exsiliumlogs | Other Worlds: V 2.0

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Other Worlds: V 2.0

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.

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Max, he would counter, is the only person in the world who's ever handed him the option of thinking he wasn't worthless, that he might be part of something greater. Changing the world, being part of the Sphinx's vision, making more difference than a lone vigilante ever could. The thing was, she was the bright light in his world, and he knew that he was just part of a number of lights in hers - and not a captivating one, at that. It could be part of a blaze that lit the sky, but only because that blaze required many parts. His contribution alone would not be missed. Max had people who were more useful than himself. Exsilium had people more useful, powerful, intelligent as well. Being a shield was how they'd forged their ties, though, and being a shield might just be where his purpose lay, even if it was a little more removed than they'd normally think. So when she tugs at him, he does look, holds her gaze.

I'm always careful.

That was how he'd met her, wasn't it? Being careful? Really he'd rather just stay with her, but-- God, that would be so selfish. And when they want such different things, staying near her just seems so unfair to them both. (But dragging himself away when they were only just reunited is a mess, too.)

It had been some time since Alice had been pushed to such lengths during combat.

She had considered herself a formidable enough fighter, capable of producing the necessary results, but in this occasion, her best was simply not enough. Her objective had been less about securing victory and turned into flat out survival. As the injuries mounted up, Alice had inevitably reached her breaking point. The majority of her being turned a ghastly white, clothing included. With her hair remaining black, the only color she held came in the blood coming from her eyes and mouth. Her hands were also drenched same blood.

Alice took care of the most recent group of attackers, standing triumphantly amongst a pile of eviscerated bodies. She remained relatively still, still in her altered state. She was waiting.

Waiting for someone else to arrive.

[Having passed out from her injuries shortly after making it back to The Hold, Alice wakes up and... Where is she? There's a bed, obviously. Though judging from the sheer number of people, it all becomes too clear.

She's still pretty roughed up, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get back on her feet.]

This is too much, finding Adonis right after his death and fighting over such stupid things; she needs time to collect herself, possibly with the help of a bottle of vodka.

"Liar," He's reckless, because he doesn't value his life as much as he should, after everything that he's been through and everything Asteria's done, and she's been trying to change his opinion of himself, but obviously it's not working.

[Did he just...? No, no, no, no. Those bullets were supposed to...]

You utter buffoon!

[She yells, despite the fact that Elmer had just gotten between her and those bullets. Alice doesn't quite yet realize of the short downtime between death and revival, but it doesn't make her feel any better about it all.]

Why in heaven's name would you even do such a thing?!

[Is he even still alive?]

Painwheel is a little worse for wear, but aside from her mask being damaged, she is otherwise alright. At this point, she's sort of roaming through The Hold and looking for her friends. She can't really do much in the way of first aid for them so all she's wanting to do is to just check up on them and make sure they're alright.

And alive.

"K-Kanaya...?" That was really her, wasn't it? Yeah, it definitely was. Painwheel was so relieved that she was okay, she just kind of runs up to her friend and roommate and gives her a big hug. "I'm so glad! I was really worried about you!"

The look he gives her is just faintly incredulous. She, who pretends that she doesn't despise herself and that she doesn't hurt, thinks that he is a liar? Atlas scoffs, quietly swallows a laugh, before he signs, we have different priorities.

Their personal selves seemed low on each of their respective lists.

If the resurrection technology fails, there's a woman called Morgana that lives on the first floor of the Transport residence, room one-zero-six. She's been helpful to me, she'd help you, too. A hesitation, before he continues, adjusting the straps on his armour, making sure his wrist bracers will hold firm. She looks a lot like Selene. She'll know you're with Adonis if you tell her that.

Maybe the tech will fail, this time. Maybe.

Painwheel was in the area and couldn't help but notice the body as it was shot down. She flew up right after seeing them fall to one of the rooftops. Wanting to make this as quick as possible, she walks over and kneels down next to the body. A girl it looked like, kind of familiar, too, but there wasn't much time for that right now.

"Hey... Are you... Can you hear me?" She asks, gently nudging the body.

There's nothing she can do but meet his gaze, steady, challenging, daring him to say something instead of just judging her silently. He always does this, looking at her and seeing too much. It's only gotten worse since Asteria ripped away her secrets and gave them to Adonis.

"It won't fail," If it does, she will kill an Initiative member every hour until they fix it and bring him back to her.

She doesn't know what to do with the mention of tihs Morgana. Some woman who looks like Selene, who's been helping him, when Max didn't even know he was here? Something possessive and jealous rises in her throat, but she ignores it.

"I'll be here," She'll wait in the Hold until he returns for good.

"Dagger?" Painwheel asks, coming up to her once the... old man and all the thunder finally goes away. She hadn't actually shown herself to Dagger before but... there was really no time to be feeling awkward about her appearance. Not when there was so much going on.

"Dagger! What was that just now? Are you alright?"

[He's longed for action, for a chance to prove himself, redeem himself, for an enemy to take his anger out on.

He was stupid. These numbers are overwhelming and he's lost; he fought one on one or usually - two on one - fights against monsters and those have been tough enough. But he's never been in a war. A pistol with some spare ammo and a knife feel like trying to go up against these people with a sponge. But he's gotta do something. This may be his home and it may not be but this is America. And people are dying. And he has no idea where Dean is and that alone is enough to push him forward, to kill as many of these soldiers as he can, because one soldier down means one less soldier to lay a finger on Dean.

So much for not killing humans. He'll wallow in that later. For now, he uses this other transport's handy attack to cut off the sidelines, shooting one soldier right in the eyes, and getting tackled from behind by another.]

[Sporting some bandages and injures of her own, Alice is walking around the infirmary. She takes care not to be in anybody's way as she looks at the people on the beds. All she's doing now is just trying to get in touch with her friends, and hope that their own wounds aren't life-threatening.]

Tori? Is that...

[Ah, her previous roommate. Well that certainly a relief.]

Thank goodness I found you here.

"If," if was the operative, and they both knew all too well how unreliable things were. The mere possibility of it failing is enough to make him want to hold onto her and refuse to move, to do anything. That wasn't going to solve the problems of this scorched Earth any faster, and it wouldn't answer any of his questions, really. He just can't sit around and do nothing, even if that nothing is staying at Max's side and refusing to move.

"B-- b-be uh, be c-careful."

He wanted to say it out loud, even if it sounds so awkward on his tongue, before he just gives her a nod, and goes for the door.

[He expected that response, but it doesn't hurt any less. What hurts even more is the fact that it hurts at all.

His arms tighten around her for a fraction of a second. He doesn't know what to say — there's no point in begging her not to go, and he certainly doesn't want to admit that she's right. Or has a point, anyway.

She's more useful there than here. Especially now that Adam's out of the picture.

But that doesn't make him feel any less sick over the whole thing.]

[Bolin stumbles back towards the portal, running as fast as he can on his fucked up ankle. He may be crying -- he can be embarrassed about that later.

He's had his first taste of real combat, and he does not like it.

He trips and falls not far from Pidonus. Come on, Bolin. Get up! GET UP! But his limbs refuse to move.]

Edited 2013-05-22 13:40 (UTC)

There should be words for this, she should be able to find words for this, when words are her weapons and she weaves them so carefully, but right now her throat is too tight and her tongue feels like cotton.

So she just watches him leaves, the distress clear on her face before she smooths it into something more neutral, pretending this isn't tearing her apart as much as it is. She's going to be alone again, after she only just found him.

It's hard to breathe, but she forces herself to draw in air, because it doesn't matter, that she's alone, there's still work to do.

[ Moscow. It's the first place he thinks of when they sent him. He hasn't been home for years, and though he knows this isn't home, this isn't his world (and Moscow hasn't been home ever- he hasn't even gone to prison there (Juvie was in Ukraine, his second prison is St. Petersburg, the third doesn't deserve to be named)- and it's not even where he receives his assignments because he's nowhere near important enough to be called towards the FSB headquarters in the downtown of the capital. But it's Russia, still, the closest he's gotten to 'home' for years, and the language is familiar.

The weapons, the destruction, are not.

Nikolai moves quickly. By the time Steph finds him, he's throwing these thin, black knives through the holes in the armour of the UE soldiers. Technologically-advanced they might be, but they're still human, and their bodies don't cover everything. Nikolai lived his entire life finding minute weaknesses in people, and there's a tiny gap in the neck of the uniform. He grabs a soldier and slices through his throat, and goes for the next, and though his hands are covered in blood, his tattoos are still obvious to see.

The way he speaks Russian, in fenya, thieves' tongue, has the civilians scrambling to obey him. Underground, underground, the fucking subway. They might be trapped, but it's a better idea- and when Nikolai sees Steph lost, he shouts, in a mixture of Russian and English that mangles both language and he hopes the translation machine will do a good job- ]

Go to the subway! Go underground, they haven't reached there yet!

[ A distance away, a small cannon is aimed at them. Nikolai growls, throwing the second of his ankle-knives. The soldier goes down, blade sunk into his eye through the plexiglass of his helmet. Nikolai runs over the cannon, grabbing his weapon, and using the blades to literally slice the cannons apart.

He still has no fucking idea how these blades work, but they work, and that's all he cares about right now. He glances over to Steph. ]

I'll cover you.

( It's hard to imagine how, among all the other scents here to strangle and overrun her sense of smell, the peculiar, electric tang of something almost desperate, something almost bloody, draws her attention even through this crowd.

Collette pulls up short, flank already wet with liquids only half identifiable, pressing herself up smaller against the building in a narrow, cobblestone street. She smells it coming, feels it like a pressure storm moving in off the sea.

Only it's Oz. Oz, as followed by something dark and hulking, a rabbit much larger than he is. And the chains are back, sycthe and all, and it really doesn't seem so manageable or so joking when she'd asked if the contract was demonic. She lowers her head, calling out in Thought Speak; it's less than cheering, to see him move so freely to create as much destruction as the UE, only with flashing eyes and no body armor to speak of. )

< Should I take to calling you Bunbuns now, Oz? >

[Bolin's curled up in a corner of the med bay, doing his best to stay out of the way. His twisted ankle seems insignificant in comparison to the injuries he's seeing.

He's not crying anymore. He's not feeling much of anything. He thought he'd seen some of the worst the world had to offer, growing up homeless on the streets, witnessing gang war after gang war. He couldn't have been more wrong.]

[It's that kid, running around in the chaos. Like everyone else has been. Strong hands slip under Shintaro's elbow, helping to steady him, support him.]

Hey, take it easy a second.

[There isn't time to take it easy is there? But Guy's voice is calm and soothing anyway. Working to exhaustion and beyond is only natural in this situation, but still, someone has to keep an eye on the able-bodied. Make sure they stay that way.]

Breathe.

[Before any more can befall Lenalee, Alice rushes in to deflect any more bullets that would've been aimed at her. Most would think that using a parasol to deflect gun bullets to be ridiculous, but with certainty, the bullets ricochet off the parasol and safely travel away from both of them. Alice then looks around for anyone else who would seek to do them harm.

Though she knows that they cannot linger there for much longer, as more enemies will surely arrive.]

I'm afraid we've no time for this. Can you stand and walk?

[It should probably be strange, that she's used to comforting other people about things that happened, or will happen, to her, but she remembers dealing with everyone when she "came back" from the dead last time, so this isn't an entierly unfamiliar situation.]

I'll be careful, Saul, I don't plan on doing this again.

[Which isn't... entirely untrue, since she'd rather not die, but it's not like she's going to try to get herself killed, either.

This resurrection business wastes time.]

[So far, Bolin has learned two things.

One: It is REALLY HARD to run while throwing up slabs of rock to protect you from a hail of bullets.
Two: Trying to avoid killing people by enclosing them in stone prisons doesn't work when they have FREAKING EXPLOSIVES.

He's running as fast as he can through the streets, ducking and weaving and using his earthbending when he can and he was so not prepared for any of this. He's not looking up, so of course he doesn't notice Thane. But, uh, if you could give a guy a hand, that would be great.]

Portal? What portal?

[He's been indisposed the last few days.] Is that were these soldiers came from?

The United Earth? [Okay, that is a surprise.] Ah, but now that I think about it, those soldiers did look a bit familiar... A few raided the ship before they decided to just fire off a few missiles at us.

Wait a tic - if you know the UE, does this mean you're with the Initiative?

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Other Worlds: V 2.0

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A

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1300 with a side of baw

C

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952 or so

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[A] oh hi hope this is ok

C

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@ 1430

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B

b

open; the hold (med bay)

b

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open; hong kong

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