Another enjoyable read that fleshes out the salient details of the UF universe. I could see the imagery... and for some reason, it felt very "Pirates of the Caribbean". Just a quick question:

>As we get closer to the island, they
>get visible nervous - not expecting-combat nervous, but like they
>don't want to be there.

Do you mean "visibly", perhaps?

---

>All around the clearing, men and women in the jumpsuits of Destroid
>personnel - most pulled half-down and tied around the waist by the sleeves -
>seem to be having a party. The Monsters are connected by improvised walkways
>lashed between the long barrels of their 16-inch naval guns and have what
>appear to be tents or collapsible howdahs erected on their upper decks, over
>the cannons' breeches. There are people up there with hibachis. One of them has
>what looks like a full-service bar on top. It takes me a few minutes to figure
>out the system of chain ladders, jury-rigged ramps, and plank bridges...

For some reason, that imagery evokes a sense of pirating and swashbuckling...

>and a public service notice on the back ("HOW'S MY ANNIHILATING?
>1-800-CALL-WDF").

That made me grin. Very nice.

---

>A great cheer goes up from the Monster Men. Hashimoto and his
>crewmates stand up very straight, raise both hands in the air like
>turfball referees announcing a touchdown, and yell at the top of their
>lungs,
>
>"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!"

and

>going and when. The crew of Yamato are wearing their
>full-dress uniforms, complete with white gloves and hats. When
>the briefing-cum-pep-talk is over, they do their Banzai! Banzai!
>Banzai! routine again, then sprint to their Monster's
>boarding stairs like the Destroid is their treehouse and school just
>let out.

that scene there made me laugh.

A fun read,
-T.Zukumori

=============================================

"What happened to this one here?"
"I did."
"Uh-huh... and how did you subdue him?"
"I know kung fu."
--cropped from Titans: Convergence by Benjamin D. Hutchins