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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
no subject
Frankly, the entire memory went from joyous to chaos in the fraction of a second. Explosions shook the entire concert hall, the ground rumbled with the panicked stomping from the civilians attempting to flee for their lives. The carbonized remains of the many victims of the Noise filled the air, but more than that, the sound of screaming never stopped.
Of the 12,874 that died, approximately 1/3 of them was due to the Noise. The others died as either the result of being crushed by the crowds attempting to flee, or by intense fighting that broke out between attendees trying to secure their escape.
Hibiki snaps out of her trance at the same instant that fragments of Kanade's gear shatters, flying outward and piercing the chest of the younger, 13-year-old Hibiki Tachibana. She suddenly gasps, clutching her own chest and falling to her own knees... even though there's no visible wound on herself.
She's breathing heavily, clutching her chest with wide-eyes as the large spear of the first Gungnir Wielder clatters to the ground, the red-haired warrior running to the younger Hibiki's side. ]
HEY!! Don't die!! Open your eyes...!! Don't give up on living!!!
K-Kanade-san...
[ She's hardly even noticed Angela standing next to her in a still-standing section of the concert hall, witnessing this disaster first-hand. ]
no subject
The technicians had warned the metahuman volunteers that there was a danger of losing oneself in the memory bleed. With a battle still left to fight, Angela cannot let Hibiki succumb to that danger. ]
Hibiki... [ Her voice is calm, but concerned. There is a sense of urgency to her words. ] Hibiki, you need to listen to me. Stay with me, here, in this moment.
no subject
Nearby, the blue-haired girl—Tsubasa—swings her sword with an increased sense of urgency, trying to reach her partner only have the way blocked by the increasing number of Noise.
Hibiki looks up at Angela, but her eyes are unfocused... ]
K-Kanade-san...? Is that you...?
[ Well now it's just even more confusing... after all, isn't Kanade over there? Sighing with relief at the sight of the younger Hibiki's still-open eyes before standing up, picking up the spear she had dropped. ]
no subject
No, Hibiki. It is me. Angela. What you're seeing now is only a memory.
no subject
[ The spear that she holds up to the heavens starts to crumble, and her voice fills the air yet again. It's a beautiful, yet haunting song. Serene yet powerful... and carrying a firm sense of finality. ]
Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal
Emustolronzen Finé el balal zizzl
No, Kanade!! Don't sing that song!!
[ Tsubasa's voice rises rapidly in pitch, conveying the sudden spike in her desperation at the sound of Kanade's voice. She runs at Kanade, now completely ignoring the Noise, but... ]
Gatrandis babel ziggurat edenal
Emustolronzen Finé el zizzl...
[ When the melody of cessation
Transforms into a reverberation
The curtains close on the song of the valkyries
And disappears as we depart from here
Both Hibiki and the memory of her younger self... they react, Hibiki looking up at Angela as her eyes start to focus again. ]
But... that song... it's...
[ Her eyes suddenly snap open as both Angela's words and Kanade's song registers in her mind. She gasps, suddenly sitting up and looking straight at the figure of Kanade Amou. ]
That song...!!
[ She snaps to her senses just in time to watch as light bursts from Kanade's gear, growing rapidly and incinerating every last Noise in the area... their bodies blackening and turning to carbon as Kanade's song annihilates every last one. Hibiki's eyes widen at the sight. ]
No... the backlash...
[ And the once-fierce valkyrie falls to the ground, her spear clattering to the ground, once strong and all-powerful... now brittle and fading as quickly as the flame of Kanade's life. Now unobstructed, Tsubasa finally reaches her partner, cradling her partner in her arms... both of their voices starting to fade as Hibiki's own recollection fades with it.
"Kanade...!"
"Where are you, Tsubasa... it's too dark, I can't see your face..."
"I'm right here, Kanade...!"
"Sorry... it looks like I won't be able to sing with you anymore..."
"Why... why are you saying things like that...! You're so mean, Kanade..."
"Then... if that's true, then you're just a crybaby, Tsubasa..."
"I don't care...! I just want to keep singing with you forever, Kanade...! So please..."
"...did you know, Tsubasa? When you sing your heart out... it leaves you feeling... really hungry..."
Hibiki doesn't realize it, but tears start to run down her own eyes as she witnesses this scene again... hears Tsubasa's anguished wails as her irreplaceable partner, her second wing, the one whose will Hibiki inherited... turns to dust in Tsubasa's arms.
The lights start to fade as the younger Hibiki closes her eyes, the memory starting to come to an end. The Hibiki with Angela continues to clutch her chest, but not out of pain. ]
Tsubasa-san...
no subject
[ The girl is not injured, not like the memory version of her that Kanade sacrificed her life to save. But she is tormented all the same, by witnessing the memory anew. Angela's hold on Hibiki's shoulder stays firm, and she speaks with a more commanding tone. She is worried that the longer they remain in shock from the memories, the more damage will be wrought by the creatures they have been sent here to fight. ]
I know you are in pain, child. But I need you to be strong. This world needs you to be strong.
no subject
But seeing all of it again just... causes so many feelings to resurface. Not just about Kanade, not just about the remaining wing who she would idolize and eventually become friends with... but of what she knows resulted as a consequence of surviving.
She sniffs, raising her arm in order to rub away the tears forming from her eyes. ]
...right!
[ And the memory fades along with the closing of the younger Hibiki's eyes, and from there, everything is a blur... and flashes of Hibiki's other memories can be seen before they snap back to reality within the massive robot that they were piloting.
Images of a house covered in grafitti, all with a similar theme of declaring something along the lines of 'murderer', outraged by her survival.
Fortunately for Hibiki, the unpleasant memories that she doesn't want others to really see flash by for only a second before the return to reality. ]