#fotud

This is hella rough cause I just typed it up on on my phone during break at work over the past few weeks.

I have more details and headcanons that I’ll post later maybe.

If anyone wants to make me fanart that would be amazing.

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Year 2025 - the world is well into the Kaiju war. Attacks occur erratically but frequently. Every major Pacific Rim country has a Shatterdome that can house up to a dozen jaegers.

This storyline is set in Vancouver, Canada. Home to one of North America’s two shatterdomes. The other is in California.

Darren Shan and Steve Leonard are roommates and best friends since childhood. Both share a fascination of jaegers and kaiju; Steve especially. He’s seen every interview and knows the specs and stats of every jaeger ever made. They dream of being pilots themselves; but both are low-level mechanics at an off-base factory that makes small jaeger parts.

After one last gruelling battle, legendary warrior Seba Nile retires, leaving an empty space in the jaeger Spyder Renegade and Larten Crepsley in need of a new co-pilot. Finicky Larten is unable to drift with with any of the candidates selected for him, an open tryout is scheduled to anyone with basic knowledge of jaeger tech. This peaks the interest of Darren and Steve. However Steve’s mother is hospitalized after an overdose on the day of. Darren promises to stick around and support Steve but he leaves the hospital on impulse to attend the tryout. He impresses Crepsley and is recruited despite his complete lack of experience. Steve finds out and is furious and feels betrayed. Darren is stricken with guilt and still in shock that Crepsley chose him. He tries to reason with Steve but to no avail.

He moves out of the small apartment they share. Darren leaves many apologetic voicemails and texts, but the two don’t come face to face till Steve is recruited as Gannen Harst’s co-pilot 2 years later.

/the kaiju war is ongoing in this verse/

Backstories: Seba Nile and Paris Skyle were the first jaeger pilots to see combat. They hold the record of 17 kaiju kills to date. Together they piloted the world’s first jaeger, Aldebaran. Paris retired after losing an ear to corrosion during a drivesuit malfunction that caused radiation burns during a battle. Paris now serves as marshal of the Vancouver Shatterdome. Seba went on to pilot the first Mark 3, Spyder Renegade with the fierce Larten Crepsley. At the end of his incredible pilot career he served as Paris’s lieutenant.

Mika Ver Leth and Arrow Barton hold the second highest kill count at 12. Their jaeger Ares Razorback is the most formidable of the Mark 4s.

Arrow lives in a stormcloud of hatred and bitterness after his wife Sarah was killed in an attack by the kaiju Riptide. At that point Arrow and Vanez Blane piloted Ares together. As they were fighting Riptide, the monster caused severe damage to their conn-pod. The jaeger went dead and slipped underwater while Riptide devastated San Francisco. It was an hour before another jaeger arrived and took him down. Vanez lost an eye and suffered mild brain damage; he is now prone to seizures. And unfit to be a pilot. (He now trains prospective pilots). Arrow was in a coma for 2 days. He made a full recovery but awoke to his wife missing and presumed dead along with thousands of others. 3 days later he is called to identify Sarah’s body. He spent the rest of the year in a drunken rage until his old friend Mika Ver Leth shows up on his doorstep.

Mika is a young pilot who was known for his ambition. But when his mentor & copilot Lare Shment takes his own life, Mika gives up and retires after only 6 moths and 3 kaiju kills, swearing he’ll never drift with anyone again. Mika finally returns to the Shatterdome 4 years later with Arrow at his side.

Kurda Smahlt is a wide-eyed and brilliant K-scientist (or a groupie, according to those who know him) who specifies in kaiju anatomy. Wester Flack is his bitter and driven coworker who has devoted his life to studying the breach itself. They are an unlikely pair with their constant bickering but their combined research is unparalleled.

Evra and Merletta Von pilot a jaeger called King Cobra. Evra is the first pilot to befriend Darren when he moves into the Shatterdome. I have no backstory for them so be my guest.

He doesn’t know his real name. His parents died during his infancy and he was raised in a miserable orphanage. They named him Aaron. He never liked the name, and didn’t acknowledge it as his own. He was adopted at the age of 10 by an old man who needed an able-bodied child to work on his farm. In return he would provide meals and shelter. He eventually taught “Aaron” how to hunt with a bow and arrow. He had a natural talent, and the old man nicknamed him Arrow. He liked that much better than Aaron, and it stuck.