Let's be war buddies...

[initiates]

Date & Time: 18th, beginning at 2100 hours, through to the 20th.
Location: All around Exsilium.
Characters: Everyone!
Summary: The United Earth decides Exsilium had obviously not learned its lesson back in October, and does another round of humble-making bombing for those impertinent exiles. OOC info can be found here.
Warnings: Violence, death, general gloom and doom.

The warning had gone out approximately two hours before the bombing began, broadcast to any available receptor on the island: UE aggressions incoming, bombs expected; please proceed to Catacombs immediately. It repeats over and over, right up until the first bomb, aimed at the Hold itself, silences the signal.

The air is thick with smoke and worse. Every one to two hours another bomb shakes the island. Buildings crumble and shatter, but the focus is on the Hold and the native hospital. Initiative employees, some sick as anyone else, are steadfast in their escorting natives and transports alike into the underground catacombs. For two days the bombs continue ceaselessly, dropped by their cloaked and invisible carriers overhead.

The United Earth is nothing if not thorough.

Comments

thank you i will do my best to live up to it

[motherofnemesis]

[ He doesn't have any obligation, no, but she wouldn't mind at all if he showed her anyways, because she's not feeling super confident in the idea that he's doing okay.

There is a moment that she glances up and down the suit, because seeing it actually in use is kind of fantastic, and then she snaps back to the surroundings. ] Nothing in particular. Just moving people as I find them. You?

it'll be fine

[fe_male]

[ Maybe when they get somewhere safe and he doesn't have to worry about the gas. But that's unlikely because the only place like that is basically the catacombs and ah hah ha h a n o.

Although she's more than welcome to continue admiring his suit. ]

Pretty much. Few people caught in rubble, a few others being dumb, but mostly just getting people from A to B a little faster. There really ought to be some sort of drill in place for bombings at this point - UE's pretty happy about doing it whenever they feel like it.

i trust you

[motherofnemesis]

[ It would be the height of hypocrisy if Max tried to force him underground, but since she's good at forcing through that it's probably good that she sees zero reason to even try.

It is a great suit, man. She's so pleased to have met someone who could come up with it. ]

I remember coming in just after one. Could we set up a radio link of some kind? It'd be good to be able to call in an extra hand if I need to. [ And just keep track of him being okay. ]

yeah that's probably some well-placed trust right there

[fe_male]

Radio link's a good idea. JARVIS? [ JARVIS does some JARVIS magic. Woo linky. You wanted a link? There's a link. ] Need a lift anywhere?

it is

[motherofnemesis]

[ Man, she loves JARVIS too. JARVIS is great. She needs to get him more data processors as a present for being great. ] Okay, great. Thanks. I think this area's somewhat clear, I wouldn't mind a lift to wherever else needs help.

[fe_male]

[ JARVIS is perfect. Tony lands next to her, holds an arm out to indicate she should come over so he can give her the lift she's asking for. ] Which area is that? Or should we just fly up and see for ourselves?

[motherofnemesis]

[ She steps over, settles herself easily the way people who have done this sort of thing before would, holding on securely. ] I don't have the eagle's eye view, I have no idea which area needs people most.

[fe_male]

[ He takes off when she seems settled, balancing the extra weight and compensating for the loss of one stabilizer. With that in consideration, it's kind of impressive that you can barely tell he doesn't always fly holding on to someone. You know, if you want to feel impressed by that sort of thing. She probably... won't. ]

Collapsed building, people helping people out. Two people holed up, potentially trying to get to the catacombs. J, can you-- [ The rest of that is silent, him legit just talking with JARVIS mentally because it's faster. sry max ] It looks like there's a few people trapped below street level above the catacombs by a pocket of gas. So that gets my vote, unless you see anything better.

[motherofnemesis]

[ She might retroactively be impressed later, you never know, but for right now she's just scanning the ground as well as she can until he starts speaking, at which point she listens to him carefully. ]

Sounds good, let's go for it. [ Said loudly to get over the wind, and she tightens her grip on him a little more for the drop down, just in case. ]

[fe_male]

[ Honestly that's probably a better use of her time rn.

He doesn't reply to that, just flies to the area JARVIS noted and then lands them both on the ground, much more gently than he landed in front of her a little while ago. Because he likes her and doesn't want her to turn into paste. ]

Should be right around here.

[motherofnemesis]

[ She greatly appreciates the effort made to not turning her into paste, it's really useful. Being paste isn't terribly useful. For a little bit it looks like she isn't doing anything at all, and then she blinks and points just to their right, starts moving. ]

Over there, not far down. I can feel them.

[fe_male]

[ He's just sort of giving her a blank look under the mask for a moment. ]

That's... fun. Okay, are they alright? I'm going to move some of this out of the way.

[motherofnemesis]

[ He can blank look her all he likes, she's busy at the moment. ]

I wouldn't say okay, but they're not dead yet. [ And this is the part that she feels mildly irritated about her lack of usefulness in, because she can move things to a certain extent but he's far more suited to it than her right now, so she just stands aside so that she's out of any danger zone. ]

[fe_male]

[ He grunts to show he heard her, lifts another few slabs of stone and concrete and metal out of the way until he feels something underneath him start to shift. ] Hey! It's shifting. If I stay here, can you get in and find them? Or tel me which parts of it can and can't move?

[motherofnemesis]

[ She crouches to glance at the entrance he's made, nods and starts to slide her way in. ] I'll be right back. Yell if anything starts moving fast.

[fe_male]

Let me know if you need anything. [ He doesn't say anything else though, working instead on trying to analyze the way the rocks are holding up and if he has any wiggle room here to work with. He was expecting them to slide a different way than they did, is irritated now that he's effectively stuck holding this up since it makes him a sitting target with other sitting targets relying on him. Even if she does need help, he's not sure what he'll be able to do. ]

[motherofnemesis]

You got it. [ There's radio silence from her for a little bit, and then the crackle of her voice as she reassures the people she's found, starts to help get them out and under rubble. The radio link probably picks up some of their chatter as well, and then someone comes through the entrance she'd gone in as she starts to help them out. ] Coming through, just a bit longer.

[fe_male]

[ He tells the first person which direction to head in, since they seem a little disoriented, but stays in place. He told JARVIS to lock the joints of the suit a little while ago so he wouldn't have to worry about staying precisely in place, and while the sudden feeling of being stuck isn't really all that great, he can manage a little while longer. ] How's the gas concentration down there?

[motherofnemesis]

Awesome. It's awesome. [ It's totally not, but the gas mask is working well enough as a filter for now. She'll escort these people to the catacombs maybe, make sure they get there safely and take a bit of a breather. She climbs up last, offers an arm to one of the people who's limping. ] Nothing else down there. You can let it drop.

[fe_male]

[ He waits until he's sure she's totally clear and then lowers it back down, doesn't want any sort of additional impact to take place just because he was tired and decided to drop something heavy. But with the suit's joints unlocked, he feels much more at ease. ] Onto the next?

[motherofnemesis]

[ She shakes her head a little, muffles a cough into her sleeve. ] I need to get these guys to the catacombs and drink some water before this gas gets to me. I'll radio you when I'm on my way out again.

[fe_male]

[ nnn he doesn't want to go there but ] You gonna be okay? Need a lift?

[motherofnemesis]

[ if she was more alert she might have caught that spike of anxiety, but she's keeping everything tightly shuttered until she needs it. ]

I'm a big girl, I'll be fine. [ more seriously, because she does appreciate it ] Thanks. Catch you on the flipside.

[fe_male]

[ it's just as well he doesn't really feel like that's necessary information for her to have

But with that he straightens up a little, gets ready to fly off again. ] I'll be on comms if you find any other gigantic rocks you need held up. [ see ya ]

[motherofnemesis]

[ she's not entirely sure what she feels on the matter and thankfully for the moment she doesn't need to know. but for the moment she just tosses him a mock salute, watches as he heads back up into the sky.

time to shepherd these people safely back, then. ]