Chaos Critter Tails: On Her Own with Kaiju and Cthulhu

Fall means change. Today with Chaos Critter Tails get your free fix of delightfully weird, occasional dark fiction, with a quiet peek at Space Marines at play.

It has been an odd few weeks full of little changes, but that is the normal for fall. After all it is the season of change, whether it is students beginning classes, the plants blooming or dying, the dogs chasing their tail with more vigor, or just the weather fading back from the blistering summer heat. Autumn is the time of change, even if here in Houston we miss the most beautiful part of that the crisp, rapid turning of the leaves from green to orange.

So, this weekend, I decided on a few changes… We will see if I stick with them as it is always hard to execute the plan than make the plan or at least it is for me. First off, I am trying to take a step back from social media, not the blog, but I realized when I misplaced my phone this week that I have this crazy impulse to check it ALL the time. I am hoping putting it out of sight, out of mind when I get home will help as well as uninstalling all the random apps that have gathered and cluttered up my home screen. On top of that, I have a small weekly writing goal and workout goal. We will see how well I keep up with it.

I think I was reinspired to reinvent (or at least to refine) myself a little by watching a family member recover from a heart attack. After all it makes you think about what you are going with your life. And if there ever is a time for change, why not make it be now?

Today’s story, inspired by the family member we spent the morning with, has the theme of family believe it or not.

On Her Own with Kaiju and Cthulhu

Vera twitched her grey tabby furred ears and listened carefully. Kaiju was getting closer. The large female Maine Coon cat heard the slap of long grass against legs running towards the ancient, geometrically uncertain city she knew was nearby.

Kaiju roared. The very air around Vera shook, making her whiskers twitch, as the footsteps of the reptilian monstrosity lumbered closer.

The smell of her brother and the Newfoundland dog that usually carried them around was still strong in her nose. Both, like her, were sapient by dint of nanotech injections and like her were Space Marines. But she couldn't bring herself to call questions to them, for fear they might not answer. Or maybe she was afraid to show her ignorance.

Either way, today Vera was on her own.

The sound of grass gave way to the clatter of footsteps on unnatural paving stones. Echoes warbled away into the distance, only to sound again right next to her.

Unexpectedly, a female voice rang out across the landscape in English. "Definitely Cthulhu's city."

Vera jumped a little. Her nanotech shots had been ages ago, so she was used to her translation collar. But every now and then, she was still startled when it translated something she said to herself aloud.

She peered ahead - forced to do so, since anything up close was blurry. One of the many oddities within the city.

She still didn't know where her brother and their sapient canine steed were. But despite being alone, she knew they were there. Somewhere.

She flexed her claws, feeling the reflex cause the spider silk steel enhancements to spring from her armor. Not planning to fight, Vera just enjoyed feeling the muscles work, pulling her claws in and out as she wandered deeper into the city.

Reaching the center tower, Vera considered. The tower and city were weird. But the giant reptilian form was no better.

Kaiju had been delayed at the edge of the city. But not for long. The force of his footsteps and the collapse of buildings as he forced his way in made her ears fold back and her mane ruffle in discomfort.

Forcing her ears forward, Vera considered the tower. With the weird perspective the city forced on her, she couldn't really tell how big it was.

Encounters like these weren't really her thing. But she knew the protocol from her squad mates. Space Marine lasers and spider silk steel claws barely affected either Kaiju or Cthulhu. Both monstrosities took but minor damage even from the Meson Carbines some Space Marines, usually Newfies or Humans, favored.

You never knew if either gigantic creature would be protective, antagonistic, or simply disinterested during an encounter. So, the protocol was to run from the first one you saw, or that saw you, and run towards the other. If you were lucky enough to know where the other creature was. Once you found it, you hoped it was awake. Or that you could figure out how to awaken it.

Vera was a little fuzzy on how the latter happened.

Work the plan, she thought.

The tower door opened. Luck was mostly with her today. Cthulhu filled the room inside the door. Like expenses during a three-day pass, Cthulhu grew to consume the available budget - or space.

Everyone described Cthulhu differently. Dry squamous skin. Damp slimy bark-like epidermis. Most people agreed on tentacles, but not always on where they sprouted. Vera, taking in the monstrous figure, decided that everyone was right, and no one was right. It was all that and worse.

Ringing the slumbering eldritch form was a cyclopean construct. The crudely hewn earthen blocks seemed to have sprouted like forest saplings fighting for light, but frozen in time by a hoary frost.

Moving around the edge of the terrene obstruction, Vera came to what was obviously a large button designed for proboscidean appendages. An armored paw pressed the button, causing the frost to crinkle away as an iridescent particulate.

Yellow vapors blasted from within the circle of stones. A deafening ululation from inside the circle drove Vera's ears back again and set her tail thrashing.

The small Space Marine was dwarfed by the enormous creature she had freed. It stepped over her and left the tower through the door by which she had entered.

She closed her eyes to slits and considered. As the atavistic creatures came together in the distance, Vera's left ear moved to its normal upright position. Her right ear tilted down. Her tail quietly wrapped itself around her paws.

The thump and roar as Cthulhu and Kaiju attacked each other, and incidentally ravaged the city, slowly faded.

The solitude of her contemplation was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Did you fall asleep again?"

Without opening her eyes, Vera responded, "No brother. I'm just thinking."

"Oh. You looked asleep, Vera."

She opened her eyes. The wall screen in front of her was still showing the credits from the television show her brother had talked her into watching. It was by far the most popular show amongst both the humans and Nano-Sapiens of their Space Marine platoon.

Vera interrupted with a cat sneer, "I was not asleep. I said I'd stay awake, and I did. I was enjoying the solitude."

Her brother, Maxell, tilted his head at her. "But you were right here with me through the whole show."

Vera stood and stretched, displaying her feline perfection. "Of course. If you can't be alone with family, where can you be alone?"

"If you managed to stay awake, what did you think of this episode of Kaiju and Cthulhu: Battle in the Valley of Xanadu?"

"The camera work was incredible. The reverse perspective effect made me feel a little sick. The audio work was phenomenal! The sounds of the grass and the stones made me feel like I was there." Vera gave a soft feline laugh. "But in the final analysis, I still think your sapient status is in danger. That show will rot your nanos."

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Chaos Tip of the Week

Choose a small thing that you have always wanted to do, but have never done. After all, if a dog can learn a new trick, you can conquer that inner fear and plot your own course.

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Chaos Question of the Week

If you were to make one life altering change what would it be for? And what is stopping you, is it just your mind, or the cat purring at your feet?

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Coming October 3rd: Convoy of Chaos!

Finally, an anthology named perfectly for the Chaos Critter writers to participate, straight from Three Raven Publishing

https://threeravenspublishing.com

and set in Steve Jackson Games’ post-apocalypse Car Wars universe!

Convoy of Chaos is available for pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ2YKVB1

Despite the grain blight, fuel shortages, and wasteland raiders, supplies still need to get through.

Ride along with the big rig convoys, road crews, and race teams of the wasteland, keeping civilization civilized one delivery at a time.

Convoy of Chaos— where every mile is an unforgiving battlefield, and survival rides shotgun.

Tod has played Car Wars since the zip-loc bag release - before he became a forever GM. He learned his times tables in order to calculate armor for his autodueling needs. Anna, being that experienced RPG player that logically, in-character, and totally innocently breaks the GM and his plans, quickly jumped into and appreciated the deep Car Wars Universe. (It also has cars with big guns and explosions, if that’s more your thing. -Anna)

So, come on out and discover what’s in the little black boxes that are being moved from Houston to Dallas. And why does it seem everyone wants to stop a harmless cargo hauling contract?

Most of the authors are members of the Alpha Mercs “A writing group with an anthology problem.” https://www.alphamercs.com/

Remember, October 3 on Amazon, Convoy of Chaos https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ2YKVB1