Author Notes:
I just completed the 3.1 story in Wuthering Waves yesterday when I had some free time at work. And suffice to say, I am very, very angry at a certain freaky space eyeball, and very, very sad at losing my digital daughter!!
I am really considering going back to my Wuwa fanfic and continuing to write it, but I know that I don't have the time for it.
Goddamnit Kuro! Why you gotta do me like this!? My heart hurts just thinking about it!!
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Seol, South Korea. September 15. 2014.
Stacker Pentecost watched all the gathered men and women from across the world in the eye as the screen behind him showed the video recordings of the previous four attacks.
"San Francisco, Maila, Cabo, Sydney. Let's face it, ladies and gentlemen, this is no longer a problem of 'if' another attack would come. It is a matter of 'when'. The pattern is clear as day."
Murmurs broke out across the room as the gathered men and women, made up of politicians, representatives, scientists, theorists, and independent organizations, took in the details zooming across the screen behind Pentecosts and their own datapads.
However, there was one group in this large sea of people that stood apart, as everyone cast them suspicious and distrustful gazes.
Their badges showed the symbol of a horizontal hourglass stylized as an 'M'.
Monarch.
Ever since the truth about what they did was brought to light to the UN, and later on, to the entire world, thanks to the attack of the 'Kaiju' as the aliens have been dubbed by now, Monarch had essentially become a pariah in many circles.
Some blame them for not preparing the world for this threat, as if this group was magically supposed to know that an interdimensional portal would suddenly manifest at the bottom of the Pacific.
Others did not trust them on principle, because they did not see the difference between the titans native to Earth and the monsters from beyond the portals, despite the fact that Godzilla was the only reason the loss of life was kept to a mere few thousand instead of tens of thousands or even millions that was originally predicted.
Of course, the organization did not care about what the others thought. As long as they continued receiving funding and doing what they were originally created to do, they did not care what the public thought of them.
Pentecost saw the strange gazes directed towards the group, but he did not care much about the situation.
Because right now, there were far more pressing concerns than blaming each other.
His sister did not sacrifice herself so that these idiots could play their political games out here!
"We need a solution, people. We need something that can fight these monsters from beyond our world."
His eyes locked with those of Monarch's leader.
"And the monsters from our own world, should the need ever arise."
Pentecost was not threatening Monarch. Far from it. He had read their files and understood what they stood for. And, to an extent, agreed with them.
If their reports were true, then it would be far more beneficial for humanity to coexist with the titans of the Earth than fight them and threaten the lives of millions.
However, he is a pragmatic man, and he believes in having a counter to all potential enemies, even if he prefers diplomacy over violence.
That is why he needed a weapon to fight the titans of Earth as well as the Kaiju from beyond the rift. So that, should the day ever come when the titans turn on humanity, his people would not be caught with their pants down.
Stacker listened as many people from their militaries across the world, including high-ranking military officers from the USA, Russia, China, India, Japan, the UK, and many others, opted for a more traditional approach to the problem.
Increase military budget, increase production of military firepower like tanks, jets, missiles, artillery, and other such methods.
However, he quickly dismissed those options.
"We have seen what our traditional military can do against the Kaiju. It is like shooting a fully loaded freight train going at top speed with BB guns. Practically useless. And the less it is said about what they can do to the native Titans, the better."
Then came the more esoteric solutions, primarily from thinktanks, renowned campuses like MIT, and even space agencies like NASA.
MIT, leading a whole coalition of universities from across the world, presented their idea.
The screen showed the proposed blueprints of what they came up with. A coastal defence line made up of experimental Plasma Cannon turrets.
Once again, Stacker rebuffed the idea.
"Highly impractical. Not to mention the experimental nature of the technologies involved. Given that we have only managed to crack controlled plasma weaponry this year, there is no telling what kind of dangers there will be in using them, not to mention the cost of upscaling them and lining the entire Pacific Ring of Fire with these turrets. It is simply beyond the scope of the GDPs of most countries combined. And this is your own estimate, which means the costs could even double when it comes to the ground level."
Then came NASA who led another coalition of space agencies from all the countries that had their own space programs.
They presented their own idea of an Orbital Kinetic Bombardment array. A network of satellites armed with Tungsten rods with built-in propulsion systems, allowing them to precisely strike their target with minimal loss and no risk of radiation. A highly practical and relatively cost-effective method.
One that Pentecost liked the most out of all the proposed ideas. Yet, there was one problem that they had no solution for.
Kaiju Blue.
The toxic phenomenon caused by the phosphorescent blood of the Kaiju.
If the humans used this weapon as planned, the Kaiju would indeed be killed with relative ease. However, due to the nature of the Kinetic strike, the blood of the Kaiju would inevitably contaminate the area. Not to mention how the kinetic strike would surely cause the blood to spread across a vast area as a result of the dust and earth thrown up into the atmosphere after the attack, causing the bloodmist to spread across hundreds of kilometers.
Keeping this in mind, Stacker reluctantly rebuffed this idea as well.
As the meeting went on and on, more and more strange ideas started to emerge, like Railguns that Hoenn is already using in their infantry and tanks, only upscaled to fight Kaiju, to even suggestions of theoretical weapons like particle cannons and other such things.
However, as the meeting slowly started to slow down and it became clear that only a few of the ideas were being even considered by those in charge, one final idea emerged.
Dr. Jasper Schoenfeld, a former professor of Carnegie Mellon University, walked to the podium and proposed his own idea.
The Jaeger.
Colossal, humanoid machines that answer all the problems that cropped up until now when considering all kinds of conventional and non-conventional weapon systems.
Due to its reliance on kinetic strikes, such as punching and the use of cold weapons, it could minimize the problem of Kaiju Blue.
Due to its size, it could incorporate experimental weapon systems, like the proposed Plasma Canons, acting as a mobile weapons platform.
And, it would justify the cost of its construction with its longevity and ability to be transported across the world.
So many points were covered that even Pentecost would end up convinced with this project, proposing that Jasper come with him to the UN to present his ideas there.
Unfortunately, that is where things went wrong.
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October, 2014. UN.
"This is absurd!! You are asking us to give you trillions, the entire GDPs of many countries, for what? Your glorified mechanical toys!?"
"I agree. This project is more fantasy than real physics. I mean, have you even heard of the square-cube law? The material science needed for creating metallic monsters of that size simply does not exist."
"And what about the fuel? You want us to hand over our own stockpiles of nuclear fuel to you without any real working prototypes to show for it, according to your own estimates, in the next couple of years? What if there is an attack before that? Are we supposed to once again rely on those unpredictable native titans and our own nuclear arsenal again?"
One after another, accusations and dismissals rang out across the meeting floor at Jasper and Pentecost.
Yet, all of it would be brought to an end by a single voice.
The representative of Hoenn.
The country would promise to help promote the Jaeger program by helping them with developing metals that can withstand the weight and power. Helping them with Hoenn's anti-gravity technology to allow the machines to move about without collapsing on themselves under the strain of movement.
To help the Jaeger program solve its power requirement issues, and many, many more.
In effect, Hoenn wanted to back the Jaeger program fully and provide as much aid as possible to resolve their technological hurdles with the help of their own advanced technologies.
Then, Hoenn's representative used their own political pull to coerce many of the other countries to stand with them. Marking a historical moment in human history as the UN council would, for the first time since its founding, be convinced to vote without any opposition for the Jaeger program.
And so is born the Pan Pacific Defence Corps.
The only line of defence against the Kaiju.
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Author Notes:
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