Authors: Connor Clennell & Andrew Sudomerski | Banner: Matthew Freese
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Pursuit
Chapter 2: Unanimous Matrimony
Chapter 3: First Contact
Chapter 4: The Hunt Begins
Chapter 5: The Face of the Devil
Chapter 6: Illusion of Victory
Chapter 7: The Grand Reveal
Chapter 8: End of an Empire
Chapter 9: The Battle Continues
Crossing the endless blackness, the sapphire orb moved at speeds faster than light. It navigated thousands of miles in the span of seconds, leaving behind a glowing trail like the tail of a burning comet. Never before had the creature within reached such high speeds, content to travel the cosmos at his own leisurely pace. Now, he pushed the limits of the travel sphere, his only and preferred means of interstellar migration, for the sake of his survival.
For as long as he had wandered the spaceways, Bemular had scourged a plethora of worlds and civilisations. Invasion was the way of life for all the great powers that governed the galaxy, but the reptile’s motivations were centered around the slaughter of life, whether it be sentient or beast, to appease his unmerciful insanity rather than to procure resources or subjugate rivals. Far outside the regions of superior empires and nomadic space beasts, the demon of the stars spent his living ravaging planet after planet, making prey of the races not under protection by a higher governing body, with only the officers of the universe-patrolling Inter Galactic Defence Force to interfere in the alien predator’s blood-hungry desires. As the body count amassed, attention was drawn to the killer, putting more strain upon the spiked menace as the defenses of his targets grew with his reputation of villainy. At last, he was cast out from his old territory, forced to enter into the space that belonged to system-spanning empires, with the assembled military strength that he sought to avoid. He combed the edges of these kingdoms, hoping to acquire new hunting grounds in the backwater territories.
The scourge of worlds found something else instead. Stumbling upon a sight that no eyes were meant to see, a truth the space monster’s pursuers were eager to enforce. Even with his current velocity, the space beast knew that he could not outrun the trailing ships. Within the confines of the orb, vision was a sense denied to the reptile. Instead, with its natural talent to absorb and convert heat to energy, the escapee of the Monster Graveyard’s own vessel functioned as a radar, sensing the coordinates of other entities through the heat and energy produced and wasted. Only on rare occasions had the sense failed its duty, an impressive testament to its accuracy.
Far behind and closing in, the enemy ships appeared as dull pulses of light on the wall of his sphere. Not gifted with higher intelligence, the sadistic saurian was unable to calculate the current rate of acceleration for his stalkers. He knew enough, which was that his vessel would be unable to outpace them with the rapidly decreasing energy stores, a consequence of the travel ball’s high velocity. Before he could assess his odds further, the sphere’s radar pulsed brightly. Only able to turn his head, the reptile and his transport were sent spiralling from their current trajectory as the laser blast struck. Smoke sizzled from the transport’s blue surface while he regained control, willing it to the side with a jerk, but was only able to avoid part of the second shot.
Skilled was not a word commonly associated with a repulsive creature of Bemular’s nature. Despite this, the outcast reptile weaved between the ensuing volley of green laser fire from the approaching formation of ships with an incredible display of agility. The bursts of light and heat produced with each shot from the vessels’ guns allowed his sphere’s radar to guide a route for the fugitive through the shower. However, it was doing little more than buy him a few extra moments of time. This was the loneliest, emptiest region of the system, with no asteroid belts or satellites for cover, and the nearest planet too far for the reptile to reach.
The sensors flared with urgency, warning of an approaching, larger concentration of energy. Snapping away from his thoughts, the dinosauroid moved to the side to avoid whatever had targeted him. Shooting past at speeds as fast as light, a larger, crimson stream burst from the tip of the leading ship, bristling with excess power to the point that its structure could not form into a smooth cone, appearing with a shape similar to water or flames. As he felt it pass by, mere metres from the vessel’s exterior, the solution appeared to the savage beast in the spur of the moment. As the warship charged up for a repeat attack, he maneuvered the travel ball directly into its sights. He detected the energy burst from the firing of the cannon, but held his position and allowed the flickering stream to strike the spherical transport.
Overwhelming force pushed the orb across the empty void, washing its exterior in light, energy and, most importantly, heat. The last element was what the cold blooded killer craved, absorbing the burning fire of the attack through the sphere’s surface and converting it internally to his own power. Coupled with the pushing force of the crimson stream, the recharged invader shot away from the approaching fleet with a silent burst of sapphire blue flames. It moved beyond the speed of light, putting kilometers between the reptile and his pursuers in one short burst, leaving them far behind and the space devil to continue his escape. Heaving for breath, however, he was not fit to resume his course after a sudden use of hastily-converted power, leaving the alien’s body shaken and in chaos. In order to fully recuperate his strength, he had to make landfall, and soon.
Thousands of kilometers away, a massive planet, the gas giant Jupiter, was detected through the travel sphere. The nature of the elements that composed it made it uninhabitable for most life, even for an extraterrestrial creature like Bemular, who could usually survive in the poorest environments. Before he could bite the bullet and head for the orange-brown world, a smaller body was sensed, hanging in the orbit and shadow of Jupiter. Unlike the larger planet, the sphere’s primitive sensors reported a more stable environment, but further information was inhibited from within the confines of his vessel. The sphere turned course, making for the planet under the little information it had, in the hopes that it would serve as a temporary site to hide out and recover from the ones who sought his destruction.
The exiled killer never knew he was being watched. Far from escaping his stalkers, from kilometers away, cruel eyes overlooked the energy trail of their quarry’s travel ball, tracking its projected course. As the planet that was the dinosauroid’s destination appeared on the screen, inhuman lips curled into a wicked smile.
“Oh, it couldn’t be more perfect. Now I have the opportunity to crush two obstacles in one single blow…”
Chapter 2: Unanimous Matrimony
The Xilien commandant rubbed his thumb and spandex-covered index finger over the headmaster chair, his patience thinning by the passing second. Those present had already been accommodated at the roundtable, yet many remained absent. With calculative precision, he jumbled with the billions of possible outcomes of their delay. He knew that his guests of honor, too, were becoming weary with impatience. Through the thin visor that sat atop his eyes, the Controller glanced at the central computer’s algorithmic patterns. The calculations did not deviate in the slightest, mathematically proving their absence would not derail from the prosperous future that awaited all of them.
Before he made his announcement, the Controller took one last look to verify those present. Two representatives of the Leviathan race were in attendance, both bulky extraterrestrials with tusk-like protrusions that jutted out from their face and two sets of eyes that stretched across their cranium. They possessed four two-pronged, disk-like fingers and four appendages for legs. These legs, however, were retracted inward into their bodies as they hovered in place, with no necessity for chairs.
In truth, these bodies weren’t truly theirs, for they had downloaded their consciousnesses into human hosts and restructured the human genome to resurrect their bodies. They had taken on the names of Sopler and Hoffman to distinguish themselves from the others, even if they were part of a greater hivemind colony. The Xilien Controller knew that their weapon—the aptly dubbed “Cyber Godzilla”—had already been deposited at Planet X’s Sector 07 containment unit, as were the other monsters, Gigan and Megalon, who were brought along by the others who sat parallel to the Leviathan aliens.
Across from the Leviathans, envoys of the Space Hunter Nebula M were present. Their insectoid bodies were on full display, having no need to project their human disguises. The Nebulan that identified itself as Fumio, the chairman, killed time by mapping out the relative trajectory between Planet X and their home in the Space Hunter Nebula, a simple hobby of his. The other, who identified as Kubota, fell into a mesmeric daze as he watched his young master solving for the shortest and longest routes most optimal for space travel, and all in-between.
To the Controller’s left sat the Queen of the Kilaak people, clad in a silver bodysuit and draped with a cape. Her distinct feminine appearance remained as elegant as ever, with a small red button on her upper chest. She sat, her hands folded over each other, and waited with brittle patience. But if there was one who had less patience than her, it was the Emperor of Seatopia who sat alongside his Nebulan compatriots. Antonio’s fingers curled into balled fists, his face fuming with impatience.
“What’s taking them so long?!” Antonio protested loudly, irritated by the long wait, “You sent out the invitation, and they should have been here by now!”
“Of course the human had to be the one to complain,” Sopler berated, speaking freely with the use of a telepathic frequency. “You deep dwellers and your surface relatives do not understand the patience needed for long-distance space travel.”
“DO NOT ASSOCIATE THEM WITH ME OR MY PEOPLE!” the Seatopian roared with utmost fury, “Or I will have you face the wrath of our god, in Megalon’s name!”
Kubota snapped out of his daze and directed his attention to his ally. “Lord Antonio, I implore you that now is not the time for petty fighting!” Kubota urged with a chitter from his mandibles, “You are falling for the Leviathan’s mind games and letting them take advantage of you for their amusement! Don’t humiliate yourself any further!” The Seatopian Emperor seethed, but held his tongue for the sake of keeping the peace.
The Kilaak Queen glanced at the Xilien Controller. “So will we finally begin, dear?” she questioned, her voice echoed with an eerie reverb, “It seems like things will only fall apart the longer we wait.”
He nodded. The Controller stood up from his headmaster seat and raised his right hand as a gesture of silence. All activity ceased, eyes glued to the Xilien leader. Even Fumio dropped his pen and listened attentively.
“Gentlemen, I apologize for the delay of our invitees. We cannot wait on them any longer, but it will be of no consequence. However, there is something I must address.” The Xilien’s eyes shifted to the Seatopian. “Emotional outbursts are punishable by Xilien law. As you are a guest of honor and that this is your first time here, all charges will be dropped, just this once.”
Antonio took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m sorry,” he uttered remorsefully, “You invited me—a human—here, and here I am acting like a child.” He bowed with deepest respect. “Please accept my apology.”
“Your apology is accepted, and I will note that in the computer.” The Controller turned to the Leviathan aliens. “You, too, are guests of honor; but I must ask not to provoke anyone else for the rest of the session. Otherwise, you will be punished severely. Do I make myself clear?”
The two Leviathans glanced at each other before they came to a conclusion. “You have our word,” Sopler assured. Hoffman nodded in compliance.
“Excellent. Now let the meeting commence. I brought all of you here today to set forth a proposition,” the Controller began, “a unification of our forces acting as one cohesive unit. We distribute our resources among each other to help each of us prosper to new heights and begin a renaissance for our kinds through technological and intellectual exchange.”
“How can we be sure your aims are peaceful?” Hoffman inquired with suggestive doubt. “Do not misunderstand, we respect your race’s technological achievements and intellect. However, your past credentials indicate betrayal as a possibility. How can we assure our trust in this plan if this is still a very real risk down the line?”
Anxious murmurs stirred amongst the Nebulans and Seatopian. The Leviathan made a valid point, which was a cause for concern. The Xilien commandant, however, was unfazed and composed.
“I understand your doubts and apprehension. And allow us to put those qualms to rest,” the Xilien assured with calculated confidence. His specific wording perked their interest as they carefully tuned in to what he had to say next. “To ensure the ease of negotiations such as these, the Xiliens and Kilaakians have already become one. Our forces united, a free flowing exchange of information.” He paused for a moment and outstretched his left arm to the Kilaak Queen. “She is the Xilien Mistress; and I, the Kilaak Controller. For all intents and purposes, we are legally bound in interspecies marriage.”
“Hold on,” Fumio interfered, “does it not say under Xilien law that an Xilien citizen or authority figure is prohibited from expressing emotion and passion? And that those who do are punished for acting on those base desires?”
The Controller shook his head. But before he could speak, the Kilaak Queen took reign. “There is no contradiction of our marriage to the law,” she stated bluntly, “For our unity is based on the same goals for our species to prosper. Emotion and carnal desires have nothing to do with it. Look,” she said as she pointed to the red button on her chest, “this device is the creation of Xilien technology. It can regulate our body temperatures to what suits our needs, as our bodies cannot withstand low-temperature environments.”
“You mean this is too cold for you?” Antonio abruptly spurted out. “It’s already warm enough here as it is.”
“Very well then, if this means interstellar peace, we will very much take it into consideration,” Sopler contemplated aloud, mulling it over.
“To be honest, I still have my doubts,” Fumio remarked, “Since this is a preemptive measure, then who’s to say they don’t already have plans laid out? How can this be considered perfect peace?”
“We cannot change how you feel or force you to accept our hand of friendship,” the Controller noted, “It is only in your best interest to do what you feel is best for your people.” Xilien eyes shifted over to the only human present. “What say you, Antonio of Seatopia?”
Antonio’s eyes wavered, torn in his decision making. “I cannot give you an answer now, you will have to give me time.”
“No need to rush, take all the time you need. It is yours, and yours alone, to make,” the Xilien said. ‘Or until your Nebulan allies make that decision for you. Indecision is the worst trait for a leader to have.’ The Controller kept such thoughts to himself to maintain order.
Precise vision scanned the subtle movements of those present. The Leviathans were incredibly stoic, but the Controller could tell they were still processing the many possibilities and outcomes from the way they clamped their disk-fingers. Fumio, too, was deep in thought, with his claw-fingers overlapped near his mandibles. Kubota stood closer to Antonio, like an influencer over his decision making.
Then there were the empty seats. While the Controller had zero doubts all would bode well, as the algorithm had not changed, their absence stirred within his subconscious. Had they been building an invasion force against them? Is this what the computer predicted for their futures? It was one among billions of probabilities, outcomes he could not verify himself. He had to rely on the processing power of their computer…
The Kilaak Queen glanced over and saw him deep in thought. If she knew anything about the Controller, or the Xilien race for that matter, it was that his absolute faith in the computer would be his undoing. However, an Xilien subordinate approached her to deliver the news. “My Queen and Great Leader,” the subordinate started, acknowledging the pair. The Controller snapped out of his cold trance.
“What is it?” he coldly inquired.
“We’ve detected an anomaly in Sector 15…”
A brilliant light crashed upon the rocky surface of Jupiter’s dark moon. Dust kicked up from the impact, which infinitely sprawled beyond the thin atmosphere and into the void. Even as the cloud diminished, the bright light of Bemular’s spherical casing continued to shine like the sun. The dihydrogen monoxide plant, which was situated on the surface of Sector 15, burned away, eventually leading to the water spilling from the industrial structure. If the heat produced from the travel ball didn’t incinerate the Xilien workers in proximity, then the ensuing flood would certainly do the trick. Very few made it back to the underground tubes that led into the subterranean base before they were crushed by roaring water.
Steam billowed from the foot of the sphere, as it did little to affect it to any capacity. However, once the orb began to dissipate, Bemular could feel the water eagerly rush between his scaly toes. With a craggily screech, the reptile’s aberrant maw spewed superheated flames, evaporating the pouring liquid. Water was a precious resource for prospering life; without it, the living could not thrive. To quench his insatiable appetite, this moon’s destruction was all the more necessary. With powerful footfalls and wild whipping of his barbed tail, the thorny devil laid waste to the techno-infused rock formations and surface Xilien-made structures, killing all those who controlled the many facilities herein.
This brought a twisted smile to his face. However, his eyes briefly glanced at the ominous gas giant that loomed over him and the stars beyond, scanning for his pursuers. While there were many different spacecraft orbiting the planet, ranging from techno-organic carriers to fiery orange saucers, there was nothing of them. Verifying that they weren’t present, the invasive terror resumed his rampage.
***
“—and it is under siege,” the Xilien finished, “Shall we deploy our forces?”
Before either the Kilaak Queen or Controller could issue an order, Fumio took charge. “If you believe this treaty will ensure peace, then let us deploy Gigan to eradicate this creature,” Fumio insisted, “as a display of our peace.”
“Megalon could provide assistance,” Antonio interjected, “and their cooperation can guarantee an easy kill.”
The Xilien leader glanced at the computer, and for the first time since this session began, there was a change in the pattern. With this information, the Xilien was quick to decide. “I’m afraid that offer will have to be declined, gentlemen,” the Controller aptly stated, “It is not that we doubt Gigan or Megalon’s capabilities, but it is not in our best interest to use those two.”
“Then why not have the Leviathans deal with this pest?” the Kilaak Queen warmly suggested, “If they have come to a conclusion, that is.”
The Leviathan pair were still deep in thought, calculating the many outcomes that could sprawl from this decision. As they did, Antonio shot up from his seat. “Nonsense!” he shouted, “You’re telling us that their knock-off Godzilla is a better option than our god?”
The Controller raised his hand for silence. “Do you believe your ‘god’ must sully his power against something less than his full capability?” the Xilien calmly issued, “And must the universe’s renowned assassin engage against something with a pitiable bio-signature?” he said with a monotone straightforwardness.
“Very well then, if that is how you see it, Controller,” Fumio replied with a hint of spite. Even Antonio’s head drooped as he plunged into his seat.
“Leviathans? Have you come to a final verdict?” the Queen asked.
The bulky aliens revved to life with pulsating eyes. There wasn’t any more time to think it over; their decision was now. “We do not appreciate our greatest creation being classified as lesser than these,” Hoffman enunciated his disdain, “For our Cyber Godzilla is an engineered weapon that can rival the original.”
“However, if this is the first step to a united force,” Sopler added, “then so be it. We will showcase Cyber Godzilla’s power and prove it to be a force to be reckoned with.”
“Deploy a carrier to transport Cyber Godzilla to Sector 15,” the Controller ordered. “Designate the target as Monster Zero Sixty-Six.”
***
Rampant fires burned, yet the smoke produced fizzled out as they climbed through the thin atmosphere of Planet X. Nevertheless, it displayed the wreckage the wandering menace had wrought upon the area. The Xilien body count continued to pile up as they fell to his heat ray. However, the dark sky was illuminated by a shining saucer that caught his attention. Primarily white with red orbs on its top and undersides and a blue stripe around its circumference, the spaceship dipped over the horizon from the saurian’s view. His head tilted in curiosity, unsure what was going on. But when he saw it return to view, there was more to it. The three orbs produced cyan lightning, which carried a theropod-like lizard curled in a fetal position. Blue and red rings exuded from the bottom, encasing the other monster in a transparent sphere. Then, the saucer hastily flew over the mountainous terrain, with the creature in tow.
As the space machine came closer, Bemular was able to discern the fine details of this other creature. From its metallic sheen, the decayed red skin, and tubing across its neck, it became clear that the unknown intruder wasn’t wholly organic. As the saucer deposited the spherical case on the moist ground and retracted its tractor beam, a nearby cliffside began to open its doors. Within the hollowed mountain was a large satellite dish that could only be seen under the dim light of Jupiter. The device sparkled with technological display as a wave of ionizing particles, manifested in the form of a concentrated beam, washed over the barrier. In mere seconds, the atoms that made up the sphere broke down into gasses, left in the form of vapor. And just as quickly as it was done, the satellite was sealed back within the mountainside. In the midst of the haze, the cyborg that stood unconsciously unfurled from its fetal position, the lenses on its eyes dim and black.
“Cyber Godzilla, it is time to prove your worth as our flagship and their equal,” Sopler and Hoffman declared.
With a telepathic command received from his masters, Cyber Godzilla’s eyes activated in a flash of murky green. Pressurized steam ejected from his two large nostrils as the cyborg reptile rose from his slumped position. Cold, dead eyes scanned the target that stood before him. The enhanced revenant sneered at his target and released a synthetic cry, challenging the space reptile to battle.
Buggy eyes glared at the reanimated cyborg, pupils contracted with cruel intent. The space monster unleashed a high pitched wail, eager to lay waste to this cybernetic zombie. Both stood idle, if only for a moment, waiting for the other to move… And one order sealed the deal.
“Attack!”
Pressing his digitigrade feet into the rocky soil, the revived monster sprinted into action with impeccable speed. With only seconds to spare, Bemular spewed a stream of pale blue flames. Quick on his feet, the cybernetic mutant swerved out of the line of fire while maintaining his original trajectory. Before the space fugitive had the chance to turn its head, Cyber Godzilla used his boxy visage as a battering ram and plunged deep into the scaly fiend’s sternum. The extraterrestrial’s flames quenched in a violent wisp that singed his parched lips, all the while the spiny alien was flung from his feet. Only his thorny armor provided protection from the rocky wall he found himself embedded into. Unstable rock shook loose from the impact, pelting against his frame.
Wasting no time, the enhanced atomic reptile crouched low on all-fours and adjusted his position. From the mechanical devices weaved onto his prominent scutes, two sets of luminescent lights flared from the missile launchers on the right protrusion. With utmost accuracy, four energized missiles sped across the barren terrain and found their mark. Compacted energy unraveled in brilliant explosions as they bombarded damned scales, leaving burns in their wake. The Leviathan flagship pressed on with the assault, alternating to the other set of hi-tech missile launchers on the adjacent scute. Another round of energy missiles exploded, tearing and searing the scaly armor. The galactic menace wailed and panicked, which only caused more of the mountainside to cave in on itself.
Several more salvos blasted the imprisoned reptile to kingdom come, yowls being silenced by the nearly nonexistent atmosphere. After a while, blood sprayed from his wounds as the missiles chipped away his unnatural exterior. However, Cyber Godzilla reoriented himself and changed his trajectory. Rather than the target, the eight-count payload was fired at the massive wall that surrounded the extraterrestrial. A massive rockslide tumbled down the steep slope and buried the vile reptile under it. The unfeeling creation continued the bombardment until his foe’s screeches were cut short by the boulders that covered his entire body.
The dust hadn’t even settled as the zombified cyborg approached the makeshift prison. There was no hesitation on the revived American beast’s part as his scutes flashed with circulating atomic energy, his eyes temporarily a deep crimson. Radioactive ions formed within his mouth and exhaled as a wild burst of azure flames that coated the rubble. The minerals began to melt from the atomic breath, sealing the gaps and allowing the metallic components to weld together. He torched it until a new prison was forged from the rocks, a superheated metal casing that housed the infamous Bemular. Though the metal was still soft, the augmented reptile undisputedly knew that the compressed heat, trapped within the case, was cooking the target alive. Only subtle shifts of the metal shell informed him that the prisoner was still alive. But for how long was yet to be determined.
Had it been a few minutes longer, the metal casing would have had the chance to completely harden and perhaps encase the star beast in his prison. But it was not meant to be so. A few sudden, successive rams from within tore the soft metal like aluminum. The spiked devil leaned over horizontally and collided his thorny head with his captor’s metallic sternum. This caught the undead machine off guard. The cybernetic theropod was blown off his feet, crashing on his back where his back spines dug into the rocky soil. A visible crack was present on one of his metal chest plates. However, his cybernetic body absorbed the impact as he quickly regained his senses.
Making an effort to pull himself from the ground, Cyber Godzilla scanned for the conditions of his target. Bemular rose to his full height, which only revealed the declining health of the reptile. His body secreted sweat and steam from under his scales, giving him a distinctive shiny coat unseen with most reptiles as the dilated vapor was quenched from the void. Sweat mixed with blood from the wounds sustained, irritating the alien lifeform even more. The bane of the Inter Galactic Defence Force’s buggy eyes squinted as he tried to keep the dripping sweat and heat out of his sight. Even with the target’s limited vision, the reborn mutant was inclined to believe his foe knew where he was. This was further cemented with his next move.
Stretching his jaws wide, the alien terror spewed another round of pale flames. Having anticipated this, the first of the “Godzilla” species quickly propped his upper body through the support of his asymmetrical arms. Then his chest cavity popped open, revealing what was under the metal plates. Housed within was a satellite dish, an enhancement birthed from Leviathan engineering. As the pale fire struck the saucer, the azure blaze instead bounced off the reflector dish and returned to its sender with amplified power. Sparks and flames popped against the beast’s armor as his very own fire breath seared into his body. This left the towering reptile stunned, allowing the time for the fallen cyber-beast to reorient himself back on his feet.
With a synthetic hiss, the cyborg’s missile launchers lit up and fired from their sockets. Eight projectiles flew over and prepared to strike their target head-on. However, the sinister saurian had a trick up his sleeve. With cascading flashes of sapphire light, a swirling vortex of heat began to coat its thorny body. A spherical barrier forged from this heat, which caused the energy missiles to prematurely detonate before they could even reach their primary target. Then under its own volition, the orb began to hover above the ground. With another command, the sphere propelled towards his undead foe with incredible speeds.
The alien zombie leapt to his left, the orb passing by as it grazed the lizard’s mechanical right arm. It singed the space metal as the prosthetic’s sensors alerted the cyborg of the heat that exuded from it. Yet it also detected the marked increase in thermal energy from the impact as well. Cyber Godzilla’s green eyes tracked the sapphire orb as it circled around to mow him down. A plan hatched in the cyborg’s mind, one that wasn’t foolproof, but it was a plan nonetheless. Unlike before, the ultimate weapon of invasion stood his ground, prepared for the inevitable impact as the travel sphere rushed eagerly to meet him.
The dull red and cybernetic arms of the radioactive beast were held out in front of him, intending to halt the sphere with his bare hands. His feet crunched into the ground, anchoring himself. Even his artificial eyes squinted at the approaching brightness. All he needed was a brisk few seconds… But would it be enough? The answer came at the moment of impact.
A solid sphere of heat made direct contact with his outstretched palms, displacing until it pressed against his arms and upper torso, spreading the area of influence. The burning sensation began to wilt the flesh off his organic components and destabilized the structural integrity of the mechanical parts. The techno-organic iguana was pushed against his will, carving two trails where his feet were planted as he was dragged along. Amidst this, he prepared to press the opened dish against the fiery orb.
Another second passed. If he didn’t act now, he would certainly be compromised. Even if it wasn’t at full capacity as he had expected, it would hopefully be sufficient. The chest cavity pressed against the outer shell of the sphere, inverting the kinetic energy back at the source. Like the shockwaves of a tectonic plate, vibrations passed through the external barrier and the flaming heat that composed it, which washed over Bemular. The high-pitched frequency robbed the alien killer of his auditory and directional senses, losing his focus in the process. The flames died down as the space monster frothed from the mouth, unable to cope with the seismic burst that invaded his protective sphere. Before he knew it, the travel ball broke apart into large chunks and dissipated into sparkling fire as the dread extraterrestrial fell to the ground. With a loud thud, the alien reptile landed on his spiny back.
Much to the cyborg lizard’s pleasure, it panned out sufficiently. He took a look at his organic four-clawed arm, blackened and seared, exposing rotted muscle. While he noticed his regenerative intuition kicking in, it was a far cry from what it was back when he was truly alive. The right hand, however, was in a less fortunate spot. The three-pronged hand had warped and needed time to cool to solidify. But he knew there was no time to wait for either of these to rest. There was business to settle.
With cybernetic whirrs, the synthetic zombie advanced towards the fallen, dazed beast from the stars. Smoke puffed from the cyborg’s nostrils as his spines and eyes lit up. In an instant, Cyber Godzilla bathed Bemular in a blanket of azure atomic fire, making the stunned fiend suffer for it.
The orbiting assembly observed the battle far below from their position in the troposphere, judging silently as the Leviathan’s weapon demonstrated its power against the invasive reptile. From each of the commanding vessels, information was beamed down and fed into the Xilien computer, where it was then transmitted to the chamber of the council, and the eyes of the ruling bodies. The other races were impressed. Even though Cyber Godzilla had yet to gain victory, the triumph of Leviathan biotechnology and the abilities it possessed had started to sway the thoughts of their potential allies, which made the voices of the collective sing with egotistical pride.
“Do you continue to doubt the effectiveness of our creation now?” Sopler announced with vanity. “Our cyborg is equal in power to your own monsters, and its triumph will prove that it, and us, are worthy of this alliance and your respect.”
His face burning red and veins bulging at the arrogant words of the rotund alien, Antonio opened his mouth for a retort. The insinuation that their cyborg, some diseased, reanimated carcass, could stand alongside his god was an insult to Megalon’s magnificence. He held his tongue, however, at the piercing glares of the Xilien and Kilaak rulers, remembering the rules of their kind and the promise he had made. With a silent, calming breath, he sank back into his seat.
Kubota watched the Seatopian closely, his black, compound eyes glued to the human look-alike until he was certain that the emperor had his emotions in check. “That man needs to learn to keep his emotions in check, especially here.” He sighed in exasperation. “He has too much faith in Megalon, I fear. He and his people may see him as a god, but that belief does not give them power.”
He looked to his superior and awaited for a reply. But the chairman’s gaze was vacant, starting aimlessly across the room, with his antennae barely twitching and limbs frozen in their tasks. The silence was unnerving to Kubota, who had never seen his master in a state such as this. His discomfort was noticed by the Kilaak Queen, switching her gaze from the monitor screen to the Nebulans.
“Is there a problem, gentlemen?” she asked with a conflicted air.
Fumio’s mandibles chittered loudly, the first sign of sentience from the chairman since entering his trance. His antennae drooped over the side of his insectoid body, which reflected his mood of uncertainty.
“Something is… wrong.”
***
All eyes were locked on the surface of Planet X, fully focused on the outcome of the clash below. Only space’s dark vastness accompanied the mixed armada, with quick sweeps of the area sensing no other craft or being in the vicinity. However, a feeling of unease permeated many of the crew of the various vessels, unable to shake the aura of alien eyes upon them.
Above the fleet, the warship held its position. Its cloaking field and signal jammers hid it from sight and detection, leaving only a faint, reflective sheen in the shape of the craft as the only proof of its presence. Seated in his techno-organic throne, the ship’s commander watched the battle between their quarry and the revived corpse play out on the large screen before him, which shared the space with data graphs and video feeds of the vessel’s systems and occupants. Cold, scaly lips split to reveal sharp fangs, forming a cruel smile, while a tentacle flicked up lazily, giving a silent order to the crew circled beneath his seat of power. With a nod of confirmation, one of the lower-ranking operators tapped out an instruction on the controls at his station.
The surface of the illusion began to ripple as an object started to push through. Detaching from the vessel, a smaller ship pushed through the cloaking field as if it was water, bullet-shaped with a segmented, chitin-like cone. Simultaneously organic and mechanical in nature, the pod’s thrusters ripped it away from the mothership and out into the vacuum. It rocketed straight down, its onboard computers putting the pod on the most optimal course for the surface of Planet X. Unfortunately, that course was through the assembled fleet that guarded the moon’s atmosphere.
Without hesitation, the pod accelerated towards the wall of ships, picking up velocity in the few meters of space it traveled before contact. Only seconds before, the vessel had appeared on the conglomerate’s radar, and they were still reeling from the sudden revelation when it hit the blockade. Kilaak and Xilien saucers gave no resistance, popping like lightbulbs against the armour and force of the pod as it blasted through ship after ship without any sign of slowing down. The only challenge it faced was the massive Leviathan carriers, which sported greater armour and shielding in comparison to the other starcraft of the fleet.
But the pod did not deviate from its path, flying straight into the side of one of the colossal warships with a soundless impact. Ripping apart the energy barrier and reinforced plating, it scraped down the side of the warship in complete silence, tearing open the hull but unable to penetrate deeper. Eventually, the pod reached the vessel’s underside, sliding free with a shower of broken metal and launching back to its adjusted flight path with only minor exterior damage. Compared to the enemy fleet, its speed was incomparable, far out of range before they could gather their senses and gun down the craft. It continued to descend, glowing white hot with a cone of flames as it hit Planet X’s weak atmosphere, pushing through without any resistance.
“You poor, pathetic fools.” As the pod disappeared with its growing acceleration through the atmosphere, the rogue alien leader chuckled darkly. “The reptile’s chase has given me this perfect opportunity. And now…”
“There is nowhere left to hide.”
***
Heads darted around as alarms blared across the chamber. All at once, a hundred reports flooded into the central computer’s databanks, fighting over each other for priority to reach the eyes of the delegates. Fortunately, it was barely a strain on the processing power of the machine, a testament to its efficiency and the engineering skills of the Xiliens. Taking only a minute to process and organise the data, the conjoined data was uploaded to the viewing screen to allow its occupants to analyse it all at once.
Antonio pointed a finger at the screen, his twitching features swapping between confusion and anger at the image of the foreign pod. “What in the great name of Megalon is that… thing?!” he demanded.
No longer were the representatives of the galaxy’s strongest calm and collected. Fear and anxiety spread through the hall, manifesting physically in the unsettled body language of all but two of its occupants.
“This could not be anticipated.” With his spiny neck protruding from the cavity of his body, Hoffman’s bulbous head rose higher for a closer inspection of the collected reports. “The structure of the craft is much like our own; biological matter and circuitry together as one. But it is not ours, we assure you,” he promised to the others.
Up to this point, the organizers of the event had remained silent to converse with each other in private. While he lent his ear to the words and concerns of his mistress, the Xilien commandant could not resist his urge and devotion to the calculations of the computer, turning his back to the queen to examine its equations for the answers he needed. He did not frown, for that would be a violation of the very laws he governed, but uncertainty grew as he drank in the changes to the algorithm and the deviations it predicted.
Fumio, too, was engrossed in his own dilemma. Unlike the Controller, the answer he required was there, but unclear. Fog filled his mind to deny him of the information he knew was there, facts that could turn the atmosphere in the chamber around and restore the chance of success. As if to spite him, it continued to elude the Nebulan, leaving him enraged and beaten. I know you, he thought. The Leviathans speak the truth of their innocence. That feeling of familiarity… our race has seen that technology before, but where? From who?
The chairman’s colourless eyes returned to the monitor, where it showed the pod progress as it began to close the last few kilometres to the surface. It seems, for now, we must all wait and see.
***
Beneath the shadow of the reanimated mutation, Bemular’s garish features were imbued with the excruciating agony of thermonuclear fire. Screeching his torment worsened the experience for the reptile, for it allowed the atomic flames to access the sensitive gums and soft throat tissue inside his oral cavity. He could hear the crackling of his own scales as they blackened and withered under the unregulated heat, with each loss exposing the softer, vulnerable flesh underneath. Imbued by the mind-numbing agony, his legs lifted up from the black soil and snapped forward into the undead beast’s gut, kicking the cyborg away from his sprawled form. With great urgency, the trespassing alien began to lift his burnt body, suffering from spikes of intense anguish through the entire process, until he stood on his own feet at last.
Across the darkened plain, Cyber Godzilla recuperated from his prickly foe’s surprise counter-attack. His spines tore free from the colourless soil, flinging showers of rock across the metallic plating on his back as his head shook away the cobwebs. Although he had the benefit of cellular regeneration and Leviathan augmentation on his side, the resurrected iguana reacted too close to the sudden charge of his target and suffered for it as the mutant saurian’s needle-sharp teeth stabbed into the putrid flesh of his neck. For a moment, the spiny convict began to thrash his jaws across the cyborg’s nape, only to suddenly halt and withdraw as the rotten juices and preserving fluids that ran through the mutant’s veins flowed onto his tongue. He pulled back, gargling in horror at the vile concoction permeating his taste buds.
The augmented weapon took advantage and charged with an elephantine groan, his unmatching arms lifted to strike down at the reptile’s hide. Only at the last moment did the fugitive escape being disemboweled, turning around and throwing his head back to slam into the Leviathan zombie with the hundreds of spines that lined the length of his back. The impact was enough to disorient the interstellar monster’s attacker, stumbling on its feet with bruised scales and dent-lined armor. The first blow to deliver results was made, but the destroyer of worlds knew he had to keep up the offensive in order to contend with the cybernetic reptile. Sweeping his long, spike-lined tail, he stabbed the armored knee of the atomic machine’s left leg, forcing the reptile to stagger to the side as he lifted the assaulted foot. The combo was ended as Bemular swung around, tilting his body forwards to hammer it directly against the cyborg’s metallic sternum, with the resulting force tossing him across the battlefield through the air.
Pushing himself from the dirt, the undead soldier’s emerald eyes peered through the dust cloud generated from the impact of his landing. Only yards away, the lanky, green form of the beast from the stars stood out next to the black mountains, dripping blood from his scales while he stared back at the reanimated lizard. For both creatures, retreat was out of the question, for they both sought claim to the hidden moon. Despite their rivalry, an understanding was made between alien savage and cybernetic slave. Only through bloodshed could there be victory and supremacy. To that end, the terror from the Monster Graveyard and the Leviathan revenant of war opened their maws, charging up their signature energies. The air around each titan’s jaws warped with heat as sapphire fire vomited from their throats, colliding with a bright spark of light and flame. Funneling all the resources at their disposal, both reptiles sought to consume the other with super concentrated heat and nuclear fire respectively, but for now, a stalemate was reached.
Cyber Godzilla primed his fin launchers in preparation for a secondary attack. Unlike Bemular, who possessed only his oral heat beam, the Leviathan cyborg carried a multitude of weapons for long-ranged attacks. The compartments slid open, revealing a neon blue glow as the targeting computers connected to his augmented brain locked on. Before he could launch, his vision was unexpectedly overtaken by an overbearing orange flare. Blinded on the left side, his eye squinted in an attempt to block out the light and locate its source.
The mad fiend was also affected, mimicking the actions of his rival in the search of the intruding object. His frogish eyes bulged as they saw the descending pod, glowing bright with the flames that coated its surface like a protective shield. It rapidly began to close the distance, homing onto the dueling monsters’ position. As the pod neared the ground, the velocity and g-forces produced lashed out at the environment around it, mountains of black stone crumbling like jenga blocks and the soil splitting apart. Extreme heat and light engulfed both of the titans, which produced great quantities of sweat on the reptiles’ scales. That, in turn, evaporated to steam in the rising temperature, which started to melt the rock under their feet. The blinded duo finally cut off their duel, staggering away uselessly with their inability to see in the pod’s glare.
And finally, impact.
***
The eruption would forever leave a scar on the surface of Planet X. Although small, it released enough kinetic force to remold the terrain into a ragged, blackened crater, obscured by the brilliant orange mushroom cloud of fire and energy. Far underground, the secret fortress felt the effects of the impact as rooms shook from powerful tremors, while power across the base fluctuated. Lights flickered spastically, cutting out altogether as the power systems finally cut out from the unending vibrations.
In the chamber, the representatives only had to sit in darkness for a few moments before the backup systems activated, restoring life support, basic facilities and power to the complex. However, even this struggled to hold on, blinking on and off with erratic worry while Xilien engineers battled to keep the power from kicking out. In the face of danger, even the Xilien Controller and Kilaak Queen failed to maintain their unemotive appearance, growing expressions of distress as the chamber awaited the end of the tremors.
After what appeared like an eternity, the vibrations ended and the power stabilized. With the threat passed for now, the royal pair resumed their masks of neutrality, which had failed to be noticed by the other leaders amidst the panic. Had the slip been noticed, both rulers could have easily swung their power around for a feasible excuse, but at this moment, to aggravate their allies was not the intention. For the Controller, logic overpowered everything else; this moment was one to strengthen alliances in the face of this new threat, and he could only hope that the Nebulans, Leviathans, and the Seatopian Emperor would see the same sense. For the moment, his black visor joined the eyes of the room in looking at the restored image on the monitor.
***
The barren surface appeared even more lifeless after the impact. Fires quickly died from the lack of fuel to burn and the thin atmosphere of the planetoid, which prevented oxygen, a vital need for flames to grow, from collecting. It was the foul smoke from the flames that roused the thorny devil from unconsciousness, snorting hot air from his nostrils to dispel it from his aching form. Shakily, the extraterrestrial rose from under the collected sand and debris, shaking the material from his spines as he stood to his full height. He failed to stand straight, wobbling on his legs while trying to examine his surroundings through foggy vision. His mind scrambled temporarily from the collision, moving should have been the last thing to do, but it was a better alternative than lying helpless on the ground, where he would face the mercy of the augmented zombie or whatever had now entered the battlezone.
As the smoke faded, Bemular’s sight started to focus once more, losing the shakes in his limbs as the cobwebs cleared from his consciousness. With his restored sight, the interloping killer could see the devastation brought upon the surface; a sight to revolt and bring despair to most beings, but to a creature as repulsive as him, it was an image that sang to the depths of his black soul.
Far across, at the center of the crater, the pod lay embedded into the rock. Smoke wafted off its rapidly cooling plating, with barely a scratch or dent marring the techno-organic surface. There was a familiarity in his conscience, faintly recalling the image of a similar object, but the connection failed to click. However, the unchilling aura was enough to discourage him from venturing closer to the object. Then, with a hiss of air, it began to split open…
Cyber Godzilla’s eyes glowed, his processors rebooting the cyborg mutant’s augmented mind as purple lines of data flowed from his chest armor to the tubes connected to his lower jaw. The gears and motors in his limbs whirred as he pushed up, analyzing the condition of his body after the impact. Parts of the armor had been compromised and flesh was bruised and ripped away, but the Leviathan’s greatest accomplishment was not out for the count. Resuming his mission, the reptile was quick to locate his alien foe from a brief sweep of the environment, and stalked closer. He came to a stop, however, as he followed the spiny intruder’s gaze, coming to rest his eyes on the ship as it split open down the middle, unfolding like the cocoon of a moth or butterfly to expose the contents within.
Inside, dark shapes moved, obscured by the darkness with only crimson, luminous orbs across their bodies as markers for the creatures’ forms. Moving forward as light spilled into the confined space, the new life forms stepped out onto Planet X, crunching the gravel underfoot, locking their sights on the two beings that greeted them. They should have run or attacked at first sight, but like fools, both reptiles stood still and gawked, drinking in the terror of their arrival.
For this world and its people, it was too late to escape. To hide or to fight were the only options now, and neither would save their forfeit lives in the long run, for the harvest had commenced.
The Trilopods were here.
Chittering amongst their number, the arthropod hunters discussed the choice of first target. The undead saurian snorted, turning his head away from the invaders. The programming wired across the lizard zombie’s cortex did not label them as a threat nor a target, and until it did, his mission remained the same as before. Focusing on the green spines on the distracted space monster’s back, the cybernetic iguana’s scutes flashed bright with azure power from the tip of his tail to the nape of his neck. Bright fire flashed within his artificial eyes, but just before the moment of release…
“Cyber Godzilla, your instructions are changed. Ignore the reptile for now. It is barely a threat next to these unknown saboteurs. The arthropods are your new targets; terminate them without mercy.”
The blaze vanished as data streamed into the cyberised Godzilla’s cerebrum. Processing the new command, he looked between Bemular and the alien anomalocarids with uncertainty. Never had he been called off from a target before, but the instructions of the Leviathans were law, and he must obey.
He charged with a synthesized war cry, rushing at the pack with incomparable speed. Springing off the dark soil, the revived mutant pounced onto one of the bipedal beasts, pushing it to the ground with the combination of sudden force and his own hefty weight. Metal-coated jaws crunched the chitin plates of the Trilopod’s throat without difficulty, drawing out a squeal from its ringed orifice as green fluid bubbled up around the father of the species’ decayed gums. He grinned in pleasure, delighting in the creature’s suffering, but his eyes suddenly widened at the sensation of sharp objects coiling around the metal armor that strengthened his tail.
With its pedipalps securing the resurrected creature’s tail, the second Trilopod ripped the augmented assaulter away. The reanimated beast was tossed over the lifeless plains of scorched rock, droplets of dark green gore trailing from his stained jaws as he twisted in the air to land perfectly, digging claws into the earth for stability and drag. As he came to a halt, the cyborg remained crouched low as energy missiles rocketed from the scute pins, bombarding the skull and chest of the scythe-bearing anomalocarid with bright bursts of bluish-green fire and light. Smoke and dust rose up as the assault continued, whipping up a screen of clouds as the deep space predator raised its bladed arms to defend itself. Within seconds, the cybernetic weapon had to bring the barrage to a halt as the cloud covered the swarm completely, hiding them from his vision through the undead mutant’s own actions. Until the creatures entered his vision again, the revived lizard swept the landscape for head or limb.
The chittering of the intruders echoed around, but with the difference in conditions between the atmosphere of Earth and Planet X, the chorus came out muffled and muted. It hindered the unnatural being’s ability to locate the whereabouts of each creature, even with the amplified hearing granted from Leviathan engineering. Blind he was not, however. He immediately noticed the color change in a section of the cloud, switching from dark gray to a blood red as something within illuminated brightly. A crimson blast swept through the dust and ash, striking naught but rock as the nimble reptile leapt from the site of impact moments prior. Jumping to the side, his stare caught the hazy silhouette of a Trilopod from where the beam had fired from, granting the augmented reptile some insight into the capabilities of these unknowns.
His head snapped to the side, but he was already flying into the waiting radiodont’s zone, springing out from the smokescreen with its scythe raised high. With an ear-ringing shriek, the serrated limb slashed across the revenant’s left flank, tearing into the decaying scales with no resistance while only gashing the armor of his chest. The cyborg cried out, falling to the ground as putrid juices and chemicals spilled. Standing over, the alien hunter clicked its mandibles, lifting its bladed forearms above its head. It stopped suddenly, gagging and stumbling back as its olfactory center was assaulted by the overpowering stench of the zombie’s fluids. The distraction was enough for the techno-organic to climb onto all four of its limbs and lash out with his tail, knocking the arthropod off its feet as it gargled in horror.
Another Trilopod stepped forward as the smoke lifted, slamming the tips of both blades into the iguana’s armored skull. Cyber Godzilla crumpled like loose bricks, suffering from the ragged gash along his side that impaired the function of his leg. He couldn’t think of moving until the wound had healed, but that was too much time that the lizard lacked. As the looming insect’s foot pinned his back, he became aware of a smaller shape approaching from the side. He recognised it as another of the hunters when it emerged from the haze, but its shape and size were different from the beast above him. Only half of the bipedal warrior’s size and walking on multiple pairs of insectoid legs, the Alpha Trilopod crawled its way to the undead beast’s unarmoured neck, drawing out a pained hiss when it sank its pedipalps into the synthetic titan’s flesh and began to feed. Under the two creatures’ joined weight, his struggles were futile, as the parasite’s body bloated from the gorged bio-energy…
Bemular screeched out a warning. The Trilopods paid no heed as they closed around, blocking any and all escape routes for the extraterrestrial. The glossy eyes of the horde gleamed with a hunger that only the reptile’s essence could sate, chittering excitedly with the scent of dripping blood in the air. Although scrawnier and far from in good health, the space monster used the strength left at his disposal to the greatest efficiency. Hot fire blazed from the xeno’s chapped lips, throwing back a pair of Alphas with eruptive force. The assault was the signal for the pack to attack. With each Beta that approached, the sinister reptile threw his body against the mountains of chitin and muscle, taking every ounce of power in him to drive each creature back a few feet. Bladed appendages slashed at the psychotic beast, but many only bounced off the tough, defensive spines. Inch by inch, he gained room in the swarm’s midst.
Screeching aloud, a confident Trilopod brought down its raised scythe. The mad fiend countered the blow by leaning forward, catching the blade on the back of his neck. Several of the green monster’s spines cracked and fell off, but the arthropod was unable to penetrate the full layer. Swinging upward, the blade was dislodged, and the Beta stumbled back from the sudden shift in balance. Taking advantage of its downed defense, jagged jaws clamped around the Trilopod’s neck, crunching down on the tough plating. The hunter unleashed a shill cry as it fought to shake off the space dinosaur, but his grip was tight and secure. With a quick jerk forwards, a resounding crack echoed as he broke the alien hunter’s neck, dropping its limp form. One down, but a dozen remained. Meeting the eyes of the enclosing anomalocarids, the vicious monster cracked the stiff joints in his neck, cleaning the blood from his teeth with exaggerated licks.
That was when he noticed the condition of Cyber Godzilla. The broken mutation seemed even more like the living corpse it was under the heel of the Beta. His neck was soaked in his own disgusting blood, which also coated the mandibles of the bloated Alpha as it scuttled away. Hunching over, the larger Trilopod allowed it to crawl onto its back, not even flinching as the Alpha sank its pedipalps into the back of the skull. Both arthropods began to radiate with a green aura, their bodies merging as their genetic structure broke down and reformed with grotesque squelching noises. Before the reptile’s own eyes, the two Trilopods became one as a new body plan took shape.
When the light died out, it was revealed. It still looked like a Trilopod, but the changes in its appearance were obvious. Digitigrade legs, rows of curving, fin-like scutes along the back, a boxy set of jaws lined with stubby fangs; even its color had changed from reddish-brown to earthen grays. The new Trilopod hybrid parted its jaws, and even its call now sounded more like Cyber Godzilla’s own. It didn’t look right, though, trembling and wheezing with brittle armor and sunken eyes. Undoubtedly the result of taking genetic material from a creature long since dead, but the Zilla-Trilopod was prepared for combat despite its ailments.
Atomic fire spat from the hybrid’s jaws into Bemular’s sternum. Overtaken by the resulting agony and force, the bruised alien fell to the ground, howling and writhing for the assault to stop. There was no mercy from the Trilopod as it stepped closer to the reptile, coating his front in azure flames the entire time. Bemular craned his neck up, building up energy in his throat for a retaliating strike, but hooked forearms secured the wanderer’s jaws, locking them shut as the hybrid hunter’s atomic ray ceased. The twin Betas clicked ominously, pinning down Bemular while the Alphas set to work draining the genetic material out of the deranged criminal.
Chapter 5: The Face of the Devil
They watched as the horrific events transpired, seeing the situation turn from stable to dire in a matter of moments. The Xilien Controller discreetly glanced at the algorithmic graph, which continued to waver with uncertainty. In the midst of the ongoing havoc, he saw his compatriots breaking into a sweat, no doubt induced by stress and anxiety. The last thing the Controller needed to hear was from his subordinates, but unfortunately for him, the option was not in the cards at the moment.
“Great Leader,” the Xilien underling reported, “We’re receiving an encrypted signal.”
“Terminate it and block all external transmissions beyond Planet X,” the Controller ordered, “There will be no room for negotiations, for this undeniably has to be an act of war.” Without missing a beat, the computer suppressed all outside signals from entering the systems.
“Perfect peace cannot be obtained unless we fight for it,” Kubota plainly proclaimed, “On behalf of Master Fumio, allow us and the Emperor to deploy our monsters to aid the Leviathan’s creation.”
In an irritated growl, the Seatopian Emperor stood up. “Kubota, you do not speak on my behalf,” he vented his frustrations, “for Megalon carries the burden of protecting our people, and I must take that responsibility that will lead to a better future.”
“Then what will you do, human?” Hoffman scorned, as if the Leviathans had been reading the room the entire time. “What is your decision?” The others looked on, awaiting the Emperor’s response.
With a heated snort, Antonio rebuked the aliens, saying, “Our god will also provide help to your sinful abomination. No such filth should ever walk across the galaxy in the name of peace, but in dire straits such as this, I cannot find any other path that will guarantee my people’s protection.”
“The most reasonable conclusion you’ve come to,” Sopler added, “so long as these terms are not revoked by reckless actions, we will provide you assistance however we can.” Antonio reluctantly nodded, breathing carefully to manage control of himself.
“Something about this still isn’t right…” Fumio continued to chitter to himself, his antennae twitching nervously.
“Then I will issue the computer to release Gigan and Megalon from Sector 07, then we–” the Controller was cut off as the power began to flicker. The enclosure darkened to a near pitch black, with an emergency casing enveloping the guests of honor and the roundtable, leaving only a shimmering light hanging over them. Though they seemingly heard nothing, the Xilien Controller lost his composure as he felt an overwhelming strain on his neural processes, keeling over and falling into a seizure-induced state.
“Controller!” the Kilaak Queen called out, rushing to his prone and vulnerable form. With fluid action, she rolled him onto his side and stripped the cowl from her body, folding it and placing it under his head. She knew it would lose form and return to the metallic slug she once was, but it would still serve its purpose. Removing the thin visor from his visage, she clutched it near the red button on her chest as she slowly rose up.
Though pitch as black, the moans and wails of other Xiliens could be heard in the chamber. “Kilaakians, aid them!” Though unseen, the pitter-patter of Kilaak footsteps rummaged about, aiding their crippled Xilien partners.
“What happened? What’s going on?” Antonio inquired, concerned for the well-being of the Xilien commandant.
“I can only guess that the Xiliens have been compromised by a supersonic frequency,” the Kilaakian replied in hushed response, “but that shouldn’t be possible. We tuned out the original frequency that cost the Xiliens’ conquest of Earth years ago, so it shouldn’t be possible, unless…” She paused, dreading for the worst under her cold composure. All the while, she swept through the control systems of the Xilien computer in order to neutralize the frequency.
“It is not out of the question for the enemy to have repurposed or modified that frequency into something that could attack the vital components of Xilien engineering,” Sopler proposed, stretching out his neck to view the downed leader of this troubled treaty.
“And indeed, leave it to the deduction of the Leviathans to figure that one out.” The hardy and booming voice overrode the intercoms of the Xilien headquarters, which took everyone conscious by surprise. They scanned the pitch-black room for any invaders, until the monitor that had once surveyed the fight on the surface was replaced by a different image, one of a bioengineered throne room chiseled with chitin and mechanical components.
“Hello there,” the robust salutation came in crystal clear, exuding his presence upon these frightened sheep. “It would seem I was left uninvited. How unfortunate,” he spoke in a frivolous laugh, keeping his figure in the shadows.
Fumio froze solid, dropping the pen from his pincers. He glanced at the others; Antonio and the Leviathans were left speechless at this intruder, while the Kilaak Queen kept busy trying to reboot the system. Looking at Kubota, it seemed he too registered a familiarity with the one they were speaking with.
“Is that…?” Kubota chirped, his compound eyes seemingly widening with a fearful realization. Before Fumio could speak, the looming figure set his piercing gaze through the shadows.
“Oh? What do we have here?” the intruder replied with a firm, sturdy demeanor. “My reputation exceeds me, certainly.”
“You’re…” Fumio took a moment to compile his thoughts, letting it all fall into place. “You’re the one responsible for our world’s destruction. A cosmic crusader whose reach will go beyond the stars…”
The shadowy figure stepped into the lights of his monitors, revealing his colossal stature to those who stood conscious. Long, green tentacles drooped at the sides, robed in only the finest metallic armor that flowed like a silken dress. Piercing red orbs lit up the frontal torso, leading up to his tyrannical frill. The webbed membranes were tipped with bony spikes, seemingly fluttering in anticipation. In the center of this fold was his triangular head, layered in scaly flesh and adorned with an organic crown that protruded from his head. Double sets of incisors became visible when he hung his jaw low, contorting his mouth in a devilish glee, almost drooling with excitement.
“…Karkaro, ruler of the Cryogs,” Fumio concluded. The others fixated on Fumio, almost as if a wave of fear suddenly washed over them. Antonio almost dropped in what felt like utter shock. Though he had never heard of them, hearing the tension in Fumio’s voice was enough cause for concern.
The Kilaak Queen finished with her work, pressing in the final two buttons for the operating system to restart. She looked down at the prone Controller, his body no longer spasming as it once was. The cloak she had laid under him had been reduced to mush, but still functioned as the softener it needed to be. ’Good,’ she thought, ’looks like they won’t be able to configure the frequency for a while.’ Pulling the Xilien’s visor to the button on her bosom, she affirmed her determination.
“What brings you here, Cryog?” the Kilaak Queen inquired, her soothing voice stone cold with malicious intent.
Karkaro replied with an overconfident smirk and a click of the tongue before saying, “Did you not listen to your compatriot? I have a name, it’s Karkaro. And you will address me as such, slug.”
A nerve hit the spot, but she kept her composure. “You believe you can waltz right in here and disrupt a treaty among alien species, who want nothing more than peace?”
“Once this universe falls under my thrall, absolutely,” Karkaro proclaimed brazenly, “And you will see that for yourselves.” Just as he said that, the monitor deliberately switched to an image of the blockade of warships and vessels, in which another ship rippled into existence. Deactivating the cloaking devices, the Cryog battle fleet revealed their dark armor to the void of space, displaying the herculean task that was laid before the alien alliance.
“For you see, in the universe I will build, in the legacy I will forge…” his jovial mockery shifted into a threatening chime, “…There will be no need for other species beyond that of the Cryog Empire. Your demise will be imminent.”
A stagnant pause filled the air, letting the threat sit in. As the Xilien computer finished updating its software and fortifying its firewall, the transmission from Karkaro was cut, allowing control back to them. There was no turning back, no chance to negotiate. But with that, it made what came next that much easier.
“Everyone, now is the time to decide,” the Kilaakian spoke firmly, “Will you fight for the cause? Or will you turn tail at the first sign of trouble?”
“We speak on behalf of our species when we want nothing more than perfect peace,” Fumio stood up, regaining his fortitude. “Gigan will be our instrument to ensure that it will become a reality. You have our word.”
She nodded, then turned to the Leviathan aliens. “What about you?”
“Your intelligence is formidable and admirable, one who can match and synchronize with the Xiliens is one worthy of our respect,” Hoffman noted, “Although there was friction between us, our services will be at your disposal against the Cryog menace.”
“Indeed, and I must concur,” Antonio spoke up, “for the future of the Seatopian people rests with our lord and savior, Megalon. So long as these ‘Cryogs’ threaten the mass genocide of intergalactic races, such actions will not be tolerated.”
“Then we will show them what for! OPEN FIRE!” The Kilaak Queen screamed, startling everyone at the roundtable. Immediately, the saucers under the Xilien-Kilaak joint union pushed forward, prepared to combat these invaders.
Without missing a beat, the surrounding blockade whirred to life. White and orange saucers under the helm of Xilien-Kilaak influence bombarded the nearest Cryog war vessel with a series of laser cannons, carving the anterior of the space-faring battleship. Though the Xilien drones packed a punch, it was nothing more than an insignificant scrape against the colossal dreadnought, a speck next to a mountain. The Kilaak discs likewise discharged fiery pellets to aid, though they were miniscule and non-lethal in comparison.
Then came the techno-organic blimps that comprised the Leviathan armada. Gates parted, unloading swarms of sleek, red and white spacecraft, maneuvering within the cracks of the gargantuan Cryog ship. Their twin blasters shredded the thick, vein-like cabling and crippled the cannons, but such a herculean feat proved to only be a mild inconvenience. It was then that four of the blimp-like vessels opened their laser ports, unloading searing beams of light at the seams. The dark, organic armor of the Cryog ship bursted, consumed by a volley of explosive blasts that finally dismembered the monolithic machine.
All that effort for one ship, some of which had already aimed their laser cannons at the fleet.
This was going to be nothing short of an uphill battle.
***
The orders were received, and they followed them dutifully. The cyborg fowl, adorned with green skin, golden scales, and metallic enhancements, took flight through jet propulsion by the vapors spewing from the tri-fins on his back. Megalon, the Seatopian deity, clasped his drill-hands and spread out his protective elytra and transparent wings. With a single bound, the worshipped destroyer was airborne and followed his Nebulan ally, leaving the sector behind them.
Over the vacant yet mountainous landscape of Planet X, Gigan paid heed to the dogfight occurring in the depths of space. A Cryog vessel collapsing in on itself, swarmed by an assortment of saucers and artillery. But even if the collective armada landed a lucky blow, it was a mere taste compared to what was to come. The void rippled with the presence of countless Cryog dreadnoughts, each one escalating the scale in which the task force had to contend with. But the bladed beast did not derail from his original orders; the extermination of the Trilopod menace.
Infrared vision detected oncoming objects heading their way; one grounded, the other a crimson orb of light. The cyborg squawked at his Seatopian ally, ordering him to take the grounded one. The brutal burrower veered into the canyons to intercept the target enemy, while the space dinosaur kept a beeline to the unidentified sphere that closed the gap.
The beetle god’s compound eyes quickly identified the target, one that became apparent the closer it came. Though the creature differed in many areas, it unquestionably resembled that of the cybernetic zombie he and his people oh-so despised. Layered under chitin plating and equipped with pointed scutes along its back, the arthropodic reptile ran upon a set of digitigrade legs. A pair of scythe-like claws were held in front, prepared to hack and slash into the first target it came across. It huffed with heavy breath, but was nevertheless ready for battle.
With clasped drills, the scarab deity dove in and tried to ram the undead hybrid, eager to gore the bastardized reptile into shrapnel and paste. But much like its cybernetic counterpart, the Zilla-Trilopod pressed its feet and leapt out of harm’s way, made more pronounced by Planet X’s weak gravitational pull. By the time the dim divine registered this, he had already plunged into the surface layer of the dead moon, scattering minerals and boulders across the landscape. Just as the insect god rose to his feet, he felt his posterior torched by a stream of atomic flames, forcibly pushing him forward and stumbling over his feet.
Azure fire spewed from the boxy snout of the reptilian anomalocarid, relentless in its continuous assault. But once its temporary energy cells had been exhausted, the Zilla-Trilopod braced its scythes and charged. With a single bound, the composite organism closed the distance and was more than ready to rend and tear into the coleopteran deity. But just before the Zilla-Trilopod could stick the landing, the Seatopian guardian turned onto his charred backside and blocked the clawed scythes with his reinforced drills, stopping them dead in their tracks.
Both monstrous warriors emitted spiteful rumbles, the undead hybrid snorting smoke from its nostrils. Its unnatural features grimaced at the ancient insect, its scutes illuminating in a white flash. Parting its jaws, a tormenting blue light awaited the drilled bug. However, fate would not allow a god to fall. Rather, mandibles parted and spat out a geothermal orb, made from condensed heat and natural resources. The bullet shot right into the glowing maw, touching the curtling flames from the back of the throat. In an instant, the thermal grenade ignited, eviscerating the Zilla-Trilopod’s head, leaving very little left beyond the cauterized stump of a neck. Lifelessly, the Zilla-Trilopod slumped over, allowing the burrowing beast to return to his feet.
The target was terminated, which was enough to satisfy the guardian of the deep. But the war was far from over; his sensitive antennae detected the vibrations of giant footsteps, alerting him that there were more just beyond the cliffside. Just as it registered, more silhouettes, at least three, emerged from over the horizon, charging at full speed. Their earthen-grey epidermis camouflaged them with their surroundings, though their weighted footfalls gave them away. Adjusting his aim, the star-shaped horn atop his holy head discharged a flurry of jagged bolts. The Zilla-Trilopods were quick to evade, using their maneuverability to avoid the beams of lightning and smoothly cross the rugged terrain. With every discharge, the explosive aftermath kicked up dust and rock, shrouding the battlefield.
Despite this obstruction, their vibrations still gave the underground defender the needed anticipation for their approach. He possessed a relative knowledge of where they all came from, but even if he knew full well, there was a decision that had to be made. Which of them would go down first? He wasn’t given the time to think, only an impulsive act was all he had. Revving his drill, the Seatopian warrior turned his head to his right, thrusting the spinning arm directly for the Trilopod mutation closest to him. As the reptilian arthropod came into view, its bulbous, reddened eyes widened, coming face-to-face with the twirling limb without stopping its momentum.
In an instant, its face was shredded into gory paste, blurbs of green blood splattering all over. The Seatopian felt its frail skin crack under the weight of his strike. Even with one down, there were others he had to contend with. Spreading his elytra open and flapping his wings aggressively, the Earth beast twisted around in an attempt to slay another of the Trilopod mutations, but found himself in the unavoidable situation he dreaded.
Parting his mandibles, Megalon spat out another napalm bomb, hoping to at the very least intercept one more of the bastardized abominations that approached. Unfortunately, a stream of atomic fire rushed from the alien’s gullet, coating the red orb and detonating it prematurely. The other Zilla-Trilopod likewise charged a stream of atomic flames, blindsiding the subterranean titan with its potency. Before he could retaliate, he was quickly overwhelmed when another river of fire pinned him against the canyon’s wall, bathed in a scorching blaze of nuclear heat.
As the fires evaporated into a wisp, the beetle-like deity dropped to the ground, panting for breath. The abominations went up to the fallen god and pressed their digitigrade feet upon his head and back respectively. Antennae flickered as they felt the incoming pitter-patter of smaller feet, squirming the vacant moon to the battlefield. The righteous beetle didn’t have to wait long to see the perpetrators in his midst, with several, long-bodied anomalocarids swarming his downed form. Their pedipalps hooked into his armored skin and began draining fluids for their own gain.
The dim destroyer squirmed in a panic, trying to resist, only for immense pressure to crunch against his head. As the smaller Alpha Trilopods bloated from genetic material and bodily fluids, the helpless scarab could only glance to the starry skies with his compound eyes. As heavier footfalls made their approach, no doubt from the Trilopod hunters, all the guardian could see was the clash that happened right above him…
—
A blitz of crimson light flashed as Gigan once more scraped the fiery red sphere with his hammer-claws, heating the cosmo steel to dangerous temperatures. Such a pest had been an irritant since their arrival, intercepting whenever Gigan tried to assist his insectoid partner. Sweeping through the vacant void, the Nebulan cyborg propelled himself with guzzling vapor spewing from his tri-wings, curving upward to perform a u-turn. The red visor detected the energized orb, mimicking his maneuver and making a beeline straight for him.
As the soaring giants prepared for the worst, the bead above the visor shone a brilliant blue, discharging a sharp, thin red laser from the port. The high-powered cannon darted for the shimmering ball, a super-condensed, high-particle laser that proved to be able to pierce the energized hull of the travel sphere. As the laser knife perforated through the other side, the hellacious screech of the orb’s controller could be heard from within. Burning flames spewed from the holes, sucking out into the vacuum and depleting the energy reserves to maintain the sphere. In a matter of moments, the hideous shape of the Bemular-Trilopod came to visible light, even among the dark shadow of the looming planet Jupiter.
A similar bipedal stance paralleled between the donor and the Trilopod hybrid, with elongated scythes replacing the stubby claws of the original, and a thinned body compared to its brethren. Bright, crimson bug eyes twitched with ravenous bloodlust, its upper mandible split by a set of pedipalps, while retaining a lower jaw. Layered on the back of its chitinous shell were rugged spikes that lined along the entire backside, ending with the pincer-like tail, derived from the Trilopods. A sizzling wound was embroidered against the arthropod’s lower torso, a clear hole visible to the other side.
Falling under the weak pull of Planet X’s gravity, the Bemular-Trilopod reoriented itself midfall and opened its disgusting maw. A pale blue light generated from the back of its throat, giving the cybernetic fowl cause for alarm. In a moment, the bastardized copy vomited azure fireballs in droves, each one homing in on the spaceborne cyborg. Twirling to meet the flaming projectiles, the extraterrestrial mercenary swiped at the blistering fireballs, splitting them apart with his hooked claws.
Though he was able to stave off the first wave, the Bemular-Trilopod kept up the relentless assault, sending cloves of fireballs at the cybernetic prodigy of the Nebulan race. Cleaving and kicking with his spiked claws and toes, the bladed beast competed with the flurry of blue fire, though nothing could last forever. Angled to a side that the slicing speedster couldn’t protect, a homing fireball successfully detonated against the cyborg’s side, the sheer force of it sending him careening to the canyon-like surface of Planet X.
An eruption of dirt and debris scattered when the cybernetic warrior crashed, whereas the Bemular-Trilopod adjusted to slam against the surface with its feet and tail. Starting at an initial crouch, the dinosaurian anomalocarid raised itself fully upright, taking lofty steps to where the cyborg monster had smashed into. Without wasting time, the jeering abomination lurched for the fallen alien, swiping its scythes into the dust. Chitin-layered claws met with reinforced cosmo steel under the cloud, blocked by the bracing bird. Parrying the claws off him, the space dinosaur retaliated by swinging a hooked jab into the reptilian arthropod’s gut, breaking abdominal armor and oozing green blood.
For not even half a minute, the towering chimeras hacked and slashed, blades of steel and cheliped sparking flashes of intense fire, only to be diminished by the absence of air and gasses. The Bemular-Trilopod opened its maw agape, spewing pale blue flames at point blank. However, Gigan swiftly jerked his head to the side, evading a potentially lethal blow. Instead, the visored assassin fired a narrow laser from the forehead cannon, piercing through the Trilopod’s cranium with utmost precision. The disgusting Bemular-Trilopod gurgled as its pure red bug-eyes seemingly rolled into the back of their head, loosening its grip and movement. The bestial imposter slumped back onto its spiked shell, frothing from the mouth.
Even with the enemy crippled, the cybernetic hunter had to be sure the deed was done. But before he could, a tremendously powerful bolt of lightning struck the tri-fins and knocked the machine-like fowl down. Such raw capability could only be from one individual he knew well; on the other hand, a second option became all too prevalent with what had transpired to his comrade.
As the living buzzsaw rose to his feet, he shot a lethal glare at the bipedal enemy that stood before him. The segmented armor that lined the Trilopod’s posterior was split down the middle, enabling it to unfold the insectoid wings hidden beneath. Its stance and shape resembled that of his old ally, but couldn’t be further from him otherwise. A disgusting sight of a hideous creature, one the cruel cyborg scoffed at with a mocking shriek. Firmly pressing his bladed hammer-claw against the roof of his metallic beak, the cyborg swiped and sprayed crackling sparks as an intimidation display, and repeated the gesture with the other arm.
Time to dance.
The opponent bore its burly drill-arms and whirred them, the mineral-coated metals lined with the chitin-like plates that distinguished the Trilopods from other organisms. It charged forth as the Megalon-Trilopod unleashed a warbled shrill, prepared to do battle against the cybernetic assassin. What followed was an inevitable clash between reinforced minerals and metallic cosmo steel, clanging together in a sound that barely had space to travel through the thin atmosphere. Although brutal and powerful, Gigan was quick to maneuver around the clumsy movements of the false god. It would seem some things don’t change.
That came to a turn when the Megalon-Trilopod spat out a blazing grenade from between its pedipalp-like orifice, erupting in an inferno upon contact. Although the flames quickly died out, the explosive blast nonetheless had the enhanced ronin reeling back, forcing him to put distance between them. Another discharge of the geothermal bomb hurled his way, but the bladed warrior was quick to counter by detonating it with his laser cannon, destroying it before it could land. The Trilopod leapt into the empty sky above, revving its drills to rend and tear the cyborg to shreds. Propelled by flight, the Megalon-Trilopod dove straight for the Nebulan.
Such a tactic proved too straightforward for the cybernetic creature, simply moving out of its path as the drill-armed alien tore the earthen crust of Planet X asunder. In an instant, the insectoid disappeared in the embrace of the mantle of the moon. This, too, was something the experienced killer saw coming–and was more than ready for. He felt the earth rumble beneath his bladed feet, aware of the general vicinity of where the enemy lurked. With a brilliant blue flash from the gem embedded in his forehead, the crimson laser knife bore into the surface, attempting to pierce the subterranean foe. But it found no target, or at the very least it didn’t seem apparent.
The rumbling intensified, the space dinosaur becoming evermore expecting of drills tearing out of the ground. But what emerged instead was return fire; scarlet lights shredding the earth and searing into the golden scales and green skin of his body. A synthetic pained shriek rang from the cyborg, who attempted to swat them away with his curved claws. He retaliated with another discharge of the laser knife, which pierced through the earth effortlessly. His feet felt the vibrations different from the burrowing; a muffled cry of agony. Then, the shaking began to intensify.
Good. A violent smirk graced his metallic beak.
Though the vibrations increased in a ferocity that made Gigan wary, he was nonetheless certain his foe was going to emerge. And in the intermediate moments that followed, so it did. The sudden eruption of dust and debris catapulted into the air, scattering its remnants aside as the abomination emerged from the depths. Whirling its combined drill hands, the Megalon-Trilopod’s chortles became abundantly clear as the subterranean menace breached the surface, eager to gore into the cyborg assassin.
In the brief time before contact was made, the cyborg was brought to a sudden calm. His body darkened, preparing to collect the reserves of energy from within. An experimental modification since his failures on Earth. Then, in a split second, his body shone in a brilliant green light–then, he vanished.
For the Megalon-Trilopod, the realization dawned on it that there was no target. Time slowed to an exponential crawl. If the target wasn’t here, where did it go? Rather abruptly, the fear and answer of the Trilopod clone came crashing behind it, as firm and solid metal feet buried themselves in the posterior shell of the beetle-like anomalocarid, spraying green fluid from the freshly made wounds. An imitated wail of the Seatopian deity rang from its orifice as it was harshly slammed into the ground, groaning in misery from the inflicted suffering.
Large compound eyes were able to register the target; it was indeed Gigan. Hammer-claw already lunged for them, closing the distance to its face. There was nothing the Megalon-Trilopod could do to retort; in its fear-stricken mind, death was all that it could wait for. Cold cosmo steel penetrated the back of its head, tearing through the chitin and breaking through to the other side. Green muck splattered on the ground and stained the alien metal, ending the Megalon-Trilopod for good.
The hook-handed beast huffed. Teleportation had proven itself a very handy tool in combat; an upgrade to get the jump on an opponent and gain the superior advantage was nothing short of paramount in war. However, it came with its drawbacks. Such a technique took a toll on his physiology, only able to warp in short bursts and taxed his internal reactor’s reserves. If he wasn’t careful, he would lose the energy to continue fighting. Such a drawback would have to be corrected, provided they made it out of this battle alive…
The interstellar fowl puffed. It was beyond a doubt that his opponent was slain… But the ground continued to rumble. Why? It couldn’t be–
–In an instant, not one, but two breaches occurred on either side of him. Only able to react to protect himself with his claws, the cybernetic killer was tackled to the ground through the combined masses of the two Megalon-Trilopods that emerged from the earth. Had the other acted as a decoy to disguise their approach? An angered squawk rang from his beaked maw. How foolish was he! The universe’s renowned monster assassin, tripped up by a mockery of his ally! Truly a pitiful situation, a shameful but familiar feeling he had during the many failed invasions of Earth…
The skittering of smaller feet caught the enhanced invader’s attention. The long-bodied, multi-limbed creatures, without a doubt part of the Trilopod clan, came crawling up to him with the chittering of pure jubilation. They sank their fangs into his flesh, drawing from the genetic material of his organic half. The shell along their back began to bloat, filling with the necessary goods to support the evolution of the Trilopod army.
Gigan winced at the thought, but he was going to have to risk it!
Before another of the Alpha Trilopods could drive its pedipalps into his flesh, the gold and green form darkened, then shined a viridescent flash, disappearing from the grips of the Megalon-Trilopods. The chitinous titans scanned the area in confusion, trying to locate their escaped convict. It was then they were alerted from a cry of their Beta squad leader, who pointed to the airborne cyborg. Then they saw their target hightailing it out of there, trying to flee into the horizon of Planet X.
But the Trilopods would ensure that would never happen.
Another order was issued by the Beta Trilopod, commanding them to commence fire. The Megalon variants jumped into action, opening their elytra and taking to the air until they reached the same path as their quarry. Their star-like horns illuminated with a yellow flare, discharging powerful lightning beams simultaneously–merging together into one super beam! The bladed alien pushed himself out of harm’s way, barely dodging the destructive beam of electricity. But the divine copies were relentless in their pursuit, discharging beam after beam. Though the cyborg was graceful in the air, he was not infallible, and soon enough became victim to a supercharged blast–knocking him out of the sky.
Without a cushion to soften his fall, the fowl fiend collided against the base of a mountain, shrieking in pain from the harsh crash. But from the dust, he could see the Beta Trilopod looming in the distance, almost cocky in its demeanor. It spread its scythed claws out, almost embracing the fate that was going to be bestowed upon it. Then, the cyborg saw the engorged arthropod crawling upon the back of the bipedal warrior, sinking its pedipalps into the grooves that led to the nape. In an ethereal flash of light, their bodies became as one flesh, mixing and morphing with new features and attributes. Even if he already knew they had this capability, what the visored warrior saw next shocked him to his core…
After the metamorphosis, what stood in the Beta’s place was something new, yet familiar. It bore most of the Trilopod qualities, but was adorned with green flesh and golden scales. Golden tri-fins ruptured from its back shell, exposing winged membranes to the dark moon and thin atmosphere. The shape of the figure became thinner, matching the proportions of his own. The scythes of the Trilopod sharpened, though with a mixture of chitin and bone, reflecting the creature Gigan used to be.
But no such sentiments overcame the assassin; all he saw was another Trilopod for him to kill.
The Gigan-Trilopod squawked in mocking amusement, approaching the fallen cyborg. It shrieked, beckoning the Megalon-Trilopods to its side. The space dinosaur knew he wouldn’t be able to flee this one… The brutish insectoid lifted its drills up, prepared to tear the downed creature to pieces, only to be stopped by the anomalocarid-dinosaur with a swift command. A screech from the scaly arthropod detested such primitive violence, and that a compatible subject be taken back to harvest.
Such actions took Gigan aback, but he knew there’d be no escape… Though was fleeing the best course of action? Or could being taken to the enemy’s base of operations be more sufficient in taking down the Trilopod menace? With that realization, a thought came to mind–one that held its risks, but had to be taken nonetheless.
With a loud shriek, the space dinosaur began to darken, his flesh, scales, and eye dimming as he suddenly fell limp. The Trilopod mutants stood on guard, anticipating another teleportation trick… But nothing. The newest hybrid kicked the prone body, which remained unresponsive. Observations indicated the cyborg was still alive, which was good enough for it.
The Gigan-Trilopod issued more commands to the others; for the Megalon-Trilopods to take the Seatopian deity for harvest, and for the smaller minions to siphon more genetic material from the unconscious cyborg. And so they did without a hitch, the large Megalon-Trilopods dragging the beaten, but barely conscious Megalon off the battlefield and back to the hive. All the while, three more of the crawlers jumped the prone space beast, inflating with his genetic material to create more like them.
Once all was said and done, the claspers at the end of the Gigan-Trilopod’s tail wrapped around the neck of the cybernetic assassin, taking flight with the body in tow. No doubt, their masters would be pleased with the results.
Chapter 6: Illusion of Victory
Eyes of many shapes watched the unfolding events upon the central monitor, processing the unanticipated and horrifying events played across its screen in the last few moments.
Sopler and Hoffman looked at one another, their expressions unemotive but their body language expressing clear disbelief and concern for the condition of their prized creation. Fumio and Kubota twitched and quivered, unbelieving in the fact that their own renowned champion of war, too, had fallen to the arthropod invaders with so little resistance on his part. Of course, the one who had the greatest reaction to this defeat was the Emperor of Seatopia, his mouth agape and skin pale, staring blankly upon the imprisoned form of his beloved god. The entire room felt as if there were only seconds remaining until Antonio broke from his stupor and expressed the true scope of his emotions, regardless of the consequences of doing so.
The Kilaak Queen observed the viewing screen, uncertain of the next processings following this unprecedented sweep of their main combat force. Her soft gaze fell to the Controller’s lying form, who had managed to stabilize at last from the Cyrogs’ debilitating frequency, but had yet to regain consciousness along with the other members of his council. She prayed for his guidance more now than ever, understanding for the first time why their culture frowned upon the use of emotion, for in her distressed state of mind, the metamorphosed Kilaakian found herself lost on the next course of orders to issue. A communication problem, no doubt, that the Xiliens would not have to encounter.
The screen changed image from the planet’s surface to the command center of the Cryog warship once more. The visage of Emperor Karkaro flooded the monitor’s surface with his insidious smile of jagged teeth, looking through at the stunned representatives with cruelty and mockery in his gaze.
“Well, that was a disappointment. Was that really the best you had to offer?” he asked jeeringly, and to the warlord’s delight, the members of the alliance rose to the bait with expressions of fierce anger. ”Perhaps I was wrong to expect too much from the so-called ‘greatest’ warriors of the galaxy, hmmm?”
Antonio, with his thin temperance, could bear the insults no more. “Silence your tongue, wretched worm! My god will enact retribution upon you and the rest of your kind for such insul-”
”Goodness, the tongue on this one,” Karkaro laughed in the face of the subterranean emperor’s meager threats. Harsh glares from the Nebula Hunter M and Kilaak leaders shut down any continuation of Antonio’s rant, and he subsided without protest.
”Your beast is no god, you outdated fool. All of your kaiju are nothing to us. They might be tenacious and possess admirable bio-signatures, but they are insignificant and pathetic next to the creatures that I command. I have witnessed better shows of resistance from the Vir-”
The Cryog suddenly paused mid-sentence, gaze glassing over as if he had lost the words to say. The Kilaak Queen watched with curiosity as the emperor’s face morphed into an expression of confusion, and she wondered what exactly had happened.
“Resistance from who?” she tentatively asked.
Karkaro’s eyes blinked and returned to normal, snapping to look at the Kilaakian with an enraged look, teeth barred like an animal. ”What nonsense do you babble, female?” he snapped, spraying droplets of spittle across the view screen on his end. ”I crush all who oppose our glorious race. I conquer all that should and shall belong to me. You are all beneath me, and like your weak champions, you will be eradicated as the bugs you are!”
Before the tyrant could rant on further, the atmosphere was disturbed by an ached groan. The Kilaak Queen tore her eyes away from the screen and focused her attention on the shifting form of her awakening companion. Taking hold of his arms, she aided the Xilien Controller up into his chair, rubbing them in a soothing rhythm to help expedite his recovery. Around her, she could see that the other Xiliens were also beginning to rise, having also, at last, recovered from the trauma of the Cryogs’ debilitating frequency and were seen to by her own Kilaak aids.
The Controller managed to lift his head, with teeth bared and gritted to fight off the agony raging in his skull. Recalling the laws in regards to physical shows of affection within Xilien society, the Kilaak ruler halted her destressing actions before he could take notice. “I… require a s-status report post-haste,” he managed to force out.
”Oh, you’re finally back with us, Xilien,” came Karkaro’s mocking voice, pulling the Controller’s gaze up to the monitor and the visage of the tentacled being upon, expressing no outwards emotion towards the Cryog leader’s presence or appearance. ”I’m glad you could join us again. Now all of you can experience the suffering and full power that my armada will bring upon this filth-encrusted world.”
The Xilien commandant remained unfazed by the Cryog’s words, regaining composure as he met the intruder’s yellowed eyes though the gaze of his darkened visor. “Whoever you are-”
”Emperor Karkaro of the Cryog Empire.
“-whatever you want-”
”The extermination of your races.”
“-you are an enemy of the peace that we have gathered to forge and will not be tolerated. It was you who will be subjugated under the power of our collective forces.”
Karkaro lowered his head and chuckled darkly. ”I have grown attached to hearing such speeches of defiances. Each one seemingly so special and yet utterly generic at the core. It makes crushing my enemies oh so sweeter. But I digress. The time for words is clearly over.”
With that, the transmission was cut, leaving the council in silence.
***
The emperor settled comfortably into his throne as the feed of the alien committee cut to black, permitting his scaly lips to form into a smirk of villainous intent. Joining his tentacles in a relaxed posture upon the lap of his ornate robe, he prepared to give out the order for a full-scale assault upon Planet X and its occupants. This was to be another victory for the expanding empire and a further step towards the Cryog vision of universal peace and supremacy.
“Must you continue to mock them?”
Pausing on the verse of speaking, Karkaro turned to address the owner of the voice, passing a disapproving glare upon their figure. The Cryog in question stood to the edge of the emperor’s command pedestal, their appearance biologically inferior in comparison to Karkaro’s own genetic purity. The lack of a reddish tint to their tentacles, the reduced tips of their spined collar and missing the crown of spikes upon their skull betrayed his place as a member of the lower caste; the sect of the social ladder that had not stayed true to the ideal of racial purity. It would normally have been impossible for these half-breeds to ascend to any high rank, but to Karkaro, this was the one exception he had permitted.
“Come now, Rhizon,” he grumbled. “These are but insects in comparison. Undeserving of respect or decency. I can and shall treat them as I like. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same if you were in my position.”
Rhizon looked away from the gaze of his leader. “That was not something I will deny, my lord,” he admitted. “I only caution not to rile them up too much. Be careful of what you may accomplish in their anger.”
“We have their monsters practically in our grasp now, and soon we will find out if the claims of their superior firepower hold true. Which they won’t. There is no other power in the galaxy that can match Cryog science and engineering.”
Rhizon’s right tentacle reached up on instinct to rub the side of his own face, running down the ragged, crimson scar over his eye. “You should have told that to the Hipporitians.”
“Did you say something, Rhizon?” Karkaro asked, snapping a deadly look at the commander. “Perhaps that old wound of yours is acting up. Shall I take a look at it for you?”
To his credit, the smaller officer did not flinch or freeze under his superior’s gaze. Instead, it was met by his own steely glance. “You are playing a very dangerous game, Karkaro,” he warned, words slow, deep and deliberate in hope that the emperor would take what he had to say seriously. “These are conquerors in their own right. Their reputations are legendary for good reason. Stop treating them like toys and act accordingly.”
Karkaro appeared to consider his words, albeit begrudgingly, holding his tentacles together against his mouth to hide the sulking frown that formed there. He leaned forward and consulted his options for several seconds, but Rhizon knew it was just an act. He knew what the emperor’s response would be even before he heard it.
“Very well.”
Or not. Rhizon blinked in surprise. Normally, the emperor would have ignored his council with some half-veiled excuse, but now he seemed to actually take heed for once. In spite of this, he felt no gratitude for the sovereign’s choice, for he was aware from past experience how cunning he could be in his schemes. But to think ahead this far? To anticipate this very argument? Was this THE plan or an alternative cooked up as a potential back-up? Every time that Rhizon thought that he knew all the facts about his adversary would he be proven wrong, pushing back the scales of equality in their game of lies and deceptions.
Karkaro finally resumed his regular stance and turned to one of the visored technicians dotting the ring of his throne. With the crack of a tentacle, he gained their attention, the Cryog twisting around and awaiting orders. “Give the attack order to the fleet. The time for waiting had passed. We strike now.”
The technician swiftly nodded, uploading instructions to the terminal and issuing the command across the fleet’s shared pathnet. Karkaro smirked and pressed a button on the chair’s arm to open a screen of the void outside.
“We win now.”
***
The void outside of the biotechnological behemoth was illuminated and warmed by the detonating shots from the miniscule defending vessels, rapidly fading back to pitch black and below zero temperatures once the dispersed energy had expired, only for additional blasts to reignite the vacuum and start the process. The repetitive assault had been like this for what appeared like an eternity, few results to show from it. Even when combining their individual firepower, the Xilien, Kilaak, and Leviathan fighters simply weren’t enough to breach the heavy armor plates that enforced each Cryog vessel, thus forcing them to rely upon the heavier caliber of weaponry employed by the latter’s colossal war carriers in order to accomplish the destruction of these invaders.
The atmosphere around the passive Cryog fleet suddenly shifted, brimming with activity like mighty beasts awakening from slumber. The crafts thrummed as energy visibly gathered around the cone of each warship, upon which a crimson orb began to glow with increasing radiance. Without prior warning, the cause for the display was made clear as each orb violently spat forth a powerful scarlet ray, illuminating the dark void and the hulls of allied and enemy vessels with deep red hues.
The smaller UFOs and fighter craft were utterly vapourised by the waves of death, offering no resistance as their structure was reduced to simple atoms. Against the heavy plating and energised shields of the Leviathan motherships, the laser barrage proved not as effective, but nonetheless was able to penetrate their defences and inflict devastating damage. Balls of flame and shrapnel bloomed up from the site of each strike across multiple carriers, with several concentrated blasts required to split apart a single Leviathan craft, scattering their techno-organic remnants across the exosphere of Planet X.
The alliance was taken aback by this frightening display of power. With such devastating firepower at their fingertips, it gave another slither of truth to the tyrant’s claims of superiority. But nothing that powerful could exist without some type of weakness, surely. Nothing could truly be classed as perfect in the ever-evolving setting of war, where technology and stratagems always held room for refinement. A crack in the shell, a flaw in the design; the Cryog blueprint had to have something, and if they could not find it, then the union of races would have to make one.
They had variation among their ranks, both in artillery and tactics. They had unique strengths and weaknesses that could be played off of each other in ways that their foes might not be able to perceive in their arrogance.
It was a minor advantage. It was all that they had. They would make it work.
Subspace communications opened to connect the battle computers across the fleet into one expansive network. Faults and glitches instantly popped up as incompatible coding attempted to synchronize, and engineers from all factions had to work overtime updating hardware and software to keep the web from immediately collapsing. At the same time, strategists coordinated with one another, using what little information they had on the attackers to feed a new plan of retaliation to the alliance armada.
As the Cryog continued to bombard the Leviathan cruisers, their smaller vanguard rushed forth in blinding droves, filling the void between the two flotillas with the sheer mass of their own metallic shells and salvos of plasma cannon fire. The majority of the shots failed to make contact with any of the Cryog super-destroyers, but such was never their intention; the simple existence of so many bodies confused the invaders’s targeting array, causing their once pin-accurate shots to now wildly deviate. Like a swarm of Terran mosquitos, the nimble fighters were a debilitating cover for their gigantic hosts, granting them ample time to intensify their returning fire.
The stratagem worked, but only for a moment. The Cryog’s response was delivered with remorseless brutality, changing the focus of their weapons from piercing blasts to sweeping heat rays, washing across the swarming warcrafts and igniting them in droves. Swiftly, their numbers started to fall, and this was the cue for the Xilien’s part in their grand plan.
Gathering in formations of around a dozen each, clusters of UFOs dove into the firefight and aimed for the zones of highest offensive concentration. Each vessel’s hull glowed with a pale blue aura as power surged throughout, increasing their exterior shielding to the absolute limit. Cracking bolts connected the occupants of each group, and whenever a heat ray connected, it was met with a solid blockade of energy, shielding their allies from the worst of the beam’s destructive power.
With them holding the line, the Kilaak fleet initiated their part in the grand scheme. Hundreds of saucers raced towards the goliaths of chitin and cosmo steel, using the barriers of their Xilien compatriots as cover to get closer to the Cryog cruisers. Their hulls glowed bright as the saucers activated the Fire Dragon protocol, taking the form of winged, long-necked drakes cast in energised flames. Like bullets, they shot forth, timing their attacks between blasts to strike at the emitter orbs and hammer them with their own flaming shells. Explosions coated the noses of dozens of Cryog vessels as hundreds of Kilaak UFOs used themselves as projectiles to assail the source of their primary weapon, bouncing off the reinforced exterior and back to safety to repeat the stratagem again.
Slowly, each apparatus started to crack, reducing its focusing ability and weakening the power of its attacks, giving the Leviathan battleships further time in the battle before they were overwhelmed. The smaller ships aided their allies as best as they could with what limited firepower they possessed, targeting the invader’s damaged hulls in an attempt to disrupt critical systems. By combining their resources into one, the three races were pushing against the encroaching wall together, throwing their all in to protect what could be their last true chance for victory and for peace. It was a truly valiant effort.
But it wasn’t enough.
Sheer numbers were the key core to the success of their reprising assault, but without the ability to keep those numbers up, it was merely a matter of patience until the Cryogs widened the cracks in the union’s plan. Unable to constantly replenish new troops, the Leviathan fighters began to be worn down, wearing down the swarm until their targeting computers could once more fire upon their enemies unimpeded. Unable to withstand such concentrated firepower for long, the Xilien blockades couldn’t last and crumpled, scattering into scorched debris underneath their might. Despite their furious assault and how much their surface fractured, the Kilaaks were unable to disable a single cannon, and were completely obliterated by the point-blank retaliating fire.
The alliance could do nothing but try and hold back the inevitable. They were but a rag-tag collection of survivors, trying to win against a race who had countless experiences in warfare and a history of successful campaigns, of which they sought to aid their falling resistance to. The Cryog were as a swarm of marching ants, relentless, unquestioning and unfeeling. Leviathan, Xilien and Kilaak were but bugs to grind under their heel, their resistance an insignificant variable. They would fall, as all the others before them had, and how all after would as well.
The stars watched in silence as the battle raged on, the atmosphere above the lifeless planetoid clogged with wreckage and bodies. Had either side not been preoccupied, they might have noticed as one of the distant stars began to shine just a little brighter, growing in intensity as something else made its way towards the slaughter…
—
Resistance was futile, or at the very least, it was pointless to expend his energy fighting in the moment. Megalon only looked on with his bulbous yellow eyes, scanning the predicament he and his partner were in. The Trilopod knock-offs held him tightly, and it seemed an imitator of Gigan towed his cybernetic ally through a firm grasp of the tail. But the longer the flight lasted, the more Megalon saw the surface of Planet X swarmed by the Trilopod menace, each taking on different and unique forms. Even along the dark skies, crimson orbs similar to that of Bemular’s blue travel sphere swarmed the battlefield.
They were truly numerous… Did they even stand a chance against the horde? Was it even possible to achieve victory?
Megalon saw the others in the distance; the despised cyborg that was nothing more than an unnatural abomination, and the enemy that incidentally set everything into motion. Part of the old god’s heart hated them both, wishing nothing more than to end them. But now was not the time. A greater threat loomed over them, and it was going to take everything they had to stop this new threat. For the sake of victory–for the sake of peace. But Megalon held no plan in mind. Although worshiped by his people as a god, he himself had to rely on others for combat strategy. If there was anything the insect beast had learned over his lifetime, sometimes waiting was the best option…
—
Down below, Cyber Godzilla had long since ceased resisting. The undead flesh rejuvenated thanks to Leviathan technology, letting the gash in his leg slowly heal. Unfortunately, it came at a price; having taken his genetic material, more bastardized clones cropped up. Imitators that took on his likeness. But he nevertheless heeded to his master’s commands; the Trilopod menace would be exterminated. Just sometimes it required more trickery than brute force to deal with the situation.
His opponent, the nefarious criminal Bemular, was in no better of a position. The wild space fiend continued to struggle under their grip, keeping his mouth clamped shut as they dragged him away to the pod. Whatever waited for them once they entered, Cyber Godzilla wasn’t keen to find out. And likewise, as the cyborg zombie soon learned, neither was Bemular.
He saw as the panicked fugitive screeched and wailed, mustering all the collective energy he had to offer. With a sudden spike in energy increase, the body of Bemular illuminated in a bright blue hue, pulsing and burning the Trilopods that had once surrounded it. In a surge of searing light, Bemular shot up to the skies in a desperate bid to escape. The Zilla-Trilopods that had surrounded Cyber Godzilla, save for the one dragging him to the pod, were dispatched to aid in the recapture of Bemular.
Just the opening he was looking for.
Green eyes lit up, releasing pressurized steam from his cybernetic nostrils. The Zilla-Trilopod felt the sudden jerk from the resumed activity of Cyber Godzilla, but was unable to respond to the threat in time as it felt the energized missiles explode against its ankles, taking out both in a fiery blast. Even as it collapsed to the ground wailing in pain, the Zilla-Trilopod kept a firm grip with its tail, trying to crush the neck of the zombified cyborg. But such feats proved for naught as the organic and metallic claws tore into the lithe extension, tearing the pincers from the rest of the tail in a bloody mess of green goop. The reptilian anomalocarid crashed onto its front, allowing Cyber Godzilla ample time to rise to his feet. Planting a firm digitigrade foot onto the scutes of the hybrid organism, a stream of blue atomic flames spewed from the boxy maw of the zombified weapon, torching its head mercilessly and relentlessly.
Despite being made from the same material as Cyber Godzilla, the Zilla-Trilopod shriveled and died from the intense flames. The decayed genetic structure weakened it to the point of fragility; although the Zilla-Trilopods possessed ample speed and agility, it compromised their defensive capabilities compared to the others. What was left was a charred head bereft of life, a husk of a soldier. One target down, so many more to go.
Two of the Zilla-Trilopods turned, directing their gleaming eyes towards the defiant Cyber Godzilla. They stood up tall, opting to discharge crimson lasers from the organic cannons attached to their torsos. Nearly a dozen thin red beams lurched for the cybernetic zombie, with Cyber Godzilla responding by opening the metallic flaps on his chest. The lasers bounced off the flaps and ribs aimlessly, but those that found their mark against the satellite dish within were redirected back to the source, grazing upon the flesh of the imposter Trilopods. Seeing the futility in their efforts, the reptilian aliens leaned forward and began to rush the autonomous beast.
It was then that Cyber Godzilla applied all the pressure he could muster into his feet, performing a powerful, single-bound leap that propelled him through the air. With all of his weight, the cyborg reptile smashed into his Trilopod double, pinning the lizard-like arthropod and tearing the cretin to shreds with his asymmetrical claws. Green goop and guts torn and splattered asunder, it only took but mere seconds for Cyber Godzilla to rend the torso doppelganger into mush. And in those seconds, the other Zilla-Trilopod made its move, imitating its genetic donor by leaping with its powerful legs and ramming itself into the cyborg. The armored insectoid snapped its jaws around the metal and dead flesh of its opponent, eager to tear the titan to bits and haul his carcass to the hive.
But Cyber Godzilla had other plans. Churning a bath of flames, the undead machine sprayed his atomic fire onto the Zilla-Trilopod, forcing it to release its grip and stumble back. When the cybernetic reptile ceased, what was left on the Trilopod was a scorch mark engraved between its head and shoulder. The Zilla-Trilopod hissed violently, staring down Cyber Godzilla with utmost malice. But a shriek from the arthropod-like reptilian signaled its allies, who began to converge in. Two of them were those derived from the Seatopian god, taking flight and charging straight for him. Another that stood on a nearby cliffside was a freshly hewn Gigan-Trilopod, its trill making its presence known.
Cyber Godzilla huffed, once again expelling steam from his nostrils. Against all odds, fighting was the only option. And he’d gladly revel in the chance.
—
A disruption became evident. It began with a flash of blue light, followed up by sudden explosive blasts of energy and gore. The beak-shaped pedipalps of the Gigan-Trilopod emitted a squawk in irritation. An uprising had begun. Perhaps it was best to dispose of them sooner and let their carcasses become part of the digestive tract of their hive. After it stored its cybernetic counterpart into the pod, the Gigan-Trilopod would join in the foray and subdue these pests once and for all.
But a pulse caught its attention.
Life activity registered from the pincers on its tail, feeling the sudden surge of activity from the host which it dragged. This all became clear as movement wrestled with their tail. The Trilopod didn’t even need to look back with its eyes to confirm it; Gigan had reactivated. The Gigan-Trilopod applied force, hoping to crush the neck of the cyborg before it could do anything. Instead, what the alien anomalocarid got was a tearing sensation around the tip of the tail as hooked claws pierced and tore the appendage in two! With a shrillish cry, the avian-like arthropod pulled its appendage back, profusely bleeding from the torn limb.
Spreading his tri-fin wings and twirling around to regain equilibrium, Gigan charged his organic counterpart with renewed vigor, operating with the intent to kill. The Trilopod imitator blocked with its bone-like scythes, carried by the push as their bodies collided. Although the calcified hooks were incredibly durable, even more so than its previous state as a Trilopod, the Gigan-Trilopod felt the cosmo steel quickly wearing out its blades, and needed to react fast. Churning searing hot flames from within its beaked maw, the Gigan-Trilopod sprayed a blast of superheated fire onto its target.
Although the short-ranged combustible fire could neither travel far nor maintain its form in the near-absence of an atmosphere, it was enough to get the job done. Burning from scorching hot flames, flesh and metal of the cyborg swirled with coats of fire before quickly diminishing from the nonexistent pressure. Gigan knew of a similar weapon within his own arsenal, but the laser knife had always proven far more reliable of a far-ranged weapon in combat. Its precise, cutting capabilities made it the more pragmatic option over the biological remnant from his life as an organic creature. Plus without a substantial atmosphere to sustain its form, using the flame breath would be nothing short of detrimental. But even if the Trilopods were unable to harness his true capabilities and decades of upgrades, it seemed they were able to compensate for other elements and use them in their favor.
By the time Gigan regained aerial stability, he quickly turned to a defensive stance, blocking the oncoming rush from his impostor. Darts shot from the eyes of the Gigan-Trilopod, its ferocity and conquest would be known. For the hive, for the imperial galactic empire to dominate all the universe. With one bony claw pressed against the metal hooks of its opponent, the Gigan-Trilopod swung back the other blade in preparation for a devastating blow.
A decisive swing aimed for the neck, eager for a clean slice. Even if it couldn’t cleave the head straight off, a partial cut–anything–would be more than efficient. But its opponent was more than dexterous enough to keep pace, indicated by the flash of blue from his forehead. Twisting his head, Gigan aimed the laser cannon at the incoming arm, firing a thin red laser that pierced through the biceps, shredding muscle and nerves alike. The sudden jerk of pain changed the trajectory of the ossein blade to an upward arc, veering its path from Gigan’s neck to the spike antenna that jutted from his head–which barely grazed them with a fiery spark.
Such an act left the Gigan-Trilopod open, something that Gigan was quick to take advantage of. Parrying the other bone-like sword away, the cyborg returned the favor by swiftly swinging his own metallic claw with precision. When the tip of the blade connected, it started at the base of the Trilopod’s neck, embedding itself in the chitin-like flesh as it carved its throat open. As it continued its ascent, the hammer-claw found its way to the mandibles and frontal skull, cleaving through the head of the Gigan-Trilopod with little effort.
Such a feat lasted less than a second.
Stunned and losing its motor controls, the Trilopod imitation stiffened and began to drop from the sky, pulled by the moon’s gravitational flux. Without a second thought, Gigan surveyed the unfolding situation… Only to see a clash of brilliant lights.
And with that, he sped off towards it.
—
Chaos sprung at the ample opportunity. The former target had fled, the despised cyborg had launched a counterattack, and his renowned ally had freed himself and sped for the spheres in the sky. If there was ever more a time to strike back, it was now. Summoning his strength, Megalon struggled against the firm grip of his Trilopod clones. They held tightly, making sure he wouldn’t escape their grasps. Collectively, the brawn of the Megalon-Trilopods kept the Seatopian deity in his place.
The more the insect god struggled, the tighter their hold became. So Megalon had to improvise. Parting his mandibles and twisting his head, a blazing orb shot out of his maw, the geothermal napalm bomb bursting into a torrent of hellish flames. The torso of one of the Trilopods and the head of Megalon became consumed with flames, forcing one of them off. This in turn disoriented the formation, losing balance in the process.
Though the burning flames were fierce, it wasn’t long before they were extinguished by the vacuum of space. Lurching his head at the Trilopod doubles, Megalon’s star-tipped horn glistened with the pulse of electricity, discharging the beast-killing ray at the abominable imposters. The powerful bolt split apart, drilling into the cores of the Megalon-Trilopods, searing their undersides. Forced to release their hold, the insectoid beast used this time to adjust his body in freefall. Rather than spreading his elytra for flight, Megalon outstretched his twin-drill arms to his front, revving for the moment of anticipation.
In the moments that followed, the metallic drills made contact with the surface, shredding the soil and debris out of his path. More of his body was wrapped in lunar innards, vanishing from the naked eye. Even if his own sight was compromised, Megalon held a special expertise in burrowing. His biological evolution guaranteed survival in subterranean layers, and in some respects tunneling through Planet X was no different. His long horn acted as a radar, with the twin antennae’s hypersensitivity able to detect and distinguish different types of vibrations. It was with this that Megalon was able to tell the difference between the fighting above ground and his pursuers giving chase.
The ruckus brought on by the drills of his Trilopod imposters forewarned Megalon of the directions they were coming from. One of them approached at rapid speeds, catching up to him in the crust of lunar soil. Another also flanked him from the other side, forcing the insect god to maneuver around it. Though Megalon proved successful at evading the drills, that didn’t stop the Megalon-Trilopod from tailing his pathway and following the tunnel he made. Unlike himself, his double had little issue shredding the flying debris that shot behind him. When they closed the gap, the Megalon-Trilopod shot off its own beast-killer ray, the electric bolt struck him in the rear, forcing Megalon to utter an anguished cry.
Megalon knew burrowing at this rate would do him no good, so with his drills still spinning at maximum velocity, he contorted his flexible body to turn around in the cramped space, facing his doppelganger head-on. Ramming at full speed, their drills collided against one another, the underground pocket allowing the sparks to scatter in a vicious lightshow across the two combatants. The momentum pushed Megalon deeper into the carved tunnel of his making, the Seatopian deity uttering a disdained grunt. His feelers could isolate the fact the other Megalon-Trilopod was well on its way, curving around and aiming for a rear attack. Though given they were both clones of him, doubt festered in his mind; for they clearly possessed not just his powers, but his quirks as well.
Time became of the essence. If he didn’t act soon, he’d be shredded to bits.
In Seatopia, he was hailed as a god. But in battle, his wits weren’t the sharpest. He relied upon the guidance of others in order to take action and strategize. But in this potential life or death situation, perhaps strategy wasn’t the answer, but simple-minded brute strength. Charging his laser beam, Megalon fired the bolt of lightning at the right arm of the Trilopod clone, severing its limb and forcing it to lose its once dominant position. With only one functional drill pressing against Megalon, the insect beast took advantage of the unfolding situation and supplanted his might against the Trilopod warrior. With ease, the god of Seatopia shredded through the chitinous armor and pasty green innards of the Megalon-Trilopod and tore right through to the other side, following the pathway he had hewn with his drills.
Just as he did, he heard the other Megalon-Trilopod break free from the place he was–its alerting cries informing him of his pursuer. It wasn’t long until another lightning bolt of the enemy struck him, but with no obstructions in his way, he powered through. Keeping his drills forward, Megalon tilted his head downward and parted his mandibles wide open. One by one, he spat volleys of napalm bombs from his maw, each one dropping and bouncing off the lunar tunnel until it vanished into the darkness. A retaliatory strike from the Trilopod detonated some of them prematurely, but that was also according to plan. The compact space caved in a portion of the tunnel, bringing it down and falling onto the duplicate. But the crumbling cavern did little to hold the Megalon-Trilopod back, as it too simply drilled the obstruction out of its way.
Even still, Megalon continued to drop bombs down the shaft, collapsing the pathway behind him. However, his feelers sensed several bodies waiting for him at the top, peering down the hole with malicious intent. Several of the Zilla-Trilopods hurled a flurry of atomic rays down the hole, filling the top in an azure blaze. Megalon found himself pinned between the wash of atomic flames or the ferocious drills of the other, leaving him no choice but to devise his own solution. Banking a hard left, Megalon embedded his drills through the walls, carving a new path for him to take. In doing so, he felt the radioactive fire rush past him. Unfortunately, he felt the Megalon-Trilopod do the same, tracing his trajectory and following his path.
Thankfully, it didn’t matter what the Trilopod imposter did; Megalon would find his way out. Rupturing the surface of Planet X, the insect god emerged from the depths, hopping onto the ground with feet firmly planted. Bashing his drills together, Megalon bellowed with his warbling cry at the Zilla-Trilopods. The reptilian anomalocaridids jeered at him with discontent, eager to take him down.
The fight was far from over, but he’d continue until the bitter end.
—
He had to run.
There was nothing left here for him to gain; if he remained here, he’d no doubt perish. A simple moon that didn’t seem all too conspicuous, to lay low and hide from their pursuer. But his malevolent instincts got the better of him when signs of life became apparent. Bemular hoped to avoid the consequences of his actions, mayhaps find another moon to hide. Yet a loud hum filled the dark skies, becoming ever apparent that this was not going to go his way.
His travel sphere pulsed a radiant light, informing Bemular of his surroundings within the blazing blue ball. It didn’t take long for his radar to detect the interference of similar-natured pulses washing over him. Two sets of crimson orbs, burning with a signature in his likeness, rapidly approached from above. Without a moment of debate or hesitation, Bemular banked a hard turn to steer clear of the Trilopod doppelgangers, trying to find a pathway to escape into the stars.
Unfortunately for him, his pursuers were quick to follow his trail. Maneuvering the vacuum with grace and proficiency, the crimson spheres accelerated and caught up to it, smashing into the blue travel ball with tremendous force. The conflicting energies pressed against each other, rupturing in sparks of red, blue, and violet light as the two red orbs slowed the speed of the blue one down. Gradually and steadily, they descended to the jagged terrain of Planet X. The Trilopod-influenced spheres forced the blazing blue orb of Bemular to drag along the surface, embedding a trench in its wake that left an unnatural glow in its path.
Bemular tried resisting their power as best he could, exerting the travel ball to the heights of its limits. But it proved for naught as he felt the external pressure of the red orbs compress his own. No matter how much he resisted, all it did was wane the formation of the travel sphere. The more it faded, the more congealed it became. Then, almost under the will of the Bemular-Trilopods, the dimming blue orb was hoisted to the air before being thrust into the ground, shattering its rounded shape and sending the cretin tumbling along the ragged surface of the vacant moon.
Rolling and rolling across the blue-brown terrain, the spiked reptile eventually found himself lying face up, wincing as he stared at the incoming threats. Among the two hovering spheres, one of them aimed straight for him–and for once, Bemular’s bugged out eyes clenched, bracing for impact. Moments dragged out into endless anxiety, swelling up in his very being as he awaited suffering, or even death.
But through his squinted eyes, Bemular saw a thin laser puncture the crimson sphere and rupture out the other side. Just as the laser beam vanished, the red orb lost its integrity, exposing the limp Bemular-Trilopod, helplessly falling on top of the spikey fiend. Without the strength to move, the space fugitive could only wait as the corpse crashed into him. Peering from his eyes, Bemular noticed his bastardized duplicate had a hole in its cranium. Regardless of the case of how, the Trilopod was dead, leaving Bemular ample time to shove the lifeless carcass with his legs and tiny arms.
Mustering from his sapped reserves, the spikey fiend forced himself up to his legs, glancing at the fight in the sky. The crimson orb and the augmented space dinosaur twirled across the empty void, moving with precision and grace. But when the cyborg found the ample opportunity, he fired another laser from his forehead, piercing through the hull of the orb effortlessly. It made its mark, although the sphere didn’t lose its shape like the other. However, it did force the red orb to crawl from the sky to the ground, leading Bemular’s rudimentary intelligence to determine that it had been injured.
Though it became quickly apparent that they were not the only target in the cyborg’s sights. The force and vibrations of the rough landing from Gigan was very much felt, forcing Bemular to turn his attention to the automated assassin. The red cannon on the cyborg’s forehead flashed blue, but didn’t fire anything. With an aggressive stance, Gigan pointed his hooked claws, drawing the reptile’s attention.
A shriekish squawk made Gigan’s intentions all the more clear. With the other claw, he pointed up to the sky. It was nothing short of a warzone up there; filled to the brim with spaceships and dreadnaughts that Bemular didn’t register. He figured some had to be his pursuers, but others were fighting against the endless armada. What he did see were more of his doppelgangers orbiting the hellfire, ensuring nothing made it in–or out. A caw brought Bemular’s attention back to the cyborg, blade still pointed at him.
Did he really think he’d escape? That was what Gigan proposed. It was foolish to think otherwise.
The bug-eyed cretin twisted its face in a vicious scowl, glaring at Gigan in contempt. Even if the cyborg spoke the truth, what was it to him? Bemular already knew he was severely outmatched. His odds of survival did not favor him, and fleeing for the stars would be the best outcome for him. It was his choice, and his choice alone. Bemular released a warbled cry, screeching his disapproval. He’d make it out alive, no matter what it took.
It was then Gigan braced his hammer-claws together. A harsh call rang from his metallic beak. An ultimatum–die to him, or die to them.
A snarl rumbled from Bemular’s throat, keeping his glare glued to the garish cyborg. His jaws parted, filling with ferocious blue flames. His nostrils snorted in discontent, puffing out residual smoke. His choice was the only one that mattered! As his pale heat wave neared overflowing in his maw, he saw the forehead of Gigan flash blue, and–
–In an instant, Bemular swerved his head to the side, discharging the full brunt of his attack away from the cyborg. Instead, the condensed beam of plasma found its mark against the other Trilopod clone of himself over in the distance, who stagnantly limped towards their location. The blast was immediately overwhelming, charring and searing the reptilian anomalocarid with its utmost fury. It survived, but very clearly sustained major wounds from that one burst alone. But to ensure its quick demise, Gigan likewise fired his beam at the wounded Trilopod, lancing it through the cranial region, killing it.
The two turned to each other. Bemular made his choice; to not make another enemy he didn’t have a chance of winning against. He contested Gigan’s methodology, still saw him as a hostile party, someone he couldn’t put his trust in. But between dying to the cyborg and being slain by the Trilopods, the latter left a far fouler stench in his consciousness. Something that had to be purged. At the very least, if he were to perish, there was an estranged comfort in his demented mind that he wouldn’t die alone.
For now, Bemular submitted. It was the only choice that ensured his survival. Seemingly satisfied with this decision, Gigan gestured to follow his lead. The tri-fins compressed against the creature’s back, gas expelling from the tips as Gigan flew off. Mustering what strength he could, Bemular formed a sphere around him. It lacked the integrity of his previous uses, but was sufficient enough to get him off the ground.
As he tailed the alien’s path, he wondered… Would this bear the fruit he expected? Or was it desperation that sold him on the temporary alliance? An illusion to victory? Perhaps this was all going to be for naught–but compared to the alternative, there was at least a shot of making it out alive, no matter how slim it seemed…
—
“Look at them, Rhizon. The vermin have decided to work together against our hunters. Isn’t that just sweet? Inspiring? So utterly hopeless.”
Rhizon paid half a mind to the mocking words of Karkaro as he observed the battle playing out outside on a monitor, noting down the tactics of the alliance’s vanguard. Cross-referencing with collected data from past campaigns, the commander instructed the fleet to counteract the strategies that their inferior battle systems could scrounge up. Efficiency was the foundation of all things, in his mind, an element that these lower beings had no clear understanding of, in spite of what the Xiliens and their computer-ruled society claimed.
Turning his gaze away, he focused on another monitor displaying the hunt on the surface against the alien beings, unable to stop his brow furrowing with infuriation. He despised these creatures with every ounce of his being. They were barely a step above wild beasts, undeserving of a place within the Cryog Empire, and yet the emperor of his race had chosen them as the vanguard of his crusade for universal domination over any asset his own people had crafted. The fact that he wouldn’t disclose where he had acquired them added further distrust in the Trilopods and their part in the Great Plan, and Rhizon loathed to work with these beasts under his command. But the emperor had ordered him so, and with his word as law, he was strained to comply.
Though he could not admit as such in front of Karkaro, the Cryog strategist found a hint of admiration as he witnessed the truce formed by the Nebulan cyborg and the rogue element. He wouldn’t have thought such a thing to be possible, especially with the reptile’s roguish nature, but in the long history of his career, Rhizon had been witness and victim to many unexpected strategies and contingencies, weapons and creatures mechanical and biological alike that put the will and power of the empire to the test, ensuring that complacency could never grow among their ranks.
Perhaps this one would be as challenging as the others, but ultimately would never bear the fruits of victory. One day, he might look back on this moment and question why it was that they must destroy something as intriguing as this solely for the reason that it was different. Perhaps, that moment would be amongst the comforts of the utopia that Karkaro had promised at the end of this long war, if that was the ultimate truth that he had longly doubted. In which case, his actions here would be justified, his doubts unnecessary, and there would be no guilt to bear on his conscience. They were survivors, through and through. If these lowly scraps had no power to resist their strength, their extinction was utterly justified. Such was the order of all things. Such was the way of the immoral Cryog Empire.
“They are nothing, my lord. Lowly insects scrambling for a few extra seconds of life before the boot comes down on them.” Rhizon allowed a cruel, predatory smile to spread across his features, flashing rows of sharp, pointed fangs. Not even he could not find displeasure in the final moments to their victory. “And like insects, we shall crush them all the same.”
“Yes, well, all the same, these ‘bugs’ have been a rather troublesome batch,” Karkaro murmured, thinking as he checked the live feed, frowning at the number of casualties, of which all were his loyal pets. “The first wave is starting to bear thin and all four of those abominations are still well and kicking. We’d better fix that.”
The sound of tapping drew Rhizon’s attention away from the monitor to look towards the emperor tapping instructions into the control panel embedded within the arm of his throne. His eyes bulged upon recognising the command sequence that was entered. “Three pods?! That amount of force is wholly unnecessary. Just one or few of our battleships would be far more effici – ACK!”
Karkaro’s other arm shot out and wrapped tightly around the officer’s throat, cutting his protest short as Rhizon gasped desperately for air. He was dragged roughly towards the throne and lifted so that he and the emperor were face to face, staring into Karkaro’s enraged features. Once cold eyes now burned red with fury, his words a hissed whisper to the commander’s hearing alone.
“I do not like those who forget their manners. If you take issues with my orders, you may address me in private. You will not challenge me in public again, and certainly not when those insects could be listening in.” He tightened his hold on Rhizon further, ignoring his rasping cries for mercy. “I am your emperor and if you wish to see the paradise I have promised, you will obey me in all things. Never forget that, half-breed.”
The pressure around his windpipe released as Rhizon was tossed away, crumpling across the bridge floor and wheezing for breath. Rubbing his bruising neck, the commander’s eyes turned back towards Karkaro, unable to hide the fear written across his features. Those cold orbs bore into his own, as if daring him to speak out again, but he couldn’t find the breath to act even if he wanted to. He could feel all the eyes in the room upon him, judging his display of weakness with hidden contempt. With a scowl, he managed to force himself up and meet the doubters with his own hateful gaze, cowing them into submission and returning them to their stations.
As Rhizon returned to his post, he cast one more look back towards the emperor, who was now preoccupied with the main screen as it displayed the new Trilopod carriers leaving the ship and rocketing towards the planet’s surface. What exactly had happened on that fateful day, when their world fell to the great destroyer, to twist him into the creature he was now? He hadn’t been present, witness only to the aftermath and the lifeless husk that once was the heart of their empire, but Karkaro had not been the same ever since, almost distant to the needs of his people in spite of the reward he promised them. How was a tyrant such as him meant to bring about paradise for their kind? It was a question he found himself too terrified to answer.
Alarms blared across the bridge, pulling the Cryog from his thoughts and turning towards one of the screens. “Report!” he barked to the corresponding station.
“Unknown bogey approaching our position, commander,” a technician responded, bringing up the radar and camera footage onto the main monitor. “Entering at mach 10, ETA two minutes to atmosphere entry.”
“Did you say approaching? As in, coming towards us?” Karkaro let out a booming, mocking laugh. “I didn’t think that anyone had the scrotes. Let’s see these brave fools for ourselves, shall we?”
The technician spoke up again. “We’re intercepting a coded message, emperor; a recording on an encrypted wavelength. Shall I attempt to access it?”
“Proceed,” ordered Rhizon. His curiosity was just as peaked as the emperor’s towards this sudden development. Who would openly fly towards an active battlefield? Who even knew that they were here? So many questions and not enough answers for the warmonger’s liking, requiring his patience for the twenty-four seconds it took for the message to be accessed.
As the voice came through, he nearly stumbled over, taken aback. His eyes went wide as the rogue object came into view on the scanner, recognising the unmistakable technology and craftsmanship all too clearly to pretend it was anything else. To the Cryog, it was the closest thing to seeing a ghost, a relic of a genocide now seemingly incomplete as this anomaly seemed to prove. The same word spilled from Rhizon and Karkaro’s lips, though the former lacked any of the venomous tone hissed out by his superior.
“No…”
A cold conclusion awaited. An inevitability against the might of the Trilopods.
Megalon struggled. With the persistence of angry hornets, the Zilla-Trilopods swarmed the insectoid god without any sign of letting up. Slashing and torching the insect’s hide with their onslaught, they surrounded him on all sides. Joining their assault was also the Megalon-Trilopod, whose fluttering wings soared above the chaotic crowd beneath it. Lightning rained from the Trilopod’s star-shaped protrusion, striking its target down below. Megalon suffered from the wrath of his Trilopod double, any deaths of the Zilla-morphed fodder ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
But the compound eyes of the Megalon-Trilopod caught something in its sights. At first, it mistook the figure as another of the Gigan-variants, but closer inspection confirmed it was the original. Ceasing its assault on the Seatopian warrior, the Megalon-Trilopod turned its attention to the oncoming intruder. Very quickly, metal drills met with cosmo steel hooks, two large bodies shoved through the air. Before the Megalon duplicate could fight back, Gigan shanked the Trilopod with a lethal kick, embedding his bladed foot into the gut of the hybrid organism. Another kick followed soon after, likewise puncturing the lower torso of the alien fiend, before finishing it off with a firm slap from Gigan’s tail. The insectoid-anomalocarid was sent hurtling through the sky, crashing roughly against the ground.
Then, almost willingly, Gigan dropped from the space above to the lunar crust below, slamming his bladed feet into one of the many Zilla-Trilopods, smashing it to green-plastered mush and gore, killing it instantly. The moment of Gigan’s arrival, the nearby soldiers redirected their attention to the bird-like cyborg. The buzzsaw jutting from his belly began to rev wildly, rotating at rapid speeds. Those foolish enough to approach became quickly ensnared by the hammer-claws, forcefully dragged onto the whirling buzzsaw without mercy or remorse head first. What remained were splattered corpses, painting the skin of the cyborg a sickly green.
Such skill and confidence was noted. But did one really matter against the many? With an issuing call from the Megalon-Trilopod, the Zilla-variants were quick to turn on the sudden intruder, swarming the cyborg with their sheer numbers. Even with the universal cutter still revving, the Trilopod pawns were careful to work around it, restraining Gigan’s other limbs and suppressing all movement from the cyborg.
A distorted shrill emitted from Gigan as a bolt of lightning struck upon his golden scales. While he knew full well of the uses of teleportation, the circumstances he knew didn’t allow it. His first attempt was futile, and doing so now would yield the same results. And likewise, the energy consumption of its use required more strategic usage, or at the very least needed to be timed just right. Seeking to conserve as much energy as he could, Gigan decided to take the brunt of the Trilopod’s wrath. But through the cluster of the Zilla-Trilopods, he saw Megalon scarred and bloodied. The limp beetle remained unmoving, only rolling when the Megalon-Trilopod landed nearby and kicked him around.
In the world of battle, death was nothing short of an inevitability. It was something Gigan was well accustomed to. But seeing Megalon in such poor health–the jaded indifference cracked, if ever so slightly. He kept an even temper, but the residual sting remained nonetheless…
—
The Gigan-Trilopod hacked and slashed its calcified blades against the reanimated cyborg, scarring the dead tissue and alien metal with ease. Cyber Godzilla was evasive, but the quick movements of the Trilopod matched his own in terms of speed and skill. In retaliation, the radioactive automaton fired its fearsome atomic ray, hoping to push the agile assassin away. But in response, the Gigan-Trilopod discharged ferocious flames of its own. Although the vacuum threatened to extinguish its fire, the full powered might of the flamethrower ensured it met its target, charring the undead reptile with its searing pain.
Wracked with pain, the robotic zombie faltered and stumbled, leaving him open to a decisive kick that launched the cyborg away. Chittering in delight, the Trilopod confidently loomed over the fallen warrior, eager to fulfill its master’s bidding.
Cyber Godzilla’s eyes glowed with the Leviathan’s influence, forcing him to move beyond his exhaustion. But even the suppression of his pained body could only do so much. The bio-robotic automaton weakly stood in place, arranging himself for the next strike. However, both he and the Trilopod menace were quick to notice a flash of light closing in on them. The transparent layer of the sapphire orb made it abundantly clear to Cyber Godzilla the identity of the perpetrator. The shimmering sphere crashed near them, the exterior dissipating into a faint wisp, leaving the blood-curdling shrieks of Bemular.
The bug-eyed fiend scanned the two, rushing towards the despised Trilopod clone of Gigan. Leaning forward with his spiny head at ramming speeds, the space reptile collided against the chitinous armor of the arthropodic hybrid, pressing and shoving the Trilopod warrior. Calcified scythes grinded against the hardened scutes that adorned the fugitive’s body, leaving light scratch marks upon them. Seeing the futility of its efforts, the Gigan-Trilopod opted to swing for the considerably less durable scales, only to be met face-first with a barrage of energized missiles. The concussive knockback of the blast forced the arthropod warrior down, leaving Bemular to loom over his fallen form.
The glaring red eyes of the Trilopod glared back with malice at the two reptiles that stood above it. But it was without mercy or remorse that both began to churn their blue flames, bathing the avian-like anomalocarid in a flash of superheat fire, torching its body pitch black. With screams and wails from the onslaught, the Gigan-Trilopod was no more, leaving its husk to burn from their wrath. But they could not rest, for another wave of Trilopod imposters converged on their location. More of the Zilla and Megalon variants screeched and bellowed, bombarding the battlefield with high-yield explosives and a flurry of atomic flames.
As a Zilla-Trilopod got close, Bemular lunged forward and clamped his jaws around its neck, tearing its throat out with a twisted glee. But just as he got the jump on one, another took its place and jumped the space criminal, toppling the spiked reptile to the ground. Wailing and grinding of teeth resounded from Bemular’s oblong maw, struggling to batter the pests off of him.
All the while, Cyber Godzilla could only evade the bombardment thrusted upon him. Raining lightning bolts and napalm blasts carved the landscape to charred ruin, the force of the attacks changing the very landscape around him. A ring of destruction cut off any escape routes available to the cybernetic zombie, pinning the beast to one location. But what urged them not to just blow him to smithereens outright? Such fallacies made him believe that these Trilopods were just as incompetent as their progenitor. But a blaring red light from above signaled Cyber Godzilla of the impending danger, leaping out of the way and into the array of blasts and bombs–an unsuitably safer place to be comparatively speaking.
In a matter of seconds, a crimson orb crashed onto the very location Cyber Godzilla had once stood. From the impact zone and scattered debris, the red sphere dissipated and revealed within it a Bemular-Trilopod, chittering and shrieking at the evasive reptile. The cybernetic augment had no time to spare, dancing around the explosive wrath of the Megalon clones. But the Bemular-variant snapped its eyes at him, a blue light illuminating from its maw…
—
Pinned and strained, Gigan struggled against their grip. A shot from the laser knife from his forehead was evaded by the cretins or their acting commander; and likewise, a sudden burst of short-ranged flames from his maw was woefully insufficient for the task at hand, all in a display of desperation for options. Even if he did escape, was there ever going to be a chance to recharge?
Perhaps it was better than nothing. Channeling his reserves, his body began to darken…
…Only to stop when the painful cries of the Megalon-Trilopod resounded. Jutted from its chest were a pair of metallic drills, rapidly whirling and shredding the torso of the Trilopod into paste. Then, with utmost force, the drills parted and tore the Megalon-Trilopod in two, killing it instantly. From behind the maimed carcass, Megalon stood and roared in triumph, catching the attention of the Zilla-Trilopods that held Gigan down.
The few that could be dispatched quickly lunged for Megalon, only to be met by a gruesome bolt of lightning from the star-shaped horn. Upon contact with the cranial region, the head of the Zilla clone exploded into a mess of brain matter and slimy green gore. The others that made their approach were either felled by his whirling drills or the ensuing napalm bombs that burned their chitinous exoskeleton to a crisp.
With the enemy preoccupied, Gigan adapted to the circumstances. Although still pinned under the weight of the Zilla-Trilopods, their decreased numbers had lightened the load rather significantly. Shifting from teleportation to flight, the tri-fins collapsed against his back, grinding against the lunar surface as the tips jettisoned with steam. Try as they might, they held their grip to the best of their ability; but even as they anchored their feet into the ground, it did little as the speed gradually picked up. Next thing they knew, they dangled helplessly as Gigan took to the higher echelons of space.
For the cretins that refused to let go, the fearsome assassin was quick to dispose of the scrawny anomalocarid-lizards with a whirring of his magnificent buzzsaw and a graceful aileron roll, using his hammer-claws to dislodge and tear at the energy parasites. Those that weren’t torn clean off met a worse fate with his revving buzzsaw, splitting them in half or shredding any desperate limbs trying to cling onto his gold-scaled body. As their falling forms crashed onto the lunar surface, Gigan made a hard turn to rendezvous with his long-time ally.
In the moment of his freedom, it seemed Megalon had been quickly overrun by the parasitic organisms. Bracing his reinforced cosmo steel blades, Gigan lunged for the dogpile, hacking and slashing at the infested colony until his insectoid compatriot was able to fight back, beating them down with a flurry of blunt strikes that bashed their frail heads wide open. Splurts of garish green goo launched from the impact wounds, be it from Megalon’s tough drills or Gigan’s deadly claws. And in what felt like a matter of moments, they cleared out the arena.
It wouldn’t be long before more fell upon them. But it was proof they stood better together than divided. Gigan extended his claw to his comrade, and the Seatopian god responded in kind. Their metal weapons clanged together.
A mantra from their people. For perfect peace among races.
And four was certainly better odds than one, or even two.
Tri-fins folded and elytra spread out, both allied monsters taking to the dark skies above as they sailed off to a different portion of the battleground. As gleaming red eyes picked up their airborne formations, the duo responded in kind. A volley of lightning blasts, laser cannons, and napalm bombs torched the mountainous land in a conflagration, the burning fires consuming all Trilopods in their path. Then the others came into view, fighting their own war against the other Trilopod variants. With a pulse from his high-powered cannon, Gigan fired another Laser Knife, piercing the skull of the bombarding Megalon-Trilopod that had been giving the zombified cyborg ample trouble. It keeled over instantly.
As the Bemular-Trilopod fired its heat ray, Cyber Godzilla’s chest flung open in a heartbeat. The burning blue heat ray bounced off the reflective sheen of the inner circuits, reflecting it back at the sender. Explosive bursts erupted from the crazed imitation, the arthropod-like reptile shrieking in dissatisfaction from what had just transpired. Taking advantage of the stunned alien pest, Cyber Godzilla pounced onto the target, mauling it with its asymmetrical claws and tearing it with its boxy mouth.
Noticing the pile of Zilla-Trilopods nearby, Megalon veered into the mound of crawling bodies, clamping his drills together as one. Revving at high speeds, he grazed along the top, shredding them into a slurry of organic paste. Noticing his interference, the lizard-like Trilopods directed their collective attention to the drilling beetle, dispersing their atomic rays at the airborne insect. Such flames proved futile against the high-speed drill, parting it with little effort as Megalon spat more fiery bombs from his mandibles. An eruption of hellfire overcame the chittering arthropoids, their legs scuttering to escape the raging flames. In doing so, they freed Bemular from restraint, allowing the bug-eyed menace to lash out and tear the face of a Zilla-Trilopod with utmost glee. Without rest, he fired his burning blue heat ray into the disgusting alien hybrid, reducing its face to cinders.
As Cyber Godzilla and Bemular dispatched their foes, Gigan and Megalon made a hard landing. Grouped together, the four giant monsters barked and scowled, but they understood each other. Whether they liked it or not, this was a fight that had to be taken on together. But even such a testy alliance had their plates full. For every Trilopod that had been slain, ten would take their place. The swarm was nothing short of massive, and only growing the more their appropriated genetics fueled the disgusting doppelgangers that mocked their visage.
With a squawk, Gigan issued the assault. For there was no other way than through, and no other method than killing.
In the name of peace.
But as the ground flooded with splattering green blood and the body parts of bastardized imposters, three distinct objects littered the sky. From the disgusting hive launched more pods from its nest, their bartizan hulls barreled through the void of space, closing in to the surface of Planet X at rapid speeds. Each impact shook the battleground, the noticeable blowback from the scattering dust and debris altering the four monsters of their impending incursion. As the last pod made landfall, they each opened up, one by one unleashing fresh Trilopod warriors to partake in this dwindling war.
Some of the surviving parasites, bloated from the harvested genetic material, crawled out of the dark pits of Planet X’s fissures and leapt onto the backs of the bipedal warriors. Their pedipalps sunk into the grooves of the nape, performing the ritual for more hybrid monstrosities. Each one morphing into a distinct, hideous shape that mocked their genetic progenitors. Low growls rang from the newly formed doppelgangers, each moving in to extend the battle.
Until each of them were subdued and destroyed accordingly.
***
The air stifled the longer this bloodbath drew on.
Their mightiest warriors and a rogue forced to contend with the monstrosity of the Cryog’s endless army. Each side drew blood from the other, but their warriors fought to the bittermost end. Warnings and intercoms from the space-faring war that took place well above their heads screamed in terror, their forces thinning from the monstrous force that beckoned them. For every Cryog warship downed, a whole sleuth of Xilien saucers and Fire Dragons would be wiped out by the firepower of another. The lethal combination of the fighter crafts and Leviathan-class battle cruisers from Cyber Godzilla’s masters proved fruitful in resisting the Cryog’s advances, but even their might struggled against the overwhelming wrath of Karkaro’s armada.
The algorithm flashed with unstable uncertainty. Dire straits were certainly ahead. Unease wavered, but all they could do was hold on until the battle turned in their favor.
But the careful eyes of the Xilien Commandant took notice of Fumio’s sketching, mapping out pathways as his antennae twitched anxiously. “What are you calculating?” The Xilien plainly asked, addressing the Nebulan.
“A tactile retreat may be in our best interest,” Fumio firmly suggested.
“Have no fear, Fumio,” the Commandant assured, “Evacuation ships are already on standby. Should the Cryog breach the surface, we will have made our retreat well before then.”
Fumio shook his head. “It’ll be too late by then. If we were to split up, the Cryog would certainly use that chance to exterminate us on the spot. A collective evacuation on one ship would be the best outcome. Our transport vessel will more than suffice.”
“That scrapheap?” Sopler ridiculed, “We fail to see it breaking through the exosphere before the Cryog make their move.”
The supercomputer ran its calculations. It seemed to take the heedings of the Leviathan and Nebulan in equal measure.
“Then let’s take it on faith the odds will turn in our favor,” the Kilaak Queen interjected.
Faith. Such a feeble, human construct. Yet in the right circumstances, it swayed the hearts and minds of those that believed. The Xilien held no such sentiment, but there was an understanding with his Mistress’ words. To continue their rally against overwhelming odds. A preposterous notion, but an option the Xilien had to at least consider.
Her words at least quelled the rising tensions. No doubt they too realize there wasn’t much to do but prepare for the worst.
“Great Leaders!” A Kilaakian servicewoman addressed, “We have readings of an unidentified object en route to Sector 15. There is also an open transmission from a third party.”
“Allow it,” the Xilien issued. He had no doubt Karkaro would also be viewing it, whoever it may hail from. All eyes glued to the screen, showing the visage of the ape-like alien both firm and diligent. Encrypting the information, it was clear the video was not a live transmission, leading the Xilien to come to only one conclusion…
”My name is Rikal, and I bring to you a message from beyond the grave. In life, I was a great commander of the Simeon race, who led our people out across the stars in search of a new home after our sun collapsed into a black hole. Though our methods may be considered cruel, in our eyes and cultures, they were acceptable in finding the salvation I so desperately sought for my people.”
He paused, if only for a moment.
“But we never found it. Instead, someone else found us.”
Rikal’s face contorted in anguish, the sounds of a predetermined war raging from beyond the Simeon’s confines. His eyes snapped open with cold resignation.
“To whoever receives this, I bring this grim warning. This oppressive force that exterminated our home, our entire race, will not stop at just that. It had set its goal to the complete subjugation of all life in the galaxy, perhaps the universe, and I truly believe they can accomplish this task. To prevent this, Mechagodzilla, our greatest achievement, has been sent to seek out and destroy these monsters wherever they claim root, and will wipe them out with the same lack of empathy that they showed us. It is in the best interests of whatever peace you seek that you aid our creation, and give my people the vengeance they deserve.”
When the transmission looped, it was cut off. But instead of a blank screen, the face of Karkaro overtook it instead, much to the chagrin of all present. His face read that of indifference, almost as if the entire purpose of this exchange was nothing more than to prove that he too received the signal. Fumio was quick to hide his notes, ensuring that the cruel ruler did not get a glimpse of their backup plan.
“Then let us see how this unfolds.” Reacting to the words of the Xilien, the Cryog gave a quiet huff. They will have to see, indeed…
***
Their will, their might, shall be enforced. The end of the opposition was nigh.
For each one felled, three more took their place. A non-stop hydra in colossal numbers that, even if the stubborn survivors could dispose of them efficiently, would overwhelm them sooner or later. The enemy forces were organic, or hosted such parts; there was only one end to this slaughter. They were bound to weakness such as exhaustion and depleted energy reserves. But the Trilopods were built to outlast and outnumber, no matter how powerful their enemies were.
The cyborg assassin and its closest compatriot tagged in with a whirl of claw-jabs and drill-punches. Bladed edges shred through their forces with relative ease, with subsequent bombardment of lightning blasts, laser beams, and thermal bombs aiding in the slaughter. Even so, their might waned the longer the battle went on. In a battle of attrition, there was no doubt the Trilopods would reign supreme.
The ailing cybernetic zombie likewise resisted, shooting streams of atomic fire to keep them at bay. Energized missiles found their marks, repelling those that it struck. But such resistance was futile. Steam pumped from its nostrils, the decayed augment maintaining maximum capacity. But such a state began to wear on its reserves, barely keeping up with what was demanded of it. A duck and a weave enabled the undead machine to clamp its boxy jaws around the throat of a Trilopod warrior, searing its flesh with a blast of radioactive fire. But just as the one perished from the burning wound, a triad of Zilla-Trilopods jumped their genetic donor, pinning it to the rugged top-surface. The lithe Alphas crawled upon their prey and sank their proboscis into rotted flesh, still willing to extract broken DNA for more hybrid warriors.
The primal space murderer ripped and tore asunder any Trilopod that dared stand in its way. Crazed and bug-eyed, the savage psychopath mimicked the tactics of the reanimated corpse, plunging its teeth into the neck of a Trilopod warrior. However, the feral beast pulled a different maneuver; anchoring itself with its tail and a leg, it used the other to lunge a powerful kick into the Trilopod’s gut, pulling back at its neck as it did so. In one swift move, the membranes and armor that kept its head attached ripped at the seams, spraying garish vile fluids as its head and spine were pulled from where its head once rested. As it tossed the dying head aside, the brutal criminal was tackled to the ground by a Megalon-Trilopod, stamped by its heavy body and powerful legs.
One by one, they fell. The Trilopods swarmed the already downed reptiles, leaving only two to deal with the incoming masses. And unfortunately for them, it wasn’t long before the pressure got to them. Alphas crawled all over them, siphoning their genetic material for more clones. No matter how hard they struggled, there was no resistance against the Trilopod forces.
They will conquer. And they will destroy.
But as the endless war waged on, there was… Interference.
Ping.
A dark object, nigh invisible to the naked eye, soared past the space-bound destruction occurring above. Only the glow of its rocket boosters and pulsing antenna gave it away.
Ping.
The pod began to shift, automatically adjusting its flight trajectory for a rough, but sound landing. Red alien eyes glared at the sudden arrival, the horde not contending with their respective targets braced and ready for whatever was going to emerge…
Ping.
Steam jettisoned as the pod doors slid open. No light breached the dark, only the gleam of red, cybernetic eyes pierced the other side. Each metallic footfall signaled to the Trilopods that the target was on the move. More importantly, it hosted no bio-signature or genetic material to draw from…
No option but termination.
The object showed itself, brimming with silver light as it stood out amidst the dark planetoid. It carried its weight with a bipedal stance, its knee-springs cushioning its immense weight. A large, reptile-like machine, with not an ounce of blood within. Rather, a circulatory system of wires and weapons was all that coursed through its constructed form. The cold, unfeeling automaton surveyed the situation, noticing distinct signatures among the masses. Its blocky frame shifted, locking its rotating wrists in place.
Without hesitation, the Trilopods charged en masse.
Time slowed to a crawl. The stampede of anomalocarids vibrated the very ground under their feet, and those with the capacity for flight took to the air. In a moment, they’d tear this machine to shreds, leaving nothing but space dust by the time they were finished with it…
And in that moment, they were torn to shreds.
—
With open shutters, all hell broke loose.
The payload was imminent, the sudden burst of sprawling energies and missiles erupted in a chorus of destruction. With merciless execution, Mechagodzilla mowed down all that stood in its way. Space missiles fired off from its fingertips, battering the massive horde with splintered armor and ruptured skin, littering the hellzone with fresh and bloodied wounds. With neck vents parted, a barrage of missiles beneath joined the choir of hellfire upon the Trilopod menace. Homyu shots, high pressure homing shells, and mouth missiles further embellished the unfolding chaos, inflicting severe trauma or exterminating them outright. A flash of orange electric discharge sawed through the limbs of the clawed warriors, disarming them as they keeled over. And its potent optical weapon–the Space Beams–utterly destroyed the flesh of the Trilopods on contact.
The monstrous war machine spread its destructive influence, spreading its missiles and firepower to the widest possible range. Even as the airborne Trilopods made a beeline for the weapons maestro, Mechagodzilla was quick to ceasefire, funneling all its powers into its jet engines. With a bounce from its springs, the mechanical destroyer quickly took to the air, evading the swarm entirely. Assuming its flight position, Mechagodzilla continued its gradual ascent. But Trilopod pursuers were quick to follow; Gigan and Megalon variants trailed the mecha’s flight path, ready to unload blasters of their own.
Flamethrowers and streams of lightning circled around the soaring superweapon, its head locked bow-first, with its hands pointed to the stern. Its head began to rotate along the craniocervical junction, spinning rapidly until it became a blur. Then, firing modified Space Beams, a cyan light pulsed from its eyes, coating the cosmic automaton in a cone-like barrier, protecting it from the onslaught of energy beams that would have otherwise harmed it.
Banking a wide turn, the flying machine propelled itself with burning jet fuel, barreling itself towards the incoming hunters. As the Defense Neo Barrier rammed into the Gigan and Megalon imposters, their shrieks of pain resounded as their skin and armor burned from the searing energy shield, sending them spiraling out of control with curdling smoke. A Bemular-Trilopod was quick to take their place, ramming its crimson sphere into the cone-shaped barrier. An array of sparking lights erupted between the two forces, their clashing energies mixed in a destructive display. But it didn’t take long for the narrow point of the conical shield to piercing the energized protection of the Bemular-Trilopod, drilling through it cleanly. Before the hostile alien knew it, its head was reduced to a bloody pulp, killing it instantly.
A mocking metallic shriek rang from the autonomous war machine, ruthless and cruel it continued to shred its enemies apart, dominating the dark, starry skies above.
While below, a shift began to occur.
The once active and vibrant Gigan began to dim, catching the attention of the Trilopod captors. There had been squawks and chitters about one of them that could teleport. Seeing this as a threat, one of the standing Gigan-Trilopods took a swipe with its claws, intending for a clean decapitation. But just as feared, in a flash of green light, the prisoner vanished. Quick on the draw, the Gigan-Trilopod swiped behind it, fully anticipating a sneak attack.
It found nothing.
Much to its dismay, when it found the rematerialized cyborg, he had warped away from them–and instead found his mark along the Trilopods holding the brutish Megalon down. A quick whirling from the buzzsaw sliced several Trilopod skulls wide open, loosening their fiendish grip on the Seatopian god. Using raw strength to free himself, the monstrous beetle went on the full offensive, drill-punching nearby Trilopods to paste and discharging his napalm bombs to usher calamity on the war-torn battlefield. Joining the mass destruction wrought by Mechagodzilla, Megalon too began to bombard everything in his path with fire and lightning.
As plumes of smoldering fire rose from the surface, Gigan made the advance to the other two. A shot from his Laser Knife reached for the further-out Bemular, killing the Megalon-Trilopod, enabling the rampant space reptile the chance to fight back against the other cretins that dared extract its genetic material. All the while, Gigan bared his blades, landing feet-first into the horde of Zilla-Trilopods. The knife-like foot hooked into the frail doppelganger, piercing and crushing it underfoot as Gigan’s weight bore down on it. With a slash of his claws, Gigan was quick to exterminate the other abominations, giving Cyber Godzilla the chance to get back to his feet. With a rush of steam from the nostrils, the undead cyborg rammed his mass into another of the Trilopod warriors, knocking it off its feet.
Ravenous and bloodthirsty, Bemular glared at the silver reptile high above, his eye twitching. Its focus was squarely on the Trilopod menace; and so long as that remained the case, he’d bitterly comply. But his wild mind only saw it as a means to an end. And what that entailed would only be known once this war was over.
For now, they had to push for a fighting chance. An opportunity against adversity. To overcome the tyranny of fear and conquer it. With a belching wail, Bemular tagged in, enjoying each moment of this massacre.
They’d die here now.
***
The control chamber was silent, the atmosphere reflecting the mood and thoughts of the gathered council, observing the viewing screen with intrigue and enthusiasm. Although caution remained at the forefront of their minds, there were none who, if asked, would deny the excitement rushing throughout their form, observing as the forces of the arthropod-esque hunters dwindled by the minute against the combined power of their representative champions and the reptilian interloper-turned-temporary partner.
Antonio watched with a firm-set expression and eyes shining with adoration at the sight of his revered god, feeling the pride and faith within him well with each heretic and pretender dispatched by his mighty claws and crackling thunder. The Nebulans, too, judged their creation, with their opinions able to be read by the room only through the subtle flicks and twitches of their erect antennae. The Kilaak Queen forged a small smile upon her usually cold features, sensing the growing passion for battle within the room and giving her silent approval.
“Your challenge fails, Cryog,” the Controller sternly stated.
As if on cue, the screen’s image shifted into waves of static and fuzz, reconfiguring into the bioorganic throne chamber of the Cryog royal warship, where Karkaro sat in waiting upon his command, the despot’s arm tentacles interlocked with one another before his pointed cranium, allowing only for narrowed, red eyes to stare back across the transmission into the Xilien’s visor. “So it would seem…”
“Each species represented here has proven their power here today. Alone, they would prove a challenging foe, but united as one, create a power thought to be unachievable.” The Controller stood up and glared hard at the emperor, standing in confident and defiant form for the occupants of the room and his addressor to bear witness. “Your actions here have helped in strengthening the bonds between our races we sought to forge against our enemies. Now you, our shared enemy, your army and your creatures shall see the demonstration of these bonds.”
The faintest trace of a smile crept upon the lips of the Xilien as Karkaro leaned forward in his throne, as if in contemplation, no doubt struggling to find the words to respond, trying with their “superior” intellect to imagine a new stratagem on the fly. The Controller took a brief glance away from the view screen to observe the calculations of the central computer and confirm their answers, and what he saw turned his small smile into a beaming grin of confidence.
“Perhaps I have underestimated you,” the emperor said after a moment. “I was expecting an easy victory, against a group of mismatched and uncoordinated pests. But now… I have seen the full extent of your joined abilities and what they can achieve.”
Fumio and Kubota’s antennae twitched at the unexpected praise. The Nebulan leader refused to buy into these honeyed words, like his predecessors had in their first encounter with the frilled raiders, for which their once-treasured homeworld had paid the cost. Fumio’s multi-compound eyes scanned the other inhabitants of the war chamber, and were pleased to see that none seemed to have fallen for the Cryog deceiver’s words, all sporting their own expressions of uncertainty.
His gaze met the viewing screen again as Karkaro’s limbs dropped, head tilting forward in despair and eyes closing shut… only to immediately open as he snapped back up, glaring across the screen with manic, gleaming eyes, lips pulled back to expose chitinous tooth plates in a psychotic, mocking grin.
“I see your power – and it is nothing!”
The central computer’s monitor screen suddenly stopped in the midst of its calculations. It started to flicker with erratic bursts of glitched pixels and static waves, making all heads turn towards the phenomenon and stare with expressions of disbelief.
“What is happening?” the Controller queried, snapping his gaze from one side of the chamber to the other, hoping for an explanation from his subordinates or even his allies. The only response was the sound of Karkaro’s cruel laughter as it consumed the room, drowning out the malfunctioning processors’ tones and whines of distress.
Fumio figured it out first, and a tremble of fear crept up his cold antennae, quivering erratically. “How long have you been in control?” the cockroach inquired of the emperor. The other representatives turned back their eyes to the Nebulan minister, with the Controller and Queen sharing the strongest expressions of shock amongst them.
“Since the beginning. Before we even revealed ourselves. The Xilien firewalls were hard to crack, and operating beneath the range of your subspace communication channels was certainly difficult. But a challenge?” Karkaro barked out another round of laughter. “We had total control of Planet X’s facilities within minutes. I must say, Xiliens, your level of cyber security is woefully outdated for a race dedicated to technology. It utterly disgusts me how such lowly mites like yourselves have managed to survive on this wasteland of a world.”
“But survive we have,” the Controller countered. “Our world persists despite its depleted state. Can you say the same, Cryog? You claim to be superior in many things, and yet you have no home to return to when your campaign has ended. Your failure to protect your own assets is what drove you on this doomed path.”
“It was the destruction of our homeworld that showed me the path which lies ahead,” Karkaro proclaimed joyously, spreading his tentacled arms wide. “You all simply could not understand, even when you each had the answer within your clutches.”
Fumio’s vibrating antennae betrayed the sudden sense of fear that overcame him, making his insectoid blood run degrees colder than it normally should. The tone with which the emperor had spoken triggered something primal in his memories, and what he could observe, the same was true with the Kilaak Queen and the Xilien Controller, though the latter was far more successful in hiding his body language. The answer had some relation between the three races, and the dread blooming inside compelled his investigation.
“What do you speak of, Karkaro,” he demanded.
“The Great Destroyer,” the Cryog bluntly responded, grinning wildly with zealous excitement. “He goes by many names and titles, but we know him as he truly is. My kingdom had grown weak and complacent, going unopposed for far too long until he appeared to us and revealed the error of our ways.”
“Though we lost everything that day, what I gained in knowledge made the sacrifice worthwhile. It showed me the path to allow the Cryogs to truly prosper, to follow in the ways of the Great Destroyer and to retake the strength we’d lost. Don’t you see it?” he laughed. “Of course you can’t. Why do I even bother with you? In fact…”
His tone grew dark, replacing glee with restrained contempt as his features became a mask of false calmness. “I think I’ve had enough of this game.”
“If you have more than empty threats to throw at us, Cryog,” the Kilaak Queen stated coldly, “we shall meet them with the same tenacity as before. We are not beaten yet.”
“Oh, you were beaten long before this conversation, female,” the emperor rebutted. “You want to see more than empty threats? You wish to see what the might of the Cryog Empire can do? How we conquered whole systems and slaughtered civilisations?”
The image pulled back to show the entirety of Karkaro’s throne, the dread within Fumio growing stronger as the tentacled alien made a show of moving his arm towards a specific section of the controls, poised above a large, red button. He cast a final look towards the council of races, his final words echoing around the room as the screen cut off, just as he slammed the tentacle down hard onto the switch.
”I hope you’re prepared for the terror you have unleashed.”
***
As the monitor wiped to black, Karkaro leaned comfortably into the throne. Around him, his crew stumbled and clung to the infrastructure as the whole vessel shook. Hisses of pressurised air and horrible squelching noises flooded the chamber, drowning out the noise of the uninitiated as they scrambled to understand the situation. Only Karkaro and his personal retinue understood the truth behind all of this; the secret which had carried the Cryog race to victory after victory and perhaps the greatest of the emperor’s accomplishments. And now he was setting it loose on these infuriating rebels who had defied him for too long.
“Ah, no kill like overkill. Perhaps my favourite saying.”
“You’re releasing the hive?!” Rhizon shrieked in horror, but Karkaro paid him no mind. Even if he managed to forget himself for a second time, he could forgive his commander’s unfounded concerns for the moment. “Emperor- Karkaro, why are you doing this? What possible reason could justify this kind of response?”
“To flex, my dear Rhizon, simple as that,” he purred. “These bugs keep pushing and pushing, testing their luck. Now it’s time that we push back, and push hard. I want them to understand why they have no place in the grand plan. I want them to run and hide in terror, to spread the word of our coming. And I have longed to use this asset for a long, long time.”
A new sound permeated the chitinous walls, unmistakingly organic in nature and decidedly alive. It was deafening, but soft, like some ancient beast awakening from a deep slumber. Karkaro looked to the ceiling, smiling in glee while his subordinate looked on in wide-eyed terror.
“What do you have inside there?” whispered Rhizon, his blood as cold as ice.
“My equal,” replied the emperor. “The only creature in this universe that understands the hunger which courses through me. Insatiable, demanding, a force which drives us on no matter what may lie ahead. And like me, she understands the true purpose of all other forms of disgusting life in this galaxy.”
“Those beasts down there, those mighty champions that those rejects hold so dear. They’re not protectors or vanguards,” he proclaimed aloud. “Like all things, they are food.”
“Food for what?”
Karkaro’s shark-like fangs gleamed with excitement as he answered.
“The Monster Who Devoured A Galaxy.”
***
For each moment passing, their collective might whittled down the combined forces of the Trilopod menace. Their dying screeches faded as gurgling noises drowned in their own blood, the relentless onslaught more than they could bear. Missiles, laser beams, and napalm bombs blasted them to pieces, some spraying wounds, others losing heads or limbs outright. The combined might of Mechagodzilla and Megalon proved daunting for the slaughtered cretins. And those that did escape their destructive line of sight were met with the fearsome claws of Gigan or the burning flames of Cyber Godzilla or Bemular.
Since this war of attrition began, there was at last pushback. A resistance against the might of the Trilopod army as they pushed through, massacring them one by one. Most fought, and therefore most died at the hands of the rebels.
A Trilopod hybrid died from an uppercut slash from Gigan, vivisecting its head in two. Lightning sprawled from Megalon’s star-shaped horn, scorching a line of their arthropod enemies with merciless savagery. Bemular rendered the last remaining Zilla-Trilopods with his teeth and feet, tearing them asunder without remorse. Cyber Godzilla pounced onto a bastardized Gigan copy, using his arms to pry its mouth open; and with the glow of his energized missiles, they shot into the back of the Trilopod’s throat, blowing it out and killing it on the spot. Mechagodzilla shifted from a flurry of missiles to a more calculated approach, terminating all Trilopods with a blast of its Space Beams or electrical Cross Attack Beam to do the job.
A breath of relief as the footfalls and screeches of the Trilopods faded into the cosmic winds.
As the arthropodal menace became scarcer on the battlefield, Mechagodzilla resumed the hunt, scanning the surroundings for any residual Trilopod activity. Bemular’s focus shifted. His leering gaze eyed the new mechanical arrival with fear and malice. While certainly a benefactor in the elimination of the Trilopods, it was only a matter of time before such a weapon would turn on him. With a boisterous cry and a reckless charge, Bemular sped towards the metallic juggernaut–
–only to be intercepted by the sudden body slam from the Nebulan cyborg, pinning him down to the dark, lunar ground. Gigan growled through his distorted vox, lowering his scythe-blades with a menacing hum. The reptilian criminal squealed under the space assassin’s weight, squirming to break free. Shrieks and bellows rang from the spiked fiend, the sadistic creature charging a blast of its pale heat ray to fire at the autonomous machine. But the surprise intervention of Cyber Godzilla ensured contact was never made, with the unfolding spread of his breastplate bouncing the heat ray aimlessly into space above.
Such actions would not be tolerated. Although their tested alliance had been through the wringer, the possibility of them turning on each other would certainly lead to their demise. Gigan held his hammer-claw high, ensuring the most force to slice through Bemular’s neck without hesitation. But a shriek from Mechagodzilla stopped him cold.
More were inbound.
All eyes peered to the darkness above. The large, globulating sack attached to the royal warship separated from its carriage, the dirigible trajected to their location. Pods discharged from their porous cells, spreading out across the perimeter of the battlefield en masse. The monstrous hive began speeding to the center of the formation, soon to make a touchdown on the small lunar rock.
Bemular froze, realizing the unfolding nightmare that was soon to draw upon them. A fierce squawk from the cyborg assassin issued a simple command; it seemed that there was an alliance to still uphold, even if begrudgingly. Gigan bounced off the space criminal, allowing the wretched cretin to free itself. Nowhere to flee with the war littering the exosphere, so bitterly they had to fight.
But what was the cost to climb over this insurmountable wall?
For as thin an atmosphere Planet X possessed, a vibration washed over them as the gargantuan hive made landfall. Upon impact, a cascade of dust and shockwaves rolled over the alien faction, shaking the orbiting satellite to its core. Such mass ejected ash and rock high into the sky, leaving the gravitational binds of Planet X. And there, as the dust began to settle, it stood. It pulsated with sickening life, the rest knowing full well something rested within… Then, a glow from above caught their attention. From the aperture of the Cryog’s royal cruiser, brimming with light, came a laser beam that struck the hive. What followed was an explosive blast that rocked the foundations of Planet X once more, even forcing the alliance to avert their eyes.
The great, burning fire quickly reduced to a smolder, as the sack began to undulate, its organic mesh beginning to recede for the birth of a monstrosity. Its visage mirrored that of the Trilopods before it, but far more numerous in eyes and pedipalps. In place of their claws were a set of elongated, segmented limbs. Instead of two legs, the Trilopod superior climbed out of its nest with several sets of titanic trunks, each stomp shaking the ground with utmost intensity.
Its large shape and radiant compound eyes cast a colossal shadow across the battlefield, an omen to the end. Towering and furious, her roar tore through the void, shaking the ground and every heart still beating upon it.
So declared Magita, the harvesting Queen of the Trilopods.
The survivors turned to face her and braced themselves.
Their final challenge had arrived.
The council room sat in stunned silence, taking in the sheer enormity of what could only be described as a monstrosity. Tremors shook the walls of the complex with ever-growing magnitude with each shift of the leviathan’s grand mass, lights flickering as the power struggled to keep operating. The alien delegates had all been witness to many diverse sights across the many corners of the galaxy, conforming to all shapes and sizes, but to merely label the titan as another kaiju almost seemed offensive.
“It cannot be,” whispered Kubota in utmost horror. His reaction earned the interest of the Controller, who noted that the Leviathans, too bristled in fear upon the sight of this… “Trilogod”, if that was its relation to the insectoid hunters. Their appearances were too alike for it not to be their queen or progenitor, but clearly their allies knew more about it than he did.
“You know of this creature?” he quizzed, his words seeming to strike a cord with the Nebulans as they snapped towards the Controller with shaking antennae.
“You truly do not know about th-” Fumio paused, antennae drooping in thought. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. The story of Magita is not one that circulates commonly within your underpopulated sector.”
“Magita?” The name was unfamiliar to him, finding no results under that name within the central computer’s library. Glances to the Kilaak Queen and Antonio rewarded him with equally confused looks.
”That creature cannot be them!” protested Hoffman. ”Magita is nothing but a tale founded in superstition. A story told to our grublings about the dangers of gluttony and its trappings.”
“Do you not believe your own eyes?” Kubota interacted. “You can’t look at that… that behemoth and say that the galaxy eater is not real.”
Antonio’s face turned white in horror. “That thing actually ate an entire galaxy?!?”
”It is only a theory at best,” explained Sopler. ”There exists a space between this galaxy and the next where theoretically one could have once existed, littered with the scraps of long dead civilisations. The source between the rumours of this ‘Magita’ have never been confirmed, but it has long been embedded in the intercosmic sphere as a tale of warning. Only now, that warning appears to be all too real.”
“How do these Cryog dogs manage to control such an unholy thing?” Antonio was still struggling to understand the existence of this monstrosity. Even the Controller, normally good at keeping their emotions locked away, felt cracks form in his composure.
Distorted alarms blared from the crackling monitor, diverting all attention away from the matter as the operators rushed to intercept the incoming data. It was not the relief any were looking for.
“The blockade has been broken,” an Xilien reported. “Estimating 86% depletion of Planet X’s forces, 73% of the Kilaak detachment, and 59% of the Leviathan armada.”
Kubota sagged over in defeat, antennae drooping solemnly across the war table. “Is this it, then? Our last great chance for victory squashed before it can begin?”
“We have lost only when we have lost the ability to fight back.” The Kilaak mistress stood from her chair to address the chamber, the Controller following suit behind her. “This day is surely lost, but there can be others. Let us make sure that our races can live to see it.”
“Access secondary systems and initiate evacuation procedures,” the Controller ordered his subordinates. “We shall regroup and rebuild. My friends, can I ask for your assets’ assistance to prolong our escape?”
The five ambassadors looked at one another, taking only a moment to analyze the Controller’s demands. What he asked for was a huge gamble, but at this time, what else was left? All that he offered was the sliver of a chance, but that was infinitely better than nothing. Survival over victory; that was the new goal of their alliance.
They nodded in acceptance. Now all they could do was wait.
***
A magnificent and horrific shape began to move, the moon itself seeming to groan beneath her. Each footfall taken was nothing short of a tectonic event, displacing the lunar surface with jagged and ruptured rock. A living calamity of unimaginable proportion, draped in thick, heavy armor and glistening from the remnants of her former sack. Her many eyes, lined along her neck, glowed a pallid green. But the primary set illuminated with a spiteful yellow hue, housing a dark, primal intelligence and blind hunger.
Around the mammoth feet of Magita, the hunter horde swarmed like ants. Those who had survived the cataclysmic entry of the hive eyed the quintet with ravenous hunter, mandibles and claws twitching in anticipation of the feast. As the circle closed in, Bemular took heed of a Zilla-Trilopod that had taken interest in him, guiding one of its collector brethren closer to aid it in its sickening task. He barked off a warning, and the hybrid tensed in response.
A colossal mass slammed down just as the hunter began its leap. The defenders of Planet X and the arthropod vanguard were equally disordinated by the thunderous impact. As the dust began to clear, the noise of the screeching hunters rang out. The massive head of Magita rose up with the Zilla-Trilopod and its Alpha cohort locked inside her hooked mouthparts, ignorant to their squeals of protest while her jaws ground them to paste.
Of the five-monster alliance, only Mechagodzilla did not look on in horror at the repulsive sight, its computer unable to register concepts such as disgust or terror. Uncaring for the titan’s presence, the Trilopods continued to advance on the group, seemingly ignorant to the death of their own kin even as ichor and blood dripped upon their carapaces. Gulping down the mangled remains, Magita turned to look for the next source of bio-mass, spoiled for choice on this overpopulated battlefield, and none too picky to whatever or whoever filled her insatiable gullet.
The rag-tag group braced themselves, but knew staying put would certainly only end in their demise. Taking charge as the ringleader, Gigan eyed the gargantuan supergiant, taking heed of the extremities that loomed from behind the monstrous silhouette. Two sets of massive pinchers swayed on elongated tails, each one more than capable of gripping and slicing them in two if they were ever caught. So with a shrieking command, Gigan gave the first order: split up!
Following the cyborg’s lead, Megalon, Mechagodzilla, and Bemular joined in flight, scattering across the skies through their various means of self-propulsion. Gigan kept a healthy distance, observing the overwhelming mountain of chitin pulling its tremendous mass.
The others did their thing. Mechagodzilla, engines howling, soared with a flurry of Space Beams against her armored hide, detonating as explosive sparks. Certainly more durable than the lowly Trilopod troops. The airborne machine swerved around a swipe from Magita’s segmented arms, barely evading the brutal blow. Close quarters may not be an option for Mechagodzilla, every moment and every strike had to count.
Swooping in from the side, Megalon’s wings fluttered into motion, spitting volleys of lightning bolts and burning orbs upon the supergiant. Successive rounds struck Magita like a hailstorm of blazing suns…. Yet it barely left a mark against her indomitable defenses. Fire temporarily swamped her colossal form, yet no burns remained.
From within the confines of his orbital form, Bemular streaked across the vacant heavens. A darting comet shimmering with pristine light as he looped around Magita. But as the firepower from the mechanical destroyer and the beetle god ceased, the frenzied criminal opted for a daring strike–perhaps even a stupid one, but one with nothing to lose. Pulsating with tremendous light, Bemular slammed all his mass into a lethal strike, forcibly pressing against the cranium of the titanic arthropod.
Had it been any other monster, it would have proved worthy as a critical strike. But against Magita? It was merely the force of an apple against the human skull. An irritation, if nothing else. One Magita did not leave unheeded.
Monstrous pedipalps flared, lunging for the searing blue travel sphere in which Bemular resided. Teeth made for crunching and grinding snapped shut from a gaping maw capable of swallowing kaiju whole. Darting across open space, Bemular drew her ire, keeping the wrathful anomalocarid squared on him.
Gigan kept his distance, contemplating his next action. There were notable weak points, especially with the many eye-like organs lined along this colossus’ neck… But provoking her that soon may result in his premature death. A blue flash from his forehead cannon fired a crimson laser, which barely bore into the thick armor. The cyborg squawked in disappointment. At the very minimum, he could continue rallying the others to action, keeping firm tabs of her next move.
But in the back of his mind, he knew this situation was going to turn for the worse soon enough…
Cyber Godzilla remained grounded, arching his path just barely out of range of Magita’s colossal feet and the surrounding broken earth. A huff from its nostrils reflected the strain placed upon it; for there were no immediate weaknesses the reanimated cyborg could take advantage of. Thick armored plating ensured there was no weapon at his disposal that could harm the living mountain… But the many eyes proved promising. But Gigan’s lack of initiative informed him otherwise.
Yet there were other matters to concern themselves with.
With a twist of his neck, Cyber Godzilla peered over the horizon. What he saw raised concern… A new wave of Trilopods, from the freshly deployed pods, scavenging the battlefield for their war-dead. A snarl escaped his undead lips at the sickening display he saw next. The smaller, lithe cretins crawled onto the shredded bodies of the fallen hybrids, siphoning the genetic extract and fattening themselves to initiate the birth of a new clan of fearsome killers. And when they found their way up the backs of the host warriors, the ritual began once more. Harvested from the dead, a new breed of Trilopod hybrids screeched, proclaiming their impending arrival.
A snort from the machine augment gave him a moment to think. To concoct a scheme that’d make use of a bad situation turning worse… He scanned the incoming army and the hulking behemoth that threatened to kill them all.
Green eyes widened. An idea.
Returning his gaze upon the incoming horde, Cyber Godzilla declared his presence to the imposters, staying his ground. Among the reconstructed Trilopods, it was a Megalon variant that took the bait. Clasping its drills together, it plunged straight to where Cyber Godzilla stood, eager to gore the undead machine to plaster… Only for the Leviathan weapon to turn tail and speed towards the great colossus.
Springing with his powerful legs, the cyborg clung onto one of the many massive trunks that supported Magita. He felt the immensity of her movement, how the devouring queen lifted her appendage up and began to sway, shaking it violently. But still, the Leviathan cyborg remained undeterred. And all as he anticipated, the Megalon-Trilopod flew too close and, with the tremendous force behind the wobbling leg, splattered to pieces.
Thrusting her leg back down, Magita boomed with a vibrating roar of destructive prowess. The juddering tremors shook the cyborg, funneling them into his chest. But now was not the time for that. Storing the sonic vibrations, he’d have to make the bold climb up… But that wasn’t going to be made easy. If it wasn’t for the incoming Gigan-Trilopod wanting to dice him to bits, then certainly the incoming swing of the pincher-tipped tail was certainly going to. With another powerful bound, Cyber Godzilla flew onto the incoming appendage, landing near the base of the pincers.
Adapting on the fly, the reanimated cyborg dashed along the thick, lithe tail, following its trail and being careful not to slip off the colossal queen. Before he knew it, Cyber Godzilla found himself near the base, proceeding to climb along the back of the mammoth titan. But pursuers came in close as a pair of Bemular-Trilopods orbited him in their shimmering crimson spheres. A sneering growl escaped Cyber Godzilla’s lips, crouching low for another jump…
…Only for a thin red laser to pierce the hull of the travel sphere, puncturing through the Trilopod’s head. Before the other could make its mark, it was met with the full thrust of Gigan’s mass, the cyborg throwing himself against it. Pressing himself against the orb, the revving buzzsaw roared to life, sparking and grating against the energy ball in a splashing array of lights. It burrowed within the energized shell, breaching the host within, mangling the Trilopod hybrid until its brimming red light faded, leaving only a sawed-open husk to drop from orbit. With others inbound, Gigan took the fight to them, leaving Cyber Godzilla back to his mountainous trek.
Magita was far from static. Her wild and lively movements made it difficult to keep a steady climb, but it was a mission Cyber Godzilla was insistent he’d complete. Ever shifting movements kept the cyborg lizard on his toes; for every lunge of her long, outstretched ‘arms’ or thrust of her tremendous mass, the harder it was to climb. Even so, this did not deter the Leviathan automaton. He saw his allies fighting for their lives, with Magita’s hungry gaze fixated upon the brilliant blues of Bemular’s travel sphere. They had her distracted. And with Gigan dismantling the other airborne Trilopod clones with a flurry of hooks, buzzsaws, and laser beams, Cyber Godzilla knew his chance was now.
There was no doubt in the reptile’s mind that the colossus knew he was there; but the firefight from the others shifted her priorities. For every vibration carried, he stored it in his chest compartment, gestating sonic waves waiting to come out. And the higher he climbed, the more of the warring battlefield he saw. But now was not the time for observations; now was the time to strike! And with his chest flapping open, Cyber Godzilla proceeded to do just that.
Pressing against the skull of the humongous anomalocarid, Cyber Godzilla discharged all the sonic reserves in his chest, sending waves of intense vibrations through her thick armor. When they found their way through, the hollering, booming roar of Magita rang out of her gigantic maw, whose intense vibrations fueled the sonic discharge even more. Her head violently thrashed, attempting to dislodge the diminutive creature off of her. And with another firm head thrust, Cyber Godzilla lost his grip, sending the undead squamate hurtling off of her like a speeding bullet. The damage was undeniable, the impact scrapping the metal arm off the reanimated corpse entirely and rendering the components to his chest cavity useless.
Stunned and reorienting her senses, her hulking mass for once stopped moving. It was this chance they had to use, an opening created by the Leviathan zombie. Megalon and Mechagodzilla flanked the immobile supergiant with a united blast of lightning and lasers of flashing spectrums, their combined array aimed for the shoulder joint. Great thick chitinous flesh was not as sturdy as the layered armor, but would have proved resilient in most cases. But in unifying their beam weapons, they began to burn and scar the shoulder padding, earning her ire in the form of a reverberating shriek of agony.
The jolt forced her to move, and both monsters were quick to disengage. But while Mechagodzilla veered away from the incoming strike, Megalon doubled down and pushed further. Clamping his hand-drills together, they began to spin with utmost intensity, boring into the rugged flesh of the super-sized titan. Flaky, ashen flesh and striated muscles scattered as the screaming wails of the mighty Magita resounded once more. Unlike the subterranean realm under the crust, be it planet or moon, the innards of the great devourer proved to be far thicker than he had anticipated. Sensing the many parts of Magita at play with his antennae, the space within began to contract, threatening to crush Megalon from sheer, overwhelming muscle.
But he pushed ever deeper. Though his wishes of rendering her asunder from within failed, simply making it to the other side would prove more than sufficient. Especially for what he had in mind next.
His multi-part mandibles opened, spitting out one napalm bomb after another, each embedding in the wall of muscle and chitin as he passed along. But instead of exploding on impact, these were timed. And so long as he found an exit, then there was a nasty surprise awaiting the monstrous calamity…
Much to Megalon’s relief, he felt his drills poke and prod beyond the boundaries of Magita’s thick flesh. Shredding it all apart, the insectoid god burst through and soared high into the dark skies.
Then came the moment of promise.
Explosive charges set off, the fleshy tunnel igniting with burning orange fire and curdling smoke from both ends. Even her screams filled her maw with fire and smoke, bile pouring from the internal wounds created by the magnificent Megalon. But just as the god of Seatopia mocked and jeered at the titanic behemoth, he was suddenly met with an airborne ambush. An imitation of himself, Gigan, and Bemular rushed from above, putting all their collective mass into hurtling Megalon into the lunar surface…
Even so, it was up to Mechagodzilla to continue the assault.
Keeping focus on its primary directive, the bionic superweapon reloaded its finger ports, replacing the standard artillery in favor of a stronger punch. New missiles slotted into place, their shape distinctly harpoon-like as the alien terminator brought its hands frontward, rotating rapidly at the wrist joints. And with a powerful blast, the revolver missiles fired off, bombarding the plated armor and dense skin of the colossus that opposed them. The potent explosions washed over the monstrous figure in a shower of sparks, spurting blood and cracking armor from the power they packed.
Mechagodzilla refused to let up. Another round of revolvers found their mark against her many pseudocone eyes, mutilating them in a violent display of mechanical might. The infuriated Magita swung recklessly, hoping to find a target she could smash to pieces–yet these persistent insects continued to resist her eternal hunger.
For a fleeting instant, it looked like victory…
But such a fate was not meant to be.
Her body wracked with agonizing pain, the great colossus began to tremble. Powerful trunks and spindly prolegs shifted, spreading them out. Armor rattled as folds between the legs and body began to move, the previously unseen appendages unraveling from their hidden crevice. Her actions were slow, but very much deliberate. It came alive as it rose in full display, the lithe appendages tipped with serrated spears glistened unlike that of the body armor the titanic monstrosity adorned. The mesmerizing sight befell all who bore witness to it, especially as it began to spread out and unfurl. Suddenly, the new extensions fully revealed themselves to be wings! Their tertiary gradients flowed between the cool colors, offsetting her reddish armor and chitinous flesh, showing her majesty in its truest essence.
As her wings spread their terrifying visage, the mere act of unfolding disrupted the flightpaths of the airborne. Mechagodzilla was derailed from rushing into the membranes, with only a quick activation of the Defense Neo Barrier cushioning the impact, the residual burns doing little against the thick skin of her wings. As they fully outstretched, revealing their full glory, they likewise incidentally intercepted Gigan’s slaughter of the Trilopods, knocking the cyborg out of rhythm. Shifting to evasive mode, Gigan focused on dodging the incoming swarms of Trilopods surrounding him… But what the terrifying ‘Trilopod Queen’ had in store was cause of great concern.
Magita’s unemotive eyes narrowed on the fallen Cyber Godzilla, who was struggling to find its footing. A flap of her gargantuan wings dispelled the thin atmosphere of Planet X, preparing to take flight… Until a glowing blue sphere caught her attention. From within, Bemular growled. He had gotten in over his head; their chances were slim to none against this beast of the galaxy. Even with everything they’ve thrown at her, she still stood tall–and more importantly, alive. Warring pursuers be damned, he had to escape!
Pulsing with all the power at his disposal, Bemular flew away from the lost cause of a battle. There was no victory to be had here. But as he did, his sphere’s sonar informed him that the great devourer had achieved liftoff, following his flight trail. And to his horror, perhaps due to the less dense core of the moon or her immense size, she was catching up to him! As they breached the depths of outer space, Bemular squarely focused on escape–once he was fully freed from any influence of the moon’s light pull, he’d be in the home stretch. And at first, it seemed he was finally exceeding her, putting distance between them. But before he could shriek a victorious cheer, a large appendage flanked him at his side. The immense impact shattered the travel sphere in an instant; though had it not been for it, he would have been broken into pieces of organic chunks for certain. Magita’s long, segmented arms made their mark, sending him spiraling out of control.
A fading spark, cast into the void.
Even injured and maimed, Magita stood strong. Her enormity began to drop back to the moon, more than ready to plummet onto the lunar surface with all her mass. Among her dominant and remaining neck eyes, she found her initial target writhing on the ground. Such a pathetic creature. Guiding her falling trajectory, it was only a matter of time before she found her mark once more; this time, disposing of another pest as Cyber Godzilla vanished under her immensity. The ensuing impact rocked the moon once again, the demise of Cyber Godzilla more than certain.
The monstrous rumbling vibrated even the thin atmosphere, the vibrations passing through Mechagodzilla’s space titanium. But even against overwhelming odds, its directive remained unwavering. No room for compromise; terminate and destroy until there was nothing left. Even as a flock of flying Trilopods converged on the magnificent machine, they were quickly torn asunder by revolving missiles and an array of Space Beams and Cross Attack Beams, pulverizing the hybrid warriors without issue. And once disposed of, his cold, cybernetic eyes narrowed on the main prize…
Magita heralded another booming cacophony, her wings outstretched, imposing her massive figure. Calculations ran through the artificial mind of the superweapon, suspicious of her behavior. As if to confirm those suspicions, her massive wings folded at speeds that belied their size, drawing the curtains to reveal her next move. A set of lithe appendages barreled over her folded wings, the massive set of tail pinchers aimed squarely at the cosmic machine. Against the first, Mechagodzilla retaliated with a flurry of Space Beams and revolver missiles. Their impacts diverted the chela from its original trajectory, leaving the steel reptile ample time to evade the second one with precise maneuverability.
But their pursuit did not stop, the over-the-shoulder tails veering back around for a second chance. Perhaps there was opportunity to be had, using her pincers to sustain self-inflicted damage. Or perhaps such a chance was never meant to manifest; although Mechagodzilla had swerved out of the way of the initial strike, it was the second set of pincers that snagged the machine midflight, crunching against its space titanium hull. With applied pressure, the bony protrusions breached its machine innards, initiating a massive explosion where Mechagodzilla had once been. At last, a thorn in her side had been plucked, leaving only blackened ash across her massive tail pincer.
One by one they fell, forcing them to submit to her power, to prove her voracious hunger. None shall stand in her way.
Her eyes diverted to the cries and pleas of the straggler that dared puncture a hole through her. She saw the cretin pinned under several other of the Trilopod units, each one beating and battering the fallen beetle monster with ruthless torment. Her boisterous declaration forced them to move, fully intending on consuming this one to feast. The Trilopods scattered, enabling her to open wide and devour the unmoving prey…
Before her jaws could clamp shut, a speeding figure zipped past, hooking his fallen ally and pulling the beetle’s weight as they sped off. Anger boiled, an unfettered rage portraying her dismay as Gigan hauled his dying compatriot out of harm’s way. Perhaps such attempts were feeble; but after this devastating loss, there was no turning back. As if to reciprocate those feelings, a retreat signal was transmitted to his antenna horn, relaying the commands to fall back.
Assured that this fight would continue another time, Gigan held Megalon close. And with an array of full-body flashes, hardened crystallization encased both of them. In a matter of moments, the diamond casing began operating by Gigan’s will, putting distance between them and the destructive Magita. But even as they escaped, the war had truly fallen into the Cryog’s favor. Their warships descended upon the fleeing saucers of the Xilien-Kilaak fleets, sparing none in the process. Their massive laser cannons pointed at the retreating diamond, attempting to pulverize it. But Gigan evaded, barely nicking the casing as it sped for the stars…
Magita stood amidst a sea of death, the mangled remains of the dead strewn like offerings around her feet. A loud, boisterous roar proclaimed her absolute victory, but with it too came the pangs of hunger. As her Cryog ‘masters’ and Trilopod hybrids pursued the last of the stragglers, she began to feast. With deliberate calm, she bent down, her jaws unfurling as she began to feed. Their scattered or smashed corpses vacuumed into her gullet, satiating her eternal hunger with the rotten decay of the dead over the fresh taste of live prey.
With each step, the ground trembled beneath her hunger. But this would not prove to be enough. Nothing ever would. No matter how long it took, all would digest in the furnace of her belly. No planet, no galaxy would be safe from her everlasting hunger.
She would continue until she was full.
***
Alarms blared throughout the facility. The signal to retreat to all forces had been sent. The operators screamed of breaches and incursions occurring throughout all their sectors. The supercomputer ran through all calculations.
They lost. And the future held an inevitable outcome.
They were all going to die.
Jeering eyes mocked them from the other side of the screen, a cruel, curling smile rose from the twisted dictator. All his rows of razor-sharp teeth were bare and exposed, savoring every last moment of the fall of this rag-tag group of rebels that dared fight against his overwhelming might.
“You tried, and you failed once again,” the Cryog ruler spat, “Even together, you are nothing without the power to prove it. Your species will be a dead race you all will see with your very eyes, all the while the great rule of the Cryog will expand and thrive. The universe wills our species’ propagation, and nothing will stand in the way.”
His hands trembled, the Controller taking a moment to catch his breath. He had to suppress these emotions, if only to keep a stable mind. But such swelling anxieties became hard to ignore… But no matter; he pressed on, issuing his stern warning to the pervader of life.
“Know this, Cryog.” The countenance of the frilled emperor shifted to petty annoyance, not bothering to correct the Xilien of his namesake. “This battle isn’t over.”
Karkaro huffed in amusement. “Is that so? Whatever you think you have will fall to us. Know that, for certain.” The transmission feed ceased to be, the base vibrating intensely. No doubt scouts for the Cryog Empire arrived at their footsteps. Troops and soldiers would come flooding in at any moment… Then another violent explosion resounded from beyond.
“Great Leaders!” the Xilien operator panicked, “The Cryog forces are pursuing the attack!”
True to their word, every last one of them were going to be exterminated.
“Dishonorable wretch!” Antonio shrieked. “He won the battle!”
“Species such as the Cryog concern themselves less with taking prisoners, so long as their arrogance as the superior conception remains the status quo,” the Leviathan Sopler rationalized.
“Indeed, and so will remain the case as long as the Cryog thrive,” Hoffman added. Their blank green eyes flashed red, the surrounding Xilien computers picking up a Tachyon transmission beamed straight into the Leviathans’ brains.
“What is it?” The Kilaak Queen quickly inquired.
“Core Command has issued a retreat,” Hoffman relayed. “But such tactics are fallible with the Cryog’s ever-advancing pursuits.” The Leviathan aliens glanced at their contemporaries. “So we will hold off their forces. Use this chance to make your escape. For the sake of peace among all species.”
“Your sacrifices will not be forgotten,” the Xilien Controller remarked. “Before they flood this room, allow us to recompense you with an eventuality. A promise.” The Controller pressed a series of button commands into the supercomputer, the immediate action sending out a pronounced signal. “A promise that the Monster Zero Contingency will flatten everything the Cryog are and stand for.”
A crooked smile crawled over the stoic faces of the Leviathan aliens. “The gesture is much appreciated. Now go, follow the Nebulans’ plan and flee, and keep to your word, Controller.”
The Controller and the Mistress nodded in gratitude. All the while, Fumio relayed the plan, the group sprinting off to the nearest elevator that was least likely occupied by the incoming footsoldiers. As the leaders and the surrounding Xilien-Kilaak subordinates fled out of the chamber, the Leviathan were at last left alone. But such isolation proved short-lived as, just as predicted, the squirming tentacled limbs of the Cryog troops flooded the vacant room. Their numbers lined up, spear-guns raised and prepared to fire away with no regard.
A gambit the Leviathan were willing to play with.
Their green eyes flashed, exerting their telepathic influence to all those within the confined space. Some held strong, their servitude to their callous king unwavering; but among them were those with neural pathways susceptible to their psychic will. And it was in exploiting their individual sense of thought that some of the Cryog soldiers began to turn against their kind. Before long, they were in-fighting amongst each other, screaming and shouting as they slaughtered the traitors in their midst.
“You may hold fear or devotion to your deluded tyrant, but know that your individuality is your greatest weakness,” the Leviathan boldly proclaimed, their necks extending in a display of intimidation. “Without a conglomerate mind, the Cryog Empire will certainly fall.” But the strong-willed among the Cryog soldiers resumed their aim, blasting away at the rotund alien organisms without remorse. A hole seared into Sopler’s chest, another round separating his arm. Yet another found its mark along Hoffman’s extended neck, severing his head from the rest of his body.
Both aliens fell over, dead.
The stifled air returned to normalcy, without the telepathic influence of the Leviathan blinding them. However, among the dwindled numbers in their group, those that had turned against the will of Karkaro were exterminated on the spot. There was no room to compromise with the enemy, be it of a different species or ideology. Those who showed weakness needed to be exterminated.
For the glory of the Cryog.
—
The pitter patter of their scurries rang through the vacant halls, each turn Fumio took representing a step closer to getting out of here alive. That was, provided, they weren’t slain in the process. The spade-shaped halls were confounding to those not acquainted with them, but fortunately the Nebulan ringleader was more than adjusted for the most optimal path there. And even when they found Cryog soldiers, there was an alternate path on the fly they could take. Perhaps it was because of the hostile environment they thrived in and supplanted, but the Nebulans’ instincts were on-point. A trait the Xilien Controller secretly admired.
Kubota acted as a protective guard for the Seatopian Emperor, ensuring his safety first and foremost. As Fumio navigated, the Controller and the Queen acted as the rear-guard, whipping out their laser pistols at the incoming intruders. Anytime the cyan laser made contact, it pierced the transparent barriers that protected the Cryog footsoldiers, their life-like colors reduced to a negative state before vanishing from this plane of existence.
Fortunately for them, any hits they did take from the enemy spear-guns were greatly reduced by an electrifying protective forcefield, courtesy of Kilaak technology. Even so, it wasn’t impervious; for every blaster nicked his black armored vest, it exposed more of the gray spandex that laid underneath, and more importantly, the circuitry of his cybernetically augmented body. The Queen, however, was better off. Any damage sustained to her could morph and form around the wound, regenerating it as if nothing happened. The perk of being made of living metal, so long as the button-like radiator wasn’t broken…
“Here!” Fumio directed. “Into the elevator, quick!”
Operated with quick button presses and influenced by thought, the orange-like hue greeted the rag-tag alliance as they shoved into the tight space. By the time the doors slid shut, the Cryogs tried in vain to stop the elevator’s advances. But given the influence the Controller had over it, it proved for naught. Despite the temporary reprieve, the fight was inevitably waiting for them at the bottom…
“A little tight in here,” Antonio plainly acknowledged. This space would be comfortable for two individuals, but being crammed up like this was less than desirable.
“Gentlemen, allow us to take the frontlines,” the Controller requested. “The enemy forces are likely going to be ready. We will protect you with our forcefields.”
“Does your computer guarantee that outcome, darling?” the Kilaak Queen teased.
The Controller simply smirked. “This is my own calculated move to make.” His face returned to its default stoicism, addressing Fumio directly. “Where is your vessel?”
“We kept it secluded in the event things went south. Under a cliff near here. We will follow Gigan’s path as the best escape route once spaceborne.”
“You certainly have the foresight, Mr. Fumio,” the Controller complimented. They shuffled around, adjusting as need be. What waited outside was without question a risk they were going to have to take–
“Wait.” The insisted words of the Nebulan chairman caught his attention. Antennae perked, a realization that dawned on him. “I may have something worthwhile.”
The Xilien leader nodded, allowing Fumio to proceed…
—
War raged in the hangar. Blasters pelted off metal walls as the Cryog fought viciously against the joint Xilien-Kilaak efforts. Their forcefields protected them, but were not without fault. With repetitive and consecutive blows, it didn’t take long for the tentacled troops to overwhelm an Xilien or Kilaakian fighter. All things considered, it wasn’t holding up too well.
Elevator doors opened, with the Great Leaders and Antonio forcibly pushed out. Two Cryog guards kept their spear-guns pointed to their backs, with one of their armed tentacles restraining the Seatopian royal. “Move it!” one of them barked. Before they could proceed any further, a unit of Cryog soldiers aimed their weapons at the captives.
“Halt!” They cocked their weapons. “The decree from His Lordship is the extermination of all rebel scum!”
“And Lord Karkaro will get his wish!” the guard rebutted. “However, he requested that he make an example out of these ‘Great Leaders’ himself. The filthy insects are also scurrying somewhere, so get a move on!” With apprehensive gruffs and mocking jeers, the Cryog resumed battle against the remaining forces, the guards escorting their hosts to beyond the hangar bay.
Turning around through the large entranceway, the Cryog pair were quick to scan for any suspicious activity. With nothing of note, the Cryogs and their prisoners slinked away, out of sight of the others. But even the outside was a horrific sight; the monstrous Magita dwarfed the mountainous ranges of Planet X, and even further beyond were the massive Cryog warships and space fleet giving their collective a run for their money. But to ensure their kind lived to see another day, their leaders had to be there to guide their people through these dark times.
“There, to the right,” the Cryog whispered into the Controller’s auditor receptor. It was an ideal spot, underneath a ledge covered by the looming rocky formation and the fortified hangar.
“Your talents continue to impress,” the Kilaak Queen warmly remarked. But before any of them could go on further, the cyan blast of laser beams zipped past, scattering the rag-tag group. Two Xiliens and two Kilaaks, having followed their trail, closed the gap. They swayed their pistols with wavering conviction. The Cryog guards raised their spears, aimed and ready to fire.
“Ceasefire!” the Xilien commandant ordered. Obeying his word, the subordinates did as they were told and lowered their weapons.
“My Queen, I am glad you’re alive!” a Kilaak kindly gestured. The Queen only responded with a heavy nod, keeping a close eye on her subjects.
“Great Leader, why are these Cryog taking you to this hillside?” quizzed one of the Xiliens.
The Controller absorbed the moment. The fearful eyes of the Nebulans masquerading as Cryogs, the incantation of the subordinates, the leering eyes of his Queen… A very different picture was being painted. He had to choose his words carefully.
“Cryog sympathizers. They understand our cause for universal peace, so they were willing to guide us to safety. So please, disarm yourselves in the name of peace.”
They waited with bated breath, seeing what kind of reaction those words invoked. The real truth would have made it impossible to discern if they were hostile, or even an open invitation to get closer. But in the limited time exposed to their ruthless leader, it informed the Controller of what he needed to know. Sympathy to a cause other than their own would not be tolerated.
All he had to do was irritate that itch.
“My Great Leader, don’t be absurd! We are in a war, and–”
“Open fire.” Without hesitation, the false Cryogs complied with the Controller’s orders, the cyan laser emitting from the spear-gun, which in actuality had simply been the pistol disguised under image projection. It found its mark against an Xilien agent, and just as they suspected, the atomizing Xilien shed its disguise to reveal the Cryog beneath, clearly having appropriated weapons from the war-dead. And it didn’t take long for the others to show their true colors.
As their facades wore off, the tentacled aliens aimed their weapons. Two of them kept their eyes locked on the imposter species, evading laser fire as they did. The third, however, took a different approach. Their shot wasn’t intended for any of the other extraterrestrial species–save for one. Surrounded by bodies on nearly all sides was the Seatopian ruler, only armed with Nebulan-derived pistols, a far cry from the more refined Xilien laser guns. Even so, the human proved to be the most vulnerable, with the disguised cockroaches bearing the borrowed tech and the Great Leaders of the alliance using their forcefields to protect them from incoming fire. And with a blast, he fired off.
For a moment, Antonio saw the eyes of his killer. His heart stopped, fearing death was soon to find him. He prayed to Megalon for a safe passage.
But before he could accept death, the formation broke. Barking orders from the Kilaak Queen issued for Kubota to move, allowing her to more closely defend them both with her electrified barrier. Even as they successfully redirected round after round, it still chipped away at her fluid metal form. Then, a gesture from one Cryog to another issued a shift in strategy; and instead of one, two began whaling against her protection with rapidfire succession.
Before anyone knew it, they broke through.
A round from the spear-guns found its mark along the Kilaak Queen’s neck, puncturing it–and worse yet, breaking the radiator that helped her sustain shape. Her determined visage ran cold with fear as her structure began to malform, losing the human-like shape they all adopted for themselves. In this loss, the Nebulans used this chance to eliminate another of the Cryog warriors, the combined laser fire atomizing them. Even so, another casualty was no less devastating, even with their nigh-immortality and malleable form.
The visceral and slimy metal slug that remained squirmed in place, Antonio quickly scooped up the disfigured Queen in his palms. Without hesitation, Kubota kept up the attack, ensuring the Seatopian Emperor’s safety behind the Controller. Pillaging laser fire kept up from the enemy opposition, but scoring direct hits from the pistols ensured the demise of the Cryog soldiers. But such reprieve didn’t last long before other Cryog soldiers began flooding the ravine, no doubt lured by their firefight. The best they could manage was crawling back, inching ever slowly to the crevice that housed their means of escape.
“Lord Antonio, make a break for it!” Kubota shouted. Mustering all the courage and speed he could, the Seatopian leader made a beeline for the rickety saucer, the Queen in hand. Even if it was structurally imperfect, it was certainly a better alternative than being left in the open.
The shutter opened, a quick scanner recognition identifying Antonio. He was almost there, but his nerves ran cold. Death could come for him any given second…
“ANTONIO!”
His name resounded from the mouth of the still-disguised Nebulan, bolting away from the protection of the Controller’s barrier.
“KUBOTA, NO!” Fumio shouted, enraged and in disbelief. The Xilien commandant could only vex his frustration, unable to do anything to stop Kubota without compromising their well-being.
Antonio took one look back to see the unfolding scenario before his eyes before he could slip into the spacecraft. A blaster was aimed straight for him, the shot trailing in his direction. But a sudden shadow obstructed the incoming projectile. An overwhelming sense of emotion ran through Antonio as he realized Kubota took the hit, his false Cryog body bursting with the sticky fluids of a cockroach. His body flashed in photonegative light, dissipating the projected image and exposing the real damage done to the Nebulan counselor. The insectoid body burst open from the firefight, ensuring the protection of Antonio at the cost of his own life.
Not wanting his death to be in vain, the Seatopian royal fled into the spacecraft, leaving him a moment to process his comrade’s death.
Fumio and the Controller picked up the pace, the Controller recollecting his weapon from the fallen Kubota along the way. As they lined up for the spaceship, Fumio darted in as fast as he could while the Xilien held guard at the only entrance available, doing his damndest to keep the genocidal killers at bay. Lights flickered from the Nebulan transport vessel, its alien engines purring to life. When he felt the shifting movements of the ship’s antigravity propulsion kick in, the Controller sealed the door, allowing the Cryog blasters to pelt off the ship’s outer shell.
Lifting off the ground, the Nebulan saucer sped off from the tight crevice, ascending to the vacuum above and soaring into the darkness. Even as their dwindling fleets tried to follow, the onslaught of Cryog war vessels and gunships unloaded their payloads with ruthless vigor. Fumio steered their small ship on the most optimal flight path, barely missing the stray laser cannons that came their way. There were no weapons aboard; so all they could do was hold out and hope Fumio would guide them to safety among the stars.
To reconvene. To continue their fight.
The Xilien strolled up next to the Seatopian lord, casting his gaze upon the slug form of his Mistress.
“Human bodies produce more heat than most other species out there. To prevent her from going into hibernation, keep her close. I will try and create a new radiator for her.” Before he could scavenge for parts, Antonio spoke up.
“I’ve failed.” The human emperor sulked in misery. “Failed my god, my people, and my allies. And when Hell breaks loose, what do I do? I flee, hide behind others for the sake of my own protection. I should have been prepared for this outcome, but I let the Nebulans do that for me… How little I’ve been able to contribute. Except for being a heat source!” His body tensed, frustrated beyond comparison. “It should have been Kubota here in my place.”
The Xilien gleamed at the distraught emperor, computing his next words. “Indecision is the greatest weakness of any leader,” the Controller stated coldly, “Without resolve, your people will suffer for it. Your weakness since you got here.” He let those words linger, pressing the subterranean human into guilt over his actions. Even so, Antonio did not refute the claims, but silently accepted them. “But the greatest of leaders can be born from the valleys of despair, so long as you are willing to accept the reality that has transpired and rebound from it. Kubota died knowing that. It was a risk he was willing to take. Do not let his death be for nothing.”
A stifled sniffle came from the broken man. He wiped away his tears, being careful not to let any slip on the metal slug that leeched off his natural warmth. “Your kind can be robotic and straightforward, even cold…” Antonio mustered the will to engage eye contact. “But thank you.”
The Controller returned the gesture with a robotic nod. “And you are very welcome, Lord Antonio.” The Xilien resumed his trek, walking away as the Seatopian Emperor was left to his own devices. The metallic limax gently wrapped herself around his arm, a firm but warm grip as she siphoned the heat from his body. He had to be sure to take care of her in the interim. To take action of his own volition.
For the sake of a more prosperous future.
***
Bulbous eyes flickered open.
Floating in the great void of space, Bemular stared at the stars beyond, consumed by the many agonies that permeated his body. Broken spines, bruised scales and lacerations of all sizes decorated the dinosaurian’s bloodied form, his reward for his part in the alliance he had wanted no part in. Pain blurred his thoughts, making Bemular’s memories of what transpired fuzzy, leaving him uncertain to the fates of his despised “allies”. What really wanted was that he was alive. He had survived the hunt. Could the others say the same, at this point in time?
He couldn’t dawdle for too long. Intelligence was far from the greatest of the reptile’s traits, but Bemular could tell that the blow which had knocked him out couldn’t have launched him far from the moon’s surface, which left him squarely within the pursuer’s range, should they choose to follow. And he had no plans to wait and see if they would.
Where to go, however? Bemular scanned the stars for a direction to go, and his gaze caught on a distant blue shape amidst the distance lights. Something clicked within the alien’s scattered consciousness, a sense of familiarity, almost as if he had been here before. Confusion racked his thoughts, though the promise of sanctuary was too tempting to ignore.
A bright flash ignited in the void as the criminal entered his travel ball and began the journey towards the blue planet. Though he knew that any sanctuary he might find there would be temporary with the hostile invaders practically on its doorstep, Bemular was willing to take any chance of relief that he could.
And if this world turned out to be inhabited just like the last one, Bemular hoped they would have the common sense to leave him alone.
Chapter 9: The Battle Continues
Silence hung over the colourless terrain of Planet X. After a millenia of survival, clinging on above the brink of collapse, the hub of the once mighty Xilien empire had gone dark, snuffed out by a newer and greater power. Black smoke rose from the scorched remains of the citadel and dissipated quickly in the thin atmosphere, the structure as much a corpse as the numerous dead that scattered the moon’s monochrome soil. The last specks of life had been silenced; Planet X now well and truly a dead world.
High in orbit, Karkaro looked down upon his triumph in cold, calculating silence. Another victory for the glory of the empire, another step closer down the path of the great plan he had entailed. His orders delivered, the emperor was free to observe how the clean-up operation progressed. Techno-organic supply craft worked in swarming droves to strip down the remains of the Leviathan fleet, disassembling their bulk to be repurposed for the needs of their own, while on the surface far below, similar crafts took charge in herding the swarms of Trilopods back into the confines of the hive. Cables attached to two massive carriers were secured to the exterior of the fleshy mass in preparation for transport back to the mothership, bringing along its fresh bounty of harvested biomass.
Body disposal was left to the endless appetite of the hive queen. Showing no remorse for the fate of her fallen “kin”, Magita feasted at her own leisure, throwing body after body into the living meat grinder that was her colossal maw. Her scythed limbs probed the rubble for further bounties and skewered the mangled remains of Cyber Godzilla, slurping it down like spaghetti with only the mildest shudder of disgust at its flavour.
Any other being would have felt disgust or terror at the sight of her. Instead, Karkaro was utterly enthralled by the titan’s beauty. He and her were alike, transformed in the wake of the Great Destroyer, taking on his teachings in order to propagate the survival of their races. There was a hunger inside them, a voice gnawing away constantly at the back of their minds to be appeased by conquest and slaughter. Perhaps this was the reason he was so fascinated by her. The only non-Cryog in the universe that could understand the purpose behind his vision.
“Remarkable, isn’t she?”
He didn’t spare a glance as the commander stepped beside him, knowing fullheartedly of the disdain that Rhizon held for him and his beloved queen. His views were too shallow to see the beauty that lay before him.
“Where did you find it?” Rhizon’s words were laced with horrified awe as he stared at the feasting titan. “Where did you find the technology to even control such a thing?”
“Now, now, my dear Rhizon,” the emperor of the Cryog chuckled. “We’re all entitled to our little secrets, aren’t we? Especially if they benefit the empire.”
Now Karkaro cast his gaze to the side, drinking in his subordinate’s look of muffled frustration. It was cute, like a hatchling standing up against their schoolyard bully. Though in that scenario, the hatchling would have more of a spine than his “trusted” commander ever would.
“Prepare the fleet to regather and move out when you’ve finished cleaning up the mess. I want following those snivelling cowards’ trail to be our top priority.”
Rhizon’s brow furrowed. “Our entire fleet to wipe out a few stranglers is hardly optimal. They have no chance to rebuild, why bother at all?”
“Oh, we’re not going after them,” Karkaro clarified for his confused colleague. “They just happen to be heading towards our next destination.”
Turning away from the viewing monitor, the Cryog stepped towards the war table and input a series of commands. Projecting from the centre of the holographic map, a blue planet interlayered with various landmasses filled the two leaders’ gazes. The sight brought callous excitement to the emperor’s eyes.
“It’s incredible, Rhizon,” he explained in detail, “that this little planet and its primitive population has been such a pain for so many of the races that once inhabited this galaxy. Barely able to reach their satellite and yet they’ve repelled empires and destroyers again and again. Some would call that luck, but we do not believe in such drivel.”
“The answer is here, Rhizon,” Karkaro announced. “The culmination of the Great Plan is within our reach. The key to finally sating the hunger that plagues Magita and I, hidden away on this unsuspecting rock. And it’s almost within my grasp.”
As Rhizon leaned in, overcome with curiosity, Karkaro allowed a grin to take over his features as the bait took. His commander’s interest peaked, and now he would seal the deal.
“You know the story of Magita, The Monster That Ate A Galaxy. Tell me, then, if you’ve heard of this story too…”
***
The planetoid was nameless. In the depths of space, it sat alone in this vast universe, devoid of satellites, suns or orbit that might have given it some degree of significance. Isolated from the cosmos, it had drifted for millennia, as lifeless as the day it had completed its assembly from accumulated debris. Only stone and dust marked its dull, gray surface, disturbed only by the harsh winds and the occasional meteor strike. To the universe, it meant nothing… until now.
Flashes of lightning lit up the walls of the canyon, casting upon its coarse surface the titanic shadows of its dueling occupants. Smoke and dust were thrown up and charred rocks were tossed around, accompanied by harsh screams as the Gravity Beams found their mark, eviscerating the defenseless creature without remorse or regret. The one who cast them cackled in delight, flailing its multitude of heads and tails in delight of its kill.
The celebration was cut short by a shot of fire that erupted against the back of the titan, turning its joyful singing into calls of rage. Beating golden, bat-like wings to extinguish the pitiful flames, it spun around to face the second attacker, which charred forward without plan or care. Scythe-like horn, razor-sharp claws, fanged jaws and clubbed tail all lashed upon the slayer of its kin, but three jaws lined with sharp teeth halted the frenzied assault by clamping upon the neck and forearms of the beast, and hoisted it off the ground. Serpentine necks bulged and strained, slowly and painfully tearing the head and limbs from the body, allowing the corpse to slam against the dead ground.
Dropping his trophies, King Ghidorah cackled loud and long to the empty sky, letting the rest of the great cosmos know of the new lives snuffed out and added to the long list of his victims. So many had fallen to his almighty power, so many worlds plundered and civilisations exterminated that he had lost count; not that he had cared to begin with.
But in recent times, the King of Terror found that there was less and less life to experience his terror. The number of populated planets had begun to dwindle, and each one that he did find had mediocre varieties and numbers of flora and fauna. Many a time, he had come across worlds in the process of killing themselves, whether it be from war, pollution or natural causes. The entertainment gained from these disasters had worn itself out years ago. Now there was nothing. Less to kill. Less to do.
It was not the first time that King Ghidorah had wondered about the end of his long crusade. What he would do when all other life in the universe was extinguished. Descent into madness meant nothing to a creature who’d never had a sense of sanity from the moment of creation, but what would that mean for him? Would he just continue to exist for the rest of time in isolation? It sounded boring. He craved for something to distract him from the monotony of his own thoughts.
The left head sensed it first, curling around the body to look behind as it relayed the stimulus to its companions. The others followed suit, commanding the whole body to turn in the desired direction. The signal played loud and clear in the hydra’s minds – a call to arms, one that Ghidorah recognised still after all these years of abandonment. He remembered the experiences of servitude to these lowly bacteria all too well, seeking not a return to those would circumvent his will and make the destroyers of worlds a puppet for their ambitions.
It was the memories of such campaigns that changed his mind. He remembered the beasts that had faced him in battle, who had not cowed in the King of Terror’s shadow and defied him over and over without fear. It was from these creatures that King Ghidorah learned the concept not only of loss, but of challenge. He knew the concept of a battle where victory had to be earned and abilities had to be tested. And the message he was receiving would indicate that his summoners were against a foe that might give Ghidorah the challenge he had needed for so long, being so long since he had battled any other kaiju.
He paused, blinking in confusion. A head snaked around to look around at the landscape, sensing that something in his own statement was not right. But no, the planetoid had been as empty as it had been when he had arrived, and his hunger for destruction remained unsatisfied. But if the promise in his summoners’ message rang true, perhaps the subjugation of his will would be an acceptable, if only temporary, sacrifice.
A powerful flap of his wings hurled King Ghidorah off the ground, and several more carried him through the low gravity atmosphere at incredible speed, growing faster and faster as he ascended higher and higher. A last chorus of bell-like cries echoed across the empty landscape before the space monster escaped from the atmosphere and the vacuum of space consumed all sound. Soon, he was nothing more than an ever-shrinking speck of gold against the twinkling sky, and the planet was left as it had been more once. Lifeless, alone, insignificant.
…
…except for the patch of space that had begun to glow, illuminating the murky surface. If the King of Terror had stayed around just a little longer, he would have witnessed the glowing sphere break apart into thousands of swirling glass shards…
And hear the universe scream.
Winner: Trilopod, Magita
A very special thanks to dopepope for some of the assets used in this banner for the K.W.C. Be sure to follow him on DeviantART, ArtStation, and Instagram.
And a very noteworthy shoutout to ByNEET for the spectacular Magita model!
