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

the hold; open

[chronologistics]

[Dave is probably in the way.

--not directly, at least. It's more like he's just taking up space, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and arm balanced as casually as possible on his knee. His red god tier duds are dusty, caked with blood -- some of it his, and some of it not -- and his hair is sticking to his face and neck.

But he doesn't plan on getting up anytime soon.

For now, he's just sitting. Everything is sore, everything is stiff; his bottom lip is cracked and bleeding, and he probably should go and get his knuckles bandaged... but there are other people who are worse off than stiff shoulders, cracked lips, and busted knuckles. He's taped up enough of his own wounds in his time to know that -- and so for now he's just...

Sitting.

(Try not to trip over him.)]

[copia]

[ Kaede is in the Hold, sticking to the edges to be out of the way as she looks for people she knows. It is mayhem — no, it is insanity is what it is.

And in this moment, this is Exsilium. This is what she, and many other people, have been pulled into, and will have to deal with for the next few months.

Her thoughts revert to her father and his partner. What would they do? How would they handle this? She pushes those thoughts to the back of her head for now, but she would certainly revisit them later.

She changes her spot every few minutes, and as she moves to change her position once more, she spots a familiar mop of hair. Sure, she's only seen it for a few seconds once, but there is also that ridiculous outfit, and it confirms the wearer's identity.

The preteen swipes a water bottle, some gauze, and a small cold pack from an inattentive cart, before she sits down next to him. The swiped items are placed between them as she slides her hood down. ]

[chronologistics]

[Sweet outfit. There, fixed it for you.

A few moments pass where Dave doesn't move much, outside of the way he strokes his thumb over his own finger, and so at first it looks like he hadn't noticed anyone sitting next to him, much less any of the items he or she may have swiped.

And then he sighs -- his shoulders rise with it, then fall -- and he turns his head in her direction and gives her an acknowledging tip of his chin.]

Sup.

[It's soft, but very subtly guarded.]

[copia]

[ They shall continue to agree to disagree.

She slides one earbud out of her ear when she sees movement in her peripheral vision. She sighs as she rubs her face, stretching her legs out for the moment. ]

Worrying like crazy. [ She picks up the cold pack and concentrates for a moment before she ices it over lightly. ] You should keep this on your lip, hm?

[chronologistics]

[The world will surely implode if they ever not disagree.]

Gonna turn your hair white. [Behind his shades, he blinks, almost like he isn't sure he's actually seeing what he's seeing.] It's cool, I've dealt with worse.

[copia]

[ One day, man, one day... ]

Yeah, yeah... [ She raises an eyebrow at him before taking his hand and pressing it into his palm. ] Worse or not, you'll need it at some point. Or do you think you could look cool with a slightly puffy lip?

[chronologistics]

[His muscles tighten on instinct when she reaches for his hand -- can't grow up expecting to be gaslighted by a puppet bombardment at every twist and turn without developing some hairtrigger reactions -- but his fingers close around it, even as he shrugs his shoulder.]

Some chicks dig the rugged just-jumped-out-of-a-flaming-airplane-to-put-the-bunny-in-the-box look.

[copia]

[ She rolls her eyes lightly as she shakes her head, although there is a small smile on her face. He is definitely helping some of her anxiety go away. ]

I suppose so. Maybe I'll be one of those "chicks" when I'm older, but that is doubtful.

[chronologistics]

[Dave is generally good at that.]

Nah. You look more like the smooth-as-a-baby's-ass-talk-nerdy-to-me-in-the-library type.

[boughtabookstore]

[ She had no intention of going into this battle - she'd arrived late, and she'd heard enough from those returning to understand that it was a losing battle and be worried about the possibility of a strike here while everyone was gone.

But that didn't mean she couldn't provide what help was possible around the Hold - running information and errands and supplies, helping hold down the wounded so they could be healed - whatever was necessary.

She passes by him a few times before she realizes that he's still just sitting there. His wounds haven't looked bad, but it's possible he's nursing something worse that can't be seen, so she aims her steps back towards him and takes a crouch nearby, glancing him over. ]

There's room in the medbay.

[chronologistics]

[All things considered, they are very superficial.

That said, he shrugs one of his shoulders -- the one that's not stiff.]

There's also room right here. [And people who need the medbay more than me, is what he's not saying.]

[boughtabookstore]

People are using the hallway.

[ A quick shake of her head. It's not really her business, but still. ]

If you intend to go out, you should get yourself looked at first.

[chronologistics]

Yep, and I'm one of them.

[Roslyn, meet the singlemost stubborn teenager you will ever have the pleasure of meeting.]

It's cool. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna live.

[boughtabookstore]

No, you're taking up room.

[ Calm and peremptory. She does not mean to be unkind, but he is in the way. ]

If you go into the field already wounded, you very well may not.

[chronologistics]

I'd take up the same amount of room in the medbay too. Unless that's where they're stashing the particle compactor, but even then I'm not really behind the whole Honey-I-Shrunk-the-Kids look.

[... who even fucking knows what he's saying anymore.]

Nah, I will.

[And he sounds very strangely over-confident about it.]

[boughtabookstore]

[ She definitely doesn't, as evidenced by the sheer skepticism on her face. ]

You sound sure of yourself.

[tipsygnostalgia]

[A little while later, a familiar blonde is crouching down in front of him, tapping a shoulder lightly to gain his attention.]

Hey.

[chronologistics]

[The only sign of the flinch that comes from her tapping his shoulder is the flex in his fingers. His expression remains neutral as he tips his head back to look up at her from under his hood.]

Sup.

[reassures]

[The whole thing has been long and difficult. There are dark smudges on Nill's hands, cheeks, clothes - some her own, some not, though it's hard to say given that her clothes are mostly black.

It's hard to tell if she was seeking Dave out or if she stumbled across him by accident. It doesn't seem to matter a great deal; as soon as she spots him, she makes her way over and takes up a seat beside him on the ground, one kunai held tightly in her hand.

It's awful and selfish, and Nill has barely spoken to him since the day he got here. She just really wants to be near a familiar face, even if the face isn't quite enough to make her feel any better.]

[chronologistics]

[If he noticed her before she sat down (he did) he doesn't acknowledge it.

He does, however, offer her a sideways glance before reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.

The weight of something familiar in his hands proides a little comfort.]

you arent going to try to rearrange my face again are you

[reassures]

[She stares at his phone for a long moment, before shaking her head.

It doesn't show on her face outside of the way her brow is knit together slightly, but she feels sick to her stomach. A world just ended because everyone had fucked up. Nill had done what she could, but well-- there was nothing that could really be done. The world had been lost, and just a few days ago Nill had sat under the sun in that universe, drinking in the warmth there while she could. She still had a tan from it.

Her guns are at her side, and Nill never once lets go of the knife in her hand, but she pulls out her tablet, and types on it with one hand.]

How much of that is yours?

[The blood, she means.]

[chronologistics]

good
kinda tired of telling people to get in the lets punch dave in the face line

[Dave glances down at his duds, as if noticing the blood for the first time. He's quiet for a long moment.

How much of it is his?]

not that much

[It's up to her to decide how truthful that is.]

[reassures]

I won't do it again.

[She'd kind of felt bad for it later. Once he was out of sight and she was alone, anyway. Up until then, she'd just been hurt and angry and trying desperately not to break down crying.

The slight worry on her face just grows at his comment, though. It's not a surprising answer - she's not totally sure what is and isn't hers on her clothes, either.

...Hah. There's a strange sort of irony to it - the boy beside her is bleeding, while she was bleeding the same blood. (She never did get used to the idea of blood transfusions.)

Or maybe she still can't get irony right.]

How badly does it hurt?

[A slight pause, before she pulls the tablet back to add,]

I don't mind if you talk.

[chronologistics]

[He shakes his head, though it's a little stiff. It doesn't really feel right, to talk out loud when she can't.]

on a scale of 1 to 10 its probably a 2
like is that a puppy using my foot as a chew toy or what
what about you

[reassures]

[She doesn't really understand why he feels badly about it. No one else ever has, and it seems a little strange to her. On a better day, it might be sort of endearing, but right now Nill can't really muster anything cheerful inside her to appreciate it.]

1.5

[The biggest problem is the small head wound, where her hair is a little matted with blood. It's not a bad wound really, but she can feel her head throb with every heartbeat because of it.]

Are you okay?

[This time, she doesn't mean the injuries.]