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

[nobleminded]

[Despite trying to do his best to get out of the medical bay, Elliot couldn't help but note the state most of the wounded were in. This was...really bad. He was well aware of the fact that somehow death wasn't permanent here, but it was looking like Xerxes Break was far from the only fatality among the transports. Now if only they could heal that world that had been destroyed...

He spots a familiar hoodie (since he had to wear the damn thing for a few days), but the bloodstains are definitely new and remind him a bit of the state he was in when he first arrived. Elliot heads toward her, not letting the moments of invisibility stop him as he works his way around others in the bay, and stops in front of her.]

Kido Tsubomi? Are you all right?

[concealingeyes]

[That voice she knows. She looks up, not even thinking how to answer that question. She's never been a good liar even at the best of times and so she skips it in favour of a different question.]

Are you all right? You didn't go, did you...? It was horrible.

[nobleminded]

[Except he notices that, but he'll be nice enough to answer her question.]

Of course I went! I couldn't leave those people alone when this was The Initiative's fault!

What exactly happened to you?

[concealingeyes]

[For a moment she feels shocked. Elliot went? And he's all right? She really underestimated him. But that combined with his question reminds her of when they met, how he looked then. He's been through something horrible and she never pried but it's obvious now that he knows more than she gave him credit for. So...he'll understand. Probably better than anyone else.

Kido shifts, uncurling her body to show him the dark splash spread out over her hoodie.]

...You get it, huh? Sorry. Sorry I was really hard on you before... [She curls back up in an instant and buries her head back into her knees.]

[nobleminded]

[There was no doubt in his mind that she remembered the shape he was in when he first arrived. His eyes go wider when he sees just how much blood is on her. It's a bit shocking to put together the pieces on how she likely just put together the pieces. It quickly turns to a frown, however.]

What, you think I should get special treatment just because I'm dead? What's that going to help?!

[He crosses him arms.] It's not easy at first, but sooner or later this place forces you to stand on your own two feet again.

[concealingeyes]

[She knows he's right but she shakes her head for the first part.]

...It's not like that, just... I thought you were a clueless spoiled rich person. I didn't really think much about it. So... I'm sorry you were trying so hard and I didn't know.

[nobleminded]

What?

[Veinpop. Why did so many people think he was clueless?! He went to a good school for crying out loud!

...Then again, she is trying to apologize and does seem to be having a pretty rough time of it, so he'll force himself to hold back from yelling.]

How are you supposed to know something no one has told you? Even if you had taken the time to think about it, you couldn't know for sure. Until I came here, I would have never suspected I could encounter people who had already died.