by J. E. Gurley
A group of giant ants dubbed the Colony had been mutated by Yokozuna. The Colony moved into Los Angeles where they also began devouring people. Once again humans were forced to evacuate and give L.A. to the monsters.
In response to the growing crisis, The U.S. government quickly approved a plan to create their own atomic monsters in the form of giant nuclear powered robots. A dozen robots were created to retake The Northern West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. For the first time since Tortiraus had gained control of the South Eastern United States, the people of the world had hope. That hope lasted until the first robot, Steel Sentry, challenged Tortiraus and the kaiju tore through Steel Sentry as if it were made of aluminum foil. The same thing happened when another of the mechs challenged Yokozuna. After only two battles, the number of mechs had been reduced to ten while the number of kaiju continued to increase.
Giladon, a quadrupedal monster that resembled a colossal Gila monster, came ashore next in the Sea of Cortez. The monster made its way up into Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado where it killed millions of people. This time two mechs went to challenge the beast, but Giladon destroyed them both.
Giladon had no sooner claimed his territory than a twenty foot tall creature, that looked a like a heavily muscled man with pitch black skin and long fangs, suddenly showed up in New Mexico and Arizona. No one seemed to know where the monster had come from. It literally just fell out of the sky one day right into the middle of Santa Fe. The creature was dubbed Ogre by those that survived the beast’s attack on Santa Fe. Ogre was small by the standards of the other monsters that had appeared as he was only about six meters tall. Several theories began to spring up about what exactly Ogre had formerly been. One theory was that Ogre was a primate who had lived on the island and was turned into a monster from the atomic tests conducted there. Other people speculated that the he was at one time a human who had been mutated by Giladon when the kaiju had made his way through the Southwest.
Whatever Ogre was, despite his smaller size, he was perhaps the most physically powerful and destructive atomic monster that had yet to appear. The creature was able to smash a skyscraper to the ground with a single blow. His legs were powerful enough that when he jumped into the air that a single leap carried him several miles at a time. Once more, two mechs were sent into battle Ogre, and the mutant turned them both into scrap metal. There were a few vague reports that Ogre had grabbed a couple of young women and jumped off with them. With the carnage that had occurred in Santa Fe, there was no way to confirm these reports. If anyone was taken by the monster they were officially presumed dead.
Two more kaiju appeared from the island shortly after Ogre. The first creature went totally unnoticed as it slid off the island and made its way into Mexico. The kaiju was an ameba that had grown to an immense size. The creature was given the name Amebos when it came ashore in Mexico and quickly began absorbing anything and everything that it crawled over. The fact that the creature had no body structure made it difficult to attack. The U.S. decided that mechs would not even be sent in to try and contend with Amebos. Like so many other vast areas of land, the entire country of Mexico was simply left to the monster.
A month after Amebos had taken over Mexico, the next attack occurred. This time a semi-aquatic mutated bipedal dinosaur with two large sails on his back left the island before the U.S. Navy was able to set up a blockade around it. The creature swam north and landed in Alaska. The kaiju was given the name Dimetrasaurs because of its similarity in appearance to the dinosaur known as dimetrodon. One of the remaining mechs met Dimetrasaurs as it was preparing to cross the Canadian border. There was an extended battle, but once more, the kaiju prevailed over the mech.
Dimetrasaurs cleared a path across Canada prior to making its way into the Great Lakes. The government sent the mech known as Metal Master to stop the creature from entering U.S. territory, and once more, the monster was successful in defeating the mech. The last that was heard of Metal Master, both the mech, and his pilot, were sinking to the bottom of Lake Michigan with Dimetrasaurs clamped onto them. The kaiju had won the Great Lakes. It moved freely between them, and all of the towns and cities which bordered the Lakes had to be evacuated. Anyone living between Minnesota and Northwest Pennsylvania had to be moved out of their homes.
All of the evacuated people had made their way to the now extremely over crowded North East United States. Steel Samurai, Iron Avenger, and Bronze Warrior had cleared out a nest of gigantic spiders that had gathered in the area, and it looked like the area would be safe for humans. The more powerful kaiju had established their territories, the Naval blockade was finally set up around the island, and it included the two remaining mechs outside of the North East.
Back home Chris and his friends had proven that with their mechs they could handle the lesser giant mutants that might attack the Northeast. With the Northeast secure, the government was addressing how to get what aid that they could to the displaced citizens when the news had come from the island that a new kaiju was trying to escape.
The kaiju was a T-Rex like creature, except that its arms were exceptionally long and powerful. The length and build of the creature’s arms looked more proportional to a human than they did to a dinosaur. The beast had a hard serrated caprice on his back like that of an alligator or crocodile. The creature walked in the same manner as a T-Rex with its legs underneath it, and its thick tail acting as a counter balance to the rest of its body. The kaiju had a height of roughly fifty meters at the shoulder blade and a length of nearly sixty-five meters.
The creature’s appearance was terrifying, but its strength and power were awe inspiring. When it was first sighted heading for the beach one of the two mechs guarding the island flew directly for the creature and attacked it. The mech delivered a blow that would have turned a skyscraper into rubble, but the monster just absorbed the blow as if it were nothing more than a gentle breeze. The creature quickly retaliated by clamping its jaws onto the torso of the mech and using its long arms to grab the robot’s legs. In one swift motion, the kaiju tore the mech in half.
The remaining mech and the ships of the Naval blockade didn’t waste time seeing what the monster’s next move would be. They opened fire with everything they had on the beast. Four warships and a giant mech unleashed their fury on the kaiju, and in the process, turned the beach into a hell on Earth. Shells and gunfire engulfed the creature in flames and smoke. The smoke had still yet to clear when a roar came out of the darkness. The roar was followed by a wave of sheer atomic radiation that destroyed all four warships and the mech in a single attack. Only a few of the crew members of the ship farthest from the beach survived for brief time before dying from radiation poisoning. When a rescue ship had picked up the crew they asked them what kind of monster had escaped from the island? The crew members looked at each for a moment, and then, one said the words, “Atomic Rex!”
The monster swam through the Pacific, and then he crossed Central America by making landfall near the Panama Canal. The creature then entered the Atlantic Ocean where it made its way north. Atomic Rex moved at an incredible speed, but the military noticed that he gave a wide berth to the Gulf of Mexico. There was speculation that Atomic Rex could sense Tortiraus and that he did not want to engage the acid spewing giant turtle. After it swam up the Gulf Stream, Atomic Rex took a sharp turn and headed for New York City.
Chris opened his eyes to find his forehead covered in sweat as he recalled the events that had brought him to this point. He looked out at the ocean again to see the saurian head of Atomic Rex rising out of the water. He thought to himself that if four warships and two mechs were unable to stop the creature, then what chance did three mechs have?
As if in answer to Chris’s question, Jeremy’s voice came over the radio, “Two more refugee trains have headed for Kansas, but there are still several million people in the Tri-State area alone that need our protection.” Jeremy was silent for a moment, “Remember we are going to try and buy them as much time as we can to ge
t out of here, but one of us needs to leave this battle with our mech intact. It will be up to that person to defend the settlement from any future kaiju attacks. Are you both clear on that?”
Laura responded with a grim determination in her voice, “Yes baby, I got it.”
Chris stammered, “I…I got it too, buddy.”
Jeremy tried to sound enthusiastic as he replied, “Okay then, let’s give this reject from a B-movie something to think about before he comes ashore.”
All three mechs stood side by side and fired every projectile weapon they had at once at the oncoming kaiju. A breathtaking cascade of water and fire shrouded the kaiju as the mechs fired upon the beast.
As it did on the beach of the island, Atomic Rex roared in defiance, and then retaliated with his radioactive abilities. When Chris had heard about the monster’s Atomic Wave attack he had pictured it like a wave on the ocean coming out of the monster’s body, but it was so much more than that. Chris gasped as a massive translucent dome emanated out from Atomic Rex. The dome was several hundred feet high and quickly expanded. The closest thing Chris could compare it to was when the warriors on those old anime movies were showing off their power as they upped their chi.
The dome shot across the ocean, and when it hit the beach, Chris saw the reeds on the sand dunes wither and die instantly. Before the mechs could move, the dome struck them with the force of a hurricane. All three mechs were sent hurtling backward. Chris’s entire body was jarred when Steel Samurai hit the ground. His ears were still ringing when he heard Jeremy’s voice come through the radio.
“Chris, fall back to the rallying point! We are going to cover your escape.”
Chris had thought that Laura and Jeremy already had their mechs up and were attacking Atomic Rex, but when he got Steel Samurai to its feet, he saw that his friends were still trying to get their robots off the ground. That’s when it dawned on him that the future of the human race had fallen squarely on his shoulders. Laura and Jeremy were in love. There was no way that one of them wanted to go on without the other. As soon as they had been directed to engage Atomic Rex they had decided that they would go down together.
Iron Avenger and Bronze Warrior lifted themselves off the ground and together they charged the most powerful creature that had ever walked the face of the Earth. Chris watched in stunned silence as he heard their conversation over his radio.
“I love you, Jeremy! I will see you on the other side!”
Jeremy sobbed as he replied, “I love you too, Laura.”
The two mechs jumped at Atomic Rex, and they began reigning down blows on the monster. The kaiju was momentarily staggered by the fury of their attack. Atomic Rex actually fell to one knee as the mechs assaulted him.
For the briefest moment, Chris thought that his friends would be okay. He thought that they would be able to defeat the monster. He thought that he might not be left as the lone protector of humanity, and then reality came crashing down in the form of an enraged mutated dinosaur.
Atomic Rex shot up from the ground and closed his jaws on the top half of Bronze Warrior. With the robot in his grasp, he crushed the mech like a ripe grape, ending Laura’s life instantly.
Iron Avenger went into a frenzy as Jeremy channeled his rage into the robot. Iron Avenger’s arms were a blur as it pounded on Atomic Rex, but the monster was not affected by Jeremy’s anger or the robot’s blows. With a single swipe of his arm, Atomic Rex knocked Iron Avenger’s left arm and shoulder off. A swipe from the kaiju’s other arm separated Iron Avenger’s torso from his legs.
Jeremy crawled out of the wreckage of his mech, and he immediately fell to his knees. He moaned in pain and began vomiting due to the radiation pouring off of the monster. Chris watched for two agonizing minutes as his friend’s body blistered and bled before finally giving out.
Atomic Rex didn’t even notice Jeremy next to his foot. The monster was staring at Steel Samurai and waiting for the metallic centurion to attack. When Jeremy died Chris came to his senses. He hit the ignition button and sent Steel Samurai shooting up into the air.
As Atomic Rex watched the last challenge to his domain flee the kaiju threw his head back and roared in triumph. The monster then lowered his head and glared at the city that represented his new kingdom!
Chapter 1
Three Years later.
Kansas
Chris woke and stared at the wall of his shack before climbing out of bed. He smelled himself and then winced at the odor of dried sweat that wafted off his clothes. He knew he should wander down to the freshwater stream at the back of the settlement and wash himself off, but he guessed that a lot of people would be down at the stream either bathing or boiling water. If he went down to the stream, though, he’d get stares of disgust and then the under the breath comments would start about: Good for nothing coward, and, Should give that mech over to someone who knows what he is doing.
Chris opted to wait in his cabin until nightfall, and then sneak off to get a bath. He was stretching out when he heard someone outside of his cabin shout, “Thanks a hell of a lot for letting those bugs eat up all of the wheat! I guess that we can eat cake this winter because there sure as hell won’t be any bread. Maybe next time you can fire a rocket or two at the damn things.”
Anger coursed through Chris as he threw open the door to his cabin in search of the man who had yelled at him. He looked for the heckler, but whoever had made the comments had already faded back into the thousands of tents that comprised what was left of the United States of America. Chris shook his head and then closed the door to his cabin. He slammed his fist into the door and cursed, “God Dammit! If they think that they can do the job better then let them do it. It’s not like I asked for this job.” He paced back and forth across his small cabin. “Sure, I’ll just use some rockets on the things. That way not only would I use up some of the limited supply of heavy weapons that I have but I would have blown up even more of the crops.”
Chris leaned against the wall of his cabin, and then slid down it crying as he thought about how his life had changed since the Dawn of the Kaiju. After Atomic Rex had claimed New York and the rest of the Northeast as his territory, hundreds of thousands of people had migrated to Kanas where they set up a massive tent city. In addition to the ragged tents, the settlement had a few cabins for the leaders, doctors, and other key figures. Since he was the pilot of Steel Samurai, Chris was also given a cabin.
The first winter in the settlement was tough. The city lost about twenty-five percent of its population to the bitter cold. Thousands of people had literally frozen to death as they slept. The next year saw a flu sweep through the city, and given the conditions that they lived in and the lack of medical supplies, the flu killed another fifteen percent of the population.
There was also the occasional lower threat nomadic monster like a giant shrew or rabbit. When the monsters would attack they would always manage to kill a few people before Chris could activate Steel Samurai and fight off the mutant. All in all, over three hundred thousand people had dropped to less than seventy-five thousand people in less than three years. The people relied on the vast wheat fields of Kansas to provide bread, which was the main staple of their diet. The fact that the settlement relied so heavily on the grain is what made yesterday’s attack so devastating. Chris could still see the sky turning black as the sun was blocked out by hundreds of twenty meter tall grasshoppers. The mutants flew directly over the settlement, and then they descended on the wheat fields. Chris got into Steel Samurai as quickly as he could and headed for the field.
The mech began slicing through giant grasshoppers like they were paper, but there were just too many of them. The grasshoppers didn’t try to fight or run, they just keep eating even as Chris was cutting them in half. By the time that Steel Samurai had killed the last bug more than fifty percent of the crop was gone. With that kind of hit, the settlement would be facing starvation. The old, the sick, the very young, and even some of the young and healthy people woul
d die a slow and hungry death.
Only a few months after he had arrived at the settlement, Chris could see that it wouldn’t last long. He knew that between limited resources, climate, and kaiju that the settlement was a last stand for humanity and not the new beginning that the settlement leaders spoke of it as. It was this view that had kept Chris from falling in love and starting a family. When he had first arrived his status as Steel Samurai’s pilot gave him sort of a rock star status. Women threw themselves at him. He was not beyond a one night stand, but with a lack of birth control methods, there was always the chance that he could get a girl pregnant. It was not the thought of being a father that bothered Chris, in fact he had always wanted to be a father, but not in these circumstances. How could he bring a child into the world when he knew that the kid’s life would be short and full of pain, hunger, cold, and fear?
Chris was still wallowing in his own depression when there was a frantic knocking on his door. Chris yelled, “Go away! I did all that I could yesterday. Without me and Steel Samurai, there wouldn’t be any crops left at all.”
Chris started to walk back to bed when the knocking started again.
“Captain Myers, there are kaiju coming out of the stream!”
A look of shock came across Chris’s face as he cursed to himself. He stood there silently for a second as he processed what the implications of a kaiju in the stream meant. When the voice outside screamed his name again, he snapped back into action and ran out of his cabin.