Precursors (Uprising)

Pacific Rim

Novelization

Uprising

A Precursor circa 2025.

"You have to understand your enemy's objective to know you've defeated them. We still don't. [...]The Precursors wouldn't send Kaiju to flatten a few cities if they were trying to wipe us all out."

—Nate Lambert

The Precursors are a race of aliens from the Anteverse. Colonizers by nature, the Precursors consume worlds for resources. August 2013, they begin a twelve year campaign against Earth in an attempt to terraform the planet using the dormant volcano of Mount Fuji. Following the failed campaign to reach Mount Fuji in 2035, their colonization efforts culminate in a wide scale invasion of Australia.

History

The Precursors sought to claim Earth as one of the many worlds they've terraformed. However, the environment of the Triassic period failed to meet their needs and their efforts failed.

Kaiju Wars

250 million years later, in the 21st century, the Precursors refocus their terraforming intentions back on Earth with the creation of the Kaiju. With the creation of the Kaiju, the Precursors design their Kaiju Blood to react to "rare earth minerals", such as cerium, Ianthanum, and gadolinium.

Establishing a Breach at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, August 10, 2013, their first attack using a Kaiju later named "Trespasser", proves successful. They begin to send Kaiju intermittently to Earth with the express intention of directing the Kaiju towards Mount Fuji in Japan.

However, their plan was later met with human opposition in the form of the Pan Pacfic Defense Corps, who begin to combat the Kaiju using giant machines. The Precursors remain locked in a battle of attrition with humanity, their attack output increasing as in their efforts to reach Mount Fuji. Eight years into the Kaiju Wars, the Precursors perfect the design of the Kaiju. Following the defeat of Knifehead, Kaiju begin to destroy Jaegers in record numbers.

Precursors gain an additional boon when K-Science officer, Newton Geiszler successfully Drifts with the brain of Mutavore. Though he is able to glimpse their plans to wipe out humanity, the Precursors learn of Marshal Stacker Pentecost's plan to destroy the Breach.

They send Leatherback and Otachi to Hong Kong City to kill Newton. They succeed in destroying Crimson Typhoon, and Cherno Alpha, but both Kaiju are killed by Gipsy Danger. The Precursors mount a final defense against the PPDC in a last stand to protect the Breach, but are unable to prevent Gipsy Danger from entering the Anteverse using Slattern, and destroying their Kaiju creation facility.

Reemergence of the Kaiju

In the ten years since the closure of the Breach, the Precursors were able to gain control of Newton Geiszler and use him to their advantage. In the private sector with Shao Industries, Newton and the Precursors worked to recreate Kaiju on Earth. Using the knowledge compiled from the war, Newton replicates Kaiju issue to grow secondary brains.

Newton is able to create the Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid, Obsidian Fury in the secrecy of an abandoned Jaeger Production Facility in Siberia. The success of Obsidian Fury's creation allowed Newton and the Precursors to replicate Obsidian Fury's design in the mass-produced Drone Jaegers, and the creation of smaller hybrids, Ripplers.

Following the circumstantial death of Mako Mori, the Precursors set their plan into motion, triggering the secondary brain hidden within the chassis of the the Drone Jaegers. Across the Pacific Rim, hybrids cripple the PPDC and begin to open multiple Breaches.

Though Liwen Shao is able to disable most of the hybrids using a feedback loop to disable them, three Kaiju are able to reach MegaTokyo and proceed toward Mount Fuji to fulfill the Precursors plans. Though the Kaiju are able to overpower the PPDC, the Precursors' plan is brought to a halt with the death of the gestalt Kaiju as it reaches the top of Mount Fuji. The Precursors are later made privy to the PPDC's intention to invade the Anteverse.

Uprising War

The Precursors begin to open multiple Breaches across the continent of Australia, catching the PPDC off guard. The PPDC are quickly overwhelmed by their cloned invasion force, and eventually declare the continent lost to the Kaiju.

In addition to their invasion force, the Precursors created a hybrid Kaiju using human DNA, with the ability to shed its human appearance. The hybrid is captured by the PPDC and concealed in the basement of a recruitment center.

Known Inconsistencies

• In Pacific Rim, the goal of the Precursors and the use of the Kaiju are explained by Newton following his Drift with the secondary Kaiju brain and mapped out on the website panpacificdefense.com. In Pacific Rim Uprising, the plot establishes that the PPDC have no idea why the Precursors attacked Earth with the Kaiju, assuming all Kaiju are blindly attacking cities.