Owen K.C. Stephens

I covered what the K-Force files are, and why I wrote them in Part 1, which covered Terminology, Locations, and Organizations in a kaiju-rich world. Part 2 presented some of the most important Kaiju within the setting.

Here in Part 3, I go over some of the hardware used, mostly by K-Force, to handle Kaiju threats.

HARDWARE

Gunslinger Gamma: Gunslinger Gamma is an enormous 300-foot tall mecha operated by K-Force. Sometimes referred to as a kaiju itself by the public, Gunslinger Gamma requires a 2-personc crew to operate and thus is categorized as a vehicle by K-Force.

As K-Force studied the properties of Kaiju and their K-Calls ability to alter how fundamental forces operated in a field around a kaiju, and acquired partial blueprints on the technologies used to create Mecha-Deltara, an experimental build program was initiated to attempt to emulate this effect using massive quantum generators. Because the generators were trying to match quantum field readings from specific kaiju, the vehicles housing them had to conform to roughly the shape of the kaiju from which those readings were taken.

In 2013, the program produced 6 K-Class Mecha, which were deployed in a rush to face kaiju threats including Tarankura’s attack on New York City. The Mecha faced 6 J-Class and K-Class threats in 6 months, and all but Gunslinger Gamma were destroyed in the process. In 2014, Gunslinger Gamma took on, and defeated, the Tier Kaiju Void God KLKQ, making it the only purely Earth-built device to ever defeat a tier 1 K-class threat in solo battle.

So far, all efforts to create a second Quantum Generator that can duplicate the field used by Gunslinger Gamma have failed, leaving it the only active and proven antikaiju mecha.

K–Destroyers: K-Destroyers (or Kaiju Destroyers, or K-Ds), are K-Force ground vehicles designed specifically for dealing with J-Class and K-Class threats. While they are clearly derived from modern tanks and AFVs, K-Ds are purpose designed to engage giant monster threats. As a result they generally focus on overwhelming firepower and mobility. Because a direct attack from a K-class threat can destroy even the most heavily armored standard-technology military vehicle, K-Ds normally have just enough protection to prevent ricochets and rubble from taking them out. They also aren’t designed to oppose enemy infantry with antitank weapons.

Gen 1 K-Ds were essentially tank destroyers with some armor removed in favor of higher speeds. Gen 2 and 3 K-Ds were increasingly specialized vehicles, and the few designs of Gen 4 K-Ds often look nothing like modern AFVs.

(Art by Avasylenko)

M-Destroyers: M-Destroyers (or Maser-Armed Destroyers, or Mas-Ds) are Gen 4 K-D chassis equipped with powerful masers (Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation, also sometimes called ‘Microwave Lasers). Masers are the most effective anti-Kaiju weapon using standard technology available to Earth. Mas-Ds are bigger, slower, and less armored than K-Destroyers, and are deployed as far away from K-Class threats as possible while remaining in effective maser range.

Mobile Armor Pods: MAPs are much smaller mecha, averaging 8-12 feet in height, used by K-Force primarily to allow spotters, observers, scouts, and researchers to get close to rampaging kaiju while remaining protected from debris and wreckage. They can be armed if a situation warrants it (such as if a swarm of juvenile Taranturas are overrunning an area), but normally primarily carry lifter arms, communications gear, scanning equipment, and scientific instruments.

Striker Ks: The Striker K airships are electromagnetic hover ships, and form K-Forces’ primary antikaiju fleet. They are designed as operate as small sea vessels do, but with the significant advantage of being airborne. They are roughly the size and power of modern navy destroyers and are often used as testbeds and delivery platforms for specific antikaiju devices.

Submersible X: K-Forces mobile field headquarters, Submersible X is an extremely advanced submarine aircraft carrier and missile carrier. It can operate at extreme depths underwater, and is able to transport Gunslinger Gamma. It carries the very first successful Quantum Generator K-Force ever possessed, though unlike those used in Gunslinger Gamma, Submarine X’s generator is repaired Externian technology salvaged from the ruins of Lemuria.

Submersible X has faced kaiju directly, and even defeated Gangcheora on multiple occasions.

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I covered what the K-Force files are, and why I wrote them in Part 1, which covered Terminology, Locations, and Organizations in a kaiju-rich world.

Here in Part 2, I go over some of the best-known kaiju in the world. This is far from a complete list of all kaiju who have ever appeared, just the best-known kaiju, along with a representative sample of lesser giant monsters.

KAIJU

Annihilah: A tier 1 kaiju, Annihilah appeared in 1995 and immediately sought out Tsarkyrkon. A crustacean-like kaiju, Annihilah was immune to Tsarkyrkon’s nuclear fire breath, and could stun the God of Kaiju with a Neuron Burn Beam. It fact, Annihilah was created by sea life that had been mutated by the Neuron Suppressor (used to drive off Tsarkyrkon on his first appearance) and exposed to Tsarkyrkon’s k-cell-infused blood. The mutated creatures had slowly sought each other out and merged, until at some point they gained sentience, and sought to finish the task of killing the god of kaiju, which was to be the first step in destroying all life. Annihilah was destroyed by Tsarkyrkon, with K-Force’s aid in weakening the hybrid Neural-Suppressor-created kaiju.

Arcotopeltus: A Tier 2 kaiju, Arcotopeltus is a heavily-armored quadrupedal reptilian kaiju that can create subsonic fields which damage anything that touches it, and can turn ground and earth to quicksand allowing it to swim through the ground as if it was water. Arcotopeltus was the first kaiju to fight Tsarkyrkon, in 1955 and, upon being defeated, has only operated to support the God of Kaiju.

Deltara: A heavily armored burrowing quadrupedal kaiju, Deltara made a series of appearances in 1965, when it arrived to oppose XJPT (usually pronounced CHI-jar-pit), one of the three the so-called Void Gods which it is generally accepted to have been sent to Earth by an as-yet unknown alien intelligence (which were the Externians), likely with hostile intent. Deltara burst from the ground before XJPT reached Tokyo (the most populated city in the world at the time). Using an as-yet-not-understood “force beam” which allowed Deltara to both swim through bedrock as if it was liquid and slice through nearly any material at range, Deltara drove off XJPT, though not without suffering extensive wounds. (The other two Void Gods were driven off, but not destroyed, by Tsarkyrkon and Vespira).

The two would clash five more times, at the edge of five major cities worldwide. At each battle, prepubescent children are reported to have felt strong compunction to approach the site, and anecdotal reports claim Deltara grew stronger as more children watched it fight. However, children within a mile or so of such battles began to show signs of psychic abilities, which have since been attributed to their exposure to the k-cells in both Deltara and XJPT. Even today, the majority of confirmed psychics are, or can trace their lineage back to, adolescent witnesses of the 1965 Deltara/XJPT conflicts.

The final battle between the two took place outside Mumbai. Forewarned by children chanting Deltara’s name for hours, most parents fled the city to ensure their children would be nowhere near such a conflict. Deltara destroyed XJPT (though the Void God may have since been reincarnated), but died in the process. Deltara was never studied while living, and his remains were claimed by the General Oil Company. Because of his behavior during the Void Gods crisis, and cave paintings that bare some resemblance to him, many kaijologists believe Deltara was a Guardian Spirit, and possibly an extremely old one.

Gangcheora: Gangcheora is a wingless, flying serpentlike kaiju that can control storms and tides, and breathe a ray that advanced the age of whatever it hits. Apparently once a Guardian Spirit of a civilization destroyed 10,000 years ago by the Externians dwelling in the ruins of Atlantis, it awoke in 1964, and immediately began attacking any signs of advanced technology. The K-Force vehicle Submarine X was rushed into service to seek and defeat Gangcheora, and wounded it badly enough the kaiju was thought dead as it fell into the Mariana Trench. However, Gangcheora survived, and has fought K-Force several times since then.

Ghengis Kong: Ghengis Kong is an oddity amongst kaiju. The massive primatelike kaiju is clearly from a long line of the same species that lived on Fang Island — a rarity among kaiju. He is resistant to known forms of disease and poison and can regenerate damage well, and his species were clearly the alpha predators of Fang Island, but is the last of his kind with no sign of what killed off his kin. All objective analyses of him place him as a Tier 3, or at absolute best a tier 2 kaiju, but he has defeated numerous tier 1 kaiju and even fought Tsarkyrkon: God of Kaiju to a standstill. He was late to the global scene of kaiju, but was secretly encountered and captured by General Oil Company in 1933. He mostly ignores people, including residents of his island, but they consider him their legal ruler.

Ghengis Kong is 110 feet tall, and though his hide is among the least armored of any true kaiju (about on par with tough J-class creatures) he can apparently use sheer determination to remain focused and active even after taking horrific damage. His bite is his most damaging attack, but he is far more likely to use his fists or grapple foes. If he stays in one place long enough, thunderstorms gather around him, and seem to ignore him and focus wind, hail, and lightning at his foes. His greatest asset appears to be his intellect, as he is clearly at least as smart as a typical human (and possibly much smarter), and has a true tactical genius.

Although he doesn’t go on rampages unless attacked or the world is in serious danger, he recognizes the General Oil Company logo, and attacks it on sight, which GOC claims is random brutality and actually proves he lacks human-level intelligence.

Kravaithan: One or more tier 3 kaiju, Kravaithans are giant squidlike kaiju with acidic ink sprays and poisonous mucus generation. Fast in water but very slow on land, they regenerate extremely quickly, so it is unclear if the dozen that have been seen over the decades are different members of the same species, or if a cell or two survives each time it is destroyed and eventually grow back to its full 200-foot length.

Kulicidara: Essentially the anti-Vespira, Kulicidara is a tier 1 kaiju that looks like a massively over-armored and spiked mosquito. It was created in 1992 by GOC using Externian tech and a captured Vespira regeneration egg to make a kaiju able to prevent Vespira from interfering with their mining and drilling operations. Kulicidara can infect other kaiju with its long injector spike, then control them. It took control of Tsarkyrkon, and began to use the God of Kaiju to destroy anything not owned by GOC, but Vespira broke the control and helped the greatly weakened Tsarkyrkon destroy Kulicidara, though the effort killed her.

Larval forms of Kulicidara have been created several times since then, and have been dealt with by K-Force and/or Mega-Z before growing to full size.

Mecha-Deltara: After the death of Deltara, the General Oil Company (who ran numerous oil rigs near the scene of the battle) claimed the body. They refused all efforts by governments to confiscate or even see it. While neither the decision-making process nor the actual construction method used are known, between their acquisition in 1965 and one of Tsarkyrkon: God of Kaiju’s attacks on new oil wells drilled in the arctic in 1974, GOC turned the dead kaiju into a massive k-class robot, using the nearly indestructible bones of the kaiju as a frame, reinforcing its carapace for a layered armor exterior, and drawing power from the dead kaiju’s revived nervous system and k-cell infused organs to create a plasma beam. This was further augmented by missiles and canons tipped with bacteria that had been found able to consume k-cells, so they could (at least in theory) both penetrate another kaiju’s hide, and weaken its regeneration. Further, the Mecha-Deltara was piloted by a small crew of young pilots who had gained psychic abilities after observing Deltara in battle in 1965.

Mecha-Deltara was used by GOC in an attempt to defeat Tsarkyrkon. Though the Mecha-Deltara badly injured Tsarkyrkon, in the end the pilots were a weak link and even though no attack ever reached their control chamber, the mecha-kaiju itself being constantly smashed about eventually gave them concussions, allowing Tsarkyrkon to outmaneuver it. The failed mecha was reclaimed by GOC, repaired, and a new set of pilots trained to use stimulants to retain focus regardless of the concussive force they suffered. A second battle between Mecha-Deltara and Tsarkyrkon occurred in 1975, but this time the pilots’ hearts exploded after they insisted on using more and more stimulants in an effort to win.

Although GOC claimed the Mecha-Deltara was destroyed, redesigned and upgraded models have attacks Tsarkyrkon in 1993, 2002, 2003, and 2022. It has often come close to defeating Tsarkyrkon, but never done so.

Its current whereabouts are unknown, and GOC claims it was destroyed.

Mega-X: The true nature and origin of Mega-X are not common knowledge, though K-Force and most world intelligence agencies are aware. Mega X first appeared in 1966 and appeared to be an artificially intelligent, size-shifting robot, similar to the true robot Tiger Turbo. But in fact, Mega-X is a title granted to one Earthling at a time, who gains the power to transform into an armored “Mega-X” form, and to grow up to 300 feet tall. This title is granted by the Megarians, who granted it to a young man who had bravely helped people flee from one of the fights between Deltara and XJPT a year earlier, in 1965. Aware that the Void Gods had been sent by the alien Externians to weaken Earth prior to an invasion, and that one of Earth’s mightiest kaiju, Deltara, had died in trying to defeat it, the Megarians assigned a Mega-X guardianship over Earth, to help it defend itself against further Extarian kaiju attacks. Each time the holder of the Mega-X title dies or chooses to retire, the Megarians grant the Mega-X title to another worthy human. There have been five Mega-X holders since 1966, two of which are now dead, and two retired. One of the retired Mega-X guardians, Professor Hiroko Sahara, is now the senior civilian kaijologist at K-Force.

The Mega-X form takes energy from the human using it, and the bigger the Mega-X form, the faster it uses energy. Larger forms also require a warmup time in Mega-X form to assume, so Mega-X often appears on a scene, tries to help as much as he can in human-sized armored form, then grows to great size only when absolutely necessary, and maintains it for as little time as possible. Mega-X is heavily armored but also very fast and nimble, gains advanced combat training, can fly, and project power beams from his eyes.

Mega-Z: Mega-Z is typically just seen as a female form of Mega-X. In fact Mega-Z is the holder of a second Megarian guardianship (see Mega-X), who happens to be female and has been the only holder to date. Megarians granted the Mega-Z Guardianship in 2001, when a rogue Megarian decided to begin converting various Terran kaiju into Guardian Spirits, but had to destroy Tsarkyrkon: God of Kaiju to do so as they were all attuned to his dominance through GQS. Because a Megarian trying to destroy even one of Earth’s kaiju was a violation of Megarian law, the Megarians responded by granting Earth another Guardianship.

Mega-Z is much, more more energy efficient in her Mega-Z form than Mega-X, but otherwise has all his abilities, just at a lower power level. This makes her less effective in a short battle where Mega-X can unleash his more powerful abilities to win quick victory. But while Mega-X can retain his enlarged form for an hour at the most, Mega-Z can operate at full scale for days if she wishes to do so. The current Mega-Z is also far more experienced than the current Mega-X.

Petagan: Petagan is a tier 1 Externian cyborg kaiju, used by the aliens as one of their primary weapons of war. It can fly, has a graser beam eye ray, and has cybernetic claws and vibro-spikes. Petagan also appears to actually be a series of extremely similar kaiju, and on at least one occasion a dozen Petagans operated at once under the command of a larger, more powerful “Lord Petagan.”

Scythella, the Preying Mantis: The first Scythella was released from an antarctic iceberg in 1957, and rampaged up through North and Central America until it was finally destroyed in a pitched battle in Washington D.C. It is often referred to as a “weak” tier 3 kaiju as it can be affected by conventional weaponry, though its speed and agility makes it extremely difficult to hit, and it requires bunker-buster weapons to wound it at all. Additional Scythella kaiju were encounter in 1967, 1969, 1972, 2004, and 2019, and each time killed by another kaiju or by massive assaults by combined military forces. These are believed to have hatched from eggs on Hive Island.

Scythella can fly at just above the speed of sound, create deafening buzzing sounds, and has praying mantis-style claws capable of crushing buildings and the limbs of other kaiju.

Tarankura: Tarankura first appeared in 1955 in Arizona, and created mass devastation before being destroyed by a US Air Force Strike. The origin of that Tarankura is unknown. A second appeared in New Mexico in 1958, with similar results. In fact, Tarankura appears to be the *most* common species of kaiju. In addition to dozens of unconfirmed reports from various Pacific island encounters (many on the Kaiju Islands), additional appearances occurred in Colorado (1960), Nevada (1963 and 1968), Wisconsin (1975), Los Angeles (2000), New Guinea (2004), Los Angeles (again) and New York City (2013), Italy (2014), and the Taklimakan Desert (2021). A seafaring Tarankura was encountered by a fishing trawler in 2020, though details of the encounter are sketchy. In 2002, a massive wave of hundreds of Tarankura appeared in Arizona, ranging in size from 200-lbs to a single specimen weighing in at 8,000 metric tons. It is the largest number of Tarankura known in a single incident.

Tarankura all have k-cells, even those just born and found at the roughly 200-lb. size. Only those that exceed 1 metric ton appear to gain GQS, subseismic movement, and regeneration. All are extremely poisonous, prodigious jumpers, and able to spin weblines and traps with silk thread significantly strong than steel.

Teralon: A Tier 1 kaiju, Teralon was the last militarized kaiju possessed by a splinter Externian group living in the ruins of Atlantis. An insectile creature it could fly, has cyborg drill claws, and a biomass grenade launcher and mine dropper. It was destroyed by Tiger Turbo and Tsarkyrkon the God of Kaiju, but rumors persist of a Teralon-like creature being spotted in states of damage by various submarines and ships.

Tiger Turbo: Although neither biological nor naturally occurring, the size-changing AI robot known as Tiger Turbo is generally classified as a kaiju rather than hardware. The robot was originally constructed in 1973 as a prototype a remote-controlled humanoid analog to use in situations too dangerous for humans, such as disaster search-and-rescue. When the Externian splinter group living n the sunken ruins of Atlantis unleashed Teralon (and the standard Externians took the opportunity to also attack Earth with Petagan), Tiger Turbo’s creator was trapped in a wrecked building Petagon crashed into. Tiger Turbo was damaged, and its creator used pieces of Petagan to repair him, hoping to rescue himself and others trapped in the building.

The Exterian technology from Petagan was successfully grafted to the Earth robot, and caused it to gain sapience and k-cell powers, including the ability to fly and change size. Tiger Turbo assisted Tsarkyrkon in defeating Petagan and Teralon. Tiger Turbo has since continued to work as an independent global search-and-rescue force, but will also oppose rampaging kaiju if they threaten population centers. Tiger Turbo has an arms-length cooperative agreement with K-Force.

(Art by Jacob Blackmon)

Tsarkyrkon: The “God of Kaiju,” Tsarkyrkon was the first kaiju to make a major appearance in the modern era, attacking Tokyo for unknown reasons in 1954. He was driven off with a weapon of desperation, the Neural Suppressor, which kills neurons directly at a quantum level without having to propagate through any physical medium. Thousands of humans were killed by the Neural Suppressor’s collateral effects, and its creator destroyed it and all notes regarding it (or so he thought), believing Tsarkyrkon to be the only existing kaiju, and thinking him dead.

The God of Kaiju has remained active in the years since. He sometimes rampages, apparently driven by a sense of imbalance detected through his GQS or in response by attacks against him by various force, but also often moves to corral other rampaging kaiju, and seeks out and defeats alien kaiju (causing him to be seen as a major hindrance by the alien Externians). He otherwise spends most of his time on Omega Island.

Tsarkyrkon is a roughly 350-foot-tall, reptilian, bipedal, spiked, nuclear-fire-breathing kaiju with fangs, claws, and a long powerful tail. officially a Tier 1 kaiju, he is sometimes referred to as “Tier Omega,” classifying him as the most powerful of all kaiju.

Vragon: Vragon is a tier 2 kaiju, that essentially appears to be a quadrupedal version of Tsarkyrkon. He appeared in 1958, during a time Tsarkyrkon was thought dead (and was mistaken for some kind of mutated the God of Kaiju for a time), and attacked New York City. He nearly reached the UN Building, but was driven back through massive combined military efforts, including the use of Spine Missiles, literally tipped with bits of kaiju gathered off previous giant monster battlefields. His appearance was instrumental in the formation of K-Force as a worldwide organization.

Vespira: A winged, insectile kaiju, Vespira is the last Guardian Spirit kaiju, and through her reincarnation process the oldest living k-class creature. She is worshiped by a small but dedicated worldwide faith that claims to date back to before the evolution of modern man, and does seem to avoid harming her worshipers. Some Vespirians, mostly women, do seem to have psychic abilities (which they focus through song) that allow them to communicate with the kaiju, and occasionally even call to her. The most common theory among kaijologiests is that these “chorists” are from lines that have been in close contact with Vespira or her reincarnation hives to be infected and mutated through exposure to her K-cells, though there is no proof of this, and not even M.I.K.I. has managed to get any Vespirians to agree to be studied.

Vespira does not go on rampages unless provoked, and historically all such provocations have involved k-class creatures threatening her hive grounds (of which she has several hidden throughout the world), or groups of Vespirians being threatened. However, she also occasionally appears to oppose particularly destructive kaiju, even working with other k-class creatures when doing so. Numerous well known kaiju appear deferential to Vespira, and it is unknown if this is a sign of sapience, or a result of her being favored by those kaiju’s GQS. Even the mega-k-class Tsarkyrkon: God of Kaiju makes no effort at dominance displays toward Vespira and she has aided him against major foes more than she has any other kaiju, though she has also on a few occasions opposed him. Tsarkyrkon has even killed her once, though in doing so he was so weakened he retreated to enter a hibernation stage, and neither of them seem to keep a grudge about it.

In addition to the super-gigafauna size, strength, resilience, and baseline regeneration of all kaiju, Vespira possesses the ability to fly at near-sonic speeds, an area sonic scream (which she can reinforce with the buzzing of her wings if she is braced on the ground), razor-edged wings (which she can use to strafe with when flying, or as chopping weapons if in melee), and molecular acid sting. The sting is among the most devastating of attacks, perhaps more damaging even than Tsarkyrkon’s Nuclear Fire Breath, though her sting is a single target melee attack which takes hours to recharge and, if she is weakened, the strain of its use can kill her.

However, as long as she has at least one reincarnation hive, she eventually returns in either a larva or fully-grown form.

The Void Gods: The Externians sometimes use three kaiju known as the Void Gods to create chaos and distraction while they carry out other operations. Unlike Petagan and Teralon, the Externians cannot control or command the Void Gods, only place them in a state of hibernation through unknown (and imperfect) means, and let them lose someplace. They have only unleashed all three Void Gods once, in 1965, when it took the kaiju Deltara, Tsarkyrkon, and Vespira to stop them, and Deltara died in the series of conflicts.

The Void Gods are all Tier 1 kaiju. They are DTZR (a shapechanging, plantlike kaiju with control of air and earth), KLKQ (a flying, batlike kaiju with control over sound and fire), and XJPT (a flying, reptillian kaiju with control over gravity and lightning).

HARDWARE

I’d meant to include notes on armor pods, Gunslinger Gamma, k-destroyers, m-destroyers, mobile armor pods, Striker-Ks, and Submersible X… but I ran out of time. I’ll add them in Part Three, out either Wednesday or sometime next week.

Patreon
I have a Patreon. It helps me carve out the time needed to create these blog posts, and is a great way to let me know what kind of content you enjoy. If you’d like to see more system-agnostic worldbuilding, game industry essays, more rules for Starfinder or either edition of Pathfinder or other game systems, fiction, game design articles, worldbuilding tips, or whatever!, try joining for just a few bucks and month and letting me know!