The Modern Kaiju Era

by HeatseekerX51

In 3 parts, it chronicles the first decade of the emergence of Kaiju into the world of men. Cities are destroyed and countries are brought to their knees as man and monster battle each other for supremacy. This is a prequel work to the Godzilla v. Marvel saga.

2. Chapter 2: The Mysterian War 1 of 3

THE MODERN KAIJU ERA

Part II:

"The Mysterian War 1/2"

By: 2nd LT. Anthony Hicks,

United States Army

"Can the human race continue to deliver these staggering blows without arousing, somewhere in the depths of Earth, a reaction, a counterattack, a horror still undreamed of?"

"After the deaths of the Rodans, 1956 finished-up without major Kaiju incidents. The Goliath ants had been penned off into the same restricted access zone of New Mexico where they live to this day. A second Oodaku was found living in peace in the south Pacific, this one much smaller than the one that had hit San Francisco. Godzilla remained entombed in his arctic prison, though the fear of his escape would propel the Soviet Union and the United States into a nuclear arms race, both sides paranoid that if he did escape, he might turn his attention east or west.

However, since Godzilla survived not one but two weapons of mass destruction, I fail to see what good it would have done. Having the advantage of hindsight now, we can see where mistakes were made in the allocation of resources, threat level analyses, and how we could have avoided so much pain and suffering. One mistake we would make over and over however, was underestimating Godzilla, and how important he would be to the earth in the next few decades.

As a boy, my friends and I would play monsters instead of the typical pretend games. Sometimes it would be monsters vs. military, or even monster vs. monsters in city smashing combat. Ok, not cities, trashcans and wooden pallets at best but you get the picture. Little did we know just how frequent a thing like that would become. 1956 was a much needed breather for the world, in the span of three years mankind's entire understand of our place in creation had been swept aside as titans from mythology emerged to walk the earth once more. Mankind would make it out of 1957 transformed, and not without a generous measure of luck.

If we thought that '55 was a busy year, '57 would be a gauntlet.

In March of that year, another offspring of Operation Experiment would bear down on us from the north. The Mid-Canada Radar Fence, conducting regular tests, picked-up on a strange object, massive and heading southward. Fighter jets scrambled to identify and intercept would wind-up torn from the sky by an aggressive airborne Kaiju. With only seconds to report what he saw, the lead pilot managed to describe "A Giant Claw".

Immediately, Canadian, American, and even Soviet air defenses went into full swing, having learned their lesson from the Rodan attacks the previous year. When the creature reached the Pine-Tree Radar Fence however, it was shown to be something much more bizarre. Resembling a titanic condor, but with a grotesquely disfigured face and mangy feathers, it lashed out indiscriminately. Zoologists theorized that exposure to radioactivity had warped it's features, and judging by it's behavior, made the creature deranged and hostile, like a rabid dog.

Seeing either prey or enemy in anything that moved, it continuously attacked military and civilian aircraft, and carried off several trains. In its disturbed state, it was able to withstand the pain of plane-mounted machine guns and anti-aircraft batteries. Though nowhere near as fast as the Rodans, it still proved nearly impossible to fend off once it fixated on a target. It cried in shrill, wild shrieks as foam dripped from it's beak as it tore into freight trains searching for food.

Pushed onward by either instinctual migratory patterns or the search for something to eat, the first major city it hit was Ottawa, Ontario. It swooped down on the city, erratic and starving, making dives for groups of people who leapt into subway tunnels and anywhere else out of the creature's sight. Crying out in confusion and hunger, throwing itself bodily against several buildings in its rage. A constant barrage of firepower from the Canadian Air Force finally managed to drive it away, but not before dozens of deaths, hundreds of injuries, and millions in damage had been done to the city.

The creature, now identified as an Ookondoru fled southwest, shadowed by American and Canadian fighter jets, while combined naval efforts in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie kept it from reaching New York or Pennsylvania.

Over the skies of Detroit, the creature was nearly finished off when an American pilot landed a volley of fire to the underside of its left wing. The Ookondoru was sent spiraling out of the sky, leaving a trail of blood, foam, and feathers raining over the city. The creature collided into the Joe Louis Arena, crushing the evacuated structure beneath its weight. It was apparent by now that the monster's mental condition was worsening, its behavior becoming more fitful by the hour. With the historic arena in rubble under its girth, the creature screamed and thrashed its head back and forth so wildly, pilots thought it would break its own neck in the process.

No such luck would be granted however, and the creature managed to gain its bearings and haphazardly took off again, still heading west, though with difficulty and sporadic pitches to the side as it flew. Harassed by rotating squadrons, it made its way to Chicago, where it would meet its end.

With its adrenaline finally spent, the Ookondoru reached the top of One Prudential Plaza before allowing itself to rest. The buildings antenna toppled over as the beast more crashed than landed atop it, scaring yet another landmark. Its eyes glazed over and its breath ragged and tired, it reacting almost as a second thought to the pummeling of machine gun fire and Artillery. Its grip on the building steadily loosened until it fell backwards onto the street, still lashing out reflexively as it struggled to right itself.

Getting back on its feet, the hideous bird collapsed back down several times at it stumbled towards the waterfront of Lake Michigan, squawking feebly, its head dangling limply from its neck. Its legs having finally given out, the disfigured Ookondoru pushed itself the last few blocks to the water's edge, a long smear of blood trailing it before it slid into the lake. It sunk upside-down, its fearsome claw twitching as the beast faded away.

The aftermath of the pitiful creature was perhaps the most surprising to date, many seeing it as a victim, an animal-made sick by Man's pollution. Which was essentially true. No one denied the damage to life and property it caused, or that it was dangerous and had to be put down, but the sentiment remained particularly in America that it was a tragic beast, that met a terrible end. Despite its repugnant appearance, the Ookondoru would endear itself to the public as an otherwise innocent animal turned rabid and hunted down.

The whole incident gave the American public and Government pause to reconsider the nature of the relationship between themselves and the Kaiju. A new perspective developed, one that discarded the epic image of Man and Monster struggling to rule the planet, and replaced it with one that saw them as creatures sharing the Earth, forced by circumstances beyond their control to find themselves face-to-face. This profound change would continue to spread around the world, the legacy of a martyred Kaiju.

But not every creature would engender such mushy feelings. The mid-May emergence of Black Scorpions the size of whales in northern Mexico displayed just how far-reaching the effects of nuclear testing in the southwest had become. Marauding through villages and towns, they marched eastward consuming any living thing unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. The Mexican military who waged a war of attrition for every acre of land between the Rio Grande and Mexico City for nearly a month, watched with growing frustration as small arms proved futile, and heavy munitions too cumbersome to effectively be brought to bear.

Taking a cue from how the Americans defeated the Goliath ants, flamethrowers and incendiary munitions were utilized to much greater success. The scorpions however continued to press their numbers and inch closer and closer to the capitol city, terrorizing thousands of citizens on their ravenous campaign. In the later part of the month, the scorpions were only five kilometers away from swarming over the capitol, the military and the beasts locked in a stalemate.

The battle took a shocking turn however when a new Kaiju entered the fray, and proved to be the deciding factor in defeating the Black Scorpions. Within the center of the armored masses a fissure opened, a creature all mouth and body rose out to wreak havoc. Expediently named "El Gusano Gigante" by soldiers on the front line, they watched as a voracious worm the size of a battleship threw itself among the scorpions seemingly immune to their stingers, and gobbled them up greedily.

The Mexican nation cheered as the scorpions were finally driven back into the desert, where they too were quarantined. El Gusano disappeared back into the subterranean, and was spotted only rarely after that. The creature's reticence towards humanity didn't stop it from being declared a national hero, and every year on the date of his conquering the scorpions, celebrations and parades are held in his honor. The favorite drink to be used in the festivities of 'Dia Del Gusano', you guessed it, Tequila.

A much smaller incident would occur months later in July, northward in the States. In the sparsely populated region surrounding the Salton Sea in southern California, an outbreak of prehistoric mollusks the size of horses terrorized local residents. An earthquake had apparently breached a subterranean chamber where the species had been living, not unlike the Meganula in Japan. This time there was no Rodan or other predator to keep them in check, and they quickly developed a taste for the hapless victims they acquired near the shore.

In a matter of a week, several divers, boaters, and water adjacent residents were killed, spreading fears of another outbreak of a pillaging horde. US Navy Lieutenant Commander John Twilliger, is tasked to lead the efforts to either contain or destroy the creatures. Twilliger had been serving in the 3rd fleet during the Oodaku attack, and followed closely the methods used to defeat the Goliath ants and the Black Scorpions. Finding himself a bit underwhelmed by the threat, he organized a simple strategy of luring the creatures into traps, and using irritants to repel them from populated areas.

Within five days, a dozen of the mollusks had been killed or captured, and the fissure resealed. Archaeologists digging in the desert plains between the Salton Sea and the Vallecita Mountains to the southwest discovered fossilized remains of an identical species dating back to the Ordovician period. These living examples had escaped extinction much like the Meganula had. In the press conference where Lt. Cmdr. Twilliger announced the success of his mission, he casually posed with the corpse of one of the creatures, remarking sardonically: "Check it out fellas, 'The Monster that Challenged the World".

In September, came a much more serious threat. The first appearance of a particularly rapacious breed of Kaiju, Gigans Venator Vorax.

In late August, Mt. Ferox in the south Pacific erupted, drawing the world's attention, fears of some new terrible beast, of the kind like Godzilla or Anguirus. With the eyes of the world blinded to all else, the frozen north once again released a captive. The eruption had far-reaching effects, causing several glaciers to become dislodged, exposing a long-held Kaiju to the world once more.

The next month, at the military installation in northern Canada, Red Eagle One, they began to notice that one-by-one their outposts had stopped calling in. Search parties sent to investigate were horrified to discover the outposts demolished and deserted, with no sign of their lodgers to be found. The only evidence of what could have done the damage was a 5-foot long green object. The object was sent to the Museum of Natural History, where it was determined to be a broken bit of exoskeleton from what must be a 200-ft long praying mantis.

Back at Red Eagle One, new reports from local Eskimo villages came in, citing attacks on their populace by a tremendous green creature with grasping arms. Now confirmed to be a mantis, researchers likened it to a similar species located on the Nullius Ager island chain, Kamacuras, albeit a remarkably larger one than previously observed. It was theorized that this particular species was one of a breed that separated from the others millions of years ago, different environmental factors allowing them to achieve larger sizes than their smaller island cousins. The notion caused scientists to wonder with dread what other kinds of ancient super-fauna might still lay froze in suspended animation.

Shortly after, the base itself was attacked by the Kamacuras, automatic rifles and flame-throwers doing little to fend it off until bombers arrived and drove it away. Over the next few days, the Deadly Mantis followed a similar route southward to the Ookondoru, but at nearly 200 miles per hour, reaches Pennsylvania before defenses can be put up. During the night of September 9th, a train is attacked and derailed, picked apart and scavenged before alarms can go out.

The Kamacuras was sighted the next day in Washington D.C., interesting itself in the Washington Monument. Air defenses are scrambled, and the creature mounts a temporary fight in the heart of the city, caving in the dome of the Capitol Building before being repulsed. It attempted to fly out to sea, but an unusually think could of fog having rolled in caused a bomber to crash head-on with the beast. Suffering a concussion, the Kamacuras sought refuge in the Manhattan Tunnel.

Trapped and disoriented, it was only a matter of time before chemical weapons succeed in killing the beast. The capture of the body intact was a boon to scientists, who took the opportunity to understand how a creature with an exoskeleton could reach such a massive size. They determined that it had previously lived in an atmosphere with intensely higher oxygen levels, and that even if it had stayed away from humanity, it would have died of asphyxiation.

The fact that a Kaiju managed to reach the nation's capitol sent the American government into a frenzy of defensive activity, installing radar and anti-aircraft batteries around major cities and vital infrastructure. The Soviet Union, no less impressed by the danger posed, poured its efforts into its own budding anti-Kaiju strategy. On October 4th, they launch the satellite Sputnik into orbit around Earth, with the express design to pick-up on Kaiju activity coming from the Arctic.

If you're wondering about that volcano that went off and distracted everyone, there actually was a Kaiju involved in the eruption. However, rather than being freed from the depths of the strata, it was the activity of the monster that triggered the expulsion. It had inadvertently burrowed into the magma chamber and destabilized the pressure. The culprit was discovered relatively unharmed if a bit frightened by the experience; it was documented and given the name: Baragon.

With billions being spent by the superpowers in research, infrastructure, weaponry, monitoring equipment, and the increasing stockpile of nuclear missiles, many were confident that the next Kaiju would be stopped in its tracks. The many were wrong however, and the world was taken by storm when on October 14th, Mankind would have its first encounter with extraterrestrial life. The experience would not be a pleasant one.

Now before I delve into what would become a watershed event for the planet, a bit of backstory is necessary. At the end of the war, we were able to learn a lot about our enemies and life elsewhere in the universe. Information gleamed from captured enemy combatants and the scouring of their computer banks, would pick man up by the scruff of his neck, and hurl him into the space age.

Roughly 100,000 years ago, in a solar system centered by twin suns, the native planet of The Mysterians, Mysteroid, was rendered uninhabitable. A space faring Kaiju, their name for which is forbidden to be spoken, landed on their world and proceeded to exterminate every living thing on it. Referred to rather dramatically as "The terror from beyond a thousand stars", the creature proved immune to any offense they mounted, weaponry that would be futuristic to us today, was useless against it. As a last resort, they launched their equivalent of a neutron bomb at the creature, knowing that it would likely turn their own world into a hostile wasteland in the process.

To their abject horror, the monster survived being at the epicenter of the explosion, virtually unharmed. With their own world now incapable of supporting organic life, the monster was satisfied and ascended back to the stars, leaving the survivors to suffer the last days of their world. The remainder of their population was disfigured by the intense radiation now bathing their atmosphere, and desperate for a means to survive, they invented containment suits to keep themselves functional.

Knowing that Mysteroid was now dead, they took to their spaceships and embarked on a journey to find a new homeworld. Approximately 4,000 years ago for us, they entered our solar system, hopeful that one of the three planets within tolerable metrics could host them. They first settled on Mars, finding the red planet just as lifeless as the one they had left. They did however discover the ruins of a previous civilization, whose artifacts were preserved in underground vaults.

There, they found evidence that the same terrible beast that had laid siege to Mysteroid, had visited this world as well. Descriptions of the creature were exactly the same as their own records: massive wings, golden scales, and three lightning spitting heads. Deciding that they could at least make a settlement on Mars, they began construction of their own bases from which to launch further expeditions.

They observed that the Earth was a pleasant, and habitable sphere, but already filled with sentient life, one species in particular in a constant state of conflict. Electing to keep the Earth under surveillance for the time being, they pressed onward to Venus, where environmental conditions were less hospitable, but the dearth of large numbers of animal life would make it an easy one to resettle. And there they sat on either side of Earth for the next 4,000 years watching us grow, kill, starve, die, and love.

The resources of Mars and Venus were finite, and eventually the demand would drive them to the conclusion that Earth must be conquered. To their own astonishment, they watched as the Age of Monsters dawned, and how humanity struggled to maintain its place on top. In this they saw an opportunity, not to needlessly expend precious resources in a protracted effort to subdue us, they merely needed to strike when we were vulnerable.

So they sent agents to Earth with one mission in mind: use the Kaiju to weaken Humanity's resistance. We would later learn that they were the ones behind the sudden onslaught of Kaiju attacks that year, the Ookondoru, the Black Scorpions, the Kamacuras; it was they who lured Baragon to the volcanic island. And they would have done more if their hand had not been forced.

The launch of Sputnik threatened to betray the presence of the station that they had established to orbit in place over the North Pole, so they decided to step into the light. Their agents having established a base of operations in an underground station at the foot of Mt. Fuji, they announced themselves to Mankind, and presented their list of demands. They requested the same two things that every colonizing force desires to establish a beachhead, land and women.

Performing genetic testing on several women they took captive, they determined to their delight that the two races were sexually compatible, and the horrific disfigurement they suffered could be bred away. When their base broke through to the surface, they demanded that the United Nations recognize the surrounding 10-mile radius as their property for settlement. Japanese and world officials balked at the ultimatum, and basically told the Mysterians to do their worst.

Their worst turned out to be pretty bad. From other secret bases they had established around the globe, emerged colossal robots called Moguera, each of them 60 meters tall and invulnerable to gunfire and mortars. Shooting laser beams from its optical units, it was capable of decimating armies in minutes, dozens of them around the globe herding humanity into a corner.

Heavy Artillery and aerial bombardment proved effective in downing the machines, but as soon as one was destroyed, more would emerge from beneath the earth's crust, dismantling power stations, and other vital installations.

There were a few rays of hope however. The Moguera machines were comically bulky and unwieldy, and had great trouble fending off light moving military units. Artillery batteries especially, which often fired from beyond line of sight, proved punishingly effective in doing massive damage. Mankind it turned out, was not alone in the fight either, as several instances of Moguera being attacked and destroyed by the Kaiju gave the impression of a common terrestrial effort. Perhaps the Mysterians had forgotten that battlefield hazards were perilous to both sides.

A Moguera robot laying siege to Hawaii was seized by an Oodaku and dragged into the ocean, crushed by the constricting tentacles. Another in New Mexico rolled over a patch of land weakened by Goliath ant tunnels, collapsing into a sinkhole, the ants swarmed and dismantled it piece by piece. On the island of Guam, a Moguera attacking the military base there was confronted and demolished by Anguirus, in the beast's first appearance since its defeat two years earlier.

In another surprise return, a third Rodan appeared suddenly in the skies over Moscow, and mercilessly attacked the Moguera until it fell face-first to the ground. The animosity with which the Kaiju seemed to regard the alien automatons, in hindsight, seems to be the main reason why the Mysterians never attempted to conquer the Nullius Ager, I guess they just didn't like the neighborhood.

With the international coalition of national militaries and even the help of some Kaiju, Earth's chances seemed to improve. A small contingent of military leaders even suggested freeing Godzilla, and letting him loose on the Mysterian forces. The idea never got far however, as the King of the Monsters was still viewed as too dangerous to be released. Though Mankind's odds had improved, the war far from over."