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

[retraced]

[It's a hard life for anyone who dares to face Gilbert Nightray while a cat is nearby. Normal cats, even. But the overwhelming fear is finally starting to melt away a little, and now loud, fluttery panic is starting to take over instead. As she hauls him up, he finally finds his tongue again just in time to shout:]

NOREALLYTHAT'SOKAYYOUCANJUSTPUTMEDOWNANYWHERE!!

[But he doesn't struggle against her either, so unless she lets go and drops him, he'll end up on the back of this monster-cat alongside her.]

[imperfect]

Yeah, and patch them up. They were doing it before any of this happened, too.

[He shifts uneasily.]

The first time I heard about it here, I thought it must be shorthand for something. They couldn't really mean dead. Hacked to pieces or no longer breathing, you can just about imagine science learning how to deal with all of that. An actual life, body, mind and soul... there was no way.

[He doesn't put much emphasis on the past tense, but it's there - and that's where his real point is hiding, reluctant to come out in the open.]

[retraced]

[Gilbert watches the Chain circle above them, just barely recalling what he'd seen back in Reveil. Leo hadn't been able to keep the Chain called out for long the first time, but it looks like he's gotten more skilled at it here. Or perhaps it was because the influence of the Abyss isn't as strong here. He hasn't attempted to keep Raven out for any longer period of time, and the middle of war isn't exactly the best time for an experiment. Still, it's only slightly unsettling to see. Leo has promised that he doesn't want to fight with any of them, but it's still a power that Gilbert has to be wary of for his master's sake.]

Is every mission like this one? [He asks as he falls into step beside him, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.]

[alphonse]

[Al nods. He'd figured about the same, really. Once he'd heard someone say that the Initiative's time travel technology could simply pull the same person in from an earlier point in their world, and even that had sounded more plausible than death suddenly having no meaning. But Ed obviously remembers how the battle ended for him, and that leaves no room for denial.]

But that was before what we saw today.

[He doesn't want to talk about it, but shirking the truth, however uncomfortable, would be to go against his nature as an alchemist. Not to mention do nothing for his peace of mind.]

Brother... You were really dead, weren't you?

[salvagedsoul]

Easy to kill others.

[He strokes Billy's hand with thin, long fingers. Listening to such a guilty confession is not difficult for Kaworu. He'd once had no reservations whatsoever about erasing the entire world's population of humans, after all. But because of his outsider's perspective, accepting Lilim with these thoughts and feelings is easy for him. They are imperfect creatures, limited by the very things that make them so unique and inspiring.]

Fear is a powerful motivator. It easily overrides even the most ethical of individuals. You did not act out of lack of appreciation for the lives you took, but out of appreciation for the lives you were saving and yourself. Do not hate yourself for it.

[speakveryclearly]

"N-n-no we don't," Kanaya deflected quickly. She shook her head for emphasis - she was fine, trolls didn't mind stabs, especially not rainbow drinkers! Except her undeath was written by Andrew Hussie instead of Troll Stephenie Meyer, and her skin was not actually made of diamond, and progressive knives really were a bitch. Rose's safety was much more important. God tier or not, she was human, and soft, and vulnerable. "We need to get you somewhere you won't get hit again! What if that squadron called for backup?"

[oncearanger]

How can someone be as forgiving as you are?

[His twitching hand relaxes under Kaworu's touch. Billy takes in a shaky breath, then looks him straight in the eye.]

You're right, I want to be a hero, and that was my goal but...I think I'll see this blood on my hands for a long time. Tonight, absolutely.

[He does not relish the idea of going to sleep.]

[have_hat_will_travel]

... How long have you been out here, Tori?

b, aw yeah

[fortissimos]

[ After Kyouko dies, Sayaka loses the voice of reason holding her back. Without anyone telling her to look after herself, she charges in again and again, healing instantly from the bullets that threaten to rip her apart. She's long since given up on trying to avoid fatalities; these things look human, but they're effectively familiars, and her retribution is vicious.

But she, too, is not infallible. It doesn't take long for a stray shot to shatter the gem on her stomach, and she doesn't have time to even register the impact before everything goes black — she leaps off the bed when she wakes up, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach to take in her surrounds.

Exsilium. She needs to get back to the battle, and fast.

She's barely steadied herself, though, when she spots Kyouko. Her eyes go wide, and for a moment, she forgets all about the fight raging elsewhere; she staggers over to the other girl, reaching out to grab her arm. ]

... You're okay. [ The post-fight adrenaline seems to leave her all at once, and her voice catches when she speaks, bordering on tears. ] Don't— don't ever do that again.

[wilder]

[Oh hey did he actually get her to laugh? It's almost an alien sound, not because he's never heard her laugh before, but considering everything that's been going on he wasn't expecting it. Still, it was a really nice sound and...]

[Oh! Right! The sling! Gotta get that! He'll quickly get up and be so focused on that sling and not her laugh or how she looks when she's blushing and-]

[- and totally forget there was a coffee table there and runs his foot right into it's leg. There's a squawk from him as he pinwheels his arms to keep from tripping. Luckily, he'll recover even if it looks like his dignity wants to find a rock to crawl under and die]

Ahahaha...

[Yep, so walking quickly out of this room so he can get that sling and pretend that never happened, yep yep]

[solitaire]

<sub>( It takes him a second to rise to his feet after he blows out the ground—the injury on his leg, sustained a couple of months ago, still strains when he pushes it—but then he’s after her, lagging behind not only because of how fast she is but because he works best with distance. He’s out of cards, and one soldier manages to break the line and come at him. He slams his palm into the soldier’s collarbone, breaking it. Then he grabs the man’s gun.

He’s not familiar with the specifics of the UAE’s technology, but he doesn’t need to be. He’s a good shot, and for him bullets are just like anything else. Something to be charged. So from his distance from the take—a good few yards away—he begins taking shots. Bright pink, glowing bullets fly through the air, hitting the soldiers in their armor and exploding on contact.

He’s careful not to hit Jules, but he’s effectively providing backup while she does the close work.

But something about the scenario reminds him of a life he might have lived, and he shudders. )</sub>

[flecks]

[ It's a truth Leo can agree with. The UE is a threat, it could very well be their world to get destroyed like this next, but anything they do now is too little, too late. It's pointless here. Nothing but wasted efforts and lives.

He moves closer, gesturing for Jabberwock to stay put which it does albeit restlessly, before speaking up again, harshly: ]

That's enough.

[ He's not B. Rabbit's contractor so there's no immediate way of stopping him, but he is Glen Baskerville (a fact Oswald helpfully reminded him of) and that means he's close to the Abyss, almost as connected as a Chain. That's something. He can only hope it's enough.

He stops a few feet away, still keeping some distance. ]

It's useless, destroying isn't going to help anything now.

[flecks]

[ Leo moves more recklessly, not keeping quite as much attention on his surroundings in regard to possible enemies. He has Jabberwock up above for that, he simply keeps to his single purpose and he doesn't care whether or not Gilbert is there.

He only spares him a glance when he falls into step beside him. ]

No, they're very different.

[trustycrowbar]

"Freeman." He replies, in case the kid hadn't caught it before.

"Alright, lets--" The sentence is cut short by a sudden bout of shouting on the south edge of the building and gunfire.

"They noticed us! Get going, Kid!" He reaches back and readies a strange-looking crossbow, throwing himself to the ground. "Take out that tank! I'll cover you!"

[imperfect]

[Ed shrugs.] I just know what I remember, Al.

[It's a deliberately ambiguous answer. Hopefully it'll do. Overrun as the Hold may be, to the point that would-be eavesdroppers are more likely to get trampled than to pick up anything sensitive, it's not private.]

I could let myself stay hung up on it for the next million years if I wanted, but it wouldn't change anything.

[wolfchild]

[ Her head throbs and it makes it hard to focus. It's Polliver hitting her, the Hound stopping her. The girl struggles to her knees.

Nymeria returns, blood up to her eyes. It drips off the matted fur. The girl tries to grab her and her hand slips off it. The direwolf moves bodily between her and the rest. Her eyes are bright with bloodlust. She'll die here. Arya lightly touches the wet fur underneath the laser burn. We'll die here.

She recovers Needle. It's nothing but a toy sword. It won't save them. Nymeria's trying, but she's hurt already.

And Allen— ]

Allen. [ She doesn't understand what's happening to him. ] I'm scared.

[wilder]

Hm?

Oh, sure!

[He'll come closer]

What's the problem?

[trustycrowbar]

"HELL no, I'm not leaving it like this!" He snarls down at Cissa, then turns the corner to fire the laser canon still clutched in his hands. The laser ricochets from one body to another, bounces off walls in the corridor and generally scatters beta decay and mayhem in its wake.

"We can still--"

Something small and metallic clatters near them, and the look on his face can tell her exactly what that was. He'll pull her back away from the grenade if he can, but what will she do?

[wilder]

Okay.

[He'll move into position to lift the woman. She's rather small, so its' not too hard to pick up into bridal style. Standing up with her, he'll glance back at Tori for a signal to go]

[needsteaplz]

Shh...try not to talk, but stay with me alright? I refuse to let any more people die like this.

[She looked around to confirm her direction and started to jump across roof-tops to get there. For someone who was only 5'5", she had no problem carrying Flora while running. To be extra safe, she created a shield to protect her back with her smoke manipulations ability.]

[fujibayashi]

[Sheena looks... puzzled, to say the least. She's expecting to get made fun of, not... Well, whatever, he's probably still upset and shocked at the world ending thing.

She waits until he leaves, then wonders aloud:]

... What was that all about?

[substitutable]

Sorry... [Calm down. He tells himself to calm down, straightening himself up as he turns to look at Guy.]

I'm just thirsty... I haven't had anything in a few hours.

[wilder]

[Oh nothing, just the dance of his people. Complete clumsiness. ]

[Either way, he's gone for a few minutes, but eventually he'll come back with an arm sling as well as a couple pairs of clothes to change into. They're nothing fancy, just some scrubs he managed to find, but you know when they are both caked in blood, dirt and who knows what else- yeah]

[Also completely pretending that little failure didn't happen, so he'll sit back down suavely. ]

Okay! Found a sling and some clothes if you feel like changing!

[...probably not with him around, but hey worth a shot]

[velveteened]

( leo's lucky in another way: oz is reaching his limit.

for the most part, he's only had to invoke b. rabbit in small bursts; its considerable power and reputation have been enough to give enemies, even the baskervilles, pause - and those who didn't, reason to soon enough. yura's henchmen and humpty dumpty had been particularly stubborn, they ultimately weren't fighters and relied too heavily on their chain.

the ue soldiers, however, are another story entirely.

they're trained and relentless, all too happy to target such a visible presence opposing them (something that, later, oz will say was a good thing to give others more of a chance) and have no fear of opposition at all, not even from a chain born for destruction. if not for whatever force it is keeping oz's incuse in check, it most definitely would've progressed by now, maybe even twice over. that doesn't completely mitigate the strain of the contract, and he's been invoking on and off all day even before this.

there's a brief flare of power at the command not unlike a bird fluffing itself up indignantly, but that fades off soon enough. )

They can't be allowed to kill anyone else.

[explains]

And you've been on the go for all of them, right? It won't do for you to collapse out here.