Intersea Defence Corps

Note: the text below is spoiler heavy, including the ending of Pacific Rim. If you haven't seen the film yet, wait till you do and don't read what is below. I won't accept anyone crying about the description spoiling the film


Troubles Incoming
With the end of Striker Eureka's and Gypsy Danger's mission, and thus the end of Kaiju War, the world celebrated. Those who survived those difficult days were eager to start rebuilding their homelands. Sadly, peace was not to last long.

One year and four months after the closure of Pacific Breech and the portal within it a Category 1 Kaiju was spotted, drifting dead in the middle of Atlantic Ocean. Another was washed ashore in Portugal three weeks after. It became obvious that there must be another portal through which the monsters were coming to Earth. It was finaly located in a spot informally known as "Tripoint", where three tectonic plates met. Newt (dr. Geizler) theorised that while the Pacific portal was the main one, the Atlantic one was a sort of prototype, a proof-of-concept device, or a secondary portal which was to be opened when the main wave of Kaiju attacks was launched. The Kaiju emerging from the Atlantic portal seemed weaker initially, enough to be killed with standard weaponry, but it was obvious that the big ones are stil to come.

A special charge was prepared, a nuclear warhead covered in Kaiju's carcass, to fool the fail-safe mechanism encountered in the first portal. Allowing only Kaiju to enter and exit the portal, it prevented any sort of intervention from humans. The charge was launched from a submarine into the crevasse, with an intention to pass through the portal and destroy the Kaiju colony within.

To the surprise and horror of those involved in the operation, it did not work. The charge exploded when it crashed on the portal's surface, crippling and sinking the sub that launched it. A research by Geizler gave a shocking result. The blast that destroyed Pacific colony was strong enough to disrupt the Atlantic portal's structure as well. Now the fail-safe mechanism only allowed traffic in one direction: out. Moreover, with their masters gone, Kaiju were no longer controlled by any force, and their appearance became random and unpredictible. And with Jaegers gone, creating new ones became a must.

In order to fight monsters more effectively, the European nations decided to split into four divisions, each defending different body of water and countries accessing it. The idea was a result of differences between the most powerful nations - France, UK, Germany etc. - over the control of Jaegers and location of Shatterdomes. The Pan-Atlantic Defence Corps (PADC) was created last, because of these differences of opinion, and included: UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Portugal. In the meantime, Mediterranean, Adriatic and Aegan Defence Corps (MAADC) was established on the basis of: Italy, Turkey, Greece and Balkan countries with sea access: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro (Serbia and Slovenia helped them financially; Albania left the Corps after a disagreement over the location of Shatterdome). In the north, Scandinavian Defence Corps (SDC) , made of Norway, Sweden and Finland, was created. The last division of the European Defence Force was named after a concept of Intermarum - a political union between the countries from Baltic to the Black Sea, proposed during Interwar period by Marshall Józef Piłsudski. Thus the Intersea Defence Corps was established.

Intersea Defence Corps
Initially the IDC was made of just two countries: Poland and Ukraine. Each of the guarded one body of water, Baltic and Black Sea, respectively. Initially they did well, and Hussar's and Ataman's kill ratio reached 5 Kaiju each in a matter of months. However after two separate incidents of Kaiju attack which left both Jaegers heavily damaged and in need of repair, it was decided that IDC must be expanded.

Romania and Baltic States agreed to join Ukraine and Poland, respectively. Soon after that, Bulgaria also joined the program. The IDC Jaegers recieved different designation from the pre-Atlantic War Jaegers. While the latter were designated as Mark 1-5, in EDF standards they were marked as "0.1" to "0.5". Th Jaegers built after that were designated as "1.X" (ie. Hussar and Ataman were Mark 1.1 Jaegers, Draculea and Virital - 1.2, and Mulniya - 1.3"). This was because technology leap between the Pacific and European Jaegers was so big some of their technologies were not compatible. Even though Striker Eureka and Hussar were built within space of 2 years, they belonged to two completely different generations of machines. Nevertheless some technologies from older Jaegers were incorporated into the European ones - for example Ataman's head gear was based on Cherno Alpha's refined energy cell, which was the only energy source powerful enough to power Ataman's massive armament (and allow him to move with his armour).

The IDC proved to be among most succesful Defence Corps in Europe. It was partially thanks to a effective logistic grid and friendship between nations, allowing them to deploy Jaegers more effectively than conflicts-torn Pan-Atlantic DC.

Members
POLAND
Pilots: Andrzej and Jacek Skolimowscy (named "Skolimowski brothers" in foreign sources)
Relation: brothers
Brothers are often exact opposites, but in case of Skolimowski bros this is taken to a whole new level. Outside their Jaeger, they are the embodiment of pre-war Polish values: gentle, polite, calm. But put them behind the stick and suddenly people start to feel sorry for the Kaiju they face. When a British PADC member saw them in combat, he exclaimed in sheer terror: "These guys are like Kaiju themselves!". True enough, Skolimowski brothers are known to have destroyed a building or two too much, but what matters is that they get their job done. And if the cleanup division has to remove Kaiju guts from several square miles? Well, zdarza się, right?

UKRAINE
Pilots: Vitaliy and Boris Tkachuk
Relation: brothers
Tkachuk brothers belong to a family of long military tradition. Their great-grandfather fought in Great Patriotic War; and their father was a member of artillery division. So when they learned what Ataman is about, they quickly signed for the pilot program. They are not even bothered by the fact that Ataman may be as dangerous for the crew as it is for Kaiju - due to the amount of explosives it carries inside and rather outdated power source. They share a close bond with Skolimowski brothers and are often seen sitting together in a canteen after joint missions. They are locked in a friendly competition over Kaiju kill count, altough they still need to beat Draculea.

ROMANIA:
Pilots: Anton and Elena Lazurescu
Relation: father and daughter
If you need someone who is serious, mature, responsible and disciplined, Anton is definitely not the man you are looking for. Joyful, jovial and loud, he is a Balkan soul through and through. He is often seen sitting at the edge of his Jaeger's shoulder, admiring the landscape, and on one occasion whe was caught showing it to unauthorized personel. His daughter Elena despises this behaviour and wishes secretely that her father was more mature. He would definitely be removed from Jaeger program, if it wasn't for his high combat effectiveness - Draculea boasts the highest Kaiju kil count in the whole IDC (8 monsters).

BALTIC STATES:
Pilots: Rozalija and Juris Liepins
Relation: siblings
Somewhat shy and seemingly not very social, the two Latvian siblings are doing their best to prove that Latvians aren't worse than any other Jaeger pilots. Despite Skolimowski and Tkachuk brothers' attempts to convince them that they don't have to prove anything to anyone, the have bad experiences with a crew of one Russian Jaeger, who mocked them as being incapable to exist on their own and even having to share their Jaeger with other Baltic States (one of such remarks ended with one of the Russians having his tooth broken by Boris Tkachuk who overheard the conversation). But in battle, Rozalija and Juris did more than enough to show that Russians were completely wrong. Virital's Kaiju count may be low (just three), but it's more like a result of Hussar dealing with them before they reach Baltic States rather than their skills. Their effectiveness is proven by the fact that Virital's battles are very short - they rarely need more than 10 minutes to get rid of Kaiju.

BULGARIA:
Pilots: Dragan and Veselin Stoyanov
Relation: cousins
The two cousins piloting Mulniya, Dragan and Veselin are so close to each other many mistake them for brothers. They are highly effective in close, aerobatic combats which often confuse Kaiju to such extend they start to panic and make mistakes. They are close friends to Elena, who is in their age (23 y.o.), though they do not share her disapproval to her father's joyful lifestyle - they themselves admit they are no angels themselves. But they always now when it's time for jokes and when it's time to be serious.