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

Hong Kong - OTA

[2leftfeet]

[A]
[They're not ready for this. That much is clear the moment her feet are on the ground. Most Transports seem to scatter the moment they step through the portal and find what's on the other side with no sense of how to group and combat the squadrons of UE moving through the streets of Hong Kong.

But there's no time to attempt any kind of regrouping. The most she can do is drive into the fray with her rifle to bare, flaring bright when UE fire connects with her shields.]

[B]
[Falling back doesn't really mean anything when there's no ground to fall back to. The United Earth's troops seem to be everywhere at once and around every corner. Holding ground for more than an hour at a time seems impossible, which means the most they can do is keep moving and hope to destabilize the UE.

Makes for a hell of a time though. After a few hours on the field, Shepard finds herself temporarily holed up in a motor pool. With her back pressed against one of the massive red and yellow doubledecker buses, she quickly scans the network on her omnitool for any transmissions to point her in a direction where she might be useful.]

[C - closed to Thane and Garrus]
[There's a devastating volley of canon fire coming from the rooftop of one of the taller buildings, the beam eating up vehicles and transports and civilians and whatever else is unlucky enough to get caught in the blast. Compared with the rest of the destruction, it's a small thing but a tower siege is well within their capabilities. They may not have a stable communications network, any kind of shock troops or any plan at all by by god she can at least take out that damn canon.

The bronze inlays on the massive atrium floors of the building would be worth admiring if she weren't busy leading them on a chase up through the tower, blasting UE troops and sprinting through networks of cubicles and a maze of halls as they work their way up.]

just gonna snag this yes

[battlesleep]

[ For all that this situation is terrible, this moment right here feels - normal. He and Garrus at Shepard's back, moving as fast as they can to work through ranks of opponents to a goal.

He feels purposeful again, prayers under his breath for the men he must kill. His arm is Shepard's, and Shepard needs that cannon taken out. ]

Five at 8 o'clock! [ He calls it out as he ducks into cover, rises to take a shot and slides back down to switch guns back to his pistol for close quarters. ]

whoop whoop team normandy party whoop

[recalibrates]

[ It might say something about how that this situation feels normal, that he feels more comfortable being shot at that he does sitting on his hands back in Exsilium.

It might but it really isn't important and frankly Garrus is fine with it. They have a mission, a goal, and he is more than happy to shoot down whoever gets in their way. ]

Right! [ He ducks for cover quickly, rising to take a shot. ] Got one! Two down, four to go. [ He slides back down just in time to avoid being shot in the head. ]

[2leftfeet]

[If there's one thing she's learned in the service it's that normal is relative. And this: moving in and out of cover, slinging her rifle round and popping off a hail of shots when she has the space to is the definition of rolling with the punches. Thane's call catches her attention and Shepard quickly puts her back to a support column between herself and the group of UE soldiers. The surge of adrenaline hits hard. Like chewing on tin foil.

She leans out of cover, raises her weapon and lets off a few shots. The UE may be good, but their shields don't pass for much against their weapons. The shots slice through whatever armor they've got like a knife through warm butter.]

Stairwell at my four. Thane you're on point. Garrus I want you to hold the first landing we get and take out anyone on our tail.

[battlesleep]

[ He follows Garrus' fire with his own, Shepard's a moment later, watches them fall with satisfaction in a job well done. They are making at least some different here, if he is afraid ultimately they will not be able to make a true one.

At her call he glances towards the stairwell, nods and pushes out from cover to head for it, biotic field crackling under his skin and his gun at the ready for any new enemies. ]

Clear. [ He says it quietly enough as he double checks the first flight, starts to head upwards. ]

[recalibrates]

Got it.

[ It is a thought that haunts the edge of the turian's mind as well. Regardless of what they do, regardless of how many UE soldiers they manage to drop, it will ultimately amount to nothing. The odds don't sit well for this place, and it frustrates him, puts that extra pack to his punch.

He moves out of cover last, bringing up the rear. Watching their tail for any signs of enemies, mandibles twitching as talons shift on the trigger of his rifle. ]

Think we might've scared them off. [ Ha, he knows better. They'll follow soon enough and he'll mow them down just as quickly. ]

[2leftfeet]

[She knows better too, but the easy way Garrus says it makes her grin a little anyway as Shepard falls in a few paces behind Thane, rifle trained directly up the flight of stairs to cover directly above him.

They might not do any good, but this is at least something worth doing.] Wouldn't that be nice?

[battlesleep]

[ Garrus and Shepard's banter is like a second language in some respects, something that he does not entirely understand the purpose of, but they seem to enjoy it and it is nonetheless surprisingly comforting to hear at his back. It means all is still well, and it's not like it is obscuring his ability to hear any more than the sounds of battle outside.

He sweeps the next landing, moves forward. ] Clear. Do not press luck. [ But there is no actual disapproval in his tone. ]

[recalibrates]

Wouldn't be me if I didn't press my luck at least once a week. [ It is something they do, something that doesn't really have a clear definition or purpose to it. People often get shrugs when they ask him about it. Their banter is not easy to define and lacks a proper explanation, it just is.

A shot whizzes past his head, clearing all of them and the turian barely flinches, scanning the terrain for the offenders. ]

On our six, four of 'em. Moving slow. [ He takes a shot, eliminating one of the soldiers and making the other scatter. ] At the very least we've put some fear into them. [ Small victories. ] Keep moving, I've got 'em.

[2leftfeet]

[Garrus says keep moving and Shepard doesn't ask questions (though she may, for her own peace of mind, throw a glance and a few bullets down the stairwell once they've reached the next landing). But she knows full well Garrus can hold his own; after a few cursory shots, she has no problem with storming up the next few flights of stairs until they run into fire from above.

When it comes she drops back two steps, pressing in against the exterior wall of the staircase to stay out of the line of UE fire.] Five contacts on the 26th floor.

[battlesleep]

[ Garrus has the back and Shepard has the middle - she'll give him support if necessary or she'll extend it Thane's way, whichever is most pressing. She always stems the tide somehow. He falls back with her, leaning out to take a few shots as she speaks. ]

I think there are more beyond them. They're delaying.

[recalibrates]

Looks like they don't want us anywhere near that turret. [ Another shot. Two more. He casts a short glance towards them, check in case they need him to move to aid. He doubts it, Shepard is capable and so is Thane, but they're a squad, a team, and Garrus looks out for his team.

Only one now. ]

B

[demonbloodblade]

[A transmission comes through.]

If you can pick this up, I have gotten the tablet to give a location signal. I'm sending information about the largest concentrations of troopers.

Have a firm stomach. It's horrible out here.

[The transmission comes with a half-dozen locations where the troops are, with information, pictures, numbers.]

[2leftfeet]

[The locations clearly mark themselves on her map of the area. The ping of the coordinates is ominous, sobering - there's too many points of severe contact. It doesn't matter how many of them their are or how hard they fight; they're losing ground and Shepard's getting the sinking feeling that they're not getting it back.

She sends a hasty message off in response:]

I've got a lock on your signal and am heading in the direction of the nearest UE line. Thanks for the relay.

[demonbloodblade]

[The reply takes a few minutes, but comes.]

I'm usually sneaking behind enemy lines to scout and disrupt. There's nothing here to disrupt, but I can relay information for people to use. Buy us some space. Good hunting.

[2leftfeet]

[The response is just as delayed:]

And to you.