Kaiju. The very word conjures up images of the fire and death caused by the monsters that have blighted our planet for the past seven years. And yet, from the first attack in 2013, humanity as a whole has had to come to terms with the fact that we are not the undisputed masters of this planet, and that the creatures we face from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean are fighting a war of blind extermination. My first encounter with a Kaiju was in May 2016 in Tokyo, Japan, mere days after an attack that left millions displaced, injured or dead. The sight of the vast skeleton of the creature known as Onibaba towering above the harbour, as civilians and military personnel alike crawled over it like ants filled me with both awe and fear, and ever since, in my role as a field agent of the fledgling Pan Pacific Defence Corps, I have witnessed the deaths of dozens of these creatures.

I am no Jaeger pilot, and never will be, so my role in the on-going Kaiju War has been more about finding out the human cost of fighting a battle against the greatest threat our race has ever faced than actually brawling out on the ocean from within a Jaeger. Through this series of interviews I hope, in some small way, to shed light upon the stories of those caught up in the war, from its beginnings in 2013 with cities and armies being swept aside, to the triumphant days of the past few years, where it appears that, against all the odds, we are actually winning.

The following interviews cover the experiences of many people. Soldiers and civillians, scientists and rescue workers, Jaeger pilots and world leaders. And yet I have found that, despite their different backgrounds, ages and roles, large and small, all of them share in the belief that somehow, if humanity stands together, no matter how long it takes or how hard we have to fight, the Kaiju can be defeated.