Heyo readers! Dan here.
Sorry that this is late and all. For the next couple weeks, due to the hectic nature of life, the comic updates will be a bit more sporadic. We’ll still be posting 2 new pages a week, but it probably won’t be Monday and Thursday mornings. So just keep your eyes open for new pages and keep coming back. Nick and I will be posting non-comic page content more often to make up for it.
Enjoy!
The history of Aegis is actually quite interesting. In the early days after the War, when the Long Winter first began to abate, Minerva faced few military or political threats. The few survivors they encountered were so weak from malnutrition and radiation poisoning that they couldn’t have posed a serious danger even if they had tried. No, it wasn’t until later, when Minerva expanded its territory that they first began to encounter armed competitors.
My recent research on the use of biological weapons at Nagasaki spurred my interest on the role the BCL played in pre-War science, politics, and the later founding of Minerva. It is clear to me that they developed and produced many more biological weapons in the decades following World War II.
Many of the casualties of the Vietnam War attributed to battles, bombing and disease were actually victims of extensive biological warfare. The horrific results of these atrocities led to the signing of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, outlawing the development and use of all biological weapons. The BCL lost its funding soon afterward and was shut down in 1974. In the official record, the story of the BCL ends there. My personal research has uncovered, however, that many of their top researchers were recruited by the Foundation, an apolitical secret organization, to continue their work.
The Archives are full of references to Secret Societies, both real and imagined. Apparently this was an issue of much interest among pre-War peoples, for there were even many sociologists who studied the unfounded beliefs in conspiracies and secret groups plotting to take over the world. How ironic that the one secret organization to escape detection was one of the only ones completely uninterested in world domination.
The Foundation, inspired by and named after the works and ideas of author Isaac Asimov, had only one goal: to preserve the knowledge and technology of the world for the fall of civilization they believed would inevitably come. Established after the terrors of World War II, the Foundation constantly sought out scientists and researchers who shared their distaste for politicians and militaries interfering in the pursuit of knowledge. After decades of the recruitment, the Foundation had a veritable army of researchers developing technological advancements well beyond the scope of their peers constrained by government grants and approval.
In the years leading up to and during the War, while many pundits prophesied that soon all would be well again, the Foundation had prepared itself for the worst. When the dust settled and the Long Winter set in, they patiently waited, knowing that in time, they would be able to lead forth in a glorious Rebirth.
-An excerpt from Diego S. Cervantez’ seminal work, Minerva’s Origins: The Foundation, circa 2087.
It is unclear when the name Minerva was adopted, but the principles and ideals of the Foundation have managed to live on. As advanced as our technology and research has become, there continues to be a general distaste for warfare and an abhorrence of weapons of mass destruction. It was only when the situation grew exceedingly bleak that Glaucus’ researchers finally deigned to develop improved weapons and technology for Aegis’ soldiers. Even now, they do so with little pleasure.
I have been informed that the format of my research leaves something to be desired, and that I should try to quote less and share my own thoughts more. It’s not a requirement though, and this is my personal research, so I’ll continue as I please. It’s more efficient to to link to the source data directly, and prevent the duplication of existing data within our Archive.
What have we done?! The purpose of Project Wormwood was to develop antidotes and treatments in case of advanced biological attack. They told us that they would never use our research as a weapon. If we had known what they were planning on doing, if we had had any idea… No, we should have known. When faced with invasion and near-certain defeat, any nation would have done everything possible to defend itself. But at such a cost. Millions dead. Millions more dying. The survivors are the unlucky ones, cursed to be plague bearers forever. God almighty, what have we done?!