Living With the Monsterpocalypse

Chapter 5 – A DARK SUN RISES

John Pressman, Big World News Network

Living With the Monsterpocalypse is an ongoing segment that shines a light on events leading up to and following the arrival of the Planet Eaters and subsequent invaders of Earth. Each installment sheds new light on the early days of this unfolding war against the monsters, with exclusive information obtained from the men and women who were there in the first days of the Monsterpocalypse.

To understand the emergence of the Zors, one must first know the history of the Shadow Sun Syndicate. Until recently one of the best-kept secrets of the criminal underworld, this syndicate represents a globe-spanning coalition of criminal and commercial enterprises.

This group has existed under various guises for centuries, going back to several major allied families during the sengoku jidai of Japanese history. Powerful criminal dynasties, supporting an army of disgraced samurai and shinobi clans, joined their strength in order to manipulate the course of events. Operating in secret, these families had a direct hand in the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate.

In return, these families were given free rein to build a criminal empire that spanned much of East Asia. They amassed enormous fortunes, established countless quasi-legitimate enterprises, and, at different times, waged secret wars against one another. These were sometimes settled by violent absorption or through arranged marriages leading to truces and confederation before breaking apart again over new feuds and rivalries.

This state of flux ebbed in the early days of the 1980s when the prevailing families forged a more lasting alliance. They had learned that their legitimate enterprises and political manipulations had a greater margin of profit than any of their criminal efforts. Visionary leaders focused the lion’s share of their attention on cutting-edge technological development—though they maintained a hand in criminal dealings in order to procure otherwise inaccessible resources and to apply leverage to would-be competitors.

Through shell companies, the purchase of overseas corporations, and deft maneuvering, this syndicate was able to make great leaps in technological discovery, reaping greater profit thereby. Generations after they had come together as the Shadow Sun Syndicate, they were making radical breakthroughs in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology.

One of the most impressive facets of their many holdings was Arahide Weapons Technology. A military innovations firm working with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, Arahide began experimenting with unstable energy fields, nanotech soldier enhancement, and bleeding-edge future weapons development. These advancements were intended to give Japan a technological advantage in the event of full-scale war, but the Syndicate quickly took possession of all prototypes—as well as lead engineer Arahide himself.

For another twenty years, the Shadow Sun Syndicate refined these designs, testing them on an army of volunteers. There were no specific plans for when they would unveil their energy weapons or their bio-enhanced shinobi and Zor warriors, but the forward-thinking leaders of the syndicate knew that one day their secret projects would prove vital.

That day arrived when the six-tailed Planet Eater comet altered course for Earth.

While militaries worldwide scrambled to create a response to the invaders that emerged from the comet’s fragments, the Syndicate merely had to activate full-scale production of its military program. Working in secret, a team of experienced S-type Shinobi delved the Japanese impact crater, killing the majority of Planet Eaters within while they were still dormant. The Syndicate also chose to deploy the first of its Zors, soldiers who had the greatest experience with the biomorphic suits that allowed men to become 60-meter-tall weapons against the invaders.

MONSTERPOCALYPSE is in stores now! Learn more at monsterpocalypse.com.