long.

“Amazing…” Karo muttered, his eyes wide and taking in everything he saw.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Piped up one of the other party members “Lets start digging and see what treasure we can get!”

[yaburu]

Chapter 6:
Anguirus

Ever since the fight, his mind, and his life, has been nothing but a haze.

The fight he remembers. A huge, three-headed golden dragon had attacked him, and two other monsters, a giant moth and bat-like creature, came to his aid. Together, they mounted an offensive against the beast. But it was strong. Every hit they got in, he hit back harder.

Eventually, the golden dragon killed the other two monsters, but not without badly hurting itself. Anguirus knew that the time to strike had to be right then. And strike he did. He slammed into the dragon with his Thunderball attack and knocked it over, timing his landing so he’d land right on top of it. And when he did, he sank his teeth right into one of its throats, biting as hard as he could.

He tasted the thing’s blood, and it was sickening. And he saw its eyes rolling up to the back of its skull. But the other heads recovered much faster then he thought they would. They unleashed they’re painful golden beams on him at point blank range, as well as the purple electrical attacks from it’s wings. Finally, Anguirus could take no more, and pulled away, but not without the middle head’s throat in his mouth.

He rolled over in pain, his insides literally cooked. He opened his eyes and waited for the deathblow. But it never came. The dragon was to badly wounded to continue fighting. It took off into the sky. But before it was beyond sight, and before he lost consciousness, Anguirus felt something in his head…it was the dragon! It was somehow communicating with him. It told him that it would heal, and it would be back to kill him…slowly.

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him. And since that day, he hasn’t had a clear thought. He thinks he’s been awake a few times, but he’s not sure. He thinks he’s been moved from where he was, but he’s not sure. He thinks he’s still alive…but he’s not sure.

[yaburu]

Chapter 7:
Anguirus

The buzzer on General Vickers alarm blared, its shrill whine waking him from slumber. Still groggy, he pulled himself out of his bed, trudging over to his alarm and turning it off.

Derek Vickers was not a man who enjoyed waking up early. Since he was a child, he’d always been a late sleeper. It was a trait that continued into his adulthood. A 6 A.M. wake-up is right down there with dental work as one of his least favorite things to have to face.

General Vickers put on his uniform, slowly. It was 6:30, didn’t leave him much time to get to the mess hall and then to the control room on time. He trudged to the mess hall and, more to the point, to the coffee maker. He’d need a good two cups to feel human for the rest of the day. He liked to enjoy his coffee and whatever breakfast he was eating that day, but time rarely permitted him this luxury.

Derek sucked down a cup, devoured his egg and cheese sandwich, then sucked down another cup and quickly made his way out of the mess hall and toward the conference room one level up. Normally, he got to make his own schedule more or less, but today was different. Today some of the higher-ups from Washington, including the President himself, would be sitting in for a presentation detailing the progress of “Project Anguirus.”

The General reviewed the facts that lead him here. For 16 years, three of which Vickers had been in command, Project Anguirus had been the top-secret baby of the U.S. Government. With Mechagodzilla gone, the United States started plans on building another robot to handle Kaiju attacks. But only a year after Mechagodzilla was declared lost and unsalvageable, the horrific demon dragon Grand Ghidorah attacked the Earth. He destroyed a few cities in Arizona before clashing with Anguirus, a Kaiju that had never been to high on the Mechagodzilla hit list due to his generally peaceful nature.

As a warrior, Anguirus handled himself fairly well against Ghidorah. But as the battle wore on, it was clear he was outmatched. His lack of ranged attacks and flight made him easy pickings for the dragon. But then two other flying Kaiju, who up to that point had never been seen before, joined the battle against Ghidorah.

Together, they rallied against him. But he was still too strong to be beaten. He killed the two flying kaiju, and left Anguirus broken and almost dead. But Anguirus had succeeded in critically wounding Ghidorah, and the beast retreated to space, and it hasn’t been seen since.

With Anguirus lying comatose, the Government quickly took advantage of the situation. Using every resource available, they built an underground facility near him, and, keeping him heavily sedated, moved him into it. It was perfect. Ghidorah had completely destroyed the outlying cities, meaning no one saw what they did. They reported Ghidorah driven off, and Anguirus dead. They also said the entire area was radioactive, and no civilians should go near it. This allowed them to work in utter secrecy.

The goal was to use DNA technology, like the kind that was used to make Mechagodzilla, on Anguirus. They would change him, make him stronger, and brainwash him to do their bidding. He’d be the perfect replacement for Mechagodzilla, made better by the fact that the U.S. wouldn’t have to share him with Japan this time. They could use him entirely for their own ends. If a Kaiju attacked the States, he’d destroy it. And if it attacked another country, he’d destroy that one to…for a price.

General Vickers still didn’t know why he was chosen to take over the project three years ago. He knew he had a lot of powerful friends, and that he was a master manipulator and politician. Hell, that’s how he got to be a General in the first place. Pulling strings, favors, blackmail, a silver tongue, and sex. All were weapons he’d used at some point to get to where he was today. It sure as hell wasn’t because he was a good soldier or tactician. He just played to his strengths, and this is what the results were.

Vickers checked his watch and smiled. 6:58, and he was right outside the door. Nice. He opened up and looked for the President. Start at the top, work his way down. He smiled and shook hands with the Commander and Chief, then to the various dignitaries and other Washington bigwigs. After all the greetings were done, Vickers took a seat and the meeting began.

“Good morning to you all, and I thank you for coming,” began the Project Leader, a woman by the name of Destiny Moons. Destiny, unlike Derek, had worked hard to get to where she was, and deserved the job she had and the large Government salary that came with it. Her cut to the chase, take no shit attitude put some people off at times, but she didn’t let that bother her, or at least tried not to.

“I am very pleased to announce that as of yesterday, all the gene resequencing in Anguirus is complete. All that is left now is to brain implants we need to control him.”

Applause cropped up from throughout the room. Destiny smiled, and continued. “Today is a day we’ve been working toward for years now. We’ve spent billions of dollars getting to this point, and now, the dividends of all out hard work are about to be seen.”

More applause from the audience, slightly less this time, but only because Destiny, anxious to start listing off the new powers Anguius had been given, started speaking again.

“I will now list the new abilities our gene resequencing has bestowed upon the Anguirus.” Destiny nodded to a man sitting by a laptop computer, and he keyed in a few commands, causing a large screen behind her to spring to life, showing a computerized image of Anguirus.

“As you can see already just from looking at him, we’ve improved in several key areas.” The image centered and zoomed on his head and neck.

“First, we’ve covered his head and neck with a thick layer of protective bone, shielding his vital areas from attack. He will still have full usage of his neck and head rotation, however. In addition, we elongated his fangs, making them deadly weapons. We also surgically implanted a special piece of metal into his skull we call Telepanium. This metal, developed here, blocks all telepathic and telekinetic attacks on Anguirus.”

The image then shifted to Anguirus’ carapace. “We also sharpened up the spines on his carapace, which will give his Thunderball attack more of an edge. The carapace is also now key to Anguirus’ most potent weapon.”

The computerized image changes to show the new and improved Anguirus and Grand Ghidorah in battle. Ghidorah fires several of his Gravity Beams at Anguirus, which hit his carapace and appear to be absorbed. After a few more of these blasts, the carapace starts to glow, and a massive blast comes out of it, boring a huge hole into Ghidorah, killing it. Impressed murmurs are heard throughout the room.

“Because Anguirus’ carapace covers such a large portion of his body, energy attacks are now rather ineffective against him. We’ve also spliced into him DNA from both Godzilla and Grand Ghidorah.”

More whispers are heard throughout the room. “He now can emit Ghidorah’s Gravity beams from his eyes, Godzilla’s nuclear beam from his mouth, and also has Godzilla’s regenerative properties. As a final addition, we’ve enhanced the muscles throughout his body. He’s stronger, faster, and more agile then he ever was before.”

The compurterized Anguirus is shown in battle again, this time against Godzilla. Both fire their nuclear beams, and both beams strike each other, locking the two kaiju in a beam war. But Anguirus fires his Gravity Bolts and knocks Godzilla over. Anguirus is then shown doing several flips to show off his agility, and after that rushes in with surprising speed and bites Godzilla’s arm, crushing his wrist with his jaws. Godzilla uses his free claw to slash Anguirus’ throat, cutting him deeply as Anguirus lets go. But the wound heals quickly, as does Godzilla’s crushed wrist.

Godzilla charges up and fires his spiral beam and Anguirus, striking him on his carapace. The carapace glows, then fires the same beam at Godzilla it did at Ghidorah. The beam strikes him dead on in the head, stripping the flesh away and knocking the skull off, killing the King of the Monsters in a most unceremonious fashion. Anguirus lets loose his trademark honking bark in a cry of victory as the lights come on and the screen goes blank. Destiny Moons once again spoke.

“What you saw on that screen are estimates of what our new and improved Anguirus’ powers will be.”

After a slight silence, a man in the back of the room stood up. It was the President. “When will you begin the gene therapy to get him under control?” He said, his voice commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

Destiny, not usually flustered, couldn’t help but stammer a bit. The President had a way of intimidating people, even when he wasn’t trying.

“Uh…T-today Mr. President. In fact, we’ve already started about an hour ago. That’s actually why I scheduled this meeting for today, I wanted you all to be here when we started the final portion of gene therapy.”

“May we see the subject?” He asked.

Destiny didn’t stammer this time. She just smiled. “I was hoping you’d ask that. Gentlemen, may I present to you…Anguirus, the new protector of the United States of America!”

With a motion of her hand, the wall behind her started to separate, revealing a thick glass wall behind it. And in plain view was Anguirus. His eyes closed, and his head weaving from side to side slightly. This seemed to worry Destiny. General Vickers as well had concern on his face. He quickly got up a headed over to Destiny.

“Ms. Moon,” he whispered, “That thing has never moved before, what’s the deal now?”

“I…I don’t know.” She said as she grabbed a phone out of her pocket and hit a speed dial. Concerned voices and whispers started coming from the various guests. It was clear to them something was wrong.

[yaburu]

Chapter 8:
Nova Ghidorah

The far off planet of Taloon had been terrorized for months by a vicious beast. It seemed to have an insatiable appetite for the denizens of the planet, and an unyielding need to destroy everything it came across. Their weapons were useless. Taloon wasn’t a technologically backwards planet, but it wasn’t on the cutting edge either. It seemed hopeless.

Until one day when a three-headed savior came from the sky.

It burst forth from the clouds over one of Taloon’s last great cities, a city that was under attack from the monster. The dragon’s scales were the purest of white, giving an almost holy look to him. His cackle echoed across the landscape, a challenge to the murderer below him. The beast, which resembled a large bull with four horns instead of two and wings, answered with his own bellowing challenge.

The people looked on as the dragon crashed right into the bull, shoving him away from the outskirts of the city, and then standing defiantly between the massive beast and the frightened people in the city.

The bull stamped his feet and bellowed angrily, but the three-headed dragon just stood calmly, not budging an inch. The bull shook its head in a display, and then charged in. The dragon opened all three of its maws, and each emitted a bright blue beam with white spirals. The three beams struck the bull dead on and stopped it in its tracks.

With his enemy stunned and wounded, the dragon turned to the city, and reached out to every mind it could. It told them its name was Nova Ghidorah, and it would protect them from harm. Ghidorah turned back to the bull kaiju, and started emitting thin beams from the tips of its wings. These beams cut into the bull and left large gashes on its body.

The beast was reeling, and Ghidorah knew the time to finish the battle was now. He charged up his Nova Beams, and as the beast, blinded by rage and pain, charged in, he combined them into one beam, striking the bull dead on and killing it instantly.

With his opponent dead and the people of this planet safe, Ghidorah took off into the skies and into space. He’d only sidetracked to this planet because he could hear the people’s anguish and fear, and the hatred of the beast, in his mind. But from here, it was a short journey to the Milky Way, and to an evil unlike any he’d ever faced.

He’d heard of it a year or so ago, when he was on a planet fighting another monster. After the victory, he could feel hatred toward him from a small pocket of the people. He entered their minds, and asked them why they hated him. They told him of an appallingly evil beast that looked just like him, only golden instead of white. It attacked their planet and killed scores of their people, leaving the survivors scattered across the star system. It called itself “Grand Ghidorah.”

As soon as he heard this, Nova Ghidorah took off in search of this evil doppelganger, determined to destroy it. His search has lead him to the Milky Way, and more to the point, a planet named Earth. That is the last place Grand Ghidorah was sighted, and so that’s where he will look.

And may all the deities of the universe have mercy on it when he finds it.

[yaburu]

Chapter 9:
Bigor

“Bah, you raised the prices again!”

Jamius rifled through the wares at the store before finally settling on a dagger with a blade of about nine inches or so.

“Sorry Jamius, supply and demand.” The store keep said.

“So you say.” Chuckled Jamius as he handed over the five gold pieces needed to buy the weapon.

“What do you need with a dagger anyways?” The shop keep enquired

“I’m hoping to enchant it with a spell.” Jamius replied.

“Still wasting time with those damned spells eh?” The shop keep laughed.

“We’ll see if you’re still laughing when I’ve become the greatest sorcerer of all time!” Jamius retorted.

The two exchanged goodbyes and Jamius quickly headed back to his small home, anxious to try out the new spell he’d discovered.

Jamius had been interested in magic since he was a young lad. When he and his friends would play, and they’d be barbarians, or soldiers and such, he was always a wizard, or sorcerer. And now that he’d finally come to the age where he was old enough to practice magic, he couldn’t wait to start.

He’d had little success up until now. But recently, he’d stumbled across an old book in a long-forgotten library that contained incantations for powerful magic spells. This was surely something that would help him become the master magic user he sought to become.

The second Jamius got home, he went to the small room he liked to practice magic in and carefully placed the dagger on a small table with strange, archaic symbols on it. He was awfully hungry, but ignored the growling in his gut. He wanted to try some of this magic now!

Jamius kneeled down onto his knees and opened the book, choosing a spell that would enchant the dagger with a permanent frost around it, assuming it worked correctly.

Jamius closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. Once his mind was clear, or at least as clear as he could make it, he began reciting the incantations. About midway through the spell, the room started to get very cold. Jamius simply took this as a sign the spell was working. Encouraged, he continued reciting. But as the spell continued, the room started to get unbearably cold. Jamius started shivering uncontrollably. He felt like his very insides were freezing up, his own blood turning to ice. A sharp wind was whipping through the room and adding to his misery.

Jamius stopped the spell and tried shutting his mind and body off to the magic world, but he couldn’t. He panicked as he saw ice covering his body. He tried screaming for help, but no sound came out…his vocal cords had been frozen. Had his tear ducts not been frozen as well, he would have shed a tear. As it was, his last thoughts were regretting ever having found that book, and his last emotions were only the most abject terror he’d ever felt as his entire body slowly turned to ice, and his life slowly seeped out of him. The last thing he saw was the horrifying image of his home exploding as the freezing winds shot outward and covered the entire village in a blanket of ice. All the people had been frozen in place.

The magical energies Jamius had unleashed didn’t go away though. They moved downward, deep underground, eventually reaching a cavern filled with molten rock and strange, radioactive crystals. The magic reacted violently with the radiation, and was drawn to the carcass of a long-dead dinosaur that had been lying on a massive rock outcropping for centuries. The magic seeped into his bones, into his cells, and mixed with the radiation already present there.

Over the course of countless years, the Dinosaur was slowly mutated, until it was no longer recognizable as one of its own species. He inexplicably grew to many times his original height and weight.

But the most astounding event was still to take place. It wasn’t until well after the year 2000 that it happened. The Dinosaur awoke, alive.

[yaburu]

Chapter 10:
Nuvi

The high council had been meeting for several days straight. Eating and sleeping in the same room they’d been in since the initial news that the planet Nuvi Prime was doomed. And they still couldn’t agree on a way to save the population from a slow, arduous death.

Many suggestions had been thrown out, and each one had been shot down. The first idea was to build a massive spaceship and load the entire populace on it, then moving them to another planet. But Nuvian space charts were few and antiquated. They knew of no planet nearby that could sustain them, except for one that already had a thriving population on it. Beyond that, they simply didn’t have the technology for a monumental task like that.

One man suggested they somehow “refuel” the sun, but the resource-scarce planet of Nuvi Prime could never handle such a task. One military leader, a Nuvian by the name of Kree, advocated heading to their neighboring world and subjugating it.

“Kree,” Koh began “We are not a race of barbarians. How would you go about doing this? Genocide? Can you justify the extinction of one race just to preserve another?”

“Quite frankly, yes, I can.” Kree responded coldly. The air of the room turned to one of disgust. Yet, Kree continued.

“Our neighbors are a rather backwards race, hundreds of years behind us technologically. We have advanced far beyond them, so it makes sense to replace a weaker race with a stronger one. Their world is near ours, and it would only take about a generation or so to make it there. And if you’re that opposed to outright extermination, we can leave some to serve under us as laborers.”

And with those words, the mood of the room went from disgust to hostile. Many started throwing insults Kree’s way.

“Idiots!!” He yelled “All you, idiots! Just what would you have us do? Sit around and debate while our entire race withers and dies with not even a whimper?! Act as disgusted as you wish so you can look yourselves in the mirror tonight. But deep in your guts, you all KNOW I’m right! This is the only way for us to survive!”

“Then maybe it’s better for us to die.” Koh said simply.

Several years went by, with no practical solution in sight. The general public was kept in the dark on the matter to avoid riots. And so they lived their lives, blissfully unaware that that which gave them life was about to die soon.

It wasn’t until a reclusive scientist, renowned for his work with energy manipulation, came forward that a solution seemed plausible. Vore-noon was without question the leading mind of Nuvi when it came to energy. And his proposal was every bit as bold as it was shocking.

He proposed that all 6 billion Nuvians be converted to energy.

[yaburu]

Chapter 11:
Aiya

“Computer, run a system-wide diagnostic of all portions of the ship that were repaired while you were at port.”

“Diagnostic underway.”

Aiya sat back in his chair as the computer ran through a system check. He wanted to make sure the Pantrian engineers that worked on his ship didn’t get wind of what he did and try to sabotage it. While waiting on the results, Aiya started going through the list of potential jobs for him. He hired himself out to all sorts of characters, but his jobs generally stayed the same. Either kill a kaiju that’s attacking a planet, or attack a planet’s defenses to soften it up for an invasion force. Occasionally, he’d be called on to rescue a hostage or prisoners of war, but these instances are rare. His asking price is high, seeing as how he’s never failed a job in all his years of doing this line of work. Aside from that, he prefers to stick to kaiju killing and attacking planets. It’s fun.

Two jobs in particular catch his eye, and an idea forms in his head. The first job entails attacking a planet in the Milky Way known as “Earth.” He’d never been to that region of space before. It’d be a good idea to scout it out and see if there’s anything else worthwhile.

The second job is an assassination. Someone is offering him a large sum of money to kill a Karimian by the name of Myston the Champion. Even Aiya had heard of Myston. A Karmian warrior who is said to be immortal, and dedicated to perfecting his physical body and fighting skills. The prospect of having a good ‘ol fashioned fist fight with a guy he could actually go toe-to-toe with, put bluntly, started to give Aiya a hard-on.

“Yeah, a guy like that and me could really rip the place up…and if we happened to do it on Earth…all the better. Two jobs at once. And more money then I could shake my dick at.” Aiya said with a devious grin.

“Diagnostic complete, all systems running within acceptable parameters.”

“Perfect.” Aiya tapped a few keys on his control monitors, accepting both the Myston assassination and Earth jobs at once. Next he put his plan into action. He opened a communications channel to the Karmian Home world.

“To anyone listening, this is Aiya, the Kaiju King. I want all you Karmian losers to listen up. I’m issuing a challenge to your pride and joy, Myston. If he’s got a sack between his legs, he can meet Big Daddy Bad in the Milky Way on the planet Earth, and prove that he’s not the worthless sack of Karmian shit I’ve had him pegged for!”

Aiya closed that channel and sat back in his plush chair, smiling to himself and counting the money he was about to come into in his head.

[yaburu]

Chapter 12:
Myston the Champion

The ebon body of Myston dripped with a mixture of sweat and blood. His muscles ached, yet he knew they would not fail him. The strange beast before him shrieked a battle cry at him, but he ignored it. The beast, to anyone else, would look terrifying. Colored a bright red, it stood on two muscular legs, and sported a forked tail. Once its body went to the middle however, it split in two. It had two upper bodies, each with it’s own set of arms, and a dragon-like head with cat’s eyes.

But to Myston, it was merely his current challenge. And much to his satisfaction, it was turning out to be a skilled challenge at that. The kaiju knew how to use one torso to occupy Myston while the other attacked him. The numerous slashes on his body attested to this fact. In addition to this, both the mouths of the dragon could spit fire.

Yes, this was an excellent target for him to improve his skills. But the time to end it all was now. Myston made his move, emitting a beam from the horn on his tyrannosaurian head. The beam struck one of the faces dead-on, blinding it and disorientating the beast. Next, he summoned energy into his hand, and tossed an energy discus at the kaiju, striking directly where the body split into two.

Myston charged in and jumped, flying toward the beast and connecting with a powerful kick that toppled it over. He moved in and grabbed its tail, lifting it up and slamming it back down again. Another hornbeam, and two more energy disks slammed into the creature, causing it to let loose a mournful cry of anguish. It was beaten.

Had the creature not put up such a spectacular fight, Myston would have killed it at this point. But it made no sense to him to end such an excellent fighter. It would recover, as would he. And then he could fight it again, and improve his skills even more.

“Halroth.” Myston said, addressing his pupil, a young Karmian warrior who had just begun apprenticing under him.

“Yes sir?” Halroth responded.

“Is the rejuvenation chamber on the ship ready for me?”

“Yes Myston, it is. I prepared it before we left.”

“Good work. I’m going there now; see to it that food for this beast is left here. I want to make sure it recovers quickly. Once that’s done, take off and head back to Karmia.”

“Yes sir.” Halroth replied.

Myston had only taken on five pupils in all the years he’d been alive, Halroth included. The fact that he was even taking on pupils made him a bit of an oddity among Karmians. Karmian warriors are supposed to be self-taught. But Myston had never felt to many of the rules of Karmian warriors applied to him. He snubbed his horn at many of the unwritten rules of conduct for Karmian warriors, and due to the glory he’d brought the home world, he got away with it.

A prime example was letting this creature live. Karmian warriors killed beasts they’d defeated, and usually cooked and ate a portion of the remains, as well as cut off the head and preserved it as proof of the kill. But Myston only followed that rule if the opponent didn’t give him a good fight. If a beast could go toe-to-toe with him and hold it’s own, it deserved to live, he felt.

Myston had also sired no offspring in all the years he’d been alive, another oddity among Karmian males. Most males try to find a mate and produce an offspring as soon as they’ve made their first kill. But Myston hated the thought of finding a woman; growing close to her and having a child, then watching both of them grow old and die while he continued to live.

Aside from that, he wanted nothing to distract him from his training. Sex for Karmians could be rather…intense, and often times Karmians who mate would have to spend several days recuperating and regaining the enerfy they spent on sex. That’s energy Myston would rather spend on training.

Myston made his way back to his ship and saw a blinking light on the left side of the control console, indicating a message had been sent while he was fighting. He keyed in a few commands, and the message played over the communications system.

“Myston, it’s Jabarkass.” Myston smiled. He’d known Jabarkass only a few months now, but he was proving to be a good friend. A quick-witted Karmian who always made Myston laugh. “A message just arrived a while ago to our homeworld, I really think you should pay attention to this…”

“To anyone listening, this is Aiya, the Kaiju King. I want all you Karmian losers to listen up. I’m issuing a challenge to your pride and joy, Myston. If he’s got a sack between his legs, he can meet Big Daddy Bad in the Milky Way on the planet Earth, and prove that he’s not the worthless sack of Karmian shit I’ve had him pegged for!”

Myston stood with a rather surprised look on his face. Aiya! His infamy had long ago reached the Karmian home world. Depending on whom you asked, he was either a psychopathic scourge or a psychopathic savior. He tended to start trouble on any world he stepped foot on.

But it wasn’t like Aiya to just outright challenge someone like this…that is unless there’s something in it for him. It didn’t take Myston long to figure out that someone had put a price on his head and Aiya was just trying to collect on it. Fine. Myston had wanted to face off with the so-called “Baddest Mugger in the Universe” for some time now.

He pressed another button and turned the ship speaker system on. “Halroth, Slight change in plans. We’re going to the Milky Way, and a planet called Earth. Set a course as soon as you’re done with the monster.”

“Yes sir.” Came the reply.

Myston smiled at the prospect of fighting a being like Aiya. His fighting skills were said to be top notch. He wouldn’t hesitate to use underhanded tactics though; he was an assassin after all. But aside from all that, he’d made an open challenge to Myston, and insulted him to boot. Myston would not back down from any challenge. He hadn’t in the nearly 2000 years he’d been alive, and was not about to start now.

He stepped into the cylinder-shaped rejuvenation chamber and closed its lid. Special water meant to promote healing started filling it as he grabbed a mask and put it on, breathing deeply. Sleeping gas poured into his lungs and relaxed him. His last thoughts before he drifted off to unconsciousness were of Aiya, and their inevitable battle.

[yaburu]

Chapter 13:
GODzilla

The God of Atlantis was getting worried. For some time now, he’d been sensing hostility emanating from Dagahra, and it seemed to increase with every passing day. He’d always worried that Dagahra still held some bitterness within him for how he was captured by Godzilla and forced to work off his debt to Atlantis. He’d hoped that allowing him to climb up the ladder of command would help to ease that bitterness. For a time, it seemed to work. But now, he wasn’t sure.

Godzilla wasn’t worried about his own safety. There was nothing Dagahra could do to harm him. But the people of Atlantis were another story. There was no telling how many lives he’d take if he attacked.

Godzilla stood and stretched, his golden scales reflecting the light in the throne room. He’d have to take care of this problem one way or another. He’d come to trust Dagahra over the years, but if he couldn’t convince Godzilla of his mended ways, he’d have to banish him from Atlantis.

He was about to head off to find Dagahra when an Atlantian came running up to him.

“Forgive me for intruding Lord Godzilla” the man said as he bowed at the God’s foot.

“Is it important?” Godzilla asked.

“Dagahra has sent me to give you word that he invites you to a special dinner with him tonight.” The messenger said, still bowing at Godzilla’s feet.

Godzilla was surprised “Tonight eh? Good. Tell him I accept, and I’ll see him tonight.”

“At once my Lord. By your leave?”

“Yes, you may go.” Godzilla said, sitting back down in his throne.

The man sprinted off in search of Dagahra as Godzilla mused to himself.

“Well, this works out very well. I can either confirm my fears or put them to rest, and have dinner while I’m at it.” He chuckled.

Elsewhere in the palace, the messenger ran up to Dagahra.

“He’s agreed, master.”

Dagahra cackled. “Wonderful. Tonight is the last night that fool will rule this city. A new era dawns in Atlantis tonight Arlon!”

“And I will be with you every step of the way, as I always have been.” Arlon replied.

“Yes, you have stayed faithful to me ever since you were first assigned to me Arlon. I will reward you when it’s all over. You will be in Atlantian history books!” Dagahra said with a smile.

“Thank you master.”

“Go now. Take the Ambrosia and see to it that it makes it into our drinks for tonight. And remember which is which. You must put the correct piece in the correct cup for it to work.”

“I swear I will not fail you master.”

Arlon grabbed the two pieces of Ambrosia and quickly made his way to the kitchen to carry out Dagahra’s plan, while Dagahra himself chuckled and anxiously waited for dinnertime.

[yaburu]

Chapter 14:
Armada P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

The team had been at it for hours now, and still couldn’t make heads or tails of the gibberish that the consoles presented them. Most of them had given up and unpacked their sleeping bags, hoping that a good night’s sleep would give them a fresh perspective on the matter in the morning. But Shrika and Karo refused to give up. The answer was close, and they knew once they cracked the code, the secrets of the Bartosian Empire would come flooding out, and they’d go down in history.

“Okay, what about these triangular symbols here?” Karo mused as he wiped sweat from his brow.

“I think those are characters in their language.” Shrika responded, sighing.

She groaned and paced a bit “Uuugh, I can’t think in here, it’s to damned hot!” she exclaimed as she quickly took off her overcoat and tossed it aside. Indeed, while most races in the universe had average body temperatures that stick to a range of 92 to 101 degrees F, the Bartosian’s average temperature was about 110 degrees. As such, Bartosians tended to enjoy heat more then other races. Made worse was Shrika’s preference of cold.

It was at this point that Karo noticed just how fit and toned her body was. He’d always liked her, or rather lusted after her. But he’d done it from afar. The planet Ceear Prime was not really well known for it’s aggressive men. Men on his planet were pretty docile and passive, and making the first move in courtship was almost unheard of.

But now Shrika, glistening in sweat and covering her upper body with only a flimsy top, stirred something within Karo, and he suddenly realized how long he’d been without sexual distraction.

Shrika, for her part, was trying hard not to look at Karo. She knew he’d been attracted to her for some time now, and it wasn’t easy hiding her own growing attraction from him. Taking off her overcoat might not have been the best move in terms of stifling their mutual attraction, but it had to be done; she simply couldn’t work in such heat wearing warm clothes.

Shrika worked feverishly at the console to keep her mind off Karo, and where his eyes might be at that time. But it was a simple suggestion from him that made the tension between them unbearable.

“What about this blinking symbol here?” He asked as he pointed at it, his arm accidentally brushing her body as it pointed to the symbol in question. Shrika turned around, and stared into his eyes. Karo froze in place, not really knowing what to do.

With both of them so close to each other, with such strong attraction to each other, the inevitable happened. It can’t be said who initiated the kiss, as both leaned into with equal eagerness. But once their lips met, passion took over. And once passion took over, it didn’t take long for the groping began.

Amidst the moaning and groping, Shrika’s hand, which had been traveling down Karo’s midsection, slipped and slammed across the console. As soon as she did this, a beeping came from it that alarmed both would-be lovers. They chuckled nervously, but before they could go back to the kissing, a door behind them began to slide open.

Both looked on, astonished that they’d finally succeeded in getting somewhere, and laughed a little at the circumstances that finally allowed them access.

The urge to continue exploring each other was strong, but the urge to look inside the next room was irresistible. Both stepped into the room, and realized they were on a catwalk. But they couldn’t see what the room contained, as the lights were out.

“I think I found another console here.” Karo whispered as he fiddled with a switch on the side of it. He eventually flicked it, and the console came to life. As soon as it did, lights began coming on, several at a time. As more lights came on, the two realized they were in a very, very large storeroom. As far as they could see, there seemed to be spare parts and mechanical workings.

“K-karo! This is it! This is what we came to find!” Shrika exclaimed excitedly.

Both started laughing. Quietly at first, but it built into near hysterics. Both locked eyes for a moment, and it all came together. The passion from earlier, the bottled up desire from before, the euphoric feeling of victory from finding their treasure. Once again, they embraced in a passionate kiss. But this time, the groping traveled to places that neither explored before. And within a minute, Shrika had ripped off both her top and Karo’s.

Karo pressed her against the side of the catwalk and kissed his way down her neck and chest.

That’s when she saw it.

Shrika emitted a curt gasp and her jaw dropped open as she stared at it. Karo, thinking it was the nimble moving of his tongue and lips causing her to gasp, continued unabated. But her insistent smacking of his back with her hand told her something was wrong. He stopped his assault on her cleavage and looked at her. Once he caught site of her eyes and jaw wide open, he knew something had to be wrong. Karo looked behind him, and like her, his jaw and eyes opened as wide as they could.

A gargantuan robot stood before them. The catwalk was about 50 meters above the ground…and it only came up to the robot’s torso.

“Ar…Armada.” Shrika whispered.

“No way…it, it couldn’t be.” Karo said, shaking his head in disbelief. “That was just a legend, a rumor started by Bartosian survivors.”

“Looks awfully real to me Karo.” Shrika responded. She made her way to another console directly in front of Armada and started looking at it. This one was far easier to decipher then the ones in the other room, and before long, Shrika was knee-deep in info about Armada, caring not about the fact that her breasts were still exposed and swaying about as she worked.

“It’s true, it’s all true.” She said. “Look at this. It was called Armada P.E.R.F.E.C.T., which stood for P.rototype E.radicator and R.educer of F.oreign E.xtraterrtial C.ivilizations T.otal. The Bartosians had just completed it, and were just about to launch it against their enemies.”

“I’d always heard rumors about this thing. They say the Bartosians had planned on simply sending it on an orgy of destruction. It would target any planet in its path.” Karo mused.

“It says that here to. God, our home planets are closest to here. If they’d launched it…”

“We’d have never been born. Neither would our parents or grandparents.”

“What a horrible group of people the Bartosians must have been, to create a machine solely meant for complete genocide.” Shrika scoffed.

“Good lord, this thing’s huge. I mean I know the Bartosians used war machines, but none were this big, were they?” Karo asked.

“No. The biggest one measured about 55 meters in height. Most stayed within the 20-40 range. Armada is 110 meters it says here.”

“Yeah, he looks it. If he’s real, then that means the rumors about him might be to, about how they were actually in the middle of the countdown to launch him when the resistance cut the station’s power.” Karo said.

It was then that Shrika suddenly got a sickening feeling in her gut. “Oh…oh no.” she said in a whisper.

“What?” Karo asked.

“They were in the middle of a countdown and the station’s power was cut. What did we just do a few hours ago?”

All the color went out of Karo’s face as he responded, “Restored power to the station.”

Both shot over to the console, Shrika’s fingers blazing across the screen in an attempt to find out if the countdown had resumed. A few seconds later, their worst fears were realized. “No…no no no no no!!” Shrika exclaimed.

“Can you shut it down?!” Karo asked, starting to panic.

“Not in the time we have left, there’s only 45 seconds or so!”

“45 SECONDS!?” Karo half-screemed. “What have we done!?”

Shrika franticly tried to find a way to halt the countdown, but there simply wasn’t enough time. The countdown reached zero, and an alarm blared throughout the complex. Shrika covered her mouth and began to sob as Karo took her in his arms. Armada began to stir, and hills of dust that had collected on him for two millennia surged off him like a waterfall of dirt.

Armada scanned the room, and set its visor directly on Shrika and Karo. Both knew that was it, they were going to die. Armada raised one of its four arms in the air and prepared to strike.

“Shrika…I love you.” Karo said.

“I love you to Karo…” Shrika responded with tears in her eyes.

They embraced in one last, passionate kiss as Armada brought his massive arm down on the two of them.