1933 was the first time.

It was, in retrospect, the first blip on the radar. A tiny peek at what was to come. The massive beast climbed to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world and tumbled to his death. In time, it became a footnote in history. An amusing oddity that was assumed to be the first and last of its kind. It was quickly drowned out by war and conflict, and devastation wrought by human hands, disappearing from the public consciousness almost as swiftly as it had risen.

It wasn't the last.

1954.

A massive monster, scarred and warped by exposure to severe radiation, arose from the sea around Japan. With a rage that almost seemed to be sent from the heavens it descended on the country and wrought destruction and death wherever it went. It was only through the brave but ultimately self-sacrificing actions of Doctor Serizawa Daisuke that its rampage came to an end, destroyed by an experimental weapon that could have wrought its own destructive mark on history had its secrets not been lost.

Godzilla, they called it. The monster that had carved such a terrible path of destruction through the nation of Japan was known as Godzilla.

For some time, it was thoughy that the monster's death was the end of it. That such a beast would never appear again. Japan rebuilt, never to forget the horrors wrought by the nuclear behemoth.

It was not long before they would receive another reminder.

As if the advent of nuclear power drew them from the earth itself, creatures of enormous size, creatures with strange abilities, arose and caused destruction wherever they went.

And among them, among the most terrible of them all, was Godzilla. For the first of its kind was not the last, and another reptilian beast had arisen from the sea, feeding on radiation wherever it found it and aggressively defending the lands it believed to be its own.

The sheer ravage of cities, the mass destruction...

It has to end.

It began in Japan. The development of weapons, of an agency that would be equipped to use them, that could fend off the attacks by these enormous monstrosities.

YATAGARASU. Named for a guiding sun deity from Shinto mythology, the organization initially arose as a special branch of the JSDF, a anti-Godzilla force that would be equipped with the latest technology to prevent the monster's rampages. And with a research division bent on trying to find a away to neutralize or ultimately kill the beast.

But it soon spread beyond that. YATAGARASU's branches stretched across the world, forming partnerships with militaries of other nations in order to help combat the threat posed by these enormous creatures on every continent. While conflicts between humans still raged, it was difficult to argue against the enormous threat posed by creatures barely within human comprehension.

The year is now 2022.

New advancements in anti-Godzilla technology promise the dawning of a new era of technology. A new method of predicting and countering the appearances of Godzilla and other monsters has been put into practice. The development of the JAGUAR project offers a potential new weapon against the giant creatures. The Lambda Foundation pours its vast funds into military projects to both study monsters and develop new weapons against them.

And yet, a this new era may bring with it an even greater threat, one that could perhaps make humanity turn its gaze to the beasts it shares the word with for allies...

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So yeah, Godzilla RP! Players will be taking up the role of members of the original Japanese branch YATAGARASU, tasked with combating Godzilla and any other kaiju threats that might arise against humanity. Only it seems like things may be on the brink of becoming far more complicated then they were already.

YATAGARASU has access to advanced technology before it hits general military use. This includes the Gotengo, a flying high-power weapons platform and mobile base equipped with laser weaponry and other anti-kaiju weapons, as well as the first prototype of the JAGUAR project, a piloted intelligent robot capable of going toe to toe with some of the world's smaller monsters.

After all, it's not just the biggest ones we've got to worry about.

On top of that, a new method of kaiju detection is about to be tested for the first time.

To keep things engaging, all kinds of threats large and small are on the table. I'm very willing to take suggestions, but have plenty of plans of my own.

I'm taking inspiration from all eras of Godzilla, but my biggest source of inspiration is definitely the Heisei era. So that should give you a decent idea of the tone I'm aiming for for this RP if you're familiar with the source material. If not, I can basically sum this up as a darker and more serious take on Godzilla, where the titular monster is certainly not a friend of humanity but sometimes ends up as our best defense in spite of that.

I'm super happy to answer any questions and as noted will gladly accept suggestions!

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[list][*][u][b]Name:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Age:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Gender:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Appearance:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Personality:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Skills:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Equipment:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Brief Backstory:[/b][/u]
[*][u][b]Position Within YATAGARASU:[/b][/u][/list]

@Mangrale@Martian@Rin@AndyC@wikkit

I need to get to work on my JAGUAR pilot!

While I'm excited for this, I just realized I don't have a character in mind. It would helpful for me if anyone who reads this would state some roles they would like to see played in this RP. That could help me narrow down what I'd like to do.

@Martian: Well, I'd definitely like to see science officers, soldiers in charge of fighting the more managably-sized monsters, weapons officers...

Thinking of either a member of some "kaiju clean-up" infantry squad, or a Maser tank commander because Maser tanks are great.

@AndyC: Either one is on the table, and feel free to ask any questions you want!

• Name: Sekiguchi Eri
• Age: 14
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "..."
• Personality: Eri is a gloomy and taciturn girl. She can come across as cold and distant, and seems to prefer spending time by herself to spending time with others. It's easy to find her buried in some piece of handheld technology, or on the computer, rather then involving herself in any kind of social interaction. Even when someone gets her to talk, she is rather awkward and brief in her manner of speech, and has a rather depressive demeanor. She is typically found on her own, and is very unlikely to involve herself in any kind of conversation. She can even be somewhat standoffish, especially towards adults. While Eri is quite withdrawn with people, she is very fond of animals and can be brought of her shell a little bit with the presence of them. In spite of her distant demeanor, she is particularly sensitive towards being called creepy or weird. Indeed, she is more sensitive then she appears in general, and tends to take things to heart very quickly. While she has far better control over her abilities now, the fact she was once unable to control her telepathic abilities effectively is likely one of the reasons for her withdrawn and isolated personality. In spite of her apparent history, she has little personal hatred for Godzilla, though at the same time she has no resistance to the idea of tracking him for YATAGARASU's purposes.
• Skills: Eri possesses little in the way of military skill, but her most notable capability is her psychic ability. An esper of considerable power, Eri can detect the presence of others at long range and even read past events or the thoughts of other people. Most notably this is the cornerstone of her use in YATAGARASU, as she is capable of detecting the thoughts and presence of giant monsters such as Godzilla. Her precision grows as she pushes herself harder, but this causes her greater strain, and particularly powerful psychic presences can endanger her wellbeing and even cause her to pass out. Her psychic abilities may possibly develop with more practice. Aside from her nature as an esper, Eri is a surprisingly good cook.
• Equipment: Eri is never without her smartphone. She is not cleared to use any kind of weaponry.
• Brief Backstory: Records indicate Sekiguchi Eri was discovered as an orphaned baby in the aftermath of a devastating attack on Tokyo by Godzilla, rescued by Lambda Foundation relief workers and quickly passed on to a foster family. Given she was an infant, she has no memory of the event or her birth family. What she does remember is that, as long as she can remember, she has been capable of hearing the thoughts of others. Initially, she had no ability to control it, and as a child was frequently viewed as creepy due to both her ability to say exactly what people were thinking and her isolated and distant behavior that came as a result. Eri was only isolated further, both due to her difficulty with closing out people's inner voices and the fact others didn't want to associate with her for the very same reason. It was when she was eight years old that the Lambda Foundation suddenly took her from her current caretakers and brought her to the Tokyo Institute for Development of Extrasensory Abilities. It was here that she joined a number of other children who possessed similar abilities to herself, and was not only educated but had her capabilities as an esper tested and observed. Even among those who possessed similar powers to herself, Eri's gloomy and withdrawn attitude left her with little social interaction, and it became apparent that she was the foremost among all the children being tested at the facility which only lead to further isolation as more and more of her time was taken up by tests. Perhaps the only benefit in her eyes was the fact she could now control her abilities more effectively. This is how her life largely continued, until the Lambda Foundation sponsored her addition to YATAGARASU as a form of special detection for giant monsters. While this decision was largely controversial due to her young age, eventually the move was approved. Soon, her abilities will be put to the test.
• Position Within YATAGARASU: Special Operative for Detection of Anomalous Creatures. She is the new Godzilla detection system

Decided to get the primary character I'll be using aside from NPCs written up, since she'll also provide some further information about the setting.

An active combat role is likely a good default for someone as largely uninitiated as me. Aside from that, my attention would go to the Gotengo crew. Can I ask how many members the ship holds and what positions within the pilot crew I should consider?

@Mangrale: Anyone running the weapons systems would be a good angle to go for. It's a fairly large ship, big enough to quality as a secondary base for this unit of YATAGARASU.

Running weapons systems as in an operator on the bridge sort of thing? Or do you mean a team that preps the equipment and carries out orders relayed to them? Sorry, not altogether sure how it works.

@Mangrale: Either or, though I'd lean a more active role just so you have more to do, such as manning the weapons directly or part of the bridge crew.

Also a couple things:

Is anyone opposed to setting up an RP discord? I find having a discord server helps with communication between the GM and players quite a bit.

Additionally, I'd really like to keep us moving at at a minimum of one post a week, though I'm willing to let people skip posting cycles if they're unable to make it for whatever reason as long as they let me know first.

I'm still angling for a psychic person. Is that position taken up by the GMPC, or am I still able to go forward with that plan? What should I do to differentiate them?

Also, I'm fine with a Discord server.

@wikkit: I'm certainly okay with another psychic. Maybe one of the other top candidates from the research center who got sent along after the initial confirmation for Eri as backup? Could be part of support not only aiding in tracking kaiju but also helping with communications, or even disrupting smaller monsters.

• Name: Marynia Bezruchko
• Age: 39
• Gender: F
• Appearance: "I see. You can stop thinking about that now.". About 172cm.
• Personality: With her upbringing and life being what they are, there is a firm contrast between her dispositions in and out of work. Marynia's professionalism is firm, to the point that she can seem rather cold and uncaring in the eyes of her peers. Though not exactly callous, her bluntness and dismissive demeanor usually leaves her estranged from those she works with. This is in stark contrast to her demeanor outside of work: a pleasant, well-meaning if somewhat awkward woman who tries to be friendly and honest with everyone she meets. Though certainly spirited, her life prior to her assignment in Japan didn't really give her the tools to navigate social spaces. Most importantly, she has difficulty taking other people seriously: their inner thoughts are often much, much more mundane and banal than the personalities they try to present, and even when a truly serious person shows up she rarely is bothered by them.
• Skills: She's an ESPer! And a qualified one at that. Her main focus of training has been in delving the thoughts of others; surface thoughts and emotions are trivial to read, and she has "unique" training that makes her quite skilled in forcing others to think about a given topic. Most often used as a substitute for trying to read memories, a skill she lacks. In the worst case scenario, she can weaponize this and try to destabilize the mind of another by forcing so much information through another's psyche that they find it difficult to think, difficult to move or act, and in the worst case, experience temporary loss of the ego. Marynia can also attempt to shield herself from the prying of other ESPers, but this involves 'sequestering' her own mind. Aside from losing any and all psychic capabilities for some time, usually a few days, she also experiences a strange mental state that she finds very unpleasant. On top of all of this, she has some combat training but is very rusty and not fit for warfare (on top of getting along in her years), she's fluent in five languages and she's good at playing the piano.
• Equipment: Often a small sidearm such as a pistol, but otherwise little else.
• Brief Backstory: Born in the USSR during its later days, her family (relatively well-to-do inner party members) noticed the strangeness surrounding their daughter not long after she began speaking. They were concerned, but not terrified or anything like that; she was kept out of the public eye more out of convenience than anything. That sort of convenience would color her life from then on, as a family friend who happened to be a high-ranking MVD member offered to clear out prior debts if they allowed him to take her into military custody. Obviously they agreed, and despite this being very impolite on their part, it doesn't weigh very heavily on Marynia's heart. She was taken at such a young age that she never really had the connection to her parents to make it painful, and while her training was brutal and her childhood essentially gone, it's been 10 years since she's lived in Russia. She did quite a few unsavory things back then, I'm sure you can imagine what the Russian Federation would want with someone who can read minds, but it's been long enough (and her therapist skilled enough) for her to deal with the past in a way that doesn't leave her an emotionally crippled, angsty mess. Bouncing between various international agencies and psionics foundations, her latest assignment has brought her to YATAGARASU after several years of stated interest in working in the Anti-Superorganism field.
• Position Within YATAGARASU: Foreign Liaison/Experimental Communications Specialist

I think this is distinct enough from Eri, though tell me if this isn't what you're looking for.

@wikkit: Alrighty, I think she looks good. Accepted.

Name: Major-General Raiko Akibahara

Age: 68

Gender: Male

Appearance: Major-General Akibahara is in tremendous physical condition for someone with both his age and experiences, the wrinkles on his face belying a frame of a true fighting man. His dark brown eyes are sometimes vacant, sometimes gleaming with a fire that would cower the devil himself. A deep scar runs down the left side of his face, and his right leg ends at the knee, replaced with a simple polished peg-leg made of bone.

Personality: Akibahara is grim and taciturn, wasting few words on those he does not consider useful. On the occasions when he does speak at length, "the Old Soldier" reveals himself to be intensely single-minded, compelled by a fanatical hatred of kaiju, particularly towards Godzilla himself. He rejects the notion that mankind can or should coexist with these monsters, and has no interest in learning about them beyond how such knowledge can help him destroy them. He finds himself frequently at odds with the other members of YATAGARASU, but he maintains a loyal corps of followers who share his beliefs.

Despite having driven away several monsters and even killing a few along the way, he has yet to score a victory against Godzilla, a fact that eats at him.

Skills: The Major-General has decades of military experience, and quite literally wrote the book on anti-kaiju warfare. Having seen his fair share of high-tech "wonder weapons" come and go over the years, he is slow to embrace new technology, preferring to rely on the mailed hammer-fist of armored columns and aerial bombardment. While he rarely wastes his time talking with his opponents, he goes out of his way to instill an esprit de corps with his troops, many of whom will gladly march to certain doom for "the Old Soldier." His methods, while brutal and heavy-handed, and often coming at the cost of heavy casualties, are nonetheless effective against most kaiju.

Equipment: Akibahara typically carries an H&K SPF9-M pistol at his side, the standard issue sidearm for JSDF soldiers. In his prime, he commanded a Type 70 "Beast Killer" Maser Tank and later a MBT-MB92, and he still keeps himself updated and trained on how to operate the newer Type 90s.

Brief Backstory:

• 1954: In the aftermath of Godzilla's first rampage through Tokyo, rescue teams discover a baby boy amid the bodies of his family in the ruins of Akibahara Train Station. Nearly dead from starvation, the baby is nursed back to health and taken in as a ward of the state. With no identification and no surviving next of kin, the boy is named after the volunteer that rescued him, and the place where he was found.
• 1959-1969: Raiko Akibahara is raised in the Futaba Orphanage in Akishima. The conditions are squalid, the headmasters severe, instilling a grim, joyless disposition in the young boy. Despite his poor upbringing, Raiko applies himself to his studies, excelling in school and sports, with the goal of joining the military. Thanks to the orphanage's shoddy record-keeping, Raiko is able to lie about his age, enlisting into the Japanese Self Defense Force at age 16.
• 1970: Akibahara graduates from basic training, and is assigned the position of gunner in a Type 70 "Beast Killer" Maser Tank. Shortly after his assignment, his unit is deployed to defend Tokyo from the toad-like kaiju Gabara. Despite his unit taking heavy losses, the tank column successfully exterminates the creature, with Raiko's tank delivering the killing blow to the monster's throat.
• 1971-1990: Akibahara rises through the ranks of the JSDF, first commanding his own Maser tank as a Second Lieutenant in action against Gezora and Manda, then as a Captain commanding a company in the defense of Sendai against a swarm of Kamacuras. By the 1980s, Akibahara had achieved the rank of Colonel, and is in command of the 122nd Armored Regiment. The 122nd, also known as "Raiko's Thunder," becomes notorious for its brutally effective anti-kaiju tactics.
• 1991: After several years of being believed dead, Godzilla returns and rampages across Japan once more. Colonel Akibahara and the 122nd are deployed as part of the defense of Tokyo. Finally having the chance to fight the monster that killed his family, Raiko leads his regiment from the front. The battle is a disaster, and the 122nd is annihilated along with most of the defending forces of the city. Raiko himself is grievously wounded when his tank is crushed by Godzilla's foot, leaving the Colonel scarred, disfigured, and nearly dead from radiation poisoning.
• 1995-1999: Raiko resumes his command after five painful years of rehabilitation, and resumes service in the JSDF, now a Major-General in command of an entire division. After another battle with Godzilla, Raiko is once again left disfigured in the aftermath, losing his right leg to the monster. After the battle, the Major-General is forced into retirement from the JSDF, but is quickly recruited by the special anti-kaiju force YATAGARASU, initially as a civilian 'advisor.'
• 2001: Godzilla returns again, and Raiko is consulted by YATAGARASU on how to deal with the creature. His advice is initially not heeded, and the ensuing battle results in disastrous casualties. Wresting control of the command console away from the ranking YATAGARASU officer, Akibahara assumes control of the defense forces long enough to organize a proper withdrawal. While defeated by Godzilla once again, Raiko ensures that thousands manage to live to tell the tale.
• 2002: Major-General Akibahara is reinstated, and joint operations between YATAGARASU and the JSDF allow him near fully autonomous command of his own conventional division. Raiko uses this to astonishing effect by smashing an outbreak of the insect-like Meganula. This reinvigorates the conventional forces, and Akibahara's division names themselves after his old command, "Raiko's Thunder."
• 2003-Present: Raiko commands the YATAGARASU conventional forces in several victories against various kaiju, successfully driving away larger beasts and killing several smaller ones. Just as spectacular as Raiko's victories, however, are his defeats, suffering cataclysmic losses against Godzilla. As some members of YATAGARASU call for a different approach to dealing with the monsters, studying how they can coexist peacefully, Raiko Akibahara remains a staunch war-hawk, his rallying cry as direct as a Maser blast: "Destroy All Monsters."
  
  Position Within YATAGARASU:

Major-General Akibahara commands "Raiko's Thunder," the armored assets of YATAGARASU's conventional military division. At his disposal are hundreds of conventional tanks and combat vehicles, including advanced anti-kaiju weaponry such as Maser tanks and their ULT 'Freezing Laser' variants, and D-03 Missiles that can drill into a kaiju's flesh before exploding.

@AndyC: Okay for the most part I really like this, I just want to quickly clarify that this doesn't include any of the films aside from the original in its continuity, so it's best to cut out the direct references to Heisei era films, especially since I'm definitely planning on making my own versions of some of the kaiju featured there.

But otherwise hey, I like this a lot!

@AndyC: Okay for the most part I really like this, I just want to quickly clarify that this doesn't include any of the films aside from the original in its continuity, so it's best to cut out the direct references to Heisei era films, especially since I'm definitely planning on making my own versions of some of the kaiju featured there.

But otherwise hey, I like this a lot!

Gotcha; I'll tweak it a bit to keep things vague.

@AndyC: Once that's done I'll be ready to accept!