metalogs | ANTARCTIC CIRCLE

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ANTARCTIC CIRCLE - JUNE EVENT

ANTARCTIC CIRCLE

Monsters are nothing new to this world. While they were thought to be nothing more than legend in the pre-confluence days, the first modern kaijuu attack was recorded in 1954.

Everything people knew to be true was challanged time and time again, but it has been decades since a threat showed itself. The Guild System has kept things manageable, peaceful even. It has afforded metahumans a sense of peace and a place of belonging in a world that once viewed them as disruptive and dangerous.

And so when the reports begin trickling in about a threat manifesting at the South Pole, the senior most members of both guilds head out under cover of night. They're certain they can deal with this quickly and quietly, without placing the burden on the new metas who never asked to be brought to this world.

But when they return at dawn, battered, broken and near dead - the decision is pulled from their hands. The usual theatrics of the guilds are pulled aside as the government officials muscle their way in, taking control of the Alliance command center. Within less than an hour the message is splashed across every screen, interrupting whatever people may have been doing prior.

EMERGENCY GODFALL PROTOCOLS ARE ACTIVE. ALL ABLE BODIED METAHUMANS ARE EXPECTED TO REPORT INAT ALLIANCE HQ REGARDLESS OF ALLEGIANCE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS A COSMIC LEVEL THREAT. WITHOUT INTERVENTION IT WILL BEGIN AT T-MINUS 72 HOURS.

STRATEGY MEETING—

You’ll find no one is forcing you to attend this strategy meeting… but most of the metahumans gathered here don’t appear to have any real power to speak of. Many of them are scared civilians. One can levitate rocks, another sneezes fire. All the major guild members are in critical condition, but most are expected to pull through.

They won’t say who isn’t.

The only person left in any kind of condition to help is Chaos Gate, who holds out her arm to display the reason why: one of the Sunset Falls blossoms has bonded to her. And though she’s singed and had been exposed to risky levels of cosmic radiation, the flower itself is fine. The intel the guild leaders brought back is enough to form a plan.

The entity is from another dimension, as is the flower. And so it stands to reason that people from other dimensions would be likewise immune. Even if they aren’t, upgrading existing anti-kaijuu weaponry is their best shot at stopping the threat in its tracks.

Any metahuman who is technologically inclined is called in to lend their skills to adapting the existing anti-kaijuu technology. This is your chance to shine if you’re not much of a fighter. You have twenty-four hours to get these machines ready for combat.

They give you the rundown of the technology that powers the robots. Multiple minds working in sync, meta-energies syncing up to replicate your existing power set on a massive scale. However, as they're powered by metahuman energy, doing this for an extended period of time will be incredibly draining, so it’s recommended for each robot to have a dedicated team of pilots to trade duties. At minimum, two people are required to operate each robot.

Additionally, memory-sharing is a known side-effect of this technology. It’s strongly recommended that no two pilots during active combat be from the same world - better still if you’re complete strangers - as its possible to completely lose yourself in these memories.

You can use this time to find partners or teams - and maybe stake a claim on the coolest-looking robot, if you feel like it.

MOVE OUT —

At dawn the following day, you’re sent off. Though the atmosphere is one of hope, Chaos Gate drops her usually flippant smile to lay down the facts: you may not come back alive.

But if you don’t go? Then everyone dies. The seers couldn’t say for sure whether you’ll succeed, but those that glimpsed futures where you never left at all made it clear what that led to.

Sync up with your fellow pilots and deploy yourselves, or jump into the med bot following behind. Feel the brush of another mind against yours and the power that comes from controlling an enormous steel giant. Take this time to experiment with the powers and abilities in the real robot, not the simulation you only had a few hours to train in.

ENGAGE —

There are five kaijuu in total. Their bodies roughly shaped like a tortoise, a dragon, a phoenix, and a tiger - with the final one an unknowable mass of flesh and tentacle, protected behind a barrier. Each of them measure roughly eight hundred feet, and are leaving massive damage in their wake. Scattered across the corners of the globe, they’re moving towards the South Pole where the largest beast lays in wait. The closer they are to this destination when you engage them, the more reality seems to be break and bend around them. Space and time are fragile here; there may be some odd effects, things like gravity and time rolling backwards. These creatures bleed cosmic radiation, so it’s recommended that you try to kill them as quickly and bloodlessly as possible. This may be difficult as while they’re in possession of breath attacks, they’re more keen to engage in hand-to-had combat.

Each of them is also spawning smaller copies of themselves, which seem to be moving towards the coastlines - towards major cities, specifically.

Those who believe themselves to be better suited to battling the monster directly can engage the kaijuu outside of their jaegers. But anyone exposed to their irradiated blood will catch a doubtless disorienting glimpse of infinity, and anyone who gets wounded is likely to fall into the ocean and be lost in the chaos. Do this at your own risk.

Those who aren’t piloting can also join medical or maintenance crews, which will be teleported out to any robot crews that require assistance.

Mercifully, once the four celestial beasts are slain - their ringleader seems to lose its power. The barrier that has been protecting it has fallen. And with no defenses of its own, it goes down easily. Reality returns to normal. And exhausted but victorious, you give the signal to be teleported back home.

You can sign up to strike a final blow here.

AFTERMATH—

It’s a brutal fight. Maybe not all of you made it back. Once the threat is clear, recovery teams are deployed to try to reclaim and revive any bodies lost in the surf.

Back at guild HQ, you’re welcomed back as heroes. The civilians are eager to know their new saviors - identifying yourself as such is sure to thrust you into the spotlight. Much of the fight has been live-streamed and so your great bravery or cowardice is public knowledge.

Deeper inside headquarters, blue-skinned representatives from the underwater nation of ATLANTIS are shouting at suited lawyers. The kaijuu blood in the water has made their home largely uninhabitable, and the combat has destroyed much of it. Are they going to get the same rescue that the surface world did? You’re welcome to volunteer to visit the rubble that was once their Antarctic settlement and rescue the seal-like selkies from the bloodied water.

IN SUMMARY...

Giant monsters have appeared. Their mere presence is warping reality. Smaller clones of them are heading towards coastal cities.

The heroes of this world are no match for it. The government has chosen to enact the Godfall Protocols Act, meaning all metahumans are expected to report in to stop a potential apocalypse. Not everyone has to go and pilot the robot, others can stay to defend the cities from any potential dangers.

Player characters will be hopping in giant robots designed for two or more pilots. They can read each other's minds to operate in perfect sync. An unintended side-effect is memory sharing. You can get lost in these memories. Any action taken in memory will be replicated by the giant robot.

After the defeat of these monsters, everyone is brought back to Guild HQ for a heroes welcome. You can sign up for your character delivering a final blow here.

If you want your character to protest the Godfall Protocols and/or to try to disrupt anything going on, please report your actions here.
The Atlantean people are begging for help as the robots have destroyed their Arctic cities and the blood in the water has harmed their selkie civilians. Player characters can go search for these selkies. Please report selkie rescues here.

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I called for help before we went down, they'll be here soon.

[ With his leg somewhat splinted, he shuffles closer to Tim and braces him with a hand beside his shoulder, giving him something to rest against. ]

Hey, you're going to lean on me now and be the one who keeps talking, okay? Tell me all about how I piss you off, birdie.

You’re the one who face planted on a metal floor.

[ Which is less Tim telling him what’s annoying - although it’s very annoying to be coddled by the person who’s lucky they didn’t drive their own nose back into their brain - and more truthsaying.

But Tim will oblige because it’s safer than trying to stand when both he and the room are off kilter in different ways. ]

You’re nosy. You’re too clever or too cute by half. You’re one of those people who fills up an entire space, acts freely, and can just exist in their own skin without any concern.

Aye, sounds familiar.

[ He rubs Tim's back to keep him centred on the feeling, a strong weight when his hand rests there. ]

Keep going, there has to be more. Dig deep. It's just me, you, and Sleepy the dwarf over there.

There doesn’t have to be more. But also, there’s a corollary between people being comfortable in their own skin and how much they touch others.

[ Tim drops down from a crouch to sitting crisscross with a soft plop. He will dictate when his list of annoyances starts and ends, thanks. ]

I’m fine. I’m not the one who was bleeding.

You're always so rude to me, as if what you say doesn't hurt my feelings. Think on that for a while.

[ If it keeps Tim awake out of anger, all the better. That's the opposite of a concussion sending someone to sleep. ]

I'm going to be fine with my accelerated healing, you're the one wavering.

[ Tim gives him a slightly dazed look. ]

How is it mean to you to say that people who are comfortable in who they are seem to be comfortable touching others? I don’t understand it, but it’s not mean.

I feel like you should have met some fairies or elves before getting up, close, and personal with outright gods. You don't hold your tongue much, Robin.

[ He leans on him in turn, helping them both to prop themselves up as they wait for a rescue team. ]

You're lucky you met me instead of someone who would chop you up like Amora.

Chirping is part of the job. Tweet tweet.

[ Tim doesn’t squirm at the mutual lean. It’s utilitarian and helps steady the room. ]

I’m not going to let to hold my tongue. You told me to talk about how you’re annoying. You’re setting me up to fail, and then you get irritated at me every time I meet you. But I’m not boring you.

Of course you don't bore me, you're a bright and beautiful young man with his whole life ahead of him. I wish you well, Robin, truly. I think you to be a kind and sweet sort, the kind not usually meant for the likes of me; my boyfriend is the only exception I have. I could help a great deal, but you're tired of being taught and I understand that. So, I grow annoyed with my own caring of which you want none.

... Don't vomit in your helmet, by the way.

I don’t know what to do with it.

[ He wants to argue the compliments, but Tim doesn’t want to tread on his caring again, if that’s how it feels. It’s too effusive for him, though. It probably requires being comfortable in your own skin in the same way that casual intimate touch does.

His helmet does come off at the advice, with only a smidge of protest. His mask sits high and does little to obscure the flush in his face. ]

I don’t feel like I’m going to be sick. I should go get another pilot and see if we can get this upright.

Edited 2022-06-13 22:10 (UTC)

I cannot tell how the truth may be, I tell the tale as 'twas told to me. Forget what I say if you want a quiet life without working out meanings.

[ Loki remains where he is, inspecting his injured left arm instead of bringing attention to Tim's blush. The elbow hurts a lot, as if he banged it in the last tumble. ]

Doctor Strange could teleport us out immediately, if he's free.

I’m not going to forget what you say. I told you I have a made-up name, Loki, and I wear a mask under a helmet. Maybe I was pretending to have a quiet life, but if I was committed to that, I would’ve stayed on the command bot.

[ The movement draws his eye, and he frowns at the state of the arm. ]

I shouldn’t have taken you out of the harness if you knew a teleporter. He could’ve popped you out safely.

Stephen has more important things to do than constantly be on tap for me, he's probably being sourly heroic and saving lives.

[ For now, as the rescue crews make the drive to the fallen jaeger, it's just Loki and Tim awake. The silence seems to drag. ]

Iron Man could help but he likely won't if he knows I'm in here. Which heroes do you know worth their helpful salt?

Edited 2022-06-13 22:34 (UTC)

That would fetch us out of a downed robot in the middle of the ocean while a massive battle rages on with the fate of the world hanging in the balance? None.

[ While the word is negative, Tim sounds fond. His friends are something to be proud of. ]

Tell me if it’s bad and I’ll call Superboy. He could get you back to shore and keep you immobilized. But I’m not calling him for me.

[ As it turns out, Loki's right. Stephen had been slap bang in the middle of being sourly heroic and saving lives (and notedly not livestreaming his experience or checking his feeds) when the call came in from HQ - crew down, emergency evac support required.

And now, a quick back and forth to determine who and where later, here he is, interrupting the conversation in a shower of sparks as he steps into the frame of his portal and takes a second to acclimatise to the orientation of the cockpit before stepping down to join them. ]

I heard someone bit off more than they could chew.

[ Bedside manner: check. ]

[ Superboy is such a weird name that he stows it away to ask about later, mainly because orange sparks whirl to life and there's quite suddenly a familiar sorcerer there a moment later. His expression brightens (almost instinctively, relief sinking in at last) and he gestures with his good arm. ]

See? Sour!

[ Loki shuffles on the spot as if to rise, then thinks again. ]

Stephen! There's an unconscious pilot behind you, get him into a hospital then kindly transport Robin and I to the nearest spa. Much appreciated.

[ Admittedly, Tim tenses rather than relaxes when someone just teleports in like they own the place. It would be different if he'd recognize the power signature and portal structure, but at least Loki recognizes the newcomer.

Well - Tim hopes he recognizes the newcomer. ]

He means a hospital. His head was bleeding when I got here, and he fell out of the harness like a lead weight. Suspected damage to one leg and he's favoring an arm.

[ Sorry, Loki, but you need to be properly taken care of. ]

Edited 2022-06-14 23:50 (UTC)

[ It's a pleasant treat that somebody here is willing to be sensible and direct, because he's already ignoring 50% of what Loki's said and the debrief spares Stephen the extra step of diagnosing the problems from scratch. ]

Thank you, Robin.

[ Spoken as he opens up another portal, through which come spilling a handful of people from HQ to cart out casualties. His attention strays just long enough to nod a couple of them toward the second pilot while some more head off to rescue crew from the mecha's chest, and then he's back to his own little rescue mission.

He's looking over Loki, trying to assess while the suit makes certain to waste his efforts, but his words aren't for him as he finally slides his focus back to the new acquaintance keeping him upright, gaze sharp and searching as he checks for any obvious signs of harm. ]

Can you walk?

[ The back-up he has in mind only carries one, so if not he's going to have to reconsider logistics. ]

[ He feels mollified by the sheer level of help that literally pours in on Stephen's wake, like he predicted it would happen. ]

Can I walk on a broken leg? Sure, I'm Asgardian. Should I? I'm not a physician but I would opt for a strong no.

[ Just to be difficult, Loki makes a point of standing up and balancing his weight on one leg anyway, sweating in the process. He doesn't usually do that. Perspire much. That's far more embarrassing than anything to do with his unseen bones!

A bit breathily, he declares, ]

See? I'm all good.

[ Stephen - Doctor Strange - is apparently not only a teleporter, but well-connected and to-the-point. And Loki is incredibly intuitive, for someone who comes across more independent and individualistic.

Who is an independent, individualistic idiot who makes stupid decisions.
Tim gets to his feet as well and sounds weary, like he's had this argument dozens of times. Which he has. ]

I think you've proved your point. You can put a hand on my shoulder to steady yourself - I'm a pretty good armrest.

[ Even Batman will grudgingly accept help if it's not called help. ]

[ Loki gets up, staggering and sweating and clearly not stable, and Stephen has to work hard to keep his eyes from rolling at I'm all good. It's Robin to the rescue, clearly already exhausted by the concept of corralling him, but in doing so does at least answer Stephen's question. One of them can be trusted to walk. ]

Not you.

[ Loki, that is. One shrug of Stephen's shoulder is all it takes to send the cloak at his back swooping across the small space between them to settle over the shoulders of Loki's suit - and lift him carefully up off the ground. No room for argument. Stephen is a physician, and he would also opt for a strong no.

To Robin: ]

You're not at risk of collapsing before making it back to HQ?

[ Not that he expects an honest answer about personal wellbeing from any hero-type, but HQ is directly on the other side of the portal he walked in through, so it's a risk he's willing to take. ]

[ About to give in and use Tim as a prop, he has no need to when the cloak swoops around and levitates him up with an uneasy WooOOOooo! from the godling. He brightens up considerably, floating there wearing it, and pats it with his uninjured hand. ]

Hello, Cloak! You're so handsome, look at you! My thanks for the lift. Did you know that I wore the you-from-my-world for a while when I was Sorcerer Supreme? I did, yes! Wow, you have the nicest fabric, is this velvet or jacquard ... ?

[ Friendship with Cloak is now Loki's priority, sorry boys. ]

[ He would lie to Doctor Strange - or at least, to stretch the truth to say that he was fine. He's not, but he's also not in danger of collapsing. However, the cape, its seemingly independent motions - eye-catching.

Loki addressing the cloak like it's Cloak rather than a cloak - completely distracting. ]

You both have the same sentient cape?

[ Oh, right. Now really isn't the time, there are places they all need to be that isn't the inside of a giant fallen robosuit, but some things just can't wait. Those things include... ]

Cloak of Levitation. And no. I have one, the Stephen Strange in Loki's universe has one, and at one point it was in his possession. Shall we go?

[ Cloak, not anticipating a sudden flurry of compliments, takes a second to get the hint and start slowly carrying Loki toward the portal. ]

[ Stage-whispering to the garment, he grunts as it moves him forward. ]

Cloak, hey, if you see Thor can you make me taller than him? I'll make sure no moth ever nibbles on you. Deal?

[ High-five, Cloak? ]

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