The Kaiju Runt in the Room....

[genericbiggerbrother]

One fine day, someone posts a general video message on the Unity Group network.

"Hello! This is Ranger Yancy Beckett, on loan with his brother from the Pan Pacific Defense Corps."

He smiles. "I've been impressed by everyone I've met here, and I'm looking forward to defending the Earth with you all!"

His smile fades. "That being said, there's something that I've been meaning to ask folks, something that's been bugging me for a bit." He fidgets, then blurts out:

"Why are there so many kids here?"

Comments

[genericbiggerbrother]

"I don't mean to put down the kids I've been fighting with, Mr. Haran." Yancy says quietly. "I've seen them kick alien butt and saves lots of lives, a lot of them better and more ethically than most soldiers I've known."

He coughs. "But how many of these kids actually chose to become mecha pilots? And how many were shanghaied into it? That's what I'm worried about."

[blackhole_sunattack]

"I can imagine, not many. Of those I've seen myself, many are here by chance, very unfortunate chance. The smaller percentage are those who are willy, at the least currently, soldiers, trained from a young age at that.

Unfortunately I don't think it answers your question in the slightest, WHY they're here. But we can at least say that they are safer amongst us than operating alone.

[genericbiggerbrother]

"That I agree with, Mr. Haran." Yancy says emphatically. "I know for a fact that there's lots of good people here at the U.G. We can look after these kids, give them training and therapy and support..."

His voice trails off. "And if they're being exploited and abused by their...caretakers, we can break them out. Get them underground, get them new lives."