Other Worlds: V 2.0

[initiates]

Date & Time: May 21st, beginning at 0900.
Location: The Initiative Hold and all throughout Elmer's world
Characters: Anyone participating in the fighting, anyone staying behind.
Summary: Elmer's world is fought for and lost.
Warnings: Violence, death.

They reopen the portal at 0900, May 21st. The first scientist who stepped through was killed within thirty seconds; the rest who followed made it back through to Exsilium, albeit not unscathed. The portal was shut again by a panicked operator, although a second operator knew to keep the coordinates locked.

Within ten minutes, the alert had been sent out. There's no time to wait for the Transports to gather en masse; as soon as they have a sizable enough force to stand a chance at fighting through and clearing their gateway's location, the door is opened again.

Immediately inside the door is a desolate, grim scene. What had previously been the coast of Japan is now scorched earth, blasted sand, and little else. As the first point of contact for this world, it has undoubtedly suffered the worst. Here, the UE didn't stop at governments, financial centers, and capitols — the UE destroyed everything in sight. There are enough UE soldiers remaining in the broken country to give the Transports a difficult battle, although by now the bulk of their forces have moved on.

The Initiative will soon realize the necessity of opening more gateways, just as the UE had done. Transports will be deployed to London, Berlin, Paris, DC Washington, Moscow, Beijing, New York City, Hong Kong, Madrid. Through each of these windows, the destruction is staggering. Buildings are more husks than structures, everything that can burn is alight, and the death toll is off the charts. Blackened bodies seem to line every street, while pieces litter the ground among the rubble. There's no doubt that the UE has no need of the people of this world. They're after resources only, and anything and anyone already here is to be removed.

You can find UE soldiers everywhere. They move in coordinated squadrons of 20, and each of them carries a small arsenal. Even without their incredibly advanced and destructive weaponry, they're fearfully formidable. Each soldier, while still only human, is a genetically perfect clone, further enhanced by technological implants. They're all highly trained in physical combat. Even if you can disarm one of them, don't count on close-range attacks being any easier to handle. They've brought along cannons, small flying craft, and lightweight tanks. Each of these is the top of the line in terms of technology, geared toward destroying as much as it can, as quickly as it can. The United Earth is here to destroy, and they won't stop to wonder why their targets go from being civilians and scrambling, off-guard, comparatively primitive militaries, to trained and powered Transports.

For anyone staying at home, they'll find that any Initiative presence has withdrawn fully to the Hold. All Initiative employees are needed, and most of them in the med bays. The majority of the Initiative focus is on recalling and resurrecting fallen Transports, but attention is still needed for the living-but-wounded. Any Transports who stay in Exsilium and offer their help will have it immediately accepted; they'll be put to work in the medical wings, runnings supplies, or simply set at a machine and told to keep an eye on the numbers: Transport vitals, UE movements, and maps upon maps of changing statistics and colors.

At 1500, the Initiative will recall all Transport soldiers back to Exsilium and seal shut the gateway. The UE numbers are too great, their soldiers too powerful, and Elmer's world is lost.

Comments

Artie & Claudia | Moscow | OTA

[curatesecrets]

A:

The gate is a new and strange experience for both of them - and yet somehow, not (thank you, Rheticus' compass). Artie and Claudia don't take long to recover from the trip, and are quick to move for cover. It's not Artie's first time in a war zone, but it is for Claudia, and he's quick to help her move for cover. Wherever they duck into, feel free to say you got there first. Is there room? Or, more importantly, is it truly safe?

B:

Sure, there are only three shots on Artie's Tesla, but a revolver has far more options, and he's not worried about sparing the lives of anyone who's heartless enough to do this to an entire planet. Anyone in the thick of the fighting will notice an odd duo: an old man with a service revolver fighting in close quarters by a teenage girl with a guitar that's ... shooting lightning bolts.

Artie pauses to reload, ducking out of the line of fire as he hollers over the din. "Could you PLEASE try to watch your aim? I'd rather not lose my eyebrows on my first mission OUT."

C:

The tank was really just asking for it, honestly. All those UE soldiers either dead or KO'd, only one left to guard it while the reinforcements came in? It was the work of one simple Tesla blast to put him out, and then Claudia was climbing into the hatch.

Her partner, however, was less than enthusiastic about the opportunity, keeping his back to the behemoth piece of equipment as he scanned the street for any approaching targets.

"Claudia, NO. No, this is a BAD IDEA - whatever it is you -- no really, what EXACTLY in the name of Han Shizhong do you think you're DOING up there??"

[acts_of_claudia]

Claudia had, in her infinite wisdom, decided to dive headfirst into the hatch. This resulted in her hanging upside down in the thing with little clue how to get down the rest of the way. Not that that's ever stopped her before, of course. She called up the hatch to her reluctant companion, "Dude chill! I'm just getting us a new set of wheels... treads... whatever. Just watch my guitar, alright? I'll be two shakes."

With one final kick of her converse she fell into the tank, grabbing hold of one of the seat backs to keep herself from eating floor. Now that she was inside she looked around at the controls. She muttered to herself, "hoookay, Claudia, this is a little different than hotwiring a Mustang." Taking a breath and pulling herself into the seat she called out again, "Make that three."

[curatesecrets]

"HOW DO YOU EVEN QUANTIFY A SHAKE, CLAUDIA?!" He hollered back, checking the chambers of his pistol. Five shots, no need to reload just yet. His Tesla, however, was still recharging, humming away in the inside pocket of his coat. Taking out the last guard had been his second shot with the thing, and he had a good five minutes before he could use it again. He was beginning to see the merits of using the tank for cover ...

His gaze fell on Jimi Hendrix's guitar. "Wait, she'd said she'd be back which means she isn't going for cover which means that she's --"

Artie's eyes widened and he slung the guitar over his shoulder along with his doctor's bag, reaching for the rungs on the side of the tank.

"CLAUDIAAAAAA! NO! NONONONONONONONONO!"

[acts_of_claudia]

"ONE SHAKE EQUALS TWO JIFFIES!" She shouted over her shoulder before setting to work trying to make heads or tails out of this tank. Oh look, a touch screen. That made her life that much easier. When you were used to working with things that hadn't been touched in over a century anything like this was a walk in the park.

She smirked as she touched the screen and a password request came up. Oh that was cute. She set to work, breezing through the security and pulling up the controls. Oh man this was going to be easier than she thought. It's like they want their tanks to be taken over by a 19 year old hacker.

"Yeeeesyesyesyesyesyesyes," She laughed as she touched the screen with a flourish and the tank roared to life.

[curatesecrets]

Artie was still in the process of counting the blessing that no UE soldiers had come for the tank yet, when it started running. "OH GOOD, THIS IS VERY INCONSPICUOUS, THANK YOU, LET'S START THE TANK WHILE I'M CLIMBING IT, PERFECT."

Pausing only briefly to make sure the bag and the guitar were both still secure on his shoulder, he made his way up to the top of the tank and started for the hatch. He wasn't going to look a gift assault vehicle in the mouth, as nervous as the thought of Claudia driving one made him... and judging from the commotion he was starting to see in a building down the street, getting inside the tank was probably his wisest course of action.

There was only one problem.

"Claudia....?"

He gritted his teeth, hands tightening in frustration around the top rung of the ladder.

"Claudia, I --"

He couldn't even say it - mostly because his pride was in the way just about as much as his own girth and the bags he'd schlepped. But no matter: Claudia only had to look up to see what he wouldn't say.

He was stuck.

[acts_of_claudia]

"Hey. You snooze you loose, now get in here so we can blow this Popsicle stand. And, hey, if we see any Popsicle stands we can do that literally." She laughed, eyes scanning over the controls on the screen as she waited for Artie to get his butt down there so they could skedaddle.

Still waiting...

What the hell is taking him - she looks up and sees feet, legs, hips... and the rest of him crammed in the hole along with her guitar and his bag. Seriously, dude, respect the guitar. She frowns for a moment but, well, it's just too easy, "Oh, help and bother. Hey, Pooh Bear! Are you just resting, and thinking, and humming to yourself or are you stuck in that thar honey tree?"

[curatesecrets]

"NOT THE TIME, CLAUDIA. People are coming."

He struggles, twisting to try and get loose, and nearly loses his footing on the ladder. "And my revolver's in the bag. And my Tesla's still charging."

[acts_of_claudia]

She types a few commands on the screen and the outside displays flicker to life, "Okay. Yeah. I can see that. Uuuuhhhh hold on."

She scrambles out of the seat, stepping up on the bottom rungs of the ladder so she can reach Artie. "Can't you just, I don't know, suck it in?" She gestures, ignoring the fact that he can't even see her. Sighing, she grabs the bag and tugs, trying to pull it down into the tank to make some room. "I'd give you mine if you could get to it."

[curatesecrets]

Pulling on the bag isn't doing the best things in the world to his shoulder, but, he can't help but remind himself, he's lived through far worse. Even so, he grunts at the sudden, unexpected movement, and grits his teeth.

"Either get me in there or hand something up, there is no option C, here."

[accidentalgenocide]

She happens to be already waiting in the room they find to use for cover. She's ... really quite a sight, all things considered -- brilliant pink hair, armed only with a rather extravagant looking rapier and a bright smile on her face. She's a bit nervous, but she tries not to let it show.

"Oh, hello!"

[acts_of_claudia]

Hey, man, Claudia has a streak of bright green in her hair so she's not gonna judge. She keeps one hand on the neck of her guitar to keep it from swinging as she puts her back to a wall, looking around. She can't help but wonder for the billionth time what the hell she's doing here.

Oh, wait, someone's talking to her. Someone who isn't trying to kill her! That's a bonus. She smiles, giving the girl a little finger-waggle of a wave, "Uh, hi. Sorry to crash your hideout."

[curatesecrets]

In a flash, Artie looks their comrade over - she doesn't look like much, but then again, if she wasn't, she wouldn't be here. And he's seen first-hand the kind of damage a sword can do when used properly.

"Just got here. Any idea where they're headed? The ... the others, the --" It's a hell of a time for him to forget his important words. He gestures ineffectively for a moment. "-- UE."

[accidentalgenocide]

"Oh, it's no trouble," she replies warmly. "The more the merrier, I suppose!"

As for Artie's question, her smile quickly fades into a bit of a thoughtful frown. "I'm afraid I don't know for certain. That was actually what I was trying to figure out before the two of you arrived!"

But before she can continue, her face lights up in realization. Where are her manners!?

"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Euphie! It's a pleasure to meet you both." She does a curtsy for them, despite the lack of her usual floor-length dress.

[acts_of_claudia]

The more the merrier. Somehow that doesn't seem quite fitting for a war zone but hey what does Claudia know? The only war zone she'd been in was a reenactment. She tries to keep an eye out for... for... well for anything. Uh. She can at least attempt to look like she knows what she's doing right? Right?!

She gives the girl a nod, smirking a little at the curtsy, "I'm Claudia. That's my not-so-plucky sidekick Artie. It's nice to meet you, Euphie."

[curatesecrets]

"Sidekick?!" He makes a face, even as he's rummaging in his bag for his tablet. "You wish, maybe. ... Nice to meet you too, though, Euphie. Let me see if they've sent us any maps on our tablets ... If not, then at least I know Moscow well enough to find a landmark or two."

C

[reconnaissance]

"Bad ideas, huh? I'm pretty fond of them, myself."

A wicked grin, and a voice that might not be so completely unfamiliar to either of them, although last time there was a lot more anger involved. She's clambering up, as well, and the light moves over her strangely, as her body and her clothes camouflage under shadow.

"G'day." Well, being in a tank sure beats being out there, although-- "You two got a plan for big bertha, here? 'Cause you're gonna go under some friendly fire, I reckon."

Ellie Linton: she's a helper.

\o/

[curatesecrets]

He knows that voice - and paired with the Aussie slang, it's even harder to mistake. Even though he knew that they'd all been brought here for the same purpose, somehow he still looks surprised as Ellie runs up and starts climbing up the tank.

"... Ellie! Uh --"

It probably has something to do with the fact that the light's moving over her like she's wearing an artifact. He wasn't expecting to see something like that at work this far from the Warehouse. "-- I was just going to use it for cover while my weapon recharged, but -- we could certainly be a bit more ambitious about it."

[acts_of_claudia]

Whoa, hey, Claudia knows that voice, too. She pauses in her hacking to crane he neck over to look up the hatch, "A bit more ambitious. Don't listen to Major Killjoy, there, Ellie. We're gonna take this baby for a spin!"

She laughs, hands flying over the screen as she hacks into the control system and gets a feel for the old girl. Wow this really was like stealing candy from highly trained armed soldiers. It was already easier than she thought it'd be.

She keeps talking as she works, "As for the friendly fire thing? I, uh, I'm still working on that part."

[reconnaissance]

Oh, Claudia. She likes her, gives her a conspiratorial grin and Artie... Artie gets a rather less conspiratorial grin, like it was meant to be sympathetic and just totally failed because this is too awesome.

"Too right we are. I always wanted to add a tank to my repertoire." Nothing makes her feel at home like the opportunity to hijack a dangerous vehicle, and she's eyeing the controls as Claudia hacks in. Admittedly this is a little more technologically advanced than what she's used to, but when has that ever stopped her?

And while her partner in crime works away, she looks back to Artie. "You need to charge your weapon?" Maybe just slightly judging. "How is that practical?"

[curatesecrets]

Thankfully, he's only carrying his own stuff up this time, as he follows them into the tank. "It was designed to be non-lethal, for emergencies only ... they told me it'll evolve the longer I'm here, but some good it's doing now. Which is why -"

Feet firmly on the ground, he opened up his doctor's bag and pulled out his service revolver briefly enough to show her. "I also brought this. As well as a few other things, but no magician shows all his tricks at once."

[acts_of_claudia]

Claudia rolls her eyes, "Dude if you're that hard up you can just use mine. I've got my hands full with Bertha here, anyway."

She's flicking through screens with ease, now, until she finds what she's looking for. Ah, there's the ignition sequence. With a cackle of delight she touches the screen and the tank roars to life.

"Don't let him fool ya, Ellie. I'm still waiting for the day he pulls a rabbit out of that bag of tricks of his."

[reconnaissance]

"Oh, yeah." She nods. "They do some interesting things." The camouflage disappears when she isn't in shadow, but she holds up her hand, anyway. "I'm interested to see what happens." She made herself her weapon, and isn't too sure exactly, but... "Invisibility might be on the cards. Watch your back, Artie."

A positively mischievous grin, and then she's sticking close to Claudia. "Gotcha. You know, we build fences to take care of rabbits, back home. Just saying." Farm girl solution: build a fence, see what happens.

"Do you think Betha could take out other tanks, or is that asking a bit much?" Of themselves, as much as the machine.

B, for it amuses me greatly

[talenteddog]

Tenpou on the battlefield is far more observant than Tenpou absolutely anywhere else. He can, with complete honesty, say that he has yet to see anything quite like the show two of his fellow Transports are putting on when he arrives in Moscow.

He also recognizes the voice. Well, can't let a man with such a good sense of humor lose his eyebrows, now can he?

Although his katana is slung over his back, ready to be used, it's a pistol he pulls as he approaches the fighting, instead. It's close enough to a banishing gun that he can ignore the impersonal approach to death. "I think she's doing a fine job."

[curatesecrets]

"Seen many bolt-shooting guitars in your lifetime, then?" Artie manages a quip of his own as he finishes loading his revolver and snaps the chamber shut.

"Where are we headed? Is there a goal, other than survive and stop these guys?"

(Wasn't sure if we were waiting on a third, sorry about the delay!)

[talenteddog]

"Not a single one. It's refreshing." Not that he's going to underestimate it in the slightest, though. He'll just take up a position on Artie's other side.

"I think surviving is an admirable enough goal in this case. The official line seems to include winning, but we'll see."