[UNITED STATES - IHA]
[1 DAY LATER]
Adam White took a deep breath…when he was a young man his dream was to be a writer. He found himself reminiscing on his younger days, when life seemed simpler and more straightforward.
He thought of traveling the world and stopping for six months to live in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam…perhaps he would find a girl there, get married and start a family.
Reality turned out to be far more complicated.
"As fighters, there is not much we can do to help Jinwoo, Suho, and Thalia…but there is something we can do as President and Vice-President of the IHA." Adam said.
"There fight is in space…our fight is here. Our fight is against an intangible enemy, it's the "resistance to change" mentality, the "fear of the unknow", and the rejection of something new. We can't afford to be divided…not anymore…not right now."
"We need the Universal Asylum Bill (also known as "UAB") to pass."
Jinchul nodded in agreement…in many ways their opponent was stronger than any Itarim. An Itarim can be killed…but an idea? How does one defeat ideology?
"The only thing that can kill narrow thinking is the truth…we need to tell the people the truth…share with them the facts." Jinchul said.
"I agree…but that will cause mass paranoia." Adam warned.
"This is a fight we can't escape…paranoia or not…the people should know."
Adam sighed deeply…he knew Jinchul was right.
The next day an international emergency assembly was called.
A few days later the entire world community was told the truth. The media quickly named this the Third Cataclysm.
Stock markets across the world plummeted as fear and paranoia overtook people.
Ahjin Soft announced free universal service and even monetary incentives for new hunters. This helped calm the fears a bit.
Media and news networks across the world interviewed hunters who had fought and survived during the 1st and 2nd Cataclysm…these all shared encouraging stories of heroism and valor.
Social media influencers spread messages such as "We can do it", "We can win", "Earth strong," and "Together as One!"
A week later, the fears had died down as humanity accepted their reality…what came next was a mass push to prepare for war.
A few days later the Universal Asylum Bill was enacted into law.
Humanity was coming together in the face of a crisis…as it always has.
To say the entire world joined hands to face a common enemy would be an exaggeration. There were groups that proclaimed the warning issued by IHA and the UN as "fake news" driven by financial reasons. Groups of conspiracy theorists emerged claiming this was all an elaborate hoax and that the IHA and UN were attempting to mind-control the population.
In addition, there we "end-of-the-world" groups that built underground bunkers and survival shelters. Some took advantage of this and started selling "end of the world survival tickets" to the "secure bunkers" online.
The most notable of all the opposition groups was the remnant members of the Church of the Apostles. They welcomed the arrival of the North Empire as the "second coming" accompanied by a "rapture" of the truly faithful. Some of these members were seen preaching in the streets their message of "salvation."
The majority of humanity, though, took seriously the warning issued by the IHA and UN. A big portion of the world's population had experienced the 1st and 2nd Cataclysms. As a result, they had engraved in their memory the seriousness of these invasions. Furthering, they reasoned this coming invasion would be far worse…so they wisely heeded the warning. Millions of new hunter applications were submitted and approved as humanity prepared for the war.
Hunter guilds around the world accepted, trained, and hired the wave of new hunters. Large guilds such as the Scavengers and White Tiger guilds offered steep discounts on weapons, armors, artifacts and even runes stones.
During the following weeks, the IHA along with the UN and world governments enacted the following war related policies.
Declared State of Emergency.
This measure gave temporary authority to the IHA to expedite key decisions.
Established a Central Command Center and Hubs.
The IHA headquarters would serve as the "Central Command" and would serve as the primary source of information. The data would be shared with "hubs". These hubs were each nation's Hunters Associations.
Designate Ahjin Soft as the Primary Intelligence Division.
Ahjin Soft would take the lead in gate detection, measurement, and intelligence gathering functions. Jinho Yoo was selected to personally oversee this division.
Nation Level Hunters
IHA would coordinate and deploy Nation Level Hunters including Hae-in Cha and Il-Hwan Sung to handle Apostle level threats.
Monarch's Army
Monarch Thomas Andre's giant and titan army along with Esil's demon army would be deployed to handle the largest of all gates.
Civilians
Civilians to be evacuated to "low-risk" zones. That term was somewhat confusing and not explained very well by the IHA. The idea was to move civilians away from large cities and large urban areas.
One highly controversial idea was the "1 Billion Hunter Army" proposal. A few world leaders proposed conscripting civilans in order to reach 1 billion hunters. The proposal was eventually declined. Inflating the army headcount with inexperienced and conscripted individuals would pose serious challenges and potentially damage morale.