PROLOGUE



San Francisco. A corner table at the 'Cosmic Cafe'.

"My dears, I'm so happy you are both finally home and safe! To think of all the trouble I put you through..." Anna Bradley clasps the hands of her son and daughter in law across the table. Their dog, Mikki, asleep on her lap.

"You sound just like Kyoko's mom now," said Kenji.

And I will tell you exactly what I told her," Kyoko began. "If not for you, Kenji and I may never have found each other. Do not ever regret you involvement in that, Anna." Kyoko smiles sweetly at the elderly woman. Kenji cannot help but blush.

The tinny sound of a bell rings through the small cafe, signalling the entrance of a patron. Mikki snaps awake at the noise, and yaps in happy greeting as the stranger approaches.

"Well hello! What a sweet little dog you have here," said the man, bending to pat her. He was Japanese, unusually tall and impeccably dressed in a tailored Armani suit. Curiously, Mikki continued her vocal greeting, woofing and mewling at the man.

"Wow. I've never seen her react to anyone like that before," Kenji remarked, amused at the scene.

"Hei, little one, I know. But do not worry for your freinds, I am here now." Spoke the strange gentleman.

"Summimasen, excuse me, but what on Earth are you talking about, sir?" Asked Kyoko.

"Nothing on Earth I assure you," the stranger began. "Mikki tells me the three of you are very special to her, Mrs. Bradley. She loves you all very much, and wishes to protect you from the danger you must now face."

The Bradleys looked at each other quizzically. "Um, Mikki told you?" Kenji asked.

"Hei," the man replied. "She is quite an intelligent little canine."

"Wait a minute!" Cried Ken. "Did Tanaka send you to bust our chops? Or was it old Iwa?"

"I know neither of the persons of whom you speak, Mr. Bradley."

"Well since you do seem to know who we are, how about telling us just who the heck are you?"

"My God," said Anna. "I cannot believe it..."

"Ma, what's wrong? Do you know this guy?"

"Yes, I...but it's not possible...!"

A broad smile spread over the stranger's features, and he laughed. "No, Anna Bradley. You are niether mad nor mistaken. I can see in your eyes, you know exactly who I am!"

A look of sheer delight overcame Anna's face as the man turned to Ken and Kyo. "Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley. My name is Starman."





War Against The Wild Gods

Book Four: GODZILLA VS. STARMAN

by George Thomas

(originally featured in G-Fan # 48)



Part One: The Enthrallers



Ogeshewara Gunto, a chain of islands just south of the Japanese Mainland.

Captain Inoshiro Tanaka leads his team slow and silent through the dense jungle. The force is small, four soldiers armed with the latest anti kaiju weaponry G-Force's research wing has designed. Their mission; to field test the devices and evaluate their effectiveness. Their target; Godzilla.

"Munabe!" Tanaka barked sharply over the squad's comlink. "Close ranks, and watch your step, damn it. You'll give away our position."

"To who?!" Replied the soldier, causing a chuckle among his teammates.

"Quit it, soldier. Now fall in!" The Captain ordered.

"Yes, Sir!"

"You're really gonna piss him off one of these days, Tatsui!" Munabe's friend Kazuki Kato chastised him, whispering past his microphone.

"I'm not scared of that blowhard," Munabe replied. "He thinks he knows everything since General Iwa took him under his wing. Personally, I'm not impressed."

"He is still in command, hotshot." Kazuki warned. "I would advise you not to forget it."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Captain," began Fujiko Yasuda, the teams surveillance man. "The G-Tracker is showing a radsurge about forty meters ahead. Godzilla should be in the valley located just over that rise."

"Domo, Fuji, but I can verify that reading visually," said Tanaka. "Look at the sky."

Beyond the rise, the sky was lit with a pulsing, shifting glow reflecting off a pall of low clouds which seemed to hang motionless over the valley. The rest of the sky was strangely clear. The men looked questioningly at each other, something did not seem right.

"That's him," said Tanaka. "Let's go."





Interlude One

Osaka. G-Force Command.

Maki Sato sits before the tracking console monitoring the team's progress. The young scientist shakes suddenly, an uncontrollable and violent shudder passes through him, leaving him sweating, breathless and weak. This has happened much too often lately, and he knew, something very strange was going on.

"Sato san, what's the matter?" Said General Iwa, entering the room.

"Nani? Oh, it is you, Iwa sama," Sato gasped, startled. "I think I am getting sick, General. Might be the flu."

"You have been through a lot lately, Sato. Not the least of which was the death of your father. Perhaps I can arrange a few days off duty," Iwa offered.

"Perhaps, but I think I can hang tough until the field test is complete."

"Alright. But don't be a hero Sato," Iwa warned. "You look like hell. Tell me, how is the squad's progress?"

"So far so good. They have reached Godzilla's coordinates, and entered the distortion field. As I suspected, direct comlink has been lost. I still cannot explain it."

"Could it be an effect of the Radion bombardment you subjected Godzilla to, after he defeated the monster Dogorah?"

"Ie, General. That energy was merely an irritant to the beast. He shunted it long ago," Sato confirmed. "I'm afraid we will have to wait until the mission is finished to get the answer."

"I see," the ancient soldier agreed. "Please let me know at once when contact is reestablished." He turned to leave. "You sure you'll be okay. Sato?"

"Hei. Domo Arigato, Iwa sama." Sato gave a quick bow, and the General left the room. Alone now, Sato again shuddered fiercely. He knew for sure, he was not okay.



*



"Ha ta!" Tanaka gasped, awestruck by the sight of what lay before him.

Atop the rise, the valley sloped steeply away and below them. The dense jungle gradually giving way to a clearing of scorched and blackened earth. At its center lay Godzilla, but the beast was not alone. Around him swarmed a hoarde of strange crablike beings, hauling what appeared to be devices of some kind. But strangest of all was the now visible source of the glow they had spied reflecting off the clouds. It was an enormous spaceship.

"Captain?" Fuji began, then fell speechless.

"I know, Fujiko. Our eyes play no tricks here, as hard as that may be to believe."

"What can they be doing to him?" Asked Munabe.

"I'm not sure, but it can't be good," Tanaka replied. "Munabe, I want you and Kazuki to get back to the ship, beyond the interference of the distortion field. Contact G-Command. Fuji and I will stay here. I want to try to figure out what these beings are up to."

"Oh, great," said Munabe. "What am I supposed to tell them?"

Tanaka glared at the man. "Tell them we're in trouble, Munabe."

Munabe could tell, the Captain was now officially pissed!



*



San Francisco.

"Starman, huh? Very sixties," said Kenji. "I knew a guy named Scorpio Moon once. He used to preach the Neo-vegetarian psychedelic enlightenment trip down at the Haight. Maybe you know him?"

"Kenji!" Anna spoke sharply. "This is not some flower child, he is the Starman. The Starman!"

"You mean like tights and a cape Starman?"

"No cape. Glider panels," the stranger corrected. "Everybody did capes. I like to think I was ahead of my time."

Two short yaps from Mikki signified she agreed. Kyoko could not supress a laugh.

"Kyoko, really. You are as bad as your husband," Anna scolded.

"Oh, Anna, I am so sorry! I have to admit though, I cannot believe you are truly serious!"

"It's alright, Anna," the stranger smiled. "We cannot blame them for doubting me. I have appeared only rarely for over forty years. There must be many among you who have never even heard of me."

"I could never forget you, Starman sama. Always you were Japan's greatest hero!" Anna beamed.

"Thank you, dear lady. Just doing my job."

"Okay, 'Starman', you here to reminisce with my ma, or is there something we need to know?"

"I'll give you the whole story, Kenji Bradley, so that you might understand what is at stake here."

"Cool. I'll try to keep an open mind."

"Cool. Now then, it was nearly three hundred thousand years ago on a world called Kartane..."

"Oh, brother," Ken lamented.

"When the Enthrallers first appeared," the well dressed stranger continued calmly. "Species after species were wiped out, rejected, before they found a compatible life form, one they could control. But the possession had changed the Kartanan beasts. Slowly, they became sentient, evolving into a society, technological and dangerous.

"Eventually, the Kartanans overthrew the Enthrallers influence and struck out on their own. Today, they too have become a race of Enthrallers. The beings who once controlled them now revered as a God, responsible for their evolutionary kick up from bestiality."

"Okay," said Kyoko. "And where exactly do we fit into all of this?"

"The original Enthrallers are known to you, Kyoko. They were the creature you called Yog," the stranger watched the shock hit the Bradleys at his words. "The two of you helped destroy it, now the Kartanans have come for revenge."



*



Ogeeshewara.

"I think we've cleared the distortion field, Tatsui. Try the comlink again."

"GFC, GFC, this is M Squad Four. Do you read? Over," Munabe called angrily into the unit. "GFC, this is M Squad. Please respond!"

"Damn it!" Cursed Kazuki. "We can't get through. What should we do, Tatsui?"

"I don't know!" The soldier shouts. Then, from the direction of the ridge comes the flash of laserplay, and a familiar 'zapping' sound. Munabe thought he heard somebody scream. Wordlessly, the men exchanged a single glance, and powered up their Markalite rigs.



In the valley.

The creatures were making the final connections. The Control Implant was in position now, among the scaly ridged crests atop Godzilla's skull. Captain Tanaka and Seargent Yasuda stared immobile at the scene. They were captive, they were thralls. Their faces remained expressionless as a pair of the creatures approached them.

"The Humans are primitive but dangerous," one of them spoke. "Luckily, they were enslaved before they could do any damage." The creature 'sat' before the men, folding its segmented torso and disjointed limbs into a compact squat. "You may speak, human."

Tanaka blinked rapidly, his steady breathing readjusting to the partially regained control. "What is going on here? What do you want from us?"

"We want nothing from you, human. It was you who chose to interfere in our affairs," the alien replied accusingly. "What are you doing on this island?"

"We too hunted Godzilla, to test our new weaponry. We discovered you by accident," the Captain explained.

"An unfortunate event for you. As for ourselves, we are the Kartanans. Your Godzilla is now our thrall. The rest is not for you to know." The creature rose, and trod away with its companion. The men presented no challenge for them, and so were ignored.

"Fuji, you okay?" Tanaka asked, unable to turn to look at his friend.

"Yeah, sure. Definitely."

"Can you move at all?"

"Nope. Unh-unh. No way."

"Me niether. Munabe and Kazuki had better get word through, Fuji. Or else I think we're screwed," Tanaka observed. He got the feeling that Fuji agreed.

A great shout rose from the swarm of creatures as the valley flashed bright green, blood red then back. The soldiers watched as the things quickly removed the braces, cables and harnesses from the monster, and withdrew back toward the ship. A painful electric buzz rang through them as the Atomfire danced along the tips of Godzilla's spine, and the monster rose.

"Fire!" Cried Kazuki, as twin plasma bolts struck the beast! Godzilla reeled, unprepared for the attack. The weapons were indeed having a disruptive effect on him!

"Teleport the beast, quickly! And get those humans before they damage something." Tanaka heard one of the creatures shout.

"Oh, Munabe," he thought. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"



*



San Francisco.

"Let me get this straight," said Kenji. "These Kartanan things have like already landed on Earth, and you think they're gonna come after us?"

"That's right," the stranger replied.

"And you are here to warn us?" Asked Kyoko.

"No. I am here to protect you. I think the first thing we should do is get out of the city."

"How come?" Asked Ken.

"Because the aliens won't be attacking you directly, Kenji. They'll send Godzilla to kill you."

"Godz...waitress! More coffee please!"

"Oh my dears, not again!" Cried Anna.

"Try not to worry. Do as I say and you'll be okay, I promise." The stranger reassured them.

"And why exactly is it we should listen to you again?" Kenji inquired, still skeptic.

"Because I am the Starman, mightiest warrior of many worlds. Sent by the Council of the Emerald Planet to protect mankind from all interstellar threats," the stranger rose and stood back from the table. "I had thought that my work here was done," a brief, brilliant glare lit the room at his words. "I was wrong."

The stranger stood before them transformed. A form fitting uniform of auric and white. A broad black belt at his waist, glider panels at his sides, and twin antennae that sparked with power rising in a V from his cowl. He smiled, and Anna swooned.

"Oh, Ma!" Ken moved to support her, before she fell from her chair.

"Kenji?" Began Kyo.

"Yeah?"

"I'm impressed," she stated flatly. "I recognize him now. I think we should listen to him."

"Me too," he agreed. "You okay, ma?"

"Uh-huh. Got a cigarette?" She joked.

"Yeah, you're fine. Hey, Stardude, sorry for doubting you, okay?"

"I'm just doing my job, Kenji. You, however, should learn to listen to your mother when she tells you what is so!" The hero laughed heartily.

Outside, in the distance, a flash of green light broke somewhere high above the surface of San Francisco Bay, a burst of red from far below.

"Um, excuse me, table nine?" The waitress called out. "I think I just spotted somebody who must be looking for you."

At that, they raced out into the street. Crowds had stopped moving, to stare in awe at what now rose from the bay. Only a few even noticed the costumed superbeing in their midst, but Starman was sure he had heard one of them call his name. It still fealt just as good, even after all these years!

"We are too late, the aliens have found us. Godzilla has arrived," the Starman remarked. "Stay here, while I attempt to turn the beast..."

"Starman, you cannot! One man alone has no chance against that monster!" Anna warned.

"I know, Anna. But I have no choice." The Alien Avenger kissed the old woman's cheek, then bowed to Ken and Kyoko.

"Good luck," said Kyo.

"Kick his ugly butt," said Kenji.

Starman smiled and rocketed off, launching himself into the sky! It had been a long time since he had seen any action. He was going to enjoy this!