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

[imperfect]

[Before long, Ed backs off.]

It... looks the same. [The note of doubt in his voice says it all, though. Risk-taking is one thing; screwing around with a blood rune is something else altogether.]

I mean, if we don't try it, who else is going to fix you up? And we can't exactly keep you around like this...

[He starts to clap, but hesitates just before bringing his hands together. ...Today just hasn't been a good day for the whole "competent older sibling" thing, has it?]

[alphonse]

You're going to try right now?!

[Which isn't exactly a vote of confidence, so Al quickly tones it down, securing his head back in place.]

I mean, I'm not in any hurry, Brother. And you were right before--making the armor thinner to cover this much damage would just cause more problems. So it's fine if it takes us a few days to think of something better. I never should have been so reckless in the first place.

[imperfect]

Don't say that, Al.

[But as much as it pains him to admit it, Ed can think of no reason for Al to trust his ability in this one specific case any more than he does. He looks uncertainly down at his own hands.]

I wasn't going to thin out the whole thing. I just figured it'd be a waste of time planning anything complicated if it turns out I can't even manage one bullet hole or something.

[alphonse]

It really isn't a big deal. I'm just happy both of us are still here to even worry about it.

[He probably should have expected the conversation would go this way. After a fight as brutal as the one they've just made it out of, none of them are in a hurry to feel powerless about anything.]

I know it's possible for someone else to fix me. [Instinctively, he touches the hand "Father" back in Central had transmuted for him.] But it isn't like we've ever experimented to see what could go wrong either. There's a lot I don't understand.

[Still, Al does trust Ed's judgement, and if they can't manage to find a way to put him back together then he's going to be utterly useless in the continuing fight against the UE.]

I don't mind if you want to try. But please don't take the risk unless you're sure you won't get yourself hurt.

[imperfect]

[Ed nods, unsmiling, and brings his palms together for real, a shade more gently than normal in deference to his bandaged arm -

- before stopping again. This time it's more deliberate, though. Something just happened to register with him.]

...A lot you don't understand, huh?

[For now, he settles back down on the edge of the bed and starts to run a hand through his hair.]

You know, I didn't say anything about it, but... all this time, you've been transmuting without a circle. Are you sure you don't have a better way to do this?

[alphonse]

You think I could do it myself?

[Huh. The idea's never really occurred to him. His understanding of the Truth has always seemed separate from the way his own soul is bound. Al looks down at his hands, wondering.]

It isn't something I've ever tried before. The last time I got beat up like this I wasn't in any shape to use alchemy, so I guess it didn't seem to matter. Maybe you're right, though. It's definitely better than putting you in danger of a rebound too.

[imperfect]

Hey, I'd be fine. This is me we're talking about. It's just... [...that Al hasn't been the only one who's noticed tiny discrepancies in their methods of alchemy by now, and that there's absolutely no way he could live with himself if he unintentionally caused the worst to happen with his own hands - even though indirectly it'd be his fault either way, of course. But after a second of mentally wrangling with that phrasing and failing to make it sound better, he slumps a little and leaves all of that unsaid.] Well, it was just a thought.

[Absently, with a small grimace, he flexes his bandaged arm at the elbow a couple of times.]

Can't say I missed this kind of place... Forget the noise, the smell in here's giving me a headache.

[In an unnecessarily roundabout way, it's almost another apology.]

[alphonse]

[Al hms a quiet agreement, watching another harried nurse go rushing past. The more he mulls it over, the more Ed's suggestion seems like the way to go. After all, he got himself into this predicament, so it's only fitting that he get himself out of it too. However, a crowded med bay where tensions are already running high is probably not a good place to start trying experimental alchemy techniques.]

As soon as someone's got a free minute to look you over, I'll see if we can get the okay to leave. You're not going to get any real rest here, and honestly... [He sighs, taking a moment to just listen. Considering the enormity of their loss and the collective inexperience of their fighters, the atmosphere is more depressing and miserable than any hospital he can even imagine.] I'm sure they'd like to start clearing up some space too.

[imperfect]

Heh, I'll say.

[But for now it can't be helped, he figures. He shuffles across a little and flops down onto his back, arms spread out.]

If they don't have a free minute, bring 'em over here anyway. [He swings his legs up onto the top of the bed as well, probably a bit too animatedly for an injured person.] And then wake me up. They'll see exactly how okay I am.

[Who knows, he might even come up with something else if he can shut his eyes for a while and block out all these distractions. Weirder things have happened. Being around to contemplate any of this hardly scratches the surface.]

[alphonse]

Fine. I'll be right back. [He doesn't bother trying to sound put upon by Ed's antics. It's pretty obvious he'd be smiling if he could.]

I think I owe some of them an apology anyway. Try not to make your injuries any worse in the meantime.

[With that, Al steps off to hunt down the nearest doctor, at least trying to move more carefully this time. Better late than never.]

[imperfect]

[Ed does smile, although it's faint and probably only to himself.]

You don't push it either, Al. I'm not going anywhere.

[Aside from the inherent raging hypocrisy whenever he tells anyone not to push it, he sounds sincere.]