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

[terrot]

[ she grips his hand more tightly, a little more afraid than she had been letting on. ]

They're determined to put an end to us, aren't they?

[firstroar]

[he moves a bit away from the entrance, more toward her, pulling his eyes away from the sky. looking or not looking isn't going to change their approach.]

Those here are more determined to live. I've seen them stop many of those vessels once before. It will happen again.

[that doesn't mean there won't be more direct hits.]

We should move further inside until they pass; if anything lands so close... [as much as he wants to help those still up top, he doesn't want anything to happen to her.]

[terrot]

And what will happen to those who might still be seeking refuge?

[ even if she is afraid, she knows that what they're doing here is important. she can't hold him back by not being up to the task. ]

Are they out there now? Do we have anyone fighting in our defense?

[firstroar]

Many.

[many a lot stronger than he is. it's a bitter kind of comfort; he knows he'd just be another body to lift out of danger if he went out there in this state.

he draws her further from the entrance, still glancing over his shoulder, searching. was there still someone near? not that he could tell, but...]

[terrot]

[ she follows him as they retreat, still focusing on the shield, but also noticing something in his manner, too. ]

But that doesn't cancel your own place among them. Even if you aren't the Soldier, your place is not lost. You are still needed.

[firstroar]

[he mulls on her words for a short length, slowing to a halt. here is fine, isn't it? if there were to be a blast, his energy alone ought to be enough...

he looks to her, growing more aware of himself reflected by her.]

...That's right. I'll still protect you. [needing to be needed...]

[terrot]

And I will always need you to.

[ even if not strictly true, she's gone years taking care of herself while he slept, though those first days here when she thought she was truly alone were the most frightening she can remember.

she needs him just as much as he needs her to. ]

[firstroar]

[it's almost soothing enough to mute the buzz of so many uneasy minds and hearts nearby, further in the catacombs. not enough to mute the rumble of planes, but Blue's got good reason to not waver.

leaning against the wall of that corridor, his hand clasps hers tighter as the ground shakes.]

[terrot]

[ she keeps her head low, her shoulder against his as her back clings to the wall. she can't help but wince every time they pass. the strikes must be very close. ]

How long can this continue?

[firstroar]

I don't know. I've never seen the scope of this enemy's power. It's all still isolated to the planet, and yet...

[terrot]

And yet we still have no chance against them. Not directly.