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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
[He looks around instead, makes sure no one's close enough to hear the conversation.]
Well. Technically, I didn't see anything that suggests you've put anyone's head in a duffel bag in this world, so technically I don't have any proof whatsoever that you've broken any laws here.
And I hope you keep it that way. I don't want to -
I don't want to have to fight you on something like that. Or...at all.
[How many people have looked at the ugliest sides of him and not turned away? And of those people, how many have keened on to just how broken he still is?]
[It's also easy to not want to pile on someone who's been through all Jason has. It's easy to wish instead they'll just eventually find their way out of the dark.]
[Robbie had, at least through the worst of it, through the part where he was hurting others. The part where he hurts himself, he's still working on, but at least he got away from the Thunderbolts.]
So, for now, I guess I don't tell anyone you're causing trouble or try to get you in any legal trouble unless you do something in this world I can't look away from. And you don't tell anyone about how tenuous my past relationship was with sanity and that I used to walk around in a creepy gimp suit with matching spiked thigh highs.
[He says it in a very cavalier way, in his usual joking tone, but it's a bit more forced than usual. Gotta cover up that embarrassment and shame by making it sound like a joke.]
[Jason's gotten a peek under the curtain, though, enough to understand how much Robbie covers things up with something else.]
People back home, most of them don't know. They know about the suit and that I was in it, but...
[He finally looks embarrassed, can't help but duck his head.]
They don't know how Hot Topic the inside got.
And while I told the people at the Alliance about Stamford and that I was...unwell, at one point [Is still, but he's not telling anyone, let alone the people paying his rent], if they find out the specifics they might not let me superhero. I know I could be unregistered but I don't -
[He finally looks up.]
I wouldn't really know what to do. How I'd get by. Back home, the way I supported myself is having a really rich friend and being fine with living in a superhero base.
[He has some basic life skills like cooking because in a home with two very flighty and sometimes absentee parents you learn to cook and do your own laundry, but jobs? Taxes? Hell, he's not sure he even has a valid photo ID back home now that he and Vance ditched their identicards. It just hasn't come up.]
[All he's got is the superhero thing.]
[In the Alliance, he's at least getting paid for the only thing he's good for, and he's not even actually good at it.]
no subject
But Robbie isn't like Bruce. Robbie's got his own traumas. He's being sympathetic and perhaps empathetic.
Jason looks back at Robbie]
I'm not going to change my ways just because we worked together this time.
[How can he? He tried the noble superhero route already when he was Robin. He tried to follow Bruce's rules. They don't work. So many people could've been saved had someone finally killed sociopathic monsters like the Joker. The justice system as it is now doesn't work.
Jason's aware that he doesn't need to be this blunt with Robbie now that they're not mindsharing anymore. But at this point, he might as well say this stuff out loud before Robbie wastes both of their times with another lecture if he catches him in the act again]
But I promise I won't tell anyone about the inside spikes or about the self-harm.
[It's the least Jason can do for him after everything they just went through and how Robbie has been treating him.
Jason understands the psychology of why people hurt themselves with drugs or self-cutting. They're coping mechanisms in response to mental and emotional issues. They're not freaks who should be shamed for doing those things. They need help instead. His mother needed help. Robbie clearly needed help and probably still does.
To use that piece of information against Robbie is a level of cruelty Jason can't condone or stoop to.]
And... thanks for today I guess. Didn't think we would work together like this.
no subject
[There's only so far you can push someone in one day and trying to do it when they're both so raw will probably just make Jason reject it even harder. He's stubborn, Robbie's figured out that much.]
You know, once we got past the crippling trauma and thinking the other was a supervillain for a hot second... we made a good team.
If you ever need a hand with something and it's not a thing where I'd have to fight with you on it...
[The guy has some self-control. He knows how to dial it back, like the first fight where they met and he dialed it down.]
[And on days like this where the enemy was a big terrible monster instead of a person, Robbie also knows there are times when it's right to cut loose, and he's capable of doing it.]
no subject
I might consider it as long as you keep your mouth shut, Bubbles. I'm picky with my dance partners.
no subject
no subject
My Schwartz was perfectly handy too. Not all of us can turn into giant handballs.